Only two Commandments to Follow.

John 15:4 : Abide in me and I will abide in you, but apart from me, you can do nothing.

This week, I have been away in France and took four books with me, the first was Don Millers Searching for God Knows What (I DEEPLY recommend that you pick up either Don Millers Blue Like Jazz or this one to read. They are short books that are completely unassuming, looking at questions of faith in everyday life), Doug Fields: Your first two years in youth ministry, the Bible, and John le Carre's Wanted Man.  And quite obviously the one that got the most face time with me, was the Wanted Man. When I did get around to opening Doug Fields book, the chapter that I opened it up too, since my last read of it, was the chapter on the importance of a youth worker/volunteers spiritual life and I thought that I would share with you the things that I learned from it:

The number one important point in the chapter was that we have to value our spiritual lives, or our contribution will eventually be sidelined. That we need to be spiritually healthy individuals in order to be able to contribute to the spiritual growth of the young people. We seem increasingly busy doing God's work, rather than BEING God's people.  We allow our service, our planning, our control loving natures get the better of us.

When Jesus was asked what the most important commandment of the bible was he replied:

Matthew 22:36-39

³⁶ “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

³⁷ Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ ³⁸ This is the first and greatest commandment. ³⁹ And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’

Faithfulness to this first command will result in natural obedience to the second. Our relationship with God IS our ministry, and it is this that comes pouring out of us into the areas that we serve in. It doesn't have to be on the bus, but can be in our homes, in our places of work, or in our churches.

Some once told me that what moved them most about the American Civil Rights movement was when Martin Luther King Jnr said that of the 10 commandments, we wouldn't need the other 8 if we simply followed the first two. He was a great teacher, and he understood that putting your worship of God at the centre of your life was more important than all the doing and going, and fixing, and jumping, and playing and planning and on into infinity, that we could imagine. We were saved by grace and not by our deeds, so we need to learn to live in and praise this grace rather than try to make up for it. We enjoy being in control, our culture very much is about this, but we have to give control to God.

I have noted a couple of questions from the book that were challenging to me, and then some suggestions on how you can have variety in your spirituality that may give you some new life to it. We all have times that we feel close to God, on fire for his purpose, but all of us also know the mundane everyday existence where it is easy to simply go from one activity to another without engaging your heart in it. So, this is my challenge to you, try a couple of new things out and see if God speaks to you in new ways.

1. What external, spiritual acts do I value as signs of someone being spiritually mature?

2.Am I aware of the warning signs that lead to spiritual disconnect?

3. What keeps me from being consistent in my time with God?

Suggestions for your 'quiet times'[i]

-Journal about a meaningful bible passage, what are the implications in your life?

-Meditate on a single verse or phrase and consider what it means to you now.

-Seek extended solitude. Be still and listen to God. Don't pray. Simply be quiet and write down what comes into your mind.

-Journal about your life. Examine yesterday's actions. Did you miss what God may have been trying to teach you.

-Read a large portion of your Bible quickly.  Don't stop to think about every verse. Treat it like a story.

-Read a small portion of God's Word and carefully digest each verse.

-Sing.

- Write your prayers to God in a journal.

-Read from a translation or paraphrase that you haven't read from before.

-Write down life lessons that you've learned recently.

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[i] Taken from Doug Fields, Your First Two Years in Student Ministry, Youth Specialities, 2002.

Christ in Jersey?

   Last week, we were unexpectedly quite busy on the bus. With the first of the winter rains starting and the October holidays, I guess I expected that only a couple of our die-harders would come. But by the grace of God I was proven wrong, and we had a pretty full bus with a lot of unexpected people, as well as a good lot of our first years who really enjoyed the basic games and activities. It just goes to show that the influence of the bus in the community of boredom is significant. Older youth come on to escape the rain and to have a place to hang out with their friends, and the younger guys come to be entertained. The opportunities, therefore, are limitless.

   But, then question goes, HOW to make the most of these opportunities? Youth ministry is like a delicate mixture of theology, psychology, physical education, counselling  entertainment, party planning and probably a good amount more of subjects that we don't have degrees in and so at times (read always) it is all a little over-whelming and it's hard to know where to start.

   This week I have been reading about engaging in the culture that you are ministering too, this was mainly to do with several talks that I am doing at a missions conference in a couple of weeks and I am looking at the importance of missionaries to cross over and understand the culture of the people group that they are hoping to serve, and it clicked that in fact this it is the same when working with youth. I will be the first to admit that music is not getting better, it is in fact deteriorating in depth and quality quite rapidly, and television programmes that are being watched by the youth (mainly pseudo-reality tv) is so cheap to make that it has taken over most of the channels on my television, and don't even get me started with fashion. I didn't even realise that shorts could get any tighter or shorter, or that there was such a diverse pallet of colours that trousers could come in, BUT, judging it by the standards of my childhood (which wasn't all that long ago) isn't helpful, nor will it make me a popular person to talk too in our youth community. Thus I have this week taken on a challenge to be more 'relevant'. No, I didn't buy new clothes or cd's, but by trying to understand what our youth enjoy listening too/watching/playing, I am able to find the things in it that point too (and in some ways, away from) God, and in this way we are able too, in a culturally sensitive way, find the most poignant examples of Christ (and common grace) that is already in their own lives, and hopefully this will help them understand the gospel better.

I also stumbled across something that a young person had written to his youth leader, and thought that it was a good idea to copy it in here:

"Students are looking for someone who will accept them for who they are and love them through their struggles. Students in our culture are struggling with addictions, relationships and faith. They need youth leaders who will spend less time judging them and spending more time loving them with Christ-centered love. Don't get me wrong, we don't have to approve of their sin, but we need to hate the sin so much, we need to love them in such a way as to help them overcome whatever it is in their lie. I am always encouraging youth leaders not to be afraid to get down and dirt with their student's struggles. Students need youth leaders who will do just that".

http://www.youthleadersacademy.com/need-youth-leaders/#more-112

Romans 12:8: If it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.

Heart Check!

Zeal without knowledge is not good; a person who moves too quickly may go the wrong way. (Proverbs 9:2 NLT)

 The building of a healthy, happy and fruitful youth ministry takes time, patience and wisdom, it won't happen just because we decide that we want it to happen. This is probably the first lesson that we are going to learn trying to run the Youth Bus. One of the first things that as volunteers and workers, we have to get right, is our hearts. God knows what is in our hearts, do we? It is important when working with young people (or anyone for that matter) that we consider and examine our motives and hearts often. God honours pure motives, and if our motives are pure then this will lead to strengthening of our ministry. If our motives are right, then we are searching for God's guidance in our ministry, and God will be in the center of our decision making. This will lead to fruit. Our natural tendency is to try to take over situations, to control them, plan them well, colour situations with our perspectives and our ideas and considerations. This isn't completely wrong, but if done without prayer and seeking God's guidance we are working completely off of our own strengths, which are finite. Especially when it's cold.

 Below are some questions that you might like to consider, when considering your hearts position and your dependence on God:
 1.Why is dependence on God important for the leaders and volunteers involved in the Youth Bus ministry?      How will it affect our Ministry?

 2.Do you find it easier to do? and work through actions? Instead of being? What does this mean to you?

 3. Is your life busy? What three areas take up most of your time? What is the greatest barrier you face that keeps you from spending time with God?

 Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will direct your paths. (Proverbs 3:5-6 NTL)

      For the next three weeks on the Bus, our talks are going to revolve around Micah 6:8
He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly[a] with your God.

 Last week when this passage was considered with the young people, they didn't know the deeper meanings of the key words of the passage. So this week we are talking about Justice, next week about Mercy or Kindness and the third week about Humility. So take some time to think about what Justice means to you, and see if you can start some discussions about it.

 God Bless and hope the rest of the week remains Sunny.
 Ems

Youth Work 10 commands (Borrowed) :D

1. Thou shalt not be easily angered or wound up, especially when Gary asks you for the tenth time why there aren't any Snickers in the tuck shop this week. 2. Thou shalt not try to pass yourself off as cool and 'in touch' by the wearing of unsuitable fashion like that Taio Cruz T-shirt you thought would impress everyone. You're 52 years old, get over it. 3. Thou shalt not ask endless questions since that's the job of parents and is very annoying if you're 15. 4. Thou shalt not pretend to like stuff you don't, as in "Yeah, I love Rachel from Glee too" as it's painfully obvious to anyone that you couldn't pick them out from a line up if your life depended on it. 5. Thou shalt not try and turn every conversation into an evangelistic opportunity since the link between winning at Connect 4 and finding salvation is tenuous at best. 6. Thou shalt get involved in everything with enthusiasm and be prepared to play, have fun and occasionally be silly. Standing at the side and watching when games are being played is not good. 7. Thou shalt be honest about your own faith, including the bits where it turns out you're not exactly perfect and yes, sometimes you have doubts too. 8. Thou shalt remember a young person's name when they tell it you since it's hard to believe you really care if you can't even get that right. 9. Thou shalt listen and make teenagers feel like you actually interested in them as a person without butting in with your own stories all the time. 10. Thou shalt pray like crazy for the wisdom, compassion and energy you'll need to be a youth worker and remind yourself daily that it's about as great a privilege as you'll get in this lifetime to hang out with these young people. http://www.youthwork-magazine.co.uk/main/article/10commandments