Day 1 at DC 06

Our van left at 12:03 am. Friday morning for DC. The seven of us settled in and began our trek east. Around 7 am. we picked up Julie Reichenbach at Hancock, Maryland. In the meantime, the rest of our delegation left Findlay around 6:15 am. Since we left early in the van, we visited Arlington National cemetery and observed the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at 8:30 am. Then we took off for the hotel - Marriott at Metro Center. It was wonderful that 10 of our 16 rooms were already available for our use. At 11:30 am., the 8 of us weary van travelers joined Paul Miserlian for lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe. After lunch we toured Ford Theater and returned to the hotel in wait for the charter bus to arrive. The bus arrived at 4:30 pm. and by that time all our rooms were ready for our traveler's. After settling in, members of our delegation got together in small groups, ate supper, and toured some of DC. It was a day of good travel and settling in our rooms at the Marriott in our nations capital. Tomorrow our conference begins with Big Room at 3:30 pm. Can't wait to see the Lord's presence among us. These are the days my friend!
Jim "Train"

DC Prep

Tonight I take off with 6 others to attend DC 06. The rest of the Findlay Area delegation leaves at 6 am. Friday from The Lighthouse. I have attended every YFC DC event since 1985. This conference is held every three years and is simply one of the best youth events ever!
As of this morning, (6:48 am) the DC Mayor has lifted the state of emergency. All systems are go. Even Mark O. from Youth Specialties leaves today. You can check out his blog at www.ysmarko.com Our small group will pick up Julie Reichenbach at Hancock, Maryland early Friday morning. She's been with family on vacation. Then our small team is going to visit Arlington National Cemetery. Then off to downtown DC and our hotel - Marriott at Metro Center - and wait for the bus to arrive. Pray for us! I can't wait to see how Jesus will meet us there. Also thanks to Steve and Adam for their work on this site that we can keep you informed with daily updates. These are the days my friend!
Jim "Train"

Step Up to the Buffet(t)

Wow! It's hard to fathom billions!! Warren Buffett has donated 31 BILLION dollars to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The Gates Foundation is designed to battle malaria, AIDS, other diseases, and strengthen US inner-city schools. Just think of the good they can do in the world. Daniel Borochoff, president of American Institute of American Institute of Philanthropy says, "They are playing God with that kind of wealth. They're going to be responsible for whether a lot of people live or die."
Let me remind you, that God's wealth is immense. In fact, He really owns it all. Some will get to step up to Warren's Buffet(t). As for me, I'll step up to God's Buffet. Seek Him and lay up your treasure in heaven.
Theses are the days my friend!
Jim "Train"

Tagless on the Playground

Weren't most of you upset when schools eliminated dodgeball from gym class? I so used to look forward to playing dodgeball when I was in school. Of course I went to school when the dinosaurs roamed the earth and you walked uphill to school and had to walk uphill back home. Now they play something similar to dodgeball, but you can't call it dodgeball. Plus the schools use real soft balls. Well now, it gets even worse. Some schools are banning tag and soccer at recess. "It's happening more. Educators worry about kids running into one another and getting hurt," so says Donna Thompson of the National Program for Playground Safety. It seems another example of trying to protect kids too much from any harm happening to them. I say let's play some football without pads. That'll get everybody fired up or fired!
These are the days my friend,
Jim "Train"

The Sam Spady Story

I just finished reading The Sam Spady Story in the USA Today. (www.usatoday.com) It's the story of a college woman at Colorado State University who drank 40 beers and shots in 11 hours. After her binge drinking, friends left her alone in an empty room, where she died. 1400 college students, ages 18 to 24, die each year from alcohol related incidents. Sam Spady's story also points out that women are trying to catch up with the men when it comes to binge drinking. It's an area woman, where you don't need to compete. Fact is, you don't even need to get drunk. For that matter, you don't even need to drink.
Sam's family has produced a documentary about her situation. The family wants schools, churches, and other groups to use the documentary to educate adolescent's about drinking. For more about Sam Spady and the DVD, go to the website, www.samspadyfoundation.org
These are the days my friend!
Jim "Train"

Elephant Musth

I've encountered this story about orphaned elephants in three different books that I've read in the past two months. The story is also referred to on the christianitytoday.com website. Look for "Guys and Dads." I first read the story in Don Miller's book "To Own a Dragon." I highly recommend the book to you. A must read for helping boys who don't have dads in their lives. But back to the story. It basically goes like this...male orphaned elephants are moved to a nature preserve. When the elephants approach adolescence they go into musth cycle, which shows up as a green pus that runs down their right hind leg. This causes the young elephants to be very aggressive and sexually frustrated. Because they had no male adult elephants to be aggressive with, they took their aggression out on the rhinos. The young elephants would approach the rhinos while in the water and spear them from the side with their tusks. They would then hold them under water until they drowned. You can see the problem this was causing on the nature preserve. The young male elephants needed older male elephants to spar with. They needed to be disciplined by the older members of the herd. When older elephants were around the younger boy elephants, musth would only last about 3 days. Without the older male elephants, mutsh lasted weeks. Now I know we aren't elephants. But God brings a certain design for His creatures to practice in life. Boys need Dads. If boys don't have biological dads as a presence in their lives, then we need to be their "spiritual" dads. Boys need adult males in their lives. If you belong to a church, help the boys there to grow. Your presence is always welcomed at campus Life. Volunteer with us and help boys to grow up as godly men. How has your dad or lack of having a dad, effected your life? Let us know.
These are the days my friend!
Jim "Train"

DC 06

It's almost here! The YFC Super Conference at Washington DC. I'll be leaving Friday morning at 12:01 am. in a van with Stephen Steiner, Mark & Paul Yoder, Eric Blevins, Spencer Tuttle, and Cory Huber. The rest of our delegation leaves at 6 am on a charter bus. I've been at every YFC DC Conference since 1985. It's held every three years and is especially geared to equip teens to share Jesus with their friends. This is what's known as 3Story Evangelism.
The last one in '03 was simply amazing. The general sessions didn't feature special speakers who would talk for 30 minutes. Instead the speakers would take turns presenting the story of Jesus, in their unique style, as found in the Gospel of John. After it was all finished, you wouldn't say what a great speaker, but what a great Lord. This is how it should be. The focus is on Him! This years conference is built around the same concept. There is nothing else like it!
We'll also be staying for the 4th of July fireworks in DC. That should be one spectacular event.
we then return July 5th. You can get daily updates by going to our website of
b-pgcampuslife.com Please pray for us and what Jesus will do in our midst.
These are the days my friend!
Jim "Train"

Secret Keeper

It certainly is hot outside. The way I know by is the lack of clothing people are wearing. At The Beach, a Water Park near Cincinnati, I noticed most of the female life guards wearing little bikinis. I had to bounce my eyes many times so I would obey the Lord not to look upon a woman with lust. (Matthew 5:28) To bounce your eyes is a technique to move your eyes like you are looking at a bouncing ball. That way your eyes do not get fixed on a certain part of a girls anatomy. (Thanks to an insight gained from the book, "Every Man Battle") I also heard (I wasn't there) that the Hooter Girls were in Bluffton at Springfield Fireworks on Saturday. They were passing out chicken wings and I'm sure not much was left to the imagination in regards to what their bodies looked like. Our culture doesn't do a very good job in helping girls/women to keep what their bodies look like a secret. I'm not saying we should resort to covering women form head to toe like the Muslims do. But ladies, help us guys out. We're wired by sight. What a woman looks like turns us on. So when you go to the pool or the beach, be modest. For a good read, see "Secret Keeper" by Dannah Gresh. Your help in this area will help our eyeballs from sweating so much. The eyeballs get tired from all the bouncing they have to do.
These are the days my friend!
Jim "Train"

Summer Sizzle

Vacation is over and now I look forward to all that the summer brings in the way of opportunities to be with kids through YFC. The refreshing time of being with family at Grand Haven and having times of solitude with the Lord enriches my life immensely. I was also able to read 6 books while on vacation. The other two I added the second week on vacation were "The Three Hardest Words In the World to Get Right" by Leonard Sweet and "I Am Charlotte Simmons" by Tom Wolfe. The three hardest words to live - "I love you." The fictional work by Tom Wolfe about Charlotte was about her journey to a secular college that tears apart her moral fiber. A sad story that brings out questions and pondering on how do we help students to live for Jesus. (note: I don't recommend "I Am Charlotte Simmons" to high school students due to the vulgarity of the piece. I do say to those who love students, especially college students, to read and learn. Tom Wolfe spent weeks on college campuses researching before writing this book. He explored their world and it's disturbing.)
Sunday evening on June 25th, I'll be sharing at Ebenezer Mennonite Church at 7 pm. I'll be discussing how we can impact young people for Jesus Christ. We'll look at how pop culture is a mirror and a map for adolescents.
Then we'll see how through prayer, providing, and participating, we can impact the young persons culture. Young people need caring adults in their world.
In the meantime the summer sizzles. I met with Cory, Jerrod, and Aaron in small group today. We talked about being a servant like Jesus. Then to make it experiential, we walked around the block picking up trash. Make the world a better place by serving. Wednesday at 9 pm will be our swim party. Then Thursday we head to The Beach for swimming and waterslides. How I love the summer! So pray for us and see what you can do to influence kids for Christ.
These are the days my friend!
Jim "Train"

On the Beach

Tomorrow (Saturday, June 3rd) we're off to the beach at Grand Haven Michigan. No better place to go than the Sprunger cottage where you walk out the back door on to the beach. The family will be with us as we spend a week together. Then Pat, along with Mary, get to spend an extra week at the cottage in celebration of 30 years of marriage. I will come back the Sunday the 11th to teach at Ebenezer to begin the summer series of "Fools, Friends, and Family." Not only is the cottage on Lake Michigan a great place to relax with family, it gives me some extra time to read. The plan is to read the following books (after all I want to love the Lord with all my mind)in this order...
1. Contemplative Youth Ministry - Practicing the Presence of Jesus by Mark Yaconelli
2. Practicing Passion - Youth and the Quest for a Passionate Church by Kenda Creasy Dean
3. Eats, Shoots and Leaves - The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation by Lynne Truss
4. Angels and Demons by Dan Brown
Plus, we visit bookstores and who knows what else I'll pick up to read. I can't wait!
So my prayer is the one who travels - may the sun always shine. (But rainy days are good too! More time to read - and be with the family playing games)
Have a great week. Hope to see some of you on Sunday the 11th at church.
These are the days my friend,
Jim "Train"