thelokey

This is a blog post I did for our church staff blog at http://crossviewconnect.com. I figure this way I can get a little bit more mileage for my efforts. Cheap? Yes! Do I care? Nope. Enjoy. You may or may not have heard our student ministry's new name, BROADCAST. With the new name comes a new identity and a fresh perspective on what God is wanting to do with students in Rockmart. The name is simple, we want to "broadcast" the name of Jesus to the world. Starting in our own community and branching out from there. This idea is directly linked to our church's vision to reach the unchurched and lead them to become fully devoted followers of Christ. What this means... It means that the time is NOW! Spread the word, Crossview is the place for students (and their families)! It means that we have to be ready to build relationships with students who come to us broken and hurting, looking for a place to belong. It means that the enemy is TICKED OFF because he knows...

So today I went through a TON of old email, sorting out the junk and organizing what was left. I tend to be a bit of a digital packrat . One good thing that came out of this was an old email I haven't read in years from " In the Den ". Here it is, years before the blog started: I am frustrated, as of late, that people--good, godly people--are not advising on the foundation of a very basic spiritual truth. God has a will, and we can know it. And we should know it. And when we don’t know it, we should ask. And when we don’t see it, we should seek. And when we don’t understand it, we should knock. We should not step back to do what is comfortable, what is safe, and what makes sense hoping that one day we will be brave enough to agree with God. We should not be content to rest in the reliable relief of ignorance. On the contrary, we should ask of our heavenly Father who gives to all without finding fault. It's a timeless piece of exhortation that still pricks me ...

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/10/20/afghanistan.violence/index.html?eref=rss_topstories Here's an excerpt of the story... The Taliban claimed responsibility for the death, saying on its Web site that it killed the "foreign woman" for preaching Christianity in the country and adding that it had been following the woman for some time. - Source: CNN.com Two things: First, my prayers go out to this young women's friends and family for their tragic loss. Gayle Williams is a modern day martyr and will receive her heavenly reward. She is a testimony to the rest of the Christian faith of what it means to follow Christ at all costs. Secondly, I'm also proud that CNN ran the story and even put the "Christian" details in it. I'm not naive enough to think that Gayle Williams was the only person killed for her faith in Christ this week or even today. But I applaud them for reporting this in a tasteful fashion. For more information on SERVE Afghanistan...

Here's the last 24 hours of my life... 10:30PM - Got home from helping Crissy's sister move a washer and dryer into her apartment and took a Tylenol PM so I could get to sleep because I had to be up early to start MY FIRST DAY at a new church . 11:30PM - Noticed a small, but sharp pain underneath my left shoulder blade. I thought, "That's weird, I took a pain killer earlier when I wasn't even in pain." Went to sleep. 4:30AM - Woke up with EXCRUCIATING pain in my left shoulder. It hurt so bad I was trying not to scream and I couldn't take a deep breath. Not being able to breathe made me panic, making it harder for me to breathe (you get the routine). Took 2 Aleve to see if the pain would go away. Didn't even take the edge off! 5:15AM - 7:00AM - Show up to Kennestone ER to find out what's going on. After getting some IV fluids, they decide to take a chest X-Ray to rule out any lung problems due to the shortness of breath. After the chest X-Ra...

So in the last 7 days I have officially resigned from my position at Lost Mountain Baptist Church to start as the Student Pastor at Crossview Community Church in Rockmart, GA. Needless to say it is a very exciting, stressful time for me and my wife. Even as I'm typing this entry I am at my office at Lost Mountain working on what will most likely be my last video for this church. There's a whole long list of things I have to train other people how to do before I leave so there won't be "holes" left when I'm not here. It sounds a little arrogant to say, but I'm amazed at all the things I've been doing both in and out of the realm of the student ministry. I guess it just goes to show my inability to say "no". The church we're moving to is a great place! It's unlike anything I've ever been a part of before. It's the kind of place I hear about other people being involved in and think to myself, "Man! I wish I could do s...

Here's some stuff that's running through my brain... -Me and Crissy are looking into buying a house. Our thinking is we would like to own a house and right now they're REALLY cheap and we don't have to worry about selling a house. -I'm glad the Olympics are OVER. Yes, Michael Phelps is an amazing athlete, but that's just a huge distraction from the fact that China is a Communist country that gets away with huge human rights violations including killing plenty of Christians. All the while America watched in awe as they lit a torch and ignored the obvious. We shouldn't have been there, we shouldn't do business with them, and it will come back to bite us in the collective butt. -I've been watching the "old" sit-com " Two Guys and a Girl ". So underrated and under-appreciated. Thanks " Friends ". -I expressed my desire to start the ordination process at Lost Mountain to my pastor today, let the fun begin!

Right now I'm getting into my 10th hour of work. Yes, it's a Saturday, and yes, it's been a long day. My sprint began when we got home last Saturday after 10 days in Peru on a mission trip (that'll be a different blog post). Upon returning, there were plenty of things to do. Such as finishing our church's web overhaul, next Sunday's bulletin, promo materials for our upcoming fall retreat, etc. This is not even getting into the things that needed to be done around the house. This post is not going to be me complaining about how busy I am, everyone's busy. This is more about the nature of the American life. What I've really been busy doing is getting caught up on work that didn't get done while fulfilling the Great Commission. And here's the real kicker, I'm frantically trying to get all my work done for next week so I can relax while we go on vacation! How dumb is that?!?

I'm all for finding creative and catchy ways to connect spiritual truth with current culture, but THIS is RIDICULOUS! As a Christian AND a fan of the movie (went tonight) I'm dumbfounded that we insist on finding ways to relate our faith to popular culture. Just leave it at, "This was a funny movie, but there was some off color situations and lines that may be offensive to some. Overall, the comedy is truly 'smart' and the chemistry between Steve Carell and Anne Hathaway is undeniably cute. I was also pleasantly surprised by the extent of action sequences that gave the movie a good pacing." Now how hard was that?

Anyone that knows anything about me knows that I'm a pretty heavy consumer of all things media. Here's a list of my consumption lately: Movies: Prince Caspian - Great movie! The director really progressed the three children's character and matured them well. The overall tone was a bit darker and more intense. I'm a HUGE fan of C.S. Lewis and have read the "Narnia" series many times, and Walden & Disney have done an excellent job of translating these stories to film Indiana Jones & The Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls - I don't know what all the critics and fans are complaining about! The I.J. series is about one thing, having a fun experience at the movies. That is exactly what Spielberg & the gang accomplished. It's supposed to be corny, unrealistic, and outlandish. If it were real, it would be...well, like watching PBS. Music: Hawk Nelson is My Friend - I went to see these guys in concert about a month ago and to be honest, what l...

I'm done with college, but I will NEVER be done learning. I love Youth Ministry. If you're reading this and have any kind of ministry position (at all), please take this advice...FIND PEOPLE DOING WHAT YOU WANT TO DO AND LEARN HOW THEY DO IT. For example, I'm a regular reader of SimplyYouthMinistry.com. They have great articles about nearly every aspect of ministry. Here's a sample. developing a strong volunteer team We often measure the size and impact of our youth programs by counting the number of students that come each week. But have you ever thought ... My point is very clear, learn something. Even if you're not in ministry it's a good life strategy.

I must confess I never really liked VBS once I got into church ministry, but I can honestly say that the church I'm at right now really does a GREAT job with VBS and it's become a highlight of my year. With that in mind.... "What are the top 3 WORST themes for VBS?" These can be anything (real or made up). Enjoy.

Many years ago when AOL instant messenger was THE only way to communicate on the web, a friend of mine would post a "Question of the Day" on his away message. People would answer in the funniest way they could come up with, and at the end of the day he would take the funniest answers and post those for all to see. Well, I'm stealing his idea and using it on this blog. Only the questions won't be asked daily, and some may be serious. So today's question is a bit of an ethical question I've been pondering... Just because "all people are created equal", does that mean that all people REMAIN equal? Discuss.

Here's my most recent graphic for a new FOCUS series. I'm going to try to start putting more graphics up that I do for fun or work. This one is particularly cool because it's a picture that I found on the web (photo exchange site) and then stylized through Photoshop to make it look like graffiti art. Yes, I know it's been done before, just not by me. Here's the before and after...

So this past week (March 31-April 5) had to be one of the best weeks of my life. Here's the rundown... Didn't have to pay for ANY lunch Monday-Friday (I like to eat out, but HATE to pay for it) Finally got away from home/work and visited friends and family in Albany & Dothan Received countless birthday cards/presents that I didn't expect Was GIVEN a truck by the world's greatest brother and sister-in-law (see pic)! Got a GPS for my truck from the world's greatest wife While in Albany I ran into a student that remembered me from the first Sunday School class I taught 7 years ago! 5 birthday cakes, 1 birthday lunch, and 3 birthday dinners (including a steak) The bottom line is, God is good and when I have the worst week ever, He'll still be good.

1. Business people and especially politicians would start insisting on using video conferencing for meetings instead of flying huge jets everywhere and using hundreds of gallons of fuel. 2. Magazines would be eliminated completely. Right now I have stacks of magazines that I never subscribed to that I will never read (I'm not racist, I just don't find "Black Enterprise" to be a "must-read") 3. People would stop printing out emails and putting them in my box outside my office. 4. Instead of trying to force our cars to have cleaner emissions, we'd go to other countries where cities are more densely populated that have no emissions regulations at all.

Why is it I can spend countless hours reading mindless drivel on the internet, but find it almost impossible to sit down and read God's Word for 30 minutes a day? How frustrating and humbling for me to admit to myself...some days I wonder why God puts up with me!

I just finished the book "Jesus: A Novel" by Paul Wangerin. It is, you guessed it, the Gospels in the form of a novel. Since it is a work of fiction, some things were added to the story to deepen the character development, but all in good taste. My favorite character in the book turned out to be Judas Iscariot. Weird, right? The author puts a great spin on his character, making him a young idealist that longed to see Israel restored to its former glory. Throughout the book we see Judas as a man drawn to power and the idea of change. He is always well-intentioned. So through the whole book I'm waiting for some moment or encounter to "turn him to the dark side". There's a few times Jesus rebukes him for one reason or another, but the problem is Judas thinks too much and thinks this peace loving, peace making Jesus is just a front. By the time their final Passover comes, Judas is anxious to see Jesus' power unleashed on the Jewish leadership. When...

I purposely waited until after Christmas to post this in hopes that with Christmas past us, I wouldn't receive hate comments about my "lack of Christmas spirit". No, I'm not talking about the over-commercialization of Christmas, I'm saying that Christmas itself, from a spiritual perspective is over-celebrated. Let me first say that Christmas is great. It is a wonderful time to remember one of the most awesome gifts God gave to man, His Son Jesus Christ. Let me also say that given the fact the Gospel writers took so much time writing about the supernatural events surrounding Christ's birth, it's obviously an important part of the story of Christ. My problem isn't with Christmas, it's with how much we celebrate it compared to another holiday, Easter. We as Christians give very little recognition to Easter (when compared to Christmas). Yes, we do "Passion Plays", we watch "The Passion of the Christ", we have a big Easter service...