j.p. serrano

Today is my twin brother’s birthday.  Rarely do I find it strange when we show up to church wearing the same clothes, or when we go see the same movie on the same day or any of the other odd twin things we do, but Friday weirded me out.

On Friday, while procrastinating on homework, I chose to take the next step in my “secret” love for zombie movies.  I decided that I would start collecting their DVD’s.  So I created a wish-list in my Amazon account entitled Zombie Stuff.

About 2 hours after creating this list, I took a phone call from my brother telling me that my birthday gift was delivered to my home. After a long day at work, I got home and opened a box from Amazon–It was a book on the history of Zombie movies and two movies.

There is no way he could have known that I wanted to start collecting them since I put up the list on the same day as recieving the box—-WEIRD!

-jps

So, I am not sure when it became acceptable to put children on leashes. This woman is out with a child, but something is amiss, notice how she is holding the leash, do you see it, she is walking this child like one walks a dog. Also notice how close they are standing, why not hold hands?  There us no wonder why children feel abandoned by the adult world, we treat them like animals. We don’t touch them, we ignore them.

Can you imagine if there were leashes during Jesus time?  Jesus would be telling the parents, not the disciples to not hinder the children from coming to him.  

This really, really bothers me!

Jps

I have been discussing with some people the “controversy” of woman in ministry.  I put controversy in quotes, because for me the issue is settled.  There is no doubt in my mind that women have the blessing of God through scripture, tradition, and communal witness, to exercise their gifts, whatever they may be.  This includes being a Pastor, Elder, Bishop, or any other role in the church.

I went to my first all seminary chapel today, and I was pleasantly surprised.  The preacher was Erin Default-Hunter–I could sit and listen to her for hours.  She is a fine preacher, with good theology, and a great message.  If you want to watch it for yourself you will need iTunes and a this link.  Her gifting for preaching is evident.  She is a reminder for me that there are good female preachers and poor female preachers, just as there are good male preach and poor male preachers.

David Scholer, may he rest in peace, has written excellent reader on the subject–Selected Articles on Hermeneutics and Women and Ministry in the New Testament.   If you all know of any other good books on the subject, let me know.

-jps

Well today was a great day at the nywc. I skipped the first general session, but went to the break out seminars–Sometimes sleep is more important, and yesterday was a long day.

Tonight we heard three speakers all were very good. What I took home that was most meanigful is this–we must all keep in our minds the difference between the ends and the means. The end in youth ministry is having kids be radically involved with the mission of Jesus and loving God while carrying out that mission. The means is youth group, mission trips, games, fun, talks, coffee fellowship etc. The problem comes when I forget that the means are not the end, they point to something beyond and that is Jesus. I forget this sometimes and in turn the congregation forgets it.

Here is a photo of Tic Long. He is the guy who puts this all together.

Today is our first day at the National Youth Worker Convention in Sacramento. We have yet to leave the hotel, but the wonders of the Embassy Suites is amazing the children. I am really excited about the convention, it is rejuvinating for me and in turn my ministry. I’ll keep y’all updated throughout the day. Here is a photo of the children eating our FREE breakfast.

I find that the more I lead worship for my congregation, the easier it gets, the less stressed I am, and the more worshipful I feel.  I am so grateful that I have a Pastor who trusts me enough to take over in his stead when he is on vacation.  The kind of experience I am gaining is heads and tails above other seminary students.

I tend to be pretty serious when I preach, my next sermon needs to be more light hearted.  

The congregation is great, they are always very encouraging.  God has really blessed me, and put me in a church that is as awesome as this.  

-jps

I just saw Kimbo Slice fight, and was excited that he lost……. Now we can all see that the hype was…well….hype.  

I do appreciate that he took it well and was a good sport.  That says a lot about his character.

He seems like he has a pretty good sense of humor evident by these videos. (caution, these videos have some foul language)

jps

Here is a wordle of my sermon.

What is the most important function of Youth Ministry?

A)   Introducing young people to Jesus.

B)    Providing healthy activities.

C)   Involving young people in service.

D)   Good theological training.

E)   Making them leaders.

ANSWER: None of the above.

The most important function of youth ministry is life-long discipleship—to join with parents in shaping children into unabashed, boisterous, reckless followers of the way of Jesus.

I think often we have mistaken notions and expectations for what ministry to young people should look like.  I often hear that the young people should have more activities; extra events in general—more stuff “to do.”  But discipleship does not come through more fun activities.   In fact, I am of the school of thought that believes we should slow down, live fully in the present, and see God in the stillness.  It is the job of every youth ministry to stop the ever quickening, plugged in, pace of youth and help them waken to the presence of God around us.  It the job of the youth leaders to help the youth become fully awake to what God is doing around them.

A youth ministry cannot only be about one thing, but it can have one goal with a wide base for support.  That is why here we focus on the F.L.O.W. way of forming lifelong disciples. F.L.O.W. stands for: Fellowship, Learning, Outreach, Worship.  Our ministry to Jr. & Sr. High youth takes the following shape. 

We meet weekly for Youth Group and Sunday School, so youth can fellowship with one another and learn about the Bible.  Once a month, we have an activity for youth to bring their friends.  This month the youth group will be trick or treating together.  This is an activity that is created in such a way that youth can feel comfortable bringing their friends knowing that it will not be a “churchy” activity.   It is a good way for them to make connections in the group.  We have also been doing Outreach/Service this year by providing lunches for the Union Station Foundation.  Additionally, we encourage the youth to come weekly worship.

            We have a very solid Jr. & Sr. High ministry, to get to this stage in the ministry building process has taken time (2 years) and patience.  As we come into the New Year expect to see some changes to the Children’s Ministry with a similar focus of helping children become life-long disciples.

            Change comes slowly for good reason.  We must be careful of what we are focusing on, if it is anything other than Jesus, we have lost our way.  If it becomes about numbers or fear that we are a dying congregation, then we will have completely missed the words of our Savior, when he says “Go and make disciples.”  We don’t make disciples by providing more “stuff.”  We make disciples by getting into peoples lives, having lasting relationships, praying with them, studying scripture with them, and bringing them into a community where they can be loved and appreciated for who they are.

Peace,

Jeremy Serrano

F.Y.I. iThoughts are articles I write for My Church’s monthly newsletter.