Last night I accidentally watched American Idol’s season opener.  I say accidentally because I said that I was done with the show and couldn’t invest anymore of my life in it.  Not that I was ever a huge mega-fan, but I struggled to care anymore.

Then last night, my wife had it on and Steven Tyler from Aerosmith (new on the show) made me laugh.  And then he really  surprised me by often showing humility, care, and compassion for contestants.  He more than once came from behind the desk to come into personal contact with the contestants that are still in the audition phase of the show.

He is a huge star – much bigger than anyone else who’s been on the cast of judges – but he lacks the arrogance, but more importantly he adds something that’s truly been missing on the show in all of its previous years – Encouragement.

Steven Tyler – you know, he’s an entertainer, but you couldn’t help but like the guy.  And I hope that the ratings stay really high because you can watch the show & laugh & actually breathe.  It feels more like, “I want you to win,” not “I want you to lose.”

What do you think?

I think this is a great issue to discuss in your next youth gathering.  Here are some questions:

• Did watching the new cast of judges make you notice how stale this show had gotten?
• What’s the payoff for constant sarcasm?
• What’s the payoff for encouraging people?
• What could you possibly lose from encouraging people?
• Do you think it’s true that our lack of encouragement to others reveals our own insecurities?
• Who’s more entertaining – Simon or Steven Tyler?
• Can encouragement get ratings?

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Sports are an instant conversation-starter or a great way to jump into conversation with teens. Of course, if you know nothing about sports, then you instantly find yourself sitting on the outside of the conversation.

I was always a huge sports fan, but once I got into full-time ministry, watching sports dropped down the priority food chain. It didn’t take long for me to realize how out of touch I really became until I overheard a group of kids talking football and arguing over “LT.” I’m like, “What do these guys know about Lawrence Taylor?” (Of course, he is in the news recently). But these guys were talking about a newer “LT” – Ladanian Tomlinson. Carmelo wasn’t a candy bar. About the only thing that hadn’t changed is that Bret Favre was still retiring – wait a minute, no he wasn’t!

My schedule wasn’t going to change, but I was going to be a little more intentional about picking up a few nuggets here and there. Try this before you head out of the house in the morning:

• Watch a solid 15 of Sportscenter
• Check just the top stories of ESPN.com
• Take a peek at Sports Illustrated’s website (but beware of some of the ads)
• Download a sports app on your phone

Don’t just get facts though, go over the top and get opinions.

Try these shows:

ESPN’s Around the Horn
Pardon the Interruption is another amazing show.

I’m not saying to become an expert, just grab a few nuggets to drop in and be conversant.

And let your teens be the expert.  Ask them what they think about different things you’ve heard, players, teams, trades, etc.  Then just kick back & listen.

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Guest Blogger: Danny Ferguson

I think that there is a general feeling among Christian youth workers that they spend a vast majority of their time doing things that they would rather not be doing. There are administrative tasks, planning for programs and of course…politics. You remember back to your interview and the dreams you had for a dynamic youth group. Of course the dreams have gotten lost in the nightmare of paperwork, phone calls from disapproving members of the congregation and apathetic youth. Now you can’t dream about changing the world with your young people, in fact, you may have even given up hope of changing your group.

What would happen though if you spent less time doing your job and more time investing in your passions? What you would have is a mess. A wonderful, complex, mysterious, confusing mess. Allow me to explain. I used to run some pretty unique and exciting programs. The kind of group that seemed to double in size every week. I had worked hard at getting a mobile drop-in center for youth housed in an antique double-decker bus. We were going into neighborhoods where there was little to do except get drunk behind the elementary school and break into people’s houses. We were making a difference in the lives of the kids on the streets. We had an abundance of money coming in and I had to turn away volunteers because I had too many. Then in a series of terrible events it all fell apart and I was left with nothing. I didn’t even have an office to go and sulk in.

I felt terrible because I had nothing to offer the youth anymore. I would see them around the neighborhood or at their school, but I didn’t know what to say to them. I didn’t have anything thing for them to get involved with and nothing to invite them to. I didn’t have video games systems. I didn’t have a youth group with a cool band. I didn’t have a bible study. I had nothings. I remember distinctly tagging along with some kids one day during their school lunch break. I just happened to be in the coffee shop that they stormed into and I invited myself to sit in on their conversation. They were talking about their drunken adventures from the weekend. I felt awkward and out of place. I didn’t want to preach at them and turn them off of church forever. So I started asking them questions and truly listening to their answers. “What do you think about the laws on the drinking age?” I asked. They went on to explain to me in great detail about how the drinking age should actually be raised from the local 19 to 21. They said that the adolescent brain can be permanently damaged from overuse of alcohol. Then I really felt like I had nothing to offer. Not even education of adolescent brain development. College seemed useless.

Then they asked me a question about me. I casually shared my life story with them. All in all I though it was pretty boring and standard, but when I finished they sat there with their jaws on the floor and told me it was the most amazing story they had ever heard. They even sent other kids in the school to me to ask me to share my story with them. I knew my story was nothing special. I knew that God was using my life to somehow reach theirs. I started to spend 90% of my time with youth in coffee shops talking over all manner of things with kids. They trusted me because I didn’t try to invite them to anything – I didn’t try to change them, I simply was there with them. That’s when things got messy. Kids started to pour out their lives to me. Complex things came out: prostitution, sexual exploitation, gang violence, sexual orientation, family crisis, suicide, and self injury. Things growing up in the church I felt pretty sheltered from. They were hurting and I didn’t have answers to heal them. So I didn’t try to give them answers I just started to tell them stories I knew from the bible. I just told them the stories and didn’t explain them. Weird thing was it worked. Their lives started changing. Unchurched kids started asking to have prayer meetings and they would pray for hours. We would try to stop it and they would keep going. If I wasn’t there to witness it I probably wouldn’t believe it. It is messy, but it is real; and it is worth it. So the best resource God needs is not powerpoint games, teaching curriculum, a tricked out mobile drop-in center. The best resource God has is you. Get out of your office and spend 35 of your 40 hour work weeks out being a youth worker. It is what you were meant to be.

Danny Ferguson is the Langley Area Director for Greater Vancouver Youth For Christ / Youth Unlimited. He has served in various ministry roles over the past 15 years. Danny is passionate about work with kids in their day to day environments addressing their daily needs. He could not do his work without the support of his wife April and his two children, Josiah and Avery. If you would like to contact Danny or hear more stories about his work with youth check out his blog at http://proyouthworker.blogspot.com

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Do you blog?

We’re looking for guest bloggers for YouthResource.net’s Youth Ministry Blog.

We’re looking for every topic from program development to leadership to teaching & training.

Even if you’ve written one article and you’d like to share it, we want to hear from you!

USE THE FORM BELOW:

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YouthResource.net has just pre-launched a job site for youth pastors, youth workers, and children’s workers called:

YouthMinistryJobs.net

The site is absolutely FREE for job seekers & employers!

Check it out today!

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Most youth ministry workers don’t talk about it but they walk around with a tangible tension with certain members of their volunteer team.

Paul & Nick tackle the issue of conflict with your volunteer teams including some tips of how to avoid potential conflict and dealing with conflict you might already have.

We’re taking your questions on this subject & any others:

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Make sure you check out Paul’s interview with Jim Britts – youth worker & movie writer/producer

THE CROWD
The audience that watched the flim last night was largely middle-aged and up and not involved with youth ministry. I assumed this because of the surprises & gasps at some of the teen behavior that was portrayed in the movie.

The scenes weren’t over the top at all, but I guess I shouldn’t be so surprised that they were out of touch with the reality of the lives of teenagers.

The crowd responded very positively, I just wish I would have been in the room with an unchurched audience, or teenagers, or at least my peers. The crowd last night wasn’t the intended audience nor will it be the audience that buys tickets in theaters.

MOVIE PRODUCTION

There were tons of shots and framing throughout the movie. I had the sense that shots were actually thought out prior and the post production guys did a great job creating a fast-moving story that didn’t leave out important elements.

Some really creative cuts were used and flashbacks that weren’t overdone or cheesy.

The music wasn’t one of those preachy soundtracks from an endtimes movie. “I Dare You to Move” is still a great track, but a little dated. I might have suggested something a little more current that would have mainstream appeal, but otherwise the music worked.

On the whole, I’d have to give production an “A.” It was very good.

ACTING

Jim Britts did a great job of putting the cast together. I know when you hear someone say that they used kids out of their youth group as extras the first reaction is to cringe. But I heard the news after the movie was over, and, to be honest with you, they looked like regular extras to me.

All the main characters are actors with serious resumes that you can view on the movie page at

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1270286/

Is the acting going to win a big award? No.

Was it as good or better than a “Hannah Montana” movie or “Transformers?” Yes.

And that’s as good as it needs to be. Teens won’t criticize the acting and they will identify with the characters in the movie.

STORY

There are plenty of movie summaries out there, so I’m not going to talk about the storyline in that kind of detail.

What I will say is that it really is a good story that can connect with any teen Christian or not.
A couple of cuss words, weekend parties, sex, popular people, rejected people, an apathetic youth group, a pastor who doesn’t quite get his youth pastor, a youth pastor who is about heart change not religiosity – all of these things collide to create a pretty relevant and honest storyline (and the Senior Pastor’s son is the bad guy in the movie – awesome!).

The film might get a little undeserved criticism from church people for showing pot smoking and sex. But those people are just going to have to face reality and start coping with culture like their kids are having to now. And if they think that their kid is okay just because he or she goes to youth group, well…I’ll leave that for you to sort out with that parent.

The other thing that was great with the storyline is that the lead character Jacob does give his life to Christ but he doesn’t change his hairstyle, he doesn’t start brandishing a Bible, or have that brainwashed look on his face. He’s normal. He’s never read the Bible and He’s taking his first baby steps towards living this new life out.

And his life starts crashing around him. And he even experiences some of the consequences of the things he’s done before he gave His life to Christ.

Some things didn’t all get worked out by the end of the movie. And that’s perfect because it’s not perfect.
There are endless topics to discuss as a result of watching the film. And in my opinion, in most cases, unless there is a unique opportunity like seeing it on a big screen, you often don’t get a safe enough environment to talk about many of these issues.

THOUGHTS ON USING THE FILM…

• Use this film as a resource to open the door for conversation.
• Don’t rent out a screening and try to preach afterwards. If you do, then you become the stereotype.

Most importantly I think…

Look for a unique opportunity to connect with students who’ve seen the movie but don’t belong to you yet. Is there a chance that perhaps you can go to students rather than them showing up at your youth group to hear a teaching or a discussion? What I mean by that is can you go to their schools and offer something to them? If you can take your need for getting them to sign on the dotted line off the table, I sincerely think that you could gain a voice in public schools to speak with students about all the issues that are presented in the movie. They are not just Church vs. Culture issues, these are issues that parents (Christian or not) and teacher & administrators (Christian or not) are concerned about. And they desperately need and would love to have your support.

Make sure you check out Paul’s interview with Jim Britts – youth worker & movie writer/producer

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Make sure you check out Paul’s Review of To Save a Life

Last night I had the privilege of watching an advanced screening of the movie “To Save a Life” and interviewing the writer of the movie Jim Britts who isn’t corporate Christian filmmaker, but a youth pastor who’s still in the trenches.

You can check out the website:

ToSaveaLifeLeaders.com

Jim also mentioned an “intense” curriculum that was designed for the movie which is available at:

http://www.tosavealifeleaders.com/resources/youthworkers/

Have a listen:

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In the last 2 G-140 Podcasts, we’ve been discussing working with volunteers.

In this weeks show, I talked about the importance of helping volunteers understand their commitment and getting their signoff on those very things.

The majority of youth workers don’t have a formal process of this and it causes tons of problems down the road:

• The volunteer doesn’t know what the vision is.
• The volunteer knows what you’ve said the vision is, but they’re not 100% committed to it though they are committed in some form to ministry.
• The volunteer doesn’t know what your expectations are of them.
• You have no way, as a leader, to be able to discuss shortcomings because you haven’t laid out the expecations.
• The volunteer doesn’t know what a win is and what the youth ministry values most.

And here’s a BIGGIE:

If you don’t have these things ironed out, there WILL be conflict.  What the volunteer sees as being important and what you see as important may be entirely different things.

And conflict should be expected if the volunteer cares about what your doing.  If a volunteer doesn’t know what’s expected and doesn’t quite get the vision but they just come in week in and week out then I’d have to question their overall heart commitment to what’s being done.

As promised on the Podcast, I’m including a simple “Commitments of  a Youth Leader” document that we actually used with our leadership.  Please keep in mind that I thoroughly gave a talk on vision, values, and philosophy of ministry so they knew what they were getting into, and THEN I went over specific expectations before asking them to sign on the dotted line.

A number of things are bulleted so feel free to comment or ask me any questions to bring clarity.

COMMITMENTS OF A YOUTH LEADER > [PDF]

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Outreach Films has produced a movie called, “To Save a Life” that will be coming to theaters in January 2010.

Paul and Nick will be attending an advanced screening of the movie on November 5th and will do a podcast live on-site with interviews of youth leaders in attendance as well to get their thoughts, opinions, and recommendations.

UPDATE: Paul & Nick will be interviewing writer & producer Jim Britts

There could be an advanced screening that you can attend in your area.  Make sure you check their locations at:

http://screenings.tosavealifeleaders.com/events/list

And if you’re in the San Diego area, we’d like to hook up with you at the screening and maybe grab Starbucks afterwards!

If you have questions that you’d like us to ask or would like to contact us, please use the form below.

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