DM Demolition + Heroes

In addition to the new Heroes series, I need to tell you about last night. First of all let me explain, I'm a little hardcore on Wed. nights. I'm not being prideful at all, but one of my missions every wed. night is to make sure our students understand this is not your typical student ministry. We are not about numbers, we are not about making you feel good, and we are not about surface messages...We are about truth...DEEP truth. We are about discipleship. We are about the Gospel. I understand there needs to be a balance in ministry to be successful. We try to keep that balance, but we do focus very hard on training our students to be missionaries in their schools. And to all of you other youth pastors I know who read this blog from the east coast to...umm...I guess as far west as Arkansas (that was lame)...I know you guys have great ministries, and I appreciate you. Thank you for being faithful to the truth and being great examples for me. Wes George is as stinking committed to Jesus as anyone I have ever met. Ryan Johnson is one of the deepest youth pastors who could be a lead pastor I have ever met. Here in a few lines you'll meet my hero in the ministry. I love you guys and have made ministry a fun thing to learn. But back to last night, we had record numbers, we started a discipleship CLASS, and let me stress that during this time we read, pray, and ask serious thought out questions and search the word for the answers. We had 14!! come to this last night at our house. God is really moving. But the most exciting thing was that one of our student missionaries has been sharing Jesus and his life with one of his lost friends. That friend last night called about 10:30 understanding he was a sinner and understanding Jesus as a way to salvation. I was thrilled over this guy coming to Jesus, but what was almost as thrilling was it was one of our students who did the work. God used him to bring someone else into the Kingdom. So last night was a huge refreshing. To see our students grasping the mission is awesome to see. Thank you Jesus.

That was a little longer than I thought and I'm getting tired of typing...come back later for the continuation of...(play theme music that sounds like the entry of a superhero) HEROES!!!

The Hero of Boldness

I decided to start a new series here at the Desiring More blog. I want to share with you my heroes, men and women of the faith that have made great impact on me and have helped me become who I am today. There will be several installments to this new series. So just sit back and meet the people to blame for all my strong personality traits:)

Several years ago I went and spent some time with a youth pastor in Georgia. Despite being a hardcore UG Bulldog fan, I still loved him. At that particular time in his life, he may not even remember this, he was reading through the book of Ezekiel. He was always talking about being a "watchman" for his students. This brother is bold...I mean hardcore. I don't know if I have ever met someone as straight up as he is. I know I talk about Andy a lot, but it is simply because of the impact he has made on my life. I'm not starting this series with him for any particular reason other than the fact that I am reading through Ezekiel right now and it just reminded me how bold Andy was. In fact, I think I may start calling him Ezekiel. I could see Andy doing some weird stuff like cooking his food over cow poop:) So here's to you, my hero of boldness...Thanks for teaching me that there are some things we need to stand strong for and NOT move an inch.

Stay tune for the next installment as I share with you: The Hero of My Ministry Example (does that make sense?)

A Heart Pouring

Right now I'm sitting here in my office with 1.7 million things running through my head. I have papers I need to be writing, Wed. nights to be planning, and a new discipleship class to be programing. Yet all I can do is sit here, nibble on m&m's, and wonder what has happened to the Body of Christ. After reading Andy's Blog and having talked to that same mutual friend about church planting, my heart for some reason feels broken over the lack of perseverance for the church. First, let me make clear I have no hard feelings toward church planters. I have dear friends who have planted all over the country and are being used by God to bring tons of people into the Kingdom. Our mutual friend who is planting a church is one of the sincerest men of God I have ever met. Whether we agree or disagree on some issues is irrelevant, he has a TRUE desire to see Jesus glorified and for that I love this man with an abundance. What is simply breaking my heart is upheaval of people from one church to another after a few disagreements. There is no enduring by "believers" in the church today. We see our needs not being met therefore we move to the next thing that will, for awhile, be all about us. Maybe this sounds a bit harsh. It's not my purpose to sound mean, but it is my purpose to get us to examine the true purpose of the church. If God has placed a desire in you to plant in an unreached area...then plant and plant deep. By all means, fulfill the calling God has placed on your life. BUT, if you are these believers who are moving from one place to the next...STOP. The purpose of the church is not for you to be pleased...The church is here for you to know Jesus then teach you how to make Him known...so go do it. To my church planting friends, I'm thrilled you are following God's will. To the Body, plant yourself in a place and serve Jesus.

Saturday's 7

• Another day of College Football...I love Saturdays.
• Awana starts tomorrow here at Southern Heights. I have to do the large group sessions...the one thing I told the church I would not do when I interviewed here was be involved in teaching children. It's not that I don't like kids, I love them. I just really stink at teaching them. I'll play all day long but if you ask me to share the David and Goliath story with them I'm not sure how much they'll understand after I explain the context of the story.
• I'm extremely excited about next Wed. night. After our Desiring More service we start our discipleship series at our house. I know what you are thinking, "Why would you do it after you just finished a service?" This was a strategic move that will enable us to only have the crowd that wants to grow...seriously wants to grow.
• What does a discipled believer look like? That is the question we'll battle through first. We'll lay out exactly what our students should look like and be able to accomplish after they leave our ministry.
• The Bobcats got beat by Yellville last night. Yellville had this whole "inside counter give" thing going on that our line just could not stop. Trulove, the quarterback, looked good and our receiving core is talented. We'll definitely get better.
• I want give two shout outs to Ellis Cook and Adam Noble. Ellis seemed to have his head in on every defensive play and Noble worked hard all night long. I was proud of these guys.
• I'm about to go watch some more football and wait for the next big upset...ROLL TIDE

Friday Five

As you guys I know I am back in school. I have finished up week 3 assignments, and I have gotten a head start and began writing my papers for week 4. Just so you too can know what I am having to deal with, I decided to give you 5 of the toughest subjects I have had to work my way through (warning- these are very sensitive, thought-provoking subjects. These are subjects we must constantly remind ourselves that we must believe what the word says and not "how we feel" on the subject):

• What is the purpose of the church? Is it for believers? Is it for non-believers? The question is not "what is the church?", but rather "Why does the church exist?"
• What is the nature of hell? Is it an everlasting place of fire and torment? Is it a place where you suffer for a time and then cease to exist? Don't be so quick to answer...there are some good arguments for both sides.
• Is man completely unable to do anything good? Did God choose some and not others? When Christ died on the cross, was that atonement sufficient for all or just the elect? Are the elect unable to resist God? Will all believers presevere till the end?
• What is the minimal amount of knowledge someone must have to be saved?
• What happens to those who never hear the gospel? Do they die without an opportunity to respond to Christ, or is there death after salvation for some?

I told you to be ready. These are just some of the things that I have been dealing with on a daily basis here for the past 3 weeks. I know that these subjects can definitely spark some heated discussions, but please know that is not my purpose. I just wanted you to know that I am dealing with some really tough things in scripture right now, and I would love it if you prayed for me as I figure out what I believe and why I believe it. I guess another main point in writing this post is for you to understand that what you hear from the pulpit or from the tv or from the articles may not always be biblically correct. Search it out for yourselves. Gather all the passages of scripture that you can find on a certain subject and read and pray. To be honest I have pretty much established myself where I stand on each of these subjects and if you would like to know what I believe and why, I'll be glad to tell you. Just know I am working hard in to be the best possible shepard I can be one day. Here is a verse for all you others who may have some influence on people spiritually...which would be ALL OF YOU!!:)

Ezekiel 3:17-1817 "Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. 18 If I say to the wicked, 'You shall surely die,'and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, in order to save his life, that wicked person shall die for his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand.

Labor Day

So for labor day, one of our most favorite families ever took us to enjoy the day on Table Rock Lake. I was really excited when they called and asked because this could be one of the nicest Lakes I have ever seen, and they say there are even nicer lakes in the area. So I jumped up and tied up the ole blue flowerdy swimsuit, lathered up some sun block, and headed with the family and some great friends to water. What made the day even funnier was I think Lisa may have been a little mad at Heath for some reason. I know what you are saying, "Ricky, married couples fighting is not funny." Well, you don't know Heath and Lisa. How can you be mad at Heath?

So as Lisa tried to be angry because Heath is a lot like me and not a very good planner, I laughed at Heath's remarks, "OH LISA!!" and "I LOVE YOU DARLING". And to make things even better, Heath and Lisa may be JP's favorite people in the whole world. I mean JP loves everybody at the church, but Heath and Lisa have this incredible place in his heart. So despite no naps, no toys, just the parents and some cool people...JP had his best day ever. He never whined, cried, or got mad...It was amazing. Then we jumped on some jet skis, rode on the lake over to Pizza Hut and ate, tubed, and just had a blast hanging out. JP loved the jet ski and probably could have stayed on it all day. He was constantly yelling over the engine, "Daddy...can I touch the water", "Daddy...what's that?", Daddy...look at the boat". I heard "daddy" enough to last me a lifetime. Thanks to some incredible friends, Arkansas is getting better and better...as if it could get any better?

Confessions of a Youth Pastor: My Mad Diary

OK... it's confession time...

To be honest with you, I'm not excited about this confession at all, but I know it is good to just lay things out on the table so here I go. I know this post is going to get the, "You are such a pansy" remarks but I'm prepared to take them all with dignity and honor. I watched this particular movie last night. This was only the second time I have ever seen it, but it is an incredibly powerful movie. Confession part 1: I cried watching it both times. Confession part 2: It was "Diary of a Mad Black Woman". I KNOW I KNOW!! Go ahead and let the laughs fly...I'm ok with it, but before you get to brutal let me explain. You know what...I can't explain. GO get the movie and check it out. And if you don't drop a tear, I'll call you heartless like I get called a pansy:)
Just found this...it's still good