Memorial Day in today's rising culture....

     What do you think about when you think about Memorial Day? If you ask a teenager that question, you would be surprised at some of the answers. There are a few that will offer an admirable answer mostly expected by an aging generation such as mine and those before. However, the majority will say things like "the day when the public pools open" or "the weekend we go to the lake" or "the start of the cook-out season." Maybe I'm overly patriotic, but it means much more to me and I think it should to the coming generation as well. To me, Memorial Day is more of a season than a day. It is a season of remembrance. It is the season when I especially remember my loved ones who have gone before. It is decoration weekend for the cemetery at which a lot of my family is buried. It is the season when I especially honor our veterans... all of them: those fallen, those returned, those missing, and those active. I'm quite positive that I share these sentiments with at least a few fellow patriots. However, what are we doing to pass down the meaning of Memorial Day to those coming generations? Is it important enough to share?? I think so.

 

 

     Memorial Day Season, 2012: Members from the Cedar Creek COG Youth group took a trip. The best I remember, there were five of us total. (See Youth Ministry Foot Note) We made a day of it, but I was on a mission. It was my mission to teach these students the importance of Memorial Day. We met at the church and piled in Polly (the name of our 1992 15 Passenger Ford blue-suede suite on wheels) and headed to town. The goal was to attend the Memorial Day Service at the Andrew Johnson National Cemetery. The purpose was two fold: first to visit the cemetery, second to hear the key-note speaker. The speaker was a World War II veteran by the name of Paul Shelton. I met Paul a few years ago when he started attending the Flag Branch Church during my time there. He is a very personable fellow, with a powerful story... I wanted the kids to hear it. The best I remember, the service started with the reading of the numbers of the fallen from Greene County. There was a welcome and then Paul spoke. He spoke of his experience in the Battle of the Bulge, I do believe. Nevertheless, he told his story with passion and emotion still lingering from those days some 60 years ago. He told of the friends he lost and the Purple Heart he'd received. The moment that I saw tears in the eyes of the girls of our youth group was the moment that I knew the day was a success. Of five students, only one had been to the cemetary before and three of them had never witnessed a 21 Gun Salute. I might not have preached to those kids that day, but I definitely ministered to them. They now understand a little more about how God has blessed our Nation and about the sacrifices that were made so that we could be where we are today. Are we loosing this knowledge in today's generation? If we are, whose fault is it? What are we going to do about it? As for me and my house...

 

 

 

 

Youth Ministry Foot Note: Often times during the summer, you plan things with big expectations, but because of conflicting schedules and other competition, the turnout is not very big. Do not be discouraged, it is a natural phenomenon throughout the youth ministry world. I've learned that you plan things and execute them with those who show up. It will probably be a different five or ten students the next time, but at least you are ministering to some during this slow time. 

Pick Your Battles Respectfully -- Sunday Night Service

     Sunday evening service is a source of conflict through out the entire Church as we know it. It is no different at Cedar Creek. There are those who believe that there should be no Sunday evening service at all. They believe that this time should be reserved for "family time" or rest. On the other side of the spectrum, there are those who believe that there should always be Sunday evening service and that it should always be in the sanctuary as traditionally it has been for ages. Before we dive into this topic, I think that it is very important to remember that we are all Christians and that we are commanded to love one another. That being said, I will now divulge my opinion on the matter. You are forewarned.
   
     Youth ministry is a different bird. As in other realms of life, if you are going to attain your goal, then you must do so by whatever means necessary. In the case of youth ministry, the goal is to be a mere tool which God can use to win souls and disciple Christians. Getting back to the topic, I think it is extremely important to be in God's house as often as possible. Maybe this is because I absolutely adore the concept of God's love for me and I consider it to be the least that I can do to show up at Church. This is beyond the fact that I am paid staff and expected by check writers to be at the services. I do not like the fact that people sometimes take the church concept too lightly. To me, there is nothing more important in life than our responsibility to Christ.  If you really want to have "family time" have it at church. What better place is there at which to have your family? Now before you hang me, I realize that issues conflict, and I have no problem with that. Things such as work, vacations, emergencies, and accidents do happen. It is to be expected. Enough of that, I think you get the drift.

     Being a youth minister, you are often times caught in the middle on issues between the youth group and "big church." There are generational gaps that will, for various  reasons, never be bridged. It is the job of the youth minister to keep Christ at the center of all debates while keeping dissension and disagreement to a minimum. I'm getting to the meat and potatoes, hang with me. At Cedar Creek, the youth group historically does not attend Sunday evening service. They just won't. Since I am adamant about twice Sunday worship, I have tried it all. I have tried bribing them with trips to ice cream parlors and restaurants. It may seem shallow to some, but do not forget the time they would spend in corporate worship before hand. Before you get all worked up, it didn't work. None of it worked. You can't push a chain. If they don't want to be there they're not going to come. Me being the analytical type, I wanted to know why they didn't want to be there. It wasn't making sense at first. I knew at least some of them truly loved The Lord. Then it hit me... They weren't feeling reality. Today's coming generation won't fake it. If they feel someone else is faking it, then they're out. We get mad because they won't come to church on Sunday night when it is our own fault. They see our lukewarmness and disengage. Skeptics are going to claim that they are choosing things of the world instead of church, which might be the case for some. However, this is just an avoidance of of the truth. Lord help us.

     I've come to the conclusion that I have a couple of options here. I can abort Sunday night ministry and blame it on the pagan culture, or I can adapt. Ok extreme conservatives, I didn't say "succumb" or "yield", I said "adapt." Even though it is looked down upon by some, I have started a Sunday night youth service. To be honest with you, I catch some flak from some of the older members. Nonetheless, it is going good. God is working, and (as much as I desire to please everyone) it is His approval that I seek. We still have a long way to go. We are probably running around one quarter of our numbers of a Wednesday night, but it is quality. I would rather minister to 15 in a small group or "destination unknown" setting as to sit beside three in a Sunday evening corporate worship setting. I know God is working in our group and I am very appreciative. Again, I would never want to inhibit the "us verses them" theme, because we are all in this together. If I had it my way the sanctuary would be packed three services a week with all ages of God's people enjoying true worship in unity. Until then, I've got to do what needs to be done.

Sorry for the long post, thanks for reading.

Thunderstorms, Leaking Roofs, & Fire Alarms -- All a part of the ministry!

     Wednesdays are usually routine. During the school months, I come into office around nine or so and work on finishing up the night's lesson for that evening. At 11:20 I head over to the local high school (South Greene, 3 miles from the church) and eat lunch with the students over there. The administration of that school is more than willing to allow me to spend some time with the students. (More to come on this topic later) On any other normal day, I would leave South Greene and head to town quickly to put my check in the bank and catch up on any errands that might need to be taken care of. After that, I'd head back to Cedar Creek to get things ready. Students usually start showing up around 3:30 after they get out of school.

     Well, yesterday (5-22-13) didn't work out so well. To say the least, it was a crazy day. It was the first Wednesday that the students were out of school for the summer. Therefore, my weekly lunch plans were altered as there was no school to eat at! Understandable... not too big of a deal. So, I met some kids at the YMCA to work out with them during lunch time. This is a great opportunity for ministry (more to come on this topic as well!) Since the weather was nice, I rode my motorcycle as is usual. When I left the Y, the skies turned dark and were starting to open up just as I got home. The Lord watched over my ignorance and allowed me to get home before the storm hit. I was appreciative.

     This storm was just the starting point of the craziness. I grabbed some tuna salad for an after-workout protein snack, swapped vehicles, and headed back to the church. FYI, the church is about five miles from my house. When I left the house, it was not storming, raining, or threatening to do so. I made it half way there, and I had to pull under a Bradford Pair at Solomon Lutheran in order to keep from getting the car beat to death by hail balls. Mind you, according to The Weather Channel Desktop, there was a 30% chance of an isolated thunderstorm. I appreciated the isolation. I finally made it back to church only to sit down at my desk for about 30 minutes before another storm came through. This storm was more intense. I looked out the window to see our landscaping escaping and our flowering pair trees disintegrating. It was craziness. Then came the leaks. It was raining so hard and for so long that our fairly-modern building was leaking in places that it had never leaked before.

     Here is a note for all of you individuals that are contemplating the ministry. First off, if you are thinking you are called into the ministry, pray hard about it and don't rush into it. However, also think about this: Satan would not put thoughts of Kingdom expansion in your head. If you are read up (the Bible) and prayed up, and the ministry is on your heart, then God is probably tugging your heart's strings. Secondly, there is much more to a pastorate than preaching, teaching, and visiting. Sometimes you have to pull out coolers to catch the leaking storm water. Sometimes you have to figure out how to reset the fire alarm when the roof leaks on a smoke detector and sets the system off. Yep... that happened. The fire alarm was activated for several hours before the smoke detector could dry out and the system could be reset. With the help of my admirable administrative assistant, we silenced the alarm, but the strobes continued to flash. It was humorous to watch the faces of the senior members of our congregation as they walked in for their portion of Wednesday evening service.

     Ministry continued. We, as all good youth groups do, played dodge ball, worshipped to YouTube videos (Whom Shall I Fear by Tomlin & Gold by Britt Nicole), and completed our service with prayer and a sermonette by yours truly. I spoke on using your gifts for the purpose of the Kingdom. God gave us the ultimate gift by the sending of His Son. The least we can do is offer our talents to Him in return. 1 Peter 4:10 was the text, an appropriate one I suppose. Lesson for the day, expect the unexpected and plan on rolling with the punches!

Here We Go....

Well, here we go. I thought I'd try it... Why not, right?

Welcome to the blog of E.J. Swatsell. Odds are, if you're reading this, then you already know me. However, here is a quick little bio to give you an idea of who I am and what I do.

Born in '86.
Greene County TN Native.
Camp Creek Elementary School
Graduated South Greene High School in '05.
Traveled Europe in '07
Married Miss Kasey in 6-7-08.
Graduated from Milligan College in '09 with a degree in History and strong concentration in Bible.
Been on the farm all my life, worked my way through school.
Hired full time at the Cedar Creek Church of God as an Assoc. Pastor/Youth Pastor in 2010.
Currently farming on a part time basis... if there is such a thing.

Love my God, Love my family, Love my (God's) ministry, Love my friends,  Love my Country, Love the country, Love the farm, Love Harley's & Hotrods, Love life in general.

What to expect: This blog will be all over the place, I'm sure. However, expect highlights of rural youth ministry and the life of a rural youth pastor. Expect tips, tricks, what has worked and what hasn't.

Hope a few people get some enjoyment out of this endeavor. If nothing else, it will serve as reflection for me.

Blessings,

E.J.

More to come later...