Lahaina

Lahaina Beach on the island of Maui

I got lots of wonderful comments and tweets last week when I remembered the great youth group song Pharaoh, Pharaoh.  So many of my readers had fond memories of rocking out to that song, and talked about how much fun it was (and in some cases, still is!) to let loose when doing music at youth group.  But as wonderful as Pharaoh was, it is only #2 on my list of songs that used to shake the very foundations of our youth room.  There is only one #1- and it is Lahaina.


Lahaina was an obscure little song off of Kenny Loggins and Jim Messina's 1973 album, Full Sail.  Through the years I have sung the song with youth from all over the country at conferences and camps, and for some the song is synonymous with me.  But it is not my song.  I knew the original recording, but had never really thought about it as a song to use with a youth group until I returned to Quaker Lake Camp in the late 80s as a Camp Pastor.   My old friends (and former New Garden Friends Meeting youth group members) Jay Wilkins and Darek Newby were serving as the song leaders at that time and they asked me to play alongside them.  Much to my surprise, I saw that Lahaina had been added to the song sheets.  The guys had changed one word ("rum" became "tea"), sped it up a bit, made the last line of each verse a bit more "screamo" and added some dance moves.  I was stunned- it was beyond awesome!  Among the great features of the song as we did it later on in various youth groups and camps were the Human Maracas (people making sounds like maracas while the rest of the group sang the words) during the chorus, and the countdown we added ("1,2, 1-2-3-4!") leading up to the world famous Bo-Dohs.  As you can hear on the video below, there are 4 lines of Bo-Dohs each time they occur, and after each line we would all leap into the air and spin to the left...or the right...we were never all that consistent!  This meant that at the end, you were facing the front of the room again.  It was wild, it was crazy, and it was impossible not to enjoy. Plus it was OUR song. Anytime we sang it other youth groups looked at us with a bit of shock, awe & envy.  


Over time the song became not only a great sing-a-long song, but also a great mood changer and ice breaker.  Every now and then, for no reason and usually without warning, I would simply do the countdown...and students would leap to their feet and do a round of the Bo-Dohs.  My favorite memory of that was on an airplane headed to NYC, and I suddenly counted down.  It is very hard to leap and spin while seated with your tray tables in the locked and upright position.  :)


There were an awful lot of great songs we sang in youth groups over the years, and many of them had great spiritual depth and meaning. Many of them gave us new windows into our faith and our Savior.  Many of those songs are still near and dear to the hearts of dozens of the youth I served.  This is a silly song about a centipede.  But the one song I know I could walk into a room full of my youth group alumni and start playing that would make them get to their feet and make their eyes light up would have to be Lahaina.  As they read this I know they are ready...just waiting...for me to do the countdown (perhaps even in Spanish...) so they can go wild.  And that is a memory I will always cherish.  If you were not in one my groups or didn't go to Quaker Lake, you may not have ever heard this song before. If you ever sing with students, you need to learn this song! Watch the video.  Experiment with the changes, or call me and I'll sing it for you.  Learn to Bo-Doh.  And have a blast in the name of Jesus!  Who says Christians don't have fun?

Because of Jesus,

Ohana Means Family

It was early in my time (2002) at Wesley Memorial UMC that Walt Disney Animation released the movie Lilo & Stitch.  It quickly became one of my son Will's favorite movies, and once we got it on VHS we watched it a lot- A LOT!  It's a great movie with wonderful music (much of it from Elvis!) and a tremendous story with a great deal of heart.  But for me, the more I watched it, the more I saw our student ministry in it.  Let me explain.

In the film, Lilo is a little girl ( somewhat of a wild child) who has lost her mom and dad and is being raised by her older sister.  Despite this, she has a strong idea of what family is.  She is Hawaiian, and her word for family is Ohana.  As is said several times in the movie, "Ohana means family.  And family means no one gets left behind.  Or forgotten."  As I have mentioned here before, when I looked at our youth group family at WMUMC I saw a lot of kids from broken families, and a lot of students who felt like they had been left behind and forgotten.  There were families dealing with sickness and loss.  There were families where abuse was taking place.  There were Sunday afternoons when over half of our group came from families who had no connection to the church.  There were weeks when teenagers stayed at the church or my home (right next door) from the end of the last worship service (around noon) until Graceland started at 5 PM- because if they went home no one would bring them back.  There were times (and this is true for almost every youth pastor I have ever known) when I would pay for supper or a movie for a dozen youth, because there was no other way they could be part of an outing.  We used our youth ministry budget to keep costs low for trips and offer scholarships so everyone had opportunities to share in all of our "family" activities.   It was crucial for so many of these teens to be included in our Ohana, because their families had indeed left them behind.  We gave them opportunities they had never had before.  We were simply seeking to show them love in the name of Jesus, because in the end that is the Ohana that matters most- the family of God.

We were far from perfect.  There were times students felt left out and inadequate.  We had to deal with cliques, prejudices and all of the other things that make the teenage world such a caste system.  But the one thing we could always make sure of is that each and every one of them knew they were loved.  The old saying, "We may not be much, but we're all they've got" was often in my prayers.  In the movie, Stitch (an alien creature, for the uneducated) become part of Lilo's Ohana.  At one point he describes being part of that family like this:  "This is my family.  I found it, all on my own.  Is little, and broken, but still good.  Yeah, still good."   I have heard students describe our youth ministry family with that exact same sentiment.  We were often seen as odd by the rest of the church.  We didn't always manage to keep students in the family.  But our Youth Ministry Team always did their best to make sure that no one ever felt left behind or forgotten.  I had a WMUMC student recently tell me (and leave a comment here on the blog) that Graceland saved her life.  And that was what our Ohana was really all about.- offering hope, community and the life-saving love of Jesus to all who "found us."

However...as we see with our own federal government, where and on whom we spend our money can be a sensitive (and often nasty) issue.  And so it was at WMUMC.  That story next Monday.  Tomorrow, get ready to read and write- on other blogs.  It's Comment Day!

Because of Jesus,

Finding Community

As I mentioned yesterday, the youth ministry of the Union Church of Hinsdale had no sense of true community when I arrived there in 2000. Turning it from a "youth group" into an Acts 2:42 fellowship was high on my list of priorities- although I admit that list was very long.  The more that I became aware that God's purpose for me in Illinois was to Plow the Road, the more important building that fellowship became.  When I started our small group Bible study in the Fall of 2000, I had no idea what God was about to do to my life and that ministry.

The group that was to become the core of our Acts 2:42 project at UC had a lot in common with the disciples of Jesus.  They were a odd collection of ragamuffins, misfits and outcasts.  Many of them didn't own a bible when we started.  Kristen Mann was involved in numerous school activities and never made it to youth group on Sunday.  Greta Staat, though only a freshman, had "leader" written all over her.  One had tried to kill herself twice in the preceding months.  Cara Stevens was much younger than the rest of the group; she was also the furthest along on her spiritual journey.  The three guys who were coming had previously seemed to me like total goofballs.  And almost none of them had strong relationships with one another.  It hardly seemed like a group that could change the culture of an entire church.

But they did just that.  The more we were together, the more they wanted to be together. We were finding community.  We studied the very basics of our faith in scripture.  We prayed together each week- and I discovered only a couple of them had ever prayed out loud before.  We brought in food and occasionally did our study at the Jade Dragon for dinner.  We became a fellowship, sharing life together and learning to lean on one another and on Jesus.  We began discussing life's important issues and how faith could and should be a part of our everyday lives.  It was incredible to watch what happened to that little group in one school year.  And David Knecht- the person to whom I felt God was entrusting the long term care of that ministry- was a part of all of it as well.  When it finally came time for me to leave UC in October of 2001 I had trouble letting to of that amazing, spirit-filled bunch.

When you spend as many years in ministry as I did, hindsight often gives you surprising answers when you seek to determine the people who had the most impact on your life.  The names you see above would fit that description.  And tomorrow I will induct into my Youth Group Hall of Fame a co-worker from Kissimmee who is always on my mind in the Christmas season and should have made the HOF way before now.  See you then!

Jesus- the only hope for me is you...and You alone!

The One and Only Senior Trip

Front Row:  Cyndi Reep, Teresa Reep, Tommy Weaver
Back Row:  Jacob Lupfer, Cindy Franklin, Ben Thompson, Nate Hill, Matt Stewart
The clown is NOT Jill Souther!

I got into a bit of trouble here yesterday when I mentioned certain graduating classes that had a special impact on my life and ministry at the First United Methodist Church of Kissimmee and failed to mention some others.  Someone (choosing to remain anonymous, although my money is on Erica) commented that the Class of '03 was small (Caitlin Esry, Erica Souther, Josh Fry and Eric Jakobsen) but faithful.  And they were right.  So was the Class of '02 (Amber Herrick, Sarah Crudele, Adam Hill, Andrew Rogers and friends) and the Class of '00 ( or should I just say John Holmes- I think he was it for that year!).  I also heard from Catie Cook, reminding me that she too was a part of the class of 2001.  But the comment that really caught my attention came from another anonymous person who said the the Class of '99 was the most special.  And after a moment of reflection, I couldn't argue with that statement.  The Class of '99 was indeed special.

For many years I had been aware that we in student ministry do a poor job of marking significant events in the lives of our students.  Rites of passage like drivers licences and moving into high school often go unmarked when they should be celebrated.  At various times I offered to take students to dinner when they turned 16 and other special times.  Our Senior Roasts were often the highlights of  the graduation season for our youth.  I had always wanted to do a senior trip, but it was one of those things I had never been able to fit into my schedule or theirs.  In early 1999, I decided to change that.  I began talking with that phenomenal group about a trip, and after some serious planning we picked a weekend and decided to go to Atlanta.  Not everyone could go, but as you can see from the picture at the top (I could have sworn Erin Bay & Jill Souther went too- am I nuts?), we had a good group.  And we had a blast.

We went to an Atlanta Hawks game (that's where we met the clown).  We toured the World Of Coke and Underground Atlanta.  While there we ate lunch at Hooter's, which at the time seemed scandalous!  Nate made us go see The Matrix, and (at least) Teresa and I feel asleep.  We visited the Hard Rock Cafe.  And we celebrated the memories and friendships that had made the previous 5 years so special.  It was a wonderful weekend.

I realized that this was something I should have been doing for years, and was excited to begin a new tradition.  I didn't know at the time that 1999 would be the last class I would see graduate during my time at FUMC-K, and the only Senior Trip I would ever lead.  I didn't fully understand how important such a trip could be until early 2000 when I announced I was leaving.  The aforementioned John Holmes, one of our only active seniors that year, was devastated that he would not get a senior trip- even if it was just the two of us.  Relationships formed in the name of Jesus are amazing and powerful, and far too often underestimated.  Tomorrow I will tell you about another trip (from another church with an entirely different group of people) that also demonstrates the significance of those bonds.  But for today, I say thank you to the Class of 1999 for their leadership, their friendship, and the amazing part they played in my spiritual growth during our years together.    I also want to welcome you all to my Hall of Fame.  Come on down to Tampa and we'll do it again...

Because of Jesus,

Oops- Twice!

One of our annual summer trips during the late 1990's was a Mid-High Adventure Trip, usually to Atlanta for a Braves game and Six Flags and then on to rafting the Ocoee River.  The events of one such trip are the subject of today's' posting.

On this particular trip there was a group of middle school girls who played a major part in our adventure.  Ashley Blazina, Stephanie Gorman (pictured at right on the Ocoee), Natalie Moon and a few others would up killing time in the hotel one afternoon and getting themselves into a bit of a situation.  They had been goofing around, trying on each others' clothing, when they got a bit silly.  Several of them had put on bras and panties on the outside of their regular tops and shorts.  They were fully dressed, they just had underwear OVER their clothing.  They decided to run around our floor of the hotel and show their friends.  In the midst of this, they somehow locked themselves out of their room.  They came to see me, feeling like they were totally embarrassed and unable to go to the front desk and get a key.  I made them suffer a while, then reminded they that they were fully dressed and could actually just remove the undergarments and go get the key.  NOW their embarrassment was complete...

Later that evening they got even.  Jerry Hanbery, my fabulous Summer Intern for four years, had for some reason shaved his head earlier that summer.  The stubble was growing back, and he was thinking of shaving it again.  The girls (see above paragraph) told him he didn't need to shave it; they could remove the stubble with Nair.  So they took Jerry to their room and applied the hair removal foam to his head (the rumor that they also gave him a mani/pedi has never been confirmed!).  And it worked.  His scalp was smooth...  and bright red!!!  The Nair irritated his head so badly that it looked horribly sunburned.  And it actually burned as well.  He was miserable.  He kept trying to make the burning stop, but he had no luck.  It didn't help that we spent the next few days out in the sun.  I can't believe I don't have any pictures of the "Flaming Head:" they would be classics! 

Both of these stories illustrate the silliness that we both allowed and cherished on our trips.  Moments of shared goofiness helped us to bond and grow as a group and in my individual relationships with the students I served.  There will be many more "Jerry" stories in the future and another Mid-High Adventure story coming Friday.  Tomorrow you can come back and learn the true value of a Slinky...

Because of Jesus,

7 Things: The Last Gasp Summer Blowout

Every church I ever served as Youth Pastor, it always seemed there was one annual trip or program that became the signature event at that location.  At New Garden Friends Meeting it was our Marathon Lock-Ins.  At Springfield Friends Meeting it was TNT.  At the the First United Methodist Church, I believe it was the Last Gasp Summer Blowout.  Each of my six summers in Kissimmee we took a weekend trip to Melbourne Beach (technically Indiatlantic Beach) for a time of sun, fun, fellowship and worship.  These were some amazing weekends, and today I present another of my lists of 7 Things, this time about those Blowouts.  Enjoy!

1. The first two years (1994, '95) we took this trip in mid-August.  The other 4 were held Labor Day Weekend.  The first year we actually drove back on Sunday morning and did a Youth Sunday where we led worship that we had planned during the weekend.  Not sure whose idea that was...
2. Once we quit the bonehead Youth Sunday planning idea after 1994, every year had a theme.  In chronological order they were:  Love One Another;  Hitting a Home Run in Our Spiritual Lives;  Consuming Fire;  Crossing the Line;  and Into Jesus. 

3. We stayed at the Quality Suites in on the beach for all but one of those years.  The Suites had received major hurricane damage and we had to say at the Sheraton.  Our one year there we had a meeting room on an upper floor (great room with an incredible view), and after worship one night we celebrated a birthday (I believe Lauren Carr's) with cupcakes.  When I left the room that night, I found cupcake debris everywhere; there had been a food fight.  The elevator down to my room was covered in icing.  We cleaned it up and the culprits were taken care of in proper fashion.  I have been prejudiced against cupcakes ever since!
4. The rooms at the Quality Suites had oceanfront balconies, and in one of the early years (maybe the first) some of the guys took to throwing ice at some of the girls out on their balconies.  Erin Auginblick got hit by a piece, and we decided to make a point about the ice throwing.  She came down to our next meeting having been made up to look like her eye was all black and blue, and we made the guys feel like dirt for throwing the ice.  Later, when the scam was revealed, everyone had a good laugh and my point was made.  Every now and then you get one right...
5. The beach in that area was very rocky, and it seemed like every time we were there the riptide was really bad.  So we spent most of our beach time in the pool.  I have great memories of that pool, including tossing my very young son Will (born in July, 1995) up an catching him.  He loved it, except for the one time I dropped him and he went under...but that was not so bad either!  We also had some massive "chicken fights."  I also remember having some great discussions and fellowship times in the jacuzzi by the pool, which we took advantage of quite often, even very late at night.

6. In 1998 (I think) our worship leaders for the weekend were our old friends from Hawaii, the band Spooky Tuesday (at right with Darin Miller).  By then they had done two concerts for us in Kissimmee and we loved them.  I remember two things about them being with us:  they rented a surf board from a local shop and somehow broke it.  And at some point that weekend, they taught us a new song called Prince of Peace.  Jessica & Kevin (far left) later e-mailed me the chords and lyrics and it became a signature song for our student ministry.
7. The closing worship services for these weekends became legend (wait for it...)ary.  The year of the cupcakes I did a dramatic story about a young woman who gave up on herself.  I used a clay statue of a girl to illustrate the story, pouring different color paints on her to represent her moods and feelings.  When she reaches her lowest point and is considering suicide, I pulled out a hidden hammer and SMASHED the green ware.  Pieces went everywhere, and the group was stunned.  I then brought out another, new replica statue and talked about how Jesus can restore us and heal us even in our darkest hours.   It was an awesome night.  But it was not the best closing worship in Melbourne.  That would be the year I told the story of the Warm Fuzzies.  Everyone was given colored fluffy balls to share with their friends as they told them how much they meant to them.  Connor Lewis made us all cry, and then the spirit just spread around the room as every one shared their feelings.  It was one of the best nights of worship I have ever been a part of, and it is representative of how special all those Last Gasp Summer Blowouts were. 

As always, I would love to hear from anyone who was there and read your memories.  The guestbook is broken and gone, but you can still leave comments below or e-mail me.  Thanks for all the memories and love you all gave me over the years!

Because of Jesus,

In Trouble Again

Each afternoon during our week in the mountains of Tennessee we had free time at Mountain Top.  This time resulted in naps, some wonderfully hardcore basketball games and other leisure activities.  One such afternoon I decided to go sit on the grassy hillside and play my guitar.  This was my Applause guitar, with the steel neck and the fiberglass back- the one Alan Brown nicknamed "The Boat."  It was the same guitar Jay Osborne had once dropped off the roof of the lodge at Quaker Lake in the early 80's (That's me pictured playing it at QLC in those same early 80's- by 1994 it was on its' last "string.").  It was beat up, falling apart and almost impossible to tune anymore-  and I loved it.  I sat on the grass in the afternoon sun, playing songs and singing softly to myself.  It was a great way to kick back.

As I sat playing, a few members of our group came and sat with me, and we began to sing songs that were familiar to us.  The more we sang and laughed and hung out on the lawn. the more people came over to join us.  After a while there were probably 50-75 youth and adults who had joined us, many of them calling out requests.  I tried to play them all.  And we sat there and sang praise to God for a long time.  Without question it was the best bonding time of the week.  Leaders from other groups thanked me for doing it, but in truth I had not done a thing.  As with all great moments of ministry, God had orchestrated this one.

At least one person did not see it that way.  The Director soon confronted me and wanted to know why I was trying to disrupt the camp.  Apparently, no ministry was allowed to happen unless it was planned and led by he and his staff.  I was actually told that if I did it again my group would be sent home.  To this day I still don't get it.  It was so tempting to leave right then and there, but I knew that was not the right thing to do.  I took my admonishment and tried to finish out the week without causing any more "trouble."  The week ended without further incident. 

The bonding that took place around Scott Burlison's misadventures and his birthday, and around this incident, was of great help to me.  Many of the youth on this trip (and Jill Painter) were already very close.  The questions were about me.  Would I fit in?  Would they learn to trust and respect me as a leader?  I came away from Mountain Top feeling like we had made great progress in the midst of a rough week.  The trip home would only confirm that. 

Because of Jesus,

"I'll have what he's having..."

One of the great stories told about the late Rich Mullins in the book An Arrow Pointing to Heaven concerns his time in the pubs of Ireland.  Rich loved Ireland, and loved to spend his evenings mixing and mingling with the people at their local watering holes.  Irish pubs are famous for their vitality and hospitality, but there was one odd thing about Rich enjoying them so much.  He was a teetotaler- Rich did not drink alcohol at all!  But still he would be in the pubs, telling stories and laughing with the people.  And almost every night, according to author James Smith, Rich would be honored with the ultimate pub salute- patrons yelling out, pointing to him and saying, "I'll have a pint of what he's having!"  They could see that Rich was overflowing- with the love of Jesus.

Over the years my youth groups were often accused of being the "life of the party."  We were always very visible; we were often very loud.  There was never any doubt that when we were together, we were having fun.  Other youth groups were often jealous of the joy and freedom we shared.  People we didn't know often weren't sure what to make of us- we never seemed "pious" enough to be a church group to them.  We seldom had rules and regulations; we had a shared respect born from a love for one another.  This often freaked parents out, but it made our ministry special and different.  And people saw this difference in us.  Every motel and every restaurant we ever booked invited us back and commented on how much they enjoyed having us- even the ones that were scared to death of teenagers!  It's not that we were angels; I made bazillions of mistakes and we did not always represent Christ as we should have. When we did fail, we would address the mistakes, forgive each other, and move on.  The band Stellar Kart once described grace with the words "There will always be a second chance and you will always be on your first try."  We tried to live out that kind of love.  We were far from perfect, and we were sometimes obnoxious.  It's just that we were Jesus Freaks, full of life, love and joy.  We knew how to SHINE (Make 'em wonder what you've got, make them wish that they were not on the outside looking bored.  SHINE, let it shine before all men, let 'em see your works and then let them glorify the LORD- Newsboys)!

There are so many people who have a view of the church as boring and joyless.  It is my prayer that from New Garden to Springfield, on to Kissimmee and Chicago, Tampa and Waycross, that people who encountered my groups in restaurants, malls and everywhere else found themselves wondering where our joy came from.  The answer, of course, is Jesus.  I hope that after they encountered me, surrounded by teenagers and singing Lean On Me in line at Disney World that people young and old looked at each other, smiled, and said, "I'll have a glass of what they're having!" - and that through our actions and silliness Jesus was glorified!

One last thought- if you think that following Jesus is boring, I suggest you try reading your New Testament one more time...

Because of Jesus,

The Search For the Pink Panther

The Mall Scavenger Hunt was one of the regular events of my student ministries over the years, and the tradition began during the Springfield years (1986-94).  We would head over to the big city (Greensboro) and the Four Seasons Town Centre. This was before the days when mall security would freak out about groups of teenagers playing a game in the mall.  The youth would be broken into teams and sent out with a list of things to find.  Always included was one special individual each group had to seek and find.  Here's how it worked:  Groups would be told that somewhere in the mall an employee in one of the stores had been asked to play our game.  That person would respond to only one name.  Many times it was the Pink Panther; other times it was the Blue Gnu or the Purple People Eater.  Our kids could approach the workers and simply ask them "are you the Pink Panther?"  If they tried to explain, or say that their goofy youth leader had them playing a stupid game, then the real Pink Panther had permission to lie about their identity.  So we would have 20 or so youth wandering the mall asking people if they were the Pink Panther!  This would happen as they were doing the rest of the Scavenger Hunt.  I found a copy of our 1992 hunt; I thought it might be fun to look back at some of the actual items they had to search for and do: 

• In how many (and which) stores can you purchase the movie 101 Dalmatians?
• Buy something that costs as close to 25 cents as possible without going over.
• Where can you purchase a poster featuring Dana Carvey as President Bush? (That would have been daddy Bush, not W.)
• How much is the most expensive swim suit in the mall and where can you buy it?
• On which Billy Joel CD (NOT Greatest Hits!) can you find the song Themes From An Italian Restaurant?
• What's the largest size bra Victoria's Secret sells?
• Which store sells Ren and Stimpy boxer shorts for $14.99?
• Where can you find a tape by the band One Bad Pig?
• How much would it cost (before tax) to buy a taco supreme from Taco Bell, a jumbo chili dog from Frank'N'Stein, one scoop of Baskin-Robbins ice cream and a large coke from McDonald's?

There were many more questions, a scoring system, and all kinds of other things to make the game fun, but basically, if you found the Pink Panther, you won.  There were also two bonus questions in 1992 that were really tricky.  The first was "Who is Yensid?"   The second was an activity:  Find the place where you can spend the dollar I gave you, yet still have a dollar when you are through.  I'll give you a hint; both answers could be found at The Disney Store!  Leave your answers in the comment section below if you'd like to play at home, and I'll give you the answers tomorrow.

Jesus once said that people would recognize his disciples by the way they loved one another.  I was always so proud to see my students playing hard, respecting others and caring for one another for all to see when we would play these wild games in public places. The person I would ask to be the mystery person always told me it was the highlight of their day, even thought they usually thought I was crazy. I think lots of adults often saw us in action and thought "I'll have a glass of what they're having!"  But more about that is coming Sunday...

Because of Jesus,