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Why I Love Mondays

I’ve noticed a trend recently that disturbs me.

As a youth minister, I use FaceBook a lot.  I connect with teens easier through that medium than almost any other.  But I see a trend developing, and has been for some time, that bothers me.

Lots of people hate Mondays.

Monday

Every week, I read some variation of how great someone’s weekend was and how much it stinks for it to be over and now they have to go back to work.

I really don’t understand this. I mean, I get the idea behind why people hate Monday.  The weekend is over, and it’s back to the grindstone.  But that is a philosophy I just can’t comprehend.

I love Mondays.  Most people can’t relate to that concept, I know.  But I don’t think even they know why.  So many people seem to dislike the first weekday so much that it seems like cultural peer-pressure to conform to Monday hatred.

I love Monday.  And I feel like I need to share why I do.

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Memorize The Sermon On The Mount – Week 14

Today’s passage is one of the harder teachings of the Sermon on the Mount, in my opinion.  I would like to know if anyone has ever actually cut off a hand, or gouged out an eye. I think that would be extremely difficult to do, given our propensity for self-preservation.

I know, there are differences of opinion on whether this is literal or metaphorical.

But either way, the fact remains, following Christ may require some extreme sacrifices.

The passage for this week is Matthew 5:29-30.

Matthew 5:29-30

Here’s a link to the passage at Bible Gateway.

What sacrifices have you had to make in order to follow Christ?  Which one is your favorite?  Let me know in the comments.

 

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Book Review: Couples Who Pray by Squire Rushnell & Louise DuArt

Couples Who PrayCouples Who Pray was an intriguing book.

While not a deeply thought provoking book, it did highlight some great points and was very encouraging.

Authors Rushnell and DuArt have developed a 40 Day Prayer Challenge.  The basic idea is that married couples spend at least five minutes a day praying together for 40 days, and see if that doesn’t change their marriage for the better.

Of course it will.

Drawing on the stories of several prominent public couples, such as Denzel and Pauletta Washington, Kathie Lee and Frank Gifford, Donna Summers and Bruce Sudano, and Gavin and Patti MacLeod, Couples Who Pray is a treasure of encouragement.

Although it is encouraging, it isn’t all that deep.  It has some great points, but lacks a solid biblical foundation.  They quote several passages from God’s Word throughout the pages, but they seem to be almost afterthoughts, and not basic premises.  And the chapter where they talk about generosity, giving and tithing is poorly defined.

While there were some great points made in this book, I feel as if there are several other books out there that do a far better job of establishing prayer as the basis for any marriage.

That said, I’m still glad I read it.

If you are interested in reading Couples Who Pray, you can purchase it at Amazon.com.

Disclosure of Material Connection:
I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze blogger review program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Also, some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links”. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.“

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Book Review: Chasing Elephants by Brent Crowe

Chasing ElephantsI didn’t get what I expected when I read Brent Crowe’s Chasing Elephants:  Wrestling With The Grey Areas Of Life.

I expected it to be a book where he examines several “untouchable” topics.  Topics such as the back cover lists: social drinking, homosexuality, social networking, and more.

I was interested in reading his opinions on many of these topics, and how he landed on his conclusions.  But what I got was a lot more.

As I started reading Chasing Elephants, I was initially disappointed.  It wasn’t what I expected.  BUt as I continued to read it, this book has turned into one of the more dog-eared, written in, highlighted books that I own.

Instead of tackling each of the mentioned topics one chapter at a time, Crowe instead has written a great book describing and explaining Christian freedom.  He has formulated a series of sixteen questions, a grid, so to speak, that a person can use to answer questions about any of the grey areas in life.

Instead of addressing half a dozen touchy subjects, Crowe has developed a tool that can help you establish your beliefs about any such area.  These sixteen questions have become extremely helpful for me.

Brent Crowe has done his homework concerning the the topic of Christian freedom.  He examines most of the major biblical passages and does a great job of writing very clearly on the subject.

And then, in the last five chapters, he addresses specifically some of these untouchable topics, viewing them through the grid of these sixteen questions.

And he’s done a great job doing it.

I highly recommend that you read Chasing Elephants.  It will help you solidify what you think and believe on so many different levels and subjects.

If you are interested in reading Chasing Elephants: Wrestling With The Grey Areas Of Life, you can purchase it at Amazon.com.

Disclosure of Material Connection:
I received this book free from NavPress Publishers as part of their Blogger Review Program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Also, some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links”. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.“

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Memorize The Sermon On The Mount – Week 13

I love this section of the Sermon on the Mount. Not just today’s passage, but all of the “You’ve heard that it was said…” parts. Murder and hatred. Adultery and lust. Divorce. Oaths. Revenge. And love.

These statements from Jesus are so simple, and yet so profound. They hit me anew almost every time I read them.

The passage for this week the beginning of the paragraph about adultery, Matthew 5:27-28.

Matthew 5:27-28

Here’s a link to the passage at Bible Gateway.

What are your thoughts on the “You’ve heard that it was said…” passages? Which one is your favorite? Let me know in the comments.

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Foundations Of Youth Ministry

I’ve been in youth ministry for over twenty years now.  And in the world of youth ministry, that is a long time.

Foundations of Youth Ministry

Over the course of two decades, I’ve learned a lot.  I’ve learned a lot of things that they never taught me in my youth ministry courses in college.  I’ve had to establish a lot of things to help me out.  Things like a solid vision for my ministry, a strategy for implementing that vision, the answers to the questions, what, why, and how.

I’m not suggesting that I’ve figured it all out.  I am saying that I’ve put together some tools, and tweaked them over the years.  They seem to work for me in the ministries I’ve been a part of.  Maybe they’ll work for you; or at least give you some ideas on how to develop your own.

This post will serve as a landing page for the entire series as I write them.  I’m looking forward to this series, and I hope you are too.

I will continue to add ideas here as I think of them, and write articles covering each of these topics.  If there is something you’d like to see covered, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments!

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My Current Philosophy Of Ministry

This post is part of the Foundations Of Youth Ministry series.  Check out the rest of the series!

A couple of days ago, I wrote an article on Why You Need To Develop A Philosophy of Ministry.

In that post I discussed four things that having a philosophy of ministry will help you with:  effectiveness, passion, organization and intentionality.

Open Bible

Today, I’d like to share with you my current philosophy of ministry.  This is always open to change for me, because I want to make sure that my philosophy grows with me as I grow.  Here is my most recent version: