Praying For Your Pastors...

I read several blogs. But there are some that I DEVOUR. One of those is the blog of Perry Noble. I think he is one of the most daring, creative, challenging leaders in the church today. His writing and teaching stretch me. Tuesday he posted a blog about praying for your pastor. In fact, much of this is a summary of what Perry wrote. While I am not the Senior Pastor of our church, it got me thinking of some general ways you can pray for me and for your pastors at your church. As a pastor, let me just say this: We COVET your prayers. We NEED your prayers. Here are just a few things you can pray for me and others:

• My Relationship With God - Far too many times we, as pastors, are really good at giving advice to others about their walk with God while allowing our ministry, work, and busy lives to cause us to neglect our own. There is not a conference, a program, or a ministry idea that can replace my time with God. Pray that my passion for God would burn deeply and that I would lead out of the overflow of my personal walk with Him.


• My Family - No one - and I mean NO ONE - understands what a pastor's family goes through except those who have lived it. We live in glass houses. We are constantly scrutinized, criticized, and critiqued. Our wives and children are under crazy expectations of perfection and the pressure is immense. If you want to BLESS your pastors, pray for their families. And pray that your pastor would put his family before his ministry and the church.


• Spiritual Warfare - Perry sums this one up great. He says "you would not believe what a pastor faces in regards to spiritual warfare. There are things that have happened to me that I have never preached about (or blogged about) because, well, they are intense." Pray that our walk with Jesus builds in us encouragement, hope, and freedom. And pray that we have the strength, courage, and character to resist temptation and fight against Satan's schemes.


• My Friends - It is very difficult to have friendships that are real and authentic as a pastor. Too many times people expect you to be perfect and are completely shocked when you show that you are just a normal person and make mistakes. Pray that God places people in your pastors' paths that provide them with meaningful, encouraging friendships.


• Rest and Health - Ministry is HARD WORK. It is intense work. Just this week I have put in almost 30 hours in two days. Our lifestyles and callings cause us to live extremely busy lives. Pray that your pastors' rest would be multiplied. Pray that his health would be blessed. Pray that rest would become a priority. And then encourage your pastor to take practical steps to rest and support him in that effort.

There are tons of other things that you could pray for me and for other pastors. You could pray for God to give us wisdom, for God's blessing in our lives and ministries, for God's provision for us, for the ability to faithfully lead the church...The list could go on and on. But here's the important part: PRAY. As pastors, we need your prayers. So just take the time each day to do it.

Wanna' Buy A Cookbook?...

One of the things that you can rest assured of in a growing student ministry is that you will NEVER have enough money in the budget to accomplish what needs to be done. I've been in student ministry for 12 years now and my budget growth has never kept up with my ministry growth. So from time to time we have to find ways to raise money to allow crucial ministry to occur. Let me just clarify this: I HATE fund-raisers. But, like I said, we just have to do them from time to time.

Now is one of those times. We have put together our own cookbook. We are doing the ENTIRE thing in house - from the recipes, to the printing, to the selling. Our youth workers and students are doing it all. And all the proceeds from these cookbooks help our students attend summer youth camps, go on mission trips where they serve others, and help us to reach those far from God with the life-altering love of Jesus.

So if you have an extra $15 bucks laying around and are just dying for a new recipe for that next big dinner you'll put on, hit me up and we'll send one your way. And I know some of you never put on big dinners...but you know someone who does. What a great suprise!

At the end of the day, the main thing is that your $15 bucks helps students get a better understanding of who Jesus is and who he wants them to be...And that is a deal you can't pass up!

Ugh...

I saw this on a link from Perry Noble's blog. It's hard to believe that there are people in today's world filled with so much hatred. And unfortunately for those of us who are really trying to reach our neighbors and our world with the love of Jesus, these people call themselves Christians...But I guess they'd never call me one. After all, I am a sports fan, have even been known to lie a couple times, and even stole a thing or two earlier in my life. I've already broke 3 of the first 4. Ugh.

The Weekend Update...

Here's a glimpse into this weekend with the Burleson's.

• Friday I played golf with Jaron, Jmob, and Dusty. I had no clue it could take almost 3 hours to play nine holes...wow.


• Friday night Jo, myself, Jaron and Jenna all headed over to the Pittman's for a little cookout and swimming...The Pittman's weren't home, except for the boys, but they graciously allowed us to use their pool and grill...Good sausage and bratwurst!


• Saturday Johanna and I met my parents and Papa for lunch at a new restaurant in Lampasas. It's called the Wild Goose Steakhouse and it was pretty tasty.


• Saturday evening, us, all of my interns, and the Horton family all had a cookout and swimming at the Pittman's. This time they were home and actually had invited us and planned on us coming!


• Sunday morning consisted of a pancake breakfast at church as part of our kick-off to a new year of small groups.
  
• Sunday afternoon 6 of us (youth workers and interns) spent about three hours typing recipes for our student ministry cookbook fund-raiser...I despise fundraisers, but that's a whole 'notha blog altogether.
  
• And for all of you who are just dying to know the BIG news...It's coming. Just remember that patience is a virtue...And for now, you have to wait.

It's not quite Sunday evening yet, so the weekend could have more in store...but I doubt it, so I'm gonna' go ahead and post this now.

BIG News...

Big news coming...That's all I can say right now. Stay tuned...

A Night At The Attic...

I stole this from my buddy Jmob. He time lapsed our Wednesday night student worship service this week. We meet on Wednesday nights at a place called The Attic. We hang out from 6 to 7, with tons of stuff for our students to do. Then at 7:00 we kick off our worship time. Jmob said that the computer was in a bad spot in the room and he's gonna' do a "re-do" so I'll try to post that as well. Check it...

Reaching Others and a GREAT Quote...

Sometimes I get criticized for the approach I take to ministry. In fact, just this week I heard of someone slandering Jo and I for reaching out to those "kids off the street" and not focusing just on "our own" church kids. Here is one fact that I know and have experienced first hand: When you are willing to do whatever it takes to reach people who are far from God it usually makes religious people uncomfortable. Especially people who believe that the church is all about them. But when I read the Bible, I see that Jesus was most passionate about reaching lost people. Sure he went to a dinner or two. He even made a couple of "hospital visits." But that is not what consumed his life. His life was consumed by reaching those who were far from God. That's who he hung out with. That's who he ate with, and talked to, and was most passionate for. In fact, Jesus himself said that his primary reason for coming to earth was to seek those far from God. Check it out in the Bible in the third chapter of the book of John.

And often people misunderstand a pastor or church leader's focus on reaching others. When they hear someone talk about numbers or be concerned with the number of unchurched people who are coming, they immediately assume that our motivation is wrong. They assume that we are more about numbers than people. But that couldn't be further from the truth. For me, every single number is a name, face, relationship, and person that needs to hear the life-altering love of God. That's why I'm passionate about the numbers.

I am reading Pop Goes The Church by Tim Stevens and he quotes Steven Furtick about this same subject. He puts it in perspective in a way that resonates with me:

"If you get the impression that we're all about the numbers, let me clarify. Of course we're all about the numbers. What else would we be all about? The spaghetti supper? To hell with the spaghetti supper. I want to see some changed lives!"

Here's the deal: God has called me to do whatever it takes, short of sin, to reach those who are far from Him. If that makes people uncomfortable, so be it. Jesus made people uncomfortable from time to time too. I'll take that kind of company...

Whiteboard Sessions - Vince Antonucci and Perry Noble

Let me say it once again: The Whiteboard Sessions were phenomenal. Ben Arment (check him out here) really took this conference to the next level. It was a time of stretching and challenging and renewal for me. I've blogged about the highlights of the six of the eight speakers. But I saved the best for last.

In my opinion, Vince Antonucci and Perry Noble were the top notch of Whiteboard. Don't get me wrong...the whole lineup was incredible. But these two guys absolutely ROCKED my world. I've been following their blogs for some time and I really admire how they are both leading their churches to do whatever it takes to reach those who are far from God. Here are the highlights...

Vince Antonucci - Pastor of Forefront Church in Virginia Beach, VA. You can check out his blog here.

• His Big Idea: That we would do whatever it takes to reach and save God's lost children.
• How is it possible that I lived for 2o years in the USA and never heard of Jesus?
• Only 2.2% of churches are experiencing growth and much of that is transfer growth.
• If we are honest, we have to admit that we are reaching people - just not lost people.
• Reaching the lost was the passion of Jesus. Is it ours?
• If we are not close to people who are far from God, then we are not as close to God as we think we are. Because God's heart is always with those far from Him.

Perry Noble - Pastor of Newspring Church in Anderson, S.C. You can check out his blog here.

• The reason we do what we do is that for some reason Jesus wanted you. He chose you. He called you.
• We don’t volunteer for this. We are called. If we're volunteering, we’re stupid
• If ministry ever overtakes our time with God we have forsaken our calling for the expectations of others.
• There is way to much imitation in the church and not enough revelation.
• God is not green. Kermit is green. We can save the planet and everyone on it could go to hell.
• Preach the gospel of Jesus. You get more than Jesus and you have screwed up.
• It will be a cold day in hell when I preach a message on recycling at the neglect of the Gospel message.
• I’m crazy enough to think God has at least one more big move in him.
• The time has come for us to stop walking if fear and start walking in authority. Do you really want to be a prostitute for the rest of your life?
• We need to stop preaching about God's sovereignty and then cowering in fear in front of the deacon or elder board because we don't want to lose our paycheck.
• If you are a pastor you will experience spiritual warfare and temptation on a level that those in your congregation will never understand.

Whiteboard was all that it promised to be and more. I'm glad I made the investment in my own growth and ministry to be there. I'm still processing all that I heard and learned - and that's a good thing.

I Miss My Buddies...

Don't get me wrong. It's great to be home. I like sleeping in my own bed and I was pumped to be back ministering to our students tonight. But I already miss DC. Not the city or even the incredible history and "touristy" things to do. (Ok, I may have made up that word...) I miss my two new buddies. I got to spend more time with my niece and nephew than I really ever have, due to the distance between Texas and Maryland. And in our time together I realized that these two kids are AWESOME. I wanted to pack 'em up and bring them back to Texas with us. We really, really enjoyed our time with Jerry, Ingrid, Lana, and Diego. In the midst of an amazing trip, spending time with them was definitely the highlight. And my niece and nephew are two of the cutest kids ever. If you don't believe me just check out these pictures for yourself:

Whiteboard Sessions - Mark Dever, John Burke, and Ed Stetzer

We're back from DC and we get back into the grind tonight, with our midweek student worship gathering. I am pumped because I haven't spoke to our students in a couple weeks...Ready to go tonight! But I also wanted to do some more reflecting on the Whiteboard sessions. Here are some highlights from the sessions with Mark Dever, John Burke, and Ed Stetzer.

Mark Dever - Pastor of Capital Hill Baptist Church in Washington D.C. and President of 9Marks Ministry:

• The church will win. There is no question about it.
• Our churches should be places where it is normal to love God and be growing spiritually. Everything else should be diverse.
• Church is not an event to be produced, but a community to be cultivated.
• We need to hold every member accountable to live like Jesus so his message is reflected.
• When we read Hebrews 13:17 our souls should be fed and terrified at the same time.

John Burke - Pastor of Gateway Community Church in Austin, TX:

• What got Jesus crucified was good, religious people addcited to self.
• Too many times we labor to sell a spiritual product that we are not drinking deeply from ourselves.
• The way we love God is by responding in obedience.

Ed Stetzer - Church Planter and Director of Lifeway Research

• For most of us, ministry will not look like what we see at a conference. Conferences are like ministry pornography - something we will never have.
• Don't be afraid to say to God, "I don't get it."
• Too many times we teach a gospel that doesn't last through the first tragedy that comes people's way.
• Saying "I don't know" is not a sign of spiritual immaturity, but rather a sign of maturity.

I've still got two speakers to blog about from Whiteboard - Perry Noble and Vince Antonucci. These two were my favorite sessions, so they are definitely coming...It just may be toward the end of the week.

Gratitude...

One of the things that I've noticed lately is that most of us are just not very grateful for things. Sometimes we just aren't very good at saying thank you. This past week and weekend has found me with gratitude on my mind several times. And just from this week I have tons to be thankful for.

• I got to spend a few days in a couple conferences where men of God poured into me. I am grateful to the people who put these events together, to those who helped lead, and for the opportunity to be a part of it all.
• Memorial day and being in DC has got me reflecting on my gratitude for our men and women, both past and present, who serve our country in our Armed Forces. They are the REAL heroes in our midst. THANK YOU!
• I am blessed with great friends, family, and ministry partners. Each day I am reminded of this. In fact, these past few days would not have even been possible without the great generosity of my brother-in-law and sister-in-law. They have graciously opened their home to Jo and I and have been incredible to us. Thank you Jerry and Ingrid!

Let me ask you this: What do you have to be thankful for? Who do you need to show your gratitude to? When you and I begin to reflect on what we have to be thankful for it shows us how incredibly blessed we are. Give it some thought...And while you're at it, send that card or email to say thanks to those who you're grateful for.

Whiteboard Highlights - Tim Stevens and Darrin Patrick...

Here are some more highlights from The Whiteboard Sessions. Tim Stevens is executive pastor of Grainger Community Church and just wrote an incredible book called "Pop Goes The Church." It is one of the books I am currently reading and I posted about it here. Darrin Patrick is part of the Acts 29 Network and the founding pastor of The Journey in St. Louis.

Highlights from Tim's "Big Idea":

• In most communities, churches are not making an impact. In fact, in many cases they are getting in the way of the gospel.
• While church growth is declining, spiritual interest in our culture is on the rise.
• We must leverage the culture or risk losing our impact.
• Jesus came to us and met us where we are. He communicated by using signs, symbols, and methods of the culture of the day. We should do the same.

Highlights from Darrin's "Big Idea":

• Idols are root sins. They are the things that hide deep within our hearts.
• You are ruled by what you worship - either the Creator or something in creation.
• Sin happens because we treasure our idols more than we treasure our God.
• An idol is anything in my life that occupies a place that should be occupied by God alone.
• If you are maturing, the longer you're a Christian, the more jacked up you realize you really are.

More highlights and incredible thoughts coming from my Whiteboard notes. Just be patient.

Link Love...

I have some INCREDIBLE people in my life...Some of those people include friends, former students, a great team and partners in ministry...In the last couple weeks some of them have started blogging and I wanted to give them some link love. So Jaron, Jenna, Jordan, and Kaylen, here is your blog shout out. Check out their links on the right side of this page folks. And you guys and gals keep filling up the blog world with your thoughts, life updates, and random stories. I'm glad to call each of you friends and I'm glad you're a part of my team. Link love done.

Whiteboard HIghlights - Mark Batterson...

The Whiteboard sessions got off to a fantastic start this morning with worship led by Lashley and Joiner. You can check them out here. Then Mark Batterson, pastor of National Community Church in Washington D.C. kicked things off as the first session speaker. Let me just say this: What a way to start! Each speaker was asked to present one big idea and Mark's was this: Your dreams are too small. Here are some highlights of what Mark said:

• "The longer I do ministry and the longer I lead, the more I covet the favor of God."
• "Your best thought and your best day is 13.2 billion light years away from God's." See Isaiah 55:8-9.
• Our sin is the smallness of our dreams.
• Too many times we live our lives (plans and dreams) as if God was not part of the equation.
• We don't need more meetings or appointments or programs. We need to get with God and spend more time with Him.
• Too many times we stop doing ministry out of imagination and start doing ministry out of memory.
• We need some dreams we can accomplish but we also need some dreams that are way beyond our ability to accomplish.
• If ever there was a dreamer, it was Jesus. The Great Commission is the Great Dream.
• "I would rather have one God idea than 1,000 good ideas."

The Whiteboard Sessions...

One word: WOW. "Whiteboard Ben" really delivered. Jo and I spent all day today at the Whiteboard Sessions and I am exhausted from all the thinking, stretching, and challenging stuff I heard today. Seriously, it might be some of the best stuff I have ever heard at a conference...Some of these guys pulled no punches. I have tons of pages of notes from the seminar which I will be posting...I'll just be putting up the highlights, but I've gained tons of knowledge today. Also got to make some incredible contacts and meet some really cool people...More on that in my "Whiteboard Highlights" post...I've got another conference tomorrow so I'll have some time after that to blog and debrief all I've heard...Ben Arment - Great Job! Whiteboard really was one of the best conferences I've ever been a part of. It rocked!

D.C. - Day One...

Jo and I spent our first day in the D.C. area just chillin' and sight seeing. We flew up on Tuesday even though the Whiteboard Sessions doesn't kick off until tomorrow because it was WAY cheaper to fly on Tuesday vs. Wednesday. So we spent the day in D.C. sight seeing and spending time together. We checked out the Washington and Lincoln memorials. We also saw the Vietnam, Korean, and World War II monuments. Very moving. I want to blog more specifically about our experience there but it will have to wait until after this weekend. But I promise it is coming! We grabbed a PHENOMENAL lunch at Fogo De Chao. It's by far my favorite place to eat and we don't get there much so it was a real treat...We spent the afternoon at a couple of the Smithsonian musuems and then headed back to Jerry and Ingrid's for supper. We're all about to catch the American Idol finale and then it's off to bed to rest up for a BIG DAY tomorrow.

The Weekend Update...

Here's a recap on the life and times of Nic from this weekend...

• Spent most of the weekend in Corpus Christi. My sister-in-law Jackie graduated from Texas A&M Corpus Christi, so Johanna and I headed down for the graduation. My friend and now-summer-intern Jaron joined us for the ride and we spent the weekend with Jo's family celebrating Jackie's graduation. Congrats Jackie!
• Jaron and I spent some of Saturday looking over things for our upcoming BEACH BREAK YOUTH CAMP which will also be in Corpus Christi in June. We also spent some time tasting the seafood...
• I preached this morning. Talked about the story of the prodigal son and How To Acquire A Pig's Lifestyle. God has an incredible plan for every one of us, but so many times we make choices that have us living life in the pig's pen. One of the best ways to keep your life out of the pig's pen is to spend your resources - your life, your time, your talent, and your treasure - on things that will last! Spend it on the kingdom!
• Had too many meetings today at church...Have I mentioned lately that meetings aren't my favorite things? But we did see some good things come from them...
• Super excited about leaving Tuesday for The Whiteboard Sessions. This is gonna' rock!
• My Papa's birthday is Monday. Happy Birthday Papa!
• Got to hang with some of our youth workers tonight...I absolutely love our team and love that I get to serve with people who I'd hang out with even if we weren't in this thing together...It just makes it more incredible that we are!

What I'm Reading These Days...

From time to time I try to let people in on the books that I'm reading. To be honest, reading is hard work for me. I have always been the "slow" kid in the class when it comes to reading and I have to be disciplined and work hard to get in the reading that I need...But here are a few books that I just got in that I am about to start reading...I'm sure there will be reviews to come later.

Pop Goes The Church by Tim Stevens - This book is all about using culture to engage, communicate, and reach our world with the love of Christ. It's right up my alley and I can't wait to dig into this one. Tim will also be speaking at Whiteboard next week, which is one of the reasons I am pumped about that conference.

Lord Save Us From Your Followers by Dan Merchant - This is one of those books that I was drawn to by the title. After reading a couple reviews, this should be a good one.

I Became A Christan And All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt by Vince Antonucci - The subtitle of this book is "Replacing Souvenir Religion with Authentic Spiritual Passion." Vince is also speaking at Whiteboard, which is another reason why I am stoked about this incredible conference. He and his church plant are literally storming the gates of hell seeking to reach people far from God. I am excited about the passion that I know will be flying off the pages of this book.

So there ya' go. They're fresh in from Amazon and waiting to be cracked open. Who knows...One might even be my companion on my flight to D.C. next week...

The Whiteboard Sessions...

I absolutely cannot wait for this. A week from tomorrow, Johanna and I are flying to Washington D.C. to attend the Whiteboard Sessions, which are on May 22nd. Whiteboard is a billed as a conference that includes "1 Day, 8 Influential Leaders, 30 Minutes Each." It's from the brain of this guy and it is going to be an incredible day of stretching, learning, growing and being challenged. I cannot wait to hear from some of the top ministry leaders in the church today! It is going to be awesome...And to top it off, I'll get to meet some blogger friends and put real, personal people with some of the blogs I read...
Please pray for us as we attend this conference. We both think that it is going to be life-altering for us and we want to be able to be stretched and hear all that God has in store for us.

Mom....

Happy Mother's Day Mom! I hope that everyone who reads this has already taken time to call your mom today and wish her a Happy Mother's Day. When it comes to godly women in my life, I have, without a doubt, won the lottery. My grandmothers were incredible women who invested so much in who I am. My mom has poured so much love and support into me. She has shown me time and again what it means to be a Christ-like servant. And my wife is an amazing woman who loves Jesus with all that she is and who is an incredible partner in ministry. When I think about how these godly women have poured into my life and how they've influenced me, I am so thankful for these blessings from God.

In honor of Mother's Day, check out this video by the Skit Guys...Happy Mother's Day to all you moms!

I Wanted To Do "Hoodrat" Things...

Latarian Milton took his grandma's car on a joy ride. The problem? He's only 7 years old. My brother and I found this video online last weekend and it's been making the rounds...Check it out and listen to some of the stuff this kid says. Crazy.

Committee Meetings...

Had a two hour meeting tonight with one of our new building committees...We just purchased an old grocery store and are looking at rennovating it, with it's primary use being student ministry. Let me just say this: The meeting was good and very beneficial. There are some fantastic people in this group who provided a lot of great ideas, making it one of the more productive meetings I have been in lately. With all that said, I still hate committee meetings...So in honor of all of you share my hatred of meetings, here is a "demotivational" poster from the people at Despair, Inc.

More on Vision...

I've been doing a lot of thinking and reading about vision lately. As a leader and pastor, it is imperative that I am able to seek, understand, and communicate the vision that God has for my ministry, His church, and His people. The Bible clearly states that where there is no vision, people perish. They literally die from lack of vision.

One of the guy's who is motivating and inspiring me most in this area is Perry Noble, pastor of Newspring Church in Anderson, S.C. I've been reading his blog for a few months now and he has some incredible things to say about vision and leadership.

Check out his post about how to know if your vision is from God by clicking here. It's great stuff and well worth the few seconds it takes to read. Check it out!

The Weekend Update...

Johanna and I followed our long, tough week last week with a pretty busy weekend. We drove almost 1,000 miles this weekend so it was kinda crazy, needless to say!

• Around lunch on Friday we left Lockhart and headed to Houston. Our 3 year anniversary was last Wednesday so I suprised Johanna with a night on the town in Houston. We stayed at the Hyatt Regency in Downtown Houston and had an AMAZING dinner at the Spindletop...The food was awesome and they gave us free dessert for our anniversary! I am lucky to be married to such an absolutely incredible woman of God. To be able to serve alongside her and have her in my life is truly a gift from God. I love you babe!


• Saturday we slept in and then headed to Bridge City, TX. We stopped along the way in Baytown to see Jo's granma.


• We were headed to Bridge City for me to speak at CommonGround Community Church. My friend Brandon is on staff there and this is the third time we've got to be involved in what's God is doing there...If you live in the Golden Triangle Area, check this church out! They meet at the Bridge City Community Center @ 10:30 on Sunday mornings! Awesome people!


• Had a good ol' fish fry at Brandon's house on Saturday night once we got into town.


• Last night after driving home for almost 5 hours we got in the car and headed to Austin. Our good friend Daniel had his 21st birthday dinner at Trudy's. Good food, better friends, and some Starbucks afterwards made for a great night.


• That about wraps it up...I am preaching this weekend and next weekend here in Lockhart so it should lead to a couple busy weeks!

Too Spent For Words...

I've been in blog silence this week. It's because no matter how many times I've opened this up and tried to write something that would make sense it just won't come out.

My grandmother passed away Monday morning. It was sudden and unexpected. It has been a long time since I have felt this hurt and this numb at the same time.

I preached her funeral on Wednesday and did my best to sum up a life that has impacted me and many others far beyond words. I tried my best to honor someone who was my role model, my friend, my mentor, my advisor, my encourager, and my biggest fan.

Please pray for my family. Pray for my grandfather who lost his wife of 57 years, for my dad and mom, and for me & my brother and our wives. I know that we have a God who is a God of comfort and peace. He gives grace and strength in our time of need. And we are in need.

At some point, I'll try to put to words what an incredible legacy my grandmother left on this earth...But right now, I'm too spent for words...

"Free" Internet...

I spent the afternoon at a youth camp meeting with my friend Tom Cottar and his Youth Ministry associate Stephanie. We met at this pretty cool coffeehouse in Austin called Flipnotics. They advertise great coffee, a chill atmosphere, and "free" wifi. Personally, I prefer Starbucks on most days to other places...But the lure of free wifi has me broadening my horizons.

But here is the thing with the free wifi at Flipnotics. While it is free, there are so many stinking obstacles to get it. This is the third or fourth place recently where the "free wifi" has taken me a half hour to get to. First, I had to pick a username. Next, I needed a password. Oops - Go back and confirm the password. Now I have to agree to the terms and conditions of the LessNetwork and finally I can sign in...for 10 minutes. Then I have to confirm my email, logout and log back in before I can continue. Why all the obstacles, Flipnotics?

And that experience got me thinking. How many times do we do this with the gospel in our churches? How many obstacles have we put in the way of people coming to Christ?

The last couple weeks I've got to preach twice at our church. Both times were the simple, plain message of Jesus and the cross. Our target audience were those who have not yet began to follow Jesus. And as I prepared and tried to teach in a creative, engaging, relevant way I began to ask myself that question: What obstacles have we put in the way of people coming to Christ?

Jesus makes the way simple and plain. He did all the work on the cross. The Bible says that God only asks us to believe. He made the way simple because he knew the world would provide enough obstacles along the path. The church shouldn't be placing obstacles on the path too.

So here are a few questions to help us as we seek to remove obstacles that might hinder someone from taking that initial step to follow Christ in our church services:

• Are we teaching and communicating the message of Jesus in a language that is easy to understand? (Most unchurched people don't use words like salvation and repentance in everyday language...)
• Are we using the best methods and tools to communicate the message of Christ? Our world is a techonlogical one . We should use every tool and method we can to teach people who learn in a variety of ways. (When was the last time you went and listend to someone give a speech for 30+ minutes, except at a church?)
• Are we offering our BEST every week? Is it our best effort, our best energy, etc?
• Have we taken into consideration every aspect of a visitor's experience? What are we communicating from the moment the pull into the parking lot until they walk back to their car after the service?
• Do our people MODEL the love of Jesus? It does us no good to teach about a loving God if our church is not full of loving people who model that to others.
• Have we planned for Christ to change lives? Have our churches put significant planning into each service? Have we given proper time to the explanation of the gospel? Have we given proper time to invite people to respond?
• Have we created an atmosphere where our people feel comfortable bringing their unchurch friends and neighbors? The best tool to aid our members in sharing their faith and in seeing their friends come to know Christ is to give them the confidence and assurance that EVERY week will be a top-notch experience for their guests.

I've got some more thoughts on this later, but I'll save them for another post.

Preaching...

Tomorrow I get to preach in our church-wide worship services for the second time this month. I am EXCITED about sharing the love of Christ that can transform lives with all of our people and not just our students...Don't get me wrong. I LOVE our students and teaching them on a weekly basis. But preaching to the entire church gets me pumped up these days. I am preaching twice again next month at FLBC. I also get the cool opportunity to preach at a friend's church in Bridge City on May 4th. The church is Commonground Community Church and it is rockin'...If you're in the Bridge City area you should definitely check it out. I had the privilege to speak at Commonground a couple times last year and Johanna and I loved it. Great people who really want to impact their community and world with the love of Jesus in REAL, PRACTICAL ways.

All that to say this: I would love your prayers. Actually, I covet them. I understand what an incredible privilege and responsibility it is to teach God's word to people. And I know that when people pray for me it raises my teaching to a level that only God can take it to through the prayers of others. Thanks in advance for all the prayers!

MTV, Say It Ain't So!

Last night was the series finale of Rob and Big on MTV. After only 3 seasons they are calling it quits. Big Black became a father and moved out in order to move on with life...

If you remember, I rated this as the Top TV Show in my 2007 Year in Review. It was my absolute favorite and MTV ends it...MTV say it ain't so! I was just hoping it was a late April fool's joke during the whole episode last night, but it looks like the best show (with the best theme song) on TV is finished. I have this sick feeling in my gut that is reminiscient to when I found out that Cheers was going off the air...

Facing Our Fear(s)...

On Friday afternoon I listened to a guy tell a story about his son. He said that the family had recently been to the fair and his 6 year old son was to scared to ride the ferris wheel. That might be normal for a lot of kids. But here's what makes this situation odd...The kid had been on the ferris wheel before. As a 3 year old he rode it with his dad and loved it. But now he is afraid.

That got me to thinking about our fears. And I've come to this conclusion (as of now): Most of our fears are learned fears. We tell our children not to touch a hot iron because it is hot and it will hurt them. They become afraid of the iron. Thus, it's a learned fear. And this is not a bad thing because we don't want them to get burned...But how many of our learned fears are bad? How many of our fears that we've learned from others and from experience in life keep us from being who God wants us to be? How much of the fear in our lives that keeps us from following God full fledged is instilled in us through learning?

Over the past few days, I have been trying to examine my own life and see how many of my fears are learned. I think that far too many times people fail to follow God and take giant steps of faith because of fear...And unfortunately many of those fears are learned.

What about you? What do you think? Are there some learned fears that are keeping you from jumping on the ferris wheel of life and going on an incredible ride with your Father? If so, what are you going to do to unlearn those fears?

Lessons from Barbecue...

Okay...maybe this lesson wasn't from the barbecue itself, but rather the management of the restaurant. Either way I had a huge lesson reinforced this week by a good friend.

My friend Steve runs Black's Barbecue in Lockhart. He has done an oustanding job running the place, which offers some great food. Blacks also happens to be the oldest barbecue restaurant in the state of Texas.

Earlier this week I had lunch with Steve and he told me he was closing early that day. When I asked why he explained that he was closing at 5:00 to take his staff to a movie. Stop-Loss came out this week and a big portion of the film was shot in Lockhart, in the street in front of Blacks. To show his appreciation to his staff, Steve decided to shut down early and take them all to see the movie - snacks, popcorn, and sodas included.

Steve's idea for his staff reinforced a lesson for me. You can never over-invest or over-appreciate a good staff...If you have people who work for you, especially volunteers in ministry (which is the case for me), they ought to be continually encouraged and shown how much they are appreciated.

When people feel appreciated they will show more effort, sacrifice more, and realize they are a big part of the team. I try to make it a priority to tell my team that I appreciate what they do to serve and lead in our ministry. I also try to do tangible things to show them. It doesn't always have to be something big...The little things sometimes mean the most.

Who on your "team" needs to know how valuable they are? Who invests in your ministry or job that needs to know how much you appreciate them? Let them know they are a valuable part of the team and watch their effort and investment soar!

The Weekend (and week long) Update...

So it's been a week since my last blog. Last week and weekend were super busy. Just to catch you up to speed I'll hit the highlights.

• I preached last Sunday morning. I absolutely love to teach the Word so it's always a blast. But it means a lot more work so I had a really busy week.
• I got to baptize 5 students on Sunday! It was great. Over the last 6 weeks or so we've seen over 15 students come to Christ in our Student Ministry...It is AWESOME (in every sense of the word) to watch God work!
• Spent the weekend painting. Myself and a couple guys in our student ministry are painting a house for a couple in our church. I paint every know and then as a sort of side job, so making some extra money never hurts.
• Speaking of extra money, all of it, plus some more will go to my uncle next week...Uncle Sam that is...UGH!
• Johanna spent the weekend at a Mother/Daughter retreat with her mom, sisters, and nieces. From what I've heard she had a great time.
• Johanna came back in time to sing at church on Sunday. Her, Meredith, and Michael sang a great acoustic version of Barlow Girl's I Want You To Love Me.
• I've had forgiveness on the mind - We are talking about that in our series The Rock Cries Out tomorrow at our midweek student gathering. Our band is covering the song Sorry by Buckcherry...That will be cool.
• Is there someone in your life that you need to forgive? Or maybe some bitterness you need to let go of because someone has wronged you? Don't let bitterness build a barrier between you and God!
• Watched Hell's Kitchen earlier...I think I would have a blast hanging with Gordon Ramsay for a day!
• I'm out!

Disciple Now Recap...

Here, as promised earlier, is my recap of this past weekend's Disciple Now. It was a fantastic weekend for our student ministry. God is good and he showed that yet again this weekend...

Here are the highlights...

• David making the commitment to give his life to Jesus and follow Him! David YOU ROCK bro! I am praying for you. (Pray for David. His family is Buddhist and he has made the decision to follow Jesus with his life!)
• Saturday Night Worship Service - For the past two weeks we could sense God moving in our ministry...It's hard to explain, but we could just feel it. Saturday night was a culmination of the Spirit of God working in students' lives for weeks now...It was awesome to see God move in the lives of students.
• We have one of the most talented student worship leaders on the planet (and a fantastic band as well). It was great to hear what he shared with his group on Saturday night. "I know that I am called to use my music and talent to change peoples' lives for Christ." (That's a paraphrase, but close...)
• Our youth worker team going all out to show students the love of Christ. I am proud to work alongside you guys as we storm the gates of hell together!
• Mark McConkey (check him out here) rocked the worship all weekend long!
• Scott Venable (here) did an amazing job teaching the Word.
• Spending the weekend with our Group Leaders. Our team is made up of some of my closest friends on this rock called earth. Most of our group leaders were people who I've done life with for a long time. We've been on the mountaintops and in the valleys...And I suspect (or maybe I even know) that we'll be doing life together for a lot longer too...
• Overall, it was a great weekend in which God moved and did only what God can do...transform lives!

Vision...

There is one thing that any church, organization, or business simply cannot live without: Vision. Vision is the driving force behind the success of any organization. Unfortunately, there are thousands of churches across our world who seem to lack any real vision for what God has called them to be.

God's word is simple on this topic too: Where there is no vision, the people perish. That is pretty straightforward. God's word is plain to the point on the subject. The Message Bible puts it like this: If people can't see what God is doing, they stumble all over themselves; But when they attend to what he reveals, they are most blessed.

Vision comes from the top. It's the responisbility of the leaders of a church to understand the vision God has given for that local group of believers, to have the courage to follow that vision, and to cast the vision for people to follow as well.

Perry Noble, pastor of NewSpring Church in Anderson S.C., posted an absolutely off-the-chain critique of churches and vision last week. He gives his "15 Signs That Your Church Lacks Vision." If you are a church leader of any kind (or just involved in a church in some way), check it out here.

Blogging Silence...

This past weekend was our student ministry Disciple Now weekend. Those of you who know anything about how crazy Disciple Now's are and how much planning go in to them need me to explain my silence no further. Needless to say this past week has been insanely BUSY.

But it was all worth it...We had an INCREDIBLE weekend. It was amazing to see how God moved in the lives of our students. Lives were forever changed.

This week is another busy week. I am preaching in both services this weekend for the first time in a good while...I LOVE it, but it does mean a busy week.

I'm working on a D-Now recap post, but for now you'll have to settle for a peek at our logo...

Mars Hill Men Die...

Below is a clip from Mark Driscoll, pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle. Driscoll is always thought-provoking and challenging. He's made some strong stands on his expectations of men, specifically pastors and the men of his church. You can read (and watch another video) some of his opinions about how a church ought to treat pastors' wives here. Got thoughts on the subject? Feel free to comment away...

Maturity = Immaturity...

There is a great post on this concept over at Tim Stevens blog. You can read it here. The post is originally from Mark Beeson, pastor of Granger Community Church. GREAT stuff! It's a short post and probably takes less than two minutes to read. So check it out and let it provoke your thoughts...

Dook Is Gone...

I know this is a little late, but one of my highlights of the weekend (besides that whole Easter thing) had to be West Virginia knocking the Dook Blue Devils out of the NCAA Tournament. Now, if my Tarheels pull off the championship it will be one of the greatest tourney's ever...A Tarheel Championship and a Dook exit before the Sweet 16! Here is a photo from the West Virginia game, showing Joe Mazzula, the backup point guard for the Mountaineers outjumping Sheyer, Nelson, and Smith from Dook, who just all happened to be McDonald's All-Americans. Not only did the Mountaineers beat dook on the court, but they talked a lot of smack after the game. You can read about it in this article here. Lot's of good basketball this weekend...I hope the tourney continues to provide us with this level of entertainment...

Guitar Hero Addicts...

For all the Guitar Hero addicts out there, you've got to check out this article here. It's "10 Signs You May Like Guitar Hero Too Much" and it's full of crazy accessories for the ultimate addict. You can find everything from a Guitar Hero caribiner that allows you to play a mini-game on the go to gig bags and react pedals for your guitar...But beware - You could end up so addicted that you become a Guitar Hero Air Guitar Rocker.

It's Friday, But Sunday's Comin'...

Here is a clip of S.M. Lockridge's famous sermon, "It's Friday, But Sunday's Coming." Tony Campolo is also well known for quoting this sermon and using it as an illustration...The video is set to scenes from the Passion of The Christ. I hope it helps you reflect on this Good Friday and Easter weekend. I know it was good for me to see...

Thank You Jesus...

There was nothing attractive about him, nothing to cause us to take a second look. He was looked down on and passed over, a man who suffered, who knew pain firsthand. One look at him and people turned away. We looked down on him, thought he was scum. But the fact is, it was our pains he carried—our disfigurements, all the things wrong with us. We thought he brought it on himself, that God was punishing him for his own failures. But it was our sins that did that to him, that ripped and tore and crushed him—our sins! He took the punishment, and that made us whole. Through his bruises we get healed. We're all like sheep who've wandered off and gotten lost. We've all done our own thing, gone our own way. And God has piled all our sins, everything we've done wrong, on him, on him. He was beaten, he was tortured, but he didn't say a word. Like a lamb taken to be slaughtered and like a sheep being sheared, he took it all in silence. Justice miscarried, and he was led off—and did anyone really know what was happening? He died without a thought for his own welfare, beaten bloody for the sins of my people. They buried him with the wicked, threw him in a grave with a rich man, even though he'd never hurt a soul or said one word that wasn't true. Still, it's what God had in mind all along, to crush him with pain. The plan was that he give himself as an offering for sin so that he'd see life come from it—life, life, and more life. And God's plan will deeply prosper through him. Out of that terrible travail of soul, he'll see that it's worth it and be glad he did it. Through what he experienced, my righteous one, my servant, will make many "righteous ones," as he himself carries the burden of their sins. Therefore I'll reward him extravagantly—the best of everything, the highest honors—Because he looked death in the face and didn't flinch, because he embraced the company of the lowest. He took on his own shoulders the sin of the many, he took up the cause of all the black sheep. - Isaiah 53 The Message

I hope you'll take some time today to reflect on what it really took to free us from the trap of sin. My prayer is that each of us will realize that the grace and love Jesus freely offers us, had a very high price for Him.

Let The Madness Begin...

Today is the day millions of basketball fans have been waiting for all year. Today the madness begins. Well, if you count the "play-in" game the NCAA Tournament really kicked off on Tuesday night, but today is when all the real action starts.

Opening day has already provided us with some great basketball. It almost even provided me (and millions of other Tarheel fans) with the best day of 2008, when Belmont almost beat Dook. If the dookies had lost to a #15 seed that would have definitely made my month...

Just in case you were wondering, my pick for National Champs is my UNC Tarheels. I have them picked in every bracket I've filled out and not just because their my team. I really think they have the best chance to win it all. My final game pick - UNC 87 and UCLA 78. I wouldn't be suprised to see Texas in their for UCLA with the same outcome. Let the madness begin...

Did Anyone See The Bus...

Did anyone happen to see that bus that ran me over? Ok, maybe there wasn't a literal bus, but I sure feel like it...I woke up this morning and my throat felt terrible. I can't remember the last time it felt this bad without me speaking the day or night before. Then I spent most of the day standing outside in the rainy weather with one of my students while he was waiting to try out for Nashville Star. Don't get me wrong...We had a lot of fun. But I don't think it did my throat or allergies or whatever this is any favors.

Tomorrow night we kick off a new series at the Attic that I am PUMPED about! It's called The Rock Cries Out and it's all about finding the truth of God in modern music. We'll be looking at a popular rock song each week and seeing how it relates, both positively and negatively, to some stories in the Word of God. It's gonna be great! Our band is covering some Nickelback so students, you do NOT want to be late! We also have another youth group joining us tomorrow night...So it is a big night. And I need to feel a lot better. Please pray for me! I think I am gonna' watch the rest of this NCAA play-in game from bed and then call it a night. Maybe that will help...

Blogging Silence and Exhaustion...

So it's been awhile since my last blog and there's good reason. That's where the exhaustion comes in. I spent all of last week on a mission trip in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area with a group of students from our ministry. We left Lockhart on Sunday and spent the week serving in various ways at Mission Arlington. If you have never heard of Mission Arlington/Mission Metroplex you can check them out here. It is an incredible ministry in the metroplex area that really is seeking to be Jesus with skin on to the people of Arlington, TX and the greater metroplex area. The people there take seriously what it means to show the love of Christ to the world and it's been a blessing to be a part of their ministry and mission for the last several years. I have been on almost 20 trips to Mission Arlington and I can honestly say that EVERY TIME, I see God move. It's crazy what happens when we just simply obey and go...across the street, across the tracks, across the office or the lunchroom. Too many times as Christians we're really good at going all across the globe with the love of Christ, but we're not too good at going across the street in our neighborhood. That's one thing that Mission Arlington models. It was a fantastic week and our students did GREAT, but I am beat. We got home last week and then spent the weekend helping some friends paint/remodel their house. I spent all day at the office today and then went back over to our friends again for some more painting...I just walked in the door and I am spent! Tomorrow I've got a ton of stuff to do and I'm also taking one of our students to Austin to try out for Nashville Star...It should definitely be an interesting day. I'll be getting back in the blogging groove this week, so check back for more...

THE Game...

I'm sitting in my living room getting ready to watch THE game. My UNC Tarheels vs. the Dook BlueDevils. And just so you know, I HATE Dook. Here are a couple pics I found online in honor of the big game:

GO HEELS!!! BEAT DOOK!!!

The Last Lecture...

I saw this video a couple months ago...It's pretty moving stuff. Check it out. It brings up a pretty good topic. What message do you want to leave with your life? What would you say if you could give one speech to the people in your life that mean the most? If you knew you had a limited amount of time left on this planet, what message would you want to leave behind? Feel free to comment...

The Weekend Update...

This weekend was crazy-fun. One word wouldn't do so I had to actually make up a new word it was such a blast. I was in Austin on Thursday morning running some errands for the church and I got a call from a couple friends of mine. These two guys are actually some of my closest friends in the world and happen to be fellow youth pastors too. Johanna and I go to conferences with them and their wives each year and always have a blast.

So Jason and James call me up and tell me there coming in to Austin to watch the Texas Girls State Basketball tournament. Some girls from Jason's church were playing and they had planned on staying with Jason's sister-in-law but she got sick. So Jason and James ended up spending the weekend with us from Thursday to Saturday morning. James' family even stayed with us on Friday night. The three of us caught a couple of the basketball games and got in 9 holes of golf on Friday morning.

On Saturday, Jaron, one of my former students and good friends, and I drove to Columbus to meet my brother for some golf. We spent a few hours playing golf and then grabbed lunch before heading home. We had a blast!

Yesterday was filled with church stuff...band practice, game night, meetings, etc. Overall, the weekend was a blast. Jo and I love having people in our home so it was great...And I can't remember the last time I laughed as hard as I did hanging out with all these people all weekend...Great friends, great family, good times.

"I Think She May Be Hurt..."

Buble Was KILLER...

I'll admit it. I was skeptical, at best. I made a lot of jokes about Michael Buble and his music to a couple guys I know who are big fans. I even jokingly offered my ticket to several people to go to his concert in my place...But I knew it would be a great time with my wife so I thought I would endure the concert in order to spend some quality time with Johanna.

And I was wrong. The Michael Buble concert last Wednesday night in Austin was killer. He is so much more than a singer. He's a comedian, an actor, and in one word - an entertainer...And a very good one at that! This is off his website:

Bublé spent the months his parents were away with his music-loving Italian grandfather, who introduced him to the singers who would become Bublé’s idols: Bobby Darin, Dean Martin, Sinatra, Ray Charles, and Elvis Presley. “These guys were triple threats,” he says. “They could sing, they could dance, they could act. They were entertainers, and I believe that’s a lost art now.

The concert was one of the best live music events I've ever been to. Great music and even better entertainment. Here are some of the highlights:

• Naturally Seven as the opener. Check these guys here. Really cool stuff called instrumentation.
• Buble's sense of humor. The guy is hilarious.
• The Encore - Buble came out for an encore song and at the end he cut the band off, had his piano player play softly and sang the last chorus without ANY amplification. No mic at all. And his voice filled the Erwin Center.
• Buble's rendition of "Home" with various clips of Texas and Austin on the screen in the background. A guy walked out of the crowd and tossed his cowboy hat to Buble during the song, which he wore as he finished it up. Check it out in this video:

Like I said, I went in as a skeptic, but I came out a fan. Next time Michael Buble comes back to Austin, I'll be there.

Practicing What I Preach...

Last night I practiced what I preach. And at times that is a lot harder than you might imagine...I constantly share with our students and our adults that our priorities in life should be this:

1. God
2. Family
3. Ministry
4. Other Stuff

That's really easy to tell other people. It's a lot harder to live out...And to be honest, there are times where I don't do a very good job of it.

But last night wasn't one of those times. I took the evening off from our mid-week student gathering. Wednesday nights are our biggest weekly event and the one night where I usually lead and teach. But last night I left a great group of our adult and student volunteers in charge and put my family first.

For Valentine's Day I gave Johanna tickets to the Michael Buble concert in Austin that was last night. Going into the concert I admit that I wasn't a fan (more on that later). In fact, I was a bit synical...But it was something I knew my wife would LOVE and so it was of the utmost importance to me.

So last night I put into practice the things I preach. My family is far more important to me than my ministry. Period. Even though I might struggle with my time management in this area at times, my family is first. If I am not the Christian husband that Christ has called me to be, then my ministry is in vain...And I think it is a great lesson for our students to see me live out those values. Plus, I got to see a pretty sweet concert with the love of my life...Ya' can't beat that!

Lickable Ads - More Great Marketing...

Here is some more great, creative marketing. Welch's recently unveiled their new "Lickable Ads." So long to scratch and sniff flavors or the smells of perfume. Now you can taste the product right off the page. Here's a description:

Similar to perfume ads that have panels you pull back to offer a hint of the fragrance, Welch’s is launching tabs in this month’s edition of People magazine in the form of a one page print ad that let the customers peel to taste.

Check out the full article here.

Iphone Madness...

I just read an article about Abilene Christian University's new policy to provide all incoming freshman students with an Iphone...Crazy! Check out the story here.

Integrity...

Integrity. According to Merriam-Webster integrity is a firm adherence to a code of especially moral values or the quality or state of being complete. In the words of my good friend and college roomie David Brown (check him out here) integrity occurs when you come to a stoplight at 2 AM in the morning and there is no camera, no police, and no one else around. In his words, "integrity stops anyway." Over the past few weeks I've noticed that the topic has come up over and over again in conversations. In conversations like the one below, that I had last week with a T-Shirt company here in town. I was ordering some shirts and the lady I usually deal with was busy so she asked her boss to help me. Here's the convo:

Lady: Can you help Nic? I am busy.
Boss: Sure. Come take a seat at my desk Nic.
Lady: And be sure and give him a great deal...He's one of our best customers.
Boss: Ok.
Lady (To Boss): He works at that church and he's a nice guy...and they actually pay their bill on time.
Lady (To Me): You'd be surprised at how many churches don't pay us on time!

Wow. Real ministry cannot happen without integrity. And integrity cannot be bought. It cannot be faked. Authentic integrity can only be earned...by living a consistent witness to who Jesus is. Integrity is HUGE when it comes to reaching others with the love of Christ. It gives credibility to our message and earns us the opportunity to be heard...

How is your integrity? Are you the same person in the crowd as you are behind closed doors? When you come to a stoplight at 2 AM and no one is around, what do you do?

You Are God...

I got the privilege to be in a couple worship services where Charlie Hall was leading worship back in the fall. He has an incredible God-given ability to lead people into worship. This is one of his songs on the new Passion CD "God of This City"...Great lyrics. The new Passion CD is solid stuff...If you haven't heard it yet, check it out. Here are the lyrics to "You Are God" by Charlie Hall:

You’re closer than our troubles
More present than any danger
More grand than gold and silver
You are God, You are God

You’re the joy of man’s desire
You are Father, satisfier
We are stunned with wide-eyed wonder
You are God, You are God

You fill our hearts with love and faith
You fight for us, You make us brave
You are God, You are God.

You walk with us, You lead us on
Faith, hope and love wakes up with dawn
You are God, You are God

Talent...

I have been in student ministry for around 12 years now...Just typing that sentence makes me feel EXHAUSTED! But over the years I have had the privilege to serve some incredibly talented students. Several of those students are now adults who are serving in churches and plugged in to ministry in various ways...And that's what it really is all about - making disciples who make disciples...

Right now I have the privilege of serving with some incredibly talented students, specifically in the area of worship and music...We've got two guys who rotate leading worship for our mid-week student gathering...And they are super talented. Michael is gonna' be the next American Idol and you name the instrument and Austin can own it...You guys ROCK! Thanks for being willing to serve God and serve others by using the incredible talent that he's given you...

Accused...

Anytime I'm driving and I see a cop car I automatically hit the brakes. Regardless of whether I'm speeding or not, that is my initial reaction - every time - without exception. And anytime a policeman or highway patrolman is following me I feel like I have to watch my every move - like they know of some random law that I have never even heard of and are just waiting on the right moment for me to mess up so they can hit the lights and write the ticket. Do you ever feel that way?

Late last week and during the weekend I was struggling. Every now and then I let the devil get the best of me with his accusations. I allow the accuser to bring up mistakes and mess ups from my past that are long gone...And I lose focus and begin to feel accused. I know that the sins have been forgiven and I know that the mistakes are in the past. I am fully confident that Jesus has not only forgiven me but removed those sins as far as the east is from the west...But I still let the devil win sometimes...It's kind of like driving with a guilty conscience just because you've got a speeding ticket in the past.

But the cool thing about God is he knew stuff like this would trip us up. He knew we'd have these days...So he talked about it in his Word. There is this cool story in John 8 where these religious nuts and community leaders bring a woman whose been caught in the act of adultery to Jesus. They throw her in front of Jesus, treating her like the trash that they believe she is. After all, she's nothing but a sinner, right? They demand that Jesus respond to her sin and deal with her accordingly. And the cool thing is, he does. He looks the guys in the face and tells them that if they can honestly say that they are without sin, then feel free to judge this woman and even stone her. But Jesus knows they don't stand a chance. He knows they're just like the rest of us and have messed up time and time again...After her accusers drift off one by one, Jesus looks at the woman and says these words: "Woman, where are your accusers? Does no one condemn you?" She responds by saying, "No one." And then Jesus tells her this: "Neither do I. Go and leave your life of sin."

Jesus was far more concerned with where her future was headed than with where her past had been. He was more focused on the change that would take place in the woman rather than the times she had messed up in the past...

What a great reminder for those days when the devil acts like the accuser and trys to make us lose our focus and passion by bringing up our mistakes from the past. In God's eyes, it has been dealt with. There's no need to go through life driving like your guilty when your ticket's been paid for, taken care of, and completely removed from the system...So the next time you're feeling accused by things from your past, realize the source of the accusation and then turn your focus to the One whose dealt with your past and still has great plans for your future...

My Partner...

I'm blessed to have tons of great people in my life. I have the best friends in the world. I have a great group of friends in ministry who help challenge me and keep me accountable - even if we live hours from each other. I've got friends and former students who've been in the trenches of life and ministry with me. I know that I can trust them and that they've got my back. I've got a fantastic family that believes in me and has poured themselves into making me who I am. But I've got one person in my life who is my partner.

Webster's dictionary defines a partner as one who shares life with another. Today, on Valentine's Day, I just want to say a public thanks to my partner - my incredible wife Johanna.

You are amazing. Thank you for listening to all my rants and crazy thoughts...Thank you for being a listening ear when I need to vent. Thank you for encouraging me when the world, or those not supposed to be of the world, have beat me down. Thank you for believing in me and my ministry when it seems that all others have fallen by the wayside. Thank you for hearing some of my crazy ideas and just shaking your head affectionately...I've said it before - God has called us to a crazy, insane, incredible ride in following Him. I'd rather share my journey with no one else. I love you babe...

Fantastic...

I absolutely love fresh, new, outside-the-box creativity and marketing. One of my favorite new sites that keeps an eye out for all things fresh, new, and hip around the globe is here.


I honestly think that the church, in most cases, is light years behind our culture in marketing and creativity. We have the absolute best message in the world. But there are times when that message is presented in the most plain, dull, boring, old, traditional ways. And when that happens we do a great disservice to Jesus and his incredible, revolutionizing, life-changing message...But that is a soapbox that I can easily climb atop, so I'll stay away from it for now...


Here are a few cool ad pics from the link above. You've got to appreciate the creativity and freshness of this stuff. Check it out...



A Casino Advertisement in an Airport:

A Harley Davidson Ad:

Denver City Marketing Campaign to encourage people to conserve water usage:

Temptation...

I must confess that I am a not-so-recovered reality TV addict. I used to watch every reality TV show a few years ago, regardless of it's entertainment value...and definitely regardless of it's contribution to society. There was this one show called Temptation Island. Basically, the premis of the show was to place couples in a resort island setting, divide the couples into groups of guys and girls, and then bring in 20 members of the opposite sex to tempt them, party with them, and do everything - and I mean everything - they could to destroy the pre-existing couples' relationships.

And that is what temptation does, really. Temptation, if followed through on, leads to our destruction. When the devil tempts us, his desire is not to cause us to have a bad day. His plan is not to cause us to stumble or to make a little mistake...He desires to destroy us. He wants to bring us destruction and death.

But here's the deal: We like to dance with temptation. We like to get as close to sin as we can. We want to know how close we can get without it "officially" being a sin. We all struggle with our flesh and it's desires to dance with temptation. So we toe the line and get as close to sin as we think we can...And then we wonder why we continually stumble and fail.

The apostle Paul addressed this in a letter to his young friend Timothy. He told him to RUN AWAY from tempation...He literally screamed at him to run from temptation and toward righteousness.

What are you doing to run away from temptation? It's so easy to go through life dancing with temptation and then wondering why you continue to struggle and fail in following Christ...Here's some advice we can all use when it comes to dealing with temptation: Set some boundaries. Get some accountability. And when the devil comes knockin', run away...

The Weekend Update...

Johanna and I spent Thursday evening through Sunday in Georgetown as Disciple Now Leaders at FBC Georgetown. My good friend Brett Levy is the Youth Pastor there. I spent the weekend playing cards until 3:00 AM, getting shot with paintballs, and loving on some teenagers...It was a great weekend and we had a blast, but I am exhausted from the lack of sleep. I love these weekend events, but there are times - like yesterday and today - that I feel way to old to be hanging out with students all weekend long...But when you see the end results of a weekend like that - students lives being changed by the love and grace of Christ - you know it's worth it!

One of the cool things about this Disciple Now is that Brett uses several of my former students as leaders. It is incredible to see these students that we poured so much into when they were teenagers using their lives to serve the kingdom...I believe that far too often our students graduate from our student ministries and also graduate from God...I'm thankful that we have a number of students who've left our youth ministry days and are now using their lives to love God and love people...They understand that church is not a building or a program, but a lifestyle and a people.

So not only did we get to spend the weekend loving students and sharing God's love with them, but it was also a family reunion of sorts...It's always a blast to get together with these former students and sharing life again...I even think that's what the New Testament leaders had in mind as they started this thing called church...

Amazed (My 200th Post)...

I have been milling over this specific post in my head for a couple days now. Not this actual written blog, but the fact that it is my 200th blog post. I'm really not sure if anyone outside my immediate family and a few close friends read this thing, but I still enjoy it so I've kept at it...For the past couple days I have been wanting to make this a great post since it is a milestone being number 200 and all...I've thought about humorous stories, catchy graphics, and deep thoughts. And I could not come up with anything that fit.

But God did. God provided me with something amazing to blog about...Actually, I am sure that what God did had nothing to do with my blog, but I get the joy of sharing it anyway. Yesterday I asked you all to pray for our students tonight as we presented the gospel in a very plain and understandable way. I asked you to pray that God would literally bring light into dark places. And guess what? He did! We had 6 students accept Christ tonight and begin their journey as Christ-followers! God literally changed lives and changed eternity forever for 6 students tonight...And we won't know until we get to heaven how much the kingdom of God will be changed because of what happened tonight. If you are one of those students, know that I am so happy for you, proud of you, and PUMPED about what God has done and is going to do in your life!

But here is the crazy thing to me - it still amazes me. I asked God to change the lives of students - to use tonight to convince students of his love and his grace for them. Our youth workers prayed for the same thing. I asked you to pray that He would bring light into dark places. And then after we ask, we are blown away that he does it. I think I should expect him to by now...

I was talking with one of our youth workers after the service and we were celebrating how great God is and I said, "I don't know why we are surprised. God loves these students far more than we do." And that is the truth. God loves our lost friends and neighbors far more than we ever could. I hope that you will continue to pray for our students. I also hope you'll pray that God would use you - in the lives of your neighbors, family, and friends - to bring light into dark places. Wow. God is good.

Assured...

Tomorrow night we are starting a new series at the Attic called Assured: Having A Confident Faith in a Blurry World. It's a study of the book of 1 John and it's all about the identifying marks of a Christ-follower. In a world that is in constant change, how do we live in such a way that we know, without a doubt, that we are following Christ and living for the kingdom? How do we live ASSURED of the faith we claim to follow?

Pray for our students tomorrow night. We're talking about forgiveness and how Jesus made the sacrifice for our sins. For some of our students, this night could be bigger than life-changing...It could be eternity-changing...We have several students on the verge of beginning their walk as believers and we are praying that tomorrow night God will use his Word to bring life to dead places. Join us in that prayer...

Ouch...

Found this over here. Great cartoon commentary on the church, life, ministry, and what it means to follow Jesus...

Super Bowl Recap...

I've read several game recaps...I won't go anywhere near saying that I saw this coming, but I'm sure not dissappointed that the Giants beat the Pats. I thought it was a pretty good game. Because of the low scoring nature, it wasn't the most exciting thing I've ever watched, but it was competitive and overall, a solid game. Check out my blogroll link Dbrown to see a live blog critique of the first half - good stuff. Below is a post I wrote on a friend's myspace page today that happens to be a Pats fan. He's also Red Sox fan and gives me a hard time when the Sox beat the Yankees, so turnabout is fair play:

Video Crew To Tape Jets Play Signals: $2,000 per game

Hiring Randy Moss to make Tom Brady look invincible: $3 Million

New Camera to Video The Rams Walkthrough in 2002 Super Bowl: $300

Losing Your Undefeated Season in The Super Bowl to A Team Led by ELI Manning: Priceless.

Only A Sorority Would Do Something Like This...

A friend of mine got invited to a Sorority Fundraiser to raise money for cardiovascular disease. The sorority is holding a benefit lunch for students to raise money and promote heart health awareness. Below is the actual description of the event on their invitation:

"Come enjoy an all-you-can eat barbeque lunch for only $5! In honor of Cardiac Care Month, Alpha Phi is holding a lunch benefit to raise money and raise awareness about cardiovascular disease. We can all help support cardiac health together! Invite your friends!!"

Un-be-lievable! Only a bunch of sorority girls would host an "all-u-can eat" greasy BBQ lunch in honor of Cardiac Care Month. Wow...