This past weekend I had the great opportunity to take a group of our Sr. High students over to Liberty University in Lynchburg, VA for College For A Weekend (CFAW). We had a great time and I think the students really enjoyed it. My last experience with Liberty University was about two summers ago when we went out for a Rick Gage Go Tell camp & one of our super bright students decided it would be a super intelligent idea to tie their bed sheet to their bed and repel out of the second story dorm window at 1:00 o’clock in the morning! However they did not land safely, in fact, for some strange reason this student of ours decided to let go of the sheet about 2 inches outside the window and free fall the rest of the way landing very hard on their ankles causing them to swell up and look like tree trunks.

Needless to say Joey and I were enthusiastic about hanging out at the ER till 530 in the morning the morning we were leaving to return to Tennessee. It was dandy!

So on this trip I informed everyone from the get go that if they were planning on jumping from any second story windows not to call me or request any assistance from me because I would not be providing any sympathy. Praise God all the students kept windows closed and did not pull any escape tactics out windows…that I know of anyways.

Here are some highlights from the trip…

-12 people + 12 passenger van + 2 snowboards/2 sets of skis & everyones luggage = a very congested and personal space invasion-ish 6 hour ride. Thank you Jesus for deodorant.

-SHEETZ!!!!

-The students crashed with current Liberty Students for the weekend. On the whole trip up there Tyee was hopeing that their roommates would be huge World of Warcraft Nerds. His dreams came true. But they were cool nerds. With a Ukulele.

-Jordan & Jonathan were not so lucky, they were greeted by half naked roommates who were dead asleep at 5 o’clock in the evening. J&J were not to thrilled with this, however their roommates turned out to be pretty cool dudes in the end.

-The girls roommates…didn’t hear much about them except one of them was like a 6 foot 4 redhaired chick that made them sleep on the concrete floor…life is so hard.

-SHEETZ!!!

-Dr. Erugan Caner spoke at Chapel on Friday and it was stinkin’ awesome! Worship was pretty beast as well. I really enjoy Dr. Caner, I’d like to hang out with him some day.

-Tyee won a free Wii just for filling out his application to Liberty. He filled it out in like 2.5 minutes. That was pretty sweet.

-Although no students were injured on the trip I did have to make one trip to the Hospital. Liberty has this thing called SnowFlex. Its the equivilant of the rough side of velcro, with sprinklers in it that you can ski and snowboard on year round. Apparently it takes some getting used to, and also their are apparently some dry spots on the run. I found one, caught the toe side edge of my board and jacked up the knee pretty good. All in front of about 200 folks chillin at the lodge who decided they would laugh and clap for me as a source of encouragement. Thank you for that encouragement. It really made me feel good about myself….

-SHEETZ!!!

-Got to introduce some of the students to my good friends Salvation Army and Goodwill. While Jordan and Jonathan introduced all of us to fake mustaches from 50 cent machines(50 Cent Gumball machines not 50 Cent the Rapper). I believe thrifting will now be  a weekly youth outing for anyone who wants to join!

-Skillet put on a killer show on Saturday night, I wish I could say the same for TobyMac, but I think he wore himself out playing 1 game of basketball a few hours beforehand. It seriously took him 40 minutes to get his show going after the Skillet show. So we heard one half of a song before we bounced back up to SnowFlex to check out the Mt. Dew Rail Jam and Big Air Comp. Those guys were much better than me on the VelcroFlex! Kudos!

-SHEETZ!!! I think we ate at SHEETZ at least 8 times during our 3 day stay. Its amazing. If you don’t know SHEETZ, Get to know them.

-We left with about half of our students interested in possibly attending Liberty University to further their education. Pretty pumped about that.

-Oh Yeah. How could I forget! Katie made Danielle wear her yellow rain jacket all week so that we could keep up with her and she would not get lost! It worked we didn’t loose her once. Good Job Girls!!!

There are some pics up on my Facebook if you are interested in checkin em out.

Time to be Outie Five Thousand.

What up?! What Up?! What Up?! Hope everyone is having a super blessed day! Just wanted to let the 175 or so of you who check this blog out that we have now got our Student Ministry Blog up and running. I got a couple posts up there for today, including the drama that some of our students put on last week during our Wednesday Night service. So hop on over there and check it out. www.4twelveministries.com

P.S. For those of you who get my Twitter Updates or Facebook Updates sorry for the scare yesterday when I talked about the 3 a.m. ER visit with Kennedy and the 104 temp. Apparently I am supposed to follow that up with, “Everything is Okay, We are all still alive” and I forgot. However I was sternly reminded and encouraged by some disgruntled church mommies to never let it happen again…so it won’t.

Again, I apologize to anyone who racked their brain all day yesterday hoping for another Tweet to let them know Kennedy was alright. I guess I just underestimated everyone and figured that the fact I Twote about it meant that all was well, then again it was coming from the same guy who was watching the Braves vs. Mets game during Kennedy’s delivery, so you never know.  My Bad again.
I love you guys! Check out www.4twelveministries.com and leave some encouraging comments for the students.

Outie 5thousand

…Smoky Bear or Eagle? If you answered Eagle, FALSE! It’s Smoky Bear!

Yes I missed my night of a brand new episode of the Office, but in turn I got to help hand out 1,000 free T-Shirts and 1,000 plus MIRACLE arm bands all while watching an incredible High School Football Game. Yes that’s right, a High School Homecoming football game on a Thursday Night, it sounds weird but that’s how we roll out here in East Tennessee.

What a privilege it was to take our students and volunteers out to the game and hand out FREE T-Shirts to everyone. We wanted to help get our new Student Ministry Name out there in the community as well as spread some hope and encouragement through our “Ever Seen A Miracle?” T-Shirts and MIRACLES arm bands. It was pretty bang-a-rang to see all the students and their parents walking around with the shirts on at the game and hear about all the MIRACLES people in our county are needing. I had the honor of meeting a particular family who are in serious need of a MIRACLE. This week they lost their home in a fire, they lost everything. I know it was just a small gesture, but the joy I saw on their faces when they got a free t-shirt and an arm band made my week. So often we tend to look at the glass as being half empty. We like to act like things are so terrible for us, when really, our lives couldn’t get much better. Through our MIRACLES series here at the church I am beginning to have a much different outlook on my life and all the MIRACLES I overlook daily.

It is a true privilege to serve in His kingdom everyday when I don’t even deserve the breath He gives me each morning.

Be blessed.

I’m Outie Five Thousand

p.s. If you have stumbled upon this little blog site as a result of the 1,000 or so T-Shirts given out tonight with the web address of www.chuckbvanhook.com on the back, I want to say WELCOME. Many of the stories you may read on this blog may leave you scratching your head in amazement, shock, or a bit of confusement  (like now as you try and figure out if that is a real word or not….it’s not, but you understand it, so it should be). Other posts may have you at the edge of your seat with sweaty palms and a racing heartbeat. Still others may have you balling your eyes out. Not because the story is touching and sweet, but because you are worried and concerned for my wife and year and a half old daughter’s sanity. But by any standards enjoy the content found on here, there aint much like it on the web. (all accounts on this blog are indeed real stories and thoughts however no animals or humans were injured in the writing process. Don’t call PETA)

And if you are a student, come check out the 4:Twelve Student Ministry every Wednesday Night from 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. or Sunday Mornings at 9:30 a.m. & 11:30 a.m. Also be on the lookout for www.4TwelveMinistries.com launching this coming Monday where you can find out all the details about our ministry, what we do,why we do it and when it takes place.

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYY Smoky Bears! Hard faught game Eagles, good job as well.

Now for reals,

I’m Outie 5

Sevier County vs. Seymour Eagles Homecoming 09'

Check out the video our “Video Guy”, Joseph shot this past week to help explain the family alter for this weekends Miracle series. Whistles are so much fun! Mucho props go out to Bobby and Melissa for choosing to hand out hundreds of whistles to our PreSchool and Elementary students I am sure the parents ride home was super fun!!

Although the video got canned and didn’t make the cut I thought Joseph did a great job with the Office-like filming and editing. Enjoy.

Whistle Object Lesson Promo from Guy Wiley on Vimeo.

Last Wednesday we had a awesome time with our Mt. Dew Challenge. We got about 3 events into it before it turned into an all out Mt. Dew war. Good times good times, I look forward to next year, we will make the Slip n Slide a bit more safe and find a megaphone with good batteries. Thanks for all who came out. Sorry to all the parents for sending your children home doped up on Mt. Dew and covered in mud. Please forgive me.

Mt. Dew Challenge from Guy Wiley on Vimeo.

What up everyone! I am so pumped to go to Knoxville tomorrow with Joseph McMillan the genius videographer (is that a word?) and some of our students to shoot an awesome video idea that God dropped into me a couple weeks ago.

Now if you know me you know I love Hip-Hop music, if you know me real well you know I actually recorded 1 (uno) song while in college in a home made bathroom studio. It was terrible. Bottom Line.

But the other night, real late, when God speaks most clearly to me He sparked an idea in me so I grabbed, my pen, my paper, my pen. (If you caught on to that you know me real well). Any-who, no I did not write another Rap song, but instead a little Spoken Word poem (Check some out here). I have never written one before but it goes a little something like this…

Many times when I look in the mirror I find,

A mind,

Full of confusion.

Identity crisis.

I’m blind.

The world’s tellin’ me on thing,

They sing.

Do what ever you like.

Do what feels right.

You’re King!

But you say there’s only One King, Jesus,

He frees us!

I hear your words, but I see no actions.

Plus!

If Jesus really frees us,

And He’s in you,

Then why do you always fight and fuss?

Yell and cuss?

You push me aside,

Forget about us?

You say we’re the future.

The youth.

A bright spot ahead.

But the truth?

I stand right here today.

Not in the future.

And I’m not dead.

Like I said,

My head,

It gets filled with lies

I trust my heart to mortal man.

Watch things to please my eyes.

But when I look inside,

My heart,

It withers,

And dies.

You see,

I don’t know who I am.

I don’t know my purpose.

On the surface,

I look clean,

But Inside,

I’m Mean.

And honestly,

I fein.

Look at me,

My home life’s in shambles, no parents around.

I store up my emotions, My questions, My thoughts.

Its all scrambled

It kills me inside!

Depressed,

Distraught.

Oh, that’s right,

I haven’t forgot.

That name Jesus,

You say it a lot

It sounds so nice,

But I want to SEE Him!

No. No, better yet,

I NEED to see Him!

He’s all I got!

So here’s a question,

Am I still just your future?

A youth?

A bright spot ahead?

Look around.

I’m in this room too.

Sitting here.

Waiting.

For You.

Just a little somethin’ somethin’ about how our Youth are over looked as leaders TODAY, not just FUTURE leaders. Many are ready to be leaders right now, TODAY! While others are dying, daily broken. They need positive people in their lives. They get beat down every day by peers, parents, media and our culture.

I praise God for allowing me to serve the students in our county. Lord may I always remember these students are here TODAY to lead TODAY, TOMORROW and in the FUTURE.

Video will be up in a few weeks. Good night all.

Outie Five.

This weekend while chillin in Lexington, Kentucky with my main man Rob Geezy we checked out a few movies. Friday we went out and watched the new G.I. Jane movie. Yes, I said G.I. Jane, I never remember playing with my G.I. Joes and thinking, “Hmmmm I think it would be real fun to go get some of my lil sis’ Barbie dolls and create some sort of love square Soap Opera scenario.” G.I. Joes were made to kick the crap out of each other not be Disney prince charmings! FYI the choice of actors was terrible and all the cool stuff was shown in the previews. Anyways, sorry for the rant, let me hop down off my popcorn box now.

We also watched the movie Role Models, which if you look past all the “R” rated garbage, it was pretty funny and had a good message. Matter of fact, I am pretty sure I am in search for a Mid-Evil Knights of the Round Table-like fan club to join around East Tennessee, so if you know any groups hook me up with the info.

Then yesterday we watched the movie The Soloist, with Jamie Fox. I heard a ton of mixed reviews on the movie, mainly negative, mainly coming from an 8 year old and a couple Middle School students, but I didn’t care I wanted to see it anyway. After hearing everyone’s ideas on the movie, my verdict is that it was a pretty good movie. I really enjoyed it. It made me take a long hard look at how I deal with friends and students who are having problems or going through some rough times.

So many times, me being a man, I want to fix everything. I want to figure out some way to stop the hurting or the behavior that’s going on. I talk way too much, I ramble and I preach when I simply need to shut up and listen. Listen to someone who is in need of a friend to talk with. Someone to hang out with. A friend who helps them keep their mind off the hurt or the mistakes for a few calming minutes. Someone to love them.

Working in the ministry I think many times we forget the verse found in James 1:19. Instead of always throwing answers at people and trying to fix them and their situations we instead need to be “quick to listen and slow to speak.”

May I stop trying to be askjeeves.com all the time, take a timeout and be a friend who genuinely cares.

I’m Gone.

…like this kat in the below video. I am already similar in some ways, I enjoy a nice pair of cutoff jean shorts, I am white and I dance like a 43 year old mid life crisis white guy. So because I already have those things going for me, I figure what the heck, I would love to have the influence and impact that this crazy non rhythmic white guy has got.

I stole this video off my buddy Dunbar’s Blog, we tend to steal each other’s ideas quite a bit so chances are if you read his blog or you read mine there are many similarities. But when I saw this video there was no way I could not be effected by its influence. I even found myself dancing and laughing in my office chair while enjoying this one.

It was all in God’s timing for me to witness this video. You see I watched it last Wednesday morning, and that night we had planned a sweet bonfire and some worship out on the back of the property. Instead we sweated our cracks off in the heat and humidity before being forced back inside by many bolts of lightning, loud rumbles of thunder and horizontal rain showers. 

But God had it all set up, I had an opportunity to share this video with our students and encourage them to get out of their comfort zones and make an impact in this world. Way to often in our world today teenagers are discouraged, beat down and looked down upon, when instead they need to be lifted up, prayed for and encouraged. Today’s teenagers are shaping our culture for today and many years to come, its about time someone instills some positive encouragement and lets them know they have the power to impact the world for Christ, just like this “So You Think You Can Dance” reject can impact an entire music festival.

Be a catalyst. Become an impactor. Be a leader. Change the World for Christ.

Enjoy. Outie Five.

Dadgum its been a while since i have been on here to update anything, I have been out in the middle of a farm listening to Screamo bands in skinny girl jeans for 4 days with no Internet and a lot of body odor. But…I am back now and I need some advice. I have two votes already, mine and Rachel’s, but I need some more input.

This is going to be our logo for our e4 Middle School team. The e4 logo comes from Ephesians 4:12 which says, and I quote “Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ,” verse 13 continues, and I quote, “until we come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature and full grown in the Lord, measuring up to the full stature of Christ.” (NLT)

e4 goes right along with 4:Twelve, the name of our Middle School ministry here at the Gathering. We are not a ministry based on a single verse, we have more witnesses, God gave me 7 verses, all which are chapter 4 verse 12 that apply to our ministry. Ephesians 4:12 is the base scripture for our 4:Twelve Adult Leaders.

Now, help me figure out which color looks the best…leave a comment and let me know what you think.

I’m outie.

This video is awesome, Pastor Gene recieved it  from his good friend and Spiritual Father Dr. Tim Lee and then sent it out to everyone on staff today here at the church. So now I am passing it on to you.

If you love fishing and are needing some encouragement you will love this clip. Shoot Dang! Even if you hate fishing and everything that goes along with fishing you will still be highly encouraged by checking out this video or watching it below. 

So take a few minutes, “Slow Down” and recieve some encouragement.

I’m Outie Five