tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-382265662024-02-19T06:54:13.060-08:00YMTheologyYMTheology is designed to help youth workers think theologically and Biblically about how to do youth ministry.John Byrnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16309023961409597321noreply@blogger.comBlogger49125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38226566.post-76445828847172096212009-11-02T21:13:00.000-08:002009-11-02T21:13:07.482-08:00Called: Consider the CostWhat does it mean to be called to ministry? How do you know? Charles Spurgeon gave some help to his students regarding this very question. Over the next four to six posts I will be going over some of the criteria for understanding calling. Why should you read these? There are two reasons, first, to evaluate yourself in light of these things, and second, to help you John Byrnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16309023961409597321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38226566.post-54356099973890460172009-11-02T21:00:00.000-08:002009-11-02T21:00:08.979-08:00Transitions
There are all kinds of transitions. This isn’t necessarily about a new church, it could be moving into a new position in the church you are in, transitioning your programming, perhaps you have a new boss, or maybe you are in transition in your personal life. Transitions are always difficult to navigate, but they can also John Byrnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16309023961409597321noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38226566.post-10849192507038662792009-08-03T10:45:00.000-07:002009-08-03T10:45:47.641-07:00A Smile on My Face
I recently took some college/career types along with some High School Students on a trip to San Francisco for a mission trip with CSM (They did a great job). The trip was really good. You can read about it at the Theology, Lockers, and Life blog if you are interested. When I arrived home I was faced with a tore up John Byrnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16309023961409597321noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38226566.post-21325348252854903162009-08-03T09:55:00.000-07:002009-08-03T10:03:13.112-07:00Human Arrogance
I had an interesting conversation with one of my High School Students about the influence teenagers have on culture. It was her belief that teenagers set the standards for culture. They have more influence on culture than any other age group. Certainly when it comes to pop culture there is some truth to what she thinks. It is also true that pop culture has some influence John Byrnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16309023961409597321noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38226566.post-9790021279601337052009-07-16T10:26:00.000-07:002009-07-16T10:26:04.787-07:00A Needed Vacation
Recently my family and I took a much needed vacation which is why it has been a little longer since the last newsletter. You know how everyone comes back from vacation tired and speaks of needing a vacation from the vacation. Well, we actually made that part of our plan. We came back a little early to relax and get John Byrnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16309023961409597321noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38226566.post-1188884257890035632009-07-16T10:14:00.000-07:002009-07-16T11:19:02.795-07:00The Boundaries of Truth I have two dogs, a Black Lab and a golden Retriever. The lab we have had since the time it was a pup. He now weighs close to 100lbs. When he was a pup we had to lay down some boundaries. There were certain things we wanted Crash (the lab) to do and not do. There were also certain things we wanted Crash to John Byrnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16309023961409597321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38226566.post-8862766638057628942009-06-06T19:44:00.000-07:002009-06-15T10:26:39.221-07:00Just a cool Story!!I went to a wedding today that was unlike any wedding I have attended or performed. I have had the privilege of officiating for some great couples. I have attended weddings of people that will go on to have great marriages, but todays wedding was unique. The couple that got married today has been married before...to each other. Almost twenty years ago they got married. They had two kids and John Byrnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16309023961409597321noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38226566.post-51518053678241187352009-06-06T11:03:00.000-07:002009-06-15T10:20:46.383-07:00Youth Ministry needs to Push Back I am anticipating that this blog post may get some negative reaction. Still I think it is important. This morning I watched some commentary on the "Jon & Kate Plus 8" television show. I have never watched the show and I am not sure what the actual circumstances are in that home. My purpose is not to actually talk about the family, but to commentate on the commentary. As I watched, John Byrnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16309023961409597321noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38226566.post-46187491407070797702009-05-31T00:39:00.000-07:002009-06-01T13:06:57.663-07:00Teaching Students to PrayPrayer is one of those spiritual disciplines that most of us struggle with. This is especially true for those of us who seem to always be "plugged in". Our lives are filled with noise from our cell phones, computers, TVs, radios and so on. Over the past 15 years I have noticed a significant decline in the number of students who are capable of praying, much less praying in front of other peopleJohn Byrnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16309023961409597321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38226566.post-74339428577819883982009-05-28T09:09:00.000-07:002009-06-01T13:08:51.921-07:00Honestly Evaluating your ministry Have you ever watched a video of yourself presenting a message? How about listening to yourself sing? I have, and I don't particularily enjoy either of them. I am critical and can't believe the mistakes I make. Sometimes the truth is painful, but helpful. Every person who follows Jesus has been given gifts and abilities by God. We are also expected to use those things which God has given John Byrnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16309023961409597321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38226566.post-59458217624330156842009-04-29T21:11:00.000-07:002009-05-05T14:05:51.031-07:00Understanding Your ContextA lot is made of understanding our cultural context. There are magazines like Relevant and people like Walt Mueller who help us in that area. There are web sites about how to use movies, music, Facebook and other cultural phenomenons to further God's kingdom. To all of them I am thankful, and I have learned a lot from many of those sources. There is another kind of context we must consider John Byrnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16309023961409597321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38226566.post-74232449390566341192009-04-17T21:09:00.000-07:002009-05-05T14:03:08.052-07:00Learning to Use Ministry ModelsMy Freshman year at Oak Hills Bible College in Bemidji (otherwise known as Buuurrrmidji), MN I began my paid youth ministry career. I was hired (along with the woman who is now my wife) to do youth ministry in a small town. At the age of 17 I began a quest to change the world for Jesus. I had huge dreams and a lot of energy, but I had no idea what I was doing. There were "kids" in the youth John Byrnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16309023961409597321noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38226566.post-72313711211307237372009-04-15T20:41:00.000-07:002009-04-16T09:31:11.657-07:00Essential Elements of the Gospel Occasionally I try to put myself in the shoes of a non-believer who is "checking out" God and this whole "religion" thing. I wonder what goes through their mind as they drive into a parking lot full of cars at a place they at one time thought they would never go except for a wedding, funeral, or when their parents made them (Easter and sometimes Christmas). Maybe a friend invited them and John Byrnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16309023961409597321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38226566.post-12165419574427970882009-04-02T22:36:00.000-07:002009-04-07T23:41:40.303-07:00What is Theological Ministry?"Youth ministers have been on a long and frustrating quest of their own over the past two decades or so. Believing that a message wrapped in pop-culture packaging was the way to attract teens to their flocks, pastors watered down the religious content and boosted the entertainment. But in recent years churches have begun offering their young people a style of religious instruction grounded in John Byrnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16309023961409597321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38226566.post-73085108616990475522009-03-26T18:10:00.000-07:002009-03-27T21:29:12.418-07:00How to Evaluate Your Ministry Evaluating your ministry can be difficult and there are many who would rather not evaluate at all because it feels "unspiritual". The truth is we all evaluate our ministries based on our own ministry values whether we have taken the time to write them down or not. Does it not make sense to actually write these things down and be thoughtful about how we evaluate? I am going to lay out one John Byrnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16309023961409597321noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38226566.post-67877483795149188832009-03-24T12:24:00.000-07:002009-03-24T14:53:24.413-07:00Phones Are From Satan, but God Seems To Use Them I hate phone calls, I can sometimes be found in my office spewing insults at the phone. It's kind of embarrassing to be honest. Last week I took the time to make a phone call. It is not something I do all the time, but if I know a student is struggling or there is something significant going on in their life I will call, text, or Facebook them and just let them know I care. Most of you John Byrnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16309023961409597321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38226566.post-6861513927887634692009-03-13T08:46:00.000-07:002009-03-13T09:11:11.875-07:00Preaching Jesus God designed me as a coach. I have coached volleyball, basketball, and football at the high school level. My tendencies in youth ministry are to coach. It comes so naturally to me that I have to be very aware that I am not coaching in situations that require something of a different approach. One of the things I learned from my coaches in high school was to always focus on the basics. John Byrnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16309023961409597321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38226566.post-54618086571761217692009-03-07T20:09:00.000-08:002009-04-20T09:38:30.576-07:00Theology & Youth Ministry: A match made in heaven Theology: the study of God.Youth Ministry: the act of discipling Junior and Senior High students.These definitions may not be perfect, but I think they communicate the basic premise of both theology and youth ministry. For some in the church these two things are mutually exclusive. Youth ministry for years was viewed as a stepping stone to becoming a "real" pastor. While this mentality John Byrnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16309023961409597321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38226566.post-84449374835011438072009-03-05T08:04:00.000-08:002009-03-09T21:43:05.574-07:00Measuring SpirituallityI hear it all the time and I'm sure you hear it too. I think I've even said it in an attempt to convince myself. Numbers aren't that important. I've even had people try to tell me that Jesus wasn't concerned about numbers and the Bible really doesn't seem to care much about numbers. Unfortunately this simply isn't the case. Does God care about numbers?Yes, God not only cares about numbers, John Byrnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16309023961409597321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38226566.post-36570837020728372622009-03-04T10:19:00.000-08:002009-03-21T21:16:37.580-07:00Relational MinistryFourteen years ago I was the half time youth pastor at a small church in Harris, MN. I was going to college full time and trying to support my wife. I remember trying to figure out how to do youth ministry. I hadn't really had any training, so I was just winging things. I had no idea what I was doing, I just loved kids and loved God. Three weeks ago I received a tweet (www.twitter.com) for John Byrnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16309023961409597321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38226566.post-45236743120488535292009-02-10T09:49:00.000-08:002009-02-12T12:37:50.634-08:00Learning to be a General ContractorI love students, I love God, and I love to teach and preach. I am not an organizer, or a detail oriented person. My guess is you may fall into this category or one similar. If you are like me you would like to have a large ministry, not for the sake of being large, but for the sake of growing the kingdom of God. No matter how large or small your group is, it is always important to build John Byrnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16309023961409597321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38226566.post-15905340420289195882009-01-21T09:12:00.000-08:002009-01-21T12:57:07.294-08:00Using Social Networking for God's Glory A few months ago i received a message on Facebook. It was a message from Susie (the name has been changed). She had recently broken up with her boyfriend and things were not that great. Susie was a former student of mine. She was out of High School by a few years. The message was very disturbing. She told me things were difficult and she was asking me some theological questions. These John Byrnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16309023961409597321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38226566.post-48237254153315711372009-01-08T11:40:00.000-08:002009-01-08T12:35:59.881-08:00Social Networking and Ministry: Are students being socially handycapped?One of the complaints I have heard most about social networking is that it is impacting students ability to interact socially. Some of these complaints are the result of observing certain students who do appear to be socially handicapped. That said it seems to me based only on my own observations that the students who have a lot of online friends are very adept at interacting face to face. NoneJohn Byrnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16309023961409597321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38226566.post-91413225622172705462008-12-29T19:26:00.000-08:002008-12-29T21:22:45.090-08:00Social Networking and MinistryRelationships...what are they? We talk about relationships all the time. Sometimes it is a boyfriend or girlfriend, sometimes we are talking about friendship or various other relationships. In my conversation with some youth pastors and a youth ministry seminary professor about social networking and youth ministry dealt specifically with this issue. They were convinced that social networking John Byrnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16309023961409597321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38226566.post-86641386839223821432008-12-18T15:23:00.000-08:002008-12-20T22:10:17.427-08:00Social Networking and MinistryIt's crazy, but when I started on facebook I needed to get to the fifty friends mark and once I did that one hundred seemed pretty doable. I made one hundred and then I realized I was just a beginner, I only had one hundred friends...what a loser. You probably get where this is going. There are more questions about facebook, myspace, twitter and the other social networking options out there John Byrnehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16309023961409597321noreply@blogger.com0