Taking the "VOW"

Last Wednesday was the final night of our "live out LOUD" series at youth. We have been discovering what it means to be a fully devoted follower of Jesus and our key verse was psalm 116:18 "I will fulfill my vows in the presence of your people"

We talked about the difference between saying your a christian, and Living that way in the plain view of others. We are entrenched in a culture where if you aren't living loud, you won't be heard.

The live out loud vow consisted of this,

L=longing for God
O= overcomer
U=uncompromising life
D=diligent prayer

These are the components of a follower of Jesus that is serious. Jesus told his disciples in Luke 5, to "launch out into the deep", and they would experience a "catch" of fish. I believe the reason so many christians are frustrated in their walks, is because they stay in the shallow waters of their relationship with Him. In order to "catch" what Jesus has for your life, you can't treat Him like an add on accessory that will hopefully make your life better. You have to be willing to go deeper. Jesus did not come to be an appendage attached to your life, he came to be the source of it.

We will not see this generation fulfilling its God given destiny until young people experience the real presence and power of God. No one can argue you out of your "faith" once you have tasted the presence of God. I believe that wednesday night was a glimpse into that. My prayer is that instead of a one time event, living LOUD becomes a journey towards the heart of a loving God that each of us will choose to take. There is no substitute.

We ended the night by handing out blue bracelets that simply say "live loud" on them. I tied this in with a chapter in exodus that speaks of the priests of that time, tying a blue ribbon onto their ephods in order for everyone to know they had been set apart as holy unto the Lord. We are now new testament priests (1peter 2:9) and we will also wear blue to signify our separation unto the lord. I pray that each time students look at their wrists, they will remember that night.

Many thanks to Ben and my incredible volunteers for making it go so smoothly and for their prayers leading up to it. Thanks to my friend Bradi for hooking us up with the awesome letters on the wall, and most importantly I thank the Holy Spirit, for showing up in a powerful way. If you want to take the vow, or just learn more about it, please check us out at
www.lolfyi.tv and click on the "vow" tab. (be sure to check the rest of the site out too, its sweet:)

Lastly, here is the song Kurt and the band did, I love it and chose it especially for this series. i want you to imagine all of the student holding their vows high and singing this to their king. I'm getting goosebumps again thinking about it:)

Dancing with the other stars

I don't know why I keep posting these things. I think its kind of like a car accident, you don't want to look, but feel yourself somehow being drawn to it. The last video I posted (Jesus is a friend of mine) was certainly out of touch for today, but it least it was a good 25 years old. This video was produced by "the way" international and was copyrighted in 2007!

the fact that this dance routine and performance was performed live less than a year ago is astounding and you will not want to miss these moves. If you can't bear to watch the whole thing, at least make it to 1:50 so not to miss the amazing dance solo!!

Enjoy if you dare and I promise not to make fun of "christian" videos for a while:)

8 is never enough:)

Today marks the 8th year that I have had the honor of being married to my beautiful wife Kendra. Almost ten years ago we gave our lives to Jesus and vowed to live for His glory any way we could. God has been so good to us. Two beautiful daughters and the opportunity to invest our lives into seeing people experience the same liberating and loving God we encountered together. I could not imagine a more godly wife, mother, encourager and soul mate.

Included are some pics of our weekend excursion which included shopping (of course:), dinner at the bistro in GR, (thanks to my friend brad the manager who had flowers and candles at the table and always takes good care of us:), followed by a surprise ride in a horse drawn carriage downtown. Kendra could not believe it was for us when we walked outside so it felt good to know that after eight years I still have a few tricks up my sleeve:) (better start planning the ten year huh)

It was a beautiful day made even more special by being with my best friend.

I love you Kendra

Here is a link to the song we played at our wedding that made the moment last forever. ( I love 1:44, It's classic)

the evolving of Christian music

No doubt that mainstream christian music has come a long way since it early eighty's roots in whitecross and stryper. You can pretty much pick a genre of music, and find artists in the christian community equally, if not more talented than their secular counterparts. Because of the rise in popularity of christian music, many country and pop songs are incorporating spirituality and God references in their music.

But what is the foundation that the Skillets, Pillars, Thousand foot Crutches and Reliant K's were built on? Who were the real pioneers that helped usher in this phenomenon that is quality christian bands?

I dare say that I have stumbled across a group whose sound can only be categorized as light years ahead of it's time. The kind of musical genius that todays bands could only hope to obtain.

long before michael Gungor introduced us to " friend of God" , Sonseed already had Jesus as a friend:)

Take 3 minutes to enjoy and see for yourself.........(please pay close attention to 1:14 and let me know what you think about his facial expression while announcing Jesus is a friend of his. Is it just me, or does he roll the "r" in friend?)




Do you ever wonder if someday we will look back on our era and think it is THIS outdated?

scarred for life!!

Friday morning will forever live in infamy:) I was so confident in my ability to carry out the assignment given.......Picking Ava up from her 2nd day of pre-school. Only problem was, i thought she was done at 11:30 but it was supposed to be 11!! I remember the phone ringing at about 11:15 but I didn't recognize it ont he ID so I refused to answer. Little did I know that it was the school wondering where Ava's absentee father was!!!!! I'm still hoping I don't get a call from social services informing me that I am on the federal UPP list. (unfit preschool parent)

Next thing I know kendra's number is on the ID, and as soon as I heard her scream "where are you?!", I instantly knew I was late. I shoved Addy in the car and took of for the school. All I could picture was Ava's screams echoing down the schools halls, "my daddy left me!!:)

Anyways, it wasn't anything like that. Mrs. Thomas was super understanding and Ava was busy playing dolls no worse for wear. I scooped Ava in my arms and asked her if she thought daddy was going to leave her at school for ever and she laughed and said....NO, that's silly:)

Disaster avoided:)

it has officially begun:)

I could tell Kendra was trying not to cry as I shut the door to the truck and took Ava to her first official day of preschool. I prayed with her on the way and told her how much she was going to learn and all the new friends she would meet. Her precious little heart was on display as we pulled into the drop off point, she set her books down in Addy's car seat and said......"Daddy, I'm going to leave these her for Addy so she can have them if she goes bye bye." I told her how sweet that was and blew her a kiss as Mrs. Thomas came and whisked her away:( (you gotta love the curbside service, I didn't even have to get out of the car:) I drove away saying one last prayer for all the precious little boys and girls lined up with their back packs on. May this be a generation of Worshippers!!

ps. I stole the cute idea of having her hold a sign, props to bradi/laurie:)

No Camera!!!

My two time runner up to the dad of the year title may be in Alex Trabek jeopardy. Ava started her first day of preschool and in all of the hustle and bustle, I forgot my camera!!!! No precious pictures to post of her coloring her name, meeting the teacher, or staring intently at Rudolph the class lizard.

No recorded memories of her strolling the library looking at books or attempting to shoot baskets in the gym. ( she refuses to shoot the ball, she only wants to walk up and dunk it and kept getting "stuffed" by the rim. Instead of trying to shoot, she made me pick her up so she could dunk:)

I am hoping that wednesday when she goes back, Mrs. Thomas will allow me one more chance to snap a few pics for the blog. I know this is going to be a great experience for her, but it is kind of weird to think that she will literally be in school for the next 14 years!!

My prayer is that even at this young age she lets her light shine and is never ashamed to live LOUD for Jesus!!

what can we do for God?

last night at youth we kicked off our new series called "the live out LOUD vow" Its all about living loud what you believe about Jesus and not allowing culture or peer pressure suppress the message. Here is the vow broken down....

L---longing for Jesus--ps. 42:10
O--overcomer--rev. 12:11
U--uncompromising life--phil.2:15
D---Diligent prayer--1thess. 5:17

The last night on september 24th we will all come together and "take the vow". I know it is going to be incredibly powerful and I will post more on that when it happens.

Yesterday we talked about worship and what it means to long for God. Why is it some people have deep desire to truly know and worship God and others don't? Is. 14:13 tells us about the struggle long ago between Lucifer and God. How lucifer desired the one thing reserved only for God..... worship. War broke out in heaven and Lucifer and a third of the angels were banished to earth. The battle for our worship is still being waged today. The enemies mission is to get us to put anything before God. I mentioned a few that hit home for young people....... body image, boy/girl friends, money, possessions, computers and television. None of them necessarily bad by themselves, but easy to make into idols. Ex. 20 tells us that God is jealous, and does not want to be 2nd place. What is it in our lives that we have put before Jesus? Who is winning the battle for our worship? Is Jesus sitting on the throne of your life, or is something else?

I concluded by submitting that the reason many don't have a longing heart to worship Jesus is because they are unaware of what He has done. Worship should be your response to what God has done in and for you. (see luke 19:36-40) Lots of people acknowledge His existence and even His death, but never truly grasp the depths of the sacrifice He made and the depravity of their condition without Him. Most of us think we are pretty good people and God should have no problem saving us. I would encourage you to read Ephesians 2:1-5 to get a good glimpse of where we were headed apart from Jesus. I love the two words in verse four.......But God! That is a two word sermon right there! I was a miserable wreck on my way to the Hell I deserved......But God!

I ended the night by showing this video accompanied by one of my favorite songs. I know "passion" videos on youtube are a dime a dozen and some of them are better than others. But I chose this one for two reasons.

1. I think videos help us relate more to what Jesus did. I appreciate the movie the passion because we are a media driven generation and often when we read "Jesus died on a cross" in the bible, it can get lost in translation. We aren't familiar with the gruesome brutality of crucifixion and we think of a blonde hair blue eyed Jesus with a little trickle of blood on His forehead. This video depicts the price that was paid just in the physical, not to mention the spiritual. Your love for God grows as you realize His incredible love for you.

2. The song. You can find a passion video for just about every song but Weird Al Yankovic's "eat" it. To me, this Song reveals more of the heart of the Father than any other. Listen to the lyrics as she asks....what can I do for you, how can I repay you? What kind of thanks could possibly be enough? Then listen to the response of Jesus....You don't have to do a thing, just simply be with me, and let those things go. Just love on me a little longer.

That's the heart of God!!! He just wants to be with me and love on me! I don't have to perform, I don't have exert myself, I don't have to try to have it all together. Just Him loving on me is enough to change my life forever!!

I hope you enjoy this video and may the song bless you as it has me.

a year older:(

Remember when you were little and you wanted to be older? Remember the days of including "and a half" or "and 5/8ths" to your age in anticipation of becoming older? Well I turned 34 on Sunday and in the words of Don Henley, "those days are gone forever, I should just let em go". As I reflected on the significance of adding a year to my age, I thought of one of my favorite scriptures, 2peter 3:18. "but grow in the GRACE and KNOWLEDGE of the Lord."

1. growing in grace---I thank God every day for His mercy. Without it, I would still be dead in my sins and destined for hell. With it, nothing is impossible and the God of the universe calls me to be the carrier of His glory. Growing in the grace of God begins when you see His mercy not as a cover up or excuse to keep living in sin, but the key to real life. Grace doesn't just cover sin, it enables me to live free from shame and in the confidence that life in Jesus sets me free from sin and death! I know I'm going to make mistakes and fail, but by His grace I can fall forward.

2. Growing in Knowledge-- not just information (which is great, but the bible warns that knowledge "puffs"" up) but knowledge of who God is. John 17:3 is a verse I have been meditating one for what seems like forever, but I can't let it go. Jesus tells us that true life is found when you "know" God. I've heard that understanding God is like emptying the ocean with a teaspoon, but I want to be wiling to try. God is looking for a Jacob generation that will seek His face.

Its been almost 10 years since I accepted Jesus as my savior, and I realize that even as a 34 year old man, life is all about growing. I look at dvd's of my girls when they were babies and can't believe how they've grown. In the same way, I want my daddy to look at my life and see growth. I realize its not about performance and that God's love is never dependent on me, but I still want so desperately to live all of my life for Him.

2 corinthians 12:9
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.