Tag: Student Ministry

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Hardest job you'll ever undertake...

I've taken some time off work to be with Brooke and Jada, and during that time I've been thinking about how much I love what I get to do. A couple of things I observed about the student ministry world over last week:

1. If you care about results, feedback, encouragement, deliverables, follow through, etc., it seems to be one of the hardest jobs you could ever undertake. As much as those matter, they're not always present and if they are, the metrics aren't always so cut and dry...and they DEFINITELY don't tell the whole story.
2. It's too important to have quitters running the show.  Students have enough people walking in and out of their lives, failing them, leaving them high and dry when things get tough, misunderstanding them...they don't need spiritual mentors who are quitters...hang in there...it matters!
3. It requires more than just "liking students"...you have to "love students"...THEN "love them enough to help them see Christ clearly"...THEN "Love them enough to stick with them when they mess up, have tough questions, rebel, disobey, or even run from Christ".
4. It's worth the energy, time, & love!
5. If you're really into it, you'll do it wrong at some point because no blanket approach will work every time, but how you bounce back and disciple through it will bless the students who're watching you.
6. Lastly, IT'S THE GREATEST JOB ON THE PLANET! Besides parenting, what better job is out there than, year after year, raising up the generation who will take over the leadership of Christ's Bride one day!  Don't forget, students are 'the Church'...God's sent people!

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What do students need that we can't give them?

(Continuation of Youth Pastor Challenge week)

What do students need that we can't give them?

Sometimes in student ministry we can 'operate' as if we're all that a student needs and from time to time I have to ask myself what are the things I "can't" give them. I've found in our ministry that we may not overtly 'say' we can give them everything they need but we program, plan, & function as if there is no other voices in their lives that are stronger than ours regarding discipleship.  (It's completely untrue but sometimes our actions speak otherwise)  It's not intentional but sometimes it plays itself out that way. I also say that because very few student ministries have VIBRANT 'Partnering with Parents' area of their ministry.  We may 'communicate' with parents, we may invite them to a meeting, we may tell them 40 different ways that we 'support' them and 'care' about their role but I like to ask is "how are we ministering to families". I think a great question for us student min folks to ask is 'what can we do to leverage the voices of parents and peers in our ministry' . What are your thoughts/insights?

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Youth Pastors...

(Continuation of Youth Pastor Challenge week)

We must call students to a life "WE'RE" living as we follow Jesus.  Let's not fill this generation with "theory", let's show them how to live this! LIVE WELL.

If students know it's possible they're pursue it....if you're blowing smoke, they'll sniff it out and assume you don't believe what you're teaching. (This doesn't mean we're perfect, but it does mean we should live a life worthy of the calling of Jesus Christ)

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You THINK you get it but do you really?

(Continuation of Youth Pastor Challenge week) This is something I can chew on for a while.

"Sin ALWAYS takes you farther than you want to go, Sin ALWAYS keeps you longer than you want to stay and Sin ALWAYS costs you more than you want to pay" -Mark Beeson in our weekend service on Mother's Day weekend.

Two things about this thought:

1. This is one of those things, you THINK you understand but if that's the case why is that we find ourselves struggling with the same patterns of sin in our lives over and over again?
2. This rolls off the tongue nicely but that never produced life change in anyone has it?  What if we let amazing quotes/thoughts/sermons like this CHANGE US!

Question #2:  As a youth pastor who is constantly looking for ways to translate/communicate God's word to students, have I failed to daily let the Words of Christ deeply affect me.

If we fail to be affected by the Word when we hear it, what would make us think our students will live any different?

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Youth Pastors, what really matters is...

(Continuation of Youth Pastor Challenge week) (Warning: this might sound like a rant, but it's totally not, just offering some perspective about some things I've been processing...hope they're helpful and if you totally agree, that's cool.  Just leave a comment on help shed some light on this for me.) "What really matters is..."  I've been processing how to finish this statement for about a month now as we head in to summer season around GSM. We've just wrapped up a full years (we're on a school year calendar system) worth of teaching and in my opinion the only thing we have to show for it, is the lives our students are living RIGHT NOW.  Would you agree? Not how they were at a retreat, or how they were camp, or a service project, or even youth group.  Right now, wherever your students are as they read this is the living testament to how well you're doing in your ministry...or is it?

PERSONALLY, I love the thought that our measuring stick should NOT be "well we said", or "I told em", or "we did a series on that" or "we worshipped well", or "we had a lot of fun", or "a lot of people showed up"...you get the point...I love that our measuring stick is really HOW WELL CAN THEY APPLY THE TEACHING THAT WE PRESENTED TO THEM throughout the year.

And if any of those other things happened then awesome, but really if application of the word isn't your aim for this generation, it seems that you might be aiming at the wrong things. If that was your only measuring stick, how would you grade your ministry? If that was the only measuring stick you had as a church...what grade would your church get? If you were the only one taking the test that decided what grade your church would get...what would the grade be?

You see what I'm getting at yet?  The only thing that really matters in the end for us all, is APPLICATION of The Word of God!

So many times we judge our students because they're not living up to "our" hopes and dreams for their lives but I try to always ask myself...am I? Am I ultimately applying the Word of God to my life and asking the Holy Spirit to work in that and change me. It's not the Bible that changes us, it's the application of the Bible through the power of the Holy Spirit that changes us... And here on my blog this goes without saying, but for clarity I will say it: NONE of this is for the sake of legalism or "behavior management"...I could care less about managing students behavior (or even my own for that matter)...This is about having a fundamental shift of priorities, cares, desires in our hearts so that we want what God wants thus naturally causing our actions/behaviors falls in line with that....SO THAT THROUGH OUR LIVES GOD CAN ADVANCE HIS KINGDOM.

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Open question to Youth Pastors

(Continuation of Youth Pastor Challenge week)

What are you doing to help your students apply your teachings?

This isn't a rhetorical question, I'd really love to know so if you get a second leave a comment. I'll explain later in the week where this question comes from and why I could use your help.

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Opening Day: Youth Pastor Challenge Week

This week on CurryStew.org I'll be posting some of challenging questions and thoughts that I ask myself on a regular basis that help me stay centered  as I allow God to use my life to advance His kingdom. Every day there will be at least one post dedicated to this challenge week. What could you do with it?

1. Take the thought and chew on it
2. Comment to leave your thoughts feedback or disagreements,
3. Comment and offer insights or other questions
4. Comment and leave a leadership question you ask yourself as a leader that might be helpful to all the readers!

If you're in...buckle up, get ready to leave comments, and enjoy this first challenge question.

Why are you REALLY doing student ministry?

I find that there are lots of reasons people do student ministry...some valid...some absolute horrible...but for me, asking myself this questions helps me get down to the core of why I'm doing what I'm doing and it's a great question for someone wired up like me to keep coming back to. Try not to give the "church" answer like all of our students do sometimes..."isn't the answer always Jesus?" haha Think about it your motives, where you heart is when you show up to work every day.  How do you respond when "extra" or "more" is required?  Do you really care what happens to your students when they go to college?

Again, why are you REALLY doing student ministry?  If your motives aren't in the right place, what steps should you take?

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Peer pressure shouldn't...

Loved these thoughts from The Center for Youth/Parent Understanding on understanding peer pressure.  These are great for parents AND youth workers!

The article gave these two point:

"First, recognize that negative peer pressure reaches its greatest intensity during the adolescent years.  Second, recognize that the nature of negative peer pressure has changed since we were teens."

Then article finished with this:

"peer pressure shouldn’t lead us to wave the white flag of surrender. Instead, it should motivate us to do all we can to encourage and equip our kids to stand firm in the midst of their pressure-filled lives. Here’s a checklist—certainly not exhaustive—of strategies you can use to do that: • Realize that negative peer pressure is a spiritual battle that all of us will fight constantly. Like the apostle Paul, we will find ourselves baffled by our behavior (Romans 7:15-24). But like Paul, we can see the way out of our struggle with sin through Jesus Christ (Romans 7:25). • We must pray, pray and continue to pray for our kids in the midst of pressure so intense that it can leave parents and teens feeling helpless and hopeless. • We should examine ourselves and our lifestyles to see how our example teaches them to handle negative peer pressure. Ask yourself, “How am I giving into peer pressure in my life?” • We should model a lifestyle of discipleship and, by doing so, show our kids that following Christ is not always the easy choice but is always the right choice. • Actively help your children realize their value and worth in God’s eyes so that they are less prone to seek their satisfaction by conforming to the images of the world. Kids who have not been reminded of their worth will oftentimes seek to be affirmed by finding their worth in the eyes of their peers. • Get your kids involved in a positive peer group—perhaps a strong church youth group—where following the narrow path that leads to life is celebrated and affirmed by both leaders and students alike. • Help your kids to understand the truth of Proverbs 13:20—that for better or for worse, friends always do influence friends. • Realize that the kids you know and love are in process. In other words, don’t expect them to go from where they are in their spiritual maturity to the level of spiritual maturity they should be at instantaneously. I need to be reminded of this all the time. As a Dad, I like to make my pronouncement and then see my kids embrace it as their own … gratefully and immediately. Then, I remember that my spiritual life’s been a process. Still, our expectations for them and for ourselves should reflect God’s standards. • Finally, be a person of grace. When he was living, Christian psychologist John White spoke and wrote about the pain of raising a rebellious son who was more concerned about following the crowd than following Christ. His book Parents In Pain was written to parents who were going through the same agony with their kids. I remember hearing White say that the one rule he always had to remind himself of as he dealt with his son, was this: “As Christ is to me, so I must I be to my children.” It’s a reminder that’s humbled and served me well over the years. While negative peer pressure is sure to be a part of the world of today’s children and teens, your conscious recognition of the role you continue to play in their lives as they pass through the adolescent years can go a long way in teaching them how to respond to the pressure as ones who image the “colors” of the way and will of their Creator, rather than the “colors” of their peer environment."

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Great Reminder from Kara Powell

Scrapping through my email I got this great reminder from Kara Powell over at Fuller Leadership Institute. She wrote:

"Recently I’ve been thinking about how much of a leader’s energy goes into 30% of the people in their community.  For a youth worker, that means you’re investing lots of energy into the 15% of your kids who are doing super great and the 15% of your kids who are really struggling. But what about that middle 70%?  Who’s investing in them?  They aren’t as high maintenance or shiny as the other 30% but they’re probably the majority of your kids. Maybe it’s time to look down the list of your kids and ask questions about each kid:

1. How is this kid doing in their journey with God?
2. How could our ministry help this kid move a bit forward?
3. What adult(s) are investing in this kid?

Let’s not ignore the vast middle…"

Loved this and I think putting feet to this and making it walk is the key.  I think everyone would agree with the post but the challenge is making this happen.

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Wisdom on 'commitment' from Kurt Johnston

Found this in my Leadership folder in my Evernote stuff and wanted to pass these thoughts along in case you haven't seen them.  It's from Kurt Johnston, who by the way is A LOT shorter in person than you may think from the Simply Jr. High Podcast he does, but great thoughts none the less. Sorry Kurt, had to let the world know. (and by 'the world' i mean the people who read this blog. ha) He said:

“We have a silly little saying that we use a lot: ‘Be committed to what you have committed to’. Instead of pressuring our leaders to over-commit, we ask them to prayerfully consider where they want to plug in and to do their best to stay faithful to that area. Our commitment to them is that we won’t constantly press them for more.”  How do you feel about your volunteers’ level of commitment?  How might the way you “press them for more” affect their ability to live up to what they’ve already committed to?