187: Mark Matlock Faith For Exiles And Hope For Youth Ministry In A Digital Babylon

Send us a Text Message. What is the future of youth ministry? What hopeful work should we as youth ministers engaged with today?

YS NYWC19 In Tampa

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The Youth Ministry Booster team is going to the biggest conference in youth ministry to hang out with all of our YM friends and we can't wait to see you there!

Friday Night Late Night: YMB is the late-night podcast option for all NYWC goers so make your plans now to be a part of the special live recording of episode 200 as we play games, tell stories, interview friends, and give away prizes.

We are also crowning a comedic champion of NYWC so you won't wanna miss that!

About This Episode's Guest

Mark Matlock is one of the leading voices in youth ministry and has deep and storied experience serving youth ministry leaders globally. His most recent work Faith For Exiles co-authored with David Kinnaman is an important read for those reflecting critically on the important work of youth ministry.

Faith For Exiles Book

Show Notes: Mark The Magician (did everyone but me know this?)They gave me a shot to do this before I was probably ready. "I fell in love with working with youth and the church. The parachurch was serving the local church and it gave me opportunities to see ministry in a variety of places."14:00 Are You Helping Or Hurting Youth Pastors? If you see youth ministry as a game and easy creativity then you are unprepared for the hard work.

14:48  The resource you provide could actually cause them to atrophy in the ways you are trying to free upPutting the program together has never been more convenient. 

16:38 What We Lost In the 90s

18:00 The Millennial Gap In Leadership"We stayed in our spots too long..." Jim Burns"Youth Ministry is a very small niche and there were just not enough spots to go around to span the generations"

22:02 Youth Pastors are starting to get seats at the table. This is a good thing. "Begin to learn to leverage the cumulative wisdom of your life."

26:04 Faith For Exiles Book DiscussionThe Way We Weren’t by Jill Talbot “It’s about bending and not breaking and in the bending, it’s about growing stronger” God has designed us to be resilient.We don’t need a robust faith, we need a resilient faith. We need assimilation of the right belief into the rest of our life. There is a danger that we are socializing people to Christianity rather than meeting Jesus. Their understanding of faith extends beyond just attending weekend church and into the work, they are about during the week. “Redefine Faith: live on earth as it is in heaven” Rethinking the word vocation for young people todayWe must rethink our work as a vocational coach. We should be about people development. What every Christian parent wants for their kids: 1. To have a relationship with Jesus. 2. A healthy and loving family and kids. 3. A sustainable career that they will enjoy.VocationSupport the Show. Join the community!