4 things every 'non-church go-er' should know about going to church for Easter.

Easter Sunday, you go to church.  Everyone does. Even the person who hates church will suck it up for one hour on Easter Sunday. Its just what we do. I think it shows that America still cares about Jesus, even when we pretend not to. 

If you are one of those rare birds who avoid church on Easter, I totally understand.  However, there is no football, everyones March Madness bracket is completely ruined, so what else are you going to be doing...?

From a youth pastor to all you who aren't regular attendee's, you should know a couple of things...

(Note, I use "we" a lot like. I simply mean, we who regularly choose to hang out at church)


1. We couldn't be more excited that you came today!
            Everything we do, comes down to you.
 From planning songs, to sending out cards in the mail, and making sure that we have interactive messages and worship, to free coffee in the lobby. 
The countless hours and volunteers spent prepping what goes on the screens during the service and how to take care of the little children... 
Its all about you.  
If there is anything we can do in order to explain who Jesus is and what He did, we will.  
It's because we believe in Gospel, we believe in transforming lives. Not because we think we know better, but simple because, we have all been in a season of life that we needed someone to come along side us and say, 'no matter what is going on in your life, Jesus will always Love you, and I Love you too. Welcome to our broken community.'



2. We don't care about your money.
          Yes, we pass around offering baskets. Truth of the matter is it takes money to keep the lights on.  It takes money to involve the community. It takes money to run youth programs, and children's programs, etc.  But if you are just going to Easter service to please your mom or grandma and wanting to get out as soon as possible to go home for easter dinner, pass the bucket! God has all the money in the world. I'm not worried about it. Thank you for joining us today as we celebrate Jesus!


3. Ask.
        You have heard it before: There are no dumb questions.
        This is especially true in a church. Ask someone, ask anyone.
 "Where do I sit?" "Do I keep my kids with me?" "Why is it dark when there is music?" "Are we suppose to stand when we sing?"   
        Truth be told, Christians do a lot of weird things that we don't realize are weird. So, if/when something seems, uuhhh, weird, it probably is. Don't be afraid to ask the people around you.



4. Consider coming back.
          That's the goal we have here today.  We want you to know Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, and if you're anything like me, it takes some time and guidance to understand what that means. So, next week, clear your schedule, we would love to see you again!

26 lessons I've learned in my 26 years of life.

Here's a few things that I have learned over the last 26 years. Just a thought.



1. Find your passion, stick to it.
       Already I've seen a lot of my friends doing jobs that they hate. Find your passion, stick with it. Don't worry about money, worry about people. Money is soooooooo temporary.

2. Grow up.
       Easily the biggest thing. Grow up.  I remember sitting by a fire in California on my SR. trip after high school. My youth leader said "Grow up, most people don't learn to." I never believed it. As I'm entering my 26th year, all I can say is, grow up. Clearly I need to too.

3. Get married.
       I have a lot of friends on both sides. Married and non-married. I'm sure both work out great depending on the person, but I'll stick to the 'get married' side.  I value marriage and suggest that others do to. You really can't understand it until you do it.

4. You're selfish.
       Always have been. Probably always will be. Its just the world we grow up in. I'm a selfish jerk, and so are you. Lets take small steps to change that, daily.

5. Avoid debt.
      As soon as you jump into debt, your options are limited. If you want a new car, great! You are probably at a point where you can afford monthly payments. But is it really worth it?  Every month you have to pay $400 just to drive to work and then when something goes wrong, which it will, you pay another $800-1,000 to fix it. What's wrong with a cheaper car that will just 'get you there'?

6. Drop the drama, seriously.
      I can't even believe how much drama there still is! "He said, she said" nonsense. Look, if someone is REALLY talking behind your back, just ask! We aren't in high school anymore, popularity isn't a problem. Don't let it be.

7. Find Jesus Christ.
      I would have made it #1, but #7 is even better, as its the number of perfection!  I constantly ask myself, 'how do people make it through life without Jesus?'   If you haven't yet, consider jumping into a church or bible study.  I've got a few in mind if you need a recommendation.

8. Pour into the next generation.
     On that note, volunteer, or something. Do something to the teens of today to help set them in the 'right path.'  Remember being 12 years old and looking up to someone a little bit older thinking 'one day, I'll be just like them...' Now is your chance, and that window is small.  Take a night of the week and hang out with some teens.

9. Prioritize.
      God. Family. Friends. Its basic and we have all heard it before. Now is the time to take action with this. Where your time and money go, is where your heart is.

10.  Make a memory.
        Not like 'I'll get drunk and go to Red Rocks' kind of memory, that was for college.  Instead, go do something. In other words: turn off Netflix.

11. Saving is cool.
        Have a savings account. It doesn't have to be big, but if something goes wrong, lets make sure we can handle it.

12.  Move on!
       I just heard this story from someone in my church about guy named Jed. In high school He played on the basketball team every year, but never put up big numbers. During his senior year someone from the rival team completely stuffed his shot and yelled "I'll always take you down!" 15 years later, Jed was training for an up coming community adult league. His goal was to shut down that player from 15 years ago. When the game came where his team was to face his rival, his rival didn't show up. He felt like he had wasted the last 15 years training for that one game only to have it fall through.  Jed left the gym disappointed.     Drop it. It was a high school competition.

13. Health Matters.
         What you put in your body seriously effects how you feel, look, act, and live. Most of you reading this are much better at this than I am.  I went through a 'weight loss journey' for about 8 months and lost something like 50 pounds. Keeping it off is even harder, but absolutely worth it.

14. Know Your Identity.
         We generally think something like "Middle school is when I really had an identity crisis..."  That doesn't change. In today's world, we have to continue to find our identity.  Every season of life, our identity has the opportunity to change, if you let it. Becoming a husband, becoming a father, no longer defined by our 'sport', being a good employee, being a good employer... We could go on for days.

15. Travel.
        If you haven't yet, do it.  Its amazing to talk to people who have lived in the same place their whole lives. Go somewhere, meet people, hear how they view the world. I guarantee it will change the way you view the world.  I don't just mean take a trip to vegas. Go spend a couple months in another part of the world. Do it now, or you never will.

16. Listen.
        On that note.  Learn how to listen, don't just wait for your turn to talk.  This is something our entire society is missing. Listen to others. Other people matter.

17. Take interest in others.
      To take it a step further, take interest in other people. Their lives, hobbies, pains, joys, family, fun, friends... You'll make more friends in 2 months if you take an interest in other, than you ever could in 2 years!

18. Be willing to be a Jerk.
       I mean, you don't have to be mean, or rude even, but be willing to come off as a jerk. When you hear that someone is talking badly about you, just confront them.  My pastor says the easiest way to do this is start the conversation with; "Help me to understand...."  Its a hard 10 second, but its worth it. Confront someone and say; "Help me understand something, I heard you said some mean things about me, is that true? Can I do anything to clear this up?"

19. Communicate.
        Communication is quickly becoming a lost art.  I like texting more than the next guy, but make sure you know what you are saying over text.  Choose words wisely. What you say, and how you say is, are very important.

20. Love.
       Everyone. Everything. Every moment of life. Live it. Love it. Life is beautiful if you let it be.  Love the people around you. Stop constantly looking for something better.

21. Failing to plan, is planning to fail.
        I'm in youth ministry, I live in the "fly by the seat of my pants" daily. Come to find out, if you don't plan things out, you'll fail. Over prepare, then go with the flow.

22. Happiness is up to you.
        No one else is in charge of your happiness. Not your mom, grandma, daughter, husband, wife, friends etc. Your happiness comes from you. Choose Joy.

23. Envy is a waste of time.
        You already have all you need. Don't worry about getting things. Be happy with what you've got! The rest of the world would be more than jealous of what you have, probably even kill for it.

24. Small steps.
        When in doubt, take small steps. Keep moving forward. It's amazing how small steps today can bring huge results tomorrow.

25. Laugh.
        Laugh at yourself, at TV shows, with your friends, during dinner, during movies, while driving, while in the bathroom, while at work.  Laugh. Don't take life so seriously you can't laugh!

26. Forgive.
        Life is too short to hold grudges and hate. Forgive the people that were mean to you, or did something to you. Forgive them and move on.

Kill, Steal, and Destroy

This morning I was reading through my bible and had a random thought I wanted to share.  

I listen to a lot of podcasts and so I can't quite say this is my original thought or not (now that I'm typing it, I think I first heard it from TD Jakes) 

We know that "The thief's purpose is to steal and kill and destroy..." (John 10:10) and if you go just a few pages to the left we find a story that proves this happening.  Matthew 8:28-33 is a well known story.

Jesus gets off the boat in the region of the Gadarenes, and suddenly two men approach him.

Stop right there: This was pretty normal. Jesus was becoming well known and people would constantly approach him and ask for healing or just want to listen to what he was going to say.  But these guys were different.  I can only imagine they were speaking in a voice that didn't sound human but comes from science fiction movies. 

They are demon possessed and are instantly scared of Jesus. 

After begging Jesus not to hurt them, Jesus sends them into the pigs.  As the story goes, the pigs instantly jump off a hill cliff and die.

You see, the pigs didn't have any power against the demons. So as soon as the demons entered into the pigs, they did exactly what they have been trying to do the whole time they possessed the men. Kill. 

I think we often forget. The enemy is constantly trying to kill, steal, and destroy us. 

As it says in my favorite Batman movie, "Some men just want to watch the world burn."

Here Am I. Send Me!

Have you ever seen Fury? Its an amazing movie about a group of guys who are in a tank in the second World War.  Check it out if you get a chance.

The amazing part of this movie is that during the filming, one of the actors became a Christian. 

Simply put, Shia Labeouf said that he couldn't just read the bible and pray in a fake way as the script called for his character to do.  But God touched him.

What a beautiful sense of the Holy Spirit.

As you all know, I've been a youth pastor for a couple of years now, and whats amazing to me is people constantly think I'm doing good things, and working for the Lord.  

But I do nothing at all! 

It is only through the power of the Holy Spirit that people come to Christ, and as we see in Shia's case, you don't need a pastor, or youth pastor, or mentor, or priest to lead you to Christ.  Just open your Bible. Talk to Him. He is begging you too. 

I am Nothing. He is everything.




I can't help but think of this scene over and over and over: Here Am I. Send Me!


More on Isaiah 6:8-9 soon. 
Chained To Him. 

4 Rules to Increase Your Visibility via Social Media

Now, the key is to get the attention of the SEO's (Search Engine Optimization, here is a great beginners guide).  Which means we want our pages to be Relevant and Popular.


I run social media for my church. I wanted to do this to the best of my ability, so after months of talking to people, reading blogs, looking up research, and taking advantage of every resource I possibly could, I put everything together to the use of social media in 4 simple rules.



1 - Consistency is King

Post. Like. Update. Blog. Write. Check-in. Respond. Regularly.  But no more than once per day.


2 - Link Everything

Everything needs to be linked to each other in order to grab the SEO's attention and create traffic to and from webpage to webpage.  So link everything.  Blog to Twitter, Twitter to Facebook, Facebook to blog, Facebook to Instagram. Link everything. 


3 - Quality Over Quantity

The old tried and true rule. Make sure that whatever you post is of the highest quality.  If its a picture, make sure its not blurry and its grainy.  If its a blog check for spelling errors (I know, I should take my own advice seriously!). Whatever it is. Quality speaks wonders. 


4 - Protect Yourself

The last thing you want for yourself or your business is to have a negative user experience (UX), or get a bad reputation from a review.  Make sure that you are posting things you are allowed to post!  For example, if you are posting pictures of kids at VBS, make sure you get the parents permission or at the very least, inform the parents of this possibility before posting it online.  Give the parents an opportunity to opt out before your splatter pictures of their kids online. (I'm saying this from experience!)








Above all else, remember these 3 goals.

Create Community. Maintain Relationships. Communicate Vision. 

5 Things I Regret Making Fun of Newlyweds For

1. Going to Bed Early
         I never thought I would understand the need to go to sleep before 11 o'clock, let alone 9 o'clock! But, as I've now been married for a little over 2 months, I start seeing myself going to sleep at the 9:00pm hour! What a weird-o!


2. Never Leaving Home
        I think the biggest reason, for me at least, is that I no longer have to feel like I have to  'do something awesome' every night. Like beating a level on Call Of Duty, or seeing as many friends as I can, or accomplishing some unknown task. No longer do I need to fill this void of presenting myself as 'cool.' Instead, the only place I want to be on a typical night, is with my wife. Curling up in a nice warm bed.


3. Rarely Being Alone

The "other person" is always there. Now that I'm in this same boat. It's Awesome.

4. Being Back Before S/He Gets Off Work
Who doesn't want to come home to a clean apartment with candles and something fresh cooked. I try, as often as I can, to setup the same thing for my wife just as she does for me.


5. Gaining A Couple Pounds
  "Couples who have been married for two years or longer are more likely to gain weight than their single counterparts..." Straight from livestong.com (Here). I'm quickly falling into this fact.

Titanic! The Desire For Desperation.

               Like most of you, I don't dream.

                    Well thats not true, according to many studies including this one, everyone dreams.
That being said, I don't remember my dreams.

            Last night, I remembered my dream. I was on Titanic hanging out with Leonardo DiCaprio, we were watching Kate Winslet go on her very tippy-tip toes on the dance floor. I look around and see everyone enjoying themselves. Looking to a hopeful future. Enjoying life assuming tomorrow was going to be more of the same.

The next thing I remember was running around the ship trying to find a lifeboat, of which there were only 16, and as we all know, they just take up deck space anyway.

            But I wasn't concerned with trying to find a boat for myself, but instead I was trying to find people and talk to them, knowing that they are all going to die (except the 700 that made it in a lifeboat), I had to speak to them, for just one second. I had one message that I said over and over and over; "Do you know Jesus Christ?"

            I was in an alarmed state. Trying to get everyone, every single person, to understand the gospel. This was their last chance, their only chance. To know Him.

            What if we lived life like this? Knowing that there is a chance every single person you meet needs to know the creator before its to late. The culture is continuing to sink, there is no time left, life can be over in seconds, there is a huge sense of urgency for spreading the good news of the gospel.

          The dream continues...

          The people who quickly accept Christ join me, grabbing people who are crying and hysterical, forcing Jesus upon them knowing that in the end those who accept this message will be eternally grateful.

          I stopped. Things go in slow motion for the next scene.  Laying next to Jack and Rose as we look into the inevitable fact that we are all going down. I look around and see hundreds of people drowning. People I didn't talk to sooner. People I didn't reach out to. People I didn't even try to shake hands with. I recognize some from the earlier dance floor. I had the time to talk to them, I was just too scared, and now its too late.

It felt like the last scene in Schindler's List.

I never want to end my life having this sense of regret. Knowing I could have done more.
                         I hope you feel the same.

Lord Jesus,
      I pray that you give us a desire for desperation. A deep sense of urgency. A passion to share the wonderful news of Jesus Christ and the cross before its too late. Help us to step out of fear and step into love, for sharing your gospel is the most loving thing a person can do.
                                                                                               Amen