"Displace Me" Video

This is the footage we captured at our "Displace Me" event a few weeks ago. I've heard some great stories of things junior highers have been doing to raise awareness and funds for people around the world and also right in their own backyard. Amazing stuff I get to be a part of! I can't wait to host another event...next time in the Texas heat.

Students Blog Too

Not many of the kids I know blog. I guess as adults we're more desperate to diversify the ways we try to get people to notice how cool we are. In any case, I know of at least one of our junior high students that does keep a blog because her small group leader recently emailed me and told me to check out this post.

She wrote about her church. She's in 6th grade. Gotta love it when kids "get it".

Dramatic Times

(click to enlarge) (click here for more photos)

We live in dramatic times. A war continues to rage in East African countries like Uganda and the Congo. This weekend, Watermark Student Ministries hosted a "Displace Me" event for the junior high kids to raise awareness and call for action. Participants were asked to identify with the displaced children of East Africa by simulating just 24 hours of life in their shoes. They were then offered the opportunity to consider how they might act in response.

Below are scriptures that inspired our event and a list of practical ways any person can take action:

James 1:27
Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

Psalm 82:3-4
3 Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. 4 Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.

Isaiah 1:17
Learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.

Philippians 2:3-4
3Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.

Proverbs 31:8-9
8 "Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. 9 Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy."

Invisible Children
www.invisiblechildren.com
Click “Movement”
Click “Bracelet Campaign”
Buy bracelet videos, wear the bracelet, and show them to your friends

Click “Movement”
Click “Schools for Schools”
Start a “Schools for Schools” club at your school, send books & raise money

Click “Movie”
Buy The Film and share with friends and family

Take The Walk
www.takethewalk.net
Organize and Host a Walk at your school
Raise money to help with medical care for children
Raise money to help fund AIDS treatment
Raise money to purchase Tom’s Shoes for kids in need
Raise money for drilling water wells

Tom’s Shoes
www.tomsshoes.com
Click “Buy Online”
Purchase shoes and Tom’s will donate shoes to kids in need

Shoes for Orphan Souls
www.shoesfororphansouls.org
Click “Host a Drive”
Host a shoe drive for orphans in need

Nothing But Nets
www.nothingbutnets.net
Click “Buy A Net” ($10 and Up)
Send a donation to buy a mosquito net for African kids

Compassion International
www.compassion.com
Click on “Search for a Child to Sponsor”
Click on Geographic Region “Africa”
Click on Country “Uganda”
Sponsor and befriend a specific child in need

World Vision
www.worldvision.org
Click "Sponsor a child"
Click "Ways to Give"
Click "Gift Catalog Giving"

Advent Conspiracy
www.adventconspiracy.org
Watch the Video
Click on “Worship Fully, Spend Less, Give More, Love All”
Consider giving and/or receiving at least one less gift this Christmas

A.L.A.R.M (African Leadership And Reconciliation Ministries)
www.alarm-inc.org
Click “About Us”
Learn about the importance of local church leadership in resolving conflict
Consider how you might prepare yourself today to make a difference tomorrow
“Learn to Teach”

Texas & United States Government
www.congress.org
Enter your zip code where it says “Find Your Officials”
Click an official’s name
Click the “Contact” tab and find their address
Mail letters to the President, Governor, Senators, and Representatives
Call for action

Sample Letters:
For Uganda
For the Congo

New York in 3 Days...

I am in New York for the weekend for my brother's college graduation and thought I'd break my recent silence (sorry, it's been a busy season :) and show some pictures of this weekend.  My brother has spent his college days going to The New School in Manhattan, New York.  It is an amazing school that covers any type of the music/arts that you can think of.   It is a very cool school, and my brother will play his graduation recital with a jazz trio (he plays the upright bass) this Sunday.  Very exciting!  Here's some pictures...

  

Dave and I at Historic Rucker Park in Harlem

                                              Holly and I in Central Park

Holly and I in Bryant Park (part of You've Got Mail was filmed here).

                                                               Rockefeller Center

Times Square

Sick Chapman

This is what my son looks like when he has a fever and gets to watch lots of Mickey Mouse Club. I promise I didn't pose him but I was able to get a little grin out of him. Even illness can produce small joys.

My First "Google Alert"

I'm slowly but surely becoming acquainted with "web 2.0". I've got a couple of blogs, , a Flickr account, a Twitter, and a Facebook. Now I've discovered the "Google Alert". It's probably old news but it's pretty cool. Google News will send you an email whenever there is a news story posted about a certain item. What's my alert set for?

"Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience"

Here's the first update it sent me. Can't wait for the trailer.

Snapshot!

Ministry is not about numbers, but healthy things do typically grow. Each year we try to take a numerical snapshot of our ministry to compare where we are to where we've been and then consider where we might be going. Tonight we're sharing the following snapshot with our leaders to encourage, inspire, and challenge them:

Watermark Student Ministries 5 Years of Snapshots
2004-2005
235 Kids in 29 Small Groups with 45 Leaders

2005-2006
286 Kids in 34 Small Groups with 52 Leaders

2006-2007
368 Kids in 41 Small Groups with 66 Leaders

2007-2008
452 Kids in 49 Small Groups with 83 Leaders

2008-2009
514 Kids in 53 Small Groups with 92 Leaders

2008-2009 Junior High Snapshot
292 Kids in 28 Small Groups with 52 Leaders

6th Grade
96 Kids in 8 Small Groups with 12 Leaders

7th Grade
97 Kids in 10 Small Groups with 20 Leaders

8th Grade
99 Kids in 10 Small Groups with 17 Leaders

2008-2009 High School Snapshot
222 Kids in 25 Small Groups with 40 Leaders

9th Grade
68 Kids in 8 Small Groups with 11 Leaders

10th Grade
60 Kids in 7 Small Groups with 14 Leaders

11th Grade
58 Kids in 6 Small Groups with 8 Leaders

12th Grade
36 Kids in 4 Small Groups with 7 Leaders

2008-2009 Former Students Snapshot
College Freshmen
34 Kids from 4 Small Groups with 5 Leaders

College Sophomores
13 Kids from 2 Small Groups with 3 Leaders

College Juniors
17 Kids from 3 Small Groups with 3 Leaders

College Seniors
17 Kids from 3 Groups with 4 Leaders

5 Key Takeaways:

1. Kids are sticking around because of relationships
2. Our influence is multiplying each year
3. If they are following us, we better be following Christ
4. We need more leaders right now and in the future
5. Our impact is spreading to college campuses and beyond

Good Football Teams Watch Film on Saturday Mornings

We meet with our volunteer leaders team about 12 times a year. Typically, this is the season of the semester when volunteers get busy and tired and begin wondering about the importance of our gatherings. We think all of our meetings are a valuable piece of our ministry and consider it important for everyone on our team to be at each one. Here are three reasons we try to communicate with our team about why each meeting is important:

COMMUNITY
We strongly believe that it is important that our team members are continually aware of the fact that we are a part of something that is bigger than ourselves and our individual groups and ministries. Every leader plays a role in supporting the bigger community of our team. It means a lot to us as a staff to have each leaders support in our efforts to continually develop and maintain a strong sense of team.

VALUE & EQUIPPING
We work diligently to plan and be sure that all the things we're talking about at meetings connect and apply to what leaders are doing as they serve students. Our leaders all need to be reminded of the eternal value of our service and the importance of being equipped to grow and improve in our efforts to reach young people for Christ.

COMMITMENT & INTEGRITY
As part of the application, all of our leaders sign a covenant and part of it is committing to be at meetings. We encourage each of our leaders to make meetings a priority as a simple matter of sticking with the commitments they have made. We try to help our leaders succeed at this by scheduling our meetings before each semester begins and making sure everyone has the dates on their calendar and can work out their personal schedules accordingly.

Proud of #63

(Bert, Martha Kate, Blake, & Jena McJunkin)

The following is a quote taken from a US Naval Academy message board concerning their October 25 football match-up against SMU. The young man mentioned in this piece is a former student in our ministry...one I actually had the privilege of meeting one-on-one with weekly for a few years when he was in junior high. I couldn't be more proud of him.

I am a 1983 graduate, father of a current US Naval Academy senior, retired Navy Commander, and Navy football season football ticket holder. I’ve seen a lot of Navy Football. Some of you have certainly seen more.

Today’s game was a good Navy victory. The elements took SMU out of their game. That said, today I observed the most impressive moment by a visiting player of any I have observed in my 29 years of Navy football.

At the end of the game, all the SMU players got of the field very quickly except one. I really can’t blame the SMU players. I sit on the visiting team sideline behind their bench. Those guys were very cold, wet and miserable. All game long, most were hopping up and down trying to stay warm. I am sure that when the game ended and they shook hands, their thoughts were all about getting to the locker room, into the showers under hot water. All except one, player … Blake McJunkin, #63, a freshman offensive lineman. I don’t know if he played a down.

As I stood, at attention singing “Navy Blue and Gold”, I could not help but to notice a lone SMU player standing at attention in the endzone. There was Blake, standing at attention, through the entire singing of the song. At the end of the song, he relaxed, took a look at the entire stadium, a final look at the Navy Team; then ran into his locker room.

What an amazing moment. As a parent of a Navy Midshipman, I pray that my son’s service means something to someone. Today, I saw that it did, in the simple, honorable actions of a young man from Texas.

I plan to write Blake, his coach, and the SMU President. It was an impressive moment.

The Boys Are Back

Every fall we take our Junior High kids and leaders away for a weekend at Pine Cove hoping it will serve as a relational catalyst for our Small Groups. In the past, we've always attended conferences hosted and programmed by Pine Cove. While they've traditionally done a phenomenal job, this year we decided to book out the entire camp and run our own program. While this required a lot more planning and work, it also allowed for more flexibility and a more intense focus on the spiritual needs of our specific kids.

I was reminded again how much relationships matter when it comes to effective ministry. Even if you're not the best speaker in the world, I truly believe that you can teach your kids better than anyone else because you know them. Even if you're not the funniest person in the world, I truly believe that you can entertain your kids better than anyone else because they know you. Overall, the weekend resulted in one of the most powerful Junior High ministry events I've ever been a part of. A huge "Thanks" goes out to all of our leaders for making this possible.

Here's a stupid video we used to communicate camp rules. We tried to bring fun to even the most boring moments of the weekend:


Click the image below for more pictures from our retreat:

Power of Invitation

I received the following note from a mom of a young man whose been in a small group with me for the past 6 years. I've been investing in the same group of guys since they were in sixth grade and now that they are seniors, I'm really get to experience a great return on the investment. This note could be written to anyone who is pouring their lives into others...

The power of invitation is no small thing. The Lord Himself, the quintessential gentleman, issued His first invitation in the garden. At its essence, it was an invitation into relationship – Come into My home, enjoy My Presence, be My guest and enjoy anything, simply everything in My garden…except that one tree. He didn’t put that tree there to tempt us, but to honor us with the “choice” to except or reject His kind invitation. Of course, we blew it. We traded a relationship of love, trust and dependency for the desire to know, control and be independent.

But He gave us a second invitation. Not because we deserve it, but because He loves us and delights in us and still desires relationship. He requested the honor of our presence in His home again, “Behold I stand at the door and knock…If anyone hears My Voice and opens the door, I will come into him and dine with him and he with Me.” This may seem an odd introduction to my letter but it is crucial to the plot. I have now not only seen an “invitation” extended and received from you to my son three times in the last few months, but the breadth and depth of the” power of invitation” has been so profound, I wanted to share this with you.

All three of my kids are on the shy side of life; not your movers and shakers, not your life-of-the-party type or initiators or extroverts but each possesses their own unique gifts. You have loved my son well over the last six years and I am grateful for that but what I seen in the last few months is the power of invitation that “loves us to life”. I pray everyday that God would love my kids to life internally and externally: internally that they know that they know in their innermost being that they are loved and just as important, that externally that God would love them to life through His people. I believe you have been one of His instruments to love my son to life over the past several years and most recently through this power of invitation.

The first invitation came this summer when you asked him to consider going on the Watermark Amazon trip. Of course he knew about the trip and that is the point. By you coming up to him and personally say “Hey, they could use somebody like you”, you loved him to life.” You gave him a vote of confidence that called him out of the shadows of his insecurity and into the light of both God’s love and your love for him. Think about how many bible studies, programs or trips you hear about and the power or draw it has when someone personally comes up to you and says, “I would love for you to think about coming.”

The second invitation occurred when you asked him to talk at your new leaders meeting and then you wrote such an encouraging thank you note (I saw it on the couch). Once again, you used your gift as an extrovert leader with a heart for kids to unleash my son's gifts of discernment, wisdom, and quiet leadership. Too often I have seen leaders in ministry recruit the extroverts, clowns and studs even though the quiet leaders have every bit as much to offer. Sadly, all too often, the Darwinian influence (promotion of the strongest) is just as prevalent in our Christian arenas as in the world.

The third invitation was just last week when you asked him to speak at your leader’s meeting. He would just about do anything for you. What you have done for my son is not only praise worthy but something I hope you are teaching and sharing with others. Anyone can identify an extrovert from an introvert or an initiator from a responder but a leader in the world’s eye from a leader in God’s eye is quite another thing. My life verse for my son is “that he would continue to “increase in wisdom and stature and find favor before God and man.” You are part of the answer to that prayer. I believe you have seen the wit and wisdom of my son and I am so grateful for you.

Thanks for inviting him to step out of the workshop and into the showcase. You are loving him to life and we are cheering both of you on. By the way, God extends this power of invitation daily on a two-sided coin: one that says “Come…Come to Me all who are weary and heavy-laden” and the other side that says “Go…Go Make disciples of men.” This is very much what I see you doing for our youth. You issue the power of invitation to “come” and you are truly making disciples that can then “go”… and issue the same power of invitation to others.

Planning Pine Cove

The kind of magic captured in the above video doesn't just happen. It takes LOTS of careful planning and execution. Click HERE for an idea of what we've been thinking about and working on for our upcoming Junior High Pine Cove Retreat.

Wake Review for 10/5/08

Wake is our weekly meeting for Junior High students at Watermark. We meet on Sunday mornings at 11:00am on the 4th floor of the Watermark Tower. Here is my assessment of this week's Wake.

Program Outline
Attendance: Average
Fun Factor: Average
Leader Presence: Above Average
Music: Above Average
Message: Above Average

Random Thoughts:
What a fun week! Bode was back and we introduced two new "emcees" to the mix, Ali & Haley Gatewood. Their college freshmen at SMU and their twins. We had a lot of fun with the girls vs. guys theme and we'll continue to play on that throughout the semester. Our newly organized worship team of adults and students is really starting to take off. Mike Shelton, our High School Director, is doing a 3-part series for us called "Word Up" aiming to raise the value of the scriptures in the lives of our kids. If you're interested, you can click here to find a discussion guides that leaders use in their small groups throughout the week.

Review of Hideaway Weekend

This past weekend we took 3 bus loads of kids and leaders to Pine Cove Camps in Tyler, Texas. We took about 40 more students than we did last year, and seemed to have kids all across the spiritual spectrum. It was a great weekend for our students and leaders. Here's how I would rank the following areas...
Attendance: Above Average (even with tons of scheduling conflicts)
Leader Presence: Above Average: we have some amazing new leaders that are bringing some great new energy to our high school ministry.
Fun Factor: Above Average: David (from this blog) came along and did some really funny skits with Bode. They are hilarious together.
Music for the weekend: Above Average-Patrick Ryan Clark led worship with two students playing electric and bass, and a leader playing the drums. It was great!
Messages: our kids liked them a lot more than our leaders.
Organizational Piece: With a growing number of students going on these big events, I've got some ground to take organizationally for us to be able to look back and see no holes in the weekend as far as the administrative part. We've taken some steps to correct that next fall for our high school retreat.
I've posted a couple pictures here for you to see, but to see a full slideshow of the weekend click here.

Wake Review for 9/28/08

Wake is our weekly meeting for Junior High students at Watermark. We meet on Sunday mornings at 11:00am on the 4th floor of the Watermark Tower. Here is my assessment of this week's Wake.

Program Outline
Attendance: Below Average
Fun Factor: Below Average
Leader Presence: Average
Music: Average
Message: Average

Admittedly, we "phoned it in" this week. Will Washington and Bode were both out of town and I had returned after midnight the night before from helping out with the high school "Hideaway" retreat. Braun came and brought some laughs but, because I was dragging, everything felt a little slower than usual. If you're interested, you can click here to find a discussion guides that leaders use in their small groups throughout the week.

Wake Review for 9/21/08

Wake is our weekly meeting for Junior High students at Watermark. We meet on Sunday mornings at 11:00am on the 4th floor of the Watermark Tower. Here is my assessment of this week's Wake.

Program Outline
Attendance: Average
Fun Factor: Average
Leader Presence: Average
Music: Average
Message: Average

This week brought, in my opinion, the return to average. Everything felt like we were getting into a routine. There were some standout moments but overall, nothing too impressive.

The one thing of interest was the fact that we have consistently been welcoming 10+ first time guests each week. A fun thing we have for our guests is the "Guest Suite" (a couch and comfy chair set up with a coffee table and accessorized with Red Bulls, candy, and other freebies). We randomly select two guests each week to enjoy the suite and all it's amenities. This week, we decided to give guests the opportunity to "win" the guest suite and so we just said, "If you're a first time guest and you feel comfortable, come up on stage and whoever can impress us the most will win." It turned into 20 minutes of hilarity and ended with a kid doing non-stop backflips while another kid sang Silent Night with her eyes shut.

The crowd went wild and we spent so much time goofing off with the guests that we had to scrap our game.

Music was okay but we had some no-shows that put us in a pinch. My message had a great concept and challenge but lacked in solid content and effective delivery. If you're interested, you can click here to find a discussion guides that leaders use in their small groups throughout the week.



P.S. We showed the following video towards the top of our program just for laughs...

Today was sad.

Today was tough.  This morning someone came into my office and told me a student at one of our schools that we pull a lot of kids from committed suicide last night.  I was shocked, and soon after that got a call from this incredible mom who told me her son was pretty close with the boy who died.  Her son and I had been meeting for the last 4 weeks or so, and today just happened to be the day he was coming in.  She said he'd come see me at 4:00, and was pretty worried about her son and how he would react.  

Then I went to lunch with an old friend from college, who told me his pastor just resigned from his church because he was having an affair with someone outside the church.  Sad.  

During lunch I felt my phone vibrate, and checked my voicemail when I got back to my office.  A good friend of mine left me a 2 minute voicemail asking me to pray because he was going to tell his wife that afternoon that he'd been unfaithful to her.  So sad. This is a dear friend of mine. I had no idea it was going on, and was completely shocked. 

Then, my student comes by at 4:00, we talk for an hour, pray, and he feels completely numb. I'm praying for him like crazy. I ran home and grabbed a granola bar, and headed to a prayer meeting for the student that passed away.  There were about 400 high school students there.  2 of our student ministry volunteers pulled into the parking lot at the same time I did, hugged their small group guys, told them they were so sorry for losing their friend, and loved on them for about an hour and a half.  The highlight of my day was seeing 2 committed volunteers love students well.  These 2 guys have invested 5 years in the boys that are in their small group.  I thanked them for being so faithful, and headed home.     

Wake Reviews 8/31 - 9/14

Wake is our weekly meeting for Junior High students at Watermark. We meet on Sunday mornings at 11:00am on the 4th floor of the Watermark Tower. Here is my assessment of the past 3 weeks of Wake.

8/31 Program Outline
9/7 Program Outline
9/14 Program Outline
Attendance: Way Above Average
Fun Factor: Above Average
Leader Presence: Above Average
Music: Above Average
Message: Above Average

I have loved my job these past three weeks! We've had tons of kids, tons of leaders, tons of energy, and tons of fun. Bode and Will Washington (a High Schooler who is interning with us) have brought the funny each week and made everyone laugh. We continued the "This is Real" series about identity and I think it really hit home with several of the kids. If you're interested, you can click here to find a discussion guides that leaders use in their small groups throughout the week.

Also, this past week saw the introduction of Joey Quinones to our volunteer program team. Joey is an experienced worship leader and he has done a great job building a team of adults and students to lead music at Wake. I expect that we will take a lot of new ground in that area and I am excited for what our students will experience.

Stand Up For Your Legal Rights

I hope this blog doesn't turn into the bad Christian video blog, but if I keep getting stuff like this sent to me...



Thanks Julie!

He'll Zap You

Watch this video and you'll understand why I'm having such a hard time deciding which member of Sonseed is my favorite.



P.S. Thanks to Todd Wagner for forwarding me this video.

Rats in the Attic

We found a second one in a trap today. I think we've got all the potential entry points covered and we have 5 more traps set in the attic in case there are more. This has been a horrific experience. Hard to sleep knowing that you have these things in your ceiling.

Thanks to Russ, Bode, and Saleem for the having the courage to enter the rat-infested attic on their Labor Day weekend.

Rebellious

Our kids love Lecrae and so do I...Click Here to Pre-Order Lecrae's New Album "Rebel" for yourself and your group! Releases 9/30/08.

Pray for Vintage Church!

This past Sunday my wife and I visited Vintage Church while we were home in Lawrence, Kansas. Put simply, it's amazing.  Vintage is a church start in Lawrence, and they rent out the Lawrence Arts Center on Tuesday nights.  The theater there seats about 300 people, and it was almost completely full.  God is on the move at Vintage Church, and it was evidenced in a few different ways.  

The first thing that stuck out to me was a third of the people there were high school students. Growing up in Lawrence (a pretty cool, yet crazy college town), I've never seen 100 high school students gather to worship Jesus like I saw on Sunday.  I couldn't help but just keep looking at the students, who had a real hunger for God and you could totally see it in the way they worshipped during the music, and the way they listened during the message.  

Second, Vintage's leadership is legit.  John Flynn leads worship and is in charge of community groups.  He is amazing at the guitar, and used to play with Waterdeep.  His wife sings with him, and the rest of the band does a great job of reflecting the art and culture of Lawrence.  Since it was Labor Day weekend, I thought the Lead Pastor may be out of town, and he was.  So Brian Timmer spoke, he's a seminary student in Kansas City who helps out at Vintage and he knocked it out of the park.  Imagine a younger Rob Bell that likes to carry his notes around.  He was very cool to listen to, and did a great job of communicating God's truth.  

Lastly, as young as the church is, they already seem to be experiencing incredible, new testament church kind of community.  I hung around for a while afterwards just kind of watching, and people just kept lingering, talking, and then went to get coffee after hanging around for 30-40 minutes.  Pretty cool.  

Pray for Vintage Church.  Lawrence has needed a church like this for a long time.  

Ellie made the front page of the Newspaper!!!

This weekend we are back in my hometown of Lawrence, Kansas. Yesterday we headed over to Baldwin, Kansas and took a family trip on a 1923 train. It was very cool. Half way through the trip I had noticed a man taking Ellie's picture. Now I know why, she was on the front page of the Lawrence Journal World this morning with her grandpa!!! You can view the picture and read a blurb about my dad here. It only took 3 years, and she's already making a name for herself in Jayhawk Country.

Breaking Free

This is my son. He turns 1 on August 30th and he just (sort of) began enjoying life on two feet. He's so proud and so are we!