RSS Feed

  1. Learning Humility

    March 10, 2012 by Dave Gill

    I recently wrote a post that offended some people.  It was on the topic of contemporary services and I feel awful.  If I offended you with the post, I’m sorry.  I’ve since taken the post down because it doesn’t accurately represent what I’m about or what the church I work for is about.  It was written poorly and didn’t accurately reflect how I feel or my opinions on the matter.  It came off as condemning and critical and I’m afraid it was taken as a commentary on our own church.  It was intended to be none of those things.  It was actually intended to be a humble suggestion on how to reach a culture that is having trouble identifying with the church (global, not local).  Poor execution on my part.

    I did learn a pretty huge lesson though.  Although humility is hard for a leader to maintain, it is absolutely essential.  I came off like a know-it-all.  That’s a bad stance for a leader to take.  I meant only to suggest methods that might work.  I certainly didn’t mean to assert that I knew how to do it better.  It was meant to be only an idea.  My inability to suggest my ideas with humility made the ideas come out as authoritative and arrogant.  That was wrong.

    A better approach would have been to edify the positives of the current methods while suggesting tweaks that might enhance them. When ideas are stated as absolutes it creates little room for growth and a lot of room for offense.  I’m not in a position where I organize services.  I’ve never done it.  I have only ever been a participant and my opinions and ideas are merely an outsiders thoughts.  A humble approach would have acknowledged that.

    I know I’m not perfect.  I never will be.  That is a title left for Christ alone.  My job as a Christian is to try my best to be as perfect and Christ-like as possible.  And, in an effort to do that, I ask that if I offended you, that you would accept my apology.  I love you and want nothing but the best for you and the kids we serve.

    Category Uncategorized | Tags: | No Comments

  2. Small Groups

    February 1, 2012 by Dave Gill

    Today I started going to a new small group bible study.  I haven’t been to one where I was the participant and not the teacher in a while.  It was really refreshing.  It was also at 6:30 in the morning.  Feeling refreshed spiritually is an interesting thing when your body is still trying to sleep after working till midnight the night before.  Nonetheless, I couldn’t help but be excited about it.

    One of the things I was taught at the beginning of my journey into ministry was that we should never substitute preparing a youth group lesson for our own personal bible study.  I was reminded of this lesson this morning.  There is something different about one’s approach to the bible when it is for the purpose of personal growth.  Don’t get me wrong; you can get something out of it even if you are only reading for the purpose of teaching others.  There is just something different about it when it is read for personal growth.  I think the difference is intimacy.  I think when we study the bible for ourselves God’s spirit works differently.  It’s almost like God has a secret for you and he wants you specifically to see it.  I don’t know if anyone else feels that way, but I have to say that I loved going to that bible study this morning.

    Do you ever notice a difference between reading your bible for personal growth vs. the purpose of teaching others?

    Category Uncategorized | Tags: | No Comments

  3. Staying Current

    January 10, 2012 by Dave Gill

    Staying current is a constant battle in youth ministry.  I thought about that again today while meeting a friend (and fellow youth pastor) for coffee.  The field of youth ministry isn’t like other lines of work.  Medicine isn’t revolutionized every three months with a completely new way of doing things.  Retail doesn’t change the way you selling things to people twelve times a year.  Sure other fields change, but youth ministry is a relatively new line of work.  It has only really existed since the late 60′s and only been given legitimacy for about the past 20-30 years.  As a result, youth ministry is constantly having new pioneers that claim to be “revolutionizing” the industry.

    My buddy, Mikey, and I were talking today at a local Starbucks (the first place you look if you ever find your local youth pastor missing on any given Sunday) and he asked me, “So what are you reading?”

    This is a totally innocent question and I answered, “A fantasy series by George RR Martin, called Game of Thrones.”

    He replied, “Oh… pleasure reading.”  I immediately understood what he meant.  He wasn’t asking about reading in general; he was asking about what new curriculum, methodology, bible commentary, or devotional I was into.  It is a relatively common question in the world of ministry.  I have to confess, I just finished a book by Mark Oestricher and haven’t started a new one yet.  I felt a degree of guilt for not being into a new curriculum yet.

    And then it hit me, I took a week off reading new curriculum and already I felt like I wasn’t keeping up with the study of my profession!  It was a crazy feeling.  To be fair, Mikey wasn’t condemning me in any way.  It was just a casual question, but it kind of hit home.

    Youth ministry is constantly being updated.  We, as youth workers, have a huge job of discernment to do.  When is studying new methods too much and not implementing enough?  It is important to continue studying your craft in whatever your field is, but discerning what works for your particular practice is probably more important still.

    Have you ever felt overwhelmed with continuing education in your field?

    Category Uncategorized | Tags: | 1 Comment

  4. Prayer In Action

    July 28, 2010 by Dave Gill

    Today something both sad and awesome happened, but mostly awesome in the end.  The whole even started yesterday evening.  God orchestrated a series of events while we were at summer camp with the youth group this week.  Last night I had a unique opportunity to talk with the camp nurse about my testimony.  It was an unusual set of circumstances that began with checking up on one of my kids that had to go home early.  It led to the nurse and I talking about where we came from and how God threw us all in to an unlikely situation called camp.  Neither one of us would have expected to be here just one year ago.  But, our sharing of our testimonies allowed us to pray together for our camp kids and bond through the discussion of a glorious God.

    Then today happened.  It always seems to happen like this.  Counselors finally give in to the kids crying “Dodgeball, Dodgeball!”  And then, disaster breaks in.  We had a 12 year old camper slip and she impaled her leg on a stick.  It was a pretty nasty wound and she eventually was taken to the hospital in an ambulance.  But it was the events that led up to the ambulance ride that were pretty remarkable.

    I and a couple other counselors were the first ones on the scene and she was definitely pretty badly hurt.  We did our best to remember our first response training and took care to go and get the nurse right away.  We also elevated the wound and did our best to slow the bleeding.  I was holding the little girl’s hand and tried to calm her, but she was in a lot of pain.  She was screaming and wailing at the pain she was in.  It was really hard to see her go through all that.  When the nurse got there, she did a great job of… well… doing her job.  She prepared the situation for the paramedics to get there and it was well cared for, but then she did something that people don’t usually do “in the moment.”  She asked me to pray.  I’ll be honest, even though I am a youth pastor, I didn’t think to pray in that moment.  I am not sure I would have had she not asked me to do it, but I did.  We prayed that the girl would be able to be calm in that moment and know that she has a God that is taking care of her even then.  We prayed in thanks that God had the right people around doing their best that they could to make sure she was alright.  We prayed the girl would have courage.  And guess what?  Immediately, God delivered.  It was amazing.  The girl calmed down a lot.  She was still in a lot of pain and she was still crying, but in the next few moments she was even able to laugh at a couple of jokes.  It was like night and day.

    Later on in the day, the nurse said something pretty cool to me.  She said, “If we hadn’t had that talk yesterday, I don’t know if I would have felt comfortable enough to ask you to pray.  Pretty cool how God works, huh?”

    And it was.  Very cool.

    Category Uncategorized | Tags: , | 1 Comment

  5. Pacing The Program

    June 7, 2010 by Dave Gill

    I’m getting a little anxious.  It’s been about three weeks since our first youth event and I am more than ready for another.  The game plan all along has been to build into the leaders for the summer and then create a banging program in the fall.  But first thing is first, we need to build the leaders.  Until fall, we are only planning to have one major youth event a month.

    Truthfully, this is the hard part.  Right now it is kinda like being the first person to a party that you are really excited to be at.  Only, you are like an hour and a half too early.  Lots of excitement.  Lots of hurry up and wait.  I think it would be easier if I knew who my leadership was going to be.  I really only have two confirmed leaders.  One is a music leader (he’s very needed and I’m stoked he’s on board) and one female leader.  I probably need two more people.  I will need a go-to male leader and a solid parent leader.  A couple of other “floater” leaders might be needed going forward, but I think the four volunteer leaders will be a great foundation for our start.

    Since I can’t do a program just yet (without trained leaders, starting a program would be unfair to the kids), I decided that I would do the next best thing – post my top 5 things I wish I could do right now, but can’t do until later.  Until fall this is going to have to do.

    1. Sing worship music.  I’ve had tons of vocal training.  I’ve been taking lessons since I was 12 years old.  However, I’ve never actually led a worship band.  I CAN’T WAIT until this happens.

    2. Build lessons that grow students.  There is nothing more exciting than getting the chance to show students who Jesus is and explain the awesomeness he can have in our lives.

    3. Sling around dodgeballs and baby food with reckless abandon.  Maybe not at the same time… maybe…

    4. Show funny web clips for no other purpose than to entertain.  Like this one.  Or this one.  Or maybe even this one.

    5. Camp.  I know we are planning camp this summer, but it isn’t until the later part of July.  I really look forward to that week.  It is going to be awesome.

    However, all that stuff will come.  For now it is about patience and building into leaders.  And the truth is, building into my leadership is going to be a blast too.  As soon as God provides those leaders, that is going to be a great experience.  Have I mentioned that I have the best job ever?

    Category Uncategorized | Tags: | No Comments

  6. Elevator Pitch

    May 28, 2010 by Dave Gill

    I was checking out my daily set of blogs and I found this link to an article on what is called an Elevator Pitch.  I thought the article was pretty interesting and held some water.

    What do you think?

    Category Uncategorized | Tags: | 1 Comment

  7. Picking Boogers

    May 23, 2010 by Dave Gill

    So I was on my way to service today listening to one of my favorite new songs on the radio – Monster Monster by The Almost – and, minding my own business, I glance in the rear view mirror.  To my surprise, I saw a drive-by nose picking. I didn’t want to assume I saw what I thought I saw, so I looked again.  Same thing.

    Now, I don’t know what it is about being in the car that makes some people think they can’t be seen, but she also ate it.  It might have been one of the grossest things I’ve ever seen – and I work with kids for a living.  I was immediately appalled.  I found myself making judgments.  Who raised this woman?  What sort of hygienic practices does she have?  What if she pokes her brain?

    Then I took pause.  Who in the world did I think I was?  I am just as dirty a person as she.  Shoot, some might even say dirtier!  What kind of glass window was I throwing stones at?  She is a creation of the very God I love and adore.  She is a Picasso in God’s grand gallery and I’m making fun of her (even if it was only to myself). What habits do I have that other people find gross… weird… despicable?

    Thankfully, we serve a God who loves us anyway.  To God we are all masterpieces.  He doesn’t create anything but.  Everyone has their own personal weirdness.  Some of us have quirks that are gross, some that are crazy, some that are simply not considered normal.  Unfortunately, we sometimes look at part of a person and ignore the whole of a person.  God doesn’t do that.  God sees all of us.  The good, the bad, and the ugly.

    What quirks do you have?  How does God love you despite your faults?

    Category Uncategorized | Tags: | No Comments

  8. 1st Event Recap

    May 18, 2010 by Dave Gill

    So, we had our first youth event on Sunday afternoon.  It was… well… eventful.  Since my position started at the beginning of the summer, we decided to do events throughout the summer and start program in the fall.  The first event was a Cell Phone Scavenger Hunt.  Basically, you take pictures with your phone of the answers to the clues on a clue sheet.  It’s a fun game.  We did ours at a local mall.  Everything was set up.  We had the pizza ordered for afterward (I don’t like the idea of pizza for every event, but it is still a good option every once in a while).  We made call to the parents before the event to help promote/inform.  It was all set.

    However, we didn’t do one thing: call the mall ahead of time to make sure it was okay to do.  In all fairness, I was given advice that it would be better not to call.  The mall likely wouldn’t have let us do it for fear we would be a bunch of hooligans.  In reality, we were only going to walk around the mall and take pictures with our phones.  No more, no less.  We pre-informed the teens and their group leaders that running wasn’t okay and they were to listen to anyone that asked them to do/not do something.  Respect was the key. But, we didn’t ask the mall ahead of time.

    Unfortunately, when we got there (before we even entered the front door) we were intercepted by a security guard that told us we couldn’t take pictures or videos inside the complex.  Bummer!  It is pretty hard to have a Cell Phone Scavenger Hunt if you can’t use your cell phone to take pictures!  In the end, we just used the honor system and if they found the answers to the clues they wrote the answer on paper and we tallied up points that way.

    It was still fun and the kids had a blast.  However, I did have to take a heart check in the middle of everything.  I was pretty upset that we couldn’t do our event.  I thought, “Who were they to say we couldn’t take pictures?!  What if we deleted them when we were done?  People take pictures all the time in malls!”  But, what was the point?  What were we there for?  We wanted to have fun.  Build relationships.  Hang out.  We still got to do that.  So, we had to improvise a bit.  So what.  It can be easy to get upset when things don’t go our way, when they don’t follow our plans.  The thing I found myself reminding myself was that this was for God.  This was to build relationships with his people.  Not to mention, the youth had a chance to see how I would react to opposing authority.  It gave me the opportunity to show them how to love on the authority above me through obedience.  My prayer is just that they saw that… and if they didn’t, at least they got pizza out of it!

    Category Uncategorized | Tags: | 1 Comment

  9. Importance of Prayer

    May 15, 2010 by Dave Gill

    As I’m breaking into the youth ministry mold, I find myself soaking information and advice up like a Sham-Wow.  I’ve received advice from countless people.  Other pastors.  Concerned parents.  Friends.  Countless reading material.  The dog.  There is so much advice that can be had it is a little overwhelming.  Everyone has an opinion and, the truth is, they all come from people who care deeply about what I’m doing. How does one person sift through the good advice and the bad?

    Honestly, I don’t think we can truly know what is the best direction to take in youth ministry on our own.  There are too many directions that are all legitimate (anyone heard of early adolescence; who knows if that is for real).  This is where discernment and prayer come into play.  Discernment and prayer.  It is easy to try and use our own intellect and whit to discern.  I have whit out the ear holes (<– joking self-righteousness).  What I find I really struggle with is prayer.  I am always doing something and slowing down to pray is something that I have to make a conscious decision about.  It isn’t easy for me.  I know my relationship with God is the most important thing I can grow when it comes to influencing this ministry, but, when applying it on the day-to-day, I forget.

    That is why I think of Solomon.  His dialogue with God – his prayer to God – was for wisdom and God gave it to him in a metric boat load!  He asked and God delivered.  That is what I want – to pray to God for blessing on his ministry in me and to watch the blessing pour over me.  Let’s be fair.  I don’t expect God to do things my way.  He’s growing me the same way he grows everyone, but I do know that, when we pray for God’s presence in our serving him, he’s there.

    Praying regularly for your ministry, whether you are a pastor or a parent or even a student, has a lot of benefits.  It isn’t like we should need a list of benefits to convince us to pray, but it is a nifty thing to be reminded of the power of prayer (that’s right, I wrote “nifty”).

    1. Praying for wisdom is like going to school to get a degree.  If you don’t, you’ll probably never really get it.
    2. Prayer is contagious.  When others see you pray, they feel more inclined to pray.  It makes them feel comfortable (especially in group settings).
    3. Praying provides hope.  There is nothing that can give hope like knowing that the creator of the universe heard your prayer and is taking care of you.  And, he’s not too big to worry about  your problems.  He can do everything.
    4. Prayer slows us down.  For the same reason we sometimes have trouble praying, we can benefit.
    5. Prayer is how we grow in and with God.  Have you ever had a relationship without communication?  Neither can you have a relationship with God without communication.

    When you pray, what do you pray about?  Are your prayers about you or about God?  Both?  Where do you most like to pray?

    Category Uncategorized | Tags: | 1 Comment

  10. Our 1st Youth Event

    May 13, 2010 by Dave Gill

    Parents are your best friends.  I have been thinking about the role of parents in youth ministry and it is a crazy relationship to ponder. I thought about it again while working on our first youth event at New Hope Church.

    It is a Cell Phone Scavenger Hunt.  I’ve done this event before with other groups and they’ve all been a blast.  It’s an inexpensive and fun event that has a unique twist to it.  Basically, it works like this: you split the youth up into groups (each group with one leader) and you give them a list with clues.  You send them out with their groups to figure out where the clues lead them and the group takes a picture of themselves with the answer to the clue using their cell phone.  Example: Clue – this store is where you store your shoes.  Answer – Foot Locker.  Each clue is worth points and you tally the points up at the end.  This event is being held at a local mall.  We’re going to have dinner as a group afterward.

    Part of my planning and preparing for the scavenger hunt was to call and remind families that we were doing the event and they should invite any friends they can get to come – the more the merrier.  Before I made my calls I thought about who I should make the calls to, parents or youth.  I decided that, though it is important to talk to the youth (all the face-time I can get is great), I needed to invest time with the parents too.  I am really glad I did.  About half of the parents had heard about the event before I called.  All the youth knew about it a week or two earlier. If I hadn’t called the parents, I doubt half of the parents would have heard about it.  That taught me one very important thing: parents must be clearly communicated to for a youth ministry to work properly and you can’t assume the youth will talk to their parents.

    Part of youth ministry is about involving parents.  We, as youth workers, get only a couple hours a week (at most) with the kids we want to build in to.  Parents get far more than that.  If a youth pastor can not only be on the same page as the parents, but work with the parents as a team of people that love their kids and want to build into their kids a fantastic ministry can be accomplished.  A pretty strong argument could be made that, for every hour we spend investing in the youth, we should spend at least that much on the parents (if not twice as much).

    I’ve not yet figured out how best to apply this thought, but I think it bares logic.

    What sort of things do you think a youth pastor could do to invest in his/her parents?  Would you do parent’s events?  Monthly meetings?  How would that look?

    Category Uncategorized | Tags: , , | 1 Comment

Older Entries