Friday – Rich Strawcutter is NUTS! ......JK1

Once again, I overslept……Gripes!

My eyes are blood shot, the back of my head is pulsating, I now have a sore throat, and I’m starting to get a little testy. Young people will do that to you after awhile. :)

At any rate, we made it to the general session lead by Bro. Rich Strawcutter. This man is NUTS! His message was entitled, “Eat your burrito in the lunchroom!” This was his story……

Being raised in the church and attending a private school for most of his childhood years, Rich was sheltered from “outsiders”. This reality, however, was seemingly shattered when he was enrolled into a public high school.

His immediate reaction to this different and worldy environment was an overwhelming fear and intimidation, which caused him to retreat to the bathroom during lunch hour to eat his burrito. This went on for the first two weeks before he finally stood up to himself and said, “No more!” The following day Rich took his burrito, walked into to the lunchroom and plopped right down at “THE table” (you know, where all the populars sit). From then on, Rich proceeded to meet everyone in his school.

Bro. Strawcutter’s point was simply this: Do not let the world intimidate or defeat you. As a believer, you are a child of God, living with His divine favor to do and become ANYTHING! He emphatically declared the scripture from Philippians 4:13, which says, “I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me.” Bro. Strawcutter then proceeded to show the audience various pictures of prestigious lunchrooms, such as those found in Harvard University, Microsoft Corporation, and finally the White House. He concluded his message by charging everyone in the audience to believe in the potential that one day they could eat their burrito in any one of those lunchrooms.

Bottom Line: All things are possible through Christ. When you possess the excellency of Christ in you, you are not insignificant or powerless, but have the potential to do or be anyone – perhaps even the President of the United States.

Thank you, Bro. Strawcutter, for your empowering message. And thank you, Lord, that I had the chance to hear it.

Afterburner…..from JK1

The Afterburner was held in the Columbus City Center Mall following the Friday night service. City Center, which is an otherwise dieing mall, was alive tonight! Thousands (not sure, exactly how many) rampaged the downtown, three-story shopping center until 2 in the morning. Similar to past Youth Congress mall events, once you walked in, you were overtaken by the madness – I mean complete and utter chaos – ear-deafening noise, squandering people, and lines (for as far as the eye could see). Amidst all the fury and reckless activity, I guess young people have fun doing this kind of stuff. But for a twenty-something year old youth pastor and his pregnant wife, it’s bed time.

















On another note…….There was a number of live bands playing in the heart of the mall’s amphitheatre-style stage area. Finally, finally, FINALLY…….some music that young people connect with – and it showed by the excitement and energy pulsating through the crowds. The few bands that were featured stretched far beyond the Pentecostal cookie-cutter style of music – and they ROCKED! (Props to the band from Toledo, OH!)

The fact is, young people are extreme – and they like their music extreme. That doesn’t necessarily mean that they all like the gut-wrenching, mind-blowing, hard-core material – it just means that they want the lyrics and music to dig down deep inside them – to speak to them in a language they speak and understand – in a way that expresses how they feel – and who they are – not who their parents are.

Now that I got that off my chest……

In spite of my enjoyment of the music, I did feel like it was extremely too LOUD! I guess the whole purpose of the music was to create a fun atmosphere for fellowship. Unfortunately, however, I thought it seemed to actually hinder the fellowship. It was so loud that you literally had to walk to the extremities of the mall to be able to have a conversation with someone without ripping a vocal chord. Otherwise, you just faked like you knew what the other person was saying by responding with the ol’ “nod and smile”.

My final comment on the night is one that may be controversial, and if so, great. Apparently, there were blue rubber wristbands (much like the Lance Armstrong “Live Strong” bands) being given away by an “undisclosed” Bible college. Now, in the past, something like this would have created an uproar, being regarded as nothing less than jewelry. So has the standard changed? Where is the line drawn? Either way, as I write this blog, I’m sporting my new, cool blue wristband that reads “Consecrate. Influence.”

Questions, comments, concerns? Please feel free to E-mail me!

Phenomenal Night

Hey ya’ll, Amanda here!!! Oh my goodness, I wish all of you who are reading this could have been at congress last night, one word, Phenomenal!!!! When the alter call came I got to the point to where I wanted a new experience from God and guess what I got it, I got drunk in the spirit and that has never happened to me before. My friends had to lead me out of the auditorium because we had to go and meet our bus. When we got outside I was still drunk in the spirit and my whole youth group was all praying and speaking in tounges and then around 100 other youth came and started praying and worshiping with us!!! Before I knew it we were all praying on a street corner, never done that before. We probably out there for a good 30 min. It was soooooo awesome!!!! I got a blessing that I thought I was never going to get!!! I’m still in awe of what happened!!!

Any ways, we are on our missions trip now and we’re ready for our service here in Ohio tomorrow. Pray that we can make a difference in someone’s life!!!!

Well it is 10:00 right now and I have to go and pack my things because we are leaving tomorrow!!! But I will update on everything that happened tomorrow!!!! Have a Great Day!!!

Mornings Comes-SarahK

SarahK-Apparently I blog a lot! It's 8 o'clock and I'm up. Didn't I just finish here at 3:15?? A1 had to go, and with it, comes wakefulness. A2 and the curly-haired girl are packing. I have just a bit of packing to do, so I thought I'd share my melancholy. Leaving congress is always the worst moment. Already I have the sense of dread and sadness, the...if I leave, it's really over. We'll pull out in silence, each thinking through our memories of the week. Seeing our friends, catching up, and eating out. Moments in the services that inspired us and changed us. "The dance". Oh to be young and at congress forever. But at least I'll keep a peace of it with me for always. Time to hit the road-Wolverine country is calling me home.

Questions, comments, concerns? Please feel free to E-mail me!

Spontaneous Prayer Meeting (kdc)

This was amazing. I left Nationwide Arena late Friday night, August 12, 2005. Outside I was told there was a spontaneous prayer meeting in progress on the High Street sidewalk. "It's New Life (Bridgeton, MO)." That's MY youth group. I rushed over and maybe 15 of them were uniting in prayer around 2 young ladies.

The prayer meeting went on for well over 30 minutes with a major blessing and a complete refilling of the Holy Ghost resulting!

Here's what happened. Turns out New Life's bus driver had mis-parked the bus and no one could find the bus. So while a youth leader searched, our own co-blogger Amanda Tate just initiated prayer (Picture 1, girl in foreground with hair across her face). Soon, God was all over her, then another girl was seeking God fervently, and then everyone was praying together.

Well, the bus was found, but then it didn't matter. Passerbys joined in, spectators gathered and the angels rejoiced as a handful of teenagers decided they had plenty of time to reconnect to the throne of God.

I know I'm biased, as I work with them weekly, but this is a special group of kids; not perfect, but still determined to reach God. It's no coincidence that God moved in Columbus when this past Monday night prayer stretched past 2 hours and this group is planning on helping a Home Missions work in the Columbus area on Saturday and Sunday. They have eagerly followed their strong youth pastors, first Jeff Tracy, and now Nate Binion.

God is raising up a chosen generation for such an hour as this. May we be wise enough to lead them to magnificent heights!

Questions, comments, concerns? Please feel free to E-mail me!

What if I don't want to go home? SarahK

SarahK here, and I cannot believe that congress is over. It's absurd really how quickly the week goes by. Today was nothing but bliss! The weather was beautiful, if just a tad windy. Rumor has it that Straw (Bro Rich Strawcutter) tore it up in this morning's session, inspiring all to go back to school using their personalities to win their friends. Had a great lunch with Kent and Nita Curry. You'll be happy to know that 90&9 is excited and moving forward! What a great bunch of passionate people! Service tonight, Arkansas mass was incredible (with BRay on guitar), Bro Wayne Francis tore it up leading the pre-service praise and worship, Gateway sounded fantastic, we found out congress 2007 is in New Orleans, and then Bro. Gaddy got up to preach. How inspiring when that adorable 12 year old girl came out and prayed for everyone. What courage it took for her to do so! I pray for her type of boldness.
The after event was packed as usual. The mall was beautiful, but there were so many people it was insane. I'm certainly glad I went out to eat before heading over, the lines for the food court were hours long. Everybody and their long lost cousin sang, and despite how loud it was (did I just say that? I sooo just aged myself. I really am not 15), the group certainly had a great time.
I want to give a special thank you and hello to my 3 favorite West Memphis boys (and "the dance). Thanks for making my trip so enjoyable, see you at Inferno!!! "That'd be perfect"!! And also to my a-dorable roommates, A1, A2, and the curly-haired girl. Thanks for all the ideas. Lastly, to those who couldn't come-the trip wasn't the same without you.
It's 3:15, my clothes are very much not packed, but I suppose that'll wait until the morning. By the way, I only wore about 4 of those 11 pair of shoes... I'm so not 15.
Questions, comments, concerns? Please feel free to E-mail me!

Your Group Bloggers (kdc)

They'll be sharing their thoughts through Monday, August 16, but please give a warm round of applause to Eric Morley, Nita Curry, Kent Curry, Jeremy Kiner, & Sarah Holland. (Not pictured: Amanda Tate.)

Questions, comments, concerns? Please feel free to E-mail me!

Friday Night Sermon Help (kdc)

(Frustrated Editor's Note: Blogger is only allowing us one upload per posting. We are frustrated. It is past 2 in the morning again. Blogger is only allowing us one upload per posting. We are frustrated.)

General Youth President Todd Gaddy preached "Decisions on the Day After" to at least 15,000 people (by 6:30 p.m. - an hour before service started - they were shunting everyone entering onto the 2nd floor, as the first floor was full). This was the message of his heart. Thus, it was an unconventional message.

While there's no way I can do it justice (you can buy the tape), his theme was taken from Acts 3:1, where Peter & John, immediately after the biggest spiritual party ever (as recorded in Acts 2), returned to their usual pattern of behavior - they went to church to pray. So we're exiting the biggest spiritual party of 2005, "What is it that is going to sustain you?" "(You've) got a decision to make - what are you going to do in private?" "The real battles are won in private (not at NAYCs)."

He then shared the testimony of Larissa Hunt, a young woman he met via his GYD travels. She learned how to write out prayers via Shekinah Kids. So when her Mom was sick, she found a scripture, wrote out a prayer, went into her mother & prayed/read it. Her mother was healed. Later, her Dad lost his job. She found a different scripture, went into him & prayed/read it. Soon after he got a new job. Her backslidden grandfather was dying of cancer, so guess what she did. He didn't get refilled with the Holy Ghost immediately, but soon afterwards he did. It was just a few days later that he died. Then he dropped the bombshell, 'I forgot to mention - Larissa Hunt is only 12 years-old."

He then invited out his special guest, Larissa Hunt, to pray for the congregation. The very brave (and quite terrified) little blonde did just that as people cried. Brokenness entered the arena at that moment.

(This is a picture of her on the big screen.)


Questions, comments, concerns? Please feel free to E-mail me!

Young Adults Panel - Friday AM

The always erudite Travis Miller speaking at the Young Adults Panel.




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Cyber cafe...nkc!

Kent and I are both at different portals at the cyber cafe making posts onto the blog while we wait for our dinner companions. Here are a few of my observations from Friday night....

Well all I can say is that Todd Gaddy did a fabulous job tonight. To be honest it has been quite awhile since I have been so stirred by a message. He used several examples (real people) who have taken their relationship with God beyond the church doors, then he actually brought the people on stage. I really don't have time to explain it all in detail, but it was moving, challenging, but most importantly life-changing.

Later...n


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And The Winners Are...

After service Friday night. Cyber cafe is still up, so I'm feverishly typing in hopes of gettnig a bit of info to you.

Oops! Our party just called & we're going to eat. But first...

NAYC 2007 will be in...NEW ORLEANS! Yep, we're heading down South to clean up the Big Easy in 2 years.

May Nasala of Chula Vista, CA was indeed the Big Winner of the NATS. Expect an exclusive interview soon.

More around 2 a.m.

(Picture taken Friday evening after she was announced the winner.)
Questions, comments, concerns? Please feel free to E-mail me!

NAYC Fashion Observances……from JK1

I tried to keep a keen eye on all the fashion trends. Here are my only comments:

To all the Pentecostal guys out there who are still trying to sport the short ties, elongated suit jackets (aka skirts), and the flipped over collar on the suit jacket – Two words: Stop it! No, I’m serious, you’re embarrassing yourself. You can thank me later.

To the gals – In all due respect, I’m still trying to figure this one out – What is the purpose of the overgrown flower protruding out of the hair? If someone wants to explain, please do.

Here are a couple of other fashion questions if anyone is interested in answering:

Is the traditional suit and tie (for guys) a dieing trend?
Should guys be allowed to wear hot pink shirts?
Is it the trend now to wear flip-flops with a dressy outfit?

Throughout the event, I noticed a few standout fashion statements, such as the following:

A girl wearing neon-flashing high heels (different, but cool)
A guy wearing a chef’s hat (weird)
A guy wearing a shower cap (weirder)
A guy wearing a flashing belt buckle (not sure about this one)
A girl sporting cowboy boots (Yee-haw!)
A ton of “Vote for Pedro” tshirts (now that’s funny!)
A guy wearing a dress shirt with tie, but the collar was flipped up (okay, even weirder)
Last, but not least, what’s a Pentecostal event without seeing the biggest, most outrageous, gravity-defying – did I say BIGGEST? – Pentecostal hair dos!

ROCK ON to all of you who dare to be different. I like that in a person.

Thursday Night Live……from JK1

Wow! Whatever was missing in Wednesday night’s service was made up for Thursday night. The “Kapow!” factor was definitely there. From 6:30 until 10:30 it was non-stop, energized, all-for-Jesus, crazy-praise chaos! It’s an unbelievable sight to see, in one setting, 15-plus thousand young people as they jump, shout, dance, scream, wave their hands, go absolutely and completely berserk for Jesus! You can’t help but get a little crazy yourself!

Bro. Mark Johnston, New Jersey/Delaware District Youth President, exploded behind the pulpit (which revolved, by the way). He preached an empowering message on the Apostolic Dew. Playing off of the popular fountain drink, Mountain Dew, Bro. Johnston pointed out that the Dew is true (the Gospel message), the Dew is new (like the fresh morning dew, our tactics and approaches for reaching souls for Christ must be new and relevant for today), and finally, the Dew is YOU (the Spirit of God empowers EACH believer to be a vehicle for revival).

PS:
It seems that the sound system problems have been fixed. The style of music, however, wasn’t. :)

Also, I got to meet my fellow bloggers tonight…..it was nice meeting all of you!

Questions, comments, concerns? Please feel free to E-mail me!

Pictures again from Friday morning...nkc

Kent, Travis Miller and Mark Jordan were on the young adults panel. They handled questions about bulimia, pornography, how to study the Bible, and "Is college worth the debt?"

Questions, comments, concerns? Please feel free to E-mail me!

Last Night : (

What's up ya'll!!! I just got here for the last night of congress : (!!! But let me tell ya, this afternoon's session was phenominal!!! Bro. Strawcutter preached and he has been by far the best speaker I've heard so far!!! I'm gonna be getting a tape of it. One of my friends who like never prays did this morning and get this he even cried, that tore me apart cause it was soooo awesome to see him get a blessing and I know he did!!!

Tonight is the Afterburner which is going to the mall for how ever long and listening to bands, shopping, eating, etc. that should be exciting!!!

Tomorrow and Sunday my youth group is going to be going on a yom trip here in Ohio so please pray that we can make some what of a difference in someone's life!!!

Well I gotta go find a seat before somebody else finds it! I'll update on this service though tomorrow!!! Have a Fantastic day and God Bless!!!!!

Apostolic Idol.....from JK1

The Pentecostal Music Association sponsored the first ever North American Talent Search. The event featured three categories: Male solo, female solo, and small group. The first place prize in each category was a recording package from Daywind Records and Zion Records, plus $1,000.

My hat goes off to all the contestants. They were all stellar! For the guys, I was very impressed by Brandon Jones and Jared Freeman. But much props to Kelton French, who daringly broke out of the traditional "Pentecostal music" box and slammed a down-on-the-farm country song (and I don’t even like country).

In the small group category – hands down, it was all Xample. They’re sound was fresh, it was funky, and thank God, it wasn’t southern blue-grass. Finally, with the gals, May Nalasa tore it up on stage with a pure and powerful voice that belted from such a tiny body. I also enjoyed Kristen Leigh. Great job guys!

* Sorry, I only remember the names – I can’t remember where anyone was from.

Quick Hits (kdc)

More soon, BUT...

• We're having lots of problems uploading pix. Nita uploaded some just now & they dropped below 2 earlier posts by Eric & Sarah. Take a look.
• Expect May Nasala of Chula Vista, CA to be declared the winner of the North American Talent Search last night after service. (Or "Pentecostal Idol" as its been unofficially dubbed.) It was a fun time & I hope to blog about it in some detail, but I need a nap. Winner is announced in tonight's service. (Remind me to tell you about how I almost became a celebrity stalker in one easy moment.)

More soon (& this entire weekend so feel free to check back)!

k

Questions, comments, concerns? Please feel free to E-mail me!

Hyatt elevators (kdc)

This is the typical scene at our Hyatt. Only 4 elevators for 20 floors of people. Do the math.


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Eric: Lots of things

I havn't been able to post regularly becasue of the lack of internet access. So I have multiple things I have written that I am going to post here. I will try to write again before this is over, but I don't know if I will be able to.



Meeting people.

As I said before, one of the things I love about Youth Congress is meeting up with people who you have lost contact with or don’t see very often. I have already talked with about 20 people I think. There are some people I have talked to who I haven’t seen or talked to in at least four years. I’m also hoping to catch up with the group from the church I went to while in College.


Key Cards

No key cards that I have seen have the Great Lakes University logo, or any logo (besides some telecom company) on them. I wonder if that rumor was a “plant” to throw this “publication” or if something came up. We may never know!


Next NAYC location.

The book says we will find out Friday where the next NAYC will be: either in Denver, New Orleans, or Indianapolis. The smart money would have to be on Indianapolis. They seem to like keeping these in the middle of the country, while General Conference goes all over. From Denver you have to go 1,000 miles to get to the next largest concentration of Pentecostals. Anyway, I think it will be Indianapolis. Start packing!


Thursday Afternoon Service

Thursday afternoon service. Bro. Tim Gaddy (the bother of the youth president) spoke about healing and being remade. He was speaking to the “few dozen” in the crowd who are carrying the pain and weight of neglect and abuse. He spoke specifically to sexual abuse. It was very powerful. You don’t frequently here preaching so heavy and specific.


They acknowledge the quizzers (apparently they will do more tomorrow night). They also had the general youth secretary from the ALJC.

Bro. Johnston corrected the oversight of Delaware being left out of the “roll call” of states.

Bro. Johnston preached quite a message! I won’t be able to summarize it here for you, hopefully another writer will. It was simply a great message. From way up where I was sitting I think I saw Bro. Haney walk onto the platform to amen him.

In closing, I am worn out.


Friday afternoon…

I went to the panel discussion for young adults which included Pastor Mark Jordan, Rev. Travis Miller and Kent Curry. They all had good things to say. Bro. Miller made a point which I found very interesting about people who are dating and considering marriage. He said that although it might seem that you only have small differences of direction now, those trajectories could lead off into widely different paths down the road, and so that needs dealt with sooner rather than later.

The panel format is a welcome innovation. Next time though, I hope they make it two hours because one hour wasn’t long enough for them to delve too deeply. Also, they need to make sure the panels have a little more diversity. This became apparent when they were fielded a question (the questions had been previously submitted online) about a girl suffering through bulimia.

Questions, comments, concerns? Please feel free to E-mail me!

Friday Morning-SarahK

Gooooood Mornninngggg this is SarahK from the Drury. I prefer to blog in the morning, I'm much happier in the morning. Let's first brag about my hotel. That's the famous Drury on Nationwide features complimentary pop, that's soda for the rest of the free world, and coke if you're from Texas. They literally replace the two you've consumed when housekeeping comes in. They also provide popcorn, found in the microwave, which my curly haired roommate has made it her choice for dinner every night-"it gets me through service," she tells me. Also, complimentary high-speed internet, making this blogging possible. Last but not least, they offer a wonderful hot breakfast. However, I sleep through that. But my roommates tell me it's incredible, and they bring me back coffee, so I love them forever.
Now for the complaint department: I understand the point of registration. As a person who helps to run a conference with a registration, I understand. But as someone who is currently unemployed $50 is a lot of money. No big deal, I'm happy to not attend the classes because I didn't register. But I can't get into pre-service without a registration card? And I can't get into the day general session. Give me a break. I'm paying for an expensive hotel, gas is a thousand dollars a gallon, and I'm pinching pennies just to be here. So I can't get in early (last night I had to pull the "I'm working the 90&9 picture taking (if you put in a lot of words it confuses people) for the group blog at the booth".) to get a decent seat, so I'm so far up in no man's land that experiencing service is difficult, and it goes on and on. Let's discuss this, shall we?
I did think there would be a larger group of college & career age folk here at the conference, but unfortunately, it's not as high as I was hoping. Even lying about my age, I'm wondering if this is my last congress. Maybe if they added something for the college & career age folk there would be a larger draw. You think??
My last point of the morning, is just a mention of the show I participated in last night-"walking back and forth with BobbyK" tune in, it's bound to be a success. I'll tell you all about it, after tonight's installment!!


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More Pictures! nkc

Still having problems with many uploads (& since it can't be our fault, it must be Bloggers!) But here are a few more...

Thursday night service packed 'em in. Not qute maximum (19,000) but getting closer.

Youth Congress Dudes.

Questions, comments, concerns? Please feel free to E-mail me!

Shhhhh! (kdc)

I uncovered the top secret location of where the next NAYC will be! The choices (according to the program) are New Orleans, Denver, Indianapolis. All will be revealed in tomorrow night's service. (But I can be bought...)

A reliable source whispered to me (& the 7 million other attendees at the NABQT banquet) that next year's Youth Workers Seminar thingee (now entitled Commune-ity) could very well be in Kansas City, KS. (If true, I will immediately implement a ban on any derivative jokes about "We're not in Kansas anymore, Toto." Let's just all laugh now & get it over with.)

My next location is the bed. Ciao!

Questions, comments, concerns? Please feel free to E-mail me!

NAYC Thursday Misc (kdc)

A Columbus City Ambassador was at many key intersections helping direct visitors!

After lunch at Martini's Italian Bistro with long-time reader/contributor David Agriesti & 90&9 Book Columnist Lee Ann Alexander, we somehow managed to only get two of our party of 4 in the picture. (Sorry David!) (Pix by my lovely "It's-My-Digital-Camera-So-I-Get-to-Take-the-Pictures" wife.)

Skyline shot from the main entrance of Nationwide Arena. (That's a large TV facing down on us. No, I don't know why.)

The Primary (non-registration) Youth booth selling the new Commune-ity T-shirts.


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Thursday Morning Service

Here's the opening song as the Arena filled (& the iPods distributed).

Prayer at the front after Harold Linder preached.



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Day 2-SarahK

Mmmm... I'm with Kent, how on earth is Congress more than half over?? It's the strangest thing. Yesterday I got here, and tomorrow it's all over. Today was a great day for congress. My feet aren't even killing me, which I suppose is a result of not wearing heels so obnoxiously high that I want to go barefoot through the streets of Columbus. Oh the lessons we learn with age!!!!!!!!!! Also, loved Easton mall and the area of Easton in general. It's a beautiful outdoor mall. We drove back out there tonight and enjoyed my favorite PF Chang's. Mmmm crunchy honey chicken. But before that happened (got a little off track there) service was definitely amazing. I thought the sound was somewhat improved. Not quite worked out, but compared to last night, wayyy better. I managed to not be up in the cheap seats tonight, courtesy of 90&9's blogger pic! I had to be nice and on time for that, and thus was plenty early for service. Like I said the sound was better tonight. Maybe tomorrow they'll have it worked out. We'll have to see.
The preacher was fantastic, of-course. Bro. Johnston seems just a really down to earth sort of guy. Then he gets preaching and is all over the place. Really really fantastic. Definitely one I'll look for to see if a conference is worth visiting.
My crowd had one major complaint and that was the music situation. Not just the sound issue, but the fact that there seemed to be no young people (and by young I mean 34 and under) really involved with the praise and worship music. Obviously, this is a problem. Also, were the choirs not miked?? It certainly didn't appear so!
The crowd seemed higher tonight and there was definitely more lobby movement from the pre-service on down until the end. Apparently many made the drive down today and I expect even more to do so tomorrow. Speaking of tomorrow, I'm way fired up to see Arkansas Mass Choir (and my favorite choir director and guitar player) in tomorrow night's service. Also, I'm definitely looking forward to hear Bro. Gaddy preach tomorrow night. I was privileged to hear his twin brother preach at one of our MI camps this summer, and again in this afternoon's class.
One pleasant surprise has been the city of Columbus. Other than being Buckeye country (yuck), I've thought the city really beautiful. It has a nice downtown area, though not overly large, everything of importance to us is pretty close together.
I can't believe congress is almost over, what a great week this has already been.
See you in the morning
Questions, comments, concerns? Please feel free to E-mail me!

Thursday NAYC-nkc

Mini-zamboni in the middle of the hall. Evidently a pipe was leaking like an April shower. Always interesting to see how people stop and gawk over other people's problems!











Wayne Francis, Todd Gaddy, and Shay Mann in cardboard form at the PPH booth. The Caricatures will be given away on Friday. The drawing will consist of customers who have spent $50 or more at the booth.









Views of the cyber cafe. Lots of emailing and game playing going on...a very busy place.

What is the word about town?

Some are impressed at how tastefully dressed many of our kids are, a security guy at the Hyatt told us that the young people had really been quite good so far.

It's always interesting to ask others what they think of the conference. One person summed it up this way, "When I stand out in the hallway and watch the young people it worries me, but when I go into church and I experience their sincere worship I think...it's going to be alright."

I found that very interesting and telling...later...tomorrow that is, n

Questions, comments, concerns? Please feel free to E-mail me!

NAYC Thursday Morning

What an unusual sight - a line outside of Starbucks first thing in the morning!


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Krispy Kremes, iPods, & Lime Green (kdc)

So Blogger won't allow me to upload my pictures. I'll be tackling it tonight after service & eating out after service. Hopefully they'll load properly. Sorry.

We took a group pic of our bloggers, as most of us had never met. Picture soon.

A few observations:

• It's weird to realize NAYC is half-over already. How can the time go so fast w/out me yet to attend a service? (I'm manning a booth.)
• I saw 2 females in slippers already & heard of a third whose carrying around her nice shoes just in case she needs to impress someone.
• Clothes colors are pretty muted, but there is some wild orange, lime green and aqua splashing about.
• Columbus has "Downtown Ambassadors" at key intersections (expect picture), helping people like us find our restaurants. A great plus.
• Already heard of a girl breaking her finger in a pillow fight last night.
• Happened to run across the Nationwide Event Staff & they said all was quiet, except for one girl who took a major spill.
• Don't let anyone tell you "Teenagers Today" aren't quality. The dress here is definitely Apostolic, modest & contemporary (those terms aren't oxymorons)! Likewise, the NAYC security team tells me they have no stories to tell. (So much for juicy stories to share.) We've got an arena full of teens & 20somethings trying to change their world. Ain't that cool?
• A different reliable source tells me this year's NAYC registration may not top 2003's in Nashville. Not that 12,000ish registrations is an insult.
• Unreliable source Jerkface tells me he wasn't offended by his reclassification yesterday.
• Meant to mention this yesterday, but Blogger ate it. When we came into the evening service, there was a group of Ohio teens screaming and cheering with signs at the doorway, welcoming everyone. Very nice move.
• THIS morning, free Krispy Kremes awaited everyone. Many teens didn't seem overly enthusiastic, but the recepients certainly were. Nice touch. GREAT surprise. (Expect pictures.)
• Then exactly as morning service began, GYD gave away 6 iPod Shuffles to the lucky person whose seat was marked. One poor teen rushed a piece of red tape down. Alas, that wasn't the marking.
  

All for now! More later.

Questions, comments, concerns? Please feel free to E-mail me!

Sights to behold, from nkc...

Yep, this is how ninetyandnine.com
has advertised all these years!


Shoes...you'll see an array of types in every group of girls, but I have to say it's a toss between the really high, high heels and flip-flops....





A few other thoughts...
While walking over to the conference this morning I began walking with a couple of ladies who were, um, somewhat lost. The lady said that she had been at the convention center the night before but wasn't quite sure how she got there...we made it just fine. Well, after lunch we are walking toward the hotel and guess who yells from across the street? Yes, the lady from Wichita, KS, wanting to know where something else was...hope she makes it the rest of the week.

Some girls I know came to the convention and rented a convertible PT cruiser. I was a little surprised when they honked and waved today. Later I saw them and asked whose car it was, they replied that a certain unnamed young lady had rented it. I said, you should have the top down and enjoy the ride of a convertible. And she promptly replied that she didn't want to mess up her hair...later, n.

Questions, comments, concerns? Please feel free to E-mail me!

Thursday – Is this thing already half over?

(Note: I want to give a shout out to all the youth leaders out there who take on the enormous challenge of bringing their young people to an event like this. It’s total craziness, isn’t it!?

Also, I apologize for my delayed reporting……I am finding it almost impossible to find the time to blog. I’m doing my best. I promise I will give an exhaustive synopsis of the event when I return home on Saturday.)

I overslept this morning…..missed the morning general session. Gripes!

I did, however, kick it into high gear – which is the only gear you can be in at NAYC – to make it to the split sessions. With youth group in tow, we headed to the Columbus Convention Center, which was about 3 blocks from the Arena…..just far enough to break a sweat.

Speaking of sweat, did anyone go to Chipotle for lunch? The spaghetti noodle line went clear out the door. I waited for about an hour and a half for a burrito! Crazy! But it was worth it. If you’ve never been to Chipotle, then you don’t understand.

At any rate, we’re here in Columbus, OH and I’m excited about that. I’ve talked to many out-of-staters regarding how they feel about NAYC being held in C-bus. Many do not share my same enthusiasm. Many reasons have been: too small of a city, not enough to do, not enough places to eat, poorly accommodating hotels, and a bunch of other lame reasons. Maybe I carry a bias, but C-bus ROCKS!

Questions, comments, concerns? Please feel free to E-mail me!

Wednesday Night Live.....from JK1

I almost forgot about the utter mayhem of the crowds at NAYC. Wow! You know, I love coming to events like Youth Congress because I get to see so many old friends. Likewise, I hate coming to events like Youth Congress because I see SO MANY old friends. It’s like a massive social overload. If you’ve ever been to Youth Congress, I’m sure you can relate. You struggle to greet every one you remotely know – amidst the thousands of overly eager people stampeding past you right and left, you try to innocently make your way through the crowd, and occasionally you run into someone you know – in that moment, you have, on average, about 3.5 seconds to catch up on each other’s past before being viciously mauled over by 2 dozen 13 year olds. It’s all good.

At any rate, let me report on Night One of Youth Congress 2005. Take my comments with a grain of salt……but I’m giving it to you straight up…..

Pre-Service: The energy was definitely there. It was loud. It was hyped. (However, not as much as I expected for the inaugural night…..there wasn’t that “Kapow!” factor). But that’s not what I want to comment on. I want to talk about the videography. I was very impressed with the quality of the videos – good job – they were cutting edge, hip, and impacting. But what was up with the Apostolic Youth Corp (AYC) video? It was almost scary. Plus, I don’t care for appeal tactics that guilt you into “doing” something for God. You may disagree, and if you do, please comment.

Music: I feel bad for all the musicians, choirs, and groups that sang. I’m sure they were all very talented. However, the sound system stunk. From where I sat, it all sounded like “mumbo, jumbo, mumbo, jumbo”.

On another note, I am curious as to why there isn’t more of a variety of music that is played at Youth Congress? Where is the more contemporary music? The rock? The modern hip-hop? Do all the young people in the UPC listen ONLY to gospel and southern blue-grass?

Service: The preaching was “on point” – Bro. Greg Glover presented a passionate charge to every young person to pick up the baton of generations before and believe for God to perform the unprecedented in the generation of today.

On another note, I’m sure I’m just unspiritual, but man, the service was long.

Arena: Nationwide Arena is very nice. There’s plenty of air and comfy seats.

Funny: The offering system was a little mixed up. I was sitting at the end of a row and somehow I ended up with a dozen offering buckets.

Positive Note: I have a couple of young people with me that are fresh out of the oven. They wanted to come to Youth Congress to see what all the hype was about. Upon entering the arena last night, I wasn’t sure how to read their reaction to all that was going on. But after Bro. Glover’s message, they entreated me to take them down to the ground level where others were praying. One of them looked at me and emphatically stated, “This is definitely worth $300!” (which is how much each young person had to raise to go on this trip).

PS: I took a gob of pictures yesterday of the arena, the services, and all the clamoring chaos and, lo and behold (Murphy’s Law), I brought the wrong adapter to download them to my computer. But do not fret, my friendly Blogazoid, I got another camera (and cord)….so I’ll be capturing the exciting action tonight and posting them probably tomorrow. Until then……peace out!

Hey ya'll!!! I just got done with the 2:30 session, it was awesome. Bro. Tim Gaddy preached and he did an awesome job. H preached on letting out your problems out and surrenduring them over to God, this message wasn't for everybody but the one's that really needed the message I know got a blessing. Again Bro. Gaddy did a great job!!!

Any ways before the session started we went and got something to eat and oh my goodness it took us a good hour before we found something to eat. Everywhere else was packed and very hecktic. But the place we found wasn't crowded at all so we finally got lucky on that!!! The things you have to do just to find something to eat!!!

I'm really looking forward to the service tonight. Bro. Johnston (?) is preaching tonight and I've never heard him but I've heard that he's really good so I'm really anxious!!!

Talk to ya'll later!!!

Eric's observations

Writing from the Hyatt….


Yesterday was a whirlwind for me. Around 4:30 the genius in me realized we were on Eastern Standard Time, not Central Standard time, which meant I was an hour behind schedule of the things I wanted and needed to do.

A few observations on opening night…

1. Bro. Mann announced that for the first 24 applicants to do AYC in Warsaw for campus ministry, the General Youth Board would match their fundraising for the first $2,000. It can be very difficult for young people to raise thousands of dollars, especially if they are from a smaller church. This is really good, I’m sure there will be many applicants.

2. Bro. Greg Glover preached very effectively about starting where the current or previous generation has left off, and not to go back to the starting point. Using examples of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, he challenged us to go further in our commitment because God will multiply our anointing to the point where instead of 1 child of promise (Abraham), the second generation had 2 children of promise (Isaac), the third had 12 (Jacob) and they became 12 tribes and a nation.

No one I was with had heard of Bro. Glover before. He is from Alaska, and still single. I wonder if he is one of the younger speakers they have had before.

3. Lots of people. The arena was probably 90% full last night. The place started filling up really early. Columbus almost feels like its too small of a city for such a big conference. The Hyatt hotel is packed (which is why thy have messed many room reservations up). They have wisely instituted a policy that to get into the arena before 7 pm you have to have a registration card. This encourages people to register as well as making sure registrants have first pick at the seating.



On the other hand…

I don’t want to sound too negative, but there were some things I noticed that should be mentioned…

1. The Mayor of Columbus wasn’t there. And unlike last time neither were the youth leaders of the ALJC. There was also no mention or acknowledgment of the Bible Quizzing, which had its finals yesterday afternoon. The “roll call of states” skipped straight over Delaware, going from Connecticut to Florida. Oh well, tonight speaker lives in Delaware (as I did for 18 years).

Some of the video’s they have played have been a little strange. They did a 4 minute countdown with clock and time graphics, but at the end they did another countdown (this time 15 seconds). I though “ok well they are starting church now”, but instead they showed a video….for Youth on Missions. This one was very confusing. At first its this man and woman investigating why a young man didn’t go on Youth on Missions. Then the man interrogates the kid all the while displaying his ability to have a New York, Irish, English and Scottish accent. The video did end strong with the kid saying “I had so much going on in my life, hat did you want me to do?” The man replied “just go.” The tag line said “avoid the conviction.” The spot ended really well, but the first 3 minutes of it was somewhat quizzical.

Finally

Innovation commendation: IBC has two guys walking around with backpacks that have a metal pole extending upward with a computer monitor on the end. They then travel around the concourse as a walking billboard with the IBC DVD presentation playing.
Questions, comments, concerns? Please feel free to E-mail me!

One day Down

SarahK here in the room!!! Despite immediate technical problems, I'm here!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Well day one down, more great things to come!! As usual, the closer you got, the more skirts (and J-low white sunglasses) appeared. And then we were here, shout out from the Drury (the roommates made me put that). Where we actually can sign on and blog (sorry about your luck, Eric).
Well, we made the short traverse over to the Nationwide, and it was somewhat reminiscient of the Atlanta Congress. The arena had a similar set up. We were dealing with escalators again, you can go up, but you can't go down. They waited until after service to make that magic happen. Seriously, I don't get that!! But, my 7:30 arrival left me sitting up in the far corner of no man's land. Well the good part about being up in the nosebleeds is that the sound was... well, you could kinda hear. Rumor has it, from the bottom, you might as well have been in the lobby. Which, I might add, was really low this year. Where's my lobby crew at?? True though, packed out arena and hardly any stragglers. They tell me the restaurants started to fill closer to the end of the message. Apparently that Alaskan kept their attention.
If you're looking for packed out eateries try Bucca di Beppy's (sp?) and Max & Erma's across the street. We went down to the corner. Anything that isn't mainstream isn't packed!
But now it's early and I'm tired, and by early, I mean it's 10:30, but when you go to bed after 4, 10:30 (also Miss Quintessa's phone going off at 6 am) is early. Someone bring me Starbucks please (grande sumatra tan w/ two splendas)!!!

Questions, comments, concerns? Please feel free to E-mail me!

That's MISS Coach of the Year to you, buddy! (kdc)

I must tell the world that our own Alicia Becton, after leading her Nashville team to 2nd in the nation, won the Coach of the Year award! Hooray for her! I was so proud of her efforts this year. When I talked to her earlier in the week, she didn't talk about their guaranteed trophy, but how wonderful it was that each of her kids (on the experience & intermediate teams) had scored positive points. Through the year she discussed teaching the kids about life as well as the Word, and that was apparent in bringing in guest speakers on a myriad of topics to help them.

As her coach over her final years, I couldn't of been prouder. Her speech was classy, heartfelt, and warm. Hooray for an old friend! (Send your congratulations to her at the address below.)

Another Note: Her captain, Blake, was top scorer in the nation. Congrats Blake!

At the banquet's very end, the Bible Quizzing family celebrated Bro. Lonnie Brown's chosen retirement time. He began in 1967 and has been involved in BQ every year since (except for a couple working for Uncle Sam). Bro. Marvin Walker read a tribute to him, then Sis. Donna Mary Brown spoke & then he shared his heart, ending with, "Thank you for letting me serve you and possibly being a small influence on your life."

Except for the part where I was standing on my sore feet most of the banquet, it was a great night for me, as my former coach was given a heartfelt goodbye and a former quizzer was heralded with Coach of the Year. I'm so proud to be a part of both of their lives.

Questions, comments, concerns? Please feel free to E-mail me!

As My Wife Gently Sleeps (kdc)

So I'm back from the NABQT (hereafter known as the N. American Bible Quizzing Tournament) banquet & my feet are aching! And it's only Wednesday!

Plus, I wrote this equisite posting at the cool cyber cafe they set up, hit "Publish Post" & Blogger tells me they are down for "scheduled maintenance." Now, why they didn't tell me this BEfore I started writing, I don't know, but I'm so close to back sliding at Youth Congress (hereafter known as NAYC) now.

Let's see...here are my impressions of the first night:

• My feet ache. Ow.
• A reliable source tells me there were 8,514 pre-regs for NAYC - a new record.
• A different reliable source lied as GLU did not sponser my Hyatt key card or any I saw. (This reliable source will hereafter be known as Jerkface.)
• Speaking of the Hyatt - how can you call yourself a conference hotel w/20 floors & only design 4 elevators into the process? Hu-looo! Other events occur in Columbus besides the big Michigan game every other year!
• The check-in process would've been an unbearable 30 mins w/out the constant inflow of friends and the cheery desk clerks. (BTW, if you're the UPC of Duluth (?), GA, my room was almost charged to your account. You can thank me with lunch sometime.)
• On the trip to Columbus down I-70, we passed 4-5 pair of 2 church vans - only 1 pairof which was broken down on the side of the road. At that point, Nita & I applied those famous scriptures in James by yelling, "Be warmed! Be filled!" as we passed them by going 80.
• I'm guessing there was about 12,000 in the arena to hear Bro. Glover of Alaska preach. (It was amazing how the hallways started filling once the preaching started. I mean, not stuffed like the old days, but still many more people than when the singing et al occurred.)
• My feet ache. Why aren't you praying for them?
• I was able to meet the talented Sarah Holland, as well as re-meet book columnist Lee Ann Alexander, as well as several loyal readers from OK, TN & other, even more mysterious places. Thank you one and all for your support.
• The arena is humid. Stinky, sweaty humid. I don't deserve that when my feet ache.
• The arena concession stands, with their $5 Strombolis and $8 chicken fingers, closed about 9:30ish, but the area restaurants had erected tents outside the main Nationwide Arena entrance and tried selling $5 sandwiches to the departing masses. I had no idea that groceries cost so much in Ohio.
• My feet! My feet! My kingdom for some feet!
• There are 2 IBC guys with shoulder harnesses holding monitors about four feet above their heads. Playing on the monitors appear to be the many activities one can enjoy at IBC. They're quite eye-catching, looming above the crowd like that. I'll try to snag a picture tomorrow.
• An old buddy emailed to ask if we'll be Group Blogging at General Conference in Richmond. I don't know, but it's a good idea. I guess it'll depend if I can get some dedicated co-conspirators. Anyone interested?
• I took many pictures tonight. At some point today, many of them will be posted.
• I'm going to sleep now.
• My feet still hurt.

Questions, comments, concerns? Please feel free to E-mail me!

What's up from CO - Amanda

What's up guys and gals!!!! I am now in Columbus, Ohio, Hallelujah!!!!

Any ways, The service just got over with and it was great!!! Bro. Glover preached on following your calling and not your career, it was really good!! I alsoi found out that I am going to be a preachers wife, I thinks that's kind of cool. Oh word of advice, come early so you can get a good seat, if you don't come early then you're gonna be getting nose bleed seats, horrible!!!

But any ways, we're gonna go and eat now, thank the Lord, I'm starvin'!!!

Talk to you all tomorrow!!!!

Nita in Columbus, OH!

Here I am feeling very ratty and gritty after the 6+ hour trip. We were welcomed to Columbus with a traffic jam in the Hyatt round-about, after waiting about 15 minutes Kent went in to register. I finally got the car within earshot of the bell-hops and was told that it would be a little while before a cart would be available. We usually travel fairly light, but we had several boxes that we were transporting for the conference so to go without a cart was out of the question. We waited a half hour before getting our room. As soon as our clothes arrived, we scurried to Bible quizzing to see (pictures will be coming...) the final quiz that had our own Alicia Becton and her experienced team in it. After an exciting first quiz which Alicia's team (Tennesee 1) won, then they lost the last quiz to Louisiana. Congrats Alicia on a great year/tournament!

Well must go, later...n
Questions, comments, concerns? Please feel free to E-mail me!

Jeremy or JK1?

Okay…..I’m here in Columbus now, and for some strange reason, I feel the urge to change my persona. You might think I’m weird, but that’s okay, so do I. But hear me out: Do you ever feel like certain environments and atmospheres demand a certain personality? You see, back home I am dull and boring, and I’m realizing today that that’s just not going to work out for me this week. Here at the NAYC the atmosphere is hip, it’s electric, it’s cool – too cool just to be my normal me. So, I decided, I guess as a mental strategy, that from here on – until I return home to Cleveland – I must change my persona – and with this change, so changes my identity – I no longer can be just Jeremy, or else I’m stuck being dull and boring. I now am JK1.

Yeah, it’s corny. :) That’s why I do it.

JK1 is my alias. It’s my cooler side. It’s what gets me out of my laid back, locked up shell and into a high-spirited, more spontaneous disposition. It reminds me that the man inside of me is crazy…..and that life is so short……so, as for me and this blogging gig, expect the mundane no more, I want you to experience the craziest, most extreme blogging you’ve ever read. No mind-numbing comments on blasé experiences. This is Youth Congress 2005!

Therefore, I commit to you, the Blogazoid, to write with enthusiasm; to be specific and to the point; to be painstakingly honest, and above all to bring to you, along with my fellow bloggers – LIVE from C-bus – the good, the bad, the ups, the downs, the ins, the outs, the hots, and the nots, of the 2005 NAYC!

Cartoon.

Questions, comments, concerns? Please feel free to E-mail me!

Jeremy: Pre-Youth Congress Hysteria...

There’s nothing like the pressure of last minute packing.

Upon coming home last night from work, I was pumped. My mind was geared – I had all intentions of getting into the “zone” and performing a personal, record-breaking 30 minute pack job for NAYC. Unfortunately, there’s always Murphy’s Law (anything that can go wrong, will go wrong) to contend with…..and so it was, of all the things to happen…..the night before Youth Congress…...my electricity went out!

Grrrrr……..my “zone” was destroyed.

Finally, an eternity later (probably 20 minutes), the lights came back on. But the damage was already done. I no longer had the focus and determination I carried earlier. In fact, I was now too tired to pack. So I took a nap.

I woke up at eleven.

Grrrr.

Why does this happen to me every time?! It doesn’t matter how hard I try, if it’s not one thing or another, I’m always left scampering around in a hysterical madness at the last minute trying to find my last pair of clean black dress socks or iron my favorite shirt which I’ve probably worn to the past 5 Youth Congress’. I guess it’s all a part of the Pre-Youth Congress Hysteria – and that’s why I love it!

What’s a Youth Congress trip without being totally frazzled from shot nerves and sleep deprivation? I was up so late last night that my contacts literally adhered to my eyeballs.

Here's another cartoon.

Questions, comments, concerns? Please feel free to E-mail me!

SarahK-all excited for NAYC

Man oh Man Kent, now you've got me all excited for congress!! Even with the "will hereby be knowns". And I have an answer to the GLU question as well!! We'll talk!

Questions, comments, concerns? Please feel free to E-mail me!

NAYC Surprises? (kdc)

Reliable sources tell me there will be at least one major pleasant surprise for attendees on Thursday morning, besides the fact that the General Youth Division (hereafter known as GYD) has arranged for an internet cafe for everyone to check their emails (or upload their blog posts) from. Very considerate. (Now, I wonder how long before the lines of people wanting access stretch across the arena? More importantly, are bloggers given priority?)

While Pentecostal Publishing House (hereafter known as PPH) has got a special fun activity at their booth for anyone with a camera.

I got a sneak peek at the videos that will be playing during /after services and all I'll say about them is: Prepare to be impressed. Top notch graphics and message covering Apostolic Youth Corps (hereafter known as AYC) and the renaming/redesigning of a GYD institution. Cool stuff. I hope GYD will put them on their web site after NAYC.

Oh, Great Lakes University (hereafter known as GLU) snagged the coveted Headquarters hotel (Hyatt) key cards advertisement. So everyone(?) in the Hyatt will be reminded of them every time they enter their room. Does anyone know how much that costs? Sounds like something 90&9 might contemplate sometime.

Record preregistrations for this NAYC. If I get permission to release the numbers (and you know who you are), I'll share them with you.

Hmmm. This gossip columnist thing is kind of addictive. If I hear a