I realize I should have posted this long ago...but my computer crashed and I was just able to get the info off.  Forgive me. :o)

http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"> name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"> name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 11"> name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 11">

November 21-24^th, I had the opportunity to attend the National Youth Workers Convention in Nashville, TN.  This would be my second year to attend such an awesome event, with over 5,000 youth pastors from across the nation, all from different backgrounds, denominations, political views, and stories to tell.  Honestly, it is probably the only place on the face of the earth where youth workers feel that other people truly understand them, and for me it was a time of complete refreshment, renewal, insight, encouragement and joy. 

 

Thanks to my home church (First Presby of CC…what what…represent!)  I was allowed to attend the conference as part of my study leave.  I am so thankful that my congregation encourages it’s staff to learn more, get new ideas, and continue to be challenged.  Coming face to face with God is what keeps us going, because when my heart is in tune with God, I know I can do my job so much better. 

 

For those of you who don’t know, the conference is set up like this.  There are General Sessions where all 5,000 youth workers (talk about a room full of people with ADD…including myself,) gather together to hear speakers, enjoy talent, concerts, and times of worship through music.  There are 7 general session total.  Between these sessions are workshops, where specific topics are addressed.  There are usually 10 different workshops all at one time, and so you pick the ones that interest you or that you feel will help challenge you the most.  And finally, there is plenty of fun to go around.  A room where you can spend time in prayer called “sanctuary,” a prayer labrynth, an exhibit hall full of fun, free, and information items, a book store that sells everything a youth pastor could ever need (except for a can of silly string…grrr), an art room where you can worship through your creative side and there are plenty of little coffee shops, where some of my favorite moments of the conference occur, relationships, meeting new people, and prayer for one another.  I should also mention, very little sleeping occurs. 

 

There are 3 topics that continued to resonate with me throughout the weekend.  I feel they were the thing God wanted me to walk away from the conference with. 

1. We have got to work God’s word into our lives even more.  It is the only thing that is continuously true, will never fail, will never grow old.  Yes, we use the Bible in youth group and church, but how often do we truly apply its words to our lives.  To do so, one must not be a coward, because as speaker Francis Chan said, “Jesus’s words were hard.”
2. The church, is not about numbers.  It is not about how full the pews are, how many kids show up for youth group, Sunday School, or Sunday Night Light.  It is about relationships. God created the church to be a support system, where people can find genuine love, a place where they won’t be judged, a place they can go to when all else fails, and people there to welcome them in, no matter where they have been in life.
3. And finally, God is good.  All of the time.  Yes, we say this a lot, but how many of us truly live by those words.  ALL OF THE TIME?  You know, this past year hasn’t seemed so “good” to me.  More to come on this later though.  I want you to know, this point does have a happy ending…you just have to keep reading J

 

#1 God’s Word

 

I’m a firm believer that in this world today there isn’t a thing or a person that won’t let you down eventually.  We are all human, nothing less can be expected.  But there is one thing, one person, who remains constant and speaks the truth.  That is God.  And His word is the only source where we will truly find answers.  Answers that work.  The answers will be hard, the answers will often be what we don’t want to hear, the answers will go against everything the world tells us to do, but my friend, it is truth.  Some of you reading this could disagree with me.  I’m going to say this much, I have experienced it first hand.  Time and time again, it is the only thing that has remained true.

 

Teens who grew up in the church (we’re talking kids who heard God’s word multiple times in a day) were surveyed after they graduated high school about how they viewed God’s word.  Only 53% of them said they could use the Bible for everyday decisions.   This is a startling statistic to me, because that means, that almost half of our teens are going to sources that don’t always speak the truth to base very important decisions off of. 

 

Youth and many adults of today, see the Bible as a book that is irrelevant.  A book that has good advice but isn’t able to be applied to their everyday lives.  I as a youth worker, do not want to see this to continue to happen.  I will strive to help students see how God’s word is applicable to every situation they come across.  I want them to know that God’s word is meaningful.  I realize that I can’t create the hunger for God’s word in their lives.  God will create it.  I just need to pray and be a willing vessel. 

 

You know, God never instructs us to read his Bible, instead he uses words like “eat it, own it, make it the fabric of your lives.”  God is looking for intensity.  He desires for us to know Him, and reading His very words is one of the best ways to do this. 

 

This is why we are hoping to start an intense Bible study within our community.  A time and place where those who are wanting and ready to go deep can and will.  A time and place where God’s word is the star of the show. 

 

I found throughout the weekend, when I read God’s word with fresh eyes.  Ready to eat it and own it, how tasty and welcoming it was.  It was so alive, full of excitement and wisdom.  I want our youth to look at the Word through these eyes as well.

 

Will you please join with me in praying that God’s word will become alive and active, not only in our youth’s hearts, throughout the church.  And I’m not just talking CC Presby.  I’m talking the church across the world.  Covenant, Luthern, Episcapalian, Methodist, Christian, well you get the picture.

 

 

#2:  The Church.

 

I heard Francis Chan speak during the first General Session.  For those of you who don’t know Francis, he is a pastor in California.  He wrote the book “Crazy Love,” which we have in our church library (sorry though, I’m reading it right now, because Francis’s words were quite inspiring to me).  Here are some thoughts he shared on the church.

 

If you flip open your Bibles to Acts, you find that it talks about the first “church.”  Now this church didn’t have a building to meet in.  They met in each other’s homes and took on the attitude of my kids are your kids, my bank account is your bank account, my table of food is your table of food.  If someone had a bill to pay, someone paid it.  There was no trying to get ahead, just one another encouraging each other to continue serving the Lord.

 

Now this church was an unstoppable force.  Seriously, if you killed off one of them, their numbers would grow.  You see the story of Stephen who was stoned to death for his beliefs, and yet that didn’t stop the church, they continued to do what God had instructed them to do.  Nothing, not even death would slow them down from living out what God had instructed them to do.

 

How many times as a church, do we let the little things stop us from doing what God’s word desires us to do.  How many times do we let fear stop us from loving someone who smells bad or has a bad reputation?  How many times do we let money stop us from showing God’s love to someone in need? 

 

I’m not here to bash the church, I want to love the church, I want to be a part of the movement that gets the church back on track.  I want our church to set the example.  

 

#3  God is Good.

My journal entry from that day.

November 22, 2008

 It has been a year filled with problems.  I remember at last national youth workers convention, asking the Lord to make me alive in Him, and that I was willing to do whatever it takes.  I never realized this year would be filled with what it takes.  From Tom’s murder, to grandpa’s death, my heart break, changes in friendships, and Brock’s torn ACL;  my heart was torn in so many pieces.  I never knew if God and I would ever get through it.  I mean, I knew his Word said we would.  I had sang the songs many a times, that there was a light at the end of this tunnel, but I don’t know If I believed it.

 Today, I stood before the Lord, my soul, my inner most being, honestly knew that we had made it.  God had to pick me up and put me on His back, but we had made it.  As I looked at the black bracelet around my wrist, I knew what it represented, the pain, the bondage, and it was stretched out, because it was tired of hanging around, yet I was carrying it every single day.  I wanted that reminder to be gone.  So with a prayerful heart, I took the bracelet, and lifting it up to God, I continued to pour out saying, “Lord we made it, I never thought we would, but we did, and God you are so good, and in this past year, I have never felt so alive.”  The bracelet removal wasn’t enough.  I wanted to break its bondage.  Not knowing if I would physically be able to do this, I took it in my hands, and ever so gently pulled, to find the bracelet quickly shred.  The bondage is no more.  I have shook off the things that are hindering me to run this race and I am free.  Free of this. 

 

Isaiah 40:28-31

 

28 Do you not know?
       Have you not heard?
       The LORD is the everlasting God,
       the Creator of the ends of the earth.
       He will not grow tired or weary,
       and his understanding no one can fathom.

 29 He gives strength to the weary
       and increases the power of the weak.

 30 Even youths grow tired and weary,
       and young men stumble and fall;

 31 but those who hope in the LORD
       will renew their strength.
       They will soar on wings like eagles;
       they will run and not grow weary,
       they will walk and not be faint.

In this journey…

I was tired, he gave me strength

I was weak, and he gave me power.

I am a youth, and I never thought I would grow weary, but I was

And He faithfully renewed my strength.

Today I soar, I run, I dance. 

And meditating on your Word Lord, I realize,

I am not faint.

 

Today, for me, finally felt like the first day of summer.  A lot of different things happened that are cues to my body that summer is here. 

First off, I caved.  The air conditioner in my house is blasting through the vents.  I refuse to turn the air on until June 1^st, and yes, I am proud to say, I made it.  I miss the fresh air, but I am enjoying the refreshing cool air I experience when walking through the front door.

Second, I finally got to take a dip in our pool.  Yes, the water was a perfect 29 degrees….Celsius.  (For all of you who aren’t science nerds, that is what we would call 82 degrees Fahrenheit).  But, before I got to take that first glorious jump into the perfect sapphire serene environment, my brother Brock says my name in a very stern voice, followed by a very important statement.

“Christy, don’t freak out, but there is a snake in here.” 

My eyes follow the path his eyes are taking, and I see it, crawling out from Donna’s garden, under the fence that surrounds the pool, and finding its way onto the pool’s cement deck.  From what I can tell, it is about 5 feet long, black, and disgusting.  The thought crosses my mind, “what is my next move?”  I first think to not head the direction the snake is, and hop the 10 foot tall wall on the other side.  (I think my adrenaline was pumping enough that  I could have made it in one leap).  Instead, I quickly set down the water strainer, and take off running towards my house, when I finally catch my air, I let out a shrill scream. 

Now, I’m not the brave one, but Brock, Steph, and Rebecca were.  My job was to get the tools to make the kill.  Of course, Steph and I don’t own snake killers (aka spades, shovels or hoes).  I find myself running over to Donna’s, disturbing her shower, in order to get the tools.  Meanwhile, the snake decides to take a dip in the pool, and then slithers out the other side and into the lilac bushes that line our backyard. 

The only tools Donna has are a 2 foot tall shovel and a hoe.  Not really the best tools to kill a snake the way I’ve been taught.  For all of you reading this, I know the best way to kill a snake.  My uncle did that for one entire summer.  First you hit them on the head as hard as you can, to stun them.  Then after you have basically knocked them out, you chop their heads off.  Now, repeat after me, “Stun em’ and Chop em.”

I call my mom, and she brings the goods.  A shovel and a spade.  And soon, here comes Barry, Donna’s son.  By this time, the snake has crawled up the bushes, so Barry snags it with a hoe and stuns it.  Brock, chops its head off.  The snake killers…my heroes!

Now I must mention, this is my third snake encounter in 2 days.  What do you think God is trying to tell me here people? 

Needless to say, the snake is gone, I can swim happily in the serpent free pool, and I finally got to jump off the diving board, even make a pretty poor attempt at diving into the pool (although it wasn’t a belly buster…BONUS!) 

Happy Summer Everyone!