In the past, I’ve tried bringing him with me to events and youth group only to find that in those times, he’s been needy and felt the need for me to hold him. That’s not really doable when you’re up front teaching. I was afraid when I saw him and his Sparks teacher come into our youth room that that’s what I would have to do.

Boy was I wrong. His behavior that night makes me second guess that I can’t bring him to any event. He is, after all 5 years old. I know many other youth pastors bring their younger kids with them. Maybe now I can.

Anyway, I would love to say that starting New Years, I’ll start posting more regularly, but like most New Years resolutions, I’d probably fail like the rest of them. So with all that, I’m trying to put scheduled posting times on my calendar to help me remember to do just that; Spew my youth ministry thoughts on this digital paper for others to read and either learn from and use or laugh at and reject. Either way, I find it therapeutic.

Here’s to the future!

Well, it was a Wednesday morning and I woke up sick…I mean really sick. I felt like I was laying on my death bed. I waited a couple of hours and let my intern know that he would probably have to lead the lesson that night because I was not going to make it that evening. His response? “Do you want me to continue with your series?” No hesitation on his part. This gains points in my mind for the success of this future leader. Granted I didn’t get to hear his message or watch his leadership, but from what I’ve heard so far, the night went well.

It really pays to have an intern! This was one of those “trial by fire” times.

But I also want to/have to say this. When I texted all my leaders about how I wouldn’t be there because I was sick and that the intern would lead the night…one leader responded, “Get better soon! We got it”. I truly have the best leaders a youth pastor can have. I hope and pray that they know how thankful I am for each and every one.

Thank your youth leaders today! They deserve it!

I love the resources that lifechurch.tv have come out with, like the youversion bible. While poking around their stuff I came across their Open resources. They have a ton of stuff for speaking to teens. It comes with messages, videos, graphics, even small group questions. I recently used one of their series called “Greater Than” to try out this resource. I have to say…INCREDIBLE. Loved using it. I could easily make it my own. I didn’t have to reinvent graphics. It made my life a lot easier. I highly recommend that you check it out and give it a try. After all…it’s FREE!

It’s that time of year where most people are fighting some sort of sickness. That’s the case for me. Tonight for youth group I couldn’t lead worship and teach. My body and voice wouldn’t make it all the way through. So, as I was thinking about what to do for worship I needed a creative way to run it. As I was picking up my son from his friends house it hit me. Let’s do something new with the technology that is at our fingertips. The answer is polleverywhere.com.

I made 3 free text polls that were projected on the screen…one at a time. One poll said, “God, to me you are…“, “God, thank you for…“, and “God, I pray for…“. Kids texted in their finished sentences and it was projected on the screen…live. While they were texting I had music playing in the background.

Very cool to see what kids responses.

In Jr. High, I started out talking about evangelism and how to do it. It seems, now correct me if I’m wrong, that Jr. High students are more bold about talking about faith, Jesus, and church than high school students. I think they took my challenge. Guess what happened? The next week, we had almost doubled our attendance!!!

You might be thinking, “It’s not about the numbers.” YES IT IS! That’s more souls we can reach for Christ. More lives we’ll hopefully see in heaven. That’s more people we can turn from darkness to the light. Don’t tell me it not about the numbers.

I’m super excited to see what God is going to do in our ministry this year.