ken castor

Spark* next week

February 11 is soon approaching! We're excited for the first Spark* Youth Workers Conference at Crown College. I'm looking forward to interacting with our guests and being encouraged by their passion for the next generation. Please register right now so that we can plan a full lunch for you! Just $19 gives you the opportunity to hear from some cutting-edge youth ministry leaders, gain relevant training in high-quality and workshops, and of course eat some good food! Here's a sneak peak (again!):

Warm-hearted Warriors: Raising Boys to Know God

 

 My sons run. They jump too. And wrestle. They play super-hero games, fighting injustice with mighty powers. They laugh with their bellies, cry with their lungs, and smile with their entire soul. They swoon for girls and stand-up for their Mom. Something as simple as a marker can create artful hunter-styled masterpieces on their faces. Something as valuable as time from their Dad can create heart-full adoration in their souls.

Boys love life with innate zeal. They long for maximum joy. Throwing a rock in the river can be the epitome of adventure. Even reading a book can be a fraternal celebration of happiness and companionship.

But all across North America the delight of boyhood is discouraged in our churches. Countless young men have given up on God at a young age. They have found in our modern religion the killer of their appetite. Emotionless fellowships have frustrated many of our starving warriors. By repelling their hearts, we have lost thousands, if not millions of men. We have isolated their minds from their souls. We have taught them church data but failed to teach them passionate biblical faith. A warrior will not serve someone who does not inspire him. And, unless dramatic action is taken, the transference of faith to successive generations will be halted in defeat.

Our boys need a warrior environment. Our warm-hearted soldiers will grow to serve God if we enable them to continue craving life. One day, armed with authentic love, these warm-hearted warriors could engage this entire world with transformational power. Imagine an army raised up around this planet passionately and unswervingly committed to the cause of peace and life, relief and restoration, joy and confidence.

Here's how it could happen:

• PLAY HARD WITH YOUR SONS: It is vital that we make our families and churches houses of fun. When a boy thinks of their home or their church, let them be excited! Nothing pushes away our youth more than to suck the life out of the adventure of knowing God.

• PRAY STRONG WITH YOUR SONS: Essential to the commitment of every warrior is the inspiration of their commander. A warrior will follow the leader who connects with them in the deepest place of their soul. We must teach our boys a life of action-talk with God. A warrior who knows and trusts God as their leader will follow him to the ends of the earth.

• STAY LONG WITH YOUR SONS: When a parent or mentor abandons a boy, the warrior's heart turns cold. Too many boys are being taught to plunder and pillage because too many of us are injuring their hearts. If we truly want to grow warm-hearted warriors we need more people in our families and churches to give long-term commitment to our sons.  

Let's do this together. Let's raise our boys to actively know a God who cares for them, who leads them with faithfulness and inspiration, who gives them courage and strength to face any foe. Let's raise warm-hearted and warrior-spirited boys by raising them with a playful, prayerful, faithful life.

Generational Transference: It's a Two Way Street

The following article on Generational Transference was written by Jason Ostrander for Envision Culture. Good words!!

Go to article: http://www.alliancelife.org/article.php?id=674

GENERATIONAL TRANSFERENCE

It’s a two-way street

By Jason Ostrander

The role of Envision Culture in the C&MA is to mobilize the next generation for Kingdom change. Members of the Millennial Generation—those who are 18–30 years old (or who just think they are!)—desire very much to see change. Whereas Baby Boomers are motivated under the mantra of “serve the world,” the Millennials’ mantra is “change the world.”

This presents the Church with an opportunity that is dangerous, not only if we ignore the mindset, vision and dreams of the next generation but also if we focus too much on these aspirations. Ultimately, what needs to happen is transference—our denomination being handed from one generation to the next in a biblical manner.

We want this to happen in the way that Moses transferred leadership to Joshua. In that process, the younger man understood that for any generation’s vision to be fulfilled, its mem... {Go to article: http://www.alliancelife.org/article.php?id=674}

 

Books for Spiritual & Leadership Development course

You might be interested in the text books I use for my section of the Spiritual & Leadership Development course at Crown (Dr. Glenn Meyers teaches the other section).  I find limiting the book selection to be a difficult task because there are so many life-changing, formative works that have been written throughout the centuries.  The following, however, serve as either required primary textbooks or secondary reference/content materials:

Primary Sources:

The Pursuit of God: The Human Thirst for the Divine ~ by A.W. Tozer.  "Faith is the gaze of the soul upon a saving God," Tozer wrote. To encourage that gaze, students write a reflective journal/prayer from a chapter a week.

The Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth ~ by Richard Foster.  Students use this book as a guide for learning and practicing spiritual disciplines throughout the semester such as prayer, solitude, worship, and, believe it or not, celebration. 

A Tale of Three Kings: A Study in Brokenness ~ by Gene Edwards.  One of the most interesting little books I've ever read, A Tale of Three Kings embodies many of the spiritual and leadership themes from our course.

In the Name of Jesus: Reflections on Christian Leadership ~ by Henri Nouwen.  No Christian who has a role of leadership should make one more decision without wrestling with this book.  The temptations for power and relevance and glamour are too great... even in the Church.

Secondary Sources:  A litany of other books serve as resources for our course content throughout the semester.  Some of the more resourceful include: The Imitation of Christ by Thomas a' Kempis, The Contemplative Pastor: Returning to the Art of Spiritual Direction by Eugene Peterson, A Grief Observed by C.S. Lewis, The Proslogion by Anselm of Cantebury, From Brokenness to Community by Jean Vanier, and Jesus on Leadership: Discovering the Secrets of Servant Leadership From the Life of Christ by C. Gene Wilkes

 

Books for Ministry in a Pluralistic Society course

You might be interested in the text books for our Ministry in a Pluralistic Society course at Crown.  The course will run as an 8 day intensive "block" for students who are preparing for their 5.5 month internship experiences.  The intensive nature of the course means that we can dig hard into a couple of textbooks, and then make reference of others in seminars and discussions.  (*The course also has built-in substantial field-observation and other active-learning assignments.  This course was a gem last year... hoping it will be that way this coming January once again.)

PRIMARY RESOURCES:

The Gospel in a Pluralist Society ~ by Leslie Newbigin.  This book is a vocabularists dream... and it serves as the bulk of journal reflections for our block environment.  Each day the students will wrestle with the issues of integrity, truth, culture, pluralism, relativism and motivation that are presented so eloquently in this book.

Cultural Intelligence: Improving Your CQ to Engage Our Multicultural World (Youth, Family, and Culture) ~ by David Livermore.  I'd be remiss if I didn't stress the importance of Cultural Intelligence to the future of missions, evangelism and discipleship work.  No longer can Christians be (and we never should have been in the first place) ignorant or arrogant concerning people in this world.  A true love for this cosmos would neither take for granted nor discredit the experiences and characteristics that make-up a person's identity.  Instead, in our desire to love others we should work tirelessly on our ability to actually love them.

 

SECONDARY RESOURCES: None of the following texts are required for the course, but they either provide some direct material for course content, or they serve as direct influences on the course outcomes.

Christ and Culture (Torchbooks) ~ by Richard Niebuhr.  The argument structure of this book is often used as the framework for discussions concerning Christian interaction with culture.

Transforming Worldviews: An Anthropological Understanding of How People Change ~ by Paul Hiebert.  Hiebert offers fantastic study and theory about how appropriately added data can change perceptions and constructs of reality.

Coaching 101: Discover the Power of Coaching ~ by Robert E. Logan and Sherilyn Carlton.  I was personally impacted by this book while going through CoachNet training with the North American Baptist Conference of Churches in Canada.  I wish someone in my early days of ministry had exposed me to these concepts of "Active Listening"... I wouldn't have flung myself so arrogantly and regretfully into many conversations. 

The Human Experience ~ DVD documentary by Grassroots Films.  This beautiful and moving documentary (not "Christian") serves as an introduction to differing experiences and paradigms that exist in our world today.  We can't assume that just because we view life/faith/world through our __(fill in the blank)__ lens that others from completely different backgrounds/languages/cultures/experiences will see things the same way we do.

Christianity Rediscovered ~ by Vincent Donovan.  This book tells the dramatic story of a Catholic missionary to the Masai... It wasn't until Donovan discovered humility, community and a deeply rooted appreciation for the people and culture of the Masai that he felt he discovered Jesus personally.  And until that moment, he realized he didn't have much to share.

Missionary Methods: St. Paul's or Ours, A Study of the Church in the Four Provinces ~ by Roland Allen.  This book examines our patterns of ministry against the approaches of the earliest church movements.  This is a powerful reminder, again, to not grow arrogant in our methodologies, as if we have evolved to be the fittest missionaries in history.  Perhaps we can learn something by remembering what made mission in the 1st century so effective?

The Forgotten Ways: Reactivating the Missional Church ~ Alan Hirsch.  I would like to humbly state that we drew up the model for Hub in Calgary as this book was being printed... so I realize that once again someone else came up with my brilliant ideas.  :)  I especially love the hub and nodes network discussions (the diagram on p.204 looks remarkably similar to the Romans 16 network I've been drawing for the last 7 years or so)... and I have to admire that Hirsch does a much more thorough job at explaining networked/partnered ministry.

The Celtic Way of Evangelism, Tenth Anniversary Edition: How Christianity Can Reach the West . . .Again ~ by George Hunter III.  Only a few books outside the Bible have impacted me as profoundly as this one has.  My developing approaches toward partnership and creative initiatives in mission were both affirmed and enhanced through this introspection of St. Patrick's way of ministry.  Rarely a week goes by that this book doesn't pop up my conversations about the activity of the Church.

present-ing himself

Here is Jesus presenting himself to Thomas, the doubting disciple.  Gently, patiently, invitingly.  Jesus gives Thomas a moment to take him in.  Nail scars still there, not fixed, not restored, forever wounded.  Spear piercing in his side- the reminder of that horrible Friday- the vividness of human sin crucifying the Savior.  It had really happened.  And now Jesus, the nail-scarred leader, invites Thomas, the doubter, to draw near.  (I wonder sometimes if perhaps Jesus might have even worn an encouraging "come-on-it's-okay" smile.)

Thomas must have shamefully stared at Jesus... who had most likely put out his hands, stuck out a foot or two, and gestured toward his side.  "Go ahead, Thomas, put your hand in them," says the Leader of the Universe.  "Prove to yourself that I AM alive.  Let the testimony of my scars speak forever."  Thomas must have been moved to the core of his soul... Imagine seeing those visible wounds- purposefully unhealed- on the most powerful human who was or is or who will be.

The humility of the resurrected Jesus strikes me perhaps more than anything else about him.  Here is Jesus gently appearing to grieving women in the garden.  Here is Jesus making breakfast on the shore for his disciples... serving them fresh fish over a fire.  Here is Jesus eating a humble meal in Emmaus with two no-named men - who, by the way, didn't even realize who he was.  Here is Jesus restoring the love of Peter.   Here is Jesus presenting himself to only a select number of people, instead of rubbing his presence in the face of his killers.  He didn't mock the Sadducees who sentenced him to death- and who rejected the idea of a resurrected body.  He didn't spit on the soldiers who spit on him.  He didn't turn on the crowds who had turned on him.  He didn't seek revenge on Barabbas.  He didn't massacre Herod's family... or beam himself to the throne room of Rome to make Caesar wet his pants.  Here is the King of kings and Lord of Lords, the Great I AM, friend.  Here is Jesus, the Lamb of God.

Who could possibly be a greater leader than the resurrected Jesus?  He conquered death!  What more could a person do?  Jesus was the essence of brilliance and glory.  Splendor was his.  The sound of his resurrected voice alone could have blown like a nuclear blast.  One wave of his arm could have forced everyone to their knees.  And yet, here is Jesus presenting himself to Thomas, the doubting disciple.

(See John 20:24-29)

The Pursuit of Youth Ministry

This graphic is basically the outline for my "Introduction to Youth and Family Ministry" course at Crown College this fall.  It's a work in progress (and the 50+ students who took the course last year have helped me improve it a bit for this year)... and I'm fairly happy with this current diagram.  What do you think? 

Next Gen Mentoring at Church of the Open Door

One of my highlights of this last year was a Wednesday night visit at the beginning of May to the next generation ministry of Church of the Open Door in Maple Grove, MN.   For the last number of years I have been searching for communities that understand and practice a concept that I call "Generational Transference".  This is a huge need.  Many of our generations are better at keeping church for themselves than sharing the onus and direction and embrace of church with others.  Segmentation models of the generations can be anti-biblical in my opinion as they can tend to reinforce a consumeristic paradigm of what is supposed to be the united and sacrificial body of Christ (See Dt 6; Mt 18)

It takes courage and endurance for a church community to actually believe in the biblical idea of transfering faith and leadership to the next generation... Investment comes with a cost... and to purposefully mentor 150+ youth means that 150+ "adults" need to give up their time, energy and emotions in order to equip and encourage a teenager.  This is much bigger and better than the traditional "super-hero youth pastor" model... partially because it is much harder and more enduring.  Thank you Open Door for taking the lead in this!!   I saw among you a Psalm 78 movement, complete with intentionality of mission and an environment of encouragement.  [Thanks go to Crown student Josh Morneau and Next-Gen director Stefan Van Voorst for the invite and the post-mentoring food.]  Check out this video to learn more...

What Makes a Christian

What is required in order for someone to be a Christian?  Is it a prayer?  Is it a certain doctrinal statement?   Is it a particular church?  Is it a particular strain of practice?  Is it being good?  What makes a Christian?

This morning, while studying the Bible with our Social Justice students at Crown (see chalk art above), I wrestled with what God wants from people that call God theirs.  We looked at these two passages:

• Micah 6:8 - He has shown you, O Man, what is good.  And what does the Lord requires of you? To ACT JUSTLY and to LOVE MERCY and to WALK HUMBLY WITH YOUR GOD.

• Mark 12:29-31 - "The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.  LOVE THE LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.'  The second is this: 'LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR as yourself.'  There is no commandment greater than these."

With these words in mind, we searched for God's heart.  I became convicted that a true Christian is someone who follows the LAW of God.  The Christian life is not a list of commands, not a rule-book, not a set of bylaws.  The Christian life involves the personal, practical implementation of God's commands.  Namely, God wants his people to follow his LAW.  God wants people to LOVE, ACT, and WALK.  A follower of God is supposed to love the One True God with all their being, to act genuinely-altruistically towards others, and to walk in humility in a living relationship with God.  Inherent to the Christian life is a posture of obedience, a gospel of response, and an intimacy of theological practice. 

In Micah 6, those who have identified themselves as God's people actually stand judged before God.  They are arrogant in their religious practices and passive in their response to injustice.  God doesn't want their inherited religious practices.  God wants something other the doctrine and location and words of these religious people (identified in a personal, collective sweep as "Man").  He doesn't want their arrogant sacrifices.  God wants them to follow His LAW.  If they don't, they stand judged.  Their injustice demands justice from the hands of God, even if they cry "Lord, Lord" (see Matthew 25).

In Mark 12, those who have identified themselves as God's people are infighting about doctrines and debates and end times and conjectural specifics of eternal existences (I know!).  Each particular sub group of the religious culture considers itself better than the others, more right than the others, more close to the right hand of God in the Kingdom.  They fight over who holds the truth and who stands condemned and who is the heretic.  Some reject Scriptural teachings and some place a stranglehold on Scriptural teachings.  And Jesus isn't impressed.  He doesn't want their arrogant sacrifices.  Jesus wants them to follow his LAW.  Watch out for the "righteous" who devour the houses of widows, he says.  Instead, Jesus suggests that people should give out of the poverty of their spirit, like the poor widow who gave her only coins to the Lord.  After all, injustice demands justice from the hands of God.

This challenges me.  Am I someone who lives Micah 6:8 and Mark 12:29-31... OR... am I someone who lives the other parts of those chapters?  What should I do right now, today, this week in order to better reflect the LAW of God in my life?  And am I ready to demonstrate God's true LAW living in me?  Am I ready for the impact such a life would have on others?  Or would I honestly rather want people to see my piety instead?

Leading by Being Led

Follow to lead.  Don't lead followers.  Become a follower in order to lead.  Sit on this idea with me for a moment...

Henri Nouwen once wrote: “One of the greatest ironies of the history of Christianity is that its leaders constantly gave in to the temptation of power – political power, military power, economic power, or moral and spiritual power – even though they continued to speak the name of Jesus, who did not cling to his divine power but emptied himself and became as we are.” – Nouwen, Henri.  In the Name of Jesus (Crossroad, 1989), 76.

He suggested that instead of focusing on the power of leadership, followers of Jesus should focus on being led.  (In comes the story of Peter in John 21: “You will be led where you don’t want to go.”)  A Christian is supposed to lead others to Christ, lead in the way of love, lead by example, lead their children, lead the world to peace, lead the world in justice, lead…  But any Christian leadership, at its very core and in its very practice, must be in submission to Jesus.

So, I’m hoping you’ll help me compile a short list of what it might mean to “lead by being led”.  Here’s a start… Thank you for interacting with me on this by adding other key points or key scriptures:

 

~SHORT LIST: LEADING BY BEING LED~

1.     FOLLOW JESUS  (Matt 4:19-20; 8:22; 9:9; Luke 12:26; Heb 12:2)

2.     BE WILLING TO GO WHERE YOU DON’T WANT TO GO (Matt 8:19-20; John 21:18)

3.     DO WHAT JESUS DOES (John 13:14; Phil 2:5; Col 3:12-13)

4.     BECOME A NEIGHBOR IN ORDER TO LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR (Matt 9:10; Luke 10:25-37; John 1:14; 3:16; 13:4-8)

5.     CAST OFF EVERYTHING THAT HINDERS YOU (Luke 9:23; Heb 12:1)