This week Neil Diamond made the front page thanks to American Idol Neil Diamond week. Tonight I came home from youth group to see him performing on my television set. I’m so glad Neil finally made the cool cat list.

This is a little known weird fact about me- especially here in San Diego- but Neil and I are close. I used to joke around about it a lot with my old youth ministry and torture my students by making them listen to Neil while we drove around in the church bus. But since I have no bus, I have a limited audience to torture while driving. I think I might have to add some Neil to our weekend service playlist.

here’s how tight Neil and I are:

• I saw Neil in concert twice as a kid with my parents. He actually encored “Forever in Blue Jeans” 13 times at one concert I was at.
• A friend of mine in college and I once performed Forever in Blue Jeans in a talent show just for fun.
• Every year, it was a law, that once headed back across the border from Mexico, Neils version of “America” must be played.
• A few years ago, I spoke for a friend in his church, and he sent me an itunes store credit for Neils latest album. He knows how much Neil and I bond.
• Several years ago I saw Neil in concert in San Jose. I think I was the only one under 30 in the room.
• Now, he’s got a new album coming out in 6 days and he’s coming to San Diego on October 7. Tickets are on sale now anywhere from $125 for the cheap seats to $2200 for front row seats. WOW!!!

Neil and I are tight. Don’t forget it.

One of the traditions of our desert trip has been some team building activities.

Year 1 was a task that involved taking a 20ft 4×4 and moving it though a set course in the vertical position, using only ropes to keep it off the ground and upright.

Year 2 was a GPS activity where we had hidden pieces to a giant trebuchet in the rocks a mile from camp and students had to find them using only a GPS coordinate. They then returned to camp with them and we assembled the pieces and it to chuck huge rocks until we broke it, and then we burned it in a massive bomb fire!!!

Year 3 (this year) was a PVC pipe tallest freestanding structure contest and two other pipe games too in the morning

and then a rope maze game later in the day:

While I loved all of them, this years were more mentally than physically challenging. But nothing can top the depth and teaching impact that the rope maze had. It was awesome! By far my favorite team building activity I’ve ever done or facilitated… and that’s saying a lot cuz the 4×4 one from year one was sweet. But, I’d do the rope grid thing again in a heart beat. It was so awesome that I blogged an entire post on how to repeat it for your own youth group or family event on the PDYM Community Blog. You should check it out here. It’s so worth it!!!

Wrote another article for Simply Youth Ministry that surfaced today.

Here’s a bite size chunk:

Some surprises are fun. An unexpected birthday bash with your best friends. Christmas presents. The prize winning bottle cap from a Snapple Contest. A Willy Wonka golden ticket. Your boss gives you a raise because you are doing such a great job at the church. (In that case, it would be a miracle.)

While all of these surprises are very cool, they are also very rare. But over my years as a youth pastor, I’ve come to realize that most of the surprises youth pastors experience in ministry are not this much fun.

Surprise! We can’t find one kid at the theme park and we’re supposed to be on the bus and headed home now.

Surprise! We don’t really have a purpose for this meeting we just called.

Surprise! You’re leading this week’s teaching.

Surprise! Your annual budget reports are due on Friday.

Surprise! Small Groups are canceled for this week.

Surprise! Our summer camp is one month away and it’s going to cost $450.

Surprise! Our senior pastor just resigned.

If you’ve ever experienced one of those surprises, then you’ll agree with me—they are overrated and not much fun. So in the name of healthy surprises, here are some ways to keep from catching your team off-guard.

You can read the whole article here.

That’s what I’m expecting this weekend on our annual high school mens trip to the desert.

This year we’re taking 23 high school young men and 9 adult mentors from our church along with 12 students and 3 adults from a church across town. 47 total. This is the one trip I vowed that I’d never stop doing as long as God has me in youth ministry. The women go to a resort on the beach and the guys to the desert. I don’t really care where they each go, but getting them alone with one another and inviting God to change them into men and women whose lives are fully devoted to Jesus- that’s a non-negotiable for me.

In preparation, today I went around and bought duct tape, buckets, rope, and stakes needed for some team building activities we’re doing.

Then I went to costco with some of our team and bought the food. $1012 to feed 47 men in the desert for 2 days. Dinner number one:

• 38 lbs of steak are soaking in two 5 gallon buckets of yoshida’s terriaki sauce in the church fridge right now awaiting a HUGE bbq.
• 40 lbs of potatoes are in my oven baking and awaiting aluminum foil so they can be re-heated in the fire coals.

• 10 loaves of french bread are ready for garlic, butter, and some heat.
• A bucket of carrot sticks are awaiting a vat of ranch dressing.

This year we have a 50 man tent to set up army/circus elephant style, tons of firewood to create the ultimate bonfires, a shooting range for both 22’s and shotguns, a battle planned with 30 sling shots firing paintballs, and several talks lined up on Moses and what God taught him in the desert.

Should be a memory maker.

This question comes in waves, maybe every 6 months or so. It’s been mentioned 4x to me in the last week.

The last time I gave it any real thought I was looking for a job and in a state of transition and I actually seriously considered making a run at this. I even pitched it to some of my friends with a start up proposal because people kept asking me and I thought maybe God was trying to tell me something. Yeah, well since I’m not a church planter, guess you can decipher for yourself where that ended up. God said no.

What’s the answer today: “Um, I have no idea if or when this will ever happen.”

There ya go. Let me know if God tells you something he’s not told me. I’d appreciate the advance notice ya know.