Ultimate NERF Rescue Mission!

A couple of us put this short movie together to get kids excited to bring their NERF guns to camp! I'm excited for camp and I'm excited for part II of this movie! Enjoy!



Watch it Full Screen! :)

Ventures and Adventures

This past month has been crazy, crazy. So many things have happened to me this month. Honestly, I don't think I have been as busy as I am now at any point in my entire life. But I like what I'm busy with (for the most part) so I don't have much to complain about.

Since my last competent blog post I am:

1. Going to California Baptist University now
This was a huge undertaking for me. For a long time I had been praying and seeking where the Lord would have me to go. I wasn't sure if I should go to APU, Biola or CBU and finally the Lord opened the door, pressed the issue on my heart and there you go! I am majoring in Christian Studies and am currently doing the night program.
2. Still Working with my Dad
Not much to say here, except business as usual. I am blessed to only have to work 3 days a week, but I still am having difficulty finding free time (like now) to do things.
3. Still Serving in Activate (High School Ministry)
I am still serving in the High School ministry at Harvest, not a whole lot has changed except we did have an awesome camp earlier this month. That was a blessing, getting to know more kids, have fun with them and show them God's word. Always a blessing.
4.Stepped Down from the James 1:27 ministry
I was involved with this ministry for about 6 months and it was a good opportunity to develop/flex my teaching gifts. Once a month (sometimes twice) I would get to teach at a convalescent home to about 15-30 old people on Sundays. It was a blessing in many ways, an eye opener in others. But ultimately, I had to step down because of new opportunities the Lord put on my plate.
5. I am now leading Saturday night witnessing
I am very excited to see how the Lord can use me in this ministry. It has been a real need that our ministry has been lacking for over 5 months since we have transitioned into our new buildings. I'm glad the Lord has put it on my heart, even though at times I feel overwhelmed by the responsibilities of teaching these kids I am confident that where the Lord guides, He provides.

Yay!

Today Hooray!

So although technically I'm writing this on Monday morning, I haven't gone to sleep yet so its still Sunday night in my mind.

Saturday evening, I knew Sunday was going to be awesome in all respects. Maybe its because I was excited about going to church or maybe because it was some Jesus stuff happenin'. I did have a slight indication.

So it probably started last Monday when I caught up with 97% of my prayer and share homework. (Am I supposed to do that Becoming a Godly wife homework???) So I wasn't convicted about going to or missing the class without homework done. I purposed in my heart to go to sleep early so I would be well rested and get on church on time. (That's the magic formula folks, more sleep = early rising peep).

So on Sunday prayer & share was awesome. Fast forward. 2nd Service was awesome, I really enjoyed the message. Fast forward. We had a leadership meeting for the high school ministry that went really well, we seemed to make a lot of progress and are bringing discipleship back officially. (YESS!!!!!) And then...

Wait. I forgot something; rewind. Before our meeting during third service I talked to Jason briefly about something that was on my heart. A few days earlier one of my discipleship boys called me up and we talked. Turns out he is leaving for a trade school up north somewhere. When we were talking he said he wanted to be baptized. And I was like, "Tight!" And then he said I want you to baptize me. And I was like, *Jaw Drop*

So I was telling this to Jason and he confirmed what I was going to do. He said, "Baptize him." My heart was very glad at that moment, although still fairly anxious of the unknown. I expressed to Jason that normally I would submit to the church and have him be baptized by a Pastor. But he is leaving very quickly (the next few days) and our baptismal is still under construction.

So after our meeting I went down to meet my discipleship brotha and talk with him before we left for Peter's apartments pool place. To my surprise, what I thought was going to be an event populated by him, me and Peter was actually populated by his parents and like 6 or 7 of his close friends. That made me extra nervous, lol.

So, fast forward a bit. We go to the pool, I give a quick exhortation on the meaning of baptism and why my discipleship boy was doing this. Took him to the water and dunked him in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Crazy!!!!!!!

It felt strange doing it, I kinda felt like it was cheesy. It probably was cheesy but I also recognize that the Lord definitely used it in his life to accomplish Jesus' commandment and start a work in his heart. I was blessed by that.

Then later at Day7 I was privileged to sit on stage and watch the body of Christ worship Jesus and go the throne in adoration. I love watching people worship. I'm not a creep. I'm not. Fast forward. Then the altar call took place. There was a guy that was in front of me and we made eye contact. It was kind of weird because I wasn't sure I was supposed to or not, so I looked away.

After service, James Persinger pleads with me that the back room is lack on counselors. So for the first time in ever, I go back and counsel after Day7. They allowed us to choose who we would counsel. I chose that guy I made eye contact briefly. It was soooooooo tight encouraging them. The guy was a recovering heroin addict, the other was recovering from some stuff too. But it was so cool how the Lord used that second or two earlier in my life to direct me to minister fully to the same person only minutes later.

So that was the icing on the cake of a super cool day. Hooray!

Prayer & Share

So I'm all caught up in my Prayer & Share homework. I seriously thought that it was going to take like 8 hours to do, but it only took me 5, lol. Its pretty much my fault anyways. I just had a bad few weeks with my time management. Personally I blame spring break, it threw off all my habits that I created the beginning of the semester.

So now I have to rebuild some of the habits for the little time left I have during this semester and gear up for creating new habits for the summer as I take summer school...

Pastor Ralph Loved a Lot

News is circulating now and people are just finding out what God already knew, that Pastor Ralph Arthur passed away this morning.

I've always viewed Pastor Ralph as the 'Church doctor.' He would always minister to us, the body, using scripture and love. Joy always emanated from within him and he never kept that joy to himself, he always gave selflessly.

Less than a year ago a tragedy struck our family. A close family friend had been admitted to the hospital suddenly; she was my mom's friend, my friend's mom (mine too) and my sister's friend's mom. She was a 2nd mom to me and the family requested that I try to get a Pastor from Harvest to come out immediately since she was in urgent care. At Day7 I tried to ask Pastor Steve if he could come, but he had a line a mile long. So I went to find another Pastor who could find someone who was available to visit the troubled family. Then I ran into Pastor Ralph coming up from the stage.

I asked him if he could have someone on staff come out the next day and meet with the family and minister to us. Pastor Ralph mentioned that he would try to get someone to come and mentioned he wouldn't be able to come because he had plans and was very busy that day. He asked me to email him the hospital/family info and I thanked him. He prayed for me and I left.

The next day at the hospital, the Pastor arrived. That Pastor was Ralph. He came anyways! I'm not sure what he did, but he came all the way to Upland to minister to the family and to me. It was such a blessing. I always thanked him and the Lord for coming to our aid when we needed it, at his own expense.

I know that many of you have stories of how Pastor Ralph was a blessing to you. I'd personally like to hear them, whether its a comment in this blog, your own blog or in person. Pastor Ralph lived so self-lessly and I can only Praise and Thank the Lord for his life and legacy.

Prayer & Share

The Leaders of the High School Ministry (and the Well) have been blessed with the opportunity to participate in the Prayer & Share program that equips Christian leaders with the ability to effectively counsel biblical principles into others' lives. Well at least I know for sure I have been blessed so far, just by being included.

Earlier today we had our first meeting in the new chapter 2 children's ministry building. I was pretty surprised they were equipping us with a binder and two sweet books by Jay E. Adams for free! It was equally "sweet" that Pastor John Collins, John Douthitt and even James MacDonald from Chicago addressed us this morning.

I'm excited about our first homework, reading an entire book! Snap! I thought it was going to be hard but I'm on chapter 5 as we speak. :)

I can't wait to see how the Lord will grow me through this course.

My Finger is on the Button

I am ready to activate this weekend at Winter Camp!! It should be a blessing to retreat from the world and then go straight back to work. :( lol

I'll see you in the mountains!

Leadership Christmas Dinner

So every year the high school ministry puts on a Christmas dinner for either the high schoolers or the leadership. This year due to booking issues it was only the leadership. It is definitely refreshing to fellowship with my co-laborers in Christ without dealing with the joys that come with serving.

The food was good, the fellowship was fun, the worship was sweet and the devotion was awesome. The gift exchange was also done differently this year, there wasn't really any stealing. Last year during my turn to pick the gift I prayed and the Lord led me to a grip of re-writable CDs, DVDs and a Joshua Harris book. Score! Then this year during the gift picking I prayed again! Then when it arrived in my hand the Lord confirmed it and I opened my gift of a Spider-man bank! YES! Double Score!! The Lord hooked me up and he gets all the credit! Thank you Jesus!

Also, during the message Jason Powell quoted a short story that I really thought it was cool. So here it is here:

Here is a man who was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman. He grew up in another village. He worked in a carpenter shop until He was thirty. Then for three years He was an itinerant preacher.

He never owned a home. He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never had a family. He never went to college. He never put His foot inside a big city. He never traveled two hundred miles from the place He was born. He never did one of the things that usually accompany greatness. He had no credentials but Himself...

While still a young man, the tide of popular opinion turned against him. His friends ran away. One of them denied Him. He was turned over to His enemies. He went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed upon a cross between two thieves. While He was dying His executioners gambled for the only piece of property He had on earth – His coat. When He was dead, He was laid in a borrowed grave through the pity of a friend.

Nineteen long centuries have come and gone, and today He is a centerpiece of the human race and leader of the column of progress.

I am far within the mark when I say that all the armies that ever marched, all the navies that were ever built; all the parliaments that ever sat and all the kings that ever reigned, put together, have not affected the life of man upon this earth as powerfully as has that one solitary life. Source.

Our God is good!

Preach the Word

Okay so the Preach the Word conference is happening now. It is being hosted at my home church any there are some amazing speakers teaching and giving biblical principals on how to Preach the Word. And I'm not there.

This is wack. I'm not gonna candy coat it, I'm pretty bummed. I'm watching everyone's status updates online and I kinda envy them. I do hope that my friends continue to be blessed by the conference and I can only pray that they will keep learning God's Word. Hopefully there will be a dvd or something that I can gleam onto.

Maybe I can do something useful while everyone is at the conference...

Whirlwind Weekend

This past weekend I was in New York with the SWAT team. New York is a very cool place to visit, especially if you are a fan of American media. There you get to really experience the melting pot that makes New York city what it is.

While I was there I experienced a lot of things, felt a lot of emotions and thought a lot of thoughts but something really was amiss. For me, this wasn't the best SWAT trip I've had. Maybe my heart or mind was in the wrong place. There is a lot going on within me that I've been thinking about. I have a lot I need to give to God still.

There's so much that I want to do, so much I want to become. What do I want to become? Just a man of God and anything else secondary will do. I tend to be critical of a lot of things, especially myself. I pick myself apart and see that I don't know enough scripture, I'm not well versed enough. I don't generally know generic facts that I believe I should know being where I am in my walk. I understand I'm not perfect but I want to continually strive to be better. I'm reminded of Philippians 3:12-13

"Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead."

There's things about me that I'm not content with that I need to change. Lord, conform me to your son's image.

New York Approacheth

October 16th-21st I will be in New York city with the SWAT team sharing the gospel. I had the pleasure to go last year also. The city surpassed my expectations, I fell in love with the city. I had some of the best conversations I've ever had as a Christian. The people were a bit calloused but that level of callousness was always shown to be covering a thicker layer of pain.

This trip we will be venturing outside of Manhattan and tackling some of the boroughs of New York like the Bronx, Queens or Brooklyn. That will be very interesting in and of itself. So I'm not sure what to expect, but I'm putting my trust in the Lord's promises that he will get me through the length of the trip. My prayer is that through this SWAT trip I would experience exponential growth.

Also, if you want to stay updated on what I'm doing in New York check out my Twitter.

Witnessing: Friday Night

Friday Night Witnessing with SWAT is happening!

Here's the point: You need to come out. I get to lead it again and I'm stoked! I'm preparing the devotional as I type this, but please come out I need to man/woman power!

This week we will learn how to EXPLAIN the gospel.