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

3 Thoughts on Cell Phones in Church

Couple Cell Phone Statistics before we being:

• Average number of texts sent by an American Teen each month: 3,339 Texts (566% increase in two years)
• 42% of teens say they can text message blindfolded
• Texting is the number 2 use of cellphones (Checking the time is #1)
• (2014) Americans spent about $42.8 million on mobile devices
• (2015), should be close to $1.8 BILLION.

*Information provided by: www.onlineitdegree.com

Consider 1 of the 3 "solutions"
      1. Tell everyone to turn them off as soon as they sit down.
      2. Accept everyone and allow them to do what they want. Let people be responsible.
      3. Jump into the hipster/techie movement and make cell phones part of the service.

There is no best answer, but I side with 3.

Use them to your advantage.

      One of the coolest churches I've been to put their notes on a free bible app. I download them every time. You can even comment which is amazing because then you can interact with other church attendees! And hey, that creates really cool conversations and interactions. Another church encourages members to take pictures of/in the service and post them online hoping this can be a non-threatening way of inviting friends.

People really take notes on them: I know, its crazy.
      During any given service, I'm jumping between my 'notes' app and my 'bible' app as well as looking up things I didn't quite understand. This is much easier than trying to have a desk of books and journals and a pen. Its just like when I sit in class, I have my laptop out trying to retain all the information I can.

Still, Students want structure.

       I use to be very relaxed when it came to cell phones during small group. And students would pull them out at times, probably texting each other. One of the students blurted out "Can't you guys put your phones away for just a few minutes!" Then the group asked for a box. Heck, they even made the box. Now we have a box that we can just throw all of our phones in.

5 things I learned from my wedding

1. You might feel like a jerk, but you aren't a jerk.

Its just not possible to get to everyone. I think I got to about 70% and I was really trying my hardest to spend time with all of the guests. Bride and groom have a lot going on the day of. Pictures, vows, signing the license, toasts, throwing flowers, garter, dances, oh and getting hitched. Just know from the beginning, its not possible to get around to everyone beyond a simple "Hello" and "Thank you for coming." We felt bad, but trust me, people understand.

2. Realize that you probably won't get a chance to see these same people again.

For me, its rare that I see most of my family. We are all spread out! So the next time you see Uncle Nathan or Auntie Carol or your great Aunt Ida might not be in such a happy and positive way. Its very possible that the next time you are all together is at a funeral. So enjoy this time together.

3. Most of the stuff we think matters, doesn't matter at all.

Aside from the basics like flowers, colors, song choices, decorations, tables, tablecloths, chairs, rentals, DJ, dance floors, etc. The stuff that happens at the wedding, who's doing what, where people are suppose to be when, who signs the guest list, who gets the right picture. These thing just don't matter. They can even be considered a distraction from what really matters, that is, to bring glory to God by joining two souls together. Forever. And funny things that happen, which most would consider a mistake, are what make it memorable. Like the bridesmaid forgetting to bring the grooms ring. That one ends up funny. Oh and make sure to watch the faces of the people in the crowd as soon as the pastor says it!

4. Slow down. In everything.

Take your time. Remember. You only do this once. Even when it comes to cutting the cake together, its kind of awkward because everyone is watching and trying to take pictures and you are just thinking, "Just put some delicious cake in my mouth!" or "Take me away from here!" But take the time to be cheesy and cut it together. Pose for the extra picture that Grandma is trying to take with a phone she doesn't know how to use. And Laugh. A lot.

5. The wedding is simply a day.

The rest is now. And I couldn't be more excited. But if you spend all your time, effort, and talents getting ready for the wedding, you are going to miss a beautiful part of what a marriage is. Forget the wedding. Elope. Make it simple. Keep it small. Preserve the intimate moments. Average wedding is above $30,000. That's stupid. No other way to put it. What are you going to spend $30,000 on?! Flowers dipped in Gold!? Weddings are beautiful, but lets not spend a down payment on a house for a party.



*Photo Credit: Laura Moll