Wonderings and Wanderings

Set aside 36 minutes and watch this video.

You must watch it.

They cannot wait any longer.

The second day of  the Shift conference consists of three break-out sessions followed with a large group worship and teaching tonight.  I’m signed up for three break-outs and decided last night to skip the first one today.  Mike Yanconelli gave me permission.

Several years ago at Youth Specialties’ National Youth Workers Convention,  Mike greeted us the very first day.  In Mike’s unique way, he told us that we had permission to make the conference what we needed it to be.  If that meant not attending a single thing, then don’t.  If we needed refreshing time alone, stay away.  (As an introvert, I really appreciated that.) If you needed to work on your marriage, stay in the hotel room. (As a single, I was envious.)   He then introduced a guy and brought him up on stage.  The youth minister shared the story of how he attended the National Youth Worker’s Convention the year before and how his marriage was strained under the toil of ministry.  When Mike told them to get a room, he and his wife did that.

At this point, a picture of a baby was displayed on the screens and the youth minister shared that this is what he took home from NYWC last year.  Everyone applauded.

So, today I’m taking Mike’s advice – I’m making a baby.  Not literally, of course.  But I more than a breakout session, I need some time to process, to think, to dream. I’m breaking out.  Just for awhile.

Thank you, Mike.  As always, you still continue to teach, inspire and convict us youth ministers. We miss you.

I’m in Chicago for the week attending the Shift conference at Willow Creek Community Church.  My first time at Shift and at Willow Creek.  I’ve wanted to visit the campus for quite awhile and I must say it is impressive. It is huge and overwhelming but they have a lot of friendly, helpful volunteers around.  Nothing but great help so far.  You just have to ask.

Flew in yesterday evening.  Driving a Toyota Yaris.  Good way to narrow down what type of car I might want.  I definitely don’t like the tiny, compact car.  Especially after 13 years in my jeep.  Check.

Opening conference featured Francis Chan speaking on complacency.  He was outstanding and it was definitely what I was needing.  One of the reasons I chose this youth ministry conference over others was the sense I picked up from their speakers and breakout sessions that they were really focusing on the need for spiritual transformation in leaders and youth.  We put too much hope in programs, books, knowledge, personality, etc. to build a great youth ministry.  There is so much pressure to have the biggest and the best youth group and to build it out of your own resources.

Even when I know this isn’t true and when I fight against the traditional models, there are still so many times when I am self-critical and grasping for the latest and greatest youth ministry trick.  I know the dangers of a youth ministry built around personalities or program styles rather than a love for God but the temptation and struggle is still there.

Chan gave such an incredible message this morning about how the church (and we) are complacent and not living out of the power and the courage of the Holy Spirit.  As youth pastors, our fiercest and most powerful “tool” is the Holy Spirit.  If we are praying and begging for the Spirit to be alive and at work in our own lives, first and foremost, than we don’t stand a chance.  If we don’t make our biggest commitment to be that of praying for the Spirit to be alive and at work in the lives of our youth and our volunteers, then we don’t stand a chance.  Chan spoke of how noticeably different the church now is from the early church in Acts in believing in and living out of the power of the Spirit.  We know more than the apostles yet we don’t believe that the same Spirit 2000 years ago can do the same things in 2009.  What’s the problem?  What’s different?

One of the many things Chan said that really spoke to me was about how easily the church would fall apart today.   Get a bad speaker.  Get a crappy band.  Move the worship times.  Any of these, Chan said, and people would leave.  If we aren’t coming out of love and thirst for God, then we are tossed around by the waves of preferences.

If you want to be among the first to hear about an awesome new band, then you need to check out the band Highland Fall.  They had their first ever CD release party on Friday.  You can purchase their cd, Those Crazy Northern Lights, on iTunes and Amazon.  Click on the link below to go to their myspace.  They have an awesome sound – and I’m just not saying that because I’m their youth pastor. I’m beyond proud of them.

I’m walking through the Gospel of John with my youth at my house and with that in mind and with the approaching Easter celebration, I’m reposting some thoughts I had last year at this time.

I was spending some time today reading the different gospel accounts of the Resurrection as I spiritually prepare for the Easter celebration.  Those who have read books or Scripture several times know what it is like to suddenly see something new in the words that were not obvious before or that you simply missed because you were looking for something else.

Today I had that experience with John, the one Jesus loved.  Now, I had never missed that statement before because John says it over and over again in the Gospel of John and it always strikes me as humorous when he refers to himself that way – “the one Jesus loved”.

Today I was reading and comparing the different account of the women trying to convince the men that Jesus had risen. [Note who comprehended the truth first. ] Anyway, in the gospel of John, note John’s description of what happened.

“Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone was moved away from the entrance. She ran at once to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, breathlessly panting, ‘They took the Master from the tomb. We don’t know where they’ve put him.’ Peter and the other disciple left immediately for the tomb.  They ran, neck and neck.  The other disciple got to the tomb first, outrunning Peter.”  John 20:2-4

I was laughing out loud when I read this.  Of all that was going on – Christ’s body was missing from the tomb – John makes sure to mention that he and Peter were running neck and neck and he got there first – outrunning Peter.  Doesn’t that just sound like guys?  I mean, really who cares?  Women wouldn’t mention those facts. There would be a simple statement that they ran to the tomb (maybe a sidenote about what shoes were carrying them there so quickly) but other than that, we’d get to the point – JESUS isn’t there!!

John, “the other disciple” goes on to say in the next verse

“Stopping to look in, he [John] saw the pieces of linen cloth lying there,  but he didn’t go in. Simon Peter arrived after him, entered the tomb, observed the linen cloths lying there, and the kerchief used to cover his head not lying with the linen cloths but separate, neatly folded by itself.  Then the other disciple, the one who had gotten there first, went into the tomb, took one look at the evidence, and believed.”

Just in case you missed the point in the first few verses, John wants to remind you that he got there first.  He outran Peter.  Oh, and yes, he took one look at the evidence and believed. Way to go, John, the beloved, the one Jesus loved, the one who outran Peter.  This account sounds just like my high school guys.

John was a man’s man.

Happy Easter. Whether you can outrun John or not, I do pray that you will take a look at the evidence and believe.  Believe that you, like John, can lay claim as the one Jesus loves.

The youth in my youth group teach me a lot of things.  There are the very useful things like how to master the Wii, how to have fun, how to fart on demand (okay, I already had that mastered.)  They remind me that you can make a difference and that it is never to late to start. They remind me to relax and that to be present in some one’s life is more important than designing a stellar program or event. They teach me that selfishness is pervasive and that I once was as awkward and self-conscious as they are and I would be wise to not forget it.

They frustrate me a lot, too.  I can’t count how many times we have a really great discussion or retreat and then in the next breath my youth are treating each other like no class citizens.  I love social networking until I read the passive-aggressive status that “wish a certain someone would just get over herself” or “hate it went so-called ‘friends’ ditch you at the last moment for their loser boyfriend”.   One can’t helped but feel used when the only time you see or hear from a youth that you’ve cared for is when they need a reference or recommendation or they are having a horrible time in life.  But you hang in there with them.  Because you love them.  Because God strengthens you to love them. And because you are reminded ….

The way my youth behave is how I behave with God.  First of all, let it be noted that I’m not comparing myself to God.  Despite my occasional joke stating otherwise or because of that one t-shirt I wear that declares “I have the body of a god” accompanied by a picture of Buddha.  The comparisons here are completely in the way my youth act and respond to someone that loves them and the way I act and respond to Someone who loves me.  How many times does God teach me something and I’m totally excited about it and like, ready to live it out 24/7 and then, like, forget it, like, in 24 minus 7.  How many times do I acknowledge the debt that God has forgiven me and then turned around and expect a friend, a church member, or a youth to pay up now or pay later with interest (aka passive aggressive behavior).  How many times do I run to God only when I need God to fix a problem, calm a worry, answer an unknown, or recommend me to an awesome guy whom He knows really well.   Yet God hangs in there with me.  Because God loves me and forgives me.  Sure, God lets me fall on my face or down the stairs in front of hundreds landing, wisely, at His feet.  But He is always waiting at the bottom to pick me up, to brush me off, and walk with me again. And after making sure I’m okay, to rib me until my ego is put into place.

It took me awhile to learn this lesson but it was a lesson well-learned. I’m a better youth pastor for it.  By no means perfect but glad that when I get frustrated with my youth, God whispers in my ear, “I know exactly how you feel.”

For those that know me really well, you know I drive a red jeep.

My jeep was the first car I ever bought and in June, she will be 13 years old.  I’m very attached to her, people know me by my red jeep, and despite a few scares, she is still running.  Her speakers are blown, her radio has died, her driver’s door lock freezes up in the winter, and she makes funny noises but she is still faithful.

I’ve been asked many times if I have a name for her and suprisingly, I don’t.  Even though I always refer to her as a … her.  So, I’ve decided it is time to give her a name. I think she deserves one. But I want your help.

Leave your name suggestion for my jeep as a comment below.  After a week, I’ll pick my three faves and then give you a chance to vote it down to one.  Whomever suggests the winning name will receive a special surprise from my jeep.