I’m not a big believer in the bulletin method of announcements. My church is one that can have between 5 and 10 pieces of loose paper in every bulletin every week- so they are easy to ignore.

But, last week, it worked. No joke. It worked.

I put a flyer that read: “We are missing a few pieces, and it just might be you.”

Below I listed 4 blue collar jobs and a brief description of the job that I needed help with. I specifically didn’t say it was for students because I didn’t want them thinking I needed youth or that they had to love kids in order to help. I asked for the following 4 people:

• CARPENTER/CABINET MAKER
• SEAMSTRESS
• ELECTRICIAN
• WELDER/PAINTER

By the time Sunday was over, God brought me everyone but the electrician. I’m not kidding. I had a welder/painter who owns his own car body shop come and tell me that he has attended journey for over a year and not served and this was the perfect job for him. He’s stoked to do it.

I had a grandma take a curtain home to repair it on Monday.

Then tonight I spoke with a cabinet maker on the phone. I have built 5 cabinets for our high school room so far: a sound booth, a check in booth, a game cabinet, and 2 kitchen lowers. But I have two sets of upper kitchen cabinets that have been waiting to be built in my garage. I’ve been tripping over for 18 months because I can’t find or make the time to finish it for church and now it’s going away. TOMORROW! I’m taking it to Journey and a professional cabinet maker is taking it off my hands.

I think I danced when I got off the phone. I might have even screamed. It was such a victory.

AS A RESULT, THERE ARE AT LEAST THREE LEADERSHIP LESSONS/REMINDERS FOR ME IN THIS:

• ASK FOR HELP. People really want to serve- especially those who think “God can’t use my skill set in the church.”

• ASK FOR HELP MORE OFTEN. I end up doing more than I should because I’m too quick to say, “I could do that”. (The honest truth is I can do all of those tasks. I can sew, paint, weld, wire lights, and build a cabinet. Problem is, based on my leadership demands, I shouldn’t be doing any of them right now.)

• WORK SMART FIRST, WORK HARD SECOND. It took work to find the help. It just took me working smarter, and in the end, it turned out to be way less work than doing it myself. I should know that by now. But it’s taken 14 years of knocking the stupid out of me to find this victory moment.

THANKS JESUS. THANKS JOURNEY VOLUNTEERS. YOU ROCK. I LITERALLY COULD NOT DO THIS WITHOUT YOU.

I found myself randomly encouraged in the last 2 days by two really random sources.

1. I read this article which I found on Marko’s blog. I used it in my message on Sunday to challenge our students to consider what it says or doesn’t say about the idea that “everyone matters.” In my opinion, it is an article about an act that is degrading to women in the clearest way and presses the issue of “everyone matters” in some negative ways. However, the more I thought about it, it’s also one of the greatest encouragements I think a young woman might have today. It demonstrates that our secular culture believes that a woman in her 20’s who has held onto her virginity possesses such a rare commodity that it is worth at least $250,000. Consequently, when [in this case] I challenge the young women in our ministry take their virginity into marriage, they take a gift that even our non-believing society acknowledges is both immensely valuable and extremely rare. In a backwards way, that’s encouraging.
2. Tonight I was reading for seminary and had the Jets vs. Charger game on, but without volume. So at one point I looked up, just in time to see Brett Favre throw an interception that was then promptly taken back for a Charger touchdown. In the next frame, while the Chargers celebrate, Farve is shown on the screen with this title “NFL record holder for most career interceptions: 290“. I immediately was encouraged. If a man who is surely headed for the NFL hall of fame as a quarterback can hold such a horrible record and still be regarded as one of the best of all time, there is hope. I can be a total screw up in some areas and still be considered immensely valuable. In a backwards way, that’s encouraging too.

I don’t often “get” mark driscoll. But that doesn’t mean much I suppose.

It means we don’t share the same view on many issues in the church. It means we could have a spirited debate over a beverage. It doesn’t mean I think he’s not a believer or satan- all of which I’m sure he’s been called- mostly because he rarely minces words. He has a long reputation of “speaking his mind” and with his extreme views, creating a love him or hate him environment. It also creates, like a big political figure, a long list of followers in a grip of locations in the Seattle area.

Regardless, his latest teaching series is one I ran across by accident today. I heard it was from Mark Driscoll on the Song of Songs so I was already skeptical. I’m sure we don’t share a lot of the same views on sexuality, women, or the interpretation on this book’s literary form.

But I was utterly unprepared for this website. It’s not my picture of the image of the Biblical book. It’s not my picture of Mark. And it is utterly weird. I think they might have hired a new web animator with an idea and a paycheck. I don’t get it. Maybe the teaching will clear it up. Maybe not.

I have hair issues.

#1. It’s running to the back of my head. (It’s not coming out my ears yet, but I’m sure it will)

#2. It’s evidently growing more on one side of my face than the other. My wife said during a conversation today, “can we talk about your side burns?” I said, “No. What are you talking about?” She said one is longer than the other significantly.

So I took the photo evidence of my stupid sideburns who evidently don’t talk to one another and my forehead that is gaining real estate.

don’t worry, I have a solution. I’m going to cut it off my side burn and glue it on my head.

I went to the wedding of a former student last April. Today I got the thank you note from this student.

Before you think this post is about how long that took… keep reading.

This student was one of the first students I met in my very first youth ministry job. I think he has been out of Powerhouse High School ministry for at least 10 years now.

Here’s the letter:

Favorite Powerhouse Memories:

• Brian and camp staff attacking boys cabins in pick-up truck, getting soaked and getting the windshield broken….
• Busting out the hoola hoops off the grape-vine w/Katie while van was being fixed on the way to Mexico.
• Poorly “TP”ing your house with Daryl and Mikey so much that you didn’t bother cleaning it up
• Listening to “play that funky music whiteboy” loudly on the way to camp in the bus while Brian pumped the brakes (dangerously) to the beat on 580.
• Brian and Shannon pulling me aside, faces beaming, at the wedding in 2008 and exclaiming how happy they are for me.

Thank you guys. Oh yes, thanks for the nifty glasses set too! We’ll come visit you guys soon sometime.

SO, HERE’S THE TRUTHS I FOUND INSIDE THIS LOVE NOTE:

Lesson #1: no youth group teaching I give ever makes the “best of” list. Not sure what that means since this guy sat through hundreds of talks, but nonetheless, it’s true.

Lesson #2: The best and longest lasting fruit in youth ministry is the stuff that happens in the unplanned, unscripted, craziness of doing life together.

Lesson #3: I really need to get a bus for Encounter. I miss jacking with kids while I’m driving.