Group Me...

     I'd like to take just a minute today and talk about an app that I've been using for a while now and give you my pro's and con's for it. I know mostly my posts are for a general audience, but today allow me to talk to my fellow youth workers about this little bit of tech.

     Group Me -This app is essentially a group chat room via text message. It allows you to send one text message that will be sent to the members of a specific group. (You can create/become a member of multiple groups) And when someone replies to your message, that reply is also sent to every member of the group. It's a great way to inform your students about events, and even great to start conversations between students. If you have a smart phone you can download the app for all of the major platforms iPhone, Android, Blackberry and even Windows Phone 7 (Sorry no support for Palm) and you will receive your message and be notified via data push (which is great if you don't have unlimited texts). 

Pro's

- Quick easy way to communicate directly with your students, volunteers, whom ever you create and invite to your groups. 

- Great community builder, students are tied to their phones like an oxygen tank, it's a great way to get conversations going between your students.

- It's free.

- It's stable. (I've heard of a few cases where some messages have been dropped, but I've used this service for about 4 months with several groups messaging simultaneously without any drops in communication.)

Con's

- Stay on patrol! Whenever you have a group of teenagers interacting there are bound to be conflicts, outbursts, and even the occasional hook up. Make sure you and your volunteers on included in each group and be ready to diffuse any situation that may arise.

- Not everyone has unlimited texting or a smart phone. If a group gets excited you can easily find yourself with 50+ text messages in a matter of minutes. We have single-handedly destroyed cell phone bills by adding people without realizing they were on a limited number of texts per month. Be careful!

- Don't let it be your only connecting point. I haven't said this to a student yet, but I would hate to say to someone that they missed out on something important because they aren't a part of a group. "Didn't you get the Group Me message?" is not a get out of jail free card. This is a great tool, but we still need to be intentional when contacting students, volunteers, and parents about important events, details or changes.

For us this tech works well, while it may not be for everyone it's definitely worth a spin.

Blessings,

Jeremiah

To Put it Bluntly...

     As I attempt to work on my back log of blog posts that need to be written. (in no particular order)
It's been an interesting and busy month in ministry for me and I hope to succinctly point out some highlights for you all.

     As I've mentioned in previous posts our ministry became a part of the Life Book Movement for a week in September. The experience was in many ways what I had expected, but there certainly were some twists along the way, as well as some very amazing moments.

     We kicked off the week long "Saturation" with a rally which featured a couple musical artists and Life Book's very own president Carl Blunt and his daughter Taylor. Taylor is featured in a set of training videos that Life Book sends you to prepare your students for the Saturation.

     The days leading up to this event were nothing short of maddening. And believe me, I may just make a series of posts about those days titled "The Madness of Jeremiah".

     But I would like to take a few paragraphs if you'll allow me to express my deepest gratitude to the Blunts for not only being a part of our ministry for an evening, but for being such a driving force behind the amazing ministry God has placed in their care.

     Carl and Taylor not only came to our rally, but Life Book did not charge a dime for them to come out. (I even tried to cover the cost of the hotel they stayed in, and was graciously declined) And this was after Life Book sent us 1,500 copies of the book for free! Now I'm not completely unaware of the practices of businesses and expenses and write offs etc. But having spent some time with Carl and hearing his background of youth ministry and being allowed a glimpse at his heart for this generation, and his desire to see God's word planted in their lives and hearts I walked away fromt he experience refreshed and hopeful for the students of our community and our nation.

     Taylor came and spoke both at our rally and during our Sunday School class. I've often said that teens are the best youth ministers on the market. And Taylor is out there proving it. She has a great ability to relate to other teenagers, and communicate eloquently, and more importantly she is letting God use her by giving up many weekends of her senior year of high school to travel and minister to teenagers who are for the most part scared to death to hand out these little white books to people at school.

     I urge all youth workers out there to check out the Life Book, by clicking here.
Even if you are unable to do a saturation of your own, they can always use our prayers and financial support. One dollar gets one Life Book printed and into the hands of a student, you can donate to them easily by clicking here.

      I'm not being paid in any way for this post, I believe in the ministry of the Life Book and in the power of releasing God's word into our schools.

Blessings,

Jeremiah

A Small Price to Pay...

So I haven't posted in a month... My apologies!

Here are some key words to catch you up on what I've been up to since we last met.

- Colorado
- Group Publishing
- Life Book
- Carl and Taylor Blunt
- Divine Soldiers
- HeyHiHello
- Shine Bright Baby
- Coming soon - Fall Retreat!

I'll most likely blog about all of the above in more detail but I wanted to share a story today about something that happened to me on this past Saturday morning.

A brief back story: Our ministry was fortunate enough to become involved with the Life Book movement, before their waiting list grew to 680+ churches! And last week was our "Saturation". So the whole week we had been cheering on our students to go into their schools and hand out the Word of God to their friends. Well the Lord had been dealing with me throughout the week and questions kept coming to mind about my willingness to be so bold as to hand a few out at my day job. So I did. One to my boss, and a few to some co-workers who are parents of teenagers. Well this boldness was put to the test in a new way on Saturday morning at about 6:50 a.m.
Heading South on I-77 in the dark, going about 80 in a 65 zone. I met State Trooper Mosser. Who kindly pulled me over and made me aware of my transgression. I apologized and handed him the appropriate credentials. While waiting for him to run my plates and ID and write my citation, a question was placed in my mind.
"Don't you have a few Life Books in your bag?" ...oh no.
"Uhmm maybe... well yeah." no sense in lying...
"Give him one." ...oh no.
"Wait a minute, these things are for teenagers, high school students, not law enforcement officials!" I replied.
"Give him one." the argument didn't go much further, I found myself opening my laptop bag and grabbing a Life Book (Turns out, I knew right where they were...).
Upon his return to my car side Trooper Mosser had me sign by an "X" and explained some things to me that I really don't remember, my heart was pounding so loud it rang in my ears, partially because of the adrenaline from getting pulled over, BUSTED, but mostly because of the anxiety of what I was about to do.
He handed me the ticket, and I asked him "I'm sorry, what's your name?" "Mosser" he replied with a somewhat quizzical look. I'm guessing most people only ask for the name of the trooper who just handed them a ticket, after being completely rude or belligerent towards said officer, so as to file some form of complaint with their supervisor or higher up,  I was quite the opposite.
I shook his hand, "I know this might seem weird, but I really feel God told me to give this to you." with crazy amounts of nervous energy pumping through me I handed him a copy of the Life Book. Barely able to speak I said "I don't believe nothing happens for.. no reason?" great now I sound like a moron!
"So, thank you for your service to our community, and that's for you..." I finished.
"Ok, thanks.And if you slow down I won't bug you anymore, ok?" he replied, with a look that questioned my ability to tie my shoes much less operate a motor vehicle. "Sounds good." I replied, and with that he turned and headed back to his cruiser, and I eased back into traffic.

Shortly after, I was crushed, the financial burden of the ticket, and the possible effect on my insurance rates weighed on me heavily. I found myself asking what the cost of serving God truly was on my life.(As if the price of a speeding ticket was just way too much!) During my day at work I shared the story with a coworker who is a fellow believer, and as came close to finishing it, he headed me off at the pass. "Did you give him one?!" he asked abruptly. "Yeah!" I shot back quickly. "Good, it's a small price to pay then."

I'd like to say that on my way home Trooper Mosser found me and pulled me over and excitedly told me about how he read the book I gave him and it changed his life right then and there, and he gave his life to Christ on his lunch break! But truthfully he didn't. I may never see him again. He may never read the Life Book, or any version of the Bible. But for 10 minutes one morning God put me on the side of the road, and introduced me to someone I would have never met in under any other circumstances, and had me give His word to him.

It's not about us, it's about doing the work of the Kingdom. It's not about my finances, my driving record, my insurance premiums, any of that, it's not about us. It's about Him.

It's a small price to pay...

Blessings,

Jeremiah