80's Flashback!

Ran across my wife's glasses from 1985.  I think I look smashing baby!

Community Collision

If you would like to view the poster larger simply click on the poster.

Contagious Tonight

Tonight at Contagious on the beach we set a new record.  90 hot dogs consumed!  

Tonight we talked about Joshua facing an impossible task, defeating Jericho (Joshua 6).

We learned to:

1.  Seek and encounter with God

2. Submit to his will

3.  Serve even in the smallest details

Parent Pod continues to go well each week there are some new faces in the Pod.  We had a slew of guests tonight to the youth group.    Summer at Contagious is great, relaxed, fun and growing.  It is also awesome to have the best youth ministry team on the face of the planet!

July After Affect

Why Vacations are Soooo Good

You know today I think I have figured out the secret to why vacations are so fantastic.  I spent the better part of the day today cleaning our car top to bottom, washing it, vacuum, armor all, clean the windows, pick up the toys that were under seats, behind seats, on top of seats.  I bet I vacuumed up at least a box worth of Cheerios.  Checked the fluids.

Then I mowed the lawn and ran the weed eater and then used the blower to clean out the garage and driveway.  I bet there was at least a beach worth of sand in our garage and drive way.  I then cleaned the pool (don't be envious, it's one of those blue blow up pools, remember I'm a youth pastor, I can't afford a real pool).  I moved from the pool to the outdoor shower and gave the dog a bath.

Now all I have left to do is help my most beautiful wife clean the house.  Clean out the fridge.   Then I need to gather all of our travel documents (travel documents sounds a lot fancier than trip tiks from AAA), hotel reservations.  I also have to find two restaurants that I saw on the triple D on the food network.  Oh yes, I'll be doing some Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.  Got to map all that out, load addresses into Maggie (my gps).  So of course when fuel is so expensive we plan a road trip vacation.  Then load the car with all of our gear.  Line up Rich to take care of the beast and the house while we are out of town (I know it's risky but Rich is getting to be such a big boy now).

I also have to line up the youth ministry team for youth group while I'm gone.  You know I have actually heard of youth groups canceling youth group gatherings while their underpaid, one-vacation -week-a-year youth pastor, takes his vacation.  Not happening at NHC!  We have the best youth ministry team on the face of planet earth and they keep things cranking while I'm gone.  I don't even think about it once I'm on the road.  They are pros and know what they are doing.  So if your church cancels youth stuffs when the YP is on vacation it's time for you to help him build a youth ministry team.  You will keep your YP longer and make your youth ministry stronger.  There I worked in a youth ministry tip.

All of this work is what makes the vacation so sweet.  All the prep work is what makes the vacation fantastic.  You knock yourself out getting ready for the vacation so when you pull out of the driveway there is a huge sense of relief.  Of course if you don't do all the prep work do you really need a vacation?

Because I know the question will come up, we are going to visit family and hit a sweet zoo.  Oh, and of course some triple D diners along the way.

Time to Change

Change is inevitable.  All around us our world is changing.  It seems to me that our world is changing at a faster rate than the old days.  It took a long time to go from the bag phone to the big giant military walkie talkie size hand-held cell phone.  Now they change the style and size of cell phones almost on  monthly basis.  Information travels faster then ever.  The Internet brings on a whole different realm of change.  A few weeks ago our small church Ustreamed a worship gathering on the Internet and literally thousands have viewed the gathering.  

I have noticed changes in the approach of youth ministry over the past 15 years.  Face it we have to change as a church, as a youth ministry, or we are no longer relevant and we no longer have an effective impact on our community.  Change is not easy on most of us, we don't like change, we like things to stay the same.  The question is are we going to change with the times or be stuck in  rut.  I was in a church foyer once thumbing through their tract rack and found a gospel tract that was obviously old, it was black and white and printed in the '50's.  They obviously didn't understand change and the need for it.  Most humans are creatures of habits, just like holstein cows.  We must change our approach, our methods, our systems but we can't change our message.  

Every now and then you will notice it is time to tweak a youth ministry.  How is the best way to handle the change?

• Pray for wisdom
• Plan out the change well.  (Purpose of the change, timing, system changes, etc.)
• Don't spring the surprise on everyone at the same time
• Inform church leadership of the coming change
• Inform the youth ministry team of the changes (if possible have them help formulate the change. this could be the hard part for some of us.  you may even want to bring some of the core students in for input)
• Inform parents of the upcoming change
• Look for natural times of change; beginning of the school year, summer, in between semesters, etc.
• Present the change to the students
• Present the change to the church (however your church handles business like that.  thankfully at NHC we don't vote on everything and we don't have a committee we have to pass through for approval to do ministry and serve others)

Wonder why I'm thinking about change right now?  I'm at step one now, soon I'll be meeting with the youth ministry team to work on step two.  Change is on the horizon!  Change for the better, change that will better meet the needs of students. 

My New Book

My new book, How to Organize a Parent Pod, should be hitting shelves soon!   

Not really.  I am excited though about the Parent Pod and praying it launches into a full blown parent ministry for parents of teens.   Last night we had our Lord's Supper gathering so there was no Contagious at the beach and consequently no Parent Pod.  I actually heard a couple of parents say last night that they missed Parent Pod.  Awesome!  

I better trademark Parent Pod soon before someone else does. . . . . . 

Great Blog Post on Putting Together a Worship Service

One of the blogs I read is More than Dodgeball.  Josh G is the Senior High Pastor at Saddleback in Cali.  I appreciated this blog post:

I want students walking away from the weekend worship service (our entry level program) with the big idea. I want them to “get” the sermon in a sentence - stuck in their heads with creativity, skill and passion. I want visual learners to get it, note takers to get it, freshman and seniors to get it, I want the uninterested to be drawn in and the regulars engaged week after week. . . . . Read More

What do you think?  Is it really all the message?

Last Night at Contagious

Yesterday was the first Sunday of the month and at NHC we celebrate and remember our Lord on the first Sunday night each month with a Lord's Supper worship gathering and fellowship dinner.  The communion worship time was most excellent and a little different from what we have done in the past and I really enjoyed the gathering and the fellowship, round tables are a great invention.  The fellowship dinner was some ono brah.  Last night was Luau night.  I cooked traditional Kalua Pig in my oven, a pork roast wrapped in bananas and ti leaves.  I also cooked a big pot of rice and a pineapple pie.

After Affect was at Galaxy Golf.  We basically took over the mini golf course.  The girls from Russia working the little hut at the entrance was a little overwhelmed to have 44 of us descend on her at one time.  (I had called ahead earlier in the week to warn them of our arrival)  My game was fantastic with the exception of one hole.  I would have shot a 40 if I didn't have some problems with hole 14.  The students and adult leaders had a great time.  Hopefully I'll have some pics to post real soon.  

There is something great that happens when you get the youth group together for events like mini golf.  Some youth groups are imbalanced and are all fun and games.  Some youth groups are imbalanced and are all deep Biblical content.  Some groups figure out how to find the balance and offer just enough fun to help the Biblical stick.  Fellowship is like a glue that holds us together as believers and the same is true among youth ministries.  

Some mini golf tips:

1.  Call at least a week ahead and let the golf course manager know you will be bringing a group

2.  Inquire if there is a group rate (don't expect a discount simply because you are a church.  I get a little irritated when I hear believers expect a discount because they are a church group or even want the freebie treatment.  Since when was it the world's responsibility to take care of us and cater to us?)

3.  Arrange transportation.

4.  Communicate to parents the pick up time at the golf course.

5.  Have an adequate amount of adult volunteers to help (I suggest a ratio of 6 to 1)

6.  If you are collecting cash from the students do this in advance.  Make sure you arrange how you will pay the course.

7.  Have someone taking pictures.

Thunder On The Ridge

The Outer Banks Youth Minsitry Network will be hosting a back to school bash in August, Thunder On The Ridge.  This will be an evening of challenging students to get involved in reaching their campus and promoting See You At The Pole as well as FCA.

We will be having a cookout, worship gathering followed by ice cream and Thunder On The Ridge.

Below is a promo video.  We tried sliding down the dune this morning but it just wasn't working for us.  So we did the best we could.

Pray for Anthony

Anthony V. is a 12 year old boy with CF.  Anthony had a double lung transplant in the early morning while most of us were sleeping.  Pray for Anthony as he goes through recovery and pray that there is no rejection.  Pray for Anthony's parents and family as they wait and then walk with Anthony through recovery.  Pray for the donor's family as they grieve the loss of their loved one.  Thank God for donors and their families.

If you have not registered to be an organ donor I would encourage you to get on the list.  What better gift to give someone than life?