February is always one of my favorite months of the year mainly because my birthday is February 25th but also because it just always seems to have a good feeling surrounding it. So far February 2010 has been no different, on Wednesdays we started out new series "Love Story" which is off to an amazing start. It's amazing to be able to sit down with a group of high schoolers and talk honestly about love, dating, relationships and sex. On Sundays we've been talking about "Love Stories of the Bible" which is a great counter to our Wednesday "Love Story" series because it allows me to show the principles in action. I'm excited to see what God has in store for the rest of the month as we continue through our two series and get to rock out @ the C28 concert on February 27. If you're thinking about joining us now would be a great time, we've got a lot going on and a ton coming up.

Yesterday we had an awesome information meeting about our summer trip to Mexico. I can already feel God working through this trip, not only did we have a ton of interest but we even had a dozen commits...after an information meeting!!! One of the things I got asked for by a couple of the parents were pictures of Maneadero (the place where we go serve) as well as the place where we will be staying at night. I was able to dig some up that will give you an idea of just how poor the people down there are and just how sweet of a pad we stay at. I can't express how excited I am for this trip and I have already begun praying for every student who will be going with us, I ask you to join me in praying for this trip. Pray for our safety as well as that our students are able to experience life change in Mexico. 

This week I went and saw the new christian movie "To Save A Life". Now as a movie lover and critic I'm always skeptical about Christian movies, "Facing the Giants" for example was a powerful movie with a great message that almost got lost on the fact that none of the actors could act their way out of a paper bag. "To Save A Life" is the rare Christian movie that not only has a powerful message and halfway decent acting but also is the kind of movie that you can take your unsaved friends to without worrying about having them make fun of you afterward. From a youth ministry stand point I thought it really dealt with a lot of real issues in real situations. It doesn't shy away from the "tough" or "awkward" subjects but rather takes them on without compromise. After watching it you will no doubt examine your life and maybe even be motivated to make some changes. So bottom line: go check it out and take your friends (unsaved preferably), you won't regret it. 

One of the highlights of every single year happens during the month of December right before Christmas. For two years in a row now we have organized a gift drive for Rancho Damacitas, a local group home, in which we have been able to sponsor Christmas for about 35 kids. All the items are donated by members of Sunridge who go above and beyond during the holiday season to live out Matthew 25:40 and "do for one of the least of these brothers of mine". Today I received an awesome package from Rancho Damacitas that included a dozen handmade and handwritten cards from the kids there expressing their gratitude to Sunridge. Since so many people played a role in making this generous gift happen I thought I would post a picture of a couple of the cards. So without further delay...enjoy and thank you!

I told you guys we had a great time at camp and just in case you didn't believe me I have the pics to prove it. Check out the slideshow and you'll catch pictures from our Christmas and New Years Celebration as well as our Amazing Race. Also feel free to email me any other pictures you might have and I'll add them in!

This weekend was our Winter Camp and we decided to scrap the traditional camp model and instead do our own thing. We decided to call it "The Holidays:Do Over"...the mission was to recreate the Holidays giving our kids the opportunity to celebrate Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years all in two days. Well camp has come and gone and I can say it was an amazing success. I want to give a big shout out to my volunteer team for working all weekend all in the name of allowing our high school students to have a great weekend. Hope some of you join us on Wednesdays as we continue our series "Messy Spirituality" through January and begin our new series "Love Story" in February. 

We got a ton of new sign ups for Winter Camp today and as the pieces are coming together I am getting more and more excited about the event. The schedule is set, the speaker is going to be amazing and the events are going to be unthinkably sweet. Basically, you're not going to want to miss it. Below I have attached a copy of the camp info and packing sheet so make sure to download it and take a look. Contact me if you have any questions.

It's time for Winter Camp!!! This year's theme is The Holidays: Do Over. I know we all hate one thing about January and it's that all the holidays have passed us by. 2010 is a different kind of year and epic is going to bring the holidays back for one more weekend. Join us January 15-17 as we turn back the clock and re-celebrate Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years one more time. The cost of camp is only $40 and you won't believe how much food and fun you'll get for that price. Sign-ups have started and believe me this is one event you won't want to miss out on.

On Wednesday we begin our new series titled "Messy Spirituality" and so in preparation I've spent a lot of time thinking about what the word "spiritual" means. I asked my team of leaders what came to mind when I asked them to think of spiritual things and found that most of them visualized a sunset at the beach. It's one of God's most beautiful and simplest creations and when we look at it we can't help but be drawn to God. Well what it is about a sunset that draws us to God? If something as simple as a sunset at the beach can be spiritual then why do we dismiss ourselves as nonspiritual beings?