e-news for week of 2/20/11

By Justin Keith, High School Minister

I've asked plenty of students who attended last weekend's DiscipleNow! conference, that was held at Forum just for High School students, what their favorite part was and I've received plenty of answers. Some said worship, others said the community of believers, most said all of it and that put a smile on my face! But I didn't know what to answer when the question was put upon me. I really did like all of it even though I plan on making some changes for next year, but what was my absolute favorite part?

I guess I could sum it all up in a situation that occurred on our very first night together. It was Friday and we had just taken our seats after a stirring worship session led by Tyler Morris. I sat down in front of a computer monitor to run the powerpoint that Matt Proctor had given me to accompany his sermon. About 15 minutes in I decided that I must send a text to Dave Buster, who was running sound. It wasn't because he was doing a poor job, but the text demanded that the large, red-glowing clock that hangs in the back of the auditorium (in case Scott gets windy) be unplugged immediately! I told Dave, "I don't want him thinking he needs to wrap it up anytime soon!"

Matt led our students four times with passion, conviction, and a deep love of God. Having a guy like that as a guest speaker sure makes me look really good for scheduling him! But more than that, all of us who were their working with the students could breathe a sigh of relief knowing that we would get to see God move in exciting ways in the lives of these students.

Like all of our events at Forum, we want to intentionally connect our students to Jesus and our DNow weekend accomplished just that! This weekend Scott's going to finish off our "Run" series out of Hebrews 12. This series has really pushed all of us toward the image of Christ. I looked at this week's scripture and it talks about getting stronger, about knowing we are heading to God who is our Judge. This scripture reminds us that our "God is a consuming fire." I'm really looking forward to this weekend. God is doing some great things at Forum.