Remedy.

I hear a story today that really stuck with me, from one of my professors, Jerry. It goes something like this: 

One day, after class i had a student come and talk to me. He had waited until everyone had left and the classroom was clear, and he says "Jerry- can i talk to you for a second?" 

"Yeah, sure" I say, "what's up?"

we both sit down and he says "Jerry, i have a problem with pornography"- so I say "well, tell me about that."

He goes on to tell me his story: 

 His father is the pastor of a large church in Washington State, where he lived with his family and was fairly successful in his ministry. And the kid, he got to know one of the elders in the church and that elder ended up molesting him. The problem was that the elder was also High-placed city official- and when the kid told his dad about what happened, the dad didn't know what to do about it. 

He felt as though he was CALLED by god to be there, but at the same time if he stood up to the elder he knew that dire consequences would ensue.

 In order to not have to stand up to the elder for his son, the dad shipped his son off to a boarding school out of sate. 

The kid was so confused and full of frustration and began to wonder if he would turn out gay because of what had happened; so, in order to prove to himself that he wasn't gay, he began looking at pictures of naked women. 

He proved to himself that he wasnt gay, but at the same time formed an addiction to pornography that still haunted him years later. 

When I heard this story, I was SO ANGRY and this kids father! ...

  

Jerry has had a hard time, especially lately, dealing with the evil that is in the world. He taught a class session on the evil in the world that completely tore him up inside. He went home incredibly angry at the evil that he can see all around him, and wondering if he should be angry at God as well. His wife said that he wasnt angry AT God, but angry WITH God- God is no more ok with the evil in the world than we are- but after a while Jerry was so invelopped in a frenzy of anger toward evil that he began SHOUTING at God: 

WHY DIDNT YOU DO SOMETHING!! WHY DIDNT YOU DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS EVIL IN THIS WORLD! YOU SAY YOU'RE GOOD- WELL DO SOMETHING!!

And he said that he heard a Voice say to him...

I did...

God already did... He is already present and involved in the course of human events, having sent a preemptive strike against the forces of Evil that cannot be undone. 

These are troubled times in our world- There is no doubt about that. But in light of that, God is already in the thick of it, fighting on the side of Good- and it doesnt matter if every single human being began fighting on the side of evil, GOD is still on the side of GOOD and GOD WINS! 

But even knowing the ending of the story, people in our world need to hear about God's workings in our world- and I count myself privileged to be a part of the movement that ultimately wins. 

At the conference I was at last week, a music video was made about the quirks of youth ministry- called "WE'VE SEEN IT ALL".  The video in its entirety is at the bottom of the re-cap blog I posted a few days ago, but I wanted to re-post the ending of it because I think it hits the heart of where I stand. Take a look:

I try answerin folks with what I know to be true-
when they ask about the kind of work that I do.
"so you hang out with kids, and you talk about God?"
"well, theres more- but sort of" I say with a nod.

"we DO hang and sing songs and play video games,
and call eachother lots of in-appropriate names.
There is stuff that is fun, and theres stuff that is tough-
and theres times I tell GOd that I've had enough...

"but I stop and I think about MY life that was changed,
and the ones who cared for me when I was young and deranged.
And the PAIN and FRUSTRATION from the things that I've seen
Fade away- 'Cause MY LIFE is NOT about me.

"You see, I'm part of a team that knows that its right
to share God's love in the darkness of night
to a world that is broken, and needs something true.
Thats what I do for work- how 'bout you?"

We've seen it all- a girl sees her life make sense.

We've seen it all- a heavy heart lays down its defense.

We've seen it all- LIVES CHANGED at the feet of our King.

We've seen it all, but we've yet to see anything.

We are going through a 5-5-5 REACH challenge- DARING sudents to pray for 5 FRIENDS, 5 DAYS A WEEK, for 5 WEEKS- PEOPLE NEED TO HEAR ABOUT WHAT JESUS IS DOING IN OUR WORLD! So, I challenge YOU- think of 5 friends who ont know Jesus and COMMIT to praying for them 5 days a week for 5 weeks. Click HERE for more info. 

BE the church. Love ALL. Worship One. 

New VLOG (before i take my computer in... :[ )

YOUTH MINISTRY (A REFRESH)

HAD A GREAT TIME at the Purpose Driven Youth Ministry Conference last week! I cannot tell you ho great and refreshing it was to be around people who care about students, and (as a guy starting out in Youth Ministry) know where you've been, and care about the success and fruit fullness of your ministry!

-Some amazing conversations took place with our minstry team at HBBC! I have some crazy awesome people I work with! JENNY was fun and perfect like usual! LYN is SUCH a good  friend to me, and TLYER is just an amazingly talented guy with more potential than anybody realizes and HUGE heart for seeing our students grow closer to Jesus! WOW what a great team i get to be a part of! 

-I got to chill with Ben again, which was a blast! It was weird being there with a team that I was leading, instead of being with his team- but it was really encouraging and affirming to see the smile on his face and getting to know the AWESOME people that he works with in Utah (including a long-lost  brother?? :P)

-NEW CONNECTIONS to other youth ministries around SoCal are starting to form and Im starting to see glimpses of the AWESOMENESS of the PDYM COMMUNITY! This 

GREAT THINGS are starting to happen in the life of this youth ministry, and I'm loving being a part of a team that is SO in love with Jesus! 

below is some wrap ups from the conference, and a video giving you a small glimpse into the world of YOUTH MINISTRY! 

Serving him together!

-Josh

PDYM DAY 1


Day 1 of the Purpose Driven Youth Ministry Conference was a BLAST! Meeting up with a TON of youth workers from around the world, seeing The Refinery (the youth ministry building at Saddleback church) and getting a peak into the HUGE impact that the small aspects of Youth Ministry can have on students was an AWESOME experience.

KillBall wih 120 youth workers was DEFINITELY the highlight of the night! (That, and Lyn doing the splits while playing ping-pong, spilling root-beer ALL over the table!)



A GREAT DAY of PDYM 101, divin' RIGHT into the game today!

Please stay in prayer for our leadership team as we continue getting training, building relationships, and having a BLAST!

-Josh

PDYM DAY 2





Man oh man! This has been a GREAT day! Diving right into the Purpose Driven Model in the morning session, and throughout the day, discussing in depth the biblical purposes of Evangelism and Worship, this conference is inspiring and adding a brand new dimension of understanding, structure, and overall EXCITEMENT to the Youth Ministry staff at HBBC! Highlights of the day include hearing the middle school worship team lead thismorning, Lyn proving herself to be THE BIGGEST star wars nerd by identifying an obscure sound clip of STAR WARS Episode 4 during a morning game, and Tyler taking a nap during break and being woken up y one of the PDYM Mentors slapping him in the face! (all in good fun of course. =P)

Please continue to be in prayer for our YM Staff this week, and for our students and the church as we continue in this season of transition and growth!

Love you guys!
-Josh


During one of the sessions, I grabbed a box of Good&Fruity's (the off-brand of Good&Plenty's) from the candy bins they have for us. (They give youth workers free candy... they know the way to our hearts. =D). I thought I'd share.

PDYM Day 3

Today has been great so far- Woke up to Tyler PROUDLY displaying the 5 purposes on our car, Drove to Saddleback for a great morning session on LIFE ON LIFE ministry, and heading into a GREAT afternoon session on Discipleship!

and...

WOW!

What an AMAZING WEEK of Youth Ministry Training! Juices are flowing, ideas are being generated, LOVE for the students that we work with is a great as ever!

Check back soon for some Re-Cap stories, pictures and video from the conference-

YOUTH GROUP THIS SUNDAY!! BE THERE!

Live life on PURPOSE!

-Josh

"...He said to them, "Why are you thinking these things? Which is easier: to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up, take your mat and walk'? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins . . . ." He said to the paralytic, "I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home." He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, "We have never seen anything like this!"-Mark 2:8-12

heres a VIDEO that gives you a SMALL GLIMPSE into the world of Youth Ministry:

I love my marriage

A Florida man wearing an “I Heart My Marriage” t-shirt was arrested last night for allegedly choking his wife during an argument in their Tampa-area home. Bradley Gellert, a 32-year-old financial consultant, was busted by Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office deputies and booked into jail on a felony domestic battery by strangulation charge.

According to a police report, Gellert, pictured in the below mug shot, got into an argument with his wife and “screamed at the victim and threw numerous items.” He then allegedly “grabbed the victim’s neck and strangled her,” which “prevented the victim from breathing normally.”

From bits & pieces

will Farrell for Mac

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

i want THIS flight attendant!

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

You know my name

Every season I have a song that acts as my "theme" for that particular time in my life. This season it has been a toss up between "you know my name" by Detour 180 and the hymn "In Christ Alone"- both songs of personal reflection on the main goal of my life: that Christ be in the middle of it!

You Know My Name:

You know my name
You know my story
Still you’ve taken on the world
Just for me
I am amazed that you hear me speaking
You listen close to every word I say
Who am I to be loved this way?
You know my name

Our Youth Ministry Team is leaving this week for a conference in Lake Forest (dont worry, we'll be back for thursday night! =P), and in preperation for that these words keep coming back to me: you know my name, you know my story, still you've taken on the world just for me!

Please be in prayer for our team this week! This week will be a blast, and I CANNOT WAIT to see what God is going to do through this conference.

We're better together!
-Josh

if Google falls apart... the world will fall apart.

Check it out...


END OF THE WORLD!! CLICK HERE!

Mike Rowe on GOAT TESTICLES, GETTING IT WRONG, and THE WAR ON JOBS

Mike Rowe is the Host of Dirty Jobs on Discovery Channel.

One of the coolest new inventions I've seen!

this is AWESOME!

Instructions: There’s a black dot in the center. Stare at the dot till the countdown ends, and the black and white picture should look like it’s in color…until you move your eyes!

Box.

It's a weiird concept, "sharing life together".

I have been thinking for the past few weeks... How much of yourself do you share with people? We say that we are real... Buttheres always apart of ourselves that we keep hidden, private from other people.

There's a philosophical idea about self identity that says "I'm not who I think I am, I'm not who you think I am... I'm who who I think YOU THINK I am.".

I wonder how much of our true selves we keep shut up in a box, behind the pseudo-self that we present to others, the "me" they expect to see.

You know that old saying "you can't put God in a box"?

I wonder how much of ourselves we keep stuffed in a box, away from anyones eyes to see. And, more than that, I wonder what would happen if that box were opened? How would our lives be changed if we were living as more fully ourselves?

They finally made me into a smiley!!!

from bits&pieces

bad spell check!

from bits&pieces

I WANT THIS WATCH!

Sharp black acrylic lenses reminiscent of a Japanese signature stamp give this watch its name and a newly designed stainless steel case with custom curves provide an additional design edge. One touch of the upper button animates the sub-surface LEDs in a clockwise direction before the time is presented. Hours are shown in the centre circle of the watch, groups of five minutes are shown in the outer circle in the same position as numbers on a clock and single minutes are shown in the areas between.

Available in blue, white or multi-colored LED lights, and its only $97!!

check it out HERE at the production site!

BE VERY CAREFUL HOW YOU SPEND YOUR "BEDROOM TIME"...

A 27-year old woman was rushed to the hospital after a kinky encounter with her partner resulted in injuries that I would rather not contemplate. Sufficed to say, dildos and saber saws don't mix.

Amazingly enough, these DIYers fitted the sex toy right over the blade. Yup...it was still attached. And no, this didn't happen in Germany. It happened in Maryland where the woman was medevaced to Prince George's County Hospital. The good news is that the woman has been released from the hospital and is recovering at home from her injuries. Let that be a lesson to you—HGTV is a good place to pick up ideas for the bedroom, but not for the bedroom. You know what I'm saying?

FROM GIZMODO

Photo Selections by Colby McKamey

I have a friend who is an amateur photographer, and he is REALLY good.

I thought I would show some off his art (I mean, what are friends for, right?).

Heres a few samplings of his work.
















To see more, visit colbymckamey.blogspot.com/

Jesus is EVERYWHERE!

the answer the epic question: why do terminators have to transport naked?

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Awesome Audio Commercial!

everything is a risk now adays

the past week or so has been incredible.

made a new friend, got some good Jesus time, got a few good classes- went home for a while.

but i have really started to open myself up to a friend... and its been an awesome experience.

its amazing what we find when we let people in, you know? someone once said "we accept the love that we think we deserve"... i think thats true... and im starting to let my wall down.

and its good.

a bit scary, yes.


but good.


"when life throws you a curveball, don't duck. you just might miss something."
-EXTREMEDAYS

Just Smile.

Quote:
"This is for you, As long as I can I will look at this world for the both of us. As long as I can I will laugh with the birds, I will sing with the flowers, I will pray to the stars for the both of us." ~Ian Hutto

ON WHY THE GENEALOGY IS MORE INTERESTING THAN NASCAR by Brynn Camery-Hoggatt

A friend, and professor, Dr. Jerry Camery-Hoggatt shared with us an article his daughter wrote, simply entitled:
ON WHY THE GENEALOGY IS MORE INTERESTING THAN NASCAR.

This is the way the world begins.

This is the way the world begins.

This is the way the world begins.

Not with a bang but a genealogy.



I was in a meeting today with my boss (Joe) and my colleague (Zack) discussing important church beeswax, when somehow, something snapped and everyone but me wanted to show off his knowledge of NASCAR.

We live in the south where stock cars are king, and Joe and Zack have made it a spiritual discipline to know the name, car, sponsor, and number of every driver. So, seeing as the Daytona 500 is rapidly approaching, our meeting turned into a riveting round of the "Name a Number and I'll tell you the NASCAR Driver, Car, and Sponsor" game.

Joe answered a lot of trivia correctly after only a few squabbles with Zack (who has an i-Phone and therefore knows everything), so to speed things along, I finally just asked him how many drivers he knew altogether. A lot, he said. And how many people listed in the genealogy of Matthew did he know? I asked. Not as many. Why not?



It's not as interesting, Zack said.



I couldn't agree less. And not because I find NASCAR wholly uninteresting (that's part of it) but because I find the genealogy so interesting that I'd literally shave it into my back if I had enough hair.



But, let's face it, I'm weird. Why would anyone want to read the genealogy at all? It's boring, isn't it? Just another chapter to read if you want that Gospel of Matthew notch on your lipstick case. On and on and on it goes. There aren't any red letters, commandments, or chiasms to attract us to it. No miracles in the genealogy, no parables, no "you've heard of the old way but I tell you a new way."



Not at first glance anyway.



So we stumble through the list if we have to and pay no attention really until we get to names we know. Even then, though our ears might perk up, those names, the ones we know, hold no significance because they are bookmarked in between Jehoshaphat and Zerubablahblahblah, names that no respectable preggo actually considers anymore (like Agnes and Enid) and by the time we get to Jacob or Joseph, we're just dying to get to the next of Matthew – the Christmas story – everyone's favorite. Who doesn't love the old yarn about the starry starry silent night, the friendly ox, the twinkly-eyed magi, the baby who would rock the world?



When you think about what's coming next in the story, well, it's hard to think of the genealogy as anything of vital importance or intrigue.



Sure it's in there; it has to be in there. Always has been. But it seems a little archaic, don't you think? Let's skip to the next bit, okay? The bit about sugarplums and snowflakes and silver bells, silver bells.



But there's a catch, you see, when we skip to the next bit. The catch is that the end doesn't make much sense without the beginning. It's kind of like "Stairway to Heaven", the genealogy is. It's tedious and sounds like the same thing over and over again. And it goes on and on and on for four and then six and eight minutes and you wish they would just get to the good part already. But if you fast-forward to the last minute and eighteen seconds of "Stairway to Heaven", which is when Robert Plant goes nuts, or read verse 1:16 only, when Matthew announces the whole reason for the long list of branches on Jesus' family tree, if you skip past it all and just listen to the good part,

you don't ever really understand the good part, do you? You have to climb up Robert Plant's long, twisty story to dance around at the top for the best minute and eighteen seconds ever. You have to walk through Matthew's Hall of Records and Vital Documents to hear Jacob's name called, and then Joseph's, and then Mary's, and finally, that clincher, that reason for all of their being, to hear the name Jesus.



And here we learn it's not just why we read the genealogy that's important, but who we read in the genealogy that's important. Every name in the genealogy was chosen to be part of that genealogy, chosen by one who knows every name ever, the one who could have excluded the poor and impoverished for the sake of the rich and royal. But didn't.



The names in the genealogy, like all Jewish names, are packed with meaning, stories of their own. And we have to read through the whole bloody mess of it, the parts where Abraham almost kills his only son and Jacob steals his brother's blessing, the part where Tamar seduces her father-in-law, where Rahab the prostitute saves the men of God, where David sleeps with Uriah's wife and kills him to cover it, the part where I do all these things in my heart every day, it all has to happen first, before the part where the unmarried teenager gives birth to the son of God makes any sense at all. Truly, we have to wander through a little desert to find the burning bush or the Promised Land.



But it's so worth it.



And there's a twist. The story we expect is not the story we get.



In the genealogy, we see a scurvy crew made into kings. We see Rahab adorned in royal ribbons. We see David, Uriah, Bathsheba, and Solomon sharing an umbrella on a rainy day. We see Babel dismantled and rebuilt anew as a brand new city, a city of gold. And here the unlikelies, the foreigners and adulterers, the murderers and prostitutes, and even a few of the righteous ones are adopted into the family of God.



And we too are invited, no matter how unlikely, unruly, unholy, unclean, to dine with Him at the table of tables. At this table, all nametags are welcome and ready or not, here they come: the cowboys and Indians, the princes and paupers, the Capulets and Montegues. And all we saints and sinners are offered a seat at the great round table.

We are Cornelius. We are ten lepers. The old way drove us to the edge of camp with the other untouchables. The new way invites us in, beaming, on the arm of the guest of honor, Himself an unlikely, God and man.



And we're not just on His arm. We are His arm, His foot, His finger, His very eyelashes. This family tree is not just a list of branches but a list of body parts. To forget about it is to forget our medical records on a trip to the doctor. When we look at this list, these stories, each other, we see nothing less than Emmanuel, God with us.



The genealogy is, every verse, red letter. It's a commandment, parable, and miracle, the point before the proof. It fulfills all the prophecies before we even get to the salad course, the first testament in a bread bowl. It's the genealogy that leads us from the old way to the new, the thesis statement that opens the essays of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, the character guide, the index, a family history for the God of the universe. The genealogy is, in so many words, so many unpronounceable Hebrew words, the "once upon a time" in the greatest story ever told.



Let's begin.

-Brynn Camery-Hoggatt

Thoughts from Brennan Manning...

Thoughts from Brennan Manning's Book, Ruthless Trust:

"The great weakness in the North American church at large, and certainly in my life, is our refusal to accept our brokenness. We hide it, evade it, gloss over it. We grab for the cosmetic kit and put on our virtuous face to make ourselves admirable to the public. Thus, we present to others a self that is spiritually together, superficially happy, and lacquered with a sense of self-depricating humor that passes for humility. The irony is that while I do not want anyone to know that I am judgemental, lazy, vulnerable, screwed up, and afraid, for fear of losing face, the face that I fear losing is the mask of the impostor, not my own."

heavy stuff.

Lord, who's face to i show people? mine? or someone else's?


am i truly being... me?

news updates, from shoeboxblog.com

Steven Page has pulled out of Barenaked Ladies. But we hear that method’s just not reliable.

John McCain says we’re
losing the war in Afghanistan, and we should listen to him. The man knows losing.

The fast food workers who removed their clothes because of a prank phone call are glad it didn’t happen while they were chasing the refrigerator, which they had just learned was running.

first Lady Michelle Obama’s arms are inspiring women in a way we haven’t seen since Martha Washington’s quads, which were awesome.

An octopus in the Santa Monica Pier Aquarium opened a valve in its tank and flooded the place. But the situation was saved by a small, yellow, hapless yet exuberant sponge known only as “Bob.”

Albuquerque public schools are giving cold cheese sandwiches to kids whose parents haven’t paid their lunch bills. Child advocates were outraged until they got a look at what was on the regular lunch menu.

GOOODMORNING NEVERLAND!

so i was hangin with JB yesterday,a nd he showed me this and said "You had better post this on your blog!"

so i am.




this has been a great weekend. workin with awana games, workin for Jesus, hangin with good friends. :)


And iw as thinking abd talkin with a friend during a hard time in his life, and one thing kept coming to mind: everything is going to be ok.

its weird to think about, but looking at romans, we see that in EVERY situation, God works for the good of those who love him.

its like, when the 2000 switch hit,a dn people were running ads everywhere that said this:






but, january first came.

and we woke up.

and then january second came.


and we woke up again.


Charles Shultz once said "Don't worry about the world ending today... its already tomorrow in australia!"

:)

this reminds me of a david crowder song, STARS:

heres the last line, put to a picture of earth- the Pale blue dot.