As a youth pastor, you guys know that i am always trying to come up with the best, coolest, most off the wall ideas in order to make Christianity appeal to you and your friends. Sometimes i feel like i have done a great job with that; other times i feel like i haven't done so well. I think the main reason for that is because God plants an idea in my heart and I run with it, but I don't always finish the race with it.
I am proposing a new idea: let's get back to the basics. With many important and amazing things coming up, we need to be ready with the things that are going to grow this youth ministry; not numerically, but spiritually. That being said, we need to get back to the simple things; prayer, discipleship, bible study, power of the holy spirit, worship, etc. If we don't prepare ourselves for the harvest, God is going to plant that harvest somewhere it is going to grow. We wanthat place to be Defy.
We are going to bring back an emphasis on pre-service prayer, weekly discipleship, worship (maybe even just acoustic or with a CD some weeks), asking for the power of the HS, and working to get ready for what God wants to do, not what we think is best.
Seven could be a great turning point in the future of our ministry, but we have to be ready to take the pass when God sends it our way.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Monday, January 12, 2009
Decisions????
Just writing another Blog; could it be possible that once i start writing, the thoughts will just randomly come to my head and then i will fill the empty pages? Let's try it on for size today!
The older that I get, the more I look back to what "could have been" in my life. I see all the moments where I could have played sports, or dated a certain girl, or went to a certain college, or numerous other things. In my defense, I see some of those moments as the direct "hand of God" protecting me from trouble or from some other path I may have chosen to take. In reality, I guess it was just making the right decisions when I needed to make them.
There are even times in my life that I look back and say "What was I thinking when that happened?" or even "How come that situation happened the way it did?" I want to challenge you guys this week with the following idea: nothing that you do in your life can be taken back; it is stuck that way for eternity. Decisions you make, either good or bad, will always be those decisions, and you will always have to live with those decisions. At the same time, all of those decisions will directly affect who you are in the future. Had i chosen another college, i would have never met Crissy and probably would not be in Georgetown right now. Or had I chose not to listen to God's voice in my life (it happens more than you would know), I would not be a youth pastor today. I would probably be an accountant or something in sports. It's super-important to pray and think about every decision you make, even if it seems small on your scale.
Just remember today that just because no one else can see your decisions, God can see them, and you have to live with them.
The older that I get, the more I look back to what "could have been" in my life. I see all the moments where I could have played sports, or dated a certain girl, or went to a certain college, or numerous other things. In my defense, I see some of those moments as the direct "hand of God" protecting me from trouble or from some other path I may have chosen to take. In reality, I guess it was just making the right decisions when I needed to make them.
There are even times in my life that I look back and say "What was I thinking when that happened?" or even "How come that situation happened the way it did?" I want to challenge you guys this week with the following idea: nothing that you do in your life can be taken back; it is stuck that way for eternity. Decisions you make, either good or bad, will always be those decisions, and you will always have to live with those decisions. At the same time, all of those decisions will directly affect who you are in the future. Had i chosen another college, i would have never met Crissy and probably would not be in Georgetown right now. Or had I chose not to listen to God's voice in my life (it happens more than you would know), I would not be a youth pastor today. I would probably be an accountant or something in sports. It's super-important to pray and think about every decision you make, even if it seems small on your scale.
Just remember today that just because no one else can see your decisions, God can see them, and you have to live with them.
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