Tag Archive - #stumin

soul surfer

March 2, 2011 in books & reviews, culture with 0 Comments

had a chance recently to see a sneak peek of another good movie, soul surfer, that’s being rolled out to offer encouragement and hope to today’s teens.

the movie is based on the true life story of bethany hamilton and her courageous journey as a surfer competitor after a tragic accident where she lost her left arm to a shark attack.

we saw bethany speak at saddleback in ’08 as part of the student leadership conference.

Bethany Hamilton (l) being interview by Jana Sarti at saddleback.

Bethany, though quiet and resolute, made a huge impression on all the students.  Equally so is this movie to be release on April 8th around the country will offer a good conversation starter on how to face difficulties in life.

Soul Surfer will be a great movie for young women.  The storyline of Bethany’s journey will be a encouragement to any girl who is pushing through any kind of adversity.

my only criticism of the movie is that there could have been more modesty in the clothing that is worn…especially the swim ware. given the context of hawaii and surfing it seems appropriate , but I’m positive our  young men will be distracted.

Carrie Underwood makes a good youth director and dennis quaid and helen hunt are great parents. the surfing action its pretty good cinematography.

hope you can catch it in just about a month.

 

 

1 by Youth – Detroit

September 13, 2010 in adventure, books & reviews, culture, student ministry, thoughts with 1 Comment

Last week i took 9 students and 4 adults to southwest detroit to take part in  a 1 day of serving.  this is a new program from the folks at Group Cares.  The mission of…
1 By Youth™ unites youth groups to SERVE people in need and TRANSFORM entire neighborhoods… …IN ONE DAY!

we joined up with the other 500 + volunteers and got our assignments.  We were partnered with Pastor Justin and his students from Mt Hope Congregational Church in nearby Lavonia, MI.  Our serving site was Boyer Playfield at the insection of Vernor and Dragoon about 10 blocks from our rallying point, Clark Park.  Our task for the day was to clean & paint Boyer Play area, a local neighborhood park.  The task’s included painting over graffiti on local garages and fences that faced the park, trimming overgrown bushes and some landscaping.  The whole day was a stretch for all of us…that started from the moment we left at 5am and continued even after we arrived at our work site.

the first thing we encountered was a sickly pit bull who had a fighting collar on.  our site supervisor contacted the animal cruelty department, who upon arrival determined that the dog had been shot.  the dog looked haggard and it was a sad sight.  there was a pit bull next to the park that was actually padlocked to its chain.  it was good to see the students immediately step into the task and made quick work of the listed tasks.  During the cleanup the students found 5 used drug syringes, which was just one more indication of the brokenness of the neighborhood.

We were reminded of the key verse for the day from Matt 5:14-16 about letting our good deeds be a shining light.  To that end early in the our efforts a young man named Atoro approached and asked how he could join in our serving.  he was a local construction worker and readily offered his strength and his tools to help clear the heavily overgrown brush around the park perimeter.

During our lunch we spent some time doing some debriefing and reflecting again on Matt 5:14-16.  One thing that was very noticeable about our work site, that although it was a park…there wasn’t any children present.  as our final act we gather is a prayer circle and prayed over the ground upon which we were standing and for those that would be served by the park.

this was  a great one day event for our students and adult leaders.  the  1 by youth team was excellent and the whole experience was a great investment.  if you get in early the cost is $29.  I’m not sure about their other venues offered, but the detroit experience offered the added weight of being on the 9th anniversary of 9/11. So there was an extended partnership with local community development folks. We were told by many of the locals how blessed they were that our group would drive 3 hours to serve them. it was also good to see the city come together and join efforts to impact this neighborhood. the only disappointment to the day was the rain which forced the cancellation of a block party. it should be mentioned that the rain stopped the party…but not the the students…they all refused to come in from their tasks and just kept working.

here’s the wrap-up video of our effort.

EVO: Mission Detroit- 1 by Youth – 9.11.10 from nhloud video messages and media on Vimeo.

the “root” of ‘tween ministry – #kidmin

July 19, 2010 in family, leadership, student ministry, thoughts, travel with 2 Comments

last week i spent a couple of great days in lexington, ky with some kid’s ministry folks at the first ever children’s ministry expo. the expo was the brain-child of ken dovey and roger fields at kidz blitz .   i went partly because i wanted to see what things are coming up the ladder towards student ministry.  while there i had a chance to spend some time with alan root. i’ve known alan for about 10 years…and think he’s one smart guy when it comes to understanding where today’s “tweeners” are.  take some time and check out this breakout he did the first day…tween ministry with 10 Heads & 20 Feet.  those of us in student ministry need to understand more clearly where the hearts of our incoming middle schoolers are in the life of the church and what we need to be inviting them into.  after you’ve watched it, please leave a comment would love to start a conversation…and mark your calendar for next year’s cmx, july 7&8, 2011 in lexington, ky.

american character, highway 50 and Jesus.

December 3, 2009 in culture, family, politics, thoughts with 0 Comments

Picture 2been working through the whole mission and vision thing of being a local church.  a task that must be diligently worked on annually.  in the tension of that process comes more conversations than i want with good-hearted people who are working through job loss, financial pressures and disharmony in the family.  in the midst of this week i learned of a national conversation that former tv news anchor tom brokaw has helped spearhead called characters unite .  particularly brokaw set off on a coast to coast roadtrip along US Hwy 50.  The full documentary won’t be aired until january 2010 on the one year anniversary of the current president’s inauguration.  there are some good video pieces up now that offer a glimpse into the current conversation about our character as a nation.  brokaw hosted a townhall on dec. 2 in washington that was incredibly insightful.

one segment especially is enlightening with fellow purpose driven pastor pastor kendall granger
 of new life community church in east st. louis

the issue of what is the american character is huge.  the mission and vision of the local church is larger, but has to address the brokenness in our land.   as a pastor i’m living in it every day with my students and our families.  my bride, as a sr high school instructor is living in it with her students. we are living in times that are unparalleled in our nation and even in western civilization.  this work by brokaw and the discussion beginning deliberately with the folks at characters unitecan be helpful to stimulate our (yours and mine) response as followers of Christ through our faith community. this is messy stuff. but our failure to engage and offer our response would be messier. i’m hoping yesteday’s townhall gets posted. there were some great questions from students at the end of the 2 hr discussion with the panelists. if that becomes available i’ll add it. your thoughts?