Nikomas.com

Blog has Changed

nikomas21@gmail.com — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 20:15:00 +0000

If you can see this post, chances are you subscribe to Nikomas.com through some kind of reader. The rest of the world is left in the dark. So congratulations!

I've recently re-designed my site to not include a blogging platform. Someday it may come back, but for now Facebook and Twitter are my social media platforms of choice. The conversations flow much better there than they do on this blog. As much as I love talking about my life and youth ministry through blog posts, it doesn't produce that much conversation (unless I poke, push and prod people to speak up...and I hate begging).

So, keep following and conversing with me about life and youth ministry...but do it through Facebook/Twitter/Google+

P.S.
The new site heavily pushes my Freelance Graphic Design. If you need some work done, or know of anyone, send them to www.Nikomas.com. All proceeds go towards raising money for our family's adoption.

Letting Boys Be Boys

nikomas21@gmail.com — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 13:34:00 +0000

This evening we wrap up "Battle Quest" in our student ministry. It's been a month long sports initiative. Earlier in the year we recoginzed that our ministry need more masculine focused events. We do a lot of singing, listening, sitting, and discussing...all of which don't naturally reach guys. So in June we decided to do an event purely focused on competition, team work and sweat. It was basically a 7-on-7 pentathlon. Students put together teams of 7 and each week competed in a different sport against a different team. We wrap it up tonight with the final games and then the prize/award ceremony.

In running these games I had to keep reminding myself of a few things:

Remember who the target is: I had to keep telling myself, this event is for the competitive guys...expect competitive attitudes. This event is for men, expect them to want to demolish the weaker teams.
Play Fair, but Don't Tip the Scale: It would have been very easy to handicap the really good guy teams to make the games fair for the girls...but those guys would have hated that, and this event is for them.
Don't Make Hero's Villains: It would be really easy to make the good teams seem like enemy of the rest of the team, but we wanted to give them their praise because this event was for them.

Tweaking Camp

nikomas21@gmail.com — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 13:56:00 +0000

For the past few years I have been the dean for a Jr. High camp in the area. It's been a great experience. I've tried to incorporate my philosophy into camp, which at times has been difficult. Some things haven't worked so well, but some have. Here are a few things that I've been doing:

1. Give Away Leadership
I like leading, but I would much rather lead in a team setting. Instead of planning the week myself, I've decided to put together the vision of the week and then recruit other youth ministers who attend to plan out different parts of the week. It takes a lot of my plate, and it also gives other youth ministries in the area the opportunity to be represented in the week. So far it's gone great! My initial fear was that it would be a hodge-podge week, but with strong vision and guidance it's been awesome!

2. Focus on Lasting Relationships, not Camp Relationships
I used to love going to camp to meet new people. The only problem was, I wouldn't see them again until the next year. That relationship I built at camp never benefited my walk with Christ. Our focus has been to help youth groups who come, first and foremost build relationships with the people in their groups. Our family groups and sleeping arrangements are setup to keep youth groups in mind. Campers still have the opportunity to meet new people, but it's guaranteed that by the end of the week the people they will be closest to are the people from their church. Those relationships will be valuable throughout the year.

3. More Small Groups than Large Groups
Last year I committed camp blasphemy: I eliminated campfire. Believe it or not, nobody even noticed! Campfire is a good idea, if the group is small. But it has never worked for me with large groups. I also never understood why we made kids sit through a large group worship gathering at night, and then again at campfire. Instead we decided to implement more small group family time. This year we are cutting our class times to half hour long, then asking each teacher to provide discussion sheets for family group leaders. After the short class the family groups will gather to discuss the lesson.

4. Offsite Field Trip
This year we're going to try something a little different at camp. On our last full day we are going to take an offsite service project field trip. Throughout the week we will be talking about how we can change the world. So, instead of just talking about it and hoping kids put it into practice when they get home, we are giving them the opportunity to put it into practice immediately. I don't want camp just to be a week of great ideas that are implemented later. I want them to put their faith to action immediately.

Those are just a few things we're doing at camp. What does your week of camp look like? How does your personal youth ministry philosophy affect the week?

Do for One...

nikomas21@gmail.com — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 13:24:00 +0000

Andy Stanley once said, "Do for one, what you wish you could do for all." That little piece of advice has helped me make a few leadership shifts in youth ministry. It stands in direct opposition to a different philosophy I used to lead from: "If you can't do it for everyone, don't do it for anyone."

I used to think:

If I can't make it to everyone's graduation, I'll go to nobody's graduation.
If I can't have everyone over to my house, I'll have nobody over to my house.
If I can't take everyone on a trip, I'll take nobody on a trip.

The reason this strategy makes sense is because you avoid a lot of criticism. You avoid playing favorites. You avoid leaving someone out. But in avoiding criticism, you miss some amazing opportunities. I've decided that the criticism is worth it. So now, I:

"Do for one, what you wish you could do for all."

We plan trips that are for a small group of students, instead of the whole group.
We go to the graduation/birthday parties that we can make it to.
We extend special invites for people to join us in our home or go out to lunch.

I wish I could do it for everyone, but I'm glad I have the opportunity to do it for a few.

Recent YM Happenings

nikomas21@gmail.com — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 19:01:00 +0000

It's been a busy season in our youth ministry. Here's a little that's gone in over the past few weeks:

1. End of Year Service
Our Quest Groups (small group program) ends in May. We close it every year with a gathering of our groups for a time of in depth worship and communion. It's always a pleasure to see all of our groups together. Throughout the week you don't get to see who all is meeting in groups. This gathering lets us look around and say, "The church is bigger than we think."

2. Lock-in
After the End of Year Service we had an after party for our Jr. High students. We decided to do a simple lock-in. It was on the last day of school, so students got to celebrate the beginning of summer by staying up all night and partying. I was expecting a smaller group than what we had. Had I known we were going to have as many students as we had, I'd have done a much shorter party!

3. Joplin Tornado Relief
This past weekend we took a limited group of students to Joplin, Missouri to help with the tornado relief efforts. It was an amazing trip. Our students got to be part of the larger church and I had a lot of good conversations with them. I'll probably write a little more about this trip and how it was run in a different post. Until then, check out the video of our trip below.

4. Battle Quest Kick-off
Yesterday we kicked-off "Battle Quest". It's a new event for the summer. It's basically a 5 sport tournament that's held throughout the month of June. It was a blast! Can't wait for next week's Battle Quest game.

Mixing Up the Summer

nikomas21@gmail.com — Tue, 24 May 2011 20:56:00 +0000

If "change brings momentum" is true, then summer is the perfect time to mix things up!

If you're ministry is like mine, chances are you've been pushing non-stop with your vision and programming for the past 9 months (give or take the occasional vacations for Christmas, snow, and the rapture). Summer presents the perfect opportunity to mix things up a little. Here are some ideas of things that our ministry has done or is doing currently to mix it up:

Do a Summer theme for your student ministry. Re-brand for just the summer.
Change your discipleship strategy from a "broad, reach-everyone" strategy to a "focused, mentor a few leaders" strategy.
Make your worship service more relational by ditching rows and going to table/chairs.
Try out that new program that you've been thinking about for a month. Instead of focusing on attendance, focus on logistics and potential.
Now that students are out of school, meet with students over lunch.
Recruit some students to help you in the office.
Invite students to join you in your planning meetings.

What else?

The Rapture Affecting Finals

nikomas21@gmail.com — Thu, 19 May 2011 15:04:00 +0000

Facebook is all a-buzz with students talking about this weekend's impending rapture. It's obviously a bunch of hooey (a technical term meaning: poor theology), but I think students are praying that it's real. Not because they're looking forward to seeing Jesus, but because they want to skip finals.

Just incase the rapture does happen, many professors are preparing to answer student questions through this FAQs list:

Q: With the rapture coming, should I bother working on my final paper?
A: Yes. The odds are you will not be judged worthy of ascent to heaven, in which case your grades will still be a basis of judgment for rewards in this earthly sphere.

Q: If my mother/father/grandfather/grandmother/favorite aunt/etc. is chosen, will I be excused from the final so that I may mourn his/her loss?
A: No. They have not died, but been granted eternal life, thus this does not count as a case of a death in the family.

Q: How will the rapture affect your curving, particularly if raptured students are exempt from final tests/papers?
A: Final grades are not curved, but students who are taken up in the rapture will be given incompletes, just in case.

Read the whole list here.

What Every Single Person Needs

nikomas21@gmail.com — Tue, 17 May 2011 21:06:00 +0000

This past weekend I had the opportunity to preach at "big church" again. My topic was about the single life. Being a youth minister, I give out a lot of single advice to teenagers. Glad I had the opportunity to share some of it with our adults. Here's the message video:

5-15-11 What Every Single Person Needs from Harvester Christian Church on Vimeo.

What Does May Look Like for You?

nikomas21@gmail.com — Mon, 16 May 2011 13:29:00 +0000

May is one of those months in student ministry that never goes well.

Warm weather.

Proms.

Finals.

Graduation parties.

Mother's Day.

Senior-itis (and it's not just for seniors!)

As I look over our past 4 years attendance charts, May is always our lowest month. On one hand, it's good to know. It's not a surprise when it comes. But on the other hand, it's still a frustrating month. So the question I'm asking myself: Next year, do we just plan for May to be a down month again, or do we take initiatives to increase commitment for May? Would our energy be spent best on building momentum for our summer months...or trying to salvage May?

What's your call?

Bonding at Busch Stadium

nikomas21@gmail.com — Wed, 11 May 2011 14:13:00 +0000

I'm a big fan of St. Louis Cardinals baseball. Unfortunately, in the past few years I haven't been able to go to as many games as I would have liked. That's changing this year. My goal this year: "Go to more Cardinal games with people I care about."

I took Ashlynn to her first game last Friday. It was a blast. My "Clergy Pass" got us tickets that were pretty bad. We were so high we could see the top of the Arch. Ashlynn loved it though! She could take in the whole stadium. In fact, we spent most of the game talking about all the little details of Busch stadium. We talked about:

The retired numbers, and why Roger Hornsby's retired number wasn't a number.
Why Ozzie Smith's picture was of him upside down.
World Series flags waving over the outfield (something a father/daughter from Chicago would never understand).
How to read the box score, and what R - H - E and LOB stood for.
Why there was a dirt path around the entire field, instead of grass.
What would happen if you throw your empty water bottle onto the field.

For her first game we saw a lot of runs and hits from the Cardinals, as well as a near perfect game from our pitcher. None of that mattered too much though.

Welcoming Visitors & Following Up

nikomas21@gmail.com — Tue, 10 May 2011 14:13:00 +0000

For the past few months our ministry has been talking about ways to welcome new teens to our weekend worship service and then follow up with them. It's one of those atmosphere's that is really easy to loose people in, but we don't want to loose people. It's easy to count how many people come to a service, but it's much harder to know who those people are we're counting. We want to know who they are.

We have the typical greeters at the door and adults milling the room, chatting with teens before and after our service, but we wanted to do something a little more purposeful. So we've decided to start a thing called Next Steps. Here's the run down:

1. Lobby
In our lobby we have a booth setup where students can grab information about and/or sign up for upcoming events and on-going programs. As you would guess, not many new students take advantage of these resources on their own. Some, but not all.

2. Greeting and Offering Time
Our service begins with a song and then our host for the day stands up to welcome everyone. During that time, while everyone is saying hi, the host will dismiss the visitors (and their friends) to the lobby where we have some stuff for them. While they're gone we will be taking up our weekly offering.

3. Reception
Once the new students are in the lobby whoever is preaching that weekend will greet them and welcome them personally. We want them to have some interaction with the speaker, prior to the sermon. We think it'll make the teaching time a little more personal...hopefully! We will also give them a visitors bag plus an information card for them to fill out while we show them a 3.5 minute video about our student ministry. This whole process should take less than 5 minutes. Once the video is over and we have their card they rejoin the service in progress.

Next Steps from Harvester Students on Vimeo.

4. Follow up
This is our most important step. On Monday we write and mail out letters to everyone who filled out a card. After that, if a student marked "Interested in Getting Involved" or "Interested in Joining a Quest Group." We forward their information on to a Quest Group leader. That leader then calls them before Wednesday night (our small group night) to personally invite them to their group. Our hope is that each student who comes to our worship service will get two personal contacts fro our ministry, as well as an invite to join on a small group.

We kick this ministry off this weekend. I'm looking forward to evaluating and tweaking it over the next few months! I think it has a lot of potential for helping students get involved.

What would you add or take away from your experience?

My First Youth Ministry

nikomas21@gmail.com — Sat, 23 Apr 2011 15:44:00 +0000

We had some pretty wicked storms in the St. Louis area this past Friday. It made for an interesting Good Friday service. Though there was no damage at our church, there was a lot of damage in nearby churches, including Ferguson Christian Church, the church where I had my first youth ministry position (2002-2005), which is also where Rachel and I got married.

Just before the tornado hit, the congregation was in that room watching The Passion of the Christ movie. Luckily they all made it downstairs to the basement. I think I also heard that the church was looted after this. Looters took off with the church sound system as well an office computer. That's sad (update: this did not happen, thank God!). Even though the church was damaged we're glad that the Church is ok.

For updates on Ferguson Christian Church checkout their Facebook page.

Helicopter footage:

Youth Ministry: No Boys Allowed, pt. 2

nikomas21@gmail.com — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 14:21:00 +0000

In yesterday's post we talked about how our youth ministry's seem to be geared more for girls than boys. In the process, we are loosing a lot of boys. However, what would happen if your ministry was geared mostly for boys? I think more guys would come...and so would the girls. So here are a few suggestions that I have for making our youth ministry's more male friendly:

1. More up-beat music
Young youth ministers tend to like worship music that is more emotional. They like the swaying back and forth, hands lifted high, wet-eyed worship. Teenage boys...not so much. Try to sing songs that are more anthemy and energetic. The boys still may not sing, but at least they can bob their heads and enjoy it.

2. Grittier Preaching
In high school, the person who made the biggest difference in my life was my football coach. Through his speech he both inspired me, and made me believe that as a 5'8", 130 pound boy, I could run over the largest defenders. Turns out that wasn't true, but nothing was going to keep me from trying! He spoke strong words of encouragement, strong words of rebuke and strong words of warning. His speech made me feel stronger.

Our preaching and teaching needs to be stronger. Many times we focus on funny or moving. For guys, truth comes through strong words of challenge and confrontation. I want to preach more like William Wallace of Braveheart than Joel Osteen of...whatever he does.

3. Call to Die
I don't think teenage guys are attracted to the call to be a nice person. And that's ok because that's not what Jesus called them to be. He called them to be world changers. We need to call our students to step up and face the challenges of this world. We need to let them know that there is a lot of risk in doing that. We need to let them know that when they do step up things are going to change! Guys are attracted to that.

4. Responsibility and Leadership
You want guys to be part of your ministry, then give them something to do. Let them get their hands dirty. Let them carry a load of responsibility on their back. Many times they'll drop the load, but they will be learning lessons the whole way through. Don't just expect guys to come and participate. Expect them to come and do.

5. Competition and Fun
In the fear of being an "attractional" ministry, many youth ministry's are abandoning competition and fun. I think that's a bad idea. You can still have fun and competition without it being soley used just to attract new people. Use competition and fun because that's what's ingrained into boys! Let them be who they are in the church. Don't ask them to abandon who they are so that you can feel better about your ministry flavor when you're talking to other youth ministers at a convention.

6. (Your suggestion)
..... What would you put as #6? Leave your idea in the comment box.

Youth Ministry: No Boys Allowed; pt. 1

nikomas21@gmail.com — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 13:54:00 +0000

I don't remember who said this, but I remember hearing it said a few years ago,

"Build your youth ministry for boys. The girls will come anyway."

I've been thinking about that more this year. Our ministry, just like most ministries (and churches) contain more girls than guys. We have more girls that come to worship. More girls are involved in small groups. The girls are the ones who always step up and serve. The girls are the ones making a difference. Which begs the question, "Why?"

Where are our Christian guys?

I think part of that is our fault. Many of us have built ministries that focus strictly on female interests:

1. Singing.
2. Sitting down and listening.
3. Sitting in a circle and talking about your feelings.
4. Caring for the orphans and widows.
5. Sermons that make you cry.
6. Songs that make you shiver.
7. Mood lighting that brings peace and serenity.

If we're honest, we've built our youth ministries around things that repel guys. So the question is, how do we minister to the needs and desires of guys too? How do we present the gospel and the gospel community in a way that is appealing to guys?

I think guys need more risk, more danger, more adventure. The gospel is the perfect antidote! The question is, how do we bring that to youth ministry? I'll talk about some ideas I have in the next post, but...f

Do you agree we should build youth ministries around guy-interests? If so, how would you/have you done that?

Next 5 Years

nikomas21@gmail.com — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 04:09:00 +0000

This past month our student ministry team has been evaluating many aspects of our ministry. We've looked at some things that are going well and made plans to improve them. We've looked at some things that aren't going so well and made plans to improve them. These evaluations, along with all of the faith that the leadership is putting in our student ministry is getting me excited about our future.

I love thinking about the future!

I'm incredibly blessed to be part of a church that has a lot of momentum going for it right now. We've spent the past year and a half building a foundation for doing ministry. Now Brian Jobe (our senior minister) is preparing our ministry to kick it into gear. You can tell that the staff energy level is rising, the passion for ministry is rising, God is blessing and we're expecting some big things to happen in St. Charles. God's getting ready to do something big, and I'm glad I get to be part of it.

Trying to Finish Seminary

nikomas21@gmail.com — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 21:44:00 +0000

I'm taking a few days off this week to get a jump on the final paper for my Masters Degree. I'm 2.5 hours from home, with the hopes of not getting distracted. (as you can see, I'm already distracted by the internet!) I've tried writing the paper with a few hours here and there during my day off, but that's proved to be impossible. So now I'm in Lincoln, Illinois for 3 days.

Interested in what my final paper is about? Here's a sneak peak at my introduction:

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

Sean cut his teeth on the back of a church pew. From infancy he attended church with his family. Sean learned about God’s love and learned to love God. Christianity was not just a religion to his family; it was their way of life. It was the only life he knew and he embraced it from an early age. Sean would never know life outside of the Christian life.

When Sean was 7 years old, his two older sisters decided to be baptized. With all the conversation and excitement around their decision, Sean decided that he would be baptized too. After all, he believed in Jesus too. He loved Jesus too. He wanted to go to heaven too. If baptism was the way that you let the world know that you love Jesus, then baptism was what he wanted to do too. It was a no brainer! With all the sincerity of a 7-year-old, Sean proclaimed Jesus Christ as his Savior and was baptized along with his two older sisters.

Eight years later, at age 15, Sean was a much different person. He was now a teenager with a host of additional life issues and experiences. His stature had grown higher as his voice grew lower. The physical changes were just the beginning the changes. His mind had exploded with the new capabilities and understandings that come with adolescence. In the midst of all of these changes, one thing remained the same: his love for God. As a developing teenager, Sean felt more devoted to God now than on the day he was baptized. If he had to choose Christ for the first time today, he would make the same decision! It was that reality that became a dilemna for him.

At 7 years old, following Christ was a “no brainer” for Sean. Now, eight years later, Sean looks back at the decision with regret. He views it as a decision that he did not make. With his 7-year-old mind Sean could only conceive one decision for his life: be baptized. It never crossed his mind that he could choose to not be a Christian. Sean knows that nobody forced him to be baptized, but at the same time, he feels like the choice was not his. He feels like his 7-year-old brain tricked him into making a decision. Now, with many more paths to choose from he wants to remake the decision to follow Christ and tell the world and himself that the choice was his. At 15 years old, Sean made the decision to re-choose Christ and to be baptized again.

Sean is one of many teenagers that have second-guessed their decision to be baptized as a child. Some want to be rebaptized because their parents made the decision for them. Some say they did it because their friends were doing it. Others were baptized so they could get a new Bible and participate in the Lord’s Super. However, I am encountering more and more adolescence that want to be rebaptized because they did not understand what they were doing. Even though they were not cohereced into a decision, they struggle with it nonetheless.

Sean and other adolescents are struggling with a change that goes deeper than they understand. Their struggle causes them to doubt their salvation. Their struggle also causes confusion and guilt for adults who remember the sinceretiy of their initial decision. Re-baptism also presents a theological issue, seeing that there is very little about the practice in the Bible. I believe that Neo-Piagetian theories identify cognitive changes that explain in part why adolescents seek rebaptism after childhood. Understanding these root issues can speak significantly to our teenager's dilemma.

My Family

nikomas21@gmail.com — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 18:58:00 +0000

I updated my "About Me" page. Go check it out. The best update is this beautiful picture taken by one of our high school students, Sydney Luter.

Adoption Update

nikomas21@gmail.com — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 13:28:00 +0000

We are still in the process of adopting. A few months ago we finished our paperwork and turned it in. That was a huge relief and a big step. We got word last week that the paperwork had be translated into Spanish and is now in Colombia waiting for approval. So here are our next few steps:

1. Get approval to adopt from the Colombian government. (3 month process)

2. Be placed on the waiting list to wait for a referral (3 year process)

3. Travel to Colombia to finish the process (4 weeks)

4. Come home.

We have a lot of time left until this is all finalized. The weird part is, we're hoping for a boy between the ages of 1 to 3. So, chances are, he's not even born yet! We are working hard for a child that the world has never met. It's weird to think about.

The weirdest part of the whole ordeal is figuring out how to pray for him and his family. Obviously his mother is alive right now, but she's getting ready go through troubles that demands that she give up her child. It's hard to pray about that. On one hand, I'm thankful that her child will be given a healthy life/family. On the other hand, I feel for her loss.

As you pray for our family, pray more for hers.

10 Tips for Recruiting

nikomas21@gmail.com — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 13:34:00 +0000

Recruiting is never over. We always need more and more people if we are going to do more and more for the Kingdom. Here are some things that I've learned through experience:

It's hard to find people when you're new. (So stop hopping around from church to church!)
It's easier to find people the longer you're at a church. (So stop hopping around from church to church!)
It's more fun to serve with people you already know. (Join a small group and recruit them)
Your current volunteers are better recruiters than you are. (Ask them to provide you names/numbers)
If two people are serving together, they need to get along really well for it to work out (Have them recruit their co-leader)
Recruiting via Sunday morning announcements does not work. (Unless you want the weird ones)
Adults want something to do, not somewhere to be. (Know the role before recruiting them)
Parents who have amazing kids are usually good leaders. Invite them. (there's a reason their kids are amazing)
Spread the word about what God's doing in your ministry and people will want to join (people want to be part of something exciting)
Get your students out of the student ministry and into the life of the church so adults can see what they're really like (unless your teens are horrible. Then keep them in your youth room).

What would you add? How do you recruit new volunteers/sponsors/leaders?

Ashlynn at the Museum

nikomas21@gmail.com — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 13:20:00 +0000

Ashlynn taking notes at the St. Louis Art Museum

She's so high class.

Getting into the Schools

nikomas21@gmail.com — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 14:02:00 +0000

For the past 3.5 years I've been trying to build a relationship with our public Jr. High schools in the area. I want to be seen as someone that the school can trust and use as a resource for their students. My goal is to to "infiltrate the school system to spread my Christian dogma." My goal is to infiltrate the school system so I can care for and help kids. Here are some things I've been keeping in mind:

1. Make Yourself Available
A school system is typically not going to reach out to you first. You have to be willing to make yourself available. Call the school, or go visit with a guidance counselor. Let them know that you're interested in helping them for free. I was lucky enough to step into something that was already happening. When I started at Harvester, the student ministry already had a foot in the door.

2. Make Yourself Trustworthy
As a minister, school systems will likely question your motives from the beginning. So if you get the opportunity to help, do not cross any boundaries. The school system is not the place to push the boundaries.

3. Lifestyle Evangelism
We're ministers. We like to preach. But the school system is a place where your lifestyle should speak louder. When I get the opportunity to speak, I let people know that I'm a Christian minister. And when I speak, most of what I talk about is founded on Christian principles. But I'm not going to pop out my Bible, end in prayer or offer a time of invitation.

4. Long Term Mindset
It takes awhile to build up trust between you and a school system. Start with small things, and work your way up. But expect it to be a long process. Good relationships take time.

Every year I get to teach at a lectureship for one of our Jr. High schools. I get the opportunity to teach every student in that school over a period of one day. It's been a great experience. I'm looking at taking the next step and signing up to be a substitute teacher.

What involvement do you have in the school system? What would your recommendations be for someone trying to get involved?

Youth Ministry Question

nikomas21@gmail.com — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 15:20:00 +0000

We are in Spring Break season in St. Charles, Missouri. It's a tough season for youth ministry. So here's my question, What do you do about Spring Break?

Dismiss your midweek program?
Plan an event during Spring Break?
Ignore it since school districts refuse to have them during the same week? (jerks)

Really, what do you do? Leave your comments.

St. Louis Cardinals iPad Wallpaper

nikomas21@gmail.com — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 14:17:00 +0000

It is baseball season again. Which means it's time to change your background wallpapers to your favorite Major League Baseball team! Mine, obviously, is the St. Louis Cardinals! So I created this Saint Louis Cardinals background for my iPad lockscreen. And now it can be yours too!

St. Louis Cardinals iPad Wallpaper

Leaders in the Word

nikomas21@gmail.com — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 13:32:00 +0000

If we can trust what the Bible says, and we can trust that it is relevant in our time, than it can still be used to start a revolution of love today. Our only problem: We don't read it.

And by we, I first mean us...the leaders.

If we're going to lead a revolution, if we're going to step up and lead a generation of teenagers into a radical, no-holds-bar revolution of love, we need to make time in our personal lives to read the Bible.

I'm not one of those guys who says, "Reading the Bible during your message/lesson prep time doesn't count." I think those times are just as valid as any other times. I think your sermons should pour out of your personal Bible reading times! But the question is, are you reading just because you have to stand up and talk about something in a few days? Here are some questions to evaluate why you read:

Do you read the Bible on your day off?
Do you read your Bible when you're on vacation?
Does most of your Bible reading time happen at your office desk?
During your readings do you take notes for yourself, or write sermons for others?
Is your Bible ever open to a passage that you're not teaching on in the near future?

Personally, I struggle the most with numbers 1 and 2.

If we really expect our ministries to make a difference in the lives of teenagers and in our communities, we need to be in the word. Think of all the great revolutions that were started throughout the Bible, and in modern times. How far would they have gotten with our Bible reading habits?

How about you? Which questions do you have the hardest time with? What role does the Bible play in your leadership?

(wondering how many responses I'll get on this one! Lets see who's can be honest!)

Helping Students Learn

nikomas21@gmail.com — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 17:47:00 +0000

One of the things we do to keep students engaged during the sermon is...brace yourself....this is groundbreaking...we encourage them to take notes.

Ok...maybe not as groundbreaking as I thought. But this can be incredibly beneficial during your teaching times. Students know how to take notes. They're accustomed to learning by taking notes in school (hopefully!). We just need to create an environment where they can take notes and learn. Here's how we do it:

1. Don't Rely on Powerpoint
Many people use Powerpoint slides for their main points and scripture passages. That's ok, but reading text on a screen doesn't make it stick much more than hearing someone say it out loud. But if you can get them to write it down, it sticks a little more. Don't just rely on your Powerpoint points. Make sure they write it down too.

2. Provide Pen and Paper
Let's be honest, if a student isn't going to bring his/her Bible, they're not going to bring pen and paper either. Every service we provide each student a 8.5in x 5.5in cardstock bulletin. One side has our announcements, the other has our notes page. We also make sure that every student gets a pen before the sermon starts.

3. Let Them Take Notes
Our notes page is really kind of generic. But what I like about it is that it lets students take their own notes, and it also teaches them what to look for in a sermon. Instead of using the "fill in the blank" methodology, our notes page just has 4 blank boxes of things to look for in every sermon: Scripture Passages, Main Points, Memorable Quotes, and Action Steps. While fill in the blanks can be beneficial, I think this methodology allows students to listen a little more intent and process information a little more.

4. Teaching with Memorable Quotes

Ashlynn's notes from The Quest

I've talked about this before, here, but want to reemphasize it again. Students do not remember sermons, they remember sentences. Your most important, most impactful points need to be well stated and easy to remember and quote. Hopefully these will strike a nerve with the students and they'll write them down.

5. Pointing out things to write
On occasion we'll also preface a statement by saying, "Write this down...". These statements are usually important to grasp in order to understand the rest of the teaching. Saying this does two things. First, it makes it known that we are expecting students to be taking notes. Second, it gives a heads up that what we're getting ready to talk about is worth listening to.

We are seeing more and more kids take notes. My 7 year old daughter, Ashlynn, is one of them! On occasion she'll attend the student service with me. And if this can help a 7 year old stay attentive during a 30 minute teaching time, it can help teenagers too! And so far, we're seeing that happen.