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Hot dogs and the back of a VW

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Ministry happens…

It’s true.  I’ll tell you what, I do a good amount of reading, wether it is blogs, books, tweets, or online papers…  I want to know what is going on… I want to be apart of it…

Recently I’ve been reading and thinking about what service looks like.  What does it mean to serve your community?  How can serving our community make a difference in the kingdom of God?  How can our church community jump in on it?

I haven’t arrived at any concrete solid answers yet.  Probably never will, (every place is different, and circumstances always change) but I do know that there are certain avenues that I want to head towards.

This past weekend we did just that, service.  There was a handful of us and we did just that.

It was pretty simple…

Our tools were:

  • 1 VW hatchback
  • 1 EZ-Up tent
  • 1 mostly working grill (Grease Fire and all!)
  • 1 camping grill
  • 200 hot dogs
  • water bottles/soda cans
  • a couple coolers
  • 1 small vat of sauerkraut
  • 1 small vat of chili (I’m still not convinced it really was chili)

Here’s a few pictures…

What we were able to do was give away a whole bunch of hot dogs and make some great connections with people headed over to Del. Val.’s football game.  It was great.  A huge win for us (CONNECTION with people!) and for them(free hot dogs)!  This is a win for us because we were able to honestly say, this hot dog is truly free,and we don’t want/expect anything from you.  We just are here to serve you.  And in the words of my friend Rick, “We are here just trying to do whatever we can to help our community.  We’re from the church up the street.”  Love it.  It almost even sounds like a great name for the church…

What church do you go to, where are you from?  “Yeah we’re from  the Church up the Street”…

So, I think that there are two more home games.  We should be at both.  Let’s try and double our connections, double the amount of hot dogs given away and make this place a better place to live because of the difference that Jesus has made in our lives…

Thank you to Kris & Jan Gellar, Keith Cooper, Rick and Sarah Craven, Bruce Houser, Tiffany Gowesky, and many of you who donated food!  We are in this together.  Let’s keep serving our community.

Remember MINISTRY HAPPENS!

~Peter

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In Faith in Real Life

A Saltlick Discussion

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Okay, so here at the Salt lick, it’s my goal to create a community of people who can be open and honest…  From time to time, we will get into things that are a little closer to uncomfortable then other times.  I mean, for real, how uncomfortable is it to look at my beautiful kids, and hear me tell stories of my life… … not very… … but it’s not all about stories and my kids, and such.  Those are good things for sure.  BUT… 

Today I want to bring up and have an open discussion on one of those tough topics… I’m sure this will get about 1 comment.  I’m okay with that.  My goal is to help us think together.  Not see how many comments I can get.

LUST!  What’s the deal with lust?  Now, I bet your thinking… Woah, let’s keep off the sexual talk here.  Remember this is associated with church and youth group and God type stuff.  “Let me remind you Peter, we don’t talk about sex and lust and stuff like that at church.”  

Oh really?  Seriously?

Hmm…

Anyhow, let me put your fears at ease… I’m not even really concerned with sexual lust today.  {insert big sigh of relief here…}  Lust.  I have this feeling that if we are honest, you and I lust after a lot more than pretty ladies, or strong handsome Peirce Brosnan-esque guys…  (What’s with that guy anyhow…  it must be his accent, click there and you can even join his fan club!  YEAH!)  The lust I’m concerned with today is lust like this: that one dream car, the perfect job, a better baseball team (I guess you can’t all have the phillies… sorry A’s, Red Socks, Royals, Giants… ) a larger salary, a Mac, I don’t know, whatever.  

In Exodus 20:17 it clearly address this type of lust… “No lusting after your neighbor’s house—or wife or servant or maid or ox or donkey. Don’t set your heart on anything that is your neighbor’s.”  Hmm…  Think on that for a few minutes…  

This weekend Tiffany and I are going to the National Youth Workers Convention in Pittsburgh.  We are bringing 10 of our other Youth Leaders with us.  This is one of those weekends that I look forward to months in advance.  It is right up there with family vacation, Christmas, and Thanksgiving, as being on the list of things I look forward to.  It goes, Family vacation, Christmas, NYWC, and then Thanksgiving, on the list of things I look forward to. It is that crucial to my life.  Thousands of other people who get what it is that I do, and why I do it gather together to learn, worship, and be filled again…  to get back to the point of where we were when we first started doing this.  But there is the one thing that I have to fight against.  I have been going for years to NYWC. In my early days, I was pastoring a Junior High Group of about 75-90 kids… that’s huge in comparison to a lot of other ministries.  Then I went to the beautiful shores of Long Beach Island and served at a smaller church where my junior high ministry consisted of 3-5 students.  My senior high on a good night would have 20.  I currently serve in a ministry that has somewhere between 35-50 junior high students, and 45-60 senior high students.  “So what are you saying Peter?”  What I’m saying is that it is easy for me to have ministry lust.  to look at other ministries and say I wish that I could have that many kids, or that sound system, or that lighting system, or that creative support team, or a facility dedicated to youth like they do over at “The Grass is Greener over here Community of the Redeemed Church”.  

Ministry lust… I struggle.  I had it when I had 75 kids, I had it when I had 3, I have it while I have 100+ kids.  God tells us that this type of lust/coveting, is not good, in fact He commands us not to have it, not to make it apart of who we are.  So, I fight against it.  I work hard.  I ask God for strength.  But it is tough.  

Here it is… the question that you knew I was going to ask, “What non-sexual thing do you lust after? And let’s take it one step further and help each other…  How do you avoid the trap of lusting after it?”

Join in the conversation…  It’s a free skate, all are welcome…

~Peter

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In Faith in Real Life

Ego’s and Logo’s

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“It is amazing what gets accomplished when no one cares who gets the credit.  We have to lay down the ego’s and the logo’s and go get it done for Jesus.”  ~Dino Rizzo

This killed me!  I’ll tell you why.  I’m a big fan of church marketing.  As in, I want our ministry to have a cool, relevant, sweet looking logo.  I want to have a sweet website and an awesome student center, and a hooked up snack shop.  I’m a big fan.  I want our student ministry to drip with excellence.  I want more than anything for our ministry to be known as a place where you can come and be known by students, and be loved on, a place where you can meet God, hear from God, and have a great time doing it.  I want our ministry at FBC to wreak havoc in the sin life of students.  I want this for US.  I want this for OUR church.  I want this for OUR students.  

Here’s what killed me.  Do I care more about who gets the credit in all the good stuff that happens than I care that students are meeting and growing closer to God?  I PRAY NOT!  Sometimes we allow the “stuff” to get in the way of what God wants to do in and through us!  The logo’s, the buildings, the instruments, the furniture, and the lights can distract us from our mission.  Do I want all of those great things for my friend who is the Youth Pastor at the nearby church?  Do I rejoice when his ministry grows?  Do we work together to accomplish more than we could dream possible by ourselves?  What keeps us from doing that?  What keeps us from reaching out to our friends, helping where help is needed?  

So, I realize that you do not all have the joy/privilege of being youth pastors.  I realize that maybe not all of you are even people who would consider themselves inside the Christian faith.  But here is what I am thinking: What is getting in the way of you accomplishing something significant for God?  What is getting in the way of you coming to know who God is in a new, fresh, life changing way?

God is stretching me.  I know that…  I’m just thinking…  You?

~Peter

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In Faith in Real Life

I laughed out loud…

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I’m a Youth Pastor, I believe my official title is student ministries pastor, but let’s not argue over semantics… I’ve been a Youth Pastor for a little over 6 years now I guess. Crazy, I know… But I have learned a few things. I have learned that as a Youth Pastor, there are only a select few people out there in the world who truly understand what it is that you actually do for a living. Then I found out that there are only a select few people in the “church world” who actually understand what it is that you do for your ministry. I’ve also learned that unlike our current judicial systems practice of innocent until proven guilty, as a youth pastor you are irresponsible until proven responsible. Maybe some of my colleagues have helped contribute to all of these stereo types. Call them what you will, alot of times they true. Youth Pastors are a special breed.

So, as i was getting my daily blog intake, I stumbled upon this little jewel. It comes from my man out in California. Non other than the Mr. Joshua Griffin. Josh is on staff at Saddleback, He authors a blog called, More than dodgeball, and today he posted on 4 hot looks for Youth Pastors this summer. You can read his entire post here. Here is a snippet of what he wrote…

“Here’s what I think are the hot looks for those male youth workers out there this summer:

The shaved head – an emerging trend in youth ministry, probably taken from worship leaders that sported them for a while. Hopefully we won’t also start frosting our tips next, too. WARNING: Have a bunch of sunblock ready for those outdoor events, and make sure you’re keenly self-aware how far your ears stick out before you start cutting that much off. PS: This one is often used to disguise premature balding, and can be used in combination with any of the following 3 other hot styles.

The soul patch – I’m sporting this right now, and loving it. Not too much maintenance, it is a bit understated and not quite as mainstream. It’s like discovering a great small-time band before they go big. Then everyone gets on the wagon and buys the album so it’s time to discover something else. That’s the fashion express train I’m riding. I’m also hoping that worship leaders won’t try and also take credit for this one.”

Um… just a second while I insert a picture here…

So, hmm… I’m not sure what all this means… But it is funny, and interesting. More funny than interesting though.

I would like to add a special note here too. For all of you skeptics… NO, I DID NOT JUST GO AND SHAVE MY HEAD BECAUSE JOSH SAID IT WOULD BE HOT!

And about the soul patch… well, I’m going to admit something and just lay it out there for you all. I have been babying those 27 hairs since I was in 10th grade. I think that I have shaved them maybe 3 times in the history of me shaving… So, the soul patch and I go way back…  Here’s proof, check out this old school picture of me rockin the soul patch, and the long hair from almost 3 years ago…

What style have you been rockin these days?

~Peter

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In Faith in Real Life

Community… Love… And all that other good stuff…

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You want to know what ticks me off?  Church’s and Youth Groups that are surface level and shallow.  There I said it.  I’ll be honest.  It truly cuts me to my core.  This is so frustrating, because God created us to live for so much more than just a shallow “surfacey” existence with one another.  (sounds like a good song, maybe John Foreman should write one.)  As Christians we should be setting the bar for what it looks like to have relationships with one anther, and what it looks like to belong, and have a sense of importance and acceptance, and genuine love from others.  We have been wrestling with this thought and others recently in our student ministry here at FBC.  We have titled it, “Our IPODS are different”.  We have been checking out and studying 1 Corinthians 12 & 13.  The basic idea is that we are each made incredibly different.  And that is a good thing.  God made it that way.  Yet, why then do we want everyone to look like me, act like me, and be like me?  And then here’s the kicker:  If you aren’t like me, then we just can’t be friends.  

How do we develop community?  What ways can we grow together; Youth Group’s, Church’s, Blogging communities, Scouts, Biker Clubs, even knitting groups… How can we grow together and develop a sense of belonging?  This has got to be the most difficult question.  If I had the answer I would publish a book and sell it.  I might call it something like, “The Purpose driven life” or the “Purpose Driven Church”, or even the “Purpose Driven Youth Ministry”.  I have read all three of those books.  They are great books.  But right now I am looking for more.  

I want our ministry here at FBC to be one which is defined by love; Love for God, Love for others, and Love for Family.  How do we do accomplish this?  Do you guys have any ideas?  How can we communicate love to each other in a real, non romantic way?  How can we start right now and make a difference on our community here in Doylestown PA?

~Peter

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In Faith in Real Life

A Fresh Face

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So, here we are, and obviously this is much different then the last time you were here on my blog.  Two main differences that you’ll notice; a new format, and a new name.  Here’s my rationale.  First off for the name, I have recently been teaching in our student ministry that God calls us the salt of the earth.  We have unpacked that idea, and have determined that part of why we are here on earth is to raise the saltiness here on earth.  Mainly, the saltiness being how we represent God to others.  My desire in my blog is to write about current events, things going on in my life, what God is teaching me, and many other things.  Above all, I want my blog to be about raising the saltiness in this world.  A 50 lb salt lick attracts wildlife for miles around to come over and taste the flavor of the salt.  It is my desire that as Christians we would attract people from miles around simply to experience God because they notice something flavorful about us.  So, the Salt lick seemed to make sense to me.  

Now, in terms of the platform, why did I make the change?  Well, here’s the deal, I am a mac guy, through and through, and the last blog I was creating was one which I made in iweb.  It was good and all, however, it was tied specifically to one computer.  I was realizing that I wasn’t posting as much as I wanted, simply because I wasn’t near my computer, and I guess when I was near my computer I had tons of other things that needed doing.  So, it is my hope that using a web based blog I will be able to keep a little more up to date with you all.  So, check back often, subscribe even if you like.  But anyhow, So, welcome to the salt lick.  I hope that it is amusing, interesting, thought provoking, and insightful.  At least I can promise you that it will be my honest thoughts!  

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