My Experience As...

What is wrong with accountants? There must be some serious deformity in their brains that makes it possible to look at accounting books and makes sense of it all. Even their “simplified” reports are enough to make my head hurt. I’m not dunce when it comes to numbers. I plan a monthly budget for my finances and I balance my checkbook and track expenses then compare those to my budget. You would think the church finances would look like my own expenses but larger. For some reason this isn’t true. At some point I think the accountants got together and said, “Hey this is way to easy and … [Read more...]

I enjoy TV. Let me say that up front. I don't let it rule me. Once I might have given too much time to TV. Interestingly, now that we have a DVR I spend quite a bit less tie watching. Partly because I can spend 25% less time on each show by skipping commercials, but more because I know what I want to watch and record those few shows for viewing after my kids have gone to bed. It isn't that I don't want my kids to watch the shows I watch, but because I'd rather spend my evenings with them. I've said this to make it clear that I am not trying to convince people to throw their TVs out.I … [Read more...]

Hey. Sorry about missing yesterday with this post. My wife had a minor surgery so I took the day off. If you haven't read Youth Pastor Fail below I listed the first 6 of the top 10 YP fails. That list focused on failing with the Youth by trying to be just like them. I'm still new at this but I think teens want real more than anything. I told them on my first night I was a geek and I haven't tried to be anything else. I love geeky stuff and I reference it in my sermons. That is just who I am. The last 4 are things that will be sure to get the rest of the church mad. Without further … [Read more...]

It seems that there is not a lot I can get in real trouble over. I can do a lot of crazy things and then pull the "I'm the Youth Pastor" card and it's ok. I like to keep people guessing so this works very well for me. I have been thinking about the line though. I figure some things are just going too far. Now I know there are the obvious abuses, but I think I can be a bit more creative. So in the spirit of the Late Night Show with David Letterman, here is a top ten list of how to achieve a Youth Pastor Fail10. Design FailSo your church is finally getting on the ball with marketing. They … [Read more...]

So here is the follow up to the post I made about “Love and relationship: or how do you deal with a homosexual?” a few days ago.  This post is why I am doing this as anonymous as I can. I knew on some level that I would eventually have a teen wrestling with their sexual identity in my Youth group, but I am less than prepared.  Right now there are two.  It isn’t that they have come out to me but rather it is about things I have perceived.  Now don’t get me wrong.  I’m not relying on some internal “gaydar” or something.  This is a bit more logical than that. The one is a … [Read more...]

I have a floor. Ok, maybe it wasn’t ever that bad, but the past few weeks have been pretty busy, so my weekly plan has fallen by the wayside. Normally I like to come in on Monday and clean my office first thing. Then I sit down and prioritize my week. It takes me 2-3 hours first thing each week, but I wager that I gain more than that by going in with a plan. I find that I just can’t focus when the mess piles up around me, so the ritual of cleaning is very important, but it is the first thing that I nix when I feel like I’m overwhelmed with things to do. I also know that sitting down and … [Read more...]

I am intentionally making a stark departure from the seriousness of yesterday's post. I will be addressing the subject again in the next couple of days. Before that I'd like to consider some funny illustrations I have used. First let me say that technology is apparently of the devil. I love tech, but it always seems to fail at the worst possible moment when I'm preaching. That said, if I use a video in my sermon I like to have multiple ways of accessing the video so that when the embedded video in my power point fails even though it worked every time that I tested it including just before … [Read more...]

I want a freakin’ giant bean bag chair. I need the biggest bean bag chair that will fit into my office. My office chair is possessed and so needs to be replaced. I have been sitting in a chair from the 7th circle of hell for the past several months so I deserve a giant bean bag chair. Unfortunately I don’t have the budget to buy one. I could see it now though. I get a huge one for my desk chair, and then an even bigger one to replace that drug out of a dumpster couch and a smaller one to replace the stolen from the sanctuary chair. Then people would come by to chat and we … [Read more...]

This is a book I have on my shelf.  I had to read it for my one required music class at Bible College.  In this class I was taught the most basic information about music.  I learned how to read sheet music, but not cord charts, I learned to conduct various rhythms, and I learned I didn’t want to take any other music courses.  Basically I felt this class was a waste of time.  As a person planning on going into not music I’m not sure why they felt it necessary to know how to conduct or read sheet music.  I could understand teaching us useful information, like how to read cord music, use … [Read more...]