you are my joy

if you haven't had the chance to hear Crowder's, "you are my joy," download it from itunes right now, although I'm not sure anything could beat 7,500 youthworkers singing it together at the top of their lungs. It has been my favorite worship song for the last 2 months, so having the chance to sing it in unison with thousands instead of simply humming under my breadth while listening on my ipod was refreshing.

seminar magic

so I'm getting really good at picking seminars, so far, I'm 3 for 3!!!

Marko/Rant by a Runt - 7.5 out of 10
Tony Cammpolo/apologetics for student ministers - A Surprising 9 out of 10 (he really hit the new apologetic issues on the head, plus when you've been around as long as Tony you have this cache of great stories and quotes that you can pull from, and while everyone knows Tony's used them numerous times, they are incredibly powerful)
Chuck Bomars/Discipling College Age Volunteers - 7 out of 10

I learned a few things after last years 50/50 experience.

1. Send interns to seminars you think could be useful, but potentially boring
2. Stay away from seminars by guys who run a bunch of their own conferences and speak during 90% of the sessions.....and are self promoters beyond compare
3. Go to seminars that address issues in your ministry, not ones that pitch new ideas which maybe you could embrace.
4. If I think, "oh, thats something I'm good at, maybe it will make me better," it probably won't. It is going to be base level. That is how I make my decisions and it has worked out well for me.

elegant & tired

so, my internet accountability software was holding me up from connecting to the wireless network in our hotel, so I apologize for the silence.

we've been having a great time as a team down here. last night while the Laura's were at the "women in ministry," dinner us guys went to a pub, enjoyed some great food and then bought very, very manly cowboy hats. I'm gonna throw it out, you can take it or leave it...we look great in cowboy hats, pics are coming.

Furthermore, Doug Fields gave a good message last night on the importance of saying no and staying in silence, something that has resonated with me since I began taking a sabbath last May. I really appreciated his authenticity as well as the way he had no problem being a bit of a jerk on stage. He said what he felt or thought and it was quite refreshing. He definitely didn't play to the audience. I was a little surprised by PAgitt's message this morning. I was eager to hear him share and let me tell you, he taught the Word well. Acts 10-11, the story of Peter's conversion to God's plan. However, I was hoping he'd be a little more provocative. I wanted to have someone share that would push my buttons, cause me to question my faith, and stir the crowd. So I guess I want to hear Jesus. There were a couple good nuggets from Doug, here's one, "maybe your orthodoxy isn't where God is going in the future."

Crowder has been delivering each and every session - the musical creativity is as fresh as his lyrics....thanks David.

Watching the OSU/UM game right now, watching Laura Brown go through hell as her inards are apparently being ripped out.....tough game, but at least they are in the lead. Laura has a crush on AJ Hawk, it is sad.....

TheGlobalCafe.com

Well, we made it down safely last night. A bit of a tough drive, you can be praying for a friend of mine who is struggling with wanting to live. We had a good conversation on the phone on the way down, I'm amazed how the Spirit does speak when I'm at my weakest.
The call was a good reminder for why I'm going to get trained for this ministry.

I ducked into Marko's early bird session this morning (one of the blessings of getting up early was finding $4.00 parking right next to the convention center). He did a good job, Laura Y accompanied me to the session and appreciated the quotes, "our theology is colored by what it to do for us," and "if the questions doesn't fit into the theology we hold, we don't explore it."

YOu can tell his international work has informed his perspective on the church.

killing the natural man

I'm heading off to Nashville for the National Youth Workers Convention with Ryder, Laura Squared, Root, Diddy, and MR. Clean. It should be a sweet time praying, dreaming, learning, and worshipping together.

I'm realizing that all the things that I'm naturally good at are no longer part of my job. That both frightens and excites me. I'm frightened because it is going to take a lot of work to do my job now and it is in new areas where I can't compensate with natural abilities, so failure will come with the territory. I'm excited because I grow or die. What propels me forward is that this is God's call for my life and now I'm just at a place where I am going to need to cry out to him for his empowerment all the more, because I can't rely on myself. the natural man is dying.

wisdom??

whatever else wisdom can do for one, it can do nothing about the end of life. In that crisis the wise man is as naked as the fool and if his wisdom counts for nothing at that point, it is a pretentious failure. Derek Kidner

We are teaching through Ecclesiastes at CT this January so I've began my studies and I'm excited for the series we will be constructing, there are so many fun ways you can build through the passages.

bono, jess, Pinot Grigio, and J. Crew

I'm watching the new U2, live in Chicago dvd right now. Talk about soul stirring. Currently, an acoustic version of "Yahweh," is ringing out from my speakers. Their entire concert was the gospel manifested in their music and words, it was pretty beautiful to listen to. I can only imagine what a spiritual experience their show must be in person. I have found myself breaking out in prayer a couple times at home here.

Tonight I finished my first 9 weeks of classes, so the U2 dvd was a gift to myself. I pulled an A on my final tonight, so I also bought a nice bottle of white wine, a rotisserie chicken, loaf of french bread, and container of strawberries, crashed out on my couch and enjoyed the sweet sounds of the most enduring rock band still touring today ("40," is playing right now, it is the last song in their encore set, fitting song to finish with).

I got a call from Jess D. today asking how wide my shoulders were because she was buying me a Christmas present (presumably a shirt or jacket of some kind). Anyways, tonight I dropped by J. Crew for the first time since my sister bought me a coat from there in August of 04. I bought this nice green zip up sweater. Well, I was talking to Jess on my way home and told her what I bought tonight (mind you, this was honestly my first time going clothes shopping since January when I bought 2 t-shirts from Kohl's), and the sweater I bought was the same one she bought for me earlier in the day as a Christmas present. How funny is that? Needless to say, she freaked out.

Great evening....

connect the dots

so this is why it is incredible to work in student ministry.

Last April, a hyperactive freshman, Bryan, saw a new kid sitting alone during lunch at school. Bryan invited Grant to his table, then to CT (our HS ministry), Grant came and began attending small group led by Alan and Micah, two guys who grew up in CT and are now in college. Grant renewed his walk with God in May and invited an old friend to come to small group. His friend, Matt, declined. At the start of this school year Matt called Grant and asked if he could come to SG, then Matt came to our retreat two weeks later and was in a small group with the immortal 50 year old, Terry Bartley. While going through the, "Walk with Jesus Labyrinth," Matt chose to begin following Jesus. This Sunday, Matt brought his girlfriend Loren, who hasn't been to church in years and during worship she began weeping as God started to move in her heart.

I love seeing the way the whole body of Christ has been a catalyst for the Spirit of God to transform these students lives. God is.....

that girl grace

let's see what we can uncover

let's see what we can discover

could we be fate's two lovers

hidden in the midst of others

but the ghosts of morning rise

as I gaze into my eyes

the mirror speaks the name

of every act of shame

but here we stand bruised and scarred
amazed we've even gotten this far

which way is forward
how do we press onward
which way is forward

cause i know we're two of a kind
maybe we should just unwind
pop the cork on a bottle of wine
sit back let our bodies intertwine

The Strength of the Spirit

I had the chance to head down to Jimi's alma mater this weekend, Virginia Tech, where the university was on a suicide watch after their loss to the Hurricane's last week.

However, I was not heading to lovely Blacksburg for football. I cruised down 77 with Pastor Jim, Rich, and Matt B for a day long intensive Pastor Jim was giving on the Holy Spirit. VTECH participates in Pavi Thomas' nifty little "e4," equipping program. We had a real good time as brothers and leaders on the car ride there and back chewing through our lives, Heritage, where we head in the future, all in all it was a great time.

The intensive was a lot of fun as well. Our stream of churches hasn't traditionally embraced the manifestations of the Spirit in prophecy, tongues, and healing, so it was fun to be able to walk through the Scriptures, the history of Godly men and women's encounters with the Spirit, the theology of the kingdom, and the transforming work of the Holy Spirit. At this point, everyone was tracking and excited, then we ventured into 1 Corinthians 13-14, broke down the cessationist argument and dug into Paul's admonition to the church at Corinth to see the things of the Spirit. It was encouraging to see the way the attendees acknowledged the scriptures and realized that scripturally you can't deny these works (important for us evangelicals), most hang ups came from bad experiences or labels placed on the idea of practicing the things of the Spirit because of Pentecostalism (which tends to say that the mark of a Christian is that thye speak in tongues). Pastor Jim did a good job easing folks into an understanding of how we can remain Biblical Christians and practice the things of the Spirit (which we have to if we are Biblical Christians). While Pastor Jim was sensitive, He truly urged the leaders there to engage with God and to ask for gifts of prophecy and tongues.. I feel like I learned a lot about leadership watching the way he stepped into these traditionally icy waters and helped ones move to a new understanding of the fullness we can have in our relationship with God by embracing the gifts of the Spirit.

Reckless Abandon

Check out my sister Ruth's Blog

Blogthings - The Birth Order Predictor

Blogthings - The Birth Order Predictor: "

You Are Likely a First Born

At your darkest moments, you feel guilty. At work and school, you do best when you're researching. When you love someone, you tend to agree with them often. In friendship, you are considerate and compromising. Your ideal careers are: business, research, counseling, promotion, and speaking. You will leave your mark on the world with discoveries, new information, and teaching people to dream.

The Birth Order Predictor

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