In order to talk about holiness, we must first have some sort of grasp on what it is and what it means in our life. Here is a nice start to this discussion.

Borrowed from Jim Hampton’s excellent book “Everyday Saint” (look for a review on the blog soon!), here are some definitions of holiness that surfaced in conversation:

Holiness is…

• “to live like Christ - a life of self-sacrificing love.” - Eric, a teenager
• “being baptized by the Holy Spirit, who then lives in our hearts.” - Jazmine, a teenager
• “living together with other Christians as we seek to live out what it means to be part of the Kingdom of God on Earth.” - Rudy, a teenager
• “to be set apart for God and His work, to be cleansed of all sin, to be perfect, and to avoid sin from here on out - but the most fundamental meaning is love.” - Tom, a professor
• “the reflection of God’s own character.” - Wes, a pastor
• “loving God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength and our neighbor as ourselves.” - Deirdre, a pastor
• “the place where love and justice meet.” - Ruth Anne, a professor
• “giving control over every aspect of my life to God and letting Him be in charge. Some people call this ‘dying out to self’.” - Troy, a youth pastor

Do any of these resonate? Are any complete? What would you define holiness as? And what would your students define holiness as?

What does a life of service mean?

In the working world, often people are given awards for certain lengths of “service” to their employer. There are awards for one year, five years, ten years, twenty-five years, and so on. As those periods come up, banquets are held and plaques are given out to employees who have “served” their company. Now, is that really service though? I mean, they did give their time and work to the company, but in return for compensation. Does true service require compensation?

How about a life of service to the Lord?

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This being “Service” month here at the Academy, check out how this youth group is serving Haiti in a fun and creative way!

Christ taught us about compassion when He told the parable of the Good Samaritan: Care for all, no matter who they may be. We are to “go and do likewise” as the Samaritan—caring for all people. We are called to respond when a need arises.

After a devastating earthquake, Haiti faces hardship and destitution; the call has gone out for aid.

The Lifeblood Youth Group and First Church of the Nazarene in Warrensburg, Missouri have taken this call to heart. They have redirected one of their annual events to raise funds for earthquake-ravaged Haiti.

The event is called PONG for Hope: Haiti Edition.

PONG for Hope was born out of the desire of the Lifeblood teens to do something different and more effective to raise money for the Nazarene 30 Hour Famine held in conjunction with World Vision.

Instead of collecting a small amount of pledges from their local church, the youth wanted to do something collect a larger amount of funds from the community, and to attract attention to the issue of world hunger.

That desire spurred on the idea to hold an online fundraiser. People could watch the group do something out of the ordinary for hours on end, and donate money to keep them doing that something for as long as possible. Born out of this creative idea, “PONG for Hope” was created.

If you have not heard of PONG, it was the first commercially successful video game. A simple game, PONG involves two players who bounce a small ball back and forth across the screen, trying to make their opponent miss.

When it was first released, PONG was the hottest video game around. Nowadays, PONG ranks as the one of the most boring games possible.

Imagine having to play PONG for 30 hours straight. The Lifeblood Youth Group did just that in 2009. The group raised $1000 for the Nazarene 30 Hour Famine and awareness of the issue of world hunger. More than 3800 people visited the PONG for Hope site over the 30 hour period.

Now with the need in Haiti, the Lifeblood Youth Group has decided to direct its PONG efforts toward helping meet the tremendous need.

Starting on March 5, 2010, the PONG for Hope: Haiti Edition team will start playing PONG, broadcasting their efforts LIVE on http://www.pongforhope.com. Visitors to the site will be able to watch the players live on their computers, interact with them via a chat room and be able to donate with one click towards the fundraising efforts for Haiti.

All funds collected will be going to the NCM Haiti account to help with the Nazarene relief effort in Haiti.

PONG for Hope: Haiti Edition–Helping Haiti One Point at a Time!

Did you know?

The Youth Ministry Academy has partnered with Continuing Lay Training to provide FREE ( that’s right!) training for all youth workers.  The “Youth Ministry Certificate” program includes 20 module courses created exclusively for the Academy, in addition to the required classes in theology and doctrine. These classes are designed to be self-led or facilitated through a mentoring relationship. Regardless of how you wish to go about learning the material, the cost is still FREE (I can’t say that enough!) for anyone interested. Check out these testimonies from a few who have completed the training:

“Just did the Youth Ministry Academy online course on the Youth Minister’s Relationship with God. AWESOME!!! Thanks so much to everyone that made these courses available!!” - Trena Hoy, Gardner, KS

“My study of the youth lessons is somewhat unique. I am 81, work for Goodwill Industries as a salesman and Spanish-English translator.  Many young people, assigned to do Community Service, where ever a company will use them to help pay for their court case. The way that I come in is that they are assigned to me to help direct them in their community work.  Many of of them are Hispanice and others. I feel that I am given a testimony as I treat them with respect and give them directions with a Christlike spirit. This may not sound like the normal way to testify but at my age, it is a little way to tell others of God’s love.” - Bennie Danner

“I am so excited to tell you that I have had a great success. After taking the Youth Ministry Academy program, I have been able to relate to my neighbor’s teenagers and that alone was a blessing. You see, they both have been a nuisance as far as neighbors go. After taking the course, I was able to communicate more effectively on their personal level. We are now in good standing with respect for each other. Their parents actually wave and say hello after 16 months of living next to them. I was pleased to be able to prompt my niece and nephew to attend my church. I even prompted my nephew to ask his parents if they were christian. He is questioning the fact that they only attend 2 services per year and never openly pray. Not even at meals. I would recommend this course to anyone wanting to expand or strengthen a relationship with the youth, in the church or outside of it. The course can only do you good!” - Tony Law

Go ahead and head to The Discipleship Place, facilitated through Continuing Lay Training, sign up with a username and password, and you’re good to start your Youth Academy Training today!

Let us know what you think! Email us at youthministryacademy@nazarene.org!

Having a Servant Heart

When you think about service, do you imagine an activity that involves a higher class stooping to meet the needs of the lowest social status? If your answer is yes, you have a wrong concept of what service is.

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Family Ministry

by Rev. Monte Cyr

We would all agree that our families are important. Even in today’s world where young people see and hear so much from so many who are trying to influence what they wear, what they do, what they listen to, and what they believe, studies have repeatedly shown that the number one influence in the lives of youth people is their family. God’s intention is that it is to be primarily under the influence of the family that young people’s values are formed, faith is nurtured, priorities are set, unconditional love is received and given, identities are “tried out” and life is practiced, personalities are molded, and life models are watched and imitated. The family is to be the place and the people who help the young ones grow and mature into Christ-like disciples, ready to take their place of leadership in the church and the world.

Of course, as you’ve been reading this and agreeing with what the family is supposed to do, your mind has been filling with the images of the many young people whose families are not what they need to grow up healthy and happy and ready for life. You think of the young person whose father skipped out long ago, and his mother goes from one live-in boyfriend to another. You think of the young lady who has been so emotionally, and maybe even sexually, abused by her parents that she is willing to do about anything just to feel loved and accepted. You think about the young man who ditches classes and spends his time drinking and taking drugs, trying to drown out the feelings of rejection he gets at home. You see face after face of young people who want nothing to do with the church because their experiences in their families are of either loveless legalism or hypocrisy. You think of the many young people who only hear the name of Jesus from their parents as a curse word. This obviously isn’t what God’s plan for the family, and the family’s influence, is supposed to be.

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Reviving the Soul of Youth Ministry

By Mark Hayse

What is the soul of youth ministry? Pizza? Passion? Personality?

How about prayer?

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We introduce a new feature on the blog today. Flavio Barbosa of Brazil offers a more global perspective on our topic of prayer:

The power when youth prays

By Flavio Barbosa

Talking about prayer has become a great challenge nowadays. It seems the youth of today, for the most part, do not pray! Unfortunately this is the reality of the youth in our country and the world. In some research I have done, I saw that the youth of today spends an insignificant time praying, doing so only at meals, in meetings, and when invited.

The reality is that prayer should be practiced, not only by our youth. Pray without ceasing is an order of the Lord (I Thessalonians 5:17). To put it simply, “The more prayer, the more power; less prayer, less power,” said a servant of the Lord who has since gone on to glory.

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7 Ways to Pray Compassionately

1. Bath time: Think Clean Water.

Nearly 1.1 billion people are without access to clean water—that’s more than the combined populations of North America and the European Union. Without access to clean drinking water, children are at a much higher risk for life-threatening diseases like diarrhea, intestinal worms, and cholera.

2. Off to work: Think Child Labor

Circumstances for many children worldwide require them to work to support themselves and their families. These children earn less than $1 a day, if they are even paid at all. Around 176 million children work in ways that are likely harm their health, safety, or moral development—such as bonded labor, slavery, or sexual exploitation.

3. Lunchtime: Think Hungry Kids

McDonald’s serves nearly 50 million people worldwide each day. Three times that number of children go hungry every day, leaving them undernourished, vulnerable to disease, and prone to stunted growth.

4. News Break: Think Education

There are 117 million children worldwide who do not receive a primary level education. Without education, these children are condemned to carry out menial jobs and will struggle to provide for themselves and their families.

5. Heading Home: Think Displaced Children

The number of displaced people in the world has steadily decreased over the last five years, but there are still an estimated 9.25 million children who have been forced by violence or disaster to leave their homes.

6. Visit the Pharmacy: Think Medical Access

2.4 million children die each year from diseases that could be prevented by vaccination. Many children lack access to health care for diarrhea, malaria, and measles simply because they are poor.

7. Bed Time: Think Orphans

The UN children’s agency, UNICEF, reported in 2006 that 143 million children in the developing world are orphans. That is 1 in every 13 children. Still today, 15 million children have been orphaned by HIV/AIDS. That is roughly the total number of children in Germany or the United Kingdom.

*Adapted from “7 Ways to Pray” originally printed in the World Vision Magazine Winter 2006.

“We Are The Branches”

By Brian Woolery

I’ve been thinking a lot recently about the book of John, specifically when Jesus says “Apart from me you can do nothing.” (15:5). Many times I wonder if we show that we trust what Jesus says in that verse by the way we live our lives. Do our daily habits in ministry show that we are trusting fully on the wisdom, power, and discernment of Christ? We want our lives to be used to glorify God and we want to be effective in ministry, but sometimes our desires to do our best for God are actually OUR desires. We have to be honest with ourselves. Is God guiding us or are we working for God but in our own strength? So how do we keep that connection? Prayer.

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