Deep Thoughts by Mr. G

Join you at the throne. Kind of reminds me that we don't say good-bye. We say until we meet again ..here there or in the air. For me "join you at the throne," has some good memories as well as bad. Good memories as to I'll be seeing my mentor, pastor as he passed from this life into eternity..and I get to see him again. One of the best things I remember was printed about him in the May 30, 1999 Christian Standard Tom Tanner Spoke at his brother's funeral on Feb 20, 1999 at Central Christian in Charlottesville, PEI(I stll have that issue). " 'A light has gone out in Canada' That's what one of my colleagues and a classmate of my brother Terry from Lincoln Christian College said when he heard the news. My brother was an American by birth, but he was Canadian by choice. He loved this country and her people. He loved the people of Selkirk and the province of Ontario where he had ministered for thirteen years. ..... He learned to love God

This list is compiled by Gerrard Fess, Associate Pastor of Liberty Christian Church Mechanicsville, Virginia, 9-year youth ministry veteran and bookmeister with 500+ books in his library. Top 10 Youth Ministry Philosophy Books 1. The Coming Revolution in Youth Ministry And Its Radical Impact on the Church. Mark Senter III. SP Publications. Inc., (Victor Books) Wheaton, Ill.1992. 2. Family Based Youth Ministry. Mark DeVries. InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, Ill., 1994. 3. The Godbearing Life. The Art of SoulTending For Youth Ministry. Kendra Creasy Dean and Ron Foster. Upper Room Books, Nashville, 1998. 4. Starting Right Thinking Theologically about Youth Ministry. Edited by Kendra Creasy Dean, Chap Clark, and Dave Rahn. Zondervan, Grand Rapids. 2001. 5. Student Ministry for the 21st Century. Bo Boshers with Kim Anderson. Zondervan, Grand Rapids, 1997. 6. Nurturing the Soul of the Youth Worker. Tim Smith. Group, Loveland, CO. 1999. 7. New Directions for You

Dare to Dance with a Cat Yesterday I did it. I danced with my cat. His name is Pepe. It was a fast song ...by some group named the Supertones. Anyways, I picked him up and we danced. Not really good and not really too fast. But do know know what happens when you dance with a cat? Yesterday, I found out quick. It wasn't the pain, nor the clawing that got me. It was the shock. Here I had a peaceful loving pet; and suddenly ...without warning I was toast or rather a scratching post. Will I do it again? Probably not for some time. But some of us would dare to. Now I got thinking that is how it is with us in our lives. Something looks good, but actually is bad for us. We dance with it; thinking it. (Let's call it by its name ....now Sin). would not harm us. But soon there is the shock, the pain, and the wanting to do it again. So easy to dance with sin than it is with God isn't it? Sometimes in the midst of my own sinfulness I forget. Dancing with a cat, how silly is

Well it happened. It is known to happen in the years of being in Youth Ministry. It happened. Now you are asking yourself? What happened? Who, how? Well in the midst of boring budget meetings; a barely raise (Due to rising Health Insurace costs), in the midst of wanting to say "I give up ..." It happened. The two powerful words that I don't hear that often, yet it happens. The words "Thank You!" This time it was not only from some parents, but also from a youthworker I know who just lost his mother on Thursday. "Thank You" Such powerful words. For some strange reason I heard it a lot this past weekend. From a funeral, to people thanking us for our Daughter (She celebrated her 1st Birthday Party) to parents saying thanks. Weird? I even had some parents sit in on our Teen Church Sunday night. This doesn't happen. So I'm thinking what is going on? No, its not October, Clergy Appreciation Month is too far away. Maybe they can read

Well it snowed last nite. Usually we don't get a lot of snow in Central Virginia. As I got up this morning I saw it. My daughter and I were playing and excited about a morning of time together. So we both together watched it snow. Not that I never seen snow before. I grew up with it. Along the shores of the Great Lakes, I knew as a child that each winter brought excitement of getting my little brother with a snowball or pushing some girl head first in the snow. But some how this was different. Special. Not the snow itslef, but the moment. What was it? Ah, my daughter's first Big Snowfall. It was amazing to see her glee and just at one year's of age seeing someone so pure and innocent. Then I reflected more. The snow. White as snow. What was the date? Ah, what was so important about Jan. 16-17? Think. Think - Gman. Oh. Several decades ago I remember now. It's all coming back like it was yesterday. I went to my pastor and told him, I had a problem. He sai