I love my church!

Why? Because when my lead pastor preaches a message and the next day you're living it out!

I started my morning off by leaving my wallet at a gas station which resulted in me heading home earlier and working on our website from home...this afternoon we decided to make a trip to the DMV. A quick picture of some of the things that happened:

1. We drove around downtown Kansas City trying to find the building until we finally stopped to ask a cop
2. We couldn't find parking so we drove around the building numerous times
3. We found out that my parallel parking is rusty
4. Ended up making 3 total trips to the DMV because of missing documents 
5. First estimated wait was 34 minutes, second was 26 minutes and the last 40 minutes
6. Second trip home, I saw a bad accident on the highway! Could I get back to the DMV before they closed? I took residential streets which worked
7. Third trip, I parked only to find a quarter jammed in the meter. Wanting to be honest, I went and found another spot

The connection: Pastor Richard opened up his message with places that can frustrate you, he led with the idea of going to the DMV. Places like the DMV can drain you, make you tired, can be frustrating and discourage you; can you relate?. He was talking about emotion and how we feel about places we go too; he would go on to preach a sermon on I Love my church. To think, I only caught a fragment of the message while passing by, because of being in the children's area ;) and it came into my thoughts and how I was able to prepare myself for what was a long afternoon. Thank you Pastor Richard for the reminder Monday as I stand here in line, writing this message, helping others understand the DMV system (I have it figured out!) and thinking about all the reasons that have led me to this post. I’ll finish in a little bit, because now it is my turn!

1. As I was about to leave he realized that he forgot to put my lender information of my car, which led to voided checks, voided, papers and a series of complications. Wow, icing on the cake to one of the most memorable trips to the DMV. Side note: I have evaluated Missouri, California, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania; be on the lookout for a new blogpost of top three DMV’s by Mike Ott 

I am now home, writing! We are currently Missourians, well at least according to our drivers license! I survived the DMV once again! I was able to talk to the guy on the third trip about what I learned at church and told him it set me up to be positive. All of this led me to choose a good attitude, help others, and encourage the workers at the DMV. They really impressed me on how they kept it together; I heard plenty of things while I was there and they definitely go through stress as well! 

Lastly, I am reminded of all the positive things that I love about our church, our leaders, our HOPE for reaching the community and yes, a message that I would live out the day after. #ilovemychurch #SouthHaven

What COULD be harmful as we parent/coach young kids in sports

Reading some great things this morning from Caz McCaslin book and got into a blogging mindset! 

The pressures that we as parents/coaches can put on our kids as we plan out their futures...We pick a sport and we drive it at an early age; many times a kid will only play that specific sport and year around. I, mean, we have to, right? They will fall behind, they won't make a team later, how will they get into college? So we play our fall, summer, spring and in-between leagues. Within this, many things COULD happen:

1. Playing at a young level, a player could be put into one position and never learn another area of the sport. For example: I got this tall kid on my basketball team, he is going to be my star center! I will coach him in pivots, posting, layups, etc. The problem is that when this kid gets to high school and never grew as anticipated, his friends bypass him height and there is no place for a 6 foot center! Could it get worse? Yes, we didn't focus on teaching him to dribble as much as we should have, so that he could compete for another position if needed down the road...

2. Playing one sport over a long period of time could cause major injuries. In my reading, there was a sports-medicine doctor who shared that over 75% of his young patients he was treating had injuries credited to overuse! Think of that little league pitcher who has a hard throwing arm. If he or she is continued to be used to the max in a league, then the next league, then each year, and so on; that arm will break down overtime if it is overused and abused. Point one and two frustrates me; I am thankful for the coach who transitions their players to play multiple positions. It is not about the win or the championship; it is about setting up the kid for success in life and sports. 

3. The parent who is thinking long-term results for their kids can cause more harm than good. Sure we want our kids to succeed, but if they can just get that scholarship, we have succeeded as parents…Maybe this causes us as parents to reach for the unseen future. League after league; the best sports gear money can buy, willing to travel out of state, and so on. Statistics are against us! When looking at boys and girls basketball, only 3% of HS athletes make a team in college. Just because you make the team, does not mean you are playing college basketball; that bench can sometimes be long. Women’s soccer transition about 5% HS athletes into college and football 6% into collegic football. If we are more of a longer-term parent, my kid is going to play professional ball. Then the statistics are really against us; only a little over 1% of college basketball players make it to the NBA, under 1% of college football and women soccer athletes make it to a professional level. As parents we need to think long-term but perhaps on how we can spend time making life memories, how to produce character and skills in them, how to let them know if they decide not to play college ball that we still love them.

4. My kid will fall behind so I need to start them now. This in itself could create family issues in the home. You treat your kid like a mini professional player or they feel like the game was fun, but now it is more like a job. Many kids lose the love of a sport because they are pressured to succeed from all directions including those who love them the most. I think there is value in learning off of others. As I was reading today of three major professional football players, I was reminded that Nathaniel does not need to start playing flag football at age 5 so he can be in the NFL by age 25…

The first two are quarterbacks that you know, they have two rings a piece, and I favor one over the other because of a Broncos Super Bowl Championship. The Manning brothers, Eli and Peyton, are great accomplished quarterbacks. Especially Peyton, yes because of that championship, but also because that guy would study football, look for ways to improve, and the numbers back all that up. Many know they are great quarterbacks, but some of the younger generation might not know that their father was a professional quarterback. I looked up some of his NFL accomplishments. Archie played 10 seasons with the Saints and 9 of those seasons were losing seasons! His record in the NFL, 35-101-3, is like one of the worst losing records of quarterbacks that have started more than 100 games! You would think if a parent was going to set up their sons for more success and pressure them, it would be Archie Manning. We would thing that he had them playing football before they could walk, training them everyday and playing in every league he could get them in. Wrong! Sure they threw the pig skin; but he even refused to let play tackle football till 7th grade.

The other is a very successful football player despite some questionable character scandals. He is a quarterback, he has a Super Bowl ring for every finger of his throwing hand, 4 time Super Bowl MVP, among a variety of accomplishments, he is either loved or hated in the sports world, Tom Brady. This future Hall of Fame football player and one of the greats; might be hassled and there might be several hundred memes out there especially from the Deflategate scandal, but his ability to throw the ball in the pocket and win games must have been years and years in the making. When do you think he started football? How about 9th grade? Yep, Brady was not allowed to play football till 9th grade and yet he wasn't behind the others. Another thing that Brady was good at was baseball; but his father refused to let him throw a curveball until he was fourteen. Here was a father who sought out the best for his son by protecting his son from injuries as best as possible. It is really hard to disagree with these three quarterbacks; between the three they have 41 NFL records, 9 Super Bowl Rings and 7 MVP’s. They are great examples of athletes who, from today’s standards, started late. Despite being held back from starting when other kids had been playing, these three quarterbacks encourage us as parents to make healthy decisions for our kids. 

We need to be careful with our kids! As a challenging thought to us as parents/coaches, I will close with this convicting statement from the Changing the Game Project website: "The all too common narrative for American youth these days in an adult-driven, hyper-competitive race to the top both in academics and athletics that serve the needs of the adults but rarely the kids.”  

(Coach Em Up by Caz McCaslin)

Please keep a young lady; Chelsey, in prayer tonight, the next week, and into her future. Ill share below to connect the dots.

Tonight was an unusual night; Nathaniel and I got in the car with no destination in mind. After driving around for a little while, I asked Siri for the nearest park. I noticed two playgrounds and picked the latter. After spending a little time there and it was geared towards older kids, I decided to check the other one out. Upon pulling in I noticed people walking, a young family playing whiffle ball and a young lady sitting at a picnic bench. She didn't fit in the picture…I noticed her blue hair, her head was down on the table, and she looked bored or lonely. Maybe she was part of the family playing whiffle ball or waiting for young guy who was practicing frisbee throwing???

Nathaniel and I started playing on the playground. That feeing kicked in; this picture is wrong. “God do you want me to say something?” “If so, I will before we leave if no one does.” I waited the family left, she sat there. The frisbee guy left, she was still there. People walked right past her, said nothing to her. Nathaniel kept playing, I would glance over from time to time; I soon noticed a clear glass bottle. Something was going on in this girl’s life; she looks she needs hope.

Hope! A word that I have been working with today. I had been in an email conversation about setting up some future things and the word I wanted to use wasn't available. The word “hope” was available and it fit in with our church purpose of “Inviting people to find hope in Jesus Christ.” The email came across from my friend “just say the word” and it can be set up. I knew the Holy Spirit was talking with me and I knew I needed to say something.

Nathaniel just kept playing; I tried to get him to go a few times, but he wasn't going to be happy. How can I say something if doesn't want to go? (excuse number 16 that went through my head) I was right he wasn't happy, but I put him in his car seat, I pulled up a youtube favorite, left the door open and took a few steps towards her. I was so glad that I had pulled up to the parking spot beside this picnic bench. I asked her if she was okay, she said yes; but the pain in her eyes said otherwise. I told her that we saw her when we pulled up thinking she was waiting for someone; but then the longer we played at the playground, we couldn't help but to notice that something was wrong. I told her I saw lots of people playing and walking past her; and I couldn't walk past without asking if she was okay. I asked her if was just having a bad day, sort of referring to sitting alone with a bottle beside her. Our conversation from here on tore my heart.

She shared her story; she just got out of rehab and was choosing the bottle over the other substances. She was living in Florida, because she needed to get away from that lifestyle here. She was only back in this area, because her close friend had overdosed and she came back for his funeral. Hurt? Heavy? This young lady is in a dark place and in place that needs hope. I am so glad I didn’t walk past without saying something. I did the best I could; I listened. Let her know I was sorry she was going through something heavy like this. I encouraged her to connect with friends and family. I prayed for her and for this young man’s friends and family. Promised that I would ask my friends to pray for her. As we left, she had thanked me and I saw some hope in her eyes; that for a time she was encouraged that someone would stop and listen and pray and someone cared that she was hurting. 

As we left and drove home, I prayed over her. That she wouldn't do anything to harm herself, that she wouldn't turn to substances, that God would send others followers of Jesus into her life within the next 24 hours, that they would listen to the Holy Spirit and not be afraid to approach her, that He would guard her life and show Himself to her. Now I am asking my family and friends to keep Chelsey in prayer. Pray for this young man’s, Justin, family and friends as they go through the pain of losing him. Pray that Chelsey is drawn to the best hope that is in Jesus. 

Ownership within the church

I have always loved the terminology of ownership over membership within the local church. If a member of a company breaks something, they can report it and let the company fix it. An owner see something broken and then fixes it. If a member sees a towel or piece of trash on the ground, they know there are people paid to pick it up. An owner sees the towel or trash and picks it up.

The other day I drove into the church parking lot only to see it covered with the remains of what looked liked a pretty cool community firework show. Would have been okay if they were safe in doing so and would have picked up afterwards. I thought to myself who will clean up this mess? I will, this is my church and I will own this. I got almost everything into a pile and then it started to pour; an hour later it was in the church dumpster. This is ownership.

I think this is huge for us a Christians! We need to take pride in our faith and in our churches. We need to step back and saying what's wrong with this picture? There is a piece of paper on the floor...pick it up and throw it away. This is ownership! There is a new person that walks through the doors of your church...go up and introduce yourself. This is ownership! An elderly person needs assistance...go help them. This is ownership! The nursery is short on help...go volunteer (turn in your background check, of course). This is ownership! Ownership solves the initial problem at hand, but in the long haul, it solves the question with what can the church do or be for me? and creates a new question of what I can do or be for my church?

The Preacher’s Manifesto

I am a preacher

I am a messenger of the most high God - an ambassador of the Lord Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 5:20)

I am a herald of the greatest story ever told, and the best news ever received (I Corinthians 15:1-4)

I am a sinner, saved by grace-not through my works, but through Christ’s work in me (Ephesians 2:8-9) 

I am equipped with everything I need for the calling God has for my life (Ephesians 2:10)

I will preach the Gospel without shame (Romans 1:16)

I will not settle for moralistic, therapeutic, feel-good, prosperity preaching (2 Timothy 4:2-3)

I will preach the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth of God’s Word (Titus 2:1)

I will use the Bible as the firm foundation for all my messages (2 Timothy 2:15)

I will read the Bible form than best-sellers (Psalm 1)

I will study academically, but speak plainly for all to understand (Acts 15:19)

I will work to please God, not man (Galatians 1:10) 

I will seek to be faithful, not famous (I Samuel 12:24)

I will glorify God, not myself (I Corinthians 10:31)

I will build up God’s kingdom and His Church, not my own (Matthew 6:33)

I will live with the highest integrity-a life above reproach-so the Church won’t get another black eye (I Timothy 3:1-7) 

I will practice what I preach (Matthew 23:3)

I will boast in my weakness, not my strength (2 Corinthians 12:9

I will live in Biblical community, not isolation (Hebrews 10:24-25)

I will know and love my neighbors, not just my church members (Leviticus 19:18)

I will live, eat and drink with sinners-like Jesus did-because it is not the healthy who need a doctor but the sick (Matthew 9:11-13)

I will prioritize the needs of my wife, sacrificing myself for her, so that ministry doesn't become my mistress (Ephesians 5:25)

I will spend quality time with my children, so they will grow to love the church, not hating it for taking their daddy (Ephesians 6:4) 

I will honor the Sabbath and rest, knowing God is in control (Exodus 31:12-13)

I will circle my preaching in prayer, giving my anxiety to God (Philippians 4:6-7)

I will listen before I speak (James 1:19)

I will become all things to all people so that I might win as many as possible ( I Corinthians 9:19-23)

I will seek to serve, not to be served (Romans 12:3)

I will give before I receive, because I will reap what I sow (Galatians 6:7)

I will truly love people, not just pretend to love them (Romans 12:9-10)

I will preach with all I got, holding nothing back (Jeremiah 20:9)

I will not back down, shut up, or shy away from speaking the truth (acts 5:40-42)

I will preach hard truth with love (Ephesians 4:15)

I will hold firm to sound doctrine, no matter how unpopular it may be (Titus 1:9)

I will not waiver in my faith in a big God who accomplishes big things through those who dare to act upon God-sized dreams (Ephesians 3:20) 

I will not allow temptations and the Devil to gain a hold on me (James 4:7)

I will be a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1) 

I will fight the good fight, keep the faith and finish the race (2 Timothy 4:7)

I am a preacher. 

And, the Lord willing, in the end, I will hear those words I so desperately long to hear: “Well done good and faithful servant.” (Matthew 25:21)

Taken from the book Preaching Nuts and Bolts by Brandon Hilgemann

Top 25 Adventures and Life Stories of 2016

1. Another year of building a stronger relationship with Jesus
2. Hitting the third year of marriage with my beautiful wife
3. Spending a full year as a dad; Nathaniel has brought lots of joy to us
4. Stepping out on faith, severing connections in Green Bay and diving into the unknown
5. Being part of leadership to bring in the Recharge Conference to train children and youth ministry workers in Green Bay
6. Watching Nathaniel take first steps; well, firsts of many things
7. Midwestern Seminary accepting me into the mDiv program
8.  Speaking at the Recharge Conference as a breakout session speaker
9. Being the BLBA youth camp speaker
10. Running the bases at the Field of Dreams baseball field
11. Leading my last year as a Green Bay Youth Ministry Network area coordinator
12. Nathaniel's first birthday party at the YMCA, puked on his first sugar
13. Winning a free leadership book, being referenced on a leadership conference and being in contact with Perry Noble
14. Taking amazing teens on a youth missions trip to Albia, Iowa
15. Enjoying football with my son; we watched the Broncos win the Super Bowl, went to our first football game and attending a Packer practice
16. Winning my third straight fantasy baseball championship and adding a football championship as well
17. Moving from Green Bay to Kansas City; packing, driving, lack of sleep, no storage unit, stuck in a Burger King, etc.
18. Receiving the many gifts over the year; electronics, years worth of youth ministry curriculum,  Packer pre-season ticket, etc.
19. Seeing many of my youth ministry games make the youth ministry website Fun Ninja
20. Attending our last MWBC pastor and wives retreat
21. Creating a creative teaching series for nursery age kids; it was a challenge, but one of my favorite projects
22. Being part of the collection center in Green Bay for Operation Christmas Child
23. Reading around 25 books, half of last year, but still good
24. Trying an Ethiopian taco food truck
25. Finding Pikachu in Pokémon Go

Burn the Boats - A Call to Obedience

I have always loved history! One of my favorite stories was during the era that the American continents were beginning to be first explored. In 1519, Hernán Cortés landed in Mexico accompanied with 600 men. His vision was for conquest and retrieving the spoils of the land. His problem was that for hundreds of years, conquerers with way more resources had not succeeded. His plan was crazy; as he told his men "Burn the boats!" He had his men's attention, he had their commitment, he left them with two choices: success or die trying. His result was successfully conquering Mexico something no else could do. 

Wow, what a story! In life, this principle "Burn the Boats" can be applied. When God tells us to do something; maybe we need to burn the boats. Let me expand:

I have been struggling with something for a very long time. My place of vocational ministry has been a question. Am I where God wants me? This isn't a recent question, one that has stemmed from a question that has bothered me. Two and half years ago, I hit the age of thirty. That day I spent lots of time with God reflecting over the past decade of ministry. What went right? What went wrong? What could have I done better? What victories should I celebrate? Etc. Then there was a time I spent dedicating the next decade to His will. That is when it happened.

"If I ask you to plant a church and be the lead pastor of that church; will you stand in my way?" Ouch, punch in the gut. You see up to this point if you asked what I would be doing the rest of my life, without skipping a beat, I would say youth ministry. I am a youth pastor lifer! In fact, I have encouraged a lot of youth pastors, not to use their time as a youth worker as a stepping stone to a higher position in the church. "God are you serious?" "Are you saying I will plant a church? or is this an obedience test to get me moving in a new direction?"  Questions that are still a mystery to me. 

The last two and half years, I have been preparing myself to be a church planter and a lead pastor. I did all the church planting assessments, training, reading books and have been investing personally in multiple church plants and church planters. I have been approved through North America Mission Board to plant a church. A year ago; I had a team, a church sponsor and a location in a YMCA in Kenosha, WI. A month before we were scheduled to go, we lost everything; the team, the church and location. Now what God? Should I take a pastorate? I could be a game changer for a church somewhere! Go back to seminary and get my masters of Divinity? I could get my studies in that would make me a better communicator and help to build a foundation to become a lead pastor. 

Today, I know a few things. I believe that one day I will be a lead pastor serving in a local church. Not sure when, for all I know I could be in several different positions that will teach and grow me. I know I am called to work with church planting. Even if I never plant a church; whatever church I serve with in whatever position that may be; I will have hands involved with church planting. Why? It's in my DNA as an individual. At age thirty, I received that question; but as a young seminary student working on a masters at Liberty University, I had God pressing church planting on me. As a young twenty-two year old; I knew that someday I would be part of church planting. At that time, I assumed it would be with a team and I would be the youth guy on that team. Boy, how perspectives change! In reality, this has come true! I have been part of church planting here in Wisconsin. The church I am with now and the teens have been part of church planting in variety of ways. Here are just a few things:

1. The youth were leaders for VBS/block party for a church plant in Marinette, WI
2. The youth did a mission trip partnership to help Priority 1 church plant in Brown Deer, WI
3. The youth served pizza for a Nazarene church plant in Green Bay so that their people could interact with the community on their first worship service experience 
4. Our church has allowed a Hmong church plant to use our facility the last two years
5. Called Out conference for Minnesota and Wisconsin youth groups; has brought in church planters to speak, we prayed with them, wrote letters, visited their planting location, etc. 

Some of these thing would have happened and some wouldn't have happened; if it were not a "question" at age thirty for me. It is in my DNA of how God has wired me! To help church plants, to partner with other churches, to serve the community, to share God's love, to be what God wants me to be. 

I have many mentors and friends that have spoke into my life; many not knowing much about my circumstances and my story. Leaders coming alongside me and asking if I ever thought about becoming a senior pastor? You would make a great lead pastor. You are not where you are supposed to be. Among so many other comments and life spoken into me. Another, Ouch! Not only did it hurt with the "question" now it is hurting when believers are sharing with me. Why? Because I am still not ready and God is using individuals to get through to me...Within my preaching, it has changed. One message I ended with something that was not in my notes for the invitation. I quoted James 4:17 " If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them." Wait, where did that come from? A verse I have struggled with for months. Another, Ouch! My last sermon title was called "Time to Move" which had everything to do with us as Christians making the move God asks us. Great message; but then it hit me this is becoming reality, it is time to move. 

I am not ready! What if...? I have been in ministry for six and half years! I have strong roots in Green Bay! So many connections and partnerships within the community! I have an income, a place to live, food for the table, health insurance! Im comfortable. Where am I landing? Where am I going? Is it going to be okay? Will I find a job? Will I find a place to live? Will I last at seminary?

It's time to go full circle, back to the beginning of this. "Burn the Boats!"

Burn the boats, so we moved forward! It started with many conversation between Amber and I.  Conversations with family and friends. Turning in my resignation to my senior pastor. Amber and I sat down with the youth and their families and talked about our decision; my youth mean the world to us. We love them and their families dearly. This coming Sunday it will be announced to the church. We talked to our landlord. I have resigned from the Called Out Conference planning team, the Recharge Conference team, being a youth ministry network coordinator for Green Bay and telling my YMCA supervisor that we will be leaving. With each decision and conversation, we knew we were "burning the boats." We are going forward and we are going to step out in faith. We are going to conquer what God wants for us as a family. We will go where He wants us as a family. We will invest where he plants us and be game changers. We will be obedient! 

Currently what I know: I have been accepted to Midwestern Seminary and at the time intended to do online classes; but now we might move to Kansas City. Being on seminary would benefit us, the cost of living is reasonable on the campus. Kansas City is a Send city for North America Mission Board; maybe a perfect place to plant a church or be involved with the current church plants. There are quite a few churches in the area with open positions; many that I see us fitting in. Definitely some exciting ministry positions, churches that I could see being part of. Lots of potential things; but conversations need to take place, opportunities need to present themselves and I need to have my ears open to God's voice as He directs. We need lots of prayer for sure:

1. Prayer for a healthy transition
2. Prayer for the next location
3. Prayer for needs as we step out in faith
4. Prayer for obedience
5. Prayer for next steps to fall into place 

Burning the boats is not ideal, but if you have been dragging your feet on what God has been asking you, that moment could define the rest of your life.