Welcome to another edition of Shout Outs! Today is actually a bit of cross between Shout Outs and Random Ramblings, which means I will be shouting and rambling at the same time. For those of you who are thinking "How is the different?," just be quiet! Speaking of which, I even give a rare Just Shut Up Award in today's posting, so keep reading. I am sure I can offend you somehow!
- Will Jones (my son) is headed to the Sickles High School homecoming dance tonight. With a girl. As of late last night they don't know when or where they are eating, or how they are going to get there and to the dance that follows. Sounds about right to me...
- Catie Cook (FUMC-K) announced from Afghanistan (via Facebook) last week that her camp was under mortar fire. She said it in the same way I might mention that I brushed my teeth this morning. So calm. You remain very much in my prayers, Catie.
- Some of you may remember my post about interviewing at a church in Kentucky only to find that the only youth ministry at the church that mattered was a puppet ministry. Jennifer Minnigan Kuramochi (FUMC-K) found a t-shirt online that she felt went well with that blog- it's pictured at right. Thanks, Bob!
- Laurie Rees (Springfield) has been giving us love via Facebook lately. We appreciate it, Laurie, and we are looking forward to following your Roller Derby career! :)
- Christie Grimminger (Wesley UMC) is asking for prayers as she deals with a family issue. Even if you don't know Christie, lift her up today.
- Tomorrow is the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. To learn more, read my post from last year by clicking here.
- Ben Thompson (FUMC-K), also in Afghanistan, wrote that he had been trying to initiate Afghans into the Honeybee Club. I can't believe that in 445 consecutive days of blogging I had never mentioned the Honeybee Club. I wonder how many of you are members...
- Many of you know that I was not a big fan of President George W. Bush. I lost a lot of respect for him this week when he repeated in a number of places that the worst day of his presidency was when Kanye West ( who I have NO respect for) called him a racist. I understand that personal attacks hurt, but come on, W. You were president during 9/11 and Katrina- and THAT was your worst day? It may be time for you to Just Shut Up!
- Thanks to Jocelyn Sessions Ward, Cindy Martin, Susan Allen and others who have sent me some of their New York memories for use in upcoming posts. It's not too late to send yours- either in comments here or by e-mail to Youthguy07@aol.com Let me know what you remember most about NYC trips!
- And to all my faithful readers- THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! We passed the 40,000 hit mark in just over a year, and, thanks to Twitter, are gaining new readers everyday. I am just amazed at how God continues to bless me through this adventure.
I think I'll stop there for now. Between now and Thanksgiving you can look for some flashbacks to some of my favorite National Youth Workers Convention moments, and some more New York trip memories- including a brand new slide show! So keep stopping by- I'm here every day!
Because of Jesus,
Greg and Chris were members of the Work Tour 2000 team, but they were not your typical Union Church of Hinsdale youth. They did not come from great wealth like many of the students did. Both of them actually seemed more at home in Dungannon, VA than they did in Hinsdale. They both had a bit of redneck in them. They were also two of the students who had surprised me so much with the smoking and the swearing on the trip east (see You Have Got To Be Kidding Me). So it came as no surprise to me when they volunteered to work on in the falling down utility shack that was out behind the mobile home we were working in. They would be doing two major tasks out there- sawing lumber for other projects and cleaning out the shed itself. The building itself quickly became known as The Sawshack (Pictured: not the actual Sawshack, but a smaller version that looks quite a bit like it!). It would be the site of a lot of hard work- and more than a few adventures.
In the early part of the week much of the team became very frustrated with the Sawshack crew. It seemed you could never find them when you needed them, and it was taking way too long to get sawing jobs done. They seemed to be playing with the junk in the shack more than they were cleaning things out. David had words with the two boys, but nothing seemed to motivate them. Then one afternoon (I think Tuesday) while we were working on the "great wall" in the trailer, I heard a loud crashing noise, some screaming and some hysterical laughter. I went running into the living room to find one of the windows smashed to pieces. No one was hurt (praise God!) but there was glass everywhere. I looked through the broken window into the back yard, and there stood the boys. I could not believe what I was seeing. They had found an old skeet launcher (as used in skeet shooting) in the shack. And some skeet. Curious to see if it still worked, they had dragged it out in the yard, loaded a skeet, and pulled. It worked- and now a window was missing. And they thought it was hilarious.
I was livid. A family of 5 was living in that trailer, which now had air conditioning that it did not need. While others started cleaning up the mess and preparing to go shopping for a window, I took the boys out to the shed where we had a "come to Jesus" meeting. I explained to them that the money for the window would come out of their pockets. I impressed upon them the fact that everyone else was trying so hard to be of service to this family, while they seemed intent on making things worse. I let them know that from that point on I wanted them anchored to the saw; there would be no more smoking breaks (I was certain they had been sneaking off to light up- and I was right) and no more goofing off. It was time for them to step up and be part of this team. Most students who have ever been a part of any of my groups will tell you that I don't get angry often, but when I do, it is ugly. This was one of those times. They met Hulk Jones very early into our time together...and they didn't like me when I was angry!
For the rest of that trip, Chris & Greg were hard workers, great team members and model citizens. The Sawshack became a place where work was done quickly and accurately. Their work ethic and and attitudes changed so much that it became known as The Sawshack Redemption. The grace that was shown them by the family and the rest of our team made a huge difference, not only on that trip but in their participation in youth activities after we returned to Hinsdale. Over time, the indoor skeet shooting became legendary and something we could laugh about. Grace does that- it turns our worst actions into things we can live with, because we understand God loves us anyway.
Tomorrow, Saturday Shout Outs return. I hope you all have a blessed and grace-filled weekend!
Because of Jesus,
On Veterans Day we honor all those who served and who still do serve - as well as their families and loved ones. Above all, we pray that humanity will find peaceful ways to resolve conflicts.
When I spent a week with Rich Mullins in August of 1990, he told me that Elijah was the most important song he had ever written- and that was after writing Awesome God. I heard him perform it live that week and it has been stuck in my heart ever since. It is an amazing song, and I am just going to let you read the lyrics and listen to the song without a whole lot of comment from me. If you would like to read more, the Elijah story can be found in scripture in 2 Kings 2:7-12. There is one message from me to all of you contained in the lyrics. After all I have been through, and all I have put my family and friends through, I know there have been questions about how I'm doing. Rich says it for me: "There's people been talking, they say they're worried about my soul. Well I'm here to tell you I'll keep rocking until I'm sure it's my time to roll..." See you tomorrow for The Sawshack Redemption.
ELIJAH
The Jordan is waiting for me to cross through
My heart is aging I can tell
So Lord, I'm begging for one last favor from You
Here's my heart take it where You will
This life has shown me how we're mended and how we're torn
How it's okay to be lonely as long as you're free
Sometimes my ground was stoney
And sometimes covered up with thorns
And only You could make it what it had to be
And now that it's done
Well if they dressed me like a pauper
Or if they dined me like a prince
If they lay me with my fathers
Or if my ashes scatter on the wind
I don't care
CHORUS:
But when I leave I want to go out like Elijah
With a whirlwind to fuel my chariot of fire
And when I look back on the stars
It'll be like a candlelight in Central Park
And it won't break my heart to say goodbye
There's people been friendly, but they'd never be your friends
Sometimes this has bent me to the ground
Now that this is all ending
I want to hear some music once again
'Cause it's the finest thing that I have ever found
But the Jordan is waiting
Though I ain't never seen the other side
Still they say you can't take in the things you have here
So on the road to salvation
I stick out my thumb and He gives me a ride
And His music is already falling on my ears
There's people been talking
They say they're worried about my soul
Well, I'm here to tell you I'll keep rocking
'Til I'm sure it's my time to roll
And when I do
CHORUS (2x)
The last Monday of March 2000 dawned clear and cold in Dungannon, VA. We were ready to head out to our work sites and begin the work part of Work Tour 2000. My youth group from Union Church in Hinsdale, IL, was divided into two groups that would be sent to different sites. The students were excited and ready to go.
The two primary leaders of our work effort were David Knecht, a veteran of many Work Tours, and Lindley Pittman. Lindley was one of those Bob Villa/MacGyver combinations who could build, fix or invent most anything. He was definitely the top dog when it came to our construction efforts. I was clearly not only the new guy, but the guy who knew the least! About every 30 seconds on the work site you would hear someone cry for help: "David! Lindley!" Often it was me. We arrived at our site and I was simply amazed at what we found. It was a house trailer on a nice sized piece of land. It had 2 bedrooms and a family of 5 living in it. The plumbing was a mess. There was an old utility building out back that was full of junk and seemed to be about to collapse. There were several others structural issues that we would also be working on. And finally, they wanted us to build a new wall in one of the bedrooms that was being shared by a brother and sister. The bedroom was already small; we were to cut it in half.
I was assigned with Chris and Mike Kinsella and their friend Nick to build the wall. I had a little experience with dry wall from time spent volunteering with Habitat for Humanity, but that had been a number of years earlier. David seemed to think that preparing the room would take a day and building the wall would take another- or 2 days at most. He had no idea who he was dealing with...
I cannot remember exactly what we had to do to prepare the room for the wall, because it all went pretty well. Then the construction started. I would like to take this opportunity to defend the 4 of us against later allegations. We were not stupid. We knew to measure twice and cut once. We knew to make sure everything was level. We knew how to mark and cut dry wall and plywood. We were not stupid. We were inept. Time after time we would measure, check each others work, and cut. Each time the material would not fit the space it was cut for. Each time we were so confident. Mike would take the cut piece and go to place it, and every time we would hear the same thing: "I got it...I don't got it..." And it was back to the saw for more "bzzzzzz." Frustrated does not even begin to describe how we felt.
We worked on that wall for 5 days, finally splitting that bedroom with a solid, painted divider. By the end we had discovered that our biggest problem had been an assumption. As we measured and cut and checked to make sure we were keeping the wall level, we assumed that the floor and the ceiling were level. They weren't close. We had been building a wall in a room where the ceiling was slanted, and the floor was too- at a different angle than the ceiling! We rookies never had a chance. By the end of the week the 4 of us had grown close (shared misery will do that sometimes) and had hatched a master plan for the trip home. But that story will come a bit later. Before that we have a few other stories to tell from the work site. Come back Friday (tomorrow is another Moment With Mullins) to learn all about The Sawshack Redemption. Indoor skeet shooting, anyone?
Because of Jesus,
We had just returned to our pews on that Sunday morning in Dungannon when the pastor announced that it was prayer time. Now I had worked in a pretty wide variety of churches, and attended an even wider variety. I didn't think anything they could do during a prayer time would surprise me. The youth of the Union Church of Hinsdale were a different matter entirely. Worship at UC was very formal and very controlled. Nothing happened that was not planned- and then planned again. Hymns were classical in nature. There was great concern that worship not be "dumbed down." Apparently this meant that worship should be intellectual, not emotional. I had already heard this a dozen times in staff discussions during my first three weeks. And I knew it excluded any music that was written after 1900. So as prayer time began that morning I said a prayer and held on...
The pastor began taking prayer requests from the congregation. And almost everyone had one. Some were for physical needs; others for salvation for family members. One elderly woman gave her testimony and then requested that we all sing the classic hymn The Old Rugged Cross. So we did. It was an old favorite of mine, but totally foreign to my youth group. As I mentioned before, it was a very small church. They didn't sing out very loud- except for the woman who made the request. And she was singing at the top of her lungs. She couldn't carry a tune in a bucket, but the song clearly meant the world to her. She sang with such vigor and passion that after a few giggles at the quality of her singing, the group was mesmerized by her. You could feel the Holy Spirit moving in her. It was a moment we would talk about for weeks to come.
But prayer time was not over. After a few more requests, the pastor invited everyone to come up to the altar and pray. In my experiences, when this happened the people would go forward and kneel and someone would pray for the requests. Not that morning. The pastor said "Let us pray," and everyone did. All at once. Out loud! My first reaction was to see and hear it as total chaos. My next understanding was much deeper. They got it. The God of the universe doesn't need us to sort out our prayers so He can hear them. He doesn't need us to sing with beautiful voices in order to sing praise to Him. He wants to hear us. As the voices mingled together in a beautiful, confused noise, I knew God was listening. I opened my eyes and saw my youth with mouths hanging open, unsure of what to make of this. It would become a wonderful teaching moment later that day. It was truly "beautiful noise..."
I don't remember a thing about the sermon. We had already been to church. Later that afternoon we went out hiking on a nearby trail, and as we sat around talking it was amazing to hear the reactions of these wealthy, big city students to what they had seen and heard that morning in that little "hick" church. And I began to understand more about how this trip was coming together. We were going to be doing some work for poor local families. That was the Work Tour part of the adventure. But the mission- the real opportunity to change lives in the name of Jesus- was about God opening the eyes of my own youth to what real faith and real worship are all about. God was moving among us, and kids were coming face to face with Jesus- many of them for the first time. It was time for them to understand why The Old Rugged Cross- the song and the event- is so meaningful to so many. It was time to go to work.
Because of Jesus,
It was day 2 of our 2000 mission trip. Sunday morning came cold and clear in Dungannon, VA. We had breakfast and then walked down the hill from the mission center to attend worship at a very small Primitive Baptist church. The sign said that worship began at 11 AM, but when we walked through the door at 10:50 there were about 15 people sitting in the sanctuary listening to a man preach. The 25 of us slipped in at quietly as we could and sat near the back. I felt bad, thinking we had missed the service and were causing a distraction. A few other people continued to wander in, and then about 11:05 the man stopped preaching. People stood and stretched for a minute, and the pastor walked back to where we were sitting. It turned out we had walked in on Sunday School; now it was time for worship. The pastor greeted us warmly and asked who was in charge. I pointed him to David Knecht; after a brief conversation David pointed him back to me. He came over and said that he wanted us to say something to the congregation during worship and perhaps sing a song for them. I said I would gladly bring greetings, but that we were not prepared to sing and I didn't have my guitar with me. He assured me that he had one I could use, and pretty much refused to take no for an answer. We were going to sing.
There was only one problem. As I mentioned in an earlier posting, the youth of the Union Church of Hinsdale didn't actually know any songs. At least not any of the ones I knew and felt comfortable singing for a congregation. And yet I had just agreed to do just that. As I sat in my pew waiting to be called up front, my mind was racing. What would we sing? I didn't ant to embarrass the kids or take away from worship. And then it hit me- the night before a small group of had sat around singing, and that group should be able to fake the chorus to Step By Step (O God You are my God). I know I must have been smiling like an idiot as I sat there; once again God had provided despite my doubts. We all went up front, I brought greetings from Illinois, and we sang for them. It was a blessed moment, and one that we all later agreed gave us a real sense of unity. We finished our song, and the pastor thanked us and then said words I had not foreseen: "How about another one?" Once again God intervened, giving me the wisdom to say, "Why don't we sing one together?" I then led the entire congregation in Amazing Grace, which only a few of the students knew. It didn't matter, because the congregation (of about 30) sang with such gusto that the roof was lifted. It was awesome. We then sat down, pleased and blessed that we had been part of worship. The youth were all smiles. I silently thanked God for His provisions. We could have left then and there filled with the Holy Spirit and a new excitement. But the blessing of that morning had just begun. See you tomorrow for part 2- The Old Rugged Cross!
Because of Jesus,
John 13:34-35: (Jesus said) Let me give you a new command: Love one another. In the same way I loved you, you love one another. This is how everyone will know that you are my disciples—when they see how you love one another.
Last Sunday my family and I came out of church and found a pamphlet on our windshield. It was from a group called The Christian Coalition, and it told us who to vote for in the (then) upcoming election. It told us of the evils of those running against "God's candidates" and suggested that voting for any of those not chosen by them could result in apocalyptic consequences, or perhaps even having your salvation revoked. Even apart from my belief that such political things have no place at a house of worship, this really ticked me off! Then yesterday a youth pastor friend tweeted that he had just been told that the church is best represented in our world by conservative politicians. These things reminded me that many of the things that THEY say in the name of Christianity do not represent me and have little to do with Jesus. Who are THEY? I don't really know, but every day on TV or in the paper THEY certainly have a lot to say. What are THEY telling the world about the best ways to identify a Christ-follower? Things like this:
THEY say people will know we are His disciples by which church we attend and which translation of the Bible we have collecting dust on our end tables.
THEY say people will know we are His disciples by our doctrine and the ways we keep riff-raff and ragamuffins out of our churches.
THEY say people will know we are His disciples by our knowledge of scripture- and the way we use it to make others feel small and stupid.
THEY say people will know we are His disciples by the things we don't let people see us do, such as smoking, drinking, gambling and sexual promiscuity.
THEY say people will know we are His disciples by the things we are against, like abortion and homosexuality.
THEY say people will know we are His disciples by the amount of money we make, because God blesses the faithful with wealth.
THEY say people will know we are His disciples by the bumper stickers on our cars and the t-shirts on our backs.
THEY say people will know we are His disciples because we are patriotic and worship the flag.
THEY say people will know we are His disciples by the way we point fingers, judge people and tell them that they are sinners. You can't be a good Christian if you haven't told someone they are going to hell!
THEY say people will know we are His disciples because we understand this to be true: God is good, and you are not, so try harder! We can save ourselves, because this world is all about us!
THEY say people will know we are His disciples by our intolerance of other religions, other races and anyone who disagrees with us. Also the way we ignore the homeless, the poor and the different.
That's what THEY say; what do I say (and more importantly, do)? Do I represent God with love and grace, or do I too enjoy pointing fingers and making my own words more important than His? Do I remember that whoever THEY are, I must love them too, because in Jesus we should be "one in the Spirit." As my friend Ashley Goad Broadhurst wrote a few weeks ago, "It should be simple; love God, love people." Why do we make it so complicated? I have to believe that God is shaking His head at the nonsense that comes out of His church. We may fool ourselves, but God is no fool. His word is the truth. You cannot focus on being anti-anything if you become pro-love. God's word says that there is only one way the world will know if we are followers of His Son: "They will know we are Christians by our love, by our love, yes they'll know we are Christians by our love..." We need to get out there and love each other before THEY convince this world that Jesus is who THEY say He is. Have a blessed Sabbath, everyone!
Because of Jesus,
