Passionately Satisfied

So... who is the guy in the picture? Well that is, Mike Grober, Missions Pastor at the Church at Rock Creek.

Tomorrow morning he and i will take 15 college and high school students to Santos Dumont, Brazil. I am really excited. I can't wait to see what God has in store for us.

I have never been around someone who was more at home leading people on a mission trip. He is amazing. Last year during a "problem solving" moment in Lima, Peru... i heard him speak four languages in about one minute.

But more than that is his passion for what he does and how satisfied he is doing it. It is very rare that i meet someone as passionate about their mission as i feel about mine but i know that we share the same desire to Worship through our gifts.

What about you. Are you passionate and satisfied? What are you living for that is bigger than yourself? My prayer is that you find and embrace that passion and run full speed with your entire life into it.

Freedom Camp

Tonight was the last night at Freedom Camp at Windermere, Mo. I am so excited about the things that i have seen God do this week. Jesus Revealed... Hearts Change. Tonight we ended with worship and i have to say that it was a very special night. It was so exciting to hear hundreds of students "all in" for the glory of God. What a picture of what the church is supposed to look like.

I have seen more clearly than ever that this generation has been spiritually orphaned by their parents. They have no idea what following Jesus on a daily basis looks like. They have never seen it with their own eyes. There is a difference in them... however.. they desire to see God move and to live for something bigger than themselves. I am so excited about the next 20 for the church. I really believe that if we can train up these students they will rip down the walls in America that have hindered hearts to move towards Christ.

We must invest in them. Disciples must be made. There may be no more important task for my life, outside of my family, than awaking our generation to the Glory of God.

Thanks to all of you who have been praying! Our God is Great!

Questions

The past week has been a week that i have really done some evaluating within the student minstry.... evaluating that has filled my mind and heart with questions...

Where are we going?
Where does God want us to go?
How will we get there?
What will it look like?
How can I put us the possible situation to succeed?
Are we doing all we can to reach students?
Have I communicated well enough how much we need parents involved?

I sat down with a good friend this week and went through some of the thoughts in mind. He is the kind of person that does not tell you what you want to hear.. he is more concerned with the truth. We sat for a while and i listened. After a week of processing... i came to this conclusion...

The questions and questioning are a requirement for success, however having the answers immediately is not. It is the courage to ask the tough questions and pursue the answers that leads to success. If you are waiting for God to answer every question before you move... enjoy your seat.

Yesterday i did yard work all day. At the end of the day, i watched fireworks from the front yard. I looked at Courtney and said, "the yard is finished, look what i did!

You never get to say that in Student Ministry, Parenting, or any other relationship for that matter. It is never finished. There is never a moment that you arrive.

That is why this job pushes your faith. There is always another level of dependence. There is always more students to reach. There is always more work to do.

What are the tough questions you need to ask. As a friend, parent, son, daughter, student pastor, coach, teacher.........

i pray you will have the courage to ask them.

Time

When the bus pulled in from Kairos and I finally arrived at home, I realized that I had ever been so tired in my life. But if you are a parent, you know that Carson & Cameron, didn’t care... they just wanted their daddy.

We spent the day playing together and then the next morning Courtney and I flew out for a week of vacation.

Courtney’s love language is time. If you don’t know what that means, i encourage you to pick up “The Five Love Languages” by Gary Chapman. Basically, Courtney feels loved the most when it is just me and her with no agenda spending quality time together.

So this week, we will lay on the beach, float in the pool, eat at the buffett, take naps, watch movies, and go to the pool again... tan fat always looks better than white fat!

You see, as great as Kairos was, and how incredible it was to see so many students lives changed... it is not my first priority.

The measure of any man is how he leads his family.

What is your number one priority? Let me put it this way. What do you spend most of your time investing in? What do you spend your time dreaming about? What do you spend your time thinking about?

I encourage you this week to take a step back from all the things we “ought” to be doing and focus in on the most important responsibilities we have.

I hope you have a wonderful week and maybe take some, TIME, to invest in the most important relationships in your life!

I included some pictures of our TIME...

Thanks

Well the results are in and Kairos was all we prayed and hoped it would be.

So how do you create such an amazing week for students? Well the group above deserves the credit.

They are the ones who have the late night conversations with students, stay in the hospital until 4 a.m., load & unload and then do it again, ride on a van for 18 hours, and love on your students.

I can’t tell you how proud I am to be a part of this team. What an incredible group of people.

What amazed me most was watching everyone work within their gifts. There is no limit to what you can accomplish as a team when you know your gifts and the gifts of the people around you and everyone is satisfied in their role.

There is another group I want to thank... YOU! Whether you are reading this as a student, parent, scholarship donor, or just friend.... we could not have pulled this off without you.

Thanks for believing in the Rock Creek Student Ministry! Thanks for Loving these Students!

I think I can speak for the entire team when I say we have FINISHED EMPTY!

Jason

Live From Kairos

Well I have to say that I am completely blown away by what God has done this week.

First of all tonight was “over the top” watching our video guys in the helicopter flying around a multi-million dollar yacht, while our students were about to eat prime rib, shrimp, mahi-mahi, and key lime pie... was one of the most overwhelming and exciting things that i have ever done.

The students were more excited about tonight that I have ever seen them about anything.

I sat on the back of the yacht as the sun went down into the gulf. The students were eating and I slipped away for just a couple of moments to think. I was thankful. Thankful that you gave. You gave your time to invest in your child. You gave your trust to allow me take them. You gave your money, not just the $300, but faithfully, so a place like Rock Creek could invest in students in such a way. I am so thankful to be a part of this.. at a place like Rock Creek!

Tomorrow Morning we are going to walk, as a family, carrying a 400 pound cross into the ocean. We will baptize 32 students and one of my leaders!!! New Life! New Hope! New Hearts!

I have a wide range of emotion tonight.... I am exhausted and excited, empty and full, satisfied and hungry and to be honest... I am ready to see my little girls!

But there is more to do. I have had more one on one conversations with broken, hurting, & lonely students this week than in all my time combined at Rock Creek.

Their common cry... “how could God love me... with all i have done... with all the pain i have caused... with all the anger inside me...with all the hurt that waits for me at home... how?”

Through the tears, time and time again, i lean into a students face and whisper... “take a look at that ocean... do you see how far east is from west? That is how much God loves you and how far he has separated your sin from you. My God.... Is Crazy in Love With You!

God is moving! Lives Are Changing! Kairos is Happening!

I could write much more... and I think I will when the time is right... but for now, i need rest... we are not done yet... and I intend to FINISH EMPTY!

From Mark Evans

You can take the senior pastor out of student ministry, but you’ll never be able to take the heart for teenagers out of the senior pastor--not this one, at least.

It’s interesting. So many of my colleagues across the country seem to view ministry with students as the place where you “put in your time” before moving on to “more important” assignments.

But I have the opposite point of view. In a culture where students are abandoning their faith in record numbers, once they hit the college campus, what could possibly be more important?

Watching the behind-the-scenes effort, energy and creativity that Jason and his team have poured into planning for this week’s trip has been an unbelievable experience. To say that our students are going to have good time is an understatement! I suspect that many of them will return -- suntanned and smiling, no doubt -- with a deeper, more fully-examined commitment to following Christ in an authentic and life-changing way.

As the father of two teenagers myself, I feel incredibly blessed to have my kids involved in such a vibrant, genuine and significant student ministry. As the Senior Pastor, I feel incredibly honored to have Jason Curry as a member of the Rock Creek Staff.

Maybe it’s the former Student Pastor in me. But as I see it, the student ministry will always be the benchmark for the health and vitality of any church. By that measure, I’m glad to report -- Rock Creek is doing quite well.