creativity in 4 crayons…

Remember when you were like 8 years old and you went to a restaurant and were given 4 crayons to color with and you turned the placemat over and began to cover every square inch with stick people that came to life and conquered the world. the sound effects you made to shoot guns, the falling effect when people got shot…that’s creativity. Somewhere we were told that there was more to life than 4 crayons, 2 of which were broken. Somewhere we started to learn that we needed to calm down and chill. I have 2 boys and I love their creativity. They can make up stories with amazing plots and add all the necessary sound effects to back it all up. I look at the way they “play” and see so much creativity in it. Somewhere in school we were taught to stop playing and start learning. What was your favorite time of the school day…I had 2. One was recess where we could make up any game with any imagination and the rules always changed. The other was story time…the teacher would read from amazing books and you could be swept out of school and into the story for incredible moments each day.

Creativity is what God made us to be! The way I see it, he created the heavens and the earth with his words and it took creativity to create it all…But he created us in His image. If we were created with Him in mind, then I believe he created us with creativity in mind. So many inventions, discoveries and life changing programs are waiting to be discovered and written by people! Pick up the crayon and start creating something for God to be glorified in! Don’t be limited by the number of crayons you have, we have an unlimited source of color to draw from! You are creative…pick up the crayons God gives you and make something great today.

Youth pastor…quit complaining about what you do not have and start using what you do have. Whatever you got right now, make it the best you have and make it great! Too many people say they will wait until they get something in order to do something. Realize you are something and God wants to use you to be something!

Leaders that leave…

20 years ago we left Ormond Beach bound for college with so many hopes and dreams ahead of us. 7 years ago we left Jacksonville headed back to ormond ready for a new adventure and dreaming big dreams. Now we find ourselves leaving Ormond again with so much vision and passion to do what God has called us to do.

When I look at the places we left I can’t help but to see what we left behind. It does not matter how long you are in a place you leave something behind! If you are in a place and you touch something in that place your DNA, your makeup, your touch is left on that place. It’s what we leave that makes all the difference! You can’t stay in a place forever, but you can make an eternal impact on place with your touch. Whatever you touch leaves a mark!

Last night…I was reminded so clearly how impactful our touch can be. I listened to leaders express their love for us, and in quite clear details describe moments so vividly in their lives that left impressions on them. Whether it was the first service I preached in a tent (I can’t believe a student that is now a leader remembered exactly what I said), or it was a trip overseas, an event, or just the thought of being concerned about the family and career of a leader. God has blessed us with such an amazing group of leaders. Great people that served and help bring dreams and vision to pass! Great 7 years of ministry in a productive and effective place. Great God that put His presence on display in the lives of our students and leaders. I am speechless!

I can’t deny that I am leaving! But mostly I can’t deny the fact that I am leaving so much of myself in this place! Walking with a parent Sunday morning I found myself deeply moved because of what god had done in His children’s lives! This is one thing I will miss so much! The kids that I spent time sowing and believing for God to move in and He is moving!

Youth pastor or leader…leave an eternal mark on your students. You leave something so powerful when you choose to touch a life in a real way! My wife said it so well last night ” whatever it takes” touch them, if it’s paying their way to convention, making a way on a missions trip…whatever it is, it is so worth it! When we get to the next place, we will continue to do what we love so much, touching the lives of students and seeing god touch them in turn!

leave a legacy!

Legacy is a big word…it means something that has been handed down by a predecessor. Just a thought…what are you handing down? Just a thought never know what will come of the lives you choose to sow into. I have had the privilege to sow into some great students over the years…one told me He would never be in the ministry, because he was going to make money! Funny, he now sits in the office i sat in for many years and leads the youth ministry I led so long ago! Another kid use to come to youth and fall asleep all the time, He was Lactose intolerant and enjoyed drinking milk…He now is a Masters commission director. Another student I get to run into from time to time at national events is married to a great youth pastor and she gets it when it comes to being Kingdom minded. Oh in Middle School she was a tool! another student had so many talents it was sickening, got married and continued to commute for his training He now leads an amazing youth ministry. another student was probably the worst case scenario story on a missions trip…I truly wanted to send Him home and I think students even switched His water with tap water to make Him sick, ohhhh snap He leads a great youth ministry in Texas. A group of students that lead worship and play on a regular basis as adults in their church…ohhh they got their start singing and playing for 40 kids in a youth ministry oh so long ago….they stretched their gift through fine arts and now you see them every Sunday doing what they were challenged to do as a teenager. Another student Got saved on a wednesday night , totally unchurched, never really been to church…He is a senior pastor of a great church.

Interns are the most interesting species…over the years I have had my share of amazing leaders come through! From the snowman who youth pastors in Texas to Mel an associate pastor in Oklahoma, the youth pastor in North carolina, the lead pastor of a church plant not even a year old, the youth pastor in Loganville, the 3rd year masters commission student in Lakeland, the college student at SEU, the worship leader, the 2 or 3 running from the call of God (you can run but you can’t hide)…Who are you sowing into? what are you handing down? If we could only see the Legacy we leave behind, we would work that much harder to leave a mark that lasts for eternity! Youth Pastor, leader…Keep sowing…keep giving…keep going the distance! You can’t leave a legacy in a few months! You leave a legacy by doing what my youth pastor always told me to do…”Keep on Keeping on!” God desires for you to leave a legacy behind!

Don’t be weary in doing good, for in due season you will reap if you faint not!

it’s a new season…

Today I thought about what season I am in…I am reminded visibly of the fact that God has changed my season! For the first time In 17 years I am not leading a youth service I am sitting in an adult service waiting for the next season to begin! Awkward…YES! Frustrating…A LITLE! Discouraging…NO WAY! Expecting…ABSOLUTELY! If you don’t recognize where you are, then you might miss your season! I am now more than ever determined to walk in the season that God has for my life…seasons come and go, but some are just off the charts life changing moments you know that you know God is working supernaturally in!

A word for youth pastors…you cannot do ministry the same way you have always done it and expect to continue to see bigger results. Season…it’s one of shifting and changing. You have to shift your mindset from what you have done and done well, to what you can do and do better. Look for opportunities to squeeze every ounce of experience out of! If you are determined to reach a generation, then you have to constantly change the way you do things in order to reach the next generation. Are you willing and ready for the challenge to reach a tough generation. The unchurched, the hurting, the lost, the broken, the over entertained, the heartless, the weak, the proud…Students from all walks of life and from every school in your area. This is why you do what you do! God has not positioned you in a place to lead a dodgeball team, he has positioned you to lead a generation to experience the power of His presence!

What season are you in? Recognize it and walk in it!

what do you desire?

Webster defines desire as…An emotion or excitement of the mind, directed to the attainment or possession of an object from which pleasure, sensual, intellectual or spiritual, is expected. So many have misguided emotionally driven desires basically because they are looking at the wrong things and have an appetite for less that what God desires. In the Garden Eve was shown a piece of fruit hanging on a tree and the account reads that when ” she saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it.” A lot of things look good and can bring wisdom, but are they necessarily good? NO! You have to be careful what you look at and what you have an appetite for. If you acquire the wrong desire, then you will possess less than you are destined for! Desire is formed by what you see and then acquired by what you have an appetite for. What are you consuming? That’s what you desire! Whatever you are hungry for (appetite for) that’s what you desire! Psalm 34:8 Taste and see that the LORD is good.

Do you really desire God? The test is in your eyes and in your appetite. Do you have eye that want to see the Lord? Are you hungry for the presence of God? Hungry for His word? Psalm 37:4 Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart.

God really wants to give you the desires of his heart!

pic provided by: stuff i can use

one life…

last words to my students at crave…much love! “ONE LIFE”

one life…

The last words I shared with our students were powerful last night. I made a choice to deposit something in them and challenge them to keep dreaming. It was emotional at times and even down right hilarious. If you ever leave a place you love and you get the opportunity to preach…preach the word!

We only have “ONE LIFE” to see our dreams become a reality! Joseph had a dream and was rejected, hated, thrown into a pit, sold into slavery and even falsely accused landing himself in prison before his dream ever became a reality! God has a plan for each of our lives, which means he has a dream he wants to place within us. To many are living there lives like someday I will do this, or someday I will be that, or someday I will have whatever…stop living for someday and live for today!

We only have “ONE LIFE” to get it right. This is your opportunity to live life right. Your life is your house and if you let anybody own even the smallest piece of it, then you could lose it all!

A Haitian pastor tells a story of a man that wanted to buy a house but he could not afford it. the price for the house was $2000.00, but he only could afford to spend $1000.00. so the owner offered to sell the man the house for $1000.00 on one condition. he would retain ownership of a nail that was in the door post above the front door. the nail could not be removed and he retained ownership of that one spot. the man agreed, but when the original owner came back and wanted to buy back the house, the owner said no it’s not for sale it’s my house. so the original owner, still owning the nail over the front door, went out and hung a dead dogs carcass on the nail… the owner said what are you doing you can’t hang that their…oh it’s my nail I own it and I can do whatever I want with it! the smell got so bad that the house became uninhabitable and the owner had to vacate the house because of the carcass. The original owner owned the nail and now the house was put up for sale because no one could live in it!

If you make room, even the smallest amount of room, like the size of a nail. The devil can come and hang a dead rotting carcass on it and turn the whole place into a house that is uninhabitable! He will hang hurts, bitterness, envy, greed and even lust over the door of your house. What you make room for in your life will determine who you are! What are you making room for?

Ephesisans 4:27 – don’t leave the devil any room!

You have “ONE LIFE” Dream big!