Full Heart--Full Altar

Last night we had a major victory at The Stand. Our students are still learning what it is like to have their own service and we have seen many small victories over the last several weeks. But last night was amazing!!!

The theme of the night was "Great Big God--Even Bigger Love." We talked about how it doesn't make since that such an amazingly huge God would love us. Very basic message but something that we often forget at Christmas season.

Long story short...At the end of the night I invited the students to come to the altar (which they have NEVER done before) and thank God was such and amazing love.
I stepped down off the stage and began to pray at the altar and next thing I know the presence of God is THICK and the altar is completely FULL with students. These students have never done anything like this before, not even one student has come up front to pray, BUT the presence of God was thick and they had to respond. No gimmicks, no emotional play, JUST students wanting God!!!!

Praise God for this victory!
And what a great set-up of 09'

Keep Praying for your students...it really matters!!!!

Lovingly Cheering You On!!!!
-Zach

Am I a Pastor or a Farmer???

What's Up!!!
I pray that this post finds you all well and enjoying this Christmas season.
Merry Christmas.....

Today I asked myself a question I never thought I would ask...Am I a Pastor or a Farmer?

Every year our church holds a live nativity with sheep, a donkey, and a cow. When you are in college they always tell you that you are a pastor...and the janitor...and the chair and table guy....and the bathroom cleaner. You are never just a pastor.

Well this year I got nominated to be the official farmer of Lakeview Community Church. Since we have our animals in front of the church like a petting zoo, my morning routine is to go outside, feed the animals, and give them fresh water. Today the cow decided to leave me a surprise. Apparently the stupid cow felt the need to take a HUGE dump in his water bucket!!! So here I am, Rev. Farmer Fred, dressed for work, trying to get the bucket full of cow crap clean without getting it all over my clothes.

In the midst of the terrible smell I'm reminded that even cleaning the cow crap water can be an act of worship... Smell and all.

No matter what your day is like remember... Whatever you do in word or deed,do it all for the Glory of God.....even if your cleaning out a bucket full of cow crap :)


Lovingly Cheering Each of You On!!!!!

-Zach

Free Resources

Just wanted to let you guys in on a pretty cool deal. WorshipHouse Media is giving away FREE media in the form of downloads, every weekday in December until Christmas. I think last year I ended up with close to $100 worth of stills, loops, countdowns and mini-films. Hope you find stuff you can use!

UPDATE:

I've linked to Vine Resources before, but I just came across their Christmas Swag package. It looks great and if you're doing a Christmas series this month and are looking for media, this comes with the PowerPoint background jpg, message background jpg, title video loop, high res promo image, and countdown video in quicktime format. Pretty sweet deal, all for FREE.

New Creation

This video has really had a big impact on me the past few weeks. Just thought I'd share. The first time I saw it, I was a bit skeptical for the first couple seconds. If you find the "interpretation" distracting, downsize and just listen. beautiful song that really has been an encouragement for me personally. love you guys.

Here is the Chorus.......
Speak life into the darkness
Speak life into my lungs
Fill my soul deep as the ocean
I'm reaching for your love
All that I can do is give it back to you.
You've taken my old
skin and made it new again.
You have made me new, a new creation


New Creation from Pace Hartfield on Vimeo.

Tithing----Mandate or Out-dated!!!

I've been studing for a sermon on money for the students and found this website with "Questions about tithing." I thought it has a great explaniation.

-If anything it will make you think......

http://www.generousgiving.org/page.asp?sec=43&page=589

Would it be easier to be a Christian if I wasn't a pastor???

Being a Christian can be very tough at times. There is no doubt that from our "pastor's chair" we see people struggling with living out their faith everyday.

Lately, I have been struggling with not allowing my faith to become my JOB. I find myself asking on Sunday, "Do you love God enough to spend time with Him?" Then I find myself on Monday saying, "I better go pray so I can be effective at my JOB....."

Being a pastor, a so called spiritual leader, and being a Christian can be a difficult task to juggle at times. Maybe it's just me ;) So this question has popped into my head... "Would it be easier to be a Christian if I wasn't a pastor?"

If I wasn't supposed to go pray... and I did. If I wasn't pressured to go spend time with God...and i did. Would that show a more pure love? How do you keep your job as a pastor from ruining your faith.........

Maybe you other pastors don't struggle with this, but the question is still a good one...

Would it be easier to be a Christian if I wasn't a pastor????

I don't know.....you tell me :)

Church Metrics

I don't think I've talked about Church Metrics with any of you yet, but I wanted to pass it along. Church Metrics is a free church management app that allows a church to track statistics within its congregation. It was created by Lifechurch.tv as a resource for churches to use in tracking attendance, salvations, baptisms, and financial giving. It hasn't gone "live" yet, but I'm on the waiting list to be notified when it does.

I think most churches probably already have some sort of system developed to track these kinds of things. However, after sharing it with my staff here at Covenant, we're curious if this could work more efficiently than the system we currently use. Even if we don't utilize this tool, I'm looking into using it within our youth ministry.

Whether or not this becomes an app that you and your staff use, I think it's wonderful that churches are continuing the trend of sharing their resources...and for free! LifeChurch is really a pioneer in this area and if you haven't checked our their resource site, here it is...OPEN.


Introducing ChurchMetrics from ChurchMetrics on Vimeo.

Politics

(Update: I posted this on my personal blog today. However I'm not sure if anyone reads that so I thought I'd copy it here also)

This year is different. For the first time in my life I really feel excited and passionate about an election. I made it a priority to watch the first presidential debate, as well as the vice-presidential debate last night. This is something I've not done before. Four years ago I would have changed the channel when I turned on NBC expecting The Office, only to find "boring news."

Perhaps this is the case because this year I am different, as are those around me. Four years ago my little brother wasn't driving trucks for the National Guard in Iraq. Four years ago I was certain homosexuality and abortion were the two most decisive issues in my political decision making process. Four years ago I was a student, and really couldn't care less about our nation's economy as I lived in my college bubble taking loans to fund my education. Four years ago I wasn't a youth pastor working in the lives of students wanting to know how Christians should act regarding the war, gay marriage, immigration, etc.

Yeah, this year I am different.

I think the thing that is most different however, is my idea of who God is and what his will for his creation looks like.

These past four years I’ve become more convinced that God is less concerned about rising oil prices and more concerned about young Iraqi and American, men and women, killing each other.

These past four years I’ve become more convinced that God is less concerned about a person’s sexual orientation, and more about making sure the rest of us love that person unconditionally and without limit, as Christ loves the Church.

These past four years I’ve become more convinced that America hasn’t the faintest clue what humility is. I wonder what it would be like to not be the first to speak (praise or condemnation), but to wait and listen to the ideas of those around us instead of assuming our answer is the only correct one.

These past four years I’ve become more convinced that forgiveness is a lost art. It’s suitable for children learning to play well with others and for “churchy people” but too old fashioned or illogical to ever factor into national security or foreign relations.

So what to do? I have no answers. I guess I’m not really sure if any of the candidates do either. I seem to find what I think are biblical ideals in each candidate. The thing is, I also find things I feel are unbiblical.

So where do I go from there? I pray. And I vote. I pray that God would be glorified regardless of who sits on the earthly throne at the White House. And I pray that God would draw the heart our our president closer and closer to Himself. And then I vote. I vote for the person whom I believe reflects the most Christlike world view, even if that candidate isn’t aware that is what he’s doing.

Yeah, this year is different. But so is the world. And its my hope that this next year will be even more different, if only because of a uniquely God shaped imprint upon it.

I Need Encouragement

http://misleadingtruth.blogspot.com/

Thanks for your prayers and encouragement; love you guys.

T

Encouragement

Yo. Check out this quote...

"last night didn’t go so well. i think….

but i feel that way about nearly each and every week. some weeks, i think my time with jr. high or high school students was wonderful and a “home run” kinda week. but most weeks, i think it just isn’t working. i feel like there is gap between what’s in my head and what I’m communicating. most weeks i feel totally inadequate. I’m not sure that i made sense or that the students connected with anything i said."

How about that? Sound familiar?

Check out the rest here...

I find myself resounding with the above quote way too often, feeling inadequate and less than effective in the lives of our students. I hope all of us can find encouragement in the last part of that post, the quote by Yaconelli...

"“God isn’t calling you to be success. God’s calling you to be faithful."

So be as faithful as you can be, no matter how unsuccessful you might feel.

MYSPACE PAGE!!!

Ok, so I know that myspace was like so five years ago...(a direct quote from one of my students).
But THE STAND has a myspace page. Our church has never had a website for the youth, so this is kind of a big deal to us. Check it out at www.myspace.com/thestandlcc
I'm new to myspace so if you have any ideas let me know.
Miss you all!!!

Lovingly Cheering You On!
-Pudge

me, a airplane, and a MORMON!!!

Becca and I just went to Mexico for vacation. It was beautiful and we had a great time of rest and refueling. On our return flight home, I walked down the aisle of our plane, took my seat, and quickly noticed the gentleman to my right was fully dressed in BYU gear. Suddenly everything that I have ever heard or thought came rushing to my head about the Mormons...proxy baptism, the temple, and yes, of course, The Mormon Tabernacle Choir ;)

As we begin to taxi down the runway I asked the gentleman if he was a scout or coach from BYU. His response was no, but he had just taken His daughter their for college.

Long story short........The man was an Apostle in the Mormon Church (a big deal in the Mormon faith....similar to an Assistant DS for all of you Wesleyans and Methodists). For the next three hours we discussed the in's and out's of the Mormon faith. Everything from the starts of the faith with Joesph Smith to Christ return and the different levels of Heaven.

But hears is the question within it all......................

When asked about salvation he clearly started that his salvation comes from believing through faith in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. He believes in living a fully "holy" life. Honestly, he gave the exact answer any of us would give if we were asked how we have salvation. Scripture clearly states that salvation comes by grace through faith in Jesus (Ephesians 2:8).....So does having terrible doctrine such has...proxy baptism, believing Joesph Smith and the Book of Mormon are true Canon, and other doctrines of the Mormon Church mean that they are not saved.

Remember....they truly believe and accept Jesus Christ as the ONLY way to salvation.

What do you think....Can "bad" doctrine take or keep you from salvation???

Perceptions

This story has already been reported and blogged about elsewhere but I wanted to share it anyway...

It comes out of the hype surrounding race for the White House. Unfortunately this may be another example of Christians adding to the perception problems facing the Church today. A former pastor and weatherman (?) who now works for James Dobson's organization Focus on the Family, is praying for rain. This in itself wouldn't raise many eyebrows. It's his motivation that is causing a stir. He is praying specifically for rain on the evening that Barack Obama is planning to speak at the Democratic National Convention. His political agenda does not line up with Sen Obama's, so he's encouraging people to pray that God would send torrential downpours 2 minutes before Obama takes the stage.



Is this why we have prayer? And whatever happened to loving and praying for our enemies? My hope is that non-followers of Jesus don't confuse this man's message with the message of Christ. My hope is also that we'd be living lives worthy of the calling we've received so that those close to us would see more accurately what "Christlikeness" looks like in our world today.

Thoughts?

Jesus is my Homeboy

I recently read a quote by Gary Haugen. He posed the question, "Are Jesus and I interested in the same things?" Thinking about that I took it a step further and thought, "Are Jesus and I interested in the same people?" Looking at the people I interact with daily makes me wonder if I'm intentionally interacting with the people Christ would be seeking out were he here in the flesh. I don't think I am. Actually just two days ago we had to stop in Gary, Indiana on the way home from a Cubs game. And I got uncomfortable at the gas station. Just because of the conditions and the people around me, I'm embarrassed to say. Overwhelmed with insecurity and fear, not love and compassion.

I've been coming to the realization that our good news is a social gospel, impossible to practice without the personal interaction of the least, the last and the lost. Looking at the past 14 months of ministry here I think I've done a good job of leading our students in their personal walks with Christ, guiding them in the discipleship process. However, I'm afraid I may have placed too much emphasis on personal growth and not enough on loving outwardly. It's a struggle.

Above is a picture I found on another favorite blog, The Plow. Maybe just a little reminder of the large scope of who Christ came to save.

Was this at your church pudge?

Yikes. Have fun explaining the huge tire mark 6 feet high on the wall to the trustees.

In other news...this post is my first attempt to begin posting more regularly on this site again. Cross your fingers.

Mass Confusion SHALL NEVER DIE!

On behalf of Mass Confusion I would like to interject as a life long fan, these vicious comments displayed on the video are poor descriptions of such talent. The band is brilliant and has brought much spiritual peace to my soul and many others. As many of us know the three "rockers" who make up Mass Confusion: Tom I have a butt chin Chamberlin Jr. (vox), Dan ...I gave myself an enema by myself...Van Dyne (lead guitarist), and Joel you like Kara, "no I don't" yes you do, "shut-up guys"...(stomp, stomp, stomp) slam the door to Sawyer House Stone (drummer) have parted ways, but their "fine" music has brought them back. They are currently working on their second album titled, Why the Hell Did We Call This Band Mass Confusion? EP, which will hit the stores October 34st 2009. Due to the great amount of pre-orders already...12, the band will only be releasing the CD in select stores: 7 Elevens, IWU bookstore (thanks Joel), Franks "We buy any old, boring, CD for 1/2 price and re-sale for 1/4 of the price" bargain barn, can purchase them on the IWU Choral tour next summer (thanks Dan), and Starbucks @ Aspen Grove located in Littleton Colorado (thanks Tom). This CD is hot and will go quick. The new hit single, "It was definitely a Friday night" is topping the charts. With all of this said I would appreciate your apologies and respect for the entire band as they have proved themselves to be one of the best bands to ever live. This is for you Mass Confusion! Live On!

mass confusion

Below you'll find a video of Becky and I (& Joe Vitiello) making strawberry jam from some berries she got at a local u-pick place. I made an interesting impromptu comment, re: that one-hit wonder band led by our own Thomas Chamberlin. I thought it was worth sharing ... (no offense Tom)

MISSING a student!!!!!

Last night started really well! We had a great service. The students were engaged and I had several of them tell me that they really "got it" tonight. So that was very encouraging :)

But that's were the night went south.

At about 7:15 someone asks, "Where is Grant at?"
I responded with the casual, "I don't know, try outside."

About 2o minutes later the student informs me that they have looked outside, in both buildings, in all the bathrooms, and Grant is nowhere to be found.

At this point I am mildly conserned. So the student and I go on a hunt for Grant.

20 more minutes pass by and we still cannot find Grant. We had looked everywhere!!! I was so consecnerd that we even tried to get a hold of his parents to see if they had pick him up (Grant always rides home with Justin).

Almost an hour has passed by now and all of a sudden Grant walks out of our other building which has wireless internet.

Why does wireless internet matter? I'm glad you asked...

Grant had just spent the last HOUR, taking a crap, playing his PSP on the wireless internet in the other building....LOL

Needless to say, I'm glad I still have my job and I'm thankful for that.

So next time you can't find one of your student check the stall, because they are probably taking a dump, playing their PSP on your wireless!!!

-I LOVE YOUTH MINISTRY :)

Dear God...

There is a relatively new website project out on the web that I bumped into the other day. It's Dear-God.net. Their premise is simple. "Dear God is a global project for people around the world to share their innermost hopes - and fears - through prayer." They aren't saying who that God is exactly, but are encouraging people to reach out to Him (Her, It) in whatever form works for them.

It really messed me up for a few days to read the cries of so many people screaming out for a God they just can't seem to find. The experience of sifting through these prayers actually inspired a message I gave to our youth 2 weeks ago, and will be giving again on June 8 (version 2.0) to our church. The theme of the message is desperation. What does it mean to be desperate? I examine the legitimacy of desperation, citing the lives of David (in the desert), Jonah (in the fish), and Job (the whole deal), and comparing them to the modern cries of Dear-God.net and our own experiences as well. Taking a look at what it feels like when we really believe that God isn't coming to save us.

I'm trying to find a new ending to the message though. I'm heading towards focusing on the reason we know we're desperate; that we were made for something better...and our minds, bodies and souls scream that out to us everyday of our existence.

Would love to hear any thoughts, ideas I might use on June 8. May even post the sermon link later. We'll see.

THE STAND

Last Sunday was a very exciting time around good ole' LakeviewCC. We launch our new youth service/ministry called THE STAND.

Doors open at 5:15 for free food and hang out time. We have several game tables and seating areas for people to hang out. At about 6:00pm the service starts with videos, skits, worship, and I preach. For the first week, it went extremely well! I cannot thank God enough for what He has done. We had several guest (who don't have home churches!!!) and they felt our warm atmosphere. Here are a few pics :)

Our entire idea is to create a safe, comfortable atmosphere, where youth feel loved and accepted! Praise God for working through THE STAND!!!!

Media; Some free, some not

I was in the market today for some new and updated media to use with our youth worship services. I found some great countdown clips over at WorshipHouseMedia. I also found some great stuff at Igniter Media. I settled on the IgniterBacks Vol. 2. It includes 10 countdown clips, 20 motion loops and over 90 stills. All for $80. I thought it was a pretty good deal considering stills go for about a buck a piece and motions for up to 10 a piece.

So there you go...2 wonderful sites you may or may not have known about for high quality media.

Then I followed a link over to a site called Vine Resources. While you'll find much less here, it is all still very high quality and it is all FREE. Not to mention, these are resources coming from a student ministry that uses them specifically for their own series' of messages. So, if you're like me its a double benefit of 1) using their ideas as well as 2) using the media. It's good stuff.

I hope this is useful. Are there any other good resources you've been using for media or stock photos?

Series Planning

I'm spending a chunk of this week brainstorming and planning our 707 gatherings (our main programming time) for the rest of the school year and into early summer. Today I'm in the brainstorming process, taking down any and all ideas, thoughts and possible themes. I'm curious if any of you have had success with any specific themes, focuses (foci?), topics or sermon series. I'd love to hear your ideas. I'll post some of my brainstorming as well as the process going along.

UPDATE: I wanted to go ahead and throw out some of what I've been thinking about. Comments, additions, thoughts all welcome.

Topic: "Religion Sucks."
a. Busyness (why waste time with religion?)
b. In-authenticity (based on book Messy Spirituality, why hide our human side? Masks.)
c. Breaking the Stereotype (Christian or Christ follower? We're often seen as narrow minded, rule loving, hypocrites. Lets shake things up a bit)

Topic: "Apologetics"
a. Why Apologize?
b. Does God Exist?
c. Problem of Evil
d. Reliability of the Bible

Topic: "Other World Religions"
-under construction

Topic: "Unlikely Heroes"
-Lesser known OT characters. Under construction

10 Questions: Ministry

This is taken from Craig Groeschel's blog. Craig is the founder and senior pastor of Lifechurch.tv and one of the church leaders/bloggers that I subscribe to. He periodically uses the "10 Question" format and I felt that this one was worth passing along.

1. Are the people closest to me in ministry lifting me higher or dragging me down?
2. How have I intentionally developed the leaders around me in the past week?
3. Am I speaking transparently with at least two other close trusted friends on a weekly basis?
4. Am I submitting myself to the correction and coaching of at least two mentors?
5. Am I holding a grudge against someone?
6. Am I speaking well of other ministers?
7. Am I falling for the temptation of comparing, complaining, criticizing or gossiping?
8. Are my words and relationships characterized by words of faith or negativity?
9. Do people enjoy being around me or am I often “down”?
10. Have a made at least three new ministry friends in the last year?


What about it? Do you find any of these particularly insightful to your life/ministry/experience? I'm definitely lacking in more than one of these areas, yet can really see how piercing questions like these, although difficult (personally, see #'s 2,3,7), have the potential to push the ministry I'm involved with into the next level, making it less and less about me and my skills and more and more about equipping others to invest and involve themselves in ministry.

Just stuff to think about and keep in mind while we're out "doing ministry."

Randomity

Hey friends,

I came across 2 links today I thought I'd kick around. The first;

A church in Daphne, Alabama recently had a cookout called the "Beast Feast and Wild Game Supper" (i'm not making up the name and yes Zach, this does sound exactly like something you would do). All apparently had a good time with the exception of 8 people contracting e. coli! yikes. Just a reminder to us all in church leadership that we probably need to check cooking credentials no matter how much your sr. high guys beg to use the grill. can you say "liable"?

The second;

I'm a regular reader of Tim Stevens' blog. He is the executive pastor at Granger Community Church near South Bend. They're big into the cutting edge worship experience and have just launched a huge multi campus campaign for their congregation. Anyway...while I'm not totally sold on the mega church vibe, they do a great job of really utilizing culture in the church context. He has just published a book regarding that topic called Pop Goes the Church and I'm looking forward to reading it. If you're like me and would like a chance to win it instead of buying it, check this out.

Other than that I hope everyone is doing well and that you find this holy week a god touched and personal time of renewal.

Lots of Change and Lots of Learning

Not having posted in a few weeks, a lot has been going on here at Covenant. Some fun things, some not so fun. I'll begin with the latter.

Our Staff Parish Relations Committee (SPRC) made a recommendation to our Methodist hierarchy (District Superintendent and Bishop) that our church seek new leadership for the coming year. This essentially means that they want a new pastor. Following the UM tradition (i suppose), we as a church have given authority to our SPRC and place our trust in their leadership, and that being the case, can't validly question the leadership they then provide.

It's tough though. Our attendance is up. Many church programs are gaining in momentum as new and old members are taking ownership of them. Things really seem to be going very well here. And then "we" request new leadership. I know there are things going on in the background of church politics, but this is really a test for me, and for much of our staff and congregation.

All that to say I am recognizing this as a learning experience. While its really sad to have to see a great pastor/leader/mentor/friend go, I'll get to see first hand how a "changing of the guard" goes down in a church setting. It will be different working for a new pastor, just as I was really feeling that my relationship with our current pastor really couldn't have been more supportive or encouraging. I would like to ask for your prayers for our church, for the congregation, for Steve (the current pastor) and for the new pastor that will be announced very soon. It's a tough situation but I have to believe that just because we as humans make certain decisions God would let us go from his grasp. He's still got us and I know He'll take us to wherever we need to go next.
____________________________


Alright, now a few quick fun things.
1) We bought a new sub woofer for our youth praise band/sound system. 800 watts and wow does it fill out our room. We only had to mains previously and after listening to the band last night with full sound, its hard to believe we ever went w/out it.
2) We're having a Lenten Brunch and Easter Basket Auction this coming Sunday. This a youth sponsored event where we are in charge of the brunch all morning, and then there is a silent auction for some amazing Easter baskets that people in the congregation put together and donated. All money going to our sr. high mission trip in July. I'm psyched.

NEED YOUR HELP!

I have been mating with a couple other youth pastors in the community. We all share the same ideals about youth ministry. In the south (Bible Belt) we have a HUGE problem of "MY church is better than your church." It is nothing like I have ever seen up north. So here is what me and these two other your pastors are trying to pull off. We are going to have a big rally with all our youth groups together once a quarter and then have Mission Mondays a few Mondays this summer to get all of our kids together. Mainly to show all of our kids that we are all on the same team and to show them other Christians that go to their schools.
HERE'S WHERE YOU COME IN!!!
What are some ideas you have to help this go smoothly?
Do you have any ideas for a name for these rallies?
What are the red flags we may encounter? (theology doesn't count, we are all on the same page)

Thanks for your help!!!
Love you all :)

-Z

Good News For Christian Football Fans I Suppose

If you happen to be in a church leadership position and have lamented not being (legally) allowed to show the Big Game to your church, youth group, etc, lament no longer. The NFL has reversed its previous decision and is now allowing religious organizations to show the game, no matter what size screen they are showing it on. The previous ruling dictated that a church could not show the game on any screen larger than 55 inches.

So there you go...start your pre-planning for next year and your pre-pre planning for 2012 when the game is in Indy (hopefully)!

Many Faces of Youth Ministry :)

Good Samaritan Skit

Here is a a skit we did at youth group. The kids loved it!
It works really well if the acting students are over dramatic and really into it.
Think dodgeball instructional video. :)
Use it if you want....change it however you like...I just hope it helps!!!


Good Samaritan Skit: Luke 10:30-37

Roles:
Narrator
Billy: on their way to class (maybe dressed kinda nerdy)
Bullies: (however many you want)
Jock: late for practice and to busy and stop and help
Prep: doesn’t want to get dirty and doesn’t want to be seen with the hurt person
Good Samaritan: Student who helps Billy

Props:
Nerd gear
Torn shirt for nerd
Sports equipment for jock
Prep gear


SKIT:

Narrator: (read with a voice like the "How to video" on Dodgeball)
One day Billy was on his way to class at. It was a beautiful day, and Billy really loved his
school.
(Billy will be walking across the stage with a big dorky smile as happy as he could be, even whistling)
All of a sudden Billy feels a tap on his shoulder.
(Have the bullies tap Billy on the shoulder)
Next thing Billy knows is that he is shoved into a closet and well……
(Bullies throw Billy into door on stage right. Billy screams and you hear the sound of smacks and crashing chairs)
(After several seconds Billy craws out to the middle of the stage beaten up)
(You could even have red paint put on Billy’s face, and wearing torn cloths.)
Lucky for Billy here comes some help.
(Enters jock carring practice gear, obvisouly in a hurry)

Jock:
Are you ok?
(Billy moans)
You really need some help………
(Pause as jock looks at practice)
I mean…I would love to help…but I have practice and home work, and I have to call my girl
friend…I sorry
(Pause)
I hope that you are ok…
(Jock leaves in a rush)

Narrator:
Poor Billy…He really needed to be helped but that person was in too big of a hurry.
Maybe someone else will help Billy.
(Enters Prep dressed very nice and talking very loudly on the cell phone)
(The Prep works best if the person is over-the-top dramatic)

Prep:
Like I know…She did look like a hippo in that dress. OMG…R U OK
(Billy moans)
Like you really need some help…That blood does not match your shirt at all…
(Billy moans)
(Prep turns around and starts talking on the cell phone)
You are not going to believe this…you know that nerdy kid, no…the other one, no…the
other one, no…the other one, no…THE OTHER ONE…
Yeah like he got beat up and needs some help. I know I can’t get blood on my new cloths…
What if someone sees me with him…OMG…TTYL…BFF
(Prep turns back to Billy)
Like I know your really hurt but like I got to go…TTFN

Narrator:
Poor Billy…isn’t anyone going to help him.
(Enters good samaritan student)

Good Samaritan:
Hey are you ok?
(Billy moans)
You look awful!
(Billy moans)
I should help you……
(Pause as student turns away…Student then begins dialoge away from Billy)
He really needs help…...But I really don’t have time
He looks so bad…....But I’ve got school work and other stuff I have to get done
But what if someone sees me with him……
(Pause………)
I don’t care I have to help.
Come on Billy and let’s get you to the nurse.
(Student helps Billy up and takes him to nurse)

I'm a DOER!!!

So often I find myself in situtations where I know what to do, but I spend so much time thinking about what to do, the moment passes by and I don't do anything.
This past Wednesday I challenged my youth to stop thinking and start doing.
In the word's of Drury, It was a home run.
(ALL PRAISE TO GOD FOR MOVING THE HEARTS OF THE YOUTH).
-there are a compele different ending below, make it your own :)


Below: Manuscript and skit
Use it and make it your own.

I’m a Doer!!!
Checkers with June-June
One of my favorite memories growing up was going over to my grandma’s house. My grandma’s name was June-June and June-June was also our babysitter. My sister and I loved going over to June-June’s house because there were two things that we knew where going to happen. One was that we were going to get to eat Pringles. I loved Pringles and because they were so expensive I never got to eat them except when we went to June-June’s. The other thing that was going to happen was we were going to play checkers.
Who loves checkers? I loved playing checkers especially with June-June. So we would get the board out and get the pieces all set up. I would always play with the black game pieces and June-June was always red.
The only problem with playing checkers with June-June was that she was really good and obviously I was not. I was a 7 year old playing against a lady in her sixties. Needless to say I really didn’t have a chance. She kicked my butt.
I remember playing and focusing so hard on what move I would make. I would sit at the table thinking, and thinking and thinking, for what seemed like hours contemplating the next move I would make. Until finally, June-June would get tired of sitting and would start counting down from 10…9...8...7…6…5. And all of a sudden I would quit thinking and do something. And then she would move and then the process began again. Thinking, Thinking, thinking…and as I got older even though I knew what I was suppose to do I would think and think and think, until June-June would say, just do it.

We have moments in our lives like this too. We know that it is our turn to move but we just sit there thinking. We almost always know what our next move should be but we just sit there and wait. Maybe, waiting for someone to move for us or tell us what to do. Sometimes we wait because curtain people are watching or because we know that what we must do might make us uncomfortable, yet we know that it is our turn and we know what move to make but the moment passes us by because we just think…
In Luke 10 we see this also played out. This is the parable of the Good Samaritan. And to help tell this story some of your fellow students have put together a little drama to help. So if you would please put your hands together for this presentation. Scream as loud as you can for our presentation of another day at Alamance High.

Good Samaritan Skit

What a great job they did. They are awesome. And I know we were poking fun at this and usually you don’t have to worry about walking past someone who is bleeding at you school but…

The point still remains. We are faced with moment’s everyday that put the choice is placed in our hands and we are forced to make a decision. When I played checkers with June-June at first when I started playing I did not always know what the right move was, but as I grew to learn how to play the game I knew what move I had to make. So I made my move.
And the fact remains that there are many decisions that you guys face during the day. I’m not talking about what to eat for lunch, but should you stay and listen to that dirty joke, or should you curse, or should you go to that party were you know people are going to be drinking, or should you do with or that with your boy friend or girl friend. You guys have big decisions everyday and you know what the right move is but we spend to much time thinking and not enough time doing.
Are you going to have enough courage to stand up for what you believe in and not only think the right choice but to do right choice.
It’s one thing to think of the right thing to do….It’s another to do the right thing…
It’s one thing to think of the right thing to do….It’s another to do the right thing…

James 2:14-17
You must not only think of the right thing but do the right thing.
Let me ask you this…last time you were faced with a tough decision what did you think…and what did you do.

I think that many of us are thinkers but not doers. We get half way there.
When I played checkers with June-June there were moves that I had to make during the game that I didn’t want to make. I knew that to win the game I had to sacrifice a game piece, a piece of who I was to make the right choice.
And to win at this game of life to win at this Christian walk you also are going to have to sacrifice and make moves that you really don’t want to make.
But we must be doers!!!
God’s word says that without action our faith is dead….

How could we transform the world if we became doers!!!!

With every head bowed and every eye closed.
This time is between you can God.
Ask yourself if you are truly a thinker or a doer.
We are going to spend the next several minutes seeking God.
If you have trouble stepping out and being a doer, this is a great time to ask God to give you the strength to be a doer.

Pray at your seat, come to the altar, whatever you would like.
But lets become Doers……..
Let’s seek God together….


In this youth group we are going to be a family of doers…not students who can just talk the talk but students who are willing to step out and be doers….do the right thing.
Here is what I want you to do. We are going to spread out on this half of the gym and I want you to spend some time praying about being a doer. We are not going to be just thinkers any more….we are going to be doers.
So quietly spread out across this half of the gym and ask God to give you the strength to be a doer.

Can You Love Your Enemies?

Found these online today at the Plow. Wish I would have had them this past week as we actually discussed Luke 10 and the good samaritan and how we are to love our neighbors. We talked about finding that one person, the one who really gets to you. the one who you would say you hate if you weren't a christian. i had our students picture that person, then passed out boxes of valentines candy and told them I wanted them to give them to that person this week at school. We'll see next week how it went. I'm planning on using these to facilitate more discussion.

Some questions; In general, do these detract from the idea of loving our neighbors by being too over the top? Is there an "over the top" when talking about loving others? Do you think these would fly in your church? Youthgroup? If not, why?

Lent and Holy Week

Hey guys,

We're into the Lenten season and our church is beginning to plan our Holy Week services (Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter) and I was wondering if you have any good ideas you're using with your youth programs, getting them involved in Easter and maybe even the less celebrated days.

Upcoming Series

I'm in the process of nailing down our next sermon series. Partly inspired by Shane Claiborne, we're calling it What If Jesus Meant Everything He Said?. Here is what I have so far;

Week One: I Heart Who? (Loving our neighbors)
Focus is Luke 10:25-37, the good samaritan. Key verse is 37a, "Go and do likewise." Main theme is that if they have flesh and blood, we're called to love them.

Week Two: Faith With Legs (Practical ways to love people)
Focus is Matthew 25:34-46, the sheep and the goats. Key verse is 40 "...whatever you did for the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me." We'll be taking a trip the following Saturday to hand out food and coats downtown Ft. Wayne, to anyone hungry or cold.

Week Three: 4 Seeds (parable of the sower)
Focus is Mark 4:1-20. Key verse might be 9, "...He who has ears let him hear."

While I've tentatively planned out each of these lessons, I wanted to throw them around unfinished and see if any of you had thoughts. I'm really looking for illustrations, visuals, different angles on these messages that I haven't thought of. Would love to hear your thoughts.

Church WiFi?

I found this article on another blog but thought it was interesting enough to pass along.

"The geek world has been abuzz lately regarding Ars Technica's look at the ethics of stealing wifi. At Church Marketing Sucks, we don't make too much of an effort to be arbiters of morality. But we would love to be proponents of ideas.

How about opening your church up?

These days, there's more to being welcoming to visitors than putting "Welcome" on your church sign. Shoot, it even goes beyond having official "greeters."

What if your church had the sweetest wifi in the town, some really comfy chairs and a few friendly faces? How great would it be to have folks normally hostile to "church" be able to say, "I'm gonna go hang out at the church and get some work done."

As a connoisseur of fine seating (ENO and Love Sac, if you're wondering) and a constant searcher for the perfect coffee shop, I can tell you this: if I found somewhere with good coffee or sweet tea, open spaces and comfy chairs, I'd be there in a heartbeat. Folks lucky enough to work at home, thankful as they should be, need to get away sometimes.

So bump up your Internet speed, get some decent coffee, sweet tea or pastries, and invite folks on in. This is the 21st century. Maybe it's time that the church is a friend for the friendless, a home for the homeless and an office for the officeless."

Alright, it's Marc again. All that being said, here are a few things to keep in mind

1. Will offering this necessarily bring people back to church (if that is even a goal)?
2. How stringent is your content filtering? (how do coffee houses offering wifi prevent objectionable/illegal material ie. porn? do they at all? I really don't know)
3. Would this even be worth it or would it be fighting a losing battle to the 900 Starbucks type places already established?

Thoughts?

I got a surprise Saturday at Lunch...I was preaching Sunday Morning!!!!!

I got a call Saturday at 11am. It was my pastor telling me that he was going to be gone the rest of Saturday and Sunday to an undisclosed destination. Long story short, my pastor jumped town for the weekend and I was left with the full responsibities for Sunday. YIKES! Nothing like short notice.

If you attended chapel the day a preach, you hopefully remember the sermon I gave about the power of God's word. It was based off of Matt 4 where Jesus is being tempted in the dessert.
A little refresher....Jesus is being tempted by Satan...... Satan used Scripture to try and get Jesus to fall, and Jesus uses Scripture to combat the temptation. Needless to say there is amazing power in Scripture if Jesus and Satan both used it against each other.

That is the sermon I gave on Sunday. I have to be honest, I was a little frusted with my pastor jumping town without giving me a reason why.
After thinking about why all this was happening, my mind jumped back to this summer to somthing Wilbur Williams said in Israel.

During our trip, time after time, we would be postponed for some unknown reason. Instead of getting upset Wilbur began to praise and thank God for being in control. I can rember Wilbur saying, "God we don't know why this is happening, BUT you do. So thank you for having a plan bigger than we are."

Flashforward back to Sunday.........I gave the message in both services and the Lord truly blessed it. The response from the congregation was AMAZING. At our church the congregation occasionally will clap after the choir sings a special, and amazingly enough they were so moved by the message that after the dismissal they began to clap. I have no doubt that this clap was a praise offering to God and I give Him all the PRAISE and HONOR.

Let me encourage everyone. So often we get upset because the circumstances in our lives change without our permission or consent. REMEMEBER...GOD IS IN CONTROL!!! Next time you face a situation where you are completely confused and frustated because your plans change, remember what Wilbur said, "God we don't know why this is happening, BUT you do. So thank you for having a plan bigger than we are."

May you remeber that God has a bigger plan!

Loveingly cheering you on,
Pudge

Cross Your Fingers

Warsaw. Fort Wayne. Burlington. Colorado. California. What more can I say? Only a few short years ago we sat next to one another, a small group in a Drury class (Jon and Zach (RIP Nate)), trying to figure out where we'd copy and paste more Christian themed images from the internet to fill the pages of a book we've hopefully glanced at at least once or twice since. And now we're entrusted with the lives, spiritual and physical, of Jr. and Sr. High students. Yikes.

The past months I've been thoroughly enjoying life as a youth pastor and married man and I hope you have as well. Although I've formed great relationships with the staff at my church and the parents of the students here, I miss you guys. I miss living in a house with like-minded ministry students, sharing ideas, frustrations and encouragements (insults too), and playing smash bros while adam tried to sleep. I created this blog in an attempt to better stay connected with you guys, as well as anyone else who might benefit from a forum of this sort. Lately I've come across tons of articles I'd like to share, events I'm thinking about, ideas for sermons, etc, that 18 months ago I could bounce of you whenever I felt like it. Not being able to do that as easily now, I hope this blog will help facilitate the discussion that I miss on a regular basis.

No pressure. If you're not a blogger, or even a blog reader, that's fine. If this thing dies in a month, I won't be offended. Just an attempt to stay connected with you guys and benefit from multiple IWU ministry degrees instead of just one. Let me know your thoughts.