If this blog makes no sense, it is because I am suffering from Camp Counselor Syndrome (CCS). CCS is a debilitating disease in which a person can no longer remember which state he/she lives in, what his/her bed feels like, and camp food actually begins to taste like real food. We got back from CIY in Colorado this past Saturday and I am leaving for UCYC this Sunday with the middle school students, and I am pretty sure that my CCS may become non-treatable by the time I return next week.

Okay, I am being a bit melodramatic. While going to camp can be a bit crazy as a leader, I love seeing what God does in the lives of our students. While we were at CIY, I was able to witness our students really “being the church,” - confessing to and forgiving one another, praying for each other, baptizing each other. I don’t want this to sound bad, but sometimes it felt like I didn’t even need to be there because our students were ministering to one another and meeting each other’s needs. To see 68 of our high schoolers change and become more like Christ is something I will always remember; and I can’t wait to see how God will work in the 65 middle school students who are heading to Prescott this weekend. And by the grace of God I will remember the directions to my house when it is all over.

I’m off early Sunday AM for the Christ in Youth (CIY) summer conference with 68 of our high school students. We’re heading to Colorado for a week and I can’t wait to see all the incredible things God is going to do this week. We are taking 9 staff members on the trip; and each of us will be leading a D-group (discipleship) for the week. The D-groups get together each morning for a Bible study that is based on the daily message. Now I figure I am not giving anything away because I really doubt that any of the students going will be reading my blog between 10pm Saturday night and 7am on Sunday morning when we leave. (If you are going and are reading this, STOP!!! Spoilers ahead!!!)

One of the days we are focusing on the idea of how we as Christians need to connect with one another so that we can truly share our lives with one another - like David and Jonathan and their close relationship (see 1 Samuel 18). But in today’s society, many of us (including myself) find it easier to watch TV, surf the web, check email, listen to our iPods or mp3 players, play video games, text message, etc. Time that we could be spending with other people building relationships we use instead to live in the electronic world. Don’t get me wrong, none of that stuff in itself is evil, but isn’t it easy to get caught up in that world? Look at me, I have spent more time today blogging that I have engaging in a live conversation with a person (my wife and kids are out of town).

I emailed a bunch of my friends from college to let them know that I have a blog now so they can get the scoop on my life. My friends live all over the country and the world, so I can’t see them face to face; but I chose to email them about a blog rather than picking up the phone and just talking to them. I have a feeling I’m not the only one to do something like that, but I don’t like it. I will continue blogging because I believe there is value; but if I am not living life and being real with people in the flesh, then something is wrong. One of my favorite Bible passages is Hebrews 10:24-25, “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” As believers, we must be devoted to meeting with one another and encouraging one another; and the best way to do this is in person.

Again, don’t get me wrong. I am not asking you to throw away your cell phone, give your iPod to charity, or turn your computer into a doorstop. But consider how much time you spend on those devices as compared to the time you spend with others, and dare to make adjustments in how you use your valuable time. See you in a week!

Everyday it seems like I learn something new from our students. In my ten years in youth ministry, my students have taught me all sorts of things - from proper kneeboarding techniques to sportsmanship to what it really means to be flexible on a mission trip. Today one of our students taught me a valuable lesson in integrity.

The middle school day camp, “Reveal,” came to a close today. I have to say that this year’s day camp was one of the most exhausting weeks of my entire life, and one of the most satisfying in my time in ministry. We finished the week with a day full of activity at the church - a lesson on eternity and salvation in the morning, followed by students rotating through three sweet events - the PCC rock climing wall, an inflatable slip ‘n slide, and my personal favorite, the water balloon launching competition. Throughout the entire week, the students were divided up into teams and participated in several different competitions - from creating team banners to a bellyflop contest at the Clement Center, and concluding with two contests in H2O balloon launching (accuracy and distance). Makes you wish you were in middle school, eh? (Feel free to join our awesome staff!!!)

ANYWAY, in the final rotation of the day we had a bit of controversy. Three members from each team fired water balloons at a target in the East parking lot. Every time a student hit the target, he/she received 25 points for his/her team. One of the guys stepped up and took his best shot at the target, which fell to the ground only inches from the target, at which the water in the balloon splashed up against the target and shook it. The student was certain that he had hit the target, as did several members from other teams. It looked to me like he had fallen a bit short, and there was a moment of hesitation. During that moment, a teammate of the guy who shot the balloon stepped forward and said that the balloon in fact did not hit the target, fully knowing that it would cost his team 25 points. I stood for a few seconds in disbelief looking at this young man, inspired by the integrity he displayed during a time when it would have been easy to try and convince me that his teammate hit the target. I looked at our scorekeeper, Sarah Boeder, and asked her to add a single point to the team’s score for integrity. I couldn’t award the team 25 points in fairness to the other teams, but I wanted to send the message that I valued the lesson in character this young man had shown to our students. 

Okay, fast forward to 2:30, the end of day camp and our awards ceremony. Each of the eight teams did their very best this week, but only three teams could claim prizes. The champions, the “Bounty Hunters” cleaned everybody’s clocks by 100 points. But it got interesting for 2nd and 3rd place. As I calculated the scores, I was shocked to see that the lesson in integrity paid off way more than I could have imagined; as the difference between 2nd and 3rd place was one point. Before you ask, I did not rig the scoring to teach everybody a lesson in integrity. The scores were tallied only minutes before I addressed our campers. But it sent the message loud and clear that God values integrity. So today I learned another important lesson from our students. I can’t wait for tomorrow’s lesson.

All right, it’s 11:05 on Wednesday morning and I am sitting in the former PCC library (Towne Hall room 5), waiting for middle school students to find me in our Day Camp scavenger hunt. Sounds like a perfect time to blog to me!!!

The theme of day camp this week is “Reveal,” as we seek to understand how God chooses to reveal truth to us about Himself, about us, about this world. We play tons of games and get to go to Golf N Stuff, go swimming, bowling, we rent an inflatable slip and slide; launch thousands of water balloons… well… you get the point.  But we also spend time each day in God’s Word and then having small group discussions, and the discussion I had today with my guys was a great one. We were talking about the Holy Spirit today and the question was raised about how the Holy Spirit can speak to us? Do you hear a voice in your head? How do you know if that voice is really God’s Spirit or is it just you talking to yourself? I hate that feeling, wondering if I am answering my own question or if it is the Holy Spirit trying to tell me something.

One way that I have determined if the Holy Spirit is trying to speak to me is by the advice that is given to me. If it is something good and healthy that I really don’t want to do, it is probably the Holy Spirit. And if I can’t stop thinking about it even if I want to, then I really know. That probably doesn’t make a lot of sense, so I will just give you an example. Back in January when I was in California for college, I felt convicted to confess a sin I had committed to my wife April. My initial reaction to the idea was, “No way, that is the stupidest thing I’ve ever thought, I don’t want to admit my junk! Forget it!” Not something I wanted to do at all. The problem was that the idea kept coming back to me - at random times during the day, at nighttime in bed when I was trying to sleep, and it was driving me crazy. Of course at that point I realized that the Holy Spirit was going to keep reminding me of what I needed to do until I finally did it (I finally got the point and confessed).

Anyway, the big idea is that the Holy Spirit can work in a lot of ways - He is a teacher, counselor, and He convicts us of our sin (even when we don’t like what He has to say). I pray that each of us would take time each day just to be quiet and listen for the voice of the Holy Spirit speaking to us, and that we would have the wisdom to listen and obey!

Hey there, if you came to The Rock or Epic this week, chances are you heard me start off our new Sunday series, “The Search for Meaning,” a journey through the book of Ecclesiastes. One of the things I touched on was Solomon’s comment in Ecclesiastes 1:9, ”What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again, nothing new under the sun.” Solomon was a pretty wise guy, and I think he was right on when he wrote that, especially when it comes to movies this summer. Have you noticed all the “3″ movies this summer? Spiderman 3, Shrek 3, and Pirates of the Carribean 3 have already all come out, and they are making tons of cash. Ocean’s 13, the third movie in the ”Ocean’s” series comes out today. Rush Hour 3, the fourth Die Hard flick, and the third Bourne Identity movie are coming out later this summer. Are there really that few original ideas in Hollywood? A summer full of nothing but sequels and old kids cartoons turned into movies (Transformers)? Don’t get me wrong, I have already seen Spiderman 3 and Shrek the Third and I plan on seeing the others as well, so I am just contributing to sequel madness, but I actually much prefer seeing a film that is truly original - like the first Matrix film or Memento.

Having said all that, I did get to see another sequel this past week - Evan Almighty starring Steve Carell. Some of you are wondering how I got to see a movie that doesn’t come out for another two weeks - I actually got to see a special screening of the film on Tuesday night. I got an invitation for youth pastors and workers to check out a sneak preview of the film - how cool is that?!?! Anyway, if you saw the original film Bruce Almighty with Jim Carrey, it was a stinkin’ hilarious film with some excellent Biblical messages throughout the movie. When I learned that Carrey was not going to be in the sequel, I didn’t get my hopes up. But the movie turned out to be pretty good, Steve Carell is funny, Morgan Freeman returns to play the character of God, and John Goodman plays a convincing villian. And while there are some cheesy moments in the movie, there are several excellent messages about God’s love, man’s plans vs. God’s plans, and how God chooses to answer prayer. I don’t want to give away anything more, but I highly recommend the film. I took my three and five year old sons to see it and they really enjoyed it. And for you parents that are reading this, it is a clean movie with almost no innuendo. So go check it out when it comes out on June 22 and enjoy a sequel that you can have a meaningful conversation about afterwards.

Hey, you actually found this page! Congratulations on such a monumental accomplishment, your summer is now complete even though it just started. I have to admit something before I go on - this is my first ever blog entry, so if it seems like I don’t know what I am doing, that’s why. I have to admit I am pretty excited about the PCC Students website and all the cool stuff that will be happening here, and I have been ready to start blogging my thoughts for some time. I’ll update the page when I get moments here and there, so check in as often as you feel like it to get into my head.

Last night we attacked the Towne Hall Student Center with sledgehammers and did some serious damage, which means we are another step closer to the remodeling of the room. I can’t wait to see what it looks like and I love the fact that so many of our students are taking ownership of the process. There were about 20 students involved last night in the demolition and everybody got a chance to bust down the wall. We also took out most of the carpet, busted up the stage, and tore down the red wall panels from the South wall and the sound booth. There were quite a few students who worked for 5+ hours with only a small break for pizza and soda. I had such a great time, but my entire body is paying the penalty for all the hard work. My back, arms, and hands are killing me and my lungs still feel full of dust and pink insulation material. Good times. Yeah, I’m a whiner but I loved it!

Okay, more to come later. Thanks for reading and shoot me a comment if you want.