20somethingpastor.com

Alright, I know, I know. The beginning seems a little morbid, but hang with me. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about my life and what I want it to be about in the end. Mostly because I have been teaching through Ecclesiastes and it’s all about Solomon reflecting on his life. We’ve been in the book for 9 weeks now and I just finished chapter 3! But I’ve been thinking… when I die and people reflect on my life and ministry:

I don’t want people talking about:

• fancy buildings
• cool technology
• giving trends
• attendance trends
• fun events
• creative mailers
• edgy marketing

I want people to talk about:

• the “unsaveable” getting saved
• people who creatively served others
• people “after God’s own heart”
• people seeing their daily lives on “mission”
• This world being a different place because I lived

Acts 13:36a - “For when David had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep.”

I hope people say that about me when I’m gone. 

I am very excited right now. The college ministry my wife and I started for our church in August, has been doing great. We started with just a simple weekly get-together at our house. We grilled out cheap hamburgers and got to know the few college-aged/20-somethings that were attending our church. Since then it has grown into a genuine community of believers who are trying to live out God’s will for our lives. We have seen people come to Christ, start engaging friends with the gospel, and allow other people into the secret areas of their heart. 

This week we are launching our second weekly small group and beginning a new direction for the ministry. When I say “we” I don’t mean me and my wife, but the group as a whole. Because the group has grown so close we hated to divide up, but we had to for space and new-comer’s sake. So we are starting a monthly worship gathering to give us a chance to continue the relationships. It won’t look like a normal church “service.” It will be highly relational focused, but will still include corporate worship and teaching. We are still working out the details now, I’ll let you know what we get figured out.

But what has me super pumped today, is our new online community. Not just a facebook group or myspace page, but a fully functional online community. Sorry bloggers, membership will be only for 20-somethings in the Denver Metro area, but once it’s up and running you can visit our site and see what it’s all about. Maybe it will inspire you to do the same. The whole purpose will be to continue the conversations and relationships that were initiated during the small groups and worship gatherings.

I think this is a huge step for all of us in reaching and engaging the 20-somethings of Denver. To often there is a wide gap in church attenders from those in high school to the young marrieds with a couple of kids. Especially, in non-college towns. Why is that?

Why? Why do you do what you do? This is the big question I have been asking myself the last week or so. I haven’t really talked about it to anyone cause I haven’t really liked my own answers. Now, we all know why we eat, sleep, go to our jobs, etc. But I’m talking about the little (or not so little) things we do or avoid doing everyday. For example:

• Why do you watch TV?
• Why do you eat so unhealthy?
• Why do you give excuses all the time?
• Why do you procrastinate?
• Why don’t you exercise?

These are just a few of the questions I’ve been asking myself. I don’t “watch” a whole lot of TV, I’m usually playing on the floor with my son or doing homework. BUT the TV is always on. Background noise I guess.

I eat unhealthy because it’s the easy thing to do. Eating health requires thought, more money and effort.

I use “tired” and “busy” on a daily basis. I’m “tired” of using those excuses (pun intended). For the rest of the month, starting today, I’m not going to use those words to describe myself or how I’m doing. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Why do I procrastinate? I’m not really sure, outside of pure laziness. I don’t procrastinate on everything, just things that require phone calls. I abhor talking on the phone most days so I always put those things at the bottom of my to-do list. If I don’t get to them today…. oh well, there’s always tomorrow. For the rest of the month I’m going to put them at the top! I’ll let you know how it goes.

Why don’t I exercise? I’ve been putting on a few pounds over the last year. Not a ton, but just enough to annoy me. This is partly cause I don’t eat health but mainly because I don’t exercise. I just can’t find the motivation and usually use the excuse of being too tired or busy. Now that I can’t use those excuses, we’ll see what happens.

Why do you do what you do? Why don’t you do what you don’t do?

So…. it has been a while. Over 7 months actually. The last time I posted I was on my way to a camp in Texas as the main speaker. I had planned on updating each day with a report of all that God was doing and a snapshot of what I taught each night. Unfortunately, I didn’t have internet access in the middle-of-no-where Texas. When I returned I was busy catching up on ministry work and didn’t make the time to blog. Then I hit a wall: I couldn’t find any motivation to blog. 

When I began blogging (now looking back) it was more of a ministry to me than the people who would read it. Since I was 17 I have been filled with a passion and calling to teach and preach. I looked for every opportunity to do it. At the time I started this blog I was in a ministry position that didn’t allow me to preach very often and I felt like the prophet Jeremiah:

“But if I say, ‘I will not mention him or speak any more in his name,’ his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot.”                        (Jer 20:9)

This blog was my avenue to express the things on my heart and the things I saw, felt, and experienced God doing. But one day, and I’m not sure when, this blog became an expression of my pride. I started adding applications to find out how many people were visiting my blog everyday, counting comments, finding ways to advertise my blog, etc. It wasn’t genuine and it started draining me instead of fulfilling.

I couldn’t bring myself to do it anymore. I was planning on deleting this site but I procrastinated and in November I was charged for another year of domain service. So I left the option open for me to return to blogging. I’m still not sure what I’m going to do with this blog or what my new purpose will be. But I do know: I miss the online community I had; I miss expressing what God is doing (it’s really therapeutic and energizing); I miss writing; I miss reflecting; I miss getting excited about what God is doing in my readers lives; I miss blogging.

Sorry to those of you I disappointed with my lack of posting or with this confession of pride. Maybe this renewal will be an encouragement, a gut check, or a renewal for you too.

You are officially invited to rejoin my journey.

Right now I am sitting in Denver International Airport (DIA) about to board my plane to Houston, TX. I am the camp speaker for River Point Church out of Sugarland, TX and their youth pastor Terrace Clayton is a very good friend of mine. I’m excited to go but I don’t know how I’m going to be able to handle being away from my wife and son for a week. But they are going back to Oklahoma to see family and friends for the week. So they should have plenty to do to keep them busy. 

I should have internet so I hopefully will be updating regularly because I will have a lot of free time. This is going to be a great opportunity to get some planning done for the upcoming school year. 

This weeks theme (set by the camp) is MOTION. So my topics for the week’s messages include:

• Promotion
• Commotion
• Emotion
• Motions
• Motionless

So we will see how it goes!

So last week our church had VBS (Vacation Bible School). For those of you who don’t know what that is, it is a week long children’s bible school that is much more about having fun then sitting in a class learning. Even the learning time is just simple story telling while the kids sit on the floor in a circle. Not nearly as boring as the name implies. 

Anyways, I was in charge of games and recreation for the week. The biggest thing I learned throughout the week is how thankful I am that I do youth ministry and not children’s ministry! But God did teach me something last week while playing with the kids. 

One of the days we played kickball for game time. It was so interesting to watch the different age groups and how they approached the game. The Kindergardeners had no concept of the rules of the game. All they cared about was kicking a ball and then running around like crazy. But they had fun and thats all that mattered. The second graders were old enough to understand the rules of the game but were in fact obsessed with the rules. All they cared about were making sure that nobody got away with anything and the adults didn’t help the girls (even though the boys were beating the girls by a ton of runs). They walked away that day fighting, arguing and frustrated because we weren’t as strict in enforcing rules as NFL referees. But the 5th graders got it. They understood the rules, were smart enough to strategize their game play, and they were mature enough to understand it was only children’s church kickball and at the end of the day it didn’t matter who won or lost.

God hit me with a question last week. What age group would we fall into when it comes to spiritual things? Young enough to have fun but completely miss out on what the game (or life) is supposed to be? Mature enough to understand the rules but be completely consumed with them and miss out on the fun and excitement of a life with Christ? Or do we get it? We understand the rules and how to approach life but aren’t so uptight that we can’t enjoy life as it was meant to be?

Interesting….

Today, I am sitting at my desk looking out of my third-story window overlooking the Rocky Mountains. I find myself today so filled with awe and vision for the future. So much so, that it’s sort of difficult to even focus on today and my to-do list. 

I wonder how many of you feel that way? Are you excited about the future? Filled with awe and vision?

• Proverbs 29:18 - Where there is no vision, the people perish. 

Yesterday: Boundaries are meant to give us freedom, not tie us down. It’s all about how we view God. 

We Christians always give the greatest advice. Like when someone is struggling with an addiction, what is usually our response? “Why don’t you just quit?” - Oh… great. Thank you, I never thought of that one! A distant mentor of mine (someone that has influenced me a lot but I have never met him) Matt Chandler of The Village Church in Texas made an analogy once that has always stuck with me. 

If an alcoholic decides he’s going to just quit drinking and on Monday doesn’t touch the bottle. But everything in his soul is craving alcohol, he can’t work, he can’t sleep, he can’t focus, he can’t relate to his wife, he can’t play with his children because everything in him is screaming for alcohol… Is he free? No!!! Just because he didn’t have a drink of alcohol on Monday doesn’t make him free. 

Blind obedience isn’t always the answer. Your check list of rules, may have no other purpose than to fuel your own self-righteousness.

Mere obedience gets you no where. Jesus (Matt 23) called the Pharisees whitewashed tombs because they looked great on the outside but they were dead on the inside. He also said in Matthew 5:20 that if your righteousness doesn’t exceed that of the Pharisees then how can you ever expect to get to Heaven?

Here’s how: Galatians 5:1 - It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. 

Don’t get me wrong… there are still boundaries we are expected and commanded to follow. But we aren’t slaves to the law. We are no longer tied down by the law but are freed in Christ. So… Is God tying you down or setting you free?

Now… obedience isn’t a requirement of God, it’s a response to God.

That was the title of my sermon today. Talking not about freedom away from boundaries but the freedom boundaries give us. 

We recently bought a play pen (glorified cage) for my son who is now crawling like crazy and we need something to keep him from getting in trouble or hurt so my wife and I can do other things around the house. To my son, in his little mind, the play pen represents boundaries that tie him down and prevent him from doing what he wants to. What he doesn’t realize, is that by placing him in those boundaries, I am giving him complete and total freedom. Within those boundaries there is nothing Beckett can do wrong.

How do you view boundaries in your life? Do they tie you down? Keep you from doing what you want? Or do they give you freedom?

How do you view God? As some old man in the sky telling you what you can’t do? As some cosmic-killjoy? Or do you see Him as a loving God who created you, created the world around you and has put boundaries in your life to protect you and to give you freedom?

Galatians 5:1 - It is for freedom that Christ set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.

Well, it’s late and I’m tired. So much prep the night before we take our student ministry to summer camp. I don’t know whether I will have internet access or not. If I do, I will try my best to keep you updated and give you the highlights of camp. If not, then I will when I return on Saturday. 

However, I will be updating frequently my twitter. You can follow me @adamdeanyoung.

Have a great week and get some extra rest for me, cause I know I won’t be getting any!