"More is Caught Than Taught Ministry"

This line was shared with me early when I got into ministry: "More is Caught Than Taught".  For the last couple years I have thought about how true this statement is.  I have invested the last eight and a half years of my life into spreading the Gospel; mainly to students.  Over these years I have seen hundreds of students come and go through the doors of our church.  As I think back to my internship and the hundreds of students at Eastlake Church that we ministered to there is only one student I keep in contact with.

After Eastlake Church I helped out with a church plant just north is a cool city called Encinitas.  I have to say that I have loosely kept in contact with one family from that church.  Being at South Hills Church for the last, almost, seven years I have had a chance to share the truth of the Bible with lots of people.  I think about these last seven years and I have a hard time believing that any of them can remember more than ten messages that I have shared.  Ok, lets be honest, I think we would be hard pressed to find someone who remembers more than five of the messages I have preached here.  To be honest, I would be stoked if there were a handful of people that remember one of the messages I have preached at our church.

(Indoor Skydiving with Spencer, Travis and Nick)

If there are a few people that remember one of the messages that I have preached and have acted on that truth of God I would be very excited.  I would more excited to hear about students who have changed the direction of their life because we have spent time with them.  I really do think that preaching on Sunday is super important but I think that people are more prone to remember the things we do off the stage.  See I think that if you spoke with some of the students in our church they would share that they learned more from me on a road trip to snowboard or out on the lake.  They could probably tell you how I acted at Hume Lake when we played paintball or a conversation we had at the lunch table.

I guess what I am trying to say is our lives are an example for Christ and people are watching our every move.  I want to be known for how I lived my life off stage.  I want people to remember how I acted in tough situations because I chose the high road.

The "Almost Done" Letter

Earlier this month I spent a week in Redding, CA working on a week of seminary.  While I was up there I was handed this letter:

Now this letter isn't the easiest thing in the world to read but it says a key line in there:

"If you successfully complete the above courses as scheduled, you will finish the requirements for the Masters of Divinity program as listed above."

This is something that I have been working on for over five years now and to be handed this letter was crazy emotional.  There are a few things this letter means to me that some people may not understand:

1) Less Time Away From Home
I have spent a good deal of time away from my family over the last five years, six when I finish, and this letter means that I can have more time with my family after graduation.

2) Accomplishment
Many of you know that I dropped out of high school my junior year.  I ended up going back and finishing at a continuation school.  I didn't drop out because I was stupid I dropped out because I had a bunch going on in my family life and I was bored at school.  Studying the Bible is something that I love to do!

3) Education
I started this MDiv program because felt that God was calling me to but during the process He taught me that it is more about the education I have received than a piece of paper that will sit on my wall.

These are just a few things this letter means to my life.  It will always be a reminded to me of all the hard work I put in, studying the word of God, to help others know Christ.

My Yellow Watch

Even since I was a wee little kid I have always wanted a Shark watch.  I know... some people want a Rolex but I want a watch with a rubber wristband.  So for my 30th birthday my amazing wife found me a Shark watch in my favorite color (see picture).  This is me wearing my watch the first day I got it as we are heading to watch a movie for my birthday.

This summer we went to Hume Lake and I was so stoked to wear my watch and actually have the time on my wrist!  On Tuesday some of the Senior guys invited me to go kayaking with them.  Once we were on the lake I realized that none of them have ever been to Hume before and told them that we have to head down to the cove to play on the log roll.

We rowed to the other side of the lake, parked the boats and swam over to the log roll.  Now the log roll is an amazing experience that I could not let these guys miss out on.  After playing for a while I knew it was getting late so I looked at my wrist but my watch was gone.  I was so bummed.  I was beyond bummed.

That night, back at camp, I started thinking of how to get my watch back.  I had a pair of googles but I would need help.  Then it hit me; my alarm is going off at 6:23am to wake me up and my watch is waterproof.  That night I asked around and was able to get five guys to help me and four more pairs of googles.  The next morning we woke up before 6am, borrowed a car, drove to the cove and did this:

My watch spent the night at the bottom of Hume Lake but today it sits back on my left wrist as I type this.  The craziest thing about this is something that wasn't caught on video.  Before I jumped into the lake I stopped to pray that God would help me find my watch and sure enough I did!

Financial Peace University Week Six

This Sunday we had our sixth week of Financial Peace University.  This class has been pretty cool, for me personally, and seems to be very helpful for our church also.  My last post on FPU was a brief overview of what we are learning and was just a scratch of the surface.

Yesterday I was extremely tired during the class but I was also excited to hear what Dave Ramsey was saying.  See I finally felt like yesterday was something that Charity and I were already doing; the previous five weeks were things that we needed to adjust in our finances and that can be tough to hear and more difficult to actually make happen!

Here is a quick overview of what I am taking away from yesterdays FPU course:

1. Wait overnight before making a purchase
2. Carefully consider your buying motives.  No amount of stuff equals contenment of fulfillment
3. Never buying anything you do not understand.
4. Consider the "opprotuinty cost" of your money
5. Seeking the counsel of your spouse. 

I feel like Charity and I have done good with our money since being married but we want to do better as we move forward.  We are examining every aspect of what we have to make sure that we are using what God has given us to the best of our ability.  

Financial Peace University Debt Load

Our church just finished week five of Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University and we are getting ready to start week six.  This course has been super cool, for me, to see how many people have jumped in to get involved.  We have almost 40% of our church involved in this course which tells me two things:

1) The Las Vegas Economy has hit harder than I thought
2) People want to find financial freedom

One of the steps in the class is for the people involved to anonymously write down their debt load.  To be honest I had no what to expect to see with this number when it came in.  Now we have three different sessions of the class that we are offering to our church and from those different sessions we came up with one debt load number.  I am not going to share that exact number but I want to let you know that it is over four million dollars.

I have been hesitant to put up that number because I think it can bring up emotions in peoples lives and to be honest I have a part of that number.  In yesterdays blog I shared my personal learnings and personal debt load that Charity and I are carrying.  The reason I chose to end up sharing that number is because I am excited to share with you in December the new number.  See FPU is designed to help people get back on their feet financially and take control of their finances.

If you are in our church and you are reading this I want you to know that I am praying for everyone in our church to find financial freedom.  I am praying for people to be able to take control of their finances and not let their finances take control of them.  I am praying for people to find new connections with people in our church that they may have never met because of this course.  I love my church and I am so proud of everyone taking the course and making the steps to get financial freedom!

Financial Peace University: Week Five

This week we hit week five in our Financial Peace University (FPU) Course that our church has been doing.  I am one of 260 people in our church that is taking the course in one of the three different times we are offering it.  Last night I started thinking about FPU and what this has done for our family already.

Charity and I moved about two months ago and well... to be honest, moving cost us more than we had bargained for.  We didn't have to rent a moving truck (thanks to a friend) and we didn't have to pay movers (thanks to many friends).  When we were planning the move we knew we would need some more furniture to help fill the new house; we went from 1050 square feet to over 1700 square feet.

Secondly we have used our credit card like a debt card for the last five years.  We would put all our family expenses on the card and then pay it off monthly.  Well with the addition of two children in the last three years expenses have increased and we found out that we owed our credit card $1500.  That may not be too huge a number for the average American family but we don't want to be the average American family.

Finally FPU has been great to share with the young adults at our church.  Charity really took this as her personal goal this summer to get as many college students in this course to help them make wise choices financially right away in life.  I love getting to spend time with the people at our table, on a weekly basis, and see how they are getting this lesson before they make the unwise choices.

These are some random thoughts from FPU at our church but I really think this course has changed the way I am thinking about money.  I want to make sure that I make the best choices with the resources that God has put in my possession.

A Major Accomplishment

The other day I was looking at my wall and noticed something super cool.  See when I arrived at South Hills almost seven years ago I made an agreement to work on my ordination as a pastor.  Within four months I had accomplished my licensing with the Christian and Missionary Alliance.  From there it was supposed to be a two year process to get my Ordination completed.  After two (and a half) years of working on my Ordination I finally took the flight to Sacramento to have my final Ordination interview.

The interview could cover over 280 questions and it was all oral.  I sat in a room with five men who most had been pastoring longer than I had been alive.  I would be lying if I said I wasn't nervous sitting in that room with those men but I also had a confidence sitting there with them.  I knew that these men wanted me to succeed; they had been rooting for me the last couple years and now it was time to culminate all my work.

After a two hour interview I was asked to leave the room and allow the men deliberate from our time.  I was called back in about 15 minutes later.  The leader of the interview said some great things about our time together, complimented me on my understanding of Theology and there was a cool sense in the room that day.  There is one line that sticks out to me from that time when Doug (our district supervisior) said this: "Neal it is the recommendation of this board to approve your ordination with no reservation and nothing further to work on."

I'm not sure if you have ever had anyone say that to you but I was told later that basically I nailed it.  My life was in line, I was correct on scripture and that interview affirmed my calling into life-long pastoral ministry.  Now I don't share all of this to brag but to just share my excitement of call on my life from where I started my life to where God has brought me.

(This is Roy Price officiating my Ordination Service)

(A group of our pastors and elders praying for Charity and me)

Made for Ministry

A few weeks ago I took an online Small Groups Conference through Saddleback Church called "Twelve".  During the conference I was reminded of a few things that sparked my excitement for ministry, again, in a new way.  One of those things was that we were made for ministry.  God created me to serve the church and use the gifts and talents that I have to help the church be a better place for others.  I hope that is something that you believe in your life and actively live out!

Part of my new role I am helping to slot childcare for our Tuesday night Financial Peace University.  Now if you were honest with yourself most people would not find it a joy to find people to watch other people's kids; when you say it like that.  But if you say it a different way and get to see what I have seen and hear the stories that I have heard it becomes a totally different story.  I get to see students using their gift of love and compassion to watch kids on a weekly basis so that families in our church can grow in their financial understanding.

See I have a cool seat where I get to see students serving with younger kids, loving on them, playing with them, hanging out with them, holding little babies and modeling the love of Christ to these children.  Now there are times that it can be tough but I have taken a new approach on the whole deal.  See I truly believe that when I ask a student to watch children that they are ministering to those younger kids as an older believe in Christ.  I am not just "slotting childcare" but I am helping students find their calling in the body of Christ and use their time to love on kids.

Even as I write this is makes me smile because most of the students have actually thanked me for inviting them into ministry on Tuesday nights!  I had a conversation with one girl that got me so excited because I was able to explain to her that we need to allow others this opprotunitty to minister.  Here is a text message that I got from a young man who helped out one night and it just makes me smile!  When you read the message you can see that this young man had a great time ministering to these younger kids.  He let me know that he met some kids who were pretty cool and that he would not just do it again if I asked him but he would be happy to do it again.

See we are made for ministry.  We are made to use our gifts and talents to serve the church to help others find their full potential in Christ.  Are you taking part in that?  I hope you are because then you will be happy to come and serve again. 

The Power of an Invite {Part.Three}

Now that I had been invited to church and God had done some amazing changes in my life, I began to live my life differently.  I stopped drinking (personal choice) because I know where it had taken me in the last few years.  I also stopped doing drugs because I just didn't think that lined up, Biblically, with my new decision to follow Christ.  I started to serve at my local church and helped out in our children's ministry (this was a great place for me to grow spiritually).

Then one night I had the chance to invite someone on the journey I was taking.  I was at a friends house from Big Bear who had recently moved to San Diego.  He was living in a large house a couple minutes from my place with a few other guys who were all from Big Bear also.  The house was a full on party house so much so that they called it the Playboy Mansion.  It was a Saturday night and I was hanging out at the house when someone asked me about why I wasn't drinking.  I began to share my faith and what God was doing in my life.

At that moment my friend Brian walked out of the room and headed, quickly, to his room.  I wasn't to sure what he was getting in his room and to be honest I thought he was grabbing a gun.  He came out of his room shaking a Bible and saying (loudly): "I want to understand this book and what it means."  I knew he was drunk so I told him what I knew I safely could and then invited him to come to small group with me on Tuesday when he was sober.  He accepted the invite and the conversation changed.

On Tuesday I pulled up to Brian's house and went inside to get him.  He totally forgot that he had said he could come to small group but he ended up coming with me.  That night, in small group, Brian broke down in tears and confessed his sin.  God was working heavily in his heart and he accepted Christ that night!  Brian was in desperate need of a savior and God used me as a man to invite him to church.  Our friendship has grown so much that I was able to preform his wedding ceremony!  Brian is one of my best friends and I am so proud of what God has done in his life in the last 10 years.  I often wonder what would have happened in Brian's life if God never used me to invite him to church...

The Power on an Invite {Part.Two}

When I was twenty years old I walked into my DUI school because of the choices that I had made and where they landed me.  That morning I had a meeting with the teacher of my class so I had to show up early.  During the meeting the teacher asked me about my drug use, my alcohol consumption and how I ended up where I was.  I was very open with the teacher and at the end of the session he looked me in the eyes and said this: "I'm not supposed to give you my personal opinion but I want you to know if you continue to do what you have done you will be dead in five years."  Those words have rattled in my brain for the last eleven years.  See I never imagined that when I was invited to smoke pot when I was thirteen that I would end up here.

After our meeting I went to my regular class and in that class there was a man named Brett Wheeler who spoke openly about his walk with Christ and his involvement in church.  He admitted that he had messed up and there was something different about this man.  I knew that I needed to talk to him.  See I had just been released from jail five days prior for another alcohol related incident and I was hurting more than I had ever hurt before.  My life was shaken to the core and I had no clue what I believed anymore.

As we were leaving class I wanted so badly to ask Brett to take me to church with him but I was scared to ask him.  That morning, when we walked out of the classroom doors, Brett turned around and invited me to church with him.  I was about to decline when he looked me in the eyes and said these words: "Neal if you don't stop what you have been doing you will be dead in five years."That was too much for me to hear that in such a short period of time.

That day I gave Brett my number and he not only invited me to church but he drove about forty minutes to pick me up and then forty minutes back to church.  Then he also gave me a ride home!  Brett modeled what it means to invite someone to church and then follow through with that.  I have to say that I am not sure where I would be today if he had not invited me to church that day...

The Power of an Invite {Part.One}

As I've transitioned into my new role I have been thinking more and more about what I want to dub The Power of an Invite.  Our church just started Financial Peace University and its great to see how many people have been invited into this journey into financial freedom.  As my role grows, and we get Life Groups up and running healthily, I am excited to see how many people are invited into life changing relationships.  Thinking about life changing relationships reminded me of four things that I want to write about this week.

When I was about thirteen years-old I was invited to a friends house and that invite would change the way I lived.  I was at a pee-wee football game at the local middle school that I had ridden my bike to.  After the game I rode my bike, with some other guys, over a new friends house.  I can't exactly remember when I was invited over to this house; it may have been figured out before hand or taken place that day but that invite changed my life.

That early fall day was the first day I was introduced to smoking pot.  I went over to my friends house and ended up smoking pot with about four other guys.  I remember that day very clearly.  I remember sitting upstairs in my friends room on his little couch he had in there.  I remember what we used to smoke the weed.  I can even remember some of the things we talked about that day.  I am not sure what, in my memory, has held onto those thoughts but for some reason I have.

See that day I was invited to someone's house and then invited to smoke pot.  No one forced me to ride my bike over there.  I was not bullied into making the choice to smoke pot; all the choices that day were choices I made.  Now this will be the one post I write on this week that is directly related to a decision that  has had a negative influence on my life.  I want to start this way because it fits in a time line of what I will present and how my life has changed.  I want us all to be keenly aware of how important the invite is in our lives can be impacted for the positive or the negative!

18 Months Later

I can't believe that eighteen months ago we were blessed with this beautiful little girl (ok, honestly Leah was 9 pounds 1 ounce when she was born so she has never been "little")!  Leah Joy is our second daughter and it has been so cool to see her grow and mature over the last eighteen months in our home.  Leah has gotten the coolest personality and it has really been a blessing to see her grow up, see her interact with Sophie and see how much she loves her mom.

When Leah was born I gave her the nickname "Little Leah".  Not sure where it came from but it just seemed to fit.  There were a bunch of pictures that I could have put up here to show who this little girl is now but I chose this one.  Leah loves to eat blueberries on her waffle and this morning was no exception!  Leah wanted more waffle and is using her sign language saying: "please" to get more (you gotta love a girl who uses her manners).  Leah has her tough nights and doesn't always sleep through the night.  She has some great days and loves to swim, make us laugh, tickle and climb the stairs.  I hope that these next eighteen months of our family will be ten times more of a joy than the first eighteen months were!

First Chargers Game

Yep... I am 31 years old.  I lived in San Diego for almost five years and it took me driving just over 300 miles from Las Vegas to go to my first San Diego Chargers game!  This trip was actually super cool for me because I was able to take it with some young men who recently graduated from our high school ministry; Nevin Zwifel, Nick Markovich and Anthony Rossa.

We left Vegas around 8pm on Wednesday night and headed to Corona to stay at Nick's cousins house.  We left Corona early Thursday morning and headed to the beach.  It was great spending the day at the beach with these guys and my friend Jon Miano actually came and hung out with us (Jon was a student when I was an intern in San Diego almost nine years ago).

After the beach we headed to Wahoo's Fish Tacos and I got one of the best burritos I have ever eaten.  After filling up we took the trolley over to Qualcomm Stadium to see our first game!  Here is a cool pic that I will never forget.  It was great to spend the day with these guys at the beach and then head over to the game.  We got these nice and early to watch the team warm up and we made sure to boo for the 49'ers as they came out.

I have to admit that our seats were literally perfect!  The seating may have gotten a little better but for me this was perfect.  We were close enough to see the action but not too close that it was tough to see the field.  We weren't too far either; I never found myself watching the game on the big screen.  It was crazy for me how quick the game seemed to go.  It was like one minute it was sunny and the next it was dark.  The game seemed to fly by being there in the action.

I have to admit that I was a little bummer that Rivers, Gates, and Jackson didn't start but I can get over that.  I am so thankful to Nick for taking me to this game.  Now the coolest part is that I have been able to invest into the lives of these guys for over 12 years (Nevin 7 years, Nick 4 years and Anthony 1).  It was great to spend some time with them as they are starting college, getting for the Marines and becoming men.  I can't tell you how thankful I am that I got to attend this game but more importantly to spend time with these men.

HELP! I'm a HS Graduate

These last few weeks have been great but heartbreaking in ministry.  We have seen students pack their bags, have a party and then head off to college.  Its great fun to see them grow up and head off to college but its tough to wonder how they will handle the world.  I hope that we have trained up students to love God and like others.  I hope that we have helped them learn how to connect with God on their own.  I know that we have done our best that we can but there is still that thought that creeps in and wonders how they will do.

Here are five things that I have been thinking for students entering college, moving cities, having their routine changed or just really wanting to take their walk with Christ to the next level:

Get Connected in a Local Church
If you have moved to go to college you need to get connected in a local church.  Find somewhere that is fairly close to your school to attend.  I think this is the first priority in your new endeavor in life.  College is going to take up a good deal of your time and you need to get this piece in place ASAP.

Serve in a Ministry
Once you find a church that you love make a commitment to that church.  I have pushed many of you to serve here at South Hills so I want you to make that same commitment to the local church you are now attending.  If you are staying here in Vegas "re-up" your commitment to South Hills and your area of ministry.

Read Your Bible
I know this may sound like a resounding gong to read your Bible but you need to find a way to connect with God on a daily basis and this has been one of the best methods.  Just this morning I was reading the Psalms and found some verses that identify the character of God.  These verses help strengthen my faith!

Identify Yourself as A Christian
When you step onto a new campus there are going to be so many different things that you can get involved in.  You need to start this journey off right and identify yourself as a Christian on your new college campus.  This doesn't mean being weird or anything but it means standing up for what you believe in.

Join a Life Group
The place that I have seen the most change in my life is when I am doing life with others.  This could be called a: Small Group, Life Group, Growth Group or something else.  Find out who leads them and get involved with one.  Figure out a way to get connected with others in Christian Accountability.

This list not an "all-inclusive" list but a starting point to keep your walk with Christ strong!

Baptism: Summer 2011

Yesterday we baptized some very special students!

I have been a part of many baptism services since I started in ministry.  For those of us in ministry you know that every time we baptize someone it is very special to us.  Yesterday when we baptized these students it was extra special and I want to share four things that made it extra special:


1) This is a group of students we invested in
Most of the students we baptized yesterday we have invested in for over two years.  Some of these students gave their lives to Christ when they were freshman in our high school ministry.  We have seen these students grow through out high school and seen them make some great choices as they have followed Christ.

2) These students are committed to Christ
I do not want this statement to be misleading or degrading to anyone.  I also want to be honest.  I have fallen into baptizing students, and adults, that I wish I would have challenged to grow more in their faith before making this choice.  This group of students were committed.  Many of these students have passed up other baptism services because they were not sure if they were ready yet.  They made sure that they were ready to live this life out and follow the choice they have made.

3) We baptized them in our church
For the life our our church we have typically baptized people outside the walls of the church building and I love that!  Yesterday we did something different and I think it went so good!  We took this group of students and baptized them inside our church, during our 11am service.  We had our entire church focused on seeing this group make this commitment to God and I loved seeing that.

4) I had front row seats to life change
As a pastoral leader I get a cool seat.  Sometimes that seat is tough because I see the painful things from the front row and shield others from seeing that.  Yesterday morning I got the best seat in the house.  I was able to watch the water roll over these students faces and see their expression coming out of the water.  I was able to give them their first hug as they exited the water.  If you rewind four years I have also had the opportunity to see many of these students raise their hand and see their need for a savior.

I am so thankful that I have had a front row seat to the life change in all of your lives.  I love you guys.  You can see more pictures of the baptism by clicking here. 

Encouragement from Hume Lake 2011

This summer was a great year being at Hume Lake.  I think it was my best summer there that I have ever experienced.  Something that added to that joy this summer was two things I received while up at Hume.  This summer I had two parents send me two different things.  One parent sent me a big box of a candy with a cool note in there and the other parent sent a heart felt thank you card.

The first note of encouragement came from a family with this box of candy!  Now the candy was really cool and we figured out that a parent caught my joke (most jokes are half serious) that I shared in our parent meeting prior to camp to send me up some candy while I was gone.  I was not expecting to get what I received but I was so happy.  And when I got that box of candy I let our adult leaders have first pick (after I ate a few goodies).  This box was stacked full of candy!  There was so much candy that I was able to share it with the lead counselors at Hume and even hook up the guys in my cabin.

Now the card I got was very encouraging.  Its interesting how a simple card can encourage someone when they are loving on their child.

Here are some thoughts that any parent can do next time someone takes their child on a trip:

• Send an encouraging card thanking that person for investing in their child's life
• Send a box of candy
• Ask another person on the trip to give the person a card, or gift, while they are away (this option can save money or be useful if mail will not be available)
• Write a hand written note and slip it the person's backpack so they find it later in the week
• Give the person a Starbucks card as they head out of town (most weekends away with students are long and can become tiring)

Here is a copy of the letter that came with my box of candy.  Very creative!

My New Role: Pastor of Discipleship

Last night was a very difficult night for me.  Last night was the night that we shared with our students about some of the things that we have been working hard on, behind the scenes, to make South Hills a more effective church.  Part of this will include a role transition for me.  Starting September I will be transitioning out of student ministries and into a new role: Pastor of Discipleship.

About two months ago I had a conversation with the leadership of our church and during that conversation I was asked to transition into this new role to help us grow the church.  This new role is going to stretch me in some pretty big ways and as I have prayed through it I think it's going to stretch my faith also.

About a year ago it became evident to me that our High School Ministry was functioning like a one-legged pirate.  I shared this with leaders and students.  Now one-legged pirates are cool and people want to see them and take their picture with them but they are not balanced.  Our High School Ministry was not balanced in the Biblical Purposes and it was hurting our growth in students lives.  This same analogy works for our church.  Our church has a great week worship experience but we are lacking in discipling believers.

As I move into this new role, initially, my main responsibility will be to build on what we currently have going in our Life Groups area.  As we develop those, recruit more leaders and get more people in church involved them my role will expand.  Some areas we have talked about would include: Missions (local and global), Spiritual Formation, and Accountability.  I would really appreciate your prayers as we move into this new role and transition out of student ministries.  

Now let me share some things about this change:

• Chase Feindel, our Middle School Pastor, will provide leadership for all Student Ministries
• I am not in trouble
• This new role is going to stretch me
• Charity and I have prayed about this role and feel God leading us in this direction
• We love our church
• I have spoken with our Elders at our church and the affirmation I have received from them is: "Neal, we think you are the only person on our staff who can do this."
• My pastor, Kevin Wehr, have given me his vote of confidence to lead this area of ministry

Hume Lake 2011: Meditating on Scripture

This summer at Hume the staff did something different.  Honestly, at first, I was a little annoyed.  I love going to Hume because they have an amazing program and I can trust what they are doing so my team and I can hang out with students.  This summer as we went over the schedule the staff shared an addition to the schedule this year that would give each pastor 90 minutes to spend with just their church.  Some ideas that were thrown out were to play volleyball together, to go to the cove or just do something with your church.

At first I wasn't sure what to do so I needed to seek Jesus.  After taking the night to think/pray about it I came up with the fact that our students needed to learn some spiritual exercises.  I was pretty nervous because our ministry is very evangelistic focused and I felt that we needed to teach our students how to meditate on scripture using a practice that has been used throughout the church for centuries: Lectio Divina.

Wednesday afternoon we piled our students in the chapel and worked through this exercise:

1) Find a word in scripture (Lectio)
I started out reading Psalm 46:10 and asked students to find a word in that verse.  When you meditate on scripture it is helpful to use the Psalms but you can meditate on pretty much any scripture in the Bible.  I have used this practice while reading the Gospels, Epistles and Psalms.  You can take a few minutes on this part to read through scripture and while reading you find a word that grabs your attention and sticks out to you.

2) Listen to the word (Meditatio)
Now that you have a word in your mind comes the fun part (it can also be the most difficult part).  See we live in a culture that rejects down town and relaxation.  Meditating on scripture is not something that we tend to encourage in the church.  This can be difficult but very rewarding.  After you have found the word take some time to meditate on that word.  When your mind wonders just bring that word right back to the front of your mind and focus on that word and allow it to just speak to you.

3) Pray on that scripture (Oratio)
After you have meditated on that word for a couple minutes take some time to pray about that word.  Ask God what that word has to do in your life right now, how that word can grow you in your walk with Christ and what could happen in your life if you would trust God more.  This is a cool part that just causes you to pray specifically on that certain word.

4) Abide in God (Contemplatio)
Now this is where it really gets cool.  After you have found your word, you have taken some time to meditate on that word, you have prayed through that word for a few minutes now is when you get to do something that can be amazing: spend time with God.  You just chill with God in this portion of the spiritual exercise.  This is where you allow God to speak to you through your word and encourage you in what He would ask of you.

Now its your turn to spend time with God and allow Him to speak to your heart through His word!

Hume Lake Paintball

This week I wanna take some time to dedicate this blog to some of the amazing things that God did while we were at Hume Lake!

Every year we take some of our students to play paintball while at Hume Lake and this year was no different.  The only change was that twenty minutes prior to paintball we had students mediating on God's word and getting super connected to Jesus right before they shot each other!  So its the middle of the week and playing paintball on Wednesday afternoon this year was amazing!

My first year of Hume Lake (summer 2005) some of the students said that the only way they would play paintball would be in shorts and wife beaters (tank tops).  That has been the standard for our paintball attire ever since that summer.  Now you are probably thinking something like this: "That is stupid to play paintball in shorts and a tank top".  You are right.  Its not the smartest thing that we can do but it is so fun!

This year was even better because one of my friends Kurt Johnson is working up at Hume and he brought his Go Pro on the paintball field and made this video.  Make sure to watch it all the way through so you can see how my armpit it bleeding at the end!

Hume Lake 2011: Decision Night

Tonight was an amazing night at Hume Lake... amazing may not be the best word to describe what happened tonight so let me share the story with you.

I love that Hume Lake is all about students growing in their relationship with Christ.  Part of growing means starting a relationship with Christ and that is exactly what tonight was all about.  Chapel started around 7pm and the worship set was really good.

After worship I just felt the need to head outside so I can pray for some students.  I listened in the pastors message while I prayed for some of the students in our group.  That lead to praying for some of the leaders in our group who would be talking with these students later.  See when I was praying I was expecting God to work in these students lives.

After the message I headed back into Chapel and the pastor had already asked students who made a choice for Christ to stand up.  I looked over to my right and saw a handful of students who were standing up.  In that group was a young, 16 year-old, who is in my cabin.  I have been praying for him for the last couple weeks and I was so excited to see that he had stood up!

For the next thirty minutes I was able to talk with this young man, cry with him and just listen.  I am so proud of him and the choice that he made tonight.  It was great to listen to his story and just hear how he was reluctant to come to Hume.  It was great to hear him say how he was fighting with his mom for sending him up here this week and then to hear him say how thankful he is for his mom sending him.

Now that part is the best part of the story but it gets better.  When this young man left chapel there was a group of about forty students waiting for him when he left chapel.  When he opened the doors they cheered for him, hugged him and encouraged him.  They didn't do this for just this one young man but for the other six students who stayed back tonight to make a decision for Christ.

I love seeing High School students being the church!