Near and Far Faith

These are old, but in demand (S.J.). Here are some pics of my kids

Awwwwwe...


















Don't back me into a corner!




















Cute or plotting your demise?



















This one's not old - I took it right now. I call it "Hey Dad let's play!"
















This is one of those that give you a glimpse of the future. I can hear it now... "But we were just huggin!"

Just a quick note on this morning's service. First thanks for the inspiration Steve - we've never done anything like this before!

What was this revolutionary act that we took on at "church" this morning? Spontaneous baptism. Ok - it's not original. But it blew me away. We had our regular promo and signing up thing that has happened for the past few weeks but then today we provided all the necessary supplies for people to just get baptized today. Right now.

Honestly, my expectations were too low for God (shame on me Dean). That's probably why I was a weepy mess through the whole thing ( I cry... a lot). Eight people, on top of the 9 that had already signed up, dropped what they were doing and set everything aside and got baptized.

I was stoked be able to baptize Mark, who shared some stellar right-field-fence seats with me last night at the Phillies (not a fan) v. Pares(not a fan) game (just had fun) thanks to Patrick, Devin, one of our SLT-ers, Ashley and her brother, one of our students that has really taken some BIG growth steps lately, Dean (rock-n-roll king of the pink paisley Strat)and Trista, a good friend and wife of a golf buddy.

I know this is gonna sound sappy, but there are FEW (my wedding day and the birth of my kids) moments of of joy that rival that feeling of baptizing friends. I have the best job. Ever. Our service went 30 minutes long and there wasn't a dry eye in the house - mine included.

Just a quick note on Blogspot - I got a comment from someone recently asking a question about someone I blogged about. I f you don't include your email address in the body of your comment I can't respond. Over the past few months the poison comments have stopped and I'd love to respond to some of you - so INCLUDE YOUR EMAIL!

I was writing my message today for tomorrow's Ignite service (re-writing to be honest - I didn't want to preach the same one that I delivered 2 weeks ago over again - our students deserve more than that) and I came to a point where I really needed an illustration. I struggled to find one, but felt God say "just sit on it for now."

The I had some time tonight to catch up on my blogs (those of you that enjoy reading multiple blogs should check out google reader). Perry wrote this one a while ago and God clapped me with it. He works in spite of me. That always blows me away.

So for years now - since I had my first ministry position in 2001 - I've wanted to start a Student Leadership program within the Student Ministry. We finally began one at Ignite last year and had students sign on via our invitation for a 12-month commitment. To those of you thinking about starting one, other ministries invite students but for us it was not the best way. Just because we saw potential did not mean that they had the desire for the commitment.

This year it was coming time for the commitment to renew and I really wanted to learn from last year. So we announced the opportunity to apply for Student Leadership just a few days before the applications would be due. It created a sense of urgency and excitement, and that's good.

For Ignite, this was the way to do Student Leadership. We got a great crew of students - four returning to renew their commitment (out of the 10 that we had last year) and three newbies.

Here's where I get to brag on Jon Weeks. We set the age cut off at 10th grade but Jon has more potential as an up coming freshman than I had in my punk little toe when I was his age. I'm pumped to have him in the SLT (Student Leadership Team). I've watched him over the past year be the most outrageous person - not just freaky (he has more nerve than Johnny Knoxville) but he's outrageous with his faith enough to shame most pastors.

The training we did was an over night camping excursion (we excursed to the back of the church). It gave us time together to get to know each other and work through some leadership-building activities - thanks Tally.

Saturday was the hook up of the year! I had the idea of going white water rafting - like most of my cool ideas it showed up less than a week before the outing was to take place. I called some old friends who live by my mom and they went all out for us. They not only guided us precisely down the Lehigh River, but they paid for us too. They had no idea of the churches finances. So a big hairy SLT "THANKS!" to Art, Ernie, and Laurie Balathy.

I believe this years SLT will change the world. They are motivated, focused, and passionate to inspiration. It's priveledge to lead you - Em, Amanda, Devin, Chelsea, Sam, Becca, and Jon.