In case you were wondering about the world of Team 54 (aka the 54 students and adults at youth camp) this week…we’re at M-Fuge Samford University in  Birmingham, Alabama where the M stands for missions and apparently made-to-order omelets  for breakfast! Oh…and don’t forget DIY Belgian Waffles.

Now, if you want to take that a step further…here’s where Team 54 is this week from 10am to 3pm each day: Ministry sites in and around Birmingham helping others and sharing Jesus.

We are in a total of 17 different groups ministering to over 40 different locations in the following ways:

Our PCY teams (painting, construction, and yardwork) are re-vitalizing run-down homes and revitalizing whole neighborhoods. To hear these students come back today and talk about how great the house looked when the left rather than how hot it was or how hard the work was is an act of God. Our students get missions. Thanks RHCC for making service part of our church DNA.

Our Creative teams visit two sites each day…typically assisted living or nursing facilities to do manicures, games, puzzles, and creative performances for the residents.

Our Children teams aren’t kiddos themselves (although they sometimes act that way LOL) but instead teams who go out and do VBS and BYBC (back-yard-bible-clubs) in developments where sharing Christ with kids is their aim. Thanks to our own awesome pre-school and kids ministries at RHCC…we kind of know what we’re about here!

Our Games and Rec teams spend time at community centers and YMCA’s leading sports and games ministry for kids and even their teenage peers. Hanging out and playing games is a great way to illustrate the love of Jesus.

Finally, we have students doing Social Ministry…food pantries, clothes closets, and other need based ministries out in Birmingham helping those who are homeless or who find themselves in a season of specific physical need.

Rolling Hills, God is good and He’s doing a work here in our student ministry and in this city. When you pray, pray for us. Mention Team 54 to God…He’ll know who you mean!

Posted in M-Fuge Samford 2010, Missions, Student Pastor - Nic Allen, Summer 2010 by Nic Allen No Comments

M-Fuge is my absolute favorite member of the Fuge Family of Lifeway camps. It takes all the life-changing bible study, all the fun, and all of the incredible worship experiences and combines them with awesome opportunities to be on mission in a local community not unlike the one we come from here in Middle TN.

This Year’s M-Fuge Dates: June 28 – July 3, 2010

This Year’s M-Fuge Location: Samford University, Birmingham, AL

This Year’s M-Fuge Team: 54 of the coolest Fugers you’ve ever met (12 middle school guys; 13 middle school girls; 11 high school guys; 10 high school girls; and 8 awesome adults!

Pray for us this week as we serve and share…as we grow and learn…as we sing and shout…as we play and get crazy…as God does special things in all our lives at camp and on mission!  Stay tuned to this blog for regular updates about our adventures and our antics; our going and our growing!

Posted in M-Fuge Samford 2010, Missions, Student Pastor - Nic Allen, Summer 2010 by Nic Allen No Comments

Middle schoolers at Rolling Hills have frequented many a matinee this summer. We’ve enjoyed seeing the Sunday morning comic strip Marmaduke via some fairly decent CGI (incidentally…not one of the middle schoolers I took had ever heard of Marmaduke and only a few knew of Sunday morning comics). Last week, Daniel-son was reborn as a kid named Dre in the new Karate Kid installment and today, we donned our 3D glasses for the highly anticipated summer event, Toy Story 3. We have two more flicks to go before summer ends.

Today, those of us who first encountered Woody, Buzz, and their owner Andy in 1995 watched as the grown up version, now age 17, prepared for college. Warning: No spoilers included so feel to read on even without having seen the film. Something dawned on me as the story unfolded. Seated next to one of our recent Rolling Hills grads (who crashed the middle school only event), I realized that this guy was Andy from the film. I started to ask myself questions about the movie timeline and courtesy of Wikipedia made the following discoveries:

• Toy Story (the original) released in November of 1995. I was a mere high school senior myself that year! The high school grads of 2010 were 3/4 years old when Toy Story 1 made history as one of Pixar’s first breakout hits.
• When the sequel debuted in November of 1999, I was preparing for finals in my last semester of college before graduating that December. I was also engaged to be married to the delightful Susan Coffer (soon to be Susan Allen). This year’s seniors were 7/8.

Although the real Andy (if there were such a kid) would be about 20 years old having celebrated his 6^th birthday in the first film, this year’s grads have grown up with him nonetheless. The class of 2010 has grown up with Pixar. They’ve grown up with 3D movies. They’ve grown up with Jon Ratzenberger being the recognizable voice of a talking piggy bank not Cliff Clavin, the postman on Cheers. They’ve grown up with cell phones, online social networks, and iMacs. Theirs may not require special glasses but it is certainly a different dimension.  As I make a mental list of all the things that are different for them as they pack their cars for college 14 years after I did the same, I wonder what might be different 14 years from now when my girls fly the nest?

Bottom line: times change. Technologies change. Styles change. People and culture and issues all change. But as believers we know that some things stay the same. Jesus is the same. Salvation is the same. The purpose of the church as a relevant and constant part of a constantly spinning world is the same. Today, as many differences as were noted by the newest Toy Story narrative…including some great new toys, some things were still very much the same.  Woody and Buzz led the charge on adventure where loving Andy was the prize worth fighting for. Everything in this world fades but the Bible says some stuff remains. Faith, Hope, and Love to name a few (a la 1 Corinthians 13). And then scripture says identifies the greatest of those, love. When my girls graduate high school, iPhones may be a thing of the past. The Toy Story trilogy will be a distant childhood memory colored over by dozens of more recent animated phenoms. They’ll leave My Little Pony and Little People behind. Lots will be different.

This year’s class may not pack their Transformers, Barbies, or Littlest Pet Shop pets when they head off to school. But along with linens and laptops, we hope they take their faith. They definitely need to take some hope. And above all else, they need to take love. Andy did. That was the message of Toy Story 3 and it’s a valuable one to take with you when the credits roll and you head out to wherever life takes you.

Posted in dock@1810, Student Pastor - Nic Allen, Summer 2010Tags: Devotional Thought, Middle School Matinee, Toy Story 3 | by Nic Allen No Comments

Have you ever picked up an item to purchase in a store and gotten to the check out stand and been surprised that it was an additional percentage off the already low price? That, my friends, is a good day. Many years ago (pre kids and pre smart spending) Susan and I frequented many a clothing retail establishment. One day, no lie, she was buying a clearance dress from a particular store (the ever popular Old Navy). As we checked out, it rang up literally half of what we expected to pay. I told her she should get two for good measure.

Sales are good things especially if they are accompanied by the word clearance. You know what else is a good thing…BOGO. It’s an abbreviation made popular by Payless Shoes (which incidentally I don’t like because they have 470 different super trendy styles for women but typically only one aisle for men full of shoes that look orthopedic for in nature).

BOGO is great, especially when it’s “buy one get one free” rather than “buy one get one 50% off.” Here is a list of items you might find BOGO FREE these days:

• cereal
• t-shirts
• pens
• sandwiches
• cell phones (with the purchase of two new two year contracts)

Here is a list of items that I wish were BOGO FREE:

• cars
• vacation homes
• puppies
• recreation vehicles
• plane tickets

This week, Dock@1810starts a brand new series called BOGO Free. You might say the reason we developed the series is because our good pal Alicia Lempert at Aeropostale donated a bunch of items to the church including some rather large BOGO signs. Well you’d be right. But it’s also fun to think about all the things from God’s word that are total freebies. (I know everything from the Bible is a total freebie but some feel more like an extra than others)

Have you ever been reading scripture and found it to mean one thing totally awesome that by itself is totally applicable to life and totally essential to a renewed walk with Christ only to digest moments or even days later the fact that it also meant even more? It’s like there was some added bonus that surprised you later. I know that to be true in my life. Go figure…we serve a God who can multi-task and derive as many blessings as he wants from just one simple verse or story! Scripture is literally the gift that keeps on giving and that is what this month’s teaching time is about at Dock.

Since most middle and high school students are too busy texting 160 characters or less to read a 200+ word count blog, I’m counting on all the parents and legal guardians out there to read this and motivate students to come be part of Dock this month (Wednesday nighst 6:10-8:10pm). You’ll be glad you did. And hey, so will they! Look, another added bonus!

Posted in dock@1810, Student Pastor - Nic Allen, Summer 2010Tags: BOGO Free | by Nic Allen No Comments