Death...OK

So I was watching this video and started thinking, "What was going through her head while she was flipping around?" What it one of those things where it happened so quick she didn't know what was going on, or did her "life flash before her eyes" in a long slide show of past victories and failures. Did she think to herself, "This is it...I'm dead. I knew I should have went to church last week." While I was thinking about all this, I asked myself, "What if I was on top of a 700 story building and began to fall off...what would my thoughts be?" Well maybe not 700 stories because that would be a long time to think about pretty much everything, but you get the idea. Would Megan and JP and their future be on my mind? Would I be thinking about the pain I could possibly feel? Would I be thinking, "Crap!! I knew I should have not stepped on the ledge even though Phillip told me it would be ok." (we have a long history of talking each other into doing stupid stuff) Or would I be thinking about Jesus? About the future glorification of my soon to be roadkill body? I'm not sure, but I know I would be ok...Ok with dying. Ok with place my wife is with her walk with Jesus and her ability to raise JP into a deep relationship with Christ. I would be Ok in my confidence that I know Jesus and have been purchased by His blood. Ok with Phillip even though he just got me killed:) And all of my other friendships...I would be ok. So as I'm falling from this ridiculously high building, would be falling with peace. I would have some anxiety and discomfort, but I would also be eagerly awaiting my reunion with my Heavenly Father. Would you be ok? Or would you be saying, "I should have done this and this and this. I should have spent more time with my family and less at work. I should hugged my kids a little more and kissed my wife a little sweeter. I should have met Jesus...I should have listened and responded when I had a chance...I'm not ok."

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Day 5: A Conversation With a Muslim

This day was a shocker. As we were working at site #2, I began talking to the homeowner to whom we were helping. We had some connections since he lived in Dothan, AL back in the 70's and we became very close very fast. I asked him what church he attended and after he dodged the question a few times I asked plainly, "Whats the name of your church?" He then told me how he went to a Mosque around the corner and he was a Muslim. I was shocked. Possibly the most gentle man I had ever met was...Muslim. There's no way. He does not fit the stereotypical personality to be a Muslim. As I was in shock, and completely worthless to do anything for Jesus, the Holy Spirit took over. ON a side note...this is what is really cool about God. I would have left him alone and not went any further and then 3 hours later kicked myself in the tail for being a pansy. But God took over, and believe me when I said it was Him because I'm pretty worthless. I asked him about his faith, and I was shocked at his explanation. He believed it was all the same God...just different names. And the purpose was to do good. I asked my new friend what he thought about Jesus and he said, "Well, He was a great Prophet." I told him that we believe He is God, and that He is not the same person as Allah. He began to tear up and I asked him what about sin...where did he find forgiveness. He told me more about his faith when he said there is no forgiveness...just hope that his good outweighs his bad. I began to share with him what Christ did and why He did it. The biggest hug I ever received was from this new friend. He asked me to pray for him as he searched things out and read his New Testament.As we were leaving the site he hugged me again thanking us for the work. I told him it wasn't us but Christ working through us that led us to help him. There was a reason the kids gave up a week of there summer to help others...Jesus. Please pray for my friend.

Saturday's 7

I thought I would take a break from the M-Fuge recap and get back to the basics of Saturday's...what can I say? I'm a traditionalist.

• I'm about to order me some Toms. What are Toms you ask? They are shoes. Really cool shoes. And for every pair you buy an underprivileged child in another country gets a pair too. So I'm buying the family some shoes.
• My birthday was yesterday. It was a pretty normal day, which is fine with me. I got some money, a cool boat ride offer, Jessie hooked me up with a sweet picture with quotes around it (although I wish it could have been a picture of me and her together), and my wife made me a picture book of JP and cooked an amazing birthday meal.
• I'm preaching tomorrow morning and I'm really excited. The marks of a Believer through Justification, Sanctification, and Glorification...I know what you are thinking but come anyway.
• School is about to start and I'm surprisingly excited. The break has been nice but I'm ready to start learning some more...WHOA, that sounds weird.
• I hate paying bills!! That's the reason me and Megan don't have any money.
• I had a guy come into my office the other day and randomly start blasting another church. He was telling me how unbiblical they were and how the pastor was all about money. I need to call the guy and apologize because I semi-lost it on him. For all of you guys who want to step in my office and talk bad about people doing Jesus-work: Do your homework on what they are really about and don't listen to what other ignorant people tell you, and then come and talk to me:)
• I'm about to go preach the sermon to an empty sanctuary and pray...if you want a preview sneak in the front doors and sit on the steps...It's about to get loud!!

Day 4: Site Work and St. Louis

This was another amazing day with fantastic worship and message. After we worked on site all day we got to visit the city. Where did we go?? Where else would you go with that many teenagers...the mall. So today let me just show you some pics of this amazing day...


These are some really cool people I got to do a lot of work with...Maddie, Reid, and Kayla.


This is what I did most of the week...cut down limbs. Although Reid and I had some fun times doing it.


There were some big limbs hanging over power lines so me and Reid decided to bring them down. We talk for a long time about the right way to do this, but it was hilarious when we got up there and saw exactly how close we were to being blown away off the metal ladder. It didn't help that we were about 25 feet off the ground too.


While we were cutting limbs in the back of the house this is what was going on in front. These guys stained the whole house and did some serious yard work.
Yeah we were that close to power lines.
He was a pretty tough guy although I did save his life like a hundred times. No, really...I did.
This was the sealing we did on the guys driveway. We used over a 100 gallons. I was a massive driveway.
Here is a pic of the LSU girls showing off how much work was done. Basically they wiped it all over themselves to get dirty so they could complain later...I'm just joking. They worked a lot.
While me and Reid were cutting we found this sweet vine so we pretended to be Tarzan for around 30 minutes.

Day 3: Squirrels and The Saints Go Marching In

So again I arise at 5:30 to spend some time with Jesus before the campus starts hopping. This morning started really weird though. As I was sitting in my uncomfortable iron chair (I don't know why I thought I should be uncomfortable while I read and prayed...I guess I felt like I was suffering for Christ) a squirrel came up beside me. It sat there and stared at me for about 7 to 8 minutes. Me being at a super-spiritual missions camp tried to see what God was telling me through this deep experience with nature. It ran off only leaving a little squirrel doo-doo pile about 10 feet from my chair. Nothing spiritual there but I did see something I have never seen before. Now, I was reading in Acts 2 and verses 36-39 really hit me. Peter preached and the lost people hearts were spiritually cut...that is powerful. Peter had no impressive PowerPoint or video illustration, no moving music or a gifted worship leader, but he did have the Gospel and he preached it apologetically. The Jewish people began asking, "What should we do??!!" It just really hit me as I read this that I try, that's right I, try to build the Gospel on top of gimmicks instead of just sharing the gospel. That was a lot for a guy to take in at 5:30 in the morning after seeing something so spiritual as a squirrel taking a dump at my feet. We then eventually got to site and started working the day. This is when I got really close to some really cool students. Maddie, Reid, and Kayla or we liked to call ourselves RMRK Tree Service, we pretty much worked together for the remainder of the trip. After I cleaned out the gutters on this sweet ladies house Reid and I climbed a tree to cut some limbs down. We had no chainsaw, hacksaw, or any saw to cut this 7 inch thick limb down all we had was a butter knife...ok maybe it was knife saw...but it was really dull. Maddie and Kayla rigged up a sweet pulley system so when we cut the monster down it didn't crash into the ladies house. Maddie and Kayla did have a tough job in our tree business because they ended up cleaning MOST or maybe ALL of mine and Reid's mess...Thanks girls. After the lady made us brownies and ice cream she played a couple of songs on the piano for us as a thank you and we made our way to site two...Great stories for you here later. Dinner (cafeteria food is good), worship (redundantly amazing), and my team crushed the scavenger hunt (Who Are We?? Congo!!), I want to leave you a quote from the campus pastor..

--Your heart will either be destroyed by working for stuff or edified by working for the Kingdom.

Day 2: First Day on Site

As I woke up at 5:30 Tuesday morning God began dealing with me from the very first moment about missions, about service. I got to pray for our students before the campus really got busy but I think God ended up revealing to me things I needed to change more than anything. What He was teaching me ended up being pretty scary, but some powerful statements. Our whole week Scott, camp pastor, taught mainly from the parables of Jesus, and that morning during our send off celebration (the throw down we had before we left for site every morning) Scott began to hit us hard with a few statements:

- The Gospel is the most important thing.

- Lay it all down for the sake of the call.

So as we left for site, I got to load our van up with teenagers going to serve. I got to pull a trailer full of equipment through the giant mess that is St. Louis. We pulled up to our first site:

This house belonged to an incredibly sweet lady, who was a believer, who had a terrible skin disease. She could not be in direct sunlight for very long and her house just wasn't being taken care of. So our first day there we cleaned the house and did some painting. A lot of yard work was done and I got to pressure wash her driveway. I remember we ate turkey and provolone sandwiches this day which were delightful but we had the worst lemonade in the history of lemonade drinking. After site work we hung out for a little while and ate before worship. Worship was absolutely amazing and that will get very redundant simply because words cannot express the talent these guys had or the heart for Jesus. So I'll leave you with a statement preached so strongly by Scott: Jesus calls us to be FOLLOWERS not FANS.

Oh yeah Church group that night was amazing. This is simply a time where we as a church got to sit down and talk and share about our days since we were separated for the most part. I want to give a shout to Destiny...She had no one in our ministry in her track and she came back telling me that it was an amazing day. I was so glad to see these students comfort zones disappear...

Day One: Registration

My first post in the M-Fuge Blog series and I'm starting with registration??!! I know that may sound weird to a lot of you guys but there is something I learned from this and it may be a little more on the administrative side of things. My lesson was this: Whatever you do...do it well. These guys at m-fuge were amazing. As soon as we pulled up staffers were in the parking lot with us hanging out and directing us to the next station. They took our students to pick out track times and took us adults to another "chill out for second" place to let us settle down. When we met back with our students they were playing some really cheesy games but they were entertained and excited about the week. When the students learned they were not going to be in the same group with each other I believe they got a little nervous. We were each split into either PCY (painting, construction, and yard work), Games and Rec, Social, and Children's with each group assigned a country to represent throughout the week. Everything went as smoothly and as perfect as I could have ever hoped for and it is because the staffers at M-fuge took time to meet our students, learn names, and make it easy for us youth pastors. I appreciate there Christ-like example and we'll definitely be fuging it up next summer.

I'm Back

M-fuge is over and I can say with the deepest sincerity that if my family was there with me, I could have stayed forever. It was hands down the best camp experience I've ever had. I have had three students tell me they are feeling called into the ministry and I could not be happier. Tonight we are having a service that will give the students a chance to share exactly what God has done in their heart. But for all you guys who can't make it...because you are in another state...

• A typical schedule was:

5:30- Up and praying

7:00- Breakfast

8:00- Bible Study and quiet time

9:15- Send off Celebration

10-3- Working on site

5:00- dinner

6:15- Worship

8:00- Church Group Time

9:15- Night life

11:00- Lights out

As you can see it was a very tough schedule, and you can be sure that I'll have something to blog about for weeks to come. So stay tuned for many strong and challenging thoughts after I share with you things me and the students have learned. I'll be sharing with you quotes that made deep impact in my life, track time specifics on what we did on site, and some really cool other stuff. See you in the morning...or whenever you read this blog.

Going to Serve

Leaving bright and early in the morning. That's us. We are heading to St.Louis to do inner-city mission work for 6 days. I'm incredibly excited and ready to serve. I've noticed in preparation for this trip that I really do focus to much on me and I need to just start praying for a servants heart. That's what I want.

Also I get to preach the first out of three messages tonight to our congregation. God vs. Culture is the title of tonight's message. I've prayed and worked and prayed and worked. For all you guys who won't be around for tonight's message I have a question for all you parents. It's the main question I'll be asking tonight during the message. When your kids leave home and if they choose to turn their back on the faith...will their blood be on your hands? Paul said that he would be free from the blood of the people of Ephesus because he did not shy away from sharing the whole counsel of God. Paul told those people everything about sin, grace, and redemption. Have we told everyone else everything we know about the plan of God. If we haven't...then we are guilty and covered in their blood.

You won't here from me for a week...I know you are depressed but check my reads section to the right. You won't be disappointed.

Saturday's 7

Here is something new for you guys that I thought you may enjoy. Here is 7 passages of scripture that God has used to teach me something great lately.

• Romans 9:30-33: 30What shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith; 31but that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law. 32Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone, 33as it is written, "Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame."
• Romans 1:32: 32Though they know God’s decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.
• Romans 8:14-17: 14For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry "Abba! Father!" 1 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.
• 2 Corinthians 5:21: For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.
• 1 Samuel 24:3-6: 3And he came to the sheepfolds by the way, where there was a cave, and Saul went in to relieve himself. Now David and his men were sitting in the innermost parts of the cave. 4And the men of David said to him, "Here is the day of which the LORD said to you, 'Behold, I will give your enemy into your hand, and you shall do to him as it shall seem good to you.'" Then David arose and stealthily cut off a corner of Saul’s robe. 5And afterward David’s heart struck him, because he had cut off a corner of Saul’s robe. 6He said to his men,"The LORD forbid that I should do this thing to my lord, the LORD’s anointed, to put out my hand against him, seeing he is the LORD’s anointed."
• 2 Corinthians 11:23-28: 23Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one—I am talking like a madman—with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. 24Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. 25Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; 26on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; 27 in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. 28And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.
• John 9:1-7: 1As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. 2And his disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" 3Jesus answered, "It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. 4We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. 5As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world." 6Having said these things, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva.Then he anointed the man’s eyes with the mud 7and said to him, "Go, wash in the pool of Siloam" (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing.

DM Demolition

I learned something last night...I worship idols. This is pretty sickening to me because I thought I lived a semi-idol free life. I struggle with tons of things, but I thought I could always say to myself, "You know...I'm glad I don't have idols." While I was preaching last night (about God's desire for our very thoughts to be pure), I was struck with the cruel truth that my thoughts were idols. Let me explain: So many times in my life I think about what could have been or what could be. I could have went to a big 4 year school, played intramural sports, joined a fraternity, and ended my life working some kick butt job in Denver, Colorado. Lots of times I sit down and plan out my future and think about some other jobs or positions I want to have in the next 7-8 years. What I end up doing is dwelling on these "fantasies" and begin worshipping these thoughts. This may sound absolutely crazy to you, but it is something I struggle with deeply. There is nothing wrong about thinking back or planning ahead, but when our thinking back includes us wishing we would have taken a different road outside of God's will or when us thinking ahead includes us planning to be outside of God's will, it is idolatry!! It's saying that these plans I now have are better than what God has for me or if I had only lived this way my life would have been better. I'm learning a lot about me and this is what I'm taking away from this deep bitter conviction: God knows the plans He has for me, they are plans to prosper me and give me a good future, not a material prosperity but a rich spiritual prosperity. I'm trusting Him that where I am now in my life is where He wants me and had planned out for me before the beginning of time. I'm trusting my future in His hands and that wherever He leads I'll go. I trust Him with my future, my family, and my finances. I trust Him with my time, my treasures, and my teaching. I trust Him and I'm am done idolizing these things that I believe would bring me greater happiness. Jesus is my joy, my hope and my portion. Nowhere outside of His is happiness and happiness is only found in Jesus.

Rockin My Face Off

I love music. I'm not a musician or anything, but I know what I like to listen to. I probably don't appreciate the art of music and the work it takes to create it. Phillip Weems, Adam Vinson, and TJ Mauldin are all guys who know music. Tanner Ethridge is another guy who likes all of the artsy stuff like Coldplay...whom I absolutely hate. Phil is into screamo, Adam is a good ole acoustic guy, and TJ hangs out with the Crabb Family. So although I don't know music as well as a lot of people, I have gotten to hang out with some pretty amazing musicians. I just wanted today to give you some bands that have been kicking in my Honda lately...

• Jeff Johnson Band- These guys took a great hymn and made it one of the most amazing modern day worship songs I have ever heard. Tons of people have turned hymns into modern day music, but this is absolutely my favorite, and that includes David Crowder's Come Thou Fount and Chris Tomlin's Wonderful Cross
• Trip Lee- One of the most solid biblical people I have ever listened too...period. This man has a passion for truth and it is evident in his music. Besides being one of the sickest rappers I have ever listened too (including secular), every song points to the real Jesus. Check out all of the 116 Clique.
• TJ Mauldin Band- Always on my list, I know these guys hearts and it makes their music even more real to me than it already is. Culturally relevant lyrics with the truth of God's word, these guys do not compromise their mission to share Jesus with everyone they meet in a way that is effective but again NEVER leaving biblical truth. I love these guys.
• Flyleaf- Sweet Sound...Simply Sweet. Listen to "All Around Me" and try not to nod your head...Go ahead...I dare you.
• Tenth Avenue North- I get a great old school feel from these guys. Possibly on the rise to be my new most listened too.

So there it is. I know I don't have any weird bands on the list, and when I say weird I mean Coldplay and other bands metro-sexual worship leaders listen to to get inspiration from, but these are the guys who I'm digging here lately. Click the band name links and check them out.

An ADD Church

I struggle focusing. Actually struggle is an understatement. I'm incapable of focusing. I can be doing some of the most important things and see a bag of salty peanuts and it be all over for me. Or I can be eating the most delicious bag of salty peanuts and begin to wonder who thought of the idea of salty peanuts, and before I know it I'll notice the cow walking in the pasture across the street from the church and I'll start wondering, "I wonder what it's like being a cow and all." (By the way, I know that was a horrible run-on sentence but get over it) I don't like the term ADD. Attention Deficit Disorder is a problem in our country, but for the most part I believe we claim it for it excuses. I don't claim to have ADD, but I do claim to have the inability to focus. I see it as immaturity and I would say that openly but then no one will ever listen to me again when i try to be serious so forget I ever wrote that. The point of this post is to ask the question, "Have you ever been in an ADD Church?" When I asked that you could be totally, "Oh yeah dude..." or you could have been, "I think I get dumber the more I read this guy." Whatever the case let me explain a little. Churches have missions. Missions may vary slightly, but all in all we want to see people come to know Jesus. An ADD church understands that mission, but they continually get caught up in...umm...excuse me... but STUPID pointless matters. We always joke about the church that was getting new carpet. Half the church wanted red and the other wanted church color carpet (you all know what color church color is) and they ended up dividing it right down the middle and the people who wanted what ever color sat on that side of the sanctuary. We laugh at these kinds of illustrations pastors give, but do we really understand that this is a serious problem and a lot of people don't go to church because of these kinds of STUPID divisions. Just don't be and ADD church...Keep your focus on the ultimate mission of leading others to Christ. Focus on the goal.

Saturdays 7 on Sunday

I know dude...late again, but I promise I have a great excuse. The Internet at the Sowell home has been disconnected due to the dog chewing through the power cord on the laptop. It's harder getting to the office on the weekends to do this and my weeks are becoming swamped because of M-fuge, school prep, and speaking. So here are the 7 thoughts that have been rocking my world lately.

• We are getting some new neighbors which I'm pumped about. The Helder's are moving in the house that connects to our backyard. I guess that means I can't walk around in the backyard naked anymore...I'm JOKING!!
• I'm really glad God put people like TJ Mauldin, Andy Blankenship, and a ton of others in my life. I'm just not that smart and these guys really help me think.
• My son constantly walks around singing our "Pee Pee in the Potty" song but refuses to do it. He'll be in diapers in the 3rd grade.
• For you guys who don't know, we bought a 06 Honda Accord. It's way too nice of a car for a youth pastor. It's so nice it makes my already incredibly hot wife hotter...She is way too hot to be my wife.
• I'm getting the chance to preach a lot this month. The 13th p.m. service I'm preaching a message on Worldviews (this message will be for believers who want to know how to better live out there faith), the 20th we'll have our M-fuge report, and the 27th a.m. service I'm preaching a hardcore message on the gospel. If you know anyone who is lost bring them to this service...God has gotten something big for us this Sunday.
• We got to hang with the Roger's for awhile the other night since Berryville had a traffic jam after the fireworks. For a little cash I can let you in on all of Marci's big secrets...I'm JOKING AGAIN!! We really appreciate cool families who love Jesus, and plus they have Benjamin which keeps JP occupied.
• I'm going to miss my Sunday School class for 4 weeks while I move upstairs to teach the youth. This class has done tons for my walk with Jesus and I'm already looking forward to meeting with them again.

Quotes Quoted

Sometimes you read things that make sense...
Sometimes you read things that change your life...

"I wonder why I felt like God is like the ocean and I am the shore? He comes in moments very strong, but then there are moments when I feel nothing... Then I realized God was the shore. He was constant and I was the waves, coming in to His presence then allowing myself to pull back."-TJ Mauldin

He is the constant one, and if you aren't feeling His presence you have pulled away in some area in your life.

Welcome Here

I don’t think I’m supposed to give details on what was said in staff meetings, but I’m going to anyway…I’m a rebel. Bro. Scott made the comment that we needed to add some chairs in the sanctuary. That church is a great thing. We are growing, people are coming to know Jesus, and when you walk into our building you can sense the peace of our fellowship. I believe we are growing for several reasons: 1. God is blessing us. 2. We have sound biblical preaching. 3. The worship at Southern Heights is real and Spirit led. 3. We have a church that recognizes guests and works to make them feel at home. I read something the other day that a pastor of a large church in Georgia,Michael Lukaszewski, wrote about recognizing guests. This made a lot of sense to me:


“A good landscaper who is operating a weed eater or a blower will stop when you run by, as to not blow grass clippings all over you. In a nice hotel, when you walk down the aisle, the cleaning ladies pushing the cleaning carts through the hallways will stop and say hi, continuing their job after you walk by. They are stopping what they are doing to recognize your presence. Good churches stop what they always do and recognize the presence of guests.”


Wow. One thing I believe we do well at Southern Heights is make our guests feel welcomed. Many of the guests that come through the doors here are possibly lost, and we need to make sure that they do not turn away from the gospel because we aren’t friendly. Thank you for doing an incredible job with our guests. Paul speaks of a partnership he had with the Philippians in sharing the gospel. This partnership was made possible because they all had the same attitude, love, and purpose. They lived in harmony together. The outside world will notice our indwelling peace and our love for each other. This church will help us continue to grow and to continue in winning people to Jesus Christ…Our common goal.