To all of my youth leader friends who attended the Chicago ATF last weekend:

I am so glad that I got to connect with some of you at the event.  I wish I could have been able to talk with all of you to hear the stories of what God did in the students you brought!  Since I wasn’t able to, though, I still want to hear testimonies that you have, as well as suggestions for the event and ways we can improve it for next year. 

Please either send me an e-mail or leave a comment here with your feedback!  As always, my team and I are praying for you and the youth in your sphere of influence.  We are believing that the work God started this past weekend will continue and that lives will be changed more and more!

God bless, and thank you for all of your hard work for the kingdom!!

As you know ATF is starting tonight! If you would like to register or add on tickets, you will need to do that at the door with Rebecca.

We will see you there!

Hello Everyone!

As you know the Chicago event starts this Friday night! We want to be in prayer over this event and all those who are going to be in attendance.

Prayer Requests

               -Pray for safe travel of ATF workers, bands, speakers, volunteers, and attendees, to and from the event and throughout the weekend

               -That God would soften the hearts of the youth that are attending, that they would come to know God more intimately and give their lives to Him. That they would see God more clearly and that the experience they have this weekend would not fade away but it would be a building block for the next season of their lives.

               -For youth pastors/youth workers that they would be encouraged and filled up by the Holy Spirit and love of God, that their passion would be reignited for youth and ministry. That they would also experience God in a knew way and see the fruits of their labor.

               -Pray for the parents that are attending this event, that the Lord would speak to them, especially through our parent sessions, that they would be equipped with the tools they need to build a culture in their home stronger than the one in the world. That they would be reminded of the important role they play in their teens’ spiritual growth and development. That they would have a great encounter with God and continue to have a heart for this generation.

               -Pray that chains would be broken! For those that will be surrendering their un-forgiveness towards their parents or other people in their lives. Those who will be giving their lives to the Lord and rededicating their lives. For those that will be repenting of the sin in their lives and for all those who will be drawing closer to the Lord this weekend.

               -Pray for our speakers, bands and ministry team that God would speak through them and to them as they tour the country with ATF and are being used to reach young people. That God would be their strength and source of energy during this ATF season.

               -Pray that the Holy Spirit would be filling the building right now, that God’s presence would be felt by every person who walks by or into the event. Pray that the Holy Spirit would prepare the hearts of those who will come and that the Spirit would minister to them and speak directly to their hearts, that lives would be changed eternally! That they would be like seeds falling on good soil, with a strong root!

Thank you for joining us in prayer over this event!

Hey everyone we are so excited to see you all this weekend at the ATF.  Here are some pictures of our call team so you can reconize us when you get there.  Casey, my assistant who is labeled below, will be in the office this week.  You can call her at 903-324-8225 if you need anything.

From Left to Right: Casey, Alyssa, Rebecca, Tony, and Sarah.

Here is the schedule for this week’s event, once again:

Friday Night

4:00pm    Registration Opens

6:00pm    Doors open

6:30pm     Youth Leader informational session

7:00pm     Event starts

7:15pm     Worship/Session 1 :: Troubletown

9:05pm     Concert

Saturday

 8:30am     Session 2 ::  The Trouble with the Opposite Sex

                                    (Gender specific breakouts)

9:45am      Worship/Session 3  ::  The Trouble with the Letter

11:00am     Break

11:30am     Session 4 :: The Trouble with Christianity

                         Parent Session

12:15pm     Lunch Break

1:45pm       Worship/Session 5 ::  The Trouble with Parents

                        Youth Leader Workshop

3:25pm      Concerts

                        Youth Leader Breakout

5:00pm     Dinner Break

6:50pm     Worship/Session 6 ::  Calling all Troublemakers

9:30pm     Event ends

As you can see, we have a youth leader informational session at 6:30pm Friday night, before the event begins.  This will be a great time to learn more about the weekend’s schedule as well as other important information.  If you can, please send at least one leader from your group to this session.

In addition, we have other youth leader and parent breakout sessions during the event.  The youth leader workshops are for youth leaders and volunteers. Around 2pm on Saturday we will have a breakout session with the American Association of Christian Counselors (AACC).  You will learn how to better help students with serious issues like cutting, suicidal thoughts, alcohol, eating disorders and drugs. If you can’t attend this session yourself, I really encourage you to send one of your youth leaders.  Also, we will have two other optional youth pastor breakouts, during which we will talk about doubling and discipling your youth group.  The parent session will be before lunch, and will be going through some of the content of Ron Luce’s new book ReCreate.  We will be talking about “how to create a culture in your home that is stronger than the culture of the world.”  Then, after lunch, we will have a session for teens and parents called “The Trouble with Parents,” during which we will talk to families about unity, forgiveness, and honor.

Friends, if you have not finished collecting money from your students, be sure to do that this weekend!  Seats are filling up - the floor is almost sold out, as well as some of the other sections in the bowl.  Online registration will be open until the end of the day Thursday, but our special deals and group rates end on Tuesday.  Please give me a call for more information!  I’ll talk to you soon!  God bless!

One week … that’s the amount of time we have left until the Chicago ATF!  I don’t know about you, but I can’t believe how fast the time has gone!

I’m sure you all are busy planning last minute deatils, like places to stay overnight, food for your students, chaperones, rides, and all the other fun things that go into taking a group to an event!  I want to make sure that you are all set up to win, so I will do everything I can to help you.  Here are a few things to keep in mind:

Tickets:  If you haven’t ordered tickets yet, please continue to get a count of how many students you will be bringing as well as collect money.  Our floor is sold out, but we still have plenty of seats left in the bowl.  Also, we still have group rates available -the last day for those is next Tuesday, Sept. 30.  After that, you will still be able to register online at the regular price until the end of the day Thursday.  After that, you will need to purchase your tickets at the door.

Transportation: Bus, car, van, train?  There are so many options for transportation to ATF.  If you are struggling last-minute to find a way to get your students to the event, don’t give up!  Ask the other churches in your town to let you borrow their church van or bus, and keep praying!

Lodging: I’ve posted hotels online which have offered discounts to those attending Acquire the Fire.  For most of them, the deadline for reserving rooms has passed, but feel free to check them out anyway.  Also, if your church is near the venue you may want to have your students stay overnight at the church.  If you have extra room at your church, please consider allowing another youth group to stay overnight with your group.  This is a great way to help out another group, as well as form lasting friendships!  My youth group always did that since we live 3 hrs from ATF.  Now, we partner with that churh every year, and both youth groups enjoy getting to spend time together!

Food: This is one area that you will NOT want to forget, especially when it comes to teenagers!  Depending on your budget, you may want to plan on packing meals, or visiting one of the restaurants near Life Changers International Church.  Also, if you have a large group and do not want to overwhelm a restaurant, you may want to consider ordering pizza.  Most places will give you a discount and deliver it to the venue.  Just make sure you are there when they deliever!  Lord willing, weather will not be too bad so that you can have a picnic outside.

Chaperones:  As you order tickets, please be sure to include your chaperones in your count.  Also, adults may feel free to volunteer during the event.  Volunteers help us with ushering, running the merch tables, and security.  They get into the event for free, have some meals providing, and get a free t-shirt.  If you have anyone interested in volunteering, please let me know.  We also have a parent session Saturday, which we would love to see all the parents attend.  For more information about that, give me a call!

Parent Consent/Medical Forms: Be sure to have your students fill out a parent consent form before you leave.  Also, it may be a good idea to have a medical form as well in case anything happens while you are gone.   Keeping parents informed is very important, not only with a consent form, but also with any other information you feel they should have.  You may want to put together an instruction sheet for them, especially if they will be dropping off/picking up their teens before and after the event.  E-mail me if you would like to see an example of any of these forms.

Rules: Most people hate to be the “bad guy” on youth group trips, but you may want to put together a list of rules that you and your chaperones agree to before you leave for ATF.  Then, before you load the bus, read your students the rules and have them all agree to them.  That way, if you have to enforce them, the students cannot say they didn’t know they were breaking a rule.  As you form your rules, think of the specific students that will be going on your trip - depending on the group, your rules may be more strict than other groups’.  Once again, if you would like an example of this, let me know!

Hey youth pastors!  This year we want to encourage you to bring the parents of your teens.  Unlike recent years we are going to have a special parents-only session where they will be given practical tools that will help them “build a culture in their homes that is stronger than the culture of the world.”  We will be using Ron Luce’s new book, Recreate, which I’ve read and was very inspired by (even though I’m not a parent).  We know that in order to rach this generation, we must all work together.  This is not a battle for just youth pastors, but for parents as well.  Therefore, we want to equip them to effectively reach out to their teenagers. The session will be held Saturday morning for the parents, and Saturday afternoon we will have a session for teens and parents.

As many of you know, our final registration deadline is tomorrow, Sept. 19.  Here is a breakdown of the prices:

Final Discount Deadline (Pre-Reg) - ends Sept 19

Floor: $68

Bowl: $57

Door Price - from Sept 20-Oct 3

Floor: $ 78

Bowl: $ 67

Also, as I’ve mentioned before, since we want to help you out financially, we do have various discounts and group rates available. Please call me at 903-324-8225 for more information on those.

As the event gets closer, I am trying to get a count of how many people will be there to make sure that we have room to fit everyone.  If you are interested in attending, please let me know!  Thanks and God bless!

For those of you looking for a hotel last minute for your youth group, I have two last hotels that have offered to give us a discount.  Here is their information: