Radical

I have not done a book review in some time. Recently I read David Platt’s Radical and was profoundly challenged by reading it. David Platt shows that the American Dream within Christianity is not based off the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Do we make Jesus into our image or are we transformed into the image of Jesus of the Bible? Are we settling for a Christianity that revolves around catering to ourselves or are we abandoning ourselves for Christ? These are just a few questions that were evoked throughout just the first few chapters. I know this book will challenge me in ministry now and even with making decisions with ministry. Let me know what you thought of it.

Gospel

Here is a video from Propaganda about the gospel

Arachnophobia

Here was is a picture from Pakistan where a bunch of spiders covered this tree. I don’t know about you but I would be freaked out seeing this.I got this from an article from Wired.

5 Ways to Make Your Kids Hate Church

A great article to share with parents: Article

Giant Slip N Slide

 

This would be fun to try!

What’s your Role?

The last blog was about a book about the role of the shepherd of the church. In youth ministry your role may seem a bit different but is it? Whether you are a youth pastor from a small church or from a large church the role should be the same, shepherding the flock. There may be different tasks that each one does but the goal should be the same. You may not be the senior pastor but you play a vital role in the church.

Role for the youth

Your job as a youth pastor should be to show Christ to the youth of the church. This is a great responsibility as you get opportunities to share Christ with the youth as well as guide them in the way of Christ. This is hands on work where confrontation, accountability, and growth can take place. It is easy to overlook the brevity of the task at hand as you do only get the youth for a short amount of time.

Never too Late

I am currently reading “Church Planter” by Darrin Patrick and it is definitely a book I wish I would have read many years ago and even when the first thought of doing pastoral ministry came to me.  Based on the title i knew what the book was about but the reason I bought it was based on the video add for it that I saw on youtube. I think this is the new book that I will be passing on to any interested in becoming a pastor and saying “READ THIS FIRST!”

Here some bullet points from why there is pastoral care, found on pages 80-81.

• Because the sheep are precious to Jesus, who purchased them with his own blood
• Because wolves are present and ready to destroy the sheep.
• Because pastors will give an account to God for how they cared for his people.
• Because hirelings abound in the church (Taken from John 10:12-13)

 

 

It’s ok to have fun

Here is a fun video from a youth group. Do you guys have any to share? This is a reminder that not everything we do has to be serious. Sometimes it is easy to get caught up with the ministry workload and forget that we can have fun once in a while.

Beating Repetition

When I went to Cambodia some years ago, we saw many ruts that would develop in the road due to the rain water that would collect. Our missionary friend who road a dirt bike to the local villages would say, sometimes you would get stuck in these rain ruts and would have to ride them out. Sometimes when you would stand in these ruts you would even sink down to being waist high with the rest of the ground!

How do you view ministry? Are you stuck in a rut? I do think it can be easy to feel like ministry can be a rut if your eyes are off of Jesus Christ. Ministry is with people but the focus should always be Christ. A book that we have been going over with our leaders in the ministry is, “On Being a Servant” by Warren Wiersbe. He defines ministry as this, “Ministry takes place when divine resources meets human needs through loving channels to the glory of God.” In this book, he talks about how we are not manufacturers of ministry but we are distributors.

If you are finding yourself in the rut of ministry and having a pity party than I suggest making sure your perspective aligns with the cross. It is easy when certain things may not go as planned or feeling unappreciative for all the hard work but you must ask yourself why do you do ministry? It is because of the work of Jesus Christ that I go in and out everyday. That is why Paul tells us in Colossians 3:23, “Whatever you do, work heartily as for the Lord and not for men.” What a great opportunity we have to work with such a crucial age group. As Ephesians 5:16 tells us, “make the best use of our time, because the days are evil.”

On a more practical note with being stuck in a rut, not only making sure your focus is right, make sure you have a strong godly leader that you can go to that may understand the task of ministry. This person can pray for you and encourage you as this is battle ground.

Who Knew…Video Games and Stress

Cha Cha released on their website the pro’s and con’s about playing video games. To summerize their report, the pro was playing video games like Tetris can help reduce the recurring flashbacks for those who with post traumatic stress syndrome. The report came from a study done by a journal, PloS One. The reason why Tetris seemed to help those deal with stress was they would be distracted.

The con’s were those who are considered “addicted” were prone to have aggressive behaviors and become depressed. They were more likely to use drugs and alcohol. Also gamers were more likely to drink caffeinated beverages such as energy drinks, soda, and coffee.

In a study by Kay S. Hymowitz, that 12 to 17 year old males will play video games for over 2 1/2 hours every day. I do not know what is considered addicted but for someone to play that long or longer a day seems like an “addiction.” I am no way condemning video games but I am asking the parents to monitor their child’s video game playing, content and length.

Here are some questions to ask:

• Do I know what the rating of the games are that my child is playing? To see the ERSB click Here.
• If they play online do I know what they talk about with other gamers?
• Do I monitor their length of play?
• Do I set up time frames when they can and cannot play? For example, they can play after homework, 6:00pm and must be turned off by 7:00pm.
• Do you notice a behavior change; becoming more aggressive or language has changed?
• Do you pick certain days they cannot play at all?

These questions should be asked as a parent so you can be more involved and help them in the ways of the Lord. The Bible talks about not having anything take the place of God. Video games can become someones god if they allow it to control their lives. Be proactive!

For the article by Cha Cha click: VIDEO GAME

For the article by the Kay S. Hymowitz click: Article