I spent week 3 of our “One Prayer” series speaking to a couple hundred students at our Midtown Campus, “Lord make us multiplyers”
Hanging with our middle school students at our Fuel service was a fun experience. My bud, FuelPastor Josh Turner has done an unbelievable job of ministering to and with these students. They hung on almost every word, and almost half responded to say they were feeling moved by God to be part of the 2000 x 2020 vision of our church and its sister churches.
College Life was a blast as well. Our college ministry has gone through many morphs over the years….most recently as the group moved from the LateNite Saturday service to Wednesday night, 9 pm. It was great to see so many young 20 somethings worshipping God with passion and desire…. and I enjoyed speaking with them about our lives not becoming a “Wasteland”. I included a reading from a cheezy letter I once sent to NBC called “Dearest Quarterlife”, which is included in links on the side of this page.
Somehow, execs in the 90’s thought to pitch a show to 20 somethings, and called it ‘ Wasteland ‘. I guess they needed a brand name that depicted the 20’s as a barren place of nothingness akin to Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome….. a time meant to speed through until we get that job we REALLY want, that house we really want, and that spouse we really want. I spoke on how our 20’s are anything but that time. Mark 4 says we have a choice as to how fruitful our lives can be….it all depends on the soil of our hearts. Wayside, rocky, thorn choked….. or embracing the Word God gives us and finding a life that fulfills our wildest dreams.
A for real night full of promise and potential. About half the college students in the room raised their hands to be a part of 2000 x 2020. I believe, in the deepest parts of my heart, that in the year 2020 at the ARC conference, many of these students from Celebration church will be those church and campus planters.
I just returned from my road trip to spend with my brother tighe who’s headed to iraq. we went to see my dad and stepmom in louisiana, then came back to spend time with my mom and stepdad in mississippi. I updated on twitter throughout the weekend. Felt it was important to document these moments. so here’s what i sent, in reverse time order….
bigjohnscott Sitting N Bham airport. This city has so much good history4Me-&some notsogood- but 2Day’s a lifechanging shift putting destiny in motion about 18 hours ago from txt
as chris bell would say, “the twitter shall set you free”. I’ve now got a personal twitter account (come subscribe and maybe follow me here), sending text blasts to myspace and this blog. virb and facebook may have to wait. i’m networked out.
it worked great today (once i got the mobile device turned on correctly). twitter is a great device to basically blog via text, which is huge as i travel through the mid south this weekend where wireless is scarce and teeth are scarcer….just kidding. i had some good thoughts twitting today…. especially while listening to arc’s all access conference and also while watching superman returns for the first time.
While going through recovery group training this past week, I had a ‘come to Jesus’ moment. I was listening to my friends Mike S. and Mike L. talk about how they love their sons….and weren’t afraid to tell them everyday. One of them wondered if he had waited until too late to start the practice. I let him know….it’s NEVER TOO LATE.
Not one to cry too often unless I’m in the throngs of delivery youth ministry, I found myself tearing up at the idea of having that kind of relationship with both of my parents. I shared it with our recovery group, which is a class called ‘Care Force’…. we require all leaders at our church to go through the training, for personal healing but also to give them more tools to help broken and hurting people.
When the session was over, my brother called me. Tighe’s heading to Iraq in September, and he wanted to go see Dad this weekend. I knew that was my big sign.
I hit travelocity yesterday, and surfed multiple options. Finally I landed with a $350 or so ticket for a round trip to Birmingham, AL, 4 days with a rental car. I’ll swing by to get my brother from Eastern Mississippi, and we’ll roll to Shreveport, LA for the weekend. It will be the first time in 4 years since the 3 of us were together….
so I’ll be spending a lot of time in airports and on Interstate 20 this weekend. 14 hours in a rental car. Looking forward to catching up on podcasts….particularly the All Access ARC Conference that I just pulled off Itunes….. big times!
I just got home from week 2 of the One Prayer series. Tonight, I spoke at our Orange Park campus’ Fuel and Element (Middle and High school) services to 100+ students.
Let me just say, it was one of the most amazing nights of my life. I LOVE THE KIDS THAT COME TO CELEBRATION CHURCH! I remember praying 2 years ago for God to send us the craziest kids that no other churches want-and that the world had given up on. It was this picture I had….Jesus walking through a city, a funeral coming down the street- of a teenage boy. Everyone mourning. Everyone wailing. A mother desperate. and there comes Jesus just breaking up the whole thing. Raises the boy from the dead….. and gives him back to his mother. And that’s the kind of prayer for tonight. God send us the crazies, the left behind, gay kids, straight sexually active kids, drugged kids, cutting kids. there’s a whole ocean of people who need Christ… who needs to go fishing in other church’s aquariums?
tonight, at o.p., i spoke on “Lord make us multiplyers, make us more”. I’m still coming down off the buzz
I just got back from my 13th youth camp as a camp counselor. this was one of the best, with some 600+ people in attendance at Submerge in Panama City, FL . This gig was a blast! Hosted by the awesome Submerge Staff from Healing Place Church (Baton Rouge, LA), it was a knockout. It was a Friday-Monday experience…with majorly kickin worship led by the HPC band in the evening and Celebration band in the mornings.
Highlights for me—-
Fuel Pastor Josh Turner from our church spoke on Saturday morning about how we’re designed with God’s hands, not like the rest of creation, which was created with words. Using pictures and facts about the intricacies of the human body and creation, he landed with the fact that no matter who we are, we are made with a purpose. He showed a picture of his daughter, Riley and shared how in just 3 months of life, she’s impacted hundreds of people, with multiple people coming to Jesus because of her story.
High School Pastor Jason ‘Dr. Tweeze’ Laird from HPC spoke about the power of revealing hidden sins…loved his analogy about his miniature snouzer, Felipe Martinez, who would hide poop in little dark places in his house….. Jesus forgives our sins, but James does say to confess your sins one to another for our the healing of our souls.
the other 3 messages were top notch as well, and I’ll include some updates on them later this week.
We had an impromptu AA meeting with 15 students at one point…a big eye opening experience about substance abuse. There was also a lot of sweet interaction between middle school and high school kids…with the high school kids praying for the middle schoolers.
If you’re a teen and you didn’t make camp this year, you must you must you must be sure to be there next year. There’s nothing like scheduling 3 or 4 days of your life to focus on your spiritual life, detach from your routine, and let God just mess you up only to put you on the right track. Lookin forward to hearing lots of stories of this camp’s impact on students….
when I drive through Smith County Mississippi by the Lorena Baptist Church cemetery, I often find a way to stop and go see one of the best friends I ever had. Kelley Nacole Hawkins. She died in 1995 in a one car auto accident.
Kelley was 18 years old I think. A strong Christian from an amazing and unique family, she was a freshman at Jones Junior College in Laurel Mississippi. She grew up near Raleigh, in a little place called Lorena. She loved kids, and God did they love her.
When we lose someone, so young, it just has a way of messing us all up. She ran into a bridge in a curve on a back road in Mississippi, and she was gone. The next 2 days were a mess. Adults, college and high school kids, and children- we just didn’t know what to do. This girl had been the light of our lives. And she was gone in a flash.
the Wall Street Journal on June 13 did an article on multi site churches, particularly those who go international. as a youth pastor at a multi site venue, I can definitely relate to the potential this model offers. the advantages and disadvantages to being multi site vs. one location are documented, and to me, they are very similar to being a franchise with chains vs. being an independently owned, “mom and pop” store (don’t be offended either way, my mom owns a very sweet mom and pop country store back in mississippi!). check out the article here. many thanks to my bro John Wyatt for passin along the link….
it was 10 pm on Father’s Day, and I called my dad. I was driving a van full of college kids back from a trip to O-town. and I realized it was father’s day (uh, i’d known all day right?) and punched out his digits.
due to my parents divorce in 1982, of all holidays, this one carries the most baggage for me (unless cinco de mayo counts). on Saturday I listened to a 5 year old boy talk to his dad over lunch at panera. as he drank his organic chocolate milk, he asked, “so a long time ago, you married mom? what was your name? who were you before you got married?”
after trying to explain–the dad just gave up….”Crazy. that was my name. and it’s going to be yours too.”
[no spoilers here!] At the 2008 midnight premiere of the Incredible Hulk, I went back in time.
Fortunately for us ‘Hulk’ diehards, I went further back than 2003. Ang Lee’s Hulk, while at times visionary and fresh, wasn’t really for my audience. Look, I can remember asking my mom in 1980 to make me some cutoff jeans so I could be the Hulk. Our family would watch with laughter as this overweight hulk of a kindergardener would run -shirt off and cutoffs on- in the front yard. I’d roar at the top of my lungs as I jogged in signature Hulkish slow motion. So 2003’s Hulk just didn’t appeal to guys like me….. guys who would say the most famous guy they ever met was Lou Ferrigno. That’s right. At age 5, it was my lifelong dream, and when it happened at some comic expo, I’m pretty sure I almost lost control of my erratic bladder.
Tonight, I was sure to visit the restroom before the movie- which was a good idea- since this version of the Stan Lee comic was action packed. For those who bemoaned the 45 minute backstory in the last movie, fuhgeddaboudit. 2008’s version did that in about 45 seconds. And the action began quickly.
this is the best picture I’ve seen in my life. Riley is still fighting. Josh and Becca need your prayers. Pray that they come up with a solution to their denial by medicaid, as they’ve gone over the insurance cap as they approach $1 million in care for their baby girl. Check out the blog here.
today was the last day of school. at our church we celebrated the week with different concerts at different campuses. at our mobile campus, (we meet at a local elementary school cafetorium on Wednesdays) we scheduled Blameless, an up and coming hip hop group that mixes in worship, rock, rap, and b boy dancing. you can check out their music here
the event went great. these guys have such open hearts and music that speaks straight to the hearts of todays hip hop generations. when praying for them today, i thought about how God uses people who’ve been tried, troubled, and tested. - and these guys really epitomized that. - the lyrics and overall tone of the night spoke straight to several students…..and led 9 of them to respond by coming forward for prayer to receive Christ. btw, i think these guys would rock it in Europe especially. Can’t wait for the day that these guys are touring full time. What I saw in their hearts today makes me believe that time isn’t too far away.
one of the best feelings in life and ministry is to make a big block.
President Ronald Reagan said it best, “There is no limit to what you can accomplish if you don’t care who gets the credit.” don’t go political on me, that’s a good quote and an honorable montra.
graduation was always my favorite day of the year as a teacher. you can feel the potential, finality, and relief rising together like some magical mixture making the air thick with with pure emotion. last night was no exception when we went to Bartram Trail High School’s class of 2008 graduation.
for the offensive lineman, the big block is what you dream of- that block you make that springs the running back for a big play touchdown. it doesn’t even matter if you get acknowledged for springing the block. hearing the crowd cheer…seeing the scoreboard change….. watching your teammates celebrate in the end zone…. few things compare to it.
it’s a feeling i’m getting pretty often. at our church, in our youth ministry alumni, and with former students like those we saw last night. besides….we are all where we are because someone ‘blocked’ for us right? Feel free to comment here or share who’s helped you achieve your end zone moments.
So if you didn’t know, I work on staff at a church with lots of people. Things are so different in the here and now. When I was growing up, at our church of 50 people, when we’d have a visitor, we’d somehow get their name and address….i think from the phone book…. and then go visit them the following tuesday. big fun huh? in that rural setting, it was almost acceptable, but quickly fading out of step with culture. And if there was no visitor that week, we would canvass a local trailer park for people who were looking for a church (or who needed to)
I mention that, because things are much different now. In a church with attendance as high as 11000+ on a weekend …. you can’t do that- plus, it’s been 10 years since ‘visitation’ worked in any setting I’ve ministered in. homes are different now…they’re our guarded fortresses. i have this distinct memory of finishing the ‘evangelistic explosion’ course in 1996, and going to visit people while i was in college. We went to convert this family. the dad was watching the schwartzennegger movie ‘true lies’ while we talked to his wife and daughter. We had been taught to tell the exact stories with the exact wordings and questions to lead to a spiritual conversion, then hold the family pet to minimize distraction…but it went all wrong… cause jamie lee curtis started that infamous ‘dance’– scene…. most guys remember it..heck, even my wife remembers it…
I spent week 3 of our “One Prayer” series speaking to a couple hundred students at our Midtown Campus, “Lord make us multiplyers”
