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Favoritism is for Punks! Trials bible study week 3

March 30, 2012 in Discipleship, high school, Junior High Ministry, Student Ministry with 0 Comments

If you missed the last few weeks and the intro, just click below.  A reminder that this is really created for use in small group discussion or picked a part for a message series. This week is some questions that were developed after reading James 2: 1-13.
Intro
Week 1
Week 2

Favoritism is for Punks!
Be a Punk to People – Get Punked by God!  It’s that simple. 

Read James 2 1:1-13
Pending on the size of your group, have each student read at least one paragraph of the text. It gets them involved and pushes for engagement.

  1. What example does James give of “religion..pure and faultless?” (1:27)
  2. How does this statement lead into the topic of favoritism? (1)
  3. What is the difference in clothes for the rich and poor man? (2)
  4. How is favoritism shown to these people? (3-4) Who at your school receives special attention? who is discriminated against?
  5. What two things does God give to the poor? (5) If God chose the poor to have these things, how should we treat them?
  6. What three things do rich people do to Christians, according to James? (6-7)
  7. What is the Royal Law? (8) Why is this the law ” Royal”? What is the opposite of this law?
  8. Who are the lawbreakers? (9-11) Are you a lawbreaker?
  9. If this is true, what is the solution to the problem of favoritism and discrimination? (12)
  10. What is the threat to anyone who refuses to keep the Royal Law by treating all people alike? (13)
  11. How does mercy triumph over judgement for God? (13) what about for us?

 

 

 

 

Trials Bible Study: Intro

January 24, 2012 in Discipleship, high school, Junior High Ministry, Student Ministry with 3 Comments

Today’s students are facing struggle after struggle. Many are facing trials as a result of recent decisions to truly live for God. Others are facing a downhill slope as they’re making bad choice after bad choice.

I’ve been working on a 8 week small group study for students for the book of James, dealing with trials.  Since I’m not actively serving as a youth pastor, maybe someone can use it.   For the next 8 weeks I will post weekly per each part.  This post is the intro.

Intro:

Joy can be found in trials ONLY when a spiritual perspective is maintained. Testing of faith (trials) leads to perseverance. Perseverance leads to maturity. On the road to maturity a major roadblock is the lack of wisdom. Wisdom is a spiritual gift to those of faith which gives them access to the power and resources of God for facing all situations. The one who doubts is double minded, unstable, and divided. Poor people take pride in their membership in the family of God, which  make them heirs to His glory and riches. The rich and powerful man should be humble in the realization of his humanness, impending death, and poverty apart from the blessing of God. Perseverance under trial not only results in maturity but also eternal life.

Here is the path of temptation:

  1. A person is dragged away and enticed by his own evil desire
    Example?
  2. That desire results in sin
  3. Example?
  4. Sin results in death
The analogy of this process as a woman giving birth is interesting. When we give into the tempting of our desires we conceive and eventually give birth to sin. The tempting is not the sin; the sin is a response to the tempting. If we do not repent and reject the tempting of our desires it always results in sin. Then, sin grows up like a baby and produces death.

Avoid Isolation

November 30, 2011 in Fatherhood, high school, Junior High Ministry, Leadership, Living, Marriage, Student Ministry with 0 Comments

From the sidelines looking in, you see a man (or women) who loves to hang out with students and leaders. You see them teaching with all their heart and attending their games, events, and celebrations.  What you don’t see is perhaps a lonely person who is longing for people around them to fully understand all the sacrifices they make.

Sound familiar?

Most people are not familiar that church ministry is hard (rewarding) ministry.  For student ministry there is a balancing act that must be mastered.  For me personally, I must find that balance of being father, husband, brother, son, planner, speaker, event coordinator, pastor, counselor, friend, and staff member to name a few. In all those things we must value our time. I will admit however, I don’t understand the busy pastors who has no time to meet with the people close to them.  I don’t see them as busy, I see them as poor time handlers.  The more we spend alone, the more that will lead to isolation.  I’m not saying you can’t have alone time, because let’s all admit, we can always use it.  Here is somethings to keep in mind of: 

We’ve all got the same amount of time. All we have to do is choose how to use it. Each day consists of 1440 minutes which can be broken down into four distinct parts that make up your life:

  • What you have to do. 
  • What you choose to do. 
  • What you want to do.
  • What you end up doing.

As a youth pastor it gets real easy to be in planning, dreaming, and studying mode that before you realize it, you have isolated yourself from the rest of the staff and your volunteer team.  Busyness creeps in and you find you don’t have time for the relationships that matter most.

I’m also a firm believer that being cooped up in your office is unhealthy and can lead to isolation. You start getting comfortable with your routine and before you know it you really have no clue on what is going on in the ministries that are close to your ministry (children’s ministry, college ministry).

Here are some tips on handling your time.

1. Set Goals 
Set both short-term and long-term goals for your work day, work week, and work year. While it may seem silly, take the time to make a written list of your goals, which will allow you to refer back to the list when you need some guidance. Keep in mind that it is okay to adjust the goals as your business needs or your role changes. Use them as a tool to guide you.

2. Mini-Rewards
All work an no play is a difficult concept to sustain for very long. Build rewards into your schedule. If there is a task you really dislike, follow it with a task that you greatly enjoy. Build “mini-rewards” into your schedule to increase your productivity.

3. Keep Lists 
Keep a running “To Do” list. The To Do list should contain both daily tasks as well as longer-term tasks. Having a To Do list will help keep your attention on the projects that require attention, and prevent some items from slipping through the cracks and being forgotten.

4. Be Realistic 
Keep your expectations realistic. No one can do everything, and with that it mind, try to set realistic expectations of what you can hope to accomplish.

5. Prioritize 
Prioritize the list of things to do. Some items might require immediate attention, while others may be necessary but not as urgent. And after prioritizing, try not to become a “firefighter” and only react to the urgent items. Be sure to still give proper attention to non-urgent items as well, as they are important too.

6. Use Time Wisely 
If there are blocks of time that you spend waiting or commuting, figure out ways to use that time being productive! Listening to podcasts, reading, writing, proof-reading, reviewing your schedule, planning for your next activity, etc, are all things that can usually be done remotely to fill in some of the unavoidable “dead” time in your schedule. Try to find interesting and unusual productive things to do during those periods of downtime.

7. Set Limits
Set reasonable time limits for tasks. When working on those tasks, monitor the time that each item is taking.

8. Organize Work Space
Organize your work space, and remove any excessive clutter. Spending time looking for something is a waste of time… and time is a precious commodity. Both your computer files and your physical working area should be organized so that you can easily locate anything you need in a moments notice.

9. Minimize Distractions 
If you find yourself consumed by social media, facebook, instant messaging, or other social mediums, set aside a specific and timed period of the day for participating in the online social community. Other than those specific periods of time, set your status to “unavailable” so that you are not interrupted throughout the work day. Minimize interruptions and distractions as much as possible.

10. Reflect 
At the end of the day, reflect on what you accomplished. If you were unable to account for a specific period of time, or you found a given day to be particularly unproductive, take an inventory and try to determine where your time management system broke down.

Keep in mind that not every day is going to be as productive as you would hope. Unexpected things always come up, and no matter how hard you try, your expectations just might not be realistic. Do not become discouraged. Instead, simply stay focused and make an effort to increase your productivity the next day.

 

3 things student ministry is NOT

November 14, 2011 in high school, Junior High Ministry, Leadership, Student Ministry with 0 Comments

There is much I’ve learned since being involved in student ministry since the late 90′s.  But one key lesson I’ve learned, is be who God has called you to be. Don’t try to be someone you’re not, you’ll lead a much more successful ministry that way.  This post is a short one but I believe it to be important.  I would be interested in your thoughts, do you agree with this list? What would you add to it?

Student ministry is NOT:

1) A stepping stone to “bigger ministry”. One thing we don’t need in student ministry are those that are using it as some form of ladder for development. Students deserve better! They need people that are called to be there. I’m not saying God will never call you out of student ministry but let God make that call.

2) A time for babysitting. It’s not about having them meet once a week just to have something going on for them. It’s about developing them into young men and women of God. Churches that fail to invest in the student ministry fail to recognize that the students make up the church of today and tomorrow. Fail to impact them = fail to grow. 

3)A free work group. This happens again and again. Let’s get the youth to paint  or build this. I believe that we do need to teach students to serve, but I think the heart behind it should be to serve, not to complete a “to do” list.  At the same time, I do believe that building quality leaders is providing them with ways to serve.  The whole reasoning needs to be in check.

Building a team in student ministry part 2 (HT SYM)

November 10, 2011 in high school, Junior High Ministry, Leadership, Student Ministry with 0 Comments

Doing ministry alone is will lead to burn out, bitterness, and a unsuccessfull ministry. At the same time, finding leaders with quality can at times be a challenge.  Once again I hat tip SYM (Simply Youth Ministry) for their weekly e-mails of reminders.  Here is what they had to say:

In thirty years of youth ministry, I can honestly say I’ve tried every recruiting style possible. Take a look at these four fall-back recruiting approaches:

The “Cruise Director:
‘Come join the youth team! Free trips, free food, hotels, fun and you’ll have a great time! No, you won’t have to chaperone at lock-ins!’”
The “Beggar:

‘If you don’t join come on this trip, we’ll have to cancel it and lose our $2000 deposit. We really, really, really need you! PLEASE???????’”

The “Lone Ranger:
‘Hey, great having you on the team! Here’s your job description. Thanks for doing your part. You know? Let me do that for you…the kids are used to it being done a certain way. Oh, and I’ll do that, too. Why don’t you just watch for awhile?’”

The “Do-It-Yourselfer:
Building a team? What’s that? Nobody wants to volunteer so I don’t even ask.’”

See yourself here? (I’m a combo of the Cruise Director and the Lone Ranger.) Don’t do these!

Instead, I’ve learned a little something from Jesus’ example when he put a pretty awesome team of 12 together. I call it, “The Five I’s: Invoke, Identify, Invite, Initiate, Inform. In other words:

Invoke: Bring the Holy Spirit into the process anything. Go somewhere and pray. 
                  Pray for the dynamic balance you want on your team. And ask the Lord for the qualities you need for the type of ministry you’re involved with. – James 

Identify: Listen for who the Spirit lifts up. Identify those people He reveals would be an asset to the team. Don’t assume anyone will say “no.”

Invite: Talk to them one-on-one and ask them to pray for a week before saying “yes” or “no.”

Initiate: Let them come and check things out; give them a peek into what you’re asking them to do.
                   Never have anyone say “yes” without checking out the ministry. For me, I have someone come for about a month before they make a decision. -James  

Inform: Hand them a volunteer packet so they can make a well-informed decision. Info would include a specific job description, volunteer guidelines, aministry covenant, program purpose statement, 12 month youth ministry calendar and something fun, like a $10 card from Starbucks to enjoy drink while reading and praying. 

 

Also, don’t have an extra long application packet. keep it short, to the point, and with a well defined purpose.

Thoughts?

 

Building a team in student ministry part 1 (HT SYM)

November 2, 2011 in high school, Junior High Ministry, Leadership, Student Ministry with 0 Comments

I’m a learner. I have a firm belief that when a person stops learning, they stop growing.  No one ever “arrives”, if you feel you have then you’re living a lie and misleading your team. Sounds harsh but it’s true.  I often get e-mails from simply youth ministry. (If your are in student ministry and don’t receive these, then sign up today!)  Much of the information I already know, but I’ll be honest there are reminders given to me that I’ve forgotten.

One of the series of e-mails was on how to build a great team in student ministry.  It’s some great stuff but wanted to put my own twist to it. Most of this was written by Kurt Johnston and Josh Griffin.

Building a great team, part 1.

0. Large capacity leadership
If you are serving in a large capacity church think in terms of networks and smaller teams. For example,  if you have over 25 volunteers it’s going to be hard to reach them often within their scope of ministry. Think about having a grade/gender coordinator. If you have a 9th grade guys coordinator then place that person in charge of the volunteers that have to do with the 9th grade boys, and etc.  Meet often with your coordinator’s and build into that team. Meet with your entire staff at least once a quarter while attending their meetings monthly. (James)

1. Prayer 
Before you begin the to tackle the huge risk of forming a team, ask God to show you the criteria you need to look for in potential leaders and the places in your ministry you need to build some leadership infrastructure. (Kurt and Josh)

2. Create a Hit List 
If you could get anyone in your church on your leadership team – who would you go after? Which parent stands out as a great mentor and is raising their own kids well? Which young college age-student is showing incredible promise as someone who God’s hand of favor is on? Don’t walk around church lurking and mumbling as you write furiously on your clipboard! Just think through the best and the brightest and begin to pray specifically for them. (Kurt and Josh)

I’m not afraid to ask. If you see wisdom in someone and a natural or promising leader, begin dialog with those people. Find out if at all if they might be interested. Don’t hear a “maybe” as a no. Also, keep in mind if they’re serving in other areas. Some people serving in several areas might not have enough juice to give to your ministry. (James)

3. Make a Personal Ask 
There’s nothing wrong with a blurb in the bulletin or an announcement from up front. But the reality is that the shotgun approach often brings a lot of collateral damage. You have to wade through a bunch of people to get to the one you really wanted. So while you are taking broad shots with bulletin announcements, use a laser beam approach and ask people directly, person to person. you might be surprised by the results…it is much tougher to say “no” to a direct ask than it is to say “no” to a bulletin insert.

4. Embrace Rejection 
There’s nothing more discouraging than being rejected. And I (Kurt) would know since I had a lot of it from the ladies in college. But embrace the “no” as a sign of God’s involvement in this process – He is the one building the team and sifting through the members of your church for the volunteer(s) that is perfect for your ministry.

Remember, that the success of student ministry depends on you AND AND MOSTLY your leaders leading. Always keep that in mind.  (James)

 

 


 

Busyness does not equal fruitfulness (Three reminders to keep it in check)

October 24, 2011 in Junior High Ministry, Leadership, mentoring, Student Ministry with 0 Comments

I love being busy! It’s a good thing that I’m married an awesome wife who helps me relax when I need to relax.  But for the last several weeks I’ve thinking of this issue that many in the ministry deal with, busyness.  And rightly so!  There are many things to do; People to meet, people to counsel, things to plan, things to organize, budgets to propose, things to buy, things to clean, sermons to write, small group curriculum to write, people to lead, people to disciple, ideas to consider,things to tweet, things to facebook and much more!

I am always asking myself does my busyness result in anything? My calendar may look full, there could be several youth events happening this month but when all said is done, what was the result?   I believe the busier we are the louder the background noise becomes. The louder the noise the harder it is to listen to Christ.  Here are three things to keep in mind:

1) every quarter, do a self evaluation of you and your ministry. Was everything well worth it. 
2) What will this schedule event accomplish in the long run?
3) schedule time with your family and some personal time.

Text to Students! it’s the way to communicate.

September 28, 2011 in high school, Junior High Ministry, Leadership, social media, Student Ministry, technology in ministry with 0 Comments

Texting is the way students communicate. Talking on the phone is needed but it’s hard to get information out of them through a phone call.  If you want answers, text them! There are several companies offering text services that you can implement in your student ministry.  I’m not a tech savvy guy but will try to rank them according to me.  If you’re not using a service, sign up today and you’ll be glad you did.

Starting at #1 is txtsignal:  I’ve used txtsignal for the last year and found it to be the best for the budget.  You can send up to 60 messages to your groups for only $20.00. ($10.00 for up to 30 groups). Unlimited single messages as well. The only down fall is you can have up to 3 users, but I think there are ways around it.

#2 is Symtools communication: Very similar to Textsignal.  The only reason this is #2 is because I’ve found txtsignal first. The only thin I wished they both had was facebook integration. The pricing is the same as txtsignal.

#3 Duffled: Another great tool but found them to be a bit pricey. They base the price on the amount of texts you send. . For 250 texts messages it’s $35.00, 750 text messages it’s $90.00.

#4 Yaptap: I’ve wanted to use Yaptap, but the simplicity of the first two out weigh the complexity of yaptap.  For 100 members it’s $20.00. They do allow Facebook and Twitter integration with unlimited groups. So that’s nice. But couldn’t wrap my head around it.

TIP# Place the logo of the service you are using and link it the sign up page. This way you can draw people to the web page to sign up for the service.

All these services allow the members to text stop at anytime.

 

For more insight, also check out Josh Griffin’s site. He posted about this in early August.

What company do you use? Do you use text? if, so, in what ways?

Junior High Characteristics and how to use them.

September 23, 2011 in Junior High Ministry, Leadership, Student Ministry with 2 Comments

Today I’m going through my binders and trying to clear space and re-organize.  Going through I saw this I use for my training of leaders to work with Junior High.

We all know junior high students are crazy, immature, challenged followers of Christ. Maybe that’s why I love them! Junior high students will come through again and again. Most movements in the bible were by those in this age group. But dealing with such an awesome group takes some understanding.

Physical Characteristics
They grow rapidly. Girls are about a year to eighteen months ahead of guys. Their coordination suffers because of rapid growth.  They have altering periods of energy and fatigue.

How to relate: Be patient with their clumsiness. Don’t make activity too competitive, keep a balance.

Mental Characteristics
The like adventure and discovery and have active imaginations. They are capable of serious thinking and have a new ability to think abstractly as well as concretely. However, their knowledge is growing faster than experience.  They enjoy humor.

How to relate: Appeal to these characteristics. Help them use their imaginations to make the Bible come alive. Guide them in thinking through problems for themselves. Direct them to Scripture to find answers to tough questions. Learn to laugh with them and don’t be afraid to use humor.

Social Characteristics
Junior highers want to be grown up and independent of adults. And yet in many ways they still act childish. They want to belong to the gang and have a strong sense of loyalty to peers.  At the same time, they are extremely self conscious.  For a quick do’s and don’ts of junior high ministry, click here.  They are also hero-worshipers.

How to relate: Never call them children or kids. Give them responsibilities but don’t be disappointed if they act irresponsible. Remember to respect their peer loyalty. Cliques are to be expected but encourage them to choose good friends. Whenever possible, direct their loyalty to the Lord. Avoid teasing or sarcastic remarks by showing each of them that you like and care about them as individuals. Be worthy of their respect, but don’t set yourself on a pedestal-you might fall off.

Emotional Characteristics
Their emotions are intense and frequently fluctuate. They have little control over their emotions because they are closely tied to many changes taking place in their bodies. This cause a feeling that no one understands them.

How to relate: Make a special effort to understand them. Check out blogs, resources, and teachers to educate yourself on trends and  behavior. Avoid causing emotional disturbances. Don’t schedule a  rowdy game right before a serious devotion time, they won’t be able to settle down that quickly.  Take time to get to know each one personally. If you have a large group, small groups are a great way to get to know the students one group at a time. Show them that you appreciate their unique talents and interests.

Spiritual Characteristics
They want practical religion. More often than not, Sunday morning messages (for adults) go over their head. (soap box: It’s important to make your messages whenever you preach on Sunday, easy to follow by all age groups). They often have religion doubts. With the age of technology, everything pointed to them is fiction. They come to the bible with the same expectation of a video game.

How to relate: Always show that Biblical truths are relevant to their life situation. Doubts is not a bad thing, it’s what we do with those doubts that will determine our belief.  Accept these doubts as part of the growing process.  Welcome them as a sign that the students are making the faith their own and not just part of the heritage from their parents. Meet the doubts with honest answers.

5 easy steps to get out of a rut

September 14, 2011 in high school, Junior High Ministry, Leadership, Student Ministry with 0 Comments

Most of us have been in some kind of rut in our ministry and it’s been on my  mind for the last several weeks.  I’m not in rut at this time, but the subject has been on mind after talking to another youth pastor. It’s easy to get so busy in your own ministry where your head gets stuck in the clouds. Planning event,camps, mentoring your leaders, dealing with parents, hanging with students, counseling students, discipling students and everything else, it’s easy to get so focused on what you’re doing that we begin to ignore all what’s going on around us, in our community and region. It’s this place were the RUT begins to take place. Your energy begins to effect your motivation, your motivation begins to affect your relationships, and before you know it you’re not looking forward to your youth or ministry night.  A rut can be a dangerous place if no action is taken.

I was listening to a message the other day by Scott Ridout and he gave a great illustration.  Have you ever been to a football game? One team could be lacking in points and if you’re on the loosing team one can feel hopeless. But then someone on your team makes an interception or performs a kickback. The whole game can suddenly change. That one move, that one play changes the whole energy and momentum of the game.  We’re one decision away from being out of the rut, we’re one goal away, we’re one choice away from being in a rut to victory.

Here are some key points that help me stay focused and out of the rut.

1)  Know you your are and who you are not. Knowing who your are will determine where you get your enegy from.

2)  Surround yourself with other youth pastors/pastors from other churches.  Excitement with what’s going on in those around you will typcially rub off on you.  Get together with other pastors in your area on a monthly basis. Find out what they’re doing, find out what’s working and not working in their ministry. Don’t be afraid to ask them questions if you see something doing well in their midst. Ask them why they think they’re having success.

3) Surround yourself with those who are successful in ministry via Twitter/blogs/Facebook/podcasts.  I am thankful for Twitter. There are other pastors on Twitter that I’ve never had a face to face conversation with, but I trust their advice. Some I’ve even make calls to chat about ministry or situations.  Take time out of your week to view blogs, listen to podcasts, and etc.

4) Prayer/Worship/Scripture:  Make time. If you’re not talking with Him everyday, you’re not listening to Him everyday.

5) Don’t be afraid to dream and do Big in ministry. Ministry is not easy, but the rewards are great!

 

 

 

 

 

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