Chaos

Yes, I know I'm a day late posting. Yes, I know that I haven't really dropped any theology on here in a long time and have only been whining about how busy I am and how I'm moving soon. That's just the fact of my life right now. We load the truck on Monday. I'm not sure how we are going to get everything done before that, but we are. My plan is to resume blogging as usual next week (or the next, at the latest). Please keep the prayers going for us. They are much appreciated.
AE

Seeds

So, I'm really starting to think about the youth group that I'm leaving. I am giving up all control and direct influence on them. I have taught my last Wednesday night lesson here (next week we will just "remember" together). I have no idea what is going to happen with the youth program here, and the possibilites scare me to death. Dana and I have invested 4 years of our lives in these kids and are incredibly proud of who they are. The question is "Who will they be?" I'm glad that God's running the show. I'm glad He loves these kids more that I do (as hard as that is for me to believe). I'm glad He has bigger dreams for them than I can come up with. I'm glad he reminds me that my job is just to plant seeds and that His job is the rest (Mark 4:26-29) . I'm glad that while I will be at work somewhere else, God will still be at work in the lives of these kids.
AE

Tired

I'm tired. There has been alot going on. Don't worry, I'm not at all depressed, just tired. I have an idea I want to blog about (dealing with a different interpretation of the parable of the wheat and the weeds), but I just can't come up with it today. I've been doing a series w/ the youth group on Wednesdays called "The End of The World As We Know It". The series is going really well, but I'm putting alot into it (it requires alot of research). It kind of a contraversial series, but it's being well recieved. (I believe that if you are talking about God, Jesus, The Holy Spirit or the Bible and it isn't contraversial, you are doing something wrong). On top of that, we are doing our last Beach Retreat with the youth group this weekend. The theme is "The Way" and I'm in the process of writing the lessons. I'm really trying put alot into these as well. Additionally, I had made a committment to the rest of the staff that I would finish the video editing and production of a DVD based small group series that we worked on together. This is sort of a tedious process and is quite time consuming, but I'm very proud of how the finished product is turning out. (actually it's 2 series. The first is called "What Is The Kingdom Like?" and the second is called "Parables of Grace and Judgment") I've also committed to do the Graduation banquet for the seniors on our last Saturday here. I wanted to be sure that they didn't get shafted because of our move. Even so, more work for me, which is fine, but I'm tired.

We made an offer on a house in West Virginia today. Our house in PC is under contract. I'm not sure why I'm telling you all this, except to ask for your prayers. As busy as I am, I think Dana is more busy and more stressed. She's been trying to pack things up at the house while I'm at work and Emma's been sick. Anyway...I've spent more time on this than I meant to. Prayers would be appreciated.
AE

Ineffective Invitation

Is it possible that our methodology for invitations/alter calls has become antiquated and quaint at best and irrelevant and ineffective at worst? It seems to me that the way that we do this was formulated for modern thinkers, and even they have become bored and unmoved by it. Now, I don't believe that the idea of giving people a chance to respond to the message is necessarily bad idea. As a matter of fact I think it's quite a good one. I just think that asking them to simply come down front and talk to someone while everyone else sings and looks on seems kind of stupid to everyone now. What if we gave them symbolic things to physically do and participate in instead. Now, we've been doing this in youth ministry for years (or at least I have) with incredible results. Could it work for churches as well. We tried it at Palo Alto this past Sunday. We had a huge wooden cross at the front of the auditorium (sanctuary). Beside it was a small table with hammers and nails on it. They were asked to respond (to the lesson) by writing down things in their lives that needed to die so that they might live on slips of paper that were provided for them. During the singing of several songs, they were asked to come up and physically nail those things to the cross. All I can say is, it works.
AE