The Tattered Hat

Check out this video that I saw on Facebook.
"Fail Us Not" music video

Well time is winding down and it is almost time for Rach and I to meet little paul. Rach's due date is Aug 31st! Its been kind of a crazy summer. The youth mission trip to Fort Wayne, IND to work with Refugee's from Burma went well. Sam P. was able to experience the joy of sharing Jesus with a little boy and the little boy asked Jesus into his life. It was so awesome to see God at work! As for me I'm gearing up for the fall kick off and little paul's world premiere.

I came across this quote in a book that I'm reading.

It is a good rule, after reading a new book,
never to allow yourself another new one
till you have read an old one in between.
C. S. Lewis

Besides the Bible I don't think that I really have ever re-read a book in its entirety. Maybe I should try this out...It will probably help me cut back on the amount of money I spend on buying books:)

Anyone use this "rule"?

UPDATE: I think that I read this quote out of context and what is actually communicating is every time you read a recently published book it is good to go back and read a classic "old" book. I probably should do that too:)
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A. C. Dixon said,
When we depend upon organizations, we get what organizations can do; when we depend upon education, we get what education can do; when we depend upon man, we get what man can do; but when we depend upon prayer, we get what God can do.

Piper, J. (2002). Brothers, we are not professionals : A plea to pastors for radical ministry (56). Nashville, Tenn.: Broadman & Holman Publishers.

Who are you depending upon? John 15:5 ?

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Not sure that this will happen any time soon but what happens when you combine the Wii, Playstation, Eye Toy, and 360 together...Well this is what you would get!

Don't hold your breath but this would be cool.

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Pretty sick. Don't try this at home kids.

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Rach and I are heading off to Corpus Christ TX. Trying to sneak in one last vacation before little paul joins th fam. Looking forward to it..but not the 4am start time:)

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I got to get me one of these! I came across this link from Mark Matlock's twitter.
Any thoughts about this? Please share.

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I finished reading Sustainable Youth Ministry by Mark DeVries. I think it is a must read for anyone in youth ministry. Its crazy to think that I graduated MBI 7 years ago! I found a lot of good reminders in this book. I feel that DeVries also provides a lot of good insights into the church and youth ministry world. Right now their is a lot of talk about youth ministry not being effective. DeVries points out that has a lot to do with un-realistic expectations put on the shoulders of one person. DeVries also points out that we also set ourselves up for failure because a lot of us do youth ministry moment by moment. We don't take time to really figure out what we are doing. We just try and stay a float. I must admit reading through this book brought up so challenging things to consider. This book will cause you to evaluate the ministry your involved in. This book can also be overwhelming. I don't necessarily agree with everything but I believe this is a great tool and helps you to look at what you are doing and what is expected of you in a constructive way. Check it out.

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I finished reading two books about the church. Vintage Church and On Church Leadership (Book You'll Actually Read). The reason you'll actually read On Church Leadership is because its only 94 pages! Mark Driscoll takes a look at what the Bible tells us about church leadership. Mark also share from his experience from planting Mars Hill Church. I thought it was a good study and would be helpful for anyone that is involved in a local church.

Vintage Church also was a good read with good insights about truth, methods, and the mission of the church. This book is a little bit of a heavier read. I think Mark Driscoll does a great job studying the word and applying it biblically in our world. I have enjoyed thinking and studying what God wants to do through His church.

The question that I keep asking myself is what things do we need to evaluate and change to be local church that God wants us to be?

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Fund Hazing is the title of the Article on p.64 of the May/June 2009 Youth Worker Jouranl. This article is written by Steve Argue. I thought that this was a great article to really make you think about how you do fundrasing in youth ministry. You need to ask this question about your fundrasing method, what are you teaching the youth with this method?

Are youth ministries teaching and encouraging consumerism with their methods of fundrasing? I would encourage you if you are envolved in youth ministry to read this article.

On a side note I remember the first time I crossed paths with Steve Argue. I was doing a youth internship at a church and we took the youth to SEMP. Steve was one of the instructers at SEMP. It was neat to read an article by him in Youth Worker Journal.

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Mark 12:30-31 Luke 6:27


Jedidiah Community: Erin Lyde from Jedidiah Clothing on Vimeo.

How can you live out Jesus' words today?

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April 26th the youth at Oak Lawn Bible Church are going to be hosting a dinner and running the evening service. The youth have been working hard the last few weeks getting ready for it. Now its crunch time and things are startin to come together. I pray that adults will come out and be encouraged and encourage the youth and that Jesus will be glorified. I'm excited to see what God is going to do through this.

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The Mythic Map Pack comes with 3 new maps. I've been playing on them for a couple of days now and figured I would review them. Assembly is a pretty fun map. It remindes me of a few other Halo maps mashed together. The maps that it reminds me of are Foundation(H2), Midship(H2),and Wizard(H1)/Warlock(H2). I think this is a pretty fun map. I've had some fun Slayer games on it. Assembly gets a thumbs up from me. Orbital is another one of the new maps. This map is interesting. It pretty much a few halls ways that snake around. I do not like this map. Maybe it will grow on me but I give it a thumbs down. The last map of the pack is Sandbox. This map is great for capture the flag. Its a pretty big map. And if you like to build maps Bungie included a "basement" and the "sky" to let your creative map juices run wild. I give this map a thumbs up.

Game on!
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Rach had her 1st ultrasound today. It looks like we will be having a BOY! I will post pics once I get it all scanned in.

I have been enjoying the ministry that Mark Driscoll has over the last several months. I have visited the Mars Hill Church website, listen to podcasts, and follow Mark Driscoll on twitter. So a few weeks ago I decided to purchase a copy of Vintage Church by Mark Driscoll & Gerry Breshears. I'm excited to spend some time in this book and spend time thinking about the church.

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I have recently purchased the Logos Bible Software for my laptop. One of the features in this program is to set-up a Bible reading plan. So I decided that I should read through the whole Bible. I haven't done this since my MBI days.

I finished Exodus the other day. As I was reading through it I was really glad that I wasn't alive during this time. Just imagine what it would be like in the tabernacle. The sights, sounds, and smells....I'm pretty sure I would pass out. I'm in Leviticus right now which continues to talk about the sacrifical system. I wonder why God had them put some of the blood on the priests toe? Leviticus 8:23

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I finished reading this book last week. It was a great read and had lots of valuable nuggets in it. A lot of 20 somethings seem to be missing in church. Lost and Found looks at this trend and offers research to help us understand what the 20 somethings believe. The first few chapters have lots of numbers and stats. The rest of the book helps you understand the stats and trends and looks at a few churchs that are sucessfully reaching out to this group.

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This is the all-night teen outreach event that we take part in every year. This year it was March 21 & 22. Our youth did a great job of inviting friends this year. We were also able to give a discount because of a generous donation we received. We also were able to rent a school bus which was so awesome and made things so much easier. The speaker that was suppose to give the Gospel presentation never made it but Bill stepped up and did a great job. Thank you Lord for working through Bill to share you good news with the teens. There was many who stood to accepted God's free gift of salvation that night as well as those wanting to get back on track. I'm thankful that God allowed me to be apart of His work through this event. Please pray for those that stood. Pray that they would connect with others to help them grow in their faith and stand by them through the difficult times.

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ImNotBuyingIt.com Video from Granger Community on Vimeo.

What do you think? Are these numbers right? Do you think we are going to end up like the Roman Empire? What can we do?

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I just finished reading this book by Jarrett Stevens. I loved it. It was a nice refreshing look at how we think about God and who God really is. Its a pretty easy read yet insightful.

For more info click here.

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Just finished reading this book I got for Christmas. It was a great read and it really unpacked the parable of the Prodigal Son. Timothy Keller points out that this parable has to do with the Eldest just as much as it does with the younger. One of the things I am always worried about is becoming a Pharisee. This book talks about what the Heart of the Christian Faith is all about. I encourage you to check it out.


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Killer Prayer Tips from Igniter Media on Vimeo.


Johnny and Chachi strike again!

After I finish the 4 other books that are half done maybe I'll have to check out this one.
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We aren't designed to operate on a weekly worship cycle...but on a moment by moment connection of personal worship that's as much a part of our lives as the air we breathe. Louie Giglio Wired (Student edition of The Air I Breathe)

Got this from Josh's morethandodgeball.com. Ah the Life of working with youth!
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Unless there is a God by whom "right" and "wrong" can be reliably assessed, moral judgments can be no more than opinion, influenced by upbringing, training, and propaganda. J.B. Phillips

Have you thought about why you give lately?
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According to Eph 4:12, the spiritual leaders in the church are supposed to equip the members to do the work of the ministry. In most churches, the members pay the leaders to do the work of the ministry; and the leaders cannot do it all. Consequently, the work begins to weaken and die, and everybody blames the preacher.
(from The Bible Exposition Commentary. Copyright © 1989 by Chariot Victor Publishing, and imprint of Cook Communication Ministries. All rights reserved. Used by permission.) Reference to 1 Thessalonians 5:14-16

I wonder how many people think this way? Do most people think its the paid workers job, I shouldn't have to do this?

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I finally finshed this book...It brought up some great points for Christian to digest and evaluate what we are doing. Are we really acting like Jesus? What comes to your mind when you hear the word Christian? I would encourage you read this book.

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"Pastor Mark Driscoll addresses the topic of the ‘emerging church’ in his sermon answering the question, "What can traditional/established churches learn from “emerging” churches?" This is the eighth sermon in a nine week series, Religion Saves and 9 Other Misconceptions." From Mars Hill Church

This Sermon is about and hour and has a lot to think about. How can your Church bring glory to God?

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"True(ish)" 30s promo - LifeChurch.tv from Bryan Clark on Vimeo.

Pilate "What is truth?" many are still struggling with the answer to this question. Where do you line up?

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Life's for Sharing....What are you sharing?

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Time to pull out the old razor...scooter...you remember that fad.

REviseddd TPC part from matt mckeen on Vimeo.

pretty sick! I found this clip on the already been chewed blog.
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Funny reminder about prayer request!

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Yes I need to go to MDA!

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This wasn't the first time we got stuck. I'm just glad that Kaleb was able to capture this part of our trip so we can remember it for years to come...I'm hoping to get a highlight video together myself but that won't be for a while.

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Just got back from our first Dr visit. Seems like a pretty good Dr. He was highly recommended. Very friendly. The adventure in Daddy hood is getting more real.

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This website is sweet. Buy T-shirts and play a game. Learned about this from the Already Been Chewed.

Check it out the Website.

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