Going Slow with Dr. Low

We`ve all heard ``Be still and know that I am God`` but I saw an interesting twist on that Biblical quote on Facebook the other day which said, ``Be still and know that you are not God``.

That is what happens when we move to fast and don`t take time to stop, listen, reflect and pray.  When we`re running around hastily trying to hold it all together and even control things so they don`t unwind we step into God`s shoes which is overstepping our bounds.

This is why stillness is encouraged in Scripture.  Stillness the best way to listen and the best way to get perspective on who God is and who we are.  It often involves quietness and maybe even solitude but stillness is a step further than that.  You can be quiet but not still, you can be alone but not still.  Stillness is a presence of heart, mind, soul and body as much as it is the lack of noisy surroundings.

So take some time to still yourself; still your heart, soul, mind and even body and allow God to whisper His gracious truth into you as you become more grounded, centered and focused.

Be still...

Leading a Small Group - The Ice Breaker

I've been slowly pecking away at a e-book about how to put together small youth group lessons quickly that will work well in almost any context.  One of the chapters I have finished is about how to effectively write good Ice Breakers.  Over the next couple weeks while I continue to finish up that book I will post some of the parts of the Ice Breaker Chapter here for you guys.  I would love to get feedback from you guys on what you like/dislike about the content.  I'm always looking to improve it.

The Ice Breaker

What was your favorite toy as a child?

One of the hardest things to do as a youth pastor is to really connect with kids.  This statement appears to be truer now in a world where everyone appears to be connected more than ever.  Youth spend a majority of their lives putting up barriers, walls and masks to cover their struggles, worries and fears.  Starting off your small group with some light hearted structured conversation can be a perfect kick starter to a great evening.  Over the course of this chapter I will cover the basics of what kinds of questions to ask, which type you want to stay away from, and some tips and tricks on how you can repurpose the opening discussion as a gateway into learning more about the people in your group.

So what is your favorite toy?  

When I was five years old I saved up my allowance for six months.  To a five year old that is forever.  The toy was THE Optimus Prime Transformer, which now goes on eBay for over $500 in poor condition.  I can still to this very day remember where on the shelf it was in the department store the day I bought it.  It ended up being everything I had dreamed about and more.  I played with that toy for hours recreating the many scenes from the TV show in my room.  He-man would make guest appearances while the Autobots would be defending the Ninja Turtles from the Decepticons and Optimus would be leading the charge.

Do you have a similar story that stirs emotion and memories from your childhood? Often times in life we do not take time to remember or cherish memories because life is moving too fast and we are always waiting to get to the next great thing.  One of the benefits of the ice breaker is that it forces us to reflect on old stories we may have forgotten about, or lost lessons that need refreshing. 
The primary reason the Ice Breaker exists is to lower the barrier of entry to the evening’s discussion for everyone involved.  While on the surface these questions often appear to be silly or rather pointless, they are extremely important in helping to lower the walls that we all continually put up.  One of my favorite aspects of the ice breakers are the amazing laughs that can be shared and the quick insight you can gain on how a youth thinks.

A common sentiment I keep hearing repeated is that people find it difficult to purposefully connect with youth.  They might not understand the music or the latest trends in youth culture, and that feeling can be overwhelming at first.  Something that the Ice Breaker can provide is a window into the lives of your youth.  Sometimes a simple answer to “What is your favorite ice cream?” will open a door for you to treat the youth at a later date and allow for conversations to occur that might not have otherwise. 

Ryan Filsinger is a husband, father, hockey lover, video game producer and aspiring social architect.  He has been in part time youth ministry for the last six years in Charlottetown, PEI.  You can find him on twitter @rfilsinger or read his rarely updated blog at www.filsinger.org

Student Ministry in The Trenches: A Story

Following is a short letter that I received a few years ago from one of our high school workers volunteering in a local high school. I love this story partly because I know and have walked with this student for years and partly because it shows a larger picture of why we do youth ministry! 

If you're a youth worker, paid or volunteer, thank you for sharing your life and energy with the next generation of game changers! This story is about you and the impact you and your life, church, and ministry has in the life of students. Please read this slightly edited version (names changed), take a moment to pray for the students in your youth ministry, and then pass the story on.

Student Ministry is more than large events. It's all about in-the-trenches relationships. Photo: Jeremy Postal @ Historymakers, Abbotsford, BC

Jeremy,

I thought I would send you this encouraging story about our campus pastor ministry at (local high school). Last Thursday I spent the entire school day at school. It was a strangely busy day with students and many students were in the centre with a lot of various issues. I sat with 4 boys doing work, talking through home life, and stuff for the first two periods then, in the 3rd period, a student named Caleb came in. We spent time working with this student last year...anyways…without going into too much detail, this student, though an amazingly bright kid, is and has been involved with some severe drug addiction and family trouble.

Caleb is trying to stop using drugs as they are becoming a destructive hold in his life. He shared his biggest goal is to get through high school. Through an amazing 2.5 hour discussion it came to a particular point in conversation whereby we sort of in a round about way talked about Jesus, Life, the bible, sin, new Life in Jesus, and God being a rescuer. It was amazing! At one point I had to actually stop the conversation, because we were totally about to pray in the counseling centre...!

Anyways, as the day progressed it became clear that Caleb had hit a new low and is looking for some hope and some motivation for life. He was being kicked out of the school – however - after our conversation, exchange of contact info, and an invitation to youth, I spoke with the program director. 

The program director said that his major leverage to keep Caleb in school was the fact that the student showed lots of interest in me (the campus pastor) and our church's youth program. The program director said that he viewed "the church youth group as an advocate for high school students," and that he sees our group and students as a "tremendous resources for students’ success in the community and high school."

- Campus Pastor.

Wow! How amazing would it be if every youth ministry in our country was known like this? Youth pastors, workers, and volunteers - what you do is significant and changes lives. Keep at it, don't give up, walk through life with students, and keep advocating for them. We love what you do.

Jeremy Postal is the director of Whistler School, a bible and discipleship school based out of beautiful Whistler, BC. He is passionate about building communities of restoration & creativity with Christ as the focus. You can also catch him regularly on his blog at www.jeremypostal.com or connect via Twitter @JeremyPostal. 

Spiritual Practice of the Week: Leader Practice: Mentors and Friends

In their book The God Bearing Life, Ron Foster and Kenda Creasy Dean reflect that people require a number of different kinds of relationships in order to thrive in life and ministry. They suggest that we all need circles of friendship in order to be fully human. It is the circle that includes our soul friends, or the people who pull us toward God, that I am most interested in understanding.

Anam cara is Gaelic for soul friend. It is important to have at least one anam cara who knows your life and work intimately and to whom you can go to seek counsel and pray with; someone who can listen and hear. A soul friend is someone who reminds you about God’s presence in your life. Your soul friend may simply help you remember your own place as a person of faith in this crazy world and encourage you to continue practicing. An intentional soul friend relationship dwells in the realm of God and can be one of life’s deepest blessings.  Examining how you receive and give the gift of soul accompaniment is a component in growing your ministry to a place of health, strength, and impact.

Practice:  Spend some time reflecting on the support you have in your life. Draw a small circle that represents you in the middle of a piece of paper. Then draw small circles at various representative distances for the people who support you. Write their names in the circles. Connect them to you with lines. Are the lines strong and bold, or are they weak and barely there? How close are the other circles to you at the centre?

Once you have finished the drawing, answer the following questions.

• Who are the soul friends who intentionally pull you toward God?
• What are the qualities of your connection with them?
• If you don’t think you have a soul friend, what impact do you imagine having one might have on your life?
• Is there someone you could imagine developing a soul friendship with? What steps could you take to begin to foster such a connection?
• Are you a soul friend to anyone? What do you value about that relationship?

If you want to bring soul friendship into your life, pray about it and set the intention. Also be intentional about thanking the people who offer you support.

© This prayer practice and all of those on the Sunday Morning Blog Post can be found in:  "Go Deep: Spiritual Practices for Youth Ministry" Wood Lake Publishing.  Doris is the Youth Director for the United Church of Canada in BC and the Director of World Pilgrim Awareness Travel.

Public Speaking Tip: What's in your hand. Utilizing Your Strengths

So you say you’re not a public speaker. When it comes to speaking you may see yourself as boring.  I want you to know that is so far from the truth. Have I got a tip for you. Why not use what you know as an outline for your next message.

It’s time to change it up! Do something different. Utilize your strengths.

You are an expert at something! Entwine what you love into your speaking.  Do you have a hobby of fixing cars, surfing/snowboarding, perhaps you are an organize freak and have mastered the art of packing. Utilize your expertise to relay a valuable message to students.

What is something that you like to do? For me it’s volleyball. It’s my favourite sport, I play it and I coach it. Currently it’s fall which is volleyball season at school. School cuts were just made and league games are underway. What strength can I offer my students? I can teach students how to properly serve a ball and use that as the frame work, to outline the message that I want to share with them.

I will Demonstrate.

The most common mistake people make with an Overhand Serve is the following. Use it to aim and steady your hand.

Once a person tosses the ball with their throwing arm (left hand if a righty, right hand if a lefty) that arm  commonly falls to the wayside while they unleash their hitting power with their hitting hand, causing an off balanced unreliable serve. If the server keeps their throwing arm in the air and uses it to point at the tossed ball, that arm now helps guide you to track the tossed ball while in the air, as well as keeping you balanced for the hit it. The Server will experience a more consistent serve.

Sometimes we use Jesus like we do our tossing hand. You know Him as your Saviour; He’s serves you as a pick me up, lifting you out of your mess but then you leave Him on the wayside, that’s as far as you go with Him. This is why your relationship with Christ is inconsistent, and your Faith walk is unreliable.

John 10:27-28 says: My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.

There is more to Christ, He wants to be your Lord as well. The one to stabilize you through whatever life throws at you.

HEY!!! What do you think? I have now added props to my talk and I can integrate crowd participation too by calling up a student up who made the volleyball team this year, or maybe a kid I know who got cut and would like to improve. I have a volleyball in my hand, it’s something I love to do and I can use it to sharing a valuable message with students.

So what’s in your hand? Is it cooking, football plays, military strategies, learning to drive a car, taming a toddler, algebra, or how to beat level 5 in a commonly played video game. Whatever you’re into...Use it as a teaching opportunity. Utilize your strengths in your speech.

Check out Yahya Bakkar a youth speaker who uses Beatbox to relay his message.

A member of the Canadian Association of Professional Speakers (CAPS) Alison has dedicated her time to developing her gift of Public Speaking so that her listeners would believe the truth that she shares and to raise up other strong youth communicator’s in Canada. She has been speaking full time for four years and is currently enrolled in Youth Speakers University.
Speaking Tips are from Alison’s Public Speaking Enhancement Workshop for any inquires message her today. http://www.inspiringteengreatness.com

More or Less

One of the biggest battles that every youth worker faces on a daily, weekly, monthly basis is: TIME MANAGEMENT!

Improve your time management in two easy steps:

1. ONE: one calendar & one to-do list. By consolidating everything you will have it in one place and you will see how much time you have or don't have to get things done. This means that you will condense your family calendar with your ministry calendar, your ministry to-do list with your home to-do list; home reno's, exercise, ministry, reading, RSS feeds, schooling, kids, spouse, meetings, research, email, visits, volunteering, etc... into ONE. This will give you a more realistic outlook on everything that you have to do and future events.
2. COMPARE: the most crucial step to your survival in youth ministry is you must compare your most recent job description with what you are honestly doing each week in the allotted hours required for your role. Take each section and each point and give that a specific amount of length of time that you are giving to each one each day and each week. This will require you to keep track of you hours but it will give you a healthy COMPARISON. You will also need to list all the additional things that are not listed on your job description that you are doing for you role, your blog, facebook group, v-blog, etc...

Jeff Smyth is a youth worker who has been involved in both the local church and non-profit areas of Canada. He works with DOXA Toronto, providing resources, training and coaching for local churches. Jeff lives in Toronto with his wife Heather and son Nathan. Jeff's blog ThinkYouthMinistry.com

Communication - Don't let it breakdown

Right now we have more ways to communicate with each other than ever before.  I know a large portion of my life is actually looking down reading something off my phone.  Yet we as humans continue still struggle with the basic forms of communication(Eye contact, listening, asking good questions).

 Something I've struggled with over the years is that during the week my job requires that I am in constant communication with people all day long and at a moments notice.  So when it came time for a youth activity or being with more people I tended to clam up and not be as open as I should have been.  It is something I am working personally.

Answer honestly some of the questions I've put together and see where that might lead you this week.

• What are you doing this week to work on your communication? 
• Do you suffer from being overly connected for long periods of time? 
• How do you handle it when you are not connected?
• What is one thing I can do this week be a better communicator?
• How can I connect with a youth this week that I haven't previously?

 

Spiritual Practice of the Week:  A worship service:  Follow Me

Be welcome to use this service at an upcoming meeting with youth or young adults.

Preparation: Have pieces of red string cut into lengths long enough to be tied around a person’s wrist. Set the space as you wish, with a central Christ candle.  Invite people to settle around the candle in a circle, perhaps have some music playing to quiet the space.   

Opening Words:  Jesus says, follow me. All of us have different reasons for being here tonight: maybe you came for friendship and fun, or because your parents made you come, or because you felt alone. But we all in some way have chosen to be here and to follow. Following isn’t always easy. Sometimes it’s hard, lonely, or weird and doesn’t make sense.  So what does it mean in your life to follow?  This is a story about some people who chose to follow a long time ago.

Read Mark 1: 16-20

Pose this question:  What does following mean for you? Invite people to share their responses with the people around them. Give time for some in-depth conversation.

Song:  choose a song familiar to your group on this theme of Following.

Action Words:  Often Christians wear the symbol of a cross as a sign that they are connected to the life of Jesus. Today we offer this string to tie around your wrist as a symbol that you know you are following the path of Jesus.

Take a piece of string and ask someone in the room to tie it onto your wrist. When tying on the string, say the person’s name first and then say, “You are a child of God.” Think about what it means to wear this string. Think about what you will say to people if they ask about the string. You may choose to tell people about the meaning behind the string, or keep it to yourself.  How will the string be an action of sharing and reflection. 

Closing Prayer:  Jesus, our brother and friend. We are thankful that we have freedom to follow you if we choose.  We remember those around the world who are persecuted for living out their faith.  We are thankful that there is a path to walk with you. We come to all the gifts, challenges, and blessings that following you brings, we draw the circle wide to include all in your love, with eyes wide open to life and to one another. Amen.

© This prayer practice and all of those on the Sunday Morning Blog Post can be found in:  "Go Deep: Spiritual Practices for Youth Ministry" Wood Lake Publishing.  Doris is the Youth Director for the United Church of Canada in BC and the Director of World Pilgrim Awareness Travel.

 

 

 

Going Slow with Dr. Low

Normally when I blog about slowing down I'm talking about us, but what if God is sometimes willing to slow down for His dear children, especially if we are wearing or depressed or struggling with life?

I was hastily walking through a parking lot this evening as I often do, leaving my children far behind and asking them to hurry up.  Suddenly my 4 year old cried out, "I need to hold your hand daddy."  I stopped for him to catch up to me and said to him, "Brayden, I need you to keep up with me so you don't get hit by a car in this busy parking lot."  "I know," he said, "That's why I need to hold your hand because then we'll go the same speed."

When my son uttered these simple but profound words it made me think about my relationship with God the Father.  Sometimes it feels like He is way ahead of me or I'm way behind.  Perhaps that's my choice or His or maybe it's just life.  But what if I hold His hand?  What if I ask Him to take my hand?

When my son held my son in the parking lot today it made him speed up a little bit and I, as a loving father, slowed down a bit to be sensitive to his speed.  Well goodness knows God is far more sensitive and patient than I am so if I'm dragging my feet a little perhaps God understands this and is willing to hold my hand and proceed with the speed of grace.

How are you walking through life?  Are you falling behind God, are you running ahead of Him, are you walking beside but at a safe distance or are you holding His hand?

Twitter for Youth Ministry 2

Today, we’ll discuss how to use the limited time you have as a youth worker to work on this, and other social media tools, most effectively. You can also see my previous post: Twitter for Youth Ministry

Following the steps below will help you get the most out of each minute you have to work on your various social media accounts. 

1. Perhaps the most important: use your tweets to give something to your followers. Your tweets should only rarely (maybe 1 out of 20) answer the question “what are you doing right now?” and the rest of the time, should be focused on providing information or inspiration to your followers. You might tweet a link to an interesting website or blog, offer an inspiring quote from a book your reading, or invite them into conversation by asking a question. As a youth worker, you should use your website to give away books occasionally, and definitely advertise your church and youth ministry activities via Twitter.
2. Link your Twitter account to your Facebook account so that when you tweet, it automatically shows up on your Facebook page. However, you can produce #FAIL posts on Facebook by using hashtags in your posts. Hashtags are meaningless in Facebook, save your hashtags for twitter only.
3. Link your blog to Twitter so that when you post something on your blog, a notification and link are sent out via your Twitter account. You can link your blog to Facebook through Networked Blogs
4. Use hashtags. For example, a tweet about an event might include a hashtag with the category, such as #guysnightout or #c4ignite. Hashtags make your tweets more searchable—and Twitter continues to evolve into a place where people search for information.
5. Use hashtags to search for tweets about the topics you write about. Then join the conversation by posting tweets about your youth ministries content with the same hashtag.
6. Craft tweets with provocative quotes from books you read including the Bible, followed by a link to a site that sells that book or has the bible online. It’s easiest to sit down and create perhaps 20 or so of these, linking to various sites (amazon, chapters/indigo, youversion, etc.), and post one per day. Or use a scheduling tool to set that up (see next point).
7. Try out a tweet scheduling site such as hootsuite.com, and socialoomph.com, which allow you to schedule a variety of posts across media. Hootsuite and SocialOomph both have free and paid programs. Each has a variety of capabilities. Experiment to see what works for you.
8. When someone else mentions you in a positive way, don’t just tweet back “thanks!” In addition, retweet! Especially if it’s a link to something they said about you, your youth ministry, or some sort of praise for your work.

Start Something - That Matters

In the book Star Something that Matters written by the founder of TOMS shoes Blake Mycoskie he highlights a specific charity called Charity:Water.  They are an interesting group as they pledge 100% of all funds raise actually go to the cause of helping people get water.  How they do this is by having a secondary list of donars that only give money to help fund the administration costs.  It is quite an interesting setup, and lets you trust them with your money.  They also track every single dollar given and when your money is used to build a well they send you an email with pictures and a GPS coordinate.  It's such a simple idea, but does a long way in fixing some problems that people have with charity.

I also follow a fairly well known silicon valley entrepeneur by the name of Kevin Rose.  Kevin was the original founder of Digg and has gone on to do some interesting stuff.  He also runs a series of interviews with well known entrepeuners.  He does an amazing video with the founder of Charity:Water Scott Harrison.  I've said all that to say this: Watch the following interview, it is a bit on the long side, but touches on some really interesting points.  Remember this as well, that your work with youth matters to them more than you will ever know.  Make sure you start every interaction with them thinking about what matters to them, and what matters to God.