eZine 07.07.2009

TheSource4YM.com
	Jonathan’s Resource Ezine

• Featured: What does “clean” mean these days?
• Something You Can Use: “Man in the Mirror” Music Video Discussion

It’s fun, it’s informative, it’s gritty… it’s Jonathan’s Blog.

Recently, Jonathan’s Blog addressed all the scum that pop culture seeks to inundate our teenagers with, and in this blog, Jonathan exposes the media that masquerades as “clean” these days.

Look Mom, no cuss words! It must be clean!
Posted on Thursday, July 02, 2009 4:53 PM

More and more I’m finding that many parents have no clue what content their kids are watching day to day.

“But I use CYBERPATROL and block out porn sites from our home computer!”

“But I block those movie channels on our cable!”

That’s what they always say. Then I ask, “Do you have iTunes?… YouTube?… MTV?”

I admit… it’s sad when we have to set up so many safeguards to protect our children. And I’m sure some parents over-react and over-protect… while others remain too lenient. I can’t provide you with an exact recipe of where that balance lies, but I can tell you that it starts with becoming aware.

Do you know what the most popular song on iTunes is right now?

Is it explicit?

Have you seen the video?

Man in the Mirror
When you receive this Ezine update, all the news channels and entertainment hubs will be focused on one thing: the memorial services for the King of Pop, Michael Jackson. If your students know anything at all about the life and music of MJ, you might use this brand new MUSIC VIDEO DISCUSSION to jumpstart a conversation on why our faith needs to take action.

Main Point of Discussion:
If want to change the world for Christ, we need to start with ourselves by looking into the mirror of God’s word and putting it into practice – especially as it relates to the hungry, the hurting, and the homeless.

The Music Video: Man in the Mirror
There are few (if any) places in the civilized world that haven’t at least heard of Michael Jackson. From his amazing talent to his tortured soul, Michael’s title of ?King of Pop’ is overwhelmingly agreed upon.

Now with his unexpected death, Michael Jackson’s popularity and place in the culture spotlight is perhaps more prominent than when he was alive. This is a great chance to use the media juggernaut to discuss the positive and even Biblical messages from one of MJ’s most popular songs.

It is possible to teach students about God and His love by using Jackson’s music without endorsing his music to your teenagers. (The practice of using secular material for sacred purposes goes all the way back to the Apostle Paul. See Acts 17.)

You can access the song/live performance of Man in the Mirror at: this “youtube” link.

Introducing the Music Video:
While passing out a copy of the song lyrics, say, “Obviously Michael Jackson wrote a ton of songs over his career, but there is one in particular that carries a very strong message. If there is one song that I think he should be remembered for, it is…

HELP ME! Episode #26 (6/20/2009)

Wow! The inbox at The Source for Youth Ministry was so full that we decided to do a special podcast dedicated to answering all of the recent ASK THE SOURCE email questions. Join Jonathan and David as they discuss everything from summer camps to skate parks to a brand new – and of course, totally free – training resource for youth workers. This podcast pretty much has all you need…cause it’s based on your questions!

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.

Jonathan: The next question I have here is from Millie in Central New Jersey. And this is an interesting question. “How does one evaluate a program at the end of the year? In forms? Questions? Etc. I want to have a conversation with the youth about their experience during the past year and as we come to the end of our program year. Any help is appreciated.” So basically, what Millie here is asking is, it’s the end of her school year and she’s looking back on – she calls it her program. It’s funny; program is such a bad word in youth ministry right now.

David: Yeah.

Jonathan: But no fault of Millie’s. It’s on the cover of one of my books here and it’s almost boycotted because people are feeling, “program is bad.” But what she’s saying is, if you look back at her ministry through the year, is there something that we can do or ask the kids for feedback on what we did throughout the year? David, what’s your gut feeling on that one?

David: Well the first thing I’d tell Millie is, “Don’t just evaluate your ministry or your ministry programs one time a year.” Evaluate your ministry programs every time you do a ministry program. Our leaders – we had a great group of task force and we actually called them Levites – they all had a specific function to do and we just…every single time we were done with a ministry event, even if was just our regular Wednesday night worship thing, or our Friday night where we took over the Krispy Kreme and had a couple or three hundred high schools crawling all over the campus, man, our leaders knew that at midnight, when all the kids are gone, they still owed us about twelve minutes. We’re just gonna get together. “Hey, who’d you talk to?” “Hey, what did you see tonight?” “What went well?” “What didn’t go so well?” “Were there any problems?” “Which kids did you talk to, and what did they have to say?” I think, Millie, if you get those points of contact with the students and the adult leaders in February, and in April, and in September, you’re not having to cram it all in…

Jonathan: “Hey it’s May! Let’s review.”

David: “What did we do in August?” No no no.

Jonathan:* So, you’re saying debriefing is a normal…

David: Debriefing is a part of the program. I mean, all the kids are gone, or they’re outside if you’ve got a couple parents on your task force leadership, you know. But get that feedback.

Jonathan: Now, is this your adult team? Cause Millie asked, “What do I do,” wait let me quote her exactly. She says, “…in conversation with the youth about their experience.” OK, so do you ever involve students in that feedback?

David: Yeah. We had student leadership teams in our youth ministry. Of course, that wasn’t the entire youth ministry; it was just the cream of the crop so to speak.

Jonathan: So your leadership kids?

David: Absolutely.

Jonathan: So you got feedback from them?

David: Absolutely. Definitely. Because what we think is cool is not necessarily cool from the adult world down to the student world…

Episode Highlights:

• Learn why David has “name envy”
• Glean some tips on maximizing your summer camp experience
• Hear some tried-and-true ways to properly evaluate your ministry
• Learn how crucial godly adult leaders are in youth ministry
• Find out some cool ways to give a 5 minute talk to teens