off to NYMC 2009

in about an hour our team of 9 middle & high school leaders are taing off for Columbus, OH…enemy territory better believe there’s going to be some PSU blue & white flying high. wacth this blog for updates on everything NYMC for the next few days; it’s going to be a good one, this year.

anyone here also going to NYMC? if so, we need to connect while we’re out there – give a hollar in the comments…

IMPACT recap

last week for 5 days was our annual IMPACT event for our student ministry. really, it’s the beginning and end of our year as a ministry. i’d been to IMPACT before but just for an evening, not the long haul. it’s kind of like a multi-day music festival on a smaller scale. tent camping, speakers, seminars, bands – the whole deal. we took a group of close to 80 students, and another 20ish adults. to top it off, our band also lead an evening of worship on friday

was it amazing? yes
were there frustrations? yes
but at the end of it, God moved.

high school & middle school students accepting Christ.
kids getting baptized for the first time & others reaffirming their baptism.
relationships restored.
difficult conversations.
healing beginning in broken families.
students stepping up in leadership, especially young men.
people experencing God like never before.
yeah, it’s a good thing.

1 Timothy 4:12
Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.

in one sitting

today was landmark – i finished an entire book in one sitting. i popped on over to starbucks with The 7 Practices of Effective Ministry by Andy Stanley. 3 hours, 4 pages of notes, and 2 cups of komodo dragon later i was done. this was a big deal. i don’t know if i’ve ever read a whole book at once before. i’m also now one book closer to my personal goal of 10 for the year on my list of 2008 goals.

but most importantly, it was huge for me in personal ministry ways. i’m wrestling a lot with just what does/should/can the middle school & college ministry @ first church look like. this really got me going today – i literally couldn’t read this book fast enough. it was a good morning.

IMPACT this week

summer started off a bit slow, but now it’s full tilt until school starts again. this wednesday we leave for IMPACT with 75+ middle and high school students. i’m pumped with the expectation the God will be doing amazing things in the lives of our students. today and tomorrow are final meetings, personal packing, last minute purchasing, calling kids, and loading trucks. then i’m leaving early to get back in time to lead our worship team sunday morning.

as much as i’d love to post pictures throughout the week, we don’t even have running water – so they’ll come when we return. in the meantime, pray for our group and enjoy the weeks pre-planned posts.

it’s dangerous

yesterday at our Creative Kids Camp, i got a call i wasn’t expecting. it was from my friend running our culinary arts program for kids. i picked up and he said, “karl, i don’t know what to do. i need you up here now.” that complete with screaming in the back. all i could think of was a severed hand on a cutting board. thankfully it wasn’t that. a trip to the ER, a few stitches later, and our injured student was all good and ready to come back. so what did i learn from yesterday?

- those medical release forms really are important
- not only do you need a first aid kit, you need to know where it is
- trouble never comes at a convenient or expected time
- there are times when action is needed immediately, and we have to be prepared to act

our pastor came in this morning and took me aside. he told me, “now you know that part of your job is to make sure no one gets injured; and the only way to do that is to not do any ministry at all.” then the smile. “ministry is dangerous.” you know what - it is.

tough week

this past week has been one of the toughest i’ve had in ministry. i’ve been feeling it in ministry, emotionally, even physically. coming off our middle school retreat, it was a good weekend, but i’m absolutely exhausted. partner that with a handful of student and leader issues i have to deal with, and a mess of other things – it’s taking a toll.

right now i’m in a lull between two meetings i had this morning and an afternoon of prep for week two of our middle school series, 5enses, tomorrow. hopefully thursday may prove to be a day of rest; i realized this morning it’s actually been a few weeks since i’ve actually take a full day away from ministry. my discipline of taking a sabbath hasn’t been great, and it’s time to step it up in taking care of that more.

what do you do to unplug and recharge?

off to the wilds of new york

bethany and i head out this afternoon for our spring retreat with our middle school kids in FUSE[midweek]. not only is this our first retreat with this group of kids (i came to the church in august), this is the first time the middle school kids are having a retreat separate from our high school kids.

it’s no secret i think my friends @ metro.youth put on some of the hippest retreats known to man. i’m lucky to have friends there who continued the invitation to me even when i jump the denomination ship. pray for us: it’s not just our 18 kids, but about 300 more when we get there. and i can’t wait! lake champion doesn’t know what it’s in for…

timing creativity

i’m spending this afternoon at one of my favorite places – Grigg’s Coffee. not only do they have killer coffee roasted on site, but also free wi-fi, a fantastic atmosphere, and butter toffee cashews (so good). the past few months i’ve been trying to be more intentional about setting aside uninterrupted creative time, which is kind of weird since i do think of myself as a pretty creative person. one of the huge things i’ve been learning though, is that creativity is best when it’s not rushed. sure, being under the gun can birth inspiration, but creativity is best when it has a chance to actually develop from the original inspiration.

so here i am, armed with my myndology disc notebook, macbook, and coffee – and working out the creative elements for the last FUSE[midweek] series for the spring. starting tomorrow, our last series will be a five weeker called 5enses. we’ll be looking at a different human sense each week and see how we can experience Jesus specifically through each. it kicks off tomorrow with :sound:

hitting the road

About two months ago I was hoping to make a trip down to State College to spend time with some friends. Today I’m doing that again. There’s something special about having friends who always allow to to walk away from an encounter with them changed. Looking forward to talking some college ministry ideas with Aaron, methodism with Matt, and maybe even middle school with Stac; and to spend time with my friends.

Who are those people for you?