National Youth Workers Convention
September 30 - October 4, 2010
San Diego, CA
SONday, October 03: 6:45pm
San Diego Chargers 41, the Arizona Cardinals 10. I had a good time despite the score. I was the only AZ fan in section 43. I got treated every good & bad way you could possibly expect dressed in Cardinal gear in San Diego. It was my first Cardinals away game. Got to see Max Hall play his first regular season game. He looked better than the starter, Andersen. Gates caught his 500th career pass today. The Chargers were celebrating Hispanic Culture with Mariachi Music and Folklorico Dancing. It reminded me of Tucson. I got to see the Blue Angels and some other planes from a nearby air show. Another reminder of growing up in T-town underneath the Air Force flight line. I was in the front row of the top level & even got some blessed shade in the 3rd quarter. An amazing time. I haven’t walked this much since I was last in Israel.
I met a lady named Refugio. I love name tags, they are such a good way to connect with people.
SONday, October 03: 10:25am
I went to the 8am service of the Rock Church this morning. What a blessing. 3,500 seats, 5 services on Sundays. They cheer for the offering because God loves a cheerful giver. They were having their annual ministry fair of 102 volunteer led ministries. Miles McPherson's message of 'doing something' really resonates with me & my favorite verse; James 1:22. I almost bought his book in the church bookstore. The pastor interviewed 4 leaders of 4 ministries. I was really moved by the Recovery ministry leader who had been on meth & heroine for 10 years. My thoughts were for my adopted son's mother & father. I was also struck by the Kids Without Fathers ministry. My adopted son, 2 foster sons & many youth in our church who don't have their biological fathers in their lives. She threw out some crazy stats of which i will offer a sample: The #1 predictor of sexual promiscuity in a girl = no father. Children without fathers are 20 times more likely to go to prison. My heart was sweetly broken. Worship was pleasantly not what I expected from a larger church & such a wonderful reminder of God's presence. A man 2 rows behind me went into what seemed like a diabetic shock of some sort. Everyone was quick to respond, the whole service stopped to pray, the ambulance was quick in arriving. It's the largest church I can remember ever going to & the first time my bag was checked & tagged by security. People were friendly & I had a great experience. This church really seems on mission. Now off to Qualcomm...
SONday, October 03: 7:15am
Michael Jr. has an amazing gift for comedy. He has a DVD coming out called 'Comedy: The Road Less Travelled' which follows him along a ministry of comedy. I was impressed & I was blessed.
God is my shield. The San Diego police were looking for someone nearby when I was walking to my hotel last night. I saw at least 10 officers (one shined a flashlight on me) & a helicopter overhead. I avoid this dark pedestrian tunnel under the highway at night as a precaution. I felt safe. I walk by a Planned Parenthood building every time from the hotel the convention & back. That is not a safe place for the unborn.
My thoughts are for my wife as she prepares to teach the youth this morning. I think I have been gone more SONdays this year than the past 3 combined. I am also missing the 1st Financial Class : ( There is no other place I'd rather be on SONdays than at FBCFH. I am also praying for Pastor Pierce as he delivers the first in his Islam series. God has led me to read an English translation of the Quran this month as well. Reminds me of a Michael Jr. joke: "Man was wearing a shirt that says: 'If you don't speak English, leave the country'...it was written in English."
Saturday, October 02: 10:05pm
Got some Taco Bell, wished my Youth Pastor a happy birthday & talked to my wife & children for 40 minutes. A good couple of hours. BIG Room 4 had a Compassion sponsored child from Haiti. He now is in the U.S. working on his Masters degree. What a story! NEWWORLDSON was great. Worship with South African native Brenton Brown was 'bonyonas'. Mike Pilavachi spoke on intercession. More than prayer. So many examples from Biblical characters like Nehemiah, Moses, Paul. I’ll never look at Ezekiel 4 the same way again. Learned so much. I want to reap in joy…but the requirement for that is sowing in tears (Psalm 125:6). DJ Promote wrecks shop. Now for late night comedy. Laughter is medicine for the soul.
Saturday, October 02: 6:00pm
I played 9 disc golf holes in the Exhibit Hall with Steve Garcia. SOOO much fun. I got an ace on the first hole off the Thousand Pines exhibit! We may have angered a few people : (
My seminar on mentoring was AMAZING. I can put some of that stuff into practice immediately. It will definitely help as I train more mentors as well. A good chunk of stuff to digest. I’m going to get a copy of the talk on CD. I have been meditating on Youth Ministry Vision & ways of measuring that success. David Kinnaman mentioned the metrics that MOPs uses to define what a better mom looks like. It was cool to hear their ministry used as an example. I am speaking at MOPs this month at our church. They got my biographical information off our website for the newspaper. I’m interested in how that turns out. I do not have a good record of the FH Times reporting the right information on me.
I can't explain the atmosphere of encouragement here. I have some new worship songs for the youth group too, Psalm 33:3 style.
Saturday, October 02: 1:13pm
I got my monster at a local convenience store on my walk to the convention. The cashier was named Ra’ad (Arabic for thunder). He is from Iraq. I had a great time of sharing with him.
Big Room 3 had three great speakers. Greg Stier brought a message on Evangelism. I love this guy & enjoy every chance I get to hear him speak. He has had a huge influence on my life & ministry. Jeanne Stevens brought a message on ‘Living by Faith’. We often wait for doors to open but the guys in Mark 2 took a risk & cut a hole in the roof. Her & her husband left their great jobs to plant a church in downtown Chicago. David Kinnaman (I read his book), challenged us to think about deep ministry & not play the numbers game. A huge set of challenges & lots to contemplate. Got some more free stuff on my chair too!
I met a guy who plays disc golf & set up an early Monday morning tee time at Morley. Those guys are everywhere. I also ran into my friend Caleb from Tucson. Rikki’s family went to his church when we were in high school & they had a whole team up here. Their pastor recently went to Israel & last time I was at Rikki’s parent’s house, Pastor Farmer was there & we shared our experiences. I dropped my camera & messed it up I was so excited to see Caleb. I also met Nathan from Texas. Another great story of God & ministry. He was a great encouragement.
Pray for Rikki. Every 6 months or so she throws her back out & on schedule she did exactly that yesterday.
Saturday, October 02: 9:19am
Stayed up until 2:00am. Like Skillet: today I'm gonna "feel like a Monster"...energy drink. Breakfast was good. Second Corinthians chapter four was my sweet dessert.
16 So we do not give up. Our physical body is becoming older and weaker, but our spirit inside us is made new every day. 17 We have small troubles for a while now, but they are helping us gain an eternal glory that is much greater than the troubles. 18 We set our eyes not on what we see but on what we cannot see. What we see will last only a short time, but what we cannot see will last forever. 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 NCV
Friday, October 01: 11:54pm
The NYWC is always jam packed full of people going a hundred different directions. I almost ran over this guy in the crowd tonight. It was Michael Tait (current lead singer of Newsboys; previously with Tait & dc Talk). I had previously met him & Toby Mac in Mesa 8 years ago but, he obviously didn’t remember me : ) The Newsboys were such an encouragement. In high school I took my girlfriend (Rikki) on a date to a free Newsboys concert in Tucson. I’ve seen them live at least 10 times since & now with 3 different lead singers. I was two people back from the stage. Michael said he could take some extra time for one last song because it was Black History month : ) They made my night & finished with Jesus Freak!
The YS guys brought up on stage all the youth leaders who have been in ministry 20+ years. They honored them all with medals & we honored them with a standing ovation. I desire their longevity & their usefulness. The kingdom impact on that stage was overwhelming. They also flew in a youth pastor & his wife from San Antonio who recently had brain surgery. YS always treats people well.
Miles McPherson gave one of the best YS talks I’ve ever heard. His church is just 5 MILES away (as always, pun intended). I may check it out Sunday since it’s so close. He is a former NFL player. His wife had surgery today, pray for her. He spoke of how God uses pain & trials in our lives & what our proper attitude & response to it should be. The path Jesus walked was one of pain & suffering.
I ran into KJ (from Children’s Camp) & Kyle (from Cornerstone). It was good to see some AZ fellas. KJ found these ‘Believer Bands’ (i.e. Christian silly bands) in the Exhibit Hall. God is going to use those things. I bought 10 packs. After some free snacks in the Exhibit Hall I had a chance to sit at a table with some fellow youth workers. I met a guy from Oklahoma City & had a great time of fellowship. Gonna switch all my stuff into my disc golf bag for tomorrow. I am already looking forward to NYWC in Atlanta in 2011, God willing. I have felt the prayers of many & God has been my shield. Goodnight.
Friday, October 01: 6:33 pm
Big Room is where the GOoD stuff happens. We played a “stand up” game…stand up if you : “have had a rule made at your church because of you”, “wrecked the church van”, “worked 20+ years in youth ministry”, “forgot a kid at a youth group event”, “borrowed $ from a student”, etc. I’m not telling which ones I stood up for. It’s nice to be around those in the same kind of trenches as me. Starfield is a great worship band. We were asked to meet 3 people from 3 different denominations. All the Baptist denominations counted as one. (There are at least 30 different Baptist denominations---growing up in Tucson there were sadly 2 Missionary Baptist churches right across the street from one another). Mike Yaconelli brought the encouraging challenge. I am reminded that I am strongest when I’m the weakest. His ‘surprise wedding’ story brought me to tears.
My first seminar was 90 minutes of blessing. The topic was leadership. We covered the 15 sub-scales of Emotional Intelligence as it relates to leadership. It reminded me of my Psychology major classes at the University of Arizona with the addition of crayons. I met a young worship leader from Escondido & enjoyed hearing his story.
The walk back from dinner was filled with conversations with my wife & 5 children. I miss them all so much.
Friday, October 01: 1:02pm
Wow. A challenging morning. My bag broke. I went to the wrong building. I missed the early bird seminar I wanted to hit because of it. I found the Convention, eventually. The Convention is at the Town & Country Hotel/Convention Center. I need to walk 1.6 miles (from my hotel) even though it's only 0.5 miles away. I'm thankful for the exercise. Parking was $15. Ridiculous. So I drove back to park at the hotel for free. Another great reason to walk. During the stroll I got a call that Mercy got sick at school today : (
The Exhibit Hall is in the underground parking garage. I ran into our friends at Thousand Pines Christian Camp (our Summer Camp the past 2 years). It was good to see all of them. Got a free t-shirt & wristbands! TP & Hume Lake have 9 disc golf baskets setup down there. I'm SO bringing some putters tomorrow. The Hume Lake Program @ Point Loma looks like a great option for 2011. They have 4 weeks (2 each) for High School & Middle School. I took advantage of the Maddness discounts at the YS Store. BIG ROOM 1 time...
Friday, October 01: 8:50am
I slept like a rock! I got up on the first alarm ring of my cell phone alarm ("I'm Awake, I'm Alive!"-Skillet rocks!). My wife Rikki won't believe that. Complimentary breakfast at the hotel was amazing & it even said nice things to me (conveying, or expressing a compliment, it was complimentary :). I watched the President announce the departure of his Chief of Staff. I ate some of the Word this morning too. Ephesians 4-6 in the New Century Version.
"Therefore I urge you who have been chosen by God to live up to the life to which God called you. 2 Always be humble, gentle, and patient, accepting each other in love. 3 You are joined together with peace through the Spirit, so make every effort to continue together in this way. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, and God called you to have one hope. 5 There is one Lord, one faith, and one baptism. 6 There is one God and Father of everything. He rules everything and is everywhere and is in everything. Ephesians 4:1-6 NCVMeditation for today:
[The LORD:] "I hate, I despise your religious feasts; I cannot stand your assemblies. Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. Though you bring choice fellowship offerings, I will have no regard for them. Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps. But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!" Amos 5:21-24 NIV.
Off to the Convention Center...
Thursday, September 30: 10:44pm
My trek begins. I will be attending my fifth out of the past six NYWCs. This is only the second NYWC I have attended by myself. I am eager for God to work & to recharge my soul.
I didn’t leave Fountain Hills as early as I would have liked to this morning but, thankfully today was just a travel day. With that ‘take my time’ theme in mind…whenever I’m in the ‘West Valley’, I like to stop by the ‘Bible Museum’. This indistinct room in a seemingly random hotel is an absolute treasure. They have a leaf from an original Gutenberg Bible (the first book ever printed). Before the invention of the printing press it would normally take about a year to hand write a Bible but, with Gutenberg’s invention, a thousand Bibles could be printed in a day. Some of the items located there include: a first printing of a 1611 KJV, a Geneva Bible & a microfilm Bible that went to the Moon & back on Apollo 14. If you haven’t been there, the hour trip will be so worth it (2000 North Litchfield Road Goodyear, AZ). The preservation & distribution of God’s Word is awe inspiring.
I talked to my youth pastor Kelly Beitel twice on the drive over here. He was doing a wedding in the Valley & he needed directions to a Mesa disc golf course :) I went with Kelly to my first NYWC in Sacramento in 2005. Two random facts about Kelly: First, he turns 49 on October 2. He used to count down the ‘shopping days’ left until his birthday every year growing up in youth group, starting in the 200’s. Second, he’s the AWANA commander at the Tucson Baptist Temple.
I know God cares about the little details in my life (Luke 12:7). My driver side headlamp went out 2 days ago. This was right after many other things just got fixed at the car repair shop in preparation for my trip. I’m so glad it went out. When I went to pick up a new one at Checkers, I picked up some new windshield wipers too. I didn’t know how much I was going to need those new wipers today. With Fountain Hills' average rain fall of 8 inches the past 4 years, putting off new windshield wipers is easy to do. As I got into San Diego today it was pouring down rain, & on the highway the visibility was very poor. God was giving me a Romans 8:28 lesson. All things are not good but, God can use them to work together for my good.
And after that good day I say, "goodnight".
148 pictures 1 Video
Click the picture to see them all.
Pulse Youth Group 2010
.
