We Are Havin’ A Baby!!!!

“Are you serious?” followed by “WOW“. That was my reaction to hearing the news about becoming a daddy last week! That moment my life changed. The Bible looked different. My wife looked different. Everything looked different. I began to think like a dad…….then I fell back into the couch and said, “WOW” maybe a dozen times! We told 412 last night and we have about 70 volunteer babysitters lined up (can I pay them with soft drinks?). I remember sitting where they were at as a teen, hearing the news of an adult leader having a baby and thinking, wow…..but now I am that person….WOW!….followed by a gulp!

That Kinda Girl!

I remember sitting in a pew at HPPC in Tampa, FL on a bright sunny morning. I was sweating. My stomach was flip flopping every which a way. I held in my hand a ring. Not just any ring, but my Grandmother Luna’s ring. My mom had given it to me to give to that “special someone”. It was time. I had been working for almost a year in Tampa, FL as the Youth Director and saved up a little bit of money. Annie was about to graduate from ORU. I knew it was now or never. I sat on the first pew asking God, “HELP ME!”. I walked to my office and melted into my chair. I was nervous about her answer, but I was even more nervous about how good of a husband I would be if she said yes. I hit play on the cd already loaded in the computer…it was dcTalk “that kinda girl“…..yeah God had a since of humor. I listened to the words, and was like…WOW, Annie is the girl that song talks about. I couldn’t believe it. I giggled. Then all of a sudden the nervous bug hit me…..actually slapped me in the face with a 2 by 4, like Haksaw Jim Duggan!  I saw my Bible on the desk, and grabbed it. I did exactly what I tell our youth not to do…….”ask God a question & open the Bible to whatever page fate gives you”. I looked down….Proverbs 31. I took a big gulp and thanked God for continuing to speak to me, even though I am hard headed. 

Pet Rocks vs. Rocking Out

I have declared this day to rock. Not the kind that you bought from a store (you know who you are)…but the rock out music kind! I have been listening to one song in particular today, “Shine Like The Stars” by Stellar Kart. It’s simplistic, but powerful. The lyrics are amazing. It’s one of those songs that get in your head, and the next thing you know you are doing the air guitar on top of your desk office (if Pastor is reading this….I have never done that & it’s a horrible idea!). Here are the lyrics:

The Rattler

I recently took a trip with my youth group to Six Flags: Fiesta Texas (in San Antonio, TX). We had a blast! There was one ride that took my breath away…literally. The youth were heading out & it was almost closing time, but I convinced my wife to ride one more…THE RATTLER. 

179 Texts @ Youth

I read from a GROUP magazine about an awesome idea for a game. The concept was to have a message on the big screen and have members of the youth group text you the message to your phone. They send you their phone numbers so you can build a quick database for the ministry and give a prize for the fastest, # 9 messenger, etc. All the youth have phones and 99.9% text message more than they talk. I figured, why not have a game around that fact (see my last post on being relevant!). It worked, 412 had about 70 youth Wednesday and I received 179 texts! HA, it worked to good! The funny part was after the first 3 text, my phone got jammed. Two minutes later my counter on the phone was flying off the charts. It went from 3 to 21 to 47 to 81 to 97. I was like, “STOP CALLING ME” (note to future self, that only makes the youth laugh harder). As their fingers were sending digital messages, I heard my wife’s beautiful voice over the sound system, “Do we have unlimited text”. Uh-oh! Course that made it even funnier for everyone! I cut my phone off & my volunteers collected the youth’s phones (we began to do that a month ago because of the distractions during services). The next morning I realized I never turned my phone back on……as soon as I did that, I had 30 more messages with texts saying, “Good morning pastor Robbie” or “hahahaha” or “am I #100?”. I love youth ministry! This is one of the many reasons that I cannot picture myself doing anything else. God, you have a sense of humor! Needless to say I am heading to Sprint to get unlimited text today….but I have everyone’s phone numbers at 412 & that makes it worth while.

R U Relevant?

I am youth pastor that is stuck in a 29 year old body, but with the mind of a 15 year old. At least that’s my goal when it comes to youth ministry. Staying current and staying relevant are top priorities for me. I believe it was Jesus’ as well. What does that mean? 

Shadrack Meshach, Abednego, & and Robbie?

I cannot just read the Bible. I have to put myself in it. I want to taste the fish, feel the desert air, hear the kids laughter, and touch the helm of Jesus’ garment. As I was working on my middle school chapel lesson for tomorrow, the story in Daniel 1 left my head spinning. Those dudes had faith! Not just, faith that “everything will be ok” or the faith “I bet that chair will hold me” faith. I am talking faith with a capital F!  I preach from the comfort of a MAC, sound system, volunteer helpers, and a nice building. There is no regulation of what I can or can’t say (except for blasmophies or cuss words!). The government is ok with us meeting together as a congregation, as a family. Those guys didn’t have that luxary. Would my actions be the same as Shadrack’s? Is my faith strong enough to endure whatever it takes? As Americans, we especially need to examine our view of Godly faith, because for the most part we are living ok. My biggest hardship is a senior higher running me over on a highway or a parent blasting me over the phone for whatever reasons. I read somewhere that faith in God isn’t a guarantee that you’ll coast through life without problems or that God will always rescue you. Being a Christian and living a faithful, obedient life actually sets you up for conflict with your culture. You can expect it. So here is the question: Do we have faith like Shadrack, Meshach, and Abednego? Time to cut the iPod off & talk to God about it. See Ya!  

38 youth & counting!

Since I am in the mood for giving props, I would like to give a big shout out for some of our middle school youth at 412. I have attended FCA events for two years at Kitty Hawk Middle School. It has been awesome…..except for the fact that a coach and myself were the only one in attendance last week?! It has been a steady decline. That prompted an emergency meeting at youth group that following night. I asked the youth, if they really wanted to see God move at there school. They all said yes (good answer in front of the youth pastor!). FCA is one avenue that they could take and run with. Of course they already knew that and for whatever reason, just failed to make it that week and the week before. I challenged them to be the church in Acts….to get the word out, at all costs (within school policies!). That means: posters, announcements, myspace messages, facebook messages, texts, emails, phone calls, and high fives on the school buses. We prayed together about it and that was it. The goal was 75 youth (their#, not mine!). We had the big dream and gave it to God. Yesterday, we had 38! God is ridiculous!! Plus the youth had the state wide testing going on so a lot of people didn’t go because they thought it was canceled. I told our 412′ers that 38 is HUGE and get ready for next week! What if our youth groups actually took the concept of the early church in Acts. The revivals would be huge….correction, the revivals WILL be huge! Good job Kitty Hawk FCA, keep it up! I encourage every student to be the example at their school and watch God change the campus from the inside out.

A Youth Pastor’s Wife…..

All I can say is wow. I want to give major props for all the Youth Pastor’s wives out there world wide. It takes a special kind of lady to be one. Much love to all the Pastoral wives, but Youth Pastor wives are just special cause they deal with the crazy youth 24-7 (and their husbands)! My wife is going to kill me for typing this but I gotta give here props. Let’s look at a typical wednesday:

• First she has to wake me up (that is a nearly impossible feat, she even uses the dog sometimes).
• Then she heads to work (public middle school….have fun with the bugger jokes & middle school drama).
• Leaves work, & drives across town to church at 4:30pm.
• Then helps to lead the youth praise team practice.
• Listens to the problems of the girls (everything from parents to the guy that doesn’t myspace back?!).
• Fixes the lights for the stage at 412.
• Helps with the slide show on our blessed MAC (next to Madden & sweet tea….MAC is one of the greatest inventions ever).
• Then prays with the girls after service (more about parents and relationships!). Helps me clean up and waits for the parent that shows up a hour after service is over.

 WoW. I know my wife is not the only wife out there that does that. LOL, we haven’t even talked about Sunday morning, the times off the church campus, and other pastoral stuff. I would like to personally thank all the Youth Pastor wives throughout this great world wide web land & say a big thank you! Annie, you are incredible!

God is in the Ham

Ham. It’s one of my favorite meats (sorry vegeterians, it rocks!). I like it plain, with mustard, or even ketchup. I love it so much that I could eat it everyday………….actually, I take that back!   After we got back from an awesome, but tiring retreat…I was ready to eat. I noticed that our fridge was pretty much empty except for the condiments and some cheese. I went to the kitchen closet that holds all the normal stuff: oatmeal, beans, chips, and other random assortments. Nothing. Nothing was there….even the ramen was gone. I laughed & decided it was time to hit up HEB! I did notice a huge bag of ham that was leftover from the weekend retreat. I dived in. It was good….really good! Later that afternoon, my wife called me upset (not the angry wife upset, but the freaked out wife upset). She was paying some bills online, only to find that there was no money in the bank. What happened? I have no idea, except for the knowledge that somewhere Dave Ramsey was giving us the evil eye. Come to find out, we just overextended out spending money for that time period. That sent me freaking out (picture chicken little running in circles) and then my wife reminded me that the following week we would have plenty of money in the bank (praise God for paychecks!). I knew she was right. LOL, it seems like she always is! She asked what we had at the house. I was like: HAM! I actually giggled, cause I love some ham (as stated earlier). No problem, we thought…we have enough ham and hamburgers to tough it out. God you rock! That train of thought worked, but by my 3rd lunch of Ham…I began to question it. I began to despise Ham. It was right up there with satan, chick flicks, and the last hour of a lock-in waiting for parents to come. My answered prayer soon became curses at the bank, God, and the fridge!  Well, the paychecks later came in and we have a full fridge of everything from pickles to Hot Pockets. Even some date money to chill with! I am happy. The stars have aligned and the moons are in sync. I stopped by Shipley’s this morning to get a cup of Joe. As I gave the lady $0.97 at the drive thru, I had to giggle. This time two weeks ago I was eating nothing but ham and now I am going a couple of miles out of the way to buy some coffee that isn’t necessary. God is a great provider, but “Robbie, your a moron” was my thought process.  God provided extra ham from the retreat to feed me for a week. He provided a hot meal twice a day. I didn’t have to beg for food or eat stale chips…I had loads of free ham! Did I deserve the ham….NO….but God blessed me.   I think about the Israelites and how they were in the wilderness begging God for something to eat. He provided food everyday, but they grew tired of it (Exodus 16). They complained & said they would be better off dead. God provided me ham to eat, and yet I grew tired of that as well. What the heck?! Are we really that blind not to accept a free gift like that? Instead of thanking Him daily, we take stuff for granted and even get upset at times. Who do we think we are? Arrogant!! As I was driving on 1604, I thanked God for waking me up to this thought process and thanked Him for the ham and the coffee! I wished I’d gotten a donut too though. God laughed.