The CJ School of Youth Ministry

Professor Jones

Many years ago, when fire was first a flicker in the eye of the Geico caveman and Duffy Robbins still had hair, I began a career in student ministry that would last nearly 30 years. In those days no one "chose" youth ministry as a lifelong vocation. It was something you did for a variety of reasons, almost none of which were good. Like these:

1. You hoped to be a "real" pastor someday, but youth pastor was the only job available at the time.
2. You had enjoyed your own days in a youth group so much that you wanted to stay connected to the ministry in any way possible.  When they asked for volunteers at a meeting, you were dumb enough to raise your hand...
3. You couldn't live without the $50 a month paycheck it provided.
4. You knew that if you didn't help get the student ministry up and running, Sally and Johnny's parents were going to do it.  And NO ONE wanted that!
5. A pastor came to you while you were 18 and working at a summer camp and told you he thought you would be good at it- mostly because you could play the guitar.  Being a sucker for encouragement, you bought it. That is my story.

Fast forward 35 years. Now there are degrees in student ministry, both under-graduate and post-graduate. There are dozens (hundreds?) of conferences every year designed to train those who seek to serve God through serving teenagers. There is a level of professionalism in youth ministry unlike anything we have ever seen before. And these things are all great advances. But all of that education, training and professionalism cannot, in the mind of this old dinosaur, turn someone into a youth pastor. In fact, the very worst youth pastor I ever knew had 3 doctorates. None of his titles and degrees helped The Reverend Dr. Dr. Dr. Steve actually LOVE teenagers! None of that stuff really prepares you for what it is like to live life, day out and day in, with a family of students & their families. Education and training can prepare you for how to do student ministry, but not how to be a youth pastor. That has to come from the heart. I said for many years that here is no greater calling than student ministry, but it does have to be a calling. There are few "jobs" that would be worse. You have to feel the desire to fully, totally and completely share the love of God whose name is Jesus with teenagers by loving them no matter what. And in youth ministry, there are a lot of "whats!" Anyone can be taught to plan events, teach bible studies and drive the church van. It takes a calling to actually love those messy, irrational, irritating and complicated creatures we call "youth."


So today I am going to give anyone who is interested the chance to discover if God is calling them to student ministry. This test will work if you've never really considered the option. It will work even better if you are already involved in ministry. Just answer these 4 questions. I will even tell you in advance that the correct answer is always "C." If you feel any inclination to argue with me about the correct answers based on what they taught you in a youth ministry class, then you have already failed my course. Ready for your final exam?
1)  You go with a group of students to get ice cream after youth group.  Some of the newer kids don't have any cash because they were unaware of this tradition.  Do you...
  A) Tell them better luck next time and taunt them with your cone of mint chocolate chip.
  B)  Offer to loan them money if they will wash the church van.
  C)  Offer to buy them ice cream because they are part of your youth group family now. They matter.
2)  David calls from a party around midnight and says he has been drinking and needs a ride.  Do you...
   A) Tell him he has the wrong number. Give him the number of your senior pastor.  (I will accept this answer as well!)
   B)  Give him a stern lecture on the evils of alcohol, reminding him that Jesus never went near the stuff.  Well...except when he turned water into wine. But nobody ever saw him drink it!  Now call a cab and stop bothering me.
   C)  Go get him and take him home.  Along with any of his friends that have no business on the road and no one to call.  You can talk about this later.
3)  16 year old Beth strolls into your office and tells you she is pregnant.  Do you...
   A)  Offer to hunt down and destroy the father, Predator style!
   B)  Explain to her how embarrassing this will be for you and the church. How could she do this to you?
   C)  Offer to sit with her and pray for her while she tells her parents and they face a new future together.
4)  Keri (an actual name of an actual caller!) calls you in the middle of the night because she heard an old song on the radio and knew you would know who sang it and what it was called.  Do you...
   A)  Scream and yell at her demanding that she seek psychiatric help.
   B)  Hand the phone to your spouse and say, "It's for you, dear."
   C)  Ask her what the lyrics were and then answer her question, thrilled that she knew that she could count on you. THEN ask, "Couldn't this have waited 'til morning?"  :)


So there it is.  You have now completed The CJ School of Youth Ministry. I'm sure that some of you cheated, but hey- it's youth ministry! :) My point today is simply this- student ministry is not about "fixing" teenagers. That is a task best left to God. It's about loving them in a way that shows them who Jesus is and how much he loves them. It doesn't take advanced degrees to to do that. It takes a heart full of the love of God, and a willingness to share it.  And a ton...TON...of prayer.  Do you have what it takes?


Because of Jesus,

The Magic of Music

Yesterday was a very long day.  Not a bad day.  Just long.  My dog alarm went off at 3:37 AM (I got a whole extra hour this morning.  Woo).  As I got into my prayer list yesterday morning I realized just how long and intense my prayer time needed to be.  So many needs and requests.  So many hurting friends.  It is such an honor to bring prayers to God, but emotionally it can be quite taxing.  I later took some time to engage in a theological debate about yesterday's post (which was expected) and to write a guest post for a fellow blogger.  After a great Taco Tuesday dinner, I settled in to my recliner, watched some reruns of The Big Bang Theory, texted with a friend and realized I was really tired and needed to wind down.  And so I turned to one of my oldest friends...music.  Since the time I was 10, music has been the one thing that can always speak to my soul.  It has comforted me through pain and lost love.  It has restored my faith when I had doubts.  It lifts my spirits when I am down.  And it never fails to offer comfort at the end of a long day.


I set my I-Pod to shuffle and sat back to drift away.  If my music was played on satellite radio, there would be 2 basic stations- classic contemporary Christian music and  60/70/80's pop and rock (no disco allowed!).  And then a little bit current stuff that my 16 year old son has introduced me to.  So last night, as I laid back and let the music take me away, here were the first 10 songs I heard:

1. Just Remember I Love You-  Firefall
2. Everything I Hate- Smalltown Poets
3. Candyapple Red- The Robbin Thompson Band
4. Run To Me- Bee Gees (way before disco!)
5. Life Together- Geoff Moore & the Distance
6. Hard Habit To Break-  Chicago
7. Carolina In My Mind- James Taylor
8. There Goes Another Love Song-  The Outlaws
9. Once Upon A Time-  Dan Fogelberg
10. Don't Let the Sun Go Down On Me-  Elton John

And then, as if on cue, the 11th and final song I heard was one that always takes me back to my teenage years and makes my feet tap and my heart beat just a little bit faster.  Amie, the great song from the band Pure Prairie League, wrapped up my night with it's haunting "falling in and out of love with you..." finish.  My soul was both calmed and excited, and I was ready to call it a night.


Today I ask you this question in the hopes of discovering more about you, my readers.  What songs do you count amongst your favorites?  Which songs help bring peace to your soul?  I'd love to hear from you.  In the meantime, here is a little something you may not know about me.  I am a HUGE Beach Boys fan- and not just the stuff everyone loves.  At one point I owned nearly all of their albums.  And today feels like a Beach Boys day.  So take take their advice and Add Some Music To Your Day.  Blessings to you all for a wonderful Hump Day!  Wouldn't It Be Nice? if we could all get together for lunch?  :)


Because of Jesus,

Bad Theology

This past Sunday, in churches all over USAmerica, preachers were offering up the same bad theology to anyone who was willing to listen.  It goes something like this- "God is good.  You are not.  Try harder."   This presentation of the gospel is usually accompanied by reminding those in attendance of just how far short of perfection they really fall. It is accompanied by a list of "thou shalt nots" that sometimes includes but is never limited to the 10 Commandments.  This re-writing of the Good News of Jesus has been going on over 2000 years now, but it is reaching epidemic levels in the 21st century.  Pull yourself up by your bootstraps.  Change your behavior.  Go to more small groups.  Whine and moan about people who sin differently from you.  Adopt an issue to protest against.  Attend more church services.  Try harder!


The problem with this theology is that...well pretty much everything.  If we are capable of  fixing ourselves, then Jesus died on the cross for no reason.  We don't need to do more, we need to surrender our lives.  The theology of the New Testament is this- "God is good.  You are not.  Jesus loves you anyway.  Now follow Him"   We cannot achieve our own salvation, and we need not "work harder" to live life with Christ.  When Jesus said, "It is finished!" while on the cross, he meant that the gap between our sinful selves and God had been bridged- permanently.  Not everyone will acknowledge or accept this gift of grace. We all must "work out" our salvation, just like we work out our bodies. You don't go the gym to get muscles (salvation), you go the gym to improve them, to make them all they can be.  Salvation is there for us all.  And it is there NOW.  We simply have to bow our knee in worship to the One who gives us this incredible gift.  We don't have to wait until we are perfect.  God, through Jesus, loves you just the way He made you.  He even loves me.  And that is the good news.


There are far too many Christian leaders who have obtained their status by exploiting the gospel.  They preach guilt and legalism instead of mercy and grace.  And in the end, they convince people to follow them.  Here's my tip for today:  It's not how much a leader knows about leadership that sets them apart; it's what they know about FOLLOWING.  And a leader who follows Jesus knows this to be true- there is nothing you can do to make God love you more, and nothing you can do to make Him love you less. So get off the treadmill of religious performance and surrender your heart. "God is good.  I am not.  Jesus loves me anyway."  Amen & Amen!


Because of Jesus,

Do You Know "The Ragman?"

We have all been told that "God is love." This is true. And the ultimate example of God's love is Jesus - who was all about forgiveness and GRACE!  In the world we live in, grace is so much harder to come by than love. Sounds radical I know, but I believe it to be true. To find people who are willing to care, forgive and take on the burdens and sorrows of those around them is rare indeed. So for today, I will shut up and let Walter Wangerin tell you a parable about what it really means to walk in the footsteps of Jesus. It is a bit long, but so worth it. Enjoy- but beware! You may wind up not only wanting to love your neighbor, but to become the grace that is Jesus and invade their lives...

I saw a strange sight. I stumbled upon a story most strange like nothing my life,my street sense, my sly tongue had even prepared me for. Hush, child. Hush now and I will tell it to you.
Even before the dawn one Friday morning I noticed a young man, handsome and strong, walking the alleys of our city. He was pulling an old cart filled with clothes both bright and new,and he was calling in a clear, tenor voice: "Rags!" Ah, the air was foul and the first light filthy to be crossed by such sweet music."Rags! New rags for old! I take your tired rags! Rags!" "Now, this is a wonder," I thought to myself, for the man stood six- feet-four, and his arms were like tree limbs, hard and muscular, and his eyes flashed intelligence. Could he find no better job than this, to be a ragman in the inner city? So I followed him. My curiosity drove me.  And I wasn't disappointed.
Soon the Ragman saw a woman sitting on her back porch. She was sobbing into a handkerchief, sighing, and shedding a thousand tears. Her knees and elbows made a sad X. Her shoulders shook. Her heart was breaking. The Ragman stopped his cart. Quietly, he walked to the woman, stepping round tin cans, dead toys and Pampers. "Give me your rag," he said so gently,"and I'll give you another." He slipped the handkerchief from her eyes. She looked up and he laid across her palm a linen cloth so clean and new that it shined. She blinked from the gift to the giver. Then, as he began to pull his cart again, the Ragman did a strange thing: he put her stained handkerchief to his own face; and then he began to weep, to sob as grievously as she had done, his shoulders shaking. Yet she was left without a tear. "This is a wonder," I breathed to myself, and I followed the sobbing Ragman like a child who cannot turn away a mystery.
"Rags!  Rags! New rags for old!"  In a little while, when the sky showed grey behind the rooftops and I could see the shredded curtains hanging out black windows, the Ragman came upon a girl whose head was wrapped in a bandage. Her eyes were empty. Blood soaked her bandage.  A single line of blood ran down her cheek.  Now the tall Ragman looked upon this child with pity,and he drew a lovely yellow bonnet from his cart. "Give me your rag," he said,tracing his own line on her cheek, "and I'll give you mine." The child could only gaze at him while he loosened the bandage, removed it, and tied it to his own head. The bonnet he set on hers.  And I gasped at what I saw: for with bandage went the wound! Against his brow it ran a darker, more substantial blood-his own!
"Rags! Rags! I take old rags!" cried the sobbing, bleeding, strong, intelligent Ragman. The sun hurt both the sky, now, and my eyes; the Ragman seemed more and more to hurry. "Are you going to work?" he asked a man leaned against a telephone pole. The man shook his head. The Ragman pressed him: "Do you have a job?" "Are you crazy?" sneered the other. He pulled away from the pole, revealing the right sleeve of his jacket - flat, the cuff stuffed into the pocket. He had no arm. "So," said the Ragman. "Give me your jacket, and I'll give you mine." Such quiet authority in his voice!  The one-armed man took off his jacket.  So did the Ragman - and I trembled at what I saw: for the Ragman's arm stayed in its sleeve, and when the other put it on he had two good arms, thick as tree limbs: but the Ragman had only one. "Go to work," he said.
After that he found a drunk, lying unconscious beneath an army blanket, an old man hunched, wizened, and sick. He took that blanket and wrapped it round himself, but for the drunk he left new clothes.
And now I had to run to keep up with the Ragman. Though he was weeping uncontrollably, and bleeding freely at the forehead, pulling his cart with one arm, stumbling for drunkenness, falling again and again, exhausted, old, old, and sick, yet he went with terrible speed. On spider's legs he skittered through the alleys of the City, this mile and the next, until he came to its limits, and then he rushed beyond.
I wept to see the changes in this man. I hurt to see his sorrow. And yet I needed to see where he was going in such haste, perhaps to know what drove him so. The little old Ragman - he came to a landfill. He came to the garbage pits. And then I wanted to help him in what he did, but I hung back, hiding. He climbed a hill. With tormented labour he cleared a little space on that hill. Then he sighed. He lay down. He pillowed his head on a handkerchief and a jacket. He covered his bones with an army blanket.  And he died.  Oh, how I cried to witness that death!  I slumped in a junked car and wailed and mourned as one who has no hope -because I had come to love the Ragman.  Every other face had faded in the wonder of this man, and I cherished him; but he died. I sobbed myself to sleep. I did not know - how could I know? -- that I slept through Friday night and Saturday and its night, too.
But then, on Sunday morning, I was awakened by a violence. Light - pure, hard, demanding light -slammed against my sour face, and I blinked, and I looked, and I saw the last and the first wonder of all. There was the Ragman, folding the blanket most carefully, a scar on his forehead, but alive! And, beside that, healthy! There was no sign of sorrow nor of age, and all the rags that he had gathered shined for cleanliness.
Well, then I lowered my head and, trembling for all that I had seen, I myself walked up to the Ragman. I told him my name with shame, for I was a sorry figure next to him. Then I took off all my clothes in that place,and I said to him with dear yearning in my voice: "Dress me.."  He dressed me.  My Lord, he put new rags on me, and I am a wonder beside him.  The Ragman, the Ragman, the Christ! 
(from Walter Wangerin's book The Ragman & Other Cries of Faith, 2004, Harper & Collins)

This is the Good News, the message of Grace. It's not about us trying to "be better," it is about what God has already done for us through Jesus.  The question is this: Are you trying to save yourself through your own efforts at being "Christian?"  Or have you met "The Ragman?" 


Because of Jesus,

Souvenirs

Every now and then all of the reminiscing I do as I write this blog slaps me and reminds me of why I am writing a blog instead of still doing ministry in a church.  I am reminded of my own past sins and failures.  I look at pictures, books, my guitar and other reminders of days gone by- and I am saddened.  I share life with friends in far away places by computer and text that I cannot go visit in real life due to my travel restrictions.  And some days, it just hurts.  I try to spend those days in prayer and focusing on the amazing grace that rescued me and brought me to this place. But sometimes the past is a ghost that cannot be so easily swept away.  Those are very hard days- and yesterday was one of them. Then last night I got a surprise text from a very old friend (thanks Denise!) that helped remind me how incredibly blessed my life has been and how fortunate I am to am to have shared life with so many wonderful people.  And now it's Sunday, a day to focus on praising the LORD and being thankful.  I will leave you with some lyrics from the late Dan Fogelberg's 1974 song Souvenirs.  The song is actually about surviving memories of lost love.  For me, student ministry is just that- a lost love.  And as wonderful as my 28 years of memories are, the loss still hurts. But God is still in His heaven and Jesus is still LORD, and days like yesterday do pass.   Have a blessed day, and never take anything or anyone for granted...especially the people you love, and a God that loves you.

And down in the canyon

The smoke starts to rise.

It rides on the wind

Till it reaches your eyes.

When faced with the past

The strongest man cries...cries.

And here is a sunrise

To set on your sill.

The ghosts of the dawn

Moving near.

They pass through your sorrow

And leave you quite still...

Sitting among souvenirs.

Because of Jesus,

Saturday Shout Outs!

Welcome to the first shouts outs of 2012.  I am not feeling well this morning, so this is late and perhaps a bit brief, but nonetheless we have important news to share, so let's get on with it!

• Charles Freedle (Springfield Friends Meeting) in engaged!  Way to go, Chuck!  This must be a very special woman to have gotten Charles to settle down.  :)
• I just wanted to say how proud I am of Kelly Jeck Trace (FUMC-K) and the work she is doing to promote and revitalize downtown Kissimmee.  I love reading about her exploits on Facebook and from her friends who support her whenever they can.  She deserves a huge Whooo-hoooo! 
• I mentioned this on Thursday, but Marie Allen (Springfield) has begun a new blog, primarily to share her struggles with some health issues.  Head on over to Ramblings of a Goofball and give her your support.
• Teresa Reep Tysinger has some new designs up on her online shop, and she needs our help as she seeks to raise money to go out and see her hubby Eric who is currently working in Dallas.  She tweeted this yesterday from her account @DesignMasterT:   "I'm fundraising for a ticket to Dallas to see my husband for my birthday! Enter "Dallas" coupon code for 25% off at http://www.etsy.com/shop/GoodDayShop?ref=si_shop " Let's do what we can to help! And that includes praying for she and Eric...
• I have a couple of series coming up here on the blog, including one at the beginning of February called 49 Days Of Grace. I will take a look back at some of the things that happened to me 5 years ago in the spring of 2007- the longest 49 days of my life. 
• I continue in my attempts to prove that my texting skills equal those of a teenage girl, despite the fact that my huge thumbs don't really work on a phone touch pad.  Among those with whom I have shared texts are Nina Mock, Ashley Goad Broadhurst, Todd Willis, Denise May Langley, Stephanie Greife Owens, Lauren Cacciatore, Jeremy Godwin, Christie Weatherby, Teresa Tysinger, Cyndi Browning, Jocelyn Sessions Ward, Jennifer Minnigan Kuramochi, Marie Allen and Lisa Jewett.  Lisa often chooses to ignore my texts, but I love her anyway!  :)  If you would like to jump on my text message bandwagon, just email me your number and I will hit you up.  It's a promise!
• It looks like the Jones family (and the aforementioned Lisa Jewett) will be hanging out at Downtown Disney on January 16, enjoying the MLK holiday.  Let me know if you would like to catch up with us!
• And finally, my son Will is headed to NYC this Easter weekend as his band gets a chance to play at Carnegie Hall. It's an amazing opportunity.  I just wish I could have planned it.  Remember our 5 days for $500 trips to NYC we used to take, including 2 shows and all the sight-seeing?  Will's trip is 4 days for $1500.  I could have made a killing...  Oh well!

So there we go.  Hope you all have a blessed weekend.  Thanks for stopping by.

Because of Jesus,

Be the Thunder

A legendary story is told in the Tampa Bay area that I call home about the 2004 Stanley Cup hockey finals. In fact, it is currently part of this year's advertising campaign for the team.  It was game 7 of the championship series, and our beloved Lightning were preparing to play the Calgary Flames.  One game to win it all.  One win and the Bolts would hoist the Stanley Cup for the first time in franchise history.  As the two teams sat in the locker rooms of the St. Pete Times Forum (recently renamed the Tampa Bay Times Forum) before the first puck dropped, there was no music playing.  There were no words spoken.  And yet, both teams sat and listened.  They listened because the roar of the Tampa Bay crowd was absolutely deafening.  Even with no teams on the ice, the home crowd was announcing that they were there to make a difference.  The hockey team may have been the Lightning, but the crowd was there to be the thunder!  The Lightning won, and the city celebrated with them.  It was a moment for the ages.


I see a similar situation arising in the 21st century church.  We have, for too long, allowed too few to do too much of the work that Jesus calls upon us to do.  We have allowed the Church to become a place of intolerance, sometimes bordering on hatred.  We have ignored the needs of the many to placate those with power and money.  We have focused on political hot-button issues at the expense of offering grace and forgiveness.  Sharing the love of God whose name is Jesus with those we encounter each day in God's "Plan A" for saving the world, and there is no "Plan B."  Yet far too often we sit silently and hope and pray that someone else will be there to lift high the name of Jesus.  Friends, we can wait no more.  It is time to quit talking about church, to quit talking about religion and to quit complaining about the state of Christianity.  It is time for the people who understand the Jesus who taught us to love everyone, to turn the other cheek, to forgive 70 x 7 and to treat everyone we meet the same way we would treat the Son of God to make some noise.  God brought the "lightning" 2000 years ago when He sent Jesus to save the world.  It's time for us to do our part.  It is time for the followers of Christ to rise up and let our lives make some noise.  Let's shake the very foundations of the church and let the world know that Jesus- and his church- love them.  It is time for us to be the thunder.  Let's get ready to rumble....


Because of Jesus,