Filter Through Life

If you have been reading this blog for any length of time you probably know that for the past two years I have served as the youth pastor of a smallish growing church plant in Cedar Park (a suburb of Austin), Texas called Legacy Fellowship.  I also work full-time since the church is not yet big enough to support staff.  It has been a fun and exciting journey and I have learned a lot.  I think the journey is about to get really tough.  I just feel it in my bones. 

Over the last two years the youth ministry I lead has been inconsistent at best and at worst, a complete failure.  We have had as few as two kids and as many as twelve in a service depending on what kind of food we serve at the end.  (On a positive note, I have learned that food will bring in the kids.)  We have had events that were a blast (the lock-in), a success (car wash fundraiser), boring (hanging at my house) and one that never happened (Collide Festival).  I pray that all changes with the new year.  We definitely have plans to change it. 

I have been a pretty rotten leader.  It has been over the past few months that I have realized just how bad I have been and how much I want that to change.  I can’t use the “I don’t know what I am doing” excuse anymore.  I can’t have a victim mentality.  I have to move.  It’s a lot easier to turn a moving car around than a parked one, right?  Even if I go in the wrong direction for a few feet, at least I will be able to get it turned around if we’re moving. 

Cheri and I are getting better at meeting to talk about the plans for the youth ministry.  We are getting better at executing said plans too.  We have gotten better at connecting with the kids outside of church and that is one of the single most important things we needed to change.  We are going to get there; we have to. 

Our goal: To lead teenagers to Christ and teach them that they are not the FUTURE of the church, they are a vital and functional part of the body of Christ TODAY!