The Youth Workshop

The blog for christian youth workers.

[lukecrwhyte]

Investment Banking

So, this week’s post is inspired by my latest initiative, The Youth Workshop, a weekly interview based podcast show that shines the light on an inspiring and innovative youth expert.  

Subscribe on itunes.

Listen here.

The podcast has been running for one month exactly, 6 episodes have been released so far and I’m having an absolute blast.

What I find most  exciting about the show is the stories that are shared by our guests. You see, I love stories.  I always have.  What I've found really interesting is that although all the stories that have been told are unique, there are reoccurring themes, cords of similarity that are slowly beginning to weave themselves together.  One of these cords, is the idea that it is essential for all of us as leaders to invest in ourselves.  This may not come as news to many of you, but please, indulge me for a few paragraphs. It seems to me that there are different ways you can invest in yourself.  Slight disclaimer, we are using the term invest, in a broader sense than just monetarily, although that’s important too.

1. Purchase specialist books in you niche or industry

Below you will find links to all the books that have been suggested by my guests so far.  These are not affiliate or sponsorship links, in other words, I still have to find money for my electricity bill wether you buy these books through these links or not.The links are simply here to help you crush it as a Christian youth worker.

Contemplative Youth Ministry by Mike Yaconneli

Here Be Dragons by Richard Pass more

Christian Youth Work by Mark Ashton and Phil Moon

Changing the World - through effective youth ministry by Ken Moser

2. Attend conferences & events specific to your industry.

These are great opportunities to hear big ideas, and too share a few of your own.  

The Youth Work Summit, is an annual gathering that I recommend.  You can check out past events here.

This conference and ones like it,  help to fuel your mind theoretically, as you grapple with innovative models of ministry and access the latest resources. These conferences also fuel you spiritually, through moments of reflection and worship. You’ll also find nourishment for your body as you enjoy the opportunity to hit the pause button and enjoy time and space to rest in God. 

A point we’ll come to a little later. 

3. Find a mentor 

I have said it before and I’ll say it again, mentors can drastically and radically shortcut your journey to achieving your goals.  Time spent in seeking out the right mentor is one of the best investments you could ever make, even better than buying $400 worth of apples share rather than the first iPod back in 2000 and whenever... The first step in finding a mentor is to identify who has what it takes to help you to the next stage in your personal development.  In other words, who has done what you are trying to do. It is also important to choose someone whom you respect and like, as you’ll be spending extended periods of time with them. Remember, many people who would make exceptional mentors, are exceptionally busy.  This means that if you want any chance of securing their guidance, you need to be committed and well prepared.  Work out exactly what you will need from the mentor.  A monthly meeting?  A quarterly retreat?  What ever it is, think through the process, how you see it happening, that way your mentor can say yes or no from an informed position. Pick your mentor wisely.     

4. REST As leaders, there is often a tendency to be constantly on the job. The advice, though expressed differently depending on who you ask, is fundamentally the same thing.  REST is essential.  Be purposeful and intentional with your life. Take responsibility for your time ensuring there are periods of stillness and quietness built it to your daily, weekly, monthly and annually routine is essential.  You may not be as lucky as Rosie, who gets a day off every month to rest in God, but nevertheless, you must still take the bull by the horns and invest in your own relaxation, resuscitation, recuperation and rest.  

That's a whole lot of Rs.

That being said, I’m off to book a holiday.  

[lukecrwhyte]

Leader's Digest - I

This is should be a quick one, as i'm travelling.  In fact, that's why this post is a day late... Ok that's not exactly true. let me be honest, I didn't organise my time and priorities correctly that's why this post is late.  I'm not lying though, I have been travelling, I'm just not that far away.  Definitely not far enough to justify why I couldn't sit down yesterday and update my blog.  Since we are all being honest.  Let me say this, this small journey has illuminated that I failed in organising myself around this trip properly

Below you will find an abbreviated/abridged list of errors and consequences, resulting from poor planning.

1. I'm tired. 

 I hate flying so I try to stay up the whole night before the flight. Now I'm tired and kicking myself. 

  2. Incomplete tasks - I left at least 2, no make that 3 major task undone back home.                                    

This could cost me money and freedom when I get back...Ok, I'm being dramatic, just money, "they could NEVER take my freedom." 

3. Wasted some people's valuable time.

Many of you may know I have a weekly podcast show, you can check it out here. Well I batch all my interviews into Thursdays and try to interview as many guests as possible. To do these interviews and in fact lots of what I do, I need a decent, reliable internet connection. I assumed the Internet would be good enough where I am...bad assumption. That's essential a month or more of podcasts down the drain and potentially those guests may not want to trust me again. 

  4. Wasted money. 

My mobile bill is going to be atmospherical, astronomical and possibly anatomical.  Meaning i may have to sell a piece of my anatomy to pay it.

I forgot to call up my phone provider and find the best options for my tariff while I travel so i am bracing myself for a hefty bill in the next 30 days. Awesome. 

5. Compromised my word.

I forgot to rearrange an important prior engagement and I remembered 2 hours after the scheduled meeting time that I forgot to reschedule.

6. Broke trust with my readership (that's you guys).

I'm meant to post every Wednesday.  I didn't and for that I am truly sorry. Thank you for reading anyway. It means that you haven't given up on me yet. The fact your reading this also means I actually wrote something. This makes me happy, because I spent hours agonising about what I was going to write about. 

Look, list aside, the truth about the truth is this, I'm a little embarrassed. I'm embarrassed because I spend a lot of time sharing with youth leaders and workers effective time management skills, fastidious planning and the importance of beginning with the end in mind.

I forgot to drink the cool-aid.

Maybe the next time I'm doing some leadership training, I'll ask everyone in the session to hold a glass mirror up whilst I speak. That way i'll have a constant reminder that i'm preaching to myself...

See you next week..

[lukecrwhyte]

From the Fridge to the Freezer. The view from my window. Yes that's snow. The things I do for #youthministry #youthwork #youth LOL. #nature #beauty #beautiful #snow #youthleadership #training #education

[lukecrwhyte]

Out of Bounds - The limits of youth ministry

Is there any topic, subject or issue that we should not talk about with our young people?

Take a second and really think about it... 

Just as we intentionally plan what we will discuss, should we plan what we will not discuss, just as intentionally? Should we avoid certain subjects? Are some subjects just to complex, to tricky, to flammable? 

Furthermore, who decides? The parents?  The sponsors?  The church board?The young people themselves?  What if their view differs from ours? What about if a young person approaches us directly, one-on-one and raises one of these issues? How do we escape?  Surely some elephants look great under the carpet? 

The beauty of youth work is the unpredictability of our young people.  The challenge of youth work is the unpredictability of our young people.  I personally believe that for our youth ministry to be authentic and relevant we must engage with our young people where they are, not where we would like them to be. This includes engaging with those issues that we may have difficulty with personally. Does youth ministry have limits, yes, should those limited be defined by our personal opinion and sensibilities... 

HELL TO THE NO. 

I spoke with Gemma Dunning this week, a pastor and founder of Streetspace Bournemouth.  Gemma is using innovative and creative ways to bring The Gospel to the LGBT community in bournemouth.   For many churches, this is one of those, ‘out of bounds’ issues and so simply not spoken about.  What Gemma shared, which I thought was so profound, was the idea that silence speak volumes.  In other words, if your youth group is saying nothing about a specific issue, its actually saying everything.   Furthermore  young people will take what you’re not saying and assume the worst. I was inspired by Gemma and what she’s up to. My mind was broadened to what youth ministry can look like and be.   It may well be the case that ‘out of bounds’ is purely a subjective term. 

Check out my interview with Gemma here: http://bit.ly/1LbyiI2 Twitter: @lukecrwhyte

[lukecrwhyte]

How tough is your youth group?

Resilience is an interesting word, and an even more interesting concept.

It pertains to one’s ability to roll with the punches, negotiate life’s obstacles and rise above negative circumstances. It’s existence, or absence is realised in those moments when it feels like the whole world is conspiring against.

Resilience is strength, but not in the physical sense.  Physical strength is based and measured by, how hard you can hit, punch, push, pull, kick and knock things down. Mental strength, resilience, is based on how hard you can be hit, punched, pulled, pushed, kicked and still keep going.

Our culture today, tends to lean more towards a celebration of the physical strength. The chiselled physique of a physically strong and powerful man can be seen from the front of mens cologne bottles to the commercial breaks between our favourite TV shows.   There’s nothing wrong with wanting to be physical strong, in fact, it’s great to be strong, i’m a strong man myself and enjoy the benefits it affords me.   For example, I am able to open jam jars with a mere flick of the wrist and carry the rubbish out in the morning in one go.  But what about mental strength? The ability to quickly and consistently rise above the slightest of slights and the greatest of disappoints is a whole other strength all together.

The great orator Les Brown says this,  "When life knocks you down, try to land on your back. Because if you can look up, you can get up."

That’s resilience.

I spoke with a Beth Stout from the organisation The Golddiggers Trust this week, on my new podcast show, The Youth Workshop. Beth works with young people who have faced some of the most traumatic situations you can imagine. In this conversation Beth shared that often times, the situation is so bad that she often wonders if there is any hope at all, any chance of reparation or is the child damaged beyond repair.

It’s very rare that a child will walk into your youth group with physical scars, black eyes, broken limbs.  But many of them carry around a world of hurt that is bubbling just beneath the surface. Some will share that hurt, many will not. They will simply suffer in silence.  Often times not because they do not want to speak, but many do not even know where to begin.

What I love about The Golddiggers Trust, is that as they are helping these young people to put the pieces of their lives back together, they are actually affirming within the young person, that they will be ok, they can be ok.  Their past does not have to define them, and they are worth infinitely more than they can even imagine. They have what it takes to succeed.

I think a holistic youth ministry will do the same.  It will equip young people to believe in their own inner strength.   People in the world, including myself at times, are very easily offended, and often wallow in the aftermath for way too long. But resilient people snap back from an offence like a rubber band wrapped around twenties. 

Of course every individual situation is different, but if Beth is finding breakthroughs in the darkest places, there is still hope for even the worst situations. I believe we would benefit from a generation of resilient young people.

How are you helping the young people in your life to be more resilient?

Click here to check out my interview with Beth.

Check out the brand new Youth Workshop podcast  right here.

[lukecrwhyte]

5 Reasons why you should collaborate on your next youth ministry project

It always amazes me how much can be achieved when we work together. It always amazes me how a project or piece of work can be improved upon when the right people are brought on board. It always amazes me how, even though I know these facts above, I am still so slow to seek out people who could be well suited as potential collaborators or contributors to my ideas and projects. But why?  Why, even though I know the above, do I still at times find myself dragging my feet in regards to seeking out help?I don't know the exact reason, but I think it has something to do with fear.

Fear of our idea being stolen Fear of our idea morphing into something completely different and unrecognisable. Fear of loss of ownership. Fear of looking stupid - "How do i express my idea in a way that people can understand, I mean it makes sense in my head, but to share it…that’s awkward. Fear of losing out on the resulting accolades and applause. Or maybe that’s just me. Sometimes it may just be lack of knowledge."How do I even go about finding help?"  Sometimes it’s arrogance.  "This project will be better if I do it by myself."  Sometimes it’s just laziness.  “I’ll get round to it.”  Is the mantra of the sluggard.  Here are 5 reasons why collaborating on your next project could be the best thing you ever do. 1. Your idea could be stolen. I heard it somewhere that the only people who worry about having their idea stolen are those who only have one idea. You are infinitely creative, it's part of your DNA. You have to run the this risk, otherwise it maybe years before your idea sees the light of day, that’s if it doesn’t die first. 2. Your idea could morph into something completely different, completely unrecognisable from what you had in mind. True.  Dare I say, BETTER.  The synergy of a group of dedicated individuals brainstorm a way forward is beautiful, majestic and a work of art itself. 3. Loss of ownership. You will indeed go from founder to co-founder. A worthy sacrifice.  A good friend of mine and an astute business man, Alexander Weekes told me recently that 30% of something is better than 100% of nothing.  And to be honest he's 100% right 50% of the time. 4. You'll look stupid. You dam right you will, this is good. I believe the best idea sounded stupid. It's a well recited tale that if you had asked Henry Ford's contemporaries what they wanted most, they would of said a faster horse... Can you imagine that first meeting when Henry tried to explain to his team what this contraption that lived only in his head was all about? Lets say your project has five elements to it.  At first you are spreading yourself across all the elements.  Maybe one or two of the elements are in area of real strength for you, but the other 3 probably not.  This means the overall quality of your offering will be affected.  Delegate it out and watch the project soar. 5. You’ll lose out on the accolades and applause. It’s not about me.  It's not about you.   It never has been.  A little reminder never hurts.

[lukecrwhyte]

The Truth about Youth Ministry

Did you know that youth ministry is challenging? Working with young people day in and day out can be taxing! Ever had that feeling that maybe you could have done more; That may be you should have prepared last week's message a bit better? It’s really hard to measure the success of your ministry. So what tends to happen is that we lean on mathematics because numbers don’t lie. How many young people came to our last bible study? How many of our young people preached last year? How many of our young people returned after uni? How many of our young people got baptised, did pilgrimage, took communion? The metrics go on and on.  I am definitely of the belief that you should be constantly evaluating and re-evaluating the state of the flock, but merely placing emphasis on numbers, is a fools game.  Which brings us to something Warren Buffett said, that I think it sums up the plight of us the youth worker pretty well; "Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago."  Much of the hard work of our ministry will probably go unnoticed by the human eye. The consequences of all the little improvements we tried to make may never be spoken of. We may never see that young person again… That parent may never say thank you! Our boss may never apologise! But thats ok.  Annoying, frustrating, down right rude, but OK! The work we do, the passion we exude, the effort we make today is shaping the landscape and reality of youth work in the future and in turn, the reality that will be lived by our children and our children’s children.  We are planting something.  Its up to us if its a beautiful oak tree which provides some kick ass shade, or weeds fit for the bonfire.  The truth about youth ministry is that you may be long devoured by maggots and worms before anyone realises what a skilful gardener you are. But thats ok.  Annoying, frustrating, down right rude, but OK! 

[lukecrwhyte]

2014 Lessons Learned

So it’s NYE, I knew this day would come… I’m writing today not because it’s the last few moments of 2014, but because it’s wednesday, and I always try to release a blog on wednesdays. I would be lying if I said the time of the year has not impacted upon today’s post.  The fact that it is NYE has inspired me to become somewhat reflective as this year takes its final breath. For me personally 2014 has been an EPIC year, it really has, and when I was considering what to write in todays post, I was tempted to talk about all the great things that have happened…Nahhhh, to easy and to obvious.   What could I write about that would really add value to the lives of the 7 or 8 people that will read my blog?  That’s when it hit me, I couldn’t do that, could I?  Why not tell everyone, the whole world, anyone who will read, about all the mistakes I’ve made this year.   NO WAY! But then my subconscious kicked in, with the voice of Morgan Freeman, 

"Go on Luke CLAUDE REUBEN Whyte, I dare you!  Why not put it all out there, pull back the curtain shout at the top of your voice, 'THE EMPEROR’S GOT NO CLOTHES ON.’ " Damn you subconscious, I'd punch you in the face, but i'd only ended up hurting myself.  So I’ll do the next best thing, I’ll call your bluff, in no particular order, here are my top 2014 mistakes made, or maybe just 10. I hope you learn from them, heck, I hope I learn from them.

A. Undervaluing myself. This revealed itself in many ways, but firstly, right at the beginning of the year, I undervalued my book.  Interestingly, it didn’t hurt me too much, but I did lose out on a significant amount of money.  Money is not everything, but it is necessary to sustain a message, a ministry and/or a business. I have all three, so it’s necessary squared.  It can be daunting, even scary to charge people for what you offer but it’s important.  A great friend and mentor of mine told me that I must always remember that every request to run a workshop, plan an event, post a book, speak at an event, preach at a church, is time away from my family, time I can’t get back.   It’s important that this time is valued.  B. Poor time-keeping. I’ve struggled with this one since birth, I reckon I kept the nurse who delivered me waiting nearly 28 years ago waiting.  As per the point above, time is extremely valuable, I apologise to all those I have kept waiting this year.  It’s really not good enough and I’m working on it. If yoda was here he’d say, ‘there is no try, only do or do not do.’  He’s right of course, but i’d still punch him in the face. C. Not following up. This is not only a mistake, this is stupid.  I love to networking in meet new people, often this brings me into contact with people who could be useful to me and my mission and who i can be useful to also, By not following up I’m leaving success, significance and opportunity on the table.  So stupid.  Right now, as you read, I have a list of people in my phone I need to follow up with, stupid. D. Losing Focus. The great John Lee Dumas of Entrepreneur on fire defines focus as this, “Follow one course until success.” I have often dropped the ball, lost sight of the goal, gone missing half way through the game and any other sports analogy you can think of.  When you lose focus you end up spinning your wheels faster, not realising your in reverse. E. Periods of Inconsistency. This is fuelled by an unrealistic workload.  When you have too much on you plate, you find yourself at the end of your rope, burnt out.  This isn;t good.  By having a manageable workload you can limit and eventually even eliminate, periods of inconsistency. F.  Avoiding important tasks and conversations. Zig Ziglar is know all around the world for his phrase, “eat that frog.”  This is the idea that what ever you are dreading doing the most (frog) you need to just eat it. (Do).  Grab that slimy green hopping mess and chomp down on its wet oily skin, then open your mouth nice and wide and show the world its all gone.   I didn’t do this enough.  I need to eat more frogs. G. Not listening enough. Too often I heard criticism but ignored it.  Ruling the person speaking as a hater or not understanding. Constructive criticism is essential.  I am not perfect and I do not know everything, there is a lot more wisdom in the council of advisors.   Listening very careful to what people have to say is essential for our success.  Interestingly, there is not more to learn from the person who can tell you why they do not like your creations than the nodding heads who love the remnants you leave in the toilet bowl.  (Too graphic) probably, but you get the picture. Of course there are this who are merely hating, and those hater should be given a knuckle sandwich, right in the mouth.  POW!!! H. Being too graphic in my blog. (See above for an example). I. Not enough kissing. I didn’t kiss my wife enough, I mean we kiss everyday, which is great. But I want more of those long deep, heartfelt, baby-making kisses... My family is everything to me, but merely saying it isn’t enough I need to show it more.  I’m definitely gonna continue to work on this.  J. Too many projects Yep.  Less really is more.  I need to pick those project which are most in line with my values and life goals and eliminate the rest.  I suggest you do the same. K. Not enough exercise I believe the age old saying health is wealth is a million percent true.  Sure, I’ve exercised plenty throughout the year, from insanity to weight loss competitions, i’ve been at it this year.  The problem is, it has been in fits and spurts, with months going by without so much as stretching. Consistency, as always, is the key. I could go on, I really could, as whilst this is painful and slightly embarrassing, it’s also very cathartic and slightly enjoyable (Christian Grey style).  Long story short,  2014 has been epic and I have learnt so much.   My heart’s desire for you and myself is that we have a brand NEW list of mistakes to write about this time next year. Until next wednesday (7th January 2015), continue to create an impact with you influence. God Bless

[lukecrwhyte]

Did you get what you wanted?

MERRY CHRIMBO EVERYONE The last few weeks (days probably) have been a made rush for us to get everything we need to make these 24 hours the best hours of the year. From decorations to the perfect recipes, right through to the £100’s maybe £1000’s of pounds worth of gifts, we’ve been getting everything we need, and a lot more besides. I was looking for something in particular, but I couldn’t find any in the small part of London that I occupy, did you pass any on your travels perchance?  Apparently it’s meant to be good stuff, check this out; "Above all and before all, do this: Get Wisdom!     Write this at the top of your list: Get Understanding!" Did you get some understanding?  Like a nice big box? The branded version preferably, it comes with a bow and gift receipt?  If you managed to, here’s what you should do and why you’ve lucked out. "Throw your arms around her—believe me, you won’t regret it;     never let her go—she’ll make your life glorious." Isn’t it strange that the the things we need to get the most, are not available in high street stores and the things that will make our life richest not even the richest can buy?   In the fantastic book ‘The 7 habits of highly effective people.' the late Stephen Covey lists, the  7 habits of highly effective people (bet you didn’t see that coming)  One of the habits on the list is the following;   Highly effective people seek to understand before they are understood.

This is very interesting, because we seem to be surround by an alternate proposition.  Social media clearly documents attempts made by millions of people everyday to be understood.  Millions of people, all around the word, desperately trying to be understood, every single day.  Some people even have blogs... Stephen and the wise old King Solomon suggests an attractive alternative, the wisdom above suggests that we should consider placing our emphasis on getting understanding and applying that understanding to others?  

To empathise with others , to place ourselves in someone else’s  shoes, to be moved and touched by the stories that flood our screens. I hope you got what you wanted this Chrimbo, year, etc, I sincerely do. But more importantly I prayer you get what you need. "...Above all and before all, do this: Get Wisdom!     Write this at the top of your list: Get Understanding! Throw your arms around her—believe me, you won’t regret it;     never let her go—she’ll make your life glorious. She’ll garland your life with grace,     she’ll festoon your days with beauty.”

[lukecrwhyte]

Shaking Free - The shackles holding youth ministry hostage.

From prayer breakfast to potluck lunch, the culture is evident and expressed through the food we eat.  However, it doesn’t stop there.  The culture of the majority is imbued and inseparable in every aspect of church life and practice.

I love culture.

My own and others.

It's why I love to travel. 

But what do you do when your culture gets in the way, or becomes a stumbling block to your mission for your church, and in particular to your youth ministry?

Churches like the church I grew up in, up and down the country are battling with this very issue.  There are many things my church does exceptionally well;  Dynamic preaching - you bet. Exceptional musicianship - no doubt. On these things we place a premium, so it is in these areas we excel.  So, for young people involved in these pursuits, they are almost guaranteed an involvement that could lead to them staying when their friends are leaving.

But what about everyone else? 

I’m sad to say that my home church, with predictable regularity, continues to fail to resonate with the majority of post-modern British born young people of any and every ethnicity. There are many reasons for this, too many to list in this piece, so let me give you the top 3 reasons why I believe these youth departments are failing;

Tradition.

In the context in which I grew up, the founders of the church were migrants to this country from the West Indies.  They brought with them the experience and ways of doing church in which they were forge;. 

“We are doing it this way because we have always done it this way”, is the mantra lived out if not verbalised.  It means that churches like mine, up and down the country, are unable to connect with this generation because they have transported a 'back home' approach to church and transposed it here. That does not work for those of us who were born and bred here.

Lack of Investment

The truth is, at least in my experience, there is not enough investment given to local church youth work.  Excellent youth workers are not sought out and hired.  Instead, all posts are voluntary and the only person who is deserving of remuneration is the pastor, with youth leaders expected to work as an offering to God.  This means that even the most committed, would find it hard to run an effective ministry in their spare time.

The Old Guard

In some cases, elder statesmen refuse to grant autonomy and responsibility to the young people; this is an issue.  Instead, they  hold on to the reins of power for as long as they have breath, literally.

Some elder statesmen are completely unwilling to change and unwilling to let go of the reins.  As a result, I fear that my home church is slowly but surely heading to the divine scrap heap.

This is sad. But it's true.

Does it have to be like this? No.

Will it change, I don't know.

I don't see too much light at the end of the proverbial tunnel...Where there is no vision, the people perish.  It feels like a waiting game, children of Israel style.  A generation may well have to pass before the church, churches like the one in which I grew up, will be able to move forward.

[lukecrwhyte]

Unpacking Proverbs - Episode 1

One of the age old arguments that continues to spin it's web in nearly all corners of the world is how much confidence is too much?

I remember the early days when I played football just for fun.  Those were the days.  Kicking a ball around before school at the age of 6 or 7 was the best.  I remember vividly that there were always those who were quietly great and those who were loudly average.  This divide continued into secondary school and rears it's head even in the workplace. Why is it that often, those who boast in their ability, all to often, are at best a 6/10.  What about those who really are great, why so often do they seem to be less confident in your ability? Good question, and I don't know if i have the answer.  But let me answer it this way, maybe they have cottoned on to the fact that there is nothing more attractive than when those who are truly great, are sincerely humble, it's beautiful thing.

To be sure,  confidence is attractive also, but as the saying goes, too much of anything becomes it’s opposite, too much confidence, becomes arrogance, and before long you are being referred to as the one with the big ego. Which bring us to wisdom... Proverbs chapter 1 literally tells us that wisdom is screaming from the hills, bellowing at the city gates.  You see wisdom KNOWS she's got it going on and she wants all to taste of her spoils.  She knows that those who taste her fruit, will live at peace, will prosper will enjoy a better relationship with God and people.  On the contrary, those who ignore her, those who miss her, those who forsake her, they are foolish, silly, destined for poverty, destitution and worse.  How interesting, wisdom is loud and brash supremely confident in her own ability.  The vital difference here however, is that all she wants to do with her milkshake is bring all the boys to the yard.  So that their life may be improved, enhanced, enriched by all she brings.   Her confidence is not in what she can do for herself, but in what she can do for others.  Wisdom is complete other-centred.  Amazing. So young people, with that being said, this christmas, as your wandering round the shops, wondering what to get, I implore you "get wisdom, and with all your getting, get understanding."

#unpackingproverbs #episode1

[lukecrwhyte]

The stars in our crown

A friend and a mentor of mine recently shared this thought. "God is more concerned with the condition of our hearts than the work of our hands."  This has resonated deeply with me ever since. As a youth worker, a member of a church plant team, and someone who has been involved in ministry for a long time, I have spent a lot of my life, ‘doing things for God’.  The next program, event, conference or summer camp is never far away.  As a result It is extremely easy to have a church/ministry centred life, focussing on our activities, possibly even believing that all our busyness pleases God, or even appeases him. "God is more concerned with the condition of our hearts than the work of our hands." My friend statement suggests that our heart, and our deeds are separate entities...  Are they? It seems logical, common sense even that the two things are not separate, but actually inextricable linked.   The two can not be separated from one another.  Our hearts - by heart we mean motives in this context - and our deeds - the work of our hands, surely are intertwined and interdependent, a cyclical relationship.  Actions reveal the heart, and the heart results in actions.  I don’t believe the path between the two is actually so smooth. The easiest thing to do is to read someone from the outward in.  It’s so easy to consider things people have done, positive or negative and from there deduce, and infer conclusions about that person based on these observations.    Here’s what they’ve done, here is who they are. I call this the lazy man’s approach. “Look at the man the way he is and he only becomes worse, look at him for the way he could be and then he will become what he should be.” - Goethe Let’s take altruism, just as an example, though a deed may be an altruistic deed, what about the motive behind that deed.  Giving money to the poor, feeding the homeless, clothing the naked, those things could all come from a very selfish place.  Maybe out of a desire to be blessed by God or to earn an extra star in our crown.

Our young people learn very quickly that, in most areas of our life, results are all that counts.  ‘Oh you're a doctor!’  ‘Oh that’s your car!’ ‘Oh you got straight A’s'.  Very little attention is paid towards what lies just beneath the achievement.  

It is my belief that one of the greatest messages we can reinforce with our young people is the idea that our motives are more important than what we do.   Teach them that one's actions can be deceptive,  all that glitters is not gold. and that it is our motives usually tell the truth about who we really are.   Let’s encourage one another to see through this duplicity, the great deception, not only in others but in ourselves also.

[lukecrwhyte]

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Just 5 weeks to go.  Awesome.

I just finished writing my 6 and a bit week, action plan, taking me up to January 11th.  I’m so excited for a few reasons.

  1.     I have a sense of focus and clarity for the next 6 weeks. 2.     It’s leading up to a LAUNCH of a brand new project, which I’m super excited about. 3.     I feel like I’m jumping the queue and getting a head start on the New Year.   We all know what happens in 5 weeks! The ending of a one chapter and the beginning of a new, and with that the inevitable new years resolution. People love to set new years resolution, things they really, desperately want to achieve.  The problem is resolutions are notoriously known for being less effective, more easily broken and not taken seriously then resolutions made at any other time of the year.   So let me give you the biggest life hack that you’ll ever hear (probably). Set your resolutions today, now, right now. If you set your resolutions today I promise you, by the time January 1st tolls around, you’ll be surprised at just how far you’ve come.   Let me let you in to a little secret, if you dare to set your resolution now, you wont just be 5 weeks ahead of the curve, you’ll probably be easily double that, easily. Why?  Because the majority will allow themselves to drift so far off track during the last 2 or 3 weeks of the year.  They’ll thrown caution to the wind act recklessly and irresponsibly, let themselves go, because it’s Christmas.  Forgetting, that with almost predictable regularity, every Christmas is followed by January’s credit card bill and every new year’s party, has it’s very own new year’s hangover.

Meaning, whilst your moving forward, the majority are falling further and further behind as they self-sabotage, dragging themselves backwards, widening the gap between yourself and the majority.  Considerably. With that being said, consider the following;   Is there a project you plan to start in January? START NOW. Do you have a position or post in church /work starting in January? START NOW. Planning on stopping something in the New Year? STOP IT NOW. Cutting something from your diet? CUT IT NOW. Breaking off a relationship in 2015? BREAK IT NOW.   There literally is no gift like the present.

[lukecrwhyte]

Good Hates Best

Most of my epiphanies or AHA moments are sparked by everyday events.  A phone call.  A shopping trip.  Traffic.  The epiphany that good hates best was forced upon me whilst i was travelling on the London underground. 

SHOUT OUT TO MY TFL MASSIVE. The phrase, 'Good hates Best,' was written on a fellow passenger’s t-shirt and it gave me pause. It was one of those moments when you catch your breath as light bulbs start exploding and dots start connecting.  I was enlighened and could now see things in glorious HD. GOOD HATES BEST.  I completely agree. Here are a few reasons why I agree, I would tell you how many reasons, but we’ll start writing and see how many we end up with. 1. BEST overshadows good There are a number of good things in this world.  There are good business, good products, good systems, good operations, good employees, good employers, good entrepreneurs.  The list of good is plentiful.  Good almost enjoys complete authority over most of life.  But for all of it’s dominion, when faced by BEST, it is eclipsed, overshadowed, out gunned and out manned.  Best is like a younger sister who eclipses all the success and achievement of her older siblings.  Best, eventually, gets all the accolades all the praise and all the attention.  With all of this, BEST stays humble, this winds Good up the most. GOOD HATES BEST. 2. Best makes good feel  UNcOmFORtABLE For those of you who have never read any book about business, success or personal development, let me share something with you.  To take your life, business, relationship to the next level you have to step out of your comfort zone, you have to change.   There’s very popular Einstein quote which says, “we can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them." To achieve higher levels of success, productivity and to become a leader in any industry, we are going to have to change. This makes good feel uncomfortable because change is uncomfortable. Change is rarely fun, seldom enjoyable and mostly unpleasant. But it is ESSENTIAL for growth.  BEST knows this. 3. Good enough, rarely is. You may have heard this saying before, ‘good enough rarely is.’ In other words, often times when we look at a job, a product or a piece of art that we have created, and we say to ourselves,  'thats good enough.’ or ‘that will do’ we are often in danger of the exact opposite being true.   Sure we may escape with this for a short while, but then guess what, BEST shows up. Not loud and proud, but definitely in charge. Best arrives on the scene, and leaves good buried under the weight of it’s own mediocrity. Best proves that what good has offered,not only could of been done better, but it has been done better. GOOD hates best. 4. Good thinks best is cheating. Growing up, I was really close to one of my cousins.  We spent summer after summer together and we had a blast.  My cousin is an only child so he always had the latest gadgets, I am one of five so we always had…each other.  My cousin was amazing at computer games and every summer, for six weeks, he would proceed to batter me at every single game he possessed.  From the Sega Mega Drive to the Playstation, Mortal Kombat to Worms, I was, eclipsed, overshadow, outgunned and outmanned.   The reality is, I thought it then (and even now to some extent), he cheated. I don’t know how he did it, I don’t know where he got the cheats from, but he cheated, he must have.  How else could he win every single time, bar a few random exceptions? Here lies the problem.

Good hates best because best MUST be cheating, how else could they run more events, serve more young people, have a bigger budget, have a greater impact and enjoy more recognition? I want to stick here for a moment, and ask a question.  How does Best become Best without cheating? Think about it, as this will be the subject of my next post. 

This is a real issue.  How does best get ahead and often stay ahead, besides a few exceptions here and there?   Let me give you a snippet right now,  I believe one of the fundamental reason is vision.  I believe that often times best sacrifices the smaller wins along the way, to enjoy the greater win, which they’ve envisioned from the beginning, and which in turn makes them the best at specific times in specific ways.   Ok i’m done for now.   These are my TOP 4 reasons why Good HATES Best. Until next time, continue to create an impact with your influence.

[lukecrwhyte]

Bums vs. Legs

I know that caught your attention.

So let’s begin with a very important question. Are you a bum or a leg person?  Comments below. But before you do, let, me give you some context. For those of you involved in church life especially in a leadership role, I have a question.  Have you ever had that feeling that all your efforts are worthless unless they result in bums on seats?

Do you feel like a complete failure if your youth programs are more whispers than bang? Do you hang your head in shame when asked how many people have you brought to church in the last 3, 6 , 12 months? Do you ever get the feeling that going to church is more important than being the church? These are the questions pinging around in my head, and so maybe in yours.

Have we failed as christians, disciples, if tons of people haven’t started to come to a building called church as a result of our hard work and emphatic preaching? Or is there an alternative way to look at things? It has been suggested that maybe our emphasis should be more towards, getting legs into the kingdom (with people attached of course) rather than bums onto church seats. The two ideas are not synonymous.  Is it possible that there may actually be many bums in church  (haha grow up), whilst the legs attached are far from the kingdom.  Whilst many bums aren’t in church, whilst their legs are firmly planted in the kingdom? Can I get a witness. What do you think?  What’s more important? Are you a bum or a leg person?

[lukecrwhyte]

5 TOP TIPS FOR YOUTH LEADERS

In my experience in youth ministry, I have learned a huge amount about myself, about people, about God. In 2005 when I was beginning my youth ministry journey, I had no idea what the future would bring, in 2014, I still don’t, I am amazed by the journey God has brought me on, and I have learned a HUGE amount. Here are 5 Top Tips I have learned from a few successes and a mountain load of failures. 1.Be consistent This is soooo important, on sooooo many levels. From a programming and scheduling perspective to your character as a youth leader. If you say you are going to do something, make it happen, and if it doesn’t, take responsibility. I know about this one all too well. (Ask a certain group of young people about the notorious ‘teens retreat’ that never was...) 2.Communicate Regularly With your young people and the wider church community. People can’t support what they are not told about. People can’t have full confidence in something that seems secretive or suspicious. Communicate openly and honestly on a regular basis. 3.Listen to your young people I would go further to add, make sure they know you are listening. Give them opportunities to use their voice, to vocalise thoughts and opinions on any and everything. Don’t be too hasty to smooth out their answer with your steam iron of truth. 4.Involve parents & guardians Similar to point 2, this is essential to gaining trust and support for your ministry. Involving parents maintains transparency, which is essential. It is extremely easy to forget about parents and get completely pre-occupied with ministering to your young people, I know, I’ve been there, but your ministry will be much better off if you involve them. 5.Pray for your ministry This may seem common sense, but as the saying goes, “common sense isn’t always common practice.’ Prioritise prayer for your ministry. If you commit your plans to the Lord they will succeed. 6. Over-deliver. When possible, add that little bit extra to the ministry. This comes in different shapes and sizes. But fundamentally, you will only be able to do this if you are organised. Being organised lowers stress and elevates pressure, leaving room for spontaneous surprise and lat minute improvements. Luke Whyte - Author of ‘On Your Marks’ - A Beginner’s Guide to Youth Ministry.

[lukecrwhyte]

The arT of Thinking - Part 3

As I get older, lol, and I reflect on my life, i begin to remember more and more things from my childhood.  Funnily enough, since I have become a father, more and more of the things my father taught me come to mind.  I’m remembering sound bites, like movie clips from my child hood.   Unbeknownst to him, or maybe he knows, he had this catchphrases that he said over and over again in different formats and in different way that have stuck with me,  one of them was… THINK FOR YOURSELF. I can not tell you how many times I was told this as a child, and I believe it has had and continues to have a massive affect on the course of my life. I believe that one of the most important  things we can teach our young people is to THINK FOR THEMSELVES. One of the most important traits we can model for our young people is individuality of thought. Which obviously brings me to the topic of ‘quotations’. I personally love quotes, I do. I love intelligent pithy statements that seem to encapsulate truth in such a simple way. From great philosophers, to the old man in the barbershop, right through to prophets in sacred texts.  I love reflecting on the things people have said as I quietly sip a nice tall glass of water.  Mmmmm, water. I love that feeling when I'm reading a book and something jumps out me that literally forces me to put the book down and laugh to myself at the beauty woven in to a sentence with effortless ease.   And every time I ready it, I’m washed anew by that feeling I had when I first read it.   You ever have that feeling?  God, I love reading. Quotes are fabulous. But quotes are also, not so fabulous. Quotes are not so fabulous when. 1. They are used as a shortcut. A bit of a lazy man’s approach.   Sometimes, when I’m asked a difficult question rather than engaging and wrestling with it, I answer by quoting somebody else’s opinion. Have you ever done that? 2. They are used to end a debate. Sometimes, when i’m in the throes of a hot debate, in an effort to end a discussion, to win the debate, I pull out my super trump card, which  is a quote by a mutual accepted authority figure on the subject. CHECKMATE. 3. They are used to hurt someone I’m almost too embarrassed to admit it, but in the name of full disclosure, I have, betimes, intentionally used a quote to get one-up on someone, to wipe their shame in their face to humiliate and in effect bully them. You wouldn’t know anything about that would you?. ON THE FLIP-SIDE Quotes are amazing when, they are used as a spring board catapulting us into a whole new world a whole new debate.  If they are used as the three points mentioned above, well that’s just a shame.   BUT if they are as conversation starter, that’s awesome. The next time someone gives you are quote that you have never heard before, or even if you have, why not encourage them to go further by asking them the questions below. 1. Who said it? 2.What did she mean when she said it? 3. Why did he say it? 4. What do you think about what she said? 5. How does what he said make you feel? 6. How has this quote impacted your personal life? 7.Do you agree or disagree with the quote, why? No matter who says what, it is perfectly ok for you to agree or disagree, NO MATTER WHO SAYS IT.  I would go as far as to say it is essential for you to have an opinion. An opinion suggests you are listening, it suggests you have digested and as you discuss the said quote, both parties, if discussing with a teachable spirit will learn and be better for it. One of my favourite quotes is attributed to the late, great Steve Jobs, “Dogma is living with the results of other people’s thinking.” Interesting.   Think for yourself people and encourage your young people to do the same. What’s your favourite quote, and why?