Crazy Summer

Wow, two months since my last post. Wanna know why? This has been the craziest summer on record--big highs and some major lows:

- Our church got an intern. Finally, someone who's in their 20's and single on the OBX! Christa, you rock!
- I helped out with my home church's mission week, Highland Service Project. I got to serve with people who were youth when I was their youth leader. There's nothing cooler than that!
- My cousin, Jonathan, was killed in a car accident that week.
- Christa and I rescued three girls from Kyrgyzstan from an abysmal living and working condition here on the OBX. Nothing like social justice in action! We were able to find them places to stay (though two ended up returning home), and we found the other one two jobs for the remainder of the summer (I work with a ministry, Pathways International, who reaches out to the 2800 international college students who come to the OBX every summer). The girls are Muslims, but we were able to share the gospel with them. My hope is that they will soon accept Christ as their Lord and Savior. Turns out that the girls live in the same town as my missionary friend, Kathy, so, she is trying to stay in touch with them when they return home! It's crazy how God brings people together.
- I went back to Raleigh for another mission week with three of my youth.
- I was the recreation leader for VBS.
- I got drop kicked by a 4 year old (actually, that's become a bi-weekly ritual with my buddy, Cooper).
- God reminded me that I am called to resurrection ministry. Sometimes churches can feel spiritually dead, but God has begun to raise mine to life. God's promise, "I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh." (Ezekiel 11:19)
- 10 churches on the OBX came together for a local mission week called Impact Outer Banks. It was AWESOME! Now, we have 80 youth on fire for Jesus in our community, and they are pumped up about going back to school and impacting their campuses. The Christian youth on the OBX are beginning to be known for how they love and serve!
- My youth group is experiencing revival. We led the worship service last week, and our congregation was amazed at their spiritual maturity. We've come a long way in the last 2 years.
- A few of my key adult youth ministry leaders stepped down. :( We're struggling to find adult leadership.
- We are thinking about moving our youth group to the local youth recreation center on Sunday nights, but we still have to get it approved since they usually don't let churches use county buildings. On the bright side, our youth want to start meeting every week instead of every other week. That's HUGE!
- My young adult small group has decided to go retro and take on the Wesleyan model for small groups. That's right, we'll be using the 21 Holy Club accountability questions to guide our discussion. And . . . we've decided we want to meet weekly instead of bi-weekly!
- I got a new roommate, Amber, a few weeks ago. She's called to youth ministry, too, but she is still waiting to find out if she will get a job at one of our local churches. Again . . . hooray for single, 20 somethings on the OBX!
- I'm training for a 50 mile bike ride on September 13th.

Father's Day Stats

Here are some statistics my pastor shared with our congregation this morning in light of Father's Day (obtained from the National Organization of the United Methodist Men):

• Percentage of youth actively involved in their church's youth ministry remaining Christians in adulthood: 17%
• Percentage of youth whose mothers bring them to church who will remain Christians in adulthood: 35%
• Percentage of youth whose fathers bring them to church who will remain Christians in adulthood: 93%

Sobering statistic for those of us in youth ministry, and a strong call for men to fulfill their roles as the primary disciple-makers in their families . . . It makes me wonder if youth ministries should spend more time ministering to and equipping fathers to do what God has called them to do than planning youth programming.

To all the fathers who faithfully raise their children in the Christian faith . . . Happy Father's Day, and thank you!

Smokey Is Wrong: NC Wildfires

Eastern North Carolina has been fighting wildfires since a lightning strike last Sunday evening (June 1). Smokey, you say, "Only you can prevent forest fires." I'm not sure we could have prevented this one. Since it has not rained since June 1st, firefighters are having a tough time containing the flames. The fires have spread to 56 square miles (about 36,000 acres).

Though the fires are a county away, we are experiencing our own effects on the OBX. My house smells like smoke. My throat and eyes start burning when I go outside (it didn't help that I rode my bike in the smoke last night). There's a hovering smoke haze over the island. The picture below is from my back yard just before dusk.

Apparently, the local hospital is having a hard time filtering the smoke out of its ventilation system. Can you imagine what it's like for people who have lung and breathing problems? It must be pretty rough for those who actually live in Tyrrell, Washington, and Hyde counties.

It's windy here, and the ground soil in this areas is filled with flame-accelarant peat. Without significant rainfall (little rain is forecasted for the next 10 days), the fires could continue to spread and not be contained for up to two months.

Student Devo Website

A few youth pastor friends of mine and I have started a daily devotional website, www.studentdevo.com, for youth in 6th-12th grades. We take turns writing the devotions. Each day, we look at a different chapter of the Bible. For June, we'll be in the book of Matthew. It was a challenge to write a blog entry on an entire chapter, but it was fun. Our hope is that students will use this site to grow daily with the Lord. We also want to help students develop other spiritual disciplines, so we will soon be adding links and articles about prayer, Scripture memorization, tithing, etc.

Feel free to share this site with youth in your church. We want youth to not only read but also to comment on our devotions and share their stories with one another. I'm excited about this new resource for our kids!

Top 10 OBX Signs of Summer

10. The arrival of 2800 international student workers

9. The average speed on roads is 5 MPH below the speed limit.

8. License plates from Pennsylvania, Maryland, Ohio, and Kentucky (I even saw Alaska last week . . . must be a rental)

7. Lifeguards in the stands on the beach

6. Low flying airplanes with trailing banners

5. The haze that hovers over the ocean

4. Drivers slaming on their brakes to check out a store or tourist trap

3. People riding their bikes on the left side of the road without a helmet

2. Lines at the seafood buffets

1. Awesome worship services! (people who go to church while they are on vacation have an amazing relationship with the Lord)

Jesus: The Next American Idol?

OK, I admit it. I'm a closet American Idol fan. I love watching the singers mature through the competition and seeing certain contestants shine. (For the record, I'm pulling for David Archuleta. Something about his amazing talent, his unassuming personality, and his young age draw me in. Maybe it's a youth pastor thing.)

I've noticed in the past few weeks that several of the artists have chosen to sing songs reflecting faith in Christ. Even guest performers sang Christian tunes -- Dolly Parton sang "Jesus and Gravity", and that other band (sorry can't remember their name) sang "This Little Light of Mine". I'm not sure about the quality of the theology in the lyrics, but Jesus seems to be getting a lot of air time on American Idol.

For me, the most shocking performance thus far was the finale for Idol Gives Back. The final 9 contestants sang, "Shout to the Lord". That's right, give a shout out to Darlene Zschech! However, I was a little concerned that they began the song with the lyrics, "My Shepherd, my Savior" instead of "My Jesus, my Savior". Were they trying to sterilize the song for primetime? Is Jesus too much for the Idol audience to handle? It turns out they did a reprise of the song Thursday night and sang the actual lyrics. Way to go, whoever did that.

So, what does Jesus think about being the next American Idol? I can't decide if I'm happy that people are being open about their faith, or if American Idol is trying to corner the Christian audience for their votes. Or maybe they are targeting our money to support the humanitarian efforts of Idol Gives Back. I guess it's good that people are using their influence for the Lord. At the same time, I'm not sure Jesus was a big fan of the stage or being the center of attention. He was about the small things, the poor and the meek, the cross. Perhaps, this is the kingdom secretly slipping into the entertainment industry. I'm not sure what to think.

Better Than Life

I've been reading Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne recently. The book has rocked me to the core and made me rethink just who it is I have committed my life to. Shane has challenged me as I consider Jesus' call to be in solidarity with the poor, seek peace, do justice, and love others. We've sterilized the gospel in the American church, and we've made Jesus to be as cuddly as a stuffed animal. I'm guilty, and I'm trying to figure out what the 180-degree turn of repentance looks like here. Shane shares an incredible quote from his professor about life in Christ (promise that you'll read it out loud, dramatically!):

"All around you, people will be tiptoeing through life, just to arrive at death safely. But dear children, do not tiptoe. Run, hop, skip, or dance, just don't tiptoe."

I'm tired of tiptoeing. I'm ready for the big dance (and I'm not talking about the Final Four . . . we already saw how that turned out for the Tar Heels). One of my youth shared a song with us on Sunday night that has reminded me that this dance with Jesus should be extraordinary. Enjoy the words below, and download the song if you get the chance!

"Better Than Life", Hillsong United
Better than the riches of this world
Better than the sound of my friends' voices
Better than the biggest dreams of my heart, and that's just the start
Better than getting what I say I need
Better than living the life that I want to
Better than the love anyone could give, Your love is!

You hold me now in your arms
and never let me go!

You, O Lord, make the sunshine
and the moonlight, in the night sky
You give me breath and all Your love
I give my heart to You because
I can't stop falling in love with You
I'LL NEVER STOP FALLING IN LOVE WITH YOU!

O Happy Day!

I'm ecstatic!
I'm elated!
I'm overjoyed!

What is the source of my joy?

I just paid off my student loan! That's right . . . I'm debt free!

Woohoo!

Guyana

A week ago, I got back from my mission trip to Guyana. It would be hard to minimize my experience to a single blog post, but I'm going to try.

People always ask me, "What did you do?" when I come back from a mission trip. We spent five days painting a community outreach center. The building is used to run a children's feeding program for underpriveleged kids. It's also used for youth and children's church activities, and they hope to use it as a gathering place for community events. For example, they used it to host the recent Valentine's dance. We also held two days of Bible school. What I didn't realize at the time was that more than 100 of the kids who came did not go to the church where we held Bible school. No doubt, some of those kids weren't from Christian homes, so that was an incredible opportunity to reach out in love to them and teach them about God. Lastly, one of the other team members and I held two sessions of Sunday school teacher training. Teachers from 8 different churches came, and as a result, I think those churches will network to plan more lessons together instead of doing it alone.

One of the big lessons God taught me in Guyana was what mission is. Mission is a mindset of sharing God's love with everyone you meet. So, the question I would love people to ask me about my trip is, "Who did you meet?" There was Andella, the youth and mission coordinator for the Methodist Church in Guyana. She and I instantly connected and talked about ways we could help each other minister to the youth in Guyana. Sister Ross, Sister Edith, and Sister Merlyn showed up faithfully everyday at the worksite to help paint and clean. There were the people who lost their sense of security in their own country because of recent random shootings. We met several people who we would call poor but who I learned were rich in the Spirit. A group of young children always stopped by the worksite after school to see what was going on and to play with us. And there were the four little girls, Rosalina, Selene, Kaneisha, and Baby who would come by our house after work just to get a hug.

My heart has been changed because God gave me the opportunity to love complete strangers. The thing is . . . I have the opportunity to offer the presence and love of Christ to others every day. Perhaps that's why coming back to the OBX feels like I'm still in the mission field.

Humor

I just got done listening to a sermon on humor by Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill Church. He's a high quality preacher, solid biblically, and he's known for throwing out a few jokes, lots of times at the expense of others. He helped me realize something about myself. I haven't laughed in awhile. Since I moved to the OBX, I've spent much of my free time hanging out with Jesus; for a long time, he was the only person who was available. I took my calling to youth ministry very seriously, and I saw every interaction with someone as an opportunity to speak Truth into their lives. I've acted more out of fear than anything else, fear of failure, fear of not being liked, fear of not meeting my own expectations, fear of offending. I've even stopped watching comedies because I prefer shows like Lost, 24, Heroes, & CSI. I need to not take myself so seriously.

I guess I learned today that responsibility doesn't mean I'm always serious. I want to return to being the happy-go-lucky Amy that cracks jokes, laughs and smiles, and acts goofy. Humor is great stress relief! So, in celebration of my new freedom, I think I'm gonna end my Sabbath with a fresh viewing of Waiting for Guffman :). "Stool boom" here I come!

Coming Home

I heard this song over the weekend at our ski retreat. It reminded me to return home, to remember the cross.

"The Wonder of the Cross" by Vicky Beeching

O precious sight my Savior stands
Dying for me with outstretched hands
O precious sight I love to gaze
Remembering salvation’s day
Remembering salvation’s day

Though my eyes linger on the scene
May passing time and years not steal
The power with which it impacts me
The freshness of its mystery
The freshness of its mystery

May I never lose the wonder
The wonder of the cross
May I see it like the first time
Standing as a sinner lost
Undone by mercy and left speechless
Watching wide-eyed at the cost
May I never lose the wonder
The wonder of the cross

Behold the God-man crucified
The perfect sinless sacrifice
His blood ran down those nails and wood

And history was split in two
Yes, history was split in two

Behold the empty wooden tree
His body gone, alive and free
We’ll sing with everlasting joy
For sin and death have been destroyed

Yes, sin and death have been destroyed

-

May I never lose the wonder

The wonder of the cross

May I see it like the first time

Standing as a sinner lost

Undone by mercy and left speechless

Watching wide-eyed at the cost

May I never lose the wonder

The wonder of the cross

Save the World

In the beginning, God created the world. He created you and me. He said it was good. God did his part, and then he left part of the creation project up to us. We aren't called just to maintain creation, we are called to have dominion over it, to work it. He made us to make our world beautiful.

So, how are we doing? Is our world beautiful? I'm not just talking about environmental issues here. It seems that we have abandoned our calling to be co-creators with God, and I'm the first to admit my negligence. There are people with broken hearts. There is injustice, poverty, disease, violence, broken families. What are we doing about it? What am I doing?

Yes, God has called me to youth and young adult ministry. I can see how he's blessing me to bless others. But deep inside of me, I'm developing some sort of passion for social justice. I don't know what avenue God is leading me towards, but I just have this growing desire to scream, "God, use me to save the world!" Of course, I can't save the world alone, but God, by the power of the Holy Spirit, can use me to make our broken world beautiful. I'm sick of coming home at night and wasting my time watching TV. I'm tired of seeing the world's problems and not doing anything about them. I'm only one person. I can't do this alone. I don't know where God's leading, but I'm wondering if you might come along. Maybe we can figure this out together. Who's in? Who wants to save the world? Let's bring God's kingdom now.

Spiritual Warfare

Last night, I had my first UMYF meeting of the new year. I planned on refocusing our youth ministry on the vision God has given us (perhaps sometime I'll blog about that; it's pretty cool stuff!). However, things kept happening yesterday to try to trip us up. I woke up with another cold -- I just had one less than a month ago. One of my leaders puked as she walked out of her front door to come to church. My other leader's 3 year old son was sick. Suddenly, my whole leadership team was down, and I was at about 50%. Other things happened to distract Rachel and I as we practiced some songs for worship.

The puking leader, more affectionately known as "The Debbie", had her husband call me. He told me he thought Satan was up to something. You know, I used to think spiritual warfare was bunk. It sounds like hocus pocus, and any time I talk about it with people, I feel like a wacko. I remembered something I read in the past year about following God's vision: A God-ordained vision will always come under the attack of the Evil One. It makes sense. If there is evil out there opposing God (which I believe there is, see Genesis 3 if you need some convincing), I think it would try to stop God's people from living out God's plan.

I guess it was some time in seminary when the reality of spiritual warfare set in. I don't really like the idea of being involved in a battle; I hate conflict. But we seem to have an opponent. Good news, though. Our God is BIGGER! If we ask God to defeat the evil forces against us, he will do it. Our jobs are discernment and prayer. Discernment, being able to distinguish what is from God and what isn't, doesn't come from us, though. We need to ask God for it.

Just my meandering thoughts as I wonder whether or not I'll have another sleepless night due to a stuffy nose.

YP Top 10

Wow, the Christmas season really affects the frequency of blog posts. Recently, I've been wrapped up in the holiday meanderings that surround youth ministry, so I thought I'd share with you the top 10 reasons why being a youth pastor is the best job ever:

10. Free tickets to see awesome bands and speakers or to go skiing
9. Watching God change the lives of kids over a long amount of time
8. Getting to come into the office at 11 AM if I want to
7. Learning about parenting before ever becoming a parent
6. Being able to work from home occassionally
5. Tapping into the passion of teenagers and seeing them change the world
4. Receiving lots of Christmas cards
3. It's OK to wear jeans and a t-shirt to work
2. Working with a team of people who love teenagers
1. On a daily basis asking, "They pay me to do this?"

Kid Nation

The Kid Nation finale came on tonight. As a youth pastor, I found the show intriguing. In case you're not a fan, CBS placed 40 kids in the desert of New Mexico to see if they could survive as a society. Three kids got homesick and left Bonanza City, but the other 37 stuck it out. They cooked, cleaned, ran stores, elected leaders, held church services, and awarded deserving pioneers with $20,000 gold stars.

I think Kid Nation proved something I've believed to be true for awhile. Our kids are not our future; they are our today. They can be insightful and articulate. They can organize and lead. They can achieve goals together. Why aren't we challenging our kids to reach their potential? In his book Be the Change, 15 year old Zach Hunter says, "My generation needs someone to set the bar high for us so we have something to live up to or even live beyond." Are we doing that for them?

However, I think the producers of Kid Nation missed one big point: Adults who cared about them (or at least cared about not being sued) created boundaries in which these kids lived. Adults created the structures for jobs, the means of reward, and the protective hand in case someone got hurt. Behind every kid who is living out their full potential needs to be a loving, caring adult providing a supportive hand. We can be there to guide kids, to be a listening ear when they struggle, and to point out the ways God is working as they live fully for him.

The sky's the limit for today's youth, but be there to fly alongside of them.

Politics

I've been reading a new book lately titled unChristian. The author, David Kinnaman, researched the current opinion of Christianity in the eyes of those he calls "outsiders", those outside the church. Specifically, he focuses on outsiders ages 16-29. In the book, Kinnaman reveals that outsiders define Christians as hypocritical, too focused on conversion, antihomosexual, sheltered, too political, and judgmental.

The chapter on politics got me thinking. Kinnaman suggested that Christians need to be involved in politics, but we need to change our methods and attitudes in portraying our political opinions. I'm still trying to figure out why Christians should be involved in politics in the first place. Kinnaman says Christians should be involved in every part of society. I think Jesus shares a similar sentiment when he prays in the garden for his disciples, "My prayer is not that you would take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one." (John 17:15) However, something in me rejects the combination of faith and politics. Perhaps I can explain:

I fear imposing Christian morals on a nation not totally made of Christians. Should we hold outsiders to Christian standards? If all they know of Christianity is Christian-based legislation, will they come to see that following Jesus is all about following the rules? How do we engage in political influence without creating a legalistic view of Christianity? If Christians were to get involved politically, how would they propose demonstrating grace when someone has broken the law? Maybe that's already happening, and I'm uninformed.

Secondly, I feel like trying to create a Christianized country through legistration is inauthentic. For example, I had to go to court the other day for the first time in my life. When I was sworn in as a witness, I had to place my hand on a Bible and swear to tell the whole truth, "so help me God". Given the pluralistic nature of our country, I was baffled. I thought the courts would have done away with that years ago. What happens if you aren't a Christian and you swear on the Bible? It seems contradictory to me. . . . Another example, on our money it says, "In God We Trust." No we don't. If our nation trusted God, I don't think we'd have as many moral and justice issues in our society. God would begin to change our hearts and enable us to change our actions to conform to his standard. I just feel like trying to claim we are a Christian nation when we aren't one is a lie.

But perhaps politics is one of the few ways we can make significant social change to end big problems such as poverty, human trafficking, and civil rights. I'm just not sure what the balance is of being too political and being ignorant. Any thoughts?

Why I don't post more often

There are days when I wish I could post about what God is doing on the OBX. However, the nature of my job doesn't allow me to disclose private conversations. What I can tell you is that God is speaking to the hearts of teenagers. He's calling them to witness to their friends in pretty radical ways. God's mending families and working miracles.

But here's my issue, I deeply long to share these incidents because I want God to receive glory for what he's doing. Being an external processor, it also makes it hard for me to make sense of what's happening without talking to someone else. Journaling helps. Prayer helps, but sometimes it would be nice to have someone else who talks back and shares in the moments when God is glorified. Perhaps sharing it with God and the person involved should be enough. . . .

So, if there's a lapse in my posts, it could be that I'm lazy. It could be that something stressful is going on. Or it could be that God is doing something so awesome and intimate in someone else's life that I just can't share it here.

Thanksgiving a week late

So, I meant to follow up my last post sometime over the Thanksgiving weekend . . . oops! These are my thoughts any way . . .

After pondering the sin of envy, I began wondering more about where envy comes from. Doug Fields suggested entitlement, but why do we feel so entitled? MARKETING! As my parents and I were preparing for Thanksgiving dinner, we heard that familiar jingle that only seems to play before Christmas: "Ch-ch-ch-chia!" Who in their right mind would think a chia pet would be a good Christmas gift? But not only could you get a chia pet, you could opt for a chia head instead. There's just something creepy about grass growing out of a ceramic head. And have you seen the commercial for the electronic garden shears? It's a power saw version of the old style.

To tell you the truth, I have no desire to have a chia pet or electronic garden shears, but I can see how those commercials and others like them can create a society of desire. What we had last year wasn't good enough, so we need a new one. This cell phone looks stupid, so I'm gonna get a new design. The effects of marketing may not affect our pocketbooks (or girl bags in my case ;)), but it's feeding our growing sense of entitlement. Ultimately, I think entitlement comes from a sense of ingratitude for the things God has already given. As a personal example, I often get frustrated with the rate of spiritual growth in my church. However, I'm failing to appreciate the little moments where I see God's grace shining through in someone's life. I want more, I want immediate change, and I want it NOW! . . . It's amazing how commercialism can affect aspects of our lives that we didn't even consider.

So, even though it's post-Thanksgiving, I'm choosing to be more grateful this Christmas season, to thank God for his blessings, and to ask him how I can respond to all he gives me. Worship is a good place to start.

Green with . . .

Envy.

This past weekend, I went to the National Youth Workers' Convention in Atlanta. On Sunday morning, Doug Fields gave a talk about ministerial envy. He said that he had never heard anyone preach on the subject before. I hadn't either until that day. Envy seems to be the sin that many of us ignore. I'm much more apt to repent of my pride, my fear, my judgmentalism. Envy usually doesn't show up on my sin radar. It should, though. The 10 commandments say, "You shall not covet".

Envy is pretty sick, actually. Doug said, "At the heart of envy is the lie that God owes you." Entitlement. God doesn't owe me anything. He's already given me more than I deserve. Every time I envy someone, I slip into discontent. Because I am self-focused, I have less energy to love God and others.

So, in an attempt to not hide any more, I'd like to publicly repent of my envy (and you can hold me accountable):
I envy people smarter than me. I envy youth pastors that seem to have their act together, youth ministries with more volunteer leaders, more regular meetings, and more commitment. I envy my friends who are married. I envy those who are naturally better with people. I envy people who can make good, quick decisions. I envy people who can boldly witness to non-Christians. I even envy non-Christians for not having to witness to their faith.

Father, please forgive me. Forgive us. Change us by your transforming grace.

Half Marathon!

I did it! This morning, I ran the OBX Half Marathon, 13.1 miles, in 2 hours and 15 minutes. Strangely enough, I ran 12 miles a few weeks ago, and my time was 2 hrs 23 minutes. I dropped my mile split times by 1 1/2 minutes! I couldn't believe it. I'm ecstatic!

The whole training experience has been tough work. The three months of long runs, sore legs, early mornings, and carbo loading paid off. I've learned a lot through my training about the connection between the physical and spiritual realms. In the past, I saw physical and spiritual things separately, but what we do with our bodies is spiritual. Our bodies are God's temples, and so that makes running spiritually significant. Thanks to all my friends who were praying for me! I could feel God strengthening me as I ascended the hill and began running the last two miles into the wind.

"'Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the Lord Almighty." (Zechariah 4:6)