weekend wrap-up 01.27.08

Lesson Topic:
jr. hi. - Can I Know For Sure? -Faith - Trust - Grace
sr. hi. - God's Extreme Makeover - Self Control
Attendance: Average
'Fun Factor': Average - need more silliness!
Volunteer Involvement: Average
Music: above average -
Lesson Quality: Average
Length of Lesson: 20 minutes
Student Response: Average
jr. hi. - tyler riding in the wheel barrow was fun. helped to paint the metaphor about the difference between faith and trust. pulled in on the at old story about the tight-rope walker. There once was a famous tightrope walker who stretched a cable across Niagara Falls and was giving a demonstration of his ability. A crowd had gathered to watch and every time he went across the falls and back they would cheer wildly. One man in front yelled out to the tightrope walker "You are the greatest tightrope walker in the world!" The tightrope walker looked at the man and asked "Do you really think so?" The man answered, "Yes, I believe you are the greatest!" The tightrope walker smiled then asked the man "Do you think I could walk across that cable pushing a wheelbarrow?" The man replied, "Yes, I believe you could!" The tightrope walker replied, "Well, let's see." He then went to his truck, took out a wheelbarrow and proceeded to push the wheelbarrow across the falls and back. The man in the crowd cheered and yelled out, "I knew you could do it since you are the greatest in the world!" The tightrope walker smiled at the man and asked, "Do you think I could push this wheelbarrow across the falls with 150 pounds of weight in it?" The man replied, "Yes, I certainly believe you could!" The tightrope walker then looked at the man and said, "All right. Climb in!"

sr. hi. - finally got to finish the fruit of the spirit series. looked at the #1 choice that 90% of our students choose. interesting that we got to it on a day when we talked about porn in the big church. we walked a little bit into the topic of modesty & purity. used that clip from bruce almighty where evan baxter looses control shows us what it isn't about....gah..gah...p.p. good conversation about realizing that if we're going to learn to live this gift out we need to do it in the context of community. spent some time working through how we use many different things to keep us away...various addictions. wrapped up reminding us about the grace available through the power of the Holy Spirit if we live our lives with transparency.

100th post....what a ride!

a personal moment...and to mark 100 posts. one of the reasons i'm doing what i'm doing and have been for awhile is because of the legacy of my hero, mike yaconelli. mike was the founder of youth specialities. he had a heart attach four years ago while driving his truck in southern california. a bitter sweet thing. but man could he dance and his passion has moved me. i spent a morning with him at a event in pittsburgh a few years back. simply amazing. much fun but more importantly much encouragement. i can only hope to live my life as well. enjoy this tribute.

okay!

SnOw CaMP

yep...lot's of fun! cold fun! but fun! here's the group picture from snow camp '08 @ phoc! met lots of new friends from some other churches. always a great time. think we'll make this an annual tradition! just wish we could have line some some more snow. but hey....we had fun without it! of course the 2 degrees yesterday morning made for some fun. and chris and the team did a great job.

snow camp

just got home from the first nite @ snow camp '08. the 26 crazy teens decided to spend some time in the woods with some older even crazier young adults...chris-katelyn-morgan and lacey- we're hangin' with some new folks from seville presbyterian church. having all sorts of fun. although the snow isn't what we hoped for...even though several of the students did their best to wear the pjs -all week - inside out and backwards...and oh yeah...flush ice cubes down the toilet, to no avail. and the best is the temperature tomorrow...or actually tonite...a high of 3! btw i came not just for the comfort of my own bed, but have an early morning trip to another camp in the other direction for girl's flight 19 of heart of ohio chrysalis. five of the young ladies on this weekend are sr high students from //the.evolution. please pray for them...they're off to an incredible three day journey.

weekend wrap-up 01.13.08

Lesson Topic:
jr. hi. - hooray, i'm gifted
sr. hi. - best year ever and not starving jesus
Attendance: Average
'Fun Factor': Average - need more silliness!
Volunteer Involvement: Average
Music: excellent- joey and trevor added some groove during the jam time!
Lesson Quality: Above Average
Length of Lesson: 20 minutes
Student Response: Average
jr. hi. - had fun watching father Christmas give lucy, susan and peter their gifts from the lion the witch and the wardrobe. talked about our gifts and where we can serve. xtreme kidz, production/programming - big church and kidz.
sr. hi. - another open conversation about the best year ever and how not to starve jesus. some great sharing from kevin and sandi about their journey.

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sssssnooooow ccccaaaampppp...18-20 january

its hard to imagine with the temperature outside at 61 degrees on the 7th of January...but this is ohio right? so...who knows what it will be in two weeks? get your application NOW go here snow camp '08 application so you can be a part of snowcamp '08...you don't want to hear the stories...live them! you've not spent a better $54!

wiser than his 13 years...

Weekend Wrap Up

Lesson Topic: Unwrapping after Christmas
Attendance: Average
'Fun Factor': Above Average
Volunteer Involvement: Below Average
Music: poor- didn't have any live :-(
Lesson Quality: Above Average
Length of Lesson: 70 minutes
Student Response: Above Average

we were going to take another week off, but dan and our programming folks needed some able assistance on pulling the set down for the "trees" series. i was surprised how fast our jr. highers pulled it off. we took down the 24 pine trees and cleaned up the mess in less than 70 minutes! they did and excellent job. i think it gave them a little bit of ownership of all the work that goes into putting the big church services together. of course tearing down always takes less time than putting something up. the good work of the jr. highers left some open time with our sr. highers to talk about the coming year. we had a great free flowing conversation with all. sandie and kevin, two of the adult leaders offer some great encouragement on their hopes for the coming spring.



my devotion for the day was a great transition...john 12:26 Jesus says: If any of you wants to serve me, then follow me. Then you'll be where I am, ready to serve at a moment's notice. The Father will honor and reward anyone who serves me.

it was that "...ready to serve at a moments notice..." and the jr. highers did it well. with good hearts they blessed dan and his team with a job well done.

Josh's first night as the high school pastor at

Josh's first night as high school pastor at saddleback

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if you're not lazy... do something

hit me with an email...first one gets a free copy of this great new book.