Off on a Mission

Please be in prayer for me as I travel to another country on a mission trip. We are leaving Wed. morning and will be back on April 7th. I know God has some great things planned. I will blog when I get back about all He did!! Thanks!

God size moments in our Lives

I am hanging out in West Virginia on a Youth Pastor's Ski retreat (Thanks CTI Ski). It is such a great time to get with other youth pastors and spend time hearing all that God is doing. Not to mention that it is a blast skiing and refreshing ourselves. I am working through the Book of Ephesians this week and praying that God will continue to reveal more and more of His truth in my life.

Last night in youth I think it was a God moment kind of night. We had our High School youth last night and I saw God show up in a mighty way. We took the focus from our weekend learning about God's word and we spent some time in prayer. It was a call for us to not accept fluff (the no more fluff campaign) in our lives. We should come before God in desperation. You see in order to have a God size moment in our lives we must come face to Face with the truth of Who God is and who we are in relation to our Creator. We must realize that it is in our desperation that we find God. The moments in my life that God shows up always are centered when I am realizing my great need for God in my life. It is when I realize that my life is not about me. It is not about what I can do. It is about God and what He has done and will do. Do we want to see our youth ministries grow in numbers or grow in God's power. I believe in our own strength we can make our ministries look sucessful to the worlds eyes. I also believe that we cannot fake true life transformation. We cannot fake God's power changing lives in a radical way. Is our ministry showing fruit that is lasting or temporary fruit that looks good for a short time but seems to be missing something?

I have talked with youth pastors who say, "Man, our youth ministry on our midweek program is growing like crazy, but there sure is no depth in their lives." After asking them about their ministry I see that they are not calling students to a life of desperation in seeking their God. They are playing games, passing out snacks, have music, and then give a short message that doesn't take students deep. Then they have not connected the students to significant Christians who are willing to take students by the hand and lead them deep in the Word of God.

It is time for us as youth pastors and leaders to find a way to connect our students to God moments in their lives. Connect them to the Word of God. Connect them to Significant Christians. Connect them to a passionate prayer life and ultimately connecting them to our God.

Nothing but the WORD

Another Day at the Clarity Conference and another day seeking deep into the Word of God. God has been burdening my heart for the last year or more to stay strong teaching the importance of the Word of God in our lives. How often do we make crucial decisions about our lives and expect God to bless us but we leave God's word and prayer in the rear view mirror? I wonder if our generation has started getting so concerned with loosing people to other religions and other things that we have neglected staying the course with the Word of God? Have we forgotten that it is God who is in control? Have we forgotten that if we stay true to the His Word and seek His Face then He will do great and mighty things for His Name's Sake?

Every week I teach my students I make sure they are reminded of how important God's Word is to their lives. God's word is more than God's story meeting our story. There is a movement that is trying to invade our churches where we put the focus of the WORD of God on us. We try to make it our story. Man, to be brutally honest - that is wrong! It takes away from what God has done to think that God's Word is "Our Story!" It is God's Story! It is His Glory that is revealed through the pages of His Word. "Our Story" only happens because it is God who desires to show Himself through our lives.

Please don't stop reading and say I said that God doesn't care about us, because He does. He cares more than anyone in this world ever will. He showed more love than anyone can imagine. He gave up more than anyone ever could. But let us not get so ahead of Him that we think it was just about us! You see, God wills and works in our lives to reveal How Great He is. It is not selfish, or arrogant for God to think this way! God is worthy of it! God is the One True God and the only one who is Worthy to be thought of in this way. What makes it selfish for us is when we think that we deserve glory! You see, it was never about us! It never has been about us! It has always been about God and will be about Him - and I am ok with that! :)

I was teaching the other day that oftentimes when a student is having low self-confidence we jump all over them and make them feel like they are wrong for feeling that way. I actually believe that when a student has low self confidence it could be a very good thing (not if they stay there)! You see, what happens when someone has low self-confidence is that we begin to see ourselves as people who are not as good as we think we should be. If we can get students to turn that from depression and self loathing to realzing who they are in relation to a Holy and perfect God. We are not even on the same page. But what we do is change from a problem with self-confidence to a God Confidence. I am confident that God can do anything he wants in and through my life. I am confident that God can do mighty things in my life. This is not because of who I am but because of who He is. It is the students with very high self confidence that loose sight of the desperation for our God that is so needed. When someone is very self-confident they see what they can do not what God is doing. It is in our desperation that God reaches down and reveals His Glory in our lives. It is when we move from independence to dependence!

So when I am looking to see how this One True God can impact my life I see that there is nothign greater than knowing my Lord. Paul prays this often for the people he writes his letters to. Here are some examples:

Ephesians 3:19and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Ephesians 4:13until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.Ephesians 4:12-14 (in Context)
Philippians 1:9And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight,Philippians 1:8-10 (in Context)
Colossians 1:9For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding.Colossians 1:8-10 (in Context)
Colossians 1:10And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God,Colossians 1:9-11 (in Context)

The best way for us to know God more is to dive deep into His Word and experience Him. To see God's Story playing out and revealing His truth. Let's not try to make His story our story. Let's just give Praise for His Story.

Clarity Conference - So much need in this world

I had the privilege of going to the Clarity conference tonight with our students at Hebron Baptist Church. Jeremy Kingsley, a good friend of mine, is the speaker on the first night and once again his message was very powerful. By the way if you have never heard Jeremy be sure to check out his website at: http://www.jeremykingsley.com ! He has such an amazing way of communicating to students and yet not forgetting what is so crucial in staying true to the Word of God.

But as I was there I continue to look around and see there is so much need in this world. One of the highlights of the night was when a lady came to share her testimony. She is now 24 and when she was 9 years old she went through compassion international and was given a chance to make an impact in this world by having food to eat, education, and spiritual training. Her father died when she was young and they had no place to live. But because of the gifts of people through Compassion she came to know Jesus and graduated with degrees. She is a product and testimony of how if we work together we can reach people in so many ways.

But there is not just needs in other countries. I am sure no matter what country your in or where you are located there is need all around you. There are children going hungry next door to places that throw away food because they had too much for them to eat. There are sick children who cannot get medicine when just around the corner there are stores full of it but it costs too much money. There are people who don't know the love of Jesus when there is a Christian who waves hello to them when they pull into the garage in the house across the street. There is so much need and we must ask ourselves if we are truly making an impact in this world. Are we reaching out to those in need or do we shrug thinking we are too busy or have to much of our own problems to help someone else? My heart's encouragement tonight is for each one of us to begin the mindset change of looking for ways to love our neighbors, co-workers, friends, relatives, and people that come into our world if just for a moment. Let us make a difference and share God's truth in boldness and in love.

A Big God who cares about Small Stuff

Today I was walking through our church and a lady who has been praying for her son stopped me to ask for prayer. She mentioned how her son, who lives around 5 hours away, had not answered his phone in the last few days and she was getting concerned. She had tried to call him and someone picked up his cell phone and then hung it up. She was concerened that someone had stolen his cell phone or something bad had happened to him. She told me she had a great peace about it but was still concerened and wanted to know if he was ok. I told her I would pray for her and started to walk away. I turned back around as I was reminded about the power of prayer and the need to pray right then. I asked her if I could pray for her and her son right now. She said yes, and I began praying for her. I prayed for her and I prayed that God would be her son's protector and would burden his heart right then to have him call her. After we were done praying she said thank you and I walked away still with a spirit of prayer for him. About 15 minutes later she saw me in the hall and she said, "you won't believe what happened. About a minute after you prayed my phone rang and it was my son. He had been sick and had not answered his phone."

Isn't it cool to see God answer prayers in such a simple way. God knew the she needed to know how her son was, her son needed to know that God was there for him in his life and answered prayers, and I need a little encouragement as I have been teaching on prayer.

Of course this raises a very interesting question, "Would her son have called at that moment if we had not prayed?" Regardless of what you believe about that, God answered the prayer that seems small and simple but shows how Big He actually is.

Prayers of a Child Part 2

One of the greatest things of being a dad is when you get to see your sons grow in their relationship with Jesus. I had the awesome privilege of baptizing my son in December and it is something that I will cherish forever. The great thing about it is that it was a decision made that I have seen the fruit of the Spirit in his life. Just in the last few months I have noticed his prayers changing from simple prayers of "Thank you Jesus for my family," to spirit filled prayers of, "Lord, you’re such a graceful God and you are creator of everything. Lord you made everything. Because you are creator you are owner of us and boss of us." When I heard my 7 year old praying this, my heart wells up inside knowing that he get's it. Of course in the middle of the prayer he adds, "Thank you for creating the Milky Way galaxy, the world, the oceans, the fish, the animals, the lions, the bears, the crocodiles." He keeps me smiling as I listen to his heart.

Another great thing is I can tell that he is not just praying because he is supposed to. When he gets done doing his nightly ritual of brushing teeth and getting ready for bed he usually heads right into bed. I have caught him several times praying without me because he is so tired. I will get in there and he will already be praying so he can go on and go to sleep. That is so cool. He doesn't want to skip praying so he can go to sleep. Man, the prayers of a child. How often in our own lives do we find that we are too busy to pray, or we are too tired to pray before we fall asleep. I know I always, want to teach my children to pray every night before you fall asleep. Isn't it great to know that the last thoughts on your mind before you fall asleep are ones of praise for God and prayer needs of others? Let's think about our Creator every night before we fall asleep. He is our boss you know!

It was funny last night when my son was praying he said that God is our boss, then he added, "But you don't boss us around." I love how he clarified that he was our boss, our owner, a good boss. He wasn't one who just bosses us around and tells us what to do. He is our owner and He has our best interests in mind. He knows what is best and He wants us to experience that best. That is why He shows us what to do.

I hope that your prayer life is one that is active and refreshing. That your prayer life is one where you see God working in and through your life. Prayer Does Matter. It is important. Prayer does make a difference. What are some things in your life that may be hindering your prayer life? Do you fall asleep before you pray? Do you pray hurriedly or in the Spirit of God? Do have to make time for prayer or is prayer just a reflection of your daily heart's expression?

Prayers of a Child

I have grown amazed at listening to my 5 & 7 year old pray. It is always interesting to listen to children pray. I get to smile alot when I hear my 5 year old son say, "Thank you Jesus for ebrything (everything), Amen!"

I would look at him and say, 'Why don't you Thank Jesus for your family or our home?"

He just looks at me and says, "I did! I thank youed Jesus for EBRYTHING!"

He has now added, several things to the list because I am trying to teach him to be a little more specific. He now prays, "Thank you Jesus for Ebrything, Amen. Oh yeah, and thank you for fish and video games."

This comes from the same child who says, "God must be a stretchy God."

I asked, "Micah, why do you think God is a stretchy God?"

"Because if He is with my cousins (who live in PA) and He is here with me He must be able to stretch really far."

The funny thing is I didn't correct him on his theology, because he understands the most important part, God is with everyone. We don't have to understand everything about How God does what He does, but we do need faith in Who God is. It is the nature of God that determines our perspective of God. Do we really have a right perspective of His nature? My prayer for my boys is that they would grow into Godly men and grow in the grace and knowledge of God's truth. The great thing about this prayer is I see it getting answered!

Potluck Youth Ministry Part II

Earlier I wrote about Potluck Youth Ministry in the Superbowl Potluck Snacks Post and I wanted to expand upon this some this morning. The idea of Potluck Youth Ministry is something that so many youth ministries across the country are doing, but it is falling short in producing students who are grounded and deep in their walk with God. Let me explain...

Doesn't everyone love Potlucks? Of course they do, but how healthy are they for you? Imagine if for every meal you had a big buffet potluck dinner. It would be great in that you could eat as much as you wanted and you would never be hungry. You would be satisfied with whatever food you wanted. I suppose if you were like most people you would load your plate up with the things you love and want and not even think about touching some of the foods that you need. Then after you have filled yourself up you will make your way to the dessert table where you will not only each one little slice of cake, but you will get a slice for every kind of cake, then top it off with pie, brownies and cookies. Sounds pretty good doesn't it?

Well, we all know that if we really ate like that we would be raising up an overweight, unhealthy generation.

So how does this relate to youth ministry? I have seen and talk to many youth pastors who look at their youth ministry with the mindset of potluck youth ministry. These take the forms in strategy & programming, and teaching. Sometimes in ministry we are so concerned about giving people what they want we forget to give them what they need.

1) Strategy & Programming - Many youth pastors have a great mission statement, vision statement, and they genuinely want to reach students for Christ. However, if you talk to them about strategy of accomplishing the vision it is based on the concept of giving students what they want and focusing on just fun stuff (As you read you will see I have nothing against fun stuff, in fact I think it is a huge part of having a balanced ministry). The problem with just focusing on fun stuff is that if your mindset is to create disciples then you should focus your energy on moving students toward maturity in Christ. If our strategy is fun then we move students toward fun and when that fun event is over they move back to whatever else is fun. Ultimately we want students coming to church because of Christ. Fun is an open door to get students connected but it is not the goal of youth ministry.

2) Teaching - Oftentimes we teach with the Potluck Youth Ministry mentality. We do this in our messages by not having a plan to take people from where they are in their relationship with Jesus and going deeper in the Word of God. Instead, our messages don't really have a plan except for that night. What about being led by the Spirit? Absolutely we should be led by the spirit. I believe God gives us messages for his people for the moments they are living in. However, the Bible is written with powerful truths and if you do not understand the foundation of it you cannot understand the rest. You have a difficult time enabling people to get a firm understanding of the Bible if we are not laying down the foundations and building on them with our students.

Understand that I am not against topical teaching. But if our topics are not leading the students to get a firm foundation in Scripture then what happens when they get to college and they face people who have questions that shake their weak foundation? Many of the student’s faith will crumble and they will turn from God.

As a youth pastor I have parents who want to know what I'm teaching their kids. I know it is on the hearts of many youth pastors to move true discipleship to the homes and in the family. Do you have a plan of where your leadership is taking the students you are ministering to? Do you have strategy of one that enables students to get what they need in a balanced way? Do you have a balanced meal approach to youth ministry or a Potluck dinner approach?

Don't forget, these students are in a place where we can impact them during some of the most crucial years of their lives. Is our goal to get students to say "wow, I had fun in youth" or "that was fun, but man God changed my life in my youth group?" Having a Balanced Ministry means, incorporating fun, and learning in an effective way. I know students and if you don't have fun with them then relationships will suffer. But if we don't teach the Word of God and how important God's truth is to students then their relationship with God will suffer. Feel free to email me (kevin@youthministryhelper.com) more about this if you have questions.

Kevin Deming

Don't Skip this Post

Ok, the reason for the title is that so often we see something on what I am about to talk about and we skip over it because we think we have it all figured out. I want to encourage you to read this a little deeper and see if we maybe need a little reminding.

My original title was going to be: Does God use our Prayers to do His Will?

I have the privilege of teaching a high school Bible Class for an elective course and today we were teaching on Acts 12. This is the story of how King Herod killed James, and imprisoned Peter. While Peter was in prison the church (not a building but people) were praying fervently for him. Peter was chained up, in-between 2 guards, and guards were outside of the cell as well.

Then something really cool happens... An angel wakes up Peter, his chains fall off, the cell gate opens up and he walks outside of the prison. He then comes to his senses thinking he was just seeing a vision and it was real. He was outside of the Prison and the guards were clueless to what had just happened. Wow! This is an amazing story of how God's plan cannot be stopped by people. In fact when persecution happens God steps up in bigger ways and does the impossible and more people come to faith in Christ.

Now here is the question on prayer. Would God have still done the miracle, sent His angel to free Peter if the people were not praying?

Now be careful, if you say yes, then you devalue prayer and say that the church's prayers were not necessary.

If you say no, then you devalue the sovereignty of God and saying that God can't do it unless people pray.

After talking with my students I shared my thoughts on this subject. You see prayer is a vital part of our relationship and connection with God. If we fail to emphasize prayer in our ministries and we try to do God size things without prayer we are going to fall short of what God has planned.

There are 2 things I think it important to know about God. 1) His sovereignty should never be questioned when anything happens that we don't believe is the best and 2) God chooses to use people and prayer to accomplish his will and purposes on earth. Can God at anytime do anything He wants? Yes, absolutely. But He, in His perfect Holiness has planned a world where He interacts with us, His creation. God chooses to use the prayers of His people to do His work. I don't know what would happen if the people were not praying. I don't know if they would have been disobedient to the Spirit of God what would have happened. I do believe it was in God's plan to save Peter. In John 21:18, Jesus says, "I tell you the truth, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go." This is a foreshadowing of Peter's Death and it refers to him being old. So in God's providence either He knew that the people would pray and God would respond or God was going to burden people's hearts and have someone pray so that Peter would be saved.

I wonder if the people in Mary's house were not praying if another group would have been and they would have received the blessing of what God did.

Regardless, of what God would have done we can focus on what He did do. God did choose to do a miracle through the prayers of His people. It is vital for us to realize that God uses prayers and as the Body of Christ we need to seek to get before the face of God and pray for our people. Don't let Satan keep you from praying. Satan wants you to get distracted during prayer, he wants you to not realize the importance of prayer, he wants you to forget about praying, he wants you to put off praying, he wants you to devalue prayer, he wants you to simply not pray at all! Don't let that happen. If you sense you are loosing a burden to pray or that you are becoming hard to the thought of prayer find someone you trust and just tell them to pray for you to get that burden back. Stop, right where you are and throw up a prayer for compassion of people and a soft heart for prayer. God will answer you!

Kevin Deming

First Impressions

Ok, I said I would talk about things in our ministry that we should seek to improve upon and look at in order to be more effective. Today was a day where I found myself looking around our church and seeing things that we could always improve on. Don't get me wrong, there are some great things going on at my church, but I understand there are always some things in every church that we can be more effective in. One of the things at my church is the idea of first impressions. I was supposed to meet some people this morning and they didn't show. So I found myself looking around and taking time to clean up around the church. I was overwhelmed on how much actually needs to be done and how we probably have forgotten what it is like to be a guest and walk into our church for the first time.

I do believe the most important thing for us as Christians in our church is to come with a ministry mindset (I will probably blog more about this later) and look to how we can minister to everyone around us. Do you realize that if we come to church and just think about ourselves then we miss the many opportunities of hurting people all around us. Even though this is the most important I still believe the thoughts that people think from the parking lot to the Worship Center are very important. Is there trash in your parking lot, are your bathrooms cleaned, are there things that can enhance people's experience when they come to your church building or are there things that can put a negative thought or mindset when someone drives up?

I was talking to someone and he was sharing with me how church needs to be a place where people can come out of the world and be refreshed. Since I understand that church is the body of Christ I have to ask myself, "Do I refresh people when they spend time with me?" This is a very tough question to ask ourselves. Because if we say no, then that means we need to make some changes. I hope this encourages you to take time and reflect on how you present yourselves in your ministries. I know there is always room for me to grow and I pray that God would show me those areas so I can make the changes He desires for my life!

Kevin Deming

Day 3 - Daniel Fast

Well, the Daniel fast is one of those fasts that you don't necessarily feel the hunger but you do notice a mindset difference in the way you eat. Everything that I am used to eating I am throwing out the window and starting over. I have gotten familar with the fresh produce section of the grocery store and found that there are a lot more good fruits and vegtables than I remembered. Anyways, as I have been praying I want to encourage all of you and so during this fast I am going to be looking at different things in our ministry and our personal lives that we need to know.

Tonight we are having a college worship and Bible study and I am going to be speaking on defining moments in our lives and using the book of Esther. My kids have a CD from Frank Peretti with the story of Esther and it is one that Esther is faced with a huge decision in her life. The decision to stand up for her people or shrink back and hope everything pans out all right. It is important for us to remember that the only truth worth following in this world is God's truth and when we face choices that seem to lead us elsewhere we must renew our mind and follow Christ.

Anyway, I pray that as you read these posts you will be encouraged to take time and remember the most important things in our lives. To realize that our life here on earth is one that is missional. I mean missional in that we have a mission, to know Christ, to follow Christ, and to make Christ know to others so that they can follow Him. I remember when I was at college God laid on my heart a thought that I repeat to myself often. It was this: "Get to know Jesus, I mean really get to know Jesus and don't settle for anything less." Do you realize that by not following what God has planned for you that you are actually settling for less than what He has planned for you life. Pursue God and let Him guide you in all you do.

By the way, yesterday I went back to the gym and started talking to this guy and after a few minutes I asked him where he was from and found out he grew up in South America and his parents were missionaries. It is so cool when you talk to people and get a little more personal than the weather and sports that you can actually meet some really great people. I was definately encouraged by this guy's life.

Thanks!

Kevin Deming

Peter Pan Peanut Butter

I was driving home from picking up my son from preschool yesterday and heard on the radio about the recall on Peter Pan peanut butter. I had to almost pull the car over to see if I heard it right. Who recall's peanut butter? How awkward is that, walking back into a grocery store with your little grocery bag filled with your stash of Peter Pan Peanut butter. Everyone watching as you go to the customer service desk and politely ask if you can have some more peanut butter because your peanut butter has been recalled. I suppose many people might just actually throw the peanut butter away in the trash and forget about it. Anyways, they said that if your jar had the number that started with a 2111 then your peanut butter might possibly be tainted with salmonella and you should dispose of it. I talked to my wife and she said she heard the same thing. Then she proceeds to remind me that we have a large jar of Peter Pan Peanut Butter sitting in our cabinet at home. But our jar was not just like any jar, this jar was a half empty jar. So, I get home with my boys to check out whether we have the dreaded peanut butter or not. I am not too worried since no one in my family is sick and we have already eaten at least half the jar. I walk over to the cabinet and open the door, and there it sits. Yes, my friends a large jar of Peter Pan. As I reach down to pick up the jar my hand begins to shake in anticipation of what the numbers are on our jar. I walk it over to the counter trying not to look. I set it down, and I look on top of the jar and see these numbers. 2.......1........1.......1.... noooooooo, in our very pantry sits the Peanut butter that has been recalled. You would think that my first thought would be, I wonder if anyone is sick, but it wasn't. My first thought was, “am I going to be that silly man walking into the grocery store to return peanut butter?” Actually, I did look over at my boys and see if they were ok. They were and still are.

So the moral of this story is: If you have Peter Pan Peanut butter check to see if the first 4 numbers are 2111 and then return it to the store.

Day One - Daniel Fast

The first day of any fast is always a little hard. Every time that I found I was getting hungry I just drank a glass of water or some orange juice. Yeah, I pretty much drank about 10 glasses of water and 5 glasses of orange juice. The cool thing about today was I had an opportunity on 3 occasions to give testimony of what God is doing in my life.

First, I went to the gym to get a little exercise since today was my day off. For anyone interested in whether it is ok to work out during a fast I think it is fine, as long as, you remember you won't have as much energy. I gave out a little quicker on the cardio and I used less weights. It is interesting how after just 12 hours of not eating your body already starts slowing down. Anyway, at the gym in the dry sauna after working out (I drank a lot of water after this) there was a man in there who I talked with for a while. I found out he goes to church and tried to encourage him a little in his faith. I find that I like building relationships with people in a setting outside of church because sometimes as pastors we spend so much time in a church building we don't make time to talk with others who may need to know Jesus.

The second time I had a chance to share some testimony of who God is was actually through an email. I had on the local sports talk station on here and heard the guy on the radio talking about his belief on the Bible. This came out of a discussion on homosexuality and how he didn't know if the Bible talked about homosexuality or not. He also pointed out that he didn't see a difference between someone who practiced homosexuality and someone who didn't follow the other parts of the Bible (which I agree). However, he took the stand that I believe many people who don't have a relationship with Jesus take. Basically he said that first he knew he wasn't perfect and he already messed up on following the Bible completely. Then he said he wasn't crazy about how people who claimed to use the Bible as a guide point fingers at others and they are not doing all it says either. So I got home and emailed him, which I haven't heard back from and probably won't.

Here is what I wrote:
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I appreciate your honesty and how real you are on your show. You are probably one of the most knowledgeable about sports and you are not afraid to lay it on the line. Thanks!

Concerning the Bible, there is a huge misconception that people have. The Bible is not a book designed for people to point a finger at other people and say all the things they do wrong. The Bible is the revealing of how perfect and Holy God is and how we don’t come close to it. In the Bible it is explained that all people who are not perfect will be separated from God. That’s all of us, not the concept of those who are homosexual or have sex before marriage as you mentioned.

The problem is when we look at the Bible tells us how to live and then we condemn anyone for not living perfectly by it. God gave us His commands and guidelines for living to show us how desperately we need Him, not so we can brag to others about how we are better than someone else.

So why bother trying if we are not perfect? The truth about the Bible is that it teaches that if you depend upon Jesus instead of yourself then you can be made right with God. It is your belief that Jesus has taken our punishment for us. I as a Christian cannot point my finger at someone else who doesn’t believe in Jesus or the Bible and condemn them. Only God has the authority to do that. My role as someone who believes the Bible to be truth is to clarify it to people, teach it and reveal what God is actually saying in it. It is up to each individual person to make the decision on whether they accept it or reject it.

Thanks!

Kevin Deming

Probably the best book I have read about understanding the Bible is called, “Stranger on the Road to Emmaus,” by John Cross. If you’re a reader you should try and get it. I know you can find it on Amazon.
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Thirdly, I went to my son's parent teacher conference. As she was talking about how kind my son is at school and said she thought we did a good job teaching him to look to others, I used that as another opportunity to give testimony of how we talk about what the Bible teaches and we pray together about things that may be troubling him. It was another moment for me to be able to share how God works in my life and my kid’s lives.

So my first day on the fast was very interesting. I am not outwardly seeking to talk to everyone I know about Jesus. I am outwardly seeking my God and allowing Him to direct me to talk to everyone He wants me to. My prayer during this time of fasting is to grow deeper in my intimacy with God. I am going to read through the book of Hebrews during this fast. I chose Hebrews because I am not currently teaching out of it and want to have a book of the Bible I am meditating on that is not one I am just using to prepare for lessons.

Another thing to note for anyone who is going to do a fast of any kind is, if you are a regular caffeine drinker, you may expect a headache the first day or so. The good news is that it does go away and you feel better the next day.

Thanks!

Kevin

By the way, that apple I ate after the 24 hour liquid fast was pretty sweet!

Daniel Fast

I have been praying for some time about doing another fast and I had a youth pastor friend of mine tell me about the Daniel Fast. It is one that causes us to deny ourselves on the physical level in order to focus on the Spiritual. I have prayed and decided to journal what God is teaching me on the blog as an encouragement to others. I noticed when searching the internet for information on the Daniel fast that there are a lot of people that need some encouraement on fasting and also have some questions regarding different fasting. Please be in prayer with me that God would clearly show us vision on what He has in store for us as we seek to minister to those around us.

I will be starting the fast on Thursday, Feb. 15, 2007 and continuing until Wed. Evening March 7, 2007.

Fasting Guidelines (Taken from Fellowship Church)

FOCUS The fast, as explained in the weekend service, is a spiritual discipline designed to better connect us with God. As a church, we are fasting in order to deepen our relationship with God and to walk in step with His plan and purpose. The best way to do this is to redirect our food source. This is accomplished through substituting our regular food intake with Bible reading, praying and journaling. The overall goal is to experience a genuine hunger for spending time with God.

TIMELINE

1st Day is a 24-hour Liquid Fast We will drink water, natural fruit juice and herbal caffeine-free tea (lunch will be our last meal and we will resume meals at dinner on Monday).

2nd Day: Begin the “Daniel Fast”At dinner, we will begin to introduce meals with pure foods of fruits and vegetables.

This plan will continue for the next 20 days.

MENU The Daniel Fast is a partial fast, which means that we will eliminate some common things from our daily diet, but will have generous options available. We will focus on eating fruits and vegetables that are pure and simple. We have included a list of foods to eat and foods to avoid.

If you have any condition which would prohibit you from being a part of the Daniel Fast, there are other options. Choose something from your daily routine (i.e. specific foods or beverages, television, other technology, etc.) and fast in that manner for the next 21 days. Remember, the details are not as important as the spirit in which you participate.

*If you have any known medical conditions or suspect such conditions, consult your doctor before beginning the fast.

Foods to Eat

WHOLE GRAINS: Brown Rice, Oats, Barley

LEGUMES: Dried Beans, Pinto Beans, Split Peas, Lentils, Black Eyed Peas

FRUITS: Apples, Apricots, Bananas, Blackberries, Blueberries, Boysenberries, Cantaloupe, Cherries, Cranberries, Figs, Grapefruit, Grapes, Guava, Honeydew Melon, Kiwi, Lemons, Limes, Mangoes, Nectarines, Papayas, Peaches, Pears, Pineapples, Plums, Prunes, Raisins, Raspberries, Strawberries, Tangelos, Tangerines, Watermelon

VEGETABLES: Artichokes, Asparagus, Beets, Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, Cabbage, Carrots, Cauliflower, Celery, Chili Peppers, Corn, Cucumbers, Eggplant, Garlic, Ginger Root, Kale, Leeks, Lettuce, Mushrooms, Mustard Greens, Okra, Onions, Parsley, Potatoes, Radishes, Rutabagas, Scallions, Spinach, Sprouts, Squashes, Sweet Potatoes, Tomatoes, Turnips, Watercress, Yams, ZucchiniSeeds, Nuts, Sprouts

LIQUIDS: Water (as much as possible), Unsweetened Soy Milk, Herbal (caffeine free) Tea, Natural Fruit Juice (no added sugar)Extra-Virgin Olive Oil (small quantities), Honey

Foods to Avoid

• Meat, Poultry, Fish• White Rice• Fried Foods• Caffeine, Coffee, Tea (including decaf)• Carbonated Beverages• Foods Containing Preservatives or Additives• Refined Sugar or Sugar Substitutes• White Flour• Margarine, Shortening, High Fat Products• All Breads• Dairy (milk, butter, cheese, yogurt, etc.)

We do not belong to this World!

Last night in our High School youth I taught on how the world we live in strives to draw us away from God. In our life we need to realize that we no longer belong to this World. John 15:19 says, "If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you." We realize that by having faith in Jesus we no longer belong to the world. We are still in the world physically but spiritually we have been taken out, waiting for the inheritance that God gives us with faith in Jesus Christ.

1 Peter 1:17 says, "Since you call on a Father who judges each man's work impartially, live your lives as strangers her in reverent fear." To be a stranger is having the mindset that you don't quite "fit in" or "belong." As we live our life we "do not conform ourselves to the evil desires" (1 Peter 1:14) we had before. The sin of this World offers us things contrary to what God desires in our life. It is vital for us as Christians to recognize what the world is offering so that when we are tempted we can respond in boldness, truth and obedience.

What I really wanted to get across to the students is that even though we are strangers in this world we still have a mission to accomplish. This mission is to rescue all those around who do not realize their need for Jesus. We rescue them by loving people, caring for the hurting, & sharing the truth of Jesus Christ. People will only come to Jesus if they recognize they have a need for Him. When it comes to following the pattern of the world we should be as strangers and not jump right into a life that lives contrary to the Word of God.

What are the temptations of the world? I think for people they are generally comprised of 4 main groups: 1) the desire to be accepted, by a group of people or a particular person; 2) the desire for success; 3) the desire for power; and 4) the desire to be noticed or known. The world offers us these in pretty little packages that we think will meet these desires. We fail to realize that these pretty packages actually are designed not so that we will be satisfied but instead that we will desire even more. The truth is that God offers us all 4 of these in Him. He offers us unconditional acceptance based upon our faith in what Jesus has done, not how good we are. He offers us success in "with God all things are possible." Our success is based upon eternal things rather than the temporary success the world offers. God offers us power that is found in the Holy Spirit and when used according to His will is the greatest power we will ever experience. He offers us the desire to be noticed and known, not with Man's glory in mind but instead known by our Creator and the author of our universe. WOW! Why would I worry about being noticed by man, when I can be known and noticed by God!! He is the Creator; He is the one who spoke this world into existence.

This whole understanding is foundational for us as youth pastors to teach our students. We need to enable our students to understand the truth that God fulfills our desires completely in His perfect way rather than the world offering us satisfaction that can never be fully met.

How does this truth change the way we act? How does this truth change the way we look at our friends, our parents, our choices? Knowing that our purpose on earth is to know our God, make Him known, and bring Him glory in all we do there is a certain satisfaction that can only be met through Him.

Kevin

Superbowl Potluck Snacks

Super bowl Sunday is always a fun time for a youth pastor. We get to have students over to our house or go hang out at another student’s party. The only thing is even if your team ends up winning you still feel a little blah going to bed. This reason for this blah feeling my friends, is because of the stuffing of the stomach that takes place. We had tons of food at my house with 30+ High School students crammed into my den. I ate, and then kept eating, and then I actually ate some more. I have been thinking how we often times do Youth ministry like Potlucks. You see, we love potlucks, and great spreads of food, with a huge selections but there is a problem. I don't usually eat the vegetables and fruits and healthy food. I tend to see the magnetic force pulling my plastic plate over toward the desserts and sausage balls. Now as great as it is I would probably be one of the unhealthiest Youth Pastors around if I had a Potluck dinner every week. You see that is where some of our Youth Ministries suffer. We feel like that the best way to teach students is to give them as many options as we can and try to teach them just whatever they want to hear. I have found that as fun as it can be at times and many of the students like the potluck, the true discipleship takes place when you build a healthy foundation. God has laid on my heart a strategy in youth ministry of one where we teach in a systematic approach and where we end up building foundations on top of foundations. Now it isn't always the wow messages but the cool thing about teaching foundationally and systematically is if your creative you can make it fun and interesting and your students will remember in 6 months more of what you have taught.

Do you have yearly themes that focus on teaching the Word of God to them or do you have monthly themes that don't tie into each other? Maybe you’re even struggling with your messages because each week is different from before. You see in churches our students hear a message on average 4 times a week if they are active (Sunday Morning Bible Study, Sunday Morning Sermon, Sunday Night message or small group, and Wed. night message or small group). The troubling thing is that oftentimes those 4 messages do not connect on any level to the others. Then when we ask our students what they learned they look at us with puzzled faces and we wonder how we can be more effective as teachers. Give them a potluck on occasion (Disciple Now's, Retreats, Conferences), but be sure to lay a foundation that will last with them for a lifetime.

Reaching Your Community

Today in our church was a very unique Sunday. We had a Russian Men's Choir come and sing, Scout Sunday where boy scouts were recognized (they were thankful that our church opened our doors for them to use our facilities and have our support), and we had a basketball recognition and luncheon where we celebrated our basketball teams that we had playing in a local church league. The great thing about this is that we had a wide range of cultures, races, demographics all come together under one roof with a purpose in mind of bringing glory to God. It is cool to see an impact on a community when our churches are not about buildings but instead it is about people. In our church basketball league we went from averaging about 12 guys playing and 1 team to nearly 50 this year and 4 teams that we had placed in a local league. The reason is that we went into our local high school and met students where they were at. They brought their friends and we met a need that they had. Our local high school had around 200 students try out for basketball and only a handful made the team. The guys were looking to find a place to play. We look foward to next year when we hope to move from 4 teams to 6 or 8 teams and have many more students connected. It is important for us as pastors and youth pastors to see where are students are, see where their need is and then find a way to reach them. May God bless your ministry as you seek to impact a community and change this world for Jesus Christ.

Posting More to the Blog!

God is teaching me more and more each day and each week. I find that it is important for me to share what God is doing in my life & my ministry so that God can use that to encourage others. I got an email today from a man in Africa who is looking for 2 things. Youth Ministry magazines and resources that can help him and a Bible. Wow! How often do I take for granted that I have a Bible. I have Bibles around every corner. I have a Bible in my room, my car, downstairs, in my office, in the youth room where I minister. Here is someone who craves the Word of God because they do not have a Bible and I can access one anytime. The question that I ask is, "Since I have a Bible do I pursue reading it with the purpose of change?" I wonder how many times we read the Bible and it is to Finish. I have a good friend of mine name Jeremy Kingsley, who I hear him ever time he speaks somewhere say, "We don't read the Bible to Finish, we read the Bible to change!"

How have you viewed the Bible this week? Has it just be another study tool or have you sensed that by reading the Bible you are connecting to our Awesome Creator and Lord?

How do we respond....the Ted Haggard story?

It is hard for many of us to understand why something like this happens. The truth is that Ted Haggard will not be forgiven...for anything he does. He is not forgiven because he plays the part of a Christian, because of the way he looks, or because of anything he does. Ted and you and I are forgiven because of what Jesus Christ has already done. Our forgiveness doesn't rest in how good we are. In fact God has something to say about this in Romans 5:8, "God demonstrates His love for us, while we were sinners, Christ died for us." God accepted us when we were filthy and there is no amount of good works or accomplishments we can do that would be enough to equal what Jesus has done on the cross. Only through Jesus and our dependence on Him can we be forgiven. So if you struggle with the idea of someone who has done the things that Ted has done you can know that he is not forgiven because of anything other that what Jesus has done for us. John 14:6, "I (Jesus) am the way, the truth, the life; no one comes to the Father except by me (Jesus)."

So why would someone who doesn't feel they are half as bad as Ted Haggard feel like they need Christianity? Well they don't. They don't need Christianity; they need Jesus to stand in their place of a Holy God who must punish sin - all sin. You see Christianity is when messed up people come to a Holy and perfect God and realize only because of His grace and Mercy can they be with Him. We don't deserve it. We shouldn't let it make us made when someone of the stature of Ted Haggard messes up. We should be in awe of a Holy God who in spite of our sin and disobedience demonstrates an amazing love for us by punishing our sin on the Cross of Christ for those who believe and trust in Him instead of giving us what we deserve - separation from this Holy God.

I am in no way saying that we should live any other way than in pursuit of being like this Holy God we serve. But remember that in the middle of our sin we can be reminded of why Jesus had to come and die in our place in the first place.

Encouraging Our Adult Leaders

One of the most important things we can do in youth ministry is to equip others to work along side of us in ministry. Oftentimes our first thought is that we have been trained to minister to students and teach and a lot of other adults haven't so we must do it all ourselves. Unfortunately this actually hurts our ministry more than we realize. In order for us to become more effective in reaching students it is imperative that we spend the time it takes in training our adults and student leaders.

If you are anything like me you have had times in the past when you set up great training seminars, conferences, or meetings that you know will blow the socks off your adults - if they will just come. The problem is oftentimes we are struggling to get our adults to show up. Here is some help on how to get adults more interested in being involved in youth ministry.

1. Have Fun with Them. I know this doesn't sound super spiritual but it makes a bigger impact than you can imagine. One of the coolest things I am most excited about is a monthly time that my adults get together with me for no other purpose than just having fun together. The first gathering I had with my adults I had it at my house. There is nothing more you can do to make someone feel accepted than have people at your house. It shows them that you value them so much that you want to welcome them into your home. You may want to know how I structured the gathering. It was simple. People came to my house, we ate lots of awesome food and we played games. That was basically it. Easy to do and fun for my wife and me to actually socialize with adults. The purpose of this goes very deep. If your adult ministry team can have fun together then you will see lives changed as you work together better.

2. Communicate, Communicate, Communicate! This is so important. I highly recommend that you send out emails to all your adults at least 2x a month if not 1x a week. Be sure not to make these emails always just about the next training event, however you do want to include this information in your emails. I encourage you to brag on your adults and to tell stories of students lives being changed in the emails. Every chance you can get a quote or story from a student will encourage them and remind them more of what they do is so very important and it does make a difference. Along with the emails you want to be sure to send postcards to everyone reminding them about events and make sure they know that you want to them to be involved. Also, don't leave out your adults who do not have email. Be sure to mail them a copy of the emails in snail mail form so they can know that you care.

3. Be consistant in your training Time. First you must actually have training. One thing that I have done is to encourage my Small group teachers to come on Wed. nights every week to work with their team of teachers and go over the next weeks lesson. This does several things: 1) It allows them to look at the lesson before Sat. night or Sunday morning, 2) It allows them to talk about the lesson and be much more prepared than trying to prepare by themselves, 3) It gets them in a habit of meeting together. On the 4th Wed. of the month I will go into the meeting and add some training tips and helpful insights, and cover any needs that we have. You don't have to meet on Wed. nights but I found that many of my teachers were not plugged into the adult ministry on Wed. nights and it was a way to get them connected to our church on a deeper level. For you it may be easier to do a Sunday or a Tuesday night. Whatever the time it is very important to show your leaders that you have a desire to enable them to be more effective in reaching their students.

4. Show them you care. Remember, many of your adult leaders do not have strong relationships in your church with other adults. Use your monthly gatherings as a chance to show them you care about them. Make sure you pray with your adults and when they are going through a tough time that you let them know your praying for them. Remember to ask about what is going on in their lives. Call them on the phone just to see how things are going with them and do whatever you can to show them that you appreciate them. You can never do enough to show your leaders that you value them so don't stop trying to find creative ways to do this.

Please let me know if this was helpful to you. If you want to get some more ideas please email me and I would love to talk. I will be adding the next article on Training student leaders.