Saying goodbye to Paul Newman

I can't believe it! Paul Newman is dead. There has always been something about this man that I have admired and been drawn to. I never really paid attention to him or any of the movies he has done - let's face it - he was a little before my time, and I hate old movies. Just as usual, my sentiment about Paul Newman comes back to food. When my wife started making me eat healthier - it was his brand of food (Newman's Own) that we started eating. The Sauces, salsa, and cookies were really good - but that wasn't what his food was all about. ALL of the profit (100%) of Newman's Own food products goes to charity. I found that to be amazing and have sort of followed Paul Newman ever since.

Chapter 2

Everyone knows the great quote from Neil Armstrong when he stood on the surface of the moon. He said, "That's one small step for man. One giant leap for mankind." That's kinda how I feel about our new venture in student minsitry. Last night was our final Sunday Night Spiked service and with that we ended Chapter 1 of Spiked Student Ministries at New Horizon Church and began the journey of Chapter 2. As you probably know (and if you don't, you can read some old blog posts to catch up) Chapter 2 consists of us moving our service to Sunday mornings at 11:30am. This is a huge step for us - and I am SO happy and pumped up about it. However, I stand in awe of how God has moved and worked in this short amount of time (9 months). Ok, I'm kinda emotional - and even though you can't see that in a blog - I am going to stop talking (typing) now.

Blog Record!

I just did it! I set a new blog post record for a single month. My last post (the one about Club56 cgl's) was #22 for the month of September. This breaks the previous record of 21 recorded in April 2008. I knew I could do it! I worked hard, trained all year, worked out, stayed positive, practiced, focused on the goal at hand, and maintained a strict diet. I was just interviewed a minute ago and this is the quote that I gave them, "Whew! I am glad this is over. It was a hard climb to the top, but I made it. I would like to thank all my fans, my family, and God." Adam, what are you going to do now that this record is set? "Well, I'm going to Disney World!"

Club56 Community Group Leader Training

This Sunday immediately after the second service - 12:15 - we will be having a training session for our Club56 Community Group Leaders! So, show up - cause we want to feed you, thank you, and prepare you! Please come up to the youth room right after second service (or after club56 if you are already there) and have lunch with us and get ready for your role! You will be given everything you need to succeed! If you have any questions – or cannot be here this Sunday email one of our Club56 Directors –Wesley (weskc21@yahoo.com) and Carrie (cpfingst@nc.rr.com).

Another Student Speaks UP

Here is another great guest blog post from one of our students. Melinda - our Spiked Director - is having students do some guest blogging. Here is #3. If you missed #1 and #2, scroll down a little and click on them.

Lessons in Leadership

As a leader in the churchworld, I am constantly looking at what other churches are doing and how effective their strategies are. I pay attention to programs, values, and events that other student ministries have to evaluate what we are doing against a very successful program (not to say that we aren't successful - ahh, you know what I mean). However, to be a ministry that is reaching un-churched students and families - I can't just look at other churches. I have to look at businesses, too. I read a great leadership book, Leadership is an Art by Max Depree, when I was in college. One of the key things I took from that book was that there are 3 categories of "owners" in the typical American corporation:

1. Those who invest money and usually nothing else.
2. Those who invest their lives and gifts (probably because they have dedicated their lives to working for the company)
3. Those who invest some special skill or talent or creative energy - although usually part-time.

Leaders, staff, and volunteers in ministry usually fall into these categories as well. You might be contemplating right now which category of "owner" you belong to. There is a real important implication of thinking of yourself as an "owner". When everyone on the team is an "owner" - everyone must live up to some important expectations. When you are an "owner" you become more accountable for for your personal performance. Owners cannot walk away from concerns, get mad and quit when things don't go their way, or disregard leadership and go in their own direction. Ownership demands maturity on everyone's part! My leadership - which hasn't always been this way - expects "owners" not "participants". And the distinct difference is "owners" can't walk away when they are irritated, frustrated, or mad. Why? Because they are INVESTED. They have way to much invested not to mature and grow personally with the ministry. I'll quit rambling on about leadership with this great quote from Depree - "In the end, it is important to remember that we cannot become what we need to be by remaining what we are." If you are not an owner - figure out very quickly how you will invest.

Students speak up!

Our Spiked Director - Melinda - has some students doing some guest blogs about their walk with God and what Spiked means to them. Here's #1 and #2. Check 'em out!

What a weekend!

It was another great weekend at NHC - but especially in our Student Ministries! Here's some highlights:

• 67 students (grades 7 and up) at the bonfire Saturday night.
• 22 adults serving at the bonfire.
• 20 students that came to the bonfire had NEVER been here before! That's great! If you are reading this - we want you to come back!
• Talked about Unstoppable Servants (week 3 of Unstoppable series) and about 30 students from club56 and Spiked stepped up to serve with us!
• Here's a great number - 20 students have accepted Christ at Spiked in the last 4 weeks.
• All sorts of new adult volunteers showing up to serve! This Sunday we had Scott, Rebecca, and Jeremey getting initiated into our ministry! And lots more this week during groups and weekend services!
• 10 days left - till you know what!
• Band rocked this new song called "Rise" by Flobots
• Club56 students received 5 backstage passes for the Outdoor Spiked Video Tent for the new Club56 service on Saturday, October 4th! They are going to hand out the backstage passes to friends! That's cool stuff, yo!

Don't Miss the Bonfire Saturday!

Holla at my girl!

Take a minute and "holla at my girl" Melinda! She is my Spiked Director - and just let me tell you - she is on fire! Go read her blog about what's going on in her heart for our students! There are several posts of interest.

Staff Prayer Time

Ove the last few weeks and for the next several weeks, all the pastors at the church are getting togheter on Thursdays at 4:31pm to pray. We are praying at 4:31 beacause we are focusing on Acts 4:31 - We want God to show up like that. We are praying for God to move in the hearts of people in the triangle and for a smany people as possible to come to know Christ as their savior. We prayed for adults in the auditorium 2 weeks ago, last week we prayed for children in the Uhambo Playstation and Nursery, and this week (today) we prayed for students in the Spiked room. I was really moved today and felt God tugging on my heart. I felt the burden of leading the charge to reach EVERY student in our area who doesn't know Christ and who we have failed to reach for so long. I fel tthe awesome power of God, and was reaffirmed that he will work through us. I also realized something. I have never worked at a church/ministry with a staff who got together an prayed for student ministry specifically. That felt really nice. Take a second while you are reading this blog post - and pray four our students, our volunteers, our leaders, and our schools. That's what we prayed for today.

Vitamin Water

Over the last year or so, Valorie has kicked our family into eating healthy. Now, some of you are thinking, "oh, really? Cause Adam really doesn't look like it!" Yeah, I know. I'm working on that. This past week I worked out for the first time in my adult life! Anyway, so over the last few years, Valorie and I have become a fan of organic foods and especially the Whole Foods Market. (Well, I was kinda forced into being a fan -but I like it now.) So, we have discovered some cool things - blue corn chips, some amazing salsa, these little quiche things, and lots of other foods. Recently she bought some Vitamin Water. Vitamin Water is pretty much universal now. You can find it at any grocery store or good convenient mart. I think Vitamin Water tastes great, but I absolutely love what the bottles say! All of the flavors have some kinda cool thing written on the side of the bottle. Here's the one I consumed today:

"Legally, we are prohibited from making exaggerated claims about the potency of the nutrients in this bottle. Therefore, legally we wouldn't tell you that after drinking this, Eugene from Kansas started using horseshoes as a thighmaster or that this drink gave Agnes from Delaware enough strength to bench press llamas. Heck, we can’t even tell you this drink gives you the power to do a thousand pinkie push-ups...just ask Mike in Queens. Legally, we can't say stuff like that - cause that would be wrong, you know?"

That’s some funny crap! I wonder if I were vitamin water, what would my bottle say? Hmmm…I wonder…

Post Spiked followup

It has taken me awhile to get around to this post. I usually like to write about Spiked followup just a couple days after the service - but this time I'm way late. I was out of town for Spiked last week, so I couldn't wait to hear about what happened. Things have been going great lately, so I expected great things. I don't have to worry when I'm out of town cause my staff and volunteers always come through in a huge way. And as I figured, it was another home run this week. Here are some highlights:

• Biggest highlight of all - 6 more students gave their life to Christ for the first time! If you are keeping track - that's 20 in 5 weeks! Thank you, God, for working through a bunch of weird youth workers!
• Melinda brought it - talking about Unstoppable Groups! She really hammered home the importance of being in a Community Group and the significance of groups in our ministry and church.
• A student led the table game and announcements - It wasn't perfect - but it added another element to our service! I'm proud of him even though he is really short! Just Kidding! Not really!
• The band is getting better and better. Good job this week, guys.
• It is becoming more and more obvious that our room remodel was a good move. It looks great! It sounds great! But most of all, its able to accommodate a lot of students!
• Everyone missed me deeply and heard that everyone cried together cause I was not there!They used up all the tissues, toilet paper, and paper towels wiping their tears and blowing their noses! OK, I am just kidding this time!
• Last but not least - I had a parent call me and tell me that this particular Spiked service changed their family's life. Now, that's real.

Community Groups TONIGHT!

Get yo' butt in a community group! They happen again tonight - just like every Wednesday. If you are MS - then you come to the NHC tonight from 6:00pm to 7:30pm. If you are in HS - you have two options. If you go to school in Hillsborough/Orange County - your group is in Hillsborough. Click here for directions! If you got to school in Durham/Durham County - your group is in Durham. Click here for directions! You don't need anything - just show up. See you there! Oh, and there will be plenty of snacks!

NKOTB

Not too long ago, we played a game at Spiked called "What's on Adam's IPOD?" where everyone got to see some of the stuff that's on my Itunes! You know, music really reveals alot about you - and my itunes contains some stuff that is quite personal - like my New Kids on The Block. I walked into the house Wednesday night, and Valorie had purchased the new NKOTB CD. And I gotta be honest - it was bangin'! I loved it! My favorite song off the album is "click,click,click".

It takes me back to those days when I wore acid washed jeans that were tight-rolled at the bottom with some Reebok Pumps and bright neon colored sunglasses - Oh, yeah...

Unstoppable Groups

This Sunday we are continuing our UNSTOPPABLE series. Last week we focused on the vision of Spiked Student Ministry. As you can tell from the series title, we are poised and ready to be UNSTOPPABLE for God in this community. This week we will be talking about Unstoppable Community Groups. Student Community Groups started this past week. Having every student in a community group is the foundation of an Unstoppable Student Ministry. So, make sure you are here Sunday at 5:00pm for Spiked or 11:00am for Club56! Here's a hint just for those students who read my blog! Everyone knows we play an awesome game at every service - and students get really competetive (ok, adults get really competitive, too!). Here's the hint: "Watch MTV and take notes!"

My brother

My brother called me out of the blue yesterday. He and I are about 6 years apart in age. He is a student in medical school. This is his first semester - he just started like a month ago. He called to chat yesterday and it made my day. There is nothing like a sibling (brother/sister). No one on this earth is more like you than your brother/sister. You grow up in the same environment. You share common genetics, and you deal with the same parents! I miss my brother - but am very proud of what he has accomplished and the goals he has set for his future. But mainly, I am happy that I will be getting free doctor visits!

Bonfire, burger, and a movie!

Adam and James, part 1

Some students recently decided to shoot a video imitating me and James (our worship leader who should have a blog up and running very soon!) and put it on YouTube! It's pretty funny! You can check out Adam and James, part 1 for yourself and tell me what you think. I am guessing there will be more to come - and in better quality.

Weird Gifts

Senior Pastors get all the cool gifts - gift certificates, DVDs, IPODs, a star named after them (ok, i just made that one up). Youth Pastors get all the weird gifts. Now don't get me wrong - I only get these gifts cause I talk about weird stuff all the time, and I LOVE everyone of them! But, that still doesn't negate the fact that Youth Pastors get weird gifts. Here is a list of some of the gifts I have gotten recently:

• Cans of vienna sausage
• a travel pack of Spam
• cans of peas
• work gloves
• a screw driver
• a rappin' frog
• an alligator's claw
• a key chain that "farts"
• stud juice energy drink
• simpsons tshirt
• hannah montana stickers
• a can of paint
• a gift certificate to Wal-Mart for $0.25

Thanks for the love guys!

Look at this note I found on my computer...

I found a note on my computer today from two of my leaders. They met in the student ministries office last night - and left me this note. It says, "We takin' over! Just wanted to warn you! There's a storm comin', buddy!" This note made me so excited! How cool is it to have leadership that is always looking to step it up! My leadership team is soooo good. If you are paying attention to what is going on in student ministry - don't think it's me! It's them! This past week, we started our first week of Unstoppable, and I spoke about the vision for Spiked Student Ministry at New Horizon Church. We focused on 3 main things. We have a vision for a student ministry where:

1. Everyone is Welcome!
2. Everyone is Needed!
3. Everyone is Changed!

We sent the students back to the Wall and had them write down the name of 5 peeps they knew needed God and that we wanted to be in Spiked with us! Here's a photo. If you can't read the scripture, it says: "Thi is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us... 1 John 5:14 You know, I have adults come up to me all the time and say, "I want to work with students, but I'm not cool enough" or "I can't relate" or "I don't know what to say" or any number of other excuses. You know what? None of that matters. If you have a heart for God and are willing to just be there - you are good enough. God will use you. If you aren't on the Unstoppable Spiked Train - you better get on board! To quote my cool leaders above, It's about to "take over"!

Community Groups Start Tonight!

Our awesome community groups start tonight! You are definitely gonna want to get into one! We have the coolest adult leaders in the world! Your community group is the place where you can be you, talk about things you can't say anywhere else, and walk through life with people who are going through the same things you are going through! Our HS groups meet in homes in Durham and Hillsborough, and our MS groups meet at the church! Here are the locations and times!

• Middle School - New Horizon Church in Spiked Room - Wednesdays - 6-7:30pm (919-471-6443)
• High School - Baldwin Residence - 5806 Stardust Court, Durham, NC - Wednesdays 7-8:30pm (919-471-6836)
• High School - Williams Residence - 1800 Rams Way, Hillsborough, NC - Wednesdays - 7-8:30pm (919-732-6953)

They start tonight! Get yo' butt to a group! Don't worry - you don't need anything at all! Just show up! If you need more information, call the numbers above for directions - or email your questions to adam@encounternhc.com

Busy week

It has really been a crazy week! Not just for me, but for our whole team. Normally, by the first week of September we are calming down a bit - taking a breather as students head back to school. But this is an interesting time for us. Instead of gearing up things to start when school started back (end of August) - we are gearing up for things to kickoff on October 4th. That is when we add a 3rd service and Spiked moves to 11:30am on Sunday mornings! Read this blog post to get the details. So, instead of kinda winding down after lots of summer stuff and heading into the fall - we have saved all our energy for October 4th! The team is working really hard. There were group leaders getting trained last night, the room remodel crew has been working tirelessly to complete our renovations, the club56 team is trying to figure out how to do 2 club56 services, the big event team is planning some bangin' stuff for the fall, and all the teams are recruiting like crazy! It's nuts. There is a lot of transition. Anyway, I am excited for October to get here! I spent time with some students yesterday. That really made my day! They have been showing up everyday this week to help us with this remodel, babysit the volunteers' children, and help me out with some stuff. Yesterday, a couple cool gals put together playbooks for our community group leaders and helped me fix (or not) the drink machine. I enjoyed hanging with them - and bossing them around!

Unstoppable

I don't know about you - but I love Superheros, and it really doesn't matter which powers they have or which comic book they are found in. It can be Batman or Superman - or even Wonder Woman. It's just something about the power that they have. It's like they are Unstoppable. Over the next few weeks - you are going to hear the vision for Spiked, and you will be challenged to take your role in it. No one else can take your spot - and we can't do it without you! God's gonna take a bunch of ordinary people and do something extraordinary! We will be - Unstoppable!

Post Spiked Thoughts

Spiked this past Sunday was amazing! We are remodeling the youth space - so guess where we had Spiked this past Sunday evening? ON THE BIG STAGE! It was crazy - we did some awesome songs - Did a little Angel's and Airwaves and a little T.I. - It was hot. Melinda and her crew were beasts! Anyway, if you missed it - sorry for you. But this week will be even better - we will be in the newly remodeled youth room! You don't want to miss it. Oh, by the way - 6 Teens committed their heart to Christ Sunday night! More thoughts to come later - crazy busy right now.