What are you going to do about it?

It's funny how fast things become old news.

It was less than a week ago that we went to The Rising in Memphis, and yet already so many great things have happened this week that The Rising stuff almost doesn't seem current.

...but I want to share and solidify some of the things God did last weekend lest they be lost in the ADHD world I live in!


I saw a group of teenagers and young adults get moved out of our comfort zones. There were so many ways this happened. From the long van ride to the interesting accomodations to the very urban multicultural feel of the conference to working outside in the cold & wet to having our van broken in to and some of our stuff stolen.

And yet no one complained. No one refused. No one asked to go home to their mommy. Actually they all embraced all of these things with joy and maturity.


I saw a group of teenagers and young adults love each other and those around them despite differences. And that was such the focus of the conference. And our group shined at this. There were no squabbles. There were no cliques formed. No one was made to feel an outcast. I don't know if this was a function of the conference or the group or the combo, but it was GREAT!


I saw a group of teenagers and young adults moved by a worship/service/celebration experience. As we went to Zion Cemetary to serve, I don't think any of us knew exactly what the time there was going to look like. And yet from the party atmosphere as we danced to Stevie Wonder's Very Superstitious (in a cemetary mind you!) to singing "O Come Let Us Adore Him" accapella as Carlos Whittaker led from the back of a pickup truck to the joy and reckless abandon with which the 450 of us there went to work cleaning up this old African American cemetary, I think we all saw a vision of what "CHURCH" is supposed to look like.


So we came back challenged to continue asking God to move us out of our comfort zones for His Kingdom, to continue loving those around us who are different than we are, and to creating a lifestyle of worshipping and serving in the same place so that this idea of "CHURCH" can continue to expand.

Pray for us.

My Day of Rest...

We had a great weekend at The Rising in Memphis. I'll try to post more on that in the next couple of days.

(And hope to have a highlights video for us at tomorrow night's service!)

But yesterday I took a day of rest after a very full weekend.

Here's what I did:

I hung out with some Mennonites. (of course I can't show you a picture of that!

I played hide & go seek with my kids.


(can you see me?)

Went grocery shopping. (I know. That doesn't sound like rest, but it was a fun time with my family;)

And then my wife made me one of my favorite meals - Brats w/ Sauerkraut!!!


And my kids enjoyed it too!!




So what do you do for your day of rest?

Welcome to the Weekend!

I'm praying for disruption in my life.

It's really a prayer culminating from various factors that all have seemed to converge on this weekend.

Factor #1: THE RISING.

As you read this (if you read it when it posts and not like three week later:) I will be in Memphis, TN with 10 young people going to this conference focused on bringing Jesus into our everyday life. There is going to be teaching, an incredible service opportunity in downtown Memphis, and worship led by Carlos Whittaker.

And here is a video from Carlos about that worship...



Factor #2: DOUG IS IN ISRAEL...SO I'M PREACHING SUNDAY!

I don't know why but it always seems that I get to preach the Sunday following Youth Events. We don't plan it that way - it just happens. And that usually means that I'm all pumped up from challenging teaching and caffeine.

So as I was starting to get my head around what I was going to teach on for Sunday, I saw the above video and was really moved & challenged by what it said. Then I found myself reading this book by Francis Chan called Crazy Love and was just leveled by these two chapters on being lukewarm.

And as I started putting the pieces together for the message I realized I would be preaching on this stuff the same weekend that I was going to this conference on stepping out of our comfort zone to bring Jesus to our world, getting to worship with Carlos Whittaker live, and showing the first teaser video for our post-Easter message series Do Something!

So...

Factor #3: MAYBE GOD IS UP TO SOMETHING

God is always up to something, but I think I so often miss it. But with all of the factors I see Him moving together, I really believe He is getting ready to do some exciting things in our lives, our church and our community...and I DON'T WANT TO MISS IT!

So I'm praying that God will do whatever it takes to get me out of my comfort zone, undistracted, disrupted, so I'm ready.

Will you join me?

Screw-ups Anonymous....

Hi. My name is Mark and I'm a screw-up.

I make mistakes. I say the wrong things. I offend people. I break stuff. I worry...alot. I have bad thoughts. Sometimes all kinds of bad thoughts.

And I know and trust in God's forgiveness. But that doesn't make it any easier sometimes to know that I'm a screw-up.

So I'm sitting here tonight, knowing that God is wanting to do amazing things in and through my life this weekend...

And I just can't stop thinking about my screw-ups this week. About how people are reacting or going to react to things I've messed up.

So does that mean that I only really trust in God's grace when I don't feel like I really need to be forgiven? Does that mean that I'm really just trusting in myself to be "good", all the while saying I trust in Jesus?

So I'm deciding to stand on the truth of God's grace today. As it is a reality that God forgives me. Not based on my actions or my feelings or my worries. It is fact.


How about you? How are you dealing with God's forgiveness this week?

What Will You Do: THE VIDEO!

Which Way Is Up...?

I read this the other day:

And now the LORD says,
he who formed me from the womb to be his servant,
to bring Jacob back to him;
and that Israel might be gathered to him—
for I am honored in the eyes of the LORD,
and my God has become my strength—
he says:"It is too light a thing that you should be my servant
to raise up the tribes of Jacob
and to bring back the preserved of Israel;
I will make you as a light for the nations,
that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth." (Isaiah 49:5-6 ESV)

...and I was excited! This is the kind of stuff that grabs my heart. God wants to expand the vision: "I'm not going to reach just one nation/person/community; I'm going to reach the whole world! And I'm picking you to be a part of the mission!"

It get's my blood pumping. It captures me.

Because it's a reminder that God wants to use little ol' me (and little ol' you!) to accomplish his great purposes. To reach the nations. To set the captives free. To make another world possible. And that is exciting to me!

Our tag line at 180 Youth Ministries is "Turning the world right side up!" And that is the hope we live by, that God wants to turn our upside down lives right side up...and then use us to help others get turned around as well!

This year we are creating an opportunity for you to do that and share it with others. We have compiled a list of "Things We Will Do For the KINGDOM in 2010". We have them posted on our walls at church.

The plan is for you (or you&your friends or you&your family or even you&your enemies!) to pick one something on the list to do and then share that with us through a picture or a story or a video or some origami or whatever seems to fit best!

The first one we did was to hold a Game Night on New Year's Eve and collected donations for Rapha House. Here we are at midnight!



So we want to help get you involved in this! This week we want to ask everyone to work on the same item on the list: "#23: Take a Picture of Yourself with the Number 180"...as a reminder that God wants to turn our lives right side up and use us to do that in others lives.

And then we want you to share that picture with us! You can post a link in the comments here on the blog, post it on my FaceBook page, text it to at 417-733-3008, or email it to me at ministryonpurpose@hotmail.com

I'm excited to see us start bringing the KINGDOM!
God bless!

This Weekend...

This past weekend we...

had a lovely brunch with some friends,



caged a cat,



used last season's garden debris to dress-up as our favorite animal,



played a mean game of Chutes And Ladders,



and finished reading our favorite Laura Ingalls Wilder book to date, Farmer Boy.



What did you do?