Jesus First, Everything Else Second

Occasionally, I'll be contacted by a parent or someone else in our church who is concerned that we are "losing our teenagers" because of the prevalence of evolution being taught in public schools, the passage of some same-sex marriage act in another state, or some other "hot button" secondary issue they are worried about. Usually, I'm asked about what our youth group is doing to keep students on track. In the past, I didn't have a really good answer, probably because I was more intimidated about the issue (and the person talking to me) than anything else. Now, my response is usually simple: We'll continue to make much of Jesus, because Jesus is in the business of transforming lives, not to mention changing hearts and minds.

There are some secondary issues that youth workers should include in their teaching rotation. However, it's easy to feel like we have to address so many of those issues that Jesus gets pushed to the margin in our teaching times and in small groups. The unintentional (or perhaps intentional, in some cases) result is that we communicate to teenagers it's more important to know what the Bible says about homosexuality, popular music, and other "hot button" issues than it is to know Jesus.

Understand me clearly: Helping teenagers embrace a Christ-centered, biblical worldview is important. Part of maturing in our relationship with Jesus is learning to take God's lead as we navigate through some of the "hot-button" issues of our day.

But when you talk about those secondary issues more than you talk about Jesus, you're missing the point.

Here's why you shouldn't make a bigger deal about secondary issues than you do about Jesus:

Students who don't know Jesus don't care about your secondary issues. Really. And if you do decide to harp on those issues, you'll either just 1) Tell them something they already agree with or 2) Anger them to the point they never want to come back. Stick with Jesus, and you'll tell them something that might actually transform their life.

Video of the Week: Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell - The God Debate

Comedians Jamie Kilstein and John Fugelsang square off in a pop debate about the existence of God. This video could be a really good discussion starter on apologetics, the existence of God, or simply popular views about Jesus and Christianity. Check it out:

Fun Video Opening for an Easter Lesson

Note: This is an opener that we're going to use as an introduction to our Easter message in our student ministry this week (we'll be teaching out of 1 Corinthians 15). Feel free to use it if you like it!

What would you do with $500,000? Buy a new house? Cruise around town in your dream car? Give it to someone or a cause that you know could use the money more than you? Whatever you would do with that money, I think it’s safe that things would be different--whether for you or whoever you share the money with--in some way, right?

With that in mind, watch this video:
Warning: there is a muffled but somewhat recognizable swear word at 0:15 of the video, but it's during the introduction, which isn't really crucial to the video itself. You'll want to queue the video up the video at 0 minutes, 18 seconds, or edit the word out yourself. You can use this link to start the video right at 0:18 if you like: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bI7AUgp5fPI&t=0m18s




Question: Is that guy going to get the half million dollars? Of course not! Why? Because he didn't actually make the shot. Now, he thought he made the shot. He was ecstatic! Of course, if there was a real contest and he had really made the blindfolded half court shot, his life would very likely change, depending on what he would do with the money. But he didn’t really make the shot, no matter how sincerely he thought he did.

Here's the point: Easter Sunday is the day that Christians around the world celebrate the fact that Jesus rose again from the dead after dying on the cross a few days earlier. But here’s what we are going to focus on today: Either the event really happened, or it didn’t. If it didn't happen, this whole Jesus thing is no more than a sham, right? But if it did happen--if Jesus really DID rise from the dead--it changes EVERYTHING.

Four Free Apologetics Teaching Resources (For Youth Workers Who Don't Think They Can Teach on Apologetics)

I consider apologetics to be a necessary part of any youth pastor's teaching rotation. Most teenagers are in a stage of development where they are coming to the realization that countless worldviews exist, yet they often aren't equipped to think critically and investigate worldviews in a logical way. Teaching apologetics isn't about winning an argument, but rather about helping teenagers to 1) Do some digging and investigate the evidence for a biblical worldview and 2) lovingly and intelligently interact with others who do not share their worldview. As Mack Stiles puts it in Speaking of Jesus (IVP, 1995), "No one was ever argued into the Kingdom; but no one ever entered the Kingdom without a reason."

I wish all youth workers had a good handle on some basic apologetics topics, but I know that isn't always the case. Many youth workers know that they should teach on apologetics, but they don't because they don't feel like they know enough about apologetics themselves. Everybody has to start somewhere, and a lack of confidence shouldn't keep you from exposing the teenagers you serve to apologetics.

With that in mind, what follows a list of free resources that you can use to teach on apologetics in your youth ministry. However, let me first offer a few notes of warning:

1. These resources aren't meant to be a substitute for your own study of apologetics or an invitation to be lazy; they are simply meant to provide a starting point if you don't know where to begin when it comes to teaching on apologetics.
2. Most of these resources are best for students who will be engaged and motivated to learn in a small group setting. As much as I believe that apologetics should be at least introduced to all teenagers in your church, I wouldn't just choose one of the resources below and hit the "play" button at your next youth group expecting that everyone will be engaged.
3. Remember, these are free resources. There are also a lot of great apologetics resources out there that are for sale. I may post on those some time in the future, but the purpose of this post is to point to free resources that are a great first step.

The Veritas Forum (www.veritas.org)
The Veritas Forum hosts lectures, forums, and debates at college campuses, primarily in the United States. On their website, they state that "We host university events that engage students and faculty in discussions about life's hardest questions and the relevance of Jesus Christ to all of life." Hundreds (perhaps thousands at this point) of audio and video recordings of forums are archived on the Veritas website (www.veritas.org). Yes, the vast majority of the talks are over an hour, so you may need to make popcorn or show only part of a forum. However, the content is solid, and while it is very high level thinking, it's accessible to high school students. If you'd like to look through some shorter clips as more of an illustration or teaching aid, check out their YouTube channel.

Video of the Week: Promo for "Fresh Start" Course

This is a video to promo a course at our church we call "Fresh Start." Though the course is designed in part for those who might be coming out of the "local religious culture" here in Utah, you'll notice that specific terms and labels are avoided. A part of our philosophy of ministry is to avoid an "Us vs. Them" approach to evangelism, but instead to build bridges through loving relationships and teach biblical truth where we have the opportunity, as Judi does. From time to time I get questions about what it's like to serve and minister in Utah, and perhaps Judi's story might provide a small glimpse:

Judi Abdulla, Fresh Start from The Heights Community on Vimeo.

Five Apologetics Topics Youth Workers Need to Be Able to Address

Credit: Creative Commons (Ethan Lofton)

If you have worked with teenagers for any length of time, then you know that they ask some great questions. Occasionally, we'll do a session or a series with the teenagers at our church where they are invited to ask questions they'd like to have addressed; we'll often get more questions than we have students.

I believe that one of the ways that youth workers can equip teenagers in a meaningful way is to help them understand that faith in Jesus is not a blind faith that goes against all reason, but rather a logical response to evidence that supports the existence of the God of the Bible and the fact that Jesus really is who the Bible claims him to be. While we can't expect to have all the answers to questions teenagers ask us about faith--"I don't know" is an honest and commendable answer when we really don't have an answer--we should at least have a good handle on some of the most common questions teenagers ask about Jesus and the Bible. Teenagers can be very smart, and if you can't address some of the apologetics topics that often come up in youth ministry, they may think that there are no good responses to common objections to faith in Jesus.

You may have barely finished college, and philosophy and apologetics may not be your forté; that's okay. But it doesn't give you an excuse to neglect some of the most important questions teenagers in your church and community might be asking. Here are five apologetics topics youth workers should have a handle on (and how to study up on them at the bethinking.org website, one of my favorite apologetics resources):

Do all religions lead to the same place?
A common sentiment in our culture is that it doesn't really matter what you believe, because all religions lead to the same goal or place (or just call God by a different name); it just matters that you believe sincerely. A very brief (i.e. five minutes) look at the basic tenets of some of the world's major religions shows this not to be true. Check out this article by Josh McDowell on the topic.

Are Science and Christianity enemies?
Most high school students see Inherit the Wind in their school at some point in time during their education. It's easy for many students to draw the conclusion from this movie that science and Christianity are inherently at odds with one another. It's important for students to understand that some of the best evidence for a creator God comes directly from science. Here's an article on the topic by Alister McGrath.

Top Ten Posts of 2012

Credit: Stockerre (Creative Commons)

It's been another fun year for me writing on this blog. Thanks so much to those of you who trust me with your time by allowing me to be a part of your reading list. As I enjoy a fun week off with family, here are the ten most-read posts of 2012:


10) (Guest Post by Christine Niles): "Twenty-One Ways Churches Can Support Adopting Parents" (April 14th)

9) "Youth Ministry Tools That Will Be Relics in Ten Years" (June 5th)

8) "Three Signs You Aren't Preaching the Word in Youth Ministry" (August 14th)

Free ebook: "Puff or Pass: Should Christians Smoke Pot or Not?"

Credit: Creative Commons (Daniel Veley)

A topic that I've noticed has come up more and more frequently in conversations with teenagers and in messages I teach on drugs and alcohol is the morality of smoking pot. (Honestly, if you're reaching the teenagers you should be reaching, at least a few of them smoke pot and have already asked you about this.) This issue will become more prevalent, I believe, as states continue to pass laws legalizing marijuana for recreational use, as Washington and Colorado recently have done.

Mark Driscoll has recently released a free ebook titled, Puff or Pass: Should Christians Smoke Pot or Not? I highly recommend it as a great resource for youth workers who want to thoughtfully and biblically work through this issue that is not going away anytime soon. Even if you don't end up agreeing with Driscoll's conclusion (I'll let you read the book for that), he provides a solid framework for thinking through all the options available to followers of Jesus on the topic. It's a great tool whether you're just hanging out with teenagers in a coffee shop or doing a series on addiction. You can download the free ebook here, but here's a quick excerpt from the Resurgence blog:

Today, my home state of Washington legalizes the recreational use of marijuana. This decision, of course, leads to a host of pastoral questions and issues.

Dr. Pepper, Evolution, and Engaging with Culture

Let's say you're on Facebook one idle evening, and you come across someone who has "shared" Dr. Pepper's Facebook page, so you click on the link and check it out. When you get there, this is what you see:

Dr. Pepper/Facebook

Upon seeing and digesting the ad, do you...
1) Chuckle a bit to yourself at the cleverness of the ad?

2) Find yourself suddenly craving a Dr. Pepper and drive to the nearest 7-Eleven?

3) Immediately (and very smart-like) identify the underlying anti-God agenda within the advertisement and vow never to drink another Dr. Pepper again, thereby vanquishing once and for all the foe of evolutionary thought and those who believe evolution ought to be regarded as fact?


Several Facebook users opted for number three and left comments about the ad indicating so. These comments reveal a very disturbing trend of Christians responding to ideas that contradict a biblical worldview with unjustified anger, offensive one-liners, and sometimes even hate. Rather than engage with these ideas that are in the "marketplace of ideas" and therefore inevitable for us to encounter, many followers of Jesus instead opt to respond in varying degrees of unhelpfulness, from ridicule (if you were smart, you'd love Jesus!) to boycott (you'll cry when you go out of business because you didn't love Jesus!) to lawsuits (I'll pretend to be persecuted by you, when really I'm just angry!).

The Dr. Pepper example is tragic because 1) Commenters who vowed to boycott Dr. Pepper immediately shut down any possible chance at conversation and gave those who think Christians are clowns just one more reason not to give Jesus a second look, and 2) The nature of many of the comments are just plain sinful, because of their antagonism and lack of love.

Instead, followers of Jesus need to learn how to lovingly and intelligently engage culture and foster conversation. There are plenty of people who would be interested in having a lengthy discussion about Intelligent Design and its implications on scientific thought if we would perhaps stop arguing with people on blogs and social networking sites like Facebook and be simply be willing to present our ideas and listen to others' ideas. There is a time to stand together with righteous indignation when there are people who are being hurt, taken advantage of, or murdered. A Dr. Pepper ad with a funny take on evolution is not one of those times. We would do well to learn how to have kingdom-minded, God-honoring conversations with people about issues which--if resolved--might allow them to take another look at Jesus.

Sermon by Stuart McCallister: By All Possible Means

Stuart McCallister of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries is an annual favorite at our church. No matter how many times he visits, he is always challenging and convicting, preaching on the importance of apologetics and the biblical mandate to reach people for Christ by all possible means. Here's the sermon he preached this past Sunday:

"By All Possible Means"_Sept. 9, 2012 from The Heights Community on Vimeo.

Dear Youth Pastor (Teenagers Can't POSSIBLY Grasp Deep Topics)

Note: If this is your first time reading "Dear Youth Pastor," please read this post first.


Dear Youth Pastor:

This past week, one of our volunteers called me on the phone. He told me about a book he'd been reading about something called apologetics. (I had to look it up just to spell it correctly!) He told me that it had really opened his eyes about how we can know that the Bible is true and that Jesus is who he claimed to be. He said that he thought our high school students could benefit from learning about apologetics, not only to encourage their own faith, but to help them share about Jesus with their friends, especially as they prepare to go to college.

I really wasn't sure if this was a joke or not, so I didn't know what to say. After a few minutes of awkward silence, I told him I'd think about it. After all, does he really think that teenagers are capable of that kind of thinking, or that they even are concerned about this sort of thing? What should I do?

Sincerely,

Concerned in Corona Springs



Concerned:

We hear about this sort of thing all the time. Well-meaning volunteers or parents do a bit of below-the-surface thinking, and the next thing you know, they want teenagers to do the same thing. This probably won't be the last time you hear a volunteer using such big words, so make sure you know how to respond:

Great Apologetics Resources

Credit: Creative Commons (Ethan Lofton)

Note: This post is a companion piece to a guest post I'm contributing to YouthMinistry360.com that will post tomorrow. Update: You can read the YouthMinistry360.com post here.

Christian Apologetics (the logical defense of biblical Christianity) is a huge passion of mine, and I think it's important to include apologetics in our regular rotation of teaching as youth workers. However, it can be tough to know where to start. Below is a list of apologetics resources that I've made use of over the years. It's certainly not a complete list, but simply the resources I think would be most helpful for youth workers. If there are some you've found useful that aren't listed, please leave a comment to tell others about additional resources.

Resources for youth workers wanting to learn more about apologetics
Know Why You Believe by Paul Little. This is probably the best ground-level book on apologetics I've ever read. If you've never before studied apologetics, start with this book. You can also read my short review of the book here.

Questions From Teenagers on God, Faith, and Life in General

Credit: Creative Commons (Ethan Lofton)

I am so excited for a series that we are starting with our combined junior and senior high groups this coming Sunday. For four or five weeks (depending on the construction schedule at our church) we will address a particular question voted on by students. To get the initial questions, we asked students one Sunday to write any question they had about God, faith, or life in general on a 3 x 5 card. I was impressed at how many actually submitted a question, and the things they asked provided a lot of insight for me. For me, the best one was about why we have a coffee shop at our church when Jesus drove out the merchants in the temple. Here's the complete list of questions, mostly as they were written, but occasionally edited for clarification's sake:


What do we do when we have doubts?

How can we become stronger in our faith?

Spiritual worship: like ghosts and stuff…I don’t understand it.

What does the Bible say about ghosts and other “supernatural” stuff?

Can ghosts and evil things get me?

Will we have a second chance to go to heaven?

What is heaven like? Do we get to experience life there like we get to on Earth?

Video of the Week: Lutheran Satire on Jesus' Resurrection

I love watching Lutheran Satire's YouTube videos. Hans Fiene, who creates them, is VERY Lutheran, and the videos are hilarious. They are also quite over-the-top yet brilliantly subtle at the same time, which makes it fantastic satire. Viewers who aren't familiar with Lutheran (or Anglican, or any other liturgical tradition) worship and theology may not appreciate every video because Fiene deals primarily with Lutheran themes.

This video is on Jesus' resurrection, and if you love your apologetics mixed with humor, you'll definitely love this:

Book Review: Know Why You Believe by Paul E. Little

I've had Know Why You Believe by Paul E. Little on my shelf for years, on only recently picked it up to read it. The edition I read was published by InterVarsity Press in 2000, and was revised and updated by Little's wife, Mary. I devour just about every book about apologetics I can get my hands on, and this book is by far the best "layman's" introduction to Christian apologetics that I have ever read. By no means is an exhaustive reference, but true to InterVarsity form, it's short, to the point, and very clear.

How to meet with Mormon missionaries

My family and I have lived in Utah for a little over two years now. Not surprisingly, when people from outside Utah ask how we're doing and what life is like in our new state, they usually get around to asking about the LDS (Mormon) church and how it affects Utah culture. (Note: I use "LDS"--which stands for "Latter Day Saints"--rather than the term "Mormon," because that's the term most LDS folks prefer.) Many people assume that because we live here, we are experts on LDS beliefs and theology. More than one person has asked for advice on meeting with LDS missionaries.

We aren't experts by any means on the LDS church, but Jennifer (my wife) and I have made an effort to learn everything we can about the "predominant religion" in our state in order to better love our neighbors and others in our community. Last summer, we had the opportunity to meet with some LDS missionaries in our home each Monday afternoon for about six weeks. It was a great learning experience, and we felt like we became pretty good friends with one of the missionaries who was at every meeting with us. Again, we're not experts, but here are some tips for others who would like to meet with LDS missionaries (or have a meaningful conversation with an LDS friend or family member):

Be hospitable and serve good food. LDS missionaries, for the most part, are college-age single guys (and sometimes women). A great dinner or some treats will go a long way to making them feel welcome in your home. When we met with "our" missionaries, Jennifer made sure to make something each week for everyone to enjoy, and always sent the missionaries off with a Ziploc bag of extra treats. If you don't love the missionaries that visit your home in a real, practical way, don't you think it's rather silly to speak about the unconditional love of God? Go the extra mile and be a good host.

Sermon: Stuart McAllister, Taking the Great Commission Personally

This weekend, we were blessed to have Stuart McAllister of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries preach at all our English-speaking services. Here's the full sermon:

"Taking the Great Commission Personally."_Sept. 11, 2011 from The Heights Community on Vimeo.

Video of the Week: Peter Kreeft on the Problem of Evil and Suffering

How long is this week's video of the week, you ask? About one hour and sixteen minutes.

I'm a huge fan of the Veritas Forum. Apologetics is a huge passion of mine, especially as I work with high school students. This is a great presentation on a very popular and very significant objection to the existence of an all-powerful, all-benevolent God. It's well worth a long lunch:

The Problem of Evil and Suffering from The Veritas Forum on Vimeo.

Abolition of Man by C.S. Lewis

Abolition of Man by C.S. Lewis made me miss my seminary philosophy classes. It's the first time I've read this work, and I won't attempt to give much more than a brief overview. Essentially, it is a philosophical argument for the existence of an absolute and objective moral law. Lewis begins by building an argument in favor of the existence of objective value. For instance, the fact that a waterfall can be "sublime" and that such a statement expresses an objective truth rather than simply an emotional response from someone who happens to like that particular waterfall. The point is that there is inherent value in the waterfall that transcends our own opinions or emotions about it. Lewis then continues to build an argument that an objective natural law exists. He finishes the three-part essay (originally three lectures) by playing out the result of a natural moral law not existing to its logical end: arbitrary rule over many by a few.

Great Advent/Christmas Lesson Discussion Starter

Just pop this billboard up on the screen and let the discussion begin. Warning: be prepared (and willing) to engage in a great discussion on apologetics if you use it!

For related news stories on the billboard, which I believe first appeared in New York City, Google "you know it's a myth."