Small groups are now underway at The Hype, and we are all excited to get rolling! If you haven't gotten into a small group yet, or aren't sure what the big deal with small groups is, come on out on Wednesdays and find out!
With that in mind, and with God pulling on my heart, I've been really thinking quite a bit lately about emotion and how we deal with it. I sat in on a Sunday School class where we discussed emotionally stressful times, and of course the one recurring theme we have when we face obstacles or problems we think we can't overcome: "Why is this happening to me God?"
We can find all through Scripture that God has a plan for us, we just can't see the full scope of it. Also we know James chapter 1 says "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness."
As comforting as it is to know the Lord is in control, it can still feel like God is just piling on tragedy after tragedy and there's no plan behind it other than to make you feel awful.
Looking through the Bible, we see all sorts of people who truly suffered through tragedy. Job was put through all sorts of trials. David succumbed to temptation. And ultimately, Jesus was beaten, mocked, and gruesomely killed on a cross.
If you look at the reactions of these three men, a pattern is clearly seen. Job cried out to God asking why all the things were happening to him. David wrote an entire book of Psalms in worship of God. Even Jesus cried out on the cross "Father, why have you forsaken me?"
All three of them cried out to God with raw emotion. They didn't spare anything, worry about what they said, or make sure they had their manners. They cried out with what was on the hearts.
As we get more comfortable in our small groups, I'd like to challenge everyone, not just the students but adult leaders as well, to express that raw emotion that is found all throughout the Bible. God has granted us our emotions, not to bottle them away, but to express them. In joy we should be excited to praise and worship, and through tough times we should be able to ask God why.
-Mike Meade
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Parents Meeting
Parents only!
We are having an informational meeting on Sunday September 13th, this will be at 6pm and will be done at 7:30pm. We are going to share with you why the Hype is moving and the purpose behind our ministry. We would love to have you there. Thanks!
Ernie and Rory
Illinois Christian Teen Convention (ICTC)
Sr. High students and parents
They will have times where students get to help pack clothes/food and build walls that are going to all be sent into the mission field. Not to mention worship music from Kristian Stanfill
and speaker Jason Epperson who is a director over youth from Champaign IL.
We are excited about this fall trip but money is due by September 30th.
The cost is only $50 and if that is hard to pull by Sept. 30 talk to Rory or Ernie.
ICTC is November 20-21st. We leave that Friday 20th at 4pm. Return Saturday the 21st at 10pm.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Love and Knowlege
I recently finished a four week sermon series on the book of Hosea at NHCC. I found that not too many people know much about the book of Hosea, probably because it is the first of the Minor Prophets and no one really likes reading those books all that much (honestly, how many of us can say we love reading books like Nahum or Obadiah?). As I spent time reading over and over the message of Hosea, it dawned on me once again that the message God spoke through His prophet is still SO relevant to us in today's culture.
In the book of Hosea, God speaks of coming judgment upon the nation of Israel because they continually turned away from Him. Israel had time and time again turned to false deities and idols in order to find protection and provision, instead of looking to the one true God who had led them out of Egypt! So throughout the prophecy, God warns of impending judgment on the nation of Israel because of their unfaithfulness and unrighteousness. Israel found themselves in a terrible spot.
Throughout the entire book of Hosea, there is one verse that constantly stands out to me. Chapter 6, verse 6 says, "For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowlege of God rather than burnt offerings."
Here's the scary thing: The two things that God desires from us are two of the things that we often hate to do!
1. Love God. Not only are we called to love God, but to do it in a steadfast manner. Two verses earlier, God said that Israel's love was like the morning mist, that it simply vanishes. When God calls us to a steadfast love, this means that it is something that will remain, even through the difficult times. It's easy to say that we love all the time, but love implies obedience. If I say I love someone, then it means that I will show obedience and willingly do what they need. Though God doesn't need anything from us, we show our love to Him through obedience. This is where we often stray. Ever find it difficult to live a life of obedience to God? I know I do.
2. If love through obedience is difficult, the second half of the command might be even harder! God requires us to "know" Him. This is a difficult task because it requires a few steps. First of all this means that we need to know about God, which comes from some pretty serious study of Scripture. However, this also means that we must communicate with Him through prayer. Some people love to study Scripture yet hate prayer, while others might be the exact opposite. Rarely do you find someone who thoroughly enjoys both steps of getting to know God
May we as a youth group strive to both LOVE God and KNOW Him as well! This is Rory and my aim, that we can equip you so that you can develop a personal relationship with Him that involves both your knowlege as well as your steadfast love!
In the book of Hosea, God speaks of coming judgment upon the nation of Israel because they continually turned away from Him. Israel had time and time again turned to false deities and idols in order to find protection and provision, instead of looking to the one true God who had led them out of Egypt! So throughout the prophecy, God warns of impending judgment on the nation of Israel because of their unfaithfulness and unrighteousness. Israel found themselves in a terrible spot.
Throughout the entire book of Hosea, there is one verse that constantly stands out to me. Chapter 6, verse 6 says, "For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowlege of God rather than burnt offerings."
Here's the scary thing: The two things that God desires from us are two of the things that we often hate to do!
1. Love God. Not only are we called to love God, but to do it in a steadfast manner. Two verses earlier, God said that Israel's love was like the morning mist, that it simply vanishes. When God calls us to a steadfast love, this means that it is something that will remain, even through the difficult times. It's easy to say that we love all the time, but love implies obedience. If I say I love someone, then it means that I will show obedience and willingly do what they need. Though God doesn't need anything from us, we show our love to Him through obedience. This is where we often stray. Ever find it difficult to live a life of obedience to God? I know I do.
2. If love through obedience is difficult, the second half of the command might be even harder! God requires us to "know" Him. This is a difficult task because it requires a few steps. First of all this means that we need to know about God, which comes from some pretty serious study of Scripture. However, this also means that we must communicate with Him through prayer. Some people love to study Scripture yet hate prayer, while others might be the exact opposite. Rarely do you find someone who thoroughly enjoys both steps of getting to know God
May we as a youth group strive to both LOVE God and KNOW Him as well! This is Rory and my aim, that we can equip you so that you can develop a personal relationship with Him that involves both your knowlege as well as your steadfast love!
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Where is the challenge?
If you have not seen the trailers they have taken a classic child's book and turned it into a movie. Nothing special about that, right? It seems like they take children's books all the time to make movies, "James and the Giant Peach", "Chronicles of Narnia", "Princess Diaries", and of course the Harry Potter series. Some books have been brought alive by movies, some have done an injustice to the book. The movie that is coming out soon rivals the idea to make "Polar Express" into a full length motion picture. The have taken the book, "Where the Wild Things Are" and turned it into a movie. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NOkQ4dYVaM check the link out if you have not seen the trailer. If you have never seen the classic story, it is about 20 pages and the story shows a young boy who is sent to his room only to get carried away by his imagination of taking a forever long voyage to an island where the wild things are. The wild things are a bunch of crazy monsters and this child is wilder than even them. He is so much more wild that the monsters make him king and they have fun, only for him to leave and go back home, to reality to have supper.
Why do I mention this? Well where has the imagination and creativity gone? It seems like we have given our youth too little of a challenge of creating their own imagination. The details of movies, video games, and in so many other areas makes it almost uneccessary to imagine the pictures that are drawn out in writing. The whole story of "Where the Wild Things Are" is about the boy and his imagination, and yet they have made it into a movie so kids no longer need to picture the wonderful island for themselves, or think of the wild things, or picture what they were doing.
I have also seen this have its effect on students faith. When they are challenged with a doubt, or a theological question that they do not have an answer for, they come to me for an answer or the just chalk up an old Sunday School answer to it. Students are expecting to be spoon fed the answers that they think will easily answer the questions or doubts in their head. This is contrary to how it suppose to happen.
God calls us to love him with everything, including our minds and so often students, as well as adults have tried to find their answers in things outside of God. Just how they have come to expect in our culture to be void of using their minds, the challenge of creativity, they have started to do the same with God. The Hype has been working hard to show the students the importance of turning to God in prayer and scripture to find the answers to their questions, strength through their doubt. This is going to be a challenge we continue on to our students.
Friday, April 17, 2009
Reporting from CIY Believe
Hey everyone,
Well it has been a few weeks since we last posted and I cannot fall asleep for the life of me, so I figured I might as well write a blog post! Not too much going on right now, but it is officially 2:10 AM and we are at the hotel and I think it is nearly impossible to sleep in this hotel room. It's too warm, it's noisy, I don't do well sharing a bed, and Ty-Ty and I noticed that the bed is "lumpy". Thus, I came outside the room, where there is actually some lawn furniture, and sat down and did a little reading. Then Matt and Tyler came out and I was reminded that I am a very bad youth pastor because I let them hang out with me for about 20 minutes, but don't tell Rory, he's sleeping. Aaaand a drunk guy just stopped by to ask me where the vending machines are. This night is getting better and better.
Well, here are a few thoughts to keep ya entertained for the next couple minutes:
1. Believe is amazing. This is my first time going and everything is just better than I could have imagined. Whether it's the music, videos, teaching, stunts or illusions, everything has been done to perfection and CIY is just doing an incredible job at focusing on the jr. high age group. This is what I want to learn in ministry. How do I really zone in on all the different age groups in youth and children's ministry? How does the ministry differ from group to group? Tough questions to answer at times.
2. The speaker last night (Friday) definitely told a story about his 2 year old eating his own feces in the bathtub. It was a difficult story to hear...
3. It is official, Rory's stomach has no bottom when he is eating. I have seen it at Lambert's, I-Hop, and now at Taco Bell. And when he is full, he still likes to talk about how good food sounds, which is odd to me!
4. I have been re-reading Searching for God Knows What by Donald Miller and I just really have to recommend it to all readers. If you have read Blue Like Jazz and it left a bad taste in your mouth for Donald Miller, check out this book instead. I gotta say that I don't agree with everything he writes, but this book really shows that Miller is looking for a way to express Christ to those who need to see Christ as He really was. SFGKW aims to show people why humanity is the way it is and what it means for God to become man in order to redeem us. It's an incredible read.
Alrighty, that's all I am really thinking about right now. I try not to think too hard about a lot of things out of fear that my head really might explode. It is now 3 AM and I am still not the least bit tired. I sure do hope that all of you are having a great weekend I will see you all soon!
-Ernie
Well it has been a few weeks since we last posted and I cannot fall asleep for the life of me, so I figured I might as well write a blog post! Not too much going on right now, but it is officially 2:10 AM and we are at the hotel and I think it is nearly impossible to sleep in this hotel room. It's too warm, it's noisy, I don't do well sharing a bed, and Ty-Ty and I noticed that the bed is "lumpy". Thus, I came outside the room, where there is actually some lawn furniture, and sat down and did a little reading. Then Matt and Tyler came out and I was reminded that I am a very bad youth pastor because I let them hang out with me for about 20 minutes, but don't tell Rory, he's sleeping. Aaaand a drunk guy just stopped by to ask me where the vending machines are. This night is getting better and better.
Well, here are a few thoughts to keep ya entertained for the next couple minutes:
1. Believe is amazing. This is my first time going and everything is just better than I could have imagined. Whether it's the music, videos, teaching, stunts or illusions, everything has been done to perfection and CIY is just doing an incredible job at focusing on the jr. high age group. This is what I want to learn in ministry. How do I really zone in on all the different age groups in youth and children's ministry? How does the ministry differ from group to group? Tough questions to answer at times.
2. The speaker last night (Friday) definitely told a story about his 2 year old eating his own feces in the bathtub. It was a difficult story to hear...
3. It is official, Rory's stomach has no bottom when he is eating. I have seen it at Lambert's, I-Hop, and now at Taco Bell. And when he is full, he still likes to talk about how good food sounds, which is odd to me!
4. I have been re-reading Searching for God Knows What by Donald Miller and I just really have to recommend it to all readers. If you have read Blue Like Jazz and it left a bad taste in your mouth for Donald Miller, check out this book instead. I gotta say that I don't agree with everything he writes, but this book really shows that Miller is looking for a way to express Christ to those who need to see Christ as He really was. SFGKW aims to show people why humanity is the way it is and what it means for God to become man in order to redeem us. It's an incredible read.
Alrighty, that's all I am really thinking about right now. I try not to think too hard about a lot of things out of fear that my head really might explode. It is now 3 AM and I am still not the least bit tired. I sure do hope that all of you are having a great weekend I will see you all soon!
-Ernie
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Entitlement
Over the past couple of months, I have been thinking a whole lot about how we always tend to think that we have certain entitlements in life. Whether we're talking about money, gifts, food, or even how people treat us, we tend to think that we deserve something. When it comes to Christmas, there have been times where I think I deserve the gifts that I receive and if I don't get enough, then I believe that I should have gotten more. Or when I have been in relationships in the past, I think that there is a certain way that a girl needs to treat me if she wants the relationship to continue. I know...that sounds absolutely horrible, and a lot of you are thinking, "Poor Ali!" but I assure you, I think I have gotten a lot better as of late.
But think of it this way. What would be your thought if your parents didn't get you a birthday present this year? How would you feel if your boyfriend or girlfriend didn't get you anything for Valentine's Day this year? I think it's easy to get drawn into the mentality of, "Hey, I deserve something here!" However, the more I read through the Bible, it becomes more evident to me that we really aren't all that deserving of that much of anything. In fact, the general idea in the Bible is that when good things happen to us, it's pretty much only by the grace of God.
What this means is that we need a change in perspective, one in which we understand that there is a lot more out there than our wants and desires. Don't hear me say that we should never have desires, I don't believe that at all. But I do believe that none of us are really entitled to anything in this world. Instead of thinking about what we deserve, whether it's with our friends, family, significant others or even strangers, let's begin to think about how we can better serve and give ourselves to others instead. I think this is the attitude that Christ had and it's one that we should adopt in our own lives. Think of what our youth group would look like if we decided to serve others with everything that we have!
-Ernie
But think of it this way. What would be your thought if your parents didn't get you a birthday present this year? How would you feel if your boyfriend or girlfriend didn't get you anything for Valentine's Day this year? I think it's easy to get drawn into the mentality of, "Hey, I deserve something here!" However, the more I read through the Bible, it becomes more evident to me that we really aren't all that deserving of that much of anything. In fact, the general idea in the Bible is that when good things happen to us, it's pretty much only by the grace of God.
What this means is that we need a change in perspective, one in which we understand that there is a lot more out there than our wants and desires. Don't hear me say that we should never have desires, I don't believe that at all. But I do believe that none of us are really entitled to anything in this world. Instead of thinking about what we deserve, whether it's with our friends, family, significant others or even strangers, let's begin to think about how we can better serve and give ourselves to others instead. I think this is the attitude that Christ had and it's one that we should adopt in our own lives. Think of what our youth group would look like if we decided to serve others with everything that we have!
-Ernie
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Sometimes even a big fish doesn't help
We have been looking at the story of Jonah over the last four weeks at Hype. We have been sharing with the students the same challenges that Jonah himself faced. We talked to them about how hard it is at times to show people God's love when you do not like them. To truly love your enemies as Jesus had commanded us (Matthew 5:44). We showed them how we truly need to continue to be in prayer with God, not just when things go bad, like we see with Jonah in chapter 2. We talked about how important it is to have repentance over our sins as the people of Ninevah. I think about most of our lives and i imagine there are many times we see ourselves very much like Jonah.
The hardest part about the story of Jonah is after he corrected himself before God and goes to preach to his enemies. They are repentant and God spares them from their judgment, yet Jonah is displeased. Here is a moment where he was used by God to change forever the people of Ninevah and yet Jonah hated that they received God's grace. These are the words out of his own mouth, "I knew that you are a graciious and compassionate God, solow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity" and he goes on to say, "Now O LORD take away my life for it is better forme to die than to live.
He would much rather be dead than to see God giving the same love and Grace he had just shown Jonah to people that Jonah hated. How many times are we this way? We love to say we are Christians. We love to boast how long we have followed Christ. We love knowing that God has saved us and has forgiven us, yet we never share this with anybody. We are more concerned about our interest when we go to church or a youth gathering. We are more interested in seeing what God has in store for us instead of how he can use us to change his world.
The Hype does not want to see that from our students. We have designed this ministry so that in the long run as our students come into this ministry and grow through this ministry they understand fully what God has asked them to do, Love Him and Love people (Mark 12) and to tell the World (Matt. 28) so they can make a difference in God's kingdom.
The hardest part about the story of Jonah is after he corrected himself before God and goes to preach to his enemies. They are repentant and God spares them from their judgment, yet Jonah is displeased. Here is a moment where he was used by God to change forever the people of Ninevah and yet Jonah hated that they received God's grace. These are the words out of his own mouth, "I knew that you are a graciious and compassionate God, solow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity" and he goes on to say, "Now O LORD take away my life for it is better forme to die than to live.
He would much rather be dead than to see God giving the same love and Grace he had just shown Jonah to people that Jonah hated. How many times are we this way? We love to say we are Christians. We love to boast how long we have followed Christ. We love knowing that God has saved us and has forgiven us, yet we never share this with anybody. We are more concerned about our interest when we go to church or a youth gathering. We are more interested in seeing what God has in store for us instead of how he can use us to change his world.
The Hype does not want to see that from our students. We have designed this ministry so that in the long run as our students come into this ministry and grow through this ministry they understand fully what God has asked them to do, Love Him and Love people (Mark 12) and to tell the World (Matt. 28) so they can make a difference in God's kingdom.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Rain or Shine
"For it is God's love that warms me in the sun and God's love that sends the cold rain. It is God's love that feeds me in the bread I eat and God that feeds me also by hunger and fasting. It is the love of God that sends the winter days when I am cold and sick, and the hot summer when I labor and my clothes are full of sweat: but it is God who breathes on me with the light winds off the river and in the breezes out of the wood...It is God's love that speaks to me in the birds and streams; but also behind the clamor of the city God speaks to me in His Judgments, and all these things are seeds sent to me from His will." -New Seeds of Contemplation by Thomas Merton
Sometimes I find that it's really difficult to find God working in our lives when everything seems to be going wrong. Yet on the other end of the spectrum, we tend not to find God working in our lives when everything seems to be going right either. When we are facing hardships, we think to ourselves, "How can God really be present in my life, allowing all of this to happen to me?" Yet when things are going well, we think to ourselves, "Look at how well everything is going for me, I sure am doing a great job!" So it seems that the times when we really look to praise and worship God is only when everything is going exactly as planned, routine, not better or worse.
However, our entire lives should be fixed on God's glory. This means that we praise Him when life is better than we could have ever expected and we praise Him when nothing seems to be going the way we'd like. We must always be aware that God is in control of everything in our lives, whether it is the rain or the shine. Worship God with your life no matter where you are, what you're doing, or who you are with.
-Ernie
"Even when the rain falls,
Even when the flood starts rising,
Even when the storm comes,
I am washed by the water."
-Washed by the Water by Needtobreathe
Sometimes I find that it's really difficult to find God working in our lives when everything seems to be going wrong. Yet on the other end of the spectrum, we tend not to find God working in our lives when everything seems to be going right either. When we are facing hardships, we think to ourselves, "How can God really be present in my life, allowing all of this to happen to me?" Yet when things are going well, we think to ourselves, "Look at how well everything is going for me, I sure am doing a great job!" So it seems that the times when we really look to praise and worship God is only when everything is going exactly as planned, routine, not better or worse.
However, our entire lives should be fixed on God's glory. This means that we praise Him when life is better than we could have ever expected and we praise Him when nothing seems to be going the way we'd like. We must always be aware that God is in control of everything in our lives, whether it is the rain or the shine. Worship God with your life no matter where you are, what you're doing, or who you are with.
-Ernie
"Even when the rain falls,
Even when the flood starts rising,
Even when the storm comes,
I am washed by the water."
-Washed by the Water by Needtobreathe
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Welcome
Hey everyone,
Rory and Ernie here. Just wanted to let you know that we have this new blog up and running. This is an opportunity for us to share some of the thoughts that we are having throughout the week as well as update you about upcoming events. We hope that this will be a resource for you as well as your parents to come and see what is going on inside our heads as well as inside of our ministry. We hope to update this blog at least once a week and that you will feel free to post comments and questions. Let us know what you're thinking as you read through our posts. Thanks for visiting and we will see all of you soon!
-Rory and Ernie
Rory and Ernie here. Just wanted to let you know that we have this new blog up and running. This is an opportunity for us to share some of the thoughts that we are having throughout the week as well as update you about upcoming events. We hope that this will be a resource for you as well as your parents to come and see what is going on inside our heads as well as inside of our ministry. We hope to update this blog at least once a week and that you will feel free to post comments and questions. Let us know what you're thinking as you read through our posts. Thanks for visiting and we will see all of you soon!
-Rory and Ernie
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