oh gosh...

anyone? help? how do I process this? is this the inevitable future of the contemporary christian music industry? If it is...I'm done.

some of you are already asking me how I stumbled across this? it was purely innocent I swear! I was just checking out YourMusicZone.com and this was the "featured artist."

my mind is trying to process this...and make a decision as to how to I feel. something in me really feels bad for this 14 year old guy in the band...that either his life is going to be forever tortured by high-school bullies--or on the flip side that he's an absolute stud! feel free to weigh in on this one!

other parts of me are wondering if this cookie-cutter, pre-processed, uber-generic music is beneficial for younger tweens? some will agree, some with dis-agree. all I know is that I find it hard to see where the "talent" lies in this. I use that term loosely...but sadly this is the case in much of today's contemporary christian music.

anyways...this is something totally random to post today. it's definitely not going to get the highest amount of comments either. oh well. sometimes things are just simply random.

-Ty

doxology

read slowly. pause between verses. soak it in.

Awake, my soul, and with the sun
thy daily course of duty run.
Cast off dull sloth, and joyful rise
to pay thy morning sacrifice.

All praise to thee, who safe hast kept
and hast refreshed me while I slept!
Grant, Lord, when I from death shall wake,
I may of endless life partake.

All praise to thee, my God, this night
for all the blessings of the light.
Keep me, oh keep me, King of Kings,
beneath Thine own almighty wings.

Praise God, from Whom all blessings flow.
Praise Him, all creatures here below.
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host.
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

words written by Thomas Ken (17th century Anglican priest). this is where we get our "doxology song". I just read this on Marko's blog and really let the power of these words soak in. I hope this blesses you this morning as much as it blessed me.

-Ty

Go Play Outside

Yesterday was great! Charity and I went down to Crescent Beach in White Rock for the afternoon. We walked along the beach, grabbed drinks at the Wired Monk, and then again walked back to our car.

It was so nice to see that bright shinny thing in the sky again. It's been too long!

So today there is no way that I am going to sit inside all day on my DAY OFF...so I'm now debating what to do. I might zip down to Redwoods and get myself back in shape driving some golf balls...but there is no way that I'm staying cooped up inside on a day like today!

So if you've got the chance...even if it's on your lunch break, go play outside!

-Ty

concert

I just got back from an awesome night of music over at the Wired Monk. As per usual Jeremy Pue did a great job. I was totally blown away by the addition of his friend Sylvia on the violin. As well a good friend of Jer's- Drew McKay -played a sweet set of tunes. If you missed the show you better have had a good excuse.

Thanks to Amelia for getting there early enough so I didn't have to stand the entire night! That place was definitely packed beyond fire code I am sure! It was sweet. Zach, if you are reading this--thanks for coming too man!

Anyways, time to get ready for bed.

-Ty

Downtown

Yesterday Charity and I headed to downtown Vancouver for the evening. Other than the rain it was a great time spent walking around Pacific Centre, Robson, Granville (the usual).

I wanted to drop into a store called Urban Outfitters that just opened up on Granville St. I'd been eyeing this shirt for a while (first saw it when I was in T.O. back in December)...and so we found it (needless to say with some sticker shock!) Yes, I did buy it...but just as an FYI this store ain't all that cheap...but it has really unique stuff in there! So save your pennies!

After walking around downtown with our umbrella's keeping us dry, we grabbed burgers at BK, and then got into our car to head down to see Andrew & Marie Haak and their baby boy Josiah for the first time!

It was so great to not have any commitments this week so we could do this! It's been on our to-do list for sometime, and we were so thrilled to spend a good chunk of time with the Haak's.

So that was my day yesterday. A nice day to spend with my wifey, and with great friends. Speaking of friends...

This Saturday night @ 7pm my buddy Jeremy Pue is playing a free show at the Wired Monk coffee shop in Walnut Grove. Do the right thing by going to see him...he's great!

-Ty

My Life

It's one of those times in my life where I am left without much to say. So many of my friends seem to be going through so much right now...Matt is moving to Spokane and possibly getting a new job, Andrew is a daddy... and here I am still doing what I'm doing, nothing really major to report.

So what have I been doing? This past weekend I went to Columbia Bible College (I'm not linking to them since they are the competition!) for their Youth Workers Conference. The guest speaker was Marv Penner, the man who mentored me and helped shape my passion for youth ministry. It truly was great to hear him speak, and much of what he said had deep affect on myself and my youth leaders who attended with me.

God really spoke through this weekend into my life and my youth leaders. We always need times of having someone pouring into our hearts...since much of our job is to pour ourselves into the lives of students. We all left feeling convicted, challenged, refreshed, empowered etc...

SPRING BREAK:

Well now it's spring break for my students. This means I won't be in the office much this week. My schedule is already filling up fast with coffee's, lunches, meetings. Geez. Youth Pastors don't get a break over Spring Break...that's for sure. I'm looking forward to my lunch with my buddy Matt Davies on Wednesday. He's been over in Maui with YWAM and is only back for a few days. I can't wait to hear his stories.

Charity and I are excited that we're finally able to get to see baby Josiah Haak on Thursday night. We've been wanting to get downtown to see him for a while now...so this is great!

And maybe...just maybe we'll get to have a date on Friday night. Our first Friday night in a long time that we can spend together without having paper due or tests on the horizon! It's really nice to know that there's a light at the end of the tunnel when it comes to Charity's schooling.

And then the first week of June we celebrate all of this with our Alaskan Cruise. Anyways, this post is more random than anything...so I'm gonna stop now.

-Ty

National Pi Day

I think this one falls under the subject "those random moments in youth ministry."

Today I got an email from one of my students- Chris, simple telling me "Happy Pi Day." Apparently this is actually a big deal...so off to the Google races I go to investigate this further.

Wikipedia even has a whole page devoted to this! Pi Day happens every year on March 14 at 1:59:26 p.m. Yup, the nerds of this world have united to create a simply head scratching holiday!

So, as I sit here sipping on an Irish Cream latte...thinking to myself "this post was a total waste of my time", I realize that no...it wasn't...the people who spend their days counting Pi to its infinite digits...those people are wasting their time!

UPDATE: I just had this site sent to me by Chris' dad...(turn your speakers up!)

So HAPPY PI DAY.

-Ty

What a Weekend!

The title says it all. This past weekend our youth ministry went up to Manning Park for our 2nd annual "Snow Jam Winter Retreat." There were 14 of us in total (9 students, 4 leaders, & my buddy Jeremy who was our guest speaker).

The whole weekend was just amazing. The weather totally cooperated, and we were able to enjoy a great day on the hill Saturday. The roads were clear both ways for driving, and of course...God showed up and did some amazing work this weekend. I'm reminded of why I love what I do on these weekends. Spending this much time doing life together is what makes youth ministry all worth while.

There will be tons of great memories from this weekend. Quoting lines such as "There ain't nothing skinny about momma" from "Open Season'', gradually clearing out all the families and small kids from the public pool once we arrived, a great day of skiing/snowboarding, and hearing great messages from Jeremy that challenged all of us in our faith journeys.

Today I slept in until 10:30am! Sleep is much needed after these weekends. Especially since we got the shaft from the "new" daylight savings time happening Sunday morning! UGH. Do you know what loosing an hour of sleep does to teenagers? NOT GOOD!

Anyways, as I reflect on this weekend all the stress that happened leading up to it--it has all washed away, and I now thank God for a great weekend of youth ministry.

-Ty

Letters From Leavers

I found this site (hyper-linked pic) today on Marko's blog and was quick to begin reading the stories from it. This site was created by two guys from Fuller Seminary doing some research for a class they're in.

This site contains letters from ordinary people who have since moved on from the church, and/or their Christian faith. The letters are heart-felt, and contain raw emotion.

I know that for many of us we may have things that we dislike about the current state of "our church" and/or "the church" and this site definitely allows for anonymous voices to share their thoughts. Take some time to read through these letters, and ponder what these people are saying.

I think that there is a lot to learn from this (especially those of us currently in church leadership). With an ever increasing group of 20 & 30 somethings leaving the church, this may come as a timely wake-up-call for leaders to recognize the problems, and to move towards way of healing the pain. We really need to pray that God would allow these letter writers to find healthy churches to belong to...but most importantly to re-discover Jesus.

I'm very interested to see how this site develops. I know I'll be in prayer for these writers, and I encourage you to do likewise.

-Ty

He's Got The Whole World In His Hands

Many of you may remember a simplified version of this song growing up...and many of you may be already humming it to yourself. When you begin to really meditate on the lyrics it's quite a hope-filled song.

It seems like God has placed this song on my heart today as I hear stories from many of my close friends who are going through various trials. Many of these trials are heart-wrenching to hear about...themes of confusion, hopelessness, pain, desperation, un-rest...etc. All I wish is that God would answer your prayers...wrap his arms of love around you...and carry you through this.



What a Great Song!!!

-Ty