A lot of us have great ideas and great suggestions, but when faced against opposition, we tend to fall.We get scared, we get embarassed, we don’t think we are good enough, we don’t think it’s possible – and the list goes on and on.

Starting a new segment to this blog called #praytogether and it could be possibly something great – as long as I (we) am (are) passionate about it.

Sometimes passion leads to an intense reponse…

If you can’t see the video, then click here.

I wonder what it would be like to have people you don’t know…..may never know….may never even meet… praying for you. To know that somewhere in this (or your) state, in this (or your) country, in this world – someone is lifting you up. It’s kind of a humbling thought. It’s apart of this “togetherness” as one body.

I want this post to be a place where we can lift each other up. Pray for one another. Dish out things that need to be prayed for. Maybe something you have been holding back. Maybe something you have been holding in. Maybe something that you have been holding on to. Something that’s tearing you apart that you just want to be lifted up.

Maybe your going through a tough financial place and you need prayer.

Maybe you are going through divorce/relationship problems and you need prayer.

Maybe it’s something that you are afraid to tell someone and you need prayer.

Maybe it’s a need for a job.

Maybe it’s a tough decision you are trying to make.

Maybe it’s a need for strength.

Maybe it’s a need for a miracle.

Maybe it’s a need for God to intervene in your life.

Maybe….

Dish out something that you want to be lifted up! That you are thankful for. That you simply just want to celebrate.

God provided.

God supplied.

God answered.

God showed up.

Here’s what I’m asking:: Comment your prayer concerns/praises/etc. below. Pray for each other. Pray together.

Everyday Thursday we will meet together. Here. At this post. All day. And pray. We will pray via twitter (or if you don’t have twitter, still pray along!) with the hashtag #praytogether. Expand this presence among the twitter community. This can be unbelievably powerful.

-0r-

Reply to peoples comments by saying that your are praying for them.

The possibilities are endless.

Pick out prayer concerns that you read. It can be 1, 2, 3, 4….however many you want. And we are going to pray. Together. Don’t just pick the first ones you see but seek out ones that stick out to you. The list will grow as people begin to add concerns and praises to the comment section. You can re-post these to twitter using #praytogether. You can re-post these on your blog.

This could turn into a global awakening towards prayer.

This could be an incredible experience if we just take time to lift one another.

Imagine what God can do if we simply call upon him.

So start the prayers….NOW….and we will see you Thursdays!

One of the weirdest parts of living in todays culture is the amount of community that is created via online. One of the best communities that I’ve seen displayed online through a blog is at Carlos Whittakers blog at www.ragamuffinsoul.com. If you get a chance, swing by there and check it out. It’s awesome what is going on over there.

Other forms of community are established on Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Wordpress, Blogspot, etc. We have this internet 2.0 connection with each other that is unexplainable.I’ve seen people come to Freedom because they met someone via twitter that went to Freedom and they were invited over the internet.We have received messages on MySpace of people that found out from MySpace (which is never used anymore!) and have become involved within the life of Freedom Church. We have created Facebook Groups and Pages that have brought people to our church. It is incredible that you can create that type of community online.

That’s what I want to create here. Community. Where people can talk with each other. Express ideas. Give insight. Express opinion. Ask questions. Explore life. Together. Connect.

But even more, a community where we can take delight in God. Where we can pray for each other. Tell others what God is doing in Your life. Tell others what God is doing in your church. Tell others what God is doing in your city. In your state. In your country. In your world. You get my drift? – It’s about spreading His Kingdom, not ours.

Creating Community….

Expanding the body of Christ…

Do you want to be apart of it?

Life is definitely better together.

Change is scary.

Change is different.

Change is awkward.

Change is hard for some.

Change is easy for others.

Change is necessary.

We are in a growing society. Growing nation. Growing world. The things that were effective yesterday are no longer effective today. We are in a constant state of change.

Myspace to Facebook. CD’s to iPods. Desktops  to Laptops. Cell Phones to iPhones.

Change is constant.

If we don’t learn to embrace change at the rate that change takes place, then we are choosing to not embrace that which is necessary. The books of Acts is full of change. The church changing. The people changing. The culture changing. (all for the glory of God!)

Change is still around today (as it was then. and God is still calling us to this change) yet we seem to miss it and overlook it. We get comfortable. We lose insight. We forget to follow God.

We just recently changed our structure of student ministry here at Freedom. It isn’t conventional student ministry. It isn’t student ministry from 10 years ago. 5 years ago. 1 year ago. It’s different. New. Changed. Some people will dismiss it while others will embrace it.

Our desire as a staff at Freedom is to follow God’s heart and to change when called to change. To move when called to move. And that’s what we have done. We have changed.

I’m excited to see what God has in store. The student ministry isn’t about the production. It isn’t about the band. It isn’t about the music. It isn’t about the speaker. It’s about the heart. The heart of Freedom. The heart of God.

We’re all in this together. Changing. Moving.

Been listening to the new United album for the past few days as well as went to their concert last night.

All I can say about the new album is: WOW!

The music, writing, composition, passion, heart behind the project is phenomenal. I also love the fact that they are rising up a new generation with a new style and new heart towards this music. You can hear the new style in the way songs are written, the way they are sung, and the way they are played. The CD has “next generation” written all over it.

Here are a few thoughts from the CD (and concert) that I think all worship leaders should take into account::

1. it’s not about complexity but simplicity. some times as worship leaders we try to write, write, re-write, and then write some more. Rather than coming up with cool ways to say the same thing we have been saying for years, write simply from the heart. You can tell that these lyrics have that concept written all over it. The words are simple. The words are life-changing.

2. be worshippers, not leaders. i know that the title says “worship leaders” and I know some people change it to say “leaders of worship” but I say extract the idea of leading and engage with God, the creator, when you are playing. If you are worshiping, wholeheartedly, authentically, unashamed on-stage, then you will be ultimately leading the crowd through that engaging worship. Blake, the worship pastor at Freedom, has been breathing this verse’s life into us before every Sunday morning experience: “And when I am lifted up from the earth, all men will be drawn to me.” John 12:32 – in this regard lift up the name of Jesus and he will draw the people unto himself.

3. bring the kingdom of God here. this falls right in tune with the previous point. one of the pastors from Hillsong made this point last night and it has been stirring within me ever since. In the old testament the temple was used to contain the presence of God; a place where heaven and earth met. Christ was crucified. The veil was torn. God’s “presence” was released. When we accept Christ our body becomes a temple, a dwelling place for God on earth; we become the vessel between heaven and earth. We are the ones who are capable of bringing the Kingdom of God here – through the power of the Holy Spirit in us! Through your worship bring the Kingdom of God here!

Again, the CD is phenomenal and God-breathed. If you haven’t had a chance to purchase it,  jump on iTunes and spend the $10. You won’t be dissappointed.

Many Christian view  themselves to be self-righteous. It’s a sad falling that has stereo-typed the Christian faith. Many Christians sit on their throne, high and mighty. Condemning and extorting those who they view as futile to them. They bash the sinful, as they themselves stand sinful in nature. Christians take a shot at the unbelievers, condemning them to Hell for their mistakes, while Christians don’t have it all together.

We don’t reach out.

We don’t love.

For this, I would like to apologize. To those who are hurt. To those are hurting. To those that have been banished from a church. To those that have been judged by the “holy”. I want to apologize, on behalf of all Christians, to those who have been condemned. To those that have had religion shoved down their throat. To those that feel lost. To those that need comfort, yet find despair when they walk into a churches “open” doors. – For this I apologize.

But…

Hope is found.

Hope is available.

Hope is real.

“For in the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, ‘The righteous shall live by faith.’”
-Romans 1:17

We are all found righteous before a Holy God when we accept His Son. When we accept the resurrection. When we accept the salvation offered to us by a man who “For our sake he made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” – 2 Corinthians 5:21

Righteousness is offered. Righteousness is real. Not the fake righteousness that so  many Christians offer. But true righteousness, true purification, true humility, true love – through the power of the resurrection.

We can stand pure. We can stand holy. We can stand unashamed before the Throne of God because he offered His life for us to know Him. Amen.

Be broken for those who are hurting
And pour out love

Be broken for those who are weeping
And pour out comfort

Be broken for those who are lost
And pour out hope

Be broken for those who are weary
And pour out relief

Be broken for those who are broken
And pour out restoration

Be broken for those who are weak
And pour out strength

Be broken for those who are forsaken
And pour out redemption

Be broken for those who are hungry
And pour out relief

Be broken and pour out

“Whatever you do unto the least of these, you do unto me.” -Matthew 25:40

I think one of the ministerial misconceptions that we take into granite in ministry is how to increase our role. As pastors, musicians, ministers, preachers, teachers, etc. everyone wants to increase their role. If you are in ministry you want God to increase your role. Increase your capacity. Increase your influence. Increase your sustainability. You (we) want God to utilize us to do amazing things in His name.

side note: if you are in ministry and are reading this and this does not describe you, then you need to rethink why you are in ministry, because you may be hurting the Kingdom of God more than helping it.

But throughout our time in ministry we wan’t God to use us. So, for this to happen we do more of what we know. We pray more. We read the Bible more. We listen to more messages. We listen to more podcasts. We watch more sermons. We learn more chords. We do more to feed ourselves and grow ourselves larger.

Don’t get me wrong, all of these things are critical in ministry (refer back to this post). If you are preaching without truth (scripture) you are preaching opinion. If you are leading/living without direction (prayer) you are wandering in circles. – but one of the things that we miss as ministers of the gospel is this: to increase our role/capacity/influence we must decrease. To increase ourselves we must decrease ourselves.

Luke 9:23 spells it out and we miss it. BY A MILE. “Then he said to them all: ‘If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.’”

As one of the basic foundations that we preach on. That we teach on. That we believe. – we often overlook it when we are wanting God to use us to do incredible things.

So as you move forward. As your ministry increases. As your influence increases. As your capacity increases. I offer  this as a motivator. Continue to search His word. Continue to pray. Continue to learn. Continue to observe. Continue to listen. But as you move forward, continue to die to yourself daily so that He may increase in Your life, because if we you (we) don’t, then we are pushing our agenda and not His.

We had our last Generation of the 2008-2009 school year this past Sunday night – and I can tell you that it has been one absolutely amazing year. We’ve seen over 25 students come to know Christ, many of  them planning on getting baptized in June, and God has done a move in our ministry because of our cry of the Holy Spirit to move within Generation.

It has also been a year of learning…

I’m 20 years old. Going to be a junior at KSU in the fall. And I am the Student Pastor at Freedom Church. Many people can only handle one of those things at a time, but I’ve learned how to balance. How to manage. How to lead – with many faults and failures along the way.

But one thing that I have taken from this past year, that I want to relay to student pastors out there, is this…

I have found that if I am not spiritually, mentally, physically drained after preaching to student on a Generation night – then I was not adequately used by the spirit of God, I did not give enough of myself to be used, and I ultimately let my flesh and mind get in the way of God’s heart and will. – and this has been a learning process for me.

I’m subject to opinion – we  all are – but God’s word is not. It’s not about what we think, but rather, what is. For me, growing up, many preachers that I would hear would go around a point, or try and miss a critical  note in a sermon, to help from disatisfying the congregation – but what I have found is that by altering God’s truth, you are distasifying the Spirit and condeming your congregation. It has been a struggle for me, to hit on the hard stuff, because no one likes to hear it, no one likes to say it, but God ordained it, God placed it in the Bible, and thus it needs to be addressed.

So, as a follow up to my previous post, I urge you, student pastors, to preach truth and not opinion. To preach truth and not knowledge. To preach truth and not schooling. – God has placed it on the table for us  – through the means of His word – and it is up to us to preach it as is, unaltered, and unashamed.

Sometimes I get so caught up in what I “need” to preach to students and what I “want” to preach to students, that I often forget about the basic message of “why I preach to students.”

I think a lot of times, as Student Pastors, we forget about the basics. The foundations. The core essentials to our belief system. And we forget to dwell. meditate. pray. refresh our minds on these things.

I’m currently going “back to the basics” on my personal study of the Bible. Re-reading through James, Romans, the Gospels. Their is so much light within these books that my students need to hear that I sometimes overlook the basic foundations of what I need to be reading and what I need to be preaching:: Salvation. Even starting today, James 1:26-27 kicked me in the teeth.

So what do you preach?