Author Brian Aaby

Preparing To Imprint

Brian Aaby 2 Comments

I just returned from a fantastic four day trip to Arizona, where I teamed with friend, Timothy Eldred, to train Scottsdale Christian Academy students and staff for more than a mission! In fact, it was the first of a couple beta-tests for the upcoming launch of a movement we are anticipating entitled,  Imprint the Planet.

Scottsdale Christian High School is once again contracting with Youthmark for their missions program and we’re thrilled to help them with their 13-15 mission ventures for 2013, but even more exciting to me is seeing students (and staff) fired up to make a difference not just there but here as well.

This week we were able to see students STEP out in faith, RISK in relationship and return to their campus, club, community and churches prepared to LEAD together! I can’t wait to take the next steps for ITP with a local church retreat in a few weeks!

I am praising God for the many who risked in huge ways by seeking help in areas of brokenness as they began to understand grace in a new or renewed way. I’m pumped about seeing several students take leaps of faith in just a short 3-day time period. In addition I am thankful for the adults/teachers who honestly want to see Student Led, Adult Mentored (SLAM) take place!

Please pray for SCA and my friend Kevin Meyers (Teacher/Spiritual Life Director at SCA) as students return for their 2012-2013 school year and for the many who will take serious the call to Imprint the Planet! 

As Imprint the Planet goes through a few adjustments before it officially launches (soon), my prayer is that God would prepare this generation of students/young adults to be unleashed to use their gifts, skills, minds, relationships and voices to make an eternal Imprint on this planet– all for God’s glory!

Keep up with us at @imprintplanet (twitter) and here on Facebook to get the updates and news first!

Grace,
Brian

Addition links on Twitter you should consider:

@brianaaby and @timothyeldred

 

What I Didn’t Say

Brian Aaby 4 Comments

So have you mastered that “taming the tongue” thing yet?

I’m wrestling right now, wrestling not with something I said, but wrestling with something I DID NOT say. I’ll come back to that in a second…

I’m honored to be preparing to preach at my home church this Sunday. Sticking with the current series through the Gospel of Mark, I am getting ready for Mark 7:1-23. At the end of that passage Mark (likely penning Peter’s thoughts) writes:

 “For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and defile a person.”

– Mark 7:21-22

The context of this passage is significant, but can be summed up by saying that some believe holiness can be achieved through our own effort and actions. In short, Jesus confronts and teaches about the traditions of the Pharisees and the heart of people. Because the heart is evil (not one righteous- Romans 3:10), holiness can be received, not achieved.

I think of that list from Mark 7:21-22 and see what many would consider “major” sin areas. But the reality is, all of them are major and each affects the lives of others. But in the midst of these majors are a few that I believe are less obvious to all onlookers (therefore some may be consider them less major).

Arrogance. Folly. Slander.

Back to my wrestling…

I am a loyal friend. But awhile back I violated that loyalty by not saying what needed to be said. I was speaking to an acquaintance about a youth ministry subject. Somehow the conversation turned to the name of a friend of mine. This acquaintance did not know the depth of relationship I had with this friend. The acquaintances words were unkind, born out of arrogance and borderline slanderous. My non-response was my folly.

Let me quickly point out, I have certainly been “the acquaintance” as well. I have been very unwise with the words that I have spoken. Through Christ (and for His kingdom), I hope to see this change.

James 3 is probably the most in-depth section of Scripture on taming the tongue. It speaks of the positive and negative aspects of this little powerful body-part, as I read it I see wisdom I can apply, even for this situation.

In the future, when hearing slander and gossip, my prayer is that I would:

  1. Stop the onslaught.
  2. Graciously (and kindly) point out the nature of my relationship with the person being spoken of while also pointing out the character qualities I most admire about that person.
  3. Hope and pray it is received well while also praying that my own hypocrisy not become an issue.

I believe, in the named situation, that the acquaintance would have received the words well and perhaps my friend would even be seen in a more positive light. I believe that the kind words would have been so disarming.

As believers we are all on the same team, striving for His glory. I hope to be a better teammate and use my little instrument for His righteousness and to build up the team! Let’s all be loyal friends!

Though I’ll likely never master it, I certainly hope to tame this little beast one day at a time!

Grace,

Brian

Are You Chicken?

Brian Aaby 1 Comment

My kids were captivated by the way we swept the leftover scraps off our plates last week in Montana. Rather than placing them in the trash or in the garbage disposal the remnant was tossed into a plastic bag.

We went outside to the gated off chicken coop and each my little ones got to put their hands into the bag-o-slop and toss a handful of scraps to the ground. The chickens were… well… they were chicken! They would slowly walk toward the scraps in order to peck at some sweet morsels of goodness, but would quickly retreat with the sight of the least bit of human motion. Spooked and freaked out they’d only come back when we weren’t around.

There’s a reason we say the phrase “are you chicken?”

Yesterday, August 1, was a day that many were divided about the chicken. This post, has nothing to do with that controversy. My writing has everything to do with “not being chicken” when it comes to asking God some great big things!

Yesterday, August 1, was the start of an awareness campaign for something that I believe will be great for this country!

Between now and October 1,  I want to make as many as possible aware of this fabulous opportunity! One month of dedicated prayers for this country. I picture churches, schools, home school groups, clubs and youth groups joining this prayer surge!

There is no way we can ever get one million people praying for our country without your help! Be it a tweet, a blog post or a status update, you too can help us get the word out! God wants to hear our voices united in prayer!

This is not about politics, it’s about prayer.

It is not partisanship, it’s about participation!

Those who know me know that my heart beats for the message of Jesus to be proclaimed! Well, I know that proclamation is only one part of the equation, prayer plays a major part! I pray we see hearts change, cities change and scores of people come to know Jesus! I believe 31 days of dedicated prayer will open the doors for even more proclamation!

31 Days of prayer for this nation may just change your very neighborhood!

Why not join in? Are you chicken?

Grace,

Brian

Some links:

Sweet 16 and a Family Va-Ca!

Brian Aaby Leave a comment

Wowzers, the last couple weeks have been a blur! The rear view mirror is looking really nice though as it’s been a fun two week stretch.

Coming off a great trip to SoCal where I am working with a fantastic church doing some consulting for their Student Ministries I returned home in time to take Elisabeth up to Seattle for our 16th Anniversary (on July 20). Thank you to Priceline, I scored a 4 Star Hotel for a ridiculously low rate! On top of that we were blessed with a nice financial gift which paid for our dinner at the famous Post Alley Pink Door over Pike Place Market!

After the anniversary little getaway I performed a wedding of one of my former students; it’s always fun to reunite at these celebrations as we get to catch up with people we haven’t seen in quite-some-time.

Then on Sunday, July 22 we went crazy. Up and out around 6:30 a.m. we took a short drive to… MONTANA. Yep, short 11. 5 hour drive to the thriving metropolis of Boulder, MT.  Our three kids in the back of the Avalon has a few challenges, but nothing some car games and the occasional video can’t overcome. With a couple stops for gas, food and coffee the day went by fast. Then the real fun began. We got to meet our little niece! What a cutie! In addition to meeting, holding and cuddling the little one, we enjoyed hanging out with Elisabeth’s sister and our brother-in-law. Being “ranchers” during the summer allowed our kids the opportunity to feed some chickens, ride on a swather (while it was actually cutting hay) and enjoy a real cook-out!

Besides the couple days near Boulder we took the kids to fun Marriott Residence Inn in Helena (another gift from a loved one!). I think we went to the pool 5 times in the two days! When we weren’t training in the pool for the 2020 Summer Games, we enjoyed the sights and sounds of Helena… well, at least we enjoyed the Carousel!

Couldn’t believe how fast the time went by, but Thursday came quickly and it was time to get home so we could enjoy seeing another one of our former students get hitched on Friday!

I am thankful to the Lord for His provision and the gifts He has given us! What a great couple weeks! I love my wife (thanks for 16 great years Elisabeth!), I love my family (can’t believe how much fun we have together) and I love our extended family (especially for gifting us the way you did to make a couple of these things possible) and I love my job (thank you Jesus for letting me serve you in this way)!

Enjoy some of the pics of the last couple weeks below!

Grace,
Brian

From Chaperones to Shepherds (Part One)

Brian Aaby Leave a comment

I’ve spent the majority of my life in the Seattle area. Seattle: Home of Boeing, Nordstroms, Starbucks and the Mariners! Yep, the Mariners.

Though some may say, “you have a major league baseball team?” My beloved Mariners have had a few good, no, great seasons. Unfortunately we’ve had a larger number of horrible seasons. When the going gets tough it seems all home-town fans would like to take on the role of Manager! “Trade him” “bench him” “Fire the pitching coach!” We all know EXACTLY what we’d do.

Sometimes the manager isn’t making the right decisions. But many times the manager simply doesn’t have all the right pieces in place.

As a Youth Pastor and as someone associated with scores of current Youth Pastors, the same is often true– sometimes the Youth Pastor isn’t making the right decisions, but more often he simply doesn’t have all the right pieces in place. Leadership recruitment and development is a MAJOR factor toward longtime wins in Student Ministries.

I’ll develop a couple posts for this little series, From Chaperones to Shepherds. The first post is subtitled, Recruit to ministry, not to the mundane.

If you’re looking for chaperones (adults who are truly in place to “patrol”) then that is great. There are certainly instances and events where this is necessary, however, I believe most Youth Pastors are looking for adults who will play the role of mentor in the lives of students. If this is the case look for natural recruitment entry points where you can call an adult into a true ministry setting rather than a mundane atmosphere.

Buzz and Lisa were a couple of my recruits. Though their own kids had pretty much graduated on they seemed to have a little pep in their step when it came to interaction with teens. I could have asked them to come “check out” the normal weekly program but this likely would have been a waste of time. I wanted and needed them to play a ministry role. I asked if they would be interested in serving as our “head cooks” during our mobile camp. Buzz and Lisa would be bombarded with teens (those rotating through for prep and clean-up) and blessed by fellowship with others already on our team. Slowly and surely they moved out of the kitchen and into a family time (what we called our small groups on missions and retreats). By mid-week and already knee-deep in relationships, I approached these newbies with the opportunity to pray about becoming regular leaders on our team!

I believe these “big events” are the ideal times to recruit future leaders. Sure, week-in and week-out ministries provide the opportunity for people to see the program, but program, in this case, is the mundane. Inviting those with potential talent, skills and gifts into service is giving them the opportunity to be in ministry where relationships will be the key factor!

Consider your next camp, retreat, mission or large-scale event an opportunity to bring in some fresh perspectives and people. Give the potential youth leader a role that will lead to relationships (cooks, boat driver, worship leader, craft person, etc.) and invite them to something greater than just “checking out” the mundane!

You’re the manager and you’ve been given the chance to call someone up to the big-leagues of Student Ministries!

What are some other roles that give potential leaders high exposure to the ministry? I’d love your comments/thoughts!

Stay tuned!

Grace,
Brian

(CONTEST) Best Title Receives A Post

Brian Aaby 4 Comments

The to-do list got a little long this week. Twice I sat down and began going through a separate list of possible blog posts to write and even started writing two of them, but instead of a single post, they became a couple series… these will take me a few days to flesh out, so over the weekend I decided to test the waters and see if we may be able to do a second contest in a  row. Sometimes the spark is all I need!

Welcome to the “Best Title” Contest.

You have one-to-seven words to create a blogpost title. That title should be intriguing enough that I know EXACTLY where I want to go with the post. The “winner” will receive credit for the title and then the honors of a huge-shout-out for giving me the idea for the post.

I prefer for the subject matter to be Student Ministry related (students, leadership, events, training, soul care, missions, etc.), but you can be creative (and make me reach a bit to tie it in to Youth Ministry).

So, any suggestions out there?… The good news: If you’re the only one to suggest one, you win! Let the contest begin!

Grace,
Brian

(CONTEST): W.A.I.T. –Drive Thru Edition

Brian Aaby 14 Comments

The ever-popular “What Am I Thinking” (WAIT) Contest is back!

With this contest the prize is brighter than ever! If you are the winner, you receive a free 2012 Youthmark Mission Venture (bright orange) T-shirt. The VERY shirt worn by hundreds of teens and leaders this spring and summer!

WAIT is essentially a Caption Contest. Come up with a caption that best describes the picture below. Feel free to make it a title, a caption or a quote from one of the participants!

I’ll announce some that are in the running as the contest progresses and then announce a winner likely toward the end of the weekend!

The pic below was taken by someone I know down in Enumclaw, WA. It makes sense if you know Enumclaw.

Happy WAIT-ing!

Grace,
Brian

*************** In The Running **************

Jamie Johnson: “Dang it, I need to retract my order”

Jeff Lowry: “Nothing runs like a caffeinated Deere!”

Lori: “Man, I got so plowed last night! I really need coffee NOW!”

Jeramy (last minute entry): Farmer: “I’d like to order 30 tons of manure please.” Barista: “I’m sorry sir, this is Starbucks coffee. We don’t sell manure here.” Farmer, “That’s not what the guy at Pete’s coffee told me.”

**************Winner***************

Oh man, this was SOOOOO close between Lori and Jeramy, both were very smart and hilarious!… just because I had a really bad cup from Sbux a couple days ago, I’m going with Jeramy’s last minute entry! Good job Jer! And a huge thumbs up to Lori!

How The 4th Of July Fireworks & Evangelism Are Similar

Brian Aaby Leave a comment

10. Both are ultimately about celebrating freedom.

9. They both are about light shining in darkness!

8. Nobody likes them done “in your face.”

7. For many it’s just a once a year occasion.

6. They are both a little dangerous and adrenaline inducing!

5. Some believe they both should be illegal.

4. They make us look skyward.

3. Some people don’t like them done on their property because the clean-up process afterwards can take too long.

2. They are both better done with friends!

1. Many people prefer to watch “professionals” do it.

I hope you have a great 4th of July celebration. Enjoy time with family and friends and look for opportunities to share life and build relationships with those who do not know Jesus! And not just for this one day of this one week. There are 51 other weeks of the year that we get to do life with our neighbors, coworkers and family members! It really is Mission51!

May our lives display the love of Jesus and may our mouths sound forth the grace of Jesus!

Grace,

Brian

P.S.: Got any other similarities you want to share?

The Number Four

Brian Aaby Leave a comment

Taking a four month sabbatical from blogging certainly did nothing to make my life slow-down, in fact, over the last four months there have been some really great things that have taken place. So, in celebration of the number four, I give you the Top 4 for the Last Four (months).

#4 Costa Rica Mission Trip

Costa Rica kids!

In April I was able to lead a group of eight college-age students to Nicoya, Guanacaste, Costa Rica. This Youthmark Mission is one-0f-a-kind. Distributing Bibles, speaking in schools and reaching out to entire communities where the Gospel had not been heard was such a blessing!

Joe and Hilary lead at the Portland M:51 Training

#3: Mission51 Retreats

This year’s LIFE Backwards theme will be a blog post in itself. But the “Six City Tour” was simply amazing. Many said “our best yet.” Coincidentally it was our fourth year of offering these things as well! As Youthmark continues to grow, morph and develop, we hope to teach many to do LIFE Backwards!

#2 Consulting & Coaching

w/ Grilled and Regular onions of course!

One of the areas of ministry that brings me life is the area of coaching and consulting. I am fortunate to be doing this on an informal basis with several but also in an official (contracted) capacity as well. One such “official” capacity is with Calvary Community Church in Westlake Village, CA. I absolutely love the people there and have bonded well with their staff! A side benefit, of course, to traveling to SoCal is the frequent stops at In-N-Out!

#1: The Family!

The thing that brings me the most joy and the most life is time with my family! Over the last four months I’ve gotten to have several family outings, daddy-daughter dates & daddy-dude outings (can’t call it a “date”). Now, if Elisabeth and I could only find some more time (and free baby sitting… hint hint) for some more Mommy-Daddy Dates!

My hope is the next four months are just as much of a blessing as the last four!

Grace,
Brian

What’s Up With Youthmark?

Brian Aaby 8 Comments

The transformation started a couple years ago, roughly two years into our adventure that we call, Youthmark.  At that time I  knew already that the organization that I had founded was going to look dramatically different than it did then. I loved what I was doing and we were already experiencing a nice season of growth but I knew that increase was not going to be sustainable if something didn’t give. I knew steps would need to be taken for Youthmark to evolve and for it to remain manageable. I just didn’t know which steps to take. So we grew…

  • 24 teams our first year.
  • 40 teams our second year.
  • 53 churches partnered with us last year.

It was never my intention for Youthmark to be a Short Term Missions organization. I knew I wanted STMs to be part of what we did, but it was becoming everything that we were doing.

My heart and my passion has always been  the 51 weeks of life outside the mission trip. I LOVE coaching leaders to be shepherds all the time. A mission trip is typically just one week, but it can/should be one-part culmination of the year and one-part catalyst for what is ahead. But the reality is most Youth Pastors are still doing mission trips because of the trip itself. Whether they go with a turn-key organization (sign-up/show-up and everything is led by org) do a trip on their own (typically go to a church-supported missionary) or something in between, very few were/are doing anything in the area of preparation and follow through.

This is where I feel Youthmark can and should have the biggest influence in the area of short-term missions. But with growth and demand I saw the ministry was becoming more and more about managing trips and less about vision casting, training, inspiring and follow-through. Simply because of demand, I was spending more of my own time on “i” dotting and “t” crossing of trips and less time on Mission51.

I believe the time is now! Change is in the air. As an organization we are moving forward within our area of passion. This re-focus will include:

  • Partnerships with other STM organizations
  • Expanded resource catalog in product, resources and services
  • More time in area of personal passion/giftedness!

I’m stoked about what is ahead and can’t wait to share more on this blog! Your prayers are appreciated as much groundwork has already been done but there is much more ahead!

Grace,

Brian