Challenging Normal

I came to Adel to see my family for 24 hrs. Heading back to Stockbridge this afternoon.

• What an awesome night.
  
• There is something that is building around Thrive.  I honestly believe that we are on the edge of something incredible.
  
• The band is getting better and better.  Adding a new member next week.  Excited about that.
  
• Have not preached in three week.  It was tough finding my groove and I really do not feel like I ever did.
  
• One of our first times guests bragged to her friend that brought her on how friendly everyone was.  That is the ultimate compliment.
  
• Everything really seemed to gel last night.
  
• I can not wait to start I Dare You next week.

• Get loose - let go of the things that hold us down and hold us back.
  
• Get moving - the longer you sit still the harder it is to find your motivation.
  
• Get focused - understand why you do what you do.  That is the only thing that will keep you going when things get tough.

What's coming up:

Next week we will kick off the "I Dare You" series.  This series will not be like any series we have ever done in Thrive.  There will be a devotional and fasting guide that will run parallel with each week called The Dare and we will meet every Tuesday night to pray for our ministry, our schools, our city, and our families.  It is going to be awesome!

Next week will take up our Extraordinary Speed-the-Light offering.  Students will bring everything that they raised through the month of February.

For more information you can go to thriveyouthchurch.com

Psalm 37:4, "Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of YOUR heart."

Was there something in life that you desired so deeply that you thought life would never be the same if you desire was not met? My desires have transitioned from superficial things to external things and events to a new dimension down deep in my soul. Getting caught up in life and a society that preaches "the American dream" has led me to question my desires and if God is really listening to me. The past few days, God has corrected me and challenged my way of thinking. I have always focused on receiving the desires of my heart, which has led me into a constant state of wanting.

The real focus should be on delighting myself in the Lord and becoming in tune with the heart beat of God. His desires are higher than my own. I have been trying to chart my own plan for life according to the world's standards of happiness and success. I have been missing out on an opportunity to dream, while wide awake, with my Creator. Each day is a new opportunity I plan to seize in not only delighting in God but also dreaming with Him . . . God has an amazing purpose for me and HIS plan for my life is more extraordinary than I could have dreamed alone.

What are your desires? Are you allowing God to give you His dreams for your life? What desires is He trying to give to you today?

Wrestling With The Definition of Revival

Correction Capital

Relationships matter.

So glad I got to sleep in this morning.

Luke 10:38-42, "As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me, Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."

• Last night we had a Grill and Chill Night because school was out all week and we were at the Winter Encounter this week.
  
• The weather was horrible and really hurt our attendance, but everyone who battled the weather had a blast.
  
• Played Girls vs. Guys "Scene It". Girls barely won from what I heard.
  
• I love nights like last night because students get to know each other and build community that sometimes doesn't get built with a service.
  
• Really looking forward to next week. Have not preached on Wednesday night in three weeks. I might preach for 2 hours next week.

Dear Relevant Post-Modern Christian,

Dear Doubter,

This week I need to get a couple of things off my chest. There are a few things I need to vent about. Just a warning. There are some letters that I need to write this week. They are not personal and are not directed to any particular person, ministry, or church. These letters are open and are solely based on how I feel.

Dear Super Spiritual Christian,

I am so glad that God speaks to you, but do you have to act like you are the only one He speaks to? Do you not understand that your "word" from God to me should only be confirmation about what God is already speaking in my life? If it does not bare witness in my soul, then I am just going to take it that you have become over-zealous and have gotten ahead of God. I understand that it is about you right now, and the spotlight is enticing. I am also glad that you are up to date on the latest in the Church culture and speak Christianese fluently. You do understand that the rest of the world looks at you like you are crazy. You do understand that you have lost the ability to communicate effectively with the people that you are supposed to be sharing the love of God with the most? Does the term "so Heavenly-minded you are no earthly good" mean anything to you? By now, you are cracking open your Bible and misquoting scripture to justify what you do. Understand, I have nothing against you. I love you, I love God, but I also love the people that are far from God that He has mandated for us to reach, the people you are freaking out. This makes it harder on the rest of us. If there is anyway for you to stop, take a step back and see life through their eyes, see them through Jesus' eyes, you will realize real quick that it is not about "your" word, your form of worship, or even how much you know about God. It is about how much you love God. You cannot detach a love for God's people from your love for God. Thanks for hearing me out.

Eric

Happy Valentine's Day!

Do not take things personally.

Our Winter Encounter is Sunday through Tuesday. I am really looking forward to this event for several reasons:

• Pastor Steven spoke last night and knocked it out of the park!
  
• I love to sit back and watch Thrive Students worship.
  
• We are seeing God do some really deep things in students' lives.
  
• The band did a new song last night and it was awesome. Really proud at what those guys are doing and how they are gelling.
  
• Really proud to see how the different groups of students are starting to mesh with each other and build relationships with each other.
  
• There is a real sense that God is doing something and is about to do something HUGE in us and with us.

As leaders in Youth Ministry our students are unedited versions of us.

If we are going to raise up spiritual giants we are going to have to raise the bar.

My Pastor often reminds me that we are on a journey. As a church, as a family, as friends, and as individuals we are constantly going somewhere. Even when you are not aware of it, life is a journey and the things around you are changing. Change is about the only things that will stay the same. The thought occurred to me the other day that I am not the same person I was 6 months ago. I am not even the same person I was a week ago.

This week was crazier than last week was.

Who is speaking into your life?  Who can you count on to be there for you no matter what?  Nothing affects your destiny more than the people you allow to influence your life.  Thursday night I was reminded how fortunate I am to have Chris Pollock in my life.  Here is what he told me while we were having a deep leadership conversation:

• Wednesdays are my favorite days of the week.
  
• The extraordinary backdrop looked awesome. Sharon, Kayla, and Amy did an awesome job.
  
• Big thank you to Robin who helped me clean this week and rearrange some things in the Youth Building.
  
• We had 10 people come to the meeting about the Mission's Trip to Bogota, Colombia.
  
• Tonight we had a Ministry Team from South Port Master's Commission in South Port, England.
  
• I am convinced that we are going to hear life-changing stories come out of the encounter students had with God tonight.

I am my own worst enemy.

I am my worst critic.

I am forever second guessing myself.

I am always harder on myself than anyone else.

I am always over thinking and over analyzing situations.

I am always letting what other people think and say dictate what I do.

The issue with living like this is that I am always quashing and minimizing the dreams and ideas that God is giving me. I am constantly trying to convince myself that I am not good enough or capable to handle what God has called me to. I put myself into a box.

When we begin to rely on God. When we begin to do things out of our own abilities we defeat our worst enemy, we defeat ourselves. As long as we try to handle the situations that we face on our own we are limiting God and His ability.

I heard it said a long time ago and it stands true today. God does not call the equip, He equips the called. What is it that He has equipped you to do?

1440. That is how many minutes are in a day. The average person is conscious for 960 minutes of the day. Over the last couple of days I have found myself playing catch up quite a bit. I have found myself trying to find a way to add more hours to my days. It has me questioning how affective am I being at seizing every opportunity.

Leonard Ravenhill once said that the opportunity of a lifetime can only be seized in the lifetime of an opportunity. Those words are ringing in my soul very loudly. I have found myself caught up in the chaos of my day and missing opportunities that God is placing in front of me.

Tonight I will go to bed tired and worn out from the busyness that I tried to call a productive day. Tomorrow I will wake up to a fresh 960 minutes that God has set before me. Will I respond or react? Will I look or will I see? Will I listen or will I hear? Will I steer my day or allow it to run me? How will I seize the opportunity of a lifetime tomorrow?

"Are we humans or are we dancers? My sign is vital, my hands are cold and I'm on my knees looking for the answer. Are we humans or are we dancers?" These are lyrics from the Killers' current release of "Human."

As I listened to this song on the radio this morning on the way to work, it hit me like a ton of bricks. How many days do we dance to the music of our culture and just go with the flow? How many opportunities to stand out and be unique have I missed because I was too busy dancing to chords of life? This song has stirred some deep emotions in me that I am currently sifting through.

There have been several new things in my life that have created additional joy, stress, and responsibility as of lately. I started a new job, which requires a lot of commitment to the process, my sister moved away, which has left me a little hurt, and we are launching a totally new facet of our ministry, which is amazing and stressful. Life is just really complicated some days. I realized today that I am just dancing. The music of life has been drowning out that soft whisper from God that keeps me focused, on the right path, and my attitude in check.

As I have pondered on these issues that I have been burying beneath busy-ness, I have started digging deep back to my core. Your core is simply the root of who you are and what gives balance to all the appendages of your life. Being human has a new definition for me, starting today! Now being human means that I am not perfect, but I am unique and created for a specific purpose. My life is in vain if I simply exist, my mission is to be passionate about life and thrive to the best of my ability.

Are you a human or are you a dancer?

Been asking myself lately why do I live my life out in the open on the internet? Just thought I would share some thoughts of why I do what I do online.