HIFIOY # 2

So in my long life as a "YOUTH MINISTER" I have seen time and time again what I would like to call the (BANE) of the located Youth Ministry. It seems to be at epidemic levels, this mentality that the Youth Ministry can fix my kid when I don't have anything spiritually to do with my child, when I don't read the bible in front of my child, when I am afraid to allow my child to see me pray, and when my church attendance and church giving are at anemic levels. But this new stud Youth Minister can fix lil Billy I know it.
Well I am here to tell you not so much. The time that the Youth Minister and the church for that matter have with your child is very small as compared to the time that you the parents have with them. The child is always going to take the lead of the parents. Your child is the way he/she is because of the example you have set for them. If you don't take time and read the bible...they are not going to read the bible, if you don't make church a priority...they are not going to allow the church to have priority in there lives. A good youth ministry will only start to see fruit three to five years down the road. There is no quick fix in the youth ministry, it takes time, and relationships, and time. All three of these components you the parent already possess. Make the most of the time you already have and read the bible with lil billy. It will make the world of difference. The youth ministry and the church should be the nice side dishes not the main course. The parents should be the meat, the children should come first to the parents and then enhance what the parents are already saying by attending youth ministry and the local church. We want lil billy to be on a good ball team and go to a good school and make lots of money, but do we really have lil billy's best interest at heart. Priorites need to be shifted...then lil billy will be the all around good Christian with the parents leading the way and the church and the youth ministry having there back the whole time.

Lets talk
R

HIFIOY # 1

Aside from being in the ministry for almost twenty I also fancy myself somewhat of Church Consultant. At the end of my last ministry in St. Petersburg Florida in which I was actually part of a church closing, I was able to be trained and certified as a Church Consultant as a part of my severance. Throughout the years I have always been interested in Church growth/health and have collected bulletins and newsletters, by-laws, mission statements and the like. What I have found to be true in several areas of the country is that we expect great things from our ministries and are dishearten when things don't pan out like we dreamt they would. This got me wondering and excited to do little investigation. What I have found out is that Church's keep doing church like we have always done it and every single time expect some sort of grandiose outcome. Allow me elaborate, what I am talking about we really don't change out methodology we just play at it. The Bible is the same yesterday as well as today, our methods should be allowed to be changed, tweaked, removed, or morphed into whatever will further the message we are preaching and teaching. NOTHING should be sacred except the word of God.

How we "do" church is not how they "did" church in the first century. The movement survived and thrived for more than three hundred years with meeting in homes and the everyone is a minister mentality. During this time in the Church's history it took over the known world. But as we have allowed man initiated thoughts, doctrine, methods and practices to take precedence and become something they are not, it has and will continue to hamstring the local body of believers.

Don't get me wrong "traditions" are good as long as they find there beginnings in the Word. When a "tradition" becomes a pet like or dislike it removes God from equation and puts us on very dangerous ground. When we find ourselves out of bounds like this, we are nothing more than a social club gathering around a buffet.

Lets talk, R

Have I Figured it Out Yet?

I have had the privilege to be involved in full-time church work for almost twenty years. In those years I have been a youth minister, associate minister, music/youth minister and now I find myself mulling over the Senior ministry or the main preacher/teacher of a congregation. I have come up with a list of five things that I would like feed back on. I would like to discuss these items one at a time, but for starters here is my list of issues that really just wear me out in the ministry.

1. Trying to do the same thing all the time expecting different results.
2. Let the youth minister fix my kid.
3. The disconnect with church life and my "real" life.
4. Church work always getting the short end of the stick financially.
5. Letting or allowing the paid staff to take the lead on everything....should we or should'nt we.

Let's talk, R