The Best Bible App Ever!

Most of us have some sort of smart phone. No matter what type of smart phone you have, I have found one of the best Bible application out there on the market today. And the best part, it’s FREE!!

The application is called YouVersion. Over the last decade the Internet has brought about an information revolution. There is very little that you can’t find out there on the web on any manner of subject. Since it's start in 1996, LifeChurch.Tv’s purpose has been to lead people to become fully devoted followers of Christ. They have concentrated their efforts to this end in technology.

There are three things that make this Bible application the best one out there.

1.  It's free. There is nothing more appealing about an App for your phone then the cost. If you can find a free App that will do the same thing as a App that you have to pay for, why would you do it?
2. Easy to use. Of all the Bible applications that I tried (and paid a lot of money for) this application is very easy use. The speed at which you can look up the Bible verses is amazing. It is very intuitive as though you were actually using a real paper Bible. Not only that, there are hundreds of versions that you can use.
3. Excellent features. When you get and App, you wanted to be packed lots of cool features. The You Version Bible App is no exception. They include

• Being able to highlight passages and take notes on them
• Being able to copy, cut, and paste Bible passages into word processing applications on your computer or device
• Being able e-mail specific Bible passages to friends
• Setting up a profile to connect with other YouVersion users
• Providing a live event where participants can take notes on a Bible study or sermon, this app has it all!!

If I were being completely honest it does have a few limitations. One of the biggest is that the most popular Bible version (NIV,NLT, NRSV, etc.) are only available through streaming. I'm pretty sure I know the reason. It's because they don't have the copyright on those versions to put them out there to download. That being said, there are plenty of other versions that you can download to your device.

All in all, I am very pleased with this app and highly recommend it!

Coaching Your Youth Ministry (from Simple Youth Ministry)

This is a post from Simple Youth Ministry that I found intriguing and wanted to pass along. You can find other resources from Simple Youth Ministry by going to http://www.simplyyouthministry.com/. Get resources, sign up for their youth workers newsletter, get free devotional ideas, and much much more.

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Ah, the fall. High School Football. You can see your breath. You’re eating overpriced nachos from the under-staffed school booster club concession stand. There’s nothing better than the crack of the football helmets hitting together. The cheerleaders in the background, the coach barking commands to his team. The team listens then works together in perfect unison to score a touchdown.

The difference between the picture we just painted and your role as a youth worker? You’re not in the stands in the youth ministry game, my friend. You are a coach. Here are some thoughts about coaching your volunteer team in the seasons ahead.

PRESEASON (late summer)
A coach in this season is focused on making sure his team is ready to perform at the highest level. Training and conditioning are the key. Preparation is essential for success on the field. In your ministry pre-season (July/August) make sure your team is trained and ready for the challenges of the season ahead.

INSEASON (school year)
A coach in this season is focused on winning games. Watching game films, evaluation and adjustments are key here. A youth ministry coach needs to constantly be evaluating services, programs and people to make sure each are working effectively. You can make changes at this point, but they have to be the right ones because the game is on the line.

OFFSEASON (summer)
This season is hardly “off” right? We recently looked back on this past summer and it felt busier than another other season this past year.  So forgive us where the analogy breaks down a bit – but a coach in the off season becomes a strategist. They change up the playbook. They toss out what wasn’t working and experiment with something new. They take advantage of the lull and focus on recruiting new talent for their team. They plan ahead and make sure they are ready for when the team is assembled in the preseason once again.

Go get ‘em, coach!

Building Your Youth Ministry – Vision

I often get asked how to revitalize or build a youth ministry program. For the average person, this can be an overwhelming task. Questions like: Where do I start?, and What do I do first? are the types of questions that most people begin to ask. And these are exactly the right types of questions to be asking. Throwing together a hodgepodge of programs and events with no specific goals or outcomes might satisfy the immediate need of the church for the community, however this type of approach will never last the test of time.

Developing a youth ministry requires careful planning. For the program to be strong and effective, you must begin with a vision. Just as if you were laying the foundation for building a house, you need to lay a strong foundational vision as to what your youth ministry is going to be all about. Without this, all you have is a gathering of young people doing events with no central purpose. Proverbs 29: 18 states, "…Without a vision (purpose, plan, etc.), the people will perish." Why does your church have a youth ministry? If your only answer is "because we've always had one," then it's time to reevaluate. Unless you know what you're trying to do, you'll probably never accomplish it.

There are lots of ways to discover a vision or purpose for your youth ministry (too many to articulate here). However, a good place to start is be realistic as to where you are and cast a dream of where you want to go. Things to keep in mind are:

What are the needs of our community?

What are our kids needs?

What resources (money, time, facility, people, etc.) do we have and what do we need?

One of the best resources that I can recommend for churches who are struggling to rebuild or build a youth ministry and define a solid vision for that ministry would be the book by Doug Fields entitled "Purpose Driven Youth Ministry." This book provides a systematic approach at developing a solid vision that you can implement and evaluate easily. Churches where I have use this book it has been a great success. There is also a training kit that includes 5 strategic teambuilding sessions that can be used alongside the book to help make the experience richer.

If you are a member of the Susquehanna Conference of the United Methodist Church you can borrow this training kit from our resource center, Discovery Place (discovery-place.org) at no charge.