A lot of you guys have been asking, so I figured it’d time for another update. In two weeks, it will be 6 months since I was terminated as the youth pastor at my church. Much of what I wrote about two months ago concerning our job search, income, and how we’re dealing with the firing still remains the same, but there are some things to update you all about.

How’d you do in the YouTube NextUp contest?

Thanks to everyone who voted for me in the YouTube NextUp contest! The contest was definitely a fun experience, but unfortunately I was not selected as one of the winners. The competition was very steep and, being up against people who already had 100s of thousands of YouTube subscribers who were being plugged by people with almost millions of subscribers, I figured if I won it would only be because I barely squeaked in the last place.

I wrote more about what I learned YouTube is looking for in its creators and content on ReelSEO.com, if you’re interested.

Although I didn’t win the NextUp contest, I did win a different video contest for a free set of Vidcon tickets! Woo hoo! Now I just gotta figure out if we can swing the airfare and hotel for the conference.

How is the Youth Questions project going?

I invited all of you to join me in reaching teenagers on YouTube and the response was great! We’ve continued to create videos helping teenagers deal with depression, bullying, cutting and suicide, emotionally distant parents, relationship breakups, stress from life, and more. Last week YouTube invited the Youth Questions YouTube channel to join in revenue sharing, which means that I now get a little money from the time I put into these videos, too!

Please continue to tell your youth group kids about the Youth Questions YouTube channel when you get a chance. I have a lot of different ideas for future videos. Kids keep submitting questions, so we’ll keep answering them in the most creative and helpful ways we can.

Are you back in youth ministry?

Yup! I wrote about that a little bit ago. I’ve been volunteering at the church we’ve been attending and I love it! Although I’m still pretty new to the kids in the youth group, I feel like we’re all getting pretty comfortable with each other. Hopefully this summer we’ll have warmed up enough that I can start to do one-on-one stuff with some guys, open our house to hangouts, and more. I love it! It feels like I’ve finally be freed up to do youth ministry.

This Wednesday I’m actually leading youth group again! It’ll be the first time I’ve lead youth group since last November. I’m excited!

How are you doing financially?

It’s been amazing how God continues to provide for us each month. Here we are, almost 6 months later, and we have yet to tap into our savings. God’s been providing for us through anonymous gift cards, random financial gifts from people, some good advertising deals here on LISM, occasional writing for other publications, a couple consulting gigs, our tax return, and more. We’re at a place now where there’s isn’t any income lined up in our future, but I’m sure the Lord will continue to provide as He always has. In the meantime, I’ve had time to invest into some plans for LISM that I’ve wanted to do for years, but haven’t had the time to execute until now. More about that later this week. :)

How’s the job search progressing?

Umm… it’s going. I’m still working through the book, “48 Days To The Work You Love: Preparing For The New Normal,” and then I have, “No More Dreaded Mondays: Ignite Your Passion – and Other Revolutionary Ways to Discover Your True Calling at Work,” to work through next, both by Dan Miller. They’ve been helpful in showing me what I’m most passionate about, where my skills lie, and how God’s created me to play a unique role in ministry for His kingdom. Until I feel like I have a clear direction with where God wants to take me, I’ve been taking the job search slowly. I talk with churches and organizations when they contact me and explore any possibilities of serving that might be there, but so far the opportunities haven’t been ones that my wife and I feel fit me very well.

Thanks for your continued prayers and questions! It’s encouraging and helps us continue to pursue whatever God has in our future!

Posted on May 10, 2011