Just finished reading A Hobbit Journey by Matthew Dickerson. This is a fabulous, fascinating inductive study of Tolkien’s Middle-earth. I absolutely enjoyed the read and my understanding of Tolkien’s literary works as well as the man himself was profoundly deepened. If you are a fan of The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, Silmarillion, or any of Tolkien’s writings, this is a must read!
There’s nothing like FREE stuff!
On Friday, October 19th I’ll be giving away a FREE copy of Darren Sutton‘s brand new book Everyone’s Called to Youth Ministry … They Just Don’t Know It.
Here’s how YOU can win …
I’m looking for great stories about the impact of volunteers in youth ministry.
The 2013 Simply Youth Ministry Conference is right around the corner! Get in on the early-bird rate until October 31st. Register here.
This weekend at Southwest Community Church we had 35 people signed up to be baptized. I had met with 5 middle school girls during the week and was all ready to lead them in this great step of faith and obedience. Awesome! Pastor Gerald, however, asked us to be praying that 100 people would be baptized. He did a brief teaching on baptism then invited anyone who wanted to be baptized to make their way to the baptismals. I loved what he said next: “This is a no-excuses Sunday. You might say, ‘I didn’t come prepared.’ That’s OK. We came prepared for you! We’ve got t-shirts, shorts, towels, and even garbage bags for you to put on the seats in your cars.”
So, how many people got baptized? 299! That’s right … two-hundred-and-ninety-nine people! We ran out of t-shirts after 100 and there was a mad scramble for more towels. What an incredible day in the kingdom of God!
One back story … my daughter Claudia came up to me with tears in her eyes, excited because her friend Julia Lamper, whom she invited to church this past year had accepted Christ and was baptized today! Invest and invite! God will use you!
Pray with me that fruit will remain!
A number of years ago I was almost ready to throw in the towel on youth ministry. Over the course of a few weeks it seemed like every time I turned around I was having to deal with another student acting up, and I was getting fed up. There were the kids who came from tough family situations that in many ways were expected to act up. There were the kids who were churchy kids who were being knuckle heads and they knew better. And then there were the kids who simply didn’t care. They were only there because their parents made them come and they were completely indifferent – absolutely apathetic.
During this time I reached out for help. I purchased Mentor Me – a series of CDs on which Doug Fields interviews several youth workers about various topics. God used one of those CDs to really give me some perspective, and more-than-likely, to help me continue on as a youth pastor. The title said it all: “Off the Wall Kids and Youth Ministry.” The person being interviewed was Les Christie. I later picked up Christie’s book When Church Kids Go Bad: How to Love and Work with Rude, Obnoxious, and Apathetic Students, from which the content of the interview flowed.
I recently took the time to read through the entire book, and it was such a refreshing reminder about the stage of life our students are in. It gives very practical ideas about how to shepherd and guide them through the turbulent waters of adolescence. Every youth ministry needs to establish healthy boundaries and appropriate discipline to help students. This book is a great tool to assist you in creatively, positively, and biblically establishing a healthy environment in your youth ministry. (Note: It could also easily be utilized and adapted by parents in the home setting.)
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