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Friday, November 4, 2011 Posted in | | 0 Comments »

This past Wednesday showed me once again why Thrive Students are some of the most awesome students in the world.


It was night 1 of the Thankful series.

The one thing I love about this series is it is not flashy, just the simple truth about a forgotten virtue.

The Worship Band and Big P killed Boasting by Lecrae

After service, I stood a read the Thankful Boards and read what everyone wrote. We have a lot to be thankful for.

Excited to see what happens as students take the Thankful Challenge this month.

I got two Thank You Cards after service. Made my night.

Next week we will have a guest speaker. God is going to do some awesome things.

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We are quick as Christians to say that we "live love." That we are showing the love of Christ. Can I just tell you that love is one of the toughest things to live out. Something I struggle with on a daily basis. Here is something I used as a measuring stick. Read 1 Corinthians 13 and put your name where love is suppose to be. Sound right?

"____ is patient, ____ is kind. _____ does not envy, _____ does not boast, ____ is not proud. ____ does not dishonor others, ____ is not self-seeking, ____ is not easily angered, ____ keeps no record of wrongs. ____ does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ____ always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. _____ never fails."


This is something I am praying for and striving to everyday. Even though I fall short it doesn't mean I can not try.

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Tuesday, November 1, 2011 Posted in | | 0 Comments »

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Thursday, October 27, 2011 Posted in | | 0 Comments »





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Last night was the last night of the Masquerade Series. Such an awesome series with Thrive. God did some really cool things.


It was Masquerade Night and the Thriveanators costumes were amazing.

Had a blast with pumpkin carving and cotton candy before service. Love watching everyone hang out and laugh.

Had some hiccups in worship but our students went with the flow and didnt let that stop them.

God is really growing and stretching us right now.

My favorite part of the night was the altar time and watching the students take their masks off and lay them at God's feet. Really believe that God changed lots of lives last night. Grateful for everyone honesty and authenticity.

I am very excited about things that are coming up for Thrive. November is going to be awesome.

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I am no where close to an expert on running. I can not run but about 10 minutes or so on the road without being wore out. I am getting better each week and able to go further and longer the more that I run. I just enjoy the exercise and I am always trying to learn from life.


One thing that I have learned is that I can actually go further than I think I can. I may only think I can run a little but I can dig deep and go a good bit further. I find myself asking two questions while I am running. First, can you breathe? Most of the time the answer is yes. Then, can you move your legs? Currently, yes. If the answer to both of those questions are affirmative then I keep going.

Same is true with you and I in life. Life gets pretty intense and there are days that we feel like we can not go any further, we can not make it another step. We need to slow down and ask ourselves two questions. Are you breathing? Did God allow you to wake up this morning? If so, then you can make. It is not going to be easy but He has put the strength and grace that you need to take another step. As long as you are breathing, keep going. Then, ask yourself which direction are you going in life. It has to be forward. There is no turning back now, you have come too far. There is no stopping, you can slow down but don't stop now.

Life can be rough, but keep going. You can actually make it further than you think you can. I believe in you.

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Tuesday, October 25, 2011 Posted in | | 0 Comments »

Watch where you are going!


It is no secret to anyone who knows me that I am very accident prone. I can be very clumsy. I have fallen through the floor while preaching, I have tripped walking up the stairs walking up to the platform to open a service, and have even come close to loosing my pants while speaking. All of that said, last Friday I did something that even surprised me. While running, I ran into a parked car. Yes, you read that right. I was moving, the car was not, and I hit it. I am okay, thanks for asking.

As I was on my morning run I was pushing through a tough section of it and had my head down. I was trying to concentrate on my breathing and pacing. I was only looking at the sidewalk and thinking about the next 3-5 steps I was taking. Before I knew it I hit a little car that was parked in a driveway that was blocking the path. Who does that anyway? PULL UP IN YOUR DRIVEWAY PEOPLE!!!! No, it is not their fault, it is mine. I should have been paying closer attention to what was coming.

Same goes for us in life. We get so focus on what it happening right in front of us that we are not looking much further ahead. We do not see how some of the decisions that we are making will have a negative impact of our future and the future of those around us. If we are not careful, when we look up we will hit a car.

In the journey of life we need to watch where we are going. See what is coming on the path ahead. Know if we need to take a detour around something or we have a clear path to keep moving. Sometimes you have to drop your head a push through a moment but before you do look ahead and make sure the path is clear.

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Monday, October 24, 2011 Posted in | | 0 Comments »

Starting blogging some again. Have missed it. I have learned that life is about seasons and some seasons I just do not have a lot to say on here. It has been some random thoughts but want to begin to do it more and more.


Life is really hectic right now. God is speaking in a lot of chaos. Interesting to watch what He is doing. Blown away by His love.

Spent some time with PK's (Pastor's Kids) from all over the state at Six Flags yesterday. Felt good to ride roller-coasters again. It has been a while.

Had some good runs this week. Got my pace down under 12 minutes per mile. Trying to get ready to run a 5K by the December.

Looking forward to this week. Excited for things to come.

The Masquerade Series ends this week with Thrive. I am very stoked about November's series.

Praying that God expands some of my dreaming and vision. Asking for passion and clarity this week.

I am still blown away by the people in my life that loves us and does life with us. Blessed does not seem like enough to describe it.

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Sunday, October 23, 2011 Posted in | | 0 Comments »

Sometimes life can get some crazy that we loose focus in Ministry. We forget what Ministry is all about. It is all about people. You will argue and say that it is about Jesus and you are right, to some extend. If we have Jesus and do not share him, can we call ourselves doing ministry? It is all about people. The Church (capital C) is people, not a building or a place to meet. Without people there is not church. I know this sounds simple, but it is sometime one of the most complicated things to get.


Christ died for people, not just you. Every difficult situation has someone involved in it. It is all about people.

If I sound repetitive in this it is because I am reminded myself. Because from time to time I do not like to deal with people. I forget that behind every difficult person is a story. A reason they are acting the way they are. It does not excuse it, but it does explain it. It is hard to love someone like Christ did without knowing their story. Knowing where they are coming from.

Ministry is not about numbers or crowds, it is about people.




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Thursday, October 20, 2011 Posted in | | 0 Comments »

If you are in ministry long enough there will be services and events that do not turn out like you were expecting. What is humorous to me is that when you get online and begin to read feeds on twitter and facebook, you see how everyone else's service blew up. How they had an awesome night, and record crowds. You never read about how people felt like failures because their numbers are down or they laid an egg with their message. You never see anyone tweet about how no one responded to the altar call. I have never seen anyone put on their status on Facebook about going through a disappointing season in ministry. I might be the only one who has those nights or has those seasons. I may be the only one who feels this way from time to time.



What do you do when you have services or events that you do not want to post about? What do you do when things do not turn out like you think they should? Glad you asked!


Find The Win: It is there somewhere, I promise. Look for the one positive. A student that connected that has not been connecting. Someone you see growing in their walk with Christ, someone who gave their heart to Christ. You can not celebrate what you can not see. Look for it.


Redefine Success: We can not judge the success of a ministry by week to week. It is long term. Remember we are called to produce fruit. Fruit is not grown over night, it takes time and cultivation. I believe we will never truly know the success of our ministries on this side of eternity. What do you consider a success? A life changed and lived for Christ or a room full?


Keep Going: Do not give in or give up. Dig deeper. Now is not the time to quit. It is in these times that we grow. A Minister will always grow before their Ministry grows. Be consistent.


Pray and Look: Seek God and pick up your magnifying glass. What could you do better? What aren't you doing that you could be doing? Do not look in a mirror per say, but ask a lot of questions.

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Wednesday, October 19, 2011 Posted in | | 0 Comments »

2 Corinthians 12:9-10, "But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."

Have you ever met anyone who bragged about their weakness? Who loves to sit around and tell you in what they struggle in? Who gets their kicks out of listing off their resume of failures? Me either. Most people will tell you what they are good at. I am not sure about you but I am in more of the habit of sitting talking about what I am good at rather than what I struggle in.

It is in the areas that we are the weakest, God has the opportunity to show His Glory. If I never let you see my weakness then you can never see God glory in my life.

My name is Eric and I am weak.

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Tuesday, October 11, 2011 Posted in | | 0 Comments »

People love to use the word potential. I believe that it is one of the most powerful words in the English language and one of the most dangerous. We look at people who are young or are just starting out on an adventure and we say they have a lot of potential. If things do not work out the way they should in that same situation we always they had a lot of potential.


Potential is defined as an existing possibility. A possibility to be good at something. Potential is dangerous because that means that we have placed a expectation on someone or something and most of the time when our expectation and our reality do not line up it bring frustration in our lives.

My question is what are we doing help people turn their potential into their reality? How are you helping them win? What are you doing to help them succeed? Potential is powerful but if untapped it is useless.

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Thursday, October 6, 2011 Posted in | | 0 Comments »





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Sunday, July 17, 2011 Posted in | | 0 Comments »

Yesterday was our last day of ministry and a full day of outreaches. Our kid's programs was wide open all morning. With each three of our communities that we were ministering in having more students than ever. Roughly ministered to 150 kids on Thursday morning. Everyone of our teams were quiet and hearts were heavy as they had to say good bye to the different kids. All the kids were holding on and hugging different team members not wanting them to go.


Thursday afternoon we began to set up for our big outreach the Boys and Girls Club. We rented some inflatable, had face-painting, did a three on three basketball tournament, and had pizza. We kicked everything off and saw 200 kids come through and some parents. About half way through we fed everyone and presented them with the gospel. Patric rapped, we did some magic tricks and used it to tell them about the love of God, and our team did a dance routine. It was one of the toughest crowds to minister to but our team did an outstanding job. Eight people raised their hand and prayed to accept Christ as their Savior. After the outreach our team cleaned up and heading back to the Hotel. It was the longest and toughest day of ministry but yet the most rewarding.

Today was our free day. We spend the day at Tybee Island to let the students hangout on the beach. The weather was cloudy with some wind gusts but we made the best out of it. In the afternoon we headed back to the Hotel for everyone to rest and then had our celebration meal at Longhorns. To close out the evening we walked around the mall and just hung out.

This has been an awesome week and our students just left my talking about what God did in them and what He showed them. I know that God used this team to do some awesome things in the inner city of Savannah but He also did a lot in their lives. Thanks for taking this journey with us.

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Friday, July 15, 2011 Posted in | | 0 Comments »

Days begin to blend together when you are on a Mission's Trip. I had to remind myself that today was Wednesday. Can not believe we have been here for three days already. Have I told you lately how awesome Thrive Students are awesome? They are working, serving, and advancing the Kingdom of God. This morning we worked in the same communities that we worked in Tuesday. At the Boys and Girls Club today we worked with teenagers. The guys played basketball and video games while the girls spent time together. It was an awesome time of one on one and building community.


We spent time this afternoon on River Street passing out bottles of water and tracks. It was 100 degrees with the heat index of 115. The water was very refreshing and we ran out about 30 minutes after we started. When we left River Street we walked to fountain and let some of the students play in the water to cool off.

Tonight we went to a Savannah area Youth Service at South Side Assembly of God. Patric opened the service with one of his songs and my friend Chris Pollock preached. The altars where full and God did some awesome things. It was a good day. We are sitting in the lobby of the hotel laughing and telling stories as I write this.

I am truly a bless Youth Pastor and I am excited about what God is going to do tomorrow.

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Wednesday, July 13, 2011 Posted in | | 0 Comments »

What a day! You just could feel it when we woke up this morning that God was going to do awesome stuff. The students were a little quite to begin with but it was not that they were nervous or scared, I believe they were prepared. It was Game Day and they were ready. All the AIM team members from all over the state did an awesome job but I am proud of Thrive Students for they way they work, the way they love on people, the way they go after God, and they way they laugh.


When had three teams go out to three different neighborhoods throughout the inner-city of Savannah and minister to over 100 kids. We hit a snag with one of the neighborhoods and thought we were faced with closed door. God worked and the door opened and we were able to minister to the kids there. By the time the team left kids were holding on to them and begging them to come back. One of the teams went to the Boys and Girls Club and when we went to pick them up the gym was buzzing and there was a HUGE party going on. Our third team set up in a park to do a Sidewalk Sunday School. They cleaned the park and went door to door before the program began. When it was time for them to leave kids were making them promise they would return the next day. Sharing the light and love of Jesus is one of the greatest privileges we have in this life.

The afternoon was spent in the famous Forsyth Park where they filmed the movie Forest Gump. The students passed out over 200 bottles of water and talks to people of the Love of God. Temperatures got close to 100 with a heat index of 110. The awesome thing was none of the students were complaining and really didnt want to leave when we ran out of water.

We spend the evening praying and training for tomorrow. Had the opportunity to chill and Cold Stone and Starbucks to just hang out for a little while.

It really has been an awesome week so far and I truly believe the best is yet to come. Tomorrow is going to be an awesome day. More stories to come. Keep praying for us. God is doing big things in us and through us.

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Tuesday, July 12, 2011 Posted in | | 0 Comments »

Have not blogged in a while and figured today would we as good a day as any to start again. Today was the first day of our Mission's Trip. This year we have travel to Savannah, GA to work in the inner-city with Life Bridge Ministries. It was a travel and training day today. A lot of hurry up and slow down. A lot of wondering what we were doing and when we were doing it. We left the Hotel around 6 pm and headed downtown on the Jesus bus to "spy-out" the land and hear the heart of the Ministry. After that we head over to one of the host churches to pray and train.


After a time of worship and pray it was time to start working on the morning outreaches. I was so proud of Thrive Students for the way they jumped in there and began to lead. Leaders lead from the front. I sat back as they help the rest of the team learn hand motions and dances to the song. Not once did one of them complain about being tired or say they did not want to do anything.

One of the highlights of my day was the see my best friends daughter up teaching the rest of the team hand motions to a song. You have to understand that she is 14 years old and we have been a part of her life since she was 2 months old. I remember when she could not crawl, walk, or talk. Now she is leading. She is loving God and living ministry out. I am so proud of her and her response to God's call on her life.

This week is going to be awesome and I can not wait to share more of it with you. Pictures and more stories to come later.

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Monday, July 11, 2011 Posted in | | 0 Comments »

This spring I have spent a lot of time working in my yards. I usually do not stress over the grass, the trees, the shrubs, and the weeds but for some reason this year is different. Maybe it is because the yard is mine, well it is mine and the banks. Maybe it is because the older I get the more I appreciate a well taken care of yard, or I find the work as an outlet. Maybe it is the fear of getting a citation from our HOA but whatever the reason I have put in more hours working on the lawn than ever.


The first part March I started spraying it with Weed-B-Gone. I actually started too late I think. The weeds just kept coming. By the time I had them under control there were all over the place. The weed killer took care of the issue and took care of it so well that I had dead spots all the place. It has taken me weeks and weeks to take care of those dead spots. Lots of turf builder and lots of water later it is almost back up to par.

Everything should be rocking and rolling but these little weeds keep popping up through our pinestraw in our flower beds. I have to pull them and spray them about every three or four days. If I did not they would get way out of hand. If I did not keep them under control they would choke out our shrubs and bushes. It is easier to handle it on this end that clean up if they get out of hand.

The same is true in our lives. Spiritually little things will creep into our lives. If left unchecked, these weeds will begin to choke us spiritually. If we do not catch them in time they will take over and when we finally clean it up, it will take some time to get everything back up to par. I hate weeds, but I hate what weeds do more than that. So I choose to deal with them now.

We have to examine our lives and take care of any weeds that might be there. It depends on how much time we have left our spiritual yards unchecked the amount of work that will need to happen.

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Monday, May 30, 2011 Posted in | | 0 Comments »

Today is the axis that everything turns on for Jesus Christ and His church. One thing that is special about today is that it unifies all of the Church. It is does not matter if do not agree on anything else, we can agree on this. Whether you agree in sprinkling or getting dunked for baptism you agree that Jesus Christ is alive. No matter how you feel about the subject of the ability to loose your salvation or not, you agree that the grave could not hold our Savior. It does matter if you speak in tongues or do not believe that is still a gift that is available for today, you agree that the Son of God overcome death for us. We all agree on that one thing!


Too many times the Body of Christ is dysfunctional because we focus more on what disagree on more than what we agree on. A wise man told me one time, "In the essentials there has to be unity, in the nonessentials there has to be liberty, and in everything there has to be love." I am willing to rally around the fact that our God is not dead.

My God is not dead
He's surely alive
He's living on the inside
Roaring like a lion

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Sunday, April 24, 2011 Posted in | | 1 Comments »

I am the sum of all the experiences in my life. Good or bad. Success or failure. Victory or defeat. My walks in the valley make me who I am just as much as rejoicing on the mountain tops.


I am the sum total of my friends. We do have a choice who influences our lives. It is the people who we let in. Those that we let in closer, influence more. I am made up of all the people that I have allowed in my life.

I am who God created me to be. I am unique and an individual. If we were all the same then life would be pretty boring. There is a purpose on earth that I can only fulfill. That is why God created me to be who I am.

I am not my what ifs, my might of beens, or my going to be's. I am not might up of risks that I did not take, choices I did not make, or chances that I missed.

I am who God intended and created me to be.

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Monday, March 7, 2011 Posted in | | 0 Comments »

Yesterday I had a thought that I could not shake. How trapped am I in my own little world? How small is my world when I am only serving my own agenda? I truly believe that selfishness is something that we all have to fight. It is impossible to me totally selfless all the time. I am just being honest.


Trapped in my own little world affects so many areas of my life:

the way I see things.

the way I react and respond to things.

how I carry the stress of this journey.

how I treat people that I come into contact with.

When I just live in my own little world I am not responsible for what goes on in the world around me. I think I will not be held accountable for the hurting people that I am surrounded by. When I live in my own little world I live in a very small place. The issue with my own little world, I am not happy there. I am not satisfied there. I can not do what God has called me to do there.

Today, where do you live? Who are you living for? Who is your life all about?

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Friday, March 4, 2011 Posted in | | 0 Comments »

As many of you know I have been training for a 5K for most of this year. I started the Couch To 5K program the beginning of January and have stuck really close with it. I had gotten up to the point where I ran 20 minutes without stopping. I had gotten my 5K (3.1 miles) time down to 35 minutes. I ran a mile in a little of 9 minutes. Then this week......I hit a wall. I do not know if it is normal but I hit it and hit it hard. I do not want to go to the gym, I do not want to run, I do not want to eat right. I hit a wall. Not sure that I can get over it, or go around it. This is what I know, I do not want to go back. Back to not running, back to eating junk and weighing over 350 pounds. I do not want to go back. Next Monday I will actually back up to week 5 in the couch to 5K training and blast through the wall. The wall does not feel good, but there is not any other way to handle it but to blast right through it.

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Friday, February 11, 2011 Posted in | | 0 Comments »

Over half way there. This was one of the toughest weeks. Today I walked/jogged 4.8 miles in 60 minutes. I had a 5 minute warm up, 3 minute run, a 90 second walk, a 5 minute run, a 3 minute walked and then repeated. I spent the rest of the 60 minutes alternating between walking and running. It was one of the toughest workouts yet. I burned over 950 calories. This week I have increased my running by 30%. I walked 12 miles total. I had my best 5K distance and my best mile. Next week the running increases even more.

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Friday, January 28, 2011 Posted in | | 0 Comments »

Kicked off the fourth week of couch to 5K training this morning. Did not want get out of bed. I ran/walked 3.7 miles in 45 minutes. Today I ran for 22 minutes out of the 45 minutes. Thats the most I have ever run. I ran the distance of 5K (3.1 miles) in 39 minutes flat. I warmed up for 5 minutes, ran for 3 minutes, walked for 90 seconds, ran for 5 minutes, and then repeated that cycle. After that I continued another 15 minutes doing 1 minute walking/running intervals. After I finish my run on Wednesday I will be half way through with this training plan. Stepped on the scale today for the first time in a couple of weeks and I am 3 pounds down.

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Monday, January 24, 2011 Posted in | | 0 Comments »

Man this morning started off rough. This was the first morning in a couple of weeks that I got up at 4:30 a.m. to go to the gym. As I began to run, I really started feeling better. Today's trip on the treadmill was 3.51 miles in 45 minutes. After my 5 minute warm up I ran for 90 seconds, walked 90 seconds, ran 3 minutes, walked 3 minutes, and then repeated. After that I ran for 1 minute and walked for 1 minute until my 45 minutes were up. I ran for a total of 18 minutes today. If I could piece all of that together at one time it would be almost 2 miles. I am enjoying running more and more. While I am on the treadmill, I am not really focusing on anything but finishing. There is no stress, no worry, nothing else matters for that 45 minutes.

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Tuesday, January 18, 2011 Posted in | | 0 Comments »

Our church is in a 21 day fast and several people are reading through youversion.com 21 day fast Bible reading plan. Today's reading was Luke 4. I was stirred by two verses that to me reveal a lot of about fasting.


Luke 4:1, "Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness."

Luke 4:14, "Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside."

Jesus was full of the Holy Spirit and lead by the Holy Spirit but after 40 days of fasting and a season in the wilderness, He was in the power of the Holy Spirit. As you read this text, you see that fasting did not rebuke Satan and Jesus never address His fasting as a way of countering His temptations. He used the Word of God. What fasting does is give us the strength and the power to stand on His Word and follow His leading.

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Genesis 37:9, “Here comes that dreamer!” they said to each other."


May this be said of you today. May we be people who act of the dreams that God gives us. I believe that dreams that are not acted on turn into bitterness, jealousy, and resentment. What dream is God giving you?

May we be the church and be dream facilitators. Be a fertile place where dreams can be rooted and cultivated. May we be a community that helps people be who God called and created them to be.

My prayer if for dreams that scare me, bewilder people, and make God smile. To dream is to believe God for the impossible. To step out on that dream is to trust that God is in control.

I want to dream! I want a dream!

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Monday, January 17, 2011 Posted in | | 0 Comments »

Because of my week I am starting my week 3 training a day early. This morning's walk/jog was challenging but not torture. I went 3.5 miles in 45 minutes. This week the training has me doing a 5 minutes warm up walk, then a minute and a half run, followed by a minute and a half walk, then a 3 minute run, then a 3 minute walked, repeat, and then a 5 minute walk. I continued on for another for 45 minutes total. I ran for a minute and then walked for 2 minutes. I seems real monotonous at times but I have to stick with the plan. Rest days are important and my body might appreciate two in a row but that will not happen for a couple of weeks. I am really enjoying this training and not focusing so much on my weight loss but on fitness.

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Sunday, January 16, 2011 Posted in | | 0 Comments »

#4 - Don't just preach at them, show them: Students are not looking for great speakers or great leaders, they are looking for people who are who they say they are. They want people who are real and backs up what they say with how they live. They take what Paul said seriously in 1 Corinthians 11:1.


#5 - Count students but get to know them: This is a relational generation. Students need people in their life that care more about them then they care about the number that is in their service. Students have to be more than a number. It is okay to count your attendance, track it and keep up with it. That is very wise, but you have to know the students behind that number.

#6 - Bigger students not bigger ministry: If our goal is to build big ministry then we are building a big machine that mass produces cookie cutter programs. Our goal has to be to build big students. Give them the tools they need to be life-long followers of Jesus. I promise you that if you focus on building bid students, big ministry will soon follow.

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Saturday, January 15, 2011 Posted in | | 0 Comments »

Finished up my second week of training for a 5K yesterday. I had my best day yet. I walked/jogged 3.6 miles in 45 minutes. That gave me 10.5 miles for the week, a mile increase from last week. I also had my best mile and fastest 5K time. My schedule will be a little off this coming up week and will actually start my week 3 training tomorrow morning. I will up my running by 30%. My goal is 11 miles next week. My plan is to register for the race next week. It is March 19th. I am going to start jogging in my neighborhood in the middle February to get used to running on the road.

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The last 12 years I have had the privilege to be a part of Youth Ministry. I am grateful that God has given me passion for this generation. I do not claim to know all things Youth Ministry, not even close. I love to study trends and learn, if we stop learning we start dying. I believe over the last 10 years we have seen some shifts in Youth Ministry. I just want to share some thoughts over the next couple of days.

#1 - Students are looking for community and not an event: With all my heart I believe students are looking for somewhere to belong more than they are looking for a show. It is not about the lights, the smoke machines, game rooms, or cafes. If there is not an environment that is inviting for the Holy Spirit to move and welcoming to students from all walk, then it is just an event. There are way that as the ministry grow you can still keep your sense of community. You have to be strategic and very intentional.

#2 - Discipleship is a mission and not a method: Our ten step discipleship process does not work effectively. We have disconnect the message of Christ from the mission of Christ. As we reconnect those things and give students the opportunity to put application with knowledge, I believe that we will see true discipleship. This is a cause driven generation and the mission of Jesus is more than a cause. They are looking for something bigger than themselves to join with. If the church does not give it to them, someone else will.

#3 - Create a dialog instead of giving a monolog: We have teach students how to think for themselves. We can not do that unless we know what they think and hear what they think. We have to find ways to engage them in conversation where they are at. Standing up and preaching a 20 minute sermon and then dismissing is not teaching them how to flesh out their faith. You may be surprised at what they think and the questions they have.

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Friday, January 14, 2011 Posted in | | 0 Comments »

If you are a Christ Follower can you remember when you first had a realization of what Jesus did for you? When you saw the cross and the empty tomb, when you felt you sins where forgotten and washed away? Do you remember what it was like to feel God in everything that you did, everything looked different and the way you viewed things was different? Here are some questions I can not get out of mind about this:


At what point did we quit trusting God for everything and trusting our own ability? Doesn't that create worry?

At what point was God's love not enough and we started look to people for affirmation and approval? Doesn't that create insecurity?

At what point did we stop building God's Kingdom and start building our own? Doesn't that create pride?

At what point did the feeling fade that if God be for us who can be against us? Doesn't that create doubt?

I am just dumb enough to believe that God has more for us. That this is not all there is and that it is time to quit settling and go after what God has called us to do.

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Thursday, January 13, 2011 Posted in | | 0 Comments »

Today was the toughest day yet. I have pushed myself this week pretty hard and I could feel it today. At one point I thought my hamstrings were going to come loose and slap me. I jogged/walked 3.45 miles in 45 minutes. I am going to spend some time on the elliptical tomorrow and workout my shoulders, back, and arms.


The thought behind today was just finish. It really did not matter what my time was or how far I made it, just finish! Nobody wins the race for starting, it is the finishing that counts.

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Wednesday, January 12, 2011 Posted in | | 0 Comments »







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Tuesday, January 11, 2011 Posted in | | 0 Comments »

Today was the biggest challenge I have ever had to get to the gym. Last night it snowed about an inch or more here and then iced over. The roads were rough, and the trip took a while but we made it. There is a thin line between commitment and insanity. Today I believe that I came really close to that line. I did not want to miss a day of training, I can really feel like I am getting in a rhythm. Still a little sore from cross training Saturday but really think the cross training is helping me with me endurance. Today I jogged/walked 3.5 miles in 45 minutes. Started with a 5 minute warm up and then jogged 1 1/2 minutes and walked 2 minutes for 25 minutes. I kept going an extra 15 minutes. This week is going to be a little challenge but I have a feeling it is going to get real next week.

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Monday, January 10, 2011 Posted in | | 0 Comments »

Made it through my first week of 5K training. Today was the best day yet. I jogged/walked 3.4 miles in 45 minutes. I did the couch to 5K training and then walked for 15 more minutes. I know that it gets tougher from here, but I think I can handle it. It is all about mindset. From what I am learning running is more mental than anything. I have to remember that my legs will not fall off and if I quit breathing I will pass out and then start breathing again. I will be okay, I can make! I did step on the scales for the first time in 3 weeks. I have put on 6 pounds. I have started back this week getting my eating in check and my routine reestablished at the gym. My goal is to loose 20 more pounds before camp!

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Friday, January 7, 2011 Posted in | | 0 Comments »

As I am training for this 5K my running days are Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Tuesday and Thursday I am cross training on the elliptical and lifting weights. Not sure about how I will handle the weekends. Going to keep them flexible and allow one day to let my body rest. Today was day 2. I guess it will not get any easier from here huh? This is something I really want to do, and I am excited about but I have to take a moment and be honest. I am scared. What if I can not run it? What if I fail? What if? Those questions were dancing in the back on my head as I got on the treadmill at 4:45 a.m. but I ran anyways. I believe it is okay to ask yourself questions like that, but it is not okay to give into them. To let them rule your life. Let them control you. This is going to be tough, but I know it will be worth it. The juice will be worth the squeeze.


This week the couch to 5K plan has me walking a 5 minute warm up, then running 1 minute, walking 90 seconds, and then a 5 minute cool down. I then walk 15 more minutes. Today I pushed myself a little harder. I jogged/walked 3.25 miles in 45 minutes. Tomorrow is cross training and I am looking forward to it, just have to stay away from the ab machine.

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Wednesday, January 5, 2011 Posted in | | 0 Comments »

The other day I was reminded of a truth, spiritual maturity is not measured by how much of the Bible you have read. It is not gauged by how many times you go to church in a week or how well you speak christianese. Spiritual maturity is not about what you know or how much you know. Spiritual maturity comes from what you do with what you know.


Knowledge is not power unless it is used, unless it is lived out. It does you know good to be able to quote scripture about forgiveness if you are holding onto a grunge that you can not let go of. It does you no good to be able to quote anything out of the Word of God unless you are willing to live it out. Knowledge is not power, application is.

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Tuesday, January 4, 2011 Posted in | | 0 Comments »

Today I began training for my first 5K. Yes, I want to run 3.1 miles at the end of March. No, aliens have not sucked out my brains. I just think it will be cool. I think for someone who has be overweight most of their life, it will be an accomplishment. Last year at this time I weighed over 350 pounds. 105 pounds later I think I am ready for this. Ready to be in better shape. Ready to live life to the fullest. No excuses. Leave everything on the table. Go big or go home baby. This journey is no longer about weight loss, it is about sheer determination. It is about willpower and mind over matter.


This morning I walked for 5 minutes for a warm up. Then jogged for 1 minute and walked for 90 seconds. I did this for 20 minutes. I then walked the last 20 minutes at 4.3 mph pace. I walked/jogged 3.15 in 45 minutes. I am excited to see where this journey takes me. I have not stepped on the scales since the Holidays, I am going to wait a couple of weeks for that :-)

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Monday, January 3, 2011 Posted in | | 0 Comments »

A lot of people have set a lot of resolutions and will not stick with them. More than likely they have already broke them. Other people are negative where New Years resolutions are concerned. Every year I try to set a few resolutions or goals on things I want to work on and make better in my life. I read a quote yesterday that has really challenged me. "It is never to late to be who you might have become." Today is a good day for change and a good day to begin to let God mold you and shape you into who He created and called you to be. I am resolved in 2011 to really look into a mirror and work on some things in my life.


I am going to run a 5K in the end of March. I begin training tomorrow. I will be blogging about that a lot.

I want to begin school. I really want to earn a bachelors degree. I believe I know where I want to go, just praying about what degree to get.

I want to loose about 20 more pounds. In 2010 I lost 105 pounds but have gotten complacent over the Holidays. I am going to work on my last 10 pounds.

Go on an overseas mission's trip again. I really want to go back to Colombia.

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Sunday, January 2, 2011 Posted in | | 0 Comments »