The Elite 5000 Club for Twitter!!!

March 18, 2009 By nick 1 Comment

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As of yesterday afternoon around 6:30 p.m. I was officially inducted into the Elite 5000 Club of Twitter. That’s 5,000 updates not followers ;-) THIS update got me there! Okay so I’m not sure there is an Elite 5000 Club for Twitter, but there should be, and all of the club members should get a certificate or a ribbon or something. I think if you put all of my tweets together, I may have the makings of a short book; of course I would have to subtract all of the tweets to the psycho people out there, that was just wasted keystrokes!

So how many updates do you have on Twitter? Will you be joining me in the Elite 5,000 update club any time soon? I’ll save a ribbon for you!

Don’t have a Twitter? Get One HERE and if you’re looking for someone to Follow to get Started, my Profile is HERE.

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There’s Been A Leprechaun Sighting

March 17, 2009 By nick Leave a Comment

In Honor of St. Patrick’s Day, I thought I would repost an old post from last year where there was a Leprechaun Sighting in Alabama:

And then there’s the Leprechaun Sighting remix (You’ve gotta watch this one)…

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A Thunderous Roar

March 16, 2009 By nick 3 Comments

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This past weekend the CSRA Youth Ministry Network hosted the 2009 DNOW for our local area. Typically each student ministry that participates in the local DNOW schedules a fun activity on Saturday morning/afternoon for their students to have a little fun as a group. This year we wanted our students to definitely have fun, but we wanted to use this weekend where we had 700+ students’ attention to engage them in opportunities to live beyond themselves and to invest in the lives of other people. After all, the theme was “Your Kingdom Come” and it seemed very appropriate to initiate service projects for the students to participate in.

I am a firm believer that a huge part of our spiritual discipleship has to do with our engaging in ministry and actually doing the things that we’ve been told in scripture to do. Studys have proven that the stuff we learn has been retained in our memory based on 1 part data and 6 parts emotion, essentially we remember what we experience. Therefore when we talk about discipleship, I don’t think we can remove elements that provide experience in what we are learning.

Saturday night was dynamic! The praise coming from this group of students sounded at times like a thunderous roar. In all of the local youth events, I cannot remember students so in tune with who God was at that moment in their life. I truly believe that Matt Papa is anointed and we had the privilege of having his band lead us in worship, but I mostly believe Saturday night had a lot to do with the response from earlier in the day where students were engaged in what God is all about, living sacrificially and loving other people.

I believe this picture with my buddy Steve White best sums up what the day was all about…

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UNLEASH Live Blogging Session 2

March 12, 2009 By nick 1 Comment

Live blogging the 2009 Unleash Conference

Session 2: Perry Noble

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How to Stay in the Game…

  • Exodus 33
  • Some say church work is easy/going to be easy
  • People in the church can be the meanest people on the planet
  • 4 Questions Every Leader Needs to Wrestle With:
  • 1. Who Is With Me?
  • If you want people to buy into you, buy into your people
  • Satan doesn’t want to split your church, he wants to split your staff
  • If you think you do as much as the Senior Pastor, you don’t have a freaking clue!
  • Senior pastor’s carry a weight the staff and members could never imagine!
  • The sheep don’t lead the shepherd,the pastor is called to lead
  • The Pastor will be the one standing before God at the end of the day.
  • 2. [God] Am I Pleasing You?
  • (Vs. 13) Moses just wanted to know God and for God to be pleased with him
  • We cannot expect God to lead us publicly if we are not yielded to him privately
  • Pastor, Are you a prostitute or are you a prophet?
  • If your goal is to please churched people, you’ll lose every time, they are the ones that killed Jesus. If he could not please them, we cannot!
  • A) Do I understand that ministry is received not achieved? [Rick Warren]
  • The mercy of God is that he knew our screws ups before he called us, yet he still called us!
  • B) Am I placing limits on me that God has not placed on me?
  • Ministry leaders, you can do, exactly what God has called you to do.
  • Don’t dare limit yourself when the unlimited power of God lives in us.
  • 3. Will I See You?
  • We kiss toilets all week long and then we try to kiss Jesus
  • We cannot provide a Jesus light ministry, where people leave feeling good about themselves, but there is never transformation.
  • When Jesus is preached, there is conviction of sin and people brought to repentance!
  • Moses wanted God presence. Do WE REALLY want God’s presence as leaders?
  • Do you want ATTENDANCE or REPENTANCE?
  • You don’t need to close the back door to the church…
  • The church is a body…if you close the back door to your body…
  • When was the last time you as a pastor was desperate for the presence of God?
  • 4. What’s Next?
  • No matter where you get in ministry, continue to ask, What’s Next?
  • Exodus 33:18 “Now Show Me Your Glory!”
  • What Does God Want to Do Next In Your Church?

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UNLEASH Live Blogging Session 1

March 12, 2009 By nick Leave a Comment

Live blogging the 2009 Unleash Conference

Session 1: Perry Noble

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  • 2 Kings 7
  • There are language differences between the North and the South
  • Shagging in the South means to “dance” – in the North it means “bow chicka wow wow”
  • There’s been a major breakdown in communication between Jesus and his church.
  • Matthew 16 – Jesus said I will build my church and Hell will not overcome it.
  • The Communication breakdown is, instead of asking Jesus to build his church, we are asking him to build our church.
  • We’ve stripped the bride down of her wedding garments and placed cheap lingerie on her to make her a cheap slut!
  • 3 Questions for the Church:
  • 1. Are we willing to embrace change? (Vs. 3)
  • The # of Christians is declining and its the church’s (corporately) fault. We’ve been unwilling to change!
  • Every denomination has been declining for 30+ years, if it were our money we would have done something about it!
  • We have to be willing to embrace change.
  • Everyone can look at other churches and call the change they need to make, but can you look at your own church?
  • Most people cannot change because they are married to an idea, not to Jesus
  • Churches have a choice, change or die. – God had to kill off an entire generation before he could take the Israelites into the promised land.
  • Grandparents would you give up your life for your grandkids? How about your music in church? We are losing a generation because people want change.
  • You cannot manage, orchestrate, or create a move of God…it just happens.
  • Acts 1:14-15; Acts 2:41-
  • You’ve got to be comfortable being uncomfortable – (My note) YES!!!
  • You think this freakin’ building just dropped out of the sky? Do you think we just prayed about a youth building and it just appeared?
  • You have to make financial changes!
  • Church planters don’t let money guide your decisions, let Jesus.
  • The Pastor cannot do everything – If the church is going to be effective the pastor has to get out of the day to day operations of the church.
  • New Spring’s youth went from 200 to 800, because Perry hired a Godly youth pastor let him hire a team and moved out of the way.
  • If you think a video screen can stop the anointing of God on a man’s life who is called to preach, your God is too small. Multi-site does not stop a move of God.
  • The church has to stop competing with one another and start completing one another!
  • 2. Are We Willing to Work? (Vs. 5)
  • The church is more willing to pray about something than actually doing it.
  • Is there anything in your church that you are manufacturing energy for in your church?
  • We are worried about hurting someone’s feelings but Jesus was not (See Matthew 23)
  • Is there anyone on your stage that cannot sing?
  • Pastors: A) Have people who investigate the obvious.
  • Pastors: B) Ignore the Jackass
  • You’re only as deep as the last person you served.
  • Do you think when Jesus was dying on the cross he said, “Now my people have someone to preach their funeral?”
  • 3. Are we serious about reaching the world?
  • Terms that get overplayed in church:
  • Contemporary = Our pastor wears a sweater vest, our pastor gets his underpants from Victoria Secret, and we treat him like our boyfriend rather than our King.
  • Blended = No one in our church actually possesses a set and will proclaim where we stand, so in an effort to keep everyone happy we reach no one.
  • Missional = Most overplayed term in the church. No one is showing up, so we sought out a term to disguise our disfunction.
  • Emergent = We’re a bunch of spoiled former church kids who have a problem with authority, even the authority of the Bible, and because of their movement Hell is going to be fuller because we’ve sided with Satan in questioning the Bible.
  • Perry, “I’m obsessed with numbers because I was one of those numbers”
  • If numbers is not important then why are Numbers all through ACTS?!?!
  • The church for years has been cruising around, but it is like a sports car, they have so much power in them, if they would just stomp it, God would use them for things that would blow your mind.
  • Don’t compare yourself with New Spring, because he probably wants to do greater things with your church!

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One in Fifty US Children Homeless

March 10, 2009 By nick 3 Comments

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I saw this story today…

One of every 50 American children experiences homelessness, according to a new report that says most states have inadequate plans to address the worsening and often-overlooked problem.

The report being released Tuesday by the National Center on Family Homelessness gives Connecticut the best ranking. Texas is at the bottom.

“These kids are the innocent victims, yet it seems somehow or other they get left out,” said the center’s president, Dr. Ellen Bassuk. “Why are they America’s outcasts?” [Read Entire Story Here]

[Read more...]

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The Official “You Need Jesus T-Shirt”

March 9, 2009 By nick Leave a Comment

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You better hurry! It was on sale at the Evans, Georgia Wal-Mart for $1

I almost bought it for myself, but it was a Large and I don’t want to live that nightmare again!

I may regret passing it up, but hey, if one of my friends buys it, maybe I can read it…often.

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Kingdom Day Right Around the Corner

March 6, 2009 By nick Leave a Comment

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PDYM Kingdom Day is right around the corner and will be here before you know it. Kingdom Day is a ONE day service project where the church comes together as ONE body to accomplish ONE purpose. The Church and Christians talk a lot…there is no doubt about that, but we are usually found absent when it comes time to back that talk up.

Kingdom Day is all about the Church putting our hands and feet where our mouth is. We say we love…we’re going to show it. We talk about sacrifice…we’re going to give it. I hope you will join with us on April 25th for Kingdom Day.

Kingdom Day has been encouraging student ministries  all across the US to partner with another student ministry  in their community to work together (across denominational lines), as One body to serve those who are less fortunate than we are. Every group is atonymous and is working on the project they feel led to do for their community. Our goal is to go beyond talking about a Gospel of love to acting it out. One group plans on working on a local camp, other groups are working soup kitchens, while others are seeking out shut ins to assist with cleaning their homes and cleaning up their yards.

The Question I want you to ask yourself is this, “Is there a need in our community that our student ministries can tackle?” If there is, I encourage you to contact a student ministry in your area and plan a service project with them for Saturday, April 25. Some churches have talked about participating in Kingdom Day as an entire body with other churches, so don’t let the word Student Ministry narrow your focus, adults are more than welcome to participate as well.

The Purpose Driven Youth Ministry is fueling Kingdom Day, but you do not have to follow the PDYM paradigm for your ministry to participate. If you plan on attending PDYM the Conference at Saddleback on March 24-27, we would love to meet you. We’ll be participating in the conference at some point. If you want to attend, there is still time and room at the conference, you can register HERE, if you are not attending because of finances, contact us, and I can get you in touch with someone who can assist with a discount.

Click Here to Register your Group.
Click Here to Follow PDYM Kingdom Day on Twitter.

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Its Not Reality TV…Its Marketing TV

March 5, 2009 By nick Leave a Comment

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I’ve heard a lot of chatter this morning on Twitter and some blogs about the outrage that the judges on American Idol brough Tatiana Del Torro back onto the show. It was just a few days ago the chatter on Twitter and the blogs was about the outrage that Jason Mesnick was allowed to dump his fincee Melissa on the Bachelor. After all, she was the girl he selected as his fiancee when he dumped Molly, who is the girl he reunited with as soon as he dumped Melissa. What single guy would not love to be on this show? Really? You get to select from like 25 ladies, make out with them, get an all expense paid vacation to date these girls, and then you get to dump them and watch them cry, but oh wait, if you make the wrong choice, the show will help you get the one you let slip away back.

Tatiana on the other hand is one of the most annoying contestans that has ever been on American Idol. She was not voted by the fans to remain on the show, but apparently American Idol felt we got it wrong, so what did they do? They allowed the judges to do one of those “bring an idol back” sessions (which they have not done consistantly) to bring miss Drama queen back into our living rooms. Haha! And you thought this was reality tv!

No, this is Marketing TV, and part of that is to make you believe you are in control, but you’re not. I am convinced that the Bachelor had to cover their poor video editing, which a normal person caught. It was just a few weeks ago when Twitter and You Tube blew up over a video where someone discovered that Jason was going to select Melissa. See, Melissa wore a pinky ring and in the final shot (where it shows Jason proposing) you cannot see the girl’s face, but you can see her pinky ring. I believe this killed the ratings for the final show. Sure it could have boosted the ratings, but the whole ordeal went a little too far. The reunion show with Jason and Molly was too staged.

Finally, you have Tatiana Del Torro, oh yeah, and Nick Mitchell on American Idol. They define two of the horrible selections made by the judges this season. Of course there is also the swimsuit girl who didn’t get in on musical talent. The problem with American Idol and Tatiana and Nick is the fact that this is American Idol. The fans agree they are not “American Idols” even if they can sing a little. They have preached for years that an American Idol is a complete package. Who knows, maybe they have been wrong this entire time since only about 3 American Idols have ended up being American Idols and there was that guy who lost and made it bigger than the other 4 duds combined. So just remember when you are calling in to cast your vote, most of these people did not just walk in off the street, the show knows a lot more about them than you and I will ever know. Most of the final contestants have been doing music for years! The first few rounds are just to filter out the extra noise the judges allow through for ‘show’ and in this particular horrible season if you don’t have Drama (Tatiana and Nick), you don’t have much of a show.

Join the Conversation: What’s Your Thoughts?

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Killing Cockroaches by Tony Morgan

March 3, 2009 By nick 4 Comments

killing-cockroaches-reviewIf I could describe Killing Cockroaches by Tony Morgan in one sentence, it would look something like this. I would run a commercial and on one side I would have Tony Morgan and on the other I would have John Maxwell. Tony would start off by saying “Hello, I’m a Mac” John would follow “…and I’m a PC!“

Don’t get me wrong, I love John Maxwell, he is Mr. Leadership, and I am sure Tony has learned a thing or two from him, but I also love my Grandma, but she would have a tough time telling me how to relate to my generation. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and here are a few reasons why:

  • 18-34: That’s Me! I am 28 years old and Killing Cockroaches is a leadership book that spoke to me, kept my attention, and has a huge focus on helping the church reach my generation.
  • Simple: Its clean and its in an easy to read format. I hate books with small fonts with the spacing all scrunched in together. A book with 234 pages worth of reading content ends up being more like 568 pages. Tony uses bullet points to keep your attention on the important principles or thoughts he wants to keep your attention on, oh yeah, its a leadership book and it has no graphs!
  • No Chapters: Huh? No Chapters. Yeah, that’s right. You could just keep reading all day if you are a chapter a day kind of reader.
  • Interesting: I am a slow reader. I like to take my time and I like to highlight things that speak to me or that catch my attention. My white page book is now yellow :) Here is one huge reason why I would read another Tony Morgan book over another John Maxwell book. Tony kept my attention. I can’t tell you how many books I’ve laid down because it was boring. Its kind of like why people are leaving our churches…its boring!
  • Sandwiched: All through the book you get sandwiched  in by great stories. You’ll be reading about Tony duct taping his rented Mustang hood down, and then out of nowhere, he hits you with some thoughts and principles that are relative to you as a leader, whether you are a Mac or a PC.
  • New Ways to Say Old Things: A wise man once said that there is nothing new under the sun. He said that before the iPhone was even created, pretty profound. Tony says a lot of new things, because they come from his personal experiences, but he also reinforces principles that will never change, but he says it in new and creative ways, so leaders can re-think how they are implementing or practicing those principles.
  • Leadership Empowers: Tony mentions in the book that you are not a leader if you feel you have to be say something to be heard. There are several articles in the book where Tony is silent and allows other big time leaders to share their thoughts, struggles, and wisdom on leading. I love that he gave up so much of his book to allow others an opportunity to invest into our lives.
  • My Favorite Quote: “If we are to achieve results never before accomplished, we must expect to employ methods never before attempted.” Sir Francis Bacon – This reminded me of what Craig Groeschel said in a recent conference: “To reach the people no one else is reaching, we have to do what no one else is doing.” I love these quotes because it reminds me that we can never quit learning, we can never stop adapting, because there are people we need to be reaching with the Gospel.
  • Open Ended: Alot of the book is left open ended to give you the opportunity to think about what is being discussed or to answer the questions being asked. I like being able to be involved in what I am reading.

I loved this book and highly recommend that you buy it and read it if you have not done so already. Tony Morgan blogs at http://www.tonymorganlive.com. You can subscribe to his blog and stay on top of his thoughts on leadership and ministry. You can also follow Tony on Twitter by Clicking Here.

To purchase Killing Cockroaches on Amazon Click Here. Its also available on the Kindle. For a further review of the book Click Here.

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