Devotions

Most of us benefit from some sort of ‘structured’ devotion guide. In the student world, this becomes even more significant as they’re venturing for the first time into the abstract universe.

Here are some ideas to pass along:

• www.biblegateway.com - this is a fun, online way to do word studies. Simply introduce kids to it, give them a sample word (faith, money, doubt, authority) and watch them fly. They type in the word and see where it’s located in the Bible, how many times it’s used and how it’s used.
• Buy them a Bible – I’m surprised by how many kids have Bibles in their home but really no sense of ‘my Bible’. Options for students are numerous, many with built in studies
• Topical studies – Lots of studies exist that are related to gender (Five Aspects, Every Young Man’s Battle….) or other struggles
• Favorite studies – The things we’ve had to learn to get to where we’re at are often a great suggestion for our students as they get delivered with passion. 

Small Groups

‘Groups’ provide a powerful structure for mentoring. They are regular, limited in size and  intensely relational. It’s usually difficult to hide within one. Being known, pursued, confronted and prayed for is the stuff of adolescent growth.

As the fall approaches, consider how you might position yourself for influencing students. Perhaps a small group leader of some sort? Options come in various sizes and shapes; commitment levels and roles. But one thing is obvious. Group involvement continues to be ‘in favor’- both from the student and adult perspective.

Two ways to learn

In publishing, there are two types of authors.

1. Those who observe patterns

2. Those who create patterns

The first group observes, takes notes, and searches for meaning. For example, a marriage counselor hearing the same thing over and over, keeping track, and noticing that these words, behaviors, or beliefs nearly always result in these responses. She wonders why and searches for the meaning behind the evidence. Books like this often sell well because they’re rooted in what’s true.

The second group has a hunch. They know it’s probably true, so they collect anecdotes to substantiate the hunch. Maybe there’s even a biblical passage to serve as a metaphor. “The five loaves, the two fish, and the twelve baskets." These books sell OK for a while with a nice cover and an author who does seminars.

But books from the first group actually help people.

As we pay close attention to our students, listening carefully, noticing patterns, comparing notes with others, and then searching Scripture to discover what’s going on … we stand the chance of bringing just the right mix of truth to our groups.

That’s the type of truth that sets people free.

Mentoring, Contacting, Pacing

We've been talking about the dynamic of keeping pace with students; how to hang, initiate dialogue and influence. Check out what Chuck Bomar says about it:

Non-Mentor Mentorship

By Chuck Bomar

In The Slow Fade we discuss something we call, “Non-mentor Mentorship.” I recently did a seminar in Atlanta on this concept. In that seminar I described 3 major shifts a Non-mentor Mentor makes from the traditional idea of “mentoring.” How do you compare?

1. From Information to Imparting Wisdom. The shift is moving away from our tendency to view mentorship as giving information and moving toward a focus on living out the information we already know.

2. From Fixing to Mutual Fascination. The shift here is moving away from viewing a college-age person as someone who needs to be “fixed” – or as a project that we need to move toward completion – and moving toward a relationship where the mentor and mentee are simply fascinated with what God is doing in one another’s lives.

3. From Teaching to Mutual Transformation. The shift here is moving away from the mentor simply making sure their conclusions (or the church they attend) are being known by the mentee and moving toward a relationship where both are being transformed by the way God is using each in the other’s life. It’s a movement from conversation focused on conclusions to walking together in/through daily life as followers of Jesus.

Contacting

Hanging out with students has gone by a number of different titles over the years. Two of the best are contacting and pacing (cf. Dan Spader & Richard Dunn).

A casual reading of the gospels reveals a most simple understanding of how Jesus loved. He met people where they were at.

Most of us tend to develop burdens for students and jump too quickly to where they should be. Nothing wrong with our burden and goals, but we should learn from Christ that love meets people in their stuckness. And it stays there with them. As such, something very powerful is communicated- something that says ‘even if you don’t move on from here, I’m with you’.

That concept is the critical element in the contacting/pacing approach. It’s the key that opens the gateway for substantive influence.

Pornography

Chuck Colson’s blog is a must read on the topic of pornography. This single issue, with its plethora of entanglements and consequences, is so disproportionate to every day struggle that we need to redouble our efforts with students.

The link:

http://www.breakpoint.org/bpcommentaries/entry/13/14904

Students and salvation

We met with a student over the weekend who has officially decided against the faith. Super bright, open, pleasant and polite — just doesn’t believe.

Why not?

1. Questions. Sovereignty and free will, reliability of Scripture, boilerplate skepticism.

2. Evidence. Doesn’t see evidence at church or among Christians that there’s any difference between Christians and all others. And no evidence of anything supernatural. All the miraculous stories in the Bible — where are they?

We talked through the difference between believing in Christ and believing in Christians, and we discussed the evidence for Scripture being trustworthy — the bibliographical test, internal evidence, manuscripts, variants, and all the rest. Confirming the Bible's authenticity isn't too difficult since there's overwhelming textual evidence for it. 

So what does it come down to? Wanting. Wanting to know, wanting to believe, wanting to surrender. After all, when one has the authentic testimony of Jesus Christ, believing is really about responding.

We agreed to pray for conviction.

Dog Days of Summer

Ever wonder how kids navigate the challenges of summer? Discretionary time, less supervision, less structure.

There’s an easy answer. How do you- as an older Christian- tend to do under similar, grey boundaries?

Yep.

Keep the one-on-one touches strong throughout the summer and pay special note to the non-verbal responses from students. Leading questions can be as simple or invasive as these:

• How’s your summer going?
• Ready for school yet?
• How’s your private life coming along?
• What’s one area that I can be praying for you?
• What is your family doing this summer?
• What books are you hoping to read?

Annoyed?

Some kids yank at our hearts while others just plain annoy us. But I’ve discovered that my definition of the annoying breed changes as I progress through stages of life. Yikes.

I used to enjoy the middle school age, then younger high schoolers, then seniors. And now? I love hanging with the college stage.

Wherever you find yourself, it’s often advantageous to remind ourselves of this thing call ‘progression’. Not only is God moving history towards an end that has already been revealed, He is also moving us (students included).

It wasn’t all that long ago that our annoying thugs were hard at work, destroying everything in sight and making sure that no meeting could go uninterrupted. Fast forward to last month when twenty of them volunteered a week of their time to be chaplains on a large boat trip. What happened in those five years to turn engines of destruction into care-giving humans? God.

If you find yourself annoyed, zoom out.

Cool Enough?

As youthworkers, we often wonder if our cool factor is sufficient enough to connect with kids. We might be double or triple their age, might be giving the best hours of the day to work and family or … simply have doubts as to whether we have what it takes.

But consider two irrefutable truths:

1. Most students want what we have to offer
2. All students need what we have to offer 

Their lives are full of people squeezing them; needy people whose emotional stability resembles a fireworks show gone bad. And it hurts. The pain of betrayal runs rampant among our students as their relational circles become more shallow, fragmented and mean.

Now re-examine what you have to offer. You may be the only stable person in their lives, the last authentic life-giver. It’s all about direction. When we intersect with their lives, the very fact that God’s energy flows from us to them is qualitatively different from most of their relationships.