Steak Inn

We had a couple from the church last night take us to eat at a restaurant called the "Steak Inn". Going to a restaurant called the "Steak Inn" made me think we were going to a fast food joint that would put your steak in a paper bag for you to take and eat at home. Only in Arkansas can a place really nice like this have such a crappy name...only it wasn't in Arkansas...it was Missouri, but it's close enough. Anyway, I though I would give you a quick little review:

• Main Course= Amazing. Possibly one of the top 3 steaks I have ever had in my life. I had the 11 ounce sirloin with 4 grilled shrimp (quit with the fat jokes). The steak had a really nice peppery taste, and the shrimp were loaded with flavor.
• Salad= Huge. I have never had a salad were I had to cut my own cheese off a block. This, to be honest, was sort of weird. I mean what do I do with a big slice of cheese? Do I put salad in my mouth and then take a bite off my hunk like it was a cracker or something? If you know...please do tell.
• Bread= Nothing is better than homemade bread. And I learned a cool way to melt the butter for my bread and improve my marriage all at the same time...guys feel free to ask the new incredible advice Mrs. Kim gave me:)
• Lighting= Very dim. I felt like I should be making a move on Megan the entire time, and maybe I would have if I could have seen anything.
• Fellowship= Top Notch. These are incredible people who love the ministry and have taken care of my family from day one. I know you are expecting me to say something like, "Well the food was great, but the fellowship is what was really worth it." Well here is a shocker: as good as the fellowship was...nothing touched the food:) Thanks Phillips' family for a fantastic evening.

Ministry Requirements (part 1)

This past week has been really convicting. I felt the challenge to read through the Pastoral Epistles (1 & 2 Timothy and Titus), and make note of all the requirements Paul gave Timothy. Wow...I had no clue what I was getting myself into. I have a friend who is the student pastor of a large church in Auburn, AL and our conversation went a little like this:

-Me (in a real struggling, serious voice)- Dude, the more I read the bigger the demand seems and it is a little overwhelming.
-Greg (being ridiculously sarcastic as he always is)- I know man...that's why I quit reading them a long time ago.

These are some of the toughest things I have ever had to swallow. I have read these books countless times, but God is speaking to me more through them now than He ever has. Here are my conclusions on the first 2 chapters of 1 Timothy:

• Confront false teachers
• Pay no attention to fables
• Edify
• Love from a PURE heart and a GOOD conscience and SINCERE faith
• Understand your a sinner and God's grace makes you able
• Fight for truth
• Pray for peers, people in authority, for salvation for the lost
• Pray with a pure heart and clean hands
• Lead by example, with humility, and with godly fear knowing you have been called as a Shepard over these people

Bobcat Volleyball

The Olympics gave me a love for the sport of volleyball. I hate to admit it, but I think some of our greatest athletes could be beach volleyball players. Don't freak out because I'm not saying they are the best...just really amazing. Honestly, have you ever tried to jump on sand...repeatedly? They have my respect. Since I now love volleyball, I was pretty excited to find out our Berryville girls were having their first game last night, and to make it better it was against county rival Green Forest. So I got in the car with some of my students and took off to a night of graceful setting and face smashing spiking. Our girls absolutely dominated. It was a lot of fun. To make it even better I got to hang out with a lot of students I don't get to see very often and try and build some relationships. I was encouraged to see well they took to me. We were able to talk about life and a lot of it's challenges, and plus Jessie (aka Lydia, aka my little Jesus Freak) was there and I believed that helped the other teenagers see I wasn't going to smite them and condemn them into an eternity in a frying pan covered in Crisco oil. So spiritually, I believe the doors will be open really soon to effectively share Jesus with these students and I'm thankful for that. Worldly, I freaking love volleyball. Here is some things I picked up about our girls:

• Elise and Megan are beasts. I'm not sure I would charge the net if I saw they were about to spike the ball. I can't believe a girl from Green Forest did not receive an inverted nose last night.
• Jessie is the team setter. Honestly, if she was near the ball on the first or second touch, everyone else got out of the way so she could put it on the net for one of the two beasts. Extremely talented. I see the Olympics in her future.
• I would never tell Levi this but his girlfriend is a ridiculous athlete. I'm not sure what her name is but she was extremely quick and controlled. His head is big enough and he doesn't need anything else to brag about.

So there it is...go support your local high school volleyball team.

Elevate Recap

Yesterday I had some questions that were really crowding my mind about last night's big back to school event. I thought I would share the answers with you:

• We had MORE than the projected 40 students and ended up having 47. 47 stinking students. God is ridiculously amazing.
• Did it rain? Well, while we were sitting in the Chinese restaurant at lunch, everything went completely black. It looked like we were going to have a full blown storm. When we got back to the office and checked the weather, it was raining EVERYWHERE but here. I actually saw with my own eyes God change the weather...Again, ridiculously amazing.
• The band, Dash-3, did a great job. As they play more places and get more comfortable they'll do some really cool things for Jesus. They lead worship this morning at church and did an incredible job.
• Are the adults excited about the ministry?? I'll say yes after 40 of them showed up for Elevate last night. I'm truly thankful for adults who love Jesus and love kids.
• Will our students grasp the mission and when their peers to Jesus?? Yet to be determined, but I think things are looking up for Berryville.

Elevate

Elevate is tonight, but there are some serious questions going through my head:

• Will we have more than the projected 40 students?? WOW!! I can't believe we are even thinking that many will be there just after a year of work starting from scratch. God has done some amazing things.
• Will it rain? Of course it will...it's Berryville and it rains every day, but will it be enough to make us move locations last minute?
• Will the band be able to engage that many kids? And adults?
• Are the adults as excited about the student ministry as they make me think they are?
• Will our students grasp the true mission of Elevate...to take the trials and temptations they face and use them to grow deeper with Jesus?

I'll let you know soon.

Fire Came Down

Last night we got to look at some incredible verses in Acts. 2:1-13, tells the story of the day the Holy Spirit came down and started a revolution among somewhere in the neighborhood of 18 people groups!! Every time I read this scripture preparing for the message I got chills. Can you imagine what it was like to be there. Wind blowing, fire dancing, Galileans speaking clearly all of the dialects that were present. That's just so exciting to me. I went in last night expecting some of our students to really get the message, and they did. When we live by the power of the Holy Spirit in our life...it is obvious something is different about us. The way we talk is different. There isn't anymore foul language, slander, or gossip. The Holy Spirit is in control of your tongue. The way we sing is different. We can't be quiet because Psalm 40 says God has put a song in our mouths. I get so frustrated when all of these hardcore guys refuse to sing because they are too prideful. Dude if you have the song of the blood bought-redeemed in your mouth you have to shout!! When we talk to people they will see such a difference in our lives when we live by the Spirit. But...there will always be the doubters, the mockers, and the rejecters. I understand that and even in our very own students ministry we have the doubters and rejecters. The one's who sit irreverently thinking they have it all together. Or the one's who are there just to please their mom. These are the one's who break my heart. Not because they are trouble, we really don't have those kind of problems here, simply because they are lost and not searching. My prayer is this: That we will allow the fire (Holy Spirit) to come down in our families, in our church, in our lives so that they will be astonished at the wonder of God. That the very people we come in contact with everyday will see how much we love Jesus because we have allowed Him to take control of every aspect of our lives. Will you let the Fire come down on you??

FOCUS!!

I stare a lot. I don't stare at anyone or anything particular, I just sometimes get caught up in whatever is in front of me. Take this morning for example. I got up a little early to watch the US basketball team play Germany, but when JP got up and began telling me approximately 1million times that he wanted to watch Word World I decided getting a shower and coming to the office early may be my most productive option. So, I get here to the church and kind of stare out my window which seemed to only be for like 30 seconds...but it was more like 30 minutes. I live in a beautiful place and I happen to think that the view outside my office window is the best view ever for a youth pastor. I mean in Louisville, AL I had the roof of our fellowship hall to stare at and in Abbeville I had frosted glass which severely ticked me off every time I went into my office. So I really appreciate the view I have here, but that is not the point. The point is I stare at things even if they are not beautiful...or extremely horrendous for that matter. I just stare. What if I focused on God like I focus on the things of this world. What if I just stared at His glory and appreciated Him for who He is in complete awe of how BIG He is. Everyday we have a choice to either focus on Him or focus on the world. What if we focused on Him like we focus on the world? How much time and effort do we use focusing on things like paying the bills, cleaning house, making "enough" money, our looks, making sure our kids play sports or are involved in other activities (and not making sure they are always in church...ooohhh that's a hotspot)... None of these things are bad things, except the part about not always making sure your kids are in church...that's a real bad thing and when your child ends up rejecting Christianity after he/she sits in one philosophy class in college with a smart atheistic professor or ends up raising your grand kids in a surface Christianity home after you realize the mistake you made don't blame the youth pastor... but we tend to focus on not important things like they are life and death. Challenge: See Jesus...See His Worth...and express it in your lifestyle.