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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This Weeks Youth Group Adeventure

Let's begin with Tuesday Night, shall we? I'm being honest when I say I get more and more encouraged and excited when I get to teach/preach to these young folks. I am stoked when I get to share my life and the Word with them. This week, we began the series of "Serving With Eyes Wide Open". We've gone through this type of series, before, but this one is better, because it's Got a lot more Word in it. We're exploring the true meaning of service, what our motivations are and how we can Bring Jesus to the people of this world through our service....

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20-Somethings and Obama

*What's so BIG about Authenticity Pt. 2* I have read several times that Obama has won over the college aged and 20-somethings crowd. He's seeming to rake in this group of non-voters to not only vote, but vote Obama. I've also heard several reasons why. However, let me set the record straight. This may have been talked about, if so, it's important to reiterate, if not, it's important to understand. Why has Obama been able to pull this crowd of people in? Is it because they are politically dumb and see him as a "celebrity candidate"? NO!...

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What's so BIG about Authenticity? Pt. 1

The "emerging culture" today is all about authentic, real, honest and frank discussions. No more can Christians hide behind their "Christian-eize" (the language of Christians that uses words people outside the church don't understand). We must be open, honest and real with people. In fact, I believe that Christ has called the church to this type of authenticity since the inception of our faith. 1st John 1:5-2:14 shows us this truth. Where the...

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Jr. High this week...

Sorry for the "tardiness" of this post! I should've posted it yesterday, but I was working on my October 12th sermon all day because my brother and sister-in-law will be in town next weekend and I wanted to get it done (mostly anyways). ANYWAYS...this weeks Jr. High Youth Group was one of the best I've experienced in the last...IDK 4 weeks! Now, I didn't try to sit them down and have a lesson, but they still were more respectful, attentive and...

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Sr. High, this week...

Here was the ending of the theme for September, which was: Releasing Your Burdens. Marko was the man in charge of games for the evening and he put together an amazing game which was like scrabble, but different. What you did was take letters, cut them out and roll them into balloons which then you'd blow up. The two teams had to go, get the balloon, pop it, take the letters out and try to spell something on their "board". The team with the most words, with the most letters used won. Sad to say my team did not win :(. However, after the game,...

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