Youth Story

Today was an interesting day. I woke up a bit later than I wanted to because I had trouble sleeping. No bed to sleep in kinda kills the good night's rest thing. I waited for Kari to get home from her accounting adventures for the day. Then we took off to church. There's a lot of prep work to have done today for our special event tomorrow night. It's this event called a nearly new years lock in. We have like fifteen other churches from all around Tennessee bring their youth groups in. We do a worship service with a guest speaker, then head off to go bowling, laser tag, ice skating, broom hockey, basketball and dodge-balling. So this year we are adding pizza and a concert  for them. I took Kari to the church around 12:30 and Lisa and Angie were there taking down the Christmas tree. I had a list of things I wanted to get done and tried to make it through the progression. I got the pizzas ordered for the lock-in, but I failed at my goal of getting the pizzas at 5 bucks per from...

  I think it is mandatory to have at least one of these kids in every youth group! Maybe this pastor should head to a denomination where they use the sprinkle baptism technique..... Look if you deprive your teenagers of water parks or pools for too long, they are liable to create one in the church! This kid has got some cannonballs! Good luck to his friends trying to top that one.

 Marshmallow Dodge-ball is the name of the game! Rules are very simple and are as follows: Prep: Pick two even teams Have the teams line up on opposite ends of the room Use duct tape to create a line in the center Line two marshmallows per participant up across the center line. Rules: You are out if you are hit with a marshmallow If a team member eats a marshmallow you may bring one player back into play Each player can only eat one marshmallow per game Do not attempt to catch the marshmallows or you will be called out Last team with a participant still in wins  The game can be played with as few as 6 people or as many as 50. It just gets crazy! As always it's been real! Much Love - Just Jon

I just want to make a few quick comments on this! First off Props to Dave for going for the wheelie with only five feet of slack! Secondly even though it is totally embarrassing, I'm betting next weeks turnout to see how Pastor Dave tops this joyride is pretty high. If Dave still works there..... But seriously where can you draw the line and say hey man that's just a bad idea. Now on to other business. Today I took my search for a place to serve to the next level. I went down the street unannounced and walked into some churches. I met a guy named Mike. He works as a Jr. High Pastor here in Antioch. This church as pretty cool. Not only was  it in Antioch which is a plus, but it also was diverse! He said there were 11 different countries of origin attending and he had been working there 9 years if my memory serves me correctly. We talked about what all is going on in Antioch as far as youth ministry and plan to have lunch with him and another staff member. He gave me a tour o...

 So today was my first day of looking for a full time youth ministry spot here in Tennessee. I actually spent most of the day running errands or working at my church to clean up from the Fireside Christmas show we put on last night.Which I might add was great! After all of that was over with I was able to focus on the search. I emailed some people at Nazarene churches around the district asking for some guidance in looking for open spots. When I finished that I still did not feel very productive. I mean where exactly do you start when you want a job in the ministry? I mean maybe I should just write a letter, address it to God in heaven and send it up in the form of a prayer. I was advised however to do some emails and try to get the word out that I was available for a position. I had been doing much thinking the past few weeks on what I thought my ministry should look like. The thing is I've always been a Nazarene as long as I've been a Christian. The problem is that Nazarene ...

My roommate is getting married today! Tonight is our last night sleeping together! We had a fun run while it lasted but tomorrow he steps in the world of the unknown. Marriage something that is to be cherished. I want to celebrate two people saving themselves for marriage! Taylor and Drew will have a special moment that is rarely afforded to a newly married couple these days. The wedding rehearsal took forever and the night seemed to drag on and on, but we all know that life changes for these two tomorrow. Life becomes about their unity and no longer about the individual. God bless them and their marriage and may they have many children very quickly! Amen! Just Jon

I shot for the sky! I'm stuck on the ground. So why do I try? I know I'm gonna fall down. I thought I could fly! So why did I drown? I'll never know why It's coming down down down..... -Jason Walker Sometimes we fail and that's OK. It didn't used to be something I accepted, failure that is. So where do we go from that moment when we realize that our feet are stuck on the ground? This week has been one of those feet on the ground times. I've been swamped with school work, a sister struggling in the hospital, weddings, preaching, and moving out for Christmas. All the while celebrating my 23rd birthday. I had to take a look at myself, what were my goals? and at the age of 23 how close am I to accomplishing them? I dunno the answers... my goals are different now and maybe my mindset has changed too. Its not so much about flying as it is learning to fly. This is why I celebrate the journey. I know its going somewhere but I'm going to focus on how I...

In times like these we must ask ourselves the very important questions in life. Today's question being: Was Avatar really just Pocahontas in space?

Hospital cafeteria food isn't as bad as I imagined it... Unfortunately the hospital still is as bad of a place as I remember it to be.You can't ever get used to tragedy or suffering, but you can become numb to it. I have been walking down the halls each day seeing people bedridden with life threatening illnesses. I can't imagine being the one stuck in that bed. Yet my younger sister remains there still. Her battle with a brain tumor has provided her with a serious list of complications. I'll spare the reader the long list but please pray for her if you happen to be reading this. My sister's name is Kelli and she is struggling with losing her eyesight permanently and also having another brain surgery Thursday. I know the hospital will never be a home for her but for now its where she stays. I guess it's up to my family and church family to make it a healthy home for her. As for me, Yesterday's preaching went well. I started preaching to an amazing church and ...

Could this be one of those Decembers to remember? My preaching adventures have started to pick up here in December. Although not exactly in the ways I thought they would. Instead of preaching to teenagers this month I'm actually scheduled to preach twice to adult congregations, and once to a group of my collegiate peers. Luckily to keep me grounded with my calling I have countless youth events planned this month. This week we have the Pastor Alan Reality Tour. Teens this week will jump in one big bus and we will travel across the community looking at Christmas lights and having just one great party. Soon after that we have our Fireside Christmas Show where the church does a semi talent show and we just spend time with each other celebrating the gift of Jesus. Soon after that there will be a Christmas party for the Teens. I think we picked the best venue this year for it as well. The sparks have been a literal spark in our youth group! After that comes the event I look forward to ea...