WAY Cool!

We have a new addition to our junior high ministry... Dance Praise! What's Dance Praise? Most of you know Dance Dance Revolution the video game that has you moving and dancing at the same time playing a game.

For awhile now you could play this same game at home on your computer or video game system. And now (actually for awhile now) you can play the game along to Christian music artists like Tobymac, Newsboys, Audio Adrenaline, Bleach, Verbs, The Elms, Out of Eden, Hawk Nelson and of course.... many more.

The company is Digital Praise and they also have other games to go along with the dance mat. You can check out their site to learn more.

Dance Praise will debut at St. John's at our Thrive program on March 14 and will be put into service again on March 18 at Genesis. It's fun, it's tiring, it's even fun to watch!

Camps Are Full!

We are excited to announce that our two camps for Jr. High have filled to capacity! Both Cave Camp and SALT have filled every spot for this summer's trips. If you still want to go contact Rob in the church office to be put on a waiting list. A "Who's Going" list is currently up on the Junior High bulletin board.

A Message in the Snow

"But the word of the Lord stands forever." -1Peter 1:25

Can You Hear Me Now?

Last week I was helping install a wireless network at Lutheran Outdoor Ministries Center (www.lomc.org) in Oregon, IL and was having a completely difficult time getting the wireless signal to reach everywhere I wanted it to go.

I could make little adjustments here and there but ultimately the radio waves go where they go. By installing the main piece of equipment higher up (think, second story of the building) the signal became much stronger. That's good! But! The signal was still not strong enough to reach as far as I would have hoped it would go.

Our faith is like this. Hearing what God wants us to do is like this. Many of us know what God really wants us to do in helping a friend, feeding the homeless, caring for the sick, studying the Bible, praying, attending church, and the list goes on depending on what you are hearing. We all hear God calling us to different things but how high do we lift God up. You have a friend who is being hurt or bullied, how far do you go to help? We'll pray when we're at church but when in a restaurant or with friends how far do we lift up prayer?

Now I also said lifting the wireless equipment wasn't enough. In order for the signal to reach farther I need some more help. A friend of mine who is also helping install the needed "stuff" has some great ideas. My point is we can't do it alone. There's you, there's God, there are others. People all around that God will use to help you.

You know what is right. You know what is good. Neither is usually easy but if you go the extra mile and find others to help, God will succeed when others will fail. The Lord knows how many times I've not done the extras and let God and my friends down. Learn, listen, love.