Put me in coach, I’m ready to play!

As I prepare to travel to our last regular season football game, and as I struggle with finalizing our plans for Game Day, I had one of those moments. The moments only those of us with lesser intellect and weak theology skills can have. I thought to my self, “what makes a football team good anyway?” I mean some of us are still not over John leaving, and really couldn’t wait for him to take his rightful place in the Football Hall of Fame as well as be named the greatest QB to ever play the game. They should have just over looked the waiting period when your that good. But is it really just one man that makes the game. Chew on this not so deep thought.

 

The Church should be like a great football team. Picture if you will a team that is always on defense. It’s that team that has the evil coach always barking out plays and throwing down his headset. And the players always dress in either black and yellow or silver and black. You get the point, kind of evil outfits. And they don’t really have faces, just glowing eyes deep in their dark helmets and steam coming from their face masks. Now picture a team that is always on offense. White uniforms, but not afraid to get them dirty. An owner smiling at his team from the sky box. A coach with a perfect play book and no need for a headset, calling in plays to a QB who sticks to the play, but has great field vision as well. Linemen who never miss a block or let through a blitz. Receivers running fast,precise patterns, eager to be thrown the ball. They run their pattern the same each time, sprinting the whole way, even if the play calls for a hand-off. And speaking about the running backs, they are a bit of a loose canon, but always manage to get the job done. Sometimes the two-hole is just not the best choice, so they roll wide to the four-hole. The linemen don’t like it much, but they are on the same team, and he did score, and running the ball isn’t their job, so they guess they will just let the coach handle it. The really cool thing is that this team always scores. And the defense can’t stop them. You see the defense is limited to only certain plays. Thats because the owner of the white team wrote the play book for them too. So the defense is always the same. The offensive play book is flawless, so it all comes down to the execution of the plays. Now…here is the parallel. God owns the team, even owns the stadium. He made all the rules of the game and wrote all the play books. He already knows the final score. He has given the devil limitations to his powers, and given Jesus power over everything. If the “plays” are executed according to the “book” they always produce a “score”. A senior pastor (QB) has a great feel for the vision God has for a church, but still needs the Bible to base that vision from. The linemen are the elders of a church, put in place to protect the person carrying the ball, at all costs. They must remember they are on the same team, and even when they don’t care much for that loose canon running-back (we will call him the youth pastor), they must remember that the score is for the team. And typically if they lead the play, the back will always go to the open hole. Sometimes you have those in your church ready to catch the ball and run with it. Even if the ball doesn’t come to them and even if they were open, they go back to the huddle ready to run another out pattern. Every once in a while the QB has to just hang on to the ball and run it in himself. For every “score”, the players get little stickers in the shape of a crown for the back of their helmet. But they have to wait till Monday’s practice to get them, so for now each point scored is for the team. And even though the linemen may not put the points on the board for every one to see, they will have plenty of stickers come Monday. All they have to do is let nothing through and keep that 2-hole open. They play as a team, they score as a team, they win as a team. The opposite is linemen that let the blitz through for spite, receivers that prefer to walk their route, running-backs bumping into each other while trying to find a hole and trying to go in the right direction on the field. A quarterback that has to constantly scramble out of the pocket, carry the ball most of the time, and get sacked by the blitz. The only thing that doesn’t change is the perfect play book, the perfect coach, and the owner in the sky box, now saddened by his teams performance. Waiting for just one player to look up to the box for some direction. This always seems to make him smile again. (we didn’t even get to the fans,waterboy,or cheerleaders…lol)

I can only show you the door, you have to walk through it.

There is something in me tonight that I can not explain. I feel like there is this ministry God is calling me to and I can’t define it. I don’t even know where or what it is. The closest I can come is it’s like Young Life meets Dare2Share meets Chuck Norris meets Mr. T! I pity the fool! I am tired of watered down theology from adults, and tired of excuses from students. Christ always brought equal portions of grace and truth to the table. If God showed us grace by sending His Son to die for us, we must know the truth about what we were graced from. I can fix your flat tire for you, (grace) but your tire has to be flat, (truth) for there to be a reason to fix it. All too often we forget from whence we came. All of us. And all too often we covet the gift of that grace, as if it is ours. I remember that there were those that Jesus asked to follow him, and they could not let go of the things in their life. I remember that Jesus continued on with out them. His ministry was the world, not the one, but if necessary one at a time. I envision a ministry full of like-minded, lost, poor, wretched sinners, saved by grace from eternal separation from the God of the universe, (from whence we came) in our broken state, urgently sharing the message of Christ’s sacrifice with every one we meet, and accepting no excuses. No fear. Sold out. On fire. Name it. Simply a ministry of sinners so completely in love with Jesus and the sound of His name, so focused on His love and sharing with other, they forget to do things like judge others and get offended. Encouraging relational evangelism, but not waiting around to share the truth of grace. We are not promised tomorrow. I pity the fool that waits till tomorrow to share God’s message of truth and grace. Because I bet it stinks when tomorrow never comes, sucka. Christ taught the world in three years, and saved the world in 3 days. Feeling the “urgency” theme here? As well, relying on the promises of God so that all things are possible, like Chuck who can do anything….twice if he wants.

Floating memories

It’s quiet in the office today. Its been almost two weeks now. But after two years of walking by the Senior Pastors office and seeing him sitting there every day, it’s still a little weird that its  empty. Not just an empty chair, but every thing is gone. The pictures on the wall, the desk water fall. All that remains is an empty desk with a silent computer, an empty chair and two years of memories floating in the silence.

 I wish Pastor Alan the best at his new mission assignment in Mich. I know that God has blessed them beyond imagination with this new church.

I will miss him, but I will also enjoy taking over his office until a new pastor is found!

I would love to hear any comments from other youth ministers that have ever survived a transition of Senior Pastors. Feel free to comment.

Todd my Tony

I have been slowly making my way through a new book I received in the mail. It is a new book by Greg Stier called “Ministry Mutiny.” It’s not a how-to manual, or even some kind of revolt against the elders of your church. In fact, as Greg would say, it really isn’t all that cutting-edge nor does it introduce some new “fail proof” method for a successful youth group. It does however capture the essence of youth ministry. I think the fact that it is a “fable” is the reason Greg can walk us through some very engaging issues that we struggle with. Instead of simply rattling off all the things we could complain about, he brings them to life and then deals with them. The solutions are primarily Biblical principals we have just forgotten all about. I say I have been slowly making my way through it. That’s because each concept deserves my honest contemplation as well as time to work on my heart. I have many flaws. As with “Ty”, I have my own “Tony” who has helped me walk through my struggles and pains. I thank God for my “Tony”. He is always there to encourage me, or let me vent, and to always remind me that its worth it. And he never spares any mercy to get in the ‘ol “welcome to youth ministry brother.” If you are a student reading this, I ask you a simple favor; be patient with me. I will give you my heart. I will make mistakes. (dramatic pause) There is nothing more I can promise than that. Look to God for promises. If you are a youth leader, read the book, check your heart, and go with God. Listen for His whisper.

I won’t say that the book has changed my life, but it has definitely challenged me to remember why I do what I do, as well as to be cautious as to what I create in students, and call it ministry. If you really get down to it, God is the one who changed my life, and ever since He has given me the “Tonys” of the world to guide and direct me in this thing called youth ministry.

Thankfull blogger.

I want to thank all of you who have made effort to read my blog. My hit counter just surpassed 300! It is because of you who do visit and read I have any inspiration and effort to actually write. Because why write if no one is reading? You have set the bar for me. I have been inspired by your own blogs as well as enamoured by your efforts to put out quality reading. If the “blog” fad is to ever benefit us, we must commit to making their content worthy and viable. Otherwise its just one more smelly armpit.

Beautiful Feet

I talked a little in my last blog about hindsight. Out of the gate, none of this is really new to me, but it serves as a reminder to think about our priorities in life. What we say, what we think, what we eat, who we associate with and so forth. We know it’s going on around us, but sometimes, for some reason, it just isn’t real to us. Here at the NYWC, I had the privilege to walk through an encounter about the AIDS epidemic of Africa. 1Life , World Vision and Youth Specialties have created a beautiful partnership as well as a powerful educational encounter. At the 1Life encounter I traveled (via ipod) to Africa and the life of a young man and his struggles with war, AIDS, rape, death, and freedom. It gave me a good chance to focus on the things of life that are important. Two things I came away with: God has given value to every human life because He created us in His own image. But more importantly He desires to have a repaired relationship with every one. Yes every one. The first concept that we encounter is that every life has value, and God calls us to be among them. In 2 Corinthians 2:15 Paul writes “For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.” This means to all people, both those who trust and believe in Christ, and those who have not yet been written in the Lambs book of life. And for the second concept, we know that God wishes that all should come to know His glory and grace. 2 Peter 3:9 says “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” Scripture also explains to us this process of both the repaired relationship as well as who will bring the good news. from Paul’s letter to the Romans we read; “As the Scripture says, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.”For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him,for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” The 1Life experience reminded me of my priorities in life and the calling of my heart. You are valuable, God loves you and wants to have a relationship with you. He also wants to do a good work through you. How beautiful are your feet?

20/20 hindsight

You ever have those moments when you look back at something you did or said and question if it was right? Not because it was maniacally wrong, but because you were naive to its content, or being humbled by another’s actions. I have. Let me explain. Now in my previous blog I ranted about some of the things that went awry on my trip here to Austin. I have, by the way, changed hotels. But I want to let you know that I was using license to make drama of my experience. At no time did I actually get frustrated at any of the situations. Quite to the contrary, I even tipped the shuttle driver $10 for the multiple trips to my car to find my silly teeth. You see while all the things that happened might appear to be an inconvenience, one must ask, “so what?” So what does it mean that your flight is delayed. Who sets the deadlines we are so desperately chasing. Heart surgery is urgent, getting to Austin to attend a conference that doesn’t start until the next day is not. You see it is about choices. I can choose to schedule my time so tightly that it becomes eminent that I will at some point miss an appointment. I can also choose my reaction when it happens. Who am I to then destroy some one else’s day because of a standard I have set. That being said I must also have a base on which my choices stem from. So with our cell phones, our ipods, our gadgets and our diner, we need to become realistic with the priorities in our lives and cross check those with what God desires for our future. My next entry will explore this standard, or base, from which we believe our lives should arise.

luggage, teef, and smelly hotels

I’m so excited to be here at the NYWC in Austin Texas! My trip from Gunnison to Colorado Springs to catch my flight was fine. Traffic was lite, my car ran fine, and I didn’t get lost on the way to the airport. Thats where “smooth” came to an end. My suit case is very heavy as is this computer. So I park the car, get on the shuttle, (lugging all my luggage) and get to the entrance to the airport. As I get off the shuttle I think to my self “wouldn’t it be just hilarious to check in with my teef in?” So in to my pocket I reach for me teefies. Then my other pocket. Hmmm, thats strange, maybe they are in my vest pocket. No, not there. So I begin the frantic “pat-the-pocket” dance. You know the one, where you begin beating at your pockets as if you can feel what you are looking for better than by putting your hand actually inside the pocket. “Well” I say to myself, “can’t go to Texas without my teeth, especially if Greg is going to be there.” So back on the shuttle I go. She was a very nice shuttle lady. Reminded me of my grandmother. So she takes me right to my car. As I get off I tell her this might take a while, so she better just keep going without me. I search and search, tearing my car apart. I don’t find them. I look up and notice she is still waiting. So I decide “get back on the bus, and check in your computer bag as she takes you to the door, you might get lucky and they are in there”. Two tips back to the car later, and I find them in the dirt by the curb just under the passenger door. I realize the events leading to this: on the way down I was wearing them in traffic, smiling and waving, and set them on the seat next to me. The directions to the airport where in my bag. I put the bag on the seat next to me, covering my teeth. While getting my bag out at the airport, it drug my teeth out the door and gravity being what it is, they fell on the ground and blended with the dirt. Finally! Its getting late now so I rush to get to my gate (my flight leaves in 3 hrs). I am getting worried about missing my flight you know. So I get to my gate and begin the wait. Original flight delayed, moved up to a earlier flight(glad I was early). New flight ends up being delayed. I get to Texas an hour later than my original flight was supposed to get in. Then the hotel! The room smelled bad, the internet didn’t work and there is no continental breakfast! But here is where I need to tell you how excited I am to be here! I made it alive. I am not sick. There is great wisdom to be gained here. Its 95 degrees(ok, not a plus). Bottom line is, even with all the miserable things that happen to us in life. There is way more to be thankful for, when you keep your eyes focused on the Lord.

Check-in

Ok just checking in. I made it to Austin. I have a few entries coming. I wrote in my word program while the topics were hot, but alas, no internet connection at my hotel. So I could not post them fresh. You will read all about that later. BTW its really hot here.

Yippie Kyay!!Texas.

Well as some of you know I will be traveling to Austin Texas on Wednesday for the National Youth Workers Convention. I am very excited to be with other youth workers from around the nation and gather tons of information and incite. I am not sure even what to expect as this is the first one I have attended. Some of the leaders and I attended the CORE which is offered from the same organization, Youth Specialties. We had a great time and gained much information on leadership. So I am assuming the quality will be paramount at the national conference. I will try to get a blog or two out while I am away(hotels usually have great wi-fi) so I can share the excitement of each day with ya’ll. (that’s Texan for you all)

Have a great week! I will be back Tuesday the 10th, so I look forward to seeing all of you Wednesday night!