The Revolutionary Blog

Come Thou Fount

2009-11-16T09:00:00-05:00

This is an amazing song we sang at Revolution last Saturday.  It was written by a preacher named Robert Robinson.  Robinson was 22 when he penned the words to the song in 1757.  Enjoy

Play the song here:

Come, Thou Fount of every blessing, 
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace; 
Streams of mercy, never ceasing, 
Call for songs of loudest praise. 
Teach me some melodious sonnet, 
Sung by flaming tongues above. 
Praise the mount! I'm fixed upon it, 
Mount of Thy redeeming love. 

Here I raise my Ebenezer; 
Here by Thy great help I've come; 
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure, 
Safely to arrive at home. 
Jesus sought me when a stranger, 
Wandering from the fold of God; 
He, to rescue me from danger, 
Interposed His precious blood. 

O to grace how great a debtor 
Daily I'm constrained to be! 
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter, 
Bind my wandering heart to Thee. 
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, 
Prone to leave the God I love; 
Here's my heart, O take and seal it, 
Seal it for Thy courts above. 
God of Glory, Voice of Thunder
Split the cedars, Bring us under
Oh the shadows of your wings
You give us strength, 
You give us peace

Revolution 11/14/09

2009-11-14T23:56:24-05:00

- it felt so good to be back together with the students of rEVOLution tonight. For some reason it felt like it's been forever.
- it was great to see so many new students worshipping with us. So many were new middle schoolers.
- Bro. Medina did a great job kicking off the new "TXT_MSG" series! The Word of God is so powerful! The first miracle that God did in my High School years is give me a love for the Bible. It used to totally bore me. After I surrendered to Jesus it was crazy how the scriptures totally came alive to me. My prayer is for that same transformation to happen to the students of revolution.
- quotes from tonight's teaching: "You don't just read the Bible. The Bible reads you." "Don't judge the Bible by it's cover." "I can't make the scriptures "Cool" to you. You have to find it out for yourself."
- excited about Next Saturday as we talk about practical ways to study the Bible on a daily basis. We will also be giving away a sweet prize pack to a student that twitters with the tagline #revolutionyouth this week. Let's see who can Twitter with the tag #revolutionyouth the most this week.
- absolutly loved singing the song "Come Thou Fount" the lyrics are so FULL. It's like a sermon in a song. I'll try to post the lyrics this week.
- thank you to all the amazing staffers who make it possible.
- you students are AMAZING! Keep it up. Invite your friends this week & see what can happen.

Peace

6 Ways to Make an Impact at Schools

2009-10-23T10:00:00-04:00

Here are some simple tips that I use when going into a school as a youth worker. I am in no way an expert on the subject. Just some ideas. I would love to hear your ideas and collaborate!

1. Take food - Although this is not something I do every time I go to a school, it has proved to be a great way to introduce yourself to students. Just buy a pizza and go sit down with a student that is in the student ministry that you serve and pass out pizza to their friends. Needless to say, the friends will remember you.

2. Sit and talk - When you are at a lunch with students if there is an open seat, just sit down and talk. You will be surprised the conversations that you will have just hanging out and finding out about student's lives. After a little bit their friends will warm up to you and connect.

3. Don't Sweat it - If you go to a school and a student is rude or mean to you, don't sweat it. Try to remember what it was like when strangers walked into your cafeteria when you were in school. You are there to serve and meet students. Don't let a student get you down.

4. Don't always be an advertisement - (this is the hardest for me) Don't always have 2000 youth flyers in your pocket when you go. It is important that you go just simply because you care for students, not just because you want a large number at your next event. The temptation is to just go hang out with students before an event. The best thing is to be consistent, regardless of what is happening in your student ministry. Love, no strings attached.

5. Get to know the faculty - Don't just walk into the school like you own the place. Take time to get to know the teachers, custodians, coaches, secretaries, and whoever else you get a chance to. You are a guest, and if you are able to come into a school to minister to students it is a privilege.

6. Get involved - Find out what clubs and/or activities there are and get involved. I have found that most teachers that help with the Christian clubs are always looking for help. In the past, through students being involved in Christian clubs, I have been able to speak to hundreds of students that I would never be able to share the Gospel with. We have had so many students come to revolution because we were involved.

Also, things change over time. Don't be afraid to try something new. Revolution has had prayer meetings before and after school, worship services on friday, after-school Bible Studies, prayer walks, lunch Bible Studies, and a bunch of other things. Don't be afraid to try something new. Allow students to lead the charge and dream new things that will create change in their schools.

Just some thoughts...

What have you found to be effective?

Going back to school...

2009-10-22T18:00:00-04:00

Today I did something that still makes me uneasy. I went to one of our High Schools for lunch with students. Sounds harmless right? Well, you try it. It's not the easiest thing to do. Why does it make me uneasy? Honestly, I'm not really sure. I guess it is because when I walk into the school I stand in the middle of 1000+ students staring at me like I am from another planet. Maybe it is because of my 5-piece suit...not really. I am convinced that there is a mission field behind the walls of our High Schools. One filled with students that are searching for more, they just don't know where to find it.

I realize that walking into a High School can be intimidating. Going back to school is not easy. I'm not talking about college. I'm talking about High School. In fact, my first couple years of being a Student Pastor I did not do very much in our High Schools because of fear. However, fear still intact, I began to see God do incredible things as I got involved and pushed our students toward revival in their schools.

Even though it's still not easy, I go anyway. Why?
I go because I want to be among students outside of a "Youth Service."
I go because I don't want to just sit and wait for students to come to revolution.
I go because I want to keep an understanding about where students really live.
I go because I want to connect with students from revolution.
I go because I want to get to know the people that sit around the table at lunch with revolution students.
I go because I want to be there.
I go because I want to be there enough that when a student thinks about "youth group" they think about revolution.
I go because I don't just want to sit and pat myself on the back when there are THOUSANDS of students in my city without Jesus.
I go because I want to know "those" students.

Walking into schools keeps my eyes open and my heart broken for students.

I would love to hear your thoughts about getting involved in schools. Leave a comment below and share.

Thoughts from Tonight's Youth Service

2009-09-13T00:19:33-04:00

Wow! It felt so good to be back worshiping with the student of revolution tonight!
- I was so proud of the students that brought friends with them tonight.
- It was great to see some new middle school students come to youth service!
- Great job Jerrod, Tyler, and Aaron! The music was Awesome!
- "No Reason to Hide" is my Favorite song right now!
- Friend Request series is off to a GREAT start! I can't even imagine what God is going to do in the coming weeks!
- Tonight's service was totally smooth!
- Tonight we announced that we are going to be having our 1st ever FALL RETREAT. October 14-17! I am so excited about it. It has been so hard to keep it a secret! The secret is out! It's going to be great!
- Thank You to all of our AMAZING youth staffers who worked so hard to make everything happen tonight!

IT'S ONLY THE BEGINNING! THIS SCHOOL-YEAR IS GOING TO BE AMAZING!

Friday is for Fotos

2009-09-11T10:00:00-04:00

Every time I go spend time with students in school I am always overwhelmed at the great opportunity. In the High School that I went to yesterday there are 1800+ students. What a task!

Here are some pictures that I have snapped over the years of some of the schools that revolution students attend.

May this be the greatest year of revival that we have ever known! Have a great friday!

The 40 Year Student Ministry

2009-09-10T10:53:53-04:00

Yesterday another Student Pastor that I follow asked a question on twitter that really captivated me. He asked, "How do we as Youth/Student Pastors determine the success of a Youth/Student ministry?"

Wow! Great question.

What is a WIN for us that work with students?

So many things came to mind about what defines success for student ministry. However, I don't think the true success of student ministry can fully be measured TODAY. Wait a minute, I understand that there are things that we MUST look at like numbers, student facilities, involvement, cool praise bands, students receiving the Holy Ghost, students baptized in Jesus Name, community involvement, just to name a few. All these are great and vital today. We can't be satisfied with complacency. We have to move forward. The task demands it.

But what I can't get off my mind is, "What good is all that if in 40 years these students that I am working with are not still in the church?"

The true win is students that become fully functional members in the body of Jesus Christ. The true win will be when you see students that grew up to raise their families in the church. You say, "I don't think we have control over that." However, we can put things in students that will help them stand the test of time.

We have to change our perspective from 4 to 40! From "What can I do to impact students for the 4 years they are in High School?" to, "What can I put inside students that will last 40 years?"

I tell the students at revolution that I am not preaching to them at age 16 with a girlfriend that you have been going with for two months. I am preaching to the 22 year old college student that is making decisions far away from your parents and loved ones. I am preaching to the 40 year old Dad with three kids a wife and a dog. Is that adult still serving God.

Questions?
What are we putting in students?
Are we teaching things that are doctrinally sound and in alignment with our Senior Pastor and church?
Is our preaching/teaching a well balanced? this book is great for that.
Are we teaching students rebellion by our actions?
Am I teaching students how to be a Godly husband/wife through my example?
Am I opening opportunities for students to be involved in leadership in student ministry and/or other parts of the larger church?

"God, help us, by your Spirit, to instill in the hearts of students something that will cause them to be in your kingdom all the days of their lives."

Help us to have a 40 year student ministry.

I would love to hear some of your thoughts about what success looks in student ministry.

"... and THIS is what you're doing with it?"

2009-09-08T09:00:00-04:00

I saw this tweet Saturday from my friend David McGovern. David is an amazing Student Pastor in the city of Escondido, CA at North Point Worship Center where Darin Sargent is the Lead Pastor. Their student ministry is SOLID Student Ministries. Needless to say, these guys are doing a great work in the city of Escondido!

"Ever get the feeling that God is thinking "I gave u the HolyGhost & power, and THIS is what youre doing with it?" Let's Change the world."

What a thought. I have not been able to get this out of my mind. For some reason God has chosen to put his ALL POWERFUL, CREATIVE, LIFE-CHANGING, UNLIMITED, HEALING, MOUNTAIN-MOVING, EARTH-SHAKING - POWER in us! That is profound. The spirit that made heaven and earth. The spirit that "Moved upon the face of the waters" in Genesis One!

The real question is... WHAT AM I DOING WITH IT?

It seems like I have crafted a religious mentality that has at the top of it's value system: SAFTY, SECURITY, EASE, PEACE, TRANQUILITY...ect. However, the scripture is filled with people that followed God into Firey Furnaces, away from family & friends, into the presence of Kings & Pharaohs. They lived lives of raw faith and trust in God. And, according to the book of Hebrews chapter 11, the world was not worthy of people like this. Is the world worthy of me and you?

Recently I was reading the book "An Unstoppable Force" by Erwin McManus and on page 23 Erwin made some statements that have really challenged me.

"... I was sure that there was no promise in the Bible that insured survival. Once survival has become our supreme goal, we have lost our way... the purpose of the church cannot be to survive or even to thrive but to serve. And sometimes servants die in the serving."

That is what our lives are made for.

God has put us behind the wheel of a Maserati. God help us if we are content to drive like a grandma!

Thanks for the swift kick David!

LET'S CHANGE THE WORLD!

Great places for FREE resources!

2009-09-04T15:27:15-04:00

When I first started working in student ministry I remember meeting a fellow student Pastor who I thought had a lot of cool and innovative things going on. He had awesome software that he used in his youth services. He even had motion backs (oooohhhh....aaahhhhh) that he used behind the words during service. I thought he was really cool. I, on the other hand was not cool. I did not have any media, cool graphics, videos, or motion backs to use. I had just bought my first laptop. Sad to say it was an emachine (or e-doorstop as I call it now!). I remember asking the other student Pastor if he could share with me some of the videos and software that he had, and totally surprised when he told me no. He said that he had looked and looked to find it and that I would have to do the same if I wanted to be innovative.

That day I made up in my mind that I wanted to share everything that I have with other fellow student Pastors. Whether it is advice, sermons, series, graphics, videos, ideas, ect... I want to be a collaborator with fellow student workers. I am so encouraged as I meet more and more student workers who feel the same way! This is not a competition! This is the mission of taking the Gospel of Jesus Christ to a generation of students. Let's work together. Let's collaborate and not compete!

Here are some sites that I have found that have some great free GRAPHIC/WEB/PRINT/VIDEO resources that can be used for student ministry.

CreativeMYK

mynorthside.com/creative/

thechurchbox.com/beta/

open.lifechurch.tv/resources

What resources are you using?

Friday is for Fotos

2009-09-04T09:30:00-04:00

Brandon Shanks