Doogie Howser Did It, So Why Not Me?

NYWC #3

It’s late and I am dead tired. Having only gotten about 5 hours of sleep last night and a full day of setting up and planning and doing and worshipping and having encounters with Christ.

Today was an emotional rollercoaster. From the opening session with Mark Yaconelli, where I totally felt the presence of Christ to worship with Chris Tomlin, where the tears flowed again. And even during the times of affirming other Youth Workers on stage, my heart identifies so greatly and is so in step with the pain, joy, love and everything else that these people endure. Over and over in my life now I am feeling more connected, emotionally and spiritually to other people. That deep connection that only comes from loving people exactly as Christ loves them, grieving with them, sharing in the deepest rooted pain, where their life becomes my life.

It is so good just to spend time with people from friends like John and Kelsey and Brian (not pictured). To other friends like KC and Lilly and Alex and Chris and Erica.(those with links, linked in previous posts) To even seeing old friends from Whitworth College and past summer camps. How amazing it is to hear where God has brought people years down the road. How he continually interweaves our stories together to support each other and to remind us that we are not alone and we NEED each other. I can’t stress more how much this time for me is about people and conversations. Being with people and being there for people, and being able to talk through ideas with like minded people. People who get the ups and downs of youth ministry.

What a blessing this is. Total blessing…all from Christ who is Lord above.

During Doug Field’s (his ministry site)talk tonight he definitely gave me more to blog about, which I’ll do later. But most importantly I’m stealing the phrase “Saying No to Good Things”. More later.

I’ll make sure to take some more pics tomorrow and include them in the posts too. And just a heads up, there may be a few surprise “Guest Bloggers” over on the Ghetto Blog, so check back soon.

NYWC #2

Went to Marko’s seminar this morning entitled: A rant from a runt about where the church is falling short.

I don’t think I want to take the time to reiterate most of what he said. (you can probably email him for the powerpoint if you want)

I do enjoy hearing him speak. And reading his blog. He brings honesty and a genuineness that is not often found in most leaders who hold high positions in large/influential organizations. He is willing to say things that he feels true and is not as concerned with critics as he is speaking what he believes is truth. I applaud him for that.

The talk did give me plenty to think about and will potentially provide plenty of blog fodder for the weeks to come. One issue that stuck out to me was the issue of “essentials” vs “non-essentials” when it comes to portions of theology that churches adopt and stand by. I’ll further explore this topic later when I have more time to fully flush out my thoughts.

It was really nice to hear him start the talk with the phrase “I love the church.” Which I don’t think I communicate as clearly as I should. In asking questions and challenging what is normalcy, it is easy to forget or not to notice that we (people who do this) really do love what we are talking about. We love the church. And it is this love which motivates us to make the claims/statements/critiques (for lack of better word) about church and the issues surrounding.

Let me reiterate:

I love the CHURCH

It would be interesting to honestly poll people who were at the seminar this morning and ask them their honest opinions. Whether they affirm what Marko was saying or if they now discredit him. I’m sure he’ll get a few emails in the next few days and weeks as he reflects on this time.

In other news…
Got to the convention early this morning to finish helping Lilly set up the prayer stations in the general session (which look A-M-A-Z-I-N-G, kudos to you Lilly and others who helped). And when things finally got rolling for the general session, I was more than once moved to tears by the Spirit working through worship and people speaking. God is here in this place and it is almost impossible to ignore what he is doing.

I’m now skipping the afternoon seminars to take some time to rest and do this post, and got to finally re-meet Dan Kimball (since Emergent in Nashville) face to face and will try and find some time to hang with him later this weekend.

I’m glad that John, Kelsey and Brian made it up here safely last night, the got in at 5am!!! from LA are staying at my mom’s house with us. It’s good to have great friends here with me.

I’ll continue to keep you updated as more convention happens around me and also keep praying for my sickness, it keeps coming and going. I just want to be healed at this point.

Don’t forget Bloggers Lunch on Sunday at 12:15pm meet at the message board.

NYWC #1

Day 1

Nothing too eventful. KC and I went down to help Lilly set up some prayer stations that are going to be part of the general sessions. We got there a bit earlier than Lilly so we spent some time registering and hanging out and grabbing a bite to eat and just doing some talking and venting. Really GOOD.

Set a message on the message board to announce a bloggers lunch on Sunday at 12:15. Meet at the message board and we’ll find a place to grab some lunch. (Marko said he might join us for a while too) So if you blog, or want to know more about blogging in general please join us. Feel free to spread the word. Use your blog…imagine that.

Met up with Alex Roller eventually and started to try to get things set up, but due to some scheduling conflicts the space we were supposed to set up in was occupied, so we really didn’t get too much done, but we’ll have some time tomorrow.

Though I did get to help set up some stuff up in the prayer room, so stop by there if you have a chance, and don’t forget to check out the Labyrinth too, it’s right next door and is going to be really amazing.

Ate dinner at a pretty cool Hawaiian place a good walk from the center (on 16th street in the 1500th block) which was just a nice evening.

Finally got home (my mom’s house a little north of downtown) and got to actually get on a wi-fi network and saw that there were a few other people who are blogging from the convention. So head over to beingrealguy’s blog and check out his (growing) list of people blogging from the convention.

Here’s a list of places with free wi-fi in the downtown Sacramento area, since there isn’t any free wi-fi in the convention center (though you can get 15 free min on the convention center’s wi-fi if you buy something from the Starbucks or Wolfgang Pucks in the center).

The best and closest bet is the Sheraton Hotel which is across the street (on the west) from the convention center at the Sheraton hotel. (Which I heard you can pick up at the Starbucks, but I have not personally confirmed this.)
The other close place is Jump Start Cafe which is a few blocks from the center at 1122 11th St (I have yet to be here, but I will try and find it tomorrow)

At this point I’m super tired already. But like I’ve said earlier, this conference isn’t about me going to everything and doing everything, it’s about me spending time with people, which is already off to an amazing start. I do have some time scheduled with a Spiritual Director for later so we’ll see how that goes and then it’s just connecting with old friends, making new ones and growing deep in the love of Christ.

Thanks for reading and if you have questions or comments feel free to use the comment section.

Expect lots more from this blog and the other bloggers who are here. We’ll all have unique experience and God will all touch us in many different ways. Thanks for being on the journey.

ghetto

NEW Ghetto Blog
and the 1st day of National Youth Workers Convention – there will be pictures and updates. Stay tuned.

bed

Last month # of days slept at home 16 – see here
This month # of days slept at home 17.

Maybe Marko has me beat.

Update 9/29
I got to talk with Marko today and per his comment, we decided that he should only really count nights spent without some member of his family not my ascribed “in my own bed”. But he would blow me out of the water in the own bed category.

bugs

In a few hours I will be left to my own devices for the better part of 5 hours.

As I leave for the National Youth Workers Convention, I’m looking forward to my drive.

I love driving. Especially long drives. By myself.

While having company does make the time go faster and keep you from nearly driving off the side of the road at 3:30 in the morning. There’s something for me about driving alone.

The driving takes on a spiritual quality.

I find it restful, thought provoking. I always come up with 1000 things to blog, and most none of them make it up, with the exception of a few audio-blogs.

On the many road trips in my life, it always provides the perfect environment for thinking and processing. And that’s what I need right now in my life. Sooooo much to process.

That’s half of my trip right there. Process.

These next few days, I hope, will be life changing. Not in the sense that I think I’m going to come back with the perfect way of doing ministry or youth ministry. But my expectation is that God is going to floor me. Wreck me, break me, shape me.

I could end up quite disappointed.

Then I could end up completely different. And I’m open to that.

I’ll be on the road from around 5-10pm today, so if you are inclined feel free to call me. 818eight.zero.zero1890 or any other time during the rest of the week.

I’ll be blogging some of my experiences so keep on the lookout for that.

And if you would pray for me. (see free prayer on the left)

ruined

I am a wreck right now.

Over the last hour I’ve been crying, sobbing, and had a warmth in my heart.

I have been with Jesus. Which is hard when you aren’t expecting or ready for him to show up.

I was reading Dangerous Wonder by Mike Yaconelli, and Jesus showed up. Not because of his book or his words, but because that’s exactly what I needed today.

Now I’m stuck 30 min away from Middle School group, wanting just to remain in the wonder that is Christ. There are students here already, so I’m pretty sure I’m not going to cancel but, part of me just wants to spend the evening feeling sick (which I still am, kinda) and spending time crying and calling out for God, the other part knows that I have responsibilities and such.

This weekend at National Youth Workers is going to be exactly what I need, I can tell already. I’m ready to hear God’s voice, and let him wreck me some more.

gauge

I was recently asked in an interview for a class about youth ministry a number of questions.

Here’s one of my answers:

How do you measure your success?

I don’t. Seriously.
Or, I try not to. The reality is that no matter how hard you try there WILL ALWAYS be people in your church who need NUMBERS. Oh, how I hate numbers. If you refer to my PH of YM (philosophy of youth ministry) and the statement “It is not about numbers. We will affirm this by asking about growth and quality rather than quantity.”
I am more concerned with what God is doing or going to be doing in a student’s life. When you have an outlook on ministry that is not focused on numbers, then you begin to gain clarity on how to affirm what God is already doing in a student’s life and sometimes clarity on what God will eventually do. But you must be willing to know and say that this is God’s job, NOT MINE.
It is far more healthy for me, to just desire to minister to the students who are THERE. Instead of saying the statement “where is everyone” when 3 students show up, I use language that shows that I am WHOLLY grateful for the opportunity to spend time with those 3 students. Sometimes we are blessed with more, sometimes we are blessed with less, but the bottom line is, that ministry is about presence, not about seeking out more when there are already some present.

namesake

Just so you all know…

I bought andrewseely.com today.

Feel free to update your bookmarks. It just directs to here, so there really isn’t anything different except for a shorter address. Now it’s easier to remember. Feel free to give it out and tell others.

(it may take a while before it actually starts to forward but it will work soon)
(it works now)

thank you godaddy.com

ghetto

NEW Ghetto Blog