- Started our new series, The Guy/Girl Thing, this past weekend and I think it’s off to a great start. We aren’t focusing so much on sex, dating etc. as we are on simply trying to help students learn how to better understand, treat better and be better friends with the opposite sex. For week one, our focus was “THE POWER OF RELATIONSHIPS”, this week we will look at “GUYS ARE WEIRD AND GIRLS ARE WACKO”, then we will wrap our series up on week three by splitting them off to focus on some gender-specific issues. We’re keeping it fairly light and really fun.

- Just got word that the release of my new book, The 9….Best Practices of Youth Ministry, has been bumped up to early August! I’m really excited about this project for a couple reasons: First, it is my first serious attempt at writing something for the “larger” youth ministry world instead of focusing solely on junior high age material. Second, I really do think this book will be very helpful to lots of youth workers.

- Celebrated a really nice and relaxing Mother’s Day with the extended family on Sunday. Rachel and her mom got their wish of a simple day filled with good food and good conversation.

- Apparently wearing wrist protection while skateboarding is completely out of the question for junior high guys. My son, Cole, won’t be caught dead in them despite the fact that he has spent the majority of the past year in a cast having broken BOTH wrists! Yesterday I offered him this deal: He can keep paying for all of his skateboarding related expenses (gear, replacement decks, park fees etc.) or he can wear wrist guards and  I will pick up the tab for his skating costs. Since he doesn’t play any other sports, this seems like something we should be doing anyway, but I don’t want to tell him that until he agrees to start wearing wrist guards! 

- My friend Johnny Scott has one of these awesome bibles…and when I saw it, I had to have my own. Anxiously awaiting its arrival!

If you’re like most people, you probably don’t consider yourself as being creative. Very few people do, and I think this may be because most of us have too narrow a definition of what “creativity” means and also because most people never practice being creative.

A New Definition of Creativity: Most people think being creative means inventing something out of nothing, or coming up with an idea that has never been thought of. I like to define creativity as simply being willing to think differently and try something new. That’s it.  When faced with a project, an opportunity, a challenge, a problem etc. most of us will typically default to our normal pattern of addressing such things; usually patterns that have found success in the past, so we assume they will bring success again….and they often do. Creativity is simply the willingness to take our normal patterns of thinking a step or two farther by thinking differently and trying something new when faced with life’s scenarios.

Here are a few simple exercises to help you flex your creative muscles.

- Make a list of your 5 favorite ways to spend your free time. Now, pretend those things no longer exist and you have to come up with 5 new hobbies or interests to occupy your free time. What would they be? What new skills would you need to learn to enjoy them? What new people would you need to spend time with in order to learn more about these new interests?

- Pick a recurring “challenge” or “problem” you face at work. Come up with two new ways to address the situation that you have NEVER entertained before.

- Purchase your LEAST favorite food at the grocery store and force yourself to create your own recipe that would turn it into an enjoyable dish.

Routine and doing things the way you have always done them are sort of like anchors on a boat; they are super important when you need stability, but can slow down progress if you are trying to move forward.

- It’s never happened before, so I’m sorta excited that a book I co-authored with Marko a few years ago is being released in Spanish.

- Couldn’t be more excited about the Broncos and Tim Tebow! It’s a risky pick, but I think the potential payoff is huge. Time to order a Tebow jersey!

- Heading to Portland this weekend to speak at Believe. If you have never taken your junior highers to a Believe event, you should. It’s a 24-hour event designed specifically for young teens, and I have never seen a better camp/conference. This is the last stop of this year’s tour, so you have plenty of time to put it on the calendar for next Spring.

- In two weeks we are kicking off a brand new series called “The Guy/Girl Thing” that won’t focus so much on sex and dating, but more on understanding the opposite sex, learning how to appreciate each other etc.  I’m excited about the three weeks we have planned:

WEEK ONE: A fairly traditional lesson, talking about the importance of healthy relationships with opposite sex.

WEEK TWO: Katie Edwards and I will be randomly/spontaneously working through some of the thoughts in the “99 Thoughts About Girls/Guys”  books we wrote together. The idea is that we will just sit on stools and hunt and peck through the books and see where the discussion takes us.

WEEK THREE: We are seperating the guys and the girls and each group is doing “guy” and “girl” things. The guys are going to cook bacon, pound nails into boards and do something with fire. I have no idea what the girls are going to do.

- If you have watched/subscribed to my podcast in the past you have probably noticed that I am a little behind schedule! I am shooting two new podcasts tomorrow and am making a new goal to film two per month.  Stay tuned.

- Why do I want an iPad so bad? I’m not convinced I would utilize it enough to justify the expense, but that doesn’t stop me from trying to talk myself into buying one. Be strong, Kurt…..be strong.

I never saw the movie, but I like the phrase. Mostly because I’m an ideas guy and have grown quite comfortable with “failure to launch” being a normal part of my experience.  For many people dreaming, asking “what if”, imagineeering and pie-in-the-sky thinking is frustrating and even pointless because it isn’t reality based and seldom yields results. 

I disagree. I think that type of thinking almost always yields results. The results may not always be what you originally hoped for or expected, but bold, outlandish, unrealistic thinking typically spurs on conversations that result in tangible progress that helps you move forward. In my ministry career, I have had dozens….scratch that; HUNDREDS of “failure to launch” ideas that, although they didn’t come to fruition, spurred our ministry toward other fantastic opportunities.

Don’t let the fear of failure keep you from dreaming!

The fact that one of the chapters in my upcoming book discusses the topic of evangelism, and having just spent half a day with Greg Steir at our annual junior high Summit really has me thinking A LOT about the topic lately.  Here are some things that have been bouncing around in my head:

-  How do we continue to create a sense of evangelistic urgency in our students?

- Why have we (by “we” I mean most of the youth workers I have talked to, including myself) seemingly completely abandoned a more traditional proclamation of the gospel in so much of our methodology?

- How are we  equipping our students to share their faith, be salt and light, live missionally etc.?

I have other thoughts, but those are the big ones I have been writing about, talking about with others and thinking about.

- Finally finished the manuscript for The 9….Best Practices of Youth Ministry! I’m sure there will be some re-writes, but feels wonderful to be done with the majority of the project.

- Have spent the last two days at GROUP Publishing in Colorado with at the annual junior high pastor “Summit”. Each year, for the past eight, a group of about 20 of us gather together to talk shop, sharpen and challenge each other, pray and hang out. This year was different because we are missing several of our regulars, but it has been a fantastic time.

- Saw Date Night the other night….I was pleasantly suprised.  Not going to win any awards, but enjoyable.

- Today my son, Cole, turns 13 and in a couple months my daughter, Kayla, will turn 16. I’m still 30.

Last night my wife and I had dinner with some friends who are getting ready to start a full-time middle school position at a church in the D.C. area. It is is his first full-time position and, up until now, he has only worked with high school aged students as a volunteer. He asked me what some of the differences are. There are many, but here are a few of the biggies:

- Your ministry is almost as much to parents as it is to junior highers. You have to keep them informed, you have to keep them excited about your ministry, you have to stay in their favor etc. Because they don’t drive, and because JH ministry does so much more “extra curricular” stuff than a typical children’s ministry, mom and dad’s willingness to shuttle their kids to and from your program is a major factor.  You also have an incredible opportunity to provide a little bit of hope and help to parents who are new to raising a young teen.

- Lessons: Keep them short, simple and highly tangible.

- Relational time: You just can’t expect the same depth of conversation, “give and take” etc. when you are spending time with a junior higher.

- Building trust: It’s much easier with junior highers. In fact, it takes almost no time at all.Most of the time, if a junior higher feels like you like them and are interested in them, they will like you back and instantly begin to trust you.

- “Preventing” Vs. “Fixing”: Those aren’t the best words to describe it, but junior high ministry is on the front end of so many of the struggles teenagers go through, and we get a chance to help them learn to make wise choices, etc. and prevent a lot of the pitfalls of the teen years. High school ministry often plays the role of coming along and helping students who have already made some really poor decisions.

There are lots more…..add one or two!

- My blog isn’t dead, just slowing down for now. Partly because we are in the long, slow process of creating a new “Simply Junior High” blog that will include additional contributors, some fun special features etc. The process isn’t “long and slow” because the blog is so amazing it’s taking a long time to create, but because the good folks at Simply Youth Ministry are swamped right now.

- Part of what is keeping Simply Youth Ministry so busy is that they are putting a ton of energy into a new resource that we are SUPER excited about. If you are familiar with the LIVE small group curriculum, you will be glad to hear that we are gearing up to release a junior high version tht includes two full years of online, downloadable, customizable small group curriculum written specifically for young teens.

- I’m still up early every day with a goal of spending three hours working on The 9….Best Practices of Youth Ministry. I think it’s shaping up to become a book that will spur lots of great youth ministry thinking. This is largely due to the subject matter as well as the really, really good contributions of  my co-author, and long time friend, Tim Levert.  Tim has a PhD in Youth Ministry and serves in a United Methodist church outside Columbus, Ohio. Melding our two minds has been an interesting proposition at times! You know how it is; some people have the brains and others have the looks.

- My church has been taking some heat for having the Jona’s Brothers, as musical guests at our Easter Service.  My response to the numerous critics I have talked to is usually a simple one:  1) Our pastor has an evangelistic heart and wants to reach out to as many non-believers in our community as possible on Easter. This should help that effort.  2) The Jona’s Brothers offered to play for FREE because they want to be part of our Easter celebration. Cetainly some churches would turn down that offer, but my hunch is most (including those led by some criticizing the decision) would welcome the rare opportunity.

- Years ago, my wife and I made a prayerful and strategic ministry decision: Instead of being loyal to a denomination, we would be loyal to Jesus and would serve in any setting we felt He was being glorified and lost people were being [...]

Continue Reading “My Blog, LIVE Curriculum For JH, I’m A Mutt…..and other stuff”

- Just settled on final title and (almost) final cover design of new book. Actual release date is still several months away.

- I have been reminded the past couple of weeks how quickly negativity spreads.  Sarcasm, bitterness etc. can quickly poison the well.

- I filled my NCAA tournament bracket out in approximately 53 seconds (right before the deadline). Sadly, the early results reflect this.

- Next month, I speak at the Southern California District of the Assemblies of God annual gathering.  The audience will be comprised mostly of Sr. Pastors. I’m excited (and more than a little nervous) to share my heart with them.

- The Broncos recently acquired quarterback Brady Quinn.  Here is a text message exchange I had with my friend:     

Dan: “What do you think of Brady Quinn?”

Kurt: “I try not to.”