Youth Ministry Can Get Tough

Common Issue Faced by Youth Leaders

I recently conducted interviews with 3 seasoned Youth leaders in two countries - The Bahamas and The United States. By far, the most common issue faced by all three Youth leaders is that of Team Motivation or a lack thereof. In the next few paragraphs I will attempt to provide encouragement for ministry leaders on the subject of Team Motivation and setting some boundaries to prevent burnout and loss of integrity.  Life in ministry can get difficult at times. It gets even more difficult when we do not have the right support system in place. Ministry was not designed to be a one man show. Take a page out of Pastor Moses’ book. He got to a place of frustration where the next thing to do besides blame God was to quit the job:

¹¹ So Moses said to the Lord, “Why have You been so hard on Your servant? And why have I not found favor in Your sight, that You have laid the burden of all this people on me? ¹² Was it I who conceived all this people? Was it I who brought them forth, that You should say to me, ‘Carry them in your bosom as a nurse carries a nursing infant, to the land which You swore to their fathers’?¹³ Where am I to get meat to give to all this people? For they weep before me, saying, ‘Give us meat that we may eat!’ ¹⁴ I alone am not able to carry all this people, because it is too burdensome for me.¹⁵ So if You are going to deal thus with me, please kill me at once, if I have found favor in Your sight, and do not let me see my wretchedness.”  (Numbers 11:11-15)

It does not have to get this way for any ministry leader. God in his wisdom provided Pastor Moses with a solution:

¹⁶ The Lord therefore said to Moses, “Gather for Me seventy men from the elders of Israel, whom you know to be the elders of the people and their officers and bring them to the tent of meeting, and let them take their stand there with you. ¹⁷ Then I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take of the Spirit who is upon you, and will put Him upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with you, so that you will not bear it all alone”. (Numbers 11:16-17)

God provided Pastor Moses with a team. We need people to be successful at ministry. In fact, “People are the Plan” (Robbins, 526). If we are to be successful at building a team, consider these seven competencies a leader should have:

Pentab Ep 88 Get Rid Of The Filth - Pastor John Mark Bartlett

Single Again - Dr Myles Munroe

Living By Principles or Facts - 1 Corinthians 7

Life Application Bible Studies                                                        The Way Ministries.

Topic:     Principle or Fact Series                                                     Text: 1 Corinthians

Principle:   “A fundamental truth or proposition that serves as the foundation for a belief system     or a chain of reasoning” (Google)

Fact:    “Something that is true or can be proved with evidence” (Google)

Do I live my life on Facts or Principles? How does living a Principled life influence kingdom living? How did the Apostle Paul address the Corinthian church in light of the facts?

Facts or Principles: The Principles of Being Single (Dr. Myles Monroe)

o   Principles have been in existence long before we were born

o   Principles are interesting – The are unmoved (remain in place), never change, silent. Principles are there before you make a decision and remain in place after you’ve made that decision

o   Stick to the Principles (God’s Principles) – You will give yourself to anyone when the Facts look right [Principles thrown out the window]

o   God encourages us to keep His Principles (We keep on experimenting with the Principles) Deuteronomy 12:28

Be careful to obey all these words that I command you, that it may go well with you and with your children after you forever, when you do what is good and right in the sight of the Lord your God.

• If you know how to read a principle you won't get lost. Everyone should bow to the principles of God in your life
• Principles don't change or shift
• Anywhere on this planet, God's Principles don't change. They apply at all times everywhere.
• God's principles are universal - no consideration for cultures or place. God's answers are the same for all people everywhere
• God's words supersede culture

o   A Fact is the present state of things (I bought a bright red shirt. This has to be my all time favorite shirt. I wash the shirt with some of the other all-time favorite things. The shirt gets washed out; my other all-time favorite things are messed up). Facts change!

o   The Facts will make you nervous

Ø  Don’t devalue yourself because of facts

Ø  Don’t reduce your value to satisfy an immediate need

o   If you live by Principles then Facts cannot control you (remember, the Facts are temporary)

Ø  Whatever we are facing right now is temporary (another door will open – wait [actively?])

Ø  The Fact is that “It is raining” – The sun will shine again!

The Principles Of Being Single ❃Myles Munroe❃

Defending The Faith

In Defense Of The Christian Faith

Brothers and Sisters, we are called to defend the faith. It is not enough to gather in our Christian circles, having Christian fellowship, and calling for a separation from the world. We are called to engage in apologetics of the Christian faith. The Bible calls us to action. Consider the following biblical texts:

^15 “But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect…”                      

                                                                                                                                  (1 Peter 3:15)

 ^7 “It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel”

                                                                                                                                  (Philippians 1:7)

So Agrippa said to Paul, “You have permission to speak for yourself.” Then Paul stretched out his hand and made his defense:

² “I consider myself fortunate that it is before you, King Agrippa, I am going to make my defense today against all the accusations of the Jews,³ especially because you are familiar with all the customs and controversies of the Jews. Therefore, I beg you to listen to me patiently”

                                                                                                                                   (Acts 26:1-2)

I, Paul, myself entreat you, by the meekness and gentleness of Christ—I who am humble when face to face with you, but bold toward you when I am away!— ² I beg of you that when I am present I may not have to show boldness with such confidence as I count on showing against some who suspect us of walking according to the flesh. ³ For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. ⁴ For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. ⁵ We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, ⁶ being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete.

                                                                                                                           (2 Corinthians 10:1-5)
2 And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, 3 explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead...17 So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there...8 And he entered the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God...23 When they had appointed a day for him, they came to him at his lodging in great numbers. And he expounded the matter to them from morning till evening, testifying to the kingdom of God and trying to convince them about Jesus both from the law of Moses and from the prophets. 24 And some were convinced by what he said, while others disbelieved.
                                                                                     (Acts 17:2-3,17; 19:8; 28:23-24)

(Written by Kevin A. Hall      10.21.17)

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Considerations For Evangelism

A Model For Effective Evangelism for the 21^st Century

Vision Statement:

Develop devoted and passionate followers of “The Way” (Acts 9:2; John 14:6).

 Mission Statement:

Identify the gifts and talents of our people and to provide a platform in which they can become spiritually mature at all age levels, working together to impact their culture and the body of Christ (Ephesians 4:11-13).

Values:

·         We will be Incarnational and Inspirational  

Ø  Following Jesus’ model (John 1:14), we will endeavor to be a presence within the community – seeking to understand their world, ministering to their needs, answering their questions, easing their doubts and providing a safe space in which to grow. We will be Inspirational by adhering to the Bible as the normative source for all of living.

·         We will be Missionally driven

Ø  Answering God’s call (Exodus 19:6; 1 Peter 2:10), we will endeavor to be “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation”

·         We will be intentionally prayerful

Ø  Following Jesus’ example (Matthew 9:35-10:5), we will have compassion for the community and prepare and send workers out into the harvest.

·         We will embrace a Servant Leadership model

Ø  Following Jesus’ example (Mark 1), we will make the effort to “Identify with the people we serve, get our priorities straight, rely on the Bible, believe in our message and minister to our team members” (Robbins,74-76).

Deepak Chopra vs Christian Apologist (Chopra loses)

Gregory Koukl: Tactics for Discussing Christian Convictions

Christians Living In Two Worlds

The Sacred-Secular Split

Ever asked yourself the question after engaging someone “I thought they were Christians?”

It is common among believers to operate one way in the world and another within church circles. It’s almost like changing into one set of clothes for work and another to go to the gym. I recall dealing with this issue at work – one of the biggest challenge of my adult life came at the hands of a Christian brother who does missionary work. Because I was his boss, he was required to sit down and talk it through (otherwise, this would not happen). I remember taking him to MacDonald’s for lunch (had to do this in a public space as he was notorious for twisting words and giving alternate facts. I said toward the end “You’re a Christian, right?”. He said “Yes, and I apologize for all this”. Then I asked “What were you thinking? I was only looking out for you and your staff”. He said “I don’t know. I guess I just got caught up.” One thing is for sure, If I had a dollar for every time I was disappointed with a Christian hire, I’d have a good sum in the bank. The root of this bent toward two different worldviews, is referred to as “The Sacred-Secular Split”. We will unpack this further at a later date. For now, I’d like to give an overview.