Matthew Aaron Fry

Attendance Tracking

2012-02-05T16:15:00.002-05:00

Keeping track of attendance in my youth group has been a struggle. I started off from the start keeping accurate records of every student that came in and out of our doors, but when I saw that I was only have 2 or 3 students during my meeting times I started neglecting it. I stopped keeping track because it was always the same students showing up.

I've decided that I'm going to get back at it. I've been looking for a great app or system to record my groups attendance, but struggled to find anything "ministry" specific. I instead turned toward the "educational" route and figured teachers would have great resources.

After going through several apps I found "Teacherpal" and will be experimenting with it over the next couple months and give a full review then.

I like the look and feel of it so far.

You can label each door (or folder for each service). I have chosen "Youth Group Demo" just for the purposes of this blog and indicated in the "details" section that it is on Wed. Night. You can also change the image that is taped to the door to whatever you want (your youth group logo)

Here you just tap on the person's name and it cycles through whether they are here or absent. It would make it very easy to be able to scroll over and just tap a persons name as they walk in the room to record that he/she is there.

Since it is an app designed for teachers, it has 7 class period slots for each day. What would be nice is if it allowed you to change the name of each period so that you could make it the name of each of your services. So you could indicate what service you were recording attendance for. The only work around is to create separate books for each service, which would be very tedious when adding new students.

I like it so far and will be testing it out tonight at our group gathering. I'll be taking pictures of each student to record as their image and making sure I have all their contact info in the system. What is nice is with one button you can e-mail the entire group. Now if someone would come up with a youth ministry version that replaces e-mailing with texting...that would be perfect.

Our Last Great Hope

2012-01-31T06:29:00.001-05:00

I received "Our Last Great Hope" by Ronnie Floyd in the mail with the expectation that I would review it. I was excited to get a chance to check this book out and review it, but the book seemed to have no "hook." There were a few points that drew me in, but never one that caused me to stick around to see how it turned out. I tried several times to reach that point of not being able to put it down, but it just wouldn't happen. It wasn't for a lack of substance an interesting subject matter, but more that there was a lack of transperancy. It seemed that there was some sort of a disconnect between the author and the audience. There were several times where the authors denominational beliefs shined through and distracted me from the general idea of the subject matter. It took my mind off of the subject and focused more on the theological implications of the author's position. I would love to give this book a 3 or 4 stars, but I feel the book is a solid 2 stars since there was no "hook" and a slight disappointment that it is a page by page struggle to continue on. Maybe in another place in my life it will be more relateable, but for the time being I was severealy underimpressed.

Junior High & Children's Ministry - A non-negotiable

2012-01-30T22:34:00.001-05:00

Today I had the privilege of subbing for one of the local schools. I am subbing so that I can not only form relationships with teachers, coaches and key administrative figures within the district, but to be with students. We as youth pastors always expect for students just to come to us on our turf. To meet us on our own grounds. When do we return the favor?

Today I was asked to fill in for a teacher who was going to be missing the second half of the day. It was a very easy schedule and the students were gone to activities (music and computers) for most of the day, but there was a period of time where the students had 25 minutes of silent reading time. I wanted to model good behavior for them so I read the book that I had brought with me called "Junior High Ministry."

In the first few pages it gives this shocking graph...

I'm blessed to work for a church that supports my ministry. That the church board has given me resources to work with to help me in my ministry. If your church does not support children's or junior high ministry...show them the above graph.

When we realize that after the age of 14 the statistics are against us..it helps us to realize the importance of this group. Our excuses that junior high students are awkward. That they smell. That they are brutally honest. That they make us uncomfortable. All of those excuses don't matter.

We have to train up and equip leaders to see this idea. That we have to love students for who they are, not for who we want them to be. We have to see them how Jesus sees them.

They're worth it.

Purpose Driven

2012-01-16T18:41:00.000-05:00

I never bought into the hype of Rick Warren's "Purpose Driven Life" books...I'm the type of guy that judges a book by it's cover and I'm sorry @RickWarren, but your cover wasn't very appealing to me. His former youth pastor @DougFields put out "Purpose Driven Youth Ministry" after the success of "Purpose Driven Life." I thought it was just a spin-off trying to make as much money on the idea as possible, but since I got it for Christmas I decided to give it a shot.

I'm only a few chapters into it and I already know that it's going to have a huge impact on my life as a youth pastor and as a father and husband. Maybe after I finish it I could give "Purpose Driven Life" a chance....maybe I'll just throw away the book cover and pretend it doesn't look like it's written for the AARP crowd.

I preach tomorrow...

2012-01-14T23:00:00.001-05:00

Tomorrow I will be setting aside my typical blue jeans and the popular "youth pastor button up plaid shirt" for actual dress clothes. Our senior pastor is out of town and as the only other member on our staff I've been asked to fill the pulpit.

I rehearsed my talk tonight infront of my wife and about 30 seconds into my talk she stopped me and asked, "Why do you do that with your voice?" I hasn't offended because I knew what she was talking about. It seems that every time I get up to do a talk that I get nervous and my vocal cords tighten up. I have a ton of experience at speaking and I'm not sure why it does it, but it does. She challenged me to imagine myself speaking to just one person in the audience. To carry a conversation on with them and to tune out the rest of the people in the room.

So in that moment I took a deep breath and prayed a silent prayer for help. In that silent prayer I prayed that God would speak through me. That God would use me in a way like He never has before. I prayed for His strength.

It is amazing how, even in practicing a talk, God can speak to you. Tomorrow I'm challenging myself to take the advice that my wife gave me. To step out of the "I'm giving a rehearsed speech" persona and into the "I am having a conversation with you" mentality.

Pray that God speaks through me. Pray that He doesn't allow any hiccups in the technology. Pray that He is given all of the credit.

maf

Sky Zone Indy Review

2012-01-13T15:24:00.002-05:00

When I saw that Sky Zone Indy was opening in Indianapolis I knew I had to take our youth group as soon as possible before it got too busy. We waited until after the holidays and sure enough..they started having sessions that were sold out.

Sky Zone Indy is located at 10080 East 121st Street in Fishers, IN. It's a great location that is easy to get to from multiple directions.

It is heavily suggested that if you are planning to attend that you purchase your jump passes online in advance (or make reservations through calling them to avoid the online transaction fees).

It is the ideal spot for birthday parties, group outings or a fun family night to reward the kids for a good report card or losing a tooth. Their prices are: 30 minutes for $9, 60 minutes for $13, 90 minutes for $17 or 120 minutes for $20 (prices include shoe rental and sales tax). Our group jumped for 60 minutes and felt that it was an appropriate amount of time. 30 minutes would have been too short, but anything over 60 minutes and we would have been so tired we would have crawled out of the front doors.

We walked in the door and within 5 minutes had our shoes and were ready to jump. To expedite the process it is suggested that you insure that you have all of the waivers signed by a parent/legal guardian in advance. I overheard there are options if an individual doesn't have a form signed by his/her parent, but it is a lot easier for you and for them if you bring the forms signed in advance (if you are going as a family or individuals this wouldn't be an issue unless you're bringing your kid's friends.)

The customer service is definitely top of the line (which is a rarity these days). The employees seemed to enjoy their job and get satisfaction in making sure that everyone had a great (and safe) time.

My only suggestions for the location:

1. Encourage parties to migrate towards the tables to the right to put their shoes on. When we walked in there was a large group of children putting their shoes on in the entryway which made it awkward stepping over 10-15 children.

2. More storage space for putting items while you are jumping.

3. Don't allow all of the dodgeball courts to be reserved. We had a few students disappointed they didn't get to play dodgeball because the courts had been reserved by parties.

4. One word....GROUPON! :-)

OVERAL:

This is definitely going to be a huge success. I love the fact that they limit the amount of people who are able to participate so it does not get over ally crowded. Our session was sold out and only a few times did I have any issues with being worried about bumping into someone. Even if you're a parent and not into jumping on a trampoline they make it easy for parents to watch their kids jump. Highly recommend! We will be returning in the future (with more students)!

CLICK HERE for their website

Sky Zone Indy
317-572-2999
skyzoneindy@gmail.com
10080 East 121st Street, #182, Fishers, IN 46037

View Larger Map Driving Directions

Project 26/26 - UPDATE

2012-01-05T21:46:00.000-05:00

One of my goals for this year in my Project 26/26 was to read 24 books during this year. Having an iPad now really makes it a lot easier to get in my reading time. So far I have completed 3 books. They include:

Tim Tebow - Through My Eyes
Jodi Picoult - Sing You Home
Greg Stier - Ministry Mutiny

All great books that I'd suggest giving a chance. In the past I have found myself reading nothing but books on ministry or theology. I have decided that I'm going to start a rotation. I will read 1 biography, 1 non-fiction book and 1 ministry/theology book in that rotation.

Stars

2012-01-04T22:59:00.000-05:00

Up until recently my life was spent in the middle of town. I remember falling asleep to a room that was only partially dark because of the street lights outside my room. It wasn't until my wife and I moved into a house that is in the middle of no where that I realized how light my bedrooms had always been.

Tonight I stepped out to let our dogs out when I noticed how truly dark it was outside. It is amazing how dark it can get when you get away from street lights and card headlights. I looked up and saw the sky filled with stars and had my breath taken away. The stars look so much more beautiful in the country than in the city.

As I stood there taking in all that I was seeing I couldn't help but feel small. I couldn't help but realize how big our universe truly is and how little I am. When you feel small it makes the stuff that we stress about and the things that make us feel busy...seem so much smaller.

Through the Bible - Review

2012-01-03T16:56:00.002-05:00

I am so excited about what God's doing in the midst of our student ministry. I spent the first couple of months in my position getting to know the students and their families, but also evaluating where they were spiritually.

Several times I noticed when I would ask them to turn to a book of the Bible, whether it was a popular one or not, they would struggle to find it. Despite growing up in the church most had very little knowledge of the Bible. They're simply the product of their environment that until now had not had a meaningful student ministry established.

My plan...change that.

I shopped around and discovered Jenny Baker's "Through the Bible in 12 Weeks" curriculum through Simply Youth Ministry. I downloaded the preview of it and knew that it was the perfect start for our students. It gives them a fantastic introduction to the Bible and teaches them the structure of one of the greatest love stories of all time and how they are a part of it.

One thing that excites me is that the curriculum encourages you to tell students you are not going to tell them what to believe. I love the idea that it challenges students to seek the answers for themselves. To wrestle with the scriptures and discover what they believe.

After the 12 weeks of this lesson I've already mapped out the rest of the year's lessons that will rotate with us looking at a book of the Bible and then a character study. We're starting broad and working our way to more specific aspects about the Bible and the people God used in it.

I can't wait to see God grow our students as they learn more about Him through studying The Word.

Become a Visitor

2011-12-17T20:21:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I made a trip over to one of the local high schools. I had been by there before, but always for a sporting event when I was in high school. As I pulled into the parking lot I began to get that butterfly feeling in my stomach. I get that feeling whenever I find myself in a new situation or around people that I don't know very well.

I followed the signs that would lead me to the superintendents office and I found a parking spot close to the doors. I looked up and noticed there were several sets of doors and all had the tint so dark that you couldn't see what was on the other side. I tried to play it off like I knew where I was going, but inside I had no idea.

I walked up to the door as I pulled on the doorknob I had a George Bush moment...I pulled on the door and it just wouldn't open. My nervousness turned into a panic when I looked and saw there were about 10 doors that I would have to try. I had 2 thoughts...I'm trying to go into the wrong doors and am going to get pepper sprayed by some security guard...or...there are other people on the other side laughing at me right now. I finally found the 1 door out of 10 that was unlocked. I quickly looked around for where I was to go next and found one door that was not labeled that had a receptionist sitting at a desk.

My point behind all of this is simple...

Whether it is our youth group or our church...how do we make visitors feel when they come to our services? We need to get into the mindset of a person who has never been to church or youth group before. How are they going to feel the moment they step out of their vehicle and approach the building? Are the doors, that are unlocked, clearly marked? Where are they supposed to go once they get through the doors?

I've always heard that most visitors know within the first 2 minutes of stepping into a church whether or not they're coming back. It is in the way we greet people and make them feel welcome that determines if they're going to trust us. If they're going to give us enough attention to hear the message that God loves them.

What can your church/youth group to better reach the visitors? I suggest starting by becoming a visitor yourself.

Matthew, God's Original Masterpiece

2011-12-16T16:18:00.001-05:00

There are times in my life where I look at the 26 years that God has given me here on this earth and I feel like a failure. I feel like I have done so little with what He has given me and that I've let Him down. It's like when you give someone responsibility for a big project and when you see what they've done with it...it's junk.

There are moments in my life where I feel like that project.

Where I feel like junk.

Watch this video..it is a little long, but will challenge you.

There are times where I look in the mirror and see myself. An imperfect man who is often scared and afraid. Who sometimes questions if God is big enough. Who sometimes finds himself guilty of moving away from God rather than toward Him. I let my mistakes and failures turn me into a creation that is different than the masterpiece God originally created me to be. I let this world weigh me down and get the best of me. But the prize that we seek isn't of this world. The prize that we seek is Heaven. Something this world cannot offer us.

It is when we look in the mirror and see the creation we have become...that we need to be chiseled. We need to let God take the chisel into our lives and chisel away everything that is not of Him.

What in your life do you need to let God chisel away?

Just know that YOU are God's original masterpiece.

If you've never heard of The Skit Guys you should definitely check out their website. They're crazy talented.

VOTE FOR US TO WIN $1500+!!!

2011-12-12T14:36:00.002-05:00

My wife and I are finalist in a chance for one youth worker to win over $1,500 cash for Christmas! We'll be using the $$ to pay off debt that has piled up.

Vote for us by clicking HERE!

Christmas Caroling

2011-12-12T14:35:00.000-05:00

Last night our church split up into teams and went out into the community and sang Christmas carols to individuals in our community that are either shut-ins or we've been made aware that they might need a little bit extra Christmas cheer.

As the new guy on staff I felt this was one of those events that I was obligated to attend. I was a bit frustrated that I had to sacrifice missing some football games in order to attend. I wasn't really looking forward to having to go into people's houses that I didn't know and sing to them.

It was in our second house that God really spoke to me. It was in the act of a 92 year old woman opening her door with the biggest smile on her face that God spoke to me. I was reminded in that moment that this night was more important than a football game or watching TV. The woman proclaimed that she was so excited to have us and that we could do whatever we needed to get comfortable. She was just happy to see a group of people come to see her and share their love with her.

I watched as this woman held the hand of a lady singing with us and with the other hand she wiped tears that fell from her eyes.

It is in these moments where we step out of our comfort zone that God reveals himself to us. The moments where we realize that our lives aren't about doing what is easiest for us. The moment where we see the impact of showing God's love to another human being can have on a person.

There are people all around us that are lonely this holiday season. Go find them and share the love that you have been blessed to experience.

CLICK HERE FOR A VIDEO BLOG ON THIS TOPIC

A Trip to the Zoo

2011-12-08T08:40:00.000-05:00

My daughter is 6 months...TODAY! How in the world has it been 6 months already?

Anyway, as a part of being 6 months old she has to go to the doctor for a routine check-up. Sadly this will be one of those check-ups that requires shots. The shots are always harder on my wife and I than they are on her. She is usually back to normal within a few minutes, but listening to her cry makes me want to throw up.

Since we lived in Florida when she was born (in June) and then moved when she was 3 months old..we've not really done a "family outing activity." We've taken her out to places, but never to do an activity. Tonight we're taking her to Christmas at the Zoo at the Indianapolis Zoo. I'm excited to introduce her to polar bears, brown bears, tigers, walruses, sea lions and even though she saw dolphins while we were at the beach...those dolphins didn't do awesome tricks like the ones we'll see tonight.

So my encouragement for you is to do something memorable this holiday season with those special to you. Make memories that you'll never forget. Take pictures and videos so that when you're older you can look back and smile at these precious moments.

Car Accident - SLOW DOWN!

2011-12-05T17:51:00.000-05:00

Today I was driving in to the church for our monthly board meeting. I looked up ahead when I saw a car going VERY fast around a corner. The thought came to my mind, "Man, he's going way too fast around that corner in that old pick-up." All of a sudden the pick-up decided it had had enough of the sharp turn and veered across the highway and careened into the guardrail on the opposite side of the road.

I slowed way down and watched as red break lights began to light the way in front of me.

After driving by the accident I thought to myself...too many times that is me. There are too many times in my life where I'm out of control. Where I'm going too fast for my own good. Where I need to slow down and gain control of a situation before I act. There's too many times where I put the peddle to the metal and race around a corner. We can usually get ourselves out of those sticky situations, but just like this truck...it only takes one corner and one guardrail for there to be damage.

So how are you doing? Are you flying down the highway out of control? Is your "Cruise Control" on and you're enjoying the ride?

Too many times in our lives we just need to slow down and enjoy the ride.

Overcome - Brett Blondell

2011-12-01T20:42:00.000-05:00

One of my good friends just released a new CD on iTunes today...check it out! They make great stocking stuffers!

Brett Blondell - Overcome

BrettBlondell.com

Airbrushed

2011-12-01T20:13:00.000-05:00

The first time I watched this video...I was blown away.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2gD80jv5ZQ

Even in my limited amount of time in student ministry I have already experienced the results of the imagery that our media places on beauty. The results of teenage girls buying into the lie that unless they look like the women on the cover of magazines that they're not beautiful.

Genesis 1:27, "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them."

When we realize that we're created in the image of God...it changes everything. We stop worrying about the fact that we feel we don't have perfect skin. We stop worrying about the scar from when we were little. We stop worrying about the crooked tooth or messed up lip.

We can rest in the fact that we're perfect just the way we are.

Follow the Leader

2011-11-29T16:12:00.000-05:00

Today we had our first actual snow where it stuck to the ground. I have a meeting tonight here at the church so I came in a little later today. By the time I got on the road it had been snowing for a good amount of time.

As I traveled down the road I noticed that it was MUCH easier for me to drive when I was following the tracks of those who had been ahead of me. As long as I stayed in their path then it was pretty smooth and I felt comfortable, but the minute my wheels exited their path...I had to slow down. I had to be cautious because there was no path.

Growing up I remember thinking that the older people around me didn't understand anything. I thought they had long ago forgot what it was like to be a teenager. As I matured I realized that they weren't as dumb as I thought they were.

When we start living our lives like there is nothing we can learn from those around us...we're on dangerous grounds. We get our wheels outside of the path and begin carving our own path. Are we in control? No. We're at the mercy of where our wheels take us...often times we find ourselves calling someone to pull us out of a ditch.

Some of the greatest minds have been from the type of people who aren't afraid to venture onto their own path, but what is important is remembering to learn from the mistakes of those who created the original path.

Sister Wive's Song

2011-11-27T23:15:00.000-05:00

My wife watched Sister Wive's tonight and thought the song at the end of the show was very beautiful. After a little research we were able to find the lyrics. It appears to be an updated version to an old hymn, but only one verse of the original hymn. The bold is the verse that was used during the show.

1 Verse
Songs of praise we bring to our Savior King, Who hath said " Let little
children come; For of such" said He, "Shall my kingdom be." Kingdom
of the ransomed, bathered home.

Chorus
We will sweetly sing of our Savior King, till the echoes reach the vaulted skies! To the
Lord above, Prince of Peace and love, Shall our sweetest songs of praise arise.

Lyrics by Charlotte G. Homer

2 Verse
Tho' so young and small, Jesus loves us all, And His smiling face o'er
all we see; Gently day by day, still He leads the way; Blessed
Jesus, we will follow Thee.

Chorus
We will sweetly sing of our Savior King, till the echoes reach the vaulted skies! To the
Lord above, Prince of Peace and love, Shall our sweetest songs of praise arise.

3 Verse
Then glad songs employ, songs of praise and joy, To the Lamb who loves
children so; Let us each be true, live and serve Him too, And more
like the Master daily grow.

Chorus
We will sweetly sing of our Savior King, till the echoes reach the vaulted skies! To the
Lord above, Prince of Peace and love, Shall our sweetest songs of praise arise.

Do I know you? That's my King!

2011-11-25T21:32:00.001-05:00

Have you ever found yourself in the awkward situation where someone calls you by the wrong name? I don't mean just getting your name mixed up with another person, but where the person genuinely believes your name is something completely different than what it is really is.

I worked as the After School Coordinator for private school. One Friday where one of the parents, that I had known for the entire school year, picked up his daughters and as he was leaving stated, "Have a great weekend Peter!" I remember thinking he must have been talking to someone in the hallway so I didn't think much of it. The next time he picked up his daughters I saw him walk in and he greeted me "Hey Peter! How are you doing?" The thought finally hit me that I was Peter. I was the guy he had said goodbye to a few weeks before. It was weird though because we had seen each other many times throughout the school year. I let it slide though because I thought maybe he was just confused or something....and it seemed every time I saw him he would say "Hey Peter!" Lesson to everyone....unless you're 100% positive...just stick with "Hey Man!"

I mention all of that because Matthew 16:13-20 Jesus is asking who people say He is. There's question as to whether Jesus is who He claims to be...or...if he's some guy named Peter...well not really Peter, but some people though He was just another prophet.

Simon Peter replies, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God."

Have you thought about who Jesus is? About who He is and how it impacts our lives?

This video was released a while back, but after reading through this verse today it has a deeper meaning.

THAT'S MY KING!

Jesus isn't just another guy that walked the earth. He is more than that. He's more than anything we can understand or comprehend.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-24T20:20:00.000-05:00

The other day I saw a tweet from Max Lucado that said:

"What if you woke up this morning and had only the things you thanked God for yesterday?"

I used the quote as the main point to a devotional I gave this morning at a community Thanksgiving meal. I challenge you and stop to think about this idea and how it would change our lives if it was true.

For me...I'd learn to be thankful for a lot more. I'd come to realize that God has blessed me way more than I realize.

He's blessed me with:

My wife

My daughter

My family

A bed

A pillow

Toothpaste

Toothbrush

Electric Shaver

A warmer shower
A nice fuzzy towel
Clothes
Hair gel
Deoderant
A kitchen with food...even if it is half empty with food that isn't my favorite...it's better than nothing right?
Television
A couch
A house
Indoor plumbing
Heating/Cooling for our house
Our garage
Our car
Gasoline

The list of ways we're each blessed could go on forever.

My wife and I talked for awhile about this quote as I prepared my devotional. I couldn't get over the fact that if this quote was the way our world worked...it would force us to be appreciative. If we weren't appreciative of something then the next day it would be gone. We take so much for granted that eventually we would only be left with the things that we really appreciate.

When we take our focus off what we don't have...it makes it easier for us to focus on how much we've been blessed.

Pastor2youth.com - Check it out!

2011-11-20T20:47:00.000-05:00

I use pastor2youth.com for a lot of my youth ministry resources and the great family of youth workers that post in the forum. If you're a youth worker we'd love to have you join us!