My Favorite Baseball Player!

Pretty amazing story of how God restores and uses broken people to bring glory to Himself!

This is Stinking Hilarious!

Give Thanks!

Today is Thanksgiving and I have so much to be thankful for!

1- I am so thankful for Jesus. Without Him, there would be no hope which would lead to a pretty bleak existence.

2-I am thankful for my family! I could not imagine life without my wife and kids. Angie makes me a better man and Rodgers, Kylie and Elijah teach me something new everyday.

3-I am thankful for my friends. God has blessed me with friends that I can "live" life with. I am thankful that they help to sharpen me and love me no matter what.

4-I am thankful for the youth at my church. It is such a privilege to work with them and a consider it a huge blessing to have them as friends!

What a great ride this life is and I am thankful for all the ups and downs as well as the twists and turns. Take a moment today to give thanks to the Father who makes all of the things in this blog possible.

Another Reason to Vaca in Europe

Thought I would share this. Pretty cool stuff.

The Harvest Is Plentiful!

It's turkey time y'all or as some of you may refer to it, Thanksgiving. This time of year always makes me think of lots of food. From the days of the pilgrims and Indians there are stories of plentiful harvests and bountiful provisions from the Lord. I want to always remember how blessed I am and how little I deserve any of it! I am thankful for a beautiful wife and 3 amazing kids. I am thankful that we are all back together after a grueling 8 months apart last year. I am thankful that I live in a country that allows me the freedom to worship and serve Christ without the fear of death. I am also thankful that there are brothers and sisters around the world that are willing to risk death to praise and worship Christ and I pray for their safety! I also pray that I would not forget what Christ says in Matthew 9: 35-38:

³⁵ Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. ³⁶ When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. ³⁷ Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. ³⁸ Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

I am convinced more and more each day that there are loads of people in our world who desperately need Jesus! I pray for the eyes see to them, the willingness to be a worker and the power of the Holy Spirit to help me speak truth into the lives of those I encounter! I pray that God would get me out of the way and allow people to see Him. Here am I Lord, send me!

WHAT A YEAR! COULD THE CURSE REALLY BE DEAD?

Well I must say that the events over this past year have been pretty amazing when it comes to Gamecock sports! My COCKS won the National Championship in baseball and this past weekend punch their ticket to their 1st ever SEC Championship game. As if that isn't enough, they did it by crushing the Florida Gators in The Swamp 36-14. To quote a great friend of mine as we texted back and forth during the game, "this is my favorite football game ever!" It is even sweeter for me because living in Jacksonville is almost like living in Gainesville in that there are freaking Gator fans everywhere! Well my COCKS have basically shut them up for at least a year and life is glorious as a Gamecock living in enemy territory. I must say that this success is well deserved and couldn't have happened to a more deserving fan base. As painful as it is sometimes I am proud to be a Gamecock and 2010 has been well worth the wait! Here's to what the future holds if the CHICKEN CURSE really is dead! FOREVER TO THEE!

What Makes a Powerful Leader?

I spoke to my high school and middle friends about this question this past Wednesday. While dissecting this topic and trying to find out what was so different about Jesus as and a leader I landed on three things:

1- Jesus was an incredible listener

2- Jesus maintained a presence in the lives of those around Him

3- Jesus was faithful.

I believe that all too often leaders can not get away from being in it for the fame, power, control, success or whatever else is driving them. I hope my friends see that the 3 values listed above will create an environment of trust and love, and a leader people will follow to the ends of the earth! I also firmly believe that this best in the context of relationship! I was incredibly convicted by how often I seek to be heard before I listen, seek to put myself first and just how absent from my friend's lives I can become.

I pray the Lord continues to convict me of these things. I want to set my eyes and goals on the things Christ embodied and help my high school and middle school friends to do the same!

My Heart Smiles!

After being away from youth ministry for around 5 years I am back at it with my church's youth group here in Jacksonville. I have to say I am loving every minute of it because I feel like I am doing what God made me for! I am enjoying the new relationships with the 30+ kids who are coming and I am very excited for what God is doing in this ministry. I am also eager to see what He has in store for us. My hope is that we can build authentic community that will impact our friends, families, church and anyone else we encounter along the way! The ministry is called R.O.C.K. (Representatives Of Christ's Kingdom); so if you think about us throw up a prayer or two.