Since I was reminded by someone that I was a wee bit behind. I’ve updated all the talk notes over on the Light Force site. There is always a link here on the left side, now it’s all updated. Thanks for the reminder.

Back a several weeks ago I had lunch with Jason Raitz. It seems like in this conversation we talked about 100 things. Last week I saw him again at the Detroit Metro Youth Workers lunch, I really like him. He’s a cool guy with a great heart for students.

So, here is a part of our conversation he recorded in his ministry’s newsletter:

    I was having lunch with a youth worker not to long ago who
said something that really got me thinking: "my kids really
aren’t into to retreats anymore, so we don’t do
them". REALLY?!?? Seriously, I could not stop thinking about
that statement for weeks and here’s why, and get ready for the
depth of this answer; I love retreats! I do, I always have,
and I think I will till Christ returns. But more important than
my personal feelings, I believe that retreats can become, dare
I say, ebeneezer moments for your ministry. Because of
that, I believe we should invest a great amount of our time
and energy into them. [Project 311 March Newsletter]

Later he wrote: "        I don’t even have enough space to convince you why you
should you put a large amount of your energy into the
planning, preparation, and execution of your retreats"

First off, I’m not mad that he used this private conversation to make a point publically. Heck, I do this all the time. But I do think his idea bears some feedback.

I’ve asked Jason to write an article for YMX talking about the importance of retreats in student ministry. I will write an article called "Why I kissed retreats goodbye." I am looking forward to this not because I think I have a superior opinion, and not because Jason will represent the majority opinion and I will represent the minority opinion… but because this is something that we need to be thinking about. In most student ministries I know, the bi-annual retreats are major peices of the ministry philosophy. The question is "Do you know why it is or isn’t part of your ministry philosophy?" For many out there, it is the single most expensive thing (time and money-wise) that they do. But should it be?

Of course, this leads directly into my larger "Pastor Adam rant" about events and evangelism. [Shivering just thinking about it!]

Proof #1 Stuff like this still makes me giggle. When I start thinking about the mess and the weirdness of it all, then I can’t call myself a youth dude. But there is just something funny about 4 girls wanting to get messy just to win… NOTHING!

Proof #2 On the way home tonight I correct my daughter that it was a co-art and not a snart when you cough and fart at the same time.

I very reluctantly had our pews listed for sale over at usedpews.org. (Just so you know, I had all the boards permission to do this first!) Our hope is that we can find a new ministry or maybe an old ministry that is looking to buy some used pews. They are high quality, they are in pretty good condition, and I hope this isn’t the end of the road for them in ministry, just a new location.

This is the air I breathe
This is the air I breathe
Your Holy Presence
Living in me

These are well know words to a song we sing often. But I have been so busy and going in so many directions lately that I am not feeling like I can catch my breath.

A phrase I say all the time is "I’m really busy with stuff, all good stuff, but I am sure busy." I find myself really longing and desiring time to just breathe. I take that back, I don’t want to "just breathe," I want to breathe deeply.