Planet Wisdom 2007 Debrief

Wow. The Wisdom Works team hit another homerun. If you wonder what I speak of, each year we take a group of students to the Planet Wisdom Conference (www.planetwisdom.com), and so far we are 3-for-3 as far as incredible experiences. Mark Matlock is simply a great communicator for any age bracket, the Skit Guys (www.skitguys.com) are just hilarious and thought provoking at the same time, it's fun to be worshipping with a few thousand teens and adults in a rockin' atmosphere (not that I dispise more "traditional" worship, but for me, I do love the rock band...), and a new "tag-team" speaker, Sean McDowell, was actually better than I expected (and believe it or not, most of our kids seemed to resonate with him better than Mark!).

One thing that was such a joy to experience this year was that the messages seemed to hit home for such a large portion of our kids. I mean, they always "take something" from PW, but this year's theme of "What Does God Want From Me?", dealing with things like the Great Commandment (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2022:36-40;&version=31;), Great Commission (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2028:16-20;&version=31;), and Micah 6:8 (http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=40&chapter=6&verse=8&version=31&context=verse). So often (more than usual) I found myself thinking/praying, "Oh God, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE have these kids hearing you right now!" And, as always, you have your certain ones that you feel need to hear certain things, and even if they have heard them from a) their parents and b) their youth minister (and thus usually ignoring it), it is good to hear the same stuff from "another source", and those kids I feel "heard" those messages and began pondering the implications.

SIDE COMMENT: This year the conference was at Irving Bible Church (http://www.irvingbible.org/), which for many of our kids was their first experience in a "mega-church" environment, with varying opinions. Some were just in awe of all the "bells and whistles", of the different environment, etc., while others were vocally harsh ("It doesn't feel like a church...", "...couldn't they be spending their money on more useful things?", etc.). It actually provided some good discussion fodder, expecially on the "judgement" theme. I myself have varying opinions on mega-churches (future post?), but more often than not I give them the "benefit of the doubt" and seek to find the positives. I don't think it is my business, for example, to judge how money is used unless I KNOW FOR A FACT it is being "wasted" on fluff... I also think that while more traditional churches with steeples, pews, icons, etc. are great and reach many folks who would never st foot in a church like IBC, there are equally (and maybe more) folks who are willing to set foot in an IBC-esque church WAY before a traditional church, and thus hear the story of God... So, it is not my job to decide which way is "best"... God's Word is being taught to folks in both arenas...good enough for me!

(for what it's worth, I thought IBC was VERY cool...maybe a bit-too, "why go hang out in 'the world'...we have everyhting here!", for me at times (like, workout facilities, coffee cafes, etc...not against them, but folks might just "go there" instead of having coffe with the rest of the world, being salt and light there...), but still cool. I saw some unique ways to "remind" us of various things (like the "Monsters, Inc." doors...loved that), the big "TAKE ACTION" sign as you left, the wonderful opportunities to serve others in the world EVERYWHERE in the church, and the fact that IBC is bucking the trend of most non-denoms by actually embracing some ancient traditions, like Lent (signs up all over...).