A Letter to Friends of Rooted

Dear Friends of Rooted,

First let me thank you for your participation in our movement. I wanted to update you on some of the exciting things coming soon for Rooted.

·      Rooted is gearing up for a total makeover. We will have a new website which integrates the blog and the other content of the ministry into one place. The look and feel will be fresh, and, more importantly, we graduate from Blogger! Our new home at www.rootedministry.com will go live in the next 3-4 weeks.

·      On April 8-10, Rooted will take its act to the Gospel Coalition National Conference in Orlando. Two Rooted steering committee members, Josh Cousineau of Redemption Hill in Auburn, ME and Dave Wright of the Diocese of South Carolina, will present workshops. Josh’s workshop is entitled, “Gospel-Centered Youth Ministry: Building on Jesus not the Jokes.”  Dave will speak on “Gospel-Centered Youth Ministry: Jesus' Mission to the Next Generation.”

 

·      Will you be attending the Gospel Coalition Conference? Come by our booth and meet us. Rooted will be a “vendor” at the event (we aren’t selling anything). We would like to know you personally.

·      Our next Rooted Conference takes place in Atlanta on October 10-12, 2013. We are very excited about our speakers, Jared Wilson, Sharon Hersh, and David Plant. The theme, Hope in a Time of Suffering, has great relevance for ministry to a generation of students, which have suffered greatly.  Right now, you can register very cheaply ($100) for this conference at www.rootedconference.com. Prices will go up in mid-April.

Please reach out to us if we can help and support you in anchoring your ministry more deeply in the Good News that the work of Jesus Christ on the Cross is utterly complete.

Kind Regards,

The Steering Committee of Rooted: Advancing Grace-Driven Youth Ministry

The Only Foundation for Youth Ministry

Rooted steering committee member, Josh Cousineau, authored this article on the Gospel Coalition blog. Josh will be leading a workshop at the Gospel Coalition Conference in April about Gospel-centered youth ministry. Rooted will have a booth at this show, as well. If you have an interest in grace-driven ministry, please come see us at the show to learn more about our ministry, about our next conference, and about how you can join the movement.

I remember sitting in the auditorium at the 2009 Gospel Coalition National Conference in Chicago. A session had just finished; we had been shown the glories of Jesus and how he is the only hope and foundation for our ministry. My heart was full, and I was glad that God had called me to minister to students. The two guys who came with me to the conference digested the content as they considered how to apply it not only to our own lives, but also to the students we served back home at church. . . .(Link)

Josh Cousineau serves as the pastor of Redemption Hill Community. He previously served as youth pastor at East Auburn Baptist Church. Josh leads the Gospel Alliance, a network of pastors committed to the Gospel in New England. And if you can't tell, he's also really awesome.

False Reasons for Youth Ministry

In the past 10+ years of Christian ministry, I have been in churches where the expectation for youth ministry was nothing more than glorified baby sitting. There was actually one time I heard a parent talk about how much they liked having date night when they would drop their children off early and leave them at youth group late! I am not making this up, this really went down… It was interesting and eye-opening to say the least. Maybe you have never overheard that conversation, but I can assure you that in any given church, in any denomination there are many different reasons the people of your church think youth ministry exist for, and many of them are neither right or biblical. 

I figured in the midst of this series that is based around a discussion about what youth ministry is for, I would jump in and mention a few of the false reasons for having a youth ministry. Maybe they will simply be good for a laugh or maybe (hopefully) the Spirit will use them to confront pastors and youth workers with what not to have as the focus of ministry.

•                It will save the church - Having a youth ministry may be part of the growth of your church, but it will not save your church. It will not ever save your church. Only the gospel will save your church. No youth pastor, no matter how great they are, will be able to give life to a dying church.

•                To raise godly kids - Youth ministry is not the way to raise godly children in and of its self. Again, as above, it might be part of the solution, but it takes much more for a church to have godly students than simply have a youth ministry. So don't start a youth group with the thinking that, 'now the kids will be godly!'

•                Child care - As the story above points out, there are people within churches that look at youth ministry as simply a place to watch their children. Now hopefully you will actually watch the teens when you are on a missions trip to Africa, but this should not be the utmost goal of your youth ministry.  

•                Only for those in the church - Youth group has to be fulfilling the mission that Jesus gave to the disciples, reach the world for Jesus. This means that a youth group cannot be just for those good church kids. It should look more like Wal-mart than a country club.

•                Only for outreach - Just as above the church needs to also care for those in the flock, which means it cannot only be about reaching the skater kids, and troubled youth. It also needs to be about ministering to the pastor’s kids. 

•                Keep students out of the service - Often the leadership of a church sees youth ministry as a way to keep students out of the service and out of their hair. There is need for rebuke in this situation. Jesus welcomed children and teens into his life, and so should our church leadership!

•                Replace parents - Youth ministry will never replace the roll that God has given to the parent. Although some youth ministers may have thoughts along the line of, 'if only I could get rid of these parents, then these students would grow,' this is a lie from the pit of hell. Don't believe it for one moment. You are simply called to come along-side the family and the church to make disciples who love and serve Jesus. 

What false reasons for youth ministry have you either seen in your ministry, or heard about from another youth minister? Use the comment section to share! Humor us and help us guard against the pitfalls of false reasons for youth ministry.

Josh Cousineau serves as the pastor of Redemption Hill Community. He previously served as youth pastor at East Auburn Baptist Church. Josh leads the Gospel Alliance, a network of pastors committed to the Gospel in New England. 

Youth Ministry and the Practicality of the Gospel

Check out the 2012 Rooted Conference - "Adoption: The Beauty of Grace" - which will explore how the theological concept of Adoption speaks to this generation of teenagers.

Jesus the Great Guidance Counselor?

For many students today, Jesus has become a cosmic guidance counselor - in their minds, all He does is give advice, help them think through life, and perform other such tasks. Much of this mentality is a direct result of the ways we as youth ministers have taught who God is. As we think through the idea of Moralistic Therapeutic Deism, we need to be aware of teachings which may create the perception that God is simply or only there for our therapy. For me, thinking about the traits of a guidance counselor helps me see where I am pointing students to this false image of god.  

Don't get me wrong, school guidance counselors are great. They have insight into what school a student should look into. They have the inside track on where to get student loans. And they help students think through problems, their future, their grades, and other school related issues/concerns. All of these things are helpful and much needed in students’ lives; but there is an important issue to consider when we start to look at Jesus this way.

When the picture we paint of Jesus looks more like a guidance counselor than the only sovereign ruler He is, we will tend to look unto Him differently than He was intended to be looked upon. Here are some of the ways we will look upon Jesus, when we simply dilute Him to a therapeutic god. 

• We only look to Him when we have need.
• We only seek out advice on the different options we have come up with. 
• We still make the final decision, we only want Him to help us think through our options.
• When someone is struggling, we simply point out that God can help them; we don't unpack the gospel as to how He can help them. 
• We tend to make lists of how God will work.
• Our messages tend to look at what we can get from God, not what we can give unto God.

When this is our teaching, the result is that students begin to believe and live this way. Students may believe in God, but they will have no clue what that means for them in real life. They will not be able to understand how God fits into their dating life, their sports activities, and the fights the experience with parents and teachers. When they are rejected by a boyfriend/girlfriend, or a teacher/parent, they can not even fathom going to God with this, for what would he care? He is simply there to give advice, not to actually help bring them joy or comfort in the midst of suffering. 

It is no wonder students leave the church. With a god preached who seems only like a guidance counselor, I would too. Students do not have a clue as to the real, present, sovereign God they are missing. When we convey only this image of a soft, removed, therapeutic figure-in-the-sky, we miss the point. We miss that He is the Savior, the King and the One who leads and directs us- we do not lead and direct Him. He is the conqueror of death for all of us, not simply a kind face in the chair across from us.

What type of God are you preaching? One who will simply offer good advice, or one who has come and redeemed those who are listening.

Deeper Youth Ministries

Check out the 2012 Rooted Conference - "Adoption: The Beauty of Grace" - which will explore how the theological concept of Adoption speaks to this generation of teenagers.

The Busy Youth Minister: Time Management

It seems like when you ask someone ‘how things are going’ everyone gives the same answer, ‘busy’. There is a quote that has been reeking havoc on my mind and in my heart for the last month. I tweeted and and wrote it down, but for the life of me I can not find it. The essence of the quote was, “Don’t mistake busyness for communion with God.” This simple statement has been challenging me to think through my busyness - and I would assume that each one of us is in the same place - with ‘way to much to do, not near enough time to do it.'

What Matters - I need to not only know what matters, I need to allow it to lead me. Above everything else, what really matters is the gospel of Jesus. After everything else is said and done, Jesus still stands. So my time needs to be doing gospel-intentional things. Meaning I might go to the movies, but I go to the glory of God seeking God and learning more about Him. I might take a walk, but I do this unto the glory of God, enjoying his beautiful creation. Everything we do needs to flow out of what it is that matters most. If I only have limited time to devote, I need to devote what time I have towards the things that really matter.

The core of what matters is going to look the same for each of us. Loving Jesus and others matters; teaching about Jesus matters; being in communion matters; being Jesus unto my children, wife and students matters. Although the core should look the same, there is going to be a vast difference in what matters for you and what matters for me as we start.

Making Time - There will never be enough time to do everything you want, so you are going to need to make time. This means that once you know what matters you need to make room for it. Good managers of time spend time thinking about what they will do with their time. If you don't, the time will do what it wants with you. So if I conclude that I need to take one day a month and spend it alone and dis-connected, I am going to have to make time to do this. This might mean I have to remove stuff, stuff that I might even feel is important, but if it does not matter in the grand scheme of things, then it is not where my time needs to be put.

Redeeming Time – All too often we say we don’t have time, and this is partially true, but for many we are just bad at redeeming [using] our time. If you have a 30 minute commute to and from work, don’t just drive aimlessly listening to music. No, redeem this time. Download sermons or audio books onto your iPod or put them on a CD. Have list of prayers that you can crank through. Make phone calls that need to be made (use a hands free device please). Here is a short list of things to do to redeem your time.

• Take a book wherever you go
• Download free audio books to listen to in-place of music
• Download sermons to listen to
• If you have a long trip, take someone with you (Discipleship and community in one)
• Read in the bathroom (I know it sounds strange, but it works. Just don’t loan out the book after...)

Passing off – To be a good leader, especially if your schedule is jam-packed, you need to learn to pass things off. What I mean by this is learn the things that God has called you to do - the things He has gifted you to do, the things that you know you’re to do, and no one else is to do them. Everything else needs to be passed off. It could be said do what matters, and have others do the rest. If you are called to study and preach then don’t waste your time updating the youth group facebook page or twitter account. Pass those things off to other people.

God is Sovereign & I am not – I am a type “A” guy. I like to work and I like to work hard. Many times at the end of the day I need to remember that God is sovereign, that He is the one who must work. This does not give me licenses to be lazy and do nothing of eternal worth with my time, but it frees me to know I can give it my all, my GTD list might not be completely done, I might have emails I need to send; yet Jesus gives me freedom to rest. Knowing that His work goes on. He will minister to the students, He will speak to their hearts. Even through we should work hard, manage our time well and be ubber-productive we must remember it is God who works, not us.
Josh Cousineau is a church planter at Redemption Hill in Auburn, Maine, coordinator of the Lead Conference, and a former youth minister. This piece is reposted with permission from www.joshcousineau.com

The Busy Youth Minister: Busyness Check

Josh Cousineau is a church planter at Redemption Hill in Auburn, Maine, coordinator of the Lead Conference, and a former youth minister. This piece is reposted with permission from www.joshcousineau.com.

Busyness; It has become almost a badge of honor in Christian circles today. Everyone says they are, and we use it as the excuses to get out of almost anything. This wonderful little word has become a critical part of our vocabulary, on a far too often basis. It seems like everyone is saying they are busy, even the high school drop out who works 14 hours a week at the mall (this is a real story!).

At the root of all this busyness is something more then simply cultural lingo: there is a heart issue. In Tim Chester’s book, A Meal with Jesus, he talks about how meals are enacting the mission of Jesus. When we eat with people we are able to share the gospel with them in a deeper way than simply handing them a tract, or knocking on their door and telling them about Jesus. Yet one of the excuses we often make for not living on mission is, yeah you guessed it; busyness!  Chester offers this helpful examination:

Above all examine your heart. God did not make a mistake when he spun the world into being, making twenty-four-hour days instead of twenty-five-hour ones. He expects you to serve him and glorify him in those twenty-four hours. But he doesn’t expect you to do twenty-five hours’ work in a day. The person responsible for your busyness is you. We’re too busy because we’re trying to do more than God expects.

• You may be too busy because you’re insecure and need to control life. But God is great and cares for you as a sovereign heavenly Father.

• You may be too busy because you fear other people, and so you can’t say no. Bot God is glorious, and his opinion is the one that matters.

• You may be too busy because you’re filling your life with activity in a desperate attempt to find satisfaction. But God is good, and the true source  of joy.

• You may be too busy because you’re trying to prove yourself through your work or ministry. But God is gracious and justifies you freely through Christ’s finished work.

You’ll never create time for people until you address the issues in your heart and find rest in God’s greatness, glory, goodness and grace.

When we dig deep, we quickly understand we are busy, because there is a lack of trust in God. So think through the four above points that Chester makes and see where your heart is. If not you may just end up spending your whole life busy, but doing nothing much for the Kingdom of Jesus!

A Battle Within: Proverbs 24:1

This is the second installment in our series, Grace, Law and Underage Drinking.  You can read the first post here.


     There is an interesting proverb that aptly fits many students in our ministry; I would almost say it could be their theme verse. Proverbs 24.1 “Be not envious of evil men, nor desire to be with them.”

I sat in my office with a student who is 19, loves Jesus and is doing much for the glory of Jesus in his own life. He said to me, “I wish Jesus would just take away the lust of my heart so I could live the rest of my life like Paul serving Jesus.” What this student was getting at is that in his heart he wants things that God has not allowed him to have. There is a battle going on inside his heart, one that is causing him to wrestle with these thoughts. This is a battle I am thankful for as a student minister.

Many of our students do the right thing. They are, for the most part, morally upright. Yet much like the student above, they wish they were somewhere else. So they may sit there in my group on Saturday night worshiping Jesus, singing songs to Him, reading about Him, yet they are envious of the men who are out drinking, partying or whatever it is. This is why our youth ministry must seek to address the idols of the heart. Merely just keeping students from drinking will do little to nothing, because their heart wants to do those things. Their desires are to be out with their friends partying, not serving Jesus. They would rather be having ‘fun,’ as defined by the world, than worshiping Jesus.

How do we address this? How do we approach the student who seems to have it all together, yet on the inside desires the things of this world? We must lead students to treasure Jesus above anything and everything that life can and will give them or death could take away from them. This means that Jesus is worth more than the pursuit of anything the world can offer them. He is more worthy of their praise. Our part is to make sure that we treasure Jesus and that our hearts are not envious of evil men. We must teach a Jesus that is to be treasured.

Passage to help us treasure Jesus -

Romans 11.36

Psalms 16.5-11

Jeremiah 9.23-24

Jeremiah 2.12-13

Isaiah 12.2

Luke 2.10

Matthew 13.44

Philippians 3.7-10

Philippians 4.4

These are just a few passages that can lead our hearts to treasure Jesus above the deeds that can and do look so tempting to us. May we be a people who love Jesus so much that He removes the desires for anything other than Him.