Since there is NO youth ministry here at all, I am literally starting from the foundation, and that is just building relationships. There are great things in the works, but right now, I am simply focusing on getting to know the students that I have. Once I get in with them, I can start to build on that foundation.

I appreciate all of your continued prayers. The road ahead is a long one, and I know that I am still in the “honeymoon” phase so to speak. Everything right now is very optimistic and cheery, but I know that there is hard work to be done. So here we go!

For a little over a year, I have been looking for a full time pastoring position, with no success. There were opportunities here and there, but nothing definitive. I took call after call, interview after interview, and no real leads. But praise God, during all of this, I continued to trust that He would open the right door at the right time.

And open it He has. Just over a month ago, a pastor from Chico, Ca. called and wanted to setup an interview. I accepted the interview, and the ball started rolling.

The Interview. He wanted me to come up for a whole weekend to meet his family, attend a service and even speak at the evening service. This all came as a shock, as we had only talked on the phone twice before confirming an interview. When I arrived, he told me that he had talked to many of my references, and they all had great things to say about me (I paid them well). We talked about his vision for the church and youth ministry, my call to ministry and experience, giftings and ministry styles. On every item, we seemed to strike a chord with each other. It was awesome!

He did tell me that most of the church was older people, but since he has been there the church has seen a surge of younger families begin to attend. He went on to tell me that since he has been there, he has been promoting beginning a children’s ministry and youth ministry in order for the future of the church to be secured. This really resonated with me, as I really believe that a healthy church is one that ministers to the entire family.

After our lengthy meeting, we all went to lunch (myself, the pastor and his family). At lunch, I had a great time connecting with his three teenage kids and is wife. We all just really connected. It was great! After lunch, the pastor took me around Chico to give me a general idea of the area. For a city of just over 100,000, it felt very “right” for me.

The First Service. I attended the Sunday morning class and service the following day. The worship was mostly hymns (nothing wrong with those), but I still enjoyed it. Granted, a lot of change will have to happen in that service to attract younger families, but they are on their way to doing so. Praise God. To be perfectly honest, I was a little scared, as there really were a lot of older people in attendance. But I was encouraged as many of them came up to me after the service and told me that they knew they needed to bring in younger ministers to ensure the future of the church.

The In Between. We all went out to lunch again, and just had a great time. After lunch, the pastor and I returned to the church and I just spent time in prayer about the service that night (I was preaching) and about the overall opportunity. Part of my prayer was that if God really wanted me in Chico, then He was going to have to put Chico in my heart. After a while, the pastor came in and we just hung out in the office, checking out my Macbook (he had never seen a Mac before).

The Night Service. The pastor had pumped to the congregation that I was going to be speaking that night, so there was a pretty decent turnout at the night service. During the time of worship, it was even more “old school” as more hymns were sung, but there was a definite presence of God in that place. It was during this time that I got on my knees and just worshiped God, and He began to put Chico in my heart.

Moments before I got up to speak, God gave me a prophetic word for the church, which I spoke over them just before I spoke. I then spoke on two types of Christians; those that seek God for His “presence” and those that seek after His “presents.” It was a great word that even melted my own heart. Afterward, the presence of God was all over the people, and many just worshiped Him. It was amazing!

Afterward. After the service, the pastor was very open to the idea of bringing me on, and after much prayer and counsel, I really feel that this is the next step for me in God’s plan. A week later, I accepted the position.

Now, I need to get a few things in order here, and then get ready to move! So that is it! God is definitely a good God!

To put it simply…I have become busy yet again. April saw a lot of time working on a new site for Pastor Connie, and beginning development on Pastor Berteau’s new website. Both of those have become major projects in themselves.

Gladly, I have finished Knowing the Word’s website AND store. I am very happy with the way they turned out. I admit, I didn’t design them from the ground up. Instead I used WordPress for the main site, since the focus is a radio program with regular updates and with added plugins, I also gave it audio playback and podcasting support. The store was created using the open source shopping cart, oscommerce because of it’s ease of setup and use.

I have been helping Matt get ready for the missions trip to Nicaragua, which they are currently on as I write this. That was definitely a blast, even though I didn’t go this year on the trip. This is the first time I haven’t gone on a missions trip when I was around at the inception of it’s planning. I wish I could have gone, but alas I could not.

The reason is that for almost a year now, I have been looking for a full time youth pastoring job. I had a few openings that I interviewed with. Some in person, some over the phone. But so far, nothing has come about, other than waiting. It’s one of the hardest things having to wait for someone else to get the ball rolling once you go through an interview. But God knows what He is doing and will put me in the right place at the right time. Of that I have no doubts.

In a nutshell, there is the last 3 months. At least the important stuff.

After writing the discussion on repentance, a lot of things got turning in my mind. We look at repentance as this great condemning thing. We think of judgment, death, guilt, shame, etc. But that is quite the opposite of what it really is. Repentance is the door to freedom in Christ. Only the power of Christ can set us free and make us holy and wholly like Him. But we can only gain access to that power through repentance.

Now, repentance is not that time you came to an altar and asked for forgiveness only to go back to those things that you supposedly repented of the very next day. On the contrary, true repentance causes a revolution to take place in your life. If we continue to live as before, then we must question our salvation and question our repentance. True repentance will cause deep change to take place in our lives.

As I got to the end of writing, this part of it really nailed me.

We aren’t ruthless with sin! Many “Christians” spend half of their time sinning, and the other half of their time repenting of that sin! This should not be so. Sin defiles and destroys, it pollutes and poisons, curses and corrupts. Yet we think it’s sweet! We tolerate it because of the temporary benefits it gives us.

The problem is superficial repentance. We repent with our lips, but our heart still longs for the things that sin gives us. We really aren’t free because we really don’t want to be. We still maintain the possibility of committing that same sin. But God will never remove the guilt as long as we continue to entertain the sin. It is deep folly to desire that God forgive us of something that we intend to commit. The Lord is looking at the heart and is more concerned with how we respond to temptation today than with what we promise to do with the temptation tomorrow.

Ouch. God, may I always be a person of deep repentance like David, that repented not because he was wrong, but because it hurt you and put a wedge in the relationship.

Manifestations of the Holy Spirit
Spiritual Giftings List

A very dear friend of mine got me thinking about coffee from a new perspective: Christianity. We as Christians are not unlike coffee. Some people like it, some don’t. Some people like us, some don’t. Coffee has a very distinct flavor. It’s usually noticed right away. So is Christianity. There is an aroma to coffee. There is an aroma to Christians.

But what separates good coffee from bad? The same things that separate good Christians from bad. Or should I say true Christians from those that aren’t? How about the saints from the ain’ts? There are several things that make good coffee, each one discussed in recurring devotionals.

1. It must be fresh daily.

Coffee is the best when it’s fresh! People enjoy fresh coffee! Coffee is so gross when it is old. Day old coffee is…disgusting. Now, I’m a little crazy, and will drink cold coffee. When I get Starbucks, it will take me all morning just about to finish it. And I tell you from experience that while I still drink it, the fresh stuff is way better. Also, the beans that you use are best made right after they have been ground for maximum freshness. It doesn’t get any fresher than that right there.

16 These are the Lord’s instructions: “Each household should gather as much as it needs. Pick up two quarts for each person in your tent.” 17 So the people of Israel did as they were told. Some gathered a lot, some only a little. 18 But when they measured it out, everyone had just enough. Those who gathered a lot had nothing left over, and those who gathered only a little had enough. Each family had just what it needed. 19 Then Moses told them, “Do not keep any of it until morning.” 20 But some of them didn’t listen and kept some of it until morning. But by then it was full of maggots and had a terrible smell.
Exodus 16.16-20

This is a great story about keeping it fresh. God hooked up daily. Some people didn’t listen and tried to have some for the next day. They tried to use yesterday’s food for today. And God clearly did not have that in mind. When they tried to eat yesterday’s food, it was rotten! God never intended for them to save it! He had fresh stuff for them the next day!

Our relationship with God must also be fresh daily. We can’t live on yesterday’s word. It has to be fresh, or it gets bitter, like old coffee. We have to keep ourselves in God’s Word on a regular basis if we want to stay healthy as a Christian. God is always ready to teach us, to cause us to grow, but we must be in His Word and in prayer on a regular basis, or we start to lose our flavor. Just as making coffee becomes part of the daily things of life, make time with God and His word part of your daily activities. Keep yourself in His word regularly.

Grow daily or die gradually.

The family is much more personal with me than they are with even some of their friends. I see all sides of the family: the good, the bad, and everything in between. I know who these people are because I live with them. I have access to things in the home that not everyone does. I can get into the fridge without asking. I can even store my own personal items in the fridge and pantry. I became the family roommate.

I heard Pastor Matt say in a recent altar call, “If you want to go to heaven, you have to ask Jesus to come and live in your heart.” This is very true, and that phrase got me thinking about roommates. When people ask Jesus to come into their lives, they are in essence asking Him to move in with them, not unlike a roommate.

God is always at work in us. We must allow Him to “move in” to our lives. We must give him access to even the very private things in our lives. The deepest, darkest areas that visitors don’t have access to, must be accessible by Him. We have to open ourselves to Him and let Him work His will in us. He must literally “live” with us.

Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.
Revelation 3.20

How sad would it be if the day I moved into the family’s home, they said to me, “Oh, we were just kidding. You can’t live here?” and they kicked me out? How would that make me feel? Probably betrayed and abandoned. The sad part is, many people do this to Jesus. They ask Him to move in, and then kick Him out the very next day. They do this by the way that they live. They respond to a moving altar call and ask Jesus to come in and forgive them and live inside of them, but the very next day they go back to the way they used to live. When a roommate moves in, things change. But if we ask Jesus to come in and we aren’t changed…then we have only asked him to spend the night. The last time I checked, lives were changed when Jesus moved in.

“Revival is an encounter with God the Holy One, disclosed and made known. Revival removes the veil and makes things clear. Revival is stark and absolute, uncovering the nature of man and revealing the glory of God. In the end, it boils down to this: Do we really want God to live in our midst?” – Dr. Michael L Brown

We must be prepared for God to move in. I encourage you today, don’t ask Jesus to move in, and make Him live somewhere else.

I only covered the first 1.5 chapters of the book for the discussion, and it was a heavy one. I knew based on my study and writing the teaching that it would be a heavy one that required the presence of God. I know I needed him for a few reasons. First, the things I wrote were strongly convicting me, and I knew that God needed to do some work on me first. I also knew that a word like this one really needed God’s touch on it, otherwise it could come off as a bashing message. I desperately wanted God to show up and do something. And show up He did.

But before I get there, I’ll highlight parts of the discussion. One of the things that really struck me was the opening line. “We don’t know much about the gospel.” We went on to talk about how we SAY that we know our friends and neighbors are going to hell, but how much does that really weigh on our hearts and minds? For most, probably not much. We are too concerned with what we see that what is unseen is of little concern when it really comes down to it. We don’t want to be inconvenienced, so we don’t step out. “The church today is not fully experiencing what Jesus died for and not becoming what he prayed for.”

I gave an analogy of a family that has an abundance of food every meal in a land of severe famine. The starving people around would KNOW that you had food, and would not hesitate chasing you down asking for some nourishment. Then I asked why people aren’t running to the church or to us begging us to show them the way to Life. That was something that none of them (including me) had pondered. Why isn’t the world knocking down the doors of the church trying to get in?

We say we want God to move, we have prayer meetings dedicated to God bringing revival. But do we REALLY understand what that truly means? Often, we don’t, or we would pray differently. If we REALLY understood what it is we are praying for, our prayers would change dramatically. God wants to pour out His Spirit, but for the sake of the saints, He can’t. I sincerely believe with all of my heart that if God poured out His Spirit like in Acts, many in the church would fall over dead, literally. I know those are bold words, but I truly believe them.

In Acts, the whole book is dedicated to what the Holy Spirit did through the men and women of God immediately following Christ’s ascension. Tremendous salvations, awesome miracles, incredible healings and deliverances all took place in the book of Acts. Peter preached his first message, and 3,000 people got saved. People were being added to the church daily. Peter would walk, and his shadow would fall on some, and they would get healed. Paul, one of the greatest persecutors of the church has a radical conversion, and sees incredible miracles take place in his ministry. God is moving.

But severe judgment also took place in Acts. Ananias and Sapphira told a lie to the people of God, and God struck them down. God was seriously moving in ways that we can only imagine today. But judgment was also falling in ways that we only read about. The reason I believe that a move of God that we WANT to happen would kill people in the church is because it did in the past. People took the things of God lightly, and God destroyed them.

God MUST show Himself to be holy. Whether that means through our obedience to His will, or through our punishment of disobedience, God WILL show Himself to be holy to the world. For those in disobedience, He will give a “grace period,’ but that only lasts for so long before it becomes about His name and not you anymore. And that is when the judgment comes. And today, most of the church is in disobedience. But God in His infinite wisdom, spares us severe judgment as in the days of old by simply holding back the outpouring that WE claim we so desperately want.

After the discussion, I posed the question, “Are you willing to do what it takes to really see God move? Judgment begins in the house of God.” I told them to find a place and just figure out if you are willing to do your part in that move by surrendering COMPLETELY to Him and walking in His ways, with the UTMOST integrity. I got on my knees and thanked God for speaking through me, and then prayed that I would let God do in me what He always wanted to do, but couldn’t because I was in the way. After, I glanced around to see many of the college students weeping before the Lord, just letting Him get in and do some rearranging in their lives. God showed up and really moved on some people. It was awesome, thank you Lord!

But it doesn’t stop by simply asking, “What is the wise thing to do?” There is so much more to consider. Simply asking the question may not immediately reveal the answer. If we are not trained to think wisely and make wise decisions, we can still be decieved by the answer that we come up with. The question must then be run through some filters that will help clear the fog of uncertainty away. I’m sure there are many filters, but we talked about 4 in particular.

1. My Future. Hopefully everyone has goals and plans for their life. Hopefully those plans and goals are part of God’s plan for our lives. If they aren’t, well, that is another topic in itself. It’s easy for us to get sidetracked by things that we think are good decisions but lead us farther away from our destiny. But if we take our options, and ask it like this: “In light of my future and where God wants me to be, what is the wise thing to do?” in other words, is this choice going to cause me to linger or launch toward my destiny? Will this choice help me reach the future that God has for me?

A great example of this is a dating relationship. I know of far too many people that get into a relationship with someone because they are attractive, or maybe they have a great personality. But very few people look through the lens of the future when it comes to a dating relationship. Rarely is the question asked, “Will this person help me get to my God-given destiny?” Instead, we look simply at the here and now, and ask, “Can I be happy right now? Even if it’s just for a moment?” Sadly, that type of thinking stems from something very deep, and is a topic for another day. If we focus on what is ahead, and make decisions toward that mark, we will find that less time is wasted cleaning up messes that we made and more time is spent on running towards our goal.

2. My Failures. Everyone has areas where they have failed. Areas where they simply cannot keep it together, and they make mistakes. Areas where they consistently make mistakes in. It could be sin, it could be stupidity. Hopefully, we are aware of those areas, and can put up safeguards to ensure that we don’t fall in them again. Once again, the question applies beautfully here by saying, “In light of my failures, what is the wise thing to do?” If one of our options causes us to entertain an area of personal weakness, it should be avoided at all costs. When we ask this question, the answer once again becomes very clear what we should do. If what I am doing is going to cause me to flirt with the weak areas of my life, then I shouldn’t do it.

An example of this would be drinking. I don’t want to get into the symantics of drinking and what the Bible says. I have seen alcoholism destroy far too many people’s lives, so I choose the side of avoidance. But someone that gets saved that has a history of drinking should not be around other people that are continuing such behavior. I believe strongly in the power of God, but I also believe strongly in the power of poor choices and influences. Continuing to be around the thing that once bound us is a fool’s choice.

3. My Integrity. Sorry, I couldn’t think of one that started with an “F.” Our integrity, our character, who we are, is perhaps the most important thing that we have. I submit that it’s even greater than our salvation. Before stones are thrown at me, let me say it this way. We can be saved, and mess up, and God in his grace forgives us. But we can be saved, mess up, and man may not forgive us. We can do irreparable damage to people and taint their view of God by doig something that destroys our integrity. Granted, our integrity stems out of our relationship with God. I live in holiness because it pleases the heart of God. True integrity comes from a heart that says, “I want to be like Christ.” That is where true character lies, in becoming like Christ.

So then the question becomes, “In light of my character and who Christ is making me, what is the wise thing to do?” Will this choice puncture or propel my character? Will this enhance who I am? Will this lead me into the character of God?

4. My Followers. This one kind of goes with number 3, but I wanted to mention is separately. John Maxwell said that even the most introverted person will influence over 10,000 people in their lifetime. That blows me away. There is always someone that is looking up to you, whether you are making wise choices or not. No matter what you are doing in life, SOMEONE is following you. I have heard it said that you will teach what you know, but you will impart who you are. This involves character (number 3) as well as the followers. Someone is following me, so I must make wise choices for their benefit as well as my own. So the questions becomes, “In light of those that follow me, what is the wise thing to do?”

My choices will affect those that follow me, whether I know they are following or not. I am called to be like Christ, and my actions should exhibit that. Pastor Bret Allen once said, “If I have a bad day, a student could have a bad life.” What this means is that I can have a bad day, but I should handle it the way Christ would. This ensures that I take nothing out on a student, and that they always see the attitude of Christ.

So the last thing I wrote about was about making another switch. Things are still progressing towards that, but I don’t want to divulge any details until they become solid.

Christmas time was great! I spent the 6 days off that I had with my family, and it was a great time! I thoroughly enjoyed it (although for about half of that time, we were at either my aunt or my sister’s house). I spent some time with my dad, which is always a treat. We played some Xbox, talked about games and movies and computer stuff (typical). For gifts, I got a lot of clothes. I learned a long time ago that my family doesn’t quite get me, and never knows what to get me for Christmas or birthday. So I started making a list and emailing it out, figuring that would make things easier on them. Less stress.

New Years came and went, pretty non-eventful for me. I actually did nothing. It was relaxing.

Switch started back up, with Jeff and Tracee at the reins, and I am no longer involved. I hear it’s going well, some changes were made that suit Jeff and Tracee more, and that is great! I love to hear that a ministry is still moving without me. It tells me that I built it right, and that my heart is right as well. It isn’t MY ministry, it never was. It is God’s ministry, and He gives and takes as He sees fit. It is simply my job to obey. Thank you Jesus!

Last weekend, I was in San Jose for the annual Youth Worker’s Congress. It was an awesome time of teaching, relaxing, and having fun. Tim Cravens came with us to eat on Thursday night at the Cheesecake Factory, and had our intern girls laughing amazingly hard (not that I wasn’t laughing as well). At the Congress, we got a special hour+ of mentorship time with Pastor Bret Allen, and it was tremendous! I love that guy. He has inspired and motivated me in so many ways, it’s incredible. Thank God for men like Pastor Bret.

That about sums up the highlights! I have nothing more to say!