2009 DATES ANNOUNCED

Join us July 5-11, 2009 for Conference at Radford University. Check the LOGOS Ministry website at www.thelogosministry.org soon for more details and registration information.

Pictures

Pictures from Conference are now posted...check the links section.

Conference Ends

Friday night worship with communion was as powerful as every year! Lots of youth stepped forward to testify to the impact this week had on their lives and to give thanks to God on many levels. Thom's message empowered us all to consider the in-between time...the journey...not just the beginning and the end. It was a mighty way to send us all off the mountain top and back into the world. The songs that we had been working on all week were amazing in offering praise to God! If you were there....which was your favorite?

Goodbyes were said Friday evening and then again Saturday at our continental breakfast. Tough to leave!

Plans are to post a link to the pictures that everyone took which will be a great way to share. Check back soon!

It Can't Be Friday!

But it is...and there are already some sad faces anticipating that tonight is the night to say goodbye. Everyone rolls out very early tomorrow morning.

We wrapped up our week of morning worship by watching and singing about and hearing about DANCE! Bruce Bowen, from First Presbyterian in Bethlehem, PA preached the sermon, "Dancing in Your Underwear" and asked, "Do we worship God with as much wild abandonment as we use in watching a big time football game?" Why not? Why is it so easy to get fired up at sports events and rock concerts but often not for worship? David showed us otherwise by his dancing before the Lord with the return of the ark of the covenant. David taught us that the most important thing in his life was his relationship with God and showed it in his passion. We should go and do likewise! The scripture from Bruce's message was presented by the drama group with an incredible pantomine to music of the journey of the ark. AWESOMELY POWERFUL! Our Dance Activity Group brought some beautiful creative movement to the song, "Indescribable." What a morning!

This is the day of "lasts"...my Bible study group (all graduated seniors) moved outside to talk for a short time, take pictures and then walk into town to a coffee shop. Probably one of my favorite "lessons" of the week. What a great group of young men and women. I will miss them all fiercely and hope to hear from them frequently as they all embark on new adventures this fall. I also enjoyed having a wonderful assistant from Maryville, TN who is a recently (as of last week!) retired high school assistant principal. One of the young men in our Bible group is going to be going to college about 20 miles from Merl's home so they made plans to keep in touch.

Lots of the Activity groups moved outside (did I mention it's an absolutely GORGEOUS day?) and I sat in on the board game group and the guitar group came over to serenade us. Why wouldn't anyone want to spend a week doing this is all I could think to myself!!

Tonight is our closing worship which includes communion as well. The young people are invited to come forward near the beginning of worship for our "say so" time ("Let the redeemed of the Lord say so...") to express their encounter with Christ this week. It's always a very powerful time of testimony and thanksgiving. Conference Director Rev. Thom Lamb will be preaching. This is also the time to bring the choral gifts that we have been working on all week. We sing to an "audience of one"...God.

Off to lunch...

Talent Show

LOGOS Conference East Talent Show 2008 was AMAZING...everything from salsa dancing, original film, voice, piano, dance, guitar, flute, rap, comedy sketches...wow! What's so amazing is not JUST the depth of talented and gifted young people that have gathered here for this week, but the risk that many of them are taking to get up before nearly 200 people and do something that places them at extreme vulnerability. And they are so AFFIRMED by everyone there. It helps build the trust that they need to go take on their giants. God is surely in this place.

Here's a list of the acts:

Jake Pfarr: Tappin up a Storm
Noelle Mandrekas & Cinda Ward: "Star Spangled Banner"
Kelsey Mills: "Shadow of the Day"
Dance Activity Group: "Hey Mickey"
Small Hands Make the World Grow: F-U-N skit
Katherine Gorman: "Here I am, Lord"
Stumpy & Dougy: "Anything"
Suavemente: Lady, Ruthie, Jay, Demetrius
Doug Osselaer: "Praise You in the Storm"
Maple Grove Church: "Men with Guns"
Guitar Activity Group: "Every Rose"
Amelia Swedeen & Evan Steigert: "Until You are Serious" film
Cinda Ward: "I Can Only Imagine"
Julie Kokinos: "Dancing"
Kim Lamb: "Higher Ground"
Ben Daughtry & Ben Prince: "Tell Her This"
Kathy Clausing: "Only Hope"
3 Stooges: "Changed My Mind" skit
Colby Trent: Original piano piece
Thomas Jackson: "Never Would Have Made It"
Craig Sparks: "You are Welcome Here"
Willy Momo, Gorpu Brown, & Thomas Jackson: "Appreciate the Lord"

Talent Show organizers Beth Foster and Jake Pfarr did an outstanding job previewing all of the acts, scheduling the tremendous variety and keeping everything moving! Gotta run back to snack time now and then the "talk it over" time to debrief the day.

It CAN'T be Friday tomorrow already!!

Thank you to the cooks and card swiper

In the great LOGOS tradition, we sang to our cooks, clean up crew and wonderful lady who has swiped our cards for breakfast, lunch and dinner everyday we've been here! Since one of our "theme" songs has been "Lord of the Dance" David Douthett wrote some appropriate words and we serenaded the staff at dinner as follows....

Dining Hall Thank You
to the tune of "Lord of the Dance"

I came into Muse Hall for to get me a meal.
You met me there with a smile that was real.
You took my card, and you gave it a swipe;
You always said "Thank you," and never did gripe!

Chorus:
Thank you for everything you do!
You've shown us love like God's children do.
You've served us well, and so we give a cheer,
And we'll see you again when we come back next year!

I went in the dining room and hoped for a treat.
The kitchen crew here really can't be beat!
You stirred and mixed, you cooked and brought out;
You served us with style and deserve a shout!

Chorus

I ate up my dinner, then my table did bus.
You stood in the dish pit, and you never made a fuss!
You welcomed my dishes, all my garbage and trash--
"Thank you," you said and a smile did flash!

Chorus

Apologies for any typos...I'm in a hurry and late for choir rehearsal. Ned is waiting!!!

Thursday

Well...thanks for your prayers between 11:30 last night and 9:00 this morning! Somehow the sermon managed to come together and I'd like to post an excerpt from it. It was based on a study of the story of David and Goliath:

I spent some time with a new friend on Tuesday who told me about her giants. These are giants that I have honestly never even imagined. She told me how her father and one of her brothers had been killed because of political wars in her country. She told me about her father’s brother…her uncle…who confiscated her family’s land as his own, leaving her mother and her and her brothers without a home. Then there was the journey to another country to live in a refugee camp. Because the rules are that you can’t be a refugee in your own country…you have to leave and seek shelter somewhere else. So it was a long drive to a new place in very desperate conditions. A thatched hut, no plumbing, no electricity, one meal a day and a very corrupt government that made up reasons to throw innocent people into prison in order to protect their reputation...which they did to her mother. And then trying to get out of the desperate conditions and it taking so long and it being so difficult.

THOSE are huge, mean, and ugly giants. And those were giants that came crashing into her life uninvited and without much warning.

Are you ready to face your giants? It’s okay to be afraid of them. What’s not okay is to ignore them. Because like Goliath, they just don’t go away on their own. The one guarantee about giants is that they WILL come…do come…never stop coming and we need to be ready. Maybe this week has been a time for you to take a break from your giants—or begin to face them.

My new friend didn’t ignore her giants. She fought back with stubbornness, determination, maybe a little anger…okay, maybe a lot of anger…and by going to school to get a good education to help face future giants. She also had a mother with a deep faith who must say to her often, “Go…and the Lord be with you.” [which Saul said to David before he went to fight Goliath] Her mother knew, and taught her, that our God’s love is wider and deeper and longer and more powerful than any army of giants. Her mother knew, just like we know, that Jesus didn’t die to keep us safe. He died so we’d be strong enough to face our giants…and help others face theirs.

This was the story of one of the young ladies attending the Conference...puts some other things that we think of as "giants" into a better perspective, don't you think?

Our Signing Activity Group signed the Confession and Assurance of Pardon in worship and the Drama Group played out the scene of David taking on Goliath...it took about 8 of them to represent the giant!

There's been a little bit of a break in the rain so outside time will be a little easier today.

TALENT SHOW tonight!!

Mid-Week Miracle

Oops! Sorry I didn't report anything sooner about Tuesday night and now it's Wednesday night! The dance was a blast although a little unusual since we had to be transported by a bus to the dance hall. Did you catch that? "A" bus...for 180 people! Yes, there were quite a few runs back and forth. But all in all, a great evening. We closed with a rousing chorus of "YMCA."

Wednesday...Very moving worship today from start to finish. The drama group enacted a story about the relationship between Jonathan and David and it was very clever! Rev. Luke Ponder from First Presbyterian in Huntsville, AL preached a moving sermon about friends...using Jonathan and David as well as the story from the New Testament of the 4 people who carried their friend to see (and be healed by) Jesus. How does a friend's faith influence someone else's faith? What might be the long term affect of your faith on others? Hmmmm....lots to think about and talk about during Bible study.

We were supposed to have a cookout and go to a waterpark today but the decision was made to cancel....too much rain still forecasted! Turns out, that was a good decision because it did RAIN! I think we're going to start building the LOGOS Ark!! Fortunately, this is a small campus so it's not a big deal and we have some terrific indoor facilities. Everyone had to select a special afternoon activity today and choices ranged from watching a movie ("The Incredibles") to whiffle ball, silly games, bowling or ping pong tournament, Holy Motion (ask, if you don't know what it is). Adults were not allowed to choose "power napping" as an option but we were sorely tempted! Relationships are abounding. It's been a great week and hard to believe it's the mid-point already.

We had a combined Vespers tonight with lots of singing and an illustration about a bird and some manure. Sorry....I can't go into any more details. You'll just have to ask someone who was there!

I'm preaching in the morning and my sermon is NOT completely finished and...oh dear...look what time it is. I would appreciate your prayers! It's "David and Goliath" day so we should have some mighty big discussions. Looking forward to the day... Oh yes...and the TALENT SHOW is tomorrow night. We've got about 20 acts on the schedule and it should be the terrific event that it always is!

Signing off and hope to get to bed before 2 am!!