Your First Two Years in Youth Ministry: Where do I Start?

I just started reading, "Your First Two Years in Youth Ministry" and wanted to sum it up chapter by chapter here...I am reading through this book with some other Youth Pastors here in town. It is part of a pilot program we are testing out for Darren. I am very excited about it!

• YM is a very long race and to be successful, it takes a certain amount of discipline much like running a marathon.
• Quick departure in YM often come from inadequate preperation and unrealistic expectations.
• God did not give the Israelites all of the Promised Land in one day. It came over time. I should expect this in YM.

Verses to keep in mind:

• And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. (Hebrews 12:2b)
• But I will not drive them out in a single year, because the land would become desolate and the wild animals would multiply and threaten you. I will drive them out a little at a time until your population has increased enough to take possession of the land. (Exodus 23:29-30)

10 YM Commitments:

1. I will move Slowly.
2. I will regularly check my motives and evaluate my heart. (This has been tough for me lately and I just realized it yesterday. Man, am I a butt sometimes!)
3. I will steer clear of the numbers game.
4. I will not criticize the past.
5. I will avoid the comparison trap.
6. I will focus on priorities. (Oh look, a cloud!)
7. I will pace myself.
8. I will serve. "If you can't serve, you can't lead, at least not as Christ intended."
9. I will be a learner. "All leaders are learners. When a leader stops learning, the leader stops leading."
10. I will peruse contentment.