Attendance

Not sure on the exact numbers from last night...but it looked like a full house.  Definitely was alot of excitement as I walked on stage to do the welcome...love that feeling when you know kids are excited to be there.

Talk: PIONEERS...Go First

Started a new series off called Pioneers. The idea is calling students out into the adventure that is a life surrendered to God. I highlighted Oregons pioneers Lewis & Clark and talked about Moses being a Pioneer as well.  Overall I would say I started off strong and ended kinda week. The stories I used to start the talk off caught them and they were definitely in tune...but later on I lost them as I tried to make the turn to bibical pioneers. Need to put more work into that with the next one. I ended challenging the students to discuss in their small groups ways that God might lead them to GO FIRST.

Volunteer Involvement

Always nice starting a new year/season off...people are excited to be back serving.  We had a great turnout at our 615p prayer time which was nice. Also was great to see Jeff one of our coaches be willing to fill-in for one of his small group leaders who couldnt make it.  This is the kindof attitude I desire for our team to be known for.

Music

We had a full band last night! (if you regularly read my wraps you know why I mention that) We even had like 2-3 more than a full band...had an extra guitar and singer.  This made for a high-energy worship set that I think went over really well. You could see that the tech and worship teams had missed doing Wildfire...they put alot of extra effort in this week to make the program really sweet.

Final Thought

It was great to be back...4 weeks is a long time for a youth pastor to be away from his flock.  I feel like this new year holds alot of promise for us...I'm learning alot from Eric and am eager to apply what I am learning. Going home to Michigan and spending time with students I had worked with early on in ministry really opened my eyes to some stuff about ministry philosophy.  Sunday is our first volunteer meeting of the year...I cant wait to share some stuff with the team.

• My trip home was good. Being with family and friends during the holidays is truly a gift
• I am doing announcments in the main services today.  It's been awhile...
• I sacrificed more than I thought I did moving to Oregon four years ago
• One thing surprising going home this year was how much God was teaching me about youth ministry while there
• You know you are doing what your supposed to be doing when you actually LOOK FORWARD to coming back to work :)
• This week is gonna be alittle crazy...seminary starts back up tomorrow morning, still stuff to prepare for Wednesday's Wildfire and Winter camp is now almost a month away! (Still need more more MALE leaders HINT HINT)
• Hope to re-connect with alot of my Portland friends over the next couple weeks...
• Cant wait to hit the slopes!
• I wonder how many people read my blog and I simple dont know it?

• LASIK surgery.  After using contacts and glasses for 12 years...my dream of getting LASIK came true this past May.  You can see pictures after the surgery HERE.
• New Car. One day before owning my Chevy Blazer exactly 6 years...I bought a brand new 08 Honda Civic.  Check out that story HERE.
• New Office.  After working nearly four years in a modular (AKA nice trailer) I finally got a real office in the main building at church! Amazing how much a change of environment can change things. You can check out my new diggs HERE.
• Eric.  After 9 months of filling the role as Interim Minister of Students...Sunset hired Eric Venable as the new Minister to Youth & Families (AKA my boss).  This has been answered prayer and allowed me to return to focus on my passion for middle school ministry. Excited to see where he takes us in 09!
• Becoming a mentor.  It was 08 that I began to "officially mentor" two guys.  While they are very different and it challenges the heck out of me...it also has added a wonderful new dynamic to my life. I encourage you to invest your life into anothers...you dont have to be a pastor!
• Mom quit smoking. So this one might seem out of place since it's my blog and not her's...but it was HUGE for her and something I've encouraged and prayed for her to do for years. Recently I had given up...thinking she would never kick the habit.  She had smoked for over 30 years. This December marks 8 months that she is smoke free. Go mom!
• The Shack.  Other than the Sacred Romance, no other book has impacted my life like this book has.  I recommend it for everyone...but specifically for people who have grown up in a church or have gone through a crisis in their lives. You can read about some of my posts on reading The Shack HERE and HERE.
• Trips to Monastery.  This year I found a sanctuary in the middle of my busy life...a place to connect with God in new ways.  I went twice to the Mt Angel Monastery and each time found it to be a very valuable experience. I will definitely be returning in 09. Check out my post on my first trip HERE.
• YOU. What were your BEST of 08' moments that I was part of?

Disturb us, Lord, when
We are too well pleased with ourselves,
When our dreams have come true
Because we have dreamed too little,
When we arrived safely
Because we sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, Lord, when
With the abundance of things we possess
We have lost our thirst
For the waters of life;
Having fallen in love with life,
We have ceased to dream of eternity
And in our efforts to build a new earth,
We have allowed our vision
Of the new Heaven to dim.

Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,
To venture on wider seas
Where storms will show your mastery;
Where losing sight of land,
We shall find the stars.

We ask You to push back
The horizons of our hopes;
And to push into the future
In strength, courage, hope, and love.

• Mom doing my laundry again!
• Sleeping in my old bed.  So cozy and dark in my room!
• Eating at restaurants that I love that I dont have in Oregon...
• Dove soap...nuff said
• My grandmas cooking
• Sledding!
• Seeing "D" hats everywhere and other Michigan wear
• Being a silly uncle
• Catching up with old friends and students
• Pumping your own gas (yeah right...when its 0 degrees you want someone else to pump!)

• Sleeping alot
• Eating at my favorite resturants that they dont have out here
• Laughing with Kristi ;)
• Attending my home church
• Hugging my family alot.
• Making memories with my beautiful nieces
• Having deep conversations
• Catching up with Catherine on her first year as a missionary
• Reading a couple of books
• Sledding!
• Connecting with students who I miss alot
• Reconnecting with friends who I havent seen in years...
• Being surprised with the plans Papa has for me :)

Attendance

You can always tell how attendance is gonna be within the first 15 minutes the doors are opened. We were down about 30 last night…which isn’t uncommon for this time of year. I think the holidays make it tougher for families to make to church Wednesday nights. Energy was still good.

Talk: Topic Relationships911 Time

The big idea this week was that genuine relationships take time to develop. I talked a lot about Twilight…basically highlighting one of the lies in it that relationships happen really fast and are just about some feelings we have in our stomachs. I opened with a good illustration about a pastor who did a 20 year reunion with his students. He asked them what was the most impactful from their time in youth group…they answered genuine relationships. Overall seemed like it landed well and made for good discussion in small groups. 

Volunteer Involvement

I think we were close to having all leaders present…which coupled with the lower numbers of students made for smaller groups. I talked with a couple of leaders that said they enjoyed the better connection due to smaller numbers.

Music

Nick is a rock star. He was down multiple band members and led from his acoustic guitar. His sister Krista led with him as well. The song selection was great and I liked how he did a mash up of a Christmas song and worship song for the response.

Final Thought

Two weeks ago I had a seven grade boy tell me that he was not getting anything out of Wildfire. While I definitely don’t like hearing that I have done this long enough to know that there’s a lot that can go into a statement like that. This week the very same boy told me that he wanted my job…in other words…he decided he wants to become a youth pastor. Whew I can’t paint a greater picture for you of middle school ministry…they are ever-changing beings. Sometimes it’s frustrating and other times it’s beautiful.

How you answer that question reveals alot.  I think the Abortion debate is one of the most important in our day...because it has to do LIFE.  There has been alot of rhetoric out there during this election year. but polls show its still an issue that voters care about.  The election of Barak Obama has pretty much guarenteed Roe vs. Wade wont be over turned in the next four years. (disagree? Get educated HERE and HERE) While the debate has many facets it all comes down to one definition...a very important definition...and that is the definition of personhood.  Abort73.com wrote this on their website regarding the personhood of unborn babies;

There are essentially two issues which must be resolved concerning unborn embryos and fetuses. The first is, "Are they human beings?" The second is, "Should they be recognized as persons under the law?" We've already established that there is no debate on the first question. It is a matter of plain, objective science. Embryos and fetuses are fully and individually human from the moment of fertilization on. If this were not true, if unborn children were not demonstrably human, there would be no need to even talk about rights of personhood. "Removing a fetus" would be the moral equivalent of pulling a tooth. This, however, is not the case, and so the debate must now enter the political arena.

There is a very real sense in which the need to answer this second question is, in itself, an absurdity. If you look up the word "person" in your average dictionary (we'll use Webster's), you'll find something like this:

Person n. A human being.

A person, simply put, is a human being. This fact should be enough. The intrinsic humanity of unborn children, by definition, makes them persons and should, therefore, guarantee their protection under the law. For more than thirty years, however, this has not been the case. The situation we are left with is this. In America today, there is a huge and singular group of living human beings who have no protection under the law and are being killed en masse every day. Is that not astounding?! It is astounding, but not wholly unprecedented.

There have been at least two other instances in American history in which specific groups of human beings were stripped of their rights of personhood as a means of justifying their horrible mistreatment. African-Americans and Native-Americans both felt the brunt of a system which denied their humanity, stripped their personhood and subjected them to horrors beyond measure. While the legal framework that made such injustice possible has now been removed, it remains firmly in place for unborn Americans.

There remains one, and only one, group of human beings in the U.S. today for which being human is not enough. The inconvenience of their existence has resulted in a legal loophole of shameful proportions. What is a person? A person is a human being (unless, of course, you haven't been born yet, in which case we'll define personhood in any way possible so as to exclude you, kill you and forget you).

Welcome to America.

Still we object..."What about my grades?" "I’ve got my sales quota." We offer up one reason after another, but God silences them all with a poignant reminder; " In six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, all that is in them, and rested the seventh day." God’s message is plain; "If creation didn’t crash when I rested, it won’t crash when you do."

Repeat these words after me; It is not my job to run the world.

From - Grace for the Moment by Max Lucado
 

• This morning was a rough start to the week...did not sleep alot last night
• The next two weeks are going to be very busy ones...alot of stuff coming due for seminary and stuff to be done for work...would you remember me in prayer?
• Amazing how hard it is to hear someones confession of sin...still burdened by it
• Mom left last night instead of this morning. She flew standby and had to go where there were seats.We had a great weekend together...was happy this time to introduce her to alot of friends out here.
• Amazing how when you do a series on a particular topic God lets it rain all over your life.
• I miss my dad.
• I feel like a failure in my attempts to be more kind this past couple monthes...old habits die hard
• Going to see Twilight in a bit.  Kinda one of those movies you have to see as a youth pastor.  I hate Vampire movies...so this should be a hoot.
• Ministry can be a very lonely road.
• I love The Glory of It All - by Crowder...made my office a sanctuary today. 
• This verse keeps coming back to me;

• Driving on I-5 up here always stresses me out.

• Slept for the first time in a dorm in my entire life. Similar to what I thought it might be; loud, small and cold.

• This morning I showered in the worlds smallest shower...not even kidding.  Couldn't turn around in it and had to duck to get under the shower head.

• Last night we ate at the first Red Robin.

• I got the guys to go to the Boeing Tour up in Everett.  It was AWESOME! Seriously love flight and planes so much. 

• Tonight we had Chinese food and watched the new Bond movie...which I thought was better than everyone is saying.

• Being fake is still one of my least favorite things that people could be.

• Tomorrow we are attending the 9am at Mars Hill. Wish we were going to the 11...but I'm not running the show obviously. Probably  will be back in Ptown by dinner.

• I am proud of these guys...second year of college and saying strong against the common pressures that Christians face in college. It's not easy.

• Michael's new gf seems really cool.

• Wish I could see my dear friend Chip this weekend...I feel so close yet so far away.

• I am a blessed man...praying I believe this more often.

6 myths about the Detroit 3

BY MARK PHELAN • FREE PRESS COLUMNIST • November 17, 2008

The debate over aid to the Detroit-based automakers is awash with half-truths and misrepresentations that are endlessly repeated by everyone from members of Congress to journalists. Here are six myths about the companies and their vehicles, and the reality in each case.
 

Myth No. 1

Nobody buys their vehicles.

Reality

General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC sold 8.5 million vehicles in the United States last year and millions more around the world. GM outsold Toyota by about 1.2 million vehicles in the United States last year and holds a U.S. lead over Toyota of about 560,000 so far this year. Globally, GM in 2007 remained the world's largest automaker, selling 9,369,524 vehicles worldwide -- about 3,000 more than Toyota.

Ford outsold Honda by about 850,000 and Nissan by more than 1.3 million vehicles in the United States last year.

Chrysler sold more vehicles here than Nissan and Hyundai combined in 2007 and so far this year.

Myth No. 2

They build unreliable junk.

Reality

The creaky, leaky vehicles of the 1980s and '90s are long gone. Consumer Reports recently found that "Ford's reliability is now on par with good Japanese automakers." The independent J.D. Power Initial Quality Study scored Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Ford, GMC, Mercury, Pontiac and Lincoln brands' overall quality as high or higher than that of Acura, Audi, BMW, Honda, Nissan, Scion, Volkswagen and Volvo.

Power rated the Chevrolet Malibu the highest-quality midsize sedan. Both the Malibu and Ford Fusion scored better than the Honda Accord and Toyota Camry.

Myth No. 3

They build gas-guzzlers.

Reality

All of the Detroit Three build midsize sedans the Environmental Protection Agency rates at 29-33 miles per gallon on the highway. The most fuel-efficient Chevrolet Malibu gets 33 m.p.g. on the highway, 2 m.p.g. better than the best Honda Accord. The most fuel-efficient Ford Focus has the same highway fuel economy ratings as the most efficient Toyota Corolla. The most fuel-efficient Chevrolet Cobalt has the same city fuel economy and better highway fuel economy than the most efficient non-hybrid Honda Civic. A recent study by Edmunds.com found that the Chevrolet Aveo subcompact is the least expensive car to buy and operate.

Myth No. 4

They already got a $25-billion bailout.

Reality

None of that money has been lent out and may not be for more than a year. In addition, it can, by law, be used only to invest in future vehicles and technology, so it has no effect on the shortage of operating cash the companies face because of the economic slowdown that's killing them now.

Myth No. 5

GM, Ford and Chrysler are idiots for investing in pickups and SUVs.

Reality

The domestic companies' lineup has been truck-heavy, but Toyota, Nissan, Mercedes-Benz and BMW have all spent billions of dollars on pickups and SUVs because trucks are a large and historically profitable part of the auto industry. The most fuel-efficient full-size pickups from GM, Ford and Chrysler all have higher EPA fuel economy ratings than Toyota and Nissan's full-size pickups.

Myth No. 6

They don't build hybrids.

Reality

The Detroit Three got into the hybrid business late, but Ford and GM each now offers more hybrid models than Honda or Nissan, with several more due to hit the road in early 2009.

• November is half over and has been awesome in my book
• I was up till 3am last night...
• SOOO excited for this weekends adventure to see Tim & Michael in Seattle...(hope to see Chip as well ;) )
• I am thinking about upgrading my notebook RAM to 4G...wonder if its worth the $$$
• Augustana is sick!  Don't know why I didn't take to these guys before...you probably have heard Sweet and Low on the radio...love that song! But FIRE is probably my favorite.
• I chose to be up till 3am....
• Finally updated my Myspace page...sometimes I think of deleting it...but as long as students are over there I wont.
• Tonight they are moving Overflow to the Student Center...a smaller space upstairs. Im interested to see how the students respond to the move. It will be the first time in 4 years Ive seen a SM program in a place other than the gym.
• Austin and I beat Starfox last night! (seriously like one of the hardest games)
• Cant wait to see mom the day after Thanksgiving...a heart isnt complete without a mom near by :)
• I paid $2.02 for gas today.
• Im praying for something fresh in my faith this week...