Here's What You Missed - Awakening, September 12, 2012

If you weren't in Awakening last night, here is your quick recap of the night's events.

• Announcements: Money for Awakening Fest ($30) is due THIS SUNDAY! Please give the money to Miss Cheryl. See You At the Pole is two weeks away. I hope you are making plans to be there. Don't forget that Youth Alive is this Sunday at 5 p.m.
• Missions Trip: We are taking a missions trip to Pittsburgh in June 2013. Applications were distributed. Please take some time (a lot of time) to pray over the application and talk/pray with your parents about the trip. The cost is $350, but do not let money be the reason you don't go on the trip. Applications are due October 14. If you did not get an application, see Pastor Jonathan. We also watched a video of the trip in Pittsburgh last year.
• Bible Study: We continued our study "Life in 6 Words" with Our. This was a discussion of our role in the mutiny called sin and how all of us are responsible for sinning. Greg and Prop did an excellent job of explaining the concept of "federal headship."
• Next Week: We will continue to study "Life in 6 Words" with Sins. Our memory verse is Romans 3:23.

Can't wait to see you next week in Awakening!

My Ministry-related Prayers

I was cleaning the carpets last night. It is pretty monotonous work, so I had a lot of time to think. I began to think about the things that I would like to see happen in my ministry, be it youth group, children's ministry, or just the ministry in general. I understand that some of these things that I am praying for are pretty far out there, things that may never come to fruition. No harming in asking, right?

So, without any further jibber-jabber on my part, here are my ministry prayers.

• I am praying that my youth group would grow to at least 30 students by May 2013.
• I am praying that I would have the opportunity to lead at least 5 students to Christ by May 2013.
• I am praying that we would have a minimum of 30 children in Children's Church by May 2013.
• I am praying that there will be at least 200 people in the church service each week.
• I am praying that our weekly offerings will go over $10,000 in tithes and gifts.
• I am praying that we will have the volunteers to start a Wednesday evening children's program in September 2013.
• I am praying that more people in the church would develop a servant's heart and become involved in the ministry of the church.
• I am praying that the youth department will one day have its own facility. Not just a room or a basement, but its own building.
• I am praying that the opportunity for me to go on staff in a full-time capacity occurs in the very near future.
• I am praying that my students in the youth group will be sold out for Christ and will begin telling their friends about Jesus.

As you can tell, I have a lot of things that I am praying for and, actually, this doesn't even begin to scratch the surface. Youth ministry is a job that rises and falls on prayer. I just pray that I am doing enough.

Why Are So Many Christians So Eager to Defend Pornography?

A little while ago, there was a huge uproar in the Christian world about a movie and a series of books, both of which were highly inappropriate and dealt with lust and sex. I wrote a post about my thoughts on both.

Now, knowing that the movie contains a good deal of nudity or implied nudity and the books are full of very explicit sexual content between two individuals who are not married, you would think that it would be a no-brainer for Christians to avoid these things. I mean, yes, it is true that all things are lawful for us, but even Paul recognized that not all things are beneficial. Sadly, though, this was not the case.

In a forum for youth pastors, I came across an individual who was in youth ministry who had gone to see the movie and was adamantly defending her decision to do so, saying that she saw nothing wrong with it and that her husband was fine with her going. Does anyone else see a problem here? This is a woman who works with teenagers, defending a movie that she had no business seeing. That would be like me encouraging my students to watch American Pie or something similar.

Another bizarre event took place when I posted a link to an article about the books and asked folks to read it, just to get a different perspective on what they were reading. I received an email blasting me for posting the article, claiming that I was being judgmental and judging peoples' marriages. Please note, I did not make any accusations or even say that people shouldn't read the books. I merely offered the article as a different perspective.

I think this is just proof of the hard work that youth pastors have to do. We are constantly crashing into a popular culture that glorifies sex and is doing its best to normalize sexual behavior of all types, including things that previously were not even discussed in private company. Even sadder is that many parents are reading those books or watching those movies, completely oblivious to the impact such decisions will have on their children. I mean, if mom can read it, why can't I read something similar?

Youth Ministry Cheerleaders

Youth ministry is hard work. It may look like it is nothing but pizza, video games, and road trips, but, trust me, there is a lot more that goes into it. There is the overwhelming weight of knowing that you will only have some kids in your youth group for a year and others for six years. There are those nights where you have a ton of students in your youth meeting and other nights where you are bombarded with the excuses as to why they won't be there. And then there are those students who just don't care about the things of God at all. You will cry and plead and beg God to change their hearts, but nothing happens.

And these are just the normal things of youth ministry. It is a sad reality that many youth pastors will deal with death, suicide, divorce, and teen pregnancy. Ministry is hard work.

Because of this, every youth pastor needs a cheerleader. No, I don't mean someone who will follow you around chanting your name and saying "U-G-L-Y" to that lady in the church that is giving you grief. You want someone to encourage and provide support when things are at their darkest.

I am lucky. I have several youth ministry cheerleaders. My wife, Tina is a big youth ministry cheerleader. I know that she will be there to make sure that I am taking care of myself and provides encouragement when I am beating myself up over a decision. Another of my cheerleaders is Carrie. Carrie has been my biggest supporter since the day I was hired on staff. She is full of ideas and a great sounding board.

Please, I beg you, if you do not have a cheerleader, pray that God will provide one for you. You will burn out very fast if you don't. If you are a parent or a member of the church, please consider rallying around your pastor or youth pastor. Too many people are willing to share their negativity with the pastor, but not as many are willing to encourage them.

Take a look at the note that Doug Fields wrote to Josh Griffin as a great example of cheerleading in youth ministry.

Some Cool Swag from Liberty University

As some of you may know, I am a graduate of Liberty University. Okay, so I did it through LU Online, but I have spent a lot of time on the campus. I am a big fan of Liberty and am very glad to be associated with such a great school.

A few weeks ago, I contacted the Alumni Affairs office to see if they could send me some stuff to help promote the university to my students at church. I was hoping for a pennant and some posters, but that is not what I got.

Instead, as you can see from the picture, I received two pennants, two large posters promoting College for a Weekend, a stack of flyers promoting the same event, and two alumni decals to put on my car. It was pretty impressive and I was very excited to receive it. I'm still holding out hopes that I will find some cool Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary merch in my mailbox one day, but this is still pretty cool.

My hope is to be able to take a couple of the students down to Lynchburg to visit the campus sometime this spring. We are still working out the details and praying that more upperclassmen become a part of CTBC Student Ministries. Until then, I am going to keep promoting the school to my freshmen and middle schoolers. They have to go somewhere, right?

The Greatest Story Ever Told, That's Hardly Ever Told

In our youth group service, we recently started going through Life in 6 Words from Dare2Share Ministries. This is a series on the Gospel in which Greg Stier and Propaganda take the letters of GOSPEL and use it to explain the Gospel. I have been praying about this series for some time and am looking forward to the awesome things that God is going to do through this study.

Here is the introductory video that is basis for the study. I recommend you watch it multiple times because it will shake you to the core every time you watch it.

I will be posting a review of the series shortly.

The Ups and Downs of Being Bi-Vocational

I am a bi-vocational pastor. For those of you who may not understand that terminology, it essentially means I have two jobs. I have a full-time position as an elementary school teacher and a part-time position as a pastor at Charles Town Baptist Church.

There are positives and negatives to being bi-vocational. I would like to point out, however, that I am not complaining. I am very grateful to the opportunities that God has provided for me by letting me serve as a bi-vocational pastor.

Positives

• Being in ministry is hard work. Some may wonder why this is a positive, but, for me, it is. I need to have that constant pressure to make sure that I am performing. I am easily distracted, so the requirements of ministry are good for me to make sure I am getting things completed.
• Having a day job provides me some stability. Jon Acuff addresses this issue in his book Quitter. As a teacher, I have a stable paycheck and good health insurance that doesn't cost me as much as it would if I were to pay for it another way. This is really good because I have a houseful of children.
• Working as a teacher keeps me in touch with the lives of real students. As a youth pastor, I get to see my students on Wednesday nights and Sundays at church. Of course, being at church, they are on their best behavior (at least we hope). Being with students all day at school, I get to see them at their best and at their worst. It keeps me fresh in regards to the issues and joys and pains that students experience.

Negatives

• Being in ministry is hard work. The astute reader will notice that I am using this point twice. Being a pastor is very draining and requires a lot out of a person mentally. We are made aware of the ugly side of life on a regular basis.
• There is a large time commitment. I often find myself feeling guilty because I am not spending enough time doing on job or the other. There are so many things that I want to do as a youth pastor, but am unable to because of school commitments. I also find myself thinking about one job or other when I am with my family. I know it drives my wife crazy when I am with her, but not really with her.
• I can't give 100% to either jobNo matter how hard we try, it is impossible to give more than 100% effort to anything. If you divide that between two jobs and a growing family, there is a great deal of frustration because you can't do more than you already are.

My goal is to turn these negative aspects into positives. I spend a good deal of time in prayer, asking God to make being bi-vocational a thing of the past. I do know, however, that I will continue to do this until the end of the school year. With that knowledge, I am doing what I can to put things in place to make full-time vocational ministry a reality.

The Lord is going to do great things and I can't wait to be a part of them.

A Celebration - The Ten-Foot Ice Cream Sundae

I read somewhere that every youth pastor should keep a journal of how their activities went. I have yet to do it, but here is a recap of our activity from August 25, 2012. We built a Ten-Foot Ice Cream Sundae and the students had a blast.

We began the activity with some social time. After getting everyone settled, we watched two videos. The first was for a new series we will be doing in Awakening (our youth group service) called "Life in 6 Words." This series is a break down of the gospel and is designed to help students learn to share their faith. The second video was a promo for See You At The Pole. My prayer is that we will have a large number of students from our church participate and I am pushing it as much as I can.

After watching the videos, I spoke for a few minutes, using Acts 17:26 as my text. It is my desire for my students to see school as a mission field and I urged them to understand that, based on that verse, God chose this time and this place for them to live because of the awesome plan He has for them.

While we were watching and talking, the adult leaders were putting out the ice cream. I purchased a rain gutter from Home Depot and five gallons of ice cream from Wal-Mart. The leaders filled the gutter with the ice cream and the students then put toppings on the ice cream. Everyone then grabbed a spoon and dug in. Some students used chocolate syrup, sprinkles, and lots of cherries. One student brought bacon bits, but we gave him his own bowl.

Overall, I think the event was a success. We had about 20 students participate, including 11 of our students, 7 visitors (some unchurched, some from other churches), and 2 graduates saying goodbye to the student ministry program. I shared the gospel and will continue to pray that hearts are changed. I am looking forward to doing this event again in the future.

Here is a picture of the aftermath of the ice cream when all of the students were finished eating.

Free E-Book - Firing Jesus by Greg Stier

I had the opportunity to participate in a webinar hosted by Greg Stier, the president of Dare2Share Ministries. I will be sharing some of the notes that I took during the webinar in a later post, but I wanted to get this into your hands quickly.

Not only is Greg the president of Dare2Share, he is also a prolific writer. His latest book is called Firing Jesus. The idea behind Firing Jesus is whether or not Jesus would make it as a youth pastor in many of today's churches. While I have not had the opportunity to read the whole thing, I have read the first two chapters and it is really good stuff. The book is fairly short (about 112 pages) and many have told me on Twitter that they read it in one sitting.

Because Greg is so gracious, he gave me permission to give out the link for the book. If you would like to get a free copy of Firing Jesus, you simply need to follow this link. In return for the book, you simply need to give them some information and get signed up for their newsletter. Dare2Share is an incredible ministry and their newsletter is always backed full of great stuff.

Go here to get your free copy of Firing Jesus.

If you have never taken the time to read Greg Stier's book Outbreak, I highly recommend you do so. It will give you a passion to train students to share the Gospel.

Why I Will Never Apologize for Reaching Out to Young Men

I was recently caught up in a disagreement about my desire to train and reach young men, as well as to develop adult male leaders. This is something that I will never apologize for doing.

this does not mean that I am a misogynist or that I believe women are inferior to men. God has blessed both men and women to serve the Body of Christ; we are all blessed to have different roles and abilities that have been uniquely given in order to complement those around us.

I will reach out to young men because I believe that God has called them to lead the church. We need young men who will step up to that responsibility. Too many men in our society (and church) have shirked their God-given responsibility to serve as leaders. I want to reverse this.

I will reach out to young men because God has called them to lead their families. While they may not have family leadership responsibilities yet, the training in the Bible they receive will assist them in the future.

I will reach out to young men in order to train them to be an example to others. I desire a student ministry that is a shining light to the dark world around them, and I want to see the young men stepping up and leading that charge.

I will do these things, but never to the exclusion of the girls. I will seek to disciple and train the young women to be godly young women. Of course, I can only go so far because I am a man. I can, however, train the young men to be godly men.

I will never apologize for doing that.

Why I Am About Numbers in Youth Ministry

A comment was made to me the other day that, as a youth pastor, I put a lot of emphasis on numbers. And it is a fair statement. I do emphasize number, but never to the detriment of the students who are currently attending.

Here are some reasons I put an emphasis on numbers.

• Larger numbers of students mean more students are hearing the Bible. The more students we have in attendance, the greater the chance of growth in Christ.
• Larger numbers mean more opportunities to share the Gospel and see students come to Christ. Statistically, there will be unsaved students in a large group. The larger the group, the more unsaved students we may encounter and the more opportunities we will have to share Christ with them in our youth group setting.
• Larger numbers mean more students missionaries in our schools. As a youth pastor, I cannot be in our public schools (well, I can because I am a public school teacher, but that's another story.) As we see our numbers increase, it increases the number of students who are being trained to reach their friends.

So, yes, I put an emphasis on number. It isn't about me or my ego. It is all about reaching a generation for Christ.

How Facebook is Saving My Soul...Well, at Least My Sanity

Unless you've been living under a rock (or a teenager), you are probably on Facebook. It is an incredible tool for youth ministry, but that's not what I wish to discuss. Facebook is helping to keep me sane.

Here's what I mean: As you probably know, I recently started a position as the Associate Pastor for Children and Youth at Charles Town Baptist Church. This is in addition to being a full-time teacher, a husband, and the father of four little boys. As a result, things have gotten extremely hectic. There are good days where I want to conquer every mountain in West Virginia. Then there are days when it feels like the wheels have come off and I'm not doing anything right.

Through Facebook, I have made a number of connections with several youth pastors around the country. Some of them are in Virginia, some are in Texas, a couple are in North Carolina. These are guys who I have never met in person (looking forward to when that can happen), but I know that I can send them messages or call them when I need some encouragement. They are helping to keep me sane.

Two of those guys are Josh Evans and Austin McCann. Both of them have blogs that you should be reading if you are involved in student ministry at all.

Facebook is saving my soul...sort of. Thank God for Facebook.

How are you using Facebook to help your sanity?

A Review of The Dark Knight Rises

I have been a big fan of Batman ever since I saw the first movie with Michael Keaton and Jack Nicholson. I saw all of the movies, except for that dreadful one with Uma Thurman and Arnold as Mr. Freeze. I was especially enamored by Christopher Nolan's take on the character beginning with thrilling Batman Begins, continuing with the gut-punch that was The Dark Knight, and now concluding with The Dark Knight Rises.

A lot has changed in Gotham City since the Joker came to town and Harvey Dent was "murdered" by Batman. There is a city-wide holiday in Dent's honor and a law that allows certain criminals to be locked-up much easier. Some people still hope for the days of Batman, but to many, he is nothing more than a bad memory.

It is not my desire to recap the entire movie, so let me get to what I want to say. First, it was great to see some of the old characters return. I enjoyed the performances by Christian Bale, Gary Oldman, and Michael Caine. The inclusion of a new character, played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, was also well-done. I am a big fan of Joseph Gordon-Levitt and he did not disappoint. I am also a big fan of Tom Hardy, but his portrayal of Bane was wasted on him. He wore a mask the entire time and I'm not entirely sure that it was even his voice.

There were a great number of teaching points in this film. There were incredible acts of bravery and loyalty, even by the villain. Many individuals were willing to lay down their lives in order to save others, even when moments earlier they were turning tail to run.

The movie also had much to say about the current political environment of our country and what may happen if we continue to allow politicians to use their rhetoric to tear us apart. I don't know if this was intentional or just me reading into it, but I was surprised at the result. From my perspective, Christopher Nolan did not have nice things to say about socialism and the whole Occupy Wall Street movement. These would make great discussion points as well.

Overall, I loved the movie. I know that it is the end of the trilogy, but it ended extremely well. While it was probably the weakest of the three films, it was still an amazing movie and worth the 2 1/2 hour length. I don't know if I can recommend it for general consumption based on the amount of violence and the callous nature in which some characters treat human life, but it is highly entertaining and thought-provoking. Knowing that some (or most) of your students are going to be seeing the film will lead to some great discussions about the film and how such attitudes can play out in our Christian lives.

I would also recommend that you check out the resources provided by Dare2Share in regards to The Dark Knight Rises

Notes From Awakening, July 18, 2012

In case you were unable to attend or did not fill in your answer sheet, here are the notes from Awakening on July 18, 2012.

What Does the Bible Say about Facebook?

1. God wants us to use social media (Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, etc.) for His glory.
1 Corinthians 10:31 - So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

2. One day, we will have to explain our actions, even what we do on Facebook.
Romans 14:12 - So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.

3. We can use social media for good or we can use it for evil.
Romans 6:13 - Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.

Application: How are you using Facebook and other social media? Are you using it to tear others apart or to build them up in Jesus? Are you pointing others to Jesus through your Facebook?

I would like to offer a very special thank you to my friend Austin McCann for his help with preparing this lesson. Austin is currently the student pastor at Courtney Baptist Church in Yadkinville, NC, and a really great dude. Thanks again, Austin.

The Hate-filled United States Will Destroy our Children

We live in a world full of hate. In a time when we are told to be tolerant of each other, I think there is more hate now that I ever remember. Hate is everywhere...and most of it is done in the name of tolerance.

• Black people hate white people.
• White people hate black people.
• Conservatives hate liberals.
• Liberals hate conservatives.
• Some "Christians" hate gay people.
• A lot of gay people hate Christians because of the actions of the "Christians."
• Just about everyone hates the President.
• "Christians" hate Muslims.
• Muslims hate Jewish people.

The list goes on and on. There is no end to the amount of hatred that is found in the world. And, quite frankly, it is completely ridiculous. If we continue to hate each other, we will destroy our children.

Romans 2:11 states "For God shows no partiality." No group is better than the other. We are all, whether we want to admit it or not, sinners. Every one of us is a wicked, condemned individual who on our best day deserves to go to Hell. With that in mind, there is no room for hate. There is no place for looking down on someone because of the color of their skin or because of their religious choice. We can disagree and we can believe the other person is wrong, but there is no place for the hate and rhetoric that our world is full of.

And we wonder why there is so much violence and bad behavior with students today.

What is my suggested solution? Prayer and a whole lot of it.

If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. - 2 Chronicles 7:14

Lust Is Still Lust - Part 2

Yesterday I wrote about the dangers of lust, both for young men and young women. I'm not so naive as to think everyone agreed with what I wrote. I would like to share a few statistics that I found to show why this is such a huge issue and one that we need to take seriously.

• 93% of young men and 62% of young women are exposed to porn by age 18.
• 70% of young men and 23% of young women have spent more than 30 minutes looking at porn in one sitting. A large portion of those have done it on more than one occasion.
• Large numbers of young men and women have seen horrific sex acts, including bondage (the subject of the very popular books I referenced yesterday), rape, and child porn.

While I could continue to lay down an argument against porn and lust, my purpose is to show that this isn't something to be toyed with. It isn't something to laugh about and pretend like it is not a big deal. Lust is a huge problem. When students are spending significant periods of time looking at pornographic material, it is no longer a joke.

It is deadly serious.

Lust Is Still Lust...Even When Girls Are Doing It

But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. - Matthew 5:28

In the world of youth ministry, lust is a huge issue. Youth pastors are constantly hammering the boys to keep their eyes in their heads and not to think dirty thoughts about girls. They are also constantly hammering the girls about modest dress and making sure that they are not causing their Christian "brothers" to stumble by the clothing they wear. And this is not without a good reason. Like I said, lust is a huge issue. Porn addiction is extremely prevalent in young men...and young women.

There has been a great deal of controversy of late about a series of books that detail a very graphic sexual relationship. I have not read them and have no desire to. The controversy arises from the fact that many women in churches are reading these books and talking about how much they enjoy them. To me (and many others) this is the equivalent of a guy openly discussing how much he enjoys looking at Playboy or some other porn magazine.

The same thing has been done with a movie about the world of male strippers. Again, I have not seen the movie. But imagine the backlash that would arise if the boys in our youth groups were openly discussing a movie about female strippers or porn stars. We would have them and their parents at the altar confessing before the band could play the first chord.

I guess what set me off (and caused me to write this post) is my sadness over what I perceive to be a double-standard when it comes to lust. For some reason, it is horrendous when a young man talks about sex or posts a picture of a girl in a bikini on his Facebook, but many will give a pass to a young woman who posts pictures of half-naked men. I can't tell you how many Christian women I know who post inappropriate pictures and clips to their Facebook pages and Pinterest boards.

The book of Proverbs talks about adultery being like taking fire into your jacket. You aren't going to escape without getting burned. Our young men are bombarded with sexual images and many are falling into the trap. Our young women are having the same thing done to them, but no one seems to be making a big deal about it. It is a big deal!

Lust is lust, regardless of who is doing it. Men, we do need to be careful about what we are looking and watching. We need to be careful where we allow our thoughts to go and we need to capture every thought for the glory of God. But at the same time, women, it is important that you are doing the same. Just because a book doesn't have pictures doesn't mean it isn't causing you to lust. And the excuse of "Women aren't turned on by visual images" doesn't really hold water in this argument. If that was the case, the movie about the strippers and the pictures on Pinterest wouldn't be so popular. There is too much at stake to even allow the smallest amount of lust into our lives.

John Owen, a Puritan preacher, had this to say: "Be killing sin or it will be killing you."

Being Disappointed by Your Students

Even though I haven't been a youth pastor for very long, I have already learned that one of the difficult parts of being a pastor is the disappointment that is bound to arise. This is especially true when it comes to students. Sometimes you will think your students are genetically predisposed to disappoint you. They will lie to you (even when you've caught them red-handed). They will do some of the most stupid things you can think of. They will fail to keep commitments. Your students will disappoint you.

Here are a few things that I have had to remind myself of. Hopefully they will help you as well.

• Don't take it personally. In most cases, your student didn't mean to disappoint you. He/she probably didn't do it out of spite or maliciously. The disappointment you are feeling was not done by the student to hurt you. He/she probably didn't even have you in mind when he did it.
• Remember, he is just a student. Even when your student does the stupidest thing on the planet, you need to remember that he is just a student. You and I both did some really idiotic things. I once jumped up and down on a table in the church lobby singing "Dude Looks Like a Lady" by Aerosmith. I also blew up some mailboxes with firecrackers after being dropped off at a friend's house following a youth group event. Did I disappoint my youth pastor? Absolutely, but he didn't hold a grudge because I was only a student. Remember that when your students are doing similar things.
• Continue to love your student. There are going to be times when the disappointment you are feeling is going to run deep. When you are called to the hospital in the middle of the night because one of your students has alcohol poisoning. When you find out that one of your students is expecting a baby. When a student lies to your face about what you saw on her Facebook page. When this happens, remember that you are there to love your students, just like Christ loved you. Enough said.

I am finding out that being a youth pastor is one of the most challenging and enjoyable professions there is. But just like any profession, there will be dark days, especially when that darkness is brought on by one of your students. Bathe it in prayer and remember what you have been called to do.

Tips for Using Humor in Youth Talks

It's always a good thing to make students laugh. When you get them laughing, they are much more likely to listen to what you have to say. That's why even the most serious movies have humorous parts. What are the two memorable parts of The Avengers? Those funny scenes with the Hulk.

However, it's not easy to use humor in your talks. Some people can do it, some people need to practice. Here are a few tips to remember when you are using humor with your students.

• Make sure your humor fits the occasion. Some people try to use humor just to use humor. I once heard a sermon where the speaker spent 10 minutes telling jokes that had absolutely nothing to do with his message. I'm not sure if he was nervous or what, but he lost a good portion of his audience before he even got started. If you have a humorous story, make sure it fits the flow of your sermon and not just being used to kill time.
• Make sure that your humor is appropriate. This should be a no-brainer, but you would be surprised at how many people don't get it. Your students don't need to hear your sexual innuendos, your political jokes, or your slightly off-colored comments. Yes, most of us have middle-school (and high school boys) who love the sound of bodily functions, but they are best to be avoided. Remember, when you stand in your pulpit or platform, you are representing the Almighty to your students.
• Make sure you can pull off the humor you are attempting. You might think you are Mitch Hedberg or Jim Gaffigan, or even Dave Chappell, but you aren't. And since you aren't, it's best not to try to act like them. Just be yourself and attempt humor that fits you. If you can't do it, don't attempt it. You'll just look foolish...and not in a good way.

Hopefully you are attempting to use humor in your youth talks and sermons. There is no better way to win over a crowd. Just make sure that you are using the humor correctly and in a God-honoring manner.

Youth Ministry Games - Mystery Meat

To be honest, this game has absolutely nothing to do with the delicious canned meat product known as Spam. I just used the picture to get your attention. Clever, huh?

Mystery Meat is actually a game designed to get your students up and moving around. The goal is to have all of your students find their partners as quickly as possible.

Here are the items you will need in order to get the game going:

• Note cards
• A black marker
• Tape

On the note cards, write the name of a fast-food restaurant (McDonald's, Chick-Fil-A, Burger King, etc.) and an item that is specifically found at that restaurant on another card. For example, one pair might be McDonald's and Big Mac or Chick-Fil-A and waffle fries.

Have the students line up and tape a card to each student's back. When the signal is given, students may walk around and ask Yes or No questions about their cards, but they may not look at the cards. Questions can include, "Am I served on bread?", "Am I opened on Sundays?", or "Am I made of beef?".

Continue the game until all pairs have been matched.