Jumat, 28 Juni 2013

Young Influencers List—June Edition


Young Influencers List—June Edition

Young Influencers List—June Edition
Seven young leaders you should get to know.
Here you go, the June edition of the Young Influencers List. You can see all the past lists and monthly editions here.

1. Tindell Baldwin

Speaker and author of new book, Popular: Boys, Booze, and Jesus. Younger sister of Kristian Stanfill!

2. Seth Pinnock

London based, founder of the Midnight Oil Summit youth conference in the U.K. and also regional director for The Message Trust.

3. Jessica Taylor

Humanitarian photographer, storyteller and executive director of the IF: Gathering.

4. Jonathan Pearson

Assistant director of the Sticks Conference, campus pastor at Cornerstone Church in S.C. and co-founder of MillenialLeader.com.

5. Jessica Rey

Actress, former power ranger (for real!) and now founder of her own swimwear company.

6. Kevin Singleton

Speaker, musician at Hillsong, NYC, and founder and CEO of Elevate New York, an educational mentoring charity.

7. Mack Kitchel

Founder and creative director at Heystac, a design and web services company.
 

Kamis, 27 Juni 2013

PINK FOUNDATION FOUNDER IN THE NEW MYSPACE

Shelley Lubben is now using the new Myspace.
Shelley Lubben
Shelley Lubben is now using the new Myspace.
Check out their new profile here
View Profile

LETTERS XXX CHURCH

 XXXchurch - Pornography Addiction Help

About

The idea for "The Letters Project" arose from a week I spent in a “Sex Recovery Workshop” held at The Meadows Recovery Center in Wickenburg, Arizona. During this week we were given many assignments to complete; one of them was writing two letters:
The first letter was addressed to our “Sex Addict,” where we had to explain what we were willing to do to stay sober.
The second letter was a response from our sex addict to us.
It sounded easy enough, but I did not realize what kind of impact this letter would have on me.
The letter to the addict took about 2-3 hours to complete. It was lengthy, thoughtful, very specific, and extremely difficult to write. The reason it was difficult was because it forced me to think about the work that was at hand (which was very hard and overwhelming). The second letter was not as lengthy, but what amazed me was how quickly I finished it. I must have taken less than 5 minutes to write (VERY RAW).
I sent my letters to XXXchurch and they turned them into 2 powerful videos and together we created this whole space. This section of the site will help create an outlet for people to speak freely about the impacts of this destructive addiction. Here is how to proceed:
#1: Click on the "Watch" tab and see 2 videos communicating my letters. This will give you an idea of how you can start writing your letter, and the potential impact a letter like this can have on your recovery.
#2: Click on the "Write" tab and begin the hard work of writing your own letters. You will have space to write both. One letter is written to your sex addict and the other from your sex addict. Once you have finished your letters, include your email address and reminder date so we can send your letters to you in the future. These letters become great reminders of why we must continue in our sobriety.
#3: Click on "Read" to see letters from other people who have similar struggles. We can both learn and be encouraged by others' journeys in recovery.
#4: Click on "Links" for valuable tools and resources for recovery.
Thanks for taking the time to read this, and know you are not alone.
Ed

Selasa, 25 Juni 2013

Free Song Package: "Books of the Bible"


Free Song Package: "Books of the Bible" by North Point Kids

Free Song Package: "Books of the Bible" by North Point Kids
"These are the books of the Bible, when we read them it makes us stronger."

Free Song Package 

Download this high energy song from North Point Kids to teach your kids the books of the Bible.
Use the chord charts to allow your worship band to lead this song as well.


Get Download Now

Resource provided by North Point Kids 


Download Instructions: To download these resources, enter your email address and click on the blue "Subscribe to list" button. Then, follow the directions listed on the download site.

How to Prepare Students for a Mission Trip


How to Prepare Students for a Mission Trip

How to Prepare Students for a Mission Trip
Preparing your students is the most important thing you can do leading up to a mission trip.
Summer is just a few short weeks away, which means many student pastors are gearing up for a mission trip sometime this summer with their students. In the busyness of handling all the details of the trip, we must not forget that the most important thing we need to be doing is preparing the students for the trip. We cannot just take students on a mission trip and hope they figure it out as they go. We must take time to prepare them individually and as a team for what they will be doing for God’s Kingdom on the trip. Here are some practical ways you can prepare students for a missions trip.
Team Meetings. I’m not suggesting just a quick meeting a week before the trip to tell them what to bring and what not to bring. I’m suggesting regular meetings as a team leading up to the trip. For our high school mission trip, we have been having monthly team meetings since March. We will continue to meet until July, the month of our trip. These meetings give the students an opportunity to build community with each other, the opportunity for me to share important trip details with them, and an opportunity to plan together for what we hope to accomplish on the trip. In my opinion, team meetings with your students leading up to the trip is a MUST!
Team Building Activities. Another thing you can do to prepare students for a mission trip is team building activities. We have been doing these as part of our monthly team meetings. Team building activities are a great way to get your students working together and growing in their leadership skills even before the trip. These activities also build closeness with your students as they listen to each other and are forced to work together as a team.
Fundraising. This may seem like a weird thing to put in this list, but I do think fundraising plays a vital part in preparing a student for a mission trip. I suggest doing at least one fundraiser together as a team. For example, we are doing a car wash next month with our team of students. Doing a team fundraiser will help your students work together much like team building activities. Not only team fundraisers, but individual fundraising by each student is a great way to prepare them. We intentionally shy away from doing too many team fundraisers for the sake of teaching students to do it on their own. We provide them the tools needed to send out support letters so they can raise money themselves for the trip. Students will get more out of the trip if they work to get there.
God’s Word. Of course, the most important way to prepare students for a mission trip is teaching them and getting them into God’s Word. They can do all the team building activities they want and a fundraiser everyday, but being in God’s Word is the BEST way for them to prepare for the trip. We have done this two different ways. First, we study God’s Word together during our team meetings. We have been going through the book of Nehemiah together. Second, we provided them with 100 day devotional journals that they can use leading up to the trip. Be creative, but find ways to get your students in the Word of God before the mission trip.
Preparing your students is the most important thing you can do leading up to a mission trip. Don’t neglect doing whatever it takes to make sure your students are ready to serve others and share with them the life changing truth of the Gospel.  

VIDEO : IDENTITY A SHORT MOVIE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ikGVWEvUzNM

Free Ministry App: Instafeed Live HURRY UP.....BURUAN


Free Ministry App: Instafeed Live

Free Ministry App: Instafeed Live
Create live Instagram slideshows on your big screen – using your students’ Instagram photos.

Free Ministry App

Download and use this app in your youth ministry.
From Stuff You Can Use, "Use your own custom hashtag to create live Instagram slideshows on your big screen. Try it out for your ministry or next event!"
NOTE: This free resource expires on June 30, 2013.


Get Download Now

Resource provided by Stuff You Can Use

5 Ways to Inspire Teens to Share the Gospel


5 Ways to Inspire Teens to Share the Gospel

 
5 Ways to Inspire Teens to Share the Gospel
Teenagers can be a tough audience and sharing the gospel a tough subject.
Teenagers can be a tough audience and sharing the gospel a tough subject. So how do you inspire a tough audience to engage in the tough stuff of evangelism?
As the leader of a ministry called Dare 2 Share, an organization that annually equips tens of thousands of teens to evangelize, I am in the motivation business. I have to be. If a clinical approach to evangelism were enough to motivate teenagers, we could just do a video-based training series for youth groups and leave it at that. But it takes way more to motivate teens to actually go beyond talking about evangelism to actually doing it.
Here are the five essentials I have discovered about motivating teenagers to share the gospel:
1. Reposition evangelism from being just another Christian duty to being the ultimate cause.
Jesus rebuked the religious grumblers and mumblers of his day with a crystal clear comeback: “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost” Luke 19:10. The driving mission of Jesus was a hands-on search and rescue mission for the lost, disenfranchised, too-evil-to-rescue sinners. Specifically in this passage, he was referring to Zacchaeus, the tax collector who was despised by the Jews and used by the Romans. But once this tree climbing traitor put his faith in Jesus, he gave half of his possessions to the poor and quadrupled payback for any social injustices he had committed.
Help your teens see Luke 19:1-10 as the key to eradicating poverty, stopping human trafficking and advancing social justice. The more we can lead people to Jesus, the more they can create change in their circle of influence. Stop separating social justice from evangelism (like I did for years) and view it as the real key to multiplying change makers across the planet.
2. Share a lot of stories.
The more stories of changed lives your teens hear, the more motivated they will be to evangelize. Stories can capture the hearts of teenagers in a way that mere lecture cannot. Maybe that’s why Jesus was such a prolific storyteller. He bypassed intellectual objections and went straight to the hearts of his hearers. But Jesus wasn’t the only storyteller in the New Testament.
When Paul and Barnabas were headed back to Jerusalem, they told stories of changed lives along the way: “The church sent them on their way, and as they traveled through Phoenicia and Samaria, they told how the Gentiles had been converted. This news made all the believers very glad. When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and elders, to whom they reported everything God had done through them” Acts 15:3,4.
Have teenagers share stories of those they are engaging with the gospel. Tie stories into your weekly talks. The more stories you share, the more inspired your teens will be to share their faith.

3. “Create” more stories by taking your teens out to evangelize.
If you want to have more stories to share, then create them. In other words, go out and evangelize with your teenagers. Go to a park with some of your teens and have a pick up game of basketball with the teenagers who are there, and, afterward, share the good news of Jesus (or get one of your teens to do it and you be their wingman).
There are many ways you can get your teens involved with evangelism. Here are a few:
-Do a community survey. Use it as a way to take the spiritual temperature of your neighborhood as well as a springboard for evangelistic conversations.
-Sponsor a free car wash and take prayer requests of those in the cars (which can lead to more gospel conversations).
-Take your teens to a local shopping mall, break up in twos, and engage in conversations with other teenagers.
-Give out free bottles of water at a busy walkway on a hot day and use it as an opportunity to talk about the living water with those you are serving.
There are many ways for teens to engage evangelistically. Ultimately, the best place for them to start sharing their faith is in their own circle of friends. Hold them accountable to do just that and let them do the same with you.
As you lead your teenagers to evangelize, you’ll create more and more stories that you can share with the rest of the youth group to inspire them to do the same.
4. Talk about hell.
There I said it. Teenagers need to be reminded of what’s at stake for those who die without Christ. In a very real way, those who don’t know Jesus are unknowingly headed 100 mph at a cliff that leads to everlasting destruction. Our job as caring Christians is to jerk the steering wheel … and to get our teens to do the same with their friends.
Paul put it this way in 2 Thessalonians 1:8-9, “He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might.”
Jude put it this way in Jude 1:23, “Save others by snatching them from the fire … ”
John put it this way in John 3:36, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.”
Jesus put it this way in John 5:24, “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged, but has crossed over from death to life.”
We need to inspire our teens to help their friends cross from death to life. We must equip them to rescue their friends from the hell they are headed to and the one they are going through apart from Jesus Christ. (By the way, there’s an app to help you do just that!)
 5. Pray
Ultimately, the power to truly inspire teenagers to share the gospel is rooted in the Holy Spirit. Pray for your teenagers consistently, specifically and fervently. Pray that they will be inspired to live and give their faith in powerful ways. Intercede on their behalf, that God will fill them with an unstoppable passion to spread the good news.
As God answers your prayer, your youth group meetings will be filled with an air of excitement and more and more new believers! And that will inspire everyone!  

Free Youth Series: "Connect"


Free Youth Series: "Connect"

 

"A five-week series in relationships (God, Others, and You)."

Free Youth Series 

Download this five-week series to share with your youth ministry.
From SYCU, "Includes series outline (PDF) and editable HD Graphics (Photoshop, JPGs)."


Get Download Now

Resource provided by Stuff You Can Use

VIDEO SPOKEN WORD JUSTICE AND THE GOSPEL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=BuweBjA5aEw

How to Evaluate Your Youth Ministry



How to Evaluate Your Youth Ministry

 
How to Evaluate Your Youth Ministry
Complacency is a killer, both in our personal spiritual lives and in the life of our youth ministry.
[ym360 Note: We wrote this article a couple of summers ago, but thought it was just as useful now as it was then. Hope it challenges you to use your summer as a time to take a long look at your youth ministry and what you might do to be more effective heading into the new school year in the fall.]
Though the first official day of summer is still a few weeks away, once you put prom and graduation in the rearview mirror, you know summer is here. This means for youth workers that our ministries look very, very different from the rest of the year. For some, summer is a welcomed break. For others, it can be equally as hectic as the school year, without the benefit of a familiar routine.
Regardless of what summer looks like for you, it does represent an opportunity to think about the state of your youth ministry.
It offers a good time for evaluation. What's working? What's not? If you want to improve your ministry, if you want to be as effective as living out your calling as you can be, you have to be willing to do the tough work of evaluating your ministry. Below is a suggestion of what this might look like. It's not exhaustive, or comprehensive. But it's a good road-map with which to get started. When you're finished, I'd love for you to offer suggestions on what I missed, or what you would add or take out.
Here's a suggested path to evaluating your ministry:
Divide and Conquer
Divide your ministry into a few different "sections." The way you do this will vary from the next guy or gal, but it might look as simple as something like this: staff, programming, volunteers and students. Then, identify what you want to measure or evaluate for each section. Questions need to include something similar to the following:
What is working? Where are we succeeding in achieving our goals? [You have set goals, right? :) ]
What is not working? What goals are we not meeting?
What can be improved? (This has to be asked of us personally, as well.)
What needs to be pruned away?
This is just identifying the questions you want to ask, not answering them just yet.


Complacency is a killer, both in our personal spiritual lives and in the life of our youth ministry.
Gather Data
You've targeted the areas you want to address and you have formulated your questions. Now it's time to get some answers.There will be questions that you and your team will be best suited to answer. Budget, programming, etc. But there will be other areas in which you must seek other's opinions. You can't be your own focus group. Maybe you love a certain program or initiative, but the majority of your volunteers feel like it doesn't work. Gathering data means seeking responses from all involved. How do you gather data? Start by crafting a survey for your volunteers and for your students based on the questions and areas you identified in the divide and conquer stage. Here are some thoughts on implementation:
Go New School and Old School — Embrace old and new technologies. Mail surveys to volunteers and students with a self-addressed return envelope included (old school). But, utilize technology to increase your responses. Survey Monkey is an awesome online tool to gather data. Or, simply post questions on a Facebook page and ask people to message you the responses. Providing both outlets will dramatically increase your response rate.
Follow Up — Don't send it and forget it. If you do, you'll be disappointed. Email or otherwise contact folks about five days after you send the survey and remind them to complete it.
Get Personal — Your survey should be the main way you gather data. But consider choosing a few key people (volunteers and students) who are especially invested in your ministry. Seek out their opinions and thoughts in a lunch conversation, or over coffee. Your survey is quantitative. These conversations are qualitative. And they can be invaluable.
Don't let this part bring you down or overwhelm you. Gathering data is fieldwork and it can sometimes be "not fun." But if you can stomach the task of doing this the right way, the dividends can be huge.
Look for Trends (But Don't Miss the "A-Ha!" Moments)
Once you start getting responses in, what you're looking for is trends. Try hard to separate your personal feelings from the data. There will be students who think your messages are lame. There will be volunteers who hate Wednesday night large group. Let these types of comments roll off your back! Look for trends.
Do 15 of your 40 students say they're not spiritually challenged by your Sunday morning programming? That's a trend. You might want to pay attention to this. Do six of your 12 adult volunteers think communication is a problem? Trend. It's time to start thinking about how you do things. Identifying trends is key and will probably represent the bulk of what you choose to address in making changes. But don't miss the "A-Ha!" responses. "A-Ha!" responses are those insightful, creative nuggets that a student or a volunteer offers that can be game changers. Maybe it's an idea, or a critique, or a twist on a current plan that is super outside of the box. Don't miss these. (And don't miss the chance to let the individual be part of leading out in the implementation of the idea, if it gets that far.)
 
Complacency is a killer, both in our personal spiritual lives and in the life of our youth ministry.
Develop a Plan
This is another post for another day, but basically, once you gather info and address trends, you'll need to make a plan. What will you address? Can you do it all at once? Are some trends more long-term in their solution? Do you have big problems? Are you doing more fine tuning than bulldozing? Your plan will be impacted by your available resources, but you still need a plan. Don't develop your plan in a vacuum. Use your team. If you don't have a team, make one. Pull in a few key student leaders and your best two adult volunteers (or your only two!).
Find a Sounding Board
Once you and your team have developed your plan, seek out people whose opinions you trust and run your plan by them. And ask them to approach it with a critical eye. After all, you're looking for solutions. Make sure the individual feels empowered to make suggestions.
Consult Leadership
Once you have a plan, you'll more than likely need to put it in front of your leadership. Don't just show the suggested changes. Be prepared to walk through the entire process, how you got where you are. Embrace a spirit of compromise. There may be changes you will have to let go of or hold off for a while. The goal is improvement. If you can make three out of five suggested changes, that's progress.
Implement as a Group
As you prepare for fall and you're ramping up for the new school year, present your findings and your plan to all of your respective groups. If you have a youth staff, present it to them. Present it to your adult volunteers. And present it to your students. Incorporate all affected parties into your plan. Make people a part of the solution. Empower people to push back or offer suggestions. Keep the plan and the goals associated with it in front of you throughout the year. Do another assessment in January. See how you've done and make changes accordingly.
Complacency is a killer, both in our personal spiritual lives and in the life of our youth ministry. Change is hard. And implementing effective change is especially hard. Wanting to change or be better is not good enough. It takes intentionality and commitment to make real change.
But by utilizing this summer as an opportunity for prayerful evaluation of your ministry, you are taking the first step in the right direction.   

The Key to Longevity in Youth Ministry


The Key to Longevity in Youth Ministry

 
The Key to Longevity in Youth Ministry
Surround yourself with really talented people who will have your back.
I’m often asked about the theme “longevity in ministry.” Those who inquire want to know my “secret sauce.”
My answer is always the same: “Surround yourself with really talented people who will have your back.”
Longevity requires teamwork!

In my years of ministry, I’ve worked with incredible people! Most of these people are much more talented and gifted than I could ever dream to be.
Another way to say it … I’ve been surrounded by several “Abishai’s.” You may be thinking, “Huh? Doug, did you not take your meds today?”
Every leader needs an Abishai! Okay, I realize it’s not a very catchy name. It doesn’t flow off the tongue like other names, like Matt or Katie or Kurt or Josh or Jana. But, this real life person (who we read about in the Old Testament) was an important model for the type of people leaders need in their lives. And, perhaps more importantly, a model for who we can be in someone else’s life.
Abishai was a support to King David. I first became aware of him while reading 2 Samuel 21. In the New Living Translation, it reads, “David and his men were in the thick of the battle, David became weak and exhausted … He (Ishbi-benob) had cornered David and was about to kill him. But Abishai (son of Zeruiah) came to David’s rescue and killed the Philistine.”
Abashai was willing to do some dirty work, he was defensive for David, and his actions vividly displayed teamwork and loyalty. He was even loyal to the point of being willing to kill the sleeping Saul (see 1 Samuel 26:6-9). I love the phrase, “in the thick of the battle Abishai came to the rescue.”
As a leader, do you have someone who comes to your rescue? Do you have an Abishai in your life?
Another question might be, who do you rescue? Who looks to you as her/his Abishai?
Every good leader fully understands he/she is “better together.”
Question: What may need to change within your leadership to become more attractive as an Abishai? Share your thoughts here.  

Top female porn star finds Jesus

Top female porn star finds Jesus

By Mark Ellis
Senior Correspondent, ASSIST News Service

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA (ANS) -- In 2010, Maxim Magazine named her one of the top female porn stars in the world. Little did they know, she was already on a rocky road to sanctification as a new creature in Christ.
Brittni in 2010
Brittni, who used the professional name Jenna Presley, started dancing to earn extra money as a freshman at Santa Barbara City College in 2005. Two men approached her after one of her performances and asked if she would like to make "romance movies."
"You mean porn?" she joked. They nodded affirmatively, but it was no joke.
"I didn't know what to expect," she admits now. "At 18, I was only a baby. I was looking for love in all the wrong places."
Brittni was insecure as a result of her upbringing in a home with a "verbally abusive" mother and passive father. For the first time in her life, she began to receive positive affirmation, and it felt good. She traveled to L.A. and shot her first pornographic scene.
"I felt so loved that day because they did my hair and make-up. I was told I was beautiful and that I was going to be a star. In the first few months it felt good."
Producers worked her relentlessly in the early phase of her career because of her youthful, fresh appearance. "I already looked like I w as 12," Brittni recalls. They dressed her in "little girl" clothing and pigtails, which made her uncomfortable.
The inescapable conclusion is that filmmakers wanted to appeal to the depraved fantasies of men with pedophile tendencies. "It's disgusting how they can portray you as a little girl," she says today. "It's complete perversion."
During this period, she worked as much as 60 days without a day off, shooting two and sometimes three sex scenes a day. "I didn't know how to say no," she notes. "I didn't know how to stand up for myself. Before this, my mother made every decision for me."