eZine 01.12.2010

The Sticky-note Exercise
Posted on Wednesday, January 06, 2010 10:43 AM
The sticky-note exercise- It’s a great little exercise laid out in my new book that I’ve been doing in my Connect training workshop to help youth ministries not only take a spiritual pulse of their students, but also keep accountable to spiritual growth. I’ll actually be flying out to Nashville this weekend to be leading a church through the exercise. Fun stuff!

It goes like this. I hand everyone sticky-notes and have them each write the names of students they encounter in their ministry, one name per sticky-note. Then I have them each come up and place the sticky-note on an easel or chart on the wall, divided by the six types of kids (something they are familiar with at this point in the training). At this point we spend some time analyzing the trends that we notice, not only noticing any patterns, but taking note of the individual needs of kids.

That’s just a snapshot… it’s really revealing stuff.

This entire exercise is finally in print in my new book Connect. I was curious how people were going to respond now that I’ve “spelled it out” for them in my book, helping them take all they’ve learned about the six types of students they’ll encounter and applying it in their ministry with some action steps. We tried to make it easy, even including a free ppt training to anyone who buys the book from us, that way youth workers can take their entire team through this exercise.

I’ve been doing the training for a few years now. I can’t tell you how excited I am to finally be able to hand people the entire training, in essence, in book form.

So far I’ve been hearing good feedback about the book. Yesterday I received these two emails:

I got another influx of emails yesterday from people who just received the book and are starting it this week.

Feel free to email me your feedback once you dive in! I love hearing responses.

For those who haven’t got this book yet, make sure and grab it from us on our website. We’re the only ones who are giving away the free ppt training.

Other Topics Jonathan Blogged about Recently:

Throughout their influential history, MTV’s programming has asked plenty of intriguing questions. But their latest show, The Buried Life, may ask the most intriguing one of all:

“What do you want to do before you die?”

MTV’s Version of The Bucket List
If you’ve seen the thought-provoking movie starring Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson entitled The Bucket List, you’ll have a good idea of what The Buried Life (a.k.a., TBL) is all about. But, instead of using two old men, MTV is using four young studs.

Big shocker, I know.

TBL introduces viewers to four guys: Dave, Ben, and brothers Duncan and Jonnie, who, according to the show’s website, are “four regular guys on a mission to complete a list of ?100 things to do before you die,’ and to help and encourage others to go after their own lists.”

The Buried Life takes its name from a poem of the same title written by Matthew Arnold in 1852 that talks about acting on one’s true passions rather than keeping them buried. Like most poetry, I got lost in the second stanza, but you can read it here for yourself.

The season premiere is Monday, January 18th at 10:00pm on MTV.

Making the List
If you’re anything like me, you’re probably wondering, “Well, what’s on these guys’ list?”

Some of the items reflect the typical ambitions of college-aged guys, like “kiss Rachel McAdams (#55)” and “do a sketch with Will Farrell (#46).” However, other to-dos on their list may surprise you…especially since it’s for a show on MTV. For instance, the boys have also developed a desire to “help someone build a house (#13)” and “pay for someone’s groceries (#34)”…

David R. Smith is the Director of Content Development at TheSource4YM.com, providing truly free resources and ideas that help youth workers reach kids. David speaks and trains around the U.S., sharing the gospel, and equipping others to do the same.

Let’s face it, this last year has been full of transitions for many of us. Some of us are looking for change, have had to leave jobs, start new ones… or just wish we had jobs! If that’s the case, this podcast is for you!
Episode #33 (1/11/2010)

Join Jonathan, David, and Todd as they discuss The Seven Sins of Making a Transition in Youth Ministry.

Listen to it now for free on iTunes! (CLICK HERE) Or, if you don’t have iTunes already… jump on Apple’s web page for a free download, then click on our podcast page.

Episode Highlights:

• Todd opens up about his recent experience being “let go” from his youth ministry job
• Learn what Duck, Duck, Goose is called in South Africa
• Hear the guys talk about some difficult transitions they’ve faced in ministry
• Listen in as Jonathan tells his joke about church splits
• Gain some wisdom for what to do in hard times in ministry