Year #2 for me is wrapping up at Crown this weekend. Just wanted to jot down some quick personal reflection points to remember:
1. I admit this post is a bit self-indulged (ok... a lot). Ergo, you don't have to read it. :) This is more for me... A measurement of my heart and head at this current moment.
2. I'm starting to not think to highy of myself (maybe). Having said that, I realize I need to let some air out of my head again. As soon as "humility" becomes a focus it has already been lost. The truth, though, is that entering the education realm of life has been humbling to me. Each day I've been encountering students who are smarter and more gifted than me, peers in the field that I can't believe would give me a moment's notice, coworkers who put up with my naivete, and a family that has been patient with me as I've labored to learn the task of equipping students for ministry in an academic setting (translation: grading). All in all, this has been a remarkably ego-pummeling two years.
3. I don't know very much (except that).
4. I love equipping students (really). I've known this since I was 16 years old (translation, 25 years ago!)... but until the last few years I think I've been striving to meet many other expectations and aspirations (whether self-produced or other-projected). Hopefully my life is becoming more about the pursuit of proactively giving young people opportunity to practice faith and ministry by equipping scores of young people to proactively give young people opportunity to practice faith and ministry by equipping... (translation: ever expansive pattern!).
5. I'm in this for good (unless I'm not). It wasn't until my final months in Parksville and then the 3.5 years in Calgary and now in Minneapolis that things have started to truly resonate in ministry. I am thankful, 25 years into this ministry gig, that I can identify an emerging correlation between passion + gifting + experience + dreaming. In a way, the amount of time (translation: years+years+) it has taken for me to affirm this is personally encouraging simply because it is now time-tested and no longer an ideal. I've seen it, breathed it, worked it, watered it, and watched it grow to produce fruit. And that reality is a satisfying and catalytic encouragement. Part of me can't wait to see the harvest of another 25 years. Since my first "job" (unpaid, btw) helping lead a YFC summer events during high school I have wanted my vocation to focus on the faith & leadership development of the next generations. I've lived and practiced long enough now to see this is true (translation: thank you, Jesus, for the opportunity).
6. There is long-lasting momentum to the idea of Generational Transference (not mine, but God's). This has been perhaps the most affirming aspect of teaching the last two years. In order to be a decent instructor, I've had to further nail down the foundations of equipping a strong faith in God among successive generations... and this process has been incredibly rewarding. Students resonate with the concept... hungry for continuity between the vibrancy of faith they experienced in their youth groups and the unsettling segregational trends of our generational culture... and they have been champions in the development and practice of these theories. Perhaps what I've learned most is that Generational Transference is simply a good way of articulating what God's pattern and praxis of ministry must always be... one generation focused upon proclaiming faith & ministry to the next for all of history.
Here's a short list of my summer study books -
The Explicit Gospel - by Matt Chandler with Jared Wilson (Re:Lit/Crossway). Matt is becoming increasingly influential among young conservative Christians looking for passionate teaching connected to orthodox traditions of faith with cutting-edge applications for mission (I know, long sentence!). I'm pumped to read this book about the raw truth of the gospel.
What Do I Do When... series by Steve Gerali (YS/Zondervan). I'm planning to use these 6 books in Crown's Faith Development of Youth course this Fall. Each book offers responsible considerations for approaching some of the most serious issues facing teenagers today. There will be 40 students in this course! So I'll need to develop gradable exam questions from these texts. (Hint: a student who wants to get ahead of the curve might want to pick these up and prep through them this summer!)
You Lost Me - by David Kinnaman (Baker). Kinnaman's last book, UnChristian, was a revealing look at how non-Christians viewed many Christians in North America. This one is a revealing look at why young Christians are leaving Church and reformulating ("rethinking"), positively and negatively perhaps, what faith in Jesus means.
The Blessing of Africa - by Keith Augustus Burton (IVP Academic). The highest concentration of Christians in the world will soon be located geographically in Africa. So I feel it is important to understand the interesting, conflicted history of Christianity that is often overlooked by Western Christians.
The New Shape of World Christianity - by Mark A. Noll (IVP Academic). Mark Noll takes a look at trends in American Christianity that reveal reflections of world-wide movements of faith. Having lived back in the States for almost two years now, I want to read this book (and the other global books) to make sure I keep a fresh perspective on God's global activity and concerns.
Global Awakening - by Mark Shaw (IVP Academic). Like the two above, this book should offer further perspective on what God is doing around the world and, therefore, what I can learn as an American about pursuing after God.
The Next Evangelicalism - by Soong-Chan Rah (IVP). The subtitle of this book is somewhat provocative ("Freeing the Church from Western Cultural Captivity"), but its considerations resonate with the three books above. Each of these globally focused books fit a theme that I want to consider further this summer. I'll also be keeping two books by Terry Linhart and David Livermore (Global Youth Ministry and What Can We Do?)close by as I pray about how the future of youth ministry movements in North America should be informed by what God is doing around the world.
Bernard of Clairvaux: Selected Works - (HarperCollins). I've been asked to consider writing an article about the spiritual practice of this ancient believer... and also of Anselm of Cantebury... connecting these writings to formative discipleship principles for young people today.
I've been involved with YFC-NI since 2005. They're doing great work! Consider joining them for two weeks this summer to reach the next generations in the 32 counties of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
"The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, 'He saved others; let him save himself he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One.'" - Luke 23:35
May we no longer stand watching, Lord. You gave your life and we watched-- afraid and mezmorized by the horror, ignorant and angry at you, unable to avert but unwilling (and unable) to act.
May we each take up our cross and follow you, Lord, even as others sneer. You took insults and injury for our sake because your love for us compelled you-- Oh, how you loved us, stretching your arms as to let our watching eyes see just how much.
May we be counted as chosen by the Chosen One. You made Good Friday a rallying cry--- "Forgive them!", a cry offered in humility, service and mercy-- a cry that ushers peace and power in grace.
Thank you, dear Jesus, for dying on the cross to save us from our sins. May we stop watching and may we start following you, carrying our cross, and offering your rallying cry to our world. Amen.
*... and here's the 3rd poster from ENtrust... This is another treasured photo... Ben and Zach and their Dad at the kitchen table...
*... and here's the 2nd poster I threw together for the ENtrust Conference in Billings this weekend (Ben in the long jump last spring).
*I threw together this poster of Elly for my presentation at ENtrust this evening in Billings, MT.
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