We continue to be amazed at the generosity of our people towards the tragedy in Haiti. Contributions to date are growing close to the $5,000 number.  Thank you for your faithfulness. You truly are giving people.  Continue to pray for the relief efforts taking place in Haiti.

Many have asked whether trips are planned to Haiti from our church, and the answer is yes and no. No, we do not have any current trips planned.  Yes, our hope is to go in the future. We made a decision, since our missions program is still new and being formed, that we could best serve the country with immediate needs by sending cash to World Vision, one of the many reputable organizations already on the ground. They know the immediate needs of the country and can best access where funds are spent.  We are being told that the country is not ready to receive large numbers of volunteers at this time and that our help will be much more needed in the months to come.  We will keep you posted.  

Immanuel, God with us.. Very powerful words. It hit me this morning while doing my quiet time, I was reading the Christmas story in Matthew. And there it was, the words just jumped out at me ” Immanuel, God with us “now I have read those words a hundred times but it hit me this morning, it made me realise how often in my 25 years of ministry  I have felt alone. I am just being honest here, but full time ministry can be a very lonely life at times. As a matter of fact, there were so many times when I felt like just giving up and go to work at Costco ( yep you heard me, Costco )  but in reality, ministry is a calling, and it is a calling that we were never meant to be alone in. Yes I will get tired at times, I will get frustrated at times, and yes, I will feel lonely at times. But God reminded me today, I am not in this alone, and if I was, well I would have been gone a long time ago. Immanuel, God with us! We are not alone!

The other day I heard a phrase that I have heard many many times…’ just what this town needs..another new church’ come to think of it, I am sure I have made that comment myself over the years. When I heard it the other day, it struck me differently for some reason. Maybe this town does need a new church! Now the town that I live in has many many churches, and in some parts there truly is one on every corner. I use to view new church start-ups as disgruntle church folks, you know, I don’t like this or I don’t like that, so I am going to take my toys and go home or in this case I am going to start a new church that does things my way…. Well, maybe that is not so bad. In the church that I work for at, we have many small groups, and we would like to see more small groups, WHY.. because it gives our folks a chance to connect with other people and Jesus. I know that in some small groups, it is theme based, or a certain study that interest them, or a singles group or divorce group. We call that healthy, I call that healthy. I view small groups as more of the original church. So who is to say that only a couple of churches can be good. My wife Julies always used this phrase when it came to our children personalities ‘ everyone is born with a song to sing and a dance to dance’ well that holds true of all of us. Some like there church small, some like them BIG, some like loud music, some like quiet. But all said and done, I don’t care how many churches we have in town, just as long as they are pointing them to Jesus. Loud or quiet, small or big, lets just get our communities turned on to Christ love! Maybe it;s time for a new church in town.

To all you worn out ,under paid, under appreciated, taken for granted, glorified babysitters, and please make sure you bring the van back with a full tank of gas, all my sleeping bags come from the camp lost & found and why do I keep having the same dream about a mega pizza. ( Youth Pastors ) This video is for you. I think it pretty much sums it all up. You guys ROCK! watch?v=HPI2xYtso-s

Death brings pain no matter what the circumstances, but when it strikes a young person it can be devastating. Our hearts are breaking today for the family of a teenager who died this week after football practice at Ft. Campbell High School. This young man was only 16 years old, well loved by family and friends and a member of Ft. Campbell’s Club Beyond. We are so thankful for the ministry of Gil and Patti Carter, who lead Club Beyond at Ft. Campbell and were immediately available to counsel with teenagers and families, in the midst of their own hurt. Gil and Patti are in place in that community because of the faithful support of people like you, who see the need for ministry to military teens. I know that at military bases across the country, ministry to military teens is happening on a daily basis. It is that daily work that earns us the right to be in the middle of great tragedy and speak the name of Jesus in tough situations. My role is to support people like Gil and Patti, and help them reach as many teenagers as possible through the ministry of Club Beyond.

We spent a few days in Southern California after my mom’s memorial service, and one afternoon while eating lunch I struck up a conversation with two ladies sitting nearby. (My kids look at each other and roll their eyes when I do this but it hasn’t stopped me yet). They asked where we were from, which leads to the almost inevitable question of “what do you do?” I always enjoy sharing with people about the ministry of YFC Military Youth Ministries. Many people have some connection to someone in the military, so it resonates with them and they are excited to learn more about it. It turns out that these ladies were married to men who had served in the military many years ago, and they were revisiting some of the duty stations where they had lived. Before they left they slipped a bill into my hands, and said, “we know it’s just a drop in the bucket, but we want to help any way we can.” What a great reminder that God can use any situation to further His work! We are so excited about what God is doing through the ministry of MYM and glad to have an opportunity to share that with others.

So the world blogs now. At first I thought the word blog was a definition for not feeling well. Then my oldest son Tony and a few friends told me that I needed to BLOG. So what does a 46 year old worn out youth pastor blog about. Well maybe the fact that I am a 46 year old worn out youth guy. Or maybe the fact that I am going on my 25th year of ministry ( fundraising my support most of the way ), Well let me start with this. I am a ex jock, I really do not know what that means, but that is what I claim to be. Most of my life up until the age of 22 centered around football and only football, if it had nothing to do with football then I had nothing to do with it. As far as God was concerned, WELL, he didn’t have much to do with football so I had nothing much to do with him. It took God 22 years to get my attention, and trust me that was not easy, it took some pretty Major shakeups in my life to get to the point for me to even listen to him. Skip ahead to a new Christian guy hanging out in a small Baptist church in Utah ( Ya Baptist church in Utah ) the pastor asked me one Sunday If I would mind hanging out with some of the bored teenagers in the church. I had a real problem with this, I DID NOT like kids, heck I barely liked people. Now back then there were very few youth pastors in this world, like there is today with Middle school pastor, high school pastor, college pastor, guys pastor, girls pastor, friends of guys and girls pastor, I will stop now. So being a good new christian guy who is trying to get his life turned around and please his new pastor I said NO! Turned out that this pastor was a stubborn pastor. So after a few weeks I gave in. I hooked up with 6 high school guys and went and shot hoops. So here I sit 25 years later telling my self I should have told that pastor NO! Being in full time youth ministry has truly been a real pain. Yep I said real pain. For 25 years I have not gotten to bed befor midnight, I have driven nothing but old, used or borrowed cars. I hear that you can get some other kind of bank account called a SAVINGS account, wouldn’t know about that, and more than once my wife and friends have asked what I am going to do when I grow up. I have performed funerals, I have told a drunk dad that his son has died,if I hear one more time that” my boyfriend broke up with me’ I am going to pop, I have spent way to many years in a stinky old juvenile hall. I have consumed more pizza then any man should and swallowed gold fish that I am sure will some day kill me.

And I have got to say, I would not trade any one of those years or moments for the world. I cant Waite to see what the next 25 years might hold. It ain’t easy, but there is nothing better.

Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body. But rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming: WOW! WHAT A RIDE!!

“Thanks for coming in and have a great day!” These are the most common farewell words used at our Teen Pregnancy Center. All though they are sincere and caring words, we want to see them slowly disappear. Ok, now that I have you really confused, let me explain. Typically when a young lady comes into our center doors she is scared and confused. We generally get to spend 45 minutes with her to give her a pregnancy test, explain her options, listen to her story, and let her know that Jesus loves her no matter what. However, the staff and I want to see that 45 minutes turn into a year long relational ministry time. We want her first visit to be just the beginning of a relationship with The Center. Here are the steps that we are putting into place in order to make that happen:

Parenting classes: A weekly afternoon class that runs for 8 weeks. About 75 girls attend each year.
Mom2Mom: Our mentoring ministry that matches up a young mom to a Godly woman in the community for a year.
Hope Chest: A ministry that includes baby and maternity clothes from Josephine’s Closet, as well as needs based donations of diapers, formula, and food.

These are just a few ways that we are trying to become more relevant in their lives. These ministries provide us with an avenue to truly develop a relationship with that young lady allowing more time for them to be loved and experience the love of Jesus.

Talk is cheap, the easy thing to do is try to just save the baby and pat our selfs on the back. But Jesus was never into the easy thing. These girls need hope, they need real love, they need grace and they need Jesus. That can not all happen in a 45 minute time frame. We all need to start investing into the lives of teenagers, we need to be able to let them hear AND see Jesus.

Talk is cheap! Show them Jesus.

One of the things I enjoy most about my job is the opportunity I have to get to know new staff. During an Military Community Youth Ministries “discernment” weekend, people from all over the country gather at MCYM headquarters in Colorado Springs to find out more about working with military teenagers. These weekends are like extended interviews, both for the prospective staff to learn about MCYM and for us to learn about the staff. I have been blessed to meet some really great people, and continue to be impressed by the folks that God is bringing from all over the country who are willing to say, “Here I am, send me”! All those that come on staff are required to raise a significant portion of their salary. The great news is that the possibility of fund-raising does not seem to be deterring people from wanting to serve in this ministry! The last few recruitment weekends MCYM has hosted have been full. Those that are called to this ministry are confident in God’s ability to provide for their needs, in spite of the struggling economy. These people are my heroes. They know and feel Gods call on their lives and they ACT. This is a hard time to raise missionary money to minister to Military brats. But then again The worlds economy is not Gods economy. Keep listening for his call, ya never know!

What a great group of people. These folks dedicate their lives to some hurting kids.

Come and help me out with the youth group. Those are very dangerous words, yet I think most of us in ministry have used them many times. To be blunt.. how arrogant can we be… And yes I was the most arrogant of them all. Let me tell you what I mean. When I first got into youth ministry back in the 80’s I was a one man show, a lone ranger. I knew that God had called me to youth ministry, so I took that call very seriously and wanted to make sure it was done RIGHT! So I was pretty sure that I was the only one who could really do it right. My first couple of years I did not even use volunteers,I guess I did not trust anyone else. After going to a couple of youth ministries training’s I was finally convinced to get some volunteers to HELP ME out. So what that meant was very simple, come HELP me. Those first lucky volunteers got the privilege of sitting in the back of the room and making sure everyone behaved during the program, and if they were really good volunteers I would allow them to hand out cookies… WOW. But I could not figure out why all of my volunteers would leave after a couple of months of shushing kids and handing out cookies. I just thought they did not have what it took to be in the world of Youth Ministry. After all, I did all the hard stuff, welcome, announcements, music, games and speaking, why were they leaving. Finally I had some one who was honest enough with me to speak the truth, ROG I know that God has better things for me to do then hand out cookies. Finally God got my attention, ministry was NOT ABOUT ME. Yep it was not all about me. And guess what, it is Not our Youth Ministry, it is Gods, and he has just simply allowed us to be a part of it. But lets take this a step further, think about our ministries. When I was a one man show, it was OK,but I have to think that the kids got sick of seeing me on stage all the time , every week. Maybe we need to realise that someone out there just might lead music better then we do, or lead games. Don’t we want to give our kids the best,give God the best. We may not always be the best. Sense God finally got it through my thick head, our ministry has grown and has defiantly gotten better. It is simple multiplication, If I can appeal and reach 15 to 20 kids, what if I train 15 adults who can reach and appeal to 15 or 20 kids, well now we are making a impact. At my last ministry we had a car ministry, I hate car stuff, but I had a volunteer leader who loved cars, so every week he had a group of 10 to 15 guys and they would work on each other cars and just hang out and talk about life.

Maybe it is time for us (The Professional ) to take a back seat and spend most of our time training and investing into the lives of the adults that God throws our way. After all it is not ALL ABOUT US right!

Oh YA, you just might have someone who loves handing out cookies…. Let them.

Well I just don’t like it here, I don’t get along with the Pastor, I don’t get along with the Director, I just don’t get along with anybody! Man I have heard that so many times over the years. I love what Philippians 4:12 says ” I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength” WOW, those are powerful words to live by. I think in today’s society we have taken on a attitude of ” if you don’t like it or your uncomfortable, well I need to get out’. I don’t hear Paul saying that here. In today’s ministry we have so many great ministers out there jumping ship! WHY? I really believe that in the youth ministry world we jump the fastest. My challenge to you…. before you leave, really ask your self why, did God change his mind? Is it harder than you thought it was going to be, or are you just simply bored ( I can get that way ) or are you simply being attacked by the one who most defiantly does not want you ministering to people and especially TEEN’S. Ministry can be tough, it can be disappointing, it can flat wear you out. Yet God called YOU! He believes in you, he trust you to love on those who he loves the most. Not everyone is called to full time ministry, as a matter of fact few people are. But he called you, you are the one he says can do all things through HIM. So before you say good bye to those precious sheep that God has placed in your life. ask your self this simple question… Is it all about me or God. Ministry will kick your butt at times, no doubt about it. You will have struggles, you will not always get along with the person that God has put over you. But in my opinion, real ministry only starts to happen after the first 5 years. There are still many years of great ministry out there for you, GO live it!

There are times when God will call us away or move us, just make sure it is not all about you, but about HIM!