Comments on: Longitudinal Youth Ministry http://adammclane.com/2009/12/23/longitudinal-youth-ministry/ Wed, 23 May 2012 16:55:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: Brad Griffin http://adammclane.com/2009/12/23/longitudinal-youth-ministry/#comment-7367 Brad Griffin Tue, 05 Jan 2010 17:18:29 +0000 http://adammclane.com/?p=5436#comment-7367 yes, yes, yes. thanks for waving this flag, adam. yes, yes, yes. thanks for waving this flag, adam.

]]> By: Jason http://adammclane.com/2009/12/23/longitudinal-youth-ministry/#comment-7313 Jason Thu, 24 Dec 2009 11:17:10 +0000 http://adammclane.com/?p=5436#comment-7313 You have a great blog. I'm a first-time visitor, but I'm impressed. I have a blog myself where people come from around the world and debate on popular issues. I'm saying this because I know you could provide some valuable insight to the visitors and the other debaters. I also would like to exchange links with you to help spread some traffic around. We deserve it. If you accept, please submit a comment under my "Compadres" page letting me know when you've placed my link on your site and I'll return the favor. Jason DEBATEitOUT.com You have a great blog. I’m a first-time visitor, but I’m impressed. I have a blog myself where people come from around the world and debate on popular issues. I’m saying this because I know you could provide some valuable insight to the visitors and the other debaters.

I also would like to exchange links with you to help spread some traffic around. We deserve it. If you accept, please submit a comment under my “Compadres” page letting me know when you’ve placed my link on your site and I’ll return the favor.

Jason
DEBATEitOUT.com

]]> By: Chris Day http://adammclane.com/2009/12/23/longitudinal-youth-ministry/#comment-7309 Chris Day Wed, 23 Dec 2009 13:50:07 +0000 http://adammclane.com/?p=5436#comment-7309 Adam, You're not alone. This is something my pastor and I talk about often and we are in agreement on. Discipleship is a lifelong process. It's not for a period of time to keep students from rebelling. We have to live life with them and help them through the fight in later years as well. What if this is the reason why the stat of kids "leaving the faith" is so high? Honestly I HATE that stat because it's a load of crap. My stance is that kids can't leave what they really don't have. What if the problem is that we've approached YM from a programmatic stance for so long that the kids learned the system and just navigated through it and jumped through the hoops to please their YP and their parents? Are we so naive to believe that this isn't a possibility or hasn't happened? I know you can't make every student a disciple and we don't want to leave any kid out...and sometimes discipleship is hard and messy and it involves working through sin in the lives of people...but isn't that what Jesus did? Seriously? Were his disciples getting it all the time? Not the 12 that I read about. That's why it's so important to walk with them into and through adulthood - of they want it that bad. I think that's the key. If they want it. I've got some more thoughts on how maybe we have gotten to this point in ministry and I know more people do as well. My thing is that I HATE it when we in Christendom inflate FALSE facts and blame our own problems and issues on something that's not even fair - the very people we are targeting. That's what is going on with the statistic of kids leaving the faith. What it says to me is this, "It's their fault. If they would have taken it more seriously they wouldn't have walked." Maybe there's some truth to it but lets not lay it all at their feet. Let openly admit we've failed them and move forward to fixing it. This is why I like the Deep and Wide idea so much. It's simple and Biblical. Go deep with theology and equip your students to share their faith with their friends and pray like crazy that God breaks their heart for the lost so they can reach out to their friends. It seems like someone else was all about doing ministry this way... Adam,

You’re not alone. This is something my pastor and I talk about often and we are in agreement on. Discipleship is a lifelong process. It’s not for a period of time to keep students from rebelling. We have to live life with them and help them through the fight in later years as well. What if this is the reason why the stat of kids “leaving the faith” is so high? Honestly I HATE that stat because it’s a load of crap. My stance is that kids can’t leave what they really don’t have. What if the problem is that we’ve approached YM from a programmatic stance for so long that the kids learned the system and just navigated through it and jumped through the hoops to please their YP and their parents? Are we so naive to believe that this isn’t a possibility or hasn’t happened?

I know you can’t make every student a disciple and we don’t want to leave any kid out…and sometimes discipleship is hard and messy and it involves working through sin in the lives of people…but isn’t that what Jesus did? Seriously? Were his disciples getting it all the time? Not the 12 that I read about. That’s why it’s so important to walk with them into and through adulthood – of they want it that bad. I think that’s the key. If they want it.

I’ve got some more thoughts on how maybe we have gotten to this point in ministry and I know more people do as well. My thing is that I HATE it when we in Christendom inflate FALSE facts and blame our own problems and issues on something that’s not even fair – the very people we are targeting. That’s what is going on with the statistic of kids leaving the faith. What it says to me is this, “It’s their fault. If they would have taken it more seriously they wouldn’t have walked.” Maybe there’s some truth to it but lets not lay it all at their feet. Let openly admit we’ve failed them and move forward to fixing it. This is why I like the Deep and Wide idea so much. It’s simple and Biblical. Go deep with theology and equip your students to share their faith with their friends and pray like crazy that God breaks their heart for the lost so they can reach out to their friends. It seems like someone else was all about doing ministry this way…

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