Last Weekend

Last weekend was a great encouragement to a lot of people. 29 churches with 420 students plus families met in Indy for our 15th annual convention for Mid West Leadership Training for Christ. 
I was especially encouraged by our youth group who worked hard to pull together and lead for Christ. They did such a good job. I can't wait for them to share with us next week.
Some things came into perspective for me before I left, and when I got home. Mason Bennett's congregation's service challenge papers got held up in the mail, but were on in my box when I returned. Fifteen of the 22 students in his congregation did service challenge- and he did gold level work himself... and filled out the report forms. I have his papers... it's amazing to me.m He wanted to be at LTC. That's powerful  Five our students did a wonderful job with service challenge -- I would like to see every student in our group join those five to take the service challenge - it's about rescue work. Why not make it a family project  for 2011?
The other perspective builder was on my way out of town. I stopped to visit Rich Rossini for a bit. You know, he's in a great deal of pain, but he is still as gentle as ever in his spirit - and was worried about things at LTC... wow... let's remember to lift this servant of the Lord and his family up in prayer.
We are blessed to have so many people who want to join hands to help our youth grow. There are several items on display in our Cafe of projects our students took to convention. We'll be handing out awards and having a showcase next Sunday during the potluck. Many hands joined from this congregation to make LTC happen this year. Time and space doesn't allow me to talk about each person. It is a beautiful thing when God's people work together to encourage others, especially our youth. One thing that struck me was that we are going to have to get more space for the singing groups and puppet groups... there are so many participants and people that we are crowded, but it's a good kind of crowded. I also didn't realize how complicated the book of 2 Samuel really is... but we focused on it a lot this year -- and I pray that through all these things all our students and their families will LOCK ON THE ROCK.
It's easy to forget where our foundation really is.  Paul put it plainly... "For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ" (1 Corinthians 3:11). The reality is that there are lots of attractive foundations that get our attention -- and tempt us to build our lives on them. However, the children's song, "The Wise Man" reminds us of the words of Christ, "Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock" (Matthew 7:24).
We will continue our focus of LOCK ON THE ROCK throughout our summer. I do not believe we have exhausted our study of Christ, the Rock. Why not be a part of taking refuge in Christ, being reinforced by Christians, and reaching out to rescue those who don't know Christ? This fall we will turn our focus to the them, "More than Conquerors" from Romans and James.