Classic Game Night in Rhinelander

Last Monday night we had our classic game night in Rhinelander. We played the "classic" games of Four on a Couch, Whomp 'em, and Full Contact Spoons. It was a blast and there were only a few minor injuries, which is amazing!!! Four on a Couch your goal is to get four guys or girls (depending what you are!) on the couch. You start out with two of each on the couch and everyone has a slip of paper with a name on it. There is one empty chair and the person to the left of that chair calls out a name. That person then goes to the empty chair. The game gets harder when we have the teens switch the names when they are called. It was a lot of fun, and of course the guys won all three games!!! The next game was Whomp 'em and it is exactly what it sounds like! One person stands in the middle and has a foam bat or other object. Then another person in the circle starts by saying their name and another person's name. The person in the middle then tries to hit that person with the foam bat before they can say their name and someone else's. It's a lot of fun!!! (If you are in the middle!) Then finally we played Full Contact Spoons. It is just like the other version except the spoons are placed at the end of the room and you have to run and grab a spoon before they are gone. You can watch the video and it shows Alex and Kriby in our championship match.

We had an incident earlier that day in our new house where the plumbing backed up and flooded our basement. All the boxes and furniture got soaked pretty good. I was able to use that as an example of our lives in Christ for the message. The owners of the house had redone all the plumbing up to where it meets the old plumbing that goes out to the street. I was looking for leaks all over the new plumbing until I saw it pouring out of the old stuff. Turns out that the old pipes had roots growing in them and plastic bags were flushed down completely blocking the flow of water. I likened that to all the messages that were given up until last Monday. We've covered a lot of topics and dealt with a lot of issues, but if there is an underlying sin or disconnect with God, the messages won't have any power or impact. Because of that problem everything will look good on the outside, but what's deep in their souls will cause things to "back up" and stop the flow that God desires in their lives. I asked the teens to "get real" with me and God and write down what that sin was. I was blown away by their honesty and sincerity and I pray that I will be able to help them get these things right with God. What a great evening!!!