Posted by: Scott Rubin

Like most of you, I really love middle school ministry. Like some of you, I have a couple middle schoolers living in my own house, which makes life even more fun. In anticipation of today (April Fool’s Day) my 6th grade son carefully placed spreadable-cheese over the top of both of his 2 older brother’s deodorant sticks. He leaped out of bed this morning to see how things would play out, gleefully imagining cheez whiz applied to his siblings armpits. The funniest part was that neither brother made deodorant part of their morning routine today, much to the dismay of my 6th grader. (But it may explain the odd smell that often permeates my house.) April Fools Fail!

Do you ever feel like a Fool for serving middle school students? I do sometimes. When some are wildly unfocused, or even innocently distracted. When some seem unteachable, and others seem downright mean. When they’re frequently unappreciative, and often so self-focused. More than once I’ve walked to my car after being around middle schoolers and wondered if I was just being foolish.

But… Paul said “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” !

And sometimes God reminds me that my work is not in vain. (at least some of it!) Like the 7th grade boy I met with last month who was dabbling in illegal activity, but confessed it to me, decided to put it behind him. Like the mom of the disabled 6th grade girl who emailed me this week to tell me that my words to her daughter really made a difference. And maybe even like the other students I’ve invested in recently, but who haven’t given me any indication that God is doing much with it! Foolishness? Or the power of God!

Posted by Kurt Johnston

- This past weekend, we wrapped up our annual “School Wars” series. For two weekends, we divide students into 8 teams based on school, turn our gymnasium into an arena of sorts, ask volunteers to come dressed as gladiators and have the mother of all competitions. I’m TOTALLY NOT into competitive, team based youth ministry stuff but once a year…for two weekends only…School Wars has proven to be a winner. Our attendance goes up, and it proves to be a momentum booster as we head into spring. Each year, I pre-record short, 10-12 minute lessons, with a very strong evangelistic/gospel presentation. Good stuff!

- Tonight I am heading to the Angels vs. Dodgers game (annual “freeway series” right before opening of the season) with two volunteers who have both served in our JH ministry for over 15 years. People often ask me how to build a strong volunteer team and how to keep volunteers around long term. My simplistic answer is: share life together. We all know relational youth ministry is the best kind….so it just makes sense to me that a relational approach to ministry to volunteers would be, too.

- I am currently reading a book that I don’t want to wait to recommend. I am only about halfway through it, but man….I really like it. It is Influencer; the power to change anything, by Kerry Patterson.

Speaking of books, I recently read the three-book Hunger Games series….read all three books in less than a week. It is a series that has slowly gained momentum and is being read by junior highers and senior citizens alike.

- I don’t love college basketball, but you gotta love seeing a tournament with NONE of the #1 seeds in the final four. To me, this year’s tournament makes a wonderful argument for a playoff system in college football.

Posted by Kurt Johnston

I am in a season of my life and ministry that seems to be reminding me of a ton of important leadership basics, as well as teaching me some valuable new lessons. A few things I’ve learned\been reminded of recently include:

- It’s Okay to wait to talk…and sometimes not to talk at all. This is ESPECIALLY true when in a room of other leaders who know much more about the topic on hand, and have more at stake in the direction the conversation turns. I am learning to say very little in discussions concerning stuff I don’t know much about. Too often, leaders feel like they need to have an opinion about everything. I’ve learned the hard way that having an opinion about everything usually only serves to water down your influence.

- Don’t be a “One Trick Pony”. In other words, care about stuff even if it isn’t YOUR stuff. Don’t confuse what I said in the above paragraph with being uninterested in other issues on the table. Be VERY interested, ask clarifying questions, ask for ways you can help out, etc. One of the best ways to gain trust and influence among a group of peers is to show a genuine concern about things other than only what you are responsible for.

- Make fewer definitive proclamations. Instead of saying “It’s obvious that the decision to make is…….”, say something like, “It seems that a good path to consider might be…..”. Instead of “without a doubt, our students need….”, say something like, “my hunch is, our students could use…” Those subtle differences allow for two things: 1) they allow you to sound a little less authoritative, and 2) they allow for the possibility that you could be wrong! Strong, over-confined proclamations often leave leaders scrambling to “spin” things when their proclamation doesn’t pan out.

Okay, your turn….anybody want to share a recentl leadership learning? Or a classic leadership tip you have seen work time and time again?

Posted by Kurt Johnston

I am really excited to announce the Middle School Ministry Campference coming this fall (October 14-16). The Middle School Ministry Campference is being hosted by The Youth Cartel (Mark Oestreicher’s ministry) and will be held at Spring Hill Camps in Evart Michigan.

For way too long, different people have talked about the idea of a conference designed specifically for junior high/middle school youth workers, and I think Marko has stumbled upon the PERFECT idea: The “campference” is exactly what the name implies: A conference…and camp!

The Campference will include General sessions, worskshops, great music, free time activities like zip lines, paintball, ropes course etc. Hope to see you there!

posted by Kurt Johnston

As Spring rapidly approaches (well, maybe not for Chicago), It is always a good time to do a little “spring cleaning” in your ministry. Here are a few things I like to evaluate around this time each year:

- Our small groups: Curriculum, leader\student ratios, how equipped and empowered the leaders feel, etc. I think spring is a perfect time for this evaluation because there is still some time left in the school year to salvage things that are hurting, and because it gives plenty of lead time to really correct (not just band-aid) the big issues before the next small group season begins in the Fall.

- Our volunteer team: What is the morale of the team? who feels fulfilled, who feels frustrated?

- Our 8th grade class: They will be moving up into high school in a few short months. Have we helped them prepare? Have we covered the topics we said we wanted to cover when they entered 7th grade?

- Our Budget: We operate on a fiscal year budget, so spring is always a great time to take a close look to make sure we land the plane safely. In my experience, the ministries I lead typically make our biggest ministry blunders toward the end of the year because we often have a false sense of security…we somehow think we have more budget left than we really do.

- Our workspace: It wouldn’t be Spring without some good old fashioned spring cleaning! I like to set a day aside each spring to clean our offices, our meeting space, etc.

Posted by Kurt Johnston

-On Twitter? Consider following @peaceplanman. Mark leads the PEACE (think missions) team here at Saddleback and is one of the best leaders I know. He and I have only run in the same circles for a few months, but he has quickly become an informal mentor. The vast majority of his tweets consist of leadership nuggets…and not just the usual fare.

- This week I made a fairly bold announcement/goal to try to record a year’s worth of junior high messages on video. It means going back into my archives, picking the best series and heading into some sort of studio. The hope is that our various regional campuses, most of which will be led by volunteer youth workers, would have a ton of junior high messages ready to go so they won’t have to spend their precious youth ministry time trying to create lessons. Instead, they can hang out with students and leaders doing what matters most.

- Last night I took my 8th grade son to the midnight showing of Battle LA. Our parenting philosophy has always been that, within reason,family time and creating memories should trump things like academics (and that philosophywas very evident on my son’s last report card!). Not sure it is the best philosophy, but it’s the one we’re sticking with. Anyway…if you liked Blackhawk Down and you like creatures from space then you will love this movie.

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Posted by Kurt Johnston

Like many (over 3,000) of my youth ministry cohorts, I spent last weekend at the SYMC conference in Chicago. Because I flew in late on Monday night, and spent Tuesday and Wednesday in back-to-back full day meetings at church, I am just now taking a few minutes to reflect on my time at SYMC. Here’s a partial, and random, list of things I love about getting away to conferences occassionaly.

I See Old Friends: The youth ministry world truly is a fraternity (a trendy word right now is “tribe”…which I totally don’t get), and anual conferences like SYMC serve as a sort of annual reunion. There are a whole lot of men and women whom I consider friends that I rarely get the joy of spending time with. Conferences ensure that I reconnect with my “Tribal Fraternity” at least once a year.

- I Meet Wonderful People: Every year at SYMC, I meet a whole bunch of new people…from all sorts of ministry demographics. An example from this year would be Scott, a middle-aged junior high youth pastor at a very small, rural(ish) church. Scott sat on a panel I moderated and had some AMAZING input to share from his ministry context. Scott pops out as just one of dozens upon dozens (maybe hundreds upon hundreds!)of new people I had the joy of interacting with this year.

- I Hear Stuff I Disagree With: If everything at a conference was stuff I already know, or easily agree with….why would I want to go? I love the diversity of thinking, theology, methodology etc. that is evident at conferences like SYMC. It stretches my thinking, challenges my assumptions and forces me to “new places”.

- I Get Time Alone: Okay…it didn’t happen this year because I literally taught all day Friday, Saturday and Sunday as well as moderated a couple of panel discussions. Add that to lunch, dinner and movie dates with youth workers and this year proved to be fairly chaotic. But NORMALLY I enjoy the habit of ditching a session or two to escape all by myself to walk around the city, take in a movie, journal, etc.

I worked hard all week last week, had an incredibly busy weekend at SYMC and then spent two grueling days in executive team meetings. Tomorrow I rest.

Posted by Scott Rubin

Ever since the original “Candid Camera” way back when, I’ve been enamored with hidden camera shows.

There’s a new one I’ve seen a few times called “What Would You Do?”, where unsuspecting people run across an ethical delimma… and the cameras film their reaction to the situation.

For instance, they put some teenagers outside a convenience store (they were actors), and told them to ask people going into the store if they’d buy booze for them. It was fascinating to see the range of reactions! The passion of some people, the indifference of others.

I guess I’m intrigued by what people (including myself) do, when they think no one else is watching them.

So — This weekend I’m at the Simply Youth Ministry Conference. I love it; I think it’s a fabulous event in so many ways. Smart & passionate people, all wanting to help people do youth ministry better & honor God more. I don’t know all of the presenters, but I know some of them – and you know which ones are my “favorites”? The ones who seem to be the same in front of the microphone (or camera) as they are when you’re just chatting casually. I’m so encouraged when I meet authors, or speakers, or artists, and I’m struck by their Christ-like character, or heart, or sincere spirit. Of course none of us can really “know” the hidden-camera part of each other — but some of these people really inspire me by who-they-are-when-fewer-people-are-looking.

I want to be a man of consistent character, for my family, my students, my friends, my team… God please help me!

Posted by Kurt Johnston

…The Rob Bell dust-up over the weekend really got me heated. If you don’t know about it, and want to, google “Rob Bell universalism”. A few thoughts floating around my head in light of all of this:

- What ever happened to “They will know you are my disciples if you love one another?” Who was it that said that, anyway?

- Why do Christ-followers , who should display at least some of the fruits of the spirit (peace, patience, self control…) seem to be the best at making bold proclamations, accusations and criticisms about people and things before we could possibly know the full context, details, etc.?

- I cringe when I see words like “heresy” and “heretic” being used so easily.

- If theology is man’s attempt to study, understand and apply the ways of God…then it makes COMPLETE sense that at least some of our theology is wrong. I gotta admit, it would be nice if our (my)theology of hell was wrong….how wonderful would it be if Christ’s punishment, death and resurrection actually resulted in everybody going to Heaven!

Posted by Kurt Johnston

In Hollywood there is a concept among screen writers and directors known as “The Third Door”. Basically, this is how it works: The first door represents a direction a story might take that is very predictable…very traditional. The audience would know what is coming, anticipate it and usually be completely satisfied. An example might be the traditional formula of “Boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy wins girl back”. That whole formula is very “first door” Especially the “boy wins girl back” part.

Second door is when the story opens a door that is less expected….one that the
audience probably didn’t see coming. A great example of this would be in the movie The Breakup starring Vince Vaughn and Jennifer Aniston. At the end of the movie, right about the time you are expecting the classic, first door, ending….that they would get back together, the story opens a second, less expected door: The characters remain friendly, but DO NOT get back together! Not the expected ending to a movie that seemed to be following the traditional formula. The ending was a second door ending.

Third door is when the story goes someplace COMPLETELY different….it takes a twist that people would say they never saw coming; a twist they would have never even thought to anticipate. For example, a third door ending to The Breakup might be that in the last scene, as the two characters are running across the street to embrace, kiss and reunite, one of them gets run over by a bus. Fade to black and roll credits.

What does this have to do with junior high ministry? I think far too many junior high
ministries run our programs, our camps, our small groups and even spend our one-on-one time with students in a FIRST DOOR manner. Kids know what to expect, it fits the formula, and most people are satisfied. It is safe, predictable and easy.

But what if we started to think about SECOND and THIRD door ways to minister? What if we did things, asked questions, taught lessons, and interacted with students in ways that were a little less predictable?

My challenge to you this week: Find one or two areas in your ministry and try something THIRD DOOR!