The Seducing of God

Before I get burnt at the stake or heresy for saying God seduces, let me say this: God seduces, but not for fornication, rather for a deep, intimate love that can only be gotten after said seduction. You see, God desires us. He doesn't need us, we don't fulfill him, we don't (as Jerry Maguire puts it) "Complete Him" yet he still wants us to Himself. As I continue to walk the road of life, I see how God seduces, woos and calls me to Himself.One of the ways he seduces me is by conviction. I both love and hate it when I am convicted of my wretched...

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The American Patriot's Almanac

"Patriotism means "love for country." The word comes from the Latin pater, meaning "father." Loving your homeland is just as natural as loving your father or mother---after all, your country nourishes you, protects you and in many ways makes you who you are. Just as it's virtue to honor your parents, it's a good and admirable thing to honor the land you call home" (page vii).The above statement is in my opinion, the answer to "why this book?"...

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Year End Books!

This year was a year full of books for me and I wanted to share the great Christian/inspirational books I've read, as well as the fantastic fantasy books I've read!Great Christian/Inspiration books:Velvet Elvis- By Rob Bell (Zondervan)Sex God- By Rob Bell (Zondervan)To Own a Dragon- By Don Miller (NavPress)Searching For God Knows What- By Don Miller (Thomas Nelson)They Like Jesus, But Not The Church- By Dan Kimball (Zondervan)Wild Goose Chase- By Mark Batterson (Multnomah)The Shack- By William YoungVintage Jesus- By Mark Driscoll (Crossway)Confessions...

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Teens and Sexting

Teens and sexuality has been a topic for decades. The latest fad of teen sexual expression has been a fad that has been around for at least 2 years. SEXTING. I've been talking about this issue with my youth leaders for well over a year, and the problem has only grown. With the ease of text messaging, we've seen teens flocking to texting. You can text in school and not get caught, texting plans can be cheaper than regular plans and teens seem...

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A Swift Kick in the BUTT

Recently, I've been re-reading an amazing book titled: A Tale of Three Kings by Gene Edwards. I was told I needed to re-read it by a great friend and mentor, because he noticed that I could use the lessons the books teaches yet again. In total fairness, he's 100% correct. I was in the wrong on something and he called me out on it. I both hate and love it when he does this. I hate it because my biggest fear in life has been doing the wrong thing...

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The Eloquence of Words

I may be a geek, a dork a nerd or what have you but I love words! I love the way words can move you to the core, make you wet yourself with laughter or cry yourself to sleep. The power of words is astounding, horrifying and comforting at the very same moment.Words are used to illustrate, captivate and motivate. Words are simply powerful. We can't go a day separate from words, for if you don't speak, read, listen or watch...your very thoughts,...

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The Hardest Thing

Tonight was a very hard night...so hard in fact that I'm up at 12:17am writing this entry. Tonight Marko, my longstanding intern told our teens that this was his last Youth Group. There is no sin involved, no hard feelings and no punishment. Marko and I are on great terms and love and respect one another like brothers...this was just something God asked him to do. I respect Marko deeply, because leaving a ministry is the hardest thing. I remember back to when I was an intern and left my internship to take my job here at Living Christ Church....

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House of Dark Shadows: A Book Review

This book for me is a bunch of mixed feelings. First off, it's not my normal genre of reading, yet it definitely piqued my interest. Let me start with what I didn't like, then I will tarry down the road of what I liked. The author Robert Liparulo in my opinion works to hard to fit "teen-lingo" into this book. I am a Youth Pastor, so I hang out with teens A LOT and I believe they would agree with me on this point. The tee-lingo which was placed...

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Lone Warrior

Next to him was Eleazar son of Dodai the Ahohite. As one of the three mighty men, he was with David when they taunted the Philistines gathered at Pas Dammim for battle. Then the men of Israel retreated, but he stood his ground and struck down the Philistines till his hand grew tired and froze to the sword. The LORD brought about a great victory that day. The troops returned to Eleazar, but only to strip the dead. (2 Samuel 23:9-10) This is an...

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Ministering with Your Hands/Team

The Great Get-Away Pt. 4:*These next posts are simply interacting with Youth Ministry concepts given by Jason Ostrander* This is the final Great-Get Away blog installment. Jason during this weekend was showing us youth pastors/leaders the importance of the Word of God in Ministry, calling us back to what really matters and it was refreshing. It sounds interesting that a "pastor" had to be reminded of the power of God's Word and it's importance...

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Cultural Christianity Vs. Authentic Christianity

Definitions:Cultural Christianity: a moralistic, behavioral set of ethics that are put upon "followers of Christ" to determine whether or not they are good people that are going to heaven. More emphasis on how you look, and act than anything elseAuthentic Christianity: a relational, heart-drawn call to God, His Son Jesus Christ and a willingness to be lead by the Holy Spirit. A competent understanding of your own sinfulness and a desire to change your heart above all else. For years I have struggled with these two types of Christianity. When...

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The Truth About You

When I read the description for this book, I rolled my eyes. When I opened up the first chapter and read that I needed to watch a 22 minute video as a companion to the book, I got frustrated. Lastly, when I read I should write down stuff in a notebook (provided within the book), I got mad. Those are all things I typically don't do. However, for the sake of the review, I did them. The movie was decent, well shot and almost felt like a Nooma video...

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Ministering with Your MIND

The Great Get-Away Pt. 3:*These next posts are simply interacting with Youth Ministry concepts given by Jason Ostrander* Last "Great Get-Away" post, we talked about ministering to students with your heart, today is about your mind. Again, this weekend was transformational in how I approach ministry. Jason when he got to this segment really hammered us. The main thing I got out of this session was how much am I personally in the Word of God? ...

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Porn-Again Christian?

" Let's talk about Pornography and Masturbation"...not your great conversation starter, huh? All the sudden you get a lump in your throat. A hot, uncomfortable perspiration begins. A desperate attempt to become un-noticed comes over you, even if you are the life of the party.It's not easy, it's not fun and it can be embarrassing...yet it is VITAL! Teens don't get enough healthy sex-education today. They either get the legalistic NO because I...

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The Great Get-Away Pt.2

*These next posts are simply interacting with Youth Ministry concepts given by Jason Ostrander* This weekend was a rejuvenating time for me. I got the chance to get away, spend time alone and spend time with God. It has been one of the best experiences I've had as well as one of the best encounters with God I've ever had.This weekend, Jason Ostarander, the National Youth Director for the Christian and Missionary Alliance (long title anyone?) decided...

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The Great Get-Away

This weekend, I got away. I got away from my TV, I got away from my computer (I took it, but didn't bust it open ONCE), I got away from my Fantasy books (which I love reading), I got away from my house, I got away from my cat, I got away from my job and hardest of all, my wife wasn't there either. I took the plunge and went up to a place called Lake Champion for a Youth Leader (and Pastor) Retreat called Invigorate '08. It wasn't you're typical Youth Leader retreat, in that it wasn't all about the coolest curriculum, the best sermon, the niftiest...

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What is God doing?

You know that place where you are asking God for an answer and all you receive is a still silence? The place where your insides are screaming to know the answer to a dangerous question and God's silent? That frustrating "wait" moment that God places you in? Yeah...I'm there! In a previous blog titled Wished I Had and Ephod, I explained how I wished I had that mystical and Biblical device to discern God's will...and yes, I still wish I had one!The...

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A Challenge

Reading through my new Chronological Study Bible I've come into some new insights. I was challenged yesterday in a sermon done by Barry Jordan a missionary to Indonesia. He said yesterday that nothing has been more enlightening than reading through the life of Jesus over and over again or the last 19 years. He challenged his listeners to read through the life of Jesus: "Get to know Jesus" he said. This challenge was one I readily accepted. I've been studying Jesus a bit here and there, but reading through his life again and again was something...

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Review of: Chronological Study Bible

The new Thomas Nelson Chronological Study Bible is more than I expected. Swirling around the publishing date of this new Study Bible was much controversy. Many people were skeptical about it and I admit so was I. However, if you purchase this Bible, I think your skepticism will subside (mine has). I've been pouring myself into this Bible, wandering how long it would take me to review it. However, I can't approach this as if it were a normal fiction...

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Cleaning Your Cups

Today, I was listening to a sermon by Mark Driscoll. In this sermon, he was dialoguing about Matthew 23. When he got to verse 25, I needed to soak this in. Here's what it says:"Woe to you teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside o the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside will also be clean" (Matthew...

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The President-Elect

The long, arduous campaign is finally over. America has decided her new President, Barack Obama. It was a historic event, full of tears of sadness and of joy. All I can say at the end? Thank God it's finally over. This campaign was exhaustively long and seemingly drawn out. However, at last it is over.The question now goes forth as to "Where do we go from here?", and there are many answers to that question. Those who voted McCain can grow...

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Authenticity pt. 5

Most of my past posts have been on authenticity. Many of you have interacted with these posts, and I believe it is the heartbeat of this generation, a desire for intimate authenticity. Being authentic is NOT an easy thing, yet it is a truly amazing thing. I could tell you numerous stories of how I have not been authentic, how I've hidden behind a mask of false pretenses, judgment and secret anger. I could regale you with many stories of my hidden sin and how no one knew who I really was (and I will share many these and many more in my book)...because...

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Really Amazing

Last night, I received an amazing opportunity. I received an e-mail from Thomas Nelson that asked me to join their new blogger review group. It is a group designed for bloggers who can read and review books. Recently, I reviewed The Faith of Barack Obama and Through the Storm, two of their new books (you can read my reviews on this blog, just search them). These are books they chose to have us bloggers review, however with this new group, we the bloggers can pick and choose the books we desire to review! This is so amazing to me because it...

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God, the Shaker and Mover

God is TRULY doing a work in our Jr. High Youth Ministry! As you've read by my blog, the CRAZINESS that we've been experiencing has been a wild ride. However, I've learned to see that if you allow God to strengthen you during the wild ride, there is a HUGE payoff at the end! Before I give some great news about Wednesday Night, I want to give some background into our Jr. High Ministry as of late. This is probably the MOST attended youth night...

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What's so BIG about Authenticity? Pt. 4

One thing I've noticed about teenagers is that they can spot a "fake" person from a mile away. It's as if they have radar to sniff out a person posing. In the Church, this "fake" person motif is all to familiar. We say things like: "I'll pray for you brother" (and don't do it nor mean it). We see people acting different than they do at church in their homes, their jobs, and their schools. And I tell you that this fake face has become a negative pungent stench in the nostrils of today's youth. I will continuously quote UnChristian due to it's...

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The Cross Kills Lizards

At Living Christ Church, we've been doing a sermon series on the Cross. This past Sunday I preached a sermon in this series titled: The Cross Kills Lizards (Luke 9:22-25) Here is that serm...

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Arguments and Apologetics Pt. 2

This is the last installment of Arguments and Apologetics. Something I've found to be true is that we Christians are natural arguers. It's true! Say for example I say: "I am voting for Obama in this coming election. I feel McCain's policies are dumb and Obama's rock." This simple statement would be commented upon post-haste! I would have people asking me about my faith, people asking me how I can be a Pastor and vote for "a disgusting liberal". Literally I might be asked how I could be a CHRISTIAN if I voted Obama! Or for example, I say...

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On Being a Future Daddy

In late August, I found out I was going to be a Papa...but I had to keep it quiet until 2 days ago. This entry will reveal how I felt in the moment. My wife, Hilary comes out of the bathroom, holding the test and it says: "Pregnant" on the little digital screen. She kind of has this half smile, nervous laugh going on. I look at the little word and get super excited! I was like a monkey with sugar. I grabbed my cell phone and tried to take a picture...

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Through the Storm By Lynne Spears

Thomas Nelson Publishing Company has again given an AMAZING opportunity by giving out 200 free books to bloggers! I was among the lucky few and was asked to give a 200 word review of the book. Through the Storm is an amazingly touching book. I have to admit that I went into the reading very skeptical. I am a Youth Pastor and have seen TONS of bad press on Britney Spears and her family. However, I like all of America was only reading HALF of the...

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Arguments and Apologetics Pt. 1

Evangelism in today's American Youth Culture is dramatically different than it ever was. Apologetics, the way I was taught was more of a "debate and argue" format. Where one person (in this case the Christian) has the rebuttal to every possible question (which was said as "giving an answer to our faith"). I believe that in the "modern" era, this approach was incredibly effective. People just 20 years ago were looking for cold hard facts and when you could debate and give them facts that would repute an argument they were proposing...they were...

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What's so BIG about Authenticity? Pt. 3

Many of you reading this may know that I'm writing a book on the idea of Authenticity. I've written over 60 pages on it and hope to dribble a little bit out on my blog here for all of you to see. I believe that this idea is GIGANTIC for our teens today and of tomorrow, thus my writing a whole book about it. It all started back in September of 2007, when I did a sermon series with my Sr. High teens about it and the response was incredible! I've seen our teens embrace this authentic lifestyle and choose into it. Here is an excerpt from my forward...

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