A New Beginning

When I finally arrived at Trinity UMC- Waycross in February of 2006 I was hit with several immediate realities.  The first was the little house on church property that I would be living in until Marilyn and Will arrived that summer.  It was a bit run down, it smelled funny, and the walls in every room were painted a different bright color.  It quickly became known as The Skittles House.  It had been furnished with some very formal, uncomfortable chairs from the church and a bed donated by one of the members.  Plus, the youth families had given me a "shower" and provided me with kitchen and dining equipment.  I had every thing I needed, except a TV.  A quick trip to Wal-Mart took care of that.  Ahhhh- home!


The next reality was that I was "single" again.  With no family responsibilities, I had lots of time to work.  I went to every ball game and every school event I could find out about.  I went to every church meeting and every church softball game.  I accepted every dinner invitation.  I cleaned, rearranged and decorated the youth house.  I built my office from scratch.  I often worked until midnight.  I was able to cover a lot of ground in a short period of time, and it helped me get things up and running.


A third reality was that I only had two high schools and two middle schools to connect with- and that they WANTED me to connect with them.  Being in a small southern town meant that most everyone had some sort of church connection, and a religious presence was welcome in the schools.  I was quickly asked to speak at FCA meetings at both high schools and one of the middle schools, and found myself meeting regularly with some other local youth pastors.  And showing me the ropes of all these things was our Associate Pastor, David White- or as the kids knew him, UBD (Uncle Big Dave!).  UBD was an amazing resource, and made the learning curve in Waycross much simpler.  He showed me the pitfalls, the restaurants, how to avoid the ten thousand trains that pass through Waycross each day, and helped me understand Trinity UMC.  He was a great mentor.  


There were some issues to overcome, including some parents who were huge proponents of the "we never did it that way before" school of youth ministry.  How did I get passed that attitude?  That tale will be told Wednesday...


Because of Jesus,

The Beatitudes

The late Rich Mullins once told me he considered this scripture to be the condensed version of everything Jesus taught.  Yet most of its concepts are so foreign to us today, even in the church.  Our culture is not fond of the meek, the merciful or the peacemakers.  We certainly don't understand being persecuted for Jesus' sake.  Read this a few times.  Soak in it.  Commit these verses to memory.  Only when you begin to understand how out-of-step Jesus was (and IS) with society will you begin to feel the foolishness and holiness of all He was trying to teach us. Only then will you begin to understand why He would go to the cross for us.  Only then can we understand where that kind of love comes from...

Questions to ponder on this Sabbath morning:
1)  Our society tells us we should be powerful, in charge and famous.  What does this text have to say about all of that?
2)  Does our culture value mercy?  Can mercy be separated from forgiveness?
3)  We are told that the pure in heart shall see God.  What does it mean to be pure in heart?  What does it mean to see God?


It has been said that Jesus came to "afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted."  No where in scripture is this stated more eloquently than in the Beatitudes.  This is scripture we should all fall in love with.  Have a blessed day!


Because of Jesus,

Saturday Shout Outs!

Greetings friends and neighbors, and welcome to another edition of Saturday Shout Outs!  We're now less than two weeks away from the 2nd anniversary of this blog, and we've got some special events coming up that should be fun for everyone! There will be a few special Hall of Fame inductions, a look back at a couple of major characters from way back in my own high school days, and a salute to Quaker Lake Camp.  But until then, here's what I'm shouting about...

• Congratulations to Jacob (FUMC-Kissimmee) and Cara Lupfer, who were married a couple of weeks ago at Fernandina Beach.  Kelly Jeck Trace (FUMC-K) was there as official photographer and there were some great pictures posted on Facebook.  Contrary to Jacob's current profile picture, they are NOT British royalty...
• Jennifer (Bob) Minnigan Kuramochi and hubby Jun have their restaurant open again after moving- just in time for baby Josephine to be born most any day now.  We'll give you news as soon as we get it!  
• My lovely wife Marilyn is at a baby shower this morning for Lisa Kraus Spires (FUMC-K), who is due in September.  Be praying for Lisa, Mike and Sara as they prepare to welcome baby Abby.  And as always, pray that the shower will get everyone clean!  :)
• Keri Vinson Johnston (Springfield Friends Meeting) is beginning a new business endeavor today with the grand opening of simply Pink in Winston-Salem, NC.  Details were being kept top secret, but you can visit their Facebook page to learn more.  I'm excited for Keri and pray that the store will be a big hit!  With Keri involved I'd be surprised at anything less...
• Teresa Reep Tysinger (FUMC-K) has been posting the coolest news on Facebook lately- although it's all about her hubby, Eric!  He works in the theater doing technical work and set design (or something like that- correct me, Teresa!) and will soon be working with Dick and Jerry Van Dyke in Texas and just interviewed (outcome unknown) with Radio City Music Hall.  Makes my little encounter with Michael Keaton seem pretty insignificant!  :)
• I've been away from Twitter a lot lately, but friends like Amy, Jenn, Jason, Robert, Tracee and so many more always help keep my spirits high and my focus on the right things.  Love you guys!
• It's back to school time, and I want us to be praying for all of the teachers in our lives.  Today I especially lift up Marie Allen Pleasants (Springfield), who at last word was still looking for a teaching job.  A thought occurs to me...I would love to post a list of all the current educators who have been connected to our youth ministries over the years.  So send me names.  I know there are lots- from Ken Hill and Todd Farlow (Springfield) to Caitlin Esry and Lisa Spires (FUMC-K) Jennifer Gastler (Wesley Memorial UMC).  E-mail names to youthguy07@aol.com and I'll post a more comprehensive prayer list later this week!  
• We were blessed with an overnight visit from Jerry Hanbery (FUMC-K) this past Wednesday, and I am more convinced than ever that the world would be a better place (and a heck of a lot more fun!) if Jerry ruled the world.  At least for a day!
• And finally, my dear friend Lisa Jewett (Wesley) returned from spending time with her son Ken and her grandchildren in Asheville, NC- just in time to go back to her own teaching job.  We missed you in Tampa, Grandma!  :)

As always, I'd love to hear your news and shout it out, so e-mail me, leave comments, talk to Marilyn on Facebook or just yell really loud!  You are all loved and missed!!!


Because of Jesus,

February 15, 2006

Dad & Will. 1998

The day had arrived for me to leave for my new youth pastor position in Waycross, GA.  I had taken most of my office stuff up when I had driven up a couple of weeks earlier, so this time my station wagon was packed with clothes and a few other things I would need for my six months of living alone.  Leaving was hard.  I was going to miss Marilyn and Will so much.  Plus, another complication had arisen over the previous few weeks.  My Dad had gotten very sick.  He was 71 years old and had always been one of the most vibrant and active people anyone could ever know.  He still played golf, softball and tennis. He rode his bike.  He and my Mom spent lots of time at their favorite place, Walt Disney World.  And then in the blink of an eye, he became weak and frail, and a battery of doctors could not seem to figure out why.  I had driven up to Leesburg, FL to see them a couple of days before my departure for Georgia.  Dad was in the hospital and seemed to be getting worse, and the doctors had finally decided it was a blood-based cancer that was tearing him down.  It was so sad to see him like that.


I headed out of Tampa around 10 AM and stopped at the Tampa Christian Supply to pick up a few more things that I thought I might need as I began my new adventure at Trinity UMC. I was shopping when my cell phone rang.  It was my Mom calling to tell me that my Dad had just passed away.  I was dumbstruck.  Here I was, leaving town, leaving my family behind and heading out to a new and somewhat scary place, and now my Dad- without a doubt the most important influence in my life- was gone.  My head was spinning.  I could not imagine how we were going to tell Will.  This was not just his grandfather (Paw-Paw) who had died- this was his best friend.  My 10 year-old son was hardly ready for this.  I was hardly ready for this.  I called Marilyn and told her the news and that my plans had changed.  I called Trinity UMC and told them I would not be arriving that day, or anytime that week.  All of the energy and excitement that had been building in me for this new opportunity and this new ministry was drained in one 5 minute phone call.  I was very frustrated with God's timing, and I told Him so.


My Dad had wanted to be cremated, and we honored those wishes.  Mom didn't really want to do any kind of formal service, but after some convincing she agreed to a memorial service in North Carolina in May so that all of our extended family and friends could remember my Dad, who through coaching and chaperoning youth trips had been a huge part of so many lives.  The story of that amazing day will be told here soon enough.  I eventually made my way to Waycross on February 22nd.  My usual positive attitude, however, would lag far behind.  Instead of hitting the ground running and getting off to a flying start, my energy would now be invested in just trying to survive and advance.  Fortunately, even when we doubt, even when we are frustrated, even when we feel all alone- God is faithful.  Things did get off to a good start at Trinity UMC, despite me.  Those stories will begin next week.  I hope you all have a blessed weekend.


Because of Jesus,

CCM Thursday: The Holy Books

I first became aware of James Ward at the 1982 National Youth Workers Convention, when this James Taylor looking dude took the main stage and absolutely blew us away with piano playing and soulful voice.  Later on, he would would do concerts for us at North Carolina Yearly Meeting sessions and at Youthquake '91 in Vermont.  For many years he served as the musical director for Youth Specialties at the NYWC.  But the most important thing James ever did for me was teach me to rap...


I had already passed my 30th birthday in 1990 when I started to get serious about memorizing scripture (for really the first time since my childhood).  Among the things I wanted to commit to memory were all of the books of the bible.  In 1985, James had written a rap called The Holy Books, and I decided to use it to help me with my memorization.  It worked like a charm. To this day if I need to locate a particular book of the bible in my mind, watch my lips.  You may see them move as I silently rap my way through the Old and New Testaments.  I used to perform the rap on occasion, only to prove that I could really do it!  :)


In July of 2010 I put together a little video of the song and posted it to YouTube as a teaching aid for anyone trying to learn the Holy Books.  As that video approaches 10,000 views, I thought I would share it with my blog readers for the first time.  It is cheesy.  It's silly.  But it works.  And I can promise you from personal experience- learn this song and you'll never forget the books of the bible again!  Enjoy, and have a blessed day!

Hitting the Ground Running

I had many faults and flaws as a youth pastor during my 28 years of service to churches, but there were two areas in which I consistently excelled.  I always left a church in a strong and positive way, making sure the students knew I was never leaving because of them.  And I always arrived at a new ministry with goals, focus, a plan in mind and energy to spare. In other words, I always hit the ground running!  Normally these two events took place in close proximity to each other; I would depart one ministry and arrive at the next within the same week.  In January of 2006 I prepared to go to Trinity UMC of Waycross, GA after 6 months of rest, prayer and planning.  They had no idea what was about to hit them!


I set my arrival date at February 15, 2006.  Since I would be spending several months away from Marilyn and Will (who would remain in Tampa through the end of the school year), I wanted to spend Valentine's Day with them; I could head north after that.  In the meantime, I began to brainstorm ideas and programs for my first few months in Waycross.  I would be free of my own family responsibilities, which meant I would have loads of time to visit families and see ballgames, concerts plays and any other events the youth of TUMC were involved in.  I knew going in that the active youth fell into two main groups; middle school girls and high school boys.  I would need to reach out and try to bring back those who had dropped out, and also build bridges between those who were there.  I also knew that I would spend lots of time early on trying to renovate the two houses on campus that the youth had been meeting in.  One was not terrible (it had a Hawaiian theme and needed a fierce cleaning); the other was an absolute disaster.  My office was also in that house, and it was beyond help.  I would be starting from scratch- there was not even a desk.  I begin to order some things to help spruce the place up a bit.  I wanted to make an impression.


I then discovered that the first weekend in February was to be a big one at TUMC.  On Saturday, there would be an all-day church planning conference, as each area of ministry shared their goals and ideas for the coming year.  On Sunday, the youth would be having a big Super Bowl party at the home of a couple who helped out with the ministry and their high school boys.  I decided that I needed to be there for both of those events, and the church and the youth were thrilled at my excitement.  As usual, I didn't just spectate- I jumped in with ideas and challenges on Saturday and by helping on Sunday.  By the time the weekend was over, I felt like a part of the church family, and there were still two weeks before my first official Sunday.  I could not wait to get started.  I really felt like God was getting me ready to do a great work in Waycross.


But life happens.  I didn't actually arrive on February 15th- it was a week later.  By the time I got there, my whole life had changed, and my energy levels were way down.  I had been so excited about what I could do.  Now it was time to once again let Jesus carry me.  That story is coming Friday.


Because of Jesus,

Heroes: Senator Mark Hatfield

Sen. Mark O. Hatfield

I have never been a person to be very involved in the world of politics- unless you count complaining as being involved.  There was a time however, in which I was very outspoken about a particular political hot button.  In the last 1970s and early 1980s the threat of global thermonuclear was was very real.  Our government and that of the former Soviet Union had spent years building and stockpiling nuclear weapons, and the possibility of their use led many Christian pacifists to take up a "sword of peace" in the name of Jesus.  Many of those (like myself) who did this were wild-eyed young radicals with little to lose.  One who took a stand that could have cost him everything was Senator Mark Hatfield of Oregon.  He passed away Sunday, and so today I want to remember the only political hero I have ever had.


As early as 1966, Senator Hatfield was working in the U.S. senate to end the war in Vietnam.  Later, he was a republican senator at a time when what we now know as the conservative movement was just beginning.  He was an evangelical Christian at a time when evangelicals were first finding their political clout.  As Jerry Falwell's Moral Majority ( I had a button on my office bulletin board for years that said, "The Moral Majority is neither!") began to organize and campaign for Ronald Reagan in the late 1970s, Senator Hatfield found himself at odds with both his republican and evangelical friends.  For those of you old enough to remember those years, imagine being an evangelical republican opposed to Ronald Reagan. It was not an easy path.  He was a tireless worker for peace because he believed that the way of peace was the way of Jesus.  Over the following years he pushed for things like nuclear disarmament, a Nuclear Freeze and the Law of the Sea Treaty.  He did all of those things not because there was political gain got be made (quite the opposite), but because he believed they were issues that Jesus would be concerned about.  He took the words of Christ about peacemaking very seriously. And this willingness to follow Jesus often put him at odds with his contemporaries in evangelical politics.  I first became a fan when he began to champion the concept of a World Peace Tax Fund.  I had friends and colleagues who had begun to refuse to pay, or to attempt to designate for other things, the portion of their taxes that were being spent on the military, which was well over 60 cents on the dollar at the time.  Some went to jail for this protest. Senator Hatfield helped to promote the idea that if a special tax fund were set up for those who didn't want their money spent on war, then a compromise could be found.  This never came to pass, and the good Senator found himself enemy #1 of groups like the Reagan republicans and the Moral Majority.  At one point, he was #1 on their hit list of people that they wanted to defeat in the next election.  I remember my total disbelief as a Christian group tried to defeat the most outspoken follower of Jesus in the senate.  Such things no longer shock me...


So today I celebrate the life of Mark Hatfield as he goes to be with his God by remembering that his life is a reminder of what the Jesus Revolution should look like.  His life was driven by his belief in the teachings of Jesus.  He was not perfect, nor always right- but he stood up for his beliefs in a very public forum even when most of the rest of the world stood against them.  He is a reminder that no one political party or perspective holds the truth- only Jesus does.  And for me, Senator Hatfield's life is a beacon to us all.  The Jesus Revolution is about standing for what is right- even if you are standing alone.  


Because of Jesus,