joshherndon.wordpress.com is now joshherndon.com

At 6,000 hits, I thought I’d upgrade…

My blog has been moved to a wordpress.org host, meaning that you will have to adjust your SMS or Bookmark if you would like to continue reading.

Simply go to http://joshherndon.com/ and enjoy!

To Save A Life

We’ll be watching To Save A Life this Friday at Central Student Ministries. (Does this mean we’re starting our Fall Kickoff Campaign before schools out?)

Have you seen it? What did you think?

A Virtual Facelift

A preview of joshherndon.com’s makeover!

And for future reference, everything will be on joshherndon.com, and not joshherndon.wordpress.com . Just in case you need to adjust your “favorites”.

4 Projects

Haven’t had a chance to blog much because I’m getting ready for several big events over the next 4-months.

1. Massachusetts (5/25-6/1). My sister-in-law is getting married! Evie and I are going to be taking off a week to enjoy Boston’s finest lobster! Mmmmmmmm.
2. The Philippines (7/27/10-8/8/10). Last-minute fundraising, practicing, and frantically trying to get everything together before I lead 14 students across the pacific ocean for missions work!
3. Summer Camp (7/19/10-7/21/20). I’m putting on our first in-house summer camp for Central Student Ministries. Trying to get all the logistics sorted out– and there are a lot of them!
4. Associated Student Body (2010-2011). I’m the new ASB adviser for El Sobrante Christian School, the high school where I teach. We just finished with elections and interviews this week, so we’ll be getting together to plan our year soon.

But on a side note, the site will be getting a redesign! I’ll be posting pics of the new layout soon.

Blessings!

Call + Response

I just got back from seeing Call + Response, a “rocumentary” about modern-day slavery, specifically forced prostitution.

Wow. What I liked about the film is it left you feeling inspired instead of hopeless. I would recommend you watch it, then tell your friends about it, too.

I’ll be writing more about this later.

Killing Momentum or Killing Consistency?

I had a talk today with Terrance Green, a friend and neighboring youth pastor about summer schedules and our weekly program. In a nutshell: we don’t know what to do.

Is keeping your youth ministry program as is killing your momentum or killing your consistency?

Your thoughts are appreciated in the comments. 🙂

Breaking My Heart

My heart breaks for so many of my students. So many lives full of confusion. There’s no peace. There’s no refuge. And I get sick to my stomach when I know my hands are tied.

I’ve seen that 93% of a student’s worldview will be developed from their home life. That leaves 7% for pastors and teachers, coaches and counselors, grandparents and BFF’s.

But thank Jesus that He’s not bound by Barna Group statistics, because He transcends all. He illuminates the darkness. He liberates the captives.

[Let the redeemed rejoice; Let vindication flow]

21 Days: Mantic May

Is May always this busy? I feel like I’ve been running from appointment to meeting to event to… this Saturday, for instance, I had a brunch event, a BBQ birthday party, and a BBQ dinner (all in three different cities). What does three events in one day mean? I can’t enjoy any of them because I’m planning/ worried/ thinking about getting to the next thing. So, instead of saying “yes” to all three, I’m only saying “yes” to one because if you say yes to one thing you indirectly say no to the other.

This is something I’ve learned from our church-wide fast: just because you’re doing a lot doesn’t mean a lot is being done. By saying “no” to something I’m able to fully enjoy another, better someone— Jesus.

Take the time to abide, connect, and remain in Jesus. And if you’re schedule is as demanding as mine is, you just might have to say “no” to a BBQ or two.

Goodbye, “Not A Robot”

For the past 19 months we’ve had an overarching theme for Central Student Ministries: “Not a Robot”. The theme has been infused in our publications, series, and vision for the beginning of the ministry. It’s treated us well!

“Not a Robot” has a couple talking points:

•You are made in the image of God, and to know yourself you need to know him (Genesis 1:27).
•You are unique and individual, no one is made like you (Psalms 139:13)
•You have a God ordained purpose that no one else can fulfill (Jeremiah 29:11).

Central Student Ministries will be saying goodbye to “Not A Robot” within the month and hello to our next theme! Our ministry is heading into a new season for our ministry and our theme will surely represent it. I’ll be making it public very, very soon.

Exciting stuff!

Fixing a Bad Night

I felt like I had a rough service this past week. Ever happen to you? So I was thinking of what went wrong and things I should do next time things just aren’t clicking.

Problem: I was distracted with lots of “stuff to do”.

Solution: I need to assign students/volunteers to specific jobs on a weekly basis. I usually delegate spontaneously rather than a thought out, preconceived ongoing delegation.

Problem: I forgot to do some preparation that I should have done.

Solution: Think ahead and do my work.

Problem: I didn’t feel like I was connecting with my students.

Solution: Dance. I’m a terrible dancer, so it always makes for a good laugh when I do. Plus when I’m feeling down I tend to put my head down and plow ahead. Dancing loosens my spirits and makes me able to laugh and enjoy.

So I went to my adult leader and I told him “rough night, huh?” Seconds later one of my students came up to me with a grin with excitement and told me, “MAN! WHAT A GREAT NIGHT!”