Great hockey game last night with the two oldest boys – one of the dads of some HSM students hooked us up with some seats for the game. Tampa Bay went down in overtime! So fun.

JG

Here’s a little video to help our small group leaders learn how to use the attendance software for their groups. Kurt (student ministries pastor) takes the lead on it, followed by Chip, one of our great volunteers who selected the system and oversees it for us!

JG

Here are some interesting stats from HSM’s small groups this year:

• Girls 54%
• Guys 46%
• Freshman: 27%
• Sophomores: 28%
• Juniors: 26%
• Seniors: 19%
• Largest percentage from a single school (tie) 16%

JG

We’ve been using ChurchTeams.com the last couple of small group years to get reports from our small group leaders about their groups and to keep a constant flow of communication happening between us. It isn’t the most elegant site/system we’ve ever used, but it simply works! Here’s some of the conversation I’ve been getting back from my coaching group the past few weeks:

• Guys: Great subject material this evening. Remember your three action steps to take this week. You will be asked to comment on your actions, or responsibility taken at the next meeting. I will not be with you next week: mission trip to Guatemala. Pray for me and our work to bring the love of Jesus Christ to these people. Don’t “pass the buck” this week. Stand up for the truth. Show love in your daily lives. God Bless You-Bill
• Topic: how drinking wine is biblically acceptable — complete with object lessons!!! (is anyone reading this?)
• One of my girls is in ICU with possible viral meningitis.  No visitors allowed.
• Tonight we talked about girls and how to keep the girl while staying focused on God.  We spent time talking about the importance of dating Godly girls and the risks of ‘missionary dating’.
• Prayer that each of these young men will grow deeper in their faith this year. Please pray that some of them will not act like squirrelly freshmen next week at group!
• Hey guys, fun group tonight! You guys were off the hook. Zack…. Please don’t eat a burrito before study again!! Next week we are getting together for dinner And hot fudge sundaes at 7pm at the Soda Fountain. Let me know if you need a ride and I can come get you. I look forward to seeing you. I love you guys a lot. Blessings, Chip

JG

Here’s a little Flash update of our progress on HSM’s Do Something goals so far.

JG

I was reflecting this week on some key people in my life and why they mean so much to me. There are tons of reasons why I would consider them incredible friends, but one of the things that stuck out to me recently was belief. They love and believe in me so much, it drives me to succeed and believe in myself even more. I realize how rare these types of friends are and it hasn’t always been this way – I have experienced the discouraging feeling of not being believed in, too – almost like my boss was hoping I would fail and when I did he was there to gloat. It taught me to not be myself, not to take risks and above all – to be sure not to fail.

Today is so different – I am believed in by my peers and bosses beyond my actual ability, maybe believed in beyond even what I think I can do. I say all of this to challenge myself to believe in someone else today. Maybe it’ll help you do the same.

Who is the volunteer on your team that needs the breathe of belief given to them this morning? What about that intern that is down today because they’ve failed? Do your kids know you believe in them? The power of belief is life-changing. Someone believes in me and it is driving me to accomplish more. I want to give that gift to someone else.

You are believed in. Now get to work!

JG

Kurt gave the high school team here a challenge to do before December 1st. Here’s a clip from his blog:

We are conducting a “what if” scenario. What if we decided to cut our programs and “stuff” by 25-50%? What would we keep? What would get cut? What new stuff would we create? My hope is that we will create a fairly fresh-looking ministry plan that is less cluttered and leaves much more time for relational/organic youth ministry to flourish.  For now, it’s just an exercise to get our minds thinking and our juices flowing, but I’m hoping we can translate it into an actual ministry plan at some point soon.

JG

You could build a huge youth ministry library right now – a ton of great books on sale at Simply Youth Ministry this week, all for $3.99 and free shipping if you get over $99 (use the promo code: COLDOUTSIDE). Nice!

JG

I missed the show with kid #4 getting stitches, but Jake filled in for me – the show must go on!

JG

My Xbox360’s blog will be updated shortly with the big news – my Gamerscore just crossed 30,000 points last night. That’s a TON of gaming! Recently I’ve been playing Modern Warfare 2, You’re In the Movies, Splosion Man and Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes. What have you been playing?

JG

Weekend Teaching Series: Do Something: A series about social and spiritual action (week 2 of 3)
Sermon in a Sentence: You can “do something” in many different ways – personally, locally and globally.
Service Length: 81 minutes
Bible: Acts 1:8

Understandable Message: This week’s message was again very short – it was almost more of a verse challenge – so we could focus on action right there in the service. I talked about how Jesus’ last words to continue His mission on earth until he returns in Jerusalem, Judea and the uttermost parts of the earth. We divided up each service into 3 groups and sent them to 3 areas in The Refinery – they stayed in the theater to take some personal action [walk], headed to the gym to sign up for local opportunities [drive], and spent 15 minutes in the classrooms to hear speakers talk about global opportunities and action [fly]. Anyhow, we also updated everyone on our goals for the series (clothing drive, food drive, offering, etc) and we make some good progress, too!

Volunteer/Student Involvement: This was the first week of our rotation of schools that rally students to serve by greeting, handing out programs, clean-up, setup, etc. We had a TON to do for a weekend like this, so the extra help was HUGE. So proud of them! The band, camera, lights, sound and control room were also handled by students, and our adult volunteers really had the opportunity to engage with students with the extra help on tasks.

Element of Fun/Positive Environment: We had some great music, and a very welcoming environment, and used Poll Everywhere to ask students to text in what they been doing since the series is called “do something” – seeing the responses fly on the screen during the opening song was really cool. This video called “He > You” was a neat element, too.

Music Playlist: Use Somebody, Life of Love, Solution

Favorite Moment: Seeing all of the student leadership kids in action was great! I really liked the global action room where the students could hear from James, a Kenyan-born young man who sees the opportunity/need for helping spiritually and socially. And tons of students signed up for local serve opportunities … so while it was crazy with all of the people-moving, there were lots of favorite moments, I guess.

Up Next: Do Something (series finale, week 3 of 3)

A bunch of our students from El Toro’s FCA and Invisible Children clubs are leading Project Uganda and put together this awesome video as part of their school promotion to raise $10,000 by Dec 17th. Proud of them!

JG

Vote in this week’s poll – as a youth worker would you rather get an extra 5% increase in your salary or an extra week of vacation? Vote now – explain why in the comments!

JG

This past weekend I shared breakfast with my YS roommate. Bruegger’s Bagels and chocolate milk, case you were wondering.

Our discussion centered around the question, how do you know when God is moving you? It a good question and often asked when we feel the push to move on to something else. As we talked, I thought about my own experiences and knowing when God was moving me from one spot to the next. Here’s what I learned:

1. Prayer. Without a doubt, prayer is the most important part of the process. Seeking God diligently is a must. Each time we thought a move was coming, my wife and I bathed the possibilities in prayer. We pray together, we pray separately, we pray for specifics, and we pray for the unknown. We’re not afraid to ask God to answer and provide the details. Like Gideon, we put out the fleece and ask God to send the dew. And don’t forget, prayer is a two way street. Spend as much time listening for God as you do listing your requests and demands. God still speaks, we just have to learn to listen.

2. Godly Wisdom. Wise counsel is priceless. Surround yourself with trusted, Godly men and women, who can give you unbiased and confidential advice and support. These need to be people who love you and can be strong enough to say no. Tell them what they need to know. Ask them to pray specific for you for a designated time frame, then set up a time when you can meet and hear what they think God is saying. And listen! The counsel they bring might not be what you want to hear.

3. Watch and Know. God speaks through what happens around us. Events and circumstances help to push us the direction God wants us to go. I am a firm believer that God opens and closes doors as He deems necessary. Watch what’s happening around. Too often, irony is the hand of God turning a door knob. And know your history. How has God moved you in the past? How has He moved in others lives? How did He move people in the New Testament? How did He move people in the Old Testament? Our God does not change. The same God who moved Abram to an unknown country is the God who might be moving you into the unknown. Knowing how He works will help you recognize when He is moving in your life.

I can’t say that these three things were my own brain child. They were shared with my wife and I many years again when we were considering our first full time call to serve a ministry. We practiced each of these three points then, and God was faithful in revealing what we needed to know and where we needed to be. Since then, we have applied each point for every move we’ve made and we have been blessed.

The only other suggestion I would add is idea of total surrender. Two captains cannot steer the ship. Each one will have his own agenda and desired destination. With both at the helm, confusion reigns. The ship needs one captain and one first officer. The captain commands the ship. He sets the direction and navigates the terrain. The first officer’s place is to obey the captain, follow his lead, and stay on course even when the captain steps of the bridge.

Not too long ago, I staged a mutiny. My wife and I knew we were done serving a ministry and that it was time to move on. What we didn’t know was the where. For us, the when was as soon as possible. So we made some phone calls, did the job search, and let some people know we we’re looking. But really, our minds were made up. We were going back to Philadelphia. My office was packed into boxes, and in my mind, I was already planning for a new youth ministry. We did everything we could to make this happen.

But despite all our efforts, nothing was working out. We pushed and pushed and pushed. But the doors closed every single time.
After four months of trying to force the square peg into the round hole, the final door was slammed in our faces. We were not moving back to Philly. This was a crushing realization for me. Because of the nature of the work I was doing, I had to resolve to do what I was called to do. I asked for a peace about everything and the ability to surrender the situation and wait on God.
Three months later, we heard the youth pastor who was serving the church we were attending had left. We went away for a weekend as a family right after hearing about the opening. My wife and I agreed to pray about the news and w would talk about afterward. When we returned home, I made a call. Three weeks later, I had a new call. God moved me when He was ready to move me. He was just waiting for me to surrender to Him. If you are at that point. The point where you ask yourself, Is God moving me right now? Take the time to pray, seek counsel, watch for the signs, and surrender to what God is doing. He’s got it all taken care of.

Just have to let him Captain the ship, then enjoy the cruise.

Jay Higham is the youth pastor at Crossroads Youth Ministry at St. Paul’s.

There are few books in Scripture that move me quite like Paul’s letter to the Colossians.

It really is a beautifully written letter. In its introduction to Colossians, the ESV Study Bible notes that “Paul writes with stylistic flair and aphoristic brilliance.” I have no idea what the word “aphoristic” means. Not a clue. But it sounds awesome. And it seems to support my contention that Colossians is a great, great book.

Over the last week or so, I have been listening to Colossians as I drive to work. (If I press play on the “Bible Experience” when I pull out of my daughter’s school, I can get the whole book by the time I arrive at work.) Over and over again, I was moved by the power of Colossians 1:9-10:

9 And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.

I believe the calling God has put on my life is to make His Word known. Pretty simple, huh? This call is fleshed out in a variety of ways. The primary way this manifests itself in my life is by working with teenagers. I am passionate about seeing them encounter God and growing in their faith. Whether through teaching youth at my church, speaking at retreats and Disciple Now weekends, or designing Bible Study curriculum through Student Life, the last ten years of my life have been given over to communicating the power and truth of Scripture to teenagers, and to equipping others to do the same.

Colossians 1:9-10 is an incredibly succinct way of summarizing the goal of my calling.

In fact, these verses may very well serve as a summary for ALL of our youth ministries in general.

If you are a youth minister, isn’t Colossians 1:9-10 the purpose of your ministry? Isn’t this your goal for your students?

I believe the desire of every youth minister should be to see his or her students “be filled with the knowledge of [God’s] will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding (vs. 9).”

What purpose does this “knowledge” serve? The answer is in verse 10 . . . The goal is for your students to “walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.”

Oh, that we would all be so faithful in leading the students in our ministries, so that EACH of them lived lives pleasing to the Lord, walking according to His ways, bearing fruit in their lives, and GROWING in their love and knowledge of Him!

Andy Blanks is the Student Life Director of Resource Development. Hit up his blog here!

The Skit Guys latest entry in the Doritos Superbowl Commercial contest … fun!

JG

Just finished the quick read new business tale The Shark and the Goldfish by Jon Gordon. It is written almost like a kid’s story – but right from the start you can see principles about your outlook on life and transferable lessons to bring into the real world. A goldfish is swept out to sea and a caring shark takes him in and teaches him how to survive in the new environment. It makes for a stable analogy of the job market, layoffs and the current perspective on the economy. My favorite section of the book is about fighting through the chorus of negativity, people who don’t believe in the impossible and make it their personal quest to suck the joy from your dream. We’ve all got a few of them in our youth ministry world – amen, Jon! Other solid thoughts:

• Fear is the belief that the future is bad. Faith is belief that the future is good.
• Every day you work hard and don’t settle is a step toward your goals.
• There are all sorts of waves, one you can always count on is the waves of change.
• Adversity doesn’t stop those with the drive to succeed.li>
• What challenging situation are you currently going through that is actually an opportunity?

JG

Pastor Rick asked each of us to read a business summary of the book Disruptve Ideas. Not sure what he has planned for our church, but I loved the book. Basically it goes after the trappings of corporate culture, and focuses on streamlining decision making and pushing control down as low as possible within an organization. I especially loved the emphasis on volunteers, and how email can be addictive and should be replaced with quick face-to-face meetings as often as possible.

Couple of good questions and thoughts from the book:

• To your team – “do you have what you need?”
• You probably don’t need a team meeting, because you’re always meeting.
• Job shadowing is the fastest way to grow skill sets within an organization. Youth ministry translation: what volunteers do I need to bring alongside me to eventually lead/take over huge areas of ministry?
• The “Focus Police” will try to disrupt people learning new things and try to keep everyone specialists (and therefore, their job safe)
• Everyone should be on the lookout for new talent.

JG

JG

Just liked this baptism image from this past weekend - one of those split-second shots that end up being super cool.

JG