Converge and Beyond

"Wherever two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among you."~Matthew 18:20


     Last Wednesday was See You at the Pole.  Students from all around the area gather churches gather at their schools in the morning before school and pray for their schools and the community.  That night area churches gathered at Decker Field for Converge (our annual community SYATP rally).  Converge is defined as: to tend toward or achieve union or a common conclusion or result.  The point of the Converge rally was for area youth groups to come together for fellowship and worship.  I am not sure exactly how many church youth groups were present last night but it was at least 13.  We do not all believe the exact same thing which is okay.  But we are able each year (hopefully more this year) come together to fellowship and worship together.  And that is what is important.
     Having met and planned the event with other youth directors, it was great to see how the event came together.  All of the planning was simply and easily divided up among each youth leader so that everything was covered which included: a speaker, a band, a location, advertising, t-shirts, giveaways, and food.  And it came together without a hitch.  I think this was able to occur because there were no egos involved.  As the above verse says, we gathered together for a common purpose which was to praise and worship our Lord and savior.  It was a great event with probably around 400-500 youth from Granbury and the surrounding communities.  Everyone seemed to have a good time and got along great.  I don't see why we can't do this again and more often.  All it took was some planning towards a common goal of prayer and worship of Jesus.  I think that is all something that we can all "rally" around again and again.

Grace & Peace
Kevin

Almost Christian Part II

"Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance.  The only thing it cannot be is moderately important." ~C.S. Lewis

While reading through Part II of Almost Christian again, a few things stuck out to me that did not before.  I guess when we re-read something a little later we have changed a little bit and we find little nuggets of information that we may not have noticed the first time around.

For instance from page 53: "It is also possible that the "textbook" faith and well-adjusted outlooks of highly devoted teenagers-for Mormons and others-may be a better indicator of these teenagers' ability to win adult approval than an indicator of true faith."

It gets me to thinking that some youth may say they are highly devoted in their faith just to get approval from their parents or other adults.  They give as our youth say "a sunday school" answer when asked about their faith.  We as adults need to be keenly aware of this to better equip ourselves to know the difference.  One of the best ways for us to develop this awareness of devoted faith in our teens is to be around them, be there for them, and ask them questions.  In short, we need to be present in their lives.  I need to be there, their parents need to be there, mentors need to be there, and you need to be there.  Remember that the faith of all of us is still developing and we need to be aware of that and help each other out.

Highly devoted teens are able to (1) confess their tradition's God story (2) belong to a community that enacts this God story (3) they feel called by this God story (4) they have hope based on this God story.  Does anyone else sense a theme here?  Our youth (and by extension) all of us must be able to share our own God story with one another.  That is how we can reach young people.  All of Us!!!

Hope your reading is coming along well.  Check back next week: same Bat Time, same Bat Channel.


Grace & Peace
Kevin

Almost Christian: Part I

"Most American youth faithfully mirror the aspirations, lifestyles, practices and problems of the adult world into which they are being socialized.  In these ways, adolescents may actually serve as a very accurate barometer of the condition of the culture and institutions of our larger society."
~Christian Smith with Melinda Denton

     I hope those of you reading along with me are making progress in reading Almost Christian.  We talked about it on Sunday night with adults and a couple of youth and I again talked about it on Wednesday night with the youth group.  This study is to focus on us growing as disciples together.  What better way to begin than the quote above.  The faith of our youth is mirrored after the adults who are present in their lives.
     When I read books, I highlight and mark them up.  They are things that stuck out to me.  What stuck out to you?

Here are some observations from part I of Almost Christian that really stood out:
1.  Religious choices of young people echo our own (lackadaisical faith is not a youth issue, but ours)
2.  Faith is often viewed as part of a group of extra curricular activities (in my experience, often faith is down on the list with those other extra curricular activities)
3.  Not just youth directors but families, congregations, and mentors are catalysts for consequential faith.  This is key for youth to see what faithful lives look like (volunteers are valuable in lives of our youth)
4.  We "teach" young people basketball, but we "expose"them to faith.  (What are we teaching each other?  We need to be more proactive in teaching not just exposing others to faith)
5.  The chart on page 41:  The Devoted, The Regular, The Sporadic, and The Disengaged.  (I see and know at least a couple of youth that I would identify each all four of these categories)
     These are just five concepts that stood out to me.  It gives me great hope that research has shown that not just youth directors influence consequential faith, but others as well.  In a sense it takes a village to raise a child or youth.  There are so many of us that must be active in the lives of others to show our faith and live out our faith.  People (and not just young people) are paying attention and mirroring what they see.   Just some things to think about...
     Hopefully everyone is trucking along with their reading.  Check in with everyone via blog post next Monday.


Grace&Peace
Kevin
   

Two Sides to Every "Coin"

"Train children in the right way, and when old, they will not stray." (Proverbs 22:6)

"Iron sharpens iron, and one person sharpens the wits of another." (Proverbs 27:17)

     There are two sides to every coin.  There are always two perspectives.  In much the same way there are two sides to a mentor/mentee relationship.  There is the side of a mentor (usually the older of the two) and of the mentee.  The perspectives of both individuals are are valuable.  Neither of them is better than the other.

Perspective 1: The Mentee (words from former AUMC youth Michael Horn)

     Although ministry can come in all forms such as being a teacher, a coach, or even just helping someone out, I chose Youth Ministry. With much prayer and consideration I made the choice to go into the church to do ministry. There are many reasons why I chose to become a Youth Pastor, for instance, the church is where I feel most at home and the calmest. God has given me many spiritual gifts such as leadership, public speaking, a loving and kind personality, the will to serve, and the want to listen and talk to others with my undivided attention (also I want to be a kid forever).  Kevin Anderson, I would call him my mentor. He gave me many leadership roles within the youth group. As I took on those roles I began to realize that God was showing me his calling for my life, I could not even imagine doing any other job now. My mission is to show that we are good enough for God just how we are, but God loves us to much to keep us that way and he will continue to change and mold us for the better. There is no need to try and be the biggest and the best. We are who we are and when we mess up or get torn down God loves us anyway. We are enough for God and do not have to prove our worth. As of now I am attending Oklahoma City University studying Youth Ministry with a minor in Sociology to become the best Youth Minister that I can be. Youth Ministry was and is what God has called me to do. I challenge you to let God help you find your calling.

Perspective 2: The Mentor (words from my pseudo big brother/father figure/mentor: Boyd Goodloe)

     It gave me a sense of pride and satisfaction to mentor Kevin.  It also felt good to know that I made a difference in someone else's life.  It was great to see how I was able to help and see God work in someone else's life.  And God using me to influence/impact someone else who God had placed in my life.  God builds those types of relationships to share His glory.
     From perspective one, I was the mentor.  From perspective two, I was the mentee.  Two sides of a Mentor/Student relationship.  I gained from both.  I learned from both.  No matter what role we are in, we can learn from the other person.  The mentee learns from the mentor and the mentor learns from the mentee.
     We have a great opportunity to do that.  One opportunity is you, the youth, can be paired up with a mentor if you choose to do so.  Adults who are willing to give of their time to help you.  And they will gain from the experience as well.  Another opportunity you have for that mentor/mentee relationship is to participate in the Reading Cube book study.  I asked the participants on Sunday night two questions: What do you want to gain out of the study?  What do you want others to get out of the study?  One of the adults wrote that he wanted to get fellowship with the youth out of the study and he wanted others to get deeper Christian fellowship out of the study.  Two sides of the same coin.  His two responses go hand in hand.  Young people and adults need each other.  Your youth council came up with the idea of this book study so we could study with other church members.  We encouraged church members to show up for the study and they did.  Let's learn from one another.  To paraphrase the two proverbs above: we can train one another and we can learn from one another.  Let's do that!!

Grace & Peace
Kevin

The Reading Cube

     We had our first introductory session last night for our once a month "book study" The Reading Cube at the church.  We will be reading three books this fall and meeting once a month to discuss them.  There is a reason that "book study" is in quotation marks.
     First and foremost our book study is not a book study, it is a discipleship study.  Let me explain.  If we were doing a book study we would just read a book, discuss it, toss it aside, and move on.  This class we will be doing is a part of our pathway of discipleship.  This is not specifically a book study at all, it is a discipleship study.  We picked books to read in a specific order that build on one another to help us look at how to be better disciples.  Discipleship is a process, we never stop learning.  My hope is that everyone views this book discipleship study in the same way.  That we keep reading and keep learning together.
     The first book, Almost Christian, gives us an idea what our youth are thinking and in doing so helps adults understand what role they have and can play in the culture of our youth.  And more importantly in the culture of our church.  The second book, The Lego Principle, speaks of our need to connect with God and connect with others.  After all we are called to love others and love God.  The third book, Multiply, focuses on showing us how to make disciples to make disciples until everyone knows Christ.
     I will be posting on my blog each Monday some thoughts about the reading.  My prayer this morning is that everyone involved has fun reading and learns more about how we can grow in our discipleship together throughout and beyond this study.

Happy reading,
Kevin

Darth Vader is Not a Good Apprentice

     Anakin Skywalker (aka Darth Vader) is the worst apprentice ever.  Of this, I have little doubt.  The reasons are three fold: he did not want to learn from other Jedi, he thought he was better than everyone else (including his master Obi-Wan Kenobi) and thus not prepared to lead, and he surrounded himself with a Sith Lord.  (Not Smart)
     The bible tells us that: "A disciple is not above the teacher.." (Matthew 10:24)  To paraphrase "an apprentice is not better than his master."  Clearly Anakin Skywalker did not get this memo or did not spend much time studying scripture.
     So what makes a good apprentice?  There is a lot of things that go into being an apprentice.  There are three things I would like to focus on.
     First, one of the best ways to learn a craft or trade is to follow someone around who knows how to do it.  If you want to be a gardener then follow around a master gardener.  If you want to be a teacher, go student teach with a teacher.  If you are studying to become a pastor, meet with and shadow a pastor.  No matter what you choose to do you can and should learn from someone who is doing it or has done it.  I learned about youth ministry by following around (interning) for my mentor, Boyd Goodloe.  I learned more from him than I could ever possibly express to him or anybody else.  If you need another example I give you the disciples.  They learned about Jesus and from Jesus by walking around with Jesus.  They followed him so closely that they got dust from his sandals on their feet.
     Second, as an apprentice you should know that eventually you will be asked to step out and lead.  In the New Testament, an apprentice named Timothy followed Paul.  Short version: Timothy followed Paul, Timothy learned from Paul, Paul eventually told Timothy "go lead a church, peace out yo."  Well, you get the idea.  A good apprentice follows the master/leader and learns from them.  They soak in everything they can learn from them and when they are ready they step out and lead.
     Our junior high youth want leadership opportunities.  I asked them last night to follow (ask) our senior high leaders how they can be leaders in the youth group.  Brittney (8th grader) stepped out and musically led a song last night by singing.  She didn't just decide to do that last night.  She has been coached by soundwave leaders, a youth praise band leader, and a vocal coach.  She wants to improve and lead musically so she has surrounded herself with those people.  Which brings me to my third point.  A good apprentice must surround himself/herself with the right people.  If you want to learn how to improve your singing go take lessons from people who have trained in that area.  You would not learn to sing by going to take singing lessons from me, although that would be entertaining and humorous it ultimately has no "musical" value.  Seems simple enough to me.
     To recap: Anakin Skywalker=bad apprentice.  He didn't want to learn because he thought he knew everything, he even whined about how Obi-Wan was holding him back because he was jealous.  He was never prepared to lead.  He was the most powerful Jedi in the galaxy and yet he chose to "follow" the Emperor.  And he surrounded himself with a Sith Lord, enough said.
     We as Christians are called to make disciples, to make disciples, to make disciples until the whole world knows Jesus Christ.  The way we do that is to follow other Christians, step out and lead other Christians, and surround ourselves with other Christians.  And we have a great model in Jesus and the disciples.  They followed and learned, and eventually led.  They followed around the greatest teacher of the faith ever.  And we can follow around teachers and disciples of faith too.  No matter if you are a senior adult, an adult, a student, or a child.  You can be an apprentice.  So today ask yourself:  How can I be a student of faith?

Grace&Peace

Kevin

Making Those Around Us Better

     So it's time for football season and Rev. Chris Mesa is beginning a football related sermon series entitled Coaching so I figured I could talk about some football and Jesus.

     John Elway was one of the greatest players in NFL history.  He came out of college as the most highly touted prospect, maybe ever.  He had the strongest arm in the league.  He was drafted #1 overall and then traded to the Denver Broncos.  He went to the Super Bowl in his 4th season, again in his 6th season, and then again in his 7th season.  Each time the Broncos got destroyed.  First by 19, then by 32, and finally by 45.  I even remember going outside to play football at halftime with my brother and friend Greg during the last game because the score was 28-3.  So why is it that one of the greatest players in NFL history couldn't win the big game?

     The answer is pretty simple: one player cannot win an NFL title all by himself.  No matter how much talent that player may have individually.  Even a great player needs talent around him and more importantly that player must be able to make those around them better.

     In Elway's 15th season, at the age of 37, he returned to the Super Bowl and won.  He repeated that feat the next season.  He was older and his physical skills had diminished, and yet he won.  Why?  The difference this time around was he had one of the top running backs in the league, a hall of fame tight end, and three hall of fame caliber linemen.  In the three super bowl that Elway and the Broncos lost Elway was the most talented player on the field but his talent only got him so far.  He was young, brash, and still learning.  In college Elway's teams never finished above .500.  He did not know how to make those around him better.  But in the latter part of his career, he was able to rely on others to help him win.  He made others around him better.

So let's ask ourselves two questions: 

1. Who do you rely on and who relies on you?  

2. Do you make others around you better.

     Jesus surrounded himself with the right people.  12 of them in fact.  It wasn't because they were the most talented people.  I have often heard them referred to as the B-Team.  Jesus made those 12 people around him better.  And they were responsible for started the church and spreading God's word.  Jesus had that kind of effect on people.

     I cannot do what I do what I do without help from others.  If I was the only adult here with the youth on Wednesday night eventually by the end of each meeting we would probably just jump on the couches, play football in the house, and play with toys.  The adults who help us allow us to reach our potential.  Discovery is our big youth event each year.  When I first got here Discovery was directed by and adult and youth leader.  The second discovery was led by a youth leader.  The third Discovery I directed because I was familiar with how things worked.  Each year since, I have given more of the planning responsibilities to our senior high youth.  And that is because the youth are more and more involved.  Myself and others are making those around us better.  Last year we went over the discovery curriculum and I wasn't feeling it.  So I asked the youth what they wanted to do and Mason said we should talk about Jesus in everyday life.  Hence, the theme of Finding Jesus.  And it was the best Discovery yet.  The day that discovery was over last year I received a text message with a picture that said: this should be our theme for Discovery 14.  

     Because of God I Am.....  So our theme will focus on finishing this sentence.

Grace & Peace

Kevin

"There are different spiritual gifts but the same Spirit; and there are different ministries and the same Lord; and there are different activities but the same God who produces all of them in everyone.  A demonstration of the Spirit is given to each person for the common good."  (1 Corinthians 12:4-7)