Archive for Community

Something Bigger

{ June 24, 2008 @ 5:08 pm } · { Community, Life, Worship }
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I love the chance to be apart of something bigger than me….I love the chance to come to things like this and just help people.  What was awesome today is that the homeowner prayed for us this morning….How freakin amazing is that…She came home from work to meet us and asked me, “….have we prayed yet?”  She said a prayer for us and even her neighbors…The cool thing is that she didn’t pray for her house to get fixed or her neighbors house to get fixed….she prayed that her community would come to know Jesus and that we could honor and glorify HIM…that was sweet to be a part of those few moments with this lady…She truly realized that greater things were coming to her city and she wanted to be apart of something bigger as well….She taught me something today…Here’s a lady who had water 5 ft deep outside her home four years ago (and they are still working to get it fixed up), and her prayer was that people would come to know Jesus and for her to be used as a light in her community.  It shows that even though things get bad, our circumstances dont look good, or we feel like there is totally no hope….We can still rejoice and know God is near…Tanya Garrison taught me a good lesson today…Thanks for letting us serve you and our God this week.

I told you that this week was as much about me learning and growing as anything.

We Made It

{ June 23, 2008 @ 9:21 pm } · { Community, Life, Worship }
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We finally made it to New Orleans earlier this afternoon and I’m looking forward to a great week here…..Here are a few of my expectations of the week…

-I want to grow closer to God–I need to be on top of my game in my relationship with Jesus and weeks like these always help me in that area

-I want to grow closer with my students…I want to develop stronger relationships with the few kids we brought down here…I also want to set the example for them to follow

-I want to witness what God is doing in this city…Although the downtown New Orleans area is doing well, the outskirts still aren’t back to normal…there are still people hurting and they feel like there is no hope to be found…I’m looking forward to watching God draw them closer to himself this week

-I want to fully understand the possible impact we can have in people’s lives this week…I don’t want to take for granted the opportunity God has given me to be here…I want to “get it” and make the most of it

-I guess I need this week to be about me as much as it is about the folks we are helping…I told my students today as we drove through an area of town that wouldn’t be considered “good” that those are the people that really get me going…that is the environment that fuels my passion for people and Jesus…I told them I want the “rejects”…those who feel like there is no where else for them to turn…..That’s really what gets me going….I just need Jesus to continue to break my heart for what breaks his…I need him to continue to give me a heart that isn’t ok with the norm, just getting by, or the status quo….I need Jesus to continue to ignite a fire in my heart that burns for those who are disconnected from him…

I guess I have some selfish requests this week…I just want to honor God and love people….

Realizing there really are Greater Things To Come-

Brian

I’m struggling right now

{ May 7, 2008 @ 10:30 am } · { Church, Community, Worship }
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I’m on my soap box I guess…

I have been wrestling recently with an idea that I feel like is tearing churches apart.  I even asked my wife this morning about it.  I asked, “why do we as christians judge people more or look down our noses at people more than those who aren’t christians?”  That is something I haven’t been able to get my mind around.  I just don’t understand why we do that?  I hear a lot of it because people come to me and feel the need to tell me stuff about other people, to warn me or just to hear themselves talk (i don’t know why they tell me stuff…i guess they want me to pick sides or something).  I don’t get it.  I don’t understand how it registers in someones mind that it’s OK to come down on other people—especially our family in Christ!  I read this today and it really stuck out.  I guess we sometimes forget that and make it our job to point stuff out.  This is why people don’t come to church folks, they don’t want to be ripped apart and have everything about their life critiqued…

Thursday Throwdown

{ May 1, 2008 @ 3:25 pm } · { Church, Community, Life, Random }
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-I’m late getting this up because I was at a school all day today spreading some mulch and cleaning up their nature trail.  It was friggin hot but it was actually peaceful.  I was out their by myself in the woods just hanging out, me and God, and the bees that kept attacking me.  I was thinking about this little project as well.  You know at church we will sometimes ask different groups if there is something we can do to serve them…when they say no, we wonder why, but continue about our lives…anyway, this school asked me if we could provide some free labor to get this stuff done…It’s not necessarily considered “fun work” to be in the heat sweating like a pig–but we do it anyway…why?  because they have a need and they asked us to meet it!  We should feel honored that they came to us to help them out!  I told them we had a desire to serve when I first met with the administration of the school, and we were finally able to deliver!

-Had a conversation with a calvanist or reformed baptist this week…it was interesting! 

-This past weekend rocked our world!

-I’m hanging out with my boys tonight!  What shall we do?  Probably baseball and the trampoline!  Should be fun!

-I’ve got a meeting in the morning…very important!  This is one I’m not going to be able to skip….It will be just the two of us, me and God!  I have been trying to create this expectation of hearing from HIM in my life so I make sure that I carve out time not only everyday, but I set up a meeting each week (usually Friday mornings) to just hear from God.  i was motivated to do this by a pastor I have been following!  I’m looking forward to hearing his whisper loud and clear tomorrow!

Food for Thought

{ April 8, 2008 @ 3:01 pm } · { Church, Community, Life }
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I have a retreat I’m doing with my students in 3 weeks and I’m spedning time this week to wrapping up my prep on my sermons…I have 3 talks to do that weekend so I will be worn out once I’m done (i know, i know…a senior pastor right now is saying “son-that aint nothing-I give multiple messages all the time)…i know pastor-i’m sure you do a great job at it too-but you know its unusual for student pastors to do multiple messages in a weekend so i’m going to play the “i’m tired” card :)….anyway-our theme for the weekend is talking about who are we becoming in christ…it’s about discovering our true identity..i was writing some thoughts down when God brought to my mind a phrase I read a few months ago—it’s the vision statement of a church…i’m not going to copy the statement here, go and read it for yourself (when the page opens just scroll down a little and read their vision statement)

Wanna taste?

{ March 20, 2008 @ 3:34 pm } · { Church, Community, Life }
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In case you want to try and experience a little of what I did last week at Unleash…click here…

Tonight

{ March 19, 2008 @ 9:06 pm } · { Church, Community, Life }
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I think some of our people are finally getting it…including myself…..we need to begin responding to HIM!  There are greater things still do be done…how will we respond when he asks us to participate?

Loving People

{ March 12, 2008 @ 12:52 pm } · { Community, Life }
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Yesterday I had someone invest in me so today when I got the opportunity to invest in others, i jumped on it.  I just got back from eating lunch at a local middle school where the administration staff has paired me up with a couple of classes that could benefit from a positive figure in their life.  The classes I sat with today for lunch consist of students who are considered troubled, come from broken homes, and are destined for failure if measured by society standards.  This was an awesome privilege to spend some time with them but this privilege comes with huge responsibility.  I have the responsibility of just loving them, in their present condition.  Not expecting them to clean up before they can be considered acceptable.  Not expecting them to get their life in order before they are worthy enough to have someone care about them…I need to love them right where they are, and help to lead them where they can be…show them they aren’t worthless, regardless of what they hear from other kids, their parents, or siblings….i’m not trying to recruit students to my church, just trying to invest in people because it’s the right thing.  as a matter of fact, they don’t even know i work for a church….i’m just an adult who cares about teenagers…i want to pour my life into them so they don’t believe the lies they hear telling them they are nothing….that was an incredible hour i just spent with students that feel like no one cares, that no one listens, and that they are better off dead….everyone has potential in life, some just need help finding it….some just need to know that someone cares, truly cares…the challenge for all of us is this…will we take time and pour into someone else?  after all, someone took time and poured into us right???  look at the cross, Jesus poured into your life when you weren’t even around yet…he made a huge investment in you so that you might experience hope, have a future, and know someone loves you…..will you do the same for someone else?!?

 brian

Copycat

{ March 2, 2008 @ 8:58 am } · { Community, Life }
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I’m not a huge fan of just taking someone elses thoughts and linking it here but I do it sometimes if I think its a great point….Well here is a great post!  Check it out!

Coaches

{ February 20, 2008 @ 8:49 am } · { Community }
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This morning was pretty cool….I was over at Sprayberry High School and I got a chance to hang out with a few coaches….I was originally going to hang out with some students at FCA but ended up with the adults…The cool thing was that we held a bible study…I was excited to be there and enjoyed the opportunity to hear their hearts for Jesus and their desire to grow closer to him…The important thing for me was they recognized their area of influence and they expressed their desire to glorify the king in all that they do…it was just refreshing to see coaches/teachers/leaders share the same passion for Jesus and students as me…Props to FCA for their work in schools across the country and it’s a privilege for me to partner with them!

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