Young Life is a great organization that reaches unchurched kids.  As I have come to love being a part of this ministry my sensitivity towards certain words has grown.  In reaching out to students who are not followers of Jesus (yet), there are a few words that have worked themselves out of my vocabulary, at least in certain situations.

For example in church settings we often use the terms “lost,” or “unsaved,” when referring to people we are trying to reach.  Now the term “lost,” is Biblical and a word Jesus used to describe those he had come to seek and save. 

Unfortunately, we have begun to throw these words out as we are talking to the “lost/unsaved,” and I think this may a little insensitive.  In my opinion that is like a sponsor using words like drunkard or wine-O to describe people he wants to support in an AA meeting.  Perhaps not the best approach.

The following is a list of words and phrases that no one except for church going Christians understand, and even then, sometimes we don’t know what these words actually mean:

Worldly, eschatology, seeking, sacrificial, Pagan, exegetical, brothers & Sisters (in Christ), fellowship, discipleship, walking in the light, the enemy, premarital sex, spiritual warfare, battle cry, hosanna, and holy. 

Also, it seems like every denomination or para-church has acronyms to help make things more difficult for those on the outside looking in.  For example almost every denomination will attempt to shorten their name to make things less confusing.  The Evangelical Lutheran Churches of America are the ELCA, while the Presbyterian Church of the United States of America is PCUSA.  This is all fine and dandy for those who are inside the organization but completely useless to everyone else.

The bigger the group the more acronyms used.  In younglife there is actually a manual to help new staff people understand them all.  Last week someone sent out an all-staff email asking for help, but they used an acronym I didn’t recognize.  I asked another staff person.  They didn’t know what it meant either.  And this is the problem with acronyms that are meant to make things more efficient.  They usually don’t.

So this year, I took it upon myself to make our camp t-shirt to save the area some money.  It was pretty simple really…I used Adobe Photoshop Elements, and scribbled a complete mess, then added some text, and poof, a fabulous looking shirt design.

I was feeling pretty good about our area shirts until I saw someone wearing one, and then I realized there was a huge mistake.  I forgot to use spell check. 

So after being on staff in a church for the last decade, my wife and I went to church last week for the first time as Non-staff.  We visited North Albany Community Church, and it was a pretty amazing experience for us.  We actually sat next to each other. 

I know that sounds weird, but it is actually very common for church staff to spend a vast majority of their time apart from their families during church services.  Think about it, when pastors preach, their spouses sit alone.  And forget about resting on Sundays.  If you’re on staff in a church, you’re there early, and are usually one of the last to leave. 

So right now, the grass looks pretty green as we switch over to the side that lets us sit together and hold hands during church.  Thanks to all of you who faithfully serve in churches.  Thank you to the spouses of church staff, for your sacrifice.  Thank you God for allowing us this season of hand holding in church.

I was driving to the Eugene Airport to pick up a friend, when I saw a guy carrying a cross.  My first instinct was to do a double take…and say under my breath “Jesus?”

On closer examination, he did not appear to be THE JESUS, but rather a man in his mid-50’s, wearing a yellow polo shirt, and shorts.  He had thinning grey hair, and glasses.  Oh, and he was white. 

Somehow, my almost encounter with Jesus got me thinking.  When I do see Jesus will I recognize him immediately?  I wonder if many of us will be shocked when we are face to face with him. 

I am always surprised by the passage in scripture that talks about him having no beauty, that we would be attracted to him.  It seems to imply that he was rather physically ordinary…maybe even slightly unattractive, or even more heretical, what if Jesus was”ugly?”

Would his message be less important?  Would his sacrifice mean less?  Would his love be any less amazing?  Today my daughter and I were in the mall.  There was an older lady who was smiling at her with a less than perfect set of teeth. 

While I began to compartmentalize her importance into neat little boxes, my precious daughter waved to her.  I think my daughter saw Jesus.  So did I.

The hardest part about finding a new church is that you can never agree on all the things you like and dislike.  My wife likes upbeat music, I like exegetic preaching, Nicki likes toys. 

This week we’ll begin our journey into the adventure of Church shopping.  For the past decade I have been on staff at a church, and therefore obligated to be present at the job site.  Now with all this freedom, I have no idea what to do. 

I asked my wife, Holly, where she wanted to go this week, and she offered the sanctuary of her soft comfy bed.  Heathen.  I must admit, the idea does have a certain appeal, but it will not suffice for the long haul. 

So I’m making a list.  That’s what I do.  I make lists.  Often when I stumble across a past list, it is embarrassing to find I have usually accomplished 2 out of the 37 things written down.  Nevertheless, lists are my method of operation.

So here is what I have so far:

1.  Must have windows (No offense to the JW’s…especially to my 2 friends, Steve and Wayne).
2.  Must wear clothes (this shouldn’t be that difficult to find).
3.  More people must be nice to us, than are rude to, or glare, at us.
4.  At the first sign of an 80’s rock band, and we’re leaving.
5.  Find a church where the adults like to hang out with kids (good luck).
6.  Must have comfortable seating.
7.  Likes to do cool things for hurting people.
8.  In love with Jesus.
9.  Knows what a PowerPoint is.
10.  Must have a good sense of humor, enjoy good music, and like long walks on the beach.

We used to do staff meetings in our pastor’s office.  For years we would gather in this space, and listen to what sounded like an elephant parade passing by overhead.  There is a preschool enrichment program that used the space directly above the office. 

We would all pretend like we couldn’t hear the stomping.  Everyone acted like they were paying attention to whoever was speaking as the procession went by, but there is no way any of us actually were.  It was impossible to tune out the drum pounding, jumping, and screeching that descended from on high.

Yet we continued to meet in this office every Tuesday morning, until one day we were forced out by a very fortunate mistake.  Someone had double booked the office for another appointment, leaving us with the option of claiming our rights as the high and mighty staff or relocating to another area.  Since none of us were in love with the meeting area to begin with, we opted for a seemingly generous retreat.

We found a nice quiet area away from the day care center…and from that day on we never went back.  It’s odd that we all acknowledged the problem of our outlandishly obnoxious meeting space, but no one had thought to suggest an alternative.  It took a minor inconvenience to help us find a very simple solution. 

The moral of the story is, if your office has parades running across the floor above, find a different place to meet.  If you have real elephants, you should probably call animal control or hunters.  In our case neither of these options seemed like a good fit.

I am a disgrace to the profession of youth ministry.  Tonight our church staff threw me and my family a going away party.  Towards the end of the night our host invited us down into the basement for some foosball action. 

I hate this game, mainly because I’m terrible at it.  We played three games, each time rotating partners, and somehow in each game I ended up on the losing team. 

I would like to blame it on the referees, but there weren’t any.  I’d like to cry foul and say that the National Foosball League was fixing games to boost ratings, but I don’t think that theory would float. 

I am resigned to the fact that unlike most of my youth ministry comrades, I cannot put foosball as a skill on my job resume.  Speaking of skills we were discussing some crazy foosball videos on YouTube that I had to find, and share with you.  Enjoy.