Summer A-Z

HAVEN'T DONE THIS FOR A WHILE:

A - Air Conditiong
B - Bare feet
C - Cookout
D - Daddy/ Daughter Time
E - Elastic (it seems like I wear a lot more clothes with it)
F - Flip-Flops
G - GI Joe
H - Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
I - Ice Cream
J - Jet Skis
K - Khaki Shorts
L - Ludington, Michigan (mom & dad's cottage)
M - Ministry (lots of unique opportunities)
N - Nuptuals (plenty of weddings to head to)
O - Open Houses (Graduation; lot's of them)
P - Pool
Q - Quiet (Don't know why, but life seems less noisy during Summer)
R - Rocks (love to skip them across the lake)
S - Sun
T - Tubing
U - UV Protection
V - Vermilion, OH (home of Sumer Camp)
W - Watermelon
X - Xebec (a special three-masted sailing ship used in the Mediterranean)
Y - Yard (trying to grow a new stretch of ours)
Z - Zebras (we plan to go to the zoo quite a bit)

A-Z: Movies

A more or less stream of conscious list of 26 movies I would recommend A-Z...

A - August Rush. Allow reality to be suspended for a moment and get lost in the music and the story.
B - BIG. Watching it at age 30 spoke to me in a much deeper manner than it did at age 12. The irony at age 12 was that I was ticked he decided to be young again. At age 30, it was a great ending!
C - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Vintage Depp. Funny, strange, and imaginatively entertaining.
D - Dead Poets Society. I think it was the first movie to ever move me to tears. Absolutely amazing performance by Robin Williams.
E - Elf. Read what I said with the movie above.
F - Fellowship of the Ring. My favorite of the three Lord of the Rings Movies. Now that I've thrown this on the list, know that I recommend The Two Towers and Return of the King as well. If you are somehow not human and haven't seen these movies, lock yourself in a room, get the extended versions, and go crazy.
G - Gross Pointe Blank. Big fan of John Cusack. Again, this appeals to my dark humor side.

H - Hotel Rwanda. There are movies that are great because they are wildly entertaining, then there are movies that are great because of the profound and/or powerful message they bring to the screen. This movie is not fun to watch, but it is absolutely worth watching.

I - In the Name of the Father. 90s Daniel Day-Lewis drama. If you haven't seen it, it's an intriguing look into recent Irish history.
J - John Q. Denzel being Denzel. It creates some pretty tough
K - King of Kong: A Fist Full of Quarters. A Documentary on the world of competitive gaming and classic arcade world records.
L - Last of the Mohicans. Daniel Day-Lewis makes his second appearance. Intense, passionate and I love movies from colonial times.
M - Meet the Parents. The sequel really stunk. But the original is funny... painfully funny.
N - Napolean Dynamite. I didn't laugh much the first time I watched it. When it was done, I said out oud, "That was really funny." The second time I watched it, I was rolling. One of the best endings to a movie.
O - The Outsiders. Tons of stars before they were stars (Tom Cruise, Matt Dillon, Patrick Swayze, Rob Lowe, etc.) A great story on
P - The Pursuit of Happyness. Will Smith is excellent. Great story of hope. His son is pretty fantastic too.
Q - Quantum of Solace. I actually haven't seen it yet, but I can't think of a single movie I could recommend that starts with Q.
R - Raiders of the Lost Ark. The original Indiana Jones. The best Indiana Jones. I think it's the first movie I watched on our new VCR.
S - Saving Private Ryan. I toss up this movie and The Lord Of the Rings Trilogy as my top movie of all time. Not an easy movie to watch, but an incredibly profound movie with a historical perspective that makes me greatly appreciate my grandfather's generation.
T - The Truman Show. I think it's Jim Carey's best movie. If you saw it when it cam out, watch it again realizing it was released before the entrance of network reality shows, it's a little freaky.
U - U2 3D. Simply the band in concert. Not sure how this works on the small screen, but it was great on the big screen.
V - Victory. Stallone and Pele? Good old prison sports movie.
W - What's Eating Gilbert Grape? Depp and DiCaprio before they were both big time.
X - X2: X Men United. X doesn't have a ton of movies to choose from. So I'll go with this one... my personal favorite of the 3.
Y - Young Guns 2. Liked it better than the first one. Maybe because I loved the soundtrack Jon Bon Jovi did with it.
Z - Zoolander. Not great. But Z is a tough letter.

NMC Student Ministries A-Z

A - Alison Gingrich: Senior High Intern. In her third year working with NMC.
B - Bible: Fairly essential tool for health in our ministry.
C - Chris Lehane: Our Jr High Pastor. Great man of God. Horrible blogger.
D - Derry: That's me, Student Ministries captain and Senior High Pastor.
E - Entertainment: Often viewed as a bad thing. Yet, there's a time where diversion, enjoyment, and laughter is essential. We want to have fun in what we do!
F - Fieldhouse: Home to Sr. High Wednesday Night Youth. We built it in 2003 as our dream gathering place for Senior High. We did it so well, everybody in the church loves using it!
G - GO trips: Evangelism training and inner city missions experience for Senior High students. This year it's PhillyGO (to the city of brotherly love).
H - Holy Spirit: We desire His touch and His power. We're not afraid of His move. We want to see students walking in the power and purity of the Holy Spirit.
I - IMPACT: The Senior High cross-cultural missions experience. 6 months training. 2 week trip. 2 days debrief. This Summer's team is going to El Millon and the Juarez, Mexico area (3rd straight year).
J - Junior High: Squirrely. Excited. Potential. We love them.
K - Kingdom: Our passion and desire is to connect kids to the Kingdom of God, here and now.
L - Life: It's what's kids are facing every day. Our hope and passion is to meet them right where their life is, and offer them something significant... Life in all its fullness (John 10:10)
M - Missions: A major focus. Our hope and passion is to see our students develop a heart for the nations. That's why we do Kenya Night and Rwanda Night. It's why we have IMPACT teams.
N - New Life Fellowship: One of two Video Venues of NMC (the other is Harvest Community Church). We participate in several trips together.
O - Overnighters: We used to do them on a large scale. Now we don't. Small Groups still do them because we believe it better accomplishes our mission in that format.
P - Preteens: 5th and 6th Grade Program. Led by Jason Thompson. Long term team member and good friend.
Q - Quality over Quantity. We don't look to overfill our schedule. Instead, we look to do the things we do with high quality and effectiveness toward our mission, which is...
R - Religion to Relationship to Reproducing: Our mission. Why we exist. What we're about. Relationship is how we do it.
S - Small Groups: The Life-blood of our ministry. In the Preteen program, they're called Workshops. Volunteers lead them all. Students diving into to develop relationships with a goal of life-on-life discipleship.
T - TAWG (Time Alone With God): A key element we hope to instill in every student who comes through this ministry. Develop a regular practice of getting alone with God, and you will develop healthy relationship!
U - Unashamed: We're unashamed in the fact that we love Jesus. We love Students. We believe in their potential to turn this world upside down for Jesus.
V - Vermilion, OH: Home to Jr. and Sr. High Summer Camps (JH july 6-9, 2009; SH July 10-14, 2009). Life-changing
W- Winter Retreat: Spring Hill Camp in Evart, MI. New trip on the block. A HUGE winner. Mark your calendars December 28-31, 2009... we're heading back!
X - Xtreme Team: Way back when it was the name we gave our Jr. High Wednesday Night program. 8 years ago we came up with a new and creative name, Wednesday Night Youth. That one's stuck.
Y - Youth Class: The 9:30-10:30 a.m. offering on Sunday Mornings. Diving into the word. Some great volunteers working on this. The toughest time of the week to do ministry to students.
Z - Zero: The percentage of hope or influence we have without the power and presence of God in our midst. Join me in praying that His hand will stay strong upon us as we move forward and dive into the lives of 5th-12th grade students.

A-Z: A New Series

Occasionally I'll take a category of my life, and give words and thoughts from A-Z

Here's my Vacation A-Z:

A - Anxiety down.
B - Books.
C - Crab Legs (Janelle hates Seafood, but allows one night for me to get them)
D - Disney.
E - Every Year, we'll take at least one... usually more.
F - Flying (I think we're going to be doing that much less with the little girl).
G - Golf... of the miniature variety.
H - Healthy... it's healthy to get away.
I - Investment (I don't see it as spending money. I see it as an investment in my soul & family.)
J - Janelle.
K - Katylynn. That's who it's all about
L - Lazy.
M - Mickey and Minnie... can't wait for Katylynn to meet them.
N - NO MINISTRY TALK.
O - Orlando. 6 vacations and counting.
P - Palm Springs. 3 vacations
Q - Quiet... the inner noise at least.
R - Royal Caribbean Cruise. A great 5th Anniversary Surprise.
S - Sun.
T - Tan.
U - Unplug... the computer, the phone, the brain.
V - Vacation. I was struggling for a V, and that's what this all about.
W - Wife... I love her and I love spending time with her.
X - xerox... it's impossible to do with a vacation. They're never the same!
Y - Yippeee! I'm on a vacation right now.
Z - ZZZZs. Got to catch up on them.