Author Archive

Matt Horne, First Baptist Church Hebron, Carrollton, TX would like your thoughts about this question . . .

How do I get youth to bring their Bibles to church?

Please offer your thoughts as comments below. We’ll be grateful for your creative thinking.

By Nancy Hamilton

An effective youth leader can have incredible influence by placing bricks of positive influence in the lives of young women in the youth group. You may be a male leader. The girls in your group may be a little harder for you to connect with than the guys. The girls in your youth ministry have a basic core need: to be known, cared for, and loved unconditionally in relationships with parents, friendships, and godly role models. So, if you have girls involved in your student ministry, here are a few things to be mindful of as you strive to encourage, nurture, and challenge these young women:

1. Girls long for a male perceptive on matters relating to them.

As you know, girls and guys often times act and think differently about everything! Finding ways to interject godly wisdom on relationships and life direction into the lives of young women is important and crucial for them.

2. Girls long to have a healthy relationship with a godly man.

For many girls who do not have positive relationships with men in their lives, having a student minister who is focused on encouraging them to become the person God desires them to be could be instrumental in the life of a young woman.

3. Girls long to know that you care about their gender, not just the guys.

While girls in your ministry need to be ministered to and mentored by godly women in your church, creating opportunities where you as the student minister can demonstrate geninue care and concern within healthy boundaries will help young women know there’s a man who she is able to trust and desires the best for her life.

Nancy Hamilton ministers to girls and young women on the student ministry team at Fellowship Bible Church in Little Rock, AR. To find out more about Nancy’s ministry visit www.fellowshiponline.com.

by Roger Glidewell

As a young youth pastor I was not too eager to take my youth group to camp. Why? Because as a youth I had been to youth camp. Sadly, my first camp experience was more about short-sheeting the counselor’s bed, sneaking out at night, and dozing through dry sermons than it was about spiritual growth. I came home from that camp little better off spiritually than when I left home. Why would I want my youth group to be involved in that? Then a fellow youth minister invited our church to join them one summer for a multi-church youth camp.

Wow, was I ever in for a surprise; my youth encountered Christ that week in a way that I had never experienced before. Now, decades and thousands of campers later, I am a firm believer in the value of those moments with God that happen in special ways at camp. In fact, Global Youth Ministry utilizes youth camps in the U.S. and around the world as a vital link in reaching youth and raising young leaders for local churches. We have learned that when camps are “pre-prayered” well, the result will be a more focused, God-honoring youth group.

If you are seeking a meaningful camp program for your youth, here are some questions to ask about the camp that will help you determine if the investment in time, money, and energy will be productive for your youth over the long term.

WHAT PRINCIPLES GUIDE THE CAMP?

Be sure the camp is biblically centered. Your youth can get activities and entertainment anywhere, but they are unlikely to get God’s Word anywhere else but at church activities. People joke about how bad “camp food” is, but sometimes a camp’s spiritual fare is even worse. Don’t settle for a camp where the messages consist of a video clip and a verse! Many Christian youth already suffer from “spiritual malnutrition.” Be sure your camp is “beefed up” with an appetizing diet of spiritual food where the messages, drama, music, recreation, and everything else point to the truth of God’s Word. Don’t settle for topical Bible studies if you can find a camp where an expository teaching approach is offered.

WHO ARE THE PEOPLE WHO LEAD THE CAMP?

Be sure the camp leaders are not only godly guides but that they are accessible to your youth, as well. Don’t settle for camp speakers or musicians that breeze in, blow up and then buzz out, never spending time with your youth except from a stage. Look for a camp where godly leaders will pour into your kids up close and personal. The influence these leaders have on your kids will be in proportion to the time they are willing to spend with them.

Don’t be afraid to let other believers be role models for your youth. I know how it is; you spoke on a biblical truth the week before camp but when the camp speaker or the camp staff says the exact same thing, your kids act like they never heard it before. It isn’t a bad thing that God lets one plant and another water or cultivate.

WILL THE PROGRAM LAST BEYOND CAMP?

You need to use that extremely strategic week of the calendar year to motivate every camper to keep growing the rest of the year. So, be careful to find out whether the camp program has something for every camper:

For Unsaved and spiritually unmotivated Youth: Will there be opportunities for them to encounter Christ? An interesting question to ask in behalf of spiritually marginal youth whom you want to get to camp is this: “Will this camp appeal to 10th and 11th grade guys?” Why should you ask this question? Well, Connie Francis didn’t sing the song “Where the Boys Are” for nothing! If the older guys are involved during camp, chances increase that other campers will be involved as well.

For Younger Believers: Will these youth be challenged to grow spiritually in meaningful ways? Salvation should not be the “end all” of youth camps. More than half the youth who attend camps are already believers. These young believers needs must be addressed, too. They need to have opportunities to learn how to grow spiritually through small groups.

For Older Teen Believers: Will these “veteran campers” have the opportunity to practice and learn leadership? They need to be given opportunities to be “co-leaders” with older camp leaders, to assume greater responsibility. To treat them the same as you treat first-time campers is to risk having to deal with bad attitudes from many of the older campers.

For Adult sponsors: Will any ministry speak directly to needs of adult believers? The adult leaders are the ones who will continue to challenge the youth back at home. By all means, you want them to be exposed to spiritual growth in their personal walk with Christ while at camp. No adult sponsor is just “the bus driver.” That adult has devoted a week of his/her life to a spiritual endeavor. The adults may come home physically tired, but you better hope they also come back spiritually rejuvenated.

IS THERE A PURPOSE THAT IS ABOUT WAY MORE THAN JUST CAMP?

The point of camp—and of life—is to bring honor and glory to Jesus. When you start promoting camp, your youth will want to know whether the camp facility has an Olympic size pool, horseback riding, alpine tower with zip line, you know—fun stuff. And it may be that those things will persuade your youth (and their friends) to attend camp. But when they return home, do you really want them to only remember the “blob” or would you rather they come home talking about Jesus? If the T-shirt is their most lasting “take-away” from camp, it wasn’t worth it. Don’t waste your valuable time providing “fun” for fun’s sake; make fun events work for you to help you lead your youth to Jesus. If the spiritual impression made at camp doesn’t even last the bus ride home, you have just wasted one of the most important weeks of your calendar year. That one week at camp should translate into impetus for spiritual growth into the next several months, even years.

So how do you find a camp where the elements mentioned above for a meaningful camp are in place? First, seek the Lord in prayer. I’m not kidding; who cares more about the youth in your group than He does? Second, talk to the camp leadership; ask the hard questions that will help you determine what they think is important at camp. Third, ask fellow youth leaders who have attended the camp previously for their impressions. Finally, be willing to experiment with camps . . . until you find one that meets the criterion above. Then, settle in and be prepared to stay with that camp program for the long haul. You will be able to develop camp “traditions” and camp memories that will define your youth group for years to come!

Happy Camp Hunting.

Roger Glidewell is the Founder and Executive Director of Global Youth Ministry, an organization dedicated to developing leaders to reach and disciple teenagers around the world. For more information about Roger or Global Youth Ministry visit www.globalyouthministry.org.

By Richard Ross

Students who have seen Jesus high and lifted up tend to shout, Send me! They know arising to join Him in bringing His kingdom on earth will be the greatest adventure of their lives. Increasingly, students awakened to Christ will be open to going to the front lines of kingdom expansion while they still are young.

Envision it becoming normative in your church that almost every student serve full time in domestic or international missions for a summer, semester, or year, around ages 18 or 19.

Working in concert with established missions and missionaries, students on such missions adventures could take the good news of Christ in our lifetime to the last groups of people on earth—both in the U.S. and around the globe. They could have a part in planting indigenous churches that disciple believers and continue to carry the good news of Christ in their cultural context.

Developmentally, eighteen- and nineteen-year-olds crave a grand adventure. They are ready to do the hard thing and go to the hard places. This is the perfect time for an assignment so challenging that it requires all they are and all the Spirit supplies.

Though students need leaders to guide them in strategy, they can be effective in sharing Christ. They tend to share their faith without fear. In almost every region of the world, youth are fascinated with American students and are motivated to talk with them. Even adults find youth far less intimidating than adults who share their faith. The proliferation of students on missions adventures in the U.S. and worldwide could result in immediate increases in people coming to know Christ.

Society increasingly is using the term GAP year to refer to a student who takes time from university studies for an extended trip or some immersive experience. Increasingly, universities are granting admission to high school graduates, but not requiring them to register for classes for one year. That period might easily become an extended missions adventure. Those who name this adventure a GAP Mission Trip can understand GAP to mean Go And Proclaim.

Envision parents opening savings accounts at the birth of babies that eventually will fund these missions adventures. (Envision that for now, parents of all ages of children and youth open accounts).

Currently, students in smaller churches can sell candy in the church lobby or write support letters to fund their ten-day mission trip. Such plans are inadequate for raising the $6,000+ (summer) or $25,000+ (year) that might be needed for missions adventures. Family savings seem to be the only viable plan.

Parents who open a missions savings account at the birth of a child will have no problem saving what is needed over a period of 18 years. And, they may be pleasantly surprised at the number of relatives and friends who want to insure that savings are adequate. Grandfather might say to the family gathered at Christmas: “You know we are going to sell this big house to move into something more manageable. We think there might be some funds left over when we do. For all you children with missions savings accounts, we want to add $1,000 to each so we can be a part of what you do for the kingdom some day.”

Wise pastors can present a small check to parents during family/baby dedication. He might say, “We, your church family, want to be the first to contribute to your son/daughter’s future missions adventure. We invite you to go to your bank tomorrow and use this check to open a savings account for that purpose. Then, as Christ leads, we invite you to contribute monthly to that account for the next 18 years or so. Other relatives and believers likely will make contributions as well. Then, when the Spirit tells your son/daughter it is time to go, all will be in place financially for this grand adventure.”

The funding of students to do full-time missions should measurably increase giving to existing missions offerings. When a church becoming more alive to Christ sends its own members to do direct missions, both their special missions offerings and their regular offerings tend to go up.

Parents who experience the thrill of their own children serving alongside missions organizations will always have more interest in the financial support of those ministries. Also, the students who have seen God at work in North American and international missions always will have a bond with those movements. Those bonds can lead to missions giving for a lifetime.

by Nancy Hamilton

School is back in session. Youth ministry events and ministry dates are on the church calendar by now.  You are ready for the great things God has for you and your students. God has called you to minister to students who show up at your church each week, but do you truly delight in the work God has given you with youth? Do little things pop up and rob you of the job of serving him and serving his young people?

Psalm 37 tells us, “Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.” Nothing affects our personal lives . . . and our ministry like our desires. A true heart desire is unaffected by your mood or your surroundings. It is what you long for and are willing to wait for.

What personal things do you desire for this new school year as a follower of Christ? How about for your student ministry?

The reason many of us lose our heart’s desires for ourselves and our ministry is that we allow things to rob us of our “delights.” Beware of these delight-robbers:

• Jealousy–Perhaps you are seeing things you don’t have rather than the things you do. If God placed you in a larger church, you might be able to touch more students. But, allow the faces of your students to penetrate your heart. They need you. Your gifts. Your abilities. Your God-centered love. Don’t be jealous of what God has given to others in their ministry. Treasure what he has given you.

• Anger–Are there unresolved issues deep in your heart that have lingered for a bit too long? Is there someone in your circle who can help you be accountable for those things that are seeded in past hurt or disappointment that have grown into suppressed anger toward a person? Ministry? Church? Learn the joy of forgiveness. Release your anger and allow God to replace it with love.

• Worry–Nothing will do you in like worry. I once heard a well-known pastor say, “When we worry, we take God’s place.” When we worry about things of which we have no control, we are vying for God’s place of authority. Let me encourage you–God has the comings and goings of the entire world, it’s needs, your student ministry, your family, and you–all in the palm of His hand. He’s doing just fine and probably doesn’t need our help.

When you delight in God and his desires for you, those desires will transform into things that are inevitable:  a heart to know Him deeper, a passion to see students share Christ on their campus, and an opportunity to see students serve their families and peers. Take some concentrated time this new school year to pray your guts out to God. Cry out to Him. Beg for His mercy. Long for His direction and blessing. You never make a petition to God that He does not hear. Do good, be patient, and trust God to act in His timing. The work you are doing will not be forgotten by Him or your students.

Nancy Hamilton serves as the Minister to Women and Girls at Fellowship Bible Church in Little Rock, Arkansas.

by Jesse Adkinson

As a small church youth leader, you probably feel some of the same pressures and get some of the same questions as the rest of us. “How are you going to reach the kids in our church?” If you have a really holy pastor or deacon board they’ll even ask, “Why aren’t we reaching the kids in our community?” If you are anything like me, when those conversations come it can be hard to not hear the words between the words–“Why isn’t your youth group bigger? How can you get more students to come to your church?”

While we would all like to see more students coming to our youth ministries–hearing the Gospel, being discipled, and serving for the sake of the Kingdom–we should be careful not to judge our success based on how many students are in our midweek student ministry meeting. I would challenge you to ask the success question in a different way. Rather than asking how you can get more students there, perhaps you need to ask the more difficult question: “Am I being faithful with the students God has given me?”
I have rested for years in the parable of the talents when it comes to this issue. If you haven’t read it in a while, check out Matthew 25:14-30. A careful reading of the parable finds Jesus making a point about the kingdom of heaven and how in God’s economy greater areas of responsibility are assigned to His workers. The key is faithfulness. Notice the master’s critique of the servant who had been entrusted one talent and failed to even try to put it to work: “You wicked, lazy servant . . .” (Matt. 25:26, NIV). He was wicked because he agreed to steward well that which was given to him and he was lazy because he didn’t even try. Contrast that with the servants who went to work with what the master had given them and did the best they could. They both received the same type of reward. Because of their faithfulness, not the quantity of their production they were told, “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things.” (Matt. 25:23, NIV).

May we be found faithful in discipling the students God has entrusted to us and trust Him to send us more in his time.

Jesse Adkinson teaches youth ministry at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY. He has worked in youth ministry in churches in Kentucky and South Carolina.

by Troy G. White

Most Christian parents want their teenage children to grow up knowing God, living according to his ways, and being plugged into His church. However, many of them are at a loss as to how to help their teenagers to develop a heart for God. I think it’s a little like learning a new language.

When I graduated high school, I had completed two full years of Spanish class. After deciding on a degree plan in college, I was then required to take two more semesters of a foreign language. Living in Texas and having already studied it for two years, I chose Spanish. I passed every class with average to above average grades and my teachers were outstanding. Today, I live about an hour from the Texas/Mexico border, and the community is over 75% Hispanic.

There’s just one problem . . . I can’t speak a lick of Spanish!

Well, okay, I can speak a few words, but when I head across the border to visit churches or do mission work, I feel like a monkey doing astrophysics! I am completely dependent on someone else to communicate. “Just smile and wave, boys . . . smile and wave.” That’s me!

Why is this? I passed all of my classes. My teachers were great. So, why am I completely ignorant when it comes to Spanish? Simple–those years of one-hour-a-day instruction were surrounded by 23 hours of English. That isn’t astrophysics . . . it is simple arithmetic. Twenty-three is greater than one.

There are 168 hours in a week. Of those 168 hours, the average “churched” child attends service one hour a week, where, hopefully, they are hearing the Word of God and are being taught sound biblical truth. That takes us to 167.

Again, simple arithmetic here: 167 is greater than one.

Just as I cannot expect to become fluent in any language by spending one hour a day studying it and the remaining 23 hours speaking another, we cannot expect teenagers to learn the truth of God’s word one hour a week while absorbing the world the remaining 167.

The truth is, youth leaders are not intended to be the primary disciplers of the teenagers in our youth groups. That role actually belongs to their parents.

Parents are not called to disciple our children–they are commanded to do so. In Deuteronomy 6:4-9, God tells us to pass down the truth of His goodness to our children and grandchildren. He saw the importance of parents sharing their faith with the next generation because He knew that would be the only way the faith would continue to exist. The world . . . man . . . is not naturally bent toward faith. We are all born with a sin nature; therefore, our natural course of action is to move away from God. In His infinite wisdom, our Creator chose to use His people, specifically parents, to pass along the message of salvation to the next generation so they would then, in turn, share with the next. It’s a simple plan when executed correctly. As more and more parents choose to neglect their duty to pass down God’s truth to their children, the more our children will become biblically illiterate and our future generations will become less and less fluent in God’s language. Simply put, one hour a week at church is not enough.

Repetitive teaching . . . a constant reminder of Truth . . . helps us retain the knowledge necessary to survive not only this world, but live abundantly in eternity. If our teenagers are to absorb the deep truths of God, they need to see those truths applied to day-to-day experience . . . something that can only happen in their homes. We simply can’t acquiesce to the notion that one hour a week at church will do the trick spiritually.

How can we help parents know how to do the hard work of discipling thier teenagers? Psalm 137 poses the question, “How shall we sing the LORD’s song in a strange land? (KJV)” Perhaps it includes a few points that will help parents sing “God’s truth” to their children.

1. Encourage parents to seek the Lord and His guidance in understanding your biblical role as parents.
2. Talk with parents about reversing the trend of allowing others (including church youth leaders) to take the lead in teaching their teenage children.
3. Set up a meeting with parents and pastor to discuss the role of parents as primary discipers in the lives of teenagers.
4. Provide resources so parents can follow through with their biblical mandate.
5. Encourage parents to “Sing, Sing, Sing!” As Deuteronomy shows us, repeat the Truth all day, every day.

We all have our roles to play–parents, youth workers, pastor, and others in the church. God never intended parents to do the job alone, but neither does He give parents the option of shirking their responsibility to pour God’s truth into the lives of their children. Yes, pour your life into teenagers. Help teenagers who have no parental support for their faith at home. But don’t forget to encourage parents to take the lead in guiding their parents into a deep walk with Christ.

Troy G. White is the blessed husband of Angie, proud father of Alyssa and KaeLeigh, and serves as Minister of Students and Education at First Baptist Church in Kingsville, Texas. He is also a featured writer for Temerity Magazine, a new online e-zine (www.temeritymagazine.com), and host of his own blog at www.mycall2rise.com. You can also hear Troy on various Blog Talk Radio (www.blogtalkradio.com) programs as he shares his passion of faith, family and freedom. If you would like to contact Troy or have him as a guest speaker in your church, please feel free to email him at troy.white@familyfirst-tx.org, or call him at 361.455.9305.

by Carol Bailey

Revelation 2:17 reveals that overcomers will receive a white stone inscribed with a new name in heaven. Today, receiving a rock with your name in gold might not be such a prize. This white stone represents our fresh start, our place in Christ’s heart “known only to him who receives it.”

One of the most consistent encouragers is Helen Ruth. For decades, she has sent hand-written cards to dozens among her family and friends on their birthday–practically a lost art. When her husband, Roy, was diagnosed with cancer, he created a chain of encouragement to continue after his death. He consulted a local jewelry designer who created a bracelet with replaceable links to hold precious stones. On the first Christmas after his death, Helen Ruth received a gift from Roy—a gold bracelet. On the second occasion, without realizing that the bracelet was incomplete, a gem for the bracelet arrived. Each subsequent holiday, she received another precious stone. Helen Ruth received the final jewel on the date of their fiftieth wedding anniversary.

The significance of Helen Ruth and Roy’s love may escape us. We did not witness the care that Helen Ruth offered to Roy during his final months. Similarly, no one knows the intimate details of our walk with Christ other than Him. He will assign our new name in heaven, based on the intricacies of those shared adventures.

As leaders, we cannot perceive what is going on inside our students. Even the toughest or most outgoing student struggles with whether he is loved, whether she is making a difference, or whether he is really God’s child. Our encouragement to persevere through their struggles represents treasure stored in heaven.

Just as Roy devised an earthly legacy in Helen Ruth’s gemstone bracelet, we leave an imprint on teens with our words. Only our students recognize what sort of mark we are leaving on their lives. Let’s encourage them to be overcomers and share in the rewards to come.

Carol Bailey is a freelance writer who has ministered alongside her husband, John, through the trenches of student ministry for over 20 years. Her claims to fame are her two daughters who have survived “the fishbowl” to the ripe old ages of 18 and 20. You can read more of their family’s tales at baileysonmission@blogspot.com.

by Carol Bailey

As believers we are salt to the world. We bring the preserving power from our Father into an otherwise decaying society. As in the salt analogy, a little encouragement can go along way with students. Encouragement takes many forms. From a positive comment about an extracurricular activity or recent achievement to an act of kindness that you have observed, look for creative ways to intersect your students’ lives.

A single sentence can build up or tear down. Checking our speech might alter the way that we interact with teens. The Lord hears every word that comes from our mouths. Finding positive ways to tease, rather than falling back on sarcasm, builds bridges rather than erecting walls with our students.

One way to speak Truth over your students’ lives is to pray Scripture. A friend in Arkansas taught me this gem when she wrote back after sensing a need in my life. Rather than shooting a message, “I’m praying for you,” she typed her prayer in the email. What a way to bathe our students in God’s Word!

Send messages that imitate God’s love letter to them. For example:

• I’m struggling with my temper: Lord, help Kyle be “quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry” (James 1:19).
• I want to share my faith: Father, create in Candace a desire to be ready always “to give the reason for the hope” she has (1 Peter 3:15).
• I cannot forgive myself: Dear Lord, bathe Brandon in Your peace; reveal to him that there is “no condemnation” for him because Christ holds him safely (Romans 8:1).
• I want to know Christ: Father God, “my heart’s desire and prayer to [You] for [Anthony] is that [he] may be saved.”

Carol Bailey is a freelance writer who has ministered alongside her husband, John, through the trenches of student ministry for over 20 years. Her claims to fame are her two daughters who have survived “the fishbowl” to the ripe old ages of 18 and 20. You can read more of their family’s tales at baileysonmission@blogspot.com.

Ben Stroup,
Author of the new book Church Giving Matters

Fully funding your youth ministry will look different in every context. There is no one-size-fits-all solution. (Sorry!) Jesus told us that the harvest was plentiful but the workers were few. We typically interpret this with the lens of evangelism. I think this also applies to ministry funding. The easiest way to raise money is to tell a compelling story that inspires someone else to support (or better fund) your ministry. If transformation is taking place within the lives of your students, tell anyone and everyone who will listen. That begins with the people who sit in the pews of your church.

I’ve been in small church youth ministry. It’s tough. I remember the first few months I was one staff at my last church. The youth ministry seemed to be in a perpetual fund-raising mode. As a former youth minister and now pastor, I realized that planning and executing a fund-raising event was as complex and involved as the mission trips we were attempting to fund. I knew there had to be another way to fund what I believed to be one of the most important ministries of our church.

No one raised their hand when they decided to take on a ministry leadership position thinking they would ever have to deal with funding their ministry budgets. In fact, most people drawn to such positions are averse to the subject of money simply because it has been the bane of so many for so long.

However, no ministry leader can escape the subject of money. The reality is that ministry–even small church youth ministry–takes money. As the demands on small churches continue to increase, the tension of fully-funding that ministry rises. What I’ve done in Church Giving Matters is translate non-profit funding strategies into the language and practice of local church ministry. It’s not beyond the reach of any ministry leader, but it does require us to be intentional about EVERYTHING we do.

People give to causes or organizations that help them achieve something they can’t do on their own. Think of your church membership as investors. What do you think you’d need to tell them, or what would they need to hear in order to invest in your venture? Once you figure that out, you’ve done the hard part. Now, tell them. Only don’t tell them once, tell them again…and again…and again. Don’t be obnoxious, but realize that people forget, especially people who aren’t as close to the operations of your youth ministry as you are.

Giving is an outward sign of an inward commitment. When you capture the heart of the people in your pew, giving will follow. Since there are more than three times the number of traditional non-profits seeking the dollars of the people who sit in our pews, it’s essential that we make a compelling case grounded in the ministry and transformation taking place, something only the Church can foster and facilitate through the work of the Holy Spirit.

I know you can do this. We just have to begin thinking about the subject of funding ministry differently. A friend gave me some advice a long time ago that I tell myself often: Look it in the teeth (even if it bites back)!

Ben Stroup, Chief Broker of Opportunity
LifeWay Envelope Service
“More Money. More Ministry.”

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Editor’s Note: Ben’s new book, Church Giving Matters, releases in June. While it is not targeted to youth leaders in small churches, the principles are directly applicable to the work we do as small church youth leaders. For more information, check out www.churchgivingmatters.com.