The Parable of the Man who Brought Nobody

I wrote this the summer of this year. As I looked through my illustrations for a lesson, this caught my eye. Bless ya as you reach out to all of the kids, regardless of the fruit that you see in their lives.


On the judgement day where Christ laid out everything that people did and brought all things to light, a man stood and watched as endless amounts of people had come forward.
Some of them were friends that he knew. Friends that he had worked along side of. Friends who had done great things and friends who had dropped the ball.
Some people had huge smiles on their faces and some, as if they’d been scorched by hell’s fire already.

And as it was time for this man to come forward, he heard his name called among the crowd. “Come forward please” the voice bellowed.

He then saw a list before him. The people he had been good to and treated with love and the people who he had overlooked. There were accomplishments and defeats and it was all brought before this man’s face to see… most of which he had forgotten about for a long, long time.

And then, people who he had shown the love of God to. This man smiled as memories flooded his mind of laughter, joy; yet also tears and sorrow. He had remembered many moments where relationships had ended and went sour. People who had walked away from him; regardless of his efforts to push them and despite his efforts to bring them back.

And then, in almost a twinkling of an eye, the voice spoke again.
Names.
Names of people who he had served… and looking around the crowd, he began to put faces to the names…
But there were some who he had no recollection of…
And also a name, of someone who he had not seen for a long, long time.
His face was not among the crowd.

It was the name of a man whom he’d done everything possible to bring him to know God’s love. He remembered the nights where he stayed up listening to the deepest hurts and pains, and the days of which frankly he wished he never met the man.
He was a hard man. But now: unseen.

As the man on trial scoured the crowd searching for this man, the voice said softly, "he’s not here. I’m sorry. It breaks my heart more than yours, more than the moments when I bore my cross…”

“So why did you mention his name?” the man interrupted, his eyes flowing with tears.

“Because I wanted to thank you. Thank you for being faithful when there was absolutely no reason to have faith. Thank you for believing when there wasn’t a shred of evidence or hope. Thank you, my good and faithful servant.”



Regardless of who walks through your doors this year, love them just like Christ loves them.

Keep on Keepin' on

This week is my first week back in the office from vacation.. and like many of you, I have no idea what I’m doing.
Today I’ve printed just about everything I’ve worked on during the summer, prepared to meet with two of the four teams I coach, and feel prepared but super unprepared all at the same time. The innermission team is comprised of 3 parents who are much smarter than me and have more experience. I feel like such a N00b...
In light of this, there were a few other “welcome back” things I received since I was away….

-a few leaders have bowed out gracefully. Amazing people. I thank God for their time spent here.
-still in shock from the passing of a friend and neighbour. My next door neighbour suffered a heart attack. I’ll miss him as he too worked in the ministry and understood some of the things I’ve gone through. He’d often joke with me, but more often encouraged me to keep on keeping on… I’ll miss him a lot.
-a few last minute things and requests have come up. Some of which I can work with, some I’ll have to say no to.

Although September might feel like a balancing act where you try to keep many plates spinning and up in the air, I want to encourage you to keep on keeping on. Paul writes in Philippians “I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to things ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus”…

Don’t let the past hold you back, but hold onto the call that God is leading you toward tomorrow.
Till next time

Making the Camp High Last All Year...

For those of us who aren’t slacking off in our offices, I salute you. Summer camp is great and was a highlight when I went as a child.
For those of you who are (like me), you know it’s not really slacking at all. Plan your work, work your plan, man!

Just a thought for those who are having conversations with your kids about the "camp high.”
I know that you’re having those conversations because we’re all having those conversations throughout the year.

If only winter retreat could be all year long
If only every week was like summer camp
If only I didn’t live at home with my parents or siblings
If only I lived in a christian home where everyone loved eachother…

Then I could live for Christ
Then I could stop using marijuana
Then I could open up and be me
Then I could deal with my bitterness and anger...

I’m sure you’ve heard it all..
And I’m sure, like me, you’ve tried to paint a better picture of hope, bunny rabbits and rainbows…

But what if the camp high was never meant to last?

What if we were meant to experience incredible mountain tops as much as we were meant to experience the times in the valley of the shadow of death?
What if we were meant to experience the gambit of emotions that come with having a vibrant spiritual life?
And what if we stopped trying to make the camp high last in order to help our kids survive during the low seasons of life?

Maybe then, God wouldn’t be this old bearded guy who hangs out with cute little bunny rabbits in the sky where everything was just peachy; but a God who would walk through every season of life with them, choosing to be as loud as a thunderstorm one moment and then as silent as an empty tomb the next.

Embrace life… all of it... cause it'll kill you if you don't.

Till next time,

L.E.A.D.

This week in my planning phase, there's a focus on leadership development. I'm sure you're wondering "shouldn't he focus on leadership development every week of the year?". Well, I do. Throughout the summer, it's a goal to meet with every volunteer youth worker who I serve with. But I also take time to review and look to the future of how we disciple our teenagers at LRC.

One thing that we've been big on over the past few years with our senior high youth group is "student leadership". Essentially, it's a handful of students in our ministry who say "I want to be discipled for one year and take part in serving at my youth group". These students go through a discipleship track throughout the year with myself and essentially run the show on friday nights. Without our student leaders, our youth group would be a bunch of adults spouting off a bunch of words to teenagers for a few hours, entertaining them here and there with a game or a movie and then telling them to go be entertained in big church when they graduate... and I'll stop my rant there.

Every year, I sit down and go over the leadership lessons that we go through once a month. Most of it is mishmashed from previous years and we do our best to teach biblical leadership with the least amount of extrabiblical heresy as possible. This year, I've developed an acronym for the word LEAD.
This year, our students will be learning that if they are going to lead, they are going to be

Learning that leadership is about learning from Jesus and from others.
Empowering other students to serve and be a part of their faith community.
Asking tough questions that challenge the status quo in order to do things better
Directing those who are watching and following them by not just "going" but "showing".

Think it'll work?

Till next time,

State of Youth Ministry in Canada

A few years ago i participated in a nation wide survey of youth pastors. The results were compiled into a book called "What's Happening: The State of Youth Ministry in Canada"
The book is packed full of stats, numbers and figures that you have to decipher for yourself... but loaded with truth and frightening outcomes.
Overall, it was encouraging to see a canadian statistic of what is happening in youth ministry locally and not just next door in america.
If you haven't heard of it, check out these videos. Ask yourself what resonates with you and your context and what doesn't. Make sure you watch both videos too, eh?

Something needs to change

As the summer is upon us, it’s time to reflect, review and seriously question our calling before jumping into another year. I love the summer for allowing time for that. It’s a process that takes more than a weekend and if you read previous posts, is a non-negotiable in our youth ministry year here at Lincoln Road Chapel.

One item up for review in today’s post is the way that we operate financially….

As a youth worker, I’m sure you’ve been introduced to the headache that money can add into any ministry dynamic. There are many contributors to this headache… here are just a few…
-when money is involved, there is always a chance that it can be mishandled… if you’ve been a youth worker for a while, you most likely know some folks who’ve been fired over an issue like this.

-when you have to collect for something, you often feel like a travel agent.

-when you have families with multiple students in your ministry, you most likely are aware of the strain that multiple events are putting on their finances.

-even when you give the blanket statement of “we’ll do anything to make sure your child can get to ________ (fill in the blank)”, you know there is a sense of shame that comes with not being able to provide like the other family down the road…

I’m sure there are many other contributing factors to this headache that you could add to the list… and here’s the tipping point for me this year…

When your ministry has even one event that is not affordable for a teen or family, you run the risk of segregating that family or teen for their whole tenure in your ministry.

I thought about continuing with this post, but I think I’ll end it there. We all can agree that you can never eliminate the financial aspect from what we do, but there are definitely ways to do things differently. For our student ministry team here at LRC, it means we’re continually cutting back on retreats and big events, supplementing them with other ways of doing youth ministry and ultimately seeking ways to reach teenagers with the love of Christ regardless of economic background… and that will never be done if we continue doing things the way we’re doing them now.

Something needs to change for us… what about you?

Closed For the Season

This week, 3 of our once a week programs are coming to an end.

Innermission: our more intense/study based junior high sunday school is ending for the year.
Xtreme Youth: our high energy, outreach focused evening finished last night.
LINK: our highschool no-one-can-stop-when-it-gets-going machine is coming to an close for the season on friday night.

When I was beginning my first summer here, I always questioned why we shut down...
That was until the fall came again. The benefits were huge. Here are just a few...

1. It gives regular leaders a break in order to preserve them for the next term. It's called Sabbath. God created it and said it was so important, it became a top ten issue in life.

2. It gives the leadership some time to reflect on the previous year and identify what was done right, and usually, what was done wrong and needs correcting.

3. It gives the point leader some time to spend in study and preparation to make sure that no one has the excuse to fly by the seat of their pants... that includes every leader and every student leader. In other words, when those you lead fail, it's usually because you have failed to lead them... so take the time to lead them well by being prepared.

4. It gives you time to connect with people... away from the programming and the events. Time to ask unrelated questions to "ministry" that often matter more to our students and adult leaders in our ministry-- questions that show that we're human, that we care and that this is more than just getting a job done, but is all about journeying through life as we chase after God's Spirit...

5. And finally, it gives you time to Selah-- you see it in the psalms. After something has happened or said, authors would pause and say "Selah"; which scholars have spent much time deliberating a meaning but come to this conclusion... Stop and listen... stop what you're doing for a moment and listen to the God of the universe whisper. It's during these momenets in which we often make some of the soundest, wisest and most important descisions that determine the outcome of our futures.

and isn't that worth the time to just slow down?

Till next time,