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.