Averageyouthpastor

Hi. I am New Here.

Yesterday was the first time in a very, very long time that I was an actual visitor at a new church. I have went to go research churches recently, kinda like a church ninja, but yesterday our family began the process of finding the church I will soon call home.  When you are in the ministry, one of the biggest concerns you have is how well you cater to first time guests trying to navigate their way through your church with their family.  

You pull up into the church parking lot.  Usually after seeing the sign a little too late and having to screech your tires turning into parking lot.  

Then you see a few buildings that have been mashed together because of the need to expand quickly and the building renovation plan being spread out over 15 years due to financial strains.  

With your children in tow, you start walking toward what you believe to be the main entrance of the church.  You start to wonder if JJ Abrams was the architect that created the church and if hidden cameras are taping you for a new show being produced for TBN that's a knock-off of "Punk'd".  

Then you see it!

It's the first sign you have seen that tells you where to drop your kids off at.  Sadly, the sign is placed in an odd location with the arrow potentially leading you straight or to take a hard right. After a few wrong turns you find your kids classrooms and go through the sign-in procedures. The funniest thing happens next...after having your children walk with you aimlessly and seeing the look of fear on your face before finding their drop off point, you are surprised after giving giving them a great, big hug that they are now afraid to be left alone in the classroom.  

I could go on and on..... 

Here is the good news.  My experience yesterday was nothing like this. This past Sunday, I had the opportunity to attend Without Walls Christian Center in Chandler, AZ.  My friend, Nathan Smale, had the privilege of speaking and I wanted to be there to hear him.  Everyone was so nice and welcoming to our family.  The service itself reminded my wife and I of some of the churches we attended back in the midwest.  On a Sunday morning at Without Walls you won't be just singing a few songs before a speaker gets up to deliver the message....you Worship! 

Another element that I also appreciated was during the announcements the Associate Pastor shared about what he called, "First Service".  On Sunday mornings they go out to feed the homeless in Chandler and he was sharing that they had the opportunity to feed over 170 individuals that morning.  I couldn't help but believe the reason the church body responded during worship at the service I attended was in some way connected to them wanting to celebrate what God already did at "First Service" that morning.   

Excited to see and hear about all of the great things God is doing at Without Walls.  

I was also really encouraged to hear about what God did at the church I was on staff at, Mesa First, this past weekend.  

Looking forward to being a visitor at another church this next weekend.  

I will make sure to take some more notes!

Random Note: They gave us a water bottle in our New Visitor Bag.  That should come in very handy while we are lost as visitors at our next church!

New Game Idea!

My Hero

On Wednesday we started a new series titled, "Heroes".  I know every other youth ministry beat me to this series by 12 months....I'm trying.  We start most of our series off by having small groups the first night so yesterday was our small groups.  I jumped into one the of groups made up mainly of jr. high guys and listened to some of their answers.  One of the questions was, "Tell me somebody in your life that you view as a hero?" and their answers blew me away.  Three of the students in the group named a student leader or one of our youth staff as their hero.  I am blessed to have some incredible people I get the privilege to do ministry with and it's encouraging to hear the impact they are having on so many students lives. 

Cool way to start off a series on Heroes...acknowledging the ones right next to us everyday. 

Do They Even Need Me?

The 4th Sunday Night of each month we have our prayer and praise night at our youth ministry.  I am actually sitting in it right now as I blog.  What makes this night special is that it is entirely student led.  I just get a chance to sit back and watch students shine.  To see students crying out to God and praying for their friends, families, and schools is such a beautiful thing to experience.  I truly serve the best students on the planet. 


.....as they pray and cry out to God I disconnect and type up a quick blog....shame on me. 

A Changed Heart

Last weekend was our Winter Retreat for the junior and senior high students.  This year was incredible and blew away my expectations completely.  The one thing that really keeps me going in ministry is knowing the ministry I lead is having an impact on students lives.   I had the chance to see a lot of students release some areas of their lives that had been holding them back and make decisions to follow Christ.  One of our students, Quinn, came back and posted a blog on his myspace that sums up what took place this weekend perfectly.  This will be one of those encouraging items I will keep close to me when I need a reminder of what makes what I do for a living the best career in the world. 

Monday, January 21, 2008

Amazing Grace

So this weekend was quite a momentous part of my life. I opened myself up to God and I've accepted Christ into my life. For everyone who knows me I know as you read this you are a bit shocked because that wasn't who I really was, but its who I am now. Going up to winter retreat really allowed my to get in touch with God. I really encourage everyone who reads this to do that, go after God. It is such an amazing thing to undertake and the reward for doing so is greater than you can imagine. I know now that I want to live my life for Christ because he gave his life for mine.
Going up to retreat help me realize how blessed I am. So many people deal with problems that are so profound that I can't even imagine how they feel and how they cope. I also realized how much potential God put in me and how much He has planned for me. If you know me, you know how stuff always works out for me in the end. Well I've finally realized that it's God who is watching over me and protecting me. I am so truly blessed by God I almost feel guilty about it. This weekend was a major tunring point in my life, I can't wait to just grow in God and grow as a man of God.

Potential

Waylon Sears wrote a great blog on his website a couple of days ago that I want to discuss.  I encourage you to click on the link and take a look at it when you have a chance.  Waylon is one of the guys I really respect and would love to be able to drop everything and become his shadow for a few months.  But what he was writing about is how, as youth pastors, a lot of times we are asking our students to accomplish and live a life that most of us never did.  I can completely relate to that and have to admit it's something I struggle with.  There are times in ministry that I feel completely inadequate and unable to lead the group of students that God has placed in my ministry.  But I feel the reason for that is because we view each student in our youth ministry as individuals with limitless potential.  I believe that the students I am pouring into and investing in will shine much brighter and accomplish much more than I ever will.  That excites me.  The challenge for myself is to always demand excellence out of everything I do and to continue to set the bar high.   God has blessed me with some of the most incredible people on the planet that I get to invest in for a few short years of their lives. 

Is there really a better calling than this?