karl's gracious sarcasm and my poor math skills

My dear friend Karl pointed out that my math didn't add up in my post about how long I've been in youth ministry.

Let the record show that I am currently 39 years old, of failing mental capacities, and was a student at Toccoa Falls College from 1987-1990, slotting my junior year in at 1988-1989, at which time I was employed by the gracious people of the Hill Street Baptist Church as their youth pastor for the sum total of 150 USD per month!

Thanks, Karl.

this jumped out at me

from my reading today:

As we know Jesus better, his divine power gives us everything we need for living a godly life...so make every effort to apply the benefits of these promises to your life...work hard to prove that you are really among those God has called and chosen. Doing this, you will never stumble or fall away. 2 Peter 1 NLT

So, as I read it, I have the promise of unlimited power to help me live the life that God has called me to, and I have the responsibility to apply that power/promise to my life. To fail to do so puts me in jeopardy of stumbling in my faith and/or falling away.

Hmmm...that's something to chew on today.

On a sidenote, the NLT from BibleGateway.com doesn't match the NLT in my backpack. I wonder why that is...ok, just found it--the Metal Bible (which, according to the description, has the hippest cover ever!) is copyright 1996, and the online is 2004. got it.

I've been in student ministry since my junior year of college--1998. Yep, close to 20 years. There were a couple of years there in the middle where I was a senior pastor AND the youth pastor. 20 years...

So much has changed in the way we do student ministry over the past 20 years. Students have changed, and the culture has changed. Methods and fads have come and gone. There have been new books written about strategies and differing approaches to ministry.

The Good News has not changed, though, and while I know that there are few simple answers, I am a strong believer in a few things that shape our ministry.

• Parents need to be encouraged, equipped, and challenged to lead their children in faith.
• Discipleship is not a class to be offered, but a lifestyle to be embraced.
• All of us need someone to speak into our lives, to shape the way that we see the world and follow Jesus.
• All of us need to be speaking into the lives of others.
• I believe that acts of service might just be the perfect tool for teaching people to follow Jesus. (more on this thought in another post)
• Small groups are well-suited for helping students develop as followers of Christ, provided that there are enough good leaders to match the number of students. (that's another post, too)
• We are finding this generation of students is more than willing to jump in to worship, serve, pray, study, give, tell, show, be vulnerable, learn, and live for Jesus.
• I don't come across many students who are Biblically literate. They know some of the stories from the Bible, but they don't have an over-arching grasp of the Story.
• Like the men and women throughout the ages before them, students rally to the clear and compelling vision of a life in Jesus.
  

At the end of the day, I find myself enjoying ministry with and to students, although my role is vastly different than what is once was.

no dark corners

Over the last few days these words from Jesus have been running through my mind:

If you are filled with light, with no dark corners, then your whole life will be radiant, as though a floodlight were filling you with light. Luke 11:36

I'm wrestling with what that means. I genuinely want my life to be radiant, to let the light of God shine through me. It's my prayer that there be no dark corners in my life, nothing hidden from the light, no place that the light of God does not shine. I want the folks around me to see Jesus in me.

bushed and beat

It's the first day of deer hunting season, and Levi and I are in Bedford, PA at Kim's parents' place for the annual "Take Your Gun For A Walk" celebration. This year's festival was marked by 24 hours of rain and an profound absence of deer. We eat pretty well, and the time spent with family can't be beat.

Levi turned 12 this year, and so enters the realm of the Junior Hunter. He was a little cold and wet today, just like the rest of us! He gave the day 7 out of 10 stars. And just like that, my boy is a hunter.

I took a couple of pics of Levi all geared up this morning at 4:30. I'm too tired to post them. If you'll excuse me now, I have an appointment with a couch and the Steelers--at least until I fall asleep!

Risk and Luck, and Space Invaders

I'm not much of a gamer, never really have been. When we have people over to play games, I'd rather sit in the room with everyone and play the role of the DJ from my laptop. So Risk and Luck don't have to do with games.

Risk is the title of a book by Kenny Luck, who is the pastor of men's ministry at Saddleback and the president of Every Man Ministries. I've been meaning to read it for months, and I've been able to grab a few chapters each night for the past few nights.

Last night the thing that grabbed me was his chapter on Space Invaders, and every man's need to have another man invade his personal space. There's a fundamental difference between old-school accountability (in which the dude who crosses the sin line gets yelled at by the dude who doesn't get how accountability is supposed to work) and the kind of relationship in which each one of us watches out for the other, and works aggressively to help the other to stay out of trouble. In the example that Luck used, one guy referred to himself as a human guardrail. The Space Invading man gets in his buddy's business, because often that's what it takes to spur one another on to love and good deeds (Hebrews 10:24). Intentional questions and pointed conversations about who I am and who I want to become have to take place.

I've got a couple of guys in my life who could be that kind of friend to me. Andy and I meet every once in a while to talk that intentionally. I want to live a life inspected, because I want my life to count!

mawmaw's story

I had a great time today talking to my mawmaw about her early life. Oh--a mawmaw is the southern version of a grandma! I found out so much about her childhood, her first job (at a boarding school for girls in Richmond, VA). That's where she fell in love with my pawpaw, even though they were from the same town and went to the same school. He was almost 8 years older than her, but I don't think that mattered much back in 19 and 43. PawPaw said that he knew she was the one the very minute that she got out of the car at the school. She remembers him getting off the school bus with his 2 brothers and 3 sisters. He would have been a senior in high school when she was in 4th grade. Just for the record, as the father of a 4th grade girl, I frown on her dating seniors!

PawPaw would have been 90 this year. I take a lot of my personality and quirkiness from him. There are quite a few things that found their way into our hearts: a love for bluegrass/gospel music, pocket knives, beings woodsy, and writing.

I have PawPaw's mandolin, a couple of pocket knives, 2 fountain pens. I also have his love for Jesus, which is pretty cool.

breaking things in my brother's house

yep. we rolled into Durham late last night, and I was so excited to pull out the new Apple Airport Express and show my bro how quickly the fancy wireless network could get flowing. About 2 hours later, sitting on the couch with cat-5 stretched across the living room, still not connected...this is being posted from his desktop.

After everyone went to bed, I figured out at least one of the problems. He was giving me a line from his wireless router, and that seemed to be the sticking point. I pulled the line from the cable modem and got the wireless network up in about 2 minutes.

Today, after he re-connected his wireless router, nothing is working in the wireless realm. He's re-booted, re-connected, released and renewed ip addresses...

Oh well. Maybe we'll scoot off to check out a pawn shop or two. I dig that stuff...

time to fight

This is my letter to parents this month:

I remember coming home from the hospital with Levi. I was pumped up beyond belief, sure that this was going to be the greatest father-son tandem ever. I was making plans for us to be baseball buddies, backpacking buddies, hunting buddies, guitar buddies...I envisioned lots of great conversations that would shape my son's life and faith. I figured that he'd want to be with me all the time, to learn at my side as we explored the worlds of small gasoline engine repair, electricity for dummies, and what makes girls act that way?

Over the past few years, though, it's become clear that my parenting skill set is not as fully developed as I originally thought, and I am having to learn how to cultivate the relationship that I want with Levi, as well as with the girls. It's more than a little frustrating at times to look up from the fray to realize that this isn't going (at least at the moment) the way I thought that it would. But we've made some recent decisions about our family values and the way we spend our time that should make better relationships more feasible simply because we have time to spend together.

How about you and your relationship with your son or daughter? Is it going the way that you dreamed that it would? It's a natural part of adolescent transformation and development for our sons and daughters to begin to move toward independence from us as parents, but they are going to need us in their lives as long as we are alive. God has placed us in families intentionally, and we need to do all we can to cultivate and nurture these relationships. But sometimes it feels like defeat has won the day, discouragement is kicking my tail, and I feel more like Jack Handey (from SNL—remember him?) than Jack Bauer.

Deep Thoughts, from Jack Handy
If you ever drop your keys in a river of molten lava, let 'em go, man, 'cause they're gone...

Sometimes I feel like giving up on the things that don't come easy or naturally. But let me assure you, Mom or Dad, it's always too early to give up, always too early to quit, always too early to bail on the relationships with your children, regardless of how things are going lately.

We're going to be working hard to partner with you in the months to come. We want to be a source of encouragement and a voice of hope in the midst of some potentially trying times. A couple of weeks ago, Pastor Dan preached from Nehemiah 4. I was struck by the words, actions, and wisdom of Nehemiah.

The wall was half-way completed, but the critics were at full strength. The people were tired, scared, and starting to wonder if what they were doing was going to work. Nehemiah called the people together, armed them, told them to stand guard by family groups, and said, “Don't be afraid of the enemy! Remember the Lord, who is great and glorious, and fight for your friends, your families, and your homes!”

Will you choose to fight for your family? We will stand with you!

We've got a parents' night scheduled for the first Wednesday night in January. I'd love to have a room full of parents hanging out for discussion about the things that are relevant to your situations and families. I'll tell you that we're going to be talking to your middle and high school students about sex in February. If you want to know more about that, come see us in January! We're also planning a series that will help your students make the most of their relationships, including that relationship with you!

Maybe I'll see you January 2, from 7-8:30 at Calvary.

it's funny what God makes me forget

marko blogged about the closing session today, especially the technical foul-ups. He had a couple of videos that ran without sound, and he said that the glitches threw him off-track and out of the groove. To be honest, I didn't remember the glitches until he reminded me! I don't think that anyone in the room could tell that he wasn't in the groove. And I know that every youth worker in the place can identify with the technical glitch. My guess is that the glitches kind of endear YS to the youthworkers even more in that "Man, they really are like me!" kind of way.

If YS will keep feeding our souls, we'll put up with a little audio squealage and video sans audio. I think that's more than a fair trade.

a full heart, and a full belly

wow, what a day.

the last day of the NYWC was firing on all cylinders. I went to hear Reggie Joiner, who titled his talk The Missing Piece of Student Ministry. Reggie was one of the original architects of the movement known as North Point Community Church, and was responsible for all the family ministries there. He's now one of the folks leading the rethink group and the orange conference. Reggie spoke about the 5 pieces that we youth workers generally hone in on, tweak and twist, attempting to get things as right as possible. He outlined the 5, then gave us his alternatives, and what he sees as shifts toward what matters most:
from Student to Leader development
from Content to Experience
from Production to Relationship
from Age Focus to Family Ministry
from Growth to Service
He calls service the missing piece, and highlights it as the difference maker between students attending church and students being the church.

As he talked, it was as if I could hear the Lord saying, "See, you're headed in the right direction. Stay the course, maintain your heading, and keep on keeping on." Those are some of the foundational changes that we have been moving toward over the last few years.

Then we all moved in to the big hall for the closing session. Lost and Found, the Skit Guys, Fee, and marko. It was an absolutely beautiful closing session. I loved what marko had to say about the preferred future of youth ministry, and pray that his words are accurate and prophetic for us as a whole. I am so grateful for folks who have the ability to see the big picture, who can step back, take things in, and give us a snapshot of where we are, see where we need/want to be, have a sense of what God is doing in the mix...

there were moments today (and over the past few days) that I felt completely overwhelmed by the presence and love of God. I thought that I was coming in to this convention ats a pretty healthy person. And maybe that's true. I didn't expect any big revelations from God, though. But he was speaking to me from the outset.

I so appreciate YS and the work that they do to care for and nurture the souls of the men and women who care for and nurture the souls of students.

my heart is full. and so is my belly.

We ate lunch at the Fire of Brazil. I have never tasted meat like we ate today. I am totally blown away. I will now and forever be an evangelist for the Fire of Brazil. There were moments of sincere worship around our table as we praised the God who made meat and decided that Adam and Eve could eat meat. Uh-maze-zing. My only regret is that we waited until today to eat there. If you have never eaten at a Fire of Brazil, and you live close enough to make it a possibility, step away from the computer, find your keys, and make haste to the nearest FoB. I ain't even kiddin...

packed and jacked

the bags are packed and ready to be loaded into the rental. we each brought an extra bag for all the free goodies and new stuff that we bought at the convention.

We're headed to breakfast, then to a seminar and marko's closing address, then it's lunch at the Fire of Brazil, and to the airport.

it's been a great convention. i'll have some closing thoughts later today.

day 3 of the NYWC

I started the day off right--I slept in! I planned on dropping in on Chris Folmsbee's book discussion, but when the wake up call came, I decided to bag it. I had a good conversation with my friend Cowboy Joe as we walked to the convention center, though, so it was worth missing the book discussion.

I had a chat planned with Mark Riddle this morning, and I got to share a little more of my story with him. I am so blown away and blessed by the great people God drops into my life. Mark listened, asked insightful questions, spoke some truth into my life, and asked me a couple of spot-on questions aimed at helping me hear from the Lord. He'd never push his consulting group, but if I ever have the chance to bring in a professional group to work with our church, it'd be the Riddle Group. There was a whole lot of wisdom, understanding, passion for the church, and grace sitting across the table from me this morning!

I missed most of Doug Fields talk, but caught the last 5 minutes, which was enough to know that he nailed it. I'll have to pick that talk up. Crowder and Co. remain my favorite worship leaders. My friend Kim remarked that he manages to blend a whole bunch of silly into the mix with some incredible songs of worship, and it comes out dee-lish.

Phyllis Tickle was the popular choice for the first seminar this afternoon. That is one stinkin smart woman. I want to adopt her. Seriously. My friend Matt agrees, and wants to take her to his family reunions so that the conversation will be better. I don't know about that, but I know that I'd love to spend some time sitting with Mrs T. She's a peach...

We took an extended break this afternoon, trying to catch the Steelers game. They lost to the J-E-T-S, Jets, Jets, Jets in overtime. We have had a rough weekend of football.

Tonight's set consisted of Leeland, who was new to me. Very talented, very original songwriting, led us well. Same thing with Steve Fee, although I knew some of his songs. It's good to hear from some new voices in worship, and with Fee following the speaker, we had a chance to sing some new songs, hear some fresh voices, and worship.

My guess is that most of the convention attendees are white and suburban in terms of demographic. Sometimes I wonder if the folks who aren't in that demographic feel a little out of the loop when we go to worship and the music is a different style than what they're used to.

Tonight's speaker was Marquis Laughlin, who presented a dramatic rendition of Genesis 12-22. It was stunning--funny, poignant at times...he had us in the palm of his hand most of the way, except for when the cameraman fell from his perch and took the camera/tripod with him. Mr. Laughlin paused, I think to make sure the guy was OK, then carried right on with the Word.

We passed on the late night options, but are very grateful for the finger rockets.

It turns out that I missed an opportunity to hang out with Roogles today. He posted a comment that I didn't see until we got back to the room tonight. Bummer, my loss...

what I'm missing at home

The National Youth Workers Convention is tremendous, and is on my list of "don't miss" events for each year. The benefits of attending are huge--getting re-filled by God, spending time with old friends, meeting other great new people, taking home an extra bag o' swag...But being away from home costs us something.

I missed my kids singing downtown Thursday night for our town's lighting of the Christmas tree. My wife has been out of town, too, so I missed several nights of kids snuggling in bed, making chocolate chip pancakes for the lot Saturday morning, and a devastating Penn State loss to Michigan State. Levi and I were on the phone off and on during the game, though, so we sort of watched it together.

It's Sunday, and our high school ministry is planning a night of experiential prayer exercises. I helped plan the night, but a few of our leaders are putting the whole shebang together and running things tonight. I know that it's going to be splendid, and I wish that I could be there...

an informal survey

is this font size easier to read? i have no idea who's reading, or what browser you're using. I think that the smaller font is tough to read on Firefox, though.

If you have a preference, let me know.

noted leadership moment

Marko introduced Andy Stanley before yesterday's session by talking about a spot of tension that occurred the last time AS addressed the YS group, and how God had orchestrated the reconciliation between Andy and Marko.

Tonight Marko spent a minute reviewing yesterday's intro, apologizing for choosing the wrong words that led to a wrong impression about Andy. Marko blogged about it here.

It's refreshing to see people own their words, acknowledge those "oops" moments, and make things right. That's the kind of people I want to be around! That's the kind of leader that I want to be.

Day 2 from Atlanta's NYWC

Today was a full day in so many ways. I hit some pretty hefty seminars that were right in my wheelhouse (Mike King and Chris Folmsbee), heard Phyllis Tickle and Louie Giglio from the main stage, and worshiped with Shane & Shane and Chris Tomlin. All of it was worthwhile, challenging, and refreshing. I got to meet Phyllis Tickle backstage before she presented, and we had a good chat. I'm going to have to get the dvd of her talk, because I couldn't hear a lot of what she said, but I heard so many people talking about how good her talk was.

I think the most meaningful part of the day for me was actually spread out over several conversations that I had with some good listeners. God is confirming some things in me, and muddying the waters further still in some other areas. I have enjoyed working through my/our story with a few insightful people over the past 2 days. I'm going to talk to a Youth Ministry Consultant tomorrow morning. Maybe we can dig a little deeper into the discontent/desire thing to see what's under the surface.

During Louie's talk (and Tomlin's worship session following the talk), I sensed God asking me if I would be faithful to walk in the opportunities that he puts in front of me. I believe that I am gaining some ground, getting some momentum, and moving in the right direction. There are a few things that seem to slow me down or discourage/defeat me, and they (or I) seem to cycle through them on a somewhat regular basis.

I'm ready to be whole, to find the Shalom of God--that sense of wholeness, completion, rest...

post 1 from the National Youth Workers Convention, Atlanta

Our trip to Atlanta has been good so far. There are 5 of us from State College here (our 2 Penn State students arrived Friday night around 11:00), and we're looking forward to a good weekend.

It's been a good day. Like always, the music and speakers were top-notch. (Desperation Band and Flatfoot 56 this afternoon, Third Day and the Desperation Band tonight. The speakers for today were Andy Stanley and Shane Claiborne). Andy Stanley urged us to use our influence and power for the betterment of the other people in our group. Shane read the world's best sermon to us--the Sermon on the Mount Matthew 5-7. That's it! He did his fire-tricks, read the Bible, prayed and left the stage. I snagged some good swag from some of the folks in the vendor's area. I scored a couple of t-shirts, a frisbee, some music, and probably won several ipods that are being given away by vendors. And probably a couple of Wiis.

Highlights of the Day: Shane, then good conversations with some folks, followed closely by good coffee (thanks Ugly Mug!).

Tip o'the Day: If you're with a group, designate a decision maker. We're all trying to be conscientious, so we end up like stinkin' Chip 'n Dale. Where do you want to eat? I don't care, wherever you want to eat. No, seriously, you pick...I am suggesting to Marko and YS that they put a Designated Decision Maker (DDM) on the list of things to bring to next year's deal.

Unexpected fun moment: Hey, I read your blog! I got to say hi to Tony Myles and Eli Ruggles today, along with Marko and Mark Riddle. It's fun to get to meet the guys I read online. I'm hoping to get some time with a couple of those guys to talk later this weekend.

on the road again

A group of us from Happy Valley are headed to the ATL for the National Youth Workers Convention. We leave tomorrow, and I am pumped. This has become a yearly pilgrimage for many of us youth workers. It's a combination of training, resource pre-viewing, and tank-filling. The convention is put on by Youth Specialties, and they get those of us who work with students, mostly (I think) because they are/were us.

Expected highlights:
worship with thousands of Jesus-hungry youth workers
conversations with other veterans of student ministry
coffee with Marko
seeing new leaders catch the vision for how they can influence this next gen to follow Jesus
being shaped by others involved in leading students and leaders
experiencing God along the way

Of course, the freebies and promo stuff YS gives away is pretty cool, too!

I come back home Monday night, only to load the van and head off for the homeland, sort of. We'll be going to Durham, NC for the Sublett Family Thanksgiving Christmas. We celebrate Christmas at Thanksgiving with my family every year, since it's difficult to get away during the Christmas season with church responsibilities. I am looking forward to seeing my family! My brother absolutely rocks! And you can tell him I said so.

what a guy wants

I got a call from a friend today. He's a young man I met last summer who moved into town for a while. He called to talk, sort of at the end of his rope. He's dealing with a problem that I think most of us guys deal with.

To paint the picture a little clearer, let me give you some background. My friend is a follower of Christ. He comes from a solid family, has been used by God to encourage others, is intent on sharing his story with others, willing to serve in the local church, and wanting to grow spiritually. Today he was frustrated with his situation, feeling a little lower than slumpy, and not sure how to get out of the cycle. He's been involved in a big church for a few months, but feels lost in the bigness.

What's my buddy's problem?

He is alone.

He has no community, no group of men around him to challenge him and encourage him in his walk with God, no place to contribute to the development of others. Nate Larkin (Samson and the Pirate Monks) points out that this isolation was one of the fundamental differences between Samson and King David, and is the reason that so many Christian men fall or fail to live for Jesus. It is not good for man to be alone.

My bud took the first step in breaking the chains today. He called someone, admitted that he needs someone to walk with him, and asked for help. His problem is not that he doesn't know what to do. He needs a community to help him be consistent in his pursuit of a life in Christ.

Don't we all? Don't we all...

it was the best of times; it was the worst of times

let's start with the best:

• 45-20--UGA destroys Auburn! Go Dawgs! Sic 'em. Knowshon Moreno is fun to watch.
• 31-0--Penn State over Temple. OK, it's Temple, but our man Jordan Norwood had 2 TD catches!
• our kids sang with Broadway Showkids today at Barnes and Noble.
• Levi and I watched the new Man vs Wild episode last night.

the worst:

• Amie and Justin had to put their dog Gunner down yesterday. I drove Gunner to the vet for them. It's always hard to lose a family pet.
• Archery season ended today. Justin and I hunted hard and often, but the deer population remains unchanged, at least by our efforts.

Thanksgiving dinner with friends

Tonight was a special night for our family and friends. We pulled together some of our leaders from our middle and high school teams to celebrate what God has done, eat some turkey, and practice doing life together. Amie and Kim (my lovely wife) both baked turkeys today, and we feasted at the Howes' house, which is next door to ours. I had to sneak out (with my friend KimD) to go to worship team practice at 9, but many of those in the house hung out and played Settlers of Catan after we left.

Since we moved into this little neighborhood in Houserville, 2 other families from our church have bought houses near us. Both families help us lead the student ministry at Calvary. We love having great friends as neighbors. But the cooler thing is that I believe God has a plan for our little neighborhood.

There are lots of opportunities for us to love and bless our neighbors. Many of the families have been in this neighborhood since the houses were built in the late 1950's. I am excited to see what God leads us to do this coming year. I know that a lot of our neighbors have negative impressions of the church. I am hoping that as we love and serve our friends, we get to change those negative ideas into some positive ones.

What are the two most important things?
Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love your neighbor as you love yourself.

Here's to showing some love to the neighbors!

chasing the lion

Last summer I picked up a copy of Mark Batterson's In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day. It's a book that fuels vision, challenges the status quo, and inspires folks like me to re-examine the whats and whys of life.

Batterson is a good storyteller, and leads what appears to be a thriving community of believers in the DC area. His blog is one that I read everyday. He has been trying to be more intentional about leading his oldest son, which parallels my own journey with Levi.

A few weeks ago Batterson and his publishing company released the small group study (Chase the Lion) to accompany the book, and they graciously sent me a copy. I'm going to invite a couple of my senior guys to join me in working through the study. It should be fun to chase the lion together.

great staff meeting today

With the big dogs (Dan and Dan) out of the office today, I got tagged to lead the staff meeting. No problem, except that I thought our general staff meeting starts at 10:30. I mean, that's the usual starting time, since our Strategic Initiatives Leaders meeting starts at 8:30 and runs right up to the start of the All-Staff meeting. The problem is that without the 8:30 meeting, the staff meeting is set to begin at 10. I showed up at 10:20, thinking that I was 10 minutes early. I didn't even apologize! What a goofball. Oh well...

We had a good time sharing about the places we're seeing God move in our lives, and talked about the places we need God to show his power. Then we started praying. There was an electric feeling in the room. God was moving all around us. A few of us were crying, and the prayer time was superb. It seemed like the theme that God had us praying about was his light breaking into the darkness.

The Gospel of John tells us this:

The Word gave life to everything that was created,
and his life brought light to everyone.
The light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness can never extinguish it

We are asking God to bring light into the dark places of Happy Valley, and the bring life to those people living in darkness. He can do it, you know...

so how'd it go?

So how did the speaking thing with the Navs go?

Hmmm, OK, I guess. Not great. I don't think I knocked it out of the park. I ventured away from the way I normally present. I started out a little heavier that I probably should have, and ended up going off the map. I tossed my notes about 5 minutes into the talk, and ended up sharing from my heart about the simple call that Jesus makes for us to Follow...

Jesus did not die a horrible, atoning death in order to make us nice Christian boys and girls.

I believe that Jesus died to give us real life, and to make us dangerous to the kingdom of darkness. His call for us to follow him should take us into a place of radical, simple obedience. Jesus promised that when we follow him, we will do things that he did. In fact, because Jesus went to the Father and sent the Holy Spirit, we--his followers--will do greater things than he did.

I don't know...his resume is pretty impressive.

• Waked on water.
• Fed 5000 with a fish-stick happy meal.
• Turned water into wine. (must not have been Baptist)
• Healed the sick.
• Raised the dead.

I want to believe. I want to see those greater things happen in my town, for my people, for the king and kingdom.

pretty pumped up

I'm pretty stoked tonight, about several things:

• a bunch of us youth pastors got together this morning to pray and talk about re-thinking the way we approach students with the whole gospel. We're reading and discussing Chris Folmsbee's A New Kind of Youth Ministry. I love getting together with these leaders in our community.
  
• Levi and I went on our first Father-Son hunt today. Squirrels were the intended. They all survived.
• Sadie called me on our way home from the woods to tell me she lost her first tooth this evening!
• The Tooth Fairy is making his first visit to Sadie's bedside tonight.
• I get to speak to the PSU Navigators tomorrow night. I love college students!
• I had a great conversation with some high school girls who are absolutely ripping it up! They inspire me.
• Jamie is sending me a t-shirt and a huge bag of encouragement. Apparently, she thinks I'm pretty good at life. Check out what they're doing...
• The kids are out of school tomorrow, so that'll be fun.
• We had XStream on Trick-or-Treat night. We had planned to work through the Biblical purpose of Community. We bailed, and spent the night talking about what God was saying to us in our personal study times. Good sharing, good stuff...

OK, off to bed...