you asked for it: crazy memory

Brian asked about my craziest youth ministry memory.

Wow... that's like asking me to tell you who my favorite kid is.

Arnold, from Different Strokes.

Really, I don't know that I have a favorite.

There are things I've been through with teens that I can't believe I actually allowed to happen. "Power dumping" is a phrase that comes to mind, and that's about all I can tell you about that.

Then there are those stories about life change that make it all worthwhile... again, very difficult to pick one kid over another.

Throw in some road trips involving smelly vans with missing cheeseburgers, stops at White Castle, more stops at White Castle, and even more stops at White Castle, and there really are some cool things to look back on.

So let me share a memory that perhaps sums up all the other ones.

Back in 2000 when Fear Factor was still an original show, our student ministry did what a lot of others hadn't yet done but soon would - sponsor a "Fear Factor" night. Granted, you can only go so far in being crazy with this stuff because of liability issues. Nonetheless, the cream of the crop event at the end of the night involved a hot tub that we filled with powdered milk, then added water, and dropped some sardines and pig's feet into for kids to go bobbing.

I know, I know... the theology of this is outstanding, isn't it?

So the night went well, a girl named Toria "won," and we had a lot to clean up.

Here's the fun part.

The hot tub was there because we used it for baptisms on a semi-regular basis.

Do you know where this is going?

Yes, for the next 3 or 4 baptisms, whenever someone would go down into the water they would always come up and notice that there were some sardines floating around (that had gotten stuck in the jets of the hot tub).

Um... that about sums up all my other "crazy" experiences in youth ministry.

I don't know if that made me a cool youth pastor or a dumb one...

but I know as a lead pastor I'd hire me as a youth pastor...

so there.