Thursday, September 30, 2004

BACK IN THE ACT

Well, we are now back in ministry and action in Rapid City, SD. The last day of the NYW Convention was just as good as all of the rest. We spent the rest of Monday evening with an aunt of mine that I hadn't seen in ages. We played in the ocean and went to eat at a nice seafood place on the shoreline. Tuesday morning, we got up at 4 am and flew half of the day -- to get us to Omaha, NE -- and drove the rest of the way -- to get us home. It was good travel conditions all the way and I also appreciated spending some time in conversation with my good friend, Dan. We were rocking out to some really loud music for the drive from Sioux Falls to Rapid City. Good times!

Wednesday morning, I was back in the office with a large To-Do List of things that need to get done before this weekend. I am still working on it... But that didn't shake my anticipation for last night's service. I couldn't wait to get back and see the youth and share some of the passion that had been rubbed off on us during the past couple of weeks. It was indeed incredible. Now, I am hurriedly putting together the last few week's of Elevate Electric, which were never sent out due to my not having internet access while we were away. I should probably get back to it...

Sunday, September 26, 2004

SUNDAY WITH CHRIS TOMLIN

This morning, I got up and went straight to a very excellent Doug Field’s workshop that re-ignited all of my passions for youth ministry all over again. Lots of great, funny pictures, practical advice, and tools. The rest of the day brought a lot of fun with a great concert from Audio Adrenaline, in which I got to help Mark, the lead singer, along with one of his songs (he pointed the microphone in my face). We adjusted well to the worship led by the more contemplative, ethereal music of Something Like Silas. They are a tight band with what appears to be real hearts for ministry and worship. I even got to attend a seminar by one of my favorite all-time resourcers for youth ministry, Jonathan McKee, titled “Reaching the Unchurched Teenager”.

The evening ended with a concert from Chris Tomlin and Steven Curtis Chapman. I went for the Chris part of the show; we were joking around calling him “Christ Omlin” before it all got started. After the evening, we were all amazed at how full of God we felt after the show. I love to worship with him; what an incredible anointing he has for leading others in worship. WOW! I’m gonna recommend YS to bring him back again next year as one of the convention worship leaders. I missed him this year.

Of course, I am leaving a lot of other fun stuff out. Hanging out with youth workers is ALWAYS an experience in itself. I can’t tell you how many times we were all in tears from laughing at dinner conversations or late-night talks before we lay down for the night. There was also the ministry talk – sharing about our dreams and hopes for future ministry. Deanna and I were so happy that Dan and Amy were able to come along this year. We hope they – and some more of our volunteer team – are able to make it again next year.

Saturday, September 25, 2004

MORE CONVENTION THOUGHTS

I ran out of time this morning, so now I continue… After we were finished at Disneyland, we ordered some pizza at the hotel room and eventually got to bed in expectations of all that was to come from the next day – the start of the convention.

Dan and I both chose to go to the “Training Volunteers for Middle School Ministry” as our first seminar. It was incredible, although I could say that same thing about almost every session I have experienced after it, also. Chap Clark has definitely become another trusted friend in ministry. There were so many practical things that I wrote down in the first seminar that it alone would have been worth the whole trip. I couldn’t believe that this was “only the beginning” of the convention.

The first general session was a great celebration and explosion of multimedia, music, drama, preaching, and JESUS that I have come to love and expect from every NYWC. The David Crowder Band has been faithful to lead us into heart-wrenching worship at every session up through tonight’s (General Session #4). I was in tears every time and I LOVED IT! Waves of emotion flooded over me during each time of worship and throughout several of the workshops. I could tell that this convention was exactly what I needed right now in my life. It has been one of those weeks where every speaker and every artist seems to be speaking just to me and to my personal needs. God has been speaking very directly into my life from the very start.

Sarah Kelly’s performance blew all of us away. She has an incredibly powerful voice and a very strong stage presence. I think we were all surprised by it. The Skit Guys also provided very cool, thought-provoking, poignant sketches during two of the four general sessions (so far). Rob Bell, the 1st general session speaker, spoke about making truth relevant to the postmodern generation. He did such a good job that he has become my favorite speaker of the whole convention up to this point. It was the first time I had ever heard him, but I hope it won’t be the last.

My second seminar was “Keeping Your Marriage and Ministry Healthy” with Jim Burns. He is a family ministry expert whose resources I use frequently in ministering to families and parents of teens. It was an honor to be in his seminar and hear his heart and personal stories about keeping my marriage a priority in my life. He stated that the three most highly stressful “jobs” in America, as of a recent report, were #1) those in the medical field, #2) those in ministry, and #3) stay-at-home moms. He pointed out that since ministering to children and youth are such an effective way to further the kingdom of God (over 85% of those that come to Christ do so before the age of 15), he stated that an obvious target for the Devil is families for those who minister in these areas. Everything that he had to say made a lot of sense to me. I am very glad that I attended and am going to put a few of his principles to work in my marriage immediately.

Notice that Deanna is involved in two-out-of-three of the most stressful “jobs”. She has been my hero this weekend. I know that the added stress of being pregnant on this trip has slowed her down, but she has been a real trooper, making it to a majority of the sessions regardless. A real feat considering all of the walking we have to do to get anywhere around here.

General session #2 highlighted ministry from hip-hop poetry artist, Judah Israel, and Mike Lewis, the Jesus Painter. Toby Mac was my personal artist highlight so far. It was the concert I had always dreamed of when thinking about coming to a Toby show. I had wanted to see him live ever since he went solo. After Toby Mac, Dan and I ventured over to rave worship artist, Andy Hunter leading a time of techno-rave worship for the Late Night Live event. It was quite the experience. It looked like and sounded like a dance club, but felt like a moving worship moment. Very touching!

In the morning, we got up and went our separate ways to several different seminars. Deanna had to rest a bit from swelling she was experiencing in her legs and feet. She stopped by Target to pick us all up some fruit and various snacks. The workshop I went to this morning – Saturday – was with Jim Burns for the second time titled, “The Role of Rites of Passage and Mentoring in Youth Ministry”. Again, tons of very practical advice that I can’t wait to integrate into our ministry. Very cool stuff.

The afternoon super seminar I spent with Al Menconi, who I feel is an old friend because I have been following his ministry since our start in youth ministry. This was the first time I had seen him in person, though, and now I admire his ministry even more. It was a good, albeit shorter than what was expected, seminar titled “Teaching Your Students How to Think, Not What to Think” in regards to media and pop culture. It made me want to go home and construct a similar seminar for parents and students. Maybe in the near future…

The evening general session (#4) was our last time of worship with the David Crowder Band (incredible as always). My personal favorite moment of the evening, though, was when Tim Hughes took the stage. He sang a new song off of his just-released album, “When Silence Falls” and two of his well-known worship songs, “Here I am to Worship” and “Beautiful One”. I found myself wishing he was leading worship for the rest of the convention.

Well, it is late and we have another very full day ahead of us tomorrow. I can’t wait!!!

NATIONAL YOUTH WORKER'S CONVENTION HIGHLIGHTS

So much has happened already that I am sure that I cannot recall it all. What a trip! Now I remember why this is our favorite trip every year.

This year added a little side-fun to the mix, also, with a trip to the across-the-street Disneyland theme parks (yes, there are two of them now). We arrived on Thursday at about 10 am (Disney time), checked into our hotel, found a cool place to eat, took a short nap, and then went to the “magical kingdom”.

It was an excellent day for visiting the “happiest place on the earth”. The weather was favorable and the lines were short. We were able to hit every major attraction within the park in our allotted four-hours that our twilight tickets would allow us be there. Of course, we made a stop into a gift shop to pick up mouse ears for our two oldest girls. We picked out a pirate’s hat for “Captain Bella”.

We do need to do it again sometime as Deanna wasn’t able to get the full experience because of our little one inside of her. She was unable to go on several of the bigger, funner rides. As for the rides, my personal favorite, by far, was the Indiana Jones themed ride – very cool! The scariest ride (I’m scared to bring up the memories of it even now) was “It’s a Small World After All”. This attraction was almost like a never ending hell of some sort. Aaaaack! It truly was the song that NEVER ended… and there were several hundred similar looking children singing that blasted song every time we entered each new room – all 7 or 8 of them!

Thursday, September 16, 2004

I GOT A TICKET THIS MORNING & POST-POLE RALLY THOUGHTS

Yup, on my way to the office this morning I was pulled over for not having my licence plate displayed on the front side of my vehicle. The front licence plate holder had broken off one day on our low-clearance driveway (at our old E. Tallent driveway). Oh well, I have ten days to correct it before I get a "real" ticket.

Last night, we had an incredible post-See You @ the Pole Rally, as we teamed up with Bethel Assembly of God to celebrate what had happened through the prayers of the students that morning. Berry, Chris, Bill, and Stuart came to help with the worship. I threw together a quick video with Deanna's 1 minute and 40 seconds of footage, but I was disappointed by the final showing. My little laptop didn't have the display capabilities to make it run smooth. It ended up being pretty distorted.

Everything else went excellently. Pastor Greg and Pastor Deanna shared from their hearts, the worship took us into the throneroom of God, and the ministry time brought tears to student's and student leader's eyes alike. We all enthusiastically agreed that we should meet again.

Get this: there were over 70 kids at the rally! 36 of them were Elevate students and leaders! Wow!

Wednesday, September 08, 2004

IT'S BEEN A WHILE

It's been a while since I've felt like I've had the time to journal online. This is the beginning of another school year and hence, the beginning of my early mornings at work again -- my favorite time and place to spend with God and journal. My hopes are to be much more consistent at blogging once more.

Right now, my big spiritual desire (at least, I'm pretty sure it is spiritual) is to become better equipped at mentoring my own children. I just purchased Focus on the Family's book "Parent's Guide to the Spiritual Growth of Children - Helping Your Child Develop a Personal Faith". You guessed it -- with a title that long, you know the book has to be at least 400 pages (451, to be exact). I'm digging it, though. I'm excited about being both their father and spiritual leader. I believe there is a strong call of God on parents to do this and I am ready for the equipping.

I am thankful for everything that God has put in my life: a wonderful family, great friends, a great "job" / ministry, and lots of insanely awesome experiences. My prayer today is that my faith would continue to grow.

My desire is Him first, and everything else later...