My Experience As...

I was a carpenter for a few years. I really enjoy carpentry and it makes me feel closer to Jesus to think that he was a carpenter for years before starting his Earthly ministry. I don't know all that much about what Jesus did; there is a lot of speculation, but nothing absolute. I do know what I did. Pretty much everything. I did cabinetry, new construction, remodeling, repairs, drywall, finish carpentry, flooring, concrete ... I didn't go to a trade school, and quite frankly I don't think any trade school could have prepared me for all the situations I encountered. I learned everything by … [Read more...]

If you are a Youth leader you must remember this statement from when it was made famous. Still, if you are in Youth leadership you must wonder at the truth to this. I have only been doing this a little while, but I've noticed that my Jr. High and Senior High kids just don't get along. I've talked with other Youth leaders and this appears to be fairly universal. I wish I had an answer to solve this issue, especially for smaller groups that can't easily have a Jr. High service and a Sr. High service. Right now I'm on the edge of being able to have separate services, and that is a problem in … [Read more...]

I was talking with some Youth Minister friends, and I wasn't aware of how touchy the subject of "Lock in" was. One of the group absolutely refused to do them. He told the church staff when they were interviewing him that they weren't going to happen while he was there and that this wasn't negotiable. That is a pretty wild stance.Just for fun I thought I'd share why they are so dangerous.The Youth know the church better than youLet's face it, Youth ministers don't stay in church long enough to know every hiding place, but the lifers, the kids that were in cradle roll, they know every … [Read more...]

OK, when it comes to telling about the games we play I have to be careful because the more memorable ones will be recognized, but since I didn't come up with this game I'm going to share it.I can't remember the name of the game but I call it, "Walking on goldfish," or, "Follow the yellow fish road."To play this game you need a tarp, blindfolds, volunteers (willing or unwilling) and goldfish. You can buy feeder fish at pet shops for really cheap. You will want 20-30 minimum to make it look good. I have someone in the church that owns a pet that eats the feeder fish so I got them from this … [Read more...]

Actually in school I always played well with others. It really is more of a doesn't work well with others thing. I hate group projects. It bothers me that I have to depend on someone else to do the level of work I demand of myself so I can get the grade I expect. Group projects feel like a punishment, especially when the teacher picks the groups because you never have all the hard working people in one group. The ones that are driven to get As. No there is usually one hard worker, one total slacker, and then the best median the teacher can plan between those two. I always ended up just … [Read more...]

Gravity,Why are you such an old grump? I know you are, at the minimum, over 10k years old. Many people believe you are billions of years old. This doesn’t mean you have to mock us in our old age. You should befriend us as we age. Make falls easier on us. Sure the law says we have to fall at the same rate, but you don’t have to be such a stickler for the rules. I’m not asking you to break the rules, just bend them a little. I know you bend the rules for your favorites like black holes and stuff, but some of those black holes that get special rules are very young.Now I’m not saying that … [Read more...]

I really enjoy lethal weapon. It is one of my guilty habits. Anytime it is on TV and I have some free time I watch. It doesn't really matter which one is one, I like them all. The problem is, tonight I think I understood for the first time what Danny Glover meant when he said he was too old for this … stuff. I think I've done an exceptional job of keeping up with my youth. Shoot, half the time I can outlast them at events because I don't bother with energy drinks. They may burn a bit hotter early on in the event, but once their Monster high is gone they are dragging till the next fix. I … [Read more...]

You know it amazes me that Christians can steal from the church. I'm talking about people in ministry at the church using church funds for personal things to people literally taking money and.or stuff from the church.I honestly can't grasp that thought. I've read the Old Testament, I know what happens when judgement comes. I just read the book of Amos, and I gotta say ... he called women cows. Now I'm not Bible scholar, but I think that was still an insult back then. Then he goes on to tell them how they were going to suffer, how people would be pulled through the breaches by meat hooks … [Read more...]

Well, there is one thing I know about teens, cool matters. It has been a while since I was in high school, but I can vividly remember just how important coolness was.Now, I wasn't the super cool kid or anything, I was more like a social ninja. That is, I could blend in anywhere. I had nerd friends and geek friends. I also had jock friends and band friends. I hung with goths before everyone shopped at Hot Topic and I also found myself with the preps. My closest friends were mostly like me. They didn't really fit the mold. That in itself was part of the cool factor, but we seemed to be … [Read more...]

Now this whole idea seems totally bogus. Intentional relationships. I think if the kids in Youth knew that this was something we planned then they would rise up and revolt.If you aren't in the know on this, it goes like this. Jesus had intentional relationships. He had a circle around him with 3 people in it. Peter, James, and John were in there with Jesus for everything. They got to be at the transfiguration and got to have the best sleeping spots for the Garden scene. Everyone hated them but it was cool because that just proved they were it. Then Jesus had 9 other mostly close … [Read more...]