We discussed adults as a key role in your ministry in this weeks Energy.  They can and should play more of a role than just sponsoring our trips and giving scolarships to those who need it.  As your ministry develops and grows, there is a huge need for spiritually mature adults to partner with us to disciple the students in our ministry.  This will not happen by accident, it has to be planned ahead of time, and it will take time to develop the team of adults that will help you raise spiritually mature teenagers.  So……  tell me what you got going…. Are you just starting out?  Do you already have some adults discipling students, and finally, what training tools do you have in place to help adults in this role?

We have started a 5 week focus talking about being intentional with  Deep & Wide this summer, so I want to know what ideas you have and what might be working for you.  Share with us your stories and ideas that might help us all grow Deep & Go Wide!

I am looking forward to hearing from you!

I will be at Creation East next week, let me know if your going to be there, maybe we can hook up!

Jeremy

For most youth pastors, youth ministry during the school year looks completely different than summer time!  There is an opportunity to invest a great amount of time and energy towards students in the summer.  I can remember back to my days as a youth growing up in Oklahoma.  A shout out to my youth pastor, Jimmie Tribble in Midwest City, OK…  He spent all summer with us.  Along with camp and mission trips, we hung out and spent a lot of time together.  I can remember all of us (a group of 5-6 of us guys) going to his parents house to swim and then heading to Long John Silvers to eat all you can eat chicken and fish. I cannot drive past a LJS without thinking of Jimmie.  Those were some great summers for me, but the greatest thing Jimmie did for us was teach us and show us how to live the Christian life.  We would watch him with his family.  We got to see him in different situations that taught us a lot!  He also took the opportunity to talk about spiritual things along the way.  He was never short on questions for us.  So what are you plans this summer?  I challenge you to think strategically about how you can use the time to spend with your students and take every opportunity to show them how to live the Christian life. 

A couple of pointers I have learned along the way…

1. Never go alone, always take students with you… this provides a great opportunity to teach in the format of everyday life.  If your getting ready for a trip, take a student, if your preparing lessons, invite a student to help… you get the idea.  (You know the gender rules when hanging out with students, make sure to follow them… )

2. Everything should have a spiritual purpose.  There is a lot of time to do fun things in the summer.  Often times, the spirirtual element is left out.  That is a grave mistake!  It is not always a Bible study that needs to happen, but discussions or applications can become a part of the event.  Have you included a Deep or Wide element for all your events this summer?

I hope this is a help to you… I would love to know what your summer looks like and how things are going!

Coach Jeremy

I just spent the week with 8 Korean pastors who are looking to take D2S to Korea.  I trained them in Deep and Wide Youth Ministry and was amazed at the depth of passion these men had for learning and for God.  I have traveled several times oversees and spent time with other people groups here in America.  The one thing that amazes me is that they all seem to have found a level of relationship with God that overwhelms me.  Several times this last week, we would take time to pray.  These Koreans understand prayer!  The cried out at the top of the lungs to God.  I was encouraged by thier passion and longing to know God and make Him known in Korea.  Be praying as they work through the logistics of D2S Korea.  This week I am taking a closer look at myself and making sure that my passion for God is all that it should be!  How is your passion?  Let’s pray like it depends on God and work like it depends on us!  May we all go DEEP AND WIDE!

Jeremy

Over the last several weeks, I have had numerous conversation concerning the tactical issues in taking our students Deep and Wide.  I have probably had 25 individual coaching sessions that have dealt with how to move students from apathetic to interested, excited, and passionate.  It is one thing to talk about Deep and Wide, it is another thing to do it.  I am challanging everyone I talk to to help us define the what it looks like tactically to move our students Deep and Wide.  What are you seeing in the field?  What is working for you?  Are you seeing success in grounding your students in their faith and seeing them share their faith?  Let us know what is working and what tools might be helpful for you!

Jeremy

I am sitting in the airport a day later than I should be, trying to get home from the National Youth Ministry Conference.  Weather kept us in town a day longer so I am excited to get home to my family today.  The convention this week was incredible.  We spent 8 hours over 4 sessions on evangelism in youth ministry.  The one thing that seemed to resonate with so many of us in the session was that we have to do a better job of modeling evangelism in our own lives.   So I have to ask, how are you doing?  Are you going deep in your own life?  Are you pushing deep in God’s word and grounding yourself?  Are you modeling evangelism personally?  My prayer for all you guys out there on the front lines is that God is teaching you and working in your life personally.  My prayer is that you are teaching your students out of what God is teaching you.  I challenge you to commit to Deep and Wide personally and then give everything to see your students follow you.  We are praying for you and are hear to help you any way we can. 

 Let us know what you think about Deep and Wide and any tools that might help you!

Jeremy

We just finished back to back weekends in Columbus and St. Louis. The youth leader session on Saturday was great. We launched Deep and Wide Youth Ministry and i had a lot of incredible conversations with some of you. Saturday afternoon I met with 15 networkers that want to see Deep and Wide spread to other youth leaders in their areas. As we move forward one of the questions that keeps coming up is moving students deeper. How do we play the role of prophet, teacher, and coach in their lives? What is the goal of the prophet, what is the goal of the teacher, and what is the goal of the coach? These are great questions! I want to take a moment to recap what each role looks like;

Hebrews 5:12-14 gives a great snap shot of the prophet - teacher - coach role in the lives of students.

"In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food!

Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness.

But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil."

Prophet - Bottle Feeding - As a youth leader, you have the opportunity to show your students what awaits your when they begin to seek relationship with God. As a baby craves milk, so a student should crave the beginnings of a relationship of knowing God. Students are constantly looking around them and modeling their lives by what they see and hear others doing. They declare their heroes as those who have what they want to have. The Deep and Wide Thesis addresses this by stating that the goal is to show students what obedience looks like. The prophets of the Old Testament were a tool that God used to demand obedience in the lives of His people. As a prophet in the life of a young believer, help them see that obedience will lead them to understand the big picture of who God is and how they can relate to Him.

Teacher - Spoon Feeding - Now the student is progressing and beginning to see victories in their life. They are beginning to see that walking in God’s way can be done in God’s power. They are graduating from the bottle to the spoon. Now if you have kids yourself, you know that spoon feeding is messy. Often times, there is more food on their face and on the floor than in their mouth. That is okay, they are learning to eat. Our job is to help them learn to hold the spoon and teach them to get the food in their mouth. Spiritually, this is moving beyond a devotional approach to digging in deeper to God’s word. Theological studies are a great place to start. Teach the students the theological principles that weave themselves through the whole Bible. Who is God? What is the Trinity? What does God allow evil and suffering in the world? These are just a few examples of the extensive list of theological topics in the Bible. The Thesis lists the 30 core truths that will help you.

Coach - At this point, the student is in the game and needs little direction in the form of teaching. This is where they can be coached in the technique of how to go get the Theological truths for themselves. Can you as the youth leader teach them to move away from outside helps and decipher God’s truth on their own? We can coach them in the techniques of Bible study with the goal for them to exegete God’s Word on their own. 2 Timothy 2:15 says the goal is to be able to, "Rightly divide the Word of Truth". Students who are able to take God’s Word and pull the truth from it are equipped to stand firm in their faith. Who doesn’t want to see this kind of student graduating from their youth ministries?

I like to compare youth ministry to being a dad. I have 3 children at home. They are 8, 6, and 3. I could raise them on accident and they may or may not learn the skills they need in life. I want to be a good dad and teach my kids all the things they need to know. At times it is messy. Early on in the process, they are doing things solely because I tell them to. As they get older though, I want them to know why I asked them to do those things. When they leave my care, they need to be fully functioning adults who know how to thrive in this world. It is the same thing in youth ministry. Let’s work together to see students grounded in the truth of God’s word.

What do you see as the measurable of effective Deep ministry with your students?

Jeremy Hughey

Dare 2 Share just launched Deep and Wide Youth Ministry in Columbus, OH.  There were more than 250 churches at the youth leaders session on Saturday.  My hope is that Deep and Wide is not just a training for youth leaders, but a platform that leads these youth leaders to take the direction of their youth ministries both Deep and Wide.  I have been studying the discipline of teaching.  There are some great ideas out there that can help us teach on a whole new level.   One idea that seems to keep coming up in my readings is the idea of discipline.  Hebrews 12:11 says, “No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.”  Discipline is a critical part of teaching students to go Deep and Wide.  At first we are showing the students what is out there for them.  We then teach them the discipline to go after it.  Teaching is not giving students facts, but teaching them to be learners and to apply their learning to their life.  When they leave the care of our teaching, they are grounded and know how to go to God’s Word and study it for the truth that is contained within.  In the end, a “harvest of righteousness awaits these students.  I hope you are excited to lead your students on this journey.  It will be difficult, but rewarding when we see students grounded in their faith after graduating from our youth ministries.  Don’t settle for anthing less than seeing your students be all that God wants them to be. 

A question to think about,  I am curious to what your thoughts are on Deep and Wide and what measurables you think are needed to see our students go deep….. let me know you thoughts

 Jeremy

I am attending a new church just north of Denver that is beginning the process of Go-Wide as a church.  I am excited to test the Go-Wide stategy in a church setting.   I have seen it work tremendously in the youth group setting, but I have never had the opportunity to see it work in the whole church setting.  Over the next month or so, the whole church will be taught Go-Wide via a sermon series and small group study.  There are 70 small groups from this church on the north side of Denver.  What I really am impressed with as I walk with the staff of this church through this process is their desire to do it right.  They are not just wanting to work through a sermon series, but are looking to equip the church body to share thier faith on a consistent basis.  The power of the church owning their faith and sharing this good news can change the world, we just need more churches to take up this call.  I will keep you posted on how things go…. I am hoping that we will soon see more churches Go-Wide with the GOOD NEWS!   

Jeremy

I was reading this weekend through Matthew 22 where the Pharisees are trying to trap Jesus with trick questions.  They ask Him in verse 36 which is the greatest commandment?  Jesus sums up the law of the prophets with two commandments, Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and love you neighbor as yourself.  Jesus had the inside track on what the law meant and gave a strong answer to His critics.  What I see in these verses is that God desires His people to have deep relationship with Him, that we would love and know Him with everything we are.  He also desires that we love our neighbors as ourselves.  This is a commandment to go wide with the Gospel.  The greatest love a man can have for someone is to lead them to the Savior.  What a great example of taking our faith Deep and Wide!  What other passages from the Bible do you see speak of going both Deep and Wide? For more information about how to take your life and ministry Deep and Wide, view the thesis at this link! 

http://media.dare2share.org/pdf/deepandwidethesis.pdf 

Jeremy