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Summer Camp '08 - Day Three Reflections

Camp has become such a blur that I have had so little time to keep you all posted as to what's going on! I apologize for the delay, but I will post later tonight after the PM Service... off to worship!

Summer Camp '08 - Day Two Reflections

Another great day of camp! Check out the hightlights!

• Field games were a lot of fun! Our group didn’t win everything but we definitely showed up! Our students make me laugh because they are always the ones with the bumps and bruises, but I think that’s because they leave it all on the field! They play with a lot of heart!
• I will say that our guys completely dominated the paintball field! It was really funny to see all the campers coming back covered in paint… except for our guys! They were a force to be reckoned with!
• I just continue to be so happy AND amazed at the time our leaders are getting to spend with the students. Really great relationships are being formed, and ones that already existed are becoming so much stronger!
• After chapel last night, I saw one of our students crying. I kind of took a deep breath and prepared for the conversation I thought I was about to have. The talk that night had been about confession, so I just assumed that’s what I was about to hear. Instead, I find out the tears were because she couldn’t find anything to confess! Praise God that we have students that live out moral lives and survive high school without significant failure!

Summer Camp '08 - Day One Reflections

What an unbelievable time we've had already! There is so much I could share about experiences, conversations, laughter, and so much more but let me just take a minute and highlight a couple of things that have happened in this first day at The Master's Inn...

The first night of worship was amazing! I couldn't believe the energy in the room from the very first session! God is going to do something awesome here this week!

Jason Autry did an incredible job teaching! Jason spoke from Psalm 139:23-24, and it was perfect to kick off the week. He brought the truth about how we need to "freezeframe" our lives and let God search us, examine us, and test what He finds to be something that leads to His plan for us. A lot of our students really connected big time!

Because of Jason's setup for the week we also had incredible small group time last night! Our students were being confronted and challenged by some pretty big things and we were able to have really good conversation. Again, God is going to do something amazing... I can just feel it!

Alexis Trueblood is this year's Kajabe Kan Kan winner! Out of nearly sixty girls here at camp, Alexis outlasted the competition to retain Sonlight's dominance at Kan Kan which began last year with an impressive showing by Brendon Walzak. You can check out a video of Kan Kan in the video below... the game rocks!

That wraps up the highlights so far! Keep checking for plenty more to come!

On The Road to Summer Camp '08

Let summer camp begin! I am currently in the church van, listening to my students have a great time together already! We should be to the camp by 3:30 this afternoon, and I can't even begin to express how excited I am to have this week with my students! It's going to be a great time! Check back often for updates and pictures!

The Staff Showdown at The Gold Mine

It was a long, drawn out battle! Near misses, amazing shots, golf balls ricocheting dangerously off of stone walls... and Bob Vogler dropped in under the radar and emerged victorious! If you get a chance ask Bob about his ten foot putt backwards, between the legs... I don't know whether to say it was amazing or ridiculous! Or you can ask Hershel about missing so many putts in a row that he actually got dizzy! Or you can ask Jeff it's a good idea to whack your golf ball against a stone wall which put everyone nearby in imminent danger! Or you can ask me how I started off a brilliant round, and completely fell apart and went from first place to last place on the back nine! Fun times nonetheless...

Staff Retreat Reflections

Yesterday, our staff traveled to the Outer Banks for our annual staff retreat. I love this time, especially now that I a part of my second one! The first year was more about learning the ropes and figuring out how to navigate these new friendships in my life. I remember walking away from last year's retreat with a mixed bag of frustration and confusion.
Through a number of God-sized moments in this past year, I entered our staff retreat with fresh perspectives. Was there still tough moments? Absolutely! Church is tough, but what a difference since last year! I have really enjoyed our time so far. We had great conversation about our plans for next year, but we also had a lot of fun! Good meals, and a great round of putt-putt (more about that in my next post). I can't wait to see what today brings! I can't wait to share with all of you what God has in store for Sonlight in this next year! I can't wait to see how God is going to move and transform not only our church, but our community, and even my own life! More later...

Leave your comments... here!

Scott Hodge is starting a great discussion on leadership. Get over there and leave your thoughts!

Tomorrow becomes next week...

So in my last post I mentioned that part two of the previous dialogue was coming the next day.  Many days later, it is both humorous and interesting to look back and see how God slapped me with this verse...

"We may make a lot of plans, but the Lord will do what He has decided." (Proverbs 19:21)

Directly after my last post, the plans of the Lord came crashing down!  We had an incredible youth event, followed by some incredible conversation with some students, followed by the AC in our house breaking... AGAIN!  That's not including having one of the more frustrating Sundays I have had since being at Sonlight. I share all of this to tell you that I believe God had to show me something pretty big before I was truly ready to share part two of why many of us feel like God's power and passion are missing from our ministries.  After a pretty awesome struggle (I am now also sick), here is reason number two...

2.  God is not reflected in your ministry.  You are. 

Consider the verse from Proverbs again.  Now consider how you typically think and plan for your ministry.  Who do you go to?  If you're anything like me, it's very embarrassing that I often just go as far as my own mind. 

When I was in college, I had a friend that liked to brag about having a hard head.  He would demonstrate this by frequently ramming into things with bludgeoning force with only his head.  On one particular evening, I was brushing my teeth in the bathroom and my friend came in.  After a couple of minutes of him just standing there in silence, I had to ask him what he was doing.

"Do you think I could knock over the bathroom partition with my head?", he said.  Now let's just be honest here.  As foolish as that sounds, who wouldn't want to see someone try that?!  So throwing wisdom aside, I egged him on, and then yelled a battle cry as he charged toward the partition... and guess what?!

He did it!  The partition came flying out of the wall, bolts and fasteners flying across the bathroom and scattering across the floor.  But as the thrill of the moment subsided, I realized my friend was still laying across the now horizontal bathroom partition... out cold! 

We have two options.  One, keep beating our heads against the wall by trying to make something happen by our own power.  Two, get in line with God and what He has already decided to do with you and your ministry.  Face it friends, the plan has already been set.  Now you decide. 

Conclusion tomorrow... I hope.