Well, my life is moving fast. One month ago, I make the public announcement that I was going to be moving to the San Francisco Peninsula to start a church! Two weeks ago, my daughter Norah was born! We have all been doing very well adjusting to our new family. Norah has been very good [...]
Archive for the ‘Direction’ Category
Whiplash
July 13th, 2011 
joshherndon 
Posted in Direction, Personal 
Tags: Change, church planting, Ministry, the sacred church, Whiplash 
1 Comment »Changing the Win
November 23rd, 2010 joshherndon As time elapses sometimes you’ve got to change the win. By that, I mean redefine your goals in order to match the changing landscape of your ministry. When I started Central Student Ministries over 2 years ago, I had ideas of what I’d define as a win. Today, I can more accurately assess what’s important, [...]
Posted in Direction Tags: Central Student Ministries, dreaming, focus, Goals, Josh Herndon, organizational goals, vision casting No Comments »Heart of a Dreamer
September 29th, 2010 joshherndon A friend challenged me to make a list of people who have taught me to dream. I thought it was appropriate because, unless you surround yourself with dreamers you will find yourself dreamless. Futurists need other futurists or they’ll starve their natural gift to see what’s not there. So here’s three men that have taught [...]
When to Put a Personal Goal on Hold
September 8th, 2010 joshherndon I enrolled at Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary for my Masters of Divinity last fall. But being a full-time youth pastor I knew I couldn’t be a full-time student, so I made a goal for myself: to be enrolled in at least one seminary class every semester. I did so last year, taking Foundations of [...]
Forget the Pizza Parties
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,’ [...]
Spiritually Molested
July 28th, 2010 joshherndon Some of my students have been spiritually molested. They’ve been abused and judged in church, spiritually pushed and prodded, trapped by religion and expected to be, do, or resemble something they didn’t understand. They were shown no love, compassion, authentic faith, or proper guidance. So they gave up on God. Church. Religion. I have 7 [...]
Becoming Bivocational
July 27th, 2010 joshherndon This upcoming fall my schedule and energies will be shifting dramatically. I’ll be splitting my workday in 2 directions– 50% at Central Assembly as a youth pastor, and 50% at El Sobrante Christian School as a Bible/leadership teacher. This is going to be a very difficult shift for me. Especially because both are ministry positions, [...]
The Next Step
July 13th, 2010 joshherndon Many of our students came back from our Philippines missions trip excited and ready for the next steps in their relationship with God, our youth ministry, and affecting our community. So I’ve been tinkering with “The Next Step”: a clear, holistic discipleship training that will play to the strengths of both students and myself. Here’s [...]
Rethinking Student Leadership
June 1st, 2010 joshherndon After confessing that our youth ministry doesn’t have an “official” student leadership team, my friend Tom commented an interesting thought: At the 19 month mark, I think you’ve pretty much proven the student leadership team is unnecessary. Maybe it’s important for some ministers, but your ministry style goes deeper. You look for personal strengths in [...]
College Tips for High School Students
February 16th, 2010 joshherndon A former student of mine (when I interned at a youth ministry in San Jose several years ago) called me today. She’s a senior in high school, wanting to go into the ministry, and looking for some guidance about different options she’s facing. My conviction about college advice for high school students: It’s vital for [...]
Posted in Direction, Ministry Leadership Tags: College, college tips, picking a college 5 Comments »