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!!!