Sunday Mind Dump

Overall we had a great Sunday!  We had a tremendous turn-out at Student Impact in the morning and the leaders once again did a great job teaching and interacting with students…we’re going to add a video twist to next week just for the sake of change.

The students did a great job helping out on our first A.H.O.D.  (All Hands On Deck) as they helped out setting up and doing some tear down for the Harvest Festival.  Dan & Kristi did a great job with an event that was well organized, staffed, and fun not only for the kids and teens but for adults.

Fusion was great as we finished our series LIfe Hurts…God Heals.  We had a great time of worship with Eric busting out a little rock edge in one of the songs.  Thanks Jeff for stepping up huge and leading us in worship.  Ali and the band did a great job on such a short notice.  Emily got a night off to enjoy worship herself.  She is great at only twelve years old she steps up and leads us every week.  It was nice to see her get a break and enjoy worship as we will be launching hopefully two new songs next week.

Cyber Cafe

Last night we stumbled onto something that has the potential to be really big.  Cyber Cafe chat rooms are a place for teenagers in a controlled environment to chat with their friends and be real about topics that matter to them.

Last night we tackled the subject of prayer.  Why do we do it and why do we do it the way we do it?  The teens took this topic and ran and discussed how they were scared of prayer or that it was boring or the question, does God even care about all our stuff?  They handled the topic like adults and in some cases sounded like adults with their response.

Encourage your son or daughter or if your a teenager reading this to get on get connected in a mid-week cyber group.  They are a lot of fun and challenging at the same time.

Bragging Rights

First I just need to brag on the best team in the world.  Team Fellowship (Ben, Jeff, Kristi & Dan) stepped up huge for me tonight.  Jeff as usual continues to run our praise band as we are a work in progress and growing and tonight Ben helped out again as Nick was out working.  Thank you both guys I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it.

Next Kristi and Dan stepped up huge and watched kids of leaders tonight so that my leaders could serve teenagers.  Thank you guys so much for stepping up on short notice.  Please be in prayer that some parents will step up and help us in this area.  It is so important that we have people watch our kids so we have a chance to minister to teenagers.  This is a HUGE need that we have right now.

Also make sure that you come out and support the children’s ministry next week for the harvest festival.  Next Sunday from 3:00-6:00 P.M.

I just wanted to take a moment to brag on my team.  I have come to experience how awesome our team is and most of them would hate that I’m even writing this.

We launched Life Groups this morning with 40 students and 10 leaders who did a great job of facilitating conversation and creating environments for students to connect.  The challenge this morning was to intentionally add value in the people we come in contact with.  (This is a huge work in progress for me.)  They did awesome and I couldn’t be prouder.

Tonight we had a leaders meeting and it was so exciting to see the leaders excited about ministry.  They have each been given students that they are responsible for called “care groups”.  This is where the leaders become the “pastor” to their students…I love when leaders can own an aspect of ministry and I am so excited about their enthusiasm.

Finally tonight we had a good turnout for Fusion and students got some practical steps for living for God daily.  Great response from the students tonight.  It is a privilege to serve these teens.  We finish our series Life Hurts…God Heals next week and I am pumped to see what God will be doing in their life this week.

Don’t forget we have Cyber Cafe’ Chat Rooms this week for students on Wednesday night.

Overall great weekend…thank you to those who continue to serve.

Busted

Jessica was with the boys while I was working one day and Matthew came running out and stood next too her smiling after she had asked him to go into the house and get something for her.  The grin on his face and the licking of his lips indicated that he had put something in his mouth.  She asked him what was in his mouth and he said, “nothing, it’s not like I put chocolate syrup in my mouth from the fridge.”

Busted…look how quickly they learn to think on their feet.  Matthew has had a couple one liners recently that are funny for a 4 year old to say, but not when he is a teenager or an adult.  All this to say that it puts me on my toes to make sure what I am saying around him.  I forget continuously that they mimic how I act and what I say.  What a huge responsibility as a parent who is trying to shape the moral compass of their young ones.  Please pray for me as I am a work in progress as a parent and a pastor.

Home Run

God is awesome in how He provides just what is needed.  This Sunday as we were coming back from Liberty University for College for a Weekend Lee White was knocking one out of the park in Fusion.  I had so many students tell me what a great job he did.  He was relevant and creative.  Great job Lee.  It is nice to know that when I am gone there is someone I can count on to make a difference in the lives of our teenagers.  I am so thankful for you and so proud of you.

Welcome to West Virginia

The sign might as well have said, welcome to Mars.  There is not a whole lot in common between West Virginia and Pennsylvania except that they both have Outback (praise the Lord).  I have come down here today to get some video shots with John for Sunday’s message and I am really excited about what John is doing this Sunday.

I am also very excited about the fact that I get 2 days with John.  It’s great to spend time with men with more experience and pick their brain.  The more I am with guys of great leadership and experience the more I am reminded of how far I still have to go.  There are so many areas that I have to improve upon as a leader, but it is great to be in a place with leaders who want to invest into the future of the church.

Pray for us as we try to really grab hold of what God wants us to capture tomorrow for those who He may want to trans4orm on Sunday.

Practical Atheist

It’s 10:30 A.M.  and I am sitting here at the Catalyst conference and I just heard one of the most humbling messages I have heard.  A couple weeks back in Fusion I talked about a quote from someone I had heard talking about how they had become a full time pastor and a part-time follower of Christ.  His name is Craig Groeschel and his talk was phenomenal to say the least.  Not just because of his presentation (great presentation) but because of the challenge in his words.  His challenge in the beginning  was “God disturb us”.  I was disturbed.  He talked about in his life he had become a practical atheist.  He believed in God and served God but didn’t live God six days out of the week.

One huge quote was, “the way I was doing ministry for God was destroying the work of God in my life.”  What a challenge to fall in love with God and not fall in love with ministry.  There is so much I can blog about here but I need time for it to resonate in me.  What a great start to the morning.

Catalyst Challenge

A great first day of conferences with Andy Stanley and Patrick Lencioni speaking to us. Great worship and so cool how they integrated fun songs that we all know throughout the day. The setup is amazing and there were over 11,000 people there. How cool that so many different backgrounds and denominations can come together with the purpose of growing their leadership skills and praising God. Can’t wait for tomorrow as a lot more speakers will challenge us in areas of leadership weaknesses.

A Mile High

I thought I would write now because I am in a unique situation.  I am blogging from the airplane (exit seat…very nice) which is something I have never done before.  I am on my way with the Fellowship team to a conference called Catalyst in Atlanta, GA.

It amazes me as I look around to see how different God made everyone.  There are some who sleep and snore, some who read, some on their laptop, some playing video games like a kid (Jeff Ream) and some who just stare out the window.  As I sit here I think about the people we come in contact with every day, their life, their thoughts, their ambitions in life and in most cases all of those are not focused on anything but their own personal gain and not about what they can do for others or what God can do in them.

As I take time to go away it is always hard to leave family but I am looking forward to getting recharged and refocused on our vision as believers, a church and a student ministry.  It is about us serving Jesus and serving others.  Redefining how people see the church and God.

I’ll keep up to date with the blog while I travel and things pop out to me.