Who was the change champion?

I'm currently working at my fourth church, having started at my last church a few weeks ago, and at each one, inevitably, things have changed.

But the key to a successful change is only exposed once the leader moves on.

For then it will become know if the leader was the force behind the change or if enough people brought into the vision to continue the new pathway.

Youth group double dipping

Should a teen go to more than one youth group?

Check out what I wrote at morethandodgeball about the topic and the conversation that's kicked off.

If you dare, you can contribute and keep the flames of input going...

Offering > Collection

Is it an offering or a collection?

Tonight my new minister mentioned a great point about the segment of a church service when people give money.

He said that the offering is a time when a believer offers to God gifts in gratitude of what he has been given.

Meanwhile, a collection implies a taking of something owed, like a tax or a duty.

In the context of a church service, an offering is a far superior term for what goes on when you part with your cash.

Mail genius

This. Is. Genius.
If they gave out a Nobel Prize for youth ministry then this idea would win.

Having just started out at a new church, with a lot more kids than any of the previous churches I've been connected to, I've been regretting doing my first youth-ministry-wide mail out (I've expressed my love/hate relationship with mail outs before).

The idea I just read about will CHANGE THEM FOREVER.

The idea?
The time saver?

Get the kids to address multiple letters to their parent/guardians near the start of the year.

You take a few minutes and give each kid three envelopes. They then address the envelopes to whoever the parents/guardians are in their home. Mum and Dad. Mum and Geoff. Dad and Sue. Whoever.

Voila!

Instant outsourcing of the thing I despise most about doing beginning-of-the-school-term-mail-outs.

AND, the likelihood of having your mail opened is dramatically increased.

Genius I tell you...

What does a trashed bible say?

A bible that's falling apart is usually owned by people who aren't!

This is a so-so Christian bumper sticker, with an element of truth, but there's a significant difference between used and falling apart.

I've been at churches and involved in ministries where bibles are missing covers, have been torn, scribbled on and generally thrown about.

But bibles which are falling apart don't send a positive message about the way you view the scriptures.

We shouldn't coat the bible in tissue paper, only cracking it out on special occasions, but surely we should value it enough (if we truly believe it reveals the character of God and His unfolding salvation story) to not see it be trashed and be comfortable.

And when you can get quality bibles cheaply, is there really any excuse?

Ministry hoarding

Just in case...
I'll keep the bag full of bicycle inner-tubes.
I'll keep any spare scripture books from the last decade.
I'll keep that pile of cloth.
I'll keep every prop used in a talk.
I'll keep the outline of every scripture lesson I've ever done.

I mentioned here that those in youth ministry have access to a lot of stuff. If I don't have something, no matter how obscure, I'll be able to track it down in a few phone calls or a shout out on Facebook.

The reason? Those in ministry hoard. Everything. We've ever used. Just that one time.

I do it. BIG TIME.

I'm go guilty of ministry hoarding that the pile of stuff I bring with me to each church has exponentially grown after each position.

And you encounter the negatives of this when you arrive at a new place and notice that they also have a lot of... crap stuff.

Things which were kept but, to fresh eyes, is actually rubbish.
Things which you can imagine no discernible purpose.
Computer files kept from the time when clip-art was cutting edge visual media.

Tomorrow one of my main jobs is to catalogue all the stuff that my new church has accumulated over the many years of youth ministry.

For I would hate to buy a dozen ping pong balls or manilla folders and then find out that there is a stack of them in a miscellaneous storage cupboard...

Predecessor questions

Fortunately, I have known the bloke who was the youth minister before me a long time, getting along well and he left on good terms. 

With these ideal conditions met, I got to meet with him today and quiz him on my new church. 

In reality, all I needed to know was the electronic location of everything that has happened in the past (especially the programs of the last two years) and where the useful things are (like a tug-of-war rope or ball pump).

But, we met over a couple of hours.

So what did I want to know?

To start... I did give my predecessor the option to answer any of the following queries with the response "stop being lazy and find out yourself."

I wanted to know the best way to communicate with kids, leaders, parents and the church.

I wanted to get the scoop on any personal issues which exist between the youth group leaders below the surface (ie, have any gone out and how did it end?).

I wanted to find out what leadership and child protection training had been undertaken and how long ago these occurred.

I wanted to know what things could be thrown out and what, even through it might look like rubbish, must be kept.

I wanted to know who the gatekeepers of the church were. In short, who do you go to in order to make things happen?

Finally, I wanted to know when he was most concerned he would get fired (luckily he couldn't think of a time!) and what one thing he wanted to do but, for whatever reason, never quite got around too.

January 1st-15th resolutions revisited

Today is the first day of my new job.

Whilst I was between gigs I made this list of up-until-the-middle-of-January resolutions.

How did I go?

Purge emails - Done. Of the +1600 received and 1200 odd emails sent, I'm now down to only 150.

Watch the backlog of Minute-with-Maxwell's - I started approximately three month's behind, meaning I had around 100 to plough through, I'm about half way done.

Watch the Lord of the Rings trilogy - I've now seen all three films in their entirety. Almost. I did have a nap in the middle of the second (but I had seen that bit previously). I still haven't seen The Hobbit.

Submit a new guest post on MorethanDodgeBall - Completed. It should be posted here sometime over the next week. I wonder if a teen should go to more than one youth group.

Read the latest Eragon book - I'm currently, or so my wife's Kimbo tells me, 24% through the last book. I took some time to actually read/skim the first three books (not a short task at around 600-700 pages per book).

Get on top of my Google Reader - I now have two topics with +1000 posts. A small step in the right direction.

Finally, brew some beer - Fail. I still haven't used my beer making kit. One day...

Coming to church just because the roster says?

Something I've often felt are people who come to church, seemingly, just because they are "doing something" on the roster.

And whilst I'm not a fan of it I've been guilty of it every Sunday in 2012.

For I haven't been to church all year. Last week I went to the cricket (you don't turn down free member's tickets!) and yesterday the morning and evening services at our home church didn't align with our daughter's schedule.

But I'll be at church this Sunday since it's my first week at my new church. I assume I'll have to be there this Sunday... and every week afterward since I'll be "down to do something."

So are roster's an effective way to get people to come to church?

I hope not.

But I've acted in the past like it is.

I've put people on a roster, knowing full well that it'll lock them into attending and I've seen similar things done by involving kids in an element of the church service.

But I think the putting-someone-on-the-roster-so-it'll-get-them-to-church system is broken.

It's broken because it feeds the false mindset that church only "wants something from you."

It's broken because it doesn't allow someone to just come to church and be ministered to.

Finally, it's broken because it revels a warped sense of community, where you are only involved due to obligation, not an overflow of what God is doing in your life and the church you've been called to be an active member of.

I am not your child

I've heard that it's preferable for ordination candidates to have done a previous occupation for a few years. In theory, this is so a 18 year old kid doesn't leap into ministry before getting "life experience." In truth, I think it is just so ministers will have a non-ministry source of sermon illustrations.

Every ministry agent have a past.

They have previous occupations.
They have their family background.

I will always be a former retail worker and water meter reader.
I will be a son of a father who died in middle age of cancer.
My wife and I will always have gone through miscarriages and the journey it took to get our daughter.

I only have one request (and this goes for myself as well!).

Be aware of how your past and present situations influence the way you treat others.

Were a boss of a company? don't treat the church council like you might a boardroom.
Did you work with children? Then you need to be alert to the differences which exist between a church and a school setting.
Are you a parent of teens or young adults? Then you need to treat others in their age-range differently than you would your child. Don't nag or lecture.

There is nothing worse than having a conversation with someone in ministry and thinking... I am not your child.

How I know it's building

If I'm anxious about something then I'll plague me in the shower.
If I've got a big event then I'll plot in the shower.
If I've got an important speech or sermon then I'll practice it in the shower. Repeatedly.

I'm glad I'm in the middle of a fortnight between my last job and my new ministry position for, given enough time, it was bound to happen.

As I sit around at home... whittling away may days... it is slowly building.

It's only been the last few days that the excitement of a new job is starting to really kick in.

How do I know?

I thought about the new job in the shower. 

The shower is where all the real thinking happens and I found myself wondering about the new church, the questions I'll ask and what I'll do on my first day.

Now I just have to decide if I technically start Monday or take it as my usual day off...
Maybe I need another shower.

The Tiny Bible Bit selection process

In light of yesterday's post noting a few of the Tiny Bible Bits of 2012, I'll going to answer a question which I'm occasionally asked... 

Where do I get the passage/verse of the day from?

The answers are fairly simple and not that profound.

By now I've written just shy of 200 posts and none of then have come to me in a dream. 
Or a vision.
Or a burning bush.

If it's a time in the calendar or liturgical year which leans towards a passage, or group of passages, then I'll obviously head in that direction.

Most often the selected verse will flow from what I'm doing the rest of the week, be it a scripture lesson, kids club lesson or sermon. Sometimes the reflections will be lifted straight from what I'm doing, and at other times, they will be the extra details which "hit the cutting room floor."

Now and then the verse will be drawn out of what I've been personally reading in the bible, in books or through my study.

Finally, if these options are fruitless, then I'll select one from these verses.

2012 Bible Bites

This time last year I wrote a post about some of the things I had gleaned from writing Tiny Bible Bits on Facebook. After another year, here's some musings which I think were noteworthy...

Of course, I've already posted the series I did over Easter and Christmas.

Joshua 1:2, 5, 9 - Even when things weren't peachy, God provided strength and courage by saying He would be with Joshua and His people.

Luke 15:28 - Even with the older bitter brother the father invites him in. God does the same thing with us.

John 1:4-5 – The world can be a dark place... This is no more evident than the cross of Jesus. But the darkness will not overcome... This is no more evident than the resurrection of Jesus.

Jeremiah 6:16a - Stand. Look. Ask. Walk. Rest.

1 John 4:1-3a - Give special consideration to the messages you hear about whom Jesus was and what He came to do. A wise idea, if you hear something about God which is new, is to run it past some older, wiser believers and see that they think.

1 Samuel 11:1-2 - This is what sin desires for us. It wants us to be in the wrong place… at the wrong time… doing the wrong thing.

Revelation 19:6-8a - Jesus loves the church. Jesus died for the church. Jesus installed the church as the source of spreading His message and extending His care throughout the world. Jesus is working at making this bride complete, pure and blameless. As difficult as it might be, perhaps we should stop slapping the church around and stand up for it when others do so in our presence.

James 2:7-8 - Our patience should be flavoured with expectation.

Isaiah 64:8 - God I am your pot. Shape me and work in me as you see fit.

Jonah 4:5-8 - Can what you value be destroyed by SUPERWORM?

Hosea 11:3 - God is taking care of us, working behind the scenes, but we pretend this is not the case. How open are your eyes to what God is doing in your life?

Proverbs 16:17 - When you think of the places you go, the people you send time with and the things you feed into your mind; are you travelling down wise paths?

1 Corinthians 1:22-25 - Faster. Higher. Stronger. World Records. Perfect 10’s. Gold Medals. Nothing short of victory. This is the message of the Olympic Games. The greatest, most transforming event in the history of the world is defined by foolishness, defeat and forsakenness.

Mark 6:31 - When life gets buys, Slow Down, Hang With God.

Acts 23:16 - Paul was an uncle, who knew?

Luke 14:27-28, 31 - Jesus says that following Him will have a cost. It will change the way you make decisions, the way you treat others and the way you view the world. It makes sense to weigh the cost before deciding to follow Jesus. When we share the message of Jesus we should tell people the cost of putting Him first in their life. The good news? The cost is worth it.

1 Corinthians 6:18a - Are you toying with someone or something which you should be fleeing from?

Psalm 40:1-2 - The challenge for us, like my daughter, is the waiting between the time of our cry and God’s response.

2 Corinthians 2:15-16 - Christians should reek of Jesus. For some, this will be attractive. They will see the way you live and be drawn in. For others, this will irritate them. A Christian will remind them of something vital which they are missing.

1 Samuel 8:19-20 - Do you sometimes want to be more like “the others” who don’t follow God? Are you jealous of how they behave or where they find their security?

Galatians 4:18 - Passion can be a good thing. Provided you are passionate about the right things. Allow your appropriate passions to stay alight no matter who you are surrounded by.

Job 2:11-13 - Despite whatever else they got wrong Job’s friends exercised the power of presence.

Matthew 25:40 - When you look at those you (or society) label “the least” do you view them the same way which God views them? If you did, how would this affect the way to treated them?

Romans 12:18 - How might you need to change YOUR actions and responses to further the peace process in your relationships?

1 Corinthians 13:1-3 - Weigh up the way you use the gifts, talents and skills which the Holy Spirit has (and is) developing within you and consider if you exercise them with love for others as you primary motivation. If it isn't, go bash a cymbal for 30 seconds and see how much you enjoy it... Better yet, do it with another person nearby and ask them what they thought.

Mark 9:24 - Despite his lack of absolute knowledge, Jesus honours the faith which the man DOES possess, not punishing him for the areas where he is lacking. Thank God that He doesn't rate us on how much we know.

Psalm 127:1 - If I want to make a God inspired difference in this world, I need to go beyond my own measures. I need to rely on God for the results.

Matthew 4:18-22 - It is easy to imagine that the decision to leave their fishing nets wasn’t an easy one. It was their livelihood. They were a part of a family business. Jesus didn’t lay out a perfect blueprint for where they were going. But they followed Him anyway.

Philippians 4:12-13 - You can’t defy gravity. You can’t become invisible. You can’t communicate with marine life like Aqua Man. You don’t get superpowers when you convert. We should remember that our union with Christ helps us live how God wants and make the changes in this world which God desires. When these things get difficult, we should go to The One who will grant us to strength to endure.

1 Kings 19:11-12 - If you’re wondering what the future might hold, take a step away from the interruptions and really listen for God’s tender whisper.

January 1st-15th resolutions

I don't make New Year's resolutions. They just make me feel bad about myself on January 7th once I've already failed to fulfil my good intentions.

So, while I'm between jobs, I've got a few "first two weeks of January resolutions"

Purge emails - At the moment I've got 1467 emails in my inbox. 
Watch the backlog of Minute-with-Maxwell's - I'm approximately three month's behind.
Watch the Lord of the Rings trilogy - I've never seen all three films in their entirty. THEN go see The Hobbit.
Submit a new guest post on MorethanDodgeBall - The last one I submitted didn't translate-across-the-cultural-shift-across-the-Pacific well.
Read the latest Eragon book - I read the first three books a few years ago but never picked up the final book.
Get on top of my Google Reader - I currently have three topics with +1000 posts.
Finally, Brew some beer -  I was given a beer making kit last Christmas but still haven't used it since I'm missing a few pieces.

2012 Best of...

I'm now officially... um... between jobs for the next fortnight with the last few days absorbed by planning the services on my last Sunday and packing 14 boxes of stuff from my old office.

Here are my favourite posts from last year...

Here are the guest posts I got published on MorethenDodgeBall
Youth ministry: Job, profession or craft?
The secret to cracking the tough nuts

Bible bits
Ministry Mutiny musings
Come, Go, Come
Brestfeeding adults (a guest post by Liam)
Kony Questions
Hanna Cate (definitely my most exciting post!)
Choosing Hagar
Easter Bible Bits
Criticism from Mr X?
Should you lie to your parents to go to church?
Could vs should
How to respond when a Christian leader falls
Why child protection matters
Do you have to remember it all?
What if it were Hanna?
Church service evaluating?
Church & Sunday morning sex
Gay Marriage: We do
Porn doesn't know your name (the post that resulted in 600 hits in an hour)
Instigate the Benoit procedure?
Tom's take on camp speaking 1, 2, 3 & the takeaway
Before you walk that aisle
Virgin kiss
Sex spiel
Finger condoms and porn (this is the post which resulted in my blog being blocked from my church computer)
Safe or less risky? 
Anonymous questions
Is the church dead?
Why we're not baptising our daughter
You may now kiss the Messiah???
The ladies you can cry over
Repetitive lessons
Help! I've got a work experience student for a week!
Work experience wisdom
Christmas Bible Bits

When I look back over 2012 one thing became quickly apparent.
I wrote about sex. 
A lot.

Christmas Bible Bits

At Easter I posted the series of posts I did on Tiny Bible Bits leading up to Easter on the seven sayings of Jesus on the cross.

These are the musings I've written over the last few weeks leading up to Christmas. Enjoy...

Matthew 1:1, 3, 5, 6, 16 – This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham:… Judah the father of Perez and Zerah, whose mother was Tamar,… Salmon the father of Boaz, whose mother was Rahab, Boaz the father of Obed, whose mother was Ruth,… David was the father of Solomon, whose mother had been Uriah’s wife,… and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, and Mary was the mother of Jesus who is called the Messiah.

Matthew 1 paints the rich tapestry from which the Saviour of the entire world would come.

Tamar - Slept with her Father-in-law.
Rahab – Prostitute.
Ruth - Foreigner
Uriah’s wife - Adulteress
Mary - Virgin
All of them women.

In the eyes of first century Jews Jesus had some skeletons hiding within his genealogy.

Yet Matthew chose to include them at the start of his gospel.

These women remind us that God includes those who might be viewed as undesirable.
These women remind us that God can, and does, use those from all walks of life.

Matthew 1:21-22 – “She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfil what the Lord had said through the prophet:

I read last week that candy canes are hard to represent the firmness of God’s promises.

Whether or not this is factual for a candy cane is debatable (the Internet told me therefore it MUST be true!), but Matthew’s account of the Christmas story reminds us that it's true for God’s plan of salvation.

The where, when, who, why and how of Jesus’ birth were no accident. They were all part of what God started many years prior.

Do you just read the same familiar parts of the bible?

Get to know the Old Testament. The whole Old Testament. Read the prophets. Learn about their background and how they fit into the New Testament.

Within their pages are fascinating accounts of God revealing who He is, what He was doing at the time and what He plans to do in the future.

As you delve into these, often neglected, portions of the bible you will gain a wider understanding of the story God has unveiled, is still weaving and is still to unfold.

Matthew 2:3-5 – When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written:

For the second Tiny Bible Bit in a row the passage has ended with a reference to a Messianic Old Testament prophecy.

In light of their current political situation, the majority of first-century Jews would have been familiar with these prophecies.

And yet many of then missed the signs.

Do we do a similar thing to the chief priests and teachers of the law?

Are we aware of what the bible says but blind to what God is actually doing in the world?

Ask God to open your eyes to the places where He is involved.
If those in Jerusalem had prayed a similar prayer then they may have gone with the Magi to see the promised New-born King.

Matthew 2:11,16 – On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh… When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi.

Nativity scenes are everywhere.
And they’re all, without exception, wrong.

The mistakes they hold indicate that we’re more familiar with the Christmas story than we actually are.

We think we can fill in the following gaps…
Mary rode a ____ to Bethlehem. There were _____ wise men. The magi visited Jesus _________.

Mary POSSIBLY rode a donkey. The gospels do not say.
There COULD have been three wise men. All we’re told is the number of gifts they brought along.
The magi came to a house anywhere up to two years after the birth of Jesus (thus the order of Herod to murder all boys under two).

Take some time out to actually read the Christmas accounts in Matthew and Luke.

You might be surprised what is, and is not, included.

Turns out the Little Drummer Boy doesn't make an appearance…

Luke 2:10-11 – But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.”

Good news…
Great joy…
For all people.

This is the message of Christmas.

Luke 2:16-18, 20 – So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them… The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

When the shepherds personally encountered the Christmas story they spread the word.

The told others what God had revealed to them.
They told others how God had entered into human history.
They told others how they had met Jesus.

This is the appropriate response to encountering Jesus.

Who are you going to tell about your experience of meeting Jesus this Christmas?

John 1:14 – The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

God did not charge in with an army.
Jesus did not invade with power.
He did not come clothed in wealth and prestige.

When God came into the world, He came in humility.
He came to display grace and truth to a world in need of both.

As another Christmas slips by, remember the impact of the incarnation.

Remember the effect of God taking on flesh and dwelling amongst His creation.
The Lord of all entered the world in order to show a life dedicated to the Kingdom of God, bringing together Creator/creation and allowing us to call out to a God who has intimate knowledge of our sufferings and temptations.

Not the day for aerobatics

Funerals.
Weddings.
Easter.
Christmas.

When people attend one of these services then they have a set of expectations.

I know a minister who mentioned that these were significant ministry opportunities, but quite difficult to totally stuff up.

The reason?

If you cater to the expectations of the majority, hitting all the high points, then they should run smoothly.

So... Don't wander too far from the well-trodden path.

For funerals? God is with those who grieve and pain and death is not a part of God's original plan for the world.
Weddings? God's love for all is represented through the partnership created through a marriage and He wants to be a part of the union.
Easter? God came into the world to restore the relationship between humanity and Himself. For God, this was not cheap nor easy.
Christmas? God reveals Himself clearest and through the incarnation, and through the life, teachings, death and resurrection of Jesus we have access to Our Father.

Don't use the chance to clearly present the gospel and, instead, twist in the plot of the latest movie blockbuster.

The sermon title for Christmas 2012 should not be "The gospel according to The Hobbit."

The final line of the job description

Fix light fixtures.
Become pseudo-competent in working the sound desk and photocopier, fixing problems as they occur. 
Monitor and maintain the churches social media presence.

Every job description has one fateful line which goes something along the lines of "and any other miscellaneous duties which arise."

Churches are no different.

And when you're typing up poems written by a homeless guy you just need to remember that every job has hidden tasks which fall into "miscellaneous... but important."

Whispered exhortations

This past Sunday my church put on a farewell morning tea for me (even though I don't officially leave until the end of the month, they wanted Christmas to be about Jesus!). During my speech I mentioned a common, but wonderful, thing that lurks within churches.

The muttered word of encouragement.

The way it normally works is that a person, usually a part of the grey-haired brigade, pulls you aside quickly and drops a dollop of verbal support. It's not a big deal and it's normally over in an instant.

BUT... This is what made these blokes so great at my home church.

I've previously mentioned that I'll ask every kid how their week was whenever they arrive at a youth event. The payoff usually comes once you've asked the question dozens of times.

For the muttered word of encouragement the payoff ratio is similar.

Most Sunday's the exhortation will be appreciated but not dwelt upon.

But every so often it will be one of the only things which will make you think you're making a difference...

If I had to empty the piggy-bank?

I don't really use purchased resources. I have nothing against them, and while they certainly have a time and place, I tend to create my own (or at worst highly modify an existing resource).

But what if I HAD to spend money to create a youth ministry resource bank? 

This is what I would spend it on...

I would get these single-lesson studies for emergency scripture lessons (cepstore.com.au/c/108/photocopiable-leaders-resources).
I would get these apologetic resources (cepstore.com.au/c/81/apologetics-evangelism).
For teaching material I would look at youthministry360.com and simplyyouthministry.com/resources.html
For a curriculum I would buy the Live Curriculum series which applies.

Whilst these might cost a church a few thousand dollars, they would see anywhere through the rest of it's youth-ministry-life.