Video of the Week: "Gotcha Day"

If you aren't too familiar with adoption, "Gotcha Day" is often used to refer to the day an adopted child is given over to his or her new parents. Many families celebrate the day each year like you would a birthday. Check out this video of one family's Gotcha Day...better grab a tissue:

Three Questions to Ask Before Your Next Sermon, Message, or Small Group

Whether you've preached hundreds of sermons to thousands of people or you lead a small group of seventh grade boys, it's easy to get in a rut when it comes to preaching, teaching, or leading a discussion. Maybe you're feeling like you're not having as much of an impact as you used to, or perhaps you've noticed that people aren't really engaged or connecting when you're speaking or trying to lead a discussion. Or maybe you haven't noticed that all of your messages seem to sound just about the same (believe me, the people who are listening to you have noticed!). To keep things fresh, here are three questions to ask yourself as you prepare your next sermon, message, or small group discussion:

Have I learned anything?
Communicators--small group leaders, senior pastors, and everyone in between--are more likely to communicate with passion and clarity when they are learning as they prepare. If you can prepare a thirty-minute sermon without learning anything new that you can apply to your own life, you probably won't have much in the way of life-altering truth to share with those you're speaking to.

Do I believe it?
Before you get mad at me for accusing you of not trusting the Bible or breaking at least three articles in your church's statement of faith, answer this question: Have you ever had to preach a sermon that your head believed was true, but that you just couldn't get any passion for? Sure, your head might believe the content of what you've prepared to say, but you may not own it. Whether people can articulate it or not, they can tell when you don't really believe what you're saying. So own it. If there's something you're not sure of in a passage or that you struggle with, say that. Don't pretend like everything you're talking about is a neat and tidy set of obvious beliefs you figured out ages ago and have never wrestled with.

Does it matter?
Great theological thinking and funny stories don't mean a thing if you don't help your group or audience understand why what you have to say matters to their life. Look, I know you're armed with a New Testament dictionary and some great Bible software. By all means, put it to good use (see the first question on this list). But if you're not helping people be doers of the word and not just hearers, then you're just creating really smart hypocrites who deceive themselves (see James 1:22). Let me just put it this way: if because of time you have to choose between explaining the Greek root of a word or giving a great application to your message, choose the latter. Every time.

Video of the Week: Just Like Me (Mother's Day Tribute)

Fun Mother's Day video from Igniter Media...check it out:

Infographic: The Facts on Human Trafficking

A cause that teenagers in our church have gotten behind recently is the fight against slavery and human trafficking. Unfortunately, some people have dismissed the recent interest in fighting modern-day slavery as the "cause du jour." Personally, I think a big reason human trafficking and sex trafficking have gotten so much air time recently is because for so long, we've ignored the issue, and abolitionists have opened our eyes with cold, hard facts to what we haven't wanted to see. Here's a great infographic from the Dream Center on some of the facts about modern-day slavery:

Three Ministry Lessons from Jesus

I've been spending some time lately thinking about the way Jesus reached people during his ministry on Earth. When people talk about doing ministry like Jesus did, they usually highlight his one-on-one relationships or how he ministered in smaller groups. But Jesus also ministered to larger groups, too. Here are three things I've noticed lately about how Jesus ministered to large numbers of people:

Jesus wasn't afraid to draw a crowd.
Jesus attracted large numbers of people during his ministry on Earth. People were attracted to Jesus, and Jesus was ready to teach them. Of course, there were times when it seems like he didn't attract a crowd on purpose (see Mark 6:13-21). Jesus saw value in drawing a crowd, and he saw value in taking advantage of the opportunity when there was a crowd. Jesus offered as much compassion and attention to a crowd of one as he did to over 5,000 people, so we know there is value in both. But if we are to take Jesus' model of reaching people seriously, then we shouldn't be afraid to draw a crowd, either.

Video of the Week: END IT Movement Gives Glimpse into Sex Trafficking

This is a raw and difficult-to-watch video about an effort by END IT at the Final Four this year in Atlanta to shine a light on the reality of slavery and sex trafficking. Check it out:

Are You Playing Offense or Defense?

If you played sports as a kid, you know that a solid defense will help you win a lot of games. But in most sports, it's also true that if you're only focused on hunkering down and playing defense, you aren't going to be doing a lot in the offensive department. Yes, defense is important, but if your primary goal is to not fail as opposed to succeeding, you've got the wrong posture. The same is true in ministry. Too often we have a posture of defense rather than offense; we try not to fail rather than try to succeed at what God has called us to do. Here are some indications that we might be playing defense rather than offense:

Keeping, not Reaching
If you're more concerned about keeping the people you have in your church or ministry rather than reaching people who don't know Jesus, you're playing defense. You shouldn't be trying to alienate people on purpose, but we can't be constantly be trying to keep everyone from leaving by keeping them happy. The people we aren't reaching should worry us a whole lot more than the people who have left or might leave.

Cussing, Making Out, and Teenagers Who Don't Know Jesus

Last week, one of our leaders let me know that she had heard from a parent that the behavior of some teenagers in our during our large group time had made their kids--and the parent--feel a bit uncomfortable. Most of the reported behavior had to do with foul language in our student café and talking during the message, although one issue had to do with the fact that two teenagers--who are dating--had gotten a little too friendly with each other during youth group. (Side note: I've caught a lot of kids sneaking off to make out as a youth pastor, but to my knowledge, this is the first time someone had the guts to try it in the youth room--while one of our student pastors was giving the message.)

The parent (who was encouraged by our leader to talk to me directly, and I hope they will) had some valid points. Two kids making out in the youth room during youth group would concern me as a parent as well, and so I addressed the issue with the two students. And yes, when I hear a student throwing out a cuss word every other sentence, I'll ask him or her to tone it down. But as I was thinking about the parent's complaint, a thought came to my mind:

If we're doing our job as youth workers, then we'll always have some teenagers in our church that some folks might consider "disruptive."

For a while, our team has been working really hard at making our youth ministry a place where people who might not know Jesus feel welcome. This school year, we've seen a lot more guests than we have in previous years. In addition, there's a small subset of our group who make it clear every week that they disagree with me about this whole Jesus thing, not to mention most of the things I teach about sex and marriage. But still they come and listen (even if they do wander out of the room about halfway through my message). I recognize that such an environment will create some very uncomfortable situations from time to time. But if you're dealing with some "disruptive" teenagers in your church, that might be a sign that things are headed in the right direction. (Never mind the fact that we all know "church kids" who have a tendency to get into more trouble than the kid who came for the first time with his girlfriend last week who wanted to know where he could smoke a cigarette.)

Video of the Week: Dove Real Beauty Sketches

My wife pointed me towards this video this week, and I thought it was a really powerful discussion starter on who God created us to be, and how we often view ourselves. Check it out:

A Theology of Tragedy in Youth Ministry

There is something about a high-profile tragedy that brings to light the fact that our world is very, very broken. Yes, on some level, we understand that the victims of violence at the Boston Marathon yesterday represented but a fraction of number of victims of the violent crimes that occurred yesterday in our country and our world. But when the violence occurs on such a large stage, we cannot avoid the news and we are forced to grapple with the questions that inevitably enter our minds when we see such brokenness. At our church office, we paid special attention to the news, as Roy Gruber, our lead pastor was running in the marathon. After about twenty minutes of tension, we finally heard he was safe, having finished the race almost an hour before the explosions turned a scene of joy into a cloud of chaos.

When such events force us to pick up the rock of our humanity and see the dark underside, as youth workers we need to be prepared to help teenagers--and their families--navigate through their emotions and questions. This week, your regularly-scheduled-plan will likely be interrupted with questions about yesterday's tragedy or others like it, such as the Newtown shooting that occurred only months ago. Any youth worker worth his or her salt needs to have worked through a theology of tragedy. Otherwise, the words we offer may be empty, irrelevant, and not based in Truth. Here are some ways to help frame the conversations you may have with teenagers this week:


This world is broken because of sin. Yes, this one seems obvious, but it's an important piece of groundwork to lay in any conversation about tragedy. There is good, there is evil, and it's healthy to distinguish between the two. Even in the case of natural disasters, we can conclude that sin is what broke our world.