I’ve finally gotten out of my office and found a Coffee House in Deland that has so far decent coffee and free wifi. Oh, I long for a close Volcano’s Coffee Bar in Deland. But this place is nice, to much table seating in uncomfortable chairs and just a few older couches. I think you can judge a place by their espresso and Boston Gourmet Coffee has ok cappuccino. Most people I’ve talked with talked with about this place talk about ice coffee drinks and snicker doodle like drinks, maybe they are good but its cold out side and I’ve always been more of a coffee of the day guy. Anyways, I’m excited. I can come down here and work, read, dream, hangout and use their free Wifi.

Marko has a post about a MTVU.com site called Darfur is Dying. Its a game that raises awareness about the situation in Darfur. Now its a basic game starting off with selecting a character to go out away from the refuge camp to get clean water while looking out for Janjaweed fighters. It broke my heart just doing that. We have to be aware of the genocide that IS going on in Darfur and support groups like Save Darfur and others and use our voice to tell members of Congress and the President that more needs to be done to stop the genocide. We have to learn the lesson from WWII that bad things happen even when people, especially those in power say there not. We cannot wait for people of power to move we have to do it. We have a voice, we have power when we come together and use that voice together. Raise up and do something for the people of Darfur.

Matthew 25:34-40 (ESV) Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’

[tags]Darfur, Genocide, Save Darfur[/tags]

I try not to put up links to other guys blog posts but Dave Ferguson wrote a great post worth checking out about tag a long leadership. You’ll be surprised about what lessons people pick up about the leadership while just hanging out with you.

The Lessons of Tag A Long Leadership

We’re still settling in here in DeLand. Getting more familiar with the area and were stuff is. It’s been a busy week we’re in goal and budget setting at church piled on top of that was a Florida Christian Youth Convention meeting on Thursday and I’m headed back to Ocala to help my mom work on her addition on Saturday.

On a cool bit of news that Elders at church have given me permission and the funds to begin to finish some A/V projects in the Children’s and Youth Ministry from last year so I got to go buy some gear and plan out some future buys that hopefully complete our A/V set up in Children’s Church and in the Youth building for our Sunday night worship. If you are with in 50 to 100 miles of Orlando and need a good solid music store that is not going to cheat you and will work with you to get you want and especially as a church call the guys over at Garden Music Center in Winter Garden, FL at (407) 654-5277 or visit their website. They were a big help to and have a heart for ministry and God’s kingdom so make sure to check them out when you’re in need.

I really feel God leading me towards a year of outreach with my new youth ministry. I’m thinking I’m going to call it Outward (still working through the name and art work) a year focused on evangelism and service. I have been trying to build a list of ideas for both. The service end tends to be easier for me with ideas leading towards Habitat for Humanity, a program in DeLand called Feed the Hungry, working with some underprivileged kids in conjunction with Salt Springs Christian Church and some others but I have always struggled with evangelism. I’m not a evangelism program kind of person. I like friendship evangelism and evangelizing people you are building relationships with. I loved the The Coffeehouse Gospel. But I know that emphasis needs to be put on it in forms of teaching and… that’s where I’m at a lost. My youth sponsors and I are getting together on Wednesday night to do hang out, get to know each other, do some goal setting and brainstorm ideas (but yours are also coveted) so we will see where we end up, some cool places I hope. Anyways sit tight and I’ll do some more posting about what’s to come with Outward and the ministry as a whole as it comes out.

I could hear them flying by my head. Thinking it was finally clear I got to my feet and turned going up this small hill when I could feel it. At point blank range I had been hit. Three shots very quickly, one to the head, one to the right arm and one to the right thigh. On the ground I lie in pain. Looking at my wounds I could see the blood.

What amount or level of pain and discomfort are you willing to take for ministry?

Bruce Chant has talked about it before and Ben Arment recently posted about the discomfort they are going through at their church. And this last weekend I finally got to feel it for myself as we went out Saturday morning and had a great time doing hanging out with a bunch of guys playing paintball. The story above is true, I was hit by a sniper rifle at about 5 feet. The hit to my arm broke the skin a little and it bleed some. I have already talked a little with some of the guys here at our church about starting a guys group called Fight Club (thanks Bruce) where we are going to get together, hang out, talk about being guys and being Christians and also planning some regular activities like paintball, camping, guys movie nights, sporting events. But in all this thinking about guys I thought about having a group like this one just for girls. I want to call it Superchick. I love that band and all the great messages they singing about for girls and I know they need a group that focuses on being girls and being Christians also. So we are starting both groups here the next few months as I pull together the details.

Take the time to evaluate your ministry. Are you offering anything that supports that God given gender differences and how that fits into their walk with God? Or are you neutering the sexes and offering everyone all the same things expecting them to pick apart the stuff that is for guys from the girls.

I have been wanting to right a few posts and get back into the habit of posting daily but I’m not there yet. So I’m going to give you the concise version of what’s going through my head.

I bought LA Symphony’s new CD, Disappear Here on itunes a while back and I love it. So many great tracks that hit home and speak to me. The music is great, well layered tracks and intelligent and uplifting lyrics that line them in my mind up with Mars Ill, Deep Space 5, and John Reuben’s newest Boy vs. the Cynic. Make sure to check them out and even if you’re not a huge hip hop fans.

Watch Adam Sander’s new flick, Click. That’s not supposed to rhyme. I’ll admit it has some sketchy spots that aren’t meant for children but the message to the move is great. I used it last Sunday as an illustration talking about looking back at last year or yesterday wishing you could take back the decisions that you had made in life and where you might not be able to take back the past you can make changes today and change your future.

I’ve got a few creations that I want to share with the world at large I just need to touch them up and take off my markings so you can use them for your church or whatever.

We’ve begun the process of unpacking all of our belongings at our new place. We’ve been so squished for the last 6 months this place seems so big. I’ve started unpacking my office. I have been cataloging my books in Delicious Library. I knew I had quite a few books but input over 200 in the last 2 days. I want to get everything set up in a way that will be useful and helpful for getting things done. Speaking of GTD, I need to refresh my mind of the all the principles over the next few days so I can set up the system and work flow. I have been filling my inbox as I go through boxes and I know I need to set up filling and labeling. Enough GTD. I’m really excited about this new ministry. I know that God is moving here and I want to tap into it and figure out how I can serve the Kingdom best and minister to those He puts in my path.

I was reading the letters to the 7 churches in Revelations a couple of days ago and other than the unfruitful habits and sins that the churches were letting be a part of their fellowship one thing really stuck out at me and I am making my prayer as I start this new ministry. Jesus says, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”