DM Demolition

Quick JP update...He woke up this morning thirsty, hungry, and torturing poor Lucky (our dog) so he seems to be fine. We still have to watch closely for the next couple of days, but God is good and He'll give us strength to do whatever we need to. About last night, I loved it. I'm going to try and some this up real quick. There is nothing better than a student coming to know Jesus personally, but what's close is one comes up to you in front of all their friends by themselves and says, "I want everyone to know I love Jesus." And what makes that experience even better is when it happens twice in one night. These students desire the plan that Jesus has for them in their lives. They hate sin and love God...Their hearts have been transformed...They are saved. Seeing people love Him, and not the "I love you God but I'm still going to do what I want to do" love, but the repented love saying, "God I'm wretched but you made me clean and I'm giving my life to You because of what you did for me" is the most rewarding experience in my life. Thank you Jesus for placing me and my family in a place where we can see you work.

Intro Video

Today is going to be a real fun day. We are making a video to introduce our ministry to students who are moving up to seventh grade. We have a lot of big ideas, I just hope we are able to pull them off. Brian Odell, the coolest guy ever, has lended us all of his equipment to shoot a great video. After we finish shooting all the footage we'll then take it back to Brian for him to put it all together for us on his sweet new macbook pro. I have almost been convinced that's the way to go when it's time for me to upgrade computers. I know all the cool tech people have them, and I'm not the coolest nor techiest person in the world, but if I watch him make this sweet video with ease...I'm converting. I'll definitely post it on here for you guys to see in about a week or so. We are filming today and probably part of the message Wed. night to finish it up. I'm even going to try and get arrested today. I know what you guys are thinking, "Dude you can't get arrested!! You'll get crushed at the next business meeting." Well, my good friend Kevin Dishroon who is the best policeman in town and also a Mixed Martial Arts Fighter is going to help me out. I think I can take him if it goes to blows.

DM Demolition

Well last night we kicked off our 7 Places series and it went really good despite some things that really tick me off. Here are some highlights:

• I believe we had 18, maybe 19...we had some come in late so I didn't get info cards on them. Also 2 first timers...
• I went all Paul Washer on the kids last night, and I'm glad.
• I believe the statement that stood out the most last night was, "Has God so worked in your life that you absolutely hate sin, the very thing you used to live?"
• Oh yeah, the things that ticked me off:

1. Students coming in late when they know what time things start...I hate being late.
2. Parents or adults, who should KNOW better, that come in during the middle of a worship service and ask to speak to a student. We are trying to share the GOSPEL with these teenagers!! Please wait till we open the doors.
3. Students who surround themselves with drama and try to bring it in our ministry. I got one word for you...Leave

• I know those may have sounded really harsh, but I promise I typed it with love.
• Things that I'm really excited about from last night:

1. Jesus moved.
2. Students who may have never heard the Truth heard it last night.
3. Jesus offers forgiveness.

The Changing Church and It's Success

Ministry is an evolving thing. Look at churches today compared to just 10, 20 years ago. The structure, sound, and look has changed. We are Chris Tomlin instead of John Newton…we are Matt Redman instead of Avalon...we are guitars, small groups, and videos instead of organs, Sunday Schools, and power point. There is nothing wrong with this, but over the years a lot of things have changed. I think about youth ministry back when I was just in 9th grade (which was not too long ago if you are polite). It was filled with lock-ins, corny (but fun) games, and many trips to the bowling alley. It was enough to get us to come and experience fellowship in a Christian setting. The messages were decent enough and full of obvious biblical truths. I guess I’m trying to say I heard the truth (it got me here to this point in my life), but I cannot point to particular life-changing message. Today’s youth ministry is no longer called “youth ministry”. We call it Student Ministry. We have catchy names, themes, and slogans. Our services are video filled and we “student pastors” are always looking for the new “attention grabber” to get this ADD generation to consider us. Please know I’m not downing any of these changes because our services at Southern Heights are also filled with video illustrations, proper mood-setting lighting, and series messages. I have talked to 40 student ministers in the past two years that refuse, and make it known upon hiring, to become an event driven ministry. A ministry that is full of bowling alley trips, laser tag, and putt-putt. The “event” driven ministry looks a lot like our past youth ministries that serve the purpose of getting kids in church just for the sake of getting them to come. I’m not saying that those lives were never changed because it is obvious a lot were, but I am saying we called ourselves a successful youth ministry if we had 50 students go bowling. I think we still today have a horrible success “scale”. We base success on our Sunday School numbers, people who showed up at the last social, and the number of ministries we have. When are we going to start counting success on the number of students who continue to go to church when they enter college. Or how about how many students we have go on mission trips on their own and not because all of their friends are going. Or how about how many students who learn to feed themselves spiritual truths and develop personal biblical disciplines. Or how about how many senior adults continue to serve without excuse to the best of their ability. The church is changing, and I hope the ministry at Southern Heights changes more than just visually. I hope and pray God uses us to change lives. My goal for our Student Ministry is not to have 200 students, but for the students we have that they’ll become godly, spiritual believers that love Jesus and have truly given their LIVES to Him

DM Demolition

Going to Alabama today. I’m in the airport right now, and before I get the books out and start knocking down some philosophy I thought I give you a quick recap of last night. We didn’t have our student services, but we went to First Assembly to the concert my buddy Wes put together. Listen this dude is a pro…a seasoned student ministry vet. He brought in Leyden from Hot Springs, a quality band with quality hearts for worship. I’m not sure how many students all together there were (the seasoned youth pastor did forget to count) but we brought 24. Let me give you a run down of last night. The band was definitely quality. Their originals were really good, they communicated well with the students during the concert, and afterwards spent some time just getting to know everyone. That is always a sign of a true band. If you bring in a group to do whatever…lead worship, concert, or speak and the only time you see them is when they are doing what they were called to do, don’t bring them back. People with real hearts for the ministry always communicate with students before and after their “show”. I really appreciated that about Leyden. I would rather have an average band or speaker who spends time with my students than a captivating one that never communicates before or afterwards. Ministry is personal, and to be successful the students or whoever must know you are real off and on the stage. That’s why I love Wes and if God did call us somewhere, he is one I would definitely bring in to speak. The guy is genuine. I got some good posts for you guys while I’m gone. God has been really moving in me and how I personally do ministry and I’m going to guess that it is applicable to a lot of you guys. Keep checking in.

DM Demolition

Last night was really good. I had a little Mark Driscoll breakdown, but besides all of that everything was amazing. It was so amazing in fact, that we had two teenage students make professions of faith. You can't see the joy in my heart through a blog but nights like last night...someone coming to know Christ...is the greatest joy giver ever. We had 20 students looking deep into the Word, asking God for help. It was so good. I'll go and see a couple of them in the next few days and I'm really excited about sitting down and answering questions they may have, and then teaching them how to grow deeper in their faith. Jesus, thank you. Thank you for being our substition in taking our penalty that we deserve. Thank you for grace and offering salvation, something we don't deserve. Thank you for loving us.

DM Demolition

We had an ok night last night. We were competing with several other things so we only had 11 students, but God knew who was going to be there and had ordained last night specifically for them. We read over 2 Corinthians 11 where Paul tells us everything He has went through for the sake of the gospel. It really is amazing when you think about what all he endured.

• 5 times 39 lashings
• beaten three times with rods
• stoned
• shipwrecked three times
• A night and a day adrift in the sea
• danger of waters
• danger of robbers
• danger of his own people
• danger of Gentiles
• danger of wilderness
• danger of false Christians
• no sleep
• no food
• no clothes

Still with all of these constant horrible experiences, Paul didn't move. He stood firm in His faith. If you look at us, we are moved by the smallest breeze. Popularity, stress, work, family, friends are all things that we will compromise our faith for. We need to stand on the rock of Christ and not be moved. Here are some things to practice so you will be able to be stronger in your faith.

1. Surround yourself with people who love Jesus and try to live a lifestyle for His glory.
2. Follow the Spirit's guidance.
3. Be humble. Consider others better than yourself.
4. Share your faith.
5. Don't be ashamed of the very blood that was shed to save you from something you deserve.

DM Demolition

Last night we got to talk a lot about worship. I was excited to see our students realize that worship is more than singing. That it is more than a tireless mechanical repetition. I had great confidence leaving last night that our students understood all life is worship. Big shout out to John Piper for all the quotes I used last night.

• 17 Students last night with 2 first timers...Abel and Blair. That's 4 new students in two weeks!!
• Isaiah 29:13, Philippians 1:20-21, Acts 17:25, Mark 10:45, Romans 12:1-2 were the scriptures we used...look'em up and learn something.
• I got beat in ping pong again by Jessie last night...I've never been so depressed.

I'm pretty excited about some services we have coming up in the future. God is moving and I'm pumped. We can actually see the changes in our students lives week to week. I can't tell you how many times a teacher has stopped me in the hallway and said he or she sure has been differently lately. I'm getting excited.

DM Demolition

Another Desiring More service has come and gone, but for some reason I think we'll be feeling the effects from this one for a long time.

• We had 18 students last night with 2 first time visitors that I have never met. I love seeing our students bring their friends with them. It proves two things: 1. They love Jesus enough to want their friends to love Him. 2. Our services are relevant enough to make an impact on our students lives.
• Last night we finished our series, "He Will Be Called...". Prince of Peace was the name last night and to be honest I went in the service not expecting anything big until after worship. I know that is horribly wrong of me, but God just moved in spite of me.
• We sang Mighty to Save and when the lyric, "Savior, He can move the mountains..." I started praying that God would begin to move mountains in these students lives. That He would take whatever is standing in between them and Jesus and move it.
• We talked about the incredible peace God offers through Jesus. Not a life of superficial peace, but a life, that if you know Jesus personally, of restored and redeemed peace. Knowing that you had been bought with the Blood of Christ.

It was a great night, but the coolest thing happened at the end. I've been listening to a lot of Fee. Beautiful the Blood has a lyric that says, "I never knew surrender could feel so free..." I have really wanted to get back to the idea of surrender. Last night we saw someone surrender. It was amazing, beautiful, supernatural:) Brokenness is so sweet. This guy told me, "how can God keep taking me back?? I know He does. I can't believe how great He is." Though he was full of tears and pain, this young guy came back to Jesus...He returned to His first love. We have wondered why Berryville, AR so many times...Never again will there be a need to wonder.

Spandex, Track Meets, and Weird Weather

My life, here in the Ozark Mountains, has been extremely crazy. This past Sunday I had the oppurtunity to go and preach at New Hope in Omaha, Arkansas. This was a lot of fun. You should have seen their faces when I started talking about spandex. They were like, "Who is this weird freak in our pulpit??!!" And I can understand. They didn't know me and my weird personality. It ended up being a fantastic morning, where the Spirit really moved. I got to talk to them a lot about their faith and the evidences of it in someone's life.



Yesterday I drove half way around the world to Gravette, AR to go to the JUNIOR HIGH track meet. Never having been to one before, besides the one in Eureka I stayed a total of 10 minutes, I really enjoyed it. I never could have imagined the races being so exciting. Berryville guys were crushing when me and the family left, but the girls were behind just little. Just a few shout outs to some of my students: Destiny, dude you amaze me at how hard you run and I appreciate the laugh from the triple jump. Ellis, I missed the shotput but watching you do the long jump made me want to go and crush the opposition. Whitely, You hit like three hurdles but you looked good doing it. Micaela, You looked like you had been running hurdles forever. Grant, I missed the high jump, sorry. Emory, You are a machine.



The weather here is really aggravating. It can be so nice for two or three days, and then it is cold again. The wind NEVER stops blowing.

DM Demolition

I can always tell on Thursday mornings how good our DM service went. I am absolutely exhausted this morning. Last night was powerful. God is really working in some students lives and it is amazing to see. When afterwards you have students come to you with the deepest hardest questions about faith you can know they were listening, searching, and seeking. I'm proud of our core students that are constantly encouraging their friends at school. If it wasn't for them, no one would be here. They do the work. I'm proud of our parents who have their kids here every Wed. night and then work to take other students home after the service. I'm happy to be here at Southern Heights, but I'm stinking pumped about what God is doing in this church. Just for the stat guys here is some info for you:

• 17 Students were here last night with one first time guest.
• We talked about the name "Mighty God". God is omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent. This service really hit some of our students hard when they realized that Hebrews 4 tells us everything lies NAKED and EXPOSED in front of God.
• We also talked about the wrath God will have on those who reject Him. (Nahum 1:3-6)

God is mighty you guys. I think we love to talk about His great love He has for us, and His love is great. But we also need to remember His holiness. God has called us to turn away from our sinful life styles. Examine yourself today...Just because no one else knows what you do doesn't mean God doesn't know.

DM Demolition

Was anyone else's services slow last night. I know the weather was horrible, but even our adults seemed to be dragging around. It just seemed like everyone was going through the motions. It's really discouraging, but I know God is in control and we'll see fruit from last night.

• We only had 12 students last night but we were competing with a track meet so I'm ok with the number. We had two first timers last night which was really good.
• Worship included: Jeremy Camp, Walk by Faith; David Crowder, Wonderful King; and Kristian Stanfill, Beautiful Savior.
• God is the Wonderful Counselor. You can trust him because His wisdom is beyond our understanding. It's more than saying, "yes Jesus. Save me." We must turn our life over to Him and allow Him to lead us.

I love our students with a passion. We have some really stinking cool kids. Pray for us.

A Slow Wednesday Morning

A lot of things are going through my head as I sit here in my quiet office. Number 1, I can't seem to get any evnergy. Every stinking morning I'm sitting here battling the dark force of sleep. I know I'm not eating right and I know I probably need to start taking some vitamins. To be honest with you I would choke down some broccoli if I knew I was going to gain some energy.

As I went through my reads this morning I came across Madonna'a new video. I just watched four minutes of a woman telling me that the world could be saved if we all just have sex. Excuse me, but what a moron. Do we realize that this song in already like number three on the itune download list??!! This is what our students are jamming out to at home, in the car, and wherever else they have an mp3 player stuck in their ear. Our students are being crushed with the idea that sex will make everything better...church we need to do something.

I got to play some basketball yesterday although I didn't feel like it at all. I actually feel guilty if I don't go. That's the only excercise this overweight brother gets. I really like playing with some of those guys and I'm getting to build stronger relationships with them each time we play. God is going opening some doors right now and I'm loving it.

Pray for us tonight...God, please move...

Confessions of a Youth Pastor

I watched a sermon series done by Oak Leaf Church in Cartersville, GA, and the Pastor did a series called "Confessions of a Pastor". He seemed to be really relieved to get some things off his chest. In the ministry, people sometimes have unrealistic views of who you are. They forget you are a human that battles the sin nature every day just like the rest. I get so frustrated when a student says, "I wish I could be more like you, just closer to Jesus." The truth is Jesus does NOT want anyone else like me...he wants you to be like Him. I feel the need to just open up about some of my personal struggles. Here are a few confessions:

• I absolutely hate talking on the phone.
• I think the song "Realize" by Colbie Callait could be one of the greatest songs I've ever heard.
• Sometimes me and Megan fight.
• Prayer is seriously a weak point in my walk with Christ.
• I have family that are spiritually lost that I have yet to share Christ directly with.
• I eat WAY TOO much.
• I'm jealous of people who can play guitar.
• David Bradshaw...wait...this ones tough...David Bradshaw is my role model...there I said it.
• I don't wear a seat belt...ok that one is going to get me in some trouble.

I feel a lot better now. You see I'm human, but God has given me this insatiable desire to be close to Him because He chose me. I still do and say some really stupid things, but grace is a beautiful concept. Romans 5:18-21 says:

18Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men. 19For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.
20The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, 21so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

I love all you guys so much. Please remember...don't strive to be more like me, Bro. Scott, John Piper, or anyone else. Desire to be just like Jesus.

DM Demolition

Well, Last night was the first night in a LONG time I kind of lost my cool with a couple of students. It was before we really even got started. Through the announcements and opening I noticed that their minds were just out there. I understand that these guys are only 14...15 years old. The respect issue in Alabama was never a problem, but for some reason up here kids are just raised differently. Anyway, they were doing nothing major, but I knew if we didn't shut it down at that very moment a lot of students were going to be distracted. Before I said anything, Al Jackson, the Pastor of Lakeview Baptist in Auburn, AL, popped into my head and said, "Blessed Subtractions." I used to hear him say that when referring to church growth. Sometimes people have to leave before you can grow. So I called the kids out. Told them it was because of their lack of respect and reverence for God more students weren't coming to Jesus. I know. Harsh. So I backed up and added it was because of all of our nonchalant attitudes about Jesus that the vast majority of Berryville schools are lost. It actually turned into a great opener that drove the point I was going to try and get across all night. Worldly things, good or bad, will hurt your relationship with Christ if you make them your idol. We are so worried about our cool points, our relationships, our activities, an so many other things that Jesus and our relationship with Him is on bottom. Our relationship with Christ is a progressive thing. We have to do more than give him an hour a week. We love the stuff that comes along with Jesus, the peace, good feelings, fellowship, trips...What we do is worship the GIFTS rather than the GIVER. Anyway that night turned out great. Those students came and apologized and I believe many others were convicted by the Holy Spirit about their shallowness in Christ. To see a student realize sin...and repent...is beautiful. The sound of bitter weeping over the realization surface Christianity...is beautiful.

A quick shout out to the TJ Mauldin Band:
We worshipped to the new cd. Letting Go, I Can't Help but Worship, and Wasting Away...it's a great cd that was truly made out of your guys love for Jesus. I can't wait to see you guys in August. Blog World check out their myspace and buy that cd.

DM Demolition

You know what is cool about being a student minister...I get to see teenagers love Jesus on their own. No one in our student ministry is made to come by their parents because most of our kids parents aren't in church. And another great thing is...they are here for the right reasons. I hear so many student pastors talking about their students texting, talking, and disrupting. We just don't have those problems, and I don't know why. It's definitely not me or anything special we are doing. God is just moving here, and I like it. We are in a definite season of Spring (in a spiritual sense), where new things and exciting things are happening and I don't want to be anywhere else. Of course, we do have the occasional, "OK it's time to chill out speech" before we start but that is usually the extent. I know in the future that God will put us in a time of trial but Paul tells me to rejoice about that too!! Paul was in prison about to die and he said, "Rejoice, I say it again Rejoice!!" Why should I do anything different in anytime or situation in my life?

• 14 Students. I'm really excited about this considering it was Spring Break and our choir students are in New York.
• We prayed in small groups for those who had made purity commitments.
• We sang Mighty To save together, and I thought it was great.
• Megan and I just opened up about our pasts to the students. We told them consequences we faced for not loving Jesus enough to wait.
• We closed and ate at Pizza Hut:)

I'm just excited to see our students fall in love with Christ. Pray for us...We have a chance to be seriously used by God.

DM Demolition

Another DM service has come and gone and this one could have been the best yet. Dude, God just showed up, and those are the kind of services that give me the hope to keep going. God is so faithful.

• 22 student showed of for Desiring More last night. This is our highest number yet, and we seem to be growing more each week. Not because of the hype about how cool our service is but because the students we've discipled love Jesus and they care about their friends. I'm extremely proud of our students.
• Worship was a little different last night. We played How Great is our God and asked all students just to sit and be quiet in His presence. God was speaking from stage one.
• Invitation songs were I love you Lord by Generation Unleashed, and Mighty to Save by Hillsong.
• During the commitment time we had 21 of the 22 students decide to make a pledge of purity. We are praying for all the students to remain strong in their desire to be obedient to Christ, but the reality is if half of the students honor their commitment it'll be a success.

The last Sunday night of this month we'll have our TLW ceremony and honor the students who made commitments. I'm extremely excited for the church to see their students stand up against the popular opinion of the world. Pray for our students. Pray for the people of influence in their lives. God is good and can't wait to see what He does next for us.

Commitments Disregarded

I remember way back in the day talking to a great friend about TLW. He was 5 years older than me, but was still cool enough to take me home after practices or after church. We had just got home from Atlanta Fest where they actually had people sign TLW cards. The card plainly states that, "Believing that true love waits, I make a commitment to God, myself, my family, my friends, my future mate, and my future children to a lifetime of purity including sexual abstinence from this day until the day I enter a biblical marriage relationship." He told me that was the third time he had signed the card and had sex after every time. Each time he signed it he sincerely meant to remain pure, but the lust of the flesh was just too much. These past weeks in preparation for TLW I have wondered long and hard how to keep this from happening with our students. Tonight is signing night. Tonight is commitment night. My prayer is...that this card will not be the foundation of their desire to remain pure but that their love for Jesus will be that foundation. Through knowing Him personally their lives will truly be transformed. John 8:31 Jesus says, "If you obey me you are truly followers of me." I want this to be more than a number night to see how many students sign pieces of paper. I want it to be a night where students gain a deep passion to live in obedience to Christ.

Leadership Meetings

We have a student leadership team that meets every Sunday afternoon to plan every detail of our Desring More service. I have had a lot of questions about this and how it works so let me explain. We have a group of students that are split into two different groups. One is our prayer leadership team. This team is responsible for our small group prayer time. These are the students that lead each small group for about a ten minute prayer time after they have taken a passage of scripture on prayer and explained it. Every Sunday afternoon they take this scripture and they teach it to me just like they will our students. OUr second team is our worship team that is responsible for picking out our prayer and worship music and typing up all powerpoints. These students also must answer accountability questions each week. I sit down with them before the start of every series a week or so in advance to plan out our stage settings and any other change in the service we may make. They are the ones who are required to sit with our visitors, stay late to help clean, and be the example at school that truly represents Christ. In almost five years of ministry, this has been my most productive system of gaining and training students in Christ.

Just a side note...We won our 6th grade basketball game yesterday. Spiritual lesson?? Winning is a lot more fun than losing:)

DM Demolition

OK. I'm going to be honest, on Thursdays I'm completely useless. I'm not quite sure yet exactly why Desiring More drains me so badly, but last night was definitely worth it. Every Thursday morning pretty much the only thing I do is completely break down our worship service. Sometimes I can be kind of hard so that why we are calling Thursday "DM Demolition".

• 16 students were there last night!! This may not sound like a lot to some, but this is up from 4 just 10 months ago and with two other STRONG student ministries (that I love and respect) in the area we count this as success. 16 good, GROWING, young students. I'm so excited
• Our worship music included: Joyful by the Dutton Band and First Love by Joel Engle
• Decision Songs included: I Love You Lord by Generation Unleashed (amazing!!) and Savior King by Hillsong
• Message points: 1. God owns our heart. (1 Corinthians 6:20) 2. God asks us to guard our heart. (Proverbs 4:23) 3. God asks us to search our heart. (Psalm 26:2)

To be honest I thought at the start everything was going to be a bust. Everyone was unusually hyper. All credit goes to Jesus for calming and speaking to their hearts. Props to Kim and Jeff Phillips for completely remodeling the student ministry area. It's impossible for a student minister to his job without stinkin cool adults. I appreciate them a lot. Continue to pray for us. We desire more than surface Christianity. Peace...I'm chillin for the rest of the day.