A Treasured Memory from Discover 2007 July 23, 2008

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About this time last year, Christina and I were blessed by this skit. Since then, I have seen many renditions of this powerful skit. I believe that Christina did a wonderful job modifying the skit for Discover 2007. Mallory, Jarod, Billy, Thomas, Cheyene, Holly, and J.T. did a phenomenal job of acting it out. Unfortunately, we do not have a recording to add to the splendid collection.

I have seen my share of skits, but this one makes me cry every time. Imagine how much I cried when I saw my kids acting out this skit.  By the way, I’m usually the one who doesn’t cry. In fact, in my masculine defense, I proudly say that this is the only movie that makes me cry every time.

Why?

I sometimes cry because of how I can see God desiring me to choose Him over the world. However, most of the time I cry because of the many times I’ve seen the person at the end of the rope crying out for help. Many names and faces come to mind.  How about you?

Jesus commands us to help pull on the rope(the ministry of reconciliation). I can’t think of a better image of what we are trying to do through Discover. We want them to know that they have a God who hasn’t given up on them. I believe He will do whatever it takes through our Discover team to pull that kid back home with Him where he or she belongs.

Do you know some people at the wrong end of the rope? How can we help you bring them to Discover 2008? Please, let us join you in pulling on the rope.

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Lock-Ins July 12, 2008

 

6 a.m. Lock-in completed!

Any youth ministers out there ever get the feeling, “I am way too old to be doing this.”?  My title was recently changed at Forsythe from youth minister to family minister.  It gives a little more description to what I actually do at Forsythe as I implement my conflict resolution studies, young adult/middle aged adult ministry/ children’s ministry/ small group ministry/ etc…   

Can I not grow up?  I love all these ministries dearly.  I get excited to see people get that “aha” moment and embrace God’s call for their lives in these vast areas.  However, I get an unmatched zeal for working with the youth.  I’ve never been a cool youth minister!  I’m basically a country boy from the rural areas of West Monroe, LA., who raised sheep and missed school to attend livestock shows from age 4 to 18.  When God put a passion in my heart for ministry at age 15, I thought I would just breeze through the required times of youth ministry and move to the pulpit.  You see these weird kids have been one of the reasons I “can’t grow up”.  They have done something to me.  I walk into a room with them and I feel this weird vibe.  They have many obstacles that break my heart and I want to see them in heaven.  However, I lack the coolness, the lingo, and the ability to create fun gun games for their entertainment. 

They don’t find my jokes near as funny as the adults.  They haven’t told me thank you as much as the adults.  They make me feel young at heart and old all over. So why do I love them so much?  

There is one youth event that makes me feel older than any of the others.  I shudder when they request it and immediately begin thinking, “how long can I handle this?”  Some of my older retired youth minister friends say the event is from hell itself:  ALL-NIGHT LOCK-INS!! 

As I write this I am in the slow process of trying to recover from one that occurred last night!  My body is yelling, “You Big Dummy!!”  My heart is saying, God, thank you for letting a guy like me be a part of their lives.  They grew so close last night.  They verified to each other that there was a God, by showing His love to each other.  One of them wanted to be baptized into Christ last night.  He was ready to trust God with his life. 

So we baptized him.  We celebrated!  Heaven celebrated!!!  I wish you could have seen the look on his face!  It was the 3rd time I’ve met him.  Pray for him, please!  His name is Blake!  Pray for us and his family that we may nurture him in his walk with Christ.

I want to be clear about why I think we saw success last night.  It wasn’t a gifted youth minister or cool games.  I know this may sound simple and cliché.  Here was the blueprint for last night: We begged God to bless our time together and none of us felt qualified to be there.  He showed up, convicted our hearts, and we were richly blessed as a result.

Those kids remind me of how much I hope to see myself as He sees me, nothing more, and nothing less.

 

 

My First Post July 10, 2008

Greetings Future Blog Friends! My good buddy, the Blog King(John Dobbs), has helped me set-up my first Blog. This Blog will primarily be used to initially inform and update the Blog World of our 3rd annual youth rally, DISCOVER 2008. Last year we had a wonderful turn-out. This year we hope you all return and continue to spread the word of How God is moving in an area that is a wide-open mission field. If you have never heard of us or thought about visiting us, please come check us out! You all are welcome to stay at John’s Big New House – free!!!!

We are preparing the red carpet for your arrival! Our dates for Discover ‘08 are October 17-19. The Theme is “I Believe”.

We are very excited about our special guests. Dusty Rush, Craig Hicks, Chris Lindsey(lead singer of Watershed), Rochester Worship Ministry, ACU, Regional Campus Ministries, Unbound and several surprise guests will be leading our hearts and minds throughout the weekend. I will be posting registration information soon. Discover is sponsored by the the Forsythe Avenue Church of Christ in Monroe, LA and will be held at Ouachita Christian School 7065 Hwy 165 N, Monroe, La 71203.

If you can, please remember us and our efforts in your prayers,

Jason