So Cal Youth Pastor

Hey, Lets use this thing!!!!

2011-02-24T08:19:00.000-08:00

Just got on here from a long time ago...cant believe it all still works....So......lets use it for our benefit
and to glorify the Lord!

-Broomball THIS Friday night!!!

-God Bless

Urban Dictionary

2009-05-14T14:01:00.000-07:00

At breakfast this morning we discussed the meanings of words students used that some didn't know. Well here is one of the places I find out the meanings of such words. I also subscribe to their word of the day to keep me informed. (Diclaimer: Some of the words are vulgar or contain vulgar content...be forwarned.) I still believe it is a good tool to keep up with what our students are saying.

Urban Dictionary

Anti- Valentines Day Party

2009-02-04T09:54:00.000-08:00

Hey Devin from Revolution is having an Anti Valentines Day Party. It will be an outreach for students to hear the gospel. If any of your students might be interested in attending, and bringing their friends, please let them know. This will be a unique oppurtunity for kids to hear the gospel.

Also the proceeds will be going to The USA Motorcycle Trip, so I am pretty excited about that.

Notes from the Marin Foundation

2009-01-08T15:49:00.001-08:00

GLBT Notes
Elevating the Conversation
Andrew Marin
11-15-08

Top 3 Things:

Its the Holy Spirit’s job to convict, Its God’s Job to judge, and its our job to love.
We are called to live in relation to and relationship with the GLBT community.
The number one way to encourage someone in the gay community to pursue a relationship with Jesus (which should be our goal as the church, not trying to make them straight) is to teach them, and affirm the belief that God exists, and desires a communicating relationship with them.

***Don't use the word homosexual***

GLBT=Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender

Earn street cred(Respect) first, then you might earn the right to have people listen to you, but not before.

Behavior defines identity for gay people, so avoid attacking the behavior.

If we open the door an inch to the GLBT community, they will break the doors down to come into the church.

Think big picture. Not little advances.

Gay people have a lot of love to give.

Constructive tension produces growth, but it takes time.

Stats

86% of GLBT were raised in the church, while only 60% of the general public were raised in the church.

They also have almost twice as many people dropping out of the church.

Gays are not oppossed to religion, they just run from the church cause they have hurt them so bad in the past.

Most gay people just want to talk to someone and be loved by the church, not be affirmed by it.

Suicide is 5 times higher among gay teen, than straight communities.

Jesus is the only hope to the gay community.

Close ended questions
Don't answer them with close ended answers (yes or no)

Good answers to close ended questions:

Was I born gay? "I don't care" or "it doesn't matter". How could I possibly know that? And if I could what would it matter?

Is it sin? Romans 3:23, James 2:10, matthew 7:1-2, it doesn't matter wether I believe it is a sin or not. What does that matter? That's not my job

Can I change? Do I know of people who say they are x-gay? Yes, do I know of people who have tried and not been able to change? Yes.

CHANGE - Definitions of real change

Secular to sacred
Gay to Christian
Gay to celebate
Gay to straight
Somewhere

Going to hell? There is only one eternal judge that can decide that, why are you asking me this question?

Can I be a gay Christian? What is stopping you from believing?

Cool Story

2008-12-19T10:11:00.000-08:00

So at Parkcrest we are doing this thing called the Ebay project. Where people sell something of value on ebay, and the money goes to our Parkcrest helps fund, which is essentially a fund for helping the poor. Anyway, this lady at my campus didn't want to go through the trouble of selling her graphing calculator online, so she just gave it to me this last Sunday morning and told me to try and find a student that needed one. Those things go for $100 brand new. Anyway, not more than 30 minutes later, a student, who I trust, sees the calculator on my desk, and just in conversation says that she needs one of those for school. I know her family and they do not have a lot of money, so i am sure a $100 calculator is hard for them to come by. As soon as she says this, I just hand it to her and say, well then this is for you. Her jaw dropped open, and she didn't think I was serious. I told her some one had given it to me just a few minutes ago, to give to a person who needed it. I told her she must have given it to me for you. She couldn't believe it. She took the calculator, and told me that they hadn't been able to get one yet for school because they are so expensive.

I couldn't help but think about our conversation last Thursday morning, and how God will provide for those that truly depend on him. It was awesome to be a part of that little blessing for a student, and when I told the lady who had given me the calculator to begin with, she was just glowing.

I just though I would share that little story with you, as a small reminder of how cool our God is.

-Nathanael "Kozmo"

Winter Camp

2008-12-17T14:46:00.000-08:00

Hey guys,

Just wanted to offer this out to you guys first (sorry I've been missing the meetings as of late)... it looks like we're going to have about 15 spots for our Jr. High winter camp at Forest Home this year. We're going January 30-February 1. I was thinking, if maybe some of you guys who have a smaller group want to hitch your wagon to us for this year, maybe we could work something out. The cost of camp is $160. Shoot me an email if you're interested. And I'll let you know for sure spots after this Sunday when we close registration for our group (although you guys would have more time... I'm trying to train our parents to be on-time about sign-ups).

Jon Schliep
jschliep@bethanylb.org

Hey

2008-12-11T14:15:00.000-08:00

Great meeting this morning guys. If you want to have admin rights on this blog, and you are a youth pastor in the greater Long Beach area, just send me an email and I will add you. My email address is ndrkozmo@gmail.com.

Wuts Up Y'all

2008-09-03T15:02:00.000-07:00

Hey there.

What is happenin in the land of Youth Ministry???

School is startin up and beach trips are ending. I was just wondering how the summer went for everyone. We had a dropoff of attendance through the summer but that might be normal. I was gonna see if anyone has words and ides to get kids and parents back in gear to come to church???????

Homosexuals and The Church

2008-08-28T15:48:00.000-07:00

Hey guys I just got this email, and I thought you all might be interested in it to. I will just copy and paste it here for you all to read:

August 26, 2008
Dear Pastors,
The Urban Youth Workers Institute, Kingdom Causes, Global Lifeworks, Catalyst Community, and The Marin Foundation are partnering to produce a two-event series focusing on building bridges between the Christian and gay & lesbian communities. The mission is to see the church engage in a lasting, productive, and safe dialogue regarding gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) individuals within our community.

These organizations invite you to attend the first event, a pastors’ roundtable hosted by Newsong Church in Irvine on Wednesday, September 17th from 11am to 2pm, to meet and discuss theological, social, and psychological issues of what it means to productively engage in GLBT and Gay Christian issues on a more comprehensive level.

This event will be led by Andrew Marin, President and Founder of The Marin Foundation. A lifelong straight evangelical man, Andrew is the author of a forthcoming book, Love is an Orientation (April 2009, InterVarsity Press), which talks about productive bridge-building with gays and lesbians. The Marin Foundation strategically works with both Christian and gay organizations across the country,
and is also running the largest national scientific research study ever done in the GLBT community regarding spirituality and religion.

We look forward to gathering as a Body of Christ to learn how to productively reach out and systemically build a bridge between the Christian and gay & lesbian communities. For further information on this event or to RSVP, please contact john@uywi.org.

Thank you,

Larry Acosta
Urban Youth Workers Institute

John Lewis
Urban Youth Workers Institute

Dave Gibbons
New Song Covenant Church

Andrew Marin
The Marin Foundation

Ken Fong
Evergreen Baptist Church

Dr. Becky Kuhn
Global Lifeworks

Eric Leocadio
Catalyst Community

Brad Fieldhouse
Kingdomcauses

WE have a new baby BOY !!!

2008-08-15T09:04:00.000-07:00

His name is Brody
No..this is not him---------->

just a GREAT pic.

7 lbs. 11 oz. 18.5" Red Hair

God is Awesome...
All the Time !!

GO Kozmo

2008-08-15T09:02:00.000-07:00

Dude.........

...............................HAD TO BRO !!!!

Hume Lake San Diego

2008-07-03T16:23:00.000-07:00

Hey guys I have been at Hume Lake San Diego all week. Just wanted to let you all know you can read about it at usamotorcycletrip.com.

2008-06-24T11:28:00.000-07:00

Here is the flyer for Burn. If you need more info you can go to theburnexperiment.com. Feel free to print these out and hand them to your students.

Hey..calendar

2008-06-23T19:32:00.000-07:00

Hey guys...I will probably have my calendar finished tomorrow and I will try to put it on this blog...I know, i am a slacker. But there is only one other one on here anyway. Cozmo is the only one on top of things.

Summer Calendars

2008-06-16T16:03:00.000-07:00

Ok since not everyone has the ability to post things yet, I created this post for us all to leave our summer calendars up as comments. Probably the best way to do that is to upload it as an image and then just insert it into your comment.

The Burn Experiment

2008-05-22T13:59:00.000-07:00

Ok so here is some more information about Burn.

The Dates again are (@ Bolsa Chica Beach, probably as close to the Jack in the Box as possible):
June 26th (For JH)
July 10th (For HS
July 24th (For JH)
August 14th (For HS)

And then on some time the week of August 17th, probably on the 21st, we are going to have a full on Worship Concert. We will be making flyers for this whole event series soon, and posting those up here. We are trying to nail down Jeremy Riddle for the last night.

We also talked to a guy (forgot his name) who owns this semi truck that folds out into a fully equipped stage. It is for real, bands like Switchfoot have played on it. And he wants to let us use it that last night.

Devin (Realfusion.com) has been talking to some people to pull this off. Again this is not something that there will be any charge for, because so far everything will be volunteered or donated. He is just trying to create an environment for young people to truly connect and experience God, because he believes that if we can light these students on fire for the Lord, then God is going to do some amazing things in the Long Beach area. Devin is also willing to come and speak at your youth group, or lead worship for you, on a Sunday morning or a midweek service, to try and get your students excited about worshiping our king. If you would like for him to do that, give him a call, his number is 562.822.9901. I don't think he wants to charge anything for that, I think he just wants to help get kids excited about this summer, and about what it means to worship God.

Anyway, I have chatted enough. Let me know if you guys have any questions, or feel free to give Devin a call, he is a great guy. Also if you go to realfusion.com, and listen to their podcast titled, "LIVE IT", at least the second half of it, you will hear them talk about Burn.

Summer Bonfire Night of Worship

2008-04-21T10:12:00.000-07:00

So I was talking to Devin from RealFusion.com, who is a phenomenal worship leader, and he wants to help lead a monthly night of worship for local youth groups at the beach this summer.

We were thinking of doing HS and JH separate. So we would have a JH night one week, and then 2 weeks later we would have a HS night. It would be a great way for our churches to come together and worship God as one body.

I know at least Parkcrest, Revolution, and maybe LBAC would be interested. What do you guys think? What are some of your questions, or concerns for pulling this off? Would you guys be interested? Let me know.

Activities???????

2008-04-15T09:23:00.000-07:00

Dude,

What are some good activities for small groups of Jr. highers & Highschoolers??????

We are goin campin at the beach and have really one day to do something just for the kids.

Any suggestions??

--------------------b

JH Lovers

2008-04-11T13:45:00.000-07:00

So last night was one of those nights that makes my job awesome. Not because of some great spiritual event, but because I totally busted two kids.

I was watching a guy and girl talk and flirt with each other all night. I even saw them walk off together a couple time and so I kept my eye on them.

Well at the end of our JH night they were both missing, and even another student asked where they went. I had an idea of where they were so I ran out there as quickly as I could.

When I got there only the girl was left. I asked her what she was doing out there, and she said "nothing" a bunch of times. And then she said she was talking.

Then I told her that I knew she was lying so she might as well fess up.

So then she said "well I was talking and hugged him and stuff."

"What stuff", I said

She said, "Well like maybe I gave him a kiss."

Now on the inside I was cracking up. I totally caught them, and there just isn't a better feeling than catching a Junior Higher kissing.

So I sternly told her, while trying to not show an ounce of laughter, that if she ever tries this again, I'm going to tell her mom, and that her mom is not going to be as gracious as me. I also told her that there is nothing wrong with kissing a guy, but it needs to be in an appropriate context, and sneaking off at church with a guy that is not your boyfriend is definitely inappropriate.

Needless to say she was very freaked out.

Now as for the boy, he had no idea that I had already talked to his kissing partner, and gained a substantial amount of information. And I was the one giving him a ride home.

So I waited for everyone to leave, and then he asked if I was ready.

I said "Yea, just one more thing" in a pleasant tone. Then I got right in his face, and point my finger at him and said, "If you ever sneak off here at church again to go make out with..."

"I didn't make out with...", he said.

"Shut up!" I said before he could finish, "If I ever catch you sneaking out again to go kiss a girl here at church, and I will catch you if you try again, I will have to tell your mom, and she will be so upset with you. Never try that again."

He went from defensive, to almost crying in an instant. Then we had a long heart to heart about why he shouldn't be trying to kiss girls that he isn't really interested in. Cause he did tell me that he didn't really like her, he just knew she wanted to kiss him.

He over and over told me, he was never going to do that again, he was so embarrassed and so ashamed, it was beautiful.

I know this represents my sick sense of humor, taking pleasure in scaring these JH kids, but man it was so much fun.

Anyone have fun stories of catching there kids doing something they weren't supossed to.

Hey

2008-04-10T06:49:00.000-07:00

Hey,

This is a blog site made for youth pastors by youth pastors. Hopefully we can all use this thing to share ideas, events and frustrations in the process of teaching kids about Jesus. This is meant to be strictly about The Holy Bible, Jesus, and how we are to live the lives He wants. Feel free to read stuff on this site, share ideas, take ideas and get to know other youth ministers around & what they are doing.

God Bless