big chill 2011 - UNSTOPPABLE

What an unbelievable weekend!  Ill start with that!  I am still processing all the things that went on, all the funny moments, the hysterical quotes, the powerful words, most of all the way GOD moved!   We left on Friday at 530pm to a retreat center in Mears, MI called Grace Adventures. Let me give you some of the highlights of the weekend, it wont do it justice but I don't have enough time to throw it all down.

Highlights:

• Justin Laib spoke at 3 of our sessions breaking down what being Unstoppable is all about:
• My Life is not Futile - Life has purpose (John 4)
• My Failures are not Fatal - past mistakes do not dictate our future (John 8)
• My Death is not Final - There is life through Jesus (John 11)
•  The Nate Drege Band led worship for us all weekend
• We had the priviledge of meeting them at Table Rock Lake where we went to camp that summer.  They have huge hearts for the hurting & the least of these.  I know that they are going to do some huge things in the future!  God has some big plans for them to make an impact for His kingdom!
• Putting others first is an ingredient in being unstoppable
• We had the opportunity to serve at the Muskegon Rescue Mission
• One group had the priviledge of going in and organizing and cleaning a thrift store & donation center for people in that area that needed affordable clothing and home furnishings.
• A large group was able to clean and prepare the rescue mission for a new womens shelter that was opening their doors to women without any place to go.   We cleaned, scrubbed, moved furniture, vacuumed & mopped to get things ready to be lived in.  This was something that would have taken the ladies working at the mission months and we were able to knock it out for them in an afternoon!
• We were able to be the rescue missions answer to their SUN STAND STILL Prayer...  2 months prior to us scheduling this they were praying for God to bring them people to help with all that needed done for the women that were going to be walking through the doors!! 
• There was snow - lots of snow
• Tubing Hill
• Snow ball fights
• broom ball
• the hike to the dunes (aka the crazy walk)
• did I mention snowball fights- I was ambushed quite often by both middle schoolers and high schoolers alike.  Id like to think I held my own however I did get pelted my fair share of times!
• why in the world did half the students wear shorts all weekend... sometimes you dont ask questions!
• Indoor Wonders
• OCTOBALL - great game that left a few students physically scarred because of their intensity
• Volleyball, Basketball & Dodgeball made an appearance
• The Rock Wall allowed students to master their fears, showcase their ability and look funny in a helmet and harness
• Cabins 
• this might have been where most of the action was... aside from being woke up every night by someone banging on our door or giving us the ole air horn at 4am the nights were full of poorly told jokes, flatulence and airsoft threats... Im sure it was the same over in the girls area! :)
• Grace Adventures
• what a great spot to get away and refocus on whats important
• facilities are great, the food was pretty good and there was hot chocolate at all hours of the day!!

5 students accepted Christ for the first time and many recommitted themselves to being who God wants them to be.  BIG CHILL 2011 was a great experience and is propelling us into 2011 to change the world, to show Gods love, to be the unstoppable force that God has intended for us to be!

In conclusion... God is awesome!

Last 4 Months

So its been about 4 months since I have last chronicled my thoughts on the ole blog!  So much has gone on, been accomplished, been so close to coming together... its an exciting time!   Had an intern for 7 months, Britton Asbell.  What a tremendous job he did while he was here.  He was all about the students... such a huge help to me since 1 person can only connect with so many people.  We said goodbye to him Sunday, he will be missed.   we are looking to the future, whats next, what does God want from us, where does he want us to invest our time/energy/resources into?  I love this stage, because it takes me out of the equation because I don't know the next steps... only GOD knows... and I'm OK waiting on Him!

My prayer life needed a shot in the arm and got one after reading "Sun Stand Still" by Steven Furtick (lead pastor at Elevation Church in Charlotte, North Carolina)  I pray like a sissy not a juggernaut, its time to get serious about it, time to start making strides in my personal relationship with God. It is hard to lead others to grow when you are not going after it with all you have.  Ive seen that in my life and it is changing and will continue changing!!  LETS GO!!  

Join me... join me in the pursuit of God and worshiping him for who He is, what He has done and what He is going to do!!

The Student Leader

Leadership is something that is sought after in all areas of life, workforce, home.   We are constantly trying to develop and bring about leadership in people.  Some have so much potential to impact people in a positive way yet they dont fully take hold of those opportunities, they let life slip away.  Some do not have a lot of potential or may not be wired that way but work at it extremely hard because they UNDERSTAND why leadership in any aspect in life is important!  If we can develop at a young age students heart for leadership no matter how gifted or how much potential they have; then we are developing people who can change the world. 

The student leader is every student ministries pastors best friend.  Without these leaders then we find ourselves looking for ways to motivate, create energy and get students to buy into whats going on in the ministry.  Student Leaders are essential for the vital health of the church as well.  These are the next generation of church leadership, a group that will rise up and take hold of the awesome responsibility of spreading the Gospel. 

Its hard to start from scratch and develop leaders, here are a few tips for starting out...

1. Open your eyes - lots of students have the natural ability, people gravitate towards them, they can be the life of the crowd.  Those students need some coaching but have limitless potential.

2. Solid Trumps Popular - students who are grounded in what they believe will be more committed than the popular student who isnt as focused and isnt dependable.

3. Consistency in Meeting - meet with these students on a regular basis, consistency breeds accountability and allows them to be encouraged consistently.

4. Poll the student body- ask them who they look up to, who do they look to for spiritual matters, who would they follow... they usually get it right!

5.  Challenge - Dont make it easy on them.  Give the student/s something to strive for, something that will stretch them and allow them to fail.  Nothing says learning from experience like having a task and bombing!!  You learn real quick what to do and what not to do!

6.  PRAY like crazy - In order for God to do something huge through these students then you must intercede for them on their behalf. 

My desire is for students to be equipped to change the world.  There is nothing to big that God cannot do...  dream big, live big... impact people for Christ!!

Dream...

“Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore" - Gide

If you could do anything in your ministry what would you do?  If cash was no object and you could have any facility you wanted and could totally redesign your ministry what would you do?  

Ive been asked to think about these things a few times...  so I have!  The more I contemplate this facilitates the wrong mindset for me and for the student ministry and Sugar Grove Church.   When I dream for myself I come up with programs, atmosphere, lights, flat screens and Ipods... "stuff."  I think this happens to all of us in Youth Ministry at some point or another.  We want all the bells in whistles so we can make our student ministry "cool" or a place where your students want to bring their friends.  Wanting your students to enjoy coming and invite their friends and instill pride in their church is all well and good.  This, however, does not reach the heart of why we should be doing what we are doing.

If we focus on the outward we miss the inward.  As hard as it is to not be consumed by those things we should be more worried about our students being sold out for Christ.   We want to help bring up fully devoted followers of Christ and no light board, flat screen or sweet video is going to do that.  None of those things are bad unless they take precedence in your ministry.  

Build relationships, grow disciples, show Christs love to the people you come into contact with, pray for your students, challenge them to take risks for Christ, make an impact...  from the inside out!

Whats the heartbeat of SGC

Recently I have really been thinking about the heartbeat of our church... what is it?  What is God calling us to here in Elkhart County??  What is Sugar Grove's role in it all??

I want to ask you those questions... what do you think?? 

Love to hear your thoughts on it...

Top Ten of Memphis 2010

Here we are after 2 weeks being in Memphis, TN.   What an amazing trip it was... serving the people, loving the people... showing them Christ!

It was a life changing trip, here are the top ten things that happened on the Hope Experience:

10 - hottest slip n slide of all time, actually baked the grass underneath


9 - stripped down and painted 2 homes in intense heat


8 - dancing with the kids at Memphis Athletic Ministries, proving that white people cant dance! :)


7 - the rolls and bread at The Grove campground = shocking

6 - making a whirlpool in a rectangle pool...  that just happened

5 - Teaching Refugee's from countries around the world English and how to fill out a job application, very humbling and exciting to be able to help them

4 - Rendevzous Ribs - no napkins, no silverware just Tshirts - so fun

3 - Warrens Denim Scrubs

2 - playing with the kids at the refugee apartments, letting them paint your face with sidewalk chalk, seeing their smiles and giving them blankets... priceless

1 - hearing about how Lauren & Patrick had the chance to lead someone to Christ at Holy Community Church... Sharing Faith, Giving Hope, Showing Love

Unbelievable Trip...

The Elijah Effect

The story of Elijah is an amazing and profound statement of one mans faith in God.  Elijah takes on the prophets of Baal and Asherah and challenges them.  The Lord answers Elijah's prayer! (Check out the full story in 1 Kings 18)

However I want to send a little "high five" Elijahs way.  Here is a man that was THE LAST PROPHET of the Lord, the one and only, no one else around, no one to help keep him accountable, no one to laugh with, cry with, pray with, confide in... only one left.   Elijah stood for the Lord, and the Lord blessed him.   This fires me up, not only cause Elijah stood up and defended his belief in God but because he had no help doing it.  It makes me wonder if everyone with like faith would band together and stand for up for our belief in God what would happen?  If all of us would have the same fire, the same passion for God what could be done?  How many people need to know about God and His unconditional love for us, His mercy, His grace, the hope that he gives... if we stand up and have faith that God is with us, think of the impact on this country we could have.   This challenges me and humbles me because I can only imagine how much courage that takes...

Whats holding us back?

Elijah was one man... we have thousands and millions to help encourage and push eachother onward.

We need an Elijah effect!!!