Technology and youth ministry

I may not have been in professional youth ministry career, but as a youth ministry intern there are certain things that I notice about youth ministry. All throughout interning I have seen the countless benefits of technology, but I have also sen the disadvantages; it is these disadvantages that I would like to briefly talk about today.

I have observed that our technology can and does at times fail us. There are times where a Video won't play in our lesson, the sound system acts up, or a website malfunctions temporarily. These are only small tech failures that I have witnessed and I can imagine that there are many more. This creates problems for both us, the youth ministers, and for our students/possible job applicants in certain situations.

First to cover when it is a problem for us: it can hinder the effectiveness of our lesson or put a damper to the evening. What I have seen ministers do to prevent disaster from such failures and what I would recommend is: to always plan a back up plan and trust God to use you with the failures to bring about change. Also another suggestion is making sure everything works an hour or so before needed if it is possible.

Now to the effect that it has on our students and job applicants. For our students it can create awkward moments where they wait for you to figure our what you are going to do. It is vital to remember that the students have as little or as much say in the program as we give them; so if we have given them little place it can create this awkward time of waiting and confusion. However if we include them a lot in the program, the students can help create filler time while you as the youth minister figures out what you can do to fix things. Now, however, we come to the job applicant. There are times--that have happened to me-- where someone may be applying for a position in your youth ministry or organization and your website has an error resulting in their application not being processed. Of course a simple email can alert you, the youth director, of this error so that it can be fixed; but there are times where you will not be available to fix the error be because even youth ministers need vacations. My advice for these times would be have alternative ways to submit applications instead of just submitting it online and/or allowing he application to be emailed.

That is my two cents, my thoughts from the dust as a lowly youth intern/

Sometimes you can do the same thing right a thousand times...

Sometimes you can do the same thing over and over again right, but one day you mess up. Today, as former Youth Intern, I was given the privilege to run and teach Sunday school again. I had been in charge a few times before and in the past everything always went according to plan; today I even felt incredibly confident and more like a Youth Pastor...But it was today that I realized as the famous show How I Met Your Mother points out sometimes you can do something right a thousand times...but that thousand and one times you mess up.

It began with awaking to realize that I had forgotten to go out and buy donuts and when I looked outside the car was strategically parked behind two other vehicles with the tiniest amount of room to pull out. After careful maneuverability, I managed to get to the grocery store but that was not the end of my troubles; when I checking out, I mistakenly typed that I wanted to buy 71 dozen donuts. That would have been crazy, but of course I worked my way out of that mistake easily enough. 

Then once everything was set up, it seemed to be going a lot better. I felt more than confident as I sat on the stool with my cup of coffee in hand, leading the discussion in Sunday school. I felt overly accomplished for getting many of the students to respond, because so often in the mornings no one wants to talk. Things seemed to be going great, and then I ended.

Twenty minutes early.

I had prepared all these discussion questions and scripture, and yet I finished early. At first I counted it as a loss. All I could think was "I've always done so well, what is wrong with me today?" Then I realized how beneficial this morning was for me.

Sometimes, ending early can help create an atmosphere of community that is needed. Sometimes ending early can help the students relax their minds after such a long week with their schooling and jobs. If anything it can show me how to be more prepared for the next time. I realized that I should not look down on this experience, but that I can learn from it. Being intern and having these experiences I have realized that you can learn from everything you do.

Experiences are half the learning in ministry. These thoughts from the dust are from my experience of today.

Journeying in the College Years

You know what they say about your college years; that they form you and liberate you from your sheltered life? Well I would have to say that this year has seemed to encompass that more than the first year. My freshmen year of college focused mostly on me trying to find where I fit here and how much I can get involved. This year, however, things are quite different.

I am already involved in different groups and I have many friends and yet I continue to develop new friendships. I am being introduced to new ideas, concepts, music genres, and so on. There are days that I am realizing how sheltered that I was growing up and other days that I realize how well off I had it. Then there are days where I spend the entire day in the library.

That day is today. I have been writing papers all day in the library because my classes were cancelled. It is an interesting feeling to get your papers finished with so many hours left in your evening, especially as you see all the other students frantically trying to finish theirs. It brings me a feeling of relief but also a feeling worry. I worry that I am finished early because I did not add enough or that it is inadequate and it is times like this that I need to just let my thoughts out and follow the words of Christ that says not to worry.

My always moving mind now directs my thoughts to yesterday. There are times in our life where we are a part of something but do not truly feel a sense of belonging there until one day when there is a click. That happened with my church yesterday. When I walked into church I felt a mental click that it was the place that I belonged at for right now and that I could be myself there. I even found my behavior to reflect this new found click and it was marvelous.

So I type all of this to show that in the end of my 3rd semester at the university, I am feeling like a college student. I am defining how I am and who I am going to be. I am becoming unsheltered and finding areas where I must be sheltered. I am enjoying the simple things in life and finishing papers at my own pace. I am following God as I journey day by day on this campus.

I am on a journey figuring out who I am through Christ.

What will tomorrow hold?

Sureness and Unknowing.

Tonight is a night of feeling "sureness." There is a beauty to this feeling that travels alongside feelings of being terrified. There is sureness and unknowing and there is avoidance and not ready in life and often times the unknowing can seem more safe. There is a time for everything as Solomon tells us in Ecclesiastes, and tonight is a time for sureness in the good and the bad. Just as it is a sure fact that Kate Austin was meant to be with Jack Shepherd or that Jin and Sun would always find each other, the way I feel tonight is a feeling of sureness.
It can be terrifying because it involves thinking about the future in a brand new way, but I welcome this terrifying feeling because ultimately my feelings are stronger than the fear. Embrace the sureness. Embrace the unknowing. Let life take you where it leads, because God is with you; in the sureness and unknowing. I may have never felt so sure, but I can say that she is worth it; she is worth seeing what the future holds in store. We Will Always Find Each Other.

Thoughts on Consumerism and Community

Last year I blogged about my reflections on consumerism from Black Friday and today I am revisiting how I am a victim of it yet again. I have been getting significantly better at saying “no” to things, but I still fall prey to buying movies and books that are on incredible sales. I even spent a lot of money on BD’s Christmas gift and as worth it as I feel she is, I cannot help but feel guilty when I spend money like that. There is a part of me that is yearning to help the poor and every ounce of money that goes towards consumerism is money that goes against the poor. That is at the very least a thought that I get. I hate it honestly. I hate this money system we have because you need so much of it and yet the more you need of it the more you want and the more you want the more you fall prey to consumerism. Ha, those were just my early afternoon thoughts. I did however get a rather captivating book that I have barely been able to put down and it is entitled “Cross Roads” and it is written by the author of one of my favorite books entitled “The Shack.” This story tells the tale of a man who has isolated himself to complete aloneness and is now dying; it talks in depth about how much God loves us and how God is community and why we are made for community. It has only reinstated my love for community and helped fill this theme of my break. It seems with the amounts of “Community” that I have been watching and my reflections on community I would say that is my theme of this break. What a wonderful theme that is, one of my favorites in fact. Even last year when I co-led a student bible study it was common knowledge that when it was my turn to lead I would usually resort to one of two topics: community or social justice.

            In my reflective state of community I noticed something tonight. It began when I wished my uncle a goodnight by saying that I loved him and all he responded with was “goodnight.” It made me think about how I have barely heard some married friends say “I love you” to their wives. I know that they desperately love their wives, but I have not heard them say it. It makes me wonder what we have done with the word love. The way I see it, and the way that BD sees it is that you should always love and you should say “I love you” to those that you love at the end of every conversation in case you never see them again by some strange happenstance. I know that people may argue that the word loses its meaning when it is overused, but I would argue that it loses its meaning when it is underused. We all have different understandings of love, and we are in different stages, but that should not stop us from loving like none other. We should love, the love we know, with all that we are. We are creatures made for community and made for love, so why is it so hard to show that? I know that it is easy for me to show love, but sometimes harder for me to see love. We need to get out of this dichotomy of what we feel and show and it should be both. We should be filled with love and share that love too. Love is what makes the world go around. Love is what awakens us. Love is what gives us meaning. Love is.

            So as I have come to the end of my contemplative night, I have read the next chapter of Daniel; chapter 3. This chapter tells us the narrative of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego that I have so often heard as a child. In some ways it frustrates me the way that these stories are presented to children because it creates this clean, easy, world of the Scriptures where in actuality this tale is a gruesome and violent tale. These men have enough trust in God that even if He does not spare them they are willing to die to be loyal to him. In a sense they could be saying “Even if we are wrong in this belief, we believe in this God so adamantly we will die for Him.” And so they do…they get thrown into a Furness something that I know many American Evangelicals would be last to jump on the bandwagon for. I do not understand how we, as Americans, have been able to get this prosperity gospel into our brains that we won’t go through hard times. I mean if you look anywhere in the Bible you see Christians being persecuted left and right. Yeah God was with them, but that did not stop the issue. I love how in this narrative when they are in the Furness, God appears with them. He does not take them out of the fires; he walks in the midst of their troubles with them. I know that they did not burn up, so that was God protecting them but they also didn’t walk out until the king ordered them out. This shows us that in the midst of our trials and troubles God is walking with us, protecting us, even if we aren’t liberated right away. It can be easy to think that God is going to liberate us immediately from our problems, but that’s not the case. The important thing to remember is that he is with us, always. There is one thing I would like to remark about the end of this chapter, when the king makes it a law to worship God. I think that it is good that he has found God, but hasn’t he just made God the same as the other God he had created? Was it really a wise decision to make serving God a decree? That makes it more legalistic if you ask me, and God desires a relationship, it’s why he is community.

            So, Lord help me to be a steward for raising communities. Help me to sow love in this broken and dying world. Help me to bring peace and reconciliation and to reunite people into community. Lord I am yours, please us me in all that you did. I love you above all else. I am yours.

The wrestling of a Call

Since the beginning of my sophomore year I have been wrestling with my call into ministry. It all started one morning in chapel when I was half-awake. I felt a desire to think about urban ministry and spent that weekend in crisis trying to figure out if I should switch to that due to my passions for social justice. However, by the end of the weekend I was back to being okay with just having ICS as a second, undeclared, minor. This thought, however, has not completely left my mind; I mean I have neglected the idea of changing from Youth and I am for sure not doing urban...but that does not mean my wrestling has ended.

I have not felt content with having this undeclared minor of ICS. I was not honestly sure if it was because it was undeclared so did not involve too much commitment or what; then I heard a man in my Greek talk about how he was doubling in Pastoral and Theological studies major and I immediately thought that it would be beneficial and cool to double with Theological study, but like I have been doing a lot recent, I brushed off the thought. As the weeks have progressed, I have been being very reflective and thinking a lot about philosophy, theology, and how it is my pet peeve when people discredit youth ministers and think that they do not know much theology.

Then this past weekend, my father emailed me explaining why I should change to Pastoral ministry. I immediately knew that I was not changing to that--for I had decided that a long time ago--but I did take this as an excuse to evaluate what would be the best combination with Youth Ministry that goes with my calling and my passions. Then tonight, while my lovely girlfriend is away in Dallas, I have had the free time to spend time contemplating and looking into the course requirements of different majors.

I came to realize that the major of Theological Studies has most of the same religion courses as Youth ministry, but also has a couple pastoral and philosophy classes that would be very beneficial to my calling. I began comparing that to Pastoral and ICS and Religion support and realized that there weren't many ICS classes that I was dying to take and that the theology major has the classes that I need for ordination. It was then, sitting here at my desk listening to Indy music, that I realized Youth Ministry and Theological Studies--if it is permissible--would be a great combination and I would be able to drop my minors and just if I ever have space take the occasional ICS class. With this mentality I realized that I would be able to take any extra ICS classes that I felt I missed out when I go for my masters one day.

So, I have sent out emails to speak to certain people to see if this is truly the route that I should approach. It would make sense, because I love reading theology and when it comes to social justice that is something that I can do no matter my major. I have been realizing recently that as people we like to categorize things and say that you have to be in a certain major to like something...but really if I am passionate about social justice, I can bring about change within the ministry setting I am at. Why should I have to go and leave where I am called to do social justice? I should do it in my calling because ONE: that is where God wants me and TWO:  If I don't focus on justice where I am at, who will?

This reflective night makes me think of drinking coffee, reading scripture, studying theology. Three of my favorite things. One of the best parts of this is my girlfriend is a youth ministry major as well. In my previous post I talked about pursuing this girl, well I have and we are now in a relationship and I have the intentions to one day marry this girl. I feel great about her and I feel more than ever that I want this one to work out. She does not fall under any of the previous patterns and she is amazing in every way. We have so much in common. I, above all, in this relationship am excited about partnering alongside her to do ministry.

Well, that is about all I have for tonight. I was considering writing this in my physical journal tonight, but decided I was more in the mood for typing. So this time this handy dandy blog gets to hear my thoughts from the dust.

The Pursuit

"O my darling, lingering in the gardens,

    your companions are fortunate to hear your voice.

    Let me hear it, too!" -Song Of Solomon 18:13

The Song of Solomon the one book in the Bible that so often gets overlooked. Is it a poem written between two lovers? Is it a poem representing God's love for us, his bride? Can it be both? Even more though, when I read this book I think of an ideal marriage.

How does one get to an ideal marriage? This is an interesting question that a single person is asking. I do not know the answer nor will I pretend to. But I know that I can strive for an answer...and strive to find someone to pursue and devote my love to. I know that there are several women out there that God wants me to find and choose one to pursue.  

I have dated a lot in high school and even talked with a lot of girls in college. I have noticed that most of the girls I have dated, have fallen under one pattern; and I am striving to get out of that pattern. I often feel like Ted Mosby from How I Met Your Mother. Constantly searching for who I am going to end up with one day; I am one who believes you need to date to figure out what you look for in a spouse. I think of the HIMYM Season 8 premiere when sub-character Klaus says you have to find the one whose meant for you, if you have to think about it you haven't found her yet. That relates to me because I have been trying to find someone who doesn't fall in the same pattern. 

I have met many girls this semester who have not fallen under that pattern and there is one particular one that I would like to pursue. She knows that I like her,  but that is about as far as we've talked about it. There is something different about her than the other girls. She is incredibly like me and is even a grade above me. There is something in me that feels things could last with her because I have never had to really pursue a woman. This is why I quoted Song of Solomon to begin with. 

The author knows that the woman's friends get to know her well, and that he wanted to know her as well. To me it is an act of pursuing the woman he loves; he wants her to share in his love. I know in relationships you have to lead up to love someone, and I want to start pursuing this woman to see if we will develop this love. 

Lord guide me. Use me. Give me strength and direction. I am yours.

I love you Lord, You have my heart.