ht to kurt johnston and tony jones
10.30.2009
10.23.2009
i've seen it all
i love this video and it gets me excited about the youth ministry convention we're going to in february! so much fun...
10.21.2009
random stuff
no unifying theme to this post...just some random stuff happening in our world:
- in the previous post i mentioned the tv show glee...which like every other tv show out there pales in comparison to the level of quality experienced when you get an uninterrupted hour of 24. i'm counting down the days till january when season 8 starts, but interestingly enough, i was just recently told by a friend about a 24-like series of books. maybe they'll hold me over as i patiently try to wait.
- lots and lots of needs that many of our students & leaders are facing right now... i hate seeing people i love go through hurt and pain, especially when caused by others who just "didn't think". there have been many nights awake lately hoping and praying for God's restoring work to heal the broken.
- lakeshore continues to press forward toward the goal of opening the church's new facilities/addition within the next month. i feel like our student ministry has been so blessed from start to finish in all of this, and not many youth pastors get the privilege of designing their ideal youth room. i'm so pumped and excited for the space expansion, the gymnasium, and the impact it will have on our students and their friends who don't yet know Christ!
- with the additional space comes a distinct shift in how we will do student ministry. i'm so excited about this because it will significantly help us sync up with the church's overall paradigm, and better reach the students that are already in the building every week. we'll be transitioning our "crowd" program from thursday nights to sunday mornings...occuring at the same time as the adult worship services.
- mariska is asleep right now and snoring very loud as i type this.
- in the previous post i mentioned the tv show glee...which like every other tv show out there pales in comparison to the level of quality experienced when you get an uninterrupted hour of 24. i'm counting down the days till january when season 8 starts, but interestingly enough, i was just recently told by a friend about a 24-like series of books. maybe they'll hold me over as i patiently try to wait.
- lots and lots of needs that many of our students & leaders are facing right now... i hate seeing people i love go through hurt and pain, especially when caused by others who just "didn't think". there have been many nights awake lately hoping and praying for God's restoring work to heal the broken.
- lakeshore continues to press forward toward the goal of opening the church's new facilities/addition within the next month. i feel like our student ministry has been so blessed from start to finish in all of this, and not many youth pastors get the privilege of designing their ideal youth room. i'm so pumped and excited for the space expansion, the gymnasium, and the impact it will have on our students and their friends who don't yet know Christ!
- with the additional space comes a distinct shift in how we will do student ministry. i'm so excited about this because it will significantly help us sync up with the church's overall paradigm, and better reach the students that are already in the building every week. we'll be transitioning our "crowd" program from thursday nights to sunday mornings...occuring at the same time as the adult worship services.
- mariska is asleep right now and snoring very loud as i type this.
glee
i've been progressively amazed with the tv show glee and it's popularity and following among teen culture. mix the buzz around the high school musical movies + the realities of sexually-charged high school drama = a hit tv show. it wouldn't be a waste of time for youth workers and parents to stay in the loop on this one.
10.19.2009
10.14.2009
10.08.2009
radically uncomfortable
right now we're in the middle of a series called radical love with the teens, and it's been so cool to be able to challenge them with God's radical love for us, and how we are then to display that radical love to others. tonight the topic is "radically uncomfortable", specifically zeroing in on those who make us uncomfortable and loving them just the same. we'll be using the story of the good samaritan in luke 10, and i'm really looking forward to it. i found this video which i think i'm even more excited about. i love the message it communicates and it resonates with a chord deep within me.
10.07.2009
random updates
been too busy to update as much as i'd like... but here are a few random updates for today:
in the personal realm
- you can see shanna's previous posts - but we've started the adoption journey and are so excited to see where God will take it. we've both always loved the picture of heaven and redeption that adoption brings into the real world. the statistics are staggering, and to be honest i'm having a hard time understanding why so many white families only look to adopt white babies. i know it's more than just a reality of the racially divided nation we still live in, that there are other reasons/factors... but i'm sure in large part that sadly has a lot to do with it. ...for us, we really want our family to look like what heaven will look like...and it aint gonna be just white people there!
- not as exciting, but i got a new phone off verizon's free upgrade thing - it's cool and new stuff is always fun.
- i *tried* to install a new door in our bedroom the other day... it looks great (maybe a little crooked) until you try to shut it. yeah doesn't quite fit in the doorway, even though it *should* by all my calculations. this is why i don't this kinda thing for a living.
in the dog realm
- to be honest it's a little disconcerting that mariska gets her own category in this post. she's doing well, getting bigger every day. she now sits and lays down on command *most* of the time. she's pretty much housebroken but sometimes we miss her hints to us that she needs to go outside. she's lots of fun nonetheless (especially when people come over and she greets them with a nice, husky bite).
- we had a guest over the other day and as mariska went to playfully bite her, she yelped like another dog would in a very high pitched voice. mariska stopped and walked away. maybe that's a new technique we should start using (apparently it works)...but i'm not sure it'll ever happen from me when people are around. lol
in the lakeshore realm
- currently we are in a series called just walk across the room based on the book by bill hybels. fantastic series, very eye-opening and challenging, and extremely timely as we finish the building project on the church's expansion.
- the new building is almost completely dried in, paint's going on the walls, and cielings and floors are being installed very soon. we are working hard to open on sunday, november 22nd so we can be in before thanksgiving.
in the youth ministry realm
it's been absolutely wonderful, rewarding, and fruitful... and yet exhausting and tiring at the same time. with the new building getting close to being open though, the excitement is far outweighing the exhaustion! :)
- it's been so cool to be able to take the students' design ideas and put them together into one huge youth room that will immediately shatter their friends' stereotype that church is boring! the architects and building teams really care about the teens in the church, and it's showing! black exposed cielings (with some partial drop "clouds" throughout the room), geometric designs on the floor, paint and whiteboard on the walls, a built-in bar area for food/snack service, couches, ping pong, pool table, foosball, etc. so exciting!
- our ministry is shifting gears in some major ways once the building opens.
- mozambique 2010: the church's support has been overwhelming and the applications from the students are all in. working this month to finalize the team.
- small groups have started - we have 7 groups, most of which meet in homes throughout the area. it's been so great to see the rosters and who's connecting at a deeper level with the youth group... and then to hear some of the stories that inevitably happen when we simply do life together.
in the personal realm
- you can see shanna's previous posts - but we've started the adoption journey and are so excited to see where God will take it. we've both always loved the picture of heaven and redeption that adoption brings into the real world. the statistics are staggering, and to be honest i'm having a hard time understanding why so many white families only look to adopt white babies. i know it's more than just a reality of the racially divided nation we still live in, that there are other reasons/factors... but i'm sure in large part that sadly has a lot to do with it. ...for us, we really want our family to look like what heaven will look like...and it aint gonna be just white people there!
- not as exciting, but i got a new phone off verizon's free upgrade thing - it's cool and new stuff is always fun.
- i *tried* to install a new door in our bedroom the other day... it looks great (maybe a little crooked) until you try to shut it. yeah doesn't quite fit in the doorway, even though it *should* by all my calculations. this is why i don't this kinda thing for a living.
in the dog realm
- to be honest it's a little disconcerting that mariska gets her own category in this post. she's doing well, getting bigger every day. she now sits and lays down on command *most* of the time. she's pretty much housebroken but sometimes we miss her hints to us that she needs to go outside. she's lots of fun nonetheless (especially when people come over and she greets them with a nice, husky bite).
- we had a guest over the other day and as mariska went to playfully bite her, she yelped like another dog would in a very high pitched voice. mariska stopped and walked away. maybe that's a new technique we should start using (apparently it works)...but i'm not sure it'll ever happen from me when people are around. lol
in the lakeshore realm
- currently we are in a series called just walk across the room based on the book by bill hybels. fantastic series, very eye-opening and challenging, and extremely timely as we finish the building project on the church's expansion.
- the new building is almost completely dried in, paint's going on the walls, and cielings and floors are being installed very soon. we are working hard to open on sunday, november 22nd so we can be in before thanksgiving.
in the youth ministry realm
it's been absolutely wonderful, rewarding, and fruitful... and yet exhausting and tiring at the same time. with the new building getting close to being open though, the excitement is far outweighing the exhaustion! :)
- it's been so cool to be able to take the students' design ideas and put them together into one huge youth room that will immediately shatter their friends' stereotype that church is boring! the architects and building teams really care about the teens in the church, and it's showing! black exposed cielings (with some partial drop "clouds" throughout the room), geometric designs on the floor, paint and whiteboard on the walls, a built-in bar area for food/snack service, couches, ping pong, pool table, foosball, etc. so exciting!
- our ministry is shifting gears in some major ways once the building opens.
- mozambique 2010: the church's support has been overwhelming and the applications from the students are all in. working this month to finalize the team.
- small groups have started - we have 7 groups, most of which meet in homes throughout the area. it's been so great to see the rosters and who's connecting at a deeper level with the youth group... and then to hear some of the stories that inevitably happen when we simply do life together.
10.06.2009
Adoption Facts...
For each adoptable Caucasian infant
For each adoptable African-American infant
there is less than 1 waiting family.
there are 63 waiting families.
For each adoptable Biracial infant
there are 3 waiting families.
For each adoptable African-American infant
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