Weston Blaha

Tag: Sudents

  • Keeping the Fire Alive: Parenting Beyond Camp

    Keeping the Fire Alive: Parenting Beyond Camp

    For fifteen years, I walked alongside teenagers in youth ministry. This week, I have the privilege of leading a youth camp that gathers students in our presbytery for a week of worship, the Word, and wild games. I’ve witnessed the mountaintop moments over the years of summer camp—the tearful confessions, the arms lifted in praise, and hearts awakened to the beauty of Christ and his work on our behalf.

    But I’ve also seen what happens two weeks later. What was burning becomes dim. What was fresh fades into habit. Parents (and often the students) ask, “What happened? Camp was so powerful—why didn’t it last?”

    Here’s the hard truth: summer camp was never meant to last on its own.

    “Mountaintops are for views and inspiration, but fruit is grown in the valley.”
    —Billy Graham

    The Campfire Needs a Fireplace

    In Deuteronomy, Moses stands on the edge of the Promised Land and speaks to a generation who had not been at Sinai. They hadn’t seen the plagues. They hadn’t walked through the sea. And yet, Moses doesn’t lower the bar or appeal to sentiment. He calls them to covenantal faithfulness rooted in doctrinal clarity and community accountability.

    “These words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children…” (Deut. 6:6–7)

    The command is not first to the elders or “pastors.” It is to the parents. Israel was not told to rely on charismatic prophets or emotional gatherings. The Word was to be engraved in the home.

    And the surrounding chapters make this clear: doctrine is not a list of abstract ideas—it’s the story of God’s faithfulness, taught and embodied daily. Deuteronomy is thick with covenantal rhythm: teaching at meals, binding Scripture on hands and foreheads, writing it on doorposts (6:8–9), reenacting it in liturgical ceremony (ch. 27), and calling the whole community to live in view of blessings and curses.

    In short: Christian formation was never meant to be outsourced.

    Truth Witout Roots Will Wilt

    Let’s borrow one of Jesus’ favorite illustrations, and use it in a slightly different context: At camps and conferences, we plant and water seeds. Sometimes they sprout fast. Sometimes they sprout slow. But unless they take root in the soil of the local church and the water of Word-saturated homes, they will wither.

    Research confirms this: according to studies from Lifeway and Barna, nearly two-thirds of teens who are active in church during high school will walk away from the church in their twenties—most of them beginning that drift during late high school and early college. The drop-off doesn’t happen after graduation—it begins long before.

    Why? Often it’s not because they reject Christianity outright. It’s because they were never deeply rooted in the first place. They had inspiration but lacked integration. They were moved but not formed.

    A Fireplace for the Fire

    Your students need more than campfire worship–they need a fireplace to keep the flame hot. When fire is kept in a fireplace, it is easy to stoke, revive, or increase in temperature. It is when you pull it out of the fireplace that the fire begins to struggle. It loses heat quicker. It’s exposed to outside elements. Once the flame loses its heat, we end up doing weird and foreign things to keep it going. We stop putting in wood. We hit it with a 5-second squirt of lighter fluid. We toss in paper trash. In short, we use abnormal means to revive the flame so it can burn at an acceptable level. But the only true and lasting remedy is simple: Put the fire back in the fireplace.

    So, the question becomes: is your home a fireplace? What about your church? Or do you find yoursleves constantly doing weird things to keep your child interested in their spiritual walk? Your student needs more than campfire worship a couple times each year. They need:

    • Doctrinal instruction at both home and the church that connects their identity to the story of redemption (Deut. 5–11)
    • Moral worldview shaped by God’s law as wisdom and life (Deut. 4:6; 30:19)
    • Ritual rhythms that habituate faith—church attendance, communion, prayer, confession (Deut. 12; 26)
    • Covenant community that calls them back when they stray (Deut. 29)

    You don’t have to be a Bible scholar to do this. But you do need to be present. The Word of God is not just a Sunday event—it’s a way of life. And the home is the primary stage.

    A Word to Parents

    If you’ve sent your kid to camp, thank you. Seriously. It matters.

    But please don’t see camp as the climax of their spiritual year. See it as a spark. A moment to build on. A reminder that your child is being invited into something deeper than a one-week experience—they are being summoned into a lifelong covenant with the living God.

    And in that covenant, you have a vital role. The same God who said, “I will be your God, and you shall be my people,” also said, “Teach them diligently to your children.” Camp can light the fire. But the fireplace—that’s your home. Your church. Your rhythms.

    Let’s not give our kids an emotional high and then abandon them to spiritual cold–that’s just “lighter-fluid Christianity.” Let’s give them doctrine. Let’s give them covenant. Let’s give them Christ, again and again.

  • A New Frontier for Local Missions?

    A New Frontier for Local Missions?

    One of the cornerstones of the Christian conviction is missions. Paul exhorts the church in Romans 10:14-15, “How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!’” Christian conviction and mission conviction should go hand-in-hand.
    Money Numbers
    Annually, Christians spend around 32 billion dollars on missions. According to a 2019 survey, 61% of a church’s missions budget is spent on local missions, 20% on US missions, and 19% on international missions. This means that roughly 20 billion dollars are spent on local missions in the United States.
    People Numbers
    According to a 2020 Pew Research survey, in 1972, a staggering 90% of the US population claimed to be “Christian.” By 2020, that number had dropped to 64%, with a tremendous downward trend beginning in 1990. In 2021, a Gallup poll revealed that church membership in the US has fallen below 50%. Studies and trends project that less than 35% of the US population will claim the name of Christ by 2070. These numbers tell me two things:
    1. What we are currently doing is not working.
    2. Parents are losing their children to the world.

    A Factor
    I believe that one of the significant factors in the decline of Christianity in the US is influence. With the growth of technology and increased access to thoughts, people, and philosophies that influence our children at younger and younger ages, the church is losing the battle of catechizing their children. While that sounds like a wild, churchy, word, to “catechize” simple means “to instruct orally, make hear.” In other words, parents are being beaten to the oral instruction of the Gospel; they are unable to make their children hear the truths of the Scriptures because the children are already being instructed by and hearing another gospel.

    Who is doing the Catechizing?
    As a sad reality, the primary influence catechizing our children is found in the local schools. You do not have to look far to see not only anti-Christian agendas, often from the top down, but, even at “Christian” schools, our children are often surrounded by peers who have rejected the Gospel of Christ. And as parents, we are left with a couple of hours each day(at best!) attempting to counter the influence of the world upon our children—the influence in which they have been immersed for the past eight hours, five days per week (let’s not forget social media, etc!)

    A Radical Suggestion
    So, here is where this all ties together—the missions numbers, church stats, and discussion of influence: should the focus of local missions change? In other words, it is becoming abundantly clear that we are losing the battle for souls within our very own homes, not outside them. What does it say about the church when we are watching the souls of our children walk into darkness and embrace it, but focus instead on the soul of our neighbor? This may sound harsh, but there is a deep-seated truth to the reality that the Gospel worked primarily through the family unit for the majority of history—what does it mean when that is no longer the case? What does that say about our Christian homes, the priority of the family unit, and the focus of our discipleship?

    The bottom line is this: What would it look like if we reconsidered local missions spending and began allocating funds to help church members homeschool? Or, what if local missions looked like scholarships aimed at helping parents afford to send their children to Bible-grounded, Gospel-driven, Christian schools? What would it look like to support our church members so their mothers could remain home and raise children under the influence of the Gospel of Jesus, instead of whatever that daycare worker or teacher choose impresses upon them? What if local missions began focusing on our most vulnerable age group of pre or not-yet-Christians in our very midst? Friends, we must first take care of our own house. Unfortunately, the Christian church in the US is overwhelmingly failing to do this and the evidence is right before our very eyes.

    *A personal note: I have many good and godly friends who work in both private and public schools–both as administrators and as teachers. And while I do believe they work in some of the best remaining public and private schools, those environments are few and far between. For most public schools, there is often no ability to shield children from Christian homes from the influence of other children or non-Christian teachers. The curriculum is not composed to reinforce biblical ethics or morals–often it is in direct conflict with them. For those friends of mine who work in these environments: continue to fight the good fight!

  • Winnowing Isn’t Winning

    Winnowing Isn’t Winning

    The protestant church is slowly shrinking from within. And while it can be suggested that this is simply the winnowing of the chaff, that shouldn’t relieve the Church of her duties. She should not shrug with indifference when the sown seed springs to life only to wither under the heat from the sun—there is no pride of perseverance to be had when this occurs. Nor should the church observe the withered shoots and think, “if only we shaded them from the heat, this wouldn’t have happened.” Instead, the Church should be asking, “why?” Why does so much sown seed blossom, only to wither in the sun?
    Admittedly, there are theological ramifications that must be considered when answering that question. From a Reformed perspective, it is the Lord who decides these things, and we are not privy to all of the mysteries of salvation. However, from an earthy, limited, human wisdom perspective, there are steps that we could and should take when we see the withering and wilting shoots of “exvangelicalism” littering the landscape of Christendom, and they aren’t what most churches assume.

    The Statistics
    To provide a statistical example of this: research shows that in the lives of young children from protestant, church-going families, the “top spiritual activity” they were involved in was regularly attending Sunday School or Small Groups—68% of responders. However, only 29% said that “reading the Bible regularly” was their top spiritual activity growing up. This means that–like it or not–the physical programs of the church are currently carrying the most influence in the lives of teens and young adults—and these physical programs only occur for a few hours each week. Now, consider the long-term effects of these statistics: middle-aged adults have grown up in a Christendom pervaded by dependance upon church programs for the majority of their personal biblical, intellectual, and spiritual development. In other words, for most adults, there is little to no spirit stimulation outside of the local church—unless you count motivational bible verses taken out of context and plastered all over Facebook!
    This statistical reality has significant ramifications for the Church. While it is ultimately the work of the Spirit that determines if the sown seed is effectual, the Lord uses the work of the saints to help prepare the hearts of those he calls. It suffices to say that you cannot prepare soil for healthy growth by only investing two or three (or less) hours each week. Just as real soil preparation takes time and effort—clearing weeds, conditioning dirt, eradicating pests, fending off seed-eating fowl—the “soil” of the heart requires much work.

    We Need Kaved
    I believe that this means there must be a significant shift in the way the average church understands its duties of discipleship. The local church must be kaved (כבד), “weighty, heavy, or honored.” In other words, we must bring gravitas back into the local church. Yes, ministry will always need to be culturally sensitive, but as David Wells so neatly states, culture determines your context, not content. We must press upon our flocks the weightiness, heaviness, and honor of the Gospel. We must regain the understanding that it is an honor to be considered worthy to suffer dishonor for Jesus’ name (Acts 5:41). We must do the difficult (and often dirty!) work of conditioning the heart so that it looks like the good soil in Matthew 13:8—soil that is not longer limited by the lack of depth or nutrition when confronted with tribulation.

    So What?
    While I do not have all the answers, and I will admit that every context is different, it is my belief that local church ministry as a whole often fails to properly bring the depth and richness of the Scriptures to flocks who desperately need it. We must never forget the second seed in the parable of the sower—we must not judge effectiveness by summer camp baptisms or church attendance. Instead, what is the testimony of your church in times of trial? What biblical demographics are you reaching? Does your church attract mature believers, immature believers, or both? The withered and wilted remains of exvangelical Christendom will not find its answers in shallowed, non-confrontational, soft-truth presentations of the Gospel. I believe those attempts at a culturally appealing, socially inoffensive Gospel are precisely the reason we are seeing the evangelical fallout. The Gospel is by nature counter-cultural.

    Instead, I have six initial thoughts on how the church can “till” the hearts of hearers of the word:

    1. We must deepen in a world that is shallowing. We must be “seeker-challenging,” not seeker-sensitive.
    2. We must broaden Scriptural knowledge, not narrow it. If you offer a Cliff-Notes version of the Gospel, you will get a Cliff-Notes spiritual walk. Teach the Old Testament. Teach the New Testament. Teach the hard truths. Teach the whole council of God.
    3. We must confront with truth, not conform. The church fails to faithfully present the truth of sin when we “grey out” what the Bible shows to be black and white.
    4. We must assist in spiritual disciplines, not replace. The programs of the church are supportive ministries, not replacement ones. We must work to help our members study the Scriptures faithfully on their own.
    5. We must engage in worship, not entertain. The local church is where the body of Christ “does life,” it is not a venue from which to entertain. There is a difference.
    6. We must model rich soil, not merely instruct. No one is perfect; we all sin. But how we respond to correction, hurt feelings, and the difficult aspects of living amongst the body of Christ must be demonstrated among the brethren. Head knowledge must produce heart change. A well-tilled heart will be evident when the sun scorches down.
  • A Youth Ministry From Scratch

    A Youth Ministry From Scratch

    So, I’m starting a youth ministry from scratch. My new church has one consistent youth-aged student attending, with the potential of some friends or inconsistent others. In my fifteen years of youth ministry experience, I have always had–at the very least–some form of critical mass. This will be a very different experience.

    So, as I have been praying and considering how to begin with one student, I came up with six tips for growing a youth group with one student.

    1. Prepare as if I am expecting twenty students. Now, I should clarify, this does not mean I am ordering pizza for twenty students. But it does mean that my preparation time, the amount of effort and thought that will go into games, lessons, projects, or events will be the same as if I were preparing for twenty. Whatever the activity–make it the best activity possible for the student(s) who come.
    2. Engage community events. When critical mass is hard to drum up, go find it. This means being more active in local schools, activities, and events. Go to where the people are and take your group with you.
    3. Invite the community. One of the more common complaints I hear from youth directors is “no one brings any friends.” Maybe we can discuss why that might be in another post, but for the sake of this post we need to be prepared to invite students ourselves. Remember, the youth ministry is a ministry to and for the youth of your church. It is really not their job to bring people, although it would be wonderful if they would.
    4. Be visible in the community. The easiest mistake for a small church to make is to hide within its own walls. Small churches have the ability to use the precision of a surgeon in reaching their community. Get out there and make your church a name in the community.
    5. Embrace change. Growth will mean change. Think about it: in a small group, one new student can shift the types of games, activities, and interests of the group. Small youth groups need to learn to break out of the small “clique” environment where everyone knows your name, and become comfortable with the changes that growth will demand.
    6. Be Patient. Perhaps the most difficult piece of advice for me to handle. I am an instant gratification person. I want to see immediate results. But growth takes time and time requires patience.

    So, there it is. If I were going to give advice to myself, this is what it would be.

    It will not be easy.

    It will not be immediate.

    But it will bear fruit.

    It will grow the kingdom.

    And that is the calling of the ministry.

  • Sweaty Toddlers are Cute—Sweaty Teens Need a Shower.

    Sweaty Toddlers are Cute—Sweaty Teens Need a Shower.

    Sometimes I read a news headline and ask myself, “How in the world did we ever get to this point?” I’m sure I’m not the only one. Unfortunately, that’s a question that sad and distraught parents often ask me regarding their rebelling teenagers—“how did we get to this point?” The answer to both questions is often, but not always, the same: we allowed “cute” sins to grow into ugly monsters. To illustrate this in a somewhat “icky” way: Sweaty toddlers are cute—sweaty teens need a shower.

    Sweaty Toddlers

    When our kids are young, sin is relatively easy to identify. If a toddler sneaks chocolate, it’s on his mouth. If a 1st grader lies, it’s usually a poor one. When sternly confronted with their disobedience, children often melt. You can put your child in the bath. You can put them in time out. So, if we aren’t careful, we can often underestimate the danger of disrespect and disobedience in our young children as their sin hides behind their cuteness and our ability to control their actions.

    Sweaty Teens

    However, that underestimation wears off pretty quick. Lies by teenagers are more difficult to decipher. Teens are sneakier. Teens push against correction and might even back you down. You might even begin asking if it’s too late to correct the issue at this point. It’s not hard to see that sin becomes uglier the longer it ages.

    Here’s the Rub:

    What sin “does” in our children it also “does” in our society. At first it’s readily identifiable; easier to back down. Often, societal sin is laughed at or seen as non-threatening—in other words, in its infancy, societal sin is consistently and dangerously underestimated.

    But then societal sin ages. It’s now sneakier than before. It’s defended in the public sphere. It might even back YOU down. “How in the world did we ever get to this point?” You might now wonder if it’s even worth fighting against anymore—is it too late to correct the societal sins?

    The answer is “maybe.” But the answer doesn’t actually have much bearing on us. Whether it’s too late or not doesn’t effect our actions. Consider Jeremiah the prophet. He would prophecy and warn Israel of their upcoming doom. He would call them to repentance—but repentance would not come. And so, Jeremiah would suffer exile along with the rest of Israel. In other words, it was too late, but that didn’t alter or out-date the duties of those who follow God’s commands.

    The little battles against little sins matter in our children. The little battles against little sins matter in our society. Sin ALWAYS gets uglier as it ages. Maybe it’s too late. Maybe it isn’t. We aren’t privy to that information. However, we do know that we are to abhor what is evil and hold fast to what is good (Rom. 12:9).

    Church, we must not neglect to address and instruct against the “little sins” of our children and society–our metaphorical “sweaty toddlers.” But we must also not give up on the ugly sins. We must try to make the teen take a shower. We must pray for a change of attitude and values before he becomes known as “the stinky kid.” We must abhor what is evil and hold fast to what is good.

  • Youth Ministry “Monsters Under the Bed”

    Youth Ministry “Monsters Under the Bed”

    What are those things that student ministry leaders fear? I am not talking about injuries, teaching a poor lesson, or forgetting to register for summer camp. I’m thinking about those deep-seated issues that tend to surface at night like monsters from under the bed. Here’s the thing about monsters under the bed: we don’t like to talk about them. We prefer to turn off the light, run to the bed, and pull the covers over our eyes. But, if you are ever going to rid yourself of the monsters, you need to clear what’s under the bed. In this post, I want to focus on five monsters that healthy Student Ministry Leaders must vanquish, or at the very least, shine the flashlight upon.

    1. Fakeness

    One of the saddest quirks that I commonly see in youth ministry is leaders who aren’t personally invested in the lives of their students. It’s not that they do not like the students they work with or even wish they were doing something else. However, they put on such a quality job of pretending to be invested that church leadership, parents, teens, and sometimes even themselves can often not identify what’s amiss. Deep down, these students and parents know something is “off” but lack the experience or face-time to recognize it quickly. Now, it’s worth noting that students will eventually notice. Teens are experts at identifying “fake” but often poor at articulating it. If you find yourself struggling to have meaningful relationships with your teens, ask if this monster is haunting you.

    2. High School Onlyist

    There is a section of people known as “King James Version Only Bible Readers,” otherwise known as KJV Onlyists. Thus, “High School Onlyists” would be those who put the overwhelming emphasis of their ministry focus upon the high school students (if you are hired as a High School Pastor/Director, you are excluded from this category). If you oversee both Middle School and High School yet allow the High School to dominate your attention and time, you won’t have a High School soon. When building and sustaining a youth ministry, you must focus on the groups coming up. This means you should value the Children’s ministry’s success. You should invest in the goofy Middle School students who will one day be the all-too-cool High School students. HS Onlyism leads to dying ministries, cliques, and often, a job search.

    3. Fear of Parents 

    This is usually a monster endured by young or immature youth leaders. The young leader often views the parents of their students much like the students do: as their parents. This can make it difficult to stand your ground in a disagreement or take the initiative to ask a parent out to coffee. Additionally, for immature youth leaders, parents are a threat. In my experience, one of the signs of an insecure and immature youth leader is that they do not want parents anywhere around the ministry. This may not be a universal rule, but it is common. If this is you, click on the flashlight and point out the monster.

    4. Isolation from Mentorship

    Everyone needs a mentor—someone you can text, call or meet on a whim. Having a mentor does not need to be a formal, contractual arrangement. Instead, it needs to be a relationship of trust, one in which you can hear the difficult truths about yourself or your actions. This also requires someone willing to be honest. There is nothing worse than making big decisions that will affect your students’ lives and making them alone. Find a mentor. Listen to their advice. This monster will debilitate you and undermine your confidence.

    5. Being the Smartest Person in the Room

    Now, this one is different than the others. I would hope that an adult youth leader would be the smartest person in a room full of teens—at least as far as biblical knowledge and wisdom are concerned. However, the danger of always being the smartest person in the room is that you minister without a challenge to grow. This is one of the benefits of having adults in the room. You are not only preparing for the teens, some of whom are very young, but you are preparing a lesson that the parents will judge. We can slump into low-effort teaching all too often because it only takes low effort to impress and challenge the students. Don’t fall into this trap!

    Well, there they are, five monsters that youth leaders face hiding under the bed. What would you add to this list?