Tatesbrook Youth Guy

Way back machine.....

2006-12-30T22:44:00.000-05:00

In honor of our friends Kevin and Jackie, Kim and I have decided to join their walk down memory lane with a trip of our own. Set your "way back machine" for 1991. This is one of the first pics of Kim and I at her parents home in Roswell, NM. If you can stop laughing at me for a minute, notice the "charlie brown" christmas tree. You could always tell if Kim's dad picked the tree. He had a fondness for that type. We all hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and we hope you all have a very Blessed New Year.

Remember the Reason for the Season....

2006-12-11T10:21:00.000-05:00

As we approach the holidays, I know that many of us will be getting busy, but I encourage each and every one of you to stop and take time to remember what this is all about and why we are doing what we are doing. God gave each of us the greatest gift he could, His Son. So while you are out fighting traffic, arguing with some person to get that perfect parking spot or tring to take the last item off the shelf before someone else does, remember the gift that all of us have been given.

This saturday (the 16th) we will again will be helping out at the Angel Tree distritbution center. We will leave the church at 2:00p and probably work until 5:30p or so. If you would like to go just show up at the church on saturday afternoon. If you would like to go on your own you can call me for directions or you can go to the salvation army website. It is a great time of hanging out and helping bless others. Hope to see you there.

Winter camp at B.A.S.I.C. is Jan 12-14. Please be in prayer for those youth that are going. We always have a great time down on the hill, and I am sure that this time won't be any different. Continue to keep Bob and Kim (and Ben) in your prayers for this wonderful ministry that we can be a part of.

Don't forget to keep the kids (and their friends) in your prayers as we get ready to go to Dare2Share this year. I pray and hope that God will move through them like he did last year. It was incredible to see how affected they were. This year we encouraged them to bring a friend, so be praying for that relationship. Also, be in prayer for the city of Columbus as over 6000 teens invade that city spreading the word of God. Finally, be in prayer for the adults going and for the resources to become available for vehicles and the church we are hoping to stay at. Thank you for all you support. If any adults in the body would like to go with us, don't hesitate to contact me. We would love to have you go.

New Mexico update

2006-11-25T01:58:00.000-05:00

Coming back to New Mexico has always been great not just so we can get great food and see the blue (and I mean blue) skies, but also to see family and friends. This trip this year has not been any different. We started out the trip by catching up with Kim's aunt and grandma. She is recovering from hip surgery and looks and is moving great.

After that we went and had dinner with her other aunt and uncle, my brother and his wife and our long time friends. We had a great dinner at a new restaurant and then went back to my brothers place to hang out and catch up. Again, I was alerted to my (our) nerdiness by three of us using our laptops at the same time.

After that, we we headed back to my folks place after we stopped by a famous local burger joint for some green chile cheese burgers (I have a picture if you want to see what one looks like). Back in Ruidoso, we had thanksgiving twice. We had not had thanksgiving with our parents in about 12 or so years. It was good to see family and friends at both places.

This is a picture of the sunset I saw on my way back from my dad's birthday party. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Blast from the Past!

2006-11-21T23:27:00.000-05:00

Okay, so most of you know that we are back in New Mexico for thanksgiving. We have not been to our respective parents homes for this holiday for probably ten years. We have really enjoyed our trip so far. One of the best things we have done so far is visit our old university. The New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology (NMTech for those in the know) is located in Socorro, New Mexico which is about 75 miles south of Albuquerque, New Mexico. Some significant changes have happened on campus since our departure 15 years ago. Most obvious is a half dozen new buildings including a new 5 story student activities building (we only had a very small one story building).

Most of the dorm buildings have remained the same, although they have had facelifts. The most striking was how nerdy a school it was, and still is. In fact, in the bookstore you can get t-shirts that say "I 'heart' New Mexico Tech nerds". Really, the most obvious sign that the school is nerdy, in all the new construction and buildings on campus in the 15 years the gym is still the same size. It was fun to just walk around and remember that season in our lives.

Are you ready for Gameday?

2006-11-08T13:55:00.000-05:00

Once again, the time has come for the dare2share conference. This years theme is Gameday. I know that we don't actually go to the conference until February, but I need you all to start praying for a few things. First, last year we set a goal of each one of the youth would invite a friend this year. That would be 24 kids going this year (and I believe that the number will be greater than that). I need you all to start praying not only for our youth, but for those that they will be asking. I hope that their hearts will be open and whatever obstacles that may come up will be washed away. Secondly, the logistics of taking that many kids to an event are enormous, so please be in prayer for other adults, transportation (I would like to increase the size of vehicles and decrease the number), housing (I am hoping we can again stay at Beechwold Christian Church) and food. We were so blessed last year that I know God has great things instore for us. Finally, be in prayer for Robin and her One Way group. We again will be taking eighth graders along with us. This may add another 10-15 people. It is so exciting to think that we will be taking 40-45 youth to a conference that will encourage them to not only grow in their faith, but hopefully start to own it. Thank you for you continued support. We love all of you.

Christian No More...

2006-11-08T13:15:00.000-05:00

Yeah, the title got me too. I put this here for you. Let me know what you think.

They have three more if you are interested. You can find them at youtube.com searching for "christian no more".

So....What's been going on?

2006-10-16T16:15:00.000-05:00

As you all can see, it has been a very long time since I have submitted a blog entry. Part of it is that I really have not had much to say. I mean, I have a couple of subjects that I still want to talk about (and hopefully I will do that soon). But as for just general entries, not much to say. Now I feel it has been too long and maybe I should say something. So I decided to blog about what has happend since the last time so that I can catch you guys up on the Tribe's goings on.

One of the big things that happened this summer was the completion of the new youth room. I would like to thank all those that helped in making it possible. It was so great to get that out of my head and to actually see it come together. We are not finished yet, but for the most part it is and it looks great. The kids seem to enjoy it and hopefully it will be a place that they want to bring their friends. God has been so good in supplying furnishings for the room. It seems that every week there is something new to add to the room (right now we are praying for a pinball machine).

With the completion of the room for VBS, we then turned our focus to the Fifth Quarter outreach. I think that they have been a big success. Again, I was at first basing that on numbers, but then God showed me that that is not the case. The kids have been bringing their friends to these events, they are asking other people to come all the time and they want to keep having them. All those tell me that it is a success. Thank God for showing me what real success is and not that of the world's. The big question now is are we going to keep them going now that football is ending.

Then in august we had our churchwide campout. We went back to Aldersgate again. This time we had a lot more people go than last year. We could not do ropes this year because of short staffing, but there was horseback riding, swimming and a little bit of playing ultimate. I got to spend time with my good buddy michael and learn a few more guitar chords (for those that don't know, I have been slowly learning to play the guitar). We also had a few of the youth go and I got to spend time with them (which is always good). It think a great time was had by all. We had a few more people show up on Sunday morning to have breakfast with us and to come to service which we had under the mega-zebo.

Finally, last month we had our fall youth campout. We had a smaller turnout than usual, but again God had those people there that he wanted there. I get tired of hearing that when there is not as good as a response as I (yes me) want, but when it is all said and overwith I have to agree with the fact that God is in control. The big thing this trip was that not only did we get to do low ropes, but we also got to do the high ropes course. I think most of the kids were challenged by the course and I know in the debreifing that there was a lot of positive encouraging that everyone noticed. We were trying to have that as our "theme" for the weekend. The lessons and quiet times were emphasizing encouragement and the power of words. I hope that they got some of it. As usual, it was nice to get outdoors with the youth. We had a lot of fun sitting by the fire, playing ultimate, dodging rain drops and just enjoying each others company.

Well that about brings you guys up to date on what is happening with youth at Tatesbrook. Remember as always to keep us in your prayers.

Life is a Journey

2006-08-14T21:50:00.000-05:00

Back from the Hill

2006-07-18T08:11:00.000-05:00

Last week was spent on the hill down in Hardin KY. We (18 of us) went for our annual B.A.S.I.C. training. This year was very different for me.

First of all, there were over 80 kids there (I think the most ever) and there were almost twice as many boys as girls (again first time ever). Because of that, the boys were in the new lodge which is farther away from the manna house than the ark is. I did not stay in the lodge with the boys this year (and when I walked through the lodge on wednesday, I was glad about that) because Kim and I actually had our own room (again, first time). With all of that, this year I felt disconnected from the boys. It just seemed that I did not get to know everyone. Also, Bob was a little different this year. He talked more about himself and his history and let the kids decide what the topics were going to be. As a result, we were all over the place instead of covering a topic or book for the week. I also noticed an urgency in him. He really wants to get all of what God wants him to teach out to these young people.

However, what struck me the most was watching two parents work with their kids on the subject of dating. I was honored and humbled to be watching these two dads (of whom I have tremendous respect for) as they take the biblical approach in handling these situations. I came away not really knowing what God was showing me. I don't know if he is trying to teach me how to be a christian dad or to help me be a spiritual "father" to my youth. Either way I paid attention and I will tell you, the bar has been raised.

God is great. It was amazing as always to see how God was working in each of the youths lives and what He did there on the hill. I encourage everyone to take time to talk to the youth individually and see what God has done in their lives. I urge you all to hold them accountable to those things. They are looking for that, they want that and they need it. I leave you with the scripture Bob gave us on the last nite.

"Watch yourselves, that you might not lose what we have accomplished, but that you may receive a full reward." 2 John 8

Keep them in your prayers as Satan will be attacking. We love you all.

Step by Step

2006-07-05T06:59:00.000-05:00

The other night at prayer, we were sitting out on the porch of the church and were just amazed at the amount of people that pass our meeting house. We had been discussing how the new youth room construction was proceeding and how the plans for the Fifth Quarter were going. I had remarked how amazing ( I know it should not be, but it still is ) it was to me to see how God has been opening doors for us to not just reach out to the community (around Tatesbrook) but also integrate us with them as well.
The TBNA (Tatesbrook Neighborhood Association) is meeting at the church once a month, and this is a great chance for us to get to know the people who live around us. They are having an ice cream social later this month. We hope to be there to meet and greet the community and to hopefully share a little about us and the vision God has given us.
I then went on to share some of the long range plans including 3 on 3 tournaments (which was confirmed by Duane), afterschool activities and ultimately a "Youth Life Center" which would be open everyday for youth in the area. In our prayers we were thankful for what God has done and praised Him so. However, we all wanted to make sure that we were not getting ahead of ourselves. We prayed ernestly for direction and obedience to God's timing, trying to always remember that these are His plans not ours. Tim brought out this devotional (from their Ecuador trip) and it seemed so appropriate:
"Through the intimacy of our relationship, you are being transformed from the inside out. As you keep your focus on Me. I form you into the one I desire you to be. Your part is to yield to My creative work in you, neither resisting it nor trying to speed it up. Enjoy the tempo of a God-breathed life by letting Me set the pace. Hold My hand in childlike trust, and the way before you will open up step by step."
I don't even know how to respond. It is so awesome when God speaks to you. I just pray that we can hold on to that and stick with it. The scripture reference is found in Psalms:
"Yet I am always with you;
you hold me bye my right hand.
You guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will take me into glory." (Psalm 73:23,24)
We just ask that you all will be in prayer for us as we move forward in trying to reach out to the community that surrounds our little meeting house on the hill.

A whole month has gone by

2006-06-26T13:19:00.000-05:00

Wow. Time flies when you get busy. This past month has been a whirlwind of activity. Let's see where to begin.
The most time consuming project was make-a-mess (renovation of our youth room). We started end of may and have stopped (just trim work left) this past thursday so that the room can be used for vacation bible school. You can follow the progress of the construction of the room at the administration blog for the Church at Tatesbrook. I would like to thank all those that helped out in making the vision God had given me a reality. I hope that this room will become the blessing to the youth of the community that God wants it to be.
The other big event that has happened this month is my wife's first misson trip. She and a friend from our church went with a group to Ecuador. (you can read their stories on drtimdrkim.blogspot.com ) It was a blessing for her to go and experience that. I can tell just from talking to her that her life will be transformed by this trip. I know that she touched so many peoples lives (i believe that the three doctors saw close to 1000 people in the 12 days they were there) but she is constantly asking for God to reveal what He wanted her to get out of it. I look forward to seeing what God has in store for her. I am going to encourage her to continue to blog on that site so all of you can know what God has done in her life.
I hope to get back on a regular blogging schedule now that make-a-mess is done. VBS starts tonite and I really enjoy helping out with that. Talk to you all soon.

Start Spreading the News....

2006-05-13T20:14:00.000-05:00

Well, today was our big outreach to the community. We did not have as big a turnout that I had hoped, but I keep telling myself that He is in control of it all. Those of us that were there were treated to the most beautiful morning and early afternoon that we have seen in several days. It was bright and warm. We had a fun time walking our neighborhood and meeting the people.

Our plan was to do a lightbulb evangelism. Basically, we handed out lightbulbs (along with flyers for VBS, FQ and C@T). This gave us an opportunity to practice what we had learned in Columbus at D2S. Most of the people were nice, a lot were not home and my partner and I graduated from P.U. pretty early on. We still kept going and I turned out to be a great day of fellowship and enjoying the day He gave us.

We had prepared around 200 packets to deliver. I was humbling to see how little of an area 200 homes are in. The four teams involved barely covered two mainstreets in our neighborhood. I was telling my wife that in direct marketing a 2% return on a mass mailing is great. I think it would be great if we just affected 4 people this morning.

I am still amazed at the path that God has not only me on, but the youth group as well. I continue to pray that we will be obedient to what He wants for us and that the harvest will be plentiful. I look forward to getting to know the youth from the neighborhood and I hope that we will be able to be the example of Jesus to them.

A prayer answered....

2006-05-08T18:39:00.000-05:00

So one of the directions that God has been leading us is in reaching out to the community. By community I am speaking of the general area around our church. We are doing things with Southern Elementary and I really need to get busy and get involved with Tates Creek High and Middle schools. That being said, we began praying about how to reach those youth around us. As most of you know we felt God leading us to start a "Fifth Quarter". A place where kids can come after home football games and play games, eat food and hang out in a safe environment. We decided to start with Tates Creek High home games, so there would only be five or six this fall. It was a starting point and if all goes well, perhaps next year we could have it open every friday during football games (then of course it would be nice to have a place for the kids every friday nite but that may not happen right away). So that was our plan. It was obvious that God was behind it all the way and was allowing things to fall into place, and for that I praise Him. So I am not surprised that that wasn't all he had in store for us.

About a month ago, I recieved a call from one of the other youth leaders saying she was in contact with the youth pastors from another church. They had originally called to see about perhaps combining with us during VBS. After several phone calls, it seems like that was not going to be a possibility. However, after talking with her and telling her about our youth group, she told her that her and her husband (the other youth pastors) were moving their chruch to another city. They were concerned about their youth group (made up almost entirely of youth from the neighborhood) and what would happen to them after they moved the church. We have spoken to them several times about where we are and offered to absorb those kids into our group if they wanted. Last week we had our first meeting with both groups of kids. It was very informal (a game day/cookout) but it was a chance to see how both groups would react to each other. They were fine.

So here we were, waiting until the fall to reach out to neighborhood kids and God drops a group of them in our laps. He is amazing how He works. He knows when you are ready even before you know that you are. I just can not thank Him enough for how He has taken control of this situation. I look forward to seeing what God will teach us by giving us the opportunity to minister to (and be ministered by) these youth from our neighborhood.

Crisis in America

2006-04-12T08:16:00.000-05:00

This was the theme of the Men's retreat on the hill this past weekend. It was about the lack of male leadership in America today (ref. Isaiah 3). The basic lessons were about what the qualities of a good leader are and some pointers on being good teachers.

The goal of being a good teacher was very simple. It was to make the simple profound and the profound simple. Wow. When I think of all the great teachers in my life (Andrew Hind, Mike Brady, Bob Warren just to name a few) I realize that they all had that quality. It is amazing how such few words can speak volumes. I hope that I am able to do that as well.

The three qualities of a good leader are; Faithful, Humble and to be able to Extract the Precious from the Worthless. Our scripture reference was in Jeremiah 15. Sometimes I think that last one can be difficult. We likened it to a sculptor. Here he starts with a block of material and in his head, he can see the finished product. He must then chip away at everything that is not of the finished product.

We also spent some time during an open discussion session to talk about old natures, new natures (the cat and the hog story) and who we are in Christ. We need to realize that there is not a battle between the sinful nature and your new nature. The old nature has been eradicated (Gal. 6:20, Rom. 7:4), it is satan that is trying to convince me the the old man is alive. Some of the men there had not heard that before.

It was very interesting to be there with this group of men. Some were new (this was my first men's retreat), some had been there many times before but God seemed to know what we all needed to hear. I continue to pray for the ministry of Bob Warren and the streams that flow from the hill.

Life on the Hill

2006-04-08T14:02:00.000-05:00

Greetings Everyone. This is my first remote blog. Today I am blogging from the Calloway County Public Library in the bustling metropolis of Murray, KY. We are down in western kentucky at a men's retreat at the B.A.S.I.C. training facility. This has been great so far. I feel a little out of my element, though because the average age of the attenders is much higher than I am used to. It is great to be with a bunch of men who love the Lord.

Our trip down was great. I traveled with the Eby boys and we had an exciting time dodging severe thunderstorms (Little Girl, God was singing to us a lot). We then stopped at the Hutchen's Hot Pig for a large BBQ sandwich (loaded with pig tails). I think it is still with me this morning. While we were in the restaurant, a quick, but severe storm passed (with some hail). After stuffing ourselves, we finally made our way to the hill.

It was great to see old friends and meet some new and interesting people. There were people from TX, MS, LA, IL, IN, KY and AL. All in all there are about 60 men here. There would have been more, but some tornado's touched down and kept some people away. Please keep those people in your prayers. After the greetings were over we had an awesome worship session. It was just incredible to be in a room a 60+ men singing praises to him. I have never experienced anything like that before. I can only imagine what a Promise Keeper's rally might be like.

We then had a quick session in which Bob gave his testimony to those that were new. No matter how many times I have heard it, I pick up on something new everytime. Such a joy to listen to what God is doing in his life. This morning we started with prayer and had a hardy breakfast. I got to spend some time with Duane (Josh and Brady came down as well). It was good to sit and talk with one of my brothers.

I do not have my notes with me at this time, so I won't go into detail about what was said, but the general theme is on leadership and how men in 2006 have dropped the ball (similar to Isa. 3) and we need to pick it up and run with it. We spent a lot of time in Jeremiah also (when I get back to Lex. I will fill in the blanks). We had a short break and then a quick question and answer session before we broke for lunch. We will be back in Lex. tomorrow and I will try to fill in some of the blanks when I have my notes in front of me. Until then, pray for those victims of the storms and for clarity of God's word to those men that have made the trek to the hill.

Dinner with some friends.

2006-04-04T11:39:00.000-05:00

So last nite I was invited to go have dinner with some of my favorite people. It was more than just dinner, seems Mr. H has to write a paper for one of his classes and he wanted to pick my brain about youth ministry and what we do at Tatesbrook. I was flattered. First, I was amazed that anyone would be interested in what we are doing and Second I have never really thought about what motivates my ministry.

It was very interesting for me (actually I talked, he wrote) to put all my thoughts, ideas, visions and desires down on paper. I am really excited to see how it turns out. I know that we have a formal vision, but how we have gotten to where we are has been out of God. No real formal plan. Sure, I have a vision and a desire for the youth, and I know that God is leading us, but last nite was a little retrospective look at where we started and where we are going. It was encouraging to look back and see some of the bigger picture.

I had shared with some other people about how satan tries to keep our focus off of God so he can steal you from Him (Jn 10:10). His plan is simple, he has you doubt, get discouraged, get diverted, get delayed and keeps you defeated. This week God kept telling me to watch out for satan and his plan of attack. I shared it with a few people, but realized that the message was mostly for me. I think that dinner last nite was a way for me to focus on all the blessings God has allowed me to participate in with the youth. I thank Him everyday for allowing me to be a part of the kids lives and for the chance to plant some seeds for Him.

What have I been doing?

2006-03-25T19:16:00.000-05:00

I don't know. It has been a long time since my last entry. I really do not know what has been going on that would keep me from blogging. If you asked me what has happened, I don't think I have been busy enough to keep me from blogging. Sure, I had things come up in the lives of my friends, went to see former players play, had regular youth meetings, been to one-way and had a youth/parent meeting, but that clearly isn't enough to keep me away.

I have realized that when I step away from Him, I really have nothing to share with you all. That is what he showed me today. I spent most of the afternoon watching some curriculum (had to look that one up) which I am going to start at youth probably after spring break. It is about sharing the Gospel. I was flooded with a bunch of emotions watching the videos. I looked at my last entry (about recapping the evangelism conference) and realized that it has just stopped for more than two weeks.

How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!" Romans 10:14,15

I really feel that satan has gotten a hold of me these past couple of weeks and has just allowed me to move my focus off of Him. I was really convicted watching the videos and realized the urgency in what He has in store not only for the youth at Tatesbrook, but the entire body as well. Continue to pray for all of us to continue to have opportunities to share our story with the world.

Trying to recap

2006-03-07T11:50:00.000-05:00

Well after almost a week of trying to put what I learned into some sort of report, I have given up. There was so much information given that there is no way that I can just give you the reader's digest version. So, what am I to do. I think I will just try to give you highlights and hope for the best. Let's see....

We started out learning our abc's for evangelism. (this comes from Acts 1-2)
A - Attraction to reach people. We must connect with the culture
B - Build bridges. We need to pray to bridge the gap with the culture we are trying to reach.
When you work hard, you get what you can do, when you pray, you get what God can do!
C - Compellingly communicate the Claims of Christ (present the Gospel)

The next speaker talked on Leadership Evangelism. His reference was in Mark 4.
1. You must do the obvious
Ordinary people do ordinary things that no one else will do. Graham and Wesley started out by just doing the obvious.
2. You Determine you measure of sucess.
Keep in mind that we don't want to see more people, but more Jesus.
3. You must decide to be "Good News"
We need to constantly scatter seeds. We as leaders also need to keep sharing our evangelism stories.

Then we had a speaker talk to us about Conneting to Culture. He spoke about the four commissions that Jesus gave us (Jn 20). The are:
1. We are sent
2. We are sent to peoples
3. We are sent to peoples with a message
4. We are sent to poeples with a message empowered by God
We are told by God to go out to all different kinds of people in different places clearly sharing the Gospel, and to quit worrying about things we can't control. He has given us the authority.

All that is just from the opening session. I am sorry I can not write all the details, but I think that you would be bored. So what did I come away with after the first session? That I think we (as tribe leaders) are on the right track. I have really been convicted lately on the need for more prayer and that came out a lot during these two days. Finally, one of the last speakers of this session said this:
"God has called you to be a soldier. This is a battle, not a picnic." I know that it is going to be hard, that I am going to be stretched and that it is not always going to be easy. However, I am called to battle for these young adults in our community.

More to follow. Stay tuned.

I am worn out!

2006-02-28T22:31:00.000-05:00

Praise God! Is it possible to be so excited and encouraged that you are just exhausted? I just finished with the KBC evangelism conference. It was interesting, informative, challenging but most of all it was confirming. As I said before, I know God is taking me down a different road that I have never been down before. Truthfully, I was afraid to go down the road, but as most of you know we are along for the ride when God is in control. I am excited about what He wants me to do and I am excited to see the plan that he has for me as He reveals it to me. I'd like to thank brother Kevin Thomas for inviting me to this conference. He has been a great source of advice and encouragement.

In the next couple of days I plan on writing up some of the highlights that God showed me through the speakers at the conference. I feel as though I have sat through over a dozen sermons in two days. I really want to let God work on me as I review my notes, but rest assured He really has some things for me to share with you all. I pray that I can deliver even just a fraction of the knowledge He gave me.

Amazing how God works!

2006-02-28T00:03:00.000-05:00

Okay, I know that I should not be amazed but I am. I was supposed to go back to Columbus for a follow up seminar from D2S. I really did not want to go by myself and I had to drive six hours for a three hour seminar. However, I did not have anything else to do so I prayed about going. Really, I did not want to go. God answered my prayer thru my friend Kevin Thomas. He invited me to the KBC (Kentucky Baptist Convention) annual Evangalism conference. Here we go again. I had a great time today (only half day, full day tomorrow and I can't wait) and had so many things confirmed in where I think that God is taking his youth group.

It is late tonite, but hopefully I will write about what I learned in the next few days. Tonite, I just want to share my thoughts about evangelism. I have said for a long time that I am not an evangelist. That is part of the reason that I know God wants to take the Tribe down this road is because it is going to stretch me. But as I sat in these seminars today, it has become abundantly clear that we are all called to be evangelists. God, I confess to you that I am unsure why you are pushing me toward evangelism, but I am going to be obedient to what you have told me to do. I look forward to being apart of the revolution that you are starting in the tates creek area. Let's all get ready and do something.

A B.A.S.I.C. Winter

2006-02-14T12:48:00.000-05:00

Following the D2S conference, we then repacked our bags and headed to western KY to our winter camp. We traditionally go to B.A.S.I.C. Training down on the hill in Hardin, KY. Our winter camp is only for a weekend (summer camp is for a whole week) but there is still a whole lot of teaching and fellowship.

This year, Bob Warren chose to speak on leadership. You know, I know that I should not be surprised at how God works, but who do you think that he chose as his example. You guessed it. David and Goliath. We used 1 Sam. 17 as a reference. It was just awesome to see that God was giving us a different perspective on what we had just learned in Columbus.

The main themes for leadership is to have wisdom (the ability to see life through God's eyes), not to get discouraged (Acts 14:19,20), have a passion and people will follow (Paul and Timothy), have a pure heart (seek God first, 1 Tim. 1:15) and most of all never compromise. We should be the "peer" pressure. Again, all very similar to the D2S conference. Bob told the kids that "the truth can be forgotten, you need to be repeatative". (again, should I be surprised at how God gets his message across?) The same point was taught in Columbus. Take the 48 hour challange or else you won't ever do it.

Most of the same kids that went to D2S also went to B.A.S.I.C. so I hope that they all picked up on it. It is always refreshing to spend some time on the hill. If you have never been or want to know more about it I have a link to their website (as well as D2S) at the top of this blog. Visit some time.

One Way -- Last Friday

2006-02-10T11:27:00.000-05:00

Like I said, I know I am behind. Please be patient with me while I try to catch up.

Last Friday's One Way was amazing. It was so awesome to see the Holy Spirit fall. We started by showing the kids (and yes the friends of the crew that went to D2S did show up) the promo video to the D2S conference so that they would have an idea about what it was like. We then had the six that went share their testimonies about what had happened. Again, I was so in awe how God had affected each youth in different ways. I should not be surprised, He knew how to get to each of them, but it is still amazing to see the results. Well, when the young man who gave his life to Christ over the weekend shared, let me tell you there was not a dry eye in the house. He was so genuine that it really got to the other kids that were there. He then practically gave an alter call and told them that they really needed to pray about where they were with Christ. We then told the kids that those six would be in the back if anyone had any questions or prayer requests. Then we played some worship music and had some quiet time for the kids to spend time with God.

The crew then went to the back of the room and (all on their own) joined hands and prayed. Are these kids getting it or what!?! After awhile, I went back to them and told them not to be discouraged if no one came up to them right now. That they should be ready because people would be coming up to them through out the day. We then all prayed for those people to come and them to be ready. Just so awesome to witness the power of God.

Well, the report I got at the end of the day was amazing. Half a dozen kids made appointments to speak with the councelor (who went with us to D2S) and she lead two kids to Christ (right there in school). She has other meetings set up with other kids who have questions. Wow! We also had some kids ask if we were going to any other D2S conferences this year because they wanted to go.

Just amazing. I am so blessed just to see God's power working in these young lives. I just pray that the revolution will keep going as these kids realize what having a relationship with Jesus Christ is all about.

48 hour report

2006-02-09T11:10:00.000-05:00

I know that it is much later than 48 hours since we have been to the conference. I know that I am behind (feeling the blogging pressure) but here we go anyway.

My first report came back monday morning after we got back. I recieved a phone call from one of our girls that said she had shared the G.O.S.P.E.L. with one of her friends on sunday nite when she go home. Guess what? Her friend listened and agreed to come to One Way on friday. Wow. She took the 48 min challenge. Other reports came back very similar. Some of the kids graduated from P.U. (Persecution University) but were still happy they tried. All in all the Southern kids shared and invited some people to One Way. Our kids had similar reports. Some people listened while others would have nothing to do with it. I keep telling them their only job is to share, not to convince. Only God can change someones heart, but they need to be ready and willing to do their part. It was awesome to see the kids excited about sharing their faith.

Revolution -- Sunday

2006-02-09T10:43:00.000-05:00

What a bunch of LOSERs. Thats what we are. We went to the conference as either rebels or posers, but came home LOSERs. (This is based on Matthew 10:39 which says "Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.") Sunday morning we all got up and went to the early service at Beechwold Christian Church. They have a "blended" service (which some of the kids "prayed" through) where they recognized us and what the conference was about. I can't thank Beechwold enough for housing us for the weekend.

We packed up the cars, were sent off with a prayer from Jim and Maria (worship leaders who primarily took care of us) and then we were on the road back to Lexington. We stopped for lunch in Florence (y'all) and decided to have a debriefing session after. We had everyone speak about what touched them about the conference. It was amazing to hear the testimonies from these kids. Most of all it was amazing to see how each of these kids (and adults) were affected in so many different ways. Some like the worship, others the skits, some really liked going out in streets, some was the concert and others liked the youth room at Beechwold. God touched these kids in whatever part of themselves that He had to. Now if that doesn't show you how much He cares about each of us I don't what does. The highlight for me (they were all highlights) was when the boy I told you about earlier (on Friday) said that he had always had a head knowledge of Jesus, but really did not believe. That was until Friday nite. Friday he knew that the Holy Spirit was in that conference center and he truly gave his life to Christ. What a LOSER. What a way to cap off a weekend.

We then challenged them to take the 48 hour challenge. That is to share the G.O.S.P.E.L. with someone within 48 hours. They all agreed and we sent them off with a prayer. Then finally on the road back to LEX. I spoke to a few parents where we dropped the kids off and thanked them for their support.

Revolution -- Saturday

2006-01-31T16:04:00.000-05:00

The next day, we got them all up and headed down to the convention center for the morning sessions. Robin, Kim and I left to go to a youth leader session. It was incredible to be in a room of several hundred youth leaders. Greg spoke to us about what we should do to follow up and keep the revolution going. The main focus was that groups tend to think they can only go deep or go wide, but not both. He thinks not only can we, we must. It was very confirming in what I had felt God placed on me as a vision for this group. One of the interesting stats he threw at us was that 90% of teens say they would come to group if invited by one of their friends.

After that, we headed back into the main area for the last session before lunch. I guess that the first session was about Looking Up, this one was on Looking In. Its focus was on how to transforming the way you look at yourself. You can then find what your natural skills are and what your supernatural skills are. All in all a pretty good session. We then broke for lunch and had a nice walk outside. We then came back for the last session which dealt with the G.O.S.P.E.L. Journey. This was teach the kids about sharing the Gospel with someone. We each learned what style we had (I am a Buddy). We then practiced sharing with each other. Then we all piled in to the cars and headed out to our neighborhood.

This was the most emotional part of the conference. The things that I felt were amazing. I was scared, nervous, excited, hopeful. Just knowing that we were going to share was amazing. I could feel the energy from the kids. Then it turned to fear when we got out of the cars and looked around. A good friend once said you can walk in fear or you can walk in faith, but you can't do both. I chose to walk in faith. Once we drew our circle and prayed, we all went our different directions.

Let me tell you, these people amazed me. Some of our kids said that they though that they should be bringing them food, not asking for any. My two girls did great. They started off slow, but after awhile, it became easier and easier. I had reports from the other groups that were similar. One of our kids came up to me just beaming because she got to share the Gospel with someone. It was an amazing feeling to see them so excited. Our afternoon was capped off with the same kid as before sharing the Gospel again and one of our leaders leading two young men to the Lord. Most of the group was around by this time and all got to share in this blessing. We continue to pray that they will find a church to get themselves plugged into.

Then back to the C.C. to drop off the food, grab some dinner for ourselves and back for the final session. This session was to cover what giant was in our life that we needed to overcome. "So David triumphed over the Philistine giant with only a stone and a sling." 1 Samuel 17:50 That was the theme of the whole weekend, becoming a giant slayer. Finally a concert by Starfield that was great. Loud music, bright lights and kids jumping up and down. What more could you ask for. It was just a beautiful day to spend with Him.

Look out, the Revolution has started! "Friday"

2006-01-31T15:30:00.000-05:00

What an amazing event! It was all that I had thought it would be and more. For those that have not gone to one of these Dare2Share conferences, I would highly suggest it. Here is the rundown of the weekend.

Friday nite: Welcome, some praise and worship, and a drama to make you think.

Saturday: Teaching sessions all morning and one after lunch, Outreach, session and concert.

Seems short and sweet, but man what a punch it packs. The whole idea is to equip teens to share their faith. This is something that I struggle with and when the chance came up for us to go to this, I jumped at it. I have felt for awhile that this was the direction God was taking this group. We need to be out reaching the teens in our neighborhood. This was the first step. So how was it? I will post testimonies as the kids get them to me, but everyone was affected by going. I have so much to say, that I don't even know where to start!

We arrived friday at our host church Beechwold Christian in Columbus and met some very nice folks trying to make our visit great. We then headed downtown and got in the conference and started right away with some praise and worship. Then Greg gave an opening welcome and then a prayer for the kids to commit to become LOSERS! (This is based on Matthew 10:39). We then watched a drama that brought tears to my eyes. One of our boys was affected by this, but did not want to say what was wrong, so we just prayed for him. (more on him later) We then went back to the church (which had pizza waiting for us) and had a small discussion about what happened and what was expected the next day. Lots of good questions and plenty of discussion (thanks to all my youth leaders that came with us). Then they were kids and stayed up till around three in the morning.

Here we go again!

2006-01-16T11:56:00.000-05:00

Well, I hope that all of you had a great holiday season. Now that the festivities are all over, we are all probably trying to stick to our new years resolutions. Did you all make any? I don't really think that I did. I did however try to recommit myself to be more diligent in certain areas of my life that I have let slack (so maybe that is making a new year's resolution).

I had an interesting conversation with one of my youth over the break (not so much a conversation as blogs and email) over her feelings towards youth group and God in general. In her personal life she has told me about several ups and downs and that may have led to her certain feelings towards all things related to God. She assured me that her relationship with God had not changed. I truly do believe her, but I am worried about her anyway.

In my reading (thanks again to Jim Cymbala) God has pointed me to Psalm 51:10-12:

"Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Thy presence, and do not take Thy Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Thy salvation and sustain me with a willing spirit."

This is incredible and I think I am going to try and make it my prayer for myself this new year. Let me point out three key parts here (again, thanks to Jim Cymbala).

First "Create in me a clean heart..." shows that he (David) is tired of telling God I'm sorry. I promise that I won't do it again (how many times have I done that). He realizes here that he can't do that anymore. So he asks God to "create" something new. Having a pure, clean heart is the core to becoming more like Christ.

"...renew a steadfast spirit within me." Here he is asking for a steadiness. This race that we are running is long and we need endurance to make it through. David is tired of all the ups and downs that came in his life (sound familiar). He not only wants to resist the temptations of this world one day, but every day. The key here is that he knows that he can't do it without God's help.

Finally, "... sustain me with a willing spirit." Not only does he want to be clean and steady, he wants to be willing. When God tells you "you should go talk to them" or "I don't think that would be good for you" we need to be willing to submit to Him and obey. The only way to do that (and David knew it) is by the power of God.

So how does all this tie in. As our youth (and us as adults as well) are faced with this world every day, I desire that they will learn who they are in Christ and to not to be swayed. I don't think any of us really want to have the roller coaster rides of life that we have. We need to believe that God's power can change our hearts. He can make us clean, steady and willing. All we have to do is come to Him knowing that he can do it!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

2005-12-25T01:39:00.000-05:00

I hope that this finds all of you enjoying the holiday season. I happen to now be sitting at the table at my in-laws kitchen after a rousing game of phase 10 (which took 2.5 hours to finish, Carmen!). Earlier today we went to Christmas eve service at the church my in-laws go to.

Last year I remember seeing a movie about Mary and Joseph and the events leading up to Jesus' birth. It was long and I am not real sure what the point was other than focusing on Mary. We sang "Mary did you know". It was a different approach to the Christmas season. This year as we went we were wondering if we were going to watch another movie. Sure enough, we did.

The movie this year, however, was much shorter and just covered the basic facts. We still sang "Mary did you know" but she did not seem to be the focus this year. What stood out to me this time was "O little town of Bethlehem".

After we sang the song, Pastor Phil told us to reread verse 4 and that it should be a prayer to all of us. I am amazed how God has lately been getting me to really listen to the words of the songs that I hear all the time (read I can only imagine below). Here is verse 4:

O Holy child of Bethlehem
Descend to us, we pray
Cast out our sin and enter in
Be born to us today.

Wow. That should be our desire. All the gifts we get each other and get from one another can not compare to that gift that He has given us.

Descend to us, we pray. In my reading I have just been learning that God always shows up when people pray. So here it is in this song. When God is trying to tell you something, He really hits you with it.

Cast out our sin and enter in. That's all we have to do. Just ask him to enter in and all of our sin will be cast away. Other than asking, there is nothing else required of us. What an amazing free gift. One size fits all, it is in the perfect color and it is easy to use. I pray for those of you that have not experienced a relationship with Jesus Christ to take advantage of that free gift offer. If you have received the gift, take it out of the box and start using it.

No one said it would be easy.

2005-12-23T09:25:00.000-05:00

I think that a lot of times people get the wrong idea about becoming a Christian. I think that they think that (wow, a lot of t's) once you accept Jesus Christ that everything in your life from then on will be hunky-dory. Really what has happened is mostly in the spiritual realm, so the attacks start right away.

So here we are again. I have some youth with me in the car again (I tell you that if I ever write a book I think I am going to call it "Mobile Ministry") going somewhere and we begin to talk about parental relationships. Her relationship with her mother is not where it should be, and sometimes I think that both of them are at fault, but that is not the issue here. We were talking about how we as youth leaders have tried to deal with her mom and the reasoning behind we do what we do. I told her that sometimes she doesn't help us out.

If her mother doesn't see a change in her since she has been coming to youth group and her mother is leary of her being in a "church" setting to begin with, why would she continue to let her come to youth group? Her response to me was that it was hard to have a different attitude and that she struggles with that.

That got me to thinkin'. I am reading "Fresh Faith" by Jim Cymbala. In the current chapter I am reading, he happens to talk about "struggling". In there he says that a lot of Christians (and I have said it too) say things like "I am struggling to obey the Lord..." or "We all struggle in that area...". He says that this shows that Christians are focused on their abilities, not God's.

Let's look at Galatians 3:3 "Have you lost your senses? After starting your Christian lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort?"

Sometimes we just forget that He wants to be involved in every part of our lives. We think I can give him control over that part, but I really need to take care of this part on my own. He is big enough to take care of it all. All we need to do is to know Him, trust in Him and to realize that our strength comes from Him. Remember, no one said it would be easy.

I can only imagine....

2005-12-20T12:21:00.000-05:00

Wow, it has been a while since I last posted. I have been so busy trying to get christmas stuff done and getting ready to get out of town and head back to New Mexico to see our families. This topic actually came to me last thursday.

So here I am, busy with the hustle and bustle of the holiday season and I get invited to go to the christmas play of one of my very close church kids. I come in there thinking about a thousand things, what I did not get done what still needs to be done, you know the drill. One of the songs they sing is "I can only imagine.." So I am watching this beautiful young girl sing this song, eyes closed rocking back and forth clearly worshiping. It brought tears to my eyes.
Have you ever really took the time to read the lyrics?

Surrounded by your glory, what will my heart feel?
Will I dance for you Jesus or in awe of you be still?
Will I stand in your presence or to my knees will I fall?
Will I sing hallelujah or will I be able to speak at all?
I can only imagine... I can only imagine....

Here I am so focused on what is going on around me that I have forgotten the "reason for the season". I have been playing that song a lot lately because I wonder what I would do if he showed up here this afternoon. I can only imagine. There is so much that he wants me to do with the youth and I sometimes don't know if I will have enough time with them. I can only imagine. He has so much for them to do after we equip them. I can only imagine.

Don't forget why we are here. Take some time to give to him and to honor and thank him for the gift he has given us.

"Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart's desires." Psalm 37:4

http://www.andiesisle.com/icanonlyimagine.html

Mom, can you put butter on my toast...please?

2005-12-14T08:52:00.000-05:00

You have got to be kidding me. I always enjoy the fact when I can get some one on one time with any of my youth. The down side to it is finding out some of the things they do with the rest of their lives. Take yesterday for an example. We were continuing on with our flamingo fundraiser and I have one of my youth going with me and we begin talking about how she and her brother got in trouble in the morning before school (I even think that they had been grounded as a result). So we were talking about what was going on and why they do what they do. Was it their fault or was mom on the warpath. Well, after talking with her and hanging out with the rest of the family for awhile afterward, I had an answer. I don't think the problem was what they got in trouble for in the first place. Sure, they were arguing, wasting time, not listening, etc, but the real root of the issue was "encouragement."
Mom felt that the kids only complained about things, never had a positive word for her. That got us thinking. When we were kids, did we ever encourage our parents? You always hear that it is important for parents to encourage their kids, but you don't hear much about the other way. Now I know that being a parent can be a thankless job, but parents have feelings too. During one of our youth lessons one day I asked them if they ever thanked their parents. Not for the big stuff (cell phone, drum set, birthday presents, etc.) but for the fact that when they go to the fridge, there is food in there. Or when they go to do their homework and they turn on the lamp in their room the light comes on. These little everyday mundane things that make the world go round. I know that I did not do that. Sure I try to do it now, but can that make up for all those years that I took my parents for granted?
Encouragement is a gift. It is seldom given and it is valuable. God's Word tells us to do it "So encourage each other and build each other up..." (1 Thes. 5:11a). Take the time to give this gift. There is no monetary cost attached to it, you don't have to go out to the mall to get it and you don't have to get it gift wrapped. It does, however, require something from "you".
So don't be stingy. Give the gift of encouragement!

Sure I am committed.....maybe?

2005-12-09T12:41:00.000-05:00

So why is it so hard to commit to something? Is it a fear of losing out on something better? I think that it mostly comes down to not wanting to admit you are responsible for something. Once you commit to it, you now are responsible. I think people nowadays don't want to take responsiblity. They feel that what ever happens is not their fault. God told us to commit totally to him, and it pleases him when we do. Look in 2 Chronicles 15:14-15. Asa and his people clearly committed themselves to God, even using trumpet blasts to proclaim their commitment. This resulted in peace for the nation.

So why did this need an entry? I have been working on our youth for a year now on trying to get them to take some responsiblity. I know that I have not helped out by not letting them do certain things, but ultimately they need to take ownership of their group and become responsible and commit (wholeheartedly) to it. Over the last two weeks I have seen the fruits of that work start to show up. It has been awesome to watch a few take some initiative. It is slow in coming, but I can't change their hearts, only God can do that. It will take time for all of them to be there, but I am committed to them!

Gotta Start Somewhere...

2005-12-06T23:48:00.000-05:00

Good Evening Everyone! Not sure how to do this since I have never been much of a journal writer, but hey gotta start somewhere. I have a few of my friends who have blogs and I had been kicking around the idea of starting one myself so now i find myself entering my first post. Wow. I guess I mostly was hoping to have a place to share with all of you what God is doing in the midst of our youth. Somewhere I can brag on them, share about them and maybe even get on them a little. I hope that all of you will see what an effect my relationship with Jesus Christ has on the people God has put in my path.