5 things I learned at the YM Summit

I know I already posted a recap, but that ended up being pretty general. And I was looking over my notes and I didn't post on any of the great stuff I learned. So here it is, the "what I learned post"

5 things I learned at the YM Summit
1. Our mndis are cazry tihgns. Rcaehersrres at Crmbdigae did a sudty on wrods and ltertes (how pploee raed) and fuond smoe iretnietsng suftf out. We olny need the fsirt and lsat lteter in a wrod to be in the rgiht sopt to raed and usadetnrnd taht wrod. If the rset of the ltteres are meixd up, our biarn wlil sltil cpheormned the wrod. (now tihnk of the acpiaptolin to msitriny wehn Jseuss syas He is the Aphla & Ogmea)

2. Longevity in youth ministry (or ministry in general) does not mean you always have a great place to minister. Longevity is dependant on "You" and how you respond to various ministry situations; good and bad. God calls us to be faithful to Him, not a specific ministry location. (I was reminded that other youth ministers are currently going through what I went through last year. See numerous posts about what happened.)

3. From Les Christie's chapel sermon (on Daniel 1): There is a big difference between drawing a line on personal preferences vs. drawing a line on God's precepts. (Too often we do the former in our ministries and this usually leads to a mess)

4. Also from Les Christie's chapel sermon: "You can't experience the power of God if you don't put yourself in situations where you need it."

5. It is easy to get kids fired up for God, the hard part is to keep the flame burning. (man, that is so true. I think ministers have a tendency to spend most of our time getting the fire started and spend very little time on keeping that fire going. It is just easier, isn't it?)


(here is #1 posted again, spelled correctly)
1. Our minds are crazy things. Researchers at Cambridge did a study on words and letters (how people read) and found some interesting stuff out. We only need the first and last letter in a word to be in the right spot to read and understand that word. If the rest of the letters are mixed up, our brain will still comprehend the word. (now think of the application to ministry when Jesus says He is the Alpha & Omega)