Planning a Youth Rally

Where do you start? Is there a master list to follow? Here are some tips I've used (stolen) in planning several youth rallies now:

1. Plan your theme and speaker well in advance. We try to have next year's theme and speaker ready to introduce by the end of this year's rally.
2. Give your teens appropriate responsibilities. Some teens can take on more responsibilities than others. For example, you probably shouldn't give a teen command of the budget for your youth rally!! On the other hand, you might have some talented artists who can perform or make artwork. My teens have shot the Rules video each year, and really impress me each time.
3. Involve your whole church. This is a great opportunity for people to see you (youth minister or volunteer) in action. Use them to house teens, serve food, lead a discussion or class, registration, driving...the list goes on.
4. Give yourself plenty of time to plan. I have a list that I start working on over a month before the rally begins. The stress will fade away as you cross the items off that list!
5. Be flexible! Things WILL go wrong! Teens will take their cues from you. If you think things aren't going well, they might think the same thing. Evaluate each rally when it's done, and remove or rework those things that didn't work.
6. Keep Jesus by your side. Remember what your rally is all about. It's not about showcasing your talents, or getting people to like you. Point them toward Christ.

In case you're wondering, I DO have several lists that I use to plan and execute our youth rally. If you think it would be helpful, let me know and I'll send them to you.

If you'll excuse me, I have to go sleep one more time before a hectic weekend begins with a LOT of teens and a LOT of Jesus!

WHAT WILL WE DO NOW?!

I wonder what churches will do now that Barack Obama has been elected as our next president. Prayer vigils were held before the elections asking that God would bless America. Will they feel like God has blessed America, or cursed it?

The following passage is from Romans 13:1-2.

"Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves."

Have you ever really thought about this passage?
The author is admonishing them to submit to a government that became increasingly harsh to Christians!

So, what are Christians to do now?
1. Don't worry. God is in control. Jesus told us not to worry. God told the martyrs in Revelation not to worry. The Bible is chock-full of God advising people, "Don't worry!"
2. Keep praying! Will churches pray now that the elections are over? Let's pray for Barack Obama instead of cursing him! You wouldn't believe how many negative statements I've seen on Facebook tonight. He is human, just like you and I. He makes mistakes, just like you and I. And he needs prayers, just like you and I do.

"I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness." (1 Tim. 2:1-2)

I don't know about you, but I think this is holy and wise advice. And I hope you'll keep praying for our next president.

Teaching Teens Work Skills

Our electronic society is a huge blessing for youth ministry. Most of the work can be done by emailing instead of making tiring amounts of phone calls. Calendars can be produced with clipart on them without going through multiple stages of print.
However, not everyone has email yet!
For our youth rally, I recently asked teens to help me with a few projects. One project was addressing envelopes to our members who will be housing out-of-town teens. So, I was a little confused when one of the teens asked what we were doing.
To show them an example, I went over to one of our girls, who had already addressed an envelope. As I picked it up, I noticed she had written the address in the upper right-hand corner where the stamp goes!!!
While we laughed, another girl said, "We don't know how to do this...we email and text people!"

Parenting Lessons

Finish this sentence:
I want my kid(s) to be the best ___________.

How did you fill in the blank?
Pianist? Quarterback? Chess player? Pitcher? Debater? Cheerleader? Student?

I see it all too often: Parents who live out their lives through their children. They want their kids to be cool, popular, "the best." They push their kids to practice hard at their chosen activity. They make sure they are at every practice early, and stay late. They sponsor all the activities, and shell out hundreds (maybe thousands) of dollars to get their kids the BEST equipment.

We all want our children to be happy. We all want them to work hard. But I would encourage you to consider filling in the blank with something different...something that matters far more than any ballgame or competition.

I want my kid to be the best Christian that he can be.

I want to make sure he's at all the "practice sessions" he needs to get to know God. I want to make sure he has quality equipment for studying about his creator. I want to monetarily sponsor things that get him in touch with God's love and grace!

Can you say those words? Do your kids know that their soul is more important to you than their extracurriculars?

One of the parents at our church was talking to her son recently. He is the mascot for one of our local high schools. It's a horse named "Mighty." He was telling me that he didn't know if he could attend our youth rally (and help lead worship) because he might be mascotting. His mom replied with a smile, "I would rather you be doing mighty things than Mighty (the horse) things!"

Amen.