Well, you made it! You’re graduating. I’m sure that all your plans and new responsibilities have your head swimming.

I’d like for you to take a minute and let God speak to you about His plans. Psalm 46:10 tells us

“Be still, and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!” (ESV)

His plans are what matters in the end.  Not scholarships, not honors, not parties, not boyfriends or girlfriends. It might sound harsh, but it’s about Him, not you.

However, He does have wonderful plans for you, if you choose to follow His plans for you. Jeremiah 29:11 says

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you.  You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. (ESV)

Our church family is here for you every step of the way, and we are praying for you. We are praying that whatever your plans after graduation, that you follow God first.

If you ever need anything, feel free to call me at ———— or email me at ————-

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What do you do? Join the discussion below.

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Dare2Share is putting together a week-long discipleship and evangelism training for students and youth workers called Lead The Cause University. It is designed to give tools for students and youth workers to turn their town on its ear for the Cause of Christ.

You will be getting training in an intimate setting at Colorado Christian University with Greg Stier, Zane Black, Jason Petty (Propaganda) and others. I highly encourage you to look into it. I will be there with two of my leadership students. See you there!!

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There are a lot of things that we do in Rural Ministry that simply do not work. Many of fall under the following categories: Culture of the Town, Culture of the Church/Denomination, Ignorant/Too Well aware of History, It Worked Someplace Else, or I Have No Clue What Happened… (Note: Some of the following 10 may bridge several of these categories. )

10. It worked at _________(Church across Town or Church Somewhere Else) so it will work here….
Rarely happens. Sorry.

9. It’s only 10 kids, we can “wing it’, what could possibly go wrong?
5 P’s – Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance. – Learn it, live it, balance it with the moving of the Holy Spirit.

8. We have to compete with __________ (bigger church across town) and have more students
They are not your competition. If they are, chances are that you are on the wrong side… Numbers are not always an indicator we can trust in Rural Ministry. (another whole post for another day…)

7. We used to do it this way in 19__, so it will still work the same now…
There is so much that has changed in the last 12 years since I accepted the call to Youth Ministry that it really makes my head spin!

6. “No, I didn’t test that object lesson before church this morning…”
You know, the one involving the rubbermaid tub full of water and water dynamite in “Big Church”
(true story, thankfully not me…)
See also #9 

5. “No, I didn’t check the reviews on TripAdvisor.com before booking the hotel rooms” (Guilty…)
Remember, the students’ parents and your supervisors are trusting that you have the safety of the students on your trip in mind. Don’t let them down! 

4. Middle School students without concrete rules and expectations are simply apologies to parents, Sr. Pastors, or law enforcement you’ll be giving later…
Spell it out. You may have to explain it several times, and in several different ways, but it is worth it later, when things go relatively smoothly…

3. If you’re expecting to use the “latest technology available” to reach students, you’re about 2 years too early…
Twitter finally hit the town where I serve about 4 months ago….Use that “lead time” to your advantage.

2. If ministering to multiple school districts, the weekend where “nothing is going on” does not exist.
Some students are going to miss activities due to school. Some will miss because of family, boy scouts, or any number of other commitments.  Remember, it is a PRIORITY decision that the student or their family is making. You just pray they are making the right ones.

1. To modify a phrase from Tony Horton – “You did your best, so stop worrying about the rest”
Give yourself some grace. We all make mistakes. Sometimes we have no way of seeing the end result of the decisions we make. We just have to roll with it and pray God is going to work through it.

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The picture you see above is one that I took in September of 2010. I was visiting my mom and step-dad at the farmhouse  where I grew up in Illinois. We looked out across the field and saw a little smoke, not an uncommon sight, maybe someone burning some trash or brush. We went back to what we were doing. Then about 10 minutes later, we realized that it was something far bigger. Our neighbor’s barn was ON FIRE! This barn housed honey-making equipment that provided extra income for the retired couple that had lived across the field from us for longer than I had been alive. I played in that barn with his grandchildren. They bought it from my dad in the early ’60′s when my dad purchased the farm fresh out of the US Army. In 35 minutes, it was gone. Fireman and EMS crews came to do nothing more than contain the fire, treat heat and smoke inhalation for the fireman, and let it burn to the ground.

From across the field, there was nothing we could do. Several neighbors came to our house to make sure that first – it wasn’t our farmhouse, and second – do the same thing we were doing…watch helplessly.

There is an Emergency in Our Rural Towns…

Jude 1:22-23 ESV says:

And have mercy on those who doubt;  save others by snatching them out ofthe fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh.

 

Our small and rural towns are drying up. The churches there are either closing up or circling the wagons to try and maintain what they have. Mark Willard stated it very well..

The church used to be the cultural center of the community. Now the church is where the community goes to bury its dead. #revival

Our Neighbors are being consumed by the destroying fire of poverty, of distracting amusements, of materialism, or worst of all of ignorance! We have no one to blame for that ignorance but ourselves – believers who simply ignore the commands Christ gave us in Acts 1:8. We cannot simply stand by helplessly when we have the living water that will quench all that is consuming their lives (John 4:13).

We must run to the fires, tell them there is a better way, and show them the abundant life that we have been given in Christ. With the power and hope that the Gospel provides, we can make a difference, one conversation, one life at a time.

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An important part of any Ministry is recognizing the culture around you, so that you can effectively deliver God’s message of redemption to them in a way that is understandable. Paul demonstrates this in Acts 17 in Athens when on Mars Hill.

One of the challenges that Rural Ministry brings with it is all the subcultures that can exist within your context. It may be a thick dedication to “sports as a way out of this town” or it might be an influx of immigrants from another area or maybe another country. I know a youth worker that was dealing with the issue of a bunch of white rural boys trying to form gangs in a farming town of 5,000 people. They were trying to set up colors, pick fights with other groups, and generally rock the area’s “quiet small town image”. They did. Unfortunately, it resulted in the death of a 15 year old girl from the town.

In Parke County, Indiana, I have two interesting subcultures to work with The Old Order Amish, and the “shunned” Amish. In an area that covers our county and parts of two others, we have approximately 130 families (and growing) of Old Order Amish (that is a large settlement!!). They have purchased a lot of land here, brought down the enrollment numbers at two of our local schools, and have a lot of “purchase power” when land is auctioned locally. They are blamed for the enrollment number problems at out schools and for many other problems locally. It’s like they are seen as “second class citizens”.

Apart from the Old Order Amish, you have a group of “shunned” Amish. There are as many as 30 more of those families, that to the average person, look, well Amish. They are a group of Amish that have left the Amish church mainly because of making a decision to follow Christ instead of the rules and orders of the Amish Church. Many have been “re-baptized”. Some even use electricity in the home. The simple dress, buggies, and self-sufficiency is still there, but they are worshipping Christ with a zeal that has been described to me as “refreshing and amazing”. There have even been reports of prayer and sick being healed. Thankfully there are a few non-Amish Christians that have been invited in to witness what is going on there. They have a desire to help these Amish Christians grow in their faith, while keeping that zeal. Praise the Lord!

However, this poses an interesting question: What if God decides to start a huge revival within the “shunned” Amish?

Given the subculture and reputation that the Amish have in the community, there will likely be a lot of churches that would miss out. Sad but true.

Knowing the subcultures of an area is something that requires a lot of study, talking with people who have grown up in the area, and getting to know people. It sounds a lot like what Paul did in Acts 17.

So maybe in addition to Acts 1:8 churches, Acts 2 churches, Acts 4:32 churches, and Acts 29 churches, we need some Acts 17:23 churches!

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The key to building relationships in your community is connecting on the levels and values that your community sees as important. If sports are a key foundation that rallies people in your community, screaming against it as an alternative to worship is not going to resonate well or do much.

Study. Listen to key stakeholders in your community, both churched and unchurched. Remember that the Kingdom of God is THE Solution to problems of this world, not another problem that screams at them…

No go make a difference, one church at a time.

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See you there next year!

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The gratitude tree from Celebratong Home is designed to give an experiential way to show gratitude for things  in our lives.

This works especially well in lessons on different ways that we worship God and on being thankful in attitude and heart.

Here is ours in action:


You can get one here…

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Some of us expect it to be easy. It is not. You must work at it. But the payoff is amazing!

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