June Newsletter

Help Us Out

Our teens are selling Pizza Cards to raise money this summer. We ask that you help us out by purchasing a card. Questions? 912.876.3112.

Don't Take This Seriously

...and a time to laugh (Ecclesiates 3.4)
Click on each image to see something silly and hopefully make time to smile, maybe laugh, at least grin. Have a happy day!

Next Month

LOYC is giving you a break in the month of June: No Wednesday night services. But to alleviate withdrawal symptoms, you can log on for your weekly online devotion every Wednesday night. Everyone wants to find a place where they feel comfortable, happy, useful and where people appreciate them. Until we do, we are irritable, feel useless and unhappy. In June we'll talk about finding our place in the Kingdom of God.

Check It Out... Videos

Got a heads up on ReachRecords.com by Jordan, a.k.a. Jo-Izzy. Here are some links to the videos. enjoy.
116 Clique Good ole Jesus rapping
FlavaFest Awesome prayer to God through rap
DaBoot Slow jam
Nawlins Good beat and raw footage

Happy Mother's Day...Michal

My wife the mother... I am blessed.

A Farewell

So this is the smelly, broken in van we were blessed with about a decade and a half... it spent as much time in AutoCare than it did in the church parking lot. The air conditioning didn't work. Heat rose up from the floor board while driving. It began to develop it's own old, moldy smell. The seats rocked back and forth. The van swayed side to side. And sometimes, more so towards the end, it would shut off in the middle of the road. Ahhhh, the memories.

Thanks be to God for big miracles. Pastor Aaron, with the generous help of our church members, has purchased a new van. A 2005 Chevy. CD player. AC. Power Steering. Get up and Go power. That brand new car smell. Seat belts that work. And much, much more.

Can you tell I'm happy? I am. Yes, I am. No more embarrassing moments due to the famous red van... Or so I thought. After trading in the red van last week, I thought I had missed my chance to give it a proper good-bye. But lo and behold the Lord works in mysterious ways. As I was driving back in from Tifton on Hwy 84 on Thursday, I saw our beloved nightmare parked in front of a Mom and Pop car dealership in Jesup. There for the whole world to see was the defiant van with "Live Oak Church" still on its sides. I experienced the same inner churning I did every summer when I'd drive the van to summer camps and other kids saw our clunker rolling in.

So I guess this strange love/hate relationship with the infamous Red Van ain't over. I'm just hoping nobody from Liberty county purchases the van. To see it every so often up and down the streets of Hinesville, taunting me... that would be... just... wrong.

So here is my good-bye to the Red Van. Your brother Blue Van is not too far behind. But you, faithful Red One, bye, sayonara, adios, au revoir, auf wiedersehen, arrivederci... hasta la vista... baby.

What you doing on Wednesday nights?

LOYC meets for their weekly program on Wednesday nights at what we call "THE SPOT" starting at 7PM till 8PM. What happens afterwards? My teens know that at 9PM I gotta be in front of a Cathode Ray Tube (television) tuned to the American Broadcast Company (ABC) for my dose of LOST.

If you like LOST, then you love LOST. If you don't like LOST, then you make fun of us who watch it loyally. Go ahead... make fun. I would too.

Why do I like this show so much? I shut the TV off every Wednesday night at 10PM with more questions then answers. Many situations and events I don't understand. And whenever you start investing time and emotion in certain characters, they invariably get killed off. So what's the draw? The attraction?

On the surface, I like the production, the story line, the premises. I like the themes, especially this season of Faith versus Science. To believe in something that you can't see or tatally understand instead of leaning on our own feeble minds. The search for answers not just what is happening immediately, but the big ones such as... why are we here? what is our purpose?

The show is very entertaining. But if you dig a little pass the sand, you'll begin to see an allegory of this world. A world filled with people who are LOST. Some, like John Locke, want to lead thier lives with FAITH. Others, like the good doctor, believe in head knowledge--and if you can't logically explain something then you haven't tried hard enough. It is a world full of Charlie's, who have struggled with drugs or sex and addictions in their past and the consequences of bad choices made. And what about that Ana Lucia (killed off 2 episodes ago) who learned to deal with her negative emotions and revenge... we encounter these people everyday. We walk pass them, we hand them money at Walmart, wait for the traffic light together, sit in church together, take tests at the same time, work out together, and sleep in the same house. Sometimes, you see that person every morning looking back at you in the bathroom mirror.

What do we do when we meet these LOST people? Do we touch their lives? Do we leave an fingerprint of our lives on thiers? Do we speak to them? encourage them? help them? Or do we sail by unscathed... hoping our lives never intersect again?

Jesus said that he came to find and restore or save that which was lost. And later charged us to go into this LOST world and do the same. Let's stop being self involved. Let's reach out and help restore the LOST.

And while you're at it, let's watch the two-hour season finale of LOST on Wednesday night starting at 9PM... no, you don't have to do that.

A Song

Click the image to hear the HAPPY HAPPY JOY JOY song... you'll need to have RealPlayer to hear it.

A Good Moment

Our M. Childers walked over to Reggie Dabbs before he went up on stage in Knoxville, TN. For a while she was explaining something to him. The music was so loud that he was bent over and she had to cup her hand for him to hear. Then he said a few words, which sparked some tears and then he hugged her. It wasn't one of those calculated hugs. It may have started off that way, but she held on. Then she wiped her eyes, probably said "Thank you," and was back to her seat. Later on that evening, during the bus ride back to the hotel, Meghan told us her story. She had had some difficulities a year ago, issues of hate and misunderstanding, and when Regie Dabbs spoke at Sonfest he somehow got to her. She had gotten up and went up front to be prayed for. She wanted to tell him what had happened and thank him.
Thank God for people he sends our way. Some smile, some speak, some correct us, some play a joke, some teach us, some are in our lives for a mere second or two and others, others God keeps in our face for years on end. Go to that someone who has helped you through a difficult time and thank them. And don't give them that calcualted (1,2,3 pat pat) hug. Be sincere. Be thankful. Be vulnerable.

Jo-Izzy

Popping-A-Squat in Tenneesse.

Next game should be...

For three Wednesday nights I have tried to give away some money. It all started with a five dollar bill up for grabs to anyone who could successfully take out the wishbone in OPERATION. Last Wednesday the ante was up to $20. Several tried to take out the Charley Horse. No one succeeded. So what should the next game be? I got money to give away but I want you to work for it. Here are some choices (and use the comment button to make your selection or voice a different option.)

• Perfection... get all the shapes in their right place before the whole thing pops.

• Monkeys In A Barrel... hook 'em all up takes... takes, um... skill?
  

• Jenga... pile it up and then try to take it down without taken it all down.
  

Vote. Suggest. Comment.

:[Red Flags]:

Click the image to learn about the history of the "red flag."

Tangential Thought: Prayer

As parents we have a grave responisbility. A growing life is entrusted to our care. The words we say, the attitudes we ooze, the habits we examplify all make tiny impressions like finger prints on our child's mind. But today my daughter, Cora, taught me a lesson. She was laying next to her mother. My wife asked Cora to pray for her becuase she didn't feel good. Cora said, "Okay" and placed her hands on mommy's head. She started the prayer with, "God please don't kill my mom." It was so funny to us. A sincere prayer from the heart. Not lathered up with sugary words. She was to the point. I thank God for my family. I pray to God that I don't mess up as a father. I want her to grow up and be EVERYTHING God has destined her to be. And now, I pray that I can have this faith like a child. To be real in my prayers with God. Not to be like the showy teachers during Jesus times who prayed out loud so everyone could hear them and most of the prayer was about themselves. To be sincere and real. [When you pray...]

Looking Back

This post is a recap for parents of the past year and what we have discussed on Wednesdays and for the small number of youth leaders who check it out and may want to embezzele a slide or snow ball from an idea posted. Here I have bulletted (that a word?) a few series or one-timers from 2005-2006.

• I actually stole this thought from Chris Wallace, youth pastor at Monterey Church of God in Savannah, GA. During youth camp he retold the story of the man with the shriveled, useless hand. what touched me was that when Jesus said strech out your hand, the man had a choice: He could stretch out his good hand (showing everybody "I'm okay.") or strech out his bad hand. We need to chose to show God our ugliness. To be real with him so we can start the process of Him healing us. If we don't show him our "ugly" we hurt ourselves. Mark 3.1-5
  

• When my daughter was starting to eat "normal" food, she wanted whatever I was eating. I usually gave her whatever I had. However, I love spicy pork rinds and when I would be chopping away, Cora would come around asking for some. I would say "No." This would confuse her and being a baby, she would start crying. I'm guessing that it was difficult for her to see the difference between the spicy prok rinds and all the other food that I had no problems sharing with her. I knew better. I knew that she couldn't handle the spiciness. In the same way, sometimes we ask God for something to happen, for something, and if the answer is "No" we don't understand. We need to trust God when he says "No spicy pork rinds for you." Isaiah 55.9

• During the month of November, we talked about servanthood. Putting others first. The theme came from "The Seven Checkpoints" by Stanely and Hall. I believe on of the most difficult idea to instill into teenagers is to put other people before ourselves. In this age with me-itis, where everything is me, me, me... we have to remind them that Jesus taught the opposite. If someone is in need, help them out. And in so doing, God will make sure our needs are met.

• In Decemeber we focused on a different aspect of the birth of Jesus. He had one life to live. He lived it to the fullest. The question every week that month: What are you doing with your one life? We can't let life pass us by as we passively stroll along. we must be on the offensice with our lives. Take charge. Make desicions. Know that each choice we make brings with it consequences. If we make good choices, we recieve good consequences. If we make bad choices, we get bad consequences.

• This one-time deal focused on how we should be different form those around us. I got the title from one of our teens who used to say "you're salty" whenever someone was witty or sassy. Jesus instructed us to be the salt of the earth. To be different. To stand out. If salt looses it's saltiness it is no different from sand. Just grains of white rock. If we are not salty, what good are we? Matthew 5.13

Bettering Ourselves

There are plenty of self help books out there. The television programs abound: from tearing down a home and building a bigger, better house to staple my stomach and give me a nose job so I can look like someone more "beautiful." For two weeks we have talked about how WHAT GOD CREATED IS EXCELLENT. We are marvelously made. No mistakes. Everything about us has a specific, unique design. Do we look at the self help books, the better yourself articles in magazines and the tv shows and say that's wrong? Stray away from that? Shun it?

What we need to understand is that what God created is excellent, but what we do with ourselves needs improvement. It's like my silver chain that I allow to get tarnished. It's still silver. It's still my favorite. I still like it. Looks good on me, but if I don't take care of it it gets dirty, black and ugly. And when this happens, it is not the jewler's fault. It is my fault. I got to get the special cloth my wife has in her jewlery draw and rub, clean and shine up my chain.

We are like that chain. We are sterling silver. Shinny. Beautiful. And when we feed our bodies physically and mentally what it does not need, what it should not handle, what is harmful to it... then we need to do some improvements. Some purging. Pruning.

Here's the balancing act: The line between bettering yourself and tryign to be someone else. After you take inventory of who you are in Christ, if you stray from that (whether it be through ungodly relationships, wrong thinking, etc.) then you must do everythign in your power to shine yourself up. BUT THAT IS TOTALLY DIFFERENT FROM trying to immulate, copy or model yourself after an idea, celebrity or athlete you think you should act like or look like.

Why should we take care of ourselves? Because we do not belong to ourselves...
Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body. [1 Corinthians 6.19-20 NIV]

Or better yet, The Message versions states: Or didn't you realize that your body is a sacred place, the place of the Holy Spirit? Don't you see that you can't live however you please, squandering what God paid such a high price for? The physical part of you is not some piece of property belonging to the spiritual part of you. God owns the whole works. So let people see God in and through your body.

Amazing that we many times fail to realize we are in borrowed flesh. That God actually cares if we don't lead healthy lives. That the trash we put in our minds and mouth begins to destroy our body and that saddens our Creator. That it is our responisbility for the upkeep of this body, mind and life we are given.

Do your job!