Mike King

Humility

John Pearson recently posted a review of an old classic book Humility written by Andrew Murray who was a South African Dutch Reformed pastor.  Here are some of the powerful quotes from this short but potent book.

“Humility, the place of entire dependence on God, is, from the very nature of things, the first duty and the highest virtue of the creature, and the root of every virtue.”
  
“The chief mark of counterfeit holiness is its lack of humility.”
 
“Pride can lift its head in the very temple of God, and make His worship the scene of self exaltation.”
   
“Humility is the only soil in which the graces root; the lack of humility is the sufficient explanation of every defect and failure.”
   
“Humility is not so much a grace or virtue along with others; it is the root of all, because it alone takes the right attitude before God, and allows Him as God to do all.”
   
“The truth is this: Pride may die in you, or nothing of heaven can live in you.”

Ninth grade Seder Meal

On Friday night I had the wonderful privilege of leading a Seder Meal for the ninth graders at Hillcrest Covenant Church and their families. The Seder Meal, during this season of Lent, is a part of their catechism. It was a blast working with Nate Severson, Aaron Mitchum, Alicia Vela, Ben Smalley and the rest of the Hillcrest team to pull this off. Youthfront Board Member Cheryl Reinhardt,  who is a Hillcrest Covenant Church member and has a ninth grader – Jordan, going through the confirmation process – went all out to lead a team of more than thirty volunteers to create an amazing environment to pull off a very authentic Seder Meal experience for 150 people. It really felt like an intimate family celebration with a sense of the manifest presence of the Holy Spirit. What was really interesting to me is how many adults commented about the holistic aspect of this worship experience involving sight, sound, smells, taste, touch, etc. Creating holistic learning environments is not something that should only be for the Christian Formation of young people but also for the faith  formation of God’s Church, God’s People. Because of my extensive travels in the Middle East and pilgrimages with young people and youth workers to Israel, I have been doing Seder Meal/Last Supper experiences for years. They fulfill one of my biggest passions – to create environments where people can be astonished by God. This Seder Meal at Hillcrest was extraordinary because these ninth graders were surrounded by their families experiencing something together that I don’t think any of them will ever forget.

Next year in Jerusalem…

The Sanctuary

Last February the YS Soul Shaper Board, which I serve on, met in San Diego.  Marko and Tic challenged us to come up with something new for the National Youth Worker Conventions.  What emerged during our two and a half days together was Sanctuary.  Sanctuary was featured at all three U.S.A. National Youth Worker Conventions.  Sanctuary kicked off in each city with Compline on Friday night and concluded with Lauds on Monday morning.  Throughout the day, almost every hour on the hour, we (Soul Shaper Board and friends) offered different spiritual exercises, varying in length and style, with an emphasis in being able to actually practice what you were learning. We would make some introductory remarks, share a little history and explain the different prayer practices.  Session leaders would function as experiential facilitators rather than workshop teachers or seminar speakers.

We offered a variety of classical spiritual practices, such as Lectio Divina, The Examen, Respiratory Prayer, and Praying the Prayers of the Church, we also introduced youth workers like to creative prayer practices that include praying through art, music, movement, poetry, etc.  We led Guided Prayer walks and Prayer Jogs.  The Sanctuary was also open after the General Sessions to receive youth workers who came seeking to be prayed for.

I had the privilege to lead all the Fixed Hour Prayer Gatherings.  We did Lauds (Morning Prayer) at the break of Dawn, Midday Prayer and Compline at the completion of the day.   I led sessions on Praying the Prayers of the Church, led Prayer Jog, Silence and Solitude, Praying through Music, Elemental Prayer, Using Prayer Ropes (The Jesus Prayer) and Confession as a Spiritual Practice. 
Close to 2,000 youth workers attended a session in The Sanctuary during the three National Conventions.  It seems like there was a tipping point this year with the awareness that youth workers must be people who nurture the wholeness of their own souls, that we must engage in ministry out of the overflow of our life with God instead of depleting our lives by doing ministry primarily out of our abilities, experience and talents driven by adrenaline.

It was very fulfilling to oversee The Sanctuary with Beth Slevcove, along with all the great help from the rest of our Soul Shaperites and friends - special shout out to Lilly Lewin who created environment in The Sanctuary.  It is very cool to hear the stories that emerged from youth workers who experienced The Sanctuary.

Project Renovation

I walked into a very sweet environment this weekend at Lancaster Bible College and Graduate School in Lancaster, PA.  I was invited to speak at the Project Renovation sponsored Presence Centered Youth Ministry Conference.  Project Renovation is an exciting project led by Rick Rhoads with a vision of "Creating a passion for spiritual formation in the lives of future and present Student Ministry leaders." 

Rick is an Associate Professor in the Department of Church and Ministry Leadership.  Rick is a soul brother.  Every encounter I have had with Rick has been sweet.  Naomi his wife is also a real sweetheart.  I loved being in their home meeting their family and friends.

We had around 150 youth workers attend the conference.  It was good to see Doug Jones and Mike Harder and meet many new friends.  If you live anywhere in the Northeast sector of the USA you should connect with this project and the network that is building around it.
 

Imagination

We have a sentence in our Youthfront DNA description which says, "We strive to be creative youth workers who engage in theology, ministry, formation, practice, relationships, service and life with a prophetic imagination that cooperates fully with the Mission of God."

I love the word "imagination" in a data-driven and saturated world.   For too many centuries the cognitive science of "knowing" has been hailed as the only way to know.  We need to accumulate more facts, apply logic and we will achieve certainty in all things knowable. 

Albert Einstein who is exalted as one of the most intelligent and logical persons of all time declared, "Imagination is more important than information."

We live in a world where data and information is expanding so rapidly that it is impossible to keep up with it in any manageable manner.  In Friedman's book Failure of Nerve, he states, "It is not advancing technology that is creating the information bind, however; it is societal regression, first by perverting the natural instincts of curiosity and adventure into a dogged quest for certainty, and second by focusing on pathology rather than on strength.  The thinking processes in an age of discovery that is marked by a spirit of wonder are quite different from those that characterize an anxiety-driven dash for 'the truth.'  The latter is more likely to lead to reductionist thinking, the reification of models, and an overbearing seriousness, all of which rigidify rather than free the imaginative capacity."

Utilizing our God given ability to know and learn holistically with not only our minds but also our heart, soul, and guts are what drives imagination.  Imagination is fueled by the awareness that there is so much more to know about God, truth, beauty, etc. than we are able to comprehend.  There is so much more to know about the beauty, the depth and the mystery of God's Kingdom and God's character than we can fathom.  If we think we know Jesus Christ, our imagination fires a passion that fuels a knowing that helps us understand that we are only scratching the surface of the grandeur of our Lord.  This imagination spurs us on to creatively live life to the full while being freely linked to the yoke of Christ. 

I believe this is part of what Jesus is touching on when he declares that unless we become like little children we will miss life in the Kingdom of Heaven.  A child is full of faith, wonder, openness, acceptance, creatively curious about everything, open and passionate about discovering.  Woe unto those who, with their certainty, cause these little ones to stumble or sin...

Jen Wilson's thoughts and highlights from her Pilgrimage

John 21 is my favorite story of Jesus to read in the Bible. I’m not entirely sure why other than it seems really personal. During one of my two summers as a cabin leader at YF Camp South, the speaker for the week read this story aloud and we were supposed to picture it with ourselves and our friends as the characters. It was a beautiful feeling to think about being able to sit down with this friend, who you’d thought you’d lost and to be able to spend just one more meal with them. For some reason I have always been challenged by and found comfort in this story. One of the highlights of my trip to Israel was going to the very spot where this story took place. I stood right by the Sea of Galilee and saw where Jesus would have stood on the shore and called to his disciples. There was a church there that was built around a large rock that may have been right where they sat and ate together. Where Peter had to answer Jesus three times when he asked, "Do you love me?" When I was sitting on a rock by the sea that day I thought to myself "There is no other place in the world that I would rather be."

Another highlight for me came on our last day of the trip. We went to the Garden Tomb- one of the spots thought to be where Jesus was buried and resurrected. A few days before this particular one we visited another possible site of Jesus’s death located within the Church of the Holy Seplicur. It was one of the most disheartening things I’ve ever seen. Here at this place that was supposed to be holy and a place of joy and excitement was actually a picture of tension, anxiety, and hate. Masses of people were standing in line to get in the tomb. They were pushing, arguing, taking pictures, videoing, and fighting for their place in line- fighting to be the first ones to see the tomb of Jesus. Ironic? I thought so. It was not about Jesus. Our visit to the Garden Tomb brought with it a much different experience. We were guided around this beautiful and peaceful garden by a very sweet old british man. He gave us very convincing evidence suggesting that this was the actual place of Jesus’s death and resurrection. Yet despite all of this very convincing information, our tour guide kept stressing that it is not about the place, it is about the person. It is about the man who came here to offer salvation to all the world! It was an amazing place, but more importantly, it was about an amazing man. Following our tour we all shared communion and reminisced as a group. It was a beautiful moment. It was about Jesus.

On Pilgrimage

With another three inches of snow falling in Kansas City it is a good day to depart on a Pilgrimage to the Middle East.  I'm taking a small group of mostly young people who have worked at YouthFront Camp and go to Jacob's Well.  YouthFront staff member Nick Pickrell, who used to be in my Student Life club and church youth group, will be making his first Pilgrimage to the Middle East.  Also, Shayne Wessel, a pastor at Jacob's Well, and his wife Suzanne will be joining us.  Shayne received a grant from Midwestern Theological Seminary to go to Israel because of his academic excellence.  It should be a wonderful group and a great experience.  This will be my 21st trip to the Middle East but I'm really excited to get back to a part of the world I really love.  Hopefully, I will be able to update my blog with our experiences along the way.   

Roundtable on Spiritual Growth

I recently participated in a Roundtable on Spiritual Growth through The YouthWorker Journal.  It turned out well although I always find it interesting what actually gets printed.  It is a privilege to be part of anything with Dallas Willard, who is one of my heroes. Taking Kids Deeper A YouthWorker Journal Roundtable on Spiritual Growth

by David Crim Dallas Willard, Dorothy bass, Michael Carotta, Patricia Hendricks, and Mike King want youth workers to do a better job of helping kids grow their faith. Here's what they told us. Read article.

Jesus and the Sinner's Prayer

Check out this article from Christianity Today entitled Jesus and the Sinner's Prayer.

Bonhoeffer

“Christianity without Discipleship is always Christianity without Christ.” - Dietrich Bonhoeffer