UPDATE YOUR FEED READER....

It is time to update your feed reader and/or links. I am moving....I have moved over to aldenellis.com.

It is a great site and I look forward to seeing you over there! Peace!

A Weekend of Special Ocasions:

Well, this weekend is definitely a weekend of special occasions. Here is the run down:

• Thursday: Wedding Rehearsal for Justin Lynch and Kari Pettit Wedding.
  
• Friday: Wedding Ceremony for David Crews and Angela Scroggs at the Wilhite House in Anderson. (This wedding was absolutely beautiful...yes, David did cry when he saw his bride. I love that!!)
  
• Saturday AM: Anderson University Graduation at NewSpring Church. I was able to see so many of my peeps graduate. Congrats to: Bridget Bagwell, Andrew Sentell, Shearer Wludyka, Meagan Gregory, Heather Raffini, Miranda Doolittle, and Whitney White. They are all volunteers in Ignite Middle School Ministry, except for Andrew...he is on staff full-time with Ignite. Congrats! You all rock!
  
• Saturday PM: Wedding Ceremony for Justin Lynch and Kari Pettit.
• Sunday AM: Worship Service at NewSpring...which is always a special occasion in my book. Especially since, Perry is teaching on the vision of the church...should be freakin awesome! Come and join us!!
  
• Sunday PM: Last IGNITE service at the Fusebox, our Student Ministry Facility at the Anderson Mall. We are moving throughout this whole week...you should come and help us move...to our new facility that will be called "The 2Seven."
  

WOW!! A whole lot going on, but a lot of fun and excitement happening! by the way, I love all the special occasions this weekend. They are a whole lot of fun to be apart of! Peace!

Manhood vs. Womanhood

Each day this week myself and some of the IGNITE staff have been going to Anderson Chrsitian School and talking about the topics. It has been really fun. The format we have taken is that we allowed them to described manhood and womanhood on Monday, discussed manhood on Tuesday, womanhood today, and tomorrow we are goingt o give them the chance to redo thier defintion and see if tere are any changes and recap the week. It has been a blast and also very challenging.

Pray for me tomorrow. I am speaking at thier Middle School Chapel at 10AM; High School Chapel at 11PM and then teach thsoe classes at 1:15PM and 2:05 PM. Long day and a lot speaking. Peace!

Beach Wedding.....

Beach Weddings are awesome.

There are a lot of times that you hear people say outside weddings are too risky. Well, today was a great example of why you would want to have an outside wedding. It was BEAUTIFUL! The weather was perfect…no rain…visibility was outstanding…just perfect.

**Sometimes the risk of not being able to control the weather and other external circumstances, pays off! Same way with Jesus. Sometimes the risk/scariness/uncertainty/lack of personal control pays off in some awesome amazing ways!**

Congratulations to Kevin and Kelly Croshaw as they began a new chapter in their lives today! It was a privilege to be apart of their special day.

Fun Times....

This weekend has been awesome (I am excited that it is just Friday and we are ear until Sunday morning)!! Deanna and I traveled to Edisto Beach, SC last night. We are hear for a wedding of a family friend. Tomorrow, I have the honor of officiating the wedding n the beach at Edisto Beach State Park. I cannot wait to be apart of it. The rehearsal dinner tonight was a Low-Country Boil (also known as Beaufort Stew or Frogmore Stew) and it was awesome.

This has been such a relaxing time for Deanna and myself. We have slept a good bit, fellowshipped with family and friends, eaten some GREAT food, and will celebrate the union of two people who love each other tomorrow. Those are some FUN times.

Let you know how it goes!

Why Question....

A couple of days ago someone made a statement to me that made me think. They said, “Alden, you haven’t written on your blog I awhile. If you do not write on it more consistently you readership will not rise.” I did think much about it until the other day.

It made me ask myself a question, “why am I doing a blog? Why do I write on it?” Since that time, I intentionally have not written on my blog, because I felt I needed to answer those questions before I continued.

The answer…to share what God is doing / teaching me in my life…to share my life experiences with those who may be interested…to journal some of my life’s experiences…to continue to point people to Jesus. This blog is an extension of a desire I have to make Jesus famous.

If I don’t make Jesus famous, then there is no reason to do it. Plan and simple. So…may Jesus be made famous…be honored…be glorified…be lifted up…be pleased with my blog.

Best Product for Best Price is found in FRONTIER LABEL.

Straight up...to buy the best labels, stickers, custom labels, and custom stickers you need to get them from FRONTIER LABEL.

For the past couple of months, I have had the privilege to work with the peeps over at Frontier Label.

Here are a couple of things that they have done for us:

• Mission: Anderson - Labels
• MADE: Be Moldable - Custom Labels
• IGNITE Flame - Stickers
• IGNITE Diamond Plate - Custom Stickers
  

Some may wonder why we would do these seemingly "small" things for our ministry. Well...simply put, "Details Matter!" Frontier Label understands this simple truth. Not only do they understand it, but they put it into practice in every aspect of the "process" of getting your product ready.

Their turn around is outstanding. Our staff had the crazy idea of getting the "Be Moldable" custom labels at the midnight hour for an event and they made it happen. Those labels made a HUGE difference in the overall feel and impact of the lesson we were trying to teach that night!

Also, the custom stickers that made of our IGNITE logo are outstanding. Our students are still asking for more stickers each week to give out to their friends and to put on the back of their parent's cars.

Each of these products added significantly to the event that they were used to promote. I encourage you to really think about Frontier Label the next time that you need any custom printed labels or stickers. They will get it done right the first time! Peace!

Awesome Nephew.....

The physical growing up process is so much fun to observe. In that process there is excitement, frustration, success, growth, learning, and so much more. Even in the frustration of growing up, we can always look back and be thankful that we went through it and accomplished so much.

A great example would be learning to walk. Learning to walk for the first time can be so frustrating for a little one. For starters they are surrounded by people who can go where they want, do what they want, go as fast as they want, and they have to depend on someone to take them. Well...when they begin to walk they are really excited, you can see a smile on their face and feel a sense of accomplishment, but in those times they will fall down. They may scrape their knees, get a bloody lip, hurt their hands, hurt their legs, and possibly hurt their spirit.

The great thing is...the child always gets up and tries again. No matter, the hurt they get back up and try again. They want to walk, they want to accomplish this HUGE task. Their spirit gets renewed and mostly because they have adults that are loving them, caring for them, and supporting them. They can get up and try again because someone has their back!

Just as a child has adults loving, caring, and supporting them...you have Jesus Christ loving, caring, and supporting you. Well...what is it for you that you need to try? You may feel that the task is way too much to try (ex. a child walking), but you know that you need to do it.

"What would you attempt for Jesus, if you knew you could not fail?" Perry Noble, my pastor at NewSpring Church, was asked this challenging question...and...from that with a vision from God, NewSpring Church was born. What about you?

Below is a video of my nephew, Jonathan Ellis Neighbors, taking some of his first steps. I love to be able to watch both my nephews and nieces grow up. Last night we had the nieces over for dinner and they were all over the place...talking, walking, running, laughing...everything!

OK, this may not be a big deal to some, but...this is just awesome for me and my family! So...just back off! ;)

IGNITE | 4.15.07

Topic: "PRISON BREAK: Shame & Guilt"

Student Attendance: Above Average
Volunteer Attendance: Above Average
Observer Attendance: Average
Message Length: 21 Minutes
Music: Above Average

We started a new series called PRISON BREAK. In this four week series, we are going to be exploring Shame & Guilt, Jealousy & Envy, Anger, and how Jesus sets us free.

Last night we discussed SHAME & GUILT. Lindsay Owens did the teaching and did an AMAZING job. She rocked out and slammed home the points. She had the students bought into the lesson and the response was amazing from the students. It was also great for our female students to see a female lead and teach everyone. I think that made a HUGE impact on our ladies!

Prison Break....

This Sunday we are beginning a new series called PRISON BREAK. We are going to be exploring some topics that keep us behind bars and from the freedom that Christ gave us through His death.

Here is the breakdown of our new series:

• April 15th - SHAME & GUILT: Lindsay Owens will be teaching and it is going be awesome. I have seen the outline and she is going to rock it out!
  
• April 22th - JEALOUSY & ENVY: I am teaching.
  
• April 29th - ANGER: David Hall will be teaching this, he has some great ideas that we are going to creativity with this Thursday. Should be awesome!
  
• May 6th - CHAINS THAT HOLD US: I will be teaching again to close out the series.

The whole Ignite Staff really believes that God is going to move in this series. I cannot wait to see what God is going to do in the lives of students, when they realize that the shame, guilt, jealousy, and anger that they are holding onto is NOT the way God intended for them to live!

Rising 6th Graders & Easter at NewSpring.....

We finished the first of two or five Easter Services at NewSpring Church. I did not sit in on a service today, but look forward to doing so tomorrow. From what I heard though....the music was jamming and Perry was hitting it out of the park.

The most exciting part of the night was that I got to spend a lot of time in the Theater 2 Room, the room for our 3rd, 4th, and 5th Graders! All I have to say is that NewSpring Church's Children's Ministry Staff is rocking it out! Today, the IGNITE staff made a guest appearance in this room to introduce ourselves to the rising 6th Graders! We gave a way a bunch of t-shirts, stickers, and gift certificates to the students. They were jacked up!

We wanted to get in front of the 5th Graders EARLY before they move up to IGNITE. We truly desire for them to stay connected and involved in the Children's Ministry right up to the point they move up to our ministry. This will not only help the Children's Ministry, but help us as well, so that we can stay connected to the students in a more effective way, instead of a "Welcome Letter" from someone they have never met.

I look forward to having all of them join our ministry...but, I really need to thank Pudge and Howard for giving us the opportunity to come in there and get in front of the students. So many churches and their ministries are territorial. They compete for resources, staff, attention, and so much more, but we don't have to worry about that at NewSpring. Pudge and I consider ourselves a team! We take time out of our busy schedules to talk strategy, to listen to each other's frustrations, hang out, and just chill. I consider it a part of my job to help Pudge and his team succeed. If Pudge is not doing his job of training up the students and getting them excited about coming to IGNITE then I am...well...screwed! I need Pudge, just like he needs Cherie Duffey, Preschool Director and just like Brad Cooper, High School Pastor needs me. We all need each other, we all need to work together to make it happen!

I hope that your church functions this way. I hope your ministries can rely on each other to help each other, encourage each other, and support each other!

Matthew Barnett.....

Matthew Barnett of The Dream Center in Los Angeles, California, spoke at our First Wednesday Service. Two words for you: MOST AWESOMENESS! Check it out here. Matthew is FULL of vision to reach the people of LA for Jesus. What an inspiration to me, to really get out there and talk to those that nobody wants!

He told a lot of stories that we hilarious and very impacting. He quoted Nehemiah 2:10, "But when Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard of my arrival, they were very displeased that someone had come to help the people of Israel." We must be concerned with the welfare of the people, we must help the people of our communities. He also made two statements that I want to quote for you:

• You must die of your dream to being a success and take on the dream of being a blessing.
• The world knows everything the church is against, but they need to know what the church is for.
  

Make sure you take a couple of minutes and listen to him share with us at NewSpring. You will be blessed!


Also, Perry felt the Lord to offer our people a time to give to support The Dream Center. All the cash given totaled over $9000. That is so awesome! I am always amazed at the generosity of the people at NewSpring Church. Here is a link to check out Perry's thoughts.

::MY FAITH

I just got my copy of ::MY FAITH by Kurt Johnston and Mark Oestreicher.I am loving how they set it up and wrote it as an easy read for any Middle Schooler. Here are a couple of comments about the book so far:

• Each chapter is written in a short, fun to read style, that will keep an INTEREST-SPAN deficit Middle Schooler reading through it.
• They included comments/quotes from Middle School Students.
• At the end of the first section, Kurt is real and honest. He talks about his Middle School days and what struggles he faced!
• They take the questions Middle Schoolers ask and answer them...What is faith? "Faith means believing and trusting in something even though you don't fully understand it, can't see it, and can't prove it completely."
• Also when they give a definition or explanation of something that may sound confusing to a Middle Schooler...see above...they give an example to clarify.
  

That is all I have right now, I just finished the first two mini-chapters of Section 2. Already good stuff.

If you are a Middle School or Junior High Pastor, do yourself and your students a favor and pick up a copy as a resource. After you read it I am sure that you will probably get a couple more to have around for your students to pick up. Click on the image above to go get your copy.

April Phenomenal Awards.....

Yesterday was the First Sunday of April, that means we always go out to eat as a youth volunteer staff. We always eat at the Chili's in Anderson They always give us great service, they never mind that we take up half the restaurant and create ALL the noise.

The awesome volunteers that were given a Phenomenal were:

• Dale Sellers: Phenomenal Ability and Dedication. Dale is ALWAYS there at IGNITE. He has been running our lights for a while and does a GREAT job. Dale has a PASTOR'S heart! He loves people and loves students. I am so thankful to have him apart of the IGNITE team!
• Keri Holder: Phenomenal Encouragement. Keri has the unbelievable gift of encouragement. She has encouraged so many of our leaders since she has joined the IGNITE team. **I get the awesome privilege to be able to officiate her wedding to Mr. Jonathan Unsworth on June 2, 2007! I am really excited about being a part of their special day!**
• Mike Smith: Phenomenal Husband, Dad, and Leader. Mike has been "that" guy in my life since coming to NewSpring. I will never forget sitting on his front porch along with his family and talking about ministry and them welcoming us to NewSpring. since that time our friendship has grown tremendously! I have the utmost respect for Mike, because he loves his family, his Lord, and his church.
• Ryan Sutherland: Phenomenal Creativity. Ryan is the reason for our MADE Videos that we did a couple of weeks back. He came up with the idea, took the pics for each shot, made the set, and then assisted in putting them in video form. I referenced all of the videos in a post back on March 5, 2007. Be sure to check them out here. Dude, you rock! Keep using your talents for Jesus!

Weddings.....

Congratulations to Kyle and Sarah Bolt!

Today, I had the privilege to officiate the wedding ceremony of Kyle and Sarah. It was a very simple, but elegant wedding! I had a blast! I was nervous that I would have a lot of mishaps, misspoken words, etc, but not really. Praise the Lord! What a fun night, the wedding was great and the reception was awesome.

Right before the doors opened and Kyle got to see Sarah, I looked at Kyle and he gave me that nervous smile. While she was coming down the isle, I looked at him and he leaned over to me and said, "WOW!" That but a HUGE smile on my face! I love to see the reactions of the groom when they see the bride!

Another great part about the wedding was that I shared a table with parents of my students at IGNITE! The whole table was HILARIOUS!! I heard so many stories and laughed a ton. It was great to see that side of some of my parents, to just hang out with them, to learn from them, and laugh with them!

Below is a picture of myself and the newlyweds!

Marriage.....

Today is a great day! I am looking forward to tonight. I get the wonderful privilege to officiate my first wedding ceremony tomorrow for Mr. Kyle Bolt and Miss Sarah Rhodes. Of course, the rehearsal is tonight, which will be a blast.

I just got done reading through the wedding vows they have have chosen/written for one another. (I am trying to know them as well as possible, so there are no "mess" ups tomorrow, although I will have a book with them written out in case my minds draws a blank.) It made me think of my vows, I made to my wife on our wedding day. I made a promise and covenant that I would love her, comfort her, honor and keep her, forsaking all others and keep myself only to her. I am so thankful that I have kept my vows to wife and hers to me. Marriage is such a beautiful thing.

Also, I cannot wait until tomorrow to watch Mr. Bolt watch his bride come down the isle. You know, each time I go to a wedding, I always like to watch the groom's expression when he sees his bride coming down the isle. There are a range of emotions that they go through. I will admit that I was so overwhelmed with my wife's beauty that I started to cry. It was so AWESOME! I actually did not stop sniffling and letting a couple tears fall until the end of the ceremony.

It will be a great day tomorrow for Kyle and Sarah and I am so thankful that they have allowed me to be apart of their special day.

Take a moment to say a quick pray for them as they begin this journey in life together as husband and wife. Also pray for me that I don't mess their wedding up ;)!

Lastly, if you are married, take a moment to think about when you saw your spouse for the first time on your wedding day. Think of all the emotion, the joy and the excitement that you felt. thank God for your spouse and be sure to tell them that you love them.

Quotable.....

I found this quote looking through an old book in an antique shop on the square in the small town of Pendleton.

"Some Praise at Morning
what they blame at night,
but always think
the last opinion is right."

Alexander Pope, Essay on Criticism

DAILY.....

This morning I went and played basketball with a bunch of guys from NewSpring. Random group of guys together, but still fun to get out and run around for a couple of hours! Also ate breakfast with Stewart Hudspeth and Chris Pierce. Both guys are awesome and desire to follow Jesus, so it was cool to hear them talk about life, relationships, Jesus, and many other things.

I came home and I have been trying to help my wife straighten up the house (my in-laws are coming for dinner tonight). I looked around the house and we have clothes in the hall needing to be washed, clothes waiting to be folded, clothes waiting to be dried, rooms to be straighten up, things put away, etc.

I almost got exasperated by the amount of work to be done, which brought a though to my head. If I would just take the time to DAILY straighten up as I go along, there would not be that OVERWHELMING feeling when i try to do it all at one time.

I believe that the same goes for our spiritual lives. There are times when we all get "slack" in our DAILY times with Jesus. If we didn't and then tried to "catch up" maybe there would not be this OVERWHELMING feeling inside of frustration and sometimes despair because of an inability to communicate.

Take the time DAILY to spend with Jesus! He loves you, He cares about you, and He has so much that he wants to tell you! God Bless...Peace!

Networking.....

Today, I had the privilege to have lunch with Dustin Hughes, the Student Pastor at Crossroads Community Church in Simpsonville, SC. It was a great time to talk life, family, and ministry. The great thing about the "ministry" part was that it was NOT just about numbers or the biggest event we've held. It was all about how to help each other, encourage one another, share frustrations, etc. In my opinion, that is what we need to be doing when we network with each other. We need to feel open enough to talk life and not just ministry.

Here is a great idea, the next time you try networking with someone do talk ministry, but not ministry in the traditional sense, ministry in the "personal" sense. Ask them how they are doing spiritually, ask them what books they are reading, ask them how they are taking care of their family. If they are doing those things well, then take that and learn from them. But in asking those questions ask in an attitude of humility and a sincere desire to learn, not a desire to hold some accountable or LORD over them so to speak.

Let's learn from each other. Not just the latest fads or tools in ministry, but learn from our lives as well. I believe that if we focus on learning from our lives then it becomes real and the world needs more REALNESS and less tools and gimmicks.

I remember back in December at the National Youth Workers Convention, Kurt Johnston, the Middle School Pastor at Saddleback Church in California, was very gracious and allowed me to sit down and ask him questions about ministry. All my questions were asked in a desire to learn from someone who had maintained longevity and integrity in the ministry. I did not ask him,

• How many students are you averaging?
  
• How can I build a ministry that will be just like yours?
  
• How can I become a nationally known student pastor like you?
  

I asked him questions such as:

• How do you balance the time with your family and ministry?
  
• How do you balance spending time with your staff, leaders, and students?
• What advice would you give to someone just starting out in Middle School Ministry?

Let us have a desire to network, but do that with a sincere desire to learn from people's lives and not just thier professional ministries. Trust me, when we do this we will all be more "successful" in the eyes of Jesus, the one we are ministering for anyway!

Dustin, it was refreshing to sit and talk "ministry" with you today! I will be praying for you, your family, and your ministry. Follow Jesus and do all that he tells you to do! Follow the VISION! You rock dude!

Blessing from my IGNITE leaders....

A little over two weeks ago, I went to Willow Creek Church for SHIFT Student Leadership Conference. It was a great trip and awesome time to learn from and network with youth leaders from all over the country.

During that time, there was something that was happening back home in South Carolina that I did not know about. There were some IGNITE volunteer leaders messing with my car. When I say messing with, I mean giving it some tender, loving, care. A group of about 39 or so IGNITE leaders, were taking my car to get detailed (cleaned, waxed, etc.), getting a full service oil change, getting my headlights changed, along with getting the casing for the headlights burnished.

For a long time now, my lights worked, but I could not see all the light that the headlights were given off because the casing for the lights was very foggy. A couple weeks back, I was having a conversation with a couple of volunteers and we were all talking about issues with our individual cars. I mentioned my headlights and the issue I was having with them. I said that i had gotten so used to it that there was no need to get them fixed. One of those volunteers heard that and ran with it.

When we returned it was about 1:00 AM, I could not see my car real well, but I noticed my hands were sliding on the steering wheel. I also thought that my lights were brighter, but I had been driving another car all week, so I didn’t think much about it. I got home and park my car in the garage and look at my car and it was clean and shiny! I looked at my headlights and the casing was clear. I was blown away! My wife greeted me at the door with a smile, and asked if I noticed a difference.

What a HUGE blessing!

To ALL the IGNITE Volunteer Leaders: I am still blown away by the generosity and thoughtfulness of all the volunteers that contributed to giving my car such a clean up job! You guys rock! Each week, you make IGNITE happen through setting up the stage, running check-in, setting up the chairs, straighten up the Fusebox, leading your small groups, and much more! You bless me each week by serving Jesus and serving our students, so this messes me up that you would do this as well. I consider it a privilege to minister alongside each of you! Keep rockin it out for Jesus!

Unleash at NewSpring.....

Today was AWESOME! I witnessed so much today that blessed my heart and continued to build my passion for Jesus and the local church. here are a couple of my thoughts from today:

• Perry rocked in out in both main sessions.
  
• Tony Morgan has posted all of the points from both sessions, so check out his detailed notes over at his blog on Session 1 and Session 2. **You will get a kick out of some of the comments rolling around over there.**
  
• It was great to be able to speak to so many student pastors from all over the country and see the passion they had to reach the students in their community. They asked some great questions during the breakout that Brad Cooper and I led.
  
• I look forward to hanging out with some Student pastors from NorthPoint Community Church, Elevation Church, Brookwood Church, Ridgestone Church, Crossroads Community Church, and many others to continue to network and learn from each other!
  
• NewSpring Volunteers ROCK! Our volunteers rocked the house today. One frequent conference attender told me that our volunteers showed more excitement, willingness to serve, and professionalism than he has ever seen at any other conference! GO NEWSPRING VOLUNTEERS!!
• I love the staff I work with! the NewSpring Staff is AWESOME!! Everyone worked hard this week to make it happen. "Teamwork makes the dreamwork!"
• Lastly, I look forward to hear some of the things that God is going to do in the lives of some of the churches that attended Unleash. It is going to be amazing!
  
  

Matrix Pics...

Andrew & the Band ROCKIN it out!

One of the plasmas that is running Matrix Code!

Crazy Middle School Pastor teaching on truth!

Shot of the band, be sure to check out that we had a projector running the code on the ceiling as well! AWESOME!

Thanks to Sean Gaffney and Lloyd Gibson for the great pictures!

IGNITE | 3.11.07: MATRIX

Topic: "MATRIX: TRUTH"

Student Attendance: Below Average
Volunteer Attendance: Below Average
Observer Attendance: Average
Message Length: 20 Minutes
Music: Above Average

We started a new series called MATRIX. In this three week series, we are going to be exploring TRUTH, FREEDOM, and REVOLUTION. I am really excited about this series and what we are going to be talking about.

Last night we discussed TRUTH. Here are the points from last night:

“Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes
to the Father except through me.” John 14:6

1. Truth is Unchanging

· It doesn’t change from day to day…week to week…month to month…year to year…decade to decade…century to century.

2. Truth is Universal

· Truth applies to all of us.

3. God’s Word is Truth – Psalm 119:160 “All your words are true…”

· What is says…HAPPENED (ex. Donkey Talking, Giant Killed with a Stone & Slingshot, Elijah and Fire falling down)

4. Does God’s truth apply to my life?

· Can God’s Word help me keep me out of trouble?

a) YES! -- Psalm 119:9-11

· Can God’s Word give me peace?

a) YES! -- Philippians 4:6-7

· Can God’s Word fix my relationships?

a) YES! -- 1 Corinthians 13:4-8

· Can God’s Word make me smarter?

a) YES! -- James 1:5

I will be posting some pics from last night later today! Be sure to check back for those to catch a glimpse of the stage design!

First Wednesday at NewSpring.....

Last night was First Wednesday at NewSpring and it was awesome. Perry brought it! Here are the notes from the night:

Four Things That I Can Make Jesus More Famous In:

"But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth." Exodus 9:16

1. My Focus
• Matthew 6:33, "Seek FIRST His Kingdom..."
• Jeremiah 29:13
  
2. My Family
• Ephesians 5:22
• Ephesians 5:25
• Ephesians 6:1
  
3. My Finances
• 2 Corinthians 8:7
  
4. My Final Destination
• Luke 5:27-32
  

Are you serious?!?!?!

What in the world?

Check out this story on the internet: School District: Sixth Graders had SEX in School.

I personally think that it is the Middle School Pastor's fault in that community! J/K. Nah, but on a serious note: this story broke my heart and lights a passion in my heart to make sure that the students our ministry comes in contact with know the truth.

PHENOMENAL AWARDS MARCH 2007.....

On the First Sunday of each month we present the Phenomenal Awards. These are given to leaders who do something PHENOMENAL during the previous month, some are serious and some are not so serious.

This has become something that the staff and leaders look forward to each month to see who we are going to pick. And now...presenting the Phenomenal Awards for March of 2007:

• Matt Broderick: Phenomenal Phantom Award - Matt is our phantom leader. If you did not know Matt you would know that he was there. He is so stinking quiet. He leads a group of our 6th Grade guys, which he is awesome at doing. Matt leads by example, not a HUGE vocal leader, but one that you can ALWAYS count on and is SOLID to the core. Matt, you ROCK!!! Thank you for all you do!!
  

• Deanna Ellis: Phenomenal Servanthood without Prompting Award - This person is absolutely AMAZING!! Deanna got this award for always being willing to serve without being asked. She is consistently looking for areas that needs assistance and then gives her help. Not to mention is she is an awesome worker, but she is even more of an AMAZING wife. I love her so much and each day, I fall more in love with her each and every day. Deanna has been so supportive of the ministry that God has placed us in. She is such a great pastor's wife; she is bold when she needs to smack me down, full of compassion and mercy, full of Jesus, and willing to serve. Needless to say, SHE IS AMAZING!!!
  

• Kelley Amick: Phenomenal Fastest Check-In - Each week Kelley takes our front check-in station and just gets our students check in so fast. Her line is always moving at a great speed. A part of the reason that she gets students checked in so fast is that she knows the students names and information. When she does not know the student's, she always has another student beside that does. This is important because if it takes too long to get students checked in the become disengaged.
  

• Gil Karkins: Phenomenal Slumber/Ability to Sleep Through an Ignite Service - This one was hilarious. A couple of weeks ago, Gil showed up to IGNITE very tired. Well...in an effort to lead his small group with a lot of energy, he decided to sleep in the service. It had to be one of the funniest things that has happened with our leaders. Gil has been a champ about it, through all the picking, teasing, laughing that has come from that wonderful time.
  

I always look forward to this time, because we laugh so much and celebrate our leaders; as they pour so much into our students!

Volunteer Leaders in Action....

We just finished a series at IGNITE called MADE. Our volunteers wanted to do a video series for the intro of the sessions, so we gave them the FREEDOM and let them run with it. It is a claymation. Most Awesome. It is amazing and this is volunteers using thier gifts for the kingdom!!

Do yourself a favor and check them out! Yes, this was done by our volunteer leaders!!!!

Week 1: Iggy's New Heelys


Week 2: Iggy's Suprise


Week 3: Iggy's Friend from Space


Ryan, Matt, Caleb...You Rock My FACE OFF!!!

Ridgestone Church & Unleashed....

I just got back from eating lunch with Preston Porter and his wife, along with Pudge. I thoroughly enjoyed being able to talk with him, ask him questions, he ask me questions. I love being asked questions about why we do what we do , because it always helps me continue to evaluate in my mind those same questions.

By the way, speaking of questions. That will be format for the Unleash Conference here at NewSpring Church. We have over 700 people signed up! It is going to be awesome. The breakout sessions will be in Question and Answer format. You ask questions, we will do our best to answer...by the way...by no means do we have all the answers, but we do know what God has done here at NewSpring and would love to share it with you. So, sign up...today...now! See you there!

Baptism at NewSpring....

We had baptism here at NewSpring on Feb. 24^th and the FINAL count is 219.

Oh by the way from 2/25/06 to 2/24/07 we baptized 972 people.

That is CRAZY AWESOMENESS!!! Thank you Jesus!!!

O'HARE Airport....

Well, we are delayed in Chicago. We have been delayed for 2.5 hours!!! Not fun, not exciting. We finished up the SHIFT Conference, which was amazing. I will post the rest of the notes as soon as I can find an outlet to plug into. Please be praying for us as we travel and try to make it back tonight! Peace!

Random Things from SHIFT Conference....

Here are some cool things from SHIFT Conference:

• Got to see Wes Wilson, Program Director for Elevate, Jr. High Ministry at Willow Creek. I met Wes at NYWC in Charlotte this past December. Awesome Guy. Look forward to hanging out with him tomorrow.
  
• Got to meet Jason Raitz, Groups Life Pastor for Elevate, Jr. High Ministry at Willow Creek. Jason and I meet in BLOGWORLD. He is very down to earth. It was great to meet him face to face after reading his blog, post on forums, and emailing back and forth. I look forward to hanging out with him and others tomorrow night for dinner.
• Got to hear Dr. Henry Cloud, author of Integrity, teach at Willow's New Community Service.
• SHOUT OUT: Willow's Association has done an AWESOME job putting together this conference. They have paid attention to the details!
  

Time to go to bed...although it has been an awesome day of learning...I am tired. Conferences tend to drain you...well, at least I get drained! PEACE!

SHIFT Session #3: Bo Boshears

Bo Boshears, Executive Director of Student Ministries for Willow Creek Association, led Session # 3: "A Student Leader's Guide to Preparing for the Long Haul"

Here are some notes:

Psalm 71:17-19: "Since my youth, o God, you have taught me, and to this dayI declare your marvelous deeds. Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, O God, till I declare your ower to the next generation, your might to all who are to come."

3 Common Warning Signs for Youth Leaders:

1. Your Heart is Becoming to Proud:

• Youth Ministry has become so professional and so competitive.
• Focusing on this will steal your joy.
• When this happens you focus on YOURSELF and NOT God.
• Lead with humility and protect your heart.

2. You are No Longer Teachable:

• We need to stay sharp: learn, grow, increase your ministry skills.
• Ask good questions, learn from others.
• How are you doing by modeling God's Word to others?
  
• Are you modeling a checklist or a deep passion for Jesus?
• You must slow down and hear God's voice!
• Who are you allowing to mentor you?
• Philippians 4:9: How can students put into practice what they have not seen up close?(This messed me up and challenge me in who I should be mentoring within our ministry.)
  

3. Are You Losing Home Field Advantage?:

• Our ministry can't distract us from the ones we love so much.
• We should be at home a MINIMUM of 4 nights a week.
• Learn to say, "NO ONE CAN PRESSURE ME WITHOUT MY PERMISSION!"
• Being present is not just being there in physical form, but bring there in mind, body, heart, and spirit.
  

SHIFT Session #2: Donald Miller

Donald Miller led Session #2: "How to Share the Gospel Without Weirding People Out":

Here are some notes:

• Christianity is easy when it is just us, but when others come into the conversation-its something else. Why? Is it because I am ashamed?
  
• When a culture is only influenced by itself, when they do not communicate, share ideas with the outside it becomes goofier. It gets to the point where they cannot communicate.
  
• Jesus never took the time to explain the story/give the point. It was done in the story, by the story, through the story.
  
• The human heart desires a story.
• Erosion of values has caused the story to decline.
• Never underestimate your role in the story.
• Evangelism in a nutshell is: inviting people into a better story.
• "Write every day, line by line, page by page, hour by hour. Do this despite fear. For above all else, beyond imagination and skill, what the world asks of you is courage, courage to risk rejection, ridicule and failure. As you follow the quest for stories told with meaning and beauty, study thoughtfully but write boldly. Then, like the hero of the fable, your dance will dazzle the world.” - Robert McKee

SHIFT Session #1: Darren Whitehead

Darren Whitehead kicked off the SHIFT Conference. He is the Director of Student Impact, the High School Ministry at Willow Creek Community Church.

Here are some thoughts from his talk titled, "Where It Is, Where It's Going, and What We Can Do About It":

Churches are now irrelevant to mainstream culture, similar to the cultural phenomena called cultural freeze.

Gospel is timeless but our methods and strategies are time-sensitive.

Not just youth culture but the entire world has changed. We live in World 2.0 and we can't do Youth Ministry in World 1.0, church for kids grown up in a church environment.

Here are some specific SHIFTS that they have implemented at Willow Creek:

1. Less Leader Generated Content to More User Generated Content.

• They are looking for less professional and more PERSONAL.
• They want to interact and participate.
• Teenagers are the experts on teen culture.
  

2. Less Travel Agent to More Tour Guide.

• Don't tell them where to go, but go WITH them. Walk with them in life.

3. Less Imitation to More Imagination

• We've created a co-dependent spoon fed culture that is spiritually malnourished, starving themselves, but getting fed once a week.
• We have to stop limiting what following/serving Jesus looks like. We must free them in their personality to be themselves and who God called them to be.
  

SHIFT CONFERENCE DAY 1....

Willow Creek is amazing. I am sitting in the auditorium right now and it looks great! Darren Whitehead and Donald Miller hit it hard. I will not post my thoughts until tonight, but feel free to read what they are talking about over at the SHIFT ONLINE EXPERIENCE. This is a great addition to the conference, especially for those who want to check out from afar! PEACE!!

Jet Plane.....

I am sitting in the Knoxville, TN Airport waiting to board a plane to take us to Chicago, IL for the SHIFT Conference put on by Willow Creek. I am looking forward to hanging out with the rest of the Student Ministry Team while we are in Chicago, learning from so many other people. Continue to pray for us as we travel, also pray that we learn a lot and have the time to continue to dream while we are here.

Anyway, it is quite boring in airports! Long lines of seats, long lines of people waiting to board the plane, people laying on the floor sleeping, people reading magazines, people acting like they are praying, but actually sleeping, etc. Sort of boring! Here is what I mean:

SHIFT CONFERENCE TEASER.....

Busy.....

It has been some time since I posted on this blog. Lately, I have been really busy with some many things pulling me in many different directions. In that busyness, I have also been reading a small, but powerful book. The title of the book is, "What Matters Most...When No is Better than Yes."

Needless to say, I have been giving so much of myself to MANY tasks and all of them not getting the best. I decided that it would be best to say NO to this blog. I took the time and tried to finish up some things, refocus on the things that have to have my attention, and give away what does not.

Here is a description of the book from SimplyYouthMinistry.com:

Every youth worker should read this book!

If you can't remember the last time you said no to the senior pastor, the custodian, the church secretary, or the parents of that annoying kid, you're on the road to... well... to nowhere. Actually, you're on the road to death--the death of your passion, your ministry, you joy, your family, your long-term ministry effectiveness, and maybe even your faith.

It may sound dramatic, but the truth is, ministry often makes us feel like we have to say yes to everything for the sake of Jesus. We're asked to sacrifice our time, our energy, our personal resources, and often our families. And we usually make these sacrifices for others who believe they know what really matters for us. But if it's all in t he name of Jesus, do you think Jesus would really ask us to do it all?

Probably not, because Jesus said no on a regular basis. He said no to important people and significant opportunities. He took time to focus on what mattered most. He said no when he needed to refuel or refocus. In fact, Jesus was effective in his ministry because he occasionally said no. Can you imagine what your ministry could be if you took the opportunities to refuel and refocus from time to time?

This is your chance. Doug Fields, author of What Matters Most and a youth ministry survivor for more than 25 years, is giving you permission--no, he's telling you--to learn to say no and say it often so you can say yes to what's most important. If you want to do more than just survive, if you want to thrive in youth ministry, this may be the most important lesson you'll learn.

This book will provide you with encouragement to stay the course, reignite you passion for ministry, and most importantly, nurture your passion for Jesus. After all, isn't that what matters most?

Do yourself a favor buy the book, spend hour reading, and say NO!! You can do it and if you do it will change you and free you!

TONY DUNGY.....

Congratulations to TONY DUNGY and the Indianapolis Colts! Sunday was a great night. I thoroughly enjoyed watching the Colts beat the Bears in the Super Bowl. I have stated before that I am a HUGE fan of Tony Dungy. That level of fan'ness', fan'hood', whatever you would like to call it - grew even more from his statements after the Super Bowl while accepting the trophy. If you missed them...read them now!

"I'm proud to the first African-American coach to win this, but again, more than anything, Lovie Smith and I are not only African-American but also Christian coaches, showing you can do it the Lord's way. We're more proud of that." Tony Dungy

How can you not love this guy! Not only did he display his Christian faith, but also showed humility and gratefulness to his friend, Chicago Bears Head Coach Lovie Smith.

Tony, Thank you for being a man of God, displaying your faith without shame, and being a humble-servant leader! You are awesome!

Also, thank you to James Irsay, Owner and CEO and Bill Polian, President of the Indianapolis Colts for your willingness to display your faith and the truth of the gospel through your organization that impacts millions and millions of people!

PHENOMENAL AWARDS.....

By the way, sorry for the break in posting. Been busy traveling checking out a potential resort for our summer youth camp!

Tonight, we started a tradition where we are going to give away awards to our volunteer leaders at the beginning of each month. It was WELL received!

Allow me to share with you how the name for the award originated. At the end of each IGNITE; we gather the leaders together for a meeting to share any important information, training, etc. Well, I typically always take that opportunity to encourage and cast vision. (Side Note: Ministry leaders, anytime you get the opportunity to have the ear of all your leaders: CAST VISION! When you finish…CAST VISION some more.) Most of the time while encouraging the leaders, I would typically use the word PHENOMENAL. The leaders caught on to it and basically HARASSED me when I would use the word. It became a HUGE inside joke between me and our leaders.

So, I told my staff that I wanted to recognize our leaders once a month. I asked how we could do that and this is what we decided to do each month.

The IGNITE Staff is on the front row and the reciepents are on the second row (left to right): Scott Murray, Shelley Dixon, Brandon Long, Matt Feiling.

Tonight, we gave away 4 awards! Here are the recipients and the reason for their award:

• Scott Murray for Phenomenal Attitude. A couple of weeks ago, we started a time for our Team leaders to spend intentional time with their small group leaders. At the end, Scott was so excited about that time. His expression was something close to, “WOW! That was awesome. That was a great time to connect with my leaders. Thank you so much!”

• Shelley Dixon for Phenomenal Leadership. Shelley has done an AWESOME job at a Team Leader. Each week she makes an intentional effort to lead by example for her leaders, she also makes the effort to contact her leaders each week to pray for them and with them. Shelly is a mother of one of our students, by the way, her son LOVES is that his mom is involved.
  

• Brandon Long for Phenomenal Service. Brandon has made the intentional effort to put up chairs for the past couple of weeks at the end of our service. Not only did he put up the chairs, but he also took upon himself without being asked to MOP the floors. That is HUGE!!!
  

• Matt Feiling (first from right on second row) for Phenomenal Ability. Where do I begin? This dude it the man! Anyone ever heard of DDR (Dance, Dance, Revolution)? Well, this guy can tear it up! Some of you would say that is not that big of a deal, but this guy is 6’7” with a size 17 shoe! This is one of the coolest things I have ever seen. I am amazed each time that I see him do DDR. I am hoping that this will be a video soon for IGNITE. Also he plays a great GIANT in our videos we shot for IGNITE.
  

To each of you: THANK YOU for loving Jesus and loving middle school students! You rock and are PHENOMENAL Leaders!

If you don’t already do something like this, take the time to brainstorm what would be the best thing for you to do and DO IT! Take the time to honor your leaders for all that they pour into the ministry! They deserve it!

IGNITE | 1.28.07

Topic: "From the Ground Up - Loneliness"
First-Time Visitors: 7
Student Attendance: Above Average
Volunteer Attendance: Average
Observer Attendance: Above Average
Message Length: 16 Minutes
Music: Above Average

Last night we continued our series called "From the Ground Up" and talked about Loneliness. I told the students that there were two types of lonely people: 1) lonely people who are along; 2) lonely people who are in a crowd. We also discussed loneliness from the aspect of the family. It is a pretty good chance that over 60% of our students have experienced a broken /dysfunctional home. That hit a lot of students in the face.

The Good News was two fold: 1) They did not have to be either; 2) God did not plan for them to be lonely.

Psalm 68:6, "God sets the lonely in families..." We challenged them to join the family, spiritual family of Ignite, and their small group.

Next week, we are going to challenge them with what their purpose is in the family and how it works best when they are involved and doing their part. Also, drawing a correlation from the Super Bowl and how teams become championship teams when everyone does their part!

SNOW SKIING....

Today began at 5:00 AM! This morning a group of about 16 IGNITE Leaders went snow skiing together at Wolf Laurel in Western North Carolina. It started out way to early, but was an awesome day. I can actually say that I only fell once! I say that that was pretty awesome considering the last time I went snow skiing was when I was a junior at Anderson College, now Anderson University, back in 2002.

Conditions were actually really good in the morning, but it got a bit icy in the afternoon, which doesn't create for the most optimal skiing conditions. Still a great day for skiing!

We had a great time and it was awesome to see our leaders bond and fellowship. Sometimes the only time we get together is when we are ministering to students and that is not enough! We have to spent time together, do live together, and let each other know that we care about each other. We must have a FAMILY atmosphere!

That is my desire for our leaders at IGNITE. That they will feel like they are apart of a family, that they are cared for, they feel that their service is valued, they are valued as a person, and feel that they contribute in a necessary way! I am excited that we are on our way to this goal, we have leaders who love Jesus, students, and each other.

First Time at NewSpring.....

Joe Sangl sent this link in an email to the staff. He found it on YouTube. This video documented an older gentleman's first time in church in 20 years! It is 9 minutes long, but well worth the watch. Check out here or down below.

Be sure to catch the quote that hit me square in the eyes!

Son: Now I was worried you wouldn't like it.
Father: Nah, I liked it (I think!?!?)
Son: I know it was a BIG change from what you saw 20 years ago.
Father: Well, you just about have to change, just about have to change.....

WOW!!!

To the Young Man who produced/filmed the video:

Thank you for allowing me to share in this experience. I was greatly moved and it brought me to tears! I pray that your father will continue to come church on a regular basis. God Bless!!

Also jump over and check out Perry's thoughts about the video!

Excited about....

I am really excited about two things that are headed our way!

1. UNLEASHED Conference - NewSpring Church, March 15th. Please go to Perry's blog to check out this thoughts and excitement about UNLEASHED at this link. I am excited because it will be formatted in a way that will welcome questions, discussion, and not just lectures. I am also excited because I will have the opportunity to lead the roundtable on Student Ministry with Brad Cooper, our High School Pastor. It will be a whole lot of fun! Hope to see you there!
   
2. PUDGEHUCKABY.COM - Pudge is getting back in blogging after a hiatus. Should be interesting to see what in the world he write about. Especially since his first post on Monday, January 29th, will be titled, “How to Bore Kids to Hell at Church…”. Be sure to check out, add it to your feeds, whatever you want. He asked me not to mention that be begged me to put this post up! So, don't mention it to him! ;)
   

IGNITE | 1.21.07

The past Sunday at IGNITE was great! It was a last minute pull together on the set and actually the message. I talked about why it was important to have a foundation based on Jesus Christ. Check out these pictures of the set (I stole them from Ryan Sutherland's Blog):


The creativity team did an awesome job of getting it together. On Sunday, it was really neat to see about 5-8 people working on putting the setup and then tearing it down after we were finished (we have to get the FUSEBOX ready for FUSE on Wednesday Night.)

Quick Notes from Sunday Night:

• 4 Salvations
• 8 First Time Student Visitors
  
• Average Attendance (Pretty good considering the constant rain/weather conditions)
• Average Leader Attendance
• Above Average Observer Attendance
• Message was 24 minutes, little long for us, but was still engaging and the students hung with it.

Closing, Sunday night was the first night for intentional time for our Team Leaders to meet with their Small Group Leaders. We heard a lot of good feedback from both our Team Leaders and Small Group Leaders. I think that this is going to really help us expand our ministry and give volunteers more opportunities to serve and use their gifts! Go GOD!!

Congrats COLTS!!!

Well, I can honestly say that I am excited about the SUPERBOWL this year. Typically, I do not get excited and want to watch the BOWL, but this year I do! I am stoked for the Indianapolis Colts! They deserve it, especially after all the slack they have caught after this year. What a GREAT comeback, awesome performance!!

In December of 2005, I had a post on Tony Dungy. That was a horrible time in the life of his family in losing a son, but he was such a man of faith! Since that time I have been a fan of Tony Dungy. I love the way he carries himself, supports and loves his team. It is always great to see GOOD guys do well and achieve success. I hope that they win the Super Bowl this year! GO COLTS!!!

Uneasy Feeling | Move out of Comfort

For the past couple of weeks, I have been thinking about the people that serve on the Middle School Ministry Staff at NewSpring. We have a quite diverse group of young people. John Flowers, David Hall, and Lindsay Owens do an incredible job of serving our students. Each one of them have a passion for Jesus, for middle school students, and or the local church. I consider it a privilege to be able to lead, but more importantly serve alongside them.

For sometime now, I have had the feeling that we were not structured in the most effective way for us to continue to grow. As most leaders can say, "We need more staff!" Although, I agree that we could all use more staff, the bigger question for me became "Are we structured to continue to grow with the staff that we currently have?" My answer was no!

Marcus Buckingham stated, "Great managers find out what is unique about a person and capitalizes on that." In an effort to be the most effective manager/leader, that was an evaluation that I needed to make of my staff. Needless to say, when I took a concentrated look at the unique qualities and passions of my staff, I knew that changes must be made.

First, I was trying to pigeon hole two different people into one job description/role. John and David are totally different in personalities and passion. How could I get them in a role/situation that would give them the best opportunity to succeed? That meant for me that I needed to put them in a role that they were excited and passionate about.

John's strengths lie in creative thinking, brainstorming, creating videos, creating skits, acting, random thoughts, and creating creative environments/sets. David's strengths lie in loving students, creating relationships with those students, being about to get into the student's worlds, know what is going on in their lives, and a desire to push them deeper in their relationship with Jesus. How could I capitalize on those and still be effective and grow in the ministry? How do I make sure that every area they were responsible for continues to be covered as well.

The answer: CHANGE...MOVE OUT OF COMFORT...GET HELP! Now, David and John are both serving in their strong areas. David is in charge of campus visits (coordinating visits with volunteers leaders, schools, and making sure that they have permission and any information they need to visit students), follow-up, and assisting me create the best discipleship program for our students. John is in charge of our creative sets, skits, videos, and execution of the night at IGNITE.

John and David used to be over all of our volunteers. Now the volunteer leaders report to volunteer Team Leaders. These Team Leaders report to me. See I had to pull stuff off of my staff and take on some responsibility, but minimize that responsibility by recruiting people who wanted to love on small group leaders. This meant giving away responsibility to VOLUNTEERS. I was really nervous about this, but each Team Leader is stoked about it. They have arose to the occasion and taking on the care and ministering of the small group leaders. It has been great so far.

Also, the neat thing about it is that David and John are both recruiting leaders to assist them in these roles. they are are GIVING away opportunities to ENABLE others to serve Jesus. John has a team that meets with him each Saturday morning to discuss creative sets, design, games, etc. David is in the process of getting a group together to assist in visiting schools (we have over 10 represented in our ministry)and doing follow-up. That is so cool.

Lindsay, continues to do an AWESOME job of assisting me, keeping organized, scheduling appointments, and making sure my brain does not get fried. She has also taken on other responsibilities in accordance with her passion. She now takes care of all of our potential volunteers and walks them through the process of getting involved, volunteer training, volunteer appreciation, and much more. This is something she is passionate about and does a whole lot better than me!

These decisions and changes made me get out of my comfort place and JUMP into a place that is much better! Thank God for doing this and making it work! You are awesome!

SHIFT.....

Well, I am registered for SHIFT: Student Ministries Leadership Conference at Willow Creek on Feb. 28-March 2. I am really excited about going up to Willow Creek and checking it out. I have heard a lot of great things from the people up there. From thier line up should be a great conference, but be sure to check out some of the breakout sessions.

I look forward to hearing from Scott Rubin from Willow Creek, Kurt Johnston from Saddleback, Andy Tilly from LiveChurch.tv, and many others. It should be an awesome time to learn and think through some of the things that we have been processing from some time.

I look forward to Brad, the new High School Pastor, going as well. This should be a great time for Brad and I to get to know each other better since he just joined the team at the beginning of January. We haven't mush of an opportunity to get to know each other except for many meetings that we have been in. Also Lindsay, my assistant; and Meredith, Brad's assistant, will be attending with us as well.

This past December at the NYWC in Charlotte, NC, I was able to meet Wes Wilson, who is the program Director for Elevate, the Jr High Ministry at Willow Creek. Sandy and I had a great time sitting and talking with him. He has got a huge passion for Jesus and for Middle School students. I look forward to catching up with him and see how things are going in his world.

Anyways, if you are planning on attending, drop a comment!

2007 Predictions.....

I came across this link/page the other day. Cannot remember where I came across it, because I just left it up on my screen for a couple of days. Check this page out as it makes 5 Predictions about Youth Trends for 2007.

First paragraph reads: "Today's generation of young students is causing concern among some youth leaders who see increasing fallout from the church and an increasingly secularized culture. Other leaders are just the opposite. They see a generation full of potential and passionately following Christ."

I would fall in the camp of leaders who "see a generation FULL of potential to passionately follow Christ and make a difference in this generation!" (Italics and bold are my revisions).

It was an interesting read and thought provoking. Check out and let me know what you think.

WELCOME.....

Tony Morgan announced that he will be joining the team at NewSpring Church. Tony, welcome to the team! We look forward to having you join us on this awesome journey that God has put us on. I know that Granger Community Church will be sad to see him go, but we are grateful to have him serve with us.

Transitions are always difficult, as you leave a comfortable house, comfortable job, friends, family and much more, but God is ALWAYS faithful in those times. I will never forget how HARD the transition to NewSpring from Florence, SC, but God was AWESOME to us. We were blessed way more than we could ever imagine. Anyway, God calls us to follow and that is it. Sometimes we do not understand and we wonder why, but we must follow. When God calls...follow and enjoy the ride He has chosen you for!

Tony, thanks for following the call on yours and your family's life. See you in South Carolina soon!

TEAM LEADERS.....

Last night was GREAT! Let me set it up. Yesterday was crazy in the office. Got out of the IGNITE Staff Meeting late, then had to meet with the High School Pastor, so I was late getting to Sam's to get all the supplies for the Team Leader Dinner at our house. Then I had to run to Bi-Lo to get some "smaller" items. Well, I got home and realized that I did not have enough time to cook the lasagna, so my AWESOME wife said run to the store and grab some hamburger meat and we will have spaghetti. I do that and then run back to the church to grab the supplies for the meeting that I had to leave my staff finishing up. Got back home by 5:30PM, right before everyone else shows up.

Just to say, dinner was GREAT! Deanna did an awesome job pulling together a meal at literally the LAST minute. (SHE ROCKS and is COMPLETELY AMAZING!!!!) It was an awesome time of fellowship. I spent 45 minutes explaining what we want our Team Leaders to do and cast vision for the ministry. I love those opportunities to cast vision for the ministry and watch people grab a hold of it and get excited. In a nutshell, we want to provide our Leadership Team of Volunteers with T.L.C. and for our Team Leaders to funnel T.L.C. down to our small group leaders. T.L.C. is not the typical: Tender, Loving, Care. At IGNITE, T.L.C. means Training, Leadership, and Care. If we display this and empower them to give T.L.C. to our small group leaders, we will enable ourselves to grow, serve, encourage, and love more students, along with more leaders!

Needless to say, last night was great! Thank you to the great group of people to are committing to be Team Leaders, which is such a diverse group. They consist of a house mom, high school teacher, pharmacist, working mom, lawyer, financial aid counselor, nurse, handy-man, and many more. I LOVE THAT!! Go God!