SOAP is a helpful method of Bible reading and journaling. SOAP is an acronym for Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer. It can be used with any daily Bible reading plan.

You will need a Bible, a notebook and a pen.

S for Scripture
Read a passage or chapter in your Bible. Take time reading and allow God to speak to you. Look for a verse that speaks to you that day and write it in your notebook.

O for Observation
What spoke to you in what you read? What do you think God is saying to you in this scripture? Ask the Holy Spirit to teach you and reveal Jesus to you (John 16:13-15). Paraphrase and write this scripture down in your own words.

A for Application
Personalise what you have read by asking yourself how it applies to your life right now. It may be teaching, reproof, correction or training for a particular area of your life (2 Timothy 3:16-17). Write down how this scripture can apply to you today.

P for Prayer
This can be as simple as asking God to help you use this scripture or asking for insight on what He may be revealing to you. Remember that prayer is a two way conversation so listen to what God has to say to you. You could also write your prayer down in your notebook.

Where do I start reading?
There are some good Bible reading plans available on the Internet. You can click here to have a look at these Bible reading plans made available by NewSpring Church.

http://www.robmcfarlane.co.uk/files/YouthMinistryBook.pdf

Keys to Effective Youth Ministry was originally published in 1998.

I wrote it after I had served as a youth pastor in Zimbabwe for 10 years. I sold 2000 copies and it is no longer available in print.

The purpose in writing this book was to share principles I learned in youth ministry. It is written with local church youth ministry in mind.

I have decided to make it available as an e-book. You can click here to download a free copy.

Please let others know who you think will find it helpful. Enjoy!

“We will not hide them from their children, Telling to the generation to come the praises of the Lord, And His strength and His wonderful works that He has done. That the generation to come might know them, The children who would be born, That they may arise and declare them to their children.” Psalm 78:4,6.

We need to be effective in reaching the next generation for Jesus. Many churches do not make an impact on the next generation, because they have wrong thinking about youth and children’s ministry.

Some see ministry to the next generation as just taking care of kids so that parents can receive ministry – like a baby sitting service. Others think it is just providing activities to keep them busy. For some it is just a place to develop your gifts and abilities before you can minister to adults.

These are all side benefits, but not the purpose of ministry to the next generation. The purpose of youth and children’s ministry is preparing the next generation to serve God’s purpose in their generation.

There are three things we can do to be more effective in ministry to the next generation as local churches:

1. We should equip and resource our youth and children’s ministry leaders to be effective in making disciples of the next generation. There are some good resources available in the United Kingdom like Energise by Urban Saints and Light Live by Scripture Union.
2. We can support, encourage and equip parents to “train up a children in the way they should go, so even when they are old they will not depart from it” Proverbs 22:6. An excellent course you can use to do this in your local church is The Parenting Course hosted by Nicky & Sila Lee.
3. Our local churches must always be a safe place for children and young people. With the help of organisations like the Churches Child Protection Advisory Service, we can adopt and implement a Child Protection Policy and ensure that all our youth and children’s ministry leaders are CRB checked.

Our children are living messages we will send into a future generation that we will not see. We can impact the next generation for Jesus!

“One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? And if you have not been faithful in that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own?” Luke 16:10-12.

God looks for faithfulness in those He promotes as leaders (1 Timothy 1:12). Dr Edwin Louis Cole said that “our faithfulness makes us trustworthy to God.”

We must also look for faithfulness in those we promote to leadership (2 Timothy 2:2). In contrast we are warned against trusting in unfaithful men (Proverbs 25:19).

I like to call this “the faithfulness test”. We see in Luke 16:10-12 that there are three areas that we need to pass the faithfulness test.

1. Faithful with little things (Luke 16:10).
   The Bible says do not despise the day of small things (Zechariah 4:10). I have heard it said that “if we take care of the pennies then the pounds will take care of themselves”.
2. Faithful with money (Luke 16:11).
   There are two books that will show the state of our hearts – the Bible (Hebrews 4:12) and our cheque book (Matthew 6:21). If we are not faithful with £10 then we will not be faithful with £100.
3. Faithful with another man’s (Luke 16:12).
   This applies to property, business and ministry. In the Bible we see leaders who served faithfully under another leader before God gave them their own ministry. For example we see Moses and Joshua, Elijah and Elisha, Paul and Timothy.

Is there an area you need to be more faithful? If you are faithful with little, money and another man’s then God will entrust you with much, true riches and your own. Let’s pass the faithfulness test!