A friend told me about this hilarious video and I thought it was way too good not to pass along to you, it gets good after about the 1:08 mark…enjoy!
Join the Conversation: What do you think about Lil Markie?
The Refinery at Saddleback
One of the cool things that we got to do while in California was tour the Refinery; we also held our daily meetings there. Doug expressed his love/hate relationship with the building and I think every youth worker who has a solid focus on growing their students spiritually through relationships would agree with his premise, although we would also love to have a building like the Refinery 🙂 . Doug shared that he has been doing student ministry for over 25 years without a “student building” and in that time he has come to the realization that student ministry can be done outside of a permenant building. I think most of us realize it can be done in a living room, in a gym, outisde under a tree, or where ever else students convene. If we ‘think’ our student ministries can only be effective in a nice building, we run the risk of narrowing our focus of ministry to be program driven. That is not my heart and I know it is not the heart of focus of PDYM. Doug said he made it clear that he did not want the Refinery to be considered the “Student” building, though it has a student ministry theme throughout, he wants it to be considered a “Community Center,” and by the looks of what happens throughout the week, its exactly that. They are using this beast of a building to reach out to their community…and that is awesome! They also host their new service FUSE in the high school auditorium, from what I’ve heard that service for 20 somethings to 30 somethings has exploded and God is blessing it in a huge way.
I’ve included some pictures of the Refinery below, I ripped them from my friend Tom’s Facebook and my friend Dan’s blog (My wife would not let me take her camera). Click HERE to go to the Extending the Vision Blog for more Refinery pics and stories.
By the way, this picture shows a little more about what the Gathering is. Its not a big conference and really not a big youth pastor’s event. (Its big to us) It is a “Gathering” of PDYM like minded youth pastors who Doug Fields and Neely have selected to represent the PDYM philosophy/paradigm for student ministry in their states. Like Proverbs 27:17, we sharpen each other, pray for each other, and have a lot of fun. When its time to say goodbye we are like a bunch of school girls crying that it would not end.
Connecting Discipleship with Ministry
I am blogging at the PDYM Blog today. I will be posting once a week there now, so if you have any ideas for topics please let me know! Here is an excerpt of my article, head on over to the blog and join the conversation there, I would love to know your thoughts on the subject…
Hopefully we all have a strategy to lead our students into a growing relationship with Christ. Some may use the programs (Sunday School or small groups) that are in place at their church to emphasize spiritual growth, while others may emphasize growth outside of “programs” by utilizing tools such as the H.A.B.I.T.S. material.
How much emphasis do you put on involving students in ministry within your discipleship strategy? Is it a key element or do you hold back some of your service projects and ministry opportunities for your more spiritually mature students? READ ENTIRE ARTICLE
Bloggers 08 Gathering
I finally got to meet the famous Brad Ruggles. He assembled a Bloggers Meetup for the Catalyst attendees. I think I was the only one there who was not at Catalyst, but when you get this many bloggers from around the country assembled in one city, its a night that you cannot turn down. I’ve attached some thumbnails of random pictures I took throughout the night, click on the picture 2 times to enlarge it to its full size (and I’ll be working on editing some of these pictures with the bad red eyes).
Here are some links to some of the bloggers who were there, I did not get to meet everyone and I still have to find the blogs of the new bloggers I did meet:
Brad Ruggles – Lisa Ruggles – Pete Wilson – Pat Rowland – Jenni Catron – Terrace Crawford – Aarron Dininny – Nic Burleson – Zak White – And others (I can’t find them all right now)
Conversations with a 5 Year Old (Part 5)
…about his hearts sin condition. Straight from a 5 year old’s mind and heart to his lips. (This conversation took place at MeMaw’s house)
Gavin: MeMaw!
MeMaw: What Gavin?
Gavin: (With hand placed over chest) I hate this sin in my heart
MeMaW: You hate the sin in your heart?
Gavin: Yes, how do I get rid of it?
MeMaw: You have to ask Jesus to get rid of it for you
MeMaw: How did you know about the sin in your heart?
Gavin: From 3D (Our children’s program at church for K-5th Grade)
As a parent I am excited to hear my son acknowledging the ‘sin in his heart‘ and even more his desire to get rid of it and to get it out of his heart…at the age of 5. I am reminded of what Proverbs 22:6 says about teaching our children the right things at a young age so they will stick with it at an older age. That is my daily prayer for my children…that they stay on the right path when Mom and Dad are not around.
I believe education, both secular and spiritually start at home, however I understand that we cannot expect to be the only voice in our children’s lives. That is why I am so thankful for the other voices in my children’s lives, such as 3D at TCAG, my mom-in-law, “Mr. Shane,” and many others who have taken a vested interest in my family. I appreciate my pastor pushing our children’s teams to provide environments that are second to none for the children in our church and the children in our community that have yet to be reached. Just a thought…don’t go at this parenting thing alone!
Other Conversations with a 5 Year Old Posts: Part 1 – Part 2 – Part 3 – Part 4
Join the Conversation: Any interesting conversations around your house recently?