Big News!

Hello out there bloggers!
A few days ago, Ed and I were asked by some friends at Youth Specialties to film some clips for an announcement they were going to be making. As the stars of the J and Ed Variety Show, we jumped at the chance to put our awesome skills to work. I just had no idea that the announcement would be so huge and have such a big impact on YS. Here's the video:

Tic Long is coming back to YS! This calms a great deal of my nerves from before. Tic is a great great guy, and knows and respects youth workers with all his heart. Here's the blurb from YS:

He's back—Tic Long has returned to Youth Specialties! In the early years of the Youth Specialties ministry, Wayne Rice and Mike Yaconelli hired Tic Long. For more than 30 years Tic helped lead Youth Specialties and helped pioneer much of who and what the ministry is today. Tic's return as Executive Director of Youth Specialties is effective immediately. Most importantly, Tic has been tasked with leading Youth Specialties forward. His wealth of knowledge and expertise in the arena of youth ministry and his personal passion and love for youth workers will serve as a solid foundation in the growth and success of Youth Specialties.

So thanks YS for letting us be part of this announcement. And I would suggest we all continue to pray for Marko, who seems to have stumbled upon something awesome of his own!

Godspeed,

Jason

Young Girl Talking About Herself.

Ok folks. Parry Gripp has done some amazing things in the past, but today we'll focus on this video. The chorus is INSPIRED!

Enjoy!

Godspeed,

J

An(other) Open Letter

Hello my dear, beloved, Pittsburgh Penguins.

Let's face it: we've been on a little bit of a slump lately. We've lost five in a row. No fewer than three of those should have been easy wins. We haven't seen or heard from Geno Malkin for days. Fleury's confidence is somewhere down around his ankles. Mike Yeo is in a hospital. These are not good times.

But brothers, we stand together. Tonight, let's turn it around! The Steelers are out, which means every one in the city of champions is watching us. Tonight, we play the Thrashers, and we can so take them.

And if for no other reason than to use this awesome image again, let's all just remember one thing:

All business.

Kick it brothas!

GO PENS!

A Creative Tsunami!

Hello friends!
I find myself in a really odd place today. I have a lot of things that I need to be creative with (that isn't so odd, actually pretty downright normal). Usually at this point in the week I'm running around the office with the tennis ball in hand, bouncing and brainstorming all at the same time trying to get some ideas out and on to paper. It can sometimes be a dry and painful process. Nothing comes for hours or even days at a time. Typically I work my way out of such slumps with about ten minutes to spare, but everything before that is a bit nerve racking.

But this week, I seem to be in a different place, in that I have so many ideas on my mind, and not enough outlets for the ideas. I'm preaching this Sunday, and I have about 5 different directions I could take the sermon, and each sound pretty awesome in my head. I'm working on some writing for the church newsletter, a couple video ideas, some songwriting, and even some ideas for a book that's popped into my head. I feel like I'm going under a creative tsunami!

At first, this would appear to be a great thing, but it's hard! It's hard to pick just one or two of these ideas and brainstorms and commit to them. I wish I could take a week or so and just get away to write it all out, so that I'll have it when it comes again. But alas, this is not possible. I just hope that I can get as much on paper as possible without going completely insane!

What do you do if this situation ever strikes you? Are there helpful hints I should be working through?

Godspeed,

Jason

Back to work!

Hello bloggers!

After a long and relaxing Christmas Break, we're headin back to the office tomorrow morning! That means among other things, that I'm going to be coming back to blogging with a fair amount of consistency. But to get us started, here is a brief of list of things I'm excited to get back to in youth ministry:

• Our messy office.
  
• People excusing our messy office with the saying "oh, those are the youth guys."
  
• Going to a meeting with our Senior Pastor, and hearing him introduce me: "This is Jason, he's our youth guy. Could you tell?"
  
• Stopping at Dunkin Donuts on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
  
• Kids stopping by our office after school.
  
• Kids stopping by our office after school with food!
  
• Chic-fil-a Fridays.
  
• Our Tuesday morning staff bible study. So much fun/depth of conversation!
  
• Listening to pop music under the pretense of including them in worship songs.
  
• Having an awesome assistant in the desk beside me!
  
• Drinking inordinate amounts of caffeine, and justifying it with parents by reminding them of our twice yearly lock ins. It takes all year to build up to that!
  
• Writing sermons.
  
• Studying God's word.
  
• Praying for kids.
  
• Working with kids.
  
• Realizing every day that God has called me to something that is way too much fun!
  

What excites you about youth ministry?

New Life Goal Part Two

Oh gosh. I was just kidding. My real life goal is to be as awesome as "the dealer"...

New Life Goal.

Hey guys. I have a new life goal. I'll let the film do the talking...

Yeah...I want a moped. Anyone got one for sale?