makarios

I had a very enjoyable time of ministry last night. No I didn’t teach a lesson, lead a small group, or attend a service. I went to a baseball game. There are several guys from our ministry that are all on the same baseball team, so I watched them clobber the opposing team last night!

I love doing stuff like this for a few reasons:

1. I can cheer these guys on. I remember going to my own little league games growing up. It was so cool when a lot of parents, family, and friends would come and watch us play! It was a big deal! Plus…I am also pretty proud of these guys; they are still undefeated!

2. I am also able to cheer alongside the parents. It’s great to be able to build relationships with both students and parents all at the same time! There were also some girls from our ministry that watched the game too, so I got to talk to them as well. It’s a good chance to be in the community in their world on a nice summer day.

3. I love baseball. Watching baseball is never as much fun as playing baseball, but I really do love watching the game. It’s not the big leagues, but it’s cool to cheer and encourage kids that I know.

4. The weather was amazing last night. It has been so humid recently, but last night it was so comfortable…just a great time to be outside.

tim

Moving to a new state is an incredible hassle! I have had so much trouble simply becoming a licensed driver in the state of Illinois. I have been to the wonderful Department of Motor Vehicles so often that I think they are going to dedicate a plaque in my honor.

Most people avoid the DMV like the plague (and for good reason). I sat down and wrote a list of all the different times I have gone to the DMV in the past few months…TEN. I have gone to the DMV TEN TIMES! I am pretty sure that I haven’t been to the DMV that much in the past TEN YEARS! I think maybe that’s a record. People at the DMV started to recognize me! (Woah…I think I just threw up a little when I typed that).

It’s not like I didn’t do my homework before I went. I spent countless hours on the phone or on their website. I have waited hours on hold, been accidentally hung up on, and been given bad information while on the line with the DMV.

But this shouldn’t surprise me. I have always had trouble going to the license branch. I got my license on my 16th birthday, but I was not able to get it right away. I passed my written test and the road test, but their camera was broken. I passed everything on the first try, and I still ended up going to three different towns and three different branches to get it! The DMV hates me.

I have never liked the DMV, but here are some of my recent observations:

Why is EVERY employee so rude to you when they “help” you? I think some of the rudest people I have ever met were employed by the DMV.

Would it hurt the DMV to have a TV in the lobby? Or how about at least putting down a few copies of some out of date magazines? Heaven forbid I should have an old copy of Reader’s Digest while I waste moments of my life. No…the goal is to keep people so bored that when they call you up they can DASH your hopes by telling them, “Great, now you need to get in THAT line…”

Why is this place so disorganized? Get it together people!

NONE of these employers are cross-trained to do anyone else’s job! There is a young girl who simply takes your picture for your ID. Yeah, like that’s super hard. It must take a lot of training for my ID picture to stink so badly. I was waiting (for 45 minutes) to get my new Illinois plates, and there were probably 10 people in line in front of me. But the three employers who work to the left on IDs just sat there. Half of the employees were stressed, and the others were bored out of their mind…awesome.

Are there any normal people at the DMV? Why is it that every time I’m in there, I get stuck talking to the old guy who keeps giving ME excuses why the state took away his license? OH…and where are all the people who shower?

Why does it smell so bad? And what’s with the depressing lighting?

The DMV is also never opened during any convenient times…like Saturday afternoon.

It’s tighter than Fort Knox over there. “I need your state ID, Social Security card, a piece of mail, your birth certificate, your driver’s record for the past 3 years, a urine sample, a DNA sample, a hair follicle, and a cavity search for good measure.” And yet for some reason, my mom can just walk into a branch in Indiana and ask for all my records…what?

I could go on…and on…

tim

Someone in the church gave me a washing machine, and I finally bought my new dryer! I did my first load of laundry in my apartment last night. It is a glorious feeling! Now I don’t have to go to the laundry mat anymore!

I will be at CIY next week, but the following week I want to buy the recliner that I picked out. the apartment is slowly becoming more comfortable.

tim

I received a call a few weeks ago from a guy who asked me to help him at a Boy Scout Camp this summer. He told me that the Scouts wanted to have a church service on Tuesdays for campers who were interested. So I will be going to Camp Drake tomorrow–I’ll eat lunch with the campers and then do some teaching.

I was never in scouts growing up, so this will be an interesting experience for me. But I think it is pretty cool opportunity. It’s another chance to be in the community and interact with students from Vermilion County. (It is also a unique environment to teach God’s Word).

tim

My best friend and I started going to the Cornerstone Festival when we were just old enough to drive. Cornerstone has always been a fun adventure, and it is always a source of memories. Every year we enjoy some fun traditions:

Living Sacrifice.
We listen to every Living Sacrifice album in order on the way down–you can get through almost all 6 albums from The Region.

Road Trip
We have made it a point to make some variation on the route each year. Last year we stopped at a county rummage sale on the way down.

White Castle
It’s not a trip to Cornerstone without a trip to White Castle. Sadly there was no White Castle on our route this year. There is a cool pizza place called “Tyronis” or something like that in Peoria that we have found.

Generator Stages
Anyone can come and set up a generator stage and play. Many of the bands stink, but it seems like every year we will by walking through and hear of an awesome band. This year: Photoside Cafe.

Camp Site
We always set our tent near the dance club. Most people think this is a horrible idea, but it’s actually great. We stay out late enough that we miss all the dance beats, and we can use their power.

Walk the grounds
Usually we walk the grounds every night after our last show (1AM or later). We always meet some cool people. We met a band of “pirates” one year storming the beach by the lake.

Food Vendors
Cornerstone has the best curly cheese fries and lemon shake ups in the world.

Bands
There are certain bands that always seem to play the Gallery Stage, like Over the Rhine and Glenn Kaiser.

Neighbors
It seems like every year we make friends with our camping neighbors.

Lamp
For some random reason we have taken the same old lamp to Cornerstone. I’m not sure how this lamp became a tradition, but it did. Rick forgot it this year! We were so sad.

Peanut butter and jelly
Enough said.

Cornerstone Family
Cornerstone is kind of like a family reunion. There are some friends we have made from the fest, and I know a lot of college friends who go every year. It is just not Cornerstone until we have caught up with our friend Erin, or said “hi” to Rob over at the blastbeats merch booth.

Sweat
Cornerstone is typically the hottest place in the world.

Showers
The showers are only warm during the afternoon. If you go in the evening they are ice cold. They also smell like eggs because of the sulfur.

Harry Gore
Every year Harry Gore will set up a small amp and mic in the food court area and jam out sweet songs on the guitar. Harry is a great guy, and a fantastic guitar player. I think he said that this year was his 18th Cornerstone. He is a legend.

I could go on and on: Cornerstone is amazing.

tim

Over the past few weeks I have been teaching through the first 6 chapters of the book of Daniel. I have also recently finished reading a book by Mark Batterson entitled, “In a pit with a lion on a snowy day” and both my study in Daniel and this book has got my mind moving a little bit.

Batterson makes this observation, “Christ followers ought to be the most passionate people on the planet.” I think he is absolutely right. I think people often view the Christian faith as mental and emotional weakness. Christianity is often viewed as a civilized faith. Going to church is just a place where you sing songs and talk about your feelings.

But faith is not always safe.

Think of some of the characters in the Bible. Noah faced a life of ridicule. Joseph was sold as a slave and put in jail. Moses went toe-to-toe with a world power. David fought a giant with a sling. Daniel faced a Den full of lions. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were thrown into a blazing furnace. Church tradition holds that the prophet Isaiah was sawed in half. Most of the disciples that were with Jesus were imprisoned and killed for their faith, and every day more people die for their faith in Christ.

The call to faith is not without risks. Christ calls us to surrender to his will and die to ourselves. Following Christ is not for the faint of heart…In other words…

…Faith is not always safe.

The Bible is full of deep theological themes, and one significant theme is to be faithful to God in the midst of persecution. In-fact a major component of our theology of Christ’s return revolves around the question, “How can we live on earth in the meantime?” How can will live in this messy and broken world, and maintain our faith?

Faith is not always safe.

God calls us to sacrifice our lives to him, and to not be conformed to the world. We must be transformed into God’s way of thinking. It is safe to conform. Transformation is risky; it’s not safe. But I believe that as Christians we should be the most passionate people in the world.

Or as Paul sates in his letter to the church in Rome,

“For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes.”

The Cross of Christ looks like foolishness to the world, but we know that it is the hope of the world. That’s something to get passionate about!

Faith is not always safe. But life without faith is extremely dangerous.

tim

There is something different about my appearance now. For the first time in my life I require the assistance of glasses to see clearly. It turns out that I am slightly near sighted. I don’t need glasses all the time, but I do need them to drive. (Why couldn’t I just get a prescription windshield?)

Before the exam they had to dilate my eyes. I am pretty curious about stuff like this, so I asked her how these special eye drops worked. She told me (and I quote), “This loosens your sphincter.” I guess I was feeling a bit uptight! haha…uhh I don’t know if I want my sphincter to be loosened, that sounds messy! (I have know learned that you have more than one sphincter muscle…).

I picked up my new glasses in Danville today, and I wore them on the way home. It is really going to take some time getting used to having them on my sinuses all the time. It just feels weird/annoying. Fortunately I only need them to drive, but I might get used to them faster if I wore them all the time? It will also take some adjustment to see myself wearing them. Each time I looked in my rear-view mirror I was surprised!

Hopefully I can adjust to this new way of life pretty quickly =P

tim

The book “Soul Searching” by Christian Smith and Melinda Lundquist Denton reports and analyzes data found from the National Study of Youth and Religion. Basically, this is a 400 page book that is full of carefully interpreted data and solid survey statistics on the religious views of America’s teens.

This book is a mountain of information, but one of the biggest themes is this: Parents are the main influence on a teenager’ worldview, religion, and behavior. Here is a quote:

Simply by living and interacting with their children, most parents establish expectations, define normalcy, model life practices, set boundaries, and make demands—all of which cannot help but influence teenagers, for good or ill. Most teenagers and their parents may not realize it, but a lot of research in the sociology of religion suggests that the most important social influence in shaping young people’s religious lives is the religious life modeled and taught to them by their parents (Ford Press Pg. 56).

Parents have a huge responsibility! Consider this question: What is the average number of years that the following groups of people are involved in a kid’s life?

Coach = 1-4?
School teacher = 1-2?
Grandparent = 25?
Youth worker = 3?
Parent = Lifetime*

*(Parents influence their children even if they leave or pass away. The absence of parental involvement still influences that child).

I believe that this is why the book of Deuteronomy says,

Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates, so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land that the LORD swore to give your forefathers, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth (11:18-21).

Parents are the biggest influence in their kids lives (for good or for bad). As a youth minister, I believe that I can have a positive spiritual influence on teenagers. That being said, one of the biggest ways that our church can influence the lives of our students is through caring for their parents. I think it is vital that our ministry partners with parents and help them through the tumultuous task of raising kids in our crazy world.

I am so thankful that my parents made there relationship with God a part of their everyday lives. Also note: My mom is coming to visit me this weekend! I am excited!

tim

I was going through some old class notes the other day. I found this quote from a youth ministry lecture.

“Parents play a second only to that of the Holy Spirit in building the spiritual foundation of their children’s lives.” – Mark DeVries

The more I do youth ministry, the more I am convinced that this quote is true.

tim

Recently I have been brainstorming about what I should teach on for the next few months. This brainstorming has made me consider this question:

“How can we maintain balance in our teaching?”

It is easy to only teach on subjects or issues that you are personally interested in. But this lack of balance can be dangerous. Teaching on generosity is not as much fun as teaching on joy, but it is essential that our ministry is balanced. So ultimately the question is this:

“What issues are essential for students in our ministry to learn about?”

I have come up with seven essential categories that will help guide us in maintaining balance. (Some of these ideas I have borrowed from Stanley’s “7 Checkpoints.”) I have also developed these categories to coincide with our discipleship process at Catlin (Worship, Grow, and Go).

(Worship)

God’s ultimate authority
The Main Idea: We should worship God completely

Issues that are dealt with:
Loving God, surrender and submission to God, worship, sacrifice, obedience, priorities

Moral boundaries and wise decisions
The Main Idea: Purity and obedience draw us closer to God

Issues that are dealt with:
Making wise choices, God’s boundaries, discernment of God’s will, building character, priorities

(Grow)

Spiritual disciplines
The Main Idea: We should be disciples who grow closer to God

Issues that are dealt with:
Discipleship, growth, practices like, prayer, confession, Bible study, fasting, etc.

Crucial elements of faith
The Main Idea: Understanding the faith is essential for disciples

Issues that are dealt with:
Basic beliefs and worldview, grace and salvation, authenticity, answering tough questions, growth

Healthy relationships
The Main Idea: Relationships influence us

Issues that are dealt with:
Loving others: family, parents, authority figures, the opposite sex, good friends, church community

(Go)

Service
The Main Idea: Disciples become more and more like Jesus

Issues that are dealt with:
Spiritual gifts, loving others, evangelism, putting others before oneself, humility

Stewardship
The Main Idea: We must care for what God has entrusted to us

Issues that are dealt with:
Stewardship of our lives, money, gifts, time, energy, talents, gifts, resources, the earth

tim