Are you living life to the full?

” I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”

These words by Jesus are words every Christian should be living out, yet many aren’t.

Yesterday was my tenth wedding anniversary, and this weekend our boys are staying with Grandma and Grandpa, and my wife and I are enjoying life together for a few days.  As I think back over the past ten years, there have been a lot of fun times and I can say we definitely have lived life to the full because of Jesus.

There have also been times when we (mostly me) have not enjoyed life and lived it to the full.  There is always so much to do, whether with ministry stuff, kids stuff, career stuff, house stuff…  It is easy to get lost in it all and forget to enjoy life.

One of my best friends told me “slow down and enjoy my bride” this weekend.  Those are great words of advice.

Do you need to slow down and celebrate?  Maybe a marriage milestone, a ministry victory, or even just having fun for fun sake.  If you need permission to live life to the full, consider this permission.  You can’t enjoy life when it is going at 100 miles an hour.  Slow down and celebrate!

One Whole Year!!!

Exactly one year ago today I started this blog site.  I thought it would be fun to re-post my very first post:

For this inaugural post, I think you need to understand better who I am and what I believe.  I am a weird youth worker.  “What makes you weird?” you ask.  What I believe about youth ministry makes me weird…

I believe my own faith walk is more important than my ministry to teenagers.

I believe that my wife and kids need to know I love them more than I love the church.

I believe that huge numbers is not the goal of youth ministry or the measure of health.

I believe that I should have a good relationship with my senior pastor and other church staff; after all we are on the same team.

I believe that I should not do ministry alone.  I need to team up with volunteers and other youth workers in my area to promote unity within my church and my community.

I believe that youth ministry is a long term commitment not a stepping stone to a real job within the church.

I believe that as a Christian I signed up to fight in a war along side God, and that youth ministry is the front lines of the battle not a way to get paid to play.

I believe that teenagers are an integral part of the church today; they are not the church of tomorrow.

I believe that the current paradigm we live up to in youth ministry is hurting us more than it is helping us, and that we need to admit it and challenge it head on through the Truth of scripture.

After reading what I believe you are probably reacting in one of two ways.  Perhaps you are deciding you will never read my blog or anything else I write ever again.  Or, you are nodding in agreement and glad that someone finally said it and you want to hear/read more.

My hope and prayer is that you will be weird with me as we pursue something different within youth ministry together.  If that is you, may I ask two simple things of you?

1. Please pray for my book to be taken by an agent and/or a publisher.  I have written a book about this topic, so if you want to read more it needs to get published.
2. Read and interact on this blog to show there are other youth workers out there willing to step out and be weird with me.

Are you a weird youth worker?  Do you want to be?

Whew, the first post is done.  My hope is they only get better from here!

As I read over these words I can say I am still just as weird today as I was then.  And it is fun to see how God has worked through this site; my book is going to be out soon and I have interacted with many people and like minded youth workers over the past year.  I am excited to see how God continues to use it in years to come!