I'd Laugh...But All This Happened To Me!

My Best Day in Ministry: Lisa Moran

2012-02-13T06:12:00.001-05:00

Lisa Ramos Moran is one of my oldest friends. We met through the youth group of New Garden Friends Meeting when we were both in junior high school (I am a year older) and have remained connected ever since. We shared so many experiences in high school, including my first trip to New York- a trip on which she met her eventual husband, Dan Moran. We used to greet each other in a most unusual way back in the day. I would greet her with "Ram it, Ramos!" She would respond with "Jam it, Jones!" And then we would hug. Today, Lisa serves as the volunteer youth director at Deep River Friends Meeting in High Point, NC- just as she has for the past 10 years. She is also in the process of being recorded (or "ordained" for my non-Quaker readers) through the NC Yearly Meeting of Friends. She has three wonderful grown children- Dani Shea, Alexander and Eli- and is married to her high school sweetheart-still her sweetheart- Dan. It is a very special honor to have her share from her huge heart for youth ministry here today. Love you, Lisa!

My Best Day in Ministry: Flowers for Lisa

Luke 12:28 - If God gives such attention to the wildflowers, most of them never even seen, don't you think he'll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you?

Carl and I go way back and I was so excited to be able to volunteer for this writing venture!

Just like all of the other guest writers, I have had many good days in Youth ministry but when I decided to respond to Carl’s request a certain day just popped into my mind. I feel a bit narcissistic because this story is all about me …

Last summer, my friend, Sheila- the Youth Minister at First Friends – and I took a group of youth to Philadelphia. There were tweens and teens from both Meetings. I had 3 middle school girls and my youngest son, a rising college freshman. There were 7 youth from First Friends. It was more of an educational trip than a mission trip but God is good, all the time. Our mission, even if we didn’t put a name to it, was about learning love and strengthening bonds within our groups. That, too, can be important work.

We had a blast! We took the train, which was a brand new experience for most, and got to know each other quickly. We learned so much Quaker history, visiting various Meetings and historical sites. We worked with the American Friends Service Committee Office in Philly to make a video about peace. We laughed, ate Philly steak sandwiches and took a bus tour of the city. We walked with mostly beautiful weather above and took lots of pictures.

The last day we were to meet in the lobby, store our suitcases with the hotel staff and head on our last day’s adventures. As I headed to the Starbucks in the lobby (not much roughing it on this trip) my 3 middle school girls met me, giggling as only middle school girls do, with grins as big as their faces, with three of the most beautiful flowers ever. They had bought them at the market and they had bought them just for me.

It was such a spontaneous, beautiful, heartfelt and pure gesture of love from these three beautiful, drama-filled, lovely, mood-swinging, gifts-from-God middle school girls, I could hardly breathe. Maybe you think I am overreacting. I didn’t faint, or cry, or any of that but I was so touched. We took our picture with the flowers and then I decided we needed to put them in a water bottle and carry them with us the rest of the day! I asked the girls if they were up to helping me make sure the blooms survived and we were off!

The flowers rode the tour bus with us, went through the Eastern State Penitentiary with us, had a place on the steps that Rocky ran up, and even rode the train home with us.

The whole trip was great but that day was special. I am a huge fan of the “Rocky” movies- I know, cheesy at best- and I got my picture taken by the statue and a few of us ran up the steps leading up to the Museum of Art. The double decker tour bus ride was so much fun and the weather was perfect. The prison was both surreal and very interesting. The kids were lapping up our last little bit of time in the city, excited for our train ride home but not wanting to leave our own big adventure. And my girls, and my flowers, were my treasure.

Luke 12: 34 - The place where your treasure is- that is the place you will most want to be, and end up being.

The day brought one of those times when I knew I was where I wanted to be, needed to be and hoped I could stay- in the lives of these young people and others, getting to know them, encouraging them and getting so much encouragement from them. I hope that I am teaching them kindness, helping them see how we can work on the ideals of the Kingdom of God here on earth and I hope to remember to thank Jesus for the flowers along the way!

Romans 1: 8, 12 - I thank God through Jesus for every one of you! But don't think I'm not expecting to get something out of this, too! You have as much to give me as I do to you.

I send each and every one of you blessings, peace and joy in everything you do!

Lisa Moran

lulu910@earthlink.net

Facebook: Lisa Moran

My Best Day in Ministry: Matthew Fry

2012-02-12T07:19:00.000-05:00

Our guest blogger for this day is Matthew Fry, a youth pastor I have come to know though Twitter. Matthew serves as youth pastor to the students of Whitesville Christian Church in Crawfordsville, IN. I am so glad he volunteered to share his best day with us. You can follow him on Twitter @matthewfry1985.

Week after week I would show up early to finish the setup for our Sunday morning program. I’d arrive about 45 minutes early and every time I arrived Austin would arrive shortly after. He was an eighth grader who was fairly introverted and spent far more time playing video games than he did studying. He’d arrive early each week and would talk about the newest games he had played. Each week I tried to relate to him, but having not played video games since college, I felt like I was getting no where.

On the way home from church one day my wife and I were talking and I mentioned my situation with Austin. I desperately wanted to make a connection with him and didn’t know how to relate. My wife sympathized with me and said that I just needed to pray about it. That night I said a short prayer to make a connection with Austin and I put the situation in God’s hands.

The next day I walked into our church offices and saw Austin’s mom standing there. He must get his introvertedness (if that’s a word) from her because she’s fairly quiet as well. Today was different though. She had a huge smile on her face and said she was so glad to see me. She began sharing how she greatly appreciated all that I did with her son on Sunday mornings and that she couldn’t get him to stop talking about our services. My jaw dropped more and more as she kept talking about how much he talks about me and how he thinks I’m “pretty cool” (I love middle school students and how they don’t realize we’re really not as cool as they think).

This was my best day in ministry for several reasons. Many times in ministry we get caught up in the idea that what we’re doing isn’t having an impact. We spend hours preparing lessons and returning phone calls and text messages, but rarely see the fruits of our labor. The days that we do see these fruits are few and far between so we have to appreciate them. The few thank you cards, e-mails or voicemails that we get are a fraction of the gratitude we’ll receive on the other side of this life. When we get to heaven and see the results of years of dedication to ministry.

I use my story with Austin whenever I encounter a youth worker who feels he/she is getting no where with a student. If you’re that youth worker that needs to hear these words please know that your impact is greater than you can ever imagine. That God is using you to reach students whether you can see it or not. That many students are far too nervous to open up and share how much you mean to them. So like the 1981 Journey song preaches to us “Don’t stop believin’” when you feel you’re getting no where!

-Matthew Fry

Student Minister

Whitesville Christian Church - Crawfordsville, IN

matthewfry32@gmail.com

matthewaaronfry.blogspot.com

My Best Day in Ministry: Tom Zalatnai

2012-02-11T07:16:00.000-05:00

Welcome to the 900th consecutive day a post has appeared on this blog! Our week of themed guest posts takes on an international flavor today as Tom Zalatnai, one of my very favorite Canadians, shares his best day in ministry with us. He is a Montreal-based Christ-lover, musician, worshipper, foodie, college student and Youth Coordinator at Emmaus Anglican Church. Also he sometimes have a beard. He describes himself as "just another guy who is undeservingly blessed and trying to get a better understanding of the Lord by studying His Word." I love his heart for youth and for worship, and I know you will too.

When Carl put out a call for guest bloggers to write about their 'best days in ministry' I immediately jumped at the opportunity, because I love taking these chances to reflect on my experiences and just thank God for all the cool things He's made me a part of!

I've been involved in youth & childrens' ministries for a long time now- the first time I worked with kids was when I was 11, wild as that summer was- and I've had so many incredible days. Between day camps, Sunday school, youth group and music ministry, my life has been pretty hectic for the last 7 years. But through all of these adventures, all of these amazing times of serving the Lord and leading His people, there's just too many days that stand out as exceptionally special. Thankfully, one of those days happened just a few weeks ago, so it's fresh in my mind and I figure I might as well take advantage of that for today's post!

At the beginning of January, Emmaus Youth Group had its annual Winter Retreat. The whole weekend was a brilliant testimony to God's provision and grace, but one day in particular stood out for me. The Saturday, which was the longest day of the 3-day event, was slated to be the more packed of the three, with multiple lessons lined up, a few really fantastic games, and the secret surprise of midnight chicken wings, but I had no idea it would be so fantastically full of the Holy Spirit! One thing that's important to understand about this retreat was that we were faced with hundreds of obstacles on the way into it. Our group has always been notoriously bad at finding drivers to transport the teens to events, because most of our leaders either can't drive or don't have cars of their own, and a lot of the parents end up having to chauffeur and can't always make it. This time around, we had prayed for enough drivers to turn up, because we cut it very close last time. God provided, and we had enough drivers lined up that we would have been alright and made it out of the city without struggle!

But then our location cancelled on us about a week before, and we had to scramble at the last minute to find a new place to host it. My co-coordinator and I called around to a number of places and finally ended up booking a retreat center in the city, about five minutes away from my parents' house. Not really much of an escape, but it would have to do. We were hesitant, because part of the magic of youth retreats is the long car rides out into the middle of nowhere, and isolation from the rest of the world for the whole weekend. But with no other options, we forsook the many drivers we had booked, and had everyone drop their kids off in the city instead of carpooling out to the Townships. Thankfully, the teens had an amazing time and actually requested that we go back to the same place next Winter.

That's not where this story ends though, don't worry. Over the weekend, our theme was "Value through Christ" and we talked a little about spiritual gifts and encouragement. On the Saturday in question, we had planned a two hour prayer session called the 'Honoring Chair'- one by one, people would come up and sit on a chair in the middle of the room to receive prayer and encouraging words from whoever felt called to share with them. We had 14 people on the retreat with us, and expected to get all of them done in the two hour period, and had three hours of games planned for afterward. By the time we had gotten through half of the group, we had been there for five straight hours praying for each other! The teens were so encouraged and excited about this that we cancelled the next morning's games and continued with another three hour prayer session to finish things up.

Seeing the teens that we so often pray for- asking God to reveal Himself to them in powerful new ways, asking Him to open their hearts and eyes to see things the way He sees them- seeing them so filled with His Spirit, praying over their closest friends and leaders, was such a powerful experience, and has placed itself in my heart as one of my best ministry experiences. There was not a dry eye in the room by the end of the prayers, and it was just amazing seeing this group of teens so full of the Spirit and loving each other so much.

All that being said, I am so thankful for the ministry God has given me at Emmaus, and am so excited to see how He moves in our hearts in the future!

Blessings,

Tom Zalatnai
@tomzalatnai

http://tomzalatnai.blogspot.com/

My Best Day in Ministry: Andrea Ward

2012-02-10T00:37:00.000-05:00

Today's guest post comes from a new friend, Andrea Ward. We met through blogging and Twitter, and I have become an avid reader of her blog- Jesus, You & Me. I love her heart for ministry and I know you will too. She lives in Hickory, NC- a place where I spent one glorious (and as yet unblogged!) year as a student at Lenoir Rhyne College back in 1977-78. You can follow her on Twitter @citrus_sunshine. Enjoy her post.

This is not the post I wanted to write when I volunteered to do this guest post. My husband and I are new to youth ministry. We are only a few months into full time ministry and 2 years into youth ministry at all. I wanted to write about overcoming challenges with our very broken youth. However, those words weren't coming to me. The words that are coming to me are from several years ago before I was married. I'm not even sure I was out of college yet. For about 5 years I was a counselor at a small inter-denominational youth camp. Being inter-denominational means it is small and not really modern and fancy like other camps I have heard about. This camp and the board that runs it very specifically keep the cost low, $35 for the week. Any child 10-21 is welcome. Of course most who hang around until the 21 age are often drafted into service to the camp. This was me and I was comfortable with that.

This particular "day" is really just a handful of hours in my mind. I really don’t remember anything from the morning or afternoon. What I remember most is the church service. And from the church service, I don’t really remember the sermon. I remember the altar call afterward. As a counselor, I always pray with any kids at the altar. Rarely would they tell me what it was about and I didn’t push them to tell me. I would just pray with them and hug on them if they needed it. Then we would go on to other activities. However there is one girl that sticks out in my mind, one prayer service that keeps running through my head when I think of my best day in the ministry. During the prayer service, I do remember that the directive was to pray about lies Satan tells you.

One girl came forward. We had been worrying about her because of her choice of male accompaniment. You all remember the camp romance right? Anyway, she came forward to pray. I prayed with her and she bared her soul. I prayed with her and told her that all of that was certainly a lie from Satan. I also said that it would be a slow process of retraining her mind to not listen to those lies. Well I was wrong about that because God showed up and changed everything. I’m not for sure about exactly what happened next. If I had to guess one of our girls who had a gift for imparting the Holy Spirit, prayed with her. She regularly prayed with kids and God showed up in big ways. She probably did that again with this girl. After the prayer session was done with for most kids, this girl and 2 others were not done. We took them down to the cafeteria to keep praying. I’m not sure if I stayed by myself or if someone was with me. Anyway, the rest of the campers went on with their games for night activity. I stayed with those girls. God showed up and the room was filled with a nearly tangible presence. The girls were speaking to God in a very intimate way that was only understood between them and God. I remember they were on the floor praying. There was crying and there might have been shouting and there was speaking in tongues. (Yes, tongues. Yes, it was God. Yes, I believe that happens sometimes.) This went on for an hour and half or so. I just waited for them to be done with God. This has happened a time or two before and I was just there as a monitoring presence. I was there keeping God in and others out. So I continued monitoring. When they were done, we joined the other kids and there was a difference. This girl who was broken and used was whole. God healed her then and there. She was a different girl for the rest of the week and every week after that. She eventually went off to some kind of missionary training. She came back a wonderful, beautiful, whole Christian girl who was in love with a great young man and ready to spread the gospel. This was my best day in the ministry that had nothing to do with me and everything to do with God. Isn't that the way it should be?

~Andrea Ward

My Best Day in Ministry: Eric Hendrickson

2012-02-09T05:59:00.000-05:00

Today's guest post comes from Twitter buddy Eric Hendrickson, a long-time youth pastor and blogger. In addition to his own work, Eric has been a tremendous source of personal encouragement to me. It is an honor to have him share with us today!

Looking back over the past fourteen years, there have been many days that I could describe as my best day in ministry in different areas. I look at my first day at my first church, Faith United Methodist on December 21, 1997 when I my only thought was reaching students. I didn't worry about budget, fundraisers, how much I was getting paid, making sure I was up on the latest curriculum, playing the right worship songs, or anything. It was all about ministry and accepting my calling. It was simple. I had no real structure, a 5 year plan, or anything really. It was trying to get the students involved at this church excited about Jesus. I owned a guitar and only knew the song Light the Fire. And for the first couple months that was al the music we had. We played a few games and sang one song and then I led a lesson.

I look at my first day as Full time Youth Director at Tucker First UMC, May 2, 2002 I see many similar aspects of my first place in ministry, but with knowing a few more songs. But over the years that first day begin the best day has gone away. Because as I've learned church ministry, new positions and day to day operations have changed to worrying about the budget, knowing when and how many fundraisers to do, worrying about taking care of my family with pay, staying current on curriculum and ministry trends, and keeping up with current worship music. In some ways its sad, but also just a reality of things.

But in ministry I have learned not to worry about these things. I've learned over the past couple years that those things are important and I need to pay attention to them, but I do not need to let them get in the way of ministry and keeping that same spirit of ministry I had on December 21, 1997 and May 12, 2002

With that beings said, my best Day in ministry was July 5, 2006. Every year at my church Lithia Springs UMC, we hosted River of Life Mission Retreat. River of Life is a series of events held each summer aimed at enabling youth and adults, from many different churches, to come together to express the love of Jesus Christ by ministering to the people of a particular local community through exterior home repairs and improvements. That was my fourth year leading it at Lithia Springs UMC. I had been a part of River of Life since 1995 and had participated with in 18 different weeks as a student, musician, and team leader. But this year and this day was what I look at the best day of Ministry. As I started to lead worship, I looked out into the crowd of over 200 students, adults, pastors, and youth workers and saw one guy. One guy that was in full worship. A youth leader that had six students. A youth leader who was on his first retreat and his first mission trip. I saw the look in his eyes and recognized it from December 21, 1997 when I had my first youth program. I saw students surrounding him and were also in full worship. After the service I saw him speak to one and stop and pray with the young man. It brought tears to my eyes. I thought back to May 2, 2002 when I met this youth worker for the first time, when he introduced himself to me after youth group that night at Tucker 1st UMC. I thought back to that Thanksgiving on 2002 when I saw this youth worker who was 16 at the time give his life to God and being called into ministry. July 5, 2006, will always remind me of how ministry can always be the way of just reaching students for Christ and seeing those students reach others. I'm very blessed to still have that youth worker, Mark Ashby, one of my former youth as one of my best friends and partners in ministry. I look and see how when I let go and not worry about worrying about the budget, knowing when and how many fundraisers to do, worrying about taking care of my family with pay, staying current on curriculum and ministry trends, and keeping up with current worship music that that day can be everyday in ministry and every day can be my best day in ministry.

***Update*** After I wrote this guest blog a few hours later I got a text from one of my current students that is feeling a calling to youth ministry. The text said, "Eric I just wanted to let you know I witnessed to someone at school today for the first time. It was an amazing feeling to spread the word of God!" ****

Every Day is our best day in Youth Ministry

Carpe Diem!

"I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." -Jeremiah 29:11 My Blog http://www.uscerock.com Follow me on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/uscerock

My Best Day in Ministry: Darin Miller

2012-02-08T06:02:00.000-05:00

Darin and my lovely wife in the Kissimmee days!

Today's guest post comes from my old friend Darin Miller, a member of my own Youth Group Hall of Fame. Darin serves as the Adult Ministries Pastor at The Cove Church near Huntsville, AL, after serving as a youth pastor for many years. And once upon a time he was a volunteer in a student ministry I led in Kissimmee, FL. To read more about those days, click here. Darin is a blessing and an inspiration to me, and I know he will be to you as well. I am so glad he wanted to share in this series!

It is truly difficult to single out “my best day in youth ministry.” After being involved with youth ministry for 15 years plus, my involvement with youth has been filled with many up’s and down’s. But this particular moment was probably the first time that I felt like the Holy Spirit truly made himself visible to everyone in our youth group. And without doubt, the presence of God undeniable.

I’m not sure of the exact year…maybe 1998. (it’s funny how they all run together) But I do remember that it was Fall Retreat for Asbury United Methodist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. We were in the second night of our retreat, which included singing and a speaker. Somewhere in the middle of the signing part of our night, I was called away to take care of an injury or logistical issue. But as I returned to the main room, I noticed that there were students on the stage with the microphone. I was a little surprised because our “plan” for the night didn’t involve student presentations at this point. So as I entered I started examining what was happening.

The whole group of roughly 100 people was sitting quietly and with anticipation as one of our high school girls spoke about her experience during the weekend. Our theme was “Shine” and our group had really come together on the whole idea of being a city on a hill and letting our light shine. This teenage girl was finishing her story of coming this weekend and the impact that it would forever have on her life.

I had begun my youth ministry “career” as a volunteer in Kissimmee, Florida. I admit that my initial reasons for becoming involved were a mystery to me. I knew that I wanted to be involved with the church. I knew that was where I “should” be. But as far as my path to that youth ministry, I’m unsure of exactly why I started. But in those early years, I began to understand the importance of “impact” in youth ministry and the eternal legacy that can be left if Jesus is the focus.

I had yet to experience that in my first church in Birmingham. I was still “green” and the fruit of labor and faith hadn’t yet become evident. But as that teenage girl spoke, I began to realize that after a year of toil, legacy was being formed. And though that testimony from her was enough to have filled my heart, God had an even greater surprise in store for us. At about the time she finished, I noticed a stir among our high school boys. Without prompting, a group of three of our senior boys began to make their way to the stage. My pulse began to quicken for two reasons: one, an open mic in the hands of a high school student is always cause for apprehension; two, a spur-of-the-moment testimony from three of our high school seniors is a blessing from above. This is especially true in a situation where the depth of faith has seemed as shallow as a desert stream.

Those three young men went to the stage and took turns sharing about where they were with Jesus. They spoke about how they represented God in their high school. They even spoke directly to the middle school students and told them that they would be there for them if they ever had any problems at school or at home. They had learned the lesson that if our faith doesn’t impact the lives of others it is selfish at best if not entirely useless. They wanted to make sure that their faith had an impact.

I had been observing from the very back of the room this whole time. I was standing near the door of the room and was suddenly overcome with emotion. Being a part of something that God had orchestrated was too much for me to handle stoically. I stepped out of the room and fell to my knees and prayed, thanking God for his Spirit and for calling me to ministry.

It was on that night that I found the answer to the mystery of why I showed up to volunteer in Kissimmee, Florida. I had a heart for expanding God’s Kingdom. It showed me that the toil and sweat of ministry should always be directed towards God’s glory. If so, being even a small part of his plan guarantees impact and an everlasting legacy for His Kingdom.

~Darin Miller

www.covechurch.com

My Best Day in Ministry: Kim Mills

2012-02-07T05:59:00.000-05:00

Kim Mills has rapidly become one of my favorite bloggers. She is a breath of fresh air in a world of often stale blogs about faith and family, and I highly recommend that you follow her blog. The address can be found at the bottom of the page. You can also follow her on Twitter at @reccewife. I am honored to have her be part of this series.

This may come to a shock to you, but my husband and I haven’t always felt like we fit in at Church. Don’t get me wrong, our Church, it’s one of the most welcoming and loving places I have ever walked into. We have great friends and feel at home there.

But my husband is an Armoured Reconnaissance soldier with the Canadian Forces. And he follows Jesus with his whole heart. Those two worlds are hard to reconcile. There are very few soldiers in our church. Or in any church we know. Whether it’s the long absences from home that make it next to impossible for him to be active in any official Church ministries, or that booming Drill Sgt. Voice that announces when the Service is starting to our chatty Sunday morning congregation still lingering in the Foyer... he’s never cared much that he tends to stand out.

As a slightly more self-conscious person, with a love for Jesus, a fondness for tattoos, an ability to speak louder and faster to longer I talk, and a slight *ahem* potty mouth... I can be a little conspicuous in most Christian circles.

That big word, Ministry, has always seemed hard, for both of us. Neither of us grew up in Church, Ministry seemed like one of those ‘Christianese’ words. Something a little foreign that we needed to learn and do to in order to do things right.

When we were younger, in the beginning of our marriage, both of us served in the Church Youth Group. We stayed up at all nighters, dragged our babies to ear-piercing rock concerts and spent exhausting weekends leading Youth Camps. And we loved it.

But as we had more children and responsibilities, and because I was regularly facing those things without him as his job took his around the world, things got harder. Slowly, we started to realize we were just going through the motions. We didn’t feel called to be there anymore.

This left us with this uncomfortable feeling. That while we served in other ways, my husband found himself on Church Leadership and I started helping in various areas that I thought I might be useful at, we didn’t really have a ‘ministry’. I couldn’t shake the feeling that we were supposed to have one. I was sure we weren’t doing a very good job serving God, with him being gone all the time and me without an idea where I fit in among the ministries at our Church.

I seemed to always be busy with something else. I started volunteering at the Family Support at my husband’s unit. I was given the opportunity to coordinate a community closet to help clothe those in need in my small town. All things I loved and felt called to do, done with inexplicable guilt that it might be taking away from time I could be serving God in an actual Church Ministry.

And my husband, he went back to his 3^rd tour to Afghanistan and spent time praying for the soldiers he served with. That led to opportunities to pray WITH them. And when the time came, the heartbreaking chance to lead memorials for those who didn’t make it home. Eventually, he even had the chance to lead one of the men to Christ. All in the middle of a desert with no Church or Chaplain in sight. All while feeling the same guilt that he wasn’t at home where he could, you know, serve God at Church.

I mean, ‘Ministry’ happens at church, right? It happens at specially planned activities, events or studies where we talk about only Jesus and know without a doubt we are serving Him. Everything else we do, that’s not ‘Ministry’. That’s just life.

I had become very good at compartmentalizing God in a way that made it so I could only serve Him properly when I was serving in an “official” Church Ministry. Then one day while chatting with a young pregnant woman whose fiancé was deployed to Afghanistan, she invited me, a virtual stranger, to attend her pre-natal classes with her because she didn’t know anyone else and didn’t want to go alone. The problem was those prenatal classes, they happened on the same night I hosted a Bible Study in my home. And it occurred to me – there was no way I was going to tell this girl that I couldn’t be with her when she needed me because I was too busy studying the Bible.

And that revelation, well it opened my eyes to what I had been missing this whole time I was trying to keep God at church and Ministry in a box. Ministry happens everywhere.

Sometimes, it happens through our Churches in amazing ways. It happens at Sunday morning Service. It happens at Youth Group. It happens at Bible Study. We need to serve God that way, to make the local Church the hope of our communities and function as part of our local body of believers. But God is not confined to those things done through things with the label of ‘Ministry’ and serving him can happen anywhere He calls you.

Ministry happens at 2 in the morning emergency room visits with nervous 1^st mom’s Braxton Hicks.

Ministry happens at a memorial for a fallen friend in the middle of a war.

It happens whenever you are following God’s leading in your life. Wherever you are.

And right there with that moment of understanding, is where I had my best moment in Ministry.

When I realized that I was already doing it.

~Kim Mills

http://kimberleymills.blogspot.com/

My Best Day in Ministry: Jason Huffman

2012-02-06T05:04:00.000-05:00

The first post in this 2 week series comes from my Texas Twitter buddy Jason Huffman. Jason is a youth pastor, a hospice counselor, a gigantic sports fan and a great friend to me. Enjoy!

I have had many great days in youth ministry. If I hadn't had at least a few, I wouldn't be doing it still after twelve years. There've been teary-eyed, snotty-nosed camp salvation experiences. There's been students who've left my ministry to do short-term or medium-term missions, and recently to go into full-time church work. There have been well-received sermons. There have been rockin' youth band "performances" where I felt like the students taught the adult congregation what it really means to "worship." We've had nights where we didn't think we could get any more kids in the building and where we thought the pizza place was just going to have to open up a tab. We've hugged the neck of an elderly lady as we put the finishing touches on her brand new wheelchair ramp. But in all honesty, I think the best night in youth ministry I've ever had was just a week ago on Wednesday night.

I don't use a lot of curriculum. Not because it's not good or I don't like it, but because I always feel my lessons are most effective when the faith that God has planted in me comes through a passage. The good thing about this is that I get to write whatever I want, whenever I want. The bad thing about this is that I get to write whatever I want, whenever I want. Well, we were coming off a lesson series and I was really unsure about what I should teach that night. Many weeks, there is a clear-cut direction or I continue a series theme or teaching through a book or section of the Bible. But it was Wednesday afternoon, and I had nothing. I had posted a couple days earlier on my blog about Tim Tebow's 316 yard performance (a la John "3:16") and essentially how Christians need to be careful what we ascribe to the hand of God, whether it's a football stat or a natural disaster. One reader commented that we should "be thankful that God was being honored in public fashion (which I did not disagree with in my post), in a country where prayer is taken from schools, the Ten Commandments have been removed from courtrooms, and old crosses have been torn down from public parks." My response was that the decay in our country was not because prayer and the Ten Commandments have been removed from schools and courtrooms, it's because they've been removed from our homes.

With this all fresh on my mind, as a Wednesday night discussion starter, I created a hypothetical scenario for my students. I put up on the projector after worship time the following:

"Today, a constitutional amendment has been passed, banning all prayer from school campus buildings, and all biblical references from public places of any type. Your job is to meet in groups and discuss what will be your plan of action."

The junior high students took the bait. As I sat in the junior high's group, they began discussing how to organize a protest in front of the school. They schemed a prayer "rally" for the cause and looked at writing their congressmen. I sat in their group as a listener, keeping discussion going, but I did not lead them to any conclusions that were not their own. But I was really proud of my high school students. Because while these ideas were discussed, the older students really looked at how to deal with the changes and work within a system that did not advocate their beliefs. They discussed ways to meet off-campus in homes and ways to "secretly" have meetings and "break the law if necessary." As they discussed, I called both groups back together and as they were sharing, one of my high school girls took the floor. She began to share and began to shake, almost uncontrollably. After she gathered herself, she said that God had really been dealing with her about her circle of friends and how important it is that our innermost group of friends be followers of Christ. She was led to tears and shared passionately to the rest of the group that our community of believers is the most important thing we have and we should do everything we can to find ways for people to learn more about Christ. In response to the scenario presented and the options of having more meetings off-campus and other opportunities for people to learn about the gospel, she said, "Why aren't we doing this stuff already?"

Then I shared the lesson from Acts 4. Without writing the whole passage, essentially Peter and John had been brought before the Sanhedrin for healing a man. The Jewish leaders were not pleased with their growing popularity, but neither were the Romans. They had performed signs and miracles and did not know how to deal with this growing faith. My point to the students was that in its earliest stages, "Christianity" was never designed to thrive in a coddled environment, but has always thrived in persecution. We looked at the roles of the church community in worship, fellowship, and ministry how if you organize a protest about your religion, there is none of that. Protests have their place, and people should speak out about things that are important. But in terms of expanding the gospel, it won't be done through a protest, a letter to a congressmen, or even a rally.

I didn't do much teaching. Our lead student did most of the teaching because what I had given them as a lesson, was right in line with what the Holy Spirit had been doing in her life, and she was able to share with the students very passionately about what was so important. We looked at a few more passages and talked about the issues from different angles. But never, in twelve years of ministry have I seen the Holy Spirit so evident at one of my meetings. If it happened all the time, I might be a little skeptical of services being led more by emotion than by the Spirit. But there was no doubt that God had put us on the same page, and my discussion starter was to reinforce what he was already doing in her life and in the lives of the rest of the students.

It was an amazing night I won't soon forget and I'm hoping the student's don't either.

Jason Huffman
http://jasonbhuffman.wordpress.com/

The Best of Times

2012-02-05T07:16:00.001-05:00

Some of my best days were at TNT 1987-1994

Life in ministry is very much like a roller coaster ride. You never know exactly what the day will bring, with heroic highs and tragic lows. You interact each day with people sharing incredible joys and unfathomable sorrows. You learn to rely on God because relying on your own knowledge and skills has failed you so many times. And somewhere in the midst of all of that, you have some truly amazing days.

Beginning tomorrow, for the next two weeks this blog will be turned over to some of my favorite people as they share on the theme My Best Day in Ministry. I hope you will join us every day as we celebrate what God has done in the lives of these folks- and in our own lives. Here is the list of writers as it stands now. They will notice that a few of their previously assigned dates have changed. You will notice I still have two openings for the second week. That means I still need YOU.

Monday, Feb. 6- Jason Huffman
Tuesday, Feb. 7- Kim Mills
Wednesday, Feb. 8- Darin Miller
Thursday Feb. 9- Eric Hendrickson
Friday, Feb. 10- Andrea Ward
Saturday, Feb. 11- Tom Zalatnai
Sunday, Feb. 12- Matthew Fry
Monday, Feb. 13- Lisa Moran
Tuesday, Feb. 14- Teresa Tysinger
Wednesday, Feb. 15- Ashley Goad Broadhurst
Thursday, Feb. 16- Tim Ghali
Friday, Feb. 17- Gary Bott

So come be part of the fun and excitement. It may just help you recall some of your best days as well. Have a blessed Super Bowl Sunday!

Because of Jesus,

Saturday Shout Outs!

2012-02-04T08:00:00.001-05:00

Greetings and salutations and welcome to another edition of Saturday Shout Outs! I hope you all had a happy Groundhog Day and are not too depressed at the thought of 6 more weeks of winter. If you are, come to Florida! :) Now let's get on with the shouting!

Are you excited about the Super Bowl? I am looking forward to watching the game with my family and Lisa Jewett (Wesley Memorial) at Winner's Sports Bar. I am also psyched about the the game because quite frankly any opportunity to cheer against The Hoodie, The Pretty Boy and the New England Patriots is a good day. I would pull for a team of apocalyptic zombies if they were playing the Patriots. I would cheer for Jay Leno and Newt Gingrich against Bill Bellichick. So needless to say, Go GIANTS! Who are you rooting for? And don't you think the day after the Super Bowl should be a national holiday? Just a thought...
Speaking of holidays, it's the time of year when Hillsborough County schools get a day off called Fair Day, so students can attend the Florida State Fair here in Tampa. Over in Kissimmee, they will have a day off for Rodeo Day so everyone can be part of the great Silver Spurs Rodeo. I love random holidays. What day would you turn in to an annual day off if it were up to you? I mean besides my birthday...
A late happy birthday to my old buddy Carl Semmler (New Garden Friends, Quaker Lake) who celebrated on February 2nd. Carl becomes 2 years older than me every year at this time,which means a visit from Willard Scott is right around the corner...
Continue to pray for our youth group family couples with babies on the way, including Todd & Kristin Willis and Jerry & Melissa Hanbery (FUMC-K) and Christy Causey Allen (Springfield Friends). Who am I forgetting?
If you have a minute around 11 AM on Monday, throw up a prayer of two for me. I will be busy meeting with people I wish I didn't know and doing something I truly dread. Your prayers are appreciated.
I continue to love being able to text with friends from all over the place. A special shout out this week to Marie Allen (Springfield) for being a great friend and great encouragement! If you want my number just give me a shout! :)
So many people are sick right now. I know this cold bug has played havoc with the family of Lisa Kraus Spires (FUMC-K) and so many others. Take care of yourselves, and get well soon!
Ashley Goad Broadhurst (Springfield) is a grandmother! Well, sort of. Her hubby John's adult son is a new father! No word yet on what our new "Granny" is actually going to be called. The baby was early but is doing well, so please keep that family in your prayers.
Teresa Reep Tysinger (FUMC-K) is currently in Dallas getting to spend the weekend with her hubby Eric and checking out that area as a possible future home. Keep them in your prayers as they figure out their future!
And finally, I continue to love being connected with my Twitter family! Yesterday I passed the 2000 follower mark, something I never expected to see, and I have the privilege of praying everyday for friends from all over the world that I know because of Twitter. And I know they pray for me as well. Since I can't list all 2000 names, I wish just simply say thanks to you all. And for my "sis" Jenn Ganley who is currently in China, I offer a special prayer and sincere "hurry home!" Can't wait to hear all about it.

So there we go. Let me hear from you, and be sure to come back tomorrow for some exciting news on some great guest posts coming up over then ext week or so. Have a blessed weekend, everyone!

Because of Jesus,

Friday Flashback: Super Bowls Past

2012-02-03T05:57:00.000-05:00

It's almost Super Bowl Sunday, and I have been flashing back to past years and parties with my various youth groups. Here are VII memories that came to mind from my XXVIII years in student ministry. I am still waiting for Amber Herrick or Chrissy Weaver to refresh my memory of the great Super Bowl Sunday fight in Kissimmee. Another story for another day!

1) It's weird, but I have absolutely no memory of any kind of Super Bowl party during my years (1978-83) at New Garden Friends Meeting. I remember Super Bowls from every other stop on my career- even one from 2001 at the Union Church of Hinsdale, IL, when a large crowd filled our little house to watch the game. I was only in Hinsdale for one Super Bowl. But I have nothing from New Garden...

2) My first Super Bowl party after moving to High Point and Springfield Friends Meeting was cut short by a snow storm that led to an exciting couple of days (see A Super Surprise). The Giants beat the Broncos in Super Bowl XXI on January 25, 1987.

3) We had several parties at the home of Butch and Barbara Moran while we were at Springfield Friends Meeting. I can't remember if they were really youth parties, or if most of the youth were just there because they were related to the Moran's! In any case, these were fun because doing anything with Butch was fun, and they had a 55" screen...

4) We used to get together with friends for the game and make huge crock pots full of chili. Somewhere along the way, this changed to me making Mexican Pile-Up for the the multitudes. For the uninitiated, pile-up is basically a taco salad you pile on a plate, using chips instead of a shell. I have fed a lot of kids a lot of pile-up on Super Bowl Sunday over the years...but I always made them bring the desserts!

5) The party got serious on January 26, 2003. We had moved to Wesley Memorial UMC in Tampa in 2001, and now we found our hometown Buccaneers in the big game. I knew I would be irritable and grumpy if I didn't get to pay full attention to the game, so we decided to not have a youth group party- sort of! We invited only a few select youth and adults who we knew would watch the games and hosted it at our house, complete with Wing House wings! My Bucs whipped the Raiders in Super Bowl XXXVII, and as the game ended we went outside and listened as the entire city of Tampa honked their car horns in celebration.

6) The following year (Feb. 1, 2004) was a perfect example of why I often got frustrated on Super Sunday. We had the party in the Fellowship Hall at Wesley and drew a big crowd- about half of whom cared anything about the game. I spent most of the evening chasing kids back into the room and cooking. We went through 30 pounds of ground beef in the Mexican Pile-Up that night. I was in the kitchen at halftime, trying to clean up a bit, when Jacquie Thomson came running in a told me that Justin Timberlake had just exposed Janet Jackson's breast, in what came to be known as the Wardrobe Malfunction. And I had missed it, along with most of the first half. At least the game got really interesting after that, even though the hated Patriots won.

7) My final youth Super Bowl party was a great one. We held it in the Fellowship Hall at Trinity UMC in Waycross, GA on Feb. 4, 2007. I ran the cable through a VCR and into a video projector and we watched the game projected on a wall that had to be 90" wide! I ran the sound through our system, and we were better than any sports bar around. As a matter of fact, we were illegal. The NFL actually stopped some churches in Indianapolis from doing just what we did, limiting the size of the projection to 60". We charged ahead, eating pile-up, Dick's Wings and all kinds of goodies while the Colts beat the Bears and made Tony Dungy the first African-American ever to coach a Super Bowl winner. Good times!

So this Sunday I'm off to Winners Sports Bar here in Tampa to watch the game with Marilyn, Will, Lisa Jewett and a crowd of strangers. I get to watch the game AND I don't have to cook. But still...I miss all the excitement of those youth parties, and I always will.

Because of Jesus,

Another Comment Day

2012-02-02T04:45:00.001-05:00

Happy Groundhog Day!

Welcome to the February edition of Comment Day! I hope that all of you who are blog readers will take some time today to visit your favorite writers and leave encouraging comments. Blogging can be a lonely business, and it is always a blessing to know that people are reading along. In January I published a list of blogs I frequent; to view that list click here. You can also see a list of recent posts from some of my favorites on the lower left hand side on this blog.

Comments do make a huge difference to those of us who blog. I remember well my first months of writing these posts, when I sometimes went weeks between comments. You have so little idea if people are reading and if you are connecting with an audience. A word of encouragement can be the difference between a writer quitting or persevering and truly finding their voice.

So spend some time today with your favorites, and be sure to leave a word of encouragement. And spread the word on Twitter, Facebook and any other places you may roam that today is the one and only Comment Day. Jesus once commanded us to pass his love around. This is one small way we can spread the joy. Now get on with it! :)

Because of Jesus,

Springtime in Florida

2012-02-01T06:00:00.001-05:00

Just a reminder- tomorrow is our February Comment Day! The first Thursday of each month is set aside to encourage bloggers by reading as many posts as we can and leaving comments on every post we read. Join in the fun- and spread the world!

It's February 1st, and for those of us who call Central Florida home it is the unofficial first day of Spring! Tomorrow the Groundhog will stick his head out a hole in Pennsylvania and predict how much more winter must be faced in much of our nation. For us, it is more about how much longer will the weather be perfect- 78 degrees, blue skies and cool breezes- before it gets to be really nice! :)

To celebrate this happy occasion, I have been listening to a lot of Beach Boys these past few days. I have mentioned here before that I love their music, and own a great deal of it. Many of you are familiar with their hits, such as Good Vibrations and I Get Around. I love those songs, but I also love a great deal of their more obscure stuff. Today I would like to suggest to you 10 Beach Boys songs that you may not have ever heard of, in the hopes that you might check them out on I-Tunes, Pandora or Spotify. For those of us in Florida the music is a great way to welcome in our Spring. For the rest of you, the Beach Boys are a great way to pretend that summer in right around the corner! So here's my list:

Honkin' Down the Highway- from the album Love You
Forever- from the album Sunflower (also a hit for Uncle Jessie on Full House!)
Surf's Up- from the album Surf's Up
Winds of Change- from the album M.I.U.
Keepin' the Summer Alive- from the album of the same name
Funky Pretty- from the album Holland
Susie Cincinnati- from the album 15 Big Ones
You Still Believe In Me- from the album Pet Sounds
Marcella- from the album Carl & the Passions: So Tough
Wild Honey- from the album of the same name

If you try these and want more suggestions, give me a shout. I have a couple of hundred more. Enjoy your day!

Because of Jesus,

True Worship

2012-01-31T06:04:00.000-05:00

I came to an uncomfortable conclusion last night. My dog worships me. Just look at the evidence. When I am sitting at the computer he lies my my feet, making sure I don't go anywhere without him knowing. He follows me everywhere I go. I go the kitchen and he is on my heels. I go to the bathroom and he comes in looking for me. I grab his leash and he heads for the door, ready to follow wherever I will lead him. The neighbors tell me that when I am gone they hear him howling in distress, uncertain what to do without me. The clincher came last night. My son Will and I went to get some Chinese for dinner while Marilyn hung out at home. She told me later that the entire time I was gone he howled and laid on the bed starring out the window, waiting for my return. I just have to face the facts. Conner the Dog worships me, unworthy as I am.

And the more I thought about it, the more I realized what a great example of true worship it is! I want to feel that way about Jesus every single day. I want to long to know where he will take me next. I want to follow him everywhere he wants to lead me. I want to feel the need to be in his presence so strongly that when I feel like I have wandered away (because if we feel separated from God, it is us who moved) I howl with grief, hoping he will hear my cries and come rescue me yet again. I want to be constantly vigilant, following him in the here and now and waiting for the glory of his return. This is what true worship is- giving ourselves completely to the One we worship. I want to be like that. Jesus invites us all, with all of our faults and failures and blemishes, to come follow him. It is a come just as we are invitation, but it comes with a price- that we take up our cross and follow him no matter what. I realize now that Conner is not only a faithful dog, he is a walking object lesson. I want to need Jesus so bad that is hurts. LORD, I want to howl for you. I hope you will all join me.

Because of Jesus,

Creed

2012-01-30T05:58:00.000-05:00

Today just feels like a Rich Mullins kind of day. A day to forget about the trappings of religion and focus on Jesus. A day to remember what we believe... Watch the video. Soak in the lyrics. Believe.

CREED- Rich Mullins
from the album A Liturgy, A Legacy and a Ragamuffin Band

I believe in God the Father
Almighty Maker of Heaven and Maker of Earth
And in Jesus Christ His only begotten Son, our Lord
He was conceived by the Holy Spirit
Born of the virgin Mary
Suffered under Pontius Pilate
He was crucified and dead and buried

And I believe what I believe is what makes me what I am
I did not make it, no it is making me
It is the very truth of God and not the invention of any man

I believe that He who suffered was crucified, buried, and dead
He descended into hell and on the third day, rose again
He ascended into Heaven where He sits at God's mighty right hand
I believe that He's returning
To judge the quick and the dead of the sons of men

And I believe what I believe is what makes me what I am
I did not make it, no it is making me
It is the very truth of God and not the invention of any man

I believe it, I believe it
I believe it
I believe it, I believe it

I believe in God the Father
Almighty Maker of Heaven and Maker of Earth
And in Jesus Christ His only begotten Son, our Lord
I believe in the Holy Spirit
One Holy Church
The communion of Saints
The forgiveness of sin
I believe in the resurrection
I believe in a life that never ends

And I believe what I believe is what makes me what I am
I did not make it, no it is making me
I did not make it, no it is making me
I said I did not make it, no it is making me
It is the very truth of God and not the invention of any man

Because of Jesus,

Whatevers

2012-01-29T00:01:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday, Teresa!

The other day on Facebook I was surprised by the following post:

I feel a shout-out to my good and faithful friend Carl is overdue and necessary...for being a prefect friend who's gone above and beyond being supportive, fun and encouraging! Thanks and love you! :)

This post came from Teresa Reep Tysinger, who is this very day celebrating a birthday. She is no longer 30; she and twin sis Cyndi (see yesterday's post) and now officially IN their 30s. Be sure and mention that to her. :) Anyway, in light of this special day and her kind words to me, it felt like it was time to say a few things here about my friend Teresa. Whether she likes it or not...

Most of my posts about former students- and Teresa and I first met at FUMC-Kissimmee in 1994- focus on our past together. This one is much more about the present. Between 2002 and 2009 or so we lost track of each other a bit, but over the past few years we had gradually reconnected. The love and support she showed me as I tried to put my life back together was special and meaningful. Teresa and I always shared a unique bond. As we like to say, we "get" each other. Back in the youth group days she would often be the one who laughed at my jokes when others gave me blank stares. Perhaps more importantly, I laughed at hers! She was always the first to encourage me when things weren't working the way I wanted them to. She always knew she could come to me with the problems that plague most every teenage girl. We were close, and she looked up to me and counted on me. I was afraid the later failings in my personal life would disappoint her too much and that our relationship would never be the same. I was right. It is so much stronger...

Over the past couple of months we have found ways and excuses to talk, text or email almost every day. I find her to be a heroic woman. Her wonderful husband of almost 10 years, Eric, has been working away from home for the better part of the last year, pursuing his dream of being the stage manager for a Broadway show. Teresa holds down a job, takes care of the house, is a wonderful mother to her 3 year old daughter Emma, and offers support and encouragement to her hubby- all while missing him terribly. She is a gifted writer, a professional graphic design artist and a most creative cook. My wife Marilyn said yesterday that she wished "that Teresa would slow down, because she is making the rest of us feel lazy!" As we reconnected in a big way after I joined the world of unlimited texting, I saw my task as being someone who was glad to listen when she needed to talk. The truth is, we needed each other. We talk about everything. She lives in Greensboro, NC, only minutes from my childhood home and the schools I attended, so we talk often about the city. She works for a UMC, and we share stories about working for a church- both the blessings and the horrors. We talk about our day in, day out lives- our frustrations and our joys. We both have excellent taste in music, and we love to swap songs. We remember the great times we shared in places like New York City, Myrtle Beach and Spanish Wells. We ask and answer questions and share hopes and dreams. And quite often we make each other laugh hysterically. After all of these years we still "get" each other. Some people wander through life without finding anyone with whom they truly connect. The two of us are blessed to have wonderful spouses. We are also blessed to have each other. It is a rare and wonderful friendship, and I praise God everyday for returning Teresa to my life.

One final, sort of funny note about all of this. Teresa and I have decided that the word "friend" just doesn't quite do justice to the relationship we share, and neither does anything else we can think of. So we have decided that we are "whatevers." The kind of friend that you can count on whatever the situation, whatever the time, whatever the problem. Whatevers. I may not quite know what a "whatever" is, but I sure don't plan on ever being without one again. Happy birthday, Teresa- and thanks for everything! I love you too!

Because of Jesus,

Hall of Fame: Cyndi Reep

2012-01-28T07:26:00.000-05:00

Cyndi at the Betsy B!

It's been a while since I inducted anyone into my Youth Group Hall of Fame, but today the time is right. Tomorrow my favorite twins from my Kissimmee days, Cyndi Reep Browning & Teresa Reep Tysinger, celebrate a birthday. Teresa is already in my HOF. Cyndi is long overdue for induction, and today we remedy that situation! Because even in my HOF this truth is eternal- you can never have too many Reeps! :)

As I mentioned when Teresa was inducted, in my earliest days at FUMC-Kissimmee I had a hard time telling the twins apart. They were in the 7th grade, and I often avoided calling them by name for fear I would get them mixed up. But soon it became clear that they were very different people, and I came to know and love Cyndi as a very special young woman. She was a leader in our group, someone who participated in almost every youth activity. She was one of the student leaders of our Youth Service Opportunity Project, which scheduled and planned the children's programs during one of the Sunday morning worship services. She loves to sing and was part of the youth choir. She became involved in the Chrysalis program. She missed out on some of our trips because of her dedication to marching band, and we always missed he when she couldn't join us. Perhaps most importantly, she was a special and important friend to many of the students in our ministry.

But never let it be said that Cyndi was all work and no play! We harassed her to no end about the number of boys who seemed to always be after her. We gave her a hard time about how gullible she could be, always allowing a few extra minutes for jokes to sink in. When I left FUMC-K, I was given a picture of her running around the hall of a motel on one of our trips wrapped in only a towel, having just been defeated in a game of Spoons. It is a constant reminder to me of how much fun and laughter Cyndi brought to the group and to my life. I was going to use that picture today, but decided to save it for some future special occasion. Like when her son Grayson is old enough to be embarrassed by it...

Cyndi now lives near Cary, NC with her hubby and son. It has been my pleasure to reconnect with her in recent weeks and to remember what an important part of my Kissimmee years she was. So Cyndi, welcome to the Hall of Fame! You are now entitled to all of the perks and privileges of membership. Don't know that those are? Call me sometime when you've got 5 minutes (that is a TOTAL inside joke)! Happy birthday tomorrow, and many blessings for the future. You are loved!

Because of Jesus,

Flashback Friday: The Orange Jacket

2012-01-27T06:03:00.000-05:00

My Orange Jacket, 1981

Every professional golfer dreams of winning The Masters. Winning that tournament once makes your entire career a success. Money, fame and glory are yours. But ask any pro golfer what really matters about winning the Masters and they will all tell you the same thing- the green jacket. The green jacket is unique. Only Master's winners can wear them. After one Masters champion wore his jacket on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno several years ago, Jon Stewart was quoted as saying "that's the first piece of original material on The Tonight Show since Johnny left!" The green jacket is special, and if you aspire to golf greatness you aspire to wear the green jacket.

I suppose I was about 15 when I became obsessed with the Orange Jacket. I was serving at Quaker Lake Camp as a Counselor in Training (later to be called Counselor Assistant) when I became aware of the prestige of it. On Friday night, when it came time to walk to the Campfire Circle, the QLC summer staff almost all wore their orange windbreakers that said Quaker Lake Staff Camp. It was actually a circle that said Quaker Lake on top, and Camp on the bottom with Staff in the middle. But when you looked at it, it seemed to say Quaker Lake Staff Camp. In any case, they were cool. And the ONLY way you could have one was to be one of 14 people hired to be full-time summer staff. I knew I wanted to work at QLC someday. The staff there were the coolest people in the world in my eyes, and I longed to be one of them. And I worked hard to get to that point. I volunteered every chance I got, went to all the camps and events I could, and made sure I had a good reputation with the people in charge. The first year you are eligible to work staff is the summer after your high school graduation, and so I applied. Everyone thought I would be hired, but all four boys counselors- Bill Terrell, Alan Brown, Roland Pugh and Joseph Neal- returned from the previous year (Not only do I remember who they were, but I believe I have them in order, cabins 1-4! But I can't remember what my wife told me to get at Wal-Mart today...). So I didn't get a job, even though they should have hired me as the Assistant Cook (would have saved a lot of "Robin Pots"). Neal Thomas told me I could volunteer any week I wanted to, so I was there 6 out of 8 weeks that summer. I loved it, and I felt like part of the staff. But I didn't have an Orange Jacket...

I was hired the next summer for the first of my 6 years as summer staff, and the highlight came early, when Lewis Farlow came from Beeson's in High Point and I could get my Orange Jacket. This was real. This was amazing. I had achieved my goal. I was special. I was the counselor in Boys Cabin 1 (later in my career I moved to Cabin 4). Even though the jacket was paper thin and no help in the rain, and made me sweat like a pig, I wore it every chance I got. And I knew that all the campers who aspired to do the same, to have their own Orange Jackets, looked at me with awe and envy.

The trouble with all of that was this- wearing an Orange Jacket, or working at QLC, did not make me special. When you are a camper, you believe every counselor is a hero and a saint. When you become a counselor, you wonder "how can they hire someone like me?" You continue to fail and make mistakes. As the years have gone by many of my former youth have gone on to work at camp, and I happen to know none of them are perfect! Heather Beggs Varner, the current Camp Director, is featured in many stories on this blog that will make you laugh! I loved my years working at camp, just like I loved my years in student ministry, but I have to tell you- you'd better love those jobs to do them, or you will be miserable. Anyone who worked at camp for the glory and admiration of the campers was in for a long summer. Anyone who did it for the money in those days- well, they were just stupid! You put up with the heat, the long hours, the rotten campers (no one likes to talk about them, but they exist!), the outdoor toilets and the total lack of sleep because you felt like you were doing something tremendous, something amazing for the kids each and every week. Every week you faced a new group of campers, and every week you had to give them all of your energy and love, with no holding back for the weeks still to come. You have to do work like that because you love it and because God has called you to it, or it will eat you alive. You see, it's not Quaker Lake Staff Camp. Camp (and student ministry) is all about the campers- and if you don't get that, then no Orange Jacket can save you.

I don't remember exactly when the staff quit wearing Orange Jackets, but it has been a very long time. Today I think they have staff shirts, but I am sure the feeling is the same among campers- I want to wear one of those someday. And that is awesome! I just hope they all learn, like so many others before them, that working at QLC does not make you great. You working at QLC helps make camp great. Billy Joel once wrote, "I never claimed to be a hero and I never said I was a saint.." If I did either of those things I apologize. But how smart were we in those days, anyway? After all, we wore Orange Jackets in public!

Because of Jesus,

Life Is Hard

2012-01-26T07:25:00.000-05:00

In the movie A League of Their Own, there is a scene near the end in which Jimmy, the manager of a women's baseball team (play by Tom Hanks) discovers his star player Dottie (played by Geena Davis) is leaving the team to go be with her husband Bob, who is just back from World War II. The following conversation takes place:

Jimmy Dugan: Taking a little day trip?
Dottie Hinson: No, Bob and I are driving home. To Oregon.
Jimmy Dugan: [long pause] You know, I really thought you were a ballplayer.
Dottie Hinson: Well, you were wrong.
Jimmy Dugan: Was I?
Dottie Hinson: Yeah. It is only a game, Jimmy. It's only a game, and, and, I don't need this. I have Bob; I don't need this. At all.
Jimmy Dugan: I, I gave away five years at the end my career to drink. Five years. And now there isn't anything I wouldn't give to get back any one day of it.
Dottie Hinson: Well, we're different.
Jimmy Dugan: Sh*t, Dottie, if you want to go back to Oregon and make a hundred babies, great, I'm in no position to tell anyone how to live. But sneaking out like this, quitting, you'll regret it for the rest of your life. Baseball is what gets inside you. It's what lights you up, you can't deny that.
Dottie Hinson: It just got too hard.
Jimmy Dugan: It's supposed to be hard. If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. The hard... is what makes it great.

I have always loved that quote, because I think it applies to many parts of life. "The hard is what makes it great." We learn from our struggles. We grow through adversity. Our faith is tested when things do not go our way and we learn to persevere. I was taught over and over again as a child things like "when the going get tough, the tough get going." "Winners win and losers quit." Even Jesus reminded us that those who suffer for his sake will be blessed. God could have made our lives simple, but in His wisdom chose to present us with obstacles to go around and challenges to overcome.

Following Jesus is what gets inside me. It's what lights me up. But it is not easy. Some days it is just very hard. And the hard is what makes it great...

Because of Jesus,

Compliment or Insult?

2012-01-25T06:18:00.000-05:00

I spend a great deal of my life these days with words. Between writing this blog, writing countless emails and texts and speaking with people, I am constantly trying to craft words so that they will convey what I mean. I, like many others, do not always succeed. Sometimes my words fail to make my meaning clear. Over the past several days I have heard or read a number of statements that left me wondering- had I just heard a compliment, or an insult? I would love to know your thoughts on these. Italics indicate that the word was emphasized when spoken. So how would you take if someone said to you...

Wow. I have never seen anyone do it that way before.
Do you understand what he is saying? Because you'd have to be smart to understand all of that...
You're amazing. You'd make a perfect boyfriend for a nun!
No, it's ok. I have seen you do it once before. I don't need to see it again.
That pie has a most unusual flavor. Did you make it?
She's prettier than a sunset over Newark.
I have met a lot of people, and there is no one else quite like him! He is so special!

As a people, we are so often quick to offer criticism and insults and very slow to encourage and compliment. Choose encouragement. Don't leave people wondering what you meant- use the language of love. Help makes someones day. A special thanks to the people who do that for me every single day. Life is much better because of you.

Because of Jesus,

Psalm 51

2012-01-24T05:58:00.000-05:00

Some of you know that one of my biblical heroes is David. The shepherd boy who slayed the giant. The boy who became a king. The king who became a sinner of outrageous magnitude. And the sinner who became known as "a man after God's own heart." No other Psalm speaks to me in quite the same way as this Psalm of David, shared here from The Message. I hope it will give you the same feelings of forgiveness, hope and the glory of God that it gives me every time I read it. Enjoy, and have a blessed day.

Psalm 51

^1-3Generous in love—God, give grace! Huge in mercy—wipe out my bad record.
   Scrub away my guilt,
      soak out my sins in your laundry.
   I know how bad I've been;
      my sins are staring me down.

^4-6 You're the One I've violated, and you've seen
      it all, seen the full extent of my evil.
   You have all the facts before you;
      whatever you decide about me is fair.
   I've been out of step with you for a long time,
      in the wrong since before I was born.
   What you're after is truth from the inside out.
      Enter me, then; conceive a new, true life.

^7-15 Soak me in your laundry and I'll come out clean,
      scrub me and I'll have a snow-white life.
   Tune me in to foot-tapping songs,
      set these once-broken bones to dancing.
   Don't look too close for blemishes,
      give me a clean bill of health.
   God, make a fresh start in me,
      shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life.
   Don't throw me out with the trash,
      or fail to breathe holiness in me.
   Bring me back from gray exile,
      put a fresh wind in my sails!
   Give me a job teaching rebels your ways
      so the lost can find their way home.
   Commute my death sentence, God, my salvation God,
      and I'll sing anthems to your life-giving ways.
   Unbutton my lips, dear God;
      I'll let loose with your praise.

^16-17 Going through the motions doesn't please you,
      a flawless performance is nothing to you.
   I learned God-worship
      when my pride was shattered.
   Heart-shattered lives ready for love
      don't for a moment escape God's notice.

^18-19 Make Zion the place you delight in,
      repair Jerusalem's broken-down walls.
   Then you'll get real worship from us,
      acts of worship small and large,
   Including all the bulls
      they can heave onto your altar!

Because of Jesus,

Unrealistic Expectations

2012-01-23T07:24:00.000-05:00

Yesterday my family and I attended worship at Van Dyke Church here in Tampa Bay, just as we do most weekends. We have been attending there for the better part of 5 years now and we enjoy it. We find the pastor to be encouraging and challenging, the music to be excellent and the worship planning to be creative. We often feel the Holy Spirit at work during worship. And yesterday was no exception. The sanctuary was full. The new sermon series was called Shouting at Jesus. Matthew was ON. The worship music was good, and the praise team performed a re-written version of the old Tears For Fears song Shout to lead into the sermon. It was a fine Sunday morning. So why did it feel like a bit of a disappointment?

Since well before Christmas the congregation at Van Dyke had been bombarded with announcements and mailings reminding us that this sermon series was on the way. On more than one occasion we were told during worship that this would be the most significant sermon series Pastor Matthew has ever preached. The previous week Matthew himself told us he had never been more excited about preaching a series, one he said had been brewing for nearly 7 years. Almost every day last week I received an email from the church reminding me that it was almost time to "shout at Jesus." As my family discussed the upcoming event, we all agreed on one thing- this worship service would have to be absolutely amazing to live up to the hype. There was so much build up, so many expectations, that disappointment was pretty much inevitable. There was a good sermon and wonderful music. To live up to the build up, I would have needed to hear God speak directly to me. I needed to see signs and wonders. Or at least a light show to rival Pink Floyd. The hype built up such unrealistic expectations that a really good worship service felt disappointing- and that is a shame.

Our lives are often governed by unrealistic expectations. We expect perfection from imperfect people. We expect greatness from average situations. And when we don't get what we expect, we feel let down and disappointed. It has been my experience that the problem is more often with our expectations than with the actual outcome.

Where are unrealistic expectations causing pain and frustration in your life? How do we temper our hope for the miraculous and the wonderful with the recognition of reality? Our answers to these questions say a great deal about where we are on our faith journey. My prayer today is that I (and you) will place my faith in the things of God, knowing we will never be disappointed by His love. We know he will care for us each and every day, even when things do not seem to be going our way. That is both a miracle and a totally realistic expectation. Have a blessed week, my friends!

A Ragamuffin Thought

2012-01-22T07:01:00.000-05:00

“The gospel is absurd and the life of Jesus is meaningless unless we believe that He lived, died, and rose again with but one purpose in mind: to make brand-new creation. Not to make people with better morals but to create a community of prophets and professional lovers, men and women who would surrender to the mystery of the fire of the Spirit that burns within, who would live in ever greater fidelity to the omnipresent Word of God, who would enter into the center of it all, the very heart and mystery of Christ, into the center of the flame that consumes, purifies, and sets everything aglow with peace, joy, boldness, and extravagant, furious love. This, my friend, is what it really means to be a Christian.”

― Brennan Manning, The Furious Longing of God

'Nuff said.

Saturday Shout Outs!

2012-01-21T08:16:00.003-05:00

Greetings from Tampa, and welcome to another edition of my Saturday Shout Outs! I am so glad you have stopped by to enjoy some good news and read about some special people. In a world dominated by stories about people named Mitt and Newt, I can promise that you have arrived in a very happy place! Now on with the news!

Congratulation to Nate (FUMC-K) and Amanda Hill on the birth of their daughter Lucy on January 12. This couple is very special to me, having officiated over the wedding a few years back. I am sure that first time grandparents Vic & Kay Hill are just beside themselves. Welcome to the world, Lucy!
Happy 26th birthday today to Jennifer Gastler (Wesley Memorial)! I know your mom is coming to Tampa and that your family will celebrate in style. Has WOB been warned? :)
Ashley Goad Broadhurst (Springfield Friends Meeting) still has another week left on her current mission trip to Haiti, so keep her and her team in your prayers. You can also lift up her mom, Jan, whom I have talked to several times this week and who is always on edge while Ashley is away. It is always so great to be in touch with old friends.
My family is having lunch tomorrow with Jennifer Minnigan Kuramaochi (FUMC-K) and hubby Jun at Red Robin right after church. Yum! :)
My Twitter friends Kevin & Christie Weatherby had a really rough week at their home in Colorado. I won't share the details, but just ask that you join me in praying for protection over their home and family. Thanks gang!
I got to take a rare road trip last Monday with Marilyn, Will and Lisa Jewett (Wesley Memorial) over to Downtown Disney and we had a really fun day. Yay for me!
My world was turned upside down last week when one of my oldest friends, Carl Semmler (New Garden Friends when we were the youth!) sent me an email containing the MP3 of a song from a band called Storyhill. I opened it with great trepidation, and much to my surprise it was REALLY good! Carl is not known for his musical taste. :) Google them and give them a listen. It's good, folksy music. Thanks, Carl!
I have a series of guest posts coming up here on the blog in early February on the topic of My Best Day in Ministry. Among those who are sharing are old friends like Darin Miller (FUMC-K) and Lisa Ramos Moran (another very old friend from my youth group days!). Also on board are some great Twitter friends, including Jason Huffman. It's not too late for you to be part of the series- do you hear me Teresa Reep Tysinger, Tammy Doggett Foster and Denise May Langley? :) Just give me a shout and I will give you a date!
Just a reminder- I would love to be sharing texts with all of you. Email me your number and we'll get the conversations started!
And finally, a reminder to all of my Tampa friends that you can join Marilyn, Lisa and I for Taco Tuesdays every Tuesday night around 7 PM at Tijuana Flats in Westchase. The chocolate chip cookie dough flautas are on me....

So that's it for now. Be sure and leave a comment just to let me know you stopped by- it makes my day to know who reads these posts. Hope you all have a blessed weekend. I know so many who are struggling in so many areas of life, and please know I am praying for you and that no matter how alone you may sometimes feel, as the Stellar Kart song says "you've got me and Jesus." Take care!

Because of Jesus,

Friday Flashback: A Memorable Retreat

2012-01-20T05:50:00.000-05:00

In January, 1992, the Springfield Friends Meeting youth went on a retreat to Cherry Grove, SC (located just north of North Myrtle Beach). We rented a house and had a great weekend, but there are three things I really remember about that trip. Here they are:

* Our program for the weekend was talking about our spiritual journeys, and included things like each student doing a written spiritual history. As part of this exploration, one morning I served Communion (which is not usually practiced among Quakers. For more on this read Communion Confusion) using orange juice and Krispy Kreme doughnuts. It was very cool and quite meaningful. It really served to remind us all about the sacrifice of Christ. It's also part of the reason I continue to believe that hot Krispy Kreme doughnuts are the modern version of manna from Heaven!

* That particular group of kids (well, the girls anyway) were obsessed with the movie Grease. We could all tolerate Grease, and at times even enjoy it. But on that weekend someone brought Grease 2 and made us watch it. I wanted to gouge my eyes out. Worst sequel ever!!! Our greatest Grease moments would come in 1993 at The Beaches and Cream Soda Shoppe at WDW, but that is a story for another day!

* I very rarely lose my temper, but it does aggravate me when people are rude to others. Late one night while on that retreat suddenly my sleep was interrupted by lights coming on and people talking and yelling and youth running around the house. I came out of my room screaming for them to get back to bed, issuing all kinds of threats and scaring them half to death. When I finally got around to asking what was going on, Ashley Goad meekly told me "It's snowing, Carl." It was snowing at Myrtle Beach! Now I was the one running around, looking out the windows, checking the beach, beside myself with excitement. I apologized to everyone and we all stayed up a while, watching it snow. The pictures posted here are of the infamous Springfield blue van and the beach at Cherry Grove, both from the next morning. It's still the only time I have ever seen it snow at the beach!

Retreats are a great time for students to grow in faith and commitment. They are also a great time to make memories that will last a lifetime and keep you connected forever. Students who went on trips with me were often reminded that each trip would be the only time that particular group of people would ever be gathered in that particular place- so make the most of it! And so often they did just that. The memories will indeed last forever!

Because of Jesus,

The Golden Ticket

2012-01-19T05:52:00.000-05:00

I have a confession to make. Like most everyone, I have guilty pleasures in my life that I seldom talk about but really enjoy. Last night, one of my favorites returned. American Idol is back. My family and I will watch pretty much every minute of the show this season, just as we have for the past 5 years. But it is the beginning of each season- the auditions that determine who will get the opportunity to become famous as the the actual contest begins - that I really love. I love hearing the folks sing who truly believe they are good, but aren't. I love hearing the enthusiasm and love of family and friends as their loved ones take their shot at greatness. I love hearing amazing performances from people who deserve the opportunity to share their God given gifts with the world. I love the stories of redemption and courage. I am a sucker for the narrative of American Idol. I love to see those Golden Tickets handed out as hope lives on for those who head to Hollywood.

The world was given a Golden Ticket some 2000 years ago. God loved us so much that he sent Jesus to save the world, and to save us. And just like with Idol, the real blessing of a life lived following Jesus is found in the narrative. The day in, day out stories of people living life in a manner that brings glory to God. We are often off-key (I myself am quite often "a little pitchy...dog!") and seldom as important as we think we are. But our stories help lift people from the depths of depression and show them how much Jesus loves them. If all following Christ means to you is winning (making it to heaven someday) them you are missing out on the really good stuff right now. There are adventures to be lived and stories to be told. We all know John 3:16 and its promise of eternal salvation, but don't forget John 10:10- that Jesus came to give us an abundant life RIGHT NOW! Our Golden Ticket doesn't insure us of fame, fortune and the easy life any more than those Idol tickets insure those contestants a chance of winning. But following Jesus offers the opportunity for a truly abundant life, right here on old planet earth. And opportunities should not be wasted.

So live the adventure. Tell your story. Share Jesus with the world. And watch American Idol just to hear the stories of faith, perserverence and redemption. The contest doesn't matter. Especially this year. If you watched last night, then you already know...Phillip Phillips is going to win the whole thing! :) You read it here first...

Because of Jesus,

Wowless Wednesday

2012-01-18T05:11:00.000-05:00

Today I want to talk with you about...nothing. That's right, I've got nothing. It's weird, because I have a lot on my mind- but none of it is stuff I want to share with the world. I thought about doing posting a picture and doing a Wordless Wednesday, but I couldn't even find a picture I wanted to use. So it's not wordless....but it is wowless. A Wowless Wednesday.

But you know what is never wowless? Scripture. And so today I will share you what has been my life verse in ministry for over 30 years in the hopes that it will remind us all of the community, fellowship and love we all share- even on days when we cannot talk about it. Here it is:

We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel, but our very lives as well, because you had become so dear to us. ~ 1 Thessalonians 2:8

No day can be truly wowless if it is spent serving the One who invented WOW. No day can be wowless when you are blessed with the family and friends that I have been blessed with. Nothing is ever wowless with Jesus. Our God is indeed an awesome God...

Because of Jesus,

Curt Cloninger: Tasting By Memory

2012-01-17T05:11:00.000-05:00

Today I am praying for my dear friend Ashley Goad Broadhurst as she begins another mission trip to Haiti to provide clean water for the people there. Please join me.

Yesterday I received an email from my old friend Curt Cloninger. If you don't know Curt, he is an Atlanta based Christian dramatist who has shared in ministry with thousands over the years, including at the Youth Specialties conventions and at three different churches I served. His one man show Witnesses is still one of the powerful statements on the life of Jesus that I have ever had the privilege to see. To learn more about Curt, visit his website at www.curtcloninger.com These words spoke to me in so many ways, and so I re-print it here for my friends to enjoy. Thanks Curt- and not just for these words of inspiration. You have inspired me so often through the years. Blessings to you and Tish!

My wife, Tish, has, over the last few years, lost her sense of smell. That’s not the worst thing in the world. It even has a bit of an upside. She can’t smell our wet Springer Spaniel. She can’t smell ... well ... me, after a dinner out at Armando’s, our favorite Spanish restaurant. Her life is in no imminent danger because of her loss of smell.

But, her loss of smell carries with it an unspoken tinge of sadness. She can’t smell the clean sheets, or a fine spring morning, a good cup of coffee, or her favorite perfume. Probably most disconcerting of all, she can’t smell food. And, because she can’t smell food, she is unable to really taste food For her, there is no subtlety, or variety, or nuance in what she eats. It’s all just ... food.

I’ve tried to persuade Tish, when we go out to eat at Armando’s, to order, say ... just rice and beans, instead of the more expensive Seafood Paella. After all, to her, it all tastes the same, and would save us at least $20. She refuses. When asked “why?” she simply replies, “Because, in my mind, I remember what it tasted like.” So, we order the incredibly seasoned Paella for Two, and my job becomes assuring Tish that it still tastes as good as she remembers. It’s actually a delightful assignment. I get to eat fabulous Paella. I get to be with my wife. And I get to stretch my communication skills (I don’t have the most sophisticated palette.) All of this because my sweet wife is determined to “taste by memory”.

The poet David once encouraged me to “Taste and see that the Lord is good,” which is fine ... except when my ability to smell is damaged, or when my palette is skewed.

Here’s the truth: sometimes I can’t even come close to tasting the goodness of God. Life is stale, boring, with all the excitement of a bowl of white rice. That’s when I find it’s important for me to have a “Taster”. Someone, like the poet, to help me “taste by memory”. (The guy also wrote, “Why are you so downcast, Oh my soul? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him.”)

This year, if, for you, life has lost its’ savor, don’t despair. Find yourself a Taster. Someone to remind you that God is good, and that you will yet praise him. And, this year, if, for you, life is tasting particularly full and rich and sweet, make a point to be the taster for someone else. It’s a delightful and important job. And, frankly, it’s not even all that important that you have a very sophisticated palette. (Trust me.) ~ Curt Cloninger

Because of Jesus,

"In the Name of Love"

2012-01-16T06:20:00.000-05:00

Today is a holiday that we too often remember only because we get a day off from work or get to do something fun. My family and our good friend Lisa Jewett will be spending the day at Downtown Disney having fun. I hope you and your families have a special day as well. But do not forget the man and the life that today is set aside for. Remember.

In honor of the celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King's birthday...

A Prayer For Today

2012-01-15T05:57:00.000-05:00

Today, For what I am that I ought not to be,

Forgive me.

For what I am not that I ought to be,

Forgive me.

Be with my mouth in what it speaks.

Be with my hands in what they do.

Be with my mind in what it thinks.

Be with my heart in what it feels.

Work in me,

Through me.

and in spite of me.

And I will give you the praise...

From the 1969 devotional God is No Fool by Lois Cheney. Abingdon Press

"Na Na Na Na Na Na..."

2012-01-14T06:31:00.000-05:00

You never know what might trigger the idea for a blog post in the bizarre world known as "Carl's Mind." :) Friday morning Marilyn was driving me to an appointment (so I would only have to take the bus one way. My wife- I think I'll keep her!) and the local classic rock station began playing the old Journey song "Lovin, Touchin and Squeezin." I suddenly had a flashback to a moment on a youth trip in the late 1980's. The group from Springfield Friends Meeting was at the Betsy B at North Myrtle Beach late one night, and several of us were sitting around listening to music when that song came on. And we began to ask this question: How many "na-na-na-na-nas" are there at the end of that song? So Kelly Allen, Jennifer Wood, Wendy Mattocks and I sat there and counted. Every last one of them. Forever it seemed. And in the end, we knew. We actually knew how many times Steve Perry and friends uttered the phrase "na." There was an actual number. It was a moment of intense silliness and great accomplishment all at the same time. It was a great youth group moment, the kind that could never have been artificially created. It was real. And it was shared with some people I really cared about. THAT was a great night...

I realized yesterday as I heard the song again that I have forgotten that number. I no longer have that incredible piece of trivia at my disposal. I am in touch with so many of my former youth, but Wendy and Jennifer are not among them. So that means it is up to Kelly to recall the results of that night so many years ago. Either that, or it is time for a new group of friends to sit and count the "nas." But I do need to know. Because great moments..no matter how mundane, no mater how silly, no matter how random....should always be remembered. They are one of a kind. Have a blessed Saturday!

Because of Jesus,

SWSWCCC- The Beginning!

2012-01-13T05:06:00.001-05:00

Kathryn, Beth, Darth & Terri

Traditions are interesting things. Some are developed over many years, while others come from random acts that are later on very difficult to pinpoint. I cannot remember many details of the first time one of my youth groups began yelling "sand, water, sand water, crab, crab, crab" (To save time and typing errors, this will henceforth be shortened to SWSWCCC). I do know that it would remain a tradition for many years, and that it never failed to strike fear in the hearts of its intended victims! Today I will attempt to give you an idea of how it came to be so feared. One summer in the late 70's or early 80's my New Garden Friends youth group was camping at the Ponderosa Campground in North Myrtle Beach, SC. The Ponderosa land is now luxury condos, but back in the day it was a huge campground. It was only a short walk to the ocean, a game room, a pier and many other things we enjoyed. As you walked to the ocean, you crossed a bridge over what was known as The Swash. It was an inland waterway just the campground side of the sand dunes from the ocean. When the tide came in, The Swash would fill with ocean water, and people would play in it (My best friend Steve and I once saw a drunk man drive his car into it late one night when we were in high school!). When the tide was out, it would be almost empty, and you could see little fiddler crabs running everywhere along the banks. One night, after going for a walk on the beach, we returned to the edge of a very full Swash. It is at this point that my memory is very cloudy, but someone- I am guessing a guy, probably Dick Lee, Bruce Reynolds,Tommy or Freddie Hollowell, a Newby or Marshall Ratledge- decided one of the girls should go swimming. Fully dressed, of course! The young lady who was chosen as a victim- I am guessing Kathryn Burris, Beth Edgerton or Terri Johnson (all pictured at top) because it was always them- was not going silently. Others joined in, and the victim was grabbed by her feet and wrists, rolled in the sand, and then dipped in The Swash. This was then repeated, all the while reminding her of the crabs we (yes, we- I was part of this too) had seen there before. And finally she was tossed into The Swash. Thus the chant SWSWCCC became a means of striking fear in the hearts of our group that week.

Late one night we were once again nearThe Swash when the guys decided the victim would be Ling Lee. Ling was a beautiful high school girl (pictured at right) who could not have been more quiet or shy, and the guys wanted her to feel included. As the SWSWCCC chant began, an interesting thing happened. Ling wrapped herself around a nearby picnic table...and the guys could not pry her loose! They pulled and yanked, but every time they would get a leg free, she would tighten her grip. When her hands came free, she wrapped her legs so tight she could not be moved. This went on for quite some time, until, as I remember it, the guys had to give up. In any case, Ling became part of the legend that was SWSWCCC!

The Swash has been gone for years, but SWSWCCC never went away. Many groups and many victims have been part of the tradition over the years. In later years, the THREAT of the event was more prevalent than the actual performance, but the words never quit striking fear in the hearts of fully clothed youth walking down the beach- especially at night.

You may have more information on the actual events of that first SWSWCCC, or you may have your own story to tell. I would love to hear them, and I am sure others would as well. In the meantime, I encourage you to carry on the tradition with your family, your friends, and any groups you may travel with. SWSWCCC should live on- even if it's only as a threat! And if you ever get a real crab to grab a victim, PLEASE send pictures! That's one thing I never did see... (Re-posted from 09/13/09)

Because of Jesus,

The CJ School of Youth Ministry

2012-01-12T06:03:00.001-05:00

Professor Jones

Many years ago, when fire was first a flicker in the eye of the Geico caveman and Duffy Robbins still had hair, I began a career in student ministry that would last nearly 30 years. In those days no one "chose" youth ministry as a lifelong vocation. It was something you did for a variety of reasons, almost none of which were good. Like these:

You hoped to be a "real" pastor someday, but youth pastor was the only job available at the time.
You had enjoyed your own days in a youth group so much that you wanted to stay connected to the ministry in any way possible. When they asked for volunteers at a meeting, you were dumb enough to raise your hand...
You couldn't live without the $50 a month paycheck it provided.
You knew that if you didn't help get the student ministry up and running, Sally and Johnny's parents were going to do it. And NO ONE wanted that!
A pastor came to you while you were 18 and working at a summer camp and told you he thought you would be good at it- mostly because you could play the guitar. Being a sucker for encouragement, you bought it. That is my story.

Fast forward 35 years. Now there are degrees in student ministry, both under-graduate and post-graduate. There are dozens of conferences every year designed to train those who seek to serve God through serving teenagers. There is a level of professionalism in youth ministry unlike anything we have ever seen before. And these things are all great advances. But all of that education, training and professionalism cannot, in the mind of this old dinosaur, turn someone into a youth pastor. In fact, the very worst youth pastor I ever knew had 3 doctorates. None of his titles and degrees helped The Reverend Dr. Dr. Dr. Steve actually LOVE teenagers! None of that stuff really prepares you for what it is like to live life, day out and day in, with a family of students & their families. Education and training can prepare you for how to do student ministry, but not how to be a youth pastor. That has to come from the heart. I said for many years that here is no greater calling than student ministry, but it does have to be a calling. There are few "jobs" that would be worse. You have to feel the desire to fully, totally and completely share the love of God whose name is Jesus with teenagers by loving them no matter what. And in youth ministry, there are a lot of "whats!" Anyone can be taught to plan events, teach bible studies and drive the church van. It takes a calling to actually love those messy, irrational, irritating and complicated creatures we call "youth."

So today I am going to give anyone who is interested the chance to discover if God is calling them to student ministry. This test will work if you've never really considered the option. It will work even better if you are already involved in ministry. Just answer these 4 questions. I will even tell you in advance that the correct answer is always "C." If you feel any inclination to argue with me about the correct answers based on what they taught you in a youth ministry class, then you have already failed my course. Ready for your final exam?
1) You go with a group of students to get ice cream after youth group. Some of the newer kids don't have any cash because they were unaware of this tradition. Do you...
A) Tell them better luck next time and taunt them with your cone of mint chocolate chip.
B) Offer to loan them money if they will wash the church van.
C) Offer to buy them ice cream because they are part of your youth group family now. They matter.
2) David calls from a party around midnight and says he has been drinking and needs a ride. Do you...
A) Tell him he has the wrong number. Give him the number of your senior pastor. (I will accept this answer as well!)
B) Give him a stern lecture on the evils of alcohol, reminding him that Jesus never went near the stuff. Well...except when he turned water into wine. But nobody ever saw him drink it! Now call a cab and stop bothering me.
C) Go get him and take him home. Along with any of his friends that have no business on the road and no one to call. You can talk about this later.
3) 16 year old Beth strolls into your office and tells you she is pregnant. Do you...
A) Offer to hunt down and destroy the father, Predator style!
B) Explain to her how embarrassing this will be for you and the church. How could she do this to you?
C) Offer to sit with her and pray for her while she tells her parents and they face a new future together.
4) Keri (an actual name of an actual caller!) calls you in the middle of the night because she heard an old song on the radio and knew you would know who sang it and what it was called. Do you...
A) Scream and yell at her demanding that she seek psychiatric help.
B) Hand the phone to your spouse and say, "It's for you, dear."
C) Ask her what the lyrics were and then answer her question, thrilled that she knew that she could count on you. THEN ask, "Couldn't this have waited 'til morning?" :)

So there it is. You have now completed The CJ School of Youth Ministry. I'm sure that some of you cheated, but hey- it's youth ministry! :) My point today is simply this- student ministry is not about "fixing" teenagers. That is a task best left to God. It's about loving them in a way that shows them who Jesus is and how much he loves them. It doesn't take advanced degrees to to do that. It takes a heart full of the love of God, and a willingness to share it. And a ton... TON...of prayer. Do you have what it takes?

Because of Jesus,

The Magic of Music

2012-01-11T04:45:00.001-05:00

Yesterday was a very long day. Not a bad day. Just long. My dog alarm went off at 3:37 AM (I got a whole extra hour this morning. Woo). As I got into my prayer list yesterday morning I realized just how long and intense my prayer time needed to be. So many needs and requests. So many hurting friends. It is such an honor to bring prayers to God, but emotionally it can be quite taxing. I later took some time to engage in a theological debate about yesterday's post (which was expected) and to write a guest post for a fellow blogger. After a great Taco Tuesday dinner, I settled in to my recliner, watched some reruns of The Big Bang Theory, texted with a friend and realized I was really tired and needed to wind down. And so I turned to one of my oldest friends...music. Since the time I was 10, music has been the one thing that can always speak to my soul. It has comforted me through pain and lost love. It has restored my faith when I had doubts. It lifts my spirits when I am down. And it never fails to offer comfort at the end of a long day.

I set my I-Pod to shuffle and sat back to drift away. If my music was played on satellite radio, there would be 2 basic stations- classic contemporary Christian music and 60/70/80's pop and rock (no disco allowed!). And then a little bit current stuff that my 16 year old son has introduced me to. So last night, as I laid back and let the music take me away, here were the first 10 songs I heard:

Just Remember I Love You- Firefall
Everything I Hate- Smalltown Poets
Candyapple Red- The Robbin Thompson Band
Run To Me- Bee Gees (way before disco!)
Life Together- Geoff Moore & the Distance
Hard Habit To Break- Chicago
Carolina In My Mind- James Taylor
There Goes Another Love Song- The Outlaws
Once Upon A Time- Dan Fogelberg
Don't Let the Sun Go Down On Me- Elton John

And then, as if on cue, the 11th and final song I heard was one that always takes me back to my teenage years and makes my feet tap and my heart beat just a little bit faster. Amie, the great song from the band Pure Prairie League, wrapped up my night with it's haunting "falling in and out of love with you..." finish. My soul was both calmed and excited, and I was ready to call it a night.

Today I ask you this question in the hopes of discovering more about you, my readers. What songs do you count amongst your favorites? Which songs help bring peace to your soul? I'd love to hear from you. In the meantime, here is a little something you may not know about me. I am a HUGE Beach Boys fan- and not just the stuff everyone loves. At one point I owned nearly all of their albums. And today feels like a Beach Boys day. So take take their advice and Add Some Music To Your Day. Blessings to you all for a wonderful Hump Day! Wouldn't It Be Nice? if we could all get together for lunch? :)

Because of Jesus,

Bad Theology

2012-01-10T03:55:00.000-05:00

This past Sunday, in churches all over USAmerica, preachers were offering up the same bad theology to anyone who was willing to listen. It goes something like this- "God is good. You are not. Try harder." This presentation of the gospel is usually accompanied by reminding those in attendance of just how far short of perfection they really fall. It is accompanied by a list of "thou shalt nots" that sometimes includes but is never limited to the 10 Commandments. This re-writing of the Good News of Jesus has been going on over 2000 years now, but it is reaching epidemic levels in the 21st century. Pull yourself up by your bootstraps. Change your behavior. Go to more small groups. Whine and moan about people who sin differently from you. Adopt an issue to protest against. Attend more church services. Try harder!

The problem with this theology is that...well pretty much everything. If we are capable of fixing ourselves, then Jesus died on the cross for no reason. We don't need to do more, we need to surrender our lives. The theology of the New Testament is this- "God is good. You are not. Jesus loves you anyway. Now follow Him" We cannot achieve our own salvation, and we need not "work harder" to live life with Christ. When Jesus said, "It is finished!" while on the cross, he meant that the gap between our sinful selves and God had been bridged- permanently. Not everyone will acknowledge or accept this gift of grace. We all must "work out" our salvation, just like we work out our bodies. You don't go the gym to get muscles (salvation), you go the gym to improve them, to make them all they can be. Salvation is there for us all. And it is there NOW. We simply have to bow our knee in worship to the One who gives us this incredible gift. We don't have to wait until we are perfect. God, through Jesus, loves you just the way He made you. He even loves me. And that is the good news.

There are far too many Christian leaders who have obtained their status by exploiting the gospel. They preach guilt and legalism instead of mercy and grace. And in the end, they convince people to follow them. Here's my tip for today: It's not how much a leader knows about leadership that sets them apart; it's what they know about FOLLOWING. And a leader who follows Jesus knows this to be true- there is nothing you can do to make God love you more, and nothing you can do to make Him love you less. So get off the treadmill of religious performance and surrender your heart. "God is good. I am not. Jesus loves me anyway." Amen & Amen!

Because of Jesus,

Do You Know "The Ragman?"

2012-01-09T05:23:00.000-05:00

We have all been told that "God is love." This is true. And the ultimate example of God's love is Jesus - who was all about forgiveness and GRACE! In the world we live in, grace is so much harder to come by than love. Sounds radical I know, but I believe it to be true. To find people who are willing to care, forgive and take on the burdens and sorrows of those around them is rare indeed. So for today, I will shut up and let Walter Wangerin tell you a parable about what it really means to walk in the footsteps of Jesus. It is a bit long, but so worth it. Enjoy- but beware! You may wind up not only wanting to love your neighbor, but to become the grace that is Jesus and invade their lives...

I saw a strange sight. I stumbled upon a story most strange like nothing my life,my street sense, my sly tongue had even prepared me for. Hush, child. Hush now and I will tell it to you.
Even before the dawn one Friday morning I noticed a young man, handsome and strong, walking the alleys of our city. He was pulling an old cart filled with clothes both bright and new,and he was calling in a clear, tenor voice: "Rags!" Ah, the air was foul and the first light filthy to be crossed by such sweet music."Rags! New rags for old! I take your tired rags! Rags!" "Now, this is a wonder," I thought to myself, for the man stood six- feet-four, and his arms were like tree limbs, hard and muscular, and his eyes flashed intelligence. Could he find no better job than this, to be a ragman in the inner city? So I followed him. My curiosity drove me. And I wasn't disappointed.
Soon the Ragman saw a woman sitting on her back porch. She was sobbing into a handkerchief, sighing, and shedding a thousand tears. Her knees and elbows made a sad X. Her shoulders shook. Her heart was breaking. The Ragman stopped his cart. Quietly, he walked to the woman, stepping round tin cans, dead toys and Pampers. "Give me your rag," he said so gently,"and I'll give you another." He slipped the handkerchief from her eyes. She looked up and he laid across her palm a linen cloth so clean and new that it shined. She blinked from the gift to the giver. Then, as he began to pull his cart again, the Ragman did a strange thing: he put her stained handkerchief to his own face; and then he began to weep, to sob as grievously as she had done, his shoulders shaking. Yet she was left without a tear. "This is a wonder," I breathed to myself, and I followed the sobbing Ragman like a child who cannot turn away a mystery.
"Rags! Rags! New rags for old!" In a little while, when the sky showed grey behind the rooftops and I could see the shredded curtains hanging out black windows, the Ragman came upon a girl whose head was wrapped in a bandage. Her eyes were empty. Blood soaked her bandage. A single line of blood ran down her cheek. Now the tall Ragman looked upon this child with pity,and he drew a lovely yellow bonnet from his cart. "Give me your rag," he said,tracing his own line on her cheek, "and I'll give you mine." The child could only gaze at him while he loosened the bandage, removed it, and tied it to his own head. The bonnet he set on hers. And I gasped at what I saw: for with bandage went the wound! Against his brow it ran a darker, more substantial blood-his own!
"Rags! Rags! I take old rags!" cried the sobbing, bleeding, strong, intelligent Ragman. The sun hurt both the sky, now, and my eyes; the Ragman seemed more and more to hurry. "Are you going to work?" he asked a man leaned against a telephone pole. The man shook his head. The Ragman pressed him: "Do you have a job?" "Are you crazy?" sneered the other. He pulled away from the pole, revealing the right sleeve of his jacket - flat, the cuff stuffed into the pocket. He had no arm. "So," said the Ragman. "Give me your jacket, and I'll give you mine." Such quiet authority in his voice! The one-armed man took off his jacket. So did the Ragman - and I trembled at what I saw: for the Ragman's arm stayed in its sleeve, and when the other put it on he had two good arms, thick as tree limbs: but the Ragman had only one. "Go to work," he said.
After that he found a drunk, lying unconscious beneath an army blanket, an old man hunched, wizened, and sick. He took that blanket and wrapped it round himself, but for the drunk he left new clothes.
And now I had to run to keep up with the Ragman. Though he was weeping uncontrollably, and bleeding freely at the forehead, pulling his cart with one arm, stumbling for drunkenness, falling again and again, exhausted, old, old, and sick, yet he went with terrible speed. On spider's legs he skittered through the alleys of the City, this mile and the next, until he came to its limits, and then he rushed beyond.
I wept to see the changes in this man. I hurt to see his sorrow. And yet I needed to see where he was going in such haste, perhaps to know what drove him so. The little old Ragman - he came to a landfill. He came to the garbage pits. And then I wanted to help him in what he did, but I hung back, hiding. He climbed a hill. With tormented labour he cleared a little space on that hill. Then he sighed. He lay down. He pillowed his head on a handkerchief and a jacket. He covered his bones with an army blanket. And he died. Oh, how I cried to witness that death! I slumped in a junked car and wailed and mourned as one who has no hope -because I had come to love the Ragman. Every other face had faded in the wonder of this man, and I cherished him; but he died. I sobbed myself to sleep. I did not know - how could I know? -- that I slept through Friday night and Saturday and its night, too.
But then, on Sunday morning, I was awakened by a violence. Light - pure, hard, demanding light -slammed against my sour face, and I blinked, and I looked, and I saw the last and the first wonder of all. There was the Ragman, folding the blanket most carefully, a scar on his forehead, but alive! And, beside that, healthy! There was no sign of sorrow nor of age, and all the rags that he had gathered shined for cleanliness.
Well, then I lowered my head and, trembling for all that I had seen, I myself walked up to the Ragman. I told him my name with shame, for I was a sorry figure next to him. Then I took off all my clothes in that place,and I said to him with dear yearning in my voice: "Dress me.." He dressed me. My Lord, he put new rags on me, and I am a wonder beside him. The Ragman, the Ragman, the Christ!
(from Walter Wangerin's book The Ragman & Other Cries of Faith, 2004, Harper & Collins)

This is the Good News, the message of Grace. It's not about us trying to "be better," it is about what God has already done for us through Jesus. The question is this: Are you trying to save yourself through your own efforts at being "Christian?" Or have you met "The Ragman?"

Because of Jesus,

Souvenirs

2012-01-08T07:23:00.000-05:00

Every now and then all of the reminiscing I do as I write this blog slaps me and reminds me of why I am writing a blog instead of still doing ministry in a church. I am reminded of my own past sins and failures. I look at pictures, books, my guitar and other reminders of days gone by- and I am saddened. I share life with friends in far away places by computer and text that I cannot go visit in real life due to my travel restrictions. And some days, it just hurts. I try to spend those days in prayer and focusing on the amazing grace that rescued me and brought me to this place. But sometimes the past is a ghost that cannot be so easily swept away. Those are very hard days- and yesterday was one of them. Then last night I got a surprise text from a very old friend (thanks Denise!) that helped remind me how incredibly blessed my life has been and how fortunate I am to am to have shared life with so many wonderful people. And now it's Sunday, a day to focus on praising the LORD and being thankful. I will leave you with some lyrics from the late Dan Fogelberg's 1974 song Souvenirs. The song is actually about surviving memories of lost love. For me, student ministry is just that- a lost love. And as wonderful as my 28 years of memories are, the loss still hurts. But God is still in His heaven and Jesus is still LORD, and days like yesterday do pass. Have a blessed day, and never take anything or anyone for granted...especially the people you love, and a God that loves you.

And down in the canyon

The smoke starts to rise.

It rides on the wind

Till it reaches your eyes.

When faced with the past

The strongest man cries...cries.

And here is a sunrise

To set on your sill.

The ghosts of the dawn

Moving near.

They pass through your sorrow

And leave you quite still...

Sitting among souvenirs.

Because of Jesus,

Saturday Shout Outs!

2012-01-07T09:24:00.001-05:00

Welcome to the first shouts outs of 2012. I am not feeling well this morning, so this is late and perhaps a bit brief, but nonetheless we have important news to share, so let's get on with it!

Charles Freedle (Springfield Friends Meeting) in engaged! Way to go, Chuck! This must be a very special woman to have gotten Charles to settle down. :)
I just wanted to say how proud I am of Kelly Jeck Trace (FUMC-K) and the work she is doing to promote and revitalize downtown Kissimmee. I love reading about her exploits on Facebook and from her friends who support her whenever they can. She deserves a huge Whooo-hoooo!
I mentioned this on Thursday, but Marie Allen (Springfield) has begun a new blog, primarily to share her struggles with some health issues. Head on over to Ramblings of a Goofball and give her your support.
Teresa Reep Tysinger has some new designs up on her online shop, and she needs our help as she seeks to raise money to go out and see her hubby Eric who is currently working in Dallas. She tweeted this yesterday from her account @DesignMasterT: "I'm fundraising for a ticket to Dallas to see my husband for my birthday! Enter "Dallas" coupon code for 25% off at http://www.etsy.com/shop/GoodDayShop?ref=si_shop " Let's do what we can to help! And that includes praying for she and Eric...
I have a couple of series coming up here on the blog, including one at the beginning of February called 49 Days Of Grace. I will take a look back at some of the things that happened to me 5 years ago in the spring of 2007- the longest 49 days of my life.
I continue in my attempts to prove that my texting skills equal those of a teenage girl, despite the fact that my huge thumbs don't really work on a phone touch pad. Among those with whom I have shared texts are Nina Mock, Ashley Goad Broadhurst, Todd Willis, Denise May Langley, Stephanie Greife Owens, Lauren Cacciatore, Jeremy Godwin, Christie Weatherby, Teresa Tysinger, Cyndi Browning, Jocelyn Sessions Ward, Jennifer Minnigan Kuramochi, Marie Allen and Lisa Jewett. Lisa often chooses to ignore my texts, but I love her anyway! :) If you would like to jump on my text message bandwagon, just email me your number and I will hit you up. It's a promise!
It looks like the Jones family (and the aforementioned Lisa Jewett) will be hanging out at Downtown Disney on January 16, enjoying the MLK holiday. Let me know if you would like to catch up with us!
And finally, my son Will is headed to NYC this Easter weekend as his band gets a chance to play at Carnegie Hall. It's an amazing opportunity. I just wish I could have planned it. Remember our 5 days for $500 trips to NYC we used to take, including 2 shows and all the sight-seeing? Will's trip is 4 days for $1500. I could have made a killing... Oh well!

So there we go. Hope you all have a blessed weekend. Thanks for stopping by.

Because of Jesus,

Be the Thunder

2012-01-06T04:22:00.000-05:00

A legendary story is told in the Tampa Bay area that I call home about the 2004 Stanley Cup hockey finals. In fact, it is currently part of this year's advertising campaign for the team. It was game 7 of the championship series, and our beloved Lightning were preparing to play the Calgary Flames. One game to win it all. One win and the Bolts would hoist the Stanley Cup for the first time in franchise history. As the two teams sat in the locker rooms of the St. Pete Times Forum (recently renamed the Tampa Bay Times Forum) before the first puck dropped, there was no music playing. There were no words spoken. And yet, both teams sat and listened. They listened because the roar of the Tampa Bay crowd was absolutely deafening. Even with no teams on the ice, the home crowd was announcing that they were there to make a difference. The hockey team may have been the Lightning, but the crowd was there to be the thunder! The Lightning won, and the city celebrated with them. It was a moment for the ages.

I see a similar situation arising in the 21st century church. We have, for too long, allowed too few to do too much of the work that Jesus calls upon us to do. We have allowed the Church to become a place of intolerance, sometimes bordering on hatred. We have ignored the needs of the many to placate those with power and money. We have focused on political hot-button issues at the expense of offering grace and forgiveness. Sharing the love of God whose name is Jesus with those we encounter each day in God's "Plan A" for saving the world, and there is no "Plan B." Yet far too often we sit silently and hope and pray that someone else will be there to lift high the name of Jesus. Friends, we can wait no more. It is time to quit talking about church, to quit talking about religion and to quit complaining about the state of Christianity. It is time for the people who understand the Jesus who taught us to love everyone, to turn the other cheek, to forgive 70 x 7 and to treat everyone we meet the same way we would treat the Son of God to make some noise. God brought the "lightning" 2000 years ago when He sent Jesus to save the world. It's time for us to do our part. It is time for the followers of Christ to rise up and let our lives make some noise. Let's shake the very foundations of the church and let the world know that Jesus- and his church- love them. It is time for us to be the thunder. Let's get ready to rumble....

Because of Jesus,

Bloggers You Should Know

2012-01-05T05:25:00.000-05:00

Welcome to Comment Day! The concept is simple- read all of the blog posts you can and leave a comment on every post you read. The idea is that at least one day a month we take time to encourage the wonderful writers we so often take for granted. In case you are not much of a blog reader, today I want to share with you links to some of the blogs I read on a regular basis. Some of these bloggers are old friends, others are folks I have met through this blog and through Twitter. The list is not exhaustive, but it gives you some places to start. Just click and go comment. It's as simple as that! :)

People blog for different reasons. Some want to share their lives and their struggles. Others blog about faith. Still others blog about specific things like Disney, food, youth ministry or sports. Here on my blog, you just never know what I might write about, but I always write with the intention of letting the love of God whose name is Jesus shine through. Often my mind wanders a bit, and I get off task... For instance, today I have one important question that I hope someone can help me with. Why - with all of the really crappy shows on TV - is Cougar Town still not back from hiatus? The show may have the worst and most misleading name on television, but it is hilarious and full of great characters. In the big picture of life this question doesn't matter even a little bit, but nonetheless I want Cougar Town back on Wednesday nights after Modern Family. Get your act together, ABC!!! And now, here are some bloggers I hope you will really like!

Kevin Weatherby
Amy Nabors
Jennifer Kuramochi
Tom Zalatnai
Jennifer Eckert
Beth Green
Brook Teoli Phelps
Gavin Richardson
Heather Campbell
Eric Hendrickson
Kimberley Mills
Krystle Singleton
Laura Godwin
Marie Allen (New blogger, great old friend!)
Christie Weatherby
Sam Lassiter
Ashley Goad Broadhurst
Jason Huffman
D. Marie
Tracee Persiko
Christopher
Non-Stop Mom
J. Brent Bill
Cooking With Mickey
Rachel Held Evans
Jon Acuff

Now get out there, read, leave comments and have a blast! I'm going to leave at least 50 comments today; catch me if you can!!! Have a blessed day, friends!

Because of Jesus,

The Return of Comment Day!

2012-01-04T04:18:00.000-05:00

In February of 2011 I had an idea. I am sure I was not the first person to think of the idea, but I was excited by the concept and decided to share it with my Twitter family. The idea was Comment Day. It was such a simple plan. It would be a day when those who blog and those who read blogs would focus on leaving a comment- precious words of encouragement for those of us who blog- on every blog that we read. The first couple of months I did this randomly, just announcing it on Twitter and trying to encourage others to participate. I would spend all day reading and commenting, sometimes leaving encouraging words on as many as 75 blogs in a day. And it was such a blessing..to me. There are some wonderful uplifting blogs out there, and I loved discovering new ones and trying to share them with the world. As the year went along, more and more people became involved. We decided that the first Thursday of each month would be designated Comment Day. The concept was passed around on Twitter and shared in other blogs. Comment Day became a thing!

Tomorrow we will celebrate the first Comment Day of 2012. It is my hope that the event will continue to grow, because every person who takes the time to write down their thoughts, feelings and ideas deserves encouragement. I will be spending my day enjoying the blogs of my many friends as well as those of people I know only through Twitter. Tomorrow on this blog I will give you a list of some of the many blogs I enjoy on a regular basis, and I encourage you to visit them, enjoy them...and by all means, comment on them. Spread the word so that others will know about Comment Day. And if you would like for me to visit your blog, just let me know. I promise to stop by at some point tomorrow. Let people know that their writing matters. Viva la Comment Day...or something like that!

Come and Worship

2012-01-03T05:41:00.000-05:00

During 2011 I spent most every Tuesday sharing my thoughts about what it would be like to have a Jesus Revolution take place in our hearts, minds and churches. For 2012, our Tuesday theme will be simple but very important. Each week will will spend some time thinking about worship, and what it means to do acts of worship. The word itself conjures up images of God and church for many of us, but throughout history worship has taken many forms and many practices. Some of us bend a knee in worship to Jesus Christ. Other bow at the altar of money and material things. I know a few teenage girls who are actively engaged in the worship of Justin Bieber. The examples of worship in our culture are many and varied.

For the purposes of this blog, we will define worship in the following way- We worship the things that have our mind's attention and our heart's desire. For myself and most of us, those things change on a regular basis. Our purpose each Tuesday of this year will be to help us focus on the things that are important and worship the One who is worthy of our praise. Along the way I hope we can share in some acts of corporate and individual worship designed to help us give ourselves more fully to the worship of Jesus. I think it is going to be an amazing ride, and I invite you to come along. We were created to be a people of praise and worship to the God who has saved us all. "Come...now is the time to worship!"

Because of Jesus,

One Of My Best Days

2012-01-02T06:20:00.000-05:00

January 1 is always a day on which we take time to imagine what life would be like if we did all the things we want and need to do. It is a day on which we can see a preferred future for ourselves, with days full of sunshine and blessings. Reality seldom matches such visions. But lately I have been having some amazing days. God has blessed me with such incredible people in my life, and I keep thinking to myself, "This could be my best day ever!" I love having those days and not having to rate them, because different things make a day special. They don't need to be compared, they just need to be appreciated- much like the people in our lives.

So today's post is short and sweet. Think about it- it you were to make a list of your very best days so far in this life, which days would make your list? What makes them special? What sets them apart from all the other days? I would love to hear some of your answers, but mainly I just want each of us to take some time today to thank God for the many wonderful days we have been blessed with. I want to go into this new year with the attitude that THIS is one of my very best days- and that tomorrow will be even better. I hope you will join me.

Because of Jesus,

New Year's Day

2012-01-01T00:05:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year, everyone! I pray that 2012 will be a blessing for each and every one of you. New Year's Day is such an interesting time. So many hopes, so many dreams, so many things we hope to accomplish. Most of us know the frustration of making a resolution, only to fall short of our goal. We plan to lose weight, to exercise more, to quit smoking or to forgive a friend. Some of our resolutions don't even last a day. You know why? Because we are humans, and without heavenly help we are weak. The problem is not that we fail- the problem is that we fail ONCE and then give up! You know the drill-I ate a doughnut and blew my diet, so there is no need to diet anymore. We only give ourselves one chance at success.

Aren't we glad God doesn't hold us to the same standard? Scripture tells us that our sins are washed away if we bow a knee to Jesus Christ. We are forgiven 70 x 7 times (and no, God doesn't stop at 490!). Romans tell us that nothing can separate us from the love of God that is Jesus. No matter how often we slip and fall, Jesus will still be there to pick us up and love us.

So today I would like to suggest to you a new kind of resolution. One that doesn't end as soon as your resolve gives way, but rather that offers you grace. A second chance. Under this system (to quote the great songwriter Carolyn Arends) "everyday is New Year's Day!" Check out the lyric:

I buy a lot of diaries, fill them full of good intentions

Each and every new years eve, I make myself a list

All the things I'm gonna change, until January Second

So this time I'm making one promise

Yeah, This will be my resolution, Every day is New Year's Day

Oh, this will be my resolution, Every day is New Year's Day.

Well I believe it's possible, I believe in new beginnings

I believe in Christmas Day, and Easter Morning too

On the list it's doable, cuz I believe in second chances

Just the way that I, believe in You

Yeah, this will be my resolution, every day is New Year's Day

Oh, this could start a revolution,

every day is...

One more chance to start all over

One more chance to change and grow,

one more chance to grab a hold of grace and never let it go

This will be my resolution, every day is New Year's Day,

Oh this could start a revolution, every day is--New Year's Day.

Carolyn Arends, 1997

Wouldn't it be amazing if we could offer that kind of grace to ourselves? And to each other? That could start a revolution! That could change the world! And isn't that what Jesus called us to do? So make every day a new beginning and remember- if Jesus is your Lord and Savior, then there is nothing you can do to make God love you more, and there is nothing you can do to make God love you less! Let us resolve to be a people of grace. And let us resolve to give all the glory, honor and praise to the One who is worthy of our worship- Christ Jesus, the King! So have another doughnut for now...then start your diet again tomorrow! God bless and Happy New Year!

Because of Jesus,

That Was the Week That Was

2011-12-31T07:14:00.000-05:00

Todd Willis, Lisa Kraus Spires, Jocelyn Sessions Ward, Me, Marilyn & Will

My 2011 definitely is going out with a bang, not a whimper! This was an awesome week spent with awesome people. My lovely wife Marilyn was on vacation, so she was at home. My son Will was out of school. And in addition, I was able to spend a great deal of time this week catching up with people from my past. For instance, I had lunch on Tuesday with some great friends from Kissimmee. That group is pictured above. Todd, Jocelyn and Lisa were all in the youth group at FUMC-K back in the 90's. Todd and Jocelyn both live out of state now, and I had not seen Jocelyn in person since around 1996. We spent several hours at a Chili's in Tampa just hanging out and catching up with one another, and it was truly a wonderful thing.

Then Tuesday night Marilyn and I shared a Taco Tuesday dinner with our dear friend Lisa Jewett, pictured above with me in New York a few years back on a youth trip with Wesely Memorial UMC. Like my scarf? :)

Wednesday for lunch we met up with another former Kissimmee youth, Brook Teoli (above with Marilyn and I). Brook now lives in California, and I had not seen her in about 15 years. It was amazing to catch up and meet her family.

In addition to all of those wonderful gatherings, I also got to spend a lot of time talking and texting with another old Kissimmee friend, Teresa Reep Tysinger. It has just been amazing to catch up with her over these past few weeks. You know those people in your life that you can be apart from for years, and then when you see them again it is like no time has passed? Teresa is one of those people in my life, an I feel blessed.

You know all the posts I write talking about youth ministry and relationships? This week has been a perfect example of why. Old friends sharing life together years after our youth group days have ended is just as good as it gets. And I wouldn't trade these (and so many other) relationships for anything. Blessings to all, and have a safe and wonderful New Year's Eve!

Because of Jesus,

The Best of 2011: The Sons of Thunder

2011-12-30T06:16:00.000-05:00

(Originally posted on 05/06/11)

I was reading yet another great blog post from Kevin Weatherby over at www.campfirecowboyministries.com a couple of days ago when I was reminded of one of the greatest nicknames ever bestowed upon a human being. In the Gospel of Mark, chapter 3, we read a synopsis of Jesus calling the 12 disciples. If you are like me, the disciple you can relate to the most is Simon Peter- because he was as big a screw-up as we are, yet Jesus built the church on his faith. I would love to be a Simon Peter. But also among the 12 are the brothers James & John, the sons of Zebedee. Let me press pause and say that if the story ended there, James & John would already be awesome, because Zebedee may be the best name ever! I would have fought to name my son Zebedee, but I enjoyed living with my wife and didn't want to spend all of my time praying to the patron saint of lost causes. Still, just being the sons of Zebedee would have been cool enough. But Jesus gave them a nickname that transformed them into rock stars. He called them"Boanerges," which means Sons of Thunder. While no explanation is given in scripture, it is assumed by scholars (and me!) that this nickname was a reference to their bold and zealous personalities - illustrated by a later incident in which they wanted to "call down fire from heaven" to destroy the people of a Samaritan village who had refused to allow Jesus and His apostles to pass through on their way to Jerusalem (Luke 9:51-56). These guys knew what it meant to be passionate for Jesus. They had the fire in their eyes.

And clearly their Master knew this. James & John were always there (along with Peter) when Jesus needed his "inner circle." James would go on to be the first of the disciples to be martyred (Acts 12:2) and John would write his "revelation" from prison on the island of Patmos. These were men who gave their lives to Christ, not just in word, but in deeds- in big, honkin', passionate deeds.

So as I told Kevin the other day, I want to be part of a 21st century chapter of the Sons of Thunder. This would be a group of believers who understand that following Jesus is everything. They would understand that being a people of love, grace and peace is not a weakness, but a bold stance for our Savior in this world we live in. The modern Sons of Thunder should be a radical presence for Jesus in our communities, and a passionate thorn in the side of the institutional church. I am not much of a joiner, but this is a group I want to be a part of- and soon! I know I am not alone. Kevin says he is in- and we are looking for more folks (male & female!) with thecajones to call down fire from heaven when the occasion calls for it. Accepting such a call is not without risk. Your passion may offend your neighbors and other Christians. The love and grace you offer to others may baffle them. You may be called upon to sacrifice for the cause. You may receive a vision from God that will confuse people for the next 2000 years. But when it comes to following Jesus, I am ready to make some noise. I want to bring the thunder...

Let's be bold together and change the world. Let's be radicals for Christ. The 1st century Sons of Thunder helped turn their world upside down. The modern version could do the same. If you're in, leave me a comment and let me know. Seriously. It's going to be a wild ride. And we're going to have AWESOME t-shirts...

Because of Jesus,

Youth Ministry- The Good Old Days!

2011-12-29T05:28:00.000-05:00

Youth Ministry, 1981 style!!!

(Originally posted 01/28/11)

Most of you know (because it says so right at the top of this page) that I spent 28 years in youth ministry. For the vast majority of the years from 1978-2007 I worked for churches and religious organizations. I witnessed a lot of growth and a lot of changes during those years. I was a part of one of the first generations of career youth pastors. Up until the late 1970's, youth work was something you did on your way to something else. Can you believe that once upon a time people thought the only difference between being a youth pastor and being a senior pastor was age? Most full-time youth leaders were hired as Associate Pastors or Directors of Christian Education and then thrown to the wolves, regardless of their gifts. I was around when pretty much the only resources for youth leaders were the Ideas Books. I was there when youth groups were after-thoughts for most churches, with no budgets and no staff. I witnessed youth ministry become a priority in many churches, with all kinds of money thrown at the ministry. With one move in 1994 I went from a $800 budget to a $12,000 budget- for almost the same number of youth! I worked at one church for $50 per month and did not get paid during the summer, because in those early days most student ministries shut down for those months. During those years I worked at a summer camp. I served as the regional youth ministry resource person and event planner for Quakers in New England in 1985-86, serving over 80 churches, and was paid $14,000 for the year. In 2000 I took a position at a church in Illinois that paid me over $70,000 for doing less work than any other position I have ever held. And now I am seeing churches cut staff and budgets as the economy impacts ministry. At least 2 of the positions I once held no longer exist. We have come full circle.

When I started there were no copiers, only messy, smelly mimeograph machines. There were noVCRs, no PCs and no cable TV. We did have film strips and CB radios. The only CCM artists I had ever heard of were Amy Grant, Keith Green, Larry Norman and some lady named Evie. A Praise Band was called a guitar. I watched as the Youth Specialties National Youth Workers Convention went from a once a year event with about 600 in attendance to the multiple city, many thousands of participants events we see today. In those days Doug Fields was just a guy in Jim Burns' youth group. When I started, GROUP was a magazine for the students in your youth group- and that was all. No work camps and no magazine for leaders- just a long-since extinct event for students called the National Christian Youth Congress. There is no truth to the rumor that Moses was in my first youth group- although Duffy Robbins once told a seminar I had been his youth pastor. He also told them I had been his mother's youth pastor. Seriously! But you get the point- I have seen a lot.

Lots of the changes have made student ministry much better and helped us have a greater impact in the lives of the youth we serve. But sometimes I think we have changed simply for the sake of change. We have bought into new ideas without prayerfully considering their full impact; we have been guilty of being trendy. In my humble opinion we have too often chosen program and style over relationships. Tomorrow I want to share with you 7 Things I think I know about student ministry. Some are out of step with current trends. A couple may be a bit controversial in today's world. Nonetheless, I want to share them in the hope that the lessons I learned may be of use to others. I am no longer a youth pastor; I lost that great privilege in 2007. But I still have a heart for it and a calling to it. I have a 15 year old son, and seeing how he and his friends are being ministered to (or not) gives me cause for prayer and reflection. If tomorrow's post ends up sounding like I am preaching, it is because I am! Nothing brings out the passion in me more than talking about Jesus and student ministry.

Because of Jesus,

Famous Movie Quotes (as heard at church!)

2011-12-28T07:49:00.000-05:00

Today's "Best of" post is from May 12. Please feel free to add to you own!

I love watching reruns of Drew Carey's Whose Line Is It Anyway? on ABC Family (actually Will and I DVR them each night and watch when he gets home from school) and one of their games recently inspired me to ask this question: What if your favorite movie lines had been delivered at church or youth group instead of in their original scene? How might they be different? I have come up with a few- I hope my readers will come up with many more! Here we go!

"I'll be back...as long as the church next door doesn't get a Starbucks." Terminator
"I'm going to give them an offering they can't refuse..." The Godfather
"Oh no, it wasn't the airplanes. "Twas the youth group that killed the beast." King Kong
"You shouldn't make me play Fluffy Bunny, Johnny. My mother made me play Fluffy Bunny once...ONCE." Johnny Dangerously
"Have fun storming the sanctuary!" The Princess Bride
"What we have here is a failure to communicate... (OOPS- didn't change that one!) Cool Hand Luke
"There are two types of people in the world- those who like Rob Bell, and those who don't..." What About Bob?
"Frankly my dear, I don't give a dad blast the gosh darn blankety heck..." Gone With the Wind
"When I first came here, this was all swamp. Everyone said I was daft to build a church on a swamp, but I built it all the same, just to show them. It sank into the swamp. So I built a second one. That sank into the swamp. So I built a third. That burned down, fell over, then sank into the swamp. But the fourth one stayed up. And that's what you're going to get, Bro, the strongest church in all of Nashvegas." Monty Python & the Holy Grail
"Cinderella story, from outta' nowhere, about to become Trustees Chairman..." Caddyshack
"They've done studies, you know. Be purpose driven. 60% of the time it works, every time." Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
"Jesus is King of the World!" Titanic

Let's face it, friends- sometimes the institution of the church is funny. It OK to laugh. I've said it before and I'll say it again- I cannot survive a day without Jesus or laughter. And they ARE NOT mutually exclusive. Now let's hear your movie favorites, mangled for a little church humor! I'll Tweet the best ones. Have a great day!

Because of Jesus,

The Best of 2011 - The Bucko Award

2011-12-27T04:27:00.001-05:00

Today's post is the first in a series of vintage posts that were some of my favorites in 2011. This post first appeared on April 2nd. Enjoy!

On the classic 1970's TV sit-com Happy Days, Richie Cunningham (played by Ron Howard) was a clean cut, all-American boy living in the late 1950s and early 60s. He never used any language that would be considered "foul" by our standards today. But when he would get angry, he would call someone a "Bucko." As in, "Listen, Bucko- you can't talk like that to my girl!" There was a girl in my very first youth group-Glenna Osborne- who used to call me a Bucko all the time. In fact, when I moved on from that church they made me a wooden sign (Remember wood-burning kits? Probably not...), honoring me with the first and only Bucko Award.

I have kept this silly thing all of these years because I found it to be hilarious- and more than a little accurate. I was an 18 year old college sophomore when I started with that group and had no idea what I was doing. My efforts were often futile and we didn't accomplish much- except for growing together and loving each other in Jesus'name. But the important part of the award is the last line- "Thanks for being someone we can look up to and laugh at!!!!" Therein lies today's archaeological dig.

I read a blog this past week that very proudly pointed out the the United Methodist Church quit using the abbreviation UMYF (United Methodist Youth Fellowship) for their student ministries a number of years ago. They discontinued the "F." They felt like "fellowship" sounded a little too light and fluffy for the way they wanted their youth ministries to be seen. It sounded too much like pizza parties, beach trips and lock-ins. Well in the words of my old Quaker Lake Camp buddy Michael McGuinn,"Puhhhleeeeesssseee!!!" Someone really decided that too much fellowship is the issue in student ministry? Someone really believes that too much fellowship is the reason teenagers leave the church after graduation and never come back?  As I warned my Twitter followers on Tuesday night, I feel a rant coming on...

I am not sure where I first heard it, but someone once said, "Show me a youth pastor with no sense of humor, and I'll show you an empty youth room."  I'll go a step farther- show me a youth pastor who can't laugh at her/himself and I'll show you someone who is not being authentic. They are on their way to becoming a Pharisee. It's like someone decided there is an 11th commandment that states, "Christians shalt not haveth funeth"- or something like that! Certainly we need to take seriously the things Jesus taught. Certainly we need to be serious about loving one another and serving "the least of these." Certainly we need to think seriously about the condition of our soul and our eternal salvation. But when did it become some sort of bizarre doctrine to take ourselves so seriously? It is my belief (and I can say this because I have lived it) that far too many of us who work with youth seek to fool them into believing we are more "together" than we actually are. We are all Buckos- we are all sinners. Students don't need false perfect examples- they need authentic women and men of God who acknowledge their failures and know how to laugh at themselves. How can we possibly teach them about grace if we keep pretending we don't need it?

Which beings us back to fellowship (For a definition, read Acts 2:42. And yes, I know I sound like a broken record!~). A youth pastor friend responded to my tweet about fellowship the other night by saying that some people he knew seemed to want to count "just hanging out" with students as part of their ministry. He wasn't certain that it is a legitimate ministry.  OF COURSE IT IS! Fellowship, hanging out, sharing one another's stories, creating a shared history- all of these things build the kind of Christian community that allow us to do great things in Jesus' name. What do you think Jesus and the disciples did during the hours that are not chronicled in the Gospels? They went fishing, sat around the campfire and ordered unleavened bread with tomato sauce from Papa Joseph's. They hung out! Had they not spent 3 years building bonds of friendship and trust, do you really think that group of ragamuffins would have been ready to turn the world upside down after Jesus ascended? Would the early church have spread like wildfire without a commitment to sharing life together? And I have to think that included in all of that time of fellowship was the ability to laugh with and at one another. I can't imagine that they didn't give Thomas a hard time every time he said, "I doubt it." I can't believe they didn't give Peter "the business" every time a rooster crowed.  Ted & Lee used to do this great scene from their show Fisheyes in which Peter and Andrew are lamenting how confusing Jesus could be, whether in his parables, his affection for random questions, or his doodling in the dirt. It was hysterical to think about. They laughed at themselves for not getting it- and we should be able to do the same. Because the LORD knows there are plenty of times when we don't get it...

Everyone who does ministry must make prayerful decisions about what God is leading them to do in their specific situation. I just know that looking back on 28 years (1978-2007) of youth ministry and hearing almost daily from former students (in part because of this blog) that there is nothing we did - not mission trips, not worship services, not bible studies, not anything- that has had a more lasting impact on their lives than the fellowship and laughter we shared together in Jesus' name. I'm proud I was a Bucko for all of those years. I'm glad I was someone they could look up to and laugh at. Will your students remember you in 10 years because you could plan great events & teach a great class, or because you loved them enough (1 Thessalonians 2:8) to share life - authentic, failure-filled, laughter filled life- with them? It's a question worth asking. This isn't military intelligence.  "Fellowship" and "Ministry" are not mutually exclusive... (That's a joke. If you didn't get it, try reading this post one more time... :D) Now go hang out with some people and start changing the world. In case you haven't heard, it's time for a Jesus Revolution!

Because of Jesus,

Survive & Advance

2011-12-26T07:03:00.000-05:00

Sometimes Christmas seems like it is about surviving. We seek to survive the shopping. We hope to survive all of the eating and the parties. Many of us need help surviving (or missing?) our family and friends, And if you house is anything like mine, you hope to survive the total carnage that accompanies opening the presents. In our particular case, that means avoiding the random attacks of our family dog, Conner. He loves wrapping paper. He shreds it, rips and attacks it. And after a little warm-up time, be begins to seek to remove it from packages that have not otherwise been touched. As you can see from this picture, if Christmas morning were a competition, our home has a clear winner. And don't you dare try to touch his new ball. You can lose a hand that way!

But Christmas is not about survival at all. Christmas is about worship. It's about looking at a world that worships stuff and deciding to worship the Babe of Bethlehem instead. It's about realizing that there can be only one thing in our lives that is our One Thing - and the choosing Jesus! Want to know what you have chosen this holiday season? It's simple. The things that have your mind's attention and your heart's desire- that is what you worship. In 2011 I have written a great deal about the Jesus Revolution. In 2012, my Tuesday focus will be on worship. I look forward to sharing this journey with all of you.

My family is at home with me for the remainder of 2011, and much like the local radio stations I will be offering a "Best Of I'd Laugh" for the next week. I will re-post some of my favorites from the past year in the hopes that they may still seem fresh to you, my dear readers. As we prepare for the new year and another round of failed resolutions, I ask you to consider these questions: What has your mind's attention right now? What has your heart's desire? Jesus wants both. Let's prepare to face a new year as people who put Christ first. Blessings to you all!

Because of Jesus,

The Deliverer Is Here!!!

2011-12-25T07:20:00.000-05:00

Today's post comes from Luke 2: 1-20 (The Message), because there is absolutely nothing I can add to this amazing story. Merry Christmas, dear friends! Christ the Savior is born! Our deliverer is here!

About that time Caesar Augustus ordered a census to be taken throughout the Empire. This was the first census when Quirinius was governor of Syria. Everyone had to travel to his own ancestral hometown to be accounted for. So Joseph went from the Galilean town of Nazareth up to Bethlehem in Judah, David's town, for the census. As a descendant of David, he had to go there. He went with Mary, his fiancée, who was pregnant. While they were there, the time came for her to give birth. She gave birth to a son, her firstborn. She wrapped him in a blanket and laid him in a manger, because there was no room in the hostel.

There were sheepherders camping in the neighborhood. They had set night watches over their sheep. Suddenly, God's angel stood among them and God's glory blazed around them. They were terrified. The angel said, "Don't be afraid. I'm here to announce a great and joyful event that is meant for everybody, worldwide: A Savior has just been born in David's town, a Savior who is Messiah and Master. This is what you're to look for: a baby wrapped in a blanket and lying in a manger."

At once the angel was joined by a huge angelic choir singing God's praises:
"Glory to God in the heavenly heights,
Peace to all men and women on earth who please him."

As the angel choir withdrew into heaven, the sheepherders talked it over. "Let's get over to Bethlehem as fast as we can and see for ourselves what God has revealed to us." They left, running, and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in the manger. Seeing was believing. They told everyone they met what the angels had said about this child. All who heard the sheepherders were impressed.

Mary kept all these things to herself, holding them dear, deep within herself. The sheepherders returned and let loose, glorifying and praising God for everything they had heard and seen. It turned out exactly the way they'd been told! ~

Thank you, God, for the amazing gift of your Son. May we, like those smelly shepherds, seek Him still....

Christmas Eve Traditions

2011-12-24T06:23:00.000-05:00

"It's Christmas Eve! It's... it's the one night of the year when we all act a little nicer, we... we... we smile a little easier, we... w-w-we... we... we cheer a little more. For a couple of hours out of the whole year, we are the people that we always hoped we would be! "

~From the movie Scrooged

My son Will (after listening to me make up a song during a commercial on TV) remarked the once that "no one in our family is normal- and that's a good thing." Nowhere is the unusual nature of our family more clear than on Christmas Eve. Here's a quick look at Christmas Eve with the Jones family...

I have to go shopping. For as long as I can remember it has been a personal tradition for me to go out and purchase at least one present on Christmas Eve. It used to be I had to go to the mall; now I buy very little at the mall, so I just go to Walgreen's or Big Lots or whatever- but I have to get something for Christmas on Christmas Eve. It's a moral imperative...
The family (including my Mom) heads out to the Christmas Eve Candlelight Service at Van Dyke Church. It has been many different churches over the years (and I was usually working at those churches), and each church has given us special memories. Whether it was Marilyn Burris singing O Holy Night at New Garden Friends, the candlelight circle at Springfield Friends, the marathon of 4 (and occasionally 5) services at FUMC-Kissimmee or any of the other special places we have called home, a Christmas Eve worship service has long been a part of our family tradition. It's just not Christmas without proclaiming Jesus is LORD!
Then we head home for a traditional Christmas Eve meal- Hot Dogs! Yes, hot dogs! Since we began doing it at my Grandmother Dot's house when I was a little boy for the purpose of ease of preparation, hot dogs have become our meal of choice on Christmas Eve. But we are natives of North Carolina, and so we are not talking about a wiener and a bun here. A REAL hot dog has chili, slaw, onions, mustard and ketchup. This is a Carolina Dog, and there is nothing that compares- and I've tried Chicago Dogs and everything else! My mouth is already watering...
Will gets to open one present (of her choosing) from his Gigi (grandmother). She has tried to kill this tradition as he got older and has fewer (but more expensive) gifts to open. He has kept it very much alive!
The family part of our evening wraps up with a viewing of The Muppet Christmas Carol. It is our absolute favorite, and always our last activity before bedtime on Christmas Eve. What better way to remember "there's only one more sleep 'til Christmas..."
And finally, after Will and his grandmother are off to bed, Marilyn will wrap presents. Somehow, even though we only bought Will a few things this year, my lovely wife will manage to stay up until 1 AM wrapping. It's tradition!

So there you have it- a Jones family Christmas Eve. Try these traditions at your own risk. Better yet, create your own. It's one of the way we keep Christmas in our hearts all year. But no matter what you do, remember the reason we celebrate. Thank you , God, for the gift of your Son and all that means to each of us. And to all of you who are reading this simple blog, I wish you a blessed and merry Christmas. Joy to the world, the LORD is come!!!

My Deliverer is Coming...

A Christmas Letter From the Jones Family

2011-12-23T06:44:00.001-05:00

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given,

and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. ~ Isaiah 9:6 NIV

Greetings friends from around the world! It's Christmas Eve eve, and I hope you are each preparing for a wonderful time with family and friends celebrating the birth of our Savior! At my house my Mom has arrived and settled in for the holiday season. Will has been out of school all week. Marilyn worked her final day of 2011 yesterday. We are all together, ready for the upcoming Christmas traditions. We have movies to watch (Scrooged and A Muppet Christmas Carol), meals to eat (hot dogs and Frogmore Stew) and a Christmas Eve candlelight service to attend. The only thing missing is all of you. I try to say it here often, but we consider all of you who were a part of the ministries we served, part of the this blogging community and part of my Twitter world to be in fact a part of our family. 2011 has been such an amazing year, reconnecting with old friends, making new ones and discovering that some of the most special people in my life- some of whom I thought I might have lost forever- are not only still with me but by the grace of God still love me. You know who you are, and I treasure you. More than I can say...

My lovely wife Marilyn (with whom I celebrated 25 years of marriage this year!) continues to to enjoy her work as a Legal Assistant with one of the preeminent alcohol beverage licencing attorneys in the country. She survives the commute to downtown Tampa each day to work with with a group of people she genuinely enjoys. She spends lots of time volunteering as a band mom with Will's marching band and taking care of me- which as many of you know is a full-time job. :) Will is a junior in high school. He continues to excel as a student, having been inducted in the National Honor Society this fall. He loves his music, including playing snare drum in marching band at Sickles High School. He also loves his drumline buddies like they were his brothers. He is preparing to get serious about his future, applying to colleges and hoping to pursue a career in film making. He and his mom spent 2 weeks with her family in NC and at Myrtle Beach this past summer. They are not making their annual post-Christmas pilgrimage to Elkin this year, but we loved having her sister Carol and her husband Bill with us for Thanksgiving. We are so fortunate to get to spend so much time together as a family. Most Sunday mornings you will find us worshiping together at Van Dyke Church. Some of our favorite things include watching TV shows like The Big Bang Theory, Modern Family, Glee, Fringe and out favorite guilty pleasure, American Idol.; eating out (the staff at Chili's knows us by name, and Taco Tuesdays at Tijuana Flats are becoming legendary!) and going to movies. The $6 before noon shows at the local AMC Theaters are a favorite- during the summer you can find us there most every Saturday!

I continue to play "domestic goddess" while seeking more opportunities to write for Christian organizations like Interlinc. I just wish I could find a few more folks who would actually pay me to write! I spend many of my days staying in touch with and seeking to encourage friends through various means, having just recently discovered the joys of texting. Earlier this year I published my personal confession on this blog, and was overwhelmed by the love, grace and forgiveness I received from so many of you. God has been so good to me in 2011, helping me to once again discover ways to be in ministry. My restrictions make travel nearly nearly impossible, which makes it difficult for me to see so many of you- but with God's help and some good fortune we pray that will change later in 2012. I am so blessed.

We were not able to send many Christmas cards this year, so I just wanted to use this forum and take this opportunity to wish you all the most blessed of Christmas seasons. Every challenge our family has faced over the past several years we have survived through faith and friends. We are blessed and grateful to count all of you among the latter. When we gather around the table for our traditional Christmas Eve hot dogs (complete with chili and slaw!) tomorrow night, it is our sincere wish that all of you could with us. From all of us to all of you, A Very Merry Christmas! And never forget this one essential truth- it's all about Jesus!

Because of Jesus,

One Solitary Life

2011-12-22T06:07:00.001-05:00

Did you see the news story this week where Italian scientists announced the Shroud of Turin- the cloth that supposedly covered Jesus face in the tomb- is most likely authentic? Once again those seeking to dismiss the Christ as a myth instead find evidence to support the biblical stories. It seems to be in vogue in 2011 to use Jesus and his followers as the focal point of jokes and and intellectual attacks. The world sure can feel like a dark place.

This Sunday we will celebrate the coming of the Light into a world filled with darkness. Jesus came to us as a baby, but it was his life, death and resurrection that would forever change us all. Today I invite you to a Christmas tradition on this blog. Read these words of faith, adopted from a 1926 sermon by Dr. James Allen Francis, and consider the full meaning of Christmas and who the babe of Bethlehem would become. Not a myth. Not a legend. The savior of the world.

He was born in an obscure village, the son of a peasant woman. He grew up in another village, where he worked in a carpenter's shop until he was thirty. Then for three years he became a wandering preacher.

He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never had a family or owned a house. He didn't go to college. He never visited a big city. He never travelled two hundred miles from the place where he was born. He did none of those things one usually associates with greatness. He had no credentials but himself.

He was only thirty-three when the tide of public opinion turned against him. His friends ran away. He was turned over to his enemies and went through a mockery of a trial. He was executed by the state. While he was dying, his executioners gambled for his clothing, the only property he had on earth. When he was dead he was laid in a borrowed grave through the pity of a friend.

Twenty centuries have come and gone, and today he is the central figure of the human race and the leader of mankind's progress. All the armies that ever marched, all the navies that ever sailed, all the parliaments that ever sat, all the kings that ever reigned, put together, have not affected the life of man on this earth as much as that One Solitary Life.

My Deliverer is Coming...

Wordless Wednesday

2011-12-21T04:03:00.001-05:00

I'm taking a day off from writing. It's your turn. Submit your funniest caption for this picture. Best entry wins a classic Rich Mullins CD. Good luck!

Want something to inspire you this Christmas season? Then check out my vintage post, I Celebrate the Day. Have a blessed day, everyone!

Because of Jesus,

"You Had To Be There"

2011-12-20T03:29:00.000-05:00

In the late 1970's Jmmy Buffett was just another artist trying to make a living. This was before the advent of Parrotheads, before he became a best-selling author, restaurant owner or tequila guru. But even way back then, his concerts were not shows- they were events. The late Dan Fogelberg, a friend of Jimmy's, was once asked to describe what it was like to see him live. Fogelberg responded that no explanation could possibly do it justice. He couldn't describe it. Dan said, "You had to be there!" Jimmy liked that so much that it became the title of his 1978 live album, which was the first (of MANY) Buffett albums I have owned.

Over the years, I adopted those words as a sort of personal mantra for doing student ministry. I never wanted the teenagers who went on trips or attended events at the churches I served to feel like we were just going through the motions. I wanted them to feel like they were a part of something unique, something special, something that had not happened before and might not happen again. I wanted them to walk into school on Monday morning and talk about how amazing youth group had been the night before. And when their friends asked for explanations, I wanted them to feel like words were not adequate. All that could be said was, "You had to be there!" Right or wrong, I always felt that any method of reaching students that was predictable or too tame was destined to fail. Jesus himself was always unpredictable and always pushing the envelope of what was acceptable. As the Jesus Revolution gained momentum throughout the region in those three years Jesus spent preaching and teaching, you just know that as the word spread from town to town about this amazing Rabbi people were at a loss for words. How could they describe what they were seeing? I suspect that more than one person fell back on, "You had to be there!"

For the Jesus Revolution to truly take hold in our day and time, churches need to help our communities experience the awe and wonder of those first days of Christ. We need to help people see that Jesus is not some simple man you can keep in a box, then whip out a teaching or two whenever it is convenient. Jesus is a world changer, and he calls on us to world changers as well. The power, love and grace of the Messiah cannot be contained in a manger. The story of the first Noel should inspire awe and wonder. Because I guarantee you that a few days later, as the town of Bethlehem was still trying to figure out what had happened, some one asked one of those smelly shepherds to explain. And I guarantee you that shepherd thought a moment, smiled, and the said to anyone who cared to listen- "There is no explanation. You just had to be there!" Amen & Amen.

My Deliverer is Coming...

The Ghosts of Christmas Eve Past!

2011-12-19T06:03:00.001-05:00

I have so many great memories of the Christmas Eves from the churches I served over the years. Today I look back at 8 of my favorite moments!

1) The Christmas Eve Candlelight Service at New Garden Friends Meeting was always highlighted by Marilyn Burris singing O Holy Night. The song still gives me chills because it always makes me think of her beautiful voice, and walking outside to porch of the Meetinghouse carrying our still lit candles into the crisp Carolina night. Chills right now...
2) At Springfield Friends Meeting I started a tradition of setting up "bag candles" on Christmas Eve to light the walk ways into the meetinghouse. It was my gift to the people of Springfield each year. The Christmas Eve service always felt like a big family gathering where you got one last chance to say "Merry Christmas" and remind people how much you cared about them.
3) In our early years at Springfield we would leave after the candlelight service and drive to my grandparents home in Asheboro for dinner and a family Christmas party. One year we arrived back in High Point late that night to find that thieves had tried to break into our home, but Max Rees had spotted them and called the police. Our yard was full of flashing lights when we arrived, and it was all kind of scary. It made us very thankful for good friends and good neighbors.
4) I don't remember how it got started, but one of the traditions at Springfield was my wife Marilyn and Karen Chester singing the Amy Grant song Heirlooms each year. Their voices blended so beautifully, and the words are so stirring- "My precious Jesus is more than an heirloom to me."
5) Once I arrived at First United Methodist Church-Kissimmee I discovered that Christmas Eve was as much of a marathon as it was a celebration! We would start in the late afternoon and do four services, ending around midnight. The services were often all different, and they were most always very crowded. To celebrate with so many people was a real joy, and staff members like Pastor John Willis and Andrew Lewis kept it all quite festive and creative. Other staff members (and church members) would bring food for us, so we would have small meals in the conference room after every service. Then I would go home at midnight and eat my share of our family's traditional Christmas Eve hot dogs!
6) While technically not a Christmas Eve event, another tradition that began while we were in Kissimmee was attending the EPCOT Christmas Candlelight Processional. For the uninitiated, this event runs from Thanksgiving through Christmas with three "shows" each evening. A 400 voice choir, a full orchestra and a celebrity narrator (Marilyn and Will saw Neil Patrick Harris just last weekend) who reads directly from scripture tell the story of the birth of Jesus in a most inspiring way. It is an overtly Christian celebration at Walt Disney World! Who knew?
7) We had multiple service as Wesley Memorial UMC-Tampa as well, but the year I remember most was the year it rained so much parts of the building and the entire parking lot was flooded- yet the people still came! It reminded me that those of us who follow Jesus make such small sacrifices compared to the sacrifice Jesus would make for us.
8) My favorite Candlelight service I was ever a part of was the year in Kissimmee when we had a master plan for the family service that worked like a charm. To copy Andrew's brilliant idea, check out my vintage post, One More Sleep 'Til Christmas.

My prayer is that each of you will encounter Jesus is some new way during this Christmas season.

My Deliverer is Coming...

"In the First Light"

2011-12-18T07:04:00.000-05:00

"In the first light of a new day

no one knew he had arrived,

Things continued as they had been

while a newborn softly cried..."

There is one week left in the season of Advent. One more week to prepare for the birth of the child who changed the world. One more week to prepare our hearts so that we may once again welcome and worship the newborn King. To kick the week off I want to remind us all once again that Christmas is all about Jesus. Next Saturday night and Sunday we celebrate the beginning of the greatest love story ever told, of how God sent His only Son to save us from ourselves. But the story does not end there. The life of the man we call Jesus should change the way we live. His death should teach us much about sacrifice. But first and foremost, we are a Resurrection People. The Christmas story and the Easter story cannot and must not be separated. Over the years, the song In the First Light (quoted above and below) by the group GLAD has become one of the most meaningful songs in my life. My prayer is that this video will stir your heart this last week of the holiday season to worship not only the babe in the straw, but the risen savior of the universe. As Christ-followers, we much never forget this truth:

"Hear the angels as they're singing

On the morning of His birth,

But how much greater will their song be

When He come again to Earth...

When He comes to rule the Earth!"

My Deliverer is Coming...