3 Reasons Why Yours Kids Will Never Come to Church After High School

In student ministry you get to see all sorts of different stories. Stories that break your heart and stories that energize you like nothing else can. But there is one constant in student ministry that is undeniable, something happens after high school. Statistics are all over the place but the average says that about 75% of high school student in church will leave the church after high school, CRAZY!!! Whys is that? Here is what I have experienced that causes this.

1- They don't know how to take it out of the room. I sit with students every week and pour into them the Word of God, and each week there is a feeling that often much of that is left in the room. I am working harder then ever to try and walk students through how to take what they learn from the Word of God out into their world.

2- They have no evidence. Students need to see an example that shows them not only how to do it but thats its possible and worth it. We can't sit in church and talk about people who have died for the gospel and sing songs about how great God is and then go back into a home where money, school, and sports are all elevated above the gospel. That doesn't makes sense, and makes a student feel like the gospel is a trinket or just a little saying for Sunday mornings. As a parent I want the gospel to make a difference in my home and let my children see how powerful it is.

3 - They aren't invited. I can easily get caught off track and start working on building a program or event that might attract a bunch of students and leave the church behind me. You can see it in so many places that we try an build community, community, community. Here is what happens with an only community driven ministry. You get a bunch of kids with no grounding, they go off to college, and because no one badgers them to come to church in two week, they fall off and are blown away to never return.

I hate it when i see weak seniors go off to college with no idea what is going to happen to them in the first few weeks of college. At some point we need to lead by example for students and show them that grades are not as important as the gospel, that sports are not as important as the gospel, that family is not as important as the gospel. Either this gospel is worth every bit of our lives and nothing less or it is worth nothing and should be thrown away. Choose.

3 Things I Learned Last Night at Fusion

Last night as Fusion I preached a message that I believe was one of the most important messages for our student ministry. We talked about John 8:1-12 - the story of the woman at the well.

We ended with two questions: Are you kneeling? or Do you have rocks in your hands? The picture of a woman enslaved in sin thrown to the ground and a Pharisees and scribes standing tall ready to cast judgment is what we had in mind. Either I kneel next to those that are hurting, suffering, lonely, and afraid in this world or I stand opposed to them with rocks in my hands.

In the midst of spreaking that message, God taught me 3 things.

1- I love these students. I am so committed to being a voice for these students that living a life for Jesus Christ is the best decision they could make and will enable them to bypass so much junk in this world. I love the opportunity to hang out with them each week and see them in their schools and hear about all they are doing. I realized as I spoke that I am really passionate about this and it is because of my love for them.

2 - This generation is being attacked. This generation is being pulled in so many different directions and we are hopeless to do anything about it unless we are praying for and moving in step with God. This culture that they are surrounded in is selfish and the only way to step out of that is to die to self and live in Christ.

3 - It has to be more than sitting and listening. Church is important and God has blessed the process of proclaiming the Word boldly. But this generation needs to see it and be lead by the hand into the truths of Scripture. I pray for every parent of these students to be filled with courage and faith to do the difficult thing and do what needs to be done.

I love these students and I believe that God is going to do an incredible thing in this student ministry as we see students deny themselves and their own desires and begin to care more about what God thinks about them than what others think about them.

THE BEST IS YET TO COME.

A Question for Each Day

One thing that I have learned about my self as parent is that I want my children to grow. I want them to be learning new things and new ways to do things for themselves that they once had to rely on me to do for them. I love seeing my children trying and being determined about something, whatever that something is. I know the specific things that my kids are learning to do and I love seeing them work at it. My middle child is learning to tie her shoes and she is so excited for the day that she finally has it down.

I really believe that the same is true as we are children of God. There are things that we are learning and I think it pleases God to see us working at it and staying determined. But the question is "What is it?"

What is that thing that God has you working on? What is the specific thing that God is allowing you to struggle through a little so that you can come out on the other side stronger.

Of course the goal is not independence from God but as a believer He desires you to be strong, bold, confident, etc...

Can you answer that question: What is the specific thing God is working on in your life? I promise you that if you can answer that you will free yourself from a lot of frustration.

Question for Parents

I have the awesome opportunity to work with some great parents. Here are 7 questions you need to be able to answer about your children.
1- Do you know what music your child is listening to?
2- Do you know who they would list as their top three friends?
3- Do you know what their biggest struggle is in living for Christ?
4- Do you know what they absolutely love to do?
5- Do you know that their dreams are?
6- Do you know their biggest fear?
7- Do you know what God is doing in their life?

Remember, as parents we have the opportunity and responsibility of discipling our children. That involved knowing them on a very deep level. God Bless.

Rules

There is a famous saying that Rules Without a Relationship equals a Rebellion. This is so true in many different cases. Whether it be with children and parents, citizens and a government, or students at a school, when people feel that they are being dealt with and ruled over when there is no care or compassion being shown to them, they rebel. In fact that is really the story of the United States, citizens were being taxed and not represented in the law making, so they rebelled.

I went to a very spiritually dark college and found that there were many people that had such an anger against God or the idea of God. They would write things, usually anonymous, about Jesus or God and I would wonder, "How can you be so mad at Jesus, I mean he healed people." It is the principle that stated above that fuels that type of anger. They feel that God has leveraged all these rules on them when they don't even have a relationship with Him.

It is for this reason that the church reaches out to not put forth the rules of God, but rather the love and relationship that He desires to have with his children. Now this doesn't mean that we need to condone disobedience or sin, but rather we don't fight it with boycotting or picketing. The world is lost and without God so of course they are selfish, thats all they have. We need to be loving and walk as Christ walked. He desperately loves his children and wants them to obey of course, but first He wants to have a relationship with them. He wants them to come to Him, not just obey.

Which Door To Choose

There are so many people that I personally know that struggle with figuring out what God's will is for their life. They are in high school, college, or career and sit in this pit of confusion because they are trying to figure out where to go and what to do all the while paralyzed by the fear of getting it all wrong.

I sat at that place for while before I moved to Texarkana to enter ministry so worried that I was being selfish or careless and would end up ruining my life and my family's life. I praise god for my pastor that walked me through the understanding that my life was created to give glory to Jesus. That was it. When it came down to it the kingdom of God does not hinge on my life. My purpose is to give glory to Him. Its not about me.

This can be so freeing to not only to hear but to live out. I was able to make decisions for myself and my family in confidence knowing that if I was surrendered to Jesus, the door was open, and I was all about giving Him glory, then I don't have to be freaked out about making a wrong turn and ending up in destruction.

God wants your life to GIVE HIM GLORY. Start where are right now - Give Him Glory for everything you do and everything you are. When decisions come up, choose, not for yourself but for His glory.

Ephesians 3:12 "In Him and through faith in Him we may approach Him in freedom and confidence."

What's the Goal

Im blown away that the idea of so many songs right now is to forget the consequences and just have fun. What a crappy idea.

Looking for Change

One of the biggest fears I have as a student pastor are students that don't have a grasp on what salvation really is. Because we live in an area where religion is part of the culture salvation can easily get mixed up in a jumble of routine. If there is anything I want make sure I am clear on it is this. Here are some things I have learned about salvation from my own life:
1 - Get it from the Word - we live in a media driven world and because of that it is so important that we know how to get our info from that main source, the Bible.
2 - It doesn't just happen - sometimes we act like salvation is just part of life. It is so important to remember that salvation is a miracle, not a phase of life. We are born dead in our sins and salvation is being given a life that you don't deserve.
3 - Look for change - the evidence that your saved is not in some prayer you said a while ago it is change that has taken place in your life. When you get saved there is a change that takes place. It may not be huge but there will be consistent change in your life. The main change will be freedom. When you are saved you are not bound to sin as you use to be. You will still sin and make mistakes but there will more and more freedom that develops in your life.

I am so amazed that God by his grace has saved me. I pray that it never gets old and that I spend the rest of my life serving Christ for all He has done for me.

WHERE DO YOU STAND?

I feel like I'm getting a more and more clear understanding of the incredible task it is to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. I tell our students often that if Jesus Christ were to literally walk into the room and ask for a show of hands who wants to be a disciple. If He promised to give you the strength, boldness, and courage, I would imagine that most people would raise their hands. So then what is the deal? Why aren't we living it? Why is this young generation falling over the same stupid things that almost every other generation has tripped over? I wrestle with this question. I'm not going to try and sum it all up and say that I have figured it all out but I do know after 7 years of serving a younger generation that I am fully convinced that many students in the church today don't understand what it means to be a disciple.

This last Sunday I stood in the student center of our church and spoke and prayed over our lowest group of the year, why? Homecoming. There was a dance on Saturday night. Now hear me loved ones, I'm not saying that every student that missed because of the dance isn't a disciple of Jesus Christ, but I will say that our priorities are completely out of whack when I, as a student pastor, know that the sunday after homecoming, prom, the opening of deer season, some concert in town, etc... will be a low Sunday. I also know that there is not one student that went to homecoming that at the end of it would say it was so worth the money and time. If you are saved then meeting together regularly is not an option it is your responsibility and if you drop the ball on that then biblically speaking you dropped the ball on one of the biggest responsibilities you have been given, not by me or any other pastor, but given to you by Jesus Christ. I have missed Sundays here at Texarkana, but wherever we are as a family we give HIGH PRIORITY to getting together with other believers and being fed and I know that many of our families in the student ministry feel the same way. This is the bride of Christ, it shouldn't be losing out to standing out in the middle of nowhere to shoot a stinking deer or dressing up to impress others and take pictures for a school tradition. Lets stop taking the responsibilities given to us by a school district and placing it over the responsibilities given to us by Jesus Christ.

Our theme this year in the student ministry is LOUD - and we are going to speak out into this city to a young generation with the gospel of Jesus Christ, but to do that we must be confident followers and disciples. Not confident in ourselves but in HIM, Jesus Christ. I am on my knees for this student ministry and excited to see all He does in us and through us in the weeks to come.

A NOTE TO FUSION STUDENT MINISTRY

Last night was an incredible night at FUSION - we saw about 7 students come to know Jesus Christ as their SAVIOR - THAT NEVER GETS OLD. We also saw some students make a huge step into breaking free from the "sin that so easily entangles us".

i wanted to write a note hitting two things that happened last night that i think applies to a lot of our students:

1- if you have taken that first step into knowing Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior I want to challenge you to take two steps. First tell someone that you know is a Christian what you did. Satan always wants to trip us up and confuse us and it is always so much better to have someone standing with you then to stand by yourself. Second, make sure you have a Bible and start reading it. Read it slowly so that you can think about what you are reading. Start with Ephesians 2:1-10. In those 10 verses the entire Gospel is spelled out really clearly. Then slowly read through the book called John, it is all about Jesus.

2 - there were many last night that needed prayer because they feel caught in sin. I want to challenge you to get alone some time today and talk to God about that sin, about how you are tempted, and about how you feel afterward. Get honest and open to God. Then open you bible and read Romans 8:28-39. You are a conqueror. It is not about your power but about the power of God in your life.

God is doing awesome things here in the student ministry and it is because we are expecting big things from our God who is for us and not against us. God is so good. Cant wait for the launch service next week, remember to invite some people this week and we are going to pack this place out.

A NOTE TO OUR STUDENT MINISTRY

Hey everyone, wanted to communicate just a few things to all our students and parents.

1 - I'm praying for you - especially all of our seniors that are about to step onto a college campus. it is tough no matter how you slice it. But i do want you to know that I am not just praying that you survive college ok, I'm praying that you CONQUER college. you are not there to just make good grades and get in a good frat or sorority. God has positioned you there on purpose. i hope you can be an incoming freshman that is a leader of all the others that arent ready.

2 - Take you aim - As you guys get ready for the fall i am praying that you are aiming at something worth while. i told our group on sunday morning that we as a student ministry need to be after a MOVEMENT OF CHIRST and not just a MOMENT WITH CHRIST. what are trying to become this year?

3 - Lets get it done - There is so much that we can accomplish this year and i pray that everyone of our students this year walks away with an incredible testimony of how God did IN them and THROUGH them.

God is moving and I pray that we are humble before Him and then confident to lead the way for this city.

THE HALLWAY IN OUR OFFICE

So several weeks ago I was walking into my office and noticed that the long hallway going into my office was looking a little bland. There was so much space for something cool and we had nothing there. I was thinking of some cool mural or painting or something and then the thought left me. Later that day I was praying about our student ministry and so desire for this next year to be outward-focused. As christians we can be so focused on ourselves as we live in a culture that consumes. This year though we want to follow Christ's examples and be about seeing the lost be found. So back to the hallway. I thought instead of a painting or mural we have chosen to give that whole wall to our students. We have cards that we printed up and are asking our students to write their name on a card and put it on the wall. What that single card means is that they are actively praying for, witnessing, and serving a single person that they want to see come to know Christ. Each day since we started this I have prayed over these cards and for the lost souls that they represent. I am so amped up by what this whole process has meant to me and to our students. I am excited to see more and more cards up on the wall and then finally see those cards come down as we will see those lost students come to know Christ.

READY TO CHANGE

I am so excited to see all the things God is doing in our student ministry. Week after week I have been able to engage in conversations with students that have begun to truly walk with Christ. Yesterday I shared 4 verses that I feel are becoming more and more real in our student ministry. I shared with a group of teachers after church that I was so excited that I could share that message and be sincere. I wanted to highlight one point that was made yesterday here in this post. Although God is doing incredible things and we are seeing students move onto the NEXT step with Christ, I know that we still have students that are flat out bored in their walk. Listen closely, I think that is a very dangerous place to be and want to help out any way possible to get any student out of that place. Here is what I want you to know if that is where you are finding yourself. You may be bored, but it is not because you are following Jesus. Somewhere you got off track and stopped following HIM and you started following rules. Get off that track fast. Now I'm not saying you should do whatever feels good and don't worry about boundaries, but don't ever worship the boundaries over loving Jesus. Jesus is more concerned with your heart than your behavior.
I am excited for the future here in the student ministry. It is going to be AWESOME. We have a new theme that we will launch in September so be looking for that.

3 things for students of Fusion Student Ministry

i am not sure about you but i have had one of those weeks that i am not going to miss when it is over. i can so tell that God allows some of these trials in our life to train us and strengthen us, and when all is said and done i am thankful that He loves us that much.
i am excited about some things coming up in the student ministry here but even more excited about what God is doing here at Fusion Student Ministry. Here are a few things that i want each student here to know:

1) keep going. If god has been doing something in your life or been pushing you in a certain direction: GO! always listen to His voice and never fear that He will lead you in a wrong path.

2) keep coming. We have had some incredible Sunday mornings and Wednesday nights here in the last several months, be apart of that. God is showing up and speaking loud and clear. i was amazed last wednesday as we worshipped God after the message last week, it was powerful and i needed it.

3) keep up. We have some awesome things coming up in the summer and i want everyone to stay connected with the church so keep up. you do not want to miss camp this year, both middle school and high school. I say this every year and it is still true, MONEY IS NOT A REASON TO MISS CAMP. we will find a way but it takes you making the effort to come talk to us and let us know that you want to go. DONT MISS IT.

I love you guys so much and we are praying for you and can t wait to see you tomorrow night. we are continuing our MAKE WAR series and it is going to be good. See ya!!!

I want to be happy!

Matthew 5-7 is Matthews account of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. It is something really popular that most people who have been in church have heard and can recognize portions of. The beginning few verses are called THE BEATITUDES. "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they will be filled" Mt 5:6. There are 9 of them in total.

I say this a lot in ministry; when you read the Bible read it slowly so that you can catch all that is going on and ask yourself questions along the way.

One thing that became so powerful to me from these verses was the fact that the word "Blessed" in the original language means "Happy". Jesus was talking about happiness here and how to get it.

Our culture and humanity is pretty much built on a search for happiness. Everything that is advertised to us is advertised in a way that shows us how we will be happy if we buy this or that. Think of the things that you have purchased in the last few weeks, some of them may be based on a need, but there is a certain element of a search for happiness in there.

Human beings are searching for happiness and Jesus hits this topic at the very beginning of his message.

Here is what i see from these 9 statements about happiness. You can not attain happiness by trying to gain happiness. WEIRD right. But the Bible never says that we can gain happiness if we search for happiness but rather we will gain happiness if we search for something higher than happiness.

I think about it like this, i love New York Yankee hotdogs. Yes, the actual hot dogs from the stadium. But you cant get a hot dog from the game if you do not buy a ticket to the game (more expensive than a hot dog). You must go out and search and pay for something much higher than the hot dog, and the same is true with happiness.

If we are searching for happiness we will never get it, but rather if we search for righteousness we will gain both righteousness and happiness. INCREDIBLE>

we need to make sure that the way we are spending our lives are not simply for happiness but for the much higher calling we each have, righteousness.

What I've learned about God from being a parent

We are about to experience some big changes around my house. We are having a boy in just a few days. We are all so excited and cant wait to have him here in our home without being inside my wife. Getting ready for another has made me think back to all that being a parent has taught me and it is incredible what parenting teaches you about God and your relationship to him. Here are a few:

1- It is incredible how courageous my kids are when they know their dad is there to catch them - My kids are pretty daring but their courage is amped up 100% when they know that dad is their to catch them. My youngest will climb and jump off anything if she knows that i am there to catch her, and she knows i will never drop her. So true spiritually. I want to always know that if i am walking in obedience he is right there with me and i can be filled with courage and be daring in this life.

2 - It is awesome to see my kids not walk in fear because i am with them - the dark is scary when you are young, but when i am holding my daughters hand we are ok. Let go of that hand and you will hear it in the next county, but if i am there holding her hand we can trek through the darkness with no problem because she knows i will not lead her into a bad place. I am realizing that it is never God's hand that pulls away but rather mine and if i am willing and seeking after him, he is there.

3 - It is amazing how my kids will give away almost everything when they know i am willing to buy them something better - Now that might sound pretty shallow but i think there is a huge truth packed in there that you can find in Malachi 2:8-10. When they know that i am going to buy them something they are so willing and even excited to give away what they currently own. Amazing how i forget that what i own currently is and will always ultimately belong to God but i get so nervous and try to hold onto it all.

4 - It is humbling how my kids ask for the biggest things thinking their dad can do anything - I both love it and hate it when my girls ask for something so outlandish that it is almost funny. I love it because they think I'm superman, and i hate it because i know i can not give it to them. How awesome is it that we can ask those big things to God and not have to be worried that He cant handle it. Now maybe He will in His love say no, but "Sorry i cant" will never be the response. God ahead and ask - He can do anything.

YOU ARE OR YOU ARENT

Im a huge Yankee fan and I love being a Yankee fan. WHat i love most is when i walk into a ball park, other than Yankee stadium, wearing my Yankees jersey and showing my dedication to my team no matter who is with me or against me. Thats the best part of being a Yankee fan. Either people hate the Yankees or they love them. There aren't many baseball fans that are neutral about the Yankees, and if they are they aren't true baseball fans.

I have been so challenged by a few different books that i am currently reading and of course God's Word and one challenge that i really feel God has been speaking to me is that this: EITHER YOU ARE FOLLOWING ME OR YOU AREN'T. There is not such thing as a seasonal follower of Christ. Someone who who goes to church but isn't doing or striving to do what God's Word has revealed to them is not a follower of Christ. Praise God for His grace that He is there with open arms when we return to Him and realize how great His love for us is, but there must be a point where you turn your back on the world and its desires and follow Christ. And remember He will walk through some circumstances that are not fun and entertaining. He may bring you to a place where close friends won't go and you will have to end some dear relationships. If you think i'm wrong, read about the disciples journey with Christ. Look at your week or even just your day today and ask - DID I FOLLOW CHRIST TODAY - and remember - EITHER YOU DID OR YOU DIDNT.

5 things I think every student needs to know about God

I love my job. I have an incredible opportunity to help students grow closer to God and equip them with the tools they need to walk close with Him in one of the most difficult times in their lives. Here are 5 things I wish every student knew about God:

1. God loves you. But understand this: His love is perfecting not pampering. He is more concerned about you growing more like him, not simply you being happy.

2. God has spoken to you. God wrote a book and He wrote it to you. READ IT. Don't try and just open it when you have a problem and expect it to all make sense. Get into a habit to reading a little each day, but remember to dig into it and see how it applies to your life and what it has to teach you.

3. God isn't acting on your terms. Don't wait for God to light up a burning bush in your locker. He has spoken and the ball is on your court.

4. God had a plan for you. Don't let this statement freak you out and make you think that if you ever make a bad decision your screwed and you will never be able to live up to what God made you to be. What i mean by that statement is that God has gifted you and is going to open doors for you to live the abundant life if you give him your all.

5. God wants to hear from you. Going to church is awesome and having good biblical morals is great, but what God wants most of all, and this blows my mind, is a relationship with us. He wants to walk with us through life and guide us. He is looking for people who are willing to follow him.

To know God is our goal, not simply know about Him. Do you know Him?

Am I Losing the Race?

In the student ministry this month we are studying the word love on Wednesday nights with a series called THANDA=LOVE. Thanda is the name of a ministry we are supporting in south africa that is helping kids who have lost parents to AIDS. We are studying different aspects of Love that we are called to. Putting these messages together has caused me to look at myself and whether or not i am where i need to be in this category. Now i "love" a lot of things - but what we are realizing is that we are not only called to choose to love stuff and people that are easy to love but to love those that are not so easy also (Matthew 5:43 - 48). I want to make sure that you and i understand that this category of love is the BIG ONE - just read 1 john 4. GOD IS LOVE. He is serious about this characteristic. So if i am failing in this category than i need to be able to honestly understand that i am losing the race that God has set out for me. I want to be great - not in a prideful way but what i mean by great is being exactly who God made me to be. Not letting dumb worldly stuff get in the way. Are you there? Are you loving? Don't say yes just because you love your mom and dad and your best friend, but think about the ones that are difficult to love. Think about the people who have hurt you and those who have forgotten you. Remember God's love is an action love, we need to act it out.

The Tough Question

I am writing this entry about something that God has been urging in my life for the last year or so. It is this statement that He has continually been pushing into my path and i am so thankful that He did. The statement is "Ask the tough question." I find that there are many times that we surround ourselves with some thing that we know shouldn't be there, but we simply don't want to face the difficult or uncomfortable situation of dealing with it. It might be something that isn't even a SIN but just something in our life that is a waste and is pulling us from something better. It might be a weight issue that is there but you haven't faced it, or a personality issue that everyone else can see but you can't, and it all boils down to the fact that you don't want to ASK THE TOUGH QUESTION. Here is the incredible thing that I have learned in this: every time i ask the tough question, it is always a positive result. It may not be fun or comfortable but in the end i am always thankful that i asked. I challenge you to do the same. Face those things in your life that are bugging you and are pulling you away from being who you want to be. ASK THE TOUGH QUESTION.