My God Justifies…Conferences.

You know. its about that time where im getting on and strapping in to the emotional roller-coaster. Every phone call, every conversation, every plan brings me all over the emotional scale. I go from super excited for the conference with a feeling of readiness and assurance that God will bless it simply because a church i called informed me that they will be registering soon. Then i plummet to a feeling that all this work is for nothing and we wont even hit the 600 of last year because of the stupid New England mentality and begin cursing out youth pastors and churches because someone hung up the phone on me (which is ironic..because our very christianity calls us to love each other..and to hang up the phone on another christian..well i just find that funny- even more ironic is that i justify flipping out at them. which is equally unloving). It also bothers me when a youth pastor tells me he MIGHT bring a COUPLE of youth IF he can. Which kills me personally because i work every night till 10 to put together something for people who genuinly need it, but they are seemingly apathatic and satisfied with 10 youth. Our thinking is so incredibly small. Then! i remember that all this work is for that very youth pastor, again…ironic. Last year i remember this feeling.  I remember going into the day of April 17th. The first day of our first conference, and all we had was 198 people registered.  My desperate prayer that entire week was “God justify the work of those who have given our lives- please justify us”.   It sounds cool now, but coming into a massive event that 4 entire months of ones life has been given into already looking like a failure: hurt. It honestly sucked. So it was 4 PM on the day of the conference.  I was sitting down in my office close to tears, and thinking “Well, at least we tried. At least we took a run at the giant that stood in our way”.  Im serious. I still stand by that statement. That no matter what wouldve happened. At least i was the kid that was so far out there for God that if he didnt show up- i was going to look like an idiot, and then the moment came. My friend came to my office (cubicle) and said “dude, they might need your help upstairs theres like 300 people up there trying to register”.  Now im gearing up for a conference double the size and im going through the same feelings all over again, but this time i have not forgotten- My God Justifies.

groundZero: 2007

As i was writing that last post, and thinking about groundZero i began to think about what has happened to our youth group in the last year.  2007 was a phenominal year for groundZero.  It was packed with ups, downs and surprises.  I would have to say that the highlight for me was getting the best youth pastor on the face of the planet.  Pastor Marco became the youth pastor of groundZero March 6th, 2007, and he has proven to be more than anyone of us could ever ask for.  He is a man of integrity and character in all aspects, but still is the most normal, cool, down to earth person i have ever met.  No matter what genre of music, or what background a teenager comes from, P. Marco is able to relate to them.  Some amazing things happened in 2007, but none of them compare (and none of them would have happened) without Pastor Marco become the leader of our movement.  Anyway heres a vid for you to see the rest of what went on in 2007. 

groundZero: A History

So recently one of the youth in groundZero wrote a pretty sick article for a research paper for school.  It was accurate and what surprised me was how prophetic it was.  He not only wrote about what has happened through the many years of New Life’s Youth Group(s), but he wrote into the future of our group.  These kinds of things excite me.   Anyway here it is: A wave of awesomeness hits you as you step into the room. A street light blares above, all three colors lit, seeming to ask the question, ‘Will you come in or turn back?’ You continue walking and turn to your left. A seven-piece band is playing, and the ground shakes as people jump up and down, screaming rock lyrics. But soon, the music slows. Guitars and crash cymbals calm to make way for the piano. People raise their hands or bow their heads, some even sitting on their knees to worship their Creator, Savior, and ultimately, the Master of their life, Jesus Christ. This event, groundZero, is not just another youth group. It is the beginning of a revolution.But it did not begin this way. It started in the 1990’s as the youth group of New Life Worship Center in Smithfield, Rhode Island. In 1997, several teenagers decided that the group needed to change from a sort of social club to a ministry. The group grew to about ten youth, who met in a fellowship hall every Friday. They set up and broke down each week, and “Worship at times was just a person playing the acoustic guitar” says Jason Corcoran, one of the groundZero youth leaders. For about five years, the group averaged 10-20 youth with a peak of 40 at times. The name changed frequently, shifting from ‘Youth Blast’ to ‘Counter Culture’ and ‘Generation Go’.But around 2005, things began to change. “At this time several youth began to get serious with God and ultimately became passionate about God and their Generation,” Jason continues, “God gave us the new name of ‘GroundZero’which stands for the center of rapid, intense, or violent activity or change.”And change it did, both rapidly and intensely. The weekly attendance grew from 20 to 50, and the group moved into a newly built room, complete with a stage, café, and media systems. GroundZero now averages 100 youth weekly.But it is not only numbers that make a revolution? They are part of it. But if numbers were the only indicator, groundZero would easily be glazed over. Though the average youth group has only twelve teens , there are youth churches, such as the Generation Church in Seattle, that reach a weekly attendance of 1,200. Even Awakening Conference 2007, a groundZero event that featured popular Christian bands and artists and attracts youth from all over New England, reached only half that number.However, Webster’s American Family Dictionary defines a revolution as “a sudden, complete, or radical change in something”. This is what makes groundZero a social and spiritual reformation. Not the amount of people reached or distance of ministry, but the depth of the change it has caused. Mother Teresa once said, “It is not how much we do, but how much love we put in the doing.” That is exactly what groundZero has done. A good example of this is the testimony of Samuel DeSousa, a fourteen-your-old who has been attending for not more than a year. He first came when some of his friends invited him. Though he had been a Christian before attending, he says that groundZero helped him to live the way he should. “GroundZero is what saved me,” he concludes.Between 150 and 200 people from all over New England have converted to Christianity through groundZero and Awakening Conference. The ‘Connect’ Bible groups reach out to over five middle and high schools throughout Rhode Island and Massachusetts. But it doesn’t stop in New England. Twenty members of groundZero will be going on a missions trip to New Orleans in August to reach out to victims of hurricane Katrina. This February, dozens of teens will be participating in an event called 30 Hour Famine, raising money and doing community service to help provide for some of the starving children around the world.Ultimately, there is only one thing that has made groundZero a revolution: “The fact that Christianity, that Christians, are selfless. The fact that Christians are called. We’re called to love and care. ” Mike Servello Jr., one of the speakers at Awakening Conference 2007, describes this perfectly: “I think one of the most beautiful things we can show the world, [is] where the most popular kids in our local high schools can sit with the nerdiest, craziest, whacked out people in church, and really genuinely love them. Come on, now that is a revolution!” By the way he also has a website, check it out. www.jadededges.com

Im Back

Ok. So i went on a long hiatus (there is no way that is how u actually spell that word) after my very angry blog below (i was mad). But! i have decided to return to the blogosphere mainly because it seems to be the thing to do lately and i am so counter-counter culture that i want to be so mainstream (some of you mightve got that).  I understand ill probly be the only one reading this blog- but im ok with that because you are most likely the only one reading yours (if by some crazy chance someone read that- i am sorry for insulting you).  See you all around,jb