The Chicago conference has taken place since we recorded this…but there’s still three more stops to go. Spread the word, take a friend, and doooooo it!

www.therebelution.com/conference

The Rebelution conference tour kicked off last month in Louisville, KY with 1300 young people and parents in attendance. This event is a special favorite of mine, so I was thrilled to be there as a photographer. I had a blast capturing the happenings, meeting people, and seeing the team at work behind the scenes. It was a wonderful and heart-moving day. Lives were changed and God was glorified!

- view photos -

: album one :

: album two :

Segway Olympics: www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsnpzwK0kL4

The National Youth Ministry Conference (hosted by Group) took place in Columbus this weekend. Alex & Brett Harris were keynote speakers on Friday to the over 2,000 youth pastors and workers in attendance, sharing stories of the big, hard things young people – even the most unlikely of them – can accomplish for God. Everyone was really encouraged by their testimony and excited to take that mindset back to their uniquely challenging places of ministry.

I had the privilege of managing the Rebelution booth and it was neat to talk with people, answer questions, hear stories, and introduce this message that has personally impacted my life. The world of youth workers is unlike anything I’ve experienced before! Three days of great people and interesting conversations, with interludes for friends, photos, and flying leaps into sack chairs. It was an altogether exciting, exhausting, and stretching (of course it would be…) experience that I was blessed to be part of.

Photos:

NYMC 09 : Day 1

NYMC 09 : Day 2 & 3

video coming soon…

Special thanks to Matthew – my lifeline!! Also to Joseph P. for saving the day, and to the fab people at Group Publishing for being so welcoming and supportive. To Susan and Greg for being my buddies. And finally, to my bodyguards. You rock. =)

I sat down with Alex & Brett for a brief recap after the conference…

Gaithersburg, MD was the final stop of the Rebelution ’08 conference this past Saturday. 3200 people filled the sanctuary and spilled into the aisles of Covenant Life Church. And I was so blessed to be one of them!

It was a special day of challenge, conviction, and inspiration. You can’t listen to these messages – to Alex, Brett, & Mr. Harris sharing passionately from their hearts – without feeling the truthful impact anew in your own.

“We think we’re getting away with something, but we’re actually being robbed.”

“God is not glorified when people limit themselves to what comes easy.”

“Every command of God is a delivery system for something good He wants you to have. It’s also a protection from something bad.”

“To actually change something requires that you actually change something.”

There was also the happiness of being reunited with friends and familiar faces, and conversations with new ones, along with plenty of laughter, flying foam rockets, and mad twin skills. *smile*

Most importantly, it was a day woven with moments, and tears, of humble gratefulness to God for His truly Amazing Grace.

And I wouldn’t trade that for anything.

:: View More Photos Here ::

[photos by me unless noted]

[My Rebelution t-shirt is an absolute favorite of mine. So I certainly couldn't resist the fun task of modeling it for some shots at one of my favorite places - the track. Photography credit to my brother Christopher, who happily venturing out on a stiff January day to make my ideas happen.]

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“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. “ – Hebrews 12:1

Think God doesn’t have you in mind for “big” hard things? Think again. In this blog article, Brett & Alex at The Rebelution take a look at our perceptions and the truth about what “little” and “big” really mean in God’s sight.

:: Understanding Small Hard Things

This was a very clarifying article for me. Unlike some people, I have never felt called to a particular ministry outside my home or been given a burden for a humanitarian cause or a burning desire to take the gospel to distant lands. I am simply happy to “be” as He would have me here in this small sphere, where I may never reach more than a handful. Perhaps that sounds very dispassionate, and I do not wish it to become an excuse that holds me back from stepping beyond my comfort zone, but ministry in my family has always been more of an everyday life sort of approach, rather than a vocation or program oriented one.

Yet I have struggled with wondering if I am missing out on some “greater calling”, if I am being content with too little a task. In my heart I know this is not the truth. My “greater calling” is only the one God asks of me, regardless of what it looks like from the outside. Little can be big…it’s all a matter of perspective.

Here’s the HanCam view to conclude my conference coverage.

Includes special messages from Alex & Brett Harris to YOU, the readers of my blog!

Dial-up users [download here]

P.S. I really didn’t mean to leave Alex out of the session clips – apparently I was riveted to my seat. (Or conserving battery power. Sorry, Alex!)

One incredibly cool experience I had to share….

As a closing action to The Rebelution conference, Alex announced that we were going to make it rain. While I was having visions of sprinklers above and soaked people running everywhere, he continued on to explain what exactly we were to do, keeping firm that we must not do so until specified. Divided into four sections according to where we were sitting, Brett then took over. Working his way from one side of the stage across to the other, he began passing along the first motion to each section in turn.

The gentle rubbing “sprinkle” of our hands spread lightly across the room. This became the backdrop to snapping finger raindrops as Brett returned to the first section and started over. My skeptical jaw hit the floor and I tried not to laugh in wonder. I kid you not, it sounded exactly like raindrops splashing on leaves and bouncing on the roof.

The pitter-patter of snapping finger raindrops soon gave way to the harder pour of patting our hands on our legs. All across the room it grew, until you just knew water had to be rolling off the cars in the parking lot. And then, the sky let loose as we began clapping; it was a thunderous, pounding downpour of a storm from corner to corner.

As quickly as it came, the downpour began to subside as Brett worked us back down through the motions, until we were left with the gentle rubbing sprinkle of our hands. One dramatic slicing motion and all action ceased. Silence held for maybe two seconds before the entire attendance roared alive with cheering and went absolutely crazy! And for good reason.

We had made it rain.

Here’s the point – each of us by ourselves (doing hard things) is just a few raindrops, but together we are a downpour. And that is the power of The Rebelution.

Wow. I’ll never forget that.

Yeah, I think I hear it raining.

[ View Complete Photo Album Here ]