So I was Talking to a couple of my friends and students the other day when a nifty litte conversation came up. This is one of the reasons I love being a youth pastor, and also one of the reasons I hang around people with the same warped brain as I have. Anyways we were talking about something...you see, that is the funny thing. I can't even remember what we were talking about that led up to this conversation. But somehow we ended up talking about flushing habits at the urinal. This would have been alright but the girls (who had to go into the bathroom to change one evening) were commenting on the the oddness of a male urinal. So we proceeded to go somewhere that most men like to generate towards in this instance...potty humor. Well, not really potty humor per say but we will call it proper flushing technique. You see, different people have different ways of flushing a urinal. There is the elbow shrug, where I guess they figure the elbow is the dirtiest body part so why not get it dirtier. Then there is the karate flush. This one I don't really get. It might be due to the fact that I am short and I don't do yoga so I can't get my foot up that high. This one is for tall people only...short people, do this at your own risk. Then there is the lean in flush. This techniqe only works on urinals with the flush button in the front. This is my personal fav and I use it on a daily basis. Then of course there is the full contact, I'm a man and I probably won't wash my hands, then I'll go out and touch the lettuce at Meijers flush. Why do I say this you ask? Because it is a pet pieve of mine when I see nasty rednecks wearing bibs and a trucker hat that says "I'm with stupid" shake it, touch the flusher(GAG!) and then walk out without washing their hands. Maybe it's just me, but it grosses me out. Then last but not least there is the just walk away flush. I like this one. It only works with automatic urinals but it is great because you never feel like you have to touch something that is unpleasant to think about...well, let's be honest. How many people actually wash their hands after flushing. Plus you can pretend that you are Luke Skywaler and you are using "the force" to do the flushing. Hey, if you have gotten this far in this long post you are here by your own choice. So there are some proper (or improper) flushing techniques. Why? Because it is 1am and my gears were turning...

As you probably have been reading in my blog lately, the direction of our ministry has really been on my heart. Today I was reading something about the success of a ministry and it used the analogy of a bobsled team. Picture a group of people running like crazy to get up to speed and then jumping into the same sled and then hanging on passionately as they careen down an icy slope. The success of the race depends on two things: (1) each person doing his or her personal best, and (2) everyone working as a team. I love it!

I was reading Neil's Blog and he was talking about change. I have been thinking along the same lines. Trying to change some things to start a forward momentum. Some things are easy to change and then others it feels like you are trying to change the rotation of the earth's axis. People are like "whoah! Slow down there parter, you're talking about disrupting the time space continuim!" Dang, I just wanted to add hot pockets to the cafe menu. I don't know why some people are so afraid of change. The way I see it is if something is not working...change it! I understand giving something time to catch on. But if it feels like that thing is like trying to catch a moving train...stop running after it, catch your breath and move on to something that works while not trying to reinvent the wheel. I don't know...just someting I have been thinking about lately.

Here is a random post for ya...I was going through some of my pics and I came across this one of me and Chester. (It is one of Jen's favorites pics of us) Chester was a great dog. He was a 160lb German Rotty. My daughter would try to ride him like a horse and my son would wrestle with him. Anyone who says that all Rotties are vicious surely has never had one. They are one of the most loyal breeds I know. The meter maid would actually go in the back yard and play with him. He loved the kids in the neighborhood. The only thing he did not like was cats. I think they were the devil's spawn in his eyes. And there was one cat that would actually taunt him by laying on the sidewalk across the street and just roll around as if saying "na na na na na, you can't get me." I should have let him out one and see if cat's really have nine lives. Why a long post about a dog? Because there are some pets that deserve an honorable mention...

Something to ponder:

Thanks to postmodern thought, the debate is no longer about what the truth is. The question has become "Does truth exist?" Yet to say there is no truth is self-controdictory. The statement, "It is true that nothing is true" is nonsense because it is an absolute statement.
Saying that Truth is whatever an individual chooses it to be for himself does not work in the real world. The world created by an LSD experience says that one can fly. However, jumping from the tenth floor window will prove fatal every time! In countless ways, we show that we know the meaning of truth: the plane either crashed or it didn't

I love this book I am reading...good stuff!

Tonight we begin our shift from inward to outward thinking. We have been gearing up to start going out into the community on Wednesday nights. With all of the chaos going on down in the Gulf Coast, I thought it would be good to go out and collect some non perishable foods. This gives us an opportunity to get out and meet some of the people in the neighborhoods where we will be sending our bus when we get it. It also gets the teens thinking about giving when needs arise. This is one step in our journey as a ministry. This is new ground for me. I mean, I know that God called us out into the neighborhoods but I think that as ministries we get too inward focused and lose sight of what God is really wanting to do. I want to remedy this, at least in my own life. And as a youth pastor, I would like to take those with me that God has entrusted to my care. To lead this generation to live and breathe the gospel, not as a textbook example but as a real life model. Like the human body models in science class. You can see the heart through everything else. I know that is an odd analogy but it is how I see it. So onward we go, pressing towards the prize. What is the prize you ask. If you don't know me, drop me a comment or IM me and we'll talk...my info is in my profile.

Someone brought something to my attention the other day and it made me laugh so hard. Why is it that when we are talking about other people's things it is always referred to as crap, but our own things we refer to as stuff. Like if I say "Hang on let me get my stuff out of your way." But if something of yours is in MY way I would say, "Hey, move your crap!" I don't know. It doesn't really make any sense. I guess one man's stuff is another man's crap. I know, not a very deep though but it sure made you think for a moment didn't it?

Ok, I am amazed sometimes how God shows himself in our daily lives. I was getting ready to get some work done just minding my own business when I said, "I need a new notebook from my file cabinet." So I proceed to go to the file cabinet and I open it up and what do I find. There were like 2 boxes of large paperclips just dumped out in there. So as I proceeded to say in a loud voice "OMG how in the world did someone dump these in here?" I was grabbing a box of something to move it, the box flips out of my hand and dumps all over the inside of the file cabinet. "Well, I guess that is how they got dumped in there." So here I am laughing at myself because I felt like God was saying, "Hey dummy, that's how they got dumped out...now quit whining." Call it coincidence if you want. I call it God showing up saying, "Here's yer sign."

At leat I cleaned up the mess I made. That's more than I can say about the paperclip vandaliser...curse them! Shame on their vile, unrepentant disregard for paperclip placement.

I feel like I am on a launching pad, getting ready to depart on a journey. I have been in youth ministry for 7 years, 3 of which I have been a full time youth pastor. Until now I have felt like I have been trying to fill some pretty big shoes (many times failing miserably at it.) Or trying to create things that I see as a success in other ministries. Now I feel like we are coming into our own, if that makes any sense.

I read something today that I have to share..."The church is not a building! It is people in relationships, with a vision to grow spiritually and to challenge others in their relationship with God."

I am going to write about the progress of this journey so you can drop comments or suggestions along the way. I am hoping our website will be up again soon so we will be able post our events and info.

Stay tuned for the progress, successes and failures. We are Alternative Edge Student Ministries...and our journey begins here.

I haven't posted yet about my new mac. I baught a Mac Mini for the office and I would have to say that I love it. I couldn't go for the bottom line one. I had to get one with a superdrive. It just sounded cool (the DVD burner was a plus). It also came with bluetooth so I had to get a wireless keyboard and mouse. Another one of the things that sold me is that it came with Mac OSX Tiger and I am really liking it.



I love all of the new features.

Well, I believe Apple has gone and done it again. Enter the ipod nano. One thousand songs and so so small. Just when you think it can't get any better...it does...Way to go Apple!

Have you ever read something that just totally changes the direction of your thinking? I generally try to read as much stuff as I can. I am not a very deep or theological person and I never have been. Alot of christian books bore me because they are so dry and well...theological. I try to steer clear of those books. Most of the time they tend to disturb me because they try to sound educated and point out how much they know about the Bible. I think there is a fine line between teaching me something and telling me how much you know. Don't get me wrong, there are many good christian writers out there. I have read alot of good stuff. I'm just saying that I have gotten ahold of some that probably had some goods info in it if I didn't feel like I was reading an episode of TBN if you know what I mean.

I wish they wrote all books in magazine form. It would be great for those of us who have ADHD and can't sit still for very long unless there are flashing pictures or movement in front of our eyes. Give me little snipets of information that will go straight to the brain and deposit itself deep within my cerebral cortex. That's how I like it. Anyway, I have been reading this book that is slowly changing my philosophy of youth ministry. At least, the way I am doing youth ministry. God has been dropping some things in my heart for some time and getting ahold of this book is just a confirmation. I am really excited to see where God is going with this. Sometimes we try to talk over God and don't listen to what He has to say...I have found that I do alot of that...

Jennifer and I went to the Titanic Artifact Exhibition at COSI today. If you didn't know, I have this odd fascinition with sunken ships bordering on the obsessed. So when I heard that this was at COSI, well I about peed myself. Now I don't think you understand...I was like a little kid in this thing. It was so incredible. You see, one of the things I want to do before I die is to dive down to a sunken ship. I told you it was borderline obsessive. Call it a hobby. I love to stdy sunken ships. It's not just the ships themselves but the history of them and the people who were on them. One of the many cool things aboout this particular exhibit is that they give you a ticket stub of an actual passenger that traveled that day. Then at the end of the exhibit you get to find out if the ticket holder you have lived or died. Morbid I know but oddly enough you find yourself anxoiusly awating to find out the fate of your passenger. It's like you form a bond with them because all throughout the thing you are looking to find pictures or some kind of mention or artifact from that particular passenger. It really draws you in to the whole thing. Sad to say all of our passengers died except for Evie's. She was like..."That's not my name, I'm Evie." You just have to laugh at her. She IS only 4 after all. I would give it a 10 out of 10. I was totally blown away and I would go see it again if I could, but alas I went too late and Monday is the last day...bummer. I did buy a 3 foot blueprint of the ship though. That will go in my office. Yes...it was a good day.

Ok, Ok I will reenter the blogosphere. I have been flying low on the radar in cyber space. Not really sure why. I think I just needed to take a break and collect my thoughts. Man, this blog thing is starting to become like a marriage. You start neglecting her and she begins to drop comments that you haven't been paying enough attention to her. When I started getting comments like "Hey chief... you still alive?" and one from my own wife that said "You need to update your blog punk" (she is so loving) I figured I would start posting again.

I have had so many crazy things rambling around in my thick skull, I couldn't put them into words. I felt like I was always having a brain fry and I would get fidgety and couldn't write anything. So I would pick up my guitar and jam. My wife calls it ADHD, I prefer to call it...well...ok, maybe I am a little bit ADHD but I think all youth pastors are. It's like a pre-requisit or something. "I'm sorry Mr. Smith, we can't hire you because we are looking for someone a bit more disturbed than you. I just don't think it's going to work." BYE BYE...I think there should be a TV commercial that describes some of what we do. I mean it's really hard work being a youth pastor. Anyway, the commercial would go something like this. One man...in a world full of chaos...he vowed never to grow up...and then it would show some guy surrounded by a bunch of junior high kids with marshmallows stuffed in his mouth trying to mutter out the words..."Pull my finger!" Hey, I told you that I have some crazy things rattling around in there. I will try to collect them and put them on the pages of this thing in the next few days. But for now, I am out of here.