Lost Canyon 2012: 11

Day Twenty Seven

August 4th, 2012

It has been a wild ride...  The month has flown by.  Lots of laughs, smiles, hugs, meals, 

good and hard conversations, prayers, sodas, frolf sessions and above all... 

lots of folks hearing the Greatest News of all time:

"God loves us"
"We sin"
"God loves anyway"

It has been a privilege to serve and to include you, the readers of this blog, in the journey.  

I am still unpacking some of the things that God has spoken to me this month and I will gladly share those thoughts in the next few days, but for now, I wanted to simply share this...

"While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."  Romans 5:8

That's it.  That's the truth and that's the Gospel.  

Thank you for your prayers, thank your for your encouragement, thank you for your support.

Be blessed to know that your partnership, while not physically here, helped change ETERNITY!

This is a picture of the 2012 Summer Staff (college students) who have volunteered for a month to serve kids up here at camp.  Pictured in this photo are 6 leaders from Northwest Phoenix.

Jaime, Joe, Eric,Michael, Teeka, Heather - thank you for serving!

 The start of the Ultimate Leader Challenge...

402 students and leaders forming a congo line to jump in the pool with all their clothes on! 

Sunset on night 5... the message of the Cross this night.  By sheer framing of the photo and no intentionality, there is a Cross in the upper right hand corner.  Pretty fun coincidence.

Our last YL club of the summer... taken as kids come streaming in from all around!

 This photo was taken this morning of the downtown San Diego group... in the circle are leaders and students who, this WEEK, have made a commitment to submit their lives to Jesus.  How awesome!

Lost Canyon 2012: 10

Day Nineteen

July 26th, 2012

If you've never experienced Young Life club at Young Life camp... there are few words that can actually capture what happens.  The energy, the atmosphere, the spiritual encounter that happens - all of it is too difficult to capture with audible language.

This is a holy time.  It is a place where teenagers, many who have never entered a church, get to explore intricate theological truths through a week at camp.  

They get to sing, laugh, dance, play, watch, engage and finally listen to the Gospel!  

I did the math and all together, I've helped lead over 315 hours worth of Young Life clubs at camp over my lifetime.  It is amazing to watch as we take all that energy and harness it to create a magical place for the Gospel to be shared.  

We start with high energy, jump around, go nuts popular (not secular) music.  This is designed to engage kids on their level, on their terms and do with such style that "GLEE" would be proud! 

Next, we stop and have some random characters (like people dressed as ANGRY BIRDS) come out and make them laugh.  We do funny things, do a little dance and play a game that makes them say "Seriously? Did that just happen?!?"  For example, we've had kids shave a 5' balloon with shaving cream on it and it exploded over the first 4 rows (picture Splash Zone at Seaworld)

Then we come back out and sing a few more songs.  This time, the songs are meant to have a lower tempo, a softer melody and are selected because their lyrics have deeper meaning.  We are beginning to really set the table for what is to come when we sing these songs.  These songs are meant to slow the feel of club and use up almost every ounce of energy level.

Finally, the songs and goofiness step aside and one privileged person walks on stage.  This is the mouthpiece who will reveal with language what every teenager has felt through the night.  Something is different.  This place is different.  This place is HOLY.  


The camp speaker gets to share the Truth of the Gospel.  In 7 days, he/she shares that God loves us... we sin... God loves us.  It's that simple.  It truly is.  God is good and I am so blessed to be apart of this crazy, Holy, wonderful mission called Young Life.

Here I am dressed as "RED COO" my character for one month at Lost Canyon 2012.

"Red Coo and Mellow Yellow" come down and rap every night before dancing and playing a game.

All 3 characters who come into club every night... Deadmau5 (in the middle) is a popular DJ and wears a helmet just like this one... and literally, every kid in the building ERUPTS when he comes out.

Lost Canyon 2012: 9

Day Eighteen

July 25th, 2012

Bringing it all together

We just finished pushing 384 people through 8 different events all over at Lost Canyon - this is our version of the AMAZING RACE!.  The events are designed to bring cabins together through crazy tasks.  For example, each team had to start by having the whole cabin eat icee pops as fast possible... Talk about BRAIN FREEZE!!! Then each cabin joins another and another until finally their one cabin has joined with 7 others to form a giant team.

With each event we do through the week there are several purposes behind them.  In this case, we want to build community in each cabin, then community among the entire camp and finally bring it all together in the end for one big event.  At the same time, it is a metaphor for the Body of Christ.  We might all be individual and have separate gifts, but we are meant to be "in this together!"  We want to subtly reveal some deep level theological things through the week.

On another note, keep praying for Andrew from SoCal.  His attitude has changed dramatically from the first time I met him.  He is laughing, excited, running to and from events and in it all it is clear that he his having the time of his life.  Let's now pray that God uses the next 3 days to reveal Himself to Andrew in indisputable ways.


Here are some pics from the last two days...

 Team Japan, running to the finish line for the Amazing Race...

 Ellie playing with her friend Hawk (2) sharing a good laugh yesterday afternoon!

 Every leader in camp on stage about to participate in the ULTIMATE LEADER CHALLENGE.  This is an event aimed at making the leaders heroes by playing games and having kids cheer them on!

 The U.L.C final round.  Two leaders suspended 4 feet off the ground holding nets and kids tossing tennis balls into their nets.  Yep, you read that right... It's awesome!

The U.L.C aftermath.  400+ people with popcorn... Believe it or not; only took 10 minutes to clean up!

Lost Canyon 2012: 8

Day Sixteen

July 23rd, 2012

Jesus Calling

As a gift, I was given this book, JESUS CALLING for Christmas this past year.  The timing for the book was right after a good friend passed away... I've read it off and on through the last 6 months to mixed reviews, but the last few weeks have been incredible.  It is written in a first person view (from scripture) of Jesus speaking to whoever is reading it.  

It's very cool!

Here are a few things that have stood out and what God has taught me through them:

"DO NOT WORRY ABOUT TOMORROW! This is not a suggest, but a command. My grace is sufficient for you, but its sufficiency is for only one day at a time; trusting in Me brings you directly into My presence. Enjoy My presence continually by trusting in Me at all times."

This past year has been tough.  It's been hectic, challenging, fun, energizing, tiring, stressful, wonderful, joyous, depressing, grief stricken, blessed... It's been full.  Hearing and seeing these words was very filling for my soul.

"Come Away With Me for a while. You live among people who glorify busyness; they have made time a tyrant that controls their lives. Even those who know Me as Savior tend to march to the tempo of the world. I have called YOU to follow Me. This is a pathway largely unappreciated and often despised. As you walk close to Me, I can bless others through you."

If you can't see yourself in this, you are either lying or you can write down how you avoid this and teach me your secrets! Camp is hectic, but for me the transition into leading the Northwest Valley Young Life area was SOOOOOO BUSSSYYYYYY! Many things, demanding much time and leaving very little for me to bargain with on my own.  Thank God for this reminder!

"Find Freedom through seeking to please Me above all else. You can have only ONE Master. When you let others' expectations drive you, you scatter your energy to the winds. I am your Master and I do not drive you to be what you are not. Concentrate on staying close to Me at all times. It is possible to be inauthentic while you are focusing on My presence."

You can have ONLY ONE MASTER. I know that far too often I let my desire to please others and to earn others applause get in my way of actually paying attention to God moving in my life. I want to be a person who remains focused on Jesus and Jesus alone. 

Anything stand out to you as you read these quotes? Keep praying for us up here at camp... We are on day 2 of week 3. Pray for Andrew for SoCal. He is "too cool" for camp. But I can tell he wants to dive in. I pray God will find him, reach him, change him - this week. 

Lost Canyon 2012: 7

Day Fifteen

July 22nd, 2012

NEW LIFE

Yesterday, our week of teen moms ended.  Young Lives week was a whirlwind.  There were several highlights for me...

1.  New Lives.  Yesterday, there were many teens who stood up and declared that this week changed everything.  It was the week they came to know the TRUTH.  Jesus was theirs and their life would never be the same.  The reason, I say New LIVES is because what this declaration means is that every baby that calls that teen "mommy" also gets a totally new life.  Love it!

2.  Raising up Men.  We gather all the boys at camp at the beginning of every Young Lives week and discuss some points of concern for the week.  The coolest part is that every man who is married stands up front and shares some advice regarding marriage.  I have never had this happen before (and this is the 4th time I've done this) but 5 guys individually asked "This was great... can we do this again?  I want to bring my journal."

REALLY?  Ummm... Absolutely!   We spent 3 hours during the middle of the week answering questions from nearly 60 boys about marriage, sex, pornography, lust, following Christ, dating, love.  It was incredible!  It also led to several other conversations with leaders in my Young Life area back home about the same issues.  

3.  Ellie's friends.  My daughter, who is 2.5, has friends who live across the street.  These two girls are awesome and they play well... but we don't see them everyday.  Up here, she gets to play with 5 girls her age everyday and is really starting to understand FRIENDS, SHARING, LOVE from outside her family.  I am thankful for this.

Above all of this, I am hearing the Lord whisper to me... "I love you.  I want you.  I have GREAT things for you.  Lean in to me.  Lean in to your struggle and pain."  I will explain more about that in a later blog post...

Praise God.  Today.  Right now.  Praise God.  He loves you and wants you.

Lost Canyon 2012: 6

Day Thirteen

July 20th, 2012

It's day 5 already of Young Lives week.  Last night, Lee Ann shared the greatest news ever told. She shared how the answer to our greatest NEED is that Jesus' sacrifices himself in our place.  He exchanged His life for ours through willingly laying down His own for ours.

This week has flown by... It's been busy and slow at the same time.  The flow is so different than a typical Young Life week because there is time for girls to drop babies off at nurseries in between every event.  This makes the energy throughout camp like a roller coaster... Even though the schedule is more flexible, it feels just as draining and exhausting.

You can pray for my family up here... Laura is transitioning back to being a mommy and primarily hanging with Ellie, I am going to be just as busy if not more as we hit weeks 3 and 4.  It'll also be their last week here... Laura needs to head home for work at the end of the week.

We are trying to be intentional with our time up here.  I am trying to put Ellie to bed as much as possible and those have been some really sweet times... 

If you could pray for there to be space to keep doing that, that would be awesome!

Here are a few shots from the last few days at camp...

 We got the chance to coordinate pony rides for the moms and their babies.  It was so sweet to watch these little ones get to ride a horse around camp...

This little guy got tuckered out after riding the ponies for about 30 minutes...

We used an 8 foot beach ball for a game in Club one night this week and I thought it would be fun to take it to some of the nurseries and let the kiddos play with it.  Here is one little boy trying to push it!

 Then I got it stuck trying to get it through the doors... 

Here is Lee Ann bringing the truth of Jesus' love for us last night at Club.

Lost Canyon 2012: 5

Day Ten

July 17th, 2012

This week is all about Young Lives.  It is a holy week.  There are 130 teen mommies and their babies here this week.  These girls, who rarely get to be kids, will get a chance to laugh, play and be a teenager this week!  There are 93 nannies who will take care of the babies while girls play around through the week.

Lee Ann Allman, who is on staff with Young Life at Arizona State, is speaking this week.  She is engaging, compelling and is clearly sharing the truth of the Gospel with these gals.

Pray with us for these gals, their babies, their leaders, the nannies and above all... Pray that Jesus would be glorified by the countless hours dedicated to serving these mommies this week.

Teen moms and babies arriving to camp on Sunday from Crown Point, New Mexico.

Mikey, Becky Jo and Laura "doing program" during dinner night one.

Lee Ann's daughter Azania (4) and Ellie chillin in Club night 1.  

Tonight in Club, we blew up a 6 foot balloon.  Kids had to shave the balloon as fast as possible with disposable razors.  The result was EPIC!  The balloon explodes...

Deadmau5, Mikey's club program character, was a little close to the balloon explosion...

Lost Canyon 2012: 4

Day Nine

July 16th, 2012

I have been reading "The Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe" when I am have free time.  It is the first book I have read for fun... in probably 3 years.  I am enjoying the crap out of it!  
It helps that C.S Lewis is one of my favorite authors too.


Today, I read a portion that hit me deeply as I saw the connection what I am investing my time into here at Lost Canyon this month.  Let me share...


This part of the story occurs after Lucy, the littlest sister continues to plead with her siblings that Narnia is real and that you get there through a magical wardrobe.  Peter and Susan don't believe her - so they speak with the Professor whom they are living with...


Through 4 pages of dialogue, the Professor essentially logically argues that unless there is reason to disbelieve Lucy then they should assume that in fact there is a country called Narnia that is only reachable through the wardrobe.  Peter and Susan can't fathom this is true...

Then... finally... Peter says it plainly.  "Do you really mean, Sir... that there could actually be other worlds?  All around us and just around the corner - like this place?"  The calm answer defies logic... The Professor said, "Nothing is more probable."

This is it!  This is what I get to do.  YOUNG LIFE is calling attention the "other world" that is all around us.  We are Lucy!  We have experienced the Kingdom of God and we are trying - with all of our might - to speak the truth to others who are blind to it.  Our world says that what you can see, touch, feel and perceive is real.  That which you cannot is not real.  This is not truth.


The truth is that the Kingdom of God is at hand all around us - RIGHT NOW!  

My prayer for my sweet daughter is that she would see as soon as possible.  I pray YOU, whoever you are, reading this right now that you would see as soon as possible.  God's Kingdom is all around.  His "world" as it were... is accessible to us.

Lord, let me be a LUCY.

Lost Canyon 2012: 3

Day Eight

July 15th, 2012

Yesterday was the day that 406 kids and leaders who were here for the first week of camp went home.  It was a busy, chaotic week.  It was full.  Jesus says in John 10 that "I have come to give life and life to the full..."  That is exactly what the week was about.

I met a 16 year old dude from Colorado Springs named Buddy C.  His week was packed.  He rode horses, square danced, rode a zip line, played frisbee golf... he engaged in deep dialogue about who God is with his friends and leaders... and finally, yesterday around 1:45pm, Buddy stood and proclaimed that "Jesus is my Lord and I am now with Him."

Please pray for Buddy from Colorado Springs.  Pray also for Angela from Denver, who is leaving camp with new life ahead of her.  Pray for Daisy from Yuma, who burst into tears of joy before calmly and definitively declaring "I'm now a Christian."

Eternity changed.  That is what we are doing up here.  We are cultivating and creating the environment in which teenagers will encounter the living God - many for the first time ever.

 My view behind the soundboard of our Work Crew.  We have 45 high school students serving (VOLUNTEERING) for free for the entire month!  They are my heroes!

Tank, our speaker, giving some final words to campers before heading out.  

"This about sums up what we've been talking about all week..." - Tank

 This is when Buddy, Angela, Daisy and roughly another 80 students stood up to share their new faith!

A shot of my beautiful bride and me after the week finished up.  We are tired, but so thankful for what God is doing in our midst.  Thank you for praying... Keep it up!

Lost Canyon 2012: 2

Day Four

July 11th, 2012

We just left the club room where our high school friends heard that we are all STUCK.  We are stuck and lost.  We are concerned with ourselves more than anyone else (even God).  This is called SIN.  We all think this means things like stealing, lying, cheating, etc... But it actually is more of a status of being separated than anything we do - it is where we are.


It is sobering news, but when hearing the truth, we must hear it all.

I am thankful to be apart of a mission like Young Life that shares the WHOLE truth.

Tonight, leaders and kids will dress like Western Rebels (part of our Program), eat a great dinner, sing some Country tunes and dance into the night!  

Pray for clarity in understanding the Gospel.  Pray for "Tank", the speaker, who has the privilege and challenge of sharing the Gospel.  I've gotten a few moments here and there to play and hang with my girls, but I would selfishly love prayer for more time with them!

Here are a few shots from the last few days...

Ellie and her new friends, Eliza from Wyoming (3-yesterday) and Moriah from Sedona (3) 

Another shot with Ellie and friends, Moriah (3) and Kara from Surprise (3).

 "Tank" speaking at CLUB to over 400 high school students and leaders!

 Me with 4 college YL leaders serving on Summer Staff (and 2 others) at the Carnival!

Lost Canyon 2012

Day One:

July 8th, 2012

This is better known as day 1, here at camp.  Pretty quick the days will blur into one, meal, music, chaos, campers, club, cabin time, meals, music... you get the idea.

One of my favorite days of camp is this day.  Campers and leaders come off buses and out of cars after traveling for hours to get here.  They are excited!  They have high expectations of what the week will bring.  They have tons of energy!

I spent some time reading in 1 Samuel yesterday before campers got here (we read it together with our mission team here) and I was just struck by the courage Samuel has to "go and do" what the Lord commanded.  He was frightened, but something compelled him.

Likewise, my family is here at camp because the Lord asked us to come.  We are following and it isn't going to be always easy, but it is what He has asked.

Pray with us that this week would be one that echoes in Eternity!

Below are a few shots of day one at camp... 

Campers from Vegas getting "Welcomed" by the Program team!

Ellie and her friend, Becky hanging out

Me and my little girl!

The Club Characters... Deadmau5 (Mikey), Angry Birds (Me, Becky)

Cruisin' and Shootin'

Recently, my wife and I celebrated the 5th anniversary of wedding day... We took 6 days and left our sweet little girl Ellie at home with her grandparents and devoted some much needed time simply to one another.  We flew to Orlando and boarded a cruise ship for the Bahamas! 

Here are a few of my favorite shots from our trip