Preaching 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. There have been times in my ministry when I have forgotten the basics.

Jesus is the most fundamental truth found in all of Scripture. Martin Luther said, "Scripture is the cradle of Christ" and Charles Spurgeon said, "“Nobody ever outgrows scripture; the Book widens and deepens with our years” For most of this year we have been doing a series on Jesus. We have been asking questions like, "why worship Jesus?" and "What did Jesus accomplish on the cross?" The amazing thing is this, my students have not grown tires of Jesus, and I have not grown tires of preaching about Jesus. Instead this has opened up my students minds. They have begun to understand that all of Scripture ultimately points to Jesus. We have grown significantly in numbers and in spiritual maturity. Students are bringing friends to hear about Jesus, not to hear me talk about drinking, peer pressure, or some other hot topic. They come to hear about Jesus!!

When we use gimmicks to attract students we may be successful, but gimicks cannot change a students life, only Jesus can do that. Let's stay focused on the basics preach Jesus from all of scripture!!

Theology & 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 still exists in some places, it has wained in recent years and youth ministry has begun to grow up. Today youth ministry is viewed as serious business. For this I am grateful. My purpose is to provide a theological basis for youth ministry. This has been done before by others, but my hope is that thinking theologically about youth ministry and leadership in a youth ministry context will not be something that takes place in the background, but rather it is brought to the forefront.

Theology is the study of God, but it has become a broader term that encompasses much more. God does not exist in a vacuum, instead we have a history of how he has interacted with mankind and with youth throughout all of history. This is part of thinking theologically. Modern youth ministry may be young, but youth ministry as a whole is not.

Genesis. ya, I know it's kind of canned to start with a book that literally means beginnings. But then again, there must be a reason it is called Genesis. I can't prove it but I have a theory about Adam and Eve. I think they were in essence adolescents when they were created. I think if we were there to see them walking down the street (clothed of course) a day after they were created they would look like teenagers. In essence, God created his own youth group by speaking them into existence (how about that for a growth strategy). I can't imagine why God would create them with older bodies, maybe they were the equivalent of a 17 or 18 year old. God in his wisdom certainly would have wanted to skip the diapers and having to do everything for them, but He certainly would have wanted to create them still in their physical prime.

Whatever your thoughts about the last paragraph, they were young in their appearance and they needed to be taught the ways of God. Thus God gave them freedom within boundaries. Wow, that might be profound. God also allowed them to endure the consequences of their choices. Of course the history of youth ministry goes on:

• Joseph was young when God began to work in him, giving him dreams.
• Samuel was very young when his mother dedicated him to the ministry and grew up around the temple learning the ways of God.
  
• David was called by God (Through his youth pastor Samuel) when he was young and was probably a teenager when he defeated Goliath.
• Josiah was 8 when he became king and Joash was 7 God used both of those boys as they became men.
• some of the disciples were likely teenagers (they certainly acted like it at times).
  
• Paul raised up Timothy who was a young church leader
  
• etc...

God has interacted with people who were young for all of history. Not only is this youth ministry, but it is theology. Youth ministry and theology are meant to be together. More could be said about the numerous passages in the Bible that in one way or another address the issue of youth ministry.

Youth Ministry is not simply a response to a consumerist culture; however, just like the church as a whole youth ministry has responded to culture in negative and positive ways. Thinking theologically about youth ministry will help to differentiate what is good and what is not. Youth Ministry is Biblical and good, it is not a question of whether we do youth ministry, but how we do youth ministry.

• As you think about scripture and the stories that likely involve teen agers what can we learn about how God interacted with young people?
  
• How has youth ministry appropriately and inappropriately responded to culture and fads?
• How have you responded appropriately or inappropriately to those things?
  
• If youth ministry and theology are a match made in heaven, how might that impact our teaching? How can we help students develop good theology?

Coming up in two weeks: "Learning to Use Ministry Models"

Measuring Spirituallity

I 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, He cares a lot. There is an entire book of the Bible about numbers, Jesus apparently thought it was important to know how many people he fed, in Acts we are told the number of those who came to Christ multiple times, in Revelation we are informed of the number that worshiped Jesus or the Father on several occasions. In the end numbers are important!!

Every number is representative of people and people are important to Jesus. Next time you are tempted to suggest that numbers aren't important, ask yourself why? Numbers may not be the only factor we should consider when measuring the health of a group, but they are important and I would suggest that they can be very important.

Relational Ministry

Fourteen 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 those of you who don't know what that is) from a former student of mine. He simply asked if I was the same guy who was a youth pastor in Harris, MN. As we began to talk, he recalled how messed up he was back then. He also recalled that I treated him "normal". He even recalled a time when I picked him up at his house on my motorcycle and went to Dairy Queen where I sat and talked with him for an hour. I don't remember this particular event. I do remember doing this kind of thing with lots of students.
This past weekend at the National Youth Ministry Conference in Columbus, Ohio I had the privilege of sitting down with him and his wife A (way to go buddy!!). He pulled out his wallet and showed me a card I had given to the students that said, "If you meet me and forget me you have lost nothing. If you meet Jesus and forget Him, you have lost everything." I was blown away. All these years later he still has that little card I printed up on my printer. I am so proud of him and thankful that I had the privilege of being used by God in his life. Love God, love others, make disciples will always ring true.

Today he is being mentored by another youth pastor and wants to become a youth pastor. What is the moral of the story? Do the little things. Teach your staff to do the little things. Relational ministry is the wave of the past, the present, and the future. Whatever youth ministry fads come and go, relationships are what makes a difference.

Learning to be a General Contractor

I 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 toward the next level.

One of my biggest struggles is feeling like I am not working hard enough if I am not hands on. This is a constant battle. It is often this very thing that keeps ministries from growing. In construction terms I sometimes feel guilty for being the general contractor. The general contractor might not screw on drywall, frame, do the electrical or plumbing, but without the general contractor none of those things happen. In youth ministry the same concept is true. In order for my ministry to grow I need to become the general contractor, I need to learn how to be a good manager of resources putting everything into place so that more ministry can be done.

Finding the right people with the right skills and helping them help you help students is a huge part of what youth ministry is all about. (Ya, I had to read that five times after I wrote it, but it does make sense!!) No matter how hard this is for me or how guilty I feel, I have to continue to strive to accomplish this for the sake of God's kingdom and my sanity. I must keep telling myself that this is what is best for the kingdom of God and for me.