his first "official"cold:(

For the last couple of days our son has been feeling a little icky. All night my little man coughed and had a stuffy nose. Around 2:00am he woke up crying and trying to breathe. It kind of freaked me out. Because it sounded like he was choking on his own snot. I quickly picked him up and he looked at me with his big brown eyes and smiled as if he was thanking me for not letting me choke on his snot. As I feed him he struggled to drink his bottle because of his stuffy nose. It was so hard seeing my little man struggle like that. Around 3:00am little man finally fell asleep...actually we both fell asleep on the rocking chair. I laid him down in his bed...thought out the night he moved so much. It seemed like he was so miserable there were times when he struggled to breathe which made me jump out of bed and make sure he was breathing. So we had a long night last night

On Tuesday morning we took little man to the doctors. We had a great visit but it was "official" little man's first cold. When we went to the docs he didn't have a fever the only symptoms he had was a bad cough and a stuffy but later that night the fever came and it was another long night. Anyway please pray for our son and for us to recover from a week of very little sleep.

is it a JOB or MINISTRY? pt.1

Easter 2007 I resigned from my full-time ministry position. Honestly, this was one of the hardest decision that I have ever made but I knew that it was the right move not just because it was the healthiest move for my family but it was definitely a God move. So the following week I found myself in position that I hadn't been in a long time...JOBLESS! Reality slapped me in the face...jobless, no income, a baby on the way, my wife on bed rest, and somewhat directionless.

I knew that God was for us and that He had our situation already worked out but when you are literally living one day at a time it's hard to remember that our destiny is already written. The one thing I was sure of was that I didn't want to walk into something because of fear or pressure. Whether a secular job or a ministry position I wanted to know that God Himself moved mountains to put me there and if I didn't see and sense that in my spirit I didn't want any part of it. Sounds impressive and strong but try telling that to a eight month first time mommy. SHE GIVE ME THE LOOK! Guys you know what I am talking about...the LOOK!

Although this was a very crazy time in our lives I knew that God was going to show up in a BIG way. After my son was born once again reality slapped me again. Not only did I have to provide for my wife but now we had a baby that was depending on us. Daddy mode went into over drive. I started to freak out...it had been one month with no job which means no income. But every time we had a bill it was paid, not once were we late on our house payment, we never missed a meal not even my dogs. God is so good and faithful.

During the months of June and July I was applying for different jobs and speaking when I got the opportunity. Honestly, I was getting frustrated and a little depress. I knew that God was in control but when every door that you try to open gets slammed in your face you begin to question anything.

Now it's the middle of July. I was searching the Internet for jobs at this point I was willing to do anything...well almost anything. I saw that Buckle at a mall near us was hiring. It looked great and promising so I got up dress and drove to the mall. This certain mall was familiar to me because five years before I worked there as a security officer. Anyway I met the manager had a great interview he wanted to hire me but he couldn't promise me the pay I needed and the hours I needed. I walked away a little disappointed but I knew God was doing something. After I left Buckles I went to visit a friend from my security days at the mall. I started to share my situation with my friend she looked at me and told me that American Girl was hiring for security. I had know idea who in the world American Girl was all I knew it sounded girly so I wasn't really interested. After I found out it was a doll company I really didn't want to work there, but my friend encouraged me to check it out. So I started to walk to the store space where they were hiring people but I bumped into another friend that worked on the maintenance staff. He asked me what I was up to, I told him that I was looking for a job. Suddenly he screams out "you got to work at American Girl". I told me that he would take to me to the manager so I jumped into his golf cart and we headed to the American Girl store.

I KNOW THIS IS LONG BUT I AM ALSO AT THE END!!!

So my friend introduce me to the manager. Let me put it in the simplest way I can say it...3 months my way...1 hour God's way. In one hour I got a job that I was not looking for but God knew that I needed. My new employer gave me the pay that I asked for, they gave me the days I wanted to work, and they worked with my schedule so I could teach at a Christian school during the morning. In one hour I went from jobless to gainfully employed. The question now is was this just a job or something more?

how do you measure success?

I have been thinking about this question alot lately. The thought of being successful makes people do crazy things some times. Usually when people think of success they think of arriving at some kind of status in their career. Attaining the corner office with windows, making serious money, having a title, and even getting a parking space with your name on it. In short power, money, and position.

Now being successful isn't a sinful thing or something we should run away from but I believe it's how we view and define success that will determines if we TRULY become successful in life

Matthew 6:33 says, "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well".

This is the blue print to a successful life. Jesus made it very clear if we want a truly successful life we must be kingdom seekers. In other words when God's priorities become our priorities we will see success in every area of our lives in our marriages, in our families, in our relationships, in our ministries, and even in our basic needs.

It's time to measure success differently so stop measuring yourself to the church down the street or to that Pastor across town and start becoming kingdom seekers.

A Divine Yes

Once again Bil Cornelius wrote an awesome post that I thought you had to read. I pray that you enjoy it.

“and He is the Divine Yes…” 2 Corinthians 1:19 NLT

Having a Divine Yes, an affirmation of what you are all about makes a “no” that much easier to give. Have you ever felt pulled in too many directions? The answer is not just saying no, but doing “no.” Doing no means that you say no and give it no more thought. If you say no to something other than God’s best but then are consumed with guilt, or worse the “drama” that follows from people who don’t get it, then even though you gave a “no” you are living the “yes,” which is a predisposition to please others rather than your highest calling which is devotion to God.
You cannot put your focus into making sure everyone understands you. Where your greatest passion lies…that deserves your highest attention, your most passionate pursuit without apology. Give your highest call your time and attention.

Top List of Sayings that Motivate

Just read a top ten list of sayings that Mark Batterson put out along with some other amazing people and one saying that I personally created and love saying I thought you would like to read it. Enjoy!

#1 Don't let what's wrong with you keep you from worshipping what's right with God
#2 There are ways of doing church that no one has thought of yet
#3 The greatest freedom is having nothing to prove
#4 Live as if today is the first day and last day of your life--Fredrick Buechner
#5 Criticize by creating--Michelangelo
#6 Irrelevance is irreverence
#7 The healthiest, happiest and holiest people on the planet are the people who laugh at themselves the most
#8 The church ought to be the most creative place on the planet
#9 Stop living as if the purpose of life is to arrive safely at death
#10Lovepeople with they least expect it and least deserve

A few honorable mention:

#11 Your best thought about God on your best day falls 13.2 billion light-years short of how great and how good God really is!
#12 It's not about what you can do for God. It's about what God has done for you.
#13 God wants you to get where God wants you to go more than you want to get where God wants you to go!
#14 The greatest message deserves the greatest marketing
#15 Go after a dream that is destined to fail without divine intervention
#16 "There are no great things, only small things done with great love." - Mother Theresa"
#17 Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of wise men, instead, seek what they sought." - Matsuo Basho"'
#18 How?' is not a question that keeps people up at night or gets them up in the morning." - Chris Erdman"
#19 He who has a 'why' can endure any 'how'." - Friederich Nietzsche"
#20 Jesus didn't so much practice what he preached as preached what he practiced" - Steve Chalke"
#21 Creativity is the natural result of spirituality." - Erwin McManus"
#22 If they want me to believe in their God, they'll have to sing me better songs... I could only believe in a God who dances." - Frederich Nietzsche
#23 "It's never too late to be who you might have been"
#24 "You become what you worship"
#25 "We aren't human beings, we are human becomings"
#26 "Do or do not... there is no try" - Yoda

and finally my personal favorite saying:

If your dreams don't scare you, you're not dreaming big enough yet! - Gabe Trevino

Stealing People...

Okay this is going to be a ranting and raving blog if you don't like don't read it...

For those of you who have ever left a church and decided to stay in the same community and plant a new church how many of you have ever been accused of "stealing people". We in the church use a fancier word "proselytizing". I knew that when we decided to stay where we have been for the last five years and plant a church it would eventually tick some people off. After a phone call that I received today I believe the ticking off officially started. Even though the conversation was friendly it still amazes me that the people that I ministered to for nearly five years would ask me if I was "stealing people". "Stealing people" that sounds so stupid and childish!!!

First of all, people don't belong to us they belong to God. I'm not trying to sound super spiritual about this I just want the church to stop looking at people like trophies and begin to see the real needs of people. The people in our community need a real God to come to their rescue. But how will they ever see, how will they ever hear about this real God when all that the "leaders" of the church do is accuse the next church in town of "stealing people". For the love of God grow the heck up! Image what would happen if the church began to WORK TOGETHER to met the needs of the people in our communities. What a concept...

Second for you Pastors, don't leave the community that you have invested you life into unless God himself tells you to move. Read this very carefully Pastor you have been called by God and not by man. Stop letting the people around you dictate your destiny. First of all if anybody has a problem with you they need to STOP talking to everyone else (which is called gossip) and come talk to you about their concern (read Matthew 18) if they don't let God deal with them and move forward. Don't lower yourself to their level. Don't allow what they are saying about you distract you from your destiny I promise you your Heavenly Father has your back!!!

Finally for you trophy collecting churches maybe if people are leaving your church that might be an indication that something is wrong. I know that we would all like to believe that our church is perfect and is the only church that God moves in but I got some bad news for you God can and does move in a lot of different churches. Here's the thing people want strong leadership. They want leaders with a vision and a back bone and if they don't get it they will go find it!

So stop blaming everyone for the issues that you are having at your churches! Maybe it's time to reevaluate if your church is relevant and is meeting the needs of the people in your community. It's time to grow up!!!

Church In A Box Rocks!

This morning I went to a GREAT church! The Life Church is in Cumming Georgia and meets at Silver City Elementary. I have visited several different churches in the last couple of months but I have not visited a church meeting in a school yet so I didn't know what to expect. Let me tell you I was totally impressed with the passion of the Pastor, with the commitment of the people,and with the vision of the church.

A great friend of mine told me about this Pastor and church. Last week I was sharing with him my heart and vision for our church. He told me that I had to met with Pastor Hal Hardy at The Life Church. I so called him up and met a new friend. He invited me out to his church to check it out and to show me what it is like to do "church in a box".

God is so amazing I have been praying that God would give me favor and lead me to Pastors who want to see God move in "out of the box" ways and that is literally happening at The Life Church.

The Life Church is a GREAT example of doing church in a school setting. It's amazing what you can make happen in a school cafeteria when you think creatively. It was awesome seeing the church operate during and after the service. The passion, the commitment, the love for people. I was so honor and blessed this morning. On top of that Pastor Hal and his family take me out to lunch and spent so time with me. It was such an honor hanging out with this family. If you ever are in Cumming Georgia on Sunday morning and are looking for a church that loves people and wants to turn this world upside down for Jesus than you HAVE to visit "and maybe even stay" at The Life Church. I promise it will bless your socks off!

Lion Chaser's Manifesto

If you haven't read it by now you got to read "In A Pit With A Lion On A Snowy Day" by Mark Batterson. This is one of the most influential books that I have ever read in my life. After reading this book it challeneged me to re-evaluate my prespective on life and ministrty. If you don't want to be inspired and challeneged DON'T read this book it will miss you up! Below is the manifesto of a Lion Chaser. If this doesn't turn your crank then your crank is broken.

Quit living as if the purpose of life is to arrive safely at death. Set God-sized goals. Pursue God-ordained passions. Go after a dream that is destined to fail without divine intervention. Keep asking questions. Keep making mistakes. Keep seeking God. Stop pointing out problems and become part of the solution. Stop repeating the past and start creating the future. Stop playing it safe and start taking risks. Expand your horizons. Accumulate experiences. Consider the lilies. Enjoy the journey. Find every excuse you can to celebrate everything you can. Live like today is the first day and last day of your life. Don't let what's wrong with you keep you from worshipping what's right with God. Burn sinful bridges. Blaze a new trail. Criticize by creating. Worry less about what people think and more about what God thinks. Don't try to be who you're not. Be yourself. Laugh at yourself. Quit holding out. Quit holding back. Quit running away. Chase the lion!

do you really lose your wisdom when you lose your wisdom teeth?

This morning I took my wife to the docs to get her wisdom teeth pulled out. First of all please pray for my wife's quick recovery. I hate seeing her in any kind of pain. Second, as I sat in the docs office I thought to myself with a name like "wisdom teeth" these teeth sound really important than why the heck to we have to get them ripped out of our heads. Do we lose wisdom when we lose our wisdom teeth?:) I think so because why in the world would we put ourselves through that kind of pain...just a random thought I wanted to share with you.

connecting with others!

God is so amazing! In the last couple of weeks the Lord has been giving me favor with some awesome Pastors. I have been praying that God would give me favor with men and women who are shaking things up and who love to think outside the box. Who don't let religious traditions and denominational expectations stop them from reaching the lost.

I believe that God is in the business of strategically placing us and connecting us together to expand His kingdom. I can't wait to see what God is going to do through these connections. If you are a BIG DREAMER drop me a line and lets start kicking satan in the teeth together!

Great Meeting...It's time to get CRAZY!!!

Last night we had our first informational meeting. In my opinion it was a great meeting. We had 20 people total, 10 were kids and 10 were adults. Of course, I invited a lot more people than that but I had a lot of last minute cancellations. There was a special appearance by a great friend of mine that totally encouraged me. Anyway I started the meeting with a little worship. I played the only two songs I know. Afterwards I prayed and began to share my heart.

I started out by saying that logically this is the most crazy time in my life to plant a church. Easter of 2007 I resigned from our church as youth pastors, I have been out of work for the last three months, we just had a baby, I just started a new job last week and I am going to start teaching at a school next week. I said that in the last three months my life has been turned up side down. Honestly, the last three months have been painful, humbling, and lonely. I pointed out that before God moved in the lives of the people in the Bible they usually went through a season that was painful, humbling, and lonely. I said that it's when we are in this state that God usually ask us to get a little crazy with Him. Like Noah, Jonah, Abraham, David, Peter, and even Jesus. In every one of these lives there was a moment when doing what God ask them to do was crazy...logically it didn't make sense...it was risky but at the end it was totally worth getting crazy.

Last night was risky, it was humbling, it was CRAZY! At the end of the meeting I held out a bowl and towel. I said that this is what Life Revolution Church is all about. Being servants. Totally sacrificing all that we are, moving out of our comfort zone, truly learning what it means to pick up our cross and follow Jesus so that people who are disconnected, lonely, and living a mediocre life can meet Jesus as friend, Savior, and King.

Honestly, even though i shared my heart out I truly believe that may be 3 out of the 10 connected to what I was saying. Let me be totally honest with you...I just read Perry Noble's current blog entitled "Some Things I Am Celebrating". It's a great blog you got to read it. But basically he's writes about all of these great things that are happening at a bunch of different churches. Salvation's, baptisms, record breaking attendances, and hundreds of lives being changed forever. Believe me I am totally pumped up about what God is doing in these places but I am so desperate to see God move like this in my community. So being human I started to compare myself to these pastors and ministries. I started to think how the meeting went last night. That's why I said that I believe that maybe 3 out of the 10 people connected to what I shared last night. After sharing this insecure moment with my amazing wife she reminded me that God doesn't want me or our ministry to be a carbon copy of anyone else. Logically I know this but sometimes in our desperation logical goes out the window and fear and insecurity try to move in. Thank God for my wife...you got to have somebody that you trust that can kick you in the butt to snap you back into reality.

The reality is even if we have only 3 people that connected to the vision that we shared last night then it's time to get CRAZY! Even if we have only 1 person that connected to the vision we shared last night it's time to get CRAZY! As I sit here and write this blog I'm realizing that only thing that is keeping me back from get crazy and dreaming big is...ME. It's time to get CRAZY and move forward and start a LIFE REVOLUTION in Cumming Georgia!!!

Just Be You

Hey everyone I just read this post from Bil Cornelius blog. I thought you would like it I pray that it encourages you. Thanks Bil for the great word!

Don’t deny who you really are. As a leader, people will want to bend your ear with their agenda. This is an attempt to make you into who they want you to be. A typical view of vision is when people ask you what you want to accomplish, but real vision is not what you want, rather it is who you are. A real vision from God is not something you shape…it shapes you. We must learn to be unapologetic about who we are because of whose we are, and simply run the race we have been given, rather than trying to run in someone else’s lane. If you want to know God’s direction for you, look to Him. Just remember that the best clues to His will are in you…He already placed a passion and a gift in you. Where your passions and gifts collide is where God’s will is for you. Follow your true calling. That’s where the fruit in your life is.

when the bridge falls down

I'm sure you all of heard what happened in Minnesota. It totally hit my wife and I hard. We went to North Central University which is only a few miles from the bridge. We drove on the bridge everyday when we lived there. I literally drove underneath this bridge thousands of times. My wife and I affectionately call Minneapolis "our city". I am so proud of our fellow Minnesotans that rose up and reached out to perfect strangers.

Please pray for the people whose lives were changed for ever. Especially for the families that lost love ones in this tragedy.

tales of a fat pastor pt.1

hey ya'll I woke up this morning determined to get into shape! To be honest I have said this before. I would start great but two or three weeks into it I lose steam. Although I am 29 it may seem like I have a long time to live I know that I am totally out of shape. Every tme I think of my future I see a huge fat pastor trying to catch his breathe...sad I know. I want to an example to my son in ALL things spiritual and physical. I want to be here for my wife, I want to see my son and children grow up, I want to see my kids get married and start a family of their own. I want to be able to hold my grand children some day. I know it sounds kind of sappy but it the truth. I want to be able to stand in front of my church one day healthy and slim not fat.

So today I am committing to a healthier life style. It's time to grow up and get healthy. I have a lot to do for the Lord and I don't want to miss any part of it because I'm fat and breathe less. So to keep me motivated I decided to make my weight place. Here it goes 256. My goal is to get down to 190. So please pray for me to be faithful this time and see real changes.