As a professor who spends a great deal of time with young people and with others who spend time with young people I get a lot of questions about life, God’s call, and preparation for the future. One of the more common questions comes from those who feel a call to vocational ministry and in particular to student ministry. The question has to do with preparation. How much formal preparation? How much experience?
What should be my next step?

I recently talked to a young man who had tons of experience in terms of interacting with and being in front of people. An ultimate fighter for a while, he had fought in front of large crowds. Being in front of people came naturally and he had plenty of opportunities. After meeting Christ and spending time overseas doing missions his perspective changed. When he and I visited I found him to be hungry to become better prepared He wanted to be the best ambassador for Christ possible, so he asked a lot of good questions about ministry.

I gave him the standard line I give consistently. I do not know who said it first, but it is good, basic counsel: you take care of the depth of your ministry and God will take care of the breadth of your ministry. I still believe that.

I do think more elaboration is needed. Both depth and breadth matter, after all. None of us want to be theological nincompoops, and we all would rather be more than less effective as we minister. Balance matters in terms of ministry preparation. But I find that balance too often is not appreciated enough.

I meet plenty of extremely gifted student pastors who have a knack for relating to a younger generation. They move naturally into ministry opportunities and thrive around people. Many are also excellent communicators. But I have noticed a trend–while certainly not always the case, at times the more gifted and naturally capable at growing in ministry experience have a corresponding lack of appreciation for formal equipping. Many times that comes from those who supervise them who would–unknowingly or not–get the most out of these gifted young leaders they can without something like education hampering them. I have on occasion talked to gifted students who had a pastor seek to lure them away from finishing their education with the opportunity of a great ministry but one more focused on filling an immediate need in the church than the long term ministry of the student. On the other hand, some young leaders figure they did not seem to need theological training to get where they are to this point. Such a disposition sounds great on the surface but smacks of remarkable shortsightedness. These young leaders could use a little time with a hefty book on theology.

There is another side, one long on love for study and short on interest in actual ministry experience. Teaching at a seminary allows me to encounter more than a few who greatly value depth. They love theology, biblical languages. and many enjoy debate. In some of these I see a lack of appreciation for the practice of ministry. These fellows need to get out of the library and tell somebody about Jesus. Or go to a nursing home and volunteer. Or something, just DO something.

So here is the advice I find myself giving more and more. If you are young in ministry and have had more than the normal opportunities to practice ministry, you need to give more attention to your education. Get that degree. Do not see formal education as a necessary hoop to jump through; see it as essential to your own discipleship. Take time to think long and hard about the long term ministry you hope to have. The fact that some teenagers who cannot articulate a most basic understanding of the gospel think you are cool should have no impact on your desire to serve Christ with all your mind (Romans 12:2). I have met enough young men who are emotionally passionate about Jesus but neither intellectually rigorous nor appreciative enough of discipline to be prepared for a life of ministry.

But for the young theologian who enjoys bantering about everything from Bart Ehrman to Wittgenstein, here is my advice: get yourself hip deep in a local community where you are investing in some ministry to the broken world that exists all around you.

A professional seminarian is about as unattractive as a theologically underdeveloped “youth guy.” So if you are young and seeking to follow Christ as a minister of the gospel, sign up for a class (we have great online classes, hint hint), or go volunteer at a local student ministry. Just don’t stay where you are.

Just one final word: what I said above does not actually apply to a young minister starting in ministry, but for any follower of Christ. Grow deep, reach wide, and be busy for the Master.

We all have distinguishing marks. What would you say distinguishes you spiritually? Emotionally? What would your friends say is your distinguishing mark relationally, or economically?

In Romans 4 we read of Abraham. Paul has made the argument for three chapters that we are guilty, Jew and Gentile, religious or not. We stand under God’s wrath. BUT NOW, those glorious words in 3:21 remind us, we can be redeemed by the only God who is alone righteous because of Christ. Now, Paul sets Abraham up as witness #1 for the veracity of salvation by faith. The distinguishing mark of Abraham: faith.

Abraham’s selection by God to be the father of nations did not earn him special favor. He needed to be justified by faith just like anyone else, and thus Paul gives his testimony to demonstrate the righteousness and grace of God in salvation.

But there is a verse in Romans 4 that recently struck me like it never had before. It shows us something about this distinguishing mark of faith in Abraham.

Remember, Abraham was NOT perfect. He lied, he could be treacherous, and he doubted God. But he ultimately trusted God, which was greater than his feeble attempts at obedience. And his faith was counted as righteousness.

The verse that hit me? Verse 20: “No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God.” Abraham’s faith grew. Faith may have been his distinguishing characteristic ultimately, but not originally. His faith grew.

Is growing faith a distinguishing mark of your walk with God? Your handling of finances? Your relationships? Your witness? I like to say that there is a reason we have children when we are young, because we need the energy to chase around the rugrats. But there is also a reason we are older as children grow older, because they need to see our growing faith. My faith falters too often, but I know I can trust God in ways today our children may not, because I have 30 plus years of growing faith ahead of them. Ministers, our people should see growing faith. And they should see us give glory to God. Parents, our children must see growing faith.

I cannot think of a better mark to be distinguished with than faith.

Wednesday afternoon I had a remarkable time with the staff at CF. at their time of worship they have every other month. I could say a lot of things about the church from my time here. In addition to teaching the staff in this time of worship (a rocking two hour gathering with over 100 in attendance), I spoke to the deacons Wednesday night, the coaches in their student ministry Friday night, and all their student ministry leaders Saturday morning. I also had the chance to spend time with a few of their students, which was the icing on the cake.

While there I hung out with my great friend Jeff Borton, student pastor at CF and co-author with Eric Geiger of Simple Student Ministry, a book I commend to you. Jeff gets a lot of things. He gets the gospel. He gets missional. He gets the need to help students think like missionaries while they are still students. Since I am writing a book on that for NavPress the timing of my visit could not have been better. We spend a couple of days filming everywhere from the Everglades to South Beach around the themes of gospel centrality and missional student ministry. I look forward to sharing the videos with you in the days to come.

I only learned a little of the story of CF, but what I have learned encourages me greatly. We filmed at their downtown campus, which had been Central Baptist Church. If you read the history of Central you will find that in the early 1970s the church had experienced remarkable growth with between 1500-2000 filling the facilities in the heart of downtown Miami. But things changed, and only a few years ago less than one hundred rattled around in the large facility. They merged with CF, and now a revitalized congregation making an impact for Christ in the heart of downtown has been realized once again.

But I wanted to comment specifically about the pastor, Rick Blackwood. Rick has been at CF for about 15 years. The church has literally exploded, growing almost tenfold to near-8000 on weekends on six campuses. As noted, I spent about an hour and a half teaching the whole staff. I spent some time with others, and have spent much time with Jeff. I talked to Rick for only about 5 minutes after I taught the staff. Here is something you must know about a leader: you really do not have to know him personally to know what kind of person he is—just spend time with those he leads. I cannot tell you how impressed I am with this pastor. Humble, self-deprecating, and yet ferociously passionate for Christ and His church. I would recommend every pastor, especially those under 40 and in a recognized “growing” ministry, to talk to him.

Still teachable, he asked me more questions than he talked about himself. He wants to learn more, to be more effective. I sensed this man has much wisdom, yet he was the one asking me who he could talk with to learn more. He is the Level 5 leader described in Collins’ Good to Great: very humble yet ferociously committed to his call.

I never cease to marvel at a pastor of such a thriving, huge church, who pours his life into his congregation. He loves his people. He loves the Bible. He loves being a pastor. I walked away from our conversation feeling like I could learn so much from this man, and that I would really enjoy a closer friendship with him. His tribe is more rare than it should be, but there are more like him than you may think. They are too busy being a pastor to be promoted. And many serve in churches smaller and perhaps less noteworthy than this one, but no less significant in the advancing movement of God.

If you are a leader, seek to be humble, teachable, and let people see who you are and how you lead not only by talking to you, but simply by being around those you lead. As I said, you can tell a lot about a leader by hanging out with those he leads. I found the staff to be serious about the gospel, passionate for each other, and humble. Just like their pastor.

May God give us more like Pastor Rick.

Student ministers know this term well, or at least they should. lChristian Smith and Melinda Denton have popularized this term out of their massive research called The National Study of Youth and Religion.

They argue the Western Church has done a phenomenal job of communicating to students. But what has been communicated has not been as biblically centered as we might hope. We have communicated Christianity as behavior modification too often and as the matchless work of a grace-bearing God who is the center of it all too little. In her presentation of the findings of perhaps the exhaustive study, Kendra Creasy Dean observed:
“The National Study of Youth and Religion reveals a theological fault line running underneath American churches: an adherence to a do-good, feel-good spirituality that has little to do with the Triune God of Christian tradition and even less to do with loving Jesus Christ enough to follow him into the world.” (Kenda Creasy Dean, Almost Christian: What the Faith of Our Teenagers is Telling the American Church, p. 4)
In other words, Dean argues that this study shows the very way many of us have raised children in our churches has worked against any sort of missional impulse we might otherwise hope to engage. This is no small charge. She adds: “American young people are unwittingly being formed into an imposter faith that poses as Christianity, but that in fact lacks the holy desire and missional clarity necessary for Christian discipleship.” (p. 6)

What has been taught, this thing they call therapeutic moralistic deism, has offered a how-to faith based on the needs of the individual over the redemptive plan of the Creator God. How has this happened, often in churches which stand firmly on the Bible as the Word of God? I would argue part of this comes from our tendency to view students as “kids” who are more silly than serious, and wrote a whole book on that called Raising the Bar. In addition, we have fundamentally made a shift in much of our teaching and living of the Scripture from seeing the Bible through the lenses of the gospel and the mission of God to understanding the Bible primarily as a roadmap which will guide us via morality to the place of faithfully serving God.

Unfortunately, many churches have taught the Bible to children and youth not as a book with one central, redemptive message, but as a collection of stories and morals with the gospel as the key story. Therapeutic moralistic deism is “therapeutic,” for it focuses on surface change, turning the Bible into a counseling manual more than the revelation of God. It is “moralistic,” because its focus is behavior modification. Acting right subtly becomes more important than believing right. It is “deistic,” because it does not require a God who is intimately involved in all of Creation and in all aspects of our lives, but who generally exists to bring us happiness and most specifically in our spiritual lives.

I call it the Aesop’s Fable approach to the Bible. It is ironically a “moral failure,” for by focusing on morality too much we actually hinder students from seeing the lifelong, holistic implications of their faith. Motivation for serving God stems more from changing our behavior than from living a life of radical faith. Such extrinsic motivation will actually work on the short term: show students how sex before marriage will lead to guilt and disease, for instance, or show them how lying will cost them friendships, and they will abstain from these sins, at least for a season. But if moral change becomes the primary focus of our faith, the long-term obedience we seek may actually be the one thing we will not see.

It could well be that we are contributing to students’ dropping out of church with our short-term focus over eternal values. But the much-debated topic of dropout rates actually fails to emphasize a more critical point, because even those who remain in our churches lack the missional drive to make gospel impact in their daily lives. In other words, how many who stay “in church” still “drop out” of active, daily, missional faith?

All this of course is not to say that behavioral change is unimportant. Our morality marks a vital part of being conformed to the image of Christ. But, a growing sense of moral uprightness and a concomitant behavior reflecting this is a result of our faith; it simply cannot be the prime motivator. We have confused the point (the indicative) with the result (the imperative), and this has not helped us in discipling students. For instance, instead of seeing the story of David as all Scripture does, tied closely to the story of redemption and the coming of the Messiah, we take a story like David and Goliath and moralize it, and in so doing we actually marginalize it. We preach about how David killed Goliath, so we can now defeat those pesky enemies in our lives. Or, Joseph’s brothers victimized him and yet God used him, so Joseph’s story becomes a means of therapy for those who have been hurt. Yet when we read the story of Joseph from the perspective of all of Scripture and the message of redemption throughout, we see his vital role in the mission of God to save sinners. That is not to say we cannot learn practical advice from David’s defeat of a giant or Joseph’s determined faith; but it is to say that we can miss the greater point of these narratives by turning them into individual stories with a moral. These are not parables; they help us to connect with the plan of God in eternity.

The practical result of turning the Bible into a series of moral truths is to assume the gospel and to minimize its role in our lives. We move the good news of Jesus’ death and resurrection to the category of “lost person only,” so that the gospel is for unbelievers, not believers. So we have our mega-youth events and we share the gospel (or often tack it on at the end) at these, but we do not teach the impact of the gospel for the believer and the redemptive story of God in all of the Bible and thus its impact on all of life. Thus, students grow up in church, learn a lot of stories, and are destroyed in one semester of Intro to Philosophy when they go off to college. They never got the border of the puzzle of life by understanding the mission of God; they simply got practical stories on how to deal with certain felt needs, and they got their eternal destiny taken care of, or so they think. Many become the dechurched—those who grow up in the church but walk away when away from the familiar (family, home church, etc). Others limp their way through life spiritually, never getting the great plan of God for creation and for their lives.

As a result too many students move into the adult world understanding their faith as something on the level of importance of music, sports, or other topics that matter but are, as Dean notes, “Unnecessary for an integrated life.” (Dean, 6). In other words, she adds, Christianity becomes nothing more than “a very nice thing.”

Following Jesus into the world cannot simply be a “very nice thing.”

A focus on Christianity as therapeutic moralistic deism explains why so many believers today confuse biblical Christianity with civil religion and the spiritual war for the souls of men with the culture wars of winning political arguments. In recent months I have moved from speaking on a variety of diverse subjects to staying focused on the greatness of the gospel and the glory of Christ. I have seen more come to faith than any season of ministry in a long time. And I keep getting emails form students who tell me how their understanding of Christ has pushed them outside the walls of the church to caring for others through the gospel. In earlier seasons of revival we read of how young people played critical roles in those movements, and those movements had a searing hot devotion to the gospel of Jesus Christ. If we will have a missional movement in our time, it may manifest itself in many ways practically, but it will be birthed out of gospel fervor not moral failure.

As I write and travel I have opportunities to meet some remarkable examples of students who do get this. For example, Morgan. I met Morgan while preaching on a Wednesday night at Calvary Baptist Church in Winston-Salem, a great church a while back. I met her parents who have supported her greatly in her work.

Morgan and a few other friends discovered the horror of human trafficking. They started a ministry to raise funds to fight this blight. When I met Morgan she was a ripe old age of 14 (she is now 15 and her friends who help are 14-16). Their website is here.

The fall when I met Morgan they had just gotten started and had already raised almost $4,000. They have already helped to rescue young girls who were being raped as prostitutes against their will. They are now adopting a city in Moldova where 30,000 girls have been taken by trafficking rings over the past ten years.

This is a group of girls who began this ministry out of a 9th grade Sunday school class. Can we possibly play a few less games and give a few more students a vision to live boldly for Christ? Yes, we can.

Here is a video they produced as well. Learn more. Support them. End slavery. For the gospel.

Make your own slide show at Animoto.

This is hardly new. Acts 2:41-47, the very first summary of life in the new church in Jerusalem, describes how believers not only worshiped God through knowing Christ but how they also sacrificed to help those in need. When the gospel takes root in a soul it spreads its branches to reach those in various needs. Throughout the book of Acts we read that meeting the temporal needs of people was one specific way the gospel was put on display for all to see.

This week I am leading a doctoral seminar on historical movements and models of evangelism. Yesterday we looked at some of the modern, great awakenings. One of the obvious results of spiritual awakenings came in the form of many new believers and thus many new or revitalized churches. But as clear a result as that is, another fact reveals itself again and again, and that is the way the gospel pushed believers to help the broken.

The Pietists at Halle under Francke started an orphanage as well as a school, among others. You will find that caring for orphans often flowed from gospel streams. Whitefield the great evangelist not only preached up and down the colonies fanning the flame of revival, he also established an orphanage called Bethesda in Savannah (it is still there).

Scores of educational institutions from schools for Indians to college to seminaries grew out of the awakenings. Read the stories of these revivals and you will read about declining infant mortality and alcoholism, and in some cases remarkable impact on social evils, such as Wesley’s influence on Wilberforce in the abolition of slavery in England. The rapid missionary expansion seen in the Student Volunteer Movement and others in the 19th century focused on taking the gospel to the nations, but also included a desire to meet the needs of peoples around the world.

When you look at history and see those times of rapid gospel expansion you see a consistent emphasis on combating social ills as well. When the gospel is most richly experienced and understood it will be most passionately shared, both in terms of its message of reconciliation with the one true God and its humanitarian care for people created in His image. However, when the primary driving force for social justice is the needs of people and not the gospel, we see a loss of the gospel and too often a decline into liberalism.

Our motivation for caring for the broken must be the gospel. We need a consistent, radically Christocentric view of the world and its need, and as the gospel changes our own hearts it will impact our hands as well. And our wallets.

Commenting on the Evangelical Awakening led humanly by John Wesley and others, John Richard Green observed:

“A yet nobler result of the religious revival, was the steady attempt, which has never ceased from that day to this, to remedy the guilt, the ignorance, the physical suffering, the social degradation of the profligate and the poor. It was not till the Wesleyan impulse had done its work that this philanthropic impulse began. The Sunday Schools established by Mr. Raikes of Gloucester at the close of the century were the beginnings of popular education. . . . A passionate impulse of human sympathy with the wronged and afflicted raised hospitals, endowed charities, built churches, sent missionaries to the heathen, supported Burke in his plea for the Hindoo, and Clarkson and Wilberforce in their crusade against the iniquity of the slave-trade.”

I pray the growing concern for social justice seen in our younger generation will be fueled in the church by the missional flame of a robust gospel. And I pray that flame will ignite our churches, and we would continue to recover a gospel understanding that cannot be confined to our church buildings. This gospel, as my friend J.D. Greear notes in his outstanding new book Gospel, is revolutionary indeed.

If Tom Brady had a defense like the Crimson Tide’s he would never lose a game.

Roll Tide.

But all these and other stories pale in comparison to the most unlikely of heroes when the lockout-threatened season of 2011-12 began.

Tim Tebow.

As a follower of Christ I have admired Tebow for years now, although I have never been a fan of the Florida Gators or the Denver Broncos. His second season in the NFL has been nothing short of remarkable. Tebow has been unashamed in talking about Christ. He has lived a life of character that matches his words, a fact that has brought praise even from those outside the faith. His is no pseudofaith of the celebrity who drops the Jesus name when convenient but whose life contradicts the Savior. His boldness in speaking of Christ of course has brought its share of critics, but his character and determination, and at times his play on the field, have all brought praise, even from skeptics. He actually has a term named for his habit of kneeling in brief prayer called “Tebowing” that has entered the American lexicon.

But one of the most striking features about Tebow that I have seen (and I have not followed too closely I admit) has been his unwillingness to claim that his faith has led to the wins. I have seen him not once remark that God is interested in who wins a football game. He simply gives praise to his Lord when they win. And when they do not. The most remarkable feature of the Tebow story from where I sit is this: here is a young man, 24, who simply seeks to live out his faith in the job he has. Okay, the job he has offers huge exposure, and he has been extremely unique and, in the face of critics, successful beyond expectation. But the fact remains that he has not used his Christianity as a platform for anything more than a follower of Christ should in whatever vocation they are in.

My problem with all the hoopla is not with Tim Tebow. It is with some believers, particularly those who also seem to love the Christian subculture. You know, like those who tweeted that his 316 yards last week in his performance against the Steelers was somehow spiritually related to John 3:16.

Really?

Tim Tebow is not the Messiah. He gets that. Do we all get it as well?

His play against the Steelers, most notably leading them to a win (honestly, who would have thought in week 6 the Broncos would make the divisional round of the playoffs?) was pretty amazing. But if you are a Christian whose faith is dependent on a football player’s efforts, your faith is badly misplaced. If you are a believer who needs a hero so you do not have to live valiantly for Christ in your lesser-known lot in life, you may misunderstand the gospel’s power and perhaps fail to appreciate the work of grace found in Christ which far surpasses sport or celebrity.

Yes, God uses men like Tim Tebow, and for that I am so grateful. Unlike Charles Barkley I am fine with the attention he gets. But truthfully if more every-day people lived out their faith with the same passion and humility, the gospel would be advanced more than it will be by one sports celebrity.

No doubt there are some that see Tebow vs Tom Brady in the playoffs as the classic David vs Goliath (I did hear someone use that analogy already this week): Christian versus the Lion, in this case the genuine faith of a young man who does mission work contrasted with the roar of materialism from a pop cultural icon and football player who is married to a supermodel (Brady) who makes more money than he does. Never mind that Brady’s story is pretty remarkable, as he was drafted lower and had less expected of him than Tebow when he came into the league. Brady is not a Christ follower to be sure, but he is not our enemy either (in case you missed it, our enemy was defeated on the cross not via football). Or in another scenario, unheralded (by NFL standards) QB vs the best QB of the last decade, and who plays for the Evil Empire of Belichik. Clean guy Tebow versus Playboy Brady.

Not only do I not buy that, it is also a terrible abuse of the David and Goliath story in Scripture which is not at all about us. Sports can teach a lot about life, but let’s not get too carried away here. Let’s not turn Tim Tebow’s story into another really bad Carmen video.

I am not here to defend Tom Brady. I am not a fan of the Patriots either. I hope Denver wins. But I fear that what is missing in all the hysteria over Tebow by Christ-followers is that it is in fact his character he has displayed both in wins AND in losses that displays the gospel far more than the number of yards he has in a game or in the number of wins he racks up in a season. Tebow has not used his success as a platform to promote the Christian subculture. And neither should we.

By the way, some Christians are not the only ones doing this. I understand some witches in New England are casting spells for the Patriots. I am not sure I want to be using their tactics.

Tim Tebow has used his platform to give glory to God. No doubt the wins, many in dramatic form, have given him a greater platform, and he is right to be unashamed in his love for Christ as the spotlight grows brighter. He is by some polls the most popular athlete alive just now, and for that I thank God. I heard Chuck Norris asked Tebow to play him in a movie. Okay not really. He has been a team guy, a football player, a man who seems to believe that he has to earn on the field any credit he should receive for his sport. And he is right about that.

I think the insecurity of many Christians living in an increasingly secular culture shows up whenever a Tebow comes along. If he never wins another game, Jesus will still be Lord. If he rushes for 66 yards it does not stand for the books of the Bible and if he throws for 316 yards it does not mean John 3:16. But if he conducts his life as a genuinely changed-by-the-gospel Christian, you know, just like you and I should be doing, no doubt God will use him for gospel purposes.

And He will use you and me as well. And I think that is in fact the point.

I thank God for Tim Tebow. I pray for him. I cannot imagine the weight on his young shoulders. Let’s face it, the overwhelming majority of Americans have no idea who Tim Keller or Matt Chandler or Johnny Hunt or any other preachers we admire. But they know who Tim Tebow is. For that reason alone we would do well to pray for him. I have friends who grew up with him and have been around his family, and they tell me the Tebows are the real deal when it comes to following Christ. I am grateful for his example. But whether the Broncos make the most unlikely of Super Bowl runs and Tebow wins the MVP, or if the haters are proven true and he quickly washes out as an NFL QB, or (more likely) somewhere in between, I am confident he will continue to focus on Jesus.

Just like we should as well.

Of course some mentioned (in case we assumed it) the Bible. As for the rest, I am qualifying or ranking them to some extent, not because I am an expert but because it is my blog! Note that I do not necessarily recommend all of these personally as some I have neither read nor in the case of some even heard of them.

The top authority cited (no surprise here) is Paul Tripp. His excellent book The Age of Opportunity received the most mentions. A close second is his Shepherding a Child’s Heart (while more for younger children it is still helpful for parents of youth). Both of these deal specifically with parenting issues.

Two books that help parents with a general perspective on children in the teen years were mentioned repeatedly:
Do Hard Things: by two older teens (the Harris twins)on expecting more from youth.
My book, Raising the Bar was mentioned by several, again a book more on perspective.
The Myth of Adolescence by my friend and colleague David Alan Black, which not unlike Raising the Bar argues for a higher view of the maturity level of youth.
I would add to these The Millennials by Thom and Jess Rainer.

Others I know to be helpful, some for specific issues and mentioned by various respondents:
Lost and Found
Revolutionary Parenting
Broken Down House
Give Them Grace
Generation Y
The Faithful Parent
Come Back, Barbara
Preparing Your Son/Daughter for Every Man’s/Woman’s Battle
The Last Christian Generation (Josh McDowell)
Parenting Isn’t for Cowards by Dobson
Peacemaking for Families
Bringing Up Kids Without Tearing Them Down
I Kissed Dating Goodbye, and I Gave Dating a Chance (two alternate views)

An interesting suggestion was The Art of War, a phenomenal book that I had not personally related to parenting.

Here are some I am quite frankly not as familiar with that received a mention:
Teenology
Give Them Grace
King Me
Parenting Beyond your Capacity
The Plan of Your Life/Stephens
Gospel Powered Parenting
Get Outta My Face by Horne
An Expose on Teen Sex and Dating

Also mentioned were Wild at Heart and Captivating by John Eldredge. For me his works are a mixed bag of some helpful insights and some head-scratching thoughts, but reading them with discernment I found them to be useful.

And another noted the importance of being aware of what youth are reading today. If you are not familiar with The Hunger Games for instance, your student probably are. I have in fact scanned at least one of the Twilight books myself (not a fan personally).

A buddy from seminary apologized for being self-serving by mentioning something he wrote for his own son you can see at markcreech.com. Okay with me Mark, I promote my books on my blog!

I would suggest that you help parents by first instructing them from Scripture from such helpful passages as Deuteronomy 6:4-9. Then, help them to find one or two helpful books, one more general about youth and our times, and one more specific (like Tripp). Too many choices usually lead people to do nothing, so recommending a couple or three books is likely more helpful than listing twenty.

I would love to hear your thoughts, recommendations, and personal insights.

And I make them drive which is always a plus.

Yesterday I visited the place where 30 years ago almost to the day my new wife Michelle and I journeyed to spend the next several years. I began my MDiv at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary where I would earn my Masters and then the PhD with Dr. Roy Fish. I would never have the joy of teaching at SEBTS had I not paid the price academically to be able to do so. While visiting the campus I had lunch with two men I mentored in their PhD studies who now teach at SWBTS, Matt Queen and Tommy Kiker. I also saw several others I once taught including Thomas White, Josh Williams, Jason Duesing, and David Mills. There are others I missed seeing, and I certainly missed getting to see my mentor Dr. Fish who was under the weather.

Matt and Tommy did not only earn their PhD with me. They joined me on trips as well. In fact, Tommy went with me to Ukraine. And he helped me plant flowers and clean gutters. Matt was my grader along the way as well.

Jason Duesing reminded me of one of those ministry trips I took many years ago. I was going to preach a rally for Stephen Smith, son of Bailey Smith, whose endowed chair I am honored to hold at Southeastern now. Stephen was a student then. I took with me two current students, a brother and sister named Ashley and Jason Cherry. Two prospective students also joined me, Jason Duesing mentioned above and Nathan Lino, whom I had met as a young person when I preached for his dad in Kingwood, Texas, years before.

Stephen and Ashley later married. I am a super match-maker when I have no idea I am involved. Stephen is now the dean of the college at Southwestern, and he and Ashley just had their first child. Jason and Nathan ended up coming to Southeastern as well, and now as mentioned Jason teaches at Southwestern and Nathan is a pastor in the Houston area.

One trip to a rally in Richmond played I tiny part (I do not at all want to overstate my influence) on the eventual marriage of a couple, and the education of others. All those who rode with me on that trip and Stephen who invited me to preach had me for evangelism class as well. And almost all of them have continued to influence many others as educators themselves.

My point is that often we overestimate the importance of the big events we do, like speaking to big crowds. Those opportunities of course do matter. But sometimes the little things, like taking a few people with you, make a much bigger Kingdom impact over the long haul than the surface reason you went to minister for an evening. I have no idea what I preached that night. I do not honestly remember anything about the service. But I remember the students. I remember the relationships forged or strengthened that night, relationships that continue.

May God give those of us to whom He has granted the opportunity to educate others the wisdom to see the mentoring opportunities in often overlooked tasks like the journey to an assignment. The joy is in the journey, especially when you journey with great people like those I mentioned above.

Note: To read more check out my ebook With: A Guide to Informal Mentoring.

The soldier walked into the bakery and after a few minutes walked out holding a big, hot, sweet pastry. The boy’s eyes met his, and a look of fear appeared as the boy expected the soldier to shoo him away from the store. But the soldier walked to the boy, knelt down, and handed him the pastry. He stood, patted the boy on the head and walked away.

As he walked down the street he felt like he was being followed. He turned around to find that same boy staring up at him.

“What is it, son?” the soldier asked.

“Mister,” the boy asked, “Are you God?”

It is amazing the impact we can make in the lives of others when we encourage.

This week 45,000 young people gather in Atlanta for Passion 2012. What a wonderful testimony of a generation who love Jesus, and what encouragement this event offers for us today. May God grant a growing gospel movement through Passion and other ways in which God is working in our day.

Back in the early 1990s I taught a group of college students every week at Houston Baptist University. While there my family worshiped at a megachurch in the area. A young man named Sam helped often in the worship ministry. Sam demonstrated a gifted voice and a passion for leading people to worship. I remember praying for him in a sort of commissioning time as he headed to Austin to help lead worship for a conference.

It was the first gathering of what has become Passion.

I have never been to a Passion event, but I have been greatly blessed by the movement.

While at our church in Houston we adopted an annual theme as a congregation: The Year of Hope, The Year of Prayer, etc. I found this to be helpful as the leaders sought to help members live out the gospel under the umbrella of a consistent theme.

When I look back at 2011, I think of it personally as The Year of Transition, or The Year of Growth. Our children finished high school and college respectively. They have each grown in relationships with a special someone that will shape the rest of their lives. We became empty nesters. Transitions have marked our year. And, I have grown a lot, and through both some wonderful times of God’s blessing, and through some disappointments, the Lord in His grace has reminded me of some things. And one is of particular importance, so much so that I will give daily, intentional focus in 2012.

For me, the year 2012 will be the Year of Encouragement. I love being an encourager. I love helping young leaders see things they do not, enliven vision, and engage them in their passion for Christ. Yes, sometimes we encourage with a kick in the pants, but I am wired much more as an encourager who helps others believe. And dream.

Barnabas has always been one of my favorite characters in the Bible. He did not have to be in the limelight; he could hardly be called an opportunist. But he played a huge role in the spread of the gospel, including giving leadership to one of the most important movements in Acts (see 11:19-26). His life was marked by encouragement. The apostles changed his name to exhibit his encouraging nature.

It is amazing what an encouraging word, a well-timed hug, or a moment of prayer can do for another. It takes no great skill or talent to be an encourager, no unusual communicative ability or nuanced observational skills.

You do not have to be a culture ninja to make an impact for Christ. Just encourage. And it simply takes encouragement to be an encourager.

Think about someone who made a major impact in your own spiritual growth. What marked that person’s impact in your life? No doubt a reason the person influenced you is because you saw the gospel lived out in them. But I bet that person also encouraged you. I am grateful that God in his grace sent people in my life at key times to encourage me. And I want to be that person in the lives of others. Just last week I was able to catch up with one of my students near his home in Buffalo. He met me for lunch in Rochester where I was speaking. He was genuinely grateful. And so was I.

The funny thing is, when you encourage others, you too are blessed.

Back in the day comedian Jimmy Durante often entertained troops during wartime. On one occasion he visited a military hospital. The administrator asked him to stay for a short show in the auditorium. Durante said he had to leave for appointments, but the administrator insisted.

“Five minutes,” Durante agreed, “but then I must go.”

The sick and wounded were brought into the auditorium. Durante did a brief comedy routine, and the crowd clapped and cheered profusely.

Instead of leaving, the comedian continued—for a full hour. The elated administrator asked him why he stayed so long.

“When I did the first routine,” Durante replied, “I noticed two men in the front row. The one on the left had lost his right arm. The one on the right had lost his left arm. When they clapped, they clapped as one. I was so moved, I couldn’t leave.”

You may not have such a moving, unexpected blessing, but if you encourage others, you will be surprised at the joy God gives from your encouragement.

But to be honest, deciding to be more of an encourager is not something you announce, is it? It is something you demonstrate. I pray those who cross my path in 2012 will think of me as an encourager. And I pray they will think the same of you.