| Living THE Cause in College |
From Dare 2 Share Ministries International on Wednesday, April 10, 2013 @ 6:57 PM PST
in the "Blog" Category.
In this great video from our friends at Grace Church in Eden Prairie Shayne Mullaney shares how God used Dare 2 Share to prepare her to share her faith in college. She is now living THE Cause at The University of Minnesota as part of the basketball team. May her story inspire you to keep living THE Cause of Christ where God has planted you!
What school are you living THE Cause out at? |
| What My Own Kids Taught Me About Youth Ministry Discipleship |
From YouthWorkTalk.com on Wednesday, April 10, 2013 @ 5:01 AM PST
in the "Blog" Category.
I used to think I knew something about discipleship. It was about pouring into students who were walking with Christ, and helping them grow. Sure I would teach them to read the Bible, what church is all about, have a "Quiet Time," you know the regular stuff you teach someone about what you do when [...]You just finished reading What My Own Kids Taught Me About Youth Ministry Discipleship! |
| Frequently Asked Questions (Kurt) |
From YouthMinistry.com on Wednesday, April 10, 2013 @ 2:02 AM PST
in the "Blog" Category.
This week we're taking on the top 3 questions that we get in our ministry, and today I (Kurt) am here with mine.
Here are my Top 3 very frequently asked questions:
1. Do I Need A Sweet Youth Facility?
Let me say this as clearly as possible: NO. In almost every community there is a church that seems to have an awesome youth room/facility/center/complex/fortress, and the temptation for the rest of the youth worker nation is to think, "Gosh, if we had a facility like that we could really do some great ministry!" Great ministry has almost nothing to do with where that ministry takes place. We have a fantastic youth facility, but it isn't a crucial part of our ministry strategy.
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2. What Roles Do Your Volunteers Play?
We have an amazing team of volunteers, and they play a wide variety of roles, but the vast majority serve on the weekend team or as small group leaders. Here are three ideas to maximize your volunteers:
1. Have clearly defined roles and needs for them to play….
2. but let them serve according to their gifts, not your needs…
3. and be an ongoing source of coaching and encouragement.read more |
| Topics for youth sermons: Who the Man?Jephthah! |
From Youth Leaders Academy on Wednesday, April 10, 2013 @ 1:01 AM PST
in the "Blog" Category.
Jephthah is a biblical figure who's not so well known, especially amongst students. There's a lot to learn from his successes and failures however, which is why he's a good topic for a youth sermon. Interested in more sermons for youth? Check out our Topics for Youth Sermons page! Bible passage: Judges 12:1-6 Key message: [...]You just finished reading Topics for youth sermons: Who the Man?Jephthah!! Have you subscribed to our free biweekly newsletter yet? |
| The Future Depends On It! |
From YouthMinistry.com on Tuesday, April 9, 2013 @ 6:30 PM PST
in the "Blog" Category.
If you've been in youth ministry (or church) for even a short length of time, you've probably heard someone say something like, "Our youth are the future of the church," and/or "Our youth are the church today." The truth is that both are accurate. Yes, teens are part of the church today, but they will also be those who help lead the church in the future. They will also be the teachers, police officers, construction workers, politicians, and doctors of the future. I've shared all of that to ask you this: What are the consequences that our future will face if the young guys of today do not grow up to be MEN? What kind of fathers will they be? What kind of leaders will they be? Simply, what kind of people will they be?
Guys need to know what it means to be a man. Sadly, there seems to be a smaller number of examples for them to look up to. Whether it's the lack of Christian men in the church, or a non-Christian father, or simply no father at home—guys are coming to their own conclusions based on what they are seeing, hearing, and experiencing. At almost any moment you could turn on the television and conclude that you are a man if you're with enough women, look right, have fame, success, money and live by your own rules. It's vital that we help guys today to know that being a man is more than that!
I've heard guys say that Christians seem like weak, wimpy cowards and hypocrites who don't seem to have any fun. If this were true, then OF COURSE guys don't want to be part of that. But it's not true; they just haven't seen the truth yet. We've got to help them discover the truth—that's our roles as Christians and leaders. That's why Jeffery Wallace, Matty McCage, and I got together and created a book called 99 Things Every Guy Should Know, and our goal is to help young guys know what it looks like to be a REAL MAN. It's designed to be an easy, engaging read that is applicable and relevant to their lives. This is a great resource to help equip guys to become the men God has called them to be. The future depends on it! |
| The Highway to Hell (a guest post) |
From Dare 2 Share Ministries International on Tuesday, April 9, 2013 @ 1:20 PM PST
in the "Blog" Category.
This guest post is from my good friend and spiritual mentor, Jonathan Smith. I met Jonathan when he was the head of the theology department at Colorado Christian University (then Western Bible College) and I was a student. Jonathan is one of a handful of men who poured into my life so deeply that it made a permanent impact in how I do both life and ministry.
Hell is a thought provoking subject and Jonathan is a thought provoking teacher. With this in mind I hope this article stretches your thinking and solidifies your theology when it comes to the sobering and challenging subject of hell. My prayer is that you get a resurgence of urgency in your evangelistic efforts as a result of reading this article from my mentor and friend.
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"Go to hell!" One person has often been heard saying these harsh words to another in the heat of an argument. The speaker may not even believe that there is a hell. Yet the Bible reveals that hell is a real place and that many, perhaps millions, will be there in overwhelming pain forever and ever.
But what causes a person to go to hell when they die? What is it that is so heinous that it will cause a person to be cast into the torment of hell forever?
Would lying do it? What about sexual sins? Surely murder of another human being would qualify! "Surely Hitler went to hell," many people would affirm. They are shocked by the millions of people killed by the ruthless German dictator during his brief lifetime. No doubt most people have a point at which they would say another person would go to hell because of all their evil deeds.
Lying can be mild to severe. Abraham lied about his wife on two different occasions. His lies were severe, putting Sarah in a position where she could be sexually involved with two powerful men. However, we are assured from Scripture that Abraham is in heaven. Thus, lying is not enough to condemn one to hell forever.
Sexual sins are much more serious. Perhaps they meet the requirement to be judged in hell forever. David had sexual relations, not with some woman off the street, but with a woman married to one of his soldiers. This was bad enough, but then David committed an even greater sin and had his sexual partner's husband murdered. Will these evil deeds of the King of Israel assure that his eternity will be spent in hell? No, for when we study the Bible we see that not only is David in heaven, but he will have a place of leadership in God's future plans.
The Word of God makes it evident that lying, sexual sins, or even murder are not reason enough to cause a person to suffer horrible pain forever separated from God in hell. Certainly God hates these and all other sins, but they are not the basis on which he condemns someone to hell.
Is Hitler in hell because he killed twenty people? Maybe a thousand or millions? Most people believe that even God has a "red line." Cross it, and you are zapped forever. I, too, believe that God has a "red line." But what is God's "red line"? Let's let God speak for Himself.
"Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever
does not believe stands condemned already because he has
not believed in the name of God's one and only Son."
- John 3:18
We could say that God has two "red lines." The one who believes in God's Son crosses the first "red line" and receives eternal life. They are not, nor will they ever be, condemned.
However, the second "red line" is crossed when one does not believe in God's One and Only Son. This person stands condemned because of not believing, and perishes.
Thus, one goes to heaven by faith in God's Son who died in his/her place. Hopefully, thousands upon thousands of good works will follow in the wake of faith. However, these good works are not to help faith along or to prove that this faith is genuine. Rather, they are a way of saying "Thanks" to God for His undeserved gift of salvation.
The harder part for most to accept is the Biblical fact that people go to hell because they have not believed in God's Son who died for them. Unfortunately, thousands upon thousands of evil works will follow in the wake of unbelief, but it is not these works, but unbelief, that is the condemning factor.
Do we get it? One goes to heaven by belief in God's One and Only Son who died in his/her place. One goes to hell by unbelief in God's One and Only Son who died in his/her place. Unbelief is the one sin that condemns one to hell forever. Unbelief is basically calling God a liar about His Son's death for sinners, so that is the condemning sin.
Think of it! You need not go to hell if you believe what God says about the Son He loves and who loves you. Believing in Him will place you in His presence for eternity!
Jonathan S. Smith |
| Grieving With Our Friends at Saddleback |
From YouthMinistry.com on Tuesday, April 9, 2013 @ 8:20 AM PST
in the "Blog" Category.
Editor's Note: Here at Group/Simply Youth Ministry, our team has many long and intimate ties to the Saddleback Church community. Today we're grieving with, and praying for, that family after the sudden loss of Rick and Kay Warren's son Matthew to suicide. Please pray with us, that God's mercy and grace and courage would wash over the Warrens and their grieving congregation. Here is an article from CNN.com that offers details.
Rick Warren's Son Lost In 'Wave of Despair'
By Alan Duke , CNN
Los Angeles (CNN)—The weekend's sermon at Saddleback Church was "Surviving Tough Times," a theme Pastor Rick Warren planned before his youngest son killed himselfwith a gun Friday.
Matthew Warren, 27, committed suicide "in a momentary wave of despair" at the end of a lifetime struggle "with mental illness, dark holes of depression and even suicidal thoughts," the pastor wrote to the staff of his Southern California megachurch.
"Matthew was an incredibly kind, gentle and compassionate young man whose sweet spirit was encouragement and comfort to many," a statement from the church said. "Unfortunately, he also suffered from mental illness resulting in deep depression and suicidal thoughts. Despite the best health care available, this was an illness that was never fully controlled, and the emotional pain resulted in his decision to take his life."
Friend Mike Constantz told CNN he had a "playful spirit."
"There are the days where he was just this bubbly, outgoing, effervescent, reaching out to people," Constantz said. "And there were the days where he just didn't want to be around people. Just the pain, the excruciating pain, was just too much."
Worship services continued as scheduled Saturday and Sunday with Warren's brother-in-law Tom Holladay—an assistant pastor for the Orange County, California, congregation—filling in for Warren. Warren asked Holladay to take over when he became ill with pneumonia after a busy Easter weekend schedule, before his son's sudden death, spokeswoman Anne Krumm said.
"Bad days make good ones better," Warren's invitation to Saturday's service said on the church's Facebook page
"It's a message on what to do on the worst day of your life," Holladay said in Saturday's sermon. "So even before Rick knew what they would be facing at the end of the week, he was thinking this is what we need to hear. And it is what we need to hear."
Matthew, the youngest of Warren's children, worked at the Saddleback Resources Warehouse, which distributes books and DVDs and was "an important part of the church but played a quiet role," Krumm said.
"After a fun evening together with Kay and me, in a momentary wave of despair at his home, he took his life," Pastor Warren wrote in an e-mail to his staff Saturday.
He was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound at his home in Mission Viejo, California, late Friday afternoon, the Orange County Coroner said. The autopsy completed Monday put the time of death at around 10 a.m. Friday.
As a pioneer of the megachurch movement, Rick Warren looked to translate traditional evangelical messages to a wider audience.
Warren, who founded Saddleback with his wife 33 years ago, gave the invocation at President Barack Obama's 2009 inauguration and penned The Purpose-Driven Life, a Christian self-help guide that became a mainstream best-seller.
Rick Warren's E-Mail
Subject: Needing your prayers
To my dear staff,
Over the past 33 years we've been together through every kind of crisis. Kay and I've been privileged to hold your hands as you faced a crisis or loss, stand with you at gravesides, and prayed for you when ill. Today, we need your prayer for us.
No words can express the anguished grief we feel right now. Our youngest son, Matthew, age 27, and a lifelong member of Saddleback, died today.
You who watched Matthew grow up knew he was an incredibly kind, gentle, and compassionate man. He had a brilliant intellect and a gift for sensing who was most in pain or most uncomfortable in a room. He'd then make a bee-line to that person to engage and encourage them.
But only those closest knew that he struggled from birth with mental illness, dark holes of depression, and even suicidal thoughts. In spite of America's best doctors, meds, counselors, and prayers for healing, the torture of mental illness never subsided. Today, after a fun evening together with Kay and me, in a momentary wave of despair at his home, he took his life.
Kay and I often marveled at his courage to keep moving in spite of relentless pain. I'll never forget how, many years ago, after another approach had failed to give relief, Matthew said "Dad, I know I'm going to heaven. Why can't I just die and end this pain?" but he kept going for another decade.
Thank you for your love and prayers. We love you back.
Pastor Rick
CNN's Nick Valenica and Lindy Hall contributed to this report.
http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/07/us/matthew-warren-suicide/index.html?hpt=hp_t5 |
| Youth Ministry Discipleship is More Than Filling in the Blanks |
From YouthWorkTalk.com on Tuesday, April 9, 2013 @ 5:01 AM PST
in the "Blog" Category.
Discipleship = learning to live the life of a Christ-follower. It's one definition and definitely not the only one. But if we're using this as a working definition for training up the next generation of faith-walkers, then we must assess HOW we're doing that. Looking at modern day youth ministry distresses me. We're sitting students [...]You just finished reading Youth Ministry Discipleship is More Than Filling in the Blanks! |
| What the Royal Navy can teach you about leadership |
From Youth Leaders Academy on Tuesday, April 9, 2013 @ 2:41 AM PST
in the "Blog" Category.
Being Dutch, I have mixed feelings on the British Royal Navy as it has kicked 'our' behind in several wars centuries ago. But there's no denying the glorious past of the Royal Navy and I love watching TV Series like the brilliant Horatio Hornblower (which are based on the slightly less accessible series of Hornblower [...]You just finished reading What the Royal Navy can teach you about leadership! Have you subscribed to our free biweekly newsletter yet? |
| Frequently Asked Questions (Josh) |
From YouthMinistry.com on Tuesday, April 9, 2013 @ 2:02 AM PST
in the "Blog" Category.
This week we're going to take on the top 3 questions that we get when people come to visit our youth ministry. You'll get mine (Josh) today and Kurt's tomorrow. Here are 3 very frequently asked questions:
How can I start a youth ministry internship at my church?
We are very blessed to have some really incredible interns at our church and a program that doesn't cost the church a ton of money that produces some pretty amazing youth workers. If you want to start one, you've got to answer some very basic but fundamental questions about the program:
•Will we pay the interns?
•Where are they going to live/eat/office?
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•What is the duration of the program?
•What are we hoping to accomplish in both them and in our ministry?
If you can answer those basic questions, you are off to a great start! For starters, I would pay the interns a very small stipend, if possible, to help cover gas and a couple meals, and keep the duration short like a summer term. Map out the basics of what they will be doing and how you want to shape them and you're well on your way.
While I don't have space for much more, for extra credit here's a roadmap of where to go next:
•Look for margin where you can add managing interns to your regular workweek. The last thing interns need is an absent leader!
•Create a required reading list during the internship.
•Schedule a few times for them to interact with key leaders in the church.
•As you plan their development, consider having them observe, follow then lead an event, youth service and volunteer from application to placement.read more |
| Finally .... The Gman has come back ... |
From Deep Thoughts by Gman on Monday, April 8, 2013 @ 9:26 AM PST
in the "Blog" Category.
It has been a decade in the making. After ministries in NC and MD ... The Fess Family has come back to the Central Virginia area. In the Richmond area. From Canada to college to a youth ministry in Ohio, Seminary in Indiana and from 1999 - 2003 I was in Mechanicsville, VA. Now we have returned - a different ministry and role but feels alot like home. In the words of the late great Mike Yaconelli: "what a Ride!"
The last 6 mths have been challenging, humbling, forgiving, grace filled, and hopeful. We had a great church ministering to us - through Grace Community Christian in Frederick. We had sister churches praying, helping, and encouraging ... Ringgold and Church of the Greater Valley. We had my former ministries (Liberty, Corner House) and my home church ...helping in the transition - through prayer and financially. And we had God provide when times were tough through the great people at CCHMD. God has been good. Family supportive, and God in it all. The great thing is HE isn't done yet.
We had a surprise send off luncheon in Hagerstown. We had moved to Richmond just over a week ago.
The process was long and was wondering what God was doing. I had worked with an insurance place ...interviewed everywhere. God closed doors in Indiana and Michigan. It came down to three places: A Church near Elkhorn Camp in Ohio (where preacher was for over 30yrs), a possible church plant in Canada (work in Toronto then goto NB) (This was still in the talking stages) and the church in Virginia. (Where Valerie's fmaily is near and her grandfather use to be an elder at). So God lead us here ... it has been exciting .... SAD to leave MD but a new start and new opportunities. Keep us in your prayers.
The Video is of the Rock saying Finally ...He has come back ...
http://feeds.feedburner.com/blogspot/ZioO |
| Your teens can multiply disciples too! |
From Dare 2 Share Ministries International on Monday, April 8, 2013 @ 7:10 AM PST
in the "Blog" Category.
This powerful story is from Pete Green's youth group. Pete brought a handful of teens to Lead THE Cause University last summer and God did some amazing things as a result. The video you're about to watch was recorded at the Dare 2 Share Conference in DC (about 6 months after Lead THE Cause University and shows the power and potential of teens making disciples who make disciples.
What would it take to multiply this multiplication effort in your youth ministry? |
| Easter Egg Hunt – HOW TO |
From Building Leaders of Tomorrow on Monday, April 8, 2013 @ 5:32 AM PST
in the "Blog" Category.
Easter is a time of year where many are open to the idea of coming to church. Why not get to know those people in your community that may attend on Sunday, the day before? How is that done? One way is by hosting an Easter Egg Hunt on your church campus. Here is a [...] |
| Happy people don't send hate mail |
From Youth Leaders Academy on Monday, April 8, 2013 @ 1:31 AM PST
in the "Blog" Category.
Impersonal communication seems to bring out the worst in people. I'm sure you know what I mean: those emails you get from church members, parents or others with a tone and message you know they would never use in a personal conversation or on the phone. Not all of them may be labeled hate mail, [...]You just finished reading Happy people don't send hate mail! Have you subscribed to our free biweekly newsletter yet? |
| Book Review: Thirteen reasons why |
From Youth Leaders Academy on Saturday, April 6, 2013 @ 1:01 AM PST
in the "Blog" Category.
[This book is part of our Reviews of the Top 100 in Teen Fiction] Thirteen Reasons Why (the debut of author Jay Asher) is a book that won't let you go immediately after you've read it and I mean that in a good sense. It's a story that will make you think, especially about how [...]You just finished reading Book Review: Thirteen reasons why! Have you subscribed to our free biweekly newsletter yet? |
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