My computer tells me it is 37 and raining in Hingham today, but I'm just giddy to report its about 70 and perfectly sunny here in Southern California. I will be here all week attending the Purpose Driven Youth Ministry Conference at Saddleback Church (home of that Rick Warren guy), and then spending the weekend at Disney with my wife (she flys in later in the week).
As I've been telling people I'm headed for continuing ed this week a bunch of students have questioned why I need to know more about youth ministry. After giving them a nice bag of suckers and a paper towel to wipe that really cute brown spot of their nose, I usually give them a basic answer of we all need to always be learning. And that is certainly true. There are some much more specific things I'm hoping to have God reveal to me while I'm here. Perhaps the biggest is developing some new ideas for how to deal with what I call "the new normal" in our ministry. God has truly blessed us with growth lately, which just amazes me daily. Every month new students find their way to BLAST, and many have made a saving commitment to Christ for the first time. That's just awesome. It brings a challenge though. How do we effectively minister to a group (specifically middle school) that is getting to be roughly 1/2 new Christians, seekers, and skeptics and 1/2 students that could probably pass seminary exams? How do we take this ministry to the next level, trying new and exciting things that speak best to this generation, while staying entirely grounded in scripture, prayer, and the Spirit's guidance? I pray God starts to reveal some of that through this conference. I'm also excited just for the opportunity to be a worshiper, learner, and Bible reader this week instead of a leader and student wrangler. Sometimes us pastors need to be ministered to as well.
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