Wawel Dragon

What do you get sons who are turning four and six for their birthdays while you are in Poland? The Wawel Dragon of course! W is pronounced as a V! While we were in Krakow I decided that the boys each needed a dragon to fly around the house. Legend has it that a dragon used to live under Wawel castle shivh e walked around our first day here. Once it was killed Krakow was free from it's curse. I can't wait to tell the boys this story and see their faces.

Off to Poland

I am so excited today to head out for our 7th trip to Poland. You can follow our team blog on the sidebar 180 in Poland and I'll be posting stuff on this blog as we have chance!

Here we go!

Space Shuttle and Space Station

Last night my wife and I went outside and at 10:24 p.m. we saw the Space Shuttle trailing behind the Space Station. It was amazing to look over our house and see these two things appear in the sky for about 2 minutes and then disappear. Probably a once in a lifetime experience.

It got me thinking today about once in a lifetime experiences and really how everyday is one. I am not going to live 9:00 a.m. on June 20th again.

Rockies vs. Yankees

The Yankees are in town. The ballpark is full! Over the last month the Rockies have more wins than any other team in baseball.

I've got to celebrate!

Tomorrow Roger Clemens is pitching and I will be sitting a staff meeting!

Jesus to the World

Today we took our students into downtown Denver to serve alongside Jesus to the World, a ministry that feeds the homeless in our city everyday. Today, we didn't feed the homeless, we cleaned out the building. They needed to get everything out and the floors moped. The city of Denver bought them out and is building a modern art museum. It was awesome to watch our students serving David (founder of Jesus to the World) as he was telling us what to put in his blazer, in the trash and the small room that was going to hold what he wanted to keep. The whole time we were serving alongside him he was praising the Lord for sending our students to help him out. He couldn't imagine doing this all by himself. Today our students were an answer to prayer. When we finished loading up to dumpsters, literally, the trash guy came and unloaded the over packed dumpsters and he took a freezer and a couple of huge trash cans filled with junk. We ended our time hearing about his story of 34 of these ministries around the World - A ministry that feeds leprosy colony of families in India and food ministries in Africa, Poland and Pakistan to name a few. He told me earlier in the day he wants a food ministry in every country!

I am praising God today that our students got the chance to meet David. He wasn't there last year. I am grateful they got the chance to hear his heart for bringing Jesus to the World. I am praying that they will have that same passion to bring Jesus to their world - their families, their friends and to their peers in school.

The value of a team

Today I started my last full week in the office until September 17th. I leave for Poland on June 25th and my sabbatical on July 16th. There are so many details floating around the office this week that it's impossible for me to get my hands around all of them. But they are all getting done thanks to the amazing team I have working and serving alongside of me. Today I was just amazed at the people God has blessed me with to partner in this ministry to students at Southern Gables. All these details forced me to stop and be thankful for the people God has blessed me with.

11 years

11 years ago today it rained all day! It hasn't rained on this day since our wedding. Tonight we will head to Outback Steakhouse and sign up for another year!

My how the family picture has changed in 11 years!

Spurgeon on Prayer

I love this quote from Charles Spurgeon and want our students to live with this attitude towards prayer this summer,

“Beloved brethren, let us pray. We cannot all argue, but we can all pray; we cannot all be leaders, but we can all be pleaders; we cannot all be mighty in rhetoric, but we can all be prevalent in prayer. I would sooner see you eloquent with God than with men. Prayer links us with the Eternal, the Omnipotent, the Infinite, and hence it is our chief resort... Be sure that you are with God, and then you may be sure that God is with you.”

Amazing leaders

Last week as we were driving away from Horn Creek Ranch I was blown away at how amazing the 8 leaders who went with me were with our students. Time after time I saw them playing, talking, challenging and shepherding our students day after day. I can't imagine how many seeds were planted in the lives of our students as a result of their choice to go. We left half of our leaders at home who I know were praying for our time.

Knowing I have this team behind me is a HUGE encouragement to me as I head off to Poland and then on to sabbatical. I am so thankful for the amazing leaders God has blessed our student ministry with! It's amazing and humbling to be surrounded by such passionate people.

Summer Camp 2007

What a group! What a week! Our theme was "Be Still..." I am so excited for what God did and is going to do in the lives of our students that attended this amazing week in one of the most beautiful places in Colorado! We spent hours in the Word alone and with each other! I can't think of a better way to start the summer!

Summer Camp 2007

We're off to Summer Camp at Horn Creek Ranch! Our theme this year is "Be Still." We have no speaker! Each session the students are going to be reading the Word, spending time in prayer and journaling what they experience. It's going to be a great week to connect with God and each other!

More to come when we return!!!!!!!

Bible Geocoding

Bible Geocoding is a great resource to use with your students for your Sunday morning prep or for your small group prep. You could spend a whole night with your small group doing some Bible geography on this site! You can find every location mentioned in the Bible! This was awesome to use during my study of the 7 churches!

Larry the Cable Guy

Yesterday Josiah grabbed a DVD which possessed a picture of Larry the Cable Guy. Here's the dialogue:

Josiah holding the DVD, "Dad is this you?" - Pointing to Larry the Cable Guy.

Me - "No!"

Josiah smiling and laughing, "Dad, this guy totally looks like Dan. That's you!"

I am not lying...I fell off the couch laughing. This kids cracks me up!

Inspecting what you expect

One of the best pieces of advice I have ever received on how to do my job better in student ministry was this phrase,

"You must be willing to inspect what you expect."

So here's to a summer of inspecting how well I inspected what I expected this past year in our student ministry!

Welcome Class of 2011

Today we welcome the Class of 2011 into our spiritual community of high school students. Actually, we started last night. Our seniors hosted the freshmen and did a great job! We ate some tremendous food and played crazy, made up on the spot games with hula hoops (ring the youth pastor, etc...). They also managed a game of Ultimate Frisbee in the dark at the park. Then came the set up. Our seniors brought the freshmen to my house to teepee it but I was ready. Julie was filming from across the street. Jon the Canadian was on one side of my house and I was on the other. My neighbors Andy and Chris got in on the fun too. We let them go for about a minute and the we all blasted them with hoses! The seniors also had water balloons that they were launching at them! It was awesome. The best part of the night is that I didn't clean up the mess. The freshmen did! Upon waking up this morning and walking outside to my car I noticed that they need to hone their cleaning skills!

So I officially want to welcome the Class of 2011 to our spiritual community of high school students! My hope and prayer for you is that by being part of our community you will bear the fruit of what Paul prayed for the Ephesians in 3:14-21,

"14For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. 20Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen."

This is my prayer for you Class of 2011!

Isaac Slade - The Fray

He's the lead singer of The Fray. Today's paper revealed that he might inherit a 15 million dollar mansion. I'm guessing on a scale of 1-10, 10 being EPIC, Isaac's year just keeps climbing past 10.

I am waiting to be contacted by Sir William Buckingham Luebcke stating emphatically that I, his lost heir ,should be ready upon his death to receive a mansion worth 14 million dollars! :)

Has anyone received word like this? Maybe not to this degree, but you got a phone call to reveal that you had something somewhere in the world that would one day be yours?

Youth Worker Network Raft Trip

Today was an EPIC day! I took Will, Carey and Jen from our high school ministry with me to the annual Noah's Ark Youth worker Network Raft Trip. Carey got launched out of the boat and was swimming in 42 degree water! She's fine. The weather was perfect. The water was 1,800 cfs. So many new faces and so many familiar ones. Cory, Micah, Todd and Chuck from Noah's Ark did it right. Rich Van Pelt was there! I am so proud to be a part of a youth worker network in my community and in my denomination. I can't imagine not being connected to other youth workers as I serve in the church. Here's to never being a LONE RANGER in student ministry!