Pastor J's Blog

Majority of the youth pastors I know are young men that have been in ministry for a limited amount of time. They are in need. In need of a godly mentor pouring into their heart, soul, and mind. In fact, those that have been in ministry for less than a decade should be considered still in need of an experienced man of God pouring wisdom into them. Young pastors need to be mentored. Youth pastors, being mentored is not optional, but ought to be essential in your life and ministry. I'm not talking about being mentored in how to run a student ministry, how to learn to budget your ministry, how to develop curriculum, or any other situation that one may face in ministry. Don't misunderstand this post. Those are all important areas that a youth pastor will face, and a youth pastor will need wisdom and council in navigating the waters of ministry methodology. I'm pleading for youth pastors to be mentored by men of God on the spiritual side of ministry. As a youth pastor grows ...

I know it has been awhile since I have posted anything on the blog. Time to shake the cobwebs off, and get back to writing on a myriad of topics for you to consider. I have been watching God over these last few months begin to awaken the youth that I currently have the privilege and honor to serve. God has been granting me the opportunity to observe students from multiple grades and schools stepping out of their comfort zones and proclaiming the greatest message this world will ever receive. That is, the message of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I have seen students share from God's Word before school begins, I have seen a student share the gospel at lunch, I have seen students join hands and pray over their lunch, I have seen students love and serve people at a local nursing home, and the list could continue on. What has caused this shift in these students over the last few months? God's working through students. The Holy Spirit is moving in the next...

I finished The Insanity of God  by Nik Ripken recently. My mother told me to read this book as I was dealing with my own frustrations in ministry (thank you mom for telling me to read this book). Let me highly recommend this book for everyone to pick up and read. This book will have parts that are very difficult to read, but The Insanity of God will help you realize what some of our brothers and sisters in Christ are going through in parts of the world that are hostile toward Christianity. The stories will break your heart, and make you cry. However, I pray you will be comforted that God is still working things out for his glory today. You may even have to put it down between chapters in order to think through the stories of persecuted Christians that are being explained. In fact, I put down this book at one point and went to the grocery store (I knew Katie and the kids were there) to give all of them a hug. However, true followers of Christ know that suffering for righteousness...

God has blessed Katie and me with two girls and a boy ranging from ages 6 months, 2 years, and 4 years old. You may have guessed that our house remains a pretty busy place with three under the age of 5. Each little bundle of joy has different personalities that adds to our busy home. My oldest daughter has a heart of compassion and desires to be completely self dependent. I have a boy that remains strong willed, determined to have his way, and loves his daddy. My youngest little lady has not revealed her personality fully yet, but I remain convinced that her personality will be in the middle of her oldest siblings. However, God has been teaching me about divine grace as I attempt to bring up these three little ones in the instruction and discipline found within Scripture. You may ask yourself, "How has God been teaching you about divine grace through parenting?" Let me explain. I love my children unconditionally. They can do nothing to remove my fatherly love for them. Whe...

I took the students on a mission trip to Nashville, Tennessee last week. I had no idea what God had in store for our students, but I was praying that God would do something big for his glory. I had high expectations to see God move, and God worked mightily in the lives of the students that went on that trip. This camp experience allowed me to note three truths about the millennial generation. 1) The millennial generation lives to be driven for a greater purpose in life. Throughout the week, I challenged students to share their faith at their ministry sites. Many students shared the gospel or their testimonies with the people they were serving at their ministry sites by the end of the week. The students would come up to me at dinner time with pure joy and excitement to tell me about their latest story of sharing the love of Jesus Christ with an individual that day. I saw students driven to share the gospel, and I was encouraged to see their zeal for Jesus Christ unashamedly proclaime...

Before I came on staff as an Associate Pastor to Students and Families at a local church in South Carolina, I served our country as a United States Marine Corps Officer. The Marines are well-known for their discipline and structure. Marines are required to maintain a high level of physical and mental toughness. Discipline was drilled into our minds since the first day of either boot camp or Officer Candidate School. The other day I was on vacation with my family, and stepped on a scale for the first time in a few months. I was shocked at what the scale said. Just for clarification, the scale never lies. I had gained weight. I couldn't believe how much I had gained since the last time I stepped on a scale. I thought to myself, "What have I done? How did I gain so much weight?" The answer, lack of discipline. I had lost my discipline to eat right and exercise regularly. I had lost my discipline to maintain a healthy life. I did not maintain the discipline of a healthy li...

This post will outline my life before I submitted myself to the Lordship of Jesus Christ as my savior, and explain the ways Jesus Christ has once again brought glory to himself by extending grace to an undeserved sinner. As I write this post, I want you to know two things. First, this post will attempt to illustrate the damage and destruction that sin did to my life. In other words, this post will not glorify sin, but will glorify the Savior as any testimony should. Second, I want you to know that the same Jesus Christ that saved me can save you too. If you are reading this, I pray that Jesus Christ will use this testimony to draw you to his always open, loving, merciful, and gracious arms. I was convicted of my sin when I was little boy, and began my journey as a follower of Jesus Christ when I was a young man in Brownwood, Texas. I did everything that was required of me. I went to the front to profess Jesus Christ as my Lord. I was baptized in 1995 (baptism represents the work tha...

As a young boy, I enjoyed watching "Transformers" the cartoon version. When the new transformer movies came out in recent years, I was ecstatic. I watch these movies every time they air on the television when I am not reading, tucking kids into bed, or studying for school. The other night I was watching "Transformers: Dark of the Moon," and I heard a quote that has plagued modern culture in America. The title of this blog in fact represents the quote that I am convinced has plagued modern culture in America, "Happy Wife; Happy Life." What does "Happy Wife; Happy Life" really mean? In the context of most men that use this proverbial phrase, it conveys a message that insinuates as long as you keep your wife happy then your life will be smooth sailing. This phrase portrays that the wife exists more in a burdensome fashion instead of a woman to be honored and loved unconditionally. The "Happy Wife; Happy Life" slogan views an individual...

Student pastors are constantly bombarded with the newest curriculum that some Christian agency has developed to grow students to a spiritual level that other curriculum was unable to achieve. Most student pastors may ask the question, “Which curriculum will achieve the desired results for students?” This blog will propose three components of quality curriculum for student and family ministry. First, theology proper in the traditional Protestant system may be defined as the Doctrine of God.[1] Quality curriculum will exploit God as omnipresent, omniscient, holy, triune, creator, sustainer, redeemer, merciful, just, righteous, and any remaining characteristics within each lesson. Students must be exposed to the glory of God through his special revelation to his people. Quality curriculum will develop the majesty of King Jesus so that students will be in reverence and awe of God’s nature therefore willing to live lives for his glory in light of receiving the gospel. A.W. Tozer correc...

You are either in school about to finish for the semester or you have just finished out the school year enjoying the freedoms of summer. Maybe you are a parent or an adult that reminisces about the days of summer because summer remains a season of work and daily life. If you are a youth pastor, summer seems to be the months of your ministry that are filled with many tasks for the summer activities you have planned for students and families. Regardless, we should still keep our minds active through an ancient method called reading. I can hear the thoughts of many of you as I am sitting here typing this blog. I don't like to read. I don't want to read. I am not in school so I don't have to read. I don't have time to read. Need I go on? If you are not in summer school, you should take this time to read books that you want to read not books that you are required to read.  May I recommend a few readings for the different age groups that read this blog? 1) Parent...

As a student pastor, I desire to encourage other brothers serving students and families among various ministry settings across the nation. Therefore, I started this blog. I thought to myself, "Why not?" I read blogs by other prominent youth ministers, professors, and pastors that share their thoughts and methods online maybe I should too. Thanks for reading my first one, and I hope you will find encouragement through this post.  If you are still reading, I hope my insights will provide you with useful thoughts for your own life in ministry. Youth ministry provides ample opportunities to minister and spiritually mature the next generation of brothers and sisters in Christ, but sometimes seeing students develop in their walk with Jesus Christ does not come rapidly. We all need encouragement in ministry. Not just from students and members within the body of believers, but from each other. Paul exhorts the Thessalonians, "Therefore encourage one another and build one a...