Important Notice!!!!

This is an important notice-pay attention.

Choose leaders closest to you that you enjoy being around!

As i met with my two small group coordinators this evening our agenda lasted maybe 15 minutes.  We talked about details for tomm. night, went over the vision to pass on to their coaches, execution and even talked about vision for our next semester.  Then we spent over an hour having a blast together.  This time could be considered a waste but instead it added immense value to the safety of being a team.  We laugh together, joke with each other-we have "it" (if you're wondering what "it" is read Craig's new book).  This would be another meeting that takes up part of an evening every week if these were people that i simply liked.  Instead i have chosen people that are fully competent of doing the things asked of them, trainable, teachable and most importantly loveable ha!  I walked away tonight thinking this was a great thing.  Take my advice and choose people for key leadership roles around you that you enjoy being around for me it makes one more night away from home feel a little better!

Home is Where the heart is???

Labor day Nicole and i got to spend the whole day together-man talk about a blessing.  I sometimes think we are still dating it's pretty amazing!!!  As we sat outside and talked about life we landed on something we both can't seem to shake.  Oklahoma doesn't feel like home.  We've spent many hours of our life trying to figure out the reason behind this but we can't nail it.  I often times long to be near my family, near the places i have known my whole life, near the people i love.  Nicole said it best, Oklahoma seems like a stepping stone, like something else is around the corner-whatever that means it seemed to resonate.  We have no plans of going anywhere, we aren't looking and are really content with where we are.  This isn't an issue of not being comfortable-because we are, its something deeper that we can't put our finger on.  I've struggled so much with thinking this is related to me, that im not sold out enough, that somehow in someway this is an issue ultimately of my heart desiring to deviate from the life God has called me to...and maybe it is, ultimately we don't know.  We've been blessed beyond our imagination in Oklahoma, from our relationship with each other, to friends and support, to the ministry we are doing...all the pieces fit.  If you can't read into this, everything is right-except we dont feel like this is our home.  Something doesn't click.  I have no solution to this, no great insight for anyone to gain, nothing.  Just wanted to share in the midst of God doing amazing things he is preparing something else-whether that be the lesson of the comittment to the calling, the indescribable need to trust his wisdom or whatever Nicole and i have these conversations.  Any insight?  I'll end with this thought for the night.  As i watched the movie Heat last night, the ongoing theme was-be prepared to walk out in 30 seconds if you feel the heat around the corner.  Obviously in my life i dont rob banks (that i can tell you about) so i dont have cops chasing me around, but i think its something Nicole and I are ready for, to take the step God places in front of us at any time---So Home is Where The Heart Is???  Cause i live really far away then!

-Relaxed-

This weekend was a mad dash (it's actually life for us now)!!!  We headed out for a 1,200 mile endeavor of seeing my niece Addison, my parents, my sister/brother-in-law and nephews.  We did this in 2 days!  As i arrived back home for experiences Sunday morning i experienced something amazing.  As two of our high school girls small group leaders baptized one of their students i had a moment.  You know the moments where things just stand still?  We do baptisms in an inflatable pool in our lobby with several pastors baptizing several people at once, and in the edge of the pool a high school girl came out of the water with tears in her eyes and was suddenly embraced (actually she disappeared) by her two leaders.  Two leaders that have walked with, cried with, ate with...done life with this girl who's mother has passed away tragically.  I saw two leaders in their 20's sacrificing, mentoring and ultimately guiding this teenage girl.  It was that moment that wont quickly disappear in my mind.  It was great!  I could say more, but i wont.

Crap-its been awhile

I'd love to pretend to catch you up on my life over the past...while...but i will give you the re-cap.  Friday night nicole and i spent our second friday night at home together since late May!!!!  It was great to say the least.  It's been a rough season for both of us losing loved ones and dealing with the family grief that goes along with that.  Of course this had to happen in the busiest season of student ministry EVER.  I'll hit the highlights of positive things to end a crappy season of pretending to have a wife.  Family-as of last monday the 18th i am a new uncle to a new niece Addison.  Finally my brother broke down and had a kid and luckily it was a girl because he is the most deserving in our family of such heartache.  Addison was born healthy but spent the weekend in the hospital before coming back home.  Nicole and I look forward to seeing her soon.  Ministry-wow-we started small groups on wednesday nights for students.  This took a lot of vision casting and meeting with key leaders to work out details.  To say it has gone amazing would be an understatement.  I'll fill in the details of how we have transitioned our bring in element to our ministry to be small group minded (it was as crazy as it sounds).  The guys i have been mentoring are now mentoring other guys.  Female leaders are mentoring other female leaders and students are being mentored by the likes.  Leaders are doing baptism for students that have walked through their small groups, leaders are writing small group curriculum based upon weekly messages, leaders are getting it.  There is an excitement in the air.  We started a 5th and 6th grade ministry partnership on the weekends with our childrens ministry.  First week almost doubled the amount of 5th and 6th grade students we were reaching, but this involved recruiting, training and empowering new leaders to run a complete ministry.  This also meant re-designing a room and creating all the elements that go into a ministry (worship, messages, games, small group curriculum).  This past week we started our school year off with involvement in schools monday, tuesday and wednesday mornings before school-im already ready to take a break!  All in all its been a hectic season of ministry but with some amazing results!!!  

Catch Up

I'll fill the details in later, buts its been a season of life to forget. A couple weeks ago Nicole's uncle died, this past week my grandmother passed away and i got back in town in time to get on a bus for summer camp....you could pray for me.

Also, follow camp on our camp blog for parents...summerswitch.wordpress.com

Qdoba

Taking a volunteer out to lunch yesterday in another area of the metro that happens to have a Qdoba, in my head I'm thinking this will be the same as some good ol' Chipotle.  We arrive, and i order the same exact thing as if i were standing in the amazing Chipotle itself.  Steak burrito, fajita style...mmmm good.  They pile on the same cilantro inspired rice, the same looking beef, the same black beans but then they arrive at the fajita onions and peppers.  I notice how amazingly better they look.  They look fresh and bright full of color and not soaking in grease-OK I'm getting pretty excited about this meal.  We move on to exactly the same combination of salsa and loaded with cheese excellent in every way.  It is at this point i notice a hiccup in the system.  Their summer help consists of a high school girl who appears to be as well trained as a stray dog.  She looks at the burrito like its the challenge of her life and begins to roll my taste filled delight into the burrito meal it was intended to be.  I move on, letter her work without the pressure of me staring and pay for the meals.  As I sit down, i notice immediately how poorly executed the rolling of my burrito happened.  In the end, it sucked.  The ingredients were there, amazing in their own right but combined intended to created a flavor sensation exploding with joy as you took a bite, until the girl got ahold of it.  Needless to say it was one of the least enjoyable burritos i have had...this girl had ruined it.  As harsh as this may sound, I'm not pointing fingers at this ill-trained girl for she knew no better way she simply was not trained.  As I'm sitting talking with this volunteer i cant get the thought out of my head, i sure hope I've trained him better than that ha!  In our ministry all the pieces are in place, their good pieces that work great together but the true fact is they hinge upon the competency of our leaders.  The final piece in our ministry is leaders, they have the final touch with students really wrapping the whole thing together--they will make it or break it.  Am I training them to be effective?  If not, they are not to blame I am.  

At The Movies

Ok a quick update on our At The Movies series....The campus exploded this weekend with people.  As a staff we openly will share that we doubted what God would do on 4th of July weekend...good thing he doesn't work based on our projections!!!  The best part was the influx of new people-short story.  A lady that has been coming awhile invited a friend that had not been to church in a long time.  Typical story of getting burned by a church and having no desire to go back.  Friend decides to finally come to our campus this past weekend to try it out.  As they walk in the doors they happen to walk in the one that has been created as a bat cave, its pitch black bats noises are going on all around her and there is a batman symbol glowing in the distance.  At this point i would love to re-write the story and say the lady right then and there did something incredibly spiritual...no....she started crying in fear.  Really crying, real fear here.  Luckily our campus pastor was near and took care of the situation.  Bat cave 1, new lady 0.  

Brick Walls

One of the years largest series is coming up, At The Movies.  This is our definitive bring in series specifically designed for people who don't venture into church buildings often.  This is an exciting time creating a buzz around our campus specifically with volunteers.  We transform our entire building into a movie set...this year's design team has captured Gotham City.  In Gotham city we will feature "screenshots" from different super-hero movies.  We have a bat cave, Wayne manner, the bat symbol glowing in the rafters, the incredible hulk crushing buildings and superman saving the plane from the helpless sports fans at the baseball stadium.  Our main lobby is designed as a movie theater lobby, we have movie theater candy available...its quite the six flags endeavor.  Our volunteers have envisioned this and are in the process of creating it all with the advisement of staff.  The piece i really owned as a personal volunteer project was to transform a 45 foot long section of our hallway into a 20 foot tall brick building.  As i had volunteers flowing in and out this weekend to construct what will be the movie theater building in our town (the entrance to our auditorium) i was tired and worn out.  The brick wall really seemed to symbolize the most recent season of ministry for me.  I've often wrestled with being in ministry constantly having to look back to my calling that got me into it all in the first place, err God ha!  One of the questions i evaluate my impact with is whether or not i would have more impact as a small group leader than as the leader of the whole ministry.  I need to see progress, i need to see God working through me to validate investing my life...wrong or not.  This last season of ministry has been one that has swayed in and out of feeling like God is making a difference through me.  As i begin to sprint forward with momentum moving the students God has called me to connect with him i feel as though i hit brick walls.  Something happens, attitudes change and for no sought after reason i get paralyzed into a crawl.  This has happened two or three times recently, frankly its frustrating.  I desire to sprint with others towards God for longer seasons...i want the marathon really.  I can't really complain though, because God is teaching me a lot about who i am, what i need and most importantly...he's in control.  It's really odd to tell God that its up to him, to look outside of myself almost constantly simply so things keep rolling-I'm still waiting to be struck by lightning.  There is an ebb and flow in ministry that is unexplainable.  Sometimes it's when core students graduate and the ministry suffers, sometimes its when leaders lose their investment, when staff gets worn out and spiritually dry, but most of the time i feel its unexplainable.  This isn't because i cant think of a good reason, its just the only good reason i can think of is outside of anything other than God.  We join God in what he is doing around us and sometimes he stops.  God chooses to stop me with some brick walls.  As I'm processing (DG there ya go) through this its comforting to be learning that God is not shutting things down, but merely making sure all the bricks are straight before moving forward.  The mortar has to set the foundation has to settle.  This becomes an issue of God not moving at the speed of Tyler, but at the speed of God.  Our ministry is moving at the speed of God, my life is, my marriage everything seems to be moving right along at his pace.  Soon enough the pieces will be in place for a long season of running with God where he will no doubt wear me out, but i have confidence that he too is building another brick wall to run me right into.

Staff Retreat

This past weekend we had our youth staff retreat with the youth staff from all campuses. For me, it was the first time we had gotten everyone together in one place to talk about ministry and where we were heading. It affirmed for me a core belief that i have, as a youth pastor i should be committed to connecting with other youth pastors! We spent the weekend talking about "gauges" a principle derived from andy stanley evaluating your personal life and ministry, it was great to evaluate with guys doing the exact same thing ha!

WhooHooo

So Nicole and I have both had our birthday's recently.  They have been great times, filled with friends and family with some presents thrown in there...typical in many ways.  I've realized though that we don't do birthdays like many people!  There was no hype, no great parties, no intensely planned days, just a time to reflect and thank.  Birthdays to me are really evaluation times.  It's a personal mark every year to set goals and reflect on things that have happened.  Like our anniversary we sat and talked about where we have come as individuals and taken some time to contemplate where we are heading.  This has been a major year in our lives, moving churches, communities, friends and cultures.  It's been a year of loss when it comes to friends and comfort as well.  As an individual i feel like i've come a long way.  This has been a year of struggling to stay involved with ministry, something i have to shake on a daily basis.  I've never been in that seat before and its been a good place to really have to rely on my calling and have an open ear to God.  It's been a year of listening to God...strange i know!!!  It's also been a year of discovering who i am as an individual.  One major theme is what energizes me in ministry, what im really shaped for and what im not!  Hopefully i'll have another year that teaches me as much as i have learned this year....oh yeah...and i didnt die this year!  So, i got that going for me (caddyshack reference for the slow people).

Gangland

I've recently been captivated by a show on the history channel, Gangland!  This isn't a poor attempt to be culturally relevant to the gangster homies that walk in our ministry doors each week, this is me being a super nerd and loving history.  One of the things every gang highlighted thus far has is a simple chain of command.  The head guy has guys, those guys have guys and so on and so forth.  Strange enough it appears to be similar to the way we would structure organization leadership among our churches.  Small groups have a coordinator who is over regional group mentors, who is over coaches of individual groups who are over individual leaders in groups.  Obviously in gang life, they have cooler names for all that jazz...and you have to throw someone dedicated to shooting people in there somewhere (usually a parent takes this role in our churches)!  It's been quite interesting to watch and learn about these gangs.

On the flip side of all that, one theme has been popping up a lot in my life lately.  The word anticipation.  Specifically our awareness and proactive thinking regarding the matter.  Really if we are anticipating something to happen, we get ready for it.  In our organization, the word is flying around with things God is doing.  It really seems as though he is setting the stage for something major to happen and there is truly a genuine anticipation in the air!  You might think that its been relaxing, but it has shown me where i fail as a leader in some areas.

First, my leadership is reactive instead of proactive when it comes to where God is moving.  Often times i see God moving in a direction and I leverage my energy to move with God.  I'm learning as a leader this drains me instead of energizes me.  Often times i find God moving too quickly, or because I'm a step behind i often miss a key component.  This isn't a lack of vision or planning but more specific to following the movement of God.  Some people are lazy last minute people...this is different.

Second, i don't listen to God.  Often times God leads us where he wants us to take others.  He's innovative to the point that as followers we couldn't think up the end product better than him.  However, as a leader i fail to listen.  This should probably be first, because when i don't listen to where God wants to move, i cant be led by him...compounding problem here that ends in a complete lack of ability to take the people of God where he wants them to go. 

Third, i don't anticipate God doing something.  This is a faith thing bottom line.  This isn't not setting the stage for growth in your ministry or even not expecting growth in your ministry.  This is not anticipating that God does something larger than life, this is the minimizing God to a reasonable amount of something!  When i don't anticipate that God will show up in a huge way i miss out.

So, all that to say that Gangs have surprised me with a simple thing...they anticipate growth that's larger than life and put the organizational structure in place for that growth to happen before it ever does.  I've learned that as a leader my lack of listening to God creates a void in my ministry that forces me to be reactive instead of proactive.  You see if i were truly listening to God i would have in place an innovative structure of leadership to move with God when he moves.  My job is to set the stage-have the foresight of anticipation so that when God shows up in a larger than life way his people are ready to be leveraged for his use.  That's faith!!!

Guilt Pt. 2

In my personal life, the nostalgia was heavy this past weekend. As i drove through Missouri i saw the restaraunts where my grandpa took me, hospitals my nephews were born in, shops i went to in college, places i went to school (yeah...elementary...creepy) it was simply outstanding. I've been learning a lot about the things that energize me in ministry, in my personal life and my marriage. One thing i learned this weekend, i want to be home. There is a place that energizes me, gives me creativity, comforts me...its where i grew up, its the hills and trees, its my family...so im in at first glance a bad place. I initially got scared to death when i thought about this, i'm not moving but thats sure what it sounded like in the back of my head!!! Then i realized that in our discomfort is where God stretches us and grows us the most. In our ministries, the discomfort grows us, in our lives, marriages, families we grow most in these times. At the concert i had the privelage of being seated next to 4 wonderfully intoxicated fellows who were nice, just sloppy....mainly with their beverages. I was standing there, dripping from a mix of rum and beer totally uncomfortable. Instead of letting that dominate my experience, i took the chance to marvel at the things around me. If we focus on the discomfort in our lives it leaves us paralyzed. So i'll be working on seeing the things around me that God is doing, the great things and being in a place to learn and grow as much as i can. I'll also be working on visiting home as much as i can.....HA!

Guilt

For some strange reason, when someone departs from blogging they must return with a post reasoning logically on the matter. Extruding excuses from life experience spanning their absent stint...its guilt. Ironically we have in a sense created our own guilt in the matter, opening our lives and thoughts for others to see they become acustom to the matter and instill a sense of obligation, hence creating our self-inflicting guilt. Now im done with that, i must say, funerals, time away, sheer lack of anything extra in my life...they've created this dilema!!! So i'm struggling for a great ministry thought...or even a thought and it's been like that for a bit now. I wish i had a picture of this last weekend. As a kid growing up my favorite baseball team was the St. Louis Cardinals. I went to games all the time with my dad, Ozzie Smith even came to my school before he retired and gave me a bat...they were my team through and through. When they opened their new stadium i was there for the first series, i'm a pretty big fan. I was in St. Louis last weekend, and it was good to be in the town of my team. Sadly i wasn't there for the Cards yet another favorite in my life...Dave Matthews. Since i was in about 8th grade my best friend Bryan and I have been going to Dave Matthews concerts, so we met once again for the show. The experience was great because Dave was the first concert in the new Busch stadium, and i was seated directly in center field!!! During the concert i often found myself turning around and marveling at the view, i was on the field of my baseball team for the first time in my life, it was amazing to see the seats packed all the way to the top level with fans screaming for Dave...but to me it felt like a baseball game! If you cant tell the experience was more than nostalgic for me....more to come!

Funerals.....

Sorry this hasn't been too active, we've had several funerals over these past two weeks and its been one of those down times in life watching 18 year olds and 15 year olds and family members die. Last one is today, then we'll be back on!!!

Would you like a cookie???

Last night was great! Tons of students, hearing a great message with some good worship, a great experience. They were also flippin nuts. Like, please, next week just smoke some pot before you come. Thats not true, please dont (unless your a regular (ok another joke within joke)) Anyways! At the end of the night i had a volunteer come up to me and tell me they had taken care of a problem with excitement in their voice. This was probably the least of my concerns, a problem that carried little weight in the scope of the night. Moving our leader check-in booth one of the castors got stuck and dragged a black line down the whole hallway. Problem, black line down hallway. Solution, we have a cleaning company come every wednesday night. Amount of concern in my life...NONE. As i was dealing with some other problems i noticed this volunteer taking a paper towell and cleaning this black line on his hands and knees. When he was done with this he went and personally talked to the cleaning crew to make sure they would pay special attention to the black line. After this whole endeavor "Volunteer" came up to me with literal excitement letting me know that he had taken care of the black line! As i looked back at him, i gave him a big smile and said thanks. I'd like to think it was convincing, but im not sure it was. The Bible says that when we are faithful with small things, we have the opportunity to be faithful with large things. Flip that a bit, i tend to thank people for being faithful with large things, but offer no real reward for the simple things. Our volunteers pour out their hearts to serve students on wed. nights, to the point of wiping up the most insignificant black mark on the floor. They're here to serve whole-heartedly...can i even appreciate that?

I Think I'll Follow Jesus' Lead

So it's been a solid week since i've hit this up.  It was a week filled with finishing a major project that was absolutely a blast!  It was the first major thing i have done in awhile, it was refreshing, stretching and really just fun to do.  It took a lot time and energy though.  I have found that when i've gotten home these last couple of days, i've hit the couch and taken a healthy nap.  So here's the deal, short and sweet.  After Jesus did some major stuff, he rested.  We find him often retreating to re-energize and prepare for the next thing.  I think i'll follow Jesus' lead on this.  My nights for this week i think will be refreshing for me, doing some mundane things (even though i missed the cardinals game tonight) that allow me to step back and re-energize myself.  Hear me out though, im still full in during the day.  I'm not burnt or dragging.  This hasn't kicked my butt and that's why i need some refreshment.  For the first time i'm taking the initiative to keep myself healthy and in the game.  I need to top of my tank.  This is a new concept for me usually i wait until i have nothing left to give, now, with initiative im going to quickly be able to offer my best again.  Are you doing this in your life, or are you in the habit of draining completely before refilling.  My wife has this annoying dad like statement she always uses regarding her car and the amount of gas she puts in it....it goes something like this.  "The car runs just the same on a full tank as it does an empty tank, so keep it full in case you need it."  She really is from Nebraska ha!  She has a point though, we can often make it just the same when we are almost fully empty but we risk waking up one day with nothing left.  This week i wont be waking up with nothing left and from the last couple evenings...i wont be waking up often HA!  On a side note, Perry Noble will be at our all-staff meeting tomm. so be looking for some great insight into getting to see one of my favorite up and coming pastors!

An Odd Place

How could you not be motivated and moved when you read proverbs 29:18..."Where there is no vision, the people perish..." As i was talking to a great friend the other day (Dan Gould) he mentioned something about a holy restlesness. A place where you are motived and moved by discomfort, a place where you long for something more even though you're where God has you now. I'm there. God has been molding me, shaping me and ultimately allowing the freedom to explore who he has created me to be and inronically in the midst of God allowing this he has created this holy discomfort. For the first time i know what energizes me, i can identify and schedule these things into my life, i know what keeps me going. In the same token, i can identify for this season the things that drain me, leave me less than energized or resonate as simple tasks. So that sounds like a great place to be, right? I feel more on the understanding end of discomfort, more restless than holy. Vision is hardest at this point in my life, the struggle to maintain commited to what is at hand, while knowing something needs to press forward. Its season's like this that lead me ultimately frustrated and torn. This would be an easier season if my current vision, the one i'm living in was strong..but its not. This would be easier if i woke up and could see my purpose for today over my purpose for the future, but i cant seem to shake it. I have a current vision that closes in on perishing, and i have a holy discomfort about this. Next season is coming, but its overtaking me. I'm heading towards rough waters, at some point my day is going to collide where i begin to create the momentum to act on what God is doing but have to maintain a dying vision in the process. I have to leap not alone, but with staff and volunteers beside me carrying the souls of students on our backs, its a dangerous leap anytime you make it and its coming around the bend. Half of me says with a smirk, thanks a lot God, the other half is running towards it.

A Killer Race

I can't honestly say i've ever cared about horse racing but something caught my attention today.  One of the horses racing in the Kentucky Derby left the race track flat out dead.  Death is something that always catches my attention, as probably most other people (so i don't feel so weird about it!).  One thing really caught my attention, they put the horse down right there on the track.  The horse did not die from racing, the horse died from two broken ankles and could not make its way off the track!  Thats commitment.  Easy to say since i wasn't on the receiving end of a small man beating me with a stick (i'm far from PETA so don't think about it) but i'm positive it would "inspire" me to giddy up!  This got me thinking about a comment i've heard a lot lately, "you don't want to be a youth pastor forever do you?  You're just working up to becoming a campus pastor right?"  This is the most ignorant statement i've ever heard.  Maybe its too personal, but shouldn't we be following what God has called us to do not what we feel is the "next step?"  When God calls us to do something, we should be willing to die on the track, on the journey.  I hope to be put out without missing a beat, finish the race and right there on the track be retired from the task of taking breaths.  Im in a killer race, one that i'll die for, one that i'll die doing.  Somedays it feels as though the pain wont let me continue, distractions slow me, vision is hazy and i get out of focus but at the end of all that, i still find myself running.  I hope to never be a campus pastor, i hope to never be led off the track and put in the barn to graze until i die.  I hope that i can finish strong, the leader of the pack in the "lane" that God has given me to run in.

Top Ten Places Not To Visit!

Well, even if you're one of those people that have lied about coming to visit Nicole, Hunter and I in our new location you might think again.  Reading AOL News today, they featured a story with the top ten places not to visit in the world.  Who's on the list?

10-Baghdad, Iraq

9-Dhaka, Bangladesh

8-Yakutsk, Russia

7-Mogadishu, East Africa

6-Chernobyl, Ukraine

5-Oklahoma City, OK

4-Pyongyang, North Korea

3-Bujumbura, Republic of Burundi

2-Linfen, China

1-Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea

Ok seriously who made this list?  I stared for quite some time thinking it had to be a mistake, maybe this is the blatant way God is trying to tell me something...i really doubt that though.  Is OKC really this bad?  I ask this as i watched a tornado form while sitting at a stoplight tonight.  Luckily i was heading to my small group so i felt like God might have mercy (it touched down 5 miles down the road) and hail has most likely destroyed my car, overall though i think its been an alright night!  Possibly the real lesson here is that when God calls you somewhere you have a better attitude about your surroundings, more practically i'll take tornadoes and bad weather for restaurants that stay open past 9, sushi and a variance of culture.  It still hurts that they rank us that low....ahhh these news people.  On a lighter note ive been asking a lot of the "best ever" questions lately.  Yesterday it was two, best rap song ever, and best michael jackson song ever.  Todays two questions, best comedian ever, and best sub-compact car ever!  What do you think?  Dying for some common answers?  Best rap song ever, most popular response, Regulators by WarrenG (dont act like you dont know).  Best Michael Jackson song ever, most popular response, Thriller, my response...Heal the World (sub-titled, little boy love mix).  Best comedian ever, most popular response...Chevy Chase, best sub-compact car ever, Ford Festiva.  I'll be asking more of these over the next couple of weeks so stay tuned!

Travelodge

Watching TV late last night my attention was caught by an unusual commercial. First, the travelodge mascot (bear maybe) was trying to be seductice and erotic. OK that was weird to say! What took this commercial over the edge for me was the slogan the company is now using. Recreate. Hibernate. This makes Travelodge the first ever upclass hooker-like nationwide hotel chain. Being a first in the industry isnt always the best! Let's join together in knocking travelodge off the bottom of the places to stay list unless your into that sorta thing!

Root Beer

It's not often you find a delight such as pure, unbottled A&W Root-Beer.  As nicole and i were sipping on the tasty delight yesterday we were wondering...how could we create such an extravagant experience in our own home.  For the next couple of hours we spent trying to make this happen.  I guess tapping root-beer in the home is not a common experience, who would have thought?  So after taking lots of time to even find something educational we have given up for the time being.  How many people are seeking to get involved with your ministry have given up?  How many people have seen something they connected with, but had no way of connecting?  I think its not often as Christ followers, or even potential Christ followers we find that group or ministry we really resonate with.  So the question...have we designed ministries that are open to those experiences; experiences when that certain person that fits walks in the door, can they plug in easily?  Comfortably?  I was heavily contemplating the ins and outs of church on my drive in this morning.  You see i have a brother that has a growing, vibrant ministry in a large city that is heavily conservative.  I happen to be a part of a growing, vibrant ministry (totally not in part to me) in a large city that is heavily...innovative (thats a good word for balls out right?).  The key factor is not who we are, but what we do, and i think what we do is create opportunities for people that walk in to get connected.  You see, not everyone who walks in the door needs to be there.  They won't fit, they wont align with vision, its just not the way they relate.  But the ones that do...how many have you missed lately by having things in place that were less than excellent, something "you'll get to" or just non-existant?  Realizing priority, for once lets drop some of our fluff and make the more important happen, connecting people to what they really want.  I'm fairly certain if there was a way to get root-beer on tap in my house yesterday i would have jumped in, i was passionate for the cause.  Today i have logic and reason fighting my way, its Sunday lets not get to Monday and have people that passionately wanted to get involved sitting on the sidelines.

The Deed Is Done!

It just so happens that when we moved into our house in OKC the previous renters left us a present.  It never fails that your welcoming gifts never quite meet your expectations, and this one took the cake.  On our screened in porch was a magnificent couch, its a really large porch so we have never paid much attention to it and certainly never sat on it.  Its kinda off to the side (noticeable still) but not in the way of any activity we need the porch for, so we've just kinda left it there.  Well, every day when Hunter goes outside to his large backyard of a bathroom/play area he walks by this wonderfully blue couch.  Just the other day as he was walking inside he casually stops, lifts his leg and gives a quick spirt to the couch then continues to walk in the door.  The whole process for him took less than 5 seconds, and as funny and disgusting as that might be, i've really been intrigued as to the "why."  It's been there for months and he hasn't paid attention to it, then one day he just has to stop and do his thing, i really searched on this one.  You might think this is weird, but we have couches INSIDE our house too...i didn't want him to make some weird dog correlation between the two.  I've landed on this idea, but feel free to share your own...   Hunter is tempted to mark his territory anywhere he can, he's a man dog and has a good size ego..ok he thinks he's pretty awesome.  But the reality of it is, whether its a dog or not when you put some kind of temptation in your path eventually your going to break.

I've seen it all

So yesterday we had to deliver some t-shirts to another campus.  We're driving less than a block away from our campus and notice a homeless man on the corner.  Nick (guy i work with) and i both look at him, Nick looks away back at the stoplight.  I'm stuck looking at this homeless person all by myself.  This may not seem important, but it is.  Plus for clarification we have a large community of homeless people in our area and we frequently help them out.  (one named Monty frequents and is a big fan of silver spray paint....)  So I'm watching this guy and two seconds later he falls stiff as a board directly back and hits his head on the concrete....this guy is OUT, i mean O..U..T OUT!!!!!  Plus, I've just seen his head literally bounce off the concrete and waaamo he is gone.  As I'm gasping for breath and doing the pointing cant seem to find something to say dance in the front seat of the car nick calmly looks over.  The next few seconds will be ones i will never forget in my life..... Nick calmly states the name of the individual, gives me a quick background and how the campus has tried to invest in his life.  As he is dialing the phone (no time for a phone call by the way) he states that he is just drunk and passed out.  Turns out he is calling the police, who know the guy by name and head out to pick him up.  Needless to say nick finished the quick 30 seconds of a timeless piece in my life by letting me know that he has seen this before and I'll probably see it again.  If that wasn't enough of a culture shock on perspective for me, today we're in wal-mart grabbing some drinks and we see none other than "Doc" from Back to the Future.  As I'm telling some of our volunteers this they inform me that the day before they had both on separate occasions seen a delorean with stuff on the back, just like from Back to the Future....life is certainly getting interesting.

Perspective

Nicole often tells me i have some serious issues.....and maybe she's right!  (See attached picture)  So the other day i was thinking to myself, Hunter (our dog) really likes his kennel, like to the point where sometimes he doesn't even want to hang out with us so i thought as a good Dad, i would join him for a stay in his world.  The room looked a lot bigger from his kennel and he was ticked i was in there...i also learned he is d..i..r..t..y and needs to start cleaning his own dang room or wiping his own feet off from coming inside!  Fast forward to our staff meeting we're having at one staff members houses (LC gotta love it)!  One staff member makes comment to other staff member, "he's a new christian, he doesn't know some stuff is cliche, as long as its spiritual its all alright"  Put that in the back of your head and chew on it, one more to come...So im driving home in my wife's car which is an odd experience for me because its a jetta and guys tend to look at me funny when i drive it, probably not but im "self aware" if it ever were to happen (does that make any sense?)!  Long story short, i drive a lifted jeep, she drives a lowered jetta...if you ever want to feel like your butt is dragging the ground make that leap.  On to the point here-i make the turn towards our neighborhood knowing its the right turn as soon as i make it i immediately panic thinking i've taken the wrong turn.  It takes three consistent road signs to tell me im heading in the right direction before i start to believe anything.  Needless to say the rest of the short drive i had left was one that was continually focused on making sure i was heading in the right direction.  Her car had given me this totally different perspective on the things around me!  One thing i've learned is that we need to constantly be evaluating things around us, trying to gain a new perspective in order to ensure that things are going in the best possible direction (or for some, the right direction and others...a direction at all).  Whether it be after years of having my dog and the same kennel realizing how dirty it is, or how much room he really has, or how safe it feels i learned something...next time he goes in his kennel i understand why.  Whether its driving and realizing things you never realized before, needing to check the signs around you to make sure your heading in the right direction, re-directing our focus on what we really need to be focusing on or just that once-in-awhile feeling of confirmation that we are heading where we need to head.  Whether its that new christian that hasn't settled into american christian culture that still finds anything spiritual more captivating than not, the hunger that resides in that.  The new christian that walks into our ministry and sees volunteers, staff, and other attenders less than captivating, less than spiritual what's their perspective?  I'm constantly evaluating my christian ideals and perspective, checking to make sure first im heading in a direction and then making sure its the right one.  And finally im always checking to make sure my place is all cleaned up (you make the connection), there's no dirt hiding anywhere and that there's a place that's safe and comfortable for me to relax and jump into the arms of a God who cares!  How long has it been since you just checked where you're perspective is at?

Rain for Rent????

So im driving down the interstate today, and i see a semi pulling this really odd trailer....on the side it says Rain for Rent!!!  I'm thinking to myself, even God is feeling the recession thats pretty bad then i thought im pretty bad for thinking that to myself (enough random in head conversations)  Then the pastor in me comes out wailing and screaming, i've actually landed on something spiritual for me.

Since moving to OK Nicole and i have felt our fair share of life poking us around.  I'm thinking this as im driving home from the auto parts store because my jeep is broke, in fact both my jeeps were broke the other day and nicoles car was in the shop today....trivial i know, but still seriously????  It's been a season that we've experienced the least amount of income in our marriage, the worst place to live (its not bad, we're just used to better), being sick, missing major family events, and really growing a lot spiritually which always hurts a little.  It's been the most trying time for us, a time where we really have had to rely on God a lot.  In fact its a season of pretty intense spiritual stuff for us, from the moment we sat down and really prayed together about coming to the constant moving of people at good ol' L...Church.  This got me thinking, for the first time in our marriage we're spending time together and growing a lot and in the midst of everything God has granted us way more than joy about life...let's just call it rain.  

So what happens when this season is over?  Do we go back to a place where we were before, or have we truly grown in the midst of everything?  Did we just rent the "Jesus factor" for a bit, and when we're done with it we'll send it back on its semi home?  Is this just our trend in life, in ministry, in our journey or are we truly learning, growing and connecting more with who and what God has in store for us?  I'll be evaluating this "rain for rent" idea a little more, feel free to join me!

Seriously?

At a funeral today, doing the final stuff at the cemetary and someone broke the window out in my jeep and stole a purse (not mine thankfully)!  Happens that i wasnt the only vehicle missing a window, a couple others had the same "problem"  So if you know Satan's address im looking to send him a bill for a window and kicks his....butt......  Any help would be greatly appreciated.

A Break is Coming!

Ever had a brief but long season of ministry?  We've had a ton of stuff going on over the last month, every weekend has been booked solid...and we still have one more!  We had an overnight event for our SwitchGroups and did a mission project this weekend.  Next weekend we finish up with our leader retreat, another overnight weekend!  Overall its been great and developed our team a lot but at the end of it i'm tired and ready for a breath before we gear up to finish out the school year.  Today was great, no groups meeting this evening and i left as the 1:00 experience started so i got to go home this afternoon.  Nicole and i took the opportunity to take the jeep out to a local place and just hang out a little bit, something that has been lacking this past month with her starting her new job!  We have a date planned for tomm. night (no pictures of that) and im really looking forward to it.

Volunteer 101

So i've found that i can never hear enough about how to take care of or empower volunteers.  It seems as though every couple months i need a lesson on how to do this effectively, and a couple just hopped my way this week.  Our "Spring Crash" is coming up this weekend, its an overnight small group event that will include packing some lifepacks to send out to kids in Iraq.  Pushing our volunteers to see this as a launching pad into our small group ministry, i've challenged them with individual goals for how many students outside of their normal crowd i want to see involved.  This wasn't genius, it was just a way to motivate them to think outside the box and really recruit some new students.  Two volunteers stood out this week, both relatively new in our small group ministry (less than 3 months).  First volunteer works with middle school girls comes into the office first thing Monday morning and asks to include a personalized letter from the 3 ladies that lead the small group to their small group students!  Not only that, she had printed maps and given cell phone numbers for the parents to contact with any question before the event then hand wrote all the invitation envelopes!!!  Second volunteer, middle school guys, calls me today and says he was inviting a lady to church while he was at work.  Happens to be she goes to our campus and is involved in our adult small group ministry.  Amazingly she has a middle school guy that has been wanting to get involved but due to work schedules of his mother cant get a ride.  Gets the information, signs him up for our event this weekend and was calling to see what kind of arrangements we could make to give him a ride every week!  These are pretty standard practices to people who do ministry as a job, but for the new volunteers they had gone above and beyond taking the challenge of recruiting some new students to another level!  Oh sure theres more, like the volunteer that handed me almost 50 sign-ups she had personally recruited over our wednesday night program, the guys leader that hosted a barbeque at his house this weekend so the guys could see where they were staying, or the group that went on a mission project this weekend.  There's two guys that are starting small groups in lieu of the event, the groups that want to be a part of the process, including leading worship....sometimes it feels like maybe they are getting it!!!

OKC...OK We're in Love

As Nicole and I were driving home from our lifegroup last night we were planning out our wonderful adventures for today (our days off).  This spurred into a conversation about how much we love living in the city!  Here's a couple of pictures since we've been here at some pretty cool spots.  First is a sail-boat lake a couple minutes from our house, it has a restaurant on one point that houses a lighthouse and is also the home to the sail-boat docks.  We took hunter with us and he LOVED it!  Second is a picture from "Pops" a hole in the wall place that has over 1400 different kinds of soda from all over the world, it was a blast and we totally felt like kids!

Off-Road Adventures

A couple weeks ago Nicole and I took our first off road trip together!  She hated the first day but really warmed up to it on the second day.  This is my chance to be the guy macho man all guys need some avenue of expressing, and at one point this took over sensible logic.  Last run of the second day i took a line on a hill that 4 guys before me got stuck on and created some major ruts.  Knowing the impossible i still went for it and the result was me being stuck.  Nic is a very understanding wife, but she hasnt fully grasped the male ego trip and the results were as follows.....enjoy

Another Wed. Night

Man, another great Wednesday night at the South OKC campus.  One of the great things is I couldn't tell you how many students we had (it was packed and there was some awesome energy), or how many students committed their lives to Christ tonight (ill for sure find out in the morning) or even how many students decided tonight that they want to be an "activist" for God (the series we started tonight)!  I count these as great things because of this....

Tonight i closed the message out, before i closed i simply prayed that God would use the message and myself to speak to students.  As the video teaching closed out, i began to speak into a mic that a new sound guy couldnt figure out how to run, then tried a second mic with no luck to finally a third mic.  Being an excellence matters perfectionist kinda guy this really ticked me off and put a big kink in the flow of a crucial time in the night.  It also threw me off enough to know that i did far from my best ability,  as i began to invite students into a relationship with Jesus for the first time students were throwing their hands up left and right!!  Enough students for me to think in my head, how did you even get that???  Im still left saying it could have been a million times better, but i have to say God taught me a lesson i seem to continually need taught.  First, prayer works (duh!) and Second, God himself is in control!

Mission Trip 101

We just returned from my first mission trip with the students from lifechurch.tv and i was wiped out (i slept for a good 20 hours)!!!  Like tons of mission trips before, i was shocked at how much students love missions, how hard they work when they are given a task to do, and how much they care about other people.  There were a couple moments i'll highlight as learning experiences for me.  First, on the bus ride to our mission site I began to work on the names of the students we had going with us, there were two other campuses with students that i did not know so i had my work cut out for me.  About half way through our first charter bus i was doing great (who wouldn't be) when i got to a row of some core students from my campus.  For about 30 seconds i froze on our students names.  These are names I know, names I use every week and for some reason stupid hit me smack in the face.  During those 30 seconds, the first middle school girl was crushed, sunk low in her seat, face turned horrified, honestly thought she was going to break out into tears.  It was a horrible 30 seconds for me watching this!  Once I continued with her name her demeanor changed to the bright and bubbly person she always was.  Lesson One, students are fragile!  They need us!!!  (scary huh?)

 Second, I had volunteered to take on some 6th grade boys for the trip.  Once we got to our worksite we teamed up and began working on one of the larger projects, building a deck for the mobile home we were at.  These boys had never used a hammer, never been around a saw, nothing.  At the end of day one they had learned enough to raise the deck, and put the flooring on (in a beautiful pattern i might add).  They worked their little butts off and did it right, it was level, the cut-outs for the post wrapped around beautifully it truly was something they could take pride in, and they did.  After downloading with them that night, they were not exhausted, but driven to do more.  One of the 6th grade boys stepped up and asked to lead a team to begin work on the porch that we needed to do for the other side while one stayed with me to begin the railing and steps.  I agreed this would be a good plan, and so we went into day two.  I had  no clue this 6th grade boy wold carry his team to complete the second porch that day!  Lesson two, students want to dream big, and given the right tools and training can accomplish more than you and I ever think!