Already Beatled Out

So if you were lucky enough to be present at CCV on Sunday, you were lucky enough to get to hear me sing! Yes, I said sing. About a week ago, Ben and Frank approached April, Alex and I and said "guys... I need you to learn three Beatles songs by Sunday... and expect to be in all of the services." OH CRAP. That is exactly what I thought. The last time I listened to the Beatles is when I went to a Beatlemania concert at Ursinus when I was like ten. I just want to set it straight... After losing the first round, I wondered why I was beat by the force of Alex Stenman... and I was told that if you want to win... Suck! So I hope you enjoyed that wonderful performance. After this series, "everything I learned, I learned from the Beatles," I hope to maybe like them just a bit more. And if you are just looking for someone to sing every word of Hey Jude, Let It Be, or Yesterday, just let me know!

A Conversation with Satan and God...

(45 minutes prior to speaking the message at CCV this evening)

Adam: I am so sick of these people acting stupid...

Satan: You should be... No one who acts like that deserves to get treated well in return.

God: Adam, you know everyone deserves love... what about that sermon you gave on Love?

Satan: God, are you kidding me... Adam, just because you are a Christian doesn't mean you have to let people walk all over you...

Adam: You're right...

God: Adam, remember what my Son went through to show his love? I think you can take some teens acting their age...

Adam: I feel like I can only take so much before I hit a breaking point...

Satan: (seeing an opportunity) Have you ever thought about not doing ministry? I mean... you would be good at a lot of other things... You shouldn't have to deal with this.

God: Satan, you watch yourself... This is not one of those undecided humans with a house built on sand. Adam... you know you can get through this. Every hard day you have had has always made you stronger.

Adam: Why do I feel so angry today.

Satan: Because you feel like you are responsible for all these people that I already won over.

God: Adam... Look at me... Ignore him... Look at me... I am holding you up as you are falling down... I promise to help you back up... I am here with you for the long haul... I will give you the strength you need to overcome... I have given you specific gifts to do my specific work... All of these things I have promised you, and all of these things I will fulfill. I love you. Lift your head my son. Let's move towards the stage... Hold my hand while you are speaking tonight, and I will give you the words you need.

Satan: Are you going to buy tha....

Adam: (interrupting) ENOUGH... this is one man of God you may not touch... and one battle you will always lose... leave this place now... God I am sorry... I know I fall short, yet you love me anyway. Let's do this...

A Healthy Reminder

One thing in the student ministry world that is always a must, is that you understand the different things that teens are going through. In the wise words of my adviser and famous youth ministry guru Duffy Robbins, "we must find a way to be relevant without being relativistic..."

Going on, I was lucky enough to spend my Friday night with an incredible lifelong friend, my cousin, Brad Poley. Brad is a Junior at Bloomsburg University. Brad can be seen in almost every one of my childhood pictures. He's one of those people that you know will always be there, as family should.

Throughout my evening with him I was able to see a little bit of the past that I was a part of before, the party scene. We played a little jam session in his apartment packing tons of people in to have some drinks and to maybe sing along. I got to witness some all too familiar scenarios. I remember seeing people blacking out, then everyone messing with them while they are knocked out. I remember the huge mess that has to be cleaned up, and I also remembered what teens act like when they have excessive alcohol.

This was important to me because I feel like I had almost forgotten that part of my life. I know it's something I'm not going to be involved in, but it was still a good reminder.

A big part of my ministry has been being able to say, "I know how you feel, I was there!". I was able to say a similar phrase while recently giving a message on dating. Just this week I was asked advice from a student who is being affected by the teen party scene. I was quickly able to say, "hey... this is what could happen if you decide to take this road... I've seen it happen..."

Now by no means am I saying that you need to be in those situations to remember where you have been. But it just so happens that this time I was able to see it first hand. Teens go through a lot. They are constantly being told by "friends" that if they are not at this party or doing this, then they are not cool. Sometimes parents and coaches forget their days when they were the same way or in the same situation. I feel that God allowed me to go down some of those bad roads just so I can say, "you know what... it might not be what you think." I hope to be able to learn more and be able to guide others better and better as I am growing up and making all new mistakes.

My Thoughts Available To You 24/7... scary...

I did it... I finally gave in to the urging deep down in the oraphaces (I have no idea how to spell that word) of my heart to join the Twitter Community. I know, you ask yourself how networked someone can get. You know what though, for those of you that have a hard time keeping up with everyone (points finger at self), twitter is a great way to keep up!

To tell you the truth, I wasn't sure how twitter worked. I now know that I can update my twitter and people who subscribe to my twitter can see that via computer or text message!

I figured what the heck, we'll see how it goes, and if I hate it, I'll get rid of it... Something tells me that was too many commas... anywho.

Be my twitter friend, my name is CallMeFlora, and get all up in my business!

A God Given Gift to Endure... Hold On...

James tells us, "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds..." I don't know about all of you, but when you are having a rough day in Suckville, Pennsylvania, the last word you would most likely equate with your "trial" is joy.

I would agree that through those trials though that you can find joy in knowing that the next time around you will be a stronger, more informed and ready person.

In that you can certainly muster the nerve to find some joy.

I always find that when I speak about this type of subject, how you think about it drastically changes depending on the mood you may find yourself in. Have you ever tried to post about joy through trials when you are just having a really tough time finding the strength to find joy in trials?

I wanted to make note of a few things that I have found joy in over the last couple of weeks that have certainly had their trials that may be difficult to find joy in

I found joy in some certain gifts that God has given me. These gifts are gifts that get me by the really long and hard times. I wanted to share them with you for the sole purpose of knowing that there may be something in your life that God has blessed you with in hard times.

1 ) The gift of "EBS"... that is right, God has blessed me with Energizer Bunny Syndrome. I feel like no matter what gets put in my path I just keep going and going and going... When I tell people things that are on my agenda, or something that required my whole night they wonder how the heck I can still be awake and ready for action. I really do believe God has given me the ability to PHYSICALLY overcome the Dangerous Wonder lifestyle.

2) The ability to laugh... Please don't ever be offended if I am in a really hard spot and I just start to... laugh. There are two key times recently where I think most people would have started crying, but I chose to laugh. The first was when Brendon Foulke and I had to take apart a car in a junk yard with no tools because we got them stolen. (Sorry Mike Carter, we love you man) We were covered in oil, we had dozens of cuts, we were hot as crap and nothing was going our way... we laughed. The second was last week when I spent almost the entire night dealing with a very dark situation with some students. At one point in the night I just remember looking up, and laughing. Someone who isn't all down and beat up can definitely more effectively handle a situation and make those around them feel better. I'm not sure if that is why I do it, or if it is my defense from crying, but either way, these are two things that God has given me to start to see a little joy through trials.

What every great pastor needs.

Throughout my journey in ministry ranging from my Christ's Church of the Valley experience, to the traveling super conferences of C.I.Y., I have been able to witness pastors of all shapes and sizes. Even this summer through throwing stretch and escape, we have been able to book some high end speakers for our own youth groups...

There is one thing that I have found in common between all of these pastors. Without this you will not be able to have a successful ministry, or a shot at being a renown speaker. People may possibly never take you seriously. This is a true fact, and it is almost scientific, so you can't argue with it at all...

If you want to be a successful pastor... you must have... really-nice-jeans.

That's right ladies and gentleman. Throughout my journey I have seen the best of the best perform. Besides their Bible, one of their most effective tools was a fly pair of jeans and a button-up collar shirt. Why is it that some of the best speakers I have ever seen all wear very nice jeans on stage? Does it give them some type of special power? Or maybe it is just the extra boost of confidence they need to be up there and speak with authority.

I do want to ask a question though. This is something that Brian Jones brought up in his pastors gone wild series a couple months back. Are middle and high school students more receptive to someone who dresses very nice? Should what they wear matter or be a factor? That is for you to decide.

Until then, I will continue to bring my nice "preachin' outfit"... and rock out on stage, see you there!

Youth Ministry on Steroids

So perhaps you were expecting this scandalous article on a bunch of youth group children going crazy using steroids... that is NOT what you will be getting.

Sometimes you don't get a great look at your ministry until you take a small step to the outside and look in from that angle. I have been lucky enough to have the ability to see what our OWN youth ministry looks like by putting it back to back with the hundreds of youth ministries I have been able to encounter through various conversations, through working at C.I.Y. and most recently from being able to have a field placement class. This class consists of several youth ministry students who are interning at various local youth ministries. We get to dive deep into the workings, pros and cons of these ministries, including our own.

So far throughout this journey there is one thing I have come to realize... Our youth ministry is a youth ministry on steroids.

NOW this is the only time I am going to tell you that it is okay to be on steroids!

Youth ministry is a very new concept in comparison to the idea of the church. The majority of the youth groups that I encounter seem to be stuck in the zone where our church was before we got our new building. Many churches simply to now have my kids that are of that demographic. Many churches from what I hear have a lot of "old people." Unfortunately we are quite the opposite. We seem to be lacking a large group of, we'll call them "more wise people." Which gives us the PERFECT demographic for having an explosion of teens!

Another thing we have working for us is a lot of attention. Many youth ministries must be stuffed in some church basement for Sunday morning and not given much to make it work. Christ Church of the Valley has done an EXCELLENT job of thinking of our teens when doing budgeting and what not, it has made it possible for us to be more state of the art than almost 99% of student ministries.

As the years go on, youth ministry must compete with all of the crap in students lives to get the message across. We're fighting culture, this mass pandemic of A.D.D., crappy relationships, and every bad influence you can imagine. I am very proud to say that I am part of a church that is trying very hard to make change happen...

All of that said... we had a massive night last week at youth group. If you are interested in getting involved in any way, PLEASE hit me up with an e-mail adamf@moviechurch.com. Stuff you can do can range anywhere from security/registration/hospitality or even a relational leader! We will continue to change hundreds of kids lives, and be among the most healthy and fasting growing youth groups in the country! I hope you might be interested in getting involved with such an awesome journey!

Do something you love, before you go crazy...

Tonight I was lucky enough to escape from the "real world", even if just for a little while... Things have obviously been quite insane over the last couple of weeks, so I can't even describe what it is like to be able to enjoy an ancient vice of mine... Hockey...

That's right, few people actually know that I almost learned how to in-line skate before I learned to walk. Some of my best memories of my childhood are late night hockey games at the Collegeville Park with my best friends and some insane 2v2 action in my cousins basement back in the day.

It's something I love, it's something I enjoy, it's something that can help me just... get away.

I've learned that when you don't have something like that, you can end up taking life way too seriously. I believe God truly wants us to just have some... fun!

Even Ecclesiastes says in chapter 8, "15 So I commend the enjoyment of life, because nothing is better for a man under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Then joy will accompany him in his work all the days of the life God has given him under the sun."

It wasn't easy to open up my schedule so that I could hit games every Tuesday night and practice in between, but you will find the inconvenience is worth far less than doing something fun! I recommend everyone does something that they just really enjoy doing... you never know just how "alive" you may end up feeling!

So if you ever want to come out and watch a little hockey or you just maybe want to see a guy who loves what he is doing, then feel free to catch a game!

ps. We're 2-0 so far... nice.

Lucky...

I'm lucky I'm in love with my best friend 
Lucky to have been where I have been...

These are the words to the song that I have just been going crazy
about recently.  I'm not sure if any of you read my post about the
Jason Mraz song "I'm yours", and how I felt it fit my life....
Well... He did it again.  He created another song that hits right
close to home.  This song is featuring Colbie Caillat, singer
of the breakout song "bubbly"...

There's more though...

Tonight was also the second week of my Christian Marriage
class at Eastern.  It's a capstone class that is meant to
enlighten and to challenge.  The professors of the class
are a husband and wife who have learned so much from their
past experiences.  They were both married in the past.
One of which was a terrible divorce, and the other lost
her husband to disease.  They have a deep insight into
what the building blocks to a successful marriage are.
I can't help but be on the edge of my seat every class.

I took about 8 pages of notes today.

I'm quite excited about going into the romance of the Fall
with the girl that grabbed my heart years and years ago.
I will continue to look forward to class every Monday night...
For the one reason that I am just like the song says,
lucky to be in love with my best friend...

This isn't a video... just the song... Enjoy!

When push comes to shove...

What are you going to do... when push comes to shove?

I pose this question as I sit at my main line 32,000.000 dollar a year school.
I pose this question knowing the majority of the people who end up reading this will be reading this in either the comfort of their safe suburban home with a white fence, or their office of the job that provides for them.

I was teaching up in Valley Kids this morning, but was lucky enough to sneak downstairs for a good ten minutes of Pastor Brian's message... From what I heard, he passionately was able to say that basically talking about doing something, and going and doing something are two completely different things... He talked about his dislike for HomeTeams that just sit around and talk.

I feel like that has been a theme that has occurred in my life over and over again that I just can't seem to shake. But the difference is incredible...

The book of James tells us boldly, "14What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds?" To tell you the truth, I have been asking that same question over and over again.

Brian also shared with us another piece of scripture; let’s see if it is familiar to any of you... also in James it says, "27Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress..." Want me to tell you what widows and orphans are… They are those who can’t provide for themselves… those who didn’t ask for the situations they are in… those who just strait up need… help

I want to tell you about some "widows and orphans" that I got to cross paths with today…

Tonight was an incredibly difficult night... Throughout my journey I got to deal with two suicidal single mothers… another person who was inflicting harm upon themselves and two homeless teens who have been sleeping behind a barn… and one of them is one month pregnant…

What are you going to do when push comes to shove?

What do you do when helping others is inconvenient? When do you do when you finally learn that Brian’s message was no just some every day Sunday message meant to make you think and enjoy your Sunday experience? What do you do when you realize that for most of the world, life is full of pain, hurt and sacrifice? What does it take for a sermon to go from Brian’s words to your ears, to your hearts to your actions?

I spent the night making hours of phone calls and driving all over the place… On the drive back, I wanted to cry, but I couldn’t. I am so thankful that God has brought all of these terrible situations into my life so I can never forget that this world isn’t and never will be about me…

I really HAVE been asking myself that same question recently. I’m proud to say I was able to start an ACTION HomeTeam with Bob Connor in the last couple of weeks from the group of people that I went to Mexico with in May. This last week we saw a need and just served our brother. We got dirty, and we had lots of laughs and conversation. That spoke way louder to him than any Bible Verse that I could have spat at him.

I just feel like sometimes I have to ask myself, “What am I doing with my life right now?” Why am I at school for youth ministry when all of the hard stuff that happens you could never even learn in school?

I ask that question knowing that God has given me the tools that I need to handle the really hard night that I was faced with tonight.

I’m using what I know, and I’m using what God has given me to go out there and just… DO… No more talking… Just DO…

I was scared to call anyone tonight because I knew it was an inconvenience and I wasn’t sure anyone could deal with the hardship of taking in some teens that have really been to hell and back…

I shouldn’t be scared of that… I should have a list miles long…

But through all of this I just need you to do more than just think about Brian’s message this morning.

I want you to do more than just talk about Brian’s message this morning

I want you to DO Brian’s message.

Jesus called us to drop our fishing lines, our lives… and follow him… wherever that may take you. It may take you places you never want to go. But that is what following Jesus is about.

As a community we cannot be a church of comfort and talking… If that is what we think good religion is, then count me out.

And PLEASE do not let this come across like I am doing something so right and everyone else has it wrong... God knows just how awful at this I have been... I just don't feel like I can do it anymore. Maybe you've been there. This is something we need to chase after together.

I may sound like a crazy person on some crazy rant, or maybe, just maybe, I am someone who is finally seeing the hurt that lives in our own backyard…

Let us love some people unconditionally... Let us DO.

When push comes to shove… I choose shove… what about you?

More Sermons Online!

More Sermons Online!

I think I have made it as easy as possible to access the student ministry messages that I give on Sunday night, I will try to post them from now on as soon as I get them on the top right corner of this blog!

I have a bunch more coming, they just take a while to upload! Enjoy!

Seasons...

As we roll into some of my favorite months, the fall, we can definitely start to notice a fair share of changes happening in the air...

Swimming is now turning into playing football.
Green is now turning into shades of red, yellow and orange.
The kids go from the couch watching TV, to school for the day.

It is to be expected of course, with each season comes its fair share of changes that we have just come to expect and to take in with open arms. Just like there is a season for Penn State and Eagles football (and what great seasons they will be) there are also seasons of our lives that we will be something different then the last season we were in.

Even in Biblical times we see this picture of a season for everything painted in Ecclesiastes 3,

A Time for Everything

"1 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:

2 a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,

3 a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,

4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance..."

And the scripture goes on beyond that telling of these many seasons that we can be in. Throughout reading that I can't help but wonder...

What season am I in?

The other day I had a very good conversation with someone whom I see as very wise... Ironically enough, he is the professor of my Wisdom Literature class at Eastern. I want to give you all some advice that can get you very far in life. If there is a Christian in your life who has seen many years, made many mistakes, shed many tears, and learned more than you can imagine... listen to them...

He had found out that I work a lot and I go to school taking a lot of credits and just seemed shocked a little... His words were "This is your season to study and to take in as much as possible, and then you will have a season to work..."

Now one thing that I want everyone to keep in mind is that obviously he has no idea about my life, about how much I LOVE my job, and about how at this point I am ready to go into that season...

BUT

It did make me wonder... what season AM I in?

Have you ever not really known what stage of your life you are in? Have you ever not liked the season you are in? Can you be in more than one stage at the same time?

These are all some things I would love to learn as I enjoy the crackling of a fire, the leaves all around, and of course some great seasons for Penn State and the Eagles...

The Power of the Church

At points in the years of the early church, the church had powers equal to or even superior to the governments in which they had operated. Faith is one of those things that can really move people who come together for a common cause.

It may not work together the same way it did in the past, but churches still have the power to make people MOVE...

So that is precisely what I am going to ask you to do.

Use the power of networking to help for a common cause.

It has recently been brought to my attention that local government has been running a campaign to force several residents out of their homes in favor of the placement of a park/trail running right next to the local Perkiomen Valley schools. Three things about this I don't like...

1 - One of the elderly couples that are being FORCED out of their long term home are the parents of someone in my church family. They do not want to move, and they would only be compensated a disgusting fraction of their land value.

2 - It would bring the popular Perkiomen Trail very close to the schools. The same trail that has had several accounts of "attacks" happening on it in it's past.

3 - We together can not stand for the bullying of anyone, especially the elderly, who cannot stand for themselves the way they need to... For more information follow this link --> http://www.helpoutyourneighbor.com/ and follow the instructions on how to help our church community take a stand.

Thank you...

Dating... Let me be blunt.

So tonight was an interesting night. I gave a message about dating to a bunch of very curious middle and high school students. I took a much different approach to the night. I decided to make it much more personal and conversational. I got to talk about my relationship with Melissa and shared some real cool stuff from our relationship. I got off the stage and walked around the middle of a large circle that the kids were sitting in. A few things that were noticeably different.

- The students enjoyed a view of dating that wasn't just from the DON'T HAVE SEX side of things. It was nice to just talk solely about dating and relationships and not have to feel like it was me just throwing down a bunch of rules. I encouraged them to ask some really hard questions, and think deeply about the answers they may run into. The "sex" series is still a bit away because it is a common subject of our summer speakers that we use for Stretch and Escape.

- The students enjoyed having a conversational message. I never wanted to get off the stage because I am young, I want to stay on the stage and form some type of authority before I get off of it. I know that sounds weird, but it was cool to be able to be down on the floor and be able to meet kids where they are at.

- I struck a nerve with a whole bunch of students. I think it was hard to hear that the whole dating thing is a little more difficult than they think it may be. There was a lot of hard questions asked tonight, I hope over the next couple of weeks the students start the process of trying to answer them!

-It was VERY fun to be able to talk about my Melissa allll night. Any time she is the topic, I can go on for hours. I did go well over my time, but with her as the subject, we're lucky I didn't talk until midnight!

I also shared a video that I promised some students that I would put on my site. This is a movie that I made for Melissa a loooooong time ago. It is incredible embarrassing, and very corny, but hey, that's me. Hope you enjoy!

Me and Melissa!

I'm alive! Let me catch you up...

Sorry for the blogging break ladies and gentlemen, but it has taken a bit of time to get used to my new ridiculous schedule of traveling back and fourth between St. Davids and Royersford.

It has been great starting classes and I have been enjoying them thoroughly. I have also crashed there several times to get to class earlier which has also been awesome. Let me just lay down for you the best 3 moments I have had in the last couple of weeks that I have been blogless...

1 - Wisdom Literature - So I am taking this class called Wisdom Literature on the books of the Bible; Job, Ecclesiastes, Proverbs, Song of Solomon and other non Christian wisdom lit. This class has already forced me to work every muscle that my brain has. I really enjoy have theological discussions and debates, so this is right up my alley. I start Christian Marriage class tomorrow, so that should be neat too.

2 - E-A-G-L-E-S Eagles! - I LOVE football season. I got to watch the Eagles season opener tonight, and that has been a highlight of my week. The even better thing is that the Eagles kicked BUTT! I'm looking forward to a really awesome season.

3 - Red Bull Soap Box Race - So I thought it would be fun to go to Manaunk with a bunch of friends from Eastern and Damo and go and stand out in the middle of Tropical Storm Hannah and watch a very creative soap box race surrounded by a bunch of soaking wet crazy drunk college students. So that was incredibly interesting day, and I can always depend to have crazy stories with some great friends.

SO - In a nutshell, times are getting crazy... I am moving to Gilbertsville on the 19th, and starting hockey in Pottstown on Tuesday. Classes are getting nuts and work is getting realllly busy. I should have some pretty interesting posts to come... Hopefully they will be more frequent.