Through The Fire

The weekend was: Busy again! Friday night we had our second Thanksgiving get together with Janna's family. Then Sunday, the Westside teens (along with some adults) have been working on an art project together. We had a theme, "Blessed Be Your Name" (from the song), in which we each created some artwork exploring the creative gifts of the Holy Spirit. We had a potluck with our gallery showing of the finished pieces of art Sunday. It was great fun and the rest of the church got to look in on some cool, creative, gifted people.

Where I am at the moment: At home relaxing a bit. Madeline has one more day off school, so she's watching Dora's Christmas. Janna is at work. Jordan is playing with some new VeggieTales toys he got from a friend.

On my to-do list this week: Christmas party plans. Calendar for now through the Summer.

Goals: Keep my diet organized to keep track.

Procrastinating about: Filling out my "application"...still...

Books I’m in the midst of: Still reading The Shack by William P. Young and The Great Omission by Dallas Willard (I will never finish this book...it's too good). Breakthrough by Suzanne Somers.

Music that seemed to catch my attention this past week: Pulled out the Christmas music!!! I usually go through December listening to at least one or two Christmas songs a day. I have a lot. Today it was "Santa Claus" by Harry Connick, Jr. I also listened to some Sheryl Crow from back in the day. I heard "Leaving Las Vegas", "Strong Enough" and "All I Wanna Do". Brings back memories from college.

Movies I watched and what I thought: I saw The Spiderwick Chronicles which was pretty good, but I think it left us with the impression there would be no sequel. I got in trouble for watching it without Janna...I watched the original 1951 version of The Day The Earth Stood Still since there is a remake coming soon. I enjoyed it very much. Older movies seem to always entertain me. I also watched The Brothers Solomon which was a typical SNL cast movie from the people on the show these days. It had some funny parts (like when one brother was on his first date with Pam from the Office and proposed to her publicly), but was not very good. It was written by and starred Will Forte from SNL who is really funny, but the movie was a bomb. Also almost finished with Season 8 of M*A*S*H...I didn't know Radar O'Reilly leaves the show before the series ends...he's my favorite character. I cried when he left the 4077.

Next project: I need to also finish a music arrangement for a friend.

How I’m feeling about this week: Relieved.

The weekend was: Busy! I don't really consider it over yet. I still have Northwest Children's Outreach tonight. Great time with leading worship...I liked the way the songs I picked worked well together. Lock-in was fu-un! Teens played Nerf guns most of the night. We watched Kung Fu Panda and Secondhand Lions and played some Xbox 360. The final night of our art project went well. We're getting prepared for this next Sunday for our art show and to display our art for the rest of the church. Should be fun.

Where I am at the moment: At home. Madeline is at school. Janna is at work. Jordan is watching Star Wars Clone Wars cartoon (the ones from a few years ago, not the new ones).

On my to-do list this week: Nail down teen Christmas party. Get house ready for Thanksgiving with family.

Goals: Get my diet organized to keep track.

Procrastinating about: Filling out my "application"....

Books I’m in the midst of: Still reading The Edge Chronicles Book 5: The Last of the Sky Pirates by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell and The Great Omission by Dallas Willard (I will never finish this book...it's too good). Starting Breakthrough by Suzanne Somers.

Music that seemed to catch my attention this past week: Tobymac's "Lose My Soul" is a cool song that has been playing frequently. Also P.O.D.'s "Youth of the Nation" is finding its way to the top again. Mercy Me's "Here With Me" also has been going through my head...great lyrics. The new Jeremy Camp song is pretty good, may have to download it.

Movies I watched and what I thought: I saw Quantum of Solace last Sunday. I didn't like it as much as Casino Royale. I didn't think it had the elements of a good Bond movie. No gadgets, little car action, no real clear plot. I fell asleep at one point. Saw Kung Fu Panda many times since we bought it on DVD. This is an awesome movie. Very funny. The Happening was a really dumb movie. M. Night is killing his career. ::Spoiler:: nothing happens in The Happening besides a lot of suicides. You don't find out what is doing it; why; or when and who it will happen to next. Dumb. Also in Season 8 of M*A*S*H.

Next project: An advent series for the youth group...but I am not into advent. How do I go about this? I'll figure it out. I need to also finish a music arrangement for a friend.

How I’m feeling about this week: I am thankful for Thanksgiving.

This is pretty cool. Japanese Girl Drafted to Go Pro

Yup, I need some of these. My favs: "Chuck Norris Sweat" and "Fear".



1% wax; 99% testosterone!

Interesting...

Our teens were charged to create something for Family Camp this year on the theme of "Follow Me" the calling of Levi. We decided to put together a little music video. This video only took a couple of Sundays to plan and about 30 minutes to get filmed the way we liked it. Thanks to our awesome preacher Aaron, we were able to get it to DVD to show on Sunday at Family Camp. Mike held the camera and directed. Jeremy was Levi. Riley was Jesus. Everyone did such an amazing job! We hope you enjoy this. It was fun to make. If you want a DVD version let me know so I can get some burned from Aaron.

Don't know if you've seen this SNL skit. One of their best in a looooooong time.

I am sad to say that I heard through the grapevine that my beloved alma mater, Cascade College is closing after this school year. I feel like my best friend died.

I don't even know what to say about it. I was just there last night enjoying a couple hours of pickup basketball with some old friends.

The days of spending time there conversing with my professors and friends is coming to a close. Hearing all the great things from Witness was a joy. Pulling into 9101 E. Burnside Street, Portland, Oregon 97216 was always a pleasure.

It was so great to have a place to meet as ministers of the area churches of Christ for various meetings and conferences. Goodbye my friend. I will never forget the joys you provided.

Kingsmen for life!

"Those then are friends to whom the same things are good and evil. And those who are moreover friendly or unfriendly to the same people. For in that case they might have the same wishes and thus by wishing for each other what they would wish for themselves they show themselves each other's friends." -- Aristotle, Book II: Rhetoric

Often in Youth Ministry, we deal with conflict. Sometimes it is not identifiable or transparent. Other times, it is blatant, in-yo-face! I believe I have the spiritual gift to identify conflicts happening around me whether I am the target or not...sometimes I feel like I have the spiritual gift to be the target of conflict (LOL!!!).

Here are 5 Healthy Ways to Deal with Conflict:

1. Identify the real target of the conflict. Sometimes when people are upset, it's not something you did, but stress within the life of those who come after you. I sometimes take out my stress on my family. I sit and realize I am not upset with my wife or kids, but with another situation. The truth is it is easier to offend those that love me most because I know they will continue to love me. With Youth Ministry, the target may not be my teaching they are upset about, but a fight they are dealing with in their family. The target may not be that a parent is upset we ended an activity at 7:01pm instead of 7:00pm, but that they were stressing that they had an early morning meeting at work the next day that they were not looking forward to. Youth Ministers are easy targets because we are seen as inexperienced, less educated, immature people...even though we are not.

2. Ask Questions. Sometimes the best way to go through a conflict is to ask as many questions as possible to find the root of the conflict. It is easier to deal with the exact reasons why someone is upset if you have gone through the deduction process. For example: What is it that I did that you are upset about? How does it make you feel when I ____? How would you have handled ____? What can I do to make ___ up to you? What can we do to resolve ___? In the future, what would you like me to do? How might "so-and-so" feel if I did this your way if they were fine with my decision? How will this truly affect the rest of the group if I were to try this your way?

3. Compromise. Sometimes taking a shot of humility is the best way to solve a conflict. There have been many times I have done things in ways I was not accustomed to in order to reach the largest cross-section of the group as I could. It is not easy to swallow your pride and admit you might not be the best at something. Absolutely try other people's ideas (my wife will shout AMEN! at this statement and ask me to swallow my pride). Disclaimer: If it is not a good idea, don't do it just to prove a point. Tell them why it's not a good idea, but come up with a way to incorporate some of their idea into something that will work. Don't compromise the integrity and health of your program for a lame-brain idea.

4. Don't deal with conflict over email or text message. I don't know why, but my writing style in email tends to confuse people and convey messages I never intended to say. One thing I decided a long time ago was to never deal with conflict over email. I had one parent shouting and accusing me of some of the most ridiculous things once. I immediately emailed back and said, "I won't deal with this through email. I will call you right now." and called her. We set up an appointment. It turns out that after a day of breathing and letting it simmer, she wasn't as angry as she was the day before and apologized for the way she spoke to me. That might be some good advice; give it a day to rest. But, DO NOT ignore it or let it sit for too long. Deal with conflict ASAP.

5. Be honest. This should be a no-brainer, but honesty is the best policy. Don't hide your feelings to save those of the other person. If the other person needs a dose of truth, give it to them. Please don't lie about a situation. If you made a mistake, own up to it and vow to make it right so it never happens again. It is a weird thing in Youth Ministry that we have to be who the church wants us to be. I find this mantra unholy. Many churches have unreal expectations in who their Youth Minister should be...many online job descriptions I have read about what churches are looking for make me sad. My heart hurts for the person walking into those situations. I cannot be someone I am not. I have taken jobs doing what they wanted me to for the need of a paycheck. No more. I will not live my life lying about who I am in Jesus. I am not like your last Youth Minister. I will never be like your last Youth Minister. I believe I am better than your last Youth Minister because I bring new gifts and abilities to the table. I can only be who I am. I will teach your kids about Jesus. I will teach them how to live like Jesus in an unholy culture. I won't be able to teach a class on Existentialist Christianity because I do not believe in it (that is supposed to be a joke...you don't get it do you?). My honesty is connected completely to my faith and my ministry and my integrity.

These are but 5 ways. I am sure you could come up with 20 or more ways to deal with conflict. I have had my fair share and these are just a few ways I have dealt with it. I love what my online friend said today: "There’s no real relationship without risk, and there’s no integrity without truth." Great words Matt! How else can you be a child of Jesus if you think this is something you could compromise?

Good luck with conflicts that come about in your life...especially to you Youth Ministers reading. This was really written for you. You have probably the dirtiest job Mike Rowe could ever come up with...he would quit mid-job if he had to do it for a day...it would be the first time we see Mike Rowe quit a dirty job before finishing it. Live a life of integrity so no one can say you are not a child of God. Do not let anyone look down on you because you are young (of course I know some Youth Ministers who are older than their preaching/senior ministers)...young at heart, right?

Live for the truth, teach the truth for life.

I know many of our churches are chugging along doing most of the same old things. It can get tiring to try to come up with new ways to engage our members that will help them grow spiritually. My encouragement would be to find a way to go "outside-the-box" and reach a segment of your congregation that tends to get "left out" on Sunday...your artistic, creative arts members.

At Faith Quest this year, the teens (and many of the adults) learned about the role of the Holy Spirit in us and His gifts that he bestows upon us. My gift (one of them), I learned, is "craftsmanship" which I think is just a fancy way of saying I am gifted artistically and musically.

How might an artist, or a photographer, or a dancer express themselves on Sunday? Well, we've left them out. I don't mean this in a harsh or judgmental way, but we haven't found a place for them to express themselves and the gifts they have been given.

I decided it was time to change that. Our teens are engaging the rest of the church community with an art project. A way to explore their creative side and show that it is truly a gift from God. Our goal is to find all of our painters, photographers, drawing enthusiasts, jewelry makers, scrap bookers, collage designers, and clothing makers and give them a place to learn, discover, explore, and use their gift.

Each month (well if we can do this monthly), we will give a theme and let them take it and do whatever the Holy Spirit lays on their hearts to do with it. Some will have lots of experience, some no experience. It will be the job of those with the most experience to help those with little to no experience to develop their gifts.

We're looking for donations of pre-stretched canvases, colors, paints, brushes, and other supplies from our congregation to help feed this exploration of sorts. At the end of the month, we will have a gallery showing of everything we've done.

I encourage all churches to look into and explore this side of your members. They are gifts of the Spirit. Let the Holy Spirit work through your churches in more ways than you've ever dreamed.

Hey everyone. Update on the diet a.k.a. lifestyle change.

I am trying not to weigh myself every single day. I just know that I will eventually hit a week where I don't lose much and I don't want to become discouraged at seeing the same weight over and over again. Luckily, we have a scale that measures pounds and ounces, so I should see some changes there at least.

So I did weigh myself this morning. I wanted to see the milestone I saw this morning.

As of this morning, I have lost 10 pounds since starting. I am now 10 pounds lighter. I can't believe it. I haven't lost 10 pounds since college. I just have to keep going. I am very thankful for my wife who is so supportive of me and this decision. She buys foods I can eat and has even cooked me some things I would never have thought of and will sometimes throw something in the crock pot before she leaves for work. I go in there and "discover" a roast slow cooking and it's ready to go by the time dinner is here...removes my having to figure out what to make and gives me more time during the day.

Again, I want to encourage people to think about doing this. It's a great healthy decision that will really show results.

So, I hadn't told a lot of people about this or posted it here simply because every time I post something really important, it quickly dies or someone tells me how stupid I am for doing/saying it.

I have been trying to lose weight. I am heavier than ever and my body isn't liking it. My joints hurt and I have started to waddle a bit when I walk. Then there's the whole heartburn/acid reflux thing that isn't pleasant. I just haven't slept well in a long time either.

Motivated, I quickly changed my diet completely. By diet I mean eating whatever I want. So for about a week or 9 days I have been only eating fruit, vegetables, nuts, lean meats, and some dairy products. I cut out sugar and breads completely; even artificial sweeteners. My life consists of nectarines, oranges, bananas, apples, pears, celery, carrots, natural peanut butter (nothing added...ingredients: peanuts and oil - love it!), almonds, peanuts, chicken, and tacos, pork roast and other things we can come up with.

In this quick amount of time I have already lost 7 pounds. It is weird. My stomach was having a hard time at first as it cleaned itself out from the garbage I was pumping in. I didn't think I was going to be able to keep it up. I do have hunger pangs many times during the day, but I get to eat whatever is on my list rather than eat junk. So if I am hungry, I grab an apple or celery (and I can put PB on it, so the non-taste is eliminated).

At this point I am so motivated and have seen real results that there's no way I am stopping. I won't go vegan, that's unhealthy...but at this rate, I should see some future results that will help me in ideas I have for my life.

I'd encourage anyone to try it. It's not hard. I have craved things but the cravings do not outweigh the benefits I have. I haven't had a heartburn/acid reflux episode since beginning this lifestyle (it's not a diet). Plus the stuff I read about artificial sweeteners is scary (Did you know that Splenda was "discovered" by scientists creating new pesticides? Who decided to taste it?)

I have also stopped taking my Zyrtec in an effort to see if my allergies are cured by getting toxins out of my body...which is possible from what I read.

Another way I have viewed this lifestyle change is to eat the way the people in the Bible ate. They ate all natural stuff. If they can do it, so can I.

I will keep you updated on this. I am motivated more than I have been about much in a long time. With this and my gym membership, I will have a healthier body. Maybe I am going to be a big loser...if you know what I mean...

I'm an average homeboy too...you've been blazed by a Casio keyboard!

I am so thankful that the House did not pass that ridiculous bailout plan. And no, this doesn't count as a political post.

I got to thinking about the amount of money they were proposing, $700,000,000,000 (which doesn't include the earmarks and special provisions for ACORN and other entities).

What could we do with $700 Billion dollars?

- Eliminate world poverty?
- Find a cure for cancer?
- Find a cure for AIDS?
- Rebuild the cities devastated by hurricanes?

I hope people will see the ridiculousness of giving one person (essentially...Paulson) $700 Billion. If we can propose such large amounts of money, then give it to the ONE campaign, give it to the One Billion children who face extreme poverty worldwide, send it to those who are working toward such things, not to crooked people.

::UPDATE:: It's up to $850 Billion today and could reach $1 Trillion by the time they add up all the pork.

You know that I sing praises of David Crowder and his amazing band and all the cool stuff they come up with on a regular basis. Yesterday he posted this video. Apparently, they had shown the "Jesus Is A Friend Of Mine" video before their sermon that I, and hundreds of other people have posted on the internet. I guess it was a segue into the sermon... Anyway, they decided that it would be funny to go learn the song while the sermon was happening and came back out and did this:



You might start to understand why I love David Crowder so much...he and his band keep doing such cool things like this.

I found a link that works...YouTube keeps yanking it for some weak copyright reason. If it won't play here, you gotta go to YouTube and search for "Renewed Mind is the Key" and hopefully you'll find the latest upload of this video.

This is a great tribute song to Twitter.