Continuing the last post of "from mistakes...tips for youth pastors" today we will take a look at the importance of having good mentors in our lives.
A long, long time ago, in a galaxy far, far war away we were introduced to perhaps one of the most influential series of movies, perhaps of all time. Yes, I'm talking about Star Wars. There is hardly a person who has not had the opportunity to enjoy these timeless classics and its newer prequels, and finding a person who has viewed one of the movies is usually met with a gasp of disbelief and shock, followed by "we're watching them now." It is interesting to see how ingrained it has become into western society that there is hardly a person who does not know what a Lightsaber is, or has never tried to "use the force."
So what does Star Wars have to do with us youth pastors? well, one thing we can take away from it is that each Jedi/Sith always had an apprentice with them. Someone that was learning how to use the force for good or ill. The "master" ensured that the apprentice was placed in situations that would test the limits of their skills as well as taught them how to hone their own talents for the benefit of the apprentice. They travelled together, went on missions together, defended each other and even dressed alike. Does this sound familiar to anyone yet? this is the concept of discipleship, if I'm not mistaken.
Now, depending on your take of the term "discipleship" you may see this example differently. I like to think that "discipleship" is more than just having students in a small group with a leader. From what i've studied about the jewish roots of discipleship it meant that the disciple was to striving to copy the rabbi or teacher in every detail of their lives. It then fell to the master to ensure that he was living in such a way that many people wanted to become like him in terms of holiness, morality and learning. Disciples were to literally become the Master, to speak like him, eat like him, walk like him, pray, read and even think the way their master/rabbi did so when the time came and the Master felt the disciple was ready, that disciple would be released with these words "go, and make disciples." Now, where have we heard these words before? oh yea! Matthew 28! the great commission! this was Jesus telling the disciples that they were ready to become masters/rabbi, they had learned to be like the Master and thus needed to make disciples of their own, which is exactly what they did (See Acts of the Apostles)
As we inspect the scriptures, we find that Jesus used this concept to train the disciples how it would look like for them to make disciples. The story of the 70 disciples that He sent out is a great example: they were sent out in pairs, and I like to think that perhaps he sent the "newer" disciples paired off with an older "trained" disciple. The older would then make sure to train the younger as they walked and the younger would submit to the direction of the older disciple, but Jesus took it further, both disciples were to serve each other.
I think this is something we do not do well in the church. we prefer the school/mass training system rather than the one on one discipleship method. I think if we were to pair up our teens with a mentor, perhaps a parent, grand parent or older believer (Y.A etc) who was a solid, seasoned believer who perhaps shared some sort of interest or hobby with their student, a person who was interested in showing them how to be a solid Christian and have them copy their style of prayer, bible reading etc, this would be more effective than preaching 1000 sermons and taking students through yet another teen oriented curriculum just so we can fill their heads with knowledge.
Don't get me wrong, curriculums are good, they have their place and purpose, but i've always felt that they lack the practical aspect, they don't really let you "see" how becoming a solid, deep christian is like. It is such an inconvenient and difficult model to pair people off with mentors, plus finding enough volunteers who actually want to mentor a student has forced us to rob students of a more "real" form of spiritual growth.
Most of us at some point in our lives had someone who saw something in us and took us under their wing and basically made us their disciple. whether it was a college professor or a youth pastor or even a senior pastor, someone along the line trained you to be the pastor you are now. Many of us have been blessed with multiple people who impacted our lives and who trained us to use out gifts for God's glory. Should we not seek to give our students the same experience we had?
How can we do this? well we must simply ask people around our churches. Bring it to the congregations attention and pray. The Lord will provide the people, but we must be prepared to train them and to support them as they begin. Don't expect to have a massive number of people sign up right of the bat, but even if you get 1 or 2 to start with, thats almost 100% more mentors that you had before.
We should also be on the look out for students who have that "something extra" or X-factor. Not the most popular or the centers of attention, but those who have servant hearts, those who show up for prayer without being asked, those who go out of their way to make newcomers welcomed every time there's an even and who do it not to get recognition but because they just feel compelled to do so. These are the ones we need to either mentor ourselves or find someone to mentor them immediately. They could be destined to be used by God in some great way down the road and it is our duty to prepare them.
Lastly, lets take a look at the need for us youth pastors to band together.
The days of the lone wolf youth pastor are over! I don't mean that you have to have multiple youth pastors in your church, but rather we need to increasingly seek out fellow pastors to make the work lighter. This is a lesson, I failed to learn I'm ashamed to say. My pride led me to fear others stealing my thunder and taking any original ideas that I had and using them to become more successful in ministry than I was. I robbed myself of developing deep relationships with other pastors in my area because I wanted to be the best. not only that but, I robbed other youth pastors of my knowledge and experience which could have helped them further their own ministries and thus expanding the kingdom of God.
It is one of the biggest dangers we pastors face. The fact that we have been given a following of people who would do just about anything for us, can tempt us to create our own sealed off kingdoms, where we control who can come in and who can leave. It has been a great realization that every success each of us have in our respective ministries is a success for the lot of us. We are to fight for the souls of the students in our cities not try to outdo each other. Its time to put aside our differences in styles and strive to work together submitting to each other for the good of our city. Dare i say, we must also yield from our specific denominational bent and come together in the fact that we all believe Jesus is Lord and that He rose again, is the son of God and the Bible is His book. I don't mean you compromise the beliefs of your denomination, but rather that we must learn how to work together in spite of our denominational beliefs.
So, my friends, my brothers in arms, where ever the Lord has stationed you to serve, do your best to create disciples and go above and beyond working with each other sharing your ideas, praying for one another, cheering each other on when one of you has a success. Stand with each other when you are facing opposition or a season of great upheaval. You all know how lonely it can be to face derision, opposition, disapproval or unrealistic expectations, so do your best to support each other not only with a kind word and prayer, but perhaps help the brother face it. Stand with him and provide any support you can. oh, and for those of you who are married, make sure your wives know each other and also have the same sort of support that you share. I've seen so many youth pastors' wives who feel more alone than the pastor because they don't have anyone in the church that understands what they are going through. Having them be able to meet each other and draw support from each other can be a healthy thing. Your wives are your partners and sometimes the only cheering section you may have, don't let them be bruised due to neglect.
Now Go! make disciples! continue the work the that Lord has given you to do! Keep fighting the good fight until the Lord tells you to stop. Stand strong and may the Lord Almighty bless you with a wealth of ideas, sermons and opportunities to grow.
Many Blessings!
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
From mistakes... tips for youth pastors (part 1)
One of the major ways we humans learn is by learning from the mistakes or success of others. When we are young, we do not possess any frame of reference by which we can make educated choices until we have experience in certain situations. Frame of references come through experience, such as learning that a stove top is hot and can hurt us comes from either being told and listening to that persons advice, by experiencing the pain of a burn first hand, or seeing someone else's experience with a hot stove top. It is fascinating how God created our brains to absorb experiences through both direct and indirect input, every tiny seemingly insignificant experience we either participate, are told of, or witness plays apart in our development into mature adults.
The main reason for the creation of this blog was to help youth pastors, youth leaders/volunteers, parents, pastoral staff and even students (youth) to become a cohesive unit and further the preparation of the generations that will take over as the leaders of the church in the not so distant future. Today, I want to focus on some advice for youth pastors, and later this week I will try to cover some helpful tips for the other aforementioned groups, however; reading on may help people in the other groups gain a better handle on what we'll be discussing.
Ok, Youth Pastors, here's part 1:
Whether you're an old guy like me or someone just starting out, some of the most important things that you can learn or remember are: Start with the end in mind, and Parents are not the enemy.
Starting with the end in mind means that you build the ministry at the church you are at in such a way that it becomes Christ centred. A youth ministry built in such a way that if the Lord chose to take you home tomorrow, the youth leaders shouldn't have to hire a detective, an accountant and an archeologist a to figure out how to run the youth ministry. By Christ centred, I mean that you are NOT at the centre of it all, but that any event, retreat, conference, bible study, small group, leader training or coffee time is wholly focused on Jesus and He has absolute and total control to change things as He sees fit. Build it in such a way that it is easily transferrable to your successor.
Lets be real for a moment, we are not going to live forever. We are not going to be youth pastors of a single congregation forever. Granted, some of us will be blessed enough to be in a place for a long time, but we are meant to be ready to move where God knows we'll bring him the greatest glory at a moments notice. This means that we must tailor our ministries to be prepared for us to not be there. More importantly, think about the brother who follows you, wether you meet him/her or not give them the gift of a stable ministry. Help them to succeed, for if they surpass your greatest successes, does that not mean that you succeeded too? Even if the person who succeeds you becomes greater than you, remember that you help build that ministry, you helped to bring greater glory to God by helping your successor do greater things than you could do. YOUTH MINISTRY IS NOT A COMPETITION!!!
In a perfect world this would be so easy for us to do, but this world is not perfect. We have to deal with imperfect people who sometimes may, without intent, hurt us. We have to work past the hurt and help those who will take up the reigns of leadership after us. It is not the most pleasant thing to do, preparing "provisions" and materials knowing you will never see the finished product, but even King David stored up all that Solomon would need to build the temple, though his eyes would never witness it. In our ministries, we all tend to want to be Solomon and build a magnificent ministry, while God needs us to simply be David, and prepare everything so that Solomon can succeed. Both jobs do the same thing, which is bring glory to God. The Lord will honour us for going the extra mile in ensuring our successor does well, even if the hurt wants us to simply take the blue prints and the materials with us. Remember, you were once someone's successor, and you are building on the the work, sweat and tears they shed for that group. This is how you Start with the end in mind: prepare the ministry for your successor.
How can we do this? well, it really depends on what the ministry in your particular church looks like, but here are some general suggestions you may wish to try or even improve upon.
These are just a few suggestions that have helped me. feel free to add or omit any that you feel does not apply to your particular ministry situation. The list is not the point. the point is that we need to think about those who come after us and how we can help prepare things for them to build an even greater ministry than we could have dreamed. who knows, if the Lord wills it you may be setting things up for one of your own students or your child or even great grand-child. We all build on the work of others.
Moving onto the next helpful tip: Parents are not the enemy, nor are youth pastors the enemy.
The reality that both youth pastors and parents need to understand is that they need each other in order to grow a healthy christian teen. Most of us tend to miss out on the wealth of success we can have in ministry if we only involved parents more. No, driving van fulls of kids or using the yard/jacuzzi or their house for a party does not count as having parents be involved. I mean that we should have almost an equal amount of parents as our core leaders as there are students/ young adult leaders. Train some parents (dare I include grandparents?) to be youth leaders, to lead a small group to be mentors to the boys and girls. If you're human like me, you've come to the realization that you cannot be everywhere at once and that you cannot be everyone's listening ear, good buddy and pastor. You're not God, stop trying to be. Think of this: who are your students going to lean on when you're not there? it takes at least 4-5 years to develop a deep rapport with a single student, if you spend 1-2 hours a week with them out side of youth events/small groups. Are you going to hope that the new guy takes up the slack?
I bring this up, not because of my success, but because I failed to do this many times and regret not building a strong parent contingent to help mentor students. If anything, get parents to form prayer teams that pray for your students and the youth leaders, at minimum this is a good way to get parents involved.
We all dread parents meetings. Most of us would rather have a root canal than stand in front of parents! at some point it feels like you're heading to be executed before a firing squad and sometimes those meetings are not that far off as you receive volley after volley of "complaints." Parent's meetings shouldn't feel this way though, they're a great tool to cast the vision God gave us for our ministries. If parents catch the vision, they'll support any decision you make. Always be over prepared, be clear in your direction and allow time for parents to ask questions about your vision, you may even want to ask them what Christian principles they are focusing on teaching their kids or what they would like their teen to be exposed to and use that information to tailor your teaching/preaching times.
We must do everything in our power to make sure the majority of parents are in our corner backing us up or we mind as well quit and making sure parents are properly informed on the direction of the youth group is key. Take their suggestions into consideration, better yet, if they give you ideas that you've never tried, seriously consider asking them to help you get it off the ground. They know their kids best, we only spend 2-3 hours a week with the students, and we only know what the students want us to know about them. Most of all, listen. really listen. Parents like to feel like they are being listened to and in a roundabout way, they may be sharing a deep fear or pain that they are going through.
Praise parents who are exemplary. I don't mean make an announcement from the pulpit extolling their exploits in parenting teens. I mean pull them aside and tell them you think they're doing a good job. Most of them are scared about raising teenagers, some of them don't know what to do or what to expect during those 6 years and they rely on you to help them. If you think about it, we not only pastor teens, but we pastor the parents as well.
Parents:
Youth Pastors are NOT the full meal deal in raising healthy Christian teens! We are more like a vitamin. a supplement that helps add small quantities of missing ingredients that will stimulate growth that are missing from their every day diet. Some times, actually, a lot of the time, Youth pastors feel like parents are expecting us to "fix" their kid, to be the full meal when we just can't. Sometimes we feel like we're letting you down if we don't miraculously change a student from a spazzy, hyper 13 year old into a mature bible scholar. We do the best we can, but we're just as human as the rest of you, and we cannot do much by ourselves. we need your help! any help! No sane youth pastor will ever turn down a parent who wants to help.
How can you help? Avoid falling into the trap that you can't help because your child does not want you there. Yes, its true that teens need to have their own space to develop their own identities and explore their individuality, but there are ways you can help your youth pastor out while staying out of your students "space." for example, if your church has a small group program or a sunday school program for teens/pre-teens you can help lead a group, preferably one that your child is not in. "take care of someone else's, teen?!? are you nuts?!" maybe what you're saying right now, but think about it, what better way to learn how to handle teens? you can learn how to talk with them, what they're into, what they struggle with, what they hope for, what they wish their parents would trust them with, etc. you know, stuff your teen deals with. (by the way, if you choose to do this, make sure you set some parameters with your teen assuring them that while at a youth event you won't go all "parenty" on them and that you're a youth leader until you get home. Ask them first, don't surprise them with the news that you'll be at every youth event for the rest of the year... not a good idea) your youth pastor will do all they can to help train you and place you with a group that fits you best, so don't worry about not knowing what to do. You can learn a ton of things about your teen by spending an hour with a group of teens.
Lastly, Trust your youth pastor. Most of us work with teens by choice, because we believe that God has called us to train the future generation to go further than we could in their faith walk. Everything we do, from the silliest of games to the deepest of spiritual times is done because we care about your teens. We do our utmost to keep them from harm and would not expose them to anything we felt would endanger their spiritual walk. yes, it may not look like they way you do things at home, not will it look like the way your youth pastor (if you were lucky to have one) did things. You can rest assured that we are trying to grow spiritually self feeding, deep rooted disciples of Christ, but we will not force anyone to follow Christ. We will answer their questions, help to guide them through rough patches of life, but we are not going to brain wash them and that means we're going to give each student the freedom to decide for themselves if our faith will become theirs. We will pray for those who are ready to go deeper with Christ and love those who choose to stay in the fringe, we will do our best to model who Jesus is through our lives, but we're not going to keep them in a bubble. We are in the same team, and we need each other to ensure that the gospel of Christ is preached to all nations and through all generations until He returns.
Have you hugged your youth pastor today? sometimes we don't hear the one kind word over the roar of disapproval. it would be nice if you heaped praises on your youth pastors this week. help them to keep the passion they were given for your teens burning bright.
with many blessings!
The main reason for the creation of this blog was to help youth pastors, youth leaders/volunteers, parents, pastoral staff and even students (youth) to become a cohesive unit and further the preparation of the generations that will take over as the leaders of the church in the not so distant future. Today, I want to focus on some advice for youth pastors, and later this week I will try to cover some helpful tips for the other aforementioned groups, however; reading on may help people in the other groups gain a better handle on what we'll be discussing.
Ok, Youth Pastors, here's part 1:
Whether you're an old guy like me or someone just starting out, some of the most important things that you can learn or remember are: Start with the end in mind, and Parents are not the enemy.
Starting with the end in mind means that you build the ministry at the church you are at in such a way that it becomes Christ centred. A youth ministry built in such a way that if the Lord chose to take you home tomorrow, the youth leaders shouldn't have to hire a detective, an accountant and an archeologist a to figure out how to run the youth ministry. By Christ centred, I mean that you are NOT at the centre of it all, but that any event, retreat, conference, bible study, small group, leader training or coffee time is wholly focused on Jesus and He has absolute and total control to change things as He sees fit. Build it in such a way that it is easily transferrable to your successor.
Lets be real for a moment, we are not going to live forever. We are not going to be youth pastors of a single congregation forever. Granted, some of us will be blessed enough to be in a place for a long time, but we are meant to be ready to move where God knows we'll bring him the greatest glory at a moments notice. This means that we must tailor our ministries to be prepared for us to not be there. More importantly, think about the brother who follows you, wether you meet him/her or not give them the gift of a stable ministry. Help them to succeed, for if they surpass your greatest successes, does that not mean that you succeeded too? Even if the person who succeeds you becomes greater than you, remember that you help build that ministry, you helped to bring greater glory to God by helping your successor do greater things than you could do. YOUTH MINISTRY IS NOT A COMPETITION!!!
In a perfect world this would be so easy for us to do, but this world is not perfect. We have to deal with imperfect people who sometimes may, without intent, hurt us. We have to work past the hurt and help those who will take up the reigns of leadership after us. It is not the most pleasant thing to do, preparing "provisions" and materials knowing you will never see the finished product, but even King David stored up all that Solomon would need to build the temple, though his eyes would never witness it. In our ministries, we all tend to want to be Solomon and build a magnificent ministry, while God needs us to simply be David, and prepare everything so that Solomon can succeed. Both jobs do the same thing, which is bring glory to God. The Lord will honour us for going the extra mile in ensuring our successor does well, even if the hurt wants us to simply take the blue prints and the materials with us. Remember, you were once someone's successor, and you are building on the the work, sweat and tears they shed for that group. This is how you Start with the end in mind: prepare the ministry for your successor.
How can we do this? well, it really depends on what the ministry in your particular church looks like, but here are some general suggestions you may wish to try or even improve upon.
- make sure all passwords for websites, Facebook groups, Twitter, office computer etc are generic. don't use a personal password, but make up something easy to remember that the new guy does not have to go in a change.
- Keep all graphics, sign up sheets, permission slips, retreat brochures in template form in a digital or physical folder.
- Leave instructions on major events that have become good traditions and are successful. This will keep him/her from accidentally removing or changing said event to the point where the students may riot (ok, riot is a bit of a stretch...barely)
- Keep an updated contact list for students, bookings for events, transportation services, hotels, retreat centres used, and other Youth Pastors in the area.
- Train your leaders to run, and organize events, they will then be able to maintain the status quo with out much stress. This also frees you to develop deeper relationships with the students, prepare sermons/bible studies, pray or simply take a weekend off with your family. (its ok not to be there every friday, but let your Sr. Pastor know what you're doing.)
- Be honest with your students, let them know that you're there until the Lord moves you and that all you do is to prepare them for that day.
- Do NOT start fights with other departments, you don't want anyone dealing with your damage.
- If you decided to move on, leave a letter outlining any major issues that the group has gone through. This is like leaving a map for a mine field so that he doesn't step on any proverbial mines and can navigate safely and even bring about some healing. This is not a list of complaints about people who slighted you or even called for your resignation! for example, at a previous position I mentioned to my successor to, should he run into any issues, first speak with the executive pastor and then together head to the senior pastor should the executive pastor deem it necessary. This way he wouldn't burden the sr. pastor needlessly with worry.
- Remind yourself that ALL ministry is temporary, constantly. specially after a big "win"
- Any youth storage area should only contain things/resources that will aid the youth group going forward. No, keeping curriculum from 1983 cause it "may" get used is not advisable... the 80's are gone, let them rest in peace.
- anything you would have liked your predecessor to have done or left for you.
These are just a few suggestions that have helped me. feel free to add or omit any that you feel does not apply to your particular ministry situation. The list is not the point. the point is that we need to think about those who come after us and how we can help prepare things for them to build an even greater ministry than we could have dreamed. who knows, if the Lord wills it you may be setting things up for one of your own students or your child or even great grand-child. We all build on the work of others.
Moving onto the next helpful tip: Parents are not the enemy, nor are youth pastors the enemy.
The reality that both youth pastors and parents need to understand is that they need each other in order to grow a healthy christian teen. Most of us tend to miss out on the wealth of success we can have in ministry if we only involved parents more. No, driving van fulls of kids or using the yard/jacuzzi or their house for a party does not count as having parents be involved. I mean that we should have almost an equal amount of parents as our core leaders as there are students/ young adult leaders. Train some parents (dare I include grandparents?) to be youth leaders, to lead a small group to be mentors to the boys and girls. If you're human like me, you've come to the realization that you cannot be everywhere at once and that you cannot be everyone's listening ear, good buddy and pastor. You're not God, stop trying to be. Think of this: who are your students going to lean on when you're not there? it takes at least 4-5 years to develop a deep rapport with a single student, if you spend 1-2 hours a week with them out side of youth events/small groups. Are you going to hope that the new guy takes up the slack?
I bring this up, not because of my success, but because I failed to do this many times and regret not building a strong parent contingent to help mentor students. If anything, get parents to form prayer teams that pray for your students and the youth leaders, at minimum this is a good way to get parents involved.
We all dread parents meetings. Most of us would rather have a root canal than stand in front of parents! at some point it feels like you're heading to be executed before a firing squad and sometimes those meetings are not that far off as you receive volley after volley of "complaints." Parent's meetings shouldn't feel this way though, they're a great tool to cast the vision God gave us for our ministries. If parents catch the vision, they'll support any decision you make. Always be over prepared, be clear in your direction and allow time for parents to ask questions about your vision, you may even want to ask them what Christian principles they are focusing on teaching their kids or what they would like their teen to be exposed to and use that information to tailor your teaching/preaching times.
We must do everything in our power to make sure the majority of parents are in our corner backing us up or we mind as well quit and making sure parents are properly informed on the direction of the youth group is key. Take their suggestions into consideration, better yet, if they give you ideas that you've never tried, seriously consider asking them to help you get it off the ground. They know their kids best, we only spend 2-3 hours a week with the students, and we only know what the students want us to know about them. Most of all, listen. really listen. Parents like to feel like they are being listened to and in a roundabout way, they may be sharing a deep fear or pain that they are going through.
Praise parents who are exemplary. I don't mean make an announcement from the pulpit extolling their exploits in parenting teens. I mean pull them aside and tell them you think they're doing a good job. Most of them are scared about raising teenagers, some of them don't know what to do or what to expect during those 6 years and they rely on you to help them. If you think about it, we not only pastor teens, but we pastor the parents as well.
Parents:
Youth Pastors are NOT the full meal deal in raising healthy Christian teens! We are more like a vitamin. a supplement that helps add small quantities of missing ingredients that will stimulate growth that are missing from their every day diet. Some times, actually, a lot of the time, Youth pastors feel like parents are expecting us to "fix" their kid, to be the full meal when we just can't. Sometimes we feel like we're letting you down if we don't miraculously change a student from a spazzy, hyper 13 year old into a mature bible scholar. We do the best we can, but we're just as human as the rest of you, and we cannot do much by ourselves. we need your help! any help! No sane youth pastor will ever turn down a parent who wants to help.
How can you help? Avoid falling into the trap that you can't help because your child does not want you there. Yes, its true that teens need to have their own space to develop their own identities and explore their individuality, but there are ways you can help your youth pastor out while staying out of your students "space." for example, if your church has a small group program or a sunday school program for teens/pre-teens you can help lead a group, preferably one that your child is not in. "take care of someone else's, teen?!? are you nuts?!" maybe what you're saying right now, but think about it, what better way to learn how to handle teens? you can learn how to talk with them, what they're into, what they struggle with, what they hope for, what they wish their parents would trust them with, etc. you know, stuff your teen deals with. (by the way, if you choose to do this, make sure you set some parameters with your teen assuring them that while at a youth event you won't go all "parenty" on them and that you're a youth leader until you get home. Ask them first, don't surprise them with the news that you'll be at every youth event for the rest of the year... not a good idea) your youth pastor will do all they can to help train you and place you with a group that fits you best, so don't worry about not knowing what to do. You can learn a ton of things about your teen by spending an hour with a group of teens.
Lastly, Trust your youth pastor. Most of us work with teens by choice, because we believe that God has called us to train the future generation to go further than we could in their faith walk. Everything we do, from the silliest of games to the deepest of spiritual times is done because we care about your teens. We do our utmost to keep them from harm and would not expose them to anything we felt would endanger their spiritual walk. yes, it may not look like they way you do things at home, not will it look like the way your youth pastor (if you were lucky to have one) did things. You can rest assured that we are trying to grow spiritually self feeding, deep rooted disciples of Christ, but we will not force anyone to follow Christ. We will answer their questions, help to guide them through rough patches of life, but we are not going to brain wash them and that means we're going to give each student the freedom to decide for themselves if our faith will become theirs. We will pray for those who are ready to go deeper with Christ and love those who choose to stay in the fringe, we will do our best to model who Jesus is through our lives, but we're not going to keep them in a bubble. We are in the same team, and we need each other to ensure that the gospel of Christ is preached to all nations and through all generations until He returns.
Have you hugged your youth pastor today? sometimes we don't hear the one kind word over the roar of disapproval. it would be nice if you heaped praises on your youth pastors this week. help them to keep the passion they were given for your teens burning bright.
with many blessings!
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Like a Diamond
Rummaging through boxes of books, I found my first bible. its old, ratty and in spanish, it brought back a ton of memories, chief of which is: I like the Bible. correction, I LOVE the Bible! not because I understand everything in it or because its part of my career, but because it has been the only true constant in life. I don't remember exactly when I became a Christ-follower, but I clearly remember when I fell in love with reading it. I was 8 years old and my sunday school teacher presented me with a full, leather bound bible with my name inscribed in the most magnificent calligraphy I had ever seen, like the one pastors had with them.
Leafing through the worn, tattered and heavily underlined pages of this old bible brought back memories of times of both great joy and great anguish. It reminded me of how I first read it with such innocent eyes, falling in love with the stories of Joseph, Abraham and Moses, the magnificent miracles and signs that the people in this book were allowed to either perform or witnessed was thrilling! I didn't understand most of it, of course and the books such as Numbers, Leviticus or any of the prophet's writings didn't make sense to me and even made me afraid to read them; However, there were also many promises, life lessons and yes even humour! oh, and there was hope, always full of hope.
Its always so astounding how a person can change so much and yet the words written in this book never get old. I'm a reader. If you are a reader like myself, you will most often be found with your nose in some kind of book, or you'll have one in your car, your back pack or in your office. whenever you pass by a bookstore you'll spend hours looking through books losing all track of time and probably walking out with a few to read later. In fact we buy so many, family members have considered having an intervention to help us through our pulp adiction. The thing about readers like us though is that once we've read a book, we can pretty much remember what its about and the premise of it by just looking at a cover, we tend to read them once or twice and unless its a classical master piece we tend to move on to the next book in the stack we keep on our nightstand.
Its not so with the Bible. you can read the same story, chapter or verse several hundred times and it never gets old. Something new always pops up at the most unexpected and perhaps even necessary times in life. I heard someone say once that the Bible is like a diamond, its one of the hardest substances in the world, and if you were to look at light bouncing of it as you turn it, you would never see it refract the same way. So it is with the scriptures, you can look at a verse from the many angles of a life-span and it will never look the same. Its unlocked by the Holy Spirit as our faith grows so that we glean more and more from it.
Do you remember what it was like to read the Bible for the first time? I hope it was not a chore for you, its always sad to hear from people that they were forced to read the scriptures at some point in their lives. Im sorry that happened to you, it was never meant to be forced on anyone. Did you give up reading it because you didn't understand what was written? I encourage you to seek help from a friend or a pastor or even take in some bible college classes, and there is this tool called the "internet" which has a wealth of aids to help you read it and more importantly, understand it. Just don't stop reading it, even if you only understand one verse or one idea behind a chapter that is a feat in it self. Don't worry, God is not keeping score of who's memorized the most verses or who has read it cover to cover. its not about what you can do with it, its about how it changes your heart.
Let me leave you with a bit of a caution. I know we live in the 21st Century, the information age, where we can carry whole libraries in our smarphones or tablets, which is a great blessing. I also know that there are great Bible apps out there that can be very convenient for our lives, I use them, and there is nothing wrong with them, but I can't help but think that we may be robbing future generations of the opportunity to scribble all over their first bibles and discover helpful thoughts brought about by the spirit of God at a moment of need. all for the sake of convenience. If you are like me, you've also ran across the temptation to check your facebook or Twitter when you're reading your bible app during a service, after all no one will notice if you do.There was a time when to carry a Bible was a badge of honour, it told the world that you were a Christ follower and you were not ashamed to show it.
I want to challenge you next time you're at church to perhaps bring the good old leather bound book (of which most house holds own 6-7 copies, but that's another blog for another time) and perhaps a pad of paper, or a journal and write up what the pastor preaches on a particular chapter. underline the verses, write quick thoughts in the margins or in the back, you never know when something your wrote will help someone, it may even be you. Carry it around, perhaps it will spark a conversation with a complete stranger who is seeking God or needs comfort. At very least, carry it to honour the thousands of saints who died so that you could have one in your own language and to honour the hundreds of thousands in countries where the Bible is outlawed, and where Christians would die to have a piece of paper with a single verse to call their own. (if a christian community gets a bible in these countries, they usually tear it to pieces and each person gets a piece and they trade with each other once they have read and memorized their portion. this is just incase they face a raid in church and their bible is taken away and destroyed.) Most importantly of all, read it like there is no tomorrow, savour it, meditate on the words, do your best to follow what it says, they are the words of God after all.
Many Blessings!
Leafing through the worn, tattered and heavily underlined pages of this old bible brought back memories of times of both great joy and great anguish. It reminded me of how I first read it with such innocent eyes, falling in love with the stories of Joseph, Abraham and Moses, the magnificent miracles and signs that the people in this book were allowed to either perform or witnessed was thrilling! I didn't understand most of it, of course and the books such as Numbers, Leviticus or any of the prophet's writings didn't make sense to me and even made me afraid to read them; However, there were also many promises, life lessons and yes even humour! oh, and there was hope, always full of hope.
Its always so astounding how a person can change so much and yet the words written in this book never get old. I'm a reader. If you are a reader like myself, you will most often be found with your nose in some kind of book, or you'll have one in your car, your back pack or in your office. whenever you pass by a bookstore you'll spend hours looking through books losing all track of time and probably walking out with a few to read later. In fact we buy so many, family members have considered having an intervention to help us through our pulp adiction. The thing about readers like us though is that once we've read a book, we can pretty much remember what its about and the premise of it by just looking at a cover, we tend to read them once or twice and unless its a classical master piece we tend to move on to the next book in the stack we keep on our nightstand.
Its not so with the Bible. you can read the same story, chapter or verse several hundred times and it never gets old. Something new always pops up at the most unexpected and perhaps even necessary times in life. I heard someone say once that the Bible is like a diamond, its one of the hardest substances in the world, and if you were to look at light bouncing of it as you turn it, you would never see it refract the same way. So it is with the scriptures, you can look at a verse from the many angles of a life-span and it will never look the same. Its unlocked by the Holy Spirit as our faith grows so that we glean more and more from it.
Do you remember what it was like to read the Bible for the first time? I hope it was not a chore for you, its always sad to hear from people that they were forced to read the scriptures at some point in their lives. Im sorry that happened to you, it was never meant to be forced on anyone. Did you give up reading it because you didn't understand what was written? I encourage you to seek help from a friend or a pastor or even take in some bible college classes, and there is this tool called the "internet" which has a wealth of aids to help you read it and more importantly, understand it. Just don't stop reading it, even if you only understand one verse or one idea behind a chapter that is a feat in it self. Don't worry, God is not keeping score of who's memorized the most verses or who has read it cover to cover. its not about what you can do with it, its about how it changes your heart.
Let me leave you with a bit of a caution. I know we live in the 21st Century, the information age, where we can carry whole libraries in our smarphones or tablets, which is a great blessing. I also know that there are great Bible apps out there that can be very convenient for our lives, I use them, and there is nothing wrong with them, but I can't help but think that we may be robbing future generations of the opportunity to scribble all over their first bibles and discover helpful thoughts brought about by the spirit of God at a moment of need. all for the sake of convenience. If you are like me, you've also ran across the temptation to check your facebook or Twitter when you're reading your bible app during a service, after all no one will notice if you do.There was a time when to carry a Bible was a badge of honour, it told the world that you were a Christ follower and you were not ashamed to show it.
I want to challenge you next time you're at church to perhaps bring the good old leather bound book (of which most house holds own 6-7 copies, but that's another blog for another time) and perhaps a pad of paper, or a journal and write up what the pastor preaches on a particular chapter. underline the verses, write quick thoughts in the margins or in the back, you never know when something your wrote will help someone, it may even be you. Carry it around, perhaps it will spark a conversation with a complete stranger who is seeking God or needs comfort. At very least, carry it to honour the thousands of saints who died so that you could have one in your own language and to honour the hundreds of thousands in countries where the Bible is outlawed, and where Christians would die to have a piece of paper with a single verse to call their own. (if a christian community gets a bible in these countries, they usually tear it to pieces and each person gets a piece and they trade with each other once they have read and memorized their portion. this is just incase they face a raid in church and their bible is taken away and destroyed.) Most importantly of all, read it like there is no tomorrow, savour it, meditate on the words, do your best to follow what it says, they are the words of God after all.
Many Blessings!
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Two Words
I was doing reading my bible before bed, (trying to re-read the gospels this month) and I was just passing through Matthew 8 which starts off with a very short story regarding a leprous man who asked Jesus for healing. I must have read that story thousands of times by now, I'm sure it must have been referenced or used as an illustrations in thousands of sermons I've either heard or written (not that i've written thousands of sermons, but I digress) and something caught my attention. At first glance, it seems so common, so plain, but then I read it again and this thought took hold of my brain: Have you ever noticed how the leper asked Jesus for healing?
The statement itself gets lost in the magnitude and magnificence of Jesus healing a man from a torturous sentence. Now, wether you believe that the man had actual leprosy or some other form of skin disease, is really besides the point, and I really don't want to get into what the Hebrew meaning of the word Tzara'at or if the greek lepra was used correctly. what really astounded me was the way this man asked for his miracle. Take a look at it in Matthew 8:1-4, if you want and see what you can glean from it. In verse 1the man says to Jesus "if you are willing, you can heal me and make me clean."(NLT) Did you catch it? lets see it again with some underline help "if you are willing, YOU CAN heal me and make me clean." did you see it now?
The statement itself gets lost in the magnitude and magnificence of Jesus healing a man from a torturous sentence. Now, wether you believe that the man had actual leprosy or some other form of skin disease, is really besides the point, and I really don't want to get into what the Hebrew meaning of the word Tzara'at or if the greek lepra was used correctly. what really astounded me was the way this man asked for his miracle. Take a look at it in Matthew 8:1-4, if you want and see what you can glean from it. In verse 1the man says to Jesus "if you are willing, you can heal me and make me clean."(NLT) Did you catch it? lets see it again with some underline help "if you are willing, YOU CAN heal me and make me clean." did you see it now?
"…You can…" Those two words triggered something in my brain, it is such and astounding statement to make! to me, there is so much confidence, so much boldness in these words! He was not inquiring if Jesus had the power to heal him, but it seems like he already knew it in his heart and believed it so much that his faith was brimming out into his words. If it were most people, that statement would read " if you are willing CAN YOU make me clean?" and I think you would agree that this is accurate, since most times we ask the Lord for something but in the back of our minds there is this hidden cloud of doubt, this residue of cynicism that hinders us from making bold statements like this mans.
There is no scepticism, no reservation, but just the resolute hope that this Nazarene could heal him. His faith ran so deep that poured out of his words almost as if he had made up his mind that this Jesus was no regular professional healer (which there were many at the time) nor was he someone trying to sell something. I would propose for your thinking that this mans statement is more profound than the healing itself. I'm not downplaying healing, just so we are clear. I believe Jesus heals today, I have seen it, experienced it and know healing to be real; However, in this instance I can't help but think that the seemingly simple reordering of two words can be a much greater miracle than a supernatural act of healing.
Think about the situation that man was in. Leprosy was no laughing matter to any Israelite, in fact one could argue that it was a fate worse than being imprisoned in the darkest and deepest of dungeons. If a person found some sort of skin problem in their body, there were supposed to be examined by the priests who would quarantine the person for 7 days, then re-examined and if it was found to be a serious skin decease that person would be declared ceremonially unclean, have to tear their clothes, uncomb or uncover their hair, shout "unclean!" wherever they went and live in isolation out side of any encampment or city. (Leviticus 13:45) that person would only be welcomed back AFTER they were re-examined, went through the ceremonial cleansing ritual (Leviticus 14) and were declared ceremonially clean by the priest. Until then that person was an outcast, doomed to die alone and to wonder in shame, having people chase them off, have kids throw stones at them, be insulted and cursed, and worse yet, be labelled as someone who was being judged by God for some great sin.
This man chose to not accept the fate that the world had assigned for him. Somehow, he heard about or saw the miracles Jesus did. His faith grew bolder, to chance a trip into a crowd, into a place where he would be chased away with rocks and quite possibly be killed for deifying the law! But I believe he believed in Jesus. he believed with everything he had in his body that there was something different about this man. He was no ordinary professional healer. This man would gamble with his life for a chance to kneel before Jesus and say with all the faith in his soul "I believe!!! I believe in You, Jesus!!! will you affirm my faith by healing my body? I know you can do it! I know who you really are! I believe!" this, I believe, is the greater miracle. A man who was doomed to die alone, to never know human contact again, that was to be reviled until he breathed his last breath and whose ears would be filled with the sounds of mocking, cursing and horror, a man that was broken and ground lower than dust decided to place his trust, his faith, his future and his very life into the hands of Jesus. Now that is a miracle, the physical healing, then was simply a perk. an affirmation of the mans faith, a testimony for the ages.
This mans' was brought out of the gloom of death to be a beacon not only of God's great mercy and healing power, but also that stalwart faith can keep the flames of hope alive though any wisp of doubt or torrential negativism would snuff it out. Jesus went as far as making sure the man was legally restored under the law of moses and before the priests by sending him to be examined and fulfill the ceremonial cleansing ritual (Leviticus 14, read it it wasn't simple or easy and you should read about it). I like to think that maybe a priest had not given this man any hope, but rather yoked him with the burden of the law and cast him out, and perhaps this former leper stood before the same priest and said "see?! I am healed! the Lord made me clean!" and perhaps somewhere in his heart that priest was moved, repented and rejoiced with the former leper as he reinstated him back to his family and society.
If you read this far, I commend you and would like to leave this thought for your edification: Sometimes, faith manifests itself in the simple re-ordering of two words, the "Can You?" to the "You Can" we saw above can bring about a great transformation of the soul and that is a great miracle!
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
writing a book
Its been season filled with change, not all easy, but all necessary. Ever since I left Spruce Grove, I've had this nagging in my heart that I need to write a book. I have the idea, and i've worked out a chapter outline, but every time I carve out time to sit and actually write, seems like i don't have anything to say. I know that I have to do some research, to quantify my ideas, but I wanted the first draft to be written from the heart. My goal is not to write a book that will catapult my ministry, but rather a book that may help future generations of believers to grow.
I figure it would be a fun thing to have a place to post ideas or things I'm discovering as I write this book for people to read someday. I may even post pieces of it just to get some feedback from people, who knows, I may even try and get it published! now wouldn't that be something.
Be blessed!
Pedro
I figure it would be a fun thing to have a place to post ideas or things I'm discovering as I write this book for people to read someday. I may even post pieces of it just to get some feedback from people, who knows, I may even try and get it published! now wouldn't that be something.
Be blessed!
Pedro
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