Thankful for this Moment…

The Hunger Games and What it Means for Your Student Ministry…

I’m always thankful for the opportunity to write for Student Life and their blog.  This is an article I wrote about the Hunger Games.  Risking a few man points, I’ll admit that I loved the books.  Great story.  Here’s the article…

The Hunger Games book series by Suzanne Collins has sold millions of copies including 26 foreign editions. There is no question that a large percentage of the books sold were sold to teenagers and preteens. And now, this week, the book comes to life in its major motion picture debut. Watch the trailer here.

The book synopsis found on Amazon says: “Katniss is a 16-year-old girl living with her mother and younger sister in the poorest district of Panem, the remains of what used be the United States. Long ago the districts waged war on the Capitol and were defeated. As part of the surrender terms, each district agreed to send one boy and one girl to appear in an annual televised event called, ‘The Hunger Games’. The terrain, rules, and level of audience participation may change but one thing is constant: kill or be killed. When Kat’s sister is chosen by lottery, Kat steps up to go in her place.”

It’s probably obvious to you (since you’re working in youth ministry) that this book is incredibly popular with students. But why? Is it simply due to the fact that it is a great story with a teenager lead character? Having read all three books now, I started to think that it might be possible the book taps into something more with the average teen.

So, I asked myself and some other folk I know who work with teenagers this question:

What do teenagers hunger for that can be found in The Hunger Games?

They hunger for someone they can trust.
The Capitol is out to get them. Everyone from the Capitol is extremely selfish. Teenagers long to have someone in their lives that have pure motives and can be trusted.

They hunger for people to believe they can make a difference now.
Katniss is a 17 year old girl who has an opportunity to change the world. Our teenagers want to believe they can change the world and make it a better place.

They hunger for a cause.
The Hunger Games are unfair and exploit children. Katniss and other characters found in the story represent change to something that is unjust. Teenagers want to be a part of bringing justice to the world.

They hunger adventure.
Truthfully, I couldn’t put the books down! Talk about an adventure! Our teenagers want to experience something more than the mundane youth ministry we’ve offered them for so many years.

They hunger to be pursued.
What would a good story be without a love story interwoven throughout the story. Throughout the story, Katniss is pursued by two guys who are both crazy about her. Teenagers want to be wanted, loved, desired, sought after… pursued.

The question is, how can we help our students understand that they can find all of these things in Christ?

How could this impact the events we plan and messages we teach? How can we show them the ONE of whom this was written: “Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat upon them, any scorching heat. For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

Super Cereal Sunday!!!

The fellas are at it again…

What I Learned from Steve Jobs…

(Originally posted on StudentLife.com/blog)

i’m just being honest here, but i can’t remember the last time i read a book as long as Steve Job’s biography. Once i started reading it, i honestly couldn’t put it down.  Maybe it’s because i’ve been an Apple fan ever since i bought my first iPod, but more than anything, it was fascinating to read about a guy as creative as Jobs and how he impacted technology.

i also found myself thinking about how we do youth ministry and whether or not we could learn from the life of Jobs.  Youth ministry is, after all, full of iGeeks and iFans.

So here are a few lessons i walked away with:

1. If you life your life as a jerk, people will remember you as a jerk, even if you produce amazing things.

Steve Jobs may have invented some amazing stuff, but he had the reputation of being a jerk to a lot of people along the way.  Lesson: Just because i’m right doesn’t give me an excuse to be short or mean with people.  Jesus commanding us to love one another still applies during a really busy season of life.  We need to be nice to frustrating volunteers, aggravating students, pesky parents, staff that don’t understand youth ministry, and especially our families who loveus.

2.  ”People don’t know what they want until you show it to them.”

i wonder how this applies to ministry. Jobs never asked the consumer what they wanted, but had a philosophy at Apple to create and show consumers what they need, even if they’re not aware of it.  i can’t help but think that there are some ministries, lessons and decisions that we may have to make that match up to this philosophy.  The idea of someone not being aware of their need for Jesus really matches up.

3.  iMostEveryThing works great because it fits into Apple’s core values and is a part of the end to end control they maintain.

i’m still trying to get my head around this one, but it does cause me to want to be sure that the programs, curriculum, and events i’m connecting with match up to our student ministry’s core values.  The more we turn over our students to others, the more we’re allowing someone else to determine the direction of what they are being taught.  No worries, we’re still going to Student Life camp!

4.  Figure out what you do well and do it.

Although it took him a while, Jobs figured out that he was best at being a designer and innovator, so he focused on that more than anything.  He then surrounded himself with people who complemented(and could tolerate) his talent.  God has gifted each one of us in a way that helps us serve in youth ministry.  Be careful not to use this though as a reason not to do other things well.  Example: Even though you may be an amazing communicator/teacher, you still need to work hard at administration.

5. If you use a lowercase i instead of a capital I, especially when writing an article for the Student Life blog, you automatically score higher points on the cool-o-meter (or the nerd-o-meter).

At least in your own mind.

DNOW 2011

DNOW 2011 from Johnson Ferry on Vimeo.

The Fellas are at it Again…