After Thoughts and Pictures.

This is a picture of our group on the stage at Saddleback. And the tile in Becky's hands is this: Every group that came got to paint a tile that would later be put into a bigger picture. This is what it eventually looked like with everyone's tile.



Here are just some more pictures.













Anyway, my overall after thought is that this trip was the most fun I've ever had in my life. I could not have asked for a better group of people to hang out with for four days. It was so great to grow with them, learn with them, lead with them, swim with them, sit in the hot tub with them, ride in the van with them, make small fun of abram with them, eat with them, laugh with them, take pictures with them, ride in ferris wheels with them, make whirlpools with them, have fellowship with them, and be with them. [woah, that was pretty good considering the theme of the conference was "be..."]
Sitting here at my computer at home I relize how much I miss them terribly. I love all of you so much.
The conference was awesome. So Josh--if you're reading this--thank you for showing me the time of my life. I really appriciate all that you did to make that awesome conference so unbelievably fun!
I will now leave you with the tragic picture of Ian and Matt's plane taking off. It was sad as anything.

After thoughts after the end of the conference (Petty Officer Fitzgerald L. Reporting from the Onyx Bubble)

The conference was a week of total worship to someone whom is truly greater than any of us. I believe that I've been changed. The speakers whom talked really hit home on some of the stuff in my life.

I feel that when I go home, I'm gonna have a more open heart to my brother whom I disagree with all the time. I feel that I'm gonna respect my mother and fathers wishes more often, because they are doing what they believe is best for me and I already knew that, but I guess I realized I was going about it wrong after listening to the speakers.

Personally I think I've been given a great chance really, only so many teenagers got to experience the conference, and the fact that I was one of those few is awesome.

Last day of the conference (Petty Officer Fitzgerald L. reporting from the Onyx bubble)

Well, I feel this is going to be AWESOME. Mainly because...it's the last day so it should be something memorable to keep our minds focused on. My guess is there is going to be singing first. Let's see if I'm right....


So...there's the ceremonial 3 minute countdown before the beginning of the session. I thought that was a pretty cool idea. It's fun to see people count down once the timer reaches 10 seconds.


Guess what... 1:30 left....minutes...yeah...fun! 1:15....................1:00 minutes......

And...ten..nine...eight...seven..six..five...four...three..two...one....time to go!

Singing time!
There were some awesome songs...and Jadon ended with a song called "Saved by Grace"

I thought that was an awesome song to end with!

So they are playing the student challenge. The trick was to guess how many inches of cheese you could get from a can of easy cheese.

It ended up being 1,161 inches.

I didn't realize there was that much cheese in those cans...?!

The last and final student challenge was awesome! Josh and Alison took a fully equipped computer....
Lcd screen, mouse, keyboard, and the computer itself.
No it was not a working computer.

It ended up flying 268 inches away from the top of the worship center where they dropped it from.

I have a feeling they are gonna have a ton of games today. They are having the 1st annual taco bell olympics for the second time this week. They take taco bell food and use them like discusses...(don't know how to spell it..)

So, it's been an awesome week,

I just hope we don't walk out of here and go back to the normal ritual of daily life. I hope that we can keep the "spiritual high" so to say.

I'm gonna try an online prayer.

Father, I would pray that we keep the spiritual high that you've given us through this conference, and that it would not just vanish....slowly like it has in the past. I would pray that if given the chance you can show us the path you've set for us. Make it more apparent so that we can follow your way as you've set it for us.

Worship is...to me - Reading the bible, singing, value...honor..keywords like that. Praise, grace, sacrifice, focus

To Christopher Taffala, Taffy for short. Worship is -

There is a church that meets 13 times a year, they eat dinner and then at 1 PM, the church opens the doors. The people are so excited that you have this mass of people at the door. Even though the church doesn't start until 2 PM these people

John whom wrote Revelations gave us a sneak peek of what Heaven is like.
Revelations chapter 4

After this I looked and there before me was a door standing open in heaven and the voice I had first heard came to me like a trumpet.
(Taffy) "When I read this it made me think either this person has a trumpet on his face...or two he speaks trumpet! You know how you can "choose" your body? It's almost like you could tell God, "I want my face to look like a saxophone."

At once I was in the spirit and there before me was a throne in heaven. One was seated on the throne and the one seated before the throne looked like Jasper and Carnelian stone. A rainbow that looked like an emerald surrounded the throne. Around that were 24 thrones and on the thrones sat 24 elders dressed in white clothes with gold crowns on their heads. From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings, and thunder. Burning before the throne were seven fiery torches which are the seven spirits of God.

I think that's a pretty awesome passage, but me saying its an awesome passage isn't enough. You have to read it and find the meaning. When they say something three times...it means its important. Notice above..the word throne is said six times. Now why would they say throne six times if they didn't want to stress that there is power greater than us?

Romans 12:1-2
Therefore, I urge you brother's in view of god's mercy to offer your bodies as living sacrifices holy and pleasing to god - this is your spiritual act of worship.

(Taffy) "When God says listen, come to me, worship me, everything that you have.

(Taff) Your spiritual life is not hobby.
(Taffy) God is not stamps, transformers collections...even though I like transformers..


(Taffy) Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God almighty."

(Taffy) I am not going to do this because I want to honor God, you are saying Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty.

(Taffy) THAT is worship!

(Taffy) The devil is not attacking those who go and party...he is attacking you..because your are making a difference. You are singing and worshiping and having fellowship. Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God almighty.

I believe that Taffy has some great key points. I agree with him saying that the Devil attacks those whom try to make a difference. I agree with him saying that spiritual life should not be a hobby. It should be more of a part of your life than your other activities if possible.

We are ending with communion and singing. What a nice way to end the week.

Petty Officer Fitzgerald L.
Transmission 21Z39-X End
Onyx Bubble Reporting


This message will self destruct in 30 seconds.

Still standing

Ok, I'm entering a new world, blogging. For any of you who know me I have trouble getting to my email, so here we go.
This has been an amazing week and its hard to believe its coming to an end today. It has been a great honor for me to be with our students and all of your awesome amazing sons and daughters. Its been guite a sight to sit in a room with over 700 teenagers who are all learning and loving God. I must admit the first night when we walked on saddleback campus, after I picked my chin off the ground, Its an amazing little city, i thought I must be nuts. We could hear the base pounding out in the dparking lot. I just got out the Advil and took some before I went. Its hard to hear yourself think let alone speak, you know when the base is so luod your heart jumps out of your skin. Yet as the night went on I was awed and inspired to see so many teenagers there jumping and singing their love songs to Jesus. I have been blessed and excited for our students and for my self. Its been great to see God alive and well in so many of our youth. They live in time when life comes at them fast and hard. We have all been challenged in the mist of it to slow down and be still. A good reminder to all of us!
I know the students have been blogging all week about the talks(that in itself is amazing to me) Technology is amazing. I mean the other day the Matt and Becky called their mom(hello Mary) on their computer and we could see her and she could see us. They gave her a tour of the campus. And yet they talked about how it is one more thing that can distract us from being still. Ok, Its time to go, our last session begins in a couple of minutes and I know someone will want to blog during the session. Again Thank-you for the opportunity to be with your awesome Kids!
R

PDYMC Day 3, General Session II (Night)

Persecution- Open Doors

Speaker: Zach Hunter

What is Persecution?

---The punishment of any group of people based on a disagreement of ethical views

_________________________________________________________________________________


Zach Hunter

-15 year-old abolitionist
-Began with a program called "Loose Change to Loose Chains"
-Drew inspiration from Proverbs 31: 8-9
-Talks at concerts, conferences, and TV shows
-"Normal dude"

__________________________________________________________________________________


Interview between Doug Fields and Zach Hunter


DOUG: What is an abolitionist?
ZACH: -"Anyone who fights against slavery or frees slaves"


DOUG: How do people become slaves?
ZACH: -Medical debt, kidnapping/deceit, trickery


DOUG: What are you doing about it?
ZACH: -Isaiah 1:17-Taking it seriously
-Seek justice and do something
-Loose Change to Loosen Chains


Passion is something Satan doesn't want us to experience.

Ex.: Electronics are like an anasthetic that makes us apathetic

We're not willing to spend time with God


DOUG: Has seeking justice in the slavery world strengthened your relationship with God?
ZACH: -Yes, but you can't make God love you more or less because of what you do for Him, or what you DON'T do. He loves you just the same.


God is our friend, Jesus is our brother

God loves, Jesus saves

We need to extend our circle of compassion, in an effort to make it more like God's circle of compassion (which is much bigger)

Womb is compassion
(Give a part of ourselves so that others can live)


DOUG: How does the money you raise actually help?
ZACH: -Fund-raising- goes to organizations that pay for lawyers, debt money, law enforcement

Did you feel God physically say YOU are supposed to free the slaves?
-Slow build, then BOOM
-Not just one incident

DOUG: How do you get your organization to appeal to non-Christians?
ZACH: -Still talks about God, but doesn't shove it down people's throats

1st Timothy 4:12

And then it all ended with a bang. :-)

Stop, Be Quiet and Make A Connection

We finished a debrief for our last talk and decided it would be a good idea to utilize what we have been taught these past few days.

STOP.
The first one Doug Feilds told us was to stop, Well that one's not hard for me to do, really i have problems starting and finishing something so stopping is like breathing to me. Taking a break from your daily life to just sit, well if you were my mom you'd be asking, "Well how is that different from your daily life Becky?" haha well i do do things, but one thing i know how to do well is sleeping. Asking me to do something before 12 pm in the summer is like asking me to give you my kidney. I'd do it, but i wouldn't be ashamed to tell you how uncomfortable the surgery was afterwards. Well now i' m just rumbling on on this one so i'll move on to the next step.

BE QUIET.
Quiet? whats that? i mean i've heard that command on many occasions, but i don't think i've ever grasped the concept. i mean i'm the youngest of five but at home, i could be louder then all my older brothers and sisters combined when i wanted attention. I mean thats how i got attention...it was usually negative attention, like "becky stop singing its a small world after all" which was usually followed by a "becky, stop humming to its a small world after all." But hey, i was getting the attention i wanted in the way i knew how to get it. Now as i was listening to Doug Field's talk i'm wondering, "How is God going to pay any attention to me if i just sit there and be quiet?"

MAKE A CONNECTION.
Now imagine the difficulty i had with this last step when i couldnt even sit still long enough without talking. When i'm not talking outloud i am definatly talking to myself in my head, commenting on something i see or thinking about how i forgot my room number so when i had to get my card reset for our room (because i had it in the same pocket as my cell..and sadly i've erased my debit card like that twice so you would've thought that i would have learned by now...but hey i'm a teenager right?) i had to go back twice to get the correct room number on it. As you can see, i ramble a lot on paper so you can only imagine how much is going on in my head at once...Talk about ADD..How in the world am i supposed to sit still and hear God's voice in my mind when i've got so much racket in my own brain. The still soft voice has a lot of competetion in my brain.. its like trying to hear a whisper at a rock concert next to a speaker...I don't know its possible.

I guess my goal for this week is to not talk in my head and then i know that i will be able to hear HIS voice. i think patience will also be key here since silence for 30 seconds to a normal person is like 30 years to me so i like to make any noice every few seconds, even if its just a cough or sniffle.

BECKY
LA CAPITANA DEL BLOGO

Someone forgot to tell me that it only takes 15 minutes for a sunburn to form in California

Getting ready yesterday before the session we looked out the window to see it was slightly overcast. I figured the sun would come out later, but i was like 'well we won't be in the sun THAT much, so i should be ok without sunscreen.' Now it wasn't that i was too lazy to put it on, it was more the fact that Abram had told us that we could go to starbucks if we were showered and ready by 8:15. Now anyone who remotely knows me knows that i when an oppurtunity rises to go to starbucks, i'm the first one on the bus. I'm sure my mom is not suprised by the fact that i risked sunburn for a tall vanilla latte...Now as my mother and father read this i'm sure that they are saying, "Becky, why didn't you just take it with you and put it on in the car?" Well mom and dad, i'm pondering the same thing.

At first the sun burn was just on my knees and my right arm, but one we got back o the hotel i looked down and noticed that my sunburn had spread down my legs and onto the tops of my feet. Not only that but its only on the right side on my legs so the left side of my shins are still blindingly pale, a nice contrast to the lobster red(well really more like baby pink. Of course i have already scrapped up one of my feet, so as if the scraps didn't hurt enough, the sunburn burned over top. Let's just say shaving my legs this morning wasn't the most comfortable feeling in the world.

So much for tanning in California, my aloe gel has become my new best friend...


Becky
La Capitana del Blogo

Talk--Day Three

So, It's Grace again. I'm going to blog the talk today. They're doing some more match-making right now...giving away Starbucks cards, pretty awesome.

Apparently, Doug Fields is rhythm deficient...hopefully, the music guy isn't. Can you tell I'm exhausted... I'm rambling about nothing.

Okay, talk now

Ministry--Erik Rees

*Only you can be you*

--we are designed by God to make a specific difference with our life (Eph. 2:10)
--one of the greatest thngs to discover is who you're NOT
--when we do what God created us to do, we feel God's pleasure

Four Phrases To Who We Are
--Surrender
--Without God we are nothing
--Seize your SHAPE from God
--Spiritual gifts
--Heart- what do I love to do?
--Abilities
--Personality
--Experiences
--Are you in SHAPE or out of SHAPE?
Online assesment of SHAPE-- www.servingsweetspot.com--code: PDYM
--Serve people
--Strengthen you relationship with God
--Luke 2:52
--Does anyone know you as well as God does? To serve effectivly, you must open up to people and trust them.

Thats pretty much it. I don't know what we're doing now. I'm sure it will be fun...I hope. No, I'm sure it will be awesome. It might be nicer if we wern't all about to fall asleep.

:)Grace

My Night at the Beach

Hello, you all. So, last night after the session, we helped the people at Saddleback load a to of stuff room Uhaul trucks to rooms here. It was actually kinda fun. Anyway, so then we went back to the hotel briefly o everyone could get ready to go to the beach at night. So anyway, we went to Laguna Beach. It was really pretty. Of course, it was dark, so we couldn't see that much. But I do know that there were little things crawling around my feet. That was creepy, to be quite honest. Then, we started walking down the beach. Much to our dismay, there was a beached whale on the beach. It was terrible. I was so sad for Shamoo. As I turned around to my team, they were all laughing and walking into the waves of the ocean. I, however, was more inclinded to help the whale. So I thought, hey, I'm buff...So I went over to the whale...and I told him that it was going to be okay. So, I started pushing. It was tough...he just wouldn't budge. I was really having a tough time. THEN, this seagull came up to me...and started pecking at my foot. So, naturally, I started kicking him. Unfourtunatly, Mr. Seagull didn't like that so much. He then, in a fit of rage, riped a chunk of skin off of my toe. Luckily, he didnt keep it. It is still attached. However, there is much sand in my toe.














WHAT REALLY HAPPENED:
Okay, so the part about the little things crawling around my feet, that was all true. But really, we were climbing on the rocks of Laguna Beach and It was fine and all, but I had not depth perception. I couldn't tell if something was raised or indented. Long story short--it was raised. I tripped on a sharp rock, and it ripped the skin. But it didn't hurt at first. I just thought I had tripped. But then, it started to tingle. So I sat down and used Emma's cell phone as a light and saw it was bleeding grotesquely. So I called Rita over and told her and she and I [along with Becky, Alyssa, Stephen, and Matt] walked to the bathrooms. They were locked. So I sat down and Rita went to the van to get the alleged "first aid kit" when she got back, we discovered that all that consisted of was pepto bismol, tums, and benadryl. So Abram went across the street to the gas station and got some stuff. Rita and I walked over to him because there was a hose over there. So I hobbled over, crippled as I am...and I washed out the cut...and Abram made me pick out the sand. [I'll thank him for that later, I'm sure, but it still hurts from that.] Then, you know, we put a bandaid on...etc. It was a painful adventure.

So long story short: I'm injured.
And I'd just like to say I'm terribly sorry to my teammates for cutting short our night at the beach.[Even though we still didn't get back to the hotel until about 12:45ish.
Also, thank you Abram, for your hero-like-attitude in rushing across the street to the kwik-e-mart and getting me supplies. And encouraging me while I dug in my cut.
And Thank you Rita for also helping me. And for the tylonol.
I love this team so much. My heart is filled with joy as I spend time with them. They are so great. :)

-Hannah

Day three

So I have a few bits of funny news for you guys from the PDYM SLC 2007!

The first is that our confrence now has an official couple. Yeserday morning, during the game time, the leader of the game, Josh, was doing some match-making. He put together two leaders from 2 differnet groups, nd sent them on a date last night to be taped and shown to us this morning. We saw them at the beach last night, after some drama I think Hannah is going to tell about later. I personally think our little couple are prety cute. )

So, last night we went to the beach,and walked around the tide pools, climbed rocks, and just hung out. It was litle surreal to be on Laguna Beach. It is so glamourized, it was cool just to look at the amzing scenary, and realize that even in he midst of all this commercialism, My God still created it all! So, yeah, the beach was cool. We didn't gt back to the hotel till after one, so we're all pretty exhausted this morning... but hopefully, my three cups of coffee will kick in soon. :)

So, we're having fun. That's all for this morning.

Grace

words from a wise student leader, part 4

good morning all. it is day 3 here in cali. sorry if my last entry seemed a little bit difficult to read. future of forestry is a band that played the conference last year, the game with abram was that he had to put honey all around his face and try to get as much popcorn on it as he could, with someone else's help. hope that clears up some things.

well since our last adventure in the world of blogging, we got to do some moving of boxes of shoes that are going abroad to help the less fortunate. i also got to talk to one of the interns here about being an intern here, he said he loved it. i think im going to check it out. it is a minimum of two year commitment, but he said that it was worth it and that he is learning so much.

so i didnt end up going to the ocean yesterday, i elected to stay at the hotel and catch up on some much needed sleep. apparently i was the smart one, because they didnt get back until about 1 and didnt actually spend that much time there; whereas i got to bed around 11:30 and woke up about 7, it was nice. i feel refreshed so far, hopefully it will last all day.

The band leader this year is good, i think i didnt give him enough credit in my last blog entry. he seems to love God a lot and knows how to lead a crowd in worship. the crowd wanted an encore yesterday, and he delivered a great one, one of my favorite songs: "Blessed Be Your Name".

well here is the end of the first entry of day 3, i will probably be reporting later, but i havent decided yet.

-Matt S.
chief of amazingness

We-Hauled

I'll leave it to one of our students to fill in the details of the experience, but I found the picture from Griffin's blog, so wanted to post it right away.

Peace,
Abram

Califorin! *The Pensive High*

Once upon a time, there was a magical place by the name of Califorina! We (12 crazy teenagers and 2 Fantastic Leaders!) Started the adventure of a lifetime! We Started out on an air plane ride that I personaly thought would last all of eternity! We spent around 5Hrs on the plane, and when we finally landed, in the worlds smallest airport, we were starving! We then found our rental vans and The Harrisons and we hit the road!!! Now, you should know, that all year long Matt Springmman had been telling everyone who would listen, how great a fast food restraunt called "In and Out Burger was." By this time we were all starving, in the American sense of the word; so we found an "In and Out Burger" and then proceeded to place an order for sixteen bugers, fourteen fries, eleven sodas, and three milkshakes! Yeah Baby! It was Awesome! In the time that followed, we found our hotel, unpacked, and some of the more adventerous went swimming. Shortly there after on are way to Phase 1# of the PDYM Confrence, we naturely, scouted out the closest Starbucks and then we were there! It is truly hard to imagine Saddleback Church even with a picture. Saddleback is the single most huge church I have ever seen in my entire life! I'll add more later, right now we are on our way to Laguna Beach! Love to all!

Califorinas Lover,
Alyssa H.

words from a wise student leader, part 3

so here is the third installment in my series. i know everyone has been waiting in anticipation all day. i just lost the game again, its bound to happen a lot i guess. o well.

so they set up a couple in the last session, looks like they are still going on strong. i think target is sponsoring this thing cause they keep plugging it.

so abram is playing a game now, getting some honey with it, i dont know exactly what it is. i wasnt really paying attention. so we had some chipotle earlier today, that was alright i guess, even if i wasnt in the mood.

abram of course did not win the game. he failed us. but i guess ill forgive him this time. well we are singing now. fun stuff. tonight we plan on going to the beach, which is gonna be amazing. the singer just started a song off tune, which was funny. made me laugh a little bit. but its a good song. he is a pretty good worship leader, i still liked future of forestry better. but hes good.

well my battery is going to die again. sorry that i have to cut if off so quickly.


- Matt S.
supreme chancellor of awesomeness

Session #4, End of Amazing Day Two! :(

This session starts out with an AWESOME Muse song, and a conga line around the room . . . ?? lol, yes. :) We all just got back from a yummy dinner at Chipotle. Going out to eat is super fun 'cause we can get whatever our hearts desire, for a change, because everything is already paid for. =)=)

Now that everyone is gathered worship begins. The crowd of around 800 people is extremely energetic - everyone claps and smiles - and no one is afraid to sing out. Whether this is because the music is too loud to hear them, or because the crowd is happy, careless, and encouraging, I'm not sure - maybe its both. =) But don't worry Daddy, the musicians all wear earplugs, and it's not TOO loud in the house. =) Actually, it's not a house, it's just a really fancy, technologically advanced tent. The actual youth building is still being built.

Now it's game time! This one's called: "Street Smarts: The Youth Leader Addition." The games are always really fun and get the crowd PUMPED! =)

Yay! Another Muse song is playing and Lissa and Ian are happier.

Some more games . . . funfunfun. Very well done games - most of them are upfront games, in case ya'll are wondering.

Oooh this is exciting Abram's playing this game. Oooooh this is a MESSY game. Four pairs of people, one person has to cover his face in honey, and the other has to blow-dry as many pieces of popcorn as possible onto his face. Naturally, Abram is now the now the one with honey all over his face.

K well while Abram is being covered in honey and popcorn, I think I'll take a moment to mention how great one of the workshops I went to earlier was. It was called "Be consistent." (The theme of this conference, in case it hasn't already been talked about, is Being - Be Good, Be With Him, Be . . . etc.) The speaker at this workshop was excellent. Some key points he spoke on: how we all try to be people pleasers, and because of this, we sometimes end up with different faces or masks, for different groups of people. He talked about the many negative effects of inconsistency, such as losing the trust of those around you. He talked about how our families so often see the negative side of us, because we know they'll always love us. Then he stressed how extremely important it is for us to respect and love and care for our families, parents, and siblings. One thing he said that stuck out, was that when looking for a guy to date, we - girls - should look to see how a guy treats his mother and sisters. If he treats them well, he'll treat you well too. I thought that was wise. There were many more valuable things learned from that workshop, but it is time to move on, feel free to ask us questions when we come back. =)

More worship time now. =) *tear* . . . it's just so beautiful.

And now the learning begins . . .

Tonights speaker is Matt McGill. I'll just take some notes below:

Enoch walked with God - for three hundred years he walked with God. Is it possible to have a relationship like this with God?
Jesus said: "I have no longer called you servants, instead I have called you friends."
A friendship with God is impossible to ignore. When you're on the outside, and then are invited in, how can you ignore?
Jesus said: "Come to me all who are wearied and burdened, and I will give you rest."

HOWEVER: A relationship with God isn't easy!!!

*To be friends with God is to become like him.*

--friendship with God delights in beauty. However, it is easy to delight in the wrong things. We may love counterfeit beauty, but the reality is, beauty is all around us, coming down from the Father.
- Scripture says: "Delight yourself in the Lord, and he'll give you the desires of your heart."
- The point is, to be friends with God, you need to love what God loves.
- What are the five things you love the most? Don't give the good Christian answer, be honest.

--Friendship with God is Driven by Compassion.
- One word to describe God: Compassion.
- Compassion is true caring - it's seeing a need, and actually moving to do something about it.
- Story of the Good Samaritan.
- Lot's of times we cry for ourselves. When was the last time you cried for something else, outside yourself?

--Friendship with God discovers the truth.
- "see to it that no one takes you captive with deceptive philosophy . . . "
- some things appear good, but are not.
- discerning good and bad is difficult, the ability to do so well is a mark of spiritual maturity.
- *******(((lissa likes this one))) to get a new perspective, you have to be able to say, "man, my last one is not good."
- It will take courage and hard work to discover the truth!
- through time and talking and scripture and study you will discover some answers.
- "my son is you accept my word . . . . if you store up my commands . . . apply your heart . . . cry aloud for understanding if you look for [the truth] as silver or gold . . . then you will understand the fear of the Lord and the knowledge of God."

*Do you ever have those moments, when you look back and say "Man . . . I was really a fool." If not . . . you are in trouble. Open your eyes and find the truth!*

*When you look back on your life, what is really going to be important? Your earthly friendships, or your friendship with God?
- Here is God . . . waiting and wanting to be your friend, your trustworthy, unchanging friend. Isn't it worth it to invest in a friendship like this?


~The talk is closed with a prayer~

Closer by other important guy who's name I don't remember:

Three words to remember: On Your Own
- Some grow spiritually because we have a program and people to help us grow. What about when we leave for college? When the program and the people are gone, we are left only with our friendship with God.
- If we don't grow spiritually on our now, we shouldn't expect to be able to suddenly do so later on when we need to, when we're "grown up."


Now we get some journaling time for everyone to stop, reflect, and connect . . .


On a personal note, I was really happy to hear that little closing speech. As my parents especially know, I've recently been rebelling against lots of things connected with Christianity . . . this is because I am suddenly very very cautious to NOT just believe everything I'm told or have been told. I feel that I have to prove this to myself on my own. I feel that I can't tell others about Christianity, claiming that is most assuredly and absolutely the TRUTH, when I don't know this for myself - when I'm not sure why, when I have no reason to claim that the many other religions that many people follow with their whole hearts are wrong. This is a foolish thing to do! The thing is, often, when I question things, I don't really question them because I believe they are wrong or want to prove them so (though I'm sure it often seems like this is the case), I question them because I want to understand, I want to know why.


The night is closed with a few more worship songs.

And that is the end of day two for now. We have some fun stuff planned for tonight - our first beach trip, for one. And many other adventures will also ensue tonight, I am sure. =)=)=)=)

Thanks for tuning in folks! More later.

LOVELISSA

Workshop on being online, called "Be Safe."

An afternoon workshop attended by Abram, with notes. (These are extensive! But that's just my style.) Going now to debrief with team and eat dinner.

Josh Griffin, Manager of Purpose Driven Youth Ministry

He runs www.theforce.net, a Star Wars site.
His own personal blog is www.simplyjosh.com.

Don't not have Internet or myspace because there are bad things on there, but just be selective. There is a painfully dark side to it. But TVs have bad things, and we still have them; we just use discretion in what we watch.

How many times does "blog" or "myspace" appear in the Bible? None.

Web is a powerful tool for good and bad. Roughly 1 in 3 or 1 in 4 North Americans have a myspace account. Myspace is a profile, whereas a blog is something I have to say.

One reason myspace is so popular (friendster, facebook, etc.) is that people want their own space. Myspace is the 3rd most popular site in the world right now. (Will likely fade in a few years... these things come and go.)

But the principles Josh will share today are universal and timeless--not just for myspace, but more general.

Benefits to myspace:
*Great to unite people and friends.
*Can unite people based on shared interests.
*Universal--"myspace" is a verb now, like "google" has become. Folks may "myspace" [message] each either even opposed to talking by cell phone!

Key point: myspace is as safe as you want it to be, as safe as you make it. (The Internet can be good or bad.)

Having a Web page is a risk. E.g., if you google "Josh Griffin," you can find stuff about him and who he is. If you have a space, you are increasing your risk on the Internet. The more info you put online, the more you paint a sketch of you and fill it in. So you want to be careful as you do that.

Big picture, backing up.... What a student leader is:

1. Honest. Proverbs 11:3--"Good people are guided by their honesty."
2. Accountable. Ecclesiastes 4:10--One person walking alone, if they fall and break their leg, is helpless. But a person who is not alone, someone can lift them back up.
3. Encouraging. Job 4:3--"In the past you've encouraged many a soul to trust God."
4. Influencer. I Timothy 4:12--"Don't let anyone look down on you because of your youth, but be an example to the believers in life, faith, love, speech, and purity." [Upper Room theme verse for Spring '07 semester Youth Group/Sunday night teachings]

All this said, here are some Principles for online to consider:

1. What if myspace/the Internet was a place to share your faith? More than just a profile with pictures or leaving comments, friend requests, etc.
2. What if you used your blog or space to share the journey of your life? Your doubts, struggles, fears, where you are on your journey with Christ?
3. What is you used it as a place to encourage other people? (E.g., when birthday notifications come up, when you read a blog post and sense someone feels along. Sometimes people post their very raw feelings online (we have a filter on our mouths, but not always on a keyboard!). "There are things that I won't say to you that I will say to the world online!"

All of this is about engaging this technology for Christ. Logging on with a mission. Not just a student leader in Church, but a student leader who is consistent in character... online.

So if the Internet can be used for good, what are some guidelines to stay safe? Three actions to take to have best, safest online experience:

1. Limit the use of personal information.
*Use first names only. (Not hard and fast rule; take in combination with how much other info is up there, but use discretion.)
*Limit the amount of information about location. (e.g., not your address or saying, "I am out of town for three months, and I have a sweet TV, and here is my address.")
*Don't do anything with ages.
*e.g., Josh loves his kids, but no pictures of his kids online on his myspace.
*Password protect anything that you don't want on a billboard.
*E.g., setting myspace profiles to "private" so only your friends (people you know) can access it.
*The barriers can come down online.
2. Open yourself up to your parents (if you are a student) and accountability. If not a parent, then someone who has responsibility for me.
*a great Web site that helps with accountability is www.xxxchurch.com... they have a program called X3 Watch, which tracks all Web sites you visit and sends the list weekly/monthly to two accountability partners of your choosing.
*action step: take 24 hours to clean up your spaces and implement these suggestions.
3. "I will not believe everything I read on the Internet." Use discretion! Don't believe what you read in a profile, necessarily.

The world needs Christians who are online and on myspace. (Don't use the Christian alternative to myspace.) Go to myspace--be safe, be a student leader for Jesus, be a Christian on myspace. Engage with the online world.

Day 2, session 2 [Fellowship]

BE KNOWN
by doug

Messages behind the movie-
--God uses other people to impact your faith
--We grow best in an environment of trust and acceptance
--Find, be a part, get connected to a small group
--Cared, invested, made you feel special
--Not a one-way relationship
--Love one another, care about one another
--Do life together
--Mentor and best friend
--Romans 12:10--Be dovoted to one another
--Less people, more invidividual attention
--Encourage one another
--It never stops with you.

Fellowship is a deep word, and an abused word. We have reduced the meaning of the word.
--We work better together
--Know
--Know my strengths and weaknesses
--Show
--Show when I'm headed in the wrong directon, with love
--Grow
--Help them grow in Christ
--Intentional
--Make sure no one can hide. Everyone should be known.

Fellowship is deeper than food and frisbee.


We are now going to continue to do some more worship...[my favorite part], and then we will go eat. Hopefully something good. Hopefully something other than In-n-Out Burger. Which, we have had twice already even though we've only been here one day. :(

-Hannah

Guest Speaker

Another talk--By Kay Warren
Mark 8:34
--SURRENDERED [dangerously]
--Say no to your agenda, your plans...
--Saying yes to God allows Him to have the keys to the "kingdom of me."
--DISTURBED [seriously]
--People think taking up your cross is denying yourself but its actually you have to be willing to at some point give your life.
--No one takes up a cross unless they are going to die on it.
--RUINED [gloriously]
--See life through a different set of lenses.
--You evaluate everything differently.
The least, the last, and the lost had His heart.
Col 1:15
Making the invisible God--visible by your actions.


By the way--the weather here is AMAZING!

--Hannah

The Confrence-Day 2

So, I don't know about everyone else--but I am having an awesome time. The leader guy--Josh--is sooo funny. Just now he set up two single adult leaders and said that they'd pay for them to go to dinner and a movie tonight. I don't know about anyone else but that is just awesome. For real.

The worship is also really good. I don't know. There is something about being in a room full of other youth that are worshiping God with their whole hearts that gives me chills. It helps me worship more. I love it.

But more on how much I love it here later.

By the way--the notes that I take are just the stuff that stands out to me.
THE TALK--by Jeff
BE GOOD (live good)

Sermon on the Mountain
Matthew 5: 13-16
"...let your good deeds shine out so everyone wll praise your heavenly Father"
What does good mean?
--beneficial
--pleasing
--a warm fuzzy feeling inside

--GOOD IS ANYTHING THAT REFLECTS THE IMAGE AND GOODNESS OF GOD
--DEEDS ARE ANYTHING CONNECTED TO WHAT WE DO OR HOW WE LIVE

GOOD DEEDS ARE
--reflected glory
--Anything connected to what we do or live that reflects the glory of God.

The intended purpose for us is that we would accurately depict the image and glory of God
--Genesis 1: 27-31
--We go out into the world reflecting that glory.
--We want people to exprience what it's like to live with God.
--What is that thing--that activity, that cause, that idea--that might be put in the middle of the alley for everyone to see to know what its like to be in a relationship with God???
--Good deeds are not a part of evangelism...they ARE evangelism

How then, should we live?
--John 3:17
--Don't condemn the world.
--Cheese wiz is a bad imitation of something good.
--Romans 12:2 "Don't copy the behaviors and customs of this world..."?
--We can create good.
--We have a relationship with the creator of the universe who lives within us. We ought to be creating the best things.
--WE CAN CREATE GOOD.

--Hannah

Sucking up to the Adult Leaders...

I would just like to say that I think Abram and Rita are amazing leaders. I'm not trying to suck up to them or anything...but for real, they are pretty awesome. Rita--Thank you sooo much for making a late night grocery store trip last night. It really was what we all needed. And Abram--Thank you for letting us stay up late and for being cool enough to let us hang out in eachothers rooms...with the doors open.

--Hannah :)

words from a wise student leader, part 2

good morning all. today started off rather early for me, so i decided to write an entry. almost everyone else is asleep at the moment, except abram, i just saw him walk into the hotel lobby after his run, although he didnt look too sweaty(hmm?). o fitz is up now too, none of the girls seem to be awake. but i cant say for sure.

so the recap of what we did last night. we finished the session (you can read the recap with mi hermana's blog) and waited in the parking lot for a while to decided what to do. finally we decided to go back to the hotel and do stuff there. most of the group decided to go for a swim. it began with just ian an i, and then went to just about everyone. Ian, Matthew H., Stephen, and I all tried to see how much water we could get out of the pool by jumping in and doing cannonballs. i am sure the hotel appreciated it. we then decided to make a whirlpool in the pool and everyone participated, it worked rather well. i still cant hear out of my left ear. After a little while of this, Rita, Pirrochi, and I drove to the store. I dont know(and particularly do not care) what the rest of the group did while we were there.

the store was an adventure because the first one we went to closed at 9 due to a power outage(the lights were still on, so i was very confused). We then went and got directions to another one, and everything worked out. after this we preceded to go to our rooms(after a little bit of hanging out) and do whatever.

so thats the basic recap, there is a lot there, but yeah. ill try to make it less for the next one.

-Matt
the peoples champion

by the way(btw) the commercial i was referring to in the earlier entry was about this mother and daughter who were holding hands and every time they went behind an object the daughter would be getting older and she was letting her go. at the end the little girl was a mother herself and holder her daughters hand, with the original mother coming up and holding her hand again. it was a pretty cute commercial i guess.

The talk "Be"

Becky's out line of the talk (With some commentary)

Ephesians 3:19b

"You will be filled with the fullness of life and power that comes from God."

Tonights talk by Doug Fields starts with a congrats to all the student leaders in the conference for making it here, not just physically making it, but because we were meant to be here, someone believed in us as a leader or a potential leader.

"Leaders are Learners, so take notes." -Doug F.

*"Leaders can't lead effectively when they're spiritually empty"

*"I have a soul that needs to be filled"
~When our soul is empty, do we know how to fill it? What do you do?
Soul: the invisible, internal part of you, the real you, that defines you and connects with God.

Matt 16:26 "And how do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul in the process?"

*we are spiritual beings having a temporary physical expierence.
-stop comparing yourself to the person next to you, who you think are super spiritual, just be you when it comes to refueling and being a leader.

#i don't like Doug's new look, i liked the gotee from last year#

Daily leaders need to...

1. Stop. for your soul to be filled up you gotta stop, leaders struggle with stopping (Don't think i'll have a problem with that one..the problem will be to get going again i think..Mom i'm sure you can vouch for that one =])
refers to Luke 10:38 (Martha worries, Mary sits at Jesus's feet) "dear martha you are so upset over all these details, there's only one thing you should be worried about and mary has that and i won't take that away from her"
Martha was doing, Mary was being.

2. Be quiet. (UHOH...i may have a problem with this one) 'silence is an essential ingredient to spiritual growth.'
God isn't going to fight over the tv--refers to 1 kings 19:11 "still small voice"

3. Make a connection. Make an inner connection with God, i.e. pray, journaling, reading His word.
A) When? when are you going to make it? Morning? Night?
B) Where? where will you go to be quiet?
C) What? what do you do to make that connection? Bible? Pray?

The First Session--Part 1

Pulling into the parking lot of Saddleback church we made our first U-turn of the trip, but to Abram's credit there's been a lot of change here, like an addition of a parking garage, so where we parked last year was different from this year. Stepping out of the van i watched as abram got out of the van. His newly shaven head glistened in the sunlight that was beating down on the hot asphalt, and we moved as a group towards registration, many of us sulking over the fact that we were having In&out Burger for the second time already. Despite all the stories and In&Out Burger from last year (Including Matt Springmann eating 3 double burgers in one day last year) many of the newbies to this Californian restuarant were not too impressed with the burgers and fries. Personally i wasn't too impressed last year and was not jumping for joy over the fact that we were eating at this restuarant, not once but twice since the conference was serving the same food. I don't care if the fries were deep fried in veggetable oil, they tasted like crap.

After the leaders went to the leaders meeting the rest of us played cards for awhile, but then decided to show off the rest of the amazing church to those of us who hadn't seen it before. After a short flip flop race down the fountain that ran down the middle of a set of stairs, we were off to explore the sanctuary with stadium seating and big screen TVs and the fitness path to a playgroup.

Finally we made it into the large air conditioned tent and sat worshiped and played a few games (one called 'sit down if' i was about to win until the M.C. said 'sit down if you have more then 3 siblings..' seeing as how matt was close by i decided not to disown him as a brother for the sake of the game, so MY target giftcard went to some blonde headed kid in one of the first five rows.)

Now onto the talk...


~Becky
La Capitana del Blogo

words from a wise student leader, part 1

here is the first installment of my series of blogs. i feel like i should have my own, apart from the rest of the group. so here are my wise words of wisdom that i impart to you, the readers.

i got to meet some new people from michigan today, they were playing apples to apples, so i just had to play. they were nice people who like to have fun with each other.


so we just finished singing and we are watching some mothers day commercial, its very emotional, i think i see tears flowing from Abram's eyes. the women on stage is really crying. the crowd laughs pretty loudly. we are now playing a game called sit down if. i just lost because of my plentiful number of siblings. the winner just got a target gift card. now we are singing again. next up is another game. yeah, pretty fun i guess. so the guys up front keep making fun of everyone that comes up for the game. the guy leading the games is timing how long he can eat a double-double burger combo from in-n-out burger. he took 3:39 to eat it.

Doug Fields is our first speaker. he is the youth minister here at saddleback. he says that we are the church, talks about how jesus didnt tell us to pick up the cross when we are 18 or 21, we should do it now. "to be a successful leader is to know how to refuel your heart." thats a good quote i think. "if you are going to be a leader, you need to be topped off spiritually, by being close to God. Having a relationship with him." Ephesians 3:19- "you will be filled with the fullness of life and power that comes from God" God will constantly refuel you.

my computer is about to die, so this is the end of part one, sorry that you didnt get that much of the talk, but i will take notes and add them later.

-Matt S.

Hotel check in

As a disclaimer i want to let you know that yes i know that my grammar is not perfect, much to my mother's dismay and i like it that way =] We are currently in the first session, so i will be writing bits and pieces at a time.

Driving in the smaller van with Rita, we trailed Abram to the hotel only to chuckle a bit as Abram nearly missed the very hotel we stayed in last year. Memories of all the U-turns we made last year to get to out hotel flashed throughout my mind as he quickley changed lanes in front of us to get into the parking lot.

Upon walking into the hotel i was pleased to see the parrot fish tank, but to emma and my's dismay the fish were not the same as last year, but we kept in the tradition of giving each of the fish names. Starting with the large gold fish that was a good ten inches, we, or rather i chose the name of "Tiny." Next Emma chose the name "Snowflake" to the medium sized black fish with orange spots. The last and smallest fish, which is white with orange spots, we decided to name "Stripes 2" after one of the fish we saw last year.

After tormenting the fish for awhile by putting my finger on the glass and watching them run into the glass trying to eat them we finally got checked into our rooms and unpacked. after a short rest we finally were our way to the session.

~Becky
editor in chief

Abram's thoughts from the plane

I (Abram) am writing from the plane, thousands of miles above what I think is Arizona. I’m on my way to California for Saddleback Church’s Purpose Driven Youth Ministry Student Leadership Conference, held this week from July 10 to July 14, 2007.

Having prayed for this trip and continuing to do so, the next thing to do is to say thank you to everyone who made it possible for our High School students to attend this life-changing conference. Many thanks to those who participated in our Dinner and Silent Auction, paid our students for labor, or gave a donation to help us get here! I’ve been very encouraged with how supportive the entire Truro parish has been of our Youth! Thank you!

Beginning with this post we are attempting to enlist a technology some of you may be familiar with: the Weblog, or blog for short. A blog is a live journal kept on the Internet for others to read. We plan on updating as often as possible—rumor has it that Saddleback’s entire campus is wireless. In fact, if the rooms used for the conference are wireless as well, we will even be able to “live blog”, or blog the conference as it is unfolding and as we are learning in real time. Mine will not be the only voice you hear on this conference this week. This will be a joint effort, and our student leaders will be joining me in the effort, so you’ll be able to hear from them, as well. Check back often!

And, no, this entry wasn’t technically a live blog entry, as the plan we are on is not wireless. But give Jet Blue a few more years and I suspect it will be….

Pax,
Abram

Welcome!

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