Wow, I guess that guy doesn’t know you. From the few times that we’ve met, I know your honesty and humbleness and desire to serve God to your best ability.

I know your words are filled with hope, truth and life.

Continue to speak truth and challenge youth workers as well as the church as a whole.

Do not be discouraged by those who wish to diminish the great work, you, Tic and Karla and Mike have accomplished and will continue to accomplish.

welp, it is clear that whoever this guy is, he does not know you (and YS) at all. Bro, I am so excited for you and what this will allow for. Dont be discourged by folks you dont know, but rather take encouragement from those you do! Miss you man.

You can tell what’s important to me right now that in the midst of your blogs about everything what I picked up on was your kids doing a week trial at a private school. I’ve never heard of that but it sounds interesting. When everything slows down I’ll meet you at CPK and buy you a drink.

wow - cynical, jaded people. don’t let them get you down marko! remember to take some time apart to just replace those kind of lies with the truth!

in the words of your friend and former boss, mike, get a bottle of wine, take your wife up to your room and don’t come out for a few days! then come back and prove the cynics wrong. blessings and restful sleep to you.

Marko, be blessed! Don’t let the haters take away from this wonderful week!

everyone’s a critic, but not every critic is right 100% of the time. i mean, look at all of the positive hype around Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy, and we all know how that turned out when it actually released… don’t let what other people (who obviously don’t know anything about you or YS) get you down. God is doing amazing things with this ministry, and I can’t wait to see the fruit it bears.

Mark, congrats on this exciting new journey for you and YS. As to this post I belive Bono said it best, “Don’t let the bastards grind you down.”

Was it taken down? I got this when I clicked: The requested URL /1churchvoice/2006/05/youth_specialti.html was not found on this server.

Will be praying for you and the whole YS team– this is really exciting and I can’t wait to see how ministries all over are blessed through YS and Zondervan!
Isaac

Evidently it took the wind out of itself since it’s gone now. Or maybe some savvy youth worker brought down the website…hmmmm…..

marko - i left a comment on that guy’s blog this morning… just went back to check it and the post is gone. “woo-hoo!”
sorry you had (and probably still have to) to endure the nay-sayers. I’m excited for you guys and wish you all the best!!

It appears that he has taken it down, although through some tricks I have been able to get a copy of it through RSS. Don’t know if I should repost it anywhere or not. On the one hand, he took it down, so maybe he repented. On the other hand, he said some things and then when someone called him on it he just deleted it.

Marko,
I read his follow up post and what really jumps out at me is that some of the brothers and sisters saw fit to rake him over the coals. That’s sad to me. yeah, there’s a part of me that wonders if the great free spirit of YS is going to get the corporate treatment (I about fell out of my chair when I watched your video. I had just thought “Dang, these guys are gonna have wear ties” when you and Tic started your transformations!). But I take heart that you and Tic are so happy and that Karla (whom I’ve never met) was comfortable making this change too.
Life is change. I’m not interested in the alternative. Go with God and keep inpsiring the rest of us.
peace
Jay

Hey Marko, you mentioned that you welcome being more accountable which this move obviously brings. Corporate structures often bring restrictions/policies that curb flight a bit. Wasn’t it wonderful when Karla agreed that you needed a sabbatical and off to Hawaii you went? Or when you had the freedom to join the David Crowder Band on the road? Or when you gave your staff a week off, just ’cause you recognized everyone was worn out? Will you still really have that freedom?
From your merry band of 35 to being part of a corporate structure with thousands and thousands of employees?

No doubt I’d feel better about this if I were able to see the video you made!!

Old Campus Life Staffer Who Remembers those Idea Books!

well, old campus life staffer, i sure hope so. and i think so, because we’re operating rather independently.