A week or so ago I got tagged by Stacy Sublett (a friend of mine who is a youth pastor in State College, PA) with a fun little deal he ripped from Jason Powell’s blog… So here goes, the 15 songs that came up when I opened iTunes and hit Shuffle.

1. Now’s the Time — Miles Davis
2. Dream in the Cup — David Wilcox
3. Sugarchrist and Blackheadlights — Eric Tasa
4. Slip Slidin’ Away — Paul Simon
5. Weeping Pilgrim — Natalie Merchant
6. Alibi — David Gray
7. Somebody Already Broke My Heart — Sade
8. Outside Villinova — Eric Hutchinson
9. Out of My Mind — James Blunt
10. The Naked Ride Home — Jackson Browne
11. Cinder and Smoke — Iron and Wine
12. Word of God Speak — Mercy Me
13. The Itch is Back — Michael Roe
14. Mary — Patty Griffin
15. King of Glory — Chris Tomlin

I am really excited about today! Today we are hosting Awake, an interactive weekend for middle school students at Trinity International University in Deerfield, IL. Awake is designed to help students engage with God’s great story and wake up to a new way of life.

I am stoked for a couple of reasons. First, this is what we live for! Serving youth workers and students! Second, I am really looking forward to seeing some friends — Jen Howver, Eric Venable, Scott Rubin, Mark Novelli, Calvin Russell, Seth McCoy and of course Mike Novelli and his entire Awake team. Third, I am thrilled to have the chance to meet Zach Hunter. Zach has very graciously given us a chunk of his time to inspire and challenge dozens and dozens of middle school students. Finally, I am stoked to meet a bunch of new people and share in this Awake experience with them.

If you think about it, pray for our Sonlife team. They have worked very hard to put themselves in a position to lead this event and serve youth workers and students. Pray also that the students attending would:

see themselves in God’s big story
see how much God loves them
see others with compassion instead of comparison
see how they can help those in need
see how they can make a difference now

Thanks for your prayers!!

I buy a ton of books. My wife gets annoyed with me sometimes because I have more books than shelf space so most of them sit in boxes in closets and the garage. Most of the books that I buy I pick up in the sale bin for less than $5. My latest great find is a book called, Discovering Jesus by William Barclay.

Discovering Jesus isn’t particularly riveting or revolutionary. There are some great statements and the book is designed in a way that allows the reader to interact with maps, charts, pictures, lists, etc. and in that way I really like it. It is a great book to help one discover or re-discover again the life of Jesus. At Sonlife we love talking, thinking, wondering, conversing, etc. about Jesus. Within the context of the entire narrative of God, we find Jesus emerging at what we at Sonlife hold to as the model for our life and ministry.

Barclay uses the following six mini-episodes to walk the reader through an exploration and investigation of the major events of Jesus’ life:

1. Preparation
2. Conflict
3. Recognition
4. Tragedy
5. Triumph
6. His Body the Church

Barclay’s insights, background summary’s and thought provoking questions encourage the reader to skim through the life of Jesus in a reverent but “highlighted” fashion. His six episodes are a great way to teach through the life of Jesus in a large or small group setting — or even a one on one situation. If you are nearing upon a series on the life of Jesus, let this little 95 page book be your guide. I think it will really help you put forth an accurate, narrative based depiction of Jesus.

Here is an interesting excerpt from the Conflict episode:

“This story [the temptation of Jesus] might be called the most sacred story in the New Testament — for this reason, that there is only one possible origin and source for this story, and that is Jesus himself. No one was there; he was alone in the wilderness. Therefore this story must have been told by Jesus himself to his disciples on some occasion when he wished to help them.” (pg 19)

Have you ever thought about when and why Jesus would have felt the need to teach his disciples based on his personal experience of the temptation events? Clearly, Jesus must have told them of his experience in order to have it recorded for our discovery and growth today — and for centuries past. I wonder when and why Jesus chose to share this story with his disciples…

I read a very interesting article that puts forth a “catechises” that Pope Benedict XVI gave to more than 25,000 youth that gathered in the square of Santa Maria degli Angeli (St. Mary of the Angels), a basilica at the foot of the hill of Assisi, Italy. It is here that as a young man, Francis of Assisi understood his vocation and renounced the world in order to live in poverty among the poor that would eventually start the Franciscan movement.

Here is a link to the full article: http://www.asianews.it/index.php?l=en&art=9578&size=A

Pope Benedict XVI closed with this exhortation…

“The time has come for young people, like Francis, to commit themselves and learn how to enter into a personal relationship with Christ. The time has come for us to look upon the history of this third millennium which has just begun, a history that needs more than ever to be lifted by the Good News of the Gospel……You, my dear young people, are my joy”.

Thanks to those of you who have sent an email to see if I am OK since I haven’t posted in a while. I am fine… Well, the truth is I am not really fine. I have a bit of Pneumonia I am getting past but the main reason I haven’t posted lately is I am finishing a book for YS/Zondervan called Clear: Bringing God’s Truth’s Into Focus.

The book is intended to be an interactive theology book of sorts that helps students engage in God’s story and discover some of the major truth’s about God. It has been a fun project.

Keep me in your prayers if you would. I have another couple of weeks to finish the raw manuscript. Next week I will really be bearing down…

I wandered through a very artistic expression of the Stations of the Cross on a mountainside in Radium, British Columbia, Canada a few days ago. The bronze depictions of Jesus’ journey to death and his glorious resurrection were a great reminder of his love and sacrifice for me — for us.

The Stations of the Cross are extremely helpful. They assist the faithful follower of Jesus on a spiritual pilgrimage of prayer though the major scenes of Jesus’ final hours. This pilgrimage helps me to enter into the suffering of Jesus’ death and the joy of his resurrection in different way than the when I read the accounts in the Scriptures.

I first encountered the Stations at Colonial Church in Edina, MN. Tony Jones was on staff at Colonial at the time and each season of Lent he would set up the Stations in the fellowship hall and people from all over the Twin Cities would journey through them. Since that experience I try to experience the Stations at least 3 or 4 times a year.

Here is a couple of pics from the Stations in Radium…

Station # 1: Jesus is condemned to death

Station # 7: Jesus is helped by Simon of Cyrene

Station # 12: Jesus dies on a cross

If you would like to help your students on their way to encountering or experiencing more deeply the Stations of the Cross (you can do this anytime, it doesn’t have to be Lent!), I would encourage you to download this FREE guide written by Faith Bosland called Journey to the Cross (a Stations of the Cross adaptation) on the Youth Specialties website.