Jump Week: Camp reflections 2

Jump week @ Camp Lu-Jo is HS kids only. It takes a few days for the high schoolers to let go of their baggage, but by about Tuesday all of the camp begins to really gel and then we go deep. This year, I got to be a part of the 12th grade and graduated seniors class. I have watched my teen guys go through this week, and come back changed and I had waited for so long to get to share it with them. This year at Lu-Jo Jump week was a special week for me. More on that in a minute.

I got to preach Sunday night, our theme for the week was Conquest from the book of Joshua. I spoke from Joshua 3, and tried to relate some amazing things I learned about God from this passage as well as my life over the last few years. One of the amazing things though that jumped out at me was that as chapter 3 opens, Israel is camped at Shittim, 40 years earlier the children of Israel made a major blunder here, and as a result a lot of people died. Shittim was a place of great failure (Num 25), it is interesting to me that God brings Israel back to this place to regroup and have a redo. This time, they get it right, and cross the Jordan.I tried to communicate to the kids that God is faithful, and that will never turn his back on us. I have for the last 6 years got to kick things off for Jump Week, and try to get out of the way and let God work.

Tuesday night we always have a special worship, and this year we set up an obstacle course, paired the kids up and blindfolded one of them and the one blindfolded had to listen to their partner to complete the course. At the halfway point, the blindfolded camper was met with an onslaught of competing voices, and had to find their partners voice through the noise or have their partner tell them who to trust. I was trying to help one of our HS girls at the halfway point, and broke down when she broke down. She was tore up by the distractions, but I got her through. That night after our activity we talked about the distracting voices in our lives, and the need to listen to God, and his people and to learn how to tell the difference between noise and truth.

As the week wore on, the Blue Green War heated up. Three years ago, the camp was divived into a blue team and an a green team with an ongoing competition throughout the week, culminating in a paint war on Friday. We have a trophy and everything. The kids loved it. The first two years the blue team won, but this year the green team won. I was the team captain for the Green team, our leader Sam, couldn’t be there this year. Somehow we emerged victorious! It was a great week.

Here are some pictures!

post camp reflections: 1

One of my most favorite places to be on the planet during the summer or anytime of the year is Camp Lu-Jo. Camp is one of those places that you either loved or hated as a kid. But, for the last six summers I have had the good privilege of being on staff for two weeks of camp. Week one is HS week, and has been moving each and every year. Week two is an all ages week and is fun to interact with kids of all ages.

As a kid, I didn’t grow up in the church, and definitely didn’t go to camp during the summer. The closest thing to camp for me was football two-a-days! So, now that camp has come and gone once again, I want to write about both weeks as two separate blog posts.

I wanted to ask a question about where you go to camp, or send your students, and what you/ they love about where they go.

For our congregation, we do two camps. Camp Lu-Jo, and Wildnerness Trek Christian Camp. There are other camps at other places, but for us our kids being stretched and seeing God move in meaningful ways in their lives. One of the beautiful things for me as a youth minister is watching the transformations in the lives of my students over the years. I got the honor this summer, and each year really, getting to be on staff with some of our former students. It is just neat to get to see them leading classes, or devotionals, or working one on one with students.

Camp is a special time.

Book Review: 7 Practices of Effective Ministry

I was a little sketpical at first when I bought this book. I thought oh great, another numeric model to add to my already expanding numerals for ministry: The five purposes of the Purpose Driven Church, the 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, the 9 Core Realities of Youth Ministry and now 7 Prasctices of Effective Ministry.

But my sketpicsim soon subsided. This book provides a great look underneath a ministry system. The premise of the book is that churches that are growing because they don’t know where they are going. The 7 Practices help church leaders to define the direction they want to head.

I think the neat thing about this book is that while the 7 Practices are laid out well, a church leadeship that is going through these as a team will benefit from the time spent together in prayer, and discussing their future, examining what works and what doesn’t. Really a leadeship team that embarks on a journey to implement these seven practices will be challenged, stretched and empowered to lead from a plan that is local and organic having originated within their own orginization.

The Seven Practcies are:

1. Clarify the win

2. Think Steps, Not Programs

3. Narrow the Focus

4. Teach Less for More

5. Listen to Outsiders

6. Replace Yourself

7. Work on It

Unless you have read the book, these practices may not make any sense to you. But, Stanley and his crew do a marelous job breaking down what these practices are, and how they work. Let me stress that this is not a program to add to an often over extended litany of programs, but steps if you will to take your congregation to the place you’ve always wanted it to go.

If you read this book, a ministry makeover is likely in your future!

Beatitudes: # 3

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”

Quite frankly when we read Scripture it is quite easy to just glance over somethings. In our attempts to cross off daily Bible reading from our checklist, we have the tendency to miss some important things.  The Beatitudes are no exception. How many times have you read through the Gospel of Matthew, let alone the sermon on the mount and rushed thorugh the Beatitides? I admit, that I have done this. Not this week…

In our Bible classes this week we talked about mourning, patricularly what it means to mourn our spiritual poverty, our bankruptcy before God. This was an uncomfortable week. No one likes to talk about sin, let alone having to feel sorry, or deep regret our dirtiness. But, we did.

Mourning our destitution before God moves us to a place of accepting the reality of sin in our lives. Only when we come to the end of ourselves do we make room for God to meet us and begin his transformation of our lives. Something I tried to convey to our teens this week was the difference between saying your sorry, and deep regret for something. Most of the time it seems when we see people pray and ask for forgiveness in our churches we very rarely see someone express deep remorse for the disaster they have made in their lives. But, feeling something deep and moving seems to be precisley what Jesus wants from us. Only when we mourn what we’ve done and what we’ve become we are then able to be comforted. Jesus doesn’t call us to a deep regret and then leave us in our shame and grief, no he comforts us, and moves us beyond the need to do it ourselves to letting go, and letting God. May we all learn to mourn!

Beatitudes: 2

This week in our Bible classes, we took a break from our study of the Beatitudes, (we honored 10 graduating seniors, who have had a long journey are preparing to begin a new phase of their lives) but I wanted to comment on what we looked at the week before. Our study of the Beatitudes lead us to “Blessed are those who are poor in spirit.”

Poverty of spirit isn’t an easy topic. As a matter of fact it goes against our nature as human beings. By nature we are or try to be independent of God. We think that our best efforts will earn us a reward, or earn us favor with God. I am reminded of the parable of the two men who went up to pray in Luke 18, the Pharisee and the tax-collector.

^“9To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: ¹⁰‘Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. ¹¹The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. ¹²I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’

¹³‘But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’

¹⁴‘I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.’ ” — Luke 18:9-14

Poverty of spirit is brokenness, an admittance that we are unable to do life on our own. Poverty of spirit is quite a contrast from the picture of the Pharisee, self-righteous, judgmental, arrogant. The tax-collector knew he had nothing to bring to God other than his broken self, and approached God humbly. We can a learn a great deal about ourselves by looking at the example of others who knew their lives were a mess and were dependent on the mercy and grace of God to renew them.

Nebuchadnezzar is another example in Daniel 4 of one who shows a great contrast between self-righteousness and poverty of spirit. We all would do well to examine ourselves and check our hearts for signs of independence and rebellion. A life of dependence is a life that leads one closer to the heart of the Father. “Blessed are those who are poor in spririt, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” When we come to end of ourselves, we can then allow God to reign and rule in and through us.

Beatitudes: 1

We just launched into a new Sunday School study of the Beatitudes. I have enjoyed getting reacquainted with what are quite possibly the first words of Jesus to his disciples as a group.

1Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2and he began to teach them saying:
3″Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
5Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
6Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
7Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
8Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
9Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called sons of God.
10Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11″Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. (Matthew 5:1-12)

Eight simple sentences that are the foundation for discipleship. Today, in class I tried to stress that sometimes what we hear or what we’ve heard or even observe in the example of others who are trying or at least think they are following Jesus can and often lead us astray. So, the hamster wheel of discipleship continues. But, is a hamster wheel what Jesus had in mind?

No!

That is where the Beatitudes come in. The Beatitudes are the road where we meet Jesus. You would think that for his opening words, Jesus would do something better. Like, “excuse me, I am Jesus…I am the creator, the alpha and omega. I am the son of God. Listen to me,” cue thunder and lightening. But, no Jesus begins his introduction to discipleship by speaking to his disciples about them.

So, my challenge to my teens this morning was to memorize these words. To read them over and over this week. Let them become to them a constant reminder, or an entry point to a life time of following Jesus.

The best thing about all of this is that no matter where we may be in our walk, because of the cross we can get off the hamster wheel, and start over.

LTC Devo: Light, Life and Word

Sunday night we had a devotional with our teens here was my devotional talk:

· That’s the theme of LTC, this year

o John 1:1-5

· How is Jesus the Word?

o He is God’s word made flesh

o He is the fulfillment of OT promises

§ Of a God who cares and God who can

§ Of a God is present and faithful

o He is God’s final answer

§ For the problem of sin, and the empowerment for holy living now

· How is Jesus Life?

o Jn. 3, the promise of a brand new start;Jn. 14:6 – the way, the truth, and the life

o The universe was created through him (Col. 1; Jn. 1)

§ He is the creator, sustainer, holds everything together – Laminin illus.

o He is the victory over death

§ Jn. 11

§ Jn. 19

o How has Jesus given you life?

o What has he defeated in your life? (if time permits and no one did it last time for life groups do white sheets, with markers, describing a problem and a victory

· How is He Light?

o What does light do? (pushes away darkness)

o We don’t catch it in the NIV, look at 1:5 it reads, that the light shines in the darkness, but the light hasn’t understood it –

o A better translation here is that that the darkness has not overcome the light

o We are engaged in a battle:

§ Between the forces of darkness and the forces of light

§ While in the ancient world other cultures saw this battle going like this:

· Sometimes the darkness looked like it was winning, and then sometimes the light looked it was winning

· But because of God’s decisive victory at the cross, we understand the battle this way:

o Because Jesus has come and conquered death, hell and the grave, the darkness does not, nor can it win. It has been defeated fully, finally, and fatally in and through Jesus

· This is not just a cute LTC theme, this is our journey of faith (Light, Life and Word) or in other words, victory

LTC ‘09: MS drama

Misunderstanding of the theme: Life-Light-Word

Setting: In a Sunday School MS class room, studying the Gospel of John. The Youth Minister is desperately trying to convey what John is about, and the kids don’t get it, or do they?

Brandon gets quiet!

-YM: Okay, guys as I was saying, John 1 opens up with Jesus being presented as Life, Light and Word. What do you think this means?

-Michael: I got it. (pulls out a flash light), look Jesus is the light. He helps me see when it is dark. I can turn it on and turn off whenever I want. I don’t need it on now, so I guess I don’t need Jesus

-Kristin: Oh, Jesus is a light? My cell phone has a light, look! Jesus is like my cell phone light, right? He gives off just enough light to be a little helpful?

YM: Yes, Jesus is the light, but not a flashlight or like the cell phone light. He doesn’t just help a little, he helps us see in the darkness, he pushes the darkness away. He has defeated the darkness (John 1:5).

Okay, let’s move on. Jesus is the Light. He is also Life. What do you think this means?

-Ty: Oh, I know, he is like a defibrillator. He shocks people into life (Grabs a defib.) and runs towards Michael), like this watch…

-YM: No, wait, Ty. Um, thanks, but your not quite right there. Let me see, as I was saying…

-Spencer: (pulling up a box of LIFE cereal), look, here is what Jesus is like, a box of LIFE. Right? Jesus is life, this cereal is life, so Jesus is a box of cereal?

-All Kids: yeah, Jesus is a box of cereal. Let me have some of that!

-YM: Not exactly what I was thinking. Yes, certainly does sustain us like food does, and he does wake people up. Let’s move on…

Sarah: Wait a minute…Mountain Dew. Yeah! Jesus is like Mountain Dew!

-YM: and why is that?

-All kids: because mountain dew is the elixir of life

-Jordan: (prayer ) thank you God for mountain dew and beautiful women

-YM: Oh brother, um not quite what I had in mind. Um, Okay, so we read, in John 1 that Jesus is Light, Life, let me see here, oh yeah, he is the Word.

-Jordan: (stands up and begins to hit everyone with a Bible) Jesus is the Word, you need to believe in Jesus or else…

-YM: STOP! Jordan, that isn’t what I meant either.

-Jackson: (grabs a dictionary and begins to hit everyone again with the dictionary) Jesus is the Word, the word, the word.

-YM: Jordan, sit down. Jesus is the Word. Yes, but not a book of words to hit others with.

-Chris: Wait a minute, you said Jesus is Light, he is Life, and Word. But all the things we’ve tried to use to help you out, aren’t helping.

-Kaden: So, what exactly are you saying?

-YM: Listen, Jesus is the Light. He illuminates the darkness in this world, exposing sin and the need for change in people’s lives. He helps us to see God’s work in the world, especially to see how God worked through Jesus and is now working through the church.

He is Life. Yes, he does wake people up, but he is also the author of life. The creator of the universe. He gives everyone their breath. He gives and takes away. Life begins in Jesus, and his promise of rebirth through water and the spirit (John 3:5-8).

He is the Word. He is God’s final revelation. God makes known his intention through Jesus, His Son. He is guidance, truth, wisdom, power. His Word is our hope, our source of encouragement, our rock.

-All kids: so, we were off?

-YM: A little. But do you see now?

-Danyelle: Yes, I think I got it this time. You mean, that Jesus is all these things, and he expects us to be these things as well? Or at least point others towards Jesus as Light, life and word?

-YM: YES!

-ALL: (Sing This Little Light of Mine…) [optional]

-End Drama by reading John 3:16-21:

Kristin: 16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Spencer: 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

Jordan: 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.

Kaden: 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.

Sarah: 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.

Jackson: 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.”

LTC ‘09: Rogers, AR

Our congregation has a long history of involvement in LTC, Leadership Training for Christ. A program for students in grades 3rd-1th, to learn to use different gifts and abilities in the context of church leadership. Well, Easter weekend is our annual trek to Rogers, AR (We used to go to Tulsa, but the convention site moved), so Friday at 8:15 we will roll out of our parking lot some 73 strong and then the craziness begins.

I have been our congregation’s LTC coordinator in addition to being the full time youth minister. Those two years were among the toughest of my tenure here at CTCOC. I have been blessed with the desire of a willing couple to take the reigns and be our coordinator. Thank you Reed’s!

So, as one who is no longer our coordinator I am still intimately involved. This year is my second year coaching the MS and HS dramas. Below is our HS drama:

Through Their Eyes: Life-Light-Word

Setting: Meet a couple of characters in the Gospel of John who were forever changed by the encounter(s) with Jesus. He is to them, life, light and word!

Nicodemus: I was at one time, one of Israel’s teachers. I was respected and devoted to our religion. I was curious to learn more about this Jesus and his teachings. I had to go under the cover of night, for fear of my brothers and their harsh judgments of Jesus. I wanted to meet him, to learn more about him. Instead he taught me of my need to be reborn from above. Now, mind you, know the Scriptures backward and forward, and nowhere does God indicated that one is to reenter his mother’s womb a second time. I had Jesus there. So, I thought. Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. (John 3:6), and then I’ll never forget these words, “16“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. He is light, life and word.

Adulterous Woman: I still don’t like big crowds. But, I guess this one is a little different than the one I was thrown into the day I first met the love of my life. You see, I have had a rough past. I wasn’t exactly Ms. Jerusalem, if you catch my drift! Anyway, I was caught in the act, and was terrified for the law demanded that I be stoned. Well, there he was standing on the other side of this angry mob. He bent down and began writing in the dirt. Angry words and accusations coming from the mob. Jesus stood up and spoke, “he has not sinned can throw the first stone.” I waited for the pain. One by one I heard the rocks drop, but they weren’t coming at me. Jesus stood up again, and asked me if any one condemned me. I told him no, and he said, “neither do I condemn you. Go and leave your life of sin.” I was awestruck. He was the first man to love me, not for my flesh, but for my heart. He is Light, my life and word!

Martha: My brother, he was so sick, and I was afraid he wasn’t going to make it. He didn’t after all. We called for Jesus, but he was so long in coming. I was so upset. I believed if Jesus was here, he could some how keep Lazarus from dying. Jesus finally did come, and he reassured me that even death was not the final word. He said, he was the resurrection and the life. We showed him where the tomb was, and he wept. I will never forget what happened next. He asked that the stone sealing the tomb be removed, and he called out my brother. Out he came! Grave clothes and all. Jesus is Light, Life and Word!

Guard/Malchus: I was there in the Garden the night Jesus was arrested. Two things stand out that night. The first one, when the detachment of soldiers and us Jews came to arrest Jesus it was dark so naturally we were carrying torches, he came forward and used God’s name, all of us fell to our knees. Could this be? Could this be YAHWEH? I was terrified. What were doing? Then, one of this man’s followers, drew a sword and lunged at us. I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. The next thing I remember I was lying in the grove, with my hands over my head, blood seeping through my fingers. My ear was missing. Another couple of inches lower and I would have been a goner. Jesus scolded his disciple Peter, and bent down and touched me. Me, one of the guards come to arrest him. He took time out for me to heal me. I still can’t believe it. He is my Light, my Life and Word!

Pilate: A king? Really?! He had no kingly exterior. No, he was brought me to chained and charged with violating Jewish religious law. I didn’t want there to be a Jewish uprising, so I thought I could appease the religious leaders. I couldn’t find any basis to charge him. I tried to let him go, but instead of releasing Jesus, they crowds asked for Barabbas a real criminal. Barabbas was an insurrectionist, and Jesus well, he was innocent. Jesus spoke with such authority and even claimed that his kingdom wasn’t from this world. I had Jesus flogged, again to appease the Jews. I was shocked that they demanded that he be crucified. My obligation is to Rome, and to keep the peace. I can’t have an uprising on my hands, so I washed my hands of this man. What have I done?

Mary: I never guessed that anyone would ever believe my story. Who would believe the word of an unmarried, pregnant teenager? Exactly. But, this baby I carried wasn’t an ordinary baby. He was from God. Joseph didn’t hardly believe me either, but somehow he trusted my words. The baby came, and grew up and began to speak of His Father’s business. The day came that he left us to begin his ministry of healing and announcing the arrival of the kingdom of God. He healed the sick, restored the sight to the blind, raised the dead. He was no ordinary child. Sometimes, I can still see him hanging on the cross, in agony and yet somehow at peace. He knew his mission, God’s plan all along was to sacrifice the Lamb. My son really is the Light, Life and Word!

Victoria: (modern day) My life was a mess a couple of years ago. That is until I met Jesus. He has turned my life around. I was hanging out with the wrong crowd, going to the wrong places. I never would have guessed that Jesus would have showed up on the wrong side of the tracks. He met in my mess and I have never been the same. I follow him because He illuminated the darkness, and allowed me to leave it. I follow him because he has given me new life, and I have been given a second chance. I follow him because he is faithful and true, and his Word is perfect. Jesus, he is my everything!

retooling youth ministry

Our congregation is moving towards doing small groups on Sunday night. I am excited about this change and the direction that we are moving in. I feel like this will be a positive thing for our people.

Because of our movement towards small groups, as the Youth Minister I have been making changes in the program to prepare and prep. our teens and their families for this change. Here is a run down of my youth program changes and proposals:

*youth devos on another week. I really struggle with this. See our congregation is involved with LTC, hosts a Bible Bowl, and for 6 months of the year we are focused on those endeavors. Some of my teens and parents have observed before that Sunday becomes a very busy day and devos after church make for a long long day. Yet, another night of the week isn’t a great solution either because our families are stressed out, and busy and now the youth calendar has added one more thing on their plate. But, I have done all of this with the aim of giving Sunday nights back to the family! This change has worked fairly. My teens miss Sunday night devos. I do too!

*student small groups will continue, but under our new plan we will do them once the school year starts up again in the Fall, one Wed. night a month. Our small group leaders will need to give up their adult class for that evening to spend time with their group. We are doing it this way, so that our small groups can meet at whatever time they can and want to on Sunday night. I believe small groups for our students also are a way for them to make healthy adult relationships. If youth ministry is to be successful it must be intergenerational!

*Our LTC and Bible Bowl will continue, and as of right now our plan is to move these things to Wed. night as a part of our Wed. night education, possibly Sun. afternoon for LTC practices depending on what time and where your small groups meet. Hmm, not real sure what to do, but praying for God’s guidance.

*tinkering with the notion of encouraging our students to attend our church small groups with their families. I believe Deut. 6 is foundational for youth ministry and well, teens and parents need to be together doing church things, serving the poor, talking about their faith whenever and wherever they go.