Vacation Bible School

This past week, we had Vacation Bible School at our church. It was a HUGE success. This year the theme was called Galilee-By-The-Sea. We set up a Jewish Marketplace and all the volunteers dressed in period costume. The participants (young and old) were immersed in the Jewish culture of Jesus' time and learned about Jesus in many different ways. They started in a Large group setting called the Gathering, where the learned about Jesus through singing songs, then they broke into their seperate Tribes and discussed Jesus in small groups, then they were able to go the Synagogue where they learned about Jewing customs that Jesus would have followed. They also got visit many of the shops in the Jewish Marketplace. There, they were able to do crafts (they made toy boats, menorahs, Shell Jewelry, and carved in soap stone. All the time that they are making the crafts the shopkeepers are teaching them about why their trade was important and asking them what they think about Jesus. And there was a skit performed each day to help reinforce the Lesson. All the participants were immersed in learning about Jesus from everyone they came in contact with. It was awesome!!! They ended the day by returning to their small groups, talking about what they had learned and then going to the Large group meeting again. I loved this Vacation Bible School. It was a lot of work to do, but the Lord blessed it. I am hopefully going to post some pictures so that you can see some of the stuff that we did. I praise God for all that He did last week in the lives of our VBS participants.

Hilarious....

And yes, the same things that crack up a 13 year old, crack me up too.

Lent

Paul will not be posting for the next 40 days (this is his wife). Paul, in the true spirit of finding something that would be a REAL sacrifice - is giving up ALL internet other than checking his e-mail (for work purposes). So...no blogging for Paul. He may get a lot more work done though...

I know....it has been a looooooooooong time

People have been telling me that I have not posted in a long time so I thought that I would be a copy cat and do a list of random facts

--I got the new Zelda game, Twilight Princess, for my Gamecube...it is flippin' sweet

--I bought three new, badly needed, pairs of pants

--I am going to be an uncle for a third time

--I went on a retreat to Cedar Campus all by myself for a weekend

--I am proud of my wife for how hard she works at school, her internship, and her job

--God has been showing me his glory lately...it has been awesome

--I've been having a great time with my Junior High students

--I have been feeling God moving through our church in little ways...it's exciting to feel

--I had nine people in my manuscript small group on Wednesday night...that's the most I have ever had.

That's all that I can think of for now...God bless

That time of the year

Well, I have reached that time in the year when Satan likes to spiritually attack me. It happens every year around this time. The school year starts, all our programs get going, and God pumps me up and gets me excited to do ministry. Then...October comes...Satan has had enough of the great stuff that has been going on and attacks me.

The past few weeks have been really hard for me. I have started (as I do every year) to feel inadequate about my job. I had this happen to me back in April too. I know that it is a tactic by Satan to try to slow down God's ministry in Gaylord, specifically at the First United Methodist Church. I know that it means that I am doing something right and that I am advancing God's kingdom if Satan is attacking me. But I hate going through it. I don't want to. I just once, want him to leave me alone and let me do my ministry. Which I know won't happen when I am being effective.

So, Satan has been using the ploy that numbers mean something...Not that they mean something, but that they are just about everything. Numbers wise, all three of my youth groups have been struggling. Especially the Senior High. But I know that my students have been learning more about God and have been learning what it means to follow Him. We started this year studying why our youth ministry exists and what our purpose is. It has been great to see the students really getting into learning about evangelism, fellowship, discipleship, ministry, and worship. And I am understanding just how much some students do not truly understand what those five things mean. (I try to remember if I knew what those things truly meant when I was in Jr. or Sr. High). I have also been able to develop relationships with some of the students much easier because I am talking to less students all at once.

Satan has also been attacking my work ethic. Because I am feeling so down about my ministry...I really don't feel like working. The past couple of days I have totally been unproductive. I have let small things get in the way of important things. I need to get my focus back on what is important...my ministry to the families at FUMC. It has been a struggle and I am trying different tactics to combat it. Some of them are working and some of them are not. But I trust that God will bring my focus and desire back to the way it was when school started and I was determined to make this year the better than last year.

So, please pray for me...I need prayers to fight the temptations that Satan is placing in front of me. It has been hard and I need help. I want my ministry to be effective and for the students in our church to learn more what it means to be followers of Christ.

School Year Begins; Free Time Ends

So, school started today for Gaylord Community Schools and Youth Group, Sunday School, and a ton of other stuff begins this coming week. There goes most of my free time. I have to say that I think I am stressed about this school year more than any other. I want it to be such a success. Lisa and I spent an entire weekend evaluating the programs that I run and setting goals for all of them. I want to be able to meet all my goals and I want the students in our church, young and old, to grow closer to God. Lisa said something to me yesterday that I have been mulling over. She said something to the effect that I am not trusting in God enough and am putting all my effort into making sure that every last detail is set and that everything is publisized enough. There is a lot of truth in what she says. I know that I need to trust God more with my ministries and that if I provide an atmosphere where people can learn, He will do the rest.

Lisa and I had a long talk yesterday because our schedule is going to be changing again. We go through this about every year because my schedule changes during the summer and then again when the school year starts. Plus, she has her internship and classes now. So, we are trying to figure out how our schedules are going to work out and be able to spend quality time together and all that kind of stuff. Part of that is we decided to get up earlier. Which is so hard for me...I am not a morning person...I need my sleep and I don't function very well in the mornings. We'll see how it goes.

So, I am stressin' quite a bit over everything that is coming up and I am not going to have much free time in the near future. But, I am going to trust in God and He is the great provider. I hope that you will join me in praying for the youth ministry, family ministry, and educational ministry that I am in charge of. Your prayers are greatly needed and coveted.

Returned Safely From Mission Trip

In my previous post I talked about our Sr. High Mission Trip to Benton Harbor, Mi. You can go to my wife's blog(http://blocklisa.blogspot.com/) to read more about what we did during the week. I don't want to repeat everything that she said because most of you who read my blog, read hers as well. So I am going to just share a few of my thoughts and feeling about this trip.

I think that this is the best mission trip I have ever been on. Including the trips that I took in High School and College. What made it so great? I'm glad you asked. It was so great because I believe I got a taste of heaven. Every student in the group of 60 to 70 students accepted every other student in the group. I have never seen teenagers accept each other so quickly without judgement or apprehension. From day 1 it seemed that everyone was best friends. It was amazing!!! By the end of the week, they were all family. Instead of 4 youth groups, there was one, they were all in God's youth group. This trip was filled with unconditional love for each other. It did not matter who you were, where you were from, what your background was, you were loved.

Here's and example: On thursday night, the YouthWorks Staff asked us to worship in our church groups to make getting into our foot washing ceremony a little easier. So at the beginning we all sat down in our church groups. By the time we were done with our worship and everything, there were no more church groups. Everyone was worshipping together...we could not keep these students from being one group...It was how things should be. As I sat there and watched this happen I could not help but cry from joy. God was showing me that little taste of heaven and instead of me showing my students Christ, they were showing me Christ. It is one of the most beautiful things I have ever experienced. I praise God for the way that He worked in His students' lives and the way that He worked in mine.

That is the main reason that this is the best Mission trip I have ever been on...I saw unconditional love shared by all...not by just a few, but by everyone...Praise God for how He moves and works in His people.