Getting on the Same Page

We had our annual parents meeting for this year's confirmation class. We confirm in the 10th grade @ Christ Church, and we are expecting a class of around 50 sophomores this year, and the crowd at the meeting last night reflected that. The crowd also reflected an oft overlooked challenge in youth ministry-Some parents (even church members) do not always hold to distinctly Christian beliefs. This is a problem for two reasons. The first is that if the parents themselves are not experiencing the truth of the Gospel, then they are missing the vitality and freedom found in living as a child of God. The second reason this is a problem is that despite what some misguided youth ministers would tell you, we (youth pastors) will never be the biggest influence on the students we serve, their parents will be. So no matter how well we teach, 20 minutes of good, orthodox teaching can be washed away with the dismissal of a parent. If we want our students to know Christ and walk with him, we have to work with the parents, and make sure we are on the same page theologically. The last thing we want is a Holy war being waged between parents and youth staff. Do your students parents think that Jesus is the only way to heaven? Do they believe that scripture is the inerrant, authoritative word of God? Do they place a higher emphasis on the prayer book or the bible? (I'll be honest, I'm a little afraid to ask this question) The hurdle of working on the same page with parents theologically speaking is raised a few notches higher for those of us in student ministry in my life stage. I'm very, very young for my job, and I realize the challenges that go along with that. Mainly, it is very difficult for parents in their 30's to 60's (and in our church VERY educated, successful 30 to 60 year olds) to ascribe ANY authority to the teaching of a 24 year old who some see as merely a babysitter who gives their kids a safe place to play twice a week. As we attempt to preach and teach to our parents, we have to keep in mind how we can appear to them, and we have to keep in mind that they DO have a TON of life experience we don't. We've got to approach them with respect and humility, and pray that the Holy Spirit moves them in the same direction we are leading their children. We don't have to let anyone look down on us because we are young, but we also have the responsibility to act in a way that does not GIVE people a reason to look down on us because of our youth.

Entourage Part 2

We are pushing closer to launching our entourage series for the fall. As I dig deeper into the text we are using for the first week, more things about the disciples calling have surfaced. I love that Matthew Henry (what's up bibleworks) writes that before they were called by Christ, they were working at the calling they already had. Peter, Andrew, John and James were (at least the text seems to paint them as such) diligent workers, busting their rears in a hard job. They were about the business that had been appointed to them. They weren't sulking because they had a crappy job in the tatooine of the Middle East. They weren't lazy. They were working. Henry goes on to ask his readers "are you working in your calling?" Are we diligent working where we are? Do we display the characteristics of hard laborers, sweating and striving to do the difficult work of following Christ? The portrait our culture paints of vocational ministry often seems to mirror the picture it paints of corporate executives. And we like that. Who really dreams of hard manual labor for low pay? However, the men who Jesus called had the mindset of blue collar laborers. They understood what hard work was. It has caused me to ask, how can I LABOR for the kingdom? Where do I need to sweat more? Where have I gotten lazy?

What Happens?

One of the things I've noticed about youth ministry the longer I've done it has little to do with my experience as a youth worker, but alot to do with my friends and I as we've gotten older. I went to a high school with a strong FCA program and a bunch of kids who went to church every sunday. They were pretty serious about God. Now, we're all done with college and are young professionals in some capacity. Over 40% of the kids that I knew from North that were church kids have walked away. They still retain that oh so american Deism, but the worship of Jesus Christ has gone the way of the rest of their juvenile mis-conceptions about the world. So, the challenge lies in how we fix the problem. It is a little scary to know that all the labor, prayer and time I put into even our most committed students could stop in four short years. Are we presenting Christianity in an in accurate way? Are they just into church because it's a place their parents let them hang out with their friends? Do they just love God because of his stuff? I'm not sure what happens in between graduation from 12th grade and graduation from college. Maybe the lack of connection with other Christians in college? Maybe they get a little freedom from home, and find that sin is fun. (I know I did) I know that every single Christian will struggle and stray from Christ, but what can we do when they are young to make sure they come back?

Entourage

Our Wednesday night theme for the fall is "Entourage". We're going to examine the lives of Jesus' disciples and talk about what discipleship looks like for us. I started studying today for the first passage we're going to examine on September 10th. When Jesus called the disciples, he called men who were at the time completely and utterly unqualified. They had none of the abilities that the religous establishment of the time thought neccesary to do ministry. They very likely couldn't read. Also, this is just some conjecture from me, but I wonder how closely they "walked with God" before they met Jesus. Were they seekers? Were they serious Church guys? Where were they? My point is, Jesus didn't wait for them to be qualified before he called them. He didn't wait until they were spiritually mature (see Peter), he called them to ministry where they were knowing HE would be the one to mature and grow them, as they were incapable of doing it themselves. In the same vein, it's very easy for me to get discouraged in ministry. God has placed me in places of ministry where I've been surrounded my a lot of extremely talented mature men. There is still a lot I have to work on, and it's easy to get caught up in the feeling of "I'm not as good as ____, so I'm not going to be effective in my ministry" I find encouragement in the calling of the disciples, and I'm reminded that Jesus didn't call some future, perfect version of me to ministry. He called me as I am knowing HE would be there to grow and mature me as I obediently (most of the time) follow him. When I look at the people in scripture God chooses to use, I see a lot of murders, adulterers, a prostitute, illiterate blue collar guys, a terrorist and a traitor to his people. God uses screwed up people to do his work as he heals their spiritual wounds and grows them in maturity and wisdom. Thank God I don't have to do it myself. (because I couldn't)

Connect=Communication

This Sunday is connect Sunday at Christ Church. I'm very excited. This Sunday all of the respective ministries will set up tables with information on every program they will roll out this fall, and advertise volunteer opportunities. For me, that means that we will have the monthly parent newsletter, 3x5's of the new Wednesday Night series advertising the kick off party on September 3rd, 3x5's with a summary of what is happening the rest of the year, two calenders and an informational packet on the ski trip we are taking in JANUARY. This has been a great process for me. Having to advertise this stuff in August means that it has to be planned a few months in advance. If we don't plan this stuff in advance, we can't communicate it in advance. How do you kill a youth ministries effectiveness? Don't tell people what you're doing until the last minute. To connect people to our ministry, we've got to communicate what is happening in the youth ministry to them. Parents want their kids involved, they just got to know what's going on. This second great thing about getting stuff planned to roll out in August is that you have more time to put it together. I want all of our programs to have a level of exellence to them. The better they are, the more effective they are. So, now we have the entire fall/winter on paper, to put in the hands of our parents and students, and now all we have left is to execute it.

Watching God

I've been very blessed to be a part of some very succesful ministries as an intern. But, I came into those ministries long after they had built a strong momentum. Now, I am working in a ministry that is only a few years into things. I've been on the job about a month, and I'm getting to watch God work in huge ways right in front of my eyes. I'm amazed that as we move in the direction that we feel God leading us we have people come forward completely unsolicited asking to start things moving in the very direction we feel we are being led. Things are happening right in front of me and I get to see what a great, powerful, wonderfully perfect God I serve.

Growing Pains

Marriage is difficult. I know everyone knows that. Let me tell you why marriage is difficult for me. I have a very strong desire to be perfect. I want to do everything exactly right. When you get to know people really well, you begin to see their flaws, and the better my wife knows me, the more she sees my shortcomings. Obvioulsy she loves me despite them, but she will bring them up and say, you might want to work on that. I don't want to work on things. I have a tendancy towards agression. If I have a problem with something, I'm usually less than subtle about it. I jump to conclusions about thing and react, instead of thoughtfully processing. I'm a very stereo-typical type A agressive guy. Sometimes that's good, but sometimes it's like a bull in a china shop. It is difficult for me to hear my wife say I need to change some things, but it's impossible not to listen.

Almost Home

We've been in Greenville for almost a month now, and it's slowly starting to feel like home. My office is slowly coming together. I've met and connected with almost all of our youth ministry leadership, and connected with some students. Our apartment is basically unpacked. I'm listening to the ticket online. Things are starting to feel like home here. It's been a big adjustment for both of us and we haven't met as many people our age as we would've liked to by now, but I think we are slowly starting to thing of Greenville as home.

Money

We are hanging out at Panera using their wireless. As we've been married, we've been doing all married logistics, and we just set up our first joint checking account!! I never knew how poor I was until I got married. We have been looking at out finances, and I've come to a conclusion. I spent too much on my credit card when I was single. We don't have a staggering amount of credit card debt. In fact, we should have it all knocked off in 4 months, worst case scenario. It helps that that is the only debt we have. Neither of us have student loans or debt to pay off. We don't have payments on our cars anymore, they are owned outright. We rent. God has blessed us financially. What I've come to realize as we slaughter the balance on my credit card is I was very sinful in how I spent my money. Not because I bought things, but why. I bought things to fix something. If I felt bad about myself, I'd buy a nice shirt on sale to make me feel better. If I was lonely, I would go eat with my friends. If I was bored, I'd buy a DVD or some new hockey stuff. I was trying to fix problems that were ultimately spiritual with solutions that were not. Stuff isn't supposed to fix or define us. I made my mistakes, and now we are paying for them.