Sunday summary

It's 1:00 am and everyone is tucked in snuggly after a long day. We had two really great services today. It is exciting to see our teens bonding together and it is awesome to see God at work in the lives of young people.

As most of you probably know by now, Bronner Burgess drowned last night. Even in the midst of tragedy, God is still at work. I believe He has used this in this conference to teach us and bond us closer together.

This mornings service taught about the enemy of comparison. We looked at how the Hebrew spies were defeated by that enemy after scouting the promise land in Numbers 13 and 14, and we examined many different areas where we are vulnerable to comparison today. Life, however, is not for competing, but completing the will of God. No matter who we are, God has created us uniquely, to serve a unique purpose in a unique time. When we grasp that truth, we can delite in our uniqueness and serve Him with our life rather than trying to always desiring to live someone elses life.

Tonight, Scott Dawson challenged students to know Christ. He delivered a powerful message on trusting Christ for salvation. For tonights service, all six conference groups were brought together in one venue. Over 7200 teens and their leaders assembled in one auditorium. I must confess that I was very concerned as the service started. With their being that many students, many, including our group, were sitting far away from the stage. Even the projection screen in the center of the room looked far away. Add to that the constant movement of people in and out of the isles and to the concession and merchandise areas in the back of the room, and you end up with a very distracting environment. As much as I tried to focus, even I couldn't maintain attention and I was extremely concerned that the students would have the same difficulty. You must understand that even though all of the sessions are large in a conference like this, in every venue you can see the speaker clearly and feel conected to them and conference staff does an excellent job of eliminating distractions. I did not have that feeling tonight. In fact, I can probably tell you almost nothing of what the first speaker said. After he spoke, Kutless performed in concert (loud and raucous!), then Scott got up to speak. When he started, I was still struggling; people were still moving around and I saw kids who looked 10,000 miles away, fidling with their fingernails, messing with their stuff, etc -- how could God speak to anyone through this? The amazing thing is this though -- a few minutes into the message, and all of the distractions disappeared; those same kids who were fidgitting and out of it earlier were all of a sudden intently engaged. A room of 7200+ was all of a sudden so quiet you could hear a pin drop. When they were invited to accept Christ's offer of salvation, I watched some of those same kids who I could have sworn earlier didn't even know there was a speaker go forward, broken and crying, to receive salvation. God demonstrated in an amazing way that He is almighty; He is in control; the environment doesn't have to be perfect, the speaker doesn't have to be eloquent -- what matters is that He is God and He can speak to hearts through His Spirit and draw people to Himself in spite of what else is happening. Over 300 kids trusted Christ tonight. What an awesome God we serve!

We finished up the night with an incredible Toby Mac concert. It is even rumored of some dancing Jesus freak youth leaders, but you know you can't trust all rumors (and sometimes video footage mysteriously disappears)!!

Tomorrow we wrap up and head home, so this is the last "from the road" blog update. Thank you, parents, for trusting your kids to us; you have no idea how much of a blessing it is to be able to work with them and to watch them grow in the Lord. We love each one of them and, most of all, we love our Lord Jesus Christ. To God be the glory!!! See you at home!

Ramblings of a tired youth leader

"My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing."
James 1:2-4

Our lesson tonight was out of James chapter one. The verses above were not actually the focal, but verses 18-27. We focused on our need for the Word in our life to be able to live a Christ-like life; to save us from ourselves (v21), to maintain our integrity, and to live out a witness that the world will take note of. Our students were challenged to be a doer of the word - i.e. to consume the Word of God themselves, for it to be real and personal and not just something they listened to others talk about; for them to personally tap into the power and strength only available from it. That was the encouragement that James wrote to the scatterred Christians abroad who were experiencing many difficulties and persecutions. Some of them probably were struggling with why bad stuff was happening to them who were seeking to follow Christ. It probably was not in their plan or vision of how they thought things whould be.

We didn't get to hear the next speaker. Rick Burgess was scheduled to speak to us after finishing his session at one of the other venues; while he was speaking at that session, his wife called him with the news that his youngest son had fallen in the pool... The ambulance had come, but things did not look good. Many of their church family are here at this conference. Scott Dawson delivered this news to us; we had prayer together with our youth group, then as a corporate body, sang a worship song, and dismissed.

We don't always know or understand God's plan, but we must trust that He does have a perfect plan. We must trust that He will shape us and mold us so we will be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. Sometimes that process hurts unbelievably, but He will put nothing on us that is too hard for is to bear. I know tonight a couple is struggling under that load, however. A mother is feeling isolated and alone in her fear and her grief; a father is feeling the most helpless and distraught he has probably ever felt. Nothing at all can console either of them; nothing except the Spirit of God. His peace and His comfort are all that can sustain them.

Our lesson tonight was meant to convict us that we needed God's word to stand out in this world; the lesson life taught us tonight was we need God's word to stand at all.

Please pray for the Burgess family. Pray also for all of the youth at this conference as they struggle to make sense of this tragedy. Pray that the fact we can take nothing for granted and the overwhelming truth that we need His strength and power in our lives - not just to hear about it, but to live it and to know it - will be cemented forever in their hearts and minds.

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Snow!!

It's snowing!! The temp is still to warm for it to stick (no complaints about that) but the kids are loving the fact that white stuff is falling. One group stayed in Gatlinburg while the other headed up to Ober for ice skating (it at least involved ice and skates, whether "skating" actually occurred or not is debateable). We are on the tram on the way back down so I only have a minute. Update again later!
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We're here!!!

We have arrived safely in Pigeon Forge and everyone is situated in their home away from home for the next three days. God blessed us with great weather to travel in and we made good time, only stopping once for fuel and a snack. After that, the majority of the group sacked out. Even though it is very late, I am not at all sleepy from the excitement and anticipation. All the planning is over with and we're here - time to let go and let God move! The closer we got, the more I could feel the excitement building. We serve an awesome Lord and I can't wait to see what he has in store. Please continue to pray for us as the weekend progresses. Time to sign off for now - it is 2:30 in the morning and 7:30 will be here way to soon.
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It's Almost Here!!

It's January, which means the Strength to Stand Conference is almost here! In less than two short weeks, we will hit the road to Pigeon Forge. I am really looking forward to this year's conference. I know God is going to challenge hearts; I pray that He challenges me.

What about you? Have you thought about what God might be wanting to say to you? Have you thought about what God might want to do through you? Have you asked Him to reveal His intentions to you? I hope you have; and I hope you continue to as the trip approaches. Part of hearing from God is going into His presence with the desire to hear Him speak and the expectation that He will.

God has a plan and a purpose for each one of us, regardless of our age, ability, or otherwise. He desires to work through us to accomplish His purposes, to build His kingdom, and to bring glory to His name. And He desires to do that now; all that is required for Him to do that is for us to listen to Him, submit our lives to Him, and obey Him. It is my hope that you will seek to serve Him with your life. The rewards He will give you if you do far outweigh anything the world has to offer. This youth trip could be the beginning of the rest of your life in Him... think about it.

Duh!

I don't know why I have never thought about posting a plan of salvation before, being that this is a Christ-centered blog, but I had not until recently when reading a friend's blog and noticed she had done so. It seems so obvious. Duh! Anyway, forgive my oversight, and note that one is now posted on the side of the page. Thanks, Amanda, for reminding me (though unbeknownst to you) through your Christ-like web example!