When I was in 8th grade I decided I wanted to be a youth pastor. At the time my dad was a self-employed hog farmer.

Before I could even get to college my dad beat me to my dream job and he’s been one heck of a workhorse in the Jr. High Ministry world.

You won’t find his name if you google him, he hasn’t written a book & I don’t think he’ll be making his rounds in the youth ministry-speaking circuit ever.

Bu that’s because he’s too busy working his @$$ off DOING ministry (not just talking about it), planting trees & being an awesome father/husband/man.

Nice work pops. Happy Father’s Day.

(remember when you used to run a video camera the whole time while skiing down a ski slope and yelling “SWEET!” millions of times? We’re gonna show that video at your funeral or something.)

“Most of our student ministries are known for camps, retreats, programs, concerts, ski-trips, fund-raisers, and all-nighters. And few are known for the sweet aroma of Christ in the lives of teenagers.”

Eric Geiger & Jeff Burton in “Simple Student Ministry.”

In the last 10 years of my life, I’ve been to A LOT of conferences. And they’ve been awesome (except for one that was super lame).

But this is the thing: you go to a conference and it’s like putting your brain in hyper-drive. It goes spinning at 10,000 mph for the next week. But then what? Maybe a few changes are made, maybe a few new “nuggets” of info get stored into your brain. Maybe not.

Retreat. A time of pulling back. A time of regrouping. A time to slow down, instead of speed up.

Rob Bell – who receives criticism for being TOO creative in his preaching – says he hasn’t been to a pastors conference in years. But he has started doing a lot more “slowing down.”

Think about it. Which “superstar” pastor or youth pastor is going to conferences? I’d say hardly any. I’d bet most all are putting on the conferences. They’re not sitting in the middle of the crowd to get into worship, they’re sitting backstage with the other “superstar” pastors praying, laughing, and talking.

So think about it, if we’re trying to be like those “superstar” pastors. If we’re trying to tap into a depth of relationship and wisdom, then shouldn’t we unplug? Shouldn’t we – when we need recharged – slow down instead of go into hyperdrive?

Good things happen at conferences. I’m not afraid of them. I’d love to be going to SYMC this weekend (they dWo A LOT to make small, intimate connections happen).

But if given a choice, I’d choose retreat. I’d choose a weekend in the woods with a handful of close friends. I’d choose to be close with 20 people and sit in prayer, worship, and discussion for a couple of days.

Which is why I’ll be attending Seismos on March 20-22. There are still a few spots available. Will you join me?

• Seismos information page: http://joeldaniel.wordpress.com
• Seismos Facebook page:  http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=251227003445
• Download Seismos registration packet (PDF): http://go2.wordpress.com/?id=725X1342&site=joeldaniel.wordpress.com&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjoeldaniel.files.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F01%2Fadvert2.pdf

Our student ministry is heading on a Ski trip in a couple of weeks. Also, we’re heading on to a summer mission camp this summer.

Anyways, there are lots and lots of details to coordinate when your group is traveling. HotelPlanner.com will feel like it’s designed for you.

I try to use Kayak.com for individual travel, but you can’t reserve more than 2 rooms via their site. Instead, they forward you to HotelPlanner. I spent an entire day calling hotels near the ski resort we were heading to.

After entering in the city in Hotel Planner, you can arrange results by proximity to your destination, price, or hotel rating. Super Super Super useful, easy to use, and quick.

I could have saved hours had I found this more quickly.

They also offer flight booking for booking more than 10 seats on a flight.

**ps. I also found hotel rooms for cheaper via HotelPlanner than when I called and asked.

buzzword: authenticity

I recently listened to a youth pastor talk about the difficult time he was having with some of his volunteers. His volunteers would be distracting during important portions of their weekly student ministry gathering. Also, he had wanted to call them out on their crude language. When he hinted around that they were being distracting and that they ought to knock off the crude language (especially around the teenagers), the volunteers simply shrugged it off and commented, “we’re just being real.”

first. hear this.

I’m all for being real. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been told I don’t sound like your typical church worker. I screen-printed my own shirts with the Coldplay lyrics, “Give me real, Don’t give me fake.” Authenticity is very important to me. Sometimes thats a good thing. Sometimes it’s a bad thing.

second. hear this.

Sometimes when we’re being authentic, we’re being authentically bad.

Here is a list of things you can do authentically:

• murder
• gossip
• slander
• degrade
• mock
• judge
• blaspheme

For we will know they are Christians by their authenticity? for how real they are?

nope.

We’ll know they are Christians by their love. Jesus said that. He was awesome

Love and care for one another trumps authenticity.

Sometimes people get really immersed in technology. It’s fun to be on the cutting edge and get your hands on cool applications, software, gadgets, etc.

However, the real sweet spot is where those technologies can be used for a purpose.

Here is how tech gained traction for me last night:

We were having our weekly student gathering. My wife says, “You should have all the students bring a white elephant present and do an exchange.” That was 1pm and we gather at 630pm.

I get on our text messaging program. Send out a text message to all the students who’ve signed up (all of them). I then updated our student ministry facebook page with the news.

Not one student or adult leader was without a funny or cool white elephant gift.

We decided to go another direction with that night’s gathering and within 5 hours, everyone was fully equipped and informed.

I’m not sure what tech you’re taking advantage of, but figure out what your people are already using and then dominate it. It’ll free you up. A lot.

last night I sat down with some teenagers and we read through the Christmas story.

I asked them the question, “what does this story teach us about God or about Jesus?”

here are some responses:

• God sent angels to the outcast of society (the shepherds)
• God decided He’d be best represented in this world by being born inside of an unmarried teenage girl.
• God was born homeless
• Jesus was of both earthly and heavenly “royal blood” (line of David and God’s son)

YouthWorker.com had an interesting article on youth ministry budgets yesterday. Read it all here.

My favorite:

2. Think in “dollars per student.”

As you communicate a budget to your board or accountability partners, shift the focus from money to people – especially when you’re asking for an increase. Whenever I’m preparing budget spreadsheets, I always include dollar-per-student rations. This will help you think efficiently (how to gain the most student influence per dollar in your checkbook): “It cost us $xx per student last year to bring them through our discipleship program. With the growth our group has experienced this year and the improvements we’ve made, we’re now looking at an overall savings of $xx per student this coming year.” The more thinking you do in terms of dollars per student, the more opportunities you’ll uncover to improve your program.

Also, remember that the budget is a guide. It is meant to communicate the priorities and direction of your program, not the untouchable arrangement of numbers in a list. Whether you’re talking to the elders or addressing the congregation, focus on the meaning behind the money. Talk in terms of your goals and the gains you’re making in achieving them. You may not see more dollars in your account, but you’ll elevate the discussion and keep everyone focused on students rather than costs.

A buddy of mine just asked me for a list of reading materials for youth ministry. Here is what I gave him (in order of my perceived importance):

• Shaping the Spiritual Life of Students – Best overview of discipling teenagers I’ve read. Great for youth pastors, teachers, parents, volunteers, evertyong.
• Your First Two Years – Doug gives a powerful framework for starting out in youth ministry.
• Contemplative Youth Ministry – Read this book twice. I wish my ministry looked more like this.
• How People Grow – Cloud and Townsend are golden. They write great stuff that is SO applicable if your ministry is about helping people grow. Every minister and small group leader ought to read this gem.
• Youth Ministry 3.0 – Marko writes a manifesto for the future of youth ministry. Sign me up.
• Revisiting Relational Youth Ministry – If you work for Young Life or Youth for Christ, don’t read it. You’ll either quit your job or hate the entire book.
• Tribes – There were SO many times throughout this book that I though, “Yeah, that’s SO true.” A leadership book for today’s super-connected world.

your thoughts? any suggestions?

Each year, hundred – if not thousands – of youth ministries embark on a “fall retreat.”

Our group of teenagers is no different.

What is different about our group is that we head to rural Indiana and sleep in my parents house. The house is probably just a bit too crowded and our retreat is probably just a bit too “schedule-less.”

But that is on purpose.

You see, these teenagers spend all year in houses that are too big, separated from actual human contact. For much of their life, they’re a captive audience of a screen (computer, tv, cell phone). For one weekend, they cannot ignore the presence of others in their lives.

Also, you see, these teenagers have their entire day scheduled for them. From 7am until7pm, they live by a strict pace.Wake up, Bus, Class, Class, Class, Lunch, Class, Class, Class, Class, band practice, Homework, TV, Sleep, Repeat. For one weekend, they live by a different schedule; a schedule revolved around connecting with God and others rather than a schedule revolved around performance and standards.

And you see, they love it. They yearn for it. They live for it. As soon as this weekend is over, they’ll be talking about next year. They’ll be talking about how remarkable it the weekend was.

Slowing down. Connecting and sharing life with other humans. That – sadly – is remarkable in our world.