You've Got Way More Potential Than You Realize!

I don't want to sound like Joel Osteen. Mainly because I can't pull off that wonderful hairdo.

But here's the simple truth. If you know Jesus, you have an unbelievable source of power inside of you called the Holy Spirit. Do you realize how much power that means you have? Just imagine Electro from The Amazing Spider-Man 2, but on redbull. Right before Jesus ascended to heaven, he promised us this power in Matthew 28. He said "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you" (Matthew 28:18).

With this same source of power, these people did awesome things:

- Moses went 40 days without food
- Samson ripped down the temple with his bare hands
- Daniel survived a den of lions
- Lazarus got undead
- Mary conquered an epic teenage pregnancy
- Jesus…welp, his whole life basically
- Chuck Norris dominated a generation (yes, he's a believer!)

As a Christ follower, you have the same source of power as all these people! The Holy Spirit gives us way more potential than we can even imagine. But most of the time, we don't even think to tap into it to do huge things. We just ask Him to help relieve us of stress or heal us from a cold. Those are important prayers in all, but if that's all the power we ask for…we are really selling ourselves short of some huge things that God could be doing through us. That's like going to a 5-star steakhouse and just getting chicken tenders. 

As believers, our lives should look drastically different from the non-believers around us. We are literally walking miracles, being rescued from slavery of sin. The Holy Spirit has come into our life and is sitting there, ready to be unleashed. He has big ideas for what he'd love to do in our lives. Lots of times though, our lives don't look a whole lot different from the non-believers in the world. We make decisions based on comfort and logical expectations, rather than walking in the assurance of the Holy Spirit to show up and do awesome things.

So don't settle for chicken tenders. Order the steak! Use the power that he's given you. Ask God to do the big things in your life that you're too afraid to ask for. You might be surprised how he answers it.

Electronic Bibles: Good or Bad?

66% of teenagers use an electronic Bible on their phone or tablet more than a hard-copy, paper Bible. 

We are at a unique time in the history of technology and faith. Never in history has the Bible been more accessible than it is now. Within their pocket, anyone can have access to dozens of Bible translations and commentaries for free. In just the blink of an eye, someone can compare a verse in three different translations without having to turn a page. It's remarkable! But yet…is it? 

While we have more Bible resources than any other generation before us, we're also far more Biblically illiterate than any generation before us too. So what's the solve? Are e-Bibles good because of the convenience and accessibility that they offer? Or will they ultimately cause long-term spiritual harm because of the lack of absorption and prone to distraction? The answer is…YES!

Electronic Bible Pros

They are great for convenience. If you have a smartphone or tablet, you can have the Bible with you at all times. They are great for looking at multiple translations too. It is highly beneficial to compare two or three different translations of a passage when studying scripture. E-Bibles make this easy parcheesi! They're good for a quick reference, too.

They are also great for sharing. It's super easy to highlight a verse and share it on Facebook, Twitter, or Myspace (kidding…Myspace is as dead as the T-Rex). You can easily select a verse and text it to a friend. Or copy a passage into Evernote to memorize. There are even some great apps to help with Scripture Memory…I suggest the app Bible Memory Verses.

Electronic Bible Cons 

They are not good for most types of Bible studying, either in a group or in personal devotionals. Several studies have shown that you absorb far less information when you read it on a screen vs. on paper. This goes the same for e-books vs. paper books. Having a paper Bible to physically open, jot down notes, and highlight creates a spiritual timeline for you to look back on the next time you read the passage. While you can highlight and save notes on E-Bibles, it doesn't create the same footprint that a hardcopy Bible does. Also with a hardcopy Bible, it is much easier to physically see the context of the passage/verses within the chapter itself which can help with understanding.

Distractions! It's nearly impossible focus in-depth on anything on your phone because of the thousands of things it's capable of doing. I just checked my own iPhone and saw that I've opened 17 different apps since this morning! It's so hard to focus on one thing on a smartphone because we're always tempted to slide over to Twitter or our Email. Or Candy Crush! Gimme dat next level! 

Conclusion 

Electronic Bibles are great tools to use alongside a good, physical paper Bible. They allow quick reference, translation comparison, and integrate well with social media. E-Bibles are best used as an additional resource or for the convenience of teaching/ referencing, when a physical Bible may not work as well.

However, E-Bibles should never fully supplement a paper, hard copy Bible. If you want to truly absorb the Bible on a deep level, Electronic Bibles are probably not the best way to go. I would encourage you to always use a Paper Bible during any type of small group Bible study, worship service, or personal devotional. You may surprised at how much more you retain!

PS: If you don't have a paper Bible, the New International Version and English Standard Version are both fantastic translations when first starting out reading the Bible! 

Free E-Book: Twitter Bomb!

I wrote a short E-book.
It's called Twitter Bomb.
It talks about the things we are disciples of.
And takes about 20 minutes to read.
And it's free!

Just click the link below and then click "Download" at the top:

Download "Twitter Bomb"

"I'm REALLY Bad With Names..."

85% of youth workers are awful with names.

I’m not sure how accurate that stat is, but I imagine it’s pretty close. It’s like a pre-requisite to working with students. It’s probably even apart of the hiring process for youth pastors…

Hiring Committee Person: How good are you with names?
Youth Pastor: Great! I actually have a system that involves photos, string and tape on a bulletin board in my office to help me remember the names of all of my students! Ha!!!
Hiring Committee Person: Oh.
(HCP uncomfortably adjusts in his chair)
HCP: Umm…you’re not exactly what we’re looking for.
Youth Pastor: Wait…really?
HCP: Please leave right now.

Youth workers deal/ dealt with this problem in different ways. Many go with the nickname approach, where they completely disregard birthnames altogether and instead give out their own.

This is always my approach. The nicknames don’t have to make sense. They just have to be something I could remember. Sometimes, I am so creatively dry that I would just give them other students’ names as nicknames. Rachel becomes Heather. Jake becomes Kevin.

Carl becomes Tabitha.

My favorite approach, though, is when youth workers try to ignore the problem altogether by using generic pronouns to dodge the fact that they have no idea who they are talking to…

Jake: Hey Pastor Stephen!
Stephen: There he is! How are you doing…friend-o-mine?
Jake: Good. It’s been a hard week. Long.
Stephen: I bet it has been, buddy. School treating you well?
Jake: I guess. Can’t wait for it to be over.
Stephen: I know what you mean…Chief.
Jake: Yep. Well, talk to you later Stephen!
Stephen: Cya later… Dr. Cool!!!

Students usually picked up on this and eventually called the youth worker out.

Jake: You don’t know my name, do you?
Stephen: Sure I do, partner! It’s…the Ladies Man!!!
(Jake stares at him angrily)
Stephen: …cuz all the ladies flock to you, fellow human!
(Jake keeps staring)
Stephen: Okay. Fine. I have no idea who you are.

Admitting there is a problem is the first step to recovery…

The Final Announcement

This is no ordinary announcement. This is the one that is so important that it deserves to be re-announced after the closing prayer so that it was fresh on students’ minds as they are walking out the door.

More often than not, it is yelled over the exiting music as students stand up and scurry out to their cars for Taco Bell. I’m not sure why, but the 'announcer' always seemed urgently panicked as if each student needs to grasp all details related to this announcement.

It was shouted as quickly as possible, with no time for breaths.

“Have a good week! Don’t forget to invite 11 friends to camp tomorrow at school! Business cards in the back! Grab a business card!!!”

And sometimes they were long.

“Alrighty. Lust Sunday is in two weeks! Mark your calendars because it is going to be a powerful time, guys! If you are struggling with porn, you gotta be there! GOTTA STOP LOOKING AT PORN, GUYS!”

The best ones were so long that they were still talking as people were getting in their cars.

“Lock-In is this Friday! Be there! Bring a 2-liter and $5! And invite your friends. Please no fireworks this time! And be on time because registration takes longer when you guys are late. Which makes my job harder. And we don’t want my job to be any harder right? Am-I-right?! HA!!! Give a guy a break!!! Oh! And make sure your mom knows that Tommy has a peanut allergy so if she bakes brownies, NOT to put peanuts in them this time. No peanuts, guys! Amen? Amen!!!”

By this point, we had ordered our food at Taco Bell.

Christian T-Shirts

This is definitely one of the more effective ways to share your faith. Everyone wears shirts, so why not turn us into walking billboards for JC? And while we’re at it, lets make them look like other, more popular t-shirts to trick our lost friends!

The ole bait-and-hook: fashion edition.

Before ya knew it, we have walking evangelists all over the place! Instead of an AEROPOSTLE shirt, it's OURAPOSTLE. Boom. ABERCROMBIE & FITCH? Nope. ABREADCRUMB & FISH. That one is a soul piercer.

Guy #1: Hey! Is that a Tommy Hilfiger shirt?
Guy #2: Nope. Look closer bro. It’s a Tell Jesus He’ll Forgive shirt.
Guy #1: Whoa. I…uhh…wow. Can you pray for me?!

This outreach method is flawless because you could be bold in your faith without having to actually open your mouth. The t-shirt does the talking. Words are overrated anyway. In fact, conversation just takes away from the "T". There were no words I could say to add or take away from the powerful message displayed on my chest (Rev. 22:18-19).

Christian T-shirts may be the most effective form of sharing your faith to the unbelieving world. If Jesus lived in today’s world of graphic design and printing presses, he’d be all over it. He could just storm through the temple with a Jesus is my Homeboy robe and point to it. Wouldn’t even need the whip.

I always like to think these shirts are starting revivals at schools all over the nation. It would start with one student, who mistakes the Christian shirt for a more recognizable logo. From there, the shirt wearer would stand in the middle of the hallway with their thumbs pointed to the shirt and let the Holy Spirit do his damage…

Girl #1: Hey. Cool shirt! I love Starbucks Coffee!
Girl #2: I do too. But it doesn’t say Starbucks Coffee. It says Sacrificed For me. Eh?
Girl #1: Oh. (starts breathing deeply) Wow. Okay. That’s…convicting. (drops to floor on knees) I need to fast for a while.

And the revival begins…

Decision Time

Old school churches called it the altar call. Church plants call it response time. At my youth group growing up, we called it decision time.

It was the moment at the end of the service where the youth pastor/ celebrity guest speaker/ local legend magician wrapped it all up with the Gospel and gave the students a chance to respond to it in some way. This was done in a few different ways…

the hand raise: for this, students are asked to silently raise their hands incognito while the other students have their heads bowed and eyes closed; the most common approach

the look up: similar to the hand raise, the speaker instead asks the responders to look up at him and make eye contact with him; the speaker usually confirms eye contact with a wink or salute

the stand up: much more rare than the first two, this requires the student to stand where they are; usually it is set up by the speaker saying “this is a bold spiritual step, so I’m going to ask you to do something bold…”

the call out: only saw this one done once, but it was about as comfortable as a pysch ward; here, the speaker asked the responders to audibly shout out from their seats with a “here”, “amen”, or “me”; ends up sounding like a little choir of insecure voices half whispering yells out loud; usually took some milking for this to work


(CAUTION!!!)

Whatever approach you choose, there is one thing that is important: never let the non-responders open their eyes!!! Do whatever you can to make sure the other students can’t see how successful (or unsuccessful) you were during the decision time and the amount of responses you actually had because of your message. This is crucial. Don’t be afraid to call students out of their eyes are closed. If necessary, make the students lie on the floor with their faces on the ground, muttering latin prayers. Or use blindfolds.*

*If no students respond, still say “I see you over there” and “I see you in the back” every few seconds so students feel like they won’t be the only student responding. The last thing you want is for students to think you are unsuccessful. It's all about job security.