Do you remember The Christmas Story?

My Dad always called me either "Buddy" or "Ralphie," which I suppose was in honor to this classic movie. My thoughts were turned to Ralphie's brother, Randy, this morning when I heard from Walt, the Youth Pastor of East White Oak Bible Church Senior High, that another snow storm was blowing through. I'm preparing to speak at their ski retreat this weekend in Winsconsin.

You see, yesterday was a cold day in Chattanooga... it dipped down into the 20's with some pretty intense winds. If you travel up to Covenant or the Overlook, the cross winds on Lookout Mountain can be a little brutal, but it isn't as bad as other places in the US right now. Walt informed me, via facebook, this morning that it was going to dip down to -20... let that sink in for a second. This weekend, at the retreat, it is going to be about 10 degrees. Therefore, I am planning on dressing up like Randy, at all times. Whether I'm skiing or hanging out in the lodge, or taking a shower I will look like this classic picture, unable to put my arms down.

Here are some things you can pray about:

1. At first I felt like we were going to go through I John, but the Lord has directed my attention to the topic of discipleship. We're going to walk through some of the principles addressed in Being A Disciple and Counting the Cost and Dietrich Bonhoffer's Cost of Discipleship. Pray that hearts will be fertile to hear what the word of God says on this weighty, unpopular topic. Weighty because of the implications, unpopular because of the clear line in the sand that is drawn!

2. Pray for Walt! He did a similar retreat last weekend with the Middle School.... nough said.

3. Pray for travel, both mine and the youth groups.

4. Pray for the worship, both the word and in song. I hear a EWOB has a pretty sweet worship band, so I'm excited to worship with them!

5. Pray that the Holy Spirit clearly communicates His Word through every aspect of the weekend. Pray that hearts are changed--disciples made, motivated, and willing to live and die for Christ.

5. Finally, and close to my heart... pray for my family as I'm gone.