A Great Youth Intern

The youth intern, a rare and valuable creature often mistaken for a gopher, an administrative assistant, or... you know, one of the youth. 

While not all youth ministries have one of these amazing people, they all should. I liken the hard-working and under-appreciated youth intern to Jayne Cobb from Firefly; no one realizes how important he is to the crew... except that Jayne was kind of a moral-less scallywag and therefore a bad example.

Let's try this again; I liken the hard-working and under-appreciated youth intern to Chewbacca from Star Wars. Yes, we all know he is funny and loyal and everything, but do we realized how much Han Solo and the rest of the team need him? (That's right youth ministers I just threw you a bone and let you be Han Solo).

The big problem is that most people don't know what a youth intern does (or what a youth pastor really does for that matter)... so let's shed a little light on this mysterious figure.

7 Things A Great Youth Intern Does:

7. Agrees with the Youth Minister.
- No I don't mean that a good youth intern is a "yes man" a good youth pastor wouldn't want them to be. However, a youth intern does support their youth pastor when the chips are down and they don't tell everybody when they think the youth pastor is wrong. This is kind of a bid deal. The youth intern will often be heard to say, "Yeah, I think Josh is right... and awesome!" (Yes, "Josh" is my go to youth pastor name)

6. Become the older sibling
- The "kids" will often think of the youth intern as their older sibling, which pretty much rocks. However, this means that the youth intern needs to be ready to go to as many sports games, choir performances and high school musicals as possible. A youth intern who goes to these events is "so cool!" This also means they get to be around when the students need someone to open up to which really is "so cool!"

5. Is the back up... everything
- The youth intern should always be ready to give an answer for the hope that is within them. In this case, the hope of someday being more than a youth intern. In doing this a youth intern should always be ready to teach a small group, Sunday school or youth group lesson. You never know when the opportunity may arise!

4. Games.
- Games, games and more games. The youth pastor will get in on this too, but most likely if your youth group has a youth intern they are the ones you'll find dressed up as a toilet paper bride or stuffing 10 Twinkies in their mouth. More ways to humiliate your youth intern can be found here.

3. Never sleeps

- None of the youth leaders really expect to get much sleep during camp, on mission trips or during the infamous lock-in (ugh, I just got chills), but the youth intern should pretty much kiss any hopes of sleep goodbye! The more you try the less you will get.

Instead of sleeping the youth intern should be prepared to deal with; sick students, missing students, students angry with you, students angry with Josh, students angry with each other, students sneaking off to make-out, home-sick students and various prayer opportunities and crisis defusing situations. Oh wait! And my favorite, youth leaders angry at other youth leaders. Don't worry it will all end in "cry night" at the end of the week where everything is made right.

2. Becomes the extra brain
- Admittedly the youth intern shares this task with the youth pastor's wife. But whenever Josh can't find or remember something the youth intern better be ready to make up an answer... I mean have a solution!

1. Cheerleads
-"What!? You got a B- on you math finale? Ahhhh! That's awesome!"
"What!? That girl you like said yes when you asked her out? Ahhhh! That's awesome!"
"What!? You won your basketball game? Ahhhh! That's awesome!"
"What Josh!? You have lessons ready for two weeks in a row!? Ahhhh! That's awesome!"
You get the picture.

Okay, that is my list. Please take a moment to go hug a youth intern, youth worker or youth pastor. Trust me, they need it.

What do you think a youth intern or a youth pastor needs to be prepared for?

A funny thing happened...

A funny thing happened at the bookstore the other day.

Some friends and I were hanging at a Christian bookstore (because that is what all the cool kids are doing) when we notice a disturbing amount of what I can only call, “theme bibles”.

First it was, The Woman’s Bible which I assume has more than two books in it named after women. The books of Esther, Ruth, Mary and Elizabeth.

The Men’s Bible, which I would guess smells like motor oil and contains the prophet Samuel’s secret recipe for BBQ sauce.

The Children’s Bible, I know this one, it has a blue eyed Precious Moments Jesus in it. I had that Bible as a kid.

These Bibles seemed odd to me (isn’t the Bible the same for everyone?), but then things got really weird. We found the following Bibles:

The Fireman’s Bible which I would guess puts a new spin on the fire and brimstone type passages.

The Nurse’s Bible which reminds nurses not everyone can heal the blind, but they can try.

I know I must have driven my friends crazy. I kept pulling out Bibles and saying things like, “Oh. My. Gosh. Look at this one. I don’t understand.” Obviously, it had been too long since I’d been in a Christian bookstore and my friends probably won’t take me out in public for a while.

My favorite might have been The Sportsman’s Bible which clearly must teach you how to extinguish the fiery darts of the wicked one and bag a four point deer.

Don’t even get me started on the comic book Bible.

I grew up reading the good old New King James Version of the Bible.

Most of my Bible memorization was done in the NKJV or the King James version (Yay! AWANAs in the 1990s). I like the NKJV, I think it is majestic and graceful in its own right, but when I first dived into the Word of God in the New Living Translation things changed.

It was 2006 at the Passion Conference in Nashville, TN – alone in my hotel room reading from my brand new- compact-two-toned blue-NLT Bible. I was reading a familiar passage in Psalms and tears started rolling down my face. I had never read the Bible like someone was writing it just for me. I’ve been hooked on the NLT ever since.

All of that to say I understand finding a Bible version that speaks to you… I have come to love NASB and ECV. I love reading a passage and then rereading it in a different translation. However, all of that is different than the making the Bible a tend. You know what I mean, you've seen them in you local buy-a-Bible store “Bible for Graduates” or “The Drag Racer’s Bible” (okay, I made that one up).

I guess the problem I have is with people selling the word of God. People advertising, marketing and making it sexy or more interesting. This is the Word of God! It doesn't need to be dressed up or pimped out.

If you are reading this and love your “Bible for New Mothers” I’m not trying to get on to you. However, while walking around the book store it seemed to me, the whole spicing up the Bible and giving it themes was done to make money, not to actually help the sportsman get into the Word of God.

I don’t like seeing the Bible fall prey to branding games. In the end though, if someone has a friend who is a nurse and gives her The Nurse’s Bible and she actually reads it because of that, then I’m happy for her. And maybe when they make a movie lover’s Bible or something that appeals to me I’ll change my tune…. But I doubt it.

When music tells you what you are thinking

Sometimes when things are a regular part of my life I assume they are a regular part of other peoples' lives as well. I could be wrong though, I could be like those people who see letters in specific colors and for years don’t realize that most people don’t see letters in specific colors, we just see them the regular boring way. Uh… yeah, that was a real relatable example.

In any case, I have no idea if this happens to anyone else, but sometimes I’ll be listening to (or more likely singing along with) a song and I’ll have to stop and think about what I just sang. Suddenly, it is like the lyrics of the song have just told me what I really think about something.

For example, over a year ago I was struggling with the idea of leaving my home church of the past 10 something years. I loved it there and was miserable there at the same time. I didn’t know if I really wanted to leave or not, or if God wanted me to stay or go.

Then I started singing along in my car (which is where most of my awesome singing goes down) to a *Lenka song and I realized everything I was singing I was directing towards my church. That probably sounds really strange seeing as the song is about a breakup… but hey, true story.

It was seriously like Lenka had crawled into my head, figured out how I really felt about the situation, wrote this song, put it on a CD and made sure I listened to it. But let’s be real, Lenka is awesome, but she’s not omnipotent.

God is omnipotent. I’m not saying God had some Australian songwriter write a song just for me, but I do believe God uses all kinds of things to talk to us and get our attention. I have a friend who told me once that every time she saw little yellow flowers God was telling her, “I love you”. Little yellow flowers are pretty, but they don't mean that much to me, but they meant something to her. In my case, as many times in my life, God used a song— a secular song even, to talk to me. (Actually, He uses Lenka songs with me often, her love song “Don’t let me fall” turns into a worship song/prayer every time I hear it).

Not that I didn't spend a LOT of time praying about my decision to leave my church, I did. But that song really opened my eyes to how I felt and what steps needed to be taken. God is so amazing I love that He speaks to me in my language.

Whether it is Mumford & Sons, Florence + The Machine or some good old David Crowder Band, music seems to be something God uses to talk to me. It this just me? Do songs ever tell you things about yourself you weren’t expecting?

I can’t be the only one this happens to, I don’t think it is like those lucky synesthetes, it think this must happen to lots of other people too. Or maybe it is something else God uses in your life. Whatever it is that God uses to speak to you I’d love to hear about it! Leave me a comment. I'd love to hear what God uses to reach out and talks to you.

Edit: * For those of you who have asked (no one asked), this is the Lenka song I sang about my church. Take it with a grain of salt, it wasn't a perfect comparison, but it made me realize what I already knew. 

Say what?

The other day, week, time... (so that no one can guess what event I'm talking about... yeah that will work) I was with a group of people praying and I kept being really amazed by what I heard.

Not amazed in a good way like, "Meagan, congratulations you won a trip to the Grammys!", but amazed in a bad way like, "Did you know that there are over 360 calories in one Starbucks muffin?"

I kept thinking, what are these people doing? Why would they pray that?! In fact, in my head, I kept saying, "No God, no. Don't do that." or "Disregard that one too!" This brought on a full-fledged prayer crisis moment. My thoughts went something like this:

If one person prays one thing, and then someone else prays against it (someone being me!) do the two prayers cancel each other out?

Does the prayer of the stronger Christian trump that of the weaker?

Who decides who is the weaker Christian?

I'm I comparing my faith to others' now?

Yes, I am. That's a real bad idea, I should stop that.

Okay, but if someone prays something so obviously wrong, God must ignore it anyway, right?

Do I ever pray things that are so obviously wrong?

Should I do the opposite of a prayer recognizer and instead of saying, "yes, Lord" out loud to this prayer should I say, "I rebuke that!"

If I did say, "I rebuke that!" would the older people in this group think I'm a disrespectful young person?

Am I going to have to whip out some 1 Timothy 4:12?

If I'm almost 30 am I even counted as a "young person" anymore?

Who really says, "I rebuke that!"

When it is my turn to pray I better make it good to make up for these other prayers.

Wait... is it my turn to pray?

In the end I didn't say anything about it. During the prayer time or after. But it did make me think about the things that we pray and how glad I am that God is far, far wiser then I am.

All of us probably have had times when we pray out of misguided beliefs, out of fear of man or out of doubt. Do these prayers just go unheard? Do they just drift through space without God paying them any heed because we aren't praying according to God's will? Absolutely not.

Even in those times when we pray things that maybe we shouldn't pray, God hears us. And guess what? It is even better than that. It isn't that God just hears these misguided prayers shakes His head and thinks, "Oh, there they go again" and does nothing. He knows what we should be praying and answers us accordingly!

"Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groaning too deep for words. And He who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose." Romans 8:26-28

There is no reason for me to tell God to disregard what someone else said. No reason for someone to fear the words that are spoken over them. No reason for me to think my prayer got trumped or that if we pray wrong God doesn't hear us.

The Holy Spirit who lives inside His people intercedes for us according to the will of God! This also gives me hope for those times when I have no words to pray at all. The Holy Spirit intercedes for us with groaning that are too deep for words!

I love God. He has thought of everything. He has covered all the bases, so even when we mess up, in Him, we still win.

What kind of prayer are you?

Recently I've been in several different places where we have prayed as a group. I really love that. Personal, private prayer time is wonderful, but praying with other believers is so encouraging. During these times of prayer though, I have noticed there are a handful of kind of prayers (as in pray-ers, people who pray). Most people fall into at least one of these groups; I have listed 7 kinds of prayer warriors that I've seen throughout my years in churches, Bible studies, and prayer groups. Is this a definitive list. Nope. It it completely accurate. Uh, no I just made it up. But maybe you can find a little of yourself on this list. I know where I am.

1) The person who doesn't pray out loud.
Some people don't like to pray out loud, which I think is perfectly acceptable. I mean we are praying to God and He doesn't need us to pray out loud. Besides the Bible warns us about using prayer for attention. Not praying out loud is a pretty safe bet against praying just so others can hear how masterfully you weave scripture into your prayer or how many beautiful Christian phrases you can use like, "traveling mercies", "please lead, guide, and direct", "hide me behind the cross" or the one I use the most, "put a hedge of protection around..." (because you know satan is really afraid of shrubbery). Yeah, so if you don't want to pray out loud, I'm not going to make you (though if no one does, it makes the prayer time... awkward). Maybe you could just be the next person on the list.

2) The prayer recognizer.
If you are doing any kind of pray around the circle or *popcorn prayer you really want at least one prayer recognizer. This is the person who says, "amen", "yes Lord" and other generally encouraging phrases and sounds as someone else prays out loud. I know this is wrong, and I'm putting myself out there saying this, but am I the only one who ever judges how good a prayer is by how many people "amen" during it? Yes! 5 amens and a hallelujah! I. Am. On. Fire!

3) The metaphorical prayer/the long prayer
This person is of the "more is better" philosophy. Their prayers last at least twice as long as everyone elses' prayers and are usually really pretty. They use words like, "propitiation" and "equivocation" and very often use metaphors in their prayers. "Like a child climbs up on it's fathers lap so we come to You". While these prayers can seem to *ahem* drag on I usually like them because I'm a picture person and they paint pictures. (Okay, okay I admit I've never heard a prayer with the word, "equivocation" in it).

4) The short and sweet
To explain this kind of prayer I'd like to just give an example. It goes something like this, "Dear Lord, you know all our needs and we place them in Your hands. Please continue to lead us to You." Boom! Done and done. And good! Trust God to do what He does. Can't argue with that. It is nice when this person sits next to #3.

5) The emotional prayer
This is the person who can barely make it through their prayer because they start to choke up. Or maybe they pray through the whole prayer just fine, but talk in "cry voice". I'm not saying that I am this person... but I am. I have little to no control over "cry voice", grrrr. However, (and the emotional prayer isn't necessarily going for this) this person often works very well with the prayer recognizer. Crying brings on the "yes, lord!", it just does.

6) The preachy prayer
This is the only one on the list that actually bugs me. I'm fine with a good sermon. And I'm fine with a good prayer. But don't give me a sermon prayer. You know what I mean, right? The person who takes it upon themselves to teach or preach to the people listening to them pray. They say things like, "because it is the child's duty to obey their parents, this is the kind of person the Lord wants you to be" or "remember that God rejects the proud and blesses the humble". I'm always like, wait... who are you talking to here? Cuz I thought you were talking to God and I think He knows this stuff already. *sigh*

7) The scripture prayer
This person is kinda the bomb-diggity. They usually pray with lots of spirit and talk louder and faster the longer the prayer goes on. They use some of their own words but mostly stick to praying straight out of God's word. I love this, as long as they are doing it to pray the authority of scripture and not to show off how much Bible they have memorized from their years in AWANA or Bible Drill or seminary or something.


Okay, this is the short list. I can think of a few other kind of prayers, but I'll stop while you might still be reading. What do you think? Are you on here? What other kinds of people should make the list? Tell me what you think.


*Popcorn prayer: This is where you just "pop in" when you want to pray, this is the less formal and more "spirit-lead" version of the pray around in a circle... but can be awkward when more than one person starts a prayer at the same time. (One at a time people, one at a time! That way God can make out what you're saying!)

Car Music

When driving in the car my music is always on, always. If there is silence in my car it freaks me out a little bit (we won’t go in to what that may say about me). Because of this, I often think of what music I want to have playing when someone else gets in the car with me. What will be the soundtrack for our drive together?

So when getting in to someone else’s vehicle; to go get coffee or to go out shopping or to go see Thor (cha-ching!), I’m very aware of what music they were listening to before I climbed in. I think I can tell in approximately 1.5 seconds if they are listening to Christian or “secular” music.

With that in mind I made a list of some quick and easy questions to ask yourself so you can swiftly know what kind of music you are listening to:

*ahem*

Is there a non-electric guitar solo? Heavy chimes? Or prominent use of “shakers” as a percussion interment? Christian music. Chris Tomlin? Is that you?

Does the song start with or contain at anytime someone rapping/singing the name of who is performing the song? Secular music.

Is the main singer being backed up by a vocalist of the opposite gender? Possibly with a lot of echoing going on? Christian music.

If it is a female singer, does she have any rasp to her voice at all? Yes? Secular music.

If it is a male singer does the song start out with guitar music and then the guy comes in sounding like he is singing with his eyes tightly closed? Christian music… most likely Casting Crowns. In fact I’m going to guess it is “Glorious Day”.

Did this song just use the word “tail” or the phrase “shake it”? Secular music… or Family Force 5.

Does the rock song’s high point make it hard to hear the vocals over the electric guitar and/or drums? Christian rock.

Does the song use a lot of synthesized sounding instruments, a heavy electric bass opening or just random layers of sound? Secular. In fact you are most likely hearing the local “Top 40” station. Keep listening because any minute “key dollar sign ha” will be coming on (that’s Ke$ha… and a Glee joke).

Does the music sound like it was recorded with a reverb? In a large room? Or with multiple people singing along? Christian worship music.

Is there a heavy dance drum/bass beat with various other repetitive sounds? Do you feel like you should drop it like it is hot? Secular. My guess is your friend has their Gaga going or you are listening to the Black Eyed Peas.

This one is a little risky, but if you want to make a very fast guess and it is a female singing. Soprano? Christian music. Alto? Secular music.

And finally, does your friend quickly change or turn down the music when you get in the car? Secular music. Probably something embarrassing like Pitbull or Britney Spears.

You think I’m joking, but try these out, you’ll be right more often than not. Wow… I have sudden urge to make a Casting Crowns/Lady Gaga mix… Anyway, I personally like to stick a little Mumford and Sons in when I have people traveling with me. That’ll confuse ‘em!

What music do you like to listen too with you friends in the car?

The End Of The World

So my twitter and Tumblr feeds are already being filled with Rapture jokes. Because, you know, there is little funnier than the end of the world!

One of my favorite quips is the suggestion to get Chick-Fil-A today since all its workers will be Raptured tomorrow. And I love the idea I got from Tumblr of leaving a pair of shoes somewhere with some dry ice in them (he he). Also, my favorite shoe brand is having an "End of the World" sale, because you should look good if the end is coming.

I’m ignoring the comments about how the world would be a better place if all the Christians were indeed Raptured (hurtful!).

I have to say with all this, I am really looking forward to all the Jesus Jukes that are coming. I mean, when Osama was killed it started a fierce Twitter debate over how Christians should respond, accompanied by Bible verses and fake quotes from famous dead people. I anticipate to no less from Rapture Day 2011.

So in preparation for the expected world’s end (man, I thought that was going down in 2012) I have made a few lists. One list is just for me and contains things I need to do before the twinkling of an eye. Included are things like: Make sure I’m caught up on “The Big Bang Theory” (the show, not the actually theory), clean my room (I’d hate to leave a mess behind) and find a heathen to take care of my dog (unless it is true that all dogs go to heaven).

However, the list I’d like to share with all of you is my predictions for what will be the most popular tweets/Facebook statuses tomorrow. Here we go:

Verses:
- Matthew 24:36 “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.”

- 1 Thessalonians 5:2 “For you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.”

- 2 Peter 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up."

Fake Quotes:
- “The reports of my Rapture are greatly exaggerated" – Mark Twain

- “Apparently there is nothing that cannot happen today, besides the Rapture.” – Mark Twain

- “I submit to you that if a man hasn't discovered something that he will die for, he isn't fit to be Raptured.” - Martin Luther King, Jr.

Okay, yeah… so I may tweet some of those myself.

Meanwhile, on Sunday morning when we are all still here and sitting in church I sincerely hope some pastor out there makes a joke about how not as many people as expected were taken and what a bummer it is that his whole church is still here (that guy would be hilarious). Then someone can live Jesus Juke him with Matthew 24:36.

What will your Facebook status be?