the    sides

Sunday, August 2
9.00 am
I’ve been up at the church for almost an hour now, listening to the worship team practice, smelling the eggs and sausage from the men’s breakfast. I didn’t go to the breakfast this morning. I normally do but today is going to be a long but an awesome day. [...]

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Ebenezer: name of Hebrew origin meaning “Stone of the help” (derived from the phrase “Eben ha-Ezer”).
Stone of the help. “Here I raise my stone of the help.” A marker to help us remember the provision or presence of God.
Our students are having their own “Ebenezer Moment” this coming Sunday night. [...]

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We’ll show this in the morning at church but it gives some pictures to what I was talking about yesterday.

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Yes, I’ve been quiet over the last few weeks. A much needed time of recharging and DOING life instead of just writing about it.
This past year in Christian Education (don’t get me started on that term) circles there has been some debate over the need/effectiveness of student ministry in the ‘new culture.’ [...]

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It’s been 10 days since I last blogged. It was good to have a break. Now time to break the fast.
Last night we had our Christmas Party/Junk Food/Gift Exchange Extravaganza. It was a blast. Couple of highlights for me.
First, commissioning Toby. I got Toby a real shepherd’s crook as well [...]

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For whatever reason…there were a lot of funny moments at Student Parking last night.
I will not provide context. Just enjoy…
“So…you’re saying they are redoing the Sonic in Elizabeth?”
“Don’t you have somewhere to be?”
“This is it.”
“Alrighty then.”
“You can turn down the heat but you can’t turn off the hotness.”
“Some people actually think I’m intelligent.”
“Some people [...]

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It’s over, done, finished…at least the event is. Let’s hope the effect of it keeps working for a lot longer.
Here’s the quick hit of the weekend…
3 Sessions – snapshots of Jesus. His temptation (no shortcuts), his sermon (on the mount – extreme truth), his heart (sinners loved to hang with him – extreme [...]

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Our student ministry is growing. I mean…really growing.
Last night we had close to 50 students, by far the largest night we’ve had at Pinecrest.
We had 3 volunteers. 3. THREE.
Granted, we were missing two because of Canadian Thanksgiving. (All this time I thought of Canada as [...]

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This may be one of the coolest pictures around. Last week I spoke at Oasis which was being hosted at my old church, 12th Avenue Baptist Church.
Every youth pastor in the history of 12th Avenue was there – minus interims.

Here’s the lineup from right to left…
Phil Brown (1984-1993) – [...]

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Opening Thought Questions:
Where do you put the weight of your leadership expertise?
Where do you invest the most of your leadership time and energy?
If you’re answers to these questions was anything other than yourself, I’d like to challenge you for the next few minutes.
If you spend the best part of your leadership time, expertise, [...]

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