Service Project

This past Sunday our youth group did another service project. About a year ago we moved away from just the games and normal services. We went to service project style of learning, really trying to live out what Jesus told us. To love God and your neighbor. I am still amazed at how much students get out of this style of learning and how they walk away feeling better about themselves. Putting tools into a kids hand and letting them go at it.

You can see in the picture our students worked until they had blisters on their hands. At the same time we were able to serve a lady in our community and make her yard look a little better. What is so awesome about these projects is that not every student shows up, but the few that do put their heart into it.

My prayer is that we continue to see the joy into serving one another and that we follow God and serve him with our full hearts. 

The difference

This has been an interesting week in many ways. Everything was different in many ways and I found that I have really enjoyed it in many ways. Between work hours changing and the amount of kids I have in one day and the amount of time I spend with them. I have found that kids bring such an awesome beauty to this world and how they can change it.

Wednesday we did something different in youth group and had a pool party at Hardin Simmons. We celebrated the five students who were baptized in the last three weeks. Tanner was baptized at a service at our church, Mark, Nick, and Daniel was baptized at South Padre, and Logan was Baptized by his dad on a family vacation. Talking with some students on Wednesday reminded me of the trials that last year brought but also how far God has brought us.

Saturday we will have a service project with our youth group from 9am to 12PM helping a lady with her yard.

It's amazing how God is working and my prayer that we continue to follow his path. 

Camp 2010

I must say that this was the best camp that I have had in many different ways. It was awesome to worship with students and churches from around Abilene, Austin, and Waco. I believe what made it awesome for me was seeing Mission Students worship and see something new. I had second thoughts this past year on my calling and if I was in God's will. I felt like I was working and I just wasn't seeing any fruit. This past week God really worked on my heart and showing me that there is a time to harvest, water, and see fruit. A room full of guys who didn't want to room together found a new friendship and bond, a student that wasn't going to come signed up the last minute and gave his life to Christ after raising his and feeling the power of God and crying on my shoulder to tell me he found christ, three were baptized, and others starting to understand the power of God and his love.

As I spent time looking at my students I for some reason started understanding how God loved me. I knew it when it came to teaching it, but hard for me to understand. I remember I was praying to God and him telling me to be quite and listen. I just started hearing...I love you, I love You, I love You, I love You...then right after the wroship team went into oh How he loves me.

I believe God is doing something new with in our youth in abilene. I am so amazed how they hate the big and love the small. I even had a couple of our youth talk about how they love that we are medium size because they do not get lost in the crowd. Once again this year I kept hearing that we were like a family they never had. I couldn't help but praise God for him having me right where I was at.

I was also thinking God that I had stood through the trials and not walk away and leave. There were many moments last year where I felt alone. I believe it was a gift from God to see them Worship and give all they had to God.

Camp 2010

WOW! It's the only word I can think of. I was so amazed with what do did with our adults and students. I had the chance to see God really move in the students we have been serving for a few years. At the same time God even did some work on my heart as well. I will have some pictures, videos, and other stuff soon.

To Save a Life

Any one who works with youth long enough knows and understands the ups and downs that come with the job. You will have times you laugh and times that you do nothing but cry. For the past few weeks I have been asking myself why did I make the choice to work with young people. Lets face it, there are few thank yous and there is not allot of attention. At this point and for the past six years I have never had the desire to be a lead pastor for many reasons. The biggest reason I feel when it comes to young people you make the biggest difference in a life and can be a part of preventing tragedy by simply loving.

I love the fact that I am a small part off my students life. I have one of the most amazing teams in the world, more than anything else I love the fact they care about our kids. At this point we have a leadership team that has been in place for over three years, with little turn over. Each one of my students is teamed up with an adult and that adult takes care of them. My leaders don't always know that because it happened naturally. I believe the most amazing part is watching God do the little things. Also him breaking our hearts for what takes place in their life. There are times we want to hurt them, but at the end we love them.

I believe the biggest reason I love youth ministry is because in many ways we save a life. From salvation to helping them through some emotions. Most of it never happens on a Wednesday or Sunday. Not in a church or a church function. Most of it happens with in community and showing them something different in life. Not freaking out when they put they're drunk on facebook, but not fearing to talk with them face to face about the issue. Simply loving and not judging.

To all who work with kids in this world, thank you for your time. You are rarely noticed and the first that people blame, but an important part of a kids life.

Where I have been??

Wow it's been a while. Today I flew back in from Nashville where I spent four days with my family. I must tell you that I am tired and not ready to start this week, but I did have a great time. We went down for a cousins graduation. We made this a big deal for many reasons, but most of all to share our faith. As I was spending time in the smokey mountains I was thinking about how thankful I am for my life. Even though life gives us some ups and downs it is amazing how many blessings God gives us. I fear that many of us miss out on so much of life because we run and run and forget our purpose in life. It is simple....love. This weekend even though it was for my cousin, it also became about my whole family and simple loving one another.

Time after Time

It was just yesterday I started to stress just a bit over my schedule this summer. It is filled with events, trips, and work. As I started to stress the more I understood how this life works and how grateful I was that I have learned to balance it but cut out what is bad. This was a struggle for years for many reasons. I only have one day to where it is a time off. I have learned to make that a holy day. There are times to where I have to do something on that day, but for the most part it is for me and others I deeply care about.

I have been amazed at the doors that God has opened this year. As I talk about even some other doors coming open, the one thing I have learned is that God's plan and his vision for life is what is important. This summer has I work with kids, camps, and trips my prayer is that God gets the glory.   

New Way of Thinking

Life happens in a blink and I must ask at times what have I done with it?? That's a tough question to ask yourself. I use to believe life was all about performing and what work I was doing. That is still a big part of my life, however I have been on a new journey that I find to be awesome and allot of healing. I started obeying by taking a day off and away from my daily life. This is a day I love and look forward to and I must admit through that time I have been able to see the mess I made with things in my life. It's amazing to me how people with cheer you along when you are doing nothing but working your life away, but not much is said when you are taking time away to really focus on what is important. Numbers use to be real important to me and I would brag. Now I care more about truly impacting those that God has giving me. Even this weekend I had a kid tell me that a local church had a cooler ministry then ours. My response was "well it doesn't take much to beat us 

• A second family. For whatever reason we are a very close group now. That has more to do with our leaders, we have found that knowing the kids name and what is going on is more important  then anything else. 
• We are honest. We had a time to where kids in our youth group to make up crazy stories for attention. It was cool I had a kid this weekend admit that he did that. Now we have set the tone for everyone to be honest where they are at. Most of my students come from single parent families and struggle. I have a few kids who refer to their dads as "sperm donor." It's sad but I believe it is important to make it a place to where it's okay to not be okay.
• Allowing God to open the door to salvation... Evangelism has always been one of my gifts, but never in a begging way. I am not sure why I never really got into that. I believe that all of our leaders are really gifted in opening the door for the gospel. 

My point with all of this is that their was a time I spent my time trying to be the best. I started to see that God was not calling me to be the best but his vessel in all that I do. Go has giving me gifts to use and he has giving other gifts to different people. i have been learning that we spend so much time trying to change the person that we forget that is not our job. I believe our job is to be patient and show mercy to those who need it. When I stop to think about it, we all need it.

So I believe more and more everyday that it is time to stop playing the games that we play in ministry and really dig deep into what God has called us to. I am now all about being a healthy youth minister then a popular one. I see more and more that God has called me into this role and I am loving every minute of it.  

Pray For Britney

My good friend Bill Scott and his wife Janet went to visit a young lady in jail. Janet posted the picture to your left and said the following.... she told us the best thing that could have happened to her was for her to get caught so she would begin to turn her life around. 


So please pray for Britney and she will continue to recover and follow God!

1 Peter 1 Friendship

1Peter 1:5-9 His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.

 I read this tonight and it hit me hard about the life that God has called us to live. I must admit for many years I always felt that the Christian faith was about just the freedom that Christ give you. But with that freedom we also must understand that there is a standard that God has called us to live up too.

If I was to write my biggest fault and the one that almost everyone points out is the fact I forget and lose stuff. I must admit it bothers be allot when people point it out all the time, because it is one of those things that I know without someone else saying it all the time. I hate that I forget things and lose stuff. I believe it is an area that I need to work on and continue. I guess the reason I feel that way is because I always felt less then up to just a few months ago. I would spend so much time finding fault in me to where I only did what I knew what I was good at. I believe if I was to sit down with you and say what my gift is I would have to say friendship.

When I read this verse today I started thinking about that. I love doing things with people I care about and love. Always making that relationship stronger and doing things. It's funny I try to be hard about things, but I end up giving in. I read for this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. I start to think about those relationships that we have with one another. I also start to think about my relationship with God. I believe that part of having a relationship with God is knowing what he wants you to do.

I believe we throw around the word "calling" way to much and forget that God desires you to be who he made you to be. When I went to new york this spring break I was just amazed with the amount of history that was with in that place. I think about our country and how many people that has helped us get to where we are at now. To look at the pew that Washington worshiped at brought tears to my eyes. To stand where humans lost their life on 9/11 and to hear stories about that day just amazes me. In the same way I believe God is amazed and loves when we live the best we can. Setting aside what we are bad at and building on what we are good at.

This is going to sound weird but I love our youth worship team. I love it because it is raw and struggling but God is getting glory out of it. When I get into a car with a kid and he ask "how did I sound?" I get to point them to what true worship is. I say all the time, it's not about me or you it is about God. Where was your heart at? Because of that rawness and not being the "best" buy trying to understand something new opens the door to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

I love working with a kid who his raw and their faith is all sorts of messed up, but they are open to change and the gospel. To me it's just like that worship team, it always starts with I but I have the chance to point it back to God. I am not sure why I got that gift, but I know that God wants to use it. I become excited when the Gospel changes a life for good. I care nothing about the spiritual high that the kid might get on, but I do care about the changes they are making.

This is where I am going to be honest about where I was at last year. I was burned out and tired because I was trying to be God of my life. I had kids coming in and to be honest I didn't like them anymore. I felt that it was nothing but drama and some how I lost a passion. I knew I was wrong, but didn't want to admit it to anyone. I did what I could to get by and went on in life. I was living day by day with no vision of growing, learning, and compassion. I guess you can say I forgot my purpose and who I was living for.

To make a long story short it took a 15 year old to help me understand what it was that God called me too. I felt that I was getting to old for youth ministry which is a lie from Satan. I was thinking maybe it was a different group of kids I needed to work with. I started idolizing those youth pastors who talked about how good their group was. One night at camp after a event that I would rather forget about, but can't...I am talking with this kid in tears saying "I can't get baptize I am to bad." I broke and asked myself "what have I been teaching." The next day we baptized him and today he is a leader with in our group. Today he will tell you that what changed him the most was the compassion I had. I have had the chance to tell him he help change my life.

I read that in 1 Peter that our job is not to be the best but a person of compassion and love. I have to say it took me breaking to understand where I was at. I talked with several people about it, coming clean to my pastor was hard but the most freedom. I told him that I wanted to love again like I did before. I pray that God continues to break my heart from now on with this area.