the jester's pub

A Youth Pastor goes to Comic-Con

Over the last couple of days I have been getting my thoughts together about my day at San Diego Comic-Con. Comic-Con is the largest pop-culture,super-hero, fantasy, gaming, comics, freak-show extravaganza in the USA. This year I believe it attracted over 175,000 people. All of the major movie studios, video game companies, comic companies and basically anyone who creates media in America use this as a platform to push their product. It is unbelievable.

If you have never been to this event, you should go at least once in your life if just to people watch. As I walked around on the last day of the convention I continued to ask myself, "Who is going to reach these people for Jesus, and more importantly how?" Now, I'm not talking about people like me who are just fans of a lot of this stuff, but about the people who LIVE for this stuff. The people deeply immersed in this world of make believe and fantasy. How do you get to them with the gospel? I don't think the traditional church is going to quite do it. Do you think wolverine guy at the top of this post would relate to that? I don't know the answer to this question maybe you do and I would love to hear it.

I can comment on some of the things I saw there, things that the church needs to plug into to reach teens, kids and adults who are living in this world.

Passion- People at Comic-Con are passionate about what they are into. Passionate enough to spend hours and hundreds of dollars making their own costumes. Many even dress up their little babies! They drop some major bank on merchandise and collectors items and will wait in line forever to catch the latest buzz about a new movie or a game. It is a yearly "religious" pilgrimage and their level of commitment is amazing. They prepare all year for this, and this event is just an extension of who they are the rest of the year. Are we this passionate about our faith, Jesus and the church?

Community- You can write some of these people off as socially awkward (you might be right) but I can tell you that I felt a genuine sense of community and friendliness amongst most of these people. They spoke a common language, they shared heroes, there were smiles everywhere and people seemed very genuine. If you asked a question about a particular movie or comic someone always jumped in and answered you and tried to help. It was refreshing. Maybe these people aren't afraid to be themselves with each other? Do we share these things as a church?

Imagination- The creativity was amazing and not just from the media makers but from the crowd. From art, to film, graphics, design, costumes, figures, and fantastical worlds it is a tribute to the creative spirit. Do we make our teaching creative? Do we give students chances to be creative?

Hunger for Story & Heroes- People are dying for good stories. For new worlds full of risk, adventure, courage, redemption, struggle and victory. They look for heroes they can connect with, heroes who inspire them to be better than they are. People want compelling narratives, and larger than life heroes. This is where we have failed so miserably as a church but where we have so much potential. We follow the ultimate hero and have such a great story to tell, one that can be told in so many creative ways.

Emptiness and Loneliness- As I walked around I couldn't help hearing and seeing people that had in many ways failed relationally or socially in this world and so were drawn to fantasy worlds where they could be someone else or live vicariously through a character. This is not unique to the "nerds", for there are plenty of popular people at a bar somewhere doing the same thing through alcohol instead of star wars, or another "hook-up" instead of another comic book. It is all the same song, just a different tune. There is a deep pit of loneliness in our culture, of emptiness brought on by losing ourselves in things that will never truly quench our thirst. Does the church offer significance? Significance for the here and now not just salvation for someday? I wonder.

Maybe the geeks have something to teach! Listen up church.

with great power comes great responsibility,
mark

Love me some Earthquake!

I am at Fuller Seminary taking two classes towards my Master's Degree when at 11:42 this morning we had a 5.4 earthquake. Pretty Crazy. This is the first major earthquake I have ever been in, and the first major quake in LA in 10 years.What did it feel like? Literally it felt like someone "kicked" the entire building. We were in the basement so it wasn't as bad as being on the third floor of our building but it was shocking none the less.

One of the thoughts I had afterwards was just how small you feel after something like this. It is a reminder that at any moment something can just invade the calm of your life and upset your entire world.

This is a day that I won't forget. Stay tuned to see if more "shaking" happens this week.

mark

Call Me a Nerd I Don't Care

I am on my way to Fuller Seminary for class this week,but not before a day in San Diego at Comic Con. The largest pop culture event in the country. I have always wanted to go to this and I am only catching the last day of it but I am excited. Big news from Comic-Con this year so far was Hugh Jackman bringing footage from the Wolverine movie due out next summer and Terminator:Salvation footage

I will also get to see my friend Tic Long so it is going to be a great weekend. I will be blogging all week so make sure you keep stopping by the Pub.

I'm going to go GEEK OUT now!

Goodbye Jason

I learned early this morning that one of my former students, Jason Morris (middle of pic with white t-shirt), was killed in an automobile accident last month here in Pennsylvania. I hadn't seen Jason for about six years. My heart is broken today, I am just sad and confused over this tragic loss. Jason was 25 years old, too young to die. He was engaged to be married. I have a lot of fond memories of Jason from retreats, mission trips and youth group. I can honestly say I don't know where Jason was with Jesus when he died but in High School he had pursued a personal walk with the Lord and I am trusting in God's grace for Jason. I have been privileged until now to have never had a student die that had been involved with my ministry. That all has changed now. Please join me in praying for the Morris family in the loss of their son.

Below is the newspaper report and some words that I wrote on the Facebook group dedicated to Jason.

Pine man killed in Turnpike crash
Thursday, June 26, 2008
By Jim McKinnon, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
A Pine Township man was killed early today when his car veered off the road and struck a parked tractor-trailer on the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

Jason Robert Morris, 25, had been driving east on the turnpike at 2:12 a.m. when he lost control of his car in Mount Pleasant, the Westmoreland County coroner's office said.

Mr. Morris became trapped inside his crashed vehicle after it struck the rear of the truck.

He was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the accident, the coroner said.

Mr. Morris was pronounced dead at the scene at 3:15 a.m. by Deputy Coroner John Ackerman.

State police in New Stanton are investigating.

Facebook Post
I am very saddened to hear of Jason's death, in fact I just learned of it today. I was not just Jason's youth pastor when he was in high school but also his friend. We had many long, deep talks about God and Jason's desire to follow Jesus. We went on a bunch of trips together and I saw God work in Jason's life. I served with him in Mexico helping the poor there. We laughed a lot and I even saw the big guy cry more than once. I know he struggled with drugs and alcohol and from your posts and stories I see that his struggle continued into adulthood and that saddens me. I know that many of you are hurting, I am too, I am broken-hearted by Jason's death. I also know that if Jason could talk to you now he would tell you to pursue God's love with all of your heart. He would tell you God loves you and that He has an awesome way for your life to go.
You can dismiss or ignore that message, but I saw that side of Jason. I saw him look me in the eye and say "Mark, I truly want to follow God with my entire life." Jason struggled to live that out, yet I trust God's grace for Jason, and I trust that you would seek out what it means to know Jesus personally beyond church or religion. Again, I grieve with you, but I pray that Jason's death will not be in vain, but a message to you and to me.

peace to you,

Mark Helsel

You can read Jason's obit HERE or read a tribute to Jason by his cousin HERE.

May the Lord keep you, Jason. Thanks for a lot of good memories.

A Metaphor

I saw this story on CNN yesterday. it is the one about the two young girls who drowned in Italy. Their bodies where laid out in the sand (the picture above) until the police picked them up. The shocking thing is and you can see it in the photo is people sunbathing right next to them. The report says people walked by, kept eating their lunch, played in the ocean and generally went about their business within feet of these two dead girls. It breaks your heart.

This tragic story got me thinking about the church.

What if this is a metaphor for the church...

Soaking up the "Son" while the dead are all around us.

Indifference is an ugly thing!

Ignoring the lives of so many of our young people

Indifference blinds us to reality

We build sandcastles while the drowning cry for rescue

What have we become?

Where is our broken hearts? The weeping over suffering? The weeping over the lost?

This picture is not just worth a thousand words, it is worth a million sermons

Come Lord Jesus, Come!

Pigs & Rock n'Roll

If you are anywhere near Sewickley,Pa on Friday stop by our first annual Pig Gig for a kickin' Pig Roast. There will be a 80 pound pig cookin' and a lot of good music! The cost is $10 dollars, that's a good deal.

Check out the bands playing below.

Annasay.....HERE

Matt Lloyd Project....HERE

Shaded Grey....HERE

Hope to see ya there!

C.S Lewis Descending

In the previous post I talked about the book The Ascent of a Leader. There is an excerpt in the book from the C.S. Lewis classic The Great Divorce. The basic premise of the book is a fictional bus ride to hell and the people that are encountered there. This excerpt from the book deals with people refusing in hell to be in community with each other but living in isolation. Which in many ways is what put them there in the first place.

"In the classic tale The Great Divorce, C. S. Lewis illustrates this point as he wryly recounts a wild bus ride from hell to heaven. Instead of finding fire in hell, Lewis discovered street after street of rather nice homes, but all had been abandoned. Lewis asked an educated man, "Was there once a much larger population?" His response sent chills down Lewis's spine, even aboard the hot bus:

Not at all. The trouble is that they're so quarrelsome. As soon as anyone arrives he settles in some street. Before he's been there twenty-four hours he quarrels with his neighbor. Before the week is over he's quarreled so badly that he decides to move. Very likely he finds the next street empty 'cause all the people there have quarreled with their neighbors-and moved. So he settles in. If by any chance the street is full, he goes further. But even if he stays, it makes no odds. He's sure to have another quarrel pretty soon and then he'll move on again. Finally, he'll move right to the edge of town and build a new house. You see, it's easy here. You've only got to think a house and there it is. That's how the town keeps on growing."

This has a lot to say about community. Do we challenge our students to work thorough the hard issues that come up with each other when we live in community. Do we teach them to not ditch each other when things get rocky and feelings are hurt, or they can't have their way. Have we taught them that building their "house" on the edge of town only leads to their destruction.

I wonder

Leader's Ascending

I have started working on my Master's Degree at Fuller Seminary which will lead me to my M.Div. It is a great program and I would highly recommend it to any of you youth workers out there thinking about furthering your education.

One of the books I am reading right now for a class is Ascent of a Leader by Thrall. This is a great book. It challenges us to rethink success and is so applicable to the way church leaders measure success and healthiness of their church and the leadership environment they have created. It looks at the areas that leaders don't pay much attention to thus short-changing their leadership. According to the book 70% of leaders don't finish their leadership journey well. I have seen this in youth ministry. Having been a youth pastor for almost 18 years now I couldn't name the countless people I have seen begin in full-time ministry only to vanish a few years later or crash and burn. If you lead a ministry I hope you will read this book. I post a few tidbits below for your enjoyment:

"First, leaders who do not finish well lose their learning posture. They stop listening and growing. Second, the attractiveness of their character wanes. Third, they stop living by their convictions. Fourth, they fail to leave behind ultimate contributions. Fifth, they stop walking in an awareness of their influence and destiny. Finally, leaders who finish poorly lose their once vibrant relationship with God."

"Whereas for some leaders a fall from the top exposes their inner failures, for others failure means staying at the top." (This is so profound!!)

"Environments of grace can also appear in the most unlikely places, like Silicon Valley. Rick McEachern, senior marketing manager at Apple Computer, suggests that environment "set the tone" for Apple's return to fiscal health and prominence in the computing world of the late nineties." Whatever one thinks of Steve Jobs, he demonstrated excellent leadership when he returned to Apple. One of the first things he did was to consolidate staff from a variety of scattered buildings into a newly constructed campus. On this campus, you can go to work in a suit or jeans. You can wear your hair long or shave it off. You can hold a meeting in a coffee bar, a gymnasium, or a comfy conference room full of toys. In short, you are encouraged to be yourself. In addition, you are always part of a team that cannot accomplish its goal without you."

Tales from the Road

Many of you reading this know that for the last five years I have been a member of the Youth Specialties Core Team which means I have traveled to nearly fifty cities across the country to spend my day with fellow youth workers. This has been a huge blessing in my life, but I have also encountered some things that make you go HUMMMMMM! out on the road.

The story below is one of those moments (The names have been omitted to protect the guilty).

So a few years ago I was speaking at this large church in Florida for a couple hundred youth workers. It was a great day, the host was great, and it was a great environment to speak in. We always start the day by introducing the host, putting their name on the screen and having them come forward to pray for the day. Just so you know, the host for these events do a lot of work and they deserve a little recognition. So I was preparing the slide with the host's name on it before everyone arrived and the host walked up to me and said, "Mark, you can't put my name on the opening slide, you have to put our Senior Pastor's name." I said "Why?" He said, "It is a rule here at ******* that our senior pastor is the only one that gets recognition."

To be honest I almost swore, I was angry. What arrogance. Here is this youth pastor, who doesn't want any recognition, he is being a servant, but he couldn't get any anyhow because the SENIOR PASTOR SAYS SO. It was one of the most ridiculous things I have ever heard. This stuck with me all day and I still think about it. I wondered what it would be like to work for this guy. How this pastor could actually come up with this rule, actually think it through, make his staff follow it and believe it was a Godly decision. Mega-Church needed to hold this guy's Mega-Ego! Unbelievable.

I'm sure some of you out there have seen some freaky church stuff, and we here at the Jester's Pub would love to here them.

Be careful out there.

Spirituality at the Movies

Relevant Magazine's annual movie issue just came out and one of the articles was the Top 10 Most Spiritually Significant Films of the Last Ten Years. Here is the list in no particular order with some commentary from me.

1. O Brother, Where Art Thou?- The baptism scene in this movie is a great teaching clip.

2. The Big Kahuna- A Kevin Spacey and Danny Devito flick I haven't seen. Can you say Netflix!

3. American History X- Powerful story of redemption. Edward Norton buff and not green!

4. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind- One of my favorite movies but don't think it should be on this list.

5. American Beauty- Shows the emptiness of life without God, an excellent look at what life is like for so many Americans.

6. Crash- Excellent film about our prejudices and hate born out of fear.

7. The Green Mile- Great movie,better book. A very blatant Christ figure in this movie.

8. No Country for Old Men- Great movie about human depravity, but again wouldn't put this on the list.

9. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly-Ah didn't see it, probably because of the title.

10. The Royal Tenenbaums- Saw this but can't really remember it.

So what films would I add.

Signs- Great story of man who loses his faith and gets it back. Deals with God's providence in all things.

Passion of the Christ-Duh!! It might be obvious but you still have to put it on the list.

Into the Wild- The story of one young man fleeing from materialism and searching for truth.

I am sure there are more I just can't think of any right now. What would you add?