This looks very cool

Well life here is going well. Things are in full swing, meeting or youth almost every night this week. Not a bad way to kick off the year. And of course.... I'm preaching this week. It always happens that I have to preach on the same week I'm doing a Sr. AND Jr. Youth Bible study. But so far I'm loving youth, and I had a great meeting with some of the parents last night. So work is busy, but I find so much of it incredibly filling and meaningful, so you can't ask for much more than that. Let's see.... what else is new?

The other day I took a sip of church coffee, and I came to the realization that my palate has improved, and church coffee is not good enough for me.... So I've brought my press over and grind my own beans in the church, and the works.... Yes, I am a coffee snob... but if you drink my coffee you'll see that it just doesn't compare to the third rate tar that we have in the church. I figure there have to be a few indulgences I'm allowed.

Also I now run a legitimate youth ministry! Last week Thursday after our Jr. Youth some of the kids were running around the back alley and the police got two phone calls complaining. It sort of makes me mad, because they weren't doing anything destructive or even rowdy, in fact they are all great kids who wouldn't do anything bad, they just had a lot of energy and they needed to run around a bit. So anyway a few of the kid had a chat with one of our constables and me, and I think we'll stay away from the back alley now... that... or we'll all go back there for a really loud game... I haven't made up my mind yet. But it was nice, when I was in Charlotte last Christmas having a police complaint against your youth ministries was a sign that you are doing well. So I'll take it as a positive for our Jr. Youth ministry... good times. oh! and if you are a parent of a kid who was at Jr. Youth and this is the first you've heard of it. Don't worry about anything, they honestly didn't do anything wrong.

Coming Soon

Mudfest Round III

I know these are super late... oops, but here are some sweet pics from Mudfest!

Grad Party

Wake boarding, knee boarding, tubing, food, and sun. That is what our grad party was on Saturday. It was so sweet to get away with our grads and spend a day relaxing and hanging out. There were seriously moments as I was sitting in the boat ripping around the lake where I had to ask myself, "Am I really getting paid for THIS!" It was such a blast! And just so you can all be jealous of the great time we had, here are some pics (and for the record, no I never did actually get up on the Wake board... next time)

Camp Arnes

ALRIGHT!!!! BACK FROM CAMP ARNES!!!!! Man what a sweet Jr. Youth retreat! There is nothing like getting away with 35 grade 7 and 8's for a rockin weekend. Some of the highlights were, late night games involving glow sticks and water guns, Spew, our speaker Dan, when the van broke down on the way home and had to be towed back ,and swimming in the lake... and yes... that is still all ice on the water. It was a great time and I really believe God spoke to a lot of youth... which is the whole reason we go! good times....

Youth Ministry in the 80's

So I have this large series from Youth Specialties called "Ideas" and it is exactly what it sounds like. 49 books full of ideas for youth ministry. There are games, skits, bible studies. You name it, it is here. But the best part of this series is that it is from the 80's, So it is hilarious to look at some of the things they suggest. You look at some of the ideas and say, "WOW!!! There is NO WAY I could get away with that now!"

For example From Ideas 13-16 Page 13 "FLOUR POWER"
"Select three girls and three boys for this event. The guys are sent out of the room. While they are out, one girl gets a mouthful of flour. One of the boys are brought in and told to try and guess each girl's favorite flower. If he is correct, he wins a kiss from that girl. Of course, whatever he guesses for the girl with the flour in her mouth is correct. She starts to kiss him, but instead spits flour all over his face. Do the same with the next two guys." Really??? I can just imagine this scene a few weeks later, "So Jon when was your first kiss?" "Oh, well it was at this youth retreat, and my youth pastor made me kiss these two girls, and then a third one was going to kiss me, but then she spit flour in my face instead." ... Like I said, I just can't imagine doing something like that today. Actually let me clarify… earlier I said I can’t imagine getting away with it… what I really meant was, this is one of the worst ideas I have ever heard. Not only would I not want to get away with it, I wouldn’t even think of trying something like that…. However there are some other ideas that are super awesome… just highly unsafe… I came across a super sweet game though, and I would to love to play it, but safety would be a factor.

The basic premise, is one guy goes out and hides with a lit candle. You arm all your kids with a water gun, and a unlit candle. They then try and find the guy with fire, light their candles and sneak back to HQ without all the other kids squirting out their candle. What an awesome night game!!! But I can just imagine all the things that could go wrong... candle's in the face, hair on fire, all the brush around the camp on fire... yeah so I don't think we'll play this game with fire... but man that must have been sweet!
Anyway back to hunting down games for the weekend, any suggestions?

Youth Last Night

So last night was our parent and youth night at the Hub. And man did we have fun!!!! Now before the evening began there were a lot of youth who were saying that there was NO WAY, their parents were going to get in on the fun and games... well let's just say there were a lot of shocked kids! We had a guest speaker come out and talk about his 7 day transrockies race that he and his son did and the lessons that they learnt from that experience. It was really cool. And to go with the whole biking theme we did some relays on Tricycles outside in the mall parking lot. There were actually quite a few people who would stop and look at these crazy people cheering and racing back and forth across the parking lot. Here are just a few of my favorite pictures. For more head over to our Flickr site. All in all I would say the night was a great success and we’ll have to do something like it again soon.

This Morning

So this morning I got the pleasure of hearing Tony Campolo in Winkler. He was doing a Youth Workers breakfast/session. This is now the third time I have heard him, and i have to say, he is so amazing! I love to hear his insights into our culture and into the world we live in. He had many good things to say, some that were super funny, and others that were very profound. Essentially though he said there are three issues that need to be dealt with in Youth Ministry.

1) That our Youth know the REAL Jesus.
Bernard Shaw said, "God made us in His image, and we turned around and returned the favor." It is important for us to take a careful look at the Jesus we worship, and make sure that we are actually worshiping Him, and not what we would like Him to be like. Perhaps obviously to us, is the United States and their blend of Patriotism and God. However, we aren’t free from turning God into our image either it just manifests itself differently in Manitoba
2) Youth need to have faith that there are great things in life.
Essentially he says, our youth need more than what society tells us is important. i.e. Get married, live a good life, make money, and keep your nose clean. These are good, but it isn't enough. To me this brings back the whole discussion of 300, the idea that these men buck society, and live for something greater than themselves.. It isn't enough just to make money and have a good life. We need a cause that can move us to die, it is what we all really want. It is also important to remember that what is in our past DOES NOT define who we will be. Campolo points towards those who survived the concentration camps during WWII. The only thing that those people had in common was that they hoped for the future, and had things they wanted to accomplish. It is interesting that there are more Nobel Peace prize winners that survived the concentration camps than any other group of people. We need something great to live for.
3) Sexuality
This is obviously an issue that we need to talk about. How do we teach our youth about sexuality in a healthy way. Campolo talked about those chastity pledge cards that a lot of teens in the states sign. The problem with those is that teens who sign them are 10 times more likely to engage in oral sex. Campolo also suggested that we as a church need to teach our young people how to break up lovingly. Often break ups are incredibly painful, and are made more painful, because we don't know how to do it. So sex is a big issue that needs to be dealt with.

So like I said, it was awesome, and there was lots of brain food and laughs. And as usual after hearing him speak I wonder if I should sell everything I own and go and live in the slums somewhere. I guess I still have to wrestle with this whole materialism thing.

Youth Pics

Hey if you want to see pictures from our scavanger hunt last night copy and paste this link
http://www.flickr.com/photos/emmcyouth/
There is also a link on my sidebar if you would prefer

Youth Last Night

Here are some clips from last night's youth event

If I write a book

So if I ever write a book, I am going to make sure that there are Lots of pages at the front of it, and a very large appendix at the back. I started reading Contemplative Youth Ministry today by Mark Yaconelli, and I discovered something. I had just gotten part way into chapter one when I realized that I was 34 pages into the book. I had this huge sense of accomplishment. WOW!! after only fifteen minutes of reading I am so far!!!! Now the problem is that by page 237 I'm dragging my heals and wishing I was done (hence the need for large appendixes). So one day I will write a book. This will be a book that not only fills your soul and mind, but that also makes you feel good about yourself, because it took you so little time to read!!

The Last Few Days

So life has been pretty busy here. On Saturday Niki and I went to see Copeland and Switchfoot. That was pretty awesome. It was fun to go to a really good concert and just relax and have a good time. Sunday I taught Christian Growth Class. And now the last two nights Niki and I and a number of our youth went in to Winkler to make pizzas. We were doing a fundraiser and sold a little over 300 and so we had to go and make them. It was a really sweet time!!! Plus we got to eat a whole bunch of these delicious pizzas. Now I don't like to make brash statements, but I have to say that Spenst Brothers Meats in Winkler has one of THE BEST pizza's I have ever had. So if you have the misfortune of being in Winkler, make sure you redeem your trip by stopping by their store (it's near the superstore) and pick up a pizza... or if that's not your thing you can try one of their delicious patio steaks. Anyway tonight we have to go and deliver them, should be fun trying to keep 300 pizzas frozen............

My Very hot wife, and me at the Concert








The Whole Team!!








What happens when a group of teenagers gets their hands on a lot of pizza sauce? yup sauce fight!!










I gotta say, I think the hairnet is a stylish look for me

Last Night

As promised here are some pictures. This years winner was Jaimie Dueck and Peter Reimer. It got pretty intense at the end, but it was a good win, and everyone had a really good time. Thanks to everyone who took part, and We'll see you next year!

Eva is the Champion from 2005 and 2006 she is an amazing sharp shooter. This year however she was de-throned and only came in Third Place





This years Champions with the trophy!!! Their names will go down in history!!!

Presence-Centered Youth Ministry

Just finished reading Presence-Centered Youth Ministry by Mike King. To be honest I would have to say it is one of the best books on Youth Ministry I have ever read. He basic premise is that the world of youth ministry is changing and that we need to stop being event planners and start being guides to lead our youth into spiritual formation. Anyway incredible book, and I highly recommend taking some time to read it. Oh! And if you are one of my youth leaders, expect me to be handing you this book to read in the near future.