DEEP // WIDE // LIGHT

Here are some lessons that I am learning in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and quarantine life. It is often assumed that those like me who minister to younger generations prefer technology - its ability to reach more people, and its convenience, and its ability to enhance the presentation of the good news.  However, at the risk of being the only youth leader in all of youth ministry who feels this way, I wholeheartedly do NOT prefer ministry through technology.  Ministry is personal and spiritual. When you minister through a medium or a screen, you dilute the personal nature of ministry. You dilute the ministry to the soul.  One of the lessons that the COVID-19 pandemic is teaching me is that technology is an insufficient format for ministry. Please don’t misunderstand. Technology is a valuable tool. But it is only a tool, and its value is too often overly exaggerated.  How is student ministry changing during the pandemic and forced isolation? We...

Sanctification : being made holy, or being set apart It happens every time we attend a Jesus conference or camp! We are reminded of the bad news of sin and the good news of forgiveness and love, and we turn back to God. Time after time, students experience this phenomenon. Praise God for his working! And yet… The next question on their young hearts is always the same:  “What can I do to feel this close to God back home?”  The frequent concern in the older hearts of adults is similar:  “Why do I not always feel close to God?”  There is a single answer to both questions – sanctification. The words of John the Baptizer ( John 3:30 ) fit quite nicely here to explain it succinctly: “He must increase, but I must decrease.” The first time we claim that Jesus has become our Master, the first time we ask forgiveness of a holy God, we are set free from sin’s chains; we are saved from sin. Because the perfection of Jesus has been exchanged with our ...

You might have a need that seems entirely too big to fill. You might have a situation that seems positively too impossible to solve. What if God were ALREADY at work setting up just the help you need for just the time you will need it? There is an impossible need right now for the International Mission Board . They are doing a right thing, while doing a heart-wrenching thing. They are required to reduce the number of missionaries and workers in numbers as large as 600 - 800 people in order to be good stewards of God's blessings of financial receipts and of manpower. ( See the story here. ) This situation is in spite of an increase in annual receipts from their annual Lottie Moon Offering for International Missions . I want to tell you an inspiring story. In the tiny town of Philadelphia, Mississippi, a high school senior, who is a leader in his church youth group, wanted to plan a 3 on 3 basketball tournament for his community. The church leadership here at First Baptist Ch...

In my town, there is an annual triathlon in the summer. There are strict rules about drafting as the competitors make the 27 mile cycling leg of the triathlon. What is drafting? Drafting is cycling behind or beside other competitors or a passing vehicle to reduce the drag (air resistance) that cyclists push through as they race. A competitor's drag can be reduced as much as 50% when they draft. I have seen a cyclist pull in behind a bus, and draft his way from 40 mph to 60 mph while putting out much less physical effort. In ministry, we often struggle with creating MOMENTUM. What does ministry momentum look like? It can seen in several ways: people are EXCITED about a program in the church, LOTS of people are coming to the church program (this would look like an attendance number that is higher than average or much higher than predicted), people are TALKING (in person and on social media) about the program, etc. In other words, ministry momentum is when others are FOLLOWING you ...

Why are we doing all of this? What good is it doing? We here at First Baptist understand the priority of the Great Commission, having come from the very mouth of our Savior and our Lord ( Matthew 28:18-20 ). But I have been thinking a lot lately about how much of our efforts seem to yield so little results. We spend dollars and hours living for Christ and spreading His word. In youth ministry, this includes three different times each week when we teach from the word (Sunday morning and evening and Wednesday evening) and special events, often several per month. In children’s ministry, this includes the same three corresponding teachings, along with special events. The entire church also worships together in two main worship services each week. On top, we add evangelism such as Good News Club and Vacation Bible School and Upward and Kids Camp and Youth Camp and Disciple-Now . And more foundational than all of this is the word being planted by the parents at home and at church!...

“There is no such thing as a perfect parent.”  Whew! That felt good to get off my chest. Our children and students mean the world to us. As we parent them, their entire future feels at stake. It feels like life or death sometimes, does it not? I have good news for you.  You will NOT do it right.  I know, I know… you are wondering how this is good news. But the Bible gives us almost no examples of perfect parents (I am not convinced that Mary and Joseph count, either!). Adam and Eve, after having the distinction of being the first on earth to disobey God, raised a son who would murder his brother. Isaac’s son, Jacob, swindled his brother for the inheritance and fooled dad into giving him the family blessing. This same Jacob would love one of his sons more than the others, leading to jealousy and the sale of his son into slavery. King David’s sin led to the death of one of his children. King Solomon’s family fell apart completely, leading to the divi...

Prayer is a private practice, but not one we should keep for ourselves.  Jesus said in Matthew 6:9 , “Therefore, you should pray like this…” Adults, may I ask a difficult question of us? If I am charged with making followers ( Matthew28:19-20 ), and if I am charged with passing on my faith to the next generation ( Deuteronomy 6:4-7 ), then am I passing on my thoughts on prayer? If Jesus taught his followers, am I not to teach others as well?  Most of our young people learn prayer from sermons and lessons they only partially listen to, and from the public prayers they hear in worship. I believe that is insufficient. You might believe you do not know enough to teach. I would suggest not that you teach necessarily, but that you  pray with them.  Educators understand the principle of teaching by doing. I encourage you to use the recommendations of Deuteronomy 6:7 . Pray with them at home, on the road, at nighttime, and in the morning. Turn off the radio while drivi...

Graduation.  Softball and baseball.  I have been thinking about both of them a lot lately. There are few things more fun to watch than 4 and 5 year olds playing tee ball. But those young children grow up before our very eyes. I see this most clearly when I think about our upcoming milestone of high school graduation, remember that those young adults were once young children, enjoying sports and dance recitals and school ceremonies. Our student ministry at FBC Philly is a ministry of milestones. We celebrate the growth of a child from their Parent/Child Dedication (when we commit to support the parents as they spiritually guide their growing child) to Baptism (when they commit to following Christ) to Youth Group rites of initiation (when they become a young man / young woman) to True Love Waits ceremonies (when they commit to purely follow a pure God) to Graduate Recognition (when we celebrate their passage to adulthood). At each milestone, we pause ...