Matt's Blog

#7daysofservice Challenge

2012-02-07T08:49:00.003-05:00

As we enter into day 2 of the #7daysofservice Challenge, there are two verses I want to share with you. The first is Mark 9:41. It says, "Truly I tell you, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to the Messiah will certainly not lose their reward." Jesus is teaching his disciples about a variety of things and he includes this little nugget of truth. If you do something in my name, no matter how small, it won't go unrewarded. Essentially if you serve others in the name of Christ and His Love, you won't return empty handed. Serving others for God's glory is life-changing for both the doer and the recipient. That's how God's kingdom works.

The second verse is from 1 Corinthians 13:3. It reads, "If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing." Isn't that interesting? You can give up everything you have to those in need, and go through immense suffering, but if you have no purpose in those things then you gain NOTHING. Without God's love, our acts of service leave us without meaning. The biggest act of serving someone else can leave you feeling down and disappointed if you do it for the wrong reasons.

Let's keep both of these verses in mind as we serve others this week (and every week for that matter). God does not want us to simply serve our fellow man. He desires for us to connect to Him, fill up with His Love, and share that love with others. If we serve those around us in the name of Jesus, that is when God can start doing incredible life-changing things through our actions. That kind of service is a reward that lasts an eternity!

When Your Platform is a Minefield

2011-11-29T13:44:00.002-05:00

The voices of the audience all blend into a steady murmur as they make their way to their seats. The lights go down and the voices quiet. A stagehand tells you its time and gives you a push towards center stage. Finally, the curtain goes up, you wonder how your mouth got dry so quickly, and the spotlight locks onto you. Every eye is focused on you.

Most of us have been there before. Staring into the spotlight like it was an oncoming train. For some of us the last time we found ourselves in that place it was an elementary recital. For others it was a high school play or maybe more recently someone talked us into the embarrassing act of Karaoke. No matter what the platform is, when you find yourself in the spotlight, your body acts like it has entered an entirely different atmosphere.

Change of perspective, Bill Shakespeare said, “Life is a stage.” If Jersey Shore has taught us anything it’s that Bill was right and people will watch anything. Life really is a stage though, and our technology and culture have intensified things. Cameras are everywhere, and if something interesting happens, there’s a pretty good chance it will get distributed on a global scale. Have you ever had a bad day? Maybe you have accidentally walked into a fountain while texting? Yeah, millions of people are going to see that. They are going to comment and video will probably get linked to their Facebook wall too.

If it gets people talking it’s newsworthy too. Forget about finding ways to create more jobs. If you can turn reality into the surreal and catch it on camera you have found an economic stimulus that politicians would die for. Have you heard of the Failed Marriage Business Model? Whether Kim and her wedding was real or just a gimmick it generated an amazing amount of attention. Fox News said that most estimators think that Kim received nearly eighteen million dollars. Who else gets paid $10,000 an hour for being married? She may be the punch line for many a joke right now, but isn’t the real punch line that we paid for it all?

Over 7 million people tuned into watch a football game on a Thursday night. It wasn’t a pretty football game either. Both teams only combined for one offensive touchdown. Still, for some reason it was the 6^th largest TV audience to watch a Thursday night football game. The cause? The guy who managed the offenses’ only touchdown: Tim Tebow. Talk about living life under a microscope. Everyone from ESPN’s talking heads, all the way down to a plethora of Facebook statuses are full on arguing if he is actually a QB or not.

Tim is a pretty vocal guy. He is vocal in his faith, he is vocal in his leadership, and he has even been vocal after some of his failures on the field. His personality, desire to win, and faith have attracted a huge amount of interest. Every time he tweets nearly a half a million people read it. I wonder what its like for him to look into that spotlight?

Today, having a platform means constant scrutiny, ridicule, and constant potshots. All of that is a given, even if you don’t falter. Make a misstep in the spotlight? Prepare to get eaten alive. I’m not ready for that kind of stage. Are you? Is your faith?

Reading through the book of Acts you will find the followers of Jesus sharing His story with countless people and those people embracing Jesus as a result. Every step of the way, you will also find a huge amount of resistance. Paul, Silas, Barnabus, and Peter couldn’t stay anywhere for very long. Not because they did anything wrong, but because they made some people very uncomfortable. In Acts 14 a mob beat Paul beyond the point of consciousness and thought they had killed him. Just a few chapters later Paul and Silas are arrested and beaten without even being properly accused. Still, as they traveled from town to town their routine stayed the same. They would find people who wanted to talk about knowing God and introduce them to Jesus. They weren’t seeking the spotlight, they were simply messengers sharing the Message God had gave them. Are you ready for that platform? Can you imagine staring into that spotlight?

I’m not ready for MTV to send a camera crew out to my house to film a reality show pilot. I’m not sure what I would do if a CNBC reporter surprised me for an interview on current events. I don’t even want to think what the rest of the country would tweet, comment, and blog about if I did an in-depth interview with ABC. I would all too likely sizzle like an egg in a frying pan.

Paul followed God’s lead all over the place. He got to see God do amazing things through his words and actions. He also had a very angry group of people chasing him every step of the way. If they had gotten the right opportunity, they would have killed him too. Paul, still, was comfortable with the platform God had given him. He was also willing to go through all the other suffering that came with it.

Monday Afternoon Links

2011-11-07T15:55:00.000-05:00

youthHOPE
This is a blog a friend of mine writes on from time to time. The organization tackles ministering to students on a global scale. If you really wanna get involved you can support my friend and his wife Adam and Kristy Griffith. I really believe in what they are doing in Thailand and the passion they have. Great blog with some wonderful (and challenging) insights.

Harassment Survey
I read this article this morning from WCPO's website. The article discusses how rampant sexual harassment is in schools, between students. It covers the span of topics like sexting, bullying, and moments of harassment where students really just think they are joking around. This is a very thought provoking article on the reality we find our students living in everyday.

Meals for Haiti
I LOVE me some Northwest Haiti Christian Mission. A group of our students and leaders went down this past summer and served with Northwest at the Mole Saint Nicholas. It was a great experience. Our friends at NWHCM are doing something really cool this Thanksgiving Season. They are trying to raise money for a MILLION meals for Haiti. Here is the best part: the meals only cost a nickel a piece. They are raising money from now until December 7th. So go check your couch cushions for change and get in the game!

Waking Up
This is a really cool spoken word video from a young adult conference a few weeks ago. Not only is it well made, but it is a great challenge to never stop dreaming, be a part of solution, and radically help others. Watch the video it is a great use of your next 3 minutes.

Justice on a 7 Billion Person Scale

2011-11-02T15:27:00.005-04:00

I heard on the radio the other day that the world’s population has reached 7 billion people. That number exploded in my head. It led me to a YouTube video on some University’s website that showed population growth throughout history. I saw how the United Nations is projecting that by the year 2100 there will be over 10 Billion people in the world. Those are big, big numbers in a small, small world. (It is a small world after all, isn’t it?) Essentially more people are being born each day then are dying.

If this info makes your mind jump to where mine did, then you know what I’m going to say next. I looked it up and scholars estimate that anywhere from 150,000 to 180,000 die each day. That would be the equivalent of Guam being sucked into the ocean each and every day.

Turkey just had a horrible earthquake that has left families trapped in the rubble, and many are still sleeping in tents and in their cars out of fear of more aftershocks. Still, at last count, far less than 1000 people have died in the earthquake. I’m not saying that this catastrophe was not tragic or that it did not affect hundreds of thousands of people. It did however only represent about .6% of the deaths that occurred that same day. I don’t know how to put death on that scale into perspective.

A student recently shared with me the story of Herod killing all the babies around Bethlehem, found in Matthew 2. He said that he didn’t believe that there was a God, but if there was, he was obviously cruel. “How could a kind God allow other innocent babies die so that His own son could escape and live?” He commented. That was the first time someone had shared this story with me from that perspective.

A few days later I started reading through the book of Matthew again. It didn’t take me long to come across Herod’s horrible act, or as my student put it, God’s failure to act. It got my wheels turning again and so I decided to spend some more time wrestling with the reality we all live in.

What about Herod, or more importantly, what about the question of God’s goodness? Does God’s seeming lack of intervention in Matthew 2 mean He is cruel? It would be very easy to turn this into ethics debate. Do the deaths of a group of innocent children justify the eventual hope of salvation of us all? I worry that putting the conversation in these terms cheapens the value of life. I don’t believe God looks at life in those terms.

It would be just as easy to look at the culture and context of this story and begin teaching the problem away. Herod was a bad man you know. He had lots of people killed for lesser things. There are lots of accounts of Herod killing big groups of people and asking questions later. When you think about it Bethlehem was a small country town. Even if you included the infants in the surrounding villages like Matthew 2 describes, the number of children killed could have been less than 100. You could go on and on. That might all be important information to better understand what exactly happened in Matthew 2, but it still doesn’t make the big question go away. Is God cruel? Is this story proof of that?

My student really got me thinking. My faith didn’t change, but I knew this was something that I needed to wrestle with, so I did. I came to a few conclusions:

Death is an experience I don’t understand and I can’t avoid.

It is a reality that hits our planet on a huge scale every day. I read Matthew 2 and see God sparing Joseph, Mary, and Jesus from a corrupt ruler’s hands. I see children in Bethlehem being murdered at the hands of Herod. I think the author of Matthew shared this story because it really happened and the prophet Jeremiah prophesied that it would (See Jeremiah 31:15). I don’t see this as proof of God’s cruelty. In fact I don’t see God as cruel at all.

God loves justice and promises it.

(See Job 37:23 or Psalm 9:16//11:7//33:5)

A leader or ruler’s job is to maintain order and ensure justice. God entrusted Herod with that job and he abused it. That doesn’t mean that God stopped serving justice. Herod’s act of evil did not go unpunished. God saw to it that those children and their families were given justice. In fact, Josephus, a Jewish historian, records that Herod came down with a ‘loathsome’ disease. Josephus credits the manner of Herod’s death as ‘Judgment from God on account of his sins.’ Herod didn’t get away with anything, and God did not sit idly by and watch it happen.

We need to trust Him even in life’s cruelest of times.

He deals with life and death on a mind numbing scale. He watches injustice on a grand scale and still honors our free will. I do not entirely understand why God spared Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in Daniel 3, but let Stephen die in Acts 6 and 7. I do believe we are created to bring God glory and reveal His glory to others. Living and dying is all a part of that. God is above and beyond me, but at the same time he chose to come down and live alongside of me. I don’t know his thought process in every decision he makes, but He is far greater than me and I trust that He is good. The author of Revelation describes God’s final triumph over evil in Revelation 19. God is seated on a white horse. He has come to right the world’s wrongs and bring justice to us all. He is called Faithful and True and He brings Justice as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. All will be made right. This is a very good thing.

God's Wonderful World of Surprises

2011-10-20T14:50:00.004-04:00

Have you ever had someone come into your life quickly and unexpectedly make a big impression on you? And I'm not talking about the 'He ran a red light at Beechmont and Five Mile, didn't see me, and totaled my car' kind of impression. I'm talking about when you meet someone seemingly by chance and that conversation becomes the highlight of your day.

A couple of years ago, my wife and I ran into a couple at Parkside on a Sunday morning. The couple had recently come to the US from Ethiopia. They only knew a few people in Cincinnati, but they had heard from one of them that Parkside cared about Ethiopians. Now I don't have a clue who they talked to, but whoever it was, was totally right!

We quickly developed a friendship the Telahown, his wife Ayantu, and their son. We had them over to our house, we went over to their place. We even taught each other about our different culture. I really enjoyed having conversations with Telahown about Scripture and his heart for ministry. He has a huge passion for teaching others about God's truth.

More than a year ago, Telahown and Ayantu had another son. As is customary in their culture, Ayantu went back to live with her mother in Ethiopia for the first few months of their new son's life. Telahown had been looking for a better job and found one in Nevada. Ethiopians who move to America keep in very good contact with other Ethiopians in the US and that was how he discovered this job opportunity.

So just like that, they disappeared from our everyday life. A couple months after they moved, I got a call from him telling me that he made it to Nevada safely. We prayed with each other and that was the last I heard from him, until yesterday.

God's surprises are great aren't they? Telahown called me yesterday to tell me they had lost our number but found it in an old notebook. He is still in Nevada and is working as a Taxi driver (He really likes it). His wife and boys have moved to Nevada with him. The last time I had talked to him I told him that there was a church close to where he lived that I had done an internship at. Yesterday on the phone he told me it is their home church now and they really have become a part of the church family.

Telahown made a big impression in a short time in my life. It was such a blessing to hear that he is well and is still connected with the Body of Christ. I share this story to remind you to keep investing in people. Whether they are in your life for a week or for years it's worth it. Let God's love flow from your life into theirs. You may never get the kind of phone call I got yesterday, but you might. Keep praying and celebrate the promises of God's goodness.

Sticky Faith and I am Second

2011-10-18T14:38:00.003-04:00

Kara Powell Sharing on Sticky Faith

Kara Powell - Sticky Faith from MPPC on Vimeo.

Shorter Kara Powell Interview

Inspiring Testimonies:

Check out this website for a movement called IAMSECOND.COM which includes testimonies from Josh Hamilton, Brian Welch, and LeCrae (not mention a ton of other great stories).

Fake Faith in a Genuine God

2011-10-10T10:34:00.003-04:00

A thought hit me the other day that has continued to surface in my day to day life. I thought to myself, "Isn't it wonderful that I'm a hypocrite?" Yeah I know I am sounding like I'm crazy, but a few days later I actually told someone else about my eureka moment. They were a little perplexed. Being a hypocrite is not something most people are proud of at all.

Let me explain. I try to follow God in all areas of my life. I try to fill up with His Spirit so He can overflow into the lives of those around me. I teach others about God's word and His amazing message. Right now our Student Ministry is teaching each other about what it means to be Faithful in all areas of our lives. Here's the truth though: Nobody is Faithful, Nobody is Perfect and It's super-hard to try to be. Stick with me here, we are getting really close to the wonderful part of this.

God is faithful. God is perfect. It isn't something he 'tries' to do it is simply who he is. I am a hypocrite who tries to be faithful, but I fail a lot and more often than not my faith is pretty fake. God is the genuine thing though. There is nothing fake about him. How wonderful is it that our feeble and often fake faith is placed in a God who is real, true, and able to keep His promises.

Our High School Guys Sunday Morning Group talked about James 1 yesterday morning. James talks about fake faith. He compares it to people who literally can't remember what they look like. He essentially is saying, "Hey if you have met God, you are going to remember it!" Listen to what He says in James 1:25 (The Message)

"²⁵But whoever catches a glimpse of the revealed counsel of God—the free life!—even out of the corner of his eye, and sticks with it, is no distracted scatterbrain but a man or woman of action. That person will find delight and affirmation in the action."

Take joy in this awesome truth today! In all of our fakeness and failures. He is the real deal and those of us who stick with it, we will find delight and meaning in our action. It's is wonderful to know that even me, the hypocrite, is loved by the genuine God.

An Adventure in the Unexpected

2011-09-12T11:18:00.003-04:00

When Alicia and I found out we were going to be parents we started praying for our unborn child. We prayed our baby would know God's love and share God's love with others. The thing we probably prayed most often is that our child would always sense God's adventure in their life.

Robert Frost described life as a journey. Rascal Flatts recently reminded us that life is a highway that is intended to be driven all night long (Someone needs to explain that philosophical perspective to me. Is it better to drive only at night or is it that when we are going to drive for 12 hour stretches that night driving is best?). Our Constitution says that life is our God-given right and that we should have the freedom to pursue happiness.

I've recently been reading Karen H. Jobes commentary on the book of Esther. In her commentary Jobes discusses the unique nature of Esther in the Bible. The book does not mention the name of God nor does it mention prayer. Still, in what seems like the absence of God, amazing things happen in this historic account. God is present in amazing ways even though He is not listed among the cast of characters. The story is immensely powerful. So much so, Jews imprisoned in concentration camps during WWII would recite the entire book of Esther from memory. This bothered German soldiers to the extent that they forbade them from reciting the story because of the message it carried with it. Jobes used an interesting word to describe what happens in Esther's powerful story. She calls it Peripety.

I had never heard this word before so I looked it up to see exactly what meaning she was trying to convey. Peripety is when something totally unexpected happens seemingly out of nowhere. In Esther's case, right when you think all of the Jews are going to be killed, God uses Mordecai and Esther to save His People. That is peripety. As I looked up this word I found out that the history of this word actually carries with it the idea of adventure. After all, aren't the best adventures filled with unexpected things around every corner?

Alicia and I continue to pray for our son Zeke that he would always sense God's adventure in His life. Today, that's my pray for me and for you. That we would see God's adventure. That we would experience His Peripety in our lives. That just when we feel like He has abandoned us or that He is far from us that He would reveal himself in powerful ways.

Whether your life is a journey, a highway, or a pursuit, may you always sense His Adventure.

Uprooted

2011-09-12T10:45:00.005-04:00

This morning in my quiet time I read Proverbs 12. Verse 3 of that chapter reads,
^"No one can be established through wickedness,
but the righteous cannot be uprooted."
By itself this verse is a great truth, but in perspective with my weekend, this verse was especially fitting. On Saturday afternoon my dad and I spent 4 painstaking hours trying to remove a tree stump from my front yard. Needless to say I'm moving a lot slower today as a result.

My brother and I cut the tree down earlier this summer, and over the past few weeks I have been digging the stump out and cutting its roots. I thought I had gotten all of them, but after chaining it up and trying to pull it out it was clear that we still had work to do. We dug deeper and deeper, kept chopping more roots, and enjoyed the encouragement and jokes from my neighbors. Finally as the sun disappeared the stump finally came out. We were dirty, stinky and dog-tired.

As I read Proverbs 12:3, that tree stump came to the forefront of my mind. It wasn't a huge tree. At its thickest point it was maybe 16 inches in diameter. The stump had been cut off from most of its roots and the rest of the tree for nearly 3 months. Still it wasn't going anywhere fast.

Colossians 2:6-7 says, "⁶ So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, ⁷ rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness."

God encouraged me with those words from Proverbs and Colossians this morning. As I think about how difficult it was to uproot that tree, I love to think about how soundly God roots us in faith and the righteousness He gives us. When we put our trust in Him, He is faithful, and nothing can seperate us from Him.

(I can't forget to thank Clayton for letting me borrow his truck, Kevin for letting me borrow his chains, and my dad for working hard even with two knee replacements. Thanks!)

Links:
Jodi's Blog in Haiti
This is the blog of the missionary family in the Mole St Nicolas in Northwest Haiti. Such a cool update. Be praying for them!

Google Energy
Have you ever wondered how much electricity a Google Search uses? This article tells you that and a lot more info on how much energy Google takes up. Pretty interesting.

Benefits of Teens Being in Small Groups
Veteran youth minister Doug Fields writes a post about Student Ministry from the perspective of a Dad. He has come up with a great list of benefits small groups have for families and students.

Engagement Photos
My Uncle Denver put this link on his facebook page. By far the most interesting Engagement photos I have ever seen. Is that a zombie coming over the hill?

Life After Youth Group

2011-08-16T14:25:00.002-04:00

A great video from Fuller Youth Institute on life after Youth Group:

What You Need to Know About Life After Youth Group from Fuller Youth Institute on Vimeo.

A Couple Emails Worth Sharing

2011-08-08T13:37:00.003-04:00

Here are a couple emails that have found there way into my inbox the past few weeks that I thought were encouraging and worth sharing. It's neat to see God work in people and see them be active in His Kingdom. Here is what they had to say.

From a Teen Who Volunteers in Children's Ministry...
I wanted to share a real quick story with you. As a human, life throws you through tough times and I have kind of been going through one of those. But I look forward to every Sunday and teaching my lambs class SO much. The way they snuggle with you and look up to you makes my day. Yesterday, I had this little girl who was really tired and wanted me to hold her the entire time (which of course I LOVED). When we were singing songs and saying how much Jesus loved us and how he is our comfort, it really got me thinking. These little kids fears and worries are so different than mine, but God is there for all of us. These kids make me smile and make my day and take the stress out of my life for that hour or so. Helping in the lambs class has really impacted me and been a great experience! I just thought that was worth sharing :)
Erika

From a Mom who went with her daughters on a Student Ministry Trip to Haiti this summer:
When it began to rain but it was still light out I remember looking up at the mountains and the scripture, "I lift my eyes up to the hills-where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth." came to mind. I said that verse many times over the course of our bus ride. After we got stuck for the 3rd time I realized that though I thought I was trusting God when it came down to it I really wasn't. Most of my prayers up to that point were more like me begging God to get us there safely. God basically told me that He had kept me safe that far and that He'd gotten us unstuck each time so I needed to trust Him for the rest of the trip. After that I began to pray for the kids (and adults) that they wouldn't feel sick, that they'd feel God's peace, and that God would give them the strength to endure. While it was still a challenging trip after that, I did feel more at ease as I trusted God. All that time that verse was going through my mind. Though I knew the verse, I wasn't real familiar with it, and didn't know exactly where to find it though I tried to find it the next day. Anyway I looked it up when I got home. I read the whole Psalm 121 and was so amazed to see how fitting it all was to our trip! God was telling me He was going to protect me even though I didn't know the whole Psalm at the time. I just love how He works! Yay God!

Have a great day,
Andrea

Psalm 121

A song of ascents.

¹ I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
where does my help come from?
² My help comes from the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth.

³ He will not let your foot slip—
he who watches over you will not slumber;
⁴ indeed, he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.

⁵ The LORD watches over you—
the LORD is your shade at your right hand;
⁶ the sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.

⁷ The LORD will keep you from all harm—
he will watch over your life;
⁸ the LORD will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.

CIY Move Update

2011-07-26T18:13:00.001-04:00

CIY Update: Tuesday Evening

Alright, it’s way past time for an update. Instead of me just typing away though I’ll let the students and leaders tell you what they have learned, enjoyed, or experienced…

Cory Hinaman

I have loved singing at the morning session and evening session with the awesome worship team. When we talked about the story of Rahab and how God can use all kinds of people to serve I thought it was really cool and inspiring.

Anna Self

So far CIY has been a blast. The AaronPelsueband is awesome and the speakers have been just as great. My favorite message so far has been about Samuel and how he learned to listen to God. It takes a lot to slow down and just say to God, “Speak, for your servant is listening.” We have also learned about Rahab and how God can take the biggest messes, love them, and turn their lives into something powerfully important. Rahab is a prostitute who ends up being the great great grandmother of Jesus. That alone proves how God can turn anyones messy life into something beautiful. That’s why he is called the Mess-iah.

Tanner Sotkiewicz

CIY ha been amazing so far. It has been so much fun to spend time with friends while growing closer to God. My favorite part so far was definitely worship on Tuesday night. It was so moving and inspiring and just awesome.

Megan Josefczyk

CIY has been awesome so far! Today, our morning speaker spoke about how we should not “decide to read the Bible” but feel “desperate to read the Bible and hear from God.” It was really inspiring and made me really want to dive into my Bible.

Elyse Purtilar

With this being my first CIY experience, I came in with no expectations because when I was in high school I grew up going to Woodland Lakes and Big Stuf Camp. I am a person who finds musical worship as my main form of worshipping the Lord. I came in not even really knowing or hearing much about the Aaron Pelsue Band and find myself weeping at how humble and selfless they made the experience of worship. I am definitely more than blow away at the experience overall, not just the worship and speakers but building deeper relationships with the youth group as a whole. To see my students get so much out of it and realize things that have taken me years to figure out or realize has been the most encouraging and humbling part of this trip. For my students to be so authentic and real with each other has made it a church “family” experience. Humbled. Blessed. Encouraged. Loved. Thank you for letting me spend the week with your children and be able to pour into them and students thank you for teaching me so much!

Intern Update

2011-07-07T15:42:00.001-04:00

So it’s July and we are as crazy as ever. As I type this Tanner is trying to get me out of his seat, but in all seriousness we have learned a lot. We’ve all learned how to organize, but mostly we have learned how to serve others with a cheerful heart. Today we went on a prayer walk that taught me personally that God doesn’t care about your “prayer position,” but just that you talk to Him and share what’s on your heart. CIY Move is coming up, and we are all really excited, since we are partially in charge of planning our small group time. All the interns and Matt plan on Move being a life-changing, relationship-growing experience (with each other and God!). We are already brainstorming ideas about how to improve Student Ministry next year! But I can’t forget the best part of the summer so far, TIM DUNN”S CAMP! Camp taught me that no matter what age you are you can impact the world and others around you. It was awesome to see the kids open their hearts up to us (their counselors) and God’s truth that we were trying to instill in them. One of the things that impacted me the most was the heartfelt worship and honesty you could see on the campers’ faces. This type of worship became contagious and the dynamic of the camp changed from then on. Besides the great experience I had with the campers, I also made some tight friendships with the other counselors. The other counselors are now my friends for life. I miss camp, but I’m ready to take on the rest of my already fantastic summer!!!

- Anna

Hey this is Tanner, these girls are driving me crazy, but I am learning to live with these crazy antics and “prom dress” chats. I really do have a great time every day though. I am learning a lot more from things I didn’t think I would learn from. Like cleaning out closets, and wiping down things dirtier than you can imagine. Doing this work has taught me to be a servant. It’s like I’m really starting to understand that it’s not about me, but that I was called to be a servant to God. This includes being a servant to others. Also, TIM DUNN’S JR.HIGH 1 CAMP, as mentioned earlier in Anna’s paragraph. We spent the whole week as “family members” or counselors at this camp. I went into this camp expecting to help middle school students get one more step along the way in there walk with God. Which definitely happened with many students, but what I didn’t expect was to learn so much about myself from those kids. So for the most part I am really enjoying the internship so far.

- Tanner

As another day of the internship begins, I enter Parkside excited to find out what is going to come my way as soon as I open the door to the office. I open the door every Wednesday and Thursday to see my three fellow interns (Dana, Anna and Tanner) and Matt sitting and chatting as I proceed to almost always be the last one there. I guess I am still getting used to the 9-5 job experience. We started reading this book called Radical by David Platt and we discuss a different chapter every week. So far, I have learned a lot just by reading this book. I am not far in the book but I can’t wait to read more. In the past few weeks I have learned many things about working in an office, as well as learn the responsibilities around the church. From learning how to work a copy machine, to organizing and cleaning different things around the teen center, I have learned a lot about having responsibilities and serving in God’s Kingdom. So far it has been an awesome and fun experience. While Matt was in Haiti we attended, TIM DUNN’S JR.HIGH 1 CAMP!!! I, as well as the other interns, each were counselors in a so called “family.” The theme of the camp was “Grown Up.” We heard many different sermons about knowing your faith, and doing your faith and how to apply God’s word to your life. One of the best nights of camp was the interactive worship night. Kids learned how to worship God in other ways besides just singing, reading the Bible, or praying. It brought a new meaning to the idea of worshiping the Lord. Camp was a great opportunity to reach out to Jr. High students and to serve in God’s Kingdom. It was a life-changing experience that furthered my relationship with Jesus Christ, as well as the relationships with the people around me. So far this camp has been one of the highlights of my summer and I learned a lot about becoming a leader and serving. It was a blast, and I hope to stay in contact with the people that I met there. I have learned so much from working in the church these past few weeks, and working in other students lives. This is more than just a 9-5 job, it is all about glorifying God’s Kingdom and leading people into a life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ. I am loving the internship so far and I can’t wait for our next big thing, CIY MOVE! We have just begun planning and it is going to be a great trip! I am excited to see where God leads me and the rest of the team in the next couple months. It has been a great journey so far!

-Katie

It feels like we’ve been here forever. This internship has been a huge blessing for me. I’ve had so many opportunities to grow my faith and grow relationships. We went to Woodland Lakes Christian Camp last week for Tim Dunn’s ‘Grown UP’ Junior High 1 camp. It was a fantastic experience. I had been praying every day leading up to the camp that the counselors would open their hearts to these kids and pour into them. I also prayed that Kurt, our speaker, would just really hit a chord with these kids and that the kids would be broken down so that God may build them back up.

My faith and leadership were challenged in many ways in this camp. I was able to take an active role in my family group. My group was very closed off at first; conversation was hard to get out of the girls. But by the end of the week, we were all as close as can be. The over all sermons were about having an active faith and to ‘know faith…do faith’. As Christians we need to work on having a genuine faith as well as finding a balance within the works we do. The best part of the week for me wasn’t the sermon, paint-balling, the giant swing, or even the worship. The best thing that happened was that I was able to mend my relationship with my brother.

At the beginning of the camp, each camper was asked what they want to get out of the week. My friend was in my brother’s family group and passed on to me what his response to this question was. He said this: “I would really like to deepen my relationship with God, but I would also like to grow closer to my sister. She’s usually really busy and I never really see her. Plus she’s going away to college this year and I’m gonna miss her.” This was the best thing I could ever hear. By the end of the week, my brother and I were finally on good terms. We even had a nice hug/cry session during our interactive worship day during camp. This camp was such a blessing. It did not only answer my prayers about breaking the kids down to be built back up by God, but the counselors as well were broken down and built back up. Also many friendships blossomed from this camp, as well as in this internship. I can’t wait to see what the rest of the summer holds!

-Dana

Headed to Haiti

2011-06-22T11:34:00.000-04:00

Our team leaves for Haiti bright and early tomorrow morning. Pray for us, we return on July 1st. You can get updates on the trip here:

http://molehaiti.wordpress.com/

Thanks,
Matt

Our Obligation to Share Our Story

2011-05-23T16:17:00.002-04:00

Life gets busy fast... or as that one insurance commercial quips, "Life comes at you fast."

Alicia and I have welcomed with open arms, and we love it. Most of our days are spent in a somewhat sluggish fashion that reminds most people of zombies. Still, we have smiles on our faces so we are happy zombies. Happy zombies with a beautiful son.

Ask anybody who has had a conversation with me and they will say that my ability to recall certain.. oh wait one second... let me think... oh yeah... WORDS, has decreased considerably. I might not even be fluent in American English anymore. It's probably closer to a dialect of Tired Dad.

Recently, I was having a conversation with my small group and we talked about the importance of sharing what God has taught us through our life story. One of us mentioned that they didn't want to sound like they were bragging or had life figured out, and so they seldom shared God-stories or stories of personal growth outside of their close friend circle. They didn't want to come across as spiritually pompous so they celebrated the truth to themselves or with a few others.

As the conversation wore on we (or maybe just myself) came to the conclusion that we need to share how God's growing us, or what he is teaching us with others. There are verses all over the New Testament about 'one another.' We are called to love, encourage, help, admonish, bless one another because of God's work in our lives. So whether that means a facebook status, a conversation over dinner, in your group, at work, or on your blog, I think we need to be sharing the growth, life lessons going on inside of us.

Which brings me back to the busyness of my new role as Dad. I'm embarrassed to say that its been a month since my last post. I have had different things happen in my life that I will write a note to myself to share with others on this blog. Those post-its are collecting dust on my desk. I know my first responsibility is to minister to Alicia and my son Zeke, but I need to do a better job of sharing what is going on in my life, with others. It is what God has called each of us to do.
Not so that we can sound more spiritually fit, but so we can strengthen each other in our service to God.

I'd love to hear what God is revealing/teaching you as well.

Things of Interest

2011-04-18T15:45:00.000-04:00

I just wanted to pass these things along to everybody. I hope you find them useful and/or enjoyable:

The Vilardo Blog:
Some of our Students are currently on a mission trip with their family in Kazakhstan. They are doing some pretty neat things for the Kingdom of God and are sharing some of it on their blog. I've loved keeping tabs on them. Please be praying for them during their trip!

Zach Steever in Bolivia:
During our HS Retreat this year we spent time praying for Zach and some of his students who were on a work trip at the same time in Bolivia where he teaches. It was a really neat prayer time. Afterwards he sent us some pictures of how their trip went. Their team of students dug a well and fabricated parts of the well. It was also a time of discipleship for all involved. Pretty cool to see what they did and how God let us be a part of it through prayer.

ISAIAH117CHALLENGE T-Shirts:
Necia Disse is designing our shirts for this year's Isaiah 117 Challenge. She is coming up with some cool looking stuff too. Here is just a taste of the brilliance!

Volunteer Thank You Video:

Here is a video that a church did to appreciate their volunteers. It's awesome and I'm gonna use it as a chance to say how much I love the team that serves our students and their families. It's awesome to serve in God's Kingdom together. This video is pretty awesome too. The people that came up with it did a great job.

Volunteer Rap from Kensington on Vimeo.

Your Kids an All-Star?:
This is a blog post that was sent to me by a friend of mine. It is by a guy named Scott Linscott. He discusses all the negative effects sports, drama, music etc. can have on students. He says some pretty thought provoking stuff and I think he is right on most of it too. We need to treat our students a lot more like we treat our retirement accounts sometimes. We can't try to rush their growth or over do things. We have to look at where we want them to be 5 to 10 years down the road and help them make good decisions that reflect our spiritual beliefs. That's really hard to do in this day and age. Be sure to read Scott's post. It's worth your time!

Special Thanks to Everyone at Rel Community

2011-03-29T15:55:00.000-04:00

This past Sunday night at Rel Community, our students and group leaders threw Alicia and I a surprise party for Baby Zeke. It was so thoughtful of them. Here are some thoughtful things they did, highlights from the night, and some other things I noticed:

The students made a scrap book for us. Each student did a page or two. It turned out pretty sweet and now we have a way to look back at past Student Ministry Events. It's in my office right now on the coffee table, but It's gonna be great to have around the house to show friends and family different things our students have done.
It's also kind of creepy that the students were able to create a scrapbook of most of our lives just from the pictures we have up on Facebook. I'm surprised that George Orwell didn't specifically name Big Brother Facebook in his classic novel 1984.
The students decorated, brought baked goods and balloons. It was one happening place on Sunday night.
The activity for the night was Price is Right: Baby Style. Not only was this hilarious, but we also learned that Turner Seal pales (yes that's also a tanning joke) in comparison to Bob Barker.
Probably the biggest thing that blessed me on Sunday night was realizing the wonderful family God has put around us here at Parkside. It was so thoughtful for our students and group leaders to do something like that on their own and they did it in such a loving and thoughtful way. I can't wait to introduce our new son to each of them.

And yes, as I write this my wife has yet to go into labor, and I have yet to get to meet my son for the first time. The due date is April 1st, just a few days away. Be praying for a safe, healthy delivery for mom and baby. Oh and be praying that he gets here sooner rather than later!

Adverse Change

2011-02-28T21:57:00.000-05:00

I came to a shocking realization this morning around 2:30. I have a tooth that really really hurts. At about 4AM, I came to the conclusion that the pain wasn't going away, and I was going to have to do something about it. Well, I wasn't going to have to do something. A trained professional was going to have to do something. So as soon as my dentist opened up shop today I headed over to get things looked at. That's when I received my death sentence: Root Canal.

I asked the hygienist Tiffany, how long they typically take. Apparently they last around an hour if all goes well. If having my mouth stretched open wide while one of my nerves is destroyed in my mouth wasn't enough, I haven't been getting too many excited comments from my friends and family about their experiences with the process. The general consensus is its painful, long, and at the end of it they give you a bill. No this isn't my attempt at a Charlie Brown Dental Visit, or me sharing Matt's Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. That's not the case at all.

I hate when I know I have something painful ahead of me. I hate it even more, when I know that it is necessary. It only makes things worse to know on top of everything else, that whatever necessary pain is ahead of me, it won't necessarily fix all of my problems.

It is easy for me to recognize this when my jaw is throbbing and anything is an improvement over that constant pain. It is a lot harder for me, when that necessary pain means having a tough conversation with a friend, making a tough cut in my personal budget to pay off debt, dealing with sin in my life, or making some other change in my life.

People are naturally resistant to change because they know it can be painful. We are even more resistant when we know it will be painful. Still, we can't avoid it. That only makes things worse. Pain is sometimes an inevitable part of life. When we recognize that we have some of it up ahead, we best prepare ourselves to trust God and go through it. If we drag our feet, it can only last longer.

I've gotta run. I think I have an ice skate in my basement. I think I saw Tom Hanks give himself a root canal with one in Castaway. It couldn't hurt to try right?

CIY Believe 2011 Tour: Student Minister Field Guide

2011-02-22T10:21:00.001-05:00

Our students went to CIY Believe this weekend in Cincinnati, and we had a GREAT time. The Believe Team did a really good job of making Friday and Saturday a wonderful and challenging experience for our leaders and our students. It's Tuesday and my Facebook News Feed is full of inside jokes, song lyrics, memories, and pictures being shared by students and leaders from this weekend.

Cincinnati was the 3rd of 11 tour stops for Believe this year. I thought it might be helpful for other ministers, leaders, and churches for me to throw out some info that I found helpful, and to share a little bit about our group's experience. Here are some things that I thought were noteworthy, helpful to know beforehand, or things I appreciated that Believe gave us ahead of time. I hope you find it helpful, and I hope your students and leaders enjoy their weekend at Believe like we did.

Registration Process

Because our church was close enough to the arena, I went early to register without our students, and to reserve seats for the evening sessions. The early check in at Believe started at 3pm. I got there around 3:15. I was able to reserve front row seats for our whole group, but be careful that you get a seating chart for the evening to ensure you save seats that match up with your groups bracelets otherwise you might have to move unexpectedly. I loved the chance to get in early and take care of our seats.

Another thing that I wasn't expecting when I arrived early, was that we needed to turn in all of our permission forms and leader releases in order to get our small group materials and student Bibles. I did not have all of our forms etc ready, but they were very gracious and allowed me to go ahead, pick up our stuff, and turn in our forms later that evening. It was great to get the Bibles ahead of time to leave on the seats we had reserved.

Small Group Materials

The small group materials that they provide the groups this year were significantly different from previous years. This year each group will receive a 'inflatable conversation starting' ball. You toss it around the group and depending on what your hand is touching on the ball determines what question the student gets asked.

The ball is more ideal to be used outside the arena, in your hotel room, or in your church. It won't work to well if you try throwing it around your table at lunch or at a late night coffee shop etc. The ball itself doesn't provide your group leaders with much info on the sessions either. Some group leaders really like to know what topics are going to be covered so they can get their thoughts together on things. The Believe team has released a session by session, element by element overview of the weekend so that leaders can get a good grip on things for their small group times. You can find that HERE.

Worship Materials

This is one of the areas that the Believe team really hit it out of the park. I can't speak for everybody, but I love it when I get info ahead of time about what is going to be said, sung, and done at these events. Not only did they let us know what songs we would be singing, but they provided us with an ITUNES ping list, chord charts, and an overview of what their goal was with the worship times. I hope they provide us with this type of info every year. You can access the worship info HERE.

Oh and I can't forget to say that the band that they brought with them to help lead worship, the Sparks, did a wonderful job. I really enjoyed them.

Finding New Seats
At Believe you group switches seats throughout the weekend to give as many groups as possible a chance to be close to the action. I think its a really good idea. One thing I would give you a heads up on though is the Saturday: After Lunch switching of seats will sneak up on you. Hopefully in the future, they will just have you sitting in one area on Friday, and then one area all day Saturday. My advice for getting your seats for Saturday after lunch, is to try and find seats for your group BEFORE you all leave the venue for lunch.

Believe Bibles

I love the fact that Believe gives every student a Bible and encourages them repeatedly to read along with them in it. However, every year we have several students leave their newly received Bibles all over the place. I think what I am going to try next year is to either print out name labels to put in each of the Bibles on the first night, or have each student right their name in their Bible right away when they get it.

Lion Stencils
One of the underlying themes is that God gives us the courage to do what we are called by Him to do. They have this awesome picture of a lion that represents the courage He gives us. Throughout the weekend, they will use a stencil to spray paint on the lion to students' t-shirts. They actually have stencils for sale at the event, but I thought you might want to get a different lion stencil online to be tagging people's shirts with that weekend. Here are a couple I found:

Lion Number 1

Lion Number 2

Cardboard Box Painting

This was one thing that got me a lot more stressed than I needed to be about it. When we received our info pack with our wristbands, we also received a letter that told us to get a sample size amount of black and white pant, and things to paint with (brushes, gloves, sponges etc). We would use it in Saturday's last session to paint a box. I tried talking with other people to see what they were going to get, and I called CIY to ask how many I would need for my group of around 40. They told me that I would only need 1 box and enough paint for that box. What worried me was I was worried that not all of my students would be able to participate in the activity.

What I ended up doing turned out to work pretty well. I asked a few students to paint the box during lunch on Saturday, and then had all of our students write on it before the last session started. The element they use the boxes for is pretty cool, and it will come together whether things go smoothly on your end or not.

CIY's Event Cell
In the packet that we received our wristbands, we also had an overview letter from Corina Ferguson our event coordinator. It talked through different aspects of the weekend, and it also included a cell phone number we could reach her at during the weekend.

On Saturday as we left the arena, we ran into a girl who had been separated from her group in the parking garage. I was so thankful I had brought that letter with me. One of our small groups of girls talked with the student while I called Corina. She quickly found the girl's church, called them, and the group turned around and quickly came back to the parking garage. The Believe team (Thanks Corina!) took care of that problem in 5-10 minutes. I was so impressed, and I could see how thankful the student was to be able to quickly find her group again.

Make sure you have that number with you in case something happens with your gorup, or someone else's.

Tricycle Racing League

The goofy, entertainment element this year at Believe is a series of videos about the Tricycle Racing league. Although a lot of our students didn't really get these videos, or think they were very funny, they all thought it would be pretty fun to race tricycles some time. So if you have the time before hand, you might go out and grab some tricycles for Believe Free Time, or just start having some Tricycle races with your Middle School students right now.

Highlights:
Heather Flies- was our speaker for the weekend and she did a phenomenal job. A lot of our team said that they would love to have her come speak at our church. I love the way she was authentic, quick to the point, and the way she showed love for Middle School Students.

Roaring Like a Lion and These Are Your Words- were the two songs that our students came away from Believe singing. These were both very meaningful songs for our group, and they will be sung a few more times here at Parkside before too long.

Awesome Group Leaders- Our team of leaders here at Parkside did an incredible job this weekend. I loved overhearing conversations about reading the Bible, living your faith at school, and just seeing our leaders love their students. I also have to celebrate just how much initiative our leaders exhibited this weekend. We had a few students picked up early, and our group leaders handled all of it. Any time a student had an issue or concern the first person to hear about it was their group leader and their leaders did a great job handling those moments. We had a couple of students who didn't like heights and didn't want to sit in the upper deck. Their leaders just grabbed a couple other students, checked in with me and found a small section of seats in the lower deck. It is such a blessing to be a part of this team. They are all passionate about loving students and being a part of God's Kingdom.

No Cathedrals Preview- The focus for CIY Move this summer is on places in the world where churches aren't made up of buildings, but are simply a group of people. These are parts of the world where persecution is a huge concern for followers of Christ. The Believe team showed an extended preview of the documentary called No Cathedrals on Saturday morning. I am excited about revealing this part of the world to our students. We take our faith for granted all to often, and we need to realize just how much grace is worth.

-I hope you found this overview/field guide helpful for Believe. Don't hesitate to email me with any questions you might have. Our weekend at Believe was great, and I hope and pray you have the same experience.

CIY BELIEVE: Day 1

2011-02-19T02:05:00.000-05:00

We have had a great first night at Believe. it's involved tricycles, magic, loud music, dancing, the story of Esther, and our students having WAY to much fun at IHOP at midnight. The students took a lot of video with the flip cam, but it won't be until next week before we get that video online.

So yeah we had a lot of fun. The big thing they challenged us with tonight was for us to realize what has brought us HERE to this moment and what God is wanting to challenge us to do NOW. If anyone wants to read along with us this weekend, they can do that by reading the book of ESTHER. Parents this would be a great way to know a little bit about what your students learned this week and start some good conversations with them.

Please be praying that our students would have open hearts to God's word. Pray that our adult leaders would get more rest than the actual hours they sleep (its 2am as I am writing this!), and pray to that we wouldn't miss God's Spirit in this awesome time. We sang a song tonight about God being fully alive in us and how his power is like a roaring lion within us. Pray that we wouldn't miss Him and his power this weekend.

We have a great group of students here who all have different talents and gifts. They also have a lot of different things that they are working through. Its all a part of being a middle school student. It isn't always fun either. Pray that they would begin to see the ways God guides us and strengthens us for every present moment. Thanks!

More Super Bowl Commercials!!!

2011-02-15T09:15:00.000-05:00

Samsung 3000SX Turbo

The New Energy Drink

Messin' with Sethsquatch

Our Savior, Shepherd, and King

2011-02-14T16:54:00.000-05:00

When I was a kid, some where along the way, someone showed me a series of verses from the book of Romans that sum up the message of Jesus. They talk about our need for a savior, how Jesus can meet those needs, and how he deserves to be in control of our lives. They are all solid passages, just like the rest of Romans.

Recently, I have been reading through the book of Psalms with one of our High School Seniors who I meet for breakfast every week. We will get together for the tasty food at Big Apple Bagels and talk about life and then read through a handful of Psalms.

This morning we got to 3 Psalms that I absolutely love. I think they accomplish the same thing that the verses from Romans do. They paint a beautiful picture of Jesus' sacrifice, his loving compassion, and his mighty power. The thing I might love the best out of all of it is the fact that God inspired these three Psalms to be written by King David a long time before Jesus was even laid in a manger.

The Psalms I am talking about are chapters 22, 23 and 24. Psalms 22-24 start of in chapter 22 with words that Jesus eventually spoke on the cross. The chapter is prophetically about Jesus' suffering. He endured the ridicule of men, and the pain of the cross for all mankind. The chapter ends not with sorrow, but with eternal hope. Psalms 22:30-31 declare,
^"30 Posterity will serve him;
   future generations will be told about the Lord.
³¹ They will proclaim his righteousness,
   declaring to a people yet unborn:
   He has done it!"

Psalms 23 is one that you will see quoted on Hallmark cards, as well as plenty of other things, but as you read it don't miss the person that the LORD is described as. The person that is described in chapter 23 is the perfect, most compassionate dad anyone could ever think to have.

Chapter 24 hits you like an incredible pep talk before the biggest test or challenge you might possibly face. It describes the Lord in His great power and might. It paints a picture of God returning victorious from battle to the praise of his people.

Please take the time to sit down, read, and meditate on these 3 chapters today. Thank Jesus for his sacrifice for our sake, embrace him as our loving Shepherd, and take safety in him as your King.

More Student Super Bowl Commercials

2011-02-10T20:49:00.000-05:00

Is this an And1 Mix Tape???

Awake and Alive -or- Is that a Chocolate Chip Cookie or Oatmeal Raisin?

Another Super Bowl Commercial from Our Contest and Random Stuff

2011-02-09T10:42:00.000-05:00

This video was done by one of our Middle School groups. As you can tell I think they had WAY too much fun filming this!

I'll be posting other commercials from our students' commercial contest at Rel Community. Here are some other things that I hope make you laugh, brighten your day or grow you in some way:

VINCE LOMBARDI
For those of you who might not know the Super Bowl trophy is named the Lombardi Trophy after former coach Vince Lombardi. As crazy as it might sounds, someone with the same name was arrested on Super Bowl Sunday for shoplifting. He doesn't look too happy does he?

WORLDVIEW 101
A friend of mine who is currently a teacher in Bolivia sent me this website, and looks like a really informative and valuable tool. It has tons of information and articles about pretty much everything. If you are a Christian who wants to go a little deeper in their knowledge of God or other worldviews, this would be a great resource.

MARRIED IN MINISTRY
Whether you are in full time ministry, its something you are pursuing, or you just want to know more about what life in ministry is like, I came across a blog interview that has some great insights as to what it is like for the wife of a full-time minister. The interview is with Lauren Chandler who is married to Matt Chandler who is the Lead Minister at Village Church in Texas.

Parent Night at Rel Community

2011-02-08T17:36:00.000-05:00

This past month we decided to do something different at Rel Community for one Sunday night. We invited all of the parents to come with their students. We were motivated by our desire to team up with parents in ministry, and our desire to encourage them in the day in and day out challenge they have raising up their kids in the way they should go. Still, we didn't know exactly what the response would be. We put a high value on supporting parents from our student ministry and community so we decided it was something we had to do.

So we put announcements in the bulletin, the e-newsletter, and spent a whole month announcing it to students and giving them take home cards to give to their parents. We prayed a lot that parents would show up. We also prayed that it would be an encouraging time for our parents and our group leaders.

I can't speak for everyone on the Student Ministry team, but I for one was pretty nervous about the Parent night for a couple of reasons. First off, there is unfounded, but pretty inherit fear that most Student Ministers have of parents. I know it is pretty ridiculous, but I'm guessing that its the same kind of feeling that teachers get at times at Parent and Teacher Conferences. It only takes a few times of getting blindsided by a parent to get a little bit apprehensive. Student Ministers and Volunteers spend so much time and passion investing in students' lives, and sometimes parents will unsuspectingly blow us out of the water. It doesn't happen all the time, but it definitely happens, and the scars we get from us can easily affect how we interact with other parents. So not only was I nervous that some of our group leaders would get hurt by a well-intentioned parents words, I also had another fear. I was worried that students would choose not to come because they didn't want their parents to be there.

I spent the week leading up to Parent Night giving my fears up to God and joining other Student Ministry Team Members in prayer for the night. What God did on Parent night was incredible. We had over 35 parents show up and take part in the evening. Not only that, but we also had over 70 students there that evening. Not only did they show up, but everyone participated in the evening's events. We played a HUGE game of Parents vs. Students Dodgeball and nearly everyone played. After that our students taught their moms and dads the Cupid Shuffle, and everyone had a blast!

For our group time that evening we split up our group leaders. Half of them went with their normal group of students, and the other half went to meet with their group's parents. In our parent group time we got to know everyone, shared our biggest fear for our sons and daughters, shared our kids biggest successes, and really just tried to encourage the parents in their God-given role. We ended the night by praying for each other in our circles. It was truly incredible.

One of my favorite parts though was what happened afterwords. I kept getting approached by parents and by group leaders who wanted to say how much they enjoyed getting a chance to interact with each other. Group leaders said they loved hearing form the parents, and the parents kept thanking the group leaders for what they did. On the way home from Rel Community that night I got two phone calls. One was from a group leader. I was worried that someone had said something hurtful or something like that. That wasn't the case at all. They were just calling to say how much fun being with the parents had been. The other call was from a parent. They wanted to let me know how blessed they were to have a ministry for their kids that also wanted to help and encourage the parents. What a blessing those two phone calls were!

Its been a couple weeks since Parent night, and everybody already wants to do something like it again. I talked to some mom's who were at the church the other day, and they said they could hardly wait until they got the chance to come again. I asked them if it would be hard giving up a Sunday evening to come to more Parent Nights. They didn't even hesitate. They said they would be there in a heartbeat. I think God's trying to tell our Student Ministry something. We have loved working alongside of parents, and we are definitely going to be making more opportunities to do it more!

Here is a video to give you a little taste of what the evening's activities were like:

Things I've Been Reading

2011-01-26T11:45:00.000-05:00

Well there was a little longer between blog post than I would like, but a lot of great stuff has been going on the past few weeks that has either kept me away form the computer or kept me pretty busy. Right after Christmas, I had the awesome opportunity to go on a Cruise with Alicia's family that was so much fun. Once we got home, a last minute plan turned into reality, and my Dad and some of my friends to a van load down to New Orleans for the Sugar Bowl. We drove there and back in the course of 48 hours, but it was TOTALLY worth it. Then finally, our Middle School Sunday Morning Group was going through a series our leader Yuri came up with called Carrots and Donuts: The Civil War Within, that focused on the struggle we have as Christians to give up certain things to go on the adventure God has for us. As a part of that our group was challenged to give up something that we spend a lot of time doing. I chose the internet, so for a week I was out of commission, but now I have some time to pass along some things to you for your perusal.

Here are some links of things I've seen or read recently. Hopefully some of them brighten your day, challenge you, or just make you laugh:

Shane Claiborne on Prayer
This is an article from Relevant Magazine. It talks about the power of prayer as a community.

Stop Reading Your Bible
This is a link to a blog from a Youth Group that decided to stop reading their Bibles for a month. I know that sounds crazy and well, unbiblical, but check out what they are doing. It's pretty interesting.

Radical By David Platt
One of my friends at Nagel Middle School recommended this book to me. I got in on my IPOD and I have listened to the first few chapters and its been really solid. It not only challenges your thought process on what God is doing in your life, but it also challenges you to think about what God's purpose is for the church.

Inside a Moment in Time
This is something that ESPN put together on their website. It has everyone's perspective on the Eli Manning to David Tyree catch from Super Bowl XLII. Not only does it tell you some pretty cool things about the play itself, it also shows you how much work, effort, and chance went into one of the greatest plays of all-time.

The Empire Farts Back
Yeah ok so this one isn't serious at all. Still, embrace this video. Click on the link and enjoy fart after fart. It's pretty interesting what someone can do with some editing of Star Wars and a fart machine. You'll love the Yoda sequence too!

Patience Updated

2010-12-23T10:34:00.000-05:00

If you don't know why I'm updating you on patience you might want to read THIS post first.
            The last weekend of October, I broke my I-Phone screen. My warranty on the phone was expired and so I was on my own to fix or replace my phone. I decided to brave the uncertainty of trying to fix it. What followed was a very boring, slow moving, and honestly quit frustrating story that taught me a whole new aspect of patience.
            As mentioned before USPS lost the first replacement screen I bought online. I didn't get the replacement part I needed until mid-November. Ironically the screen that was lost in shipping arrived the day after the second one they sent me did. I decided that it was best to laugh about that one.
            I replaced the glass screen and touch screen, but the LCD screen still needed to be replaced. The LCD replacement screen I purchased ended up being an offbrand knock-off that wouldn't work with my phone. I returned it and was stuck with a faded and distorted screen. I would have to tilt my phone to all sorts of weird angles to read text messages. Friends would call me and ask me to explain my text messages. They would then tell me that what I thought had been a normal text message had ended up being a garbled bunch of nonsensical words because I could see my keyboard but couldn't see what I was typing.
            I found another company online that boasted only original manufacturer parts. I purchased an LCD screen from them and started to wait again. It arrived shortly after Thanksgiving. I nervously took my phone apart for what seemed like the 20th time and switched screens. I turned on my phone, and nothing happened. I tried a few different things and nothing worked. I switched the screens again and packed up all my tools and parts.
            I resigned myself that I probably wouldn't get my I-Phone fixed again. My mom saw that I had switched to another phone when Alicia and I were visiting. She asked me when my other phone would be fixed. I told that it probably wasn't going to be fixed. I followed that up by saying that I had learned that patience doesn't always have a finish line.
            Sometimes you wait patiently for something and it never happens. Moses waited for the Promise Land, but he never got to go in to it. Paul repeatedly mentioned in his letters to different churches that he wished to visit them, but wasn't able to for several reasons. John the Baptist sent his followers to Jesus to ask them if John was going to get released from prison, and he didn't get the answer he was expecting. He never was released from prison either.
            Patience is waiting for something through whatever frustrations or problems may arise, and not getting upset or complaining. The truth of life is sometimes we wait, and what we are waiting for never happens. Everyone knows life does not go the way we always want it. Patience is being ok with the possibility that you might not ever get what you want. I think that leads to contentment too.
            As I became more and more content with my phone situation I found myself not having to be patient anymore, because I was already OK with my present situation. That was good.
            Last week, I had lunch with my friend. I saw he had the new I-Phone, so I asked him what happened to his old phone. He told me the buttons had stopped working so he replaced it. I asked what he did with his old phone. As it turned out he still had it and it was collecting dust in his basement. When he heard my story, he had no problem letting me see if his old screen would work in my phone. It did.
            So for the past 7 days I have had the wonderful surprise of owning a working I-Phone and all the wonderful capabilities that come with it. I hope my phone doesn't break again, but the lesson I learned during the adventure of my broken I-phone was definitely worth the wait.

Righteousness vs. Rightness

2010-12-13T16:57:00.000-05:00

I have heard it said that early on in his political career, certain groups of Christians made Abraham Lincoln very uncomfortable. PBS's recent special God in America went into Lincoln's personal notes when discussing his uneasiness with the church. As the North and South became increasingly polarized it worried him that on both sides of the divide was the church. The North and the South were both made up of sincere and devout followers of God who both felt like the Bible agreed with them and their beliefs. The thing that scared Lincoln the most about Christians was their rightness.

There is a difference, a huge one in fact, from righteousness and rightness. When Jesus gave his life for us all on the cross, he made available for us all the gift of grace. When we unwrap that gift we find that grace forgives our sin and makes us righteous in God's sight. Our criminal records have been expunged. We are upstanding citizens in God's Kingdom. What we won't find inside that gift of grace is rightness. The gift of grace doesn't come with all the answers or make all your answers the right one.

Lincoln would later more fully embrace the Christian community after the death of his son. He saw how Christians had a peace and trust in God even in such turbulent times as losing a child. He would view the steps he took in the Civil War to abolish slavery as him playing a part in God's plan to bring justice on earth. Still, even after he came to that realization, he didn't think that the righteousness he received from God gave him rightness in any situation. He saw the difference and the danger of thinking that believing in God made you right in all situations.

I can't speak for you, but it scares me when people feel like God's gift of grace means that not only are they righteous, but they are also right about whatever they are talking about. There are some pretty adamant people out there who totally believe in what they are doing and think that God is 100% behind them. The only people it's not clear how wrong they are is themselves. (Do I even need to mention Westboro Baptist Church)?

Still, I don't think that most people struggle with that overall sense of rightness. Maybe I'm wrong about that. I know a lot of people who don't like being wrong, myself included, but I know most of us really have huge questions about life. We would love to know the answers even if we were wrong on some stuff. The pitfall that I fall into with righteousness vs. rightness is that I forget about the amazing gift of grace I have received.

Great gifts are meant to be shared. God's grace has changed my life and done incredible things in the lives of so many people around me. I make the mistake sometimes of not sharing God's gift of grace with other people because I know that I don't have all the answers. Even though I don't have all the answers I do have the most important answer and that is where the gift of grace comes from. God has given us the most incredible gift; the hope of salvation. That gift doesn't give us free reign or make us right in every argument. It does however change our eternal situation and it is worth being incredibly passionate about. So be passionate about being made righteous by God's grace, but be a little less passionate about always being right.

An Attempt to Brighten Your Thursday

2010-12-09T09:51:00.000-05:00

Zoolander Eat Your Heart Out!

Possibly the Weirdest References to Cincinnati in a Movie Ever!
(From Keanu Reeves and Drew Barrymore too)

Spending Time with Students

2010-12-07T11:43:00.000-05:00

In the summer of 2006, I had an awesome opportunity to do a 3 month internship with Canyon Ridge Christian Church in Las Vegas. The entire experience was a wonderful one. I learned so much from their staff and from all the students I got to meet as well. In fact, it has been incredible how I've gotten to see the Junior High Students that I invested in that summer, grow up, graduate and do some pretty cool things.

There are a lot of great, funny, and interesting stories I could share with everyone. Just ask PJ, Josh, or Jordan about having to change a tire. My first day at Canyon Ridge was jam packed too. It started with me taking a Red Eye Flight from Dayton to Las Vegas, and it ended with me throwing up in my summer host's house (Sorry Kerry) from a combination of jet lag and bad chicken from Red Robin (Yummmm?). Don't worry this isn't going to be a Vomit Play by Play Post.

The first thing that I did at Canyon Ridge after meeting some of their great staff and getting a tour of everything, was I made some phone calls. The Student Ministry had a summer party party coming up and so they wanted me to make some calls and remind students they should come. I felt like a telemarketer. I was making cold calls and hoping no one said, "Matt from Canyon Ridge? I know Duncan, and I know Peak, but who are you?" (See Acts 19:15-16) Thankfully that didn't happen, but something even more intimidating did. I called a number and asked if the student's name I had listed was at home. I got an answer I didn't expect, "Sir, how did you get this number? The teen you named has been moved recently by Children's Services. The case is still ongoing."

After a silence that seemed to last a lifetime. I fumbled around trying to let the person know that I didn't know how I got this number, and that I was only an intern at my first day of work. I think the person on the other end could tell I was flummoxed, because they graciously let me say goodbye. I was petrified. I honestly couldn't tell you about any of the other calls I made the rest of that afternoon. Looking back on that story now a huge lesson pops out to me.

It is easy when you work with Teens in Student Ministry, or as a Teacher to forget all the things that go on in student's everyday lives. As dumb as it sounds its really easy to get sucked into this virtual reality where we think that really the only thing going on in our students' lives are the things they tell us about or do with us. We forget that they have Grandparents in the hospital, college applications that are being completed and filled out, games to play in, and homework to do. We will make a phone call or visit a family and be floored to find out something crazy has happened. Really though, students spend around 2 hours with us each week, what about the other 166 hours? We can't honestly think that students go home and twiddle their thumbs until the next Student Ministry event. A lot of us tend to run our ministry/lives that way.

One of the hardest things for me in my Life Group of friends and other couples that meet every week is for me to remember to check in with them during the week and spend time with them during the week. They are really good friends who I really care about. I'll even make plans to call, text, or hang out with them, but before I know it, its been a week and I haven't talked to them at all.

It is just easy to forget that students have as much going on as we do. Sometimes we are surprised to find out the pain they are going through or the struggles they have going on week to week. It is hard to keep that in the forefront of our mind. Maybe we need to spend more time listening, so we get a chance to hear about all that they have going on from week to week. I'll have to tell you the story of me yakking some other time.

Patience is a Virtue, But I Don't Have The Time to Explain It.

2010-11-11T10:57:00.000-05:00

You have run into the store to pick up something really quick. You find it right away and head to check out. The self-check out line is too long. You glance over to the Express Line. It's packed too. You start to walk down the row of checkout lines, when an attendant says, "I can help you here sir." How awesome is that? A new line is opening right in front of you. Perfect. You'll be out of here in no time. Then it happens. "Sir?" The attendant asks, "Did you see the price for this item? It doesn't have a tag."

Then everything falls apart. You do your best to not fidget or squirm as your patience fails you like a poorly packed parachute. They do a price check, but Sam from produce brings the wrong item. You are seriously asking yourself whether or not you should just forget that item and come back when you have more time. Because it is taking all together too long.

You finally get to your car and find your heart rate returning to normal. As you speed home, and check your email on your phone as you go, you think to yourself, "That whole trip to the grocery store only took 15 minutes. Why was I upset that I couldn't do it in 10? Do I really have the patience of a 3 year old?"

Welcome to my life the past few weeks. I promise I have not been harassing Grocery Store Attendants. Although I can't make the same promise about checking my email. The lesson that I keep having brought up to the forefront of my life is patience.

Almost 3 weeks ago now, tragedy struck my life. I broke the screen to my I-Phone leaving Target. The ironic thing was that I just bought a new case for my phone at Target when it broke. You can ask my wife though, I reacted with poise and grace. I took it like a man. In fact, she didn't even know I had broken it until almost a half hour later.

I knew my insurance on the phone was expired, but I still wanted to talk with AT&T about my options. So while we were still out driving around I talked on my damaged phone with Customer Service and learned that they really didn't have any viable options under $200. Unless I waited until February. That was NOT the answer I was wanting.

And as if our evening wasn't exciting enough, I had to put Customer Service on hold for a minute. Actually I told them I would have to call them back. Because our car was spinning out of control getting onto 275. Yeah that's right. Alicia had hit some oil or something, and now my pregnant wife was screaming and clutching the steering wheel for dear life. "Yeah, Tony, thanks for all the info, but I'm going to have to call you back. I might be dying shortly."
Thankfully we stayed on the road, and the car was fine. Once the traffic eased up on the on-ramp, we quickly turned the car around and headed home.

After we got home, I began checking out my options. Did I need to give up my I-Phone and settle for a phone that only made phone calls? Did I just need to live with a cracked screen until February? I got some advice form some friends and watched a bunch of Youtube videos of people replacing their screens. After convincing myself that I was capable of such a feat, I found a great deal on Amazon for not just a replacement screen, but all the stuff I would need to replace the screen. I went ahead and got it and the waiting game began.

The waiting game is still going on. USPS lost my delivery. The company I bought it from didn't even realize it until Tuesday. They were real nice about it though and refunded my money. My screen was still broken though. Thankfully after talking with them, they decided to give me a new screen for free because of the inconvenience of waiting for 2 weeks only to find out it wasn't coming. Still, I won't get my screen any sooner than this weekend.

My first thought after all of this is thankfulness. How blessed am I, that the things I have to learn to be patient about, are grocery store waiting lines and broken I-Phones. On top of that God has blessed Alicia and I with the biggest patience grower ever: We are going to have a baby! Pregnancy is a 9-month lesson in delayed gratification. The patience I have to learn is over silly stuff. Small insignificant things that don't matter in the long run. Hopefully I grow and go further in my walk with God as a result. Maybe I can get my phone fixed too.

Our Game From Sunday Night and other Random Stuff

2010-11-09T14:42:00.000-05:00

Fruit Punch Rally
Sunday night we played an incredibly messy game that involved a lot of fruit, students eating spoonfuls of cinnamon, and well just check out the video...

Fruit Toss Game at Rel Community Nov 7, 2010 from Parkside Students on Vimeo.

Aubrey Bledsoe
One of our families here at Parkside had a really awesome weekend. Aubrey Bledsoe, who graduated last year and also was a part of our team that went to the Dominican Republic last summer, was named the MVP of the ACC Women's Soccer Tournament. Her team (Wake Forest) won the Tournament too. The interview she gave was cool. How awesome is it to achieve something like this as a freshman! Aubrey everybody here is so proud of you and we are cheering you on in the NCAA Tournament!

Other Things Worth Noting:
Jon Foreman's Latest Article
Every now and then the front man from the band Switchfoot will write an article. Jon wrote this one about who decides what is cool and what isn't. The article is a good read on how we decide what we like as a culture, and how silly we are at times about what we think is 'hip'. I hope the next thing Jon comes out with though is either a new album or a book. He is such a creative person with a great ability to express himself.

Former Buckeye Michael Redd's Testimony
Michael Redd was/is a phenomenal basketball player. I can still remember him leading the Buckeyes to the Final Four when I was in Middle School. He was a great player on a great team. He would go on and have a great career in the NBA and even when a Gold Medal. This article from the OSU student newspaper The Lantern, is all about the Michael Redd that most people never got to see. It is cool to see how Michael first met Jesus and how he has totally reorganized or wrecked his life to share Jesus with other people.

The Unbound Movement Free Trade Market

2010-11-08T14:36:00.000-05:00

This weekend, my wife Alicia, a student named Evan, and I went to the Freedom Center downtown to check out a Fair Trade Market that was put together by the Unbound Movement. For those of you unfamiliar with the Unbound Movement, it is a movement (obviously) started by a group of students and leaders at Crossroads Church to end modern day slavery. Needless to say we checked it out on Saturday and it was an incredible experience.

On the 3rd floor of the Freedom Center they had an Experience Station set up to let participants get an idea what it was like to live as a modern day slave. The experience was called Restevek (which is what child slaves are called in Haiti). Overall it was sobering to see the things that they are required to do, and their quality of life is just horrendous. It's not something we want to think about, but its real and its happening all over.

Our student ministry has really been trying to teach students about what it means to seek justice and learn to do right in their community and world. Isaiah 1:17 says, "Learn to do right, seek justice, encourage the oppressed, plead the case of the widow, defend the case of the fatherless." We all need to take verse like that to heart and apply it to who we are and how we live. The Unbound Movement is a great example of that.

We took our Flip Camera and did some quick interviews with some of the different organizations at the Fair Trade Market. For those of you not familiar with what Fair Trade is let me try to sum it up. The idea of Fair Trade is to pay workers a fair amount for their work, especially in impoverished areas where they are normally incredibly underpaid. So check out what these groups had to say, and then check their websites out, because they are doing some pretty cool stuff and really applying what the Bible says about seeking justice.

La Terza Coffee
Their Website

Chuck from La Terza from Parkside Students on Vimeo.

I used some of my birthday money to get some of the coffee that La Terza makes in the Dominican Republic. I didn't get a chance to brew any of it yet, but the sample I got on Saturday was great!

10,000 Villages
Their Website

Connie from 10,000 Villages from Parkside Students on Vimeo.

Alicia and I bought some soap from 10,000 Villages. They also had an incredibly cool Marriage Sculpture that would make an awesome wedding present. Connie goes to University Christian Church to which has a long history with Parkside. Pretty cool stuff!

Trade As One
Their Website

Kevin Madsen who works for Trade as One, spoke for one of the breakout sessions, and we have a video for it that we are still uploading and I'll try to get it on the blog later this week. We ended up getting a lot of stuff from Trade As One's display area. They are real focused on their Fair Trade Products being quality things that you would already need. We got a awesome mint chocolate bar that was made in Bolivia, and we got some of our friends some surprises too. They had some really cool stuff and their website has a pretty cool video that tells a lot of their company's goals and values.

Student Ministry: Free Middle School Group Devotion

2010-11-02T15:58:00.000-04:00

Our Church got together with a few other churches this past weekend and had a Middle School Retreat out at Woodland Lakes Christian Camp. One of the resources we put together for the retreat was a group devotion time for Saturday morning.

The retreat was focused on helping students realize what an authentic faith looked like, and ways they could develop their faith. The devotion itself focused on spiritual gifts. Our goal was to help students realize one of the ways God had uniquely gifted them, and help them think about how they could use that gift for God's Glory. We also included a devotional time for group leaders to spend praying for their students. Our hope was to plant a seed in students' minds to be thinking about the rest of the day, and also to have group leaders fully engaged with their students by starting the day off praying for them.

I wanted to share the devotion with all of you. Especially those of you who are involved in Student Ministry so that you could use it, or take away some ideas from it for your students. Let me know what you think of it, or if you use it some time, how it goes. Id' also love to hear your thoughts about how this style of devotion time could be strengthened or improved.

Feel free to use it for whatever you want:
Devotion Overview and Instructions

Hand Outs and Leader Guides
(Hand outs are to be printed front and back)

Please Pray For Our Students and Leaders This Weekend

2010-10-28T12:58:00.000-04:00

Prayer Guide:

One of the biggest parts of anything we do in Student Ministry is Prayer. This weekend we have a great group of students and leaders heading up to Woodland Lakes Christian Camp to have a blast and go deeper in the spiritual walk with God. Let’s all take an active role in this retreat by spending time both now and this weekend praying for our students, leaders, and the other churches attending this retreat.

In Ephesians, Paul talks a few times about praying for other believers. Here are a couple of examples:

Ephesians 1:16

I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.

Ephesians 6:18

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.

Here are a couple of things we can be praying about:

1. Our Students- pray that they would be attentive this weekend. That God would give them open eyes and ears, and soft hearts. We want them to be comfortable enough to talk about their faith and the questions they have. We also want them to feel challenged to share God’s love with those around them.

2. Our Leaders- they are giving up a lot of sleep and one whole weekend to invest in our students. Pray that God would bless them with whatever energy or focus they need to be present in every moment this weekend. Also be praying that they are filled up with God’s Spirit so He can overflow into the lives of the students around them.

3. The Speakers and Worship Leaders- Pray that they would lead us deeper into our commitment to Christ. That it wouldn’t be a show or a look how cool I am moment, but instead it would be a sharing of God’s truth and a celebration of all He has done for us.

4. Our Students lives after the Retreat- Pray that the things they learn and the changes they want to make last. It is hard after a retreat like this to explain what you learned or what you want to do. You go back to school and try to tell your friends about it, and its just difficult. As they get back into the swing of day to day life it’s difficult to keep things fresh with God sometimes too. Pray that God’s Spirit equips them for the journey ahead.

5. Our role as parents and leaders in students’ lives- We all have a huge role in what we just prayed about for our students. It’s hard for them to make the decisions they make at a weekend retreat stick sometimes. It is our job as parents, leaders, and friends of these students to not just encourage them in those good choices, but support them in achieving them. Pray that we would clearly see our role in that process and that we would serve in that role with a passion.

Don’t forget to thank God in advance for all the good he has done in our lives, and the good things we haven’t even realized He is going to do through us.

This Week at Rel Community: A Prophecy Fulfilled

2010-10-14T10:46:00.000-04:00

This year at Rel Community our groups have been going through the Bible and sharing stories with each other about God's great story of redemption. So far we have looked at Adam and Eve and how even after their mistake God took care of them like a Father takes care of his children. We talked about how God created us all to be friends with Him and know Him in deep and real ways. We learned about the story of Abraham and Isaac. How God saw Abraham's faith and provided for him. The big lessons we have learned so far are that God's first plan was always for Him to send His son Jesus to die for us, that bad choices have consequences, and that God loves us and gives us hope even with all the mistakes we make.

This week we are going to look at an Old Testament Prophecy that Jesus fulfilled in the New Testament. It has our redemption written all over it. Sometimes we lose sight of how incredible our God really is. We lose touch with the 'Good News' that really is the best news ever. This prophecy in Isaiah 53 and its fulfillment in John 1:29-34 really reminds us of God's greatness and puts into perspective the redemptive work Jesus did for us at the cross. Jesus is the person that Isaiah was prophesying about in Isaiah 53. Take some time today to read both of these passages. Reflect on God's good plan that is our good news. This is a true story that is worth telling people about.

Isaiah 53 (The Message)

¹ Who believes what we've heard and seen? Who would have thought God's saving power would look like this? ^2-6The servant grew up before God—a scrawny seedling,

a scrubby plant in a parched field.

There was nothing attractive about him,

nothing to cause us to take a second look.

He was looked down on and passed over,

a man who suffered, who knew pain firsthand.

One look at him and people turned away.

We looked down on him, thought he was scum.

But the fact is, it was our pains he carried—

our disfigurements, all the things wrong with us.

We thought he brought it on himself,

that God was punishing him for his own failures.

But it was our sins that did that to him,

that ripped and tore and crushed him—our sins!

He took the punishment, and that made us whole.

Through his bruises we get healed.

We're all like sheep who've wandered off and gotten lost.

We've all done our own thing, gone our own way.

And God has piled all our sins, everything we've done wrong,

on him, on him.

^7-9He was beaten, he was tortured,

but he didn't say a word.

Like a lamb taken to be slaughtered

and like a sheep being sheared,

he took it all in silence.

Justice miscarried, and he was led off—

and did anyone really know what was happening?

He died without a thought for his own welfare,

beaten bloody for the sins of my people.

They buried him with the wicked,

threw him in a grave with a rich man,

Even though he'd never hurt a soul

or said one word that wasn't true.

¹⁰Still, it's what God had in mind all along,

to crush him with pain.

The plan was that he give himself as an offering for sin

so that he'd see life come from it—life, life, and more life.

And God's plan will deeply prosper through him.

^11-12Out of that terrible travail of soul,

he'll see that it's worth it and be glad he did it.

Through what he experienced, my righteous one, my servant,

will make many "righteous ones,"

as he himself carries the burden of their sins.

Therefore I'll reward him extravagantly—

the best of everything, the highest honors—

Because he looked death in the face and didn't flinch,

because he embraced the company of the lowest.

He took on his own shoulders the sin of the many,

he took up the cause of all the black sheep.

John 1:29-34 (NIV)

Jesus the Lamb of God

²⁹The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! ³⁰This is the one I meant when I said, 'A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.' ³¹I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel." ³²Then John gave this testimony: "I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. ³³I would not have known him, except that the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, 'The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is he who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.' ³⁴I have seen and I testify that this is the Son of God."

Name that Person!

2010-10-13T14:03:00.000-04:00

Alright. It's Wednesday and we need to have some fun, so let's play a game. Can anybody tell me who this is a picture of? Better yet, can anybody tell me who this is AND write a funny caption for the photo? 1st person to correctly name the person pictured above wins a T-shirt, and best caption for the photo wins a T-Shirt as well. Hope this makes your Wednesday a little better. I bet it will.

A Conversation with My Tomato Plants

2010-10-07T15:36:00.000-04:00

As the weather is getting colder, our garden has begun to shrivel and disappear. The interesting thing is that our tomato plants are still producing a lot of tomatoes for us even though the plants themselves are looking pretty shriveled and wilted. All the water, sun, and warm weather the plants received the past few got stored up in the plant and transformed into growing those tomatoes. Even as the plant begins to die, the fruit is still being produced. Still the plant is no longer connecting to that warm weather, sun, and water like it was a few weeks ago. The tomatoes will eventually stop showing up and the plant will disappear.

Being a follower of Christ has its comparisons to our garden. No, I’m not saying that although you are bearing fruit now, as soon as it gets cold you will die. I’m saying that God has created us to be His followers, and to share His love with others out of the overflow of that same love in our lives. It is so easy for us as Christians, to put your head down and do the best we can. In that process, we accidentally forget the most important component of leading other people closer to Jesus. We have to be connecting to Him regularly in the first place. The longer we go without connecting to Him and filling up with His love and His Spirit, the more and more we run the risk of running out and ending up a lot like my tomato plants. We will keep growing fruit for a while, but we will find ourselves a few weeks down the road burnt out and tired of life. We can’t forget to keep spending time with God. If we aren’t living and connecting with Him, it ultimately won’t matter how ‘good’ we are at 'being' Christians. Without His Sun, water, and warmth in our lives, we won’t get far. Don’t forget to do this. Connect to Him so He can overflow into lives of people with whom you come in contact.

Teenage Dreams

2010-10-05T15:38:00.000-04:00

A couple of weeks ago I sat in on one of our Middle School Groups. If you didn't know already, I love Middle School Students. Everyone says you couldn't pay them to go back to Middle School, because it is such a stressful and traumatic time for so many people. I had my own share of unfun stuff during that time of my life too. The reason I love Middle School is because students are still learning how to be fake. By the time we are adults we have learned the cheap art of fakeness. Most High Schoolers have mastered it too. The sad thing is that fakeness keeps our friendship shallow, and inhibits our growth. That's why Middle School students are great, because they are real.

In the group, we were going around the room telling each other our name, and our favorite song at that moment. Hands down, the favorite song for the girls was Teenage Dream by Katy Perry. I'll admit Katy Perry's music is really catchy and it's not to hard for them to get into your head, but I have a huge problem with this song. I'm not going the 'Music these days is trash' route either. I think the lyrics in this song are just a bunch of lies that are so easy for girls to believe. So before I approach soapbox status with this blog post let me tell you where I think this song really misses the mark, and what I think the truth is.

Lie Number 1:Any guy who is thoughtful or caring, obviously has my best interest in mind.
Lyric:You think I'm pretty
Without any make-up on
You think I'm funny
When I tell the punch line wrong
I know you get me
So I'll let my walls come down, down
The Truth: This one trips people up all the time. Someone comes along and starts giving you the time of day, and all of a sudden you think that they are the love of your life. Think about it for a second though. Just because someone gives you what should be a common courtesy, doesn't mean they have earned any special privileges. Honestly, women don't need make-up to be pretty, and personally aren't you telling a girl that you think she is less pretty without make-up if she is STILL pretty even without it?

Girls, I wish it was simple as taking a guy's words and actions at face value, but it isn't. This doesn't mean you can't have real friendships or let people get to know you, but true friendships with guys don't make you sacrifice your values or morals. You can let someone get to know you, but that doesn't mean turning the security system off.

Lie Number 2: A Boyfriend will fix my problems and make me happy.
Lyric:Before you met me
I was a wreck
But things were kinda heavy
You brought me to life
The Truth: We were all created to live every day connected with God. We try to substitute so many other things for that connection, and relationship with God. Jesus is the one who is supposed to be our Savior and make our life complete. No thing, idea, or guy can fulfill that role. So a guy might make your life nicer or more enjoyable, but it's dangerous if you are dating in hopes that your guy will solve all your problems. If you are doing that, you are putting a band aid on a problem that only God can fix. The second your guy hurts you or lets you down, you are left in a place worse than you started.

Lie Number 3: Love means physical intimacy.
Lyric: Let's go all the way tonight
No regrets, just love
We can dance until we die
You and I
We'll be young forever
The Truth: This is a big one! If some one really cares about you, they aren't going to ask you to do something that isn't right or that isn't in your best interest. Physical intimacy in a dating relationship is so dangerous. It is full of regrets and it definitely doesn't equal love. If you love someone you are willing to make the right choice even if it is difficult. God says we should what until we are married to have that intimacy with our spouse, and that's not because he doesn't want us to have fun. It's because we are entering into a world of potential hurt, pain and regret if we start messing around with physical intimacy.

Lie Number 4: Teenage Dreams should involve sex, alcohol, and motels.
Lyric: We drove to Cali
And got drunk on the beach
Got a motel and
Built a fort out of sheets
I finally found you
My missing puzzle piece
I'm complete
The Truth: Who said that being a teen means making bad decisions, having sex, and drinking alcohol? Being a teenager can be really stressful. You have a lot of things to worry about each day. You have homework, maybe a job, maybe sports, drama with friends, college applications, and drama with your family to worry about. It isn't necessarily an easy time in life. Still, premarital sex, and alcohol will do nothing but complicate your already stress filled life. They aren't going to make life any simpler. You might feel like they do in the short term, but in the long term that is NOT the case. They put you into dangerous and compromising situations that don't just affect you. Go ahead and search for some news stories on teen drinking or teen pregnancy. You aren't going to find stories of teens discovering the stress free life.

Further Reading:
1 Corinthians 15:33
Ephesians 5:3-4
Proverbs 4:23-27
Matthew 10:16
Philippians 4:7

Articles Worth Reading and other Misc.

2010-09-28T15:18:00.000-04:00

Here are some articles that caught my eye the past few days:
Growing Gap Between the Rich and the Poor
Channel 9 included this article on their website this week. The recent census shows a record gap between the rich and the poor. Some interesting information from the census was also included in this email. It's a good reminder that God has given us what we have so that we can bless others. Just like he told Abraham in Genesis 12:2

Saffron Coffee
This is an article about a group Parkside has partnered with in Laos, that helps farmers who used to grow opium learn to grow Coffee. Pretty cool concept and pretty good coffee!

Family Dinner Helps Teens Avoid Drinking and Using Drugs
This article is from Time magazine. I hope you don't find it surprising that the teens from families that spend more time together are less likely to try drugs or alcohol. It's definitely worth it to make some sacrifices to be able to eat as a family.

UFO's Studying our Nuclear Weapons?
This one comes straight out of left field. A group of former Air Force Officials held a press conference where they all stated that they think that Aliens have come and studied our Nuclear Missiles. They even go as far as to say the Aliens temporarily disabled them. Somebody call Will Smith before this gets out of hand!

Previous Blog Entries:
Youth Ministry 3.0

Last Year's Middle School Retreat

Part One: Are We Talking About the Same Person?

Part Two: Do As I Say Not As I Do

Oh and this is just a little tag on, but I am speaking this Friday at Miami Valley Christian Academy. They asked me to speak about what it means to seek God. Any thoughts on that topic and what it means?

Liar Liar Pants on Fire

2010-09-23T14:47:00.004-04:00

Check out this article from CNN.COM that is a collection of little white lies that parents have told their kids. No worries this isn't some set-up for a convo about white lies. Everybody loves shows like Kids Say the Darndest Things and this article is just kind of the Parent version of that.

Pretty funny stuff too:
White Lies We've Told Our Kids

I think my favorite from the article is:
Before moving into our house, I told my kids that we paid extra to have it sprayed for ghosts.
--Amy Talcott Kennard; Peoria, Illinois

How about you Moms and Dads? What are some of the 'white lies' you have told your kids? The best comment on this post after a week will get a free Rel Community or Isaiah117Challenge T-Shirt.

(Just to get you all thinking, when I was a kid I wrote a letter to my favorite singer. My mom wrote a fake letter back pretending it was from the singer's mom. I totally believed it was really his mom too. I fell for it hook line and sinker...)

A Cool and Convenient Tool For Student Ministers

2010-09-21T16:19:00.007-04:00

For a little while I have been trying out this thing called SNAPIT by Digeus, which is a program for your computer that makes saving images from your computer screen really easy and convenient. Here is how it works. You open the program and it is a small icon on your toolbar. When you want to save an image from your computer screen you press the Print Screen button on your keyboard. Then you simply highlight the area you would like to take a picture of on your screen and it automatically takes a picture of that portion of your screen. Here is an example.

Here is how your computer would normally take a picture of your screen:
Normally if you want only a specific part of the screen captured you then have to crop the picture and it ends up pixelated. The whole process can take you a few minutes too.

Here is how you can do it with SNAPIT... I took this picture from the same screen pictured above:

Pretty cool huh? It's quick, easy and a better quality with just cropping the image. I love how quick it is and how simply it is to use. I've been having fun goofing off with it too.

We Are Having a Baby!

2010-09-12T21:24:00.003-04:00

I am so glad that I can finally let all of you know that Alicia and I are going to have a baby! We have waited as long as we could before we let everyone know. We wanted to be sure that our families knew first, and that we had made it through most of the first trimester.

So here is the info. Our baby's due date is April 1st (No fooling I promise!) and just this past week we got to hear the babies heartbeat. We are really excited! Thanks for celebrating this with us, and for praying that this child will be healthy and do great things for God.

It's pretty crazy to think that I am going to be a dad. Is the world ready for that?

Part Two: Do As I Say Not As I do

2010-09-06T16:17:00.004-04:00

Last week I asked everyone to read an article by CNN's John Blake about Teens becoming Fake Christians. The article was the result of a study done by Princeton professor, Kenda Creasy Dean, about the shallowness of teens' faith, and their general inability to talk about their faith/beliefs. In my opinion the most notable finding of the study was that most teens who profess a faith in God, practice something that Dean calls 'Moralistic Therapeutic Deism,' which in short means they believe God exists, wants them to be good, and be happy. Somewhere Christianity has been misconstrued to teenagers, because following Jesus is so much more than just 'being good' and he didn't die just so we could 'be happy.'

At the end of my last post I challenged everyone to join the discussion about where the disconnect was, and what we should be doing about it. Some of the causes we came up with were that America's 'What's in it for me?' Culture, the medias constant advertising barrage, self-centered morals, and a lack of genuine Christ followers.

I have a nephew who is nearly 2 years old named Ryan. Alicia and I got to visit him just last week at my parents' house. Right now Ryan is at a stage where he will do absolutely whatever you tell him. We had our miniature dachshund, Hans, with us and he started licking Ryan's face. "Ryan," I said, "When he licks you, you should give him kisses back." Sure enough, Ryan leaned in right away and started trying to lick Hans. The moral of the story isn't just that I'm a bad Uncle either.

Its not just toddlers who mimic what they see or do whatever they are told. Ryan, will grow out of the stage where he quickly does whatever is suggested to him, but he won't outgrow looking at the people around him to see how he should act and behave. His parents, family, and friends will constantly be shaping his beliefs, and his actions.

One of the passages that Clayton, Paula, and I are always coming back to is Deuteronomy 4:9 where God challenges His people to not forget His words, and to pass them on to their children so that they might now what is right. Ephesians 6:4 echoes that challenge and tells fathers to train and instruct their children in the Lord. Paul says it this way in 1 Corinthians 11:1 , "Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ."

Students from early childhood to their late teen years look to the action, behavior, and culture around them to form their own behavior and beliefs. We clearly see in the Bible that God not only recognizes this truth, but created it for us to use to raise up children to follow God and be an active part of God's Kingdom.

John Blake told us on CNN.com that most Christian teens' faith is shallow, and they really can't even express what they believe. We can clearly see how as a child grows up their beliefs and actions are shaped by the people in their lives. So the questions I want you all to answer this week are simple. Are we doing anything as God's church worth following? What's it going to take for teenagers to discover a real faith built on a deep foundation?

Part One: Are We Talking About the Same Person?

2010-08-30T15:32:00.006-04:00

We have all seen it before. We will be watching some sitcom on TV. Two of the characters will have a complete conversation about two COMPLETELY different people. The comedic effect? Both characters think they are talking to about the same person. The conversation goes on to the point that your sides hurt from laughter. Finally, they realize that something isn't quite right. In unison they exclaim, "Are we talking about the same person?"

This past week an article written by John Blake from CNN was put up on their website and went all over internet in an instant. There is no question in my mind that it was the biggest piece written about the faith and beliefs of teenagers all year. Blake discussed a topic that has been the main point of discussion in nearly every Student Ministers' circle I am a part of. We are all talking about the growing reality that when we talk about God with students, we might not be talking about the same person. The same is true when we talk about living your faith in your everyday life. We keep asking the question, "Are we talking about the same thing?"

I have included some quotes from the article to hopefully get you interested in reading the whole article on CNN's website. I would love for you to take the time to read the article and post your thoughts on this blog. My next post or two will be my thoughts on this growing reality. As Christ followers we need to look at what is causing students to be 'pseudo' Christians, and what God is calling us to do in response. So go ahead and read the article and let me know your thoughts.

Quotes from CNN's article Almost Christian by John Blake

...more American teenagers are embracing what she calls "moralistic therapeutic deism." Translation: It's a watered-down faith that portrays God as a "divine therapist" whose chief goal is to boost people's self-esteem.
(Kenda Creasy) Dean is a minister, a professor at Princeton Theological Seminary and the author of "Almost Christian," a new book that argues that many parents and pastors are unwittingly passing on this self-serving strain of Christianity.
The study, which included in-depth interviews with at least 3,300 American teenagers between 13 and 17, found that most American teens who called themselves Christian were indifferent and inarticulate about their faith.
Many teenagers thought that God simply wanted them to feel good and do good -- what the study's researchers called "moralistic therapeutic deism."
Dean, a United Methodist Church minister who says parents are the most important influence on their children's faith, places the ultimate blame for teens' religious apathy on adults.
"If teenagers lack an articulate faith, it may be because the faith we show them is too spineless to merit much in the way of conversation," wrote Dean, a professor of youth and church culture at Princeton Theological Seminary.
She says parents who perform one act of radical faith in front of their children convey more than a multitude of sermons and mission trips

Albert Sabin's Birthday

2010-08-26T09:50:00.004-04:00

Albert was born on this date, in Poland, way back in 1906. He would later come to the US and discover a polio vaccine while working at Children's Hospital here in Cincinnati. The vaccine would go on to be used by 200 million people in the late 1950's and early 1960's. Polio had killed 58,000 Americans in 1952 and was a devastating disease. Sabin's vaccine would lead to polio being eradicated completely in the United States.

Sabin would go on to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Ronald Reagan in 1986, which is the highest honor for a civilian to receive. Sabin refused to have his vaccine patented. He could have made countless riches off of the vaccine, but instead insisted that it be freely distributed to as many people as possible.

I don't think that I will ever create a vaccine that prevents disease. Although I do make a mean Strawberry milkshake. Albert Sabin was an incredibly gifted doctor. He used his talents to bless people and help them, not to get rich and retire young. Don't be confused and think that the American Dream is get rich and retire young. That dream ends with you feeling empty and unfulfilled. The challenge God has given us in this life is to use the talents He has given us to the best of our ability. We have been blessed with those talents to bless others and share God's goodness with the world. Don't forget that we have been blessed to bless others and not just enjoy it ourselves. You may not feel uniquely gifted to help others in any big way, but God has created us all differently for a purpose. Use your passions and abilities and through hard work you will find a way to bless those around you with what God's blessed you with.

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive and inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord you are serving.
Colossians 3:23-24

Previous Blog Posts
Our God is Near, Our God is Here

Watching Game Film

The Common Man's Olympics (It's that time of year again, let's come up with some new events)

I love Disney Music

2010-08-23T16:34:00.003-04:00

I have a huge admission to make. I am 24 years old and the radio station I listen to the most on my Pandora account is called Disney Movies. Go ahead and make fun of me for it, but on the last Student Ministry trip we went on my van spent at least 2 hours of the trip shouting out the words to songs from Aladdin, Tarzan, Mulan, Toy Story, the Lion King, and Beauty and the Beast just to name a few.

You can ask anyone else who works in the Family Ministry Department here at church too. I listen to Disney music probably at least once a week in my cubicle. Which means that everyone else in our little area has to listen to it too. Just to brighten everyone's Monday I thought I would pass this embarrassing truth on to all of you.

And hopefully, to get some conversation going, I am going to put up my list of top 5 favorite Disney Songs. You can let me know what songs I've left out or what your top 5 favorites are. Have a great Monday!

1. Hakuna Matata from the Lion King
2. You'll Be in My Heart from Tarzan
3. Prince Ali from Aladdin
4. Kiss the Girl from the Little Mermaid (I actually have never seen the movie though)
5. I'll Make a Man out of You from Mulan

Honorable Mentions: A Whole New World from Aladdin and I Just Can't Wait to Be King from the Lion King.

The Battle of Shiloh

2010-08-21T15:53:00.005-04:00

The word Shiloh is Hebrew. It means peace. You may recognize it as the name of the place where Israelites would come and worship at different points in the Old Testament. In those stories the Ark of the Covenant was even there. In the book of 1 Samuel, Samuel himself called the Israelite people there and told them what they needed to do to turn back to God.

The Battle of Shiloh didn't happen in Israel though. It happened in Tennessee in 1862. On April 5th, 6th, and 7th Confederate and Union forces clashed in what was, at that point, the costliest battle in American history. In fact, the over 23,000 casualties suffered in the altercation were more than all the American casualties suffered in the American Revolution, the War of 1812, and the Mexican-American War combined. That's a lot of carnage. It was after this battle that Union General Ulysses S. Grant came to the somber realization that the Civil War would be a long, grueling, and costly war.

The ironic thing about the Battle of Shiloh is that it happened on a patch of land named Shiloh. A lot of blood was shed in a place that has a name that means peace. That's what typically happens with war. World War 2 ended up having devastating effects on the beautiful and historic towns throughout Europe. Those places were never intended for warfare. Still most of our altercations, in war or in life, don't happen on battlefields.

Our costliest arguments happen in living rooms, classrooms, offices, and ball fields. Most of the time they don't happen with people we would label as enemies either. In fact, its quite the opposite. The casualties end up being siblings, parents, coworkers, and friends. That's not what I find most ironic either. What seems even more ironic to me is that as the casualties pile up in our arguments and fights with those around us, we tend to forget what started everything in the first place.

Something sets us off and we start to harbor a grudge. Then we start holding onto other things that happen that cause us grief. Next thing you know we aren't fighting fair, and we are doing whatever we can to pour salt in the wound of our enemy. Even though we can't remember why they are our enemy to begin with.

Shiloh means peace. It's easy for hate to split people apart and make them forget. We are called to love, even in situations when it's the last action on our mind.

I Love to Hate Michigan

2010-08-20T15:04:00.003-04:00

I'm speaking this week at church as part of a series called, "6 Things I wish Jesus Never Said." This week's topic come from Luke 6 and Matthew 5. In both those passages Jesus tell us to love the people we love to hate. The phrase is actually, "Love Your Enemies." That is one of those phrases that gets tossed around like crazy. It's right up their with treat others like you want to be treated or tun the other cheek. We say things like that so much that I'm not sure if we even get what they mean anymore. Well we get what they mean, but those statements don't have as much impact as they did the first time we probably heard them. Because seriously, who loves the people that make life difficult?

If you have known me for more than 5 minutes you know I am a massive Ohio State Buckeye fan. If you know anything about Buckeye fans, then you know we HATE the Michigan Wolverines. So much so that whenever I travel into Michigan I wait to fill up my car until after I get back into Ohio. Sometimes I even question the eternal plight of fellow Christ followers who root for that awful team up North. Don't worry I don't say all of this to lead anybody to believe that we are called to love Michigan fans. I tell you all of this just so I could show you this awesome video that has a little fun with our 'love to hate' relationship with Michigan.

The Last Day of this Year''s Isaiah 117 Challenge

2010-08-18T06:48:00.003-04:00

Yesterday was a ton of fun. Our team that is building a deck totally hit their stride, and the Mvca football teams and two of our other groups knocked out a ton more work at the Mount Washington Cemetery. We also had one other group that helped at the East End Outreach Center and they did an awesome job too.

Afterwords, we all got to head over to the Robert's house and go swimming and eat some awesome food. When it finally came time to leave nobody wanted too. It was a blast. I think it was the perfect way to relax after a hard day's work.

Clayton, our Children's Minister, came and talked with us last night as well. He asked us what dream we were chasing. He wanted to know what excited us or what we were passionate about. The answers were pretty cool. The covered the whole spectrum from playing drums, having a bakery, knowing Jesus better, serving God each day, painting and a lot more. It gets me excited to think about the many ways God can use each of our talents and abilities for His glory.

Please don't forget to continue to pray for us, that we would finish strong today and continue to be safe.

Thanks to everyone who has been supporting this group in prayer. It has been an incredible time for us all. The only thing that would make it better is if everyone who has been praying for us could come out to the Community Picnic that we are throwing tonight at 6pm at the East End Community Garden. We would love to have you be there.

I117C: Day 2

2010-08-17T06:15:00.002-04:00

Yesterday was one of the coolest days. Our groups headed out to two different work sites. One was to work on someone's house and the other work site was Mount Washington Cemetery. Both of our groups jumped right in got sweaty and worked really hard.

Julie, the caretaker for the cemetery, called me at the end of the day to say how impressed and blessed she was by our students. Not only that, but at both sites our students got to meet and get to know people from the community. They have been inviting people left and right to our Community Picnic on Wednesday. Keep praying for our students and leaders that God gives us energy to be working for His Kingdom and that he keeps us safe.

We also did something really neat in the evening too. We had just gotten back and cleaned up from the work site, and we got everyone together. We spent just a few minutes about how everybody's biggest need is Jesus, and how finding ways to show Jesus' love to people is sometimes easier than others. At the end of that group discussion we surprised the students by telling them that for the next part of the evening we were going to head out into the community and just find ways to show God's love to people.

God did some pretty cool things during that time too. One group visited people in the hospital to give out ballons and pray with patients. Another group made dinner for one of their neighbors. A couple of other groups handed out Gatorade and water in different parks. One of those groups stumbled upon a young soccer team who didn't have a snack for after the game. It was perfect! One group headed out to help get somebody some groceries. When they arrived at their place the person wasn;t home. Instead of giving up they prayed that God would lead them. As it turns out the guy they were looking for was real close by and had a flat tire! They changed it and gave him his groceries. How cool!

To celebrate we all met up afterwords to swap stories at Skyline. One of our groups that had served at Outreach that evening invited the Outreach volunteers. The servers at Skyline did great! We loved it because we practically took over Skyline and all we were talking about was the cool stuff God had let us be a part of that evening.

Thanks everyone for the prayers. Please keep them up. Today the MVCA Football team is coming out to help us at one of our worksites. Another one of our groups is still working on finishing a deck for a couple. Pray that God keeps us all safe, but also that we get opportunities to have conversations with people in the community. We want a chance to hear their story and share with them how God's story has changed our lives in so many ways. Thanks!

Isaiah 117 Challenge Update

2010-08-16T06:06:00.002-04:00

We have a great group of students this year for the Isaiah 117 Challenge. Yesterday they all arrived and we spent the evening hanging out and getting to know everybody. Jamie Ward came in for a few hours last night to share with us what it means to be a servant in God's Kingdom. All in all it was a great first day. Everyone is in their sleeping bag snoring away right now, but in just a couple of hours they will be out into the community working hard.

Jamie walked us through the first chapter of the book of Isaiah. We learned how the people of Israel had forgotten about the God who had created them. Everything around them was a mess, and they were just pretending like it wasn't. Jamie made a great comparison and said if Isaiah chapter 1 had been written today to us it would say, "You all come to church every week and pretend like everything is fine. You do a great job doing church, but you are missing me (God) in this whole thing, and you aren't helping anybody around you!" Pretty much the Israelites were being Sunday Christians. The type of people who come on Sundays, but thats the only time they ever think about God. That's a really easy trap to fall into, and most of us are guilty of it at times. Jamie really challenged us with verse 17 from Isaiah chapter 1. It reads,
"¹⁷ learn to do right!
Seek justice,
encourage the oppressed.
Defend the cause of the fatherless,
plead the case of the widow."
The challenge of that verse is that it needs to be a way of life not a one time act.

I will try to keep everyone up to date on our adventures. I am so excited at what God is going to do this week. Please be praying for our team as we will be in the sun most of the day. Also be praying for us that we would truly learn what it means to be Kingdom Workers for God and not just Sunday Christians who ignore God 6 days a week. We are going to really try to grow and get beyond ourselves this week. Join us in our challenge and cover us in prayer. Thanks!

Monday Morning Check-In

2010-08-09T10:11:00.004-04:00

Reds vs Cards Series
This Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday the 1st place Reds will be facing their Division rivals the Cardinals. I fell in love with baseball watching the Reds win the 1990 World Series as a kid. I remember during the Strike Shortened Season that the Reds and the Astros kept going back and forth at the top of the division. It was fun to watch. This year the Reds and the Cards are doing the same thing. For the first time in my life I have gotten to see the Reds in GABP while they were in first place, and that atmosphere is electric! I am so excited and nervous about this series. Hopefully the Reds can take 2 out of 3 games.

Samson and Focus
This summer our High School Guys Sunday School Class has been going through the book of Judges. Samson's story starts off in Judges 13. People here the name Samson and they think about his strength, but we spent most of our time talking about his focus (or the lack thereof). We dug into the first half of his story.

Samson's parents hadn't been able to have children before him. The Angel of the Lord appeared to them and let them know that their child would have a specific purpose in life. The term the Bible uses for this is Nazarite. To be a Nazarite would mean that you would abstain from alcohol, cutting your hair, and from being in the near vicinity from corpses of any kind. To take the Nazarite vow was to commit yourself to a specific purpose and setting yourself aside.

The interesting thing about Samson is that he didn't do to good of a job with his whole Nazarite Vow thing. He lacked the focus to accomplish the job at hand. It makes you wonder what he could have accomplished as Israel's leader if he had made better decisions. If you read his story though he comes across as a brash, smug young man who was pretty stuck on himself. Not only that he tended to fly off the handle pretty easily. His fellow Isrealites didn't even support him, in fact they turned him over to their enemies at one point.

Accomplishing any goal takes focus and sacrifice. You have to be willing to give up things that you enjoy that could get in your way. You can see what your priorities are in life by looking at what you sacrifice the most for. Whatever that is, it is the thing that you are most focused on, and chances are the thing you will obtain or achieve during your life.

Indoor Soccer
A friend of mine invited me to fill in for someone on his indoor soccer team last night. I told him I could help out, but that I hadn't played soccer since elementary school. It was a lot of fun too. I will admit that the only shot I got I almost whiffed on, but I also did some stuff right (I got to head a ball too which made me feel pretty legit). Chances are though I will never get invited back because of my newb status. We did however beat the top team in the Rec League.

Isaiah 117 Challenge
It is hard to believe it, but the summer is nearly over and that also means that it is almost time for the Isaiah 117 Challenge. In case you haven't heard me say it before, the I117C is one of my favorite parts of the summer. It is such a relational service project. I love getting to know the new students and watch our students step up as leaders and kingdom workers. The I117C starts this Sunday, August 15th and goes all the way to Wednesday, August 18th. We end it with a community picnic too and everybody is invited. This year's picnic will be at 6:00pm on Wednesday, August 18th at the East End Community Garden at the intersection of Strader and Wool Street. The more the merrier so be sure to be there!

Interns Strike Back

2010-08-05T09:35:00.003-04:00

This summer at Parkside we have had two High School interns roaming our halls and offices. They have been everywhere from Chicago to pick up furniture, New York for a mission trip, all the way down to Tennessee for a conference. They have led our staff in devotions, accompanied us on hospital calls, and lots of other things.

Jess and Brian have both done a great job this summer. They have been willing to do whatever task is at hand, and have had a good attitude about it even when it is something that stretches them. They really have gotten a chance to see the full spectrum of ministry here at Parkside. They have even gotten to see a side of our ministry staff that few get to. That side is the side that got most of us detention when we were in High School. I have included pictures below for your enjoyment. This was when we taught Brian and Jess how to seran wrap a car. The car belongs to our Children's Minister Clayton. We didn't want anything to happen to it or scratch it so we thought a few protective layers of seran wrap would be good.

Jess and Brian Admiring their handywork.

Jess putting the finishing touches on the job.

Timothy's Mentors

2010-08-03T08:36:00.002-04:00

Last week at CIY Move one of the things they focused on was finding a spiritual mentor. The talked about both sides of that relationship. Specifically, how God has called all of us to be investing in someone's faith, and having someone else invest in us spiritually as a mentor. It is a sharpening process that turns us into disciples who can actually make other disciples (which is what we are all called to do).

One of the great examples of this is Paul and Timothy's mentoring relationship. Its awesome that we have 1 and 2 Timothy to look and see how Paul encouraged and helped Timothy grow as a servant of God. If you haven't taken a look at those two New Testament letters, take some time this week to check them out because it will begin to paint a picture of what mentoring could look like for you.

The thing I would like to point out to you is something that was recently pointed out to me. Paul was not Timothy's only mentor. In fact the way that Paul describes it, he was at least 3rd in line in the mentoring process. Check out 2 Timothy 1:5. It says, "I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also." That is Paul talking there about the foundation of sincere faith that has been developed in Timothy by his mom and grandmother. They played the active role of mentors in Timothy's life.

I was talking about this with a student the other day, and I mentioned that even though it describes two family members being pivotal in his faith development, his dad didn't play a part in that. Acts 16:3 tells us that Tim's dad was a Greek. That doesn't give us the whole picture of Tim's family, but it lets us know that everything wasn't roses for Timothy. He didn't come from the perfect situation. However he did have family members who made sure to take time to pour into him. His grandmother and mother played an important role in shaping Timothy into the Kingdom Worker that he became.

Paul's mentoring relationship with Timothy was still an important one. Timothy was able to watch and learn as he followed Paul around. He would have gotten the chance to see how Paul spent his free time, and the things that Paul valued, which today we can see in all the letters that Paul wrote in the New Testament. Timothy would have gotten the chance to grow and learn through trial and error about sharing the story of Jesus. Being able to learn life alongside someone else is an amazing opportunity.

What I don't want you to miss though is the role that Timothy's family, even though it was far from perfect, played in his spiritual development. They placed the foundation of Christ in Timothy's life. God has positioned parents and family members in a place where they are uniquely gifted to do that best. Deuteronomy 4:9 is just one example in the Bible where God instructs parents to teach their children about God and His word so that they will be raised up in the way they should go. We all need spiritual mentors in our lives, and every child needs family members to be those mentors.

CIY Move: Day 5

2010-07-29T07:37:00.004-04:00

Yeah ok so I slept in a little bit today. Our group still made it to breakfast on time, but I am definitely not posting as early in the morning as I was yesterday. Man, yesterday was jam packed with fun, excitement, and God challenging us! Thanks again to everyone who is praying for us.

God has really been doing some powerful stuff in our lives down here at Lee University this week. Our students are willing to step up to that challenge as well. Last night in our group time one of our students had an announcement for everyone. Last year at CIY Move she had accepted a challenge to receive a Kingdom Worker card with a random challenge to do something for Gods kingdom. The speaker that night said that you should only open it if you were willing to accept the challenge to try and do it. That scared our student a little bit, so she held onto that card and left it unopened for an entire year. Last night during one of break times she was praying and she knew it was the time to open it. So she did and she has been planning how to accomplish her challenge ever since. On top of that, another one of our students is ready to take a challenge because of it too.

The theme yesterday was influence, and asking how we could use our influence to bring God glory. In the Bible, the Apostle Paul took a young believer named Timothy around with him for a while on his journeys before eventually Timothy became the minister of the Church in Ephesus at a young age. That is an example of how someone influence someone else to grow and be involved in Kingdom work.

Yesterday I shared with you about our group time and how our students talked about mentoring and how we had a student who shared about mentoring another younger student. It was a really neat conversation to be a part of and it really inspired some of our students to start thinking about how they could serve and pour into other people.

Last night in our group time several of our students said that they wanted to start volunteering at one of our Middle School Outreach events called the Crossing, so they could find a middle school student to start mentoring. It was so awesome hearing here passion and excitement about sharing their faith and life experiences with younger students. Adults and parents back home be praying too, especially if you volunteer at the Crossing already. These HS students who are looking for middle school students to mentor at the Crossing, are going to need mentors themselves. Just imagine the impact they can have if the Holy Spirit works through one of your lives to help sharpen them as they try to help the middle school students they come in touch with. It is an opportunity we can't miss.

Today is all about endurance and we will definitely need it. We are going rafting this afternoon, and the rest of the day is just as busy. We will have a blast, but please continue to lift up our students that they would stay focused, continue to connect with God, grow as they are challenged, and that all that happens here becomes a permanent part of the foundation of their faith.

Thanks! Enjoy the Pictures!

CIY Move: Day 4

2010-07-28T06:18:00.002-04:00

YAWN!!! (What day is it?) I know its 6:30am as I am typing this, but it feels like, like... its way too early to be up and the Holy Spirit wants us to all go back to bed for a while. We are having so much fun that there is absolutely no way we have been able to get enough sleep. It's hard to believe its a Wednesday.

Thanks to everyone who is praying for our group and all of the rest of the students, leaders, speakers, musicians, and workers here at CIY. Yesterday was a great day. Like I mentioned yesterday the theme was Godliness and the thing we heard over and over is that you don't TRY to be Godly, you TRAIN to be Godly. The more you train the better you are prepared to reflect God's character in any situation.

In our evening session the way they showed this to everyone was by having us right down a quality of God we wanted to be more apparent in our lives on a small hand mirror. We kept these mirrors with us all day to keep that in the forefront of our mind. Then in the evening session we took all of our mirrors to the front, and at the very end they had put all of the mirrors together into a giant Disco Mirror Ball that was reflecting light all over the room. It was a pretty cool example!

Another thing that I truly believe was an answer to prayer last night was some of the discipleship that I saw happening within our group. God tells us over and over again in the Bible, that we are supposed to love others because He has loved us. That love motivates us to do a lot of things. Mentoring others and helping them train to become more like Christ is one of those pivotal things that every Christ follower needs to get busy doing if they aren't already. I was so blessed to see our group doing that and talking about it yesterday.

The exceptional thing about that is that true mentoring and discipleship doesn't happen in a afternoon. It is something that honestly is pretty time consuming if you are committed to it. CIY yesterday challenged us to find somebody who could be our spiritual mentor and someone else we could mentor spiritually. Aaron, one of our adult leaders asked the group what they thought of that during our group time. Students said they felt challenged and excited. What happened next though rocked my socks off. One of our girls started talking about discipleship and mentoring with someone else who was already there! Our whole group got to take a front row seat to hear about all the lessons both the girls had learned from their time they had been in a mentor/mentoree friendship. The rest of the group got to see the evidence of growth and strength in these girls' faith (and it was evident). Please be praying that the students walk away from that moment and seek out a spiritual mentor, and also look back to students in our middle school who they can begin to pour into and help grow closer to Christ.

A couple of other awesome things. Last night our group also decided to dress up like superheroes. We had a blast and got some really good pictures too. We had a Smurf, a Tattoo Man (Sorry, but this student did use a sharpie), Batmans, a Jedi, Superwoman, Wonder Woman, Wolverine, GI Joe, and a few more that I'm forgetting. We had a great time and got some crazy looks.

The guys vs. the girls contest is still neck and neck 3.5-3 with the guys in the lead by a half point.

Please be praying for us today as I bet the tiredness really starts to kick in today. The conversations will really start to shift as well. We will all start talking about how we can continue to train ourselves to be Godly once we head home. Its really easy to focus in on God at a conference like this. Its once we get back in the swing of things with School, Work, Family, and Friends that it gets difficult. We start forgetting things we were truly passionate about, and we start making the bad mistake of trying to course correct on our own. Pray that our students would take steps today to put mentors and friends in their lives that are going to help them keep growing after CIY. Parents be praying and thinking too about how you can help support your son or daughter as they try and grow into the kingdom worker God wants them to be.

CIY Move: Day 3

2010-07-27T06:13:00.002-04:00

It's 6:14 this morning. Our group is getting to sleep in a little bit longer today, because our breakfast time is not until 7:40 as opposed to it being 7am like yesterday. Thanks everybody for your prayers yesterday. We not only had an absolute blast throughout the day, we also had some pretty neat stuff happen.

Here is a random list of some of the notable things that have been going on:

*Last night I got word about one of the guys in my small group that Alicia and I have at our house. His name is Tyler and he is with the group from our church that is currently serving in Haiti on a mission trip building homes. His sister wanted us to know that he had just gotten baptized. Tyler is a great guy who has grown a lot spiritually the past few years, and we have all been praying for him and encouraging him a long the way. It was definitely something we passed on to the students and celebrated as a group. How awesome is our God!

*The focus yesterday was about truth, and the message last night was given by a guy named Mark Moore by video from an MMA fighting ring. It was pretty cool. He talked about how we need to be willing to get off the mat time and time again to share the truth about Jesus.

*Our group is having a good time with the Vuvuzuelas that we brought with us, although a few people have let us know that the World Cup is over and the horns are simply not cool anymore.

*Speaking of cool, yesterday afternoon we had a thunderstorm go through for a couple of hours and it was really nice because everything cooled off. The forecast today looks like we will be back in the hot weather though, which I think will be good because our group wants to get outside and play some games.

*The worship time continues to be good and challenging. The group really enjoys the worship leader here. His name is Aaron Pelsue if you wanna youtube him and check some of his music out.

*Our challenge last night coming out of the final session was to come up with one name of someone we were going to share the truth of Jesus with in the next week. The students really stepped up to the challenge and wrestled with that decision. From our group time last night I can tell you that they aren't taking the challenge lightly. Be sure to talk about it with them when they get home. Parents especially, be sure to be praying for them and encouraging them in this Kingdom Challenge.

*In the guys vs girls contests after our group time last night, the girls rallied and won the contest to tie our overall record at 1-1. I am also going to try to upload some pictures soon, but I keep forgetting to grab the camera to get the memory card to the computer. I'll try and remember, but seriously I mean the Sun hasn't even come up yet...

Please Be Praying:

As the week goes on, students will start to wear down and get tired. Pray that it doesn't keep them from meeting God every opportunity they get.

The them for today is Godliness and how our lives should reflect God's Kingdom in the world around us. Pray that the students hear from God and are open and honest throughout today. I can tell you that our adult leaders have been having some great conversations with our students, and we hope that continues to be the case.

CIY Move: Day 2

2010-07-26T05:36:00.003-04:00

Well its 5:40am right now and day 2 of CIY is just beginning. Last night was an incredible time for everybody. The theme for the night was grace, and it was clear to see that our group was being lifted up in prayer. Everyone was involved during the worship time lead by Aaron Pelsue, and the speaker Tim Grey did a great job of sharing what Jesus' grace is all about.

At this point I have no clue what time the girls went to bed, but the guys ended up all in their beds with the lights out just at 12:30am. In just a few minutes I'll pop my head back in the room and make sure everyone is getting up, because we have an early 7am breakfast today. You didn't realize your kids were capable of getting up this early during the summer did you?

My prayer for this week hear, is that our group would be authentic before God and each other. As we all try and do that I also hope and pray that His Spirit moves in our lives in a life-changing way that causes us to know Him in new ways, and to join others in His kingdom work. You can be praying for us today as we talk about Truth and how Jesus and the Bible should be our source for truth. It looks likes its going to be a great day, and we appreciate all of your prayers.

Here are a couple of highlights from last night:

*Guys vs. Girls: Each night we are having a contest that pits are guys and girls in a friendly competition. Last night our group faced off with each other by having a twinkie eating contest. The twist to the contest though was each round a guy and a girl were blindfolded and had to find their twinkie to eat it. Their group helped them find it, but their other clue was each twinkie either had ketchup or mustard. They guys had the ketchup ones and the girls had mustard. The guys came from behind to win 3-2. It was pretty gross to watch.

*I really loved watching how the group interacted on the ride and here at Lee yesterday. They trust each other and enjoy hanging out with each other. I think that will add to the impact God can have on them this week. Thanks for praying!

CIY Move: We have arrived!

2010-07-25T16:36:00.004-04:00

Hey everybody we made it here safe and sound. Thanks for all of your prayers. Believe it or not we made it all the way to the state of Tennessee before we had to stop for a bathroom break. Pretty impressive what people are capable when you tell them that it costs $20 per bathroom break.

It is just as hot here as it is in Cincy. We have forecasts in the 90's all week. The girls dorm is really close to the cafeteria and the main auditorium. The guys dorm is a little nicer, but we are going to end up walking 5 miles each day. It'll be good for us ha ha. We are about to go to dinner here in a few minutes and things get kicked off after that. I'll try and update on how things are going often. Thanks for praying for our group!

Seeing a Game with My Dad and Missing My Grandfather

2010-07-19T11:24:00.005-04:00

This past Saturday, I got together with my Dad and my Father-In-Law and all three of us went to the Red's Hall of Fame and the Reds vs. Rockies game that night. We had an awesome time. We spent the whole afternoon checking out the Hall of Fame, and talking with Reds Legends. For an early dinner I took them over to Terry's Turf Club for the best burgers in Ohio. To top it all off we got to see a great game that included 4 Reds' Homers, and an awesome game pitched by Edinson Volquez (Not to mention Chris Sabo ended up sitting 4 rows BEHIND us for the whole game). All in all it was an incredible day.

The thing I loved most about it was having both my dad and Alicia's dad there with me. We got to share so many stories and memories we had. It was so awesome to be able to talk with my dad about staying up late with him as a 5 year old to watch the 1990 World Series. I really can't describe how special of a time it was. I have been so blessed to have a dad that threw the baseball with me in the back yard and pretended to be Hal Morris so I could pretend to be Barry Larkin and Chris Sabo.

While we were walking around the Museum I got a chance to meet one of the members of the Big Red Machine former Center fielder Cesar Geronimo. I got a picture with him and we actually got to have a pretty cool conversation swapping stories about my mission trips to the Dominican (Where he currently resides), and the Winter Ball that is played there. The first thought that popped into my mind after our conversation, was that I needed to call my Grandfather. My Granddad use to always tell me stories about the Big Red Machine, and he always told me the story of Cesar Geronimo and Johnny Bench warming up before each game by throwing from home plate to the CF wall and back again. He loved that story. The only thing was my Grandfather passed away almost 5 years ago.

For the rest of the day, I must have thought about calling my Granddad at least 3 more times. He would have loved hearing about everything. Even though it was kind of sad not being able to call him and tell him all about my day, it didn't take away from the experience. I really think it made it better. I got a chance to remember all those stories he told me, and all the things that made my grandfather so special. It also made me appreciate having my father there even more.

When we miss my Granddad, my mom and I will call each other sometimes. Almost every time one of us will encourage the other by mentioning Hebrews 12:1 which says, "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us." I love imagining my grandfather and countless other people who have played a huge role in my spiritual growth being a part of that group of witnesses. I can see them cheering us on through every obstacle. They celebrate every victory, and root us on after every defeat. That is why I think memories are so special because for Christians they not only connect us to our past, but they speak of the hope we have in the future with Jesus. It's an incredible hope and a lasting one. (And you gotta believe there is gonna be baseball in heaven!)

Pictured from Left to Right: My Dad Rex, Myself, and My Father-In-Law Mike

My Picture with Big Red Machine CF Cesar Geranimo

Chris Sabo making his Red's HOF Induction Speech

Random Thoughts

2010-07-14T11:30:00.002-04:00

Brad Wallace Autographed Book: Foot Reflexology
Just in case any of you forgot or are still waiting on that Bank Loan to come through, the Ebay Auction for the Brad Wallace Autographed Memorabilia is still going on until Saturday. It is really starting to heat up too. The current top bid is a penny. Be sure to get in on the bidding before you have to take out that 2nd mortgage.

I am really happy for Brad and his family as they head down to his new job in Tennessee. It is hard to see him go, but I'm glad I got the opportunity to work with him and get to know him. One of the things that I really appreciated about Brad was the contemplative mood he brought to worship. Psalms 46:10 says, "Be still and know that I am God;I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the Earth." There are times when we want to sing upbeat songs that celebrate who God is, and there are other times where we want to sing quiet songs about our need for him. Brad really showed me that no matter what type of song we are singing we need to spend some time thinking about what the song is really about, and whether our not our hearts are committed to what we are singing. We need to be honest as we worship God, and Brad did a great job of reminding me of that.

Major League All-Star Game
Joey Votto made the All Star Team, but didn't get a hit in the game. In fact in his 2 at bats he hit the first pitch he saw both times. Brandon Phillips didn't get a hit either, but made a really nice play at second. Scott Rolen started the rally that led to the National league scoring all their runs. It is sad that Arthur Rhodes didn't get to pitch, but it was still really cool that he even got to play.

Yesterday's All Star Game also was the 1st time since I was 10 years old that the National League won the game. When I was 10 years old Jeff Blake was the QB for the Bengals, Jeff Brantley was a Red's Pitcher not a Red's Announcer, Pete Shourek was the Red's Opening Day starter, and you could still go swimming in the Gulf of Mexico without ending up looking like you belonged in a Valvoline commercial.

Anyways its cool that there were 4 Reds in the game last night. I was hanging out with family so I can't wait to get a chance to sit down and watch it.

Adirondacks Mission Trip Update

2010-07-07T14:03:00.002-04:00

Today at lunch I talked with Jake Goetz who is leading our High School mission trip to the Adirondacks in Northern New York. Here is an update of some of the cool things they are up to and how we can be praying for them.

-Everybody is doing well. The big surprise for the trip is that it feels as hot as South America even though they are practically in Canada.

-The group has done a great job of connecting and building friendships with the other church groups on the trip.

-Some of the things they have been doing so far include: Painting a House, Gardening at a Senior Citizen's Home, Kid's Club (That also translates to chasing kids around all day), and making small repairs on another elderly lady's house.

-They said their time in the evening talking as a group has also been really good.

- When I asked about how we could be praying they said to pray that the heat eases up a little bit and doesn't prevent them from fully engaging in the trip.

It sounded like they are all doing a gret job and having a great time. Please continue praying for them and praying that God would use them in mighty ways.

Tuesday Morning Thoughts

2010-07-06T09:39:00.006-04:00

-Vote for Joey Votto
I am sure if you live anywhere close to Cincinnati, you are already tired of hearing that you need to vote for the Reds First Baseman Joey Votto. I am a huge Reds fan and it would a huge joke if the potential National League MVP missed the All-Star game. He will miss it at this point though if we don't all vote like crazy for him. Take a few minutes today and make sure that the most deserving play in the National League actually plays in the All-Star game.

Vote for Joey

-Ribs at Montgomery Inn
A group of 6 (including me) went to Montgomery Inn for their All You Can Eat Ribs Special this weekend. For sure we definitely gave it our best. As a group we ate a total of around 180 ribs. Bryan Sallee was the front man with 44, Nate Borowitz ate an incredible 36, and barely made it to 28 (See plate below). Clayton ate a total of 27 and Jamie came in with 22. We had a great time, but I think it will be a while before I look eagerly upon a rack of ribs again.

-Adirondacks Mission Team
Take some time today to be praying for our students and leaders who are on a mission trip this week to the Adirondacks in Northern New York. They will be serving the community in a lot of cool ways. You can be praying for the Spirit to guide them, strengthen them, and embolden them. You can also pray for their safety throughout the week. It is supposed to be a hot week there that consistently tops out around 90-100 degrees. I'll be posting an update on the trip next time I hear something from them.

-Stuff from Brad's Office
Finally, last but not least, as many of you know our Worship Minister Brad Wallace is taking a new job at Milligan University in Tennessee. He is actually moving this week which means that he has been boxing up his books and other stuff from his office. A few days ago he put out a box of books that he decided he wasn't going to take with him. Now remember these are books that Brad at some point valued enough to have on his shelf, but now doesn't feel like they are worth carrying with him to Tennessee. I went and picked out the ones I thought were most interesting. I'll be getting him to sign the books, and then I will be auctioning them off on Ebay as Memorabilia. Stay tuned for a link to the listings. Try not to laugh to loud as you look at the pictures of the book and VHS cassette tape below.

From My Granddad's Devotions

2010-06-30T15:33:00.003-04:00

One of the last times that I went up and visited my parents my mom gave me something that had been my Grandfather's. He passed away almost 5 years ago and he was a huge influence on my life. When my mom told me she had something of his for me, I was very excited to see what it was. It turned out it was a devotional that my granddad had gone through and taught to his Sunday School Class. He was very involved with his church. He served as an Elder, served with the youth, and taught an adult Sunday School class for the longest time. He was a very important role model in my life as well.

I have started reading through the devotional and its full of all sorts of really cool things. It looks like he started the devotion sometime around 1979. In it he also took attendance for the Sunday School class. Not so that he could have a head count for the day, but so he could find out who was gone or missing that week. It is full of notes about people who were sick or in the hospital that he would need to visit or send a card. How cool is that?

It also had all of his thoughts and notes from the devotional as well as an outline for the class time that he would come up with on his own every week and attach to the booklet. After skimming through it I decided that I would start going through it. I guess I am even pretending that I am sitting in on my granddad's class and learning what he learned and taught nearly 40 years ago.

The first section of the devotional was about Jesus as our creator. It focused on the passage of John 1:1-14. This passage starts off by talking about how Jesus was 'the Word' and how he has been with God since before creation. It also talks about how God was involved in the creation process. If you are interested you can also check out Colossians 1 to see another Biblical author talk about Jesus' active role in creation.

The portion of the devotions that really stuck out to me was in the second half of the section. In the second half of the section it focused in on how we need to be thankful for who God has made us to be and the purposes He has created us to do. The devotional references Jeremiah 18:1-4 which reads,

" ¹ This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD : ² "Go down to the potter's house, and there I will give you my message." ³ So I went down to the potter's house, and I saw him working at the wheel. ⁴ But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him."

When I read that passage I absolutely loved it. The devotional was talking about how Jesus is our creator and we are His creation. If we truly believe that, then we should celebrate how He has created us and gifted us. The thing I love about the Jeremiah passage is that it is saying even if we screw up or aren't perfect God still every ability to shape us into something beautiful for His glory. It doesn't matter what shape we are when we get to God. Once he starts working on us he will bring beauty about in our lives that we could never have imagined.

If you want to read some other passages that talk about this a little more, than check out Isaiah 29:16//45:9//64:8//Ex. 4:10-11//Psalms 139

Back from the West Coast

2010-06-28T16:50:00.002-04:00

Alicia and I just got back from our vacation to Seattle and San Francisco. We had a great time. I absolutely loved Seattle (except for the fact that they swept the Reds while we were out there). We got to spend a ton of quality time with each other and that is always great. Not only that but we also got to do some other fun stuff like tour Alcatraz, hike Olympic National Park, and have a 2010 Camaro as our rental car. So like I said the trip was great.

On the trip I decided to take another step with my blog as well. I think something that prevents me from writing more on this blog, is that I don't want to be misunderstood. I don't know a lot, and I don't have a lot of experience yet in ministry and I worry sometimes that blogging about a topic will come across as me saying that I am an authority about it.

I love wrestling with questions, but sometimes I hesitate to ask certain ones because I worry that people will think that I don't have the answers I need to do my job. Right along with that I love talking about the Bible and its truth, but I don't want to sound like I think I know exactly what its saying, because I don't.

All that to say I just need to get over myself and that fear of being misunderstood. I wanna be able to write down my thoughts and share them with others. I think a lot of good can happen from doing that. So I am not going to let my small fear of being misunderstood prevent that. Thanks for giving me a full share of grace as a try to share more of my thoughts and questions.

Fake Being Real: Mark 10

2010-05-17T15:38:00.003-04:00

Take 5 minutes and read Mark 10:17-22.

Jesus is setting out on this trip and right before he leaves this guy comes running up to him. I didn't realize until recently that in this time in history that culturally guys didn't run too often. It showed power if you were a guy and never needed to run. So unless it was some athletic event you tried to avoid running. This matches up with the kind of person I see Jesus being. Guys are willing to run even if it looks weak if it means that they get a chance to talk with Jesus.

When the guy gets to Jesus he falls to his knees to ask Jesus a questions. He is quickly seeming to me like one of those bleeding heart types who wears his heart on his sleeve. He wants to know what he needs to do to get into Heaven, and he thinks Jesus is the guy he should be asking. At this point the guy seems super genuine and very serious about his question.

Jesus plays around with him a bit and eventually tells him basically that he needs to live a perfect life to get into heaven. Whereas most of us would sadly walk away at this point because we know we have already ruined any chance of that, this guy does something unexpected. He lies to Jesus. He goes fake on him. His response to Jesus is, "I've done that since I was a kid."

We all hate people being fake. Nothing kills a friendship like fakeness. Jesus doesn't call him out on this or judge Him because of it either. Verse 21 says that Jesus' response was that he loved him. Before Jesus responded or did anything else the Bible tells us that he loved him. That's incredible.

Jesus goes on to tell him that he needs to give up everything he has to the poor and follow Jesus. This bums out the guy because he was really rich and didn't want to do that. Jesus wasn't telling us that we all need to take a vow of poverty. He knew this guy, and knew that he loved his wealth more than anything else. Jesus was saying to him and to all of us. If you want to follow me you need to commit to it completely. This isn't a part time thing.

That ended up being the deal breaker for this guy who showed so much potential at the beginning of the story. I hate it that the story ends with him being fake and walking away from Jesus sad. Nobody sings Jesus loves me and finishes it with, "Yes Jesus loves me, but I love money. Yes Jesus loves me, but I can't follow him." That's depressing, but a lot of us do it with a whole lot of things not just money.

It is overwhelming that Jesus' loves us even when we are fake. He loves us fake but wants us real. Completely.

Blindside: the Sequel

2010-05-13T12:26:00.005-04:00

This Summer in Theatres:
BLINDSIDED: The Sequel

Yeah in case you haven't heard there is another Blindside movie coming out. Not really, but you need to hear this story. A 22yr old was going to a HS in Texas pretending to be a 16yr old. The article from NBC Miami states that this guy was a standout basketball player in his old HS back in South Florida. Apparently sometime last year he showed up in Texas to Permian High in Odessa, Texas claiming to be a homeless youth. The basketball coach took him in and gave him a place to stay. The whole community stepped up and embraced him too. What makes this story even crazier, is Permian HS is the same school that gave us the incredible story that became the movie FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS. He got caught when one of his former coaches saw him at a tournament in Arkansas. Stories don't get much crazier than this.

Somewhere in Idaho, Uncle Rico is hatching a crazy plan to shave and re-enroll to a HS in a neighboring state where he can relive his dream of taking his football team to state. You know that ex-jocks everywhere are looking themselves in the mirror today wondering if they can get another year or two of eligibility out of their looks. Don't be surprised if Brett Favre calls another audible and instead of returning to the NFL for another year returns to Mississippi for one more shot to win State. To be honest, I might be placing a few calls to some local high schools to see if they need a Middle Infielder with 4 yrs of experience. It's worth a shot right?

Honestly it is a shame that someone would think to take advantage of a community like this 22 yr old man did. It would be so easy for a community to fall in love with a student who told such a tough luck story. Everybody would bend over backwards to help a 'kid' like that succeed. Its a sad thing that someone would try to pull something like this off. I remember a few years ago when an Ohio couple lied and said that their daughter had cancer and stole thousands of dollars from people who willingly donated to such a 'worth cause.' Stuff like this is nothing new, and I wish we didn't have to be cautious every time someone came forward with a sad story, or a big need.

It makes me think back to my little league days when we played all those traveling teams that had so many giants on their roster. You know what I am talking about. Those 13 and 14 year old kids who were shaving or growing full beards. Maybe they were pulling the wool over everyone's eyes too. I mean if you think about it. We had to be playing against a lot of 20-30yr old teams in all reality...right?

Enquirer Article: Keeping the Faith with Children

2010-05-11T14:24:00.005-04:00

On May 6th, Cincinnati Enquirer Columnist, Krista Ramsey wrote an article entitled Keeping the Faith with Children. The article focused on community organization call the Council of Christian Communions and its executive director Joellen Grady. It focused on the struggle to get churches to partner with Grady. As I read the article I was struck by two aspects of it. The first aspect being that Community Organizations and Churches struggle to work together. The second thing I noted was how true it is that the Church needs to be more active in the community. The church should always be working to strengthen families and give students a chance to experience Jesus in a life-changing way. Still those two groups don't currently work together well.

Just last week, Parkside Christian Church, the church that I am so blessed to work at announced a partnership with the Cincinnati Youth Collaborative in an effort to mentor Mt Washington and Riverview East Academy Students. I am so excited to say that already over 50 people have stepped up to be mentors. That confirms to me that at least in Parkside's case the church is more than willing to be involved in the community. Especially when they see a need. I believe that followers of Christ are willing to help when they see a clear need. That is what the Gospel is all about, but still for some reason it is hard for Community Groups and Churches to work together. Where is the disconnect if everyone involved cares about the same thing?

In the past 2 weeks I have had conversations with 5 different Christian based community organizations. All of them have great dreams and passions for how Jesus can take their talents and abilities to make a difference in students' lives. I look at some of them and see that a few of them are more effective than others. I also notice that some of them are trying to adapt as the culture changes. Most organizations that I talk to though want to partner with the church and most describe themselves as a tool that can be effectively used by the church. I definitely see the truth in what they say, and I love their passion, but their is still a disconnect. There just isn't enough time or energy to partner with all of them.

I saw a Bill Cosby quote the other day that I thought was interesting. Cosby said, "I don't know the secret to success, but I do know how to fail, and that is to try to please everyone." That's a hard truth to embrace. I have had to say no or not now to some really great people that I admire, because I know that it would just cause our Student Ministry to be involved in too many things and spread our volunteers and leaders too thin. That's hard for me to do.

I believe in a Kingdom of God that is bigger than Parkside Christian Church, and I believe that God has called me to be a worker in that Kingdom. I love what I am able to do. Mentoring students into young men and women who are passionate about Jesus is such a blessing. Everytime though I talk to a Faith Based Community Organization it stirs up some inner turmoil for me.

This is the question I get caught up in: Why does everyone need to have their own initiative or own program? People need a common goal to be unified. They need to know what they are striving for if they are going to be committed to it. Community service and involvement is SUCH a popular thing these days, but everybody seems to have their own ideas on how it should be done. People will develop a passion for something and instead of just getting involved in it, they try to reinvent it or start a new organization.

Maybe what we need to do is go green with our Faith Based Community Groups. It would be hard to do, but what would happen if we reduced/recycled groups that we felt had outlived their effectiveness? Or what would happen if organizations with common goals just merged into one instead of simply collaborating? That would be gutsy and probably messy, but couldn't also become something incredible? What if people who wanted to make a difference simply started finding places in their community that needed leaders? Why can't we just support the community by being coaches, substitute teachers, tutors, and role models? We may have a common goal, but I am beginning to think that we have so many different methods on achieving it that we have forgotten the why in our pursuit of the how. I am committed to the Why of what I am doing, but I am still trying to simplify the How of partnering with Faith Based Organizations.

Influence

2010-05-03T16:21:00.003-04:00

I can still remember the day that Ace Ventura: Pet Detective came out. I wasn't allowed to see it because I wasn't 13 yet, but my Disney Adventures Magazine had an interview with Jim Carrey about the movie. It also had a step by step guide on how to do your hair exactly like Ace Ventura in the movie. You better believe I put all sorts of gel in my hair and walked around quoting the movie.At different points in our lives different people have an influence on us. One of the biggest influencers in anybody's life is their parents. Whether the parent is super involved, or completely absent they still play a huge part in shaping who their children will become. We are also influenced by our friends and people we look up to or respect.

My question for you today is who are you influenced by and who are you influencing. If you can't figure it out, ask yourself these questions:

Who do I go to for advice?
Who will I change my plans to be able to spend time with?

-or-

Who comes to me to see what I think about something?
Who asks me for advice about big decisions in their life?

After you have decided who influences you and who you influence I want you to think about one last thing. What kind of influence are they making on you and vice versa?

Being a disciple who makes disciples means that you are helping mentor other people and coming alongside them as they grow to be more like Christ. Are the people that you allow to influence you helping you to grow to be more like Christ? Are you helping others go deeper in their discipleship journey?

Not Your Average Day

2010-04-20T16:13:00.007-04:00

Today Bart and I had driven to a meeting together, and we were headed back to the office. Now before I tell you any more of this story let me pass along to you a little bit about Bart Steever. In case you don't know him at all, he is the Discipleship and Mission Minister here at Parkside. Bart is one of manliest men I know. I am convinced that Bart could survive in the wilderness for years. He might even give Chuck Norris a run for his money. I mean this guy just climbed the Grand Tetons this past year. He is pretty manly.

Now that I have said that, I have to tell you he did something pretty unexpected. He asked if we could stop real quick to pick up something from Michael's. At first I thought he was joking and we were really going to stop at some outdoor place or gun shop, but sure enough we went to Michael's. Don't believe me? Here's the proof:

Here we are walking into the store. Bart is also the fastest walker I have ever met.

He wasn't just there to have a secret meeting with Jack Bauer either. He actually bought something!

He doesn't lose his Man Card, but he definitely lost some Man Points. I never thought I would Silk Floral and Bart Steever in the same photo...

Wanna Learn to Speak German?

2010-04-19T13:27:00.003-04:00

Check out this article about a Croatian teen who woke up from a coma speaking fluent German, but now can't speak Croatian. Before she went into the coma she had started studying German, but this is crazy!

Here are a couple of other things that people have emailed me or told me about since my last post about Robert Epstein's new book Teen 2.0 that discusses the concept of adolescence.

Is Adolescence a Myth? -an article from Youth Specialty's website

Why I left the Ministry... -the story of Alan Nelson, founder of KidLead

Finally it is Monday, and Monday can be long and tiresome for some of us, so I thought I would include something that would cheer us up! Below is a link to story about a guy getting arrested for driving a Barbie Toy Jeep while under the influence.

Man Get's Arrested and Barbie Cries

Have a great Monday!

Teen 2.0 by Robert Epstein

2010-04-13T16:41:00.003-04:00

I got a book from Amazon the other day. It just arrived in the mail and I spent about an hour digging into it. It's called TEEN 2.0 and its an in depth discussion on adolescence. In short, the author Epstein, argues that there actually is no such thing as adolescence.

I first heard about the book when it was mentioned in a TIME magazine article someone told me I should read. Since, many would say, a large part of my job focuses on helping teenagers navigate through adolescence, I was real interested in seeing what Epstein had to say.

My first thoughts were that one, the book was about 400 pages longer than I expected, and two, because of its Rain Forest Killing Size it would either be very good, or very dry. After spending an hour checking it out I am glad to say that so far the book has been very interesting. The idea that there is no such thing as adolescence is a new one to me. In all my college courses on counseling, psychology, and student ministry not once did we suppose in class that adolescence came about as a result of the Industrial Revolution as Epstein suggests.

Don't worry, I know I just mentioned the Industrial Revolution in the same sentence as student ministry. I am not about to go deep into a philosophical rant on the historical relevance of student ministers, but I am going to talk about what I thought was interesting.

I am no where near finishing this book, or looking into what resources Epstein tapped into for the writing of this book, but so far its been very informative and engaging. I agree with Epstein that a lot of our teenagers problems reflect issues from our society and culture. I also agree with him that a lot of other countries and cultures don't struggle with adolescent issues like we do in America. I'll update you all as I continue to read. Remember that I am not saying this is the ultimate resource in raising or ministering to a teen, but I am definitely suggesting that its a good read (or at least the first 2 chapters are). If you've already read it or are reading it let me know what you think.

Burying Yourself

2010-03-24T16:45:00.003-04:00

Our 2 Day Pause this March 12-14 focused on Ephesians 4:22-24 (Message)^20-24But that's no life for you. You learned Christ! My assumption is that you have paid careful attention to him, been well instructed in the truth precisely as we have it in Jesus. Since, then, we do not have the excuse of ignorance, everything—and I do mean everything—connected with that old way of life has to go. It's rotten through and through. Get rid of it! And then take on an entirely new way of life—a God-fashioned life, a life renewed from the inside and working itself into your conduct as God accurately reproduces his character in you.

The whole goal of the weekend was for students to embrace God's truth that Jesus came not just to be our Savior, but to be our Master. We talked about how we all need to realize that WE are not the big picture. God is the only one who sees the big picture and we are a small part of it. What we all need to do is realize just how much is out of frame based on our focus.

To try and illustrate this we took portraits of all of the students when they arrived and gave them their portraits in nice picture frames. During one of our sessions we told them to take the picture out of the frame and write things on the back that keep us from seeing the big picture or that make us selfish. Life is not living if all we do is live it for ourselves. After taking some time to write things that the students wanted to do away with from their old self (before they knew Jesus) we had them put the pictures back in their frame.

Next we led the students outside and they all placed their pictures into a casket and we actually did a graveside burial service for ourselves. We felt like it was symbolic of what Jesus really wants us all to do. We need to take off our old self to be made like Christ. This same symbolism is found in Baptism. We are buried and we are given new life in Christ. If you think about it how can you see God's picture or live to serve others if you still only care about yourself.

It was a really stretching experience for all of us to essentially bury ourselves. Its not something that comes naturally at all. It was kind of heavy too. When you really think about it though, giving up control and admitting that life isn't all about you is pretty scary

From the Shadows

2010-02-24T11:12:00.002-05:00

There are times when Student Ministry feels like a sprint. There are other times when Student Ministry seems like a marathon that really doesn't have a finish line. Over the course of a school year volunteers and group leaders will have highs and lows. There are moments your team will feel like they just climbed Kilimanjaro and others when they will feel like students think they are nothing more than a door mat.

Typically my week has some sort of roller coaster flow to it. One second a student will tell me that their friend is finally coming to them with questions about God, and the next second a parent will be asking me why we haven't had an Air-soft event in the past few months. Sometimes the people questioning or complaining about something are caring and considerate about how they communicate their issue, but a lot of the time they don't even realize how they are coming across.

I'll be honest. There are times that I would like to get off of the roller coaster. It's not always easy to stay balanced. I am sure that similar things take a toll on a lot of our volunteers and group leaders. I really admire their passion and perseverance. It's incredible to see them push through a year full of ups and downs. All that being said I would like to take a minute to share one of our high points that happened this Sunday Night. I hope you will celebrate it with all of us in Student Ministry too.

At the start of this school year there was a Middle School student who was coming to Friday nights at the Crossing and we will call him Danny. We had seen Danny a lot in the previous school year and we had our share of run ins with him as well. He was a guy who was dealing with a lot of different problems that he really didn't know how to handle. There were points we had to pull him aside and talk with him. He could be frustrating at times to say the least.

Our Crossing Staff does a great job and it came to our attention some time in September that Danny had warrant out for his arrest. He hadn't done anything horrendous. He just made a small mistake and missed his court date. On a Friday night we pulled him aside and asked him about it. We told him he needed to do the right thing and go work it out. Danny left in a squad car that night. It was tough on us. That night we committed ourselves to pray for Danny. We also promised Danny that we would follow up with him in a couple of weeks to see how he was doing. We wanted to help him through this.

A few weeks later we went to the address we had in our database for Danny. The house was completely empty. We talked to the neighbors. It seemed that Danny's family had just left abruptly a few days ago. We spent the rest of the day going from park to park and even talking to some of Danny's relatives trying to figure out where he had gone. Our search proved unproductive and the trail went cold. That evening we sent out an email to our church staff, elders, and all of our Student Ministry Volunteers. We wanted everybody to be praying for Danny. We might not have known where he was but Jesus definitely did and we liked that.

That was all that happened until about a month ago. Seemingly out of the shadows Danny reappeared at the Crossing. He told us about where he had moved and what he had been up to. He also told us that he had gone and talked with the judge and everything had been resolved. That was a great night for us at the Crossing. We got to play basketball with him and just catch up with him. We let him know we had been praying for him. He has been at almost each Crossing since that night as well.

We always encourage students who come to the Crossing to take the next step and come to Rel Community. The difference between the Crossing and Rel Community is that the Crossing is a place to come, hang out, and get to know us. At Rel Community, we get together and talk about the person who changed our lives forever, Jesus. Danny never seemed interested in Rel Community, he liked the pick up basketball games at the Crossing.

This Sunday night Danny surprised us again. He and 4 of his friends came to Rel Community. In our groups that night we talked about forgiveness and Matthew 18:21-35. Danny and his friends joined into the conversation. They shared real thoughts and real struggles about forgiveness. After our group time I told Danny that we had been praying for him for a while now because we cared so much about him. His response was, "Thanks. I am really trying to make good decisions."

Last night wasn't the finish line for us or Danny. He still needs to meet Jesus in a life-changing way. In all reality Danny may never come to Rel Community again. He might disappear into the shadows like so many students do. We need to keep praying for him, but something truly incredible did happen on Sunday night. Danny emerged from the shadows to talk about Jesus, and it was our privilege to be able to plant and water seeds in his heart. That's worth celebrating.

Super Bowl Commercial Entry: Middle School Rap

2010-02-22T22:33:00.003-05:00

Some of our Middle School Students made this video. I love how creative they were. Now all they need is somebody talented to start mixing beats for them. The only downside to the rap is that it quickly becomes an ear worm that you can't get out of your head. If you see any of the students from this video be sure to let them know how great of a job they did.

Middle School Rap Video from Parkside Students on Vimeo.

Spring and Fall Olympics: For the Common Man

2010-02-19T14:40:00.004-05:00

My friends and I had the idea that their should be Olympic Games during the odd years either in the spring or fall. We really cracked ourselves up with the idea, but for the rest of the night it really started growing on us. Here are some of the events that we think would become a staple.

Corn Hole: We believe that it is an outrage that it has been snubbed by the Summer Olympics.

Football: This would obviously be a fall event. We decided that every country besides America would be allowed to have 5 Americans whose names sound foreign. For example, Pierre Thomas could play for France and Chad Ochocinco would play for Mexico. We also think it would be wise for Peyton Manning to be All Time Quarterback.

Trick or Treat-a-Thon: Yet another Fall Event. This would really get good ratings. Competitors would run a normal marathon but recquired to wear a costume and collect 5 pounds of candy, and consume at least 2 pounds of it before crossing the finish line. The sugar crashes before people finished the race would make for epic viewing.

Attic/Garage Cleaning: This would be a spring event that would be both an individual sport and a couples event. The difficulty level would go up if cleaning included the crawl space or if either spouses' inlaws were present at the event.

Leaf Raking: this would be split into two events. A speed event as well as an artistic event. It could possibly even be expanded into Synchronized Raking, but lets not get ahead of ourselves.

Puddle Jumping: Honestly, who didn't just think to themselves, "I think I could win this event?"

Mud Greco-Roman Wrestling: This spring event would become even more interesting if we hid a few alligators in the mud bog.

Black Friday Shopping: This would be a controversial Fall Event. It would be pretty gruesome as well. I can just see the East Germany Athletes juicing up for this event.

Allergy Shot Put: Athletes would be given a Shot Put covered in all sorts of pollen, mold and other allergens. The athlete would then have to toss the shot put as far as possible without sneezing. A foul would be called on every sneeze and would disqualify the throw. We will need some time to develop a way to test to see if athletes are on Zyrtec or Nasonex.

We are still trying to think of good locations for the Spring and Fall Olympics, but we know for sure Chicago is not an option. Maybe someplace like Boston for the fall games. The opening ceremonies for the games could be held on the same day as the time changes. It would be easier to remember to spring forward or fall back an hour if Bob Costas reminded us as we watched 300 trained dancers form a huge moving spring flower.

This is just the begining though. There is so much we could do with this. What have we not thought of?

Guest Post: Aaron Adams

2010-02-09T13:16:00.002-05:00

Aaron is the champion of our Middle School Ministry. He helps out in all sorts of areas and ways. He is currently attending Cincinnati Christian University. Besides being a nice guy he also works at Woodland Lakes Christian Camp, loves sports, and is a HUGE Ohio State Buckeye Fan. I asked him to write a guest post for this blog about all he has learned in his past year of serving in Parkside Student Ministry.

I’ve been fully involved week in and week out in student ministry for close to a year. I’ve gone on all the retreats both middle school and high school, I’m leading the middle school guys rel community group. Through all of this I have learned an incredible amount and have become hungry for more! Student ministry is something that I’m very passionate about, I honestly can’t see myself doing anything else from this point on. Where God will lead me I don’t know but I sure hope it is leading students into a life changing relationship with Jesus. I’m surrounded by so many wonderful men and women at Parkside that have helped develop and grow me to be the best student minister I can be. I went into ministry already knowing it isn’t what most people think. My dad is a pastor so I already had an idea of what I was going to face, but doing it myself has really opened up my eyes to what ministry is all about. It’s not just coming in to the office and sitting at your desk all day, it’s not just praying with people, it’s not just playing dodge ball with students. It’s on a much deeper level, yea I do all those things but it’s not a Monday-Friday job, its constant. But with that being said I’ve come to love that. I’ve come to where I have developed so many wonderful friendships with students that I wouldn’t trade for anything in the world. I care deeply about each and every student whether they know that or not. With all this learning that has happened this past year it has also forced me to grow deeper in my own relationship with Jesus Christ, and that is something that is amazing for me. To be able to have a stronger connection to Jesus is remarkable. That has enabled be to disciple students in our youth group or just friends of mine. I can’t thank the people that have poured into my growing as a student minister and my own spiritual life enough!

Super Bowl Commercial Videos

2010-02-08T14:36:00.005-05:00

Our Student Ministry had a commercial contest with our students this year. All of our students got involved and did a great job. It was a lot of fun. Maybe over the next few weeks I'll upload some of the commercials the students came up with to share with everyone. I think you'll be impressed.

Knee Replacements

2010-02-03T16:10:00.004-05:00

My dad got his right knee replaced on Monday. It is incredible what doctors are able to do. The surgery went great. We really appreciated all the support and prayers. It is amazing though that he got a completely new knee on Monday and he is already home on Wednesday afternoon. My dad and I were talking about the replacement a few weeks ago, and his new knee should last him the rest of his life. Its just great what doctors and surgeons can do with the creative minds God has given them. Here are some of the highlights from the surgery and recover:

While my dad was quickly succumbing to the anesthesia he began singing Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da.
He also told the person who was taking him into surgery that he wanted to go fast.
I got to spend Monday morning tellings stories and being silly with my mom, my sister, and Alicia.
My brother texted us from his college in Indiana to ask how the surgery was going. When we called him after the surgery was over at 10:00AM he was still in bed (That's still early in college right?).
When Jamie came and visited us after the surgery my dad was in a hilarious mood (not from the medicine, he was just being himself). And we were all rolling on the floor. BTW my mom totally out of the blue commented that Jamie and I could be brothers.
My dad and I have gotten the chance to talk a lot football recruiting, the Super Bowl, and LOST.
We all have been able to see the numerous ways that God has been involved with all of our worries and fears with the surgery/recovery.
I got to have lunch with my two little nephews today and run around the Kenwood Mall with them.

Discipleship: Matthew 10

2010-01-27T09:17:00.003-05:00

Matthew 10:27 ²⁷What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs.

In chapter 10 of Matthew, Jesus is sending his disciples to learn by doing. You can only learn so much in a classroom. Any lesson becomes totally different when it is real life and hands on learning. He is sending them out to tell other Israelites that the Kingdom of Heaven is near.

As He is getting them ready he begins to tell them of the things that will happen to them after He has gone back to his Heavenly Father (He doesn't tell them that specifically). He let's them know that they should not worry about what they say because it will not be them speaking, but the Spirit of God speaking through them (Fast Forward to Acts 2 to see this in action). He also tells them that they will be dragged before public officials because of their message (Fast Forward to Acts 24 to see this one). If you think about it, this was probably pretty overwhelming for the disciples to hear and try to comprehend.

It is interesting all the things that Jesus talks about before He sends all of his disciples out to share their message of hope. They aren't supposed to do it for money, but they shouldn't worry because God will meet their needs. They should be wise as snakes but innocent as doves. They are to proclaim what they have heard from the housetops. They should expect persecution not acceptance.

Talk about challenging. There aren't too many people in my life that I would follow if they gave me marching orders like these in chapter 10. If you think about it though, it isn;t so surprising that the disciples followed Jesus. Andy said in one of his messages recently that no one has ever bet too much on a winning horse. Jesus started this journey by telling some of his disciples, "Come follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." They followed him, and went on to see him teach with power, perform miracles, and fulfill prophecies. They believed in who He was.

Too many people think that the message of the cross is come, be saved so you can be comfortable. That wasn't the message though. It was that Jesus came that we might have life to the fullest. Living life to the fullest in God's kingdom doesn't equal comfort or safety. Jesus came so that we might be changed and help other people experience the same life-changing power. People who have experienced that change don't seek out safety, they seek out God's adventure wherever it takes them.

That's a lot to think about, but that's ok. Even though He challenges us to do incredibly difficult things, He reassures us with the presence of his Spirit.

Just for Fun:
Who Dey vs. Who Dat

and this one should really brighten your Wednesday...

The Turtle Man

Sermon on the Mount, Discipleship, and Brett Favre

2010-01-20T09:47:00.002-05:00

Maybe we should start off by playing Sesame Street's one of these things is not like the others. That's probably an easy call for you all. Yeah you are right this isn't a game of Tribond. At least I can't think of something that these three topics have in common. If I think of one by the end of today I'll let you know.

Matthew 5-7 is called the Sermon on the Mount. It is a portion of the Bible where Jesus gives a message to a crowd on a hillside. He talks about a lot of different things. Its a great passage to study because its like having a long conversation with Jesus about things that really matter to him.

He says in chapter 6,
¹⁹"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. "

Just a few chapters before this Jesus said, "Come follow me and I will make you fishers of men."

Jesus spent a lot of time investing in the lives of his disciples. He said at the start of this process that he wanted to make them fishers of men. He wanted to grow them into Disciples who made disciples. It is interesting that at the beginning of the sermon on the mount it does not say that Jesus gathered a large crowd around him and began teaching. It says when he saw the crowd gathering he went up to the mountainside, his disciples came to him and he began teaching them.

Discipleship is not a quick process it takes a lot of time and energy. Jesus wanted his disciples to not only take hold of the Kingdom of Heaven, He wanted them to share this kingdom with everyone. I think that is part of the lesson we can learn about what he says in Matthew 6:19-21 (see above). When we connect to Jesus for the first time it is all about us. We are dumbfounded by the sacrifice he made so that we could have abundant life, but it is still about us and the gift we are receiving.

As we connect with other Christians it can also be a inwardly focused act. How many of us have not gone to our small group because we don't feel like we are getting anything out of it? Or we switch churches because we aren't getting fed. You could call that a spiritual buffet mentality. It is not that its bad to want to be fed spiritually or to want to grow. The truth is though, Jesus never wanted us to stop at that point of discipleship. A disciple who only cares about their own spiritual well-being is not going to be making any other disciples.

In verse 19 Jesus says where your heart is there your treasure will be also. If your treasure is in things this world treasures, then you are setting yourself up for a lot of hurt. Turn on the news tonight and you will see how quickly all the earth treasures can be taken from you. If you only treasure things that benefit yourself you are setting yourself up for an empty heart and a lonely life. Jesus wants us to have life and have life abundantly.

When you invest in other people's faith and well being (both spiritually and physically), you are storing your treasure in something that is eternal. You are sacrificing and working for something that could have an everlasting impact. It's also the kind of investment that comes back to you in the long run. Investing in other people is rewarding. Something that you will find is that it grows you more when you invest in others than when you just focused on investing in yourself.

Still wondering how Brett Favre fits into all of this? He doesn't. I just thought I would share a video with you that might make your Wednesday a little better. I am not really a Favre fan but this did make me laugh:

Watchin' Game Film

2010-01-18T18:58:00.005-05:00

I spent some time hanging out with a friend of mine today. His coach told him to go back and watch all of his game tape from this past season. My friend John is a guard which, if you don't know much about football, is one of the least glamorous positions to play. Running Backs, Quarterbacks, and Wide Receivers get all the attention while offensive linemen do all the work.

I watched film with him for about an hour. We watched as he missed some important blocks in games early on in the year. At other points we watched as he made great physical blocks only to have his quarterback or running back choose another route. You work really hard on the offensive line and it doesn't always pay off.

Let me stop here and say I don't know a lot about football. I love it, and I love watching it, but even John teased me by saying that I had been enlightened to 'some' of the nuances in football. Which I think might be just a nice way to say, "Matt, I am the one who plays football, not you."

All that being said, you have to do a lot right for a play to succeed when you play on the offensive line. You have to have solid footwork, and keep leverage against your blocking assignment. On top of that if you don't communicate with your other linemen you could end up not blocking everyone and that can be disastrous. Your hands are important too. You want to use them to keep whoever you are blocking close, but you can't hold because that would be a penalty.

As you are beginning to understand there really is a lot that goes into playing offensive line and you really don't get any credit at that position. If you talk with a linemen though its not like they hate playing their position or they hate the lack of recognition. They almost feed off of it. They like the fact that they make it possible for awesome plays to happen. They love it when they open up a hole for a running back to break a big play.

No one has ever said, "Imagine a world full of offensive linemen." Probably because there wouldn't be enough food for all of us. Still, I think most of us could use the character and grittiness of an offensive lineman. They work hard on every play. They trust that everyone else is doing what they are supposed to even though they can only take care of their part. I think thing that sets them apart though is that even though they only get noticed if they make a mistake, they still go out there and do their best to help their team succeed.

Year In Review Part 4

2010-01-13T22:04:00.003-05:00

October
Bigger Picture: A new law was passed that made it illegal for federal employees to text while they were driving. This is unconfirmed, but it's been reported that this was the deciding factor in Paris Hilton ending her Hilton for President 2012 campaign.

In My World: Alicia and I got to spend a week down in Gatlinburg. It was a blast! We got a great cabin up in the mountains that was beautiful. We went hiking and the leaves were all sorts of colors. Very Relaxing and very fun.

In Student Ministry: Parkside teamed up with White Oaks, Lakeside, and Mount Carmel Christian Churches for a Middle School Retreat. We learned about Daniel and how it takes character to make the right choice when no one else is. We were also graced with a wonderful tribute to Michael Jackson, and the spectacle of Joe Robinson tackling poor Miles.

November
Bigger Picture: The Yankees won the World Series which means all of New York celebrated and the rest of the US remembered how much they hated the Yankees.

In My World: My dad and I got to do something we had never done before. We went up to that town up north and watched the Buckeyes play Michigan. My dad and I made a great road trip out of it too. We ran into the whole OSU team as they were riding up to Ann Arbor, and got to talk with a lot of them after the game too. The best part was getting to experience it all with my dad. The second best part was doing the O.H... I.O. chant in THEIR stadium as the Buckeyes won

In Student Ministry: We got new Dodgeballs. That may seem trivial and silly, but our dodgeball games became much more competitive with the new hardware. I may be remembering wrong, but I think it was also in November that Brian Roberts nearly survived incredible odds in a dodgeball match by sacrificing himself and diving all over the floor to dodge and evade the throws.

December
Bigger Picture: Avatar the movie came out. I know there have been other 3D movies, but James Cameron took it too a whole new level and created a new world.
In My World: Alicia and I, and both of our families had a great Christmas. We got to see all of our families and spend quality time with them too. It was a lot of fun. My sister got me a Shock Ball that randomly shocks whoever holds it. I am still having a lot of fun with that one.
In Student Ministry: December was a great month for Student Ministry. On Sunday mornings in the Gathering Place the church listened to people share stories about how the Christmas story was personal to them. 2 group leaders and a student got to share their stories. They did a great job of sharing their story and how it connected to Christ coming to earth. It was also neat because students help led an effort to raise money for Kids Against Hunger to buy meals to send to Haiti. Not only did they help raise the money. They also helped pack the meals with people of all ages.

6 Word Memoirs

2010-01-12T14:28:00.004-05:00

No I haven't forgotten about Year in Review Part 4 (Not that you were wondering), I just had something else I had to pass along to everyone before I could finish Part 4.

A couple of Sundays ago I explained the concept of a 6 word memoir to some of our Middle School Guys. I asked each of them to come up with a couple of 6 word phrases that described them or something they enjoyed. I thought what they came up with was pretty insightful. So here they are:

Bad at sports. Good at School

The world will fear my name.

Having fun is great in ways.

Food and TV first, homework later.

Our football team is the best!

I'm not fat I'm fluffy.

Don't worry about the one that says the world will fear my name. We already checked him into a Potential Disney Movie Villian Rehab Center, and he is doing well.

So what would your 6 word memoir be?

I came up with two:

We met. I asked. Together Forever.
and
Ever wonder why time never stops?

Year in Review Part 3

2009-12-30T15:53:00.005-05:00

July
Bigger Picture: Bernie Madoff's life just kept getting worse. As evidence of his huge ponzi scheme became clearer everyone was dumbfounded by the size of it (ponzi just sounds like corruption). Thankfully as a recent college grad and a student minister I had no millions to have squandered by him.

In My World: Alicia took her NCLEX test. The test is just a big shiny way of the US deciding whether or not you get to be a nurse. Anyways the precautions to make sure people don't cheat just make the test more stressful. Everyone that Alicia and I talked to said they had a breakdown after they took it and they were sure that they failed. I bet you could make a ton of money offering counseling sessions outside of the testing facility on test day. Well, sure enough Alicia passed with flying colors and started working at Anderson Mercy Hospital like the next week.

In Student Ministry: ISAIAH 117!!! This was one of my favorite things from the past year. We had such a great time serving our community and just growing with Students. Everybody worked so hard. It was just such a God thing. The neat thing is that cool Kingdom of God coming to Earth kind of stuff is still happening because of Isaiah 117. If you are wondering what the ISAIAH117 CHALLENGE was/is go read Isaiah 1:17 and that will sum it up pretty well. Basically we spent a week trying to Glorify God by learning to do right in our community.

Oh and CIY Move was awesome too. Joe, Kyle, Lindsey, and Jess... Can you say SARDINES?

August
Bigger Picture: The Bengals made Cincinnati proud by capturing America's attention in this year's addition of Hard Knocks. During the show Chad Ochocinco blessed us with new catch phrases like Kiss Da Baby and Child Please. Which were really cool until someone besides Chad Ochocinco said them and then not so much. Still the best Bengals memory form August was Chad kicking not only an extra point, but also the ensuing kick off in a preseason game. SMH.

In My World: George Frank and his wife Cassi went to Ireland. It made Alicia and I very jealous. Don't worry we got over it.

In Student Ministry: The school year was just around the bend so we had a Student Ministry Movement seminar for our parents and ministry leaders. The Chicfila was definitely a highlight. My favorite parts of it though were having students there serving our parents and leaders, having time to talk and pray with the parents of our students, and getting a chance to share my passion for growing students to be Engaging Christ Followers. A lot of good things came out of that Saturday afternoon.

September
Bigger Picture: Parkside's river campus opened up. The whole process of the River Campus coming about was a God thing. It was real privilege to be a part of the process. It is great what God is bringing about in our lives, at Parkside, and in the Kingdom of God. I still love it when someone asks me, "How many Parksiders were at the River Campus this Sunday." (The correct answer is ALL of them at the River Campus are Parksiders).

Oh and how could I not mention Kanye West interrupting Taylor Swift at the VMA's. I would offer up my thoughts abut when I first saw it, but I don't want to get dogged by Kanye on his next album. Come on though Beyonce's video was the best video of all time right? File that whole incident under "Things I Don't Care About"

In My World: I Rick Rolled the staff at Parkside. I thought it was all fun and games until I came out to my car and Bart had slit my tires. He didn't really, but he totally could have.

In Student Ministry: Rel Community and Friday Nights at the Crossing got kicked off for the school year. Our volunteers and group leaders have done an awesome job all year. It has been so incredible to see students come to the Crossing on Friday night and a few weeks later end up coming to Rel Community and joining a group . Its awesome to get to see people who are passionate about their relationship with Jesus share their story with students who are trying to figure out what life is all about. Its definitely one of my favorite parts of my job.

Year in Review: Part 2

2009-12-24T10:49:00.006-05:00

April
Bigger Picture: Chinese officials discovered an extra 500 miles of the Great Wall in China (this isn't a joke.) They had originally thought it was 5,000 miles long, but after studying it and finding new parts of it they found out it was 5,500 long. Crazy huh? I can't remember the last time I misplaced 500 miles of wall.

Also, how can we not include the Swine Flu. When pigs stop oinking and start sneezing, we should all be very concerned. As it turns out we weren't even calling it by the right name. H1N1 is apparently how it wishes to be referred to. This would eventually lead to Chad Ochocinco referring to himself as H8N5. The NFL didn't need to fine him though because they had already sent him his monthly fine in the mail.

In My World: My dad and I got to go see the Reds Opening Day game for the first day. The weather was cold an rainy, and the Reds ending up losing, but it was an AWESOME Experience. We went to the Findlay Market for the Parade and got to meet Johnny Cueto, Edinson Volquez and Frank Robinson. There's nothing like an Opening Day in Cincinnati!

In Student Ministry: In April we took our middle school students up to Anderson, Indiana for an event called Believe which is entirely geared towards middle school students. We also met up with Ben Orcutt who goes to college there and goes to Parkside. We didn't get any sleep, but I don't think anybody wanted to either. Paul B. got to go onstage for a magic trick. Coy F. told everyone that he sweats blue sweat, we didn't believe him and then he started sweating blue (some things even science can't explain). To top all of it off we got to have some really great worship times, and we learned about the book of Jeremiah.

May
Bigger Picture: Everyone in the world stopped to watch and find out who would win American Idol. We all learned that night that Paula Abdul should not go back to being a performer. Adam Lambert lost and Kris Allen won. However the real winner for the night was Idol and Fox who made a TON of money on the social juggernaut that is American Idol. Is it scary that more people in America recognize the name Sonjaya than recognize the name Rahm Emanuel?

Oh and this is good stuff. Manny Ramirez fails a drug test and gets suspended for 50 games. The story behind the story you ask? The drug/hormone that Manny had in his system that caused him to fail the test is the same hormone that a woman has in her body when she is pregnant. It is literally the same hormone that most pregnancy tests look for to tell if a woman is pregnant or not. So you have to ask yourself, was Manny looking for a competitive edge or was he really wanting to have a baby? You just can't make this stuff up!

In My World: May was Graduation Month for my family. Alicia graduated from NKU, and my younger brother Josh graduated from High School. At Alicia's graduation a local author gave the commencement speech. It was hilarious (except he was serious.) Pretty much to some up the hour of time he rambled, he said that the world was falling apart and not only would none of them have jobs, but college doesn't really prepare you for life. It was great! Anyways, he was wrong and now Alicia is working at Anderson Mercy.

Alicia and I also got to go up to Detroit for a day to see the Rangers play the Tigers. We had a really good time and had great seats.

... and of course how could I not include Alicia and I getting a dog! We got a miniature Dotson named Hans. He is a great dog who like all dogs has an unhealthy obsession with squirrels.

In Student Ministry: We had a graduation breakfast just for our HS grads and their families. It ended up being a special time for everyone to celebrate the accomplishment. I loved the opportunity to congratulate them and to challenge them to grow their faith even stronger as they went off to school. Randy Shivers spoke at the breakfast and was very insightful. He was able to share so much because he had known most of the graduates since they were born. How awesome is that?

June
Bigger Picture: I remember getting back into the states at the end of June and seeing all of the news talking about the Riots and Protests in Iran. It was interesting seeing how Social Media like twitter and facebook had changed how we cover global situations like the one in Iran.

Michael Jackson unexpectedly passed away as his upcoming tour was almost here. I actually found out about this on Twitter before I saw it anywhere else. Didn't we all think it was a joke at first? I kept waiting for everyone to say it was fake. So Jackson jokes and Neverland punchlines went on a hiatus, and everyone who wasn't a Jackson fan turned off their TV's for the entire month because really and truly their was nothing else being talked about on TV.

In My World: June was a whirlwind. Alicia and I were part of a group that went down to the Dominican Republic for a 11 day mission trip. It was an awesome experience and I was so glad Alicia was able to come along.

I actually can't remember anything else that happened in June. The trip was a really big time consuming thing for me. It was the first trip I had led that was outside the US. It was a great trip. We took 36 people and it really was incredible. I am almost positive that nothing else in my world happened because it was so busy with the trip.

In Student Ministry: As you can see above the Student Ministry went to the Dominican Republic. Here are a couple of things that I thought were highlights:

Hearing Justin White share his testimony.
Having one of the HS Girls find a HUGE tarantula in her bunk on the last day we were there.
Paul Bledsoe's Waffle Iron Joke (Ask him and he'll tell you it).
Building the house for the camp there.
Getting to see our students work extremely hard, and be Jesus' hands and feet even when they were tired.
Getting to play softball against the Dominican's (Brogan went yard to deep center, and then his dad Greg popped up to the pitcher)
Everyone getting home safe and sound.

Playing Softball.

Paul Bledsoe reacting to our bus breaking down.