King’s Ridge Christian School

Sometimes I miss teaching. Especially when I walk a campus like the one I did this morning. Wow! The band and I led worship for King’s Ridge Christian School’s chapel this morning and I can not even begin to tell you how amazing this campus looked on the outside. They told us before hand that more than 50% of the student body were probably not active in a local church so we anticipated a dead crowd and an opposite impression given off by the facilities. It was crazy sock day so one might have missed the sharp uniforms that probably looked much better on days the students didn’t showcase knee-high polka-dots. Maybe that was what lightened the mood, but the students really seemed receptive. There was even a small gathering of girls who were right on the edge of a mosh pit.

It is amazing how God can take a seemingly ordinary circumstance that gets prefaced with concerns and commentaries on expected behavior and turn it into a celebration few saw coming. We had a blast in what felt like the shortest gig we’ve ever played. The students were a joy to worship with. I hope we get another chance in the future to play at King’s Ridge. Especially if Chick-fil-a breakfast is provided again.

Sharp Top Cove with MPCS

I’ve played a ton of places; many camp facilities and retreat centers, but I have never been to any place like this. AND it is only an hour from my house. Sharp Top Cove in Jasper, GA is hands down, no question, the nicest, best looking, most exciting retreat center I have ever been to. Our cabin looks like something you’d find up in the mountains on some private golf course community. They do not do the typical buffet style food service for their meals. Oh no, you sit down and they bring the food to you like an old fashioned smorgousboard. Even the meeting room is more nicely decorated than most homes I’ve been in. They have the rustic option down in some cabins out in the woods and even a middle of the road option for those who don’t want rustic nor the high life. And when I say high life, I mean high life. There is a full-sized jacuzzi installed right outside my cabin. What gives? Why can’t all camp places be like this? I mean, seriously, I would like all the churches I’ve played for and are playing for to consider moving your camps to this location. I’ve heard all Young Life camp facilities are like this so any of them would be fine. This one just happens to be the closest to my home.

Well, enough about my selfish wishes and fantasies about what all camp/retreat center should look like. We had a blast leading worship tonight for the students. Having been a teacher at a Christian school for six years, I know that students at a school event can be timid about worshiping and singing out. it might have started slow, but by the time the evening was over, God was really moving. It was exciting and powerful. I can’t wait to see what happens tomorrow night.

SuperWOW Jekyll 2007

Just home from an AMAZING week at SuperWOW at Jekyll Island. The students were phenomenal and God showed up in some exciting ways. Like providing me with the undeserved ability to appear like I knew sort of what I was doing on the basketball court when anyone who knows me knows I can barely dribble a ball. Or allowing my voice to stay relatively fresh after singing 72 times when I only thought I’d be singing maybe half that. Or more importantly, moving in so many hearts through the ministry of Dr. Jerry Pipes and the Skitiots as they drove the message home and helped guide dozens of students to make life-changing decisions for God’s glory. One of the greatest weeks of camp ever for me.

That being said, all you regular readers out there (all two of you), I am back to the land of cell service and internet access so I will be picking back up where I left off last in my “worship” word study. 4 1/2 more weeks of camp. Keep us in your prayers and hope I have better luck with internet access in the future.

Whe It Rains, It Pours

Just got back from an awesome week of camp in Ohio. We made some great new friends and had a blast spending time with students and dominating in volleyball (that’s right, I said it, and we plan on adding Basketball to the total next year). Smaller camps are so much more intimate and you end up feeling like you really got to know the campers and the leaders. So much in fact you start playing practical jokes. And several were played this week at camp. The most brilliant of them all, the climax and pinnacle to declare the victor if you will, went a little sour when the monsoon hit and the opposing side’s luggage was floating in a canoe in the middle of the lake. Luckily nothing was really damaged and we were able to pull it all out before the weight of the watered-down suitcases sank the boat. Lesson learned…always check the weather report.

Ohio SBC Youth Camp

This past week I was at a youth camp in Senecaville, Ohio. I hadn’t ever heard of it either. Often when we go to a small, nowhere town bad things seem to happen to us. This week was no exception. At 5:00 AM on Monday as we were preparing to leave, I cut my index finger’s knuckle on my trailer door, which ended up needing stitches except I didn’t find that out until after it had bled for two days and I missed the 48 hour stitch deadline. Then there was the whole disaster involving the mountains and my transmission. A few other mishaps and bad circumstances and I was sure this week was doomed to be a miserable disaster.

Then someone at the tow place asked me about my “I Love My Wife” shirt and everything started to change. She asked where she could get one for her husband and we ended having a nice conversation about Oak Leaf Church and how Jesus Christ has changed my life. One of the wrecker guys overheard a bit of our conversation and commented later on how he “cool” he thought Oak Leaf sounded. Before I knew it, the shirt I had on helped opened to door to have about five basic spiritual conversations with total strangers getting gas and grabbing snacks while I waited for someone from the Christian camp I was playing at to come pick us up.

I’ve been thinking about it all week. My transmission could have given out anywhere and yet it completely died on an exit with a wrecker service and a transmission shop, which also happened to be just a short drive from the camp we were playing. I could have chosen to wear anything that day to make the 10 hour van ride a little more comfortable but I chose to wear my “I Love My Wife” shirt because I am both proud of my wife and the church for which they were made. I could have had a completely different attitude after all the bad stuff kept piling on, but I couldn’t help thinking about the much longer list I had to be thankful for.

The week ended up being a blast and God reminded me of something very important. We wear the name of Jesus whether we have a church shirt on or not and should never be so caught up in our little world of comfort that we miss the everyday opportunities to show people the love of Christ.

Guitar Hero Sadness

Just finished another Xtreme Summer and boy are my fingers sore. Not from Xtreme, but from Guitar Hero. Man, eight hours of this a day and I’m really going to be able to wail on the guitar. Actually, I’m not telling the truth because out of the kindness of my heart I let the other band guys take the Playstation from the van to their room while I thought my brother would let me play a little more of the version he brought to our room. But, no…he hogged it. So, I mostly watched and played air guitar hero.

When I finally get home, I will not be able to play either because my wife takes over and hogs the plastic guitar miniature until her fingers get sore. Maybe what I need to do is get all these people into something new like The Office and then I can slip away and play Guitar Hero on my own. Or maybe, I should try to do something more productive with my time.

Xtreme Summer – Panama City Beach, FL

WHOO HOO…XTREME SUMMER WAS AWESOME!!! Can we please get a new hotel? Seriously, Paradise Found needs to be lost all over again. I love playing and worshipping with all the incredible churches and students, but someone down there just needs to buy some rags and cleaning solution and put some elbow grease into that place. Or burn it to the ground. Regardless, the camp was great. Pete Hixon is hilarious as usual with his crazy warm-ups and emcee antics. Xtreme Idol was fun, but the girl totally should have won. A lot of great memories every year, but next year I think I may ask Lysol for an endorsement.

FBCW Elevate Camp 2007

It was good to be back with the FBCW crew this year. Pastor Johnny did an amazing job (as always) and the Rick and the Lawson had it all together. Considering there are not too many people who read my blog and I’m pretty confident those that do have little connection with another camp I will be doing this summer, I’m going to say it: how exactly does a youth group from one church put together a camp in the same room at the same location as a professional organization that puts their camp on with top name Christian artists and speakers and make it look and feel 1000 times better?

All I know is it was a fantastic week and dozens of students made decisions to walk closer to the Father. There was one hiccup. The majority of everyone there for camp stayed in the hotel with the conference room. However, there were four rooms that had to be rented from the Days Inn next door. Our was one of them. Normally that is not a big deal at all. Except this week, the rest of the rooms at the Days Inn were rented by an organization called Gradparty.com.

I’ll spare you the details.

Burnt Hickory D-Now 2007

What a great weekend! It is always an honor to have the chance to lead worship, but it is even more incredible when God’s work is so evident. The students were on fire and fanatical, the speaker Adam Robinson, was inspired and extremely entertaining. I’ve worked with a good number of evangelists and it is not often you find one who has the ability to keep the interest of teenagers AND present an articulate and intelligent message. It doesn’t matter how fast you speak when all the words hit home. Thanks to Matt and all the leaders who did such an amazing job. We were blessed to be there.

NOTE: Say a little prayer for “Haysues” the goldfish. We still believe there was a conspiracy surrounding his death.