Christmas Coffee House

On Wednesday we closed out our fall schedule with our annual Christmas Coffee House and Talent Show! We gave away tons of prizes. We ate lots of cookies. We drank tremendous coffee and we had outstanding talent. Matt's Math Dance took the cake! In addition, we talked about the birth of Jesus and talked about how his birth was "The Gift of Death." To close our time Brianne tried to put into words how much a relationship with Jesus means to her and then we played I Celebrate the Day by Relient K.

What blew me away was the number of students I didn't know. I found myself overwhelmed with the number of them as I wanted to sit down with each of them and their friend from our group who brought them and hear their story. I love meeting students in our community who don't go to church. I am so excited to follow up this week with our students to see what's going on in the lives of their friends so we can be praying that the Word they heard on Wednesday won't return void. I can't wait to encourage our students to move towards having a Reaping conversation with those friends they have been Cultivating and Planting with all semester.

It's so exciting to see our students falling in love with God and loving others!

MRI

I had my first MRI today in this exact machine. I felt like I was being sprayed by M16's for 30 minutes. The noise was that loud while they were doing the scans. I will be scarred for life. I hate tight and confined spaces. I was sweating profusely.

I've got a tear in my Superior Labrum in my left shoulder and the MRI will tell me if I need surgery.

What did I learn today? You can overcome your fears. I know it sounds cheesy, but it's true. I was scared to death. They had to pull me out the first time. As I was walking out I remembered this quote I found from Eleanor Roosevelt,

"You must do the things you think you cannot do."

Warriors for Christ...I'm tired of it

I received a publication in the mail yesterday that used these words, "Warriors for Christ!" I'm tired of this. I am tired of youth events that want me to jump on board making my students WARRIORS! Where is this in the Bible? Why do we use it with students? Why do we want warriors in our public school systems? Can you imagine Jesus sitting down with his disciples yelling at them, "Take this town, your a warrior in my name!" Why is so much advertising in youth ministry emotionally driven and creates pictures of being aggressive? What the heck is a Christian warrior?

I'm tired of the warrior theme being used in youth ministry. I don't want to make warriors. I want to students to follow Jesus.

In the fruits of the Spirit...where is the warrior mentality?
Deny yourself, take up your cross...where is the warrior mentality?
If you want to share in Christ glory you must suffer...where is the warrior mentality?
Peacemakers will inherit the earth...where is the warrior mentality?
The meek will inherit the earth...where is the warrior mentality?

Jesus wasn't a warrior for His Father. Jesus wasn't a warrior for His own glory. Check out Philippians 2! Can you imagine a family doing advent with the focus on Christ, THE WARRIOR?

Jesus was the Prince of Peace...He wasn't a warrior.

Clicks for Cans

This is a great idea! I voted for the Broncos...of course.

Clicks for Cans

What's your student ministry doing to fight hunger?

RMD Retreat

Sunday, Monday and Tuesday I spent time with youth pastors from the Rocky Mountain District (RMD) up in Summit County! It's our annual retreat with Jeff from the Efree home office! It was a great time of fellowship, encouragement and training. I'll be sharing several things from that time over the next couple of weeks.

It's good to rub shoulders with guys who are pursuing God, family and the goal to see students become faithful followers of Jesus Christ. I was reminded again over the past couple of days that there is no "proto-type" youth pastors. Were all different in our gifting, personalities, life experiences, and churches, but we share the same passion - to see students ambushed by the passion of Jesus that drove Him to the cross!

11 years ago today was a Saturday

I know that because it was the day I asked my girlfriend to be my wife.

I love you Julie!

It's a joy to be your husband and raise these kids!

We're all praying that they turn out like you! :)

Mitch is a state champ

Congrats to our own Mitch Sturm, sophomore at Columbine High School, on being 5A State Champs in football today!!!!

Nice job buddy stripping the ball away inside the 10 yard line in the first half!

Looking forward to the next 2 years!

How many students are in your group?

I love getting this question from other youth pastors. It's probably the most asked question in youth ministry circles. Why is the question asked? There are many reasons, but one of the primary ones is they want to know how successful you are based on the number of students you have. You say your number, then they start evaluating your effectiveness, their effectiveness, etc... I want to suggest we stop talking about our whole group numbers and start talking about the number of students in our group that have an adult fighting for their soul. I think we'll stop think so much of ourselves and start depending more on prayer and the recruitment of men and women in our church to fight for our student's souls!

Here's the answer I'd like to start being shared,

"That's a great question. It's one that I am praying over every single day. Currently in our ministry we have 22 (?) students who have an adult fighting for their soul. We have a long way to go. Sure we have X number of students, but were not even close to making disciples of every student God has blessed us with. Would you be willing to pray that God would grab the hearts of the adults in our church to fight for the soul of two teenagers? How about you? How many students have an adult fighting for their soul?"

Keyword for young 20 something's is...

DEBT...

according to this report in USA Today.

Part of our desire in student ministry is to equip our seniors with an understanding of how fast your debt can pile up. It will be the focus of one of our sessions in our senior study this Spring.

I am excited to spend time with our seniors talking about money, savings, credit scores, etc...

The Right Question to Ask

This past Sunday our senior pastor preached a message that I will look back on in 10 years and say, "That sermon changed me." Out of this message I walked away with what I believe is the right question to ask ourselves everytime we meet with a student in our ministries.

What is God's loving interest in this person right now?

Oswald Chambers wrote that God tells us to "Identify ourselves with God's interest in other people, don't try to identify God with our interest (or disinterest) in other people."

And before we ask this question with our students we need to first ask this question when we are with our families and our friends.

Cutler is in the air

Everywhere I've been the past three days everyone is talking about Jay Cutler. This morning in Panera as I walked around every table in the place had the paper open to the sports section and talking about the change at quarterback. Grannies, pastors, high school students...you name it!

You gotta love living in this town!

My predicition for Sunday - Broncos 27 Seahawks 24. Cutler will be 19-28, 214 yards, 2 touchdowns (one running, one throwing) and an interception.

I can't wait to go to the game!

10 is the new 15?

Thanks to Alice for pointing me to this article. It's informing us that 10 year olds in our culture are the new 15 year old.

How is this happening?

Marketing! Tweens are becoming a primary target consumer for retailers.

"Advertisers have found that, increasingly, children and teens are influencing the buying decisions in their households - from cars to computers and family vacations. According to 360 Youth, an umbrella organization for various youth marketing groups, tweens represent $51 billion worth of annual spending power on their own from gifts and allowance, and also have a great deal of say about the additional $170 billion spent directly on them each year."

What are the implications, if any, on the church that has pumped millions of dollars into student ministry for 7-12th graders? Do we need Tween pastors in the middle of the Children's Pastor and the Middle School Pastor?

God Helped Me Kill a MONSTER

This past week my boys and I have been reading selected stories in the Old Testament and they've all had one common element - KILLING! It hit me last night when I read a story out of 2 Chronicles and I asked them this question, "How has God helped you?" Here are the first things out of their mouths.

Noah's answer - "Dad, seriously, God helped me kill a monster. I picked up the gun and shot him in the face. He died."

Josiah's answer - "Dad, I am like David. I took my fruit roll-up (fruit by the foot), I swinged it like this and put a rock in it and killed Goliath. It was awesome."

I just sat there in stunned silence. Who are these violent children?

Where did these kids learn about killing? Who's been talking to them? What have they been watching on TV? Have they been playing a game on Nickjr.com that's violent? Who are Noah's friends at school?

Then it hit me...there learning it from the Bible. The first story after sin entered the world is about a brother killing his brother. Up until last night I had never thought about developing a theology of death and having to teach my 3 year old and 5 year old about it, especially from the Bible.

Tuesdays get me ready

...for Sunday! I've found that spending Tuesday mornings in my second office (Panera) preparing for Sunday gives me enough of a start to know where I am heading for Sunday so I can live in my message. I'll read something, talk to someone, or watch something that prompts me to interact with the message in my own life before I put the final touches on the message Friday and early Sunday morning!

Mondays make me ready

Mondays are great days in ministry for me. The office. Getting the week lined up. Most of the admin for the week done. Prayer email sent. Student email sent. Email cleaned up. Meetings set. Office interaction with staff. NO STRESS! NO PRESSURE!

I'm ready for the week. I learned last year that part of my hurried state of life was due in large part to the fact that I didn't have a set time to do admin during the week. Making it on Monday has allowed me to be "more present" the rest of the week.

A BIG Sunday in Denver

The Broncos aren't playing today but it's a HUGE day. The Denver Post is reporting that tomorrow morning the Cutler era will start. No pressure Jay, your first game in the NFL is on National television!

Now I can go buy my boys #6 jerseys!

Sunday night should be a wild ride!

Away from work

Yesterday was an amazing day. Why? Because I had the day off and the next day wasn't Sunday. I think the last time I had 2 straight days off at home was last August. I'm a idiot.

Yesterday made me realize that the pace and rhythm I set for this past year wasn't good enough. I need to spread my vacation out and give myself periods during the year where I am home for two straight days. Here's the big reason why...I can get projects done! The garage is clean. Why is getting projects done important? For some wierd reason it lowers my stress throughout the week. Getting the project done in some crazy way renews my energy.

All of this to say, I think there's a good reason to be away from work (at home) for more than just one day at a time in 2007.

Plummer vs. Cutler

It's so fun to live in a town with a quarterback controversy...especially in a town that once had John Elway as their quarterback. Here's my one cent on the controversy.

Either way were hosed! Jake's looking over his shoulder and knows he's not going to be the man next year. Jay's going to be like a deer in the headlights. He hasn't played competitive football (that counted) since November of last year!

On a side note it was so painful to watch the Broncos double their loses in 96 hours this week!

I can't wait for the Seahawks on Sunday night, December 3rd.

The Buffs

It's been a brutal season. The Buffs ended one of their worst seasons in school history today getting trounced by the Huskers. 2-10 stinks. Next year there is hope. Our recruiting class for next year is in the top 20 in the nation. Cody Hawkins should give Jackson a fight for the starting quarterback. I love this team. I remember following them in middle school and high school passionately. One of my good friends from high school chose CU over Notre Dame in 1993 and played football as a Buff! My dad owned a business in Boulder for 27 years!

I can't wait for next season!

Go Buffs!

2 Thanks

First, He is GOOD and HIS LOVE ENDURES FOREVER!

Psalm 106:1 "Praise the LORD. Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever."

Second, the chance to live out goodness and enduring love in the lives of Noah, Josiah & Adah

It's what HE did for you

We can't forget to communicate to students that a relationship with God doesn't first start with creating a list of what your going to do for Him, but meditating on what He did for you. Students must be summoned to the great fact that God is crazy about them and longing for them walk by faith into a radical love relationship that will change their identity and give them a new home. He's so crazy about them that His Son was killed and raised from the dead on the 3rd day so they could be adopted into His family.

I am not an entertainer...

As a pastor of students I am not an entertainer of students. What’s more, I am not director of programs to entertain students. Our doors aren’t open to entertain.

As a pastor of students, along with those I serve with both paid an volunteer, we open our doors to be shepherds. We are spiritual guides and we take our cues from the Word of God. Specifically 1 Peter 5:2-4,

“2Be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care, serving as overseers—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve; 3not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. 4And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.”

12 inch talking Jesus

CNN reported on this “HUGE” story last week. 4,000 talking Jesus dolls made their way into a Toys for Tots. This Jesus scares me…he’s white!

This doll got me thinking though about the truth that when the Word goes out it doesn’t return void. Will God use this doll to draw someone to himself? I can hear it now in 20 years,

“Yeah, when I was growing up we didn’t have much. Toys for Tots hooked us up with some toys one Christmas. I remember getting three toys. A Woody, a Buzz Lightyear and a Talking Jesus. I’ll never forget one day when I was using all three of these toys to battle each other. The Talking Jesus destroyed Woody and Buzz Lightyear and it was at that moment I heard those words from Jesus’ mouth 'I am the WAY and the TRUTH and the LIFE and no one comes to the father except through me' and committed my life to Him.”

God can use anything!

My view of the game from the seats

I got last minute tickets to the game last night. Do you like my view from the seats? I went with my senior pastor, a guy from my wife's Sunday school class and his friend. Frustration is the only thing I feel this morning! AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

On the positive side I got to see the dad of one of our girls at the entrance of Club Level!

What a week this could be...the chance to be the second best team in the league to maybe being a wild card. AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

National Adoption Day

Today is a wonderful day, it's National Adoption Day! Today we celebrate the grace bestowed to us for the gift of our adopted son, Noah.

His eyes captured us the moment we walked into the room!

It moves us to tears, literally, to think that some of the over hundred thousand foster kids that don't have parents in this country today now have a mommy and daddy!

Cruise...Holmes & the Bible?

Today Tom Cruise is marrying Ms. Holmes. I was reading this article on msn detailing the event. We all know Mr. Cruise is a scientologist, but I found it interesting that the Bible made it into the ceremony! In this article made it a point to talk about something very specific to scientology ceremonies,

"Scientology ceremonies contain many elements of traditional weddings, including rings and vows. But they also include certain Scientology fundamentals, including vowing never to go to bed without communicating about any differences."

While it may be a unique vow in a scientology ceremony, it's not founded in scientology! The priniciple is found in the Bible.

Ephesians 4:26 "In your anger do not sin": Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry."

Thank you Paul.

Games - connecting on their turf

Last night we had the privilege to watch our own Jake Spitzlberger play in his final game as a Bear. He went down on the third play of the game with a knee injury. Unbelievably he came back to play the whole game and put up 487 yards and 5 touchdowns (one rushing). They lost the game. On a side-note, Mitch plays today at 2 and I can't make the game!

What stood out to me was the number of SGC people at the game. You can't underestimate the power of attending a game to build community. Sure there wasn't any deep conversations, but it was a chance to connect with families outside the context of the church facility. It was a chance to make a small deposit that communicated you don't always have to come to the church to connect. Our worship pastor and senior pastor showed up too. Games, plays...you name it, provide opportunities for us to connect on their turf! Basketball season is just around the corner.

1,990 lbs

The food drive that our high school students ran at our church to benefit Compa Food Ministries brought in 1,990 lbs of food!

Proverbs 22:9 "A generous man will himself be blessed, for he shares his food with the poor. "

A youth ministry is grieving

A local youth ministry was without their youth pastor last night. They met and they were grieving a horrific truth - their youth pastor was having sex with a student. A buddy of mine from Denver Seminary served alongside this high school pastor and I have yet to contact him. I couldn't sleep this morning and turned on the news to help me get back to sleep at 5:30 a.m.

This was the first story.

My heart is grieving. I'm going home and hugging my wife. Hugging my kids. I'm going to ruthlessly inspect my policies that I have given to my leaders about contacting the opposite sex. I'm getting on my knees for this community and praying for healing. I'm going to check my heart and see if there is any offensive way in me. I don't want to be the lead story at 5:30 a.m.

I don't want to wake up in prison.

Students collecting food

Last night was our Compa food collection night at the church! Al, from Compa, drove the big truck to the church and we loaded all this food that we were collecting in our high school room the past six weeks! Our students did a great job running this food drive and getting the whole church behind it! One of the highlights of the night was hearing two of our juniors say in unison, "Just wait til next year, we're going to collect more!"

There's nothing like getting the most passionate poeple in the church excited about looking beyond themselves to serve the community. I can't wait for next year!

Catch them doing something right...the skies the limit

I learned early on in youth ministry to catch students doing something right and tell them about it! Too often we're telling them to be quiet, sit down, pay attention, confronting sin, etc... This isn't bad, but if it's all we're doing in ministry the life is going to get sucked right out of us and the students we are serving!

Catch students doing something right this week...especially those that you view as a problem. They aren't a problem, they are an opportunity to bless!

I have been thinking about this as it relates to my boys...at 3 and 5 I can find plenty to correct, but I am now looking for more ways to bless! And the way I see it, the skies the limit with them and out students in our ministries! It's so fun to see their faces light up when I stop, get down on their level, look them eye 2 eye and say, "Way to go!"

STOP looking for clues...we have IT!

Time published this article a couple of weeks ago, "How to Get Teens Excited About God - Youth ministers are seeking clues in the results of a new survey of teens and the church, which shows a spiritual longing that is often not fulfilled"

I can't remember the last time I saw the words "youth minister" in Time so I had to read this article. It goes through Barna's recent "poll" about what students want when they come to church. The overwhelming data shows that students want to make a connection with God - that's a no-brianer.

What got me thinking was what are youth ministers excited about in youth ministry and why are they looking for clues? I am not looking for clues! We need to stop looking for clues! To me, it's obvious what we need to be excited about for students to connect with God. Whatever we are excited about they will be excited about! So I'd like to offer the number one, TOP thing for youth pastors to be excited about, so their students can connect with God and the clue finding can stop.

THE BIBLE! Youth ministries need to first be staturated in the Word of God for students to connect with Him! Sundays filled with God's Holy Word! Small groups wrestling with God's timeless Truth!

I want what captures the hearts of my students to be the thing that keeps them in my ministry and when they go to college.

The psalmist exquisitely details in Psalm 119 this number one desire! Here's what verses 9-16 say about the Word! I want students to be excited about this:

9 How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to our word. 10 I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands. 11 I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. 12 Praise be to you, O LORD; teach me your decrees. 13 With my lips I recount all the laws that come from your mouth. 14 I rejoice in following your statutes as one rejoices in great riches. 15 I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways. 16 I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word.

When they come to church to connect with God I want it first to be through His Word! Now that's exciting and we can stop looking for clues because we have IT!

Fresh eyes and hearts

Yesterday we had five new students in our midst that you could tell wanted to be there as we started our new series on "The Lost Experience." You could see it in their eyes. They sat up straight. They didn’t talk to their friend who sat next to them. They were nodding, looking up the verses, participating in the discussion. They wanted to be there. There thoughts during the discussion about what it means to be "Lost and Afraid" in high school showed their hearts were engaged.

Sunday hasn’t been something they’ve done their whole life. It was something new. They had fresh eyes and fresh hearts. There was a gleam in their eyes. There was sensitivity in their hearts. They heard about the limitless love of God, the sacrifice of Jesus and the promise that perfect love casts out fear.

Our youth ministry needs new life. It’s so exciting to see our students, for whom our community is their spiritual home, reaching out to bring their friends on Sunday mornings! I can't wait to see what will happen on November 19th!

Team Airforce at the Cornmaze

Julie took the kids to our local cornmaze and just as they were about to enter the cornmaze she looked up to see Team Airforce from Treasure Hunters! Needless to say Julie and the kids lost as they raced toward the treasure at the end! Mommy Airforce was getting ready to have their third kid. Julie was happy to find out they were waiting until the birth to find out whether or not it was a boy or a girl! It's the only way to roll!

Living together forever

Today I met with a local youth pastor in our community. There church has grown from 400 to almost 2800 in attendance in the last three years! This guy has a heart for Jesus and longs to see students meet the KING!

What should be my response? Our church has been declining the past 5 years.

My response is one of PRAISE! Not jealousy. My philosophy of networking in youth ministry is that we are all going to live together forever so we might as well get used to it here on earth! I rejoiced with my brother today. We were celebrating what God is doing in our community. I am not competing for market share. Jesus is building the church.

Celebrating small "wins"

This week I’ve been reminded that I don’t celebrate the small “wins” in my ministry enough. One of our i2i groups reached out to a new gal who just moved into our community. One of my leaders is already thinking about the sixth graders being freshmen. I finally met with a student that I’ve wanted to the whole semester. My student ministry team at the church is doing great! Our volunteer leaders in both high school and junior high are amazing. I had an unexpected conversation in our welcome center that touched my heart and soul. The video screens in our room work!

I could go on and on…and I think I should and we should! Sure there is so much that is wrong, that can be tweaked, reworked, better said, more thought out, and better planned, but I’ve been missing the little things that are going on around me that keep my feet planted in ministry here in this community! I want to start celebrating more!

Teens aren't wired for sound judgment

This article is a must read - "Scans of Brain Suggest Teens are not yet Wired for Sound Judgment" for youth workers, parents, teachers, volunteer leaders, senior pastors...everyone!

Here's a quote that gets the article rolling, "...new brain imaging research indicates that teens sometimes act the way they do - making bad choices, failing to see consequences and acting impulsively, because their brains are simply not finished growing. It may not be that the devil made them do it, but maybe that their frontal lobes and white matter did "

This article got me thinking about how necessary it is for youth workers to be continually challenging our students toward developing critical thinking skills in their minds. What's more, our greater challenge is to get them thinking critically from a biblical perspective. So how are we doing? Sundays orWednesdayss...whenever we are meeting, is there a clear call to our students that is grounded in the Word of God and forcing them to look at this world critically. Are we sharpening their minds? With what? Are we taking real life examples in the world from the news and teaching them how to look at the world through the lens of Scripture?

Student ministry can't be about behavior modification. We can't force them to "look the part" anymore! We've got to start with the head and heart and work from the inside out!

Thanks Jon

This weekend I was away with a group of buddies up in Winter Park and Jon stepped in to teach our students on Sunday morning. Thanks for standing in the gap Jon so I could get away. I do realize that my vacation time put a burden on your time and created something extra for you to do last week while I was relaxing. I think in the past I’ve been to “lax” when it comes to understanding and realizing that my time away creates more of a burden in the lives of my leaders who step in to teach and lead. This morning I am grateful for your sacrifice this week brother and your faithfulness to the task gives me great motivation to serve you greater this week…plus I’ll buy you lunch! :)

The mindset of a senior

I was reading list that Beloit College produces which depicts the mindset of the graduating class of 2007. It's fascinating to look at what they know and what they don't know. Here are a couple that caught my attention.

- Computers have always fit in their backpacks.

- Peeps are not a candy, they are your friends.

I am finding more and more that I graduated along time ago...not really, but 1993 seems like an eternity ago, especially when I look at what they know and don't know. This list reminds me that I must be a student of their culture. This list reminds me that I need younger leaders in in our high school ministry who are going to be able to connect with this group of students. This list reminds me that I am going to say "goodbye" in May to another class that I have loved. Seniors do RULE!

When a family leaves the church

This morning I met with one of our parents about their decision to leave our church. It was a great time! That's right! While my heart breaks that I won't be seeing them on a consistent basis I am glad that I could have such a meaningful time connecting and talking through why they made the decision to leave. It was great to sit across from each other and talk about our personal lives, kids, ministry, job, etc...and know that the break in their attending the church didn't mean a complete relational break. I am not a big fan of not following up on families leaving...I think we can learn a lot about what we do and who we are when we go the extra mile to listen.

I am grateful for these situations where there is no animosity and the desire on both of our parts to stay connected at some level! We'll be playing golf this spring!

Seeing the WORD sink in

Tonight I saw a picture in youth ministry that would be classified as a Rembrandt! A young lady who came to our community on October 4th for the first time was carrying a Bible to her i2i group and has been reading the book of Luke the past two weeks. Her face was electric as she spoke about the WORD sinking into her soul...renewing her life and giving her life meaning.

One month ago...she didn't have any of this. One month ago...she didn't have a Bible. One month ago...she wasn't reading Luke. One month ago...she wasn't part of a Christ-following community. One month ago...she wasn't being challenged by a spiritually mature adult to consider that Chrst will never leave her. One month ago...she had no clue how new life is sustained by letting the WORD sink into your heart, soul and mind.

Oh how a life and change in a month and what a privilege it is to get a front row seat - seeing the difference the WORD makes in the life of a student.

A WORD soaked home

The past two weeks of being a dad have been awesome. I've started reading the Bible with my boys before they go to bed every night. We analyze the picture before we read the story (of course the fruit on the tree was an apple). We read the short story. We talk about what happened in the story. They each give an example from their own life about how it applies, and then we pray. They pray forever about everything...thanking God for their bunkbed, every animal in their room, every friend, every family member, dinner, the walls, and it's hillarious to hear them pray about the Bible story in their lives!

I've realized recently that my passion for a WORD soaked youth ministry wasn't a priority in my home. It's never to late to start doing what's right.

A WORD soaked youth ministry

Youth ministry needs to be soaked in the WORD! Everytime we meet with students and leaders we need to open up the Word! We celebrated Reformation Sunday yesterday! I am so grateful to have the Word! I am privileged to teach the Word! We opened up Psalm 8 with our students yesterday. The Word went out! Everytime it's opened it doesn't return void! We can't get better odds!

I am excited to read along with Scot McKnight as he blogs on Psalm 119 - HERE! If you need to be encouraged and refreshed to make the Word a priority in your life and in your ministry this is going to be worth putting in your google reader!

Broncos...Colts

What a game! What a game! I love football! Bottomline - the Colts offensive line was amazing! Darrent Williams got worked. There is no quarterback controvery in Denver...Jake is the man!

I can't wait for next week against the Steelers!

I love football! It cracked me up this morning...one of our senior guys prayed after we read Psalm 8 and he ended his prayer asking God to let the Broncos win...it's wrong...I know...but I laughed inside!

Lost...

Season 1...done. Season 2...done. First 4 episodes of this year...done! Now we can go to bed before midnight and we've got one more way to connect to a group of our high school leaders who are completely addicted to this show.

Mitch vs. Jake

It was soooo much fun last night in the freezing cold to watch a couple of our students battle against each other in the Bear Creek vs. Columbine game. Jake's quarterback for Bear Creek and Mitch plays on the D-line for Columbine! It was a great game for the South Metro league title which went to Columbine after a 28-21 win!

I love going to sporting events as my schedule allows to connect with students and families, not to mention supporting our students who are playing on the field! I think getting to sporting events, plays, musicals, choir concerts and games are a critical part of doing student ministry in our communities. The challenge is getting to at least one thing each of our students participates in.

Great game fellas!

I'm looking forward to the playoffs!

Thanks Ryan - GO CU!

I want to say “thanks” to Ryan Miller from Columbine High School! I am thanking him for choosing CU over Notre Dame! On Wednesday he signed with Hawkins and the Buffs. I watched him play last night against Bear Creek and he was impressive on both sides of the ball playing on the line! Rivals.com ranks Ryan as the number 16 football recruit in the nation HERE. He’ll be playing offensive line for the Buffs! It’s interesting that he chose not to go to Notre Dame as they have the number one recruit in the country, Jimmy Clausen, who’ll be playing quarterback!

Thanks Ryan!

God knew them before I did

David recorded these words in Psalm 139, "13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. 4 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, 16 your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be."

God loves these kids more than I do!

Living what you teach

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. 24 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

This past Sunday as I was praying through my message on Psalm 139 I realized that I hadn't done what I was going to challenge my students to with the above two verses. I had not spent time letting God search me...knowing my heart...testing me...knowing my anxious thoughts...searching for offensive ways in me and crying out to lead me in the way of the everlasting.

As a means of accountability to the students...here's my post to tell them that I spent the time with these 2 verses yesterday before 5 p.m.

I learned this past week that I can't challenge my students to respond to the text if I haven't first repsonded myself before I stand before them. I must live what I am teaching.

You can't give away what you don't have!

If Christ is the head...

...then what are the pastors in a church? And for that matter, where are the people who aren't pastors?

This LINK provides a picture that you can get on a t-shirt.

What do you think of the t-shirt? Is it right?

I can't wait...

...for 24! Thanks to Chris for pointing me here today for the trailer!

I can't wait for the new season!

Hiding it?

This week I have been deeply convicted with the sin that is so pervasive in my life. I been reminded by my sons this week how to fight sin. I need to hide God's WORD in my heart. Josiah's memory verse this week is "Don't be afraid...your prayers have been heard!" - Luke 1:13 and Noah's been belting his out and I don't know what verse it is but it has something to do with "Strength and courage is the Lord."

It hit me this morning...we are walking downstairs for breakfast and Noah is belting out this verse. After breakfast with Noah I woke Josiah up and as we walked down the stairs he was belting out his verse.

Simple, but profound for me this morning.

I need to start hiding God's word in my heart so I won't sin. How can I ask our students to do something I don't?

the Word and the Supper

I had to write this for our staff as a part of our study on the Lord's Supper. I was commissioned to write something about the relationship between the preached Word and the Lord's Supper - why we need the Word when we take the Supper.

What I read about this relationship really moved me.

The preaching of the Word and the Supper are identifying marks of the church. We preach the word because it is living and active and God uses the Word to change people’s lives (Hebrews 4:12). We celebrate the Lord’s Supper when we “eat His body” and “drink His blood” and in doing so we are physically and materially confirming that we are placing our faith in the promises of His Word. The Supper allows us to take hold of the promises of God with our bodies. The Supper incarnates the spoken and written Word we’ve poured over and points us to the original incarnate Word, Jesus Christ.

As a result of our study we're done taking communion only once a month and now doing it twice month! Every other week has been absolutely refreshing for my relationship with Jesus!

Networking in youth ministry

Yesterday I met with men from our community as a network of youthworkers! I can't express the joy that filled my heart - seeing the pastor of students in our community making it a point in their schedules to connect with each other. We had two great conversations around what see happening in our community as it relates to youth ministry and what it looks like to teach the Word with passion. I am excited about the men God has brought to our community to reach students with the GOSPEL!

Networking is a must among youth workers as it is our role to model for the students in our community that we are going to live together forever so we might as well start acting like it here and put away any sense of competition!

Did Jesus die for this?

My friend Charlie pointed me to this here. Here's my response to his blog!

I am so glad you found this board game. I've been reading the New Testament with my five year old and three year old and we came across these verses in Luke 9:23-24Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it."

We then came to Paul's words to the Romans in chapter 8, verse 17, "Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory."So I am thinking about how I can make these verses come alive..you know...so my kids can have there best life now...and then I read this blog!

I've got it! Your Best Life Now - the game! We can sit around as a family and not just talk about these verses, but we can actually play a game that will lead my kids down the path these verses are calling us to follow! NO WAY!Jesus didn't die for your best life now, he died for your best life never...on this earth, but with Him in eternity! Jesus didn't die so we could be happy. He was born to die as a sacrifice and I want to strive for that in life.

Denying self, taking up your cross, sharing in his sufferings...This isn't a prescription for your best life now, it's a prescription to prepare you for your best life never on this earth. It's a prescription to quit making the story about us and shine a light on the Author of the story! It's about leveraging our lives for Him...living out in front of our kids denial of self, sacrifice, and embracing suffering!I wonder how this game makes taking your cross up come alive? Joel's gone to a new level too Charlie - the pulpit has his initials!Whose the story about Joel?

Tween/Young teen pastors needed

eMarketer.com has identified four trends that highlight the online transition from tween (8-11 year olds) to young teens (12-14) here.

The four trends are: Socializing, Multi-tasking, Expectation of media anytime/anywhere, and growing influence on family purchase decisions. This quote caught my attention, "The tween/young teen demographic group has great potential for online marketers," says Ms. Williamson. "They are forming brand preferences, and they have comparatively less skepticism about advertising than older teens and adults."

This quote got me thinking that the church had better "belly up to the bar" and start hiring full-time, well paid Tween Pastors. If the marketing world is targeting them with their resources, why do so many churches neglect money and staff to this age group. High school used to be the place to dump money...now it's in the Tweens!

Senior Sneak Relationships

Tacos. Ice Cream. Chips. Pop. Blueberry pancakes. Eggs. More chips. Queso. Grilled cheese. Tomato soup. Clam Chowder. Chicken Noodle. Sitting in the hot tub in the snow. Laughing. Tommy Boy. Louie Giglio. Prayer. Sharing. Football. Downtown Breckenridge. Lots of coffee and Chai tea.

There was more, but one thing stands out for me over the weekend – relationships. I got the chance to talk to half of our class in a way that wouldn’t be possible in their busy lives. I got the chance to hear their dreams for college, our high school ministry and ending well with their families. This weekend reminded me why I love my job – relationships!

Senior Sneak

This weekend we are heading up to Breckenridge with the class of 2007. We'll be resting, sitting in the hot tub for at least six hours, eating pizza, staying up late, sleeping in...you name it! We're also going to be going through a few things to get them thinking about who they are and what they are going to do with the rest of their lives. We're going to watch a talk Louie Giglio gave at Challenge in 2004 tomorrow morning and it's going to rock their worlds! You can order the dvd of this talk (I think) from Nextstep Resources.

My goal for the weekend is to relax with them and spend individual time with each of them talking about who they are and where they are headed. I can't wait!

Teaching with passion

Seth Godin has an interesting post on teaching that I have been thinking about for a little over a week.

Here are a couple of his thoughts that caught my attention.

“If you teach--teach anything--I think you need to start by acknowledging that there’s a need to sell your ideas emotionally. So you need to use whatever tools are available to you--an evocative powerpoint image, say, or a truly impassioned speech.”

“If it’s worth teaching, it’s worth teaching well. If it’s worth investing the time of 30 or 230 or 3330 people, then it’s worth investing the effort to actually figure out how to get the message across.”

One of the thoughts that’s been going through my mind is how many youth pastors teach the Bible with passion! If a guy selling Oral B toothbrushes to a dentist can’t get enough of his product and makes a passionate speech to a group of dentists to buy his product, how much more should those who get the opportunity to teach the Word of God be filled with passion to impart the living Word into the hearts of students? I'm not talking about screaming to them, I am talking about pouring over the text until it's seared into our hearts so we have something from God to declare. I am talking about teaching from the viewpoint that this Word is so worth your time right now because of what it has been doing in my life all week as I have been thinking about it and praying over it! I am talking about preparing to teach well, not just get through a message or a series!

Students are the most passionate people in the church and they are longing to hear from their leader the passion of the Christ as revealed in His passionate Word. Students are longing to see that the Word we are teaching has first taught us. Students are looking for us to call them to a radical faith worth dying for every time we get the chance to stand up in front of them and teach.

We aren’t selling Jesus. We are simply opening up the GLORY of God revealed in His Word (Ps. 19:7-9), and passionately proclaiming to this next generation that there lives must be first saturated in the Word of God because there is nothing sweeter and no greater reward,

“10 They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb. 11 By them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.”

Who I am called to disciple first

I am realizing more and more in ministry that my passion for discipleship must begin in the lives of these three gifts from God. I can be replaced in the lives of teenagers by another youth pastor. These kids only get one dad!

Staying dry at the game

Great call being in the northwest corner of the stadium for the game last night. No wind. No rain! Dry as the Sahara! My take homes from the game.

- Ernster sealed the deal to be our punter!
- Jason Elam still has it…at least for this season.
- Plummer – 6 yards passing in the first half killed me.
- Why do you throw to the guys Champ’s covering at the end of the first half?
- Watching Ray Lewis on the sidelines is worth the ticket – especially what I paid for mine…NOTHING – thanks dad!
- Going with your wife is epic!
- Raiders, Cleveland and the Colts! It would be nice getting to the Colts game at Invesco with only one loss.
- Darrent Williams showed up on punt returns.
- Watching Al Wilson and John Lynch fly around the field was awesome!
- Baltimore’s field position was horrible in the second half – the stadium was going crazy.3-1 after the first quarter isn’t bad!

How bad do you need $2,000.00

Not this bad - Man Eats 247 Jalapenos to Win Contest! He took home 2k for the burn of a lifetime.

You've got to be kidding me. When I first saw this I thought it might be some crazy youth pastor who got one of his cocky senior guys to do a "dare."

Wrong. It was a 62 year old guy.

Here's my favorite line in the article - "Dr. Daniel DeMarco, a gastroenterologist and director of endoscopy at Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas, said the amount of jalapenos consumed in an eating contest is more harmful than the burn."

NO KIDDING! You don't have to be a gastroenterologist to nail that! I can't imagine having to take vacation days to sit in a bathroom!

TGIM

I am pumped that it's Monday!

I don't have to prepare to preach in BIG Church this week. Yesterday's sermon was intriguing to study for and I'm grateful for the opportunity to preach...But this is a much lower stress week!

We are back in our i2i groups this week and I'm excited to watch our leaders shepherd their groups.

We are going on our Senior Sneak this weekend in Breckenridge. We get the seniors away for a weekend to rest, relax, sleep, eat WELL and we spend a little time walking through who they are and how that fits with what University they are heading to! I can't wait for this trip.

Finally, the Broncos are playing tonight and Julie and I are going!!!!! My prediction for the game - Broncos 24 - Ravens 17. The Ravens 4-0 isn't that impressive with "squeaky wins" the last two games! Plus, it might snow a little!

The next 50 years in youth ministry

Christianity Today ran an article What's Next: Youth Church Reconnect: What evangelical leaders say are the priorities for the next 50 years in youth ministry.

A couple of things from the article that caught my attention:

- This book is a must own, Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers. The authors found that religious teens in America hold their beliefs as "moralistic therapeutic deism."

- Anything Kendra Creasy Dean has written is worth reading at least twice. I loved her quote in the article about making theology a bigger part of youth ministry, "The more theology you get, and the more you understand about your tradition, the better chance you have of having a sustainable faith language you can pass on.”

A Few thoughts for the weekend regarding this article.

- Getting youth pastors to think about the next 50 years, yeah right. I’ve got friends in ministry who don’t know what’s happening in November, next spring summer or even the fall of 2007! Getting them to talk about youth ministry in 50 years would be a hoot!

- One of the big complaints is that more and more students are “leaving the faith” when they get to college. I find this statistic funny since youth ministry is more “professionalized” today than it was 40 years ago. How can this be?

- The one thing I notice lacking in youth pastors is an understanding of theology, especially in the area of salvation. How many youth pastors have an ordo salutis? Heck, how many of them even know what that means? It’s not a rip, but a reality that we can’t just be about only loving students, we have to know how to think theologically about programs, conversations, retreats, missions, outreach…you name it. Love for God and others (students) must be our foundation but the first columns built up from it must be theological ones!

Being there in the fight

Last week I ran into one of our former students at Club USA. We had a great time catching up on how her family is doing and what life has been like in college. She mentioned that she was going to a church in our area now with her mom and they are seeking to know the will of God in their lives! What's interesting about this young lady is that she probably came a total of 15 times in four years to our high school ministry. She considered our church her home church. She remembered being a part of our Sunday morning program for the most part, but it was something else that she said that has grabbed my heart this past week. She told me how much she had to fight to be there. She told me that getting to church was a fight. A fight in schedule. A fight with skiing. A fight with sleeping in. A fight with getting her siblings motivated. A fight inside her own soul - a spiritual one. She reminded me that every Wednesday and every Sunday, whether you come 15 times a year or 50 times a year, I and the rest of my leaders, need to be there for the fight. Next time you see a student who hasn't been there in awhile ,don't forget to consider that they've been in a battle for a few weeks and don't need guilt, but love!

The five dysfunctions of a team

A HUGE thanks goes out to my PAL Charlie for getting me to read this book! I know I am behind the curve, but hey, I am dysfunctional! All I can say is “Bless you my child!” I absolutely loved reading this book and I can’t wait to start implementing the principles I learned in this book with my student ministry team and pastoral staff team. I want to start being part of great teams in our church!

The five dysfunctions are:

Absence of trust
Fear of conflict
Lack of commitment
Avoidance of accountability
Inattention to results

I’ll post some thoughts as I start working through this with my teams, but here’s the big take away for me: To start functioning right we’ve got to find out where we are dysfunctional. And getting everyone on the team to start identifying the dysfunctions isn’t going to be easy! I am ready to roll up my sleeves! I am excited to take the test and start working! If you’ve read the book, share your biggies that I shouldn’t miss and what helped your team. If you don’t have this book click HERE and buy it NOW!

Compa Food Drive

I am thrilled that our students are sponsoring a church-wide food Drive to support the largest faith based food bank in Colorado – Compa Food Ministry. My friend, Phil, whose dad works for Compa and goes to our church, pointed me to this interview this week in the Denver Post! It has been exciting to watch a large group of our students promote this drive in our adult communities on Sunday mornings and see them excited about getting food for the 200,000 people that Compa helps feed. As a side note, The Broncos wives food drive is coming up at the end of the month! I think we can collect more pounds of food than them! :)

How kids learn

I came across this article on CNN awhile back and it was a good reminder that kids have a primary way that they learn. It’s nothing new to all of us, but it’s been a good reminder the past couple of weeks as I’ve been spending time with my kids and with high school students. The author suggests at least three ways:

Learning by listening, seeing and with your body!

If you’re a parent, what is your kid's primary learning style? In addition, I’ve been thinking about my teaching times on Sundays and making, listening, seeing and body movement more a part of the time to hit each student’s primary way of learning. Out of these three styles I need more movement!

Another Shooting

It was almost surreal to surreal to see high school students again on the front page of the paper crying because of a shooting in their school. Today a family woke up with a child either in the presence of God forever or separated from His presence forever. It's a hard day just west of us in the mountains.

Thoughts on losing your dad

Earlier this month two of our high school leaders remembered the death of their father four years ago. I'll always remember the day because it's Julie's birthday too. Dave and Jen both have blogs to the right.

Jen posted some great thoughts HERE as she remembers her dad and I thought they were your time. Thanks Jen for sharing your heart with us.

Broncos - Week 3

After a rousing day at Six Flags we got home just in time to watch the Broncos play the Patriots. A few thoughts today about the game. Shanahan did a great job establishing Tatum Bell as the "go to guy" in the backfield. David Kircus is the new Eddie Mac! We must get the ball to Javon Walker. Rod Smith returning punts in the fourth quarter...will somebody please step up? Jason Elam has to be done after this season - the Broncos don't give him a chance to kick a 51 yard field goal? I remember when Jason was automatic from 50-55 yards! We can improve our game even more by getting the tight ends more involved in the passing game. Our defense is awesome! And finally, seeing Patrick Chukwurah puke and then rush the passer was EPIC!

Coaching Dream Teams

Today we spent time with Bill Easum. His message title was "Going from Good to Great Teams." There was a lot of good stuff. We had some good interaction with the youth pastors and the other reps from our Rocky Mountain District. Here are some highlights:

1. Dream teams have permission giving attitudes: in the essentials they have unity i.e. Mission, Vision, Values and Beliefs; in the non-essentials, they have freedom i.e. productivity. But in all things they have love i.e. trust, collaboration and networking.

2. Dream teams are servant empowered. They are more focused on developing leaders than on an actual productivity. They value leadership development above all else. The primary goal of coaches of Dream Teams is the raising up of future leaders, not achieving, not achieving some particular goal. Failure to understand this one point is one of the main reasons Dream Teams are seldom found in any organization.

3. The servant empowered organization is not focused on accomplishing projects, but growing leaders who can accomplish projects. Time invested in growing and equipping leaders is always valuable. Even if there is a temporary reduction in productivity, it is better to invest in leadership development for the long term success of the organization.

A lot of us resonated with #3.

Youth ministry is youth ministry

It's been great today to hear the ministry and personal stories of the different guys around the country. As I've talked to them I've realized that youth ministry is youth ministry no matter where you go! We all teach the Bible. We all have small groups. We all train volunteers. We all have to work with our senior pastors. We all have websites. We all do mission trips. We all disciple. We all want to grow into better leaders. We all want to serve our districts. We all want healthy youth pastors who are leading healthy youth ministries in our districts. We all do retreats. We all are married.

What I am finding is that most of these guys who are part of the National Council have been at their churches at least five years! I am excited to hang out for two more days!

Minnesota

I am in Minnesota until Friday night for our leadership summit for the EFCA. I'll be posting what I am learning! These people are fired up about the Vikings! I got to spend about 30 minutes with "holy most reverend" Fritz...as I call him!

I am looking forward to this time! I miss my family!

Broncos - Week 2

It wasn't pretty, but were not 0-2 this morning! We had a great time at the game with the people we went with! The game was...shall we say, "Uneventful!" This picture was taken just before we sang the national anthem.

Here's one take away from the game. I think the Broncos miss Gary Kubiak. Then some fans started cheering for Jay Cutler. Obviously they were completely drunk because no one in their right mind should be cheering for Cutler during the second game to get on the field. We need Plummer to have a great year. We need to let Jay get comfortable with NFL life and the playbook! 2007 will be Jay's time to get on the field, this is his year to get ready! The Patriots are waiting on NBC Sunday night this week!

Blushing CU Buffs

I've waited to post on my Buffs! Today looks like another bashing. Next week we are at Georgia! The next week at Missouri! We could be 0-5 two weeks from tonight! I think the cartoonist from the paper this morning says it all HERE.

I love this cartoon!

Go Buffs! Take State!

Tagged!

Charlie tagged me on Wednesday. Here we go!

Three things that scare me.

1. My salary 2. Pictures of me in third grade 3. The amount of ear wax in my son’s ears

Three people who make me laugh.

1. Chris Lord 2. Conan O’Brien 3. Cale Brock

Three things I hate.

1. The Raiders 2. The Cornhuskers 3. Sin – And in that order! :)

Three things I don’t understand.

1. Mullets 2. Jake Plummer 3. Why people take a stand against Harry Potter and have never opened a book

Three things I am doing right now.

1. Working on my personal budget. 2. Playing Legos with my boys 3. Making oatmeal

Three things I want to do before I die.

1. Travel through the wine country in California 2. Play Pebble Beach 3. Australia...baby!

Three things I can do.

1. Play golf 2. Clean the bathroom 3. Make people laugh

Three ways to describe my personality.

1. LOUD 2. Crazy 3. Outgoing

Three things I can’t do.

1. Build anything 2. Watch the Cornhuskers football team 3. Stay in the sun longer than 20 minutes without 100 spf smeared all over my body

Three things I think you should listen to.

1. A Youthworkers Passion by John Piper. 2. The Fray 3. Be Thou My Vision by Ginny Owens

Three favorite foods.

1. Denver Ted Cheesesteaks 2. Thai Food 3. Frontroom Pizza

Three beverages I drink.

1. Water 2. Coffee 3. Bubble water at Panera with 2 lemons – my second office

Three shows I watched as a kid.

1. Dallas 2. ESPN 3. The Muppet Show

Three people I tag.

Dave Jon Jen

46.4 years left

I found out yesterday that I have 46.4 years left to live because I live in Colorado and have mountains like Mt. Massive saying scale my peak! Click HERE to see your life expectancy in the state you live in. Colorado ranks 12th in the USA. Hawaii is number one with the longest life expectancy. That sounds nice.

Of course, I have no clue how long I am really going to live but it helps put life in perspective...a bit. I'm not half done. I've got a lot of life left. If I make it 46.4 years my children will be 51, 49 and 47. My hair will be grey! Hopefully my golf score will match my age. What changes in my job will have taken place? I can't be a 70 year old youth pastor! Who knows what else! There is so much to dream about and I've got more than half my life to make it happen!

Searching for awkward moments

I read this post by Seth Godin about a month ago and I’ve been thinking about it almost everyday – Awkward. He suggests it’s his new favorite word. I could be persuaded to make it mine as I’ve looked at my leadership through this lens. Here are two of his statements, "It's awkward to create a product that changes the status quo. It's awkward to demonstrate your amazing insights when it might threaten those that are looking for stability instead.”

There are so many things in this job that are awkward. Here are a couple of mine. It’s awkward to lead the professor of youth ministry at Denver Seminary who is a small group leader in our ministry. It’s awkward to meet with a parent and confront them about their obsession with their student being the best in school, sports and a NO SHOW at church. I could go on and so could you.

What I love about this post is the end, “The reason we need to be in search of awkward is that awkward is the barrier between us and excellence, between where we are and the remarkable. If it were easy, everyone would have done it already, and it wouldn't be worth the effort.”

Searching for awkward moments with humility is what I want this fall. I am ready for more awkward moments.

Lost - the addiction begins

A huge thanks to Dave for dropping off season’s 1 and 2 last night! We’ve started watching season 1 and we aren’t going to stop! Another addiction begins! We're pretty sure this addiction will prove to be a good one as we wait for 24 in January!

Taking in the moment

This week I was reminded that I need to stop sometimes and take in the moment. Josiah reminded me of this week when all of the sudden he dropped his toys, ran out the back door and then back in after about 20 seconds. I asked him what he was doing and he said, “Just for a minute, I go outside and feel the rain.”

It doesn’t rain much here so Josiah thought somewhere in his tiny little brain while he was playing superheroes with legos that he better stop what he was doing and go feel the rain. As he ran past me back into the room I smiled and thanked God for that moment. I put down the dishes and walked out the back door. He was right…it was raining!

Different season...same story

I felt this way on Monday last year after the Broncos got trounced by the Dolphins. The difference this year, we trounced ourselves. 5 turnovers won’t win you any ball games. The Broncos can't play rookie head coaches anymore. Do you remember the last Broncos game? A big loss. Jake's had eight of the ning giveaways in the last two games. Looking at the positive side, the Broncos have at least 15 more games!

A religion that spreads

Seth Godin had an interesting post on how to build a religion that spreads. Here's his short list of what to build into it:

Bias for evangelism
Sharp distinction between insiders and outsiders
Presumption that insiders are 'right' or 'blessed' or 'advantaged'
Proscription against intermarriage without conversion
Forbid one gender to work outside the home
Central hierarchy that maintains the faith and settles disputes
Offer significant (very) long-term benefits to believers

What do you think of the list? If you created one for Christianity, what would you have said? I am wondering for how many of us the word love would appear with it attached to God or our neighbor?

Being a righteous tree

One more thought from Psalm 1, which we studied as a part of our series in David’s Journal. Read this verse slowly about what a blessed man or woman is like…3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers. How does a tree whose leaf does not wither continually yield fruit in season? What a picture of prospering!

David's Journal - Delighting in the Word

Our fall series is David’s Journal. I am so excited to get the opportunity to study David’s journal in our high school community. Our goal is to invite students on a journey of looking into the heart of a real man who had a real relationship with God. It’s going to be exciting, refreshing, and challenging. I’ll be posting various pieces throughout our series.

This past Sunday we studied Psalm 1. How can you not? We encouraged our students to memorize Psalm 1 this week and gave them a postcard with the verses on it. We’re praying this week that they will be giving time to Scripture memory. These are beautiful words that David penned:

1 Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. 2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. 3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers. 4 Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away. 5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. 6 For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.

We encouraged Scripture memory because David challenges us to “delight” in the Word. David didn’t have the Bible we do. David didn’t have Jesus yet. We talked about the fact that David was consumed with a passion for the Word and he didn’t know God would use his bloodline to bring the Son of God into the world. What a thought! Oh how I long to be a community of students who “delight” in the law of the Lord. The word “delight” is used in Genesis 34:19 of Shechem who “delighted” with Jacob’s daughter Dinah. What a picture of delight! It’s packed full of emotion. It’s packed full of intention. Our students are so emotional and intentional about their schoolwork, athletic training, getting somewhere on a Friday night, getting up to go skiing, you name it. We want them not only to delight in being a student in the school system but also delight in being a child of God and reading the love letter He left!

I think Charles Haddon Spurgeon sums up well our desire from Psalm 1 to delight in the Word of God, “Some people like to read so many [Bible] chapters every day. I would not dissuade them from the practice, but I would rather lay my soul asoak in half a dozen verses all day than rinse my hand in several chapters. Oh, to be bathed in a text of Scripture, and to let it be sucked up in your very soul, till it saturates your heart!”I can't wait to hear who has sucked up these verses into their soul until it saturates their heart!

If Tiger Woods needs a coach...

Then so do I and so don’t we all! I was watching Tiger’s interview yesterday after he won AGAIN and he talked about calling his coach, Hank, the night before to get some pointers. That is awesome. Tiger wants to be coached. Tiger wants to be the best. Tiger has a coach. Tiger listens to his coach. Part of Tiger’s success is his humility. The humility to admit to himself that there is always room for improvement!

I want a coach. I don’t have a coach. I want a coach who will watch me swing. I want a coach to tell me where I can improve my swing, especially the top because I can’t see it! I want to be coached. I need a coach. Why can’t I find one? I know I can’t afford one like Tiger can. I didn’t clean up almost a million this weekend working at SGC so I can’t really afford to pay someone to be my coach.

I’m 31. I’ve been in my church for 11 years doing youth ministry. I want to grow. I want a coach. There’s no one in sight. I can’t think of anybody to even ask. I don’t want to stop learning. I haven’t arrived. I love my job. I want to get better, but I need a coach. I want someone to point out the areas where they believe pride is robbing me of growth. I want someone to point out where I can grow as a leader of leaders. I want someone to critique my speaking and tell me where I can improve. I want somone to encourage me when things go well. I want someone who is committed to me being all that God has created me. I want someone committed to interceding before me. I want someone to fight for my soul.

I am willing to admit failure because I want to grow. If Tiger Woods needs a coach then so do I!

Football weekend

I love football! Thursday I took the boys to the Bear Creek game and Friday I took the whole family to the D'Evelyn game! It's a great time to hang out with families from our church and my own family! We eat lots of snacks, have great conversations and get to watch football!

We have 19 students at Bear Creek and 17 students at D'Evelyn from our church so it's great to hang with a bunch of people I know!!!

I am excited for more games this fall! I'll be posting a couple more times on the importance of attending sporting events in the context of youth ministry!

It's a great weekend for football! Next Sunday...The Broncos! Can I get and "AMEN?!"

The right numbers in youth ministry

I am still reading through The Big Moo as I get chances before I go to bed. I really enjoyed last nights reading on what I can expect to be the safest bet available to me in my ministry… CHANGE! Here’s how it appears in the chapter, “There are two kinds of organizations. One kind likes to be on the cutting edge, to do what hasn’t been done before, to embrace the new. The other kind fears that, and holds back to allow someone else to go first. Betting on change is always the safest bet available.”

The interesting thing about this is that our mission has been the same for over 2,000 years! We are to make disciples! It isn’t going to change! So, I am curious, in the context of the church, how is change the safest bet? What should change? How do you know if your church is embracing the new or holding back? In the context of youth ministry, I’ll suggest one change that I would like to see more youth pastors and youth workers embrace. I’d like youth pastors to quit talking about the number of students on their rosters and start talking about the number of students that are being discipled. I'd like to see us ruthlessly pursuing those God has blessed us with and make evangelism part of our discipleship!

Meeting new students

Last night we had our fall kick off at Clement Park - The Amazing Race! It was a great event for many reasons, but there is one reason that grabs my heart this morning: meeting students who don't go to church! They were everywhere last night! It was great to see students from several high schools showing up for this cultivating event! I got the chance to meet everyone and actually have conversations with them before and after the event. One thing I am finding at these events is that there are more and more students in our area that have never been to church! It wasn't “church” last night, but it was God's people! It was our students cultivating relationships with new students. It was beautiful to watch! It is nights like these that ignite my passion for student ministry and remind me that I am still plowing in the right field!