Let wonder replace worry

Steven Curtis Chapman

This is one of the saddest things I have heard in awhile.

I just watched the YouTube video of SCC washing dishes with his daughter from just a few weeks ago.

 The older brother is really on my heart. I know I'll never meet him, but I do wish I could talk to him. Even though I really have no idea what I'd say. I cannot imagine any of the teenagers I work with to find themselves in a similar situation.

Missing Batteries- A Tale from Middle School Youth Group

I had a pretty busy Wednesday, so I set everything up for youth group on Tuesday.

Sometime between then and Wednesday night, someone took the batteries out of the remote I use. Of course, I did not notice this until it was time to start and nothing worked.

I sent a couple of people out to find replacements. After being gone for a few minutes, they came back with nothing.

So, in a split second decision I may end up regretting, I let a bunch of middle schoolers take off through the church to play a new game called "find Justin 4 batteries."

I ended up with a collection of basically every size you can imagine (including what I needed) and only then realized I'll never get all of those batteries back where ever they came from.

Now I know for sure that I won't be the only person missing batteries this week.

American Idol

Nicole and I did not even watch American Idol tonight. It seems like the longer this season has drug on, the less we care about it. Obviously David Archuleta the best singer in the competition and I am sure he will win it tomorrow night. And I really feel sorry for him.

It truly seems as if his entire life has been directed toward this moment. He is only 17 and clips show him crashing the show years ago; winning his first singing competition at 10, and as a veteran Star Search competitor. Perhaps the saddest thing is that he has a classic over-bearing show-biz dad- who was banned from being backstage a couple of weeks ago.

Its sad to say, but he looks to me like a Michael Jackson in the making: a brilliant talent sacrificed to the cult of celebrity and stardom at so young an age that his own emotional and spiritual development has been frozen. Think about anytime he is asked to speak- he has nothing to say, except a Bambi-style mode of total humility, amazement and innocence.

I feel for him and it is so sad that no one can rescue him from the machine that is about to consume him.

Enjoying the Sunshine

Jaxson loves his sunglasses. He'll get mad if you take them off.

29

A beautiful wife-

An amazing son-

An Incredible job-

What a life.

10 years ago I had no idea where a career in ministry would take me. I have absolutely no idea where we will be 10 years from now.

But at 29 years old, I could not be happier or more content.

We are blessed.

Cheap Songs for Youth Minstry on iTunes

Wow, I stumbled across 100 cover songs on iTunes for $5.99. That's right, 6 bucks. It is quite the random assortment, but good songs to have in your library to break out at just the right time.

Several of these songs could be used in Youth Ministry to illustrate a wide number of points. Here are a few I think could be used to give you an idea:

Walking on Sunshine
Kung Fu Fighting
Kiss Me (The Sixpence song- there is nothing weird going on at youth group.)
We are Family
R-E-S-P-E-C-T
With or Without You
Y.M.C.A
We Will Rock You
I Can't Get No Satisfaction
Get the Party Started
Hells Bells (Ok, maybe not that one)
I Will Always Love You
Ice, Ice, Baby
Smoke on the Water
Your Nobody Until Somebody Loves You

That's just getting started. Like I said there are 92 listed on the iTunes page. (I'm not sure how they call it 100 cover songs, but its a good deal either way.)

Here is the link if you are interested. Let me know what songs you would crank up before youth group or during your lesson.

Pictures from Philadelphia

Independence Hall:

The First and Second Continental Congress:

House of Representatives from 1790-1800 and where John Adams was sworn in as President:

Senate from 1790-1800 and where George Washington was sworn in as President:

Christ Church- Philadelphia, PA- Founded in 1695 and they have not missed a week of worship to this day.
 

The Pew that George and Martha Washington rented (literally) while serving as President in Philadelphia. They actually had doors that prevented anyone other than the person paying for it to sit. If you were poor and could not afford a pew, you had to stand in the balcony.

Baptismal loaned to the church from London in the early 1700s. The church in London got it from Ireland in the 1400s. Still in use, this has been used in worship for well over 600 years. An employee of the church told me that it technically is still on loan from London and they could ask for it back anytime.

Where the Presbyterian Church in the USA was born:

 

Pictures from my week in Princeton

I had hash for the first time in the great Jersey Diner:

At the recommendation of the Food Network:

Princeton was beautiful this time of year. Just walking around downtown made me feel smarter.

Miller Chapel:

Perhaps my biggest complaint of the week. Why one of the finest theological schools in the world would still use such uncomfortable, outdated, counter-productive desks is a mystery to me. How in the world could these things encourage learning?

Tomorrow, pictures from Philadelphia- including the pew inside Christ Church that George Washington rented (that's right, they had to literally rent a seat at church) while serving as President.

Touching Them All

Link: ESPN.com

Here is a touching story from here in Washington State. Someone at church was telling me about this game last week and I am glad to see that ESPN picked up on it.

This could really be used in a variety of ways in youth ministry. I can think of 3 different discussion topics right now off the top of me head. I may be showing it soon.

This is 5 minutes that you will not regret. Trust me.

AppFresh

AppFresh is a new program I have started using that keeps all third party applications, widgets, preference panes and application plugins up to date.

The application seems to still be under development and I have ran into some bugs. So far, I only use it to scan all of my application and I then will download the updates in each individual app instead of letting AppFresh to it for me. It really will be convenient when this program is able to run in the background and keep everything constantly updated.

Tonight, I had 16 updates that have been released in the past couple of weeks that I had not yet downloaded. Its a useful tool, and it is free!