Life of a youth pastor .

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Your journey for knowledge will take you farther than you can imagine.

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I want to figure out how “it” works. I want to know why “it” exists. I have a desire to understand what makes “it”unique.

My journey for knowledge has taken me to some wild places. Let me share a few snapshots of what “it” is with you… perhaps some of  your journey is similar to mine. “It” is:

  • Under the hood of my jeep to fix an overheating issue. This journey taught me how remove and replace a waterpump, thermostat, radiator along with a couple fans and belts.
  • Figuring out what chickens need…and what they like. This journey has been a fun one, from building the chicken coop to collecting eggs and letting them free range the backyard.
  • A winter camp. For the past 7 years I have attended a middle school or high school camp as a staff or intern. This journey has taken me into the spreadsheets, planning sessions, and training of small group leaders to make it happen. (This weekend I’m in Atlanta learning from another church how to improve our camp process)

In my quest for knowledge, I know this… I’m further along in my journey than where I started. I don’t think I will ever settle for the answer “I don’t know.” I have a drive to discover and improve my knowledge so I can be better at what I do in life and in ministry, and I love sharing this knowledge with others.

My source of knowledge comes from different places be it books, specialists, research, youtube videos or here’s one… prayer.

I pray on a regular basis for wisdom and creativity. Why? Because I need it as a youth pastor, as a leader, as a husband, and a friend. Here’s the ironic part, you know what people say most about me when they are describing me? “Chris is a wise guy for his age.” or “Chris is so creative.” Wow, that’s humbling. I don’t say that to toot my own horn, but rather give a shout out to the one answering those prayers. In your quest for knowledge I’d encourage you to start praying more and just see if God doesn’t throw more opportunities for knowledge your way.

What area of ministry or life are you desiring more knowledge? What’s the next step you can take towards knowing more?

People are more important than your project.

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Today I had great plans for lunch. I was going to rush over to a friends house and borrow a pressure washer they had rented. My goal, simply wash all the dirt stains off the front and back patios that have accumulated over the lifetime of the house.

After hurrying through the front patio and making it look new again my “self-rule” kicked into play. I have made a deal with myself that no matter what I’m doing, if I see a neighbor walk by that I must stop what I am doing and give them full attention and be more interested in them as a person rather than my project. I’m guilty of breaking this rule, but not today. I only have 30 minutes left before I need to get back to work, could I have this conversation and get the back patio finished? Probably not.

Rudy lives across the street and we have chatted once or twice. He walked up my driveway and immediately we dove into conversation about SXSW, the big music film interactive here in Austin. Being a musician I thought Rudy would love SXSW, he went on to explain how it infringes upon the local musicians. One conversation led to another, and all the while my selfish tendencies wanted to tell Rudy, “hey, I gotta go.” The Spirit continued whispering, “Hang in there, keep talking, look for open doors.”

45 minutes later I had no time to finish my back patio, was late getting the pressure washer back to my friend, late getting back to work, but feeling more accomplished in those 45 minutes talking to Rudy than all my projects for the day. Our conversations took many turns to social media, student culture, music lyrics, life worth and eventually somehow the Spirit gave me an open door to talk about the tower of Babel and God’s relationship with people. I was able to share 3 or 4 verses for scripture including John 10:10. Towards the end of our conversation Rudy seemed pretty encouraged and I felt a camaraderie between us not just as neighbors but as friends.

I had a project in mind when going home for lunch. God had a person in mind. Discovering a friendship with someone else and talking about a relationship with God trumps all projects. This is what God wanted to remind me of today.

The next time you are rushing to accomplish something for yourself, slow down and consider how God might want to use you in accomplishing His work. Let Him establish the work for you, this is my prayer for you.

Psalm 90:17

May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us; establish the work of our hands for us— yes, establish the work of our hands.

Juggling Rocket Ships.

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What goes up must come down…so the saying goes. But what about the rocket ship? If it goes high enough it will reach zero gravity and stay in orbit for a long time! That ship is not coming back down unless given a force in the opposite direction in from which it came.

In ministry, don’t you wish you were juggling with rocket ships?! What some of us would give, to know that we could throw a task so high that it succeeds in flight and all we need to do is keep an eye on it, making sure the flight pattern is on the right path.

Often pastors, staff, and volunteers throw one ball up at a time just for it to come back down. One area of your ministry needs help, attention, a process – you spend hours, days and even weeks helping it succeed. Just when you think you have thrown that ball high enough you see many others speeding at you like asteroids about to hit your ministry. You have now lost focus of the one ball you spent so much time with! And very soon, it too will be speeding back at you.

I’m not here to say I have the answers to this juggling act, but rather offer some sympathy and encouragement…

I know ministry is exhausting at times, find strength in the Spirit. I understand you are frustrated, find contentment in the Gospel.  I recognize you are probably not getting the results you desire at the moment, find fulfillment and joy in being a child of God!

What are you juggling right now? Budgets, retreats, capital campaigns, small groups, recruiting leaders, meeting with students, parents, equipping volunteers, casting vision for staff, writing messages for Sunday. I’m right there with you.  So, how do I juggle these tasks? I recognize that the Spirit has given each one of my staff, leaders and volunteers a gift. I play to their strengths. You are not alone in ministry…so don’t do ministry alone!

How am I currently juggling? I try to begin with prayer, knowing that God is ultimately responsible here. “God, give me someone to oversee this check-in process.” Now you have to act! Seek out people who have a gift of hospitality – put them in charge of overseeing your greeting and check-in process. This one person can focus on the one ball of greeting. Seek out who has a gift of humor, I strongly believe God has created some people to be more funny than others…and every student ministry needs one. Have this person focus on the one ball of games. I am a partnering students with these adults in the juggling act, help share the load and feel the ownership. I would strongly discourage you from just putting anyone in a postion of coaching or ownership in an area of your ministry, make sure they are qualified, passionate about that specific area, and gifted in that way. It is better to keep looking than try to find a quick fix!

As these teams develop, you do not get a free ride. In some cases, your position becomes more difficult. You will have to learn how to explain your vision, desires, why’s and how to’s, when it comes to juggling. Hopefully, somewhere along the way you aren’t the one juggling all the balls that make up your ministry. You have gone from juggler to aircraft control tower – directing the airspace in your ministry where your rocket ships have launched and are flying high!

I am praying for all the pastors out there today who are juggling away.  I pray that God guides you to people who hold gifts and passions that your ministry needs to successfully launch!

If you are really interested in learning how to juggle, take a shot at it!

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Celestial City Lights…

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These are the city lights of Chicago…you can see a sprawling metropolis that goes on for miles. As my plane was doing a loop waiting for landing space at O’hare I was able to take in the city, pick out the skyline, particular buildings that were familiar to me and even cars on Lakeshore Dr.  This plane ride was very different than many before. I have made this flight at least 20 times since going to school at Moody Bible Institute and then living in Wheaton, IL. This flight was different knowing that it would be one of my last times for a while flying into Chicago, Austin will be our new place of residency. My stomach was in knots knowing that I am leaving a youth ministry I love, people I have relationships with over 6 years now, and just the thought of boxing up our life and moving south some 1,000 miles was becoming more and more of a reality. Though I am incredibly excited about this transition and the team I will be doing life with in Texas, it’s still something hard to swallow. As I sat in my seat gazing out the window over Chicago city lights, I simply prayed, “God, give me peace…reveal yourself to me.” I’m not exaggerating when I say, not even a second later I followed out a well lit highway to see this sitting right below me….

I know it’s hard to make out but this is Wheaton Bible Church….just below the really bright light (that’s a new ballpark the city just put in). Out of all the lights that make up Chicago, God allowed my eyes to see this tiny spec on the map. Though a tiny spec on the map, Wheaton Bible Church along with Gateway Church in Austin are only two of thousands upon millions of shimmering lights that make up the celestial lights in the city of God! God brought abundant peace to my soul and amazing understanding to see how He works through his church body among the nations to build up His eternal kingdom. I cannot wait to get the bird’s eye view from heaven one day to see how the global church of history past has partnered together in building up the kingdom of God…one light at a time.

Paul’s words come to mind when he is encouraging the church at Philippi …

Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the Word of life—in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing.

It has become more apparent to me than ever before due to my time of transition, we all have our separate church buildings, neighborhoods, and communities that we would consider our “church” home, but let us not forget the kingdom that we all share in building together. We are all batting for the same team. Hopefully one day you can share in the bird’s eye view, today you can only live intentionally in light of that day.