Just a Middle School Guy

May 2011 prayer

2011-06-06T08:55:00.002-05:00

This last months time in the Lord's Word has been very interesting to me. These prayers reflect some of my thoughts that I brought and still bringing to the Lord:

Lord, there are days that I really don't understand my fellow man - open my eyes to what I need to see.

Lord, I want to know your word so that my insides will be clean as snow.

Lord, I beg you change me from the inside out. And if it is only the inside that changes and no one sees that - may that be my prayer!

Lord, may your kingdom be in me always.

Lord, I want to be a little child in your kingdom - pls open my eyes to see you as a child sees you.

Lord, may I be a delight to you as my children are to me.

I pray that I open my heart to fully hear You.

Lord, open my eyes to those I should see and not just pass them by

Lord, may I honor you with all that I have.

Lord, may I not miss the different miracles you have done - even today.

Lord, there are times where I need a firm look from you to hear you - open my eyes to read that in your word and respond.

Lord, may you find me with fruit in my hands rdy to give you at all times.

Lord, I'm scared that I'm going to misrepresent you.

Lord, open my eyes to your word each day so that I might grow in it for your glory.

Lord, keep my eye on what is forever and not on what is temporary.

Praise be to you Lord for giving me the Words I need to say when they need to be said.

Lord, what I'm to learn help me learn - the rest I can do without.

Lord, your words will last forever - may I share them that way.

Lord, open my eyes to the truth and may I not run from it but turn it over to you.

Lord, may people know your truth from the young.

April 2011 prayer

2011-05-02T13:25:00.002-05:00

These are my simple prayers to the Lord after each of my devotional times this past month.

Lord, open my eyes to see how to pray to you.
Lord, May I listen to your words and obey them – bless me Lord to do that.
Lord, you light in me - make it ever brighter.
Lord, I need your wisdom to take the next step.
Lord, open my eyes to why you have given to me what I have & what you want me to do with it - I want to be a good steward of all that you have given me.
Lord, help me to balance prayer, care, & share so that care doesn't overcome the other 2.
Lord, use me.
Lord, may I be fruit producing.
Lord, thank you for playing by your rules, help me to understand what I need to so I might be a player for you.
Lord, I hear your word but I don't always obey it - I'm sorry lord forgive me please.
Lord, may you help me understand your blessings.
Lord, may I evaluate all that you have given to me & may I put it out your feet.
Lord, change me.
Lord, there are days that I really don't understand my fellow man - open my eyes to what I need to see.

SYMC 2011 pre-thoughts

2011-03-03T09:51:00.000-06:00

Here are some of my thoughts before the conference.

8th grade night on Sunday video

2011-02-13T16:25:00.003-06:00

We did something different for our worship time. Check it out here:

Here is a picture of the complete mural they made:

New Prayer update for 2011

2011-02-07T11:49:00.005-06:00

After talking with a number of my middle schoolers the idea of praying has come up. I shared with them that I enjoyed sharing the prayers I did from my devo time and they wanted to see them. So I'm back on here to share those prayers. This might be all that I put here for now.

Here are some prayers from my devo time from the beginning of 2011:

Lord, may I be an instrument in your hands to share the gospel to all those in my influence area.

Lord open my eyes to what I must seek - glory, honor, & Immortality and what I must avoid rejection of truth & following evil.

Lord, open your word to me more than ever so that I might be useful for you in all that I say and do.

Lord, may I be worthy of being credit righteousness.

Lord, may I be seen as a righteous man - not because of anything I have or will do but because of what you have done already.

Lord, open your word to understand what your righteousness means. May Your truths start to impact me more and more.

Lord, I'm a wretched man (Rom 7:24) & I need you to take care of me and my sin - walk with me and guide me to your truth in all that I do.

Lord, help me remember todays truth from your word today and always - so that when suffering and pain come I can glorify you in it.

Lord, I'm hoping for many things right now and I wait patiently for your answers - your will be done.

Lord, sometimes I really don't understand what you have for me - open my eyes to see what you want me to see and help me be comfortable with that.

Lord, may your righteousness be seen in me.

Lord, introduce me to those who feel alone so that I might be your instrument to let them know they are not.

Lord, I'm so unworthy of you - I so need you to constantly love on me & forgive me - thank you for your grace that so overwhelms me - always.

Lord, open my eyes to see you in your Word and may it penetrate my soul more than ever before.
Lord, may your righteousness shine out from me so your Kingdom might be seen.

Father, open my ears to hear what I need to hear.

Lord, may the light of your goodness shine so bright that the darkness that evil brings cannot exist.

Lord, there have been many signs that you have interacted with people on the earth since the birth of John, but I have to say there are times in my simple life that I wonder if you are wanting to reveal yourself again. I know your spirit lives in us but there are times that the mystery of all that feels like nothing. You are God and you are real and you love us help me with my weakness of feeling like nothing.

Lord, open my ears to listen carefully to everything I hear from my middle school kids & from my family.

Lord, I am so blessed to be your son – thx

Thank you Lord for creating me and allowing me to share your love and truth to your creation.

Lord, may I open my eyes to see what is happening around me - help me not miss what you are trying to share with me.

Lord, help me to know my next step to grow for you and then may I do so.

Lord, may your good news spread through me in to every part of my being.

Lord, I don't want to miss “it” and I want to “get it” - all about you.

Lord, I'm here and I want to be doing what you called me to do - open my eyes, ears, & heart to that calling more.

The end of this blog - for now

2010-10-29T22:02:00.002-05:00

I've moved my blogging to help w/a blog for middle school/jr hi guys/gals. Click HERE to go to the Junior High Ministry Blog - from now on all my blog posts will be on there. Thanks for reading my blog

MESSFEST2010

2010-08-27T16:16:00.002-05:00

I know there isn't many of you who check this blog but for those who do here is a slide show from this years MESSFEST2010

Prayers and Review of June 2010

2010-07-12T11:27:00.004-05:00

As I started this month’s prayers I had the difficult privilege of officiating a funeral and at the end this month’s prayers I had the difficult privilege of officiating a funeral. It has been an interesting time of praying to my Lord - He has allowed me to learn & grow & I’m thankful.

Lord, my I look at your Word and learn all that I can about you.

Lord, I need my mind open each day to your Words of truth and love - help me PLS

Lord, may I search out and find wise council as I think about what my next big steps in life will be.

Lord, may I listen to your wisdom & then follow her with all that I have.

Lord, I need your discernment concerning wisdom - may I long for it because of You.

Lord, open my eyes to see how it is best to honor you and give to who needs to be given to.

Lord, I long for your wisdom to be placed in my heart even more - show me how to do that.

Lord, as the sun raises today I want to thank you - may your wisdom rise in my as well.

Lord, open my eyes to see your ways and be guided by your wisdom.

Lord, I'm sorry that I so often sin against you – thx for forgive me.

Lord, thank you for parents and their dedication to raise their kids right.

Lord, you are the wonderful Father.

Lord, help me to turn my heart away from those things that you hate & toward things you love.

Lord, I need you to keep from being simple and foolish - open my heart to understanding of you better.

Lord, I need you more than ever - help me to listen and wait on you.

Lord, make I never be a scoffer but a wise man ready to receive rebuke so that I might be better at being Mark Eades for God.

Lord, Your wisdom is so much greater than mine - may my lips be used by you today.

Lord, may my words share your love & truth to all I'm around.

Lord, may I help Your body work together to move your love and truth forward.

2010-06-23T12:36:00.001-05:00

I just sent this out on the facebook page - http://www.facebook.com/search/?post_form_id=1d7e4f778fbff6d735d97412a019171a&q=&init=quick&ref=search_loaded

I’m the middle school youth pastor here at New Covenant Bible Church & good friend of the Karamitors family. There are some great joys of being a youth pastor. To see a young person come to know the Lord in a personal way is one of those joys. There are times also that are hard – I’m in one of those times. I made a phone call at 11:45am central standard time to Mike Karamitros (Patrick’s dad) and he said, “Patrick has passed on.” When I was visiting the family I shared with Mike that when Patrick closed his eyes for the last time he was looking into is earthly father’s eyes. When he opened his eyes in his new heavenly body he was looking into his Heavenly father’s eyes. When the family will return to Cedar Rapids and funeral arrangements are yet to be determined. The family requested that Patrick’s organs be donated and a match has already been found for Patrick’s eyes. Patrick’s deeds on this earth in serving His heavenly farther have been many & as time goes by I know all of you will have a chance to reflect and think about these things. I leave you with this thought from Revelation 14:13 “Then I heard a voice from heaven say, ‘write: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on. Yes,’ says the Spirit, ‘they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them.’”

Mark Tip #2

2010-06-18T15:50:00.001-05:00

For Mark’s tip this week I went back into the archives of Pastor Mark’s past & pulled up a wonderfully old book. “Too Youth to Drive, Too Old to Ride” by Gary & Angela Hunt is a must read book for anyone who have, works with, or interacts with middle school youth.

The Hunt’s put together I think one of the best ways for us as adults to help middle schoolers discover their identity and I wanted to list it here:

1) Prevent premature closure. Avoid using labels such as “You’re no good at math.” We have to keep reminding our children that they are worth infinitely more to God than any evaluation parents or friends pin on them.
2) Expose tweens to various constructive and healthy adult role models.
3) Remember to show joy and pleasure in your life and work and in your adult sexuality.
4) Help kids arrange priorities for their capabilities.
5) Grant recognition by giving honest approval for the things they do well.
6) Screen your own expectations of them. Make sure you are not prompting them toward something that is out of their depth.
7) Reassure them and yourself that adolescence does involve some suffering.
8) Talk about your Christianity. Describe your own life experiences that have brought you to your conclusions.
9) Above all, make sure that during this time period you build up their identity in Christ rather than their identity based on how well they perform.

Mark's tip #1

2010-06-11T15:31:00.002-05:00

We have made some communication changes here at NCBC. Because of those changes I'm going to be placing my weekly "Mark's tips" that are usually emailed out to parents here on my blog. Then we will point parent's to this blog to get their weekly tips. I can't promise that each week I will have a tip but I will try very hard to do so.

This week’s tip is a web site that I’m learning how to use. It is a great place to get ideas of how to talk with your kids about online safety, to get suggestions on how to set up filters to protect your kids, and much more. I found its suggestion on how to make a PACT in your family very helpful with my children. Check it all out at http://www.getgamesmart.com/. While you are checking it out let me know what you think in the comments below and if you have any other helpful web sites that has impacted your family please share.

Prayers and Review of May 2010

2010-06-07T15:18:00.002-05:00

Another month of reading and praying through the Bible has happened. I'm close to being finished with the book of Luke and it has been a wonderful journey. Here are the prayers I came up with:

Lord, your Word has so much in it - help me to keep digging for more of you there.

Lord, may I proclaim you to all that you allow me to interact with.

Lord, may you be seen through the everyday stuff I do for you as well as the above and beyond stuff I do.

Lord, you play by your own rules - help me to be a good player for you.

Lord, thank you for having other people go before me who read your word and worked hard to understand it so that I might grow from what you taught them.

Lord, I need my heart changed - help me find my more about what I'm here for.

Lord, you are always good & I always need you - open my eyes to daily seeing you.

Lord, open my mind to your truth and please pour in your truth.

Lord, I need your peace, patience, strength, and wisdom to keep walking this journey you have placed me on.

Lord, I want what you want me to have and that should be enough for me - help me to stay balanced.

Lord, may I be out spoken for you and you alone.

Lord, there are times where I need a firm look from you to hear you - open my eyes to read that in your word and respond.

Lord, I want to share your word with passion but in humility - open my eyes to see that daily.

Lord, open my eyes and train me to be the best I can be to teach your love and truth to all MS kids that I'm around.

Lord, I focus on myself so often & what I need to do is focus on you - I need your help Lord

Lord, may I be one who people hear your truth from - no matter what.

Lord, I'm a saint that sins - forgive me and strengthen me for the journey ahead - may I finish well.

Lord, may I stand at all times for you, but there is no way I can on my own - help me pls.

Lord, may I be a faithful follower of yours - always.

Lord, may I become friends with every person you want me to become friends with.

Lord, help me block out the worlds loud voice so that I might hear your quite truth.

Lord, may I be witness to all that you are doing around me and for me so that I might give you all the praise & point out You to all.

Lord, may I see you in everything that I say and do.

Mag report - GROUP (May-Jun 2010)

2010-05-19T14:13:00.002-05:00

Another GROUP magazine has graced my desk and here are some thoughts I had:

Something I liked: I really didn’t like this but I really needed to hear Steve Argue’s “Un/Orthodox” article about David Duncan’s book, “The Brothers K.” This is what I really needed to hear, “The mistake Mama (and I’ll add Mark Eades) – often make is not letting teenagers finish their prayers, their sentences, or their journeys.” Steve goes on to say, “Althought parents and youth ministers fear that teenagers are 'losing their faith, never to return (fear-based language), what they ought to fear is short-cicuiting kids' faith journeys.” Ouch! Thx Steve for kicking me where I needed it.

???: I like stats and the annual massive survey that group does is a great resource. But I really liked what Andrea Vincent said about some of the survey results. He said, “I think teenagers are simply comfortable thinking that others could help them with their faith issues.” This statement made me think that thou we have all this great information from so many kids we still need to remember they are all kids and that the survey needs to be looked at by us (adults) as just one peace of many to understanding our kids.

Key Statement: Steve Merritt said, “Consequences are the blue-light specials of adolescent development.”

Creative idea: Kurt Johnston introduced this great web site for cool stuff – www.accoutrements.com

Book Report on Communicating for a Change, by Andy Stanley and Lane Jones

2010-05-17T14:03:00.003-05:00

As a middle school pastor, the task of putting God’s truths into digestible pieces for 11-14 year olds to understand and apply to their lives can be a little challenging. I’ve read and used both Ken Davis’ book "How to Speak Youth" and Doug Fields & Duffy Robbin's book "Speaking to Teenagers" (Click here to read my review of Doug & Duffy's book). I have recently found another awesome resource called, "Communicating for a Change" by Andy Stanley and Lane Jones. I’m not sure where I heard about the book, but it has been on my “books to read” list for a number of months. I wish I would have read it much earlier. I have two big “takeaways” from the book and one quick thought that I hope to reflect on further at another time.

First, the thought: the opening of this book was more of a “turn off” than a “draw me in” idea. I like that there was an attempt to do something different to make it interesting, as the idea of a preacher learning how to preach from a truck driver was definitely different. But, for me, it just wasn’t a draw. I have to admit that if I hadn’t had some of my local friends recommending the book, I probably wouldn’t have finished it. However, I am very glad that I did. The two things I took away have been huge for me and I started using them immediately when sharing with the middle schoolers.

The first one is the whole idea of “Internalizing the message”- learning my message to the point where I don’t need a lot of notes. Andy stated, “You should be able to sit down at a table and communicate your message to an audience of two in a way that is both conversational and authentic.” I’m a huge note guy – I’ve always had a piece of paper in my hands as I share my thoughts. I have now been challenged by this and hope to be able to put my notes on the music stand and leave them there.

The second thing I took away was from the chapter, “Engage Your Audience”, where Andy and Lane talked about “slowing down around the curbs – the transitions are important”. They shared an important and simple concept for building a message: “ME-WE-GOD-YOU-WE”. Interestingly enough, that is how I’ve put together a number of my messages without realizing I was doing it. The one thing I haven’t done a very good job at is helping my audience go from Me to We, We to GOD, etc. I need to “slow down around the curbs” so I don’t lose my audience.

Overall, this book has reinforced what I have been doing right, challenged me to adjust and not get into a rut when putting together a message. I would recommend this book to anyone who teaches.

Final thoughts about the Orange Conference

2010-05-03T15:07:00.001-05:00

Got a chance to finally put a quick video together about the Orange conference. My face is a little dark but you can understand me:

Prayers and Review of Mar/Apr 2010

2010-05-03T13:59:00.002-05:00

I haven't done my prayer/review in a long time. The prayers I have posted here on my blog are from my personal devotional times. I did a different devo for a number of months and now I'm back to something I did earlier which includes these devo prayers:

Lord, may I slowly but constantly become fully comfortable with all that you want me to do.

Lord, may I praise you when I start the day and when I end the day - may everything that I do be about praising you.

Lord, I am your servant and I want your glory to shine out from me - not for me to be seen but for you to be seen.

Lord, as the days go by & I look to you forever thing that is good and true may your Holy Spirit work in me every second I breathe.

Lord, may I slowly understand more of what is happening on this earth, from the past, the present, & the future.

Lord, may my eyes be opened by you to see how to produce fruit everlasting for both myself and those you allow me to be around.

Lord, may I never stop ministering to middle schoolers until you are done with me and may I be ok with that.

Lord, may I stand strong during any test that the devil sends my way. May I honor you with each moment of my life.

Lord, no matter what you hand me, may I receive if with great joy.

Lord, may my words be trust worthy for anyone who hears them or reads them.

Lord, may you be glorified through me.

Lord, thank you for being a willing Father & that you have made it possible for all of us to have our sins cleaned.

Lord, open my eyes to those around me, help me see them the way you do - totally loved and desiring them to come to know you personally.

Lord, I need you to work in my heart; I want only to be a man after you.

Lord, may I hunger for you, may I laugh for you.

Lord, open my eyes to see those who are my enemies so that I might be a light to point out you.

Lord, help me to be all that Mark Eades is to be for your glory.

Lord, my I care for ever person I see.

Lord, may I be Mark Eades on this earth and may I be content with that - I humbly come to you asking for that.

Lord, no matter where I am I will bow before your feet to honor you with all that I am.

Lord, help me to be ok with what you give me - no matter how much or how little (thou I really have no idea what little is).

Lord, may I always remember that I have many brothers & sisters which include your son.

Lord, thank you so much for showing your power through your son, may I always honor you with that knowledge.

Lord, may I hold on to your truth and believe in your love for me - day in and day out.

Lord, if you think I need to take a break help me do that - if not help me not. Open my eyes to see how to best honor you with each step of my life.

Lord, open my eyes to your truth and help me be satisfied with that.

Lord, I'm sorry I haven't been spending time with you like I should - I want to meet with you each day & stay with you the whole day - help me PLS!

Lord, may I celebrate with all my brothers and sisters who are with you - even if they are not with me.

Lord, open my eyes to the stuff that you want me to get out of my life - then please give me the strength to remove it.

Lord, thank you for reminding me that no matter what is happening around me it is all about you.

Lord, may I be the long term solution for those around me who need a consist presence of you in their lives.

Lord, there are times in your word that I don't understand - help me to understand.

Lord, may I always be your follower.

Lord, may I be part of the crowd that you long to be with & not the crowd that wants miraculous signs.

Lord, look at my insides and help me clean it up.

Lord, I need you to balance me - help me to be aggressive and compassionate at the same time so that you might be known & I'm not known at all.

Lord, may you be glorified through all that I do.

Lord, may you find me waiting for you.

Lord, may you find me serving you in all that I do so that you may be honored and glorified.

Orange Conference day 3

2010-04-29T23:38:00.003-05:00

The day is done & the final day is coming. Here is my video thoughts from the day:

Orange Conference day 2

2010-04-28T22:56:00.001-05:00

The second day of the orange conference has come and gone. Here are a couple thoughts I have from this wonderful day

Orange Conference day 1

2010-04-27T16:13:00.002-05:00

Doing the Orange conference with the Children's ministry of www.newcovenantbible.org. I'll be doing a video diary of sorts explaining my experience with this conference. Here is the first video:

Middle school spotlight Sunday 2010

2010-04-25T19:44:00.003-05:00

The middle schoolers did an awesome job today in Big Church at NCBC. I was very proud of them. I had a number of pictures ready to up load on http://www.flickr.com/ but I again have had problems with it & have decided that this will be the end of using flickr for all my pictures. I will be trying a couple of other online picture albums and will update everyone who reads this blog about that. For now to see the pictures from the service please find me (markeades) on fackbook and friend me - then you can see all the awesome pictures and comments the kids, parents, & leaders have made. It was a wonderful day - God is good!

Is facebook to tempting

2010-04-23T13:55:00.003-05:00

One of our former intern’s (John Shadle - follow him on twetter at - johnshadle) here at NCBC found this great article about the temptation of facebook. I really liked the idea of doing an unplugged day & go do something physical. I sent this out to all my parent's of middle schoolers as one of my weekly tips.

Here is a taste: Every day many people do choose the hundreds of online friends over that one real friend. And what's truly sad is what we're teaching our nation's younger, more impressionable generation. Those born after 1990 have never known a world without the Internet, and it's clear they're fully ingrained in the culture of "right now."

To read the whole thing - click here

2010 Middle School Spotlight Sunday is coming

2010-04-21T17:22:00.003-05:00

Each year out wonderful church - www.newcovenantbible.org - let's the middle school ministry invade "Big Church" & share what God has been doing and is doing with our great kids. This coming Sunday April 25 is our day. I can't wait to hear the awesome worship team and the specials share their God given talent. I'm also really excited for the four 8th graders who will be doing the message.

We've got some cool logos for the message which is called - Wrapped Up!

Can't wait - the count down has begun

Mag report - GROUP (Mar - Apr 2010)

2010-03-22T04:51:00.002-05:00

Finally got a chance to finish GROUP Mar-Apr magazine after a great time at the Simply Youth Minsitry 2010 – here are some of my thoughts:

Something I liked: Rick Lawrence’s “crystal-balling 2010” article was very insightful. The trends youth will be going towards in 2010: ‘Family fusion’ rules, Narcissism rules, & Real rules are some thoughts I want to spend more time with in the coming months.

???: I just don’t like the phrase, “partnering with parents.” I read that a couple of times in this magazine. I really believe parents are the primary and most important people (and influential people) that our kids have. Every time I hear the “partner” idea it sounds like we are equal with parents - that just isn’t true. I hold to the idea that I’m a tool in parents hands for them to use as they fulfill their God given calling to raise their kids for Him.

Key Statement: Duffy Robbins said this, “I learned that I can often teach kids more about God by asking the right questions than I can by giving them right answers.” Really really good stuff.

Creative idea: I really liked Brandon Early’s creative idea called Digital Scavenger hunt – it the “take a pic” hunt with a great twist. Thanks Brandon for the idea.

8th grade night - third for 2009-10

2010-03-10T20:41:00.002-06:00

We had the chance to have another 8th grade night & what a night it was. I got a chance to see some 8th graders I normally don't get to see step up and take the lead. It was awesome. I was able to take a few pictures from the night and you can see them if you click the picture above.

SYMC Day last part final

2010-03-02T14:31:00.000-06:00

My final thoughts about the SYMC2010

SYMC2010 extra

2010-03-02T11:18:00.001-06:00

I got the privilege to be on the 127th live podcast at the Chicago SYMC. What a great time and here it is:

SYMC2010 Day 3 part 1

2010-02-28T07:51:00.001-06:00

Day 2 was great at the conference - here are some of my thoughts

SYMC2010 Day 2 part 1

2010-02-27T08:01:00.000-06:00

Here is my morning thoughts for the conference:

SYMC2010 Day 1 part 1

2010-02-26T07:36:00.001-06:00

I hope to be posting video comments about my time at the conference. This is my first thoughts before I leave:

Mag report - GROUP (Jan-Feb 2010)

2010-02-08T16:19:00.002-06:00

Here are my thoughts on the Jan-Feb GROUP magazine:

Something I liked: I enjoyed reading through Rick Lawrence and Mark DeVries article “The Monster-Magnet Ministry.” There was a lot of great thoughts and ideas for me to think through. The fourth idea of what makes a youth group an extraordinarily welcoming climate was very good. “Kids don’t really feel welcomed until it comes from other kids.” This made me really think about how do we help middle school youth feel comfortable making new/other kids comfortable in our group?

???: Kurt Johnston’s 3 teaching categories are wonderfully simple (I like that) but he talks about “felt needs” by saying “we simply put a wet finger in the wind to see which way it’s blowing..” to find out what are some felt needs middle school kids are feeling. I really don’t know what that “wet finger” is or what the “wind” is?

Key Statement: This is a great thought from Rick and Mark’s “The Monster-Magnet Ministry,” “We’ll feel awkward so you don’t have to.” Used that thought at our last retreat and it stuck for a number of our kids.

Creative idea: Rick Lawrence shared an idea from InterVarsity called Hands-On that I was able to modify for our last retreat.

Winter Retreat 2010 - a big hit!

2010-02-01T21:24:00.002-06:00

The kids really got out of the comfort zone and reached out to new kids. Click on the picture to see in picture what happened at this years winter retreat 2010 - Just Go For It!

EFIF (Eades Family In Florida) the final Days

2009-12-22T22:46:00.003-06:00

Here is the last set of pictures from our trip. We did a lot in those days but I didn't organize them into each day. Please click on the picture to see a long slide show.

EFIF (Eades Family In Florida) Day 4

2009-12-22T22:44:00.003-06:00

Here is the day that we all got to do Disney. Just click on the picture to see a slide show.

EFIF (Eades Family In Florida) Day 3

2009-12-22T22:41:00.002-06:00

Day 3 of this awesome trip. This was the day our wonderful sponsors (adult leaders for our middle school group) paid for Lindsey and I to go to Epcot.

EFIF (Eades Family In Florida) Day 2

2009-12-22T22:38:00.003-06:00

Here is day 2 for ya - just click on the picture

EFIF (Eades Family In Florida) Day 1

2009-12-22T22:35:00.002-06:00

Finally got all our pictures in http://www.flicker.com/ and am now posting them. Please click on the picture to say Day 1 of our trip.

8th grade - second for 2009-10

2009-12-21T13:00:00.002-06:00

8th grade nights usually happen on wednesday nights but this last one we got snowed out. So I asked the girls who were going to do it to share this last Sunday and they said yes. Wow did they do a great job. Here are some key thoughts from the lesson:

Lesson Topic: What is love?

Attendance: Average

Fun Factor - Good - Sundays are so different from Wednesdays

Volunteer Involvement: Below Average - lots of sponsors out for the holiday stuff

Music: Awesome - the kids on Sunday do such a great job

Lesson Quality: The girls did a great job and even had some fun visual aids

Length of Lesson: 20 min - just right

Student Response: Good - kids seemed to catch on to what the girls were saying - even had some aduince interaction at the end of the message that went realy well.

Favorite statment of the night: God loves us all the time & we are to love others the same way.

The girls used this simple little youtube video that explains most of what they shared with the group:

10 cool ideas to do at a party

2009-12-14T20:39:00.001-06:00

these are just some awesome ideas - good stuff.

Mag report - GROUP (Nov - Dec 2009)

2009-11-11T13:06:00.002-06:00

The newest GROUP magazine has come out and I’ve got some thoughts about it.

Something I liked: Rick Lawrence and GROUPS “exclusive Survey report” has some great thoughts from this past year’s survey. I strongly agree with the idea that our kids (and everyone really) need to have a real and personal relationship with Jesus to grow. I loved what he said after reading John 6:55, “A lot of people, not just teenagers, who want to merely fit Jesus into their lives, are repelled when they learn the price for following him…everything.” As I said on this GROUP mag post – “The need for our middle schoolers to understand their need for Jesus in their regular daily life is so key to them taking spiritual steps forward.”

???: Jeff Dunn-Rankin’s “lost at school” article made me think but also go “huh??” I like where he went on this article but I think there is so much more that needs to be done to help kids who have “behavioral challenges” then what was said. I know this is just an article but I wish there was more urls to look at then just a book recommendation in this article.

Key Statement: Rick Lawrence said this in his review of the exclusive survey report, “Give kids practice, practice, practice in articulating their faith. The best way to do this as a regular part of your ministry “diet” is to talk way less while asking way more questions.”

Creative idea: I didn’t know about this resource but I do now thanks to GROUP mag,
www.youthministry.com/webextras

Book Review - Youth Ministry in the 21st Century by Rick Lawrence

2009-11-02T17:11:00.003-06:00

I’ve wanted to read Rick Lawrence’s book “Youth Ministry in the 21st Century. ” for a couple of months now but have been wading through “Desiring God.” But finally I’ve finished Pipers book and got a chance to dive into Rick’s book. Wonderful stuff and the interesting thing to me is that a lot of what Rick talks about is things happening here at NCBC. Here are two things that hit me:
First thing that hit me was the need to have a place that kids can be themselves. “If students know they can stop pretending and be who they actually are, with people who actually want to know them and love them… well, they’re in.” I’m always talking with my sponsors (our adult volunteers) that they need to spend time with the kids outside of our “regular” time together. Rick points to the fact kids need caring adults in their lives. If the adults are willing to share their lives with the kids - real youth ministry happens. Rick said, “At the heart of modeling is a desire to make your life a story worth telling” and I would add hearing. This reminds me of one of Kurt Johnston’s jr hi ministry “formulas” –

Middle school students + caring adults = good ministry

The other key thought that hit me was the huge impact parents have on their kids. There has been so many times in my ministry where I thought parents were the enemy. I was so wrong in thinking that way and Rick really makes a strong point about this. “Parents are, by far, the best faith sharers, evangelizers, and outreachers.” As a dad of a middle schooler I’m starting to understand this even more – my 7th grade daughter does watch my wife & me – like a hawk. This also means the youth ministry needs to poor ourselves into the parents. Rick put it this way, “it’s just as important for you to invest in parents’ spiritual growth as it is to invest in your students’ spiritual growth.” This is probably the weakest part of our ministry – we really need to work on this more.

Book Report - Desiring God by John Piper

2009-11-02T14:43:00.002-06:00

I try to get a book recommendation each year from my good friend, brother in Christ, & mentor Mark Forstrom. This year he suggested “Desiring God” by John Piper – oh my! What a recommendation. Ever since I have had the privilege of being the middle school guy here at NCBC my spiritual life has be on a constant growth & I believe that I have matured in my faith more than I have ever in my life. Piper’s book has put me in my place of realizing that I’m really not that mature – at least not as mature as I thought I was.

I didn’t know how to put down my thoughts from the book so this time I’m going to put down a number of key thoughts that John Piper said in his book. The goal is for those thoughts are there for me to reflect, pray, and think on as my life continues:

“The chief end of man is to glorify God by enjoying Him forever.”

“I had never noticed that all enjoyment spontaneously overflows into praise…” quoted from C.S. Lews

“Praise is not an alternative to joy, but the expression of joy.”

“The aim of the Christian Hedonist is to be happy in God, to delight in God, to cherish and enjoy His fellowship and favor.”

“Because God is unique as an all-glorious, totally self-sufficient Being, He must be for Himself if He is to be for us.”

“The first thing we learn is that worship has to with real life.”

“The Word of God is not a trifle; it is a matter of life and death. If you treat the Scriptures as a trifle or as empty words, you forfeit life.”

“God is not looking for people to work for Him, so much as He is looking for people who will let Him work for them.”

“The great encouragement from John 10:16 is that the Lord Himself will do what is impossible for ‘poor and helpless worms’ like us.”

“This is God’s universal purpose for all Christian suffering: more contentment in God and less satisfaction in self and the world.”

“The deep things of life in God are discovered in suffering.”

“If we do not communicate that He is the goal and the ground of our joy in suffering, then the meaning of our suffering will be lost. The meaning is this: God is gain. God is gain. God is gain."

“The proper understanding of everything in life begins with God.”

Prayers and Review of Oct 09

2009-11-02T11:42:00.001-06:00

Spending time in October and November to read through John in KJV. I like looking at a number of different translations of the Bible because I believe it makes me think and strengthens me. These prayers came from of my reading so far:

Lord, may I be holy because you are holy

Lord, may you be my life so your light may shine from me.

Lord, may I be only who you want me to be and no other.

Lord, may I follow your order of things.

Lord, may I receive your truth always - may it penetrate deep into me.

Lord, may I desire spiritual food over physical food.

Lord, may you stir my heart so that I might follow you even more.

Lord, I want to be all about you.

Lord, thank you for all the miracles you have done and are going to do - may I always remember it is to bring you glory that they are being done

Lord, may I come to you when you call - even if you are calling me to walk on water.

Lord, I don't even pretend to understand you but I know that I desire you with everything I have - may I never stop chasing after you.

Lord, may your spirit flow over & out of me.

Lord, my I pay attention to you

Lord, may I hear you the first time and act as you want me to.

Lord, may I only follow you - my Father.

Lord, you are I am.

WOW!! Lord, thank you for my mind may I use it only for you.

Fall Retreat 2009

2009-10-14T22:32:00.002-05:00

At the request of some good friends I'm still going to put pictures on http://www.flickr.com/ & link them here. Click the picture above or here to see a slide show of the pics I have of our fall retreat.

8th grade - first one for 2009-10

2009-10-14T20:40:00.002-05:00

I have to say that I'm really excited about this group of 8th graders. They have a lot going for them & tonights 8th grade night really showed that.

Lesson Topic: Standing out in your World for God

Attendance: Average - It was a good turn out for our kids

Fun Factor - Excellent - the game was fun but the lesson was even funner

Volunteer Involvement: Average - great sponsor involvement

Music: Was Ok - the kids that lead did a good job but there is something missing that we need to figure out

Lesson Quality: Was one of the best lessons I've heard from a group of 8th graders.

Length of Lesson: 30 min

Student Response: low - the topic was solid and the lesson was good but the group was just not staying engaged like I wish they would have.

Favorite statment of the night: God's World or our world which one will you choice?

Prayers and Review of Sep 09

2009-10-05T11:03:00.002-05:00

Been reading through Exodus for my personal time with the Lord and I must say it has been very interesting to read. I was also very surprised how much of what I read felt new to me - as if I hadn't read it before. Here are my prayers from my personal study:

Lord, may I multiply my desire to honor you with everything I say and do - even if I am oppressed.

Lord, may I be your child. Lord, there are times in your word that I really don't get it.

Lord, may I celebrate you with all that I am no matter what the situation I'm in.

Lord, may I be a slave to you and you alone.

Lord, may my heart never get hard that you would have to turn water into blood for me to change.

Lord, may I never be detestable in your eyes - may I be your servant always.

Lord, may I be all yours.

Lord, I'm your servant - make me better.

Lord, you are able to change hearts and minds - may my heart and mind always be thinking about you.

Lord, may you raise me up to be all that I'm to be on this earth for you.

Lord, may I be ready for battle for you.

Lord, may you blast the enemies of your truth with your nostrils.

Lord, may I be directed by you to your instruction and may I follow them.

Lord, your word is all true help me to see that daily.

Lord, may I take care of my family the way you want me to.

Lord, may I walk after you constantly even if it is a long walk.

Lord, when I hear from you may I be listening with all that I have.

Lord, help me understand your sayings that you want me to understand and be ok with that.

Lord, may the widows and orphans in my life be cared for.

Lord, may you find me being fair in all my dealings.

Father - may I hang out with you every day - kinda like Moses did.

Lord, I'm a saint that sins - may my heart always be prompted to turn to you.

Thank you Lord for giving all of us different abilities to make a difference in this world.

Lord, in all things that you do and share in your word may I respond to them.

Lord, may I stop being all about me and be all about you - help me LORD!

Lord, may you show yourself in the way you want me to see you - always.

Lord, thank you for showing yourself to the people of Israel through Moses - that history is so awesome and important to me.

Lord, may I always be willing to bring what every you ask of me to you - with all that I am.

Lord, open my eyes to Your truths in my life so that I might move towards you more.

Mag report - GROUP (Sep - Oct 2009)

2009-09-25T11:44:00.002-05:00

Here are my thoughts on the newest GROUP magazine:

Something I liked: The interview of Marv Penner and his article, "The best practices of counseling teenagers" are awesome and we need to "remind yourself that we're not shrinks...we're shepherds."

Also, Megan Hutchinson's simple phrases of encouragement every kids needs to hear:
I believe in you
I am here for you
You are going to get through this
You can make good choices
You are talented, gifted, and rare
You matter

???: Jeanne Mayo used talked about goals and quoted a study of Harvard business graduates, "only 13% had goals, & only 3% of that group had written down their goals & an action plan." I remember hearing that when I was in college 10 yrs ago - just wondering if there are more recent studies out there about these stats.

Key Statement: Dave Livermore & Steve Argue made this awesome statement, "Kickoffs, events, & trips usually have a big workup, followed by a big letdown." How true & important to remember.

Creative idea: Stephanie Caro shared some great ideas to try this new school year. One of theme was to take the youth group to one school event per teen. We are doing something like this with our different groups that I think will make a huge difference in our kids lives - thanks Stephanie for the great idea.

Mag report - GROUP (Jul- Aug 2009)

2009-09-25T11:25:00.002-05:00

I'm finally getting caught up on all my simple reports. I've read a lot but haven't taken the time to do a report on what I've read. I'm committed to try to remember what I've read and this blog is my main tool to do just that. Here is what I picked up on GROUP Jul-Aug 2009 magazines:

What I liked: Greg Stier's article on "of strippers and missionaries" really was great. I loved this thought, "Equipping kids to consistently live dependent on Jesus is the best thing we can do to set them up for a lifetime of serving and sharing Jesus." The need for our middle schoolers to understand their need for Jesus in their regular daily life is so key to them taking spiritual steps forward.

???: David Hagan's "helpful hint" had a great idea - PEAK groups (Prayer, Encouragement, Accountability, & Knowing God) but he also suggest that the groups should have new leaders every 3 mths which I see as a weakness since the kids and the leaders wouldn't have a chance to really connect. 3 months just isn't enough time to make lasting impact in a kid's life.

Key statement: Duffy Robbins said this "God's not looking for savvy, hip people who know it all; he's looking for teachable people who are willing to have their eyes opened in new ways to his glory."

Something creative: Steve Case's article "The best darn Fall Kickoff idea...period" had a great idea when he shared that we could - "give kids a 'permanent' reminder of a temporary feeling" - temp tattoos are a great idea.

Prayers and Review of Aug 09

2009-09-14T12:20:00.004-05:00

I'm back to the Bible reading plan I started a number of years ago (if you want to know how this all started click here). I've made a commitment that I would read through the whole Bible using this plan. It will take some time but what God has been teaching me has all been worith it - thank you Lord. Here are this months prayers:

Lord, may your servants be all about you.

Lord, may I rejoice in all that you are doing in my life and in others around me.

Lord, thank you for clearing my vision and reaching out to me - I am yours.

Lord, there are so many different kinds of people on this earth, may I be open to all of them because they are all made in your image.

Lord, there are so many different kinds of people on this earth, may I be open to all of them because they are all made in your image.

Lord, may my focus - my purpose be about you more and more every day.

Lord, may I have a balance of learning your truth and applying your truth in my life and in those you put around me.

Lord, may I live a life full of glorifying you.

Lord, may I be involved in loving others like you do.

Lord, I want to understand you more - help me.

Lord, may I be your man - focused on loving and honoring you - always.

Lord, you are my life, may I only "work" to bring you glory and honor.

Lord, remind me to look people in the eye and have a desire to actually spend time - face time - with them.

Lord, thank you for making me - me and helping me understand I don't need to compare myself to anyone - I just need to be the Mark Eades that praises you.

Lord, may I be gentle and creative in the way that I spend time with my family and msers.

Lord, open my eyes to your truth more and more so that I might communicated the truth better.

Lord, may your servants keep learning and growing for your glory.

Lord, open my eyes so that I might be consumed by what you want me to be consumed by.

Lord, may I be your useful instrument for the gospel to my family, friends, & the middle school kids.

Lord, may I be pure in everything I do and say.

Lord, may I be a stone that is solid for others to stand on and not stumble.

Lord, may I share when I should share and stay silent when I need to stay silent.

Lord, help me to not just take everyone’s word for fact but keep my mind alert to your truth always.

Lord, may I open your word and drink it in like never before. I'm thirst LORD.

Lord, may I be on the "straight road" to You in everything I do.

Lord, may I grow in understanding you better, thank you for being so patient with me.

Lord, may your truth be found in me.

Lord, may I be about you each day, min, & sec.

Lord, may your complete love drive out everything evil in my life.

Lord, may your testimony shine bright from me.

Lord, your love is so much greater than I could ever think of - thank you & I love you.

Lord, may I focus on your goodness and stay away from what is evil.

Lord, may I be your man, full of what you want me to understand about you and the salvation you brought to this world.

Saying good bye is really saying keep going!

2009-08-12T22:41:00.003-05:00

One of the hard things but wonderful things about middle school ministry (and in many youth/children ministry I think) is having to "graduate" up your oldest group. Tonight we said good bye to our wonderful 8th graders of the class of 2013 (when they will graduate from high school). I wish I was a really good writer or poet to share about this group but I'm not so I will let the picture above say it - I love this group and I can't wait to see what God is going to do next in their lives.

Middle School Week by YS

2009-08-10T23:48:00.004-05:00

Youth Specialties is honoring middle school ministry this week with a week focus on middle school ministry on their blog called "middle school week." I'm writing this at NCBC's awesome Kid's camp that we put on each year. I take advantage of this camp to get connect with some of the new incoming 6th graders. This brought two thoughts to my mind and I hope this encourages you as it does me:

1) Long team is key to successful middle school ministry. Setting here seeing the team that is working these very young kids (2nd - 5th grade) is just awesome. I know almost every kid working that is here because they had been a part of middle school ministry.

2) You can have high expectations on your middle school kids - you just have to do it slowly and individually. Here at camp we have a number of middle schoolers who have a lot of work to do to make this camp function. There are some really high expectations on them and they are doing awesome - but I wouldn’t have asked most of them to do what they are doing last year. They are maturing and they are maturing quickly if we keep the expectations balanced and help focus them on Christ - watch out! they are going to rock.

Thanks YS(check out their web site here) for recognizing this great group of kids and may every middle school/jr hi guy/gal out there know they are awesome in my book!

Prayers and Review of Jun/Jul 09 - 1st update

2009-08-05T10:20:00.003-05:00

I'm in catch up and review mode. I've got a chance to finish looking over my key questions from my last 3 years of devos. There has been a lot of new thoughts and ideas that have come up and I have a lot more to think about. I'm both overwhelmed and excited that God has allowed me to go deeper into His word like never before in my life. I pray that this will continue even more. Here are some key prayers I have written down based on my review:

Thank you Lord, for coming to the earth and being a model for us to live by.

Lord, you are so much greater than my feeble mind can fathom.

Lord, may I plow ahead, not turning back, but looking forward to all that you have for me to do today.

Lord, may I become much more faithful as your servant.

Lord, keep me from focusing too much on my outside & not my inside.

Lord, show me how to use what you have given me to its fullest so that you might be glorified.

Lord, I’m your servant and you are my master, may you see fruit from me and may those around me see it also.

Lord, you know all things and you know what is best for me – open my eyes to what is best not only for me but for others around me as well.

Thank you Lord for helping me understand your Word better – may that never stop.

Lord, thou I don’t understand everything I do know this – you are in me and I thank you for praise you for that.

Lord, may you come in your perfect timing.

Lord, you know all things and will make all things new someday – may you find me praising you when that day comes.

Lord, I am yours, my I enjoy what you have given me.

Lord, you are my glory and all I have is yours – open my eyes to see what I need to do with the things you have given me.

Lord, may I follow your Word as the Holy Spirit teaches me.

Lord, may my heart always be soft to you and to your word.

Lord, thank you for being there for me no matter where I’m at.

Lord, I am all yours – may I be totally focused on you – always.

middle school mission trip 2009 - day 5

2009-08-01T20:20:00.003-05:00

Day 5 has come and gone which means the middle school mission trip is in the can. What a great trip - I'm so prond of each of the kids and the leaders who spent so much time with them. We cryed together, laughed a lot together, had some great devotionals, and had wonderful food from some awesome parents. I will be getting out a lot of thank yous in the near furture to all of those who helped make this mission trip so successful. If you would like to see a slide show please click here or on the picture above.

middle school mission trip 2009 - day 4

2009-08-01T03:05:00.003-05:00

What a great Day 4 for the trip. We had to leave the wonderful cabins we have been staying in and keep all of our stuff in the church mini-bus. It was a slow start of the day but relaxing and everyone was very upbeat. We got to the work site at Vinton where we divided into two teams. One team went back to the trial and laid a lot of mulch down on the trail. They also cleared more brush but this time it was a lot easier and fun to do. The other team got to pull more weeds at a local park. Right as the weed pulling team was leaving one of the local papers (Vinton Eagle) stopped by to interview them and take a picture. After the work was done we got to go to our hotel to enjoy some wonderful food, relaxing rooms, & fun by or in the pool. If you would like to see a slide show click here or on the picture above.

middle school mission trip 2009 - day 3

2009-07-31T22:34:00.004-05:00

Day 3 took us back to Vinton for 1/2 a day to work on the Vinton trail. This was the hardest day for us so far as it had rain some in the morning which made everything very wet and hard to work with. We cut a path through a the trail that was flooded out last year. I did get to use a chain saw but having to move all of that wood after we cut it up was hard. The other 1/2 was a long trip down to Kolana where we had a great time seeing the cheese factory (some of the kids had never tryed cheese curds before - can you say squicky), then to see the beutiful contry side and a wonderful meal. If you would like to see a slide show of the day click here or the picture above.

middle school mission trip 2009 - day 2

2009-07-31T20:42:00.003-05:00

On day 2 we went all the way to the city of Bell Plain, IA. Where we meet grandma and her daughter Mel. Grandma had her basement flooded out when the flood hit last year. About 2 weeks ago she finally got her basement ready to get stuff back down in it but had no way to move all that stuff or clean up her beautiful gardens - that was until we came and gave her a hand. Click on the pic above or just click here to see a great slide show of our time at grandma's house.

middle school mission trip 2009 - day 1

2009-07-31T19:45:00.005-05:00

Now that I have access to the internet I can start down loading pictures from our awesome middle school mission trip. The first day we had a chance to work in the city of Vinton, IA where we stacked over 6 tons of paving bricks on pallets so the city could then reuse them for their brick city roads. You can click here or click on the picture above to see some of the work and time we had together.

Middle School Mission trip 2009 - updates coming

2009-07-31T17:40:00.002-05:00

Been at the middle school missoin trip and haven't had internet access until now. Will have Days 1-4 up later on tonight - stay tune.

6th grade summer trip 2009 Day 3

2009-07-26T16:57:00.003-05:00

Well the day started out at Oarchard Hill Church in Cedar Falls, IA with a great services and then out to one of our sponsor's parents farm. We got to enjoy some games on the bus, wonderful food, and playing at the farm. If you would like to see a little slide show click here or the picture above. Great 6th grade summer trip.

6th grade summer trip 2009 Day 2

2009-07-25T23:50:00.003-05:00

Day 2 of the awesome 6 grade summer trip is over and everyone (except a couple of sponsors & me) are sleeping hard. We had a great time at the Lost Island Water Park where almost everyone got sun burnt, ate a great meal, and had a little cake for one of our girl's b-day. It was a little cold (with a lot of wind) but besides that it was a perfect day. If you would like to see a slide show click here or click on the picture above.

6th grade summer trip 2009 Day 1

2009-07-24T23:33:00.004-05:00

Well the day is done and what a great time. The kids really knocked themselves out (in fact they are all a sleep - ah quiet what a wonderful thing) at the Northeast Iowa Food Bank and everyone back home at NCBC should be very proud of them. We had a fun trip up to Waterloo, Ia with duck tape created characters that would fit in the sponge bob theme, we worked with all kinds of food and drinks at the food bank, got a chance to play outside in almost rain, and had a great time with the annual "great pillow fight." Click here or click on the picture above for a slide show of our day.

Round 2 of our summer trips - 6th graders ROCK!

2009-07-24T04:40:00.003-05:00

Today starts our next middle school summer trip for NCBC - this time we are taking our great group of 6th graders up to Waterloo, Ia. We will help at the North East Iowa Food Bank, stay at Orchard Hill Church, enjoy Lost Island Water Park, and have a great time at one of our sponsor's family farm. It's going to be an awesome trip and I hope to have daily updates on this blog again. Stay tuned.

7&8 grade summer trip 2009 Day 4

2009-07-21T20:54:00.004-05:00

What a great summer trip. Click here or the picture above to see the final pictures of the trip.

7&8 grade summer trip 2009 Day 3

2009-07-20T23:30:00.003-05:00

Well the day is done and wow what a time at st louis six flags. It took us all of 5 min to park and we actually had to wait 25 min before the open the park (we've never had that happen since I've been the middle school guy at NCBC). The kids and sponsors road more rides than ever before because the lines we slow short. To see a slide show click here or click on the picture above.

7&8 grade summer trip 2009 Day 2

2009-07-19T23:55:00.005-05:00

Well the trip to West County Community Church and the St Louis Zoo is over and what a great time we had. We really got a chance to be a part of the body of Christ in a different place than NCBC. With the pastor almost doing a back flip off the stage it was quite an interesting message. Then the St. Louis Zoo was just awesome and very big. All of us (including me) really didn't know what we were stepping into but we had some great memories. Enjoy a little picture show by clicking here or on the picture above.

7&8 grade summer trip 2009 Day 1

2009-07-18T23:19:00.004-05:00

Well the day has ended and the kids were just awesome. Some of the pics are of us having fun at Jellystone park (great place), on the road, & working in the gardens. Just click here or click on the picture above to see some of them. It was a great start of our trip.

The day before

2009-07-17T15:21:00.004-05:00

It's the day before our summer trips. Got a lot fun filled days ahead with middle school kids - check this out.

4 days - 7&8 grade summer trip
3 days - 6th grade summer trip
6 days - family vacation
4 days - Kids camp

I'm starting to add pictures for the trips. Click here (or on the picture above) of some of the pre-trip stuff we have going on.

Here we go!

Blogging again

2009-07-17T00:09:00.001-05:00

After a very long time I'm back at blogging again. For the 3 of you (hi mom) that are still reading this we have a number of posts coming. Summer trips are here and we will have a lot of pictures to put here for family to see. Be checking in regularly to see all the great pics.

Book Report - Breath - devotions for the youth worker's soul

2009-06-01T12:09:00.003-05:00

This isn't really a book that I'm review but a devotional that GROUP put out for us youth workers. I found it very moving and gave me a lot of the things to reflect on and pray about. Breathe - devotions for the youth worker's soul was exactly what I needed to help with the time the LORD gives me to spend one-on-one with Him. I share my prayers in my last two Prayer and Review post (click here and here to read them) that I lifted up to the Lord this past two months that show how this devotional affected me. I would recommend it to any youth worker or parent who is spending regular time with teenagers. One little note: there is a CD that goes with the book which has some great background sounds/music to go with the devotionals. But some of the songs (like track 3) is used a little too much for my taste.

Prayers and Review of May 09

2009-06-01T12:04:00.003-05:00

I was able to finish the Breathe Devos (from GROUP) this month. It was a wonderful time of reflecation and I think my prayers (see below) reflect that. I'm also getting close to finishing my review of key questions from my past 3 year devo time. The prayers I have put down really show to me how God has moved and changed me. I'm looking forward to what this next month will be like.

From the Breathe devos:
Lord, please keep pruning me so that I might be more and more like the Mark Eades you want me to be on this earth.

Lord, keep me humble, help me to love compassion, and keep me deep in your word so that I know what is right and how to share it clearly.

LORD you are my great daddy – you love me and you are proud of me. That gives me so much hope to keep moving ahead in everything that I do and go through. Thx Daddy

Lord, I have little doubt that you are going to do some incredible things in my MSers lives but I wonder about myself? I don’t want to become so engrossed with myself that I miss you but I also want to be the best Mark Eades there is – help me with my struggles.

Heavenly Father, everything is about and for you. Thank you that you are for me - that you are there when ministry is rich and satisfying and when it is not. Guide me through “good pastures” and keep me from fake “good pastures.”

Lord, I love you X3 and more. Help me to be faithful, to keep helping my family and ministry to “get it,” and to never stop trying to glorify you.

Lord, so often I let my fear of life take control of me and I feel so far from you. Lord, help me to constantly realize that there is nothing on this earth that can separate me from you.

Unity under You LORD is so important – may I help kids, parents, sponsors, my family, & even me move towards that always.

LORD, I feel so troubled so often, I’m so confused in what I should do, I feel like I’m hurting, and it seems every time I start to stand up I get knocked down again – HELP! I need you. Thanks for being there for me.

LORD, you can shine through anything – including my weaknesses. My I humbly come before you and allow you to mold me and reshape me – pls LORD.

Dear God, I know that you have a race all lined up for me and are asking me daily to run it with everything I can. I know also that by doing this you are doing things for me – thank you God and keep shining the light for me to take my next step forward.

Lord, may I open my spiritual eyes even more to see what you want me to see. May I be an instrument of “pray, care and share” in all that I do.

Lord, open your word to me and my I find you there as always. How faithful you are, may I become a faithful man and pastor to middle school kids.

Lord, I know that there is a prize awaiting me in heaven but I don’t often think about it. I think more about how I can honor you today with all I say and do – help me to keep that as my focus.

from my Personal devos:
Lord, may I live by faith and work hard for wisdom in my life.

Lord, I’m thinking through my relationship with my sister & how you say often in your word that we should treat wisdom like a sister – may I do that more and more.

Lord, may your wisdom be as a foundation to my life and ministry as pillars are to a strong building.

Lord, thank you for your sacrifice on the cross, help me to get to understand you better each day.

Lord, I want to become a faithful man, but I know I’m not – help me pls.

Lord, I am your child; help me to keep myself focused on only that.

Lord, it is a mystery how you communicate with your people, my I grow to understand that better and tell you I love you better.

Lord, thank you for being fully man on earth – may I be the Mark Eades you want me to be.

Lord, open my eyes to your ways in my life, may I sacrifice anything I have for your glory and to share your truth to others.

Lord, may I be all that you want me to be – so much so that others around me will notice and encounter you.

Lord, may I be useful for your glory until I’m used up here on the earth and then may I join you to praise you in heaven.

Thank you Lord for loving me - a great sinner.

Lord, I want my life to be about you – keep my eyes on you in all I say and do.

Mag report - GROUP (May-Jun 2009)

2009-05-11T10:10:00.003-05:00

I really enjoy GROUP magazine and the may/jun09 one has some great ideas and thoughts in it:

What I liked: Doug Field's had another great interview - this time with Katie Edwards (who I've had a chance to meet a couple of times at different conferences - great gale). Katie shares about the importance of adult leaders in kid’s lives and how to keep them for the long haul of youth ministry. "I think recruiting and training are kind of one-moment things, but developing leaders is something that happens over time." Great thoughts and a great article - thx Katie and Doug

???: Interesting enough last report I shared a statement from Stephanie Caro in his article "Big Worship" that I really liked. This week in his short article "Your office image" he talks about cleaning it up - to be more presentable to adults we interact with. For most youth pastors I know their office is something between a storage room and janitor closet that they didn’t choose for themselves but was assigned to them. It's hard to have a good office image when you aren't allowed an office in the first place.

Key statement: Jeanne Mayo shared a great statement in her article "musings on the recession" - "But what teenagers remember most are gifts of time and the heart, not the wallet."

Something creative: I really liked Jessie Oliver's idea of a prayer photo calendar and plan on using that idea this coming 2009-2010 school year - thx Jessie

Simply Youth Ministry did what?

2009-05-06T11:32:00.003-05:00

assail

Believe it or not Simply Youth Ministry decided to publish one of my articles. I know that sounds crazy from a C,D English student in high school and college. Thanks to my good friends Mark Forstrom and Kris Paulson you can click on the little icon in the left corner to read it. Mark & Kris are my editors who take my simple ideas and make them read well. Thanks Mark and Kris and thanks simply youth ministry for sharing these simple ideas.

Mag report - YOUTHWORKERS Journal May/Jun 2009

2009-05-04T16:21:00.002-05:00

I usually get GROUP magazine in earlier than YOUTHWORKERS Journal but this time YOUTHWORKERS got to me first - so I’ve read through it. I have to say this was one of the best YOUTHWORKERS I’ve read yet. Here are some thoughts:

What I liked: I’ve been a big fan of Mark Oestreicher (Marko) for many years. He shares a passion I have for 11-14 year olds. His article “The Feedback Void” puts into words thoughts I’ve been wanting to express to my sponsors (our adult volunteers) here at NCBC. I’ll be using this article to help create a language we can use during our trainings – thx Marko.

???: I really like the info from Richard Flory and Donald E. Miller on Innovators, Appropriators, Resisters, and Reclaimers but I’m struggling to see much use in my ministry setting. I’m sure it is just me but after all the highlighting I did I really didn’t pull something from it and I really thought I would.

Key statement: “A video can’t take the place of a caring adult who knows the unique needs of the youth attending the study.” This was a great statement in the article “The curriculum challenge help in choosing the best tools for youth group” I’m glad YOUTHWORKER put it in there.

Something creative: As I said at the start of this post I really like the mar/apr journal & one big reason was the focus shared in many articles of creating questions for the kids to work through instead of just lecturing them. I’ve been trying to do some of that for a couple of years and now I have some more creative ideas that I’ve found in this magazine for me to try out.

Prayers and Review of April 09

2009-05-04T11:27:00.004-05:00

As I said in my last prayer update post – I’ve been reading over some of my past journals to see what God has been doing in my life. Most of the prayers I have down are from that reading, but at the end of this prayer list I share some of my prayers from a different devo I’ve started. I’m going through GROUP's “Breathe – devotionals for the youth worker’s soul.” I haven’t done a book devo in almost 4 years and I’m curious and experimenting with this – time will tell what results will come from it.

Prayers from my personal prayer journal review:

Lord, may your refining begin soon.

Lord, may you never stop refining me – even when it hurts please do it.

Lord, I long for the day when you do the “great winnowing” but I pray that all those you have given me a chance to share life and your truth will be with me.

Lord, may I listen carefully and respond as my heart leads to you.

Lord – may my life be less and less about me and more and more about you.

Lord, thank you for helping me understand your word better – keep it up pls.

Lord, may I be ready always for you.

Lord, I need your guidance on balance between firm and humble – I don’t have a good one right now.

Lord, help me to see the difference between selfishness and honoring you.

Lord, to just think through and possible see how I have been transformed into your image more each day would be incredible.

Lord, it seems like no matter where I go people with power (even your people) get corrupted by it – don’t give me any power please.

Lord, help me see how to use your Word to discern life as Peter did.

Lord, I have so many questions and it seems every time I look for answers I get more questions than answers – is that ok?

Lord, may you keep getting stronger and may I keep humbly before you as this happens.

Lord, open my mind and my heart to your truth. Help me find the answers I’m searching for in your Word – Pls.

Lord, change me to be the best Mark Eades you want me to be.

Lord, open my eyes to your truth and may I not gainsay against it.

Prayers I’ve written based on the “Breathe” devo book:

LORD, you know how you made me and I want to be the Mark Eades you want me to be on this earth. May it be so – Amen!

Abby Father – you are my lord and savior – you have been molding my life into an instrument that can be maximized to impact others – but there is so much more to do – Lord keep molding me pls.

LORD, there are days that I feel warn out – help me to enjoy those days. There are days that I’m energized – may I use that energy up honoring you. Show me how to wear myself out for your glory.

LORD, thank you for making me – help me to see Mark Eades the way you see me and may I keep that image in my head so that I will think about the spiritual world more than the physical world.

LORD, help me to take the next step in my life – to honor you as a man, a husband, a father, and a middle school guy – show me the way LORD, pls.

Lord, I feel like I’m in a season of life that is so wonderful – I’m learning, growing, humbly coming before you asking nothing but for you to use me. May that be my prayer no matter how things change – you be glorified always.

Breadsticks

2009-05-01T15:54:00.004-05:00

Something just for fun. I enjoy bread - in fact I love eating it and I love making it (you can go here and hear a message in Big Church that used a sifter in the message). I've been to Olive Garden a number of times and really enjoy their bread sticks & I have said it is the best bread sticks I've ever had - that is until today. I have found someone who makes bread sticks that are as good as Olive Garden's sticks. In the little town of Alburnett, IA is a little gas/convenient store named "Leftys" and they make these bread sticks that are warm, taste, and just as good as Olive Garden's. I'll be going back there again soon.

Book Report - Simply Strategic Volunteers

2009-04-27T11:41:00.003-05:00

I've been reading Tony Morgan and Tim Stevens book "Simply Strategic Volunteers" for too long but have gotten some great ideas to use in the ministry God has place me in here at NCBC. As always I will keep this book report down to two specific ideas that I got from the book (though I have about 5 ideas) and I will add in one more thought as well.

Big idea number one - The need for me to always encourage my leaders isn't a new idea but Morgan and Stevens certainly reminded me that this is a huge deal. I have to admit I'm not very good and constantly encouraging people. One of the main reasons I have an admin is for her to keep reminding me (and often she does it) to encourage my volunteers. "Anytime you are given credit publicly or thanked for your leadership, always uses that opportunity to deflect the glory to God and the thanks to your team" is something that was shared in the book and something I need to keep in front of me always.

Big idea number two - I need to stay focused on a small group of volunteers and invest myself into them. I like this statement from the book, "It's about spending focused time with regular companions, and that can happen only if we limit the number of people who are within our direct span of care." I'm not saying that I only want a few sponsors interacting with me - I have an open door policy and I want any sponsors (and kid/parent for that matter) to feel comfortable to talk with me. But I do need to keep myself focused on a few people who I am willing to sacrifice almost any of my time for. This is just a very important reminder.

Final thought - I both like and dislike how this book was put together. It has 99 2-3 page long chapters which I thought I would like when I first started to read it. But since I only allow myself to read one book at a time I found myself spending a lot of time reading this book (I usually only read one or two chapters a night) because of how many short chapters there were.

"God never wastes an experience, no matter how horrific" or how wonderful and this book has been a wonderful read and I would recommend it to my youth ministry friends to read and have as a resource to impact their volunteers.

Daniel at the "Next Church"

2009-04-09T12:33:00.003-05:00

NCBC is in the process of building a new church outside the city of Hiawatha, Iowa. We are really excited about this as a church body and I got a taste of how excited my youngest (Daniel) is about it today. My day off is Thursday and that is the day that Daniel and I do a lot of "honey do" stuff together. Today as we were driving around town he said, "Daddy can we go to the next church?" Initially I had no idea what he was talking about but as we talked I figured out he wanted to see the new church property. If you click here or on the picture above you can see a little slide show of what we did together -we played on the hay bales, saw the ducks in the pod, and throw rocks in the pod. It was great time together and I'm really glad he is excited about the new place.

Prayers and Review of March 09

2009-04-06T10:56:00.002-05:00

This past month I started something new for my personal devotional times. I had over 22 pages full of questions, thoughts, concerns, etc from my past 2 years of personal devos in God’s word (click here to see how I started that). I wanted to spend time with the Lord again looking at those key ideas/questions I had and see if I have taken spiritual steps forward in my personal life. Wow, this has been an incredible month of review. I spent even more time in prayer about all of this and I put down a few of them here for me & you to read again:

Lord, may every good deed I do be seen as something you did and not me.

Protective Father, please defend us as we serve you with everything we have.

Lord, help me fulfill the requirements you talk about in Titus so that I might be found useful for your kingdom.

Lord, your time line is perfect and our faith is made complete through You only – thank you for working in our lives.

Lord, thank you for your word – may it penetrate every part of me both physically and spiritually.

Lord, as you gather people to your place who desires to honor you may I be one. I humble ask this of you – thx.

Lord, may your words be clearly presented to your wonderful children.

Lord, May I constantly put myself into your hands so that you might be glorified and I won’t sin.
Lord open my eyes to see what I must guard for you.

Lord, may I never shed the blood of an innocent man for He is made in your image.

Lord, nothing is impossible for you, may nothing be impossible for me as long as I’m in your will.

Lord, open my eyes to what you want me to see so that I might do what you want me to do.

Lord, may I be an example in and for the church to not drag our feet but to run to you.

Lord – don’t let me stay in sin but deliver me.

Deep Impact - impacted by Kids Against Hunger

2009-04-05T17:48:00.003-05:00

We have a wonderful group of middle school youth here at NCBC who are part of a group called Deep Impact. It is our "dig deep" in your relationship with God group. We do a number of things together and today we got a chance to work with Kids Against Hunger. What a great project for our kids. We packaged over 2000 meals to be shipped to different 3rd world countries that could use this food. Thanks to Dustin and Jennifer who have done Kids Against Hunger now for over 2 years in the Cedar Rapids area. (to see a quick slideshow of what we did please click the picture)

4th 8th grade night 2009

2009-04-01T21:26:00.004-05:00

I'm behind by one 8th grade night and so this is actually our 4th one for this school year. The game time, worship, and message was awesome. Here are some of the details of the night:

Lesson Topic: Courage
Attendance: Below Average - not sure where all the kids were tonight but we had fewer than we normally have.
'Fun Factor': Great time - we played a game that we have played before and the group loved it.
Volunteer Involvement: Average - great sponsor involvement
Music: Average - It was a good worship set but I would have liked 2 more songs
Lesson Quality: four girls shared tonight (see picture above to see 2 of them) and they knocked it out of the ball park
Length of Lesson: 40 min- girls' message was 20 min then we did some q/a time with the girls that was great and we finished with the 8th graders praying over the underclassmen.
Student Response: OK - tonight the group as a whole seemed more noisey than usual.
Favorite statement of the night: Courage is driven by the Holy Spirit more than what other people think about us.
(click on the pic above to see a short slide show of the night)

Communication lines

2009-04-01T16:25:00.004-05:00

I recently asked the staff at NCBC to send different "lines of communications" that they use.
Here is that list:

- email
- postcards (snail mail)
- word of month
- phone
- web sites
- bulletin boards/message boards (physical)
- pod cast
- Street signs/street bill boards
- radio adds
- tv adds
- face to face conversations
- body language...
- sign language
- telegraph
- Walkie talkie
- CB
- Two cans connected by string

What are some other lines that you use? Do they focus on bulk communication or individual communications

Mag report - YOUTHWORKERS Journal Mar/Apr 2009

2009-03-27T21:30:00.004-05:00

I finished reading the Mar/Apr issue of YOUTHWORKER Journal as I was flying home from the PDYM conference. I enjoyed the read more this time than the last issue. Here are some of my thoughts:

What I liked: David Livermore's article, "From IQ to CQ" was excellent. The idea of getting to know "the Other" is so important to me because I don't do it. I was convicted of how I deal with the kids I'm not like and I really want to do something about it. I have a chance to do that this next week as we have 2 new boys who are quite different from the boys we have in our ministry. It will be quite a challenge and I'm looking forward to it.

???: The youth culture update had a section called - of Men and Mice. It really made no sense to me and I really don't see a purpose or point for it in youth ministry. I must be getting old.

Key statement: I love this statement, "There are multiple studies documenting the fact that the stress level of ministry is on the same level as neurosurgery." This was said by Dr Allen Jackson in the article "Caring Amidst Crisis." I would really like to see some of that research.

Something creative: Dale Tadlock had a great article called "Blessed are they who Mourn" that really shared some creative way of setting up a funeral service that kids will be a part of that is kid friendly and helpful for the mourning process of kids.

PDYM 2009 - Final Post

2009-03-27T20:43:00.003-05:00

I'm sitting at the Denver airport with free WIFI (nice) but a sporadic connection (not nice) and wanted to get my final thoughts down from the great PDYM conference I'm coming home from. Here are my final bullet points:

1) I really like going to conferences but want to start doing them with my family. Next time I plan on taking my daughter Lindsey.
2) Nothing good happens w/out a team.
3) an idea I've had was put into words for me today - I need to care for my sponsors the way I want them to care for the kids - something I need to do better at.
4) Encourage X3 - "That was good youth ministry I just saw."
5) We need to move our sponsor meetings to different homes.
6) At the sponsor meetings have an agenda but be willing to flex on it as the meeting goes along.
7) Start looking over Bob's (our Sr. Pastor) sermon schedule and see if there are things we have done that I could suggest to him to use as illustrations for his messages.
8) Can't wait to get back with my family .

The conference was a great time to kick back and listen to other people's ideas and thoughts to impact kids. I’m looking forward to getting back to NCBC and being with the great leaders, sponsors, parents, and kids that are there. I love my church family there so much and this conference helps me see that once again.

Note: sponsors are my adult volunteers

Mag report - GROUP (Mar-Apr 2009)

2009-03-27T09:41:00.004-05:00

Read the new GROUP magazine on the flight to the PDYM conference at Saddleback. Here are a couple things that stood out to me:

What I liked: Doug Field's interview with Darren Whitehead really resonated with me. The importance of equipping parents to impact their kids' lives is huge. Here is something that really hit me, "We have to move more and more toward being family-based - to have a particular emphasis on helping parents disciple their own kids." Right on Darren Whitehead.

???: When I read Steve Merritt's article "Parenting Parents" I really had a love/hate reaction to it. I agree totally with the idea that we need to help parents. I'm not sure that many parents are going to receive these ideas from most of our youth pastors. Most of them are single/just married/just had their first kid/etc and that is awesome--but hard for parents to be parented by them.

Key statement: I really liked what Stephanie Caro said in her article, "Big Worship." "If your group isn't used to worship experiences and you suddenly introduce them, it will go badly. Avoid that pothole by bringing them in from the beginning - get buy-in."

Something creative: I talked about evernote often on my blog and here is a way that I use it. In the back of every GROUP mag is a section called "the rip out." It has ideas of how to use the current media to impact kids. I put the key idea, verse(s), and key words from those rip outs into evernote. Then when I'm working on a lesson on a given topic I search my evernote and there is something from a past GROUP mag about it I'm able to find it and use it.

PDYM 2009 - Second Post

2009-03-26T23:51:00.004-05:00

Another enjoyable day in Calf. Here are 10 more things that stood out to me:

1) I got a chance to spend the evening with my World of Warcraft friend Matt McGill
2) "On Your Own" or "On Their Own" is so important to for discipleship ministry to happen
3) I really want our middle school ministry to be a blast for our kids but I want their experience in sr hi to be even more fun which means we need to pull back a little in middle school - which the cool thing is we already do that.
4) Interesting that I came up with 3 action ideas when we talked through the ministry purpose but only 1 action idea with the other 4 purposes.
5) Surprised myself in how well I understand "purpose driven."
6) I really like how the PDYM people use names of current and former students and leaders to explain what they have and are doing.
7) Again the need for kids and sponsors to really know each other really makes a difference in finding the new leaders.
8) A student grows better if they are allowed to experiment - often.
9) Had a great breakfast, lunch, and supper and someone else paid for it!
10) Had a chance to meet all of the people on the Simply Youth minsitry podcast.

PDYM 2009 - First Post

2009-03-25T23:46:00.005-05:00

Got to California yesterday late to the conference but had a great time getting re-connected with people I know and meeting new people. It is so fun to meet and talk youth ministry. Here are some key reasons why I came to this conference:

1) The networking I will be able to do will reinforce the relationships I have with middle school ministers already and connect with new ones.

2) The chance to see and hear about new and different ways to impact middle school students will keep me from getting into a rut.

3) This will give me some personal away time that is longer than 2 days since I haven’t done a getaway like this since Sep 2007.
4) I hope to meet up with Matt McGill (my World of Warcraft friend.)

Here are some simple “take away”s I have gotten so far:
1) I had forgotten how much of what we do an NCBC is right in line with the purpose driven stuff. I love how we have such a great purpose as a church and our church family knows it.
2) There really is no "one way" to do ministry.
3) The need for ownership for my students and sponsors has to be a high value for us to be successful in impact kids.
4) I really need to take a group of my sponsors to a conference like this - the impact on our ministry would be ten times greater than it is with me only going.
5) I was a little surprised how often the statement "purpose driven" was brought up and that a lot of people take that statement negatively.
6) Evaluation of all we do is a high value.
7) Evangelistic baby steps create momentum.
8) Friendship evangelism needs events & events need friendship evangelism.
9) There is more to a crowd program than a program (People, Place, & Program).
10) I got a chance to meet Matt McGill and hope we can connect - he is really busy right now so it might not happen :(

Family get away - Spring Break 2009

2009-03-23T22:38:00.005-05:00

Spring break has come again and we are at a water park again as a family. You can see what we did the last two years by click on 2007 or 2008. This year we decided to go to the Grand Harbor resort and waterpark in Dubuque, Ia. It has been a fun time and everyone has a had a wonderful time making memories together. If you would like to see a short slide show of our time here please click on the pic.

Mag report - YOUTHWORKERS Journal Jan/Feb 2009

2009-03-09T14:56:00.004-05:00

I finally got a chance to finish reading the Jan/Feb issue of YOUTHWORKER Journal. For some reason I have a hard time reading through this magazine. I think the reason is that I don't feel like I'm the target youth pastor for it. The truth is I'm not and that is ok. I'm a middle school/jr hi guy and my focus is on that age group. This magazine really focuses its material on sr hi and college youth groups. Still I did get some great thoughts and I'm suggesting a few articles to our sr hi guy (Pastor Mark Forstrom):

What I liked: Walt Mueller has a powerful article called, "Our Kids are Stressed, and It's getting Worse." There is a lot of gems to think through in this article and some great research ideas on how to help our kids through stress (the key idea of the whole magazine). One big thought that hit me was when he was talking about parents. "It's a sad irony that those who should be our kids' first line of defense against stress are too often the first and deepest source of stress in young lives." Important stuff for us as youth ministers to help our kids deal with stress and part of that is to walk with our kid’s parents through stress.

???: Dr. Steven Todd's interview with Julia Duin called "Post-Church Christians" had some very interesting and important thoughts for youth ministry. But I can't help but wonder how some of what was talked about could be implemented in our current youth ministry setting. She said at one point when she was answering what youth pastor's primary focus should be, "Give these kids a realistic idea of what's ahead for the next 40 to 60 years." I can't hardly see what is happening in the next year and it seems to me that ever article, book, etc that writes about things to come (besides the Bible) is of little use. I just don't see how this is relevant to youth ministry, at least in my setting.

Key statement: Mark Oestreicher had a great little article on middle school ministry that had a great statement. "Really we're front-lobby tour guides: We welcome; we orient, we affirm and acknowledge; and we get them all the way to their seats in the grand showroom of the find-who-you-are convention of youth." This reminded me a lot of what Gary Eilts said about middle school ministry - read what he said here.

Something creative: Mark Cannister's review of the book "Sacredspace" by Dan Kimball & Lilly Lewin had me order the book. My worship team and I are going to read through it to see if there are some creative ways we can do worship. Even if we don't use any ideas from the book it should cause us to have some great dialog.

Book report - Reaching a Generation for Christ part 2

2009-03-04T17:03:00.006-06:00

This is my second report on the book “Reaching a Generation for Christ” that I’m slowly reading through since it is a very long text book and I want to glean from it a number of ideas. You can read my first book report here and then come back and read about this one.

I found two key ideas from part 2 “Structures for Youth Ministry” that really stood out to me. Both ideas came from Mark H. Senter III eight axioms of youth ministry.

The first key idea that hit me was the overwhelming importance of adults involved in students lives. “The Christian discipleship of students will not take place without flesh and blood relationships,” is a very powerful thought from the first Axiom. Throughout the different Axioms this idea of relationships with adults are talked about. But another important thought about relationships stood out to me as well. This thought was that we as adults working with students must be careful not rely on our identity to be fulfilled through the students. Mr. Senter put it this way, “adults must be willing to release students when spiritual independence is necessary.”

The second key idea deals with the maturing of the of the youth leader which must happen by letting go slowly of different parts of the ministry to other people. Axiom 12 really talks through this and even shares a three stage process youth leaders must go through to mature and thus have their youth ministries mature. I think these stages are a good outline but there needs to be more meat to these stages to really impact the maturing process. I really like this thought, “As a youth worker grows, the focus of his or her ministry must change from primary ministry to secondary ministry or else the effectiveness of his or her efforts will be severely limited.”

There are two more sections in the book about models of youth ministry that were a good read but didn’t have anything really stand out to me on. I’ll keep reading through this book and see what other insights might jump out at me.

Star Trek - 05/08/09

2009-02-28T11:40:00.004-06:00

I've always been a Star Trek fan and I'm really excited that a new Star Trek movie is coming out in May09. I've been watching all the old movies with my son and now I can't wait to see if we can watch this movie together soon. Here is a little taste of what this movie is about from their main web site: "a new version of the greatest space adventure of all times, new crew adventuring bodly where no one has gone before." Check it all out on the web at: http://www.startrekmovie.com/ or click on the pic.

Book report - Green Eggs & Ham

2009-02-26T08:03:00.008-06:00

My daughter Lindsey has written a couple of book reports for this blog (you can read them here and here) and now my son Nathaniel is doing one. I've asked him to give me a qick review of Dr. Seuss's great classic "Green Eggs & Ham." So here is a 1st grader's review of this book:

The man who Sam wanted to eat Green Eggs & Ham really liked them and would eat them at all the different places that Sam talked about. Sam had a hand machine that I thought was cool. The most funny part to me was when he started to eat green eggs & ham with a goat.

SOS fun stuff

2009-02-24T16:27:00.003-06:00

We tried a new ad for supporting the SOS (Serve Our School) event. So here it is - have fun laughing at us:

Simply Youth Minstry Podcast

2009-02-23T16:25:00.006-06:00

Hey all you great Simply Youth Ministry podcast listeners. If you came to my little piece of the web because of the podcast please do me a favor and make a comment here that you did. I would enjoy getting back to the guys at the podcast about how many hits come from one mention of a web site on their podcast. - Thx and Thx for listening!

Mag Report - simply jr hi newsletter from Group - Jan09

2009-02-23T13:01:00.004-06:00

For some reason I deleted the email or didn't get emailed the new Simply junior high newsletter from Group for the month of Jan but I was able to find it by doing some searches on Group's web site. I hope that I get the Feb one soon. Here are some of my thoughts about last month's newsletter:

What I liked: I really resonated with Christopher Tafalla's The Veteran's Voice. We have a number of different opportunities for middle school youth to get involved in ministry here at NCBC and that is what Mr. Tafalla seams to be saying.

I think this might be just my setting but I don't really think many middle school kids (especially the boys) would like the idea of holding hands while praying together. That is why I don't think Sarah Lanier's prayer idea "Squeeze & Pass" would work. But her "Pair up" idea was excellent and one I will be suggesting to my prayer leaders to break down their groups more efffectively.

Key statement: Christopher Tafalla asked this great question: "Is there anything adults are doing in your ministry that junior highers could do instead?"

Something creative: Vanessa Miles "Icebreaker: Funny Pics" is a great idea but I think I would try doing the same idea live in front of the group. - thx Vanessa

Book Report – Chasing Daylight by Erwin McManus

2009-02-23T12:22:00.004-06:00

Our small group that my wife and I have the privilege of hosting decided to go through the Chasing Daylight video series that BluefishTV.com put out and I decided to read the book, "Chasing Daylight" that drives this series. What a great read but also a very challenging one for me. As always I’m putting down two key thoughts that stood out to me:

1) In Mr. McManus’ chapter on Uncertainty he writes, “the certainty that God has called you and the confidence that he will work his victory out in your life are not guarantees of a safe and secure journey.” This really hit me and prompted me to as two question to my small group: Can we live with less in our life? And should we live that way? It was very interesting the reaction I had from the group. At the first question the small group were all agreeing with me and said yes we can do it. But as soon as I asked the second question the hesitation started to creep in. That hesitation hit me hard because I was hesitating as well. I often say that I want to do whatever it takes to honor and point people to God and yet when I’m confronted with uncertainty I pull back. This whole chapter has challenged me to move ahead even if I’m uncertain of what will happen.

2) In the second to last chapter, Movement, Mr. McManus’ makes this statement, “This is one reason it is critical to seize every divine moment. You can never know at the onset all that God intends to do through your simple act of obedience.” This made me think about our purpose statement for our middle school ministry here at NCBC, “Where every middle school youth is given opportunities to take spiritual steps forward.” We have such a limited time with these wonderful kids and I want our group to help them take these steps forward. Mr. McManus seems to confirm this idea that each of these steps are divine moments that we cannot let slip by. I’ll be sharing this with my adult leaders the next time we meet to keep encouraging them to seize these divine moments.

Overall I enjoyed this book and feel that I’ve got a few good ideas from it to apply to my personal life as well as to the lives of those who I humbly have the chance to minister to and with.

Simple Thoughts

2009-02-20T09:54:00.005-06:00

I haven't done a "Simple Thoughts" since April last year (click here to read it). I do this off and on because of a thought our Assoc. Pastor Kim Pagel shared with the staff over a year ago. He had us think through unexpected events that happened the past year in our life. Since then I try to put down different random thoughts that I think about or think will happen in my life.

1) I've become a Coffeesmiths addict. I really enjoy the atmosphere and their white chocolate mocha is awesome.
2) I have a chance to write an article for simplyyouthministry. I'm thinking about writing on expectations with middle school youth and/or tangible goals in middle school ministry.
3) Marko (who I respect highly) from Youth Specialties wrote a book called YM3.0 and I really want to read it but I'm also hesitant to read it - it is a strange reaction that I've never had before.
4) I'm really looking forward to spring break this year and getting away with my family. We are planning on going to Dubuque, IA and go to Grand Harbor Resort.
5) My good friend and mentor Mark Forstrom has agreed to edit this little blog of mine so that it is easier for people to read - thx old friend.

prayers these last few months - Feb 09

2009-02-16T12:35:00.007-06:00

It has been a long time since I spent some focused time looking over my quite time journal. I started over 2 years ago (thx to a great book by Scott McKnight - to see my post about that click here) with a new way for me to have quite times and I've really enjoy and have been impacted by this. I've been posting my prayers that come from this quiet time here in my blog. Here is another group of prayers that really had me thinking about God's Word:

Lord, keep me from temptation.

Lord, my I let those who need to know your truth know it in your timing and way.

Lord, thank you for coming as a willing servant teaching us to follow you.

Lord, may you grant me peace and wisdom so that I might be there for Jessica's family.

Lord, open my eyes to see where I must plow and not look back - I want to honor you and you alone.

Lord, make me GO!

Lord, may I praise you always.

Lord, may I serve each person you put before me today for your glory no matter what the condition they are in.

Lord, may I be bold in my friendships.

Lord, may I share your truth of how to avoid a divided kingdom to young people.

Lord, may I be always thinking of ways to understand You better so that I might honor You better.

Lord, may you see a searching and open heart to you in me.

Lord, I want to be full of your truth so that when the Holy Spirit wishes to use me I'm complete.

Lord, when the time of the wedding banquet is over and you return may you find my door open and ready for you.

Lord, may I do all that you have placed me here to do and may I be content with that.

Lord, may I bear fruit all the time for your kingdom.

Lord you know all things before they ever happen - thx for knowing all things.

Lord, may I be about helping all around me come to your kingdom.

Lord, I'm confused sometimes - how do I give generously and still help people get on their own feet - I need your wisdom.

Lord, I don't want to be like the complaining son or the lost son - help me to be a “non-complaining - always there son.”

Lord, open my eyes so that I might be shrewd with all that you place before me.

Lord, may you find me enjoying the things you enjoy and hating the things you hate.

Lord, may I be known as a humble man who tried to honor You with all.

Lord, you are in my heart - you are who I am not - everything in my life belongs to you - may you receive all the glory.

Lord, I want to understand how to come to you? How to stand before you and honor you with the life you have given me? May you find me always looking for you.

Lord, I want to be a little child in your kingdom - pls open my eyes to see you.

Lord, may I come to you with my heart open, my mind ready for new information, and through it all may I honor you.

Lord, as I look at your word I want nothing more than to understand it more. Help me to dive in more than I have and may your truth stand out to me.

Lord, may my eyes be open to all that you are doing around me so I might glorify you & not miss it.

Lord, there are things in your Word that I don't understand - help to understand what I need to and be ok with what I don't.

Lord, may I look to you and only you.

Lord, I want to understand, help me - pls!

Thank you Lord for choosing me to one who will communicate your words of wisdom – may it always be about you and not me.

Lord, your word is endless may I treat it as such.

Lord, you are greater than all and I need you to help me be ok with that.

Mag Report - GROUP (Jan-Feb 2009)

2009-02-11T11:07:00.003-06:00

Got GROUP magazine a couple weeks ago but didn't get a chance to really read it because of being sick until this week. Here are a couple of my thoughts:

What I liked: Each issue there is a section in the back called "the rip" and I really like those short and current ideas that come up. I usually don't remember all of them but now that I'm using Evernote I don't have to because I put them there for me to recall when I need them.

???: One thing I did when I first joined NCBC was to meet with two very important people - the money guy and the janitor. I wanted to make sure that I started a relationship with them and I've worked hard to keep those relationships strong ever since. I laughed at "the incite" top 10 excuses for the custodian but it also made me think of how many youth guys/gals out there don't take the time to connect with the janitor before we have to give these "excuses" to them.

Key statement: Doug Fields article on "the fix" about volunteers had this that really stood out to me, "Don't make important decisions in isolation." I've had to learn this the hard way but it is really important.

Something creative: I really liked and will use Jessica McKee's "click a pic" idea she shared. Really creative - thx Jessica.

Family Values

2009-02-06T16:36:00.004-06:00

I send out a weekly email update to all my parents and adult leaders what I call "Mark's Tips." It can be about anything that deals with middle school youth, raising them, spiritual thoughts, parenting, etc. My last tip was for them to read this article "A debate over Family values" from Los Angeles Times about the new ABC family shows that are out there. I'm forming an opinion on this but wanted to hear from my parents and adults leaders first before I say any more. So here is where I ask any of you to post your comments and let me know what you think. I'm looking forward to dialoging with all of you on this.

the end of no blogging - Winter Retreat 2009

2009-02-02T13:04:00.003-06:00

After a long month and no blogging I'm back on and running strong. To start with click here to see the winter retreat in slide show. There is a lot of them so it is a long show. Or you could click on the picture to go to the show.

prayers this last month - Dec 08

2008-12-22T13:40:00.004-06:00

This will be my last prayer list for the year of 2008. Man what a year, not sure what God has up his sleeve by having us go through all that has happened in our lives but I do know he is faithful and will be here no matter what.

Lord, thank you for helping me to be sensitive to terms like "I was only joking!" and staying away from them.

Lord, help me to praise you with my lips all my days and may others see only that.

Lord, take away my trouble because I want to only honor and fear you only.

Lord, may I always have two ears to hear and one mounts to share humbly and graciously and slowly.

Lord, help me to know what I need and what I want - help me to be satisfied with just my needs.

Lord, may I never say "I've done nothing wrong" when I have - may I always confess to you my wrong so that together we can make it right.

Lord, I'm confused where do I go and what should I do - I see so much stuff and the kids I work with have so much (I do to) take this yoke from me.

Lord, I know you are saying something - help me to fully grab onto your wisdom and righteousness.

Lord, may I always remember that "nothing is impossible" for you.

Lord, when I hear you may I be awed by it because you have worked.

Lord, as you shined around the shepherds on that glories night when Christ was born may you shine today and each day in my life for your glory.

Lord, may I spend the time to understand your word better - may I ponder it in my heart like Mary did when marvelous things happened around her.

Help me Lord understand things that I'm meant to understand and be ok with things that I'm not.

Lord, may you find a willing servant in me.

Lord, may I be able to stand up to anything that comes to me for Your glory.

Lord, open my eyes to see what I can do to honor you in my extended family. Lord, may your kingdom come in your time.

Lord, thank you that I don't have to ask you to "go away from me" because of my sins but walk with you because you have made me into a saint.

Lord, may I respond to your truth no matter what form it comes in.

Lord, may I stay constant in your truth but fresh with new ways of presenting it to middle schoolers and to anyone you put into my life.

You are the Lord of the Sabbath and all things happen because of you - help me to understand that better.

Lord, the day that your power was coming from you must of been awesome - may it happen in my life for your glory.

Lord, I want what you want but I'm not always sure what that is - help me pls?

Lord, you are the Lord of my life and that is the number one thing in anyone’s life that must happen thank you for being you.

Lord, thank you for Lauren Darr and the Joy she has brought into my heart, the IMPACT ministry, and your kingdom - yea God!

Lord, because of you I am able to honor you, because of you I am able to be your son, thank you Lord.

Lord, may I never “fall away from you."

Lord, thank you for allowing me to be baptized so many years ago - I love the fact that all that were there saw me respond to you.

Lord, open my eyes even more to see what I am to do for you not so that I might receive anything but your will to be done in my life.

Lord, may I have ears that hear you and eyes to see what you want me to see.

Lord, my I be very careful with my thoughts so that they might only point me and those who are around me to you.

Lord, I don't want to know all your ways just enough to be the best Mark Eades on this earth that I can be - may that be enough for me.