The close of 2011 was a busy time. Between Christmas services and preparation for our annual New Year’s Eve event, I entered 2012 in a blur. But after about a week, I think the dust is beginning to settle as I survey the promise of a new year.

I’ve been mulling over 2 Peter 1:2 over the past few days. In it, Peter prays that grace and peace would come to the Christians to which he write in abundance. And the means by which that grace and peace is given is “the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.” Without making too much of a fairly standard opening greeting, I think it is significant that Peter connects grace and peace with the knowledge of God. It’s also interesting that the word for “knowledge” that Peter uses carries an experiential connotation to it. It’s more than just book-knowledge.

I want for 2012 to be a year in which the knowledge of God that I pursue in study would be reflected in personal holiness. It is so easy for me to learn exciting new things and read the latest book and seek to know God, just to know stuff about Him. I don’t want that.

As Michael Green puts it in his commentary of 2 Peter,

“True knowledge of God and Christ produces grace and peace in the life; what is more it produces holiness.”

May that be true of my life.

Purpose-Driven Youth Ministry (PDYM) is one of those foundational books that I would encourage any serious youth worker to read. Written by Doug Fields, an experienced youth worker and ministry builder, it covers the gamut of youth ministry topics in a coherent, systematic way.

Overview

I was first introduced to PDYM when I was a volunteer at our youth ministry three or four years ago. Unfortunately, I didn’t make the time to read it. It wasn’t until I listened through Covenant Seminary’s youth ministry course (which, incidentally, is available for free online) that I was reintroduced to the book.

The book’s subtitle gives the thrust of the book: 9 Essential Foundations for Healthy Growth. In it, Fields lays out a framework for doing youth ministry in an intentional way. The nine components are: 1. The Power of God 2. Purpose 3. Potential Audience 4. Programs 5. Process 6. Planned Values 7. Parents 8. Participating Leaders 9. Perseverance

The chapters on student leadership and adult volunteer leadership are worth the price of the book alone. And overall, the book provides a helpful starting point for thinking through a systematic approach to youth ministry.

The Details

Fields builds on the Purpose-Driven paradigm first coined by Rick Warren. The basic idea is that the Great Commandment and the Great Commission provide us with five purposes for ministry: evangelism, worship, fellowship, discipleship, and ministry. A youth ministry must address these purposes in their programming. Purpose leads to programming, rather than having aimless or good-but-unintentional programs.

Fields goes further to consider different audiences and suggests that the combination of the appropriate purpose with an audience should give birth to a meaningful and focused program.

The remainder of the book fleshes out this framework, adding the other needed components: adults, parents, and other youth ministry concerns.

Why I Liked It

One of the greatest challenges in beginning in ministry is knowing what to do and why to do it. I wish that ministry only consisted of studying and preaching, but there is so much more that has to take place to disciple-making than just giving a message. Without disparaging the place of biblical, gospel-centered preaching, there simply are other things that have to be considered. And it can be a daunting task to figure out where to begin and how to begin. PDYM provides a helpful starting point. It addresses many important aspects of youth ministry in a cogent, logical progression. I don’t know that I agree with Fields at every point, but PDYM forces one to think through those points that might otherwise get left out.

It was helpful to consider what the purpose of ministry is and to verbalized that purpose. I think that it is a helpful baseline for measuring success as well as the direction of youth ministry. Without some central statement of purpose or mission, it is easy to drift from one focus to another.

Final Words

This is one book I encourage serious youth workers to read and engage at a critical level. It is a helpful reference and nearly exhaustive primer for youth ministry.

Recently, my eldest son has taken on the habit of trying to pick me up. In the morning, I will often come into his room and lay down in his bed beside him. But by this time, he has usually climbed out of bed, ready to take on the world.

So, there he is, standing beside his little twin bed at under three feet tall. He takes his tiny, toddler hands and reaches under my ankle to lift me up.

“Get up, daddy,” he’ll say. “I get up daddy.”

And so I’ll sit up in the bed. And he will quickly come to me and ask for me to pick him up, sometimes politely, sometimes not so politely. “Daddy, hold!”

And so I’ll pick him up and lift him into my lap.

It is at this moment that my son does a very funny thing. He tries to pick me up. He takes my arm and begins to tug. “I pick up Daddy,” he’ll say as he grunts and strains to lift his daddy. And I’ll usually stand up, carrying him as we walk downstairs for breakfast.

How often do we approach God, attempting to lift him up, to do the work of a faithful Christian, and not even realize or acknowledge that it is God who enables and carries us to do these good deeds? What a gracious God, that he would so humble himself to the point of saving us, and then invite us to be a part of his mission of redemption, when we have so little to offer apart from what he has already given us. And while we think that we are accomplishing so much, the Holy Spirit is carrying us along, enabling us to become more like our big brother, Jesus and to honor our Father.

What a humble Holy Spirit we have. What a kind older brother we have. What a loving Father we have.

Over the span of my life, one of the things I am most thankful for are those men from whom I have been able to learn about life. In high school, it was my father and my youth pastor. These men taught me what it meant to work hard and to pursue God with passion.

In college, I had various men who helped to guide me, providing wisdom that a young, knuckle-headed guy both needed and did not always know he needed.

And these days, I benefit from relationships with older men both in and outside of ministry who are willing to teach me about life, manhood, faithfulness, and ultimately provide a perspective that I would otherwise lack. For these men, I am very grateful.

With regard to these mentors, I have three suggestions for young men like myself.

1. Pursue men who love God and whom you respect. One of the reasons many young men don’t have these types of mentor relationships is simply because they have never pursued them. Who are those people who you think you would like to learn from?
2. Stop talking and listen. Learning means listening. Think of some important questions you want to ask, and then ask. Then listen to their response. Don’t worry about talking or impressing.
3. Take notes. Then read those notes. Then apply those notes. Taking notes serves two purposes. First it helps you remember what you hear and learn. And second it shows your mentor that you care enough to pay attention. But don’t stop at just taking notes. Read them later. Let them sink in.
4. And as a bonus, learn to ask, “what are my weaknesses” and listen honestly. It’s a very tough thing to ask someone to tell you what they see as your weaknesses. And it’s even more difficult to listen through that process. But God gives grace to those who humbly accept wisdom (Cf. Prov. 3:34).

It is not easy to ask for help, especially when to do so is to admit weakness or failure. But when we are able to think soberly and rightly about ourselves, God is able to use us more effectively than otherwise.

What have you learned from others?

As a young, inexperienced youth worker, I don’t benefit from the wisdom of years of fruitful experience. Thankfully many of those who have gone before have written books to help those of us who are young, impetuous, and foolish. This is why I read.

The challenge is that there is a wealth of wisdom to be gleaned from all the books that are available. So I’ve been thinking of how best to spend my time reading, so that I benefit most strategically from these literary mentors. Here are three thoughts:

1. Reading must be strategic. One of the biggest challenges for those in my position is deciding what books one should. This challenge is compounded if you are a slow reader as I am. So how do you decide?

   First, we should always prioritize God’s book, as it is the only book from which God speaks directly and the only one from which we can receive life.

   Second, I personally try to read across several topics. Since Mondays is my family day, I try to focus my reading on something related to marriage or parenting. I’m currently reading Andreas Kostenberger’s God, Marriage, and Family. On other days I’ll read books on youth ministry. And this year, since I have tried to learn more about prayer, I’ll concurrently read a book on prayer. My current list of books is divided into biblical & theological studies, youth ministry, marriage and family, and personal development. Now this is a fairly rough division and oftentimes books will overlap.

   Finally, I try to get the opinion of those whom I respect. Since we have a limited amount of time and energy, I want to spend it reading those books that are most helpful. So I ask my wife, pastors, other youth pastors and teachers, read blogs, trust particular publishers. From the suggestions of these sources, I construct a working reading list.

2. Reading must be a long-term endeavor. Being a slow reader makes the process of getting through a book an arduous one. And because there is a large number of books that I would like to read, the temptation to stop reading one book prematurely to start another is strong. I’ve tried to shift my thinking from getting a particular book done a specific time-frame, to just finishing. Finishing is better than not finishing, even if it is a slow, laborious process. In this case, “slow and steady” does win the race.

3. Reading must be a consistent practice. I watched a very helpful soundbite from Bill Hybels, where he makes the statement that he does leadership development as a discipline. He doesn’t read books on leadership because he likes to. He reads them out of discipline. You can watch the video at Matt Perman’s blog, What’s Best Next. I suppose for many, the idea that reading is a discipline comes as second nature. But, this has been a revolutionary truth for me. So I try to make it my practice to read for a minimum of fifteen minutes every morning as a way of making consistent progress in reading.

What are your thoughts on reading?

Instead of my usual ruminating, I have posted some questions that have been rolling around in my head. Leave your answer in the comments.

Three Questions About Youth Ministry

1. How do you build momentum in a sustainable way? One temptation of youth ministry to have events or activities that create excitement and a buzz atmosphere that encourages students to bring their friends and to become more involved. The problem is that a lot of the ideas are not sustainable over a long period of time. So how do you balance the desire to create an environment that nurtures growth while at the same time not creating an unsustainable pace?
2. What is the right way to do youth ministry? That is a loaded question. I just finished reading Purpose-Driven Youth Ministry and I’m working through several other books on ministry. There are several ways to approach youth ministry. Is there a right way? Is there a best way?
3. What are some ways to measure growth? There are more than one. But what are the specific ways to measure growth. Numerical, absolutely. But how do you measure spiritual growth? What about health?

I’m working out the answers to these for our ministry. How do you answer them for yours?

In the past, I’ve mentioned my love of hymns. Like any music, hymns are a practical way of conveying a message, oftentimes more successfully than a pulpit or lecture might do, due to the repetition and sheer memorability of music. Page CXVI is a group that was formed for the express purpose of bringing to light some of the hymnody that is so beneficial to the body, but that might not have a listening among my generation or perhaps the one coming up after me. This is excellent. Recently, they came out with the fourth album appropriately named Hymns IV. It has seven tracks and you can get it at Amazon.com.

All this to say, it is exciting to have resources like this available, where the timeless truths expressed in these hymns are being contextualized for another generation. For that I am thankful.

As I continue to serve in our youth ministry, I’m often surprised by two things. First, I am surprised how much of ministry boils down to communication (e.g. communicating the right message to our teens, communicating proactively to parents about schedules, communicating clearly to our leaders). The second thing that often surprises me is how often I think I’ve “figured out” this principle, only to find that I am still failing to adequately communicate. But, God opposes the proud and gives grace to the humble, so I’m thankful that I have continued opportunities to try again. As I reflect on communication in youth ministry, here are three thoughts I have.

1. In youth ministry you have to successfully juggle constant communication to the youth, parents, and adult leadership. Usually, I am successful in communicating with one or two of these groups. But failing to communicate to one group means that overall failure is imminent. Communicate the series to the youth and parents, but fail to let your leadership know, and they don’t buy-in or feel involved. Communicate an event to parents and leadership and you have a highly communicated, low-attendance event. Communicate to youth about a trip without adequately communicating to parents or leaders, and you have a lot of “excited teens” who never get to camp. Communication is necessary at all three levels.
2. Redundancy is good. There are a plethora of mediums to use for communication. E-mail, Facebook, Twitter, texting, video announcements, etc. At this point, I’m convinced that more is better. This probably is because repetition is good too.
3. Communication with God is essential to any ministry. I’m reading a book on the prayer lives of Puritan and Reformed saints such as Matthew Henry and John Knox. These were men whose ministries were marked by the power of God and scriptural insight that would leave a legacy for generations. What is common among these men is their zeal in pursuing communion with God through prayer and Scripture. In building and maintaining a youth ministry, there are many important components. But prayer is one of the first.*

(*) At this point, I don’t want to be misunderstood as a pragmatist. “If you pray, then God will grow your ministry.” I don’t meant to suggest that the correlation is that direct, or that the primary purpose of prayer is ministerial. Prayer connects us with the God who has given us the purpose to glorify Him. And by prayer, our hearts are molded to His will and our eyes are molded to His perspective. So prayer is necessary for ministry, yes. We should not pursue it solely so that we may get something from our Father, but primarily so that we may connect with and know our Father.

The following post is part of a series outlining some ways to do youth ministry on a tight budget.

Having a presence on the web is important. The internet has become one of the primary places that people get information. And whether it is event details, program times and meeting places, or other details of your youth ministry, a youth ministry website is an extremely helpful tool to communicate with parents, teens, and leaders. But what if you don’t have the budget to get a professionally designed website?

The upside is that there are ways to create websites relatively inexpensively. The downside is that some of these solutions require time. So what you get for free, you pay for in time. But then, you’re not really that busy anyways, are you? So let’s look at a few ways to get some internet exposure without spending a great deal of money.

Facebook Pages

Facebook pages are an easy way to let you communicate with your students. You can post events, articles, message, and pictures. And it’s all 100%.

The Pro’s

• It’s free.
• Most of your teens will already have a Facebook account.

The Con’s

• You don’t have a lot of control over design or branding. You basically can post a “profile picture.” Beyond that, the page is the normal Facebook blue and white.
• You have to have a Facebook account. There are a lot of reasons why Facebook is a waste of time. And because it’s a social network, rather than a blog or website, there’s give and take. You have to wade through the stuff that’s posted by your students.

A Free Blog Hosting Site like WordPress.com or Blogger.com

There are a number of free blogging sites out there that allow you to create an account, get a “theme” that customizes the look and feel of the website, and lets you create a website for free.

The Pro’s

• It’s free.
• Most services (like WordPress.com or Blogger.com) offer a number of free themes. These themes let you choose a custom look and feel without having to actually do any coding.
• You have your own subdomain. For WordPress.com, you can get a URL in the form of [your youth ministry].wordpress.com.

The Con’s

• Although you have more control of design than on a Facebook Page, you may end up using the same theme as another website.
• Again, although you have more control over your brand, you still end up with a URL that includes wordpress.com or blogspot.com. For a small fee, you can buy your own domain customize your URL further (so awesomeymwebsite.wordpress.com becomes awesomeymwebsite.com).
• Taking this route over Facebook will require more time for you to set up the website and maintain it. It’s still less time having to create it from scratch.

Getting Your Own Domain & Host

Website hosting isn’t very expensive (read: $60 per year average) and getting your own youth ministry’s domain gives your website a level of clarity and professionalism that is probably worthwhile. If you have a little bit of money to spend, you can get a greater level of flexibility than a hosted blog site like WordPress.com.

The Pro’s

• It’s more customizable. With your own host (like HostMonster or BlueHost) and your own domain, you have the most control over how your website looks and operates.
• Most services (like WordPress.com or Blogger.com) offer a number of free themes. These themes let you choose a custom look and feel without having to actually do any coding.
• You have your own subdomain. For WordPress.com, you can get a URL in the form of [your youth ministry].wordpress.com.

The Con’s

• Although you have more control of design than on a Facebook Page, you may end up using the same theme as another website.
• Again, although you have more control over your brand, you still end up with a URL that includes wordpress.com or blogspot.com. For a small fee, you can buy your own domain customize your URL further (so awesomeymwebsite.wordpress.com becomes awesomeymwebsite.com).
• Taking this route over Facebook will require more time for you to set up the website and maintain it. It’s still less time having to create it from scratch.

So the moral of the story is this: youth ministry websites can be done for relatively cheaply ($0 – $60/year). Next week, we’ll look at training resources.

Louie Giglio spoke Friday night at the Desiring God 2011 National Conference with a message entitled, The Galactic God Who Invites Us Into The Glorious Plan. The great take-away from this message was that there is an expansive, transcendent God who has invited us insignificant, finite, tiny, weak people to help Him accomplish His plan. Here are my notes from the talk.

The Introduction

“We are not here at our leisure…we are here for one purpose…to be an amplifier of the beauty of Christ.”

“We are all participators in God’s global purpose of grace.”

Psalm 40

• Full Gospel story of redemption.
• Not just that we got saved and put on solid ground.
• But that we also sing a song of praise so that many would hear and fear.
• And by implication, that many would put their trust in the Lord.
• There is a ripple effect that the Gospel should have, so that we don’t just ponder, but we proclaim.

Isaiah 6

• When we have a vision, even a fleeting glance at the glory of God, it wrecks us. The Holy Spirit puts us on a track to build us back together.
• Worship doesn’t begin when we start singing. Worship begins wherever God is present.
• Do I personally have a sense of, “I was undone” until grace came?
• When God asked, “who will go?” Isaiah did not deliberate.
• Did you hear that when God said, “who shall I send?” because you can’t stand by the cross and not hear those words.

Who’s Asking the Question: “Who shall I send?”

• The God who created the galaxies. The Galaxy-breathing God.
• There are galaxies in creation that we aren’t even aware of that are praising God.
• Astronomers look at the universe and ask, “why is it so big if it is here to house humanity,” but if they knew it is supposed to worship God…

Psalm 148

• After 147 psalms, the Psalmist is still saying, “Praise the Lord!”
• God does not need us; the rest creation itself is praising Him.
• God didn’t ask anyone for help to create the universe, or to complete redemption.
• But he does ask us to help by proclaiming His Gospel.
• God has chosen us to finish the job.
• Romans 1 – inherent in redemption is mission.
• There is no question of what the church must do; what we have been told to do in the Great Commission, but it is not as if God is throwing a manual in your lap, as much as God is inviting you to be part of what He is going to do.
• God calling us as he runs forward on the mission that he will ensure is accomplished.
• If you haven’t felt closeness with God, maybe it is because you’re doing your thing separate from what God is doing.
• Who’s asking? A God who doesn’t need us, but is inviting us to get on board with what he is doing.

Louie Giglio is pastor of Passion City Church.