New Year

I am excited for 2009!! I tend to be more of an optimist. I like to look at a new year as an opportunity to get past the successes and failures of the past and move on to what lies ahead. There are dangers that come along with living in the past. It does NOT matter if the past is filled with SUCCESS or FAILURE.
When you look back and see failure, many times it is like we find our feet in a pit of tar. We can move forward, but your steps are so labored by the stickiness and weight of this black substance that you don't want to move anymore. You constantly feel the ache and soreness that your memory muscle feels from the preceding steps. Each step feeling heavier and heavier. The only way to feel relief is to get out of the pit. You need to forget about those past failures and focus solely on what is ahead.
The same can be true for a past full of success. Along with success comes the trap of complacency. It feels so good to be in the place of success that you start to just hang out there. It is like boiling a frog. If the water starts out hot, he jumps out. But if the water feels just right, he'll stay in that place of complacency until it is too late. It may seem like a stretch to relate boiling frogs to success, but our reaction to success can be very similar to the frog's reaction to the water. If you don't believe me, study some people you know that have sustained success over time. They never stay focused on the past. They always look to the future.
Where does this put you and me? In 2009, purpose to look straight ahead. Leave the rear view mirror for the photo albums and journal entries. Move forward!!

Value

This past Sunday evening I spent time in the message talking about self worth. I think that it is a valid question to ask yourself, "How much do I think I am worth". How we feel about our value determines so much of what we do in our lifetimes. Will you give your value over to a relationship, career, or even a hobby? Will you trade who you are to chase something that you feel gives you value?

I believe that it is so important to realize that our value is not in what we do, but in the price that we were bought at! Value defined in economics is determined by what someone is willing to pay for a certain item. If you look for value in something that has never truly invested in you, how do you accurately gauge your value? This is the difference between guessing the price from the window and actually ponying up the dough to pay for that precious item in the store window.

Only God has truly invested in your life. Jesus gave up His life for yours. If we tie up our value with a person, career, or some other outward expression, we will spend a lifetime looking at our potential from outside of the store window. In Matthew 6:21 it says "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also". If your value is where your heart is, there is no way you can attach yourself to something or someone other than God and truly live out your true potential. God paid the price!! Are you BOLD enough to see the value that God has for you!!! Who else thought you were worth enough to give up their son for you?! Go for it!!

Purpose

Each and every one of us looks for a purpose in which we are willing to fight to obtain. There is a trend that seems to be intensifying. People are trying to mask their need to obtain God's purpose in their lives with hobbies that they believe they can make into a career. Writing, design, golf, and singing are just a couple of the activities that modern media has made millions of dollars selling the idea that we all have a shot at making the "Big Time".
I cringe every time I hear someone say "I live to..." and what follows is something that lacks any real substance. Over and over again we see people at the pinnacle of success, by the world's standard, give their lives up to addictions or even suicide. These people had an idea of what the "Big Time" was to them. Once they acheive this success, they thought there would be some great pay off. The pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, but when they got there, there was nothing but a dead end. So they felt that life had no meaning!!
This is the outcome of a life that is lived without the pursuit of God's will! The only purpose, or rainbow, that truly has a pot of gold at it's completion is the purpose that God has for your life. There is no substitute for the feeling of knowing that you have found the purpose that God has for your life. God wants you to live a life that is worth remembering. All we need to do is change our idea of what the "Big Time" is to us, and give God our full attention. Submitting our will to His, and He will lead our lives towards the purpose that He destined us to live in!
What "Big Time" are you living for?

Fall Fest 09

Hey, what an awesome time. We had games, food, and some vomit!!!! Ok, the story behind that is this awesome game called "chug-a-lug". Each "volunteer" steps up and they race one another to see who can finish a two liter of soda first. You have two kinds of "volunteers". The first volunteer is the one that recognizes there limitations and stops at the point of no return. The second volunteer is the one that sees the point of no return, blasts through it, and then up-chucks all over the place! The saddest part is that everyone is standing around hoping that someone goes past that line.
Well, we weren't disappointed this year. Two of our students, including last years chug-a-lug champ, couldn't hold it down. What a night!!
All in all, it was a great evening filled with laughter, exploding apples, and donuts being eaten off the ground.

Thank you to all of the students that made the evening so memorable!

Impact

I am so proud of our students at Hempfield High School. I had a chance to speak at their Bible Club (Impact) Tuesday morning. I believe that there was over 20 students and 5 teachers present. How AWESOME is that. This being the first year of this specific club and it being held BEFORE school makes those numbers seem crazy!!! To see student after student coming in to pray together, hear the Word of God, and to get to know other people better is incredible.
I am so proud of Tori and Courtney for stepping it up and starting this club. I know that God brought other leaders their way as they started this process, but without them being obedient to God's leading they would have never found those other leaders!! Courtney really blew me away with how you could see each person in that room really looking to her for leadership. Way to go!! Everything was organized and well planned out. She even gave me the topic to talk about.
As a Youth Pastor I could not have been more proud!!! Thank you for blessing me!!!

Seeking Him First!

Hi everyone just wanted to write a few things that were on my mind after attending the Joyshop Workshop this weekend. I thought that this was going to be something pertaining to just women however I learned quickly that this could pertain to everyone. I learned how important taking time in the morning to seek God is. Not just saying what's up God but truly seeking Him. I am going to take the 21 day challenge that Anita Keagy gave us. You can get all the information on her website: http://joyshop.org/page.aspx?id=169931 . I am willing to do this with any of you girls or guys who would like to do it with me. I can help you stay accountable. We can get you a Bible if you need one, but basically I want to be there for anyone who would like to talk or needs some help getting started. Love you guys and I hope some of you will come along side me to take this challenge!

Sometimes we can be real foolish !!

I was doing my devotions last night and there was a story that i really liked and would like you to hear, so here it is ...... "A scientist approaches the throne of God and says " God, we dont need you anymore. Science has finally figured out a way to create life out of nothing. In other words, we can now do what you did in the beginning." "Oh, is that so? Tell me about it " God replies.
" Well " says the scientist " we can take plain dirt and form it into the likeness of you, and breathe life into it , thus creating man. " " Well thats very interesting........Show me," says God. So the scientist bends down to the earth and starts to mold the soil into the shape of a man. "Wait, wait, wait...." interrupts God , "Start with your own dirt !"" That story is amazing, but what is even more amazing is the verse my devotions had me read. The verses were Colossians 1: 15 -17 and thet say "We look at this Son and see the God who cannot be seen. We look at this Son and see God's original purpose in everything created. For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible, rank after rank after rank of angels—everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him. He was there before any of it came into existence and holds it all together right up to this moment. And when it comes to the church, he organizes and holds it together, like a head does a body." That verse really hit me because I am gulity of thinking that I dont need God when I most certianly do. God made you and me and everything around us. So the next time you think that you dont need anybody but yourself, realize that you need God no matter what !!!

GOD is Awesome

I have just been so blessed this summer. Even if I was to forget about ALL of the crazy blessings that God has been and is continueing to do in my personal life, the ministries at Victory Church have been rocking it out!!! UNITE has been moving forward as a united group of teenagers that are focused on God. How cool is that? I have never seen a group that is so excited to get other students involved in what they're doing. Our teens don't sit around in tight knit groups that have a "members only" feel to them. I am so proud of our students, and I am so thankful that God is doing such a unique work!! God is awesome!!!!

My Friday Night.

I just felt the need to share something that god has put in my life.
To start it all off, I have this friend. I am not going mention any names, but he is like a brother to me. He is not a christian, and he doesn't have it all too great family wise. But we are still such great friends. For a while now i have been trying to get him to come with me to church(ever since i started attending victory) and he always makes up excuses for him not to come. Well something happened last night. I was with him and a few more friends going on just a day beach trip to Rehoboth beach. The night before i prayed with my family for protection over us as we traveled there and back. Along with that morning of. We arrived there safely and had an AMAZING time! So around 8:30 we left to go home. 2 hours later we find out, we are lost, we took a wrong turn. He started freaking out, but we found out the way to get home. As we were on our way back to the rout to get home there was a driver that was pretty insane. The car went RIGHT in front of us and we had to swerve out of the way and right beside us was a hill that went into a big open field. We went down that hill and into that open field safely. If it wasnt for me and my one friend being on the one side of the car we would have flipped. After that happened I just prayed to god thanking him that we are all ok along with my friend sitting next to me. But then he starts to say "you know who that was? Kyle(his brother that he lost), he saved us, he is right here" and my heart broke hearing that, i never know that was how he thought. But i acted as if i didnt hear anything, it was so overwhelming at the time. But today he texted me, and we started talking about what happened last night. From that i said, "i know it may seem hard to believe me right now but it was god that was with us last night, he knew that was going to happen and provided an open field RIGHT beside us to drive into, he knew me and my friend would be on that side of the car so it doesnt flip" along with that i talked to him about the power of prayer, and how strong it truly is. Later then he told me, Tori, i want to start going to church i DO believe and i need to make it up to him. So I am now planning on taking him to church. And i know he truly wants to go, he is even asking to take off work to go. And i just am so happy right now. I just felt like sharing that, and how wonderful the power of prayer is.
-Tori Gantz

What a Sunday!

Sunday was a crazy day for me! I'll start off with getting everyone practicing for the El Salvador recap before service. Then we found out that the recording was really poor for the songs we were using. I was able to download the training videos and use the sound off of the laptop to play over the load speakers in service.
As I was figuring that out, my wife was grabbed out of service to tend to our oldest son, Elisha, due to him having an asthma attack. So as I am preparing the tech team for what is needed for the laptop to work, I am also faced with the fact that my oldest son may have to be rushed to the ER. All of this is going on DURING the service.
The students get up on stage and do an amazing job with both of the ministry dances, as well as, the tech team keeping up with the many hurdles that we had to deal with that morning. I gave a little bit of testimony about El Salvador, and then interviewed Elissa, one of our amazing students that went on the missions trip, on how God had stretched her and allowed her to really minister in ways she never thought possible. What a great response from the adults in our congregation.
The moment I get off stage my wife lets me know that she needs to bring Elisha to the ER. I hang out until the end of service and then get a ride over to the hospital (thanks Matt and Julie for being such awesome friends). I get there and Elisha is still struggling, but they soon get his asthma under control and we are on our way home (steroids and all).
All this is happening and there is still a service to prepare for in a couple of hours and the speaker, my wife, now needs to stay home with our boys. This is really where it gets cool.
I just was praying that God would do His thing. We had fellowship, then worship, and finally we went into a time of discussion about El Salvador and the testimonies of the students that went down. I talked very little about anything outside of the trip itself, but as I went to close in prayer I really felt like God wanted me to give an invitation to those who hadn't recieved Christ yet to do so.
WOW!! I am so glad that I listened! Four students raised their hands to recieve Christ!!! I asked these students to meet me after the service so I could talk to them about their decision, and I also wanted to give them some FREE stuff. Many times I have to go searching for individuals because they become shy or unsure about how people will view them if they see that they had made a decision. Not this night. I had one student immediately come to me and share with me where they were at and how they felt about taking it one day at a time. Another asked for prayer and some guidance on their home life and the difference between the God that she is getting to know and the view that she had of Him through her family. And yet another student was willing to wait for me as I was getting done talking to another student, even though her dad was waiting for her (thanks to good dads everywhere).
It is amazing how God can take what we think is unsatisfactory and make it extraordinary as long as we give it as much as we can and then trust Him for the rest.
What a great Sunday!!!!!

Worship !!!!

Well its about 9:46 and I just got home from youth group where our youth worship band ( WideOpen ) played without our normal worship leaders . Let me tell you this it was Awseome !!!!! What was so awesome is that even though we might not have sounded the greatest to some people but to me it still sounded awesome and we even learned one of the songs just this afternoon!!!!! But its all because we gave it up to God !! Also our Youth Pastor, Pastor Chris brought on an awesome message on prayer and boy did he preach it !!!! He taught us that prayer is so so so important in communication with god and that you need to belive that he will answer ur prayers !! It was an awesome message !! So in ending let me ask you something " How's your prayer life ?"

Long's Park

On Sunday evening, we canceled our normal youth night and we met out at Long's Park. It was a phenomenal evening filled with family, friends, cannons, and fireworks. How cool is that? Cannons! The fireworks hadn't started yet, and the orchestra was playing. All of a sudden, BOOM! Then it was one after the other.
The fireworks were also done amazingly well. It was definitely the best fireworks I've seen here in Lancaster. I kept hearing person after person say that it was the best fireworks display they had ever seen. I wouldn't go that far, but they were pretty cool.
Even with the amazing fireworks and the awesome cannons, the best part for me was the great fellowship we had with such a diverse group. A couple of young adults from our Mosaic ministry at Victory were there, as well as, a few parents of our teens at Unite. I have to tell you, here at Unite, we have the best parents around. When I talk to other youth pastors or read articles about the relationship between youth ministry and the parents in their churches I realize how blessed I am to be at Victory Church. Our parents support what God is doing in our ministry rather than try to control it. I know that God will continue to bless these parents for their willingness to support and love not only their own teenager but all of the teens in our youth ministry.
Needless to say, it was a great night!!

Anticipation!!!!!

It is now 12:34 pm on Friday, June 20th, 2008. In 24 hours I, along with 11 amazing students and 3 other adult leaders, will be in San Salvador, El Salvador. How cool is that. I am so PUMPED!!! Be in prayer for our team. I know that God is going to do something amazing in the lives of our teenagers. Heck, I know that God is going to do something incredible in the lives of the adult leaders, as well (that's me included). UNITE has just been so blessed! I know that God has some awesome things in store for us this summer. Lets keep moving forward!

That Moment!

This past Sunday, one of our graduating students brought a message to the group about worship. What a fantastic job, Elissa.
What was that key moment that let you know that God was speaking to us as a group? It was "that moment"! This is the moment when the message goes from food for thought to a tug on your heart for change. After Elissa spoke on worship and how God blesses us when we continually worship Him whether we feel like it or not, Tamar led the group in one more worship song. That moment for me was just after the song as I was about to pray a blessing over the group and wrap up the evening, I was just in awe of how God showed up. It wasn't about people rising up and walking that had been lame, or mouths being opened that had been mute. It was truly about God speaking to hearts, drawing His children closer to Himself. God cares about our smallest needs and desires. God knows about our deepest worries and fears. We don't need to wait until a retreat or missions trip to come expecting God to show up. God wants us to walk with Him. We need to realize that in everything we do we should try our best to worship God in it. Will we ever be perfect enough to get it right all of the time? Heck NO! But God knows when we are going to Him with our whole heart, or when we just come with a bunch of excuses. I have been in both places, and I must tell you, it's an awesome ride when you run towards God WHOLE heartedly!

All-Niter Photos!!

Too Cool Posse

Three's Company (Go Rugby!!)

All Together Now

What?

Ultimate Frisbee Photos

Go Pirkle

Craziness

As sharp as his name

It's ok to be hungry

Usual suspects

Ultimate Frisbee & Worship?

Last night's Youth service was pretty cool. Anytime you can play ultimate frisbee with a 3 foot wide frisbee, have a time of worship outside in the grass, and then go into the Word of God with people that you care about, it's an awesome night.
It never ceases to fail that I get impressed by the students week in and week out. Our students step up and represent when it is time to go after it. From the student that was able to put a bad week behind them and just go out and have a blast to the student that comes in with questions and continues to seek God despite the distractions that are trying to hold him back.
God is awesome! Keep going after Him! He won't let you down!

Pumped

I am so excited about this summer!! We have an all-niter this Friday, missions trip to El Salvador in June, and a bunch of students that are influencing the world around them for Christ. I truly believe that this is going to be a summer to remember. I believe that God has something awesome planned for our youth ministry. I am ready to go forward in God and try to reach those that are hurting and feel misunderstood. Are you ready? It's going to be an awesome ride!

Loneliness

It always amazes me how many people are surrounded by a large group of "friends" and yet they can be so alone. I was having a conversation with a friend of mine and we started to talk about random things, as men often do when they're hanging out. It is amazing how a conversation can go from superficial talk about iPods to a deep, reflective talk about friendships. As my friend and I started to get on the topic of things that people struggle with in their lives, he brought up an interesting point. Many of the people he grew up with (and still hangs out with today) always seem to have it all together. If a topic was brought up for discussion, between guys, there was always someone that would be quick to let everyone know that they didn't deal with situations like that.
I personally don't understand this concept. I have the mindset that there is nothing new under the sun, and I would rather not be alone in something I am struggling through. But whether I understand it or not the problem is still remains. Tons of people walk through life dealing with struggles, and they deal with them alone. People reach out to others for help, but get a quick answer reminding them of how much they screwed up rather than being pointed towards the loving arms of Christ.
You can say "You just have to pray" or "God is sufficient. You don't need to tell anyone else". These statements are true, but there is a problem. God uses people to lift up and encourage people. Many times when someone is judged or shut down by another christian, they automatically feel as though that means God must feel the same way.
So what do we do? Get real! If you see someone who is struggling, don't put them down. LIFT THEM UP! You'll be amazed how great it feels to make others feel good. Get together with close friends and keep one another accountable. Don't be afraid to be honest. Learn your lesson. Don't just stay where you're at. Move out. Use this accountability to keep you focused on God. When we keep your eyes on Christ you'll see victory in your life.

What a GREAT weekend!

What an awesome weekend we have had as a youth group here at Unite. It started Saturday morning with Unite's 1st Annual Walk-A-Thon. This was an event that allowed us to raise over 4,500 dollars for our students to go to El Salvador for a missions trip this summer! One of our students, Hannah, rocked it out for the ladies and led the whole field with 35 laps (with our size track it equaled 7.5 miles).
Sunday was just as awesome with one of our youth staff, Tamar, teaching our missions trip students a crash course in spanish. I took 3.5 years of spanish and I still learned a couple of new things in the very first class (go Tamar). Then, to have an awesome main service where our lead pastor hasn't been afraid to tackle the topics that many people just want to sweep under the carpet. Islam, Mormonism, the Oprah church, and other religions and popular idealogies and the way they line up with the Word of God. What an awesome tool for us to better understand and love the people in our community that may not share our faith.
Finally, we capped off this crazy weekend with a great youth service where we learned about how we should enter times of change, had a great time in worship, and ended the evening with some birthday cake. Happy Birthday Emily!!!!
Like I said, what a GREAT weekend!
-PMac

unChristian

I know a lot people hate to read, but there is a lot of awesome things that you can learn about if you are willing to put some time aside to read. There are some really cool books, but there is one that I think all teens should at least look at. It is called unChristian. This book is written by David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons, and they wanted to see how people that don't claim to have a personal relationship with Jesus viewed christians. What they found out was not very flattering.
They not only show the importance of knowing how people view the church, but also how we can change that perception. It's up to us. If people around us can't see Jesus passed all of the nonsense that we are doing, then that is on us!
I think that the name is so fitting because that is exactly the image that so many people have, unchristian. They view christians as being totally UNLIKE Christ. We need to be loving as Christ loves. We need to start putting away our own pride and selfish ambitions and start going after what God wants for our lives.
Last, if you don't have a relationship with Jesus and maybe you feel as though christians are judgemental, hyprocritical, or even hateful, I challenge you to come out to UNITE at Victory Church sometime. I'd love to meet you and answer ANY questions that you might have.
-PMac

Thank You!!!

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone that has been praying for me. I am home now and feeling pretty good. My throat hurts pretty bad when I swallow, but that's it. Thanks for your continued prayers.
PMac

Guest Blogger: Seth Barstow (Youth Convention)

God really hit my heart at Youth Convention '08. On the first night when our speaker, Pat Schatzline, called people to the altar and everyone in the stands flooded down to the stage, I knew that God's presence was with us. Then, at the second session he talked about purity and romance. I knew God hit a lot of souls with that session, but the session that really hit me was the last one. Pat talked about bone carriers and how God was there to help carry "them bones". After the sermon Pat did an altar call, and at that point I felt God's presence take control in a way I've never felt before. It was warming, and it gave me a new view on life. Most importantly, I felt God's love all over me. It was a beautiful moment. After a while I looked up and saw many people crying, unbelievers calling out to God for forgiveness, and believers thanking and crying out to God. I'm glad God gave me the opportunity to go to Youth Convention '08.

Awesome couple of days!!!

We all had a great time at the Youth Convention in Hershey PA. I wish we could do that everyday. Worship was awesome, the scriptures were right on and all the fun was great. Although Mike Allen managed to lose his bible at the hotel. Hopefully some one who needs one will find it and keep it.

District Fine Arts '08

Go Hannah!! a.k.a. ONES

Compromise?

How often have you thought about what is acceptable in light of not wanting to offend someone? How many times have you been torn between standing up for the standards in your life and not wanting to show judgement towards someone you care for that doesn't share your standards?
These are very valid questions that can seem to tear at our sanity! The very first thing that we need to do is go to God in prayer. It says in James 1 that all we need to do is ask for wisdom, and God will give it to us.
Then, we need to check our motives. Do we just want to fit in, or are we genuinely wanting to show love and support? Are we wanting to show the light of Christ, or are we wanting to show how cool we can be? After you have gone to God for wisdom and you have searched yourself for the true motives behind your struggle, follow through with what you feel God wants you to do. There is no reason to sit around and wait. If God is wanting you to step up and make a stand for what is right, then stand firm and know that God will never leave you. He will be your Rock!!
Now, if you feel as though God is giving you the peace to let a situation just die on its own, then love the people that are in the situation. You don't have to agree with everything that people you care about do. This never means that you have to compromise your standards. What it does mean is that God sent His Son down to this earth to die for our sins and I know that He hasn't agreed with every decision that you or I have made. But He made that sacrifice, anyway. I don't want to try to dictate someone elses growth, but I would like to be a part of it. I would hate to lose the opportunity to bless someone because I chose a really small hill to die on. I love the patience that God has shown with me, allowing me the room to grow. I pray that I can show others the patience that God has shown me!

March 2nd, 2008

Everyone do the Nacho!! (What's with the blue lips?)

Follow the Leader

Here at Unite, God has really blessed our ministry with some awesome staff. Each one of our volunteer staff is following God where He is calling them to minister. Tonight, Tamar, one of our dynamic staff members, delivered a message on just that, following God regardless of the distractions. We need to have enough faith to believe that God knows the plans that He has for us. The message was great! It always amazes me, though, how it always seems to be that one sentence that isn't even a main point that hits you the most. "You can't do your best until God is doing His best". I know that may seem like a weird statement to get deep about, but think about it for a moment. How many times do we try to do our best without even thinking about God doing His work in us? We need to let go of that need to get all of the credit. We need to let go and allow God to do His best in us. God is always doing His best, but He will never trespass our free will!! Are you allowing God to do His best in you? Better yet, are you asking God to do His best in you? Are you going to accept the awesome plans that He has for you, and then have the faith to know that God loves you enough to see that plan fulfilled in you? God wants the best for you and me. Are you ready for God to do His best in you?!

Talents

I get so pumped up when I see teenagers using their talents!! This past Saturday, we were involved in a Fine Arts Festival in Camp Hill. Four of our students participated in eight different events. They ALL did AWESOME!!!!! Each student moved on to the district level, and they all have an awesome chance to get to the national level. How awesome is that?!

Bungeeeeee Funnneeeeee

B-Ball

Leaders of the pack.

Now theres a fun pair.
Those two look like they are in love.
Heres Pastor Chris and familia.
Nine ways to crazy and also Pam the pastors wife.

Heres a few photos of leaders in the group.

Super Bowl Party!!!!!

Super Bowl XLII

Super Bowl XLII at Victory Church was awesome!!! Food, games, and the timeless picture in my head of Pam (our head Pastor's wife) having an expression of overwhelming excitement on her face just before being whipped back violently by the bungee cord strapped to her back. I am so excited about all of the new faces that I saw at this event. So many students and adults alike invited friends to come out. I loved seeing our teenagers not only invite their friends but then also reach out and meet new people, as well. I am so proud of you guys!

Go GIANTS!!!

-PMac

Who's gonna win!!!

Superbowl sunday

Mike and Tamar's doggie

Bailey

First Blog

Hello everyone we wil be posting more info as we go.