A Peace of my mind

Vacation Bible School

2007-06-18T11:19:00.000-04:00

This past week, we had Vacation Bible School at our church. It was a HUGE success. This year the theme was called Galilee-By-The-Sea. We set up a Jewish Marketplace and all the volunteers dressed in period costume. The participants (young and old) were immersed in the Jewish culture of Jesus' time and learned about Jesus in many different ways. They started in a Large group setting called the Gathering, where the learned about Jesus through singing songs, then they broke into their seperate Tribes and discussed Jesus in small groups, then they were able to go the Synagogue where they learned about Jewing customs that Jesus would have followed. They also got visit many of the shops in the Jewish Marketplace. There, they were able to do crafts (they made toy boats, menorahs, Shell Jewelry, and carved in soap stone. All the time that they are making the crafts the shopkeepers are teaching them about why their trade was important and asking them what they think about Jesus. And there was a skit performed each day to help reinforce the Lesson. All the participants were immersed in learning about Jesus from everyone they came in contact with. It was awesome!!! They ended the day by returning to their small groups, talking about what they had learned and then going to the Large group meeting again. I loved this Vacation Bible School. It was a lot of work to do, but the Lord blessed it. I am hopefully going to post some pictures so that you can see some of the stuff that we did. I praise God for all that He did last week in the lives of our VBS participants.

Hilarious....

2007-06-07T11:50:00.001-04:00

And yes, the same things that crack up a 13 year old, crack me up too.

Lent

2007-02-26T11:06:00.000-05:00

Paul will not be posting for the next 40 days (this is his wife). Paul, in the true spirit of finding something that would be a REAL sacrifice - is giving up ALL internet other than checking his e-mail (for work purposes). So...no blogging for Paul. He may get a lot more work done though...

I know....it has been a looooooooooong time

2007-01-30T10:31:00.000-05:00

People have been telling me that I have not posted in a long time so I thought that I would be a copy cat and do a list of random facts

--I got the new Zelda game, Twilight Princess, for my Gamecube...it is flippin' sweet

--I bought three new, badly needed, pairs of pants

--I am going to be an uncle for a third time

--I went on a retreat to Cedar Campus all by myself for a weekend

--I am proud of my wife for how hard she works at school, her internship, and her job

--God has been showing me his glory lately...it has been awesome

--I've been having a great time with my Junior High students

--I have been feeling God moving through our church in little ways...it's exciting to feel

--I had nine people in my manuscript small group on Wednesday night...that's the most I have ever had.

That's all that I can think of for now...God bless

That time of the year

2006-10-10T12:25:00.000-04:00

Well, I have reached that time in the year when Satan likes to spiritually attack me. It happens every year around this time. The school year starts, all our programs get going, and God pumps me up and gets me excited to do ministry. Then...October comes...Satan has had enough of the great stuff that has been going on and attacks me.

The past few weeks have been really hard for me. I have started (as I do every year) to feel inadequate about my job. I had this happen to me back in April too. I know that it is a tactic by Satan to try to slow down God's ministry in Gaylord, specifically at the First United Methodist Church. I know that it means that I am doing something right and that I am advancing God's kingdom if Satan is attacking me. But I hate going through it. I don't want to. I just once, want him to leave me alone and let me do my ministry. Which I know won't happen when I am being effective.

So, Satan has been using the ploy that numbers mean something...Not that they mean something, but that they are just about everything. Numbers wise, all three of my youth groups have been struggling. Especially the Senior High. But I know that my students have been learning more about God and have been learning what it means to follow Him. We started this year studying why our youth ministry exists and what our purpose is. It has been great to see the students really getting into learning about evangelism, fellowship, discipleship, ministry, and worship. And I am understanding just how much some students do not truly understand what those five things mean. (I try to remember if I knew what those things truly meant when I was in Jr. or Sr. High). I have also been able to develop relationships with some of the students much easier because I am talking to less students all at once.

Satan has also been attacking my work ethic. Because I am feeling so down about my ministry...I really don't feel like working. The past couple of days I have totally been unproductive. I have let small things get in the way of important things. I need to get my focus back on what is important...my ministry to the families at FUMC. It has been a struggle and I am trying different tactics to combat it. Some of them are working and some of them are not. But I trust that God will bring my focus and desire back to the way it was when school started and I was determined to make this year the better than last year.

So, please pray for me...I need prayers to fight the temptations that Satan is placing in front of me. It has been hard and I need help. I want my ministry to be effective and for the students in our church to learn more what it means to be followers of Christ.

School Year Begins; Free Time Ends

2006-09-05T13:49:00.000-04:00

So, school started today for Gaylord Community Schools and Youth Group, Sunday School, and a ton of other stuff begins this coming week. There goes most of my free time. I have to say that I think I am stressed about this school year more than any other. I want it to be such a success. Lisa and I spent an entire weekend evaluating the programs that I run and setting goals for all of them. I want to be able to meet all my goals and I want the students in our church, young and old, to grow closer to God. Lisa said something to me yesterday that I have been mulling over. She said something to the effect that I am not trusting in God enough and am putting all my effort into making sure that every last detail is set and that everything is publisized enough. There is a lot of truth in what she says. I know that I need to trust God more with my ministries and that if I provide an atmosphere where people can learn, He will do the rest.

Lisa and I had a long talk yesterday because our schedule is going to be changing again. We go through this about every year because my schedule changes during the summer and then again when the school year starts. Plus, she has her internship and classes now. So, we are trying to figure out how our schedules are going to work out and be able to spend quality time together and all that kind of stuff. Part of that is we decided to get up earlier. Which is so hard for me...I am not a morning person...I need my sleep and I don't function very well in the mornings. We'll see how it goes.

So, I am stressin' quite a bit over everything that is coming up and I am not going to have much free time in the near future. But, I am going to trust in God and He is the great provider. I hope that you will join me in praying for the youth ministry, family ministry, and educational ministry that I am in charge of. Your prayers are greatly needed and coveted.

Returned Safely From Mission Trip

2006-08-01T13:10:00.000-04:00

In my previous post I talked about our Sr. High Mission Trip to Benton Harbor, Mi. You can go to my wife's blog(http://blocklisa.blogspot.com/) to read more about what we did during the week. I don't want to repeat everything that she said because most of you who read my blog, read hers as well. So I am going to just share a few of my thoughts and feeling about this trip.

I think that this is the best mission trip I have ever been on. Including the trips that I took in High School and College. What made it so great? I'm glad you asked. It was so great because I believe I got a taste of heaven. Every student in the group of 60 to 70 students accepted every other student in the group. I have never seen teenagers accept each other so quickly without judgement or apprehension. From day 1 it seemed that everyone was best friends. It was amazing!!! By the end of the week, they were all family. Instead of 4 youth groups, there was one, they were all in God's youth group. This trip was filled with unconditional love for each other. It did not matter who you were, where you were from, what your background was, you were loved.

Here's and example: On thursday night, the YouthWorks Staff asked us to worship in our church groups to make getting into our foot washing ceremony a little easier. So at the beginning we all sat down in our church groups. By the time we were done with our worship and everything, there were no more church groups. Everyone was worshipping together...we could not keep these students from being one group...It was how things should be. As I sat there and watched this happen I could not help but cry from joy. God was showing me that little taste of heaven and instead of me showing my students Christ, they were showing me Christ. It is one of the most beautiful things I have ever experienced. I praise God for the way that He worked in His students' lives and the way that He worked in mine.

That is the main reason that this is the best Mission trip I have ever been on...I saw unconditional love shared by all...not by just a few, but by everyone...Praise God for how He moves and works in His people.

Mission Trip 2006

2006-07-12T10:17:00.000-04:00

In 11 days, Lisa and I will be taking 5 girls from the Sr. High Youth Group to Benton Harbor, Mi for our summer mission trip. I am excited to go because every year our students are really impacted by God. (I think that is the coolest thing about serving God, when you go into something to serve someone else and hopefully make an impact on them, God turns it around and impacts you as well...it's awesome) This year we decided to stay in the state of Michigan as opposed to going out of the state, which is normally done over the years. I really wanted our students to see that there are people in the state of Michigan who need God's help just as much as people out of our state. I know that sounds like a given, but sometimes we get so caught up in our own little world that we think that it couldn't happen and it so easily can. So, I am excited to see how God is going to work in the lives of our group and in the lives of the people that we are going to serve. While we are we will be working with some of the local ministries who are already fighting for the salvation of Benton Harbor. I am personally excited to join with some of the these ministries to serve Benton Harbor.

Here is an excerpt from an article about Benton Harbor, Mi that I received from YouthWorks (the organization we are doing our mission trip through).

"After its start in 1865, Benton Harbor became the thriving economic center for Michigan's fruit industry. At one time, the community boasted of the largest non-citrus fruit market in the world, as well as a popular tourist industry. Even such notorious personalities as Al Capone and his entourage were known to vacation in Benton Harbor, staying in the splendid downtown hotels.
Today, the city is struggling to overcome economic issues; many factories and auto parts manufacturers have shut down due to worldwide competition. As businesses closed, Benton Harbor suffered a severe population loss. The town was nicknamed the "plywood capital of the world," because of the number of boarded-up buildings downtown. Much of the available housing in Benton Harbor is substandard and in serious need of repair.
Benton Harbor's "twin city" - St. Joseph - lies just across the river. Benton Harbor stands out in stark contrast to St. Joseph. St. Joseph is a popular tourist spot known for its quaint shops and beautiful beaches, which gives the town the feel of a New England style coastal village. It is a 95% white affluent town. In contrast, Benton Harbor is a struggling 92% African-American community. These stark differences have caused bad feelings over the years. Much hurt and suspicion exists between these two very different, neighboring communities. This summer, your group has the opportunity to minister and serve the people of Benton Harbor."

Below are some statistics about Benton Harbor

• Population BentonHarbor 11,200
• Population of St. Joseph 8,800
• Benton Harbor - Racial Makeup: 92% African American, 5.5% White
• St Joseph - Racial Makeup: -90% White, 5% African American
• Married couples living together 20.8%
• Single parent house holds headed by a woman 42%
• 42% households have children under 18.
• Percentage of total population under 18: 39. 6%
• Median income: $17,471
• Only 49% of the population are High School graduates.

We could use your prayers and we would love for you to join us in prayer for our trip.

Safety in traveling to and from Benton Harbor
That God would work through us and touch those we are serving
That God would give us the strength to serve
That our faith would be challenged and we would grow closer to God

Here are some prayer requests for the city of Benton Harbor

Pray for continued economic renewal and community rebuilding.
Pray for a change of heart with community and church leadership.
Pray that when people come to Benton Harbor they will see less of the racial breakdownbeing just a black and white issue, but rather would see more of Jesus.

I pray that this Mission Trip will be glorifying to God that He would move through the city of Benton Harbor like wildfire.

I'm an Uncle and a Godfather

2006-06-26T10:00:00.000-04:00

Jacob Russel Talmedge was born at 2:38(california time: 5:38 Gaylord time) today, June 26, 2006. He was 9 lbs. 7 oz. and 20 inches long. I am excited to be an Uncle and the Godfather. (Hopefully I won't start acting too much like Marlon Brando). Hopefully we will have pictures soon. Woo-Hoo.

4th Anniversary was yesterday

2006-06-23T14:54:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, Lisa and I celebrated our 4th anniversary. So, how did Paul and Lisa celebrate their anniversary? I'm glad you asked. We went golfing...yes I said golfing. Not putt-putt golf either. Real golfing. Our church has an annual golf outing and we thought that it would be fun to go. I had only been golfing once before and this was Lisa's first time. So it was an experience, but we had so much fun.

We played what is called a 4 man scramble. Everybody tees off and then you take the best shot from those four shots. Then everybody hits from that spot and you take the best lie from there, and so on until someone puts it in the hole. I had 1 drive that landed on the green...it was the best drive I had all day...and I had a few good putts to put us at par or under par...Lisa, my beautiful wife did an awesome job for golfing her first time. She hit the ball really well for never having golfed before. We were paired up with a very cute older couple who were so patient with us and gave us little pointers and told us some of the ettiquette rules and such...it was a blast.

Our team ended up coming in last. We played a pretty easy par 3 course and ended up 5 over par. I thought that we did pretty good, but the winning team was 11 under par. I couldn't believe it.

So, our anniversary was fun...We didn't do anything too spectacular, but I think that we had a great time...we got to spend time together and do something that was really quite adventurous. I loved it.

I would recommend everyone trying golf at some point in their lives.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY LISA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Must...kill...superyouthpastor

2006-06-13T14:19:00.000-04:00

Recently I have been reading quite a lot of books. I know…it’s amazing…I’m reading.

Anyway…I just read a book called Velvet Elvis. It is by Rob Bell (one of my favorite speakers of all time…God speaks through Him and makes the Bible so alive), who is the pastor of Mars Hill Bible Church in Grandville, Mi. So I was reading this book and I got to a chapter where Rob is talking about how he had this concept of what a pastor should be and do and how he didn’t match up to it. He realized he had this view of Superpastor. Superpastor was this person who visited every sick person in the congregation, counseled everyone who came to him, performed marriage after marriage, and funeral after funeral. Superpastor didn’t stop. He did everything. Rob talks about how he finally realized that he couldn’t be Superpastor because, Superpastor does not exist. There is not way he can exist and never will exist. Rob realized that he was trying to be something that was completely unhealthy.

While I was reading this chapter I completely related, in some respects. It is not that I am trying to do everything and be everything…but it is that I am trying to be Superyouthpastor in my own way. I am a people pleaser…I need everyone to be happy. I realized that I was trying to be Superyouthpastor because I wanted my congregation to be happy with what I was doing (though that is not a bad thing). I realized that my motivation was completely wrong. I shouldn’t be trying to please First UMC’s congregation, I should be trying to please my creator and Lord. My motivation was unhealthy.

I also realized that I can’t be Superyouthpastor. I can’t reach every student in the way that I want to. I can try to point them to God, but I am not going to reach every student and create this huge transformation in their lives. There is so much that I want to do to reach students in our little community and there is so much that I want them to learn about their creator and Lord Jesus, but I cannot be everywhere and do everything. I have to let God use me where I can be used and let Him be the SuperGod that He is. He is the only thing that is “Super” in this world.

Another thing that I learned is that I have to kill Superyouthpastor. If I do not, I could become even unhealthier. In the words of Rob Bell, I need to take Superyouthpastor out back and kill him. I cannot be, and will never be, Superyouthpastor. I need to be the Youth pastor that God is molding me and shaping me into. I need to be Paul Block, mild mannered youth pastor by day and night.

I hope this all makes sense; sometimes when I write things down I don’t communicate well everything that I am thinking and feeling. I am praying that God will continue to change me and mold me into the Leader that He wants me to be.

Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye

2006-05-25T13:53:00.000-04:00

I said that I would post my sermon from Graduation Sunday so here it is. Shalom.

Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye

Romans 12: 1-2
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good pleasing and perfect will.

Paul begins the 12th chapter of this letter to the church in Rome with these two verses. The first question that we must ask ourselves about this text is what is the mercy that Paul is talking about? We must understand this first in order to understand the rest of the passage. So let’s take a quick look at what God’s mercy is.

The first 11 chapters of this letter are devoted to the explanation of what God’s mercy is, or in other words, the Gospel or “good news”. Paul writes, in detail, about what the good news is and what it means to the church in Rome. He wants to make sure that they understand the basis of their beliefs and that they won’t forget it. If you were to read these first 11 chapters you would find several verses that tell the good news in themselves.

Romans 3: 23-24 says, “…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”

Romans 5:8 says, “But God demonstrated his own love for us in this: While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Now the we understand the context of the first 11 chapters, Paul’s first phrase about God’s mercy says something like this, because God sent His son, Jesus, to die on the cross for our sins, I urge you, brothers to respond in these few ways.

Paul urges us “to offer our bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God.” What Paul means is this…our lives should be unselfish worship to God. In all that we do, our lives should be worship to God: at work, at school, at home, in every place and in every situation we are to be in at state of unselfish worship to God. Countless times in the Gospels, Jesus says to his disciples, “The first shall be last and the last shall be first.” Meaning this, what Jesus wants from you in the way that you live your life, in the way that you worship Him, in the way that you do all things…it should be done with an attitude of service. God’s word is telling us that if we are to worship God, then we must be a servant to all.

In the second verse of this passage, Paul urges us “to not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of our minds”. When we conform to the pattern of this world we end up not with God’s will for our lives, but with our own will. There are so many ways in which we are tempted to conform on a daily basis,

1. Living a me-centered life! Just as Paul urges us to live a life of unselfish worship, the world is telling us that life is all about me, myself, and I. We are to look out for ourselves, we are #1 in our lives, no one is more important than our own individual self.

Bill Hybles, Pastor of Willow Creek Community Church shares in his book Too Busy Not to Pray that almost every month at least one person shares with him that they are feeling “led” to leave their spouse. Pastor Hybles goes on to say that the bottom line is “people want to divorce the spouses to whom they were joined in holy matrimony in order to marry others who seem more attractive”. Pastor Hybles is seeing first hand the self centered attitude that when a relationship gets to hard, when it requires more than we want to give, we are going to seek something that is going to gratify our wants, needs and desires regardless of what we promised and who we hurt in the process.

This isn’t the only example of how we live “me centered lives”. Careers, money, friendships, and relationships with our own family members are all places that the ugliness of self-centeredness will tempt us away from thinking about living unselfishly in worship to God.

2. There is no absolute truth! As Christians we are seduced by the world into a life of suppressing absolute truth. We have the freedom to choose and believe in whatever we want. But we live in a culture that gives us a counter message. That once what we believe enters the way we conduct our work, our political choices, our time management, our interaction with others, and in all the ways that we live our lives. Then we are told that it has gone to far and we need to “keep that truth to ourselves”.

In a research study, by George Barna, called the Barna Report; What Americans Believe, it says that an estimated 74% of Americans strongly agree that “there is only one true God who is wholly and perfect who created the world and rules it today”. At the same time, an estimated 65% either strongly agree or somewhat agree with the statement that “there is no such thing as absolute truth.”

This shows the dilemma that there are conflicting messages of absolute truth. We want to believe in our heart of hearts the truth of the Gospel because it is absolute truth, and at the same time we are tempted to take on the message that absolute truth is ok as long as it stays private. Once we say that absolute truth is the only truth, then we are told that we are wrong.

If we don’t believe in an absolute truth then there is no point in worshiping God. We worship God for who he says he is, what he has done, is doing, and will do. To say that there is no absolute truth is to say that God is not who he says he is. To say that there is no absolute truth makes Jesus out to be a liar and a foney. This is a major area of conformity in our world today. Is this something you really want to conform to?

These are overwhelming issues that can seem impossible to overcome by ourselves. The Romans may have been feeling this same way, but Paul gives us hope in the last point of this passage, instead of conforming we are to “be transformed by the renewing of your minds.”

Today’s culture points to a me-centered life style, but when you transform your mind, you end up with a Christ-centered life style. Christ desires our hearts and minds. When asked what the greatest commandment was, Christ said, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.”

When you renew your mind with the things of God, you begin to think differently, act differently and feel differently. In order to transform your mind, you must develop your relationship with God and get to know Him.

At this point in my sermon I invited one of my volunteer youth workers, Jeff, who has been volunteering with our youth group for the past six years, to come and share his testimony with the students. This group of Seniors was his first Sunday School class when they were in the 7th grade. What he basically shared was that he was a Christian when he was in High School, but when he got to college he began to live a me-centered life style and drifted away from God. He looked for happiness and fulfillment in relationships with other people than with God. After he graduated from college God began to tug on His heart more. He began to study God’s word, talk to God, look to God for guidance in his life. God turned Jeff, from a conformer into a transformer who is now being used by God to create transformers.

My point in having Jeff come up and share his testimony is because I wanted you to see how God turned Jeff into a transformer. And I would like to point out two things that Jeff did that allowed God to move in His life and make into the transformer that he is.

First, Jeff studied God’s word. The Bible is our way into God’s mind and heart. If we do not know the Bible we do not know Him. So I encourage you to develop a time in your day when you are able to study God’s word, meditate on it and learn about the heart and mind of God. Along with a personal quiet time with God, I urge you to be involved in a small group Bible study. When you are a part of a group of people who can struggle over the Holy Scriptures together and allow each other to be stretched and grown everyone learns more about God and their relationship with each other grows and more importantly their relationship with God grows.

Secondly, Jeff was in conversation with God. When you are praying with God you are having a two way conversation. It is easy for us to just talk at God when we pray and to tell Him all our cares and worries, but when we allow some time to calm and silence ourselves we are able to listen to God and hear His voice. God calls us to pray continually and have Him constantly in our thoughts. When we begin to do these two things, God becomes more real in our lives and we are able to renew our minds.

I think the coolest part of this passage is the end of it. When we offer our bodies as living sacrifices and when we transform our minds we end up knowing what God’s will is. How many of us have ever wondered what God’s will is for our lives. When we are in tune with God, it is easier for us to know His will. We don’t have to search as far or worry about it as much; if we are in tune with God then we will know His heart and His mind and know His will for us. As graduates you are starting a new phase in your life, you are entering a time in your life that may bring uncertainty. When you graduate from college you are going to have to find jobs and begin a time of searching. Remember that if you are in tune with God you will know His will—“His good pleasing and perfect will”.

So may you live a life of worship to God, may you know that Jesus is the absolute truth in this world, and may you be in tune with God so that you will know His good pleasing and perfect will in your lives. And may you become the transformers that God wants you to be. Amen

My crazy Sunday

2006-05-24T11:37:00.000-04:00

I know that it has been a while since my last post. I have been told that I need to post something. The reason I haven't posted anything lately is that I didn't feel like I really had anything to write about. Well now I do.

On Sunday, May 21st, I preached at church. This was my 4th or 5th time preaching in front of our congregation. It is a nerve racking thing to do. A family friend of ours says that whenever she hears me preach she can feel God's annointing over me. I like hearing things like that. It makes me feel good and makes me feel that the words I have spoken are not my words, but God's words.(that's my goal too) The reason that I got to preach is that it was Senior Recognition at our church. We take a Sunday every year and recognize those who are graduating from High School. It is a cool thing and I am glad that we do it. We have a breakfast in honor of the students before the church service and then honor them during it. I have to say that this Sunday is one of the hardest days of the year for me. Not because I am super busy, or that it is because I am preaching in front of approxamately 250 people, but because it is hard to see the Seniors go. It is hard to know that I will not see these students on a regular basis anymore. I know that I will miss them.

This day was also hard because my little sister, Amy, is graduating from high school this year. It has been awesome to get to know my sister in this way. I have been able to see her grow spiritually and challenge her spiritually, that is not something that every brother and sister can do in their relationship. While I was preaching I could not look at her, because everytime I did I would start to cry. Man, it was hard. I did end up crying at the end though. I was telling the students how proud I was of them and what a pleasure it had been to get to know them and that I would miss them. And before I got the first words out of my mouth I started to cry. I am such an emotional man.

So then, on that same day, I had to speak and baccalaureate. For any of you that don't know what baccalaureate is, it is a sort of Christian Graduation, that the youth pastors organize. We invite all of the graduating seniors to come out and worship God and be honored for graduating. We usually ask someone who is not a youth pastor to speak at these events, but this year we could not find anyone, so, for some reason, I volunteered. So my Sunday was filled with preaching God's word and urging the seniors to "not conform to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of [their] mind." My prayer is that some of them were actually listening to me and take my words to heart.(I will post my sermon later).

So needless to say, my Sunday was a fun-filled day. I thank God that I had the opportunity to share some of my wisdom (as little as it is) with them.

A Question

2006-04-06T13:46:00.000-04:00

Here’s a question that I would like to throw out to all of you who read my blog. It was spurred on by a conversation that I had during our Men’s group study of the Gospel of Mark. Here it is.

How can Jesus not know things that God knows if He(Jesus) is fully God and fully man?

If you think you have an answer to this let me know. Thanks.

Feeling Inadequate

2006-04-06T13:43:00.000-04:00

Yesterday (Wednesday) I had I guess what you would call an attack. I was sitting in the parking lot of Glen’s market thinking that I could easily lose all the kids in my Sr. High youth Group. I had a sudden thought that they could just choose not to come to youth group anymore and choose another “more exciting” or “better” youth group. I suddenly felt entirely inadequate to do my job and that I am not cut out to do this. I sat there thinking, “Who am I to lead students?” It was hard to think about. I didn’t have time to think about it too much at the time because I was in a hurry and had a ton of other things to get done before or Wednesday night Tabernacle program started. So I drove back to the church and put it to the back of my mind.

That night, Lisa and I were talking about what we could pray about for each other. The first thing that came to my mind was what I had been thinking about earlier that day, so I told her about it. She comforted me…told me that I am inadequate, but everyone is inadequate and God uses us anyway and said some other things trying in her best effort to help me feel better. That was somewhat comforting, but still I was down trodden. I couldn’t shake this feeling of inadequacy and a feeling that I am not doing my job correctly. It was hard for me to think rationally about things and I couldn’t help but break down and cry.

After a few minutes I was able to begin to think about what I was feeling and my brain kicked into high gear. I was facing a problem and my first reaction was how do I fix it. What can I do to not feel inadequate? What do I do to keep the students who are coming to youth group coming and how do I get the students in our church who are not coming to come? (As I think about this now and write this, I don’t know if those were the right questions to be asking.) I didn’t come up with an answer last night, which frustrated me and eventually I fell asleep.

I woke up this morning with the same questions and thoughts running through my head…I’m not sure what to do and where to go from here. Lots of questions are still running through my head. Are my students growing in their faith? Are they being challenged to grow? Am I helping them to understand their faith and how to live it out in their lives? I feel like I should be able to answer those questions, but I don’t think I can.

So what does all this mean? I don’t know! I have a lot of praying and thinking to do. I was attacked with doubt and sorrow…two things I know that do not come from God. I still feel some of it right now. I need prayer and guidance. I need some encouragement from the Lord. God help me!

2006-03-23T20:20:00.000-05:00

So, I haven't blogged much lately...I haven't really had very much to blog about...until lately. I've had a few things that have been running through my mind. And I feel like I need to unload some of it.

1. Lisa and I went to my Grandmother's funeral and it was the best funeral I have ever been to. I know that sounds kind of weird, but that is the only way I can think of describing it. My Grandmother was a great woman of God and it was evident through her life. The pastor who gave the sermon also made it very evident that my Grandmother loved God more than anything else. He talked about my Grandmother's love for everyone else, the way she served her church and others, but even though those things were important to her, the one thing that mattered more than those things was her love for Jesus and His love for her. It was very moving to hear.
I was also a pole bearer. All the grandsons were pole bearers for the funeral...that was the hardest part of the whole day. I helped place my grandmother into the hearse before she was taken to the cemetery. It was hard. But I know that my Grandmother is with Jesus. It is so comforting to know that and be confident that she is so much better off. There is no better place than where she is now.

2. As I have posted about earlier I am reading the Purpose Driven Youth Ministry and evaluating where the youth program has been going and what not. So the last chapter I read was about teaching students spiritual disciplines. It was truly convicting because it was talking about my ultimate goal as a youth pastor...to be able to equip my students to live a life as a follower of Jesus Christ without dependence on attending programs. To be able to develop habits that they can take with them once they graduate from High School and move on into their next phase of life. It was convicting because I have not really made any true effort to do that. I have not purposefully done anything to spur them on in their spiritual disciplines. It was good to read because I needed to read it. But it was also hard because God was showing me something that I was falling short on.
My prayer is that I will be able to develop a way in order to purposefully challenge and encourage the students in our church's ministry to develop spiritual disciplines in their lives.

3. I had Junior High Youth Group tonight, which is 7th & 8th grade. We are watching these videos that Rob Bell puts out. (For those of you who do not know who Rob Bell is...He is the Pastor at Mars Hill Bible Church in Grandville, MI) The video series that he does is called NOOMA (here's the link, check it out: http://www.nooma.com). In the videos, Rob Bell does a 15 minute talk about a topic and he uses visuals to help get his point across.
So, to get to the real reason I am telling you all this. The video that we watched today was called Rhythm. In it, Rob Bell is talking about your relationship with God and how He thinks of God like a song. And it’s a song that has been played for generations and through different cultures and over thousands of years. And some people don’t hear the song or they don’t think the song is playing. Or some people are too into how the song feels and have no appreciation for the notes and the way the song is written, but some people concentrate too much on the technical aspects of the song and are too critical of the song and are not will to sometimes just enjoy the song and get into the song. Rob Bell also talks about being in tune with the song and being a part of the song...it is so hard to describe and write down. But when you are a part of the song, you need to be in tune with it or it just doesn’t sound right…if you are not in tune with God…if you are not in a relationship with God, then there is something that is just not right…I sat there and listened to Rob Bell talk about this and I started getting in tune with God. It was an awesome feeling. God was there and I was feeling His presence and I felt in tune with Him and I could feel the rhythm of His song. It was awesome…Hallelujah.

So, that’s what’s been going on lately in the mind of Paul…This coming week is Spring Break for me…so that means no youth groups and no evening things going on so I get to relax during the night. But it also gives me some time to catch up on some work and plan ahead for the summer and start thinking about next year. Yippee!!!

Grandma Block

2006-03-13T11:22:00.000-05:00

My Grandma Block passed away last night. It is sad, but also a time for celebration. My Grandmother had a faith in God that was awesome. I didn't truly understand her faith until I understood mine, but she was a wonderful woman on Christ. She was 93 years old and lived a good life. She was a eucher fanatic and would not miss a card game at the nursing home in which she lived. She would even cut family visits short if it was time to play cards. And this woman was an awesome eucher player. She could beat anyone. I never saw her lose a game. One time when Lisa and I played against her and my Uncle Mel, they table talked in German through the whole game. Lisa and I didn't know what they were saying. They beat us 10-0. Grandma kept looking at our score card and moving the cards so that just the tip of the first heart on the 5 was showing and would say, "You just got to let them breath a little." I love my Grandma.

My Grandma came from a long line of German ancestry and would always be trying to teach someone and German word here or there. She was always teaching the grandkids German words. She was so cute.

When we celebrated Christmas, we would sing the first verse to Silent Night in German, every year. So, in tribute to my Grandma Block here are the word to Silent Night in German

Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht,Alles schläft, einsam wacht Nur das traute, hochheilige Paar,Holder Knabe im lockigen HaarSchlaf in himmlischer Ruh'!
Schlaf in himmlischer Ruh'!

There is so much more that I could say about my Grandma, but I know that she is in Heaven glorifying God and worshipping Him. Which is a comforting thought. It makes me smile to know that she is there at this moment. I do miss her, but I am happy to know that she is with God, and there is no better place to be.

Check out this guy's blog

2006-03-09T11:02:00.000-05:00

This is so cool...A 33 year old Youth Worker is going back to high school for 2 weeks and he is blogging about it. It is really interesting to read some of his observations about high school. It is also interesting to read a lot of the comments...there are a lot from students and from adults. It's cool. So, check it out...here it is http://www.twoweeksback.com/wordpress/

Yet another funny story from Junior Youth

2006-03-08T11:38:00.000-05:00

Yesterday we were talking about being sheep or goats from Matthew 25 and how God wants to help the poor and hungry. So, the students were working on a worksheet which had 5 questions on it and they were supposed to say if they were a sheep(if they did these things) or if they were a goat(they don't do these things). One of the girls came over to me and showed me her paper. She had marked down two sheep and three goats. She then said to me, "I'm 2% sheep and 3% goat." I said, "That's only 5%, where is the 95%?" She replied, "There's only 5 questions!" with a tone of what are you talking about, and then walked away. I couldn't help but laugh. I love these kids.

FUMC Youth Ministry's Purpose

2006-03-06T15:57:00.000-05:00

In one of my previos posts I mentioned that I have been reading the Book Purpose Driven Youth Ministry. Reading this book has given me a chance to evaluate the youth ministry that I have been leading here at FUMC(for those of you who don't know what FUMC is: First United Methodist Church). The chapter that I read today is about communicating your youth ministry's purpose. This has been difficult for me in the past. I am not a very good at communicating my thoughts to people. So this chapter was really good in convicting me of not communicating it in spite of my shortcomings and it was also good in giving me some ideas of how to communicate it. So here is our youth ministry's purpose statement:

The purpose of the First United Methodist Church's Youth Ministry is to Guide students into a relationship with Jesus Christ, to Gather them with other Christians, to Grow them in their faith, to challenge them to Give of themselves and their time for others, and to Glorify God with their lives.

That is our purpose statement, but the challenge is teaching the purpose of our ministry and to have people remeber it. The question that I have pondering for most of the day is "How do I make the purposes of my youth ministry known to others?" I have some ideas, but the key will be if they are effective or not. That is where I worry and have to remind myself to let God be the guide of the ministry and not myself.

I am praying that God will give me guidance in how I convey our purpose to those who need to hear it...the students, leadership, and parents.

thoughts about God working in my life (I hope they make some sense)

2006-03-01T14:14:00.000-05:00

So a couple of weeks ago I was thinking about what to give up for Lent, because that is what you are supposed to do. I couldn't really think of anything right away, but I was praying about it and God put on my heart that I have been quite complacent with my relationship with Him. I haven't been spending much time with Him and I have been listening to lies that Satan has been putting in my mind. Lies like, "You don't need to spend time with God, you just prepped a bible study for the Senior High...that was your time with Him." or "You just spent some time in prayer with the Junior Youth, what do you need to pray now for...You should go work on a flyer for your next event that is coming up." Lots of little lies that are preventing me from growing in my relationship with Christ. So I challenged myself to give up complacency for Lent. With the hope that I will continue on after Lent not being complacent.

Which leads me to today...the First day of Lent(Ash Wednesday). I need to back up a second and explain something else. Last night Lisa and I were talking about Lent and Lisa had looked up on-line why Lent had originally started. She told me that it was to focus on our SIN before the Easter celebration. Which would make the Easter celebration even more of a reason to celebrate. Lent is designed to help you think about your sin and when it ends you celebrate that your sin is forgiven by Jesus death and ressurection.

Okay, so back to my original thought. So I am giving up Complacency... I am going to give more of my time to God. Any time that I feel that I am being lazy or I should be with God...I am going to do it. I am not going to give into Satan's lies and I am going to listen to God. (which, by the way, I should be doing all the time, I know.) All of this is easier said then done. So, today I spent some time with God asking Him to help me with this commitment that I have made with Him. And, so far I am doing pretty good. It is only day 1, but slow and steady wins the race.

So as part of my spending time with God I decided that I would read a book. I picked out the Purpose Driven Youth Ministry because I need a refresher and some renewed focus in my ministry(Satan has been blurring that a little too). I read this book about 2 years ago when I got the Youth and Family director job a FUMC, because I needed some guidance in where to go with the ministry that I was going to be leading. So, anyway...I am reading this book and the first chapter is all about "The Power of God" Explaining that a good Youth Ministry is not about hype and flashy programs, but about spiritual growth. It also talks about where that starts with the leadership...trusting in God to guide the ministry, using God's strength and not your own. It was good to read but also very convicting at the same time. I have a PASSION to see the students in our church grow in their relationships with God... to learn how to trust Him with their lives...to make Him a priority... to not be complacent in their walk, but how can they learn all those things if they are not seeing it lived out.

"Healthy youth ministry begins when we take seriously the power of God for our own spiritual lives. A direct connection exists between a leader's spiritual vitality and a healthy youth ministry. Today's youth ministry training often overemphasizes how to do the work of God and neglects how to be a person of God." --Doug Fields(author of Purpose Driven Youth Ministry)

Suffice to say, God has been working in me lately. It is a good feeling. I feeling, that I am sad to say, that I have not felt in a while. Thank you God for your work in my life and how you are reaching students even with my shortcomings and faults. PRAISE GOD!!!!!!

Do my shoes smell?

2006-02-28T12:13:00.000-05:00

Here is another fabulous story from Junior Youth (4th-6th grade). This story is not about the boy that I have been writing about but is about a girl in the group. I must begin with some background for youth group so you can understand it easier. The order of events for Junior Youth is Lesson, Snack, Game. Depending on if students behave they get snack and a game. Depending on how long it takes us to get through our lesson, the students get a snack and game. So with that out of the way, here is the story.

It had been a rough day for all the students but 2 of them to behave. They just didn't want to sit in their chairs, pay attention, anything...they just wanted to talk and talk and talk...and not about our lesson. Suffice to say, it took us about an hour to get through our lesson(youth group last 1.5 hours) when it usually takes us about half an hour max. So, we got done with the lesson and they had time for a small snack. After they got done with their snack, they started to get ready to leave. I asked them to all sit down because we needed to have a little chat about their behavior that day. So, we were having a pretty improtant discussion...we were talking about what they had done wrong during the day and so on. I look up kitty-corner across the table one of the girls has both of her shoes up to her nose and she is smelling them. Here is what went through my mind when I saw this...What the? Gross! Of all the things that you could do to not pay attention to me while we are having a very important discussion why are you smelling your shoes? This is what I actually after I got her attention, "could you pay attention please"

I went home after youth group and told Lisa about it and we sat on the floor of our kitchen laughing so hard. I love 4th graders

The Fight

2006-02-28T12:03:00.000-05:00

A high school student and I are starting a discipleship group. We met for the first time yesterday and we are reading "The Fight", by John White. It is an awesome book about living a Christian life. I read it 6 years ago when I worked the Summer at Cedar Campus. I remember it having a huge impact on my relationship with Christ and I am hoping it will have the same impact again, and for the student that I am meeting with.

Yesterday we talked about what happens when you accept Christ. How you go through an awesome change that you may not know is happening, but is changing your life. We talked about how God has Justified us and that God know views us the same way that He views Christ. It was an awesome thing to be reminded of. God looks at me, you, all that have accepted Christ as their Savior just the way that He view Christ. Man, what a thought.

We also talked about the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives. That He is our Counselor, Teacher, Reminder, Brings us Truth, Convicts us, and Glorifies Jesus. I never really think about the Holy Spirit very much... I know that He is there, but I never really think about Him...I concentrate more on the Father and Son parts of the Trinity. But it is the Holy Spirit that works through me and in me to do my Ministry, to Guide me in my life...to do all the things that I listed above.

Thank you Holy Spirit for how you move in my life and affect me.

So I am hoping that I will grow closer to God through this and that my discipleship partner will grow through it too.

our weekend

2006-02-27T10:27:00.000-05:00

Lisa and I were able to get away this weekend. It was great. We went to Mackinaw City, which was pretty much deserted, besides some people who were there for a hockey tournament. We had a wonderful relaxing time. We watched a lot of cable...it is a luxury for us when we go on vacation...we ate pizza, went to a nice restaurant and movie... did lots of fun stuff. It was a great weekend.

Lisa and I also were able to talk about my job and get refocused on some things and even talking about where God is taking me in my carreer. It is not something that is clear, but God has been showing me in the past year where some of my strengths are.

So all in all, we had a great time.

"It's Mutiny" and "accepts it right of the back"

2006-02-27T10:12:00.000-05:00

Telling the story from Junior youth group reminded me of two more stories about the same child. So here they are

One day we were playing freeze tag (for some reason the students love this game) and the same boy who asked me about the other half of the battle was running around yelling "IT'S MUTINY!" I don't know why but he was. He did this for about 10 minutes and then comes over and asks me, "Paul, what does mutiny mean?" I smiled and explained to him what it meant. He looked at me and said, "Oh, that's not what I thought." He then took off running and started yelling "IT'S MUTINY!" again.

Last week we were studying responsibility and I was having the students draw a picture of someone being responsible. The same boy, who was sitting next to me, drew a picture of someone who had broken an expensive vase (that cost $100.01) and has accepted responsibility for breaking it. So, while he was drawing it, I asked him what he was drawing. He said, "A kid broke a vase and he is accepting the responsibility right off the back." "Off the what?", I said. He replied, "Off the back!" I didn't have the heart to tell him that it was "off the bat", but it was one of the funniest things ever.

I know that I will have a ton of stories about this student. He cracks me up every week. I love him. Stay tuned for more stories