On Thursday afternoon of last week I got a phone call asking if I would be willing to speak in our adult services the upcoming weekend due to Pastor Rick having suffered an eye injury. The conversation went almost exactly like this:

voice on phone: Kurt, Pastor Rick is hoping you can teach this weekend…he is still in quite a bit of pain.

Kurt: Ummm….ummmm….sure. I would be happy to. Is there something specific for me to speak on?

Voice on phone: No….do you have something in your file you can use on short notice?

Kurt: Ummm….ummmm….I have only taught adults three times in my life so my file is pretty thin.

Voice on phone: Okay. Thanks a ton for being willing to help out…you will do a great job.

I love my Pastor, I love my church, I love that they felt comfortable making a last minute request, and I loved the opportunity to speak to the adult congregation at our church. Here are a few observations that struck me.

- Adults are a pretty easy audience. The pressure I felt was purely one of what I would call “content creation”….can’t give adults the same level of content you can give JH students….BUT adults are an easy audience! They all want to be there, they don’t send text messages or get up in large clumps to use the restroom. They don’t flick the ears of the kid in front of them and they don’t pass gas loud enough for the entire room to hear.

- Despite that….they really are just big teenagers. They have similar insecurities, similar struggles and similar hurts…..they are just packaged a little differently.

- Many of them have no clue about our youth ministry. I was shocked at how many parents introduced themselves to me saying things like, “we had no idea the youth ministry was in such capable hands” or, “we have never been down to the youth area…what else is going on for my teenager” etc. This was an eye opener for me and a reminder that no youth pastor can
assume parents are as informed, connected, in the loop etc as we often think.

- I am glad to be a junior high pastor! In 14 years at Saddleback, I have spoken in the adult services two times. I would certainly welcome the opportunity again, but last weekend reminded me that my giftedness and my calling (funny how those two things go together) revolves around ministry to young teens…and I couldn’t be happier!

Posted by Johnny Scott

I love the questions that jr highers ask. And by that I mean I usually hate the questions that jr highers ask in the middle of EVERY lesson that take us to a Sonny’s buffet of tangential abyss. Wow. That was therapeutic. I totally didn’t even know that was inside of me! ha!

I’m working on a project right now that is dealing with jr high students hearing and their calling from God. If you work with jr high kids you know they have a unique ability to dive into the deepest subjects that baffle man kind in one second and then wonder about how fart’s get their smell in the next. So as I am pounding through all the things a 6th grade jr high boy would ask about the subject, “hearing God’s calling”

(Some of you are laughing right now at the myriad of rabbit holes this daunting task alone has presented in theory)

You know that a question kind of like this is going to come up because you have most likely tried to answer it in the last week yourself, “Why doesn’t God do cool stuff like part the red sea anymore?”

Some of you answered this question like this: “The Lord enabled you to stop playing PSP long enough for me to get through an entire lesson! In my book that is a miracle in direct proportion to the Red Sea parting!”

With that in mind I took a stab at one of those types of questions. As always, please through in your two cents on the hot topic below with comments and real ministry moments. Here is the excerpt:

A specific word about Angels:
There would be no need for a book like this if God still used Angels as His main mode for telling us our calling. During Old testament times there were not copies of God’s word laying in the Tabernacle lost and found. But who are we to say God won’t fall back on the angel option instead of, say a text. So here is our official stance on hearing your calling from an angel: If an Angel told you to do something, it is God’s calling on your life. (They don’t carry angel identification cards from what we can see in the Bible. To identify an angel look for: music from out of nowhere, wings, glowing faces and robes that look the brightest white you’ve ever seen.) From our research we saw Angels had a two main jobs when appearing to mortals: telling people their calling from God or killing. So if you see an angel and they don’t say, “Do not be afraid”, then be afraid.

Posted By Kurt Johnston

By now you have probably heard about the unfortunate firing of a Department of Agriculture employee over race-related comments that have since appeared to br taken out of context.

In the article linked below you can read more of the details as well as see an example of what I believe was a missed opportunity for President Obama (hopefully it works…I’m still not quite sure how to do some basic functions on the iPad). When mistakes are made and things begin to go a little haywire, it is tempting for leaders to pass the buck and affix the blame elsewhere.

In this case the Secretary of the Department of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, may be very much to blame….but I think Obama missed a great opportunity when he publicly pointed the finger Vilsack’s direction.

Our culture has created a climate where leaders are afraid to admit any level of fault because their foes are lurking in the shadows ready to pounce on any mistake or sign of weakness (sadly our church cultures are not a whole lot different). So in an attempt to look strong and confident leaders often reveal weakness and insecurity by pointing fingers and hoping none of the crap that just hit the fan splatters on them.

Why am I passionate about the topic? Because I have made the mistake several times myself and have seen the lack of trust it causes in those I lead. I have also managed to get it right a few
times and have enjoyed the trust it builds.

http://blogs.abcnews.com/george/2010/07/obama-vilsack-jumped-the-gun-on-sherrods-ouster.html

Still learning,
Kurt

Posted By Kurt Johnston

10. “Don’t worry about it.”
9. “I may have misplaced the sign up sheet that had your credit card number on it.”
8. “I’m sure if we left your daughter at camp there was a good reason.”
7. “Um…about that minivan we borrowed.”
6. “Sheeesh lady, how many meds does one kid need?”
5. “I know you’re disappointed, but he’s only copying the behavior he sees modeled at home.”
4. “If I were you….”
3. “Calm down.”
2. “The average parent only spends about 15 minutes per day with their child, and I’ve noticed you seem to be falling WAY short of an already embarrasingly low bar.”
1. “I know older people like yourselves don’t usually understand teenagers, that’s why you have me!”

Posted By Jared Moine

As of today, it has been exactly one month on the job! The wife and I have in the last month: moved across the country, witnessed history in the nation’s capital, set up a new home, gone to camp, had our first middle school service, met new friends, and I was able to baptize four students after our camp reunion.

Of all the things that have been new in the last month, I would have to say camp and our camp reunion which provided me the opportunity to baptize students for the first time has been both the highlight of the month and provided me with a whole bunch of humility.

Our camp reunion service was the first service I got to plan and run and this was the first big event for me to own. I planned every detail; the band, the order of service, the open share time. I had the wife make a picture slide show of camp pictures, planned two successful games. The night was a complete success and to top the whole thing off we were doing student baptisms after the service and four students said they wanted to be baptized. Everything was great, the baptismal was warm, and we had the towels, shirts, shorts. We had everything… except one thing… a youth pastor who had baptized before!

As soon as I got into the water I quickly remembered that I had never done this. Sure, I had watched hundreds of baptisms, seen what pastors say, but this was different… I was the pastor!!

It hadn’t occurred to me that I should have prepared what to say. I rehearsed the welcome I gave to the parents, walked though how to play the game, how to open the camp sharing time but hadn’t once thought about what to say at the baptism.

The water was warm but it might as well been 50 degrees because as soon as I touched it the words left my mouth. I thought, ok… “say something about the water not being special”… “Reference my wedding ring as a symbol of baptism or something like that”… “Ask if they had accepted Christ”. “Then baptize them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit”. Say “baptized in his death, and raised to walk a new life!” or was it “buried in Christ, and raised to live a new life?” I’m pretty sure I said something different with each student I baptized. In my head it was all a disaster! Don’t get me wrong… the whole thing was amazing and praise God that four students got baptized and it was a tremendous honor, but man did I have no idea what I was doing!

To top the whole thing off, our baptismal is kind of wide but not very deep. What I mean is it is 3

Posted by Kurt Johnston

* This is my first time truly trying to type more than a sentence or two on my new iPad so we will see how it goes….feels awkward…or maybe the awkward part is that it doesn’t “feel” at all due to touch screen keyboard.

* Was just asked via Twitter how I use my iPad for ministry. I am still trying to figure that out. Right now I mostly use it as a reader (like a kindle) and to play games. I have played so many games that Rachel had aclassicline the other night: “I am glad to see you bought a $600 Game Boy.”

* Speaking of games…if you have an iPad, you have to get “stick golf”. My best score for course #1 is 14 under.

* Yesterday we took a busload of JH students to the beach for the day….basic stuff but so much fun and a good reminder of what youth ministry is really all about.

* Not to late to join us at the “Re-group summit” in Loveland, CO August 2-4. It’s geared for youth workers in larger settings…define that however you want. Track me down if interested.

* I am teaching in our high school ministry next weekend and am surprisingly nervous as evidenced by the fact that my lesson is done more than a week early.

Posted by Mark Eades

As a leader, I enjoy reading leadership books because I know that I don’t have all the answers — and many times I don’t have any answers. I attended an Orange conference with our children’s ministry where Nancy Ortberg spoke. I really enjoyed what she said, and her new book, Unleashing the POWER of Rubber Bands, really stood out to me as a book I should read.

There is so much for me to think about in the book. To keep it simple — and for me to actually apply some of the ideas — my thoughts can be narrowed down to two big “take aways”.

First, Ortberg clearly explains that every leader must impact other people around them to be of any good. The best way to do that is by listening to those people.

Mrs. Ortberg said, “Great leaders know the value of doing the right thing, and that includes valuing the contribution of all the players.”

But we need to create an environment or community where those contributions can be heard. Leaders need to create discussions about “vision, reality, and strategy.” This isn’t easy but must be done to be effective.

Another big “take away” is that “Much of the frustration that leaders face comes from trying to solve what needs to be managed and trying to manage what needs to be solved.” Reading that statement reminded me of many discussions my team has had about the difficulty in sharing God’s love and truth to middle schoolers.

Nancy Ortberg put into words what we’ve implemented but didn’t realize we were doing it. This is a great book about leadership and one that I think any leader should read. It has challenged me and given me some great tools to use in moving New Covenant Bible Church’s middle school ministry forward.

Posted by Jared Moine

Hello, I’m Jared Moine and I’m one month into the newest chapter of my life as a full-time middle school pastor at a church outside of Washington D.C. Up until last month I have lived my whole life in Southern California. I have been married for two years now to the most amazing woman and partner in youth ministry, plus she takes great pictures and makes the most amazing cupcakes. Youth ministry has always been a part of my life but now I find myself on the east coast, building a middle school ministry, and trying to fully enjoy this new adventure that God has me on! Our new church is seven years old, called Park Valley Church, and they just moved into their first building on their own land three months ago.

I’m so excited to get this opportunity to share with you some of my life in ministry. I’m honored to get a chance to offer my green, naive voice and perspective to the world of junior high ministry; to allow you to laugh at my pain and maybe learn or re-learn some of the lessons God has in store for me in my “rookie season” of youth ministry. I will never claim to be an authority on anything, just a young guy trying to do my best to honor God with this holy calling of ministering to middle school students and their families.

If you desire the insight of a well seasoned veteran, well… I’m not your guy; I’ve only got one month on the job under my belt! But if you want to read about the learning’s, experiences and embarrassing mistakes of a guy just getting started, then hopefully I am your guy! I pray my words can offer some support and help to you and your ministry because after all; no matter how many years you have been doing ministry we all have so much to learn and offer to each other. It’s an honor to share the special calling of youth ministry with so many of you!

God bless,

Jared Moine

Middle School Pastor; Park Valley Church

jared@parkvalleychurch.com

http://jaredandalanna.blogspot.com

Posted By Kurt Johnston

I’m sure time will teach us many lessons, both good and bad, from the LeBron James free agency/media frenzy/hour long ESPN show/insert your own favorable or unfavorable description here event that unfolded over the past few weeks. In the meantime, here are a few initial things that jump out to me that I would be wise to consider as a leader and pastor:

- People will assume more about me than they actually know.

- What people assume and perceive becomes reality to them and is verychanged by actual facts.

- People expect those who have been given much to behave in a more generous, graceful way than they expect from others.

-I can’t please everybody all of the time….no matter what. But, if I’m not carefulI can put myself in a position to please almost nobody!

- I’m really not as important as I think I am.

- My “fans” todaymight be burning my jersey tomorrow if things don’t go their way.

- The longer I draw out a big decision, the more frustrated people become when the outcome isn’t what they hoped for.

Add one or two of your own in the comments…..

Posted By Johnny Scott

Getting the trust and support of parents in ministry is huge and the best window for hitting a home run is just around the corner. We all want to have great relationships with parents and at times we work tirelessly trying to win them over . . . or even catch them for a few seconds in the hallway at church. This is your chance to sow little seeds and reap huge! Of course you’re going to spend time thinking of the best way to welcome kids into your ministry this fall! Take some time to help parents transition their kids into jr high. My oldest son is entering Jr high this fall. Although I’ve been working with jr high kids for 10 years in ministry, my wife and I are still finding ourselves anxious as our son prepares for this fall. There are many parents who have children entering jr high for the first time that are experiencing a sense of the unknown or even fear of the school year to come. This is an opportunity to reach out, meet a real felt need and build a bridge that will yield crazy results for the next three years. Here are some tips and ideas to get you started: (if you have more please comment)

• Get parents who have had kids go through jr high come to an evening program or casual setting to talk with kids and new parents, give advice and pointers
• Find out when the school does orientation and partner with them or offer an afterglow with refreshments; go ahead and invite teachers, the principle, sell school T-shirts and such
• Let parents know you plan to visit kids at school their first week for lunch
• Offer to Pray with these parents specifically for this. Prayer is our weapon against fear. The parents will never forget your intentionality to their situation.
• Make jr high survival kits for parents and kids, include: before & after school safety tips, a fall activities schedule for ministry at your church, a top ten list of things they should know about their school (DO YOUR RESEARCH — but don’t name mean teachers…they’ll get that info at the water cooler. )
• Encourage parents to tell their jr high stories to their kids. Kids never tire (ha, usually never tire) of hearing NEW stories from their parent’s childhood. Don’t let them trick you into stopping, they love it, they don’t know how to show that they love it.