VERITAS

Fail

2010-11-18T11:32:00.000-08:00

Im a failure in so many aspects of the word. Singing= fail... dancing=fail... juggling=fail... playing an instrument=fail... skateboarding= fail... loving others at all times= fail... worshiping God at all time=fail... being selfless=fail...

The list could go on for a long time... just ask my wife!

I have come to grips with the fact that I fail. I have learned a lot from my failures. It has allowed me to know and understand who I am a whole lot better.

This week I read a verse that I have read many many times but that struck me in light of being a failure. Eph. 2:10--For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

I realize that I will fail at loving God and loving others. i realize that I will fail at worshiping God with all my life. Then I read this verse and realize that God still has something incredible for me. I realize that God still desires my worship, still desires my heart, still desires my love even though I will fail to give it all to Him.

Most of us, we someone betrays us we don't allow then to get close enough to hurt us again. I am thankful that God isn't like this... He doesn't give up on you and I when we fail.
Its this little thing God has called unconditional love and man is it good stuff!

$25 for 25 years

2010-11-11T17:47:00.000-08:00

This past year I attended a conference and was introduced to an organization called Charity Water. An indrediable organization that works to raise funds to give clean drinking water people all around the world.

So, in light of my 25th birthday I am asking all my friends and family to donate $25 for clean drinking water. Watch this short little video and then click on the link below to make a difference!

http://mycharitywater.org/ColstonCopeland

Thank you for your support and love for me and for people all around the world! The greatest way to help 1 billion people is one life at a time!

I'm the problem... Are you?

2010-11-04T15:23:00.000-07:00

Since I dont post a lot, I thought instead of explaining whats going on right now I would simply share something that I have learned the hard way since the last post.

I'm the problem. Yes, thats right I'm the problem. Now... your turn! You say it. Go on, say it out loud right now. "I'm the problem".... I'm the problem!!!

Now that you have admitted that your the problem, the problem can now move in a direction of getting resolved. Until you admit that you are responsible and you are part of the problem, it will never get fixed.

I have learned in the last few months that with the majority of problems I have encountered, that I am part of the problem. Since I am part of 99% of my problems there is a 99% success rate that the problems can be resolved. The reason being, I'm willing to change.

In a conversation about marriage and relationships with a friend, who is single and looking, she asked if marriage is really work. The obvious answer is YES its a lot of work! But I had to stop and analyze that statement... "why is it a lot of work" "why does marriage come across as difficult" "why do people give up and leave"

Then it hit me- I'm the problem. I believe the reason that marriage comes across in this light is that most people refuse to admit that they are part of the problem. When you do this, you are refusing to change who you are. Within marriage, until you realize that your part of the problem and you need to change then your always going to be frustrated.
I think this is applicable to just about any issue you find yourself in life.

Admit that your part of the problem... then change what needs to be changed... Simple formula on paper much more difficult in reality.

i cant get no... satisfaction

2010-09-30T10:20:00.001-07:00

Ok- Maybe its not sin... but maybe its not as good as everyone thinks it is!

Have you ever experienced a time in life where things were just good enough? I know I have. In the area of physical fitness, a little light jog for 3 minutes and 7 push-ups are good enough. Honestly Im ok with that, until I look in the mirror. Once I see my reflection, good enough doesnt look so good. However, due to the amount of energy and effort and the pain to push beyond good enough, I settle for it. I dont want to pay the price of moving past good enough.

Think of it in terms of our walk with God. As Christians we have a certain level of "Christian" that we try and achieve and we are statisfied with that. The level looks something like this- no smoking, drinking, cussing, or watching rated R movies. We listen to Christian music, we go to church and we help out once and a while.
This for most pastors is the level that they desires for their members. Now granted most pastors wont admit that this is good enough but when you look at what the ministry looks like, I bet you will find something interesting.

So in the Christian world, there is a comfortable mediacrocy that has taken over our churches. We have been satisfied with the middle of the road.

However, the question I ask myself is WHY. Why are we satisfied? Why do we think that this is good enough? Why dont we push people past medicrocy? I dont think Jesus ever was satisfied with medicrocy, so why are we?

My opinion is only good enough for me... So you can toss it out with Thursday's garbage if you so like. My opinion is that we preach and teach with a level of satisfaction. We applaud satisfaction. We strive for it and we work for it and when people achieve it we hold our head high and pat ourselves on the back. My opinion is that the Christian life never has satisfaction and we should always have dissatification.

After reading Seth Godin's blog on Dissatisfaction Guaranteed, I have a new perspective when I teach. Every time God's word is opened there should be some dissatisfaction in my heart with what God's word says and my lifestyle and the way they dont line up. If I open God's word to simply to reach a level of morality and that is it, I have failed the Gospel.

When I look out to the audience that is listening to God's word, if I cannot communicate in a way that they feel dissatisfaction with their walk, then am I really speaking for life change?

Dissatisfaction needs to become the norm. Dissatisfaction should motivate, push, drive us to change. The Gospel demands change from our lives... not just a couple of changes here or there... a lifetime of continual change.

I stink!

2010-08-18T16:09:00.000-07:00

This summer marked my second full year of youth ministry. These last two years have been an exciting time in my life. I feel that I have grown more than I have ever before. I have grown in my personal walk with God, with my relationship with my wife, and with the students here in VERITAS. The last two years have been a great growing season for me.

One thing that I have learned over the last two years is that Im not all that I thought I was. I mean, I didnt have this big shot mentality or anything like that but I thought I could do everything pretty good. I was good with people. I was good with computers. I was good at speaking. I was good at planning. I was good at alot of things but I wasn't great at anything.
It has taken two years and alot of training from the Pastor for me to really see my strengths and my weaknesses. Part of the problem was pride and part of the problem was my personality type. Im learning how important personality types are when it comes to ministry and advancing God's kingdom. We all may have the same goal and the same heart but that doesn't mean we can all work together.

My personality and the way I think has affected VERITAS student ministries is positive and negative ways. I have had to come to grips with the fact that VERITAS is limited in its outreach and influence because of ME! This was tuff to swallow for a while but when I realized that by stopping all the things I wasn't good at, it allowed someone else that was good to take that spot.

Im learning that my limits are a good thing. Im seeing for the first time that my weaknesses are areas that others excel at.

For the very first time, Im thankful that I stink at somethings.

Where are you headed?

2010-05-06T10:05:00.000-07:00

There are times in life where we stop, look around, and ask ourselves, How the heck did I get here? How did I wind up doing this? How did I get myself in this situation? What the heck?

I think many of us have found ourselves asking these types of questions. The issue with making those statements is that it states that the position your in is by accident. There wasn't any planning on your part to get you to where you currently are. Sadly, however, this is a lie that many of us believe.
We believe that when we end up where we did not plan on going, it was either by accident or someone else's fault. Part of the reason we believe this lie is because we fail to take responsibility for our actions.

One truth that I have been wrestling with is that every choice leads to a destination.

Where ever you are in life, its due to the choices you made in the past. Its those choices that got you to where you are. The biggest problem with this truth is that many of us aren't where we dreamed we would be. Our dreams are over there and we are over here and its all because of the choices we made back then.

If you stop to think about this truth and let it sink in, another scary thought will come to mind.
What I'm doing right now will lead me somewhere in the future. This can be scary if you have no dreams of where you want to be. However, on the flip side, it be very relaxing and calming when you know where you want to be and your making choices right now to get you there.

I have tried to allow this truth to soak in and effect all the decisions that I make, small and large because I know that every decision has a destination.

Where you headed?

Fear of the Unknown

2010-04-15T10:11:00.001-07:00

Im the type of person who loves change. I like to roll with the flow. I love to do something different. Much of my life has been beyond doing the routine.
At this stage in my life there have been lots of changes in the last two years. I graduated from college. I married the most amazing woman. I moved to Southern California. Im working full time as a youth pastor at a church where God is blessing.
All of this took place in a matter of months.
To be completely honest, I was so excited. All the changes in my life happened really fast and I was ready for them. I didn't know all the answers but hey, who does?!?!

Now that I have been married for a year and half and have been working full time for about the same time, Ive noticed that life hasn't changed much for us. While this is a peaceful thing for my wife, for me its kind of weird.

However in the last couple of months God has opened doors and shut doors and opened them again for us to buy our first place. Owning the keys to our own place is a dream but its gotten extremely interesting in the last month.

While my mind and body is wired for changed and gets gitty about it, there is something stirring in my soul about this transition. Its not that I dont have a peace about the direction we are headed but for whatever reason there is more stress involved in this purchase than in any of the other major life decisions i have made in the past.

There has been a domino effect going on, where one thing after another comes up and it seems that all is dumping on us at once. I know all the verses about God is in control. I know that all I have to do is have faith and trust God. I know all the answers. Knowing all the answers and applying them are two different things.
Even though I know He is in control, these transitions are somewhat scary.

Do you ever feel the same?
Do you have a hard time applying what you know?

Much Love,
Colston

Chocolate is my weakness!

2010-03-25T10:52:00.000-07:00

I love chocolate. I love the creaminess that floods your mouth as you allow it to melt on your tongue. I love the sweetness that it has with a slight bitterness all in the same yummieness. Chocolate is simply delightful.

I love chocolate.

However, chocolate is my arch nemesis in my quest to eat better and become more healthy. The problem with chocolate is that its always at home, sitting on the kitchen counter, just staring at me. That chocolate bar has EAT ME written all over it. I justify in my mind that I dont want to be a bad steward of God's money and let things go to waste. I justify that one piece isn't bad for me and if I dont eat it soon, bugs will come and eat it and I hate bugs.

In the clip above Russell sets a trap but notice what he sets the trap with! Chocolate!
Russell sets a trap using something that he loves, something that draws him in.

I think about my life and how I do the same thing. I put myself in situations knowing what lies ahead and sure enough, the one thing that I love, the one thing that tempts me, the one thing that draws me in, ends up staring me in the face.

Like Russell, it is just a matter of time before I fall into the trap of sin. Its just a matter of time before Im in a big mess and my whole world gets turned upside down.

I love chocolate but I have to learn to avoid setting myself up for failure. Just because I think I can handle myself, just because I think I have my cravings under control, doesn't mean that I cannot fail.

Im learning the older I get and the more mistakes that I make, that if I want to make wise choices I have to put myself in a situation to succeed. I have to avoid situations where I know that chocolate will be staring me in the face.

I love chocolate!
Whats your chocolate?
What situations do you need to avoid because you know your chocolate will be staring you right in the face!

Much Love,

Colston

Regrets

2010-03-18T11:01:00.000-07:00

Regrets, we all have them and for some of us, those regrets haunt us even today. As I thought back on my life, I have to be honest, my regrets aren't from DOING something, they usually stemmed from NOT doing something. In either case, the decision I made resulted in an outcome that I wasn't pleased with.

I believe that the regrets I have come from my value system. What I mean by that is that every decision we make, we make based on what we value most. The problem we have in life is that what we value is usually worthless and the things that we should value we don't.

WATCH THIS CLIP

I want to live a life without regrets. At the end of my life, I want to look back and say that I did everything I could. In order for me to do that, I have to value the things that are most valuable.

What is it that you value most? If you don't know, ask yourself these questions. What do I spend most of my time doing? Where do I spend most of my money? If I had a free day to do whatever I wanted, what would I do?

Answering those types of questions will give you a hint as to what it is that you value.

What is more valuable than your relationship with God? The Sunday school answer is nothing BUT does your life back that up?

Will Ferrel and Your Life

2010-03-11T10:48:00.000-08:00

How would you feel if you had someone following you around, narrating your every move? How would that make you feel, knowing that someone was watching everything you did? Even when you think no one was watching or was around, there was that narrator explaining your every move.
How annoying would that be?
How weirded out would you feel?
Wouldn't you feel like your life was in a fish bowl?

As someone who has given my life to follow God, I have realized that my life is in a fish bowl. I have a narrator of sorts. I have people that watch what I do, what I say, where I go, they pay attention to everything that I do. Kind of stalkerish if you ask me, but we all do this in a round about way. We all pay attention to people's lives, heck some of us are addicted to reality TV that follows people around 24/7 filming every aspect of their lives. We love that stuff!

However as someone that is supposed to be set apart, that is supposed to be different, my life is on display for those who havent found God yet. The scary part of that reality is that I am either showing people who God is or I'm hiding God from them.

As I thought about this reality even though it isnt a new thought just one that seems to fade as time continues, how have I been living? What does the last 24 hours look like? Did I live in a way that hides God from people or did I live in a way that showed people who God is?

Ask yourself the same question, are you hiding God from people OR are you showing people who God?

Much Love,

Colston

Pills and the Truth

2010-03-04T16:28:00.000-08:00

I watched the movie The Matrix here recently and this scene stuck out in a whole new way.

You see Morpheus here presenting Neo with two choices, a red pill or a blue pill.

The blue pill represents his current life and by taking that pill life will continue as it always has. He will continue to go to work, come home, and do nothing. His life will not change.
The red pill represents something completely different. It represents the truth and by taking the red pill, Neo ultimately rejects the blue one.

Morpheus tells Neo that there is only one thing that he can promise Neo by taking the red pill and that is the truth.
Not an illusion or a false perception of reality but the TRUE picture of what reality is.

Jesus gives us the same type of choice in life. He says that there are two roads in life to take, the wide or the narrow. Just like Neo, you and I are faced with the choice of which direction do we want to choose. What have the wide road, the road that seems to be ok that seems to be safe. Its the road that we have traveled for years, its comfortable to us. Its where we have fun, enjoy life, and satisfy our pleasures.
Then there is the other road, the narrow one. The road that seems like no one else is on. The one that is unfamiliar to us and at times down right scary.

Just like Morpheus, Jesus promised something about each choice. The wide road is promised to lead to destruction however the narrow road is promised to lead to life.

We are faced with the choice to choose the truth or reject it. Those are you options and we are faced with the choice to follow His truth or reject it. The choice is ours.

One thing that Neo experienced by taking the red pill was that his entire life from that point forward was transformed.

When you choose the narrow road, when you choose Jesus, your entire life from that point forward is transformed.

The question is, which road are you going to take?
What keeps you from choosing the narrow road?
If you know the end, why do you still reject it?

If your searching for the truth, find more information at www.crosspointechurch.tv

Flight and Faith

2010-02-23T19:02:00.000-08:00

The Wright Brother's will go down in history as some of the most famous inventors of all time. Their invention of the controlled airplane has led to the ability of humans to travel to any part of the world by air.

One thing that they will not go down in history for is for being some of histories most famous failures. The number of times that the brothers failed at their attempt to fly is unknown, however what they are recognized for isn't their failures but their success.

We fail to see that their failures allowed the success to happen.

When it comes to our faith, this too happens to be the case most of the time. We make mistake after mistake and we end up in this rut of doing the same thing time and time again. We need to slow down and take a page from the Wright Brothers and learn from our past failures.

What mistakes have you made recently that you need to slow down and learn from?

What oops moments do you wish you could take back?

Someone once said that you cannot change the past but you can change the future. This is true but ONLY IF you learn from the past.

What do you need to be learning?

Pain on the Screen

2010-01-15T15:31:00.000-08:00

Question: "Why does God allow natural disasters, i.e. earthquakes, hurricanes, and tsunamis?"

Answer: Why does God allow earthquakes, tornados, hurricanes, tsunamis, typhoons, cyclones, mudslides, and other natural disasters? Tragedies such as the 2004 tsunami in Asia, Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the 2008 cyclone in Myanmar, and the 2010 earthquake in Haiti cause many people to question God’s goodness. It is distressing that natural disasters are often termed “acts of God” while no “credit” is given to God for years, decades, or even centuries of peaceful weather. God created the whole universe and the laws of nature (Genesis 1:1). Most natural disasters are a result of these laws at work. Hurricanes, typhoons, and tornados are the results of divergent weather patterns colliding. Earthquakes are the result of the earth’s plate structure shifting. A tsunami is caused by an underwater earthquake.

The Bible proclaims that Jesus Christ holds all of nature together (Colossians 1:16-17). Could God prevent natural disasters? Absolutely! Does God sometimes influence the weather? Yes, as we see in Deuteronomy 11:17 and James 5:17. Numbers 16:30-34 shows us that God sometimes causes natural disasters as a judgment against sin. The book of Revelation describes many events which could definitely be described as natural disasters (Revelation chapters 6, 8, and 16). Is every natural disaster a punishment from God? Absolutely not.

In much the same way that God allows evil people to commit evil acts, God allows the earth to reflect the consequences sin has had on creation. Romans 8:19-22 tells us the fall of humanity into sin had effects on everything, including the world we inhabit. Everything in creation is subject to “frustration” and “decay.” Sin is the ultimate cause of natural disasters just as it is the cause of death, disease, and suffering.

We can understand why natural disasters occur. What we do not understand is why God allows them to occur. Why did God allow the tsunami to kill over 225,000 people in Asia? Why did God allow Hurricane Katrina to destroy the homes of thousands of people? For one thing, such events shake our confidence in this life and force us to think about eternity. Churches are usually filled after disasters as people realize how tenuous their lives really are and how life can be taken away in an instant. What we do know is this: God is good! Many amazing miracles occurred during the course of natural disasters that prevented even greater loss of life. Natural disasters cause millions of people to reevaluate their priorities in life. Hundreds of millions of dollars in aid is sent to help the people who are suffering. Christian ministries have the opportunity to help, minister, counsel, pray, and lead people to saving faith in Christ! God can, and does, bring great good out of terrible tragedies (Romans 8:28).

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If you would like to help with "Haitian Relief" through our church...give online https://secure.acceptiva.com/?cst=21d440 Designate: Haiti Relief and will use the BBFI Missions Office to funnel funds through the missionaries that are on the field. They are in the process of distributing Buckets Full of Hope to those in need.

Let's be in prayer for the people of Haiti.

Bucket Full of Hope

crosspointechurch.tv

Purpose in the New Year

2009-12-29T15:00:00.001-08:00

Well, Christmas 2009 is officially over. I had the great opportunity to spend the Christmas with my family in Michigan. It was a great time seeing "new" family and getting to know them even better!

2009 has been a great year for me personally. Being married and doing ministry with Emily has been more amazing than I could have ever imagined. We have had a great year serving together and I think we are finally getting used to the ministry and family balancing act we have to play.

As I look back on this year I see that all that God has done in His church, in the youth ministry, in my marriage and in me personally. Its been pretty amazing! And as great is it has been I cannot help but expect so much more from God come 2010.
Matt. 19: 26 Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."

My desire for 2010 is to believe this verse with all my heart and live this verse to my core. See I have the crazy belief that God has a purpose for my life, and honestly for every one's life. I believe that the purpose of my life was created by God for God. And since, the purpose for my life was given to me by God, I believe my purpose can only be achieved with God's help.

I have seen so many people, and honestly myself included, search for meaning and purpose in their life only to find themselves frustrated and disappointed with life. Reason being, is that they are looking for that purpose without finding God first. Every individual has a purpose in life and the only way to find it and accomplish it, is to go through God.

With that stated, I believe my purpose is to change the world. I know that sounds silly and even like Im running for Ms. America, but its true. With God's help, all things are possible, so why would I dream and strive for anything less?

What about you?

Have you found your purpose in life yet?

Have you been searching for purpose and found yourself frustrated and disappointed

If you have found your purpose, are you dependent on God to fulfill it or are you trying to achieve it on your own?

What God sized dreams to you have?

2010, Im excited for you and Im expecting big things from you! I know its possible!

2009-12-17T10:48:00.001-08:00

Well as promised I want to share what we discussed last night at VERITAS. We have been going through a series called I AM SECOND. Check out the website if you havent already seen it. CHECK IT OUT
Last night we read Matthew 22:34-40. Jesus tells the religious leaders that the greatest two commandments at to love God and to love Others. So as you think about these verse, the question becomes, Am I supposed to be second or third?
Again, I love the I AM SECOND thought and what they have done but it its super Biblical. Jesus said, Love ME and Love OTHERS!
If God is number one in your life then other people automatically become number two. When God is one and People are two You are three! This is how God designed us, what he desires for us and what God can use to change the world.

WATCH THIS

If you have chosen to follow God with your life then you know how simple it is to say God is number 1 but O so hard to live that way.Why is that?
Because of SIN. Because we love ourselves so much, we are extremely selfish people. Every sin that we commit is to satisfy ourselves in some sort of way. We are choosing to do something that will satisfy us over doing what God desires. This is sin.

So ask yourself, how wrapped up in yourself are you?
What things are you chosing to do that please yourself over pleasing God?

Being less consumed with yourself all you to be more consumed with God!

ARE YOU THIRD?

www.crosspointechurch.tv

Hello

2009-12-16T17:22:00.001-08:00

Hello again... as you may have noticed, I took a break from the wonderful world of blogging. The main reason is because of classes and work however, at this time I am forcing myself to write.

Tonight in VERITAS we are finishing up our last message in the series I AM SECOND. If you have never seen the web site or heard about it, let me strongly suggest you check it out.
With tonights lesson we will look at the concept of being number 2... Is that really Biblical to be #2?

Matthew 22 suggest that we should actually be #3 however it prove much easier said than done. For more information about being #3 check back tomorrow for a new post on #3

Passion

2009-05-21T07:52:00.000-07:00
Last night I had a new youth worker speak in youth group for us. When I say new I mean he has been in our youth ministry for about 3 weeks and has been at the church for about 4 weeks.
I know many of you would think Im crazy for letting a stranger get up and speak. You might say that I dont know him, I dont know what he believes, I dont know if he is even a good speaker...
All of those thoughts are legit concerns but I didnt really care.
So what was it that gave me a peace that would let this guy do this?
Unadulterated Passion for Jesus!
He called me the afternoon before he spoke and was asking a couple of questions because he was really nervous. But who could blame him. He was looking for some advice so this is what I told him.
Adam, if you get up there with the love and passion for Jesus that I know you have, you will captivate those students. You will have their undivided attention!
As the old saying goes, if you set yourself on fire people will come and watch you burn.
Adam spoke about the horrible, disgusting, and shameful cross. He gave the students a true look at what took place at the crucifixion.
His passion was pouring out within the first few minutes of him opening his mouth.
So the point is to ask, when you speak about the cross, when you speak to students or adults or to old people or to whoever, do you speak with a passion that burns so hot for what Jesus did on the cross? Are the people that your talking to captivated by what your saying? Do they see your love for Jesus in what your saying? How passionate are you when you speak?
Passion.... Do you have it?

Hello Again

2009-05-17T20:54:00.000-07:00
Just wanted to say sorry for not posting in a while. I have been silly busy with the church.
God is doing some amazing things around here and Im pumped he is allowing me to be apart of it all.
One thing that I have been trying to process is the idea of intentional relationships. I have found that even within ministry I am in a Christian bubble.
I have been really challenged lately with the idea of the people that I know that arent Christians. If I were honest I know maybe 5 or so by name that dont know Jesus.
How can I try and teach my students about sharing their faith when I fail to do it myself?
So the question is, who are you intentionally friends with?
Who are you intentionally reaching out to? Not in a proselyte way but just reaching out to do life with people.
Think about the bubble you are in? Is there is anyone in your bubble that doesnt know Jesus? If not, what are you doing to change that? Are you being intentional?

Sacrifice

2009-03-27T11:56:00.001-07:00
I have been totally rocked this week by some of the things that I have read and listen to. The story of the widows mites, the passage discussing the rich young ruler and also the story in Matthew 13 discussing the greatest treasure.
These passages have made my soul unsettled in the last 24 hours. So I want to share my heart and where it is relating to these passages. I will try and keep it brief and to the point, however, when your soul is unsettled who knows the depth of it.

As you read the story of the widow and her mites, you get a picture of someone who sacrificed just to give back to God. When you read Matt. 13 you see two people who sell all, sacrifice all, knowing what they are getting in return. Then you read the story of the rich guy and you see just the opposite of Matt.13. My soul finds unrest in these passages because I have thought through some things.

In the story of the widow there is the widow and the rich people. Jesus said that she gave more because she gave from her lively hood, and the rich gave out of their abundance. This hits home. When is the last time I gave from my lively hood? Most of us give our 10% and then a little more for the "offering" but if we are honest everything we give is out of our abundance. We never give out of our lively hood. Since I have that treasure that those guy sold all they had to get, why is it that I dont trust God enough to give out of my lively hood? We can give back to God but when we give out of our abundance arent we committing idolatry?
We are saying God here is your portion and Im going to put my trust in the other 90% for my lively hood. That 90% has become what we place our faith in, we trust it for food, for clothing, for shelter, for comfort and for everything. Out of our abundance we open up savings accounts, 401ks, retirement plans and college funds and all this other stuff. Notice what is taken place, our faith for the future is in what? Our faith in our kids future is in what? Our faith in all things has been placed in our abundance and notice where our faith isnt! It isnt in God, the very treasure we "believe" is worth selling everything for.
At the end of the story of the rich young ruler in Luke, Jesus says that if you sacrifice for my sake, you will get your reward here on this earth and also in the life to come.

So my unrest comes because I have now noticed for the last 7 or 8 years that I have really been sold out to God that I have actually only given out of my abundance.
If Im not sacrificing with my giving back to God, then what am I really giving?
I have been fighting with this for the last day and a half.

I dont know if this make sense but Im being eaten away by this idea. Our greatest example of following God is Jesus and notice what Jesus did. He sacrificed.
What is it that we are sacrificing for him? Anything? is 10% really a sacrifice for you? For some, giving 10% is very very difficult, for some you spend 10% of your income at Starbucks every month.
What are you sacrificing?

0 to 60 Church Growth Principles Part 2

2009-03-19T10:56:00.000-07:00
Sorry this is so late.

Principle #11 Frankenstein Churches
* Does adding this help us accomplish our mission?
* Kill what isnt working
* Focus all your energy on what is bringing results

#12 There can only be ONE
God always gives leadership to a PERSON not a COMMITTIE
* Operate from a position of Trust
*Have accountability- Who are the people you are responsible to?

#13 The Absence Factor
"The true test of leadership is not what happens when your present. The true test of leadership is what happens when you are not present."
*The Rights Systems
* The Right Staff
*The Right Structure

#14 The Best Teachers
* Find people that have been where you currently are and ask them questions and learn from them
*If you run 100 talk to someone running 200 or 300. A church running 1500 isnt going to give the church running 100 super practicle advice.

#15 Gauges on the Dashboard
*5 guest for every 100 people
*1 baptized for every 3 saved
* Compare this weeks attendence from this week last year.
*Current giving compared to the same period last year.
--> Look at monthly or even Quarterly numbers not week by week.
*50% involved in ministry

#16 Lessons in Outreach
* Big Days- Easter, Friend day, Christmas
* Personal Evangelism
* Excellent Weekend Services
* Promotions

#17 The Big Idea on Big Days
*January- New Beginnings
*February- Relationships
*Easter
*Mother's Day
*Father's Day
* Fall- Discipleship

#18 A New Way to Look at Your Community
Your community has two types of people:
1- Those who know someone at your church.
2- Those who dont know someone at your church.

#19 Your Main Evangelistic Engine
You must Believe that Sunday Morning is the MOST IMPORTANT HOUR in your community.

#20 How Promote your Church
* Avoid Churchy Language
* Explain the importance/benefit of attending
*Effective Promotion Removes Fear
* Effective Promotion Creates Interest.
IF everyone in the community is doing it the DONT DO IT. Do what no one else is doing!

I will continue in the future with the rest of the principles...
Even though this is for church growth most of it can be used for youth ministries as well...
Hope it helps some.

Church Gone Fishing!

2009-03-17T17:53:00.000-07:00
This is a post about Church and fishing. The analogy is going to be used that talks about the church and fishing so here we go!

One thing that I have noticed is that too many churches and even ministries are fishing for men and they arent getting anything. So what do most churches and ministries do? When they are getting fish that add more lures to the water and they "fix" up the lures that are already in the water. What does this look like? They change the lure, they change their name, or change their worship, or they change their look, or they change versions of the Bible, or change whatever. They feel that the problem is the lure however the issues is the fact that the fish arent biting because they arent hungry. No matter what you do, your not going to get a fish to bite unless they are hungry. No matter how cool and enticing the lure is, if they aint hungry they aint gonna bite.
What does this look like in youth ministry? We try all these things to get kids, food, games, all this stuff, but if the fish aint hungry they aint gonna eat.
If the fish are hungry, they will eat, regardless of how attractive the lure is!

Solution: Fish in ponds and places where the fish are hungry and biting!
What does this look like for churches and ministries?
Churches, fish in the ponds that are biting. Look around and see where the people your are currently reaching and focus there. If its young couples with kids, put your lures and in that water, put your finances there, why? BECAUSE THERE BITING! If your reaching and gaining middle age or older families then see what it is that is attracting them there, and starting fishing.
NOTE: Dont take all your lures out of the water but focus your attention where the fish are biting!
What does this look like in youth ministry?
Find where students are coming from. If you have a couple of kids who are bringing their friends, then toss your lures at them! If they are the sporty type then use those types of lures to get those kids in, why? Because you have seen them biting already! If the kids that seem to keep coming and bringing friends are the skater type, then start finishing around the skate parks and stuff... Catching my drift!

You have to find out where the fish are biting and fish there. We cant keep spending time, energy and resources that arent catching any fish!

Happy Fishing!

0 to 60 Church Growth Principles

2009-03-06T08:28:00.000-08:00
I went to a small conference and learned alot about growing a church and things you can do to help grow your church. SOme of the things are new to alot of people and only a few people do it. I will share some of the thigns that our church does and let you know how these thigns are working. This will be a two blog post over the next few days.

#1 You are always communicating VISION.
--> Your budget, Your calander, Your Actions.--> These are all three ways of communicating VISION

#2Cast a VISION People Embrace
-->Present the Problem:::::: People need to feel the weight of the problem- without a weight to a problem there is no reason to solve it and solve it quickly.
-->Present the Solution::::::::::Dont propse a solution until the people really know and believe there is a problem.
-->Answer the Question Why Now?::::::::YOu must sell the urgency, its got to be NOW that the problem needs to be answered.

#3 Learn to see the Future
-->The ability to act without 100% certainity
-->Tha ability to listen to others.
--> The ability to learn from past mistakes
-->The ability to keep fear in check
--> The ability to take full responsibility::::: IF something works then you take the glory, if somethign fails dont pass the buck, own your mistakes

#4Create Speed
-->Learn everything you can from Everyone you can.
--> Get around people who are ahead of you
-->Read!
You will either hit the ground running or hit the ground.

#5Its all about Sunday!
--> Give your best time to Sunday
-->Give your best attention to Sunday
-->Give you best resources to Sunday.
Every Sunday is Super Bowl Sunday--- If there are major things that compete with Sunday MOrning then you need to get rid of them.

#6 Learn how Momentum WOrks: WHen you have momentum you can menuver much easier
4 Momentum Builders:
-->The leader is always Growing::: When mistakes are made, they are no as big when you have momentum
--The Church is Winning:::: Must know your goal so you know what the victory is.
--> New Believers are added::::: This is the best thing to get momentum moving in a church
-->Anticipation is building:::: Promoting new series and things that are coming up next can build momentum.

#7 Create Start Times:
Build up Big Events Early
-->The Calendar::: Use natural breaks in the calander to your advantage:::

#8Focus on what brings results:::
If your car doesnt run right, dont get a paint job.
If your church isnt growing dont repaint or get a prjector. We think that we have to do something cosmetically to make our church grow. Wrong! If your church isnt growing it has to do with soemthign eternally not outwardly.

#9 Utilize Shortcuts
--> Take adavantage of other peoples msitakes and victories.... dont recreat the wheel.

#10 Experiment with Innovation
3 Innovation Roadblocks:
--> What will other think about it::: We have an unhealthy fear of man, and we are scared about what they will think of me if I do something different.
-->Loss of control::::: You are going to have to make decisions that you dont know the outcome to
-->People will think I am a bad leader::::::: Fear will immobilize you if you let it. As a leader if you cannot keep fear in check you wont lead many people very far because you cant make tuff decisions.

This is the first 10 Principles from the conference.
I will post another 10 later on... Fill free to ask questions and I will try to answer them!

Stale

2009-03-04T09:24:00.000-08:00
Since I have became devoted to God about 6 years ago or so there have been a few times in life that my relationship has gotten stale.
When i was in college I remember my second year at school this happened to me. I kind of did my devotions and I prayed for most meals but that was about it. I went to church, did my thing, served in kids ministry and help out where I could. However, my relationship was just blah. I wasnt learning anything and I wasnt growing. I wasnt hearing from God. The problem with this time in my life is that I let it go for way to long. It was months before someone rocked my world and woke me up.
Now fast forward two nights ago. I was on AIM talking to one of my best friends and he asked me what I was reading in God's word during my devotions. I told him that I had been doing this thing called SOAP. If you want to know about it message me and I will explain it, but not right here. I have been doing SOAP for about 3 weeks or so, not super long but I started to notice my devo's were starting to become one of those things where I just did SOAP and checked it off my to do list. THen yesterday my wife asked me what I had been reading in my devo's.... So i told her about SOAP. Well I guess this was God's way of saying that the SOAP thing wasnt working for me... Now for some the SOAP is the greatest thing in the world for their devos... Im not the type to write stuff down, just not my style of latte.
I realized that I was stale from using SOAP.
So this morning as I woke up, I was excited! Why? Because I didnt have to check something off of my to do list! I could just go in to the living room and meet with God. And I did!
I spent like the first 15 mins of my devos in prayer which is something that I skipped all the time with SOAP! Man it was refreshing... to talk to God again....
Then I picked up my Bible and read one chapter! I know I know its not much... but you read Genesis 1 and tell me there isnt enough stuff in there to keep you busy for a while!
I loved it! I read that chapter and then read it again! God was EVERYWHERE this morning! I ate it up!
SO the point... Are your devo's stale? Are you doing something that feels like a item on your to do list?
Are you opting out of hearing from GOd because someone else is using a tool that works for them but not for you?
Maybe its time to get on your knees and simply listen for GOd to speak!
Maybe its time for you to go back to the basics and find God all over again!
Do sit there and be stale when you KNOW that you are... thats stupid!

Speaking

2009-03-03T09:05:00.000-08:00
I just read a great blog from Andy Stanley about speak. I will summarize it and put my thoughts mixed in with it.

How often is that when we get up to speak that we think that audience isn't paying any attention? If they are not who's fault is it? Is it the audience fault for not being engaged? Is it the speakers fault for not getting them and keeping them engaged?
We always say that people have short attention spans so we only need to speak for 20 min. Really? I wonder how long Jesus spoke to the people in the Synagogues? I bet it was longer than 20 min, why? Because they were intrigued with what he was saying. Look through the Gospels and see how many times Jesus spoke and the people were in awe and amazed at what he said. The thing is Jesus captivated his audience and he could have spoke for hours and people would have listened. We sit in front of our TV and watch shows and people like comedians that talk for an hour and we wouldn't dare change the channel or leave the room. Why is that? The shows are garbage, they have no value, yet we wouldn't dare leave unless we had to pee.

Andy Stanley says that in our messages the reason people aren't engaged in the message is because we have given them anything that interest them. It isn't practical to them. HE says that you have to find where they are and take them on a journey to where you want them to go. He says you do this by asking questions, that everyone would want to know the answer to. Ex. Is there a God? What is God like? What is heaven like? How do I get to heaven?
By asking questions that majority of people want to know answers to engages people right off the bat. You ask them questions and explain why those questions need to be answered and then open of the Bible and give them Biblical answers. Then give them a glimpse of what it would be like without the correct answers.
One way to learn it to teach people all the right answers but this leaves open a lot of questions.
Another way to learn is to teach them all the wrong answers and why.

I want to teach my students the power they have in their words. I have need to present to them a question that everyone wants to answered. I need to find out where they are. Asking questions or giving scenarios that they can related to and then moving them from where they are to where God wants them to be is the goal of the series.
Easier said than done but its a great reminder because we get caught up in our 3 points and a story.

Mark Batterson

2009-02-24T08:03:00.000-08:00
Mark Batterson is the pastor of National Community Church in D.C. He is also a graduated from my former cross town rivals Central Bible College. Oh the days of crappy soccer and worse basketball! Well he is a phenomenal writer and also a pretty good pastor from the outside looking in. This is a post from his blog... Very Very Good Stuff- this has potential to be a message someday soon!

A few years ago I came across a little two-word phrase in Scripture that got into my spirit: one day. I think I first encountered it in I Samuel 14:1. It's the story of Jonathan climbing the cliff with his armor bearer and engaging the Philistines. That is one of my favorite stories in the Bible. One act of courage saves a nation. But have you ever noticed how the passage starts out with that little two-word phrase? One day. It's almost the Bible equivalent to the classic movie line: once upon a time.It's hard to put into words, but I live my life with a profound sense of destiny. God orders my footsteps. If I believe anything, I believe that. And that fills me with holy anticipation. At any given moment, God can invade the reality of our lives and change everything.So I'm reading through Acts right now and there is that little two-word phrase again: "One day about three o'clock in the afternoon, Cornelius had a vision."You never know when. You never know where. You never know how.But one day, God can invade the reality of your life and change everything. That is what happens to Cornelius. Of course, it doesn't just change his life. Those of us who are not Jewish trace our spiritual lineage back to this vision on this day. If it weren't for this vision at three o'clock one day, the message of the gospel would have remained a Jewish thing. This vision at this time on this day bridged the racial divide. Whosoever will may come!One day.Today could be that one day! It might not be. But it could be. May you be filled with holy anticipation knowing that at any given moment God can invade the reality of your life and change everything.

Divided

2009-02-18T14:24:00.000-08:00
Mark 3:24-25
And if a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.
And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand.

These are words from Christ spoken to people who accused him of being possessed by Satan. His response in these verses explains that nothing can stand if eternally it is unstable and divided. I was reading Craig Groeschel's book called It. I havent finished it yet but if you get a chance this book will rock your world and how you think. AMAZING!!
I was reading last night and he touched on this verse and topic so much of this is his stuff but I have really been thinking through some of this so I wanted to put my thoughts and questions down.
He began the chapter telling a story of a lady who called his church the competition against their church. He was offended however it was true because for him it was the fact that he wanted HIS church to grow but not theirs. The fact that he was being selfish and was looking at another church as competition got me thinking and him to because thats what the chapter was about.

My thoughts started coming in within the BBFI and our connection of "baptist" churches, even SBC. Why is it that when we look at the Methodist church or the community church and for us BBC people, those Charismatic church, when we see them grow we get jeouls and think they are teaching heresy thats why their church is growing.
I think God looks down from heaven and HATES what he sees within Christianity. Why? Because he sees a divided kingdom. He sees Baptist talking bad about AG's and vise versa. He sees people claiming to love God and Jesus and hate each other. He sees church competing to see who can have the biggest friend day or the most people. Who has the best band and newest building. We are always competing against each other and then we sit back and wonder why the world is headed to hell. Yes its because of their sin, however what would have happened if churches worked together within a community? What would happen within Springfield if all the 50 something baptist churches locked arms with the AG's churches which are alot and worked together to reach Springfield? I think it would blow peoples minds, I think the entire town of Springfield would know Jesus. I think there would be the greatest community of believers ever, even bigger than the church in ACTS! Only.... Only... if the church wasn't divided.

So what the heck does this mean to us? Well... if your in ministry then you call up the other youth pastors and work together. You dont have to walk hand in hand but at least walk side beside. Call up those guys, trade ministry tools, resources, even ideas, events, activities, whatever you have that has worked Share it. Do things together, and NEVER NEVER talk bad about another ministry because they do things different. That is God's church just as much as your church is His too. Remember that Christ bride your insulting.
Also, this means that you might have to look to other ministries to see what is working. Look at other ministries within your town and see which ones are thriving. See what they do, take their ideas, implement some of their systems.

I think it time we stop being a divided kingdom or a divided church. Just imagine what would be accomplished if we werent divided.

Sorry if this seems to be ranting and raving but it is... Just a little frustration as I look back on my stupidity while in college.

Day After Day

2009-02-12T08:21:00.000-08:00
Sometime ago I started this thing for my teens where I would send them a text message or an email or facebook or myspace them. What I will do is whatever avenue they sign up for I will send them a verse with a little challenge. ITs a way for them to get a little bit of God's word each day because we all know that reading each day isnt something most teens do. However I really dont want anyone to have an excuse for not getting something from God's word.
A few things that God has taught me through this:
#1 This has honestly been kind of a burden for me to do this because I have to make sure every morning before they get to school and come up with something to tell them. However, I have noticed that some of them are LOVING this! How do I know? I missed one morning because I didnt work and I slept in. I came to church on Wednesday night and like 5 of them asked me why i missed Monday. WoW! Sometimes in ministry we have to do somethings we dont want to and somethings that really are not time efficient however that's part of it. When your doing things that are super time consuming and something you really dont want to, God can be using this is a huge way!
#2 Even though this is something that is for the teens I have found myself completely getting something out of this. Many times I will speak and I will figure out where God wants the message to go and I will put it together and get it ready. I will get up speak and the students will respond however many times Im not even listening to what I am saying. Sure I know what Im saying but Im not applying my own messages to my own life. Hypocritical? Yes! This morning I sent a text message and it was something like this. 2 Cor. 12:9-10 I always type out the verse. Them I said something like this; It is through our weaknesses that Christ can truly use us for his glory. Sometimes we need to get out of the way and let God do the work.
As I sent that I really began to think about what I just sent. I need to understand this just as much as my teens. I need to move over let God take control. I get caught up in my own agenda as to what the ministry looks like. I need to fall on my face before God and seek his will . I CANNOT grow a ministry; only God can.

These are just a couple of things that God has taught me... I love the ministry and I love teens...
I just need to always remember that God is control and God can do anything and use anything IF your willing to get your hands dirty!

God Blows My Mind!

2009-02-05T08:02:00.001-08:00
So I have been here since September of 08. I have been working hard but thats what you do when you dont know what to do. Its once you figure out where your going that you can figure out how to get there without killing yourself.
Anyway, since I have been here I have seen God do some pretty amazing stuff. I have seen God save five or six kids. I have seen one kid do a complete 360. He was into drugs HARD CORE and everything that comes with that lifestyle. Now the dude says he thinks God wants him to go into ministry of some sort. The silly guy even mentioned BBC. Then on Monday Emily went out with a couple of girls and one of them told her that she feels that God is calling her into ministry. I have been praying for this girl for like three months cause I could just sense God working on here.
God continue to amaze me. I will NEVER get tired of seeing God transform lives, NEVER!
Whats God doing to blow your mind?

By Request!

2009-01-29T09:03:00.001-08:00
This post is in response to a request to give a detailed review of the book How to Stay Christian in College. I will give you a few things that suck out to me and hope that it will be of help to you.

*NOTE: The author does not believe in a literal hell. SO if you give this to a kid make sure they know what THEY believe and you have discussed it with them.
**NOTE: I do recall a debate in Apologetics in which our group defended the metaphorical view of hell and I must say this was a very convincing view. Also, our group got the shaft and even Dr. Christopher said so.

#1- THis expression of God really stuck out to me. "God is one What and three Who's. I dont know why but I thought that was interesting.

#2 The only way to get a bad thing is to take a good thing and spoil it. Ex. Darkness isnt made up of nothing, you get it because there is something blocking light. GOd created everything God, man just screwed somethings up. Look at Satan, he was good and then he ruined himself.

#3 Faith is more than just head-belief. it means that you stop trusting all the things you've trusted before and put your trust in Christ Jesus instead.

#4Naturalism- Nothing supernatural is real. He discusses the view of these people. That they will be the ones to look to science to answer all the questions. The crux and downfall of this view point is that a naturalist believes in something in spite of the evidence, not because of it. Because we cannot prove God they believe he doesnt exist. THis is a flawed argument and is easly debunked. Ask someone if they believe in gravity or in the wind. These are things that cannot be seen or even "proven" in a sense of the word.

#5 Postmodernism: The belief that nothing hangs together and everything is in pieces. They think truth is fragmented. Relative Truth. The biggest problem a POSTm faces is meaningless. In their view of things, everything is meaningless; soul, truth, life, personality.

I will continue the overview of this book when I have more time.
Hope some of these thought help.

You have to see this!

2009-01-28T08:05:00.000-08:00
http://vimeo.com/2944140

BOOKS

2009-01-23T13:02:00.000-08:00
I have been able to spend some time read a few books over the last couple of weeks. So I thought I would give you a synopsis of those books.
The first book that I read completely was one called Glory Revealed by David Nasser
This was another devotional type book that Nasser wrote that is similar in format to Call to Die, and A Call to Grace. This was an great little read because each day gave example on how God's glory is revealed. When I finished the book I came to the realization that this book just touches on the fact that you can see God's glory everything. Every circumstance in life is an opportunity to see God's glory in some way. This has been really rocking my world especially in the situation that our country is in. The financial mess, is just a way to see God work in people's lives. Its a way to see God get ahold of people that believe life's fulfilment is through money. I cannot wait to see how God's glory is going to be shown through our new President. God is going to reveal himself some way some how, its just depends if we are looking for it or if we are caught up in the circumstance.

The second book that I have read completely is one entitled, How to Stay Christian in College, by J Budziszewski: I read this book not because Im college but because all the students in my ministry will most likely go to college. This book is a very philosophically minded. The author was a pronounced atheist but now love Jesus. His back ground really influences his writings and much of what he discusses are way in which to defend your faith. He doesn't go in great depth however he blow up different world views by just presenting a few questions. He also explains the importance of find community and also how to respond in class where Christianity is looked down upon. I was suggest reading this book in order to give you a couple of response that you can put into your back pocket in case you come across someone who claim to be atheist, agnostic, or anyone who doesn't believe in absolute truth.

The third book that I am currently reading is called IT by Craig Groschel.
I am only about half way done but so far this book has really rocked my thinking. His whole plot it hinged on the idea that churches and people need it. He doesn't give you a definition of what it is however everyone knows about it. If you are going into full time ministry I believe this book will serve you very well. It will challenge you in all the programs that you do. I challenge you to read this one.

I hope some of these books will come in handy in the future.

VERITAS is Here!

2009-01-16T15:06:00.000-08:00
Well I have been working for the last couple of months to get things going and we finally got it. The logo was designed by a professional graphic designer. I then made this picture. We are launching a brand new name and mission for the youth ministry. I just thought I would share.

The Time Has Come!

2009-01-15T08:00:00.000-08:00
SO i have been getting things read to launch our new name and mission as a youth ministry. I have been praying and working through this since about September. We now finally everything in place and beginning on Sunday we will begin a new series called VERITAS which just so happens to be the new name of our ministry. I will start teaching through why and how we are going to accomplish out purpose.
What are your thoughts on our mission and our purpose?
Mission: To lead students to become fully devoted followers of Christ.
Purpose: To create a place where students can experience, explore, and embrace truth.
Our name is VERITAS which is the Latin word for Truth.
The Story in John 8 is where the vision of VERITAS came from.
Anyway, let me know your thoughts.

Check it out!

2009-01-08T08:05:00.001-08:00
Hey Watch this video interview with Perry Noble. It will put some things in to perspective for you!
http://tonymorganlive.com/2009/01/07/perry-webcast-interview-replay/

Out of the Box

2009-01-07T08:15:00.000-08:00
How many of you grew up in the typical youth ministry? Sunday morning, SUnday night, and Wednesday night. THis is how it seemed to be all the time. Even now, for those of you that are youth pastors, is this similar to what you do now?

I have been challenged to think through why we do this? Here at Calvary we have Sunday morning and Wednesday night but why? Obviously, I know that the idea is to reach kids for Christ and to teach them to grow in their walk. However, I have been thinking through some of this and wondering if this is the best approach to accomplishing what I believe my job is.
I have thought of doing away with Wednesday nights and just keeping Sunday morning.
More is less.... sometimes.
THink of this, how many of you remember exactly all three points for last Sunday? Even as a youth pastor I struggle to remember what I spoke about two weeks ago. I have the understanding that a wealth of knowledge is useless unless its remembered and then practiced.

SO what will I do to change this? Im not rightly sure yet but I would love to hear what your thoughts are. Or maybe you have something to share with me about all this.
Talk To ME!!

A New Year... A New ?

2009-01-05T07:47:00.000-08:00
Well I have no come back to the office for the first official work week of 2009. As I sat down at my desk I began to think about all the crazy things that happened in my life in the past year. Here are a few.
-- I got engaged on Dec. 25th Last year
-- I graduated from college.
-- I left all my friends and went to California
-- I got married on Aug. 14 of 08'
-- I moved to California for good in Sept.
-- I began the journey as a youth pastor in Sept.

As I look back on 08 I see that there has been multiple life changes for me. I have left the comfort of Springfield MO and college where it seemed I knew everyone and moved 26 hours away to a place that I thought was full of fruits and nuts. I then went from living on my own and doing what I want to now providing and living with a woman. Then if all of this wasnt traumatic enough, I took the calling to follow God in leading students to become fully devoted followers of Christ. This beautiful thing some people call a job while others call it an opportunity has been the largest blessing and heart ache at the same time. I know that in the last 4 months God has truly been working in the lives of students here at Calvary, I have seen it first hand. However with 2009 here and the idea of trying to plan an entire year at once scares me pretty bad.
This will be my first entire year working with students full time and I am pretty nervous about it. WHile nervous because I dont think Im able, I have to stop and realize that this is the type of person God uses. Not the smartest, which those of you who know me can vouch for that. Im not the strongest or any of those things that most people think you need to be successful.
One truth that I have learned already is that when I give God everything, He shows up and uses it and then blows me away with how much more he can do.
So after all this I guess all I can say is bring on the New Year. God is gonna show up and if he doesnt at least we will have good food!

Broked

2008-12-18T08:06:00.000-08:00
So this December has been pretty crazy around the church. I dont know if there is such thing as an off month in ministry but all I know is that June through December there isnt. However in the hustle and bustle of things I have noticed that sometimes you miss a few things along the way. What do I mean? Well, when you become extremely busy you have the tendency to become task oriented. YOu make a list and then you check it twice to make sure that you get things done. The problem lyies in that those things have to get done and if you dont things fall apart. I have noticed that when I am real busy there is always someone that needs attention but sometimes I can find myself "too busy" for them. Sometimes Im working on something and they dont ask for help they just make a comment and if Im not focused on them I will miss it.
For example: I see a student pretty much each week for some disciplining stuff. God got ahold of him and has really changed this kid. The family isnt doing well financially and I have noticed but never thought that much of it. Well I was busy last Sunday getting stuff done for the service running here and there and I saw the kid. I asked him where his coat was because for SoCal 40* is ice cold. He responded with I dont have one but Im not that cold. I was super busy however I did catch that comment. He broke my heart that this kid didnt have the money for a coat. Now that I sit back and look things over, He wears the same three or four shirts and the exact same pair of jeans with the patch and the same black shoes. He has worn these clothes since I met the kid back in Sept. See I was so busy with other things that I didnt even notice a need within my own ministry until this past Sunday.
NOTE: If your too busy not to notice people in need then you need to stop and reevaluate your priorities. People is what ministry is all about and when you fail to see their needs or fail to realize that simple truth you will not last long.
So I talked to the staff about giving some money anonymously to the family for Christmas and they were all behind me and even said they would pitch in. Unknown to myself a staff had shared with another family the need for this kid and his family. I was going to give the family $300 out of our pockets which was the best we could do. Then God broke me, the family that heard there was someone in need wrote a check for $1000 to give to this kid and his family.
All I could do was cry. I was broken. This family gave to another family in need and didnt even think twice about. I couldnt even believe it. This kid will have a great Christmas just because some family wasnt to busy or greedy or "financially unstable" to help them.
God blew my mind and totally broke me.
How has God blown your mind recently?

Do you think you love?

2008-12-09T12:35:00.001-08:00
I thought that I loved people. I mean in ministry so far God has truly challenged me to love people. For those of you not in ministry will understand as soon as you get there and that is people are hard to love. There are people in your life and in your ministry that are bone heads and God has called us to love him. I thought that I had been growing in this area and then I heard of this guy. Steven Anderson is a pastor and he is someone that has taught me how to love. Below is a link to one of his sermons. I dont expect you to listen to all of it but I would challenge you to listen long enough to hear the title of the message. As soon as he tells you the title tell me what your heart thinks.
Honestly when I heard him speak I thought it was a joke that someone had mad this message up to play a prank on someone however I was wrong.
God has taught me through people like this that my heart is still very small in its capacity to love because the first thing I wanted to do was kick this man in his teeth.
How much do you love?

http://www.faithfulwordbaptist.org/062407p.mp3

A Post I Read... What do you think?

2008-12-09T08:09:00.001-08:00
10 Reasons I Don’t Like Most Christians

They consistently seem angry and bitter and worried. I thought Christians were supposed to reflect joy and kindness and peace.

They don’t dream big dreams. That seems odd given the fact that we’re supposedly worshiping a God who is “able to accomplish infinitely more than we would ever dare ask or hope.”

They seem to worship their theology more than Jesus. For whatever reason, this appears to be especially true for folks that come from a reformed theology.

They don’t like it when other people or ministries experience success. Think about it. There are Christians who would be overwhelmed with joy if NewSpring experienced fewer salvations, fewer baptisms and our attendance dropped.

They use prayer as an excuse for inaction. They’re waiting for God to do his thing, but they aren’t willing to step out in faith and obedience.

They’re more concerned with the BMW next door than the lost person who drives it. Christians hate people with money. They’re willing to sacrifice time and money for those without it, but they’re satisfied to let “rich” people go to Hell.

They would rather people live life without Jesus than give up their personal preferences. What happens when your preferred teacher doesn’t teach? What happens when your preferred worship leader doesn’t lead? What happens when you don’t like the music?

They are fake. They dress up a certain way on Sunday and they live as completely different people the rest of the week.

They think they’re better than other people. That’s why they create rules to follow. It helps differentiate why they are holy while others are not.

They’re comfortable with mediocrity. Doesn’t matter where. Think Christian music and movies. Think how we invest our time and money. You don’t seriously think God deserves our best do you?

Christmas vs. Thanksgiving

2008-12-02T08:17:00.001-08:00
This is why I like Thanksgiving better than Christmas. This has not always been my opinion however after this past year I have changed my mind. November 20th my Grandfather passed away and I got the call and flew to TX as soon as I could. I landed that evening about the same time he passed away. I tried the best I could to get there so I could see him but I didn't make it. I spent the next five days or so with all my family. As I was there I forgot how much I loved and missed my family. I flew home the Tuesday before Thanksgiving and spent Thanksgiving day with Jeff's family. Jeff's family is one of those Kodak type pictures familys. His whole family is now in ministry and his parents are wonderful. His brother is pretty cool and has a great wife. His grandparents are really cool to. His whole family is great. Once I left Thanksgiving with his family I began to think about it compared to my family. HA! My family, I love them so very much but man do they have problems!
While we were there for Thanksgiving my wife left after lunch with a few of the ladies and went and bought Christmas decorations for our house. I didnt mind but for most people and for the business world the "Holiday Season" began right after Halloween. This has always drove me nuts but after this year it really bugs me. This Thanksgiving has shown me how much I love my family, how greatful I am for them.
It sad to think that the loss of my Grandpa is what it took for me to be truly thankful for everything. Making this statement, I have to realize this is the purpose of Thanksgiving. TO be thankful for yes the Pilgrims and those guys but overall a holiday and a time for Thanksgiving.
Christmas is all about Jesus right? Well I think it should be but now the Holidays have taken over and Jesus has been written out of the equation.
SO this is why I like Thanksgiving better than Christmas.

Book Review

2008-11-28T10:11:00.000-08:00
In a Pit with A Lion on a Snowy Day: By Mark Batterson

I have recently finished this book written by a former CBC student who is currently the pastor at National Community Church in D.C. I have never heard him preach so I cant tell you how he is in that area but I want to tell you about his book.

This book was an amazing read. Pretty short (170ish pgs) and a very easy read. This book was awesome. His whole purpose to was to explain that you and I have opportunities waiting around every corner to step up and do something amazing for God. "God is always using your past experiences to set you up for future opportunities." Mark throughout talks about the story of Benaiah who in some obscure passage in the OT falls into a pit with a lion on a snowy day and kills a lion with his bare hands. Mark explains that had he coward down and ran he would have never become the man that he was. Benaiah became Davids main man that protected him and was in charge of his army.
The entire book is amazing! I would recommend reading this book! It will help you change your outlook on many things. Every problem you face in life and ministry will be changed after reading this book.
If anything, it will give you many different things to preach about on Sunday and Wednesday. There are alot of great illustrations in it!
Happy Reading!

Fire

2008-11-18T08:14:00.000-08:00
As some of you know this weekend has been an adventure and a heartbreaking one. SO this is a series of unfortunate events told from my perspective. Everything is true and all pictures are taken from my phone during the events.
I woke up pretty early for a Saturday and went to the church to finish up some work. While on my way home roughly 9:45ish i noticed smoke coming up from a mountain near our home.

This is a small shopping center less than a quarter of a mile from our house. On my way home I noticed the smoke and drove past my house to this shopping center and this was the view. That day was sunny without a cloud in sight and as you look at this picture you will notice the sky isnt very blue. However, being from Texas I didnt think much of a grass fire because I have seen and been around a few of them throughout my short existence on earth, so I went home. I stayed home and waited on my wife and her sister, who had just flown in for the weekend on Friday and left on Monday. So roughly 10:15ish we hopped onto our car and headed for Hollywood. We came out of our complex and turn and headed towards this shopping center because the highway is in the same direction. Once we got to the shopping center we noticed the smoke was worse and they had shut down the road leading past the highway. SO being the good Texan I turned around and went home and we packed some of our belongings. Its interesting and I dont know if anyone has ever been in the situation in where you have decided what you will save and what you possibly could lose. So I grabbed all my underwear and any t-shirt I could. I dont know if I own anything of value that I would rather have than clean under ware. Anyway, we packed up and left the house. At this time we were not forced to evacuate however my wife was already crying and freaking out so I had to calm her down so I packed her up and left. This next picture is on the mountain above our home. Our home is located at the bottom of the mountain so this picture is taken aprox. a mile from our home.
If you look at the light pole on the right, you will notice flames located to the left of the light pole. At this point my wife really freaked out so I called Brian and let him know the seriousness of the situation. He had already heard and was actually headed our direction to check on an elderly lady that lived about 1 1/2 miles from our home further up the mountain. So I sent Emily and her sister to Brians house and I jumped into the car with Brian and we headed to the lady's house. Her name is Lolly. Lolly is in her early 90's and she doesnt drive and even walking is not always possible. SO we head past where our home and then past the shopping center and then we hit the road block. We explained that we were Lolly's only possible way out of her home however they wouldnt let us pass. SO we drove down this bridge and parked under the highway. This bridge is only about a 1/4 of a mile long but from this bridge to Lolly's house is about 1 mile. SO we got out and ran to her house. This picture was taken as we were running to her house. This will show how close the fire was to where we were.

This was less than 50 feet from us as we were running down the road. it was interesting that they wouldnt let a car pass but they would let you walk past the blockade. What sense does that make I dont know? So we get to her house after stopping along the way to help other people. There were other elderly people in her neighborhood that need help. They had shut of all power to the neighborhood and many of the people couldnt open their garage so Brian and I help a few people. Once we got to Lolly's house her neighbor had already taken her out which was a huge blessing because we werent sure how we were going to get her out. She didnt own a car and we didnt drive their so... Yeah we just went.
Once we found out she was gone we headed up higher on the mountain to another member of the church that lived close. We got there and watched a house above his home burn. The first picture was taken from his house on Saturday and the second was taken on Monday when we drove around to asses the damages.

These were the houses that were burning in the picture above. Once we were out that house we decided that we couldnt do much else so we decided to head home. We had the guy from our church drive us out to our car. Well, we got to the blockade and they told him he couldnt get back to his house. Well, Jim, the guy from our church that lived up on the hill got out of his car and argued with the gard. They told him he was going to get arrested if he didnt get back in his truck and move his truck. He argued and they finally let him go back to his house. So we had to walk from the bridge again to the car under that highway. These pictures were taken as we walked across the bridge which was over a river bed. This river bed was what was on fire in the top picture and as we walked across the bridge below us everything was either on fire or had already burned.

Once we got back to the car everyone that had been evacuated from the area had been sent to the highway. The highway was shut down because the fire had jumped from one side of the highway to the other so they stopped traffic. Brian and I decided that if we were going to drive we would be stuck in traffic for about 5 hours so we started walking. We walked for about 1.5 miles down the highway. We quickly realized that we were in trouble because we were all lone. There was no one once the highway except an occasional firetruck that would drive by. These pictures were taken as we were walking down the road.

This was a long walk and a long day for Brian and I. By the end of the day we had walked over 4 miles in the fires and smoke. Our faces were covered in soot and ash, our feet were blistered from wearing sandals. By the time we got to the church it was around 4:30 ish... We had been out for about 6 hours and had seen alot of destruction. This last picture was taken at the church. IT was really creepy and it made me think of the end times.
Im not the kind of person who is worried about the end times because I know I wont experience all the tragedy because I will be Raptured. However, the thought that things are close did cross my mind and I thought that I have got to get on the ball. There are so many students within a five mile radius of the church that need Jesus and I have got to get to work. Thankfully no one at this current time is known to be killed in the fires but it has been a wake up call. Pray for the church, for the students and for the staff during this time. I believe more than ever people will be asking questions and I hope that we are ready to give an answer. Are you?

Question

2008-11-05T08:31:00.000-08:00
I was listening to a sermon by a Pastor that I really like and he made this statement that I thought was interesting.
He said something to this effect.
A renewal of the mind leads to a change of the heart and then to behavior change.
I thought this was interesting. THe context was in discussing repentance. He used Romans 12:1-2 in reference to a renewing of the mind.

My question lays here: Does mind change take place first or does heart change?
My initial thoughts: Rom.12:1-2 was written to believers who already had accepted Jesus. THey have a new nature, their heart has been changed already. Jesus said that out of the heart is where evil things come. He says that what comes out of the mouth comes from the heart.
My thoughts are that when you accept Jesus your heart is the first thing that changes, then according to Rom. 12 then your mind changes because it changes your world view. Once your heart has changed and then your mind is changed then and only then does your behavior change.
SO does mind change occur first or does heart change first? What are your thoughts?

Textbook

2008-11-05T08:02:00.000-08:00
This is a issue that many may think is unrealistic and cant happen however, this is a real life story that is taking place in my family. I want to share with you the story and get your thoughts and feedback. This story may seem way out there and I will say if you have met my family then nothing is out there. After you read this you might say to yourself, Man this sounds like something in a textbook that students at Bible college debate and discuss for no practical purpose. *Names have been changed to protect all people.*
My cousin Betty just recently was married around Christmas of last year. Betty is very special to our family and she is mildly mentally retarded. The guy she married, Bob, is in the same mental state. So they both are slow and it is debatable whether or not they can even take care of themselves much less each other. SO they get married and our whole family besides my Aunt thought this was a bad idea and as you look at it, it has come across as an arranged married. SO anyway, they get married and my Aunt adds an apartment onto her house so they can have their privacy but yet she could still make dinner and things like that for them. NOTE: Betty is in her late 20's and Bob is roughly the same age. Aunt is in her mid 60's
So they have been living together for almost a year and this last week Bob called HIS mom to come pick him up because he wanted to come home. He said he wasnt happy.
SO Bob left Betty. My Aunt was very angry about this situation. NOTE: Aunt is Episcopalian
Aunt and Betty go to the priest and discuss what is going on and the priest said he will talk to Bob however, this hasnt happened as of yet. My Aunt however went also to this place kind of like an Adult Day care. A place that they can go and they learn basic skills like counting change and taking care of them. So Betty and Bob met there and they have been going there for years. So my Aunt goes and talks to the case worker there to let her know this issue. For what reasons Im not quite not sure. However while there my Aunt finds out some disturbing information. The case worker (who for sharing this info could get fired) told my Aunt that Bob has way more problems than just mildly retarded. He actually is on medication for Skiztopherina. He has spent time in a mental hospital and even in the state mental hospital which is also a mental jail. He told doctors that the voices where telling him to kill his sister's boyfriend. So Bob has some major issues that Betty and my Aunt were unaware of until now. This information was with held from our family. We had no idea because he doesn't talk much so the medication he was taking no one knew what it was.
So this is the issue. SO now, the questions are going to be laid out. This will be debated and in the end only God truly knows however, when my Aunt calls me and I know she will because when it comes to Biblical things.
Is divorce an option? There is a possibility that the marriage could be legally annulled because of his mental state. How does God view this? Should they try and work this out? Betty is more aware of everything than Bob is but what is the next step in this situation? They made a commitment to each other and to God however because of thier mental capacity is this even a real marriage?
I would love your thoughts on this. Like I said its like something you read in a text book that should never take place. Well welcome to my family!

1 John 5:14-15

2008-10-31T10:25:00.000-07:00
14This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.15And if we know that he hears us-whatever we ask-we know that we have what we asked of him.
In light of these verses how does this shape our prayer? Do we normally pray to God asking for things or do we pray asking for God's will to be done?
If we do pray for God's will do we really mean it?
My prayers seem to be very selfish and then I say God let your will be done in this situation but do I really mean it?
Should I prayers be more for a heart of understanding? God I don't know why this happened but God let me understand and love through this situation.
I dont know if this makes any sense at all but I have been really convicted by this passage just because at times I get frustrated that my prayers in "my mind" seem in vain because nothing ever happens. I pray for patience because I know God's timing is most of the time not my timing but its difficult.
Love you all.

Married!

2008-10-31T09:00:00.000-07:00
I listened to this message today and it really hit home! If you are married I would challenge you to listen to this message. It is a little long and honestly he is pretty intense. Even if you dont like Mark Driscoll as a pastor or his theology put your thoughts aside and listen to this message!
I am way more selfish than I ever thought and it takes some cohones to swallow your pride so guys cowboy up!
Here is the link and I would even say listen to it with your wife!
If you single, it would be helpful too in some aspects!
http://www.marshillchurch.org/media/the-peasant-princess/my-beloved-my-friend

Wise

2008-10-29T08:53:00.000-07:00
I just listened to a sermon by Andy Stanley called the Best Question Ever. This is also a small group study that from what I have heard is AWESOME!
Here are some of His points:
-->According to my past what is wise for me to do?
-->Accoring to my current circumstances what is wise for me to do?
-->According to my future plans and dreams what is wise for me to do?

= Our history has robbed us of future plans and dreams.
=No one plans on having a screwed up life but no one plans NOT to have one.
= We always ask is legal and this our standard for what we do. This is the wrong question. We ask "does the Bible say yes or no?" This is a good question be not the best question. Ex. Does the Bible say its a sin to drink a glass of wine? BTW: it does not. However, the best question to ask yourself in regards to drinking: Is this the wisest choice for me? Ask those three questions above.

Good stuff from Andy.

Any Suggestions?

2008-10-29T08:24:00.000-07:00
Ok, I didnt want to make one post like two pages long so I thought I would break it up some.
So recently Emily and I have been doing this things we called "dinner for six". Since we have only been here about two months or so we wanted to get to know the kids a little better so we had them sign up with a total of six people to come over to our house where we cooked dinner and played games or just sat around and talked! We did this for like 3 or 4 weeks, once a week. So this last Friday night was the last night and we only had two girls that came which was cool because I really wanted to get to know them. One of the girls just got saved like two weeks ago and its been awesome to see her trying to figure out this Christianity thing. She comes from a home that has nothing to do with church, Catholic is what I think her mom claims and she doesnt even know where her dad is... The other girl comes from a home where both parents a good church going people. They love the Lord and their daughter but somewhere down the line something went wrong. Their daughter that came over is a freshman and high school and she already has gone off the deep end. She started smoking pot when she was 12! You name it this kid has done it, sex, drugs, alcohol, cutting, everything. My heart breaks for her! She said she got saved this summer at camp and I actually baptized her too! We were so pumped to see her accept Christ because alot of us had been praying for her for a long time. Well, she quit doing all that stuff when she got home and she did good for about a month or so and then she started using again. When she came over we talked about all that stuff because her friend that just got saved HATES the things that she does but cant seem to get her to stop. I asked her all kinds of questions about doing drugs and stuff her response was this "If I wanted to quit I would, its not like Im addicted, it just fun. No one is going to make me stop. I will just stop when I want to. Even if I went to rehab it wouldnt help because I dont want to stop its fun." As she sat there and told me that all I wanted to do was grab her and shake her! I couldnt believe a teen would sit there and tell their youth pastor that they do drugs and like it and wont stop! I dont come from a background with this kind of attitude.
So, I didnt know exactly what to tell her, so i told her that I loved her, and that Jesus loves her. I told her that I would pray that she would stop and that someday there will be consequences for her actions but I will always love her and be there for her.
I have some material that I plan on talking to her about however, I have never dealt with this before.
SO if you have any suggestions on how to handle the situation or if you know someone that was in the same boat I would love to hear there story.
BTW- Her parents know that she uses and gives her random drug test. They are pretty much at the end of their rope because they have no idea how to handle the situation, She usely stays grounded for months and she sees a "Christian counselor" for whatever thats worth. Her parents took Emily and I out as soon as we got here to let us know the situation and honestly I think it was to see if we could "fix" her because they had done everything they could think of.

Like I said, she said accepted Christ and no one can truly judge that however I think with this kind of attitude its hard to believe that she really did make a profession.
Im really at a loss as what to do except keep on loving her and hope and pray that she will turn from this all.
I just have no idea except pray and preach to her that she needs to stop. With her attitude is it even possible to get her to stop? I know that she will only stop when she decides to or gets caught and goes to juvy.
Any thoughts would be really appreciated!

PRAYER!!!

2008-10-29T08:12:00.001-07:00
Well this last week has been an interesting week! SO Ill just begin with the good news and the prayer request. The church is growing which is awesome! When Brian got here we were running about 80 to 85 people! That was almost 2 years ago back in Dec of 2006 and now we are running this last month between 270 and 280! Thats 200 people in almost 2 years! God has been very very good to us and has blessed our hard work! Well, here is the dilemma. We have gone to two services because one will not fit all the people very well and our auditorium only seats a little over 300 so we had to go to multiple services. Currently the church sits on the corner of a very busy street here in Yorba Linda. We did a poll of all the people that attend here and we found that about 25 to 30% of the people that come found us because they saw a sign or just saw the building so we have an amazing location! The issue is we cannot continue to grow if our building doesnt get bigger. Our building cannot get bigger because the city says we need more parking spaces. California is insane about the rules and regulations, you pretty much have to have a permit to do anything. Ex. we wanted to put a big banner/sign up but we had to get the city's permission because it was so big! Pretty dumb huh! Anyway, within the last week there has been the opportunity to purchase land behind us and a house with a small amount of property to one side of us. This is the ONLY direction that we would be able to purchase land due to sitting on a corner of a street! So please be in prayer that we can work a deal with the owner because we have talked to him before and because of something that happened 20yrs ago, he has been pretty bitter with the church. We have a ok relationship with him now but he is still holding a small grudge and isnt working with us on the price of the land! So pray that things work out because of certain circumstances the deal will have to take place within a couple of weeks! This is honestly our only hope for expansion, unless we sell and move locations. None of the staff feel that we should move locations but we have to have the right price before we will purchase the land! Thanks for the prayers!
FYI- About 6 to 8 months ago the man wanted 750,000$ for less than 1/2 and acre so if that gives you an idea how expensive it is here! This is why we need him to negotiate with us!

Follow Up!

2008-10-17T14:48:00.001-07:00
I wanted to follow up on the later post about the girls earning community service hours. It seems that God has worked out the situation without anyone getting involved. Its funny that sometimes we think we have to fix a situation and we contemplate how to solve it and God takes care of it himself. HA! Thanks for all the advice because I know that this is going to be an issue in the future too. Just to let you know how it played out. The family has decided to join the first worship service and I believe that the only reason is so the girls can serve in iKids. The NHS has come and gone which isnt the motivation for them serving. Man O Man was I wrong. I might still get a call from them to sign something saying they have been involved but if they do O well, at least for now I believe they are serving for the right reasons. Many lessons learned from this small tiny situation. Learn from me, never judge someones motives until you ask them and they tell you!! Never assume anything because assuming makes.... well you know what it makes.
Thanks again for all who gave advice!

Why?

2008-10-17T14:39:00.000-07:00
The question I want to pose is this; Why do we do what we do?
I know this may seem to have many answers but does it?
The book of 1 John has really challenged me to think about my motivations especially after reading chapter 4 and studying it.
Do we obey out of fear? I believe we do in some instances. We obey the speed limit or traffic signs because we dont want a ticket and we dont want to get into a wreck.
Do we ever obey out of manipulation? I believe we do in some instances. I obeyed my parents in high school, why? To build trust. Why did I need there trust? To get what I wanted. I knew that if I was a good boy and did my homework and did some things around the house that I could stay out as late as I wanted. I knew that I could do whatever I wanted because my parents trusted me.
Now What does God desire more obedience or love?
I have come to the conclusion that God desires us to love him and love people more than he does obedience. If we love Him then obedience follows. If we love people then we dont have a problem with rules and regulations.
If my logic is flawed please let me know. I would love to hear your thoughts on this subject. I have many other thoughts along the same topic that I might post later I just want to see what yall think.

Matt Chandler

2008-10-15T09:47:00.001-07:00
If you havent heard of Matt Chandler I would recommend you pod casting him! He tells it how it is... Obviously you cannot accept everything he says and believes however he is a great speaker and preacher...
This statement was in one of his messages in Luke. "Right action without transformed heart lacks joy and worship." This he says goes against what we were made for. When we do things without the right heart we are failing for what we are made for. Without the right heart the worship is wrong.
I just thought this was an amazing thought.
So here is the question and where I need some advice. I have two girls in my youth group who have just started coming about three months ago and they are awesome girls with energy that you want to show up regularly. There parents have been coming and are now serving in different ministries overall they are a great blessing to our church. The issue is this, they are both trying to make it into the National Honor Society and here in Cali that requires that you have no many hours of community service. They have tried to get involved with any ministry that we will let them because they want that time serving at church to count for their community service. The issue is that they want to serve during the times of youth group. They want to be involved with ikids during youth group on Sundays and AWANAS on Wednesday night which is also during youth group. The point is that they no longer come to youth group because they are serving some where. The girls are in 9th and 11th grade so they need to be in youth group.
Where I stand: I dont agree with letting them serve and not coming to youth group. I dont agree with letting them use helping in AWANA and Kids ministry as community service hours.
THE DELIMA: Since there are two services the family is very admit about going to big church together so they have now decided to go to first service so the girls can serve during the second service, which again removes them from youth group. Their parents will not let them go to youth group while they are in big church, they ALWAYS go to big church together.
SO... We have talked to the family about wanting the girls in youth group but they now have just told us they are switching to first service so this throws a wrench in the problem.
I would appreciate you advice... I know how I feel about it, i just have to communicate that to the parents and make sure the Senior Pastor supports my thoughts and feelings...
Let the suggestions roll!

Lite It Up!!

2008-10-14T07:58:00.001-07:00
I have been reading the book Courageous Leadership by Bill Hybles, and actually we are reading it as a staff. This book has been the greatest book I have ever read on leadership and if anyone that is going into ministry I believe should read this book. I will not ruin the book for any who want to read it however I want to share a story and a small section of one chapter with you.

As a leader it is your job to keep your passion burning for the calling that God has put on your life. Each and everyone of us have a calling by God to do something amazing through His power for His glory but so many of us lose sight of what that calling is. Hybles says that this is why so many "amazing people" that we think are going to rock ministry end up quiting or messing up. When you lose focus of your calling you become complacent and then when tragedy or even just a hard time comes along you throw in the towel. Notice what Jesus did all the time throughout the Gospels, he would find a place alone and pray. He would leave his friends, leave society and he would get on His knees. He needed his batteries recharged. You and I need to do the same thing. We need to get away from everything and get on our knees and allow God to speak and reaffirm the calling on our lives. Its up to you as a leader to keep your fire hot! No one can do it for you, only you have that ability to keep the passion burning and lit. Go to conferences or read all kinds of books, or watch some sad horrible documentary on all the people dying or whatever, just do what it takes to keep the passion and the fire burning.
I will close with a story that Hybles told in his book.
He went to a church to dedicate the building. It was a nice brand new building that Hybles had help start the campaign for so they asked him back once it was finished to dedicate that building. He walks in the door and one of the elders of the church walks over to him and pulls him aside. He thanked him for coming and for all that he had done for their church. Then the elder took Hybles over to a corner of the new lobby of the building. He then reaches down and pulls the carpet back. On the concrete were names written down and Hybles asked what that was all about. The elder said that everyone in the core of the church came and when the concrete was wet they wrote down names of friends and family that needed God. He said that once a month the core of the church meets and pulls that carpet back and prays for each one of those names that they would meet Jesus.
Now, I dont know about you but that just does something to me. That lites my fire just a little bit. Every now and then we all need a little gasoline to throw on the fire.
NEVER LET THAT FIRE GO OUT!!!

Fear vs. Love

2008-10-09T12:55:00.000-07:00
I have been going through the book of 1 John with our students. I have to say that I LOVE this book of the Bible! I love studying this book for a few reasons. First, John is black or white with his statements. In a world where there is so much "gray" area John hits home. I really enjoy this book and if you get a chance to study it you will find that John seems to repeat himself on things but I think repition is the best teacher.
Anyway, as I was doing my studing today I came across something that I think we have all heard but never truly understood. 1 John 4:7-20 is an amazing section of this chapter and I wont explain the details of it but I will pose this question.
Do we obey out of love or out of fear?
Do we follow God because we know that there are consequences for our actions or do we follow him because we are in love with him?
If im honest with myself, I have to admit that I do many things, I dont do many things because I dont want to be punished. I dont want to reap bad things on my life. However after studying this passage I have to say that my motives are completely wrong many times.
Failure to take note of: Obey out of love. John says that love drives out fear. I should love God so much I desire to obey.
Ask yourself do you obey out of love or fear?

P.S. I have just changed my mind and feel that I have biblical support on divorce. SO if you would like to know my "new" views on divorce and Pastors being divorced let me know! I think this will challenge you in how you view divorce too!
P.S.S. Its opposite of what BBC would say!

The Beginning

2008-10-09T09:09:00.000-07:00
I have now been involved in "full time ministry" for about a month and a half and its only the beginning. To put into words what I have learned over the last month and a half would be a post that would take the next three hours to read. I wont do that to you. However, the purpose of starting this blog is to share my experiences of what I have learned through failure, through success, and through other people. My desire is to share my failures with you. I know sounds stupid but think about the entire Bible. The OT is full of real life idiots that if we are honest, are much different than ourselves. Then you flip over to the NT and we find dumb churches making dumb decisions and yet so many of the churches we are in look and function exactly the same way. Think about all the books on the shelf at a Christian book store and tell me if you see one that says "20 years of ministry and 20,000 mistakes" I doubt you will find one that highlights a Pastors mistakes. I wish a pastor would just write a book saying these are the dumb decisions I made so dont repeat them. I think that would be more beneficial than, this is what I did that worked for me... (which never seems to work in my situation)
SO, I want to let you in on all the mistakes that I have made in hopes that you will learn from them. I dont want you to make parents mad like I have by giving their kid too much soy sauce that made him puke his brains out for three hours. BY THE WAY, DONT DO THIS!
I want also to share some of the things that I have learned. I am super blessed to work for Brian Moore, who has taught me so much. I want to share those things with you as well.
I hope that you will comment and teach me the things that you have learned.
I hope that all this will be beneficial to all who read and continue to read!

Bill Hybels says this "We leaders need to keep files of such stories and review them often so that we dont inflict unnecessary pain on ourselves or on our churches by repeating mistakes of the past. Pain can be a very effective teacher, but only if we pay attention and learn the hard lessons." (Courageous Leadership)
This is the purpose summed up in two sentences of this blog.
I hope that you dont experience the pain first hand and learn from my mistakes.

VERITAS

Fail

$25 for 25 years

I'm the problem... Are you?

i cant get no... satisfaction

I stink!

Where are you headed?

Fear of the Unknown

Chocolate is my weakness!

Regrets

Will Ferrel and Your Life

Pills and the Truth

Flight and Faith

Pain on the Screen

Purpose in the New Year

Hello

Hello again... as you may have noticed, I took a break from the wonderful world of blogging. The main reason is because of classes and work however, at this time I am forcing myself to write.

Tonight in VERITAS we are finishing up our last message in the series I AM SECOND. If you have never seen the web site or heard about it, let me strongly suggest you check it out. With tonights lesson we will look at the concept of being number 2... Is that really Biblical to be #2?

Matthew 22 suggest that we should actually be #3 however it prove much easier said than done. For more information about being #3 check back tomorrow for a new post on #3

Passion

Hello Again

Sacrifice

0 to 60 Church Growth Principles Part 2

Church Gone Fishing!

0 to 60 Church Growth Principles

Stale

Speaking

Mark Batterson

Divided

Day After Day

God Blows My Mind!

By Request!

You have to see this!

BOOKS

VERITAS is Here!

The Time Has Come!

Check it out!

Out of the Box

A New Year... A New ?

Broked

Do you think you love?

A Post I Read... What do you think?

Christmas vs. Thanksgiving

Book Review

Fire

Question

Textbook

1 John 5:14-15

Married!

Wise

Any Suggestions?

PRAYER!!!

Follow Up!

Why?

Matt Chandler

Lite It Up!!

Fear vs. Love

The Beginning

Tonight in VERITAS we are finishing up our last message in the series I AM SECOND. If you have never seen the web site or heard about it, let me strongly suggest you check it out.
With tonights lesson we will look at the concept of being number 2... Is that really Biblical to be #2?