How far is too far? It’s a question my 8, 9, and 10 graders asked yesterday in class. So, I asked them what Jesus’ words in Matthew 5:28 meant: “but I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” We are so prone to [...]
Archive for the ‘Spiritual Thought’ Category
Bivocationalism Revisited
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 [...]
Posted in Spiritual Thought 
Tags: bivocational, bivocational youth ministry, grace, Productivity, two jobs 
1 Comment »Love the Perpetrator
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. [...]
Posted in Spiritual Thought Tags: abolitionist, human trafficing, Missions, not for sale, sex slave trade, steve edwards No Comments »My Church Likes Me
August 12th, 2010 joshherndon And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men. [Luke 2:52] My church likes me. My pastor, parents, board members- they all seem to like me. In my first months I assumed it was because I was in the pastoral honeymoon phase. But two years later I still have favor [...]
Rationalizing a 4-Week Break from Youth Group
August 5th, 2010 joshherndon I got approval today to suspend CSM FRIDAY NIGHTS for the following 4-weeks until our Parent Night on September 10th. It was a difficult decision for me to make, but it needed to be done. The truth is, I’m running on empty. Over the span of 30 days, I was in “ministry mode” for fifteen [...]
“The Lord is with me”
July 31st, 2010 joshherndon I have a student in our youth ministry who has been living with her grandparents recently because of a falling-out at home. But grandma had cancer and passed away this past month, leaving her with grandpa, who has poor health as well. She’s now unsure of where she’s going to be living this upcoming year. [...]
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 [...]
What To Do When “It’s” Not There
July 16th, 2010 joshherndon What do you do when you’re writing a message and you realize the passage you’re preaching from is saying something different than you wanted it to? When you run into this “problem”, you have 3 options: Change Your Message Change Your Passage Make It Fit, Like A Square in a Round Hole Well, that happened [...]
Silly Worries
June 26th, 2010 joshherndon On Sunday, our missions team is leaving for the Philippines. We’ll be there for about 10 days with One Hope (this is my first time leading a missions team). As Sunday rapidly approaches, I’m kinda shocked about the silly things that I’ve been worrying about for the past week. Some examples: 220v of Energy. The [...]
Staying Focused on a Crazy Day
June 10th, 2010 joshherndon It’s one of those days. It’s the last day of school. Hundreds of parents and students running around the campus. I need to send out $11,000 to payoff our missions trip (which I’m not sure we have) with agreement forms form students (some I’m still missing). I’m hungry. The internet is going in, and out, [...]
Posted in Spiritual Thought Tags: crazy day, focus, Matthew 6:31-34, stress, stressd out No Comments »