Wade Joye

Friday!

Friday is here, and that means tonight is date night! We are stepping it up and heading to PF Changs, so I am trying not to eat too much today so I am ready to do some serious damage. Friday is also a day of tying up some loose ends around the office and making sure everything is ready to go for Sunday. This Sunday evening we have our high school worship experience, Pulse, so if you are a high school student within an hour's drive of Charlotte you need to be there. We are even giving away a free Nintendo Wii. Somehow I am going to find a way to win that.

Make sure you check out this post and this post on Perry's blog by Perry and Lee McDerment. These are great thoughts on worship.

Goodbyes

Yesterday was my last day on staff at Mt. Horeb. Worship at the contemporary service was the most powerful it has ever been, and it was nice to pull back from the mic and hear so many voices singing to Jesus with joy and adoration. The church was extremely gracious to Ferris and me and gave us a gift of two nights at the Indigo Inn in Charleston. We are looking forward to the chance to take a little mini-vacation sometime this fall.
After the serice, the youth threw us a going away party at the lake. So many people showed up, and we felt very loved and appreciated. Words cannot express how much we will miss our Mt. Horeb family, especially our friends in the youth ministry. These three years have been special to us, and I can't wait to hear reports about the new and greater things that God does in Lexington through you.
I have to say that growing up in the church, most of the time when I have seen people leave, one or both parties ends up making things difficult and it can get messy. Thankfully, the Lord has blessed us with a church that is excited about the new steps God is calling me and Ferris to take. I am also glad that God gave me the grace to finish well. This was such an encouraging experience for me. Now I am looking forward and am about to explode with enthusiam for all that awaits in Charlotte at Elevation! Less than two weeks!

Transitions

I had a great meeting today with our youth staff as we worked through a lot of transitional issues. My goal has been to do my best to set up the youth ministry to not only succeed after I am gone, but also to grow and surpass anything we have seen so far. We have amazing staff who I believe are much more skilled at youth ministry than I am, so in terms of leadership we are in great shape. Our systems have improved, although there is a lot of room to improve there, so we examined a lot of that today and wrestled with some good strategic questions. I really believe that God is going to do crazy things in the lives of our students this fall and I want to make sure that we have everything in place so that we are doing our part to move them along in their next step of obediance in their relationship with Jesus.

This transition process has been really encouraging to me. Everyone in the church has been extremely supportive and genuinely excited about our move to Elevation. The staff has been amazing, also. This positive atmosphere is not always the case in many places, so I feel blessed. My prayer is that I have led well, helped to build a strong enough foundation and empowered people in ministry so that I won't even be missed. It would be such a poor testimony of leadership if things fell apart because one individual left. I have always wanted to finish well in anything that God has called me to, and lately I have been greatly encouraged and excited about the future of youth ministry at Mt. Horeb. Our staff is going to make some noise in Lexington.

That's A Wrap

Well tonight was my last Ignite and I am pretty wiped out from teaching and leading worship. It was an incredible night and really meant a lot to me. I probably had one of the most worshipful experiences that I have had in a long time. We were more rushed than usual during practice, but when it came time to do the real thing the band killed it and I lost myself in worship. The energy was awesome. We played some of our youth group's favorite songs which also happen be some of the ones we enjoy playing the most. Here is the set list.

Mighty To Save - Hillsong
Song Of The Redeemed - Charlie Hall
Burn For You - Steve Fee
The Stand - Hillsong United

Ignite

This Sunday night will be my last Ignite, which is our high school worship experience at Mt. Horeb. We only have it once a month during the summer, so for that reason alone I am pumped about it. The fact that this will be my last Ignite as the youth pastor makes it extra special and I can't wait! I will be sharing some things that God has been burning on my heart lately and will also be leading worship. I usually am not a huge fan of speaking and leading worship on the same night, but this time is an exception. Anytime I get to play with this band is a treat and I also get to bust out the new amp for the first time. It's going to get loud. Be there!

Bigstuf

I had a great week in Panama City at Bigstuf with our high school ministry. This is always one of the highlights of the year for us and God always shows up in a powerful way. This year was no different. Two of our high school guys surrendered their lives to Jesus and it was awesome! That always gets me fired up. This week was also somewhat bittersweet since it was my last youth trip with Ignite. The group surprised me on Wednesday night with a signed group picture of all of us and cupcakes (the key to my heart), and it meant a lot. I love all of our students and youth workers so much, and I had a lot of fun with them this week.
Another Bigstuf tradition is hanging out with my friend and old roommate Neil Tankersly. Neil is one of the funniest guys I know, and is ridiculouly talented on keys. He plays in the Bigstuf band, which is always pretty sick, and I got to pick his brain on some worship stuff since he plays at Northpoint. Our group loves him, and Neil got to rock out on the lead vocal for a few of the songs. He is quite the showman when he is on stage. If you have seen him you know what I mean.
On the bus ride home we got in a spirited debate with Spencer about music. I admire that Spencer doesn't back down, especially when he is outnumbered. The main point of contention, though, was his statement that Nickleback is a better band than Coldplay. He almost lost my frienship over that one.
All in all it was an awesome week but I am glad to be home with Ferris!

Reflections on Youth Ministry

   I mentioned last Friday that this post by Gary Lamb had really spoken to an issue I was wrestling with. Here is the deal. I have done a lot of reflecting on the last 3 years at Mt. Horeb and am blown away by all that God has accomplished. I am so thankful that I have gotten to experience what He has done. We have seen a large number of salvations, the youth ministry has almost tripled in size and we have watched students rise up in leadership with a passion for God to use their lives. One group of girls began a ministry called H20 to raise money to build wells in Africa, and so far God has used them to build two wells with the third on the way. One senior guy began a campus ministry at his private school which has exploded as students came to faith in Jesus.  I have seen high schoolers graduate and immediately become small group leaders to invest in other students and others who are making a big difference on their college campus. I love seeing our teenagers actually make their faith their own when they get away from youth ministry and off to college!  The group of volunteers I have gotten a chance to do ministry with are amazing, and their hearts bleed for these students. They have encouraged and challenged me more than they will ever know.

   The thing that gets me, though, is that with all that I have seen God do I can think that I have been a failure as a youth pastor because of the student that we invested in for years, and then all of a sudden they drop out because someone didn’t say the right thing to them or call them when they didn’t show up one time. Or the person I thought was going to rise up in leadership who decides that they don’t want the responsibility. Or the teenager  who says that they didn’t feel welcome when you and countless other leaders met with them one on one to deal with various struggles they were having, and whenever they were at youth group everyone let them know how happy they were to see them. Am I saying we did everything right, or that I was perfect as a youth pastor? By all means – NO! I have made so many mistakes, and I have basically been learning on the job for three years.  I am a worship leader who has been trying to figure out what it means to be a youth pastor. Thankfully, God loves to use people who have no clue what they are doing but know that they need Him.

   My point here is that I tend to take my eye off of the countless things I should be celebrating and instead focus on the few things that I had no control over and that can steal my joy. There are times I could have made that extra phone call, and maybe should have, but I know that my job was to empower other people for ministry and I can’t bear the weight of every choice that every one of our students makes. I have to trust the sovereignty of God in their lives, and recognize that we are just one piece of what God is using in their spiritual development. The thought that everyone’s well-being depends on me is actually very prideful, and the enemy can use that discourage me and make me ineffective. So I choose to rejoice in what God has done, learn from the mistakes I have made and cast off the “what-ifs” that I can’t do anything about. Ignite, my faith is forever strengthened by the mighty move of God I have witnessed over these last three years, and it is just the beginning of what He desires to do in and through you.

Good Friends

The older I get, the more I cherish the friendships that God brings into my life. I wanted to take a second to celebrate some of my best friends that I have gotten to serve with over the past 3 years - the Ignite youth staff.

Nick Cunningham - Hands down one of the best young communicators out there. Nick is one of those guys that you know God is going to use in a big way to change the world. He has a huge heart for people and an even bigger heart for God. I love talking with Nick about the Bible because he has such keen insight to share every time. People love being around him, and he is a tremendous encourager. Nick is also extremely creative and comes up with some of our best ideas. He is also a fellow geek and we can talk for hours about superheroes and whether Spiderman could take Wolverine in a fight.

Trevor Miller - I am amazed at how gifted Trevor is, and I have never seen anyone do middle school ministry in a better or more effective way. He will be writing books on how to do youth ministry and speaking at Youth Specialties one day. Trevor just plain loves Jesus and loves his students. He also has a servant's heart which makes him a great leader. He is also an awesome worship leader and writes cool songs. One day he will take me camping and teach me all of his MacGyver outdoors skills.

Meghan Sanders - Meghan is outstanding when it comes to discipling and mentoring girls. She is a relational ministry pro. Her heart is huge for all of the girls in our ministry, and they are lucky to have her in their lives. Meghan has also become the resident expert on small groups and encouraging and equipping volunteers. She always gets the job done, which is why I am able to leave town the week before Chi Alpha because I know she has everything under control. Meghan also says some of the funniest stuff ever, and one day we will make an awesome quote wall.

David Olshine (Olsheen) - What can I say? Olshine is the man, the myth, and the legend of student ministry and somehow I get the privilege to have him as my boss. I have learned so much from him, and he truly has become a mentor to me. He has taught me how to put family first in ministry, set good boundaries and how to lead others well. He also challenged me and made me a much better communicator. We also share a love for all things related to Jack Bauer.

It is a joy to serve with all of you, and Ferris and I count ourselves blessed to call you friends.

Next Steps

The past two months have been a wild and crazy ride! I have basically been on a blogging fast. God has been doing so much in my life and has taken me through such a season of refining, shaping and sifting my heart that I have wanted to keep it to myself until certain matters were resolved.  God has called Ferris and I to follow Jesus by taking some new steps of faith, and we have come out of a period of prayer, waiting, uncertainty and a few false starts with a new and freeing sense of purpose and clarity.

The Lord had laid two things on my heart over the past year – a passion to focus on leading worship and the desire to be part of a church plant.  As always, the Lord’s timing is perfect. I praise and thank Him for the fact that He has opened up a door for us to be a part of Elevation Church in Charlotte beginning in August!  I will serve as the Worship Pastor alongside an amazing team of staff and volunteers under the leadership of Pastor Steven Furtick.

This time has also been bittersweet. My excitement about this new door comes with sadness as I am moving away from my awesome parents and family, my friends and the youth and church I love so much. Let me just say that I have the most loving, prayerful and wise parents ever. Charlotte is only an hour away, so I am not that far when it is grandbaby time. (That’s for you, mom) To the incredible staff and youth at Mt. Horeb UMC – your support and encouragement has meant the world to me and Ferris. We love you all so much and I believe God is going to blow our minds by what he does in Lexington through this church and student ministry. Ignite – I am so proud of you!

So that’s the end of all the mushy stuff. I am back in the blogging world, and I hope to write soon about how God walked me through making these decisions. He spoke in a lot of different ways, and reminded me that many times action, as a result of prayer and faith, is required before He makes the next step clear. Most of all, I am overwhelmed by the grace and goodness of Jesus which He pours into the lives of His children.

Accountable Relationships

I am really excited about this Sunday night because I am speaking at Ignite again after bit of a hiatus. We let Nick do an entire series in January that he was really passionate about and I focused on worship. Then in February I was out a lot so it has been way too long since I have gotten the chance to teach. I am pumped. This message is something that I believe is extremely important for our group now, and it will finish up our series on healthy relationships. The issue we will be dealing with is how to give and receive correction in our walk with Christ in the context of accountable relationships. Who has permission in your life to ask you the tough questions and how do you lovingly have an uncomfortable conversation with a brother or sister in Christ that you care about who is in sin? I am hoping this will encourage some of our students who aren't in small groups to get in one. Ignite folks, I can't wait to see you and don't forget to invite a friend!