City Slicker in a Ranch Style World

one amazing year

2009-04-13T14:50:00.002-05:00

A year ago yesterday, I stood in front of my friends and family looking into the most beautiful blue eyes I had ever seen and telling that girl that I would spend the rest of my life with her, no matter what happened. A year later, I am still amazed that God has chosen me to be with this girl, to call her my best friend, and to share life with her as long as our days will allow us. How great is my God that he would bless me in such a way! I am grateful daily for Lydia and that she chose me as well.

We have been talking a lot lately about how quickly this last year has gone and how grateful we were how well the first year went. In fact as we were going to bed last night, she remarked "I thought that the first year was supposed to be rough!". That is an interesting thought. I guess that in the flurry of being married, I hadn't really considered that we should be having a hard time or that marriage should be really difficult. Yes, it is an adjustment and yes, you have to share space while navigating another persons personality all the while. However, I have found most of the difficulties that I have faced have been self-imposed. That is, I have learned more about myself in the last year than I ever have and that isn't always the best thing. When you are single for a long period of time like I was, you get pretty selfish in your ways and you don't realize how things might come across or how your little quirks can not always be the easiest things for others to handle. I have learned so much about myself while sharing my life with someone who is willing to let me know when I am being a jerk or when she is really happy with me.

In other words, I probably isolated myself from other people for way to long in my life. While I worked a very public job in ministry, I tended to shut myself off from others during my "off time". Sometimes I wish I had allowed people a little closer so that I could learn more about myself and them for that matter. No worries, though. God had someone in mind that he wanted me to wait a while for, that I could learn the best from.

So, here I am, learning about myself daily, living life with my best friend, and looking forward to years and years of doing this "married" thing. I am grateful and blessed.

some explanation

2009-04-08T10:46:00.002-05:00

There has been a little confusion about the new title of the blog so I figured I would take a moment to explain. Before I do though, it would be prudent to note that I am in no way a wordsmith or witty with words. What you see as a title is about the best I know how to do. While in my little 'Chris Robey noggin' I thought it was really funny, those who read it might be scratching their own noggins a bit.

I am not gonna explain "city slicker". Seriously. But the "Ranch Style World" has significance in two ways. First of all, as Lydia and I were engaged, we bought a house out in the country that was pretty much in the middle between Granbury and Ft Worth. This house has a certain style to it that is known as "Ranch Style". For months and months the little "City Slicker" in me called it "Texas Style". After being corrected by my wife about a thousand times, I finally figured out my error.

Also, I have married a country music fan. And she (plus tons of other country fans in this area) listen to something called "Texas Country". If you grew up in the "Westoplex", that is Fort Worth and areas west of the city, you listen to your Texas Country on a station known as "The Ranch". Now, let me say this about "The Ranch": You have good music, but nothing to be arrogant about. There is an inherint cockiness about Texas Country not being "Nashville" and that everything that comes out of Nashville is crap. I have no problem with this assumption about the music, but it isn't something to be cocky about. "The Ranch" even modifies its broadcast signal so it cannot be heard in Dallas because they feel like that side of the metroplex isn't worthy of their brand of music. I wish I was making this up, but I couldn't. I am not that smart! Just look at my blog title!

So, all rants aside, that is why I used the term "Ranch Style World". While I do like the beans, I don't think they are a fitting enough reason to use them as an inspiration for a blog title. Now, coutry fried steak....that might be a good idea........

Some change

2009-04-07T12:30:00.002-05:00

It hit me today that I haven't posted in almost a year. Most would say that they felt really bad about not posting. I could say that, but it would probably be a lie. I guess if I felt that bad about it I would have posted a long time ago.

The main reason I haven't posted is that the blog was about me living in Granbury as a single guy in a new ministry. All of those things have changed in the last year, though. I guess that it was hard to come up with posts about a life situation that dosen't exist.

So, it is time to change the title of the blog and the overall focus. The title "City Slicker in a Ranch Style World" speaks to my entrance into a new family and set of friends who are a bit more "countrified" than I am. I grew up living all over the world, never living in one place more than four years. My friends played video games, watched sports, and made stupid videos on the weekends. The only "country" thing I did growing up was shuck corn on my grandparents back porch in Alabama. That is pretty "country" if you ask me.

Yet, I married this pretty blue eyed girl from Texas whose family likes to hunt, fish, plant gardens, and listen to Texas Country music. So, needless to say, my life has changed a lot in the last few years.

This blog will simply reflect the awesome change that has happened in my life in the last year. I am now a married man with a mortgage and two acres to mow each week. I have a tire swing in my back yard and a shed. I kayak with my brother in laws and mountain bike when I get the chance. I love my wife more than she will ever know and consider myself to be the luckiest guy on the planet.

I am more than a youth minister now. That seems to be less of an identity for me now than it used to be. I am a child of God, a husband, and a uncle. I am a mentor to teens and families as well as a son and a brother. For years the title "youth minister" is what kept me going. It is what gave me my worth. I hope that from now on that will be only one of the ways someone can identify me.

So, entering this new world will be great for me as God continues to expand who he wants me to be. I am glad to be doing so coming from such an awesome family and entering into a new one.

So there! Enjoy the "philosophical" Chris Robey for today. You might not see him again for a while. Check in from time to time and see whats up. Lata!

the Wims family

2008-05-15T15:42:00.003-05:00

This post is simply to offer up a family in great need of prayer and encouragement. It is a family that I do not know very well but have some connection with through our church. Brad Wims is the son of one of my elders here in Granbury. I know Brad through a fantasy football league that I used to play in a few years ago as well, yet I have only met him in person once here at church. Brad, however developed a rare form of bone cancer last year. Here is the description from their blog:

In January of 2007 Brad was diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer called chondrosarcoma. After 3 massive surgeries in a 4 month span, 2 1/2 months of stomach bedrest and hundreds of hours of physical therapy, our family continues to take each day at a time.

The Wims have not experienced a lot of success with conventional treatments so they are looking at some alternative treatments abroad. They have settled with a treatment in Germany and are making preperations to fly over there by the end of the month. This will both be expensive and time consuming, but will possibly be an answer to the illness.

Our church had an extensive prayer time for Brad on Tuesday evening. It was beautiful to see God's people show up and pray for Brad, especially those who had never met him or his family.

I want to extend the prayer circle ever so slightly through this blog. Go to www.thewims.blogspot.com to get the full scope of what this family is going through right now.

I know that it seems like there are so many people to pray for and so much sickness and hurting going on in our world right now. It probably would be easier just to focus on the hurting people in our little circles, but I encourage you to battle with us on behalf of this family.

the bullet-point update

2008-04-29T14:12:00.004-05:00

I really need to update the blog so I figured I would do so in bullet point form without a lot of detail.

- I am married now as of two weeks ago. Married life rocks.

- There is a possibility that I will be changing directions in grad school to have a family ministry emphasis instead of just general ministry

- Lydia and I are homeowners in a little country neighborhood outside of Granbury in a town named Cresson. I have a little stream out in the back that I catch ginormous 1\2 pound perch out of.

- I will be an uncle soon (by blood). Check out my sister's blog

- This site is friggin hilarous

That outta hold you for a while........

the "bad' kids part 1

2008-02-25T11:11:00.004-06:00

This past weekend we had our spring retreat with the youth ministries from the Tenth and Broad COC in Wichita Falls and the East Point COC in Wichita, KS. We met up at Pettijohn Springs Christian Camp in southern OK. This was a special weekend because we were able to bring in Benny and Nikki Nowell of the Sevens ministry in Boulder, CO. These three ministries coming together with the purpose of learning more about the love of the Father excited me. What was even more exciting is that I was able to bring 26 high school students, by far the most we have ever brought on a HS only retreat.

Yet this weekend was extremely difficult for me when it came to my group. I have been used to having pretty clean cut church kids who do what they are supposed to do and ones that you don't have to worry too much about. We have a large amount of those kiddos in our group yet we have a small but growing segment of teens who are rough, immature, and pretty hard to deal with. It seemed like this minority of the group really made it tough on the rest of the group.

What was striking to me about this group was that these kids (the difficult ones) are the ones that need to most love and attention yet will demand the most discipline. I am a horrible disciplinarian! What tends to happen is that I will let a lot of things slide then come down super hard on the kids when they have gone too far. I have never had a group of kids that I have to be constantly on the lookout for kids doing what they aren't supposed to do. A big part of me wants to tell them not to come. That is horrible, but it is how I feel sometimes.

I tend to heap a lot of this on me because I don't exactly know how to deal with kids who are perpetually "on the bad list". It would be easier to just love them and accept them as they are, but they become a drain on everyone else if their behavior is left unchecked. These are the things I have struggled with, especially how to keep the "balance" of discipline and love, expectation and acceptance.

I have much more to say about this so I will post a "part 2" soon. Post your thoughts if you would and we will keep the discussion going.

A quick update

2008-01-07T20:56:00.000-06:00

A new year arrives and I didn't really know it! Life has been running at such a break-neck pace that I haven't really had the chance to take stock in a whole lot lately. So, let me get you guys a couple of things that are going on with us right now.
1. I have bought a house. Actually, Lydia and I bought a house. Now, before you dial the phone and call me a fornicator, let me explain what the situation is. A few months ago when Lydia and I knew we were going to get married, she found this house in between Granbury and Fort Worth. She knew that she would be working in Ft. Worth so it would be convienient to find a house in between where she worked and where I worked. Well, we found this house that was at a perfect location and was the perfect size. But, she wasn't working yet so we couldn't afford it. A few weeks later, she got an offer from Cooks Childrens hospital in Fort Worth. So, I called our realator and she put an offer on the house. They accepted and the rest is history. It is such a cool house! I plan to post some pics soon so that everyone can see it. Lydia will be living there for the next three months until we get married. I have moved out of my apartment and will live with one of my elders until the wedding. So, fear not my friends! We are doing everything we can to keep things on the up and up despite what it might look like.
2. The wedding date is on April 12th. That is a little more than three months! We are really excited and frankly really ready for this day. It will be a day of celebration for what God has done for both of us and our families. We hope you can come.

Things are really exciting right now! Pray for us as we continue to prepare for this life together. I hope to write more soon.

Gymkata

2007-12-10T21:06:00.000-06:00

Can anyone say Oscar?

I might be 29 but I still want to be a ninja......

Behold the Lamb of God

2007-12-03T14:22:00.000-06:00

Some might say that I have a "man-crush" on a Christian artist named Andrew Peterson. I have all of his records and really love the work that he does. It is honest, heartfelt, poetic, and also easy on the ears. I have no problem admitting now that I might have a man-crush. I am engaged, right? Isn't that my insurance?

But, to the point: one of my favorite albums that he has produced is called "Behold the Lamb of God: The true tall-tale of the coming of Christ". This album re-tells the story of the birth of Christ from the Exodus culminating with the birth of Jesus. It is a beautiful record. I was able to go to the "Behold the Lamb of God" concert over in Dallas this last weekend with Lydia and her parents. I have to admit that I was a little "googley" over it all since some of my favorite artists were there: Bebo Norman, Jill Phillips, Andy Gullahorn, Andrew Osenga. What was so cool was that all of the artists started the show playing their own music. So, each of the aforementioned artists were able to play two of their own songs. Then, after intermission, they played the entire "Behold" record from front to back retelling the entire story of the birth of Christ.

What struck me about this concert was this: the story of the birth of Christ and the events leading up to it are powerful and life changing! I come from a fellowship who says it isn't right to celebrate the birth of Christ like the rest of the religious communities. I am now of the mindset that this view is incorrect and destructive. If we don't talk about the birth of Christ during the Christmas season, when will we? When will we reflect on the culmination of the history of Israel with the birth of Christ? When will we celebrate the fact that God's promises are always fulfilled, namely in the person hood of Jesus? When will we understand that God's plan all along was to save humanity, even in the dark times of Israel's history?

I have been convicted as of late that this story means something. The manger, three wise men, and the guiding star aren't the important elements. Taking the time to absorb the scope of this story brings and the implications on humanity reminds us of the goodness of our God.

Take the time to check out Peterson's record. It tells the story in a way that I have never heard.

May your holiday season be blessed!

The big announcement

2007-11-21T19:26:00.001-06:00

For 29 years of my life, I have been the proverbial "single guy". All of my friends got married around the year 2000, so I have been the single guy within my group of friends for quite a while in fact. This hasn't been something that has bugged me to the point of despair, but I guess there is always a longing within the soul of each person not to be alone. People have been single their whole lives and been just fine, so I figured that would be my path in life. I always struggled to find girls that I was impressed with or thought would be worth the risk of heartbreak. Because of this, I haven't dated a lot.

Well, as you guys know I moved to Granbury almost a year ago (crazy, isn't it?). The entire town of Vernon, TX assumed I moved here to find a wife. I can honestly say that isn't why I came here. Yet that is what happened! annoucment

I met a pretty girl named Lydia a few months ago and I fell in love with her. She is what I have been looking for all of these years and makes me a happy fella. We have dated seven months and I asked her to be my wife about two weeks ago. We both are a little floored that God worked in this way and brought us together at this point in time. But we are so thankful!

I haven't been posting much in the last few months because I didn't know whether or not to divulge all of this info. But here it is! In the next few posts, I want to tell the story because it is cool. I want to give hope to those who are longing for someone in their lives and maybe gain some more perspective through sharing what God does for his people.

I look forward to sharing with you all soon what God is and has been doing. Thanks for sticking with this blog. Hopefully people still read and will continue to do so. Check back soon!

Chris

need some good music.......

2007-10-30T17:40:00.000-05:00

I love music. It is something that hearkens the heart back to a place in time that was either full of turmoil of packed with joy. There are certain songs that I still hear or a certain lyric that comes across my radio that fills me with an unexplainable nostalgia, no matter what period of my life it takes me to. In fact, a lot of the memorable tunes in the catalog of my memory take me to times where things wern't going so well. Generally, I blame those times on girls :).

I am in the proccess of re-discovering some music and getting some new stuff in my life. I will post some of the more memorable albums of my life. What are some of yours?

Photographs- Andrew Osenga
Love and Thunder- Andrew Peterson
Fabric of the Verse- Bebo Norman
My Calm\Your Storm-Caedmon's Call
Father-Justin McRoberts
Love is a Bullet-Poor Rich Folk

I have a ton more that I will post soon.

quick thoughts from class

2007-09-11T17:01:00.000-05:00

I am sitting in my grad school class on a break and I am a little frustrated. I enjoy the knowledge that I am getting so much! Yet, I really have a tension within me about the fact that very few people in the world think along these lines. I am fascinated by the amount of time and energy that people put into interpreting the bible and parsing the different nuances of scripture, but where does that all translate in a real-world setting? Is the bible meant to be interpreted on an everyday, lay-person's level? Or is it meant to be torn apart and dissected by intellectual people looking for the deeper truths?

I just have some competing emotions about this. Your thoughts?

(these responses need to be in some form of classical Greek minuscule with at least 8 sources. Thank you.)

the goings on of late..........

2007-08-20T16:23:00.000-05:00

It seems necessary to have a post like this at the end of every summer. When things are winding down for the summer in youth ministry, they seem to be ramping up for the fall. It's called August. This month is a bit of an oxymoron by nature because you are supposed to be recouping from the summer, yet are so busy with the administrative tasks of a new school year. I am spending a lot of time planning for things that have not come to pass, but are mere dreams and visions. While the time that is spent on the planning of these events and programs is crucial, it also is difficult to see why it is that I spend so much time on it in the first place.

This ministry I have inherited is indeed a strong one with a rich history. But, it isn't mine yet. I don't know if it will ever be. I am so eager to put my fingerprints on this ministry in a way that I will feel like I am doing what God has set me to do with these kids. Yet, I know that patience is the word when you are starting something new, whether it be ministry or anything else.

Also, this ministry is forcing me to be more of an administrator than I am used to. I know that once I get this administrative stuff down, I can focus more on relationships. Our ministry consists of a large number of teens, far too many for me to handle on my own. So, my large task is to surround these teens with adults who will love and care for them like I would. To accomplish this takes time, patience, and prayer.

Keep me in your prayers. I am loving what I am doing so much, but there are huge challenges that force me out of my comfort zone. I will be starting back with my masters work next week, so that will be an additional piece to my puzzle. Also, God has blessed me with an amazing girlfriend (which most of you know about I guess), so that indeed throws a stick into the spokes. My relationship with her (which I might post about if you are lucky :)) is such an unexpected blessing in my life that demands a level of commitment that I am getting used to (very willingly, I might add........she is really pretty!). I am so happy that God has placed her in my life. Pray for us.

This post is random and rambling as most of mine are. I simply wanted to update you on the world of Robey and my prayer needs.

Hope your world is great as well!

Chris

Cornerstone

2007-07-10T14:24:00.000-05:00

I am spending a week up at Camp Cornerstone on the campus of Oklahoma Christian University. I believe (if I remember right) that this is my fourth year to be on staff at this awesome camp. Since I have been in youth ministry I have worked at Zenith and Cornerstone as a teacher and staff member. I have always loved Zenith for the amazing level of fellowship that I get from the other youth ministers and their wives. It is one of the rare camps that uplift both the teenager and the minister. Most camps will focus so much on the kids that the ministry staff who puts it on are dead at the end of the week. I believe that Zenith is so amazing because everyone is lifted up, not just kids.

I laughed so hard at Zenith this year. It was the kind of laughing that is memorable. I spent the week with some of my best friends, Allen Carr, Trevor Cox, Jerred England, and Benny Nowell, along with their lovely wives. I have very few people in this world that I can truly cut loose and cut up with. We all need that in our lives at some point, especially in ministry. Kindred spirit is hard to come by when you are taking a paycheck to do full time ministry. So, I cherish the times I can spend with these great people.

Camp Cornerstone has been awesome like usual. I love this camp for the awesome kids. I have always told people that if Granbury hired another youth minister that I would take the middle school in a heartbeat. They are at such a moldeable age! I was talking to one of the dorm moms today and she was complimenting us (youth ministers) for putting up with these kids like we do. My response was "just laugh and love them!". I believe that is what they need. Of course they are annoying and awkward. They are going through puberty! There is no doubt that I went through the same stages that they are right now. All we can do is love on them and laugh with them. It is so cool.

When Jesus told us to accept him like a little child, I understand that better after being around kids like this. They aren't too cool to love Jesus the best way they know how. It teaches me to love in a more open and honest way. I am not too good at that, but I know that if I follow Christ's command, I will look a little dorky and awkward. But no one will doubt my heart.

Let's be like these middle school kids! But please, use deodorant!

Chris

2007-05-22T21:49:00.000-05:00

Ok, this post verifies that I am the biggest nerd in the world. I just found out that my favorite band of my college and young adult life, Caedmon's Call, has brought back their former guitarist and songwriter, Derek Webb (pictured above on the far left) for their upcoming CD, Overdressed. Derek launched a solo career about 5 years ago and has put out some great music. Yet the band has definitly been different since he left. Andrew Osenga, another great singer-songwriter took his place after he left. He has added his own flavor and style that I think does well for the band. Yet, like all things, it isn't as good as the original.

While I don't know to what extent that he is back, I am pretty excited about the record coming up. Let's just hope that it hearkens back to the original Caedmon's sound. We shall see!

The mayor of nerdville,

Chris

going back

2007-05-21T20:53:00.000-05:00

This week is graduation week in most towns across America. Since my move in January I knew that this week would come. One of my biggest goals when I lived in Vernon was to see this year's class graduate. They were the kids that I started with when I began youth ministry in 2004. I had a personal goal to see them through high school and graduate before I ever thought of leaving.

Well, as usual God has different plans. At the end of last year, God dropped an amazing opportunity on my lap with my new job in Granbury, Texas. I had to take it. There was no doubt in my mind that he was leading me here. I couldn't explain it then, and I really can't now. This is where I need to be.

Yet this whole move has messed up my plans. I felt a bit like I abandoned those kids when I left. They were the reason I lived in Vernon. I wasn't a huge fan of the town or the "small town" enviornment. But the kids and familes I fell in love with. So I have struggled a bit since I have been here because I have not been able to keep in touch with my friends up there because of my new life here. That is generally what happens when you move, despite your best intentions.

This week has brought some great opportunities however. Last night I was able to go to Baccalaureate (sp?) in Vernon at my old church. It was the first year that they ever hosted it. It was a great night. The seniors and families had no idea that I was coming so it was a lot of fun to suprise them. I saw tons of folk that I haven't seen in long time. It was a great time to catch up and to gain some closure on my leaving four months ago. It was definitly needed.

I had a friend ask me last night if I regretted leaving Vernon. I was able to tell her "no". That was a good feeling. While I miss those west Texas folks intensly, I know that God has brought me to another chapter in life that will be totally different from the last. I was talking to one of my former elders last night about how much I missed everyone, yet how I knew that God had brought me to the right place and how it was tough to make sense of all of that. My former elder spoke of "treasures in heavan" and how good friendships and rich relationships served that purpose in heavan. These great people that we invest in over the years will be with us someday when we go home. Those treasures are being stored up now. What a great thought, huh?

While God might put us different places and take us farther away from the ones we love, he always blesses deep, meaninful relationships that are based on him. That is good. Very good.

Hope you guys are well.

sunny days.....

2007-05-02T17:54:00.000-05:00

While my last post found me burning the candle at both ends, this one finds me doing just the opposite. I am presently in Destin, Florida with my family on the beach (well not really at the beach presently, in the condo). Not too sure if the church would be cool with me taking this laptop down to the beach anyways. Sand in the keyboard isn't too good of a thing, you know?

We have had a great time so far. On Monday my dad, my brother in law, Jeremy, and myself went deep sea fishing. I have only been once before and that time wasn't very successful. I have a picture from that first time and it wasn't very spectacular. It was a pic of me and a very small fish. However, this time was different. While we didn't bag any marlins, we did catch quite a few large fish (11 to be exact.....10 red snapper and 1 very unlucky red grouper........dad snagged him on his belly). We spent the day amongst many redneck drunk guys so, on top of having a great day fishing, we had some really good entertainment to our left and right. What kinda stinks is that the most drunk guy caught the biggest fish. Figures.

Last night we drove over to Milton where my grandma lives. She is 76 and lives in a nursing home. We ate with her, 4 of my uncles, a few of my cousins, and their kids. We had three or four generations of Robeys sitting at the same table. My grandma isn't the most talkative of women and her old age isn't helping a lot with her memory either. She just sat there and watched all of us talk and cut up. She really didn't say anything. One of us jokingly said that it was her fault that all of us were here. I guess that is probably true. I can't imagine looking down a table and seeing several generations of my kids, grandkids, and great grandkids looking back at me. Maybe that is why she was speechless. I might have been as well.

As I close, to avoid any accusations of telling a "big fish story", here is the proof:

on the run

2007-04-22T22:05:00.000-05:00

When I first moved to Granbury, I got really excited because I thought I would have a lot more opportunity to blog and tell peeps about my "feelings" and "goings on". Yet it seems like same ol'-same ol' when it comes to blogging. I have posted maybe four times since I have moved here. Not that good of a track record, eh? But this will hopefully put things back on track for a while.

The main reason I have been off the radar screen is this last weekend. Granbury has this huge tradition every year called Senior Banquet. This banquet has become quite a huge event over the last decade or so. Every year, this event is the biggest thing on the calander.

Yet, this year we decided to mess with it a bit. In the past, parents would get up in front of the crowd and bless their kids. Pretty cool thing, I think. Yet apparently these blessings can get rather long and drawn out (like 30-45 min I have heard) and the banquet can go on into the wee hours of the morning. Well several parents and other volunteers, including myself, decided to have the parents pre-tape their responses. Most parents were cool with it. Some were not. But they went along with it.

Luckily, I am still employed I guess. The night went really well and I feel like our kids were honored. It was indeed a stressful week building up to it, but I really loved seeing how these families that I am getting to know are knit together. We also did Senior Sunday this morning and Senior Devo tonight. We knocked everything out in one fell swoop.

If I don't say the words "senior" or transition" or "future plans" again for the next year or so I will be great! But in all seriousness, I enjoyed the weekend. I am a little pooped but most of these events will do that to you.

I am off tomorrow for a ministers retreat, followed by another one at the end of the week. Then, to Florida with my fam! It will be fun.

Look forward to hearing from you soon.

Chris

The Poor Rich Folk

2007-03-28T10:11:00.000-05:00

Just a quick post to plug a really good band in the Fort Worth area called Poor Rich Folk. If you were at Zenith last summer you were able to hear this really cool band. Well, last night was their CD release party at the Ridglea Theatre in Fort Worth. I was able to go with one of my youth group guys. It was kind of funny because the Ridgela is kind of a bar too. So on one of my first youth trips, I took my kids to a bar! Apparently I am really trying to get fired from this new job quicker than usual.

But anyways......

Their new stuff and new CD is awesome stuff. The songwriting and music has definitly gone to a new level on this record. I am proud of the guys. Not only are they really great musicians, they are really cool and humble guys. To me, that is a lot more important than being a good musician.

Their new CD features Dan Hasseltine, the lead singer of Jars of Clay as well as Andrew Osenga from Caedmons Call. They are so much cooler than I.

Go to http://www.myspace.com/poorrichfolk and buy their new CD. You will love it.

Chris

2007-03-20T16:08:00.000-05:00

I have been a typically passive minister during my three years of full time youth ministry. Usually I have depended on youth and families to seek me out or come to church for my ministry influence. Yet, outside of missions, I have not been a very deliberate minister. In other words, I have allowed the by-products of my job, that is class, small group, and worship, to take the place of the calling that Christ gave me: to bring the kingdom of God to those who don't know it.

Most of us (ministers) fall into this trap. We will punch our clocks, go to church, put in our office hours and hope that will sufice to keep our positions of ministry. And, typically it works. When people see me in my office vigorously typing at my keyboard or listning to Christain music, they are assuming that the "Lord's Work" is being done. It is easy on the eyes, you know?

Yet today I got a little cabin fever. I have been in my office way too much lately. I guess I was tired and bored and wanted to try something new. So I packed up my laptop and other various gizmos and went to the "Coffee Grinder" on the square here in Granbury. Actually, I am typing this post from here. I have just swung through here from time to time but never have actually sat down. I noticed something today when I came in. A big group of teenagers drinking coffee and hanging out.

They seem to be your typical coffee house goers. An eclectic (I love using that word.....not sure what it REALLY means) group of kids who seem to not really fit in anywhere else but this place. They are just hanging out, talking about weird stuff and finding community with each other. Pretty typical of teens around here.

Some were smoking, some were tatooed, most dressed a little different than me. I am a lot more white, clean skinned, and preppy. I wonder though what kind of presence I could be in the lives of kids like that. I don't look a lot like them or share their stories. But maybe they could use some love. Maybe they could stand to see Jesus.

I am assuming a lot when I look at them but maybe this is where the mission is. In the coffee shop. On the street. Amongst people who freak me out. I am just musing I guess.

I hope to figure out what can be done here in this little shop. Jesus infiltrated the places that others didn't go with people who looked a little strange. I talk a big talk about these things but am yet to really do a lot about it. Maybe this is a place where God can be real for kids like these.

For those of you guys who read this.............what do you think? How do we approach people who don't look like us or talk like us or share our stories? How you even start? With what kind of spirit and heart do you approach those kids of kids without appearing like you have an adgenda for them?

Anyways, these are some thoughts from the Coffee Grinder on a rainy Tuesday. I am sure there will be more...........

Grace and Peace,

Chris

opportunity

2007-03-08T15:25:00.000-06:00

I feel like I have finally tured a corner here in Granbury. I moved here on January 23rd and started my job on the 24th! Never again! We all should have at least a week between jobs but I was a little freaked out about not having a paycheck for a week. If I was smart I would have taken the risk.
In other words, I made the transition from Vernon to Granbury in about 3 hours.......the time it took to drive here after I said my goodbyes at Wilbarger. I guess only now do I see why the last month has been so up and down: I had no transition! What a goof!
But I feel like things are starting to settle a bit around here. I am starting to see some great opportunity for ministry here. I spent some time at the Behavioral Transition Center (BTC) which is an alternative school for kids with behavioral issues and problems with the law. They asked me to come and be a mentor for a kid who has a horrible home life and is always in trouble. I am really excited about getting to know this kid. The possiblities of effecting a kid like this for Christ is immense. I will get you in on more of this as it develops.
Also I think I am going to be starting to volunteer at the Boys and Girls club a few afternoons a week. I will get to hang out with a bunch of rugrats and dominate them in basketball I guess. WE MUST PROTECT THIS HOUSE! It will be a lot of fun.

I write all of this mainly to tell you that God has been preparing me for a ministry like this for the last three years. I have people here who are actively trying to get me in these kids lives and see the obvious need for the light of Jesus in these places where Satan has so ravaged innocent lives. I am eager to tell stories of how Christ will work in these places where light is needed so badly.

I ask for your prayers because it is somthing I both am excited about but also fearful. My natural inclination is not to be a social animal. I am a quiet dude mainly. So, to meet and get to know kids who are in different situations that I am scares me a bit. Yet, as I have always believed, teenagers are teenagers no matter where they come from. They are all a little goofy and weird, smell funky, and have a lot of hormones raging. It will be intersting.

Not sure where to go from here so I will quit. I hope you guys are doing well.

some change

2007-02-28T12:39:00.000-06:00

As a bunch of you know, I have moved to a new town, a new church, a new situation. I spent three great years in Vernon, Texas as the youth minister for the Wilbarger Street Church of Christ. This little church in west Texas gave me more opportunitiy than I could have ever asked for with ministry. They let a guy who had no experience and no credentials a chance to work with their kids and families. I will always be grateful to this church for loving me and allowing me to love their kiddos.

I miss them a lot. More than I would have ever thought. Change is something that is anticipated with excitement, but tough to navigate. I am really enjoying my time here in Granbury, but it seems to come with some longing for something familiar. While I know that Granbury will be familiar someday, I still long for something truly familiar and safe.

What is ironic is that Vernon isn't familiar and safe by any means. Only the memory is. I guess I will have a safe and familiar place when I am home with God. He never said it would be safe or easy here. So we do our best to find a place, a home to settle here on this earth, but we should never feel satisified or truly cozy until we find our rest in God.

Will that rest come here on earth? I am not sure. Do we only drudge through life just to eek our way into heaven? Again, not really sure. I do know that my heart longs for home. Maybe that longing is wired into our systems by God to keep our focus on him and our hearts turned towards eternity, not here. Jesus never really felt at home here on earth either. He always talked about God and going back to make a place for us in heavan. Paul had an internal struggle with whether or not to stay on earth or to go home to heaven. He wanted to stay here to change lives for Christ, but he wanted to go home as well. What a paradox!

The point is that we are eternal people living in a temporary world. As a young guy, I struggle to see the marathon of life while I am busy sprinting. My soul was made for things that will last, not temporary things like where I live or things I do.

What do you guys think? These are my thoughts but I want yours as well.

Look for some more changes to the blog in the coming weeks.

Chris

I guess I forgot

2007-01-24T08:00:00.000-06:00

The last few months have been hectic for me, even very stressful. If you read my last post you know that I have made a move in my life from Vernon to Granbury. I have been here now less than a week and I am starting to settle in a bit. It is a different world here in Granbury. There is so much more going on and a lot more to fill my time. I think I will like it here.
But that is not why I am writing this morning. For the last few months I have been preoccupied with moving and saying goodbye to people I love. I have not spent much time with teenagers, which is what I have dedicated my life to for the last three years. So, because of the nature of moving, I have not had the opportunity to be around the demographic that I am called to serve.

Last night I hung out with the Granbury kids for the first time. We went and had dinner, then went to a talent show put on by Project Graduation at the school. It was so much fun! They had kids do magic, dance, sing, and play instruments. There were some who were talented, some who were not so talented. There were two performances that stuck out in my mind though. One was two guys who had a "drum battle". They both set up their trap sets and started going nuts! It was amazing. They both took turns with a certain beat and one-uped each other. Too cool.

Then, four guys did the dance on the treadmills from the video from OK GO. If you haven't seen it check it out here. It was so awesome how all of the teens got into it and went crazy. The guys really pulled it off well I thought.

All it did was remind me about why I love teenagers and being a part of their lives while they grow. Teens don't have a lot of inhibition. They are who they are. Those guys playing the drums and the kids doing the treadmill dance were just out there having fun and being themselves. Teens always remind me about how to be open and honest and not to be anyone that I am not.

Sometimes I get insecure about being quiet natured and reserved around other people, especially as a minister. But if anything I have learned that I should be myself in all situations, the man that God made me to be. If I try to work outside of what God gave me, I am just being someone else that I am not.

That is why I love working with teenagers. I can be myself.

Chris

do I have to change the name of the blog now?

2007-01-13T20:19:00.000-06:00

Well if you haven't already heard, I am going to be moving away from ol' Vernon in a little more than a week. I have been praying and thinking a lot about it for a few months now and I finally came to the conclusion that God was leading me to another place. I will be moving to Granbury, Texas to work with the youth at the Granbury Church of Christ. I have been talking to them on and off for the last few months and they offered me the job a few weeks ago.

Now, what he is leading me away for I do not know. That remains to be seen. I am leaving a lot to do this job. I have a bunch of kids and families here that I am really going to miss. It is so bitter-sweet to have to leave kids like these. They will be my friends for the rest of my life. Also there are some families that I hate to leave as well. These people in this little town are going to be a part of my life forever. Who knew that God would bring me such blessings in such an unassuming place! So to leave is really hard.

Yet I do feel led. I feel so excited about this new chapter of life. I am a person who is not used to being in one place for a really long time so this change is really welcome for me. I have been quite lonely here in this town for a while. I might be lonely in Granbury, I am not sure. But I do know that I feel led to Granbury. In the same way that God led me to Vernon, he is leading me to Granbury. What happens from there is up to him.

Pray for the youth in Vernon. They have the chance to do some amazing things if they are willing. Pray for the youth minister or youth ministry couple that is on their way. Pray that the kids will accept them with open arms. They deserve it.

Again, I leave with a heavy heart but an expectant future. God is on the move! Let His people recognize His reign in the world and the passion of his relentless love! In these days of war and darkness let us spread the light of Christ wherever we are planted and in whatever we do. Pray that the spirit of fear that resides in our flesh will be overcome by the power of Christ!

Thanks for your prayers. I will write more soon.

Chris

2006-12-11T15:42:00.000-06:00

Mike Cope Sings the Classics

Seriously this is funny. I know some of you like to read Mike Cope's blog and I figured you might like to see this. I love the ending as well.......We CoC people need to poke fun at ourselves sometimes, right?

Chris

snow

2006-11-30T13:24:00.000-06:00

It dosn't snow here in our part of Texas very often. Most of the time it is a small event and then the next day it's 80 degrees and melted. But, today like the rest of the country, we got a cold blast from our Canadian friends (eh?) and we got some great snow. As I sit here at my church in my youth room I can see out of the windows a beautiful sight. When I slow down enough to consider the beauty of falling snow, I start to realize the startling reality of our creative and passionate God. Sometimes life tends to be more of a "nose to the grindstone" and "just get me to through this" mentality. All to often we forget about the day in front of us. I believe that if life was just something to muddle through then God wouldn't have given us snow. He wouldn't give us an amazing West Texas sunset. The leaves wouldn't turn amazing colors in their fall. God gives gifts to us in so many forms, one being nature. It is a daily occourance that we should be thankful for and slow down enough to consider.

I'm a tree hugger today.......

Chris

Finally catching up with the rest of the world

2006-11-16T14:41:00.000-06:00

Ok, we had an awesome weekend with the Nowells at our retreat. I will post more about that later fo sho. But I just wanted to update real quick to let you know about a new link I have on my blog for our youth group website. We have been working on it for a few days and I am pretty happy about it. We have a ton of work to do on it, but it is a start. It only took 2 and a half years to get this thing going! But we have it up. Subscribe to the email list, or just leave a comment to tell us you dropped by. If you can't find the link on the page, click here.

As I said earlier, I plan to post about our great weekend with Benny and Niki. Hope you guys have a good one!

Chris

a few things......

2006-11-09T09:52:00.000-06:00

Just a quick update on the happenings in ol' V-Town. First of all, everything is going well (I know you are just dying to know) and I am looking forward to something really cool this weekend. The area youth ministries are putting on a retreat titled "Plunder the Darkness" that will be taught by our good friends Benny and Niki Nowell. The Nowells will fly into the area on Saturday and spend some time with our teenagers talking about reaching out and loving those who are tough to love. We have spent the last few months planning, preparing, and praying about this retreat. I would ask that you guys pray for the retreat as well. Pray for the Nowells in their preperation and their travels. Also, be in prayer for our teenagers that they would have soft hearts and be changed by what God has to say to them through the Nowells. I look forward to what God has planned this weekend.

I hope everyone is doing well in the Blogosphere! Talk to ya soon!

Chris

Change is good!

2006-10-19T19:18:00.000-05:00

Ok, as you have noticed there is a "new look" to the ol' Robey Blog. Let me tell you a few reasons why I chose to switch:

1. The original template was getting a little stale. The "Brown on Brown" look wasn't really doing it for me.
2. I saw someone elses blog that had a much more sleek look that I want in my blog! I want people to look at this blog and say: "My, my, what a cool guy!"
3. I am sitting in grad class right now and am completly bored..........I had to find something to do!

If you guys have any suggestions on how this blog could be better, I am open to suggestions. I hope to blog more soon!

almost a redneck......

2006-09-28T09:25:00.000-05:00

I was this close (I am holding my fingers really close together, but you can't see that) to buying an old, peice of crap pickup yesterday to just "putter around in". For a majority of my driving carrer I have owned a pickup in which I could do work around town in. Yet since I have gotten the ol' 4-Runner, I have missed the truck bed. So, I don't want to get rid of the 4-runner because it is such a good car. So, I saw an old, '74 Ford pickup at a junk car lot here in town for $500 bucks. Not bad, eh? I test drove the truck around town a few days ago. Now, mind you, I know NOTHING about cars or how to work on them or if they are lemons. As I test drove this truck it died three or four times as I decelerated. Yet I maintained my optimism. "I am sure it wouldn't be too much to fix that!" I thought. So I took it back to my mechanic to check it out. Thankfully he is a gentle man and didn't tell me what a moron I was for even looking at this truck. He pretty much told me it would take more that I paid for it just to pass inspection. He also pointed out the huge hole in the exaust. That is when I realized that I tasted fumes in my mouth from driving it there. I guess that is why God made mechanics. Too keep Chris from wasting $500!

It would have been cool to have an old pickup to just do stuff around town in. I don't know if that would make me an official red neck, but I am sure it would "fast-track" me. Hey, when in Rome...........whatever that means......

Chris

I have a great job

2006-09-06T21:13:00.000-05:00

Tonight our youth group began a new series for our Wednesday nights. Our series is called "Mythbusters". Baisically we are busting myths about God and Christianity. While I know this can't be the only religiously slanted Mythbusters knockoff, it seems like it is going to be a lot of fun. I love the show on Discovery channel because I am a bit of a nerd at heart (okay, a lot of a nerd at heart). I love to see people who know what they are doing use their brains to solve problems, then blow stuff up. A recent episode featured the now famous "Mentos and Diet Coke" experiment. If you don't know already, what you do is take a 2 liter bottle of diet coke and stick a bunch of mentos down into it. What will you get? A tall fountain of aspertame filled goodness coming out of the bottle!

But there is a funny thing about Vernon, Texas. Sometimes you can't find things that you would normally find anywhere else.......like MENTOS! I looked everywhere I could in Vernon (thats like four places total) and I couldn't find mentos. So I had to improvise. I had to use this experiement in my lesson tonight! So I bought various candies that I thought would work. You know what worked the best? Crushed up mint lifesavers! They seem to work just as well as the Mentos.

So I bought 25 bottles of 2 liter diet coke. I crushed my lifesavers. Time for the show. I had our kids walk over to my house (I live across the parking lot from the church) and get set up. I had our volunteers wear plastic panchos and eye-goggles. They really didn't have to do that but I thought I thought it looked funny. We had different contests to see how high we could squirt the foam. I think we got to about 15 feet! It was really fun.

We tied the lesson to the myth that we are alone in this world and that by realizing the value of being together with God and his people would make some amazing things happen (hence the fountain of diet coke). You (mentos) and God (diet coke) make something really cool.

It's a weak analogy, but hey, I am a youth minister and I have the best job in the world.

Chris

By the way.........check out this video..........it takes the mentos and diet coke thing to a new level!

a creek, a crest, a confession

2006-08-31T08:53:00.000-05:00

Well it was an awesome ten days in the highlands of Colorado. It was pretty funny because I didn't realize how long I was gone until I was coming home. I started to count the days out of Vernon and it hit me that I was out ten full days. Then I started to wonder if I had told my elders that I would be gone that long. I didn't get any phone calls so I guess that everything is okay.

I was able to camp for five days and that was pretty cool. I camped next to Chalk Creek which was awesome. Life is pretty good when you have a bubbling brook (as I describe it) running in the background. I didn't sleep very well though because the sleeping bag that I brought was too short. My feets were warm but my upper body froze.

I was able to ride the Monarch Crest Trail which is rated as one of the top five mountain bike trails in the state of Colorado. Now I see why. I had to take a shuttle to the top of Monarch pass, then ride up another 1000 feet to make the crest. You wouldn't believe what it is like to mountain bike at 12,000 feet. It was pretty awesome despite having to struggle to keep my breakfast down. I was with six other people from Colorado. They were super cool, but seemed to have lungs of steel compared to me. They shot straight up the mountain while I struggled to maintain eyesight. You really take your lungs for granted when you live at a thousand feet. The people that I was riding with were incredibly patient though. Not that I could have done anything about it if they weren't though! I wouldn't have had the breath to go after them. They should consider themselves lucky! Haha.

I was able to do a lot of cool things while in Colorado like mountain bike, ride four wheelers, golf, and hike, but the coolest thing that I did by far was visit the Dry Bones ministry in Denver with my friends Benny and Niki. If you are part of the Camp OC community then no doubt you have heard about it. But if you are not then you might not know what Dry Bones is. This is a ministry that is dedicated to working with street kids in Denver. These kids have all of the issues that you would excpect for one living on the street, but mainly drug abuse. Benny took me on a "turf tour" of downtown Denver and showed me things that I probably would have never noticed about street life. Also I was able to spend time around street kids that wouldn't have normally had the courage to do in a normal situation.

I was really humbled because I guess that I thought I had ministry figured out before I got there. I figured that you love kids and love Jesus and that was the end of it. I guess to a point I was right. Yet I had reserved my love for those kids who look and act a lot like me. I haven't made it a point in my life to go after the kids who have messed up homes or have made bad decisions. I usually wait for them to come to me. I haven't been the one to pursue those relationships on purpose. I saw the Dry Bones team go after these kids with purpose and intent to love with no agenda. That was startling to me. I have always been taught that you love with the "end-game" in mind. That is, to make them Christians. I guess that is still the overarching goal. Yet when you look at Jesus, he loved fully knowing that he might not get that love back in return. Yet he still loved those around him without abandon or agenda. Why should I be any different?

I confess that I don't really know how to do that. I am still in awe of people who can live their lives in true love to the people around them. I am by nature a pretty selfish guy. I like my house, my dog, and my time. I am praying that God will show me how to really live that way, the way he desires me to.

My experience with Dry Bones was very short and very intense (for me). God is still playing out the implications in my life. I am so thankful to Benny and Niki for spending time with me and showing me what they have dedicated their lives to. They really love those kids out there. I encourage you to go and see what they do. I think that Dry Bones is something that needs to be experienced, not only read or talked about. It is a life changing thing for sure.

Pray for the Dry Bones team. They are on the front lines, I am sure of it. Pray for the church to understand what it means to love like Jesus did. Pray for me. I have a long way to go.

Love you guys.

Chris

Nothing to say

2006-08-18T21:51:00.000-05:00

After a really long summer I am on vacation! It is weird this time around because I am striking out on my own for this week. I am spending a few days just south of Buena Vista, Colorado and then spending the rest of my week with Benny and Niki up in Denver to see what they do with Dry Bones (and just plain hang out of course). I am really thrilled to be able to spend some time outside, out in the wilderness (even though I am staying in a campground with a video arcade). My campsite is right next to a creek and I am in the middle of a bunch of 14,000 foot peaks (which are called the collegiate peaks by the way). I plan to mountain bike, golf, off road, and do some major reading and guitar playing. It makes me excited just to write about it now.

I loaded down my 4-Runner with everything that is valuable to me (except my dog.....he wouldn't fit) and I headed up to Raton, New Mexico today. I am in a Super 8 enjoying their very nice wireless internet. I had a pretty cool experience driving up today. I left Vernon this morning and it was already approaching 95 degrees at noon. It was hot, dry, and barren. We have been hurting so bad with a drought this summer and it is really wearing us out. Yet the farther west I drove, I started to feel the cooler air. I started to see green grass. Then I started to see flowers. I smelled the awesome smell of cut grass along the highway (by the way, if you can name any smell that is better than cut grass, let me know).

Then, as I passed into New Mexico I saw the foothills popping up. Then out in the distance a thunderstorm brewed. As I entered the hills it started raining. Raining so hard. The clouds were hanging low and the lightning was putting on its show. Typically I have a heavy foot but I slowed down a bit. I didn't want to miss this. God was slowing me to experience Him. He was reminding me that he is a powerful God. His mountains and His thunder showed His glory. I had nothing to say. I was quite overwhelmed.

It just stopped raining about thirty minutes ago. My soul was definitly cleansed. It reminded me of the Andrew Peterson song, Nothing to Say:

And the mountains sing Your glory, hallelujah
The canyons echo sweet amazing grace
My spirt sails, the mighty gails are bellowing your name
And I have nothing to say.
I have nothing to say.

I have probably said too much.

Chris

2006-07-27T14:36:00.000-05:00

It is really nice to be home. I have spent yet another whirlwind summer on the road with my youth group. We really had an awesome few weeks. We were able go from Mississippi to Mexico, Arlington to Edmond, Wichita Falls to Vernon and everywhere in between. I really should have kept track of our miles. One thing that I did keep track of is that every mile driven was safe and productive. I am still quite amazed that we were able to do all that we did without incident. Once again God comes through! I think that one of the greatest lessons I have learned about ministry is the discovery of how truly inadequate I am in light of the power of God. What I mean by that is if I was to have everything go as I plan and by my power we would be indeed lost (probably in Mexico). Also what I have learned this summer is that ministry is day to day. These days build on each other. I have spent two and a half years in Vernon and I think I am finally seeing the time invested in our youth group show fruit. Our kids are growing into adults! This is a great thrill to witness. I believe this is a great gift of working with teenagers. I can join in the development of a young person's spiritual formation.

I know this might sound like old news to some of you youth ministry veterans but remember I am a bit slow (hehe). These are just some small samplings of what God is working on in ol' Robey-boys heart. I am sure there is much more to come.

I plan to post about the article that was written in a local newspaper about the blog you are reading. I am sure you are saying "what the heck? I post on my blog every day! I have links on my blog! I even have a counter! This guy can barely spell his own name!" I am TOTALLY with you on this. I have no clue as to why she was so thourough in covering my blog. But she was very kind to me. Let me know what you think then I will post about it. Here is the article:

Pastors share thoughts on blogsBy Ann Work/Times Record NewsJuly 17, 2006
"I am just a simple man living in a small west Texas town, trying to figure out life like everyone else ... I pray that God will take me more into His presence daily and that by doing so, He can make me more like Him."- entry by Chris Robey, youth minister, Wilbarger Street Church of Christ, Vernon, found at chrisrobey.blogspot.com

When youth minister Chris Robey started "blogging" last year, he wrote about theological questions that were bothering him. He set up his Weblog, or blog, at chrisrobey.blogspot.com. He wrote in spurts, sometimes once a month, sometimes more. He used cyberspace to get discussions going with other youth ministers in his journal-like entries. "Generally, I have something to say, some kind of point to it," Robey said. Robey is one of several local pastors who blog to communicate with other pastors, church members and church youth.

About 75,000 new blogs are started every day, according to Megan Greenwell in a July 9 Washington Post article. Some are started by computer-savvy ministers. While some see the forum as a way to reach out in an increasingly technology-oriented society, other Wichita Falls pastors are saying "no" to the trend.

For Greg Stanford, youth minister at Tenth and Broad Church of Christ in Wichita Falls, blogging started out as a way to let people get to know him. He wanted to open himself up a little bit, to share what made him tick. "It was just keeping in touch," he said. "What it's become is a place to put the thoughts that I don't get to share with people all the time," he said. He keeps two blogs, one at myspace.com and another on blogger.com. He writes a couple times a month. On his myspace account, Stanford serves in a role that is part youth minister and part guardian of his church's teens, who also blog there. At the popular cyberspace teen hang-out, "I remind them that people do read what they type. They need to represent who they are and what they believe." He's blogged enough with church members that it's not uncommon for members of his congregation to speak to him about it at church. "They'll say, 'I learned something about you today.' "

In Vernon, Robey has used his blog to open up about some of his frustrations and fears. In one entry, he tells the story of a Mexico trip with his youth group when he hit a pedestrian with his car. He barely grazed the man but scared the rattled pedestrian enough to unleash a string of curse words from the victim. Three van-loads of church members saw the whole thing and wrote a song about it. "Let's pray that I don't give anyone a reason to write a song about me this year," he wrote as he explained the stress he feels before taking 50 church members on a ministry trip out of the country.

In a March posting, Robey told of a recent trip to Pascagoula, Miss., with a Midwestern State University college group to do hurricane clean-up - and used the entry to do a little preaching:"I forgot how much fun it is to sleep on the floor with a bunch of teen-agers. I plead with you. Go to www.123jesus.com and find out what you can do. We all have so much, but people in our own borders have nothing because of a six-hour storm .... Cancel your Six-Flags trips. Sacrifice your vacation time. Challenge yourself to live out Matthew 25:35 ... Jesus means business when he says these things."

Other pastors say blogging doesn't fit their style or their ministry. Some simply don't have the time. "Most of the guys who do those must have a good staff that allows them to sit and do that," said George B. Davis, pastor of New Harvest Church. He doesn't have the time, he said.He noticed many blogs center on debate, not truth. He doesn't want to debate merely for debate's sake. "My efforts are spent studying and drawing people into the church environment to reveal truth to them in a systematic way," Davis said.

First Baptist Church Pastor Robert Jeffress said he didn't have time to blog and would question any attempt by one of his associate pastors to blog regularly. "If he was blogging, I'd wonder how he has the time to do it," he said. Writing a blog may be a cathartic experience for some and he wouldn't discourage it, he said. "In my own ministry I think people are more interested in hearing what God's Word says about a subject than to read my musings," Jeffress said.

Lukus Counterman, pastor at Messiah Baptist Church in Wichita Falls, follows other ministers' blogs but doesn't have one of his own. A blog to church members could be helpful for ministry, he said, but he's still wrestling with its dangers. "Once you post it on the World Wide Web, it's worldwide. You can't effectively make retraction statements." Some blog sites are merely "brain dumps," he said. "It's not coherent, thought-through or concise. The other deal is it's decontextualized. People come in, they don't know you, they don't know your ministry, they don't know your previous blogs." He's noticed that many bloggers are bitter, frustrated people who just want to criticize. "That's not part of the culture I want to be in," he said.

Other bloggers, like Robey, have warmed up to blogging over time and enjoy the forum to share what God is teaching them."

I am not a very good blogger. Sometimes I wonder why I have one. I usually don't have many profound things to say. I don't live a particularly interesting life. I don't skydive. Yet there are times that I am glad that I have a blog. The whole blog mechanism is good for distributing information to the five (and growing!) people who peruse the limited pages of this blog. I hope that if nothing else, this entry will create some interest in what I believe to be one of the places (the Pascagoula mission trip) that God is truly working in this world."-

Chris Robey, March 27, 2006, blogEducation reporter Ann Work can be reached at (940)763-7538 or by e-mail at work (at)TimesRecordNews.com.

Wasn't that nice?? Let me know what you think. Niki's blog has some good thoughts too.

Chris

the computers figured me out......

2006-07-16T22:36:00.000-05:00

It is crazy how these sociological people figure things out. I just took a "personality test" from Niki's blog. It is an online test. Kinda crazy how the results wound up. This is what they think I am:

Actualized type: ISTP(who you are)
Introverted (I) 62.07% Extroverted (E) 37.93%

Sensing (S) 62.07% Intuitive (N) 37.93%

Thinking (T) 53.13% Feeling (F) 46.88%

Perceiving (P) 52.17% Judging (J) 47.83%
ISTP - "Engineer". Values freedom of action and following interests and impulses. Independent, concise in speech, master of tools. 5.4% of total population.

Preferred type: ISFJ(who you prefer to be)
Extroverted (E) 50% Introverted (I) 50%

Sensing (S) 65.63% Intuitive (N) 34.38%

Thinking (T) 50% Feeling (F) 50%

Judging (J) 51.85% Perceiving (P) 48.15%
ISFJ - "Conservator". Desires to be of service and to minister to individual needs - very loyal. 13.8% of total population.

Attraction type: ESFP(who you are attracted to)
Extroverted (E) 65.38% Introverted (I) 34.62%

Sensing (S) 60% Intuitive (N) 40%

Feeling (F) 55.26% Thinking (T) 44.74%

Perceiving (P) 59.09% Judging (J) 40.91%
ESFP - "Entertainer". Radiates attractive warmth and optimism. Smooth, witty, charming, clever. Fun to be with. Very generous. 8.5% of the total population.

Haha......I am a master of tools. Anyone need something fixed? I do have a hammer and a seldom used ratchet set.

How the heck do they do that? I don't even think that I answered some of the questions right. But I think it is pretty close. What do yall think?

Check out http://similarminds.com/pref_jung.html and take the test.

By the way, Mexico and Cornerstone went awesome. Next entry will have some more details. Peace out.

on the shores of old Mexico.........

2006-06-28T22:05:00.000-05:00

My kids keep singing that song. I am not sure who sings it or what it is even about. Yet that is where we are going in three short days. I can't really believe it. This year is a monster trip too. Being the nice guy that I am I allowed 50 people to sign up on this trip. I really thought it would be a mistake until we raised more money than we needed and our logistics worked out perfectly. So, I should probably doubt less, right? Well unfortunatly I am human and the doubt still remains. I don't really doubt that this is gonna be a great trip. I think there are just these "pre-trip" jitters that everyone who leads one of these trips feels. Maybe I will get that if I ever get married someday. But I won't be marrying 50 people so that will make it easer I guess.

Pray for our group. Traveling with so many it compounds the possiblilities of something going wrong. God will provide, but we still need to go to him. If you read this blog, please pray.

I will leave you with this thought. Actually it is more of a question: Have you ever had a song written about you before? I did a couple of years ago on our first Mexico trip (with my youth group). Here is how it happened:

We were sitting at a stop sign in Monterey getting ready to turn right on a one way street. I was looking left to see if any oncoming traffic was coming. Well, I saw that it was clear to my left. So I pulled out. What I DIDN'T do was look to the right to see if any pedestrians were walking in front of me. Apparently there was. Just as I hit the gas someone yelled "STOP!!!". I am glad they did. I pulled off the gas just in time to "kinda" hit the pedestrian walking in front of me. Now actually I didn't "hit" him as much as I "nugged" him with my bumper. Needless to say he peppered me with various mexican curse words and hand gestures which I am sure were talking about my mom. I guess I deserved it. I didn't hurt him but I am sure I rattled him a bit. The thing was that three church vans behind me saw it happen. So the kids in the vans behind us procceded to write the now famous hit (no pun intended) "Chris hit a Mexican". It has a few verses and some great harmonys if I remember right. It made me feel special but I am sure that my Mexican counterpart just felt bruised.

So let's also pray that I don't give anyone a reason to write a song about me this year. Imagine what I would have to do to get another one written. Maybe......

"Chris inadvertanly transported an illegal immigrant across the border in the church trailer" or
"Chris got stuck in a pile of concrete" or
"Chris married a Senorita"........I like that one........

Looking forward to the stories. Love yall........

scanning pictures.........sipping coffee

2006-06-16T11:42:00.000-05:00

Yeah........it's one of THOSE days............

It isn't really a bad day.......just a day to get some stuff done that I have really needed to in the last couple of months. I agreed about six months ago to put together a wedding video for some friends of mine here in Vernon. The only catch is that I have to scan in like 300 pictures into my computer. Do you know what I have found out? There is NO way to scan pictures quickly! I even bought a nice new scanner. I thought "surly a new scanner would be super fast!"(this is my typical inner monolouge by the way). But, nay it is not. So I am shuffling through mountains of pictures and listning to some good music........oh yeah and sipping coffee from my favorite oversized Disney World mug with my name on it. We should all have one of those.

Anywho........just an update.........hope you guys are doing well. For my Camp OC readers........I am really looking forward to seeing yall at Zenith. Take care.

it's on the way.........

2006-05-27T21:39:00.000-05:00

Once again, it has been a while since the last post. I am in awe of you bloggers who can do this every day or even every week! I am lucky to get a post every month! I don't think that my life (or thoughts) are spectacular enough to post on the web with any regularity. Yet, since I see so many of you guys doing it well, I will perservere!

I have noticed a little trend in my yearly calender as a youth minister. It seems like the two or three weeks leading up to a summer tend to bring a lot of anxiety and frustration. A majority of my time is spent trying to get paperwork together and polishing off details for our camps and other trips. Also it seems like I am having to work harder and harder to keep these kids motivated and involved with what we are doing. I am not sure if I know the cause of this, but it seems to be the case.

Also lending to the frustration of these weeks is the sheer anticipation of what is to come. I think these weeks give me enough time to realize exactly what we are undertaking. We are charged with the spiritual and physical saftey of so many kids. There is so much pressure to do this job right. If any mistakes are made, they tend to be played out on a more public stage than some other jobs.

We are taking over fifty people to Mexico this summer. When I start to dwell on the reality of that, I want to freak. This mission trip has just exploded over the last two years. Our kids are so thrilled to go back to Matamoros to work. I think that trips like this force us control freaks to give our struggle over to God. I have failed to do that over the last few years and it shows. I never get the chance to really enjoy these trips because I am too busy making decisions and making sure everything is just right. Maybe that is my job, I don't know. Yet I feel like I am missing out on so much! I am going to try with all that I have to let go and trust. Pray for me.

Pray for all of us crazy folk that do this for a living. This indeed is our most taxing and demanding time of the year. So much is expected. So much is planned. So much sleep is lost. Encourage your local youth minister in these days. They could surely use it.

Love yall bunches.

worship? we don't have a clue......

2006-04-26T15:25:00.000-05:00

As a youth minister who teaches quite a bit, I hit points of struggle as to what I should teach my youth. When you work with a group of kids, there are all kinds of spiritual needs. Some need love, others need admonishment, a few need challenge, while others simply need prayer. What does one do when it comes to teaching kids? There are times that I am truly at a loss.

This month I am teaching a series on worship. One of the things that I have found about this specific group of teenagers is that they have no clue about coming into the throne room of the Lord to worship. As their teacher, I am not always sure about how to do that! Yet I am convicted that they need to know how to truly worship the Lord.

Unfortunatly, we have all been taught that worship is simply vertical. That is, worship is simply between the individual and God. If there was no one else in the room, it would make no difference(as the philosophy goes). Yet when we look at scripture and see the overwhelming emphasis on community and togetherness as Christians. If this is true, we must realize that there is a tremendous "horizontal" aspect of worship. We NEED each other when it comes to the worship of God.

Yet when I look at our church (and youth group) I see a lot of division. The body of Christ is indeed broken still. How are we supposed to worship with each other when we don't even like each other? How are we to approach the throne of God together when we can't even live life together? I am so confused!

Let me scream it into this great blogosphere. WE NEED JESUS! We need Him to permeate all of the corners of our lives! He needs to be the central focus of our choices, reactions, passions, mistakes, and misgivings. We need the healing power of the cross to transform us into the likeness of our God.

It's a pipedream, but it's my pipedream. Wait, I believe it is the Lord's pipedream for his people (Acts 2:42-47). Let us live together in worship so we can go to God together in worship.

I think I found my lesson.

Chris

The need is great

2006-03-27T15:31:00.000-06:00

As I have stated in many previous posts, I am not a very good blogger. Sometimes I wonder why I have one. I ususally don't have many profound things to say. I don't live a particularly intersting life (I don't skydive or anything like that). Yet there are times that I am glad that I have a blog. The whole blog mechanism is good for distribuing infomation to the 5 (and growing!) people who paruse the limited pages of this blog. I hope that if nothing else this entry will create some interest in what I believe to be one of the places that God is truly working in this world.

Over spring break I was privilged to travel with Allen Carr and his college group from Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls and Trevor Cox and his youth from the Thomas Street CoC in Altus, OK to Pascagoula, Mississippi to aid in some hurricane cleanup. Our three groups totaled up to 22 teenagers and adults. We planned this trip in haste (like three weeks) and it contained every age from freshman in high school to people in their seventies. It was truly a unique group of people. We spent 14 hours on the road on that Sunday getting to know each other and fellowshiping. We arrived in Pascagoula late on Sunday and stayed at the VanCleave Church of Christ just north of Pascagoula. It was a really nice little church. We all sacked out on the floor. I forgot how much fun it is to sleep on the floor with a bunch of teenagers. They love it!

Yet our trip wasn't about sleeping on the church floor. It was about being there for people in need. We learned that 15,000 homes in Pascagoula alone were affected by flood damage. No one was exempt. The rich and poor, black and white, young and old were devatated by rising flood waters. While everyone there has hurricane insurance not many have flood insurance. So many of these people will miss out on their insurance payments because of a loophole. People all over town are living in FEMA trailers outside of their homes just waiting for someone to help.

We worked with a 75 year young lady named Margret. She has been waiting for six months for someone to work on her house. She had 6-7 feet of water in her house during the storm. She lost everything she had. Because of the mold that naturally grows in damp places her home was not able to be lived in. So for six months she waited. We had the privilidge of working on her home first. We completly gutted her home from floor to celing until there was nothing left but studs (not me, the wood studs.....sorry had to do it!). We then sprayed everything with bleach water to kill the remaining mold. After that her home had to be lifted four feet off the ground and a new floor built underneath. Only then could she get new sheetrock and start to move back in. Even after all of the work we did she probably won't be back into her home for another year.

That is simply one home of 15,000 in Pascagoula. People's lives are in shambles. Yet God is clearly at work. I have never been so overwhelmed with the obvious presence of our Lord while in Pascagoula. The Central Church of Christ has made it their mission to help those affected in the storm. What that means is ANYONE in need can come to find support. That means religious affiliation, color, age, and any other background dosn't matter. If they have need they can find it at Central. The even more amazing aspect is that this little church dosn't turn away help from ANYONE. It dosn't matter what church background you are from: if you are coming down to Pascagoula in the name of Jesus, they will take you in and put you to work. The church fed us three meals a day and gave us a place to stay. All that we had to do is go down. They worked so hard for us. They just need help.

This is the part where I plead with you. Go to www.123jesus.com and find out what you can do. We all have so much in our lives but people in our own borders have nothing because of a 6 hour storm. Get your churches to send groups to the gulf coast. Cancel your six flags trips. Sacrifice your vacation time. Challenge yourself to live out Matthew 25. If you don't know what that is, read it. Jesus means buisness when he says these things. I believe that there is a mission field in the midst of tradgedy. People need to be shown who Jesus is during these times. If you want anymore info on this great work please let me know.

Also check out the blog by their preacher, John Dobbs at www.remains.blogspot.com.

Thanks for bearing through this long post.

Chris

I'm a really bad student

2006-03-07T16:23:00.000-06:00

Ok, here's the deal. I am sitting in my graduate class right now blogging. The fact that I am doing this might clue you in as to how much I am paying attention to him right now. Seriously, I don't have any idea what he is talking about. I think that he has been talking for about an hour now and I have sent like 3 emails and checked up on all of the blogs on my list. Wait, I think that he is talking about plagarism. I think that is what he is talking about. Anyways, I thought I would update the blog. I haven't written in a while because I havn't had a ton go on lately. I do have plenty going on that I plan to write about soon, but I guess I haven't been in much of a blogging mood lately. I have the blogging blues. Ok, I think the proffessor is catching on. I best go. Have a good day, my peeps!

Chris

Soundtrack of Life

2006-02-09T15:01:00.000-06:00

I was reading Niki's blog the other day and she was talking about different music and how she was able to influence her kid's music choices as they grew up. I am a huge music fan but I haven't always been. I don't remember a ton of music in my house growing up (other than Sandi Patti) but as I got into middle school and high school my music intrests grew. Then after I started playing the ol' guitar I was thrust into a brave new world of music choices.

I don't know about you guys but when I hear certain songs, my heart is drawn back to different times of my life. Ususally those times have to do with some girl breaking my heart or some really sorry event in my life. But some songs take me back to fonder days. I have always thought it would be fun to make a soundtrack of my life that would chronicle different phases of my life. Now, I start this little venture with a disclaimer: even though my doing this seriously challenges my "straight-case", I want to reassure my readers that I still like chicks.

With that in mind, let's do this.

Middle school years- Mostly MC Hammer, Boyz (with the z) 2 Men, Vanilla Ice, Weird Al Yankovic (which I hear that he is still influencing our young minds today.......go Al!)

High School years- Got more into the alternative thing- Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Stone Temple Pilots, Alice in Chains, Jars of Clay (their first and very best album) DC Talk's Jesus Freak

College Years- Two words for ya.......Caedmon's Call. My buddy Scott from MSU got me onto them way before they were ever popular. Their music seems to mark my college years. Also I got big into Bebo Norman, Andrew Peterson, Justin McRoberts, and Sandra McCraken. Some of my secular picks were Dave Matthews, Stevie Ray Vaughn, and anything remotley classic rock (because of my increased guitar playing of course)

Post Collegate track list- Since college I have retained a bunch of my favorites but also added some new ones.....Jack Johnson, Dashboard Confessional, a whole lot more Andrew Peterson, Shawn Groves, Jason Morant, Beth Dillon, Jill Phillips, Lifehouse, Kutless, Norah Jones.

I know that I left a ton out of this post. These are just the ones I could think of off the top of my head. I would like to see yours.

Chris

Something for today

2006-01-23T10:59:00.000-06:00

We are starting up our theme for the youth this year. It is out of 2 Cor 3:18. Our theme is "Transformed". Now I know that this is not a revolutionary or even original theme but I really think it is a concept that our teens need to hear. A mighty misunderstanding of Christ is that he is like a "one use only" savior who saves us once and flees the scene waiting on our eventual arrival in heaven. The bible speaks of so much more than that. In this passage Paul is speaking of a hope that is dead for the Jews but is alive in Christ. He calls those who don't have Christ "dull" and "veiled". But just as a groom removes the veil from his bride, so does Christ remove the veil of our sin and shame from our hearts. Then Paul wraps his thoughts by saying:

"And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit." 2 Cor 3:18

This verse brings me so much joy because:

1. This seems to be more passive than active from our end. This doesn't mean that we don't play an active part in the redemptive plan of God but that our transforming is done by the very will of God. He intends to make us like his son. Our transformation is only done because God wants it done. That is comforting to me. The plain reality is that I don't know how to transform myself. God knows I have tried. God knows that I have failed as well.

2. This is an ongoing process. Though I struggle daily, I can know that if I have faith in God, even through my failures, I will be a transformed person. This process will not happen today or tomorrow yet I know it will happen. Being patient with God is often our greatest battle.

3. I will be like him someday, when I least suspect it! God's glory will be shown through me (and is showing now I am sure) in ways that I never thought possible. Imagine what God has in store for those he has transformed! Imagine what we will look like! My feeble mind fails at trying to figure this out.

Well hopefully that lifts up your hearts. I hope everyone is doing well and I look forward to hearing from you.

Chris

struggles to trust

2005-12-27T11:26:00.000-06:00

Sometimes I really struggle to know that God is in control. I think that deep in my being I know that he is, but my human nature struggles to grasp it completly. When things are going well, you don't need to think about God's control on your life, it is just assumed. Yet when things go south in your life you really start to question things. There is a good reason that I am bringing this up.

I just got off the phone with one of my deacons who went to Mexico with us this summer. He talked to one of the mexican-american brothers who live in Brownsville (where we did our mission this summer). It turns out that one of the members of that church just lost his wife to a failed pregnancy. She miscarried her baby on Sunday then died after the C-section. This guy whose wife died is an amazing man of God and was a great encouragement to us. I don't think that I ever met his wife but if she is anything like him, we have lost a great sister in the kingdom.

When I first heard the news I thought, "how could this happen in this day and age?" Seriously, I haven't heard of someone dying during birth in a long time. I thought that because of medical advances that this dosn't really happen anymore. When you hear this kind of news it really hurts, especially when it happens to great people. Also news like this makes you struggle with God a bit. It makes you appeciate the fragility of life. Things just happen here on this earth and we have no choice but to participate in them. Times like this make us re-evaluate our faith. Will we be able to stand up to that kind of attack on our faith if it ever happened to us? Is our faith really that strong? Right now I am not so sure. You just don't know until it happens to you.

Well for now put my ramblings aside and pray for Noey and his family. I don't know much about him because I spent a limited ammount of time around him but he is a child of the kingdom just like you and me. Pray that the people in Brownsville will rally behind him.

Pray for strength in these times.

I'm such a techno-geek

2005-12-06T10:36:00.000-06:00

Seriously. I was a giddy kid last night. We just installed a new projection system in our youth room. Now, mind you, our youth room isn't that big. It will seat about 20-25 kiddos comfortably. But, we have been wanting some kind of system that we can play slides and movie clips on for class. Well, we had a recent widow donate a sizeable chunk of money to the youth program to buy a new laptop and projector. Very nice, indeed. We have been spending the last month trying to get it installed. Well, last night we got it done. The awesome part is that the only good screen we could find in our church was over 8 feet wide and 8 feet long. Thats pretty huge for a room that isn't made to hold any more that 25 kids. So, we have this huge-honkin' screen that is blasting out an HD quaility video feed for our eager eyes to see. Soon, I am going to gather up some old stereo equipment from the casa and hook up a sound system. I am gonna make so many old people mad at my church. We won't play any AC\DC or anything. We might bust some christian rap or something like that.

I will post some pictures of the system soon. Seriously I was giddy when I saw it. Ask my youth group guys. They were making uber-fun of me.

On another good note, I finished my 15 page grad paper last night. It was due today. I am so glad to see my great study habits from college staying true! It's a paper on the nature of elderships from early Judaism to first century Christianity. I might make some people mad with it. Hopefully it makes sense. I will see from my grade I guess.
I hope you guys all had a great turkey day. Talk to ya soon.

I'm a bad, bad, blogger

2005-11-14T13:25:00.000-06:00

The title explains it all. It's not that I have been too busy. I have been quite busy in fact. The issue is that you spend your time doing the things you like to do. I like to blog. But I think that my desire to write fades in and out, month to month. So, hopefully I can get back on track.

These days are good, yet full of teachable moments. I think that God sends you through times of life where you don't necessarily fail a lot, but aren't really successfully at a lot either. In other words, there isn't much to gripe about, yet my world doesn't seem to go as quickly as I would like to. I guess that is why they call it the fall.

But, I have been able to do some cool stuff lately. I was reading Karrisa's blog a while back and she mentioned missing the Nickel Creek concert that came through their area. Well, guess what? My sister and I saw them in Dallas two weeks ago. My goodness. I don't think that I have seen such talented musicians in my life. Who would have thought that Bluegrass could rock? Seriously, there was a guitar, mandolin, fiddle, and stand up bass. That was it. There were face-melting mandolin solos and fiddles-a-fire filling the cramped Gypsy Tea Room. We had a blast. Sometimes I forget the power of live music. There is a definitely some spiritual connection that is made in times like that. The music wasn't Christian. It wasn't bad, either. It was just good.

That brings me to a point. Does everything that is good have to have a Christian or Church label stamped on it? My sister and I were standing in a room full of drunk and broken people. Yet, it was one of the more spiritually uplifing times I have had lately. I was able to spend some much needed time with my sister. I was able to decompress. I can't really explain it. Maybe you guys can.

I hope to do this more. I miss hearing from yall. Peace out.

2005-09-28T21:17:00.000-05:00

My youth never cease to amaze me. Tonight, I felt a strong need for prayer within our group. I needed prayer. This is a time of year that can be tough. School has been in for a while. The day to day life has set in. Tests and homework are starting to pile up. The kids are getting older, so they are facing more challenges to their faiths. Times are just a bit heavy for some of them.
As I asked them to open up their hearts for prayer requests, some deep stuff came out. A lot of our kids faiths are being attacked by their teachers and fellow students. Some of them felt like they wern't being faithful enough in their spiritual walk. They feel the pull of other churches. We aren't the most charasmatic church (not the youth group, the church) so when they see other churches with "bigger and better" worship services and facilities, they naturally feel the pull to go there. I just forget sometimes how tough it is to be a teenager. They need positive influence more and more in their lives.

I really appreciate Benny's BLOG about spiritual warfare. I am reminded of Elisha and the blinded Armenians. The servant of Elisha was scared to death that they had been surrounded by enemy forces. Yet, Elisha opened the eyes of his servant to see the spiritual battle that was being waged. Satans attacks seem to get stronger as we push harder to spread the kingdom. We just have to do our best to limit the casualties. God's gonna win. Thats why we are on his side. Yet, we have to keep these young ones from falling prey to the sway of the world. Pray for the youth of our churches. Let your voice be heard to God. Our kids are going to fight back against Satan if we equip them.

2005-09-26T21:23:00.000-05:00

Oh, what a night.

There are two words that strike fear into the hearts of even the most "tried-and-true" youth minister. Lock in. As you shriek back in fear, understand that I do the same. I HATE lock ins! Yet, I am a softy and let my kiddos talk me into doing one. Our last lock in was okay. We planned for 20 and we had 40. That was a big adjustment because I planned for 20. When you double your number, you double your stress. My group is pretty laid back and you don't have to plan much to keep them entertained. But we made it through the last one. But that was last time.

Early Friday morning (the day of) I started hearing rumblings that this lock in was to be a huge one. Aparently kids who weren't even friends of our kids were planning on coming. I had concerned parents calling and wondering how we were going to handle this load. I didn't think much of it. I am a pretty even-keeled guy and I don't like to get too flustered about anything. Maybe I should have. As the lock in was starting, kids were coming 15-20 at a time. We ended up with 100-120! I had to send some home! We weren't equiped to handle that many. A lot of kids thought it was a fifth quarter after the football game. They didn't know it was an all nighter. So I got rid of about 15 or so. But I still had 100 to deal with. My kids from my church were freaking out! We had a lot of kids there from the "wrong side of the tracks". A lot of those kids cussed and were mean. That is all they knew. Once we set ground rules, they were all okay. The coolest part of the night was the worship at 1:30 in the morning. 100 kids worshiped God and learned about Jesus. That was the best part to me. They came to us. We preached the gospel. I hope they were affected in some way.
The rest of the night went okay and we had a really good time. I got to meet a ton of kids I have never seen before. As a matter of fact I saw a bunch of them today at the middle school. I hope God can use it. I am sure he will.
The biggest thing that struck me was our apparent inability to minister to those who were not like us. Our kids were truly scared about spending 8 hours with a lot of these kids. But, once we got to know them, they were really cool. It is amazing how we will only minister to someone if they look like us or talk like us. So for our kids, middle class whites are the name of the game. I am probably being hard on these kids(and myself) but we have to be willing to go to the rough areas of town and minister to the sick. I really talked to my kids frankly about it. They learned a lot, I think. Now we have to see what comes of it.

Anyways it was a crazy one. Just thought you should know about it.

Later

2005-09-17T11:57:00.000-05:00

It has been a pretty good week.

I guess that is good way to start a post. Last week was stinkin stressful! I was trying to juggle a graduate college class with a youth ministry and I wasn't doing too well. Since I have started this class it has been tough to keep my focus. I am finding out the older I get that I can't focus on more than one thing at a time. Maybe that's because I am a guy. I really don't know. I have heard the vicious rumor that only girls can multitask, but I am not sure if it is true. Well, at least for me I know that I am not too good at doing more than one thing at a time. Yet, I am getting better about it this week. I am keeping up with my reading for once. I got behind last week. Man, this blog is boring.

Anyways, I have a couple of my kiddos that I am studying with right now. One named Barbara (I think I mentioned her in a previous post) and another named Bryce. They are both awesome kids who are coming to know Christ. One of the two of them is feeling pressure from their grandparents to get baptized. Let me lay out a couple of thoughts about this:

I am really frustrated with the "baptism=salvation" crowd. Let me explain myself. This kid told me that he felt like he needed to get baptized. I asked him why. He had no clue. Basically, his grandparents talked to him only about baptism, not Jesus. As we were studying the other night, that because increasingly obvious. He was scared that he was going to hell, not falling in love with Christ. I believe that if you are getting baptized out of fear, yet not falling in love with your saviour, you aren't getting a lot done. What is the point? What have you accomplished? Where is the "cut to the heart" moment in Acts? So, we backtracked completely and started from scratch. I believe with all of my heart that he will come to salvation. He will be immersed. A true encounter with Christ can yeild no other result. It will break a man and bring him to his knees. I hope to bring him to that point of realization that he cannot go on without Christ. Pray for me as I continue to study with both of these precious souls. I pray that I not totally off base here.

Do I believe in baptism. You betcha. With all of my heart. But, grace comes first. The bible is completly clear about that. Jesus has to win your heart first. Then the good stuff comes.

Did the blog get more interesting?

2005-09-07T10:41:00.000-05:00

Well, sorry that is has been so long since my last post. I have been running around like crazy for the last few weeks. For those of you that don't know (and that is probably all of you four people who might look at this BLOG) I started grad school at OC this semester. I finally took the plunge! I have been thinking about it for the last couple of years and it finally worked out to where I can do it. The head of the graduate program turns out to be someone that I know from a previous job interview. So he really bent over backwards to get me into the program. I started out with six hours but had to drop to three just because of my schedule. There is no way (at least this semester) that I can get all of my work done for school and maintain a healthy ministry at the same time. So, I am only taking "Intro to New Testament". I am really enjoying that class. It reminds me about how misinformed I am about the bible. I believe that context and background are so important to understand when studying the bible. I am looking forward to being better informed on what I am teaching and learning from scripture.
Also I had a birthday yesterday. I am not posting that information for any other reason than to show you a picture of what some of my youth did to my office.

Now, to the untrained eye, you would assume that my office is no diffrent than usual. Yet, don't let the messy desk destract you. They broke in my office yesterday and vandalized it! Those hosers! Yet, they put these notes on my desk that made it all better.....

And, who is gonna argue with that? Love you guys......

Chris

2005-08-21T22:32:00.000-05:00

We had a pretty awesome day today. First of all, it was good to worship at home again. I have been gone way too much from Vernon. My travels have taken me far and wide, seeing some amazing things, yet my bed has been awesome to be in for these last few nights. It is also good to see my church family. I can't believe that I missed them as much as I did. Maybe these ol' Vernon folk are getting to me after all! Anyways, I had a bunch of my high school guys over at my house all afternoon to do a Fantasy Football draft. For those of you who don't know about fantasy football, tough luck cause I am not going to describe it here. It would take 15 years to describe it. Just ask your local sports junkie and I am sure they will be glad to help you out. Anywho, I had 8 guys over at my house to do the draft. We had a blast, even though we had some snags with the draft. We played a bunch of ping-pong, video games, and guitar. Good times at Casa de Robey.
We had a devo over here tonight, which was really cool. Devos tend to be a family affair around here, so I am thankful for that. Not only do the kiddos come, but they bring their folks. So, I had around 40 people going in and out of my house tonight. We had burgers and hot dogs and good times. Our devo time was blessed as well. We had four visitors tonight and I think they were really blessed to be here.
We had one girl show up this morning as a friend of another girl in the church. She comes from a very poor family (so I am told) and has a ton of health problems. She came in this morning and just took our group by suprise(in a really good way). She just talked and talked and fell in love with our kids. Then she came forward during the invitation (remember, it was her first time to be at our church) to ask for prayers for her and her family. That took a ton of courage to do, I think. I really admired that. Then she came tonight to our devo. She couldn't stop talking about how much she appreciated the love that she was shown from our group.
This might happen in everyone's youth group, but for me it was a reminder about how much people really need Jesus. It really reminds me about how much I need him. She came seeking the Father this morning and found him. I pray for follow through with this girl. I want her to become a part of who we are. She was a huge encouragement to us. If you can think about it. Pray for her. Email me if you want specifics.

Needing Jesus more than ever......

Chris

2005-08-17T21:04:00.000-05:00

Tonight during our youth time we discussed Jer 29 and 31. We are about to go into a season of reflection and planning in regards to our youth ministry. I have an amazing group of kids, especially for a town this small (about 11,000). I truly believe that I have some future leaders of the church (guys and girls). When I took over this youth ministry a year and a half ago, there were no visible leaders. Now that the kids are a little older and more mature, I want them to take the reigns and be more responsible for the ministry that they are a part of. I feel like I teach them too much and don't let them serve or lead anything themselves. So, next Wednesday night, we are going to go through our strengths and weaknesses as a group and lay it all on the table. We will proccess who we are right now and try to see if that lines up where God wants us to be. We saw in Jeremiah that God has definite plans for His people. Now we want to see what he has in store for us. After we see who we are, we will then set some goals for ourselves for the next year. We want to have some kind of direction, not wandering aimlessly. Hopefully they will see some areas that they will take a hold of and own for themselves. The truth is, I am incapable of serving all of them the way they need to. We need to be a youth ministry, not a youth group. There is a huge difference between the two. I believe that our brotherhood is full of youth groups that don't know how to minister to those around them. I believe that a youth ministry should positively affect anyone it comes in contact with, not only other youth. I want my group to be in the buisiness of ministry, not just being a group. If they want a group they can join one at school. It is a hard thing to sell and even harder to implement, but if we stick to it, I think that our local church will be changed. We will have to see and be patient.

That is my rant for the day. Hope you enjoyed! Have a blessed one.

Chris

2005-08-15T21:51:00.000-05:00

I'm finally back from my world travels. I have been gone all summer on youth trips and what do I do when I finally get back? I leave again! I have been in South Carolina for the last week on my vacation. I didn't take a vacation last year after my summer and I almost burned myself out. I am thankful that I did now. I spent the week with my two best friends and their wives. It was exactly what I needed. We spent our time doing a whole lot of nothing. That was what I needed to begin with! We spent some time on the beach, hung out at their house and ate a ton of food. That is the good stuff right there! Now, I am back in west Texas ready to start up again. I am really ready for this fall and all that it will offer. I have some cool stuff on the horizion:

1. I am looking to start grad school at Oklahoma Christian this fall. This is really a last minuite deal that came up out of nowhere, but that tends to be how God works. I will probably only take 3 hrs to start with, but I need to start either way. Pray about that. I am not sure if God has it in store.

2. I am looking to do some changes with our youth program. The only problem is, I don't know what yet. I know my kids have grown to the point where I can push them a bit. I want to add some new elements to the ministry and become more focused. The thing is, I will have to be more focused as well. God has more to reveal about that.

3. I am looking to buy a Jeep. Ok, that might not sound big to you, but I am lookning to buy it as a second car, just one to play around with. If I can find the right deal, I am definitly gonna do it. I just have to keep looking. It has always been a dream of mine to have one and I can finally aford it. Let's just see what happens.

Anywho, the fall has a lot of things in store. I have more to write about it, but I have been traveling all day and I am tired.

Before I go, mad props to Benny and Niki for hanging in there and letting God work to get their financial suppourt raised. Praise Him! I am proud of you guys!

Chris

2005-08-03T15:45:00.000-05:00

I am pretty tired right now. I wrote yesterday about the greatness of my "freedom week" yet that didn't last very long. It seems that in ministry, you had better enjoy your good times, cause they won't last very long. I was on my way out to the lake with some of my kids yesterday when I got a call from a mom in Vernon concerning one of my kids who has gotten into a ton of trouble. I really can't go into detail because of confidentiality, but just know that this is really serious stuff. So I had to drop the kids off (and my dog.....apparently he had a great day swimming) and head back to Vernon to deal with the situation. It took about six hours to really get a grasp on things and to formulate a game-plan as to what I was going to do. Tonight, I have to go to my elders for some advice concerning what to do. So, be praying for my youth kid and my elders as we are figuring out how to deal with this.

It is amazing how something like this completly drains you when you are not expecting it. Hopefully I will get some rest tonight. I am supposed to go golfing tomorrow and if I am pulled away from that, I might just quit youth ministry all together. Just kidding. Have a good one.

Chris

2005-08-02T10:01:00.000-05:00

Well, I created a blog about two weeks ago thinking it would be cool to post things daily and to let everyone know what is going on in my life. Well, guess what? I left town for two weeks! I am really gonna try to get going with this whole "Blog" thing. But, today it will be a short first post. I am in the middle of my "freedom week" right now. That means that I am working really hard at relaxing really hard. Yesterday, I went out to one of my families lake house and went swimming. This afternoon I am going back there to go water skiing. Then, on Thursday morning I am going golfing with a couple of my kiddos at the country club. Later on in the week I am going fishing with one of my buddies here in Vernon. As if that isn't enough, next week I am flying out to South Carolina to hang out with a buddy of mine for a week. Isn't that awesome? I have been doing nothing but traveling this summer (It has been awesome, don't get me wrong) but I am really tired and worn out. If you are in youth ministry (or have been) you will understand this feeling. So, I am really happy about being able to spend time doing these things.
I guess that what this time reminds me of is that my life should be about doing these things more often. When I go golfing or skiing or playing sports with some of my youth I am investing myself in their lives. I know that some of you reading this probably think that I live a life to have fun on the churches dime. But I ask this question: will a teenager remember some bible lesson that I taught on a random Sunday morning or will they remember the time that I got really mad and threw my golf clubs into the pond(I really didn't do that, but I can see it happening some day). I believe that Jesus was about the lives of his followers. I need to do the same. If I am held up in my office 24\7 I cannot truly know what my kids are going through. For example, last night I had a great converstation about relationships with two of my guys while we were swimming in the middle of the lake. How cool is that? I hope to be about the buisness of these things more and more in my life.

Ok, that wasn't short at all! Maybe I AM built for this blog thing. God help me! Peace out.

Chris

2005-07-21T21:58:00.000-05:00

Here is my first blog! Yay I am a nerd! I have a ton to write, yet not much time to write it in. I will try to get on soon to get this whole blog thing going. Hope everyone is well.