I went with the worship team from Arrow Heights to Pawnee, OK to play a good old fashioned revival. It was youth night and the house was packed and was very responsive. I love playing for crowds like that. The preacher for the night was Scott Watkins. I hadn’t see Scott since Super Summer about 10 years ago. Time flies fast as you get older. Thanks to Mike for buying the drinks on the way home.

We had a great launch party for Skate Church this week with more than 35 people in attendance. We had a great time skating and the skaters love the new quarterpipe, though I had to yell at the for jumping off of the storage building where it was positioned against. The guy standing next to me is Josh and it was his first time at the park. Before I started the devotional I asked for a volunteer to hold the bucket of tickets that we were going draw from for the new skateboard. Josh volunteered right off. I told all the kids that I didn’t know him and that he looked a bit shady so they should keep their eyes on him to make sure he wasn’t putting extra tickets in the bucket. When it came time to draw guess whose name came out of the bucket? My man Josh’s. What are the odds? I met his mom after we finished and she really loved seeing her son skate and what we were doing with the park. We had for older teens from the local skatepark show up early and help set the park up. A couple of these guys dropped out of school, but would like help getting back on track. They would like to get their GED and go to college.

I am learning that effective ministry can really boil down to time. How much time do you have to give? Do you have time to just hang out and talk with students and really get to the core issues of their problems? Many times we try to apply a huge message to a large group of students and spend a lot of time not connecting with the issues they are really dealing with. Maybe it is time to start getting back to a biblical model of small group where one leader leads a small number of students and really invests in their lives instead of one guy preaching at 50, 100, 500 or more students, but never connecting with them individually with what they really need right now. Jesus was able to spend quality time with each of his disciples. Maybe it needs to be quality over quantity. Maybe that is teaching less for more. Teach less students for a greater impact. Teach less messages so that they can work on one thing at a time. Less talking and more listening. I am starting to rant so I will cut this one short.

Great launch party can’t wait for next Tuesday.

Later people.

      I had a great weekend with our Student Ministry at Breaking Free. We went down to CrossTimbers outside of McAlester. Andy Tilly and the Jeff Capps Band led the weekend and the leadership team did an amazing job. I am going to take a nap because I am bushed.

      We had our first Skate Church since school started tonight and it was amazing. We had over 25 people there including 12 first time skaters. There is something about connecting with first time guests that is just thrilling. If you are free on Tuesdays from 4:30-8:00 PM and are looking to get involved in a ministry that reaches out to the community and the unchurched then come check us out next Tuesday. After we had put the ramps up I walked outside and there were 7 students I have never meet before that were ready to get on the ramps. God is blowing me away with how He is working through skateboarding to connect with students.

      We need volunteers to help register students, work in the concession area, check out video games, and just hang out and encourage the skaters. Send me an email at jeremy@arrowheights.com if you are interested in getting involved.

     Next week we will posting some pictures of the ramps and telling you about the Family Fun Day we will be putting on in September.

     The 5K this morning went off amazing. The Broken Arrow Cross Country Team, the boosters, Glen’s Road Race, our sponsors and my assistant Rhonda really helped to make it a great event. We wouldn’t have gotten it done without everyone’s help. We had almost 100 people compete and the weather was absolutely perfect. I led the race on my bicycle and let me tell you that those guys were quick. I had to put it into overdrive while climbing the small hills on the course. I have already received a lot of emails telling me how great the event went and how AHBC members are connecting with other racers after the event. Mission accomplished.

I feel certain that we will do this again next year.

You can take a look at the race results at http://www.runnersworldtulsa.com/getraceresults.asp?ID=605. Brian Hoover at RunnersWorld Tulsa was a great resource for the race. Thanks for lunch at Brookside Brian and helping me get started.

Tell me how you thought the race went and share some stories about the people you met.

The ArrowHeights.org 5K is hours away. I think we have tied up most of the loose ends. I still have to go and put out some direction signs along the road and set up in the morning, but a lot of the heavy lifting is out of the way. I like planning events like this. Trying to think through all of the details and bring them all together. I think I have a good temperament for it. I am pretty cool under pressure. All of our shirts didn’t come in, but I can’t make them appear so we will have to catch up with people later. If everything went according to plan then I would be a little scared of what would come up during the race. We had 60 people registered as of 3:00 PM today. The guys at the race store expect more people to show up in the morning to race. I would really love to see 60 more people register in the morning. That would really just make my day.

After the race is packed back up and put away tomorrow I plan on mowing the yard, taking a bath and sleeping on the couch.

See you in the morning.

      I had lunch today with Brian Hoover from RunnersWorld Tulsa at The Brook. We discussed the upcoming ArrowHeights.org 5K Race on August 9th. RunnersWorld is going to help get the word out about the race and help with registration. This race is really coming together quite nice and Brian was excited about the fact that we are the only race around that day, which should help us draw a larger crowd and more money for the Broken Arrow Cross Country Team. If you haven’t registered for the race you can get your ArrowHeights.org 5K Race Registration here.

The Caesar salad at The Brook was great. I can’t wait to go there at another time and try something else.

We had a great time at skate church last week and I thought I would post a picture of some of the guys. I got them to pose like a family portrait, as best that they could. These guys are a blast.

       We are starting a new sermon series next Sunday at Arrow Heights called Training for the Race: Spiritual Disciplines for the Human Race. This series is 5 weeks long and the Saturday before the last week we will be putting on the ArrowHeights.org 5K Race at Haikey Creek Park on August 9th. The proceeds from the race will benefit the Broken Arrow Cross Country Team. If you are interested in entering the race or being a sponsor contact me through the contact me page here on the blog. Putting the race together has been a lot of fun so far. Here is a peek at the front of the shirt for the race. It has a really vintage look to it and will be printed on American Apparel shirts, which are extra soft. Yeah for shirts. See you guys at the race.

I spent most of the day today talking to K-5th graders about percussion at SPLAT CAMP.  SPLAT CAMP at Arrow Heights is a time of very messy games and there is an element of learning about musical instruments.  We had a drum set, shakers, bells, tambourines, tympani, cymbals, clave, and a cow bell.  The kids got loud and love playing the tympani the most.  I did not see any kids get messy unfortunately.  I had a great time with the kids and found some very promising prospects for our student worship team.  They are several years away, but they should be pretty good by the time they get there.