by Chase | Student Min
I’m always searching for a list of great books to chew on and digest.
We have all heard the encouragements that leaders are learning and I know that this is true for my own leadership. Student and children pastors need a steady stream of quality books that shape their theology, character, and leadership.
Now, before someone comments that I didn’t list the Bible as one of my books (you know who you are) I want to let you know that I have been walking through, what I call, the 90-day journey. Click the link to find out how I am investing in my health, soul, and family.
Back to the list: Here are 5 books that I have read in the past 5 months that you need to add to your reading list.
5 Books Every Student Pastor Needs To Read
PASTORAL MINISTRY
Dangerous Calling: Confronting The Unique Challenges Of Pastoral Ministry
Paul David Tripp has served as a pastor, professor, and counselor to thousands of seminary students and pastors. His perspective of the potential pitfalls in ministry sheds light on the pressures every pastor deals with. This needs to be your next read!
SPIRITUAL GROWTH
Comeback: It’s Never Too Late And You’re Never Too Far
Louie Giglio writes about new beginnings and how God is all about comebacks. One of the greatest impacts on me was how he shares several personal stories about his own struggles in ministry.
BIOGRAPHY
Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy
Eric Metaxes creates an extensive biography on one of the greatest preachers in the 20th Century, Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Faced with the greatest evil our world has seen in recent history, Bonhoeffer courageously decides to leave the United States and travel back to Germany to stand against Adolf Hitler and the Nazis. Reading what one pastor was willing to sacrifice for his people, his country, and his Lord will encourage you to stand for Jesus in the smaller areas of life.
CULTURE
Man Myth Messiah: Answering History’s Greatest Question
Did Jesus really exist? Rice Broocks 2nd book in the God’s Not Dead line practically unpacks some of our culture’s questions about Jesus. This book is an easier read than some of your seminary textbooks, but the arguments for Jesus as the Messiah are powerfully communicated. This is a good starting point as your students and families have questions and doubts about Jesus.
LEADERSHIP
H3 Leadership: Be Humble. Stay Hungry. Always Hustle
Brad Lomenick share’s his insights from working with Catalyst, one of the nation’s largest movements of Christian leaders, He walks through three questions: Who am I? Where do I want to go? How will I get there? Most of the leadership books I read tend to solely focus on the last question “How will I get there?” and fail to address the heart and mind of a leader. This book packs a punch. I would highly suggest it as your next leadership book.
Now What?
These books have been shaping my heart, mind, and have stoked my fire for ministry.
What other books have you been reading that you would suggest to me?
by Chase | Kid Min, Leadership, Student Min
The practice of adding intentional prayer to your day is nothing new — plenty of ministry leaders will tell you to pray throughout your day whenever you can. Praying while driving is a really popular suggestion, and it’s a great one because most of us drive several times a day and can use that time to connect with God and refocus ourselves on His purposes.
If you often pray while driving, or you want to start, school zones are a great place to pray through, for, and about! Your ministry, whether it’s family ministry, youth ministry, or children’s ministry, is deeply connected to local schools.
Here are five ways I am striving to pray as school is starting and have committed to continue praying as the school year continues.
5 Prayers To Pray As You Drive Through A School Zone
Pray That Students Experience The Unconditional Love And Acceptance Of Jesus
Students are looking to fit in and experience community. This can often lead to bad decisions and regrets, but it doesn’t have to. We should pray that students in our community experience first-time salvations and recommitments.
Pray For The Teachers And Administrators To Draw Near To Jesus
Administrators and faculty need to lead with the Fruit of the God’s Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control). They can only lead with these when they are humbly depending on King Jesus.
Pray For Protection
As you drive by, pray for the spiritual, emotional, physical, and mental protection of the students, staff, and faculty. Schools are community hubs. Within the classrooms are the most vulnerable people in our society — children. We must pray for their protection.
Pray For Jesus Followers To Be Bold
Schools need believers to stand in the hallways and extend the love and truth of Jesus. Pray that students are bold enough to set an example and stand up for their beliefs. Pray also that they would become emboldened to share the Gospel.
Pray For The Parents
Between school and extracurricular activities, parents can end up feeling like glorified taxi drivers. But we know that they are much more than that! We need to pray for them to be energized, encouraged, and equipped to lead their children to become followers of Jesus.
Now What?
What times and places are you setting aside to pray specifically for your students and local schools?
by Chase | How To, Student Min
Can we all agree that being a student is extremely difficult?
With the influx of technology and accessibility, students seem to be more stressed and more discouraged than ever before. The advancements that promised an easy life has caused thousands of students headaches as they try to navigate who they are and how God made them. Students need relationships. They need encouragement. They need Jesus.
Many student ministries are set up so that the weekly service opportunities for students in the church basically boil down to the greeting time at midweek services. As a result, students don’t take ownership, get excited, or invite friends to church. They also tend to dismiss community service projects as just another thing to go to … and they skip out.
Empowering students to serve within the local church will accomplish a variety of really positive outcomes! Students will develop in their faith and take an owner’s mentality. They will be excited about the things your ministry is doing, and they will invite their friends. Students will see how service helps them grow spiritually, and they will look for ways to serve outside the church too.
Here are seven ideas to get you started.
How To Create A Student Ministry Of Doers
- Plan Services
This is one area your students can help keep your student ministry engaged in culture. Give them the sermon outline and allow them to help the worship team create (with guidance) engaging and creative midweek experiences.
- Follow Up With Guests
Most student ministries gather contact information on visitors (if not, you need to start) and have adults send a card to visiting students. Imagine the impact you could have if your upperclassmen sent cards or made it a priority to maintain connection with visitors while at school? You can still be the one who addresses cards and makes phone calls so there are no confidentiality issues, but transferring part of the responsibility to your students will benefit everyone!
- Lead Games
Students need to be up front as much as possible during worship. They need to see their peers on stage reading Scripture, praying, and acting as leaders. Give them some game resources, let them learn the rules, and schedule them in the worship set. For great game ideas check out FunNinja.org and DownloadYouthMinistry.com.
- Lead Kids Worship
High school students are perfect to help with Kids Worship on Sunday mornings. Our church has two services plus a Bible study hour, so I expect our student leadership team to attend corporate worship service plus help serve in Kids Worship. They lead songs, participate in skits, give devotions, and facilitate games. Your students will grow deeper in Scripture through preparing Bible studies and leading kids.
- Plan Trips and Events
There have been times that I thought an event would be a surefire hit and found out that it was a flop. Pass event ideas by your students so you can get their honest feedback. They have awesome ideas that will reach their generation.
- Announcement Videos
Announcements can be boring and dry. Give your students a list of announcements, a time limit (one minute or so) and send them out with their smart phones to create something! This will help them open up conversations with their friends about church and Jesus when they post the videos online.
- Empower Them To Share The Gospel With Their Friends
Whether you are a small group leader or student pastor, you must empower students to be vocal about their faith. Talk about it often, and give them training and resources to do it. If the extent of their evangelism is just inviting people to attend a church service, they will never learn to articulate their faith for themselves.
- Brainstorm Sermon Topics
When you are outlining your preaching calendar you should ask your students about the issues they are currently facing and the questions they have. This is an easy way to ensure you connect with your group and minister in the areas they need encouragement.
Now What?
One of my motivations behind writing a book called Doer was to help students own their faith and start to make a difference in their community and across the globe. As ministry leaders we must move from enabling passive faith to expecting dynamic service.
To learn more about Doer, click on the image and head to the site. We have bulk discounts so you can walk through the book with your students.
by Chase | Discipleship
Do you ever feel like you are failing as a parent?
Maybe if I had asked, “Have you breathed in air today?” you would have had the same answer as above!
As parents, we all feel ill equipped, under-encouraged, and dog-tired most of the time! There is nothing harder and nothing more rewarding than raising kids.
Raising kids is hard, but raising them to follow Jesus is harder.
That is one of the reasons why I wrote the book, Doer.
James reminds the early Christians in James 1:22 “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” (ESV)
Parents must ensure that their kids are engaging God’s Word and doing what it says. You know that this isn’t an easy task. It takes years of prayer, intentionality, and opportunities for kids to figure out how God has wired them to engage culture and their communities.
Here are 5 simple steps you can take to start becoming a family that is a does what God’s Word says.
Becoming A Family That Acts In A Passive Culture
- Embrace Your Role As A Spiritual Leader
It is your God-given responsibility to lead your family. No one else can raise your children for you. The church can assist you and encourage you to spiritually lead your kids, but it cannot be the sole provider of spiritual teaching. This is why biblical community is so valuable. When you are losing hope or feel stuck, other Jesus followers can speak into your life to encourage you as your raise your kids.
- Live As A Positive Example As A Jesus Follower
As parents, we should prayerfully raise our children in such a way that they love Jesus. If parents coast through their own personal relationship with Jesus, the kids are the first to notice and the ones most affected. This is why many students leave the church once they get into college – they have never seen how following Jesus affects their day-to-day lives because it wasn’t modeled in their homes.
- Study God’s Word Together
You must make time to study the Bible together with your family. You don’t have to walk through a commentary to discuss deep theological truths. You need to come up with simple ways to help your kids read Scripture, pray, and apply their faith in a day-to-day context.
- Serve Together
One of the best ways solidify lessons is to live them out! Some of the biggest blessings you can experience happen when your kids serve others with you. Don’t think about this in terms of large service projects – the simpler the service opportunity the better. Allow your son to help you bake a dish for a friend who is about to have a baby. Encourage your kids to write thank you cards to their teachers. Try to serve in smaller ways more frequently so your kids understand how to serve God in their day-to-day activities instead of through once-a-year events.
- Allow Your Kids To Fail
Do you remember teaching your kids how to eat with a spoon? For months you had to clean up small messes after each meal because your child was still shaky with the new utensil. It would be absurd to pull the spoon away from them and decide that you would spoon-feed them for the rest of their lives! The same is true with developing character, confidence, and faith. You cannot live their lives for them. You must allow your kids to take risks, seize opportunities, and walk by faith. It is the only way you will raise doers.
Becoming a doer of God’s Word is no easy task.
In no way do I pretend that I have perfected the art of obedience to God – I just realize the importance of us starting the conversation, living life on mission, and extending the grace of Jesus to our communities and culture.
To learn more about Doer click on the image below.
by Chase | Leadership, Ministry
Don’t worry about getting bigger; strive to get better.
Andy Stanley tells a story about Truett Cathy, the founder of Chick-Fil-A, during an intense leadership team meeting. At a time when Boston Market started to move into Chick-Fil-A’s territory, everyone was concerned about how they could get bigger and out-size the competition.
In the middle of the discussion, Andy Stanley says that Cathy started banding his fists onto the table and said these words,
“If we get better our customers will demand we get bigger!”
Leading a student ministry isn’t the same as leading a fast-food joint, but the truth here holds up: You need to focus on getting better, not getting bigger.
If we are all honest we would admit that the glamor of being a bigger ministry has intoxicated us at some point. We chalk it up as having a greater reach for Jesus, but we know that we selfishly driven by our own definition of success.
As student leaders, why should we be concerned with getting better? Simple: That means that more students are becoming Christians, being discipled, and developing other disciples. Yup, you read that correctly. The more deeply we are rooted in Jesus the more fruit the student ministry will produce.
Below are 5 areas that you should strive to get better at student ministry.
5 Ways You Can Get Better At Student Ministry
Become Better At Equipping Your Team
Ministry happens with teams. To become better at student ministry you need to be spiritually investing and pastorally leading your leadership team. These adult leaders will be an extension of your ministry. If they are spiritually dry your students will be dry. If they lack excitement, your students will lack excitement.
Become Better At Helping Students Own Their Faith
Your students have been gifted by God to do good works and further the Kingdom of God. How are you leading students to own their faith? Personally I believe that this is done through service and leading and not inside of a bible study. Students need a space to learn how God has gifted them and to start using those gifts. Getting students to serve in the kid’s ministry is a perfect fit.
Become Better At Pastoral Ministry
The key here is getting leaders to help share the load of ministry. How well are you ministering to families in the ups and downs of life? Are you equipping your leaders to make this an emphasis in their role in your ministry?
Become Better At Small Groups
Small groups, discipleship groups, Sunday school, or whatever you call them needs to be an open group where students can develop friendships and develop their relationship with Jesus. How well are you encouraging leaders, providing spaces for spiritual growth, and resourcing students to learn more about Jesus?
Become Better At Encouraging Parents
Parents are doing the best that they know how to do. You must remember that you work with the specific phase as a calling. Parents are walking into a new phase every few years. How can you encourage your parents to latch onto their role as the primary spiritual leader?
Now What?
In what other ways can you get better at student ministry?
