summer time at crave…

Summer can be one of the most frustrating times or it can be great…it all depends on what you plan for the summer. We plan well in advance in order to maximize the most of summer. Whatever it takes…the mentality we use to attack summer and make it great. Missions trips, outreach, training, blockbuster events and so much more have been packed into the month of june…now we are in july and there is so much more to do…this week is an event we call summer jam where we grill some burgers and dogs, combine our Middle School and High School, Lakeland masters commission is coming in to open and close out the night. it’s nights like these that really give us a big push for summer. We are in the hottest weeks of the month, so on Friday we are taking a crew to wet n wild for a day at the water park. Next week is summer camp and in the middle of it all we are working on our entries for the national fine arts festival. Summer is such a busy time of the year…from fundraising, to water parks, camps and in between trips we go all out to touch the lives of our students. We will do whatever it takes to touch the lives of our kids…what are you doing to make summer great?

Go ahead make summer great!

unwrapping the impossible pt 2

can the impossible be possible in your life? why not…with God all things are possible! absolutely nothing is impossible with Him! NO THING! nada! i am sitting in bed with my ibook – which is terribly slow now – listening to kari jobe and studying for my message…God can do the impossible! i belive it, BUT if i can’t see it i can’t have it! i f the shepherds never saw the baby jesus they would have never experienced the impossible…they would have never spread the word! If i can’t hear him i wont respond to what he has for my life. if the shepherds did not hear the angel say the baby would be wrapped in swaddling clothes…they would have been still tending sheep and never made it into the Bible today. They saw…they heard…and they went. We have seen so much, but can we see God do the impossible in our lives? God is speaking, but are we listening? if not we wont go where he has planned for our lives! Now that’s a bummer! i am stoked about tomorrow night. This is truly the most wonderful time of the year! enjoy…

friday night at a parade…

tonight we headed out to the daytona beach christmas parade and we had an amazing time. we loaded up a flatbed wrecker with 6 amps, a keyboard, 2 powered speaker, to floor toms and cymbals. the atmosphere was filled with the sounds of a version of the Transiberian Orchestra “carol of the bells”. students and our pastor walked along and threw out candy and handed out invitations to church. My 2 sons rode along in the truck throwing candy from the cab yelling “merry christmas…and happy new year” the crowds lined the streets and grooved to the sounds emanating from the float. we were thrilled to bring a bit of excitement and flavor to the holidays. what a night…i am so proud of our guys that played on the float and our students that passed out candy and fliers. When it was all said and done, we talked about how we could do it even better next year. it’s a wonderful thing to be around people with excitement and passion and drive to raise the level!

merry christmas!

creativity and leadership

tonight we hosted our last compel night of the year…from here we are off for thanksgiving and then December hits and we have 2 big events…crave christmas party and the never ending new year. tonight wee went all out for souls and truly got out of the box. at one point i thought things would get a little hairy, but the students were so amazing. our compel night was centered around the theme of taste, we met with a few leaders several weeks ago and hammered out ideas creatively for the night. the night went so well, it always does when you have a great team of volunteer leaders. i love our peeps! they turned it out tonight. we built staging, set up servers to bring out samples of foods, had several different genres of music from…rap, rock, country, gospel to even a little R& B. the flavor for the night was set and the students were packed in. many responded at the altar call and that’s what it’s all about…SOULS! this led me to think of a profound thought. it was in the middle of the food tasting i was standing still, yes standing still watching it all happen, we included so many people in the moment. How could this ever be pulled off without the efforts of so many leaders. creativity is a wonderful thing…but creativity without leadership is a disaster waiting to happen.

current series in crave…

it’s all about how you respond to life…

1 Corinthians 13:11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.

merch..outreach services for youth ministry.

6 times a year we do major outreach services filled with drama, music, and loads of fun. it’s on these nights that we pass out literally thousands of invites and see our crowd swell. we gear up everything from invites, promo, giveaways and food after the event…it’s all about souls!
we are working right now on a huge night in november called “delicious” can’t wait to put this night all together!

here are a few we have done and you can even get these by emailing us at crave@calvaryfl.com

compel night media: $35
dvd, templates, printable and editable photoshop files, power point, the actual message, video clips, tips and more…

“unleashed” deals with destiny and how so many miss their destiny because they are leashed. this was an intense night with dogs, media and more…this one is our latest and it was “off the chain”

“what’s your style?” deals with the style of this generation…the runway of lives that miss heaven.

“is there life after death” deals with what happens when we die. heaven, hell…a mock funeral is performed on this night.

these compel nights include everything you need to have a night to remember.

other compel nights…
”the day after” deals with what will happen the day after christ returns.

mission ‘09

where in the world is crave going on 2009? well tonight is the night we reveal the location of our trip. we have secured airfare and have some great missionaries to work with. the dates of the trip are june 11-19 and we will be having our first information meeting on Sunday Oct 12. that is the weekend of the chic conference…so ladies you betta be going. if you plan on going on this trip I want to see you at the desperation night this thursday night at 7pm in the gym. i believe this night and each month when we meet for catalyst god is going to do some great things in our lives….enough said here we go…

here is a few pics of the country…

the flag…

creatures in the country…

the missionaries…nelson and renae de freitas

go rays!

and the place that crave will be working in 2009 is…..the dominican republic.

see ya oct 12 for the first meeting. h2o discipleship starts soon and desperation night is this thursday!