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By Called to Youth...

Whew! You made it. The school year is winding down. You've spent the last several months pouring your heart and soul into ministering to a group of teenagers. There were long nights. Hard conversations. And if you were crazy enough there was even a overnight lock-in.

[Video] Creatively Presenting Biblical Truth - Watch David Dorn #YPchurch

By Nate Dame

How do you creatively present the Gospel in today's techno-crazy culture? Is YouTube an effective medium for communicating God's truth with students?

David Dorn says yes! After sharpening his YouTube experience as one of the very first YouTube Partners, David has kick-started several exciting video discipleship programs.

Build Relationships Exponentially

By BrianLucas

As the leader, you will die if you are the only one leading and building relationships... It is crucial to recruit quality leaders, and empower them to take on part of the load of the ministry, by building meaningful relationships with a few students.

[Video] Building a High Performance Team - 1st Youth Pastor Church

By Nate Dame

The first Youth Pastor Church was a blast! Jimn Kyles shared some great thoughts on building high performance teams - watch the full recording below.

Scheduling Your Spouse

By Rick Hutton

“Let’s be honest, you’re going to sacrifice your family for the ministry anyway.” Said in an almost secretive tone, these words were spoken to me by a single friend and fellow youth pastor. I too was single but I remember feeling my anger rise as he said this to me. I thought that what he was saying was off base and most certainly did not reflect the way that God would call people to live their lives in any career, but especially in ministry.

Now as a married youth pastor I have to acknowledge that though I completely disagreed with my friend, I actually have sacrificed my family for the sake of the student ministry and most of the time I didn’t even realize that I was sacrificing them on the altar of “successful ministry.”  

Happy or Holy?

By Called to Youth...

*This is a post written by Tim Price of Harvest Ministry. As we continue to look at how to build up your marriage we really like what Tim has to say. so we decided to pass it on to you. You can read more of his stuff HERE*

 

I remember reading a book a long time ago and though I don’t remember the official title, this tagline has always stuck with me: What if marriage wasn’t meant to make you happy, but to make you holy? The concept runs across my mind each time I have the blessing of being corrected or shaped in life by my wife.

It is true, however, that the marriage relationship is one model of our relationship with God. The way we love and interact with our spouse is typically an indicator of where our souls are with our Father.

Because of this important aspect, our relationship with our spouse, above all other earthly relationships needs to be cultivated, cared for, nurtured and cherished. The marriage relationship is tied to our spiritual lives because we are called to love our spouses as Christ loved the church. It involves sacrifice. It also involves a decision. It also involves daily commitment.

To get deep for a moment – have you ever thought about that fact that your spouse is you? This mystical aspect to marriage in scripture is that “the two become one.” You literally are joined together, heart and soul. But, your spouse is also your neighbor. The person you married and live with also falls in the category of the great commandment, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength and love your neighbor as yourself.”....

The Ministry Marathon

By BrianLucas

“We won!”
These were the dying words of Pheidippides. According to legend, when the Greeks defeated the Persians at Marathon, Pheidippides was sent to Athens to relay the good news. Immediately after fighting in the battle, he was sent as a messenger of the news. He ran the entire 25+ miles without stopping, only to declare, “We won!” with his dying breath. [1]
The combination of a hard-fought battle and a 25 mile sprint proved too much for the man, and his life gave out under the effort. The news was important, and timing crucial, but he lost his life to deliver it. At what point does the consequence outweigh importance of the task? Would the news still be valid if the man had taken a little more time for the sake of his health? Probably. But I’m sure he saw the need for the news to be delivered. He was willing to sacrifice his own well-being to get the job done, even if it meant running until his heart actually stopped.

My own personal marathon
I can relate to this in a small way. In fact, as I write this I realize I have just finished my tenth day in a row of working in some form or other. I’ve worked right through both my days off. I always find one more thing that should have been finished, or something else I could get started on; another emergency problem that I have to attend to “right now”. Even though I know better, I keep pushing through and working. As if somehow working myself to death is preferable to taking a break.

Digging into God

By Jody McPhearson

As a youth pastor, why is digging into God’s word essential? Why is it important to have a relationship with God?

What is a youth pastor? If pastor is called to serve, then he/she is a servant. So, a youth pastor is a pastor is called to serve youth, right? Well, if that is true, and a youth pastor does not have a relationship with God, then who is he really serving? Himself/herself?

I know that as youth pastors, we get busy. I mean BUSY! There is program planning, curriculum building, volunteer recruitment, announcements, events, visits, marketing, social media, trying to be relevant, and on, and on, and on! Is it possible that we get too busy for God? Think about that for a second. We get too busy to read the words of the One who originally called us to speak for Him! How can you speak for somebody if you don’t know what His word says?

When Prayer Becomes Active

By Jeremy Lokey

I once paid $10 to watch a vegetarian eat a piece of pork fat. My first full-time ministry job was working with another guy who trained and ran triathlons so he didn’t eat meat while he was training.

We developed a sophisticated “game” where if you bet the other guy $10 that they wouldn’t do something, the other guy would HAVE to do it or face the shame and ridicule of the other. It wasn’t really about the money, and it ended up being a $10 bill that we traded back and forth for what are now indelible memories of one-ups-man-ship and mild embarrassment.

Needless to say, it became a unique and significant part of our relationship through the years.

Unfortunately, I tend to look at my prayer life much in the same way as the “$10 bet.”....

The Most Important Relationship You Have

By JonGreenhill

“It’s all about relationships.” These are the words that my youth pastor said to me soon after I began my first paid job in youth ministry. I was a 20 year old youth intern and I was ready to change the world. Little did I know that these words would transform how I did ministry.

As I entered the world of being on a church staff, I would soon learn that I would need to develop relationships at every level. First with the students. Then there were the parents. Then the older adults in the church. Don’t forget the deacon board and elders. And the custodian. I needed a strong relationship with the custodian. There’s also the pastor and other staff. I can’t forget about them. These were all relationships that I needed to foster and grow if I wanted to survive life in a church. 

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