Ministry Journey Blog

Published in Youth Worker Journal- Date: TBD

Grapple Jr. High: Three Big Questions

Simply Youth Ministry

Group Publishing, 2011, 123 pp., $29.99, Group.com

A challenging aspect of youth ministry programming is finding the right curriculum to use with your group, particularly junior high youth.  It can be frustrating to find easy to use, relevant and Biblically sound curriculum that does not require a significant amount of editing. Junior high is a critical time in the faith formation of these energetic youth.

Grapple Jr. High: Three Big Questions is a twelve lesson curriculum for junior high youth. The lessons address a variety of relevant questions organized around three topics: God, others, and self. This product includes the book with the twelve detailed lessons and resources, a CD containing a team guide, leader guides, and student guides for each of the lessons that can be easily distributed to leaders and students. Also included is a DVD, which contains 2-3 minute video clips used in the lessons.

This curriculum would be very useful for junior high programs in most ministry settings. The topics organized around the great commission are relevant and diverse. This comprehensive tool provides a hard copy of the lessons as well as electronic versions, tools and resources that can be easily used and reproduced for leaders and youth. The well-organized lessons provide a variety of activities and approaches to the lesson that engage the various learning styles of youth. Each part of the lesson varies in length to help break up the lesson while providing focus for the topic and question addressed. The video clips are short but may seem too infantile to some junior high youth. This curriculum provides more lesson material and ideas than will be needed for most youth programs, which means youth leaders will need to select which parts of the lesson are most helpful and relevant. This product would be a great choice for youth ministries of all types and sizes looking for quality, relevant, theologically and Biblically sound lessons for junior high youth providing all of the tools that paid or volunteer youth workers would need to lead the lesson. This product would be helpful for youth ministries who are seeking to address relational questions junior high youth face. I would not recommend this product for youth ministries in need of a curriculum that can be implemented without any preparation or planning. I would recommend this product for use with junior high youth and plan on using it in my own youth ministry.

Rev. Marcus J Carlson has worked with children and youth for over 13 years and is a spiritual director. He current serves as Associate Pastor at Bethel Lutheran Church in Colorado Springs, CO. (marcusjcarlson.com).

Book Review-Submitted November 2011

Published on Book Sneeze & Amazon

Heaven is for Real DVD based conversation kit by Todd Burpo

This product consists of a DVD with five presentations that are meant to be used to create discussion.  Also included in this product is discussion book that guides the use of the DVD provides Scripture passages, questions, journal space, commentary, prayer and more. The product is based on the widely read book, Heaven is for Real. The DVD sessions include Colton Burpo along with his parents and use dialogue and question and answer format. Given the excitement around the book, I was interested to see what this product would be like.

My honest and simple assessment is that this product falls dramatically short and it is my opinion that consumers should stick with the book and avoid this DVD and Discussion Guide as it ruins what I believe was a great book. This product attempts to take a great story and do more with it, which is a noble endeavor that has fallen short. What was perhaps best about the book was that it was a story without an agenda, the author simply told the amazing story of Colton and his experience. This product seems to have an agenda and appears to be seeking to leverage the story for a particular end. The tone of this product, while casual seems to lean more towards a simplistic theological approach that would likely fall in the fundamentalist vain of Evangelical Christian thinking. The greatest failing of this product is that it is clear that it has an agenda instead of taking the opportunity to simply engage people in this great story that speaks for itself. The use of Scripture and questions in the discussion guide are selective and closed in nature. The DVD sessions are enjoyable, but I was surprised to find that it consisted of mini-sermons and directed questions instead of hearing from Colton who appears to struggle to remember the story years later with the passion that I had expected. In the end, this product is a big disappointment and I would not use or recommend it. Some of the things talked about were far too obvious to make the videos worth watching. Stick with the book, because the book is great and this product could ruin it for you.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com <http://BookSneeze.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Rev. Marcus J Carlson

Book Review-submitted November 2011

Published on Book Sneeze & Amazon

Book Review

Just in Case you Ever Wonder by Max Lucado

This children’s book by Max Lucado is written as an affirmation to children that they are valued, loved, and that God is with them no matter what. It could be used for any child, especially a child who has been adopted. It also seeks to talk about heaven. The illustrations are simple and childlike. The tone is simple and gentle and easily accessible to children. The book could be read to anyone, but it fits best with younger children. The book talks about the various things that children might face that would make them feel alone. Certainly children can feel alone, especially in today’s culture.

Max Lucado has written some wonderful and powerful children’s books. This book is very sweet and innocent. It is a good book with a message that can be shared with all children. This however is not a great book, especially compared to some of his other children’s writings. There is no cute or clever story to follow and it really feels like a series of statements. The book did not draw me or my children in, but it was enjoyable. Lucado is a great storyteller, and unfortunately in this book, he did not tell much of a story. I would not discourage someone from reading it or buying it, but I do not give it a rave review.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com <http://BookSneeze.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Rev. Marcus J Carlson

Published in Youth Worker Journal- Date: November/December 2011

The Graduate’s Survival Guide

Rachel Cruze

Lampo Press, 2011, 132 pp., $19.95, DaveRamsey.com

Finances and college life are not exactly the most entertaining or hot topics to cover in your youth group, and youth and even parents might not think these topics are worthy of air time in your youth ministry.  Yet these topics and issues are very important to the youth in our churches, especially those who will soon be learning to manage their freedom and independence after high school.

The Graduate’s Survival guide includes a DVD with four short sessions as well as a Q & A book about college life and financial management. The vignettes on the DVD are informational conversations covering topics such as roommate relationships, college finances, student loans, registering for classes, marketing to college students and other aspects of college life. The book provides answers to a variety of questions on topics including credit cards, student loans, financial planning, working while in school, career planning and more.

This product could be helpful to parents thinking about and discussing college life with their teenagers. It can serve as a great tool for creating healthy dialogue about various aspects of college life. The short video clips address a wide variety of topics important to college life, and the length and organization of these clips makes them easy to use. The product does not address all of the topics claims to address, at least not with depth and clarity. This product may not reach most teenagers, because it is geared entirely to those who are going away for college. There is little conversation about faith and the impact one’s faith has on the issues being addressed. The product does not feel developmentally appropriate and many youth who watch the clips may have trouble connecting with the individuals in the clips as they appear to be the perfect kids many of our youth feel like they cannot measure up or relate to.

Buy this product if you are looking to help parents engage in dialogue with their youth, especially if you are looking for a resource for families to use with their youth who are preparing for college. Do not purchase this product if you are looking for a tool to use with your whole youth group to talk about college life and finances. While I enjoyed the product, it would not land with my youth group, so I would not be likely to purchase it.

Rev. Marcus J Carlson

Associate Pastor, Bethel Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, CO (marcusjcarlson.com).

Book Review

Published on Book Sneeze & Amazon

Book Review

The 360 Leader by John C. Maxwell

This book by John Maxwell seeks to look at leadership from all possible angles and to discover what it means to lead those above, around, and below you in any organization.  The author points out that most leaders will never be the top leader in their organization and yet, they are called to lead. He argues that serving as a leader who is neither the top leader, nor someone at the bottom of the organization provides a tremendous opportunity to lead in every direction. This book describes the journey of this kind of leader in a very fascinating and comprehensive way, offering many leadership principles and strategies.

This is one of many books by John Maxwell that I have read and I have always enjoyed his work. He is one of the better writers on leadership and a fountain of knowledge and experience. This was by far the longest of his works that I read and was very different from some of his other work. While it was beneficial, informational and inspirational, it was more focused, comprehensive and rigorous than some of his other works that seem more thematic and inspirational in nature. The best word to describe this book is comprehensive. In some ways, the book could be easily used as a leadership textbook. It included many aspects of Maxwell’s other work and while it was difficult to soak in all of this information in a way that could lead to immediate application, I also found myself wishing that he took it further and chose to include all of the key principles of previous work in this book. There is a plethora of wonderful information in this book and the book is written in an easy to read and follow format, even though it may be impossible to retain and apply all of the information in this book. The book includes various activities and opportunities to engage with the material that could be very helpful to the reader. I also think this book could be used with a group for study and discussion to facilitate growth of individual leaders, the group and the organizations they serve.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com <http://BookSneeze.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Rev. Marcus J Carlson

Book Review

Published on Book Sneeze & Amazon

Book Review

The Grace of God by Andy Stanley

This book by Andy Stanley seeks to describe grace in a contemporary, easy to understand way using various Biblical stories and characters as illustrations or markers of grace. The author points out that grace is a struggle for the one who gives as well as the one who receives. Andy uses story to point out the key aspects of grace. The book highlights key understandings about grace for the reader throughout each chapter. The book is motivational, devotional, practical, theological and Biblical in nature.

I am a fan of Andy Stanley, even when we might see an issue or a concept differently. I was a little pessimistic about the idea of a book on grace since it is such a meaty theological concept and while Andy is a great thinker, much of his work is devotional in nature. This book was more than a devotional on grace, but it fell short of being a solid or complete theological treatment as well. The book took a balanced approach to grace and unlike many contemporary Christian pastors and thinkers, Andy made sure to include the notion that grace comes from God and not from our human response to God, which was important to my own theological viewpoint. The themes of each chapter made it easy to see grace as a source, but also for its function without taking a consumer approach to grace. The book was honest, thoughtful and sincere, without mincing words or watering down grace while at the same time not casting judgment or demonizing individuals, cultures, or particular religious perspectives. I enjoyed reading this book as Andy Stanley put some important and difficult concepts in an easy to understand language. While it is not a complete treatment of grace, it is a wonderful tool for all those who seek to better embrace and understand grace.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com <http://BookSneeze.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Rev. Marcus J Carlson

One of the comments I make most often in relation to ministry (and parenting) is that ‘we must remember that ministry is a seed planting mission.’ This is especially important in our results driven culture. Results do matter in ministry and results can be viewed and measured in a variety of ways. The problem with focusing on results in ministry is that we lose sight of our purpose in many instances. There is a theological challenge with our results focus in ministry as well. Focusing on what results we can produce assumes that what happens in ministry, in our lives and the lives of others spiritually is because of something we have done. The reality is that ministry is always about who God is, and what has done, is doing and will continue to do. Its not at all about us. That is why the parable of the sower is so helpful in thinking about ministry. Our job is to carefully scatter the seeds and to tend to them to the best of our ability, protecting them giving them good soil, sun and moisture. Our ministries, programs, events, experiences and relationships are tools to this end. While I am not a farmer, I recognize that I could cultivate the best circumstances for a seed I plant and it still may not grow. I may not see results, or better yet, I may not see results for a long time. We once planted garlic and our dog dug it up so we gave up. A who season later when we were clearing the area that was our garden, we found garlic. We had no idea. Ministry is a seed planting mission. We do the best work that we can, but in the end, it is always up to what God is doing. It is helpful to remember this for a variety of reasons–so we measure right, so we focus on cultivating the best circumstances for growth and so that we remember that it is not about what we do, but what God has already done.

Boundaries are one of the most complicated aspects of ministry life by far. It does not help that they are an ever moving and changing target, nor does it help that everyone has a different idea of what your boundaries should look like (congregation, supervisor, spouse, family, youth, parents, community, ethical considerations, legal considerations etc). There are several different types or aspects of boundaries of course, including boundaries of what one should say or do (appropriateness), boundaries with youth, parents and congregation members in terms of relationships and child protection, there are boundaries related to safety and various other things. In this instance, I am talking about boundaries related to time and schedule. For many youth workers, these tend to be the most difficult boundaries to think through and apply. Whether one is a young single youth worker who is tempted to work all of the time and spend every hour hanging out with youth or a married veteran youth worker who spends too much time traveling with the various retreats, mission trips and other ministry opportunities they have built over the years. It is hard to guard and honor ones schedule. Whether it is the idea that you must work a tremendous number of hours, or even the sense of obligation to move the ministry forward, the motives for lack of personal boundaries around time are often times pure and holy, but not necessarily healthy or Biblical. Certainly, one cannot be a good youth worker if one is a terrible husband and/or father. One cannot give what one does not have, so making sure that you have time with the God of the universe is critical. Ministry must flow out of who God is, not out of what we can do. Congregation members will expect you to be around when it works for them. Youth will expect you to be available 24/7. Parents will want your schedule to mesh with their. It is important to consider what is realistic and what is healthy and to stick with it. Even in the varying schedule of youth ministry, one can find a way to develop a routine and regular schedule that when honored (and when accounting for those special events) can not only allow for great boundaries and personal health, but a Godly example in our overly stressed, overly busy, overly committed world.’

What are some of your boundaries and how do you maintain them?

Published at Youthworker Online (A part of Youthworker Journal)

Moving Beyond the Destination Driven, Vacation Approach to Youth Missions

Rev. Marcus J Carlson (marcusjcarlson.com), Associate Pastor, Bethel Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, CO.

There is a great temptation in youth ministry to have to attract and entertain youth. Whether this pressure comes from church leaders, the congregation or one’s own personality, the pressure to attract, keep, and energize youth is real in many youth ministry settings. This reality is of course a blessing in some ways and a curse in others. There is no question that the vast majority of youth ministry today could be seen as too shallow, not having the depth that Christ has called us to as disciples. When I think about these two realities, I cannot help but notice their possible connection. These challenges have a wide variety of causes and implications in many of our youth ministry settings. One area of youth ministry that I see the temptation to attract and entertain youth growing in pressure is in the area of youth missions.

At some point during my youth ministry career, I realized that more and more mission trips were happening in exotic locations that were commonly associated with vacations. It seemed that God’s call to youth ministries was growing dramatically in Jamaica, Hawaii, Alaska, and other desirable locations. This is not to say of course that there is not need in these areas, because clearly there is need in impoverished places like Jamaica. I do think it is critical however to check our motivation and to consider the image we are portraying as well as the message we are sending when we select our mission trip locations.

In some of the ministry contexts in which I have served, there has been an expectation we select a new and different location for our mission trips. The youth and perhaps others may feel as though each mission trip should be new or fresh. While this sounds good in theory, it can create an attitude that might cause youth and others to value mission trips based on location. It is not long before this destination driven philosophy can lead to viewing mission trips as a glorified vacation of sorts. In many cases the recreation portion of our mission trips become more important than the work or ministry performed. While it is wonderful to see and experience new things, have a time to unwind together and experience a different culture, the greatest power in mission trips is in the service (and processing of the service) that occurs on a mission trip. If we create or embrace a mindset that says that it is the location that matters the most, youth mission trips become about something other than their intended purpose. I am not suggesting that we never serve in Jamaica, because there is plenty of need in Jamaica, but we might want to consider where we serve as well as why and how we select our locations for our mission trips. We must avoid selecting mission trips based on a consumer mentality that focuses on attraction and hype instead of need and service.

The reality is that we can serve anywhere. It is possible in most youth ministry settings to have a mission trip in your own community. Perhaps instead of choosing our locations for our mission trips based on the desirability or newness of a location, we can look at other factors such as areas of greatest need (communities recently hit by disasters), communities in which we can build long-term partnerships or relationships, or even communities that will give our youth the greatest opportunity to serve and experience a new and different culture that will lead to even greater transformation. It is much easier for youth and parents to get excited about going to Jamaica (and I am not trying to pick on ministries or leaders that go to Jamaica) than it is to get excited about going to the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. We as leaders need to think carefully and theologically about the motivation, message and experience that we will give our youth when we choose our mission trip locations. The location is not the most important part of the mission trip, yet the locations we choose for our mission trips speak volumes to those we lead and serve.

My simple rule: if I would go there on vacation with my kids, for my anniversary or even my honeymoon, I should think twice about making it a destination for a mission trip.

Published at Youthworker Online (A part of Youthworker Journal)

Read the online article here

Short-Term Missions, Long-Term Relationships

By Rev. Marcus J Carlson

Short-term mission trips can be some of the most powerful experiences of any youth ministry, especially in the local church setting. There are many ways to approach youth mission trips. Some churches use various organizations to lead their trips, while other churches are able to plan their own trips. There are various strengths and weaknesses to either approach, and it often depends on the resources of the church and the philosophy of the youth leader responsible for the trips. Regardless of the type of mission trip, short-term missions can be a catalyst for significant life-change experiences for youth as they experience faith transformation through service. For many youth ministries, short-term mission trips are the highlight of the year and can provide great momentum for any youth ministry for the following school year.

While short-term mission trips are very powerful, there are pitfalls to this aspect of youth ministry. While the work performed is usually very helpful, it is the relationships built on these trips that have the most power. One of the great tensions I (and many other youth workers) have wrestled with is the short-term nature of these trips. A youth group swoops into a community, works for a period of time, then leaves the community — usually never to see it again. Short-term mission trips often have left me desiring more as I learn to love the community we are serving and cherish the relationships that are built. There are always more projects than can be accomplished, and these trips often create a vision in the participants for how they might be able to help the community they are serving beyond what can happen within the constraints of the short-term mission trip. This generation of youth has a high capacity for missional thinking that can be shortchanged by the nature of short-term mission trips.

In the midst of these tensions (and others) there is a lot of pressure in youth ministries to find the next new place to serve that will attract youth and provide variety and excitement to the missions program of the youth ministry. I have been struggling to find a solution to this tension for many years, remaining passionate about the value and meaning in short-term mission trips, yet dissatisfied with their short-term nature. I have come to some conclusions, causing me to move in a better, healthier direction with short-term youth missions. It is likely these conclusions may be flawed and not final. They, too, will create some tensions that will need to be addressed in the coming years.

We have decided in our new approach to youth missions to form long-term partnerships with various churches, organizations and communities. We have partnered with four geographic areas, balancing local, urban, rural, American Indian and international missions and with missions focused on relationships and work projects.  We will work with the one community each year, rotating between middle and high schools. The alternate years, we will work with the other two communities, adding our international partnership every two to three years. This allows for diversity and consistency at some level and will allow our youth and youth ministry to build long-term relationships with these communities.

My greatest hope is this plan will allow for short-term missions that build long-term relationships with individuals, churches and communities. It is critical for youth workers to think carefully about their approach to youth missions in their churches, whatever their direction might be.