by David Hanson | Aug 1, 2013 | The Youth Ministry Blog
No Excuses
“Excuses are like armpits. Everyone has them and they all stink.” I can still hear my first high school coach saying this. Our whole lives we make excuses for not doing things or for why we mess up. We even try these excuses out with God, hoping He will see our flawless logic and give us a pass for messing up or ignoring His prompting.
In Costa Rica I have met two men who don’t make excuses despite obvious physical weaknesses.
Tim grew up a farm boy in Minnesota. He tried to run from God and ended up in a wheelchair. Yet despite being in a wheelchair he now runs orphan homes with his wife in Haiti, Guatemala, and Costa Rica. He could make countless excuses and try to blame God for his disability, but he chooses to be faithful. Tim places his own comfort below the will of the Father.
Oldemar grew up in the poverty of Costa Rica. In addition, he is blind in one eye and only has 5% vision in the other. Yet God didn’t see this as a roadblock to Oldemar being a pastor. While this may not seem like a big deal to us, many Costa Ricans look down on people with disabilities.
I love seeing such bold faith and men who trust that God is in control. Each have thriving ministries and adults and children know Jesus because of their faithfulness.
I pray that we all would have faith like Tim and Oldemar. Know that He is in control. Know that God does not see weakness but rather and opportunity for faithfulness. He has and will equip you to carry out His will.
You can make excuses or you can be faithful. Where is He calling you?
by David Hanson | Jul 30, 2013 | The Youth Ministry Blog
HIS LOVE & STRENGTH
These are the words that one of my students used to describe what we are doing in Costa Rica.
In the short week we will be in Costa Rica our objective is simple: We are here to love on orphans and help the local church.
Part of out team is spending the week simply being present with children, reflecting the love of Jesus, and giving the Tia’s (ladies who work there) a well needed break! The other half of our team is helping a local church build a student center that will house a mid-week Bible study as well as technology, music, and language classes throughout the week!
As we sat and reflected at dinner tonight, one of my students pointed out that we are here to reflect both Christ’s love (at the orphan home) and His strength (joining the local church).
But as everyone who has ever been on a mission trip will tell you: We will learn far more from our brothers and sisters in Costa Rica than they will learn from us! I appreciate your continued prayers!
by David Hanson | Jul 29, 2013 | The Youth Ministry Blog
I’m headed to the airport as I write this post. We are taking a team of 19 to Costa Rica to share the love of Jesus with orphans and help a local church.
Would you please join me in prayer that God would use our team and that my students eyes would be opened to how God is present and moving throughout the world.
Earlier in the year our student ministry took a team to Haiti to do similar work. It’s AMAZING to see the hearts of students opened to global missions!
Tell me about your trips? Where did you go this summer with students?
Thanks for your prayers!
by David Hanson | Jul 19, 2013 | The Youth Ministry Blog
Students & Sanctification
Great News! We had SO MANY students make a decision for Christ last night at FUGE Camp! The Lord was truly present and wrecking some people. It’s been my prayer that God would “mess up my students at camp,” and He is!
Over the last two nights, however, I have noticed something interesting. I have noticed that many students have a hard time differentiating between justification and sanctification. Here’s why I say this: Last night, when the speaker gave an invitation, I had many students stand up to “receive Christ.” Some of these students, I know, already know Jesus and were trying to follow Him.
When these certain individuals stood up, I was a little taken back. Now, I know that there are many who claim to know Jesus but actually just know about Jesus. They know a lot of facts about Jesus, but they do not have a personal relationship with Him. But this wasn’t these students… These were students I KNOW are trying to be faithful in their life and relationship with Christ.
So after a few days of walking in a Jesus-centric environment (QT & worship in morning, small group in afternoon, worship & teaching at night, small group debrief in late night) they were “high on Jesus,” and felt convicted. And instead of walking in repentance and seeking forgiveness for the ways they had made Christ a side-show, they felt the need to “get saved” again.
Complete Disclosure: I don’t believe in rededication. The Bible doesn’t use the word rededication, it uses the words repent.
1 John 1:19, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
Acts 3:19, “Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out.”
2 Peter 3:9, “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.”
I think many students come to know Jesus as Savior and then when they push Him down the priority list, only to rediscover that He deserves the top spot, they question whether they ever knew Him in the first place.
This is the difference between knowing Jesus as Savior and knowing Him as Lord. When you believe that He died for your sins, you know Him as Savior. When you orient your life around Him, you know Him as Lord.
I believe we need to help students understand that sanctification (the process of becoming holy) is precisely that, a process! Knowing Jesus and orienting our lives around Him is not a one stop shop. It is a continual process of understanding his holiness and our depravity and seeking to give Him all the glory He is due!
Many of my students didn’t need to “get saved,” they needed to repent!
How do you help students understand this process? (Comment below!)
by David Hanson | Jul 18, 2013 | The Youth Ministry Blog
Twitter, Instagram, Facebook. We can’t escape social media. Our students are on them nearly 24-7. There is great potential for these tools to connect and communicate with students in our ministries. But there is a great temptation. In our ministry I’m realizing we’ve been relying too heavily on these social media avenues to draw students in.
We have become really good at marketing in the youth ministry world. The technologies are available to everyone. Logos, brand strategies, social media campaigns are a part of nearly every youth ministry. Even the smallest of youth groups can have an Instagram feed and a Facebook page.
For a while I thought that we could get more students connected to our ministry and events if we improved our social media presence. All summer we had been using this strategy for our camp and mission trip. The idea is that if I email parents enough, tweet enough, post enough pictures on Instagram then kids would sign up. The result was bad…real bad. No one was signing up.
It works the same in my life. If I get a mass Facebook invite, I’m 90% sure I’m not responding. If I get an E-vite for a party, I’m waiting until the last minute to respond. But if I get a personal call I’m probably going to respond favorably and immediately.
This was our change of strategy. Personal invitations. We had our leaders contact the students they are connected with and intentionally invite them. The results were staggering. Last Sunday, we went from having only two people signed up for our mission trip (one week past the deadline) to our largest ever number of sign-ups within a matter of hours. What was the difference? Personal invitations.
Over and over I am reminded that what our teens want is personal investment. When we deviate from that into impersonal means, then our teens are simply not having it. We can’t rely on social media strategies to create of movement of Christ followers. Does that mean that we delete our profiles and accounts? No way. These become ways to communicate with those whom we have personal relationships with.
For me it means that from now on, we’re going to make sure we stay personal. Instead of social media strategies, we will make students know that we care by having our leadership interact with them in personal ways.
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
