The ADD Youth Pastor

Carrying the Lesson Home

2012-01-10T13:01:00.003-05:00

This week we are starting something new with our youth ministry. Often we do our talk at youth group and then hope it sticks and perhaps cause the students (and leaders) to do some reflection and application during the week. If you are like me you often get home from church and get busy with life during the week and even have a hard time remembering what you learned Sunday. We will be posting

Preparing Your Kids for Worship

2012-01-05T14:11:00.004-05:00

What are you instilling into your son or daughter about worship? If more is "caught" than "taught", what does your life teach your kids about worshipping the one true and living God and our Lord Jesus Christ? As a dad and youth pastor these are a couple of questions that have been rolling around my mind this week. So here are some quick thoughts:1. Make worship a part of your own personal daily

New Youth Room

2011-12-15T09:57:00.003-05:00

We are closing in fast on finishing the construction on our new youth room. After the construction is finished we start "outfitting" the room. We have even asked our church to give a special Christmas gift to Christ this year by giving to help us finish out the room. The gift isn't about the stuff inside but there is more to the reason and purpose of this room.There will be 5 flat screens and

Consumerism Starts Young

2011-10-20T09:44:00.004-04:00

(I haven't posted in a long time)This Saturday night we are showing a movie, having a little "movie night" with the students. The movie is a great film about a girl who goes through a terrible tragedy and turns that tragedy into an opportunity to share the love of Jesus Christ and the power of God with others. We took the students to see it when it was released in the theaters.Last night after

The ADD Youth Pastor Prepares for Hurricane

2011-08-24T05:00:00.000-04:00

Change in Youth Ministry

2011-08-14T21:17:00.003-04:00

Starting in September we move from a youth group gathering for all students in middle and high school to two different nights, one for middle and one for high school. The whole basis for this change is to better accomplish our purpose of reaching students to discover life in Christ. We want to see students come to know Christ and stay engaged and connected in the youth ministry all the way till

Last Night At Contagious

2011-07-25T13:35:00.004-04:00

11 baptized at Contagious Youth on the Beach last night!!Last night would be categorized as one of the highlights of my time in youth ministry and my time at Nags Head Church. We had a fantastic turn out for Contagious on the beach. Ramon, one of youth team volunteers, shared and had the pods discuss sharing the gospel and sharing our faith.Students focused in on picking a friend to share their

Camp Was A Success!

2011-07-20T16:50:00.003-04:00

We just returned this past Saturday from our first ever Camp Contagious. Our goal was to see student's lives changed. We did! So I think it's safe to say Camp Contagious was successful.We all loaded in vans and drove 11 hours to Pigeon Forge, Tn. There in PF we stayed in a 4 story log cabin that slept 40. It was quite the experiment of meshing all the different personalities into one house.

The Week Before

2011-07-05T11:05:00.002-04:00

The week before camp is always a little hectic.The week before it is good to:>Have all medical releases and waivers turned in so you don't have to deal with that at the same time as checking in kids, their meds, and loading luggage.>Call and check on your van reservations. This give peace of mind and also makes sure there are no glitches. You can't upgrade from a 12 passenger van, only

The Busyness of Summer

2011-06-28T17:55:00.002-04:00

Just realized I haven't blogged for a few weeks. Summer is a busy time!Camp prep is coming along:Whitewater rafting - Check!Cabin reserved - Check!Dollywood Tickets - ordering this week!Campers' Handbooks - Check!Camp Small Group studies - Check!Menu - Check!Vans reserved - Check!Church van serviced - Next week!Med Kit/First Aid Kit - Check!Board and Table Games - Check!Pre Camp Meeting with

Camp Contagious

2011-06-01T14:59:00.001-04:00

Created a new blog for our family and friends to track us while we are on our camp journey.Check it out here

Training

2011-05-26T10:38:00.002-04:00

Great video to show to your youth ministry team even to show during youth worship.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2v0RhvZ3lvY&feature=player_embedded

Observation

2011-05-20T05:00:00.000-04:00

I was invited to be on a question and answer panel at another local church's youth group gathering this week. I was honored they would ask me. Why me? I have no idea but I accepted.Students wrote their questions on 3x5 cards and the panel answered their questions.Of course upon arrival I kicked into evaluation mode. I was watching for a few different things. Mostly looking for students'

Using Apps

2011-05-18T05:00:00.000-04:00

I recently became an iPhone user. Not because I just had to have the latest and greatest but because the speaker in my Blackberry blew up. So now I'm more "tech savvy" but I don't have a clue what my phone is capable of. I do love that it syncs automatically with my macbook and so my calendar on my phone is right on with what is on my lap top. Hopefully that alone will make me more efficient

Would You Consider?

2011-05-17T14:58:00.003-04:00

One of the things I get to do that I enjoy is serve as the chaplain for the Manteo High School football team. Each fall I get the privilege of going over to MHS on game day and have the pre-game meal with the team, hang out with the coaches and then I share a short pre-game devotional under the goal post for the players and coaches who want to attend. By the end of last season most players

Last Night At Contagious

2011-05-16T12:22:00.002-04:00

Hang Time had students and YM team members outside playing ultimate frisbee in the parking lot, others were sitting around chatting together. Some students and YM team members were playing table games inside. The red Kool Aid was especially tasty and gave me a good burst of hyperactivity.Last night was the second installment in our series, Shallow to Deep. We started off with the Contagious

The Reward

2011-05-06T05:00:00.001-04:00

The Disappointments Youth Ministry often has many disappointments and most of those disappointments come in the form of watching a student throw their life away or watching families break apart at the scenes. Being a minister comes in #10 in most stressful jobs and I know why. I’ve watched kids with incredible leadership potential toss it all out the window for something that think is going

Thanks Teachers!

2011-05-05T11:50:00.000-04:00

Apparently this is teacher appreciation day or week or something like that. I was never a good student. I attended school for the social aspects and not for the education. BUT I would like to take some time to thank my teachers and I'm going all the way back to Kindergarten. Some will be omitted because I can see their face but can't remember their names. Some will be omitted because they

When a Plan Doesn’t Come Together

2011-05-04T05:00:00.000-04:00

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Nice Mug!

2011-05-03T13:46:00.004-04:00

I love coffee! I've always been a bit particular about my drinking vessels. (vessels. is that the right word I'm looking for?)I like iced tea in a glass, not plastic or paper cups. I think glass enhances the iced tea flavor by not polluting it with plastic, foam or paper contaminants.I like my coffee in a mug. A big mug! Why? Cause I'm a man.My friend Whitney brought me this mug. Whitney

Last Night At Contagious

2011-05-02T15:44:00.002-04:00

We had a great time together last night at Contagious. Students and leaders played some Polish out on the front lawn. Others were sitting and hanging out together and talking our on the sidewalk. The weather was incredible and we all agree that Contagious at the Beach can't come soon enough (June 5, we move Contagious to Bonnet St. access, mp 11)We took a look at our new series we began last

Shallow to Deep

2011-04-27T05:00:00.001-04:00

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Preventative Maintenance or Crisis Management

2011-04-25T05:00:00.000-04:00

Over the years I have witnessed two types of parenting styles among parents of students.Preventative Maintenance Parenting>Parents begin preparing their child for the teen years at an early age>Parents engaging in discussion with their child about expectations>Parents who clearly define expectations>Parents who clearly define consequences>Parents who work together with their child on a contract>

Our 7 Month 7 Strategies Focus

2011-04-20T05:00:00.000-04:00

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Last Night At Contagious

2011-04-18T09:01:00.002-04:00

Wow! The weather was awesome last night. The majority of students were out in the front yard playing Polish and Cornhole. Inside I saw a mean game of skip bo happening (they seemed to be making up their own rules) and also bananagrams. Some simply sat on the sidewalk and chatted during hang time. It's great to see students and their youth leaders playing games together and engaging in

Last Night At Contagious

2011-04-04T08:05:00.004-04:00

We had a great time last night at Contagious. We read our latest letter from Remilda, our Compassion International child, she is doing great and is excited to be sponsored by our youth group. Remilda is 13 and we chose her because we thought it would be cool for the students to sponsor a kid in their age range. I was dreaming last week: How cool would it be to take a group of students in 5

Church Hopping Starts Young

2011-03-31T13:48:00.003-04:00

Recently while watching a Simply Youth Ministry podcast, episode 156, the question came up concerning students who attend multiple youth groups and multiple Bible studies at multiple churches. What is the affect of a student who “Just wants more of Jesus and more Bible knowledge”? This podcast got me to doing some thinking.Church hopping seems to be almost a part of the culture in our community

Last Night At Contagious

2011-03-28T12:41:00.003-04:00

“Christianity is a list of rules. What if I don’t want to obey the rules and live life my own way? Am I still a Christian?”We continue our series, "Letters from the Mailbox". Students submit their question, verses, topic, etc. and then we build a lesson and small group (POD) discussion around their submission.The above question above was a good one. We had students write down their parent's

We are Going are You?

2011-03-17T11:49:00.000-04:00

Last Night At Contagious

2011-03-14T10:02:00.002-04:00

The weather was beautiful yesterday on the OBX. The weather had an impact on Contagious in two ways:1. Some students missing. This happens every spring when the weather turns nice because families are ready to spend time together outdoors enjoying the great weather together which is great because they have "cabin fever", especially after this past winter. This is a part of the natural ebb and

Last Night At Contagious

2011-03-07T14:31:00.002-05:00

Last night at Contagious we opened another "Letter from the Mailbox" and answered this question: "Why did God put me in the situation I'm in?" 1. God loves you and wants his best for you. John 3:16, John 10:10, Romans 12:122. Three factors to consider about your situation: >Others do wrong. Sometimes our situation is the result of someone else's sin. This is the result

Scheduling Your Team

2011-03-02T08:10:00.002-05:00

I'm not known for having the best memory. It is important as a youth pastor to know who are your team will be at your youth group gathering so you are prepared. Our system used to be "tell Andy" if you aren't going to be there. I would then promptly forget.Our system changed to "give Andy a written note" if you aren't going to be there. I would promptly lose the note and forget.Our system

The Event Envelope

2011-02-24T05:29:00.001-05:00

Years ago I threw sign up sheets away. You know the struggle of a student signs up so his 18 buddies sign up then student changes his mind and crosses off his name then the domino effect.I got tired of that. I also got tired of kids looking first before deciding to go. Be a leader and sign your name up! The kids aren't broke but the system is.So I came up with the envelope system. When we

Planning The Event

2011-02-21T12:33:00.002-05:00

We just wrapped up our 10th The Call here at Nags Head Church. With that in mind and after a super long weekend here are a few thoughts I have about planning an event.>Establish the purpose>Make sure the theme fits the purpose>Acquire a speaker(s) and a band. Lots out there but remember if you want to make it a "big" event it may take a "big" name which leads to the next one:>Establish a budget

The Call 2011

2011-02-18T05:00:00.000-05:00

Tonight we host our 10th The Call here at NHC. Several youth groups will be coming together to worship in music with MP13 and to learn from God as Alex McFarland teaches us. Alex will help students understand the way of God as he unpacks the life of Joseph.Personally, as a youth pastor, I'm stoked about Alex coming and the topic he is teaching on. Every parents and youth leader should do their

The Hiking Emergency

2011-02-17T14:51:00.000-05:00

Sunday Night at Contagious

2011-02-16T07:32:00.004-05:00

Last Sunday night was great at Contagious. Again Bananagrams is a huge game for some reason. The ping pong table saw no rest during Hang Time. The big deal is we rolled out two new 32 inch flat screens on a cart into the Lobby with two Wiis on it. Without a youth room to call our own yet we have to be portable. So the cart has a shelf on the bottom for our box of table games and then the top

Soul Surfer

2011-02-09T16:29:00.004-05:00

Publicizing Events

2011-02-07T08:59:00.003-05:00

Overflow 2011

2011-02-04T07:14:00.003-05:00

This week we have been working on a youth ministry training event for October 28-29. Duffy Robbins is coming to be our main speaker and we plan on having around 15 or so break out sessions to choose from. I'm looking forward to promoting this and seeing how many youth ministry folks from around the area attend. This is the first time we've done something like this.The benefit of hosting this

Tonight at Contagious

2011-01-30T21:25:00.004-05:00

Two students took the step of faith tonight and now have a relationship with God through his Son, Jesus Christ. This is what it is all about!Tonight was "Reunion" night (a student's idea). The goal was to get some students who have been missing to come back and to introduce some new students to Contagious. We met our goal!We continue to do "Letters from the Mailbox" and a student wrote out

"My Ministry"

2011-01-26T07:34:00.003-05:00

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Two Women who Chose Life

2011-01-23T09:30:00.003-05:00

My wife wrote about an incredible moment we experienced because of the miracle of adoption. I thought I would share this with you.I have looked into the eyes of women who chose to ignore the whispers. Chose to rise above the gossip. Chose to be "inconvenienced". Chose to be mocked, teased, looked down upon. Shamed. I love these women. They are brave. Amazing. Unbelievable. Unselfish.

YM Team Retreat

2011-01-21T08:26:00.002-05:00

Tonight we begin our youth ministry team retreat. We have never done this before and I'm excited! Hopefully this weekend will help us to:Be a better team. Ministry is always better when accomplished with someone else.Be better ministers. Students need caring adults in the church investing into their lives.Be closer to God. When you pour out in ministry you must make sure you take time to

Letters From The Mailbox

2011-01-17T06:00:00.001-05:00

We took our second letter from the mailbox tonight and answered the student's question:"How do you know if you have picked good friends?"Big Idea: Friends will either make or break you in your relationship with GodThe righteous choose their friends carefully, but the way of the wicked leads them astray. Proverbs 12:26Did you pick good friends?Friends don’t abandon you10 Never abandon a

The Call 2011, Feb 18-19

2011-01-13T11:45:00.002-05:00

Passion

2011-01-12T05:00:00.000-05:00

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Last Night At Contagious

2011-01-10T10:15:00.001-05:00

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Letters from the Mailbox

2011-01-10T09:56:00.002-05:00

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Another Fine Moment in Youth Ministry

2011-01-08T05:00:00.000-05:00

A picture is worth a thousand words

Happy Birthday Twins

2011-01-07T05:00:00.001-05:00

December 31 we got the call from the adoption agency. We weren't on the list and we weren't pursuing adoption at that time. The agency wanted to know if we would consider adopting twins. It took us about three hours to make the decision.Two years ago Misha and I woke up and packed up and traveled to meet with our adoption agency. We knew the twins were on their way but thought we had 6 weeks

Looking Forward in 2011

2011-01-04T13:53:00.002-05:00

Some of what I have to look forward to in 2011:Beginning the Assimilation Team of NHCYouth Ministry Team retreatThe Call 2011 Our twins turn 2 and our eldest man child turns 7!Impact Outer Banks, a week long local mission event for studentsAnother season for Tubbs Hot DogsInvolvement in the Real Men Eat Lunch connection groupStarting a Bible study for high school students.Launching our full

Flexible During the Holidays

2010-12-19T07:32:00.004-05:00

Youth group gatherings around Christmas can be a little frustrating at times. You put in the time and energy to prepare a talk, write out small group discussion questions, prepare your team, planning the game that requires at least a certain number of people, etc. then have less than a third of your students show up for youth group. I don't know about how things work where you live but around

Critics (Part 5)

2010-12-15T06:00:00.001-05:00

1st Annual Winter YM Team Retreat

2010-12-14T14:48:00.003-05:00

Next month we will be having our first annual youth ministry team winter retreat. I'm excited about this weekend. I look forward to the training we will have, the discussions that will launch off each session. I hope it sharpens us as a team when it comes to investing into the lives of students. In the past we have gone to one day seminars and training events. I would really love to take the

Critics (Part 4)

2010-12-14T06:00:00.000-05:00

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Critics (Part 3)

2010-12-13T06:00:00.001-05:00

Here is the deal, the truth. Websites and blogs, authored by "Christians", that attack other believers and churches is essentially the body of Christ turning on itself, the church attacking the church. When the body attacks itself it is essentially a form of spiritual cancer. This is why I call it Cyber Gossip. Gossip, whether true or false or disguised as a prayer request, is talking or

Critics (Part 2)

2010-12-10T06:00:00.001-05:00

It's a shame but in this age we live in with the technology we have the Internet has become an avenue for what I call, "Cyber Gossip". It is super easy to find hundreds if not thousands of web sites and blogs that are dedicated to pointing out the wrongs (or what is perceived as wrong by the authors) of other believers and churches. Websites and blogs litter the WWW and all they are known for

Critics (Part 1)

2010-12-09T08:48:00.003-05:00

I've recently started reading in Acts for my daily quiet time. In chapter 3 Peter and John encounter the man who had been crippled for forty years. The cripple man was begging for money, this is how he survived. Peter and John have no money to give him but they meet his greatest need, they bring healing from God to this man's life.Next we find them preaching about Jesus Christ. As the result

Organizing Takes Time

2010-12-02T17:33:00.003-05:00

Organizing takes time but it takes even longer if you don't keep things organized. I'm not a neat freak and this is evidenced in my office. I have always filed away documents on my computer with no rhyme or reason. The result is a constant searching for documents and graphics, etc. Today I finally came to the point that I realized that as our church grows so does "my documents". So I spent

Contagious Youth Weekend

2010-11-22T07:36:00.004-05:00

We had a busy weekend with the youth group this past weekend. It is important in youth ministry to not do activities simply to fill a calendar with events. Some churches equate busyness with accomplishing ministry leaving some youth leaders to be basically "cruise directors". We strive to do activities that have a purpose behind them. So that's what we did this weekend. Here is the snapshot:

Prepared for What you Expect? Part 3

2010-11-19T05:00:00.000-05:00

The church wants to have a youth involved in their church. They want to see students pouring in the doors. They once had a "part time" youth pastor who saw the group grow to around twenty something students. The church staff committee didn't like the way the youth pastor did his job and that he was only putting in 20 hours a week so they fired him. Now the youth group has shrunk to 6 students

Last Sunday at Contagious

2010-11-16T11:31:00.002-05:00

The purpose of the night was to empower students to meet their peers in their hurt and to help others rewrite their stories based on how God sees them.Hang Time was a lot of fun. A few tables of board games going on and some ping pong. Students also gathered in little groups and just hung out talking and visiting with each other. Leaders were all in the mix with the students as well. Hang

What does that say to your community?

2010-10-29T05:00:00.000-04:00

I'm excited about Sunday night. It's Halloween and I get to eat cotton candy! But I'm more excited that several years ago we made a change. We used to have the "harvest party" that targeted our church kids and not the community. The event was inward focused. It was our attempt at a safe alternative to trick or treating for our kids. We would have said it was for the community but the

Prepared for What You Expect? Part 2

2010-10-27T05:00:00.002-04:00

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Last Night At Contagious

2010-10-25T14:15:00.004-04:00

Last night we had a great time at Contagious. I'm not sure what the game is called but the students started some sort of slap the person next to you hand game. They were having fun playing this "elimination" game during Hang Time. Other students and leaders were out on the parking lot playing football while inside there was some ping pong and Apples to Apples going on. Hang Time is one of my

Prepared for What You Expect? Part 1

2010-10-20T05:00:00.000-04:00

Something that in recent years that has really impacted my view of ministry is the fact that sometimes we aren't prepared for what we expect.Let's say I'm a first time guest to a church. I'm looking for answers and help in life. I'm looking to connect with God. My family is important to me. So I start checking out churches in my community. We decide to check out church #1 on the list. We

Last Night At Contagious

2010-10-18T09:07:00.003-04:00

We had a great time last night at Contagious! Hang Time is always fun just hanging out and building relationships. Apparently Bananagrams was the hit game last night. We partook of some very healthy Doritos, Cheetos and cake. I got energized by the red Kool Aid, the red one always seems to give me a little extra zip! Contagious (the band) led us in worship in music. It was great to see some

10 Years at Nags Head Church

2010-10-11T14:33:00.002-04:00

Yesterday marked my 10 year anniversary here at Nags Head Church. I'm always caught by surprise by the day. I'm not good at dates, I know the month is October, but the date isn't embedded in my brain. Perhaps now I can accept the fact that I’m above average. The average stay of a youth pastor is 3.9 years. Some say it is 18 months but either way I’m above average. I reflected some on “10

Movie Night at Contagious Youth

2010-10-08T08:07:00.003-04:00

Saturday, the 9th. 7 to 9:30 at NHC. Free for all middle and high school students.

Sunday Night at Contagious (the Reboot)

2010-10-05T15:07:00.002-04:00

I didn't post yesterday because I was wading through the hundreds of e-mails that accumulated during my holiday.Sunday night we kicked off the evening with a lovely and moving video from Edwin's Corner. We followed Edwin up with some giveaways from the movie To Save a Life. If that wasn't exciting enough we threw in a race game. The students were divided into three teams and cheered on their

Youth Group is Church

2010-09-15T12:32:00.003-04:00

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Contagious Reboot

2010-09-08T15:50:00.004-04:00

My part time summer job with Tubbs Hot Dogs has come to an end. This job now becomes more of a part time part time job. I enjoyed serving up dogs to the folks who shopped at Tanger Outlet this summer but now I get to focus a little more on my passion.Today I really enjoyed my time thinking and writing down my thoughts on the future of the youth ministry at NHC. I'm calling it Contagious Reboot

Last Night At Contagious

2010-08-30T14:27:00.002-04:00

This morning I heard the song over and over in my head, Friends are Friends Forever...The summer has come to an end. One of the glorious parts of what I do as youth pastor is load up the Big Blue Van of Happiness each Sunday with the food and gear we need for Contagious on the Beach. This morning I unloaded for the last time this year. I washed the table, cleaned the grill and coolers,

Last Night At Contagious

2010-08-23T12:04:00.002-04:00

Last night we had yet another great evening of doing youth group together on the beach. Summer is coming to a close and starting the middle of next month we move Contagious back to the church building and will say "so long" to the beach till next summer. We are spending out summer traveling through the book of Colossians. Last night we were in Colossians 3:12-14. We looked last week of the

Contagious Youth are Going

2010-08-03T15:22:00.000-04:00

I Think It Is 17

2010-07-15T14:12:00.005-04:00

This will be my 17th summer of attending camp with students. Back in the old days I was pumped and excited about going to a week of camp. The lack of sleep didn't bother me back then. The waking up at 6am and going till 1 or 2 didn't phase me. Now I'm old! I don't look forward to camp like I used to. What?! Did a youth pastor just say that?I don't like:>the 4 or 5 hours a night of sleep

It's Obvious

2010-07-04T16:44:00.004-04:00

Often in ministry it is obvious when someone doesn't "get it". Our youth band led worship last Sunday and did an outstanding job. These students love using the SHAPE God has given them to worship and serve Him and His church. I heard several great compliments and encouragement given to the Contagious band. I might be a little biased but these kids are the best student worship band I have

Life is Busy

2010-06-17T21:05:00.003-04:00

It feels like I have been on a fast rocket ride for the past few weeks. My "part time" job with Tubbs has taken off. The staff at NHC decided, with the elders approval, to take on part time jobs to help with the budget during this recession. Along with Tubbs is my real job. We have recently moved Contagious to the beach for the summer. We love having youth group at the largest church swimming

Sticking Around

2010-06-11T07:48:00.003-04:00

There is the old statistic that youth pastors don't stick around for longer than 18 months. I think that statistic is pretty much shot and not sure of the new one but I know it is much longer. Some youth pastors still don't stick around for very long at one church. Sometimes due to the church, some churches like to chew up and spit out their staff, often that's due to a very small (around 7)

When a Leader Falls

2010-05-25T13:11:00.000-04:00

Over the past several years the marriages of several couples who I looked up to and respected have come to an end. I know of only two who saved their marriages by offering forgiveness, grace and mercy. I have also experienced some of the leaders I looked up to, some I knew personally, make huge mistakes (sins), big enough to pull them out of their leadership roles.Today I have a heavy heart and

Challenging Ideas Part 1

2010-05-23T12:36:00.004-04:00

Last Friday I attended the Whiteboards with the staff from NHC. The whole purpose was to get some fresh and challenging ideas from church leaders. Here are some of the things that I wrote down from the different speakers:How to make sure that what we do matters - Jonathon FalwellI Peter 5 - Pride and Grace>Be Who You Are. Don't be busy trying to wear someone else's armor (reference to David an

Impact Outer Banks

2010-05-17T10:30:00.002-04:00

Registration deadline is June 1st.

Using Facebook Event to Promote "The F Word" series

2010-05-14T09:38:00.002-04:00

I often use the events to promote events with the students. This week I set up an event for The F Word series we are launching Sunday. We already have a couple guys who have RSVP'd that they are attending the event who don't come to Contagious. Hopefully our students will take advantage of the "invite" feature to invite their friends to youth group. It is funny looking at my "home" page and

Interesting Article on Facebook Security

2010-05-13T10:43:00.004-04:00

Sunday night I begin our Facebook series "The F Word".Interesting article here about the security of Facebook. Parent you may want to take a look. Another great reason to monitor your child's activity on Facebook. Know their password and login info? You need to. Know if their FB friends are real or not? You need to take a look.Is the Addyouthpastor anti-Facebook? Absolutely not, I use it

Facebook Series

2010-05-10T06:58:00.004-04:00

This Sunday we launch a series about Facebook. I'm excited about this series for a few reasons. I've noticed many of our "church" kids using language on Facebook that they wouldn't dare use at church. I'm hoping they discover that we should live everyday as worship to God, the church is not the building but it is the believers who make up the church. Some of the principles we will be

Discipleship - Connection (Part 2)

2010-04-23T08:23:00.007-04:00

Find Part 1 Here.Our connection to God should naturally lead us to be connected with other believers in a local body of believers, the church. (1 Corinthians 12) As we study the New Testament church we find that gathering together with other believers was a priority. (Acts 2) How do we teach our children that this connection to other believers is part of being a follower of Christ?Set the

Discipleship - Connecting (part 1)

2010-04-13T07:54:00.005-04:00

As a dad one the thing I hope most for is that my children will be connected. No one is meant to live this life alone and to attempt to do so is utter foolishness. We need each other because that is the way God designed us.First I want to see my children connected to God. How will they learn about the most important connection in life? (John 14:6)Modeled in my life - Do they see in me that a

Do You Know Him?

2010-04-02T05:00:00.001-04:00

Discipleship of Our Kids

2010-03-31T05:00:00.001-04:00

Deuteronomy 6 is clear that the discipleship of our children is our responsibility as parents. So over the next few weeks I'm going to blog about discipleship. I believe that to be spiritually healthy I must be spiritually balanced. Same goes with my children as I "train them up". So much of my posting will be from a dad's point of view. Some of the areas of discipleship that I will post

Youth Group Now Owns Property in Nepal

2010-03-30T13:08:00.004-04:00

Not really! BUT ten of our students rocked in rocking chairs last Friday night from 7pm till 7am to raise money to help an orphanage in Nepal that Tammy Stump, partner at NHC, is helping to build. She is literally going to make the bricks to build the buildings as well as purchase the land and all involved to help these children.We survived the rock-a-thon by drinking slushies all night, mango

Last Night at Contagious

2010-03-29T11:30:00.002-04:00

We wrapped up our series on "All Our Belongings". Hopefully some of the students have been inspired to reach out to others as Christ did. We belong to God, we belong to each other, others are searching for where they belong. Let's help them find their belonging.We had a great group of students last night. It may have been the first time in a few months that we did not have any guests. That

A Gift from our Government

2010-03-23T11:45:00.003-04:00

The US Census Rep for faith based organizations stopped by the office today bearing gifts. A backpack of little goodies for pastors and church leaders. Nathan and I took the opportunity to pose with our favorite gifts from the goody bag.So I say to you, "Esta en nuestras manos!"

Communicating with Parents

2010-03-22T20:15:00.004-04:00

We launched our new and improved weekly update for parents today. It shot out to the www on it's own automatically at 11am. I look forward to using this new tool. Hopefully the new layout will help communicate what is going on. The best part is the e-mail can be forwarded to other parents who can sign up to receive the update each week. Hopefully this will be used as a tool to reach parents

Last Night at Contagious

2010-03-22T20:07:00.002-04:00

So we have started something new. Last night for the second week in a row we did both Hang Time and our Bible study time all in the auditorium. We moved the chairs out. Set up the cornhole and ping pong as well as many tables with games for Hang Time. It is fun all being in the same room together for Hang Time instead of spread out through the lobby and balcony. (hopefully a taste of what

Spiritual Formation

2010-03-19T06:00:00.001-04:00

Ultimately God will hold me, as my kids' daddy, responsible for their spiritual formation. The spiritual instruction they receive has to come from me. It is not their kids' church teachers responsibility or their youth leaders responsibility. God will not hold me accountable as a youth pastor for the spiritual formation of other believer's children. He will hold me accountable as a pastor and my

My Annual St. Patrick's Day Post

2010-03-17T11:14:00.000-04:00

Good Article for Youth Leaders

2010-03-17T10:56:00.001-04:00

pleasing pushy parentsThe phone in my office has a little red light. It’s small and not really an important feature of the phone. Actually the phone works just ...

No Turf Wars

2010-03-16T17:02:00.004-04:00

Today I met with young Rich at lunch. Rich used to be a youth in our youth group and now Rich and his wife, Lauren (also formerly an NHC youth and Rich married way out of his league), and now both serve on our YM Team at NHC. Rich and I met to discuss some youth ministry as well as just to eat. We went to The Pit for lunch, tuesdays are dollar tacos all day, and they are well worth the

What Happens in The Green Room May Not Stay in The Green Room

2010-03-16T11:37:00.003-04:00