OB Leaders Meetings

This past weekend, the five "first time" 2009 Operation Barnabas leaders met in Winona Lake, Indiana to start the training process for leading high school ministry teams this summer. This is a bit of a change-- economics dictated it--but it worked out very very well. Rather than gathering all of the 2009 OB leaders for a weekend, we are extending the week of training in June and did all of the preliminary training with just the "Fab Five". We had one new leader who attended by Skype for CA, so we did not have to pay for a flight and saved 22 hours of her time that would need dedicated to travel. And meeting over a computer was free and very easy!

So why write about OB leaders meetings that were only with a handful?
Well, two reasons:

1. OB 2009 now has officially begun. We have been working for months and months on itineraries (being announced next week) and students have been accepted for the summer since December. But now is when we really start to focus on the summer where we get to train 90 teens in ministry as well as develop 12 adults to new levels of responsiblity and spiritual oversight. It is a privilege and a joy --big it is a responsibility we do not take lightly.

2. God always puts together the best OB leadership team. It looks differently than whatI imagined it would look like at the beginning of the year--but it is always BETTER than I had imagined. This time around, there are 5 new adults so we bring in fresh blood so we do not get stale. There are 7 adults who have 25 summers of OB ministry between them.. Now that is experience.

So OB 2009 is off and rolling. I'm excited about what God is going to do in and through this new group for the sake of His kingdom.

The Irony

It is perhaps the nicest day in the history of Indiana. 70 degrees, sunny, gentle breeze. Absolutely wonderful, wonderful day.

Earlier, I have just gotten done reading some of the plans for abortion and stem cell research that is being moved forward by the Obama camp.

On such a beautiful day, I am reading about something that must be a stench in the nostrils of God Almighty.

This is not a blog on politics--democrats or republicans. It is not a mockery of the current administration. We are told to pray for our leaders--and I do that. What this is is an honest outrage at the lack of value of human life by our leadership. We say it all the time: "God bless America." But how can He bless us when we brag about a country that holds so little value to human life.

The cruel irony is that I am enjoying the wonder of this gorgeous day. And policies are moving forward that will not allow some others to enjoy this beauty.

In His Time

If there are any things that make me concerned--it is trying to gather the very best partners and team members possible. Each year there are always people I am trying to recruit to be Operation Barnabas leaders or speakers for youth min classes or for three days worth of chapels for Youth Emphasis Week. And while I am always excited about working to make these teams and speakers the very best opportunities possible, it is also the biggest thing that I worry about.

I have learned a lot about patience (I still need more), God's timing (I want it now), and His provision (It really turns out much better that way than what I originally had conjured up). You would think that I would be less rattled and stressed about all of this, but I still have some more growing and maturing to do.

Friday, we just finalized out YEW speaker--a real find: Tim Eldred from Christian Endeavor. He speaks at all kinds of stuff. Only reason he was free to speak April 1 (no foolin') and 2 was that he had reserved the dates for his kids spring break--only to find out it is actually a week later. He had reserved our dates and just found out he didn't need them. Perfect. I had struck out at every turn previously.

We are trying to finalize Operation Barnabas leaders for this summer. Back when I started directing OB, it was scary if all leaders were not lined up by Christmas. Things change as we are just beginning to get a couple commitments by Christmas. Well, we just got great news over this weekend: Eric Miller, from Frederick, MD has been granted permission to senior lead again. Awesome. Then today, I was just contacted by an OB alumna who is finishing up college this spring, with a youth min minor, and she wants to go with us this summer.

I prefer to have these things set way in advance. But God is pulling all this together in His timing and His way. I still need one more OB senior leader and one more adult guy OB leader. Guess I've still got some learnin' to do...

A Good Story Comes Full Circle

Erica told me last summer that she was willing to go again as an Operation Barnabas leader. She is a great gal and led a team with us in 2006 in CA. She would graduate from college and then go on OB. A week before leaders retreat in April she came to me and said she was not going. She had been praying and asking God what she should do. She decided that OB was not for her summer. I asked Erica what godly influences she had consulted to help her with this decision. Her response was that she didn’t seek anyone else out—but was looking at Scripture and praying. I shared that God’s will is also revealed through spiritual leaders in our lives. I asked what her parents thought of her decision. She said she did not know—she had not told them of her change of plans. I ask Erica if she would do one thing: Ask for her parents opinion of her decision as God’s will is revealed through our authority figures.

Erica’s parents said they thought it was a poor decision to drop leading OB. With full credit to Erica, she decided to obey her parents and came and talked to me at our house at 10:30 that night and asked to have her position back. After discussion, Erica was back in as an adult leader on OB 2008.

Why share this story? We went to a wedding on Saturday. It was Erica’s wedding. Turns out that there was a good looking young man named Josiah Teeple who felt led by the Lord to be an adult leader on OB. Erica and Josiah were on the same OB leadership team, did ministry together and decided that they would like to serve the Lord together as husband. And now they are married.

By the world’s standards, you pull yourself up by your own bootstraps. You make your own decisions. No one tells me what to do—I decide what to do. (Hence the love of the American public with a little song that Frank Sinatra made famous, “… I took the blows and did it MY way.” Great song, horrible theology, and a lousy way to live one’s life.) Because of Erica’s obedience, she found her husband. We are thrilled for them and believe that God is going to continue to use them incredible ways in His work. I think that is an OB success story.

I would hope that if there is anything we teach teens and adults through Operation Barnabas, The National Institute and other ministries, it would be this: That God wants obedience before any sacrifice. And God's will is revealed through the authority figures in our lives. People who truly understand ministry, embrace and live out this concept.

16

"You're sixteen, you're beautiful, and you're mine."
Maybe not the exact idea the song writer had in mind, but that is my line today.

It is so hard to believe that our eldest, Bekah, turns 16 today. OB alums around the world are struggling to beleive that that little toddler they knew on Operation Barnabas is now driving a car--and doing a very nice job doing that too. Seems like yesterday she made her entry into the world and the time has flown by. Poor girl--had to go to school today on her birthday. My parents never made me go to school on my birthday. Then again, my birthday is in July...

I guess what I have found so interesting is that the age group that Dana and I have always worked with with--teens and young adults--is now the group that our own daughter is a part of. Going to a youth conference or retreat in previous years was always about the general audience. Now it includes that, but also has "I wonder how my own kid is reacting to this" in it too.

I am grateful that Bekah has a heart that is sensitive towards spiritual things as well as for being a leader. She is enjoyable to be around and really has a gift of discernment. We are proud of her and the decisions she continues to make. She is strong--which too many people think is a negative. We have always seen it as incredibly positive and don't want it any other way. When she makes up here mind--especially between right and wrong--she continues a good path, even when it may not be popular with her peers and the world's standards. And at the same time, she is teachable. Good combination. And it is going to take a special strong guy to win her over. I think most guys are afraid of her--and I'm okay with that. I also hear some of those same guys are afraid of me. I'm good with that too...

I've heard is said that when a young person makes good decisions and follows God, parents take too much credit for that. I've also heard that when a young person makes poor choices, that parents too often do not take enough responsibility for it. If anyone deserves credit in this--it is more Dana than me. And I am grateful.

So, happy birthday, Bekah. Mom and I love you and are very proud of you. Excited for the years you have before you to great things for others and to honor God.
Love,
Dad

It Bothers Me that It Bothered Me

The first Saturday of each February is when we have our taxes done. That statement makes us sound like we have everything in our life very planned...but maybe that may be the only regularly planned thing in our lives!

Financial experts say that you shouldn't use the government as your banker and let them hold onto much of your taxes so that you get a rebate. Well, we have always used the government as that bank. We use that "extra money" then to give to various needs at church, the kids school, OB kids, household things that need to get done, etc. For us, it has worked fine.

I knew we would not be getting as much back this year as last. But I was more than a little shocked when I was told that instead of GETTING money from Uncle Sam, we were going to OWE him $1800 for 2008. Wow. Knock me over with a feather.

If there is good news, it is that I didn't kick anything, yell and scream, or swear at anyone. But this news bothered me all day. We aren't big spenders--we are more savers. It isn't that we couldn't come up with $1800--even though that would be a huge amount. But there are a lot of people who would have struggle with this amount more than us --and it made me feel for them.

We have never made our lives about money. I hope we never will. I had friend right out of school making over six figures--but they didn't get to be in ministry. I learned from my dad that when you are asked to speak for a church/retreat/youth group--whatever, and they ask you how much you charge, the answer is "whatever you want to give." And God has always provided and then some.

But what bothers me is that it bugged me all day that we owed this money. How much emphasis do I put on the almighty dollar? Should it impact me that way--that it bothered me for so long?

Well, the end of the story: Got home from taking my son and his friend to a funny movie ( I am sure the Pink Panther II was really a good film, but my disposition only allowed me to think it was okay) to hear a voice mail from our tax preparer: She had forgotten to include a form and now we were going to be getting money BACK instead of paying the government more money. Whew.

Maybe the lesson I need to learn is that I still care too much about money. All of it is going to burn in the long run anyway. I still have a ways to go.

The Network

Its always nice to travel to the warm So Cal in January. It really wasn't that warm there this year--but a lot warmer than Indiana! But the most memorable part of the trip was not the weather--it was a 30 minute conversation on the flight out west.

I was cat-napping for a couple of hours on the flight from Chicago to LAX. I walked to the back of the plane to stretch and the flight attendant made comment on my Steeler jersey and how her crew often stayed overnight in Pittsburgh. I made the connection that this summer our Momentum youth conference would be ministering in that area for a week in July.

I have never seen a flight attendant take a half hour "break" to talk. This woman, Donna, was hurting. She expressed her desire to see people follow God but that was not what she had done with her own life. She had grown up in church but wasn't really living at all for the Lord. and now she was very concerned for her son because he did not have a heart for spiritual things. And well she should be concerned.

I shared with Donna what I was preaching on on Sunday morning: that joy comes when we serve Him after we give him our comfort, our past and He becomes our most important relationship. (Luke 9 and 10) Her response was: "I'm not ready to give Him my comfort yet...but I am getting close".

The most interesting part of the conversation was what she shared next. That she had a friend who had been talking to her that she needed to get into God's word. And it hit me. God is orchestrating people around her to speak truth into her life. God wants a dynamic relationship with her. And He was pursuing her.

I promised I would pray for her and told her that she would never really truly have joy until she gave her life to Christ. And I have been praying for Donna each day.

But what strikes me is that there is a network of random people that God is putting in her path to point the way back to Him. I will probably never see Donna again, but someone else in the Network will get to experience the time when Donna repents and finds real joy. I have to admit, I am personally experiencing joy because I am a member of the Network and did my part on that flight.