Answering the Questions, Part 1

Well, the 24-hour deadline has passed...and I'll begin answering the questions I was asked over the next couple of entries.

The first one was from Hollywood: "What are your top three ministry experiences ever?"

You remember that scene from the movie "Bull Durham" where Nuke Lalouche (the rookie) had just had a pitching success and the wiley veteran catcher, Crash Davis, began to lecture him on how to get better? And Nuke asked, "Why can't I just enjoy the moment?" To which the catcher responded, "The moment's over."

My personality is a lot like Crash's. I tend to focus on what's next when it comes to my professional life. Whatever "successes" or "failures" come along, well, they are what they are and we're on to the next thing. Sure, we should evaluate here and there and learn and grow, but that's a relatively short time frame. (Interestingly, one area where I'm not that way is when it comes to my wife and children. I enjoy flipping through pictures and watching videos and all that).

So, thinking through the "top three" was fun and gave me a reason the think about some of those past moments, and I decided on three representative events (one from each major ministry I was a part of) that, to me, highlighted the best parts of the ministries.

First, when I was with Greater Birmingham Youth for Christ (Campus Life): A Hewitt-Trussville vs. Huffman basketball game at Huffman High School. It was a rivalry game, with the "suburban" HT Huskies against the "inner city" Vikings. It was funny to me that both schools viewed themselves that way because they couldn't have been 5 miles apart geographically...however, they were eons apart when it came to educational experience.

Anyway, Tracy and I found out we were pregnant with Kid1 earlier in the week and decided the best way to tell all our students at once would be the highly attended Friday night game. And, we knew there was one kid who always asked Tracy if she was pregnant yet every time they saw each other, which was weekly for nearly two years. So, we took our seats, waited for the kid to ask--which actually took longer than it usually did--and so, students and parents from both sides of the gym came to offer congratulations and shared excitement (it was in between the JV and varsity games and warm-ups hadn't even started yet).

Those kids in that first ministry grew up with us. We loved those kids and they loved us.
The parents loved and cared about us.
We were a meaningful part of that community in a highly visible way (the principal at one school even referred to me as the 12th man of his faculty).

And, now that I think about it, that night at the basketball game, sharing joyful news with people we loved and that loved us back, was symbolic of the very best things about relational youth ministry.

Second, when I was working with students at Trinity Life Baptist Church: The experience of watching a group of teenagers yell at an ocean and telling it that they were NOT OF THIS WORLD.

The ministry there was just getting interesting. It had gone from five disinterested teens to about 35 somewhat excited teens and we were going on a trip to Gulf Shores over spring break. The idea was that we'd finish up the teaching we'd been doing on a booklet called "The Mind of Christ."

The details of the trip were so nuts that people don't believe me when I tell it. They think I'm exaggerating or using poetic license. But really...there are tales to tell of a tire that stayed inflated with no reason to stay inflated. There were free tires given by a guy in Mississippi that happened to not only know Jerry, but also was studying the same book we were. A "guy" that changed the tire that came out of nowhere and went away to, apparently, nowhere. Two and a half hours elapsed. Two and a half hours, give or take 5 mintues, down the road was a significant car crash...that we'd have been close to being a part of if we hadn't had the two and a half hour delay.

At that point, literally, I threw my final notes out the window. It was obvious this trip wasn't going to be finishing up a workbook.

So, we spent time discussing the spiritual life. At one point, we had all of the kids on the beach yelling at the ocean and reading Scripture.

And that moment was significant as a high point because I'm not so sure that wasn't the very best example of how youth ministry should be done. Just be open to what Christ has for the kids and not your own agenda, let the Holy Spirit work, and serve the kids. The fruit from that year and a half of ministry (which seems like it was so much longer) still goes on, with pastors and youth ministers and ministry wives...that time was quite a "bang for the buck." Those TLC kids will always have a terribly special place in my heart.

Third, at Crossroads Bible Church: Senior speech night for the class of 2002.

See, I gave the graduating seniors in my group five minutes to say whatever they wanted to the assembled student ministry. It was more or less my final exam with my graduates...to see what stood out to them and what they were taking away from our four (or 7, or 2, or whatever, depending on when they started coming around) years in our ministry.

And that class of 2002 was the "perfect storm" of student ministry. Teens that were growing at exponential rates. They'd come from all over the map, too. Pastor's kids who never knew any other church to kids that got saved 6 months ago. Everything in-between, too. The kids not only "got fed," but served all over our church body. Parents were all highly involved in serving the student ministry and ministering to their kids. It was really unbelievable. So much so that I actually made the conscious decision to simply enjoy being around that group for the last two months.

The fruit that was evident in that particular class to such a degree that I had an elder pull me aside and tell me that everybody saw that class and that they'd never put expectations on me to have another class like that, because it was a "once in a lifetime" class. A blind guy with one eye could see, it, too.

And watching that class give their senior speeches, listening to their hearts about their walk with Christ through high school, was a night I'll never forget...

...and watching what God has done in and through that bunch to this day...seminary students, folks gearing for missions work, ministry throughout college and into the business world being "salt & light"...

...still friends with most of their parents...
...still being friends with most of them & officiating their weddings...

...it's the very best of youth ministry. And that night resulted in all sorts of gifts/trinkets that adorn my bookshelves form various members of that class. Interestingly, I think our church will have more than "one" of those "lifetime" classes. We've been close a couple of times since then.

So, Hollywood, if you had to pin me down and pick three...those would be the ones.

And, tomorrow, I'll tackle as many of Bob's questions as I can!