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Introduction 1 BeSt PRactice #1: Nurture Your Own Soul 7 BeSt PRactice #2: Build an Awareness o Gods Active Presence 25 BeSt PRactice #3: Encourage Personal Spiritual Growth 43 BeSt PRactice #4: Foster a Sense o Evangelistic Urgency 67 BeSt PRactice #5: Increase the Congregations Appreciation o Students 91 BeSt PRactice #6: Provide Opportunities or Relationships 107 BeSt PRactice #7: Develop Condent, Competent, and Committed Adult Leaders 129 BeSt PRactice #8: Consistently Value Families 153 BeSt PRactice #9: Create Contextualized Programs and Events 173 Appendix

Nurture Your soul If the leadership of the ministry isnt spiritually healthy, the ministry isnt spiritually healthy. We are not proposing that our pursuit of God should be driven by our desire or healthy youth ministry. We are suggesting that the kind of growth and health and change we want to see in our students can only be brought by Gods Holy Spirit, and an attempt to manufacture this growth by any other means will not work. Sure, by using our bag of tricks, we can provide most of the youth ministrystuff for our teenagers: lessons, retreats, camps, missions, music, and so on. But we cant conjure up true spiritual life change without God. We are at a severe deficit if we try to lead others to spiritual places we are not experiencing ourselves. Its awfully difficult to nurture someone elses soul if your own soul is neglected. Just so you know, were not claiming to have mastered this practice in our own lives. We need encouragement and accountability just like everyone else. We are all on a unique spiritual journey as our stories and Gods story intersect, and we understand that we experience God in unique ways that fit our styles, spiritual giftedness, and personalities. Regardless of the specific spiritual disciplines you practice, there are some big picture principles that may help you nurture your own soul. Before we look at those principles, its important to recognize that the enemy of our soul would like nothing more than to see us ruined. Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking or someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8 NIV ). The Seven Soul Killers: 1. Discontentment: Comparing, always wanting more of what you have, deciding that what you have isnt really what you want, believing the lie that the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence, and so on. 2. Busyness: Overwork, living in a state of frenzy, anxiousness, not taking a day off and similar patterns. 3. Pride: Te Bible has a LOT to say about pride, and none of it is good! 4. Selfishness: The first line of Rick Warrens classic, The Purpose Driven Life, says it well: Its not about you! 5. Entitlement: When you begin to believe that you deserve certain things (such as a certain pay grade or a certain level of respect), you begin to kill your soul 6. Insecurity: Insecurity leads to a lack of confidence, comparing yourself to others, tearing others down to make yourself look better, constantly trying to win the approval of others, and a host of other ugly stuff. 7. Unresolved sin: While this sounds like a catch all category, the truth of the matter is that nothing will eat away at your soul like sin that you have chosen to ignore. We know that a shockingly high percentage of youth workers somehow have allowed the busyness of life and ministry to cause them to neglect some of the most basic and important practices.

Read the Bible Well A while back, I (im) was interviewing or a youth ministry position at a great church. During the interview, someone rom the search team asked me what I was currently reading in the Bible or my personal devotional lie. I proudly shared a ew deeply spiritual comments about my readings in the Gospel according to St. Luke and moved on. Later, someone rom the search team asked about my current teaching topic with my youth group. I proudly shared a ew deeply spiritual comments about my teaching rom the Gospel according to St. Luke and moved on Conused, someone rom the search team asked me what I was currently reading in the Bible or mype rsonal devotional lie. Conused, I proudly shared a ew deeply spiritual comments about my readings in the Gospel according to St. Luke and moved on. Do you see the disconnect? Do you ever struggle with the same thing? You probably spend quite a bit o time in Gods Word, but how much o that time is spent or your own spiritual nurturing? Obviously God can use your lesson prep time to speak into your heart, but you must mke sure you are setting time aside to allow God direct access to your own soul.