The Pixar Effect

At the risk of sounding like a creepy old guy, I really enjoy going to see children's movies. Particularly the movies that have been coming out lately, really since Toy Story. Shrek, Finding Nemo, Monster's Inc. These movies are absolutely hilarious!

What strikes me at the moment though is how there are jokes or lines in these movies that only the parents are finding funny. The kids are still laughing, because there's an inherent goofiness to the characters. But the jokes are told on a level that both the kids and the adults are finding funny.

I envy this skill from these movie producers, because at the moment I'm writing a play for our Breakfast in the Manger event in a few weeks. I have the extremely difficult job of making something that is somehow funny to the kids in the audience, but also on a level that the adults may chuckle at as well. The very fact that I am sitting here blogging about it instead of writing the task at hand is an indication that I am stumped on this one, and may need some help.

What are some of your favorite jokes from kids stories? Are there any favorite children's books you like to read?

Godspeed,

Jason

The Youth Pastor's Uniform

Hello friends,

In the new Steve Jobs biography (review coming soon), Jobs talked about a trip to the Sony plant where he noticed the employes wore uniforms. He felt that the comradere that came from these shared uniforms would help his cause at Apple, but the Apple folks balked at the idea. All the same, Steve wound up coming up with his own uniform. A black mock turtleneck, Levi jeans, and simple white tennis shoes. While we all knew that was the uniform he wore at the big keynote events, I never knew that he wore that same outfit every working day! It was what made the difference between being at work, and not.

Sarah and I were just doing the laundry, and I realized that I too have defaulted to a youth pastor's uniform. Having spent some time this week at the NYWC, I realize that I am not the only one who wears this uniform. What follows is meant to be poking fun at myself, if it offends you because you share this uniform, may I suggest adding a sense of humor to your daily outfit?

On the top:

A t-shirt. This is where most youth pastors stop, but for me it is the base layer. I don't put a lot of thought into my t-shirt when it's acting as the base layer, so these are just the free shirts I've picked up from different events and camps. Unless it's going to get hot, which is possible, then I'll use one of the better shirts I've picked up from Old Navy, because I'm 12 years old.

Plaid-button up shirt. This is the key for me. I just hung up about 20 plaid shirts in my closet. I've picked them up from Old Navy (again, 12) or occasionally from someplace sophisticated (American Eagle) for when I'm feeling like I'm 14. Top button? Absolutely not! If there are long sleeves, they are to be rolled up past the elbow. None of this 3/4 crap. I've never been a fan of that.

Sweater. In colder months, I throw a sweater on top of the button up, and pop the collar out. The sweaters? Old Navy.

On the bottom:

Jeans: Old Navy (theme much?) jeans, boot cut. I tried light washes once, and just never got next to them, so my jeans are almost always dark, almost grayish.

(Option 2: Khakis from Old Navy, MUST be cargo or we're done talking.)

Shoes: I have made brightly colored shoes an icon. Here's how to order: Go to Amazon dot com, search for Adidas shoes in your size, and then use the color selector on the left side. The bolder the better. Though, make plans for accessories.

Accessories:

Watch: I am a watch fiend. Target (didn't see that coming, did you?) has some great watches. The bigger the face, the better. I want you to know what time it is from across the sanctuary. It's my ministry to you.

Socks: These need not match. Unless they are party socks:

At first, I thought it was just me. But like I said, I've seen so many youth pastors who wear the exact same uniform. So I ask you: What's missing? Feel free to poke fun at yourself (or your youth pastor for that matter!)

Godspeed,

 

Jason

Tour Review: Rob Bell's Fit to Smash Ice Tour.

Greetings friends!

Last night, Sarah and I, along with Sarah's mom, went to see Rob Bell's Fit to Smash Ice Tour. If you've been following this blog even for a few seconds, you know that I am one of the world's biggest Rob Bell fans, so there wasn't a chance I was going to miss this!

I had only missed one of his tours up until this point. Everything is Spiritual and The God's Aren't Angry were amazing. First of all, they almost made my head explode with the level of complexity and theology contained within each, to the point that I don't think I really "got it" for either of them until they came out of DVD and I could watch them two or three more times to try to wrap my head around everything. They were like two hour sermons, which when you think about it is amazing that anyone would pay money to go see in this culture of ours. He's that good of a preacher.

But last night didn't feel like a sermon. It didn't even really make my head want to explode. Rob came out with a stool and a box of props, and proceeded to tell stories. Actually, mostly stories about his personal life. I do this all the time for my sermons, but even I will confess that it takes a lot of guts to share your personal life with that many people on a nightly basis, which is what happens on a big speaking tour like that.

The topics were all over the place really, from failure to creativity to originality, and even a few moments on what it feels like to be publicly criticized for a book you'd written by faceless bloggers (it's probably no conciliation to be praised publicly by faceless bloggers, but here we are anyway...). When the event was over and I looked at my watch, I simply couldn't believe that 2 hours had passed. It felt like 5 minutes.

The tour isn't going to very many cities thus far, but if it's coming anywhere near you I'd go and see it. It's an unbelievably brave thing for someone to open his heart up like that, and when someone does, I think we all have a lot to learn from it!

Godspeed,

J

Book Review: Devotional Classics

Hello happy readers!

One of the three books that was required of my Spiritual Formation class is Devotional Classics, edited by Richard Foster and James Bryan Smith. It's a collection of the best of the best in terms of writers throughout the Christian Tradition, and offers up their thoughts on a wide variety of subjects from evangelism to scripture study.

I strongly recommend this book, particularly if you find yourself regularly in charge of a small group. I think these short little snippets would work incredibly well as a weekly study, which would give you a LOT of weeks of material (the book is well over 300 pages long). There were only a handful of authors that I had actually read before (C.S. Lewis and Thomas Merton for instance), which meant that for most of this book I was having my horizons stretched by being introduced to new authors.

Some of my favorites included Watchmen Nee, who wrote about coming to God requires nothing more than an open and honest heart. I also enjoyed folks like John Calvin and Soren Keirkegaard, both of whom I had to read in college, and neither of them did I enjoy. But this time around, perhaps with maturity or perhaps with with a renewed interest in theology, I really enjoyed what each had to say.

There are far too many authors in this book for me to go one by one and tell you what they said, but again, I say I highly recommend it for every pastor! Go pick one up today!

Godspeed,

Jason

#nywc : you've come a long way baby!

Greetings friends!

Two years ago, I was at the NYWC in Atlanta. Atlanta is still one of my favorite places to do the convention, because it's where my first one was, and truthfully I think Atlanta is an extremely cool city.

However, two years ago, I wrote this post.

YS was not in a good place. They had done what was referred to this weekend as one of the most awkward moment in youth ministry history as they paraded a bunch of dudes to promise us that all would be well. It didn't work. None of us thought all would be well. In fact, as I remember it, several of my friends and I thought that 2009 would be our last convention.

Some pretty significant things happened in the months and years that followed. Tic Long came back to run YS, a move that was heralded in by a video featuring me and Ed standing on the roof of our church (always trying to out-ridiculous each other). We went to the convention last year in Nashville, and had an absolutely marvelous time. Things felt right again. Not that change is a bad thing, it's frequently good. And YS did in fact change a bunch about the convention that year. There was just a calm over the place that was missing in the 2009 convention.

Fast forward to Sunday. Once again we're in Atlanta, and once again we're in a time of transition. Tic Long is moving on to become an executive pastor at the church that every youth pastor on earth now wants to work at (seriously, can you imagine Tic as your boss?). Instead of awkward squirms and cautious glances back and forth, this transition was met with standing ovations and (if I'm honest) a couple of tears of joy. We celebrated the great man that is Tic Long, but I think we also celebrated that YS is on track and headed in a great place.

For better or for worse, YS is a big influence on so many of us youth pastors. For me at least, it's a place of refuge and rest, a place that not only gives me books to help my ministry, but gives me resources to help my soul as well. It's my safety net in ministry, and in 2009 it looked like it had a lot of holes in it.

I am just so very excited for what is happening with YS now. Mark Matlock, Kara Powell, Doug Fields, Adam McLane (who I think is obligated to read my blog every time I mention YS, so how's it going buddy!) and the rest of the crew look like their passionate about the vision of YS, passionate about resourcing us, passionate about ministering to us so that we can minister to our students. I will miss the heck out of Tic, but things are headed in a beautiful direction.

All that said, I still plan on praying for those guys, and I hope you'll join me. I can't imagine that all that they do is easy on them, so I offer my prayers every day for them and their families.

What do you think? Were you at the convention? How do you feel about YS these days?

More to come this week!

Godspeed,

J

#nywc : Get out of the way.

Greetings from beautiful Atlanta.

We began our journey at 3:00 AM. That's disgusting. I don't even get up that early for hunting. And yet we loaded up on coffee, hopped in the car, and made the completely smooth (for the first time in recent memory) trip to Atlanta. The only issue was that I left my iPad behind on the plane, but some kind person managed to pick it up and follow me through the airport until they could catch up with me and give it back. Sometimes there are nice people in the world.

After getting checked in and visiting my favorite Starbucks, Simeon and I went to Marv Penner's seminar on teaching. By and large, this was information I already had tucked away in my subconscious. I've been doing this for 8 years now. I know a thing or two. And yet, I've known for a little while that my teaching and preaching have been flat at best this past year, so even if it's just a reiteration of what I've already known before, it can only help me at this point. Sometimes you have to remember to practice blocking and tackling.

If I have a complaint about the convention thus far, it is the gross distance one must walk to get from where the seminars are to where the big rooms are happening. Chances are this is my out-of-cycling-shape-self just rebelling, and not an actual issue. That said, I needed oxygen.

There was a lot that went on in the Big Room with Reggie Joiner and Starfield and the City Harmonic, which I don't want to just regurgitate here, because I know Youth Specialties is selling the tapes and the CDs and stuff, and they need their money. I was just struck by one message that seemed to be haunting me as I was listening and taking it all in: Get out of the way Jason. The Holy Spirit, the very agent of change in the world of the Triune God, is hard at work in your midst if you would only get out of the way and let him do what he has set out to do. The Holy Spirit is a significantly better youth pastor than I could ever be. All I need to do is show up with open hands and an open heart, begging to be allowed to participate in the communion of the Father and the Son in the lives of these teenagers.

Having been up since 3:00 AM, we came back for Epic Nap Time (and blanket strips and blanket strips and blanket strips...) Since the J-Blog has this new thing lately called "readers," and we're trying to hashtag each post with the NYWC, I'd invite you all if you stumbled upon this happy blog to offer your thoughts and comments as well. How do you need to get out of the way? What do you hope to gain from this convention? What do you think we should discuss here at the J-Blog?

How much Starbucks do you I could drink if I really put my mind to it this weekend?

Godspeed,

J

Countdown

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