New Blog Site

Hello Everyone!

Just wanted to let you know that I found an easier blog to blog on! I'm pretty computer stupid! Here's the link:

http://chrisbreneman.wordpress.com

Thanks!

Broken Down, God-Ordained Things

Hey Everyone!

I know it's been a day, but I just wanted to fill you in on our ride home and how awesome God really is!

First, one of our vans broke down on the way home about 250 miles from home. To make a long story short, we were traveling with Rick Wulf and his Echo Valley kids and they were able to help out to an extent and they definitely did.

We found out that there was a huge accident on Route 70 which put some York people behind on time, but perfect timing for us.

The rental place called and said they would pick up the van and I could travel back with my youth group. The York church came and met us and everyone got home safely!

It is amazing how God works!

Last Full Day...

Our last full day of Momentum was filled with joy and happiness. As of last night, we found out our service project and were super excited to find out that we were going to the Community Action Partnership in Inner-City Dayton. We were so excited to find out that we were going to give out 500 bags of food to the needy and homeless of Dayton!

As we pulled up, the excitement was building as we saw the people in line waiting for food. It was exciting to know that they didn't just get one bag of food, but two. As we got into our positions, we were eager to start. As the line starting coming, it was amazing to see the smiles on the people's faces as they picked up their bags of food.

Sometimes you go in to something like this and your goal is to be a blessing to people, but in my case, I was blessed by others.

I met a guy by the name of Mr. Thomas. He recently got ran over by a vehicle at his work and has congestive heart failure. The doctor said he would not walk for 6-8 months. Mr. Thomas told me that he prayed to God and it's been 2-3 months since his surgeries and he is walking with no problem! This man was in such high spirit's that it was out of control!

Another woman named Leona (I don't know if I spelled that right) came to our truck and as we gave her the food and prayed with her she told us that we made her morning. Things have been tough, but she said we made her day! How exciting is that!

I also got to pray with another man who was living in a homeless shelter because he lost his job and lost his apartment. He finally took a step and found an apartment and is looking for a job. The man seemed very determined to complete his task and we prayed together and asked God to provide and the man said that he knows God will come through.

Many stories, many people, many lives touched for God. Thanks so much for praying!

The Results Are In...

Well,

NAC and Bible Quizzing is over and you are probably wondering what happened...

This morning in our Main Session, we got to see the Final Quiz which our NAD teens made...It was super exciting and super close, but we came out in 2nd Place and are SUPER PROUD of our teens! We lost by 20 points (if your not familiar with quizzing, that's one question).

As it relates to the other things...

-Jay Hoerr received GOLD for Piano Solo (can I just say how much he deserved that)
-Puppets and Worship Band both received SILVER!

I'd say we did pretty well for ourselves! I'm super proud of our teens and praise God for all their work.

In each of my entries, I always ask you to pray for something...today is no different.

I want you to pray and pray HARD for our group as we move into tomorrow. Tomorrow we are going into the heart of Dayton, OH to pass out food and do other random tasks. Please pray as some of us are facing fatigue that we just look for opportunities to share the Gospel with whoever we come in contact with. I am so PUMPED for this opportunity and I think it will be successful, but not without prayer.

Only one more full day and we're coming home...bittersweet!

God at His Finest!

Hello Parents!

What an exciting 24 hours! We will be sharing on Sunday, but I'll let you in on something that happened last night that was AMAZING! I am still speechless as of today. Last night Jim Brown, a FGBC pastor from Ohio, spoke about taking care of the poor and needy with a global mindset. At the end of the night he told us that we would put everything into practice.

So, when he was done speaking, he asked if we thought we as a conference could raise $15,000 for the poor and needy. If we raised $15,000 we would feed 100,000 people for 2 years. Parents and anyone reading this, you are about to be amazed! Our entire conference which is made up of 85-90% teenagers raised...

$92,500.00!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

With that being said, we took $15,000 out to feed 100,000 people most likely in Africa. With the rest of the money we are going to, as a conference, build an orphanage in Cambodia. BUT THAT'S NOT ALL...

If we raised $20,000 more, we could build a second orphanage in Thailand. We left the session last night full of hope and tears of joy.

This morning we found out that an Ex-pro football player by the name of Jarod Cherry was at our conference with his FGBC church. Cherry was a part of the New England Patriots when they won their last 3 Super Bowls. Cherry came on stage this morning and said he felt God leading him in such a way that he was going to give his Super Bowl ring into the mix which will most likely fund the rest of the 2nd Orphanage.

A representative from Hope for Asia was there and said that these Orphanages will be called "The Momentum Orphanage".

HOW EXCITING IS THAT!?!?!?!

On another note, I just got back from the quiz results. Jay and the NAD squad are in the SEMI-FINALS!!!! We are so proud of him and are wishing him the best. Hopefully tomorrow I will have the final results for you.

God is doing some INCREDIBLE things down here and we thank you so much for your prayers!

See you tomorrow!!!!

Day 3

It's sooo nice down here in Ohio. Not too terribly much humidity, but it is nice and cool in the evenings and mornings.

Yesterday, Jay Hoerr had his piano solo as well as our worship band having their time. They both did exceptionally well. Talking with Jay, he felt like it was his best performance at an NAC event. He did excellent. The Worship Band nailed it as well. They hit every note and the music was dead on.

As I am writing now, our puppet team just finished up and Jay is quizzing. For you quizzing maniacs, NAD one its first round match. They did very well.

Last night and this morning, David Nassar really challenged us in the area of mercy and humility. The teens are being really receptive to the speakers and I'm super excited for what God is going to do.

Thanks for praying for me as well. My sessions have been going really well and I've gotten some pretty cool comments.

Please pray for unity among our group. We have a good bit of it, but there is some room for improvement.

We had "Youth Group Time" last night after the session and almost every single teen shared something that has impacted them. I'm super excited for where God is taking our Youth Group.

Well, gotta go...stuff to do, quizzers to watch!

We've Made It!

Hello All!

Just wanted to let you know that we have made it safely down to Cedarville, OH. We arrived yesterday at around 3:30 (due to ladies who had to go to the bathroom every 5 minutes).

As we pulled in, we were greeted with the smiling faces of volunteers to direct us to where we were supposed to go. As we pulled in the parking lot, I almost hit this young lady named Arianna Shaffer who literally tackled our van with excitement. It was awesome to see her again.

Registration went smoothly and we settled in to our dorms.

The entire worship time was incredible. Francis Chan spoke God's Word very clearly and for the first time in Momentum history (supposedly) Francis Chan felt the need to have an "altar call" and a great number of people came to the front confessing that they were sinners and/or that they were living a fake life.

Amazing things just on the first day.

Please be praying for our teens! They are having a blast, everyone is getting along, and we're excited for what God is going to do.

Please also pray for me the next 3 days as I teach a seminar on Biblical Leadership. I found out they are going to tape my session for audio and now I'm a little freaked out! Yikes!

Well, gotta go...busy day!

Feeling Like a Kid Again...

I'm counting down every day! We only have 11 more days until.....

MOMENTUM!!!!!!!!!

I'm super pumped about the whole thing. I feel it is going to be an awesome experience not only for you, the student, but also for the leaders, staff, and others involved. In case you didn't knwo, I will be leading a seminar on Leadership at the Conference. I'm super pumped for that as well. As a salute to the 11 days left, I give you "My Top 11 Momentum Things" (Great title, I know ;) )

11. Meeting other Youth Pastors from different GBC churches.

10. Reliving the idea of staying in crappy dorms.

9. The adventure ride just to get there.

8. The food.

7. Being able to serve in the local communities.

6. Getting paid for a week to have fun!

5. Francis Chan (Gotta love a bald-asian-american)

4. Break-Out Sessions

3. NAC Competitions

2. The whole worship experience.

1. Hanging out with homeboys and homegirls from the youth group!!!

These are just a few, but there are so many more. Give me some of your feedback. What are your Top 5 things you LOVE about Momentum.

Arianna & OB

Hey Everyone!

I've noticed that people have started reading this little diddy and so I thought I'd help you out a little bit. If you haven't been keeping up, it sounds like Arianna and her group are having a great time. It's exciting to see what their particular OB group is doing. I will be hanging this information up in the youth room wall, but in case you are at home and want to write Arianna a letter, here is where she will be and where you can send your notes, cards, etc.

June 23-26

Momentum West

Send to:

Norwalk GBC

11005 Foster Rd.

Norwalk, CA 90650

June 28-29

San Diego GBC

3455 Atlas Street

San Diego, CA 92111

July 2-3

Pine Acres Church

1321 Lark Street

Weatherford, OK 73096

July 4-6

Grace Brethren of Portis

PO Box 629

Portis, KS 67474

July 9-11

Winona Lake GBC

1200 Kings Highway

Winona Lake, IN 46590

July 12-14

Osceola GBC

58343 Apple Road

Osceola, IN 46561

July 17-19

Crossroads Community

15180 Gates Street

Doylestown, OH 44230

July 27-28

Southwest Chapel

3989 Neff Road

Grove City, OH 43123

These are all the dates. You will notice that some dates are missing. This is because Arianna's team may only be on a short visit at a stop so they will not be expecting any mail. Also, there is a huge gap in July...that's because we will see her at MOMENTUM!!!! Woot woot!

You can always check back on the blog for this information even if i post another blog...

SUMMER!!!!

It's that time of year. It's a time where you are at Rita's every day of the week just to cool off with a refreshing italian ice. It's a time when you go to Wendy's to get a chocolate frosty. It's a time when any time you can get to a pool, you put the pedal to the metal to hop in that sucker.

Finally...It's a time when IMITATE GOES CRAZY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tonight is the start of our Summer Programming...

Every 1st and 3rd Wednesday we will be having a themed night at Imitate. Here's the lineup:

June 18 (Tonight): Favorite Team Jersey Night

July 2: Most Patrioticly Dressed

July 16: Hawaiian Night (Bring a Bathing Suit...WATER NIGHT)

August 6: Twin Night

August 20: Crazy Hair Night

Now some of these may sound stupid, but understand that with the exception of June 18 a gift card to Rita's will be given for next 4 nights. So don't be shy and come out and dress up!

Congrats Class of 2008

Well, it has been way too long since I posted and it's about time I did.

Last evening, I had the awesome honor (thanks to the Shaffer's) of attending Garden Spot High School's Graduation Ceremony. It brought back many memories of my own, but it was just awesome to see everyone that has been involved in our church move on, walk over the stage to the next steps in their lives.

I couldn't have been any prouder of all of the graduates no matter if they were at the ceremony last evening or have graduated from home schooling. It's always great to see everyone's smiling faces as the Principal of the High School said the words, "I now introduce to you the Class of 2008". The caps flews, the screams were loud, and the hugs were given as the teenagers were ready to take the next step of their lives.

I would like to take the time in this post to personally thank all the graduates that have ever set foot at Imitate Student Ministry. These are in no specific order:

Arianna Shaffer - Thank you so much for always trying your best to make youth group. You have been a tremendous person and I know you will go far, as long as you stay away from the Ms. Hannegan lifestyle :)

Carly Witwer - Thank you so much for coming to EVERY event, helping out whenever needed and giving input when I needed it. Thank you also for taking the time to share Christ with your friends as well!

Lauren Schlegel - First, thanks so much for not going to dance and coming to youth group instead! Hahhaha...You've been a joy to have in the youth group and I really appreciate your cheeriness and happiness all the time. I'm very proud of the strides you've made in these past couple of months.

Ryan Hoerr - Ryan, you may be quiet, but I can't count how many times you have helped me in certain situations whether it be sound or audio questions, or even the times when I had computer problems. You are very gifted and talented young man and I am very proud of you!

Jackie Birkness - While I haven't gotten to know you all that well, I really appreciate your music ministry in the church. You seem like you have a lot going on, but you always seem to keep God first. I'm very proud of you and and all of your accomplishments.

Amy Mimm - Thanks for all your help when I first came to the youth group in helping me get acclamated to the church and the youth group. I am very proud of you as well! Congratulations!

Justin Wann - Thanks so much for making an extra effort to get to Sunday School every Sunday morning. You have been a joy to have around and I really appreciate your willingness to ask if I need help in anything that needs to be done.

Biancha Krantzley - First of all, I hope I spelled that right. I am super proud of you B! You have pushed through one of the things you hate most, school, and are now are on your way to college, the first in your family! I know you haven't been able to make it for a while, but my prayer is that you have found a home here at our church and can come to us anytime you need to for anything! I'm SUPER proud of you!

Being of the male gender, I know I probably forgot someone on this list. If I have forgotten you, PLEASE yell at me super loud! I won't be offended.

I wish all of you the best of luck in your life ahead and I pray that God would still be a BIG part of it.

Congratulations Class of 2008!

Dream Possibly Come True....

So, ever since I was a kid I loved to read. I loved reading all sorts of books. Then came the teenage years, and reading started to diminsh. I hated reading. Wasn't a big fan at all. Then came college and stuff that I had to read wasn't so bad, mainly because I was interested in the subject at hand.

Even though I had that period of time where I hated to read, I've always wanted to write and publish a book. It's been on my heart for a while, and I've never really taken the steps to go about it.

Then all of a sudden I read an article about one of our Fellowship's Pastors, Kary Oberbrunner, writing a couple of books. I thought to myself, "He's young and a great guy". So after thinking about it more and more, I've come to the realization that it certainly wouldn't hurt to at least write something and submit it for publishing, would it?

So, friends, I ask you your opinion....Think About It! Give me your honest answer...

Should I or shouldn't I write a book?

Leave comments with your answer!

Leadership Learnings...

On Sunday mornings in Sunday School, we've been looking at this guy, Nehemiah. I'm amazed that only 2 chapters in you find amazing insights to leadership. As part of my studying, I'm always looking at multiple commentaries, word studies, etc. In one of my favorite commentaries a segment is highlighted about a guy who came up with 21 characteristics from the first 2 chapters in Nehemiah. Here they are:

1. He established a reasonable and attainable goal

2. He had a sense of mission

3. He was willing to get involved

4. He rearranged his priorities in order to accomplish his goal

5. He patiently waited for God's timing

6. He showed respect to his superior

7. He prayed at crucial times

8. He made his request with tact and graciousness

9. He was well prepared and though of his needs in advance

10. He went through proper channels

11. He took time to rest, pray, and plan

12. He investigated the situation first-hand

13. He informed others only after he knew the size of the problem

14. He identified himself as one with the people

15. He set before them a reasonable and attainable goal

16. He assured them God was in the project

17. He displayed self-confidence in facing obstacles

18. He displayed God's confidence in facing obstacles

19. He did not argue with opponents

20. He was not discouraged by opposition

21. He courageously used the authority of his position

Amazing stuff. Think about it! This guy was a leader among leaders and did incredible things!

What a Weekend!

The title says it all..."What a Weekend!"

Imitate Student Ministries had their first annual Spring Retreat this past weekend (April 25-27) at Camp Andrews. It was a great time for the teens to just let loose and have fun while learning about God's word through 4 sessions. Highlights of the weekend included:

• The speaker and worship band


• Ultimate Frisbee (Until poor Carly got hurt)


• The Climbing Wall Room


• The Food


• The Cave


• The Campfire


• And many more things!

The camp was great and very accomodating and if you ask any of the teens who went along, it was a very uplifting, relaxing, fun time away from the business of the end-of-the-school-year hustle and bustle.

Above you'll see our group picture. Anyone that went to the retreat is more than welcome to share anything you liked about the retreat!

On Deck...

Well, if you know anything about baseball, "on deck" is basically the batter that is up next in the lineup. Anyways, what is "ON DECK" for us as far as lessons go?

On Wednesday Nights we will be starting a new series called "Mythbusters: Jesus Edition". We will be taking a look at how people view Jesus in the world and whether it is true or not. You are not going to want to miss a week. It will be really fun and applicational. Make sure you check it out.

On Sunday Mornings we will dive in a little deeper and start studying the book of Nehemiah. This is a great book devoted to leadership and integrity. I am super excited to start studying this book with you guys.

This is just a short update, but hopefully you guys will come out to our meetings and check this stuff out! It will be a great time of learning and fun!

Eye-Opening Experience

Have you ever had an "eye-opening" experience. One that hits you like a ton of bricks and its so hard to get up? An experience where you are so blown away you can't stop thinking about it?

I recently had one of those experiences. Some of you might not get this post, but being a Youth Pastor, I love teenagers. I think they are God's gift to Creation (sometimes). My job is to try and help teenagers come to a saving knowledge of Christ and have them reciprocate the process to the friends they have that do not know Jesus Christ.

Since moving to North-Eastern Lancaster County, I've always known about New Holland and Garden Spot. Growing up going to Penn Manor High School, Garden Spot was always known as the "Christian" Public School of Lancaster. I always heard great things coming from the area and I couldn't wait to see it first hand.

I've been here since May, and I've seen those things over and over again. But Saturday evening, a ton of bricks hit me.

A friend of my wife and I just took over the position at Cross Connections Youth Center in New Holland. It's a place that teens can come and hang out, kind of a safe haven if you will.

To make a long story short, she was short of help on Saturday and Brittany and I went up to help. It was then that I realized New Holland has a lot of hurting teens. I know what you are thinking, "Chris, you should have known this". But until you see something first-hand, it doesn't hit you.

My heart was broken seeing the 50-75 teens who either didn't go to church or said they did and 2 seconds later were dropping the "f-bomb" and trying to beat other teens up.

There are TONS of churches within a 5 mile radius of this Youth Center. I thought to myself, "WHAT IS THE CHURCH DOING???" Do we not realize this? Do we not see it? Do we even care?

Think about it.

Who are you reaching in your life?

I Wonder As I Wander

So last night we moved on in our series "Still Counting" and talked about Subtraction and things we could subtract in our lives. One of the adult leaders, raised a point which I thought was funny, but I also thought about it as I wandered in the back of the room while the students were responding to the lesson.

Anyways, we looked at Gideon last night fighting the Midianites. We saw that God asked Him to fight the Midianites, and eventually he got the courage to do so. Then God comes up and says I want you to take away a few (that's definitely a paraphrase). So according to Judges 7:3, 20,000 men left! Then God gives his reasoning that he does not want the Israelites to boast about themselves, but boast in God who is giving the Midianites over. Then God says we need to weed out some more of these cats (another definite paraphrase). So God tells them to take the rest of his guys down to the water. God gives Gideon the instruction to tell them to drink and he will weed them out by who laps water like dogs and who goes for the gold and sticks there head in the water and just "goes to town".

Here's the two things I'm wondering?

1. If I were Gideon, how and why does God take my men to the water to "sift" the other men out? It sounds kind of silly.

2. Why in the end, does God take the men who lap the water like dogs? It just doesn't make sense to me.

Think about it! Give me your thoughts!

Still Counting

As some of you know, we started a new series called "Still Counting". In this series, we are seeing that math really does matter to God. We see all throughout the Bible, cases, that deal with numbers. Some we threw out on Wednesday were:

1. The animals in the ark (2x2)
2. Gideon's 300 men to fight against the Midianites
3. 12 Disciples
4. Feeding of the 5,000

As we looked at the beginning of this series we looked at the word "addition". We see that God loves adding things. He added tons of things during Creation. We also see that God added to the number of people being saved in the Church in Acts 2.

At the end of the night, we had a time of personal reflection. I set a box in the front of the room and you or your friends (for those who were not there) thought and prayed over what they were "adding" to their life recently. I received some great responses. I won't put any "super serious" ones on here, but some included:

1. Sports
2. Theater
3. Leadership
4. Older People
5. Self Control

There were some negative ones as well which I had encouraged and will be praying over for the next couple of weeks.
Anyways, if you are reading this and you weren't there this past Wednesday night or you just browse this blog, what are you adding to your life nowadays???

Think about it!

Prayer

What do pastor's have in common?

We all read each others blogs and "borrow" them for our blogs.

I am a avid reader of Pastor Scott Distler's (Lititz GBC) blog. He has read an article by Perry Noble, a pastor in South Carolina, who talked about praying for pastors. So, I want to youth-a-fy it and post this entry.

It is key to pray for your youth pastor on a regular basis. When are some times he REALLY needs prayer.

1. Wednesday Nights. So much is riding on Wednesday nights. Trying to bring other teens in, making sure the lesson is "cool" enough, and making sure everything is ready to go. Wednesday's are the busiest and most stressful for most youth pastors. So this would be a great time.

2. Sunday Mornings. Sundays for our church is a place where teens can go deeper in the Word. So, I, personally am stressed out making sure every verse is studied properly or to the best of my ability and making sure no heresy is taught :)

3. Anytime the Holy Spirit Leads. Whenever you feel like you should pray for your youth pastor, please PRAY! Sometimes the Holy Spirit will impress on your heart to pray for your youth pastor because he may be going through a tough time you do not know about. Pray for them.

As a result of this, we are asking parents to pray before, during, and after the Wednesday night programming to start. If any parent is reading this, please feel free to contact me with a time slot you may be able to pray.

As for you students, pray for the youth pastor and your leaders as much as possible. We need God as much as you do and we would love your prayers!

New Time, Same Place & Exciting News!

Alright Guys!

Unfortunately, if you are not involved with the youth group on any level, you can skip this post because you probably don't care.

First, our Wednesday night time has changed. We are going to be starting at 6:30 PM instead of 7PM. I'm very excited about this because we have a lot of opportunities that can be accomplished after Youth Groups. We will still meet in the Fellowship Hall for Wednesday evenings as well.

Second, with the start of this new time, we are having a pretty cool giveaway this week. If you come at or before the new time of 6:30, you will be entered in a drawing for a $25 ITUNES gift card. That's 2 and a half albums!!! And there's more...if you bring friends your name gets put in the drawing one more time. If you bring two friends, your name is entered two more times and so on and so on.

Lastly, Wednesday night we are unveiling our new logo for the youth group. We decided to change the logo a little bit to update it and make it a little flashy so people can understand what we are all about!

SO...You better be here tomorrow night. You don't wanna miss it!

I will post our old logo for the very last time...enjoy!

What's Your Opinion?

Hey Guys!

This week at Imitate, we will be taking another look into this series called "LIFE". This weeks title is called "Advance". Let me get you thinking a little bit...

This post is not to cause controversy, but discussion. I realize that hardly anyone reads this, but for those who do, please comment! I would love to hear what you have to say. Welp, here goes nothing:

Do you think that Christian's focus too much on the "do not's" of the Bible and not the "do's" of the Bible?

If that is a little fuzzy, let me ask you a series of questions that may help:

1. Do you think Christians focus too much on the "do not's" of the bible (i.e. Do not commit murder, do not commit adultery, do not, do not, do not)?

2. Do you think sometimes we miss our "divine moments" because we are worried that this may not be "God's Will". (NOTE: God's Will is in quotations because sometimes people will over- or misuse this term)

3. Do you think non-Christians think that we are all about the "do not's" of life?

Hopefully this is a fuel to a fire! Comment, comment, comment!

Favorite Song of All Time (So far)

Well, before I start off this blog, I want to say a little something to all my new england friends...SUCKERS!!!!! Hahahaha...no perfect season for the Patriots! Woohoo!

Anyways, this blog is a little less threatening than the last one. Everyone is always worried about saying the wrong thing maybe...who knows?

What is your favorite song of all time, so far. A song that has touched your life whether it be a "Christian" song or "Non-Christian" song. It doesn't matter. What is that song for you?

My favorite song is by the guys that you see at the top of this post. The song is called "Embracing Accusation" by Shane & Shane. I think it has some of the most powerful words in it that a song can have. Look it up, read the lyrics, even buy the song or CD...it's AMAZING!

Leave me some feedback!

What's Your Take?

For some of you, this may be the first time you've read my blog and that's cool. For others, this is not. I have a question for you and I would love your comments. Please keep in mind that you do not have to have a blog to comment. I want to know...

What do you think it means to follow Christ?

That's all I want to know. Please comment and comment often. I would really like to hear your opinion...

What Happens When...

Two questions for you to ponder over...

1. What happens when you want to serve God, but you are stuck in neutral?

2. What happens when you run full speed ahead toward an open door only to have it close right as you reach it?

Paul had that happen to him, come out tonight and try and figure out how to deal with or answer these questions...

Hmmmmm....

Last Wednesday we started our new series called "LIFE" and the question was asked if you knew a moment was coming, a divine moment where God would meet you in a place that would change your life forever, what would you do?

Great question. Our topic last week was about "Choices". We looked and asked ourselves are we going to choose to go on this adventure that God has for our lives. We talked about our choice for salvation as well as other topics as well.

Ya know, I wonder what:

• The disciples wondered when Jesus told them to drop everything and follow Him


• The disciples thought when Jesus asked them to come out and walk on water with Him.


• Abraham thought when God told him to bring Isaac to the altar as a sacrifice to him.


• What choices YOU are making in your everyday life.

As you can see, people back in Biblical times had some pretty rough decisions and choices to make. You do too. What choices are you making in your life today?

Think about it!

Men Who Have Influenced My Life

Since it is the beginning of the new year, I would like to share with you of some men who have influenced my life in ministry over the past 4 years that I've been in ministry. These are in no particular order (that's too hard).

1. Dan Houck - He has influenced me by letting me intern with him for about 2 years before blessing me with my first youth ministry job.

2. Dr. James Ayers - Dr. Ayers has helped me become a better person and has taught me so much about character and how important it is.

3. Brian Davis - Brian has been a huge influence in helping me digest theology and being a great accountability partner

4. Dr. Stephen Nichols - Dr. Nichols has opened my eyes to the world of Church History and I can never thank him enough.

5. Lester Hicks - Mr. Hicks has helped me learn what Biblical Hermeneutics is all about and has made the Bible come alive!

6. Alex Groop, Rich Jennings, & Eric Gregory - These guys were my roommates my senior year at LBC and have been great godly friends to many.

7. Tim Hodge - Tim has been a great mentor thus far in my next step in youth ministry. He is the Senior Pastor I serve with now.

8. Scott Distler - Scott is the pastor at Lititz GBC. He is one of the most amazing pastors I know and a great leader as well.

The next two guys I have never met, but have influenced me greatly in ministry.

9. Andy Stanley - My favorite author. He has opened my eyes to what vision really is and how to cast it.

10. Bill Hybels - I have been to Willow Creek once and have seen many satellite conferences with Bill. He has influenced the way I look at Church Leadership.

Why do I do this? Teens, there are a lot of people in life that you will talk to and just forget about. Try your hardest to get the most out the situation at hand. Ask questions. These guys that I have listed have so much wisdom and I am more prepared than I ever thought I would be because each one of these men (despite the last two) have taken time out to challenge me and work with me on certain situations in my life. Take every opportunity to learn from others.