Archives for October 2011

I was at my son Tyler’s soccer game on Saturday when the referee walked to the center of the field to do the normal pre-game check with my team.  I lined them up at center field facing him and he checked all 13 of them for their equipment.  He checked to make sure they had shoes on, their shirts tucked in, and their shin-guards on.  He told 2 of my boys they could not play with the “drug free week” red plastic bracelet from that week at school, claiming they once broke another player’s finger when caught in them.  So we cut them off,

Last weekend we did this crazy experiment with pumpkins and a foaming mouth in the desert.  It was gross and the perfect illustration for a conversation about the power of the tongue.  We got the idea from Dangerous Devotions for Guys and is only dangerous cuz of nasty chemicals.  There’s no fire or explosions this time. This one does say you should measure stuff out all official like with a gram scale and stuff, but we just guessed using the estimated portions they suggested on some stuff and got close with others and it worked perfect.  Here’s how:

Have students carve a pumpkin- make sure to give it a big mouth.  Place it on a rock or bucket or something with a glass jar inside.

Add some liquid soap, food coloring, and some 30% hydrogen peroxide- which is essentially pool shock that you buy at a pool cleaning supply place- to the glass jar.  Then you mix some crazy chemical powder  that I bought online at the place the book says to get it.  You dissolve it with water in a separate container and then quickly pour it into the jar of other junk already in the pumpkin, then put the lid on the pumpkin fast… and almost instantly, the foam comes spewing out and it’s gross and it makes a big nasty toxic mess.

Which is just exactly what you want it to do when you’re talking about the power of our tongue and a lie. What more could you ask for to get students talking about how powerful our words are than a pumpkin spewing powerful foaming chemicals out it’s mouth?  Genius I tell you.  Sheer genius.

Add a healthy serving of James 3 and maybe a little John 8:44 and Isaiah 29:13 and maybe finish it off with with Ephesians 4:29 and bammo.  You have yourself a conversation about the power of the tongue and the danger/power in the word’s we speak for good or evil.

That my friends, is a great small group study in the bag.

There’s something beautiful about an object lesson that begins with, “Don’t try this at home.”

I really don’t know how Tim Shoemaker managed to get them to publish this, but his book, “Dangerous Devotions for Guys” has several cool object lessons that proved spot on for our man trip to the desert- cuz they live up to the name.  They are dangerous and dangerous was just what we were going for.  It was the perfect place for these object lessons too because there’s nothing to catch on fire, no carpet to worry about destroying, and no shortage of open space.  There is however a shortage of hospitals near by, so reading the fine print is kinda important. 🙂

The first night’s lesson would be after dark so we took advantage of the lack of light and taught our students how to use a coat hanger, a squirt bottle, a candle, some duct tape, and a bottle of Isopropyl Alcohol to make a flame thrower.

I didn’t have any time to test any of these experiments out before I did them, so I was concerned that one might bomb and then I’d be stuck with a lousy object lesson.  But not one proved to be this way.  And the personal flame thrower turned grown men into kids again.  It was legit and so much fun!

And this led perfectly into a conversation about the power of our choices.  We talked about how our decisions we make are powerful and dangerous.   We challenged young men to be dangerous for the Kingdom of God in all they do and to lead lives that were worthy of imitation.

1Timothy 4:12  Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.  (niv)

1 Corinthians 10:31–11:1  So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.  Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God—  even as I try to please everyone in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved.  Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ. (niv)

1Corinthians 11:1  Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.  (esv)

Thanks Tim for the object lesson.  I owe you one. It was nothing short of an epic memory maker for sure.

Last week a column I wrote for Slant 33 went live on the web in the subject of “Tradition in Youth Ministry.”  Myself and two others wrote about the inherent dangers and strengths that tradition hold. 

SHARED STORIES: If you do an event or have a ritual or keep a tradition over the long haul, then your ministry has a consistent shared journey. Students and staff can say, “Remember that time at summer camp…” and they all have an instant shared story. Sure, each year was different, but there’s camaraderie and unity and ownership in shared language and experience, all of which are like gold in youth ministry.  

THE LOGISTICS CAN BE DONE IN YOUR SLEEP.You already know the family that does the food. You know who plays the music and who your leaders will be. You just call them, confirm a couple of things, and move on because they already know what to do, what to expect, and how to help. The logistics are virtually done before you even start. Tweak the flyer, fix two things you learned last year, make some phone calls, put it up on Facebook. Done.  

WE GET PREDICTABLE.  Tradition can also lead to predictability in a bad way. Instead of keeping your students on the edge of their seats, wondering what will happen next, they start to ditch stuff because they’ve already done it. Even if it was amazing the first time, the second time was okay, and the third time was, um…predictable. When we do and say what everyone thinks we’ll do and say, we lose our leadership edge in the lives of students. 

Our annual desert weekend man trip retreat is now complete and what a BLAST it was.  We took 57 adults and students from 2 churches to the desert for a weekend of bonding, Bible study, and things that go BOOM.

We did the usual stuff like a huge bonfire and shooting ranges for both rifles and shotguns.  Yes, we blew some stuff up. We ate like kings.  We enjoyed one another.  We had some great conversations and saw some students take some renewed steps back to God.

But this year, there were 3 things that really stood out to me.

LIFE WITH GODLY MEN IN MY LIFE IS BETTER.
I love doing life with the men in my ministry.  I’m so thankful for Godly friends who are willing to stand shoulder to shoulder with me and call teens to step it up into manhood.  I loved listening to their conversations, watching them model ministry, and serving along side of them.  I really could not ask for a greater compliment to my own ministry than the character and integrity of the friends and mentors who have willingly chosen to unite with us.  It means the world to me.

ACTIVE AND VISUAL LEARNING IS FLAT OUT BETTER.
This year we used a book called “Dangerous Devotions for Guys” and seriously, it was worth EVERY PENNY we paid for it.  In each of our large group conversations we had we used a visual from this book and had the guys make them in 8 small groups.  I’ll go into more detail on the 4 that we used that were epic in future posts this week, but suffice to say, the visuals were amazing teaching tools.  These images might not mean much to you right now, but trust me, none of the men on this trip will forget them or what they stood for.

Also, on the first night, we gave every guy on the trip a block of wood as a memory tool.  Then for each message or conversation time, we created a “brand logo”.  There were 5 plus one danger symbol that we used for each talk and to shape our weekend.  Jason, our resident metal worker, used a water jet to make steel logos which we heated with torches and branded into their board after each talk.  Epic.  Seriously Epic weekend of POWERFUL visuals.  Here’s my board:

REAL MINISTRY TAKES TIME.  
I think this is my 6th year to the desert with our men in Encounter and each year it gets better.  The men get more confident, the students get more involved, and manhood is literally growing all around us.  Not because we blow stuff up, but because we’re consistent.   The men that go with us to the desert and stay plugged into our small groups through the year are slowly but surely changing into the image of God and it’s powerful stuff to watch and see.  This year, my oldest son TJ got to join me for the first time as well.  That is longevity of another fruit that I’m so blessed to now enjoy.  I’ve waited 14 years for this season of ministry and I’m so blessed beyond words at the long term fruit in my own son’s life at this stage.  I thank God for the way time and the Holy Spirit together change lives.