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Controversial Quote of the Day

Last Updated May 11, 2008 by Matt Leave a Comment

I remember reading this, along with a few other provocative quotes, in February over at Inhabitatio Dei. Leave it to Stanley Hauerwas to stir the pot: “How many of you worship in a church that recognizes ‘Mother’s Day’? I am sorry to tell you that your salvation is in doubt.” And, before you accuse Hauerwas […]

Filed Under: Ecclesiology, Theology

Locution, Illocution, Perlocution, and Developmental Psychology: Age-Appropriate Cultural Texts

Last Updated May 6, 2008 by Matt Leave a Comment

More thoughts have been spurred by reading the opening essay by Kevin Vanhoozer in the book he recently edited: Everyday Theology: How to Read Cultural Texts and Interpret Trends. If you are familiar with Vanhoozer, you will know that the orienting metaphor he uses in his thought comes from speech-act theory which declares that when […]

Filed Under: Christianity, Theology, Youth Ministry

Now Reading: Everyday Theology by Kevin Vanhoozer (ed.)

Last Updated April 17, 2008 by Matt 1 Comment

As I said yesterday, I hoped to pick up a good book in the evening, and I did. I’ve been looking forward to reading Everyday Theology since it first came out. I’ve been a fan of Vanhoozer ever since I was introduced to him in Dr. Castleman’s class. I expect this to be a somewhat […]

Filed Under: Books, Theology

More on “Mission Trips”

Last Updated January 19, 2008 by Matt 3 Comments

My last post created a decent amount of discussion. Essentially, my question was, What might be a more theologically accurate name for a missional relationship (as opposed to the typical “mission trip”)? Reminder: these are the (very basic) qualifications for a theologically-grounded missional relationship: Establish ongoing relationships by returning to a particular community rather than […]

Filed Under: Ecclesiology, Theology, Youth Ministry

Mission Trips Suck

Last Updated January 15, 2008 by Matt 13 Comments

(Is it sinful to title something provocatively in hopes that people will read it?) Today in class we talked about mission trips. As tends to happen in seminary classes, we ended up quite critical of popular practice. Thankfully, we moved beyond deconstruction and towards construction of a proper mission trip-ish type experience. Something that tended […]

Filed Under: Seminary, Theology, Youth Ministry

Karl Barth on the Church

Last Updated January 14, 2008 by Matt 1 Comment

… as explained by Andrew Root.  According to Root, in CD 4.3 Barth argues the following about the church: The world would be lost without Jesus Christ. The world would not necessarily be lost without the church. The church would be lost of it had no counterpart in the world. Humbling and thought-provoking. Since I […]

Filed Under: Ecclesiology, Seminary, Theology

Two Quotes…

Last Updated January 13, 2008 by Matt Leave a Comment

… from class this week that have been rolling through my mind (well, they may be close paraphrases, but you get the idea): Our ministries are not ministries to the world, but to God the Father God is not a theologian, but a minister Speaking of class–I was afraid this would happen–my amazon.com wish list […]

Filed Under: Seminary, Theology, Youth Ministry

Discomfort as Normative Ecclesiology

Last Updated January 12, 2008 by Matt 2 Comments

In the class I am currently taking at Luther, we are studying the theology of ministry. More specifically, we are studying the “theology of the cross” as a foundation for ministry. To put it way too simplistically, the theology of the cross is essentially the understanding that the place where God breaks into the world […]

Filed Under: Ecclesiology, Seminary, Theology

Adventures in Seminary

Last Updated January 10, 2008 by Matt Leave a Comment

It has begun. I’m taking my first seminary class at Luther Seminary (where it is currently 34 degrees–fairly mild) called Ministry with Children, Youth, and Family: Theological and Strategic Frameworks (with Andrew Root). Or it could be called Theology for Ministry with Children, Youth, and Families, if that makes more sense. Two of the foundational […]

Filed Under: Seminary, Theology, Youth Ministry

Neo-Youth Ministry Interlude

Last Updated November 16, 2007 by Matt 2 Comments

Sorry to interrupt the regularly-scheduled Neo-Youth Ministry Series programming, but I wanted to address something about the series. You may notice I don’t talk about the Bible much in these posts. There is a reason for that. Quite simply, I’m trying to keep my posts fairly short. I want these to be able to be […]

Filed Under: Christianity, Neo-Youth Ministry, Theology, Youth Ministry

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Best Youth Ministry Books

These are the books that will completely change the way you think about youth ministry, for the better. Links are to my reviews of each book.

Teen 2.0 by Robert Epstein

A psychologist makes you question every assumption you have about adolescence.

Revisiting Relational Youth Ministry by Andrew Root

Why build relationships? Root’s answer will surprise you.

Best Youth Ministry Books: Youth Ministry 3.0 by Mark Ostreicher

Yesterday I finally read Youth Ministry 3.0 by Mark Ostreicher, and since I’m one of the latecomers to the conversation I won’t summarize the book too much. Marko has linked to tons of reviews on his blog if you are interested in more in-depth summaries. If you are fairly in-tune with a lot of the […]

Best Youth Ministry Books: Postmodern Youth Ministry

Postmodern Youth Ministry by Tony Jones is the book I would recommend to youth ministers if they could just read one youth ministry book. I first read the book in my Foundations and Practices of Youth Ministry class at John Brown University. After the preface to the book there is a page titled, “The Day […]

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