Born to Lead

He grasped the bone, it was a jawbone; it felt made for his hand. He marveled inwardly at the power he felt surging through his arm and body. The smile on his face seemed only to enrage those he faced. It was over in a moment yet the area seemed still to ring with the sound of the weapon at one with his arm, strength and body as it met heads, appendages, and torsos crushing, impaling and reigning destruction. Blood dripped from it as he looked at the last of his assailants dead at his feet his head cleaved from his body by the jawbone and the terrific blow that was effortless for him. The number had been no match for his strength, speed and fury.

From the moment he could remember he had known he was different. It was more than the special treatment, diet, and lifestyle, in fact it was more than the unusual strength; he just knew in his spirit, that and the fact that His parents had told him so often.

His parents … They had recounted so many times the excitement they had held at his announcement and birth. Their words still echoed in his mind; “we couldn’t believe it when we found out we were going to have a baby and even more that you were chosen for such a special mission. We’ve been so careful; making sure we did all we could to prepare you, though I’m sure there has been failure. You are so special to us and to God, soon all will know.”

DESTINED BY DESIRES

It had been the first time he had really disappointed them, journeying through the region, he had spotted her, never had he spoken to his parents of matters like this but He was adamant she was the one!  His father especially had begged him to find a girl who shared his heart and values; one from his own people as it were. Dad was holding fast to his son’s destiny. Yeah right she was so exotic and spoke to far more than his heart. It had been devastating to lose her the way he did; funny how it opened up his world, identifying his larger than life appetite for such women.

He enjoyed his life even though some of it seemed constraining and didn't make sense to him; in fact he worked hard at ignoring it. He walked back to his home pleased with himself and looking forward to seeing her. She had replaced his first love with ease. His blind rage subsiding shortly after he destroyed his first love's clan, it wasn’t long before his heart and appetite’s searching had found her. As she met him at the door his heart leapt and his loins stirred; she was everything his eyes, hands and body longed for; she spoke to his ego and affirmed his value.

Time passed and their relationship though not perfect was very satisfying, he even enjoyed the flirtatious badgering that ensued as she with great sensuality teased and pushed to understand his power and ability. Let's face it the sex or the promise of it was exhilarating ...it was hot, just like her body.

HE WAS DYING TO ANSWER HIS CALL

Every joint in his body ached, the pain in his arms though excruciating couldn't compare to the throbbing in his head. Blood still warm had begun to crust over from the holes in his face where his eyes had once been. Drifting in and out of consciousness he could hear the sound of the music and party above him. In that moment of realization; his heart broken, filled with guilt and regret, all his failure came flooding in. No tears came, though he wept bitterly in his spirit; they couldn't his eyes were gone. Crying out with a primal groan knowing his appetite for intimacy, the thing he thought would be answered in her, had derailed his entire life and mission; he embraced his failure and asked that in his death he might follow his call one last time. As the dust settled and the air became quite he had sealed his story and his epitaph, doing in death what he had failed to do in life. It all started with: "I saw a woman, get her for me!" It ended in death. Where will your heart and relationships take you? Will they help fulfill your calling or lead you to an early death; if not physically, the death of your call?

Let me ask you: Do your students understand how to make sense of their appetites? Do they understand unlike Samson, it's God's intent to fulfill them, that he designed them and the only way they will ever answer them is to follow His design? Do they know their lives, the call they long to follow can be found in no other place than a relationship with God through Christ? How many will end up like Samson finding out too late? 

How about you: Are you prepared to show them the way? It's your job, life and call!  Don't you dare allow their desires and the worlds answers to give birth to their destruction. Help your students discover what they were born to do; their call. Need some help putting together the tools? Click here for a free resource (it's at the bottom of the page, but read the material, you might want to use it.) and Contact me for more help!

A Drive-Thru, Grocery Store or Classroom; Increase Your Student Impact Quotient

“Hi Mr. Lutz”

“How are you kiddo?”

“Who’s that daddy”, my 4 year old quips, as she takes a “Timbit” from the box?

“A student from The High School”, I respond.

“You know them daddy”, she asks?

“Dad knows everyone”, replies my 9-year-old son.

I live in a small city. We’re just a few miles; like three, from a major city. I can’t go anywhere in my town without running into students who know and appreciate me. (I know, It's hard for me to believe too!) I choose to spend many days substitute teaching in our local JR. and SR. High schools. This not only gives me face time with students who I see every Sunday and many times at my home, but their friends and all who would touch their lives; teachers, administrators, and coaches.

What are ways you can gain face time and increase your ministry impact with your students? I know a student pastor who drives school bus for team events in his state and district. It’s increased his impact and attendance at events, even though his goal isn’t just attendance but transformation. Face it, there will be none of either if you don’t touch their lives. You already know many will never sit in a Sunday school class you're teaching or a youth meeting, but they will sit in a classroom or on a bus. Check with your local district to see what the standards are and jump in. Do a great job and not only will the students and parents love you, but you’ll have a chance to bless teachers and administrators as well. By the way when there’s a real need, who do you think they will call? Having a little extra cash, 'casue they pay you to do it, isn’t bad either! 

Happy Birthday

Today I celebrated my birthday... as an aside, I share this day with my twin brother, and one of my sons. It was nothing unusual; my brother lives several hours from me and my son usually takes center stage though he is gracious about sharing his day with me. We had a nice home cooked meal and a bit of cake, he opened his gifts and then packed up to go visit his brother and sister-in-law who live in another part of the state. I did get to renew my drivers license and get new "tabs" for our car, but that was the extent of my celebration. Well, with the exception, of all the birthday wishes I received on Facebook; now that was fun. It seems that of all the things that speak to my soul, it is the gift of relationship that does it best. I'm betting there is a connection to the fact that we are made in the image of God and like out creator and Father, relationship is foundational.

For me nothing reaches my soul more than having a solid connection with my family, all of my family. My wife, my married children; sons and daughter-in-laws, college age sons and kids still at home. The times in concert or separate I find us all striving to follow Christ fills me up. Sharing a common set of lenses to see life through; a perspective that touches lives greatest questions with His understanding. It gives me a sense of quiet surety that all is well.

Last night I had a few moments like this with my eighth son. I happened to be in the town where he goes to college and had to hang out for a bit. He took the time to sit and share his life with me. As he did I found a young man tackling issues that all young men tackle but with a steady hold on the lens of scripture and not mere cultural pragmatism. (Those things accepted as "Ok" by society but not in line with the heart of God). I left that night feeling a strong sense of connection, a shared sense of taking a run at life together. It spoke to my heart as a father and as a follower of Christ. We had a shared moment not only as family but as "body"; we were church and I was full. An important part of his process, is a ministry that values family and their part in a students life. If this is true for a collegian how much more for a younger student?

If the message of scripture says anything clearly, it says that family is the first institution in the spiritual "DNA" of an individuals life. As you deal with this foundational piece in your youth ministry, do you follow the admonition of Malachi 4:6? "He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers,..." I know, you have been called to fulfill a role in the kingdom when it comes to shepherding a certain populace, but remember you are charged to do it in a manner that fulfills God's design.... Parents are as big a priority for you as the students you serve. If you aren't helping them connect to God and each other your failing. If you're trying to lead their students without their parents input and help, your an enemy.

The Battle For Belonging Part 2

“My daughter says the girls at church are mean to her.” My son says he doesn’t have any friends at church.” “My youth group is so disjointed.” I hear it all the time. When asking students and their leaders what is needed most in their group the answer often given is: Unity, fellowship or something related. As I consider it, it probably is true. After all how do you take a bunch of random people with different lives and more importantly values and get them on the same page; get them to actually be friends? Problem is these things are not tasks or something you can manufacture through programs. You can underscore them but it will not happen apart from God.

In my previous post I alluded to the need for spiritual transformation pretty directly. Think about the individual you’re dealing with and their reality. As humans they are coming into their own, beginning to self-actualize and choose their own path. If you add a good dose of sin nature infused with the steroid of culture, there is no amount of programming that can compete with this; the animal doesn’t need tamed, it needs transformed. When you consider that many students in a ministry do not go to school together so they don’t share a common social life, let alone homes that run a gamut of beliefs and values, it reinforces the need to focus on the main thing; disciples! Even if you think you’re the Cesar Milan of youth ministry and you do achieve a measure of success, to quote a friend; “Sayin a things a thing, doesn’t make a thing a thing.”  Once they leave your ministry even if they pulled off a demeanor of love and kindness, apart from a changed heart and life the “beast” will return. Isn’t the point of youth ministry spiritual life? Don’t focus on the task then, aim at the heart.  Want your students to be friends? Connect them in Christ, only he can erase real differences.  One thing Cesar would tell you, you have to understand the nature of the beast and stay with in that framework to get it to do what you want it too. If you’re honest we treat students that way. We desire a certain behavior as a measure of success, we want them to act a certain way, in this case toward one another; but just working on behavior is not transformation. Don’t train them, change them!

I’ll revisit this to give air to what it takes to build a ministry of transformation over on of behavior modification in the future. In the meantime test your approach are merely trying to control the beast? Not sure? Ask yourself these questions

1. Do my students know God or just about Him?
2. What do I focus more; Group building (keeping everyone happy), or sharing the truth?
3. Is my focus spiritual or pandering?
4. Do I build biblical conviction in my ministry or am I unwilling to take a stand on culture?
5. Have my students had a real glimpse of God's transforming work in my life or do I model mere self-control.

What do you think?

The Battle For Belonging Part 1

As you build your ministry, what do you pin your hopes on for group cohesion? What is your plan for students to find a place of friendship and acceptance:  

• Your events; programs and activities that will expose kids to one another, give them opportunity to work side by side in service projects designed to build cohesion and ministry. Will you have some events that are just plain fun and bring out the “everybody wants to belong”, laugh and have a good time?
• Maybe you plan to have great teaching (behavior modification); training students to follow a code of conduct not their own; refereeing, hoping they will mature and get it? 

Only Christ can span the chasm of race, economics and social position. Students who find themselves classed in a certain group, with difficulty gaining entrance into other social circles will never cross those boundaries and others will never let them, apart from the work of the Spirit of God.  The real answer is other worldly, accomplished by a divine act, through the power of the Spirit. 


"For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit. Now you are the body of Christ, each one of you os part of it.  I Corinthians 12:13,27

“For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.  And if you belong to Christ, then….”  You belong to each other  Galatians 3:26-29a

  

Do you need to adjust your plan? I get an inkling many do!

Random Clarity

Doesn't God have an amazing color palate?

My family and I had a great opportunity to spend 24 hours with a group of college students and a ministry I highly value. The camp and scenery astounding; it’s beauty to be savored, like a great meal. Their Pastor is a friend, mentor and uncompromising when it comes to directing hearts and lives toward our creator and savior. In fact my earlier post was actually foundational in some of the things I shared with the students. What a blast to speak, think and interact with people who are hungry for the best way to do life! People like that electrify me! Opportunities like that bring clarity and focus. So here is some random clarity:

• Don’t waste time with people who don’t make you better; serve everyone you meet.
• Truth sought and shared has a way of bringing the most unlikely people into intimate relationship: Truth embraced is the ultimate standard to measure value.
• Truth applied and lived is also the greatest divider of men; don’t sacrifice right for relationship even if she’s “the one”.
• The workload necessary to gain wisdom and succeed becomes lighter when done in community; if there is dissent allow truth to be the judge.
• Unity within a group is not measured by style or sameness, but heart and truth.

Think about it:

1. Who is it that you’re wowed by?
2. Who causes you to strive for being the best: Do you fill your life with them? (1 and 2 need to be the same!) 
3. Do you serve all you meet or shortchange people you find irritating? (Service is giving all, exactly what they need even if it’s a rebuke; do it in gentleness and love!)
4.  Are you someone who is a beacon of truth, bringing unity to all who would embrace it; constantly striving to acquire wisdom, or are you one who is fearful of offense and loosing relationship, causing truth to suffer; obscuring wisdom?
5. Are you striving to be one who adds value to the life of all you meet while bringing clarity to those in your life?

It's Free, but Retrieving It; That's The Hard Part!

I've put up a an above ground pool before, so when my wife with joy in her voice told me we were just given a pool I had visions of; ground prep,(the first one took two weeks of back breaking digging and it still wasn't level!), thousands of screws for the supports, unrolling, trying to hold up and in place the thin metal side that bows, bends and proves unstable with the slightest wind; then comes the liner! Ah the liner even if you do get all the wrinkles out (never could, and it drove me nuts!) you will, once filled, feel every microscopic, minute piece of rock or debris as if it is going to come through the bottom rupturing the pool. Imagine my response when she in the next breath told me it was a gift from our friends where it had sat for the last 15 plus years! All we had to do was take it down and reassemble it here! Remember all those screws and that unwieldy metal? Now it was 15 years old, probably rusted and brittle.... Great I can't wait to tackle this one!

This is what I picture when my wife says; "Pool".

This is What my wife sees when she says; "Pool"..... Family fun!

Well I did it; my sons and I. We enjoyed that pool for another eight years and yes it was hard work, but very worth the effort.

When you tell your students about their need for understanding, knowledge and wisdom; letting them in on the fact that God gives liberally to all who would ask, don't forget to add a good dose of Proverbs 2, to the "Free" part of James 1! It is free, but it will take effort and work to retrieve it. It's not a Knowledge dump from Heaven complete with Neon sign saying: "Walk this way." Remember Proverbs tells us we have to seek it, dig for it as treasure, cry out for it... EFFORT! Well worth it though... Give em the good news ... don't hide the hard work.

What's Your Standard?

Can I be candid? Yeah I know it’s my blog but will you accept it? Regardless of what my job is (How I earn money), I will always be a Youth Pastor. Combine this with my parenthood and you can bet I have a critical eye toward the subject in general. When it involves the ministry my kids are in, it’s far more intense.

Several things concern me about youth ministry:

1. Apparent lack of biblical scholarship; maybe people know how to handle the word, maybe they don’t, but in it’s application I often find a spiral away from solid exegesis and homily, toward opinion and contextualization. Subjects that concern youth are given a consistent spin of today’s mores instead of letting God be God and His word unchanging: Morality, modesty, social activities, authority, the list is fairly large but these are some major topics.

2. An apparent lack of communication to, involvement and relationship with, or building up of: Parents, including their relationship with their students. How many parents are involved in your ministry? You do realize these are (parents) God’s first plan for your student’s spiritual growth? What are you doing to develop this? Are parents in general your ally or nemesis?

3. The apparent lack of understanding and preparation for an integrated approach to youth ministry. It starts with a constant flow of the word, His Spirit, and your obedience that should permeate your entire ministry, obvious right? It also means that from this platform all activities and teaching have a very focused purpose. Even the proverbial “hang time” needs forethought and though apparently spontaneous, it should be, because of your understanding of the word, relationship with God and knowledge of your students a time for focused, pointed ministry. Is yours? So many times I’ve seen this turn into the blind leading the blind, impact by proxy, and negative growth by lack of direction. Maybe some of it is your definition of ministry. Is getting a coke ministry? How about going to an amusement park? A service project? Maybe. Here’s my definition of ministry according to Eph. 4 and Galatians 6:10; Ministry is whatever it takes to move you toward maturity in Christ. Pretty broad isn’t it? So it would cover just about anything depending on my goal and ability to deliver. Now I hope I’m constantly sharpening my tools so I can be a major player in this process with my students. When I need help, I’m just as quick to find it! When however, I’m unprepared and coasting I’m in trouble.

So you’re a volunteer or A senior Pastor and your church can’t afford a paid staff person for this area. You have to work with what you have. SO?! Does the standard for ministry change simply because it’s not vocational? Since when? Find the help you need! There are some great resources at the side of this page. Need more help? Click Here