Friends, I am anticipating God to transform young people this summer. Put these dates on your calendar. Rally your students. Guest band and speaker info to come….see you this summer.

2012 Desperation Conference: All to Him // teaser video from Desperation on Vimeo.

Save the date: June 27-29, 2012 & July 11-13, 2012.

At New Life, we use a small group system in our high school ministry based upon schools. We challenge students to connect in these groups to grow in relationship with God, each other and to be on mission to reach their school. Check out www.WeAreDSM.com to learn more. Tomorrow, I will teach our campus pastors. Here are my notes:

1) Build Your Campus Team
2) Develop a model that works for your campus [multiple variables...campuses are very different].
3) Learn campus data, statistics and demographics.
4) Build relationship with your campus host family.
5) Honor leadership. Champion a culture that honors.
6) Meditate on your high school years. Be the youth pastor that you wish you would have had.
7) Invest in your leaders.

Promises for Youth Leader Prayer Summit:
1) We will pray together for God to move powerfully in our local church youth ministries.
2) We will pray for each other to be encouraged, empowered and effective.
3) We will create space for you to spend time alone with God, hear His voice and leave renewed by Him.
4) We will worship Jesus together with passion.
5) We will not pitch a book, internship, resource pack or event to you. No exhibitors.
6) We will not give away a free iPad to try to get you to come.
7) We will invest in growing friendships through communion, prayer groups and eating together.

It’s free. It’s for youth pastors. There is no extra mission or agenda. Simply put, we are desperate for a move of God in the student ministries across our nation and we want to pray with like hearted youth pastors. REGISTER

Desperation 2011 Conference – No Compromise from Desperation on Vimeo.

Save the Date: June 22-24, 2011 & July 13-15, 2011
Who: Student Ministries from local churches across the nation
Register: www.desperationonline.com

No Empty Prayers. No Singing Lies. No Token Vows. No Compromise.

Ten years ago, the Desperation Conference began as young people cried out to God for an authentic move of the Holy Spirit within their generation. Out of those prayer meetings, Desperation began. Today, thousands of students have encountered God at Desperation and we anticipate the greatest days are yet to come.

Local church youth ministries across the nation continue to diligently work toward making prayer the foundational component for ministry. Prayer rooms, sacred assemblies, nights of prayer, and days of fasting continue to rise. Worshipping Jesus has surpassed Christian entertainment. It’s glorious!

This summer’s theme, “No Compromise,” echoes the growing longing within the heart’s of young people to be authentic, fully devoted followers of Jesus. Hypocrisy is not an option. This summer, may God transform weak and broken teenagers into passionate, thoughtful, and zealous young Christians.

Expectation is in air this week!

This weekend, our Furnace and DLA students are loading up in buses and headed to Life Church in Olathe, KS. Teens from local churches across the region will be joining us!
One of Desperation Band’s latest lyric says, “We’re going to dance the dust off the floor and sing till our lungs can’t sing anymore.” May that be true this weekend! Desperation Band will lead worship at every session. Here are the details. It’s going to be great!

Of course, it’s always so fun to be with our lifelong friends at Life Church. If you want to join us, you can register at the door or online.

Identity.

Isn’t it amazing how easy it can be to find your identity in something other than Jesus? It is for me. In fact, sometimes I’m amazed at how many little, goofy things I take identity in. Of course, it’s easy to find identity in friends, job, family, trophies, and appearance. We all know those. Yet, even little successes and failures can sow seeds of identity in one’s heart. Right now, the Desperation Staff guys are in a fantasy football league and I find myself really wanting to win. The other day, I heard a guy in the airport who found a lot of identity in his frequent flier status. Sometimes, we even find our identity in our most recent status update. There is something greater…it’s not trite, cute or “religious.” It’s real. It’s eternal and it matters.

You have a higher identity. It’s not found in your successes, failures, or appearance. It’s found in God. He loves and delights in you (John 3:16, Psalm 18:19). You are a son or a daughter. Therefore, you are a winner. As part of the redeemed, you have an eternally great life. Who you are in God far surpasses your facebook profile, your feelings, or what your latest friend says of you. Don’t think of this as a worn out, religious idea. Study it in the Scriptures. Treasure it and it will transform you from the inside out. It will launch you into a life that far exceeds the superficiality of American teen culture.

The FPR continues to hum right along. On Sunday, I told New Life Sunday School about the prayer room. For many, it was their first time to hear about it. So, here are the prayer leaders in each of the prayer blocks. The FPR exists in the World Prayer Center on the campus of New Life Church. Walk in the front door and turn right at the Starbucks machine. Immediately, turn right again and the Furnace Prayer Room will be right in front of you. All are welcome. The room is never reserved for other functions. If you would like more information on the prayer room, please contact Austin at abrammer@newlifechurch.org

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
12:00am	Ryan Burns	Krysta Dixon	Carter Moore	Peyton Rice	CJ Hock	Chad Prytula	Bree Manton
3:00 AM	Gabby Smith	AJ Archuleta	M. Manning	Amy James	S. DiDonato	M. Miller	Tara Schaefer
6:00 AM	Tim Fischer	Phill Simonds	Kyle McIntosh	C. McIntosh	Irene Jaw	K. Keyes	David Perkins
9:00 AM	J.Steinhart	Daniel Webb	Kacee Saxe	Dan Perkins	Jeni Mason	Annie Decker	B. Johnson
Noon	Kelly Small	A.Brammer	Amy Perkins	Jenn Kuretich	Stefan Davis	Kenny Gracia	Carly Stevens
3:00 PM	Joel Helzer	J. Newman	Tyrel Koenes	Kevin Govro	Candace Davis	Taylor Hix	Hannah Eder
6:00 PM	Levi Hagerott	Mandy Mann	Carlo Cassio	Sam Volker	Lexi Wortley	C. Newbury	Joe Osborne
9:00 PM	Erica Shada	Nigel Ruiz	Benj Massey	Joel Newby	Pam Hidalgo	Jon Lake	Dustin Alaridi