I know it sounds odd, but we just had our 2009 annual church business meeting today. Actually, I like the way we work it. The winter months are rather unpredictable here in Ohio and instead of promoting a meeting that might have to be canceled, we simply wait until March for our meeting. Considering this is April, you can tell that the winter storms affected us and we had to push it back a little more. I doubt anyone looks forward to business meetings, but they are necessary to keep a church running. Sounds like a lot of things we have to do in life. No deeper thoughts than that.

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Tomorrow night will be the last night of our youth ministry's Dating & Sex series. Without a doubt this is the one series that seems to turn youth against me. Youth that laughed and loved me suddenly have a chill in their attitude. Not outright hatred, but a cooling of the relationship. I look back over my years in youth ministry and this has always been the topic that does it. My best guess is that what I preach hits far too close to home and they don't like it. I believe everything that I teach is Biblical concerning the subject. Popular? No. The truth? Yes. What bothers me is not the fact that I get the cold shoulder, but that they're rejecting the truth.

Let me share a word with any of my students that might stumble across this. I love you more than you even realize. I love you enough that I promise to always share the truth with you, even if it hurts sometimes. How could I call myself your friend and do anything less? My only alternative is to lie to you, but then I wouldn't really be your friend.

I subscribe to the weekly “Matt Chat” newsletter put out by Matt Anderson. I’m pretty ruthless on what I allow into my inbox, but “Matt Chat” has earned the right to keep coming. Yesterdays thought really connected with me so I acquired permission to reprint it here. Hope you enjoy it.


Matt Chat
“24: Part 1 - February 22, 2010”

There's nothing like a server to bring about an air of superiority in others.

As a youth pastor, my leadership team and I frequented a restaurant after youth services. It was a great opportunity to kick back, laugh, and evaluate the evening's activities. Part of that dining experience was having the same waitress each week. Jen was someone we had grown to appreciate and care about. Occasionally we even had good spiritual conversations with her. She made our group a priority, and we made a point of treating her well and tipping generously.
Unfortunately, one particular evening, another group had a differing opinion. Midway through our meal, I noticed a nearby table having a heated discussion with Jen and her manager. Minutes later, Jen came to our table to check on us but looked visibly shaken. I asked her if everything was OK. She replied that the neighboring table was upset that their iced tea pitcher had a ring around it. Jen reported that the pitcher was clean and that it was common for pitchers to develop rings like that and remain after washing. An angry customer retorted, "Really? If that pitcher is clean then that's your natural hair color." After offering our sympathies for such outright cruelty, Jen added a sentence that shook me to my core. "That's OK; it's just another church group."

Not much has changed in 2000 years. Servers, though certainly paid for their efforts, are still regarded rather lowly in the social order of the day. It's amazing how small people will use a server to project a false air of superiority. I've seen it happen too many times. So how amazing that Jesus, only hours before the climax of human history, would show his superiority. But it wouldn't be with a miracle, a healing, or even prophetic teaching. He did it with an apron. "So he [Jesus] got up from the supper table, set aside his robe, and put on an apron. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the feet of the disciples, drying them with his apron. (John 13:4-5, MSG)"

To the untrained eye, the one who receives is greater than the one who gives, but in the Kingdom of Light, the reverse is true. Jesus was performing an object lesson. He humbled Himself to do the lowliest of jobs: cleaning the feet of others...and probably with his hands. What a statement! It's not what I would have wanted to see Him doing. Rose petals should have been laid before Him. Trumpet fanfares should have announced His arrivals. Doves should have been released when He entered a room. But that wasn't the Lord. He knew that by serving these men, it would set the table for what He would do later that same day when He would undergo injustices even more humiliating than this.

We are most like Jesus when we do what others wouldn't. May I just say something to anyone with a title? The moment we become too important to fold chairs, carry tables, or spruce up a bathroom is the very moment we've become useless to God. If you're being served, find opportunities to do the same. Don't fall for the ridiculous notion that you deserve it and "paid your dues" at some point. It's nice when honor is given to whom honor is due, but we're not the only ones deserving honor. Let's love people more than ourselves to do what others believe to be beneath them. In short, Jesus wasn't chauffeured to Calvary.

Likewise, those serving must not do so with clenched teeth and a subtle growl. We must do it "as unto the Lord," even when jerks (or worse, Christian jerks) are ungrateful for the service. Christ is much easier to please and never misses an opportunity to tip.

The world envies the one being carried on shoulders, but the Lord exalts the one who carries. Trays mean more to Him than scepters; aprons are preferred to vestments; and towels are esteemed greater than crowns. Remember that the most significant thing you do this week will only be seen by the Lord. Have an amazing week.


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Last night my wife and I had the pleasure of spending all night with our youth. It was our youth ministry's annual all nighter. We've been doing them for several years now and believe we know what to expect. This year we experienced something different. All the teens that were there seemed more subdued than most years. We still had a lot of fun, but overall there wasn't as much hyperactive craziness. As we discussed this, my wife made an interesting observation. Normally we have the all nighter right near New Years Eve. This year we had to wait later into January. This means that our students came after having woke up early in the morning and having spent an entire day at school. This is in stark contrast to them normally having been on Christmas vacation for a week and itching just to get out and do something. A day of school completely affected how they acted during the night. Perhaps they got a little taste of what the leaders go through to be there. From a leader standpoint, I think we should do it this way every year.

Well, the day has finally arrived. I'm making the last few preparations to head out to Kenya. I'm looking forward to the adventure and praying that God does something good. I'm not looking forward to the long fights.
The absolute worst part about the trip though is leaving my family. I'm a homebody and I love just being with my family. It's hard to imagine even missing a moment of their lives.
Yet, I feel God is leading in this. I pray that he watches over the trip and those that I leave behind.
Except for a book review posted for Kelly (written today but dated for next week), this blog is going silent for awhile. Of course, it's been pretty silent as of late as I've been preparing for the trip. I'll talk to everyone later.

“But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.” (2 Corinthians 4:7–12 NIV)

This just felt like a good passage to post and reflect on. No commentary from me whatsoever.

Sometimes it's good to shake up the normal way we do things. A little change can bring a fresh perspective. For the past few weeks I have been undertaking a new method for my sermon preparation. I want to thank Gene Roncone for sharing his teaching notes on the method that I am currently using. The crazy thing about change is that while it can be a good thing, the process is not always enjoyable. The steps I'm undertaking now in my weekly preparation are not natural for me. Sometimes I feel like giving up because it is difficult for me. Yet, with this change I find myself having to go deeper in the text I'm
planning to use. I find myself thinking deeper about what God is saying and wants to say through it. The time I'm spending to prepare has increased dramatically as I expected with learning a new way. That added to an already full schedule makes life hectic at times, but it's worth it. The eventual dividends outweigh the current struggle.

With that said, I need to get back to my preparation.

One of the hardest things about being in the ministry is that you get to watch people choose destruction. People that no matter how much you care about them, no matter how much to teach them, and no matter how much you you fight for them, still choose to live a life apart from Christ. There are many I've seen where I know the end result of their choices, yet they choose to ignore it. It's not that they don't know. They know full well, but they choose not to believe. A choice not to follow Christ is a choice for destruction.

Thankfully, there are others that I see that have so much promise. They are striving to live and do what God has asked. They struggle, but they don't quit. May they keep wrestling with God because when we wrestle with Him, He wins. And when God wins out in our life, we win too.

We had something happen Sunday night that I love to see happen, although it seems rare in this day and age. We had someone in our service baptized in the Holy Spirit. If you are reading this and don’t know what that is, take a look at Acts chapter 2 in the Bible for a starting point. In case it’s not clear, I’m a believer that God doesn’t change and what the early church needed we still need today.

With that said, what made this so incredible is that it just happened. Ministers that bring people up to receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit and then try to knock the person over or coax them with what to say leave a bad taste in my mouth. I don’t believe we teach or force people. We seek God and allow him to do it. It’s his gift to give.

On Sunday night, God moved into our service in a powerful way. I’m sorry to those that don’t believe, but you could sense that he was there. The entire service ended up being a time of worship and prayer. Good stuff. Then, after it was over and people left, I found out that one of our people had been filled. They had been worshipping God and suddenly realized that they were praying and praising in other languages. As they were just spending time worshipping God the filling came.

I love it that way. When God does what he desires as people seek him.

May there be many more in the days ahead and then, may we each live every day full of the Holy Spirit.

I have been granted the incredible privilege in my life to serve an amazing group of students. They keep me young while constantly reminding me of my fading hairline. My hope and prayer is that each and every one of them will hold onto Christ and never let go. I want nothing less than to spend eternity with every one of them.

To any of my youth that read this, I really mean it when I write that it is an honor to serve you.

We had an incredibly powerful youth service tonight. I preached on John 8:1-11. It’s the passage on the woman caught in adultery. The whole message revolved around the idea that she was worthless in everyone’s eyes. The Pharisees thought she was worthless and would have gladly killed her if it meant finding fault with Christ. The man she was sleeping with thought she was worthless. Since he doesn’t appear anywhere in the Scriptures I’m assuming he didn’t care enough about her to stand up for her. Then the woman herself must have thought herself worthless as she stands ashamed with her sins exposed.

Yet, Christ looked at her and loved her. A person worthless to the world had value to the Lord. In his eyes, she was priceless.

I preached as best as I could then prayed over the youth. Then, we had the youth form a circle facing outward so they weren’t looking at each other. Then my youth workers and I went around the circle. We looked each youth directly in the eyes had told them how special they were. We told them just how much Christ loved them.

It was awesome. Some of the youth could barely maintain eye contact. Some were weeping. It worked out that all of us leaders were able to talk to every one of them. Each youth had three people look them in the eye and express how Jesus views them has priceless.

You could sense God’s presence and all we can hope is that it continues.

Found out from a friend that has been in the area much longer than I that what I discovered was used for demolition derbies. They took place Sunday mornings which provides an obvious reason why I probably didn’t know about them. As far as he knew they were still going on, but I think the overgrowth testifies that at least for this year there hasn’t been any. Still an interesting location though that could be used for something crazy.

Youth group was almost over when the screams came (from some of my young men no less). Bat! With a door open for air flow a bat found its way into our room. The next fifteen minutes were some of the funniest I’ve witnessed as my youth attempted to direct the bat back out the door. Tablecloths, pvc pipe, poles, and even a flag were used in the endeavor.

The final culmination came when the bat flew into the tiny foyer leading outside. One of my young men practically dove into the foyer to face the beast while my wife shut the doors leading back into our room. Yeah, our main concern was to get rid of the bat.

Anyway, the bat flew away severely traumatized and my youth got a memory they’ll never forget.

Going into youth last we already knew that it would a smaller group. I had a message prepared, worship music prepared, and a new game ready to go. As we sitting around the welcome table talking before youth, I went ahead and decided just to unplan the evening. We got in a circle and just began talking Bible. Some crazy questions at times, but genuine interest in what God’s Word had to say. An hour flew by before I even realized it.

Planning is good. I live by calendars and to do lists. However, sometimes we need to be willing to unplan and just allow spiritual life to happen.

Spent some time today trying to dream up a new and stupid game for youth group. I had success. Yes, that’s the life of a youth pastor.

I’m fairly confident that many of my readers know who Cornell Jordan is. If you don’t, a one sentence introduction is in order. Cornell is an incredible youth evangelist that blows it away every time he speaks. Go to my links page for more info. Anyway, I consider it a privilege to call him one of my friends.

By next week, Cornell will be selling an audio version of the devotional he has written. If you listen real close, you might hear two voices that are just a little familiar to me. Crazy as it sounds, Cornell asked my wife and I to do the audio. It was a one week turnaround that was needed and we pulled it off. Not the highest quality for sure, but it actually sounds pretty good for being completely recorded and edited on my Mac. For the next round (there will be more) we’ll be upgrading to a better mic than the one built into my laptop.

It’s crazy what God will sometimes bring into your life.

Just another thought from the missions trip. While we were in Toledo, some of the pastors prayed some pretty incredible things over some of my youth. Now, before any one gets excited, we instructed our youth to pray about what the pastors felt God leading them to say. If God really wants it to happen, he will begin speaking it to the hearts of the youth. The amazing thing, for many of the youth the pastors were praying as if each individual youth’s life was laid open before them. They were praying some specific things that made Kelly and my eyes almost pop out. Dead on accurate. And really, why not? The Holy Spirit is with us and guiding us.

Why all the preface? One of our youth was told that God was calling them to the ministry. It’s one that I believe God has been doing some great things in. Then, later that day, someone else told that youth that they really felt that they would wind up in China some day to save a girl. Maybe missions, maybe adoption, but being used by God. We’ve strongly instructed that youth to pray and wait for God to make it real, but I can really see it in them.

Another one of my youth was told that they were going to be bold. Later that day, the same youth was told that they were going to be the second greatest preacher that the person had ever heard.

What’s it mean? I think God hasn’t given up on this generation. God is still working and calling people to be his own.

We’ll all keep praying and seeking the Lord. I’m excited to see what might happen.

Our youth just finished up a pepperoni roll sale. I walked away really amazed at how much money could be made by selling some simple food. As I was pouring over the numbers in preparation for placing the order, one of our young ladies stood out. She sold thirty more than the next closest seller, and that next one was really a tag team of two sisters. Here's how it happened. Everyone basically sold to their families and the people in the church. A few had parents that took in order from into work. All fine ways of selling. This young lady though, took it upon herself to go to various businesses in her community and sold to the workers. From what I understood, her method of selling was to tell them that she would deliver them on the set day for lunch. People have to eat lunch. Why not drop a couple bucks if it means that you don't have to worry about bringing lunch that day. She was creative and the sales showed it. How are we doing being creative? Are we examining our teaching, preaching, serving, giving, and a host of other things to see if there just might be a better way? Maybe it's time to try something new again. My goal, in the next couple weeks, is to do something completely different in youth. It might work or it might not, but at least we will try.

"Tragically, in most churches, the pain of change is greater than the pain of ineffectiveness." -Simple Church by Thom Rainer & Eric Geiger.

Going to be chewing on this one for awhile.

I was sitting at my desk yesterday when I got the call from a local funeral director. One of our older members in the church had passed away. He had been a man of strong faith and love for his Lord. Due to illness he just wasn't able to make it out anymore. Age takes it toll on all of us. Death is sad. It weighs on the heart. Yet, this man has found his reward. His time on earth while long by our standards, was really just a miniscule drop when compared to the eternal life that he has now found himself. Life forever with the Lord. Enjoy it friend. Some day I'll see you there.

After attending a small discussion led by Konan Stephens and Gary Fowler concerning the book Simple Church, I have actually started the book. It is a challenging read. It confronts us with the realization that maybe we're not making disciples like Christ has told us. Even as an associate pastor mainly focusing on youth, I have to ask myself if what we are doing is really making disciples of Christ. I know well the heartbreak of watching youth head out into the world and abandoning their faith. Don't want to see that. Yeah, I can't control them, but I want to make it hard for them to walk away. Anyway, I'm about half way through the book and getting spiritually hit in the gut again and again. Hopefully, I'll have more thoughts later.

PS Yeah, changing the look of the site again. Eventually I'll hit on just what I want.

I experienced the sadness of the Spirit moving in our services yesterday. Yes, it's sad to me when the Spirit wants to move and minister to people and they simply refuse. During a great altar time the Spirit directed pastor to ask for some young people to come forward. God wanted to minister to them. Pastor never called anyone by name, he simply stated that he knew God wanted to minister to several of them. Eventually one came up which is great. But there were were several more that needed to come up. The Spirit was making it very clear. Yet, whoever they were they refused.

Why is it that some would prefer the darkness of the pit instead of walking into the healing power of the living Lord? It saddens my heart to think of the incredible victories that could have taken place in their lives if they would have humbled themselves and came. Think about it. The God of everything was taking a moment to specifically call them out so he could minister to them and he was refused. How long can we refuse God's love before He allows us to have our way?

We need a breakthrough and we continue to pray for it. Thankfully, God remains patient and loving.

The day after Sunday usually is a hard day for ministers. It's the day where you review your success and failures of the day before. It's also the day that the enemy loves sneak up to your ear and whisper sweet lies. Lies about how worthless you are and how you're not making a difference. For me that day is Wednesday since my youth meet on Tuesday night.

As I write this, I could write a long list of the problems and struggles my students are going through. Deep painful problems. Problems with no simple solutions. It weighs heavy on my heart. I know the enemy delights in using pain to pull people down into the pit. There's always someone in our lives going through a trial, but right now the number in my little youth group exceeds what I can count on both hands.

For those that actually read this, please take a moment to pray. I know it's the same for students everywhere, but these are my students. These are the ones that I pray for and agonize over. They are my burden and I humbly ask you to share it with me even if for a moment.

There are some lions that need to die and I want to see some students rise up in Christ and slay the lion of their pit. (Yeah, a small reference to the book).

Last night I had the pleasure of having my friend Cornell Jordan speak in my youth group. Cornell always tears it up and last night was no different. He spoke on having clean hands before the Lord. Good stuff. Challenging stuff. He loves physical illustrations and the close of the message was three basins for the youth to come up and wash their hands in. A red one for having sin in your life, a black one for something in your life you need to get rid of, and a white one for those that knew they were right with God but just wanted to renew and refresh their walk.

I love how God brings people into our lives. A few years ago I didn't know Cornell at all. I met him when a fellow youth pastor asked me to help with something called Camp X. He was working with the discipleship track and asked me to come. I hesitated, but eventually said yes. However, I wasn't able to attend the last planning meeting. I basically just showed up not knowing what to expect. What I found was that the discipleship track was led by this crazy guy called Cornell. Yeah, first impressions are weird. I soon learned that the "crazy" I saw was really intense passion for the Lord and helping other know the Lord. I've worked three camps with him now, have had him speak in my youth multiple times, and have had him as my youth Fall retreat speaker. I count him as one of my friends.

Cornell is currently ministering as a youth evangelist (although he can just has easily knock the socks off adults). Yeah, this is a promo for him and no, he didn't ask me to so this. Check him out.

www.cornelljordan.org