Thursday, May 19, 2011

Dateline 5.19.11

For those of you that follow what’s going on in the media, you know that the end of the world is just two short days away (not likely). With that being said; it would be foolish of me to ask….Are You Ready?
Well, If it doesn’t happen (likely) then I want you to be at Redeemer this weekend as we celebrate another great year of Christian Education. The volunteers for this ministry are some of my favorite peeps. Without any of you, the greatness of the programs we offer would be missed. So thank you for another year of service to Redeemer, but more importantly service to your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I want you all to know that we appreciate all you do for us and the kids, students, and adults of this church. Now I’ve got to tell you about something our High School students decided to do and it makes me extremely proud (Proud Papa Moment).
Two weeks ago, a student who attends our Wednesday night CREW asked me if I would be willing to endorse another prayer morning at the High School. I had to hear him out and not expose my giddiness for this example of leadership among our students.
He stated that what the kids wanted to do was to have a breakfast at the church and then go to the “fish bowl” in front of DeWitt High School. They decided to call it “See You at the Bowl”. I kind of liked “See You in the Bowl”, but alas it was best decided to follow them.
They took theirs from the annual “See You At The Pole” that is done by schools across America on the last Wednesday of September. That event is something that I blogged about in September, and it is a chance for the students to begin the school year by praying for the school, teachers, and the school year in general. Well, “See You at the Bowl” was created by our students to be a call for prayer for the end of the year.
This morning following a breakfast of pancakes, sausage, cereal, yogurt, fruit, and juice (for about 40 students) here at the church; they loaded up in cars and headed to the high school. I was honored enough to be able to join them this time. I opened and had one of our CREW read some Scripture verses that we had selected last night after our weekly Wednesday night CREW. I was able to lead them into a time of prayer. The coolest thing for me was listening to the prayers of so many students. Prayers were heard for family, for the school, for the teachers and administration, for the nation and world, and for the students as they would be heading into summer. When we had finished praying we noticed the “Bowl” had filled even more than when we started with our 40 plus students from the church; we estimated that another 15 -20 had joined us. We were greeting kids from Christian Athletic Camp that had arrived late, but didn’t want to miss this. It is my best guess that 60+ kids gathered this morning in the “Fish Bowl” and lifted high the name of Jesus, while showing on a rainy morning that they love Him and want everyone at that High School to know. Awesome that’s all I’ve got to say.
With this group of students here at DeWitt there is no way I want the world to end, they have so much potential and they know that they have a lot of work to do; as do we my friends. There is no rest for us at Redeemer as we go out and share His love and life with everyone we meet. In Joshua 10, we see the Israelites marching all-night long to accomplish a mission for God. May we not forget that sometimes we have to march all-night long for our Lord. This morning our students did that and set a great example for all that witnessed the event. They shared Jesus on a rainy DeWitt morning by joining together in one accord proclaiming that Jesus is their King!!!!
By the way, last night during CREW we had a good discussion on the end of the world this upcoming weekend. Needless to say I think that the students are pretty confident they're going to be around a little longer. Thanks be to God.

Ron
Director of High School and College Ministry