West of Scotland's Youth Councils

Been to the West of Scotland's delayed 05 Youth Councils... Now before you say it - I am no longer a youth...but I was asked by my dear friend, Jon, to do some "entertainment" at the Saturday warm up meeting.

I kicked off with the 2 Chinese Students miming to "I want it that way" and then did an air guitar game with a couple of willing Arctic Monkeys fans. Following this I used the "2 dinosaurs and a pig fart" video then asked for jokes/funny stories from flatulence - although I had to ask my DC for permission to use the word "fart" as it was a meeting... The chap that got up was funny but I have never been so nervous as I was when he had the mike - he could have said anything!!! We then did the whoopee cushion game, which was fun... I then showed the gymnast girl going through the basketball hoop video and the then did the ball game with 2 couples... again, fun! I rounded things off with the 2 Chinese Students miming to another BSB song... Went down well, I thought... Feedback was positive.

The theme for the weekend was DNA and the gist of the teaching was that Jesus loves and accepts us exactly as we are... and He wants us to be more like who we are. Acceptance is a powerful thing and Jesus accepts the whole of us - our whole life should be given to Him for Him to use... For me thats powerful because I have only recently started to express my faith as part of the whole me - you know, the me that loves my wife and kids... loves trainers and Japanese anime and iPods... Jesus loves that about me - He celebrates my difference and wants me to be the me He created me to be... WOW!

On Sunday, I attended a seminar on worship led by a chap called Paul who led the praise band for the weekend. The gist of the seminar was that worship isn't defined as being one thing or another - its not a style of singing or music - but an expression of our love to Jesus through all our actions. Walking to work is worship if I am grateful to God for His blessings and help others if/when the need arises. Listening to music on the iPod is worship if it brings me closer to God - "God is a DJ" by Faithless and "Fix you" by Coldplay are worship songs for me... because I put an interpretation... a context on them that is spiritually significant. I have a few lovesongs that I share with Olly... Worship is similar - its about acting through love...and this really made sense to me. Its about the context you place on an activity... its about the significance it has to your relationship with God.

At the end of the celebration I really got it when we sang about being in awe of God - Mog, the drummer of the band and a friend of Janey (now official friend of mine) is a great drummer. I have always been jealous of drummers - my man, the Soos is another good drummer - I have no rhythm... I can't drum for toffee... nope, nada... I just can't. I really respect Mog's talent... Anyway, while singing about the awesomeness of God I saw Mog's shadow on the roof and I thought about how I felt regarding her abilities - If I was in awe of her drumming, how much more was I in awe of God for all He has done for me...

This brings me back to a video clip "Dust" featuring Rob Bell from nooma that was used in the last meeting - In it a chap talked about the fact that the disciples weren't the best of the best in Jewish terms - they were the also-rans... the not-good-enoughs... and yet Jesus called them to be His disciples. God has called me... I am nobody... I am an also-ran... A not-good-enough... and yet He called me! Me?!?! The wife & kids loving, iPod obsessed, trainer-crazy, blogging Japanophile! Now that is pretty awesome..!