That's my BOY!

My struggle isn't because of the board watching my every move and seeing if i'm doing what i'm supposed to do.  My struggle isn't that the congregation doesn't like me.  My struggle isn't my overwhelming height.  My struggle isn't the constant distraction of my son's cuteness.  My struggle isn't because a member thinks I'm not doing enough.  But my struggle is and has been lack of respect from most of the youth my age.

I've spent most of my life in Portland now and I basically grew up with all the 20 somethings here.  For the past 2 years, the current chairman of the board has been asking me if I was interested in being the youth pastor for this church. I naturally declined because I'm a prophet without honor like Jesus when He want back to his hometown and tried to preach to them.  When Pastor Num Yee Khang came onboard as the senior pastor, he started asking me about becoming youth pastor after seeing me work with the youth.  I gave him the same answer as I gave the chairman.  I went to a few churches to candidate for youth pastor positions and when me and Zer decided on the church we felt God calling us, we soon found out that they weren't ready for us financially.  So God closed the door on that and showed us He wanted us here instead.  When accepting the position here, I knew it was going to be a struggle gaining the respect of all my peers and most of the youth.  They've known me since I was in middle school, since before I became a youth pastor and before I became a husband and father.  Today, most of them see me when they first knew me.  It's very hard for some to respect me and take me seriously. 

I have no idea how to minister to these sheep because I too once used to be just like them.  I rely on God for wisdom each day to minister to my peers and to the youth group I once was in only a few years ago.  Pray for me that I would be able to minister to the youth and for them to be able to respect me and take me seriously. 

Another struggle that has been going on this few months is a conflict going on with one of the youth officers.  The conflict deals with the struggle I mentioned above.  Pray for us to end this year better than it started out.