I have five completely random things to say

-First of all check out my(incredibly low res and disproportionate) wrists. I got these tattoos last week. I like 'em. They didn't hurt to get and basically felt like a sunburn while they were healing. I decided I wanted them over a year ago but I also wanted to wait a year so I knew I was sure. Anyway there is a whole deep meaning in them for me but I won't go into that now. I will give massive respect to whoever can tell me what they say (yes, I do know what they say).
















-Next up I just finished my final rendition of our new youth website. I think it's pretty sweet. All I did was point and click and the whole thing, design tools, hosting, and domain only cost about $40 a year. hillsideyouth.ca.

-I have discoverd the reason that a good God can allow something like myspace.

(The last to are me asking for ideas again:)

-They want a brief bio on me for this Costa Rica deal. I'm not sure what to write. Any suggestions. Feel free to write something I could actually use or just to have fun at my expense.

-And finally we are making plans for our February rally again. Who are some great youth speakers and worship bands?

Talking Bout My Generation – A premature requiem for those who lived up to their lack of potential.

Gen X: Remember that term. That title conjures up all sorts of meaning for me, some warm memories, and some warnings.
Gen X: We are the last generation to grow up with good new music. Subsequent generations have had new music and they have had good music but seldom both. I love our music, the glory days of alternative. I sit here listening to Nirvana: Unplugged in celebration. We can list awesome songs by innovative bands all day.
Gen X: Generation nothing. Generation hopeless. Generation no direction. Generation will be known for nothing. Generation revolutionized the world with the use of the internet and email. Generation a million millionaires and then pop it’s all gone. Generation Starbucks.
Gen X: The message in church was the opposite of the pointless, directionless description of sociology. Our youth leaders and camp speakers told us we could change the world. We would lead everyone to Jesus, we would be leaders in the church, we would be leaders in our school, we would be bold, we had a purpose, it was up to us. Few of us came anywhere close to that. Most of us ditched church all together, a few of us Boomered up and learned to love production church and business leadership, then there are those silent few who have fallen deeply in love with the church and silently bide their time for reformation rather than revolution. When will we hear from that Gen X. The ball is on their court. Everyone else has either jumped the net or walked off the court.
Gen X: Cutting edge ministry to a new generation. Gen X ministry was the next big thing. Gen X ministry would revolutionize youth ministry. Gen X youth ministry came about the time the last of us were in college. Gen X Services were invented about the time most of us were sick of sitting at the kids table. Gen X ministry is a embarrassing tribute to the way the church moves so slow and not far enough. We figured out what to do with Gen X just after we lost them to youth and young adult ministries and then faced with the remaining option of changing the way we do church (not just services but church) or losing a generation we waved goodbye .
Gen X: You never hear it any more. We are not the youth of the church. We are not the elders. We haven’t changed the world. Most of us haven’t even tried. We don’t even exist anymore. We were swallowed up in postmodernism and the emergent “conversation” and in such are grouped with old hippies (ok so we always liked them) and a generation to young to be our siblings and to old to be our kids. Demographics became a relevant issue in church because of us but it seems like our demographic didn’t.
Gen X: What are we going to do? It’s time to wake the sleeper cells. It's time to go back to camp, it's time to sing with Andrew and time to remember who Mike and Dan told us we were, it’s time to plant churches, reinvent a flat wheel, give hope, spread joy, sweat love, bleed grace, crap criticism, run headlong into hell and live for something worth dieing for.

This Just In – AJ Thomas, International Speaker!!!

First off I just need to let you know that I really have really appreciated many of the responses to my last post and although I’m not through this process of discernment and although I’m not perfectly clear I am a lot closer and I have a reasonable sense of peace about the whole thing these days and that’s nice. Now on to the latest news – It’s official. I’m going to Costa Rica to speak at a camp this October and I couldn’t be more stoked even if airplane seats fit large individuals like me. It’s kind of a neat story. Elliot Innes of Global Partners who is in Costa Rica doing his language training and while he is there he is working with a largish youth group. He called me a while ago and said that every time he went to youth the Lord brought my face to his mind and the only thing he could think is that God wanted me to come spend some time with these teens. I was obviously interested but it would be a significant investment of time, a long flight in the aforementioned seats, and there was the question of how to fund this venture. I began to pray for the Lord’s direction and provision and asked some other people to do the same, the readership of this blog included and felt strongly that God was in this and that I should take steps to go. It’s kind of hard for me to deny this inverted Macedonian call. On Thursday of last week I was talking to my boss about it and jest getting excited about it with him. (If you ever want to get excited and have company I highly recommend Peter Moore) I told him I was hoping to be able to do a little support raising in the church. He just sort of smiled and nodded. I went home for the day and Elliot called to say they (the leadership team) had just approved inviting me to come as a camp speaker which meant my airfare from a major airport would be provided. This meant I just needed enough to go from Halifax to Toronto. I called Peter to ask for the dates off and he told me I could have them and that he had worked out a way for the Halifax to Toronto leg to be paid for. Last year Nicaragua and this year Costa Rica. It never ceases to amaze me the adventures I get into following Jesus. Beats the tar out of where I would be without him, which, let’s be honest is probably somewhere roughly between Used car salesman and crack addict. Praise the Lord and I’m stoked. Thanks for praying, feel free to continue.