Adventures of Rickmon

Update to my bucket list - suggestions??

2010-09-02T07:38:00.004-06:00

- I still think you should buy and old truck and drive from your house to South America. (Evan Simmons)
- You should visit the central coast of California and Big Sur if you never have. I'd show you around Rick and we could talk about Lt. Sulu and Captain Kirk like the old days at Cleveland Bailey! (David Story)
- Visit Capetown, South Africa. (Tod Martin)
- Come to Cincinnati and ride The Diamondback! 80 mph, 10 drops, 3 minutes off your life! You could propose to Kristi all over again! (Jill Evans)
- Eat at all 50 of Texas Monthly's Best BBQ joints. I'll accompany you! (Evan Simmons)
- Climb Pikes Peak! (Bill Coffelt)
- Stan always wanted to skydive, I wouldn't let him....:D (Dixie Burkhart)
- Drive route 66 from start to finish (Travis Campbell)
- Take Kristi to Africa to visit Jennifer while she is over there. (Rachelle Pratt)
- Go fishing with Charles on the jetty at SPI!!! (Lorri Hare)
- Write a book about being a 50 year old youth minister and tell the youngs ones how it's done!(Shelley Robbins)
- You need to get on #TheAmazingRace! (Aimee Luallin)
- Do The Amazing Race with Jake Culbertson (Holly Culbertson)
- Climb up the Eiffel tower. (Jay Glidewell)
- See the Aurora Borealis/Northern Lights (Russell & Robin Collins)
- Write a book with Mike Myers (the OLD youth minister) and others (Holly Culbertson)
- Go spend a week or more at "Christ in the Desert" monastery (Ginger Miller McBride)
- Go on a real African safari (Kaylan Hughes)
- Go to the rainforest (Kaylan Hughes)
- In light of your ministry experience... I think you are uniquely qualified to run with the bulls. (Michael Taylor)
- Go for one week without being sarcastic (Mary Burkett)
- Write a book and let Mary write the introduction(Mary Burkett)
- Eat a green vegetable besides green beans (Nellafay Isom, my mother-in-law)
- Say your favorite home-made ice cream is straw-ba-nut made by your mother in law (Nellafay Isom, my mother-in-law)
-

Bucket List...

2010-08-30T07:49:00.004-06:00

I posted this on my Facebook over the weekend... anyone have any suggestions to the things people have suggested so far? I like how it's going!

I need to get my bucket list together. 50 is only a short time away. Those that know me, any serious suggestions??

- I still think you should buy and old truck and drive from your house to South America. (Evan Simmons)
- You should visit the central coast of California and Big Sur if you never have. I'd show you around Rick and we could talk about Lt. Sulu and Captain Kirk like the old days at Cleveland Bailey! (David Story)
- Visit Capetown, South Africa. (Tod Martin)
- Come to Cincinnati and ride The Diamondback! 80 mph, 10 drops, 3minutes off your life! You could propose to Kristi all over again! (Jill Evans)
- Eat at all 50 of Texas Monthly's Best BBQ joints. I'll accompany you! (Evan Simmons)
- Climb Pikes Peak! (Bill Coffelt)
- Stan always wanted to skydive, I wouldn't let him....:D (Dixie Burkhart)
- Drive route 66 from start to finish (Travis Campbell)
- Take Kristi to Africa to visit Jennifer while she is over there. (Rachelle Pratt)
- Go fishing with Charles on the jetty at SPI!!! (Lorri Hare)
- Write a book about being a 50 year old youth minister and tell the youngs ones how it's done!(Shelley Robbins)
- You need to get on #TheAmazingRace! (Aimee Luallin)
- Climb up the Eiffel tower. (Jay Glidewell)

What thoughts would YOU like to add??

Wait! No, WEIGHT!!

2009-05-01T09:44:00.005-06:00

A little visual humor for the day... are you saying I'm fat, btw???
http://thisiswhyyourefat.com/

Dispelling the Myths about Mexico

2009-04-29T11:13:00.003-06:00

I’ve received LOTS of requests for a report from our recent mission trip to Monterrey, Mexico, mostly from the standpoint of “safety”. This is my reply that I’ll post on my blog and email/send to anyone that might want a copy of it. Please bear with me, as I am taking this opportunity to “preach” a little, but hopefully, it won’t cause you to miss the answer to your question. And thanks to the Christian Chronicle's Bobby Ross, for taking parts of this blog and including it in his article on his blog posting today.

Let me begin by saying that our experience a couple of weeks ago was completely uneventful, regarding any so-called "safety issues". During our time in Mexico, I spoke with preachers in both Nuevo Laredo and Monterrey about the situation there. I've been watching the Mexican media. I have spoken with numerous others who have traveled in and out of Mexico on a variety of mission trips over the past few months. They are in total agreement that the situation has been GREATLY exaggerated by American media outlets (especially CBS and FOX for some reason). Although in recent articles the Christian Chronicle has attempted to inform churches of the situation prior to the recent Spring Break time period, I believe that even that was somewhat inaccurate. Add these reports with a little third hand “spin” that many in our churches have put on it, and no wonder the situation sounds worse than it is. The truth is that there hasn’t been a single incident for ANY mission group (we are talking hundreds and thousands) from the US that has occurred relating to this situation.

Is there violence in Mexico between drug cartels and police/army/government officials? Yes. Why is this occurring? It is because the Mexican government (yes, even with all its history of corruption) is putting a great deal of pressure on the drug gangs and they are reacting violently, hoping to intimidate the government into backing down. It is not working… the government continues to tighten their “choke hold” on these negative elements in their country.

One particular Mexico mission trip effort with whom I have been connected for many years (I’ll save the name to avoid the appearance that I am speaking for them) is suffering greatly because of hasty decisions by a number of American churches of Christ in cancelling their trips to help. As of the last bit of information of which I am aware, nearly 20 groups have cancelled. The Mexican church is SUFFERING greatly because of these decisions.

The time for the church to shine brightest is when darkness seems to be at its most powerful. Now is that time both in the United States AND in Mexico. Jesus NEVER promised us safety... writer of the book, “The Irresistible Revolution”, Shane Claiborne, stated that the most dangerous place for the church is a place of comfort. Somehow, someway, we have to persuade our church leaders (and parents) to live dangerously for Christ. There is a time coming (it may be now) where we can not shrink back, but instead, have great courage and boldness. We should not be fooled that there is a much safer situation here in the US. Ironically, while we were in Mexico, there was a big drug bust in front of the home of one of our members in Fort Smith, AR with K-9 and SWAT police units. And recently, 11 women were murdered and found buried in a “safe neighborhood” in Albuquerque, NM. Recent statistics state that Phoenix, AZ is the kidnap capital of the USA right now.

I pray this information will help tip some churches into listening to God instead of Satan. This is spiritual warfare and the church in America needs to step up to the plate, show their faith in God and send people to Mexico. It is time for us to start PRAYING, to neither OVERreact nor UNDERreact, but to react appropriately.

Please feel free to inquire with any other questions you may have about this situation and may God bless you as you seek to live out Matthew 28:19-20.

Sign of the times - China style #3

2009-02-18T16:05:00.001-07:00

You might have grown up in a Church of Christ youth group if...

Sign of the times - China Style #2

2009-02-18T07:55:00.006-07:00

OK, I will post two for today in separate posts. This is just hilarious. Again, thanks to my friend, Katie, for letting me post these.

Make some comments, share with friends... it might even inspire me to write some more!

Signs of the times - China style

2009-02-16T13:29:00.004-07:00

OK, so I have NO idea why I think these are funny... but they are. My friend, Katie, is currently living in China and is having the cultural experience of a lifetime. I really should post some of her pictures of food displays from the grocery stores there, as they are quite hilarious. However, the signs that she has found over there just put me over the top, nearly giving me a crying fit of laughter. I asked her permission to post these on my blog, so I'll hope you'll indulge me. Feel free to make comments, recommend this blog to friends, etc. I'll do one a day until she runs out. Thanks Katie!!

To Cell Phone or Not To Cell Phone

2009-02-12T11:49:00.007-07:00

Well, many of you know that for many years, I've held tough on my policy about not allowing students to bring cell phones, iPods and MP3 players on youth group trips. My personal opinion was that they interfered with the opportunity that students would have to actually establish and maintain a relationship with other students in their own youth group. It was tough to enforce, but I felt like we were pretty successful in minimizing the impact/interference these electronic items could have on the dynamics of the group. Unfortunately, in recent years, parents have actually encouraged their students to take these items anyway, regardless of the rules. That brought other problems, such as a disregard for OTHER rules that were in place.

Anyway, I recently moved to a new ministry and we went on our first trip to Winterfest in Arlington, Texas. I was faced with the decision of whether I wanted to change my long-held policy on electronics or not. I decided to say nothing about it, thus not "banning" them from the trip. It was interesting to observe what happened during the weekend. Most of the students spent a significant amount of time texting one another or friends back home. Only a few times did anyone actually talk on the phone. The only time that it seemed that it was a problem was when a segment of Winterfest was ended, and I would get at least 30 text messages from students asking about where they should go/be next. It was wonderful and frustrating at the same time.

I think, in retrospect, that technology has a "chronology" of sorts... There is an initial usage, then abusage, then a retreat back to some appropriate sense of usage... this is happening with cell phones right now. I ran across this one article and one blog entry/sermon about cell phone usage for your consideration. Make some comments below about this subject and let's start a discussion as to the pros and cons of electronics on a youth group trip.

Ooops, gotta run... I just got a text...

Global Warming???

2008-12-21T06:58:00.000-07:00

Now I'm not an anti-environmentalist... nor am I a tree-hugger... I try to be somewhat rationale about all things environmental. After all, God put us in charge of this place... ha!

Here's an interesting article I ran across this week about global warming... thought I'd share it with some of you... as this guy works for CNN... I bet he won't for much longer.

http://businessandmedia.org/articles/2008/20081218205953.aspx

A New Beginning....

2008-12-17T15:03:00.002-07:00

As you might know, I'm making a move from the Littleton church to the West-Ark church in Fort Smith, AR at the end of 2008. I greatly value you as a friend and as someone I greatly respect in youth ministry.

Even though I am an "old dog", I know I don't have all knowledge of everything that "works" in youth ministry. I want to learn what you are doing... what you are thinking. What I'd like to ask of you is this... what unique thoughts do you have about your youth ministry? What are some creative things that you've done (or are thinking about doing) in your youth ministry? What advice would you give me, knowing that I've been doing this a long time (and hope to continue to) and am going from one place after 7 years to another that I hope is at least this long?

You have three choices in response to this/these requests... you can reply to this message with your replies, you can post it to my blog at http://rickmon.blogspot.com/ or, you can call me and talk in person on my cell phone at 303-618-9585 or we can talk at NCYM.

What do you say??

The Next Chapter....

2008-12-16T15:46:00.004-07:00

I thought I'd repost this note I recently posted on my Facebook page... just in case you aren't one of my Facebook friends....

Yes, it’s true. There has come a time in our lives and ministry where we have been offered an opportunity to again listen for God’s call. We have agonized, prayed, sought counsel and wisdom as we tried to discern what God wanted us to do. We have come to the decision that we must follow Him and as a result we must leave our church family at Littleton as of December 31, 2008. We begin officially on January 1, 2009 as the youth and family minister at the West-Ark Church of Christ in Fort Smith, AR. We physically will leave the Denver area on the morning of January 9 and our first Sunday at West-Ark will be January 12.

To the members at Littleton:
Kristi, Jake, Molly and I have served this congregation for nearly seven years in the role of Youth Minister. We came to this church family with a strong sense of calling from God that He had prepared us for this opportunity. We have been continually amazed at how much this church has taught us about life, ministry and our mutual pursuit of God. Our children have grown so much both physically and spiritually during our time here. Jake even decided to give his life to Christ at this place.

We have witnessed tremendous impact this church has made in the local community and seen phenomenal growth as a result, nearly doubling in size during our time here. We have also seen incredible growth numerically and spiritually among our Middle School and High School students. In fact, this year’s Senior class was only in 5th grade when we began ministry here.

The staff here is better than any I could have imagined working with. Collin, Mike, Gus and Bill have been friends, mentors, teammates and above all, Christian brothers. They have had an eternal influence on me and our family.

We greatly appreciate the opportunity you have provided us to try to make a difference for the Lord among the students and families here. We will miss all of you and hope and pray for you to continue to serve the Lord with all your strength. God bless you and God bless the entire Littleton Church of Christ.

To the students at Littleton:
Michael Strahan, the fantastic defensive player from the New York Giants, waited to retire from football until after his team won the Super Bowl last year. He, like many others, wanted to go out at the peak of his situation and not the valley. We feel the same about our situation here. Our youth group has had a tough couple of years, but honestly, you are in the best spiritual spot that I’ve seen in the 7 years I’ve been your Youth Minister. That is one reason we feel it is time to answer this call from God.

Please know that “it’s not your fault”, that we are making this change. You are an amazing group of students that have made me proud, over and over, to be your Youth Minister. There is NOTHING for you to regret or be ashamed about. Our memories and experiences here will always be good ones. We will never forget you.

Remember the things that I’ve tried to teach you… that this youth group is whatever YOU choose for it to be… that it’s time for each of you to recommit your lives to Christ and to step forward to the leadership roles that God has been waiting for you to take for a long time… that a Youth Group should NEVER be solely focused on WHO the Youth Minister is… to be open to changes that a new Youth Minister will bring… allow for God’s Holy Spirit to work through him… be praying for him to be the kind of person to bring this youth group to the next level of commitment, spirituality and passion.

Lastly, I want you to know that you will always be my youth group kids… and I hope and pray that I will always, at some level, be your Youth Minister. God bless you!

Long Way Down

2005-12-06T11:50:00.000-07:00

Do you ever hear a song that just ROCKS your socks... kicks you in the teeth... makes you wanna mosh? There is a song that totally does that for me. It's called "Long Way Down" by Haste The Day. I've never seen these guys but I really want to! Dude, they just ROCK... if you don't have the CD, go buy it. That's what I'm listening to right this second, as I sit here in Panera Bread using their free wireless connection.

You see, our church office is closed today, as they are switching the gas main from the old part of the building to the new. So, in his good wisdom, Brother Mike Myers (yes, the real one, not the guy from Halloween, Austin Powers, or anyone else) told us to not worry about coming into the office today. So I thought I'd take 5 minutes and update my blog, which is the longest period between updates in the universe I bet!

I am sitting in the corner of a really busy Panera Bread while my wife is hosting all the women from church for a luncheon. I am looking out the window at the best thing I like about Colorado... the snow! It's been snowing for a good hour and the streets are almost covered. I am proud to be from Oklahoma, but man pretty much every day is a good day to live in Colorado. It cracks me up that people that don't live here think it's miserable, like living in northern Canada or something. That's ok with me... and I think the state of Colorado has an anti-tourism campaign to keep all you Texans from moving here. It seems to work pretty well!

Lots of things are changing at our church... we announced Sunday that Emily Tomberlin will be hired as a co-youth minister. It's only taken 3 years to get this in place. Lots of prayers, discussions, proposals, visions and dreams have laid the ground work for what I believe will be a momentus addition to our student ministry. Emily interned for me four years ago and just has the heart of a servant to match her passion for sharing Christ with God's kids. I think also, it will extend my career a few years, letting a youngster keep an old guy connecting with kids. Let's see, I'll be 58 when our daughter Molly graduates from high school.. that's a good 14 years from now! If I can figure it out, I'll try to post a poll to let you provide your input as to how long I'll last!

Speaking of such things, I got an email from an acquantence last week. I had mentioned to him about us old guys needing to stick together and man, I guess I hit a nerve. He sent me a reply three email pages long! He's got some parents, some elders and just random people at his church asking him when he's gonna go do something else... that just kills me. I told one of my elders a couple of weeks ago that I truly hoped to be a youth minister for the rest of my life. He told me that we need more 60 year old youth ministers... at least I've got one guy in my corner. And it doesn't hurt for my preacher (see Mike Myers above) to be the ex-youth minister here... he lasted until 50, then went to the pulpit. Man, I don't know that I could ever do that. I just don't think it's my gift. I think I'm too opinionated and not compassionate enough to keep a whole church happy! YIKES!

On another note, I really, really, really want to write a book. My problem is that I just can't figure out what topic/subject to write about. I'd love to be one of those guys that can crank out a book that people actually care about reading, shell out their money, so that I can make a lot of money and repay the churches for my back salary... how cool would it be to be self-supporting! WOW! If you do have any suggestions for a book topic, let me know. I'll give you some credit if I write it!

Keep me in your prayers. NCYM is less than 30 days away. From the core of my soul, I really want it to be one that totally affects positively every single person that shows up. We have a HUGE number that have registered... maybe the most we've ever had. Now is the crunch time. Finalizing schedules, meals, speakers, schedules, etc. Pray that no matter how focused I (and the entire board) get on all the details, that God will do what HE wants to do... not what I (or we) want Him to do. I desperately want NCYM 2006 to be one that some YMs can say "dude that's where I really sold out to God and to the ministry for kids He prepared for me." How cool would that be?

I miss my friend Ronnie Langton. If you know him, you understand. If not, you don't. Leave me some comments!

The Calm Before The Storm

2005-04-18T09:52:00.000-06:00

I haven't had a lot of time in the past couple of months to write. I hate that because I really LOVE to write. At my previous church, Del City Church of Christ, I used to "have to" write a bulletin article every week. The deadline drove me crazy a lot, but I always managed to crank something out I was proud of. Since I don't preach much, I guess it was my little way of getting stuff off my chest. I sort of miss the pressure of that deadline, as weird as that is to say!

Well, NCYM is going well. The website is up and running, although I'm still waiting on final approval of the registration form. Communications is a primary focus for my year as president of the board. I've learned that communicating (or OVER communicating) provides more results than improving the content a lot of times... usually the content is good! But, if people don't know about something, they can't take advantage of it. The Regional Coordinator structure is working well. I think a lot of guys will be able to contribute to the success of NCYM. It will also help the board to expand who they know, so that future boards will not be just from the "good old boy" network... who you know! I'm not criticizing, just that method is the only one we've had.... and it needs improvement.

I've decided to take a break from grad school... I'm overcommitted with NCYM and such. I am not sure if I'll go back to school. I like it, but a lot of times it seems like it's doing work for the sake of doing work, and not contributing much to what I need in my ministry. I guess I'm starting to put all my eggs into the one basket of "doing youth ministry until I die". I don't want to be a preacher!

As far as Scripture goes, what's been on my heart lately comes from Ephesians 4:12-13 "Their responsibility is to equip God's people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ, until we come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God's Son that we will be mature and full grown in the Lord, measuring up to the full stature of Christ." I've always struggled with whether I should spend more time with the one lost sheep than the ninety-nine found ones... I've usually gone after the one primarily, but I've made a pretty strategic change in my philosophy this year... I've spent a LOT of time trying to develop more leadership, attempting to equip my student leaders to do that. It has really strengthened the core of our youth group, but we still struggle with reaching out to those that aren't plugged in. Maybe in God's time, He'll reveal how that needs to happen.

By the way, if you haven't seen the pictures of our recent trip to the Navajo Reservation in Arizona over Spring Break, it might give you a good laugh. We (I) sunk BOTH vans up to the axles in mud and had to walk 15 miles to get help. It's close to the worst thing that's happened in 17 years of youth ministry... I'm fortunate if that's as bad as it gets.

Hey leave me a comment, even if it's just to say hi. Seems like I only have 6 or 7 people reading... could be because I'm a loser and never update my blog. I'll try to do it once a week from now on, just like my old bulletin article days!

Dreams... wanna help?

2005-02-03T07:40:00.000-07:00

Sorry... it's been a month and a couple of days since I last wrote... honestly I've been SWAMPED with a lot of very cool things!

The year began with the National Conference on Youth Ministries which took place far away... in Colorado Springs, CO (only an hour drive from here!). Since I am on the board and the president of the board for the coming year, I have felt great responsibility for things... our theme this year was "Legacy", which took a look back at the history of youth ministry in the churches of Christ. We shared video clips of interviews with many of the pioneers like Big Don Williams, Tim Lewis, Dan Warden, Cliff Crumpler, Jim Moss, Edd Eason, Mike Myers and dozens of others. Watching those made me realize the great responsibility I have to carry on the torch they lit and passed on to me and many others along the way. The conference was a huge success... NCYM 2006 will be in Nashville... please be in prayer for me every day that it will occur exactly like God wants it to!

One of the "burdens" God placed on my heart is that of youth ministry in the mission field. Our missionary from Germany was back in the States to visit his daughter who's doing an exchange all this year. I had the chance to discuss with him the statistics that in the US, the vast majority of those who convert to Christianity are between the ages of 13-21. He felt that age group was the most open to the possibility, much moreso than the adults. I guess change is harder the older you get. As we discussed youth ministry overseas, it appears to be basically an afterthought, with a few teen directed activities being organized by missionaries who just don't have enough time in the day as it is!

Why is it that we spend 90% of our church budgets on "maintaining" those age 22 and above? That is ludicrous if the "conversion" research is correct! And why are we not equipping young men and women to go into the mission field specifically to reach teens? Baffling... but a burden has been placed on my heart. I've been doing a little investigation about this subject and found the following:
1. There are actually a few youth ministers for the churches of Christ in the mission field.
2. Scotland has one.
3. Frankfort, Germany has one.
4. Various places in Australia have youth ministers... I believe I'm aware of 6.
5. As with most missionaries, these youth workers struggle just to have enough money to live,.

My dream, at least for now is two fold. I want to try to raise money to pay for these 8 or so missionary youth ministers to come to NCYM 2006 in Nashville. I want to let them share their experiences and be encouraged by the other 500 youth ministers that will attend that conference. Second, I want to see AIM or HIM or to create a new program that specifically trains and organizes youth ministry in the mission field, internationally and domestically. Unfortunately, I too, am a youth minister.. and don't have the money to do any of this. So, I'm reduced to asking others that God has blessed. If you are reading this and would like to sponsor a guy to go to NCYM, or would like to help me put together this new youth ministry program, let me know.

Last but not least.... on the way to work this morning, I drove past one of the richest neighborhoods in town (The Preserve)... I saw a very wealthy lady at the stop sign. She had a HUGE bowl of cereal on the roof of her car and she didn't have a clue! Thank you God for the things in life that show us we really are just made of dirt.... or bones from dirt!

Copies EVERYWHERE!

2004-12-31T06:16:00.000-07:00

Well, feel free to look at the time of day I'm posting this... 5:15 AM on Friday morning... that's early.. no wait, that's late! I've been working hard on the notebook (replaces the little program from years past) for NCYM, the National Conference on Youth Ministries, which starts this next Sunday. The notebook has 70 pages (front and back, so actually only 35 pieces of paper)... and I have to do 600 notebooks! You do the math to find out how many copies THAT is!!! I started at midnight last night with 27 reams of paper and I'm almost out. I have to go to Office Depot first thing this morning to pick up 15 more reams!!! And, I have to beg some of my youth group kids to come help me insert the printed materials into the binders.

Of course, once I'm done with that, I get to work on the videos of the pioneers of youth ministry that will show each night of the conference (beginning Monday night). And, I get to load up 18 eight foot tables a giant corkboard and the NCYM banners to take with me when I leave after church this coming Sunday morning.

While all this is going on, my poor, yet still lovely wife, Kristi, is still fighting being sick. Fortunately, last night, Jake spent the night at a friend's house and all she had to do was deal with Molly.... which is a task for anyone! HA!

Why do I do this? Because I love what I do for a living. I love challenging kids to love God. I love to challenge youth ministers (most of whom are MUCH younger than me) to quit whining about their lot in life and do what God made them to do! It really is true that the grass really is NOT greener on the other side. I've been there and done that one.

Lastly, I'm pumped about the upcoming college national championship football game.. you know, the Orange Bowl, with my mighty OU Sooners taking on the hated freaks from the west, the Trojans. Do I even need to comment on THAT mascot??? Please... anyway, keep me in your prayers so I'll have the stamina to make it through the next week and that many lives will be touched because of the hard work of ALL of the NCYM board.

Feel free to make a comment... so far thanks to Tess, Carrie, Gabe, and Mike are the only ones to leave comments so far... gee, am I that bad at trying to stir up your emotions? Oh well...

Snow rocks!

2004-11-30T12:19:00.000-07:00

Sunday was a great day in my life. You probably know that I'm a HUGE fan of the Denver Broncos football team... actually, I have been since the old Orange Crush days of Craig Morton and the like. You see, I grew up in a Dallas Cowboys household... so, being the rebel that I am, I HATED the Cowboys and still do, except for the few years when they were smart enough to hire Barry Switzer to be the head coach.

Anyway, it DUMPED snow on us in Denver last Sunday... all the season ticket holders were trying to find anyone to take their seats... so I got to go with three of my buddies. We lost, but it was an incredible experience. Here's a story from the game here, but after you click on it, scroll to the bottom and click on the Raiders-Broncos photo gallery. CRAZY STUFF!

It's amazing to see nearly 70,000 people go completely nuts over grown men playing a game. I certainly admire the athletic abilities of the guys who CAN do that, but I have to wonder about those of us in the stands. What is it about sports that makes us mortgage our homes, time with our families and jobs to get hold of a season ticket? Why do we cheer until we lose our voices for a game? Why do we go to so much trouble to do something that ultimately doesn't really matter?

Every Sunday, our churches are filled with droves of "fans" in church who would no more applaud and cheer in church than they would sit and be silent at a Broncos game. Friends, God has done WAY more for us than John Elway, Barry Switzer or any other athlete or coach could ever do. He saved us from our sins, from hell and most importantly, He has saved us from ourselves. is there anything more worthy of a huge cheer and "the wave" than that? I think not.

Hangover

2004-11-22T09:09:00.000-07:00

The word "hangover" is defined by the Heritage Dictionary as:

Unpleasant physical effects following the heavy use of alcohol.
A letdown, as after a period of excitement.
A vestige; a holdover: hangovers from prewar legislation.

Can I say it? I have a hangover.

Not from massive (or even slight) alcohol consumption, but more along the lines of definitions number 2 and 3 above. We just returned from our annual fall youth group retreat at the Deer Creek Christian Camp in Bailey, CO yesterday. We had over 80 teens and adults yesterday that heard phenomenal messages from John Ricketts, the youth minister from the Del City Church of Christ in Del City, OK and worship led by Seth McDowell, the Worship & Family Life Minister at the Mayfair Church of Christ in Oklahoma City, OK. The theme of the event was "got mission 5:16?" which refers to Matthew 5:16. Numerous kids shared the desire to change their lives, whether by wanting to study about becoming a Christian, or to reorder their lives to give their God-given mission top priority. On top of all that, we had nearly a foot of the most beautiful, champagne powder snow I have ever seen. It was simply beautiful watching it sparkle and fall among literally thousands of aspen trees at an elevation of nearly 10,000 feet. WOW, how can people be atheists when surrounded by this? I don't know.

Of course, like I do every retreat... I've lost my voice. Sometimes when that happens, I wonder if that's God's way of telling me to SHUT UP and start using a different "sense"... my hearing. When this happens to me, I think of Psalm 46, which tells us to be still and know that He is God. Not only that, but I certainly need to just listen more to what other people have to say... my wife, my own kids and my youth group kids. Let he who has ears, hear! HA!

Pray for Cameron, one of our high school guys. He broke his arm last night and is likely gonna have surgery today. Also, pray for Matt and Jeff Mastalka's cousin and grandad... they were in a serious car accident last Saturday night... their cousin is in a coma.

Write a comment if ya want to. It'd be nice to know you read this stuff.... but not necessary. I can get my self-esteem from other sources, if I have to! HA!

It's Retreat Week!

2004-11-15T10:01:00.000-07:00

I love youth group retreats. Truly, they are one of my favorite activities we ever do. And it usually marks the end of my manic depression for the fall... you see as a youth minister, you get PSYCHED because of all the amazing stuff that happens in the summer. You really do live on a constant spiritual high. Then school starts... the youth group kids start forgetting all they've committed to do and be for God and with God. They get involved in football, fall baseball, cheerleading, band or go get a part-time job. They shift their priorities from having God be number one, to Him being, say, third or fourth.

There used to be an old country song called, "One Step Forward & Two Steps Back"... seems applicable in this situation. Many times teens (and even us youth workers) will rededicate our lives to God at a camp or on a mission trip, but then later make our own interests above what God wants for us. They'll quickly forget the incredible experience they've had, that was able to break through their hardened exteriors to get to where it can make a difference... a decision to change their lives.

I continue to pray for every kid that I work with to make a decision to truly live their life for Jesus. God will bless our retreat this weekend.

The Election

2004-11-04T09:20:00.000-07:00

This has been an incredibly interesting week. George W. Bush was re-elected this Tuesday to be our President for the next four years. I'm amazed at how crazed people get by this political stuff.

Frankly, I'm more concerned with how people at church equate being a Christian with being a "good, patriotic American". Or better yet, equate being a GOOD Christian with being a Republican. Now, understand that I am a registered Republican and I did vote for Bush. It does bother me a lot that many of "us" church folk tend to look down at Democrats, Independents or anyone with a differing opinion. In fact, our church had an insert in our bulletin a couple of weeks ago that said something about it being our Christian duty to vote! We even sang a verse of "God Bless America" last Sunday at the end of services. Are you kidding me?

Now, I'm proud to live in the USA and the freedoms we have in this country. But I don't think it's right or wise to try and "bind" being a Republican or being a voting American on people to prove their mettle as being a good Christian or not. I just finished reading a book for grad school by Robert Nash entitled, "An 8 Track Church in a CD World". He makes a statement that I've decided is my new mantra... "The church operates better in the margin than in the center of a society".

Are we stupid enough to think that if we ally ourselves enough with the government that God will EXTRA-bless our nation? Didn't the Catholic church and the Romans already figure out that doesn't work? Why do we think we, as the USA, are God's newly chosen people? What are we, Mormons?

I guess I've just begun to realize how much more effective the church can be now that I've moved outside the Bible Belt. I mean, do we really need more churches in Dallas, Texas? And how many of them actually reach people that don't know Jesus? In fact, how many people in Dallas, TX don't already have some relationship with Jesus? In Denver, Colorad, there is a HUGE majority of folks that really don't know anything about Christ. Why are we "planting" more churches in the south when there is mission work to do just a few hundred miles north?

In closing, my family went to a Bush victory party at someone's home last Tuesday night. I observed mostly... watched the election results roll in and watched the adults and kids at the party. The kids (about 20 of them below age 10) made up chants full of ugly comments about Kerry. I pulled my son aside (he's 8) and said, "Bud, what those kids are doing isn't nice and I don't want you to participate in it. I may not agree with John Kerry, but he's a human being and deserve respect as such." I think my son got it.

Are we more concerned with who is President (Republican OR Democrat) than we are who has decided to follow Jesus? Seems to me like we ought to leave it at this... 1 Peter 2:13-25 talks about the fact that we are to "respect everyone", to "honor the king". I think that's regardless of who the king is... God is in control. Who am I?

Write your responses to that one...

Friday - the day off

2004-10-22T09:33:00.000-06:00

Maybe you don't know, but ministers actually DO work. It may not be shoveling dirt, dreaming up new architecture or governing a nation, but we are pretty busy. Sure there are those that get by as slackers in ministry (most of those are PULPIT guys, not youth ministers). In fact, most youth ministers I know work just about as hard as anyone. I did a review of my hours recently and figured out that my average work week doing ministry is about 75 hours per week. WOW! That is freaky on one hand, but when you realize that your entire life (whether you get paid or not) should be 100% ministry. I guess I'm a slacker!

We have started moving stuff back into our basement from the flood we came home to in August. We have new carpet and a new desk for the office which is nice. I'm so far behind in my homework for graduate school. I need to catch up, and a good place to study will help out.

Well tomorrow is the OU vs. Kansas game, 10 AM on Fox Sports Net. I can't wait to watch the thrashing. How unfair is it that OU is number 3 in the BCS? PLEASE let's go to a playoff system NCAA! You guys have to be smart enough to realize how much money you can make off it... and in my opinion, it will help ALL the bowls make more money, especially the second tier bowls. I rant on...

So hey, make some comments to my blog! I'd love to hear from you.

Welcome to my world!

2004-10-21T13:00:00.000-06:00

My first blog entry. Hope you like it.. and welcome to my world!

Today's been a busy day. Working on a cool worship service for this coming Sunday morning. We'll see if I get into trouble with it.. I don't think I will, but you never know.

The Rocky Mountain Rescue youth conference was supposed to start today. I had a few groups cancel out on me in the past few days so we cancelled. The kids and I are so bummed about it. I'm sure with a few years of therapy, we'll all get through it.

Probably the most stressful thing on my plate is my work for this semester at LCU as I continue my MDiv in Youth Ministry. I'm 1/3 the way there. It's one of those deals that I love and hate at the same time. Anyone know of an easy way to learn Hebrew?

I really want to write a book. Any thoughts on a topic?

Here's my list for today... the first 10 songs I can think of from the 1980's... can you add your list?
1. Kokomo by the Beach Boys (that's me and Kristi's song)
2. Just What I Needed by the Cars
3. Brick House by the Commodores
4. 1999 by Prince
5. Come on Ilene by Dexy's Midnight Runners
6. Take Off by Bob and Doug Mackenzie and Getty Lee from Rush
7. Superfreak by Rick James
8. All My Rowdy Friends Have Settled Down by Hank Williams, Jr.
9. Call Me by Skyy
10. Free Bird by Lynyrd Skynyrd