Hmmm..

Maybe you have felt this? That nagging stab in you heart that something isn't finished. That God wrenching pull that draws you to your knees,begging for another go round. Painful as it may be you want it! Bring it you scream, longing for the anticipated day to quench this unquenchable desire to be used by this all powerful sovern God whom holds every fragment of life in His being? Oh, how the bitterness of my sin and past try's to remind me that I am not worthy of His grace. How badly do you want to be used by the Lord? Is it so bad that you lay awake at night like me? How desperate are you to help the hurting in this world? As I am writing I feel that undeniable burning in the back of my nose of tears approaching yet I don't want to stop them... Ive had enough Lord.. I'm ready for you. I honesty can not stand another heart breaking moment when another teen walks away from me and me say nothing..

This may not be exactly you but have you felt this way before? Share.


Until the whole world hears,

-JD

The end to 8 years of my life.

It was a good run. As this will be the last entry to this youth pastors blog. Through prayer and a clear directing God is at work in our family and in our hearts. Even as I write this its weird to think about. I have devoted 8 years of my life to youth ministry and have many stories to tell. Good times,sad times and ones that I will never forget. God is good. He always has been and he always will be. I have found that in big decisions,God is most of the time clear and this is no exception. Threw many closed doors into a future of youth ministry positions and countless interviews and rejection letters God has moved our hearts desires to other things.As a finish my B.A I can see that God is working in my own heart,refining and making me trust in him more. Anyone who knows me or my family knows what I stand for. My God, My family and My country. With this in mind it should be know surprise that God would work all of those together for our good and for his Glory. As a family we see great potential for me to become and officer in the U.S Army and to serve,protect and defend this country that I so love. I was raised to be tough,its who I am and God has thought me how to think wisely. As I explain to my Dad, "This isn't about another country boy picking up a gun and shooting,this about being apart of something that I believe in." I believe in why we are fighting and know that God is in full control. As I continue to do more research will you be in prayer with us as we get closer to graduation and the thoughts of O.C.S (Officer Candidate School) God has been so good to myself and Kellie in 8 years of youth ministry and we know that if this is Gods way for us to go then ( Lord Willing ) so will the next 20 years be as an Army officer.

We love you all,

Josh and Kel

What's Most Important

In the innermost parts of my being all I want to tear my cloths and cry bitterly until God greats me clarity. When I embarked on this missional model youth journey I could have never amagenged that my family would suffer,strain and have to over persevere from discouragement. When I pray, I can't. The rage of frustration overwhelms me and all I want is to hide from the Lord. Why? Because I cant face him right now. I have rejected his heart. With all of the criticism that I have received lately about thinking mission-ally it has created a crushed heart within me. How do you regain a dusted heart? Only in HIM,the one heart creater, the only one that can create a better heart in me;period. Even as I sit hear I feel the healing of Christ filling me heart as tears fall from my face. Its so healing to cry ( I never cry) It must be Christ.

As I consider all that God has challenged Kel and I with in the past couple of months I have learned that there is only one thing I need in my life. Only one God one man..Jesus. If all falls(Like it has) I have learned that HE.. HE.. HE!!!! is all I NEED! Whats most important in life? I don't know what it is for you but I hope you don't have to walk in the shoes of brokenness and suffering to find out.

Love you all,

-JD

Are we doing this wrong?

From the dawn of time have we been doing youth ministry wrong? I was challenged by this though all last week in at a conference called Verge. The conference in of its self was not about youth ministry but rather the "church" as a whole. Have we always done "church" right?

Common culture tells us that " The way we are doing Church is fine, this is the way we have always done it." Or is it?

In the book of Acts we find that the early church starts in homes (Acts chapter 2). Was this for a reason? Sure, Of course. We as a body of believers were and are made (created) for community i.e (if you have ever tried to spend a whole day or two by yourself you go bonkers...)

lets rewind of a sec and look at how we got here to our current state of church.

In comes Constantine.

The Roman Emperor Constantine the Great converted to Christianity following his victory at the Battle of Milvian Bridge in 312. Under his rule, Christianity rose to become the dominant religion in the Roman Empire, and for his example of a "Christian monarch" Constantine is revered as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church and Oriental Orthodox Church. Not only the details of his adoption of Christianity make the religious beliefs of Constantine I interesting; theologians and historians alike have argued about the question to which form of Christianity Constantine ultimately converted, with regard to the legitimation of religious persecution.

Though Emperor Constantine I had been exposed to Christianity by his mother, St. Helena, there is scholarly controversy as to whether he adopted his mother's Christianity in his youth, or whether he adopted it gradually over the course of his life.^[1] Whatever the case, Constantine's endorsement of the tradition was a turning point for Early Christianity. In 313, Constantine issued the Edict of Milan, legalizing Christian worship, and the emperor would be a great patron of the Church and set a precedent for the position of the Christian Emperor within the Church and the notion of orthodoxy that would be followed for centurie (Wikipedia)

Historians now debate whether "the first Christian emperor" was a Christian at all. Some think him an unprincipled power seeker. What religion he had, many argue, was at best a blend of paganism and Christianity for purely political purposes.

In short, In his attempt to mark his place in history he in some ways jacked church up for us. He created this ranking system. We not call that Pastor, Elders and everyone else. Sound familiar with the Catholic church's early days? Martin Luther? The job of a pastor is to equip the saints not rule.

Is there anything wrong with the way we do church? I'll remind us of some verses and you can let the Holy Spirit for your opinion.

Matthew 28:16-20 (New International Version)

The Great Commission

¹⁶Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go.¹⁷When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. ¹⁸Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in^{a]" style="font-size: 0.75em; line-height: 0.5em; ">[a]} the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

Matthew 9:35-38

The Workers Are Few

³⁵Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. ³⁶When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. ³⁷Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. ³⁸Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."

He ain't talking about not having enough pastors...

IF we are so focused on being IN the church and being tough too rather than being the church, have we been doing this all wrong? The church building is a nessary evil. Is a pastor a nessary evil? Ha, maybe. We never find the title "Pastor" in the Bible, but we do find teacher. But in all truth what if all of the leadership in our modern day church's empowered the people to BE the church rather that coming to CHURCH. In retrospect ALL are pastors. All congragents and those who belong to Jesus are pastors! What if leadership made people do more church in there homes and encouraged them to be more active in sharing the gospel in the work place and in there free time rather than creating activities to occupy their time? Would we have more people hearing about Jesus? I hope.

Final though...

Revelation 2

To the church in Ephesus

¹"To the angel^{a]" style="font-size: 0.75em; line-height: 0.5em; ">[a]} of the church in Ephesus write:
These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands: ²I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. ³You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. ⁴Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. ⁵Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.

We can do everything "right" in our church's: Protect Doctrine, Sing Praises, not tolerated wickedness Etc,etc,etc. But, if we don't LOVE Jesus FIRST.. What kind of "church" are we?

Check these books out if your still lost....

The Forgotten Ways

" Alan Hirsch"

Organic Church or Organic Leadership

"Niel Cole"

Or search Missional Model Church

Give us the Truth!

" A dog barks when his master is attacked.I would be a coward if I saw that God's Truth is attacked and yet would remain silent."

- John Calvin

Being in and around many different types of church's and many different kinds of people, I have learned that there is a Truth war going on all around us. how do we react when someone doesn't tell us the truth? We get pissed right? Why? We hunger for truth. We want to know if we are being lied too. We want to know that the people that we trust are not telling us a lie. From a secular stand point we hate it when people lie. What about in a context of scripture? Is there such a thing as not telling the truth in scripture?

The lie I hear the most is " There are other ways to get into heaven."

This is what im taking about. Is it true that there are other ways?

John 14:6

⁶Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Where's the Father? Aw, found em'. Hes in heaven. Jesus is the only passage way unto Heaven. He is the pathway! He is the Lamb! He is the anoited one! HIS Blood was shed! And HIS life was the only one that was perfect inorder for US to be with the Father forever and ever! There is no other way. Either you have him or you dont.

" But I followed the Ten Commandents and im a good person, I'll get in".

To where, Red Lobster? Surely not heaven.

Matthew 7:21-23

²¹"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. ²²Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' ²³Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!

Whats the way to Heaven? Jesus, and Jesus Alone.

This truth war is all around us. Its in our jobs,homes, schools and even churches. The goal in mind is this... What are we teaching the youth of our days about?What are we saying is truth when, it is only lies.

How long will I and (we) stand for the Truth of God not being told accurately?

Our Youth Deserve the TRUTH.

When will youth ministry make sense?

My hope an goal behind in making this blog is encourage and help other youth pastors and youth workers to not grab the proverbial "gun" and put it to your head. I am ALWAYS up for some good advice about what is working with everyones youth. Doing rule or just normal youth ministry is tuff. I hope that this will help others and myself in this calling to minister to the future of Christ followers.

For HIS Glory,

-Josh Duren