What Do The Experts Know, Anyway!

I was snooping around CPYU.Org and stumbled across this recent list of Top 10 television shows.

Rank TV Program Audience (in millions)

1. America's Got Talent (NBC) 12
2. Wipeout (ABC) 9.5
3. Criminal Minds (CBS) 9.1
4. So You Think You Can Dance - Thu. (Fox) 8.8
5. CSI: NY (CBS) 8.5
6. Two and a Half Men (CBS) 8.5
7. 60 Minutes (CBS) 8.2
8. House (Fox) 8.1
9. CSI: Miami (CBS) 8
10.Hell's Kitchen (Fox) 8
Source: Neilsen Media Research

Do you remember several years ago when the "Reality T.V." craze kicked into high gear? At the time, most television experts and pundits went on the record as saying that reality tv would only last a year or two. It's interesting that in the list above, 4 of the top 10 tv shows are reality shows. In fact, 3 of the top 4 fall into the category!

The lesson: Experts and pundits aren't always right. Every field has its experts, and in every field, those experts can often be wrong in their assessments and predictions. Youth ministry is no different. And is often the case in other fields, the youth ministry experts, pundits and predictors of things to come are often far removed from the real world of youth ministry. I appreciate the wisdom and observations of men and women who observe trends, society, theology and try to help us figure out where it's all heading. But I also realize that they can be wrong. It doesn't make them less smart or less authoritative, just wrong sometimes.

Keep reading, keep going to seminars, keep talking to people you respect. But don't change your entire ministry based on what today's hot youth ministry topic is among the experts.

When I look at that list I notice a couple things:
First, things change and progress, and that's vital to progress.
Second, while some things change, lots of things stay the same.

Perhaps that's not a bad way to look at youth ministry.

Some questions to chew on:
- What things in your specific ministry have changed that you didn't expect?
- What did you think would have changed by now that haven't?
- What things desperately need to change and you are willing to make it happen?
- What things must never change?

Worship Conference

Each year, at the end of June, our church hosts a fantastic worship conference. I know nothing about music, I have no idea what a good worship conference looks like, but people who do know that kind of stuff have told me that this conference is a great one.

If you happen to be a local youth worker and are interested in taking some of your students, track me down. I can get you a special student rate that is not advertised on the website.

National Day of Prayer

A few thougths about today:

- I hung out at my house this morning watching various morning news shows and didn't see any mention that today was national day of prayer. You don't have to be a far right fundie to wonder a little about that one.

- I love America, but God isn't American.

- I love America, but found myself praying for God's will to be done, his kingdom to come and his power to reign on earth not only on my home turf.

- I believe that for all our flaws, America is still the greatest country in the world. Our belief in freedom, our efforts to treat each other as equals and our attempts to protect and expand those values to other parts of the globe (even though we don't get it right much of the time...) sets us apart from much of the world, and for that I'm thankful and proud.

- I live for Christ and I hope I'd be willing to die for his cause. I live in America and hope I'd be willing to die for its cause as well.