My Experience as Youth Pastor

So, it is generally expected that the Youth have a New Year's Eve Party. The ultimate question is what should we do? On the one hand I'd love to get plastic wine glasses and serve sparkling cider for them to toast in the New Year with, but then only the other hand I really enjoy being Youth pastor.

I also considered a lock-in, but … well there are so many reasons not to do that at this juncture.

I have finally decided to try out my first attempt at a movie night. We will be watching The Princess Bride which is one of my favorite movies that I believe transcends generations, even though it was released before most of the people attending were born. Specifically only the adult leaders were born before the movie. I have just read the book and quite frankly I found it to be quite amazing. It is a work of fiction based within the framework of a greater work of fiction that supposedly is based in reality, but all of which is fiction. If you found that to be somewhat confusing then you might have some idea of what is going on with this book.

Anyways, we will be watching the movie and then watching the ball drop. We will also have games and a "hang out" corner so hopefully everyone will be happy.

I'll follow up with this tomorrow. Let me know what you guys are doing tonight and what you've done in the past that works with Youth.

Christmas is over and New Years is yet to come. Most people are trying to figure out what to do with the kids while they are on the last few days of their Christmas Break. All of the Christmas toys are working, well most of them at least, but they are starting to get boring already. The video games are beaten and the Barbie hair is matted. What is a parent to do?

It seems now is the time to start getting ready for Christmas Future. No really, think about it. The stores are putting everything in massive discounts. Sure the candy might be a little stale come next year, but it isn't likely to be any worse for you. You can get all of your decorations and music. It really is the only way to beat the system. The stores start stocking up earlier and earlier. Soon enough they will be putting their Christmas stuff out the day after Christmas. By then they won't have to put in on discount because it will be the beginning of the season. If you don't take advantage and buy all the Christmas junk you need now in a few years you will have to pay full price all the time.

Now I know you're thinking that if you buy Christmas decorations now you will have to store them till next year. Let me give you a few thoughts.

1. You can just throw out your lights from the past years. Leave the new ones in the box and next year you won't have to untangle them next year. Between the time you save and the massive discounts the new lights will pay for themselves each year. Don't worry about the landfill; your grandchildren will likely come up with something to solve that problem.
   
2. If you are running short on space o store your decorations you can always put them up. Some people might think you are being lazy about taking down your old decorations though; so remember to wait until all your neighbors are back from their vacations so they can see that you are actually getting a jump on next year.
   
3. Wrapping paper can be damaged if not stored properly. The solution is to buy your presents early too and just wrap them now.
   
4. Try buying lots of those blowup decorations. Sure they are tacky, but you can store Santa's entire village in a shoebox under your bed.
   
5. If you were planning on buying a pet next year it is best to wait. It doesn't matter how much money you can save, there is nothing funny about opening a dead pet on Christmas.
   
6. You might think that you can't buy anything since your kids are with you, but Christmas is a year away. They can pick out exactly what they want and if they are like 90% of the ADHD kids in America they won't remember by the time you get home much less next Christmas.
   
7. All of the "must have" Christmas gift you couldn't get this year will be available. Sure your kid will be the only one in school without one, but you'll know that next year your kid will be the only one in school with one and who will be laughing then. Yeah.
   
8. The credit card bills haven't come in yet so you still have money.
   
9. With a little creativity you can alter the seasonal items for Valentine's Day. Melt the chocolate Santa's down into heat molds. Change snowflakes out for little hearts. That is all the manufacturers do so why pay them when you can do it yourself.
   

Do you have any other ideas of what you can do with the post Christmas markdowns? Leave a comment.

Bonus post today on card games. My Youth love card games. Specifically the game Mao. I'd love to tell you how to play the game but that is a violation of the rules. Technically telling you I can't tell you the rules is also a violation of the rules. The one rules you are allowed to say is "There will be no talking after the first card is dealt and that will be to you." Then the dealer deals out the cards and the game starts. There are a lot of rules and the only way to learn the rules is to play the game. I honestly really enjoy the game and impressed my Youth with how quickly I picked up the rules. Te problem is that I'm a bit bored with the game not that I know all the rules. Figuring out the rules was the fun part of the game.

This brings up some other games in a similar vein. Bartok is a game that starts with very few rules. You deal the cards and play the first card in the discard pile. Then play goes in clockwise order where each player must play a card in the same suit or from a different suit of the same face value or draw a card. The first person to play all of their cards wins. This is where it gets interesting. The winner gets to invent a new rule. This rule can be overridden by a unanimous vote of all players, otherwise it stays. The rules can be almost anything and remains a rule throughout. Each round a new rule is added making the game very complex until it is impossible to play anymore.

Fluxx is new one we played last night. There are several versions but here is one you can check out http://www.amazon.com/Looney-Labs-4098518-Fluxx-Version/dp/192978001X/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=toys-and-games&qid=1230564852&sr=8-1. The game starts with one rule. Draw a card then play a card. The cards come in 4 types. Rule cards: which add or change rules, goal cards: which set the goal for winning the game, action cards: which allow a specific action like drawing extra cards getting rid of rules etc, and keepers: which you play to your keep pile and usually are required to achieve the goal set by the goal cards. It gets somewhat confusing because the rules can keep changing during play as well as the goal.

Finally there is a game that I really want to play, but which will take quite a long time to play. It is a combination of the game Fluxx, Bartok, and Democratic debate. Basically you start with pick a card and play a card. Then you play a card, any card since there are no rules, and make up a rule. This rule can be debated, amended, and voted upon. Once a rule is ratified it goes into effect immediately. Through this process all rules can be made discarded and amended. The goal of the game can be changed at anytime, but only one rule or amendment can be proposed at a time. In theory the game could go on forever if players wanted by carefully altering the rules at the right times so no one would win.

Those are the games that we play, or at least that I'm interested in playing. Anyone else know any other fun card games?

So we all know about making purple, the new cool way to talk about what happens when you put a bunch of guys and girls in a confined location with the lights turned down low. Right now I don't really have this problem. In fact in my Youth group the girls outnumber the buys by at least 2 to 1. We also have this strange tradition where the girls think it is fun to hang all over each other and stuff.

They aren't gay or bi or whatever they just do this because …? Yea I don't get it. I'm a guy. There are a lot of things girls can do that guys can't. If a guy is hanging all over another guy they aren't straight.

Is this everywhere? I don't remember this being so prevalent when I was in HS. Sure girls would hold hands and hug and all those other things that guys don't really do, but I'm talking about really pushing the boundaries.

I'm not sure exactly how to address this. Is it really something I should address?

--Confused in Seattle.

I use that word quite often, but I really don't use it right. The word is based on "awe" and should convey the idea of inspiring awe. If something is literally "awesome" then there should be a moment of awe struck staring involved. Imagine the best finale to a fireworks show ever. The kind of display where it takes a moment before the crowd can actually say "ooohhhh … aaaahhh"." That is a truly awesome firework display.

I think church should be more like that. Not necessary some over the top display that leaves people unable to speak, but rather the fact that we are coming together as one to worship God in itself should be awesome. It rarely is though.

This isn't God's fault. It isn't like he gets too busy and forgets to plan this super experience then throws something together at the last minute when He remembers that it is Sunday. The reality is that we are the ones that get too busy. It takes the special alignment of circumstances to get us into the place where we experience the God of the universe that is always there.

In fact, we should be able to have the awesome experience with God anywhere anytime. He is always there and always over the top, unbelievably, awesome. Check out the video "Awe Factor of God" here: http://www.crazylovebook.com/. Francis Chan goes into detail about the immensity of the universe and all of the detail put into as well as the amount of work in a single caterpillar. IF that doesn't do it for you consider the detail of the minutia. The really does it for me. I love work that can be done quickly. When it comes to construction I like demolition, framing, and drywall work because I can see huge change at the end of the day. If I am writing I love outlining and draft work. I have detail work because it can take forever to mud a wall out perfectly or to proof a document correctly and there is so little change in the end. God, though, does the huge and visible stuff as well as the tiny invisible stuff. Consider the hydrogen atom. It is the simplest and most abundant element in the world. It contains a single electron and proton. These are made of a total of 3 quarks. These structures, when viewed under the most powerful electron microscopes, have an incredibly textured surface that results in a significant surface area relative to the size of the particle. All of this is done in such a way that these particles can actually be forced together releasing a significant amount of energy as atomic bonds break and reform into helium. This process is what drives the Sun and gives energy to our world. God focused on all of those details for us.

Start thinking about that and how much God has done for us. Now consider how we come to Him and you will get why we miss out so often. We get to church and think that is the only place we can experience the God that is riding with us in the car ride too church. We are distracted by a million things and forget that God is waiting patiently for a relationship with us. We give God a specific amount of out week and think that we can cram an infinite being into this little time slot. Then we wonder why we don't experience those awe inspiring moments with God more frequently. We blame the music or the pastor or anything but the real cause. The truth is we get between us and God more than anything else.

Try focusing on God and get out of your own way. Don't wait till church, do it right now. Let God leave you speechless.

We are quickly coming up on the New Year. There are many traditions associated with this holiday. Most of my family eats black eyed peas for luck. I don't know if this is a southern tradition of if northerners do this as well. I do know that we do have strange "luck" in my family. My uncle has won a small lottery and came out for my wedding the same year. We got married near Vegas so he stayed there to write the trip off as gambling expenses. He brought money to lose figuring he'd lower his tax burden while having fun gambling. At the end of each night he had to give the money he planned on losing away to who ever happened to be sitting next to him. It wasn't a huge amount of money each night, a few hundred dollars, but he just couldn't lose it for trying. I'm not a fan of black eyed peas but it would be worth it if I weren't already blessed.

Another more popular tradition is the New Year's Resolution. People typically look back at the previous year, or years, and try to find what would make their life better then resolve to make the changes needed to achieve that better life. Common resolutions include: stop smoking, stop drinking, and lose weight. These are certainly great resolutions but most people fail in short order.

Years ago I made a resolution to stop making New Year's resolutions. I did it as a joke, but then I actually kept it. Every year since, I have decided to not make a new resolution for New Years. People ask e what my resolution is and I respond that I am not making one because I resolved not to year ago. These people go about making their resolutions and then breaking them within the first month while I keep mine from years ago. This is my unresolution.

Of course, some people do make real life changing resolutions, so good for them. I figure, though, that most people fail because they think that there is something special about New Years that will allow them to make a change they are willing to make. That is the real trick. If someone is willing to make the change they aren't going to wait until the New Year. A couple of years ago I was pushing 300 lbs. I was more than a little overweight to say the least. I decided I needed to make a change and tried many things only to fail. I prayed and worked out and dieted. Eventually I found something that worked. For me it was the South Beach Diet. I'm now down to just over 200 lbs. I still have 20 lbs I am trying to lose and will get the eventually Lord willing. When I felt that I needed to lose the weight, though, I didn't say, "I'll start my diet on New Year's." Instead I started that very week. It was in August so my resolve would have certainly waivered by New Year's.

This is the key. We cannot expect to achieve any real change if we aren't motivated enough to actually make the change immediately. If we think we need to wait for some special thing then we will never change.

We are called to so much more than what we are. We seem to think that God is going to eventually send an angel or something to spell out his will in our life. After all, that is what he did for all those people in the Bible. In reality, though, those people were already doing the will of God when they were visited by God. The fact is God has revealed His purpose for our lives. He has called us to service and good works. If we begin the process then He will honor that.

Actually, this really is not about guilt. This is about motivation and more importantly love. Over at SCL Jon has proposed a book club. We will be reading Crazy Love. I ordered the book and got it right away so I started reading it last night. I'm almost finished with my first read through. Before discussing something by chapter with a group of people I like to read the entire book then read the chapter just before the discussion. It helps me to form a better view of what is being said, especially in a book like this.

I started thinking about one of the things mentioned in this book. I've actually said this from the pulpit so the statistics aren't new to me but the way I looked at them today is. Over 50% of the world's population lives on less than $2 per day. My family is considered pretty poor by American terms. We earn close to half of the national median income and support 6 people on this income. We still spent about $300 on Christmas today. In other words we spend about a half years salary for over 50% over the world on a single day.

Then I read a comment where a person said they thought we should focus on giving to others in the world which was responded to by someone Anonymously saying they rejoiced but did not feel guilt over the plight of the less fortunate because they cannot change that world only the world around them. This person even said that some were called to live the life of poverty but not this person.

I think that is the sentiment of so many in America. We are concerned about what is comfortable. We want to give, but not to the pain. You remember that line right? The Princess Bride has a scene where Wesley challenges the prince to a duel to the pain. He then describes everything it will cost the loser. Of course the prince surrenders because that is unthinkable. We do the same thing. We are asked to give till it hurts and then give some more. We can't bring ourselves to that level of giving. It doesn't really matter what kind of giving I'm talking about.

Sure, we might be willing to give 10% and maybe even more as long as we can still have what we "need." We might even go on a few missions trips, but do we really give till it hurts?

I really don't think we do, because we are called to share each other's burdens and we don't do that. Even here in America there are truly poor and destitute that we overlook. We come up with excuses about how they deserve it or they will just take out money and buy drugs and alcohol, but Jesus didn't really give us an excuse when he called us to help the poor among us did he?

I don't think we should be feeling guilt this season, or any season, but I do think we need to feel motivated by love. If we aren't completely over the top in love with God and moved to do His will by that love then we will feel guilty. If you read this today and think I'm trying to make you feel guilty maybe it is because you aren't properly motivated. If you read this today and are motivated to get out and do then you got the point. If you read this and don't feel guilt or motivation then I hope you are actually involved in giving to the pain, because otherwise I'm afraid that you are sorely lacking a relationship with Christ.

Merry Christmas.