One of the blogs I read is that of MarkO, President of Youth Specialties and friend of yamia. Here is a cut and paste from his latest blog (www.ysmarko.com):

soul searching, a documentary. Starring: Christian Smith Director: Michael Eaton, Timothy Eaton.

christian smith is the director of the national study of youth and religion. he spent a dozen years as a sociology professor at unc chapel hill, and is now at notre dame. chris is widely regarded as one of the leading sociologists in the US (particularly in the area chris co-authored, with Melinda Lundquist Denton, the important, research-based book Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers.

the documentary is an excellent overview of the book (which is handy, since the book is really long!), and, as movies tend to do, adds faces and real life stories. the stories of real kids are so fantastic (and not all predictable and neat). i found myself teary in more than one spot, as the teens and youth workers in the film share with an amazing level of honesty.

smith and lundquist denton have added a phrase into the lexicon of youth ministry: moralistic therapeutic deism, the term they use to describe the faith system most widely adopted by teenagers in america, including those who are active in youth ministries. this is an unarticulated faith system that includes the notion that the goal of life is to be happy, that religion is about being good (and that good things happen to good people - kind of a karmic religion of sorts), and that god is distant, but willing to problem-solve for us when we have therapeutic or other needs. these ideas are unpacked in a way that’s really helpful in the film (but, of course, not with the depth the book covers).

one thing that really stood out to me was a minor bit in the film. they found, across various faiths (particularly conservative evangelicalism, mormonism, and judaism — religious streams with more clearly defined boundaries and behavioral codes), that students who attend church on a weekly basis, as opposed to something like twice a month, are strongly predictable to be less involved in various at-risk behaviors. in one sense, this isn’t surprising, but i found the difference between regular-but-not-weekly attenders and weekly attenders to be interesting.

i highly recommend this movie for all youth workers and parents. it would be a fantastic film to show for a youth ministry volunteer training session, or a parent meeting.

I wholeheartedly agree with Marko's assesment and I recommend this resource for all pastors, youth workers and youth leaders in AMiA.

Labels: Training

I think witnessing should be considered a spiritual discipline. This is something that has been bouncing around in my head lately and I think it should at least be considered. We think of prayer, fasting, study, works of service and corporate worship as spiritual disciplines because they help put you in a position of grace. Well, witnessing seems to do this for me.

When I first became a Christian I was all about evangelism. You could not shut me up. I wanted EVERYONE to know about this God who had revealed Himself to me and changed everything. This God who was everything I had been looking for.

Soon after, I was all about discipleship. This was a result of many things. Primarily:
1) I got a vision for Christian maturity. I read St Francis of Assisi and Mother Teresa etc...
2) I saw a disconnect between the NT presentation of Christian maturity and what was being lived out by Christians, especially the leaders and the "mature Christians" in my little experience.

Evangelism fell off the radar for me. Soon I completely lost my passion for it. I knew this...but I did not know what to do about it.

Things have been slowly changing for me on this front the last few years. Culminating, most recently, in Jamaica where I sent our group out to do street ministry a few times. I really got into this and it has really helped ignite my passion for evangelism. So...is witnessing a spiritual discipline?

Labels: Formation

Permission to slow down, simplify and seek. Permission to create space to cry out to God.

A prophetic AW Tozer wrote the following:
The simplicity which is in Christ is rarely found among us. In its stead are programs, methods, organizations and a world of nervous activities which occupy time and attention but can never satisfy the longing of the heart. The shallowness of our inner experience, the hollowness of our worship and that servile imitation of the world which marks our promotional methods all testify that we, in this day, know God only imperfectly, and the peace of God scarcely at all.

Sounds all too familiar:) Often times youth workers can feel like they have to push. They have to do more stuff. They have to press through incredible levels of anxiety and run a new program or implement a new idea and method in order to do the job.

And sometimes all we need is permission.

Permission to stop the craziness that is, if we are honest, killing us. We are separated from rest, from peace, from our families, friends and...worst of all...we are separated from our true selves. Have permission to slow down. To seek Him. To experience the transforming presence of the Lord.

Labels: Formation

Some stats I got from a friend (who in turn got them from Mark Driscoll) on ministers:

(please be seated...shocking stuff)
1) 1500 pastors leave the ministry each month.

Did you read that? Yipes. That is 18000 a year due to moral failure, spiritual burnout or contention in their churches.

2) 50% of pastors marriages will end in divorce.

3) 80% of pastors and 84% of their spouses fell unqualified and discouraged in their role as pastors.

4) 50% of pastors are so discouraged that they would leave the ministry if they could, but have no other way of making a living.

Ouch.

5) 80% of seminary and Bible school graduates who enter the ministry will leave the ministry within the first 5 years.

6) 70% of pastors constantly fight depression.

If any of these are you...or might be you if you continue on the way you are going. STOP!

Please stop! It is not God's desire for you to end up as one of these statistics.

Here are a few suggestions:

Listen to my podcast on "growing your soul while working with students"
Read "Celebration of Discipline" by Richard Foster...

Read my next blog on more ideas to help stop this.

Labels: Formation

I was perusing some blogs and I ran into this one at www.stuffchristianslike.blogspot.com

It is REALLY funny. Here is one of the posts that got me laughing (warning...only read if you were exposed to rap music in the 80's).

#171. Meticulously, Magnificently Making Multiple Messages Match (M)letters.

Most people don't know this, but I have a rare communication disorder.

Labels: humor

Sacraments are actually pretty cool. Here is some reasons why:

1) You can see them. Symbols speak to the heart.

2) They are matter. God likes matter, He became it. Jesus took mud and spit and healed a blind man. Paul's handkerchief...I could go on. The point is this...God can use matter to convey His grace.

3) They are not magic wands. This is especially important when it comes to a sacrament like baptism. Gotta have faith. Gotta repent. And if you were baptized as a child you gotta make it your own.

4) They are Biblical. Just ask Augustine, Luther, Calvin, Francis, Edwards...need I go on?

Now...how do we get kids to appreciate them...

1) They are mystery. It is fine not to have all the answers. We just know that God uses them and is present in them.

2) Share stories with them about God displaying His power through the sacraments.

3) Be creative in having them experience them. Nobody shows up a church and is a pro at liturgy. Change the form (not the faith) and put it in terms that they can understand...can experience...can revere.

Labels: sacraments

<----------------Another Church in Circle, Montana






The Lambeth Quadrilateral....(big words...what the heck does THAT mean?)

While engaging in ecumenical dialogue the Anglican Church came up with the following four points as distinctive of Anglicanism. Here they are:

1) Nicene Creed. We are down with it. So is the Church universal. She has been down with it for a long, long time. Are you?

2) Sacraments. We believe in two. Baptism and Communion. Baptism is not a "magic wand" and Communion is not "transubstantiation" to the Anglican. More on those in another post. Are you ok with God using matter to convey grace? I really do need to do a whole separate post for this topic don't I:)

3) Episcopacy. We follow an Episcopal form of Church government. Meaning, we have bishops. We do not have a pope though. We have what is called a Collegial Episcopacy. That is, they are all equal. This is a very ancient form of government and the most widely used form (episcopacy that is).

4) Word. God's Word in Scripture is it. It is the highest level of authority. Things like tradition and reason etc are subservient to it. God's Word is God-breathed and contains everything we need for a life of faith and morals.

There you have it...the Lambeth Quadri...whatever.

I will begin to address these sort of things with a more specific light on Youth Ministry in another installment.

Are you down with these? Or at least possibly down with these? Then we need to talk....I am serious...email me.

Labels: AMiA

One of many Churches in Circle, Montana------------------>






Or more specifically, why AMiA Youth Ministry?

I think, from time to time, I will discuss this issue. But I want to hit it from a more personal side. Meaning, from my perspective instead of a lecture AT folks as to why AMiA (or YAMiA in this case). I also want to hit this thing in snippets. I do not like long treatises and I suspect you don't either.

So let's start this off right...with some Scripture.


One of the reasons for unity is witness/evangelism/etc... I am not so sure it is a good thing that there are 30,000 protestant denominations. I have a feeling this hurts the witness (the above Scripture seems to paint that picture). What does it look like to a random person to drive down a local street and see 1st Baptist Church on the right, the Presby Church on the left, the AG church on the corner, the Bible Church on the other corner, the UMC Church behind that and so on and so forth? Is there a need for all of these churches? Is there a need for all these denominations? Why are they still split? Are the reasons they started still valid?

AMiA holds some answers for us. You can be reformed, Arminian, Anglo-Catholic, evangelical or even charismatic and you are still in the fold. Yes we have our foundational things one must assent to but most people in the churches I have listed above would have very little problem with any of them. Seriously....I have asked.

Do we desire to be a part of the answer? Do we desire to make a difference? Then we all need to honestly ask ourselves, in light of the current situation in protestantism, do we want to add another denomination or do we want to shrink the number? Do we want to embrace an ecclessiology (church government) that enables us to move forward towards a solution yet keep orthodoxy?

Let me share the Anglican Basics when it comes to this sort of ecumenical dialogue in my next post.

Labels: AMiA

The Lost Letters of Pergamum
by Longenecker

Ok, Ok...yes...this is a book written by a theologian! But that does not mean it is BORING! Yes, once and awhile a theologian writes a book that most of us can 1) understand and 2) actually sort of enjoy reading. This is one of those books.

This book is written as a series of letters between Luke (author of Luke and Acts) and a civil servant from the town of Pergamum. Each chapter is around 10 pages long so you can read it in snippets.

Here is why I recommend this book for youth workers...it gives GREAT insight into the world of those we read about in the Bible. You will walk away with a holistic world view challenge that is not based on some new fad but is, gasp, Biblical. You will have more of a heart for folks in a different socio and economic class than you, and, it will help you teach the kids this from a Biblical perspective!

The book has a few weaknesses (it is not great when it comes to identifying liturgical practices in the early church) but it is certainly more than worth the read.

Labels: Book Review

Here is the new Trend Report on teens...

http://www.nextgreatthing.com/wordpress/2008/04/11/our-new-trend-report-is-here/

Labels: Youth Culture

Is the title of a book. I like the idea.

Just got back from Buff Bay, Jamaica. There is about 37,000 people who have access to one doctor! Otherwise they have a 45 minute drive (no ambulance) to get to the next towns hospital. This is not good.

So, in response to this our team is now in the beginning stages of starting a hospital there. In addition, we are also starting a corporation that will build affordable 1 and 2 room pre-fab homes for the Buff Bay residents. Both projects are ambitious but tenable. WHAT AN AMAZING GOD WE SERVE!

Which leads me to my point/question.

While in Buff Bay we did some street ministry, our students led daily devotions at a school of 200 kids and preached and spoke to a quarter million people on a radio program. Sounds like a successful mission trip eh?

However, I do not think that equals a successful mission trip. I think that stuff makes me feel good but I am a bit skeptical about some of it...the street ministry part in particular. I know God's Word has power but apparently it is very common for Jamaicans to be "led to Christ". Mission Teams come back excited but the Jamaicans remain in the same state they were in. Why is this? What I have come to understand is that to lead a Jamaican in the sinners pray is great but to get them to commit to baptism is a whole different story.

Jamaicans tend to see baptism as a whole life commitment to Christ. A total break from the past and a true commitment to following Jesus as Lord and Savior (at least in Buff Bay). For them, this is conversion. So they will pray with you, tell you they are Christian and politely listen to you but to commit to baptism...that ain't happenin. For that you need a more holistic and long term plan that includes follow up etc...

That is why I am most excited about the community development part.. We have an opportunity to care for the whole person and help, by God's grace, to transform the culture of Buff Bay. Starting a faith based hospital...employing people in a new business that will love on folks by giving them affordable housing...supplying the local Christian school...now I am looking for someone who is called to start a church that can help follow up on all those who hear about and meet the Lord...Pray for all of this.

Now, what about here in America? I am wondering what we can do in our own communities...

Labels: Community Development, Mission Trips