Peter's Blog

9/28/07 - What does your heart yearn for?

So, let me ask you this. What does your heart yearn for? Like, really? What is it you are passionate about? If you could spend your day doing whatever you realistically wanted to (that means don't be 'that kid' who's all like, "I'd be bending time and space with my mind like Hiro Nakamura! You know? The Japanese guy on Heroes?"), what would it be? What do you day dream about? Is it playing your instrument? Playing your sport? Playing your gaming system? Maybe it's texting till your thumbs fall off. Maybe it's having some girl or guy like you and being on some kind of romantic date. Whatever. I would be snowboarding, I think, or hiking. Maybe it would be hanging out with my wife and kids somewhere in Rhode Island... not that I have another wife and kids in Rhode Island, but I'd be in Rhode Island with my wife and kids...

But what if knowing God was our passion? What if that's what we wanted to experience in our lives? Too often we treat knowing God as an impossibility, kind of like bending time and space with our mind. God seems far off and distant. We feel like we can know about him, but not really know him. I think it's normal to feel that way but it's not reality. I believe God wants us to know Him. That's how we were before sin. God wants us to know Him so much, He revealed Himself to us through creation. But that wasn't enough. He went further. He revealed Himself to the prophets at different times and in different ways and had them write it down for us. But that still wasn't enough. God wants to bring us back to the way it was in Eden so badly, He revealed Himself by becoming like us and living with us; eating our food, wearing our clothes, experiencing life in a human body... all kinds of stuff!

Do you believe you can know God and not just about Him? If you do: is knowing God what you yearn for? Daydream about? What would you do to know God?
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Peter Nevins

Youth Pastor
Calvary Church

9/10/07 - The New Guy

So, I'm the new (kind of… it’s been three months… am I still new?) youth pastor here at Calvary Church.

Being the new guy has it's perks and drawbacks. Some of the perks are that I have a new start, a clean slate so to speak to work with. It's pretty sweet! I love new things, new adventures, all that stuff. One of the things that's tuff though, is expectations. You all know what I'm talking about...

People have expectations, even when things are new.  You know what I’m talking about. It's like a new school year.  It's awesome because you get to see your friends again and all that stuff.  You get new clothes, new kicks, maybe a new hairdo or something cheezy like that.  But also, there are expectations.

People want you to live up to their last year book message... "HAGS, don't change, luv ya, call me!!!" So when you have a "fresh start" sometimes it's easy to just revert to what people expect rather than try something new, like getting better grades, or fewer detentions. Maybe it's trying out for a team or a production or something else outside of what you normally did in the past.

That's where I'm at. Youth Ministry can easily be all about cheezy games and huge silly gimics meant to try and get kids to think church is cool or fun or whatever. Now, don't get me wrong... I like to have fun, and I can be about as cheezy as they come, but that's not what I'm really about.

Personally, I want to know God and be known by God. I believe it's possible. I believe that all this stuff in my life... the stupid things I do and say, the wrong things I think, the way I like the stuff I shouldn't and am all to willing to do things I shouldn't just because I want to, not because someone 'made me' or 'the peer pressure was just too much'... I believe that stuff would start to get right if I knew God better.

The Apostle Paul wrote, "I want to know Christ..." That's what I want, and that's what I want Calvary Church's student ministries to be about.

Oh Yeah... I plan on having a stinkin’ rock-awesome time along the way!

8/23/07 - My First Blog...

Wow!  I’m an official blogger now!  I was expecting to feel much cooler.  Oh well, even if I know I’m no cooler now than before, maybe you’ll at least think I’m cooler. 

What a crazy summer!  So this is me, Peter Nevins, the new youth pastor here at Calvary Church.  I’m fresh out of the Midwest and I gotta say, moving from Indy to Pueblo has been nuts!  But I can’t say how awesome it has been and how excited I am to see what God has in store for me, for you… for US!

God certainly didn’t waste any time.  Camp was unbelievable!  Horn Creek was super cool with awesome counselors, sweet activities and I still am amazed at how God met with us in special ways during cabin time.

Then there was the Chicago trip.  To see how God put that trip together so that we could go and do his will by caring for the immigrant and sojourner in our land was outstanding!

Anyway, I’m super stoked about how God is going to reveal Himself to us and the opportunities we’ll have to respond to Him!

Till next blog,
Peter