I recently posted regarding the fact that Father's (or Mom's if Dad is not there) are to be Priests of their homes. It was suggested to me that the Priestly Blessing found in Numbers 6 should be given to your children on a daily basis. I began this practice and have blogged about it! However recently I have discovered that my brother has been doing this for his 1 year old daughter (my God-Daughter!!) after I suggested the same to him. I received a video this week that I will not display here, however it showed my brother giving his little girl the Priestly Blessing while lacing her to bed at night, at the end, she removes her pacifier and says "AMEN." This is a 13 month old girl mind you. Powerful stuff! So please consider doing this with your children. It does make a difference in their lives, no matter how young.

As we prepare for the July 4th celebrations I would like to leave you all with a few quotes from some of the men who were instrumental in forming our freedoms we hold so dear. Most of our culture today either refuses to believe these quotes or just turns a blind eye to them. Does your youth?

I am off to Pawleys Island for a vacation with the "fam" and will return in the 11th. May God bless each of you this week and please stay safe!
____________________________________________________________________


"We Recognize No Sovereign but God, and no King but Jesus!" -John Adams and
John Hancock

“Of all the systems of morality, ancient or modern which have come under my observation, none appears to me so pure as that of Jesus.” -Thomas Jefferson

“All the miseries and evils which men suffer from vice, crime, ambition, injustice, oppression, slavery and war, proceed from their despising or neglecting the precepts contained in the Bible.”
-Noah Webster

“ It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and Bible.” -George Washington


AND MY FAVORITE!!

"We have this day restored the Sovereign to Whom all men ought to be obedient. He reigns in heaven and from the rising to the setting of the sun, let His kingdom come."
- Samuel Adams, 1776 (at the signing of the Declaration of Independence)

God Bless all of you,

Bo Bartlett

Hi all,

Sorry it has been a while since I posted but I have been taken hostage by my beautiful wife and co-worker in VBS purgatory!!!

Just kidding. Actually a parent of one of our guests this week at VBS commented to our secretary how happy she was with the event. This parent is an employee of a local church and she commented how our YOUTH are so involved and how happy they seem to be in serving the youngest among us. This is not a common thing, but it should be. Do you have a VBS event at your church. Yes it is a Children's ministry event and not all of you happen to married to a children's ministry director, but if you have this ministry I encourage you to seize it! It is so important to the youngest among us to see the teens so involved in their lives and actually care and love them. This is not easy, and can sometimes be "uncool" for your youth to do this, but if you are leading by example, "uncool" can be pretty "cool!" So get on board with your VBS at your church. Don't be scared! Have fun and you never know what seed gets planted. After all these are the future youth of your church, start today!

One of my favorite comedians is Steven Wright. I am partial because he grew up in Burlington, Massachusetts as did I, and went to school with my aunt. He is absolutely funny and wrote a story about the beach. I included it here, enjoy!

The Beach by Steven Wright

Originally Published in Rolling Stone Magazine - Summer 1986

THIS IS A STORY ABOUT THE BEACH.

I, Phillip, a small boy of twelve, lay exhausted, not knowing if I was sleeping or if I was daydreaming that I was sleeping. Gently I rocked back in forth in my hammock, a hammock woven out of the eyelashes of 1000 deer. There was always a gentle breeze at the top of the 300-foot stainless-steel trees where my hammock was located. All the trees were stainless-steel in the Shiny National Forest. Some of the trees had been sawed down and cut into 60-foot lengths, then sold as flagpoles to people who lived in reality, many, many years away. I had never worked so hard in my life as in these past few hours. My clothes proved that I had labored, stained with confusion, compliments and criticism, all things that are not machine washable.

I was living on Water Island. A small island, sizewise. The island had no shore. All islands are above sea level, but this was ridiculous. The entire land mass was 200 feet above the ocean. All sand. Not one human had ever been near the water. And why the heck should they? You don't see fish trying to get on the roofs of buildings.

The year was a very long time ago. The island was ruled by a king. King Sammy. King Sammy lived in the Great Formica Castle, located at the bottom of Sand Valley. The king experienced temporary insanity every day. The Formica grew wild. There was much Formica left over after the castle was completed. The extra Formica would be sold to people who lived in reality, many, many years away. Nobody ever imagined that parts of King Sammy's castle would end up in kitchens.

The king was the king because he controlled gravity. That was the only reason he was king. Which was good enough when you think about it. If he didn't like you for any reason, he would snap his fingers and you would float higher and higher until he snapped them again and you would stay at that height forever or until he brought you back down again, maybe.

People were living at different heights all over the place. The people the king hated the most were very high up in the sky, sitting on stainless-steel chairs. The people who who lived in reality, many, many years away, would look into the sky and invent the word "star." They would also invent the word "shooting star," which was actually a person on a chair that the king was moving to another position.

The reason I lived in a hammock at 300 feet was I was a waiter at the castle, and one night, entranced by the beauty of the king's niece, I accidentally served soup on flat dishes. I smiled at the young girl, the king snapped his fingers, and I went up through a skylight and have been living at 300 feet ever since. I overtook Styrofoam Canyon.

To please King Sammy and again live on the ground was indeed my goal. I was notified of my chance to do this one day at about an hour before the beginning of time. A bird flew to my hammock delivering a small letter. An invitation to possible fate. It was from the king himself. It said, "Dear Phillip: As you know, this year I will be celebrating my birthday on August 11th. If you can arrange a unique festival I will again allow you to live on the ground or at least at eye level and maybe date my niece, Princess Sammintine. I know your great-great-grandfather invented socializing. That is why I'm giving you this chance. If not, I'm sure you will be reaching further heights. Sincerely, King Sammy."

Actually my great-great-grandfather was really a hermit and invented socializing just as a joke.

So here was my chance to redeem myself and live on the ground again. I decided I would go to sleep and dream about what to do. Often I would wave goodbye when I went to sleep. As a small boy I would sometimes sleep with my eyes open so all my dreams would take place in my room. It was raining. There was a great rainbow. Rainbows over Water Island were made of a light plastic.

I was standing on a cliff looking out into the great ocean. The ocean was called Land Ocean. Just then a herd of deer ran by. None of them had eyelashes.

The water was beautiful. The king loved water. Hmmm hmm. The king was very fond of water, to the point where he installed a pool that surrounded the entire castle. Other kings would later copy this idea.

King Sammy could not swim. People who were great swimmers were despised by the king and forced to live on twelve-foot chairs. My dream then switched to housekeeping, which startled me awake.

Yes, yes, the king loved water. If only Water Island had a shore.

I began to work. I got rid of the sand the only way I knew how, I vacuumed it. Night and day I vacuumed until the sand on Water Island got lower and lower, closer to the ocean. Inadvertently, I was inventing the beach.

It was the night of August 10th. I needed much help. So I hired hundreds of small children to help remove the sand. I gave them little plastic buckets and little plastic shovels. The children removed tons of sand. They worked very hard, although they thought they were playing.

Soon the land was level with the water. An unusually beautiful sight to see for the first time: the shore, the beach. I walked up and down this peaceful area trying to avoid the broken glass.

I wrote a letter to King Sammy. "Dear King Sammy: Meet me where I'm going to be. Sincerely, Phillip."

I then prepared the festival. I brought loads of food and ale packed in boxes that were built in the Styrofoam Canyon. I brought small, horizontal fireplaces that stood on little legs. I hired a group of minstrels who could only play music too loud.

Fate lessons of the past and present were now in session. Tradition was about to begin. King Sammy arrived at the beach with fifteen court jesters, his wife, Edna, Princess Sammintine, and several other men and women who were walking around at different heights. Some of them he really didn't like and made them arrive in their underwear. People in reality would do this willingly, many, many years away.

The minstrels began to play. The king danced with the waves. I danced with the shadow of the king, and the idea of Princess Sammintine kissed the back of my memory of the events that took place.


A seventy-two-year-old childhood friend of the king cut the plastic rainbows into circles and filled them with air to create colorful bouncing balls. As the king snapped his fingers to the music, people were flying up and down all over the beach. The children with plastic buckets were now heavily into the construction of little castles made of sand, so the king would feel at home.

The more the king watched, the more he liked the people, and the more he liked the people, the lower they were to the ground.

Soon people were actually lying down on little cotton flags all over the beach.

I invited a few of the great swimmers on twelve-foot chairs. The king ordered them to stay in their chairs unless someone was drowning. They wore bright orange shorts.

I had a waterproof pen. The ocean was very calm. The king wanted bigger waves. So I drew huge waves on the ocean. The ships didn't understand.

As the madness continued, I made my way over to Princess Sammintine. I asked her if she wanted a massage. She said, "Yes, but not physically." I said, "How do you like the beach?" She said, "Well, it's kind of sandy." I apologized for the beach's being sandy. Then I said, "Will you marry me?" She said, "No, you're boring, and besides I've seen fatter legs on a bird."

I smiled at Princess Sammintine and accidentally served clam chowder on flat dishes. The king snapped his fingers, and I went up 300 feet onto my hammock in the sky.

I lay there swinging in the breeze, knowing that a situation like that would never take place again.

I began the practice of giving my children the "priestly blessing" found in the book of Numbers. It is in Numbers 6:24-26. Most of you have heard of this blessing as had I, but how many of you give it to your children.

I was convicted of this some time ago by my dear rector, and I said, "I can't give a blessing, I am not a priest." He kindly reminded me that I am the priest of my family and need to be doing this. My boys now 10 and 7 absolutely love it. They do not go to bed without their blessing! Even if I am on the road, away from home, I will give them their blessing over the phone. It is powerful and may seem simple to us, but you never know what seeds you may be planting in your own children by this simple act. I will include this scripture underneath:


Insert Name, may the Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace, in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen"

So try this out and see the difference it makes in your children today!

Unbelievable!!!

Recently, I was in Destin, Florida at our YAMiA retreat when my neighborhood erupted in flames. Yes, erupted. I live in Central Florida and my home was in the middle of the brush fires which made national news. You have read the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, well this is the remake, as well as the Good Samaritan part 2!

My home was in an area in which the fire department was unable to supply resources due to the large amount of fires all around. So they pretty much decided that those structures (AKA my house) were a "casualty of fire." Several homes were destroyed as well as several lots. There are lots of houses without damage and that is nothing short of a miracle. But my home is an answer to a lot of prayer. You see, people all over the country were praying for my home and family. People that I have never met. Not so much my area, but my home specifically! So as the fire was burning the fence around my house it began to burn up the side of it as well. It reach the roof and started moving to the rear of the home. Now two people whom I do not know, but will meet soon, were attempting to escape the fires and flee to safety. As they were driving around they noticed my house on fire. They stopped, and began shoveling dirt on the wall and extinguishing the flames before it reached the insulation and attic space. My home is intact, and has minimal structural damage.

Is this a coincidence, maybe? Or is it an answer to a lot of interceding prayer? I know what I think. Prayer works, Prayer is essential. He is always listening, are we communicating!

If you allow God to be in control, he will amaze you. If we try and handle things on our own, we will fail!

First off, please forgive the delay in a follow up post. After a short trip to Atlanta I have been fighting off this flu-like bug that has infected everyone around me over the last month. It finally caught up to me.

My last post was a rather incomplete one. I spoke of this battle we are in for the souls of the youth in this generation. As I stand by that statement, I must also explain a few things.

1. The battle was won on the cross at Calvary! The final score has been decided. Have you ever recorded a sports event and watched it later, knowing the final score? It is a different experience is it not. This is the case with battling for our teens souls. We must help them see that the final score is "really real" and the only decision they must make is which team to join.

2. We are pawns. Yes, youth ministers are pawns. God is the one battling for his children, we are his tools. A Pawn can be a mighty piece in the game of chess, so do not think that is a negative thing. However, it is not by our own strength and power that these teens will come to Jesus, but by His will. This is why our own "formation" is critical. Chris has stated it wonderfully in his blog, "you can only take teens as far as you have gone yourself .

3. Keep it real. Having an authentic youth ministry is a key to this "battle." The world is not authentic. Their lives are filled with "untruths." Providing them with a sense of authentic relationship will give them comfort, stability, and a deep desire for a continued relationship. We cannot compete with the local entertainment scene, with media giants, and the like. But we can be "real."

I have typed this article under the influence of Nyquil so I am prayerful it makes sense. The YAMiA team will be meeting next week in northwest Florida to plan Winter Conference and shape the direction this ship is heading. I ask that you continue your prayers for us, and please know that we are praying for you.