Monday Morning Update

Well I'm back in the saddle again for another week. Biggest news to hit our house this week was that I received a new laptop as a gift from a couple at work. It was a real blessing to me and will help with my ministry a ton!

My family and I went to Moncton on Thursday and Friday. I had some meetings and the girls came with me to visit some family. The trip was chaotic to say the least and we decided to head home early so that we could all get some much needed rest before Sunday. On the way back home I drove through the worst random freak rainstorm that I have ever seen. I was driving and then all of sudden it was like I was driving through a waterfall. I could not see a thing and the wipers couldn't keep up with all the water coming down. I had to slam on the brakes with a transport coming rate up our six. It was just a little scary but God got us through it.

Book I'm reading: Simply Christian by N.T. Wright still trying to plow through this. I haven't had much time for reading. Sleep has been a bigger priority.

Shows I'm watching: Survivor (Russell is my new favorite contestant of all time.)

Things I'm procrastinating about: Looking into short term mission trips and sermon writing; and getting drives for our lock - in event

What I'm excited about:Exploring my new Dell Inspiron 1525 and checking out Windows 7

Back at it again

It's been far too long since I've last posted. Perhaps I'll only post once a week and keep it simple. Life has changed for me again with the addition of new daughter to my family. Julianna was born on October 27th. So I'm adjusting to the new normal.

Getting back to work though is going to take some serious adjusting for both Natalie and myself. I'm living off caffeine and leftover Halloween treats right now. Not exactly a healthy diet, so to make up for it I made Natalie a turkey dinner for her birthday which was yesterday. So needless to say I'm pretty impressed with my culinary abilities.

This week I also had a chance to pray with a good friend of mine who was taken into the emergency room for a seizure. It was a pretty intense situation, but we were able to laugh a little and read the scriptures and pray together and it was a very meaningful time for me. It was a blessing to be able to go into the emergency room and do that.


Book I'm reading: Simply Christian by N.T. Wright

Shows I'm watching: World Series (Go Yankees!)

Things I'm procrastinating about: Looking into short term mission trips and sermon writing.

What I'm excited about: Right now it's spending time with my new daughter!



Blessings until next week.

Does anyone read this?

First of all it has been a long time since I blogged. That's becaues I'm not sure anyone reads this. But I have decided that even if no one reads this than I can use it as some form of free therapy, or at the very least some sort of journal.

I was looking at different blogs around the net and I came to realize that I don't know what to blog about! Some bloggers have exciting jobs that take them all around the world, seeing interesting places and meeting new people. The farthest place I've traveled recently is Moncton New Brunswick.

Other bloggers have deep insights and are really gifted at capturing these thoughts, birthing discussion and debate. I've come to realize that I am not a gifted thinker, I'm very pragmatic with a " if it ain't broke, don't fix it" mentality.

So what could I have to offer to the blogging community out there? What could say that would allow my post to stand out? In other words what would my angle be? I debated taking on the voice of the common lowly pastor, the one who doesn't get called up on stage or invited to speak at major events, the pastor who isn't overly gifted, but has enough to get by. The voice of the plebes so to speak. That seemed alright but it sounded a little to "french revolution" to me, and as we all know, revolutions take a lot of work. I don't have the time for that kind of commitment.

I have decided that my angle for this blog is that I'm not going to have any angle. Like the pirates of the phillipines, I'll plunder and pillage good information from "good" bloggers and put it on my blog, and share random things when I feel the leading to do so.

When you've put in a hard day or there is a task that you just want to put off, then come by and visit trust me it will be time well wasted.
Blessings,
Brandon

Discouragment

I think one thing that we all face at one time or another is a certain amount of discouragement. A time when you are putting your best foot forward and things just don't go the way you want them to. Well I was facing one of those days this week.

It's way to easy to get caught up with numbers when you're working in youth ministry. It seems that we adopt this false view that success is based on size, and to a certain degree it is, if a youth group is healthy than it is going to increase, but size is not the standard by which success is measured. Let's just get that out of the way, I know this and understand that. However there is something in the genetic make - up of youth pastors, at least the ones that I know including myself that can be seduced by the numbers game. We also put those pastors with "large" youth groups in leadership positions formally or informally because of the size of their pack.

After reading through two thirds of Mark Oestreicher's book Youth Ministry 3.0
I've come to understand that youth culture has splintered in such a way that it is going to be difficult to reach Large groups of students and that this one to one relational connection with an adult is what is going to make the spiritual impact. That has always been true but it is going to become even more important in the future.

I've been reading a lot of reviews of Marko's book on his blog ysmarko.com and this book has put into words what I've been struggling with for awhile and has kept me from burning myself out trying to create another program that will solve the problems that we are facing with our youth ministry. The truth is, there isn't a program out there that will solve the problem. This sets you free to start exploring new things without second guessing yourself. I appreciated this book a lot and would reccomend it highly!

Fireproof and the Jacksonville White Out

This weekend was really great. Our friends Geoff and Heidi Leblanc came up from Moncton this weekend and we had a chance to catch up. It was great.

Natalie and I also got to see a showing of the movie Fireproof. It wasn't that bad. I really enjoyed it. The acting was a little lame but it had a great story. Natalie really enjoyed it, plus it really helped us to discuss our marriage and helped us identify things that we need to work on. I recommend it.

Sunday night was our High School youth group night and it was snowing a little before we left for bowling in a neighboring community but when we started driving on the highway it was like we were in the middle of a full blown snow storm. I couldn't see a thing! I was really worried about the other car of students as well. I told the student who was in my car to pray that we all get there safely and he did, and we managed to slowly make our way through it all safely. By the time we finished bowling the snow had stopped and there were just a few spots of blowing snow that made you slow down, I was very thankful to get home that night!

This week is teacher appreciation week, soI got up early this morning with a few students and we were able to get some Tim Horton's coffee and donuts as well as some flowers to put in the teacher's lounges, as a way to say thanks. Needless to say I'm a little dozy and could use a large double double about now.

This week looks like it's going to be a busy one. I've got an important meeting tonight about our youth facility and it's future. I've also got Middle School youth group Tuesday night which is going to involve sliding and I'm so jacked for that one, it's going to be sooo much fun. It should be a good week.

Welcoming the new guy

Over the past month our church family has been without a Senior Pastor and this week marked the first week for our intentional interim pastor.

My father was a pastor and so I'm use to the many changes that come when a pastor leaves a congregation. What I'm finding interesting about this experience is that I'm not the one who has left and I'm experiencing for the first time what it's like for a church to go through this type of transition. The shoe is on the other foot so to speak. So I'm finding this whole transition phase a little bit new.

To make the situation even worse there are always people who come up to you who are almost expecting you to resign because the senior pastor resigned. Before long you start asking yourself if maybe you're suppose to resign. One thing though through this whole process has been is a renewed sense of call to Hartland. My wife Natalie and I have both felt that this is the place that God has put us for now. It's been a real blessing to have that confirmation and to minister with that assurance.

So here's to a new chapter in the life of Hartland Baptist Church and we're praying that God will guide us in all that we say and do.

First Blog

Well I thought it was about time for me to throw my two cents worth into the blogasphere and see what happens.

I'm not exactly sure what you're suppose to write in a blog. Most of the blogs I read are about people who have interesting careers or live action packed lives, not about youth pastors in rural New Brunswick...Canada, not New Jersey.

I can tell you about my Saturn. A week ago Sunday I was going through the line at Tim Horton's, (the finest establishment in all of Hartland) when all of sudden my car just stopped. It's like it went into sleep mode and ceased to function. I found out that my motor had seized up, a death sentence for any motor. With this death announcement came the new search for alternatives. Would we get a new motor or have to get a new car. It was one of the first times that I have ever had to rely on God to provide, because we were not in a spot to purchase either.

This week I'm driving my Saturn, and I have not spent a dime on it. God had provided the means and the way for my car to get fixed. It was really humbling to see people come along side and offer help in whatever way they could. Really cool experience for me.