Looking out for others...

Jeff Manion reveals a great leadership lesson in the short 2 minute clip below.  Who are you looking after?

At the Harmony House...

"Everyone deserves to live a life free of abuse".  That is the statement written on the home page of The Harmony House website.  On Sunday, our CYM students, Parents, and Staff volunteered their time to have a part in making sure this safe place endures.  We cleaned like crazy!  What does cleaning have anything to do with making sure a life "free of abuse" endures?  Well, we want to do our part in making sure these women and children feel loved by the Church.  We want to make sure that the environment in which they live is not only safe, but clean...similar to the house you and I live in.  Unfortunately, because of the lack of Government assisted funds, over the past couple of years the Harmony House has not always been able to hire for the custodial demands that 110 residents need.  That is where CYM has stepped in.  We, along with many other volunteers from all over Springfield, have developed a partnership to offer our volunteers once per quarter.  This past Sunday we spent our time cleaning, scrubbing, sweeping, mopping, and organizing.  We quickly realized, as we looked into the eyes of a young child, this was a ministry that reached deeper than a clean floor.  This was a ministry that helped the residents feel valued.  When was the last time you felt valued?  When was the last time you added value to someone else's life?  If you would like to add value to a person's life, then volunteer to serve with us next quarter at the Harmony House.

Katie and Christine scrub down a recently vacated room.

Rachelle helping Christine and Katie in a room

Alley sweeping one of four hallways

Alexis and Kim cleaning the dining room

Sarah and Katie working on a hallway

Ellen, Katie, and Alley scrubbing walls

Christian, Joey, Dave, and Scott in the basement

Patty helping in the dining room

Scott and Jon deciding what needs to be done next

Surge in Review 8/29/12

There was a ton of energy last night at CYM.  It was fun seeing everyone get untangled and it was really awesome seeing kids and students worship their Creator!  Last night we talked about ways we could continue being a Christ Follower at school.  We talked about the pressures to act and talk like those who are not.  We looked at 4 specific ways to "Connect" so that we could persevere by being who we say we are.

1. We need to connect with God through prayer-prayer is vital for helping us resist temptation
2. We need to connect with God's word- knowing what the right things are is vital for us to follow through
3. We need to connect with Christ Following friends-find someone in your school who has the same standards as you and stick with them
4. We need to connect with Adults-find adults who will pray for you constantly  

Students at CYM were: Makensey, Alley, Alexis, Chrissy, Hailey, Katie, Corrie, Kim, Jonathan, Ryan, Elijah, Alex, Luke, Zach, Colten, Jayson, and Brian

SURGE in Review 8/22/12

Last night we talked about one of the craziest stories in all of Scripture...David and Bathsheba found in 2 Samuel 11.  Our main focus last night is to be students and people of integrity.  Are we the same people by ourselves as we are when we are at church or at school?  If we are by ourselves do we watch the same shows on TV as we would if our parents were watching TV with us?  Do we listen to the same songs by ourselves that we'd feel comfortable enough to share those with a friend or through the sound system in the CYM room?  Which of your electronic devices tempts you the most?  TV, Phone, Computer?  What steps are you taking to create accountability for the times you are alone?

Students in attendance were: Makensey, Alexis, Chrissy, Donya, Hailey, Katie, Corrie, MJ, Kim, Frankie, Jonathan, Ryan, Zach, Colten, Luke, Christian, Jeremiah, Jeigh, Mason, and Brian.

SURGE in Review: 8/15/12

After an exciting game of "knock-out" and an awesome time of worship, it was time to start building some boats!  Check out these pics of students making the biggest boat that would float the longest and would eventually hold the most pens using just paper and masking tape.

After some really ingenious boat creations by all, we dug into the Scriptures and talked about the day that Peter stepped out of the boat in the middle of the sea to walk to Jesus.  This year in School we may find ourselves feeling like the disciples...sent out by Jesus only to be found in the middle of a storm and one chance to step out of the safety of our boat and on to the crashing waves with Jesus.  What will you choose?

Students at SURGE were: Makensey, Alley, Katie, Jonathan, Ryan, Jeremiah, Corrie, Donya, Christian, Luke, Zach, Colten, Kim, Kim, MJ, Alex, and Mason

SURGE in Review 8/1/2012

Ice, Pizza, Nice Singing, and Jesus...these are the 6 words I would use if I had to summarize last night's CYM in 6 words or less.

It was AWESOME having Keith Mason back leading us in our crazy games as we played a nice refreshing round of some ice relay games.

After the ice relay we ate some Pizza in celebration of our 31 registered students.  Last night we added 3 students to that list but we missed giving registration forms to 4 students not yet registered.  

Then we sang: "Here I am to Worship", "Take Me In", "Like an Avalanche", "Give us Clean Hands".

It was here that we dug into the Scriptures and talked a ton about "The Woman at the Well" story.  Over the past couple of weeks we've been looking into some Jesus stories that were connected to the temple.  It is amazing how Jesus was setting up and casting vision for the transfer of God's dwelling from the physical temple in Jerusalem to the Spiritual temple of our hearts.  I loved the openness to details that the students showed last night.  

Students at CYM were: Alley, Luke, Jayson, Jonathan, Katie, Corrie, Zach, Shyloh, Brittany, Kim, Kim, Chrissy, Hailey, Brian, Austin, Drayton, Marci, Savannah, Ryan,  Jora, Jeigh, Mason, MJ, Ryan, and Alexis

SURGE in Review 7/25/12

Tonight at SURGE we began with playing minute-to-win-it game called "Elephant Head".  Chrissy won the competition in 12 seconds.

For Worship we welcomed the G-Force kids in as we sang "Glory to God Forever", "Love the Lord", "Come Thou Fount", and "Like an Avalanche".

We then talked about the Fig Tree and Temple found in Mark 11.  This is really a difficult and weird part of Scripture where Jesus appears to be agitated at a tree for not producing fruit out of season and angry at a bunch of people inside of the Temple.  We quickly discovered that they were both very similar in that one was a tree that didn't bare any fruit and one was a religion that was revealing some very bad fruit.  We talked about how God moved his "living place" from the Temple to our hearts if we choose to accept him.  He wants to produce good fruit in us.  What happens when we are no longer producing good fruit?

We then headed outside to play some awesome Dodge Ball in the playground area where Mason won the first round and Colten ended up winning the second round.


It was a fun and crazy night @ Connection Youth Ministry.


Students at CYM were: Colten, Kim, Chrissy, Wes, Makensey, Corrie, Jeremiah, Christian, Allison, Mason, Zach, Shiloh, Alexis, Alley, Trey, Montana, Brian, Hailey, and JD

Students at Camp this week are: Donya, Kim, Alex, and David

SURGE in Review: 7/18/12

Last night at SURGE we began with playing a "What is it?" game.  Colten came through for his team as he and Zach won this very competitive game.

After "What is it?" we sang "Love the Lord" and "I life my Eyes up".

We then continued our series "Ummmm...can I try that again?".  We looked at the Israelites and how they had the opportunity to go into the promise land very early on in their journey but they were scared and decided not to go in.  Then about 40 years later the next generation of Israelites had the same opportunity and decided to follow Joshua in.  Do we ever have the opportunity to fix the mistakes that our parents may have made?  Can we choose to make wiser choices that our parents?  Can we learn from our parents' mistakes?  Do you?

We then headed outside to play some "Water Noodle Well Relay" and then we played the "Water Trash Can" game.  Here are some pics...

Students at CYM were: Jonathan, Gage, Luke, Jayson, Zach, Colten, Kim, Kim, Chrissy, Wes

Students at Camp this week are: Katie, Corrie, Jeremiah, David, Christian, Jeigh, MJ, Allison, Makensey, Brett, Josh, Mason

Simply known as "The Man of God"...

There is this really crazy story in the Old Testament found in 1 Kings 13.  You can read it by clicking here.  There are 2 things that I'd like to point out from this passage of Scripture...

1. Would I be content with being remembered simply as "The Man of God from Springfield"?  Or do I always have to have my name attached to everything?  Would I be content with no one knowing my name but with everyone knowing that I was a servant of the Most High?  I know I struggle with this a ton.  Is it worth doing something if I never get the credit?  Obviously, I know what the right answer is but that doesn't make it any easier...

2. Regardless of what some Christian observers may think...I believe it is quite easy for a "Man of God" to be led astray.  I'm afraid that there are even times when another "Man of God" can lead another "Man of God" astray by giving him improper advise.  The prophet in 1 Kings 13 lied intentionally to the "Man of God" but I believe you should never rush into anything that God has already warned you to stay away from.  Just look at the Scripture in the Old Testament and you will find some of the most notable Bible characters led astray.  King David is a great example of a Man after God's own heart making a poor decision.  I am reminded of the song that my 5 year old girl sometimes sings.  "Oh be careful little eyes what you see, Oh be careful little ears what you hear, Oh be careful little mouth what you say, Oh be careful little feet where you go"...

SURGE in Review 7/11/12

Last night was AWESOME!!!  We began the night with a little All Star game of our own with the National League winning in their final at bat.  Jeremiah had the walk off hit as the National League defeated the American League 8-7 in 2 innings.

We followed the "Great American Pastime" with some awesome worship!  Our CYM students sound awesome when worshiping together!  We sang "Marvelous Light", "Love the Lord", "I Lift My Eyes Up", and "Jesus Paid It All".

After worship we continued our series, "Ummmm...Can I try that again?".  We talked about Moses and how sometimes we try to do things on our own instead of waiting on God's timing and God's presence. We also talked about how it took about 40 years for Moses' second chance to come along.  We discussed how God is all powerful yet he chooses to use humans to accomplish his plans and to bring freedom and redemption.  Moses and Jonah are both great examples of how God uses imperfect people to accomplish some really awesome things.

Then we headed outside for some ultimate water football.

When the football got stuck way up in a tree we discovered who the best tree climbers we've ever had in CYM are.  Check out the video by clicking here:

Students at CYM were: Katie, Corrie, Jeremiah, David, Jora, Brittany, Zach, Shiloh, Holden, Christian, Donya, Kim, Kim, Jeigh, Elijah

Students at Camp this week are: Jonathan, Colten, Zach, Chrissy, Samantha

Jesus Paid it All...

One of the "new" songs that I am teaching our students this summer at CYM is an old hymn that has recently become popular again.  What I love about this song is that it communicates to our students that they don't have to be the brightest, smartest, prettiest, fastest, biggest, strongest.  They can find their identity in Jesus.  We are talking in SURGE about making the best out of the second chances we are given.  So for fun, I want to go through each line of a couple of the verses and the chorus and have a common day reaction to those words written back in 1865.

I hear the Savior Say
(that is if I can turn off my iPod, iPhone, PS3, Xbox360, or my Nintendo Wii)
Thy strength indeed is small
(who is God to tell me how weak I am...in fact my parents have been telling me for years that I am a big kid now and that I need to grow up)
Child of weakness watch and pray
(Now you are insulting me by calling me a weak child...and what exactly do you want me to watch???)
Find in Me thine all in all
(So you're telling me that I can find everything I ever need in the Creator of the universe?)

Jesus paid it all
(What did Jesus pay and what did He purchase?)
All to Him I owe
(Wait a minute...I don't owe anybody anything...except Discover, Visa, and Mastercard...)
Sin had left a crimson stain
(a little bit of sin never has hurt anybody much less permanently stained anything)
He washed it white as snow
(He did what?  How? Why would He do that?)

When before the throne
(now your talking Lord of the Ringish language!!!)
I stand in Him complete
(How in the world will I ever be able to stand with Jesus...I am not good enough)
Jesus died my soul to save
(oh, I see, that doesn't seem fair that he would have to do that for me, He did that?)
My lips shall still repeat
(I think I get this now, I don't understand all of it, but you better believe when I stand before The Judge on that throne with Jesus by my side, I'll be singing this chorus!!!)

Jesus paid it all
(Your Son...I can't describe why...)
All to Him I owe
(I can't tell you where I'd be if He hadn't...I was lost...I was alone...)
Sin had left a crimson stain
(my little bit of sin turned into a gigantic blot in my life...I was a slave to it...it was dark)
He washed it white as snow
(my sin was erased...it was no more...my chains were gone...a new slate...a new chance...a new life)

I was guilty but thank God...Jesus paid it all...

Ministry to Students...

Now I am sure we all know that ministry to students takes an exceptional blend of teaching and relationships.  If only Jesus would have left us the secret combination as to the percentage that youth pastors should spend their time on.  I am a firm believer that Jesus taught the masses, taught his disciples, but invested the most time during his earthly ministry with just a few.  Amanda and I are currently trying to rethink our "Voltage" ministry to our students on Sunday mornings.  We have 45 minutes and for the most part I have always made Sunday AM a "mini" Wed. pm.  We have a game and then some sort of Biblically grounded lesson.  We are in the brainstorming process of how we can make Sunday mornings deeper relationally and spiritually.  We have the cream of the crop showing up on Sunday mornings and we get the opportunity to invest every week with these students.  The question still remains as to "how" we are going to use this time to its fullest potential.  Love God, Love Students.  Spend time with God, Spend time with Students.

SURGE in Review: 6/27/2012

It was great to be back with all the AWESOME Connection Youth Ministry students last night at LifeQuest.  We started the night with a little review of my sabbatical with a race to dig some facts out of my blog.  Let's see how well you can do!


What are the animals that I crossed paths with?

How many states did I stay in?

About how many fish did I catch on the Norfork river?

What were some of the books that I read on my trip?

After this crazy whirlwind of wifi frenzy, we combined with the G-Force Children's Ministry for some worship.  We sang "Your Grace is Enough", "I Lift My Eyes Up", "The Stand", and finished with "Jesus Paid It All".

After the worship we dug into the first week of the series "Ummmm...Can I try that again?"  There are so many instances in Scripture that talk about God giving people a second chance.  Last night we talked about Jonah and his deliberate disobedience to God.  God did some pretty crazy things to get Jonah's attention.  We talked about a couple specific things.

1. When Jonah was going through the storm on the boat he was asleep.  It was the other people on the boat being affected by the storm that had to wake Jonah up from his sleep.  Sometimes there are people in our lives who are "asleep" at life and because of their disobedience to God have caused all kinds of storms yet they don't even realize it.  Is there anyone in your life who needs to be "awoken"?

2. Every day we are bombarded with decisions.  There are certain decisions that will either draw us closer to God or further from him.  Such as: Do we hit the snooze button in the morning or do we open up our Scriptures?  Do we do our best in everything at work or school as if we are working for Christ himself or do we do what is easy?  Do we sit with the group at lunch who is known for picking on people or telling bad jokes or do we sit with the lonely kid who looks like they are neglected at home?  Do we honor and obey our parents or do we decide that we have enough wisdom to make it on our own?  Do we take that time right before bed to talk with God or do we use that time to text our friends?

Luckily Jonah found himself in the middle of some vomit.  This would be a turn off to most people but I guarantee vomit looks awful good when the choice is that or the grave.