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

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...

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.

A Youth Ministry Chapter...

Youth  Ministry has its ups and downs.  There are highs like graduations, birthdays (i.e. drivers license), sports victories, theatrical performances, band and choir number ones, salvations, baptisms, and life callings.  There are lows like death, crime, drugs, alcohol, the wrong kind of parties, accidents, poverty, and parents' divorce.  There are students who are selfish, indifferent, uncaring, uninterested, unresponsive, apathetic, unsympathetic, unconcerned, and/or unmoved.  There are students who are loving, kind, compassionate, joyful, peace makers, patient, selfless, good hearted, generous, caring, interested, responsive, sympathetic, and concerned.  


I am on a purposefully slow journey through the book of Romans interpreted by Eugene Peterson in "The Message".  In Romans 12, I found some of the most interesting and thought provoking verses that easily pertains to youth ministry.  I'd like to break down some of it here:


Peterson entitles the chapter "Place Your Life Before God" (You will be ineffective in youth ministry if you fail to do this!!!)


 ^1-2 So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.


Paul tells us here that we must offer ourselves as a gift offering to be used by God every minute of every day.  We must realize that we must be focused on God in whatever we are doing.  If we aren't focused on him, the weight of the "downs" of youth ministry will drag us down to its level.


^6-8If you preach, just preach God's Message, nothing else; if you help, just help, don't take over; if you teach, stick to your teaching; if you give encouraging guidance, be careful that you don't get bossy; if you're put in charge, don't manipulate; if you're called to give aid to people in distress, keep your eyes open and be quick to respond; if you work with the disadvantaged, don't let yourself get irritated with them or depressed by them. Keep a smile on your face.


I would like to begin here by defining "disadvantaged" as a someone who is/was birthed into a household who does not worship Jesus as Lord.  I have known several youth workers, including myself, who have been spiritually and emotionally effected by the disadvantaged.  I would say that I have been irritated by students and to a point have even been depressed with the weight of asking myself "What could I have done differently?" when a student walks away from God and the church.  This portion of Scripture challenges us to remember who is really in control.  It isn't us.  It is God, and since He is in control we can keep a smile on our face.  Let's keep our faith in the One who created each student and the One who knows each student deeper than we ever will.  This is also great encouragement to each part of a youth ministry team.  If you are preaching or teaching...stick with Scripture.  If you are helping, don't be trying to undermine the leadership, just show up (with a smile on your face) and help.  If you are an encourager or someone the students look to for advice...be sure to just advise...and not take it too personally if they don't use your wisdom.  If you are called to be generous with your time and money, don't over think it...when God presents a need or a cause for you to get involved in or with...jump in, don't wait for your worldly conscience to talk you out of being generous.  Don't let those disadvantaged students (who talk more like sailors than Christ followers) drive you to the point of leaving youth ministry.  Keep smiling!!!


^9-10Love from the center of who you are; don't fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle.


A student can always spot a fake!  Always!  I believe it is important to note that you have to run from evil because it is always running towards you.  You have to hold on to good because the desire to always do good is running away from you.  Be a good friend, love deeply, give someone else the spotlight!


^11-13Don't burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. Be alert servants of the Master, cheerfully expectant. Don't quit in hard times; pray all the harder. Help needy Christians; be inventive in hospitality.


Remember to keep your own batteries charged.  If God is not in your tank then how can you fuel others?  Be cheerfully expectant...even a bit giddy of what God is going to do!  Don't quit, pray harder, help students who are in need, be inventive in engaging with students inside and outside the church building.



^14-16Bless your enemies; no cursing under your breath. Laugh with your happy friends when they're happy; share tears when they're down. Get along with each other; don't be stuck-up. Make friends with nobodies; don't be the great somebody.
 ^17-19Don't hit back; discover beauty in everyone. If you've got it in you, get along with everybody. Don't insist on getting even; that's not for you to do. "I'll do the judging," says God. "I'll take care of it."
 ^20-21Our Scriptures tell us that if you see your enemy hungry, go buy that person lunch, or if he's thirsty, get him a drink. Your generosity will surprise him with goodness. Don't let evil get the best of you; get the best of evil by doing good.



I'll let those words speak for themselves.  


Can't you see the calling and challenge of youth ministry just radiating from these verses?  The challenge with youth ministry is being as loving and patient with each student as Jesus is.  Are we?  We have to remember that Jesus is with each student during both highs and lows.  Are we?  Jesus is working to transform each student from the very onset of ugly behavior or motives.  Are we?  Jesus is working to challenge students who appear to "have it all together" into a deeper relationship .  Are we?


Take some time over the next several days to think about ministry as it relates to this chapter in the book of Romans.  Are you tired, empty, burdened, depressed, irritated?  Are you praying, being hospitable, being generous, being a good friend, loving deeply?  Are you focused on God?  Am I?

SURGE in Review 4/18/12

Last night was the reunion of the Hodson/Clark volleyball team.  I'll have to admit that both of those guys had longer shorts on then the ones in this pic that was taken a few years back!

Katie and the CYM Worship Band led us in "Undignified", "Blessed Be Your Name", "Awesome is the Lord Most High", and "Your Name".

Last night we talked about how sometimes God opens doors for us to be able to share the Gospel.  He did this for Paul in the city of Ephesus.  Paul was able to stay and share the Gospel for 2 and a half years in Ephesus.  We talked about when God opens the door for us to share Christ with our friends we need to be:
1. Curious...(ask questions)
2. Consistant...(we need to set and live by our Christian standards)
3. Patient...(sometimes trying to help our friends find Christ will be discouraging)
4. Sacrificial...(we need to live our lives so we can show our friends the heart of Christ)

SURGE in Review 4/11/12

The Game:

Finger Ninja you can check out the vid by clicking here.  A pretty crazy and fun game!



The Worship:

Last night Katie and the Band led us in "Marvelous Light", "Better is One Day", "Mighty to Save", and "Give us Clean Hands".  This was Ryan's first night on the big stage at CYM!

The Lesson:

Last night we wrapped up Paul's second missionary journey by talking about his trips to Athens and Corinth.  We focused in on how Paul didn't waste his spare time while he was waiting for his companions to join him.  He took to the streets, became distressed that the city was full of idols, and then began a dialogue with the residents to point them towards the one true God.  Our question of the night was basically, how would you introduce your God to someone if you had the spare time to engage in conversations with the people you meet?  How would you describe your God?  What did God create during the first 6 days recorded in our Scripture?  What was God's relationship with the Jews during the Old Testament?  Who is Jesus?  What did Jesus do while he lived on the Earth?  What was the most important thing Jesus ever did?  Paul's journey in Athens didn't lead to tons of people coming to Jesus.  But it did lead to some.  Acts 17:34 tells us "A few men became followers of Paul and believed.  Among them was Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus, also a woman named Damaris, and a number of others."  Did Paul's intentional dialogues revolutionize the church?  Maybe not...but they did revolutionize the lives of Damaris and Dionysius.  Sometimes we get too focused on crowds and numbers that we sometimes lose focus of the individuals.  In Corinth, Paul met some valuable Kingdom people in Priscilla and Aquila.  He spent a year and a half in Corinth, by far the longest stay by Paul thus far on his journey. After the year and a half, Paul went for a very brief time to the city of Ephesus before returning home.

SURGE in Review 4/4/2012

Last night was one of the best SURGE events that I have ever remembered.  We started the night off by playing the game "Caterpillar" and followed that up with a game called "Down, Down, Down"...check out the video below!

The CYM Worship Band lead us in "Happy Day", "Lead Me to the Cross", "You are My King", and "Here I am to Worship".

Last night we continued "The Journey" by traveling with Paul, Silas, and Timothy to the city of Thessalonica.  Here Paul and his companions set out to prove that Jesus was indeed the Messiah.  A great story to look during Holy Week.  Would we be able to prove that Jesus was the Messiah if all we had to argue with was the Old Testament?  That is exactly how Paul had to "reason" with the Jews and Greeks in Thessalonica.  We have to remember that when Paul was traveling he didn't have the New Testament to refer to.  We talked about some Old Testament Scripture that Paul could have used to prove that the Messiah had to suffer and die.  When that was evident by digging into the Scripture he could then point to Jesus and say that Jesus did suffer, die, and rise from the dead.  We talked about how Jason (Paul's host) was persecuted just for housing the man and he and other believers had to post bond so they could get out of prison.  We pondered why Paul was so willing to go from city to city, planting baby church after baby church, just to be persecuted, stoned, beaten, whipped, or imprisoned.  Why was Paul so willing to have his body broken over and over and over again?  Because his King, had once been broken.  Paul was following in the footsteps of his Savior.  We then transitioned into the night of the last supper with Jesus and His disciples.  We shared together in communion and foot-washing.  It was a great night to remember the King and one who was so willing to do anything to make the King known.  What would you be willing to do to follow in the footsteps of Jesus?

Surge in Review 3/28/12

As you can tell from the video...last night's game was Red Rover...and it was a knock out!!!!

Check out this video on our new small group called "Energize"...

You can sign up for "Energize" on the Glass Doors in the CYM Student Ministry Center.

We worshipped to the SURGE Worship Band singing/playing "Our God", "Mighty to Save", "Revelation Song", and "Lead Me To the Cross".

We focused in on the city of Philippi on "The Journey" last night.  We mainly talked about how Paul and Silas reacted to the suffering that they had to endure.  Read through Acts 16 and check out their response. We also talked about how we sometimes have to connect Scripture together.  For instance this church that was started in Acts 16 is the same church that Paul wrote a letter to later on in his life.  We find this letter in our Bible and it is known as the book of Philippians.  This is a letter that Paul writes to the church in the town where tells perhaps he suffered the greatest.  He writes,  "⁴ Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! ⁵ Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.⁶ Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."