Danger Zone

I believe that one of the most dangerous places that a person can be is a High School parking lot at the beginning of lunchtime.  Everyone is trying to get off campus as quickly as possible because the school only gives them enough time to get somewhere, order their lunch, eat their lunch, and get back if they break every possible traffic law en route.  Today I showed up at the school just after the lunch bell rang and almost got hit by two cars and then had two guys on motorcycles pull out in front of me.  It was like they could sense my fear and so rather than wait they jumped on it.

I was there because I wanted to see my students.  We have a bunch of High Schoolers who don’t leave for lunch, and once a week I try to go by and visit them while they are on their lunch break.  I just kind of hang out and give high fives.  And so even though I take my life in my own hands just to drive onto the campus, I do it.

Now, I’m not trying to make myself sound like a hero here, but as I was driving away from the school today I started thinking that if we call ourselves believers, our love should take us into dangerous territory.  We should love people who in and of themselves are not very loveable even if that opens us up to the possibility of getting hurt.  We should love in such a way that it meets genuine needs, even if it puts us on the wrong side of town (or the globe).  We should really love people even if they believe differently from us, or look different from us, or vote differently from us.  Because real, genuine, Christlike love is dangerous.  I mean, Jesus paid with His life.

Senior Recognition

Last night we had our Senior Recognition. This is an event we do at church every year to honor and bid farewell to those who will be graduating this year. It is a great event with some lighthearted moments, as well as some formal traditions. It’s a great time to try to make people cry and to look back on all the times we have shared over the past few years.

Normally, though, I do not particularity enjoy the event. It’s not that it isn’t good or that I don’t like doing it, but for some reason I get so nervous that I can’t have a good time. I think it’s all the pomp and circumstance that surrounds our recognition service, or maybe it’s the fact that I’m wearing graduation regalia. But I think the biggest reason I can’t seem to have any fun is simple: mothers. I work so hard trying to make sure that that the event makes the moms proud that I stress myself out.

Last night was different. Because everyone involved was a regular, and I had a good relationship with all the parents, I noticed in an early part of the evening that I was actually having a good time. I wasn’t stressed or nervous, and I didn’t have to be. We could just have a fun night together to celebrate all that God has done in the lives of these wonderful students. It really was a great night, and I hope all our seniors know just how proud of them I am.

Facebook Status Update

I have thoroughly enjoyed some of my students Facebook status updates in recent weeks. It seems like in the past month, there have been several times when something I have said, or something said by another teacher at one of our youth events, has been put onto someone’s Facebook. Heck, I’ve even quoted myself, which I don’t think counts as a quote but rather a continuation of the same thought by the same guy.

There are two cool things about being quoted on Facebook. First, there’s the honor of having something you said posted for thousands of people to see. Even if you aren’t given credit for the quote, it’s cool that all the friends of friends get to read what you said. It’s cool to think that something I had to say was meaningful enough for someone else to want to plaster on their wall. But secondly, and most importantly, it means that my students are listening. Not only did God give me something worthwhile to say, but my students caught it and wanted to broadcast it. They made a mental note (or just posted it from their phone when I wasn’t looking) and made sure everyone got to share in that same thought.

Sometimes I forget just how cool my job is. I get to talk to students about God and help them see what He has to say to them. And I really do believe that the things I say (the good ones at least) come to me from Him so that my kids can understand Him better. So when I see that they get it, that they have absorbed something I’ve said and have made it a part of their lives, well, that’s what it’s all about.

New New New

Tonight is our first night of youth for the new school year. That means that all the seniors are gone, and our new 7th graders will be there. We have a new sermon series, a new logo, a new band, a new ministry strategy, and a new attitude (well, at least Patti Labelle does).

I’m excited about tonight, though I really don’t know what will happen. With new ideas come new, unforeseen issues. I know everything will go well, but I just want it to go really well. I want a good first impression, to start on the right foot.

It’s tempting for me to want things at church to go well because I want to look good. I want the students to think that I’m a cool youth pastor, and I want the adults to think that I have my act together. But as I’ve been going through my day and praying for tonight, my heart is really for excellence so that Jesus can look good. There are so many other reasons I can have to do a good job tonight, but the real reason I want it to be a good, exciting night at church is because I want Him to receive the praise that He’s due. There’s been kind of a lull in our attitude at church over the summer, and I’ve realized that the blah attitude we’ve had toward church has translated into a blah attitude for Christ, and He deserves so much more than that. So tonight I will do my best work and give everything I have for one purpose and one purpose only, to bring glory to my Savior.

First Day of School

Today was the first day of school. Another school year, another fresh start. The first day of school represents endless potential. This could be a totally awesome year.

Or it could suck.

Who knows? No one really. The school year is just beginning, and what stands before all those students and teachers is a series of choices. What we choose to do represents who we are going to be this year. We can’t choose what will happen to us, but we can choose how we will respond to it.

One of my favorite verses in the Bible about choices is Deuteronomy 30:19, where God says “This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live.” God has told us how to live, and He did that so we could experience what real life is all about. Often, through our choices, we choose to die a little more each day because we’re choosing things that are outside God’s plan. This year, if we’re students, teachers, or we haven’t been in school for a long time, let’s all choose life by choosing to live God’s way.

I wish my students would just leave

No really, I do. Ok, so sometimes I just want them ALL to leave, but what I really mean by this is that I want them to eventually get to a place where they are ready to leave the ministry that I have and start participating in ministry in some other way.

The nature of being a youth pastor means that I partner with student’s parents to prepare them to be people of faith out in the real world. That means that by the time I really get to know them and become close to them, they leave my world and head into another. We had some students leave for college this week, with several others leaving next week, and while it’s difficult for me to say goodbye to the students that I’ve invested in over the last few years, I know that it’s what they need to do. The problem with my job is that the purpose of it is to prepare people to leave. And as tough as it can be sometimes, it’s the reason that I do what I do.

Sometimes my students don’t leave town, but they still have to leave me. I’ve got several former students who still attend our church, but I don’t get to connect with them the way I did when they were in youth. They’ve moved on as well, pursuing careers or education here. Either way, they’ve left me. And that’s ok, because that’s the point of what I do.

And I got some new, crazy, seventh graders to replace them. Joy.

Home Sweet Home

As a Youth Pastor, there are a lot of really cool things that I get to do, but my favorite is camp. We spent the last week on the mountain top (literally, I’m still getting used to the altitude change). It was cool to see God move so powerfully in the lives of some of my students.

But it’s good to be home.

It’s nice to sleep in my own bed, instead of on the bottom bunk. It’s nice to choose what I want to eat instead of taking whatever the line is serving. It’s nice to get to bed at a reasonable hour. And it’s really nice to only have one kid instead of 18.

However, the hard part about coming home is dealing with the realities of life again. As the fog of our lives lifts while at camp, we see God more closely and connect to Him more intimately. But when we return to our daily routine, the other 51 weeks of the year seem more mundane and less spiritual. The hard part about camp is living out our faith all the time, not just in those moments when we set aside time in our calendar. It means continuing in this 60-60 experiment to find spiritual significance in every breath of our lives, seeing God here in the valley like I’m still on the mountain.

Congradulations Graduates

So, yesterday was my third Pampa High School Graduation ceremony, and it was really cool. I mean that literally, it wasn’t as painfully hot as previous ceremonies have been. I think starting a half hour earlier really helped. But I also mean that figuratively. This was the most seniors that I have had a personal relationship with yet. I think I knew more seniors yesterday than in the other two years combined. I guess the longer I’m here, the more important those graduation ceremonies become to me. I am so proud of all the graduates, and pray that their lives would live up to the potential that I have seen in them.