I’m not exactly sure where these thoughts have come from this morning, they just sort of popped in when I sat down to post. I think back to when I first received my call to the ministry. I had been helping with a couple of student ministries for a while before God called me to be a student pastor. I had the honor to work under great people who were great leaders and allowed me to be a part of something special. Every student pastor that I ever worked with allowed me the privilege to do that which God was calling me to at that time. Back when I first began it was behind the scenes stuff which I still enjoy doing. Those men will always be my hero’s. I saw in them a love for students and a passion for God and a hunger for God’s word. I saw countless hours spent pouring their lives into the students that God had entrusted to their care for a time.
I can move a little forward in time to when I was at North Greenville College (university now) to a time when there was this tight network of friends. All going to class together and all dealing with student ministries together. All of us spent time together, bouncing ideas off each other wanting to be the best that we could be. We were always talking about the next great thing, the newest literature, the next lock-in, etc. We held each other’s arms up when we were tired enough to quit. We prayed for each other. We were always there for each other and we still are. A few we have lost touch with – but most still stay in touch. We will always have each others backs.
I look at where I am today and I stand amazed at what God has done in my life. From a behind the scenes kind of guy to someone who has the privilege to speak to a great group of students every Sunday night. I’m surrounded by a group of leaders who are eager to stand in the gap for the students that they love. I have several men who are eager to do what God has called them to do – preach the gospel and I get the chance to listen to them and be uplifted as well as the students that they prepare messages for. I have the distinct privilege to be on staff with a great Pastor and an Associate Pastor who support me in the ministry that God has allowed me to be a part of.
I look to the future and what God has shown me. I truly believe that God will give us the high school and middle school campuses in our area for Christ. I really believe that we need to be planning for 1000+ students for GodStock in August. I believe that God is going to do great wonders right in front of us so that students will know that He is real. I pray that God gets all the praise and all the glory for the things that He is sending us.
Until next time and who knows what that will bring – keep your eyes on Jesus and look forward to the future – Jesus is coming back. But, live today so that when He comes we all get to go with Him.
Monday, May 28, 2007
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
A Changed Mind . . .
I have been thinking back on both messages from this past weekend – Pastor Chad’s message on being consumed by God and the message that I brought on stress and stress being a faith problem. Along with thinking about those two sermons (that’s called meditating by the way) and reading a book that God has lead me to – I’m being drawn to a simple conclusion – we need to change the way we think.
In order to have a faith that we can depend on, we have to believe what God says about himself and all that He has done, is doing, or is going to do. The only way that we will ever get to that point is for us to seek God and draw close to Him.
It is really amazing how my thinking has changed since I met and married Irene. I’m not saying that she has changed me, what I am saying is that I think differently than I did before we met. I love my wife more today than I did 8 years ago when we first got married. That love has grown because of the way I think about her and my life.
To have a greater faith in God we need to spend time with Him. We think it important enough to set dates and times to be with the people that we love. Why don’t we think it important enough to set times and dates to be with a God who loved us enough to send His Son to die for us?
In order to grow more and more in love with our Savior we need to spend more time in His word and in conversations with Him. Jesus is not an ATM where we can go only when we need something. It is important to understand that a relationship is what Jesus wants from us and a relationship is based on the time spent on that relationship. As that relationship is developed, the way that we think changes and as we begin to change the way we think about our Savior and Lord our faith grows.
Until next time, keep your eyes on Jesus and schedule time to spend with Him daily.
In order to have a faith that we can depend on, we have to believe what God says about himself and all that He has done, is doing, or is going to do. The only way that we will ever get to that point is for us to seek God and draw close to Him.
It is really amazing how my thinking has changed since I met and married Irene. I’m not saying that she has changed me, what I am saying is that I think differently than I did before we met. I love my wife more today than I did 8 years ago when we first got married. That love has grown because of the way I think about her and my life.
To have a greater faith in God we need to spend time with Him. We think it important enough to set dates and times to be with the people that we love. Why don’t we think it important enough to set times and dates to be with a God who loved us enough to send His Son to die for us?
In order to grow more and more in love with our Savior we need to spend more time in His word and in conversations with Him. Jesus is not an ATM where we can go only when we need something. It is important to understand that a relationship is what Jesus wants from us and a relationship is based on the time spent on that relationship. As that relationship is developed, the way that we think changes and as we begin to change the way we think about our Savior and Lord our faith grows.
Until next time, keep your eyes on Jesus and schedule time to spend with Him daily.
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Random Thoughts from a Scattered Mind . . .
I was rebuked (in love and kindness) by a brother who said that I had been letting my blog slide – at which point he went on to list all the reasons (all really good reasons) that I had been letting it slide. He was just poking fun at me – but sometimes God can use someone poking fun to convict you of letting something slide that you shouldn’t let slide. I originally started this blog to help get information out and to cast vision to the greatest group of students I have ever had the privilege to work with. So here I go with some random thoughts:
I just read a blog by one of our students talking about the sermon Pastor Chad preached Sunday morning. WOW! Pastor Chad preached what I thought to be the best sermon I had ever heard him preach this past Sunday, but to have a student be moved enough to list the points on her blog – WOW! Now I can’t wait to hear the follow-up to that sermon this Sunday.
We are going to preview the new Wednesday night line up this week.
By the way – if consumed by God – means that all you want to think about is God and the things of God, I’m there. Here lately I have had a hunger for God’s word like never before. Also, I don’t seem to have enough time in the day to read the books that He keeps leading me to. I can’t explain how much I want to just keep drawing closer to God and see what He has in store for me next.
Eric is back from school.
As for reading God’s word – I never get tired of the amazing things that I find in the word of God. God is beginning to birth a follow-up to this past Sunday nights sermon on stress and faith. I always get excited when God births a new thought or a new angle that I haven’t seen or thought of before. Maybe that’s what it means to see through God’s eyes.
Summer is almost here!!!
We are beginning to work on GodStock. The date has been set for August 25th which is 95 days away. HOLY COW! God is birthing a vision about this that is almost overwhelming. We are praying for over a thousand students to attend. If you would like to be a part of helping to put this together – let me know. We can always use the help. But please don’t offer if you don’t want to work, there is a lot to do.
I work with the greatest student leadership team in the world.
Until next time – keep your eyes on Jesus and hang on the ride is just getting started.
I just read a blog by one of our students talking about the sermon Pastor Chad preached Sunday morning. WOW! Pastor Chad preached what I thought to be the best sermon I had ever heard him preach this past Sunday, but to have a student be moved enough to list the points on her blog – WOW! Now I can’t wait to hear the follow-up to that sermon this Sunday.
We are going to preview the new Wednesday night line up this week.
By the way – if consumed by God – means that all you want to think about is God and the things of God, I’m there. Here lately I have had a hunger for God’s word like never before. Also, I don’t seem to have enough time in the day to read the books that He keeps leading me to. I can’t explain how much I want to just keep drawing closer to God and see what He has in store for me next.
Eric is back from school.
As for reading God’s word – I never get tired of the amazing things that I find in the word of God. God is beginning to birth a follow-up to this past Sunday nights sermon on stress and faith. I always get excited when God births a new thought or a new angle that I haven’t seen or thought of before. Maybe that’s what it means to see through God’s eyes.
Summer is almost here!!!
We are beginning to work on GodStock. The date has been set for August 25th which is 95 days away. HOLY COW! God is birthing a vision about this that is almost overwhelming. We are praying for over a thousand students to attend. If you would like to be a part of helping to put this together – let me know. We can always use the help. But please don’t offer if you don’t want to work, there is a lot to do.
I work with the greatest student leadership team in the world.
Until next time – keep your eyes on Jesus and hang on the ride is just getting started.
Wednesday, May 9, 2007
The first inductees to “The Core” . . .
Let me begin by telling you what “The Core” is – it is people who make up a special group of students and leaders that are willing to fulfill the fifth step in the purpose of our student ministry – that would be ministering to the world around us in love. This is an incredibly important part of what we do because it shows that we are following the example that Jesus set for us.
The two students that are the first inductees into “The Core” are two beautiful, modest young ladies who wish to remain anonymous because they do what they do to bless the world around them with the love of God. I asked them to tell me what they did on Saturdays so that I could share it and the following is what I received:
On Saturday mornings we go to a nursing home close to where we live. We arrive at about 10:00 am (seems early for most students on a Saturday) and go to the special care area and play Jenga or throw a ball around with the people that are interested. These people seem to have a good time and hardly ever get any visitors. After about 45 minutes of fellowshipping with these people we move on to the nursing home patients who still have good minds but aren’t in good condition physically. We play Rumikube which they really enjoy. We play games and enjoy each others company until 12:30 pm. We then eat lunch and go home. It’s not a lot of time that we spend with them, but they seem to enjoy it and we hope God will bless their lives through it.
These two students are now on top of my hero list. They understand that time is precious, but they understand that time well spent can be used by God to bring blessings to others lives. Maybe one day these two will allow me to note who they are, but until then they will remain un-named heroes and the first members of “The Core”.
Until next time – keep your eyes on Jesus and carry the blessings of God to the world around you with love.
The two students that are the first inductees into “The Core” are two beautiful, modest young ladies who wish to remain anonymous because they do what they do to bless the world around them with the love of God. I asked them to tell me what they did on Saturdays so that I could share it and the following is what I received:
On Saturday mornings we go to a nursing home close to where we live. We arrive at about 10:00 am (seems early for most students on a Saturday) and go to the special care area and play Jenga or throw a ball around with the people that are interested. These people seem to have a good time and hardly ever get any visitors. After about 45 minutes of fellowshipping with these people we move on to the nursing home patients who still have good minds but aren’t in good condition physically. We play Rumikube which they really enjoy. We play games and enjoy each others company until 12:30 pm. We then eat lunch and go home. It’s not a lot of time that we spend with them, but they seem to enjoy it and we hope God will bless their lives through it.
These two students are now on top of my hero list. They understand that time is precious, but they understand that time well spent can be used by God to bring blessings to others lives. Maybe one day these two will allow me to note who they are, but until then they will remain un-named heroes and the first members of “The Core”.
Until next time – keep your eyes on Jesus and carry the blessings of God to the world around you with love.
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
Price of disobedience . . .
Have you ever wondered why it is that if you disobey a rule, you parents, the law, whatever – the price that you pay seems so much higher than the price of obedience? I was talking with a friend that is a student pastor in our area and we got to talking about a lesson that he taught recently. What got us on the subject was the question that he had asked his students – had anyone ever sinned. Now all hands went up (because according to God’s word we have all sinned). He then asked if it seemed like things just never seemed to be the same after they sinned – maybe things were all mixed up and confused.
Let me give you and example – say that you tell a lie. Just to stay out of trouble you have to remember the lie that you told – exactly. If not – then you have to keep making up lies to try and stay ahead of the problem. The punishment in the end is always worse and you always seem to get caught. Well, believe it or not God set a precedent in His word with the Hebrew children – His chosen people.
If you go to the Old Testament and to the book of Deuteronomy and then chapter 28 you will find what happens when God’s people were obedient and what happens when they were disobedient. The first 15 verses deal with the blessings that the people would gain from being obedient. The next 53 verses deal with the problems that come from being disobedient. In verse 20 God states that He will send confusion (among other less pleasant things) as a result of disobedience. Not just a little confusion but confusion in everything that they try to do. Have you ever felt like that? Maybe you did something wrong – let’s say you told a lie – and now your whole life seems to be confused and turned upside down? Well, there is a way out of this problem.
In First John 1:9 it says that if we confess our sins, Jesus is faithful to forgive us our sins. Now, that does not mean that we will not have to pay a price for our disobedience. Through confession and repentance (turning from what we did and back to Jesus) we can restore our relationship with Jesus. Our relationships with those around us that we wronged through our disobedience may take a little longer but through Jesus and His help that can be restored also. Obedience is not always the easiest thing to do – but it is always the blessed way of doing something.
So at the end of this post let me ask you a question – has God asked you to do something, maybe it does not fit into what you have planned for your life and you have not been obedient? Does everything seem confused and upside down? Has your disobedience begun to invade other parts of your life? Maybe you need to spend sometime in First John. God has always been faithful to forgive me in my life when I was not obedient and with time so have the people around me.
Until next time – keep your eyes on Jesus and what ever He asks you to do say – YES LORD!
Let me give you and example – say that you tell a lie. Just to stay out of trouble you have to remember the lie that you told – exactly. If not – then you have to keep making up lies to try and stay ahead of the problem. The punishment in the end is always worse and you always seem to get caught. Well, believe it or not God set a precedent in His word with the Hebrew children – His chosen people.
If you go to the Old Testament and to the book of Deuteronomy and then chapter 28 you will find what happens when God’s people were obedient and what happens when they were disobedient. The first 15 verses deal with the blessings that the people would gain from being obedient. The next 53 verses deal with the problems that come from being disobedient. In verse 20 God states that He will send confusion (among other less pleasant things) as a result of disobedience. Not just a little confusion but confusion in everything that they try to do. Have you ever felt like that? Maybe you did something wrong – let’s say you told a lie – and now your whole life seems to be confused and turned upside down? Well, there is a way out of this problem.
In First John 1:9 it says that if we confess our sins, Jesus is faithful to forgive us our sins. Now, that does not mean that we will not have to pay a price for our disobedience. Through confession and repentance (turning from what we did and back to Jesus) we can restore our relationship with Jesus. Our relationships with those around us that we wronged through our disobedience may take a little longer but through Jesus and His help that can be restored also. Obedience is not always the easiest thing to do – but it is always the blessed way of doing something.
So at the end of this post let me ask you a question – has God asked you to do something, maybe it does not fit into what you have planned for your life and you have not been obedient? Does everything seem confused and upside down? Has your disobedience begun to invade other parts of your life? Maybe you need to spend sometime in First John. God has always been faithful to forgive me in my life when I was not obedient and with time so have the people around me.
Until next time – keep your eyes on Jesus and what ever He asks you to do say – YES LORD!
Monday, May 7, 2007
Things to think about from a great day . . .
I always enjoy Sundays. I get to do the things that I love best – study God’s word, fellowship with His people, and get to talk about the awesome God that I serve. Yesterday was all that and more. Yesterday morning was great – if you missed it, I’m sorry – go listen on the internet. The praise band did a great job. Pastor Chad was over the top like always and we had people join our fellowship.
Yesterday afternoon, I spent time with one of my favorite people in the world – David Roach. I can not tell you how much he means to me and our student ministry. We spent a couple of hours going over the summer calendar of events for our student ministry. There are still a few things that we need to tie down, but we are going to get them finalized this week – hopefully. That way we can get them out to our students and mail them out to the parents. There are so many great opportunities that we have this summer.
Then last night was interesting, fun, good, hard – lots of mixed up emotions. The sermon during the youth worship time was on worship. Not the easiest topic to speak on but it was interesting to get feedback from our students on what they believe it will take to make our youth worship time better. I’ll talk about those things in a post later in the week. At the very end of our time together I asked to students to give me topics that they would like to hear in messages this summer – the following are those topics:
- Relationships
- Music
- School
- Dating
- Tribulation
- Peer Pressure
- Drinking – alcohol
- Trust
- Friendship
- Gossip
- Drugs
- 1st John – Are You Real?
- Stress
- Witnessing
- Sin
- 10 Commandments
We’ll begin to look at dividing these topics up between several speakers and putting them on the calendar for this summer. I am blessed to have guys that are willing to share to responsibility to speaking with me. This summer is really going to be incredible.
Until next time – keep your eyes on Jesus and prepare to yourselves for what God has in store for you in the days to come.
Friday, May 4, 2007
Extreme Student Ministry . . .
I was just sitting and thinking what would make a student ministry extreme. Most things that we would consider extreme, God expects in a basic everyday believer, yet the world would tag them extreme. So here are a couple of things that I believe would set apart a student ministry as extreme:
A group of students that are totally into God’s word – this would be a group of students that could tell you about their time with God and what He is teaching them through His word. Those that are excited to be finding new things in God’s word they had never seen before or that God is revealing new truths in His word. Students that bring their bibles when they come to church and are eager to flip pages and dig for wisdom. Students that check out what their teacher or pastor are saying to them to make sure they are being taught the truth.
A group of students that are consumed with wanting to see the lost come to Christ – this would be a group of students who have a burden for their lost friends and those students that are not their friends. Students that would talk with other students about how God has changed their lives and how He can change theirs. The greatest love that we can show other students is the love of Christ.
A group of students that tap into the power of prayer and the Holy Spirit – a group of students that take everything they do to God in prayer. Those that will pray for people by name expecting God to work and give the credit and praise to Him when He does. Students that pray for opportunities to share with people around them and pray that the Holy Spirit will speak through them. Those that would pray for God to do miraculous things so that they can point to them and say – God is Real.
A group of students that will put others before themselves – this is ministry and missions in one. In the world we live in, it is easy to get caught up in the “me” society. When we put God and others before ourselves, then we live out loud our relationship with Christ.
A group of students that seek fellowship with their fellow believers – this would be a fellowship that is not exclusive. A group of students that would be open and accepting of all, understanding that we all are God’s creations and that we all are in the same situation – we are nothing without Christ. These students would leave their close friends to make someone new to the fellowship feel welcome.
A group of students that is looking for genuine, life changing worship - an extreme student ministry would never play at religion. The students would never put up with it. They would be seeking real worship with a God that is real to them everyday. These students would be always on the lookout for the next way God would show up and show out.
I am really anxious to see our student ministry go extreme. I’m not sure if I have ever seen an extreme student ministry. I have seen some that came close, but close does not count. An extreme student ministry will make an incredible impact on their campuses and in their families. They will affect their whole community.
Until next time – keep your eyes on Jesus and let’s go extreme.
A group of students that are totally into God’s word – this would be a group of students that could tell you about their time with God and what He is teaching them through His word. Those that are excited to be finding new things in God’s word they had never seen before or that God is revealing new truths in His word. Students that bring their bibles when they come to church and are eager to flip pages and dig for wisdom. Students that check out what their teacher or pastor are saying to them to make sure they are being taught the truth.
A group of students that are consumed with wanting to see the lost come to Christ – this would be a group of students who have a burden for their lost friends and those students that are not their friends. Students that would talk with other students about how God has changed their lives and how He can change theirs. The greatest love that we can show other students is the love of Christ.
A group of students that tap into the power of prayer and the Holy Spirit – a group of students that take everything they do to God in prayer. Those that will pray for people by name expecting God to work and give the credit and praise to Him when He does. Students that pray for opportunities to share with people around them and pray that the Holy Spirit will speak through them. Those that would pray for God to do miraculous things so that they can point to them and say – God is Real.
A group of students that will put others before themselves – this is ministry and missions in one. In the world we live in, it is easy to get caught up in the “me” society. When we put God and others before ourselves, then we live out loud our relationship with Christ.
A group of students that seek fellowship with their fellow believers – this would be a fellowship that is not exclusive. A group of students that would be open and accepting of all, understanding that we all are God’s creations and that we all are in the same situation – we are nothing without Christ. These students would leave their close friends to make someone new to the fellowship feel welcome.
A group of students that is looking for genuine, life changing worship - an extreme student ministry would never play at religion. The students would never put up with it. They would be seeking real worship with a God that is real to them everyday. These students would be always on the lookout for the next way God would show up and show out.
I am really anxious to see our student ministry go extreme. I’m not sure if I have ever seen an extreme student ministry. I have seen some that came close, but close does not count. An extreme student ministry will make an incredible impact on their campuses and in their families. They will affect their whole community.
Until next time – keep your eyes on Jesus and let’s go extreme.
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