by David Hanson | Nov 26, 2013 | Podcast, The Youth Ministry Blog, Theology
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CLICK HERE to listen in iTunes!
In this session of the podcast I discuss theology and the role of theology in youth ministry.
While your listening, read this post by Josh Robinson that sparked this discussion.
A Couple of Points:
- Theology divides
- Division without love is dangerous
- Theology in important
- Theology without action is harmful.
- We are called to worship God with our minds.
- Our theology should lead us to further love God and love others.
The Role of Theology in Youth Ministry:
Read this post on How I am training Small Group Leaders in theology and doctrine.
We must transform the way we are training our leaders and volunteers! Don’t just teach them how to “fit in.” Teach them how and what to teach. Here are some good resources to get the ball rolling…
1. Christian Belief: Twenty Basics Every Christian Should Know by Wayne Grudem – 9 bucks & streamlined
2. Systematic Theology by Wayne Grudem – more robust but $32 bucks
3. Taking Theology to Youth Ministry by Andrew Root – youth centered & $11 bucks
(Complete Transparency – The above links are affiliate links, which means I get a few cents if you buy a book. This goes toward keeping The Youth Ministry Blog awesome, so thanks in advance if you chose to get one! I only offer resources I believe will be helpful for you.)
Action Items:
1. Give the podcast a Rating and Review on iTunes so that other Youth Pastors can find us!
2. Examine your recent preaching and curriculum. What theology or doctrine have you hit? What have you NEVER addressed? How can you become intentional in your theological approach to youth ministry?
by David Hanson | Nov 25, 2013 | The Youth Ministry Blog
Influence the Parents to have a BIGGER impact on the Students!
Students will most likely become their parents.
Parents have the BIGGEST influence on their students.
What are we doing right now to encourage the parents? What are we doing to help the single parent or the uncle or grandparent with their student? These are questions we need to ask ourselves.
The average church only has 40 hours in a given year to influence a life.
The average parent has 3,000 hours per year to influence a life. (Think Orange)
“The greatest gift a church can give parents is the CONFIDENCE and COURAGE to do what GOD has wired them to DO.” –Reggie Joiner
For the longest time, I never thought about this. I only thought about the students but never realized how much a student could change if their mom or dad loved Jesus more.
Send your parents not only weekly emails about what’s going on in the Student Ministry but send emails encouraging them to continue to love and disciple their students.
Send your parents a mass text each week with an encouraging Bible verse or something that keeps them going!
Do you have a parent resource page on your website where parents can go to know of some websites that might help them disciple their student? Here is a sample one that we are still working on: http://teamchurch.com/pursuitparents/
Have a Facebook group for your parents where you can encourage them daily!
We must realize that if we impact the parents they in return can change their student’s life!
A student might not worship because they never see their dad get excited about worshipping but if you get that dad to see how important worship is then the student will see how important worship is.
We should want the parents to teach their student how to tithe, worship, read the Bible, pray, share their faith, and live for Jesus.
Find ways to constantly encourage your parents. It starts in the home. Students are born into the home not church.
How are you influencing your parents in your Student Ministry? Would love to hear your thoughts!
Michael Hux is the Student Pastor of Team Church in Matthews, NC.
Connect with Michael on Twitter or Instagram: @_Hux
by David Hanson | Nov 23, 2013 | The Youth Ministry Blog
I don’t do anything.
Most people assume that youth ministers truly don’t do anything. My favorite is when an eighth-grader asks me over lunch, “So what do you do all day? Play video games?”
Well sometimes my job does actually require that I play video games, that’s not really what it’s all about. But the other day a friend told me literally I don’t do anything.
I had a bit of concern for him and the future of his job when he finished his statement: I don’t do anything that I can ask a student to do instead.
That is brilliant!
So often youth ministers get bogged down in details and little tasks that they forget that part of their ministry is empowering students to do ministry!
What are the next five things you have to do for your ministry today? Are any of them things that you could ask a student to do instead?
Now don’t hear me incorrectly. I’m not saying that you should get a student to sort through your junk email box, or deal with an upset secretary, or even make that phone call you’ve been putting off for the last four days.
Don’t give students jobs that you don’t want to do. Instead ask yourself “can a student truly do what I am trying to?”
For a while, don’t have any limits on this. Ask yourself, “Could a student do my next Wednesday night talk? Could a student come with me on this hospital visit I need to make? Could a student write some of the devotional material for our next retreat?”
Don’t hog all the ministry yourself. Instead try to have the attitude of not doing anything.
Don’t do anything that you could ask a student to do instead and empower them for ministry!
Ronald is a follower of Jesus who’s married to Bekah, father to two beautiful girls and a chronic writer. He blogs at ronaldlong.org and tweets from @ronald_long. When’s he has free time, he plays with his kids, goes for a run, or plays video games. If you’re interested in some of his bible study material, check out
128ministries.org.
by David Hanson | Nov 22, 2013 | The Youth Ministry Blog
In the past week I’ve become aware of a few of our students who are really hurting. I spent time with one of them yesterday. I picked him up from school and I immediately knew something was wrong. When I asked him, he initially said that nothing was wrong. When I pushed further, the reality came out. Over the course of the next hour we got to unpack some of his struggles.
It’s not often that we can get a middle school guy to open up. Because of this, many youth pastors believe (wrongly) that middle school guys just don’t have that much going on inside. If you talk to parents of middle school guys they will share stories of their sons’ emotional outbursts and roller coasters. We would describe middle school guys as being unemotional or a-motional, but it’s simply not true.
I want all youth pastors who work with middle school guys to reject this stereotype and help middle school guys express their emotions in a healthy, God-honoring way.
Middle school guys’ emotions are real and intense. Youth workers are adults who survived middle school and face big life problems every day. As adults we tend to think that middle school problems aren’t that big of a deal compared to what we deal with. We easily diminish how intense and real the emotions of middle schoolers are. When middle school guys finally open up you realize the opposite is true. When a middle school guy breaks up with a girlfriend of just two weeks it’s still a traumatic experience that affects them emotionally. We need to acknowledge that our guys have more going on inside than they let on.
Middle school guys need permission to express emotions. It isn’t a new thought that our society pressures guys to hide their emotions. In middle school expressing emotions for guys is seen as a weakness that will be exploited or made fun of. As pastors, we need to remind them that emotions are God-given and expressing those emotions is a normal part of life. Are you giving them that message? Are you providing a safe place for guys to open up?
Middle school guys need help identifying their emotions. Brad, now a 25 year old, was a middle schooler playing in a soccer game. I remember him running off the field and immediately bursting into tears. I could tell this this was altogether confusing to him. Most middle school guys don’t know what they are feeling inside. They just know that they are feeling something intense.
Mark Oestreicher reminds us that in early adolescence our emotional color palette is growing in complexity. Middle school guys need help painting with all these new colors. We need to show them how to tell the difference between anger, frustration, bitterness, anxiety, fear and so on. They can learn how to express them in a healthy, God-honoring way only when they know what their emotions really are.
I hope I’ve challenged you to think differently about the middle school guys in your ministry. They are deeper and more emotional than most people give them credit for. They deserve to be taken seriously.
I am far from an expert on this subject. For a more in depth look check out the book “Middle School Ministry” by Mark Oestreicher and Scott Rubin.
Kevin Libick is a Middle School Pastor living in Fort Worth, TX with his wife Kara and her two cats. He is a novice banjo picker and expert Hawaiian food eater. Kevin loves to connect with other youth workers and equip them to live out their calling in God’s Kingdom. Connect with Kevin on Twitter: @kevinlibick
by David Hanson | Nov 21, 2013 | The Youth Ministry Blog
I recently came across this video after my worship guy recommended it to me. I don’t know the back story of the author (Bob Sorge), but I do know this video makes some great points. Would love to hear your thoughts!
1. “Worship has now become an industry.”
2. “Jesus is not an entrepreneur building a business, He is a bridegroom who is after a bride and He is so jealous for her.”
3. “The last thing you want to do is approach ministry like a business. It’s not business. It’s personal.”
4. “It is possible to preach Jesus and proclaim myself.”
5. “After I have finished serving the Bride, is she talking about me or Him?
Questions:
1. Do we approach Youth Ministry as an industry?
2. Have we made it a “business?” Is that wrong?
3. Where do we draw the line between business and ministry?
I want to hear from you! Comment below!
Texas native, Texas Tech Red Raider, M.Div. at Truett Seminary, husband to Ashley, father to Ava, Student Pastor at
LifePoint Church in Plano, Tx, table tennis (ping-pong) extraordinaire, addicted to coffee. For anything else…you’ll just have to ask,
Email David.
