Last night of El Goose

This Sunday night we wrap up our programing for the school year for our high school ministry. We're also going to be saying goodbye to our good friend Gustavo, who has joined us from Spain this year. It's been great having The Goose as part of our group, and I'm going to miss him and his crazy comments and antics (although his constant trying to talk me into buying and giving him stuff and taking him to Culver I will not miss so much). We're going to treat Goose to Culver's (his favorite American eatery) for his final night, and we're also going to be talking about some of the big problems that are facing Christianity throughout the world. We will meet and return to church at the normal times. Hope to see you there.

Rain, Rain GO AWAY!

Is it really March 27th? It's like 50, really windy, and feels like early April. Ridiculous, just ridiculous! While I am known for liking to torturing students having a water themed night tonight would be too cruel even for me, so we will instead be having indoor game night. We did this with the high schoolers in the winter and it was a blast, so come prepared for a lot of fun. Games will range from the atheltic, to the wacky, to the completely non-athletic (i.e. even I would do well), so no matter your ability their will be something for you. We will also be wrapping up our Old School Good Guys Series by talking about Hezikiah. Hope to see you tonight!

Memorial Day and more

We had a great memorial day here in Hingham yesterday. The weather was nearly perfect, although a little less wind would have been nice. The wind, however, was perfect for our annual Run/Walk, which attracted a record number of men to our 2 mile race. It was a great turn out for our biggest fundraiser, and we ending up making well over $4,000 on the event. Most of that money will be able to be held over for next year, when we will be taking a big mission trip. Thanks to all the parents and other church volunteers who helped make the day such a major success. I also greatly enjoyed the weekend as my beloved Rangers smoked Dundee United to claim the Scottish Premier Leauge over their rivals Celtic, breaking Celtic's 3 year hold on the title. Real football (soccer) will also be on display Wednesday with the Champion's League Final (the real football Super Bowl). I get to watch it with Gustavo, a life long Barcelona fan (which means I will loudly be cheering for Manchester United).

Tomorrow will be our last middle school youth group for spring, making it also the last meeting for our 8th graders and long time leader Dan Kappers. The original plan was to be outside to play some water games, but judging by the weather reports it looks like we will get to be inside for some other fun games. We will also be finishing our Old School Good Guys serious by looking at the life of Hezekiah, who for some reason often gets overlooked. If you've never really looked at Hezekiah's life before, I really urge you to turn to II Kings 18 and start reading. Here is a guy whose dad saw the 10 commandments as the 10 rules to be systematically broken, and he becomes one of the most righteous and faithful followers of God out of any of the kings we see in the Bible. It's also very telling how God rewards Hezekiah for his faith, while so many other kinds around him who had not been faithful found themselves with loads of unsolvable problems. I think Hezekiah's being faithful in a difficult time can tell our leaders today a lot about how they should be leading. Check out his awesome story for yourself.

Ever changing site

I am working on a pretty complete and complex re-work of this website, so you may see crazy changes over the next few days, and things will not always be totally together. I'm a Bible geek not a computer nerd, so stay with me as we try to improve the look and functionality of this site. Thanks

UPDATE: Ok, I'm getting there. A few problems with the code stuff that I need help with, but otherwise I for one am a fan of how things look, it's just ironing out the bugs (with the most annoying be the problem with the date stuff). Stay tuned.

Gearing up for summer

As May is quickly winding down things are going full steam ahead for a jammed packed summer around here for both our middle school and high school ministries. At the forefront of our summer plans are our big retreats for both groups.

Middle school will be heading to Dolfin's Cabin June 26th-28th for our Made retreat. While the deadline is past we don't want anyone left out, so please go ahead and get signed up! It will be an amazing weekend of big high energy games, crazy and wacky upfront games, tubing, jet skis, paddle boats, row boats, swimming, eating, hanging out, jumping off things, and more. I am probably most excited about the worship sessions we have already been hard at work planning. I promise you they will be way different then anything you've experienced before, with a blend of old and new songs, crazy lighting, tons of media, dramas, and other hands out stuff. Our worship will center on who God has made us to be. A few years ago MTV had this show where kids asked MTV to help make them into someone they were not (an athlete, dancer, beauty queen, etc.). It was a fun show, and really highlights a big problem we all face. I think we all want to be something we're not, instead of be excited about who God actually made us to be. So, that's what we're gonna be looking at.

Our high schoolers will head to Dolfin's cabin August 6-9th for their own time of games, water fun, worship, and growing closer to God. The high school trip will have a slightly different feel then our middle school adventure, as it will have far more opportunity for students to hangout, build relationships, and make their own zany fun. It's also going to have it's own serious side, as we'll have high energy worship sessions focused on our theme of Refuel. We're going to be looking at a problem I see all the time, and that is our spiritual gas tanks running on empty. This weekend we want to fill our lives back up with God, as well as learn how we can keep our tank filled every day. The theme is build around the great book Refuel by Doug Fields, which I actually recommend to both students and adults. Sign up for the HS trip starts this weekend and ends June 21st.

You ain't seen nothing yet...

Nothing like starting an entry with a line from a Bachman Turner Overdrive song eh? Well, as I'm assuming many of you have heard by now Andrea and I are really pumped to be staying at Hingham for what we hope and feel will be the long haul. There are a lot of things God has taught us over the past couple of weeks, and the biggest is that we are really called to minister here at HRC. This has been confirmed by the support we've heard, the many stories of fruit bearing that has been going on here, our prayer times with God, and many seemingly random (but, we of course know to be God happenings) that just point to God not being done with us here. Need an example? Well, we just got back from visiting a church where the message was totally focused on how the church can effectively reach and minister to the younger generations and how important that is. Yep, that would certainly be a God thing.

We want to apologize for any pain the past couple of weeks have caused for anyone, specifically the students. None of this has been about us questioning our love for you. On the contrary, it's all been about how much we love you and want you to have something amazing and everlasting with Christ. We needed to know we were in the place where God needed us to be, and we feel that to be the case. I also really don't want anyone dwelling on the past. Know that you don't know all the details and therefore shouldn't concern yourself about what took place, who did what, etc. If you've got anger chuck it out the window, hand it over to God, or aim it at the Boston Celtics (that's sorta a joke, but I'm none to happy with the Celtics today). Our church has responded to this in a loving way, and I feel we are all about to follow God's plan for HRC in a truly awesome manner. Andrea and I both feel very much refreshed and renewed and are ready for whatever the next chapter of ministry is for us at HRC. To us staying is, at minimum, a multi-year commitment to be used by God to reach the un-reached and nurturing the found.

I plan on easing my way back into work this week, getting a lot of administrative type work done (summer schedules out, trip planning, summer planning, etc.). I will also be at Oostburg schools Tuesday and Thursday connecting with students, and harassing the hoards of Middle Schoolers who don't know how to turn in a Dolfin Cabin form. It will for sure be one or more weeks before I am back at Youth Group in a message giving capacity, but we really encourage you to be there as your leaders bring you some great fun and God's Word. There is a lot more to say, but let's leave it there for now. I'd ask that you all pray that God blows the roof of off things in our ministry and that whatever we do be for God's purpose and glory. Thanks again to everyone for your support and, most importantly, your prayers. You guys are all awesome and I can't wait to reconnect with you all!