4th of July

We just got done eating dinner with the Peters and we had a great time! It is so good to have friends and fellow church members that you can relax with and share stories and life! Erin made a great meal, like always. Now we are hanging out baking some cookies and just enjoying a night at home! Tomorrow is the 4th of July event and it is going to be great! God has GIVEN us a great opportunity to be LIGHT in the community! Whenever open doors like this happen we as the church should ALWAYS jump right on it! Jesus WENT to where the darkness is, He never boycotted or shunned opportunities to love people and be around them. To say that the church should take a stand and boycott something would be the same as watching a soul walk down the path to hell and say we aren't going to say anything because we need to show them what "righteousness" is! Jesus said how will they know unless they hear. People can't hear when you stay silent in your religious bubble. Sometimes I get spiritually lazy and become so inward focused that I forget there are people who are crying out for hope! Today a young man came in the office and wanted to play music for the church. He proceeded to say he was not "religious" but left his band and wanted a place to play. I though it weird that he came to a church he knew nothing about and asked just to jump in and play! Anyway, I talked with him about an hour or so about his life and what he believed. He was one who thought to believe in God was just a coping mechanism that was scientifically proven. His thought was so wrapped around science, philosophy, and other things that he was confusing himself. After a while I said look bottom line you have a 50/50 chance if you are right in your thinking then life is pointless you just rot when you die and everything is for nothing! Or if I am right and you are wrong you loose everything and will stand in judgment before a living real God! We talked a lot more than that but basically it was a great opportunity to share hope, truth, and the reality of God with him! I thank God that he gives me opportunity to share with people and I pray that I never be silent or pass when my time comes to love people into Jesus!!! That's what we get to do tomorrow night at the 4th of July event, PRAISE GOD!!!

Romans 12:10-11

Pastor Jeff had a great message this morning at church and we had stomp practice for the freedom fest here in town on the 4th! After that Erin, Zion and I went to Fort Smith to eat and hang out, then came home and rested as we caught up on season 4 of the 4400! That is an awesome show, I suggest watching it starting with season 1! Anyway, a scripture that Pastor Jeff read today stood out to me especially after getting back from Infusion this week. Romans 12:10-11

"Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord."

What a fitting challenge, to never be lacking in our zeal but keeping our spiritual fervor. The dictionary says zeal is:fervor for a person, cause, or object; eager desire or endeavor; enthusiastic diligence; ardor. How cool is that? Now check out what fervor is: 1. Great warmth and intensity of emotion. See Synonyms at passion. 2. Intense heat. Wow! Intense HEAT! Talk about being of fire for God! So I find it cool that one ingredient for zeal is fervor. You can't have a zeal for God (which is fervor for something) without having an intense heat for it! So Paul encourages us to NEVER lose our heat or fire for the things of God! Man, I have become guilty of being a boring follower of Christ! So many times I am so caught up in everyday things and trying to exist without an intense FIRE for the things of God! Now I don't think we have to be jumping off the walls to have fire for God, but I do think it means we need our intensity and desire to be boiling in our hearts! I mean we are the only ones that know how we truly feel in the inside! Only we can be the temperature gauge of our hearts. I know that sometimes how I feel on the inside isn't what truly comes out on the outside, but I know where my heart is and sometimes it isn't an intense fire for the things of God it is a flicker at best! I don't know about you but I accept the challenge from Paul and God's word to never be lacking in zeal and fervor, but to follow hard after the things of God because that is where LIFE, POWER, FREEDOM, WISDOM, TRUTH, COMPASSION, STRENGTH, PEACE, JOY, PURPOSE, ETC.. is found!!! God let my life be an example of zeal and fervor for YOU! May my fire never run low but teach me to fan into flame the gifts, and calling you have for my life, AMEN!

Infusion 2007

Well, we are finally back from Infusion Summer Conference and it was AMAZING! We took 22 students from our student leadership team here at JSM! It was a life changing encounter with God! Worship was intense, the messages were inspiring, we served the community, and had a blast! God is so great and is doing great things in our students! They really engaged with God's presence and power! I feel like this will be the beginning of some awesome things to come for our youth! God is wanting to rock through Sallisaw and we are up for the call!!! We are not just playing church here we are out to change the world for Christ! God's call on us is so powerful and consuming and we want to be and do ALL that God had for us here at Journey! We are truly raising up a generation of passionate followers of Christ! There is soooo much more to God than we could think or imagine and I want to pursue hard after HIS presence! Camp really inspired me to get more into God's word because that is where the power is, in HIS promises and truth! We get so fearful that the word of God and His promises might not work, but God is faithful and His WORD is alive and active able to cut through anything! I believe God's word can cut through the hardest heart, the worst sinner, the biggest atheist, and anything that is before it! We need to become a people that cherish the WORD and believe EVERYTHING that is in it! His word will never return void it will always go out and accomplish what it is supposed to do! God's promises aren't just stories and inspirational fairy tales they are the REAL DEAL! When we proclaim the word and the word is hidden deep in our heart it will go forth with POWER! I want my life to be used by God in the most passionate way that it can! Let's all step up to the plate and swing for Christ in every conversation, action, thought we do!

Game Night 2007

Last night @ JSM was awesome! We had our 1st Game Night! We had a crazy relay race then we played some intense dodge ball! We had prizes for best dressed gamer, best dressed team, and of course the winners of the night! We went all out with refs, whistles, air horns, and the whole deal! It is great to have nights like these where we build memories and laugh together just having a good time! It makes our intense services that much more meaningful when relationship are strong between the students and leaders! We had a great turnout last night even though it is summer, it is like our momentum is still staying strong. Go to http://www.skyalbum.com/showAlbum/79127 to see more pics!

Well, 2 more days till Meat & Man night! Get ready everyone and empty your bellies 'cause it's gonna be good! We have been preparing for this for a few months now so it is finally here! It is going to be a great night for the MEN! Check out this video for Meat & Man Night!

Wednesday

Well, tonight is game night and it is going to be awesome! I don't think the air is up and running yet so it will probably be a little hot but sweat is good! 4 more days till Infusion and it is going to be a good year for our leadership team! We are excited to see all that God is going to do. Well, today I have lots to do! Being that we are gone next week I am trying to make up for a week lost in the office, but I think I will be good! I desperately need to get my hair cut and shave, so that is a must before we go!

Meat & Man night is coming up Saturday and I can't wait! We are going to eat lots of incredible food from the grill and I am so excited to hear our special guest, pastor Mike! What a great opportunity we have to get the men of our church and community together and have a good time yet step up as spiritual leaders in our world! Men of ALL ages be at the church Saturday @ 6pm!

Today Was Fun!

Today was a GREAT day! We all went to the Zoo in Tulsa and we had a blast! Zion loved to see all the animals and play around the zoo. I was staring at a shark on the floor in the shark tank itching my eye and another huge shark swam right in front of the of the glass and scared the bejeebers out of me! I jumped a little and felt pretty dumb, but I laughed at myself, so that is good! Anyway, we had a lot of fun hanging out all day up there and it wore Zion out she took like a 4 hour nap afterward!

Tomorrow I go to Henryetta to pick up all the cookie dough orders from the fund raiser we did for Infusion! I am loading up like 40 boxes of cookie dough, I will be very tempted to eat it ALL! I will probably have the car at like 5 degrees so it doesn't melt! Then the students pick it up between 4-6 tomorrow at the church!

Well, Infusion is in like 6 days, MEAT & MAN NIGHT is Saturday, which is going to be AWESOME! and Game Night is Wednesday for youth! What a great week ahead of us! I have much to do since we will be gone all next week!

Father's Day

Today was a wonderful father's day for me and for all of our father's at Journey church! We had the, "Big Daddy Bowl 2007" where members of our church voted for their favorite fathers who competed in a challenge this morning at both services! They had 5 stations to race through the 1st being a 2x4 where they had to hammer a nail into the wood, then move on to baby diaper changing station and change a dolls diaper, then to a line of girls where they had to put their hair in pig tails, then to a hot dog stations where they had to eat a hot dog as fast as they could, then to the final station which was a couch and they had to find a remote with their name on it hidden in the cushion. We had referees with shirts and whistles, awesome intro videos for the contenders, and a fun challenge. The winner got a camo hat with the bid daddy logo, a bobble head trophy of a coach, and a brisket the size of my leg! It was an awesome challenge today that honored our fathers and gave our church a good laugh!

Pastor Tony, Mrs. Erin and my family hung out all day today in Forth Smith. We had lunch went to the mall and just had a good time. It is so great to have good friends that we can just have fun with! Now we are on our back porch with our tikki torches lite. Erin and Zion are coloring and I am on the computer! It is a beautiful night and it was a beautiful day! I love my family and am so grateful for them!

Today is father's day and I have the best father anyone could dream of. He is such an example of what it is to be a true, Godly father! My dad has always been there to answer questions, give advice and encourage me ALL throughout my life! I am so blessed to have him! If I could become half the man my dad is I would consider that a great success in life! He inspires me to be positive, believe God, and to follow God no matter the cost! I couldn't imagine where my life would be without my dad being there, helping me and giving his wisdom! Though I joke that I have surpassed my father in various ways (such as guitar) I haven't even come close to becoming ALL that my dad is! My dad is an awesome picture of what our heavenly father is and for that I say, "Happy father's day DAD, I love YOU!"