Gatlinburg Winterfest 2015 Update

Students - PLEASE make sure your parents have joined the Remind text update with the info I sent you. Also - please make sure they read this post.


Hello parents

As you know, safety is our primary concern for this weekend. We have no interest in putting our students and leaders in danger.

We have been watching very closely the conditions/forecasts both here and in Gatlinburg. I have also been in communication with Winterfest leadership as well as the local rental company supplying our lodging. We feel we have enough information to make a judgment call now, but we reserve the right to adjust our plans based on the weather.

Some roads in Gatlinburg are horrible, but the main roads and the roads to our cabins are totally clear. We believe getting from our lodging to the conference center will not be problematic for us at all.

The forecast on Friday predicts snow beginning here around 1:00 PM and snow/wintry mix in Gatlinburg beginning around 8:00.

We believe leaving at 9am on Friday instead of noon will allow us to keep ahead of bad weather and get to the cabins well before any dangerous conditions impact traveling safely. We are not scheduled to leave the cabin until after lunch on Saturday, and warmer temperatures/rain are predicted for that time. If the roads are bad, we will stay in our cabins. This means we may miss parts of the conference, but we feel it is the safest approach for the weekend.

We will be taking extra food with us just in case we do need to say in the cabins, but we do not expect to need it. We just want to be extra cautious.

It will be a good idea for your students to pack a blanket with them just in case we lose power while we are there so they can bundle up to stay warm. Again, we don't expect that...we just want to be cautious.

Please make sure your students confine themselves to ONE SMALL DUFFLE OR SUITCASE!! Space is a premium while we are traveling since we'll be taking extra food.

If you have any questions, please call, text, or email me.

Thanks!
Michael

What's Love Got To Do With It?

I attended a wedding yesterday afternoon - actually, it was a re-wedding. The bride and groom are both friends of ours, and they had been married, divorced, gotten back together and decided to get remarried yesterday on Valentine’s Day. It was a very sweet ceremony where nearly 100 friends and family members gathered to show their support for the happy couple.

I always enjoy listening to another minister’s approach in officiating a wedding. The gentleman who performed the ceremony last night did a great job of talking about new beginnings and how the Lord never leaves us or forsakes us. He talked about how each of them was making a covenant, not a contract, before and to God. He painted a beautiful picture of what it means to LOVE each other - no matter what. I took comfort in his unique relationship with the bride and groom, and I thought of others whom I have been privileged to serve in a similar capacity. 

What struck me most, though, was how I saw Christ and His bride, the Church, in that ceremony. To use the officiating minister’s words, we live in a microwave age where most everything is disposable. Yet God, in His glory and grace, finds us to be worthy of saving. Worthy of sacrifice. Worthy to be loved. I took comfort in that because I feel like I don’t give Him a lot of reasons to love me. I took comfort because, thankfully, it’s not about me - it’s all about Him. What’s love got to do with it? Absolutely everything. And He offers it freely.

On this Valentine’s Day weekend, maybe we should be reminded to approach our spouses with that kind of love. To quote Paul’s letter to the Church at Corinth - maybe we should be patient, kind, and gentle…maybe we should keep no record of wrongs. What if we loved our spouses with the agape love that God has for us - one that gives, and KEEPS ON GIVING, without expecting anything in return? What if we offered love freely, with no expectation that it would be reciprocated? What’s love got to do with it? Yeah, absolutely everything.

Don’t forget that this weekend a lot of our high school students will be heading to Gatlinburg. We’ll be leaving at noon on Friday. We also have our spring mission camp coming up to Coldstream Christian Retreat. Signups are going on NOW.

Please let me know if there’s anything I can pray about for you or your family.

- Michael

Driving Faith Home Pays Off...Sometimes

I was able to attend an event at our church on Friday night that was focused on young families. It was called “Family Experience” and was an incredible learning experience for me in several ways. Jared and Bridget had done an excellent job of preparing a night where moms, dads, grandparents, and kids could get together and learn about three different countries: South Korea, South Africa, and Greece.

I learned a lot about the culture of these three countries, and I even took away some thoughts about how I can better pray for both the Evangelicals in those nations as well as those who do not yet know Christ. But a bigger “a-ha” for me came with some intentional time with my son. I had decided that I was going to (on purpose, mind you), spend this time with him learning about our faith and how it is practiced in other countries. But I came away with something extra - confidence in how my son is practicing his faith here.

Now, hear me, ours is not a perfect home. For everything we get “right” regarding faith in our house, I feel like we get at least two other things “wrong.” But we are intentional about our faith. We pray together at meals, at night before we go to bed, and we read God’s Word. I have been better about this recently, but Carver and Kelley read Scripture together almost every morning. We do our best to find ways to connect our faith to things that happen to us every day. The fruit of that came out when I listened to Carver praying at the Family Experience.

As we “visited” each country, we ate food from that nation, played a game that kids play there, and watched a video about how we might be able to pray specifically for Christians and non-Christians there. When we got to South Africa, it was Carver’s turn to pray. I asked him what he saw in the video and then asked him to pray for South Africa however he felt led. What I heard was a beautiful prayer to God from Carver that sounded like he was talking to his Friend…maybe even his Daddy (not me, the other One).

I hope you’re not reading any degree of spiritual “have-to’s” in this. Do I think my son can pray well? Well, I’m not even sure we should be talking about it in those terms. Rather, my comfort came from listening to a little boy who already has a growing relationship with the Lord. No, he’s not a perfectly still young man who does the right thing in the wrong situation every single time. But his little heart is soft to the things of God. That broke me. 

I believe that Carver’s spiritual maturity at this stage in his life is directly related to mine and Kelley’s as well as our influence on him. It’s not magic; it doesn’t “work” the same for every kid or every family. And just because it’s like that now doesn’t mean it will be like that in the future. But for now, it would seem that the attention we are paying to “Driving Faith Home” is paying off. It is certainly setting a foundation for Carver that lends itself to a growing relationship with Christ. I’m thankful.

Don’t forget that Life Groups start back next week. Please let me know if I can pray about anything for you or your family.

- Michael

Final Step from New Orleans

On Monday, our high school ministry will take the final step in concluding our work in New Orleans. I will be traveling there to retrieve the Gladeville Baptist Church Mobile Shower Unit - or as we’ve lovingly called it for 10 years - The Shower Trailer. 

When we began this work in New Orleans a decade ago, we could not have known the impact it would have on our students. Our focus there became a critical part of our missions strategy for our high school ministry. And when I made the final arrangements this week to go get the shower trailer, I must tell you that it was a bittersweet experience - certainly an emotional one. There’s a finality about this last step in the journey that makes our God-led decision to move away from NOLA a reality.

What’s interesting is that it is the same for our host church, Metairie Baptist. Their pastor, Thomas Strong, told me that it is bittersweet for them as well. While they have treasured their relationship with us as much as we have treasured ours with them - that trailer is one of very, very few remaining icons reminding them of Hurricane Katrina. Clearing that small patch of ground where the shower trailer has rested for so long is another step their church can take to move forward - past the memories of such a horrific time in the lives of so many.

So while this last step has a bit of sadness attached to it, it is also a happy time. We are so grateful for what has transpired in a city that was for so long a second home to a bunch of high school kids and leaders from Gladeville, TN. Please join me in thanking God for the tiny role He allowed us to play in serving the people New Orleans and St. Bernard Parish. He is still shaping the future of our next long-term missions efforts for high school ministry at The Glade Church. I’m looking forward to following His lead again.

Please let me know if there’s something I can pray about for you or your family.

- Michael

I See Myself In My Son

From the title of this post, you might imagine that this is going to be a heart-warming moment for you…a moment where I share about the beautiful ways I see my son following in the footsteps of his daddy. I wish that were true. Actually, what God has revealed to me lately in the mirror image that my son is for me is how much I’m “getting it wrong.” Hear me, I do my best to model a life of Christ for my eight year old, but it sure is difficult to do all of the time.

This week in particular I have noticed how he responds to things that he does not like. There are the eye-rolls, the deep sighs, and the unhealthy way that he tends to handle confrontation…all things that when I see them - it’s like looking in a mirror. It makes me think of how many times he has watched me do those same things. Or even worse - it makes me wonder how many times he has been the target of that behavior from me. Real encouraging, right? I think not.

I’d like to challenge you to look at the lives of your high school students and see what characteristics you see in them that remind you of you. Then take a chance on being vulnerable with them and tell them that you struggle with those same things. Let them know that when you respond or react in a way that is unfavorable, it not only does not honor Christ, it’s setting a poor example for them. I think they might be relieved at your naming what they probably already know about you. And it would do them good to see you attempting to rectify those reactions…it might even motivate them to do the same.

Don’t forget that signups are going on right now for our weekend trip to Gatlinburg in February. Space on this trip is EXTREMELY limited, so please get your deposits in this Sunday. 

Let me know if there’s anything I can pray about for you or your family.

- Michael

I'm Reading The Bible

Hello HS Parents!

Well…it’s been a while. I hope those of you actually read these emails/blog posts will forgive the hiatus I took last quarter in sending/posting them; I am sorry. I’ve climbed back in the saddle, though, and I’m ready to go with the first email/post of 2015: I’m Reading the Bible.

As a Twitter user, there are several different people whose lives I connect with (at least digitally) on a daily basis. Students, pastors, friends, organizations, churches, comedians, bloggers, musicians - there are TONS of Twitter accounts begging to be followed, and I choose to follow a select, but rather eclectic, sampling of them. One of these accounts spoke directly and profoundly into my life last year.

An old friend of mine who is also a student pastor was using a Bible reading plan in YouVersion…similar to the one we are using as a church this year to read through the Bible. Every morning when I would check my Twitter feed, I would see a Tweet from this guy’s account that he had completed the daily reading for the plan he was using. And for some reason, I found it SO encouraging! 

Now, hear me - I read the Bible. Sometimes I read LARGE chunks of it in one setting. Sometimes I read it to research a question I’ve received from a student or parent. Sometimes I read it to study for a message or Bible study. Sometimes I even read it because I enjoy re-reading an old story I learned as a child (David and Goliath…I mean, come on! Now THAT’S a story!) But something struck me every time I saw this guy’s daily Bible reading post/tweet. 

I wondered, for example, if other people were encouraged by it like me. I wondered if some people found it convicting because reading God’s Word was not a regular practice for them. I also wondered if people thought he was being a little “holier-than-thou” by posting it. I suppose that was possible. But his posts always left me encouraged, AND INSPIRED, to grab a copy of Scripture and give it a read. 

This year I’ve started in on the Bible reading plan that our church has adopted for 2015. I started with two specific intentions: 1-reading it, AND 2-tweeting that I had done so. I read the first three days before I was finally able to click the “Share” link on the fourth day and share my progress. I must admit - it’s a little intimidating. I mean it took me three readings to get the courage to do it. I was pretty fearful. What if I can’t keep up? What if people think I’m trying to be hyper-religious or self-promoting? I guess those are great questions. But here are some others that have lodged in my spirit:

What if people are challenged to read God’s Word because they know I am? What if people are encouraged to “catch-up” if they’ve fallen behind in their reading (because I’m sure I will)? What if they, like I was with my friend, can be encouraged and inspired to read God’s Word because they know I’m reading it? What if my posting every single day can communicate what I really believe about God’s Word - that it changes EVERYTHING…that it speaks to every situation in life and offers Hope (in Christ) that no other medium can provide?

I want to ask you, as a fellow parent, to join me in reading God’s Word in 2015. I want to give you permission to ask me if I’m keeping up with the daily reading when we pass each other in the hallways at church. I want to challenge you email, text, or send a smoke signal of thoughts, questions, and insight provoked by your reading of His Word. I’d love to do this - together with you - for 2015. Would you join me?

Here’s a link to the YouVersion plan we are in for January.

To catch you up on what’s going on in our high school ministry:

This Sunday we will be continuing our focus on The Story of God’s Kingdom. We’ll be answering questions like:

1 - Why is it important to not only have faith, but to have faith in Someone with the power to save?

2 - How much attention to you give how you look on the outside versus how you look inside your own heart?

3 - In what ways could you offer hope to someone who has a hard time believing in God’s forgivness?

Signups will begin Sunday for our Gatlinburg trip in February. You should be receiving something in the mail about it today or tomorrow.

As always, please let me know if you have anything you’d like for me to pray about for you or your family.

- Michael

Eating Solid Food

This past Wednesday night we continued our series called “Alive” with high school students. We talked about the fact that just as our bodies grow and require a different diet as we get older, our spiritual health requires a different diet for us to mature as well. I shared with students that if they are dependent on other people to feed them God’s Word, their growth will be limited by the maturity and knowledge of the person they are choosing to feed them.

I asked them to consider making a conscious effort to read God’s Word for a week. To give them the best chance for success, I asked them to do three things:

1 - Pick a time. Picking a regular time to dive into God’s Word each day will help make it a habit.

2 - Pick a starting point. Many people (not just teenagers) get discouraged when they begin to read God’s Word. I offered some less intimidating entry points like 1 John or any of the four gospels.

3 - Write something down. I suggested that the best way to interact with reading God’s Word was to write down something about what they read. If they struggle with that, a good tact is to try to answer three questions at the end of each reading: 1)What does this reading tell me about God? 2)What does this reading tell me about myself? 3)What does this reading tell me about others?

I hope you will encourage your students to dive into God’s Word and give it attention DAILY in their lives. If you can read some of the same passages, it will help foster discussion about matters of faith when you are together.

- Michael