Don’t let the people around you define your value. Remember, the Father created you, find your value in Him. Psalm 139:13-15

I was thinking today about some of the past struggles I have had. Depression can be paralyzing and it can suck the life out of you. One of the things that I struggle with is allowing people to define my worth or my value. I guess if I were to go back into the recesses of my childhood, I might find the root cause of this heavy burden. However, it wouldn’t solve much, no matter what the professionals say about coming to terms with your past hurts… All I know that there are moments when I let people around me define my value.

No matter what people say about you, you can count on God to value you and love you. The Father created you and knows exactly what your value is and He is treasuring every bit of you.

Do you know how many times I wanted to quit being a youth pastor and stop being a influence on teenagers lives? Probably at least a dozen times… I’m 38 years old, I’ve been a youth pastor for over 17 years and have come to realize a few things about myself and youth ministry (at least in my own little world). Here is my context: I am in a large church, leading a large youth ministry, working under the typical scorecard that we use to identify a successful youth ministry, but I’m trying to invent a new scorecard (Read my blog post on having a new scorecard). What I want  for youth ministry is a radical call to discipleship and I want to keep it simple…

When it comes to myself, I’m done being a programer and an event planner. Its not that I don’t find value in these things, I am just done with them being the center of who I am as a youth pastor… When it comes to youth ministry, I‘m done and have been done with the entertainment aspect of youth ministry. “If this makes me a bad youth pastor, then I guess I am one…” Continue reading →

Love Who? Can’t I just be a recluse in a mountain cabin… Seriously, I ask myself that when I talk about loving my neighbor. To be honest, I have trouble with this. I don’t want to love my neighbor; it’s not like I don’t like them. I have very awesome neighbors, it’s just that I don’t want to love them. To be even more honest, I even have trouble loving the people in my own house at times. You see, the problem I have is that I am selfish. Not the “I don’t want to share” selfish, I mean the deep down dirty-rotten selfish! Seriously, I’m a sinner and I don’t like to mingle with other sinners or anybody for that matter… It’s not that I think I’m better than them or that I don’t want them to find out about my sins, I just don’t like to hangout with people.

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As a youth pastor for the last 17 years, I have become tired and weary of the effectiveness of the program/event model of helping students becoming disciples that “love God and love their neighbors” to truest and fullest extent that Jesus originally sent his people to be and do. The “old” ways of doing things and measurements are ineffective or unrealistic in seeing people abide in Christ. When people say church should be “The Best Hour of Your Week.” I wonder if they really know what Jesus intends the church to be… What if it wasn’t meant to be that way? What if we were meant to strive and live to be Jesus to our neighbors day in and day out? The “Sunday” gathering wasn’t supposed to be the focal point, but a part of what we do as Christians.
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There is something in ministry that some are beginning to talk about, but yet is still rarely spoken, and that is depression. I’m not just talking about any depression, I’m talking about the depression that invades the heart, soul, mind and body of those who help the depressed – the minister… I know all to well the havoc that depression can play on ministers, because I am a minister who struggles with depression.

I must state this here up from in this post that I am not a psychiatrist professional counselor, or clinical psychologist; I’ve had a total of three counseling classes in Bible College and 17 years of practice counseling youth, parents, and peers. What I do have that qualifies me to write about this is that I am depressed and in ministry.

The hidden-side of ministry and life is a lonely place to be. Although it shouldn’t be this way. Most of us who struggle with depression know all the right answers both from a biblical and humanistic standpoint. We’ve counseled many people through darkness and depression, but find it hard to put into practice for ourselves the tools, wisdom, and advice that we recommend to those we counsel – at least I do anyway.

I know this isn’t something I should be writing about openly, especially when it’s about me… Continue reading →

I recently read a blog post by Kurt Johnston and Josh Griffin where they shared their values for their entire student ministry. This had me thinking about our own student ministry key values at LifeBridge. These four key values are woven throughout our ministry in every aspect – large group gatherings (we call VERB), discipleship groups (which we call FORM Groups & CORE Classes), service/mission (PUSH Projects), events, trips, and one-on-one interaction with students. Here they are listed below – I thought I would share them with you…

Safety: We must take every step necessary to make sure our students and volunteers are safe, because safety is key to having a healthy & vibrant ministry.

Care: We must show value to our volunteers, by encouraging and equipping them, so that they can be empowered to help our students on their spiritual journey.

Growth: We must provide a scope and sequence of biblical teaching for our students that is transferable, real, relevant, and gives our families a common ground and common language.

Fun: We must give our students every reason to celebrate and invite them to catch a glimpse of what heaven will look like through the eyes of making church fun. It is important for our students to walk into any environment that we have and feel the burdens of this world be lifted off their shoulders and replaced with the good things that Jesus has for them.

It is important for our volunteers, students, and families know why we exist, but what is more – know how we plan to make ministry tangible for them to experience for themselves and how they can actively engage others into the story of God.

Theology is imperative to youth ministry! Every opportunity with a student is a chance to teach theology… Realizing this more & more everyday.

Do you know what this plate of pasta shows to me? This plate of pasta shows me just how big the kingdom of God really is! I’m serious. This plate of pasta was made and provided by my new friends the Micah and Justine.

I met Micah and Justine yesterday at around 9:00 at night, when I drove into Joplin, MO and pulled into their driveway to stay the night at their house. In fact, I am living at their house for the next four days while myself and s small team from LifeBridge work with a church in their efforts to love their neighbors who have been affected by the F5 tornado that devastated this city.

Justine, the wife, is about 7 months pregnant and has a cute little one already, running around laughing at everything and everyone. She made the plate of pasta, along with amazing salad and some of the best brownies I’ve had!

What does all this have to do with the kingdom of God? Well, I have been humbled to see what impact the love of Christ and His kingdom has on people. When people open their homes to strangers, make them meals, and serve them as if they are family or more, the kingdom of God has been demonstrated and realized!

Pasta, friends, and the kingdom of God…