School was out yesterday for Veteran’s Day, so we decided to go and hang out in Seattle. It’s an easy way to just spend the day with youth. Fill the van, drive downtown, then bum around shops all after noon (thrift stores, etc.). It was a great day.

I’m sick and haven’t really had time to process the scope of our trip. I’ll write more in days to come, but for now I will say that it was amazing. It was better than anything I expected. God is good.

Here’s a taste of the trip:

The whole crew

Making an igloo.

The igloo is almost done.

Some people like to tube in the snow, we prefer rafting.

Hot Chocolate in the Snow Kitchen.

YD Stonewater Ranch

Today we’re taking 15-20 high school students for a weekend in the snow. Keep us in your prayers for safety, transparency, and authenticity. Our goals: lot’s of coffee and deep conversations along with contemplative midnight sessions. We’ve been totally upfront with each kid that signed up about our spiritual emphasis and they’ve stepped up to the challenge. Sure we’ll play games, but that’s not the point of this weekend.
I’ve found myself, in the past, selling these retreats on the fun activities , but this time I’ve sold it on the spiritual pursuit and we’ve had a good turnout. If you’re honest with kids, they are truly able to step up to the plate. So pray for us this weekend!

[youtube= http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DgP9hKRxoQ]

[ht: Jay]

Simply brilliant, convicting and centering for Christmas…

[youtube= http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCbYrdxNUwU] A friend emailed this to me the other day and it’s spurred some interesting conversation about the nature of ministry.  I’m always amazed how easily we lose sight of journeying with Christ.

There’s nothing wrong with praying a prayer or engaging in any ritual or tradition, but when it becomes something that we lean back on and quit journeying - then we have a problem. Ritual or tradition (communion, meditation, contemplation, etc.)  is meant to remind us of God. It give us a chance to ponder and spend time with Him. When it becomes easier to make them an exercise in goodness or holiness - then they lose all meaning.

In the church or even in my ministry, I see us focused on getting kids (or people) to ‘pray a prayer‘ because it makes us feel good, like we’ve secured them. We also like to take count of conversions as some sort of litmus test of spiritual health/success. If we forget that being a Christian is about a walk, a journey with Christ - then we have nothing more than hollow ritual and tradition. When Jesus called his followers, he simply said, “Come, follow me.” We try and make it so complicated. Being a Christian is quite simple: follow Jesus. It simply starts with an offer to take a walk.