Wednesday, June 29, 2005
SERVE Part IV
So, what do you do when you're sitting around on a Wednesday afternoon and sulking over the lack of SERVE? You get an email from Meghan Gage of course! And she reminds you how much fun you had and how hard it can be to go home after a week in God's presence. Home is only home if you make it that way, right? Plus, she sends you a cool picture. (I'm not exactly sure what's around her arms. It might be a straight jacket!) Thank you Meghan! You are the best!
SERVE Part III
The last and final SERVE post more than likely. Talked to Dustin last night on the phone and he and I both seem to be going through a similar post-SERVE funk. Although, I'll admit that mine's not as bad as last years. Everything went so great this time, that I'm still riding a pretty big SERVE high.
So what is there left to tell. Too much I'm afraid, so I'll just try to pull out a few more of the highlights from the week.
Poemetry
Well, as many know, I've been trying my hand at poetry writing for the last several months. On the first night of SERVE, I was playing prayer-partner-substitute for one of the prayer partners that couldn't make it to pray with their server, and I got paired up with a great young lady named Meghan Gage from Chicago. Turns out she's an aspiring poet as well, so I challenged her to write one by the end of the week, and then read it in the final worship. She did, and it was magnificent. I shall have to grab it out of my still packed suitcase and post it up here sometime soon. Yet, as great of a poet as she was, she did get a little feisty when I asked her to play Queen Jezebel. But oh well, Jezebel was pretty evil I guess. So, in a way, Meghan really nailed the part. Hope to hear from you soon Meghan!
Running
I've been running since the February / March portion of this year. Not a ton, just two or three miles a day - trying to remember what my body used to look like before five years of college and another five of youth directing. Well, lo and behold, I meet a young lady by the name of Lauren Hoag who's quite the runner herself and so we had a great two mile venture during the middle of the week. Unfortunately, even though Lauren wanted to run again, I had the very bad habit of staying up way too late with the boys at SERVE, and only made that one run. Sorry Lauren.
Staying Up Way Too Late With the Boys at SERVE
So we'd hit the hay around midnight or one, yet the chats and horseplay just kept on going. Things were flung around the room. Flashlights were use to put people in the "Hotseat" (a position where, if in the light, you had to answer any question asked), and many laughs were had by all. Was it worth it? Most definitely. I only wish the gals hadn't gotten so jealous at how much fun we guys had every night. My favorite night, of course, ended with me lullaby-ing the boys to sleep with a little four string tenor banjo.
More Than Meets the Eye
Part of the theme for the week was about using your spiritual gifts. So Dawn, the spiritual director extraordinaire that she is, had wrapped gifts for me to open every night right before my talk. Inside each gift was an object that had something to do with the talk that night. On the first night, I lamented to the group, as I opened the gift, that I sure hoped there'd be a new Transformer in one of these things during the week. Lo and behold, someone takes my joke seriously, and during my last talk on Friday night, what do I pull out of the gift, but a brand new Transformer from Small Group #3. He's a jetplane, and his name is Terradive, and I've played with him every day since.
Z.Z.
For the second year in a row I was blessed to have Zach Zomerman attend the SERVE where I was speaking. Zach is an amazing guy from Orange City who also attended the RISE Above Music Festival and schooled some folks in the Sioux City Wheelers basketball demonstration. Zach played Elisha to my Elijah on Thursday night, and did a great job. I've heard through the grapevine that he might be at the next SERVE as a volunteer on the host team, and I'm pretty pumped if that all falls into place.
Worksites
Well, Luke really out did himself again this year finding some awesome worksites for all the servers to take part in. My favorite was the Extreme Makeover site. The servers put in a fence, sandbox, new deck, and did some landscaping for a family who really needed it. While the work was being done on the home, Bartman put the family up in the hotel he works at, and they got a limo ride and a trip to the zoo. On Thursday, the groups got to make up their own challenges. And, deciding to become some crazy Nehemiah's, one group decided to head to a Laundromat and hand out free quarters to anyone who wanted them. I heard they had a great opportunity to share their faith and met some pretty interesting characters.
What more can I go on about? Hmmm. There are so many topics left that I may have to let the week process a bit more in my mind before going back to it. And if anybody out there knows something of great importance that I've left out, feel free to shoot me an email. Perhaps this won't be the last entry on SERVE - but it will be the last one for this week. Andrea and I are heading up to Okiboji for vacation, so it'll be a bit before this thing's updated again.
Till next time,
Jason
So what is there left to tell. Too much I'm afraid, so I'll just try to pull out a few more of the highlights from the week.
Poemetry
Well, as many know, I've been trying my hand at poetry writing for the last several months. On the first night of SERVE, I was playing prayer-partner-substitute for one of the prayer partners that couldn't make it to pray with their server, and I got paired up with a great young lady named Meghan Gage from Chicago. Turns out she's an aspiring poet as well, so I challenged her to write one by the end of the week, and then read it in the final worship. She did, and it was magnificent. I shall have to grab it out of my still packed suitcase and post it up here sometime soon. Yet, as great of a poet as she was, she did get a little feisty when I asked her to play Queen Jezebel. But oh well, Jezebel was pretty evil I guess. So, in a way, Meghan really nailed the part. Hope to hear from you soon Meghan!
Running
I've been running since the February / March portion of this year. Not a ton, just two or three miles a day - trying to remember what my body used to look like before five years of college and another five of youth directing. Well, lo and behold, I meet a young lady by the name of Lauren Hoag who's quite the runner herself and so we had a great two mile venture during the middle of the week. Unfortunately, even though Lauren wanted to run again, I had the very bad habit of staying up way too late with the boys at SERVE, and only made that one run. Sorry Lauren.
Staying Up Way Too Late With the Boys at SERVE
So we'd hit the hay around midnight or one, yet the chats and horseplay just kept on going. Things were flung around the room. Flashlights were use to put people in the "Hotseat" (a position where, if in the light, you had to answer any question asked), and many laughs were had by all. Was it worth it? Most definitely. I only wish the gals hadn't gotten so jealous at how much fun we guys had every night. My favorite night, of course, ended with me lullaby-ing the boys to sleep with a little four string tenor banjo.
More Than Meets the Eye
Part of the theme for the week was about using your spiritual gifts. So Dawn, the spiritual director extraordinaire that she is, had wrapped gifts for me to open every night right before my talk. Inside each gift was an object that had something to do with the talk that night. On the first night, I lamented to the group, as I opened the gift, that I sure hoped there'd be a new Transformer in one of these things during the week. Lo and behold, someone takes my joke seriously, and during my last talk on Friday night, what do I pull out of the gift, but a brand new Transformer from Small Group #3. He's a jetplane, and his name is Terradive, and I've played with him every day since.
Z.Z.
For the second year in a row I was blessed to have Zach Zomerman attend the SERVE where I was speaking. Zach is an amazing guy from Orange City who also attended the RISE Above Music Festival and schooled some folks in the Sioux City Wheelers basketball demonstration. Zach played Elisha to my Elijah on Thursday night, and did a great job. I've heard through the grapevine that he might be at the next SERVE as a volunteer on the host team, and I'm pretty pumped if that all falls into place.
Worksites
Well, Luke really out did himself again this year finding some awesome worksites for all the servers to take part in. My favorite was the Extreme Makeover site. The servers put in a fence, sandbox, new deck, and did some landscaping for a family who really needed it. While the work was being done on the home, Bartman put the family up in the hotel he works at, and they got a limo ride and a trip to the zoo. On Thursday, the groups got to make up their own challenges. And, deciding to become some crazy Nehemiah's, one group decided to head to a Laundromat and hand out free quarters to anyone who wanted them. I heard they had a great opportunity to share their faith and met some pretty interesting characters.
What more can I go on about? Hmmm. There are so many topics left that I may have to let the week process a bit more in my mind before going back to it. And if anybody out there knows something of great importance that I've left out, feel free to shoot me an email. Perhaps this won't be the last entry on SERVE - but it will be the last one for this week. Andrea and I are heading up to Okiboji for vacation, so it'll be a bit before this thing's updated again.
Till next time,
Jason
Tuesday, June 28, 2005
SERVE Part II
So here we go again. I'm avoiding a little paperwork this afternoon and figured I may as tackle another chunk of the out of control blog that is SERVE.
My absolute favorite part of the weeks I'm in Sioux Falls, is without a doubt the people. The main thing that differeniates this group from many others that I work with, is the way they immediately invite you into their little circle. Speaking and comedy can be a lonely job at times. You end up spending a lot of time driving in a car, sleeping in a hotel room alone, or sitting in empty sanctuarys while people are "leaving you alone" to get ready. Often when I go on extended speaking trips, I'm given a room to sleep in alone because my hosts want me to have some privacy. The SERVE group, on the other hand, has none of this. I'm bunked right in between the host team, and they treat me as if they've known me for years.
Practical jokes abound. Whether it be airhorns, shower shenanigans, towel snapping, surprise "gifts", or my personal favorite - putting a picture of a young, awkward, teenage Troy on the big screen during worship - these guys and gals know how to have fun. My father in law has always said that the key to a good spiritual week is to play just as hard as you worship, and the Sioux Falls crew has that down.
From prank calls on Danny's speakerphone, to constantly threatening to steal someones clothes and towel from the shower, everyday has new suprises. So without further ado, I'll end this post with a few of my favorite SERVE 2005 moments of hilarity:
5. Jason Bartman sings Garth Brooks
Drummer for the week, Bartman grabs a guitar one afternoon and proves he's just as proficient on the six string. He does a rousing rendition of "I Will Sail My Vessel" with a little help from Danny Fergen.
4. Chelsea Plays Screech
So, on the old show Saved By the Bell, there was the nerdy character Screech, who had a unique style of fighting. It's hard to describe, but essentially, he'd cover his face with one hand, and then put his other fist through the arm that was covering his face and swing the fist around. It's hard to imagine without seeing it, I know. But if you ever run into Chelsea Gerdes, she does it better than the man himself. I'm still laughing (and secretly imitating the move in front of the bathroom mirror.)
3. Dustin Attacks Mark
Good friend Dustin is wearing a low slung pair of plaid shorts. We find that if he hikes them up enough and walks a little goofy, he looks like a pretty big nerd. So we challenge him to run into the crowded cafeteria and do Chelsea's "Screech Fighting" with Mark. Dustin steps up to the challenge and many kids are left wondering about his sanity while Mark tries to defend himself.
2. Morning Radio
So every year, Mark and Dan think up new ways to get the servers wide awake at 7 AM. In the past, this has included air horns and whacking them with those large foam noodles. This year, however, they set up giant speakers around the school and put on their own little radio show with Danny Fergen. Every morning during the show, they'd have a "special guest" come in. It was typically one of the SERVE head honchos, Troy, Dawn, or Luke. Unfortunately, since they were always in a leader's meeting, I had to fill in doing my best impersonation. It lead to me challenging people to knock Troy's hat off his head, pick Luke up off the ground, and telling everyone that Troy and Luke were both Dawn's real life sons. Much confusion and hilarity with the servers ensued.
And my favorite . . .
1. Dustin and I Caught Alone Together
So, it's no secret that the crew and I are close. Often, this closeness brings a lot of practical jokes involving one guy, crawling into another guy's bunk while he's asleep (or close to it) for a surprise awakening. Well, one morning, I'm just waking up, and Dustin and I are the only two in the room together. He crawls across the floor, under a desk (he's thin) and onto my airmattress with me. Pretty funny. Meanwhile, the radio show is going on outside, and the boys have just announced that the first server that can bring them a Bible with a certain passage marked, will win a prize. Well, suddenly, in our room, the lights flash on, and two servers who are frantically looking for a Bible, stumble around the desk and find us together on my air mattress. All four of us look around a little bewildered, and after a short pause, one of the kids says, "We're . . . looking for a Bible . . ." Dustin yells at them and tells them there are no Bibles in the Leader's room, and they run back out the door - leaving us to laugh hysterically at the scene they just saw. Two grown men, in their jammies, sharing an air matress.
Phew. Enough for now? Enough for me anyways. One or two more entries should take care of the rest. We'll see. And once again, I've barely scratched the surface of what it means to be part of the Sioux Falls crew. But before I go, I'll leave you with a few of the honorable mention moments.
1. Dawn pulling a . . . ahem . . . muscle while doing a cartwheel and being very sore for a few days afterwards.
2. Me trying to be very serious during the Sunday morning worship as Mark has warned me to "behave this year". Then having Ashley come up next to me, practially bursting with silly energy.
3. Dustin yelling at farmwives driving slowly down country roads.
4. Getting everyone on the host team to Monkey-walk for my own enjoyment.
5. Watching Dan give blood.
6. Seeing what new and tiny places Luke could "Ping" out of.
7. Enduring Mark's "shower dance" for seven straight days.
Till next time,
Jason
My absolute favorite part of the weeks I'm in Sioux Falls, is without a doubt the people. The main thing that differeniates this group from many others that I work with, is the way they immediately invite you into their little circle. Speaking and comedy can be a lonely job at times. You end up spending a lot of time driving in a car, sleeping in a hotel room alone, or sitting in empty sanctuarys while people are "leaving you alone" to get ready. Often when I go on extended speaking trips, I'm given a room to sleep in alone because my hosts want me to have some privacy. The SERVE group, on the other hand, has none of this. I'm bunked right in between the host team, and they treat me as if they've known me for years.
Practical jokes abound. Whether it be airhorns, shower shenanigans, towel snapping, surprise "gifts", or my personal favorite - putting a picture of a young, awkward, teenage Troy on the big screen during worship - these guys and gals know how to have fun. My father in law has always said that the key to a good spiritual week is to play just as hard as you worship, and the Sioux Falls crew has that down.
From prank calls on Danny's speakerphone, to constantly threatening to steal someones clothes and towel from the shower, everyday has new suprises. So without further ado, I'll end this post with a few of my favorite SERVE 2005 moments of hilarity:
5. Jason Bartman sings Garth Brooks
Drummer for the week, Bartman grabs a guitar one afternoon and proves he's just as proficient on the six string. He does a rousing rendition of "I Will Sail My Vessel" with a little help from Danny Fergen.
4. Chelsea Plays Screech
So, on the old show Saved By the Bell, there was the nerdy character Screech, who had a unique style of fighting. It's hard to describe, but essentially, he'd cover his face with one hand, and then put his other fist through the arm that was covering his face and swing the fist around. It's hard to imagine without seeing it, I know. But if you ever run into Chelsea Gerdes, she does it better than the man himself. I'm still laughing (and secretly imitating the move in front of the bathroom mirror.)
3. Dustin Attacks Mark
Good friend Dustin is wearing a low slung pair of plaid shorts. We find that if he hikes them up enough and walks a little goofy, he looks like a pretty big nerd. So we challenge him to run into the crowded cafeteria and do Chelsea's "Screech Fighting" with Mark. Dustin steps up to the challenge and many kids are left wondering about his sanity while Mark tries to defend himself.
2. Morning Radio
So every year, Mark and Dan think up new ways to get the servers wide awake at 7 AM. In the past, this has included air horns and whacking them with those large foam noodles. This year, however, they set up giant speakers around the school and put on their own little radio show with Danny Fergen. Every morning during the show, they'd have a "special guest" come in. It was typically one of the SERVE head honchos, Troy, Dawn, or Luke. Unfortunately, since they were always in a leader's meeting, I had to fill in doing my best impersonation. It lead to me challenging people to knock Troy's hat off his head, pick Luke up off the ground, and telling everyone that Troy and Luke were both Dawn's real life sons. Much confusion and hilarity with the servers ensued.
And my favorite . . .
1. Dustin and I Caught Alone Together
So, it's no secret that the crew and I are close. Often, this closeness brings a lot of practical jokes involving one guy, crawling into another guy's bunk while he's asleep (or close to it) for a surprise awakening. Well, one morning, I'm just waking up, and Dustin and I are the only two in the room together. He crawls across the floor, under a desk (he's thin) and onto my airmattress with me. Pretty funny. Meanwhile, the radio show is going on outside, and the boys have just announced that the first server that can bring them a Bible with a certain passage marked, will win a prize. Well, suddenly, in our room, the lights flash on, and two servers who are frantically looking for a Bible, stumble around the desk and find us together on my air mattress. All four of us look around a little bewildered, and after a short pause, one of the kids says, "We're . . . looking for a Bible . . ." Dustin yells at them and tells them there are no Bibles in the Leader's room, and they run back out the door - leaving us to laugh hysterically at the scene they just saw. Two grown men, in their jammies, sharing an air matress.
Phew. Enough for now? Enough for me anyways. One or two more entries should take care of the rest. We'll see. And once again, I've barely scratched the surface of what it means to be part of the Sioux Falls crew. But before I go, I'll leave you with a few of the honorable mention moments.
1. Dawn pulling a . . . ahem . . . muscle while doing a cartwheel and being very sore for a few days afterwards.
2. Me trying to be very serious during the Sunday morning worship as Mark has warned me to "behave this year". Then having Ashley come up next to me, practially bursting with silly energy.
3. Dustin yelling at farmwives driving slowly down country roads.
4. Getting everyone on the host team to Monkey-walk for my own enjoyment.
5. Watching Dan give blood.
6. Seeing what new and tiny places Luke could "Ping" out of.
7. Enduring Mark's "shower dance" for seven straight days.
Till next time,
Jason
SERVE Part I
Hmm. How to start a post on my favorite ministry week of the year. I may not get it all down in one entry, but I'll see how far I can get.
For the past three years, I've trekked up to Sioux Falls, South Dakota to be the "Spiritual Leader" (guy who gives God talks) every night at a week long service project called SERVE. Kids from around the U.S. and Canada come to work in the community for the week. They work during the day, and worship at night. It's a fairly simple set up.
It's quickly become my favorite week of the year. I get to work and hang around with my favorite ministry team on the planet, (Troy, Dawn, Luke, Mark, Dan, Dustin, Danny, David, Jason, Adam, Chelsea, Michelle, Kristi, Ashley, Amber, and many, many others.) all of whom have become close friends. I get the best worship band I've ever worked with (Jonah's Wale / Sons of Thunder) to lead into my talks. I get to laugh like crazy the whole week. I get to see God move in some pretty amazing ways.
This year's SERVE kicked off on Saturday, June 18th. For those of you who read the last post, you may be saying to yourself, "Wait, didn't you emcee a music festival that day?" Yes, I did. So on just a few hours sleep, I headed up to Sioux Falls and got there around midnight or shortly after. The one thing I've quickly learned about working with the Sioux Falls crew is, there is generally an amazing lack of sleep involved, and this year was no different.
We were staying at the Christian school in Sioux Falls for the week, and, while walking up to the front door after arriving, I was greeted by several of the fellas who were waiting up for men and wanted to try out their brand new air horn. It was pretty loud. I think I disappointed them though, with my lack of reaction as I was pretty stinking tired when i finally rolled in.
Many hugs and "Hellos!" were traded as all the guys had stayed up to welcome me back. (Most of the gals remained asleep, but I won't hold that against them.) Even though it was late, and I hadn't had an enormous amount of sleep in the past week, I headed to the worship room to get ready for the Sunday morning service where I'd be speaking to about 1000 Sioux Falls folks from all the Churches that were supporting SERVE for the week. Dawn came in while I was preparing and gave me a welcome back, as she said she couldn't sleep. So we talked a bit about the week, got real jazzed up, and then I tried to head to bed only to find that now it took me a while to fall asleep since Dawn had gotten me so riled up about the week.
Sunday morning service went great. I saw lots of old friends and SERVE supporters. It's an outdoor service that they've held at the fairgrounds for the last two years, so it's a great environment (if just a tad windy) to have worship in. In my ever continuing struggle to make Troy, Dawn, and Luke question their hiring of me, I started off my talk with the question, "Who here's ever had the dream that they were naked in a public place." You'd be surprised how many people at church on Sunday morning wouldn't raise their hands to that simple question . . . or, well, maybe you wouldn't be so surprised. But we survived the service and a good time was had by all.
Then it was on to Falls Park where we looked at the waterfalls, took a group picture, ate some great burgers, and laughed a lot more. It was a warm day . . .
Then back to the school for Sunday night worship. I used Dan as my talk illustration, covering him with mud, calling him a leper and then watching as he washed clean in the river Jordan. Your basic talk stuff. I got to find out during the week just how brave of a soul Dan really is. From mud to blood, there really wasn't anything Dan wouldn't do to help me out for a talk.
Monday night was good again. Luke, Dan, and Dustin all volunteered to be mighty men for King David who almost died to get some water.
Tuesday, Joshua was "Achan" for some of God's love. Dan stepped up to the plate and donated a little blood (while I chose not to watch). We had a FOUR HOUR WORSHIP SERVICE. It was amazing and it was crazy, and I will write more about it later on, but now I think i'm going to finish out this post with just the overviews of the worships for the week.
Wednesday we got a little Crazy for Nehemiah with some help from Dustin and a pile of bricks.
Thursday we traded some spiritual mantles to raise our spirits.
And Friday, Luke put on his "tough face" as Elijah took on 850 prophets that were not of God, and won.
Worship was pretty amazing every night. As far as I'm concerned, with Danny, Troy, Dawn, David, Amber and Jason leading the music, we had pretty much my "Dream Team" of a worship band. As one wise man was heard to say last week, "They rocked my face off." And I would have to agree with that sentiment. Many noses, lips and eyes were dusted off at the end of the week as we were constantly picking them up off the ground.
And I've barely touched the surface of what the week was, yet. So, with those tidbits to go on, and this post growing too long for my tastes, I will rename this entry, SERVE Part I, and close for now. Later I'll talk about the service projects we hit, the fellowship I had with my favorite minsitry crew, and some of the super cool students I got to hang out with for the week.
Till next time,
Jason
For the past three years, I've trekked up to Sioux Falls, South Dakota to be the "Spiritual Leader" (guy who gives God talks) every night at a week long service project called SERVE. Kids from around the U.S. and Canada come to work in the community for the week. They work during the day, and worship at night. It's a fairly simple set up.
It's quickly become my favorite week of the year. I get to work and hang around with my favorite ministry team on the planet, (Troy, Dawn, Luke, Mark, Dan, Dustin, Danny, David, Jason, Adam, Chelsea, Michelle, Kristi, Ashley, Amber, and many, many others.) all of whom have become close friends. I get the best worship band I've ever worked with (Jonah's Wale / Sons of Thunder) to lead into my talks. I get to laugh like crazy the whole week. I get to see God move in some pretty amazing ways.
This year's SERVE kicked off on Saturday, June 18th. For those of you who read the last post, you may be saying to yourself, "Wait, didn't you emcee a music festival that day?" Yes, I did. So on just a few hours sleep, I headed up to Sioux Falls and got there around midnight or shortly after. The one thing I've quickly learned about working with the Sioux Falls crew is, there is generally an amazing lack of sleep involved, and this year was no different.
We were staying at the Christian school in Sioux Falls for the week, and, while walking up to the front door after arriving, I was greeted by several of the fellas who were waiting up for men and wanted to try out their brand new air horn. It was pretty loud. I think I disappointed them though, with my lack of reaction as I was pretty stinking tired when i finally rolled in.
Many hugs and "Hellos!" were traded as all the guys had stayed up to welcome me back. (Most of the gals remained asleep, but I won't hold that against them.) Even though it was late, and I hadn't had an enormous amount of sleep in the past week, I headed to the worship room to get ready for the Sunday morning service where I'd be speaking to about 1000 Sioux Falls folks from all the Churches that were supporting SERVE for the week. Dawn came in while I was preparing and gave me a welcome back, as she said she couldn't sleep. So we talked a bit about the week, got real jazzed up, and then I tried to head to bed only to find that now it took me a while to fall asleep since Dawn had gotten me so riled up about the week.
Sunday morning service went great. I saw lots of old friends and SERVE supporters. It's an outdoor service that they've held at the fairgrounds for the last two years, so it's a great environment (if just a tad windy) to have worship in. In my ever continuing struggle to make Troy, Dawn, and Luke question their hiring of me, I started off my talk with the question, "Who here's ever had the dream that they were naked in a public place." You'd be surprised how many people at church on Sunday morning wouldn't raise their hands to that simple question . . . or, well, maybe you wouldn't be so surprised. But we survived the service and a good time was had by all.
Then it was on to Falls Park where we looked at the waterfalls, took a group picture, ate some great burgers, and laughed a lot more. It was a warm day . . .
Then back to the school for Sunday night worship. I used Dan as my talk illustration, covering him with mud, calling him a leper and then watching as he washed clean in the river Jordan. Your basic talk stuff. I got to find out during the week just how brave of a soul Dan really is. From mud to blood, there really wasn't anything Dan wouldn't do to help me out for a talk.
Monday night was good again. Luke, Dan, and Dustin all volunteered to be mighty men for King David who almost died to get some water.
Tuesday, Joshua was "Achan" for some of God's love. Dan stepped up to the plate and donated a little blood (while I chose not to watch). We had a FOUR HOUR WORSHIP SERVICE. It was amazing and it was crazy, and I will write more about it later on, but now I think i'm going to finish out this post with just the overviews of the worships for the week.
Wednesday we got a little Crazy for Nehemiah with some help from Dustin and a pile of bricks.
Thursday we traded some spiritual mantles to raise our spirits.
And Friday, Luke put on his "tough face" as Elijah took on 850 prophets that were not of God, and won.
Worship was pretty amazing every night. As far as I'm concerned, with Danny, Troy, Dawn, David, Amber and Jason leading the music, we had pretty much my "Dream Team" of a worship band. As one wise man was heard to say last week, "They rocked my face off." And I would have to agree with that sentiment. Many noses, lips and eyes were dusted off at the end of the week as we were constantly picking them up off the ground.
And I've barely touched the surface of what the week was, yet. So, with those tidbits to go on, and this post growing too long for my tastes, I will rename this entry, SERVE Part I, and close for now. Later I'll talk about the service projects we hit, the fellowship I had with my favorite minsitry crew, and some of the super cool students I got to hang out with for the week.
Till next time,
Jason
Monday, June 27, 2005
RISE Above Music Festival
In what may go down as the longest day of my summer, I joined up with good friend and brilliant funny man Steve Hydeen, and emceed the RISE Above Music Festival on Saturday June 18th in Orange City, IA.
When Rob Roozeboom asked me to emcee last fall, I was esctatic. First of all, I love Rob and his ministry with RISE, and second of all, it was going to be an awesome chance to meet some of the Christian world's best bands, comedians and speakers.
I went into the day a little tired. It didn't help that I decided to see the late show of Batman Begins on the Friday night before, and then Steve pulled into town about 1 AM. I had to be at the festival by 5:30 AM on Saturday morning. So you can do the math on how much sleep I got.
The crew for the day was fantastic. The bands and speakers were fantastic. Musicians that specifically stuck out in my mind were Remedy Drive (great band with a little coldplay influence) and of course Jeff Deyo. Man, Jeff Deyo can not only sing, but the guy's an amazing speaker as well. It was great to get to meet and greet all the bands backstage, and I was pretty pumped to get to shake hands with The Apologetix and Go Fish for the first time in my life.
Old friend, and hilarious comedian Jay Laffoon was there for the afternoon. Jay is one of Christian comedy's premier performers, and he's also an exceptionally nice guy. I met him for the first time last year in Michigan where he sat down with me for a couple hours and gave me the ins and outs of Christian comedy and speaking. He was no less gracious this time, as he ate supper with Steve and I and gave us even more advice. Yeah, I love the guy.
He also introduced us to Ventriloquist comedian Taylor Mason, who I've been a fan of for a long time. Steve had never seen Taylor's show, so we found our way out to the crowd to watch his set. Taylor, as always, delivered, as he put on a hilarious set that had Steve and I laughing like crazy.
Another personal highlight was meeting freestyle skateboarder Tim Byrne. Tim travels the country performing and giving his personal testimony. He's working with the Living It tour with actor Stephen Baldwin. And he's just an all around great guy. He did some awesome tricks on the mainstage, and gave a great testimony. It was pretty cool to see how many young kids were there, holding their own skateboards, as Tim spoke.
The highlight of the day though, was getting to introduce RISE Ministries' head honcho, and close personal friend, Rob Rozeboom. I'll admit, I teared up a little bit as I brought him onstage. The guy, in just a few short years, has blown me away with what God has done through him. And it was great to not only introduce him, but then get to hear his talk and altar call. So many people came up and accepted his challenge, it was fantastic. Kudos to Rob and the whole crew for putting on such a great day. They better do in again next year!
And so, after the day finally ended around 10:30 PM, I loaded back into the car and headed up to Sioux Falls, SD where I'd be speaking for SERVE for the next week. (More about that amazing experience in the next entry.)
Highlights of the Day
1. Hanging out with Steve and getting to hold his gorgeous baby again. Steve Hydeen is a great guy, hilarious comedian, and a real class act. Getting to hang with him backstage all day was more fun than I should have any right to partake in.
2. Old youth group member, and current good friend Chris Bouwman surprised me when he showed up at the festival. We finagled him a special backstage pass and he got to come hang with us most of the afternoon. It's always great to see Chris.
Til next time,
Jason
When Rob Roozeboom asked me to emcee last fall, I was esctatic. First of all, I love Rob and his ministry with RISE, and second of all, it was going to be an awesome chance to meet some of the Christian world's best bands, comedians and speakers.
I went into the day a little tired. It didn't help that I decided to see the late show of Batman Begins on the Friday night before, and then Steve pulled into town about 1 AM. I had to be at the festival by 5:30 AM on Saturday morning. So you can do the math on how much sleep I got.
The crew for the day was fantastic. The bands and speakers were fantastic. Musicians that specifically stuck out in my mind were Remedy Drive (great band with a little coldplay influence) and of course Jeff Deyo. Man, Jeff Deyo can not only sing, but the guy's an amazing speaker as well. It was great to get to meet and greet all the bands backstage, and I was pretty pumped to get to shake hands with The Apologetix and Go Fish for the first time in my life.
Old friend, and hilarious comedian Jay Laffoon was there for the afternoon. Jay is one of Christian comedy's premier performers, and he's also an exceptionally nice guy. I met him for the first time last year in Michigan where he sat down with me for a couple hours and gave me the ins and outs of Christian comedy and speaking. He was no less gracious this time, as he ate supper with Steve and I and gave us even more advice. Yeah, I love the guy.
He also introduced us to Ventriloquist comedian Taylor Mason, who I've been a fan of for a long time. Steve had never seen Taylor's show, so we found our way out to the crowd to watch his set. Taylor, as always, delivered, as he put on a hilarious set that had Steve and I laughing like crazy.
Another personal highlight was meeting freestyle skateboarder Tim Byrne. Tim travels the country performing and giving his personal testimony. He's working with the Living It tour with actor Stephen Baldwin. And he's just an all around great guy. He did some awesome tricks on the mainstage, and gave a great testimony. It was pretty cool to see how many young kids were there, holding their own skateboards, as Tim spoke.
The highlight of the day though, was getting to introduce RISE Ministries' head honcho, and close personal friend, Rob Rozeboom. I'll admit, I teared up a little bit as I brought him onstage. The guy, in just a few short years, has blown me away with what God has done through him. And it was great to not only introduce him, but then get to hear his talk and altar call. So many people came up and accepted his challenge, it was fantastic. Kudos to Rob and the whole crew for putting on such a great day. They better do in again next year!
And so, after the day finally ended around 10:30 PM, I loaded back into the car and headed up to Sioux Falls, SD where I'd be speaking for SERVE for the next week. (More about that amazing experience in the next entry.)
Highlights of the Day
1. Hanging out with Steve and getting to hold his gorgeous baby again. Steve Hydeen is a great guy, hilarious comedian, and a real class act. Getting to hang with him backstage all day was more fun than I should have any right to partake in.
2. Old youth group member, and current good friend Chris Bouwman surprised me when he showed up at the festival. We finagled him a special backstage pass and he got to come hang with us most of the afternoon. It's always great to see Chris.
Til next time,
Jason
Wednesday, June 08, 2005
Boji Smokin Damacy!
Well, I make it no secret that my favorite ministry team to work with is the crew up in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. But by far, my favorite audience to speak to is located at the Presbyterian Camp on Okiboji Lake during the MAD (Music and Drama) camp week.
It's not a great performance area. (A tiny little chapel that's usually about four or five degrees warmer than the outside.) It's not a huge crowd. (Last year there were about 60 some students, this year there were about 40.) It's not a lot of money. (They pass the hat at the end of every performance.) But it is the warmest, most generous crowd I've ever worked with.
I've been very blessed to get to travel and speak to all sorts of folks. I've spoken and performed for 1500 people in Traverse City, Michigan - a 1000+ in Sioux Falls - another 1000+ in Ames, IA - but to me, no crowd makes me feel more welcome than the group at MAD Camp. I still think that the hour of stand-up that I performed for them last summer, is one of my favorite shows of all time.
So when Valerie King called me up again a few months ago and asked if I'd come do another show, I eagerly agreed. The only problem was, I'd done my entire act the year before, and I wasn't sure what I possibly had to offer. But I figured it didn't matter, this was MAD Camp after all.
I headed up to Okiboji on Monday the 6th for an 8 PM show. On the way, I picked up good friend Mike Rottink in Iowa Falls. He's a long time MAD Camp veteran, having worked on the staff before and attending for years. Mike's about the best travel companion you could ask for. There's no need for the radio when he's along, as it's all conversation and laughs.
We, of course, made a stop at the Goldfield Cheese Mart on the way to try a few samples, buy a Sioux City Root Beer, and buy some sweet potato and beet chips. Now, you may be thinking to yourself, "I don't think that potato chips made out of beets sounds very good." And if you are thinking that, you're right. They're not. Oh well, at least I can say it's one more thing I've tried in my life.
We hit the lake around 6 PM and headed to our favorite eatery in town - Smokin' Jakes - for a basket of 30 chicken drummies with HOT sauce. I will not waste your time trying to come up with 110 adjectives to adequately describe how warm their sauce can be. I will just leave it at this . . . it's hot. Trust me. The sign out front says, "Sis says, 'Smokin' Jake smokes everything!'" which Mike and I found very amusing.
After supper, we headed to camp to get ready. Once there, and only an hour after eating my first chicken drummie, I immediately had to find a restroom as the drummies began a mad revolt within my gut. It was great.
For the show, out of desperation, I dipped back into something I haven't done in several years. I read some short fiction stories that I wrote while at Iowa State. Mike helped me out, as well as a few people from the crowd, by reading different voices from each one. Now, these stories are strange. Strange. Once again, trust me on this. Maybe in the next couple days, I'll post one on the old blog just so you can see. But they make me laugh, and so I figured I'd give it a shot. I told Mike's brother Jon, that I was expecting to bomb, but the MAD Camp crowd came through once again and we had an absolute blast.
"How do you celebrate a great show like this", you might ask. Easy. Mike and I headed back to Smokin' Jakes for 30 MORE DRUMMIES. I know, I know, I paid for it later. But those things are so good. Then we headed back to the camp to sleep on a couple spare bunks. I got over 20 mosquito bites on just my legs in one night! And it was a little warm thanks to Mike shutting the fan off during the night (he was sleeping next to the window, so he shut it off because he was cold.)
After breakfast in the morning and some good chats with Val, Jon, Hair-ar-ite Pete, and Mike's parents, we hit the road again - making sure to stop at the Sugar Shack before leaving town.
The ride back was quite entertaining. I'm reviewing a book called, "Questions You Can't Ask Your Mama About Sex" for the next Impact magazine, and I'm a little behind on the reading, so I asked Mike to read to me. Needless to say, it was quite entertaining to hear Mike read lines like, "My boyfriend and I have been dating for several years now and we're really in love. How far is too far?" Thanks Mike. (And believe you me, that's a very tamed down version of some of things I had to hear in his voice.)
Once again, we stopped at the Goldfield Cheese Mart, although we avoided the beet chips, and then finally made it back to Mike's. The guy gave me a great birthday gift. It was the Playstation 2 game Katahari Damacy which I will someday have to expound on because of it's addictive qualities and hilarious storyline, but this blog's getting a little long.
After dropping Mike off, I headed to Eldora, IA to visit the lovely Andrea while she's away at camp with some of our high schoolers counselling for an Angel Tree camp. While there, I got some supper, wrestled, and got beat by a middle schooler named Palmer, and lost about 10 pounds in sweat.
After that, I got to make a quick stop home in Prairie City - just long enough to visit Mom and Dad, get brother Chris addicted to Katahari Damacy, and have a Diet Pepsi. Then it was finally home to Pella.
Highlight of the Trip
For my birthday, Chris got me a new WWE T-Shirt that's quite hilarious. On the front is a giant letter "C" with the words "Captain Charisma". The back says, "That's how I roll Christian!" Now, the shirt is worn on TV by a guy who's name is Christian, but when I wear it around, people assume it's some kind of ministry shirt and I get a lot of strange looks. I'm trying to get, "That's how I roll, Christian!" to become the next big catch phrase.
Till next time,
Jason
It's not a great performance area. (A tiny little chapel that's usually about four or five degrees warmer than the outside.) It's not a huge crowd. (Last year there were about 60 some students, this year there were about 40.) It's not a lot of money. (They pass the hat at the end of every performance.) But it is the warmest, most generous crowd I've ever worked with.
I've been very blessed to get to travel and speak to all sorts of folks. I've spoken and performed for 1500 people in Traverse City, Michigan - a 1000+ in Sioux Falls - another 1000+ in Ames, IA - but to me, no crowd makes me feel more welcome than the group at MAD Camp. I still think that the hour of stand-up that I performed for them last summer, is one of my favorite shows of all time.
So when Valerie King called me up again a few months ago and asked if I'd come do another show, I eagerly agreed. The only problem was, I'd done my entire act the year before, and I wasn't sure what I possibly had to offer. But I figured it didn't matter, this was MAD Camp after all.
I headed up to Okiboji on Monday the 6th for an 8 PM show. On the way, I picked up good friend Mike Rottink in Iowa Falls. He's a long time MAD Camp veteran, having worked on the staff before and attending for years. Mike's about the best travel companion you could ask for. There's no need for the radio when he's along, as it's all conversation and laughs.
We, of course, made a stop at the Goldfield Cheese Mart on the way to try a few samples, buy a Sioux City Root Beer, and buy some sweet potato and beet chips. Now, you may be thinking to yourself, "I don't think that potato chips made out of beets sounds very good." And if you are thinking that, you're right. They're not. Oh well, at least I can say it's one more thing I've tried in my life.
We hit the lake around 6 PM and headed to our favorite eatery in town - Smokin' Jakes - for a basket of 30 chicken drummies with HOT sauce. I will not waste your time trying to come up with 110 adjectives to adequately describe how warm their sauce can be. I will just leave it at this . . . it's hot. Trust me. The sign out front says, "Sis says, 'Smokin' Jake smokes everything!'" which Mike and I found very amusing.
After supper, we headed to camp to get ready. Once there, and only an hour after eating my first chicken drummie, I immediately had to find a restroom as the drummies began a mad revolt within my gut. It was great.
For the show, out of desperation, I dipped back into something I haven't done in several years. I read some short fiction stories that I wrote while at Iowa State. Mike helped me out, as well as a few people from the crowd, by reading different voices from each one. Now, these stories are strange. Strange. Once again, trust me on this. Maybe in the next couple days, I'll post one on the old blog just so you can see. But they make me laugh, and so I figured I'd give it a shot. I told Mike's brother Jon, that I was expecting to bomb, but the MAD Camp crowd came through once again and we had an absolute blast.
"How do you celebrate a great show like this", you might ask. Easy. Mike and I headed back to Smokin' Jakes for 30 MORE DRUMMIES. I know, I know, I paid for it later. But those things are so good. Then we headed back to the camp to sleep on a couple spare bunks. I got over 20 mosquito bites on just my legs in one night! And it was a little warm thanks to Mike shutting the fan off during the night (he was sleeping next to the window, so he shut it off because he was cold.)
After breakfast in the morning and some good chats with Val, Jon, Hair-ar-ite Pete, and Mike's parents, we hit the road again - making sure to stop at the Sugar Shack before leaving town.
The ride back was quite entertaining. I'm reviewing a book called, "Questions You Can't Ask Your Mama About Sex" for the next Impact magazine, and I'm a little behind on the reading, so I asked Mike to read to me. Needless to say, it was quite entertaining to hear Mike read lines like, "My boyfriend and I have been dating for several years now and we're really in love. How far is too far?" Thanks Mike. (And believe you me, that's a very tamed down version of some of things I had to hear in his voice.)
Once again, we stopped at the Goldfield Cheese Mart, although we avoided the beet chips, and then finally made it back to Mike's. The guy gave me a great birthday gift. It was the Playstation 2 game Katahari Damacy which I will someday have to expound on because of it's addictive qualities and hilarious storyline, but this blog's getting a little long.
After dropping Mike off, I headed to Eldora, IA to visit the lovely Andrea while she's away at camp with some of our high schoolers counselling for an Angel Tree camp. While there, I got some supper, wrestled, and got beat by a middle schooler named Palmer, and lost about 10 pounds in sweat.
After that, I got to make a quick stop home in Prairie City - just long enough to visit Mom and Dad, get brother Chris addicted to Katahari Damacy, and have a Diet Pepsi. Then it was finally home to Pella.
Highlight of the Trip
For my birthday, Chris got me a new WWE T-Shirt that's quite hilarious. On the front is a giant letter "C" with the words "Captain Charisma". The back says, "That's how I roll Christian!" Now, the shirt is worn on TV by a guy who's name is Christian, but when I wear it around, people assume it's some kind of ministry shirt and I get a lot of strange looks. I'm trying to get, "That's how I roll, Christian!" to become the next big catch phrase.
Till next time,
Jason
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