Mike King

Free Book Offer... Love, Loss and Life Beyond

From now until May 4, 2012 you can get a free digital book entitled A Mother's Journey of Love, Loss and Life Beyond, on Amazon, Barnes & Noble or Apple.  Let me explain my connection with this book.

Recently, I received an email from Jennifer Scalise, a mother who wanted to share a story with me about her daughter, Brooke.  Just a few weeks after Brooke’s second summer at Youthfront Camp West, while on vacation with her family, she was killed in a negligent accident caused by a tour operator in Costa Rica.  This senseless tragedy became national news.  Ultimately Brooke’s mom wrote a book about her story.  Jennifer has appeared on ABC’s Nightline, Good Morning America, and World News with Diane Sawyer to tell Brooke’s story.

In her book Jennifer describes how their family did not go to church but Brooke had gone to camp (at Youthfront) and had become involved in church.  Brooke had become increasingly vocal about her love for Jesus Christ.  Her mom spoke about how gentle yet consistent Brooke was about her faith in God.  The book chronicles the process of her family’s discovery of Brooke’s deep faith and love for Jesus Christ by reading her Youthfront Camp Journals after her death.  As I read Jennifer’s book A MOTHER’S JOURNEY of Love, Loss and Life Beyond, I found myself moved to tears on more than one occasion. 

The summer that Brooke died was the summer we focused on Jesus’ parables in Luke 15.  It was amazing in the book to see Brooke's own handwritten words in her Youthfront camper manual.  She wrote about her life with Jesus.  She revealed how the parable of the Prodigal Son had impacted her.  In the camper manual we had the picture of Rembrandt's painting of The Return of the Prodigal Son.  Brooke’s mom included this picture in her book and wrote about it, “We found a picture of The Return of the Prodigal Son by Rembrandt, on which Brooke had written “God” with an arrow to the man depicting God and then “me” with an arrow to the son kneeling in front of God. We were shocked Brooke would think this way and would have viewed herself as the child kneeling in front of God.” 

I told Brooke’s mom, “We get to serve thousands of young people and minister to them.  We try to do this with a generous posture that creates space for their humanity.  Too many camps and churches try to force young people into a confining human-created mold when what is really needed is an environment that allows young people to lean into their own God shaped humanity.  Brooke definitely embraced Jesus Christ and allowed her spirit to be set free by God's life-giving spirit.

Brooke’s mom continues, “Much later, a friend looking at the picture discovered something I had missed. Brooke had also drawn and circled a distinctive mark on the back of the head of the son (the person she felt depicted her), a mark in the exact spot and in accurate proportion to what I would later learn was the most severe of Brooke’s injuries, and ultimately, the cause of death. Stunned, I moved in a fog for days after finding this, overwhelmed by the magnitude of what it proved.

This all surprised me. Brooke and I were extremely close. She had always confided in me about everything. Our love was so strong. I have many letters that she wrote to me in which she tells me that I am her best friend and we shared a bond like no other. But, as close as we were, I will admit that I was shocked to find out I was not what mattered most in her life. As we pored through what were now the greatest gifts of my life, I found a sheet that she had filled out at school, titled ‘Explore Your Future.’ Under ‘Who do you look up to?’ Brooke listed God, Jesus, and my parents. Under ‘What is important to you?’ she had written: ‘God, my family, and friends are all important to me.’ Not many 12 year olds would write this on a school worksheet in a public school. Seeing this and the other documents made me realize how her love for God was greater than even her love for me and that she viewed herself as God’s child first. As devastated as I was, it gave me peace knowing Brooke was with who she loved most.”

Brooke’s family is thankful to Youthfront for introducing her into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ.  I am also thankful that Brooke’s story also involves an extension of God’s grace into the life of the entire family.  This happens all the time.  This is our mission and Brooke’s story is one of thousands of beautiful stories of young people transformed by Jesus Christ through Youthfront’s ministries.

Immigrants Need The Church to Stand Up For Them

We hosted around 100 Pastors, Youth Pastors and Ministry leaders yesterday at Youthfront for a focus on Immigration reform.  The event was sponsored by CCDA and featured CCDA's President Noel Castellanos.  Youthfront staff members Kurt Rietema and Amber Booth, along with Mission Adelante staff member Jason Schoff organized this informative event. 

Here is a video of the media coverage of the event.

  "When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God."

Leviticus 19:33-34 ESV

Two Time World Series Champion Jeremy Affeldt and His New Book

On Baseball's Opening Day, Youthfront supporter, friend and associate Jeremy Affeldt releases his first book taking readers off the field and into his life story.  The story of Jeremy’s relationship with our President Mike King and his involvement in our ministry, as well as details of his active participation with Youthfront’s Something to Eat ™ initiative are featured prominently in the book.  Expected to make multiple best-seller lists, this book offers a compelling, page-turning story for all readers.  Another fan of Youthfront and five time Major League All Star, Mike Sweeney says, “Jeremy Affeldt may be a two-time World Series champion and one of the greatest left-handed relievers in major league baseball but that is just the tip of the iceberg as to the man that he is.  As you will read in this book, Jeremy Affeldt is not defined by baseball. He is defined and validated as a child and follower of the most high God.”

Affeldt, pitcher for the San Francisco Giants, tells of the ups and downs of his life and major league career beginning with his childhood spent in a military family, the impact his parents had on his life, and his tumultuous high school years.  Affeldt admits that he was often an uncaring, self-centered athlete who was difficult for his parents and teachers. So much so, that his dad kicked him out of the home on more than one occasion.   Although he attended a Christian school, Jeremy wasn’t buying any of it until a series of events led him to see his need for Christ.

After being kicked out of games and sitting the bench because of his behaviors and his attitude, one of his coaches gave him books on attitude and anger control as well as scriptures that Jeremy read mainly so he wouldn’t have to watch the games from the stands. As the Bible began to come alive for him, he was also influenced by God’s transforming work in the life of another student who had been Jeremy’s archenemy. That was the beginning of Jeremy’s close walk with Christ.

Jeremy Affeldt tells of his opportunities in baseball, his marriage to his high school sweetheart and, of course, his success including two World Series Championships – after many setbacks and injuries – in the major leagues.

The book includes Jeremy Affedlt’s passion for social justice and his humanitarian endeavors as he continues to use his time and finances to do God’s work throughout the world.   Available now, discover the side of Jeremy that thrives off the field; the side that is passionate about freeing the slave, feeding the hungry, giving water to the thirsty and seeking justice for the oppressed.

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Have I succeeded?

This morning I read the following quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson. The question, "Have I succeeded?", caught my attention. Sometimes I ponder the reality that 50 years after I die no one will remember who I am. Not trying to be morbid or depressing, it's just the truth.

Everyone is talking about Abraham Lincoln these days. Lincoln played a prominent role in President Obama's recent Inauguration. Hundreds of books have been written about him and a new one has just been released. Stephen Spielberg's recent movie about Abraham Lincoln will soon be winning multiple Oscars at the upcoming Academy Awards. Abraham Lincoln has been dead for nearly 150 years but almost everybody remembers him. Most would agree that he was a very successful person.

A century and a half years from now no one will remember me. So the question, "Have I succeeded?", caused me to ponder. My heart rate quickened as I read Ralph Waldo Emerson's quote. I felt affirmed with each statement he made. The weakest link for me was the "garden patch" comment but I have done a couple rounds of nurturing a flower garden, so I'll leave that in. Based on Ralph Waldo Emerson's opinion, yes, I think I have succeeded.

"To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded." Ralph Waldo Emerson

HT to MinEmergent for this quote.

How Long Oh Lord?

Yesterday was packed with meetings.  A meeting with an architect, with a pastor, with a publisher, with a friend, with a fellow staff person, back to back to back.  I heard in one of my early meetings about a shooting in Connetticut, but no details.  It wasn't until early afternoon that I became aware of the gravity of this tragedy.  I went into another meeting and avoided the news.  At the end of my day I finally turned on NPR as I drove home.  I could hardly drive as I wept all the way home.  At one point I had to pull off the road.  These children are the age of Lexi, our beautiful granddaughter.  I was just in her kindergarten classroom a couple of weeks ago surrounded by her friends.  How could this happen?  I woke up this morning and the tears are still flowing.  My heart hurts for the children who are dead today; for the parents, grandparents, families and friends who are devastated to the point that life seems unbearable; for the first responders who walked into a kindergarten room full of lifeless children; for all of us who want to be caught up in the hope of an inbreaking future of peace and joy.  My heart hurts.  Death is our enemy.  My friend Tim Suttle asks the question I ask when I'm honest about the reality that while I long for resurrection, restoration and the shalom of God's future this world constantly reminds me of its tragic nature...

How long Oh Lord?

"It takes all of my strength to say this: I refuse to believe that evil wins. I refuse to allow this to breed bitterness in my heart, to make me hate. When I am faced with unspeakable evil I will refuse to lash out, and I will only love, love, love. I will believe that love is stronger than hate. I will continue to hope in the face of evil and it will be my ultimate act of defiance.

So, don’t get used to it.

Don’t become numb to it.

Don’t avoid the pictures and pretend like the world is not coming apart at the seams for these teachers, children, their families, and their community. Never get used to the darkness. “Rage, Rage, Rage, against the dying of the light.” Weep with those who weep, to be sure, but never let evil tempt you to hate. Refuse to let this be one more thing that causes us to lunge at each other’s throats. The most radical thing to do right now is continue to pray and act and think and live in hope. Hug your children. Pray for those who have been ravaged by this madman." Tim Suttle. See more of his thoughts here.

Attention All Youth Workers, You Must See The Perks of Being A Wallflower

Yesterday I saw The Perks of Being A Wallflower.  The movie is based on Stephen Chbosky's novel by the same name.  Charlie (Logan Lerman) is beginning his freshman year carrying the weight of a tragic middle school experience and not expecting high school to be any better, the desire for friends, the hope for a first love, and a dark cloud of emotion over the deaths of a friend and aunt.  Charlie falls into a friendship with a group of seniors who are all dealing with their own issues. 

The cast is wonderful, filled with notable actresses/actors featuring Emma Watson, Ezra Miller, Logan Lerman, Dylan McDermott, Kate Walsh, Mae Whitman, Joan Cusack and Paul Rudd.  Logan Lerman as Charlie makes anyone watching the movie surely remember the awkwardness of coming to age during the adolescent experience. 

So here's the thing, the movie is 102 minutes long and based on the first 90 minutes of the movie I would have recommended the film for youth workers to see because we take our vocation seriously and we want to study culture and the adolescent experience (see trailer below).  However, it is the final approximately 12 minutes that totally rocked me and led me to write this post to encourage all youth workers that this is a must see film.  I don't know if the film touched things deeply personal or if I was just watching this at the right (or wrong) time but the movie reminded me that hope can spring forth even in the midst of our tragic lives.  The Perks of Being a Wallflower also reminded me why I haven't been able to walk away from the vocation of ministry, especially to youth and their families.  I think our youth ministries are filled with the kinds of young people portrayed in this movie.  The movie also demonstrates the importance of caring adults (Paul Rudd as English teacher) in the lives of young people.

I don't believe I've spoiled anything with this post.  I just want you to see it.  Maybe you won't be caught as off guard as I was but if you see it you will thank me.

"We accept the love we think we deserve."

 

What the Heck is LaCygne?

 

If you are attending the National Youth Workers Convention in Dallas you will notice the lanyards with "LaCygne" on them.  You will probably overhear youthworkers talking about LaCygne.  So, what is LaCygne?  Great question, in fact below are links to frequently asked questions about LaCygne.

Please click any question below to see a detailed explanation.  

1) Who or what is LaCygne?

2) What is Youthfront?

3) What does a typical day look like at LaCygne?

4) What are the three daily prayer times?

5) Why are some of the summer sessions for such a wide age range?

6) Is this a good fit for someone as young as 14?

7) My child isn’t part of a group, can she/he still attend a session?

8) Can I bring a group to LaCygne and have our own meetings?

9) How long is a summer session?

10) How do I decide whether to stay in a cabin or camp outside?

11) Why is the price so low compared to other summer opportunities?

12) How does the community at LaCygne ensure the safety of the young people attending?

13) Is there some kind of service component?

14) Do I need spending money at LaCygne?

15) Who is invited to the family session?

If you cannot find what you are looking for, feel free to email us at lacygne@youthfront.com.

 

Pastoral Vocation in Youth Ministry

This is a guest post by Laura Larsen. 

Laura Larsen lives in Kansas City, working for Youthfront and Second Presbyterian Church. Currently a DMin student at Fuller, she would be happy spending every afternoon with students and tweeting from @thelauralarsen. Laura is most spiritually disciplined in the fall when she is busy praying and fasting for her beloved LSU Tigers.

Pastoral Vocation in Youth Ministry by Laura Larsen

Finding out about abuse has always been the worst-case scenario for me. Over my years of youth ministry I have slowly knocked bad situations off my list of tough stuff.  Take a kid to the hospital. Check.  Get in a wreck with students in the bus. Check.  Walk closely with a teen through the death of a parent, ask a volunteer to step away from the ministry, deal with high-schoolers smoking dope on a trip.  Check, check, check.

This summer I came face to face with the toughest situation of all as I sat on the porch of a cabin and listened late one night.  I had been bracing myself for this moment for years – waiting for the day that I would hear about the brokenness of this world invading the life of one I loved so dearly. Our conversation ended much differently than I had always imagined, though. I didn’t make a phone call to CPS or give my senior pastor a general heads up about what was going on.  I didn’t tell anyone; actually, because the story of abuse I heard wasn’t from an adolescent in our ministry, it was from a mom.

For a few years now I have wrestled with my identity as a youth pastor.  So much of my training has insisted that my title is youth pastor – adolescent development articles, social media workshops, YouTube tutorials breaking down the steps to the “Hoedown Throwdown” or “Gangnam style”.   Often the implication seems to be that my role as pastor is secondary to my ability to relate to youth culture.

While the larger conversation often wants me to believe that I am a youth pastor, my experience as taught me the opposite.  In almost all of my most significant ministerial moments, I have acted as youth pastor.  When tragedy strikes a family or a teen admits deep existential doubts, no one seems to care if I know the difference between “LOL” and “YOLO.”   In those moments it matters most that I can extend grace, that I can sit in the sacred silence and listen.  My role as youth pastor is as much about pastor than it is about youth.

The conversation on the porch that night was enough to put me over the edge -- it was a deeply pastoral experience that had almost nothing to do with adolescence.  It pushed me to contemplate which word in my title was more important.  My passion calling to be a youth pastor didn’t change, but the way I approached my vocation experienced a significant shift.

I like to think I am still a pretty hip youth pastor but I now make a concerted effort to spend more time cultivating my pastoral imagination than my youth culture relevance.  I still read a little Epstein and Arnett but mostly I’m soaking in Peterson and Buechner and Nouwen.  The responsibility of my vocation is pastor.  Youth is just a helpful adjective to describe those to whom I pastor.  

Run Home and Take a Bow

Right now is the second best time of the year, if you are a true baseball fan (unless your team is actually playing in the World Series, in which case it's the best time of the year, GO GIANTS).  For most, the best time of the year is Spring Training when all have hope for a future that involves your team winning a World Series pennant. 

My friend, Ethan Bryan, has written a book that captures the hope of Spring Training but deepens this hope for all.  A hope in life and faith that goes way beyond the joy of your team winning the World Series. 

Order the Book

From the Back Cover, "What can baseball teach us about living in the way of Jesus?  Can going to a baseball game be an exercise in spiritual formation?  Run Home & Take a Bow shares twenty insightful stories of the intersection of baseball and faith.  Grab a Dr Pepper and your glove and enjoy the journey."

Here's what people, including me, are saying about Run Home and Take a Bow:

Every baseball fan knows the ballpark invites solitude, contrition, human solidarity, joy, and enlightenment. Sit with baseball contemplative Ethan Bryan as he opens up the simple truth of human living through one season with the Kansas City Royals. Bryan’s heartfelt stories will call you back to the touchstones that give life meaning—faith, family, gratitude, persistence, and play.

Mark Yaconelli
Director of the Center for Engaged Compassion 
Author of Wonder, Fear, and Longing: A Book of Prayers. 

Ethan’s book is as life giving as Opening Day and it’s as sensory as pounding your glove and smelling the leather.  If you are passionate about baseball you will love this book.  If you are not a baseball fan, just a lover of great stories then read this book and you will be inspired, but beware, you might just become a baseball fan.   

Mike King
President of Youthfront
Author and Editor of Immerse Journal 

I'm not a big sports fan, and care little about the K.C. Royals, and I loved this book!  You will too, I'm sure.  Just a few pages in, you just know that Ethan Bryan is a truly good man, a caring dad, a fine writer, and a great storyteller.  His childlike joy in his beloved game is a delight to behold and along the way you will meet some true athletic heros, from Hall of Fame stars to historic sports writers and some memorably diehard fans.  And there is a caste of characters unrelated to the game, from Mike the Theologian and Chick-fil-A Jake to Bryan's sweet baseball-loving daughters, not to mention bunches of Bible guys, drawn vividly from the pages of  Holy Scripture as they are set alongside the boys of summer.  This is light reading that pitches some serious life lessons, is as entertaining as peanuts during the 7th inning stretch and, like a last-ditch homer in the bottom of the 9th, has you on your feet, leaving truly inspired.  Take a bow, Ethan, author and writer.

Byron Borger
Owner, Hearts & Minds Books
Dallastown, PA 

We've been taught not to talk about politics and religion in polite company, two of the three most interesting things in life worth talking about. So thank God for baseball. And thank God for Ethan Bryan's reflections on life, faith, friendship, and the greatest game ever invented.

Phil Snider
Senior Pastor of Brentwood Christian Church in Springfield, MO 
Author of Preaching After God 

I Am A Recovering Ideologue

Ideology: a set of beliefs, especially religious, philosophical or political beliefs on which people, parties or countries base their actions.

Ideologue: a person who zealously advocates an ideology with an uncompromising and dogmatic manner. Ideologues often employ questionable tactics to advance their positions because they believe the end justifies the means. 

I am a recovering ideologue. Ideologues often colonize environments and justify the use of dubious means to accomplish results supporting their ideologies. Because of their passionate advocacy, they are willing to throw people under the bus to advance their causes. They are black and white in their thinking. You’re either with them or against them. There is no middle ground. They see categories, not people. They guard against looking into the faces of real people, knowing that might shed light on the hypocrisy of their ideological dogmas.

If you think I’m talking about someone you radically disagree with, you just might be an ideologue. Perhaps a little self-reflection is in order.

We must ask ourselves, In what ways am I willing to twist a theological position just to advance a cause I believe in? We must learn to read Scripture over and against ourselves instead of assuming the warnings are always directed at the other and not ourselves.

Having come out of a conservative background (both politically and theologically), Ironically, I find it hard not to be dismissive of the people who are like the person I used to be. My world is more expansive now. As my world of relationships has expanded, I naively assumed political and theological liberals would be kinder and more progressive. However, I’ve learned that all ideologues are the same. They want their way. They’re right; you’re wrong. If you think differently, you’re an enemy. They label and dismiss those who don’t agree with their positions.

Youth workers, don’t be ideologues! Our vocation is pastoral. See people as people, not issues. Be open to the Holy Spirit taking you places you assumed you would never go . I wonder if Jesus was initially uncomfortable hanging out with sinners. I wonder if Jesus was troubled with being constantly criticized by the religious elite for pushing against the prevailing positions of those ideologues. I wonder if we experience the same level of frustration he experienced when we shed our desire to be ideologues.

I’m not saying in any way that this means we should be wishy-washy or unconcerned with truth. I have no hesitation in saying I am Christian to the core, orthodox in the doctrines stated in our historic creeds. I believe Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man, born of the Virgin Mary, was crucified, died and was buried and that he arose, bodily, physically from the dead on the third day. For some, those beliefs make me an ideologue.

But I will not torch others. I do not feel the need to be the Holy Spirit and bring down judgment on those who have a different perspective than I do. I am committed to conversations and relationships with those I don’t agree with. I want to be open to learn from others. I seek first to understand. We can be people who disagree on important issues without demonizing one another. We can demonstrate theological, sociological and relational generosity to our students. I’m thrilled that more and more people are rejecting old categories like liberal and conservative or right and left and discovering new, more biblical ways to navigate difficult and complex issues. 

If you are prone to be an ideologue, as I am, please take a few minutes and read what Paul says here in Romans 12:14-18. Let it sink in. Meditate on these words from the Lord.

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.

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