Shootin' the breeze...

This last weekend was filled with what guys do...blowin' up stuff and burning things. Saturday afternoon while the girls were playing games (see right) the jr. high boys and I made the journey north to the Johnson's house where we proceeded to shoot things. Two boxes of clay pigeons and a case of shells later; our arms were hurting as well as one of our egos. Last time I checked birds have brains and cunning, clay pigeons do not; but for some reason these clay pot rejects were unhittable. For the life of me, I could not hit a thing. Some of the boys had no problem. Tyler and Eli seemed to shoot fine. Jacob, Chris, and Trevor put holes in a bunch of them. A couple of the boys shot their first clay(Jake, Xavier, CJ). There was absolutely nothing falling down because of my shooting. It was embarrassing.

We had a pretty good time. Jim and Dan helped out a ton by giving the boys instruction (I was going to help but I had my own shooting problems to worry about) and throwing the clays all day. We drank IBC root beers; ate hot dogs; and played in the creek afterwards. You know: guy stuff. No one came out injured and I like to think that the sport of hunting was furthered by this little excursion.

One thing that I am learning about youth ministry is this: The idea that you have to plan things that they like is a farce; why spend time planning something that you know nothing about so that one or two kids will have fun. Instead plan things that you like to do and bring kids along. They like to do everything; involve them in what you do.

Sunday night we had a bon fire at Terry Barnes' house. It was a pretty good time. Town and Country came out as well. The high schoolers had a rousing game of Red Rover going on. All in all I was impressed with both youth groups. It was a pretty good time. After T&C left we were setting around the campfire being led in worship by Chris Maddock. I borrowed his guitar and played a couple diddy's. I felt somewhat convicted when I was asked to play a worship song. I know Greenday, Blink, Beyonce, Bon Jovi; but not a single worship song. That is pathetic. I leave you now to practice a worship song.

P.S. I can't wait to see how the High school girls do with shooting? Ireland and Aleesha with a gun: go ahead, picture it!

Oh the connections I have...

Not many people on this earth could guarantee the arrival of a Latino World Wrestling Heavyweight Champion; I am one of those people. El Fantassimo Forcina showed us the ultimate power that is him. He arrived to the tune of "Eye of the Tiger" made famous by Rocky Balboa and the Seaman Cross Country team. Upon arriving he spoke to us of his unusual hobby of breaking things: peoples faces, boards, and bottles just to name a few. He impressed us all by breaking a board in two and breaking a bottle on his head. He is a large man with large ability.

This question was posed during lesson time: How big is your God? As we have been talking about worship, I have been reading If You Want to Walk on Water, You've Got to Get Out of the Boat. John Ortberg poses this very question: How big is your God? The size of your God directly affects the way that you live your life. I proclaim on Sunday mornings through my worship that I believe in a big God; however, often times throughout the week I live more like a secular humanist than anything else. Worship is the act of reminding ourselves how big our God is. The question of why God needs to be worshiped is tied into this remembering. God is not a self-conscious being who is desperately in need of an ego boost and a kind word. He doesn't need our worship to affirm him; we need our worship for him to affirm our faith, for us to remember who he is and what he has done.

On a side note: As we were messing around afterward, I was able to watch Jason, Tricia, and Angela interact with some of the kids (we were missing Aaron that night: it didn't really seem like youth group with out him). I am very thankful for the work that they do. They have saved me a number of times; so if you see them, let them know you appreciate what they do.

What is a youth minister to do...

As the events of the day transpired, I found myself feeling more and more helpless,
lest the fact that the previous day only proceeded to make me feel more and more inadequate to do this job. Burrito day seemed to point out my own understanding that I am not a planner. I prepared for 1350 burritos only to have Tim bale me out by going to get more stuff (about 2 times more stuff). Needless to say, I did not start this day with a high view of my abilities and gifting.

Sunday morning made this fact all the more true. I can remember not to long ago that my Sunday mornings were a very relaxing experience. It had gotten better, but today was just a reminder that I tend to overlook things, especially concerning Sunday School. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't as if an entire class was forgotten; however, I don't feel like every thing was covered up to the needs of the teachers.

After church I had a discussion about a student. Knowing this student and seeing them here this last couple weeks, I can't help but feel responsible as well as completely idiotic for not noticing the problems.

Finally, Sr. High youth group. It is no secret that I love doing Middle School Ministry. I think it is the fact that it things go down haphazardly, you have an escape alibi, sighting their age and immaturity for the reason that things did not go well (I'm sure this is not actually all of it; however, this is part of the appeal). The Sr. High group is mostly bucolically taught and solid kids. Meaning that my lessons need to be deeper; however, deepness is not my strong suit. So for another week, I feel as though my lesson was not up to the level it should have been.

Then the aforementioned game. Let us just say that it did not go particularly well. A nose was broken; not on a child, but a sponsor. It was an accident, a freak thing, but I still feel strangely responsible. I am blessed with great sponsors that do amazing things. He was just one of the many great teachers here. He is a great guy, who frankly just loves being here. He always participates and hangs out with the kids. It was a bad situation. Sorry man.

It is in these moments that I am thankful for the words of Revelation 5..."Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne, encircled by the four living elders." John is engrossed in heavenly worship...he is seeing what is going on in heaven. It is a wonderful sight. Four living creatures, bright lights, loud noises, it was perfect. But the Lamb that looked like it was slain. The place that is perfect has a couple imperfections: sadness v.4; fear of the scroll not being opened; and the lamb looking slain...how can this be?

The only imperfect one was the perfect one in life. The reason that this place exists, the very reason there are people there in the perfect place is the imperfect one. This mark is not a badge or a prideful scar, but a necessary one for the reason we are able to stand before him, the reason John can see him. It was three nails, a spear gash, thorn marks on the forehead; that he wears as a mark on him allowing the imperfect who have now been made perfect to stand in his presence.

Knowing my imperfections are laid on him for eternity, and that his perfection will be transferred to me, is the only reason a resignation letter has not been signed and a faith left behind.

Allow me now to apologize for my imperfections...

I'm trying to figure out the appeal of Relient K...

Today was burrito day. As a youth group, we managed to turn out 3,100 burritos. That is really quite a large number. I was prepared for 1300, so as you can imagine it was a troublesome day for me really. I hooked up my laptop to the K'motion sound system so as to have music on this little escapade. That was a gigantic mistake. I admit that according to many people my choice in music is not so great (I am a country fan); however, at no point in time did I ever try to push my own brand of music. For some unknown reason, my computer was continually switched to Relient K. Every other song it seemed like was Relient K...spinning me off into a level of pissed off rarely seen by those closest to me.

Someone tell me the appeal of a band:

-That basis most of its writing off of puns...for crying out loud no one with any kind of writing ability uses puns anymore. Most of us cringe at puns, yet for some reason we are glorifying the disuse of creativity. Case in point: "I flew in from Springfield, and boy are my arms tired." Just now, everyone of you cringed. Relient K titles: "Let it snow...let it reindeer;" "Deck the halls...bruise your hand;" "The vinyl countdown." Seriously...why?

-Their lead singer was born in Canada (Ontario, 1980)...nuff said.

-Most of the members are past any age of being misunderstood. You can whine into the mic all you want about crazy things that have nothing to do with real life as long as you are still young enough to be considered rebellious. Sorry guys once you pass the age of 24 (Theissen is now 27) you are a middle of the road white guy in the midst of a country run by middle aged white guys. In the words of Homer Simpson, "I am a white male, aged 18 to 40, everyone listens to me no matter how stupid I am!" Well...people do listen...maybe they should try saying something more than, "Marilyn Manson ate my girlfriend?"

-who names their band after a Plymouth? The only good thing that ever happened to Plymouth was Richard Petty racing in one.

-Most of the members are not at the period of life where punk music still resonates. I am so glad when Blink fell apart a couple years ago...a bunch of married (Hoopes is married and has a daughter) guys singing about being rebellious and then getting in their minivans seemed a little hypocritical. Make sure your rhinestone belt and wallet chain don't scratch the upholstery.

Don't get me wrong here...I do not hate Christian music. I just think that there are other bands that could be listened too, if only for a couple seconds. I do realize the automatic cool points that are awarded for knowing that Theissen's favorite animal is the penguin, and that Hoopes enjoys playing golf...but at some point in time give Leeland a try, or December Radio. Heck Point of Grace is the only other Christian band where every song sounds the exact same: try them.

I guess my attempt at understanding the appeal of Relient K has a long way to go...just one more question:

Do you really like my sweater? (this is an obvious plea for acceptance stemming from the bands obvious lack of self esteem and a dire request for affirmation from their following).

In the presence of greatness...

Thank God it is warm again. One more night of trying to do games in the sanctuary. One more night of trying to eat snack in the foyer and I was going to strangle one of the little ones (by little ones I mean one of the 6^th graders, not one of Jeff’s kids, they would make too much noise). Games were played outside and snacks were done in front of the Church which immediately made the night go smoother.

To acclimate the students to the presence of Greatness, were visited by the Latin American World Champion wrestler, who has literally ripped thousands of peoples faces off: Fantassimo Forcina (Pictured Here) He was carried in by his faithful followers and greeted by a fabulous round of applause:

The students were allowed to ask questions of him and were really blessed by his presence. Most (Ramsey and Whitney) were awed by his presence and some (Jacob, Ian, Eli, and Aaron Jones) found themselves trembling in the face of greatness. Some (Tyler, CJ, Kosten and Gage) were stupefied by the hulking muscle on display and the obvious power he possessed.

We talked about worship tonight, settling on the understanding that God must be present for worship to happen. For perhaps one of the only presence greater than that of Fantassimo, would be that of God. We looked at Genesis 3: Adam and Eve walked with God in the garden. They were able to look upon God, to see him, to experience him everyday. We looked at Revelation 21: God and Jesus dwelling in the midst of the Celestial City…the New Jerusalem. So in the beginning (at creation) man dwelt with God; and at the End (heaven) man dwells with God. What happens right now? How do we experience God right now?

We worship. We come into his presence when we worship. We talked about the purpose of our life being worship. Psalm 19 talks about creation declaring the glory of God. Simply put, our purpose for life is to bring glory to our Creator, through worship.

The students split up into groups and discussed times in their lives when they felt God’s presence. Hopefully, this gave them the understanding that worship can happen with anything they do. “Whatever you do, do it for the glory of God.” 1 Corinthians 10.31. Some were able to find new ways to worship him.

I am excited about this series and how they took part in the discussion groups; how they interacted with each other; and how they paid attention during the lesson.

Mad props to the winner of the Trashcan game and to Miranda for getting in her Jr. High Camp registration.

Games are fun...

Since the Youth Band played this last Sunday (and did a very good job I might add), and I had been meeting with people non stop since Sunday morning, neither entity (the youth band or I) were in any kind of position to put together anything that would resemble organized. Therefore, I decided that we would play games all night.

We started out the night with womp'um kickball...which is essentially kickball, but you get to hit people with fun noodles. It was a good time. No bones were broken and no cars were destroyed. All in all I consider that an accomplishment. After kickball, we played a game called joust. Basically, you have a beanbag like bowling pin attached to your helmet and with a fun noodle you try to knock everyone else's off. Barbaric and childish I know, but still a pretty good time. Finally each team was given a rope. I would yell out a shape or a letter and they would try to make that shape with their rope. I was very disappointed in the lack of geometric ability displayed by the 8th graders in this game.

So few words to describe such great emotion...

I am currently speechless...

A special thanks goes out to the Wards for opening up their home to me.

Thanks:

Mario Chalmers for allowing me to get in touch with my feminine side...with out you my tears would not have fallen and I would still be hoping.

Luther Vandross for penning such a wonderful song "One Shinning Moment."

My words escape me at this point...and my joy overfloweth.