Friday, June 29, 2007

Definitive Proof

Somehow, I'm not incredibly surprised. Now for all of you who have ever called me a nerd/dork, take this test if you dare...

I am nerdier than 95% of all people. Are you a nerd? Click here to find out!

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Quest for Truth

"It seems almost counterintuitive that there are people who are running hard and fast away from the church and are, at the same time, desperately and earnestly searching for God...Something within you not only compels you to search for truth, but has a soul reaction to it." - Erwin McManus, Soul Cravings

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

When I don't post for a while...

When I don't post for a while it means one of two things usually:

1. I am having a creative lull. Usually that means I have been crazy busy or slightly burnt out...or not using my computer which is funny, because that almost never happens.

or

2. I am traveling and blogging isn't high on my priority list.

It's been a little of both as of late with camp and preparation for LIFE Conference next week. I've been busy like mad preparing for our little Orlando excursion and I must say I am tired of counting change (for a fundraiser). It is nice to think in a week's time I'll be enjoying some high-octane student ministry fun.

In other news, I got a new phone! Give me a call sometime if you would like the new number. I'll be keeping my Verizon account until after I get back from LIFE, then I'll be switching whole heartily to Cingular/AT&T (*shivers*). Suffice it to say the only two things that got me to switch was (1). My beautiful girlfriend and her whole entire family that has Cingular and (2). A sweet new phone with cool mp3 player abilities and a 2.0 megapixel camera.

For those of you who follow, I'll be blogging from LIFE Conference complete with pictures and video I hope. I think they will be streaming live from LIFE so you can watch the main sessions if you would like. Visit www.life2007.org for more info.

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Yes! I haven't lost my "northern" accent yet :)


What American accent do you have? (Best version so far)

Midland

("Midland" is not necessarily the same thing as "Midwest") The default, lowest-common-denominator American accent that newscasters try to imitate. Since it's a neutral accent, just because you have a Midland accent doesn't mean you're from the Midland.

Personality Test Results

Click Here to Take This Quiz
Brought to you by YouThink.com quizzes and personality tests.

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Veiled Hearts

Let me take a moment and air out some thoughts I'm pondering right now for my talk Wednesday night. I have been doing a study on veils and their purposes in the scriptures. I stumbled upon this fascinating passage in 2 Corinthians 3:7-18 where it compares our experience with God with that of Moses when he had to put a veil on his face in order to interact with the people of Israel.

Moses spent time face to face with the living God. This was such an intense experience that it changed his physical appearance - so much so that his people were afraid to look at him. So Moses covers his face when he is with the people and uncovers the veil when he is with God.

In 2 Corinthians Paul compares the veil with the laws of the Old Testament. The Israelites hid behind the Law- behind the rules. They avoided the glorious presence of God by instead focusing on rules and legalism. But the Israelites had an opportunity to speak with God face to face and they retreated (Exodus 20:18-21). Their focus was on the rules, not on the rule-giver.

"Whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away." (2 Cor. 3:16) Becoming a Christian and following Christ means to live a live that is unveiled. When we come to God, we need to remove all pretense - all barriers. Our inclination is to (like the Israelites) cling to the Law...to rules and legalism. We get distracted by the letter of the law instead of falling in love with the Law-Giver.

Have you ever met a Christian that is more concerned with rules and doctrine than loving the lost? Have you ever met a believer that reminds you of a dried up prune? There is no life in them. There is no visible presence of God in their lives. The radiance of God in their life is fading away.

We need to be people who remove the veil and take our chances with a full dose of the presence of God. 100% unadulterated presence of God. The passage in Corinthians goes on to say "and we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory..." We are to reflect the Lord's glory, unveiled. Our gut reaction might be to go and hide behind rules and regulations - do's and dont's (after all, isn't that easier than pressing in towards God?). But what the scriptures are telling us to do is to strip all of that away and give people a full dose of the presence of God. That means we- like Moses- need to spend quality time in the presence of God.

Living our lives unveiled means that it would be a crime for the followers of Christ to hold anything back from those we come in contact with. The world will see the glories of God when they see Jesus in us. Unadulterated, unaltered, unveiled - pure faith, hope, and love.

What do you think? How do Christians veil the glory of God in our hearts and lives? How do we better remove the veil? Where is the line between holiness and legalism? Are we like the Israelites blinded by the Law?

Monday, June 11, 2007

I'm back


Well, camp was great. I've finally recovered enough to start doing normal things again like updating my blog. I must say, camp this year took more out of me than ever before. I guess "pouring yourself out" can leave you empty sometimes. It was worth it though. We had 60 students show up and had a great week of experiencing God together. I'll post some video and pictures up on our District Youth Website when we get it up online for everyone to look at.

In other news, one of my favorite bands: Mute Math is doing the title track to the new Transformers movie! How cool is that? Check out their myspace (or my profile) to listen to it.

Sunday, June 03, 2007

Off to Camp

This week is teen camp for our district youth. My student ministry and I will be attending along with students from all over the States of Alabama and Tennessee. I'm really looking forward to a ton of fun. This year, the camp asked me to be "program director" which basically means I am the schedule and "go-to" guy. Yeah!

Please be praying for my teens and I this week - pray that God will work in our hearts and minds. Pray for life change and transformation. Pray for safety. See y'all in a week :)