The End of a Great Day . . .

You know that there are lots of ways to rate a day from being the pits to a great day. Just to describe my day - it started at 5:45 am this morning(yes that is early). Ms. Irene woke me up, I took a shower and started getting into clown make-up. We had the opportunity to clown at a health fair at church in Dacusville today. We did not get to speak the plan of salvation to anyone but we sure got to share His love through laughter. There were two different massage therapists there and I got two back and shoulder rubs. They had low fat cake at the health fair that was really delicious. When the health fair was over we went back to Travelers Rest for lunch and to ride up to the old TR high school where they have been filming a movie. Then we went home, got out of make-up and I got to take a two hour nap. We went to meet Bo and Brenda Brown at Pawley's Steak House for supper and then to Brusters for ice cream before coming back to our house to discuss a program that we are putting together for Charleston in three weeks. So with all that being said, here is how I rate a really great day: God's love, laughter, good food, naps, great friends, more good food, ice cream and plans to share God in the future. I don't know how you rate a great day, but the only thing that would have made this day better is if I actually got to lead some one to Christ. This was a great day, but it still had room for improvement.
Until next time, keep your eyes on Jesus and have some ice cream.

Thoughts at the end of a long week . . .

Have you ever noticed that at the end of, what has seemed to be a very long week, how much you look forward to the weekend? For some reason we get it in our mind that the weekend will be filled with rest and relaxation. Mine are generally filled with running in a hundred different directions and not getting any rest. So I thought I would share a few thoughts from this past week and this coming weekend:

Clemson made it to the finals of the NIT and came up five points short. I’m not really a fan of Clemson or Carolina, but I do feel bad when a school from our state comes up short.

LeBron James is building a 35,440 square foot home. In all honesty, until I read about him on the Yahoo home page, I had no idea who he was. His bedroom in his new house is 600 square feet bigger than the house that Irene and I live in. I’m sorry, but having a house that you can sleep half the state of Ohio in will not make him happy. Having a relationship with Jesus will.

I am going to Union tonight to celebrate my brother-in-law’s birthday. I am blessed to have a great extended family that loves each other and celebrates life through birthday meals together. I am also blessed to have great cooks in my family. Of course you can probably tell that by looking at me.

New Hope’s Beach camp did not draw enough participation, so I had to cancel the houses and the speakers. Now we are back to square one, in finding a camp with better dates that we can get into at this late date. The concept was great but the timing was off. This summer God has something somewhere else that He wants to bless. The scramble is on to find that something.

Irene and I have the pleasure of clowning with our friends, Bo and Brenda Brown (PeeWee and Bumper) in the morning at a health fair in Dacusville. I love to share Jesus in clown. We will be getting into make-up at about 6:30 am. I hope my eyes are open by then. Jesus will give us opportunities to share Him and the energy to do just that.

Speaking of clowning, The King’s Clowns, have a program coming up in Charleston, SC in about three weeks. Pray that we share the gospel in a clear way so that lives will be changed for Christ.
I am really looking forward to Sunday. I get to listen to my favorite Pastor (yes Pastor Chad that’s you). I can’t wait to hear what God has told him this week. Then we have a lunch after the second worship service – good food, yea! Then I get to hang out with my favorite adults in the world, our Student Leadership Team and find out about our personalities as we work through PLACE with Robbie. Then that night we have Ellis Beddingfield coming in to speak with our youth. I really want to see if God wants us to partner with his ministry in downtown Greenville this summer.

I am looking forward to Easter Sunday. I really believe that we can have more than 300 in worship that morning. I am going to be prepared to bring in chairs from the parlor for the early service. I am going to invite people that God places in my path to come and join us. How are you preparing for this Easter?

As you can tell there seems to be no rest for those who serve God. But that is OK. I will have eternity to rest in heaven. Until then God will supply the strength needed. Until next time – keep your eyes on Jesus and continue the fight.

Do We Always Offer The Best?

WOW what a question. The answer that God has shown me in my own life lately is, probably not. I’ve really gotten into this Blogging thing and I am enjoying it a lot. I enjoy writing and sharing my thoughts with others. I have also made it a habit to read several other blogs on a regular basis. I read Pastor Chad’s blog and Robbie’s blog everyday. From Pastor Chad’s blog I have started reading blogs by Perry Noble and Steven Furtick quite often. Today’s blogs by Perry and Steven have really got me to thinking about a couple of things: the whys and hows of what I do in the ministry and the people that support me.
Let me start with the whys and hows first. Why I do what I do in the ministry is to bring people to a life changing knowledge of Christ. If I am doing ministry for any other reason, then I am failing at what God called me to do. To follow that up, I need to be preparing others to do the same thing. So, the why is easy, to bring people to a life changing knowledge of Christ. The how is where the hard work begins. We need to be offering the absolute best we can offer every time we do anything at our church. I am not saying that what we need to offer is perfection. Nothing this side of heaven is perfect. What I am saying is that what works for any length of time in the world around us is the best that can be offered by some person or corporation. We serve a God that far out shines anything this world has to offer and yet we often offer second best, hoping that someone might just walk through the door of our church and maybe God can change their lives. Any time we do anything in the name of Jesus, we should be offering the very best; our talents, resources, etc. We should never try to limit a limitless God. He controls time and space. He has all the resources that will ever be needed. If we begin to think God sized, asking to join Him in His work, we will never be limited. Any offering that we make that is second best smells rotten to a Holy God.
Now, for those that give me support in ministry. My main support comes from the greatest gift God ever gave me shy of salvation – my wife Irene. Without her there would be no Mr. Allen and HeirBorn student ministries. She is my best friend and my best critic. She holds me accountable to doing what God has called me to do when I get tired and just want to quit. Irene – you have all my love and that is the best I can give you. As for those people that make up our Student Leadership team – you are the best. Counting Irene and myself, we have sixteen people that love teenagers that form this team. I appreciate more than you will ever know all that each of you brings to this leadership team. I appreciate how you want to learn more about what God can do through each of us to reach a community of students around us. We are actively seeking how God can best use each of us to accomplish His goals for the student ministry and our church. Let me encourage you to keep giving your best and God will best these students that we are seeking to reach for Him. There is a lot of hard work ahead, but I think the best is yet to come.
I am really getting excited about the vision that God is placing in my heart for HeirBorn Student Ministries at New Hope Baptist Church in Mauldin, SC. I can almost see the surroundings for the great youth worship services. God is beginning to give me the events that He wants us to do. God is giving me the places that He wants us to go. What I am seeing clearly is that everything is being driven by evangelism (see yesterday’s post). Everything that we do needs work through the process of reaching out to a community of students that have no idea who we are, but God knows their names.
Until next time – keep your eyes on Jesus, the lines are forming, the battle is near, but the war is won.

Why we do what we do . . .

One of the things that most of us, that are in some level of student ministry, struggle with is - why do we do the things that we do? We plan events that we want our students to either come to or go to, but what is the purpose of these events? In the upcoming weeks “the purpose” is what we are going to be discussing during our Sunday evening worship times. According to what I understand about Jesus’ teaching – almost everything we do is to be balanced on two pieces of scripture: Matthew 22: 37-39 and Matthew 28: 19-20. Within these two pieces of scripture are the five major purposes of the church (or student ministry):

1. Evangelism
2. Worship
3. Discipleship
4. Fellowship
5. Ministry

On five Sunday evenings we are going to discuss each of these purposes and how we as a group of students and adults can best carry out these purposes. This is the part that I find exciting – each and every person attending on those nights will have a say in what we do and how we do it in HeirBorn Student Ministries at New Hope Baptist Church in Mauldin. Following the lesson on each of those Sunday’s we will break into small groups and brain storm about events that will accomplish that night’s purpose.
The first purpose that we will discuss will be “Evangelism”. What do you think evangelism is? I can remember the first time I ever asked a group of teenagers that question. I’m not sure I will ever forget the answer – “when a group of people meet in a tent to listen to a preacher from out of town, who preaches really loud and you take up the offering in KFC buckets.” Funny, I’ve been in that tent. This statement, by the teenagers, does fall somewhere in the concept of evangelism but it is not a good definition. What is your definition of evangelism? Look it up in the dictionary or on line, make notes and struggle with the concept and bring them with you on April the 8th. The doors will open at 4:45 pm that night for fellowship before the games that evening. See you there.
Just a quick shout to some friends in Charleston, SC – we are excited about coming down in a few of weeks. S – You are doing a great job of raising your dad and mom. Our colorful friends say hello and are looking forward to coming to Charleston.
Until next time – listen for a word from our Lord in heaven. He may not speak loud now, but one day He will.

A Word From Ellis . . .

I e-mailed my friend Ellis, who will be speaking during Youth Worship this Sunday night and asked him for a short note to those who read my blog. The following is what I received:

"CCM is an inner-city ministry that identifies needs within the inner-city and then plugs folks into those needs. We have been doing this since 2001 and have seen thousands of volunteers come forward and reach out to many thousands of folks in need. Needs may be identified as homeless families, fastest growing percentage of homelessness in the country today, painting and repairing low-income homeowners homes, rehabbing houses (roofing, window replacement, wall repair, plumbing and electrical work, etc.) prayer walking, sports camps, BYBC’s, soup kitchens, nursing homes, performance ministry, and anything that qualifies as a desperate need. Last summer we had over 30 decisions for Christ, and actually served over 3000 folks in need. We would love to have HeirBorn Student Ministries become of the CCM team in helping to meet needs for those less fortunate than ourselves. Looking forward to being with you on Sunday. God bless. Ellis"

I am looking forward to seeing you and Ms. Jonnie this weekend. Our student ministry to looking for what God has for us to do so that we can join Him in His work.

Until Sunday, keep your eyes on Jesus and keep up the good fight.

Never Too Late . . .

I get a lot of e-mails day to day. They come at work, the church account, our home account and try to get to them but I don't always get there. But once and a while, you get one of those that someone has forwarded through several hundred people, that generally says if you love Jesus please send this to five friends. I generally hate those e-mails and delete them pretty quick, but every once and a while one catches my eye. The following is from Bo Brown (Pee Wee the Clown). He and I most times have lives that are way to complicated by a thousand things going on a one time. We work hard to keep up with each other as life goes by at a break neck speed. If I knew who the author of the following was, I would gladly acknowledge them, but I don't so we'll just leave it as author un-known. Thanks for sending this Bo - and by the way, let's have ice cream soon, OK?
Too many people put off something that brings them joy just because they haven't thought about it, don't have it on their schedule, didn’t know it was coming or are too rigid to depart from their routine. I got to thinking one day about all those people on the Titanic who passed up dessert at dinner that fateful night in an effort to cut back. From then on, I've tried to be a little more flexible. How many women out there will eat at home because their husband didn't suggest going out to dinner until after something had been thawed? Does the word "refrigeration" mean nothing to you? How often have your kids dropped in to talk and sat in silence while you watched 'Jeopardy' on television? I cannot count the times I called my sister and said, "How about going to lunch in a half hour?" She would gas up and stammer, "I can't. I have clothes on the line. My hair is dirty. I wish I had known yesterday, I had a late breakfast, it looks like rain." And my personal favorite: "It's Monday." She died a few years ago. We never did have lunch together.
Because Americans cram so much into their lives, we tend to schedule our headaches... We live on a sparse diet of promises we make to ourselves when all the conditions are perfect! We'll go back and visit the grandparents when we get Steve toilet-trained. We'll entertain when we replace the living-room carpet we’ll go on a second honeymoon when we get two more kids out of college.
Life has a way of accelerating as we get older. The days get shorter, and the list of promises to ourselves gets longer. One morning, we awaken, and all we have to show for our lives is a litany of "I'm going to," "I plan on," and "Someday, when things are settled down a bit." When anyone calls my 'seize the moment' friend, she is open to adventure and available for trips. She keeps an open mind on new ideas. Her enthusiasm for life is contagious. You talk with her for five minutes, and you're ready to trade your bad feet for a pair of Rollerblades and skip an elevator for a bungee cord. My lips have not touched ice cream in 10 years. I love ice cream. It's just that I might as well apply it directly to my stomach with a spatula and eliminate the digestive process. The other day, I stopped the car and bought a triple-decker. If my car had hit an iceberg on the way home, I would have died happy.
Now...go on and have a nice day, do something you WANT to......not something on your SHOULD DO list. If you were going to die soon and had only one phone call you could make, who would you call and what would you say? And why are you waiting?
Have you ever watched kids playing on a merry go round or Listened to The rain lapping on the ground? Ever followed a butterfly's erratic flight or gazed at the sun into the fading night? Do you run through each day on the fly? When you ask "How are you", do you hear the reply? When the day is done, do you lie in your bed with the next hundred chores running through your head? Ever told your child, "We'll do it tomorrow." And in your haste, not see his sorrow? Ever lost touch? Let a good friendship die? Just call to say "Hi"? When you worry and hurry through your day, it is like an unopened Gift....Thrown away.... Life is not a race. Take it slower. Hear the music before the song is over. "Life may not be the party we hoped for... but while we are here we might as well dance!"
Until next time; keep your eyes on Jesus and let's dance! King David did.

WOW What a Weekend!

WOW What a Weekend! As I sit here, I am absolutely exhausted. I had a great weekend that was really blessed by God in so many ways. Saturday, Ms Irene dragged me to the back yard to begin spring yard work. I’ll admit that yard work is really not my favorite thing to do, but when we make progress it sure does look good. I got a haircut Saturday afternoon (desperately needed) and then I got to meet with the Youth Leadership Team. Mr. Robbie is taking us through a program called P.L.A.C.E. (I think that’s the name, it seems early this morning!). This is a program that will help us find our primary spiritual gifts. This is going to help me tremendously as I seek where to plug people into the ministry and so that they will be happiest and most fulfilled. Please pray for us as we take this journey and seek how we can serve God best. I would love to see about having our youth group (part or whole) go through this with Mr. Robbie in the future.
Sunday afternoon I had the opportunity to meet with five parents and Pastor Chad in our first “Parent’s Time with Mr. Allen”. It was a very productive time of sharing, compromising and moving toward our goal – the absolute best for our teenagers. A shout to the parents – thank you for being active in your teenagers lives.
We finally got to Sunday Night Youth Worship – my favorite part of the weekend. I had fun teaching a new game to the youth group – Extreme Frisbee. I loved some of the comments from our teenagers after the game: “play this in the winter time”, “best played where we have a pool to get into”, “need air” (oops, that last one was me the first time I played this game.) Then we had the privilege of listening to Barry Ledford bring the message God had given him. Barry – you get better every time you stand in front of a group. Thank you for being my friend and teammate.
Things seem to finally be falling into place in our student ministry. The praise band is working out some problems and getting back on track. Brad’s back with our media team again – glad to have you back pal. People are mending fences and saying I sorry for misunderstandings and getting on board for what God has in store for us. Please continue to pray with me as God gives me a clear cut vision for what He wants in His student ministry. He is already beginning to reveal bits and pieces, but I want the whole picture. I am more excited about working with student than I have ever been.
Until next time – keep your eyes on Jesus.

An Exciting Start to a Great Day . . .

What an exciting start. I'm sitting hear in my office after the 8:30 am contemporary worship service reflecting on all that happened over the last couple of days. We had a great time at the New Members dinner Friday night and then Saturday I had the privilege of spending time with some of my favorite people in the world - the Youth Leadership Team. You guys and gals are really da' bomb. I have never had a greater group of adult leaders anywhere to work with. I love you guys. there are so many exciting ideas coming from this group and it all has a common goal - to reach teenagers for Christ. Most of these plans I can't reveal right now, but wow - what is coming is going to be incredible.
Pastor Chad brought a great sermon this morning and the spirit was really in the house. The praise team started out with some wonderful music, but what really made it for me was the song the Willie sang this morning - Willie, you are the greatest. After the sermon, it was great to see people at the altars praying, people joining our church, and those getting their hearts in line with Jesus. The excitement is building and I really believe that God is going to do God sized things in the near future.
I'm really looking froward to this afternoon - the first "Parent's Time with Mr. Allen". I am hoping that this time becomes a way to reach out to new families in our church and minister to each other - since we are all dealing with teenagers. Then later this afternoon I get to introduce the students to a great game - extreme frisbee. Then the best part, we get to listen to Barry Ledford bring us a word form God. I just love Sundays.
One last shout - Crystal S. - Thanks for helping out yesterday, you are the best.
Until next time - keep up the good fight.

Excitement is in the air . . .

Excitement is in the air at New Hope Baptist Church. One thing that I found out a long time ago is excitement is contagious. One of the things that I have been talking with our students is that they should live their faith out loud. If their friends and family see a difference in their lives they will wonder why. Well, if the world around of sees excitement in our lives they will wonder why. I wonder sometimes if we have forgotten what God did for us when He sent His Son to die on a cross in our place. We are coming into the Easter season when we should be making the biggest impact we can in this world, because we know that the tomb is empty and JESUS IS ALIVE. We should be inviting everyone in our area to join us so that their lives can be changed and our world be changed.
Talking about change - change is always exciting. We should be excited that God is allowing us to get in on the front end of a great work that He is going to do through our church. This is the most excited I have ever seen Pastor Chad and it is rubbing off on me. My focus on what God wants has really been intense over this last week and a half. It really is consuming! All it seems that I want to think about is what God wants to do through our student ministry and how we as His workers can join Him. I am still waiting on a clear word form Him, but I think it is finally getting quiet enough that I can hear now.
Since Sunday I have been at church every night except two. I’ll be back there tonight (New Members Dinner) and tomorrow (Student Leadership Team) and then Sunday. I am really looking forward to Sunday because I am starting something new and I get to listen to two of my favorite preachers – Pastor Chad and Barry Ledford. I am mostly looking forward to Sunday because I get to be back around the students that come on Sunday Nights for their worship time. Don’t be late this week – in fact be early. If you can get there by 4:45 pm it will be great. There are still some great games that we have not played yet and it is supposed to be warm enough to be outside. Remember to wear something that you can run in. If David and Barry don’t have something special planned for the games I may teach you a game I call “Extreme Frisbee”.
Have great day and keep up the good fight.

The silence seems almost deafening . . .

Have you ever been in a situation where all the background noise that you are used to stops, like when the power goes out because of a storm? The silence seems almost deafening. That is where I’m at right now. I challenged the youth, this past Sunday evening, to do with out their radios, ipods, etc. (basically their music) for one week and use that time to talk with God through prayer. I will not ask a young person to do something that I, myself, am not willing to do. Therefore, I’m without my radio this week. I’ll admit that I am a talk radio junkie and I am missing that fix. But the thing that is bothering me the most is the quiet. I really want a fresh word from God. I want a confirmation of things done right, correction of things that need to be fixed, at this point anything. What I really want to know is, with all the pieces and parts of this ministry rattling around in my head, is it in the middle of God’s will. I know without being in God’s will there are no blessings and as much as I enjoy God’s blessings, I want to see Him bless this ministry and our students.
I had never thought much about silence and darkness being alike, until this morning. They are both the absence of something; silence is the absence of sound, darkness the absence of light. I picked up a devotional by Beth Moore, that Irene has been using, and the header at the top of today’s page read “Never will He hold your hand more tightly tan when He is leading you through the darkness.” I needed to see that in print this morning. I needed to see that God still has me in His hand. But, I still long to hear His voice and know for sure His will. Please pray with me as I seek God and what He wants for our student ministry.
Just a quick note to some friends that I missed seeing last night at church: to Rachel, Ashley and Candace – I know practice makes it hard for you to get to church on Wednesdays, but you are missed. Brad – I miss seeing you on Wednesdays, hope to see you Sunday. To Katie and Chelsea – hope to see you soon. Mitchell – I wanted to talk last night but there were too many people were pulling on me, hopefully soon we can talk, and we haven’t had a chance lately. Tyler and Thomas – hope to see you Sunday and bring your friends. Thomas J. – the first to turn in a deposit for beach camp – you are da’ bomb. For the rest of the youth group – YOU ROCK!!
Until next time – keep your eyes on Jesus and keep up the good fight.

First Beach Camp Student . . .

I am so excited that we now have the first student signed up for beach camp this summer. Thomas Jewell is the first to sign up and turn in his deposit. My prayer is that he is the first of many to come over the next week. Remember that there is only one week left, but don't look at it as only one week left. Look at it as seven days to get your deposit in. The deadline is the 28th of March. Being late will be really bad. Probably as bad as missing this beach camp this summer.
For now, keep your eyes on Jesus.

Beach Camp . . .

Funny when you have a lot of quiet time (being without my radio this week) how much thinking you have a tendency to do. I was thinking about our upcoming Beach Camp and I thought maybe I had not shared my true feelings about this camp very well.
The initial reason that we are doing our own camp this year, instead of going in with the other churches from last year, is because of when the deposits were going to be due. I had just gotten final payments for Meltdown from everyone and did not feel like I could go right back to the parents and ask for more money. But then God began to have a major hand in what we were to do this summer. The concept for this summer’s beach camp was birthed in my living room by a group of students back in February. I asked what our students would want to do if they could put together their own camp. The following is what was said that night:
· they wanted to be taught from the Book of the Revelation
· they wanted to be able to have their own private quiet time as well as a time with a small group
· they wanted to be taught life application lessons such as: sharing their testimony, witnessing to your friends, prayer walks, sharing Jesus in unusual ways on the beach, standing strong in their faith
· they wanted great worship times with praise and worship that they could enjoy and praise God
· they wanted good sermons in the evenings
· they wanted fun games they could play wit their friends
· they wanted free time for the beach and other fun
· they wanted a great place to stay
· they wanted good food
I got to praying over these things and talking with our student leaders and we all came to basically the same conclusion - this would be a great camp. I got to looking at the bones of this camp and realized that it was part camp and part mission trip. I knew that I could put together the camp schedule but I would need just the right people in place to make it work. I was sitting in my office one Thursday night when I looked up and there stood Ms. Mary Roach. She said that David had come home talking about this camp that we were planning and she said that she would go along and cook our meals. The cook for the week was taken care of. I knew that I would need the right camp Pastor for the week. God put Pastor Mike Thompson in my path. Mike and I were at North Greenville together and he is one great man of God. And one of the great things about Mike is that he loves teenagers. OK, the camp pastor is taken care of, now I needed that right person for praise and worship. God puts Dan Carroll in my path. You may remember Dan; he did the praise and worship for our Turkey Bowl service last year.
OK, now the staff for camp is in place, what about a place to stay? A friend of mine (Toby Dix) had been using a group of houses at North Myrtle Beach for several years to do his beach camp. I called and got the number for the company that manages the house and they gave a few of us a free night to come down and see the houses. They are great: less that 100 yards to the beach, sand pit volleyball court, basketball court, pool. Everything is great. We booked the first week of July (leave on July the 1st and return on Friday the 6th) and got a great rate.
So we now have the concept for camp, the staff for camp, the place for camp and all that we are missing is the students. I understand that no-one signs up early for anything, but we are only a week away from the final deadline for camp and still no-one has signed up. Where are the students who sat in my living room and cast the vision for this camp. Also, where are all the friends that you said you were going to get to come with you. Let me urge you to get on board with this camp. I truly believe that God is going to use this camp to change people’s lives in a huge way. The cost for camp is $175.00 total, but all that we need for you now is a $75.00 deposit to get your name on the list and I need that before next Wednesday (the 28th). Please don’t call me on Thursday because it will be too late. On Thursday I will cancel all the houses that we do not need. Please do not let money be a problem. Scholarships are available, but they must be asked for and a partial payment to insure commitment from bailing out on camp and wasting the scholarship is needed.
I ask again that students get on board and hang on for a get time. Parents, please encourage your students to participate. I truly believe that this is God’s will for us to do our own camp. If I did not believe that we would be in with a camp that others were running. My life would be a lot less hectic.
Until next time, keep your eyes on Jesus and fight the good fight.

Busy Week . . .

I really like this concept of Blogging and being able to share ideas and ask for input. I got a response from Jonathan Elrod on the name contest for our youth worship time on Sunday Night. I’m looking forward to hearing from more friends through this extension of our ministry.

Irene and I were talking last night after working out as we ate supper. This is going to be a very busy week. Wednesday night we have church (my favorite place to be). Thursday night we have a meeting with those that went to the conference last Thursday to talk through what we saw and how it applies to our church and Pastor Chad’s vision. Friday night we have the new member’s dinner at the church (great food and good friends – the best.) Saturday we have the Youth Leader’s meeting starting at 3:00 pm until (if leaders need child care please let me know Wednesday so that I can try to get it arranged.) I’m really looking forward to this time. Robbie will start off the meeting by teaching us about our spiritual gifts and we will each take a survey to find out what our spiritual gifts are. This will help all of us as we seek to serve God best. We’ll have a meal and spend some time in discussing upcoming events and possibly one other unique way to worship together if God continues to impress it upon my heart. Then Sunday we are back at church. I am really looking forward to this Sunday. This Sunday afternoon is the first Parent’s Time w/ Mr. Allen. This will be a time when I can get together with the parents of our students and have a time where we can share upcoming events, vision, and minister to each other. If you are a parent of a student, please don’t miss this time together. I am also looking forward to this Sunday because Barry Ledford is bringing the message in youth worship and I can sit back and be fed through God’s word. Barry does such a great job when given the opportunity to speak and I look forward to what God has given him for this Sunday’s worship.

Just a short note to those who committed to give up music time to spend time in prayer; that empty sound is what is called quiet. Use that quiet time to listen to God as much as speak to Him. He speaks in a “still small voice”. Listen carefully.

Keep you eyes on Jesus, and keep up the good fight.

A Prayer Request from Ms. Irene . . .

The following is form an e-mail that I just received from my beautiful wife:

I would like to ask everyone to pray for a gentleman by the name of Tony Jones. He is the founder and director of the clown camp that Allen & I attend during the summer. (Yes we actually learn how to become better clowns for Jesus) He left yesterday to go to Beirut and Amman. He will be there about 10 days. He has asked that God would use him for what ever He has planned. To keep him close to give him guidance for what He has in store. Tony ask that we pray for folks to have an open heart and open mind to receive what God has in store for them. He has also ask that God would put a hedge of protection around him while traveling and while he is there. He also ask that we pray for his wife Nikki, to keep her safe and give her peace. This trip has been in the planning stages for about a year and finally came together about month ago. I'm sure there will be very little communication from Tony about what is going on due to all of the unrest in the Middle East but God knows all that will be happening during the days to come. I'm expecting to hear that God showed up and showed out over there.

Summer Sermon Series . . .

You all may think I'm crazy talking about sermons for this summer already, but I was looking at the calendar for youth events that I carry with me and all but one Sunday is planned until June. What I want to do is a series of sermons that deal with topics that are impacting your lives and your friend's lives. Please give me feed back so that we can plan for this now. I am really kind of excited about this concept. I want to get David, Barry and others involved in bringing this series. Topics can come from students or the adults. You should be able to feed off of each other as you see responces from your friends here on this sight.

WOW

I am so excited about yesterday. Pastor Chad brought a great message about the vision that God has given him for our church. It is really going to get exciting as we get on board with this vision and begin to see God do God sized things.
Let me stop right here and thank God for what He did in yesterday mornings services and in the youth service last night. God you are truly awesome. Thank you for all that you have done, that you are doing and that you are going to do. Also, thank you for allowing us to be a part of your plan.
Last night was great!! I started a sermon on prayer and God took over. I challenged the youth and adults there to give up their music for one week; turn off the radios, ipods, etc. and give that time to God in prayer. The youth and adults responded beyond what I could have hoped for or believed. We had roughly 18 youth and adults at the altar making commitments to God. You know,I didn't think much about that commitment (God told me to do that) and what it meant until I got in my truck to come to work this morning. It really was a quiet ride - just me and God. But what a great way to start the day. I'll talk about this as the week goes on.
Just a quick shout before I have to get to work - To Thomas and Tyler; it was great to meet you and start to get to know you. Get with Aaron and Zack and get them to join you in your commitment. Candace - thank you for inviting your friends from the lacrosse team at school. Amber and Courtney - you were missed this week. If I missed someone. I'm sorry, it was just a quick shout.
For now, keep your eyes on Jesus and fight the good fight.

This Sunday Morning Service Was Great . . .

I am sitting here in my office going back over in my head all that Pastor Chad shared this morning. I love the vision that God has shown him and I especially appreciate all those that are willing to buy into that vision and come along side of Pastor Chad. I truly believe that the most exciting times anyone has ever seen in the life of this church are still to come. My prayer is that God will work in the lives of all our members that they will come along side our Pastor and the vision that God has given him and see what mighty works God will do in our presence.

Just a quick note to the students of New Hope: tonight's sermon will come from James 5:13-18. My question to you is - do you truly believe that prayer makes a difference? We'll see tonight. I am excited about tonight and the future to come. Great things are falling into place and special services are to come. Pray that God continues to keep calling this ministry to do the impossible.

I really love each student that is a part of this ministry and look forward to great things that God is going to do in your lives through this ministry. Also, I don't say it nearly enough, but I am humbled that God has given me the greatest group of youth leaders (Not workers, chaperons, etc.) that any Youth Pastor could ever hope to work with.

Quickly, a couple of dates to remember:
Anniversaries: Barry and Crystal (this weekend)
Birthdays:
March 1st - Crystal Ledford
March 7th - Mitchell Gilbert
March 14th - Shannon Brown
March 23rd - Candace Gilliland

Until next time, keep your eyes on Jesus.

Name for our Youth Worship Service . . .

Can you tell that I am excited about a new tool. I just wanted to drop a short note to try and generate some new interest in a good thing we have going. I am going to open up the lines for suggestions for a name for our Youth Worship on Sunday nights. The name of our student ministry is HeirBorn Student Ministries, but we really need a great name for the great worship we have on Sunday nights. If you have any ideas, please reply and I will be watching in the days to come. There are only three rules for participating:

1. You must come to our Sunday night worship services that start at 5:00 pm on Sunday nights in the gym at New Hope Baptist Church in Mauldin, SC.
2. The name needs to tie in with the name of our student ministry - "HeirBorn Student Ministries".
3. You need to have a scripture to go along with the name.

Anyone, young or not so young, can participate. There will be a prize for the winner and recognition on the big screen. So, give it some thought and let me know your ideas.

Also, we will finish our study in the book of James in the next couple of weeks. After that I will be bringing a series on the purpose of our student ministry. During that series, each and every person attending will be empowered to be on our student leadership team on those Sunday nights. You will have an impact on the events and programing that is brought in the coming months. You do not want to miss a single Sunday Night during this series of sermons.

One last thing before I stop to go work out; David Roach and Barry Ledford will each have an opportunity to preach on a Sunday night soon (one this month and one next month.) I will post the dates for the Sundays that they will be preaching next week.

For now; keep your eyes on Jesus, resist the devil, and allow God to work.

The Day After and Exciting New Adventures . . .

Let me start by thanking my Pastor Chad Bowen for asking me and my wife to go with him and a great group of leaders from our church to a conference in Anderson, SC put on by New Spring Community Church. What a great day we had in fellowship together and at the conference.
The one thing that I was excited about was to hear from the Youth Pastors at New Spring. I wanted to know how their program from their beginnings to now (less than eight years ago) compared to our program. What I realized is that whether your student ministry has 500 students or 5 students, we are all dealing with the same issues, just on different levels. It was also great to get a confirmation from God that you are heading in the right direction. There are exciting new things coming for our student ministry and they will be revealed in the days and weeks to come.
What you are now looking at is one of the exciting new adventures that that God has opened a door for us to explore . . . blogging. After the conference and we arrived back at the church, Irene and I went to a couple of book stores and found a book on this thing called blogging. I am as excited about the power of this as I have been about anything in the last couple of years. I always seem to think of something that I should have said or a part of a lesson that God has made even more clear the day after the sermon or the lesson. Now I have a way of getting that information out along with information about up coming events, lessons, sermons, etc. Maybe I can keep my sermon times inside a reasonable limit.
For now, let me ask you to pray as we try to assimilate (wow big word) what God has shown us and how we can be better about what He has given us to do. Time to get back to the battle. For now, keep your eyes on Jesus and remember the as the battle rages around us, the war has already been won.