by David Hanson | Jun 5, 2013 | The Youth Ministry Blog
Are you really praying?
In ministry, we can hide behind a lot of things. We can hide behind our schedules. We can hide behind our numbers. Last year I realized that I was hiding behind my longevity. As a 15-year youth ministry veteran I got pretty good at doing the business of youth ministry. I could plan, teach, train, and counsel with ease. I got my tasks done and didn’t let things fall through the cracks. On the surface I was looking good, but underneath something was missing. That something was prayer.
In student ministry we pray, but do we REALLY pray? We pray when we are on stage teaching. We pray when we have a meal with students. We pray as we begin and end meetings. We pray with students when we counsel them.
I was praying these prayers, but I wasn’t praying the kinds of prayers that shape my eyes, ears and heart. I wasn’t praying the prayers of joy and desperation when no one is looking. These are prayers that we as leaders need to bathe in if we are going to lead teenagers into an authentic walk with Jesus.
Prayers of my eyes – I realized that I was talking a lot about the greatness of Jesus to my students but I wasn’t stopping to take a look for myself. Prayers of adoration and worship are the fuel for our lives. When was the last time you just spent a few moments resting in the Glory of your Heavenly Father? How long has it been since you allowed yourself to ponder the reasons you still love the God you serve? If it’s been a while, then maybe you need to schedule some time in your week to have your spiritual eyes enlightened.
Prayers of my ears – I realized that I had let myself believe that my experience was enough for my leadership. Instead of listening to God to hear what He would like me to do, I had been reacting based on experience. Wisdom and instinct are important aspects of leadership, but listening to God’s voice is better. I’ll be honest, most of my listening doesn’t result in any mystic revelation. I haven’t heard any audible voices, but when I spend time regularly emptying my agenda and listening for God’s I find that I am less likely to get stuck in a rut when it comes to my ministry.
Prayers of my heart – This is a big one. Our hearts can reveal so much about us. I noticed that my prayers had lacked passion and conviction. I wasn’t praying for students out of desperation. I wasn’t broken over the hurts and pains in my church. I still loved and cared for the teens I was called to minister to, but I felt somewhat detached from them. So I started to ask God for a new heart. I asked God to help me feel what He felt for my students. Over time, there was a difference. I found myself praying passionate prayers for my students, not just on stage, but also behind closed doors and alone in my car. I initiated more prayer with our leaders and challenged them to pray with me.
I’m not a prayer warrior that gets up at 5:30 to pray for an hour, but my prayer life has changed. Because I’m trying to see, hear and feel God more through prayer, I am actually seeing, hearing and feeling God’s presence better and my ministry is better because of it.
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.
by David Hanson | May 31, 2013 | The Youth Ministry Blog
Do your students understand that they are in battle? A fear I have is that my students will turn out to be apathetic Christians who do and say the right things with absolutely no passion. I believe this happens when we fail to realize the cosmic battle we are in and whose side we are on!
So this past Sunday, I put a punching bag on stage.
Here’s what it conveyed. The Christian walk can often feel like a battle. We are training ourselves to do, say, and believe the right things. And this can be exhausting! As I preached, I had a student relentlessly punching the bag without stopping. Inevitably, he became exhausted and his pace quickly slowed.
This is how many view the Christian walk. Every punch and upper cut represents a good deed or spiritual discipline.
Right jab. Said my prayers. Left jab. Read my Bible. Right upper cut. Went to church. Etc…
Only this picture is incomplete!
Viewing Christianity this way, as many do, lacks both passion and an understanding of our enemy.
Ephesians 6:12 offers, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”
To complete the illustration, I emphasized to my students that following Jesus is not like hitting a punching bag. Punching bags do not hit back and are not out for our destruction. Satan is.
Jesus followers are not training for holiness, but rather becoming holy as they seek Jesus and fight back against the enemy and thief who comes to “steal, kill, and destroy” (John 10:10).
When it comes to discussing spiritual warfare, I see youth ministries error in two directions. They either NEVER talk about evil or make EVERYTHING the work of Satan himself!
As youth pastors we must help students navigate this battle. Here’s how:
1) Help them understand their role and the meaning of holiness.
2) Talk about the real presence and goal of Satan.
3) Remind them of the End! Jesus Wins! (Rev. 19)
by David Hanson | May 21, 2013 | The Youth Ministry Blog
As a staff, my pastor is having us walk through The Externally Focused Church
by Rick Rusaw & Eric Swanson.
The book centralizes around the role of the church: Do we prioritize training and equipping the flock or do we prioritize reaching out to the lost and hurting?
Simplified, it examines the church and its battle to balance good works and faith.
Reading, I came across this:
Looking at this chart, I began to question where I would place our youth ministry at LifePoint.
In what quadrant would the youth ministry you lead fall?
Are you reaching out to students in need with the same intentionality that you are raising up your flock?
As we prepare our students for life after youth ministry, we must ensure that they hunger for the transformation of others. We must view our students as tools of transformation and change, empowered by the Holy Spirit. Raise them up, and send them out! If we are too internally focused we risk raising up a generation of pharisees who comprehend truth, but lack understanding on how to apply it.
by David Hanson | May 15, 2013 | The Youth Ministry Blog
“Yo Mama.”
This was the title of my Mothers Day message to students. The sermon itself was on the 5th Commandment (Exodus 20:12 & Ephesians 6:1-2)
Not sure I have a student who hasn’t heard these verses, but the focus of the lesson centered around the the word “honor“.
I’ll post the video later this week so you can watch it yourself, but the question for today is:
How do you, as a ministry, honor mothers?
This last weekend we enabled our students to love their moms in a tangible way. We had them write notes of appreciation and gave every student a flower to give their mom.
The mothers LOVED it!
If you stop by your local flower shop or even Wal-Mart, Sam’s, or Costco, you can get flowers on the cheap! The value of this action, however, is immeasurable!
Fathers Day is coming! What is something tangible we can do?
by David Hanson | Feb 21, 2013 | The Youth Ministry Blog
Getting students to talk. You would think it would be the easiest thing in the world! This is a generation that has been raised with communication devices in-hand. (iPhones, iPads, texting, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, kik, Snapchat, Skype, FaceTime, etc.) It seems everything out there from milk to toilet paper has socialization and connection in mind. Combine that with todays technology and anything is possible.
So you would think that in a world so social and connected, it would be no problem to get students to…well…talk.
Spend 15 minutes in a small group and you KNOW this is simply not true. Connectivity can be a fabulous thing! I feel very connected to my students and have the capability to reach many of them at a moments notice. However, this same connectivity can kill face-to-face communication, and the ability to be truly present.
This is why we encourage our Small Groups to stack the phones! As soon as it is time to begin the group, all phones go on the table or in a basket.
Can you hear the voices? “But I use my phone as my Bible…” Yup, in the 15 minutes of Bible study it will be your Bible and a million other things that will keep you from being…present.
So I encourage you to try it! Make a “Tower of Babel”…get it? Babel, as in talking, as in people talk on their phones…sorry. Sure you will get some push back initially, but in the long run you will have students focused on conversation, present in community, and who know how to use their Bible! Now get off this communication device and open yours!
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.
