Shameless Plug

Ok, so I really don't want to use this blog space for announcements and stuff, but I am getting really pumped for the Youth Conference we are going to on November 16th & 17th. I've been looking online at info on the group that will be leading the conference - OneTimeBlind - and it has been like getting reacquainted with old friends. OneTimeBlind is this incredible drama group who used to perform at all of the CIY conferences until about four years ago...and then they dropped off the face of the planet. But now they are touring around, doing different conferences, and they are leading the Youth Conference at Windermere!!! How exciting!!!

Here's one of their skits.



So, anyway, the conference is going to be amazing. I really love how OneTimeBlind communicates truth in such a conversational, real-life sort of way. I mean, I think that is really what we are all looking for - a way we can understand how Jesus and God and the Bible really relates to my life. I was talking to a student last night after service and he was saying how he has went to other churches and they just feel "preachy", like they are talking some foreign language.

I was listening to a podcast from Rob Bell, pastor at Mars Hill Bible Church in Grand Rapids, MI, this morning. He was talking about how truth isn't so much about the words as it is about the actions that the words produce. He was saying that what we believe isn't found so much in our written-down-hung-on-the-wall-in-Grandma's-needlepoint statements of belief, but in what our lives really look like. That really challenges me. So often I am so worried about making sure I say just the right thing in just the right way. When I'm preparing a message, I often feel like I need to make sure I put certain words and phrases in there. But does my life reflect those words and phrases? What truths and beliefs does my life speak about?

I really pray that you get to come to the Fall Conference with us. I also really pray that all of us who go are brought to a place - a crisis of belief - where we have to apply truth to our lives. God Bless -m.e.