Filed under: Religion
I find myself in a good spot. After an 8 day trip to Russia and back, I’m headed to visit our Columbus Extension Service and team this weekend….and on 9/9/09, I found out about TheNines: over 70 church leaders from across America giving 9 minute talks online to pastors, staffs, and volunteers about leadership.
We have a lot of wood to chop….but today is about stopping and sharpening the Leadership Ax.
Below you’ll find several lessons I learned from my ax sharpening session… and believe, me, the 60 or so of you and the 1000+ people you minister to monthly were on my mind the entire time..
Here are some great 1 liners. Don’t miss Craig Groeschel’s expanded words below.
- Find a public zone that agrees with your private life…this is the mark of a good leader.
- To reach people no one is reaching, we must do things no one is doing! YOU GUYS!
- Don’t be best church in your community…be the best FOR it. This is Inconvenient, dirty, and purely Service. Create relationships. Engage your community.
- The key to dealing with a big head is…..a BIG heart. Psalm 51. We can Do all things, but the only acceptable sacrifice is a broken heart and contrite spirit.
- Pressure reveals who you are. It is the progress report on your spiritual development.
- The antidote to fear is a spirit of faith. For Moses and the children of Israel, looking back at Pharaoh and ahead at the Red Sea, the only thing that worked was to step out.
- The peace of God is not dependent on my environment, the people around me, it’s independently real and true.
- Worry has been called temporary atheism.
Craig Groeschel- Lifechurch.tv
1- We must create a deeper climate and culture of innovation coming from within our churches. The best innovation in ministry is coming from the bottom up. The whole organization must be spiritual innovators.
2-There is weakness in simply ‘utilizing the giftedness’ of volunteers. The bottom line is we’ve been recruiting volunteers in American churches. Delegating tasks. The challenge with this is we create followers. Instead delegate authority. Let a volunteer Create something great. This develops leaders.
Release and empower leaders. Instead.
3- minister out of the overflow of the passionate prayer and spiritual life I have, not out of the natural can-do I have.
He picked up a discipline of journaling again. Out of a daily overflow out of what God
Today, George Lawson had $60, a bus ticket home to Indiana, some khaki pants, a t-shirt, and a blue mesh bag. Back near Indianapolis, his wife and 3 kids are waiting on him right now…he’s probably asleep on the bus from Atlanta right about now.
George and I were both at the back of the line of 14 people in Lake City, Florida this afternoon at the Greyhound Station. Neither George nor I felt compelled to be rude…and both let an older lady go in front of us and chose to go on the bus last, then we ended up sitting together for the 1 hour trek to Jacksonville on the front seat.
I was finishing the edits on a guest blog for our senior pastor’s blog today, and George introduced himself. He said, “I just got out of prison.”
Filed under: Religion | Tags: 2009, 32092, 32259, 904, church, easter, fl, florida, northwest, nw st. johns
As we prepare for Easter services at Celebration Church, our staff is very excited! Under the leadership of our Lead Pastors Stovall and Kerri Weems, our church has grown to 10 campuses with over 10,000 people in weekly attendance in just 10.5 years. We count it a privilege to empower families and individuals both in NE Florida and throughout the world to live a God first life!
This Easter, consider worshipping with us at 10:30 a.m. in the auditorium of Bartram Trail High School- our service location since March of 2005. Our church has been reviewed by the Florida Times Union, News4Jax, First Coast News, and even Folio Weekly as being a place where people of all races, ages, and backgrounds can experience God in worship, hear an inspiring message, and see God transform their lives. God has incredible things in store for you! To listen or watch archived messages & podcasts, click here.
Kids are valuable to God and us too . . . so you can expect a safe, caring environment where your children will have a great time learning about Jesus as friend and Savior. Click here to learn more about our children’s ministries.
Our original music is on Itunes and can also be sampled on our website. Click here to listen!
For any other information, including youth ministries, college ministry, etc, please check our website, or feel free to send questions via comments here.
Filed under: Celebration Church, Religion | Tags: bartram trail, bths, jessy pitts, sr13 accident, taylor brennan
We lost so much more than flesh and bone….and on Wednesday night, over 250 people met up at our weekly high school youth gathering to remember Taylor and Jessy, 2 uniquely unselfish souls. This spiritual anguish is real… but somehow it was a chance for the students of Celebration Church to show their love not only for these 2 that we lost, but also for their family &friends.
Our students, volunteers, and staff were so blessed to be able to host both students’ families. Students were on the campus from 6-9. From 6-7, they wrote cards, cried together, and shared stories. From 7-8, we had a short time of worship, remembrance, and encouragement. From 8-9, they poured their love onto the families of our 2 we lost.
One of our bands led us in 2 songs…”You Deserve” and “From the Inside Out”, both by Hillsong. Lori Schumaker sang, “Hear You Me” by Jimmy Eat World. The lyrics are at the bottom of this post. Pastor James Price gave a word of encouragement as a representative of our 8 other campuses of Celebration Church, and students put together a slideshow of photos that we watched. My wife Rachel shared some words of encouragement from our other youth pastors, John Wyatt and Josh Turner.
I had the chance as our Element Pastor to speak a few words and say a prayer with the friends and family in attendance. I was blessed to share some memories of both students, and spoke from Mark 12:28-31. When asked what 1 thing we should do as Christians, Jesus replied simply that we should love God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength and our neighbors as ourselves. I spoke about how Jesus doesn’t ask us for us to love God with as much heart as Dr. Billy Graham…or with a whole untainted heart…whatever pieces are left of our heart, whatever clarity is left in our minds, whatever vibrancy is left in our souls, whatever is left of our strength….to love Him with all we have left. Many right now have so little heart, soul, mind, and strength left…yet a majority there concluded the service by responding to Jesus by committing to love God with all that we have.
Funeral Services will be this weekend for both students . . .
Filed under: Religion | Tags: bartram trail, bths, jessy pitts, sr13 accident, taylor brennan
Sunday night on SR 13, Jessy Pitts and Taylor Brennan passed from earth to eternity. Taylor attended Element, our high school church youth group, over the past year with Chanin, Brittany, Marisa, and many of their friends. I taught Jessy when he was a Freshman at BTHS, before he moved to Georgia. I’d seen him a couple times the past year, as Chanin brought him to church. At Element this week, students will be watching home video, singing songs, writing notes and cards, and just ‘being together’ as part of a night of remembrance. Nothing can do justice to remember these 2….Jessy was 18…Taylor’s 18th birthday is January 20. Rachel and I had lunch with Taylor just a few weeks ago at Akaya on 210…she was such a trip…a kidder…and went on and on about her adventures in studyhall with “Lindsey Gaahhhhhdna.”
Over the next few days, so many people will tell stories about these 2 great kids. I hope to relay a couple of those stories, both here (in the comments under this blog) and in church services later this week. If you’re a friend of either (or both), feel free to leave comments/notes here, and we’ll be sure to get them to the families. For now, I’ll leave this note about Taylor, and will say more about her and Jessy in the blogs and comments to come.
Taylor- your friends sat around last night at Chanin’s watching videos of you singing songs wit her and Brittany together. When you sang, “I’m leavin” by Jesse McCartney, I just sat there in disbelief. You’ve left. Your absence was so obvious in that room…a gaping blank place in that circle of your friends, a missing laugh in each round of chuckles as you and Chanin sang even when Brittany fell asleep. Every room of your friends is less vibrant, less alive…
“Someone said that you know a saint
By how alive they make you feel
Not by how much they show to you
But by how little they conceal
You left us with broken hearts and souls
Our hope is feebly attempting to temper it
We lost so much more than skin and bone
You are the world as best as I remember it.” -Steve Stockman
Filed under: Religion
I’m so blessed to be part of the Awake21 fasting and prayer movement to kick off 2009. Over 300 Churches representing over 300,000 people from multiple stripes and denominations are joining in from multiple states and continents. If you are believing for anything outside of your natural strength, ability, or influence this year, consider joining in at www.awake21.org.
I don’t only say that cause I’m excited to lose some LBs (you have no idea). I say it because today, God spoke to me about what to fast for.
Put the snake on a stick.
Filed under: Celebration Church, Prison Ministry, Religion | Tags: christmas in jail, incarnation
Today Rachel and I went to the jail where we do weekly ministry with juveniles and college age inmates. Several of the guards were irritated at our presence…not sure why. In the elevator, it kind of all came out… one of the higher ranking officers asked me a question I won’t soon forget
“Couldn’t find anything better to do on Christmas day?”
My answer was what most of my friends would say…. “No.”
That was a couple hours ago. I wonder why no human never asked Jesus that question. Hey Messiah…couldn’t you find anything better to do today than come down to this nasty place with these people who not only dont deserve you, but aren’t even looking for you and probably won’t receive you?
I’m glad Jesus answer was no…there was nothing better to do that day in His mind. Many people don’t see the point in reaching out to the outcasts, forgiving sinners, healing the sick. Simply put, many people don’t love humanity that much.
When 5 teenage boys committed their lives to Christ this morning in the Christmas Day service, it really hit me that there’s no place He would have rather been than glorifying His Father through His incarnation to and for humankind. Humankind just like those guys today. Humankind like me and you.
Merry Christmas -big John
Filed under: Family, Religion, Youth Ministry | Tags: adolescents, influence, nywc, parents, pastors, peers
At the National Youth Worker Conference last week, I heard a stat that peaked my interest. For the first time in a long time, the #1 influence on students is no longer ‘parents’. So what say you….which live person (outside of Jesus) is the #1 spiritual influence on your life? There are no wrong answers (unless you say it’s Tom from Myspace)…
Filed under: Religion | Tags: burnout remedy, christianity, joy, pastors, peace, rest, sabbath
Monday is the day off/sabbath of choice in the Scott house. So yesterday, following a brutal Jags loss to the Steelers (can someone tell me why we didn’t draft Big Ben when we had the chance???)… Rachel and I spent our second consecutive Monday getting out and just taking it easy.
Last Monday, as I posted on our twitter page, we rented a motor scooter in downtown St. Augustine and just chillaxed for half a day. This Monday, we hit the chiropractor to deal with my Hurricane Bertha back injury, then went spa to enjoy 78 degrees, breezy, and a serious hot tub.
While laying there in the tub, I just floated weightlessly. Then I had this spiritual realization: weightlessness is the solution to pain. My back pain totally went away while floating. What a free feeling!
When the Bible says we can cast all our cares on Jesus, that’s the flow. It doesn’t change the fact that we have physical, emotional, or spiritual pain. It just puts all the weight of our burdens on Him. Yes, we will hurt when we put ‘weight’ on our broken spiritual bones…but when He carries them, in essence, He’s carrying us, and the pain is not the factor that it once was.
Weightlessness. It’s a real key to contentment, peace, and joy in life. Its the reason I can smile and find joy in spite of the pains of my: parents’ divorces, fractured childhood, alcoholic upbringing, deaths of close friends, family struggles with drugs/suicide/depression, betrayal by others, and lifelong financial hardships. Those things hurt. But I can truly say I don’t feel the pain when Jesus takes my weight.
I always say, if He can carry Big John, he can carry anyone. I’m feeling light on my feet today….
Filed under: Popular Culture, Religion | Tags: chocolate giant, christianity, faith, faith miracles mysticism, italy, miracle at st. anna, spike lee, war movie, ww2
War. Heroes. Race. the Miraculous
In this human struggle we each grind out day by day, once in a while something comes along that reminds us that people are in this thing together…..that while not that many ‘things’ are tangibly worth fightin-hardly dying-for, we will do things we never imagined to protect people. Hurricanes, tragedies, illnesses throw out the caution flag in life, reminding us to slow down and be there for one another. It’s not just the ugly and painful….but sometimes the beautiful that reminds us how badly our hands, hearts, arms and shoulders are needed.
I found something beautiful in the new Spike Lee movie, “Miracle at St. Anna”. A story of 4 men who, rather than fighting for a tangible ‘principle’, found themselves fighting for the life of one boy, and in doing, that, fought for hundreds of people, a town, a country, and principles. The character, “Train”, from the Buffalo soldiers (all-black 92nd Infantry Division fighting in Italy) protects the life of one boy, involves his 3 comrades…. he is affectinately called, “my Chocolate Giant” by the little boy, ‘Angelo’. By fighting to save his life, the men find their own lives and hope…..even extending to 40 years later.
There are several veins and plotlines, and conversation amongst the soldiers about miracles and faith, in the midst of hopelessness and suffering.
I highly recommend the movie, with WW2 violence much like Private Ryan, it is a little tough, and there are a couple of ‘adult situations’. Way to go Spike.
Today’s the day we bury Ben. So many things run through my head on all of this..as in just under 2 hours I’ll be getting to the church preparing to somehow apply God’s word to wounds that are deeper and wider than can be fathomed.
Last night, I stood at his casket, hands on the side, and looked at the shell that was his body. His spirit is gone….. in the casket there were a couple cans of kodiak, a pair of racing goggles, a cross blessed by the pope that Big Ben got for him, a racing magazine, a letter from his sister, a toy motorcycle, and a couple other articles.
2 hours later, I was at Jason’s house, peering over into little Grayson’s crib. His eyes wide open, stairing at the puppy toys rotating above his head. it’s like he was just taking everything in…
And I knew that back some 17 years ago, Ben was in a place just like that.
And that last Tuesday, Ben’s wide eyes were opened for what seemed like the first time to him…like that baby, he was a newborn in the kingdom of God….seeing things he couldn’t have even dreamed.
1 Cor. 15:19-”And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world.”
Filed under: Religion, Youth Ministry | Tags: bartram trail high school, ben geiger, creekside, jacksonville, motocross, motorcross, st. augustine florida
Last night at 9:45 pm one of the guys in the band I led bible studies for last year gave me a call. Landon told me his friend Ben, age 17, had died in a motorcross accident during some practice time.
Since 1995 I’ve gotten calls like this…. and I don’t think we’re ever ready for any of them. Kelly Hawkins died that year as I had just started working as a youth minister. That crushed my life beyond recognition. In the years since… Grandpa, Aunt Joyce, Emilio, Johnny, John, …the list just goes on.
Ben was a student of mine back in my high school teaching days. As a freshman and Junior, I got to know this kid…and during his junior year, he started coming to Celebration Church with his friends on Wednesday nights.
Today he’s gone. On September 16 of his senior year, he died tragically. The phone has not stopped ringing. I can’t finish one text without receiving another. Myspace is melting down with heartache. We hit both high schools today in our area, and both almost ran out of tissues. His family called back this afternoon, I spent some time with them, and I can’t find any words to describe one bit of this.
I love you Ben. You’re a trickster and quite possibly the funniest kid I ever met. Your friends are just ruined today. I lost count of the number of kids who cried around me at both schools-not to mention the middle school kids that look up to you. A days like a thousand years in heaven, so this earth is far behind you. For us, this day has been a long day too. See you on the other side.
For friends of Ben, feel free to leave a comment here with a story about Ben… I’m going to share a few at his funeral and others with his family. thanks so much.
Big John
I just read a news story coming out of London today about ‘white ink tattoos’. Lohan, Moss, and Simon Cowell’s gal pal Jasmine Leonard have them, as she quipped, ‘Everyone in LA is having the tattoos so I just had to have one. I saw Lindsay Lohan had one and it looked so pretty I asked her where she got it.’
What’s the draw? Jasmine said, ‘I love the design because it’s subtle and you don’t really see it unless you are looking for it, which is the charm of the whole thing.’
Filed under: Celebration Church, Religion, Youth Ministry | Tags: celebration st johns campus, mobile youth ministry, st johns county florida
As more and more parents are visiting this site to get info on the heart and soul of our youth ministry, I wanted to offer this blog as a quick update on how our summer went for our high school students, and where we’re headed for them this all.
Our summer was basically divided in 3 parts: 1 prayer, Camp and Costa, and Rush Week/Fay
1 Prayer: For 4 consecutive weeks, our high school students got to chill in an ‘element unplugged’ atmosphere, and were treated with hearing from all of our Celebration youth pastors. Sean Kelly came out in first to share his paryer, ‘Lord make us desperate’- an appeal to worship God as our lives depended on it. Pastor Josh Turner came out with his prayer, “Lord make us trusting”, sharing his unique experience as a father to 2 children. Pastor John Wyatt came and shared, “Lord make us participators”, urging students from the seats to the fields of play in the ministry. I finished up with “Lord make us Multipliers”, urging our students to be part of a movement of God focused outwardly, even to the extent of praying about being part of ARC’s vision to plant 2000 churches by 2020.
Costa and Camp: You can check out stories from Costa here. We took 10 teens from St. Johns Campus. Rachel and I both went on this trip to build upon the foundational work that 6:8 ministries has been doing in the poorest areas of San Jose, Costa Rica for a few years now. Camp was a special time with Healing Place Church, especially with messages from our youth pastors along with Jason Laird and Tyler Tullos from HPC.
Rush Week was 4 nights in August ushering in the new year. Every Celebration Youth Pastor shared, as we tackled the ‘Deadly Viper Character Assassins’ in our Rush Series, “Guard Your Heart”. It was a kung fu inspired look at the weapons the enemy uses to dismantle us, with the main focus being our offensive and defensive postures in this carnage known as adolescence in the 21st century. Rush was followed by Tropical Storm Fay, which put off school for a day or 2, and also had Element’s Cunningham location shut down by the school board due to the uncertainties.
All in all, these 3 distinct seasons left me with a huge task and vision for week to week operations of Element St. Johns….
Filed under: Celebration Church, Religion | Tags: junior high youth ministry zen master, pastor josh turner, riley turner
usually I’ll post a blog in this category about someone that made a big difference in my past that I don’t see any more…. Josh is the first in this series of blogs that is about someone present in my life now..day by day.
Josh is the middle school pastor at Celebration Church here in Jacksonville, Florida. I say he’s one of the top 5 middle school pastors in America. His students may not know it….but he regularly speaks into the lives of numerous christian artists and bands, and also is called on by many of the top youth pastors in the nation for ideas and counsel. He’s had the most challenging year of almost anyone I know, as in February, his wife Becca gave birth to their baby girl Riley, who barely survived the birth and the days thereafter. Drs originally only gave her a few short months to live….but she’s battled the odds and things are looking better every single day…
Through all of this, Josh continues to the be the goofball most amazing friend pretty much any of his friends have ever had. Josh and I both started attending here in 2004. We both plugged in as youth counselors at our Midtown Campus, and quickly got assigned to do middle school ministry together. Rachel and I moved to the St. Johns Campus at its launch in March 2005, and Josh increased his role. We both worked full time jobs by day and growing youth ministries at night, and would call each other every morning on the way in to the daily grind of those ‘tentmaking’ jobs. Eventually, we were both hired full time, and even were ordained as pastors on the same day.
If you asked Josh’s circle of friends, 90% would probably say he’s their best friend outside of Jesus. They guy just has no limit to his love and heart for people. Teenagers, college kids, christian superstars, smallchurch pastors, megapastors…there’s no limit to the people he loves on daily. He has amazing stories, which he needs to blog on more often... but this is the place where I thank him for his impact on my life. I have way too many memories of him to share here. From riding down A1A with the top down late one night this summer reminiscing on life to making him eat half his weight at rainforest cafe nashville….Since I know one day he’ll read this when he gets a google blog alert, here goes a personal shout out.
