chic 09 thursday...last day :(

thursday was the last day of CHIC 2009: undone. we had a great time swimming, bowling, playing pool and ping-pong in the afternoon! in the morning session we focused on God with a worship service for our base camp called, OLD GOAT MOUNTAIN!

the morning speaker, Chris Folmsbee said, "God is speaking. sometimes we need to turn up the volume!" he also encouraged us to see ourselves as part of the bigger story of God working in and through people throughout time - a story that continues with us and ends with Christ's return! it was a great morning!

mainstage began with Third Day. it was awesome! they led us in some worship songs but sang a lot of their "southern rock" as well. fun times.

Efrem Smith gave the message. speaking from Jeremiah 1, Efrem told the students: "if you go back home and act unchanged God will make you look unchanged in front of people who need to be changed. will you have the courage to live for Christ?" he told a story of a high school friend of his, Joey, who returned from a youth conference and told him about Christ. look where he is now!

though CHIC is over, we're hanging out today debriefing the experience and trying to figure out what's NEXT...

wednesday at CHIC 2009

sorry this is getting to you a day late, but Wednesday night was powerful and long!
there was a call for first time decisions for Christ and several students came forward. Judy Howard-Peterson gave the message and challenged students to "stop pretending." to show that she was willing to be vulnerable and stop pretending herself, she removed her makeup right in front of all 5500 of us! it was very powerful...

i had the privilege of praying with several students from all around the country. i also served communion. the Holy Spirit moved in Knoxville, TN! God showed up! you need to ask our students about this night and what it meant for them...

Wednesday was a big day. many of our students made commitments to further their relationship with Christ and take on more leadership roles in youth group and the church. please help me by holding them accountable and encouraging them as they return home! i can't do it alone and neither can these amazing students!

as you can tell by the video we've been doing a lot of dancing. sometimes it comes out of nowhere! dancing has brought us together and put a smile on all our faces. just wait until you see the full videos!

as always, enjoy the video!

tuesday @ CHIC 2009

another full day, and we still have 2 left!

we participated in Feed My Starving Children and put together over 59,000 meals. that's enough to feed 162 children one meal a day for a YEAR!

tonight at mainstage Israel Houghton and New Breed opened us in worship and Steve Furtick spoke on "undoing our equations." he spoke from 1 Samuel 14:1-6 and said, "You have to believe that God's promises are bigger than your perhaps." God is above our excuses and the limitations we place on ourselves! the message was received very well. so far our students are really connecting with the music, speakers, and each other! praise God!

enjoy the highlights!

day 2 of CHIC

some fun pictures from tonight's mainstage service...David Crowder Band led us in worship and Shane Claiborne spoke. amazing! this was Chad's perfect line-up. i'm good to go now! we can leave tonight except we still have 3 days of CHIC and 2 days to hang out!!!!

Shane Claiborne was very challenging and left us with a lot of questions. we had a great discussion. here are some quotes:

"I see a lot of believers but where are the followers?"

"The best thing to do with the best things in life is to give them away!"

"Jesus says, 'Here's the secret: if you want to find your life you have to give it away.'"

"How did Christians become so normal in a troubled world?"

"These are extreme times, but what kind of extremists will we be? The world is ready for Christians full of love and grace."

and i'll save the best quote for a later date....it's a cliff-hanger i guess!

peace!

internet!

we made it! we arrived at 10 pm last night and are off to a great start. we got about three hours of sleep and went white water rafting! it was a blast...

tonight's mainstage/opening night was awesome.

i took some video. sorry the quality is poor...

Erwin McManus spoke and was great. he talked about Moses, what do you know?!

some quotes from Erwin McManus' message [now that i can see the quotes on my phone!]

"What is the dream that's waiting inside of you?"

"What would happen if you made your life really count?"

"Are you living dreams too small to interest God?

great questions...excited about tomorrow! enjoy the video...

favorite quote...as we were entering the security checkpoint Justin Sturdy says, "I can't do this without my mom."

oh my! you see what i'm dealing with!

peace!

chic 2009: 2 days away!

this is your place for CHIC 2009 updates. follow our adventure here...

two days until CHIC 2009! we're meeting at 7:00 am on Saturday, July 11. don't be late!

check out the packing list or go to www.chic2009.org for more info!

peace!

chad