The kickoff of FreedomGeneration (Student Ministry) was last night and we had a blast!  We had no clue what to expect - but 78 on your first night is something to celebrate.

I believe in this generation!  Teenagers are not the future of the church and they are not the “church of tomorrow”.  God can and will use them (you) in an incredible way - beginning right now.  It’s going to be a wild ride!

Tyler and the crew did a great job getting this thing off the ground - I am already looking forward to next month!

We had a great week hanging out with a bunch of teenagers.

Last night the football team from South Doyle HS was in the house and we had a blast. Before the night was over around 15 students had begun a relationship with Christ. Gotta love that…

Made a lot of new friends and I am looking forward to what God is going to do with Josh Duncan and the crew at Meridian BC, South Doyle HS, and the “other” one (Seymour).

Random happenings from East Tennessee….

1. There is a used car dealership that only sells wrecked cars. Extremely wrecked.

2. The “God’s House of Hope” church meets in a jacked up barn…I am pretty sure you have to sign a waiver to enter.

3. The house we are staying in is haunted. It is a super nice house, but if I had to stay there by myself, I would be sleeping in my car. It makes the strangest noises - loud noises - all the time. It is appropriately named “The Cuckoo’s nest”.

4. Speaking at events like this - really makes me miss Student Ministry. I actually had a dream that I was back on stage at H2O.

5. Church planting is all consuming. Knoxville would be a great area for someone.

6. Just a few more days until we hang out with Steven Furtick, Chunks Corbett, and the rest of the crew at Elevation. I can’t wait!

Student Ministry is really all I have ever known. I hesitate to even use the word “know” because it is changing so rapidly, just about the time you think you understand it, the dynamics change and you have to learn it all over again. A lot of people sabatoge themselves by “learning” the ministry and never changing after that point. It will work for a while, but not for very long.

I still do several student ministry events a year and take emails and phone calls from various student pastors. One thing that has never and will never change is this.

If you want your student ministry (or any ministry for that matter) to grow, you must WORK at giving your people something they can be proud of. Excellence cannot be overstated. Do the absolute best you can with the resources that you have. People are not as ashamed of God as you might think. They are; however, ashamed of their church.

Give them something to be proud of. Work hard at every aspect of your weekly event. The results are life-changing.