The Great Commission for Gen Alpha: Go to the ends of the earth w/ Kyle Wiltshire

And we're back! Back in Nashville that is! 

Zac and Chad sit down with Kyle Wilshire to talk about why youth ministry has to move past keeping students busy and doing and start forming students who go and live sent. 

We unpack the Great Commission, what mission trips can and cannot do, and how to build everyday courage for gospel conversations in real life and online. 

Pickup Kyle's book "GO" here

In a digital-first generation, the “ends of the earth” are closer than ever. This conversation explores digital discipleship, social media integrity, and practical ways students can start meaningful conversations about faith online and in person. 

In This Episode:

• Why the Great Commission means “as you go”
• How to create a missional culture in youth ministry
• The real value of student mission trips
• Turning mission trip moments into long-term discipleship
• Helping students overcome fear in evangelism
• Digital discipleship and sharing faith online
• Practical ways students can live on mission every day

Don't Miss... 
• Ghostbusters memories and why timing matters 
• A senior speech that shows the power of owning a moment 
• Youth ministry as belonging and the tension when students drift 
• Why “go” matters and what “as you go” means 
• Mission trips as disruption that widens worldview 
• Turning a trip into lasting formation through reminders and follow-up 
• Reframing evangelism so students are not carrying the results 
• Building gospel familiarity so conversations feel natural 
• Acts 1:8 as a map for where we witness 
• Modeling faith as leaders in parking lots and daily life 
• Digital discipleship and using social platforms as witness 

Whether you’re a youth pastor, volunteer leader, parent, or student ministry team member, this episode will encourage you to create a ministry culture that both welcomes students in and sends them back out with purpose.

https://www.lifeway.com/en/product/go-teen-bible-study-book-P005852665

Transcript

Welcome From Nashville

SPEAKER_06 0:02

Snap.

SPEAKER_02 0:06

Hey everybody, welcome back to another episode of the Youth Ministry Booster Podcast, live from Nashville. Wow. Wow. Wow. The room got green, baby.

SPEAKER_05 0:16

You know, normally when you invite me to be on, it's in your garage.

SPEAKER_02 0:20

It is, it is.

SPEAKER_05 0:21

I'm like staring at your wife's car video.

SPEAKER_02 0:25

Freshly washed Subaru.

SPEAKER_05 0:26

Now we got Donnie. That's a much better thing to look at.

SPEAKER_00 0:28

This is nice, nice that Donnie. Donnie Gordon, everybody, yes. Donnie Gordon, about to be a recurring guest and character on the Youth Ministry Booster podcast.

SPEAKER_02 0:37

It's a lot of pressure. It's a lot of pressure. Donnie, we love to see you. We love to see you. We're hanging out today because we got a new release in a timely season from one of our favorite people. So, ladies and gentlemen of the Booster Podcast, give a big booster welcome to the one and the only, our OTC, Kyle Wilshire. Kyle Wizard, buddy. Come on, man. Come on.

SPEAKER_01 0:54

So good to have you. How's it going? Good, man. Thanks for making the drive over today.

SPEAKER_04 0:58

Yeah, you know, long way from Hendersonville, Tennessee to uh Brentwood, Tennessee.

SPEAKER_02 1:02

Well, closer than Tulsa, though, man. We've been planning this for a while. We wanted to be in the room with you because we have an important conversation. And if you got to say things right, you say it in person, not on Zoom. And so we're talking today about mission, kingdom, and sending students. I think it's a vital conversation in this time of year and really in the ways in which I think ministry has to be headed. And so we'll get into the resource first, but Kyle, I need to ask you.

Ghostbusters Skit And Timing

SPEAKER_02 1:27

We need to pick it up. We were having lunch. Um, what is what is the story of the middle school, high school talent show when you were a Ghostbuster? The people need to know. The people need to know.

SPEAKER_04 1:36

Yeah, no, it it was elementary school, actually. Well, even younger. Okay. I was fourth grade. Okay.

SPEAKER_05 1:42

That's the perfect image for that.

SPEAKER_04 1:44

Yes. So, you know, Ghostbusters came out in 84. So this is 88. I'm dating myself here just to look at it. No, that's okay. Came out in 88. The talent show was 88. And so me and a few of my buddies were like, we want to do a Ghostbusters thing, a skit, you know. Oh, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. And uh, you know, we a tribute, as the kids would say today. But yeah, yeah. So we ran it before the teachers, and our whole plan was we're gonna get on homemade like Ghostbuster outfits, you know, like cardboard, backpacks, you know, like a homemade. Did you have like perfect Egon glasses then?

SPEAKER_01 2:16

I wore the glasses then. And I was Egon. You should you nailed it. I got it, dude. I got it. Absolutely nailed it. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 2:21

It was foretold. And here's what we did. We had uh listen, it was the it was it was the 80s. It was the 80s, yeah, yeah, yeah. So the teachers put a record on of Ghostbusters. And so I went up there, had a line talking about this place is haunted, then my buddy got up there and he just froze, he forgot his line, and the crowd's just kind of looking at us. The teachers hit the music, and all we did for two and a half minutes was just spray a little kid in a in a ghost outfit with silly string. That's all we did. That was our talent that day was a Ghostbuster skit. But then the crowd went wild. The crowd went bananas. Went bananas. Oh, it was fantastic.

SPEAKER_05 3:02

Now, was the little ghost, was he green?

SPEAKER_04 3:04

Was he slimer? He did, he was slimer. Okay. But it was, again, it was all janky homemade. So it was a sheet that had been dyed green. Amazing with little eye holes and a little mouth hole, and he would just run around the stage. Are you shooting silly string? Silly string, just shooting silly string at him. Just everywhere that you could see was piles and piles of silly string. Our guns all broke midway through because they were just hot glued into like a canister tube or whatever.

SPEAKER_05 3:32

And so we just pulled it out. We're just just this sounds like a segmented edge. This uh conference ready.

SPEAKER_00 3:41

No setup, nothing. Well, no, you gotta have the setup of like, I think there's a ghost on stage. Cue the music. Cue the music. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 3:50

Because sometimes all you all you need, all you need is the right timing. And I think that that is like we talked about it at lunch today. Like, sometimes humor is the content. Sometimes it's just the right time delivery. Like it is the thing you needed at the right moment.

Senior Stories And Mission Memories

SPEAKER_02 4:06

And I I for all the folks that are waiting through awards assemblies this spring, uh, or maybe going to student talent shows or graduations, because senior speeches, I mean, can we be really honest? Uh it's senior speech time. And I don't know about the high schools that you visit, uh, but some of the ones in Oklahoma are really open about like, hey, anybody who's valedictorian should have a chance to speak. And that's wild.

SPEAKER_05 4:31

You had a pretty uh interesting speech at your church from one of your seniors, right?

SPEAKER_02 4:36

Yes, yes. So um he's one of my favorite humans. Uh, we just graduated, uh, Mr. Micah. Uh, and Mr. Micah is um uh some special needs and development of disabilities in certain ways. But an amazing kid, right? But an amazing sense of humor. Like he is he is that kid who is undaunted, he's courageous, and he's funny, like legit funny. And so part of the senior speech, they had kind of like a setup prompt to keep it on rails, uh, was you know, sharing like where you're going next. He's going to OBU. Uh there was some sharing of like, you know, uh uh things that you did while you were in high school, but because it was our home church, it was like, you know, what was a memory of your church? And so we were advent every Christmas, we light the wreath, Christmas Eve service, all candles are burning. Um, but when he was younger, they were you know huddling the kids to have the kids' message, but the timing was such that the kids' message came after the candle lighting. Oh boy, and so he shared the moment we were all hoping he would share, which was the Christmas Eve that young Micah trying to fumble and stumble from standing up for the kids' message knocked the advent wreath over and the carpet caught fire. Amazing. I don't know if you've seen someone own the moment that almost burned the church down on stage, but it was incredible. And it was just one of those, it was just proof that like sometimes you just have to own it. And it was beautiful, beautiful.

SPEAKER_05 6:07

We cheered, we roared memories like that to me, like are so special in student ministry. Like we all have like memories of you know, the almost burning it down, yeah, yeah, yeah. The hole in the wall. You also have these like beautiful memories, and I mean we'll we'll talk about it a little bit today, like getting to go, and you know what I mean? Like some of that is you know, mission trip, those kind of things.

SPEAKER_02 6:30

So that was the so the other seniors that shared the top three moments were were Micah's because of the humor, VBS, and the trips they went on to uh to uh South America and to Africa on mission. Yeah, wow, yeah. And it's just that's those are the things that stick with you because it makes faith bigger than just the building. Yeah, I think that's so critical, which

Youth Ministry As Safe Place

SPEAKER_02 6:52

is why, Kyle, we want to talk to you today about you got a new book. Yeah. And it's not just a book, it's timely in the ways in which it's next steps for students in our student ministry. And so, Kyle, I want to ask you a little before we get to some of the questions about the content, like youth ministry for you. Uh, what are the memories that you have from it? Like, how does it, where does youth ministry fit in your and your memory bank, in your memory palace? Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 7:15

Listen, I um growing up, my dad was was a pastor on on staff at my church, which was not close to where we lived, um, so um like 30 minutes away. So the church I went to, I grew up in youth ministry. All my friends were from other churches, or excuse me, not other churches, other schools, other places. Yeah. So we all kind of came in to this to this church. Melting pot of church, yeah. Kind of melting pot of schools and stuff. And so at school, I was just kind of miserable's too strong of a word, but just kind of wanted to get in and out as quick as I could. You know, school started at 7.15 and ended at 2.13. I would roll in at 7.13 and then, you know, get out at 2.15. I would park in the last possible space, facing the way out, you know, just so I could get out as fast as I could and get to church. So for me, student ministry was my safe place. It was the place I wanted to be, the place I wanted where my friends were, where my life was, social life, everything. Yeah. So when I, you know, felt calling into ministry um, you know, at 15 years old, and you know, I'm going through school, I'm like, Lord, what do you, you know, what do you have for me? Yeah. And the thing I kept calling, you know, calling, calling back to or in my own heart was that place of belonging was church, was student ministry for me. Yeah. So I was like, how can I help create that for other students who don't feel like you know the school is their place or or whatever, you know, that they just getting through school is a drudgery. But man, I can't wait for Wednesday night. I can't wait for Sunday.

SPEAKER_02 8:39

It was the haven, it was the alternate, it was the alternate community against the mainstream. Yeah. Okay.

SPEAKER_04 8:45

And that was part of the reason why I struggled as a youth pastor for the years that I was a youth pastor, because I was like, why don't you guys want to be here all the time? Yeah, because that was my story. Every time the doors were open, I was like, I gotta get there, man. I gotta go. This is where my people are. So it really puzzled me why students weren't like, you know, at every single event, at every single, you know, opportunity.

SPEAKER_02 9:04

Uh so it kind of threw me off. Okay. Why to say say more about that? Do you think it was just like the way which it fit into their view of it or the rhythm of life? Or what were some of the things related to that?

SPEAKER_04 9:14

You know, uh a part of it for me also was that I was on staff, so I had to be there. Sure. But for kids whose parents aren't, you know, on the ministry team or connected that way. You know, it's like if they come once or twice a month, they feel like they're kind of regular. Yeah. Like, yeah, I'm I I go to church all the time. I was there once or twice a month. You know, and as you know, as pastors, we've all been we've all been pastors, you know. We're like, we'd like to see you a little more than that. We're not here all the time, actually. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:37

We're actually here more than you think. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 9:39

So, you know, I think that for me that was just something that that I really wanted to create an environment where people felt like I want to be here all the time. You know, but it but it was also a struggle when when kids were you know in and out and wouldn't be around for months or weeks. You know, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 9:53

It sounds like that's where your community was. Well, for me in high school, absolutely. Like that's that's your people. And I think for a lot of students that do struggle, they probably see it as the opposite, right? Yeah. So because we talked to a lot of, I mean, we were hanging out with a lot of student ministers here this week. And you know, if you're serving at a church where you're pulling from a lot of different schools, yeah, you may have groups of students where like those are my people and I just have to go to school, like you, or vice versa, where it's like, well, my friends aren't actually here. And so like there there is that feeling of disconnect.

Why Jesus Says Go

SPEAKER_02 10:30

Well, and I think that's always the question of what to what end does this youth ministry like lead and serve. Um, and one of the things that we want to ask you about is the ways in which students need to understand their role to be sent. Um I think some of the tensions of where a youth ministry can go wrong is when it becomes so much of a haven that it's a it's not just a refuge, it's the alternative that we live in, or it becomes so infrequent, it just becomes the extracurricular. Yeah. And one of the things that you've written about is how important it is to understand that we're sent. Yeah. But but but the word you use is go. Yeah. And so I want to ask off the top, why, why, why is why are we talking about it as go and not mission or kingdom or like like there's something about that activating word go. And so why is that where you landed?

SPEAKER_04 11:20

Yeah, I think to answer that question, I need to talk a little bit about kind of the the the way the book is is you know derived. Structured. Structured, yeah. Basically, it's a six session study of the Great Commission. Okay, you know, and so when you think about what Jesus taught told his disciples, and and therefore us, you know, he said, therefore, go, yeah, you know, make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. Yeah. You know, teaching them everything I have commanded you, and surely I'm with you to the end of the to the end of the age. Um, and so that go is a huge piece of that great commission, what it means. You know, and I'm not gonna, you know, get all into the, you know, because I don't even think I can expertly talk about it, but into the Greek of it all. But yeah, you know, the that word go there doesn't mean, you know, just just leave. It means like as you go, as you were going, as you go about your on the way, yeah. On the way, yeah, in all those ways. And so I think there's this to some degree, and I think it comes from a good place where there's this misconception of like, you know, well, every Christian is a missionary. And and I don't I don't think that's the case necessarily, but I do believe that every Christian is called to live on mission. Okay, okay. You know, every Christian is called to go. Some Christians have a specific calling to leave home, to leave place, and to go somewhere else to tell people about Christ. Whereas every believer, whether you ever get on an airplane or a boat or whatever, whatever crossing ocean, right, that's right. You know, you are called to live on mission to see everything that you have in front of you as an opportunity to live for Christ and share the gospel.

SPEAKER_02 12:46

Okay, so how do how do we help structure that? Because that I mean that was one of the things we talked about

Mission Trips That Form Lifestyle

SPEAKER_02 12:50

it. I love my my younger brother. Mike Mike is amazing, and the students that shared about mission trips. Yeah, but there's a danger in that too, that it becomes just a memory, it becomes just the photograph. I mean, I think the there's there's enough critique out there about sometimes it's you know mission tourism and not mission tripping. And uh even though I do think it's important to see what God is up to outside of your own community, but what are some of the ways that we can maybe either study or caution or guide students to not just see the value of the trip, but the lifestyle?

SPEAKER_04 13:23

You know, I think in the teenage years, um I'm gonna say this carefully because I want to I want it to sound uh I want it to be theologically and biblically accurate, but when you when you go on a mission trip with students, it's it might be 50-50, 60-40, maybe even 70-30 for the students who are going as much as for the people that they're going to serve. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Because most most teenagers, particularly in in our in our country and in most of our you know, societies, uh typically don't give of themselves very much. Yep, yep. You know, it and and and some of that's maturity, some of that's you know the development of the brain or whatever. But it's just kind of a me-centered existence. You know, and so when when you are are sent to you when you go to someplace that's not where you live, yeah, and the and the object of going there is to serve someone else, yeah, that can be formative. Yeah. Now, obviously, you don't want to in a disruptive good way. Exactly, yes. And so you don't just want to go, you know, and and have and have a great experience and not expect to serve. You still want to serve, and you want the ministry that you do on these opportunities to be effective and to be helpful, not to be harmful in any way.

SPEAKER_02 14:36

Right, right, right. But the when infrastructure project that y'all built that had to be torn down and rebuilt by somebody else.

SPEAKER_04 14:41

Right, because they didn't do a good enough.

SPEAKER_02 14:47

14-year-olds are not great day laborers when it comes to concrete. It's minimal at best, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 14:52

Some real construction people's supervision recording. That's right. But you know, it's it's as it's as much often to help the student expand their worldview to see that there are other people in the world who know God and love him. There are other people in the world who who don't know God, who need God and need a relationship with Christ. And so it's it's it's often hard to get that in your own context. So when you step out of your context, then it opens your eyes. I that's a big part of my story. Yeah. When I was 15 years old, I was on my first mission trip. Okay. And, you know, we went to Montana, like 60 miles from the Canadian border. Way, way, it took us three days to drive there. Um, and we get there, and you know, it we're we're working with Native Americans, and there was some very kind of rampant alcoholism that you could see uh in in you know in the people as they wandered the streets and so forth. And at first it was funny to me, you know, as a 15-year-old, you know, punk, I guess. Yeah, but by the end of the week, God had like like shaped my heart. And at the end of that week, I felt the Lord calling me into ministry. And this was the first time that I had ever kind of set out to do anything for something, someone other than myself. Yeah. In a lot of ways, probably. Yeah. Apart from parents saying, hey, go do this, go help, help your sister, you know, be more helpful around the house, right? That sort of thing. But it was like, well, this is not this is not about you know what I'm gonna receive here, even though I received a lot. It was about how can I how can I help serve these people who who who don't know the Lord and need him.

SPEAKER_02 16:18

You know, and it and it changed, it changed my life. Well, and then talk about that change because I think that's one of the things the trip is so powerful. And and again, we do encourage ministries to consider the ways in which you as a youth leader are getting students out of their context into something else. And out of their comfort zone. Out of their comfort zone. And so the disruption is necessary, but you can't live in disruption. If you're always disrupted, you aren't actually being formed. Like it's like a jolt. Like if you're always being jolted, you're not actually like recentering enough to live. Yeah. So for you, like the disruption happened, but clearly has set you on a different trajectory. So, like, what are some of the ways in which you would encourage youth leaders that are like, okay, we did the thing, we went to Ghana, we went to Montana, we went to Mexico, but as we are like, as we are going or as we are coming back, what are the ways in which the disruption can give way to formation?

SPEAKER_04 17:06

Yeah, I think you need to you need to keep it in front of your students in some ways. And I think some of that is even as simple as like, you know, take some pictures from that event and and blow it up on the wall in your student ministry space. Yep. And be reminded. And and when, you know, when kids go students walk by those pictures, talk about, talk about the memories, talk about the commitments they made. You know, if there's if there's those, you know, I've like me at a mission trip, I feel God calling me into ministry, you know, youth pastor looking at the picture of that trip. Hey man, what's about what's God doing in your heart uh about your call? You know, that you feel how how do you how do you feel that's shaping? You know, so those are simple, like, like, you know, sensory remembrances. But I think also in teaching, you know, bring it up. Talk about you know the the lessons you learned, the things that that that you saw and did. You know, just keep it, keep it in the forefront. And I'm you know, it's impossible to do that all the time. I don't mean every single, every single message, every single sermon, every single lesson needs to be, hey, remember what we did on mission trip. But be be be in a place to remind students of of what they saw God do. Okay. And and truly, you know, I don't mean to sound corny, but give God the glory for what happened and how he moved and how he shaped, how he, you know, saw people come how people came to faith in Christ, yeah, how students' lives were changed, you know, those sort of things. Um just keep it in the forefront of the mind. It's good.

SPEAKER_05 18:25

One of one of the things that I think about in formation that we've talked to some other churches that, man, uh we we did this a little bit with our students on mission trip. I wish we had pushed in even more when I've heard about the success they've had, is to connect for connection with like parent ministry type things of inviting mom and dad to be a part of that. Because you mean you talk about the snapshot picture when we start to talk about like family relationship, it's in the hallway at home. It's in the hallway at home, yeah. And the ability sometimes for mom and dad to get to see their kid in a very different light, yeah, or for their kid to get to see mom and dad in a very different life has some real lasting impacts.

SPEAKER_02 19:07

Well, so that was one of the things I was gonna ask you. Um sometimes the the mission trip or the excursion or the opportunity, whatever the correct language is for the people that are serving in different places, is a chance for courage. Yeah. Uh often coupled with a mission mindset or a mission trip is a chance to either share faith or practice evangelism or or do a specific and intentional evangelistic

Courage To Share The Gospel

SPEAKER_02 19:34

work. For students that like that invites a lot of like terror and fear, yeah, and not just like nervousness, but like legit fear. What are some ways from both like the study and your wisdom that you would offer like no, this like it's the good fear, not the bad fear, uh, that there is courage to tap into. Uh, because that is again that's a powerful, you're out of your context, and so you're leaning on God's leadership, the spirit's power to talk about why you're there. Because, like, again, 15-year-old Kyle and Egon glasses showing up in Montana to a Native American reservation. Like, people have questions. Hey, my man, why are you here? Right. And so now you have to answer the question. It it forces the question. So, how do we answer with courage? Yeah or train them to answer with courage.

SPEAKER_04 20:22

I think it's reframing the understanding of of what you're actually doing in terms of like you are not responsible for um causing someone to come to faith in Christ. Yeah, you can't do it, you can't make someone love Jesus, you can't make someone believe. That's on the individual. Our our role is to just share the good news, yeah. To share what God has done. Yeah, you know, in giving us his son. That's our role. And if you are rejected in that moment, it's not you they're rejecting, it's Jesus. And that rejection can still be painful. And I'm not I'm not saying to minimize it if you know you're sharing with someone on a mission trip, or better yet, you're back home sharing with a friend. That rejection can sting, and it those conversations can be awkward and hard. But one of the things that I that I really feel like in the study and in student ministry, we really need to emphasize is is an understanding of the gospel so that it's not a rote, robotic, you know, type of conversation. Something else. Yeah, but it flows a little more naturally. So uh for years and years I taught an 11th and 12th grade uh guys class, uh, you know, connect we call it connect group in my church, but a Sunday school class, basically. And at some point in the year I would always ask, Hey, will someone someone share with me what what's the gospel? Yeah, yeah. And I'd get some dumbfounded looks back at me, and then some brave kid would go, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Excellent. You know, and I was like, Yes, those are the first four books of the New Testament. Yeah, yeah. Also gospels. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Often when I'd rephrase it, say, What's the good news of Jesus? Then they would kind of grasp on a little bit better. But we'd work on that. I say, you know, this is this is the good news of Jesus. This is this is what it is. And try to help explain to them. And so I think what it boils down to is I'm not trying to, you know, slam on techniques, you know, three circles. That's wonderful. Roman wrote, all those things are good. You know, but I feel like it's better when it comes across in conversation due to familiarity. Yeah. And I've been thinking about this. I want to use this illustration because this is the perfect room. Bring it to us, yeah. This is the perfect room to use this illustration. Guys, I have never once taken a bump in a wrestling ring. Okay. Right? I have never once been choked slams. Donnie hit the lights. I've never even been in a ring. I've never bounced off the ropes. I've never done any, you know, never, never been, never know that's ever happened in my life. But yet I am not afraid, any drop of a hat, to have a conversation with someone about wrestling. Okay. You know why? Because I'm familiar with it. Yeah. I watched it when I was a kid. Yeah. I watched it when I was a college student. I started watching again when my boys got a little bit older. So I know things about wrestling and I can talk about it with some confidence, you know. Okay. It's the same thing with the gospel. It's the same thing with God's word. What fuels confidence in the ability to talk to someone about Jesus is familiarity. Yes. You know?

SPEAKER_06 23:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 23:17

Knowing, not having everything memorized, not having a script that you can nail down, but just knowing God's word and having it hidden in your heart so that it can come out when you have opportunities to talk to people about Christ. Or when a conversation shifts towards spiritual things. Yeah. How you can, you know, you can you can bring it up and talk about it without without fear, you know, in in that, you know, I'm not I'm not gonna say it right. I'm gonna I'm gonna mess it up, you know. No, you're just having a conversation and you're talking about something you're especially passionate about. Yeah. You know, something that you that a person, Jesus, that you know deeply in your heart because you spent time with them, you know, that's sort of the thing. I really would love to see the see it reframed in that way. Not so we don't ever have, you know, evangelism techniques. Those are fine, but think of it more in a relational conversational way because of confidence and familiarity.

SPEAKER_02 24:02

Well, and I think that's such an important tool for the ways in which it plays out in the safe spaces of youth ministry. This is not something that we hope was gonna happen outside of our time together, but the safe place that we created was to talk in these ways that were not something else. Techniques be helpful, but overflow be practiced of just like this is what's happening. This is this is God's work in my life, or this is the work I see of God in other lives. And like, again, sometimes it takes a catalyst moment, like a missions event or a service project or a trip or an excursion, but it also should be in the Sundays and Wednesdays and group times that are happening, so that gospel conversation doesn't feel like another kind of conversation. Like that's one of the things that that that phrase, and we talked with some of our friends about it this week, that gospel conversation feels like something else that we're doing other than other conversations that we have. Like, if you have a strong point of view of what God has done in your life, if if Jesus has a redeeming work transforming in you, then the gospel conversations are the overflow and not like the gear you're shifting into where it's like, I've asked you four questions. It's now time that we ramp this gear up. Like it should be in everything from the cups of coffee to the to the hobbies to the algorithms to the whatever. It should be an overflow of what is in the mix of your life. Yeah.

Using The Study In Your Rhythm

SPEAKER_02 25:23

Which I guess is the question that I want to ask is like, what you've written about is so significant, but when does it fit in the work of youth ministry? Like, I think that's always like a lot of youth ministry folks feel like the the man, my my kids are only here so many weeks. We have these things going on. Resourcing questions are often best, like when does what when do I best use it? When does it best fit in? And so, as both youth minister, author, and parent, like when is this important thing become like in the life cycle or the rhythm of a of a youth group or youth ministry to hopefully have its most like meaningful impact?

SPEAKER_04 25:59

Yeah, I think the easiest use case is mission trip prep. Okay. You know, you have a you have a mission trip planned and you want to get your students ready. Yeah. You know, you can you can start six weeks out and you can work your way through the book. This is the walk up to it. This is the walk-up to it. Yeah. You know, you could adapt it. You could probably do it over a weekend if you wanted to make it like the content of a you know of a mission's weekend or a retreat. Yep, yep. Something like that. Um, but it also fits easily into if you have a type of midwife midweek Bible study, or if you have some type of, you know, like a Sunday night or something, if you want to do a special emphasis, do it, you know, it's your largest moment, whatever, you know, if that's Sunday school or or connect.

SPEAKER_02 26:36

Great commission teaching series. Here's the underpinnings, absolutely.

SPEAKER_04 26:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 26:40

I I love the idea of utilizing it for the like prep for the mission trip. Yeah. Because one of the things like we were alluding to at the very beginning, those are such great opportunities for like students to truly become friends together. Yeah. Right? Like you go on a trip with somebody, you spend every day with them.

SPEAKER_02 27:03

You can't come back with at least a story and hopefully a deeper relationship.

SPEAKER_05 27:07

Well, because even for most places, camp is large.

SPEAKER_02 27:11

Yes, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 27:12

And like you can really know everybody on most of your mission trips.

SPEAKER_02 27:16

And I think even faith forged in a in a in a church van.

SPEAKER_05 27:19

Well, and extending that into like a lead up to it. The other part, and I'll continue being one of the parent guys like it, you're also able, you're creating what for many parents is very stressful.

SPEAKER_06 27:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 27:36

Right? Like they may be sending their kid to a another country for the first time, and you taking the like time to prep their kid leading up, and it's not just like, well, we load the van at three. You know what I mean? Like you've been having them spiritually prepare for that. Yeah. You're getting to know the other. There's group work, there's personal work. Yeah, yeah. It becomes a good thing. Well, and that's what you were talking about. That's that's how student ministries become places where kids want to be at, compared to my friends aren't there. Yeah. Because I've seen over and over again, you take a group of students on a trip together, like they come back like close friends. And I've seen that's where it really becomes not just the trip, but now they're together, yeah, and they're like, let's take this into our life and into the school, which is where hopefully that's what we're kind of teaching and

Jerusalem Judea Samaria Framework

SPEAKER_05 28:31

modeling.

SPEAKER_02 28:31

Yeah. Is that what would you say is kind of like your best hope and goal? I mean, that's when people write and do, there's always like, man, I hope this it'd be really neat if this happened. And so for uh a youth ministry leader that like has taken to heart that that we want our ministry to be sending and not just like saving or holding, but like putting people on mission, like how how would you see this as like this would be either like best case, best use, or a big win?

SPEAKER_04 28:57

Yeah, I mean, I honestly I don't want to uh beat a dead horse here, but like that if if if a student ministry did this study, that it would it would create a familiarity with the gospel. Yeah. Okay. I think I'm saying that weird that word really wrong. Familiarity, is that right?

SPEAKER_01 29:11

That's it's got a lot of vowels in it. It'd be familiar. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 29:14

It'd be familiar. Let it be. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 29:16

He's more of a pen and paper guy. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 29:20

They would have familiarity with the gospel that it could become conversant. Yeah, okay, yeah, yeah. But by by examining the Great Commission, and so that it a student would walk away, understanding that, you know, this is what Jesus called us to do. Yeah. You know, he called us to to make disciples. All right. He caused us to, you know, to go to all places. Yeah. You know, and you combine the Great Commission with Acts 1.8, you know, Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, the ends of the earth.

SPEAKER_06 29:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 29:45

That can be looked at geographically, close by, a little bit further out, a little bit further out. All the way, yeah, yeah, yeah. Or it can be looked at uh like demographically. Yeah. You know, Jerusalem, those are the people that, you know, those are my people, those are the people I know. Judea. Yeah. Those are the people who are nearby, but I don't really know them. Yeah. You know, so how do I connect with them? How do I help them understand the good news of Christ? Samaria, those are people I don't even like. The op. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But I still, God loves them and I need to love them too. So how do I bring people, bring the gospel to people who who who I don't even really like, I care for them that much. Exactly. You know, um, and then you know, the ends of the earth. There's not a place where God hasn't called us to go. You know, and so if that is uh a special calling as a missionary is for for you to go and live somewhere else, or if that's just every day in my life, you know, I'm I'm I'm a light, I'm I'm sharing the gospel through my lifestyle, and even my words if necessary, yeah, you know, in my Jerusalem, in my Judea, to the people in Samaria, of all places and the ends of the earth. You know, so that's what I hope that that perspective, that understanding of what the gospel is, and that students see themselves as part of the process of as they go, whether they ever get on a plane and cross an ocean or go somewhere else, you know, whether they never leave the hometown, you are you still have the same calling on your life that the person who you know lives in India does, you know, sharing the gospel.

Modeling Faith In Real Life

SPEAKER_05 31:05

Zach, can I ask you like one final question? The because I've heard you talk about it.

SPEAKER_06 31:10

Okay.

SPEAKER_05 31:11

And I think it's really relevant, especially in this conversation. And I'd love you to expand on it more because it is your thought. You've talked a lot in some circles that we've been in about how important not specifically this one, but I think it applies it is for student ministers to model what we're teaching. Especially as we're talking about not just sharing the gospel on a stage, yeah. But like you're talking about those natural conversations that I think it would behoove a lot of student ministries of getting to see their student minister really live that out.

SPEAKER_02 31:54

Uh it's gotta be true in your life. Um not just so that you have sermon fodder, but it's gotta be true in your life because it's true. Um it makes me nervous that most of the folks that advocate for sharing their faith consider the moment that they advocated for sharing the faith a fulfillment of sharing their faith. Which is to say, uh preachers on pulpits telling others that they need to know Jesus suffices. Like it needs to happen in the parking lot of the Chipotle, it needs to be true of your interaction with your Uber driver, it needs to be sincere with the help desk at Planet Fitness, like there needs if if the call to students is they need to have a who's their one, then you should also have one in a way that is not not for vanity, but for sincerity, that it's talked about. Like that there is modeling that way. And then even more so, this is the strength of small groups of co-leaders. If Kyle and Chad are leading that 11th to 12th grade small group of guys who are feeling a little insecure or a little unsure or how to have a gospel conversation, one of the easiest opportunities is for Kyle and Chad, those co-group leaders for the 11th, 12th grade guys, to see how they talk about it with each other. It's hard to have a conversation you never had. Yeah, it's easier to model after a conversation you've seen had. Uh, and I think courage often comes from inspiration from those that would have it also. And I think for the adult men and women leading the small groups and for the youth ministry leaders themselves, that it just is the tone of who we are. In the same way, man, I I am so thankful for the work of both you and your team to craft resources that are not just something to fill the gap between the weeks, but to reshape the conversation. Um, because the the big question I have for you at the end is the ends of the earth have never been closer. Yeah, and yet our kids seem more insecure about their faith. Like what used to be a geographic question, how do I get a Tyler from Tennessee to see that God is at work in Somalia has never been easier. And so it's not the missional distance, but it's the courage. And so that comes from the conversation and the study and the Holy Spirit. So when everybody's entertained and distracted and on a missional tour to see something, when the world's never been more accessible and closer, how do we make that opportunity real for a student that may have a Discord friend list that spans continents? For a student who literally may be an influencer to 10,000 people, how do we make the sense of the as you are going global in the ways in which it might be true for for Stephanie or Tiffany, uh, or for for the for the folks in our ministries that may have uh a reach to Judea and Samaria and

Digital Witness And Baptism Posts

SPEAKER_02 35:00

beyond. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 35:01

It's interesting you say that uh in in in every session, and I'm not trying to do like a sales pitch, I promise.

SPEAKER_06 35:05

I'll just be a little serious, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 35:08

We thought about this when when constructing this book in the the personal days, so there's a group time, and then there's personal days. Day two is always called get digital. Okay, yeah. And so it it helps students walk through opportunities to use their digital platforms, whatever they may be, yeah, as an opportunity to express the love of Jesus, yeah, you know, and to live this, you know, on mission.

SPEAKER_03 35:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 35:28

Uh even in their even in their digital spaces, you know. And so we had, you know, the the the lesson on you know, part of the Great Commission is baptizing them in the name of the Father. Uh yeah. You know, Father, Son, Holy Spirit. You know, I was like, hey, you know, everyone's got one now who's who's who's alive. If you have a video of your baptism, throw it on your social media, share it, take a take a still shot. And every profile pic that you have right now, go change it. That picture of you in the baptistry. Yeah. You know, that's gonna start conversations with people, you know, that can again, those familiar, comfortable conversations where I'm just talking about something that I love. Yeah, you know, and I'm talking about Jesus, the one who gave himself for me. Yeah. You know, it doesn't have to be forced, it doesn't have to be thumping people over the head with the Bible, but it created the opportunity.

SPEAKER_02 36:08

But it creates an opportunity. It's the thing that maybe even the the posting of it may not show up in the comments, but it may show up in the messages, it may show up in the fault conversations. I mean, how many times have we done podcasts like this that someone showed up at the next conference and was like, hey, you guys talked about the Ghostbusters in the pro wrestling thing, right? Like it was the thing that created the space of the conversation because it was overheard, it was seen, modeled, whatever the whatever the word you want to use, and it and it drove it to a conversation. Yeah. And I think for students to see that some of that bearing witness may not be like the scripted, like, here's my testimony, but a snapshot. Like, what a powerful snapshot. Like, that's probably the one of the strongest things to come from the mission excursions that take good photos, is Lord, let them be shared. Yeah. Like, I didn't even know that Kaylee and Timothy were spending July that way, right? Like it's one of those, like, I just thought everybody was going on vacation to Disney and here they are, like doing this other kind of thing. And so that coupled with courage creates those opportunities. And so that's great, man. That's so good.

SPEAKER_04 37:14

And it's just it's it's it's retraining the mind to realize that there's no place where we go virtually or physically, yeah, where we're not an ambassador for the gospel. We're not an ambassador for Christ. So if you're online in a you know, in a virtual environment, you know, my kids have the have the Oculus headsets and the players, yeah, they're in there, okay, okay. They're in there swinging their arms. Beat the bigger. You know, if you're in this environment, you know, you're still you're still a follower of Jesus. Yeah, yeah. You know what I mean? Like you don't check that at the door when you get in this place. In the Roblox experience and the Minecraft worlds, absolutely. All of it, yeah. If you are on, you know, if you have social media platforms, you know, the way you comment, the way you, you know, you interact with people online, you're still a follower of Christ. You know, and we want to we want to uh live in such a way that the light shines even through the black and white of printed ones and zeros. That's right, that's right. You know what I mean? Like it it impacts you there. As the same as it would in the halls of your school, as the same as it would, you know, in the in the streets of your neighborhood. Everywhere you go, as you go, you are a follower of Jesus and you're trying to live a life that expresses his love and goodness, you know, and the whole reason why he came to give himself for us so that we might live. So good. You know, and it it hits everywhere. That's good, man.

What Kyle Is Reading Now

SPEAKER_02 38:28

Well, before we go, we always want to ask, uh, Kyle, thank you so much for sharing. Yeah, no, um, but we live in a digital space and we're always people on the go. Um, what's something right now that's in your feed uh that you're checking out, looking at, or being fed to you? And then what's something that's feeding you or giving you life? Maybe something that's like showed up your way and you didn't plan on it, but here we are. And then something maybe proactively, intentionally that you're like, this is giving me life right now. This is really exciting. Yeah, you know, that they're kind of they're kind of similar.

SPEAKER_04 38:57

Okay. The thing that keeps popping up in my feed and just in my life everywhere, is a quote that's attributed to John Piper. I don't really know if John Piper is in one of these. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, but it's a quote that's attributed to him. Abraham Lincoln, I believe in time travel.

SPEAKER_06 39:10

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 39:13

But the quote goes, you know, uh, there are 10,000 things that God's doing in your life right now, and you might know about three of them. Come on, come on. That that phrase that, you know, I've seen it, I've seen it, you know, on my feeds, but uh but I've also people have said it, you know. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's just been a recurring theme in my life for the past several months. It's good. You know, is to know that God is doing things, even though I can't see it, even though I don't know what what all's happening, you know, um, with all the ins and outs and the tapestry that he's weaving in our lives. That I know of very little of what he's doing, but I can trust, I can trust the artist who's weaving that tapestry, you know. So that's something that's been in my feed. But the thing that's feeding me, I don't, you know, this is this is interesting. So we we didn't really address this at the beginning, but I'm an editor here at Life Labor. Right, sorry, you call content edit team for short-term studies. Yes, come on. Content edit. And right now I'm working on something that has been long awaited. Oh, okay. It is actually the sequel to Experiencing God, you know. Oh, okay. It's it's called the Blackaby Strike Back. I'm just kidding. I'm teasing. I'm teasing.

SPEAKER_03 40:14

No, it's called Experiencing God in Everyday Life. Uh but you know, in as part of my job, what I do all day long is read, you know.

SPEAKER_04 40:27

And so that's part of what I'm reading all the time is these these upcoming Bible studies. And this Bible study is just speaking to me so clearly. It's blessing my heart in so many ways. Um, and so it's you know, it's it's a beautiful thing that I get to go to a job that fuels my my heart and soul as much as it does, you know, that it provides a living for me and my family. Yeah, you know, it's it's really cool. So look for uh experiencing God in everyday life next year, next year, 2027, coming your way, okay comes out. Maybe maybe first of this year, I can't or the end of this year, but look for it. Look for it. It's really good. Okay, it's really awesome.

SPEAKER_05 41:00

I'm unbelievable. Like, there's like work hat off for them. Yeah, right. Like, I'm unbelievably excited about that from a very personal level. Yeah. So when I first became a believer, yeah, like that was the very first study I ever did. Yeah. And I remember like it was very impactful in my life of just like, oh, you get to fill in like the blanks. Yeah. Like there's a journey. This idea of faith and getting to actually like learn in that way, I really connected with, but then the content was so good.

SPEAKER_04 41:36

And it's and it really is, you know, so sometimes you you see a a book series and there's not a whole lot of differentiate differentiation from one to the next.

SPEAKER_00 41:44

It's this it's revised, and you're like, okay, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 41:49

Yeah, new cover, yeah, new covers, new commas. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 41:51

This is this is so fresh. Okay. And it it is, it is truly the logical next step to the seven realities of experiencing God. Okay. Um there's eight new realities of experiencing God in everyday life, okay. Which they they they come together so perfectly, but it's it's gonna be so powerful for students to to to do this study in time, you know, and go, wow, so I see these these ways that God is working. Yeah. Now here's how here's the things that I need to do now to to live it out, to experience Him in my everyday life. It's it's so powerful, and I can't wait for the for the world to see it.

SPEAKER_02 42:23

Well, and that is, man, so one last youth ministry conversation. Next steps is the necessary work right now. Yeah. Um, one of the things that, again, we we've said it before, we want to encourage again going into this summer, more than what we have planned, more than what we were hoping would happen, would you shepherd enough, pastor enough for the next steps that students might be able to activate and do? Because I do think that that is that will be the that's the crux of where we're at. I think we've figured out great environments. I think there's lots of great opportunities and resources, but helping students imagine their next steps, the big conversations, the courageous small acts of obedience to learn how to go as they're going, not just the trip that happened, but the ways in which that frames their understanding of their live reality, so very important. So, Kyle, thank you for this one that you brought today. Yes, sir. And then we'll see you in a few months for the next one that you have for us, my friend. Sounds awesome. Thanks, everybody. We'll see you back next time.