WOW!

I am always so grateful for our Oasis leaders. I continually stand in awe at how much they bless God, bless me and bless our students with their leadership and time. In a society that pretty much screams "it's all about me", they realize "it's most definitely not about me, it's all about Him". Each and every week, without fail, they breathe life, love and Jesus into our students. I wouldn't want to do Oasis without them. Along with Jesus, they alone are why Oasis is successful. It's not the flashy lights or great giveaways or awesome medias (although they're cool), it's them. They, along with Jesus of course, are the change agents in our students lives. I love them! I mean it when I say they're my heroes.

So tonight, when they gave Johnny, Chris and I each a cake and a gift card to the mall, they pretty much blew us away. Johnny said it best after Oasis when all three of us were upstairs having a late night talk, his word..."WOW!"

Music to my ears

Tonight was Schmucker's Christmas (Winter?) concert. It was music to my ears. They did an excellent job, but you definitely could tell which songs they like more than others...especially the guys. I know I'm not supposed to, but I liked it when you could hear them giggle.















I also loved looking at the stage and seeing so many faces I recognized. The original plan was to stay for all three grades. However, I only made it through the 6th grade...thanks to my friend Bob who gave me whatever bug he was carrying around on Sunday. Let's just say I hung out in the bathroom a lot today.

Ben and Kristen Stuckey

For those Oasis veterans who have been around for awhile, I just got the new photo of our beloved friends down in Alabama - Ben and Kristen Stuckey. I love and miss these guys like crazy. I always try to stop by their house when I head down south, but this month was a whirlwind kind of trip.

Props to the McFarlands, H.S. & M.S. Leadership Teams

Last Saturday they bought them and tonight before Oasis they wrapped them...over $500 of gifts and stocking stuffers. The 8th grade and high school leadership teams came together to adopt a family of eight kids this Christmas. In this particular family, grandma and grandpa are raising a boatload of their grandchildren. As you can imagine they really didn't expect to be doing this, nor can they afford to. However, their incredible love for their grandchildren surpassess all the inconveniences. This Christmas will be extra special because of you my friends! I am so proud of each and every one of you! Thanks to the McFarland family for organizing this event. Your heart for Jesus and hurting people is a beautiful sight to behold!

You are not the average bear Oasis!

You rock! Becasue of the nasty weather on Wednesday, I expected about a dozen students to show up for Oasis! Boy did you prove me wrong. Nearly 90% of you guys showed up. I love your heart for Oasis and your heart for Jesus. While you always need to use wisdom when it comes to driving in bad weather (give your parents grace), never lose that heart and hunger Oasis. You are loved by me, your leaders and, most of all, Him!

Jeanne Mayo

Jeanne Mayo has been one of my youth pastor heroes from afar for a long, long time. First, because she is an awesome youth pastor (Ministries Today gave her the title America's Number One Youth Pastor). Secondly because she is a female. Being a female pastor in a leadership position, it is really difficult to get that one-on-one significant face time with those who have gone before you that you have mad respect for. I'm not going to whine about it, but sometimes it pretty much makes me want to scream and other times it makes me want to give up. Anyway, Jeanne is doing this year long mentoring program known as the Cadre. To give you an indication how much she is sought after for her wisdom, you have to apply for it. I gave it a shot and got in, along with 19 others. We do a once a month conference call and meet with her personally twice a year. Last week (Monday and Tuesday) was our first time together. I was utterly blown away. First, she definitely knows how to throw a party. Second, her one liners were awesome. I've found that's the way I learn best, throw me a powerful one-liner and let me meditate on it. So, here are my two favorite from last week. They aren't hugely profound at first glance, but meditate on them for a while and I'm sure they will blow you away. Here you go.

"Sometimes it's not so much what is spoken, but what is sensed that matters."

Do people feel the grace, mercy, love and concern that I speak of? They've heard that they really matter to me and to Jesus, but do they feel it? When people are around me, do what they sense match my spoken words? The answer is, for various reasons, sometimes yes and sometimes no. Then, on ocassion, I think people sense the right stuff, but they need it spoken to them as well. Do I tell people I love them enough, even though my actions may scream it? I need to do better at both.

The other quote is what I'm glad to say that my senior pastor has mastered. I just don't think I've ever heard it put into words quite like this...
"Create attitudes (and culture), don't wait for them."

If you want an encouraging atmosphere, then be encouraging. If you want positive attitudes, then be positive. If you don't want gossip to run rampid in your ministry, then don't gossip. If you hate when people slice and dice each other in the name of leadership, then don't do it yourself.

Anyway, my time with Jeanne was off-the-chart. She's the real deal. In fact, the last night we had a Q&A time that started at 10 p.m. (yes, p.m.). She said she would stay up as long as there were four of us. She hung in there until 6:30 a.m. Needless to say, she is passionate about raising up and speaking life into youth pastors.

The moment of "sensing" that I will never forget is when we were talking one-on-one and I was giving some general background on my life and ministry. It was part of the bigger story, but in the midst of it I told her that my dad lives with me and struggles with being bi-polar. It was just part of the story, but at that moment she stopped me and looked into my eyes and asked me "How bad is it?" I was so taken back that I was like "How bad is what?" "His bi-polar?" I then went on to talk about how rough it's been since May. Friend, when she stopped me mid-sentence I was floored. What she said with those four words "How bad is it?", spoke volumes about who she is. She breathed into my life, "I heard you and I care".

I'm thankful to be a part of a church that encourages, allows time for and pays for us to receive the training to be the best that we can be. Thanks SMT.

G.L. and Q

I can't tell you how great it was to see Garrett and Quincey down in Atlanta this week! I knew I missed these guys a ton, but being down there reminded me why. First of all, they are just plain great guys. Second, they make me laugh a lot... a lot, a lot! After checking out some of the hilarious new videos Garrett has made, we all went out to dinner with their mom and step-dad to this incredible Italian restaurant their family owns. Great eats with great friends. It was an off-the-chart beginning to a couple of incredible days with one of my youth pastor hero's, Jeanne Mayo.

Hero Questions of the Day #23 - 26

Hey friends, once again I've been slacking on the Hero Question of the Day. For all you faithfuls out there, I'm going to throw out four of them today. Answer one or all four by posting your name and answers or emailing jgregory@gccwired.com with them. You rock my friends! I love doing life with you!

Question #23: But the angel said to him: "Do not be afraid, _________; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John. He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord.
Luke 1:13-15

Question #24: "I am the Lord's servant," __________ answered. "May it be to me as you have said." Then the angel left her.
Luke 1:38

Question #25: Now there was a man in Jerusalem called _________, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord's Christ.
Luke 2:25-26

Question #26: There was also a prophetess, ______, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying.
Luke 2:36-37

Miss Edwardsburg

I love going to events, plays, games and matches to show my love and support to Oasis and Lifeline leaders and students. That's why this morning I went to Patrick's wrestling match (win, lose or draw, Patrick will always be a winner in my book...he is off the chart awesome). And, that's why tonight I went to see Candace's Ms. Edwardsburg pageant. Can you imagine me at a pageant? I was totally out of my comfort zone, but that's ok because it's not all about me...tonight it was about Candace. Anyway, I get there and find out that Josiah's sister, Susanna, is also one of the contestants. Very cool! Even cooler is that Candance and Susanna tied for Miss Congeniality. We were proud and we were screamin'. To top it all off, Susanna takes the title and is named Miss Edwardsburg. Here are a couple of pictures from tonight. Bonus was watching Josh escort Candace and Josiah escort Susanna.

Can You Say Snow Storm?

Unless I'm nice and toasty under the covers looking out the window, I hate snow...especially when I have to drive in it! Tomorrow morning I head for Atlanta to hang out for a couple of days at the home of Jeanne Mayo - whom I'd have to say is the numero uno, top gun, head honcho female youth pastor in America. She's been a hero of mine from afar for a long, long time. What's even cooler is that I get to have dinner tomorrow night with Garrett and Quincey! Boy, do I miss those guys a ton! Pray for me and my slickery travel! I am going to do my very best to make it back for Oasis on Wednesday night, but no fear Johnny "the Middle School King" Keim has it under control.

In light of Thanksgiving

In light of celebrating Thanksgiving last week, did you take the time to verbalize what and who you are thankful for? Tell me about it by emailing me at jgregory@gccwired.com or post it to the blog for all to see. Even better, if it's a person that you're thankful for, go and tell them face to face. Today just might be the day they need to be encouraged, to have life breathed into them.

The tongue has the power of life and death... Proverbs 18:21

Ok, that's not really funny, but it kinda is

Someone did a "Last Picture I Ever Took" contest. Here are a few of the winners I pulled off the internet (thanks Kem for the link). I think my favorite is the golf one, probably cause I like to golf (notice I didn't say I was good at it). Before you freak out and think they're totally real, notice the golfer has a putter in his hand - unless he hit it like a 9 iron, I think we've just witnessed a little PhotoShop magic.

That's Note Worthy

Cool Conference Call with Tim Elmore

I was recently on a conference call with Tim Elmore (a leadership guru) and about a dozen or so other youth pastors. Here are my notes for you present and future youth leaders/pastors (sorry, if they are a little rough grammatically).

Three Cool Images that Help Form Leadership Habits and Attitudes (Habitudes) – You must consciously pursue personal growth!

Starving Baker – #1 Occupational Hazard in Ministry
Imagine walking into a bakery and you see a really skinny guy behind the counter doing everything. He’s so busy serving everyone else he doesn’t have time to stop and eat and he starves himself. That’s a picture of a lot of us in student ministry. We are so busy serving, serving, serving, that we don’t spiritually stop, eat and digest ourselves. Often times it happens because it looks so noble to be giving our lives away, to be investing and expending our lives for other people. As noble as it looks, after a season we burn out and end up just going through the motions. There is no power on our ministry. The starving baker reminds us that we have got to feed ourselves before we feed others.

If I stop growing today, I stop leading tomorrow.

It’s the capacity to develop and improve their skills that distinguish leaders from followers. – Warren Bennis

The number one problem in ministers in his generation is that they were trafficking unlived truth. – Dwight L. Moody

We’ve got to live it before we give lip service to it.

Oversized Gift –
Imagine your 5th birthday party and you open all your gifts, but your mom and dad say there are a couple of more in the garage. You’re thinking a bike or maybe a big water gun for the pool. You open the garage door and your jaw drops. It’s a bike and gun alright… it’s a Harley Davidson and a 12 gage shotgun. “Mom, dad… I’m five, not fifty.” The gift doesn’t match who you are. In the same way, you all have entered ministry most likely because you have a pretty big gift, there is a God given gift inside of you. And, what happens often is that we begin leaning on our gift rather than on our growth, or leaning on our gifts rather than our God. We wing it in our ministry. You think things like, “I don’t have to prepare for this, I can do this in my sleep”, our preparation level goes down and our discipline level is not high. We must continually stretch and grow.

Iceberg –
Imagine a huge photograph of an iceberg and you can see both the tip above the water and the massive amount below the waterline. The 10% above the waterline – the tip that you can see – represents your skill set, the 90% below the waterline represents your character. It’s always what’s below the waterline that sinks the ship. The major portion of your influence is below the waterline – it’s your identity, your character, your discipline, your emotional security, the values that you live by…that’s what people read and that’s what really influences. Again, it has to do with personal growth. It’s what you are feeding internally into your spirit man and mind that is going to make all the difference in the world.

Leaders have to keep growing. What got you where you are seldom keeps you there.


Question and Answer Time
One of two life verses for Tim (in response to a question regarding the D. L. Moody quote above):

And Ezra set his heart to study the law of the lord, then to practice it, then to teach the statutes to Israel. Ezra 7:10

Wise man, right order.

The question I asked him during the Q & A session was "What book have you read that refreshed your soul?" His answer was Your God is Too Safe by Mark Buchanan. I just ordered it so somewhere down the line I'll let you know.

Four leadership books that he likes...
Leadership and Self Deception by the Arbinger Institute
Certain Trumpets by Garry Wills
Good to Great and Built to Last by Jim Collins

Home Alone?...Hope Not!

I wouldn't want this starring me in the face on a cold windy night (the kind we have frequently in northern Indiana). My good friend, Ashley Johnson, sent this pic to me. Ashley lives right down the street from me and boy am I glad this one is in her backyard and not mine.

Hero Question of the Day

I've been skipping a few beats when it comes to the Hero Question of the Day. Post your answers or email jgregory@gccwired.com. Feel free to answer one or all. Have an incredible Thanksgiving my friends.


____________, ____________ and ____________ replied to the king, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up."
Daniel 3:16-18

When ____________ woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife.
Matthew 1:24

While they were stoning him, ___________ prayed, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." Then he fell on his knees and cried out, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." When he had said this, he fell asleep.
Acts 7:59-60

"Judy, I'd make the trip down just to hang out with you. I'd love that!"

That was the comment that one of the people at the workshop Corey and I did made to me last Friday. Do you have any idea how great that made me feel? It wasn't the ego stroke that made me smile (I've been caught in that trap one too many times), but the fact that even in my utter exhaustion God was somehow shining through. I really don't remember a whole lot about Friday, other than #15 wasn't in the handouts and I need to cut my second session down to the best of the best so that I can make it through...and I remember that comment! Go God...may you and you alone...receive all the glory, honor and praise! You Rock!

When the Smile on My Heart is as Big as the One on My Face

I love it when someone makes my heart smile... my leaders did that for me tonight! I will forever be grateful for the fact that from September through June, over 75 leaders of Oasis give me and our students 1/7 of their evenings each week. That's huge! Everything about them shines brightly for Jesus - their actions, attitudes, words and deeds.

Tonight, we had a leader's meeting and so many of them showed up that we ran out of both Chinese and Taco Bell. I've never had that problem before, but it wasn't anything that another quick food run couldn't fix (thanks Chris).

For all those present and future youth pastors out there, here's one thing I've learned through the years. While I can't repay them for what they sacrifice for our students each and every week, I can feed them well. That's why we've done Chinese (the overwhelming favorite), Chick-fil-A, Hacienda, Brunos, homemade and a few others. Tonight we added a few cool giveaways too - that was fun. I hope I beat them to heaven and get to watch their faces as Jesus shows them the impact they had on eternity that they were never able to fully see on earth.

Among many, a few of the leaders in particular that have made my heart smile are...
Karen and Wendy - They planned the entire high school leaders retreat and allowed me to just show up and play all weekend - spoons, kemps, capture the flag, ping-pong, indoor off-the-walls kickball and 3-on-3 basketball. After sitting at my computer for three weeks, it felt really, really good. I loved having the opportunity to speak what was on my heart and pray for each of the high school leaders as well.

The Five Star Boys - After hanging out with middle school students at Grissom on Wednesday afternoons, they high tail it from Grissom over to GCC to do it all over again. Thanks Seth, Jeremy, Josiah, Michael and Eric! A big Happy Birthday goes out to Josiah!

Blog-o-rama

As I mentioned in my last post, my whirlwind is over. So, you'll be seeing a number of posts at once. Our 8th grade leaders are currently working through Doug Field's "Help, I'm a student leader!" book. I've challenged them to highlight what jumps off the page at them while they read each chapter, then to figure out from among the highlights "the highlight to beat all highlights".

Here are mine...

When you take responsibility for the tasks other run from, you communicate your willingness to do what it takes to be used by God. (Chapter 2)

The humble leader doesn't need to brag, show off, or convince anyone of his greatness. (Chapter 3)

WOW - What a ride! I finally learned my lesson!

A month ago, a few friends heard about the schedule I would have to maintain in order to get everything done by Thanksgiving that I had said "yes" to. While they used words, they really didn't have to. Their eyes alone said something equivalent to "Are you nuts?"

It's been a whirlwind my friends. A month of working with no more than 3-4 hours a sleep a night (often times less) has left me beyond spent. The fact that I had to pinch myself on Thursday to stay awake while listening to one of my heros was my first clue, then I began seeing two of him (double vision is a trip). On Friday when I couldn't sit down because I desperately feared falling a sleep despite my surroundings, I knew I was in serious trouble (could be because after double vision day I only had 45 minutes of sleep that night). I remember a long time ago hearing about how a presenter fell asleep during his own presentation, on Friday (while I didn't) I had a new understanding how that could possibly happen. To say I was beat, would be a significant understatement.

However, there were great moments that occurred during that time that I will cherish forever. Speaking to 130 women on Genesis through Numbers and getting comments like "now I get it" left me inspired to work on a few things that have been rolling around in the back of my head for months. Giving a message on choices to a boatload of middle school students using a boatload of scripture was refreshing and reminded me how much I love to study God's Word and get new takes on things. Despite the predicament that I got myself into, having a number of old friends and new friends ask "How can I help?" left me encouraged and feeling warm and fuzzy.

Then there are some events where there was no other option than to go on autopilot, which I feel much regret. However, as God so often allows, I will get a "do over." Although time will be the true test, I think I got this lesson down. While I really don't want to live a balanced life, I do want to live a "healthy" life. "Healthy" would not have been a word you would have used to describe my life over the last month, but now I'm on a quest for it. While I know I will never fully arrive, I am committed to doing better. Once again, time will be the true test.

If you're interested in some reminders, when you are exhausted...
... your emotions are raw, really raw (fortunately I am relatively good at holding my tongue or I would have verbally (and regretfully) slaughtered a few people and left casualties along the roadside).
... your reaction time is significantly slower.
... your ability to think on your feet is almost non-existent.
... words don't come out of your mouth right.
... relationships are taxed.
... important people feel... and are...neglected.
... instead of enjoying what you do, your whole focus is just getting through the "next" event.

Life isn't meant to be lived that way. Sprint, sprint, sprint, sprint...rest is not cool; however, sprint...rest, sprint...rest, sprint...rest, sprint...rest is! That's all I have to say about that!

In the meantime, thanks Karen, Chris, Wendy, Carole, Loretta and so many others that had my back in so many ways.

Where's Waldo

Tonight we finish our series, "Where's Waldo - Training Your Eyes to See, Ears to Hear, Heart to Feel and Mind to Think." We're going to dive into an overview of Genesis, in particular Joseph's story. He stumbled in the beginning with "having a mind to think" when he, perhaps, could be found struttin' around in his coat and spoutin' off his dreams without thinking how it would make his brothers feel. However, in the end, he got it right! Come find out how. Oasis...You Rock...I am so very proud of you!