Of all the books I heave read or are reading there is one that stands out above the rest. Everyone and their mom have posted on either twitter, facebook or their blog how great a book this is, but I am a little slow. I know it is a children’s book, but the theology is sound and in terms that help make it clear for a 26 year old. I would encourage you to buy a copy, even if you don’t have children, you can say you are just ‘planning ahead!’
Jesus Storybook Bible Deluxe Edition
As mentioned in a previous post, I am a fan/student of C.H. Spurgeon. He lived from 1834-1892 in England and his contribution to the gospel work lives well beyond his powerful preaching in the Church he pastored. I would commend you to become a student of the past great. Although their message was preached hundreds of years ago they are a firm foundation to learn from. Men like Calvin, Luther, Edwards, Spurgeon to name a few, are well worth investing time, money and energy to learn what they have to say. These spiritual heros will never replace the word of God, but their teaching is bound to enthrall our hearts for the glory of God!
Here are two Spurgeon resources that are a must have for youth works, preachers, pastors or any lay person (I think that means everyone!)
Morning and Evening – Spurgeons daily study of the word. These short writings of encouragement, challenge, comfort that are laced with a passion for the glory of Jesus, and will undoubtedly lead your heart to worship of Jesus throughout your day. Here is a short little excerpt from July 26th, based on 2 Peter 1.5,6:
Take care that thy faith is of the right kind – that it is not a mere belief of doctrine, but a simple faith, depending on Christ and Christ alone.
One of the great parts is you can get spurgeons Mornings and Evening in a bunch of different ways
(you can get kindle on your mac, blackberry, droid, ipad, iphone or pc HERE I hope to post a couple links to some other great resources on some of the past heros of the faith.
What are some that I should look into? What heros of the faith have you had pour into your life?
This months free audio book, from Christianaudio.com, is by pastor Timothy Keller and it is well worth downloading, I know I will listen to it on my upcoming vacation. To download follow this link and use this coupon code: AUG2010.
Blurb from site about Ministries of Mercy:
Why would someone risk his safety, destroy his schedule, and become dirty and bloody to help a needy person of another race and social class? And why would Jesus tell us “Go and do likewise”? Like the wounded man on the Jericho road, there are needy people in our path- the widow next door, the family strapped with medical bills, the homeless man outside our place of worship. God call us to be ministers of mercy to people in need of shelter, assistance, medical care, or just friendship.
The Rooted conference is coming up this August 10th – 12th, at Cathedral Church of the Advent Birmingham, AL, and it looks like it would be well worth the investment in attending, if you can. I know I would be heading there if I had not planned a family vacation during this years conference. If there is a conference in 2011 I know I will try to make it in.
The pastor and leader of Rooted, Cameron Cole, answered a few questions for me about the upcoming conference:
Josh: What is the vision behind Rooted?
Cameron: Rooted began with a very simple simple vision: to promote the proclamation of the Gospel as the center of student ministry. One day, Frank Limehouse, the Dean of our church, The Cathedral Church of the Advent, and I were discussing Michael Horton’s book, Christless Christianity. The book discusses a trend in American churches to make entertainment and felt needs primary and the Gospel secondary or irrelevant. This practice has good intentions of trying to reach the world, however, it neglects the reality that we have the most powerful, wonderful, compelling thing in the world: the Gospel.
Josh: What is the theme for Rooted this year?
Cameron: The theme of this conference is Gospel Transformation. We first will consider how we, as student ministers, become people whom the Gospel genuinely frees and changes. Secondly, we will talk about how this same message of grace transforms our students into followers of Jesus for the long haul.
Josh: Who are the Speakers for Rooted and what caused you to chose them?
Cameron: We have three keynotes and two discussion group leaders for Rooted. We wanted to draw a group of people from academia, biblical counseling, and church ministry with some level of student ministry exposure and with superb abilities in communicating the Gospel. From academia, we have two speakers. Our primary keynote, Ashley Null, is a professor at Cambridge, a Guggenheim Fellow, and the Protestant chaplain for the Olympic Games. Mark Gignilliat served as a youth minister for several years before completing his PhD at Cambridge. Mark is a rising star in Old Testament studies at Beeson Divinity School.
As we have progressed in developing and promoting Rooted, we have found that there are many, many youth ministers that feel as if they walk alone, as people doing Christ-centered ministry. Whether it is a matter of geography or if a person is in a denomination or ministry where very few people around them view proclamation of the Gospel as important, we have met dozens of people who are craving for something like Rooted. They desire an opportunity to come together with like-minded youth ministers to share ideas, build relationships, and sharpen one another. A newer, evolving part of the vision has been fostering a community of people doing Christ-centered ministry for the sake of encouragement and collaboration.
The Dean and I agreed that youth ministry may be the sector of the church with the most “Christless Christianity.” Entertainment, emotion, and moralism drive the culture of so much of youth ministry, but very few people concentrate on spiritual formation through teaching the full Gospel and biblical theology. Most youth ministry conferences reflect this trend as they emphasize methods and strategies, with little conversation about the Cross. The heart of Rooted is to consider how we can root our ministries more deeply in the Gospel for the sake of our kids and for the sake of God’s Kingdom. Rooted emphasizes theology over methodology in youth ministry. Finally, Gordon Bals will represent biblical counseling. Gordon studied under Larry Crabb and Dan Allender, and is one of the best voices I’ve ever heard on practical theology in the realm of pain and suffering.
Brian Habig served in college ministry as the leader of Reformed University Fellowship at Mississippi State and Vanderbilt before planting his current church, Downtown Presbyterian, in Greenville, SC. Sand Price serves as an “in the trenches” voice, having discipled young women for several decades. Sand has considered how one does ministry in a such a way that maximizes the chances that students “stick” with Jesus through college.
Josh: What is your long-term plan for Rooted?
Cameron: The long term hope of Rooted is that we will be a source through which God deepens people in the Gospel, and, thereby, equips them to lead their students into long-term discipleship, catalyzed by the message of God’s grace. We hope to accomplish this through the conference, perhaps a blog, and through relationships built via Rooted. We definitely are thinking about Rooted more in terms of a movement and a community, rather than a three day event. Ultimately, we’re content to submit the vision to God’s plans, however big or small in the worldly sense, and see what He has in store.
Josh: Will there be a Rooted next year?
Cameron: We will have to pray and listen to the Lord on what He desires for Rooted, but certainly we hope that this conference will signify the beginning of something that exalts Christ and ultimately results in many students following Jesus out of gratitude and love for His sacrifice on the Cross.
I would encourage people to be in prayer for this much needed conference and the larger vision of Rooted. Cameron and his team have the same heart as I do and I look forward to connecting with them down the road to see what we can do to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus.
Register HERE
Are there any ‘key’ youth conference that we should know about?
CY Christianity Explored is just what youth ministries in the USA have been in need of for some time now. Being firmly rooted upon the gospel while culturally relevant for teens, this 7 week DVD study is not only a great tool for evangelism, but also a much needed resource to help equip students with the truth of the gospel.
From the site:
Christianity Explored - CY is a life changing journey through the Gospel of Mark.
In seven interactive sessions young people will explore what Christians believe, discover the Bible’s answers to the big questions of life and find out what Christianity is all about.
CY is for teenagers and young adults and works perfectly with the new Soul DVD.
Written by Rico Tice, Associate Minister for Evangelism at All Souls Church, Langham Place in London and the second edition, thoroughly revised and updated by Barry Cooper and Sam Shammas. Christianity Explored has been adapted for teens and packaged together with the Soul DVD, by Nate Morgan Locke, to formulate a theology sound and culturally relevant study curriculum.
As I review these I will do so looking at each part on their own, then giving an overview of the course as a whole.
Soul DVD ($24.99)- This 7 part DVD is of superb production quality. Nate Morgan Locke does a great job of walking the viewer through the gospel of Mark in a current and relevant way that draws focuses on the scriptures, all the while not skimping on the video production, or artistic element. These 7 session, running 10-12 minutes each, use effective speaking, video and typology to create a video that engages the watcher. The 7 session are as follows, and are designed to be used with the CY books; Episode 1 – Christianity is Christ; Episode 2 – Identity; Episode 3 – Mission; Episode 4 – Cross; Episode 5 – Resurrection; Episode 6 – Grace; Episode 7 – Call.
Here is a video to give an example of Soul (rss readers click through to see video)
Leaders Guide for CY and CY Nano (14.99) - Not only is this leaders guide a great tool to help lead through the Christianity Explored booklets, CY and CY Nano (CY being for ages 15+, CY Nano geared for 11-14 yr olds), it is also packed with tons of extras. Weighing in at over 200 pages this leaders guide contains 40 pages of how to helps. Covering everything from Why tell young people the gospel? (pg 15) to what the leader needs to do before the course (pg 23); during the course (pg 25); and after the course (pg 37). These are more then just simple helps, they are jam packed with great cross centered, Jesus glorifying theology. Here is a short sample from the how to section.
People do not become Christians just because we share the gospel with them. God must shine his light in people’s hearts so that they recognize and respond to the truth of the gospel. (pg 17)
The CY programme is built on the conviction that the gospel must be taught slowly and carefully, and that we allow the Gospel (of Mark) to tell the gospel of Jesus Christ. The content of the gospel message is important to get right…. CY is unafraid to put centre stage many of the doctrines that have been watered down in some gospel presentations: the identity of Jesus Christ as Son of God; the problem of sin and our need for forgiveness; the reality of coming judgement; and the substitutionary death of Jesus Christ on the Cross.” (pg19)
I don’t know about you but those words engage my heart and excited me to use this with my students.
The Leaders Guide is broken up into 4 sections: 1) How to Run the Course 2) Study Guide for CY Nano (11-14 yr olds) 3) Study Guide for CY (15+) 4) Inside Track Weekend/Day away. It also has a substantial appendices that looks at; Answering Tough Questions; Questions from Marks Gospel; Questions about Christian Belief. The leaders guide alone is worth using as a resource to help train youth leaders and small group leaders on how to better lead a gospel-centered small group.
CY and CY Nano Handbooks (4.99) - Although I have not had a group go through this course (we are planning to have one this fall, I can tell that these handbooks will engage students. The questions, design, layout and pace at which the students will go through this books toes the line of being very easy yet deep course at the same time. One of the greatest assets, and the reason I am praising this course so much, is that it keeps going back to the Bible. Even in the handbooks the Bible is the central focal point. Many of the questions are only answered by the students reading the Bible and interacting with the passages. This is of critical importance to me because after seven weeks the study will be done, the books will be put on a shelf and maybe never opened again, but the students will still be in the Bible. CY and CY Nano point students to the importance and centrality of the scriptures, and ask great questions to stimulate conversation.
The Whole Thing: If there is one question we have either been asked by a fellow youth pastor or we have asked ourselves it is always, ‘what is the best curriculum for my students?’ Now I can’t speak for you or your students but I know for myself I have never been quick to jump on a program, curriculum or course band wagon. To be honest I have never even recommend a program to someone when asked, outside of the Bible. The main reason being, far to many of these studies are topical focused, lack theological depth and accuracy and in the end teach moralism and behavioral modifications, all things that do more harm then good for Christians. Now I know I have not reviewed the hundreds of different options out there, but what I have seen always left a bad taste in my mouth. For the first time I can honestly say that I have found a course that is not only centered on the gospel and Jesus, but saturated with it.
CY threads the needle of theological depth and age appropriate teaching, leaving the student changed, encouraged, equipped and hungry for more. If you are seeking a resource that cares about theology, Jesus, the gospel and reaching students with the truth and love of them, then this may be a great course to walk through.
Just a note: The Good Book company has a Sample Pack, which includes the Soul DVD, Gospel of Mark (NIV), Leader’s Guide and one CY and CY Nano Handbook for only $35.00 Click Here to check it out. The Starter pack is $75 and comes with; – Soul DVD- Two Leader’s Guides and nine CY handbooks, HERE is the link.
This course was provided to me free, in exchange for a review, by The Good Book Company, but I was under no obligation to give it a positive review. If I didn’t like the CY Christianity Explored, I would have told you so.
