Octoberfest! Sign-Up by October 18th

Students: Don't forget you and your friends need to be signed up and paid by October 18th. Make sure to invited as many people friends as you can, you could win a free trip. Sign up here!

Parents: Do you want to host a group of students at your house? Can you drive a van for us? Can you make some treats for us? Email me if you can help! pastorbryan@clineave.org

Free Ministry Resources

Typically this site has been a collection of my thoughts and ramblings, in an effort to actually use this site for something that might be helpful and/or useful I am now trying to post some helpful resources for ministry, specifically youth ministry. Hope these help.

http://content.simplyyouthministry.com/freebies/

This is a bunch of free stuff from Doug Fields and Simply Youth Ministry, from cool backgrounds to samples of their lessons, this is good stuff.

New Orleans Mission Trip

This week were are in New Orleans to help the reconstruction effort. Check out Cline Avenue Mission Blog.

Off My Chest...

I have to get this off my chest. My beef is with people critiquing and criticizing other peoples (Dr. Mohler, Dr. Akin, etc.) articles. I don't care if they disagree, but I can't stand when all they do is insert a piece of an article and then comment on it. They usually tell everything that is wrong with that particular section, but seldom do they give their own point of view. Why can't they just say, "Hey, I read Dr. Akin article on xxxx and I disagree. Here is from the Bible my own point of view." They need to do some research and right their own essay or articles instead of picking apart someone's else's article. My former Pastor put is all in perspective for me, he told once "It is always easy to take shots at the big guys."

These guys are big for a reason, think about it. So lets start hearing some original thoughts for a change.

XXXChurch and Dr. Mohler

I am a fan of XXXChurch. Read my previous post for information (XXXChurch Good or Bad and Porn Industry: Behind the Scenes). I am also a fan of Dr. Mohler and for long time I wondered what Mohler would think about XXXChurch. Now I have the answer.

Video of Mohler on ABC World News and ABC New Article
Mohler's Radio Show on XXXChurch
Mohler's Blog on XXXChurch
XXXChurch Blog on Mohler

Dr. Mohler and the XXXChurch guys are not mad at each other, in fact I think from what I have read and heard; they have a good deal of respect for one another. However it is clear that Dr. Mohler does not agree with the methods that the XXXChurch are using to reach people.

What do you think, are their methods appropriate? Should Christians be so bold as to go to a Porn Show to witness? Is their a problem today with the way Christians minister and witness? Are we to bold and strategic enough?

New Camp Blog

Parents and Students; check out the new CASM Camp Blog. This blog will be used to relay important imformation and details for the upcoming Lift Camp. Also check it out when we our at camp July 10th -14th for daily updates and pics.

Sydney is Here!

Sydney Elisabeth Gotcher is here!
She was born 6/14/06.
She weighted 7 pounds and 2 ounces.
She was 20 1/4 inches long.
She is beautiful.





Very Cute!




Going Home!

100 Funniest Movies

Did anyone see Bravo's 100 Funniest Movies Moments? Either Bravo doesn't know what's funny or they are controlled by corporate sponsorship. Here is Bravo's top ten funniest movies.

10. Arthur
9. Blazing Saddles
8. The Wedding Singer
7. Ace Ventura Pet Detective
6. Airplane
5. South Park (The Movie)
4. There's Something About Mary
3. Shrek
2. Caddyshack
1. Animal House

Ok, so I understand some of these picks, but what's up with Shrek, South Park (Never Saw It), and The Wedding Singer. These are not top ten material. So here's my list.

10. Spaceballs
9. Princess Bride
8. Meet The Parents
7. National Lampoon's: Christmas Vacation
6. Dumb and Dumber
5. Blues Brothers
4. Young Frankenstein
3. Animal House
2. Ace Ventura Pet Detective
1. The Jerk

That's my list. What do you think, am I crazy? Is Bravo crazy? Share your own list.

Progression of the Belly

This was back in Nov. at 2 months

This is the most recent picture taken last week

Baby Pics

Here are some baby pics that we finally had scanned today.

This is Sydney early on, I think two or three months

These were taken back in February, when we found out we were having a girl. Isn't she cute!!!

Passionate Students and Personal Sites Resolved?

It is funny how things work sometimes. I have recently blogged about passionate students and the myspace constroversy and began praying about a week ago for the answer to the former. God has seemed to provide at least a path or the start of an answer for both.

This past weeked my students and I attended Battlecry (Acquire the Fire) in Detroit, MI at Ford Field. By the way it was amazing, so many students I could not believe it. Anyway, I went thinking this would be a good thing for our students to go to. I thought that I could go and build relationships with them, but that I wouldn't get much out of it spiritually.

Man, was I wrong. God gave me a wake-up call this weekend. It would take too long to get into all of it right now, but lets just say my original passion for students that I had when I first started is back. I feel charged up and ready go, but thats not all, I now feel more equipped because I have direction and vision.

Through Ron Luce and the Battlecry event I have been challenged to go to my knees to pray about the vision for our youth minstry. I have faith that in a week or two or maybe in a minute that God will confirm in my mind where we need to go and what we need to do.

Please pray for me and our church. I know one thing for sure, God wants us to reach out to the students in our area.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot at Battlecry.com Ron's orgaization Teen Mania has spent over $300K starting a website that will give anyone that wants one a free personal webpage. These pages are really for Christians that want to stay connected and want to be accountable. They will help students be accountable to one another to carry out their goal of reaching their school. They also offer a free blog as a part of the page. Each site goes through an approval process when it is updated so no fear of any inappropriate sites.

However, don't be confused this is not like a Xanga or a Myspace. Students can not customize it as much and can not link whatever site they want. This site was created to help Christians carryout their "battle plans" for reaching out to others. I think it is a good thing, check it out at Battlecry.com and watch some of the videos there.

The MySpace.com Controversy Hits Hammond, IN

Recently a large church in our area expelled some students from their school. Their crime, the content on their personal myspace.com sites. Apparently some of the students said bad things about the church and school; while others simply linked to their favorite musician’s webpage. The church found out about the pages and printed them off. The pastor of the church spent significant time during his sermon talking about the pages and then held a meeting with the parents and the students after church to discuss the issue.

One thing you must understand is this church is very conservative. They don't believe music should have a back beat. The ladies can only wear skirts. The men can not have long hair and they can not grow facial hair. They only read the KJV; all other translations by their estimation are blasphemous. So you can see why this would be a problem in a church this extremely conservative.

However, in my mind the issue still remains; how much should churches and schools get involved in regulating personal web pages? Should a student be expelled for what he or she puts on these pages? Can they face punishment for the type of sites they link to? Should the church take a firm stand against these sites? How much of it is a free speech issue? All these questions have been plaguing me as I think about this controversy, but the biggest question of all in my mind is where are the parents in all of this? Why does so much of the web activity for students go unregulated?

The answers at this point are unclear; the solution seems to be far off in the distance. And scripture... Is it silent on these issues or can we find some principles to help parents make the right choices about myspace.com.

Students Passionate for God

One of the hardest things about student ministry is cultivating a passion for God and His Word. Most students either have too much to worry about or they just don't care. We say that passion for God is the most important thing, but it isn't lived out in the lives of the members of the church. Because we don't model what it means to be a Christians, Christianity becomes another extra-curricular activity like football or Key Club.

The Possible Solution:
1. Long-term discipleship
2. Church Members Model
3. Parents Model
4. Prayer
5. Correct Selection of Friends
6.
7.
8.

Here's where you respond. What are some other possible solutions to creating a passion in students for God and His Word?

Welcome Back?

Sorry for the long delay, sometimes you just need a break. The building project at our church is now complete you can check out some pics of the new youth room here. Also I just got back from vacation in Michigan so I am now ready to get back in the groove of things.

It feels good to be back. I hope to be blogging on a regular basis. One thing that I realized while I was away was some of the serious stuff that is talked about on some blogs is just too much. I will express my opinion but I don't really want to get into long drawn out arguments as I have in the past. I hope to have a little fun and interact with my friends.

Here's to life, Here's to friends, Here's to knowing God more every day.

Oh, and by the way. Kristi and I are having a girl. She is due around June 26th. Her name is Sydney Elisabeth Gotcher.