There was quite a bit of learning going on, and I’m sure you’ll hear from Brandon very soon on some of his take-aways, but I’d like to share with you one component of a session taught by Reggie Joiner. Reggie is the CEO of  The reThink Group. His seminar was about change, and one of the things he talked about was “the 5 most vital church ministry systems”. NYWC is a Youth Ministry conference, so he was speaking in terms of youth ministry specifically, but I think these systems exist in all variations of church ministry. His list:

1.) The System that Helps Leaders Connect with One Another

Collaboration is not just a “good idea” it is the very lifeblood of what we do. The Body of Christ MUST work together. Learn from one another. Exploit complementing strengths. Celebrate diversity.

2.) The System that we use to Communicate Truth

I’ve written about this for quite a while. I believe the primary question is: What language are we speaking? What we believe has not changed, but what it takes to communicate those beliefs certainly has.

3.) How You Partner with Parents

Reggie said, “it’s important to remember that we are not called to save students from their parents, no matter how bad their home life might be.” Here’s a question to ponder: how can you partner with an unsaved parent to minister to their child?

4.) The System that you use to Help Students Connect with Leaders

There is a lot of untapped wisdom sitting in the pews of our churches. How are we connecting that life-experience to young people? Is it working? … How do you know?

5.) The System that Mobilizes the Students to Serve

Christian Service cannot be a token pursuit. This is a generation that want to be involved, and they will not tolerate being showcased. (I know, because I didn’t) The most challenging thing that Reggie said was: “Don’t expect a student to be engaged unless you give them something engaging to do.”

Looking toward the New Year, what ministry systems are you looking to re-vamp?

Photo by: Donricardopezzano

The problem of false teachers

In the first century, Christianity was spreading rapidly throughout the Roman Empire. The Apostles taught and sent letters out to the churches beyond their influence. Great changes were taking place! In the midst of these changes, people who professed to be Christians began to teach things contrary to what the Apostles taught. The church was plagued with certain Jewish “Christians” teaching that obedience to the Law of Moses was necessary, false doctrine of the Gnostics, and other pagan religions. So it is that the Apostle John writes in response to the question “whom shall we trust?”

The Apostolic Witness

“What was from the beginning, what we heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands concerning the Word of Life [Jesus] – and the life was manifested, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us” 1 John 1:1-2 (ESV)

                Notice the verbs “heard,” “seen,” “looked at,” “touched,” and “manifested.” All of these are experiential verbs. These men had lived with, walked next to, touched, and saw JESUS! We, as New Testament Christians who are far removed from the time of Christ must trust their testimony. If you want to know who you can trust, you must ask yourself if the teaching that you are hearing is in agreement with the apostolic witness, “this is the witness which we have heard from Him and proclaim to you…” (1:5). Similarly, Paul exhorts Timothy to “keep a close watch on yourself and on your teaching…” 1 Tim. 4:16

Our faith is not new. In the shifting sands of various pursuits, technologies, and sciences the solid rock of Christian truth is never changing. Winds of doctrine and “new movements” will no longer blow and toss the Christian who is firmly attached to the testimony of Jesus and the apostles.

As a parent one of the things I pray most for is that God will keep my children safe. I can remember going to the extreme with this and when our first child was born literally praying on a regular basis that no one would drop my son. If you are a parent you can probably relate. When our children are sick or hurt we take them to the doctor and expect the best. Imagine one day finding out that your child has a major heart problem that requires immediate attention. Would you go to the hospital and ask for the intern or guy that just got out of school and has never worked on a heart? No way, you would want the best doctor available to take care of your most prized possesion. Unfortunatly within church world youth and children’s ministry is sometimes looked at as second string. It is for the people that aren’t yet qualified to work with adults but have energy and potential. Why would we settle for a second string team when dealing with a students soul? As you look at your ministry/organization, are the people working with children and students second stringers? If so why and how can you change this culture? Here are a couple thoughts.

• Recruit the Best! Instead of looking for the coolest person in your church to work with youth, look for leaders. These are people with a track record of excellence in other areas of life. If they love God, young people, and have a teachable spirit you can train them to do the rest. Who are the 5 best leaders in your church and have you ever approached them about working with youth?

• Don’t be a second string leader! If you are going to lead a team of growing leaders then the assumption is that you must be a growing leader. Have you noticed that it is hard for you to attract quality people to serve in the youth ministry? If so take a look in the mirror. If you were a growing leader looking for a place to invest your time and gifts would you follow you? If not, start with some basic disciplines like daily time in God’s Word, reading good leadership books, and excercising on a regular basis.

If you’d like to learn more about Chris and his work, head to chrisfinchum.wol.org or check out his blog here.

Feel free to use this piece, change it, copy it, re-write it completely, charge admission for your version of it or frankly whatever you’d like to do. I don’t care much for copyrights, just be honest about where you got it

Free Trade Truth is a one-act written for the 2009 Snow Camp season. We performed this 8 times and saw great responses each time. We handle the subject of “honesty” in a humorous way using comedy to communicate truth. One of the neat things about this particular script is that we wrote it in such a way that the action on stage could be frozen in four specific while a speaker made application for the audience. This is a novel idea. Typically we have a speaker introduce and conclude the drama, making application at those points. Stopping the drama in the middle made for a little extra comedy, and also caused the audience to remain engaged with the subject matter rather than just being entertained. I included a transcript of what the speaker said specifically in each location (look for the blue, italicized text)

If you do end up performing this piece with your drama ministry team, I would love to hear about it. As always, if you have any questions drop us a comment or shoot me an email.

DOWNLOAD| Free Trade Truth

Photo by:  el_floz

John Collins, a MinistryLIVE guest writer, has posted a simple, systematic scripture memory system that is based on dividing verses into categories based on your familiarity with that verse. The more familiar verses being reviewed once a month, while others are reviewed weekly and new verses being worked on every day. The obvious advantage to this system is that it gives you a regular, consistent way to review your memorized scripture so that it stays in your heart and mind. You don’t have to review every verse every single day, so it’s not overwhelming. It does, however, take discipline and commitment to do it every day, or nearly every day, but nearly everything worthwhile or profitable in life does take discipline. If we are willing to be organized and disciplined about physical and material things, how much more should be willing to be disciplined about the things that lead to spiritual growth. Many passages of scripture encourage us to “be diligent” or “make every effort” (2 Peter 1:3) concerning things that lead to spiritual growth. 1 Timothy 4:7-8 compares spiritual discipline to physical exercise, and tells us to “exercise yourself unto godliness”. Hebrews 6:11 says “We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure. We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised”.

Check out the detailed description of the Scripture Memory System on John’s Website in an article called Scripture Memory for Life.

It has a snappy tag-line, doesn’t it? –A warning of unseen influence, but in the case of Flickering Pixels there is danger in the warning itself. Shane Hipps, the Lead Pastor of Trinity Mennonite Church, presents a philosophy that attacks the very foundations of Christianity itself.

I was drawn to the book for obvious reasons (the tagline definitely helped). Communication, Technology, Faith… those three words describe my career. For me it was a must-read from the moment I heard the title. Right away I connected to Hipps’ easy-going style. The passion in him was easy to detect, even through the medium of written word, and the text was not heavy-handed. The book was full of metaphor and illustration (perfect for an abstract thinker like me). I loved his style.

I also loved his content… at first.

Early in the book, Hipps shares his testimony as a formerly successful advertiser. He skillfully tells the story of how he came to realize that in promoting and preying on materialism he had been “playing for the wrong team.” AMEN! I shouted. Finally, someone with an appreciation for the power of media had a practical knowledge of how to utilize it, and a conscience. Those people are extremely rare, and I was happy to have found one. After a pleasant introduction, Hipps went on to make several very powerful points. Most notably, was his definition of media.

Shane Hipps borrows heavily from Marshall McLuhan, a philosopher and thinker that Hipps describes as, “the most important intellectual that you’ve never heard of.” McLuhan’s definition of media (which Hipps borrows) is that media is anything that extends our reach. While this seemed impractically broad at first, the more I thought about it, the more sense it started to make. Why do we write books, blogs or tweets? Make videos, music or paintings? Is it not to extend the reach of our voice? Expand the reach of our ideas? Why do we carry a cell phone, except to increase our potential connectivity? When media is understood as an extension of us, an important thing happens. Suddenly all of the excuses are gone. Hipps tells the story of a friend who kept apologizing for the repeated interruption of his cell phone and eventually exclaimed, “I am a slave to my cell phone!” With this understanding of media, that man may just as well have expressed that he was a slave to himself.

It is a convicting reminder for me that I am a slave to whatever I chose to obey. Thank You Jesus for the freedom you provide; forgive me for returning to the master from which you freed me.

There were other ideas that I loved, but that was the big one. I was really loving this book; then… it started getting dangerous. Another part of McLuhan’s philosophy to which Hipps subscribes is that it is impossible to separate the medium from the message. This may sound harmless at first glance, but when the philosophy is applied it becomes dangerous. Allow me to quote:

“Our methods and our message must both evolve. While this may sound odd, it is actually consistent practice of God. Throughout Scripture, God makes changes to his unchanging message.”

When I read that last sentence, the hair on the back of my neck stood up. Hipps goes on to identify biblical examples of, “God making changes to his unchanging message,” including the promises given to Moses contrasted with the warnings of the prophets, the kingdom message of Jesus juxtaposed with the gospel to the Gentiles that Paul delivered.

At this point, I believe that a fatal error has been made. Hipps has equated “change in audience” with “change in message.”

Let us be clear on a few things:

1.)    God never changes.

2.)    The Word of God never changes.

3.)    The plan of Salvation never changes.

What does change is God’s presentation of that message throughout history. The emphasis (and some would say medium) varies considerably as the audience varies. We MUST view scripture through the lens of original intent. Scripture has only one meaning, and that meaning never changes. To suggest that the message would evolve over time is a deadly. When we push down the doctrine of God’s Immutability, we open the door to relativism—essentially setting ourselves up as gods. If the message changes over time, who decides when and how it changes?

Flickering Pixels is a refreshing look at the effect that media can have on our faith, but there is arsenic in the water. Be careful.

One such example is the Sermon Series being taught right now at my home church: Pine Knolls Alliance Church.

The whole idea started from a single Community Group (our name for “small groups” or, if you’re really traditional “Sunday School”). One of the Community Groups at Pine Knolls read through a book called Soul Revolution by John Burke. They loved it. Every member of that Community Group gave a glowing review of the book content itself, the way it applied to their daily-lives and the overall experience of fellowship around God’s Word. It just so happens that one of the members of that Community Group was the Youth Pastor of the church. He raved about it to the church staff, and someone had the idea of scaling up the whole study to be church-wide. But, as it turns out, we’re not the first ones to execute this idea, so there was plenty of help available to us on the SoulRevolution Website. We are currently in our 3rd week of a 10 week sermon series, but the Soul Revolution concept runs deeper than just Sunday Morning. Here’s a rundown of all that we’re doing.

60/60 Experiment. The heart of the whole series is an idea called the 60/60 experiment. Basically, we are challenging ourselves to connect with God in some way every 60 minutes for 60 days. The goal is to move away from compartmentalized lives and toward an relationship with God that encompassing every part of our lives. The

The Book. I don’t wanna say that everyone in the church is reading the Soul Revolution book, but… every I’ve talked to certainly is.

Community Groups. The whole thing started in a Community Group, so it makes sense for community groups to play a vital role. At the moment, all of the church’s community groups are working through the Small Group resources available at SoulRevolution.net/tools/groups.Community Groups also provide a great accountability network for the 60/60 experiment.

Sermon Series. This is our time to hear directly from God’s Word. 10 weeks is a long time to spend on a single subject, but the topic of “responding to the voice of God” is both deep and wide. There is plenty of scripture to cover and plenty of opportunity to dive  into the subject matter. Maybe even a little deeper than we would usually go with a Sunday Morning crowd.

Soul Revolution Blog. A Blog was created to be an online rally point for our church family as we walk through this 10-week journey together. Various staff members post regularly, sharing their insights. It’s been really neat getting to hear from the pastors in a different way and to hear from various members of the staff that I don’t interact with on a regular basis, like… the Chilrden’s Pastor.

As you can see, the church is coming together in a number of different ways. The comprehensive approach to study & worship means that its kind of impossible to attend our church and not be on board. I love this concept of every part of the church working seamlessly toward the same goal. A unified, comprehensive approach like this one is very labor intensive. It’s hard to get all the pieces moving in the same direction. But, I can say with confidence that the benefits are well worth the time invested.

For the first time since I was 5 years old, I have not attended an academic class of any kind.

During these few weeks, I have been reminded of some very important things about myself.

I love learning. I love academics. I even love term papers.  (I am going back to college for more education, by the way)

So, I decided to do something. Every day, I have been reading the local newspaper. I’m not talking about the comics or the sports, I am talking about reading the actual news and becoming informed on what is going on in my community, nation and world.

Then it dawned on me…and here’s the reason why this is on a “ministry” website…

Why don’t more people in ministry read their local newspaper?

Here’s my train of thought which was spurred on by a story that is told by Donald Miller in Blue Like Jazz.  I have no earthly idea whether it is a true story, but the meaning is powerful. He tells of a group of hostages that have been in captivity for a great deal of time. A group of commandos is sent in to rescue these hostages. Well, upon arrival, the hostages, assuming the commandos are in fact their enemy, refuse to leave with them.

After precious minutes of failure, one of the commandos lies down on the floor alongside one of the hostages in an attempt to convince them of the commandos’ good intentions and soon hostages begin to recognize that these commandos are there to rescue them and are in fact not the enemy.

This story reminded me of John 1 which describes Jesus Christ, the Word becoming flesh and dwelling among humanity. I heard a preacher once describe this phenomenon as Jesus literally “pitching his tent” among us. I was also reminded of the verse in Hebrews which establishes Jesus as the one who understands the frailty of humanity because He experienced it.

I understand the idea of believers being “in the world, but not of it.” That sentiment, however, has nothing to do with cultural awareness and the love of Christ. Call me crazy, but I believe if you are not reading your local newspaper, whether in print or online, you are seriously missing out on excellent opportunities for ministering to hurting people in your area.

When we started this website in the fall of 2007, I had no idea of what it would become. We talked about it, sure. We talked (like kids do) about what “could” happen, but I never really believed it. I didn’t believe it would last. But it did. I didn’t really believe that we would make a whole year, but we are closing in on our 2nd anniversary. I don’t know when MinistryLIVE ceased being an experiment and became a calling, but it happened. There is no doubt, I view this work as a ministry and I want to do it with excellence. But, if I may be completely transparent, I haven’t been. I lost sight of what we were doing here, and why it was important. Maybe because it’s easy to forget there are people on the other side of the internet who actually read and benefit from our work(quite a few of you, if Google is to be believed).  Maybe I fell victim to the tyranny of the present.

The reason matters little, but the bottomline is that God put on my heart the desire to write. Not for personal gain, fame or money (the ads you see, just pay the bills), but because God has done a great work in me and I cannot help but share it. Somewhere along the line, you started reading, subscribing or occasionally visiting. When you did that, I feel like I made a commitment to you. A  commitment to write, but not because you are a paying customer, but because you are a vessel just like me. We are the Church, the Bride of Christ! I think it’s the least we can do to share our experiences with one another. Are we not all members of the same body? This little corner of the internet is THE way (well… one of the ways) that I function as a member of this body. I have been neglecting this responsibility. I haven’t been writing, and I need you to forgive me.

I have been reminded by a number of different circumstances in the last week, that there are a lot of people watching what I do. It truly is a great cloud of witnesses surrounding me. Not to sound meta-physical, but I believe that God was trying to get my attention. Even in my own personal devotions I was reading about the nation of Israel and how they had neglected the role that God had asked them to play… but I wasn’t listening. Everything culminated this evening when we (the staff of MinistryLIVE) had a Skype call planned to talk about some housekeeping items. We talked about “unique visits” and “bounce rate” and a few other nerdy website things, and then it hit me. God has GIVEN me an incredible opportunity, and I have been taking it for granted. MinistryLIVE is not a hobby site. I believe it plays a crucial role in the ministry of many individuals who are on the frontlines like we are serving God’s people, spreading God’s truth, and celebrating God’s grace.

I’ve been neglecting the ministry that God has given me, and I need to ask your forgiveness.

Will you forgive me?

Jesus, you are omnipotent and yet you chose to use us!? I am ever amazed by that fact. You forgive our sin, saving us from ourselves and you invite us to participate in your plan for the world. You’re grace amazes me. I pray that we, as Church Leaders, would never EVER take for granted the privileged we have in serving you.

photo by: Florin_Mogos

It should go without saying that we are participating as small group leaders because we want to lead young people toward a growing relationship with Jesus Christ. If that’s the case, then there are some basics that we need to continually keep in mind if we are going to be effective in our discipleship.

The weekly meeting is about the students

We’re thrilled when leaders come and are fed from the Word, enjoy the fellowship, and are drawn into worship of the Lord. But leaders must come with the intention of the time being about and for the teens. Our weekly meetings take roughly an hour and a half or two hours of your time one night of each week. The expectation for all of us should be that this time is primarily for the student, not for us. If you find yourself spending little time with the teens during games, talking mostly with other leaders during free moments, avoiding sitting with the teens during lesson time, and generally not doing much to reach out and relate to them, then you might ask yourself if you are genuinely coming for them. The time is about them and their growth. As leaders it is our privilege to sacrifice our time (and sometimes our preferences) for the good of the people we minister to. This should be our intention every time we meet.

Practical Points:

• Participate in games and activities with them, careful now; you are not as young as you used to be.
• Talk with them during free moments; young people are looking for people to take an interest in them.
• Sit with them during lesson time.
• If you need to talk to someone or have church business to attend to, plan to do these things at a different time.

Set the example

We try to have reasonable expectations for our teens. It’s only reasonable to ask them to show to the meeting on time, participate in activities, take part in worship, refrain from talking and texting during lesson time, and give their attention to the teaching of God’s Word. If we, as leaders, are not setting the example in these basics, then we will almost certainly lose the battle in these areas with the teens. It’s not genuine or honest to ask the teens to comply in these basic areas when we are not diligent in them ourselves. Don’t think these students don’t observe your actions, they see everything. They see inconsistencies when they exist in us. If we are to develop real influence in their lives, we’ve got to be people of integrity. In other words, they’ve got to see us doing and exemplifying the things we ask of them.

Practical Points:

• Be to club on time each week, 15 to 20 minutes early is best.
• Be in the meeting room on time, this seems like a no brainer.
• Participate enthusiastically in singing and worship.
• Be attentive during lesson time, no texting or talking with other leaders.

Not just Wednesday night

Can you imagine spending an hour and a half or two hours with someone who’s important to you and entirely forgetting about them for the rest of the week? In effect that’s what we do all too often. Most leaders have jobs, families, and business that call for their attention during the week. It’s not always easy to add another responsibility or give our attention to more people. That’s why being a small group leader is a serious responsibility that requires commitment. It’s not a leisure/spare time activity once a week. It can and should be much more than that. Discipleship is serious and important business. We’re not saying that leaders need to visit each of the teens in their group every night of the week. What we’re saying is that contact of some sort during the week will greatly enhance a leader’s influence. A simple text message, a phone call, an email, or even something for them on Facebook will communicate interest and care. Teens will draw their own conclusions about who cares and who doesn’t. It’s up to us to make sure they perceive us as people who are genuinely interested in them.

Practical Points:

• Text, email, or call just to see how they’re doing during the week.
• Plan an activity or party with your group at least once or twice during the year. Reference the article “90 Ways to Connect Outside of Club” for a ton of great ideas.
• Keep track of their birthdays and send a card; bring cupcakes or a cake to the weekly meeting to celebrate their birthday.

In Conclusion

Once again, it should go without saying that we are participating in this ministry because we want to lead young people toward a growing relationship with Jesus. If this is not genuinely the case for any one of us, we should seriously consider pursuing a different ministry in the church. The leadership of our teens must be seen as a serious commitment, one that sometimes demands sacrifice.

God has given us an incredible opportunity that none of us deserve: the chance to help teens come to know Christ, grow in their walk with God, and become more like Jesus. This a privilege far more important than so many of the other things that crowd out the time in our lives, because it can literally change eternity for the teens we work with. Let’s be serious about the responsibility God has called us to, understand it and appreciate it for what it is, and trust God for the wisdom and strength to do whatever it takes to increase our ability to influence these young believers for Christ!

For more from John Collins, visit his website: www.johncollins.wol.org.

Photo by: LunaDiRimmel