Father’s Day 2008

I spoke yesterday at Creekside.  My first Sunday morning was on Mother’s Day.  Which is way more pressure than father’s day.  I had a really great time.  I really enjoy preaching when I can feel a connection with the congregation.  And yesterday I really felt that.  It was cool.  I was really humbled by the impact that some folks shared with me afterwards.  It’s just such a great reminder that God is in control.  The things that I think are really great, are shadowed by the little things that people catch.  That’s so God.  He surprises me all the time like that. 

I’ll post the video as soon as we get it all encoded.  Watching myself preach is not that fun an experience.  I’m really glad I went to the gym today though.  I gotta get back in that habit.  Hard Core!  You can get the audio here if you would like it.

I love father’s day because I had a great dad, and I am a dad to an amazing son.  Being a dad has just been such a great joy that I don’t think I could really express.  But it’s awesome.  And our little girl that will be here soon.  Man that’s gonna mess me up.  I just know already that I’m going to have a little princess.  And while I’m really excited, I’m also really nervous.  I’m sure it’s all going to be awesome though.

I also wanted to post this video.  Now I’m not endorsing anyone politically, I’m not agreeing with any one candidate. But Barak Obama spoke in a church on Father’s Day, and It really was a great speech.  He showed a lot of courage to talk to Fathers, and specifically call to task African-American Fathers.  He also may be the first presidential candidate to quote Chris Rock.  It’s really a great speech.  Not really a sermon because there was no scripture and only a quick reference to Jesus.  But still a great message for father’s day and for Dads everywhere to remember how crucial we are.

Looking Back – Looking Ahead

Read this post that I wrote almost 3 years ago.

Wow what a journey it has been.  We seem to be getting close to our goal.  I would never have guessed three years after writing the linked post, that we would still be going through all of this.  But Reading that post again reminded me that this is a journey of hope.  I can’t let go of that. 

Just The Right Timing

Life is a serious of transitions.  Some transitions are really tough, some are really easy.  Some transitions seemed forced upon us, and others we long for.  

During the time of transition we can sometimes experience some kind of emotional trauma.  For example, we just this last week transitioned Judah to a toddler bed.  We were expecting this to be a really hard transition as many of our friends with young families have had difficulty doing this transition.  Many kids seem to reject the freedom of the “big-boy bed” for the security of the crib, or even mom and dad’s bed.  

Judah however surprised Kathy and I.  He love’s his bed.  He has no problem going to sleep in his bed all on his own.  Kathy and I are not perfect parents, we really didn’t even have a plan for this transition, we just did it.  And we were blown away by what happened.  And we thank Jesus for how easy it was.

So why was this transition so seemingly smooth?  I would posit (fancy word, huh?) that Judah was ready for this change and we just made it happen at just the right time and everything lined up well for Judah.  Now Judah didn’t tell us he was ready, because he can’t.  We weren’t really trying to get his opinion on this idea.  But he was ready.  We were ready.  And it worked out well.

What transitions are you facing in your life?  Family?  Ministry?  Are you trying to force it?  Are you fearing it?  Is it the wrong transition?  Transition is necessary because it’s a part of life, but the timing is really the most crucial part of the whole thing.  And I think the people who we see experiencing success after success, have seen the transition coming, were ready for them, and just at the right time pulled the trigger.  

But that’s just what we see. The truth is that before and between these successful transitions there are a few that fail, there are a few that are forced and there are few that are forgotten.  

Successful transitions require just the right timing.  Just a thought.

Overwhelmed with Parenting

This parenting Series at creekside has been really great.  Especially since I am a new-ish parent.  I’m always learning.  I’m preaching this sunday and next sunday.  And I am being overwhelmed by how big a job parenting is.

I’m bt no means an expert, but God has so much wisdom to give us.  I gotta trust him every day.  Parents, I’m with you and I feel the burden for my kids just like you feel for your kids.  But Jesus Feels it even more.  So know you are not alone.  You don’t have to do this alone.  Call on Jesus and trust him with the Big Picture.

Accept No Imitations

One of the things that Hurt (the book).  Talks about is authenticity.  Over the past few years the biggest lesson that I have learned in ministry is be yourself.  God has called you to be you.  

Don’t try to imitate others, and don’t compare yourself to other people.  Can you learn from them?  Absolutely, but Don’t try to be someone you were never meant to be.  

Teenagers have a keen Bull Detector.  And they know when you are fake and in authentic.  Our greatest model of ministry, Jesus, was the most authentic person to ever live.  That’s our model.  So be you!

Hurt by Chap Clark

I wasn’t personally hurt by Chap Clark.  Chap Clark wrote a book called Hurt.

Anyway.

I am prepping for next weeks sermon.  We are doing a Parenting Series at creekside, which is pretty cool and you can find our videos for the past few weeks at vimeo.com/creeksidechurch.

In my prep work I started perusing my copy of Hurt looking at the Highlights and I just was blown away by how insightful this book really is.  I would say if you are a youth worker or a parent who wants to understand your teenager and their friends a little better.  This book is a great resource.  Check it out.

The Hurt in Clark’s book is Systemic Abandonment.  Really powerful stuff.  Read this book.

Also I would recommend Soul Searching by Christian Smith.

The struggle in Soul Searching is Moralistic Therapeutic Deism.  That’s not just an adolescent problem, that’s an america problem.  

 

Twitter in Plain English

A few weeks ago I really started experimenting with Twitter.  It’s hard to explain, but that’s why I love the folks at CommonCraft, they have a great way of explainging this stuff

if you want to follow me you can find me at twitter.com/jdeuman

A lot of people actually use twitter to post their simple profound thoughts, others use it as a way of tracking their day.  It’s a fun little tool, and it’s great if you have an iPhone and are waiting in line at the bank, it gives you something to read.

Jesus Centered Youth Ministry — Review

What is the Goal of your youth ministry?  Really, what is your goal?  When I first started working in ministry, my goal was growing my ministry.  There is nothing wrong with growing a ministry, but the question is what basis are you growing on?

That’s kind of what Jesus Centered Youth Ministry is trying to establish.  Starting with the Spurgeon idea that every sermon and every scripture needs to be brought back to Jesus.  Are you growing your ministry on hype, or on Jesus?  I’ve grown on hype and it burned, but trying to focus on Jesus again has brought a different kind of fruit and hopefully fruit that will last.

I think a completely objective review of this book would be impossible for me.  The message of this book is so close to what I want to establish in our ministry that I can’t find any areas where I would disagree with Rick Lawrence.

I would recommend all student ministry leaders should read this book.  Perhaps even Senior pastors should get their hands on this one, since all these principles apply to the ministry of the whole church.  This is a great resource to go back to for various aspects of ministry.