Link-O-Rama

I don't think of have done this before, but I plan on doing it from time to time. Below are a few links that i thought were well worth the read. I hope to meet all these people at some point during my life time. hopefully sooner then later. I would love to pick their brain. I believe each of these people God is using in a huge way. I know God has used them to challenge me.

First Time Guest-Nelson Searcy-a great article on how we treat first time guest at our churches. I know I have done this before.

Communication takes a Giver and Receiver-Kem Meyer-a great post about how we make people feel when we communicate with them. Great stuff to think about. I love the honesty in the letter. I have felt like writing a couple of those letters before.

Bob-Perry Noble-challenging entry about reaching out to others. God is really challenging me to seek out more Bob's to get to know. Do you have a Bob?

Are You Comfortable with being Uncomfortable-Tony Morgan-incredible post about how we create our services. It can be easy to get lulled into comfort. I hope we always stay on the edge of the next generation and not on the passing one.

I hope these are helpful and inspiring.

National Anthem

Here is a dude from our church. He is a great guitar player. Maybe we should call him Jimmy now. He didn't even show off any playing the National Anthem.



Dude.... I wish I would have known. I would have been their. Great job!

Breaking Boundaries

simple yet amazing! will you be bound or boundless?

Church Attendance and your GPA

Did you know that kids who attend church have a higher GPA?

This is a real reason to get your kids to church other then it can really be a great influence on your child's life. Check this article out! It is really worth the read. Very interesting stuff.

Free!

I am really enjoying Phil Wickham's music. I've known about his music for quite sometime, but just didn't really start listening until about 6 months ago. I would encourage you to check out his stuff. You can actually get a live album right now for free! (thanks Jan for the tip) You give them your email address and they will send you a link to download it. It is worth it. Let me know what you think.

Generous

This entry challenged me to the core. I wonder how many of us would be willing to give like this teenager. This read is well worth it and it's pretty short.

Generous Teenager by Perry Noble

It's been a blessing to see various students over the years give like this student did!

Sunday Night Thoughts

OnePray has been amazing!
Steven Furtick blew the doors off the building. That guy can bring it! (i'm going to try and find my white jacket this week. i think i could rock it.) What pomegranate are you sitting under? I'm about to get out from under mine.

It was my privilage to lead worship yesterday for our morning services. The place was rockin'. Other then I broke a string in the first service for like the seven thousanth time. Thanks to Bobby's guitar worship went on.

Worship Set
Majestic by Lincoln Brewster
Your Grace Is Enough by Matt Maher
Holy is the Lord by Chris Tomlin
Amazed by Jared Anderson
God of this City by Bluetree (performed by Chris Tomlin on the album Passion: God of this City)

RPM was incredible last night!!!!
We prayed over our new facility that God would move in the lives of students that would come. We prayed for construction to start quickly, that all the hurdles would be knocked down and mountains made flat. After the time of prayer we had a great time just talking about our ministry as a whole. The discussion was great. The students had some great insights and observations. I think we might do this kind of think every 8 to 10 weeks. It was very refreshing. The guests even participated in the discussion. We had like 7 guests last night. It was awesome.

Today there was a great blog by a guy named Tim Stevens. He is the executive pastor at Granger community church. I believe he had some great insight for parents raising teens. He has a few of his own so think speaks from some experience.

Here is just a highlight:

• The environments parents place their students in just before the teen years will often dictate the student's environments they pick.
  

• As they start middle school, don't give them the option to stay home from the youth program.

• Get them in situations where they are hanging with young adults who are following God.

• Let them participate in events where there is a good chance they might take a step spiritually, like summer camp, missions trips, or weekend retreats.

You can click here to read the blog in its entirety.

Another New Life

I believed we are to blessed for our own good. We have had 2 babies in 3 weeks. My sister Paula and brother-in-law David had their first son today at 2:13pm. We are all so pumped!!!! I'm ready to hold that little boy soon.


Micah is 7 lbs. & 15 oz. and 21 inches long.

I'll post more pics soon!

My Favorite Music and Maybe one of my Favorite Songs

In case you don’t know this my favorite genre of music is Hip Hop and Rap. This video is incredible. This should be our motto. Send Me. I’ll Go! I hope you enjoy it, even if Rap is not your favorite. The lyrics are on the screen so you can follow.


'Send Me' - Live at MHC Ballard from Mars Hill Church on Vimeo.

I think we should incorporate a little rap or hip hop in worship every once in a while.