2009 MLB Wintet Meetings

I thought I’d try out the WordPress app on my iTouch and write a little about the latest happenings in baseball while I’m on my break at Starbucks.

First, let me say that when I heard Roy Halladay was going to the Phillies I thought, “oh, great. Everyone’s done. Cliff Lee AND Halladay??!!” and then I heard that the Phills were letting Lee go to the Mariners. What?! Don’t get me wrong, Halladay is a phenomenal pitcher. But he’s never really pitched under pressure where Lee has–and he was almost lights out. Why would you give up Lee? John Kruk thinks it’s an upgrade, but I just don’t see it. It seems sort of a lateral move, I guess. I’m just glad they didn’t hold onto Lee with the acquisition of Halladay.

Lackey going from the Angels to the Red Sox. I’m a little weary about that, I’m not gonna lie. Becket, Lester, and now Lackey–not too bad of a 3-man rotation. I wish the Yankees had picked up Lackey especially after all they gave up for Granderson. Which, not a bad move for the Yankees, but I was hoping for someone better. Although, I guess it’s not over yet.

Matsui is trading his pinstripes in for a halo. I can’t say I’m upset about that. He played very well for the Yankees, and was MVP this past year. But the Yanks need some young blood and some better arms in the outfield.

That’s all I remember for now. We’ll see what the rest if the winter brings as far as trades. I want to see a good pitching and a good outfield addition to the Yankees.

Alive “UP!” 2009

In every youth ministry class I took in college I was always told that when you critique someone/something you should always begin with saying something positive.  And so that is how I will begin.  Not that I have a lot of “constructive criticism” for the conference, but I feel I’ve been spoiled by Youth Specialties, and well, read on.

The “Alive” conference happens every November the weekend before Thanksgiving.  It’s a retreat that I inherited from my predecessors and I must say it’s really not a bad conference.  It seems as though they have a good team who coordinates the speakers, bands, seminars, etc.  Every year there are seminars for the students during the morning on Saturday and Sunday and during that time there was also a few seminars for the adults to attend. From what I hear the adult seminars used to be pretty terrible.  However, last year they invited Leonard Sweet to talk to the adults and he was very good!  I had heard many good things about his book “The Gospel According to Starbucks,” and although I still haven’t read it, he was already 1 up in my book for writing a book having to do with Christianity and Starbucks.  This year they invited Wm. Paul Young to speak to the adults.  If you don’t know, he’s the guy who wrote The Shack.  His topic through the 3 seminar sessions was titled “Who is God really?”  and I can’t even begin to dive into all that he talked about, but I will say it was 3 of the best seminars I’ve ever sat through (and I’ve sat through a lot of seminars!).  Some call him a heretic.  Some say he is out of his mind.  Those some have never heard him speak and have probably never read his book and are judging from hearsay because that’s what I’ve found a lot of people like to do with things they disagree with.  I was very thankful that the conference decided to have him come because he said some excellent things that people need to hear, and things that other people are afraid to say.  I wish I could go into more about what he actually talked about, but maybe that will come in a later post. 

And next comes the “constructive criticism.”  As I said earlier, I feel that I have been spoiled by Youth Specialties and their conferences because, well, all up until the hostile Zondervan take-over, YS knew what was up.  Between the One Day events, the National Youth Workers Convention, and DCLA, Youth Specialties has impressed me time and time again with their content, quality, speakers, music—the whole 9 yards.  And so I guess it’s not all fair to compare Alive to YS conferences, and to a certain extent I don’t feel like I’m doing that, but it’s definitely given me a sort of measuring stick, if you will.  Let’s begin with the worship band, Reilly.  I’ve never heard of this band, and to tell you the truth I was a little disappointed coming in because Jeff Deyo was on the original line up for worship, and I enjoyed him in years past when I heard him lead worship.  From what I hear, Reilly has some pretty decent original music, but their worship leading needed some help.  I really don’t like to critique worship bands because I am a worship leader myself and know all that goes into it as well as the fact that it’s really not about the worship band.  However, when you’re asked to lead worship for a middle school conference you should at least look like you want to be there and have some energy.  These guys had none, and so I was rather disappointed with that.  As I was walking past the display for their high school conference I saw that Matt Maher (as well as the Skit Guys, Hawk Nelson, and several other pretty big names) were on the list which made me wonder why they decide to bring the “big guns” out for the high school and seem to revert to the B-List for the middle school conference. 

The speakers for the big room session were Reggie Dabbs and Preston Centuolo.  I had heard Reggie once when I was in high school and remembered liking him.  Preston I had never heard, but during the first 2 sessions when he spoke I really enjoyed him.  He had high energy, he had some quality stories that tied into his talk—very solid.  Reggie on the other hand, I was not so impressed.  They decided to do an altar call, which they apparently do every Saturday night at the Alive conference, and I understand this is a touchy subject.  Don’t get me wrong, I definitely do see the value to these.  However, while chatting with my good friend and Professor Duffy Robbins about this, we both agree that giving an altar call after only having spoken to students for a weekend is a very hard thing to do.  We both feel there should be a stronger relationship with the student before getting to this point—like going from point A to Z with them in maybe an hour and a half worth of talks.  So the first part I was uncomfortable with was the fact that they did this, and THEN, after Preston had spoken the previous 2 sessions, Reggie got right up there on Saturday night and dove RIGHT into the altar call…border line “Hell, Fire, and Brimstone.”  Maybe that’s going too far, but it was very emotional and I felt there was some guilt laid on there too.  He did mention that this invitation was only for those who had never accepted Christ before, but I just didn’t like the way it was presented.  In the words of one of my favorite movies, Hook, “Bad form.” 

Of course, it was a great time for building stronger relationships with the students in talking about what they were learning about, playing football on the beach, and swimming in the ocean in November.  That adds a lot of value to the trip, but I struggle with whether or not to go next year in regards to the distance, cost, and quality of the program.  Thanks for taking time to read my somewhat lengthy reaction to the conference.

ING New York City Marathon 2009

For four years I have been trying to make it into the NYC Marathon.  Since I don’t have a qualifying time (3:10:59 or less) I have tried to go through the lottery.  They have a guarantee set up that if you try to get in through the lottery 3 years in a row and you’re denied 3 years in a row the 4^th year you’re guaranteed.  Well, I tried for 3 years and didn’t make it in so this was the year!  I found out how to secure my entry using that guarantee and I was all set.  I usually take 4 months to train for a marathon and I pretty much have it down to a science with 1 long run a week (between 10-22 miles), 1 speed workout (on the track), 1 day of cross training (cycling), 3 days of moderate runs (between 3-9 miles), and 1 day of rest because your body needs to recuperate.  But this year the first day of training happened to be when I was on the mission trip in the Bahamas, so needless to say I did not train while I was in the Bahamas.  When I returned, I began working 4 days a week at Starbucks, 2 days a week at the church along with 2 nights a week for youth group and then Sundays.  All of that combined for a very busy schedule not leaving a whole lot of time to run.  When I get back from working an 8 hour shift on my feet at Starbucks the last thing I want to do is go out for a run, but as time when on this is what became necessary to have any shot at finishing the NYC Marathon.  And finish it, I did.  Here are some thoughts on the race.

When I signed up for the race I didn’t sign up for transportation to the starting line because I figured, it’s New York City, I love so close—why would I need transportation to the starting line?  Little did I know that the starting line was over in Staten Island and the only way there was on the Staten Island Ferry or the official marathon transportation busses.  Both of which needed to be signed up for ahead of time back in August.  This brought me to have to head back to the expo in the city on Saturday (day before the marathon) to try and find a way to the starting line.  The lady at the transportation desk said, “Everything else but the 5:30am bus from the NYC Library is sold out. Would you like that?”  I think to myself, “No, I wouldn’t ‘like’ that, but that seems to be my only option, doesn’t it?  Just slap that sticker on there and let me get going to figure out how I’m going to make it up at 4:30am to catch this bus.”  Sunday morning came, I boarded the bus to travel to the starting line which then allowed me to sit on the ground under a large tent with about a thousand other people (we were split up by bib color).  Cold. Damp. Early. Finally it came time to start and I was in the first wave at 9:40am.  I was impressed with their punctuality—I think Michael Bloomburg set off the starting cannon at 9:42.  We left Staten Island, ran over the Verazano Bridge and onto the other 4 boroughs. 

I was so impressed with the city of New York.  I mean, I’ve always thought I’m bias towards New York City because it’s what I’ve grown up with and no other city seems to compare, but this even furthered that.  There were people lining the streets for the ENTIRE 26.2 miles.  Strangers cheering on strangers.  Friends and family cheering on friends and family.  Runners encouraging other runners.  We were all in this together and we all genuinely want to see everyone finish.  There were 50,000+ runners running this race and it was a really great and memorable experience. 

I wasn’t fond of the finish line experience of walking through and getting the medal, the heat shield, a bag of food and then corralled like sheep for TEN MORE BLOCKS through Central Park until we were finally allowed out.  Come on, we just ran 26.2 miles, I know that walking is necessary so you don’t really cramp up, but the marathon officials were border-line yelling at people who were sitting on the side.  Excuse me, but we are the ones who just ran 26.2 miles and I think we’re entitled to a brief rest of we need it, thanks.  That was uncool.  But that’s really my only complaint.  I was also very few brief moments as I ran by and then hurry to the next spot where they could see me.  I know it must be a lot of work for them to do that, but it makes a world of difference for me and my morale.  My official time was 3:56:14, which was good concidering I wanted to break 4 hours.  With more training I know I could do better, so in the future I definitely want to run NYC again.

For the longest time I used to run with music, then I stopped in college because all the races I was entering had banned iPods.  Then I actually went to these races and the officials weren’t doing anything about the people listening to music.  That being the case, and for the fact that I picked up the Nike + running software and chip for my iTouch, I was going to listen to music once again.  And let me tell you, it’s really helped.  It keeps me focused on something other than “where’s the next mile marker?” “why does my knee feel like that?” For those of you wondering what music it takes to keep me occupied for 26.2 miles, here’s the playlist:

“Empire State of Mind” Jay Z featuring Alicia Keys
“Tiffany Blews” Fall Out Boy
“Coyotes” Jason Mraz
“Top of the World” All American Rejects
“If I Never See Your Face Again” Maroon 5 featuring Rihanna
“Real World” All American Rejects
“Midnight Show” the Killers
“America’s Suitehearts” Fall Out Boy
“Swim” Jack’s Mannequin
“Dark Blue” Jack’s Mannequin
“Sirens” Angels and Airwaves
“Absolute” The Fray
“Stab My Back” All American Rejects
“Forgiven” Relient K
“The Mixed Tape” Jack’s Mannequin
“Come Right Out and Say It” Relient K
“Gives You Hell” All American Rejects
“I’m Waiting” All American Rejects
“Lost+” Coldplay
“I’m Ready” Jacks Mannequin
“Dirty Little Secret” All American Rejects
“She’s My Winona” Fall Out Boy
“Call to Arms” Angels and Airwaves
“The Dynamo of Volition” Jason Mraz
“Believe” All American Rejects
“Mr. Brightside” the Killers
“All These Things That I’ve Done” the Killers
“Rite of Spring” Angels and Airwaves
“Harder to Breathe” Maroon 5
“Move Along” All American Rejects
“Through with You” Maroon 5
“Apocalypse Please” Muse
“Heaven” Angels and Airwaves
“Devastation and Reform” Relient K
“I’m Taking You With Me” Relient K
“Bite My Tongue” Relient K
“Space” Something Corporate
“Only Ashes” Something Corporate
“Up and Go” the Starting Line
“Decisions, Decisions” the Starting Line
“This Ride” the Starting Line
“Until the Day I Die” Story of the Year
“Razorblades” Story of the Year
“Reinventing Your Exit” UnderOath
“It’s Dangerous Business…” Underoath
“Young and Aspiring” UnderOath
“The Clincher” Chevelle
“Still Running” Chevelle
“Tug-o-War” Chevelle
“You Have My Attention” Copeland
“Darwin, Jesus, the Devil and Me” Damion Suomi
“Heartless” Kanye West
“Time of Your Song” Matisyahu
“King without a Crown” Matisyahu
“Emotional Drought” Chevelle
“Say This Sooner” The Almost
“I mostly Copy Other People” The Almost
“Southern Weather” The Almost
“Viva la Vida” Coldplay

Why Phillies Phans annoy me

So here we are, the Yankees up 3-1 in the World Series against the Phillies.  When the Phillies made it to the World Series and won the first game my phone was lighting up with texts from my friends who are Phillies fans and my Facebook wall, the same thing.  Trash talking left and right. Talking about sweeping the series even after the Yankees won the second game (how is that even possible?).  Since then, after the Yankees won game 2, game 3, and game 4 I’ve heard nothing.  Not a word.  If you’re going to say the types of things that have been said when the Phillies beat the Yankees, hold on to it, OWN IT, keep it up through the series.  At least you’ll go down swinging.  And I’ve chosen to be the better person and not count my chickens before they hatch in not trash talking until the World Series is securely won by the Yankees.  But here’s my real deal with Phillies fans.

I spent 5 years living in the Philadelphia area going to college and then working my first year of youth ministry.  There were always Phillies fans and they were a different breed, but it was when they finally won the World Series last year that the real problems began.  Their celebration fell just short of burning the whole city down, possibly because it had been so long since they had won anything.  Philadelphia is like the Mets in a lot of ways—making it so close to the post season/championship and then choking.  And to a certain extent I was happy for the Phillies fans because they didn’t know what it’s like to win.  But then that happiness turned into cockiness—basically thinking they ruled the world.  And what bothers me even more about my friends who are Phillies fans is that a lot of them I hadn’t talked to since I graduated college and then the only things they could find to write on my Facebook wall and text me about were how much better they were than the Yankees.  That’s just not cool.  I don’t mind friendly rivalries with people whom I have a little bit more established friendship with.  I don’t handle “out of the blue” trash talking very well. 

So I guess what I have to say to Phillies fans is, there’s a time to win and a time to lose, a time to celebrate and a time to go down swinging, a time for pride and a time for humbleness.  Tonight is game 5 and Cliff Lee is on the mound for the Phils with AJ Burnett pitching for the Yanks. Anything can happen, but I’m hoping to be wearing a Yankees World Series Championship shirt tomorrow.

Postseason Baseball predictions

Before I got to more serious matters, I thought I would share my hopes and dreams for Postseason Baseball, which will hopefully become a reality.  I will begin with the NLCS where we have the Los Angeles Dodgers taking on the Philadelphia Phillies.  I was really hoping the Rockies would knock the Phillies out in the NLDS, but alas, those resilient Phils beat ‘em out.  I’m not going to lie, the Phillies have a good team…but for the sake of Philadelphia’s humbleness, they need to lose.  I don’t think the city of Philadelphia can handle another championship being that last year they almost burned the city down in their “excitement.”  It may have to do with my bias towards Joe Torre, and it may have to do with my friends who are Phillies fans who love to rub it in when the Phillies win and the Yankees lose.  So for both of those sakes, and the fact that I really do think the Dodgers have a good shot, I’m choosing the Dodgers over the Phillies for the NLCS. 

As for the ALCS of course I’m choosing the Yankees over the Angels.  The last time these 2 teams played the Yankees took 2 out of 3 and that was out in Anaheim.  And let me just say, who names their team the “Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.”  Seriously, you’re either from LA or you’re from Anaheim.  They’re a good 20 miles apart, so they need to just cut the tie with LA and go with Anaheim.  For Game 1 tomorrow night the Yanks are putting Sabathia on the mound and the Angels are pitching him against Lackey.  Not bad.  Game 2 is Burnett for the Yanks and Saunders for the Angels.  Game 3 we have Pettitte and Weaver out in LA.  And that’s as far as it’s forecast.  I’m definitely not saying this is going to be a walk in the park.  The Angels have a good team, they’ve played well this year, but I do think that the Yankees are just that much better.  I wouldn’t be surprised if this series goes to the 6^th or 7^th game.  Let’s just hope this nor’easter up here in NY doesn’t wash out the first 2 games of this series! I already think it’s a bit much that the World Series now goes into November. 

Without looking at stats and getting too caught up into this is why this team is better than the other, I’m going with the Dodgers taking the NLCS in 5 games and the Yankees taking the ALCS in 6 games.  Which would create a Dodgers vs. Yankees World Series to which the Yankees will take it in 5 games for their 27^th World Series champhionship.  You heard it first here.

I did it–a post on politics

Last night I was watching World News with Charlie Gibson and I usually enjoy watching that because it gives a little bit of a broader perspective of news, rather than the local news which is about 75% depressing and about 25% informative.  But a piece came on about President Obama’s speech to school students that really bothered me.  Let me begin by saying that I really don’t claim to love President Obama, I don’t agree with everything he says or does, I don’t even really know a lot about politics which is why I have surrounded myself with a couple people who actually do so that they can translate for me.  But this speech to school students has just sort of painted the picture and put an exact “event” to how I’ve been feeling about the attitude towards our “new” President. 

Where do I even start.  I’ll start with a story from a Jr High youth group last spring when I asked the students (and this question was in a certain context, but that doesn’t really matter here) “If the President of the United States had to borrow your car, would you let him.”  Seemingly without even thinking about it one of the students blurted out, “Not if it was President Obama.”  I had to pick my jaw up off the floor and we just moved on, there was no recovering from that in a way that wouldn’t get us way off topic, but I am planning on revisiting that this fall when we talk about relationships, more specifically our relationship to the world.  I am feeling that there are many many people who don’t like President Obama, and that’s ok, we’re all entitled to our opinion.  I also feel like everyone’s waiting for that one negative thing to say, “SEE! I told you so.”  And I honestly feel like that is one of the most childish things we can do.  Case in point being this speech he gave to the school students.  Kids were being pulled out of class, pulled out of school, parents had to sign permission slips for their kid to watch the speech and at the end of the day, all for what?  He was giving them good advice about staying in school so they can learn and so they can learn from the mistakes we have made in the past so we can correct them in the future.  One father who had pulled his kid out of class so his kid wouldn’t be forced to watch the “indoctrination” of the speech sat down with ABC reporters and watched the speech and afterward said something along the lines of, “Yea, it was actually good advice.  Things I would probably even tell my kid.”  And so the fact that it was coming from Obama and so there was the potential that it might give the kid a broader perspective on the world, this frightened the father.  Give me a break, grow up.  ABC went further to say that a school in Arlington, TX which had banned the speech from being viewed in school was pulling their students out of school for a day so that they could go to the new Dallas Cowboys stadium to hear a speech by former President Bush. 

We as Christians do serve a higher authority.  In the words of Derek Webb, “my first allegiance is not to a flag, a country, or a man. My first allegiance is not to democracy or blood, it’s to a king & a kingdom.”  But that doesn’t mean we are to disrespect the authority placed above us here on earth.  Maybe if we gave the guy a chance and gave him the benefit of the doubt more often we’d make some progress as a nation.  It is okay to look at things from a different perspective once in a while, it really is.

The Shack: where tragedy confronts eternity

For quite a few months now there has been a buzz about the book, The Shack. I became further intrigued when I learned that the author of the book was going to be one of the speakers at a conference I take my junior highers to in the fall. I had heard things like, “it’s complete heresy,” but I also heard things like, “it can really change your perspective on your faith.”  So I decided I would take a break from my reading of non-fiction and go fiction and pick The Shack.  And let me begin by saying that, yes, it is fiction.

I don’t want to share a WHOLE lot because if you haven’t read it, I would encourage you to, and I don’t want to give everything away.  If you haven’t read it, you are correct in saying that the author brings “human” form to God which is a black woman for most of the book, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit who, if I remember correctly has Asian characteristics.  Now I know you might be saying, “WHOA! Giving human form to the trinity, how dare they!”  But let me ask you to give it a chance.  The whole reason this is done is because a very traumatic experience happens to Mack, the main character, and so he is invited to “The Shack” for a weekend by a note signed “Papa” which is what he calls God.  Through the weekend Papa, Sarayu (the Holy Spirit), and Jesus all talk to Mack and converse with him about his life, why he believes certain things, how his life has tainted his perception of God, how he has thrown God into a box with all the theology and church (as an institution), among other things. They go deeper and deeper with him, eventually healing the hurt that has been weighing so heavily on his shoulders (The Great Sadness).  It really is a beautiful picture of healing, restoration, reconciliation, and life when viewed as a whole.  There was one part where Jesus it talking with Mack about “Christianity” and the “church” and how Jesus doesn’t “do” religion, he’s more about relationships.  He never formed institutions, that’s now what he’s about.  I was reading this on the plane on the way back from Texas and almost gave a loud “YES!” when this was being discussed in the book.  There were many other theological discussions that took place, a lot of which challenged me and I agreed with some, disagreed with some others, but mostly agreed actually.

I mentioned I was reading this on the plane on the way back from Texas and a man sitting across the row from me noticed I was reading it, and I had noticed he was reading his Bible.  When he asked what I thought of the book I thought it was safe to engage him in conversation about it.  He told me he was an evangelist and proceeded to ask me why I was reading the book, if I claimed to be born again, how I knew I was going to heaven, among some other questions.  I’m not going to lie, it was a rather awkward conversation because I could tell he was rather conservative and I was trying not to pass judgements, but I was hoping he was a not a “Bull Horn” kind of guy.  I asked him if he had interest in reading The Shack and he said probably not because he had all the truth and understanding of God he needed in his Bible.  I couldn’t say I disagreed with that, but then again, The Shack is non-fiction and all it is really doing is creating a parable.  I didn’t really want to get into all of that with him and I was so close to finishing the book that the conversation sort of had an awkward ending and I got back to reading.  But I hope that you don’t look at this book a heresy and blasphemy, but rather look at it as a parable.  As far as Christian non-fiction goes, this is an excellent read.  I don’t mean to knock the others like Left Behind, but at least this has some correct theology in it, and it even gives human form to God as a black woman.  I encourage you to read it, regardless of what others may have negatively said about it and form your own opinion on it.

Dangerous Wonder: Jump first. Fear Later…Maine 2009

Where to even start! I feel like I’ve been go go go for the last few weeks. Since mid-July I’ve been to Washington, DC; the Bahamas; Maine; Texas; and then next month I go to LA for Youth Specialties’ National Youth Workers Convention. So let’s talk about Maine.

I went to this place called Adventure Bound in Maine when I was in jr high and always had a blast with the ropes course and the white water rafting.  And so when I took this position one of my first thoughts was to reinstate this trip.  Sure, there was the chance that I thought it was such a great trip when I was in jr high and maybe it really doesn’t have great potential anymore, and there were closer places we could go to a ropes course and white water rafting, but after really looking at it and talking to my other leaders we felt it was worth a shot this summer. I think we’re all glad we gave it a shot.

Sure, it took 10 hours to get up there on that Friday. And for me being the only one comfortable driving the van with the trailer, it made for a terribly long day. I think if we do this trip again I’ll be taking another leader who can share the driving, but that’s really the only thing I’d change.  Saturday we began with a low ropes course.  Let me tell you, some of the elements were frustrating. The spider web, if you’ve done it, just might be one of the most frustrating things EVER, especially with mosquitoes and gnats flying around your head.  But these kids, they kept at it until they got it.  And us leaders had to do all of the elements with the students, and there was some really great teamwork and bonding going on.  I was very impressed and encouraged with it.  The afternoon brought on the high ropes course which was probably what I was most nervous about.  More specifically, the one where you have to jump off the platform that’s like 40 feet up on a tree and reach out to try and grab a trapeze.  I can do the ones where you have to walk across a long that’s 30 ft up between 2 trees and pass someone going the other way, but jumping off something is a different story.  Sure, you’re harnessed in…but tell that to your mind when you climb all the way up there and look down to see you’d be a pancake if anything went wrong.  But just as the students pressed on through the low ropes, they all at least tried the high ropes.  Some were more nervous than others, but they all stepped out of their comfort zones and took some huge leaps.

Sunday we hit the Kenebeck River for some white water rafting. There were 11 of us so we were told to split into groups of 6 and 5 for our rafts…there just happened to be 6 guys and 5 girls…and it just so happened that’s how they chose to split! Oh, Junior High. We really couldn’t have asked for better weather–high 80’s and sunny.  The water was a little chilly but felt very refreshing when it would sneak up and crash over the side of the raft.  Around noon we stopped at this little beach on the side of the river and Adventure Bound cooked us some lunch.  But not just PB&J, this was the real deal.  Ribeye steak, teriyaki chicken, salmon, mmmmmm. They did it right. They said that they also do a rafting trip 9 times/summer down the Dead River which is 12 miles of straight class 4-5 rapids, whereas the river we rafted was about 6 miles of class 4-5, and about 6 miles of “swimmers rapids” where we could jump out and have the current carry us downstream.  I think I want to check out the Dead River trips for next summer.  And seriously, how cool does that sound, “I rafted down the dead river.”

During our sessions together we talked about childlike faith, having the theme of “Dangerous Wonder: Jump first. Fear later.” I borrowed the title and content from an excellent book by the same title by the late youth ministry extraordinaire, Mike Yacconelli.  We talked about the difference between childlike faith vs childish faith; about how Thomas doubted and the disciples couldn’t believe how he doubted they had seen the risen Christ, but Thomas didn’t want to settle for secondhand faith and wanted to see it for himself; about how we have lost our sense of wonder and curiosity that children have in our life and in our faith and how it’s time to rediscover that. I think it was well received by the kids, I know it helped me to re-examine my own life as I was preparing the lessons.

So that was Maine.  It took us only 8 hours to get back home, which was a relief.  Still long, but not AS long as it took to get up there. I’d do it again next summer.

Some Reflections on the Nassau ‘09 Mission Trip

Before I begin talking about the mission trip to the Bahamas let me add one more thing about DCLA.  During the general sessions the speakers/artists never went more than about 10 minutes each.  So every 10 minutes something new was happening.  You might think this would be an overload and there wouldn’t be too much consistency, but there sure was.  You could definitely tell all of the artists/speakers worked together on this for a long time beforehand because everything flowed so well together.  It also aided in the students not getting bored with any one thing that was going on.  Well done, Youth Specialties, well done!

Ok, so after DCLA we spent the afternoon/evening hanging out in DC and then 5:30 Tuesday morning we headed to the airport to catch a flight down to Nassau, Bahamas.  Many of us had no idea what to expect, including myself, other than we would be doing construction at the All Saints Camp.  Sure, we did that, and let me tell you it was some of the hardest work I’ve ever done, but God was doing more than that in each of us.  We went down there to serve and use our muscles to build and our faith to minister, but I believe we were ministered to as well.

[For those who don’t know, we headed down to aid in the repairs of the All Saints Camp which is a camp for victims and families of those affected by HIV/AIDS.  Through the storms that have passed through over the years and just years of neglect this camp has been in rough shape.  Next Step Ministries saw the need and has been bringing groups down all summer to begin the facelift of this camp to allow the residents to move more freely down the sidewalk and have better living conditions.]

We had about 5 ½ solid days of construction.  Half of our group, along with Jessica, Andy, and Sonja of Next Step spent the first 3 days ripping up a good 35 ft of the uneven and cracked sidewalk that runs the length of the camp using nothing but sledge hammers, pick axes, wheel barrows, and some blood and sweat.  We then proceeded to mix the new cement, by hand, load it into wheel barrows and ship it down the sidewalk to dump into the forms we had created to continue the newly formed sidewalk.  This went on, and on, and on, and on some more and I must say, it was actually fun.  When else do you get to hit something with a sledge hammer so hard that it smashes to pieces and that’s what you’re supposed to do?!  You’re right, not very often.  This group then moved onto the house construction while the other half of the group took the last 2 ½ construction days to finalize our 65 ft section of newly constructed sidewalk. 

The house construction was also a good time.  I got to use a circular saw for the first time.  I’m not gonna lie, it felt pretty manly.  On one house we were enclosing the walls with plywood and working on framing and covering the roof.  There was a 2^nd house where we repaired the cement columns the house would sit on and begin to form the floor.  This took a lot of work, quite a bit of measuring and remeasuring, a ton of nails, and the gracious patience of Next Step’s own Dennis.  I think Dennis came out of the womb swinging a hammer.  He’s very good at what he does and is able to teach those who have never swung a hammer before in their life and teach them until they are comfortable with it.  He had way more patience than I could ever have.  We got a good deal of progress done on these houses as well and we left feeling that for the time we had working we had accomplished a lot.  And let me tell you, it was only by the strength of God we were able to wake up morning after morning and get back out there.  I also must mention how encourged i was that I hardly heard any complaining from our students.  Sure, the heat brought out some irritations every once in a while but we all worked and put every ounce of effort we had into it and took out our complaints on the cement.

Not only were we doing construction at the camp but we also visited with the residents.  I must admit I didn’t get as much time as I would have like to visit but that’s my own fault.  When I did though I was able to see some pretty important things.  There were quite a few of the residents who, even though they had hardly any material possessions and their body was wasting away they still found things to be joyful about.  And little things, even!  We asked a lady named Moxey what she was thankful for and she looked around and said, “oh, I’m thankful for the air I’m breathing, for the sun that’s shining.  I have a lot to be thankful for.”  It really made me think and put into perspective the blessings that God gives us each day and we hardly even notice them.  How foolish we are.  It made me see that there are so many things in my life that are distracting me from my relationship with God and it’s no wonder I feel so distant sometimes. 

I can’t end this without talking about the Next Step staff.  Andy. Jessica. Sonja. Dennis.  They didn’t just lead us in what we were doing down there, but I feel like I left with 4 solids friendships too.  I don’t connect with everybody right off the bat a lot of the time, but this time, I did, and I couldn’t be more thankful for all of them.  They lead by example, the love of Christ shone through them in all that they did from cooking the food to helping to mix the cement to talking while treading water out in the ocean.  I also give them a lot of credit for doing this the whole summer, as I said before, it’s a lot of work.  Needless to say I was very encouraged by them and I honestly miss them. 

Yea, we had a free day we spent at the beach and a free last evening we spent out on the town enjoying each others company and conversation.  I was grateful for these times as well.  In an attempt to not ramble on even more than I already have I will conclude in saying that the 2 weeks spent between DCLA and the Bahamas were life changing, I’m grateful for the new friendships, and God certainly worked in and through each and every one of us.  May we not too quickly forget all that took place and work hard to bring it home.

Some Thoughts on DCLA 2009: BE. LOVE. SERVE. Repeat.

DCLA only happens every 3 years and it’s a huge youth ministry conference for students put on by none other than Youth Specialties.  I was very impressed with YS and how they put on their annual National Youth Workers Convention this past fall, and so I was excited to see what they had in store for DCLA.

When we sat down with Tic Long and Mark Matlock for a brief leaders introduction and they said they were going to present the entire Bible as a story and walk through it during the large group meetings over the entire weekend I thought they were joking.  I was seriously ready to laugh, until there was no punch line.  They were serious, and I was skeptical.  As a young adults group up here in Montvale we went through the entire Old Testament during the late winter through early summer looking at it as a story and what themes run through it and how it prepares the way for the Messiah—an excellent discussion.  So while I was skeptical, I was also excited because I knew who the speakers were going to be.  Francis Chan.  Shane Claiborne. Mandee Radford.  Along with the Skit Guys and then Starfield leading worship. Let me tell you, I was so impressed with their ability to make the Scriptures come alive and draw out the important themes running through and the way they all presented it, wow.  If they have it available in mp3 format or video, I WANT IT. 

The seminars were good, for the students.  I feel like I’ve heard everything Duffy Robbins has to say since he was my professor for 4 years.  Now I feel like I’ve heard a lot of what Francis Chan has to say since he’s a big face for YS.  Which is all good, but nothing too new for me, so I didn’t get much out of the seminars, but I think our students really did. 

I was also encouraged by the fact that Invisible Children and To Write Love on Her Arms both had booths set up at the conference.  These are two organizations I really want to be more a part of because I love what they stand for and I had no idea about either of them until I was in college.  The fact that they are reaching out to high school students makes me really excited for the potential of these organizations and what they’re trying to do.  Further on Invisible Children, a very smart move on their part to have a seminar to show their newest film “Go.”  An excellent film, definitely check it out.

The weekend was full of some very long days of sitting and listening, but what we were listening to was excellent.  I really hope our students were able to process it all and take advantage of what the speakers were presenting. 

I’m very glad we took the students to this conference before our mission trip.  It made for an intense 2 weeks, but well worth it! For those who don’t know, after the conference we boarded a plane for our mission trip to the Bahamas.  Stay tuned for a post on that.  And for those who may be thinking, ‘That sounds really rough. A conference in Washington, DC and then to the Bahamas. Rough life,’ I may have to hit you.  I worked harder down there for more days in a row than I think I’ve ever worked in my life.  More on that to come.