To be fair, all three articles do comment on the message that is delivered at these pizza events. But, the majority of the content in each of these articles focuses on the use and misuse of pizza. May I suggest that we focus more on helpful content rather than pizza? In the “The Red Bull Gospel” we are left with three suggestions: 1) Have small groups, 2) Give high school graduates a $10 Starbucks card to “find a mentor” in college, and 3) Keep tabs on them. If Leadership Journal is going to dedicate two pages to an article about youth ministry, we should expect more substance than those three suggestions. In fact the author should give the reader more direction as earlier in the article he wrote the goal of youth ministry is to foster a “robust faith”.

The author of “The Red Bull Gospel”, Drew Dyck, is correct when he says that, based on research in Unchristian by David Kinnamen from Barna, that only 3% of young adults have a biblical worldview. A closer look at this statistic on page 76 of Unchristian shows that this 3% is for the Mosaic and Buster generations aged 18-41. The statistic grows to 9% for those over age 42. When we talk about youth ministry we typically think of kids in junior high and high school ages 13-18. The statistic quoted does not really capture the worldview of this age. In reality this is a statistic of the biblical worldview of the parents of teenagers (and college students).

When we correlate this information with the research recently published in Almost Christian by Kendra Dean, we find that the effectiveness of youth ministry is most affected by the faith of the parents of teenagers. This is clear when she writes, “Contrary to popular opinion, teenagers conform to the religious beliefs and practices of their parents to a very high degree” (p. 18), and “Research is nearly unanimous on this point: parents matter most in shaping the religious lives of their children” (p. 112).

I have two suggestions. If we have access to a willing and eager parent, meet with them and ask them how we can encourage their faith, as this will have the largest affect on their child’s faith. If we do not have access to the parents, or the parents are not in a place to develop a biblical worldview and active faith, let’s model a biblical family unit by inviting teenagers into our own families as we strive to live our own biblical worldview. My first suggestion, order pizza, kids love it.

In a few follow-up conversations my friend shared some scriptures with me that seemed to support this view. As I started to look into it, the easiest way for me to capture my response was in a short paper. I decided to attach it here. (It has a few Hebrew words that might not show up correctly if you don’t have the fonts installed, but honestly you don’t need them to get the gist of it unless you know Hebrew.)

In the paper I analyze the 174 occurrences of the word “hate” in the Bible and conclude this…

From the analysis above I must conclude that it is neither biblical nor wise to say or believe that God “hates” sinners. This is not to undermine the theology of total depravity, we are certainly deprived and dead in our sins (Eph 2:1), even by nature were objects of wrath. These are all true statements that are the very words of God. In our acceptance of depravity we must draw a line between our falleness and being “hated” by God. For God does not “hate” sinners.

If you would like to read more, here is the paper:

I will just come out and say it… There is something that bugs me about how some Christians are responding to the needs in Haiti right now. Really it is a deeper philosophical issue that I have with the approach of local churches and ministers, but it is just on display right now. The thing that bugs me is not that some churches and ministers are actually helping; they are! And because of that I am thankful. Sitting on our hands and doing nothing would be more tragic then anything I am going to say. But my concern is that we are not providing the BEST help that we can for the sake of Christ.

In the past 24 hours I have heard of several pastors who I respect personally going to Haiti with supplies. Is there anything intrinsically wrong with this? Absolutely not. Yet, I am forced to ask, is the BEST use of our resources?

Today I heard an interview with Bill Clinton in which he said, “What we need now is cash to buy water, food, shelter and first-aid supplies. That’s what we need. And we need that the next week over and above everything else. They are not able yet to coordinate physical supplies and redirect bodies. So I just want to urge people to donate directly to the agencies.” As a former president I trust he is exposed to some of the best information available on the needs and situation in Haiti. He is clear… Send money.

I have heard countless accounts that there is a major bottleneck at the airport in Port au Prince. A CNN article states that, “the airport in Port-au-Prince ‘can’t handle all the aid that’s coming through.” The article goes on to say, “’literally hundreds’ of flights are trying to land at Port-au-Prince, which has “one tarmac, one runway, one ramp for all the aircraft. ‘It is a sheer volume issue,’… . “There are more planes that want to land here than we can accommodate in any given hour.” Simply put, there is aid that is needed on the ground right now, but they cannot get it on the ground because the airport has too many planes that want to land. The situation seems to be clear… Don’t make the airport any busier, aid is circling the airport and can’t get on the ground.

I think there are some incredibly well-meaning Christian leaders who are doing incredible good, but not the BEST good they can do. They state that we are to help Christians first, based on Gal 6:9-10. I think that verse does encourage that, but it does not dictate a time frame. I feel we are robbing Haitian Christians the aid that they need in this very moment as we send high profile ministers to take up a spot on an airplane that could have been critical aid. It may be that they can raise awareness through filming videos and tweeting and Facebooking their experience. Yet I feel like I see this happen over and over with ministries. My support goes to the ministries that were there in Haiti the day before the earthquake, the year before the earthquake, the decade before the earthquake. Not to mention those that will still be there in a decade. These ministries already speak the language, know the names of the families, their birthdays, their schools, their relatives. These ministries already have the networks and infrastructure to provide aid.

Once again, I think those ministers who are in Haiti are going incredible good. I even have a friend who is there right now, even risking his life in this disaster. Yet I hope that we can provide the BEST help by giving money to those who already are doing good work in the name of Christ. Let us fulfill Gal 6:9-10 through a more thoughtful way that utilizes the best information we can get. May I suggest ministers who want to help rally their churches to give now, the CNN, FOX, ABC, NBC video footage surely should be good enough to get the point across. Then as the situation gains some stability, send in teams to help rebuild the churches over the next months and years. I wonder how many churches are continuing their support of the Indonesian 2004 tsunami that killed over 230,000 people. Maybe the new organizations rising up can adopt those churches as well.

My thoughts, prayers and money go out to Haiti, my brothers and sisters in Christ there, and also my fellow American ministers who have just arrived. I hope a profitable conversation arises about how affluent American ministers and churches can best leverage our blessings for the Kingdom of God.

UPDATE: Christianity Today has a good article about World Vision’s long-term efforts in Haiti. In this article it says that, “World Vision has a staff of about 800 around Haiti.” Their long-term presence allows them to state that they are among, “organizations that had been on the ground long-term, that had been building relationships with local community leaders and national government staff. So that serves us well when you’re in a chaotic situation like this… We don’t have to fly in on the ground and then figure out who speaks the language or what the infrastructure is.”

Over the last 10-15 years I have led a lot of leadership teams. I have seen some great exits and some terrible ones. Usually I see two versions…

1) The fade – The person just fades off the radar and loses touch. This is usually initiated by some new event in their life (a new job/class/major/boy or girl friend, etc). Usually the fade is a bad exit.

2) The train wreck – The person gives you a call the day of event and says they won’t be there, in fact they never will because they are leaving for good.

When I follow up on these exits the people normally tell me they have been praying about it for a while and it is what God wants them to do. This leads me to question a lot of their process and understanding of how God communicates. But my main wish is that the person simply would have brought me into the process earlier so I can help them.

As opposed to a recent major ministry strategic planning meeting I was involved in, I am not into “retaining” people. I want them to respond to the seasons of their life with the support of an encouraging community. This is one reason I try to celebrate people who are leaving our ministry on good terms. I want to say “well done” in front of all their friends as we pray them into their next assignment in the Kingdom of God.

Along these lines I saw this post and thought it had some great recommendations:

Thinking of leaving your church? Here’s how I would do it…

* I would write a letter to the pastors and leaders. In this letter, I would talk about the way God had changed my life through the ministry of that church. I would talk about how some of my family members met Christ there, were baptized, went on missions trips and more. I would talk about how my own thoughts and beliefs were formed through my years at the church. I would talk about how I am more like Christ because of my time there. I would tell stories of specific retreats or camps or services where my life (or those of my family) was changed because of the church and it’s; leaders.

* In this letter, I would not gripe or complain. I would not talk about the stuff I don’t like or decisions with which I disagree.

* In a short paragraph, I would say that “my wife and I have decided to attend and serve in a different church for this next season of our spiritual growth.”

* I would end the letter by assuring the pastor that he/she will never hear us talk badly about this church. I would encourage the pastor to feel free to share this letter with anyone who questions why we left.

* THEN, and this is most important, I would not mail this letter. Rather, I would set an appointment with the pastor and I would hand-deliver the letter. I would read it aloud to him–or ask him to read it in my presence. I would re-state my love for him and profound thanks for the ministry he had in my life.

* Then I would walk away and keep my promise. I would never speak negatively to anyone about that church. In fact, when people asked, I would say, “God changed my life at that church!”

via LeadingSmart: How To Leave Your Church.

I like these questions below. But I think I would add one about his commitment to Christ.

A young man asked a girl’s father for his daughter’s hand in marriage. I know the father and the questions he asked the young man come as no surprise to me.

1. Have you prayed about this? What has God said? How do you know?

2. Of all the girls in the world, why our daughter?

3. Tell us what love means to you.

4. What does it mean to you to be a godly husband? What does it mean to be a godly father?

5. What does it mean to you to serve your wife? To sacrifice for her?

via “Trust Rather to their Friendship” | Think Christian.

A couple areas I might talk about:

• Theology
• Technology
• Leadership
• Education
• Mentoring
• Who knows maybe even golf, basketball, coaching high school sports, thoughts about other blogs…

I guess we will see where this goes…