Over the last year, one of the things I have been calling youth leaders to is The Coming Teen Decade.
It is the one time in a century that we have 7 teen years
(2013-2019). A great time to emphasize an awakening in the young people
of our country. America needs a spiritual renewal. I am calling for "A
Thousand Personal Revivals" that will spark the next Great
Awakening of our generation. America is in desperate need for a
spiritual renewal.
Of special interest to me, in relation to this teen decade, is consistent youth leadership training. Let me bring up one area of wisdom for all of the youth leaders reading this. At a recent Youth Leadership Conference, a young youth pastor came up to me and said, "I have so much in my heart that I want to do, how do I get my leaders on board? I can't do this alone?" I just smiled and was appreciative of his vision and the fact that he did not want to be a Superman or a Lone Ranger. He was willing to use his Superfriends and Tonto. One of the great movies out today is Avengers. Not Avenger. AvengerS. There is cumulative strength and exponential return in numbers.
Deuteronomy 32 boasts that one of us can put a thousand to flight and that two of us can put ten thousand to flight. How does that happen? If one horse can pull 6 thousand pounds, how can two horses pull 20 thousand pounds? It's God's math. Don't forget to add His influence into the equation.
And then I said to the young youth leader the following:
Jeff
Of special interest to me, in relation to this teen decade, is consistent youth leadership training. Let me bring up one area of wisdom for all of the youth leaders reading this. At a recent Youth Leadership Conference, a young youth pastor came up to me and said, "I have so much in my heart that I want to do, how do I get my leaders on board? I can't do this alone?" I just smiled and was appreciative of his vision and the fact that he did not want to be a Superman or a Lone Ranger. He was willing to use his Superfriends and Tonto. One of the great movies out today is Avengers. Not Avenger. AvengerS. There is cumulative strength and exponential return in numbers.
Deuteronomy 32 boasts that one of us can put a thousand to flight and that two of us can put ten thousand to flight. How does that happen? If one horse can pull 6 thousand pounds, how can two horses pull 20 thousand pounds? It's God's math. Don't forget to add His influence into the equation.
And then I said to the young youth leader the following:
- Pray over it for weeks and months before you share it.
- Say it. Say it again. And say it one more time. Constantly we must write the vision and run with it.
- Have bi-weekly leadership meetings (weekly would be best). In these meetings you should EAT and talk with each other - PLAY a game - TEACH ON A TOPIC of choice for that week - TELL SOME STORIES of success and what is going on in the youth ministry - PRAY for the students and with each other.
- Meet with a few key adult leaders and student leaders and share the vision with them first. Then, when it is time to share it with others, you will have a lot more momentum.
- Once a vision is communicated, you must share the responsibilities of the vision with leaders so that the buy-in is greater. Shared vision is much more successful than solo vision.
Jeff
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