Video Intro to our campaign

Check it out, my friends.

Prayer Rooms and Keytars

The following is a blog written by Kylee on our personal blogsite (philandkylee.blogspot.com) but is definitely a story that you, our supporters, should hear. So I took the liberty of posting it to this site. God is truly incredible and is always faithful:


This last month I've been putting together a prayer room: the first thing ever to happen in our new building.

And...at every junction there was something standing in the way. The date I could get into the building kept getting pushed back. They found mold. Had to wait for mold tests...etc. Finally, last Friday (after some pushiness), a couple guys from the church and staff went over to help me seal off entrances and hang curtains. The city inspector rolls up and strolls in...does not even respond to my hello...and starts asking what we are doing there. He's talking about permits we don't have, how the labels on the fabric don't specify that they are flame resistant...on and on. Randomly, the guy in charge of that part of our building project pulled up and smoothed things out a little.

On Saturday we went back in to work some more. A couple hours in a guy from our church who is an Environmental Specialist pulled up and told me the mold tests weren't back, and we shouldn't be in there. After some clarification took place, they somehow got that worked out.

So, on the edge as it was...I wasn't able to get back to the prayer room setup until Wednesday. It started Thursday. I got a call on Wednesday from my pastor saying that the city inspector was being a thorn...that he wanted to set up a fire inspection on Thursday before he would let us be in there. Chris said I couldn't work on it anymore until after that. Umm...does anyone realize this starts TOMORROW?

I went into Reagan's office really angry. And I said, "You know, I have to believe that God wants this to happen. It's HIS prayer room, right? I wish he would get going on it. I've done all I can."

Wouldn't you know...

Chris somehow got a fireman from our church and the city inspector to meet on Wednesday. They walked through and the city inspector started talking about prayer. ...he teared up. ...he asked Chris to pray with him (there. in the prayer room). And then he said, "Eh, just put a fire extinguisher in here, and we'll call it good."

Really? Do I have any case to doubt Him? It happens time and time again. He is so faithful, and suprising...and...funny, right? Of course it would happen like that.

So, God is still bigger than Kylee...that's the report today.

In other news, Phil is preaching this week at Aftershock and just acquired a "keytar" which is flippin' sweet.

We are also needing some prayer on some decisions we need to make about my degree program and our future for the next couple of years. Stresses me out to make decisions that launch me into adulthood. :)

Definition of a Nation and a Faith Without Worldly Representation

Election day yesterday brought out a lot of feelings. I saw the worst and I saw the best in people. People coming together and people splitting a part. I'm convinced the no matter what election outcome, the reaction would have been the same. Some people extremely happy, some people extremely distressed. As far as I'm concerned, the world's going to keep rotating and God will not be limited.

God does not NEED a certain outcome... NO political party is the "Christian Way." God doesn't NEED a political party in order for Him to do His work and for His works to be good. We are NOT a nation defined by one person. A nation IS defined by it's people, both figuratively and literally: "Nation - a large aggregate of people united by common decent, history, culture, or language, inhabiting a particular country or territory."

Come on, people, where do we place our faith? In Country? In family? In the presidency? If we place our faith in ANYTHING of this world, our faith will crumble as easily as the world does. BUT if your faith is BEYOND this world, nothing can touch it; if faith is beyond this world, doubt may come and go as in any faith (and I think any and all doubt should be embraced), but it (doubt) will NOT TOUCH IT (faith). But you have the ability to decide whether your doubt will either rock your faith or push you to a deeper understanding of it by where you choose to place your faith.

Is your faith in God or in things of this world that "represent" God? For a long time I've been hearing that republicans "represent" God and those who are a part of a republican party "represent" the Christian way in going about things. Now, I liked and disliked certain things about BOTH candidates and NEITHER will EVER be a good representation of God and all the things that Jesus stood for because at some point they're going to fail us. Even if they may not fail you, they may fail me and vice versa.

A message to the world: Stop limiting your faith by letting it be represented by worldly things that will only pass with time. Let it be represented by the God who is beyond this world of rust and decay. Only there will we find an unwavering foundation.

A message to our nation: Let our nation be not defined by the abilities or inabilities of a president but by selfless acts of love among our neighbors, promoting peace by use of our lips, hands, and feet.

2 am beautiful (standing)

2 am, again. Some things can be found at this hour that cannot be found elsewhere. Like, my husband's beautiful sleep breathing. Sometimes answers, conclusions, clarity. Sometimes the opposite. Sometimes Jesus.

I am just so tired.

I am tired of running. I'm running out of self. I have been for awhile. I think to myself, "lean on Jesus, and you can do it. Look at all of these people making it...your life is beautiful: challenging, creative, full of people that love you, full of things you love. Get it together."

This weekend, I will organize the pulling off of the creative end of a new series, a foot washing service, and a prayer room. Not just any prayer room either: a prayer room in a mold infested, dilapidated building. I will write three papers. I will not read all my reading and then I will feel guilty. I will talk to people, pray for people, and look forward to the next week of all the same intensity. Part of me loves this. Part of me is dying.

In the middle of this season of low lows and high highs...of knowing that if I could just get out of bed, then I can do it...if I can just push past tears one more time, then I will make it...if I can just get started, I'll feel better...Jesus has found me. Right here at 2 am.

Yesterday, I yelled at God. It might be the first time. I tell people it's okay to do. He already knows what you are feeling. I even used the word "freaking." I said to him, "JESUS. IF YOU WANT THIS TO HAPPEN, YOU ARE GOING TO HAVE TO HELP. PITCH IN. OPEN YOUR EYES AND SEE WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE. AND FREAKING GET ON IT. WHAT DO YOU EXPECT FROM ME? YOU PUT ME HERE. NOW TAKE CARE OF IT."

I screamed it, right there in my car driving behind Mounds Mall, crying like a maniac.

Today, as I painted in my moldy, dilapidated prayer room (with more people than I ever would have expected who just showed up to help me)...the city inspector walked in. He said we couldn't be there. He said we were against fire code. I rolled paint on the wall, and I fought back tears. He talked and he talked, and I rolled and I rolled. Phil stayed steady beside me. And we stood there, and we rolled paint.

And that's when I understood what it means to stand. Having done all to stand: stand. Stand because God promised he wouldn't leave me. Stand because God is bigger than me. Stand because he put me there, it's his work, and because he is "freaking getting on it."

And he did. And my prayer room is up. A lot of work yet, but it is up and it is okay and it is going to happen. Not by my strength, but by my standing.

Tonight, at 2 am, I sat at my drawing desk with Phil asleep in the bedroom. I could hear him breathing (can now) as I tried to draw up floor plans for the setup tomorrow and lists for Sunday. And I said, "Jesus, I am so tired." And he said, "Kylee, go to sleep."

So I wrote this note because I am moved to tears by my Jesus. My strength to stand. ...my strength to go to bed, wake up tomorrow, and stand some more.

Videos of recent happening at The Bridge.

Hello our Prayer/Financial support team. These videos are here to get you excited about what God is doing at The Bridge.

The first one is the longest but most important and gives you a great insight into the sort of family we have at the Bridge and the new building God has blessed us with!

The second is a little promo video I made to show our future home and get our church body excited (FYI, if you are not a sports fan and don't know about Lucas Oil Stadium, the ending of the video is a joke...ha)

The third is the end product of the prayer room that Kylee put together with her team back in August. People from our church took 30 min. slots to spend time in there in prayer with the opportunity to express themselves in a number of different ways for a total of 21 hours over the course of 2 days.

Love that lingers.

I'm reading a book by Shane Claiborne that deals a lot with stories of his experiences. The book is entitled The Irresistible Revolution, check it out. If you know me, not being able to put down a book means something for sure. Shane shares some remarkable stories along with some encounters with modern day miracles. However, what's even more remarkable is the practicality of showing love, especially to the "least of us." The least of us being the poor. Simple things go great distances and the results of love last longer than any result of any miracle. Jesus may have feed the 5000, but the next day they were hungry. Jesus may have raised Lazarus, but he eventually died... again. Jesus may have healed the sick, but some of those caught some other disease before they died. Love lasts. And everyone that Jesus did was with love. I think I like how "love lingers" sounds. It lingers... like a good fart. It effects it's surroundings and everyone takes notice. It causes people to react. It wakes the senses. Are you causing people to take notice and react? Are you waking their senses?

The book talks of a time when Shane and his college friends were at lunch complaining about the school food when one of them noticed in the paper that a homeless colony that had sought refuge in an abandoned cathedral was given 48 hours to leave the building by some catholic officials or prepare to be arrested. They of course found this absurd that the church wasn't loving their poor among them, their Jesus. Shane and his friends crammed the rest of their food down and made their why to the cathedral. They were embraced by the homeless and invited in to their community. There was a banner that read "How can we worship a homeless man on Sunday and then ignore one on Monday." Jesus was homeless. They were able to see the hearts of the people and were absolutely fascinated. No one was able to make it on their own but with the help of their community, everyone managed and survived. Shane and friends went back and discussed what they could do with time ticking down so quickily. They posted flyers saying "Jesus is getting kicked out of church. Come to see how you can help. Meeting at 10 p.m." They expected maybe 15 of their craziest friends. over 100 showed up. The next day they all went over there to offer their support and the numbers of these college students did not go unnoticed by the media. The media couldn't understand at first why a bunch of college students would risk going to jail for the "least of us." But the news helped the absurdity of the church kicking out the homeless to be realized by many watching it. Numbers continued to grow over the next few hours as people felt called to intervene as well - just a bunch of ordinary radicals united in Christ's true love, a love that acts, or in this case reacts.

Their last couple of hours before the deadline was spent in communion and worship. All were hugging, crying and supporting each other with encouraging words. A raise of hands was called for those who were choosing to stay behind and risk jail time. Shane, who had a little homeless girl on his lap, raised his hand and immediately she asked why he was raising his hand. He asked her, "do you want to be able to stay here?" She said, "Of course, it is my home." He said, "that's why I'm raising my hand." She hugged him and then raised her hand. When the 48 hours was up, they rang the bell tour and prepared themselves for what might happen. The officials showed up, opened their door and took no more than two steps before they noticed the crowd and climbed back in their car. That 48 hours came and went. Now that part was cool... but this might be my favorite... it's epic:

The college students knew that they had to consistently keep people over there for the next few weeks so that the officials would not take advantage of the homeless colony when the crowd was much smaller but also didn't want to flunk their classes. They had bought a cell phone and a blow horn. The phone was kept at the church and when the officials showed up, the phone called the student with the blow horn who then walked to the middle of campus and sounded the horn. The students would leave their classes, gather together and caravan out to the church. Also what is cool is that the teachers caught the vision and supported what the students were doing. In fact, the principal donated her bed to the homeless colony.

The story goes on but the point is that love lingers... it's contagious, wakes the senses, and causes us to act or react... And it's simple... but it involves us getting outside of ourselves and throwing ourselves to where God calls us to be, with the least of us. Do something this week that involves you to be among the "least of us." And cause love to linger.


and........... here's the new Aftershock opening video for this year (or as we are referring to it, this season)

Our Joyful God

This evening, after my last class, one of our professors came and told me and several of my friends that our 8 am class was cancelled for tomorrow. As soon as he was around the corner we broke into a quiet but crazy dance.

Tonight I sat in my living room with four teenage girls and giggled.

It is so easy to look at our world and see it whirl-pooling down the drain. So easy to get overwhelmed by the hurt and brokenness. What is to love here? Surely the God who created, loves, and died for such a place must be miserable.

Here are some excerpts from a book I'm reading by Dallas Willard, The Divine Conspiracy:

"...God leads a very interesting life, and...is full of joy. Undoubtedly he is the most joyous being in the universe. The abundance of his love and generosity is inseparable from his infinite joy. All of the good and beautiful things from which we occasionally drink tiny droplets of soul-exhilarating joy, God continuously experiences in all their breadth and depth and richness. He sees it, experiences it, knows it from every possible point of view, this and billions of other scenes like and unlike it, in this and billions of other worlds. Great tidal waves of joy must constantly wash through his being.

So we must understand that God does not 'love' us without liking us--through gritted teeth--as 'Christian' love is sometimes thought to do. Rather, out of the eternal freshness of his perpetually self-renewed being, the heavenly Father cherishes the earth and each human being upon it. The fondness, the endearment, the unstintingly affectionate regard of God toward his creatures is the natural outflow of what he is to the core--which we vainly try to capture with our tired but indispensable old word love."

I don't know. These words resound with me...because I've felt it, haven't you? For brief moments? The frailness. The potential. The beauty. And my heart, for just one moment, understands what it is to be "very good."

A quick note.

A quick note about what I got to experience today. Today I took a two hour walk with a high schooler who hates God, at least the God he knew. He tried to commit suicide in elementary school, got sent away to a psych ward/school, came back, tried to strangle some kid, got sent back, and sometimes cuts himself today. He said that he felt like when he left the ward, that there was no follow up, that they didn't care what happened to him after that. They did there job and sent him off. The kid never knew his dad or even which one was his dad. Never even met one of them that had the possibility to be his dad. He tends to push people away when they get too close because people have only ever done nothing but cause him pain. God is not appealing to him because he saw God as an organized religion, consisting of a list of dos and don'ts, a God who squashes people like people do ants, one who doesn't care one bit about us. A judgmental-driven God. You want to know the most heart-breaking part about it is, the people who showed this God to him call themselves Christians. How dare he dress and act like that! The nerve! Turn from your ways or your going to hell! The "act this way or that" mentality teaches that a Christian is determined by deed and not the condition of the heart (by the way, not what Jesus taught). I heard his story and his frustrations and the kid had every right to view God that way. The whole saying about how we need to represent Jesus in the way we live our lives is NO joke. You could really lead someone to become a hater of God if you misrepresent Jesus, our God personified. The kid admits that he dresses the way he does and acts the way he does because that has always proven to draw dirty looks from people and push them away from him. Thank God, he has said the Bridge has totally rocked his world and completely changed his view on things. He's told me multiple times that for once in his life, people are accepting toward him. He can dress how he wants and act how he wants and no one bats an eye. He feels accepted as is and doesn't feel pressured to "put on a sheild," as he put it. My friends, this is Jesus... this is church. It ain't pretty, but it's church. We had the most amazing conversation and no he didn't "accept Christ", but that's not our burden to carry. Just show Jesus in all you do and that's all we are asked to do. This conversation is a building block and one that will be continued to be built upon our next conversation. Be Jesus.

God's will is bigger than the credit I give it.

From Phil:

Wanna know what God is teaching me this year? His will is an every-day sort of will... What I mean: a little over a year ago, I graduated from college, not having a job but desperately looking... feeling the tug of ministry but ignoring it... wanting to do something with my Music Business degree though ALWAYS knowing in the back compartment of my mind that that’s not what He wanted for me... I was so consumed with trying to find “God’s will” only to find out that I was wanting my own, desiring only to place God in there somewhere when I got there. Anyone else try to do this? It’s selfish, sorry to say... Wait, no I’m not!

Music wasn’t working out, so the next thing that the world told me I SHOULD do is find a way to support my new wife... whatever the means, whatever the job...just get paid... and that’s what her dad wanted, so naturally it was something I had a desire to do, to prove to him and everybody else that I cared for her and was capable of supporting her.

Here was how it happened. I had a phone interview to get a job at a collections agency. I had been playing phone tag with a lady at the agency to get the interview details setup. This was causing a lot of stress, considering I was soon going to graduate and then head back up to MN to marry Kylee. This was going to secure at least some sort of job after we moved here... a job that promised to bring in the dough. Finally, the lady and I got ahold of each other and set up an interview. Her words were, “Now, you got to understand, some people will take your call well, but some will cry and some will yell and curse at you.” This was bothering to me, considering that I don’t enjoy making people’s lives miserable... I was truly struggling with taking this job... Basically, in my mind, I felt like I had more to offer the world than be the bearer of bad news to those unable to pay their bills. Of course, there is a place for that... but I didn’t feel like it was mine. I hung up the phone with the lady at the EXACT same moment something was slipped under my door.

FLASHBACK: During my second-to-last semester of college, I was in an Entrepreneurship class where our final project was to develop a business plan and present it. The plan ends up to be like 28 pages long and incredibly in-depth with counting in finances and things of that sort (that I now don’t remember how to do exactly...) I was in a group with two roommates of mine and another fellow music business major friend... In fact, we were all Music Business majors. My idea (and Kylee’s and my someday dream) was (is) to start a youth center type thingy, that would give teens in Anderson a safe and fun place to hang out around town (since there is not place like that in Anderson at all - this was a strong calling I felt placed on my heart during my senior year). Well that’s what we did, the Youth Center idea.. It was good. We got an A. I went to check my school mailbox later that week sometime. In it: a notecard that reads God will make a way.

...AND... WE’RE BACK: So here was I, one semester later, about to graduate, the end of my college experience, no job, desperate and doing what the world tells me I SHOULD be doing. I lost sight of what I felt God had laid on my heart. I set up my phone interview with the lady at the collections agency and hung up JUST as my Youth Center business plan was slid under my door by (I’m assuming) one of my roommates that was cleaning up his room so he could pack up to move out. I hadn’t seen it for probably 2 or 3 months. I stood still staring at the my heart’s calling in hard copy form on the floor in front of me as a rejuvenated clarity flooded my mind and quick-shoved my ill-motivated aspirations back on track. Called my fiance-soon-to-be-wife at the time next with the words “I don’t want to do this collections agency thing.” Came the words in a sweet tone: “I don’t want you to do it either.”

Thus began the trek to where I am: Married. Honeymooned. Moved to Indiana. Kylee needed a letter of recommendation from our now pastor for Seminary. I was still looking for jobs. After much thought, I decided I wanted to do something fulfilling (uh...duh!). I called and left a message for Youth For Christ of Anderson. I continued to look for three more weeks. We didn’t have internet connection at the time. I went to Anderson University campus to get on one of their computers. I wasn’t thinking and missed my turn. I turned around on a street. I got a call for Youth For Christ of Anderson and they were closing in 30 minutes. I happened to be turning around on their same street. I got goose bumps. I met a great guy. He talked to me about raising support. I sighed. Kylee and I prayed about raising support and just didn’t know. Next day, I ran into Chris, our pastor. He mentioned how he needs to meet with my wife soon to get that letter written. I agreed. Knowing Chris did Youth for Christ in other cities and had to raise support in order to do it for many years, I asked him if he would sit down and talk with me about raising support for Youth For Christ of Anderson. He said “eh... Youth For Christ of Anderson?” I asked, “Not worth it?” He said, “(insert name of guy in charge) is a beautiful man. I just think you’ll get frustrated with all that you want to do... But yeah, let’s talk about raising support. Come with your wife to our meeting.” We met at Starbucks. He said Kylee was “electric” and also said that “everything you guys want to do, you can do with us.” He invited us to prayerfully consider coming on the youth staff at the church.

I present this story that God be lifted up. As you can see, neither Kylee nor I did anything special. God just came through. The important thing that I want you to see is that God didn’t do it at one time or in a quick amount of time. It is important to notice that God’s will is not a goal to strive for, it is a day-to-day process. This confirmed a verse that had been a huge help in my life since I had graduated. I received a graduation card with a verse written down in it. Habakkuk 2:3 says, “But these things I plan won’t happen right away. Slowly, steadily, surely, the time approaches when the vision will be fulfilled. If it seems slow, wait patiently, for it will surely take place. It will not be delayed.” (thanks Uncle Ron and Aunt Chris) I believe that a lot of the times when we say that we want to “find out God’s will for my life,” we are basically looking for the career that we are going to let define ourselves. This idea of God’s will is very limiting to God. For goodness sakes, God is bigger than that, therefore his will is bigger than that. Therefore, his will is an EVERY DAY kind of will. To every day live a life glorifying to him. If we do that, he will guide us on a day-to-day basis in his will.

This has been what this last year that Kylee and I have been in “full-time ministry (a career, yes; a definition, no)” has shown me: an every day living out of his will. His will is NOT an end goal, but an ever growing, changing, and evolving process. A process that I will always be in as long as I choose to be. And I now see that I am defined as a child of God who has the ability to daily allow God to work in the circumstances around me and, therefore, guide me along the path of the everlasting.

I still have no idea who wrote the notecard that mysteriously showed up in my mailbox that read God will make a way, but that notecard has never left my wallet. It is a constant reminder of God’s faithfulness and his desire to daily reveal his will to his children who desire for it.

Summit Camp

This last weekend, our high school students as well as the students from the Bridge in Decatur took off for Northern Indiana for our weekend high school camp. The Summit was the first event that Phil and I participated in at the Bridge last year. It was incredible to look back on all that God has done in us, for us, and through us since then.

It's hard for me to find words for this weekend. It's hard for me to find words for youth ministry in general. So many times I get frustrated with going to the basketball games...making copies...planning silly games...because I wonder if it all even matters. I wonder when I'm going to start "making a difference." It's taken a year to see that all these little things are what get to the "big moments." I am so impatient. But this weekend was one of those times it all came together, and it didn't only benefit our kids. It changed me, too.

Gabe decided that during our Anderson time, he would go around the circle to each student and have the others share what they loved about that person. This was huge...and different from most responses that I would have guessed, like, "I think you're funny." But our students took this opportunity to show love to each other in a real way...saying real things...speaking greatness into each other's lives. It was amazing to watch.

The theme for camp was "Transformed," with sessions centered on transforming our minds, actions, and heart. One session, the youth pastor from Decatur opened up a "Prayer Chair." Here, the students, if they want to, could go sit in the chair and tell their story...tell the others what they needed prayer for. And then after they shared, any student that wanted could come and pray with them.

Here is where I was changed. In hearing story after story of these students...dealing with things so hard to hear about...and then watching as their peers rushed forward to surround them and intercede for them. As I sat at one of my girl's feet and prayed for her, her tears kept falling on my hands. My breath was taken at the beauty of God's church. His real church. And I got one of those brief glimpses of what is lovable about us to God.

There are so many stories to tell. So much love for our kids here...I love watching them develop...love watching them fall in love with Jesus Christ. Love watching as they figure out who they are...where they are gifted..and start to get passionate about other people finding the same things.

Here are the videos from this camp (made by Phil Larson! :)

Videos for Camp Endurance

Hey Friends and Family... This last weekend we had a middle school camp that we call Camp Endurance. Kylee and I spoke a session this weekend. It was a great time and many kids either accepted Christ for the first time or recommitted their lives. Check out these videos!





Blessings,
Phil and Kylee

It's been a while...

Today, after church, Kylee and I napped for 5 hours and then at 9:30 went to Red Lobster where I had 3 glasses of coke. The result: it's past 2 a.m. and I'm not tired one bit.

I realize that it has been a long time since I have posted on this blog... Honestly, there is just too much to say and one blog post won't do it justice... so I just decide not to post at all... Well, that's not a good thing. You guys need to be in the know, right? Just letting you know that this post won't do it justice... but this post is of what I can think of right now at 2:20 a.m. as I try to get tired.

Kylee has been speaking more and more for Aftershock (reminder: this is our youth service) as Gabe was doing a lot of wedding planning. Speaking of: he and his now wife got married this last Saturday.. that was fun... now they are in Mexico for a week and we here in Indiana are jealous. I've been leading worship for Aftershock off and on, giving our main Aftershock worship leader, Joel, a break. I lead about once a month... sometimes twice... it's fun.. and it stretches me.. I'm not naturally a good singer OR piano player... God is good none the less and He is strong in our weaknesses.

May newsletters went out at the end of this last week, so if you haven't gotten them already, be expecting them in the mail sometime early this week. Kylee starts a month long summer class this week... which costs us a pretty $900! yay! ... .. .. .

None the less.. God continues to prove himself faithful in providing and the stimulus check will come in handy! Anybody else happy about that??

We have bikes now... and we ride them to work and back... lucky for us we live close to our office building... gas prices are not looking very good... so, buy bikes and don't drive! ... if you can.

I have a few videos that I want to post up here when I get around to it... they are clips of Kylee speaking at Aftershock and one has a few quick little edits of me leading worship... which is a treat ;) I'm sure you guys are just thrilled!! haha.

Oh! Kylee is speaking in the main Adult Services on June 22nd (which for you CHOGers is Camp Meeting) and both Kylee's mom, sister-in-law (and maybe brother), and my parents just so happen to be in town that same weekend!!! That should be fun... This is an amazing opportunity for God to use Kylee in such a huge way! We have about 1000 in attendance at our Adult Services and with Camp Meeting that same week, we could potentially have a bit more than that. Kylee is really excited and a bit nervous... (we just realized this about Camp Meeting today) I'm excited for my wife as I see how talented and amazing she is. People at our church are finally taking notice of how incredible she is and I'm so proud of her! God is moving in such a huge way down here. I wish each of you could be down here to see it!

My pastor thinks I'm really talented in making videos, websites, graphics, etc and I have really been put to use in that area a lot lately while continuing to work with youth... I hate to admit it but I'm becoming kind of the computer guy for the staff.. which I'm not totally excited about.. but I believe it's a role that God wants me to be right now (while I'm continuing being in kids' lives). But just like in a small business, staff in general have to take on several different roles, which is what Kylee and I are finding that we are doing - it's not a bad thing... but The Bridge (and most churches I'm sure) is kind of like a small business.

Kylee has a new cell number. Here it is: 765-631-2345 (yep.. she has a large straight in her number: 12345)

email us, call us, or reply to this blog post if you want to get a hold of us or have any questions or whatever... thank you for your continuous love and support!

larsonpa@gmail.com
kyleelarson@gmail.com

God's Faithfulness.

Hello friends and family. We have to make known God's work here in Anderson, IN and how you are all a part of it. Starting at the beginning of February, Kylee and I made a commitment to be more purposeful tithers every month. We decided that we would tithe our 10% based not necessarily on what we had raised up to that point, but what our goal was ($30,000 for year 1 of being at The Bridge(one year being September 2008)). Of course I was scared at first but God quickly reassured us that He had everything in control. Tithing is the only thing in the Bible where God actually asks us to test Him (Malachi 3:10). Don't believe me? Go to biblegateway.com, type in the search (with the quotation marks): "test me" and you'll find the only other places in the NIV where those two words are together (besides Malachi 3:10) is in the Psalms where David is talking about how God tests him. Here, in Malachi, is our Creator asking us to test him! So we did. People, rejoice with us in this: In February, we had a one time gift of $2,000 and in March, a one time gift of $4,000. If all who have pledged monthly continue to give and our one time gifts (besides those 2 biggies) continue to roll in at the same rate as before, we WILL reach our goal!

As you have blessed us with your financial gifts, you are giving to the ministry and, therefore, are presenting tithes and offerings to God. How have you been blessed? We have heard stories of how God is intervening and working through each of you ever since we have gotten back in contact with many of you through having to raise support. God is on the move. If we haven't heard your story, we want to. You can reply to this blog, or email us, or call us (our contact info is in the left column of the blog). We want to encourage each other by getting out our stories about God's work.

On that note, below is a story. A story of one of our youth and the discovery he has made about God over the course of this past year. I have had the opportunity to be a mentor in this guy's life since I've been at The Bridge. To see God molding his heart has been one of the many joys of way I love doing what I do! Please watch. Blessings!

Hello friends and family. I write out of complete awe at the beauty of our Creator. God has been so evident in the past couple of weeks and I hope that His blessings are as evident to you as they are to us. I have found this week to be a week of reflection on where I'm at in my life and where God has brought me from. Over this past Valentine's Day, Kylee and I have been reminded of the reasons why we fell in love with each other. We found a couple rolls of film that we decided to get developed and see what they were. Many of the pictures were from the summer we met... of us together in our early having-a-crush-on-each-other stages. It helped in remembering those reasons why we fell in love with each other and how God brought us together. We then went and watched "P.S. I Love You" (If you ever need a good date movie that will make you emotional, even for the guy, that's the one...).

In this last week, God has caused me to do a lot of reflection. Reflection about where I'm at spiritually, where I'm at in The Bridge, If I'm supposed to be where I'm at... etc. He has proved to me that if I'm actively seeking after Him, I will feel the most fulfilled and yet desire more of Him. If I'm actively seeking after Him, He will teach me things so that I can in turn teach others... And that if I'm not actively seeking after Him, I am running the risk of misrepresenting the image of God to others who look up to me as a spiritual leader. God is a God of accountability. Have you ever found yourself getting back into old habits and then one day realizing this is not your full potential, and then realizing that there is no better time than now to get off your butt and do something about it...? I think God sometimes intercedes and gives us that kick in the butt of accountability.

When we have become Christians, or at least an active one, we have made the decision to die to our old habits and become reborn in Christ... with a new objective of serving our Creator through serving others. When we do that, we are bringing Heaven to Earth. However, the opposite is true too: When we don't do that, when we go back to our old self of a lazy, stale life and loose that servant-like attitude, we are bringing Hell to Earth. The urgency of living a life glorifying to God becomes more evident in seeing that we are either bringing Heaven or bringing Hell to Earth.

I'm seeing that once I made a decision to live a life that is going to raise Heaven (not Hell...), God's blessings are poured out and are so incredibly evident. And many of those blessings have come from you guys: our supporters! We feel so blessed by the testimonies that we hear from you guys. Many of you have taken the step to support us (easy or not) and have had some incredible things to say. You have all been amazing encouragement to Kylee and me. God continues to provide the funds that we need to raise when it seems to be getting low. And that is proof that we are where we are supposed to be at this point in our lives and that God wants us to keep doing what we're doing. He is letting us know that as long as we keep moving forward in faith, he'll work out the details... and so that detail stuff doesn't need to be worried about by us. We thank each of you for allow God to use you! Keep praying. Anderson could always use more prayer.

God bless!

"SnowBlast 2008" and "The Shock"

So we had a great weekend of fun with about 35 students last weekend on a ski/snowboard trip up to Kalamazoo, MI. What was great was that many of these kids that went on this trip don't normally get very involved in the church. We were able to develop some good relationships with them and a few of those students helped us tear down after Aftershock last Sunday. It was an awesome time to get to know them a little better.

Our new Wednesday night event titled "The Shock" (any surprises?) started last night. Basically this is taking place of small groups that we have had on Wednesdays since Aftershock started. Small groups were good in that they presented the opportunity to go deeper in discussion for those that showed up, but we found that for some students this is unfortunately intimidating to them and they don't come at all. The Shock is a fun night where we play a bunch of group games that draws a bigger crowd and then, from there, present a quick message and break the kids off into their age groups to discuss answers to questions that we ask based off of that message. We find that this way we draw kids that don't even go to church... which is what we're after.

The following is a video of our "SnowBlast 2008" weekend. Enjoy!

Egg Head

Is anyone out there?! I am here to make good on our resolution to keep this blog updated!

Tonight we went out with some students to do a fundraiser called an "egg and beg." Basically you walk around and see how much money people will give you if you smash an egg on your head (and by "your" I mean not "mine")! One hour of egg smashing = $230. Nice.

We are raising money for a couple things. First of all, we have a ski trip coming up next weekend! We're headed up to Bittersweet in Michigan, and I'm going to give snowboarding another try. Phil is already almost pro. International Youth Convention is in Texas this year, so that's going to rock. We also have a middle school and a high school camp this summer to start planning. So, lots in the works.

We're also getting ready to launch a new Wednesday night thinger, which is called "The Shock" so far. This will be more outreach friendly, with less direct "church," and hopefully lots of students from all over the community. We'll meet as a large group for games & awesome other stuff, a short message, and then break off into small groups from there.

So, that's what's going on in a nutshell. Keep praying for us and our students! I'm going to post a video that we made for a series on Karma vs. Grace. Enjoy!

Happy New Year!

Hello all. God has really used so many of you to bless us into complete humility. We are awed at how God continues to follow through on his promises to those how are faithful to Him. I pray that God blesses you all incredibly or uses someone to bless you in the same way that you have blessed us! For New Year's Eve, the Bridge youth had an all-nighter... it was a lot of fun, we had about 30 kids show up (which was good considering some last minute changes in putting the whole night together).

The evening opened up some good opportunities for Kylee and me to help out some kids with some issues, give advice, and develop relationships with. Your financial giving and prayers are allowing us to spend a good part of our week hanging out with kids and being in their world of friends and family and school, put together Wednesday night small groups that allow the youth to discuss things and challenge each other, and execute AFTERSHOCK, the big Sunday morning event that allows youth to step up into leadership roles and actively demonstrate their faith.

The following video is a quick one I put together that shows some of the things that happen at AFTERSHOCK. It's used to post on youtube, myspace, and facebook to help promote the event and attrack more youth.

God bless you all.