God Is Moving

Great Story for my readers out there in Blog World:

Southern Heights Desiring More Student Ministry had there TLW ring ceremony last night. I was a little nervous because we have some students who like to be morons sometimes, and I don't want to get fired because of it. So to say that I was a little uptight is an understatement. 10 minutes before the service starts, a lady comes and asks to have a second alone with me. In my head I was thinking, "Here it is. I'm about to get chewed out about something." You see my time here at Southern Heights has been incredibly peaceful. If there has been a bump in the road, it was a very tiny one. She looks at me and says, "When you first got here I had some real issues with you." I was thinking to myself that I just needed to run. I couldn't take anymore stress at that moment. She continued, "At times, I just didn't like you ." Yep, I was about to get punched in the face. Then it happened. No, I didn't get punched in the face, but that would not have shocked me more than what was said next. "But I was wrong. Can you forgive me?" Jesus is amazing. Not because I felt better about myself, or because I didn't get punched in the face. Because He so convicted a wonderful lady to apologize to a dorky 23 year old youth minister who probably caused many people besides this woman to not like him. Those are spiritual break throughs that the Body of Christ needs to have a successful ministry. That sweet, sweet woman is not only closer to Jesus now, but has proved that she cares about Jesus, her relationship with Him. She didn't want anything to be in the way of that. God help me to mend hardships so I can be closer to You. Thank you for people who love Jesus more than themselves.

That's my story. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed experiencing it.

Saturday's 7

• Last night was some of the loudest thunder I have ever heard in my life...I actually thought one clap of thunder was Christ returning.
• We are still in the process of moving. I WILL NOT do this again for a very, very, very long time.
• School is getting a lot better, at least until I have to write those monster papers.
• My wife is amazing. She painted two bathrooms and the cabinets in one day, constantly watches the nosiest two year old ever while doing everything else, and still lets me play basketball. I need to do something nice for her.
• I really want to go to bed.
• Our True Love Waits Ceremony is tomorrow night. It should be really nice.
• I'm reading the book, "Grasping God's Word". It could be one of the most profitable books I've ever read.

TAG!!

I have been tagged...I'm not sure exactly what that means, but I do know I have to answer these questions. Enjoy this special glance into my life:

-Where was I ten years ago? I was in eight grade being the biggest loser in the world.

-Things on my to-do-list today: Move some furniture, play basketball, eat...a lot, maybe do some school work.

-What would I do if I suddenly became a billionaire? Pay off the building fund for Southern Heights, build a sweet gym, MISSIONS!!

-3 of my bad habits: Picking my nose, scratching my butt, and throwing trash in the floor of my truck

-5 jobs I've had: Umpire, Electrician, Personal Trainer, Basketball gym operator, and Student Minister

-5 things you don't know about me: I'm really clumsy, I like to read, I drive WAY too fast when I'm alone, I'm obsessed with blogging, and I have a sweet gray hair in the back of my head

I tag Jessie

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.

Sweet Links

Here are some sites and videos I've been really enjoying lately...

• John Piper tells us the truth behind the prosperity gospel...This sermon is so powerful.
• Amazon gets all of my money...this is a sad statement, but I love this site.
• Ryan is the youth pastor at FBC Abbeville. This guy is pretty much incredible and here is his site to prove it.
• TJ Mauldin is one of my most favorite people in the world. He is also one of the most gifted worship leaders with the purest hearts I've ever met. Here is the Band's myspace. Listen to Letting Go (my favorite) and watch the videos and buy their cd.
• If you need to go back to school...Liberty is the place.
• This guy is amazing.

Awareness Test

SO you think you know what's going on?? I did too until I watched this video and realized I'm a loser. Have fun with this...and let me know if you got it.

Loving Berryville Folks

So this morning the family is here in the office with me. My wife is doing the whole VBS thing so JP is here destroying my office...which is ok. I don't mind it too much until he throws a football at pictures lining the wall. Anyway, This morning I was thinking about how awesome it is to live in Berryville. I really don't appreciate it as much as I should...especially the people. Marci and Allen Rogers are two of those people. Their son Benjamin is JP's best friend and if it wasn't for that family it would be extremely hard for us to be here. Pretty much everyone in our Sunday School Class is amazing to us, and those people make living in Berryville (13 hours from home) easy. Then you have to consider how amazing my wife is. She has never known anything but Eufaula, AL and yet she is understanding and excited that we are here. Her heart is to do what God wants no matter how uncomfortable or "logical" it may be. God isn't about our comfort zones or our "good sense". He is about His glory and that's what we should be about too. I just appreciate the people who have made this leap into the unknown for us fantastic.

JP and his best friend Benjamin.