WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.760 If your identity isn't anything other than Christ and that thing goes away, 2 00:00:03.760 --> 00:00:05.120 it'll feel like a part of you died. 3 00:00:05.760 --> 00:00:09.840 And I was like, that's what my identity was wrapped up in being a public school teacher. 4 00:00:16.920 --> 00:00:17.600 Hey everyone. 5 00:00:17.600 --> 00:00:20.800 I'm Steve Holt and this is the empower you podcasts. 6 00:00:20.800 --> 00:00:27.920 And I'm joined today with Joey Follett, who is our youth pastor at the road 7 00:00:28.240 --> 00:00:30.000 church here in Colorado Springs. 8 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:36.880 And Joey is one of our young guys who has come in and done a fabulous job with our youth group. 9 00:00:36.880 --> 00:00:38.560 I think you've done a fantastic job, man. 10 00:00:38.560 --> 00:00:39.200 Thank you. 11 00:00:39.200 --> 00:00:46.480 Even with little, very little experience in that particular arena of church work, 12 00:00:46.480 --> 00:00:53.200 yet a lot of experience working with young, young people in high school and stuff. 13 00:00:53.200 --> 00:00:53.760 Right. 14 00:00:54.480 --> 00:01:00.320 I'm really curious about what is your story as far as, first of all, coming to know Christ, 15 00:01:01.120 --> 00:01:02.800 the family you grew up in. 16 00:01:02.800 --> 00:01:06.240 Tell us a little bit about the journey you've been on, Joey. 17 00:01:06.240 --> 00:01:06.560 Sure. 18 00:01:06.560 --> 00:01:08.880 Well, I grew up here in the Springs in a Christian home, 19 00:01:08.880 --> 00:01:13.760 went to a Baptist church in the Springs and grew up knowing the Lord, Christian school too, 20 00:01:13.760 --> 00:01:20.000 really blessed with the biblical upbringing that I had, both at church, which was a real 21 00:01:20.560 --> 00:01:24.880 intense, you could say, Bible-believing teaching church. 22 00:01:24.880 --> 00:01:26.880 And then same thing at school even. 23 00:01:26.880 --> 00:01:31.280 And so I knew throughout my upbringing, knew the Lord, walked with the Lord, 24 00:01:31.280 --> 00:01:34.160 and also knew that I loved being around kids. 25 00:01:34.160 --> 00:01:37.600 And even in high school, I volunteered at summer camps and was like a middle school 26 00:01:37.600 --> 00:01:40.400 counselor at a Christian summer camp and things like that. 27 00:01:40.400 --> 00:01:44.400 And so I knew in high school that I thought I wanted to, I knew I wanted to do something 28 00:01:44.400 --> 00:01:44.800 with kids. 29 00:01:44.800 --> 00:01:46.720 So I thought, I guess I'll be a teacher. 30 00:01:46.720 --> 00:01:51.360 And history was the only subject I did okay in at school. 31 00:01:51.360 --> 00:01:52.240 It was the only one I liked. 32 00:01:52.240 --> 00:01:54.240 So I said, I guess I'll be a history teacher. 33 00:01:54.240 --> 00:01:56.640 In hindsight, I should have done PE, but history was fun. 34 00:01:56.640 --> 00:01:58.640 So I became a history teacher. 35 00:01:58.640 --> 00:02:01.600 I went to school for that, joined the military as well. 36 00:02:01.600 --> 00:02:03.280 So I got to do that part-time for a while. 37 00:02:03.280 --> 00:02:05.440 And then I went to school to be a history teacher. 38 00:02:05.440 --> 00:02:09.039 And I started doing that here in the Springs, taught eighth grade history for a while. 39 00:02:09.039 --> 00:02:10.400 How long did you do that? 40 00:02:10.400 --> 00:02:13.840 I did it for four years and I coached, got to coach a bunch of sports, 41 00:02:14.560 --> 00:02:17.920 mainly wrestling, but got to coach a lot of stuff while I was teaching as well. 42 00:02:17.920 --> 00:02:19.760 So were you doing wrestling in high school? 43 00:02:19.760 --> 00:02:22.880 Yeah, I wrestled elementary, middle school and high school, 44 00:02:22.880 --> 00:02:25.920 and then started coaching while I was in college. 45 00:02:25.920 --> 00:02:27.280 And you're coaching now, aren't you? 46 00:02:27.280 --> 00:02:28.240 Yeah, I still get to do that. 47 00:02:28.240 --> 00:02:29.120 Yeah, it was really fun. 48 00:02:29.120 --> 00:02:30.640 And you're doing it at a local high school? 49 00:02:30.640 --> 00:02:31.680 Local middle school. 50 00:02:31.680 --> 00:02:32.720 Middle school. 51 00:02:32.720 --> 00:02:34.000 And how's that been for you? 52 00:02:34.000 --> 00:02:34.400 That's great. 53 00:02:34.400 --> 00:02:37.680 I got back, I took a few years off and I got back into that last year. 54 00:02:38.400 --> 00:02:39.440 And that's a lot of fun. 55 00:02:39.440 --> 00:02:43.760 Just kind of a different way to interact with students and make a difference. 56 00:02:43.760 --> 00:02:46.320 And I love wrestling, so it's great. 57 00:02:46.320 --> 00:02:47.920 And then how did you meet Allie? 58 00:02:47.920 --> 00:02:48.880 We met in high school. 59 00:02:48.880 --> 00:02:52.800 So I was a senior, she was a sophomore, 60 00:02:52.800 --> 00:02:56.160 and we had known each other as a small Christian school. 61 00:02:56.160 --> 00:02:57.680 I had played soccer with her brother. 62 00:02:59.280 --> 00:03:01.360 So we knew each other well, but we're friends. 63 00:03:01.360 --> 00:03:04.640 And then I asked her to Homecoming my senior year, 64 00:03:04.640 --> 00:03:07.680 and we've been together ever since. 65 00:03:07.920 --> 00:03:08.720 My goodness. 66 00:03:09.600 --> 00:03:11.680 And how many kids? 67 00:03:11.680 --> 00:03:13.280 We got three kids, three boys. 68 00:03:13.280 --> 00:03:18.000 Well, I tell you, when I see Miles and the whole crew come in, 69 00:03:18.720 --> 00:03:21.600 I just feel for you guys because I remember those days. 70 00:03:22.160 --> 00:03:25.040 I love being a dad and Liz love being a mom. 71 00:03:25.760 --> 00:03:30.640 How has kids had a difference, made a difference in your life? 72 00:03:30.640 --> 00:03:33.520 Oh man, it made a huge difference in our life. 73 00:03:33.760 --> 00:03:38.960 We were married for, I think, about two years before our oldest, Miles, was born. 74 00:03:38.960 --> 00:03:41.840 And that transition was tough, really. 75 00:03:41.840 --> 00:03:44.800 I think we both always knew we wanted to have kids. 76 00:03:44.800 --> 00:03:45.840 We both loved kids. 77 00:03:46.800 --> 00:03:48.800 And so we were like, yeah, of course we'll have kids. 78 00:03:48.800 --> 00:03:52.960 And I don't think we really understood what that transition's like 79 00:03:52.960 --> 00:03:54.320 until it happens to you. 80 00:03:55.200 --> 00:03:59.200 And so I think it kind of took us both off guard for about a year. 81 00:03:59.200 --> 00:04:02.160 And then we kind of figured out, wow, this is a big change. 82 00:04:02.160 --> 00:04:03.280 And it was hard. 83 00:04:03.280 --> 00:04:07.920 And once we kind of acknowledged that, then we've had two more since. 84 00:04:07.920 --> 00:04:09.760 So it's been good. 85 00:04:09.760 --> 00:04:14.800 So have you found that sometimes it's easier to be with other people's kids 86 00:04:14.800 --> 00:04:16.320 than even to be with your own? 87 00:04:16.320 --> 00:04:17.680 Yeah, both. 88 00:04:17.680 --> 00:04:21.680 I think, yes, because other people's kids, you can give them back. 89 00:04:23.120 --> 00:04:24.640 And that's kind of fun. 90 00:04:24.640 --> 00:04:29.840 But yeah, and I just really have a heart for older kids, for teenagers especially. 91 00:04:29.840 --> 00:04:30.560 And I always have. 92 00:04:30.640 --> 00:04:34.160 And so, yeah, I love that I get to be around my little kids at home. 93 00:04:34.160 --> 00:04:35.120 Our oldest is six. 94 00:04:35.120 --> 00:04:36.400 And so I get to do that. 95 00:04:36.400 --> 00:04:39.520 And then also in my other time, I get to hang out with teenagers. 96 00:04:39.520 --> 00:04:40.720 It's important to them. 97 00:04:40.720 --> 00:04:41.840 So I could do a little bit of both. 98 00:04:42.480 --> 00:04:48.480 So going from like a high school teacher and then being in, 99 00:04:48.480 --> 00:04:50.640 it would be the National Guard, right? 100 00:04:50.640 --> 00:04:53.520 Yeah, the Air Force National Guard or Air National Guard. 101 00:04:53.520 --> 00:04:53.840 Yes. 102 00:04:53.840 --> 00:04:57.440 Air Guard to now being a pastor. 103 00:04:57.440 --> 00:04:57.920 Yeah. 104 00:04:57.920 --> 00:05:00.320 Tell me about how God spoke. 105 00:05:00.000 --> 00:05:02.920 spoke to you and led you in that direction. 106 00:05:02.920 --> 00:05:06.840 Yeah, that's, it's something that was never on my radar. 107 00:05:06.840 --> 00:05:08.160 You know, like I said, I grew up in church 108 00:05:08.160 --> 00:05:10.600 and was around pastors and, you know, 109 00:05:10.600 --> 00:05:12.120 had youth pastor and youth leaders 110 00:05:12.120 --> 00:05:13.580 that had a big impact on my life, 111 00:05:13.580 --> 00:05:17.280 but it was never something I thought I would do, 112 00:05:17.280 --> 00:05:18.200 was be a pastor. 113 00:05:18.200 --> 00:05:19.800 And not that I didn't want to necessarily, 114 00:05:19.800 --> 00:05:21.960 it's just, I don't know, it never occurred to me 115 00:05:21.960 --> 00:05:23.680 that that was an option for me. 116 00:05:23.680 --> 00:05:25.680 And so I was teaching, 117 00:05:25.680 --> 00:05:27.580 and during my fourth year of teaching, 118 00:05:27.620 --> 00:05:30.540 I, there are a few things that happened. 119 00:05:30.540 --> 00:05:33.380 COVID had a big impact on public schools around here, 120 00:05:33.380 --> 00:05:34.780 and we took a pay cut, 121 00:05:34.780 --> 00:05:36.980 and I wasn't able to coach anymore, 122 00:05:36.980 --> 00:05:37.940 which was important to me. 123 00:05:37.940 --> 00:05:40.880 And they allowed high school to have sports, 124 00:05:40.880 --> 00:05:42.500 but not middle school that year. 125 00:05:42.500 --> 00:05:43.860 So I was coaching four sports, 126 00:05:43.860 --> 00:05:45.220 making some good extra money, 127 00:05:45.220 --> 00:05:47.160 and they pulled the plug on that, 128 00:05:47.160 --> 00:05:48.660 so I didn't get to do that anymore. 129 00:05:48.660 --> 00:05:50.740 And so I was starting for the first time, 130 00:05:50.740 --> 00:05:51.620 I mean, I thought I was going to be 131 00:05:51.620 --> 00:05:54.140 an eighth grade history teacher for 30 years. 132 00:05:54.140 --> 00:05:56.260 Like that, at the school I was at, 133 00:05:56.260 --> 00:05:57.980 I was like, I'm good, this is what I'm going to do. 134 00:05:57.980 --> 00:06:00.500 Didn't really consider anything else until that moment 135 00:06:00.500 --> 00:06:02.420 when there was all these other things happening. 136 00:06:02.420 --> 00:06:03.820 I was like, man, maybe I should, 137 00:06:03.820 --> 00:06:04.780 like, what else could I do? 138 00:06:04.780 --> 00:06:06.740 And so I was working in the Air Force part-time, 139 00:06:06.740 --> 00:06:08.820 and there was an opportunity to do the same job 140 00:06:08.820 --> 00:06:10.780 I did in the Air Force, but as a civilian. 141 00:06:10.780 --> 00:06:12.220 So I was trained for it. 142 00:06:12.220 --> 00:06:15.460 It was a pretty good, well-paying government job 143 00:06:15.460 --> 00:06:16.300 up in Denver. 144 00:06:16.300 --> 00:06:18.620 And so I jumped on that. 145 00:06:18.620 --> 00:06:20.420 It took a while, government moves a little slow. 146 00:06:20.420 --> 00:06:21.600 So it took a while for that to happen, 147 00:06:21.600 --> 00:06:25.300 but I did that, so I left teaching February 148 00:06:25.300 --> 00:06:28.340 of my fourth year, kind of in the middle of the school year, 149 00:06:28.340 --> 00:06:31.460 which wasn't my intent, but that's how it ended up. 150 00:06:31.460 --> 00:06:36.460 And so I left, and I didn't know how hard that would be. 151 00:06:37.060 --> 00:06:39.100 It kind of, it took me off guard. 152 00:06:39.100 --> 00:06:43.460 My last day, I left, and I remember, like, 153 00:06:43.460 --> 00:06:45.140 I didn't call Allie on the way home. 154 00:06:45.140 --> 00:06:46.580 I usually do, I didn't call her on the way home 155 00:06:46.580 --> 00:06:48.060 because I knew I would start crying. 156 00:06:48.060 --> 00:06:49.900 Because it was really emotional for me, 157 00:06:49.900 --> 00:06:51.560 and I didn't even know why. 158 00:06:51.560 --> 00:06:54.100 And I think it hit me later, I was hanging out 159 00:06:54.180 --> 00:06:56.020 with kind of a friend of my brother's, 160 00:06:56.020 --> 00:06:56.980 I don't even see him very often, 161 00:06:56.980 --> 00:06:59.100 and we were talking about it, and he told me, 162 00:06:59.100 --> 00:07:01.700 if your identity isn't anything other than Christ, 163 00:07:01.700 --> 00:07:02.940 and that thing goes away, 164 00:07:02.940 --> 00:07:04.860 it'll feel like a part of you died. 165 00:07:04.860 --> 00:07:07.180 And I was like, that's what, my identity was wrapped up 166 00:07:07.180 --> 00:07:09.460 in being a public school teacher. 167 00:07:09.460 --> 00:07:12.420 As weird as that might sound, like, that's who I was. 168 00:07:12.420 --> 00:07:14.700 I liked it, I felt like I was good at it, 169 00:07:14.700 --> 00:07:18.060 and I was happy doing that for a while. 170 00:07:18.060 --> 00:07:20.340 And so when that was, and it was my own choice, 171 00:07:20.340 --> 00:07:23.860 but still, when that was gone, it was really, really hard. 172 00:07:24.620 --> 00:07:26.980 Because now I was doing a job where I wasn't around kids, 173 00:07:26.980 --> 00:07:28.420 which is what I'm passionate about. 174 00:07:28.420 --> 00:07:31.380 I wasn't teaching, which is where I think I'm gifted in, 175 00:07:31.380 --> 00:07:33.060 and so I wasn't doing that anymore. 176 00:07:33.060 --> 00:07:34.700 It was a government job that I enjoyed, 177 00:07:34.700 --> 00:07:37.860 and it wasn't bad, but it wasn't where my gifts 178 00:07:37.860 --> 00:07:39.220 and passions were. 179 00:07:39.220 --> 00:07:41.340 And so I was sitting there thinking, like, man, 180 00:07:41.340 --> 00:07:44.040 I just walked away from my dream job, 181 00:07:44.040 --> 00:07:45.020 like, what I wanted to do. 182 00:07:45.020 --> 00:07:46.180 And I was like, why did I do that? 183 00:07:46.180 --> 00:07:48.620 And I knew why I did it, I mean, I really felt the Lord 184 00:07:48.620 --> 00:07:51.620 leading me in this direction, I had peace about it big time. 185 00:07:51.660 --> 00:07:54.140 And also I was doing it to support my family. 186 00:07:54.140 --> 00:07:56.020 And so I had good reasoning behind it, 187 00:07:56.020 --> 00:07:57.140 but it was still really hard. 188 00:07:57.140 --> 00:07:58.580 And so it took me a few months, 189 00:07:58.580 --> 00:08:01.220 but once I kind of accepted that idea of like, 190 00:08:01.220 --> 00:08:02.980 and I also had another friend tell me, 191 00:08:02.980 --> 00:08:05.200 just because your gifting is in teaching 192 00:08:05.200 --> 00:08:08.580 doesn't mean you have to be an eighth grade history teacher. 193 00:08:08.580 --> 00:08:09.740 There's other ways you can use it. 194 00:08:09.740 --> 00:08:11.300 And so I didn't know where I was leading at the time, 195 00:08:11.300 --> 00:08:12.120 but I was like, yeah, that's true. 196 00:08:12.120 --> 00:08:13.820 And so I started working up there, 197 00:08:13.820 --> 00:08:15.980 and it was going pretty well at first, 198 00:08:15.980 --> 00:08:17.020 but I was missing kids. 199 00:08:17.020 --> 00:08:19.700 So we were attending the church, 200 00:08:19.740 --> 00:08:21.860 but weren't super plugged in yet. 201 00:08:21.860 --> 00:08:24.500 And so I was like, I should serve with youth group. 202 00:08:24.500 --> 00:08:26.740 So I talked to Pastor Ryan, 203 00:08:26.740 --> 00:08:27.900 who was leading youth group at the time, 204 00:08:27.900 --> 00:08:29.660 about serving with tribe. 205 00:08:29.660 --> 00:08:31.900 And so I started doing that as a volunteer 206 00:08:31.900 --> 00:08:33.580 for about a year. 207 00:08:33.580 --> 00:08:37.220 And that was a lot of fun and got plugged in doing that. 208 00:08:37.220 --> 00:08:41.140 And then after a year of doing this government job, 209 00:08:42.220 --> 00:08:44.900 our second son was born and the commute 210 00:08:44.900 --> 00:08:47.280 was getting really hard and long shifts 211 00:08:47.280 --> 00:08:48.780 and had to do night shifts, 212 00:08:48.780 --> 00:08:50.060 which was hard with young kids. 213 00:08:50.060 --> 00:08:52.740 And so we were praying about a lot. 214 00:08:52.740 --> 00:08:57.300 I was applying for all sorts of jobs and getting nothing. 215 00:08:57.300 --> 00:08:59.820 And Allie and I both had, 216 00:08:59.820 --> 00:09:02.180 it was a worship night here at the church, 217 00:09:02.180 --> 00:09:04.140 and we were praying through it 218 00:09:04.140 --> 00:09:06.540 and singing the song Tremble. 219 00:09:06.540 --> 00:09:09.140 And there's a line that says, you silence fear. 220 00:09:09.140 --> 00:09:11.180 And so I felt like the Lord was leading me 221 00:09:11.180 --> 00:09:15.300 to quit that job, but I didn't have anything lined up. 222 00:09:15.300 --> 00:09:17.140 And so I said, Lord, if I'm supposed to do that, 223 00:09:17.140 --> 00:09:18.620 you gotta silence my fear. 224 00:09:19.460 --> 00:09:20.300 Because I've got a family to support 225 00:09:20.300 --> 00:09:22.180 and I don't know what's next. 226 00:09:22.180 --> 00:09:25.540 And I did, I had an overwhelming sense of peace 227 00:09:25.540 --> 00:09:27.420 and so did Allie and we had some friends 228 00:09:27.420 --> 00:09:29.260 pray over us for that. 229 00:09:29.260 --> 00:09:31.380 So I still dragged my feet for about a month, 230 00:09:31.380 --> 00:09:33.660 but then I finally did quit. 231 00:09:33.660 --> 00:09:37.940 And three days later, found out about the opportunity here. 232 00:09:37.940 --> 00:09:41.200 And so it was just so obvious to me 233 00:09:41.200 --> 00:09:43.540 that the Lord was lining that up 234 00:09:43.540 --> 00:09:47.140 and I never would have guessed it or seen it coming. 235 00:09:47.140 --> 00:09:49.140 But it's great, and now I'm still teaching, 236 00:09:49.140 --> 00:09:51.300 but I can teach the Bible and I'm still around kids 237 00:09:51.300 --> 00:09:54.500 and I can have an even greater and deeper relationship 238 00:09:54.500 --> 00:09:56.420 with them than I could in a classroom. 239 00:09:56.420 --> 00:09:58.260 So yeah, it's been really cool. 240 00:09:58.260 --> 00:10:00.260 Well, I really feel like that. 241 00:10:00.000 --> 00:10:07.640 Joey you're probably a natural. If I was to say spiritual gift, test, I bet you'd 242 00:10:07.640 --> 00:10:13.400 come out really high on the teaching area and leadership and I just see that 243 00:10:13.400 --> 00:10:20.400 teaching area so strong in you. You've really gravitated toward being the best 244 00:10:20.400 --> 00:10:25.320 Bible teacher that you can be. Don't you feel that way? I feel like that's 245 00:10:25.320 --> 00:10:29.440 something that you really enjoy a lot. Yeah and that's probably because 246 00:10:29.440 --> 00:10:33.160 like that's what I was trained to do is be a teacher you know so I was used to 247 00:10:33.160 --> 00:10:37.000 teaching history and so with this transition I think I just kind of had 248 00:10:37.000 --> 00:10:41.040 the same mindset with how I would prepare a lesson for my students and 249 00:10:41.040 --> 00:10:47.800 just did that same kind of model with preparing a message from the Bible for 250 00:10:47.800 --> 00:10:53.560 students you know in a youth group. So what's been the most the most 251 00:10:53.680 --> 00:11:00.080 challenging with going from public school teaching to a youth group in a 252 00:11:00.080 --> 00:11:04.280 local church? What's been the most challenging? The most challenging 253 00:11:04.280 --> 00:11:10.280 difference of the two. Yeah I think it's a different setting for 254 00:11:10.280 --> 00:11:15.240 sure you know at a public school you can you can send a kid to the principal's 255 00:11:15.240 --> 00:11:23.000 office if you need to. But not that we have a lot of issues in that 256 00:11:23.040 --> 00:11:25.520 regard but I think it's just a different atmosphere and you want it to be 257 00:11:25.520 --> 00:11:29.600 different. I don't want youth group to feel like school you know and so 258 00:11:29.600 --> 00:11:36.880 but you at the same time you do have standards that you expect your leaders 259 00:11:36.880 --> 00:11:40.600 to be held to and your students to be held to as far as like how we dress and behave 260 00:11:40.600 --> 00:11:44.240 and act and so that's kind of something that sometimes is difficult to challenge 261 00:11:44.240 --> 00:11:48.360 because it can be challenging because I don't want a kid to feel like there's a 262 00:11:48.360 --> 00:11:52.560 lot of rules here and I'm in school but I also I want them to feel welcomed and 263 00:11:52.560 --> 00:11:57.160 accepted but also you know we are called to behave a certain way and so I 264 00:11:57.160 --> 00:12:01.560 think the best way that's done those through relationship and if we do a good 265 00:12:01.560 --> 00:12:05.320 job my leaders do a good job of having relationships with kids and those 266 00:12:05.320 --> 00:12:11.080 conversations are a lot easier to have. What's been the most rewarding? Teaching 267 00:12:11.080 --> 00:12:15.600 the Bible you know I never really got to do that. I had a few opportunities before 268 00:12:15.600 --> 00:12:20.800 but not like I do now which is usually most weeks I'm teaching twice a week you 269 00:12:20.800 --> 00:12:23.640 know with middle school on Sunday and high school on Wednesday and so getting to do it 270 00:12:23.640 --> 00:12:28.400 that often is just it's so fun like it's one thing studying the Bible for 271 00:12:28.400 --> 00:12:32.160 yourself and what you can get out of it but when you study it through the lens 272 00:12:32.160 --> 00:12:37.360 of like what can I teach other people I've just found that so much more just 273 00:12:37.360 --> 00:12:40.880 hops off the page and that part's been really really fun and 274 00:12:40.880 --> 00:12:45.560 exciting and just to I don't know to get kids excited about it and to make it 275 00:12:45.560 --> 00:12:49.920 relatable and that was my favorite thing to do as a history teacher and that's 276 00:12:49.920 --> 00:12:52.760 why I love teaching American history because I was like I want if a kid is 277 00:12:52.760 --> 00:12:55.520 gonna be sitting in my A3 kids gonna be sitting in my classroom for an hour 278 00:12:55.520 --> 00:12:59.960 having to learn about history I want it to matter to them like I want it to be 279 00:12:59.960 --> 00:13:04.560 relatable I want them to think like this actually applies to my life you know the 280 00:13:04.560 --> 00:13:08.520 age-old question of why am I learning this you know I want to 281 00:13:08.520 --> 00:13:11.760 have an answer to that question so I always strive to do that every day when 282 00:13:11.760 --> 00:13:15.200 I was teaching and now I get to do that with the Bible and it's so much more 283 00:13:15.200 --> 00:13:19.280 impactful and important because it's life-changing you know it's great to know 284 00:13:19.280 --> 00:13:23.320 things about our country's past and history and it matters but for a kid to 285 00:13:23.320 --> 00:13:27.760 know and understand the Bible like that's I found that to be so rewarding 286 00:13:27.760 --> 00:13:32.400 do you like one-on-one time with kids 100% and I didn't get to really do that 287 00:13:32.400 --> 00:13:36.920 as a teacher I was gonna say seems like in the school system because the pressure 288 00:13:36.920 --> 00:13:42.880 you're under all the tests you have to grade all the extracurricular stuff that 289 00:13:42.880 --> 00:13:47.560 kind of goes with the flow of being a local church I mean a local school 290 00:13:47.560 --> 00:13:51.240 teacher you're not gonna get one-on-one time right and that's why I liked 291 00:13:51.240 --> 00:13:56.320 coaching because I could do that a little bit more it's not as formal of a 292 00:13:56.320 --> 00:14:00.920 setting as a classroom is and there's not the pressure of behavior and grades 293 00:14:00.920 --> 00:14:05.680 and in a in a wrestling room or a coach cross-country so like that you can have 294 00:14:05.680 --> 00:14:09.920 a more personal relationship and interaction with students and so that's 295 00:14:09.920 --> 00:14:13.960 why I love to coach but yeah in a classroom it's hard and I would you know 296 00:14:13.960 --> 00:14:16.840 I was that teacher that always had like kids hanging out in their classroom 297 00:14:16.840 --> 00:14:20.960 during lunch and stuff and so it so in that in those situations I could a 298 00:14:20.960 --> 00:14:24.760 little bit but not like I can now you know getting to to meet up with a 299 00:14:24.760 --> 00:14:27.960 student for lunch or things like that yeah that's my favorite thing to do 300 00:14:27.960 --> 00:14:31.920 that's awesome well I see you up you and Allie sometimes up there praying for 301 00:14:31.920 --> 00:14:36.400 people yeah you know at the end of a service so obviously you're available 302 00:14:36.400 --> 00:14:43.400 you make yourself available to others what has been the most maybe surprising 303 00:14:43.440 --> 00:14:51.160 aspect not not for youth as much as just being a pastor for you that you maybe 304 00:14:51.160 --> 00:14:55.880 didn't expect there's been a few things I think one thing that comes to mind is 305 00:14:55.880 --> 00:15:01.920 I'll have like parents of teenagers 306 00:15:00.000 --> 00:15:04.880 asking me for advice on how to deal with their teenagers, 307 00:15:04.880 --> 00:15:07.880 which is funny to me, because my oldest kid is six, 308 00:15:07.880 --> 00:15:10.160 and I was like, I've never raised a teenager. 309 00:15:10.160 --> 00:15:11.240 You know, I'm around them a lot, 310 00:15:11.240 --> 00:15:13.300 but I have a much different relationship 311 00:15:13.300 --> 00:15:14.440 with them than a parent would. 312 00:15:14.440 --> 00:15:16.120 And so, the first time that happened, 313 00:15:16.120 --> 00:15:18.600 it took me a minute to even realize 314 00:15:18.600 --> 00:15:19.760 that that's what was happening. 315 00:15:19.760 --> 00:15:22.360 I was like, oh, they want my advice, you know? 316 00:15:22.360 --> 00:15:23.840 And so, that's been kind of cool. 317 00:15:23.840 --> 00:15:25.360 But getting to partner with parents 318 00:15:25.360 --> 00:15:29.640 and help them navigate difficult situations 319 00:15:29.640 --> 00:15:30.800 with teenagers, because I've got, 320 00:15:30.800 --> 00:15:33.480 from my position, I've gotten to see 321 00:15:33.480 --> 00:15:36.580 a lot of difficult situations with teenagers. 322 00:15:36.580 --> 00:15:38.560 And so, I love being able to do that, 323 00:15:38.560 --> 00:15:39.540 though, partner with parents 324 00:15:39.540 --> 00:15:42.240 and help them navigate that stuff. 325 00:15:42.240 --> 00:15:44.720 But first time that happened kind of surprised me. 326 00:15:44.720 --> 00:15:46.520 Well, you've got a seminar coming up. 327 00:15:46.520 --> 00:15:47.360 Yeah, yeah. 328 00:15:47.360 --> 00:15:50.920 You've got a seminar about electronics and social media. 329 00:15:52.200 --> 00:15:53.520 Why are you doing that? 330 00:15:53.520 --> 00:15:55.120 Yeah, I mean, when we look at, 331 00:15:55.120 --> 00:15:56.800 you know, one question I get a lot is like, 332 00:15:57.400 --> 00:16:01.040 what do you see as being like the biggest problem 333 00:16:01.040 --> 00:16:02.440 with this generation of young people, 334 00:16:02.440 --> 00:16:04.520 or their biggest struggle? 335 00:16:04.520 --> 00:16:07.480 And the quick answer for that, for me, is always anxiety. 336 00:16:07.480 --> 00:16:11.040 Like, I think that's the biggest thing that I talk to. 337 00:16:11.040 --> 00:16:12.720 And you have students that are involved 338 00:16:12.720 --> 00:16:13.720 in all sorts of different things, 339 00:16:13.720 --> 00:16:16.320 different gifts and talents and passions and activities. 340 00:16:16.320 --> 00:16:18.640 But that's the, like, common thread 341 00:16:18.640 --> 00:16:20.840 that I would say the majority of our students 342 00:16:20.840 --> 00:16:22.600 are struggling with is anxiety. 343 00:16:22.600 --> 00:16:25.880 And I think there's a lot of factors you could point to, 344 00:16:25.880 --> 00:16:28.360 but I think one of them really is technology 345 00:16:28.360 --> 00:16:33.360 and phones and social media and the increase in that. 346 00:16:33.680 --> 00:16:37.080 And so I think a lot of parents who didn't grow up 347 00:16:37.080 --> 00:16:41.040 with smartphones in their pocket aren't exactly sure 348 00:16:41.040 --> 00:16:45.080 how to help their kids navigate that same thing. 349 00:16:45.080 --> 00:16:47.680 And so, yeah, we're partnering with a local organization, 350 00:16:47.680 --> 00:16:50.400 nonprofit here, who's gonna come and teach a seminar 351 00:16:50.400 --> 00:16:52.760 to parents and to students separately 352 00:16:52.760 --> 00:16:54.520 about how to navigate that. 353 00:16:54.520 --> 00:16:56.360 What's the best use of technology? 354 00:16:56.360 --> 00:16:59.120 And not to say, like, it's bad and we should never use it, 355 00:16:59.120 --> 00:17:00.520 because, like, that's some, you know, 356 00:17:00.520 --> 00:17:02.960 I've noticed with this generation is, like, 357 00:17:02.960 --> 00:17:05.720 they're really good at researching and finding things out 358 00:17:05.720 --> 00:17:07.200 because they have access to it, you know? 359 00:17:07.200 --> 00:17:10.119 And so, like, there are good things, 360 00:17:10.119 --> 00:17:13.000 but how do we navigate the good and the bad 361 00:17:13.000 --> 00:17:16.680 and be safe and online and how to, 362 00:17:16.680 --> 00:17:18.680 what's the best way parents can support their kids in that 363 00:17:18.680 --> 00:17:19.920 and vice versa? 364 00:17:19.920 --> 00:17:21.480 So, yeah, I'm really excited about that. 365 00:17:21.480 --> 00:17:22.319 It's coming up in a week and a half. 366 00:17:22.319 --> 00:17:23.880 And I just think that's fantastic 367 00:17:23.880 --> 00:17:26.839 and it just seems to really hit a felt need. 368 00:17:26.839 --> 00:17:30.720 So, what's been the most rewarding part of being a pastor? 369 00:17:30.720 --> 00:17:33.840 I don't, I mean, I think just doing work, 370 00:17:33.840 --> 00:17:35.760 the work itself is rewarding, you know? 371 00:17:35.760 --> 00:17:37.280 Like, the job itself is rewarding 372 00:17:37.280 --> 00:17:41.880 and there are plenty of difficult days 373 00:17:41.880 --> 00:17:43.800 and stressful days and situations 374 00:17:43.800 --> 00:17:46.400 that aren't fun to walk through. 375 00:17:46.400 --> 00:17:48.320 But, you know, as a youth leader especially, 376 00:17:48.320 --> 00:17:50.840 like, what I tell my youth leaders is 377 00:17:50.840 --> 00:17:53.360 some of the things that we get to walk through with students 378 00:17:53.360 --> 00:17:56.880 while they're not fun and while we don't want to, 379 00:17:56.880 --> 00:17:58.480 like the mental health stuff especially, 380 00:17:58.480 --> 00:18:01.160 like, whenever I get those calls or conversations, 381 00:18:01.160 --> 00:18:02.840 it's like, man, here we go again. 382 00:18:02.840 --> 00:18:04.800 But you also, at the same time, 383 00:18:04.800 --> 00:18:07.080 like, you want to have those 384 00:18:07.080 --> 00:18:08.480 because you know statistically, 385 00:18:08.480 --> 00:18:10.800 like, our students are dealing with that stuff. 386 00:18:10.800 --> 00:18:13.320 What better place for them to go to with it 387 00:18:13.320 --> 00:18:15.600 than their youth leader or their youth pastor? 388 00:18:15.600 --> 00:18:18.360 Or, and so, if they're coming to us with that, 389 00:18:18.360 --> 00:18:19.480 then we're doing something right 390 00:18:19.480 --> 00:18:21.480 because it feels like it's a safe place 391 00:18:21.480 --> 00:18:23.760 where they can share what they're going through 392 00:18:23.760 --> 00:18:25.240 and we can be a resource. 393 00:18:25.240 --> 00:18:27.880 And so, while, you know, those things are hard, 394 00:18:27.880 --> 00:18:29.440 they're also like, man, we, 395 00:18:29.440 --> 00:18:31.880 to see yourself, like, having a difference 396 00:18:31.880 --> 00:18:32.880 and making a difference is really cool. 397 00:18:32.880 --> 00:18:35.280 And then I would also say, like, just the relationships 398 00:18:35.280 --> 00:18:37.200 you get to build with people in the church, 399 00:18:37.200 --> 00:18:39.240 like, people who are just, like, 400 00:18:39.240 --> 00:18:41.040 volunteers and hungry for serving. 401 00:18:41.040 --> 00:18:44.760 And we have some such amazing servant leaders in our church. 402 00:18:44.760 --> 00:18:47.280 And so, getting to work with people like that 403 00:18:47.280 --> 00:18:49.280 every day has been really fun. 404 00:18:49.960 --> 00:18:51.280 So, what would be a win for you? 405 00:18:51.280 --> 00:18:55.160 I mean, when you think in terms of a year from now, 406 00:18:55.160 --> 00:18:58.800 what would be, say, one, two, maybe even three things 407 00:18:58.800 --> 00:19:03.480 that you would wanna see in the youth 408 00:19:03.480 --> 00:19:06.040 that would be a win? 409 00:19:06.040 --> 00:19:08.120 You'd say, wow, we're making progress. 410 00:19:08.120 --> 00:19:12.080 We're getting the kingdom of God ball 411 00:19:12.080 --> 00:19:13.520 down the road a little bit. 412 00:19:13.520 --> 00:19:15.800 Yeah, I don't think I would've had any idea 413 00:19:15.800 --> 00:19:18.080 how to answer that question, like, right when I started, 414 00:19:18.480 --> 00:19:21.280 but now that I'm going into year three, 415 00:19:21.280 --> 00:19:23.840 I think some of the things that are cool 416 00:19:23.840 --> 00:19:25.080 and feel like wins is when, 417 00:19:25.080 --> 00:19:26.760 because I've seen kids graduate now 418 00:19:26.760 --> 00:19:28.360 out of the high school youth group, 419 00:19:28.360 --> 00:19:31.400 and we just had a big class in May that left, 420 00:19:31.400 --> 00:19:35.080 and a lot of those kids don't want to leave. 421 00:19:36.400 --> 00:19:37.800 They wanna come back and serve, 422 00:19:37.800 --> 00:19:39.360 whether they're serving with the worship team 423 00:19:39.360 --> 00:19:41.320 or they wanna serve as a youth leader. 424 00:19:41.320 --> 00:19:42.160 They don't even know what. 425 00:19:42.160 --> 00:19:43.480 They're just like, I wanna do something 426 00:19:43.480 --> 00:19:45.880 because I don't wanna leave. 427 00:19:45.880 --> 00:19:47.400 To me, that feels like, wow, 428 00:19:47.440 --> 00:19:49.080 we must've been doing something right, 429 00:19:49.080 --> 00:19:52.400 that this feels like a place where they want to be, 430 00:19:52.400 --> 00:19:53.560 and they wanna be involved. 431 00:19:53.560 --> 00:19:54.520 And a lot of them now, it's like, 432 00:19:54.520 --> 00:19:55.640 they don't wanna just be involved 433 00:19:55.640 --> 00:19:56.920 because they're getting filled up, 434 00:19:56.920 --> 00:19:58.480 but now they wanna come and make sure 435 00:19:58.480 --> 00:20:00.280 that other kids have the same. 436 00:20:00.000 --> 00:20:03.720 same experience they did and they want to be a part of that and help serve and 437 00:20:03.720 --> 00:20:09.280 pour into to other people. And so that is really cool. Um, and to me that feels 438 00:20:09.280 --> 00:20:12.960 like a win and feels like fruit. We're seeing that like, man, they get it like 439 00:20:12.960 --> 00:20:15.960 they, they obviously got something out of it and now they want to go. It doesn't 440 00:20:15.960 --> 00:20:18.560 have to be that they're pouring into the youth group, but man, if we have 441 00:20:18.560 --> 00:20:22.440 students who are leaving and are fired up about serving and making a difference 442 00:20:22.460 --> 00:20:25.640 wherever they feel called, then that's great. And that feels like, man, we must 443 00:20:25.640 --> 00:20:29.240 have been doing something right. So what would you say then? Or would you say 444 00:20:29.240 --> 00:20:35.680 that it's their desire to continue to grow and be a disciple of Christ? That's 445 00:20:35.680 --> 00:20:40.240 that's a big win is where you see them even getting to their senior year 446 00:20:40.560 --> 00:20:43.640 graduating and wanting to continue to serve. 447 00:20:43.680 --> 00:20:48.040 That's a word growth is a word I use a lot, not in the typical way of like, you 448 00:20:48.040 --> 00:20:52.120 know, we want to grow our youth group and have crazy numbers or something. I 449 00:20:52.120 --> 00:20:56.840 use the word growth in the sense of like, I want to see students grow, right? I 450 00:20:56.840 --> 00:21:02.040 want to see them develop in their walk with Christ and how they're serving in 451 00:21:02.040 --> 00:21:05.160 their relationships with their peers. Like, I just want to see them grow and 452 00:21:05.160 --> 00:21:09.120 mature, you know, as Hebrews talks about, like going from, from milk to solid 453 00:21:09.120 --> 00:21:12.400 food. Like, I want to see that process while they're in our youth group. Like, 454 00:21:12.400 --> 00:21:16.520 are they, are they up, you know, upgrading their faith? Are they moving up in 455 00:21:16.520 --> 00:21:20.680 their, in their walk with the Lord and growing from milk to solid food? Like 456 00:21:20.760 --> 00:21:22.160 that's, I want to see that growth. 457 00:21:22.560 --> 00:21:26.040 So tell me some of the things that you do to make that makes that happen. 458 00:21:26.040 --> 00:21:31.040 Yeah. So on a typical, every Wednesday we do some sort of small groups, and I 459 00:21:31.040 --> 00:21:35.200 think that's the most effective way to see real discipleship and growth, but 460 00:21:35.200 --> 00:21:39.680 also to make a big group of people feel smaller. And I think for a lot of our 461 00:21:39.680 --> 00:21:44.200 students and leaders, like they love that small group time because in a big 462 00:21:44.200 --> 00:21:48.200 setting, it's hard to have those deep conversations or it's hard to build 463 00:21:48.200 --> 00:21:53.080 relationships or be vulnerable. But when we, when we section that off and make the 464 00:21:53.080 --> 00:21:58.120 groups smaller, it allows for that to happen. And so, but in those times, you 465 00:21:58.120 --> 00:22:02.040 know, when we build those questions and a lot of times they are built around 466 00:22:02.040 --> 00:22:08.000 challenging the students and about growth. And so, I usually, once a month 467 00:22:08.000 --> 00:22:11.480 we'll do a small group focus night where we do a small message that's usually 468 00:22:11.480 --> 00:22:15.840 topical and practical, and then they're spending like 45 minutes to an hour in 469 00:22:15.840 --> 00:22:20.480 their small groups. And so, like next month I'm going to do one on PB&J, right? 470 00:22:20.480 --> 00:22:24.320 Like a prayer Bible journal, like practically showing students, like how do we spend 471 00:22:24.320 --> 00:22:26.880 time with the Lord? You know, and like this is how I do it, this is how other 472 00:22:26.880 --> 00:22:30.440 people do it, and then go to your small groups and share how you guys do it. Or 473 00:22:30.440 --> 00:22:34.040 if you're not doing it, what can you start doing? You know, and so really just 474 00:22:34.040 --> 00:22:37.920 practical stuff like that that we can talk about in smaller groups and 475 00:22:37.920 --> 00:22:41.480 hopefully implement and then follow up, you know, because we we keep the small 476 00:22:41.480 --> 00:22:45.280 groups consistent for a whole school year so that that relationship is built 477 00:22:45.280 --> 00:22:51.520 and then leaders are able to follow up and check in and build off of the weeks prior. 478 00:22:51.520 --> 00:22:56.600 So Joey, how do you balance all the responsibilities that go with being a 479 00:22:56.600 --> 00:23:00.880 youth pastor, and you've got a growing department, I mean it's growing, there's 480 00:23:00.880 --> 00:23:06.080 other things that we ask you to do around here, and be a now a father of 481 00:23:06.080 --> 00:23:10.760 three and a husband to one? Yeah. So what do you do? How do you walk that, 482 00:23:10.760 --> 00:23:14.920 how do you walk that line as Johnny Cash said? How do you walk the line there? 483 00:23:14.920 --> 00:23:19.240 Yeah, well it's a good question, and you know I've been in a couple, as we talked 484 00:23:19.240 --> 00:23:25.120 about, a couple different careers now, and I would say this is my favorite one to 485 00:23:25.120 --> 00:23:31.960 walk that line with so far because there are things that my family can do with me. 486 00:23:31.960 --> 00:23:36.280 You know, when I was commuting to Denver and working on a airfield with Jets, like 487 00:23:36.280 --> 00:23:39.360 I couldn't bring my five-year-old to work, you know, but like there are things 488 00:23:39.440 --> 00:23:43.080 that I can do here, like Allie is super involved in the youth group, and she 489 00:23:43.080 --> 00:23:46.360 comes every night, and God bless my mother, she watches our kids every 490 00:23:46.360 --> 00:23:50.560 Wednesday night, so Allie can come to youth group, but there are times when she 491 00:23:50.560 --> 00:23:54.640 can't watch them, and we'll bring the kids, and I don't want to do that every 492 00:23:54.640 --> 00:23:57.920 week because it's harder for us to focus, but it's actually really cool because the 493 00:23:57.920 --> 00:24:01.760 youth kids love it, and they love seeing our kids, and I think it's cool for us to 494 00:24:01.760 --> 00:24:07.080 kind of model family, you know, a family serving in ministry together, and our 495 00:24:07.120 --> 00:24:11.000 kids love it. They love all the youth kids and playing spike ball and stuff, 496 00:24:11.000 --> 00:24:15.480 but I think, so to answer that question, like a lot of whenever I'm able to is 497 00:24:15.480 --> 00:24:21.080 merge the two, you know, like involve my family in my ministry, involve me, you 498 00:24:21.080 --> 00:24:26.520 know, as much as I can without doing a disservice to either side, you know, try 499 00:24:26.520 --> 00:24:29.840 to do them simultaneously, but it is hard, and that's why I appreciate you in 500 00:24:29.840 --> 00:24:33.440 the atmosphere here of like, you know, preaching that family is our primary 501 00:24:33.440 --> 00:24:39.080 ministry, and you know, I've heard things from people in our church, 502 00:24:39.080 --> 00:24:43.880 and you know, who grew up as pastor's kids and did not have that relationship 503 00:24:43.880 --> 00:24:47.840 with their parent who's a pastor. Those stories are heartbreaking, you know, and 504 00:24:47.840 --> 00:24:52.560 so I think to make sure that like, yeah, I'm, you know, I say that all the time, but 505 00:24:52.560 --> 00:24:57.560 am I doing that, like pouring into my family first before anything else, and 506 00:24:57.560 --> 00:25:02.080 and so, yeah, some weeks are harder. 507 00:25:00.000 --> 00:25:03.360 others for sure to walk that line with with situ and there are situations that 508 00:25:03.360 --> 00:25:07.320 come up that I that I have to deal with and then so it's just me being 509 00:25:07.320 --> 00:25:12.880 intentional to on the aftermath of that after the situation has been handled 510 00:25:12.880 --> 00:25:16.280 spending extra time with the family and pouring into them and that kind of thing. 511 00:25:16.280 --> 00:25:20.880 Do you feel like you have an opportunity to have a greater impact through being a 512 00:25:20.880 --> 00:25:28.000 youth pastor in a church than you did as a school teacher? Yeah 100% 100% yeah and 513 00:25:28.000 --> 00:25:33.080 I think one thing you said earlier about feel like you know made for this or 514 00:25:33.080 --> 00:25:35.680 something like that you know that when you said that it's turned me like 515 00:25:35.680 --> 00:25:41.080 sometimes God sees things in ourselves that we don't see right like you know I 516 00:25:41.080 --> 00:25:45.280 think Lord knew that that I could do this job and I didn't know that you know 517 00:25:45.280 --> 00:25:49.720 and so and so yeah as a teacher like I like I said I loved being a teacher and 518 00:25:49.720 --> 00:25:55.320 a coach and but yeah I don't think I was reaching my full potential of how I 519 00:25:55.400 --> 00:25:59.320 could have impacted those students and and who's to say I am now but I think 520 00:25:59.320 --> 00:26:04.680 yes I would say I feel like I have a greater impact on the daily basis here 521 00:26:04.680 --> 00:26:09.240 than I do as a teacher and that's not to say a public school teacher couldn't I 522 00:26:09.240 --> 00:26:13.160 just think at that time of my life I wasn't in a place or I didn't really 523 00:26:13.160 --> 00:26:17.880 know how and then through this experience I think I've kind of learned 524 00:26:17.880 --> 00:26:22.760 how it is that we make a big impact with students and how I can do that better 525 00:26:22.760 --> 00:26:27.680 than I did back then well how have you grown how would you say you got yourself 526 00:26:27.680 --> 00:26:33.040 equipped in the midst of coming in no experience yeah never been to graduate 527 00:26:33.040 --> 00:26:38.000 school right I do have a master's but it's in education okay so you have been 528 00:26:38.000 --> 00:26:43.240 to graduate school but you haven't been to a Bible school right so again not 529 00:26:43.240 --> 00:26:47.640 even something that you were planning to do and suddenly you're thrust into it 530 00:26:47.640 --> 00:26:53.160 you become a part of it you're doing it very well what what have you done to 531 00:26:53.160 --> 00:26:59.600 kind of equip yourself through this first few years yeah I think on the the 532 00:26:59.600 --> 00:27:04.920 Bible teaching side of it just preparing like I did I think yeah I don't know I 533 00:27:04.920 --> 00:27:08.520 didn't realize how much I think there were similarities between preparing a 534 00:27:08.520 --> 00:27:14.320 lesson for school and preparing a message at youth group and I think the 535 00:27:14.320 --> 00:27:20.080 same thing I did then as do now is just over preparing making sure that I think 536 00:27:20.080 --> 00:27:23.760 anticipating questions is something that I've always done and you have to do when 537 00:27:23.760 --> 00:27:27.360 you're teaching 35 eighth graders you get you can't anticipate all the 538 00:27:27.360 --> 00:27:30.280 questions because they're weird but you get you get a lot of questions and so 539 00:27:30.280 --> 00:27:33.440 it's like man when I'm putting something together I'm like well somebody could 540 00:27:33.440 --> 00:27:39.920 ask this what's my answer to that you know to try to be prepared for so that I 541 00:27:39.920 --> 00:27:43.640 know the topic so well or know the passage so well that I can answer 542 00:27:43.640 --> 00:27:47.120 questions and so I'll try you know some weeks are crazier than others and I'm 543 00:27:47.120 --> 00:27:51.000 writing a message Wednesday right before youth group but most of the time I've at 544 00:27:51.000 --> 00:27:55.240 least started meditating on that passage and that's something I think I learned 545 00:27:55.240 --> 00:28:00.840 from you and Pastor Ryan of like you're gonna read a passage 20 times before you 546 00:28:00.840 --> 00:28:04.960 actually start typing out a message you know and so I'll do that start 547 00:28:04.960 --> 00:28:09.360 meditating on it listening to it reading it praying through it and then that's 548 00:28:09.360 --> 00:28:13.960 where the Lord just starts giving you ideas and directions to go with the 549 00:28:13.960 --> 00:28:18.760 message and and things to bring up and so yeah I always do that commentaries I 550 00:28:18.760 --> 00:28:22.960 lean a lot on commentaries and and look at at least a few other voices of what 551 00:28:22.960 --> 00:28:26.680 people are saying commentators that I that I trust and respect and and that 552 00:28:26.680 --> 00:28:30.960 you've recommended and rely on that as well as I'm as I'm preparing and then on 553 00:28:30.960 --> 00:28:35.160 the practical side too I think that was a bit probably a bigger learning curve 554 00:28:35.160 --> 00:28:39.160 for me was like leading a team of servant leaders of volunteers you know 555 00:28:39.160 --> 00:28:43.400 because I'd never done that before I had leadership opportunities mostly in the 556 00:28:43.400 --> 00:28:47.800 military I led a team my last couple of years in the military but they're you 557 00:28:47.800 --> 00:28:50.240 know they swore an oath to our country and they have to be there and they're 558 00:28:50.240 --> 00:28:55.440 getting paid and so there's a contrast from that to leading a team of 559 00:28:55.440 --> 00:29:00.040 volunteers in a youth setting and so that was something I really focused on 560 00:29:00.040 --> 00:29:04.680 my first year was like how do I get them trained and equipped and prepared 561 00:29:04.680 --> 00:29:09.320 but then also not burnt out you know like how do I make sure that they're 562 00:29:09.320 --> 00:29:14.880 valued and appreciated and that's where teaming up with Ali has been huge 563 00:29:14.880 --> 00:29:19.360 because she's I think she has a gift of hospitality and so she's always thinking 564 00:29:19.360 --> 00:29:23.840 through like do our leaders feel valued and appreciated and do they want to be 565 00:29:23.840 --> 00:29:28.960 here and and and so yeah we I feel like I've spent a lot of time on that aspect 566 00:29:28.960 --> 00:29:35.520 of the job and how to learn fast on how to do that and still learning fast and 567 00:29:35.520 --> 00:29:40.360 navigating that but that's been really important I think because I can't Ali 568 00:29:40.360 --> 00:29:43.600 and I can't effectively lead a youth group by ourselves so we've been pouring 569 00:29:43.600 --> 00:29:48.040 into our team so that we can do it with them serving them. So you're working a 570 00:29:48.040 --> 00:29:52.760 lot through a leadership team you've got a leadership team and you guys meet and 571 00:29:52.760 --> 00:29:57.960 I know about that and you're training them on a regular basis I think it 572 00:29:57.960 --> 00:30:01.880 really does help doesn't it when you have 573 00:30:00.000 --> 00:30:02.920 of these young people that have come up, 574 00:30:02.920 --> 00:30:05.240 they've got the chemistry and the DNA 575 00:30:05.240 --> 00:30:07.620 of the road church youth group, 576 00:30:07.620 --> 00:30:10.280 and then they don't wanna leave, they wanna stay. 577 00:30:10.280 --> 00:30:12.760 So are they leading small groups? 578 00:30:12.760 --> 00:30:15.360 The really young ones, like the ones who just graduated? 579 00:30:15.360 --> 00:30:17.440 The leaders that are on your leadership team, 580 00:30:17.440 --> 00:30:18.920 are they then leading small groups? 581 00:30:18.920 --> 00:30:19.760 Yeah, exactly. 582 00:30:19.760 --> 00:30:22.200 So yeah, and we do have a cool mix of like, 583 00:30:22.200 --> 00:30:23.800 we have people on our team that have been 584 00:30:23.800 --> 00:30:24.960 in the youth group, right? 585 00:30:24.960 --> 00:30:27.680 And they're younger, whether it was a couple years ago 586 00:30:27.680 --> 00:30:29.280 or they've come up through the church. 587 00:30:29.320 --> 00:30:31.480 And so, yeah, that's great, because they get it. 588 00:30:31.480 --> 00:30:33.460 They've seen leaders do it for them, 589 00:30:33.460 --> 00:30:35.120 and they're ready to do the same thing. 590 00:30:35.120 --> 00:30:36.840 And then we also have people, 591 00:30:36.840 --> 00:30:38.040 what's great about our team is we do have 592 00:30:38.040 --> 00:30:40.720 a variety of age ranges. 593 00:30:40.720 --> 00:30:43.660 We have some older people, some moms that are on our team, 594 00:30:43.660 --> 00:30:46.460 and then we've got younger people as well. 595 00:30:46.460 --> 00:30:51.200 And so, yes, I have the high school 596 00:30:51.200 --> 00:30:53.440 and middle school youth groups broken up 597 00:30:53.440 --> 00:30:56.320 by gender and age level into small groups. 598 00:30:56.320 --> 00:30:58.480 And like ninth grade boys, 10th grade girls, 599 00:30:58.480 --> 00:30:59.360 that kind of thing. 600 00:30:59.360 --> 00:31:03.520 And then have a couple leaders assigned to each group. 601 00:31:03.520 --> 00:31:06.080 And so that way a kid knows right away, 602 00:31:06.080 --> 00:31:09.480 and we usually do small groups at the beginning of the night 603 00:31:09.480 --> 00:31:12.280 so they know quickly, because it can be intimidating 604 00:31:12.280 --> 00:31:14.280 to walk into a room full of people you don't know. 605 00:31:14.280 --> 00:31:16.140 And so quickly they know, well, this is a leader 606 00:31:16.140 --> 00:31:18.160 that's assigned to me, and these are kids that are my age. 607 00:31:18.160 --> 00:31:21.940 And so that helps a student feel more welcomed 608 00:31:21.940 --> 00:31:25.540 and plugged in and connected to some people, 609 00:31:25.540 --> 00:31:27.120 hopefully early on in the night. 610 00:31:27.120 --> 00:31:30.120 Yeah, but we give our leaders jobs. 611 00:31:30.120 --> 00:31:32.440 And I think that I've seen that to be successful 612 00:31:32.440 --> 00:31:34.280 because then a lot of them will take ownership 613 00:31:34.280 --> 00:31:35.240 of their own small group. 614 00:31:35.240 --> 00:31:38.080 And so we have leaders that will do creative 615 00:31:38.080 --> 00:31:42.920 and fun things outside of youth group with their girls 616 00:31:42.920 --> 00:31:45.000 and with the leaders they're partnered with. 617 00:31:45.000 --> 00:31:47.720 And so that's cool when they kind of just take it 618 00:31:47.720 --> 00:31:48.560 and run with it. 619 00:31:48.560 --> 00:31:50.180 And it gives them a part of the night 620 00:31:50.180 --> 00:31:52.840 that they can kind of feel like they have ownership over. 621 00:31:52.840 --> 00:31:57.840 To what extent do you think kids can enter into praise 622 00:31:58.240 --> 00:32:01.040 and worship at such a young age? 623 00:32:01.040 --> 00:32:02.960 Yeah, that's a great question. 624 00:32:02.960 --> 00:32:05.520 And I get to, we have our high school ministries 625 00:32:05.520 --> 00:32:06.920 and our middle school ministry separate. 626 00:32:06.920 --> 00:32:08.680 And so we do middle school on Sunday mornings 627 00:32:08.680 --> 00:32:09.960 and high school Wednesday nights. 628 00:32:09.960 --> 00:32:12.680 And so you can see, we do worship with both 629 00:32:12.680 --> 00:32:14.560 and you can see a difference. 630 00:32:14.560 --> 00:32:19.240 And I think it's really just a training process 631 00:32:19.240 --> 00:32:22.920 and kind of pushing them to be uncomfortable. 632 00:32:22.920 --> 00:32:24.400 And middle school's an age where it's like, 633 00:32:24.400 --> 00:32:29.040 man, they really care about their friends and their peers. 634 00:32:29.040 --> 00:32:32.000 And so how do I try to get a student 635 00:32:32.000 --> 00:32:35.080 to stop looking at their friend during worship 636 00:32:35.080 --> 00:32:37.320 and kind of focus in? 637 00:32:37.320 --> 00:32:40.040 And that's definitely a challenge 638 00:32:40.040 --> 00:32:40.880 and something to get to work through. 639 00:32:40.880 --> 00:32:42.640 But it's cool to see the growth from that. 640 00:32:42.640 --> 00:32:44.440 Those same kids that were messing around 641 00:32:44.440 --> 00:32:48.240 a couple years ago are now actively engaging in worship 642 00:32:48.240 --> 00:32:49.080 when they get to high school. 643 00:32:49.920 --> 00:32:53.560 And so it's kind of a process of just pushing them 644 00:32:53.560 --> 00:32:54.400 and challenging them. 645 00:32:54.400 --> 00:32:57.720 So that's one thing we do is encouraging everyone 646 00:32:57.720 --> 00:33:00.040 to raise your hands, encouraging everyone to close your eyes, 647 00:33:00.040 --> 00:33:02.440 encouraging everyone to take a moment and pray. 648 00:33:02.440 --> 00:33:05.840 And so I think those things are helpful 649 00:33:05.840 --> 00:33:08.640 to get them to that point. 650 00:33:08.640 --> 00:33:12.240 But I think it can happen at a very young age 651 00:33:12.240 --> 00:33:15.720 for a student to actively engage with the Lord 652 00:33:15.720 --> 00:33:17.000 in a time of worship. 653 00:33:17.000 --> 00:33:20.240 And so, yeah, we're always pushing for it 654 00:33:20.240 --> 00:33:22.200 at middle school and high school, for sure. 655 00:33:22.200 --> 00:33:23.360 Well, it seems to be working. 656 00:33:23.360 --> 00:33:25.000 I mean, it really does seem to be working. 657 00:33:25.000 --> 00:33:30.000 It's amazing to see, especially on Sunday morning, 658 00:33:30.280 --> 00:33:32.840 all these young people up there 659 00:33:32.840 --> 00:33:35.040 right next to the stage going for it. 660 00:33:35.040 --> 00:33:35.880 Yep. 661 00:33:35.880 --> 00:33:38.800 And they can't be more than like, I don't know, 662 00:33:38.800 --> 00:33:41.440 17, 18 years old at the most. 663 00:33:41.440 --> 00:33:42.280 Yeah. 664 00:33:42.280 --> 00:33:43.360 But they're passionate. 665 00:33:43.360 --> 00:33:46.640 So they're getting that, I think, on Wednesday 666 00:33:47.280 --> 00:33:49.360 and they're carrying it over into Sunday. 667 00:33:49.360 --> 00:33:52.480 And it's very balanced. 668 00:33:52.480 --> 00:33:54.800 It's very mature, it appears to me. 669 00:33:54.800 --> 00:33:56.400 It's not like crazy or anything. 670 00:33:56.400 --> 00:33:59.160 And that's always really encouraging to see that. 671 00:33:59.160 --> 00:34:02.000 Another area I've seen spill over to Sunday mornings 672 00:34:02.000 --> 00:34:04.040 is students praying for each other. 673 00:34:04.040 --> 00:34:07.240 And that's something we push a lot on Wednesday nights. 674 00:34:07.240 --> 00:34:08.679 And it starts in a small group time. 675 00:34:08.679 --> 00:34:10.280 And I always tell my leaders, 676 00:34:10.280 --> 00:34:13.120 especially if you're a freshman or you have a younger group, 677 00:34:13.120 --> 00:34:15.000 I always want the small group time to end in prayer. 678 00:34:15.000 --> 00:34:15.840 And it's probably gonna start 679 00:34:15.840 --> 00:34:17.639 with you praying for your students. 680 00:34:17.639 --> 00:34:21.159 But try to develop it and push it to a point 681 00:34:21.159 --> 00:34:23.280 where they're praying for each other. 682 00:34:23.280 --> 00:34:25.080 And that's happened. 683 00:34:25.080 --> 00:34:26.639 And so we see that, 684 00:34:26.639 --> 00:34:29.040 not just during small group time at Tribe anymore, 685 00:34:29.040 --> 00:34:31.199 at youth group, but we see it during worship time, 686 00:34:31.199 --> 00:34:32.480 they're praying over each other. 687 00:34:32.480 --> 00:34:33.880 I even have a middle school student 688 00:34:33.880 --> 00:34:36.520 who will walk around the room during worship 689 00:34:36.520 --> 00:34:37.800 and pray for everybody. 690 00:34:37.800 --> 00:34:38.639 You know, I think, how can I pray? 691 00:34:38.639 --> 00:34:39.480 No way. 692 00:34:39.480 --> 00:34:40.560 A middle school student? 693 00:34:40.560 --> 00:34:42.760 Yeah, and he'll pray for the leaders, 694 00:34:42.760 --> 00:34:44.239 anybody who's in the room. 695 00:34:44.239 --> 00:34:45.080 He'll walk around and pray for them. 696 00:34:45.360 --> 00:34:46.199 That's so great. 697 00:34:46.199 --> 00:34:48.280 That's always really encouraging to see that. 698 00:34:48.280 --> 00:34:50.280 And then when you see it on, you know, Sunday morning 699 00:34:50.280 --> 00:34:52.960 and in big service, like see kids doing that too 700 00:34:52.960 --> 00:34:53.800 is really cool. 701 00:34:53.800 --> 00:34:56.320 Like worshiping up front, praying for each other. 702 00:34:56.320 --> 00:34:59.280 And yeah, it's nice to see that fruit. 703 00:34:59.280 --> 00:35:00.120 Do you? 704 00:35:00.000 --> 00:35:08.480 Do ministry, one-on-one prayer, or two-on-one, whatever it might be, on Wednesday night? 705 00:35:08.480 --> 00:35:15.080 Do you guys do that where you call people forward and then you have trained people that 706 00:35:15.080 --> 00:35:16.080 pray for them? 707 00:35:16.080 --> 00:35:17.080 Yeah, exactly. 708 00:35:17.080 --> 00:35:22.880 So my leaders, I'm always encouraging them to pray with students during worship time, 709 00:35:22.880 --> 00:35:24.840 which a lot of times is ministry time. 710 00:35:24.840 --> 00:35:32.080 So yeah, sometimes we'll have a specific call or a specific word that I'll get in bringing 711 00:35:32.080 --> 00:35:35.240 people forward, but a lot of times I don't even have to do that. 712 00:35:35.240 --> 00:35:39.940 A lot of times my leaders are already just—and what I tell them is, hey, when you come to 713 00:35:39.940 --> 00:35:46.660 youth group as a leader, I want you to engage in worship, but I think how a leader is engaged 714 00:35:46.660 --> 00:35:50.920 in worship is different than a student because you're here to serve and pour out. 715 00:35:50.920 --> 00:35:55.640 And so when you're worshiping, ask the Holy Spirit, what do you want me to do during this 716 00:35:55.640 --> 00:35:56.640 time? 717 00:35:56.640 --> 00:35:57.640 Who do you want me to pray for? 718 00:35:57.640 --> 00:36:01.840 And so I think that's how we're engaged in worship, is I'm talking to the Holy Spirit 719 00:36:01.840 --> 00:36:07.120 and asking the Holy Spirit to highlight people in my mind that I need to be focused on and 720 00:36:07.120 --> 00:36:08.720 praying for. 721 00:36:08.720 --> 00:36:11.960 And so I encourage my leaders to do the same thing, and they do such an awesome job with 722 00:36:11.960 --> 00:36:15.760 that, and they're bouncing around the room praying for kids. 723 00:36:15.760 --> 00:36:20.640 And so yeah, that happens every night, and then most of the time we do a specific altar 724 00:36:20.640 --> 00:36:22.440 call, if you want to call it that, too. 725 00:36:22.440 --> 00:36:28.400 So you're really doing everything that we do on Sunday morning, except in a youth culture 726 00:36:28.400 --> 00:36:29.400 context. 727 00:36:29.400 --> 00:36:30.400 Right. 728 00:36:30.400 --> 00:36:35.880 Probably there's going to be lots of people watching this who either know about you or 729 00:36:35.880 --> 00:36:37.400 they just happen to punt it. 730 00:36:37.400 --> 00:36:40.280 They see a young guy who's a pastor. 731 00:36:40.280 --> 00:36:46.680 What would you say will be your advice to someone in their 20s who thinks they're called 732 00:36:46.680 --> 00:36:54.520 into full-time vocational ministry, and they're not sure if they want to do that, it seems 733 00:36:54.520 --> 00:36:59.320 daunting, never been to Bible college, never been to seminary. 734 00:36:59.320 --> 00:37:01.440 What would be your advice to them? 735 00:37:01.440 --> 00:37:02.440 Start serving. 736 00:37:02.440 --> 00:37:03.440 Right. 737 00:37:03.440 --> 00:37:04.440 That's so good. 738 00:37:04.440 --> 00:37:12.040 I look back at the experience I had as a volunteer and how much that shapes what I'm doing now. 739 00:37:12.040 --> 00:37:14.760 Volunteer here at The Row, but even when Ally and I first got married, we served with a 740 00:37:14.760 --> 00:37:18.840 youth ministry our first year of marriage, and that was like eight years ago, but I think 741 00:37:18.840 --> 00:37:21.200 back to that all the time. 742 00:37:21.200 --> 00:37:27.520 A lot of things that happened to us and we navigated in that year shaped how I run the 743 00:37:27.520 --> 00:37:32.200 youth ministry here and how I treat my leaders and train them. 744 00:37:32.200 --> 00:37:38.760 Any experience you can have serving and being involved in ministry will help down the road. 745 00:37:38.760 --> 00:37:42.960 It'll shape how you do things, and it'll answer that question, like, I think I want to do 746 00:37:42.960 --> 00:37:44.480 this, but I'm not sure. 747 00:37:44.480 --> 00:37:49.560 Well, that's how you can kind of find out and watch the leaders, watch the youth pastor, 748 00:37:49.560 --> 00:37:53.800 watch whatever area ministry you're at, and think through what it'd be like to do what 749 00:37:53.800 --> 00:37:54.800 they're doing. 750 00:37:54.800 --> 00:37:58.480 That's what I tell young people who have come out of our youth group and they want to transition 751 00:37:58.480 --> 00:38:00.040 to the leadership team. 752 00:38:00.040 --> 00:38:05.400 I give them a period of time, and I say, continue to come, and now you need to start to retrain 753 00:38:05.400 --> 00:38:11.760 your brain and think, how would I behave now as a leader as opposed to a student? 754 00:38:11.760 --> 00:38:15.720 You can do that in your mind, just noticing things and like, man, what would it mean for 755 00:38:15.720 --> 00:38:16.720 me to be here and serve? 756 00:38:16.720 --> 00:38:19.960 What would it mean for me to be here and running things? 757 00:38:19.960 --> 00:38:24.720 And then you'll be shocked, too, at the opportunities you can have as a volunteer. 758 00:38:24.720 --> 00:38:26.720 You might get an opportunity to teach. 759 00:38:26.720 --> 00:38:32.360 You might get an opportunity, so you can start to do those things in that setting, and it'll 760 00:38:32.360 --> 00:38:36.560 not only grow you, but it'll also answer those questions of, is this something I'm supposed 761 00:38:36.560 --> 00:38:38.200 to do or called to do? 762 00:38:38.200 --> 00:38:44.840 For you that don't know the road, kind of our culture here, but the way Joey just described 763 00:38:44.840 --> 00:38:52.880 how one might see if God's calling them into ministry full-time is exactly what we do here. 764 00:38:52.880 --> 00:38:57.840 I'd say most people that we have on the team have been grown from within, so we already 765 00:38:57.840 --> 00:38:59.400 know the people before we hire them. 766 00:38:59.400 --> 00:39:08.080 We knew Joey because he was serving as a servant leader for the past youth pastor, Ryan Steyer, 767 00:39:08.960 --> 00:39:15.800 and I look at worships this way, the children's ministries this way. 768 00:39:15.800 --> 00:39:21.120 We've just kind of gradually raised up people through knowing them because they're serving, 769 00:39:21.120 --> 00:39:28.240 and I just totally concur with that, that the best way to learn if you have a desire 770 00:39:28.240 --> 00:39:31.520 to be a pastor is not going to be academics. 771 00:39:31.520 --> 00:39:34.360 Now, academics can be important. 772 00:39:34.360 --> 00:39:38.560 I have a few degrees, but you don't have to have that. 773 00:39:38.560 --> 00:39:45.560 Some of the best pastors have no degrees, no formal theological training, but what they 774 00:39:45.560 --> 00:39:50.240 do have is they have leadership, and they learned leadership by being in the trenches, 775 00:39:50.240 --> 00:39:52.520 being in the hunt in a local church. 776 00:39:52.520 --> 00:39:53.520 Thank you, Joey. 777 00:39:53.520 --> 00:39:54.520 This is great. 778 00:39:54.520 --> 00:39:58.960 Totally agree with everything you've said, and it's an honor to be on the same team with 779 00:39:58.960 --> 00:39:59.960 you, so thanks for being here. 780 00:39:59.960 --> 00:39:59.960 781 00:40:00.000 --> 00:40:05.000 So yeah, if any of you have questions, let us know. 782 00:40:05.000 --> 00:40:09.560 That's what this podcast is about, is to help us understand how to get empowered to change 783 00:40:09.560 --> 00:40:11.360 the world, how to make a difference. 784 00:40:11.360 --> 00:40:12.840 So thanks for tuning in. 785 00:40:12.840 --> 00:40:17.080 And if you know someone who's not sure about their future, but they're thinking about the 786 00:40:17.080 --> 00:40:23.900 ministry, this would be a great podcast for them to watch, send it over to them. 787 00:40:23.900 --> 00:40:30.020 So thanks a lot for listening.