05.21.13

Posted on May 21, 2013 by StudentCBS

Top 3 (really 6) Leadership Mistakes by Josh Griffin & Kurt Johnston

http://www.youthministry.com/articles/leadership/top-3-leadership-mistakes

KURT – We’ve all been told that it is a wise person who can learn from his/her mistakes. I’ll take that one step further: The wisest of people are those who can learn from the mistakes of others. Because we want you to be the wisest of youth workers, over the next two days Josh and I will each share 3 of the biggest leadership mistakes we’ve made. I’ll kick things off:

Being A Ministry Hoarder   For much of my ministry career (and even now on occasion), I have thought everything hinged on me. I had to teach in order to ensure good teaching. I had to run camp in order to ensure a good camp. I had to train the volunteers in order to ensure good volunteers. In short, I hoarded ministry thinking it was helping, when it was actually doing long-term damage.

Being Unclear With My Expectations   When I finally started empowering others and giving ministry away, I gave it away…but without proper direction, support, and input. I figured, “Hey, if I know how to do ministry stuff then he/she should, too.” I got so excited by my newfound ability to share ministry that I would often give ministry away, and promptly move onto something else, never giving another thought to what I just dropped on somebody else’s plate.

Allowing The Youth Ministry To Be A Silo   What for years I thought was the right way to do youth ministry—in a segregated, away-from-the-rest-of-the-church manner—was actually the biggest mistake I’ve made in my career. Certainly there is a need for age-specific ministry, and I believe 100% in the concept of a church-based youth ministry. But when we allow our ministry, and the students within it, to become a silo standing completely separate from the rest of the church, we do harm to the long-term spiritual health of our students, the churches we care so much about, and ultimately, the kingdom.

The truth is this: I’ve made at least 3 leadership blunders today. Part of growing as a leader is making mistakes.

Continue reading →

05.21.13

Posted on May 21, 2013 by StudentCBS

Guarded Heart: Four Keys to Keeping Focus by Bob Krulish

http://www.youthministry.com/articles/leadership/guarded-heart-four-keys-keeping-focus

That’s a wise and wonderful piece of biblical advice, but how do you guard your heart? Being in vocational ministry and maintaining devotion to Christ is tricky. The lines often bleed over between the two. It’s easy to presume our service IS relationship with Christ. Oswald Chambers said, “Beware of anything that competes with your loyalty to Jesus Christ. The greatest competitor of true devotion to Jesus is the service we do for him.” True service, the kind that can have a lasting effect, must come from our personal devotion to Jesus.

There are a lot of voices in youth ministry: Your own, wanting to provide a healthy, rich environment for students to encounter Christ—and, just for full disclosure, your voice of pride, wanting to look good and be successful. In addition, you’ve got parents’ expectations, volunteer leader expectations, the pastor and church’s expectations, the expectations of your family…all different voices, and that’s just to name a few! These can all be very loud and demanding. So what do we do?

What I want to share isn’t new. But maybe it will encourage, help refocus, or embolden you.

First Things First

It’s a way of thinking. “For as he thinks in his heart, so ishe” (Proverbs 23:7). How do we think about ministry? I ask our youth staff this question: “What’s the main targetof your ministry? What’s the main focus?” The answer is invariably “teenagers.” Is it a trick question? No. Not really, anyway. If we asked Jesus what the main focus of his ministry was, he wouldn’t have answered “mankind.” In fact, he did answer: “…it is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work” (John 4:34), and later in John 5:19 “…the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.” He himselfis the goal. He’s our first target—NOT teenagers or mankind.

Second Things Second

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05.21.13

Posted on May 21, 2013 by StudentCBS

Spiritual Journey of Millennials by Barna

I have only included a segment of the original article. For the complete article click here.

Bright Spots, Opportunities to Learn 

Despite the millions of twentysomethings who are conflicted with Christianity and churches, there is still some good news for the future of the American church. That’s because there are millions of Millennial Christians who are concerned for the future of their faith, have a strong desire to connect to the traditions of the church and feel a sense of excitement about church involvement. More than four out of ten Millennials with a Christian background (42%) say they are very concerned about their generation leaving the church, and a similar number (41%) say they desire “a more traditional faith, rather than a hip version of Christianity.” And nearly one-third of young adults with a Christian past say they are “more excited about church than any time in my life.”

While these engaged young adults are good reasons not to despair over the future of American Christianity, the trend of disengagement provides a sobering backdrop. The reality is that more than one-third of Millennials who grew up in the Christian faith say they went through a period when they felt like rejecting their parents’ faith. How they deal with such struggles often defines their spiritual trajectory. They can be the people reconnecting with a vital faith; they can be nomads, claiming vestiges of their previous faith while mostly rejecting the church that fostered that faith; they can be prodigals, leaving Christianity in the rearview mirror; or they can be exiles, struggling to connect their Christianity in a complex, accelerated culture.

Getting a Handle on Millennials 

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05.21.13

Posted on May 21, 2013 by StudentCBS

Infographic on The Epidemic of Cyber Bullying

http://www.youthministrymedia.ca/blog/the-epidemic-of-cyber-bullying-infographic/

Here are a few things that stand out to me:

1. 97% of middle schoolers have been bullied online. This makes we so sad for a whole generation of awesome young people who are getting put down online. Recently, a fight broke out on a youth group night. It was an explosion of emotions, and in the end it all was about bullying. The student in my youth ministry said, that his “friend” keeps calling him a “faggot”. That night this guy lost it, and decided to give it to the bully.

If all of your students have been bullied at some point, what are we doing to teach and model a Christ like life.

2. 15% of parents are “in the know” about their child’s online presence. This is where we need to help. This is where we have failed, and will continue to fail if we don’t partner with parents more in youth ministry. Parents need to know what is going on, and how their child’s social relationships are actually effecting them personally. I think a ton of parents are completely oblivious until it is too late.

05.14.13

Posted on May 14, 2013 by StudentCBS

Keeping A Small Group “Dialed In” by Heather Johnson

https://youthministry360.com/blog/youth-ministry-essentials-keeping-a-small-group-dialed-in?utm_source=youthministry360+Newsletter&utm_campaign=36b9d6a6f7-ym360-NL-Vol108A-05-14-13&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_734fc3e586-36b9d6a6f7-321825197

What are some key approaches for us youth workers to keep your group “dialed in”?

The following suggestions are by no means the only answer, but simply a few of the principles that have helped me rein a group back in.

1. PRAY, PRAY, PRAY

Never quit praying for your group. So simple, but so effective. My opinion is the more spiritually prepared you are to meet, the more able you will be ready to handle their inattentiveness.

2. BALANCE KINDESS AND DISCIPLINE

It’s important to have discernment in knowing when to crack down on students and when to exercise patience. This can be a tricky balance. But as you get to know your group, you’ll have a better understanding of where this line is.

3. HAVE A STRUCTURE

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05.14.13

Posted on May 14, 2013 by StudentCBS

Why Failure Is OK In Discipleship by Andy Blanks

https://youthministry360.com/blog/why-embracing-failure-is-the-key-to-discipleship?utm_source=youthministry360+Newsletter&utm_campaign=36b9d6a6f7-ym360-NL-Vol108A-05-14-13&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_734fc3e586-36b9d6a6f7-321825197

As I think about the role we play in helping teenagers become followers of Christ, I like to envision a picture of us walking with students on their journey. I intentionally didn’t say our role was to “lead” students in discipleship. Here’s why:

The biblical model of discipleship is grounded in relationship. And if our relationship with students is a real relationship, we won’t always be out front.

As someone who plays a meaningful role in students’ spiritual development, you must engage in real relationship with students if you have any hope to play a role in their discipleship. And this relational aspect of discipleship will dictate the assumption of different roles in the discipleship process.

Continue reading →

05.14.13

Posted on May 14, 2013 by StudentCBS

The Biggest Barrier To Students Living Out Their Faith by Andy Blanks (blog post originally posted in 2011 but is a good reminder!)

https://youthministry360.com/blog/the-biggest-barrier-to-students-living-out-their-faith

Do you find yourself desiring that your students were making a bigger impact for God and His Kingdom? I would guess that at least on some level, this is true for all of us. So . . . why aren’t they? Why aren’t your students living more bold and dynamic faith-lives? I have an idea. I believe the main reason students don’t live as powerfully as they could can be boiled down to one simple concept . . .

Image.

I think in the current culture our students are growing up in, image rules in a way it has never before. I see most students obsessed with their image. They want people to think they have it all together. That they are completely cool and in control. That they’re perfectly communicating a persona using the right words and expressions (i.e., the words and expressions their friends use). It’s WAY more than how they look. Some days it seems like they engage in image control on the level of a professional PR firm!

Continue reading →

05.14.13

Posted on May 14, 2013 by StudentCBS

Infographic on The Hyperconnected Teenager

http://www.youthministrymedia.ca/blog/the-hyperconnected-teenager-infographic/

Here is our weekly infographic. Do you feel over connected today? The reality is that we are. We are living in a hyperconnected culture. Every teenager I work with has a smart phone with multiple social media apps. They are constantly connected. This can be a great thing, but it can also be a disaster. This infographic looks at both sides.

Here are a few things that stood out:

1. The risk of losing face to face communication. I think this is one of the biggest threats today for our culture. Social media is a tool that helps build on the face to face communicate, not replace it. Teens today are replacing relationships for digital ones. They are similar, but face to face communication is critical and crucial in a church/youth group setting.

2. 95% of teen have access to the internet, and 74% have access to internet through a mobile device. Youth pastors need to be navigators of the digital world. Bible schools need to start developing online marking courses for youth pastors to learn professional communicate techniques. We need to be online, and we need to develop a online presence in your community.

05.07.13

Posted on May 7, 2013 by StudentCBS

Are Christians More Like Jesus Or More Like The Pharisees? by Barna

For complete article click here.

What the Findings Mean
Kinnaman has spent more than five years presenting to Christian leaders about the perceptions of Christians, based upon his bestselling book unChristian. “In the research for that book project, our team discovered that 84% of young non-Christians say they know a Christian personally, yet only 15% say the lifestyles of those believers are noticeably different in a good way. This new study helps to explain that gap. It is not surprising that believers miss the mark in terms of representing Jesus, because transformation in Christ is so difficult and so rare. In particular, evangelicals seem to know the right way to behave, but they often admit to harboring sanctimonious motives.

“Many Christians are more concerned with what they call unrighteousness than they are with self-righteousness. It’s a lot easier to point fingers at how the culture is immoral than it is to confront Christians in their comfortable spiritual patterns. Perhaps pastors and teachers might take another look at how and what they communicate. Do people somehow get the message that the ‘right action’ is more important than the ‘right attitude’? Do church leaders have a tendency to focus more on tangible results, like actions, because those are easier to see and measure than attitudes?

“Finally, the question of authentic faith—is a particularly sore topic for many Millennials—who are often leaving church due in large part to the hypocrisy they experience. Again, no research is a perfect measure, but this study points out a sobering possibility: that the perception so many young people have of Christians contains more than a kernel of truth. Just as the New Testament writer Paul demonstrates in Galatians 2:11-16, the responsibility of the Christian community is to challenge hypocrisy just as boldly as other kinds of sin.“

05.07.13

Posted on May 7, 2013 by StudentCBS

10 Things for Boys to Keep in Mind About Dating

http://www.allprodad.com/top10/miscellaneous/10-things-for-boys-to-keep-in-mind-about-dating/

When are you ready to date or have a girlfriend? Dating requires a level of maturity and sacrifice that develops over time. Just because you are attracted to someone or like they’re attention is not a strong foundation on which to begin a relationship. Here are some tips to keep in mind:

Date for the right reasons. Don’t do it to be cool or because other people are. Don’t be pressured into dating because of expectations, including from your parents. A lot of guys don’t date much or at all in high school, and that’s fine. Often, guys who begin dating at a later age have better experiences with girls and girlfriends and healthier relationships because they have developed more maturity and self-assurance than they had at a younger age.
Show extra-good manners around girls. Show signs of courtesy as a young man. Holding the door for her and walking her to her car at night are thoughtful things to do.
Speak respectfully of all girls. If you develop a reputation for treating any girl poorly or saying inappropriate things about even one girl, we can almost assure you that many girls will hear about it. And this may hurt your chances of many girls wanting to be your friend or date you. The reputation you have among girls is important. Continue reading →