Update...

Long time, no post. If you read my blog you might be wondering what I've been up to. 2007 has started off fairly quickly. After taking the first week off for vacation (no I didn't go anywhere), I jumped right back into my regular routine of taking Elliana to school and weekly youth ministry events. Let me just say this, life gets busy when you have kids, but life gets really busy when they go to school, even pre-school.

In January I’ve also have a few retreats planned. I’m speaking at three middle school winter retreats at Camp Geneva, which is a ½ mile from my house. The first one was last weekend, the second one is this weekend, and the final retreat is February 3-4. Yes, I get to do a retreat on my birthday! The first retreat went really well. I can say the highlight of the retreat was bringing the youth worship team from the Vineyard. They rocked and really connected with the middle school kids who were there. The guys and girls on the team are really talented, and it is fun to see them get into the music and rock!

During these retreats I get to speak four different times on a topic I’m really passionate about – the radical, revolutionary love of Jesus. The theme I’m using for the retreats is collide – what happens when our life collides with the life of Jesus? It’s a collision that’s messy. It’s a collision that’s dangerous. It’s a collision that’s beautiful. Here are the themes for the four sessions…

• Love is about being there. In this session I talk about the amazing picture we get from creation. God speaks the work into being – let there be light and BOOM, there’s light, etc. But when it gets to man, God takes a different approach, a hands on approach. He gathers the dust of the ground and creates man, and then does something amazing, he breathes his life into man and man becomes a living being. God was there during creation, and throughout the Bible we see God being there for people, and ultimately he is there in the person of Jesus. So, love is about being there.

• Come follow me. Jesus chooses his first disciples in Mark 1, and as he approaches them and asks them to follow him, he does more than invites them on a crazy journey. He demonstrates his great love for them and accepts them. Here were a bunch of teenage guys who had been rejected by their community, and Jesus walks up and invites them to join him. What a picture of acceptance. What a picture of love.

• Radical pictures of love. In this session I look at three different interactions Jesus had with people – a man with leprosy, Zacchaeus, and the woman caught in adultery. All of these people were outcasts in their community, and Jesus walks up and … heals the leper, eats with the tax collector, Zacchaeus, and forgives the woman caught in adultery. Simply amazing. I hope in my life I can love people like Jesus loved people.

• Demonstrate. In my final session I just encourage middle school students to love people in their lives. For so long the church has just talked about the love of Jesus. Now, I’m looking for the church to demonstrate the love of Jesus in practical, tangible ways. So, the last talk is all focused on that – raising an army of middle school students who simply love people like Jesus loved people. What a cool thing that would be.

Overall, the first retreat went good, and I’m looking forward to the next two.