Life of a youth pastor .

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3 ways to avoid living in the past.

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The glory days.

I remember back in 6th grade I had hit my prime on the football team. I racked up 26 touchdowns that year, I thought I was headed to the NFL. Then I stopped growing and oddly enough stopped being good at football. Sometimes I wish I could go back and relive that season, but that’s not going to happen and I have to live with the fact that it’s a different season of life and no matter how badly I wish to be in the NFL it’s simply not going to happen, I need to focus on what I can do with the gifts and strengths I have now.

We hear senior pastors and youth pastors reminisce about the good old days when they had 500 students show up for a camp way back when or people bring up what happened when “that” person was on staff. Or perhaps they hang on to “one of the best moments ever in our church was when…”

The past. It’s a slippery slope. The longer we live in the past the harder it is to strive for the unseen success of the future.

A mission/vision statement should be able to tell us if we have done our job in the past and keep us focused on what we are chasing after next. Strategy will shift and morph along the way with culture to help accomplish the said vision, this part can be frustrating for those that like consistency and to some point you do indeed need consistency to have the necessary traction to move forward.

So, how do we stay focused on what’s next rather than dwell on what was? Here’s 3 thoughts. [Read more…]

A glance at the past & then back to the future!

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To say the least, my 2013 summer has been packed full of everything under the sun, from moving into a house to preparing a program switch for HS students. Here’s how my summer unfolded in review and what I’m up against for the Fall.

SUMMER, a glance at the past:

  • My wife and I had the awesome opportunity to partner with her parents in finding an investment property here in Austin, we are renting from them. We found the most amazing 1972 special in north Austin and have been doing home projects since we moved in, wood floors next month should top it off! (pictures to come, stay tuned)
  • I lead two GO! Teams, one MS & one HS trip to Branson, MO to serve the working poor and less fortunate. Each week we fed over 300 people and loved on their kids by doing kids clubs. For 34 of our MS students, it was their first serving experience ever!
  • I began a nationwide search for a position I am hiring…after many candidates God has yet to reveal the right person for the position. This search has had it’s ups and downs, but one thing is certain…God is in control and I’m trusting Him for this.
  • Calla’s brother K.J. married an amazing woman Nicole, so happy for them. We spend a week in NYC/Pennsylvania for the wedding.
  • I took a quick kayak fishing trip to the coast with a buddy. It was fun, but no fish 🙁
  • 5 different house guests among July/August… it’s so fun to have a home to house friends and family!
  • The crux of my summer was researching and pushing through a program change for our HS students. We had a successful launch on Sunday night (we moved from Wednesdays), we had 75 people attend, 25 of them being adult leaders. This was perhaps the best leader to student ratio I have ever seen, now to get more students! I’ll write more about this later.

FALL, back to the future:

  • Continue to improve and settle into a rhythm for our HS program.
  • Explore God. This is AMAZING, over 320 churches in the greater Austin area are coming together to do the same 6 week series for the city, wow! We will be doing it for students.
  • Orange Tour. Gateway Church here in Austin will be hosting the Orange Tour on     November 5.
  • I have been invited back out to Tennessee to speak at a fall camp for MS and HS students.
  • There is a possibility of helping pilot a mountain biking/mission trip in Haiti, we’ll see…
  • Calla’s parents are flying in next month, a first look at the house. Yippee!
  • We are already talking about our Christmas production and winter camp for students at Gateway, I love planning ahead.

Do you take time to reflect on what God has allowed you to enjoy in the past? Do you think and pray about upcoming activities in the future? Give it to God and trust Him.