The word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” “Ah, Sovereign LORD,” I said, “I do not know how to speak; I am only a child.” But the LORD said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am only a child.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the LORD. Then the LORD reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, “Now, I have put my words in your mouth. See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.” – Jeremiah 1:4-10

This has always been one of my favorite passages in the Old Testament. I think I like it because I can really identify with Jeremiah’s hesitance. This year, the theme for our youth ministry is “Destinations,” and it’s based on this text. Jeremiah was a youth, and felt as though he wasn’t ready to do God’s work in the world. Perhaps he felt as though his work wouldn’t really make a difference.

God, however, knew Jeremiah. He had a plan for Jeremiah’s life even before Jeremiah was in the womb. God knew Jeremiah’s destination. I’ve found that so often the youth of the Church feel insignificant in the grand scheme of things – but the promise of God is sure through Jeremiah: God knows us now, God has always known us, and God knows where we’re headed.

Think of it like this: if bought a GPS that would only take you to one location, and the voice giving you the turn-by-turn directions was God’s voice, what do you think would be your destination? Where would you be going? Even if you knew, what paths would you take to get there? Would you take the roads less traveled, or a super-highway? Would you take the road that conforms to culture, or the road that’s so radical that few will brave it? This year, I pray that God will use me to challenge our youth to seek out God’s plan for their lives, the plan that’s been around since before they were around.

So… where are you headed?

Today, I spent an hour in our local mall (if you’d call it that), sitting quietly, observing the teenagers that walked by. Sort of like “people-watching.” I did it for a Cultural Observation Project I’m doing for a class, but it became much more of a required assignment.

I didn’t know where any of these kids came from. I didn’t know anything about their family lives. I didn’t know their struggles, their joys, their passions, or their hardships. But I saw pain. I saw apathy. I saw a lack of care for who they were and what they stood for. I could see by the way they dressed, the way they talked, the company they kept, and the focus on themselves they kept. I did, however, keep the constant thought that God is there somewhere. God is in the suffering. God is in the turmoil. I didn’t know exactly where to find Christ when I looked at these teenagers, but I knew He was there somewhere.

Our society is telling our teenagers the complete opposite of what Christ is telling them through ministry leaders. Society tells them to be happy at whatever cost. Their parents tell them to be happy as long as they’re being good, at whatever cost. Jesus tells them to be the Church at whatever cost. With these three messages hitting them from every different angle, teenagers are justifiably confused.

Through this project, I realized that youth ministry is needed now more than ever. We have an entire generation of people that are blinded to the Light by what they see in magazines, on television, and out in our society. The hierarchy of importance is skewed greatly by their perception of the world. In their world, self-acclamation is greater than the worship of their Savior. Material possessions are more important than the blessings that are unattainable through financial means. Outward appearance is more vital to their existence than the inner self that is known by God. Physically intimate relationships are more important than spiritually intimate relationships.

To go and sit in pews, sing songs, listen to a sermon, and give an offering is one thing. Youth ministry is completely different. Whereas we have this lost generation of sheep, we have a vital generation of shepherds.
Overall, I learned that it is very tempting to give up on youth ministry because the odds seem completely unable to be overcome. However, I hold fast to the truth that while we were sinners, Christ never gave up on us.

Howdy all – as I type this I’m sitting on the floor in one of the many “throughways” of the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, GA. I’m here for the National Youth Workers’ Convention, an annual gathering of youth ministry folks put together by Youth Specialties. This is my second time here – I’m not sure that makes me a veteran, but I’m going with it anyway. So, let’s catch up on what’s happened so far.

After waking up to the Atlanta sunrise, thereby bypassing my alarm clock, I headed out for the several-block trek to the GWCC. I found some much-needed Starbucks (I was tired, and it was 38 degrees…), and proceeded to check-in. Once I was registered, I headed for my first lab (the YS term for “workshop”), which was titled, “How to Find, Equip, Retain, and Occasionally Dismiss Adult Volunteers,” given by youth ministry guru Les Christie. I’ve used a lot of Les’s books in my ministry, specifically resources on games for groups, so I was eager to hear him speak about this topic, on which I didn’t know he was an authority.

I know it’s too early to call it, but this may end up being my favorite lab of the weekend. Les really caused me to stretch my thinking and expand my horizons when thinking about what makes a good volunteer. I’ve always had a desire to connect other adults to our youth ministry, but have yet to successfully “connect the dots” to make that happen. Christie gave some practical methods to find volunteers, and exposed many of the reasons people shy away from volunteer leadership. I’ll certainly take a lot of this back with me.

After a bit of time with the folks from PYWA and The Thoughtful Christian, it was time for our large group session, affectionately referred to as “Big Room.” There are 7 Big Room meetings in total this weekend, but this initial one I had been looking forward to for literally months. The reason for this was that I’ve been a huge fan of the speaker for years – the pastor and founder of North Point Community Church in Alpharetta, GA, Andy Stanley.

Let me tell you, I wasn’t disappointed. After some intense worship, and a brief introduction to the convention, Andy took the stage. The theme of the convention this year is “TIME.” Andy’s talk was centered around the idea that in times of uncertainty, leaders must possess clarity and flexibility. I could go on forever about the impact this had on me specifically, but I’ll save that for another blog, perhaps.

At the end of Big Room 1, Mark Matlock from YS came out, with the CEO of Zondervan and a semi-unknown volunteer youth worker whose name escapes me. I do know that he mentioned that he founded YouthWorks, which is, as he described, an organization to give youth workers the things they need to do youth ministry – pretty broad statement there… As there have been major changes in the leadership of YS (Mark Oestricher, President was recently released, as was YS Events coordinator Tic Long), these three talked briefly about changes for the future as it pertains to YS Events and the structure of the organization as a whole. Overall, sparing the details, Zondervan and YS are seeking to continue to empower youth workers to lead teenagers into the world with the strength of Christ. I don’t think we can argue with that.

My next lab is coming up in about 30 minutes, and it’s called “Being a Theological Leader: A Practical Theology of Love, Engagement, and Vision.” It’s being led by one of my favorite workshop leaders of all time, Chap Clark.

More from the NYWC later!

Although we’ve been back from FITS for a couple of days now, I realized that I forgot to give a recap of our final day of the retreat. So here goes…

I got up a bit earlier than usual in order to take in that last Jekyll Island sunrise. Unfortunately, the sun had already risen, but no problem. I had some great “quiet time” and then met with James and Katie to head down to the last counselor meeting. We went in and got a great closing devotion on suffering and how to deal with it.

Our morning program brought the final act/talk by Brock Gill, which was based on the story of the woman at the well, and ended with a climactic “never thirst again” routine. I literally had goosebumps for the final 5 minutes or so.

At the beginning of our morning program, we got to see the video of our impromptu wakeup. It was not pretty, though not quite as bad as the guys who convulsed out of their bed with the sounding of the air horn.

After lunch, we had a relaxing free afternoon, during which time I got yelled at by an elderly woman for attempting to pick up a sand dollar, which I was sure wasn’t alive. We went to dinner at Blackbeard’s Seafood Resturaunt, and celebrated Hannah’s birthday as well as my own. As a side note, someone (who shall remain nameless) thought getting trick candles would be a good idea, but we ended up with a resturaunt full of smoke. No problem, though. All in good fun.

After a g reat dinner, we went to our final small group. Our group was absolutely great. We agreed to exchange Facebook info with one another, and I think it was a great experience for everyone involved. Really challenged us to get outside of our comfort zones.

Our last big meeting was highlighted by two things: Treb’s final talk, and the presentation of our sports trophy! Treb’s final talk was absolutely brilliant and hit all of us right where we were. It’s amazing how someone who talks about something specific can hit people on a number of different levels. If you ever get a chance to hear this guy, take it. My favorite FITS speaker of all time, hands down.

Our closing dance party was next, which was a pretty cool sight to behold – 900 kids dancing outside the convention center. We then headed back, exhausted, to our hotel, semi-packed, and after a bit of free time, said goodnight for the final time.

We were gone from Jekyll by 8:00am on Friday. It was an incredible week. I wonder now how much of it will stay with all of us. It would be a truly awesome thing to take the same fire with which we were filled and spread it to everyone we encountered. That, my friends, would be truly EPIC.