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STORM youth group was amazing. here's why: the kids who went on the Daniel retreat came back with glowing faces.
i wish oh so dearly that i could have gone with them. i feel like i missed a crucial part of their spiritual lives. unlike most sundays, they were totally ready to worship and praise. they WANTED to worship. they clamored for fast songs.
i remember when i was in youth group in LA. i used to like the slow, undemanding songs like as the deer, i love you Lord, etc. then a new praise leader came into our youth group, fresh out of college. she would close her eyes, have this big smile, and just bang away at the guitar. whenever she brought up fast songs, i remember having angry feelings rise within me. i wanted to know why she was making us get up and clap and move around when it was so early on sunday morning. what did she want out of us? i would look at her and the resentment just built up. so, i was quite the sinful youth group kid. compared to me, my youth group kids here are little angels. i am so thankful that the praise leader from my past kept nudging us, challenging us, moving us out of what we wanted (sleep). eventually, we became used to her. and later, we even came to like singing the songs. still later, we gradually began to understand the meaning of the songs that we were singing.
i'm afraid that my preparation and lead as a worship leader wasn't up to STORM youth's energy and enthusiasm for God. LORD, please give me a greater ability, if not for my sake, then for the sake of those that are affected by how i play and lead. i don't want to be the obstacle that would retard their spiritual growth. amen.
PJH gave rousing sermon on direction. for a better summary than i can provide, check out carol's blog: *open book*
****
11:30 service: on leadership.
again, a great summary can be found on carol's site. (she takes notes like me, but i think her notes are better and more comprehensive.) i take notes to keep a record of all the sermons i hear, and my QTs, but also, it serves to keep me attentive, and not get sleepy.
brief subway lunch. yum yum.
5:00 service: freedom from habitual sin.
summary on carol's site again. (hey, carol, do you like how i'm advertising your site?)
can i just say how enjoyable it is to praise with the 5 o'clock praise team? it is no stress, pure joy. after the service, jk got a groove going on the bass, bc joined with a funky beat, jh added piano that was just movin', and then PJH and jp started rapping. that's right, rapping. no practice, just whipped it out. and they were DARN GOOD. performance quality. my jaw just dropped. what am i doing on a praise team like this? i'm taking advantage of a privilege, folks. i'm play with these guys, but i'm also listening and enjoying GREAT music. and when we're praising together, oh man. oh man. music fades away, and it is a group of ppl who love God, who love praising Him, just worshipping Him.
then, i decided to be unpractical and played ball at cornell med from 8:30 to 11:22. not a wise thing to do at all. but what can i do? i love basketball. whether i'm stinking or playing well, basketball is one of my loves. you could say it was my first love.
you have to understand, i've been in love with basketball for as long as i can remember. i guess it started with showtime, back in the day, with magic, kareem, james worthy, byron scott, a.c., cooper. their glory days stirred something in me.
when i was in elementary school back in LA, i wanted to play basketball so badly. i played all the time with guys at school that were equally as bad as me. but i loved it, and played with all that i had. on sundays, all the church guys would have 4-5 hr basketball sessions, until they dropped with exhaustion. i wanted so badly to join them, but they didn't let me play. i was too small, they said. jimmy, my older bro, was the youngest kid, the lower limit that they would allow on the court. i was so mad then. crying, i would sneak behind the parked cars, pick up as many pebbles as i could keep in my hand, and throw pebbles at them as they played. if i couldn't play, neither would they. i'm sure i was crazy annoying, and i don't blame any of them if they hated me.
eventually, in sophmore yr of high school, they let me play. and i stunk it up. i was short, fat, and...just a terrible player. my insides would cringe as i thought of how long i had waited, how i made such a big deal of not being allowed to play, and then, to play like this. no one wanted me on their team. i was stubborn enough to keep at it, to take the silent resentment, and keep playing. i wish i could say that i improved a lot during those sundays at church as the years went by, but, well, this is my real life, not a fairy tale. i continued to stink throughout high school. it was only in college that i lost some weight, and worked on my relationship with that orange ball until i was a decent player.
i put a lot into my love for this game. i don't know how many times i cramped on my walk from the athletic center to my dorm room during college. my calves would go, then my thigh, and when i tried to stretch that, my hamstrings would pull violently. who said love was easy?
a lot of people have a hard time understanding why basketball is so important to me. maybe this sheds a little bit of light on it.
yakob at 11:54 PM
-----------------
i wish oh so dearly that i could have gone with them. i feel like i missed a crucial part of their spiritual lives. unlike most sundays, they were totally ready to worship and praise. they WANTED to worship. they clamored for fast songs.
i remember when i was in youth group in LA. i used to like the slow, undemanding songs like as the deer, i love you Lord, etc. then a new praise leader came into our youth group, fresh out of college. she would close her eyes, have this big smile, and just bang away at the guitar. whenever she brought up fast songs, i remember having angry feelings rise within me. i wanted to know why she was making us get up and clap and move around when it was so early on sunday morning. what did she want out of us? i would look at her and the resentment just built up. so, i was quite the sinful youth group kid. compared to me, my youth group kids here are little angels. i am so thankful that the praise leader from my past kept nudging us, challenging us, moving us out of what we wanted (sleep). eventually, we became used to her. and later, we even came to like singing the songs. still later, we gradually began to understand the meaning of the songs that we were singing.
i'm afraid that my preparation and lead as a worship leader wasn't up to STORM youth's energy and enthusiasm for God. LORD, please give me a greater ability, if not for my sake, then for the sake of those that are affected by how i play and lead. i don't want to be the obstacle that would retard their spiritual growth. amen.
PJH gave rousing sermon on direction. for a better summary than i can provide, check out carol's blog: *open book*
****
11:30 service: on leadership.
again, a great summary can be found on carol's site. (she takes notes like me, but i think her notes are better and more comprehensive.) i take notes to keep a record of all the sermons i hear, and my QTs, but also, it serves to keep me attentive, and not get sleepy.
brief subway lunch. yum yum.
5:00 service: freedom from habitual sin.
summary on carol's site again. (hey, carol, do you like how i'm advertising your site?)
can i just say how enjoyable it is to praise with the 5 o'clock praise team? it is no stress, pure joy. after the service, jk got a groove going on the bass, bc joined with a funky beat, jh added piano that was just movin', and then PJH and jp started rapping. that's right, rapping. no practice, just whipped it out. and they were DARN GOOD. performance quality. my jaw just dropped. what am i doing on a praise team like this? i'm taking advantage of a privilege, folks. i'm play with these guys, but i'm also listening and enjoying GREAT music. and when we're praising together, oh man. oh man. music fades away, and it is a group of ppl who love God, who love praising Him, just worshipping Him.
then, i decided to be unpractical and played ball at cornell med from 8:30 to 11:22. not a wise thing to do at all. but what can i do? i love basketball. whether i'm stinking or playing well, basketball is one of my loves. you could say it was my first love.
you have to understand, i've been in love with basketball for as long as i can remember. i guess it started with showtime, back in the day, with magic, kareem, james worthy, byron scott, a.c., cooper. their glory days stirred something in me.
when i was in elementary school back in LA, i wanted to play basketball so badly. i played all the time with guys at school that were equally as bad as me. but i loved it, and played with all that i had. on sundays, all the church guys would have 4-5 hr basketball sessions, until they dropped with exhaustion. i wanted so badly to join them, but they didn't let me play. i was too small, they said. jimmy, my older bro, was the youngest kid, the lower limit that they would allow on the court. i was so mad then. crying, i would sneak behind the parked cars, pick up as many pebbles as i could keep in my hand, and throw pebbles at them as they played. if i couldn't play, neither would they. i'm sure i was crazy annoying, and i don't blame any of them if they hated me.
eventually, in sophmore yr of high school, they let me play. and i stunk it up. i was short, fat, and...just a terrible player. my insides would cringe as i thought of how long i had waited, how i made such a big deal of not being allowed to play, and then, to play like this. no one wanted me on their team. i was stubborn enough to keep at it, to take the silent resentment, and keep playing. i wish i could say that i improved a lot during those sundays at church as the years went by, but, well, this is my real life, not a fairy tale. i continued to stink throughout high school. it was only in college that i lost some weight, and worked on my relationship with that orange ball until i was a decent player.
i put a lot into my love for this game. i don't know how many times i cramped on my walk from the athletic center to my dorm room during college. my calves would go, then my thigh, and when i tried to stretch that, my hamstrings would pull violently. who said love was easy?
a lot of people have a hard time understanding why basketball is so important to me. maybe this sheds a little bit of light on it.
yakob at 11:54 PM