Ever Wonder How Much God Loves You?

Lamentations 3:22-24,  Jeremiah writes these words, “Because of the LORD’s faithful love we do not perish, for His mercies never end. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness! I say: The LORD is my portion, therefore I will put my hope in Him.”    (Bold and Italics are added for emphasis.)

Take a moment to meditate/think about these verses and what they mean to you before watching the video. Reflect on God’s faithfulness to you today! These verses are so encouraging to me and the video is a great reminder of just how much Christ loves us. I began thinking about the last verse where Jeremiah says “…therefore I will put my hope in Him” and I am so glad that my faith and hope is placed in God rather than in man. As I scroll through my Facebook page,I cannot help but notice all the political bashing that is taking place. This is what bothers me the most is seeing how much people seem to be placing their hope in politics or Presidential candidates more than they are in God. Now, I honestly know that’s not true, but perception goes along way. I am also not here to tell anyone who or how they should vote, that’s not my aim. I do believe that we should be praying for our President and leaders because they are not perfect and neither are we. That’s where God fits beautifully into our world or picture, because he sent one who was and is perfect in Jesus Christ and HE is the one that I choose to place my hope in. I try to look at the bigger picture of eternity rather than the Polaroid of this life. I hope that this video will be an encouragement to you as you go through the rest of your day/week. 

http://youtu.be/iUUmhnOPBdE

A Few Things I’ve Learned in Ministry… (And Youth Ministry)

The other day I read an article where the author was talking about all the things he has learned in twenty plus years of ministry. (He actually listed 103 of them!) It was a great article and one that I could relate to, at least a few of the ideas anyway. But that got me thinking about some of the things that I have learned in my 16 years of ministry. Looking back on them I realized that I have not lived up to every single one of them all the time, but they are things I’ve learned and strive to put into practice daily, weekly and monthly.

1. Think Ahead- Over the last several years youth ministry has had a reputation of “just fun and games”, “a “babysitter” or “just read a verse  of scripture and then play dodge ball for the rest of your time.” Now, some youth ministries may operate by this system, I’m not going to argue with the in’s and out’s of how youth ministry should be done (or if at all?!?!). I have learned that youth pastor’s have great ideas and great intentions but very seldom get them accomplished. Why? That’s a great question. Sometimes I think we do not often plan ahead about where we are planning to go. That also doesn’t help with those that believe that youth ministry is a “fly by the seat of your pants” type ministry. I know one fo the things that I have come to think about in my ministry is where do I want my students to be in five years? What do I want our student ministry to reflect when our kindergarten’s are in high school? Are we a biblical based student ministry? In other words, are we just here to have a good time or are we here to grow in the grace, knowledge and image of Jesus Christ?

2. Put It In Drive- Now that you know where you are going, it makes it a lot easier to plan in the now. For example, I have always struggled with helping our graduating seniors connect with the overall church. But starting this year we will be offering a “Transitions” class which will help our seniors and college students better connect with our church. This excites me as it is a much-needed class! This will also help me to see if my plan above for having students where I want them to be in 5-6 years is going to be effective. My graduating seniors this year have been with me all the way through since being at my current church. Have I equipped them effectively with the gospel? I know only time will tell but that is my hope and prayer for every one of my students, that they understand who they are in Christ, that they understand what it is exactly that Christ has done for them and can they share their faith without wavering. For example, do they know the difference between Christianity and Mormonism? Do they understand that the earth is not billions and billions of years old like the so-called “scholars” tell us it is.

Finally, here is just a small list of things I’ve learned in the last 15 years…

Do not let my programming replace teaching the gospel.

Learn to live with criticism.

Most of the “How To’s” in youth ministry and church books are usually wrong.

Never take things personal.

Spiritual growth is more important than numerical growth.

You can’t argue with stupid, but you can pray for them.

Never make important decisions after arguments, when you’re tired or hurt.

Be a life-time student of God’s Word.

Pray Continually!

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                                                                                                

The Problem with Youth Group- REALLY?

Just finished listening to a couple of sermons entitled “How to Fix Youth Ministry” and “Would I Want My Own Children in My Youth Group”. After listening to them, I find myself scratching my head and thinking are you serious? The first problem I have with “Would I Want My Own Children in My Youth Group” is that well, it’s not my youth group! The second problem is, why do they call youth group when it i should properly be called a ministry. That’s what Student/ Youth Ministry is, it’s one of the many ministries of the church to help guide, teach and assist parents and students spiritually. Student ministry allows us the opportunity to go along side our parents and help them by providing them with prayer, counseling and resources on raising their children spiritually.
To say that the problem with youth ministry or youth group is based on Judges 2:10-11 is so far out of context that it doesn’t make any sense. Saying that youth ministry is broken by using this scripure referrence as a “theological” conclusion is just crazy. How does a person even begin to relate these verses to youth ministry, when it is simply about the unfaithfulness of Israel. Sure, there are going to be unbelieving students in our ministries, but aren’t there also going to be unbelieving adults that come and listen to God’s Word weekly?
If people say that this is the reason why youth ministry is broken, well then, we are all broken because we are all unfaithful to God at times. That is why we are sinners who are in need of a Savior, that is why Jesus Christ came so that we could have life. Jesus never said that we will not have struggles or would be sinless once we become a follower of Him.
I will agree that some people have given youth ministry a bad name because of their neglect of God’s Word! But to say that ALL youth ministries are bad and not biblical, I have issues with those people!!!! Who are the Pharisees to tell me that youth ministry is not biblical, nor a calling? Jesus said “woe to you, you Paharisees” many times in his three year ministry because they were so concerned with what they thought was the Law when in fact they had no idea themselves!
As far as the “would I want my own child in my youth group” goes, the answer is YES. sure it’s a bit scary to think about my daughter, who is only 21 months old being in youth, but I look forward to having that experience with her in helping her grow spiritually as well as physically.