Have you ever noticed that it costs almost $20 to go to the movies anymore? Theme parks are $50, and if you just want to hang out at the mall I bet you will end up buying a giant cinnamon sugar pretzel with an extra large Slurpee, even if you don’t mean to.

The Student Leadership Team was recently thinking of ways kids could hang out after school, but for free. The answer was easy- why not at church?

So here’s the deal: every Monday starting sometime in December, the youth will have an opportunity to be picked up by a youth group volunteer (over the age of 25!) and be driven to MUMC. There, we’ll have different things going on, such as…

- a quiet room to do homework

- a placw where kids could socialize, but do homework

- snacks

- the youth room will have 3 computers with internet access (I think.) These can be used if a kid wants to type up a report, but ONLY FOR THAT PURPOSE! Sorry, but NO FACEBOOK! You can survive by not updating your status for 3 hours…

- board games, decks of cards, and more fun stuff

- etc. etc. etc. (more stuff I don’t remember from the meeting…)

Anywho, this will just be a great and fantabulous time for kids to hang out/play games/do your homwork, and it’s free! It will be from 2:15-ish (when high school gets out) till about 5:00. From 5-6, we will be having a Bible study, and any youth of any age is welcome to come! If you do not want to go to the Bible study, your parents must pick you up and take you home.

We are all super excited about this. You can check out some pictures Chris has put up already on this site, as well.

More information will be coming shortly.

The book began with this sentence: “Let me begin with a promise- if you read this book cover to cover, think about what you’ve read, and discuss the principles with other leaders, I promise you’ll never be the same.” Quite an optimistic outlook. Doug told his story on how he became a leader; when he was in 9th grade, his youth pastor asked him to go on a youth leadership retreat because he saw potential in Doug. After that, Doug says that his life was changed; now, he’s the director of youth something something at Saddleback Church, which is a mega church (for more information, Google it.)

After more explanation on what the book is, Doug asks us these questions:

Are you ready for this leadership trip?

Yes                     No

Do you consider yourself a student leader?

Yes                     No

What do you think? Are you a student leader? Do you want to become one? If you answered no to any of them, Doug responds with this:

If you have leaership potential, then

1. You have a relationship with God.

2. You have  aheart and mind open to learning and growing.

3. You want to help others.`

4. You can handle being challenged.

5. You want your life to count for something.

NOW, does that describe you?

Yes                               No

Doug goes on to say that leadership isn’t about popularity, being cute, having charisma, or speaking in front of others. “If you want to serve God and have a heart that gets excited about helping others, then you’ve got what it take to be a leader.”

Before Chapter One begins, Doug asks one more thing of us: to write down our CURRENT definition of student leadership. He says that there is no correct answer, and that you shouldn’t worry about being “right.” At the end of the book, he’ll have us write down a new definition based of what we’ve learned, and to see if we’ve learned anything.

Give it a shot!

Here’s the topic:

For May, the artists of the month are Britt Nicole, VOTA, and [insert third here when Sayre remembers.] What do you guys think of the artists? What are some other great artists that should be incorporated into the following months? How cute is Jeremy Camp? Just kidding, just kidding… So get your fingers ready for a super dooper beta discussion!!!

(from Chris’ blog)

I can! (I can!) You can! (You can!) We can! (We can!) I got yo’ back! (I got yo’ back!)

Last night at FUEL, we were welcomed by a fabulous medley of Jeremy Camp songs provided by the FUEL Band- “Beautiful One,” “Give You Glory,” “Let It Fade,” and “You Are Worthy of My Praise.” Many thanks to Noah, Drew, Bernie, Julianna, Eduardo, Adam, Amanda, Shannon, and Emily! Eduardo shared some important messages in-between the songs, such as how important it is to surrender yourself to God, and that when we worship Him, we are thanking and praising him for all that He has done for us. Shane shared a beautiful testimony with us, about how just a beautiful sunset can brighten even the gloomiest day. The scripture was from 1 Corinthians 9:19-23 and 2 Corinthians 5:17. Victoria, Chris’ high school intern, gave the message, too. She talked about how her faith blossomed when she went to the ALIVE conference in Ocean City during her middle school years, and how saying a simple prayer with one of the speakers there changed her perspective on Christianity. Later on, we were blessed once again with the gift of music with a special presentation of yet another Jeremy Camp song, “Give Me Jesus.” Thanks to our soloists Claire, Julianna, and Eduardo, as well as their back-up’s, Adam and Bernie. After communion, Jeremy Camp’s final song, “Speaking Louder Than Before,” which we studied last week at youth group, was played.

Though the lesson sure had a lot of errors, we discussed sharing our faith, and sometimes having to tell someone something difficult. This lesson was the first in a three part series we will be doing called “Three Part Evangelism.”

We were treated to pancakes and sandwiches by the hardworking kitchen crew- thanks a bunch!

Don’t forget about the tubing trip to Whitetail Ski Resort coming up on Sunday, January 25th from 6-8pm. You can sign up on the board near the right sanctuary entrance. The cost is $22.