by
Chet
27. July 2010 18:53
I'm putting together a little guide for our church youth group tomorrow night. Neither myself nor my other Wednesday night cohort in crime, Dewey, can be there, so one of the college-age guys is going to lead the group. I thought I'd jot down the flow here, since I can easily link directly to the videos and write out the discussion questions as well.
GETTING STARTED
Today we're going to watch a couple video clips from a movie called To Save a Life. This movie is the story of a young man named Jake Taylor. He's the school champion of basketball and beer pong, has a beautiful girlfriend, and everybody loves him. Life couldn't get better, right? An old friend from Jake's childhood comes back into his life, and shortly thereafter, commits suicide. Jake begins to think. "What did i miss? What could I have done different? It's all my fault!" A youth minister meets Jake, and leads him to Jesus. Things don't magically turn nice and neat, however, and Jake begins to really wrestle w...
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by
Chet
1. July 2010 09:04
I have a little thing with hugs. With physical contact period. I long for it, yet am uncomfortable around it.Friday, after a very wearing day, I finally had a few minutes alone before bed. I sat down on the kitchen floor, put my head in my hands, and finally just relaxed and let it all out for a couple minutes. I remember saying something like, "I would just love to be hugged, God. Freely, just given a real hug."Sunday morning after church it started. A pair of boys from the youth group, Ethan literally RAN up to me and have me a huge hug. Right after that, another. Later on, a full fledged hug from Tabi.On monday, two girls came out to ride horses. Again, the hugs came as a pair, Tabi and Stevi. I was starting to get the message. These were direct from God, and just what I needed.Then today, after lunch with a group of friends, 3 more. 2 from kids I may not see again for awhile but are now emblazoned on my heart, Stephen and Amber. And another from Tabi. And I felt finally free of s...
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by
Chet
28. June 2010 08:16
As I push mowed my lawn this weekend, I had a song stuck in my head. It's called "The Voice of Truth" by a group called Casting Crowns. The first verse goes like this:
Oh what I would do to haveThe kind of faith it takesTo climb out of this boat I'm inOnto the crashing wavesTo step out of my comfort zoneInto the realm of the unknown where Jesus isAnd He's holding out His handBut the waves are calling out my nameAnd they laugh at meReminding me of all the timesI've tried before and failedThe waves they keep on telling meTime and time again. "Boy, you'll never win!""You'll never win!"But the voice of truth tells me a different storyThe voice of truth says, "Do not be afraid!"The voice of truth says, "This is for My glory"Out of all the voices calling out to meI will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth.
This song, in case you're wondering, is referring back to the story of Jesus' follower named Peter who was invited to step out of a boat in the middle of a sea and walk on ...
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by
Chet
25. June 2010 17:36
Tonight I am leading a youth activity at my church called Bigger or Better. It's a team-based game where you get into groups of 4-5 people, and head out into the surrounding neighborhoods in an attempt to trade your starting item for something bigger or better. This is one of my favorite games from my own youth days, and those in the group who have done it themselves have great stories to tell of it as well. The basic idea is you take what you have, go to a house, tell them what you're doing, and see if they'll make you a good trade. One guy made this pretty famous with his trades from a red paper clip to a house in 14 trades. I doubt we'll come back with something that big tomorrow... but who knows. If I remember right, the last time we did it, one team came home with a working refrigerator and a drivable car. Not bad for a couple hours work.
Today I am also being made known of some big changes in my life. I've thought this day would come sometime, but it wasn't until today that it...
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by
Chet
23. June 2010 08:40
NASCAR finally put up some video from the dirt track race, and it looks like they are going to make a die-cast of the car with the names on it.... very cool.
Video:
Die Cast Links:
Speed Works Die Cast
by
Chet
10. June 2010 09:21
GOOOOO Jimmie!
Yesterday I wrote about my dad's name being on Jimmie Johnson's race car at the Prelude to the Dream charity race at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio. Jimmie led all 30 laps, including the one that won him the race.
Several Children's Hospitals were the beneficiaries of the race, which I think is cool, with the whole honoring dad's thing:
Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis
Cincinnati Children's
Levine Children's Hospital in Charlotte, N.C.
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn.
Jimmie didn't have / take time to practice before the race, hadn't been on dirt in a while, and wound up with a bruised and battered car, but he finished strong. Isn't that a lot like fatherhood? You don't get a practice run at being a dad, you hit experiences you have no idea how to handle, and you're going to get hurt by, and probably hurt, those you love the most. But in the end, you accomplish something great.
Good job Jimmie. Good job dads. You've ma...
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by
Chet
9. June 2010 13:55
It's been 4+ years since I've seen my dad, other than pictures on Facebook. During that time God has taught me much about how He wants to father me, and it's caused me to grow up quite a bit, I must admit... both as a son, and as a man, father, and husband.
I saw this thing where Jimmie Johnson and Lowes Racing were going to honor dads on the car they run at Tonight's "Prelude to the Dream" dirt track race. My first thought when I saw it was, "wow, I wish I wanted to do something like that." But the more I thought about it, I saw that I still could. So I did. And while I'm not going to pay the $20-some bucks to watch the race, I did at least grab some pics from the site's page. I grabbed a few screen shots and have them below, as well as this PDF version.
Here's the text from Lowe's site about the list of fathers that made it to the car's paint job:
Watch for Jimmie and our specially designed dirt late model car at the Prelude to the Dream event from Eldora Speedway in Ro...
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by
Chet
28. May 2010 09:24
FREEDOM ISN'T FREE(I don't know who wrote this)
I watched the flag pass by one day, It fluttered in the breeze. A young Marine saluted it, And then he stood at ease.. I looked at him in uniform So young, so tall, so proud, With hair cut square and eyes alert He'd stand out in any crowd. I thought how many men like him Had fallen through the years. How many died on foreign soil How many mothers' tears? How many pilots' planes shot down? How many died at sea How many foxholes were soldiers' graves? No, freedom isn't free. I heard the sound of Taps one night, When everything was still, I listened to the bugler play And felt a sudden chill. I wondered just how many times That Taps had meant "Amen," When a flag had draped a coffin. Of a brother or a friend. I thought of all the children, Of the mothers and the wives, Of fathers, sons and husbands With interrupted lives. I thought about a graveyard At the bottom of the sea Of unmarked graves in Arlington. No, freedom isn't free.
by
Chet
16. May 2010 07:04
True Friendship"It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to be stupid with them."- Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 – 1882)"A friend loves at all times, And a brother is born for adversity." - Solomon - Proverbs 17:17
"One loyal friend is worth ten thousand relatives."- Euripides, Greek playwright
"Never injure a friend, even in jest."- Cicero, Roman Philosopher 106BC – 43BC
"A true friend stabs you in the front."- Oscar Wilde"Walking with a friend in the dark is better than walking alone in the light."- Helen Keller
"Be slow in choosing your friends; slower in changing."-Benjamin Franklin"In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends."- Martin Luther King Jr."Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up.”-Solomon – Ecclesiastes 4:9-10&ld...
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by
Chet
10. May 2010 13:26
Here is a copy of a speech that I helped a 16 year old at my church develop. It was both fun and rewarding to help her with this and watch it and her develop over time. But it was even more interesting to see how her life suddenly got crazy busy while she was working on a speech about busyness and how we can be prepared for it and handle it. Not avoid it. Be ready for it. Because there are times, and perhaps even entire seasons, of life, where it’s both unavoidable and important to do what we are doing.
She sent me another quote a week or so after the fact from Abe Lincoln: “Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.”
Good job, Tabi. I'm very proud of you.
Am I too busy to serve the Lord?By Tabi Layton
Some years ago a young man looking for work approached a foreman of a logging crew and asked him for a job. “It depends,” replied the foreman. “Let’s see you take this one down.”
...
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