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?

Top Posts of 2011, Part 2

Credit: Creative Commons (iUnique Fx)

This week, it's "avoid creating new content week" as we look back on the past year and the most-read posts of 2011 at Discipleship, Family, Ministry. Of course, posts written early in the year will have an advantage because they've been around longer, but you know what, November and December? Life just isn't fair.

Yesterday I posted numbers six through ten of the top ten list. Today we'll look at one through five, and tomorrow I'll share the five most popular videos.

Top Ten "Discipleship, Family, Ministry" posts of 2011: numbers 1-5
5) Theology and Youth Ministry - Beginning the Discussion (January 11th)

4) Theology and Youth Ministry - Paul Martin (January 13th)

3) Theology and Youth Ministry - What's a Youth Pastor? (February 16th)

2) Theology and Youth Ministry - Brian Kirk (January 12th)

1) What If You Were the First Youth Pastor Ever? (August 9th)

Update: You can see the most popular videos of 2011 here.

Asking the wrong question

So when they had come together, they asked him, "Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." - Acts 1:6-8, ESV

It was a simple question. And I'm not too sure I wouldn't have asked a similar question. After all, they had been through a lot, and they had put a lot of hope in Jesus. For three years they followed him. There were times when things began to look up: Jesus began to get popular, gather a lot of support, and even was asked to be king at one point. But he always resisted. Then he was arrested. He was executed. And all seemed lost.

But here he was in front of him, plain as day, alive again. They knew he was the Messiah. No more denying. No more running away. And no more doubting (well, maybe just a little). Okay, they thought to themselves. Now, we get it. You proved that you are really the Messiah, so now it's time to get down to business. And so they asked the question: "Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?"

Theology and Youth Ministry - The Doctrine of Hell

Last weekend, I preached (in our main services) probably the toughest sermon I've ever preached: "Would God Really Send a Good Person to Hell?" It was tough not because I wasn't sure what I was going to say; it was tough because I wasn't quite sure how to say it.

Let me pause here and recognize that some readers of this blog will disagree with my view on hell--namely that hell exists, that it is a place of eternal and real suffering and torment, and that hell is not empty. In fact, when I posted a simply reminder of our summer service schedule plus what I thought was a harmless teaser about the sermon the day before I preached, a lively discussion ensued on my normally quiet Facebook page. So while I welcome that sort of discussion, my point here is for those who do affirm that the Bible is God's inspired Word (and you can't pull the I-place-more-weight-on-what-Jesus-said card on this one; Jesus talked about the reality of hell quite a bit), how do we teach teenagers about hell?

By now, at least a few of you have images of a well-meaning Sunday school teacher coercing young kids into conversion (or at least the appearance of conversion) through scary stories of people burning alive in hell. Or maybe that's just me. But whatever images (or personal experiences) we have in mind of manipulative (when it comes to speaking on hell) teachers or preachers, let me suggest that we approach this with a clear head.

A Theology of Buildings, Ministry, and High-Cost Tools, Part 2

In Part 1, I shared a bit of an email conversation I had with my friend Jim about the cost of church buildings and their relation to ministry. I've heard it asked (and asked in my heart as well), should churches spend money on buildings? I'm still working through what I think is a biblical way to think about buildings and other high-cost ministry tools, but these are a few guidelines:

Saying, "The church in Acts didn't have buildings, so we don't need any, either" isn't all that helpful. That's about as helpful as saying, "The early church didn't have guitars, so we don't need them, either." The fact is, the early Church (and even Jesus followers before his death, see Luke 8:3) had expenses, and those expenses were paid for by other generous followers of Jesus. This doesn't mean that any expense is okay or that we can be justified in spending whatever we like on buildings, but it's simply unhelpful and untrue to suggest that spending money on a ministry tool (including a building) or program is not in line with the NT Church.

A Theology of Buildings, Ministry, and High-Cost Tools, Part 1

The church campus (our church currently has three campuses) I serve at is about to undertake a remodel/building project. I'm pretty excited about it, because it will give the high school ministry a bit bigger of a meeting space, while focusing on providing more room for small groups to meet at church.

As we've been meeting with our architect and drawing up plans, it's hard for my mind not to wander to the purpose and need of buildings in the life of a church. I'm thankful that I serve at a church that approaches buildings and construction conservatively (spend what we have, NOT what money we think will come in if we have a really cool building). Still, in our last meeting, we talked about the need to determine what kind of audio/visual equipment we'd like to have in our new meeting space, and I found myself struggling with making a distinction between what would be fun to have and what tools I feel is really necessary for how God is leading us to serve our church and community. So, I emailed my good friend and missionary (currently serving in Kenya) Jim to see what he thought. He's got an amazing heart for God's Kingdom and is a really sharp thinker and writer. I was interested in his response, because he's anything but a bells-and-whistles kind of guy; he grew up in a church that gives away a huge chunk of its budget to domestic and international missions (I believe it's one-half of the budget, but I haven't double-checked that). Here's what I asked him (I've provided just the highlights):

Theology and Youth Ministry - What's a Youth Pastor?

This is the first installment of "Theology and Youth Ministry," in which I'll tackle a theological topic and how it relates to youth ministry. Honestly, I'm not really sure what I've gotten myself into. Some weeks, I'll cover topics usually addressed in what is commonly known as systematic theology--theology proper, hamartiology, ecclesiology, etc. Other posts will cover "practical theology," otherwise known as "pastoral theology"--topics that are a bit more narrow and seek to address a particular situation, such as when a student experiences a particular tragedy. Today, we'll address a basic question: What's a youth pastor?

These days, the term "youth pastor" is often used synonymously with the term "youth worker." We'll take a look at just what it means to be a youth pastor, then apply that knowledge to how a youth pastor should function in his or her role.

Look in the Bible for a youth pastor as we know it, and you won't find one. But you will find "shepherd," a term referring to a leader of the local church in the New Testament, and from which we derive the word pastor. A few observations about the term "shepherd" in the New Testament (as it applies to a person other than Jesus):

Theology and Youth Ministry - Continuing the Discussion

Last month, a few guest bloggers were kind enough to join me in a discussion about theology and youth ministry. I really enjoyed the conversation, and it's really gotten me fired up. Here's why:

1) What you believe about God greatly affects how you "do" ministry. For instance, some of what I would consider my least effective times as a leader have been when I've whined to God (totally different than lamenting and crying out to God, by the way...there is a time for those things) about my situation. Yeah, sometimes youth pastors are in a tough spot. I once served at a church that was going to close, and for much of that time, I had no idea what I was going to do next, not just to serve but to feed my family. If I believe that God is faithful and good even when I am drowning in difficult circumstances, how I act will look much differently than if I believe that God's given me a raw deal.

Theology and Youth Ministry - Wrapping Up (But Not the End)

For the past couple of weeks, we've been in a series at Jesus and Teenagers on Theology and Youth Ministry. In the first post, I began with these words: "What you believe about God affects what you believe about youth ministry."

These are words the youth ministry world dearly needs to take to heart.

Brian (one of the posters) correctly noted that one of the benefits of four youth workers sharing how our theological views affect how we "do" youth ministry is that we can gain an appreciation for one another's traditions. I echo that sentiment, but I believe the main benefit is this: we learn that our theology has a profound impact on our methods of ministry.

Theology and Youth Ministry - Answering My Own Question

This series on theological foundations of youth ministry will feature essays from three guest bloggers--as well as my own contribution--that address this question: "How do your theological commitments affect how you "do" youth ministry?"  You can check out posts from the whole series here.

Today it's my turn, and I'm not sure I fully realized the tough task I've given to my blogging friends until I sat down to complete it myself.  I serve at a Conservative Baptist church in Ogden, UT, and here is how I answer my own question:

The church I serve can be described as broadly evangelical, with a Baptist flavor. Washington Heights belongs to a network of churches called CBAmerica, also known as the Conservative Baptist Association of America. Our philosophy of ministry flows from our church's mission statement, which we take very seriously: "Experiencing together God's grace and transforming power, one life at a time." In short, our primary hope is that each student and family that we work with would come into a saving relationship with Jesus.

Theology and Youth Ministry - Chris Wesley

This series on theological foundations of youth ministry will feature essays from three guest bloggers--as well as my own contribution--that address this question: "How do your theological commitments affect how you "do" youth ministry?"  You can check out posts from the whole series here.

Today's essay is authored by youth worker Chris Wesley, who is the Director of Student Ministry at Church of the Nativity (Roman Catholic) in Timonium, MD.  He has been working with students in grades 5th -12th for the last 6 plus years.  Says Chris, "It wasn’t my intention to get into ministry; however, this is where God has called me and so far I love it."


How traditional ministry helps strengthen relational ministry
Recently, we had a great night in ministry when we held Eucharistic Adoration for the students. The teens were engaged, they were reverent and respectful of a tradition that’s been a part of our Roman Catholic tradition for many centuries. Eucharistic adoration is a practice in which the Blessed Sacrament (the Eucharist Bread) is exposed to and adored by a group of faithful. It’s traditions like these that we’ve been infusing into our ministry because of the rich history and discipline it brings the students.

Theology and Youth Ministry - Paul Martin

This series on theological foundations of youth ministry will feature essays from three guest bloggers--as well as my own contribution--that address this question: "How do your theological commitments affect how you "do" youth ministry?"  You can check out posts from the whole series here.

Today's essay is authored by Anglican youthworker Paul Martin.  Paul has been serving in an Anglican Mission in the Americas parish for four years and describes it as "a culture that has an ancient heritage of apostolic succession and the vibrancy of contemporary culture."

How do your theological commitments influence your philosophy of youth ministry?
The church I serve is part of the Anglican Mission in the Americas (AMIA). The AMIA holds three streams together striving for balance. Those three are sacrament, spirit, and scripture. What that looks like is a commitment to the ancient traditions and sacraments, the work of the Spirit and the sanctity of the scriptures. Their view is that many churches do these individual things well, but can have problems when they are singular. A charismatic church without sound doctrine can easily spin into a solely sensational, emotional place. A church that is foundational in scriptures can overlook and under-play the work of the Spirit. Both of those are held together with the heritage of the ancient practices of the church. Every AMIA church might look a bit different, but they are all committed to these three aspects of Christian life. Other than that, the theology of the AMIA is fairly open.

Theology and Youth Ministry - Brian Kirk

This series on theological foundations of youth ministry will feature essays from three guest bloggers--as well as my own contribution--to answer this question: "How do your theological commitments affect how you "do" youth ministry?"  You can check out posts from the whole series here.

Today's essay is authored by Disciples of Christ minister and youth worker Brian Kirk. Brian describes himself as a progressive Christian pastor and is also an adjunct faculty member at a United Church of Christ seminary.

I often tell people that I’m a progressive Christian pastor – but I’m never exactly certain what that means. I grew up in the youth ministries of mainline Methodist churches and served for eleven years as a youth pastor in a mainline Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) congregation before finally taking the leap to attend a United Church of Christ seminary. Each of these experiences has certainly influenced how I approach ministry with youth and in some way has formed my identity as a “progressive” Christian. So for the sake of offering a definition, let me suggest what it means to approach youth ministry from that identity.

Theology and Youth Ministry - Beginning the Discussion

What you believe about God affects what you believe about youth ministry.

I don’t think most of us who work with youth really understand how true that statement is. I’ve noticed on most youth ministry blogs there is a lot of chatter and conversation regarding techniques of youth ministry, and even some good conversations about philosophy of youth ministry, but there aren’t a lot of conversations about theology among youth pastors. And this is true not only in the blogosphere, but also in my conversations with other youth pastors I hang out with.

Of course, we’re all theologians, whether we know it or not. What we believe about God and the nature of human beings is foundational to how we “do” ministry. But for some reason, we don’t talk about theological convictions too much as youth workers.

Don’t get me wrong: I’m not advocating that we begin quibbling about finer points of theology in such a way that divides us.