We won first prize ($2000) in Trevecca University’s “More than a Youth Group” Contest. Thanks for all the votes RHCC. The prize will be used to further discipleship and mission opportunities for students at Rolling Hills. If you missed the chance to see our video entry during the voting season, take a look below!

Posted in dock@1810, Missions, Student Pastor - Nic Allen, Summer 2010 by Nic Allen No Comments

Based on our summer mission experiences (Mission-Fuge in Birmingham & High Schoolers in Hawaii) we entered a video contest sponsored by Trevecca called “More than a Youth Group.” The contests is based on the number of votes and the polls are open. We could win up to $2000 to be used in student ministry @ Rolling Hills. Exciting stuff, eh?

So we could use the support for Rolling Hills Student Ministry. Vote daily using the link below.

Simply click “watch the videos” in the menu bar and then scroll down until you see Rolling Hills. Click on our video and vote daily between now and August 18th. Winners will be announced on August 19th! Thanks for voting!

Posted in Alex Derry, dock@1810, Hawaii Mission Team, LEROY Guys Ministry, LOL Girls Ministry, M-Fuge Samford 2010, Meredith Cromer, Missions, Student Interns, Student Pastor - Nic Allen, Summer 2010, Upcoming Events by Nic Allen No Comments

Who ever said that VBS was for kids? ALL RHCC Middle Schoolers (that includes our rising 6th grade class) are invited to join us for Middle School VBS this week.  (Tonight, July 27 through Friday, July 30…nightly 5:45-8:30pm)

We’re gonna ride through some really cool scripture this week and learn all we can from God’s truth (and we’re gonna have fun doing it!)

Middle School VBS is a great way to strengthen relationships and make new friends before school starts. It’s a great way to plug in to student ministry at RHCC especially if you’re new and not quite involved. You can still register @ VBS REGISTRATION

Hope to see lots of Middle Schoolers out this week! Here’s where we’re going this week:

Day 1: Feeling Valued

Bible Passage: Genesis 2:4-24
Life Question: How do I know God values me?

Day 2: Trusting God

Bible Passage: Genesis 45:1-15
Life Question: Can I trust God to be there for me?

Day 3: Turning Around

Bible Passage: Luke 19:1-10
Life Question: What does it take to have a relationship with God?

Day 4: Finding Purpose

Bible Passages: Mark 6:30-44; Luke 4:14-16; 5:16
Life Question: How does God want me to respond to Him?

Day 5: Staying Focused

Bible Passages: Philippians 1:20-21,27-30; 4:4-9
Life Question: How does God want me to live every day?

Posted in dock@1810, Student Pastor - Nic Allen, Summer 2010, Upcoming Events by Nic Allen No Comments

Check out our pics from M-Fuge Birmingham 2010

http://www.vimeo.com/13280388

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

I bet the readership of the RHCC Student Ministry Blog would be interested to know how the cafeteria food has been at Samford University (insert plug for future collegians…Samford food rocks).

It might just be the best college cafe I’ve ever partook. There are multiple lines to choose from. A yummy fresh pizza and panini  line and a ready made grill line with super sweet looking burgers, chicken tenders, and fries.

And then there are two central lines called “The Classics.” The classics line features all measure of home-cooking including fabuloso veggies like steamed squash, fresh cut green beans, broccoli, and black-eyes. One night they even had stewed cherry tomatoes and onions. Needless to type, this writer dove in for seconds. We’ve had chicken picata, Italian sausage and penne, grilled chicken, fried pork chops, and fresh rolls. There is a killer salad and fruit bar and even some super sized desserts. The classical bounty of the Samford Student Hall is one I could sample all year.

But there is a problem. Last night, I began to realize that our students (mostly middle schoolers but certainly a high schooler or two) had only ever eaten from the pizza and burger bars. And it wasn’t because they didn’t know about the other options. They just continued to choose the fast-food varieties while overlooking the more balanced (lower sodium) healthier choices.

I immediately made a spiritual connection. Mind you..my weight isn’t where it needs to be and I haven’t exercised in “I’m not telling you” how long, but at least some fruit and veggies made it to my plate a time or twelve this week. I started to ask and answer a really sad question. How often do we as believers look at the smorgasbord of God’s table and choose a worldly quick fix meal instead? How often do we look at the meat and potatoes of His Holy word and settle for just a snack-wrap sized verse? How often are we content to stay with the same measure of truth we learned at VBS age 8 rather than grow up to the level of maturity befitting an adult believer?

One of this week’s super special words is commitment. Well…here’s mine. We’re not going to have a pizza and chicken finger student ministry at RHCC. (Don’t worry Jet’s Pizza…we’ll still be placing our standard order…this is more of a metaphor). I want to give students chicken divan and pasta primavera. I want them to delight themselves in the pork tenderloin of God’s truth with a side of orzo and wild herbs. And beyond me serving it to them…I want them to want more and serve themselves.

Future aspirations for students at RHCC and maybe even believers everywhere…the classics. Let’s bypass the burger line and slide into some real food!

Posted in M-Fuge Samford 2010, Missions, Student Pastor - Nic Allen, Summer 2010 by Nic Allen 1 Comment

I grew up in Montgomery, AL. Lived there til I was 13. As a junior high student, I attended a performing arts school in the center of downtown Montgomery…just a short walk from many historic sites including Dexter Avenue Baptist Church where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. served as Pastor.  As a student, I remember taking walking field trips to that church and to many of those sites. I remember our teacher showing us two very old water fountains side by side (neither in proper working order I’m certain) and asking us why we thought there were two? I’m sure I was the eager kid who raised his hand with the answer. Jim Crow segregation laws. Legal racism. Those experiences had a remarkable impact on me. As a kid, I wished the world had never heard of Dr. King. I wished there had never been a reason for him to have a holiday or be a household name.  I wondered how Christ followers (just a generation or two before me) who loved Jesus ever let it get to a point where we would need a civil rights movement in the first place.

Today, I took our students to such a place here in Birmingham. Last year, I made the mistake of letting them vote on options for  our extended free-time day. I was still somewhat new here. The students chose the mall. I was bummed. This year, no such choice. I told them we were going to the Civil Rights District and that I would be their tour guide. We saw Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, the site of the bombing that killed four girls around the same age as many of our students. We walked through Kelly Ingram Park, the site of many boycotts, movements, and marches…many of which ended with mass arrests, water hoses, and police dogs. I got to share my heart, not for equality or justice, but for God’s love. You see, if we love people the way God loves people and if we see people the way God sees people, we’d never need to speak of inequality or injustice. And this isn’t the result of some ideal world where everyone would be a Christ-follower and love Jesus. It’s the result of a belief so strong in the love of God. You see, I think God’s love is more powerful than injustice. And inequality stands no match for God’s love. Maybe we don’t need to rally around justice. Maybe we just need to better understand and better teach about love. If God’s love was the aim of God’s people 110 years ago when segregation laws were born, they’d have never made it into existence. And while I am certain Dr. King would be ready to stand up again in a moments notice against all things unjust, I am fairly sure he would be just fine with the lack of fame…having lived in a different kind of world that didn’t need him to champion freedom because God’s love from God’s people created a world that didn’t need him for that.

The students really seemed to enjoy taking a walk where only history book photos have taken them before. During our final church group time of the day, one student spoke up and said, “Nic Allen, you were right!” I made her say it again, only louder the second time!  Students who at first would have rather done the mall thing really enjoyed taking a tour down history lane. Our final challenge at the District was to observe this part of history as something that wasn’t all that long ago and as something that still exists today in many parts of the world including the Roma people that we’re learning about all week in our missions moments. We prayed a prayer of thanksgiving there and then we went out for some frozen yogurt.

It was a great night of “free” time focusing on freedom. Thank you historic downtown Birmingham for being a place where I can take students to learn. And thank you Civil Rights Movement. Although I wish we never needed you in the first place, I am so very glad you happened.

Posted in M-Fuge Samford 2010, Missions, Student Pastor - Nic Allen, Summer 2010 by Nic Allen 1 Comment

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