Lasting Student Ministry

More Excerpts from my upcoming "TalkBoosters" course...

noreply@blogger.com (scott aughtmon) — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 18:03:00 +0000

5 people have already expressed interest in being a part of the course or
purchasing the recordings or ebook of the e-course after.

I'll be sharing on this blog what I'll be teaching in my upcoming "Talk Boosters" course.
(Tomorrow will be the final excerpts.)

*This way, even if you don't decide you want to be a part, then you'll still learn some new resources and tips to help you improve your talks.

It'll also help you to be able to decide if this course will be helpful for you.

2nd Group Of Excerpts From My "TalkBoosters" E-course:

1. The Need For Good Stories To Convey The Truth To The World
Phil Cooke said something really interesting on his blog about the need for good stories in order to convey our messages to the world.
(See http://www.philcooke.com/power_of_stories for full post.)

Listen to what Phil says, "The reality is, television programs, rock & roll radio, and movie theaters are "church" for this generation - sadly, that's where young people today learn their morals, and codes of behavior.

"But in spite of that great need, most films, television programs, radio specials, and websites produced by Christians are still poor quality, and have a limited audience."

But now listen to WHY he says things are this way. It's not because the message we have isn't needed. No! That's not why!

Phil says this...

"That's because for most Christians, the message is everything, and we've forgotten the power of a great story. It's interesting that when you study the life of Christ, you discover he didn't give theological lectures or teach doctrine.

He simply told stories - powerful stories that changed people's lives. Stranger still, he usually only explained the meaning in private with his disciples - not with the larger audience..."

2. In the 2nd eclass, I also share what Rick Warren learned as a consultant on the DreamWorks movie, The Prince of Egypt.

He says, "So there is an emotional punch as well as an intellectual punch. We layer it: tension/release, tension/release."

I teach how we can use something like this to keep the interest of our students when we speak.

3. Using The Ingredients Of Emotion and Pathos In Your Talk
I also teach how Jesus told stories with highs and lows, with shocking endings, and unsuspecting heroes.

I explain that He told stories that were filled with emotion and pathos!

We might not always think of them that way, but read some of his parables again and you'll see what I'm talking about.

When you're preparing the "menu" of what truth you will "serve" your students, then make sure you include emotion and pathos as your ingredients!

This is another way to make sure that your talks are engaging.

My Upcoming "Talk Boosters" Course:
I'm going to be offering live, online training of my "Talk Boosters" course again.
It starts THIS THURSDAY.

What is "Talk Boosters" about?
I'll offer a paid, 4 class e-course that focused on 3 important areas:

Content
Structure
Presentation

When?
I'm thinking of doing it Thurs. & Fri. Oct. 20 & 21st from 9am-11am PST
and Mon. & Tues. Oct, 24th & 25th 9am-11am PST.

*If you can't make it one of the days, there will be recordings you
can listen to (and my word-for-word notes in ebook form).

How Much?
The cost for the 4 eclasses will be:

$40 - if you've purchased my "lasting ministry" ebook ($10 a class)
$60 - if you haven't purchase my ebook ($15 a class)

Are You Interested?
You can learn more details about what each class will include and purchase
your spot here. You have until 9pm PST/12am EST to lock in your spot
for this session of classes.

Thanks,
Scott
http://www.lasting-student-ministry.com

Excerpts From My "Talk Boosters" E-Course: How To Test The Effectiveness Of Your Talks

noreply@blogger.com (scott aughtmon) — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 21:08:00 +0000

I already heard from 5 people so far who are interested in my upcoming

paid, e-course called, "Talk Boosters: Lessons From 21 Years Of Preaching
That Can Take Your Talks To A New Level."

I'm really looking forward to sharing these things with you.

What I will do for the next 2 days is post you some excerpts

of some of the actual things I'll be sharing and teaching you.

*This way, even if you don't decide you want to be a part, then

you'll still learn some new resources and tips to help you improve

your talks. It'll also help you to be able to decide if this course

will be helpful for you.

(NOTE: If you want to when it will be and how much it will cost,
then skip the bottom of this post.)

1st Excerpts From My "TalkBoosters" E-course:

1. A Helpful Resource:

One of the resources I share in my course is a little book that's really helped me to improve my introductions. It's a book called, "Introducing the Sermon: The Art of Compelling Beginnings" (The Craft of preaching series) (Paperback) by Michael J. Hostetler

In this book, Michael says there are four contact points that you should have in your intros:

1. The Secular: He says every sermon should start with the life experience of the listener. This means the experience of life in the world, day-by-day, week-by-week.

2. The Biblical: The second point of contact of the introduction is moving the listener naturally to the Word Of God.

3. The Personal: Every person who listens to the sermon is asking, "What does this have to do with me?" He says if you fail to personalize your message, then your preaching will have little effect.

4. The Bridge: This is the final connection point. This is the part of your intro that bridges your beginning into the rest of your talk.

--------------------------

2. How To Judge The Effectiveness Of Your Talks = > "The Change The World" Acid Test

In the course I share a way I learned to "test" the effectiveness of our talks. Here it is...

We all need to judge our sermons based on this criteria: did it change behavior/action?

*Without a change in the student's life, the sermon is just a speech given to entertain.

Tim Sanders (best-selling business author) gave 3 simple questions in a blog post, which he calls the "change the world" acid test.

Here are 2 of the questions that could really help our sermons to have more results.

1. Did I give them motivation to do something?

2. Did I give them clear action items?

Ask yourself these questions after you give your next talk.

I'll send you some more excerpts tomorrow. If you're interested in being a part, please contact me through this blog ("contact me" link at top of this page) and let me know. Here are more details...

My Upcoming "Talk Boosters" Course:

I'm going to be offering live, online training of my "Talk Boosters" course again.

What is "Talk Boosters" about?

I'll offer a paid, 4 class e-course that focused on 3 important areas:

Content
Structure
Presentation

When?

I'm thinking of doing it Thurs. & Fri. Oct. 20 & 21st from 9am-11am PST

and Mon. & Tues. Oct, 24th & 25th 9am-11am PST.

*If you can't make it one of the days, there will be recordings you

can listen to (and my word-for-word notes in ebook form).

How Much?

The cost for the 4 eclasses will be:

$40 - if you've purchased my "lasting ministry" ebook ($10 a class)

$60 - if you haven't purchase my ebook ($15 a class)

Are You Interested?

I'll send you more details next week, but if you're interested, then

shoot me an email. *If different days would be better than let me know.

(Contact me through this blog's contact page.)

Thanks,

Scott

http://www.lasting-student-ministry.com

The 3 Things Flying A Plane & Preaching Have In Common

noreply@blogger.com (scott aughtmon) — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 17:50:00 +0000

I just sent this to my list of subscribers, but I thought I should share it here too...

"How Preaching Is Like Flying A Plane"

If you are a pilot there are only 3 things you have to do to succeed:

1. Take off correctly.

2. Get the people to the planned destination.

3. Land the plane.

And if you don't do one of these things?

If you can't take off, you're not going to reach your destination.
If you don't get them to the destination (or the correct one), then you failed.
If you don't land the plane the people never get where you (or they) wanted them to be.

A pastor also has 3 things you have to do to succeed with your sermon:

1. You have to start your talk and "take off" correctly.

2. You have to carry the students to the place you want them to be at the end.

3. You have to "land" and finish out the talk correctly.

And if you don't do one of these things?

If you don't begin correctly, then no one will go where you're trying to take them.
If you don't know how to get them to follow you, then you won't get them to the "destination."
If you don't know how to "land it," then you won't see the same kind of response and action that you hoped for.

The Importance Of How You Put Together Your Talk

"Structure" is one of the overlooked, but important things, I've learned in my 2 decades of speaking. (Man, that makes me sound old. I was only 19 when I started, but I guess that still makes me old!)

"Taking Your Talks To The Next Level In 2012"

Like I said, in my last email...

1. If God doesn't give you the words to speak and anoint what you say, then what you say won't be effective and life changing.

2. BUT if God gives you a truth to share there are DEFINITELY ways you share it that are more

or less effective. (We've all heard boring sermons that prove this.)

You can learn ways to:

Help you to grab your students attention
Pull them through your talk
And finally call them to ACT on what you've shared.

I've learned some unconventional and little talked about ways after speaking for over 20 years.

WANT AN EXAMPLE OF HOW I DO THIS?

VIDEO of my talk on Faith: "There's More Than Meets The Eye"

http://tinyurl.com/meetseye

Watch just the introduction to see how I take a common topic "faith" and present it in a way that captures peoples' attention and gets them to see it in a new way.

If you watch beyond that you'll see other things I did that helped that talk to really get people to see that living by faith is the only option in life.

My Upcoming "Talk Boosters" Course:

In 2 weeks, I'm going to be offering live, online training of my "Talk Boosters" course again.

What is "Talk Boosters" about?

I'll offer a paid, 4 class e-course that focused on 3 important areas:

Content
Structure
Presentation

When?

I'm thinking of doing it Thurs. & Fri. Oct. 20 & 21st from 9am-11am PST

and Mon. & Tues. Oct, 24th & 25th 9am-11am PST.

*If you can't make it one of the days, there will be recordings you can listen to (and my word-for-word notes in ebook form).

Are You Interested?

I'll send you more details next week, but if you're interested, then shoot me an email. *If different days would be better than let me know.

Take care,

Scott Aughtmon

P.S. Did you see this?

**"Do You Have The Guts And Faith To Pray This Prayer For Your Life

& Youth Group?" http://tinyurl.com/3g9cota

Do You Have The Guts And Faith To Pray This Prayer For Your Life & Youth Group?

noreply@blogger.com (scott aughtmon) — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 04:52:00 +0000

After discovering one of my key life-passages in a list of names in Genesis, I try and always force myself to read through the lists in the Bible and not just skim them.

I am reading through 1 Chronicles right now and forcing myself to read the lists that go on for 9 chapters. And I'm glad I have!

Why? I found this little nugget the other day...

1 Chronicles 4:9-10
"9There was a man named Jabez who was more distinguished than any of his brothers. His mother named him Jabez because his birth had been so painful. 10He was the one who prayed to the God of Israel, "Oh, that you would bless me and extend my lands! Please be with me in all that I do, and keep me from all trouble and pain!" And God granted him his request."

Isn't that an amazingly bold prayer?

A guy named "Jabez" (his name sounds like a Hebrew term meaning "distress" or "pain.") has the nerve to as God to bless him, extend his lands, be with him in all he does, and keep him from all trouble and pain and - this is the crazy part - GOD DOES!!

Did you hear that? God blessed him!

Why are we so apprehensive to ask God with the same boldness?

My kids are NEVER apprehensive when they ask for things! And no matter how many times I say "No" to past requests they still ask for more and still ask for big things!!

**I'm NOT saying God will give you everything that you ask for. He won't. (And that's a good thing.) What I AM saying is that God will probably give you a lot more than you are willing (or have the nerve) to ask for. But you have to ask!

James 4:2 says it like this, "And yet the reason you don't have what you want is that you don't ask God for it."

What if you COULD have more in your life and youth ministry, but you don't have it because you aren't asking for it? Would you be brave and bold enough to pray like Jabez did? Maybe a prayer something like this...

Jabez's Prayer For Youth Pastors: "Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge our youth group! Please be with me in all that I do, and keep me from all trouble and pain!"

And as you pray this prayer make sure to seek God and his will, so that having him bless you by answering this prayer would be something that would be pleasing to HIM!

Photo by Lel4nd

Sermon You Can Use Based On The Movie: "127 Hours"

noreply@blogger.com (scott aughtmon) — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 16:31:00 +0000

NOTE: Before showing movie clips you should consider getting a license from a company like http://www.cvli.com, so you can show the clips legally. That's what we have done at our church.

WARNING: this movie is rated "R" and is very graphic when he cuts off his arm. I did this talk for an adult audience. You might just want to tell his story instead of showing clips.

Intro:

***Start by watching trailer here*** James Franco stars in a survival drama based on the incredible true story of Aron Ralston. Aron Ralston is a man who became trapped alone in a Utah canyon for days after slipping on a loose rock, and resorted to extraordinary measures in order to make it out alive. An experienced hiker and climber, Ralston is very much in his element when he parks his truck by a mountain near Moab, UT, hops on his bike, and peddles to the middle of nowhere. Later, when Ralston encounters a pair of young female hikers who have gotten lost while searching for a local landmark, he jovially shows them a sight that most casual hikers miss before telling them goodbye and continuing on his journey. Drifting through the canyons alone, deep in thought, however, the explorer who presumed he was ready for anything quickly discovers just how fast things can spin out of control when a rock gives way as he shimmies down a crevice, and pins his hand to the wall of stone. Over the course of the next 127 hours, Ralston tries everything he can think of to free himself, flashing back to small but memorable events in his life -- as well as forward to the future that he might enjoy should he manage to wiggle free -- as his body begins the slow process of shutting down. (Edited from description at http://www.allrovi.com/movies/movie/v504504*)

Let me show you a clip of him loosening the bolder and getting trapped... ***Show 1st clip: of climbing & dislodges a huge bolder and gets trapped. approx. 16:19 - 18:45 **

I'll talk about what he finally did to escape, but let me ask you something to set the stage for what I'm going to talk about today...

We need to ask ourselves this question: Why was Aron Ralston able to escape?

The thing that helped him escape is the same thing that will help us to escape from some of the habits and the problems that we’ve been struggling with for years.

Today I want to talk to you about this main ingredient that’s required for us to see successful change in our lives.

By the time we’re done today, we’ll look at 3 steps you can take to help you see change in your life. Turn in your Bibles with me to John 5:2-9. What you're about to hear is an amazing little story that reveals how we can begin to see change happen in our lives. Let's look at the story now...

"2Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. 3Here a great number of disabled people used to lie--the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. 5One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 6When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, "Do you want to get well?" 7"Sir," the invalid replied, "I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me." 8Then Jesus said to him, "Get up! Pick up your mat and walk." 9At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked."

(NOTE: What you need to understand about this story is that the people there believed an angel would stir up the water and if they got in in time, they would be healed. That's why he answered Jesus the way he did.)

You know what’s sad in life?

People who live their whole lives dealing with the same problems; people who live their lives and never seem to be able to improve who they are.

These people come to the end of their life and they still haven’t changed! They come to the end of their life and they’ve never become all they could’ve been or done all they could’ve done!

Why was Aron Ralston able to free himself?

Because he really wanted to be free!

1. The first step towards real and lasting change is for you to really WANT to change!

Look at John 5:5-6. This guy has been sick for 38 years! That’s longer than most people lived back then! And Jesus asks him this, “Do you WANT to get well?”

Why would Jesus as him that question? It’s because Jesus knew that this man would never change and be healed if he didn’t first want it!

A lot of us say we want to change. We say we want to stop doing something or start doing something. We say we want to do more of something or less of something – but we don’t! Could it be that it’s because we don’t really want to?

It’s easy to get used to our problems and kind of have a love-hate relationship with them. We complain about them, but they sure give us good excuses when we need them!

In 1993, it was reported that a small order of Franciscan nuns in Prague decided to subsidize their convent by opening the downstairs of their facility - formerly an underground detention center used by the Communists to imprison and torture their enemies - as a hotel. For $33 a night, you could stay in a former prison cell. The proprietors say they try to achieve a middle ground between comfort and authenticity in the "hotel." Many people are really looking for just that - a comfortable prison cell.

Jesus is asking each one of us here about some of the problems and habits we’ve had all our lives… “Do you want to get well?”

How we answer that question will determine whether we ever see lasting change or not!
What’s this handicapped guy’s answer to Jesus’ question? It’s just like ours!

Look at John 5:7 “Sir," the invalid replied, "I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me."

I heard of story of two college students who decided one night to pull a prank on a sleeping fraternity brother. They took limburger cheese and rubbed it gently on his upper lip. When he woke up, he sniffed, looked around and said, “This room stinks!” Then he walked out into the hall and said, “This hall stinks!” As he was leaving the dorm, they could hear him say, “The whole world stinks!” The two college students laughed as they saw him walk away, because they knew their buddy was going to walk around blaming the smell on everything else around him, when the problem was with him!

--------------------------A personal story-------------------------------------
When Sue and I used to live in a one bedroom apartment in Redwood City, there was an older man who used to live on the 2nd story of an apartment building next to ours. One day I got talking to the man and he began complaining about some of our neighbors and saying how mean they were to him. I listened and didn’t know what to think about those neighbors anymore. He told me he needed some help and I told him I’d talk to some people at the church at worked at back then and see if they could help him. The problem was I wasn’t able to get a hold of these people at our church for awhile. He ended up coming to our apartment one day yelling and telling Sue off. I finally had to talk to him and tell him and explain to him that I couldn’t get a hold of the people I thought might be able to help him. I told him I should’ve let him know what had happened, but I didn’t appreciate him yelling at my wife and that I didn’t want him coming over to our place doing that ever again. After talking to the neighbors he warned me about they said they had the same problem! This guy reminds me of the guy with Limburger cheese on his lip! This guy was blaming everybody else for his problems, never realizing that maybe the reason he had the same problem with everybody was because he was the problem!

A lot of people are like this. They blame everyone else for their problems.

Some people blame their parents, some people blame their friends, or their teachers, or their boss – some people even blame God! But the real problem is that they never take responsibility for their own problems!

That’s why people stay stuck where they’re at and never see change... they’ve been blaming everyone and everything all their lives.

Did you know that blame is the second sin in the Bible?
When Adam and Eve sinned what happened? Adam blamed Eve (really blamed God) he said, “It was the woman you gave.” Eve blamed the snake. They blamed everyone else but themselves! It started way back then and we’re still doing it today!

Blame seems to be one of the devil’s top tricks for keeping us from growing and becoming all we can be.

Business philosopher Jim Rohn says this, “I used to say ‘I sure hope things will change.’ Then I learned that the only way things are going to change for me is when I change.”
You can look through the Bible and you’ll find this common theme: God will not force us to change! My promise to you is this: If you don’t really want to change, then you never will!
The other interesting thing to me about Jesus question and the man's answer is that the man doesn't realize JESUS is the one where he can get healing from, not the water! He says, “I want to but I don't have someone to take me to the water”

2. The second step towards real and lasting change is for you to respond in faith to Jesus!
Look at John 5:8, after Jesus asked the man the question and the man responded with his excuse. Jesus told the man, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk!”

The handicapped man had two choices:
1. He could have faith in Jesus, trust what he said and respond.
2. He could decide not to trust Jesus and just sit there!

Faith is a verb. We have to trust God to help us to change and that trust has to manifest itself in action!

It the late 19th century there was a young chemist named Robert Chesebrough who sold kerosene. He got his kerosene from the oil of sperm whales, but by 1859 he was put out of business. In 1859, Robert Chesebrough took off for a Pennyslvania oil field to "strike it rich." What he came back with made him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he DIDN'T become rich from OIL!Oil field workers had told him about this "sticky stuff" that stuck to the drilling rigs. The riggers hated this stuff - it caused the drilling rigs to seize up. For all the problems this substance caused, the riggers found one small use - when rubbed on a cut or bruise it helped it to heal faster. He bottled the stuff up and dragged it back to his Brooklyn laboratory. He began a search to duplicate the petroleum-based lubricant, and by trial and error, he was able to extract the key ingredient - the translucent material we now know as petroleum jelly. But it had to be tested, and tested it was. He needed a guinea pig to test it out on. But who could he use? Chesebrough cut his OWN hands and arms, burned himself with flames and acids and each time he would then cover them with his new gel. ALL the self-inflicted wounds responded to his petroleum jelly and were healed! Satisfied that his new grease had healing properties, he took to the road with his own medicine show, but first he named his gel. Using the German word for water (wasser) and the Greek word for oil (elaion) he came up with "Vaseline." He took it out on the road and would demostrate it by cutting or burning himself and then applying his vasleine. He also showed his audience the healed scars from past experiments. Amazingly this worked! Soon he was selling a jar a minute, and when these ran out people begged their druggists to order more from Chesebrough. It was used for everything: chest colds, chapped hands, nasal congestion, and even to remove stains from furniture. By the turn of the twenty century it had penetrated the American market and was entering Europe, and Chesebrough had become a very rich man! Although its miracle properties were eventually debunked (it really healed because it sealed wounds from bacteria like a band aid), Chesebrough himself was always a true believer. He lived to age 96, revealing shortly before he died the secret to his longevity: *Every day of his life he ate a spoonful of vaseline! (* Not recommended! DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME! :) Cheesbrough succeed because he believed in his product and he proved it by his actions!

Faith isn’t faith without action! Faith goes beyond communication (words) to demonstration! One of the church fathers Clement of Alexandria said, “Faith is a voluntary anticipation.”

If we don’t combine action with the desire to change, then change will never happen!

When the man heard Jesus' words he must have instantly had faith in him and what he could do, because something amazing happened next. And it reveals the 3rd step...

3. The third step toward real and lasting change is that AFTER you do your part and respond in faith, then you have to SUBMIT yourself and let God do the rest!

Look at John 5:9 “9At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.”
Did you notice what just happened? It's subtle, so you might have missed it.

He was healed even before he took action in faith! We have to let God do his part and then keep doing our part! But this only happened because he had to decide to quit doing things his way (going into the pool for healing) and start doing things Jesus’ way (submit to Jesus as the source of healing).

Think about this… There are too many times in life when we choose to do it our way instead of God’s way! There are too many times in life when we try to do what only God can do for us and don’t do what only we can do to see change! I want to share one last story with you that I love...

The captain of the ship looked into the dark night and saw faint lights in the distance. Immediately he told his signalman to send a message "Alter your course 10 degrees south." Promptly a return message was received: "Alter your course 10 degrees north." The captain was angered; his command had been ignored. So he sent a second message: "Alter your course 10 degrees south--I am the captain!" Soon another message was received: "Alter your course 10 degrees north--I am seaman third class Jones." Immediately the captain sent a third message, knowing the fear it would evoke: "Alter your course 10 degrees south--I am a battleship." Then the reply came "Alter your course 10 degrees north--I am a lighthouse."
This story remind me so much of us. So many times we're trying to get God to do it our way instead of doing it his way.

Submission isn't popular, but it's requirement if we want to experience help and freedom from God.
This is what submitting means…

When you submit to Jesus it means to stop doing what only God can do. It means to stop doing what you think is right and start doing what God has told you is right! We have to learn to submit to God and his ways while still doing our part, otherwise we will never see change in our life.

Conclusion:
How badly do you want to change? Do you really want to get well?

Aron Ralston finally realizes that the only way out is to leave part of himself behind, the exhausted, delirious adventurer draws his cheap made-in-China multi-tool, and does what it takes to survive: he cuts off his own arm!

SHOW 2nd Clip: When he finally walks out of crevice into the light. approx. 1:20:40-1:20:55.

The interesting thing about the example of this guy willing to cut off his arm to be free is that it sounds really similar to something Jesus said in Matt. 5:29 – 30...

"29So if your eye—even if it is your good eye —causes you to lust, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. 30And if your hand—even if it is your stronger hand —causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell."

Now Jesus was exaggerating to make a point. He's not really suggesting that you cut off a part of your body. He's saying you should be willing to cut anything out of your life that will ultimately destroy you.

There are things, habits and/or relationships in our lives that will one destroy us - literally. And there are things, habits and/or relationships that won't destroy us physically, but will destroy our potential, destroy our usefulness, destroy our families, or destroy who we are. What will you do about these things? Are you willing to cut out anything that’s holding you back?

(See pic of him with the bolder at the top of this blog post. That bolder is your "problem.")
Will you really cut out anything?

Negative relationships?
Bad habits?
Even things that you like and things that make you happy?

If you are not will to cut out anything, then listen to these sobering words from Abraham Maslow,“If you plan on being anything less that you are capable of being, you will probably be unhappy all the days of your life.”
This might sound weird, but life is about more than your happiness, accumulation of things, and making you feel good. It's beyond that. You can be happy, accumulate many things, and feel good – all while destroying yourself.

Jim Rohn said it like this… “The major value of life is not what you get. The major value in life is what you become. You see, what you become is far more important than what you get. The important question to ask on the job is not, ‘What am I getting?’ Instead, you should ask, ‘What am I becoming?’”

Aron Ralston was willing to do whatever it took to be free. That’s why he’s free today!

Are you and I willing to do whatever it takes to be free? Change begins ultimately ends with this question!
Here’s what I think we need to do today to end this time together… (Altar time)

1. You need to ask God to show you an area he wants to change.
2. You need to think about whether you really want to change or not. You need to ask God to show you if there’s some way you’ve been holding back
3. You need to ask God what action he wants you to take. What you need to let him do and what he wants you to do.

Will The World End On May 21st At 6pm?

noreply@blogger.com (scott aughtmon) — Sat, 21 May 2011 17:58:00 +0000

If you haven't heard a man named Harold Camping has said that based on his biblical calculations the world is going to end on May 21st at 6pm.

He has purchased billboards around the country and has gotten a lot of media attention.

Because of this fact, I thought I should write a note to share with our church (http://www.ExperiencePathway.com/) and my Facebook friends about this prediction, so here we go:

1. Do I believe the world is going to end at 6pm?

No. I won't go into details, but I've read his reasoning and I think he is misinterpreting and misapplying scripture. But...

2. Do I believe that ONE DAY the world will end?

Yes. If kingdoms can end (think Rome), then a whole world can come to an end. It’s only logical. This planet once didn’t exist. It had a beginning and that means that one day it will have an ending. That’s not a crazy idea.

In fact, I don’t think there are even any scientists who would argue that this world will one day end. Did you know?...

Scientists Created A "Doomsday Clock"

In 2007, scientists were worried about the threat of Global Warming and Nuclear War in what they called “second nuclear age." Because of this, in 2007, they moved the "Doomsday clock" forward two minutes, so it was set to 5 minutes to midnight.

(This clock was introduced in 1947 by the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists to determine the threat of a nuclear holocaust during the Cold War.)

One quote from Stephen Hawking hit me...“As citizens of the world, we have a duty to alert the public to the unnecessary risks that we live with every day, and to the perils we foresee if governments and societies do not take action now to render nuclear weapons obsolete and to prevent further climate change.”

(What you also might not know is that the hands of the "Doomsday Clock" was moved again in 2010. Why? Factors influencing the last Doomsday Clock change include international negotiations on nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation, expansion of civilian nuclear power, the possibilities of nuclear terrorism, and climate change.)

Think about this… Scientists, are wise enough to pay attention to the signs and we need to be wise too.

But does that mean it will happen on May 21st? No. It doesn't. I'll explain why with this story...

What Jesus Told The Disciples About Knowing When The End Would Come

It's an incident in Matthew 24:1-42 that happened towards the end of Jesus’ life and ministry. It’s an event that began with a simple walk, that Jesus and his disciples took, and it ended with them sitting on the mountainside riveted to Jesus’ every word, as he revealed to them about the end of Jerusalem.

It would be a day they would never forget.

They left the temple and were walking away from it when his disciples came up to Jesus to call his attention to its buildings. (They were caught up and impressed by it all.) They kept walking with Jesus, bragging about the temple, and Jesus shocked them with this statement in verse 2...

"Do you see all these things?" he asked. "I tell you the truth, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down." This had to be totally unimaginable to them.

The temple was the center of their society. But he not only told them that, he went on to tell them that Jerusalem would be destroyed and that the world would one day end.

(NOTE: Their temple and Jerusalem were both later destroyed, just as he said.)

They couldn't believe what they were hearing, so they asked him, "When will the temple be destroyed? What will the signs of the end of this world be?"

He told them about some of the signs and many other things, but the one main thing that applies to knowing whether the world will end on May 21st is found in verse 36.

Jesus told them, "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. "

Did you catch that?

Who did Jesus say knows when the end would be?

Did he say the Mayans would? No.
Did he say Nostradamus would know? No!
Did he say Harold Camping would know?

Nope. What did he say? NO ONE will know the exact day or the hour, except God!

There WILL be signs for us to notice and pick up, so we can know that the end is near, but we’ll NEVER know an exact date/time.

We need to stop listening to the people who say they know when the world will end. As soon as they've say it, they prove they're wrong because NO ONE will know! (I think Harold Camping is sincere, but wrong.)

BUT we need to realize this… Jesus said the end will come subtly.

If people aren't looking or don’t know some of the signs, then Jesus says they will miss out on the signs and they’ll still be doing their thing: feasting, partying, and marrying. And once it’s finally time for the end, then it will come suddenly. It will come quickly.

So what can we do?

Jesus gives us the key piece of advice in verse 42 "Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. The only thing we can do is keep watch, so we won’t be caught totally off guard and surprise when the end comes.

The Bible does NOT say the world is going to end on May 21st at 6pm! That’s not true. But don’t get me wrong. It could end this year, or this month, or even today.

We don’t know EXACTLY when the end will come. We just know that it will come. Our job is just to pay attention and keep watch, so we can be ready.

We Could See Our OWN End Before THE End

If you don't believe the world is going to end for biblical reason (or even scientific reasons), then that's fine. But we all need to admit the one fact that we all try and pretend is not true: one day our lives will end.

And for most of us the end of our lives will come suddenly and not when we expect it. It will not be something we have time to do something about just before it happens.

We need to live our lives always remembering that they will one day end. It's one of the few guarantees in life.

I don't tell you this to be morbid. Knowing that the world will end, or that our lives will one day end, is a good thing for us – even if we don’t know the exact times. Why?

It can help us to be patient and it helps us to prioritize.

Not only that it helps us to appreciate what we have, appreciate the here and now, and helps us to plan ahead for when this is all over.

Lessons From Those Near The End

When you speak to someone who has lived a long life what do they tell you? They tell you how fast life goes. They tell you that good times and bad BOTH will come. They tell you to appreciate what you have because it will all be gone before you know it.

They don't tell you this to scare you. Right? It’s to help you! That’s what this knowledge is supposed to do for us. Knowing there will be an end and that we don’t know when exactly its coming should affect how we live for today and for the rest of 2011.

We need to watch and be alert.

We need to remember that all that seems so important and consuming in this life will one day be gone. As we set your goals for 2011, dream big dreams, accomplish big things, because one day this will be over.

Let’s love our family and friends more. Let’s stop worrying and stressing out over things that don’t really matter, because one day we won’t have this life or this world anymore.

Let’s invest in the things that last and will matter when this is all over: God’s kingdom and our relationship with God. These things will help us to do well in 2011 and helps us to be prepared for the end – whenever it comes!

One last idea...

Live Like The World Is Going To End At 6pm

Maybe being prepared for the world to end today at 6pm might not be such a bad idea. It might cause us to live today better, live it more fully, and live it focused on things that last and mean something in the end.

And when we're given another day to live on May 22nd, we can wake up thankful and ready to live another day like it was our last. And so on. And so on. Until the one day it really is our last.

You Have 100 days To Make An Impact In 2011. How Are You Doing So Far? :)

noreply@blogger.com (scott aughtmon) — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 19:29:00 +0000

How's 2011 going for you and your youth group so far?

I read something recently where a "goals expert" said that we really only have until the end of April to if we want to make a big impact this year.

The person said this because May kicks in and we’re starting to get towards the end of school and summer. Then we’re just left with September & October to get stuff done, because in November and December get busy.

That means that if we’re going to see ourselves and our groups make BIG strides in reaching our goals for the year we need to take immediate action on them quickly.

We need to think about trying to get as much momentum going as we can to accomplish as much as we can in the next 100 days.

Because this is so important, you should take some time, right now, and write out goals & plans you have for the next 100 days.

I have 6 areas I'm focusing on for my personal life. If you'd like a copy of my list, then use my "Contact Page".

Dear E.M. Bounds, For A Guy Who Prayed A Lot, Why Are You So Mean?

noreply@blogger.com (scott aughtmon) — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 06:14:00 +0000

I have a confession.

I am a reading addict.

I read all the time. I read all kinds of books I all sorts of different topics.

And the only thing I love reading as much as NEW books on cutting edge topics are OLD books with thoughts people have forgotten, but that still resonate in world today.

A book I am reading currently online (for free) is called, "Weapon Of Prayer" by the well-known E.M. Bounds who wrote a famous 8 book series on prayer back in the 1800's and early 1900's.

This book is last in the series.

I just read something today that totally convicted me more than ever about my need to pray more.

I found it in chapter 4 which is called, "God's Need Of Men Who Pray".

Here are some excerpts...

"The Church is not spiritual simply because it is concerned and deals in spiritual values. It may hold its confirmations by the thousand, it may multiply its baptisms, and administer its sacraments innumerable times, and yet be as far from fulfilling its true mission as human conditions can make it.

"This present world’s general attitude retires prayer to insignificance and obscurity. By it, salvation and eternal life are put in the background. It cannot be too often affirmed, therefore, that the prime need of the Church is not men of money nor men of brains, but men of prayer."

When do you hear the need for prayer stated like that nowadays?

But check this next quote and let his words beat you up a little more like they did me.

"Men who represent God and who stand here in His stead, men who are to build up His kingdom in this world, must be in an eminent sense men of prayer. whatever else they may have, whatever else they may lack, they must be men of prayer. Having everything else and lacking prayer, they must fall. Having prayer and lacking all else, they can succeed."

If we want to succeed at the work God's given us, and not fall, then there is one thing we need more than conferences, books, and blogs (except this one - just kidding!)... we need to pray, intercede, and stand in the gap for those we're ministering to and for our own weak and frail selves!

There's More Than Meets The Eye...

noreply@blogger.com (scott aughtmon) — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 17:22:00 +0000

I spoke this talk first to our church and then shared it the following week at another church. I got a lot of really positive response both times I shared it.

The talk is called, "There's More Than Meets The Eye". Here are some of the things I shared:

How our eyes actually LIMIT us in life.
How living by faith is the only way for us to see God to amazing things in our lives.
How successful people throughout history have lived their lives beyond what they could see and that enabled them to succeed.
How if we really look at things the way they are, then living by faith is the only way we can really live for God.

You can watch the talk below...

The Secret To Becoming A Person Of Impact And Influence

noreply@blogger.com (scott aughtmon) — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 07:53:00 +0000

Things haven't gone quite the way I planned in the last few days.
One of the unexpected things happened on Friday.

I was heading out with a group of guys to go a local "Nickel Arcade" (where the have a whole bunch of old school arcade games mixed with newer ones all for extremely low cost), when my car suddenly overheated and stalled out.

It was gushing white smoke out from under the hood as my two friends pushed it through the intersection into the parking lot of our destination.

It took most of Saturday for me to round up and wait for two of my friends who are great mechanics (unlike me) to drive the 30 minute drive to where my car was and help me get the car fixed and back to my house! :)

But today I thought I'd share with you a story that reveals an important lesson on becoming a person of impact & influence.

It's a story I read about British statesman and financier Cecil Rhodes.

He is the one whose fortune was used to endow the world-famous Rhodes Scholarships.

People said that he was a real stickler for correct dress--but not at the expense of someone else's feelings.

A young man was invited to dine with Rhodes and he arrived late by train, so he had to go directly to Rhodes's home in his travel-stained clothes.

Once he got there was appalled to find the other guests were already there and they were wearing their full evening dress.

After what seemed a long time, Rhodes finally appeared.

But what was shocking to this young man and to the other guests is that Rhodes was dressed in a shabby old blue suit.

Later on, the young man found out that Rhodes had been dressed in his formal evening clothes, but he changed out of them and put on the old suit when he heard of his young guest's awkward dilemma.

How much influence and impact do you think that had on that young man?

I'd bet the young man never forgot what happened that night!
I bet he told everyone he knew about it. (In fact, I wonder if that's how we know the story today.)
I bet he would do anything he could to help Rhodes from that day forward.
I bet he would take any advice Rhodes ever gave him and bend over backwards to return the favor!

Do you want to know the "secret" to impact and influence?

It's empathy! Putting yourself in the other person's shoes and letting them see you know what it's like to be in their position. It's then interacting with them and treating them based on that understanding.

But it HAS to be real. It can't be fake. If it is, you'll lose any chance of impact and influence with that person and others.

When it's real. You'll have become a person of influence and impact, because you'll be a person that people can genuinely trust.

Isn't empathy the underlying principle of "the golden rule"?
Isn't a lack of empathy one of the biggest reasons for strife and trouble between people?

We all want to have an impact and influence in this world.

And the "secret" to actually experiencing this starts with thinking of others first and responding to them out of that understanding.

If you liked this post, please share it with others you think would like it!

Click one of the buttons below "posted by Scott Aughtmon" to easily share it right now.

Thanks,
Scott @lastingministry

The Only 3 Ways Your Youth Group Can Grow?...

noreply@blogger.com (scott aughtmon) — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 21:03:00 +0000

As far as I can tell, there are only 3 ways your youth group can grow. They are:

1. Friends Inviting Friends - This is the most effective way. Are your students inviting their friends? Why or why not? How can you make your group an easier group to invite people to? How can you create events that are good "introductory" experiences with your group? Make it as easy as possible for students to invite friends to your youth group. Teach your students to do this and HOW to do this.

2. People Looking For A Group Find Or Hear About Your Group - This is usually a student who is a believer or a student who is "seeking" something more in life. It could also be a new family moving into an area that is looking for a good group for their kid(s). How easy is it to find your group? Can people find your youth group if they search online? Do you have a website? A Facebook page? Does your group show up in the search engines? What about offline? Do you ever promote your group with flyers, posters, or invite cards? Have you ever advertised in the school newspaper? Make your youth group as easy as possible to discover online and off, so that people who are looking for a group can actually find you!

3. You Go To Them, Meet Their Needs, And Make Your Group (And Most Importantly JESUS) Known To Them - You do this with actions and words. BOTH are needed if you want to be the most effective. Sometimes you might just do random acts of kindness and just say (verbally or with a card), "We just wanted to remind you that God loves you and you matter to him." Other times you might want to go and meet needs and really build relationships through conversations with students. Make sure your group is periodically involved in servant evangelism and goes out to serve those who they aren't friends with (yet) and who aren't looking for a youth group (yet). This way you will be reaching this last group of students.

What do you think? Is there another way a youth group can grow that I missed? Post your comments below!

Also, if you think this post would help others, then please share this post...

Post this link on your blog: http://ht.ly/2arQt

Tweet about this on Twitter!

Post a link to this on Facebook!

Story of my recent summer retreat training with Kenny Carlisle...

noreply@blogger.com (scott aughtmon) — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 21:03:00 +0000

I wanted you to get a chance to read this explanation about the online training session I did recently with a guy named Kenny Carlisle.

It was a training where I taught him everything about how to confidently pull off an effective summer retreat using the format and tools I used to use on our retreats.

The training went really well and I was glad to get an email from Kenny sharing what he thought of the training.

It totally made my day!

I wanted you to get a chance to read what happened on the training that day and see how you can get a chance to get access to the session I did with Kenny. (I recorded it.)

Read about the training session with Kenny, what he said about it and how responding by July 5th will benefit you...

Click here:

http://www.lasting-student-ministry.com/InstantSummerRetreat/

P.S. I hope this recording can help you like it did Kenny.
Remember: Check the link before July 5th!

3 Final Summer Retreat Testimonials...

noreply@blogger.com (scott aughtmon) — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 20:56:00 +0000

Here are 3 final testimonials from some of my former youth group members on what they thought of the summer retreats we used to put on...

"As far as the details of activities or specific things we did, im a little hazy, memory not being one of my strong suits, but the thing i do remember at summer and winter camps was that it was a safe haven...I dont want to say it was an escape from whatever we did in our other time, but it was definitely a vacation that gave us kids good clean fun away from home. More importantly though, it was an opportunity for us as brothers and sisters to feel a sense of closeness to each other. That we were not only going through similar troubles in our lives but that we were united in combating them and that something bigger than us was the power that led us and fueled us. This truth was something that gave us strength for years to come."

-Anthony Neely

"Youth retreats were always the highlight of my summers. Going outside the 'church' environment relaxed most of the youth and the youth pastors were really able to spend more than just an hour or two with us. Learning how to pray and do devotionals alone prepared us for daily devotions when we went home. Small groups prepared us how to express our feelings and thoughts about certain views with our friends. But the funnest part was just hanging out, dancing to Christian music and crackin jokes. Those memories are forever in my heart. I would definitely recommend for youth pastors to take their youth on summer retreats to get to know the real them!"

-Ashley Withers

"Having gone to mega summer retreats with multiple youth groups by different organizations (both as a student and leader), I appreciate the summer camps Scott used to put on solely for our youth group during our 'early years'. During these times, we had more of an opportunity to really grow deeper together as a community, and really laid the foundation for several years of a vibrant ministry....It was also kinda fun being a part of the food-making process. It felt like we were in a little commune...And the 'Big Night Games' were always the draw, highlight, and best memories of the week."

-Josh Herndon

Want To Learn How To Do A Retreat Like This?

If you want to be one of the 15 to get live online training on how to put on a similar retreat, then email me ASAP at lastingministry (at) gmail.com.

You can see more details on this training I'm calling "Instant Summer Retreat" at the end of my last post. The training is designed to give you everything you need to pull off the retreat - the daily schedule, games, suggested menus and even sermons, etc.

You can see some other testimonials from other of my former youth group members here and here.

7 Important Elements For Summer Retreat Pt. 3

noreply@blogger.com (scott aughtmon) — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 17:44:00 +0000

I decided to post a series of blog posts based on the teleconference we did called "7 Important Elements For A Solo-Retreat". This is for all of you who don't have time to listen to the recording.

I started by telling you how having the right "formula" for something can make all the difference.

In this blog series, I’m showing you the 7 Important Elements that my friend, and former co-youth pastor, discovered worked best for us to create a fun retreat the students loved and that still was spiritually powerful.

You will be able to take these and add them to your retreat to design it in a way to take it to the next level.

In the first post, I told you the first 2 elements for a successful summer retreat. You can read them here. In the second post I shared the second 2 elements for a successful summer retreat. You can read them here.

Today, I'll tell you the final 3 elements I want to share with you...

5. Worship - A retreat is a time to encourage your group to worship the Lord in an even more intimate way than they usually do. Tell them that this setting is a chance to let go and not worry about anyone else except what God thinks.

Pray for God to help them to be able to do this. And expect it to happen by planning in extra time for worship. I'm not telling you to drag out your worship times, but don't rush them either!

Also make sure to allow for "altar times" and some worship times at the end of your gatherings. And most importantly, lead by example. You, your leaders, and your worship team need to really allow yourselves to enter in during these times, so the students can follow your lead.

6. Interactive large-scale games - We did these on some level during the day schedule. But we really went all out with them every night AFTER our worship gatherings. The cool thing about them being at night is it seemed to up the fun factor.

The purpose of these game is not just for fun - even though they are fun. We found that these large-scale games really help to build relationships! The key is that you want to get everyone playing - including you and adult leaders.

There's nothing that can compare to getting everyone out there laughing, running, playing and working together. It builds some new relationships and incredible memories.

You might not normally think of this, but we learned to plan a hang out/late night snack time after these games, so people could brag, laugh and talk about all of the things that happened during these late night games.

One of the things that our previous youth group students STILL talk about after all of these years is the large-scale late night games we played. They even still remember and talk about certain exact moments! :)

We found all sort of really cool games that we used for our retreats - some with some really cool "storylines" behind the game play, but a classic one you could do is "Capture The Flag". (We played a version called, "Capture The Nuke").

7. Themed sermons - Many youth groups try and bring in paid speakers to speak at these retreats for them - and that's totally cool. I don't have anything at all against it.

But one of the freeing things about retreats is that they give YOU time to talk in an extended, focused setting on topics you want the group to hear.

You don't have to worry about having just a short time to hit the topic or have to worry about losing momentum speaking about it over a couple of weeks.

In a retreat setting, you have 2-3 days in a row to hit the topic from all different angles. And unlike your regular mid-week gatherings, where you have some students there one week and then others the next, you know you'll have the SAME group of students to hear those 3 "talks" that you give.

You also have the chance to speak a little bit longer than you might on a normal mid-week gathering time. Don't drag out your "talks" and make them go on for hours (no one likes or appreciates that!) but adding an extra 5-10 minutes would be fine and even expected in a retreat setting.

Just make sure any time you add is filled with needed, important information! Don't go longer just to talk longer about something. Stop when you should stop!

Also, make sure to be even more relaxed and relational in the way you speak on your retreats. Let them feel, as you should feel, that this is a special intimate "family talk" from someone who is speaking to them as straight-forward, real and loving as they can.

I hope these ideas help you to pull off a more impactful and memorable retreat this summer and ever summer after. I'd love to hear any feedback you have on the elements I've shared.

Why I Changed My Mind About Canceling The "Instant Summer Retreat" Training
I was planning on doing some online training to show you the exact format we used, etc., but then things got busy for me and Ben and I wasn't sure how much interest there would be, so I thought I'd just forget about it this year.

But then I got an email from one of you saying that you were doing a retreat and asking if I was still doing the training! :)

Me and Ben are still really busy, but I've decided that we'll do the "Instant Summer Retreat" online training with 15 interested youth pastors and record it for anyone else to purchase and listen to later.

Our goal is give you everything you need to pull off the retreat - you just need to add students, leaders, and a location. :)

Here's what we'll cover:

THINGS YOU NEED TO DO BEFORE THE RETREAT

How to find adult leaders
How to figure out costs per person (important
concept about what/if to charge adult leaders)
Rental vehicles
Permission slips
How to promote it effectively to students and parents
How we learned to stay longer on a retreat for less money.
Best daily schedule/format we used.

WHAT TO DO DURING THE RETREAT

We'll give you the exact schedule that we found worked the best. We used this same schedule as the core format and just tweaked it slightly over the years. You can use this same list and tweak it as you need to.
It will give you a schedule that will help you implement all of the "7 Elements" I've talked about in these blog posts.
We'll walk you through, step-by-step, how to use carry out the schedule, why things happen in the order they do, etc.
We'll talk about how to run/play all of the games, and tell you what we learned from trial and error of doing them.
We'll talk about meal preparation and how we pulled it off inexpensively and without one (or a few) doing all of the work.
We'll have a question and answer time, so you can ask any questions you want.
The goal is to help you feel totally prepared to pull this off yourself!

POST RETREAT - WHAT TO DO AFTER THE RETREAT

Practical advice on what to do to tie up the "loose ends" so you can be done with all of the post-retreat stuff as quickly as possible.
Things to do with your students to help the results last in your students lives.
Things to do in your group in the following weeks to help more students to be excited to be a part of the next years retreat.
Things to do with your church to increase support and participation in the retreats you do after this.

INCLUDED WITH THE TRAINING:

Sample Menus
Sample Parent Letters
Sample Med Release Forms
Sample Menus
Sample Sermons You Can Use
Adult Leader Packs
Student Packs
Games We Used
Small Group Questions
"To Bring Lists" we used that you can use as is or tweak.

* These will all be downloadable, so you can tweak them and print them to work for your group.

COST
We were going to offer the 2 days training (4 and 1/2 hours) and all of the "tools" (menus, etc.) you can use to do a retreat this year and every year after, for $99.

But if you're one of the youth pastors that want to be a part of the 15 to be on the live training, then it'll just cost $69.

I'd love to share with you all that we learned to do these retreats and help you to be able to pull off effective summer retreats too.

If you want to be one of the 15 people on the live training, then please email me at: lastingministry (at) gmail.com. I'll give you more details by email on possible days and times we'll do the training.

Two more testimonials from former students about our Summer Retreats...

noreply@blogger.com (scott aughtmon) — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 22:21:00 +0000

I asked some of our former students what their memories were of our summer retreats and it's been really cool to see what they remembered.

By the way, I've bolded a couple of the lines I thought were important...

--------------

"Man... I used love those retreats. It was a great way to not only bond with everyone but really see and feel God's work through each of our lives. As a teenager, going to those retreats really felt like the ultimate escape from the pressures of home/school life. "

"Wow, having to think about those times makes me appreciate you and Ben so MUCH!!! Thank you for doing that for me back then. Ok, the best part for me were the circle talks. Just talking about how I could better myself and strengthen my walk with with God. Although, those times got emotional it really felt like a break through for many of us.

"The games and activities were lots of fun too but the talks really helped mold me to who I am today. If only there was something for us at this age....I would be so down for that."

-Nona Ybarra

--------------

"Retreat was a chance to experience life with other believers my age. A youth group is a unique social group because you don’t necessarily see the people there in any other group. The people in youth group aren’t all the same people I go to school with, work with, live near. So in order to build lasting relationships it was important to have experiences together.

"Summer retreats were packed with experiences that were fun, meaningful, and challenging. The relationships strengthened during retreat were so important. When I went to school and was with my friends who weren’t a part of the ‘church bubble’ it was easier to walk out my faith because even though I was alone in the moment, I wasn’t alone in life. There is a loving God and fellow youth who would understand and support me.

"Retreats were special times to get away and focus on God and build relationships with others. I am grateful to have been a part of many youth retreats."

-Amie Santiago

"7 Important Elements For Summer Retreat" Pt. 2

noreply@blogger.com (scott aughtmon) — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 21:48:00 +0000

I decided to post a series of blog posts based on the teleconference we did called "7 Important Elements For A Solo-Retreat". This is for all of you who don't have time to listen to the recording.

I started by telling you how having the right "formula" for something can make all the difference.

In this blog series, I’m showing you the 7 Important Elements that my friend, and former co-youth pastor, discovered worked best for us to create a fun retreat the students loved and that still was spiritually powerful.

You will be able to take these and add them to your retreat to design it in a way to take it to the next level.

In the first post, I told you the first 2 elements for a successful summer retreat. You can read them here.

Today, I'll tell you the next 2 elements...

3. Individual Devotional Time - Most retreats I know of don't have this element. When we designed our summer retreats we wanted to encourage our students to have their own devotion times and so we planned them right into our daily schedule.

What you're doing is giving your students a chance to begin practicing something you want them to do daily after the retreat. You're doing everything you can to make the experience positive and meaningful, so that they will think about doing it on their own when they're back at home.

(And guess what? Some of our students told us they DID start having their own devotional time because of this!)

I'd encourage you to give them a pep-talk before they begin. Then allow everyone to go off in different areas and have their quiet time with God.

You should also have a "what'd you learn time" afterwards.

We gave them a total of 30 minutes to hang out with God and we encouraged them to read the Bible, pray & write/journal during this time.

It always was cool to hear what they learned on their own each day!

4. Unplanned "Fellowship" Time - This is also something that I think is left out in a lot of retreats! They're usually so packed with things going on from morning until night that students don't have time to just relax and hang out.

Every day of our summer retreats we had a chunk of time on the schedule that was designated as "free time". There was no agenda during this time. Students could hang out, talk, play board games, go swim or even go take a nap!

These unplanned times really gave us and the students time to connect in informal ways that a fully planned day wouldn't allow us to. We sometimes had really fun or important talks during this time. We sometimes had some really good laughs. And other times we just got a chance to relax and recharge before the rest of the events of the day.

The students and the adults really came to look forward to these spontaneous times.

Don't miss the importance of these two little-used elements! Add them to your summer retreat this year and see what happens.

That's it for today. I'll post the next elements tomorrow.

Don't forget: we’ll be putting on a 4-hour, 2-day teleconference event called, “Instant Summer Retreat”.

It's a paid teleconference where we’ll show exactly how we planned for and ran our summer retreats.

We'll give you copies of the full daily schedules that we used, so you'll have the whole retreat planned already.

You'll have your own copy, copies you can give to your students (it's important that they know the schedule too) and even ones you can give to your adult leaders.

We’ll also give you all the sample menus, games, discussions, etc. that you need to run it. You can use as they are or tweak to fit you and your group.

Our goal is to give you something where you can almost instantly take it - add a location, students, some adult leaders and pull it off with everything you need.

For those of you who would be interested in something like this, you can sign-up on this page to be on our email list to get more info.

If you liked this post and think others would like it, then please feel free share the link on your blog, on Facebook, or Twitter!

153 Fish

noreply@blogger.com (scott aughtmon) — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 16:56:00 +0000

I have a confession.

I'm a "secrets" and "methods" addict. I'm an info junkie.

I love reading non-fiction "How To" books of all kinds.

But you know what?

Sometime you can copy the method and miss the power!

Look at what I mean in John 21:1-14 (NLT)...

1Later Jesus appeared again to the disciples beside the Sea of Galilee. F92 This is how it happened. 2Several of the disciples were there—Simon Peter, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin F93 ), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples.

3Simon Peter said, "I'm going fishing." "We'll come, too," they all said. So they went out in the boat, but they caught nothing all night.

4At dawn the disciples saw Jesus standing on the beach, but they couldn't see who he was. 5He called out, "Friends, have you caught any fish?" "No," they replied.

6Then he said, "Throw out your net on the right-hand side of the boat, and you'll get plenty of fish!" So they did, and they couldn't draw in the net because there were so many fish in it.

7Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, "It is the Lord!" When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his tunic (for he had stripped for work), jumped into the water, and swam ashore. 8The others stayed with the boat and pulled the loaded net to the shore, for they were only out about three hundred feet. F94 9When they got there, they saw that a charcoal fire was burning and fish were frying over it, and there was bread.

10"Bring some of the fish you've just caught," Jesus said. 11So Simon Peter went aboard and dragged the net to the shore. There were 153 large fish, and yet the net hadn't torn.

12"Now come and have some breakfast!" Jesus said. And no one dared ask him if he really was the Lord because they were sure of it. 13Then Jesus served them the bread and the fish. 14This was the third time Jesus had appeared to his disciples since he had been raised from the dead.

Do you see what I see?

The disciples had been fishing all night and had caught ZERO fish.

Jesus walks up and says, "Throw the net on the right-hand side of the boat."

And what happens?

They catch 153 LARGE fish!!!

I can't imagine after fishing all night long that they never had thrown the nets on the right-hand side. I think that they must have and not only that, they must have thrown them on that side many times that night!

But Jesus tells them to do it and BOOM, BOOYA = 153 LARGE fish! :)

What was the difference?

Was their technique better?
Were they copying some of the successful fisherman's style?

No. The only difference was Jesus!

That's the most important difference!!

He annointed that moment. He caused the fish to be there and for them to get into the net!

Don't get me wrong. I think we need to learn the right methods and we need to do the right things.

All I'm saying is that without the power and annointing - without Jesus guiding us WHERE and HOW to do the methods - they're powerless.

I'm trying to make sure I pray more than ever and listen to him for the directions about where and what to do. It's the only way our ministries will succeed!

You know what else I like about this story?

When they got to shore, Jesus already had fish and bread!!!

He didn't need their fish. But they needed his power and annointing and direction. :)

"7 Important Elements For Summer Retreat" Pt. 1

noreply@blogger.com (scott aughtmon) — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 18:24:00 +0000

I decided to post a series of blog posts based on the teleconference we did called "7 Important Elements For A Solo-Retreat". This is for all of you who don't have time to listen to the recording.

I really like entrepreneurial stories of how people started out with nothing but an idea and created something amazing. Something about those stories really excites and challenges me.

I’m going to start with a story about a famous company whose success depends on an exact formula.

It's a story about Coca-Cola .

You might not know this, but Coca-Cola was invented by Dr. John Pemberton, an Atlanta pharmacist.

He concocted the formula in a three legged brass kettle in his backyard on May 8, 1886 by mixing lime, cinnamon, coca leaves, and the seeds of a Brazilian shrub.

Coca-Cola, as he called the beverage, made its debut in Atlanta's largest pharmacy, Jacob's Pharmacy, as a five cent non- carbonated drink. Later on, the carbonated water was added to the syrup to make the beverage that we know today.

Coca-Cola was named by Frank Robinson, one of Pemberton's close friends, he also penned the famous Coca-Cola logo in unique script.

Dr. John Pemberton sold a portion of the Coca-Cola company to Asa Candler when he was forced to sell because he was in a state of poor health and was in debt.

Candler didn't succeed, at first. He had paid $76.96 for advertising, but he only made $50.00 in profits.

In time, Candler acquired the whole company for $2,300. Candler achieved a lot during his time as owner of the company.

On January 31, 1893, the famous Coca-Cola formula was patented. He also opened the first syrup manufacturing plant in 1884. His great achievement was large scale bottling of Coca-Cola in 1899. In 1915, The Root Glass Company made the contour bottle for the Coca-Cola company.

Candler aggressively advertised Coca-Cola in newspapers and on billboards. In the newspapers, he would give away coupons for a free Coke at any fountain. Coca-Cola was sold after the Prohibition Era to Ernest Woodruff for 25 million dollars. That was a HUGE amount of money in those days!

And the rest is history. But think about this…

If Dr. John Pemberton, an Atlanta pharmacist never came up with those right ingredients that, he sold to Asa Candler, then we wouldn’t have the drink we have today. The success of Coke totally depends on the exact ingredients in the exact amounts or the taste will not.

In this blog series, I’m going to tell you the 7 Important Elements that we discovered that worked best for us to create a fun retreat the students loves and that still was spiritually powerful.

You will be able to take these and add them to your retreat to design it in a way to take it to the next level.

But I want you to know, before I get into the 7 elements, that we’ll be putting on a 4-hour, 2-day teleconference event called, “Instant Summer Retreat”.

It's a paid teleconference where we’ll show exactly how we planned for and ran our summer retreats. We’ll even give you all the sample menus, games, discussions, etc. that you need to run it. You can use as they are or tweak to fit you and your group.

Our goal is to give you something where you can almost instantly take it - add a location, students, some adult leaders and pull it off with everything you need.

For those of you who would be interested in something like this, you can sign-up on this page to be on our email list to get more info.

But you don’t need to be a part of that teleconference to have a great retreat. You can just take these elements I'll be showing you to create your own retreat from scratch.

Alright, here are the first two elements...

"7 Important Elements For Summer Retreat"

Before I tell you the first two elements you need to understand the need for fun as an overarching element of any retreat.

This is important. And not just for the reasons you think!

Fun is what attracts the students to the event, but it also relaxes them, bonds them together, opens their mind and hearts to the whole experience.

Ok? So within all of these 7 elements the need for fun is key. Here's the first element...

1. Teams/Team activities - This builds relationships, gets students to work together, adds a new/different challenge element. These are the teams your students will be in throughout the WHOLE retreat.

You should pick teams before you go. I'd encourage you to choose people who get along well, people who you want to get to know each other, etc.

Pray and be very strategic about picking teams. Don't just do it carelessly! These are a key element to the success of your summer retreat or any solo retreat (self-run retreat).

The next element is slightly different.

2. Small Groups - You will use these groups to get the students discussing topics you'll be preaching/teaching about. It's important to strategically plan who are in these groups too.

These groups can even be formed with students that you put on different teams. (In fact, that's a good idea to help connect students not on the same team.)

You should have a leader of each group - whether that's an adult leader or a student leader. But you need someone who's job it is to keep the discussion flowing.

You will use these groups to get your students to know each other on new levels with fun connecting questions. You'll use them to get them to open up to each other. You'll use these groups to get their minds focused on the ideas you're about to share in your talks.

These two elements really add important dynamics to any summer retreat. I'd encourage you to include these on your next retreat.

Next Tuesday, I'll share with you the next two elements.

You CAN Pull Off Your Own Summer Retreat For Your Group...

noreply@blogger.com (scott aughtmon) — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 18:25:00 +0000

I've been getting some really interesting results from my poll I set up on PollDaddy.com (cool service BTW).

The poll is on this question... "What is your answer regarding summer retreats."

One of the answers that people have chosen is this one: "I have never put one on because I wasn't sure I could pull it off."

I thought I'd take a second and address it here....

First of all, I know that you can pull it off because Ben and I were able to. We weren't super-human youth pastors with "super retreat powers". We hadn't ever done one before.

In fact, I'll be honest with you. I hadn't even gone on any youth retreats myself at that point! :)

If we could do it, then I know you can.

Some things you need to consider in order to pull it off are:

A location
Other adult leaders who will go on the retreat with you to help connect with the students and help you lead/run things
A worship leader and or team
You'll need transportation - there and back. We car pooled in the early days and later rented 15 passenger vans.
A plan. You need to know what you want to accomplish and how you want to do that. We wanted to help our students grow closer to each other (which is why we were doing our own retreat). We also wanted our students to grow closer to God. We designed large worship events and personal devotional times to accomplish this.
You need a speaker. We always just did this ourselves. It gave us a chance to talk about things in an extended setting that we couldn't talk about during our regular youth nights. You can be the speaker or you can bring someone with you to speak (Paid or volunteer).

Those are the things to start thinking about now if you want to be able to pull off your own summer retreat this year.

But one thing you need BEFORE all of that is buy-in from 3 groups of people. I'll be blogging about that at the special "Instant Summer Retreat" blog that I set up.

You can get access to the blog by signing up for it here.
You'll be able to read that post there when I post it later - hopefully today.

By the way...
The reason we're putting on this paid "Instant Summer Retreat" teleconference in late April is to teach you everything we learned doing them for over 10 years.

We're also going to give you the exact schedule we used every year, menus, games, sermons you can use, etc. Everything thing we can think of to make it as "instant" as possible. You just need to add the students, leaders, supplies, and location! :)

P.S. If you haven't taken the poll yet, then you can do it here. (The poll will be active until 4/7.)

Too Many For God To Get Credit

noreply@blogger.com (scott aughtmon) — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 19:03:00 +0000

This is another post I posted on my other blog that I thought you'd want to see...

Many times youth pastors and youth groups think it's their great numbers or ingenious methods that help them succeed.

So many of us believe this that we buy the books and go to the conferences to learn how to grow and implement these same ingenious methods.

Don't get me wrong. I love reading and going to conferences, but maybe the success that other youth pastors/groups have experienced ISN'T from the numbers or their amazing methods.

I read Judges 7 recently and it seemed to reveal the same thing.

It's the story of Gideon defeating the Midianites. I love this story because Gideon has 32,000 men he convinced to come and fight with him. That must've taken a lot of work.

And what does God do?

God tell him in verse 2 that he has "too many men for me to deliver Midian into your hands." God tells him that if he uses all 32,000, then Israel will think they did it in their own strength.

He tells Gideon to let anyone who's scared go home, so Gideon does. And 22,000 leave. Gideon is left with 10,000.

But God tells Gideon he STILL has too many men!

God tells Gideon to take them down to the water and he will tell Gideon which ones he can use.

300 of the men lapped the water with their hands to their mouths and all the rest got down on their knees to drink.

God tells Gideon to only use the 300 to fight.

The funny thing is that some people try and figure out, based on the drinking styles, what made the 300 better to choose over the other ones. But isn't that exactly NOT the point?

I don't think the 300 really had a better drinking style that made them superior fighters.

In fact, maybe they were the worst fighters to choose. That way God would get ALL of the credit!

The 300 take all of the gear from the others and make camp with Gideon.

God wakes up Gideon in the middle of the night and tells him to go take the Midianites. But he tells Gideon that if he's scared, that he can go sneak down near the camp with his servant - because what he hears there will encourage him.

What I love here is that God knows Gideon's character.
He's naturally afraid/fearful. Remember God found him hiding in a wine press! Because God knows all of this, he helps give him courage!

They go to the camp and hear a dream that one of the Midianites had and they hear the interpretation - that it means God had given the the Midianites to Gideon to defeat.

This gives Gideon courage.

He goes back to camp and breaks his men into 3 groups of 100. He gives them pots and trumpets. He tells them to blow their trumpets and break their pots (that had torches inside) all at the same time - at his command.

When they did this THE LORD caused the men throughout the camp to turn on each other with their swords and flee!

Now can you imagine Gideon writing a book or teaching at a conference "The Best Technique And Amount Of Warriors To Defeat Your Enemy" and giving them the advice to have only 300 men with trumpets and pots (with torches in them)?

It wasn't the number of people that defeated the Midianites.
It wasn't the technique that they used.

In fact, the amount of people Gideon had and his technique - without God in it and with him - were the dumbest things to do!

It wouldn't work again for him or for anyone else!

It only worked because God was in the plan and God set up the circumstances for success.

If you want to have success as youth pastors/groups we need to learn from others but we need to seek God for the strategy and plans that he wants us to implement.

The strategies and plans that are from God uniquely for us. The ones that he wants to use to maximize the circumstances he's set up.

That way God gets the credit. Not the numbers. Not the techniques... God.

He is the "x factor" to all pastors/churches who see success.

A book I'm interested in reading that talks about the "under the surface" reasons why church plants succeed is called "Church In The Making". It's by Ben Arment.

In the book he looks at the unique situations and "behind the scenes" reasons why some church plants have succeeded or failed. This really appeals to me because I've been planting a church in Silicon Valley for the last 5 years.

You can check out a whole series of blog posts he's done on some of these churches over on his blog. Go here.

Why I LOVED Putting On Our Summer Retreats

noreply@blogger.com (scott aughtmon) — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 20:27:00 +0000

My friend Ben and I co-youth pastored for about 8 years together.

During that time we put on our first solo-retreat (aka self-run retreat): a summer retreat for our group.

We came up with different elements that we thought were important and needed:

-Fun! (Huge outdoor games, team games, pool competitions, etc.)
-Times of spiritual impact (both as a group and individually)
-Times to connect our students (small group times, build team unity and identity, team skits)
-Good food (inexpensive food that students would actually like)
-Lots of laughs (Skit night, late night games, etc.)

(*Listen to the "7 Important Elements Of a Solo-Retreat" (aka self-run retreat) here.)

Over those years, we tweaked and perfected our retreat to get it the best that we could. I end up using the exact same format, with just a few small tweaks, at the next group I led for almost 5 years.

And the cool thing was that that new group loved it as much as the first group we tried it with!

What I loved about those retreats was how fun they were for us, our adult leaders and the students. I also loved seeing God move in our students lives and seeing them leave much closer to each other and to God.

And every year it became an anticipated event that the adults and students would look forward to.

It became an event that grew in numbers and importance as we did it year after year.

In mid or late April, we're doing paid teleconference that we're calling "Instant Summer Retreat". We'll give you every thing you need to pull off a retreat like we did.

In preparing for the teleconference, I asked some of our former students what they thought of those summer retreats and it's been really cool to see their response.

Here's what two of them said...

"Summer retreats are some of my most cherished memories from youth group, it was THE most highly anticipated event of the year! I looked forward to the highly competitive games of capture the flag and the hours spent swimming (WHY could you guys not find us a place with a heated swimming pool or a lake filled with something other than melted snow??) and playing volleyball... but mostly summer retreat was a time to sort of recharge and and realign my walk with Jesus before the stress and temptations of another school year began.

"Summer retreat was about fun for sure, but it was also about worship, about bible study, about taking the time to connect with the kids in youth whom were outside of my regular immediate social circle (even if we went back to ignoring each other the following week).

"I can't even count the number of friendships that blossomed at summer retreat and there was always an increased sense of camaraderie amongst the youth kids after returning home. And who doesn't enjoy a good rock-athon fundraiser?"

- Tiffany Mooney

"It's been so long, but I think the summer retreats were so impactful, because they took us out of our normal environment, and made it easier to connect with God due to minimal distractions. The worship was always a favorite of mine. I felt like I could really let go to experience God. That's what still sticks with me today."

-Nikki Molinari

If the teleconference sounds like something that'd help you and you'd be interested in, then we'd love to have you a part.

Sign-up at the link here: "7 Important Elements Of a Solo-Retreat" to get free tips and learn more about the paid event.

I'd also love to hear any experiences you want to share or questions you have about pulling off your own summer retreat. POST THEM IN THE COMMENTS BELOW. I'll use them as a way to help us make the free tips and/or paid teleconference the most helpful they can be.

8 Reasons To Put On Your Own Summer Retreat

noreply@blogger.com (scott aughtmon) — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 21:34:00 +0000

When I was a youth pastor we put on a yearly summer retreat that was extremely popular with the students and was a very key event in the development of our youth group.

Here are 8 reasons why you should put on your own summer retreat:

1. You can control the schedule. How early the days start, how late they go. How much time is set aside for fun, for worship, etc. You can decide what you and your group does and what they don't do.

2. You can control the theme and the sermon topics. You can use this time for an extended focus on a topic you feel your group needs to have addressed. This allows your students to hear sermons that are designed (by you), for them individually and as a group.

3. You can control when it is. You can make the retreat be when it is the best time of the year based on your schedule, what you have planned for your group and what the student's families have scheduled.

4. You can control where it is. You can have it as close or far away from where you are as possible. You can even choose an area you've always wanted to go!

5. You can decide how long it is. You can decide if you want it to be 2 1/2 days like a typical retreat or a longer 3 1/2 day retreat. This way you can decide what you and your group can handle.

6. You can control what food is served. You don't have to put up with bad camp/retreat food. You can choose food that is good, designed around your andyour groups tastes and that is economical.

7. You can use it to help your group grow closer to each other without the distraction of other students/groups. You can use this time to help your group bond together. You can use it to help you and your leaders grow closer to your students.

8. It's fun and satisfying to see the end results of putting on something like this yourself. It's hard to explain the feeling of satisfaction you'll feel after a retreat that you put on. You'll be tired. But not an exhausted tired. It's a sit down and smile and sigh - when you think of all the cool stuff that happened- kind of satisfied. It's the "you worked hard, but it was so worth it" kind of tired. :)

By the way...

Next week, I'll post up a free audio recording of a teleconference my friend Ben and I, who I co-youth pastored with for years and who put together our summer retreats with me, did last year called...

"7 Important Elements For A Solo-Retreat"
(That's a retreat you put on for your own group.)

You'll be able to sign-up by email to get access to stream it online or download the recording.

Also, in Mid-April, Ben and I are thinking of doing a 2-day, 2 hour a day, paid teleconference called, "Instant Summer Retreat" teleconference.

This teleconference will give you everything you need to put on an effective summer retreat that your students will love and you’ll love because of the impact it has on them and your group.

What we’re going to give you on this teleconference and WITH this teleconference is everything you need to make putting on your own effective summer retreat as “instant” as possible.

The best part is that your input and feedback here will help us to make sure that this teleconference has everything you need and want it to.

Stay tuned for more info...

If you want to tweet this on Twitter, click here.
If you want to post this on your Facebook status, click here.

"The Real Secret To Great Success" OR "The Only Way The Weakest Person From The Weakest Tribe Becomes A Hero..."

noreply@blogger.com (scott aughtmon) — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 18:35:00 +0000

I posted this on my other blog, but thought I should post it here too...

I'm reading through the book of Judges and came across the story of Gideon.

In Judges 6, I love that God picks this guy who's a chicken hiding in a winepress and threshing wheat because he's scared.

I love that the angel addresses him not by who he is, but who he can be. (v. 12 "Mighty hero, the Lord is with you!")

In verse 15, after the angel tells him God wants to use him to save the Israelites, Gideon says, "How can I rescue Israel? My clan is the weakest in the whole tribe of Manasseh, and I am the least in my entire family!"

The Lord's answer? v.16 "I will be with you. And you will destroy the Midianites as if you were fighting one man." And that's exactly what happened!

When God is with us, then all of my abilities don't matter - only his do! It changes the whole formula.

Us alone = We can only do what we are able to do and achieve what our abilities can achieve.
Us with God = We can do what God wants us to do, all he enables us to. We can be used beyond our abilities and greatest goals/dreams.

If God is with us, then the weakest of us, from the weakest clan, can be used to do things we could never imagine!

That's the real secret to great success.

2 Types Of Retreats Every Group Needs To Do...

noreply@blogger.com (scott aughtmon) — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 23:26:00 +0000

I believe that every group needs to do 2 types of retreats. Many focus mainly on one of these types, but miss the importance and the benefit of the other type of retreats.

Let's look at the 2 types of groups:

1. Solo-Group Retreats
The purpose of these types of retreats is to grow your group closerto each other. These retreats allow you and your students to get to know each other without the distractions of other students, since your group is the only one participating.

This is very important. Jesus took the disciples alone - without others - so that he could teach them specifically what they needed to know and be with them relationally. When you're a part of only "Multi-Group Retreats", then you don't have this opportunity. You're stuck on someone else's agenda and you have a whole bunch of other students for your to interact with (and distract them from building relationship with each other).

To build the relationships of your students with each other is so key to having a lasting student ministry. If they aren't "tight" with each other, then they won't last as a group if/when you ever leave.

Also, this opportunity to get your group away and teach them specifically about things - in an extended format/setting - is so important to help them grow spiritually.

This again is key for having a lasting student ministry, cause this allows you to build things in them that can help them to "last" in the faith after the graduate or move on!

*These type of retreats take more effort, because you as a leader are putting it on, but they are MORE than worth it!

2. Multi-Group Retreats
The purpose of these retreats is to grow your group spiritually by being around other students who believe the same as they do.

The benefits of these types of retreats is all about the strength and power of peer pressure -- positive peer pressure!

When they see other students worshipping, it encourages them to worship. When they meet other students who are "cool" (in their eyes), or like them, - who love Jesus - then it boosts their faith.

This also gives your students the opportunity to hear other leaders teach and speak into their lives in a way that you don't (or can't because of your closeness to them).

The great thing about these retreats is that usually they are put on by others organizations and you don't have as much work you have to put into them to pull them off. They also can usually do things (or have guests) you couldn't afford to do, because they have many groups all paying into it.

How I Used To Do These Two Types Of Retreats
When I was youth pastoring at my last group we would do a summer retreat that was a "solo group retreat" and then we would do a winter retreat that was a "multi-group retreat."

The summer retreat was completely in-house and put on by me. The students loved it and it grew in popularity year after year.

The winter retreat was put on by a friend who oversaw the whole thing and invited the groups to come. This was also popular with our group.

By having BOTH of these two types of retreats I was able to see the benefits that both provide. If we would've only had one of these types we would've still had fun, but missed out on benefits of the other type.

I would encourage you, if you don't already, to make sure your group does both of these types of groups. Both will help you to build a lasting student ministry!

The Power Of "Retreating"

noreply@blogger.com (scott aughtmon) — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 23:29:00 +0000

I'll be re-posting some blog posts and adding some new ones on retreats. Here's the first one...

Some of the funnest memories of youth pastoring was when we went our our yearly summer & winter retreats.

What made the memories cool was the combination of fun, growing closer together as a group, getting to know the students in new ways, and seeing them grow spiritually.

Two examples of this I just experienced...

1. My nephew just got back from a Winter Retreat and he said something like, "That was the best experience I've ever had with God."

2. His youth pastor, who I'm friends with on Facebook, posted picks on the retreat and titled them, "The Best Winter Retreat EVER!"

There's something special about getting away from all the distractions of life and focusing on fun and God.

It causes students to grow in ways they couldn't from a regular Sunday or Mid-week meeting.

It allows you to interact with them in ways you couldn't in your normal settings.

I know there is the whole "after retreat let down" where students kind of feel like they "lose" what happened. Youth pastor's sometimes even feel like they're going through a little depression afterwards.

But I think a well planned out "retreat" can really have a lasting, positive effect in these ways:

On your students
On your group as a whole
On your grow numerically and spiritually
On you as a youth pastor/leader.

Because of this, me and my friend Ben (who used to co-youth pastor together) are going to share our past experience putting on retreats that can help you as youth pastors/leaders. (We have a combined experience of over 30 years youth pastoring. Man that sounds old! Remember we started when we were in our late teens/early 20's!)

Here's what we'll be doing...

I'll be putting together some more "retreat" ideas to post here.
We'll host a FREE teleconference call that will help you get the most out of your retreats.

Also....

In the past I've received an email from someone thanking me for this ebook and telling me to keep "the great products coming".

It was nice to hear that they liked the ebook enough that they wanted me to come up with MORE!

*Well, in the coming weeks, I'm going to reveal to you guys the next "product" I have for you. It'll be something that help you to almost "instantly" put together a powerful summer retreat.

(NOTE: We were going to do this last year, but we decide to put it off to this year.)

In the meantime...

***What are your comments, opinions or questions about this topic of "The Power Of Retreating"?*** POST them in the comments.