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.

Using 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 questions were good, but the word suicide was mentioned. This of course became a very different conversation as soon as that happened. I was now living a thousand miles away and I could not physically be there for her. I am pretty sure it would have been difficult for her to track down my phone #. Still there was Facebook, a social online networking community. A place for people to connect. I don't know how serious she was about suicide, but I do know that through Facebook I was able to get her connected with some people who could be there for her.

Let's be clear, Susie and I were never really close, but we had many, many conversations when I was her pastor. Still she knew that she could contact me and I would be there for her if at all possible. Like it or not Facebook, myspace, twitter, and possibly many other networks are impacting our culture in huge ways. As youth ministry workers it is imperative that we enter the culture and bring Jesus with us. These networks are not simply places to hang out online, they are places where significant ministry can and must be done.

I am not a young twenty something youth pastor who grew up with these things, I am a 35 years old and 15 year veteran of youth ministry. Why do I mention this? Because I don't want anyone who reads this to write it off because they are too old or because they don't think I am old enough. Jesus was incarnational entering the culture of mankind to save them from their sin. Should we not take that same approach to ministry? Shouldn't we enter culture and meet students where they are in an effort to reach them with the gospel of Jesus Christ?

These technologies have infiltrated the culture very deeply. I use these technologies often and keep them up to date and still I do not have a full grasp on the power of the technologies nor have I fully figured out how to leverage that for the kingdom of God. What I do know is that I have been able to do significant ministry because of my activity on these networks. Don't stick your head in the sand, and don't wine because you don't like it. Learn to enjoy the benefits and leverage the power of these networks for God's glory.

Social 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.

None of us were around when the phone first began to take over the world, but I could imagine the same kind of concerns being voiced because of the telephone. Social networking is another way of communicating another way of keeping up with friends and family. I am baffled at why this would looked at in a negative way. The question is are people different online?

I have no doubt that people are willing to say things online they would not say in person and be part of things online they would not otherwise be part of. This certainly has both positives and negatives. The question then becomes who is the real person? I would suggest that more often than not the online person is the real person. Students need to learn restraint and judgment online just like they learn those things in how they communicate face to face.

I am not suggesting there are no challenges with social networking I am suggesting that there is nothing new under the sun. Social networking is here to stay and it will likely become more complex and pervasive not less. Instead of complaining perhaps we need to begin to think about how to use these technologies to honor God!!