The Grace Spot

In my 28 years as a youth pastor I remember countless times when I wished I knew someone who was totally disconnected from my church whom I could talk to about the issues and challenges of ministry.  Someone who could listen without prejudice.  Someone whom I could really vent to- maybe even yell at a bit.  Someone who would pray for me, my ministry, my family, my programs and my events on a daily basis.  Someone who could offer me encouragement when I was faced with tough times and difficult decisions.  I far too often didn't have that person in my life.  And that's not a good thing...

God has laid it on my heart to remain in ministry with the students and adults who have been such a huge part of my life for so long.  He is calling me to make myself available to be that person in the lives of the "friends in faith" I have been making on Twitter over the past few years.  If my experience and encouragement can be of a support to you, then please feel free to call on me.  If there are things that I can pray about on your behalf, just let me know. I want to be here to serve you in the name of Jesus.  There will be no condemnation or judgement.  This is The Grace Spot- a place where all are welcome to come for mercy, love and forgiveness.  Feel free to e-mail me at Youthguy07@aol.com or to contact me through Twitter.  In the past 6 years I have been shown grace and forgiveness is more ways than it is possible to count.  It's time to pay God's love forward in anyway possible.  God bless!

Because of Jesus,

The Creeping Evil of Starbucks

Yesterday was a tragic day for those who treasure the wonder of the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World.  The Main Street Bakery, long a fixture on Main Street USA, closed it's doors for the final time.  This thriving business which produced so many of the wonderful smells associated with that great walk down Main Street is a victim of corporate synergy and greed.  The Main Street Bakery is being replaced with a Starbucks.  It's the end of Walt Disney World as we know it...

I am not a Starbucks fan, but then again I am not much of a coffee drinker.  I am not opposed to progress, nor am I someone who always thinks the past was better than the future.  But I do have major problems with this particular change. They are putting Starbucks all over WDW, and to be honest putting them anywhere else in the parks doesn't bother me too much.  Main Street USA is one of the signature locations in all of WDW.  When you walk in through the tunnel and reach the MK, you are transported back to a much simpler era of American history.  The quaint barber shop, complete with barber shop quartet.  The old movie theater. The candy store.  And the incredible treats and aromas of the bakery.  Main Street sets the mood for the entire park with its theme and it ambiance. And now the bakery is gone, to be replaced by a Starbucks.  Starbucks may be a fixture in our modern world, but it is totally and completely out of place on Main Street. We are promised they will continue to serve some of he goodies from the bakery, but that is really beside the point.  I never ate there very often anyway.  The point is that there will be a Starbucks on Main Street USA, and that is just not right. It doesn't fit.  And I am very unhappy. Giant corporations are now doing to the wonderful make-believe world of Disney what they have already done to our real world- displacing small businesses and mom & pop shops with their one size fits all monopolies.  It just feels wrong.

As I lamented this occasion yesterday, I was reminded that this is not the first time Starbucks has done this to me.  In the 1990s I took youth groups to New York City nearly every year, and we stayed at the Milford Plaza Hotel on 45th and 8th.  Up half a block and across 45th was a little place called Oh-La-La (see picture). They had muffins, bagels and scones, as well as a variety of coffees.  But none of that really mattered, for Oh-La-La had the best hot chocolate in the history of the world!  Every morning I would arise before the group and go get a large hot chocolate. And every morning I would go back with the group and get another one!  It was simply amazing. So imagine my dismay in 2003 when I arrived in NYC only to discover that Oh-La-La has become a Starbucks.  I was devastated. I went in once- just to ask if perhaps Oh-La-La had moved, but it had simply been bought out.  The creeping evil of Starbucks had invaded the Broadway district. And now it has come to Walt Disney World...

My problem is not really with Starbucks.  It is that we are losing far too many people, places and things in our world that are unique. That have their own personalities and offer something different.  And in my humble opinion, we need to hold on to the uniqueness. A walk down Main Street USA is supposed to be a stroll through early 20th century America.  I am just not sure how I can maintain that illusion with a grande skinny mocha non-fat latte from 21st century Seattle.  I am sure I (and millions of others) will adjust. I am just not certain that I want to.  For today, just let me be a grumpy old man.

Saturday Shouts Outs: All Kissimmee Edition!

Welcome to the all Kissimmee edition of my Saturday Shout Outs!  I am sorry to leave out my many other friends this time around, but those of us who are alumni of FUMC-K 2994-2000 have a reunion to get busy with and some big news to announce. So let's get busy!!!

• It is time to get SERIOUS about our upcoming reunion!  More planning still needs to be done, but here is the general outline of the big weekend coming April 20-21, 2013! If enough people are interested there were be a family picnic at noon somewhere on the Lake Toho lakefront- bring your own lunch.  There will definitely be an "adults only" dinner on Saturday night; the place and details are TBD, but it will be somewhere in Kissimmee.  Then Sunday morning anyone who can and wishes to will attend worship at FUMC-K together. Right now I need everyone to help get the word out and contact anyone who may be interested to let them know this is coming soon!  Teresa Reep Tysinger (who already has her plane ticket in from Dallas for the event!) will be getting out a Facebook invite soon that will let you make a "reservation" so we can get a head count.  Or you can all or text me at 813-919-3755 with questions or ideas or just to say "YES!" No matter who shows up it will be a great weekend. But it will much better if YOU are there... 
• Lauren Carr Cacciatore and her hubby Brad welcomed Kaley Lauren to the world on January 3, 2013! She was a bit early, but mom and baby are doing well!  Kaley will be in the NICU a bit longer, but will be headed home to her family soon.  Congratulations, Lauren and Brad- and here's hoping Kaley LOVES Kraft mac and cheese just like her mommy!!!
• HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MATTHEW TEOLI!!!
• Cyndi Reep Browning is moving to Alabama!  Her husband Josh has already transferred down for a new job, and Cyndi and Grayson will be joining them once their house sells in NC.  They will be living very close to Ben and Sharon Reep, her parents.  We are praying for them and wishing them all the best in this new adventure!
• Got a comment on one of my older posts about one of our mission trips this week from our old friends in Spanish Wells, the Bahamas! If you were part of one of those mission teams then you will remember the Pinders!  Here's the comment: Hey my name is Lance Pinder from Spanish Wells and my wife is Opal Pinder. We hosted some of you guys in our home.We had a great home. We also bought a group to Kissimmee to visit with your group. Would love to reconnect. I am on Facebook Lance Pinder and my email address is lancepinder@gmail.com. It never ceases to amaze me the impact our little ministry had all over the world!  Give Lance a shout if you have as many fond memories of SW as I do!
• A little poll for you- what was your favorite youth trip you ever participated in?
• Also heard this past week from Jason Ashcraft.  Jason moved away from Kissimmee before I arrived in 1994, but came back that summer to join us on the exciting misadventure that was the Mountaintop Mission Trip. Jason had discovered this blog through Brook Teoli Phelps, and he has a blog himself.  Check out http://learnchangegrow.wordpress.com/2012/12/  and see what Jason is up to!  Any Mountaintop survivor deserves our support!

So that's it for today!  I want to take this opportunity to wish each of you a joyous and happy 2013. May it be full of God's richest blessings.  Take care- and spread the word!  The reunion is coming!

Because of Jesus,

SPAM Hunting

I grew up in North Carolina, but for the most part I was a city boy.  I never farmed tobacco or cotton, never raised chickens and almost never went hunting.  For a few Thanksgiving mornings my Dad and I would go squirrel hunting in the woods down around Coleridge in rural Randolph County- with a bow and arrow.  Since neither of us were very accomplished bowmen, those squirrels were the safest animals in the woods.  Neither of us never owned a gun in our lives, so that was the only hunting we ever did. Until...

Sometime in the late 70s or early 80s a group of my friends discovered SPAM hunting.  This was before junk email became spam, back when SPAM was SPAM-  processed meat in a can that could be fried, covered in barbecue sauce or eaten straight from the can.  We always wondered where you mild find the wild SPAM animals that made up this glorious food, so one weekend we decided to go SPAM hunting. Alan (The Flash) Brown had access to a large wooded area (again in Randolph County) and some guns, and a group of us decided to try our hand at hunting the wild beasts.  Seeing (of course) as there is no such thing as a SPAM animal, we decided to create our own.  We hung targets from trees and placed them in bushes.  But these were no ordinary targets. We used old 8-track tapes and albums that we truly hated, as well as old ceramics from our days at Quaker Lake Camp.  I specifically remember a LaBelle album and a Roberta Flack 8-track that were blown to pieces.  At one point we also hunted leftover Halloween jack-o-lanterns.  Whatever we shot at, when we managed to hit them with Alan's 22 rifle or his shotguns, we blew the things to bits.  SPAM was flying everywhere, and we loved it!  We did this on several occasions over the years, and never once was an actual SPAM (or anything else!) harmed as we hunted together.  Those were some great times.

Over the years SPAM continued to play an important role in my life.  One of the youth ministries I served had a food drive for the homeless in which we collected around 700 cans of SPAM to distribute.  I gave away SPAM as a door prize on occasion at youth group.  And in 2002 a mission team from our ministry at Wesley Memorial UMC worked in Washington, DC, as part of the Center for Student Missions. One of the summer inters that year was a young man named Justin Hormel. That's right- Hormel.  His forefathers were the inventors of SPAM. He even had a SPAM t-shirt.  Life has a way of coming full circle, huh?

So why am I sharing all of this today?  Am I the new spokesperson for SPAM, or am I just completely out of things to write about?  Or maybe it is just that guns have been on my mind lately, and I am putting off writing the serious post that needs to be written.  Whatever the case, I encourage you to pick up some SPAM.  Fry it up and slap it on a sandwich.  Only then can you you really appreciate why we wanted to shoot the little critters. And never another living thing...

Because of Jesus,

A Prayer for Spiritual Growth

Ephesians 3:14-20  (NLT)

¹⁴ When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, ¹⁵ the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. ¹⁶ I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit.¹⁷ Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. ¹⁸ And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. ¹⁹ May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

²⁰ Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.

Do you understand what this means?  It means that God can do anything.  It means that God uses us to accomplish His will.  And it means that he WILL use us to do far more than we can imagine- if we will just let Jesus take root in our hearts.  God wants us to pray big honkin' prayers and to dream big honkin' dreams.  Check out verse 20.  And get busy living the abundant life through Jesus Christ!

Because of Jesus,

A Magical Mystery Tour

Butch & Sundance

I have already told you the story of our first FUMC-K Mystery Weekend (see Live To Tell), a ridiculously crazy 1996 trip to Myrtle Beach, SC.  In 1998 Jerry Hanbery and I (see picture) decided to do it again.  This time we would replace the wackiness of 18 hours in a van with a more creative approach.   This time it would be a middle school only adventure, and our theme would be "Crazy Times."  And this time, Jerry and I had a serious plan...

We loaded up the vans at 7 PM on Friday, July 31st and hit the road.  This time there were no leaks;  no one on the two vans had any idea where we were going.  We headed north on the Florida Turnpike, and the kids were buzzing about where they thought we might be headed.  We then turned north on I-75, headed towards Ocala.  I was driving the always-iffy blue van, and I had the lead.  The blue van's issues played an important part in our plan.  About 4 miles south of Ocala, I "noticed" that the van seemed to be running hot.  I pulled off the side of the road and Jerry followed me, getting out of the white van to come assist me as I checked under the hood.  We had taped a baggie of water under the hood, and when I poured it on the engine (out of sight of the youth) steam went everywhere.  Jerry and I did some serious moaning and complaining about the "stupid blue van" and then returned to our vans, telling the students that the van was over-heating and that we were going to go ahead and stop for the night so we could try and get it fixed.  We stopped at several motels and I went in to see if they had any rooms (I had a great time telling the front desk clerks what we were doing so the youth could see me having conversations with them), only to return and tell the group there was no vacancy.  The youth were now getting a little nervous.  We finally found rooms at a Super 8 Motel (where, unknown to the youth, we had reservations!) and settled in for the night.  I held a meeting at which I informed the kids that I was going to try to get the van fixed, but that I did not know what the following day would hold.  We might just have to stay in Ocala. I drove off to get the "van fixed" while they enjoyed the pool.  I was not back when Jerry sent them to bed.  They went to bed grumpy.  It was perfect...

The following morning we woke everyone up early and told them to get ready, the van was fixed and we were leaving!  We hurried them, half-asleep, onto the vans and hit the road.  We were hoping that they would be too groggy to notice that we were now heading south on I-75.  And for a while, they were.  Slowly but surely, they begin to notice something had changed.  We stopped at a Burger King for breakfast, and the questions began in earnest.  We got back on the road, and finally some of the youth began to guess our final destination- Busch Gardens in Tampa.  And then- as if a fog was lifting- they began to realize that the entire "breakdown" the night before had all been planned.  We had fooled them completely, and they could not believe it- and a few were not real happy about it.  Jerry and I were giddy- we thought it was one of the best things we had ever done!  We went on to have a great day at the park, and a wonderful weekend, including a great time of worship on Sunday morning.  We wanted to make it memorable, and we had.  It was just one more time when a wild and crazy idea helped some students discover the presence of Jesus in their lives.

I found out a few years later that there were a couple of students on that trip who NEVER got the message that the entire first night had been staged.  I found out when one of them asked me, "Where were we going to go on that Mid-High Mystery Trip before the van broke down?"  And the Oscar goes to Jerry Hanbery and Carl Jones...  Have a blessed weekend everyone!

Because of Jesus,

Lord of the Dance

21st century Americans are big into self-reliance.  We talk about pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps.  We invent technology that allows us to have less interaction with human beings. Those who seek help are often seen as weak.  We trust in the power of our own minds and our own skills.  There is nothing wrong with self-confidence and self-esteem.  Except...

Those of us who are believers in Jesus Christ should understand that everything we have, everything we accomplish and everything that we are is a gift from God.  We have not earned anything- our very lives are a gift.  Grace gives us opportunities despite our failures.  We are loved when we are unlovable.  Our lives should not be about us.  They should be all about Jesus.

We have all been given gifts and talents.  Many of us work hard to hone those skills so that they can bring glory to God.  But as Steven Curtis Chapman once wrote, "I am the dancer. You are the LORD of the dance."  And that's the thing we must remember.  We are no good on our own.  We need Jesus.

Below are the lyrics and a video for this classic SC2 song.  Enjoy it.  And remember "who gives purpose to chance..."

"Lord Of The Dance"

On the bank of the Tennessee River

In a small Kentucky town

I drew my first breath one cold November morning

And before my feet even touched the ground

With the doctors and the nurses gathered 'round

I started to dance, I started to dance

A little boy full of wide-eyed wonder

Footloose and fancy free

But it would happen, as it does for every dancer

That I'd stumble on a truth I couldn't see

And find a longing deep inside of me, it said 

I am the heart, I need the heartbeat

I am the eyes, I need the sight

I realize that I am just a body

I need the life

I move my feet, I go through the motions

But who'll give purpose to chance

I am the dancer

I need the Lord of the dance

The world beneath us spins in circles

And this life makes us twist and turn and sway

But we were made for more than rhythm with no reason

By the one who moves with passion and with grace

As He dances over all that He has made

I am the heart, He is the heartbeat

I am the eyes, He is the sight

And I see clearly, I am just a body

He is the life

I move my feet, I go through the motions

But He gives purpose to chance

I am the dancer

He is the Lord of the dance

Lord of the dance

Lord of the dance

And while the music of His love and mercy plays

I will fall down on my knees and I will pray

I am the heart, You are the heartbeat

I am the eyes, You are the sight

And I see clearly, I am just a body

You are the life

I move my feet, I go through the motions

But You give purpose to chance

I am the dancer

You are the Lord of the dance

I am the dancer

You are the Lord of the dance