As I drove across the country reaching my new ministry region, I took some time to think about the past year. Here are my highlights.

My book was finished and released. This was a huge milestone for me. The book is doing well. I learned a lot writing it, and will be more prepared for another one soon. My biggest surprise was how much work comes after the book is printed.

I left my church to start something new. At the end of the year, I resigned as youth pastor of St. Peter’s Anglican Church and moved to Ashland, Nebraska to start a new position. This was way harder than I thought. So many people had become a very real part of my life. My biggest surprise was a very tearful goodbye of my fellow leaders. I’m not usually so emotional.

I am working on speaking and writing more. I spoke at several conferences and have written more in the pat year. I found out that I really like it. So hopefully I will start incorporating more presenting into my life.

So there it is. My big highlights for the year. There are small ones that I may write about later. Thank you for reading and being a part of this process of thinking through being a person of ministry.

I’m not a fan of large crowds and loud noises (they always try to steal my sweet, sweet energy juice). So it was uncharacteristic for me to be so excited about attending The Summit. I don’t think anyone knew what to expect. The sense of anticipation was ripe through the whole event. Here’s what I remember about it.

The Expected Ted-Style

If I were able, I would have made a parody of Gangnam style with Marko and Adam dancing. Sadly, I don’t have those resources. The Summit was formatted on the TED way of presenting which limits time and focuses content. The Summit provided the benefits of this in spades.

Every speaker had to present in a new format, and it showed in a fresh delivery of great content. What took this to the next level were the meetups with presenters in focused discussion. It just worked. I heard so many people asking why no one had tried it before. My guess is that many youth conferences will be trying to replicate this format very soon.

The Unexpected Asides

Early adopters live by a code. We are willing to take chances and be dismayed. So be weird, but show us something that will change the way we think. The Summit brought together a bunch of people, a tribe within a tribe, who want something different. Not just new, but better.

There are too many surprises to mention, but here are a few that have become a standard for Cartel culture:

Everyone was accessible. I ran into Ben Chestnut, presenter and founder/CEO of Mailchimp, at the book store. He appeared to be willing to throw down some cash on a book that would be totally outside of his field. Cool.

The mix of attendees was way more diverse than most conferences. Young and old, hipster and geek were all represented. At one point, I saw a guy who (I’m sorry random person) seemed to be 60 talking excitedly in a corner with an early twenties, bearded guy. I tried to eavesdrop but failed. This scene was repeated throughout the weekend. Ideas kept bouncing off the walls, forcing the attendees into random conversations. Cool.

The diversity of the presenters themselves also made The Summit unique. I have read a lot of authors outside of ministry. Most of my greatest encouragement and creativity comes from outside of the professional Christian world. The Summit had presenters who had never attempted youth ministry or any kind of ministry. Their ideas were useful, though, because they had such a different perspective.

I could write so much more about The Summit, but it still wouldn’t capture the experience. For some people like me, it felt like an acknowledgment of hope. I don’t mean to sound overdramatic, but the future of youth ministry looks dismal at times. That weekend gave me a surprise in looking ahead.

If you missed it, the presentations are available here. Maybe the vibe will come through consuming the media. Also, The Youth Cartel have already committed to next year’s Summit in Atlanta, November 8-9. I won’t miss it.

My new book, Masterpiece, is just about to be available. It has been a long effort that has taught me a lot. This book is a culmination of years of work with teens, adult leaders and parents trying to help them see for themselves the way God sees them – as a masterpiece. It’s my best shot at describing the way I have seen people radically changed for the Kingdom. If you want to get in on the pre-release goods, look no further.

Here’s what you get:

1. The book
2. A supplemental workbook
3. A subscription for a years worth of  ideas fleshing out the book
4. A retreat you can use for starting a discipleship based ministry
5. My personal thanks

How do you get it? Very easy. All you have to do is click Masterpiece and send me a receipt with your email. You can pre-order through the awesome Youth Cartel or Amazon.

Bonus:

I have a stack of bonus material from the book that you get from ordering a pre-release copy. These extras will continue as the community keeps asking for them. You can get more stuff by:

1. Sharing this on Twitter or Facebook
2. Liking my Amazon author page
3. Adding a review to the Amazon page

Thank you for ordering. If you’ve already ordered one, consider getting one for a friend.

Sometime last week with all the last minute design decision and edits, I realized something about my new book Masterpiece: The Art of Discipling Youth. It really shouldn’t succeed, but it probably will. I’m not deluding myself with the hope that this project will succeed. It’s just that I have a very deliberate conception of what success looks like.

When someone hears that I have written a book, they ask me a myriad of questions. Will I have a book signing? Will I quit my job and just write? Will Donald Miller and I start hanging out? The answers and no, no and I wish. But that’s not my ideal outcome.

Instead, I have a few ways of measuring success.

1. Did this help me articulate my ideas? Check

2. Will this help people understand discipleship among young adults? TBD

3. Will this provide opportunities for me to help youth workers help teenagers (speaking, coaching, consulting)? TBD. So far, so good.

That’s really all I hope to see from writing this book. This short tome shouldn’t succeed. The ideas in it are a map confusing the leaders of your church. They will push you to take risks with your leaders and youth. Following them will make you take an internal inventory that will likely be brutal.

But it probably will succeed simply because we are made for risk. We want to see ourselves, even the scary parts, the way God sees us. More than those reasons, we want to see teenagers understand that they are God’s masterpiece.

I’ll be offering a pre-order package later this week with lots of bonus material that didn’t make it into the book. If you want to to dig deeply the ideas of discipling youth, you will want the pre-order.

The book is turned in and The Youth Cartel has the ball. I’m really trying to be cool, but I keep amping myself up with each little step. Here’s the back cover teaser for the book:

Masterpiece. That’s how Paul the Apostle describes us in his letter to the church in Ephesus. We are God’s masterpiece. Most people never hear that one phrase. Even fewer will believe it. Masterpiece: The Art of Discipling Youth uncovers the process of revealing a teenager as the masterpiece Christ created them to be. It doesn’t approach discipleship with a blank slate, sketching with small groups or painting with programs. Instead, it focuses on revealing the art that is already under the surface of every young person. It removes the grime of life and restores the vibrancy of the true colors underneath.

This book is for youth workers who are tired of canned meetings geared towards the masses. Veteran youth worker Paul Martin shares his process for recognizing individual youth as what they are: God’s masterpiece.

Yeah, I’m way to pumped to be cool about this.

If you read this blog or know me, it’s no surprise that I’m a big Barefoot Ministries fan. There are tons of groups out there cranking out good resources for youth ministry, but Barefoot is one of my favorites. I’ve written in the past about MissioLife and The Jesus Creed (student version), but there’s a new resource that is worth checking out as well.

Barefoot Online has just been launched and it is a one stop place for almost every need in youth ministry. You can keep track of activities, birthdays, events, and even finances. There’s also lessons for preteens, middle school and high school students that are well written, theologically sound and easy to incorporate into most settings.

What I liked the most was the short video preview for most of the curriculum. Maybe I’ve been hanging around teenagers too much, but my attention span for finding lessons is dismal. I haven’t looked through all of the resources, but the disciple.me line seems really solid (you know I like discipleship, right?).

Probably the most unique offer of barefoot online is the youth worker training section. Again, lots of people are doing this, but Barefoot Online just makes it easier. There are videos and audio clips (I did a couple) that are short and to the point. Again, my attention span tells on me.

If you’re new to youth ministry or even have a some time under your belt, check out Barefoot Online. There’s a free 15 day trial. Who doesn’t like something free!

I’ve been a big fan of Andrew Root since reading Revisiting Relational Youth Ministry, so it’s no surprise that I loved his latest book Taking Theology to Youth Ministry. In his latest book, the first in a three part series, Root relays the Chronicles of Nadia. Nadia in this case is a young person newly hired as a youth minister. The book, in part, tells her story as she confronts the problems of working in a church.

Underneath the story, real issues of youth ministry get the theological treatment. What is unique about this book is it’s connection of real life situations to the rationale behind it. Where most ministry books claim this accomplishment, Taking Theology to Youth Ministry delivers. This book makes distinctions between intentions (what we do) and motives (why we do it). In tackling both worlds of ministry, it is able to guide practitioners of youth ministry through the minefield of church dynamics.

This may be one of the most important books in youth ministry for quite a number of reasons. First, it is an easy read that young, non-reading youth workers can absorb. Secondly, It takes on the challenges of three basic practices of youth ministry (entertainment, service and tradition) and provides realistic ways to articulate their pitfalls. Lastly, it gives leaders a sense of hope in confronting these very real challenges.

My only gripe, and it’s a small one, is that the story ends too soon. Nadia takes some great chances and evangelizes her church leaders, teenagers and parents to a reasonable foundation for youth ministry. But just as she realigns those expectations and begins shaping her practices, the book ends. Unfortunately, that’s where many youth ministry careers end. This kind of story is laudable, but it often ends in looking for a new job (or career). I want to hear how Nadia continues to serve the church and how she survives the new approach to youth ministry.

So should you read it? I would say, “Yes!” Could it be dangerous to your job? You’ll have to decide that for yourself.

(used with permission, People of the Second Chance)

This post has been sitting in my cue a quite a while. It seems appropriate that it now meets the the readers of this blog.

It’s true. Sometimes only hate describes my view of myself. It’s not usually when I’ve put it in the ditch either. There’s a subtle motivator in my life. Praise. When I get plenty of it, life explodes with happiness. Happiness, not joy. When I suffer too long without affirmation from the right people, I spiral down into self-loathing.

I know I’m not alone. Too many of my conversations with friends, fellow youth pastors and teenagers confirm this self-imposed feeling. It is self-imposed. Youth ministry in particular can be a petri dish for growing self-hate. Most youth workers live in a world of satisfying their love for helping adolescents while trying to please so many other people. It’s possible to live outside of this reality, but very few are able to live in this tension for long without suffering a bruised heart.

My biggest trigger for self-hate lies in where I get my value. When I depend on other people, outside sources, green lights, special sales events on jeans and especially the approval of my boss, I will eventually end up in dispair. If I can instead find out who I am and rely on that knowledge to bring fulfillment, I short circuit the myth of failure.

This is easier said than done. Finding and living out of a created identity takes work. I know no other way to do this than through a constant relationship with my Creator. When I get to know him, I see parts of myself. I can’t get to know myself apart from a relationship with him. It’s not usually always pretty, and I fail often enough, but the alternative can’t be an intentional part of my life.

Neurology tells you that the front of the brain is wired for rewards. The other part of the brain, often called the reptile brain or fish brain, operates from a risk perspective. I came across this video about coaching on Chris Borgan‘s site.

what coaches do

Around the six minute mark, he starts talking about risk and reward. This perspective lives in youth ministry in abundance. But it’s selective. When it comes to new programs and ideas, youth workers are rewards focused. They ask for demand that other people take on big changes with them, pursuing the rewards. When it comes to direction, say from a sr. pastor, they operate from a risk mindset. Fear overcomes their ability to see rewards.

Faith has something significant to say about both of these responses. It hopes for what can’t be seen. It reassures the moments of risk. At the same time, it balances rewards by pointing to God as the beneficent God who rewards our trust in his purpose.

I’ve been deliberately praying that I can operate more from rewards based on faith. Join me?

Lately I have been taking stock of myself. It has shown up on this blog as silence, but in my offline world, ithas been amazingly fruitful. I have had more conversations, more revealing moments and more insights into who I am than in years before. This inner understandinghas had surprising outcomes.

1. I don’t feel like I have as much to prove
2. I know when to say no to new opportunities
3. Likewise, I know when to say yes
4. I can take bigger risks
5. I can admit to being bad at something (or just disinterested)
6. I enjoy so much more freedom found in those in between moments of life