Well, I jsut sent this e-mail out to all of my adult leaders. This is after the worst attendence night I’ve ever had here in Romeo. I’m posting it here because I want others to see that I am not perfect… although I post some pretty nasty things from time to time… my poop stinks too.

Working in ministry has been the hardest thing I have ever done. On nights like this I can honestly say that I would rather work as a stocker at Wal*Mart. In the past few weeks it has been clear that the harder I work, the worse things have gotten. As my e-mail mentions… this will send me on a path of self-discovery. I need to wrestle with my failures and ask God… is this failure the result of something you are doing or is it the result of a sin in my life? Anyway… here’s the letter.

Co-laborers,

Hopefully you are all on your way to bed now. But it will be a longnight for me, let me explain why.I am completely and totally devastated by how poorly LF is going the last two weeks. Not only is there no one there, but enthusiasm stinks and the “group love” feel that I relished only a few weeks ago is adistant memory.

I don’t like working this hard and seeing such pooroutput… for some it makes them want to quit, but for me it makes mewant to succeed more. I want you to know a few things right off the bat…

– I may be discouraged and frustrated… but I’m not giving up.

– I know the habit at Romeo is to check out when things start to go bad… I just want to point out that we need to set a new trend for everyone else to follow… we shouldn’t check out when things get rough… we should put on our hard hats and get to work!

I’m not a mystical person at the core. While I know some of this could be a God thing… I recognize that there are some things I can do tomake sure it’s a God thing. So I’m not ready to accept “perhaps thisis what god is doing at Romeo” just yet. (Sounds like the talk tonight, eh?)

Numbers aren’t everything, but I am a fervent believer that numbers do indicate some things. The reality is that tonight was the smallest number of students in the past 15 months. By my count, there were only13 there. More than that… there is a certain smell of deflation inthe air.

How many would have been there tonight if there parents hadn’t made them come? I don’t think I really want to know… it would make me apply for a job at Wal*Mart in the morning! (Just as an indicator tohow far we’ve gone downhill… a year ago in September we averaged 38students.)

Let’s look at some factors.

– Students have homework or are involved in sports or otherwise busy

– Van kids can’t get there

– Parents lacking enthusiasm for life at Romeo is trickling down to

– Students are making choices among the myriad of “good things” and right now… we aren’t it.

– on and on and on

A simple observation (and you can make the same one with adults at\church) is that students are no longer looking for ways to make sure they are a part of LF… instead they desire to find excuses to not come. The excuse is the symptom of a much deeper issue.

Did you know that there are several students who are begging to NOT come? Did you know that at least one 9th grader is going somewhere else? I know for a fact that the Skomski girls would come if only someone would go pick them up. These are things that we can do something about… let’s not forget that.

As I reflect on this ugly problem I realize that there are some things that are the fault of leadership. (e.g ME!) I am seeing clearly that there are some environmental things that have surfaced that make it clear that we aren’t as healthy as we thought we are. We need to get back to basics and get better at the things that worked so well last year.

– I’ve clearly over-invested in the core at the cost of the group. This has resulted in a clique feel to LF… great if you’re in the clique… terrible if you feel outside of it. As I’ve tried to talk people into this weekends retreat it seems everyone has “something to do” but that’s all they are saying. (In other words… they don’t want to come!) This weekend will be a big part of stearing this clique away from “clique-centeredness” and all about reaching out to the group… I’ll be seeking to breaking the clique up into a mad crazy group of floaters. This will hopefully develop into a “clique with an attitude!”

– I’ve taken your tasks away and made your job too opaque. I can clearly see that you all need something more tanglible to do both on Wed. nights and in your contact work. I’m going to make it simpler for you. I am assigning students for you to contact on a regular basis.” Something as simple as saying “hey… this is Dave and I haven\’t seen you in a while at LF… how are you doing?” would open up a world of conversation. The reality is that people want to be missed and we’re not missing them!

You’ll notice that the core of students isn’t on anyones list… we all love Autumn, LisaB, Andrea, Jon, Michael, and Ted and we have completely spoiled them with attention. Believe me, they will get the attention even without being assigned to anyone. Everyone only has a few students each… you will figure out a way to hook up with them weekly. Maybe it’s a phone call to check on them, maybe it’s that you seek them out on Sunday AM to chat… but we have to do this… and we have to start doing it now! Please don’t skip on it… a little labor will go a long way. Do it on your commute! All of that stuff I’ve given you should be applied to these students… invest in them and I promise you the dividends.

– I’ve gotten so involved with my own contact ministry that the reason you pay me has gotten muddled… to people outside of the core it looks as though golf is all I care about. (Did you know that at least one deacon and another board member thought it was a job? I’ve never made a cent off of it and I don’t want to.) I’m not sure how I’m going to work this… but with 3 weeks to go in the golf season I’m seeing that the price has been too great this year. As much as I love it, and as many fantastic things have come out of it… it still comes at a high cost. It’s unlikely I should continue past this year.

– I’m calling a parents meeting fora Sunday in October. I meant to do this as soon as school started, but it’s gotten pushed around. Parents need to be on board with changes we have made as well as the simple nuts & bolts of what is going on… I need to be better at communicating with them.

I want to end this with the good news. The good news is that we know LF is a good ministry. This is without question. We know we are teaching truth and God has used us in the recent past to change the lives of students. I recognize that if we get ahead of this problem now… and really all focus to get it back on track… that this can be a real turning point for what God wants to do in Romeo. God wants to use these students as an instrument of seeing many students come to faith in Christ… and I know you all want to be a part of that. (So there’s the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow!)

Have a good night. I think I can sleep now.

Adam

p.s. One last thing. I really need you guys to be honest with me. If you’ve observed something that I haven’t covered… especially about me… I would like to encourage you to let me know. I can see that I need to reflect on some things and change some of the ways I am doing things… but your feedback is important to me. thanks

As this is surely going to be buried in the comment section, I just thought I would post my response to Scott’s comments here.



Judging by the sudden number of hits I’ve had… he’s posted a link to this on some webpage.

Scott, this is where I think that Christians have falsely given up.Think of all the legal wrangling, hassle and money you have invested in homeschool defense. No… take that same zeal to participate in the public school forum for the greater good of both children of believers and non-believers. It’s a matter of access. Since you stand on the outside of the forum… your voice is meaningless. But as a dedicated parent of your school district you have a voice that must be heard.We all know that the seperation of church/state is artificial. It was clearly not the desires of the founding fathers and is a misrepresentation of truth. The Supreme Court was wrong and the congress did not act to defend the constitution as the check/balances are designed to work.On the local level, you will find good people who intend to work for the good of the children. Your voice belongs in that mix and homeschooling is a distraction from that argument.At the end of the day the question becomes… who’s children are they? Are they yours? Are they the states? Or are they God’s? My view is that they are God’s children under my stewardship. As a steward of the child… it is my responsibility to expose them, lovingly and with guidance, to the realities of the world. To do otherwise is unloving as a parent and setting the child up for disaster when they eventually do enter the public forum.Here’s a quick question. If homeschooling is so good… how come no one is paying for research to prove it is? Who is doing longitudinal studies on the ramifications? Where are the numbers? How much $$$ from Christian parents is being wasted on seperatist activity instead of invested in the community? What about time? How many man-hours are spent volunteering for Christian schooling and homeschooling when they could be invested in making life changing impact for non-churches children.My whole point is that it is a shame and a sham that Christian parents are so faithless as to harbor their children away from the world. It is man-centered thinking and only looking at “what’s in it for me?” When the real question should be “what’s in it for others?”Explain to me this… how is it that homeschooling/Christian is morally acceptable in light of these arguments.Isn’t the real issue prayer in schools? All the rest is a mask for an faithless response to a real problem… so someone made Christians angry in the 50s and 60s… should we just take our ball and go home… or should we fight?Thank you for being willing to enter a dialogue. Though I disagree with your position I really do respect your intent.

hum the theme song from the 70s game show now!

In all seriousness we had to confront a sophomore golfer today about some rumblings of point shaving today at practice. This is one of my favorite students and I would hate for it to be true. At this point, it’s not even an accusation but just a warning of “we’re watching you.”

Golf is a game built on integrity. If you haven’t got that, what do you have? Hopefully this is the first and last post on this.

In the past couple of days, as I’ve been seeking the counsel of the Lord about this trip as we begin to finalize details and formulate a team, I have also been learning of some more details.

One that is worth noting is that it looks possible that we will be hooking up with a Romeo missionary while in Croatia. This should be fantastic. Please join me in petitioning the Lord that all our schedules would work out to make this happen.

This is my talk for LF tonight.

______

We all know people in our lives who are suffering in one way or another.

– physical suffering

– pains of being abused by a parents, boyfriend/girlfriend

There are the wounds of people who have done stuff to you; there are the wounds of stuff that you’ve done to yourself.

Then there are the wounds that people have that just don’t make sense. They are the 3rd and hardest category… things that leave us crying in our beds at night with the nagging question for God… WHY!

Tonight, we’re going to look at the life of Nebuchadnezzar and something incredible that God did in his life.

Background:

Chapter 4 of the Daniel is pretty unique for Scripture. The whole chapter is written by and from the perspective of a non-Jew. There are only a few other places in the entire Bible that people outside of the family of God are contributors. But this is a special case and a special story. Here you will see how God broke the heart of the king of an evil empire and left him praising the one true God!

Summary of verse 1-18

For the second time in Daniels life, the king has a weird dream. It’s so weird and so vivid that Nebuchadnezzar is positive that it must mean something.

The last time we read about one of the king’s dreams, he gathers all sorts of opinions. But in this case, when he has a bad dream he already knows who his “go to guy” is. Daniel.

[read Daniel 4: 13-16]

13 “In the visions I saw while lying in my bed, I looked, and there before me

was a messenger, [2]

a holy one, coming down from heaven. 14 He called in a loud voice: ‘Cut down the

tree and trim off its branches; strip off its leaves and scatter its fruit. Let

the animals flee from under it and the birds from its branches. 15 But let the

stump and its roots, bound with iron and bronze, remain in the ground, in the

grass of the field. ” ‘Let him be drenched with the dew of heaven, and let him

live with the animals among the plants of the earth. 16 Let his mind be changed

from that of a man and let him be given the mind of an animal, till seven times

[3]

pass by for him.

At the end of all of this, in verse 19 Nebuchadnezzar instructs Daniel to tell him what it all means.

– We see that Daniel doesn’t really want to do this… for him it is hard. (v. 19)

– His hesitancy tells us something about the relationship that the two men had.

o Implies a level of respect

o Implies a level of admiration

o Implies a level of kinship

Reluctantly, Daniel begins to interpret the dream.



– You are the tree! (v. 22)

– You will lose your power! (v. 25)

– This punishment is avoidable (v. 25)

– If you acknowledge that God is sovereign over the earth and not you, you will be spared this (v. 25)

– When you do this, you will be restored

– Daniels advice… repent now! (v. 27)

Scripture reveals that all of this happened to Nebuchadnezzar just as Daniel had prophesied. (v. 29) In fact, 12 months passed before this went into effect. (v. 33, implied grace period) Some time later, after things got really bad mentally for the king, he finally repents and acknowledges that God is sovereign. (v. 34) Then, just as Daniel had prophesied, the king was restored fully. (v. 36)

Principles to learn from and build off of for our discussions tonight



In this story, there are some timeless principles that I want to expose to you. What I mean by “timeless principles” is that these are things that all people, for all time can learn by examining this passage for themselves.

– Bad things don’t happen to

good people for no reason.

–

While God isn’t the author of sin, he chooses to use it for his glory. (Gen

50:20)

– God can and will

continue to apply pressure to “help you” make the right choices in

life.

– The answer when this

happens isn’t to flee God, but rather to examine yourself and see where you need

to turn to God.

As believers in Jesus, the real trick to all of this is learning to think outside of yourself and begin to recognize the difference between…

Is God acting?

Have I made a mistake to cause this?



Self-examining question to determine which of these it is….

Did I make a sinful decision that led to this bad thing?

If you answer yes to this… the pain you are experiencing is self-inflicted. God’s not trying to get your attention… he’s calling you to repent.

If you answer no to this… God is probably trying to get your attention.

I don’t want this discussion to end with just thoughts of you… because if you take the context of the passage into consideration you will realize that this is a case where God did something in order to get the attention of a non-believer.

So this should actually be a discussion about “how can I help my friends recognize when God is calling their attention to something?”

Let’s take a few minutes to do a little exercise.

– List all the people in your herd. (6-8 Close set of friends)

– Now…

o Circles around those who you are 100% positive are Christians

o Squared around those you aren’t sure about.

OK, now we can forget about the circles on your paper… this isn’t about them right now.

Let’s look at our theme verse again for the whole year:

Colossians 4:56

5Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most

of every opportunity. 6Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned

with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

Now look at your

squares again and ask yourself… what are the opportunities?

Those squares are the people God has put in your path, at this time, for a reason. It’s your job to influence those people towards a closer relationship with Christ.

These people, for whatever reason they have a wall between them and Christ. It’s not a literal wall… but it is a wall with many bricks in it that prevents them from being aboe to hear and understand God’s love for them… this wall is preventing them from seeing Christ for who he really is.

Each person’s wall is made up of different bricks… but if you can identify the bricks.. you’ve got a shot at being the person who can help remove one and put that person just a little closer to encountering Christ.

Here’s some blocks…



– Misunderstanding [your job: educate]

– Hard heart [your job: serve them lovingly]

– Self-misidentity [help them see who they can be, be yourself confidentally]

– Anger/injustice [help them confront these things]

– Logistics [serve their physical needs]



Only when all of these bricks are being managed… will the person reach out to you and say… “who is this Jesus you call Lord?”

While we all know people who suffer in many ways… we can help be a part of pointing them towards the one who suffered for them. Jesus is the great physician, he is the creator of all things… even your friends pain. While Jesus cannot erase all your pain here on earth, he can give you rest.

PRAY

I know my readers are waiting with baited breathe for news of our latest match with Grosse Pointe South.

Today was a great day for the Bulldogs as they held off a wounded GPS team 157-158. Leading the charge was N. Stevens (again) and G. Martin. Had K. Capai shot his normal score this would have been a blowout, but his score was not needed. This puts the Bulldogs at 5-2 in the MAC Red and 5-3 overall. With today’s win the Bulldogs pull into a share of the lead in the MAC Red heading into the last 2 matches. If we win the last two matches (Ford is still 0- the season) we will hold a third consecutive title.

Also, the JV improved their record to 6-1. Things are looking good for the Bulldogs for years to come.

I’m a day late on this. So that means that I’m either completely overwhelmed this week, or I have it all under control and don’t feel like bothering with this exercise. You decide.

Tuesday: Bible study in the AM. Work on my LF talk, handle retreat details, push the Croatia 05 agenda… In other words, regular work. Golf match vs. GPS. It’s also Megan’s first day of school all by herself. She couldn’t be more excited!

Wednesday: Finish up prep for LF. Golf practice. Finalize project for Huntington. (I’m a brown-noser… I’ll hand that bad boy in a week early just to piss everyone else off!)

Thursday: Send all my schedule stuff/final details to Camp Michiwana. Lunch with students. Mail in my registration for the Super Bowl. Golf match vs. GPN.

Friday: Hit the panic button and get all the running around done for the retreat. Leave by 4ish, start a kick butt retreat. (This is also the start of my 10 year HS reunion… I’m actually sad that I can’t go back to the Bend and check it out. I’m a curious guy and I really, really wanted to see how people are doing.)

Yesterday the guys placed 4th out of 26 teams at the annual Macomb County Invitational. Low rounds were N. Stevens at 77 and G. Martin at 79.

In other golf news, Eisenhower somehow beat Grosse Pointe South. What matters about this is that now the league title is back in our grasp if only we win out. This week we have a nasty schedule with GPS today and GPN on Thursday. If we win both, plus knock off Ford next Tuesday the title is ours… At least to share.

This will be quite a feat, but the players are all peaking again. I love to see that.

This is an abbreviated rant that I’ve been storing up for a while. (It was rekindled in a grad school class last week.)

The idea that Christian parents have a responsibility to hide their children from the world and worldly ideas permeates evangelicalism. In actuality, it is a dead and rotting fish at most churches. To say that the homeschool movement among evangelicals is interesting is completely misrepresenting a fact. Homeschooling, and it’s twisted sister Christian schooling are a cancer that we call “good.”

Despite the rhetoric of the past 25 years in the evangelical church, it is not good to separate from the world. It is good to raise up a child in the way that they should go. It is good that education does not end at the stoop of the door. It is bad that undereducated parents think that a few books published by fundamentalist are equal to a professionally trained and licensed teacher. To think that these two “alternatives” is better for children is simply a lie. Let’s quickly expose some myths.

A parent should be the primary teacher, and is equally capable of instruction on all levels. Even in biblical times, there were extra-family teachers. Jesus was found at the temple with Rabbi’s and teachers. Certainly a large part of education starts and ends with family… But the bulk of education in the 21st century is rightly done in an educational institution. The thought of parents teaching high school students should make all of us shudder.

Parents have a responsibility to protect their children from non-scriptural teachings. True. But what then is the point of entry into the real world? Junior high? High school? College? The parental argument stems from “they are too immature to handle pressures.” Again, a lie not back by scripture. The best place for students to enter the world is under the care and direction of parents… Do it early while they are still engaged in life with you. It’s terrible to see these homely children on college campuses.

Parents have a right to withdraw their children from public school. This is a shortsided and faithless front. True, you have the right… But is it right? What about removing Christian parents from the local schools? What about all the Christians who aren’t on local school boards, PTAs… nevermind the billions of dollars that these “cults” take away from public schools. No where in the Bible are we commanded to withdraw from the public arena. Those dollars, those hours, those fights belong in the public arena! How dare some selfish, seflrighteous parent withdraw for the greater good of their children when God has placed them in their communities as salt and light!

Christian education is on par with public education. This is a terrible myth. Most evangelical school teachers are not certified to teach the subjects they have to instruct on. At the secondary level this is devastating. We are raising a generation of numb-skulled Christian students who have no chance of competeing with their public school peers.

Repent, withdraw you child from homeschooling and private education and enroll in your neighborhood school. Volunteer at your local school. Take the $5000 you are giving to some church run, half baked school and invest it in your public school. Shut down all Christian schools and donate the money to build better classrooms, libraries and gymnasiums. The greater good needs Christian parents to get their heads out of their little holes and get to work.

This is only the infancy of my rant. I wish I could continue, but alas I have to go and volunteer in place of some parent who refused. (I do so gleefully and with honor!)

Let this be the first of many updates on an important project in the life of my ministry.

So far I have had nothing but green lights on the idea of taking a small team of my students on an international mission trip next summer. After snooping around at all the youth missions organizations I fell back to my alma pater… My father-in-law and SEND International. SEND is a fine organization and the only reason I didn’t initially seek them out is my innate fear of nepotism.

I was provided with two “off the top of my head” options, one to Russia and the other to Croatia. After consulting with the mission committee last night they firmly recommended that I look into the Croatia option as something they would support wholeheartedly.

So far, I’ve made very positive with SEND. Don Johnson (who I’m certain must have an assistant named Tubbs!) is on the case and looking into options for us. Here is a basic outline of what we intend to do.

• 5-8 students aged 14-19 years old. All candidates will have at least one short term trip under their belt.
• 14-17 days away from home
• $2000-2500 per person
• Ministry with missionary children as their parents attend an annual field conference
• Additional ministry opportunities through the local church
• Hooking up with Romeo missionary Gene Whiting.

More on this to come, I am certain of that!