Quote of the day

"People who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are usually the ones who do."

The Awakening Conference Final Day

So, the final day of the Awakening Conference was unbelievable. The day kicked off with some amazing, heartfelt worship that could have gone on for hours - literally. Then, the leaders went into a leadership session that was led by Mike Servello where he just took some time and encouraged youth leaders. I sawy youth leaders in TEARS during this segment. Very encouraging stuff. He then started talking about the idea of youth church, but he ran out of time because he spent so much time encouraging us. Both very much needed. Good stuff. During that session we missed hearing from Jordan Boyce, but all of my youth say that it was INCREDIBLE. Many of them say it was the best part of the conference.

Then, we had the pleasure of being in a leadership session with Darren Whitehead of Willow Creek. For me, the session wasn't necessarily "eye opening" but very encouraging personally. He spoke about some of the modern adjustments we need to make as youth ministers and youth ministries. The ideas were concepts I've been speaking to some of my leaders about, but it was REALLY encouraging for both me and my leaders to see that I'm not COMPLETELY crazy for thinking about these concepts. Awesome stuff.

Then DW spoke in the afternoon session. Emmensly encouraging! Hearing an Aussie preach gives a very interesting perspective on the North American view of Christianity that I have (and I am trying VERY hard to KILL that view). His message was impacting but the part that did it for me was when he said "Is this what you want to give your ONE AND ONLY life for?" WHOA! One and only life...I honestly don't remember much of that message because that concept captivated my mind for a while.

Lastly, conference host Marco DeBarros closed out the conference. He's a good friend of mine, but I had never heard him preach before then. We talk. He preaches to me (when he doesn't know it) when we chat on the phone or in person, but I had never heard him do his do. Incredible and challenging. This was the most impacting of them all. He asked the youth leaders to come and pray for their people at the end and WHOA! God moved something mighty that night. I heard people stayed around until 1 AM just talking and praying. 1 AM!

Powerful stuff.

So that's it. That's the cliff's notes of the Awakening. If you live in the NorthEast, TAKE YOUR YOUTH MINISTRY TO THIS CONFERENCE!!! Its incredible. I'd even suggest going to this over some of the more well known events (that I will not name for the sake of not sounding like I'm bashing the others.)

The only other conference I would recommend NorthEastern ministries attend is the Generation Conference.

Now, I'm done being reporter for the events, I can get sharing some of the new ideas I've been having. Can't wait to share.

Selah...

If it was a crime to be a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you of being one?

WOW!!

Awakening - Jesus Christ Superstar!

Thursday night's session was for the hardcore Christian. Not necessarily hardcore about their beliefs, just being into hardcore rock. This Beautiful Republic kicked off the night with some fantastic rock music. The cover of Gnarls Barkley's hit song "Crazy" was excellently done...COMPLETELY unexpected, but excellently done. They went on to discuss their love for Christ and play some truely Jesus centered songs. When Ben, the lead singer, started swinging his mic around Aerosmith style, I thought someone was going to lose a tooth! But they didn't. Praise God for that. I enjoy music when its good - rock, rap, soul even country (as long as Carrie Underwood is considered country).

Then, the night was capped off with a wonderful message from Underoath/The Almost star Aaron Gillespie. I must say, not bad for his first time speaking. Engaging and insightful for many of the people there. I don't have the official numbers but I do believe that the night session was the peak in attendance since MANY people showed up to hear the guy. At the conclusion of his session, he closed out with some awesome acoustic tunes. It was fantastic. He invited the crowd on stage with him as he played. Needless to say, he had to ask people to "back-up a little bit, yes?"

Great night from people with a great heart.

I got the chance to speak to Ben from TBR because we stayed in the same hotel. He sparked a great convo about the balance of grace and discipline. The guy has a great heart. I look forward to hearing some BIG stuff from these guys.

1 day of coverage remaining. Tune in here to Collision Course for the most comprehensive recap of the Awakening COnference. Tomorrow we'll conclude with the sessions from Willow Creek's Darren Whitehead, Mike Servello and Marco DeBarros.

Cheers!

Awakening - Marco, Mike and Me

Day 2 of the Awakening Conference built on the momentum of the 1st day. While the youth heard from pastor Bobby Perry in the first session, the youth pastors and youth leaders got to sit in a leadership session from my friend and conference host Marco DeBarros. Marco took over the reigns as youth pastor at New Life less than 2 years ago. Prior to that, he was youth pastor at a church of 250 - the youth ministry was 100 strong! So needless to say, he knows a bit about healthy youth minsitry. His session was awesome. He talked about the philosophy, methodology and attitude that every youth pastor needs to take inventory of doing youth ministry. Incredible stuff!

In the afternoon session, Marco and I took the stage to do a song together with the GroundZero band. BANANAS! After that song, I went into my set. I decided to go all out with set so I included lots of video and visuals in the set to really get the message across. I did the songs "Masses", "After The Pain" and "Hope" and WHAT AN EXPERIENCE! The kicker during the set to me came at the end of "After The Pain" when everyone joined together as we sang "How Great Is Our God." Yes, we went into full blown worship in the middle of a HIP-HOP set. It was indescribable. Honestly, I think it was my best set yet. But when you have a crowd as engaged and energetic as this crowd was, you can't miss.

I got to conclude my set with an introduction of the next speaker - another good friend of mine Mike Servello, Jr. His message about our words and being instruments of encouragement was timeless. Great message. Check out some pics and video from my set.

Awakening - Chris Hill

Okay, night one of the Awakening Conference was the perfect kick-off to the event. Worship was led by Bobby Perry & Rain. WHOA! They came last year and blew everyone away, this year was no different. The energy of this group not to mention the musical excellence is uncanny. Most, if not all of the singers and musicians, are Berkley School of Music graduates/students. You add all of that up with the desire to worship God and...wowzers! You get an unbelievable experience.

Then Chris Hill came up and almost made me quit preaching. The message - undeniably impacting. He preached from the book of Kings with the recalling of how Elijah was taken up and how Elisha took his mantle. We've all heard that one before, right? Right. Then, he broke down how Elisha tore off his outer garment and put on Elijah's mantle. From that he began to break down how God has some of us in a new season and the garments from our old season won't fit anymore so they need to be torn off so that we can put on our new mantle. Sound encouraging? I'm doing it ZERO justice because it was delivered in a way that only Chris Hill (and MAYBE his pastor TD Jakes) could do it. He spent about 30-40 minutes pulling out absolute GEMS from these scriptures. When he gave a call for prayer concerning the message - most of the youth LEADERS in the place were face down on the alter.

Why did this almost make me quit preaching? Because this message was pure excellence in exegesis, a perfect harmony of homily, a symphony of scripture searching - and he wrote it THAT MORNING! It takes me a MINIMUM of a day to pull out half of the stuff he did. That message would have taken me a LONG time to write - IF that message would have come to me at all. Chris Hill, writes it THAT MORNING!

Fantastic message and DEFINATELY some stuff to chew on from it. Then, once we closed in worship - service didn't end until well after 10pm. And that was just day ONE.

Tomorrow, I'll highlight the leadership session with Marco DeBarros (conference host), the afternoon session where I got to rock the mic and the message from Mike Servello.

The Awakening Conference (part 1)

WHOA!! The Awakening Conference, held in Smithfield, RI, is the best youth conference I've attended. I've been to some of the said "best" ministry conferences for youth - nothing against them - but this is DEFINATELY the best one going in the NorthEast and maybe the best one in the country (I haven't been to the Generation Conference yet so the jury is still out.) Either way, its a great conference.

So, we'll spend the next few posts highlighting the the last few days of my life.

First of all - before we get into the speakers - to see that many young people with their hearts wide open for Christ in RI was a beautiful sight. I don't know exactly how many but I'd venture to guess around 800. Hearts open and hands high worshiping God with everything in them.

Next, the diversity of the event was incredible. They had musicians that covered the gammut of soul, hip-hop and rock. They had speakers from diverse backgrounds and preaching styles. I mean Chris Hill, Mike Servello, Jr. , 17 year old Jordan Boyce (conference visionary) and Underoath/The Almost star Aaron Gillespie. WHOA! Diverse!

If you were there, I'd love to hear from you. Tomorrow, I'll cover how awesome the team that lead worship was and how Chris Hill almost made me quit preaching.

Until then,
Cheers!