You will notice a new skin on all blogs. Overall, I think it’s a cleaner look. Let me highlight a couple of other changes. (Blogger has been ultra-funny today… Since I’m having problems getting on to gmail too, I’m wondering if google’s servers are getting attacked.)

1. Fewer ads!
2. More links on the sidebars.

Feedback is always appreciated.

p.s. The problem with the small blogger navbar has nothing to do with my code. The best I can tell that code comes from blogger directly… I can’t edit it. I’m thinking it has something to do with all this google slow down.

p.p.s. I’ll be updated the ad color scheme to match the new look in a few days. I’m having problems even logging on to Google Adsense right now. 🙁

I received a rather odd comment in an e-mail the other day. One which I am contemplating addressing since it’s a potentially divisive issue.

A student wrote:

So, its not as bad as my last email made it sound, but sometimes I still do feel like Adam doesn’t like me, and its quite obvious that he has his favorites (x,x, x, and especially x) but its not always that I feel this way, I mean I know that x and x and x and x are his favorites, but that doesn’t always bug me.

A few thoughts along these lines.

1. Is it OK for a pastor to play favorites?
2. If yes, then aren’t I responsible to find someone to play favorites with the other students? Or is it OK that some people just don’t have someone who is their favorite… afterall there is no way that every personality or individual can be “special.”
3. If no, then how are you supposed to respond to people who you genuinely like being around and who are responsible to your leading them. People like to bring up this comment, but they also fail to look in the mirror long enough to see that those people who are “favorites of Adam” are actually the most dedicated and reliable people.
4. Didn’t the disciples play this game? The disciples were often upset that Jesus invested in John the most… Especially Peter who wanted to be the favorite. In Mark 10:41 Jesus deals with a little jealousy about John and James. “When the ten heard about this, they were indignant with James and John.” His answer to this cry was a call to the others to be like John and James, servants.
5. Is this just a result of students developmental stage? The writer of this e-mail is in the middle of my “inside group.” To everyone else, she would be one of my favorites. But her insinuation tells me a lot about where she is developmentally. Doesn’t she see that I’m invested in a lot of people who aren’t her? Do young adolescent students have any ability to see beyond their nose and look at life from the perspective of others?
6. What role is this just hormones? I mean, we are talking about a high school female! They have more ups and downs than a Lions game.
7. From my perspective I’m not showing favorites so much as I’m purposefully investing in students who have expressed interest in growing to become multiplying disciples. It’s only natural for it to look like I’m favoring

At the end of this whole bit of frustration I am happy to see that a 15 year old girl can still make me think so much! Even though I am tired of dealing with stuff like this it does reaffirm that I actually like dealing with it. Is that an oxymoron comment or am I some kind of masochist?

An interesting map was sent to me the other day. This is a county by county break down of the election last week. 

Today and tonight is a massively huge LF tradition. The Word of Life Superbowl.

We are taking 20 students to the Palace of Auburn Hils for a day of fun, crazy games, followed by the Pistons vs. the Sixers game. It should be an interesting day.

I know there is some level of disappointment because this isn’t the exact same Superbowl that everyone wants. Previous to this year it has always been an all-nighter with loads of wackiness spread all over the city of Saginaw. I echo their disappointment but since we aren’t really any more than guests of Word of Life, I don’t have much of a voice. Plus, I don’t really like all-nighters anyway. They wear me out. I’ll give an update on this event later this weekend.

You read the title of this topic correctly.

I love high school students. I must because I have put up with my fair share of garbage in the last few months. But in the last few weeks I’ve had a little more than I like to deal with. I think I need a few days off.

Now that’s I’ve surpassed the initial stages of “to blog or not to blog” I often wonder two things about my blog. (I’ve got over 1000 hits, all of them can’t be mine!)

1. Should I go public? Should I ever let people who I know in on my blog? Should I include the link on my e-mail signature? It’s not that I hide the blog from anyone it’s just that I don’t publicize it too much. (YS Forums is the only place I’ve ever linked to.)
2. Should I rename the blog something less conspicuous? Right now the URL is just my name. I’m not 100% sure that I’m cool with being that up front. When all is well it’s no big deal but I often wonder if there is some way someone will come back to use my words against me.

All for this starts with the YS boards. I do enjoy the anonymity of going by drew. It provides a certain amount of security that I think I like.

Last night we had a pretty good youth group night. We’ve been having students bring friends lately, which is cool since I haven’t pushed that at all. The talk part went OK and the games were funny.

My lost sheep did come and he expressed how much he wanted to be part of our group again. So, we’ll need to be finding him a ride to get here. He was like, “I don’t get my license for another year and my parents can’t drive me… So I only need a ride for a year.” I thought that was pretty cute.

The big work problem of the day is trying to scrounge up 2 tickets to the WOL Superbowl. One ticket I’ll be in huge trouble if I don’t come up with since I made a mistake in not buying one, the other one I want to add since that student accepted the Lord at the Superbowl last year.

In other news, I’m dealing with some pretty hard core sin issues with a couple of students. There’s some conflict brewing and I need to come up with a strategy for dealing with it to reunify LF.

Relationships are messy. I like relationships. So I guess that makes me kind of sick.

(AP Photo) Standing at his desk in the Oval Office, President George W. Bush receives a phone call from Democratic nominee John Kerry, in which the Senator conceded defeat in the 2004 presidential election on November 3, 2004. Kerry’s concession squashed prospects of a lengthy legal challenge and endless ballot counting in Ohio, where the election had been too close to call and delayed the final outcome for hours. 

I just got a call from a student whom I haven’t seen in an exceedingly long time. He’ll be here tonight. Praise God for that. Hopefully this will be a reopening of this door with this student. He accepted the Lord about a year ago but I I’ve never really seen him take big steps in growth. More on this later.