Infyooze tonihgt 6:00 PM @ THRIVE YOUTH!!

Great day with the Darters and FCA! Huddles Wed a,b,c lunches don't miss it! Stop by Ritas in Apopka. Procedes go to THRIVE Youth

Had a great Sunday! A wonderful friend said hello again on facebook! Looking forward to a great week!

Join us Live today 10:00 AM & 6 PM Victory Church Live!! http://ping.fm/28pdK

Get ready to be BLESSED!!

I, Pastor Rod am so proud to be now, the "official" Chaplain of the Apopka Blue Darters! We had a great pre game meal and pre-game message!

Apopka Blue Darters pulled off a big win last night against South lake! Was not looking good at the half but the second half was all darters!!

Youth from Ground zero! Inspiration!!

These days I have been unusually busy! What with meetings at our church every night this week and spending a lot of time at our High school I have been having to make sure to spend time with my family and God!! So right now with all that is going on I need to REALLY look for inspiration! I hope this helps!! So the first place I always look is a Bible. That should be where most of your inspiration comes from. I get inspiration from just about anywhere. Use the newspaper; current events are always good to keep your messages relevant. The TV; the shows that they are watching are great to use. It tells them that you understand them and their culture. They will relate to you better knowing that you can relate to them. The local schools; Use the schools in their communities to help bring home your point. Using an illustration from their school paper, use their school teams in your message. Use other ministries; yes it is OK to borrow other guys stuff! Like I have said before borrow their stuff make it look like your own and make you look like a genius! They will think you are great! I even use MTV! Not too often but again use what you can to let them know that you are not some old geezer who still uses the old story that goes, “when I was your age” Let them know that you mostly understand their culture and lives! But my biggest form of inspiration if from the Word! You cannot give what you don’t have! Give out of your excess not your lack! The more filled up you are, the more effective communicator you will be! If you really have revelation of what you are telling your youth they will get it! If you don’t you will loose them! I went through a time where I was so busy doing “life” that I did not have time to prepare my sermons. I was working full time at my regular job and only barely part time as a youth pastor. It was so frustrating to try to come up with a world changing message every week in a couple of hrs! I found that getting the inspiration in the 2 hrs I had allotted for my sermon writing time was not nearly adequate. So for a while my youth either got a “canned” message or we watched a video. I did not like it, the canned message or the video. The whole concept of trying to make the meetings filet mignon and ending up with canned ham drove me nuts! Something had to be done! But what? I decided that I simply needed to set more time aside for inspiration! I had no more time! Then it came to me. An epiphany! Inspiration and sermons did not always come when I set aside time so I used any time I had to #1 Pray, #2 meditate on the youth group & the Word and #3 write down anything I came up with anytime it came to me! At first I wrote on scrap paper, napkins, toilet paper, anywhere inspiration struck I would write it down! I eventually switched to a palm pilot, day timer, computer or whatever, but the point is I learned to use what time and resources I had! Even when I became full time at my church I still found myself running out of “inspiration” time. When I first started especially I was doing the youth less then half of the time I was at work! So even full time I still had to search for time. These tips on inspiration will work no matter where you are in ministry!

Thrive Youth Ok, so listen... This Rita's thing. It is every day or night until Oct 4th! Everything you buy if you mention Thrive, %15 will be donated to us!!

See you at the Darter rocked! Let's win Apopka!!

Apopka!!! See you at the pole!! Or in this case Darter!!! 6:45!!

Ok, so listen... This Rita's thing. It is every day or night until Oct 4th! Everything you buy if you mention Thrive, %15 will be donated!

Don't forget see you at the pole Wednesday 23rd at. APK high 6:45A M

Finally enjoying a day off! My wonderful wife and amazing son...Can't beat this!!

Youth From Ground Zero... What is Youth Ministry.

I have heard it said that youth ministry is baby sitting. It has also been said that youth ministry is just being an activities director or an event planner. I say that youth ministry is building the future of the world! That may sound a little dramatic but it is true! Those other ideas have been tried and have failed miserably! All that resulted were tired out ineffective youth leaders and a bunch of spoiled youth!
Youth ministry is more than just entertaining kids. It is more than providing a place to keep them out of trouble “because they are all juvenile delinquents with no hope of becoming or accomplishing anything productive anyway!” Youth ministry is loving, caring and pouring yourselves into lives that are bright, vibrant, full of potential and are all diamonds in the rough! Youth ministry is spelled W O R K it is Spelled T I M E and it is spelled L O V E! It is not easy; it takes a whole lotta time and a whole lotta love! Youth Ministry is building the future! It is listening to a broken heart, it is giving hugs to all in need, it is mending broken relationships with their parents and their friends and it is bringing hope to a person who has none! Youth ministry is loving youth!

What you will need: A place to meet, a Bible, a leader, a plan and a heart for youth. Working with teenagers is probably the most and the least rewarding calling in the world! It is the most rewarding because to see just one young man or woman get it is amazing! To see their eyes light up, to see it click in their hearts, that is what it is all about! It is the least rewarding because they don’t know that sometimes you need a pat on the back. They don’t know that you would occasionally like to hear, “Wow that was amazing, when you explained the discourse of Job and what made Solomon sing, it made my heart do flip flops!” They have never been told to tell you how good of a preacher you are and they really don’t know what a holy handshake is! So you may never get all the sweet talk that other ministers may get but God knows who and where you are and He knows exactly what you need! If nobody else recognizes you for the work that you do and the hours that you spend on loving kids. If nobody else acknowledges that you are truly a mighty, valiant man or woman of God who is making a difference and building the future leaders of the world, I am here to tell you today that every other youth leader, Pastor, worker and helper in the world does. So to you we say thank you!

You can't wait to have your 5th quarter @ FBApopka.... cause you can!!!! We are corny for corndog bites....so come see how many you can stuff in your face (mouth only please!!), hang with yo peeps (LoL)..Peace outtt!

You can't wait to have your 5th quarter @ FBApopka cause ....you can!!!! We are corny for corndog bites....so come see how many you can stuff in your face(mouth only please!!),hang with yo peeps(LoL)..Peace outtt!

Apopka High School FCA huddle this and every Wednesday A, B & C lunch! Bring your lunch, your friends and meet us by the Darter! Don't miss it!

"Embrace the poop"

"Embrace the poop" As I am driving home from picking up my favorite son from school, incidentally he is my only son. I can't help but enjoy being a parent. Every once in a while I will look back to see him wince a bit and when asked if he is OK he says I'm OK daddy. I know that his tummy hurts so I again ask if he is OK or does he have to poop and he says "I'm dood" I continue our poop conversation for the next few miles letting him know why we have to poop and how often. I tell him to "embrace the poop" and he repeats, "embrace the poop?" I laugh. I know I am just being silly but it is times like these that remind me how awesome of a responsibility it is to be a parent. We have been given a huge mandate to raise these little ones up to be leaders, and examples themselves. Remember that there is always someone watching you so try to take your mandate seriously.

Rod Mock

"Embrace the poop" As I am driving home from picking up my favorite son from school, incidentally he is my only son. I can't help but enjoy being a parent. Every once in a while I will look back to see him wince a bit and when asked if he is OK he says I'm OK daddy. I know that his tummy hurts so I again ask if he is OK or does he have to poop and he says "I'm dood" I continue our poop conversation for the next few miles letting him know why we have to poop and how often. I tell him to "embrace the poop" and he repeats, "embrace the poop?" I laugh. I know I am just being silly but it is times like these that remind me how awesome of a responsibility it is to be a parent. We have been given a huge mandate to raise these little ones up to be leaders, and examples themselves. Remember that there is always someone watching you so try to take your mandate seriously.

Rod Mock

Parent's let's give em something to talk about!

In my quest to be a help and a support to the parents, I wanted to give a little advice about what your kids could be up to...Lately I have been spending an inordinate amount of time with teenagers at our local high school. While I have been with teenagers a lot over m years as a youth Pastor, spending time with them in their natural habitat is a little more revealing! for us to know what our kids are up to is paramount!
We've all heard the depressing statistics about sexual activity and unprotected sex among youth today. The question is, "What can we do about it?" According to this article below...

"Start talking."

I love it. It's been great seeing various media sources talk about the positive results of parents talking to their kids about real issues. (Not to mention other reports of kids actually enjoying time spent with family)

I'm referring to an article in my own Sacramento Bee yesterday titled Teens and Sex: Can We Talk? The article reveals some recent California statistics about how many kids are having sex, and what parents can do about it. (If you think California is vastly different-- be sure to check out the national stats from the Center for Disease Control... I think you'll be surprised).

Here's just a snippet:

Children are engaging in sex at younger ages than in the past, experts say, and research indicates that about 40 percent to 50 percent of 15- and 16-year-olds in California are having sex.

Combine that with a steady increase in sexually transmitted diseases among teenagers and a rising teen birth rate, and you have a growing need for parents to educate their children.

"Comprehensive sex education really makes a difference," said Dr. Glennah Trochet, Sacramento County's public health officer. "People always think teens aren't influenced by their parents, but studies show that what their parents tell them, especially if they are very clear, really does influence young people."

Sacramento County has essentially had an epidemic of chlamydia and gonorrhea among 15-to-24-year-olds for the past nine years, she said.

About one of every 25 females and one of every 80 males ages 15 to 19 in Sacramento County had a reported case of chlamydia or gonorrhea in 2008, according to the state Department of Public Health. And those are only the reported cases, said Trochet, who explained that people may go for years without knowing they have a disease.

Sacramento County ranked fourth and third in rates of chlamydia and gonorrhea, respectively, among California counties last year.

"Young people are having unprotected sex, and we need to do a better job of sex education and maybe getting kids to delay sexual activity," Trochet said.

Birth rates among 15-to-19-year-olds also rose to 38.8 per 1,000 in Sacramento County last year, up from 37 per 1,000 in 2006, mirroring a national trend.

Given those statistics, what's a parent to do?

Start talking.

That's good advice. That's really a big part of the advice I give parents. Get into their world (that means learning about youth culture), dialogue with them, build a relationship with them, and begin building lasting values.

DON'T miss our huge 5th quarter FCA Back to school bash this FRIDAY night right after the Apopka Wekiva game!!! Live band, Chariot races and food!! B there!!

http://ping.fm/lUDSA

Props to FUEL for hosting an awesome lock-in!! THRIVE had a great time! We love you guys!! Thanks to all the Thrivers who came too!

Apopka Darters vs Lake Brantley... Can't wait for the W!! Go Darters!!

Youth From Ground Zero: the need 2

The youth in the world have reached an all time moral low! Less and less of them have any moral input into their lives. Very few of them have any adult influence or supervision in their lives. They are left alone making the most important decisions in their lives! They need you now more than ever! With teenage suicides, teenage pregnancy, teenage law infractions, teenage delinquency, and teenage Godlessness at an all time high, you could truly be all that is standing between them and hell! In my city the local high school had over 4000 students. Less than 400 attend church on a regular basis! That is less than 10%! Sir Edmund Burke said that All it takes for Evil to prevail in this world is for good men to do nothing.! It is time for us to do something! It is time for us to love these young men and women into the kingdom!
It is all about the youth! They are the reason you are here and they are what it is all about! The absolute first thing you need to have is a heart for young men and women. They are the future of the world and yet they are more ignored, misunderstood, neglected, abused and left alone then any other generation. In my youth ministry right now I have over 80% who come from a broken home in some way shape or form! It is sad and the youth of today really need love and discipleship!
Do not use this as a stepping stone to become a Pastor. Your youth need consistency; they need someone there for them. If Pastoring is what you want then go and work and be a help for a Pastor. Teens can see right through people who are just doing it for “experience”. Do not just “try” youth work! You either have a passion for youth or you don’t, they are not your guinea pigs. After 16 yrs of working with youth I have had many people coming to me and saying they want to be a Pastor or they want to be an evangelist or a teacher or whatever. They want me to give them a position with the youth to see how it is. I am sorry but that just won’t work with me. These future rulers and leaders of the world deserve more respect. I will only put people in a position if I know they have a heart for the youth! Rules without relationship = rebellion. People do not care about how much you know until they know how much you care. I have seen too many people in a place of authority abuse it because they did not really care about the people under them.

We just had an AWESOME FCA LUNCH @ APK HIGH! 6 youth pastors a TON of youth! All met at the DARTER for our WED HUDDLE! GOOD TIMES!

Attention Apopka High! FCA "Huddle" at A, B & C lunches tomorrow! Meet by the DARTER near the cafeteria! Anyone interested in FCA B there!

Atention Apopka High! FCA "Huddle" at A, B & C lunches tomorrow! Meet by the DARTER near the cafeteria! Anyone interested in FCA B there!