Man it has been busy! But isn't that life? Today we had a Frontline Ministry lunch at the Sharp's house and it went great! We talked about the fall and just encouraged everyone in what they are doing and Chris shard some great stuff! We have a great team of ushers, greeters, welcome center workers, cafe workers, parking lot workers, and so on! I believe that this ministry prepares the way for the word, worship, and all that God wants to do in a persons life! Ministry happens as soon as people pull onto our property and their experience needs to happen as soon as they step foot out of their car. We have a great team doing a great job here at Journey!
Things are going great with the youth! We had see you at the pole Wednesday morning, it was more like see you at the flood though. It rained and thunderstormed all morning long. We had it in the gym at the high school & middle school! We had a great turnout though for power going out and downpours. 65 at the middle school and about the same at the high school. Tuesday night there was a prerally at another church in town and Erin, Danny and I went to that. It was a great service of worship and just preparing the students for the event Wednesday morning. Then Wednesday I got to speak at Central schools youth alive. Which is a lunch time bible study group and that was fun! I also went to Sallisaw's youth alive on Tuesday and hung out for a while both lunches. It is great to see the students in their schools and stepping out for God! It was a busy week with the students for sure! God is totally moving here more and more as we press in!
Well, I am tired and I need to get some rest for tomorrow. Another big day of church and high school service tomorrow night! I have a great message ready about being either a firefighter in life or a firelighter. We have the ability to either put out people's fire in life or set them on fire for Christ! It is going to be good! Good night!
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Sunday, September 23, 2007
A Lot Goes On
Well, tonight was great at youth! We had our high school service and talked about keeping the fire burning in our hearts. What it takes and the things that will put our fire out if we are not careful. Sunday's are great in the zone, the feel is warm and worship is going really good. We have been having some good pressing in times during worship. We have an awesome high school group that we LOVE!
The last few days Zion has had a fever and is not feeling well. Today Erin stayed home with her and has been resting herself from being sick! Zion is so clingy when she is sick it's kinda fun to snuggle with her, not that I want her sick by any means though.
We have been busy here with football games, planning events, services, and simply the nuts and bolts of ministry. A lot goes on in order to do everything we do like: Message prep, creative brainstorming, setting up, creating games, caring for people, visiting schools & games, planning events, budgeting, leading volunteers, reaching out, cleaning up, organizing ministry teams, tracking and assimilating attendance, discipleship, the list goes on and on. It takes a lot to simply run the daily operations of ministry. I love it though and couldn't think of anything I would rather be doing than building the Kingdom here on earth.
Zion and I are hanging out watching Bob Ross. We like to watch him together, Zion loves him, it's so funny to hear her ask to watch Bob Woss!!! Well, we are going to go to bed soon we are very tired and some very sick, so...
The last few days Zion has had a fever and is not feeling well. Today Erin stayed home with her and has been resting herself from being sick! Zion is so clingy when she is sick it's kinda fun to snuggle with her, not that I want her sick by any means though.
We have been busy here with football games, planning events, services, and simply the nuts and bolts of ministry. A lot goes on in order to do everything we do like: Message prep, creative brainstorming, setting up, creating games, caring for people, visiting schools & games, planning events, budgeting, leading volunteers, reaching out, cleaning up, organizing ministry teams, tracking and assimilating attendance, discipleship, the list goes on and on. It takes a lot to simply run the daily operations of ministry. I love it though and couldn't think of anything I would rather be doing than building the Kingdom here on earth.
Zion and I are hanging out watching Bob Ross. We like to watch him together, Zion loves him, it's so funny to hear her ask to watch Bob Woss!!! Well, we are going to go to bed soon we are very tired and some very sick, so...
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
God is on the MOVE!
Sunday night at the high school service was awesome! We had 43 high schoolers and God was doing great things! We talked about how God is a consuming fire and when we get close to Him He will burn the junk out of our lives! We took a clump of wax that was all nasty and said this kind of represents our lives (sometimes a mess with sin, hurts, fear, confusion, etc...) and when we draw near to God He burns them out of our lives. So I took a torch and melted the wax into liquid. Then we said, "Now God can mold us and shape us into the awesome vessel He has called us to be, which we had a beautiful candle that was crisp, clean, and smelled great! We said now God sets us on fire again so that people can smell the fragrance of Jesus through our actions. The light is like the hope that we give people through Jesus and the beauty of the candle is the awesome relationship we have with Christ! It was a great night, the students are responding more and more to the things of God!!!
Well today I had lunch with another youth pastor here in town and we had a great time eating some Mexican food. We are going to be doing some things together for see you at the pole next Wednesday and after a football game coming up soon! It is great to hook up with people that have a heart for teenagers here in the community and to see what God is doing through all of us! God is on the move and we are following!!!
Friday, September 14, 2007
What A Great Season We Are In!
Alright, Erin, Zion and i just got back from the pep rally at the high school for the 1st home game tonight. We are excited about going to our 1st Sallisaw Football game since we have been here. We didn't move here until February so football was over and every game so far has been away, so tonight is the night! Tomorrow we are going to go shopping for little "Z" she needs some new cloths. Her old clothes have stains and are getting a little ratty so it is time for the new. Tomorrow night we have a birthday party for one of our students that we are going to then Sunday we have our 1st high school service in the zone, yeah!!!
Wednesday night was amazing for the jr. high service! We had 45 jr. highers out and it was great! The week before we had only 24 to start the jr. high group and in one week we doubled!!! 7 students gave their life to Christ at the end and we celebrated with a pizza party! I would say that is a great start for the 1st service in the zone with the middle school. I can't wait to see what happens in these next few months with our youth, God is doing great things. On top of that we had an awesome family that donated a significant amount of money to the youth ministry. That will open doors for all kinds of things we need to do in the zone and with our impact in the community! God is moving and we can't deny it! We are so excited for the future and what God is going to do. We simply be obedient, humble, patient, genuine and God starts moving and we follow suit! We never have to force God, because we simply can't anyway. It is His timing, His will, His power and we become willing vessels. Open your entire heart and trust to God and He will do amazing things!!!
Wednesday night was amazing for the jr. high service! We had 45 jr. highers out and it was great! The week before we had only 24 to start the jr. high group and in one week we doubled!!! 7 students gave their life to Christ at the end and we celebrated with a pizza party! I would say that is a great start for the 1st service in the zone with the middle school. I can't wait to see what happens in these next few months with our youth, God is doing great things. On top of that we had an awesome family that donated a significant amount of money to the youth ministry. That will open doors for all kinds of things we need to do in the zone and with our impact in the community! God is moving and we can't deny it! We are so excited for the future and what God is going to do. We simply be obedient, humble, patient, genuine and God starts moving and we follow suit! We never have to force God, because we simply can't anyway. It is His timing, His will, His power and we become willing vessels. Open your entire heart and trust to God and He will do amazing things!!!
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
The New Baby
Well today we got to go get an ultra sound on the new baby! They needed to check some things with Erin at the doctor and we got to see the baby moving around! He or she was hanging out with arms back and feet out, it was awesome!!! Everything is fine and the baby is doing well. Erin is doing o.k. she has on and off days feeling better at times and pretty sick at others. We can't wait for the baby to come and find out what it is going to be.
Tonight we had our small group at the Peter's house and it went great. If you are not in a small group get in one, it is a great way to get to know people and connect with others. We had a great turnout with like 15 or 16 people there. We talked about Pastor Jeff's message and some other stuff that got brought up about being a contagious Christian. What a great church and great people we have here at Journey!!!
Tonight we worked on the zone and are getting it ready for tomorrow night's service. It is so great having these 2 services each week. I love getting to give all of our attention to each age group!!! Tomorrow we are going to have a great service talking about our new series, "Contagiously Consumed". We are going to have a blast with our team challenge too! Well, I am tired and need to get to bed, big day tomorrow with everything going on!!!
Tonight we had our small group at the Peter's house and it went great. If you are not in a small group get in one, it is a great way to get to know people and connect with others. We had a great turnout with like 15 or 16 people there. We talked about Pastor Jeff's message and some other stuff that got brought up about being a contagious Christian. What a great church and great people we have here at Journey!!!
Tonight we worked on the zone and are getting it ready for tomorrow night's service. It is so great having these 2 services each week. I love getting to give all of our attention to each age group!!! Tomorrow we are going to have a great service talking about our new series, "Contagiously Consumed". We are going to have a blast with our team challenge too! Well, I am tired and need to get to bed, big day tomorrow with everything going on!!!
Monday, September 10, 2007
Monday, Monday, So Good To Me
Last night was our 1st high school service and we had a great turnout. The service went wonderful and we gave the students a tour of the zone which will be open next week. We still have a lot of finishing touches, but we want to do it right for the opening. It is great having 2 services to reach these two age groups jr. high and high school. We already are seeing good things.
I recently got a treadmill to start running on. Before we moved here to Oklahoma Erin and I were working out at the local Y and I was running up to 3 miles a day on the treadmill. But since we moved here I have stopped running and gained almost 22 pounds, yikes!!! So it is time to start redeeming myself back into an acceptable weight. Today I started off running a mile and I will slowly begin to work back up. I love running in the morning, cause it makes you want to eat right during the day. You don't want to waste all that hard work I guess. We are getting ready to take Zion to her dance class, which is so cute. Then we have a wedding to get ready for tonight. Erin is coordinating this wedding for the church. After that we will come home hang out and do some cleaning then probably go to bed and get ready for this big week. We have to open the zone Wednesday night and that means tomorrow will probably be an all nighter again to get it read so it will be a big day for a big week. Well, we got to get going so, I will try to blog a bit more often, we have been SOOOOOO busy lately, but who isn't? right?
I recently got a treadmill to start running on. Before we moved here to Oklahoma Erin and I were working out at the local Y and I was running up to 3 miles a day on the treadmill. But since we moved here I have stopped running and gained almost 22 pounds, yikes!!! So it is time to start redeeming myself back into an acceptable weight. Today I started off running a mile and I will slowly begin to work back up. I love running in the morning, cause it makes you want to eat right during the day. You don't want to waste all that hard work I guess. We are getting ready to take Zion to her dance class, which is so cute. Then we have a wedding to get ready for tonight. Erin is coordinating this wedding for the church. After that we will come home hang out and do some cleaning then probably go to bed and get ready for this big week. We have to open the zone Wednesday night and that means tomorrow will probably be an all nighter again to get it read so it will be a big day for a big week. Well, we got to get going so, I will try to blog a bit more often, we have been SOOOOOO busy lately, but who isn't? right?
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
The Split
Tonight we had our 1st middle school service! We had a pre-kick off service tonight! Next week we are opening the zone and starting Team Challenge. We broke the students up into 6 teams 6th - 8th grade girls and 6th - 8th grade boys. Each week they will be able to gain points by bringing bibles, friends, attitude, and various crazy challenges that we will do each week. Tonight they came up with team names and a team pose! They were some funny poses from the groups. Next week we will start all the challenges and have our service in the zone. We were going to have it tonight in the zone but it was about 85% done and we want to start 100% with a bang! So we pushed it back one week. This Sunday is our 1st high school service @ 6pm. We have a lot of little things to do in the zone to get it fully functional and decorated. It is looking really cool though and we are very proud of it. Tonight we gave the students a little tour to get them anxious and they really liked it!
Well Rachel Gluesenkamp is moved into our house all unpacked. She is a first year master's commission student from our home tome in Indiana. God has a huge call on her life and we are honored to have her here with us. We are all talking right now hanging out and she is drinking fish oil (yuck). Anyway, Erin came to the service tonight since she was feeling up to it. It is great to have her with me at the services I feel much better with her there. I have been really missing her there at the services hanging with the students and being such an example to them.
Well, I am going to go and start to shut my body down if it will. I have a hard time going to bed at night cause that's when my brain starts going on overdrive with ideas and vision! I think it will be easy to unwind since we have been so busy and working all night on the zone these last few weeks. I am ready to get it finished and be able to come home at night and actually go to bed before 3am on a regular basis.
Well Rachel Gluesenkamp is moved into our house all unpacked. She is a first year master's commission student from our home tome in Indiana. God has a huge call on her life and we are honored to have her here with us. We are all talking right now hanging out and she is drinking fish oil (yuck). Anyway, Erin came to the service tonight since she was feeling up to it. It is great to have her with me at the services I feel much better with her there. I have been really missing her there at the services hanging with the students and being such an example to them.
Well, I am going to go and start to shut my body down if it will. I have a hard time going to bed at night cause that's when my brain starts going on overdrive with ideas and vision! I think it will be easy to unwind since we have been so busy and working all night on the zone these last few weeks. I am ready to get it finished and be able to come home at night and actually go to bed before 3am on a regular basis.
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