breaking things: video
This was from halftime last night. It always amazes me that students get so excited over this.
building/ space issues
I am really excited. God has been doing some really great things this year in our student ministry. Students are starting to actively read their Bibles. We have seen multiple students give their lives to Christ. We moved from Sunday nights to Wednesday nights and have seen an explosion in growth over it. We have gone from around 30 students weekly to 50 weekly. God has done some amazing things and the thing is we continue to grow. So we have been exploring options over the past few months in Deacon meetings. I have shared my vision of someday seeing a student ministry center for BSM that could be used for other church functions as well.
At one of our last Deacons meetings we decide to rent our local legion hall (the Allee Building) to give it a trial run fro a few weeks before our Annual Business Meeting where we would propose the idea of renting the building through next school year to the congregation. Everything was set and ready to go. We announced the 3 week trial to our parents at our parents meeting this past Sunday. We told the kids last night. Then this morning I found out that the deal had fallen through on their end for various reasons. It is frustrating because we desperately need the space. We are running out of meeting room and we need a space for games. One of the things I was excited about coming into Bethel was that we have a nice gym. The thing is we can’t use the gym because our AWANA ministry uses it all night and it leaves us with no time to use the gym. So frustrating. We need space.
It’s interesting that last night I talked on the sovereignty of God and how he is in control of our past present and future. Talk about putting your faith into action. Here I’ve got a great REAL LIFE application of resting in God’s sovereignty as I go in to next Wednesday night now. God has a funny way of allowing us to experience parts of his divine nature at some of the oddest times – but he IS sovereign.
So here we are back at square one. I do know that we have to enter back into the conversation on a Deacon level of space and how to resolve it. I don’t know what that looks like. I do have some ideas of what it could look like. Stepping out in faith is scary but that’s what God wants from us. To step out and chase him and the vision he gives us even when it scares the living daylights out of us. Pray for us – God is moving and it’s obvious. Pray that God brings about the right solution for us.
I KNOW he will becuase he is SOVEREIGN and has it all under control.
living healthy: spiritually an physically // vol. 2
I have been spending the past few days in my Proverbs journal for my devotions then I read a chapter from Wild Goose Chase by Mark Batterson. I am challenged all around right now. While Provers gives daily wisdom Wild Goose Chase is challenging my to step out of my cage and go after the God-given desires of my heart – because no one else can chase them for me….only I can chase them for myself. It has really been a great book. I am going to recommend it to a few people (probably loan it out) when I get done with it. It’s so good. The ‘wild goose’ is the Holy Spirit which is the English translation of what the Celtic-Christians call the holy Spirit ‘An Geadh-Glas’ which translates ‘the wild goose.’ I love Marks candor in the book. Mark is the Pastor of the National Community Church in Washington, DC. Once I am done with the book I will give a full review on it – but for now I don’t want to spoil the book other than to say it is good – really good.
The one thought I have really been challenged with was when Mark was talking about the parable of the ‘Good Samaritan.’ Here is what he said;
Hurry kills everything from compassion to creativity. And when you’re in a hurry, you don’t have time to get out of your routine, do you? No room for Spirit-led spontaneity. No time for Wild Goose chases. Here is the great irony: the priest and the Levite were probably on their way to the temple. They were so busy loving God that they didn’t have time to love their neighbor. And that is when our routines become counterproductive. Let’s be honest. We can get so busy doing “ministry” that we don’t have time for ministry.
This is so true. I’ve seen it in my own life over the past 6 months. I have been asked to do things and have become so busy doing “ministry” that I have forgotten to do ministry. God has really been convicting me of that big time. So I made a phone call and apologized for not being as proactive as I should have been in some things that I said I would do. There is freedom in forgiveness and freedom in seeking forgiveness. How have you gotten so busy doing “ministry” that you haven’t been able to do ministry or have become so STUCK in your routine and so GUARDED with your time that you have blocked things that God wants for you? I know I have but I am trying hard to undo those things.
I am looking forward to journaling through Proverbs and finishing the Wild Goose Chase over the coming weeks. There is something more satisfying than pursuing spiritual fitness than physical. Without both we will die though – that’s something to think about.
I joined our gyms ‘Winter Meltdown’ this past week. It’s a 12 week contest to lose weight and get in shape for summer. The winner gets the entry fees from four different Anytime Fitness clubs in the area. Honestly even if I don’t win I’m already a winner. It will definitely help keep me motivated to drop the rest of the weight I want to lose by summer. I’m down another 4lbs this week. That’s pretty exciting for me.
What’s even more exciting is pursuing God the way He wants me to.
haiti: my response
When I heard the news of the earthquake in Haiti I couldn’t believe it. An earthquake so severe that some are even calling it ‘apocalyptic’ of nature. There is no doubt that it is bad. Then this morning they were rocked with another earthquake of a 6.1 magnitude. This little nation is just getting hammered – hard right now. The pictures are just devastating. So many people have lost their lives. So many families impacted forever. Missionaries have fled from Haiti because of fear. Some are saying this is Haiti’s judgment from God for being a nation of voo doo and not worshiping God. Others are getting mad at some who are vocally outspoken in saying that. If we carefully read through the OT we know God judges nations who turn from him or who never acknowledge him. In Romans we know God says he turns people over to their desires sometimes. These are tough passages in times of devastation like what is going on in Haiti.
Here’s my thought: God has set the stage for His Gospel (a message of hope) to go in to Haiti to reach this little nation. Lately I have been feeling a tug at my heart for Haiti – it’s devastation but also the brokenness of the people there. I don’t know that God is calling me to do anything more than pray for Haiti. I do know in the past couple of days I have had a few conversations of going to Haiti in the future to help with relief/ rebuilding. Each of these were unprovoked by me. I was approached. I can’t say for sure God is calling me to go but the more I think about it the more I want to go.
Still I’m not sure it’s God saying, “Go.” I do know this – I will continue to pray about it and ask some questions. Maybe find a good ministry to volunteer through if God opens that door. God calls some of us to give money and some of us to go and do physical labor and help to share the Gospel. The thing is that whatever God calls us to is no more important than the other. It’s about being a good steward of what He is calling you to do with your time and resources.
What is God calling you to do for Haiti or for your local church? Maybe it’s pray. Maybe it’s send money. Maybe it’s go. Whatever it is He is calling you to be a good steward of that.
rock what you got
Secretly…I really like this song.
i don’t have words…
Last week every time i ran into someone from Bethel they would say things like, “Hey that was a great article on you in the paper” or “You must be really proud” or “You’re doing such a great job.” Every time I would politely say “Thank you” and wonder to myself, “What is going on?” Back in November one of my students interviewed me for a paper he had to write at school. What he didn’t realize was that they would be published in the local newspaper for all to see. He was almost as shocked as I was. I can’t find the article online so I thought I would post it here. I’ve never had this happen before so I think it’s pretty cool and it’s a HUGE encouragement.
People With An Impact by Matt Baughman
A frantic student reaches for his cell phone hoping someone will care about the things he has just gone through. He flips through the contact list for someone who knows what really is going on. He anxiously goes through the list two or three times until a name catches his attention. He empties his heart into the message including the maximum amount of short hand possible and he still doesn’t have room for everything he needs to get out. He thinks about sending another message to get the rest out, but a message comes back almost instantly saying the other person will be right there. The student feels a sigh of relief go through his exhausted body. Finally somebody will listen to him.
This situation is not an uncommon occurrence for a youth pastor. Most youth pastors will meet with a student at any time of the day if there is a situation that needs to be dealt with. Very few can relate to a student’s problems like Chris Day. Growing up as a kid who didn’t fit in with any particular group of kids, Chris was picked on for most of his student life. This background and other events in his life have lead Chris into being an easy person to dump problems onto. There isn’t much that students go through that Chris hasn’t worked with in his ten plus years of being a youth pastor.
Spilling your heart to Chris can be a very uplifting experience. He can hold a lot on his huge shoulders. Having a background in powerlifting has made him physically strong, but things in his past and his strong faith have made him very emotionally strong. Looking at Chris, anybody would think he was a person they do not want to mess with, be he truly dislikes preconceptions about him. While he understands the reasons for people’s feelings, he does not like to hear people have negative feelings about him. When asked if he agrees with the preconception that his feelings are different than someone smaller than him he said, “It is really not true at all. I think judging people on appearances is one of the weaknesses that we fall to within our culture. We always seems to judge every book by its cover, and we do the same with people in general. i think the preconception that because I am a big strong guy and that I don’t have the same feelings as any other person is really too bad for those who choose to not get to know me. Once you get to know me, you find out that I am really sensitive, maybe even more sensitive than most.”
Getting to know Chris this past year, by spending a lot of time with him, this statement is completely true. There have been times where I have seen his softer side come out in heavy doeses. Everytime this happens, the level of respect I have for him increases. He has been the strongest influence on my life since he moved to Newell. Chris has one of the biggest hearts that a person will ever see. When a member of our church is sick or in the hospital, Chris is one of the first people to go visit them and offer encouragement. This is not because he feels obliged because of his job in the church, but he genuinely wants to visit congregation members. “I have always had a deep compassion for people in general. I realized my love/ passion for students when I was a junior in high school. My love for students was finally cemented when I was a sophomore in college and felt the call to go into full-time ministry to students,” said Chris.
After a few hours of getting thing off his chest the student finally feels that someone cares about his problems. He knows that when he has a problem, Chris is just a few seconds away.
I was blown away to read it. I am humbled and baffled that I could have such an impact. This is the legacy I want to leave.
living healthy: spiritually and physically // vol. 1
I am excited about a few things:
- we have had one or 2 students complete B90X with me and we are starting it again
- I am going to start journaling as I spend time reading through Proverbs for my personal study time
- things are going really well both physically and ministry wise right now
I started this new series after completing my goal of losing 100lbs. So why a new series and not just continuing the journey to 100? Since I have completed my goal I thought it was time for something new and something that focuses on the spiritual and not just the physical…bot or hugely important and spiritual health is way more important than physical health. Don’t get me wrong physical health is very important but spiritual health trumps it. It would be easy to think I’m all about fun and games and physical accomplishments but I’m really not. While I like to have fun and love accomplishing things physically I enjoy a good theological conversation far more. I always have hands down. So I’m hoping to bring that to the mix this time around as well.
I worked out hard this week but I don’t think I ate enough and so it’s reflected in my weigh-in this week. Overall though things are going really well working out. I crave going to the gym now. I used to look forward to going to the gym and it’s now one of my favorite things to do again – which I am excited about!
Stats…
Last update: 290
This week: 286
4 pounds is 4 pounds and I’m proud of it. Down one more notch on the belt again. It has definitely been a confidence booster. I’m looking forward to summer – I’m hoping to be lighter than I was as a sophomore in college. I’m glad to be able to be a better steward of the temple God has given me – spiritually and physically.
living healthy: spiritually and physically
I have been wanting to keep updating my blog audience of my progress with my getting back into shape. Since I completed my goal of losing 100lbs I didn’t want to keep blogging about my journey to 100. So I have been giving it some thought lately and I’ve decided to blog once a week, or every other week, about living healthy both spiritually and physically. I will still be giving updates on weight-loss but I am also planning on sharing Scriptural thoughts on living healthy spiritually. I have no idea what it’s going to look like yet – but this is a new series for 2010 and I’m sure it will develop through the year as I go.
My goal for fitness this year is to drop another 60lbs from where I’m at then re-evaluate how I feel/ where I’m at and go from there. Spiritually I am planning on doing the B90X program a few times this year. I would like to do it through at lest twice. I’m really looking forward to that actually.
So here’s where I’m at physically:
Last update: 298
This week: 290
Total: 111 (since January 17 2009)
I feel really good about the 8 pound drop. My last update was about 3 weeks ago. The week of New Years Eve I went back to my parents and ate…and ate…I did ok but man I ate a ton. This past week I’ve been sick with the flu and an abscessed tooth so I’ve just mainly had soups all week. I love soup but I am really looking forward to moving away from soup this next week.
So here we go on a new year long series of living healthy: spiritually and physically.
changes for 2010
I have been thinking about making some big changes for a while. More personally than ministry related but still these changes will have an impact on my ministry. Over the past few years I have felt myself drifting more and more into “social media.” Social media isn’t bad or evil in and of itself – but when it becomes something that takes half of your time through the day then I think it’s something to address and deal with. Lets be honest in our culture today everything is shifting to social media so we can be connected. This really weirds some people out and really excited/ draws others in. For me, it really drew me in. Like many others I have an online community that follows what I am doing or what is going on in my life. Now there are some great pros to this. I can post a prayer request and have literally hundreds of people praying for different things. I can get ministry advice in minutes. But there are cons; it takes time to develop this community and sustain it. It can take away from your work or life. Social media is made to enhance our lives but really it can take away from it if we let it. We can get to the place where we use it to see how much value we have which is a false reality and it isn’t how God values us.
So in 2010 I am making some changes in how I use social media personally. Starting this week I will begin to ween myself down to one Twitter post a day. I will also only be making one Facebook status update once a day OR every other day. From here on they will pertain MOSTLY to blog posts. I will continue to use TXTSignal for our student ministry updates as well as Facebook.
I will also be drastically changing how I spend my time online and through the day. I haven’t gotten my daily schedule down just yet but this week I will have it broken into blocks for studying/ reading, responding to phone calls/ emails and lesson development. I will post more on the breakdown of my day as I develop it more. It will definitely be a structure change I need to make to become more effective as a Youth Pastor. These changes will not come easy and will be met with resistance but I know it will happen.
What changes do you need to make for 2010? Notice these aren’t resolutions – they are lifestyle changes.
the biggest change…
When I decided to go on my journey of losing 100lbs I did it purely for me. I was tired of being tired. I was tired of eating, and eating and feeling horrible. It’s funny because now I’ve got people asking me how I did it and if I feel any different. I feel a lot different honestly. I can run up flights of stairs without getting winded. Heck I can even walk up 8-12 steps without getting winded. I have more energy. I am proud of myself – which I haven’t been in a while. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel – knocking off another 50-60 by summer.
So what’s the biggest change?
My wardrobe or lack of it. I have spent the past few days doing a deep clean of the clothes I can no longer wear because they are too big. I’ve got four 55 gallon trash bags full of clothes to give to Goodwill now. So now my problem isn’t not having clothes because they are too small. Now my problem is not having clothes to wear because everything is too big and needs to be thrown out. It’s a great feeling. I kept some things from a few years ago that I really liked and they fit pretty good back then. Now they are baggy on me. My clothes are the biggest change.
I’ve got enough to get me through until March I think. March should be when I hit my second goal and can actually buy clothes for the long haul. It will be so nice. I am not looking forward to actually buying a whole new wardrobe either. My rough guess is that it will be $1k-$1500 (at the least) since I’ll be buying dress clothes and everything. Clothes are expensive. Good thing I can do it in short bursts.
