Chad Gordan and I chose earlier this year to make our theme for camp this year to be “BreakOUT”. It is a prison theme, as you should be able to tell by the video of me, Chad, and some of the guys from my church. 

I have seen alot of blogs out in the “youth ministry blogosphere” about how many people are dreading camp. After reading those blogs I wanted to remind myself of why I am excited about camp. Here are some 10 reasons I am excited about sumer camp, in no particular order.

1. I am excited about our youth team working with Chad’s youth team from Victory Baptist Church in Loganville, GA. I am confident we will learn some things from these guys.

2. I am excited that my teens will get extended exposure to the Word of God. They need to leave the influences all all their media gadgets for a while and let the Word of God work in their hearts.

3. They will be motivated by seeing other teenagers who want to serve God.

4. I will get some time with them. I will hear about problems I did not know they had. They will hear answers they did not know where available from the Word of God!

5. God molded my life through camp. I made many of the big decisions that effect my life today at the altar of a camp.

6. Camp can be and should be a Controlled Atmosphere for the Ministry of Preaching. As I heard Dr. Bill Rice III say many times.

7. Their will be conflicts. Weird thing to be happy for.. huh. Well, I have noticed in youth ministry that in every conflict there is an opportunity to respond if they do not react. (Subject for another blog on another day)

8. I like to swim and hardly ever get to go.

9. It is going to be a great launching pad for these kids before they go back to school.

10. I will get to see students interact outside of the church and with kids from a different church. Many times the teens have a character they play at their church and with their church friends. I am curious to see what kind of students from the other churches they are drawn to. I am hoping to see some kids who play it cool.. wanting to hang out with the kids from the other church who are on fire.

I was a little behind in reading the blog entries from one of my closest friends. He is a missionary in China. He currently pastors to churches that are are very close to universities. I love it that he is working with college students. We hung out together on some campuses here in the states together and I would never imagined how much our college ministry experience here would help prepare him what was part of the next step of his life.

Here is a quote from his blog.. (which you need to subscribe to by the way…www.GospelinChina.wordpress.com) 

“Sunday was S. and T.’s second time to preach for the whole service. One of them kind of had an emotional, couldn’t-go-on kind of premature ending. The other one went over on his time and would have kept on going if I hadn’t started tapping my invisible wristwatch like I was in a triangle choke. Overall though, I really thought they did great. Anytime you stand to preach, priority number one is content. You can be funny, engaging, compelling, and composed in front of the crowd, but if your content is heretical, out-of-context, or just plain useless, you’re left of center.

[Verily, verily...] It’s like baseball in a way (get ready – here comes the only baseball metaphor I’ll probably ever make – I can’t stand the game). When a guy gets a great hit only to see it fly foul and out into the bleachers, it doesn’t matter how far it was, how high it was, or how many runs it wouldhave been worth! It’s a foul ball – wrong trajectory annuls all the positive value. Thus it be with preaching with a content problem. That’s why I was real happy about their messages. S.’s message was on faith – T.’s on fear. Tied together well, which was good because almost everyone stayed on to hear T. in the second service.”

I really thought that was a great illustration for staying on target when preaching. We all have seen in when a preacher swings for the fence and you hear the crack of the bat but the ball doesn’t go straight. A long foul and a strike are basically the same thing. I know a foul on the 3rd strike gets you another shot at bat. Which I think is very humorous because I believe I have seen people who get many chances at bat because they don’t strike out but hit breath taking long foul balls. (Taking the illustration to far.. I know)

Somethings that have helped me grow and I think will help my students grow.

• I have some people around me that just simply get to the point when talking to me. They make it clear what I need to do and then give me a chance to respond. My students need that.. they need me to get right to the point and get into their lives.
• I have a pastor who starts his sermon preparation with the Word of God. He does not start with a funny story, bumper sticker, or even the next holiday. I want my preaching to come from the Text.
• I want my schedule and goals to be on target tomorrow. I can work hard and even look productive but I want to be on target with the mission of the church.

I am sitting here by my wonderful wife and baby boy Thatcher. Thatcher was born on Monday. My heart is so full as I sit here and think about all that God has done for me and given me. I am very tired, not as tired as my wife. Thatcher decided last night he was tired of sleeping and went on his longest “staying awake” marathon yet. For the most part he has been sleeping about 90% of time here on planet earth. Well, last night he said “enough is enough”.

Inspite of my great lack of sleep.. I am positive that I am thinking clearly on the fact that.. “all things are from God and for His glory”. My wife and I made a covenant promise to God on our wedding day to do everything possible to bring Him maximum glory from our lives. Our new son is part of that plan.

As I look my son and type on my new MAC computer  my heart is so full. I have received many wonderful things this week From: people I love so much. My handsome son from my wife. Gifts from my friends. Time off with my family from my church. A computer from my a great deal the Pastor gave me. However, I want to write myself a note this day and remind my self two things.

1. These wonderful people are only channels from which the Great God of Heaven provides me with the resources to serve Him. Not only does He give me the job to do (bring Him glory), but he provides the resources and at the end of the day when the job is done I know He did the work. He is the greatest person to work for.

2. I am reminded that as with the promise given to Abraham in Gen. 12:2,3 that these blessings are given for a reason. Yes, God loves me and takes care of His children. I know I have been blessed to be a blessing.

I am about to get ready and go out with some friends of the church on Community Impact. As it should be every Saturday – It is going to be so easy and natural to speak of His wonderous works because I have seen them so clearly this morning.. in the Word and in my own life.

If you haven’t noticed I have moved this blog to http://www.bcwe.org/bcweblogs/ministryfertilizer/

I placed it under the umbrella of a great website www.bcwe.org

 Last week as I read over Luke 14 I thought of a conversation my wife and I have quite often. Around 7 pm she will ask me if I am ready for supper. If I answer “yes” she will say what would you like. However, if I say “no” she will come to wherever I am ask and with a grin on her face will say “where did you go to lunch today”. She works as a teacher so doesn’t have the opportunity to go out to eat as often as I do. The lesson of my rambling story is that she knows if I do not need her food to satisfy me it has to be because my appetite has been filled by something else. 

When it comes time for me to spend time with God in His Word and I do not make time for Him — the problem is not a scheduling or reading problem.. but a appetite problem. “If we don’t feel strong desires for the manifestation of the glory of God, it is not because we have drunk deeply and are satisfied. It is because we have nibbled so long at the table of the world. Our soul is stuffed with small things and there is no room for the great.” (John Piper, A Hunger for God). 

Text: Luke 14:14-18Mat 5:6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

I. WHO gave the invitation?-        

He is a man you should not ignore. Worship-        

Many of us have accepted his first invitation (Salvation)-        

The invitation was to a man and not just to a meal (Ezekiel 45:15,16)Ezekiel 45:15  And one lamb out of the flock, out of two hundred, out of the fat pastures of Israel; for a meat offering, and for a burnt offering, and for peace offerings, to make reconciliation for them, saith the Lord GOD.-        

In this man we will find all we need. (Colossians 2:3)Colossians 2:3  In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 

II. WHAT was prepared for them? (v.16)-         What is waiting for us to enjoy. Praise-         All the “hidden riches” (Isaiah 45:3)Isaiah 45:3  And I will give thee the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places, that thou mayest know that I, the LORD, which call thee by thy name, am the God of Israel.

IV. Why they did not come? (v. 18,19)-

Three excuses “the care of this world” (v. 18) “the deceitfulness of riches” (v. 19), “the pleasures of this life” (v. 20)Ill. “I do not have any peanut butter!”-        

We are to easily satisfied with the table of the world. (Jer. 2:13).

Jeremiah 2:13  For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.-        

 LOSS of APPETITE

Are you hungry for time with God?Has the world satisfied you appetite?What is replacing your time with God?Would you be able to pray the prayer of Isaiah 26:8, 9?Isa 26:8  Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O LORD, have we waited for thee; the desire of our soul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee. Isa 26:9  With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.  

Are You Making Progress? 

2 Chronicles 26:5

And he sought God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding in the visions of God: and as long as he sought the LORD, God made him to prosper.

 
There are times we feel this in our life with the Lord. We’re pulling this way and the Lord pushing that way and there is no progress. We’re putting in tremendous amounts of energy only to find ourselves exhausted at the end of the day. “We are never closer to failure than during our greatest successes! If we fail to recognize God’s part in our achievements, they are no better then failure.” 

Famous king  (made engines)– no accounts of him ever stopping to give thanks to God. Lack of thankfulness.

1. A Leader of Leaders. (v.13)
   1. Provided the resources they need. (v. 14)
   2. Are you enlisting men?

1. Had a Mentor. (v.5)
   1. Sought God during the days of Zechariah.
   2. Borrowed convictions will not last.
   3. Godly mentor does not guarantee success
2. Followed a Godly pattern. (26:4)
   1. He followed after his father.
   2. Follow as far as you can with the Bible in your hand. Go farther when needed.
   3. Uzziah’s dad followed the Lord, did some great things for God, brought godly reforms to the land but he left the high places (2Kings 14:1-4)
3. Went forward with pride. (v.16)
   1. Took a job that was not given to him.
   2. Do not move forward with pride.
   3. You will never merit the right to be missionaries.

When I was sixteen years old, during a high school chapel service, God begin to work in my heart in a very powerful way during the message. I had thought about being a preacher. I had even wanted to be. However, I didn’t think surrendering to that fact was all that important at that age in my life. However, on that Wednesday morning as the chapel speaker preacher all I could think of was that God would not guide me any further until I took the next step he had laid out before me.

After I surrendered to preach that day I was given all kinds of opportunities to preach. I was in a very small church and a quite small Christian school. I preached a great deal but was given very little instruction. I could tell when I preached no adult was listening they were just there smiling and being so happy little Trent was going to be a preacher one day when he grows up. I remember hearing things after I preach like “so you want to be a preacher that great”. I would think to myself “want to be a preacher, what do you think I just did”. As I think back on the messages I preached I am not sure how much of it was Bible, so I am not sure if it was really preaching at all. When I get to heaven I my have to sit a the kids table during the Marriage Supper because of all the crazy things I preached. (Which will work out okay for a little while, it will give me a chance to talk with some of the famous tv preachers today)

I do not know exactly how the story goes, or if this is a figment of my imagination – I once told a man in my church that I was close to that I would rather “preach then eat”. He said that is good because that is the decision you will have to make. He was a wealthy man and thought that a surrender to ministry was equivalent to taking a vow of poverty.

Many times when I do not feel like I am not being successful at what I am given to do I do not ask for more to do. Makes since huh. Since my youth department is not booming as I want, I do not ask for opportunities to preach. Well, you and I have to get past that. My youth department is not booming becuase of gross sin in my life or laziness. It is growing in proportion to the “youth pastors heart” God is growing in me. Doing other things in the ministry I desire to do will not pull me away from this but will be like a stimulus plan for it. The last couple of weeks I have been praying for chances to preach. I am so excited that he have me an opportunity yesterday, twice today, and twice on Sunday. Also, if you read this blog all the way to this point I had to the chance to share my heart with my heart with yet another captivated audience. Thanks. 

During the famine in Somalia, thousands of starving families left their homes and once-productive farms to seek shelter and food at distant refugee centers. Foreign nations and humanitarian agencies sent and distributed food to these starving people. Many received help in time to save their lives. Some, however, waited too long before seeking help. They were so malnourished that when they tried to eat, their bodies rejected food. Their digestive systems had shut down and would no longer process the very thing their bodies needed. Many died because their bodies no longer recognized or accepted life-sustaining nourishment. Their bodies didn’t recognize what they were hungering for.

On Saturday as we were out on SSI (Saturday Student Impact) I had the chance to spend some time with a teenager named Adam. It was freezing outside and we saw more snow then we have seen in GA in five years. As we went door to door he was so excited. As soon as we would get done with one door he wanted to go to the next. As soon as we finished one apartment complex he wanted to go to the next. He was hungry to talk about to people about our church.

When I was his age I hoped no one would come to door and wanted to go home as soon as possible. I went becuase I was convinced by quilt that I had to to be right with God. Adam knows it is an option and he desires to go becuase He is hungry to serve God.

I learned a lesson from the student that day.

I appreciate my Pastor leaving a comment concerning “is a church service the best introduction for lost teenagers”. I agree with him totally and if I didn’t I would not post it on a blog If I disagreed I would go into his office and tell him. Not because I am so knowledgeable or arrogant but because he encourages it. I can tell anything I think.. as long as I am willing to allow the Word of God to be the final authority. He is a great pastor to work for.. and an even better friend to have.

Even though I believe we should do everything we can to get lost teenagers to the church services because we are given the job to teach them the gospel not just flash them with it, I am going to try do something. 

1. I want to encourage the teens to hang out in the youth room after services so teenagers who just come to a service can be velcroed to  some other teens.

2. Make sure they meet the pastor before the service, if at all possible. Then when they hear him speak they will see him as a friendly guy who is their friend.

3. I will continue to get the teens to sit together so they will see that there our other teens.

4. Have teens invite them to our next teen activity and give them info on what we are up to.