1st Year Ministry Observations

Having just completed my first year of student ministry at Calvary; I'm taking a moment to jot down some observations. Sitting here at a coffee shop called Cosmo in Tulsa, I reflect on my time in the..... OK state??? (is that the state motto???...who knows?) Anyway, here they are.

1. Maybe I'm getting old, but ministry is tiring. I mean I'm tired all the flippin' time. These students wear me out...in a good way. I am tired when I come home on Wednesday nights, or from youth events on Saturdays, or from Mission Trips or Camps. Maybe that means I'm workin...and I feel good about workin.

2. Good people in OK. Some of the best people I've ever met; and the nicest people I've ever known are here in....you guessed it...OK. Leon and Delois, Scott and Jana, Barry and Tanya, Michael and Susan, Tom, Cliff, Bobbi, Clayton and Rhyan, et al. You guys (like they'll ever read this) recharge my batteries. If ministry wears me out, you guys are the reason I can continue to reach your kids. That's the way it should be...Believers leaning on one another with the common goal of ministry in mind.

3. Kids will be kids. Kids, students, young people, adolescents, whatever you want to call them. Most of them are irresponsible, undependable, and frustrating....but so am I. I have to constantly remind my human mind that youth ministry isn't about being comfortable, it's this...a person who is a little farther down the spiritual line trying to reach students that inevitably think he is a dork. That's it, and when I think about it, I wouldn't have it any other way. God has given me a place in my heart for students, and equipped me with every resource to effectively minister to students in Duncan, OK. That's what I want to do.

4. Honesty is the best policy. When I came to Calvary, I wasn't sure which hat I would have to wear. Hat#1 Conservative ABA Youth Minister - Short ties, beer guts, and polyester suits, man I'm glad that wasn't the case. Hat#2 Wealth of biblical knowledge commentator - I'm really glad that this is not the case. I'm glad I can talk about my love of violence, (including horror films and Jack Bauer) sports, and Home improvement equally with biblical stuff. Hat #3 (me) Just normal old me- Kramer factor in full force: a key loosing, man purse wearing, Light-blue sweater sporting, country music loving, Falsetta singing, Own foot tripping, wall demolishing, mexi-melt eating, normal guy, YOUTH PASTOR. I feel sorry for alot of people at churches where they have to fit some mold. I'm glad I don't have to be something I'm not at Calvary.

Father, help me to glean much more in my years at Calvary. Bless my feeble attempts at ministry. Teach me, mold me as an instrument. Amen

Convention...

Yeah, so I'm going to this property management convention in Tulsa today at noon until friday sometime. And I'm staying in a room with one of our area managers I've only met once. I am going to be in boring meetings all weekend long, talking about stuff I couldn't really care less about all weekend long. Good times though. I need a break from normal life. Hopefully I'll get sometime to be alone with God.

Psalm 46 says, "Be silent, and know that I am God! I will be honored by every nation. I will be honored throughout the world."

Does this mean that if Christians everywhere, slowed down, listened for God's still small voice, and realized with faith that we have a God that is POWERFUL, does that mean that the lost people in every nation would come to Christ and honor Him???? That may be an over-generalization, but that statement is in keeping with what I know to be true about the Bible and the God of it.

Father, Give me a burning desire to spend some time alone with you this weekend. Provide the time, the place, and the desire. Stir within me a revival and a resolve to reach the lost world. Give me clarity, in our time this weekend to think only of you and to just be silent. Amen.

Basketball and my Walk

Under Cuban the Mavs have been a powerhouse of offense. When Cuban bought the Mavs in January of 2000, he lead the team (and the league??) into a into a new era of Basketball. With such phrases as small ball, fan-interaction blogging, Steve Nash, and "reunion rowdies," to his credit, Mark Cuban made the NBA what the dominant bruisers of the league (Ewing, Shaq, Rasheed & Wallace, et al) hated....fun. Teams that run (suns, mavs...) don't always win championships,(insert cliche) but who wants to watch an NBA game that doesn't break 70? Not Me.

Well I began thinking about how this offense-motivated movement relates to the life we have in Chirst. What's different about the Mavs this year? If you live within 5oo hundred miles of Dallas, or have access to ESPN, you would say with authority, Defense. But I would temper that statement and say that the Mavs have acheived balance this season. And that has made all the difference. What does Christ want from us? Balance, faithfulness- to be steady, dependant on the word at all times.

II corinthians 7:1 (NLT) says, "Because we have these promises, dear friends,

let us cleanse ourselves from everything that can defile our body or spirit.

And let us work toward complete purity because we fear God."

The words "everything" and, "complete" suggest a balanced approach to all the obstacles that come into our path. "...let us work toward... implies that a balanced Christian life is not something we arrive at by ease, but something that requires striving, and making sacrifices over a period of time.

From 2000 until the end of the 04-05 season, the Mavs lacked an emphasis in a critical part of the game, Defense. But it was not the defense that landed them in the 2006 NBA Finals, it is the balanced combination of offense and defense. Now going into game 6, they have a decision to make. A decision we as Christians make every day. Will we play the opponents game or will we make them play ours? You see, through 10 quarters in the NBA Finals, the Mavs played with perfect balance, a balanced-attack as commentators would say. Then when the pressure was on the Mavs leaned to heavily on their new found tactic of defense. This practice resulted in squandering a 2-0 series lead. The pendelum can't be allowed to swing too far in the other direction either. Can the Mavs pull out the next two at home to avert elimination? I hope so, the way to do it, is come with a balanced attack- play defense, but go with what you know, push the ball, get it to Dirk, make your shots.

The Mavs have the whole lone star state and a couple of people from OK rooting for them, as Christians we are surrounded by God almighty and a great cloud of witnesses. Let's run with balance.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily hinders our progress. And let us run with endurance the race that God has set before us.

Heb 12:1 (NLT)

West Virginia....

...Mountian Mama....That's enough, just kidding. I'm having a great time. I can breathe up here. I can think up here. It's nice to be able to serve without responsibilities. I feel alive here in West Virginia. Maybe it's because I don't have work, or neighbors, or signifigant others' parents hassling me. (sigh) But, nevertheless, I can breathe up here....