Andy Jack is BACK

My friend Andy Jack is back to blogging. Andy is a Middle School Pastor in Oak Brook, Illinois. He's a great thinker, he's funny, super encouraging, and you might see his brother on Saturday Night Live some time.

LOVE the Advent Conspiracy

For the last two years I have written a LENGTHY article for our church newspaper about gifts to give students. It's a good idea. If parents are going to be spending hundreds of dollars on thier kids for Christmas, maybe they could invest in thier Christian journey.

So I write this article with lots of gift ideas and pictures so parents can buy gifts that will help thier kids.

I'm seriously considering abandoning that idea for this: The Advent Conspiracy.

I love thier tagline "Restoring the scandal of Christmas by substituting compassion for consumption."

Two years ago my sweet wife (man, she is going to kill me for blogging about this) decided that for Christmas, she didn't want any gifts. She wanted whatever money that was going to be spent on her to be used to buy food for children starving in Ethiopia. She figured that she had everything she needed and didn't want anything.

this was a TERRIBLE idea! She was going to ruin Christmas for the whole family!!!! So now am I going to have to forego any presents or gift certificates that I don't need, but really want? Am I now going to not get any tools?!!!

Yes, I'm kidding. It was such an amazing moment.

so last year, instead of spending $5-$10 on gifts to our friends and co-workers, we bought a share of a clean water well and gave people a card that said something like, "The gift of clean water was given in your name. Because of you, x amount of kids will have clean water for the first time in thier lives." I wasn't sure if this would go over like the Human Fund or what, but it was received really well (no pun intended).

So this year, I'm considering writing another article...only this time, I'm going to encourage parents to teach their teens about what really matters and to take whatever money they would spend on them for Christmas, and do something amazing with it.

I'm not sure our students who are really wanting Rock Band 2 or the Wii will really appreciate it, but I'm okay with it.

check this out for more info:



ht to JG.

Cool Post about Becoming from Marko

Honestly you could not ask for a better plug than the one I received today from Marko's blog. A couple weeks ago he had told me that he was using the Becoming a Young Man of God book with his 6th grade guys and when I read his tweet about having a great small group on Wednesday night, I had secretly hoped that the book had something to do with it.

Then I got a message from my friend Andrea yesterday that Marko had said something about the book on his blog.

However, the coolest thing about the post was that he wasn't trying to sell the book! He just walks through the experience with his guys and what he taught and how it connected. The book is more of an aside.

totally cool. I'm humbled. Thanks Marko.

Tim Lincecum Wins the Cy Young

It's not easy to be a Giants fan these days...heck, ever since Dusty took Ortiz out of Game 6 it's been tough! Sheesh, that's not even talking about the sweep in 89!

Nevertheless, good news was had today as Tim Lincecum was voted the National League Cy Young Award Winner. Way cool!

The funnest part for me, other than being a Giants fan myself, was that my kids got to see him pitch against the Royals this year. (Of course the bull pen gave up 9 runs to blow the game, but that's another issue.)

Well, if Mr. Lincecum ever reads this blog, congratulations! I hope my kids get another opportunity to see you pitch for the Giants again.

Here's the story from the Chronicle.

Here's the news conference in it's entirety.

Here's a GREAT article in SI.

And here's to Tim's dad publishing a book about how he taught his son to pitch so that Noah can be the next Giant Cy Young award winner...you know, if he wants. ;^)

Monday night fun

I totally wish we had espn. wish we could have seen the 49ers/Cardinals game. wish I could have seen the kick off return for a touchdown. and glad I didn't spend three hours of getting my hopes up only to have them dashed because of poor clock management. the niners.....man, it's hard to be a fan.

instead of watching the game, we went to Noah's first ever basketball game! last week a buddy of his called up and his team needed one more kid to play. Noah didn't have any desire and has never really played. We told him to sleep on it. the next day he was so excited! while he was at school I found out it's gonna cost $120! yikes! I told that to Jen and she said, "It's too late. He came home saying all he could think about was playing basketball!" eh eh eh.

so he had one practice last week. before that we were in the driveway going over double dribbling and getting ANY idea of how to play. Yesterday was the first game of the preseason tournament. And Noah scored half our team's points! That's right! the score was 33-4! (we had the four.) and Noah didn't actually score the points.

what happenned was that one of the kids on the other team scored a basket in the wrong goal. I was running the scoreboard and the score keeper was right next to me. he said, "Who was closest to the ball? What's your son's number? We'll give it to him." eh eh eh.

Voting and free coffee...or in my case, a signature hot chocolate

At a quarter to 6 I woke up my kids to bring them to the polls today to cast our votes together.  The last time I woke the kids up to go do something we were flying to Florida for a surprise trip to Mecca…..errrrr, Disney World.  This time?   Not so much.

 

But they were excited to go, and the promise of a donut and chocolate milk didn’t hurt either.  It was fun to take them in to stand in line with all these other people and to vote together, letting them see my form and push the buttons.  I feel old because Ciera will actually get to vote in the election after the next one…8 years, “should the Lord tarry.”  Pretty cool.

 

Krispy Kreme donuts are giving away donuts for those who vote.  Starbucks is giving away coffee.  Not being a coffee drinker I took my chances and went in and asked for a free Signature Hot Chocolate…BOOYAH!

 

May God’s will be done today.  Amen.

Noah's "Priceless" Halloween Costume

1 quart of yellow paint...$8.94

3 cans of yellow spray paint...$10.26

4 rolls of duct tape...$11.76

6 cardboard boxes...free

Making your son's wish to be Bumblebee the Transformer for Halloween a reality...priceless.

GREAT discussion about our role in God's Kingdom

Marko has a great post about a conversation he had yesterday during a DCLA planning meeting.

It's important to read the beginning to understand the context of the conversation, but here is the part that I thought was so good:

when his daughter was 2, he was doing some work in her room. and he noticed that she was standing off to the side, mimicking his movements. he thought this was sweet. then, he started painting some trim work, and she wanted to paint also. he said, “no honey, you’re a little kid, and painting is adult work.” she started crying, and his wife piped in, “just let her paint.” so he gave her a little brush, and a little bowl of paint, and she went to it, messily painting a small section of the wall. he kept telling her what a great job she was doing. he moved to a roller, and gave her a tiny roller also. while continuing to tell her what a wonderful job she was doing, he painted over the portion she had painted, so the end result was what he had always planned.
he said that this is what god does with us.

i tried to restrain myself, but said something like, “that’s horrible! it’s manipulative and a lie!” i went on, “i was hoping you were going to say, ‘when i got to the section she’d painted, i painted around it, framing it. it wasn’t as smooth as the parts i’d painted, but it was her contribution to the plan i already had to paint the wall. the wall was going to get painted either way, but i allowed her to contribute. AND, the wonderful thing is that, for years after that, we cherished that little less-than-perfect portion she painted, which made the wall something our family valued even more.”


Read the rest.

A quick Review of HSM3

Here's a quick review I wrote up for the church newspaper about HSM 3:

HSM 3 is the third installment of the High School Musical series but only the first one to debut in the theaters. The other two were shown on the Disney Channel.

The story takes place during the senior year of the main characters deal with college choices while trying to make the most of their last year together.

While many love to hate the High School Musical series, here are three things I love about this year’s film:

The lead relationship between Troy and Gabriela is positive, romantic, and portrays purity.

The head cheerleader is a bigger girl, who has “intelligence beyond compare,” and she loves to dance.

Finally, while the plot and writing are fairly poor with major gaps in the story, the music and dancing make it an amazing and fun movie to watch for the whole family.

Inside the world of middle schoolers

On Sunday one of my 7th graders handed me a disk and said it was full of a bunch of funny videos and a game. We use funny videos nearly every week as students gather together so I was pumped that a student would take time out to burn some videos for me to check out. And it gives me insight into their world, which is always a plus.

Included on this disk:

A video of dancing russians

3 episodes of "Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog" whose trailer can be found here.

A pirated copy of what must be Microsoft's worst video game ever, called "Big Rigs: Over The Road Racing." I guess many people consider it to be the WORST video game ever made. The video review on Gamespot was so bad the guy just sits there shaking his head the whole time and decides to end his life after playing the game.

And last but not least, this video gem from the 80's about anti-piracy.

Getting students to commit to something bigger than themselves

I LOVE this story blogged by Scott that tells about a bunch of teens doing something pretty cool. He closes his blog with this:

"maybe the problem with today's youth isn't that they aren't committed. maybe the problem is that we haven't given them anything of value to be committed to."

Definitely worth your time. It really affirms something I've been really focusing on these last few weeks.

ht to Kirk.

The Ultimate High School Muscial 3 Quiz

Following Youth Ministry rule #213, Jen and I went and previewed HSM3 this afternoon and created the Ultimate HSM3 quiz.

We are taking our students to go see it and then going for ice cream afterwards. We'll hand out the quiz and then go over it and award some lame HSM3 party prizes that I got from the Mart that shall not be named.

Feel free to use the quiz or leave your email in the comments and I'll email it to ya.

have fun!

1. What is the score in the opening scene:

Wildcats:_______

Knights:________


2. What game are they playing?

3. What is the first thing Troy says?

4. What is Chad’s jersey number?

5. What is Troy’s jersey number?

6. Who makes the game winning shot?

7. Who was the first girl Troy had in his tree house?

8. What country is Sharpay’s new assistant from?

9. What is the name of this year’s play?

10. Who taught Gabriella how to waltz?

11. How many different pairs of glasses does Kelsi wear in the movie?

12. What is the name of the Auto Salvage?

______________’s Auto Salvage


13. Troy brings Gabriella pizza and what?

14. What college does Gabriella get accepted to?

15. What city does HSM take place in?

16. What is Gabriella’s last name?

17. How many jumps does Troy make during his song?

18. Who submitted Troy’s name?

19. According to the drama teacher, what does Troy not lack?

20. When Chad goes over to Troy’s house, what is the name of the soda he pulls out of the fridge?

21. What kind of shoes does Zach wear for the prom?

22. How many times do Troy and Gabriella lock lips?

23. Who ends up going to Juliard?

24. Why are Sharpay’s and Ryan’s parents dressed so weird?

25. Who is the head cheerleader?

HSM3 Tonight

Tonight we'll be taking a couple of vans of middle schoolers to go see the premier of High School Musical 3. To be honest, i didn't know how our students would respond. I didn't know if they'd be too cool for it (which some are) or totally pumped about it (about half of my kids).

and then there are the kids who are too cool for it, but are secretly wishing they were going.

We are encouraging our kids to dress up in costume and we are going to give out prizes. Jen and I are going to the first show in town to preview it and make up some trivia questions for later.

We'll go early to get good seats, watch the movie, and grab some ice cream afterwards. Should be a really fun event!

A Ton of FREE resources for youthworkers

I was on PDYM last night and I came across a GREAT load of FREE resources. From a bunch of powerpoint games to countdown timers, lessons, sermons, admin stuff, ideas, and more!

This is definitely a part of PDYM that I love...giving resources away and creating a way for people to share resources.

Click here and download away!

Another great site is Pastor2Youth.

I had no idea my three year old was a reader of Marko's blog!

I came home from work today to see that my sweet three year old has evidently been reading Marko's blog!


Last week Marko posted about one mom's hip new tattoo:

And I guess Charis felt inspired.

Fear Factor Middle School Style

So our current series on Sunday mornings is one of Kurt's (Yikes! Scary things we don't like to talk about, shameless plug/promotion here) and last Sunday it was about Fear, as we are trying to capitlize on Halloween.

We had a great program, great participation and conversation. But our game was one of the coolest. I figured, since we were talking about fear, I'd try to pull some sort of Fear Factor type game and have students eat something really gross. I remember going to a Planet Wisdom conference one time and Matlock had kids eat grasshoppers or something else that they bought at a chinese supermarket.

So I went to my local shop and asked the nice lady there in the most appropriate way I could muster if they had anything seemingly "gross" students could eat. She had just the thing and she has actually seen it on an episode of Fear Factor!

It's called Durian. It's a fruit delacacy from China. You can buy a whole fruit ($$$$$$) or just a slice ($5). The thing is, that while it tastes sweet like soft pineapple, it looks and smells disgusting!

I had kids gagging during the game. Some of my girls left the room refusing to come back. And when they did come back they held thier noses for the next 30 minutes. So fun. And it provided a great entry point into a conversation about trusting God when we are afraid.

A new day for 49er fans

Wow! Mike Nolan the coach of the 49ers was fired today and replaced with Mike Singletary. Wow. Dude, that is so bittersweet. I really like Nolan's style but have grown SO weary of the 49ers grand "suck-itude." It's been hard to be a 49ers fan...and I'm barely holding on to my child hood memories.

Last night Jen and I were watching the Bucs beat up on the Seahawks and Jeff Garcia was having an awesome game. I sat there thinking, "If we actually kept Jeff Garcia throughout all these years, instead of getting rid of him when we did, we'd actually probably have a pretty good team and might even be a contender!" I mean, imagine if they had used thier #1 draft pick on soemone else? You can't tell me they wouldn't have saved more money with Garcia than they have spent on Smith.

Dang! Finally some upside to the 49ers. Now, if only they would broadcast thier games in Kansas...

Great quote by Billy Graham via Andrew Marin

Last week when I was at YS a guy named Andrew Marin had a great quote that applies to SO much.

In the context of the quote, Billy Graham is sitting at a table at a DC event held by President Bill Clinton right after the big Lewinsky deal blew up. Reporters saw Graham there and wanted to know how he could support the President after a scandal like this. Here was Graham's response:

"It's the Holy Spirit's job to convict, God's job to judge, and my job to love."

I may have gotten that tweaked a bit, but that is the gist.

Marin was relating it to the bridges we can build with the GLBT communities.

and yet, it relates to us in so many ways. way cool.

YS conference wrap up

Today was the last day of YS. Picked up a couple resources (First 2 years, YM management tools, and Field's book about saying NO) for a buddy of mine who is beginning his first youth ministry gig and enjoyed the last session with Marko as he talked about belonging.

Got to see Russ Cantu, a guy I grew up with at Central Christian Church. Really great to see him in youth ministry. He said something that was so meaningful to me.

"Ken, you know what I remember most about you?"

I'm thinking...uh...I hope it's something good and I expected him to say something about something innapropriate or stupid I did as a high schooler, or something to embarrass me in front of my wife...

"I remember that small group that we were in that met on Monday mornings."

"That's right! With Joel, right!" I said.

"Yeah. those were good times."

And they were. We used to meet with our youth pastor on monday mornings for a small group. I was a senior and I think Russ was a Sophomore...maybe a freshman. It didn't really matter. What was cool is that's what he rememered.

Small groups have absolutely shaped my life. What a cool reminder.

What a cool time. Got to see a bunch of friends. Get lots of advice. Grow in skills. Get closer to God. Worship. Be challenged. Connect with lots of youth workers. And get to spend loads of time with my favorite youth pastor, my sweet wife, Jen.

NYWC Day 2

Another cool day at YS.

The first seminar I went to was one on making bridges to the gay and lesbian community. Wow! I really took away a lot of great stuff with helping to relate, understand, and serve those having alternative lifestyles. Really good stuff. The guy who spoke, Andrew Marin, he is just such a good guy. Totally committed to his ministry. Lots to blog about at a later time. Really good stuff.

Stopped by my man Sean’s workshop. He had a packed house and had Kurt in the back to heckle him.

Went to the first General Session and it was Phyllis Tickle. She did a great job last year in Atlanta. We were really blown away. So I was pumped to hear her again…until I realized she was doing the same talk for the folks who weren’t at Atlanta. Really good stuff. I was blown away. Jen and I decided to skip out and we got us some PF Chang’s.

Rode the elevator with Shane Claiborne. Got to speak briefly with him. should have had him call my old volunteer Nicole. she's a huge fan and would have freaked.

Yesterday I rode the elevators with a couple players from they Seattle Supersonics.......ERRRRRR, the OKC Thunder. they are...tall.

Afternoon, I went to Marv Penner’s seminar on Cutting. Wow. So much stuff here. Really sad. Really glad to get more info on how to help.

The second general session was by Matt Redman’s youth pastor…great speaker. Very motivating.

YS did all their freebies at once this year. I was kind of wondering where they were, but we got them all at once this year. I remember my youth pastor coming back from YS with all kinds of swag. It was so cool. And when I first started going…we got tons of stuff. It has progressively gotten to be less and less freebies…and this year, we got stuck with some John Tesh CD that was evidently donated or bought at a ridiculously low price from Barnes and Noble, because you know they couldn’t sell it. Pretty weak. We did get Rob Bell’s new book…so that was nice.

Ended the night with Doug and Cathy Field’s Q and A session on marriage…man, I really appreciated the reminders about marriage. I need to blog and really make some decisions about this because I have really been failing in keeping marriage and my kids a priority.

Here’s what Doug said: 1. No one cares more about your marriage and your kids than you do. 2. We are all just a phone call from being replaced.

Lots to consider. I so appreciate the time here to think and learn, pray, and connect with friends and meet others. Really well spent money.

Next year they will be in Atlanta so we’ll be bringing our coaches again. That will rock.

End of Day 1 of NYWC

Before last night’s general session I had gotten word that YS was going to hack some people off…in hopes of creating conversation later on that evening.  I was really pumped about the idea of having three different speakers who were going to say, basically, you don’t love the poor, you don’t love the gay community, and your worship is idolatrous.  Hack everyone off…and then provide opportunity for discussion at the late night forums.

 

Well…It was that…and it wasn’t that.  But it was good.  Really good.

 

The first guy up was Jarrett Stevens who talked about what happens when the means to the end become the end.  He spoke out of his recent experience of shutting down a worship experience at his church because it was becoming the END instead of the means to the end.  He was really open and honest.  I would have loved to hear more about his story.  He did leave me wondering, “How can I get out of the way so God can do his thing.”  That provided lots of conversation with Jen and I back in the hotel room.

 

The second guy up was Andrew Marin who spoke about his foundation and their work with the GLBT community.  Really interesting guy.  Very honest.  I definitely wanted to hear more about his ministry and I’m going to his workshop this morning.  I wonder how many times my lack of sensitivity has blocked conversation from happening with students.  And while the answer of just doing a once a year talk about GLBT is not the answer, I think there are other issues that the church needs to talk about more as well. 

 

Mr. Marin’s thought was more training about what to do and how to react when gay people come to your church.  And that needs to happen.  I wonder what other issues need to be addressed as well, such as, the pregnant teen who used to come to youth group.  All in all there are lots of issues that need to be open to talk about in the church, especially around the issues of sexuality.  And instead of not knowing what to do, we need to start the conversation.

 

The last guy was Shane Claiborne.  I got to hear him speak for the first time last year in Atlanta.  Well, I guess, he sort of spoke.  I  blogged about it last year when he, instead of speaking, read the sermon on the Mount.   He spoke about living simply and a little about his campaign “Jesus for President.”  He reminds me a lot of Rich Mullins which is fun.  I wonder how much of his Kentucky “folkiness” is an act to soften his message and how much it is just him.  Those of course are questions we have of lots of people and you don’t know what they are like unless you get to hang out with him.  He seems super genuine and is definitely someone we should turn our students onto.

 

Well, I’m gonna grab some breakfast and head to Sean’s workshop.

 

And super props to Adam for buying Jen and I dinner last night!  He’s the man.

 

 

NYWC: Day 1

Jen and I arrived late last night from KC, got into our hotel, and got to catch up with Sean Meade before heading to bed. Sean and I have known each other for a long time and we live 20 minutes from each other. sadly, with the way our schedules have been, we hung out more last night than we usually have the opportunity to.

This morning I went to a seminar by Lilly Lewin about Creating Multi-Sensory worship experiences. Man, it was so good. Not only good to get some ideas (Ideas for engaging middle schoolers but also ideas for our emergent group that we are doing at First.)

It was mostly good just to worship. Just to sit...and listen...and learn. I love learning and already I'm so glad to have been able to make it back to YS.

Got caught up with my buddy Dan. Dan and I haven't seen each other for 10 years. We shared a lot of memories growing up in the same youth group and he regulary receives verbal abuse in our fantasy baseball and football leagues. But Dan is Dan...and he's a great guy.

Got to see my friend from college Derek Levins and friends Joel and Joy Dyer from OKC. I met Joel and Joy at middle school camp one year. They were actually on their honeymoon at camp! Which shows either incredible devotion to middle school or a lack of priorities. eh eh eh. anyway, I passed the hat around and we got them a hotel room for the night. so fun. they were so embarrassed! and it's been a story they have shared with many. Good times.

And I keep seeing Adam McClane but when I realize it's him he's either gone or it's too awkward.

Here's my take no the first general session:

1. I still miss Yacconelli and his opening about skippting sessions. Marko really keeps the spirit of it, but I am glad to have been around when Mike was.

2. Mercy Me...even though I don't know a lot of thier songs...they were great. The video cameras and video projectors are so hi-def, I could not only see the lead singer guy's pores on his face but he enamel on his teeth!!!

3. Lincoln Brewster...this is my first taste of Lincoln. He likes to rock. lots of fun. I thought it was weird how he made this really cool deal and challenge to worship, and then in every song he has like this major guitar solo. It was a big disconnection for me, but I'm hoping to get over myself. ;^)

4. Bishop Sherwood Carthen...man...what a great message about Leadership and the Wilderness. He spoke about so many good things. Very passionate! He challenged us to not "Fake the Funk, but to stand flatfooted and help students leting them know that if God delivered us, he will deliver them." I don't know a lot about Bishop Carthen...but it was great to hear from him.

He really evoked a lot of thoughts on leadership and brokenness. I'm having a difficult time putting them into words though.

Good stuff. So glad to be at YS.

Jen is at the seminar for working with middle school girls. it is packed and going on right now. I can't help but wonder if she'll get a plug about her new books.

then we'll go hit Adam up for dinner. Now that he's a rock star YS staffer!

Off to the National Youth Worker's Convention

Ah...the National Youth Worker's Convention....good times. I can't wait!

and I am very tired. I am looking forward to the rest and I'll be channeling my inner Yac.

It'll be great to be back in Northern California and good to see some old friends and reconnect with others I haven't seen in a long time. I grew up in San Jose so it's a bit of a home coming for me in a lot of ways.

And it'll be great to finally catch a 49ers game...even if they lose to Philly. On Monday night I'm hoping to see my brother too, who just recently moved from Wichita to a better situation...I hope.

If you want to get together, leave a comment!

I'm already pumped to see Adam again, catch up with my old youth group buddy and current fantasy baseball/football opponant Dan, grab a drink with Jay, and meeting Jesse in the bookstore.

Although I'm still waiting to meet McNutt at this thing sometime and I will have to wait another year to make things right with Boston's biggest fan, Len.

Looking forward to another incredible year!

How to find loads of free pics you can use for publications

If you need to find some pics you can use LEGALLY for blog posts and publications, a lot of great pics can be found on Flickr, a photo hosting website.

I redid our MS newsletter with our new brand and needed to find some pics to use with some of the stories.

Flickr has LOADS of pics. Lots of good stuff. Including lots of stuff you can't use legally.

However, if you need some pics that you can use, here is how to find them:

Go to ww.flickr.com

Put whatever you are searching for in the search bar.











Click Search.


You’ll get a bunch of results. DON’T USE THESE.

Instead, click on “Advanced Search”










Next, scroll down and you’ll find a box that says “Only search within Creative Commons-licensed content.” Put a check mark in the box like so…














And click the blue box “SEARCH.”

This will give you all the pics you can use for any topic you need! (in this case the Crucifixion of St. Peter)




ht to Kirk for the blog post idea!

The David Crowder Band covers "Jesus is a friend of mine"

ht to Marko

Coolest Story I've heard/read in a long time

So I can't sleep. It's 2 am. and my pool was making wierd noises. I go outside to check and my little chlorine floater is stuck in the skimmer. I fix it and google said subject and I found some single dad's blog about all the things he has found in his skimmer (including a dead raccoon) while owning a pool.

I read a little more and find out he's an Orthodox Christian who has recently renewed his faith.

and then I'm floored by this story about his adopted son. WOW.

Here is an excerpt:

Several years ago, in 1999, shortly after I had moved back to Virginia and secured employment in a new line of work, I was feeling pretty good about myself, so headed to the boardwalk at the beach with nothing other than the intention to take a nice walk along the oceanfront, and maybe get an ice cream.

About mid-way into my walk, I saw a woman with a small boy seated on the ground next to a park bench. Their faces were filthy. The little boy's huge blue eyes were so bright against what looked like coal dust on his face. He was TINY, too. He looked almost like a miniature child! Very thin and petite. I had made it a few steps past them and couldn't stand the thought of that child sitting there watching all the tourists having fun. He was so sad, and she was so helpless. I didn't know their circumstance, and I didn't see them doing anything to actively beg for money. They were steps away from a carnival where the music and laughter made the two of them seem even more melancholy, so I went back to the woman, handed her twenty dollars, and told her to take her son to do something fun.

His face lit up, and when I turned back to wave to them as I left, she was mouthing the words "thank you" to me, as he was jumping and clapping with joy. He'd look at the money, then look at me, then jump some more. It was what you always want to see from your children on Christmas morning. My heart melted right there on the spot.


I don't want to ruin the end for you. It's worth your time.

Here's the link for the rest of the story: http://donva.blogspot.com/2007/11/my-boy-is-burning-bush.html

Ice Skating and Amputation: Don't forget that release form!

Introducing one of our brand new 6th graders. His name is Drake and he's an amazing kid. We took our students out for our annual Lock Out, which included ice skating!

Drake had never been ice skating before and was having a blast. When all of the sudden, he fell and some kid wasn't paying attention and didn't see him. He tried to jump over him but ended up landing on his calf. And he made a MAJOR gash in Drake's leg.

My sweet wife saw the WHOLE thing and was haunted by it all night long. They carried him off the ice, scrubbed his blood off the ice, and called 911. The paramedics came and what did they want?

a release form! Man, am I so glad I had those ready and, more importantly, WITH me. We called mom and dad and they came down and took him to the hospital. The cut took 18 stitches and it was GORY. Like, crazy gory!

Drake's only concern? "So, when I'm done at the hospital, can I meet back up with you guys?"

eh eh eh. Of course. which he did. What a crazy night! Definitely a first for me.

So the next time you are gearing up for your big event, DON'T FORGET THOSE RELEASE FORMS!!!

Jesus is like a Mounty...

This is CLASSIC! I can't stop playing it!

Jesus is my friend. I have a friend in Jesus. ROCK IT!

Priceless Middle School Camp Memory #49

2 fast food meals: $11

1 tank of gas: $75

1 week at YouthFront Camp: $330

Seeing one of my middle school boys shoot snot out of his nose into the lake to watch the fish eat it: Priceless

I just paid a guy $15 for typing 44 words

It all began when Jen's battery on the van went dead. I jumped it and the van was running. I grabbed the kids and got ready to head out and Jen's driver-side door wouldn't close.

the door was locked. but the door was open. I tried EVERYTHING I could think of to open up the latch. Nothing worked.

I poured over the internet for answers. Nothing.

I found what might have been an answer on a website called http://www.justanswer.com/. But I didn't want to pay the $3 to read the answer to a question that wasn't exactly the right question.

So I went outside and fiddled some more. still nothing.

I broke down. they give you three options to pay: $9 for the tight budget, $15 for the regular, and some other option I wasn't going to pay. I was thinking that each question would cost me $3 and I was hoping to get a refund if the question got answered quicker.

Yeah, that's not how it works. But I don't care.

I posted my question:


My driver-side car door is locked. the only problem is that the door is open. i have a 2003 Honda Odyssey. the power door locks work, up and down. However, the white latch will not release. I used wd-40...I tried gently pressing in with a screw driver...I tried the key in the door lock. help! thanks.

Optional Information: 2003 Honda Odyssey v6 Already Tried: I tried locking and unlocking manually. I tried using the switch on the door. I tried turing the key. I tried spraying wd 40 and doing the aforementioned items. I tried prying it gently with a screw driver. I unscrewed the three phillps screws that hold the white latch mechanism in place, but I was a afraid it would fall down in the door.


In two minutes and 23 seconds later I get this:

Hello I think you are saying the latch is closed and the door is open if so try pushing it open with something while holding the door handle in the opening position let me know if you need more help or have any questions


I go outside....BOOM. First try.

I'm not too pumped about it costing me $15, but I'm pretty excited to not have to devote 30 minutes driving to the dealership, 90 minutes to wait till they come out and charge me $100 for doing what I just did. and that's if they didn't find 10 other things wrong with the vehicle.

pretty slick. Here's our exchange: http://honda.justanswer.com/questions/1e55j-driver-side-car-door-locked

99 Thoughts about Guys

My friend Kurt has a GREAT post about a book idea he has for girls about guys. It's a book written for girls about guys. He gives an example:

When a guy says he loves you, he really doesn't understand what he's saying!He may really, really like you, but he probably doesn't really, truly love you. Mainly because he's still trying to figure out what real love is all about. Plus, sometimes guys say things they think they are supposed to say.

A number of people have already left comments and some of them are pretty good. Check it out and leave a comment! Click here.

Whirlwind Weekend

Wow! am I sick of driving!

On Friday I had a full day of work including having middle schoolers over our house till 11 pm. Then on Saturday (yesterday) we left our house at 8 am and drove our kids up to Waverly, IA for "Camp Cuz" a camp that Jen's parent's put on for all the grand kids. It's a ton of fun.

We got there at 5 pm yesterday, only to leave this morning at 8:15 am. And of course, Charis barely slept last night, so the fact that we made it all home safely is a grace of God.

We did get home in time to catch Hellboy 2.

Such a fun movie. There is a HILARIOUS scene where Hellboy and the fish guy end up singing a love song...I was laughing so loud. I really liked the first Hellboy and this one didn't disappoint.

We went to dinner at Cheddar's and headed home and now I'm packing for a week of Middle School Camp at YouthFront in KC! We leave at 9 am and we're taking a couple van loads of students. It's gonna be a GREAT week!

Way to get fired from Youth Ministry #427

needless to say, I'm guessing that the youth pastor paid a bunch of taxes on this one!


Indoor Motorcycle Wheelie Goes Bad - Watch more free videos

Why I do what I do

This doesn't happen nearly as much as we all need it. But every once in a while it does. and when it happens...it's so nice.

I got a wall post from a former middle schooler of mine at Riverlawn. This kid...

he's now a young man (18)...(and don't i feel old saying that)...

nevertheless, this guy's name is Blake and he has some amazing parents. He was such a great kid. One of those kids that you know is going to be successful in everything he does.

and he posted the following on my facebook. So cool. What an encouragement.

Hey man whats up. I was in the Word the other day and i was looking at paul and timothy's relationship. i as i read about them, your name poped into my head and i all i want to say is thank you. paul reached out to a young, curiose, and somewhat naieve timothy. That is what you did for me seven years ago and now i have started a basketball outreach at my church and forty inner city kids are hearing gods purpose for their lives. I am also part of a mentoring program where leaders are being made on the jh level. I am not telling you this to brag but to say i would not be where i am today if it wasnt for you. you invested and now god's kingdom is reaping the benefits. God bless and there is crown waiting for you in heaven. I dont know why god laid this on my heart but let it be a blessing to you.BlAKe

My dad and the Wii

My mom and dad spent part of a week with us last week and what an awesome time it was.  So great to see them and spend time together and for my kids to get to know them.  We don’t get to see them nearly enough.  Although we’ll be heading down to their place in Rio Rancho, NM for thanksgiving.  Should be really cool.

 

One thing that blew me away was how much my dad LOVED the Wii!  He played a couple nights till 2 a.m.!  It was a fun way for Noah to connect with him and fun for all of us to do together. 

 

Man, when you have 75 year old people playing 4 hours a day, bowling, tennis, golf, and baseball…you have got some kind of amazing product!

 

The end of the rainbow...it's in my backyard!

Last week it was raining and I happened to step outside to see something I’ve NEVER seen before in my life:  The end of a rainbow!  I don’t mean a prism or some man made rainbow.  I mean the real deal!  And while I always thought it was a pot of gold, leprechauns, or at least Lucky Charms cereal to be found at the end of a rainbow, I was kind of depressed to see it is actually my neighbors crappy house. 

 

Just what is he keeping in there?!

 

I don’t know if you’ll be able to see it, but you can see that the rainbow is actually in FRONT of the trees.  So cool.  What a promise.

 

Eucharist

In college, I remember doing a report about communion and the origins and practices thereof. In talking about the Eucharist, I remember one scholar explaining the meaning behind the word as, "Whenever the early Christians got together to celebrate the Lord's Supper it was always in an attitude of thanksgiving."

At NEXT a couple weeks ago we began our time of worship by writing down things we were thankful for as a prelude to worship. We wrote each idea on a post it note and then put it on the wall.

Some of the things people wrote were funny...some sad...and some just absolutely moving.

Here are a couple of them:

YS Product Review: TRIGGER

One of the reasons I absolutely LOVE YS is that they are ALWAYS hooking up the youth worker! A couple months ago I particiapted in Marko's Biggest Loser competition, and YS ended up sending out 4 FREE resources to everyone that finished! so cool.

One of the resources was a DVD called, "TRIGGER."

What a cool dvd. I really enjoyed it. Since I only work with middle schoolers, my review is going to be shaded that way.

On the DVD there are 5 vignettes to get conversation going. They are all REALLY well done. Very engaging. Unfortunately...for middle school...I think only a couple of them are usable, namely "1000 Things Went Right Today" and "Plugged In."

In "1000" they take a look at a wall of post it notes that students and faculty posted in an office in Colorado. It is a REALLY cool idea that I actually did with the emergent group that meets in our church a couple weeks ago. I can't wait to do it with the middle school.

In "Plugged In" it makes a GREAT parrallel between television and the power of God. REALLY good. I think it'll take some prodding to get the MS to get it, but it's very powerful, no pun intended.

The other three are really good too. I think they would be AWESOME for high school and especially young adults.

Call and Response: More on Childhood Slavery

My high school friend Sarah Garcia pointed me to a new movie coming out called, "Call and Response." Even though the start of thier trailer is predictable, the point is made and it's great to bring this issue to the spotlight. Here's a link to thier blog.

Her husband, Daniel is the College/Outreach guy at Hillside Church in San Jose, CA. (Back in the day we did a GREAT video scavenger hunt there, back when it was just called "Hillside EV Free" with an awesome youth pastor named Fritz).

Anyway, the movie has a number of Hollywood stars in it and it should be thought provoking. I've had this in my inbox for a while but with the Nightline story, I thought it'd be good to blog about it.

Another reason why I love middle school ministry

I got an email from one of the grandmother's at our church regarding her grand daughter that is going to live with her for a while.

She had this to say about our church's youth ministry:

"The main reason I would like her to come to First is that I am impressed by some of the things that are happening there. I was really pleased that the kids wanted to have a prayer ministry at the block party. It is wonderful to have them actually in ministry. Ministry has been my passion almost all my life, and it gives more joy than anything else. It would be wonderful for her to learn this early in her life."


She's actually talking about our MIDDLE SCHOOLERS! I've been meaning to blog about this for a couple months so I'll try to get on it soon.

Abolition and Pentacostalism: Nightline

The last two nights have been really cool on Nightline.

Last night it was "How to buy a child in 10 days" and they weren't talking about adoption. They took a guy to Haite where they followed two young girls in the sex slave industry.

Tonight they talked about Todd Bentley, a tattooed "faith healer" leading a (cough...cough) "revival" in Lakeland, Fl.

This is a time when I really envy high school pastors. If I were one, I'd take both these episodes and show them to my students and debrief them, one at a time. You could have so much good conversation and real issues surround both subjects.

With middle schoolers, they'd be interested in seeing some tattooed dude yelling "BAM" and having people fall down and be healed...but mostly for the awkwardness of it. Most of them would see it as comedy.

I do think that I'll show them the "buying a child" one. Although, it looks a bit edgy. I didn't get to see it, but I'm gonna order a transcript. It'd be a great launching point to give out Zach Hunter's books again and remind them that he was in junior high when he started his movement.

The Number One Position: Love and Logic Day 3: Afternoon Session

Jen switched seminars for the afternoon and got a hold of a GREAT one called "The Number One Position: Solutions That Go Beyond Classroom Management." This was by two incredible teachers from Kearney, Nebraska (Exactly..."where?"). Thier names are Sam Stecher and Mark Johnson, and thier web page does not have enough on there!

These guys were SO good, I'm thinking of driving up there on my own this summer to meet with these guys. It's only 5 hours away and they gave Jen some stuff I had never considered but could be dynamic. I'd like to know more about it though, before I jump in.

Here's a couple things I thought were really cool and could translate amazingly into middle school ministry:

1. Every day they started thier classrooms with a cheer that they made up. (Maybe I'm still living in Softball Coach land, but I really like that idea, especially coupled with the Brain stuff from ealier).

2. Nicknames: Only special kids get nicknames. Think about it. Only the kids that really connect get a nick name. By fault, kids who don't get a nick name, feel, to some extent, less well-liked. (I thought this was a bunch of garbage until Jen went through a couple nick names of students we've had, and now I kind of feel bad for the kids that didn't have them!)

So you can either not give any kids nicknames...or do what they did. They gave EVERYONE a nick name. So much so, that at parent conferences, sometimes he couldn't remember the kids real name!

One teacher gave each kid a nickname. The other one had the kids pick them out. The bottom line was that EVERY kid felt special because every kid had a nick name.

In a lot of ways I think this would be so cool. I think students would LOVE to feel that way. And it could really build community. We are taking our kids to the Lake next week and it's be a cool time to introduce that idea.

I could also see it turning very inward too...very self focused...exclusive. The dream would be for it to be totally inclusive and that kids would feel so special they'd want to bring thier friends too.

Rules for nicknames:
1. The kid has to like it.
2. It has to be approved by the adult.
3. A kid can change/drop the nickname anytime for any reason.

Teens and the Brain: Love and Logic Day 3: Morning Session

So much great stuff that Jen got today out of the Love and Logic course from the session she did this morning called Teaching and Learning in a Brain Friendly Classroom, by Larry Miller.

Larry said a lot of great stuff but one thing in particulair was this:

Kids retain the first 10 minutes of class and the last 5 minutes. All the rest is a blur.

So...knowing that...how does that effect our Sunday Morning times as well as small groups?

A couple thoughts:

1. Put a lot of time, effort, intention, and fun, in the first 10 minutes. It is going to set the precedence for what a kid remembers.

2. Put a lot more work into what I leave kids with, a challenge, and a reminder of God's wild love for us.

3. One of the ways of recapturing the "middle ground" is to divide up your class into "acts" like a play. Use creative disturbances to keep the attention span (about 12-13 minutes for middle schoolers) and they'll remember the first 3 minutes of each "act" and the last 2.

We do a lot of this anyway with middle schoolers, but I appreciated the reminder to mix things up. I probably fail at this more than I admit.


Here are a couple other freebies from the class that Jen passed on to me:

~our brians are actually light pink, not gray. They are seen as gray after death because all the blood has left it.

~Our brains dehydrate first.

~Blueberries are the absolute best brain food. Lots of antioxidents (sp)

Love and Logic Recap

Wow.

What a HUGE help in parenting and a great reminder of core student ministry values.

There is so much to say...went to 2 of the 5 days of the Love and Logic conference.

Here are some key student ministry reminders:

1. Discipline is meaningless without relationships.

2. Instead of taking bad bahavior personally, be empathetic to the student's anger/frustration/dissappointment.

3. Give appropriate discipline...for example: instead of calling out a kid in front of everyone, embarrassing/shaming them (unitentionally or not), and then kicking them out of the room, go up to them while teaching, quietly ask them to stop _____________, for you. If they don't, quietly ask them to leave the room and come back when they are ready to act appropriately.

Really, I'm butchering the process. There is SO much more: http://www.loveandlogic.com/


The other tips/tricks are in regard to parenting...and let me just say, what a huge help this has already been. Instead of reacting, or in my case "Over-reacting", to bad behavior, they encourage an empathetic response and delayed consequences.

For example, tonight, one of angelic children did something and before I quite possibly would have freaked out and given them some rediculous punitive consequence. Tonight I said, in a very nice and empathetic response, "oooooooh, that stinks. I'm gonna have to do something about that. But we'll talk about it later. Try not to worry about it."

this angelic child came upstairs and said to me, "I'm really sorry for overreacting earlier. It's just that, ever since you and mom started going to this parenting conference, you are acting really different and I don't like it."

eh eh eh....cha ching!

Love and Logic

This week Jen and I are spending time at the Love and Logic Conference that has been held in Wichita for the last 20 years. Evidently it's been around since 1977, but Jen and I only recently heard about it from one of our youth coaches, Nicole, who wento to a similar conference and wondered if we knew anything about it since it was so similar to how we parent.

Since then, Jen bought some of the books and has read them, and today we went to the first day of the conference for educators.

it is SO interesting! what a huge help! It is a little difficult as we are there primarily to relate it to middle school ministry. The whole conference is for teachers, but we are taking the principles and trying to apply them in the ministry setting.

Bringing "Serving" back

I'm gonna have to start Sunday School with this THIS week!

Charis' first swim

"The Bug" as we affectionally call Charis took her first swim today! Of course, being three, she's been swimming and playing in pools all her brief life. But she doesn't go ANYWHERE close to the pool without her trust Spider-Man life jacket.

I've gotten her to try to do some swimming without the jacket, trying my best to immitate the YMCA instructions that both Ciera and Noah have gotten.

Today, Charis swam, by herself, without the aid of anything, for the first time. it was so cool.

(The video is supposed to be 16:9 but I haven't figured out how to transfer stuff over correctly, obviously.)

The MPG test...results after the first fill up

Last week I blogged about changing my driving habits in hope of saving some cash.

So here are the results of last week:

Drove 287.2 miles.

Filled up with 9.448 gallons.

Avg MPG: 30.39!

The Geo Prizm usually get's over 27 but not quite 38 so I basically got another 3 miles out of each gallon, which comes up to about 30 more miles or a free gallon of gas.

Is that worth being passed up by what seems like EVERYONE on the way to work? Do I really enjoy the peace of mind of knowing I'm not going to get a speeding ticket?

so far...yes and yes. And I'll take the extra $4...which equals close to $200 a year.

Sword Swallowing and Jesus

I don't know Dan Meyer or his "story." All I know about Dan, I found out this morning as I recieved some marketing about how I can "Reach my city" by inviting Mr. Meyer to do his sword swallowing act and share his testimony and breath some fire.

Now, if God can use bmxers, skaters, bands, magicians, and roided out old jocks who can bust out of handcuffs and tear phone books in half, I'm sure God can use a sword swallowing fire breather dude, regardless of my own critical attitude.

What I do know about Mr. Meyer, is that his marketing company should consider a better clip to show his talent than the one they sent in the email.

However, here is the jist of the dialog from the clip:

Piers Morgan: (While showing clips of Mr. Meyer) This year we have the most talented guy we've ever seen. You'll see him at the end of the show, but we just think he is absolutely amazing! I was talking to Simon Cowell, and we both think that this guy is going to be America's next big talent!

Matt Lauer: Is this the guy? (refering to Meyer)

Piers Morgan: oh no. It's not him. It's not the guy with the swords.


Here's where you can watch the clip for yourself. The dialog happens at about 1:05.





Here's a better clip that they should have used:



Pretty cool that he was a missionary in India! I'm guessing from the look of his sweet "Nature Boy" Rick Flair bleached blonde mullet, that he must have watched a lot of Superstaion TBS while over there. I wonder if he suplexes the devil as part of his gospel presentation?

I am such a geek

This is a pic of me and Drake W., one of our new 6th graders at the Lake Daze sneak preview last week.

I love video games...but I just don't have time to play them.

We have, however, picked up a wii. Noah loves playing it whenver he can which is just usually during an hour of Jen's piano lessons. Ciera could care less. and Charis watches it. I play after the kids go to bed...maybe once a week.

My friend Jeremy reminded me that the wii has wireless internet on it. So now, I can totally be a bigger geek and play my friends on Mario Kart! I totally stink...but it'll still be lots of fun.

I play so seldom that I bought Mario Galaxy the first week it came out...but since I haven't beaten Super paper mario yet, it is still in its shrink wrap. I think that's a full year almost!

The end of another season of Giants' baseball....er, I mean softball

Monday night was the end of Ciera's softball season. What a fun night! Ciera played great at her positions, she had a great first at bat that resulted in a walk.

Her second AB went like this:

Ciera, a right handed hitter steps into the plate...the count is 2 balls and one strike...fireworks can be seen in the outfield...the pitch...she swings...it's a pop up that sails to right side of the diamond...it's just out of the reach of the pitchers mitt!

Teh second baseman picks up the grounder and fires to first but it's too late as Ciera has already passed first base.

It is very hard to not feel like I've let down the girls and parents in delivering to them a 2-12 season. I will be making some significant changes next year that I'll blog about in a few days.

But for now, it was so fun all season long to watch Ciera grow and develop as a player and to see her get a good solid hit to end the season with. What a joy it is to have kids!

Noah's got one more game tomorrow night. Should be fun!

The MPG test begins

Alright, just got done changing the oil and filling up the tires on the ol' mini van and Geo Prizm. Now it's time for the test.

My personal driving habits are less than economical. That's the nicest way to put it. so after reading about how to get better mileage, I'm putting it to the test.

I just changed the oil.
Tires are at the correct pressure.
I'm accelerating slowly.
I'm pretty much coasting to a stop.
I'm driving the speed limit.
I'm driving conservatively.

My car averages a little better than 27 mpg but not quite 28. so I'm interested to see what a difference these changes will make!

Lake Daze Sneak Preview

In just a few hours we leave to take our brand new 6th graders on an overnight trip to a lake where we’ll do some tubing, fishing, swimming, and hanging out. This is our first time doing this and we are excited to see how it helps them form as a group. We have over 2/3rds of our new students coming so we’re pumped.



After wearing them down on the lake we are going to play some games, get to know them, and then give them some tips and tricks on how to make it through middle school by using the model of 10 middle schoolers you don’t want to be.



Then we are closing our time with a great verse from Paul in 1 Cor. 13 where he talks about “When I was a child, I acted like a child.” And encouraging our kids to move from the children’s ministry mentality into a an attitude ready to grow in their faith. Should be a good time!



10 Middle Schoolers you Don’t Want to Be Like



AKA: 10 tips to make the most out of your time in MS





Wild Willy: Out of Control


Super Christian Christy: Pseudo Spiritual


Smelly Sam: Wear deodorant!


Super Cool Kevin: No one cooler than this guy.


Clique Carey: Sticks to one group


Super Talker Tina: Won’t stop talking


Catty Catherine: Putting people down


Ninja Natalie: Always practicing her ninja moves


Selfish Steve: Only caring about himself


ANYONE OTHER THAN YOU!