CHIC

Next week my wife and I will be going with our students to a nationwide conference called CHIC which stands for Covenant High In Christ. I went as a student in 1997 and it changed my life... This time I am going as a counselor and as a worship leader. It is an amazing time for our students and I cannot wait to be a part of something this big. We will be leaving Saturday July 15th and coming home Friday July 21st. If you want to learn more about CHIC go to www.noordinaryday.org Please pray for our students and counselors.

The head-butt heard around the world

One of my favorite players in this year's World Cup Zinedine Zidane lead his team on an amazing run to the finals. Zidane is often seen a as calm and cool guy who can deliver the ball to anyone at any time. During the last minutes of the final game of his career he lost his cool and stunned a nation. He retaliated to a Marco Materazzi comment and head-butted him in the chest. A shocking moment for French fans and Zidane fans around the world. Zidane does have a temper that flares up at times but nothing like this. Even though I am half Italian I was pulling for France because Zidane and his heady play. (no pun intended) He seemed to own the field in the games against Spain, Brazil, and Portugal. He made the plays when he had to however he took himself out of the most important game.

My Space

Not long ago I set up a page on myspace(http://www.myspace.com/ptads) to communicate with friends and students. It was interesting to see the amount of information that young people display on myspace. I have decided to use myspace to minister to young people and to challenge both myself and them to live a life of purity on-line. I am in the mist of praying about how to go about ministering effectively on-line because I strongly believe it is possible with the Lord's help. There are many avenues of communication in our culture and it seems that as youth leaders we fall short and decide not to use them. Some have not keep up with the times and others simply do not have the time. Our young people bear all on the internet as a cry for help and a cry for attention. Who will answer their cry? Who will fill the void they seek? I have outlined my approach in ministering to young people on-line.
1. Observe: Observe their pages for a given amount of time, read and study to get an idea of their struggles and their on-line lingo. You will quickly find out what they are interested. Notice I did not say stalk them.
2. Outside: Be involved in their lives outside of the internet even if they are a completely different person on-line. You will run into this a lot... The on-line world is separate world from the real world in most students minds.
3. Approach: Approach with care on-line, remember it is their world and your coming into it, they may get a little offended. But they will not if you are cool about it.
4. Same Rules: The same rules apply on-line, girl's minister to girls, guys minister to guys. It will be tempting to not follow this rule because there are not a lot of on-line ministers currently. Matter a fact I am the only one I know that is trying to do it.
5. Openness: They will be more open on-line then in person so be ready to minister.
6. Time: Do not spend hours and hours on the internet because it can easily become a trap. On-line ministry is tough because you are going into the Lions den. There are plenty of places on the internet to get in trouble. Limit your time on-line.
Lastly before you sign on the internet pray. Pray that you not only would be able to find out more about your students but that God would use you to minister on-line. Stay accountable to a close friend about your on-line activity and email the sites that you visited to a friend. Live a life of purity on-line!
more to come...

Over-rated

For many years I have been interested in the NBA draft. I've decided this year that the draft is overrated. The only good thing was that David Sternmade a rule that you have to be over 19 years of age to enter the draft. So because of that rule we didn't see any high school boys walking across the big stage the other night. They will have to go to college for a few years and then walk across the big stage and earn millions. Maybe then they can pay off their college loans if they have any, I feel real bad for them. I'm a little miffed that G-Mac didn't get drafted, I mean I would have picked him in the top five at least... did anyone watch the Big East Tournament this year? Who wouldn't want another undersized guard who can shoot, isn't the NBA full of those guys? And what’s up with Kevin Pittsnogle not getting drafted? There are a lot of quality players that were left out of the draft this year who will either sign up for free agency or the WNBA. Why is it that some guy from Italy gets picked number one? Maybe I should move to a foreign country and play basketball for a little while and enter the draft. Then I can get to the NBA and be the next huge embarrassing failure like this guy is going to. Sorry that was a little harsh. But really what are the chances that this guy is going to be any good at all? It ain't gonna happen. I don't see the big deal with guys like LaMarcus Aldridge and Tyrus Thomas... why do they get to go ahead of Adam Morrison and Randy Foye. The whole thing is confusing to me; there is no method to the guys who are picking these players. Adam Morrison at least has a chance to be a star... a lot of the time they pick players because they have potential. Tell me something should a league that fires their coaches after one season for not performing be picking a player for his potential? If they want instant results why not pick a player that is more refined like Morrison, Foye or G-Mac?