Kamis, 25 Agustus 2016

Free Creative Package: “What Would Jesus Post?”

Free Creative Package: “What Would Jesus Post?”

CP - WWJP
Support a series on wise use of social media using these creative elements.

Free Creative Package

From CCV Resources, “Posts, tweets, pins and likes. Let’s face it, we’re always online. It doesn’t take much to get to a place where our lives are described in only 140 characters. Join us as we discover what Jesus would post in today’s society of viral videos, hashtags and selfies.”
This creative package includes:
  • Editable Photoshop File – 1920×1080 px; 72dpi; .psd
  • Image for HD Screens – 1920×1080 px; 72dpi; .jpg
  • Social Media Squares for Facebook & Instagram – 700×700 px; 72dpi; .jpg


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Resource provided by CCV Resources

What Does the Rise of Nudity on TV Say About Our Youth?

What Does the Rise of Nudity on TV Say About Our Youth?

What Does the Rise of Nudity on TV Say About Our Youth?
Nudity on TV is way up—so why are young people shrugging their shoulders?
In 2013, The Discovery Channel launched a show with the title Naked and Afraid. It’s now in its fifth season. The following year VH1 launched Dating Naked. The Season Three premiere was on this summer.
What’s next…Bowling Naked?
Nudity has been a draw for audiences since before I was born, but now, much more commonplace. Many of you might recall an article I wrote on the subject in 2013, The Naked Truth. That previous TV season had seen a 407 percent increase of “blurred nudity” than the season prior.
Blurred nudity is exactly what these two shows are all about. In Naked and Afraid a pair of strangers try to survive together for 21 days with no clothes or supplies. Not very sexually provocative by anyone’s standards, especially the poor editor who has to add all this blurring frame by frame. Dating Naked, on the other hand, has flirting, caressing and plenty of sexual talk as they talk about each other’s body parts and sexual attraction.
It’s interesting to see people polarize on this subject. Some say, “What’s the big deal? It’s natural!” Others are asking corporate sponsors to reconsider their support of “bottom of the barrel programming.”
All today’s parents know is, it’s becoming a little more difficult to find family-friendly programming on the numerous screens available in our houses.
Common Sense Media calls Dating Naked “gimmicky,” gives it 0 out of 5 starts for positive messages and positive role models, and rates the show for age 16+.
Here’s what I find amusing. Common Sense Media also posts reviews, showing what parents say and what kids say. Parents say the show should be 18+. Kids are saying it should be 11+. Here’s the review from the 13-year-old user-name “Nicholasmcc” who reviewed it…I’m leaving the spelling intact:
“kids should be allowed to watch it when there 11 because it’s just adults dating, nothing that naked and it’s not like its porn.”
Today’s youth have a different barometer than young people in the past.
In other words: NicholasMcc’s perspective shouldn’t be taken lightly…because he might just be in the majority. Today’s entertainment media is so inundated with nudity that sadly, Dating Naked is no big deal in comparison.
Are you familiar with what’s available on Netflix lately? Do you know what they’re actually seeing on shows like Orange Is the New Black? American Horror Story? Penny Dreadful?
Don’t get me wrong—Netflix is just like the TV in your living room, it’s a source of all kinds of entertainment, good and bad. The difference is, parents haven’t quite become savvy yet about exactly what little Johnny is streaming in his bedroom at night. That’s why parents need to take time to step into their kids’ world. They can even use Netflix binging as a connection point with their kids.
Are you having these conversations? (Here’s what one of those conversations can look like.)
Are you taking steps to help your kids be responsible with their mobile devices

RINTANGAN TERBESAR BAGI MAHASISWA UNTUK PERGI KE LADANG MISI

RINTANGAN TERBESAR BAGI MAHASISWA UNTUK PERGI KE LADANG MISI
Suami dan saya duduk bersama dengan sekitar 24 mahasiswa pada suatu malam untuk mendengarkan seorang penggerak misi menjawab pertanyaan mereka tentang pergi ke luar negeri setelah kuliah. Pertanyaan pertama adalah salah satu yang sering kami dengar: Bagaimana Anda bisa mengumpulkan uang ketika Anda baru saja lulus dari perguruan tinggi? Saya tahu pemuda itu mungkin merasa sedikit bingung ketika pertanyaannya dijawab dengan senyum dan gelengan kepala. Penggerak itu mengatakan kepada mereka bahwa uang tidak akan menjadi masalah mereka, dan sebagai gantinya ia meminta para mahasiswa untuk menebak apa yang menjadi penghalang utama mereka untuk pergi ke ladang misi setelah kuliah.
Misi Jangka Pendek
Jawaban-jawaban seperti pinjaman mahasiswa, kurangnya pelatihan, dan ketakutan, semua ditanggapi dengan gelengan kepala lagi. Di saat ruangan terdiam, mata penggerak itu bertatapan dengan mata saya. Saya tersenyum karena saya tahu betul apa jawabannya: itu adalah saya.
Penghalang nomor satu yang dihadapi pria dan wanita muda ini dalam upaya untuk membawa Injil ke luar negeri sering kali adalah para orangtua seperti saya.
Sebagian dari hal itu dapat dimengerti. Kita tidak sering menghabiskan waktu bersama mereka ketika mereka berada di perguruan tinggi, dan sesungguhnya, banyak dari kita yang tidak mendengar banyak kabar dari mereka saat mereka pergi. Jika mereka sudah dewasa, orangtua tidak perlu mendengar tentang hal itu. Ditambah lagi, sebagian besar dari kita harus bekerja keras dan mengeluarkan banyak uang agar mereka mendapatkan gelarnya. Bahkan, tanpa disadari, banyak orangtua yang mengharapkan semacam pengembalian investasi yang mahal. Lalu, ada kesan yang kita dapatkan dari hidup mereka di media sosial ... banyak foto minuman kopi, olahraga, dan tentu saja foto-foto selfie. Sekarang, tiba-tiba mereka memiliki gairah untuk orang-orang yang belum terjangkau Injil? Ya, beberapa orangtua bersikap skeptis, dan beberapa dari mereka memiliki alasan yang baik. Bagaimana kita mengetahui bahwa anak-anak kita tidak hanya ingin menunda pekerjaan selama beberapa tahun?
Apakah itu tampak kasar? Mungkin, tetapi jika Anda seorang mahasiswa, mungkin terdengar mirip dengan apa yang Anda perkirakan akan didengar dari orangtua Anda. Jadi, apa yang Anda lakukan? Bagaimana Anda mendekati orangtua Anda untuk dengan sungguh-sungguh menceritakan tentang semua hal yang digerakkan Tuhan di dalam hati Anda untuk orang-orang yang belum terjangkau di dunia kita? Berikut ada lima hal untuk diperhatikan.
  1. Libatkan orangtua Anda dalam prosesnya semenjak awal dan lakukan dengan sering.
    Kerinduan Anda untuk melayani ke luar negeri tidak boleh disampaikan secara spontan seperti yang Anda lakukan ketika Anda memutuskan untuk pergi ke pertandingan turnamen atau ketika mengganti warna rambut Anda. Orangtua Anda tidak ingin tiba-tiba mendengar, "Ibu, Ayah, setelah lulus, aku akan pindah ke Kamboja." Ceritakan proses ketika Anda melalui itu, bahkan di tahap yang paling awal.
    Jika Anda membaca postingan blog yang memengaruhi perspektif Anda tentang misi global, kirimkan postingan tersebut kepada teman yang memiliki pandangan yang sama dengan Anda dan kepada Ayah Anda dengan tambahan catatan mengapa Anda menyukainya. Jika Anda mendengar khotbah yang menggugah Anda, kirim tautannya kepada orangtua Anda dan beri tahu mereka tentang hal itu. Jangan khawatir tentang kurangnya respons mereka akan hal itu. Itu bukan untuk meyakinkan mereka. Itu hanya menunjukkan kepada mereka apa yang sedang Anda lihat. Ketika Anda menyampaikan kepada mereka apa yang ingin Anda lakukan, maka itu tidak akan menjadi kejutan, tetapi hanya langkah selanjutnya dari semua yang telah dilakukan Tuhan dalam diri Anda.
    Bagaimana jika mereka bukan orang percaya? Ceritakan saja semuanya. Anda tidak tahu bagaimana Allah akan melakukannya. Dan, ya, saya tahu bahkan semua itu mungkin tidak berjalan dengan baik. Ingat, Anda tidak mengurusi tanggapan. Fokuskan diri Anda untuk melakukan ketaatan Anda, bukan apa yang akan mereka lakukan terhadapnya.
  2. Lakukan kepada mereka terlebih dahulu apa yang ingin Anda lakukan untuk orang lain.
    Jangan meyakinkan mereka mengenai hal-hal yang akan berlaku di luar negeri untuk sesuatu yang bahkan tidak mereka lihat sebelumnya.
    • Ingin mengurus anak yatim piatu ... tetapi Anda meninggalkan piring kotor di tempat cucian?
    • Ingin menyelamatkan para gadis dari industri perdagangan seks ... tetapi Anda tidak membuat rencana untuk meluangkan waktu dengan adik perempuan Anda?
    • Memiliki hati untuk orang-orang yang belum terjangkau ... tetapi Anda merasa enggan datang ke reuni keluarga kita?
    • Menurut pendapat Anda, Anda dapat bepergian ke seluruh dunia ... tetapi tidak dapat mengatur agar pekerjaan Anda selesai tepat waktu?
    • Menginginkan orang tua untuk meminta teman-teman mereka memberi Anda uang ... tetapi Anda baru saja membeli sepasang Toms dan latte yang baru saja kamu tweet?
    Yesus memerintahkan kita untuk pergi, untuk menjadikan semua bangsa murid, tetapi jangan lupa bahwa Dia mengatakan kepada para rasul untuk memulai di Yerusalem -- di tempat mereka berada. Jika Anda ingin orangtua Anda percaya bahwa Anda akan menjadi pelayan yang setia di luar sana, beri tahu mereka bahwa hal itu terjadi di sini.
    Jangan memberi tahu mereka bahwa Anda akan memulai "saat Anda harus". Itu hanya menunjukkan bahwa Anda sedang mencari tekanan eksternal untuk memotivasi Anda. Hal itu tidak menunjukkan bahwa hati Anda telah disentuh. Tunjukkan kepada mereka pribadi seperti apa dari Anda yang bersedia untuk pergi, dan mereka mungkin akan sungguh percaya bahwa Anda harus pergi.
  3. Perhatikan sikap Anda.
    Orangtua tidak pernah dapat menerima sikap Anda untuk marah-marah, dan semakin buruk sikap itu, semakin mereka tidak akan menuruti apa pun yang Anda minta. Ketika orangtua Anda memiliki keraguan dan kekhawatiran, atau bahkan bersikap meremehkan, apakah Anda marah atau kemudian memusuhi mereka? Apakah Anda meremehkan mereka dan tidak memedulikan mereka sebagai balasannya? Itu akan sangat terasa seperti sikap marah-marah bagi mereka ... tidak peduli berapa pun usia Anda. Jika Anda meragukan hati mereka untuk Allah dan bagi orang-orang yang belum terjangkau karena mereka yakin bahwa Anda mungkin tidak memikirkannya secara matang, atau jika mereka hanya mengajukan pertanyaan-pertanyaan, mungkin saja itu menunjukkan bahwa mereka memang seharusnya meragukan Anda.
    Ingat, Anda sedang memberi tahu mereka bahwa Anda ingin membawa kabar baik ini kepada orang-orang yang paling acuh tak acuh, yang sering kali bersikap memusuhi. Orang-orang itu akan mengabaikan Anda, meragukan Anda, dan menghina Anda. Jadi, ketika Anda menemui sikap itu di rumah Anda sendiri, bagaimana Anda bertindak? Kami ingin mengetahuinya karena bagaimana sikap Anda saat itu kemungkinan akan menunjukkan bagaimana sikap Anda ketika Anda pergi. Anda mengatakan Anda bisa mengasihi orang-orang yang tidak bisa memahami Anda? Tunjukkan pada orangtua Anda! Tunjukkan iman Anda di dalam kedaulatan dan kebaikan Tuhan melalui cara Anda menangani kesulitan, dengan rasa percaya diri Anda dan sukacita dalam Dia ketika hal-hal tidak berjalan seperti yang Anda inginkan.
  4. Pastikan bahwa alasan "belum" dari Anda bukanlah karena Anda "belum diminta".
    Bagaimana Anda menyadari hati Tuhan bagi bangsa-bangsa? Apakah Anda sepintar itu? Semengasihi itu? Begitu tersentuh dengan kebutuhan dunia? Apakah orangtua Anda perlu menjadi seperti Anda? Atau, apakah Anda hamba yang rendah hati dan buta, tetapi yang sekarang melihat karena gerakan penuh kasih karunia Allah di dalam Anda? Jika demikian, tunjukkan itu melalui doa-doa Anda bagi orangtua Anda. Saat Anda mendoakan orang yang Anda kasihi di luar negeri, berdoalah juga untuk ibu dan ayah. Allah sendiri yang menggerakkan hati. Jika Anda benar-benar memahami itu, Anda akan memohon kepada Dia supaya hati keluarga Anda berkobar-kobar untuk kemuliaan-Nya yang akan ditunjukkan di dunia ini lebih daripada yang Anda akan beritakan kepada mereka tentang itu semua. Dia dimuliakan dengan menjawab doa-doa Anda karena menyatakan dalamnya ketergantungan kita pada-Nya dan kemuliaan kasih karunia-Nya terhadap anak-anak-Nya. Jadi, anak-anak, berdoalah.
  5. Kasihi orangtua Anda juga ... bahkan jika Anda tidak bisa menuruti mereka.
    Mungkin setelah semua hal itu dilakukan, orangtua Anda masih juga tidak mengerti, dan Anda tetap pergi. Namun, saat Anda pergi, mereka harus mengetahui betapa Anda mengasihi mereka melalui hidup Anda, bahwa Anda hanya mematuhi otoritas yang lebih tinggi atas hidup Anda. Bahkan, mereka akan tahu bahwa Anda telah menjadi seperti orang yang paling mereka harapkan. Anda akan mengasihi orang lain dengan baik, melayani di mana pun Anda berada, menghormati otoritas, berkomunikasi tanpa sikap marah-marah atau menyakiti, dan mengejar dengan sungguh-sungguh hal-hal yang menjadi gairah Anda.
    Sampai akhirnya pun, mereka mungkin tidak memahaminya. Namun, toh mereka akan merasa sangat bangga pada Anda. Ketika Anda menolak apa yang mereka pikirkan, itu tidak menyakiti orangtua Anda. Anda menyakiti mereka bila Anda menolak mereka. Kasihilah mereka dengan baik ketika Anda menganggap penting apa yang mungkin ada di antara banyak pilihan yang tidak disetujui orangtua Anda.
Missions
"TUHAN itu besar, Dia menginginkan keselamatan hamba-Nya!" Mazmur 35:27 mengatakan. Dia ada untuk Anda, dan Dia ada untuk pekerjaan yang baik ini yaitu pergi menyebarkan kabar baik tentang Yesus Kristus. Bagaimanapun, Dia yang memulainya, dan Dia yang akan menyelesaikannya.
Diterjemahkan dan disunting dari:
Nama situs: : Desiring God
Alamat URL: : http://www.desiringgod.org/articles/the-biggest-barrier-to-students-going-to-the-mission-field
Judul asli artikel: : The Biggest Barrier to Students Going to the Mission Field
Penulis artikel: : Kim Ransleben
Penerjemah: : Jing-Jing
Tanggal akses: : 29 Juli 2015

Senin, 22 Agustus 2016

Free Youth Series: “The Ballad of Beau Woodrow”

Free Youth Series: “The Ballad of Beau Woodrow”

Youth - Ballad
This series sets the foundation for teaching students what worship is.

Free Youth Series

Download this 3-week series to share with your 5th/6th grade children’s ministry.
From Open.Church, “Beau Woodrow is on his way to being a successful musician, but when he goes into the studio to record his new album, something very strange happens. And it causes him to rethink who he’s becoming. This is the Ballad of Beau Woodrow. This series sets the foundation for teaching students what worship is. Make it practical by applying what they learn to your worship time. Remind them what it looks like to worship God at church and let them practice it when they sing every week.”
This kids series package includes:
  • Experience guides
  • Game guides
  • Teaching segment videos
  • Message videos
  • Challenge Cards in PDF format


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Resource provided by Open.Church

Reaching Families During Busy Sports Schedules

Reaching Families During Busy Sports Schedules

Reaching Families During Busy Sports Schedules
Kids’ sports commitments can mean a lot of absences. Here’s how to keep reaching them.
A common complaint among children’s pastors and leaders these days is that they are losing families to sports that, unlike in the past, are now played on Sunday. The soccer fields and baseball diamonds are full of kids playing sports during times that they might formerly have spent in Sunday school or worship services.
Worse, it’s not just the kids who are playing that are missing church, it’s the parents, plus siblings, and even grandparents, as well. If you have a number of kids in your church playing in Sunday leagues, it can have a significant impact on attendance.
So what should we do in response to this dilemma? What are some ideas that work, and what are responses that are counterproductive? I honestly don’t have all the answers to this problem, but here are a few ideas and strategies:
• Making parents feel guilty is probably not a good idea, and it may even drive them farther away from church.
• Don’t make the kids feel bad for wanting to play sports. They’re kids! They just want to play—and they don’t create the schedules.
• Don’t bemoan the loss of your sports kids in front of the other kids. They are just as important, and may wonder what they’re missing!
• Whether it’s Sunday school, children’s church or other activities, make it memorable and fun. Let the buzz from other kids make the sports kids wonder what they are missing.
• Go where they are. Eric Hamp, now senior pastor at New Beginnings International Church in Fort Worth, Texas, speaking at INCM’s Children’s Pastors Conference, talked about how they would go out to the soccer fields with bottles of water with their church name on them and give them away, and do t-shirt cannons at halftime. They spent time engaging with the parents and other kids in the stands. (I’m not sure how often they did this—but if you did it a couple of times a season, it would certainly create goodwill for the church.)
• Let the kids know you miss them, and continue to invite them to other ministry events.
• Praise parents for their faithfulness who continue to bring their children to church.
• Start a non-Sunday sports league in your area, if there is not one. Upward Sports, among others, has leagues that have devotions at half-time, no games or practice on Sunday, and an emphasis on good sportsmanship.
• Be there for the parents and kids when they need you, whether they are in church or not. If you hear of a need in one of your families, respond to it. They’ll know you care and support them.
• Pray for them, above all. Whether present or absent, pray for your kids and their families.
I would love to know your ideas or strategies that have worked for your ministry. Please comment below and let’s all learn from each other!

The Important Question Every Youth Leader Needs to Ask

The Important Question Every Youth Leader Needs to Ask

The Important Question Every Youth Leader Needs to Ask
Don’t neglect your own soul care in your passion for ministry.
Summers can be lonnnnnng and exhausting.
But so much fun, right?
You find yourself caring for your youth group and for their parents. There are more hours when kids aren’t in school, more hours for them to be with you. You’ve been to camp, you’re still on the cusp of a mission trip that cost you thousands of dollars in cupcakes and car washes. You feel like you’re one medical release form away from needing a lawyer and nothing outside of your t-shirt wardrobe has seen any love since mid-May. It’s safe to say, youth ministry owns you at the moment.
But you don’t mind.
Because you know that the quality and quantity of time you spend with teenagers helps them grow authentic faith. It helps them make connections and build relationships that will support them as they are unfolding into adults. You realize your role, as pastor, leader, coach and friend. So, it’s worth it to you.
I wonder, during this time: Who cares for you? Who is giving you permission to rest and recover? Who is leading you to think about your value in God’s eyes and how that effects everything else in your life?
If we are not spending time caring for our souls, we won’t have what it takes to teach a student to care for their own.
During this really busy time, it’s easy to forget that your soul care lands at the top of your priority list. It should be your first thing, not your last thing. It should be the one thing that brings you life when you’re busy sharing so much of your life.
My summer is packed with youth events and trips. I’ll be traveling with our interns and we’ll be speaking to youth and praying for them as they think about the difference their lives can make when they begin to discover their significance in Christ. We know that the proximity between us (literally traveling together, living together, working together) can keep us from taking care of us. So, we make it a priority for soul care to be our first care.
What things are you doing to take care of you this summer?
What are you reading?
How are you finding solitude?
Is there a way for you to get a break to sit in God’s presence and to be reminded of your “why”?
We’ve picked a few books to read together this summer and Sophie, our Candler intern, created a soul care sheet to help us all identify our daily, weekly and monthly soul care hopes—both during our times alone, and during our times together.
Or, you can spend some time writing things down in your journal or sharing them with an accountability partner.
• Name what your spiritual needs are in a list
• Write down one way to meet each need
• Ask yourself who can help you meet that need or if you need a specific environment to do it
• Think what will you do daily, weekly and monthly?
• What will you try to accomplish alone?
• What will you try to accomplish together in community?
God is choosing you now and now and now and now. Let God love you now.
Make a commitment to take care of your soul this summer, you are worth it! Here are a couple of things to ponder as you pray about what your soul care will look like.
“We do not think ourselves into new ways of living, we live ourselves into new ways of thinking.
Richard Rohr
Be still, and know that I am God.
Be still, and know that I am
Be still, and know that
Be still, and know
Be still, and
Be still
Be

Free Youth Series: "Going All In"

Free Youth Series: "Going All In"

Youth - All in
"Every stage and position in life presents the opportunity to risk something valuable for God."

Free Youth Series

Download and share this four-week series with your youth ministry.
This series package includes:
  • Title slide
  • Blank slide
  • Sermon audio in MP3 format


Get Download Now

Resource provided by Stuff I Can Use

What’s Your Reason for Being a Student Pastor? (Part 1)

What’s Your Reason for Being a Student Pastor? (Part 1)

What's Your Reason for Being a Student Pastor? (Part 1)
Why do you do what you do?
There are a few reasons we choose youth ministry as a lifelong career.
1. We want every child to have the opportunity to strengthen their dodge ball skills.
2. Lock-ins: We love them so much we lose sleep over them.
3. We have a deep appreciation for unique and unusual smells. Has anyone else ever tasted Axe body spray on a bus?
4. We enjoy the adventure of not knowing what’s going to happen to us financially when we retire.
In addition to these reasons, there is another reason, a more serious reason behind why I do what I do.
It can be summed up in a word.
Gratitude.
I was a drop off kid—my mom dropped us off on the curb of a church and left us there for a few weeks in a row. It was there I learned an important truth about myself. I learned I was loved and forgiven. One youth pastor’s decision to invest in our lives changed our lives.
So, I wanted to continue to give back to the same place that was so instrumental in changing my life. I wanted to give my life to the church as a thank you to God for all that God accomplished in my life through youth ministry.
I feel like this is a good reason, a reason that many might resonate with. It became the reason that kept me going when I wanted to quit. It became the reason I felt so fulfilled when lives were changed. Being thankful is a good reason.
I felt good about this reason for nearly 15 years…until I replaced myself in a wonderfully stable and life-giving role as youth pastor at our church to create a global youth ministry strategy that would help teenagers help others better. God wired me to see broken cycles in the world and gave me a desire to help fix them. I felt like God was asking me to leave the comforts of what I knew so well to do a new thing in me.
It turns out you can’t get much of anything done if your reasoning fails you. Everything I had been used to doing wasn’t in arm’s reach anymore. I didn’t have a little tribe who provided me with weekly challenges and weekly wins. I wasn’t seeing Jesus directly in their eyes because I had less time to look into their eyes. I had to make an effort to find the kids who needed to be loved. It became harder to be grateful because I felt like God had left me on this one. I felt alone. I felt out of my zone. I was starting something new and didn’t know what to do. Honestly, I felt depressed and anxious. I felt like 100 books were piled up inside of my body and it was taking everything in me to leave my house, to take a phone call, to do anything really. I found myself in my own broken cycle for the first time and it was really clear that I needed to really figure out the REASON why I was doing youth ministry in the first place. Before I could tell others the reason I needed to know what it was.
What you believe to be true informs the why behind what you do.
The danger in not knowing the reason is that OUR beliefs can get trapped in our own personal broken cycles.
I found myself asking the same question every day. “What do I believe to be true? About me? About youth ministry?” And I was finding it really hard to come up with anything solid. It was a strange place to be—but not a place unreachable by the Holy Spirit.
I’m going to explain how my reasoning changed in my next post.
Until then, what’s your reason?
1. Why do you do what you do?
2. What do you believe to be true about yourself that keeps you serving?
I truly would like to hear your thoughts.

4 Ways Your Youth Ministry Can Help Fight Racism

4 Ways Your Youth Ministry Can Help Fight Racism

4 Ways Your Youth Ministry Can Help Fight Racism
Racism is still rampant in the United States, and it’s just as visible as ever. Here’s how your students can help.
My heart, all of our hearts at Dare 2 Share, were deeply saddened by the killing of five police officers (and wounding of seven more) in Dallas a few weeks ago. All of this took place at the hands of a sniper who reportedly said that he wanted to kill white people. My heart is also broken for Philando Castile being shot and killed by police officers in Minnesota and Alton Sterline being shot by two white police officers, both in the same week.
Two of these incidents were caught on cell phone videos and streamed online. It has helped to accelerate the anger among people of all ethnicities across this nation. From #BlackLivesMatter to #AllLivesMatter, emotions are running hot in the not-so-United States of America.
So what can a youth leader do about it? More than you might think! Whether you’re in the cities, the suburbs or the farmlands, you can make a difference…and so can your teenagers. You can help to eradicate racism in this nation, one teenager at a time.
Before I share with you four ways you can do this, let me give you just a little background as to why I believe this can happen.
I was raised in one of the highest crime rate areas of my city, in a largely Latino part of town. I felt racial tensions every day walking to and home from school, at my school, and in my own neighborhood. My family was a white family full of body-building, tatted thugs who were known for their willingness (and even desire) to fight the Hispanics in and around our neighborhood. Witnessing bloody fights and hearing racial slurs was commonplace growing up.
But then a church from the suburbs reached out to my part of the city and one-by-one began to reach my uncles and aunts and cousins for Christ…and to disciple them. As a little kid in Northern Denver, I witnessed a slow and steady transformation in my family members.
Although the church and youth ministry that reached my family for Jesus was in a pasty white part of a mostly middle- and upper-middle class town, they had an unusual amount of racially diverse young people in key leadership positions. I was equipped to share my faith, grow in my faith and preach the Word by Latino brothers and sisters. And, over the course of time, God replaced the rampant racism in my family’s hearts with massive love for everyone! At the center of it all was a youth ministry that wanted to reach everyone everywhere with the hope of Jesus.
With all of that as a backdrop, here are the four things you can do to #StopRacism in your students and community:

1. Pray! Pray! Pray!

“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.”  John 17:20,21
In Christ’s high priestly prayer, he interceded for us, believers from all ages and races, to “be one” as the Father and Son are one! He asked God for unity in the church!
As we join him in prayer for a united church, we will intuitively begin to take steps to make sure we are a diverse youth group. Our teenagers will begin to pray for teenagers of all races at their schools to put their faith in Jesus and reach out to them with the gospel. It all starts with prayer!
Why not spend time praying for God to break down the racial barriers in your youth group and city together as a group this week? This issue is trending on Twitter and saturating our news channels so much it should be impossible for us to ignore.

2. Get your theology straight.

Where did racism come from? We all know that ultimately all sin started in the Garden when Adam took a bite of the forbidden fruit on our behalf on passed on to us that selfish seed. But, more specifically, we see its etymology when God confused the language of a once-united, same-language people and scattered them over the earth (Genesis 11:1-8.) The people clustered then collided. Racism became rampant after that.
What’s the solution? Salvation! The red blood of Jesus is color blind. It can save the lost souls from any ethnicity. Galatians 3:28 makes it clear that, “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
What should the practical outworking of all this be? Fully integrated churches and youth groups! As my friend Derwin L. Gray wrote,
“In all of human history, there has never been so much animosity, hatred and violence between two groups of people as there has been between the Jew and the Gentile. But God birthed a group of people on the planet who He recreated in His eternal Son, Jesus, to transcend this racial hostility, injustice and oppression. He did this by means of Jesus’ death on the cross so that our hostility toward each other was put to death.” Derwin L Gray (Pastor of Transformation Church and Author of High Definition Leadership…Building Multiethnic Churches in a Multiethnic World)

3. Teach this theology interactively.

Don’t just blurt these truths out to students and then wrap up in prayer! Use questions to get the real issues in your  teenagers’ hearts to surface and then deal with them. At Dare 2 Share we use a strategy called ALTernative Teaching. It basically stands for:
Ask great questions. This is what Jesus did and we should do with our teenagers.
Listen deeply to their answers.
Teach the truth from God’s Word.
Using this style of teaching will allow teenagers to have a dialogue with you and not just hear a monologue from you. But be warned, this can get a little messy. Teenagers may have strong feelings and some sinful perspectives that need to be gently corrected. So bring a mop—it will be worth cleaning up the mess and helping them to have a solid theology when it comes to truly loving everyone!

4. Gospelize everyone.

True evangelism is color-blind. It only sees red (the blood of Jesus) and longs for everyone everywhere to be cleansed by it!
Jesus told his disciples in Acts 1:8, “But you will receive power after the Holy Spirit comes on you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the uttermost parts of the earth.” In his now famous last words before he ascended into heaven, Jesus gave the call for us to reach everyone of all nationalities. We start where we are (Jerusalem) and move outward toward the less-comfortable regions…like Samaria.
To the Jews of the time, Samaritans were considered lower than Gentiles. They were half-breeds, half-Jew and half-Gentile. Many Jews felt like they had sold out to the Assyrians during the fall of Israel and had intermarried with them, producing what they considered to be accursed offspring. But with one sentence Jesus rips that stereotype from his disciples’ mind and challenges them to reach them all with the hope that only he can offer!
In the same way we must reach our own “Jerusalems” with the Gospel, but we must reach our “Samarias” too. I call it reaching across the street and across the tracks!
That’s one of the things that made my youth ministry growing up so special. They reached across the tracks to my neighborhood (30 minutes away in the bad part of our city) to reach my family and other families with the message of hope. They didn’t care about the color of your skin but the condition of your heart. And, as long as you were willing to grow, they would train you and give you key positions to lead in the youth group. Although I was fatherless, I felt like I had brothers and sisters of all types and races in my youth group.
So how do you build this brand of youth ministry? You have to choose to integrate seven biblical values ripped straight from the book of Acts into the meat and muscle of your ministry. If you’d like to go deeper into these values, pick up my book Gospelize and go through it with your youth ministry team.
Racism is a problem in America. We can play our part in helping to solve it by building multi-ethnic, Gospel-Advancing ministries that are making and multiplying disciples in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and beyond.
Why do this? “That the world may believe” because they see in our teenagers an other-worldly, Jesus-centered, unshakeable and unbreakable unity.

Senin, 15 Agustus 2016

Free Youth Series: “Social Media Me”

Free Youth Series: “Social Media Me”

Youth - Social
Download this timely 3-week series to share with your youth ministry.

Free Youth Series

Download this timely 3-week series to share with your youth ministry.
From YouthMinistry.com, “Address social media and its effects with students as you dive into these topics:”
  • Week 1: What Social Media Reveals About You Week
  • Week 2: Be True to God Week
  • Week 3: Be True to Yourself


Get Download Now

Resource provided by YouthMinistry.com

The Biggest Issue Facing Students Today

The Biggest Issue Facing Students Today

student issues youth ministry
The real risk might surprise you. Here are some resources to help.
I’m beginning to do a lot of radio interviews again with the release of my new book, and somehow this question always comes up:
What is the biggest issue parents are dealing with today?
I don’t even have to blink, because the answer is so apparent: smartphones and social media.
Yes, in a world where sexual fluidity, drug dependency and shrinking moral values are abundant, even those issues are being propagated through the medium of social media, primarily through that device in our kids’ pockets. And whenever our kids choose to rant, or feel confused and/or depressed…what is their go-to source for information as well as the platform they choose to express themselves?
Yeah…same place, same device.
Whenever parents approach me after a parent workshop with a question, I can almost count on the question beginning something like this…
So my daughter has this new app…
My kids are supposed to turn their phones off at night, but…
My kids have been asking for a phone since third grade…
My son has been playing Xbox Live and he met someone…
So where do parents go for these answers?
Here’s a nice little summary of some trusted resources and articles that have proved really helpful for a lot of parents. Feel free to pass these on to any parents you know whose kids have access to devices (so…pretty much all of them!).
Addicted: When the Smartphone Becomes an Obsession—Our brand-new Parenting Help article on TheSource4Parents.com unveiling what smartphone use looks like in the average American home…in the lives of both parents and kids!
52 Ways to Connect with Your Smartphone Obsessed Kid—My new book helping parents maximize venues where their kids naturally look up from their devices and engage in meaningful conversation.
Can I Have a Phone: Answering Every Kid’s Burning Question—Our newest Youth Culture Window article sharing the latest research and advice for parents whose kids are asking for a phone.
Are Smartphones and Social Media Too Dangerous for My Kids?—A Parenting Help article on TheSource4Parents.com providing five steps parents can take to help their kids learn to be responsible with their mobile devices.
The Smartphone: Today’s Conversation Killer—A Parenting Help article on TheSource4Parents.com providing the newest research on the effect this little device is having on young people’s ability to have conversations today.
Keeping Social Media Safe—A blog post I wrote two years ago comparing the research from all the experts about what guidelines actually work with today’s young people.
Should I Just Smash My Kid’s Phone?—A helpful workbook from Doug Fields and I helping parents empower their kids to make good choices and develop responsibility.

When a Church Lets Kids Lead…Amazing Things Happen

When a Church Lets Kids Lead…Amazing Things Happen

When a Church Lets Kids Lead...Amazing Things Happen
“The next generation is hungry for God and are ready to serve Him.”
I believe that God will pour out His blessings on the church that makes children’s ministry a priority. This has been demonstrated time and time again in churches across the country and around the world.
I also believe when a church realizes that children are not only the church of tomorrow…but also the church of today…and lets them lead now…that amazing things happen.
Each week our church gives kids opportunities to serve and lead throughout the church. And several times a year, they lead the adult worship service. This past weekend was one of those weeks. The entire church turned our focus to children’s ministry and watched as they led. And God did amazing things.
God’s Spirit rested upon the services as the kids led the church in worship.


Kids led in prayer during the service. One of the most powerful moments was when one of our kids spontaneously dropped to his knees and begin to pray for our church and nation.
If you want to reach families…make children’s ministry a priority. The key to a parent’s heart is their child. When you take a child by the hand, you take a parent by the heart. Countless stories could be told of kids who brought their parents to church and the entire family was reached.
We also had lots of fun activities for kids and their parents after each service across our campuses. Here are a few pictures.
My prayer is this will inspire you and your church to go all out to reach kids and give them opportunities to serve and lead. Consider taking several weekends a year and having a church-wide emphasis on children’s ministry. On these weekends, give the kids the opportunity to lead the entire church in worship.
The next generation is hungry for God and are ready to serve Him. They are just waiting for you to believe in them and give them the opportunity to lead.  
This article originally appeared here.

What Does the Rise of Nudity on TV Say About Our Youth?

What Does the Rise of Nudity on TV Say About Our Youth?

What Does the Rise of Nudity on TV Say About Our Youth?
Nudity on TV is way up—so why are young people shrugging their shoulders?
In 2013, The Discovery Channel launched a show with the title Naked and Afraid. It’s now in its fifth season. The following year VH1 launched Dating Naked. The Season Three premiere was on this summer.
What’s next…Bowling Naked?
Nudity has been a draw for audiences since before I was born, but now, much more commonplace. Many of you might recall an article I wrote on the subject in 2013, The Naked Truth. That previous TV season had seen a 407 percent increase of “blurred nudity” than the season prior.
Blurred nudity is exactly what these two shows are all about. In Naked and Afraid a pair of strangers try to survive together for 21 days with no clothes or supplies. Not very sexually provocative by anyone’s standards, especially the poor editor who has to add all this blurring frame by frame. Dating Naked, on the other hand, has flirting, caressing and plenty of sexual talk as they talk about each other’s body parts and sexual attraction.
It’s interesting to see people polarize on this subject. Some say, “What’s the big deal? It’s natural!” Others are asking corporate sponsors to reconsider their support of “bottom of the barrel programming.”
All today’s parents know is, it’s becoming a little more difficult to find family-friendly programming on the numerous screens available in our houses.
Common Sense Media calls Dating Naked “gimmicky,” gives it 0 out of 5 starts for positive messages and positive role models, and rates the show for age 16+.
Here’s what I find amusing. Common Sense Media also posts reviews, showing what parents say and what kids say. Parents say the show should be 18+. Kids are saying it should be 11+. Here’s the review from the 13-year-old user-name “Nicholasmcc” who reviewed it…I’m leaving the spelling intact:
“kids should be allowed to watch it when there 11 because it’s just adults dating, nothing that naked and it’s not like its porn.”
Today’s youth have a different barometer than young people in the past.
In other words: NicholasMcc’s perspective shouldn’t be taken lightly…because he might just be in the majority. Today’s entertainment media is so inundated with nudity that sadly, Dating Naked is no big deal in comparison.
Are you familiar with what’s available on Netflix lately? Do you know what they’re actually seeing on shows like Orange Is the New Black? American Horror Story? Penny Dreadful?
Don’t get me wrong—Netflix is just like the TV in your living room, it’s a source of all kinds of entertainment, good and bad. The difference is, parents haven’t quite become savvy yet about exactly what little Johnny is streaming in his bedroom at night. That’s why parents need to take time to step into their kids’ world. They can even use Netflix binging as a connection point with their kids.
Are you having these conversations? (Here’s what one of those conversations can look like.)
Are you taking steps to help your kids be responsible with their mobile devices?