Lutheran Church of the Resurrection

check out the real site for photos and more at http://nyg2010.blog.com

The experience all of us are going through here in New Orleans for the National Youth Gathering is difficult to be put into words. It’s really not something that can be described, but only felt. Standing, clapping, singing, and praising God with 25,00 plus youth and adults amazes me, and I can not get enough of it.

-Krista Rademeyer

Okay, so the pain of some things seems to be getting worse.  I am not able to upload my photo and videos to the blog; maybe it will be fixed soon.  I have a request into the blog.  However, everything else is going really, really well.

This evening we met at 5:15 pm to leave for the mass event.  We drove around a little and then went to the Super Dome.  After standing in line for a about 45 minutes (which we were planning on); we got into the Super Dome.  The mass event was AWESOME as we thought it would be.  Even the people that thought it was going to be lame had a great time and got into the music, singing, speaker, drama and fireworks in the Dome (yes there were fireworks)!

When we got back to the hotel, we broke out into small groups and talked about the event.  It was, once again, a great experience.  We spent time debreifing the event and digging deeper. 

Brokeness, pain, suffering and what the world tells us is truth was the discussion for tonight.  However, there is a real truth that comes to us in God’s Word about what Jesus did for us and how He never stop seeking after us.  Tomorrow is our first full day of events.  The Holy Spirit is making a difference in the life of all, it is contagious and and we are growing.  All is looking forward to tomorrow!

Pastor Chad

We are offically on our way to all of the events.  Today we reecieved our wristbands for the event and our backpacks.  We also took a field trip to some of the “different” parts of NOLA. 

The mass opening event is at 8pm so we are going to meet to go there at 5:15pm and might take a little bus ride tour of the city on the way.  All mass events are at the Dome.

Many of the youth went down to the riverwalk near the convention center where most of the smaller group stuff is at (like break out sessions). 

Please pray for all the youth here on the trip that they will be touched by the Holy Spirit to grow in their relationship with Jesus Christ.

Pics to follow…

Pastor Chad

Well, we make it to New Orleans and the trip down went really well.  The students must have been tired, because the buss ride was really quiet.  We stopped at a rest stop around Cape to drop a driver off and get our driver for the event, Paul.  We made two stops to eat (both Cracker Barrel), and we made it hear around 7ish last night.  That is where the first problems began.

Last night there was a little confusion on rooms with the hotel, more confusion a little later.  We have had a few other problems with various issues including the blog (some reason blog.com dropped our nyg2010.blog.com account).  However, through it all the youth have been GREAT!

A little later on today or tonight you will be able to see some of the first picks on the trip, so check back soon for more information.  This is going to be awesome.

Oh, Mike Wilke and I already ran into Dave Prill!  It was nice to see him, even just to say hi to him as he was running off to register his youth and pick up the backpacks and t-shirts.  Judi and Carol did this for us, but soon realized that they need more help…Jeff went to give them a hand.  Mike and I will meet the group at 11am and we will all be going on a field trip around NOLA around 2pm.  Then it is off to the Dome at 5:30pm for the first Mass Event at 7:00pm.  Did I mention this is going to be AWESOME!  What a great bunch of youth we have and such an oppertunity to grow in our relationships with one another as we all grow in our relationship with Jesus Christ.  This is going to be AWESOME!

In Psalm 146 the psalmist praises God for His just handling of the world. I wonder what as I do what triggered this. Was God standing over the authors shoulder? Was God smiling that the psalmist was getting it right and soon His people would see and hear Who He is? Did the psalmist know that God would include this in the greatest book ever? Did he know   that God would use his words to keep people close to Him?

     In Psalm 147 the psalmist praises God for His creation of the earth and all of its wonders. When I spend some time outside of my regular circle in life, whether I am traveling, camping, hiking or floating I get the sense of Gods awe. When I see the perfect balance in life I see a grimace of who God is. When I see that without trees we would not survive and without us they would not survive. Without the earths rotation we would fly out into space but with it we see awesome sunrises and sunsets. So I can relate to the psalmist God is awesome.

     In Joshua 10 God commands Joshua to wipe out those who stand to oppose His people. Joshua is commanded to conquer the promise land. Every city was taken by Gods command, “Do not fear I will be with you” and with ease they wipe out entire cities leaving no one who opposed God alive. I wonder if they people who inhabited the Promise Land where left alone to live in the land with Joshua and the Israelites would they have caused the Israelites to fall away from God. If they were left alive would the tendency have been to tolerate the unbeliever’s lifestyle, become a stumbling block in the Israelites relationship with God? Is this an example of how we are to deal with stumbling blocks? Not by killing unbelievers, but by limiting our exposure to a sinful lifestyle. Or surrounding ourselves with people who we would like to be.

  In Psalm 119:121-144 the author explain how he loves God and asks for His guidance. He loves God’s statutes and all that God commands.

  This is a great example of how people should live. While on his or her life’s journey we should seek God’s guidance and live the way God wants us to do. Waiting patiently long for the next time God speaks through His Spirit to you. We all can make excuses how why life does not work that way. But in the end life is that simple.

 In Deuteronomy 32 Moses seems like an angry father. He has seen the big picture and shapes it in the “song” as a warning, guide and pledge. Moses speaks about what happens to those how stray from God’s blessings as well as those persevere.

  I wonder what it would have been like to be in the crowd as Moses was speaking. Was there a reverence for Moses similar to a child listening to stories from his or her grandfather? Or was it more like a person listening to an interview with a wise world leader? Would this have been an inspiring, I want to run through a brick wall for this guy, talk? Or more of a I will continue to be who I am and use this new wisdom to keep me on the right path?

   Maybe Moses wasn’t so angry. Maybe he was just concerned for the children of Israel and he wanted them to know how crucial it is to trust in God’s plan.

   Psalm 116 is an all praise Psalm. I wonder how God reacted when this Psalm was written. Did He move a little closer to the author? Did God think au he gets it? Did God feel admiration? …. “He is a creation of mine” Does God react in ways that are similar to us?

   Did the author write this Psalm over many weeks struggling to get every word just right to describe his feels toward God? Or could he not write as fast as his thought were running through his head?

   In Deuteronomy 25 Moses gives more rules about how to judge fairly and how to hand down punishment. Some of these laws seem meaningless to us today but we have to remember that this was very important in there day. Most of us today have no need for the knowledge about muzzling an ox while treading grain (Verse 4). In the time this was written oxen where a prevalent part of how food was harvested or processed. God had a reason why Moses was supposed to talk about it.

    In Deuteronomy 18 Moses explains more of Gods command as to the offering portions set aside for the Levites and what the prophets role among them and his responsibility. I wonder what it was like to hear about this in there day as a non Levite was it kind of a ho hum or duh attitude. How about for the Levites? Was it up lifting or was it more of a sense of awe at the seriousness of their charge? How about if you were called as a prophet? The longer you are away from the original message was it more like a game of telephone? Or was there a sense of the urgency when God spoke His message written in your soul, on your tongue and in our soul therefore you could not screw it up?

    In Psalm 105 the author is in all praise mod. He takes the Israelites track through Egypt and the journey in the desert and explains Gods blessings along the journey. The author is quit the positive attitude. I wonder why this was written. Was it written to show children God blessings? Was it written to show people that even when times seem hard God does have an ultimate plan so stay the course? Or was it written by a writer who was experiencing a moment in his life of understanding Gods will in his life?

   In Psalm 94 the Psalmist starts out talking about people who are sinning against God. Then he talks about God’s vengeance. He concludes the Psalm by praising God. A seemingly typical Psalm. I wonder what it would have been like for the people who the Psalmist was talking to hear it. Would this have been a public Psalm or a Psalm only a few people would have been able to see? Was the Psalmist a leader of people or did he believe he was alone in his obedience to God? Did this Psalm fall on deaf ears or did it strike a cord with people who where searching for meaning? What about today? Do we find ourselves more in line with the evil doers in this Psalm or do we think we are alone as the Psalmist portrayed in himself in this Psalm? I hope that I am not like the Psalmist in the sense that God and I are the only two people on the earth that are correct in our standards. But I also hope that I do not live on the “Out of Sight out of Mind” side of a being a sinner.

     In Deuteronomy 9 Moses recounts how God’s people when freed from Egypt quickly begun to sin and turn away from God. I wonder how long it took for the Israelites to start thinking about previous idols whether they were idols from Egypt or idols from a conquered kingdom. When Moses went up the mountain and was gone for 40 day what caused the people to make a golden calf? After 10 days did the Israelites think that Moses was not coming back? After all God said Moses would never step a foot into the promise land. What was it like when Moses came back? Was there remorse? Did someone stand up and say, “Jeff did it”? He was the one who said it would be a good idea after all he said it worked well for the worshipers of Baal.

     In a covenant both parties have a responsibility. If one side does not do what he or she is supposed to then generally the covenant is broken. After the Israelites broke there portion of the covenant why did God keep His side of the covenant? When I read chapters like this I am in awe of simple a relationship with God is and how miserably I fall short. I know I make it out to be a real challenge to stay close to God. In reality it is not that hard at all.