Comments on: Wisdom From A Teenager On Youth Ministry http://hereiblog.com/wisdom-teenager-youth-ministry/ Christian, southern baptist, theology, reformed, thinking, culture, religion, apologetics, defense of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Fri, 18 May 2012 16:13:28 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v= By: David Santiagohttp://hereiblog.com/wisdom-teenager-youth-ministry/comment-page-1/#comment-30662 David Santiago Sat, 14 Jan 2012 16:53:10 +0000 http://hereiblog.com/?p=1329#comment-30662 Teens do not take Christianity seriously because we have watered down the Gospel in the American church. When they see the power of God demonstrated in our lives and the fear of God back in the church their thoughts of Christianity will change. Some of us need to change our method of reaching this generation of youth. Understand that it is the method that changes and not the message. We can play all of these games and teach about Gods love but if we do not teach them what the consequences of sin is or hold them accountable to their choices, we fail them as youth Pastors and parents. Our youth group is a reflection of us. If we are not on fire, neither will they be. If we are not strong in our faith and lack confidence when we teach the Word, why do we expect our teens to be any different. It starts with an evaluation of ourselves. Our we hungry for the things of God. Our we being led by the Holy Spirit. Think about it. It starts with us. Teens do not take Christianity seriously because we have watered down the Gospel in the American church. When they see the power of God demonstrated in our lives and the fear of God back in the church their thoughts of Christianity will change. Some of us need to change our method of reaching this generation of youth. Understand that it is the method that changes and not the message. We can play all of these games and teach about Gods love but if we do not teach them what the consequences of sin is or hold them accountable to their choices, we fail them as youth Pastors and parents. Our youth group is a reflection of us. If we are not on fire, neither will they be. If we are not strong in our faith and lack confidence when we teach the Word, why do we expect our teens to be any different. It starts with an evaluation of ourselves. Our we hungry for the things of God. Our we being led by the Holy Spirit. Think about it. It starts with us.

]]> By: julius mickelhttp://hereiblog.com/wisdom-teenager-youth-ministry/comment-page-1/#comment-15998 julius mickel Sun, 05 Apr 2009 03:20:39 +0000 http://hereiblog.com/?p=1329#comment-15998 Young people respond to the level we challenge them, i've personally seen young children sit quietly and take in biblical truth. Making it understandable and watering it down are not the same thing. Oh how we need some ol fashioned preachers who believe in the Gospel and the power of the Holy Spirit! Young people respond to the level we challenge them, i’ve personally seen young children sit quietly and take in biblical truth. Making it understandable and watering it down are not the same thing.
Oh how we need some ol fashioned preachers who believe in the Gospel and the power of the Holy Spirit!

]]> By: Withheldhttp://hereiblog.com/wisdom-teenager-youth-ministry/comment-page-1/#comment-15816 Withheld Fri, 03 Apr 2009 17:27:11 +0000 http://hereiblog.com/?p=1329#comment-15816 I am a youth pastor of a small group. I certainly feel the pressure to "act like an idiot" as the previous poster stated. But, my main goal is to have the kids want to be there because they feel loved and desire to grow closer to God. My fear about the lack of spiritual content the kids are getting is that they are not getting it at home either, or anywhere for that matter. The reason that we think we have to resort to gimmicks is to keep youth's attention. Unfortunately, almost everywhere a youth goes, they are treated like this. As a society, we are not holding them accountable for the hard truths in life. They aren't our sweet little babies, they are sinners in need of grace. We have to point them to Jesus until He becomes real to them and they are focused on Him on their own. This is not a task for the youth minister alone. It has to primarily happen in the home; not "raised in a Christian home," but actually having parents study, read, teach, pray with their students IN the home. Sadly, none of my students seem to take their relationship with Christ seriously. But, they don't take anything seriously: sports, school, work...life. Please pray for this generation of youth. They are increasingly seeking distraction and entertainment, rarely focusing on the truth of Christ. I am a youth pastor of a small group. I certainly feel the pressure to “act like an idiot” as the previous poster stated. But, my main goal is to have the kids want to be there because they feel loved and desire to grow closer to God. My fear about the lack of spiritual content the kids are getting is that they are not getting it at home either, or anywhere for that matter. The reason that we think we have to resort to gimmicks is to keep youth’s attention. Unfortunately, almost everywhere a youth goes, they are treated like this. As a society, we are not holding them accountable for the hard truths in life. They aren’t our sweet little babies, they are sinners in need of grace. We have to point them to Jesus until He becomes real to them and they are focused on Him on their own. This is not a task for the youth minister alone. It has to primarily happen in the home; not “raised in a Christian home,” but actually having parents study, read, teach, pray with their students IN the home. Sadly, none of my students seem to take their relationship with Christ seriously. But, they don’t take anything seriously: sports, school, work…life.
Please pray for this generation of youth. They are increasingly seeking distraction and entertainment, rarely focusing on the truth of Christ.

]]> By: Carla Rolfehttp://hereiblog.com/wisdom-teenager-youth-ministry/comment-page-1/#comment-15794 Carla Rolfe Fri, 03 Apr 2009 13:03:12 +0000 http://hereiblog.com/?p=1329#comment-15794 When my now 18 yr old daughter was 16, after having only spent one year at youth group, she said to me "mom, I don't want to go back to youth group this year, it's stupid". She complained that all they did was play games like 10 year olds, and they never got into the Bible and did any actual teaching. "I'm not learning anything, except how to act like an idiot and I already know how to do that!" were her exact words. We didn't make her go back, and she's now going through some serious spiritual struggles after having been raised in church since the age of 4. I am convinced completely that modern day youth group does far more damage to young people than it does to help them. These youth pastors need to grow up themselves and take their responsibilities seriously, and stop teaching young people how to "act like idiots" as my daughter says. When my now 18 yr old daughter was 16, after having only spent one year at youth group, she said to me “mom, I don’t want to go back to youth group this year, it’s stupid”. She complained that all they did was play games like 10 year olds, and they never got into the Bible and did any actual teaching. “I’m not learning anything, except how to act like an idiot and I already know how to do that!” were her exact words.

We didn’t make her go back, and she’s now going through some serious spiritual struggles after having been raised in church since the age of 4. I am convinced completely that modern day youth group does far more damage to young people than it does to help them. These youth pastors need to grow up themselves and take their responsibilities seriously, and stop teaching young people how to “act like idiots” as my daughter says.

]]> By: FlameGurlhttp://hereiblog.com/wisdom-teenager-youth-ministry/comment-page-1/#comment-15691 FlameGurl Thu, 02 Apr 2009 20:25:52 +0000 http://hereiblog.com/?p=1329#comment-15691 Wow. Reading this now, I remember feeling the same way. I also took a "break" from church between the ages of 18 and 22. I didn't actually become a Christian until the age of 23. I did attend youth group right up to the age of 17. You would think that the youth group leaders would have had a clue that most of us weren't believers. I don't know, maybe they did. Ours weren't a total joke, but they were seeking to entertain. I remember some fire & brimstone "someday your friend will come to you when you are standing at the Throne of Judgment and ask 'why didn't you tell me about Jesus?' and you will have to answer for that, maybe you were the only one who would tell them and because of you, they will go into the lake of fire". But there was an awful lot of just fooling around. BTW, that scenario I just described gave me nightmares for YEARS. And it didn't preach the Gospel to ME, who needed it most at that time, at all. Wow. Reading this now, I remember feeling the same way. I also took a “break” from church between the ages of 18 and 22. I didn’t actually become a Christian until the age of 23. I did attend youth group right up to the age of 17. You would think that the youth group leaders would have had a clue that most of us weren’t believers. I don’t know, maybe they did. Ours weren’t a total joke, but they were seeking to entertain. I remember some fire & brimstone “someday your friend will come to you when you are standing at the Throne of Judgment and ask ‘why didn’t you tell me about Jesus?’ and you will have to answer for that, maybe you were the only one who would tell them and because of you, they will go into the lake of fire”. But there was an awful lot of just fooling around. BTW, that scenario I just described gave me nightmares for YEARS. And it didn’t preach the Gospel to ME, who needed it most at that time, at all.

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