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September 2nd, 2010 
joshherndon Here’s the top posts from August. If you missed one of them, there’s some good stuff in there. Or, at least not bad stuff. I hope.
September 1st, 2010 joshherndon August 31st, 2010 joshherndon It’s been two weeks since I’ve been 100% bivocational (two jobs: youth pastor and jr. high/hs teacher). Already, I’m starting to feel the strain from it all. I am someone who dedicates myself fully into my responsibilities, so when I’m pulled two different directions there will be a dropped ball… eventually.
For instance: Instead of taking my youth group to a workshop on student evangelism and building christian clubs at their schools, I have to be at Back to School night.
Over the next few months, I am going to need to learn to be easy on myself. I won’t be able to do everything or I won’t be doing anything well at all. I need to stay focused on what I can do rather than what I can’t.
You may, or may not be bivocational; but you too certainly get pulled in a million directions. Work. School. Family. Friends. Aspirations. Let’s make a deal to be easy to ourselves and know that more often than not, the grace Jesus shows us is more abundant than the grace we show ourselves.
August 30th, 2010 joshherndon August 27th, 2010 joshherndon We’ve lived in our cottage since we got married 2-years ago. We love love love it. Evie loves the kitchen and porch. I love the hardwood floors and $25 PG&E bills. It’s been the perfect place to start our first years in marriage.
But for the past few months Evie and I have been looking casually for a new place to live. Money has gotten tight and it was really the biggest expense to cut back from.
We found a place in an apartment complex and our application was accepted immediately. It wasn’t great, but it wasn’t bad. We were nervous about the inherent problems that come with apartments, but we had to sacrifice somewhere. So we started heading in that direction. I even put down the security deposit when…
Out of nowhere, my current landlord offered to lower our rent $250 because she’s loved having us at tenants and didn’t want us to go! She knew that we were tight on cash and wanted to give us some grace!
There’s a couple lessons to be learned:
So we’ll be staying in the cottage for at least 6 more months. Thank you God, for that incredible gift!
August 25th, 2010 joshherndon A friend commented on a recent post and I think his questions are worth looking into:
OK. This article has been posted on so many different blogs/websites. I totally, 100% agree with this article and am dumbfounded it’s only being posted now. I’ve been dealing with this, especially for my high school ministry, for a while now. HOWEVER, there’s this side of me totally struggling right now b/c THE CAUSE is so clear and plain as day. We’ve got great speakers and great small group times. But, it seems like the kids aren’t having ANY FUN! And, frankly, I think Jesus liked to have fun. I’m not your “gamey” type of youth pastor, but I do like to have fun and have some mixers/games included in my nightly program. It’s this constant pull. My ministry hasn’t really “grown”, exponentially, either. I haven’t lost any, but I’m not gaining any. And, believe me, I talk the YM talk. We’re all over contact work, sporting events, you name it…but, I’m at this huge lull for my high school program and have NO idea where to take them this fall (programatically).
Fair question: How do you move from concepts to reality? Why does it seem difficult? What’s the balance between purposeful activities and fun stuff?
What do you think– Do you have any encouraging words for our friend?
August 25th, 2010 joshherndon I had lunch with Steve Edwards today and she shared something very, very interesting. He recently lead a team to the Dominican Republic on a missions trip. They went to the red light district– women selling themselves, and men waiting to buy.
He told me when he saw these women, he was full of compassion. His heart broke. Complete empathy and love.
But when he saw the pool of men waiting in line for their turn, his heart grew in anger toward the men. Raw, violent, visceral reaction.
Suddenly God spoke to him, “these men need me as much as those girls do”.
When hearing about modern slavery in the forced prostitution industry, I’ve never given thought to love the perpetrator in addition to the victims. It seems backwards, even backstabbing to the cause. But how broken, lost, confused, and jaded must these men be to do what they do? They shouldn’t be let off the hook for their actions, but shouldn’t we be reaching out to them to turn them from their ways?
I hate what these men do, so much it makes me sick. But Jesus wants to rescue them, too.
August 22nd, 2010 joshherndon “A decade ago teens were coming to church youth group to play, coming for the entertainment, coming for the pizza. They’re not even coming for the pizza anymore. They say, ‘We don’t see the church as relevant, as meeting our needs or where we need to be today.‘ ” -Thom Rainer, ‘Forget the pizza parties,’ Teens tell churches
Apparently less students are going to youth group. Are you surprised? I’d argue if they were coming to youth group for pizza parties, play, and entertainment we didn’t have them to begin with. There’s a lot more exciting stuff out there than dodgeball and Fast Food Fear Factor. Maybe it’s the games that make the junior highers coming back, but when they start dealing with real stuff are we still chugging soda through a sock?
So, how then do you keep them? And not just physically but how do you move students to be spiritually, mentally, emotionally invested in Jesus and His church?
Simon Sinek builds a leadership principal from the notion that says people buy into causes, not products. From my recent purchase, I’d have to agree. Organizations should be built on a greater cause than “I want to make a profit” or “I want a lot of people to come to youth group.” Those reasons for an organization to exist is limiting, uninspiring, and boring. Profit or people should be a byproduct of the cause– why should I care this organization exists? When there’s a clear knowledge of Why, there can be an accurate portrayal of values that directs the products of the organization, which will be more plentiful (profit, people). But the trick isn’t can you articulate Why, but can your students?
If you’re not asking yourself
If you’re not asking yourself these questions on a weekly basis, you’ll be relying on pizza parties to be the savior of your ministry, and not Jesus.
August 16th, 2010 joshherndon I’ll be on vacationing this week up in the California mountains! My wife has dubbed it, “Married Camp”.
See you next week upon my arrival!