Thoughts on Worship

"For many, church has become all about me-what I'm learning, what I'm seeking, what I'm desperate for, what I need, how I've been affected, what I can do. We see ourselves as isolated individuals all seeking personal encounters with God, wherever we can find them. 

Sadly, this reflects our individualistic, me obsessed culture. Rather than seeing ourselves as part of a worship community, we become worship consumers. We want worship on demand, served up in our own way, at our own time, and with our own music." Bob Kauflin 

Wow, great thoughts! Worship is not just about music, it's about our hearts and worshipping an awesome God! When we focus in on my needs or wants, we miss out on worshipping God. When we say, 'I can't worship because of ...' we miss out on connecting with God who we came to church for. We should and do worship God through music, our tithes, prayer, reading God's Word, Bible study though preaching, and community (being part of the church). It is what we go to church for. What should we do? We should put away what I want and focus on what He wants! To say I am okay if I don't get anything out of the service, but did I give God worship and/or did I invest in others and help them to worship God in a positive way? Let's get rid of the "me" obsessed culture and be a "God" obsessed culture!

Mission Trip

I had to blog a little about the trip, and take a few minutes to reflect. We has an amazing time in West Bend, Wisconsin. Amber and I took four teenagers; and left on a Saturday evening. Upon getting to the church we were staying with, we were able to meet the other groups and get to kno them. We spent time Saturday evening in training and we learned a new evangelizing way through the evangelizing cube. 

On Sunday, we worshipped and had a meal with the church family. Then we packed up supplies and headed out to a park so that we could invest in the community. That afternoon, we spent three hours doing a block party. We built lots of relationships and through registration we collected a lot of contacts for the church plant. 

Monday through Wednesday, we did work projects. We spent time clearing the woods, laying mulch down for paths, painting and removing weeds. The city's officials were impressed with our group, and we got done way more than they thought. It was hard work, but we made an impact! 

Throughout the week, the teens did a great job of making friends and spending time together. Trey Turner did a great job of training us in the morning and evenings. His stories were great and learned that we can share our story and Bible stories with others. The teens grew from the trip and they bonded even closer in their relationships. 

Camp After-Thoughts

2014 BLBA Camp was amazing this year! It was my first time to experience the whole week of camp and I was able to spend quality time with both the elementary kids and teenagers. My position was the recreation leader for the week; aka, I was the games guy!

Best memories of the week:

Hanging out with the campers. They were amazing! I met many new teens and kids; and was able to see others that I had met last year. Also I got to spend time with 7 teens and 4 kids that came from Graceway!

Getting slimed was a huge highlight of the week. The elementary cabin with the most points for attitude, participation, and bringing water bottles was able to turn me into a human pancake! The Chicks cabin won and I had pancake batter, melted butter, and maple syrup poured on me. The teenagers turned me into human sushi; each of the six cabins counselors picked their best behaved camper from the week. I then had soy sauce, rice, and sardines thrown on me. It was a smelly memory; but definitely a great memory as I looked out and watched the campers having a blast!

Being chased by a bear, well, not really chased...(refer to the camp night intruder two blogs before)
Nothing like walking down a path and running into a black bear on it's back two feet. Especially, when it could have had two cubs with her...

Having my wife being part of camp this year! She came up on Wednesday night; and we were able to walk around the camp and see a beautiful sunset on the lake!

Then a lots of small things: like losing my car key and walking back and forth from the rec field to the mess hall, only to find them at the rec field table...or getting injured playing kickball. Swollen ankle and lots of limping, but Brad did a great job of wrapping my ankle and I was able to push through the week...or crazy game challenges like elephant games, air zooka, and campers shooting blow darts at a cup on my head...

Best games of the week:

By far the teenagers would say Glow in the dark capture the flag! I loved it too! Nothing like watching two teams charge at each other with glow sticks around their wrists only to watch them stop at the center line; and act like a bunch of girls and boys at middle school dance...Both nights we played it; the game was a success!

Another game that the teenagers liked was Awesome Ball. It is a combination of handball, ultimate frisbee, and basketball ideas. As we played, I made more rules and added soccer ideas to the mix. The game looked pretty violent for the most part; we had many collisions and people laying on the ground. Though, amazingly we had no injuries. It was requested to be played again, so I know for sure it was a "new" game hit with the teenagers.

The elementary kids played a variety of games. Their favorites were the human blob and sharks and minnows. Changing it up everyday and having new games; the elementary kids enjoyed rec time.

I am sure in the weeks to come, I will look back and realize so much more happened! These are just a few that I have thought about over the weekend; and I believe that they are great life stories!

My second appearance on radio

I made my second appearance on radio! Getting better, and totally have respect for people on radio. This time on Hope Net Radio; we discussed Romans 12:1-2 and what it means to not to conform to the world. How mentoring is so important and how you should find people to mentor you and mentor others. Check out the full show on radio tab below!

Camp night intruder...

It was close to eleven o'clock, and I was planning on filling water balloons up for the next day. I decided to head back to my cabin to grab my earphones so I could listen to music while I filled the water balloons. Half way back to my cabin, I heard noise coming from the woods. I looked over and noticed it was coming from the road path area that went to the high school cabins. I listened for awhile and thought it was just teenagers messing around. I thought about continuing to my cabin, but I knew I was the adult and needed to send the youth back to their cabins. 

I shined my mag light down the path and continued to make my way in that direction. About 20 yards down the path my light fell on a black figure. He was about my height and I made eye contact with him. At first, I thought it was a teen in a mask; but then reality kicked in. I was staring at black bear on it's hind feet, staring back at me red eyes (reflection of my mag light). I slowly backed up, and then took off running. I stopped in the camp lights with my light shining at the woods. I grabbed my phone to call our camp director to make sure staff did not come from the kitchen area and to alert the camp we had a bear on campus. I heard growls and movement in the leaves, and took off running thinking that the bear was coming my direction. I stopped again to see that the bear never left the woods and I should be okay. I called Joe and we made sure all staff were in buildings and safe, all campers were already in their cabins. Phil, the owner of the camp, came down and met me asking questions of what I saw and heard. I told him it sounded like a few teenagers in the woods, and then. I saw just one bear. He told me that there had been sightings of a small mama black bear with two cubs. I never saw cubs, but with all the noise, I think I might have saw mama bear and the cubs were close by...awesome life story from camp on how I almost got into a tangle with a black bear