Day 1 Group Conference

FRIDAY, February 21, 2008
Because I don�t want to pay some exorbitant fee for Internet in the convention center I will be uploading most of this from my phone and then adding in pics later.
First day of the conference�Great start! The bottom floor of the Duke Energy Convention Center is hosting an auto show. Some really cool cars. The amazing stuff is inside where you have to pay. But you can peek and see from outside a little bit.
Its drizzle raining and there is snow and ice on the ground. People are using umbrellas here. Weird. We don�t use them in Oregon. There are actually laws against them. McCormick & Schmidt�s was on tap for dinner
Tim Timmons lead worship. He plays a mean guitar and does a great job of intertwining old and new songs. Mostly I like his heart.
Tony Dungey spoke and did a fantastic job. It was not deep or new; it was, however, right on. He talked about mentoring. He started off by talking about how important the jobs are of youth ministry leaders and how unimportant, when you compare it, football coaching is. We just don�t get the press they do.
Here are a few notes on what he had to say:
Youth Ministry is Like Coaching
Mentors � 80% of new NFL players don�t have a dad in their life. �Who was the dominant male influence in your life?�
What we do is important. How do we do it effectively?
You�re not going to win every game.
Learn your craft. � conferences, Bible studies, seminars, etc. Get trained.
Connect. � make it personal. Be yourself. Take a personal interest in others. A bad teacher can teach an A student, but a good teacher can help every student.
Recharge. � rely on Christ. Take time away. Walk as close to the Lord as possible. Do not let God�s Word depart. Trust Him in everything.
This is the theme of the weekend and he did a great job of connecting to the theme.

Josh and Jake did the announcements with their shirts off (they are not the skinniest guys on the planet) and slapped each other during the announcement. You could see the pain in their eyes. The slaps kept progressing�from the chest to the face and ear. Very funny.
We saw a 90 second trailer to the �Soul Searching� movie based on the book. The book is excellent. Looking at lives of students and where they really are at. They will be showing the whole movie tonight.
Sarah Groves did a concert.
One of the songs she sang was in response to her trip to Rawanda. They played a video of her there with words that would ease into the video that would fit with what she was singing. It was awesome! Here are a few lines from her song.
Your pain has changed me
Your dreams inspire
Your courage asks me what I�m afraid of
I like this girl. She�s good.

I off to the SYM live podcast. Have you listened to this? It�s good. Lots of fun banter with Doug Fields, Josh Griffin, Matt McGill and Jana. Should be cool. I think you can watch it live at www.live.yahoo.com/simplyinsider

Free Ipod Nano? No way!!!

A couple of weekends ago I went to a Youth Workers Convention. The first session started at 7PM. I was scheduled to land at 6PM. I figured after getting my rental car, checking in and walking to the convention center, I should get there right on time. I was really excited...

Then came the delay. Grrrr. My flight got in at 7:37PM. By the time I got in there were about 20 minutes left. I was pretty frustrated. At the end, before they started the Building 429 "concert" the program guys got out in the audience with mics and roving cameras and gave away some prizes. The first one went to a guy who answered some basketball trivia. He won Pacers tickets for the next night.

Then they asked who arrived the latest. First they had everyone who arrived after 4PM to stand up. A whole bunch. Then 5PM, then 6PM, then 7PM. There were three of us. The first guy said he arrived at 7:20PM, I said 7:37PM, the other guy said 7:38PM. He laughed and said he was just kidding. I was the last one there. I won an iPod Nano!!! Can you believe it? I was soooo pumped.



Now I already have an iPod (no, I am not giving it away...sorry) so I am going to bring it in to Best Buy for credit. If I win this youtube video contest I get $500 in Best Buy credit. Then I am well on my way to getting a flat screen HDTV!!! Want to help me win the youtube contest? Click on this video and watch it a few times. Maybe you want to embed it on your myspace page or your blog. The more views and embedding the better.



you can go here to get the embed codes if you are interested.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfQE5kEILT0