The youth ministry that I see has a faith that is so genuine that it cannot be shaken by circumstances, affliction, or ridicule.
I see a youth ministry that puts God first in every area of life; forsaking all others to passionately pursue Jesus.
I see people connecting into purposeful relationships and avoiding negative ones.
The youth ministry that I see is so compassionate that people are drawn from impossible situations into a loving church family where they can find answers and receive acceptance.
I see a youth ministry that is so consumed with the power and presence of God that moral issues are not issues at all.
I see a youth ministry that understands the value that God-given authority adds to their lives; and honors that authority in all phases of life.
The youth ministry that I see is rooted and grounded in the Truth of the Word of God.
I see a youth ministry that worships with passion, and leads the charge for a new generation of worshipers.
I see a youth ministry that connects people to their God-given purpose in life; leaving behind what is good for what is of God.
I see a youth ministry of influence. A youth ministry so large in size and so wide reaching in its impact that our schools, our city, our country and our world cannot ignore us.
Tonight we unveiled our VISION 08 talk. What an interesting night to say the least. It’s interesting that you can put all this time and energy into a program only to have it crumble before you. Tonight on the way to band rehearsal, Donny our student worship leader was rear-ended in an accident and obviously couldn’t make it. (It appears that he is OK.) Couldn’t get the microphones to work without severe feedback. Felt off on the talk. Good news is our audio worked great tonight (very little hum).
Overall a good Sunday, great church service. John was awesome and our sound was great. Love this series.
Thanks to my youth staff for stepping up huge tonight and making it a win.
Have you ever said that to yourself? Oops I did it again. Brittany Spears made that song popular and that song is probably more real to her than ever
So many times in my walk with Christ I come to Him saying that phrase and after I am done rambling about what it is that I was rambling about. He comforts me and reminds me that it is forgotten. Not because it was too much to remember but because he chooses too. I have some people recently tell me their struggles and I simply remind them that, today is the day they get to start over with God. I love the grace that He shows me when I don’t deserve it.
I’m challenged to show that same grace to those around me. I love the fact that I can start over. When I blow it as a husband, father, friend or pastor I know that tomorrow is a new day.
Take time today to thank God for the second, third, fourth, etc. chances that he allows us.
It has been a year…almost…since Jess and I have arrived at Fellowship. Here are some things that we have learned, laughed at, cried about, thought, felt or considered.
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★ God’s ways are not our ways. I had no clue a year ago that God would have us where he has us. Obviously God knows what He is doing.
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★ Having a team in ministry is so much better than going at it alone.
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★ Friends make a huge difference when getting you through the tough times.
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★ During adversity you find out who your true friends are and those who were only along for the ride.
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★ There is nothing better than serving a pastor you respect.
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★ My wife is a tremendous source of strength for me. She keeps me making right choices.
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★ Students who respect you more as a pastor than a friend is a real encouragement.
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★ Students who passionately want to serve God is awesome and keeps me going.
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★ Conferences get me recharged.
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★ Jess and I are blessed to have Pastor Dan & Pastor Kristi work with our boys. They do so much that goes unnoticed but they are a blessing to our family.
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★ Our worship is awesome. Yesterday I felt like I was at a worship conference. I don’t miss hymns.
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★ Our media makes me laugh and challenges me to get better with students.
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★ There are some men in our church who sacrifice so much with their time and money. They keep our pastor on track and protect our staff. I love having men in the church who serve with the pastor who are not puppets but are men of God.
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★ I wouldn’t be where I am today without the help of my youth staff, you guys are amazing. The best is yet to come and already you are some of the best in the country.
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★ Blogging is fun and people do read them. Who would have thunk it?
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★ I have never been more challenged to think and dream big.
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★ God provides just what is needed and when it is needed.
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★ Having a vision from the top is so much better than walking blindly.
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★ There are no such thing as snow snakes.
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★ God has put Jess and I in ministry for Fellowship. We feel like we will be here forever. We love to serve here in this region.
This year has been amazing and has gone by so fast. I can’t wait to see what God will do in the coming years with this team, with my friends, with my family and with my youth staff. All who make me a better husband, father, man and pastor.
I would like to declare that it is the best time of year! The Superbowl is good, but it is not madness. The NBA finals are fun to watch…especially if my Lakers are in it, but it is not madness. Baseball is about to start, but it’s not here yet, and still it is not madness. (Unless your a certain Mets fan that works in the office who will remain anonymous) Nascar, not really a sport, so we will just leave it at that. The NCAA tournament, now that is madness.
Every year nestled in among the dozens of birthdays or tax audits (Jeff shout-out, almost there buddy) that surround my family and friends is a glimmer of hope. A brief moment where time stands still and the underdog gets a shot to be a hero even for just a moment. You may even call it, one shining moment. (Those of you who are really into the madness will get that) 16 vs 1, 8 vs 9. 64 teams start but by the end of the weekend we will have only 16 teams left. The sweet 16, every year there is a Cinderella team that shouldn’t be their, but against all odds continues to push forward and amaze and astound us as fans and the teams they play. The frustration as we scream out, “I was going to pick that in my bracket” or “I had that and changed it” echo out among offices and college campuses across this country. The joy of finishing day one on top of the brackets challenge is like a 12 seed throwing up a desperation three to beat the mighty 5 seed.
At the end, there is only one. Unlike college football, where at the end of the season we are usually left with more questions than answers about who is the true #1. (Thank you BCS)
How does this have any spiritual impact in your life? God is a basketball fan, I can’t prove it, but…doesn’t it say in scripture, “I press towards the goal”? Now press is a term used in defense to press the ball or play a tighter defense and goal(s) is what we need to win the game. I know that is a stretch but I just wanted to write quickly about basketball and what a great time of year it is while maintaining some resemblance of spirituality. The announcers are always saying that this is a true, “David vs. Goliath” matchup, thank you announcers for keeping basketball in a Biblical perspective.
So as the madness begins or for some who choose poorly, ends. Remember the joy there is doing something with the right motives and right intent. As Easter is here, remember to invite a friend or get involved and serve. Keep your motives and intent, intact. Easter is here, let the madness (in a good sense of the word) begin.
Long day, I’m wiped! Great service tonight with teens.
Numbers were low but impact was high.
Our Praise band was off the hook…Donny keeps surprising me at how good he is getting.
The students were awesome!
Our church this morning was incredible. John was awesome and I admit I was a skeptic…thats why he has the vision and that is why he leads.
Our stage looked great!
Our students took a survey tonight for our series in April in sex and the results really shocked me. I was surprised with their results.
March Madness is here and that makes me happy. It’s my favorite time of year.
Excited about North Carolina…Acc Champs…Number 1 seed.
Looking forward to hanging out with the family tomorrow.
I think I’ll take the hard top off the jeep.
Today is Jessica’s birthday. I have been blessed to have a wife who is incredible and far surpassed any of my dreams growing up. She has sacrificed so much for me and my career. She has taken the back seat when others come to thank me she stands there graciously. Or when others have come attacking she has been my ear to allow me to sound things out. She has been there to experience the joys and the sorrows of ministry as well as marriage.
She is a phenomenal mother who raises our boys with passion and determination to be Godly young men. She takes care of all the things around the house. She runs our finances and she prepares us for the coming day. She does it all and yet she never complains, always smiles and continues to love us in spite of our issues. She is a loyal friend who is so good at giving advice.
She is one of the most Godly women I have ever met. She is the one who gives me good advice to help me make good decisions or keeps me from making stupid ones. She critiques my speaking, she motivates my leading and she challenges my heart to be pure.
jess is the greatest thing that has ever happened to me. I would not be who I am or where I am if it wasn’t for her. Thanks for sticking with me even with all my rough edges…I love you! Happy Birthday.
This excerpt is taken from the book Chazown by Craig Groeschel.
“Imagine yourself there, lying in bed and reflecting. Reading back through the chapters of your life story.
What did my life add up to?
Did I really matter?
What did I live for?
Who will remember me?
What will they say about me when I’m gone?
Why was it important that I existed?
So many questions. So much time. Will you lie there with no regrets? Some regrets? Nothing but regrets? Imagine. The decisions you are making today are actually making the bed you will lie in while yo wait to die.”
Just a thought for this weekend. Are you living up to your full potential? Are you living intentional?
The last couple years have been an exciting time if you have been a parent or a youth pastor because students were vowing to wait until marriage to have sex. I had remained pessimistic due to the fact that I work with teenagers and hear their stories and know that they may not be engaging in sex as often or with as many partners but oral sex was exploding at a rate we had never seen before. Not only that, those who were participating in sex were less likely to use protection.
The statistics are released and sadly because of the thought that oral sex is not sex, it is now confirmed that 25% of all teenage girls have an STD.
The link: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23574940/
“Among those who admitted having sex, the rate was even more disturbing — 40 percent had an STD.”
They are saying the abstinence only program was a 1.5 billion dollar bust and that teenage girls are the ones paying the price now.
This news comes at a crucial time as a parent of a teenager. We are starting in Fusion a series called, Best Sex Ever…How To Have Great Sex. It is a six-week series on…sex. I believe that if MTV and the general media are teaching about it and our schools are teaching about it, then why not the church? The church should be leading the way when it comes to talking about sex and how it affects today’s culture.
Tentatively these are the message titles:
Distinguishing truth from lies
What a girl wants
Who a guy is
God’s Word on sex
Sex is so much bigger than I thought
Messing up to making up
Every effort will be made to use tact…however we are talking about sex and some verbiage may be embarrassing for some younger teens. This will be a tremendous opportunity for the doors of communication to be opened between you and your teen.
The age that students are becoming active in sex and oral sex is getting younger and younger. The statistics among middle school teens is alarming. This subject will be addressed as part of our curriculum every year and in the past has been my most well attended series, which just shows that students are interested in sex and not just the way it is being shown to them in the media.
PARENTS…I stumbled across a show that started on the We network this last Monday. Every parent should be watching this show.
From 2002-2006, “In this unprecedented television event, we follow 12 diverse girls through their tumultuous and exhilarating high school experience. They encounter sex, drugs, unwanted pregnancy, health crisis, and family chaos — all while trying to discover who they are. Each episode explores the girls’ stories through four years of heartache, discovery, friendship, and self-acceptance. These are stories we can all relate to.”
What is impressive is how they are doing it. 2 girls for every episode and they talk to each girl and show the interviews from 9th grade -12th grade. It was amazing to see each girl and what their thoughts of high school would be like and what high school really turned out like. One girl said, “We entered high school naive about what was going to happen, only to see our innocence stolen quickly.”
The link for this show is: http://highschool.wetv.com/ If you are a parent of a teenager you need to watch this. If you work with students you need to watch this. I was amazed at how candid and real they were. The best part is this is not an OC type of show but a documentary. The girls have all already graduated and will gain no popularity while in high school because of this show…so it is authentic.
They are covering these types of girls:
Raising herself
Diagnosed with a brain tumor (last Monday)
Soon to be married
Tired of being the good girl
The party girl (last Monday)
Suicidal thoughts
The overachiever
Anorexic wrist cutter
The smart kid
Trying to find herself
Coping with parent’s death
Art geek misfit
A lot of great stuff from this show, whether you have a son or a daughter. The show was created by “a single mom of a 12-year old daughter, who began exploring the phenomenon experienced by teenage girls: the inescapable struggle to forge an identity while facing pressure to lose herself.”
This is sneak peek to the entire season… (Copy the Link) http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1370868025/bclid1382899953/bctid1372119323
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