Teenage Love Promo/ T-Pain's got nothing on me :)

Teenage Love Promo from People's Church on Vimeo.

Things You May Not Know About Me Pt. 2

Things You May Not Know About Me Pt. 1

Update and Randomness

Cram Night Recap

Maker of Heaven

Cram Night Tomorrow!!!

Epic Update - Momentum

Grateful with special guest Jace!!!

Weekend Recap and More

Blood Is Thicker Than Water

I Wish I Could Go Back

Random Thoughts

School Lunches

Wednesday Night Recap

My first but certainly not my last video blog

A Lesson from Mac Users

This week I'm switching from a PC to a Mac. It's been interesting because almost every Mac user swears it's like the the best decision I could have ever made in life barely finishing in 2nd behind accepting Jesus Christ as my savior, lol. On the other hand not one PC supporter was even close to being as adamant about how amazing PC's are. Just by asking a few people it was unanimous "switch to mac!!!" while all the PC supporters where kind of ho hum or all they did was talk about how Mac's are over priced which led to me to believe if they had enough money they would get a Mac. They were supporters and it wasn't a big deal but the Mac people were supporters and it was a big deal. After talking to Mac users I felt compelled to switch to Mac and I would be making a huge mistake if I didn't! On a spiritual note, if we were as excited about sharing with people how amazing Jesus is as Mac users are sharing how amazing Mac's are, how many more people would feel compelled to turn to Christ like I did to going with the Mac? From our excitement and passion for Christ how many would feel like they would be making a huge mistake if they didn't give there heart to Jesus Christ? That they would be missing out on an amazing, life changing experience? I don't ever want to be ho hum about Jesus so my goal is to be like a Mac user when I'm sharing and talking about Jesus!

New Jr. High Experience

On August 16, 2009 we started a brand new Jr. High Experience during our Adults Experience at 10:30 am in our new Jr. High Room. Our first experience I was hoping for 40-50 students and we had 62 our first week and 67 yesterday!!! We've also seen over 20 students commit their lives to Christ in the last two weeks. Thank You Jesus!!! The Jr. High Experience has been a huge success and a great opportunity for our jr. high students to connect with each other, worship together and learn about God together. The messages are catered to them and I have a group of amazing leaders to love on them and serve them. This new experience has also allowed us to use Wednesday to do a High School Experience and Jr. High Small Groups. I'm loving the way we are doing student ministry and so thankful for Pastor Herbert's vision and support to reach this generation. This is a very exciting time at Epic Student Ministries.

Epic was Awesome Tonight

Tonight we launched our High School Experience and Jr. High Small groups and they went great. We had 73 high school students and 50 jr. high. The students loved the new game room and I heard many positive comments from parents and leaders. One parent told me her son hates coming to church and bible study and he absolutley loved Epic and will be back. We also had 3 salvations. I'm excited for the changed lives and the future of Epic. Between our new jr. high experience and Wed night we are now reaching over 180 students!!!! Thank you Jesus and it's only the beginning of the school year. Next week we are looking to hit over 200 students and in the next few weeks we may have to start a 2nd Jr. High Experience on Sunday morning. Whoohoo!!!!!!! I love my job and so thankful I get to do this for a living. It can be tough at times but it is also very rewarding!

Huge Week!!!

A lot of changes are happening this week and all of them are so we can reach more students who are far from God in OKC. Our new youth room is finished and because of that here are a few transitions we are making that will allow us to be more effective:

1. This past Sunday we launched our first ever Jr. High Experience at 10:30 am in our new jr. high room. I was praying for 40-50 students and we had 62, thank you Jesus! The room was packed and I know this new experience is gonna allow us to reach many more Jr. High students. We will probably have to rock two experiences soon. This is exciting stuff.

2. Tomorrow night we launch our high school experience, previously we had high school and jr. high in the same experience on Wed night and our room was getting full but now we will be able to fill it with all high school students. I'm praying for a huge turn out and love the fact I get to preach to high school and jr. highers on their level. Again we are trying to reach every student in OKC that needs Jesus.

3. Tommorrow night we will also be launching our 68 teams which is our new jr. high small groups. With our new facility we are able to have two rooms, one for high school and one for jr. high. The 68 teams will feature fellowship, games and a discussion. This will be a great opportunity to disciple jr. high students. All of these transitions are very exciting and again they will allow us to reach many more students that are far from God.

4. Every Wednesday night our jr. high room will be changed into a game room. It features 12 game systems, a ping pong table, air hockey table, bistro tables and couches. This will be a huge tool to help us reach students and make a difference in OKC.

I love being a part of a church whose focus is those who are far from God, we are doing everything we can to reach one more student and some more pieces were put into place this week. This is a HUGE week for Epic and this is going to be a very exciting fall.

What's been going on?

Man I haven't blogged in a week so here is an update of all that has been going on and maybe a little insight to my lack of blogging:

1. Most of my time has been focused on starting a brand new Jr. High Ministry for People's Church. This includes a new experience on Sundays at 10:30 am in our new Jr. High Room that starts this Sunday, Aug. 16th and a new small groups ministry called 68 teams on Wednesday night that starts Aug. 19th. With these two new ministries I have been building leadership teams, a worship team and working out a lot of details. I'm super pumped for our new jr. high ministry.

2. Speaking of our new jr. high room I have been doing a lot of ordering, researching prices, hitting up craig's list and setting up new equipment. This has also kept me busy and is very exciting!!! Currently our new stage was built last Saturday by some great guys from People's Church, we have a ping pong table, air hockey table and today set up eight 37 inch flat screen tv's on stands and set up new game systems. Yeah! We are going all out for our students and to reach many more students! We are only about 70% finished setting up the room but it will be 100% done for our jr. high students this Sunday at 10:30 at People's Church.

3. I also had the priveledge of speaking at People's Church this past Sunday. I love preaching and am honored every time I get a chance to speak on Sunday's. I'm definitely more nervous but I do enjoy it. This last sermon I probably used one of the best illustrations I have ever used in a sermon. To sum it up we can't carry the cross if our arms (lives) are filled with other stuff. We must pick up the cross first (put Christ first) and then whatever else we can pick up, we pick up, but the cross always comes first. Check it out on www.peopleschurch.tv.

That's it for now, it's been busy but fun. I love what I do and wouldn't trade my job for the world. We are going to reach tons of students for Christ and this has been a very exciting season of ministry! The most exciting part is the best has yet to come!!!

Epic Summer Retreat

Last week was our Epic Summer Retreat and it was amazing. There were 3 things I really loved about the retreat:

1. The retreat was free. During these tough economic times I'm glad we were able to bless our church families. It also allowed us to have a lot of students participate. We had 122 students attend the retreat and Wednesday night we allowed regular Epic attendees to come and we had 171 students! We have some huge momentum right now and it's only gonna get better!

2. The retreat was at People's Church. Every night service was in our youth room which gave the 40-50% of students who don't attend Epic and great taste of what we do on Wednesday night. I expect to see most of them back this Wednesday! They also were exposed to 100% of People's Church. I have taken students to camps with multiple churches and some of the times kids will make new friends and hang with them the whole time and never build relationships with students from their church. At our retreat every student had community with our leaders, our students, our pastor and our church which gives us a much better chance to retain students after the retreat.

3. We had 3 different speakers. I'm a huge fan of this because of the diversity, variety and each night brings something new. Our speakers were Pastor Herbert, my friend Andy Estrella and myself. I think we all did a great job and the students responded to every message in the altars. It was amazing! The best part was whether it was the 1st night or the 3rd night every student responded to an altar time, God touched lives in a powerful way and the best is yet to come.

Tomorrow I will share some more about our summer retreat.

Testimony, with God all things are possible!

Today my grandma went in for her follow up appointment for the cancer she had in her sinus cavity. Her last appointment the cancer had shrunk enough that it should not bother her anymore but she still may need to have surgery to remove it. Well today she found out the cancer has shrunk even more and next month they are going to remove it through her nose and she's not even gonna be put to sleep. Previously they were going to have to go through her skull, which is a major surgery that may cause her to lose her eye or vision, now she is going for out patient surgery and it will be gone. Thanks You Jesus!!!!!!!! With God all things are possible, He's still doing miracles. If your struggling or have a loved one that is don't lose hope! God is able!

Tomorrow I will blog about our Epic Summer Retreat which is also a huge testimony.

Wednesday Recap

Here are some highlights from my day:

1. Today I started purchasing items for our student ministry and new jr. high room. This is very exciting and I can't wait for it to all be purchased and put together. Our students are going to love it and these resources will help us reach many more students for Christ. On a side note I love being apart of a church that is willing to invest in the next generation. Get ready students, the best has yet to come!!!

2. Today was the end of our Intense Discipleship Training and I think this 6 week program has been a complete success. We averaged about 15 students per week and it's been a huge blessing. I want to thank Eric Luciano, Andy Wynn, Vernon Deas, Everett Jackson and Shelby Johnson for speaking at our IDT's. We celebrated the completion of the program with a little pizza party too. I've very proud of these students. We will definitely do this program again next year and take it to another level.

3. Out of our IDT we are starting a time for prayer every Wednesday night from 6:00-6:20. Students make sure your hear for a powerful time of prayer and parents help the students get here. God is changing lives and the last 6 weeks of prayer I know have made a big difference.

4. We had a great night at Epic too. Over 100 students and 7 salvations. The best part was most of the students handed me their salvation cards. I love this part because I get to encourage the students and follow up with them about the decision they made. We also gave away some t-shirts, the new Exodus CD and started our new checkin system. The checkin worked pretty well and it was great to see all the students with name tags, it helped me with names.

5. After service I went to Chili's with some students. I love hanging out with students outside of Wed. night. This doesn't always happen but when it does it's fun. They made me feel old but we had lots of laughs.

6. I didn't do a recap last week but I have to share this. Last week for the first time at Epic we had a rap in the middle of our worship set. Tony Lesure one of our leaders wrote a rap to the song Hosanna. Him and the band did great with flowing from the song to the rap back into the song. We have been talking for a few months about doing this and it went way better then I expected and I expected it to go good. They did great! We will continue to do this to add some hip hop flavor to our worship. The best part for me was we put the words on the screen and I got to rap with him. I was flowin, it was awesome!!!!

Bad Habit

Today I saw a gut wrenching story about a man whose 6 year old son was killed by a driver who wasn't paying attention to the road because they were texting. After watching I instantly felt convicted because I have the bad habit of texting and even checking email while I'm driving on my iPhone. A month ago or so I stopped for a few days because I watched the movie Seven Pounds but it didn't last long. As I dig deeper the whole reason for texting or checking email while I'm driving is because of a lack of patience. If I think of something I want to text or check, or get a text I have to respond or do it right away instead of waitng til I get to a destination or at least a red light or if Jamie is in the car have her send the text or email. Hmm let's see isn't patience one of the fruits of the spirit, ding, ding, ding yes it is. Self Control is one too. Holy Spirit help me to have self control and patience when it comes to texting and driving. This is a bad habit and for me it must stop. As some good preachers have mentionend I will no longer be "textually active" while driving. In all seriousness, I would hate to cause a crash, death or lose someone I love over a text message. I'm going to end this bad habit and I hope you will consider it too.

Weekend Update

1. Our AC went out Saturday and our house was a little hot, hot, hot. Thank God the evenings were cool or I probably would have gotten no sleep. I don't know about you but I can not sleep when I'm hot.

2. Yesterday was our Grand Opening at People's Church and it went awesome. We had 3 great experiences and Jamie and I are so blessed to be apart of People's Church. It was an awesome experience for us so I can't imagine what it felt like for Pastor Herbert and Brian Rush, our Programing Director, who have been here from the start.

3. During worship, the group Exodus did a hip hop routine to the song, God Of This City. They did great and I thought it was very worshipful.

4. Saturday morning I ran some errands and was right next to the bank that got robbed. It seems like bank robberies happen regularly in OKC, it's weird.

5. We hit the redbox up twice this weekend, u just can't beat a $1 movie rental. Sorry Blockbuster.

6. All in all it was a relaxing weekend even though it was a little stuffy. If you are wondering we got our AC fixed today, thank you Jesus!

Would have been drunk

Ten years ago on a Friday night I was usually at a party getting drunk doing who knows what. Ten years later it's Friday night and I cooked my son dinner (it was a pizza but I still cooked it :D), I took him on a walk in our neighborhood, read him 3 books and prayed with him before he went to bed and am now going to snuggle on the couch with my beautiful wife of 5 amazing years and watch a movie. Thank you Jesus for saving me! I would have none of this without you. I don't have all the answers about life or even about God but what I do know for sure is I once was blind but now I see and it's all because of Jesus Christ saving me.

Minor Changes

Since having Jace minor things have changed in my life, one minor thing is my excitement about the Holidays specifically the 4th of July. For whatever reason going to see fireworks on the 4th has never been something I looked forward to. I appreciate the 4th for the freedom we have in America and because of our service men or women but never cared for the fireworks. With this being Jace's first 4th, we went to fireworks and seeing Jace enjoy the fireworks brought a new joy that I have never had on the 4th. I left thinking I can't wait til next year! It's funny how family can change you and how you can love someone so much you find joy in their joy. By myself I could careless about fireworks, but with Jace and Jamie I love the fireworks! I will try my hardest to be a dad and husband who does things that bring my family joy even though they don't personally bring me joy because if my family is happy I know I will be happy.

Yankees Hat

If you think I'm forcing my son to wear his Yankees hat you are incorrect. Jace loves wearing his hat and every time he sees it he puts it on. He loves it so much he actually slept with it last night. If you try to take it off, he reaches for it and says hat, hat, hat until you give it back to him and then he puts it right back on. He also tried to store food in it too, he loves his hat! Here's a pick of Jace in his Yankees hat.

Wednesday Night Recap

Here are a few highlights from Wed. Night:

1. We are looking at the life of Elijah. Last night I preached a message called Divine Appointments where I talked about how God creates divine appointments, we should be ready for them and he creates them so lives will be changed.

2. 15 students had a divine appointment last night to give their life to Jesus and did!!! I love seeing students commit their life to Christ!

3. Our intelligent lights and fog machine were back into effect and it really helped our atmosphere. We have been without these resources for 2 1/2 months and it was nice to have them back. I'm very thankful for the resources we have and they are helping us reach more and more students!

4. We also had an intense game of volleyball last night, the team I joined lost but it was all good, we had a lot of fun.

5. We introduced a new song called Overcome by the Desperation Band during worship and it went very well. "We have overcome by the blood of the lamb and word of our testimony."

6. We had an amazing summer attendance of 118 students, normally summer's are slow but we have seen growth even with a lot of students gone on vacation and camps. This is huge and is preparing us for an explosive fall. I can't wait!

7. Thank you Jesus for all you are doing at Epic Student Ministries.

First 4th of July in OKC

Last year Jamie and I were visiting family in Indianapolis on the 4th of July so this was our first 4th in OKC. It was also Jace's first 4th of July. We went to fireworks on the 3rd instead of the 4th because the fireworks shoot off around 10 pm which is way past Jace's bedtime and we have to be at the church early on Sunday. So Friday we went to see the fireworks in Yukon and we loved it. The celebration was very family friendly, not crowded, the weather was beautiful and the fireworks were awesome. The fireworks show also had good music and they lasted over 20 minutes, we were very impressed. As for Jace, he was afraid of the fireworks at first and held onto me and Jamie but as they kept going he warmed up to them. By the end of the night he was pointing at the fireworks and saying Whoa! It was a blast and we will definitely go back to Yukon next year.

Wednesday Night Recap

Last night God was really working on the hearts of our students. I preached a message on staying focused and that we avoid being prideful and careless by keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus. After the message we had about 20-30 students stay and pursue God. It was a special moment and amazing to watch God heal and set students free from their struggles. It was a very powerful time of prayer and worship. We also had 11 students commit their lives to Christ! Thank you Jesus for all you did and are doing in the lives of our students. Continue to mold and shape them into the men and women of God you desire them to be. Amen.

We shot a 67

Yesterday I played in a best ball tournament and I did......very well! I did not think any of my balls would get used and that I would do horrible. We actually used a decent amount of my balls and I putted extremely well. It felt good to contribute and I feel like I played very well. My driving still stinks but the rest of my game was pretty good. I know you are thinking my teammates must have been terrible but two of them played in high school. The biggest victory was I did not get upset, I left the course feeling good and I got a little tan. Matter of fact I left feeling so good I might have to play golf a few more times this year. I think all I need is a new driver to take my game to the next level :). I was also nervous about how my back would do and it feels great! Thank you Jesus!

The Driving Range

Sunday night I went a hit some golf balls to prepare for a best ball tournament I was going to be in. This is the first time I hit a golf ball in over a year and it was frustrating. Golf is the one game that frustrates the mess out of me. I actually quit playing golf for a period of time because I would get so mad playing that I wanted to scream bad words and I would leave the golf course ticked off. At that point I realized it's time to take a break. The Bible says if your hand causes you to sin cut it off, well golf was causing me to sin so I cut it off! I also saved myself about 20-30 dollars a round :). Is golfing a sin, no way, my reaction to golf was sinful and so it had to be sliced and diced! Tomorrow I will blog about how I did in the tournament, pray for me!

We're Family

We had staff retreat this week and it was a blast! The food was amazing, the lake was beautiful, the pool was refreshing but nothing was better then the fellowship. We have a ton of fun at staff retreat but my favorite part is connecting and hanging out with my fellow coworkers at People's Church and their families. I work with some amazing people who know how to work hard and play hard. Jamie and I really feel like we are apart of family and even though we have only been here a year and a half, it feels like we've known these people forever. Having a great work atmosphere and feeling apart of a family really makes ministry so much more enjoyable! As Pastor Herbert says "We're Famillllleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey!!!"

Six Flags Over Texas

Last Thursday we took over 40 students and 8 leaders to Six Flags Over Texas. The trip was a blast and we had zero issues, thank you Jesus. There were no lines so we got on every ride we wanted as many times as we wanted. I think I rode the Titan 7 times and once I even rode in the first car. I never do that because I hate to wait in lines and the first car line is always longer then the others. The park was so empty we even walked right on to the first car line, whoohoo! I have to say my favorite ride was the Mr. Freeze, I was talking to Jesus the whole way up and definitely on the way back which was backwards!!! Speaking of Mr. Freeze we could have used him because it was scorching hot that day. I know why Texas has the phrase "don't mess with Texas" because if you do you will get burned. My head is peeling as I speak from the sun burn. All in all, the students had a blast and that always makes the trip a success. I also have to say a big thank you to my adult leaders who went, they were a huge help. See you again next year Six Flags!

Wednesday Night Recap

We had another great night at Epic, here are a few highlights:

1. It was soo hot outside none of our kids hung outside the church before service. That was a first! I believe it was 100 degrees.

2. We showed a powerful testimony of a student who thought she couldn't save her purity til marriage and had very low self esteem before she came to Epic, she shared that after our sex series she realized with God's help she can and will save herself till marriage and God has given her much more self confidence. It was powerful testimony and I was blessed to hear it. Thank you Jesus for life change.

3. Daniel Green has been hooking us up with some great videos. I really appreciate the work he has done.

4. 10 student's made decisions for Christ, thank you Jesus!!!

5. Tonight I shared a message about hearing from God. I shared 3 truths: God is not a God of confusion, God gives confirmation and we can hear God by being close to God.

6. Callie Wood, one of our interns did a great job leading the song Came To My Rescue.

7. After service we finally had our 3 on 3 champs vs Epic leaders game. The Epic leaders won 10-7, I had 4 points which is pretty good since I haven't played bball in a few years but having 6'10 Derek Colvin on my team was definitely the key to our win.

8. I'm am out of my mind excited about what God is doing at Epic Student Ministries, we are growing and seeing lots of life change. God is good!!!

A Lesson from the Deadliest Catch

I'm watching the Deadliest Catch where the deck hands have been breaking ice for four hours. They have to do this because as the ice builds it can add 30 tons of weight to their ship which will make it top heavy, cause it to cap size and then dump the men in the freezing Bering Sea and kill them. Breaking the ice is time consuming and hard work, but it must be done to protect the boat and everyone on it. It makes me wonder is there anything in my life weighing me down that needs to be broken off. Whether it's sin, stress or bad time management Satan will do whatever he can to weigh us down and destroy us. Let's always examine our lives to see if any ice is building up and if there is do whatever it takes to break off the ice. It may take hard work and be time consuming, but in the end it will always be worth it.

Jace Update

Jace is growing up very fast. Being a dad gets better and better and I'm loving every moment I have with Jace. Here are a few new things he's doing and saying:

1. Jace has finally learned to say please! Although it sounds like mease. He also says milk and yuck and puts a heavy emphasis on the K, it kind of sounds Russian, haha. Mease sounds so much better then mine which is one of his favorite words.

2. After we pray for Jace in put him in bed he tells us night, night before we leave his room.

3. When we sing "You Are My Sunshine" or any slow sadder sounding sound Jace gets very sad. His bottom lip pops out and tears start to well up in his eyes. He is sensitive.

4. Yesterday he said bubble for the first time and he loves playing in the pool. A few months ago he hated the water, yesterday he jumped into a baby pool with all his clothes on. He dropped his cookie in the pool so he had to save it, haha. That's my boy!

5. Jace loves babies and is very gentle with them. I think his favorite baby is Nessa, he's very sweet and gentle with her.

6. The car has also turned into a roller coaster, whenever we go fast or up and down hills Jace says Whoa!

7. Jace also loves to throw and play with balls. His favorite to say and play with are basketballs, watch out Kobe!

Random Thoughts

1. I can't believe the Magic blew game 4. I would love to see a comeback but I don't think that's happening.

2. Last night I watched game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals and I enjoyed it. It's the only hockey game I watched this season. I'm happy for the Pens but kind of annoyed that the city of Pittsburgh keeps winning championships. At least I know they won't win the World Series :)

3. Speaking of baseball I saw the Yankees win the most random game ever. With 2 outs and 2 on in the 9th, AROD popped up and the 2nd basemen dropped the routine pop up. Two runs scored and the Yankees win 9-8. For those that think the Yankees ghosts were left in the old stadium, they were wrong!

4. I feel bad for Jace who is getting his back teeth in. Every time he eats or drinks he is in pain and it stinks!

5. Jamie and I watched Valkyrie this week on a date night and thought it was ok. The best part was we only paid a dollar for the movie. Gotta love Redbox. We also enjoyed $1 sundae's from Sonic.

6. I wish I never started shaving and I wish I could dance.

Learning How To Take A Vacation

Taking vacations time to visit family can be very interesting especially when you are your spouse's families both live in the same city. Jamie and I's family both live in Indy and previous vacations have been at times stressful and tiring. Jamie and I both come from divorced families so we have 4 families to visit instead of just two and since Jace has been born we have done everything we can to make sure all the grandparents and family see him as much as possible. With that we've turned into Jeff Gordan trying to drive to different homes to squeeze in as many visits as possible and have ended our vacation feeling tired and stressed at times. This last vacation we knew we had to make a change so this time we made sure all the family saw Jace but we still made plenty of time for us to have some rest and relaxation. We gave every grandparent one full night, one extra visit and took one overnight trip for Jamie and I and 2 nights for Jamie, Jace and I. We did not see our family as much but we left Indy feeling refreshed, restored and relaxed. It was one of our best vacations. We love our family and want them to see Jace but we also need time for ourselves. Plus it should give them more incentive to come visit us in OKC. :)

Wednesday Night Recap

Here are a few highlights from Epic tonight:

1. Tonight was our promotions Wednesday where all students officially moved up to the next grade. Our Juniors became Seniors, Seniors became Graduates and we welcomed our new 6th graders. We had 18 first time 6th graders, who seemed to really enjoy Epic and I look forward to getting to know these students.

2. I also had a great meeting with 6th grade parents to share with them the vision, purpose and info about Epic. I love having parents involved and helping them mold and shape their students into all that God desires for them to be.

2. Jamie and the worship band tore it up tonight. They did three of my favorite worship songs: Let God Arise, All Because of Jesus and Always.

3. I have a great team of leaders who did a ton of extra work tonight to get Epic ready and torn down. I appreciate all their extra help and I'm truly blessed to work with such great people. They are awesome!!!

4. Tonight I read the poem "The Fellowship Committed To Do Whatever It Takes" for one of my illustrations. This is one of my favorite poems and is very powerful. I will post it tomorrow in my blog.

5. 6 students made commitments to Christ tonight. I'm praying for these students and excited for all that God has in store for them.

6. It was another great night at Epic and I'm sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo excited about the future. Thank you Lord for enlarging our territory!

Random Thoughts

1. I'm excited to have my brother in town. I haven't seen him since Thanksgiving and probably won't see him again til Christmas or maybe even next summer. He is training to be a youth pastor at the Fort Meyer's Masters Commission. Next year will be his third year.

2. Some qualities I really appreciate about my brother are his passion for prayer, his servant's heart, he's very loyal and has a huge heart for the lost. He will be a good youth pastor.

3. I'm picking the Magic in 6 but not feeling very good about my prediction after last night's game.

4. Go Pens!!! I watched some of the Stanley Cup Finals last night and enjoyed them.

5. If I don't have a certain team to cheer for in a game I will always root for the underdog unless they are playing a team I hate like the Boston Red Sox, New England Patriots, Dallas Cowboys, Chicago Cubs, North Carolina Tar Heels, LA Lakers or Michigan.

6. Today I took my brother to Big Ed's Hamburger, in my opinion they have the best burger in OKC for the best price. Only $4.99 for an awesome burger, a basket of fries and a drink. No place in OKC can beat that.

7. My favorite burger place period is Five Guys. The only thing I don't like is they are a little pricey.

8. Come visit People's Church this Sunday at 9 am, 10:30 am or 12 pm, Pastor Herbert is continuing our series called God is. It's gonna be an awesome experience so don't miss it and bring some friends!!!

9. Jamie is making Enchiladas tonight, time to eat!!!

Wednesday Night Recap

Here are a few highlights from Epic Last Night:

1. Last night was Uncensored. Uncensored is where we take questions submitted by our students from previous weeks and then use one night to answer them. The way it works is I run around the auditorium with a mic so the students can answer the question first and then we have a panel of my leaders who give a biblical answer or perspective on the question.

2. Here are the 4 questions we addressed last night: Is abortion a sin? How do we know when God is talking to us? How to do you talk to a homosexual about the word of God when they already know what is right? How do you love somebody?

3. Our students gave some great answers and I thought the night was a big success.

4. 8 students made commitments to Christ last night. Thank you Jesus!!! It never gets old seeing students give their life to Christ.

5. The team of Felton Knighton, Vance Holmes and Kevin Parker won the Epic 3 on 3 Bball Championship. They were given trophies and next week they get to face our Epic Leaders Team. If they beat them they win $150. Our leader's team feature Derek Colvin (he's 6'10), G Pratcher (he's like Charles Barkley) and a mystery leader. It will be a tough game for our students.

6. Big thanks to all of our leaders for their hard work and flexibility. You guys are awesome and there is no way I could do this successfully without you.

7. Lastly I thank God for the life change and growth we are seeing. None of this would be possible without Him!

Jace's First Yankees Game

On Memorial Day we took Jace to his first Yankees game against the Texas Rangers in Arlington. This day was filled with firsts. He ate his first ball park dog, attended his first professional event, saw his first home run, got his first Yankees hat, saw his first Yankees win (10-1, they spanked the Rangers) and after the game we ate at Pappasito's (best Mexican restaurant) for the first time as a family. It was a spontaneous trip and we had a ton of fun. I look forward to taking Jace to many more professional games! My dad has taken me to many games and I'm excited to do the same with Jace. They will be great family and father/son outings. The two I look forward to the most are his first Colts game and his first Yankees game at Yankees Stadium. I'm thoroughly convinced that family time is the best time!

3 weeks!!!

Wow, I haven't blogged in 3 weeks...I know I'm a failure, haha. Actually we went on vacation for a week and a half and my week after vacation was a lot of catching up. I know it's not a good excuse but that's all I got. Here are some highlights from our trip home to Indy:

1. On May 15th Jamie and I celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary. We went to Sullivan's for dinner, ate steak and king crab, stayed the night at a hotel that upgraded us to a suite, fell asleep watching Slumdog Millionare and had breakfast at Cracker Barrel in the morning. It was an awesome overnight date and we were thankful to have grandparents near to watch Jace. Jamie is an amazing wife and I can't believe we've already been married for 5 years. It's been the best 5 years of my life and I love Jamie more and more everyday. She is my caucasion queen!

2. Sunday we went to my sister's church and really enjoyed it. The worship and message were very good and we left their feeling refreshed. The church is called New Beginnings Fellowship.

3. We spent at least one night with each of our parents, being from divorced homes that is 4 nights. All the grandparents loved seeing Jace and we had a great time with them.

4. I also preached at my brother in law's youth ministry. It was an honor to speak and one girl got saved who was 1st time guest and was leaving for college later that week. God is sooo good.

5. One of the highlights of the trip was we got to spend time with Jace's great grandparents. My grandma has overcome cancer and was heading back to Europe and we go to see them before they left. My grandma is a hero in my eyes for making it through her battle with cancer and I'm very glad they go to see Jace. They flew back to Brussels, Belgium two days after we flew back to OKC.

Season Finales

All of my shows are coming to an end and so far I've been half and half on the finales. Here are some of my thoughts:

The Amazing Race - I definitely wanted the mom and deaf son to win. I think his story is great even though I didn't like all of his game play. Unfortunately Victor and Tammy won which was the last team I wanted to win. They were annoying and I didn't like how they got the language advantage in China and used it in a nasty way.

The Celebrity Apprentice - I was pulling for Joan Rivers in the finale and I'm so glad she won. Annie annoyed me tremendously and I thought she was bossy and very conceited. I've never heard someone compliment themselves more then Annie did. I'm so glad she lost and it made it even better that for a split second she thought she won. Way to go Donald!

The Biggest Loser - I was pulling for Mike and I'm shocked Hellen won. However I thought she looked sickly with all the weight she lost. It may help her to gain back 10 pounds but I guess she wouldn't have won $250,000 by doing that. Huge props to the old guy winning the sent home contest.

American Idol - I know the season finale is next week but I hope Danny Gokey and Kris Allen make the finale. I think Adam Lambert is all show and his voice pierces my ears. I have no idea why the judges are pushing him to win. This is a singing contest not an acting contest. I think he is perfect for Idol but I would never buy his album. I will buy Danny and Kris's album. Their second songs tonight were amazing!

24 - Lastly it hurts my heart to know next week is the Season Finale of 24, I love this show and will miss it once it's over. The season has been great and I'll guess I'll just have to start over with season one when this season is done. :)

Highlights from a busy week

Monday - Had the day off and enjoyed every minute of it. We worked a lot on Friday and Saturday to get the building ready for service this past Sunday so Pastor Herbert gave us Monday off. I really appreciated it (thanks Pastor Herbert!) and had a great father and son day with Jace. I also had a great meeting with one of my key youth leaders, I love the team I work with!

Tuesday - I got a great workout moving half of the chairs in our new auditorium with some of our staff so the back half of the auditorium can get stained. I also met with a newly added youth leader and finished my message for Wed. night. Recently we have added about 10 new youth leaders who are helping our youth ministry grow and impact student's lives.

Wednesday - It was crazy, we had to set up a bunch of stuff to get ready for our youth experience and we bought a new drum set. I also visited Santa Fe's lunch, helped moved some kids ministry stuff and rushed to get everything ready for our experience. It was pretty stressful but it all worked out, we had 124 students, the room was packed and 6 students made commitments to Christ. God is sooo good, we continue to grow and see life change.

Thursday - I had an amazing day off with Jamie, we got our car back and a little reimbursement check, thank you Jesus. We had lunch at Bravo, their bread is amazing the food was ok and went to see the Wolverine movie. I thought it was good, in honor of my friend Justin Chandler I give it a B. We also watch Survivor and for the record I can't stand coach.

Friday - which is today, I finished a message, had to laugh at a Pharisee, did more set up for this Sunday at People's Church, watched Mandi our kids director almost break her toe and ate some amazing Banana pudding. If you have never had some of Pastor Shelby's wife's banana pudding you are missing out on a little piece of heaven. By the way, our new auditorium is awesome and our Mother's Day experience is gonna be off the hook. Pastor Herbert's wife Tiffany is speaking, if you live in OKC check us out at 9 am, 10:30 am or 12 pm.

Lately

Here are a few highlights of last week:

1. Last week our whole team came together to help get our building ready for our first experience in our new auditorium. We worked hard and it all came together for an amazing Sunday. We had 2400 people in attendance and 69 people made decisions for Christ. It was awesome and super exciting. God is sooooo good!

2. We also had a great block party at Epic last Wed, we were threatened by the rain but it held off and we had over 200 people show up. It was an awesome night, a little chilly but the students had a ton of fun. We also cooked the hot dogs in a smoker and they were amazing, if you never had a hot dog smoked you are missing out.

3. Josh Brown our director of operations is a beast, he has been working non stop as the contractor for our new building and has done an amazing job. I'm definitely challenged by his work ethic and positive attitude. Josh you are the man!

4. Jace is getting more teeth, he has 4 of his back teeth coming in.

5. My wife finally is getting her voice back and did a great job singing this past Sunday. She was born to lead worship.

Praise Report - Update On My Grandma

Here is an update of my grandma, it's a little late but God is sooo good!

A week ago my grandma got the results concerning her cancer, here is the report:

My grandma's tumor has shrunk a lot and the doctor believes that the rest of it is scar tissue. He said the scan showed that the tumor was continuing to disintegrate. It has moved quite a bit away from her eye and out of the skull area. He is very pleased with the results. My grandma will just need to be rescanned every 3 months for a year to make sure that it has not started growing again. This is normal protocol for anybody who has had cancer. After a year, if it has not grown, than her scans will be spaced out further. If it were to grow again, she would need surgery but it would not be evasive or should would not lose her eye.

Thank you Jesus! And thanks for all your prayers. Please continue to pray that she would have a quick recovery from the discomfort of radiation. It’s all done but the side effects can last for a month or two after it’s finished. Thanks again for your prayers. God is faithful!

Weekend Update

1. I watched most of the NFL draft Saturday and enjoyed it! I love the NFL and can't wait for the season to start. However I did not understand the Colts 1st pick. I thought we needed defense but I do trust Bill Polian so we'll see what happens.

2. Jamie and I both have hoarse voices and are coughing up junk. She lost hers last Sunday and I lost mine while preaching Wed. Both of us are feeling better, hopefully Jace won't get what we have.

3. Yesterday was our last Sunday morning experiences in our I guess old auditorium and this Sunday we are in our new auditorium. This is very exciting and I can't believe it's already here! God is doing an amazing work at People's Church and we are so blessed to be apart of it.

4. Sunday night we watched the Amazing Race and The Apprentice, all I have to say is drama, drama, drama!

5. We also skyped my mom this weekend so she could see Jace and he said Nina for the very first time. Nina = Grandma. My mom's face lit up and I know it made her day. Jamie and I both get excited when we see Jace bring joy and happiness to others. He's a great kid and we are so blessed to have him.

6. Last, it feels good to finally blog a little more consistently. There is more to come this week so I hope you enjoy.

Track Meets

Recently I've been going to a few track meets to watch some of my students from Epic participate. Our students have done awesome and to my surprise at every meet I have seen students I had no idea were in track. Matter of fact I think the whole Santa Fe girls shot put and discus team attends Epic, they are awesome! I think we could have an Epic Track Invitational and have some heavy competition. I love all of our students and am very proud of them all. Tomorrow Jamie, Jace and I are going to the All City Track Invitational at Douglas High School to watch some more students. I never was in track but have enjoyed every meet I've been to and I enjoy supporting our students. Going to the track meets, games and events of my students is one of my favorite parts of student ministry.

Epic Leadership Team

Monday night we had most of our leader's at our house to hang out. We chilled, I burned some burgers and we played two mean games of Catch Phrase. Wednesday night's are all about the students so it was nice just to hang out with my leaders and thank them for all they do. I have an amazing team and am thankful for each one of them. Their hard work has played a huge part in our growth and our students have some amazing people investing in their lives. I feel like I have the dream team and look forward to future years of ministry with these people. They make Wednesday night's amazing for our students and our best days are ahead of us. I believe it's very hard to have youth ministy that is successful and one that lasts without a quality leadership team. Thanks team, you guys are awesome!!!

My Life Lately

Well I guess I'm either a liar or well intentioned. I will go with well intentioned, it has been my intention to blog more but recently I just have been terrible with it. Anyway here is another update of my life:

1. The youth ministry has been doing amazing. Over the last 4 weeks our numbers have grown every week and we had double the amount of students last Wed then we had last year at this time. God is doing some amazing stuff and I'm humbled to be apart of it.

2. My leadership team has also been amazing. They have been knocking it out the park with extra phone calls, being flexible, their committment and helping us put on an amazing experience for our students every Wed. I love my team and am humbled to work with them. You guys rock!!!

3. Jace had tubes put in his ears last week, I hated the fact he had to be put to sleep but he's been getting back to back double ear infections and with every ear infection he would get a fever so it had to be done before any damage was done . I love this little guy so much and I absolutely hate to see him in pain and hurting. Even thinking about it now hurts my heart, I never knew I could love someone in this way, being a dad is amazing.

4. Jamie has been sick so yesterday I picked up Jace from the daycare and took him to a track meet so she could rest, this is something I need to do more often. Jamie is an amazing wife, mom, worker and she deserves a break here and there.

5. I'm looking forward to the NFL draft this weekend, I can't wait for football to start. I'm not too interested in the NBA playoffs but I'm sure I will get into the finals. I'm hoping for all upsets. I'd love to see the Nuggets or Trail Blazers in the finals vs the Magic or the Bulls.

Weekend Update

1. Saturday we went to take Jace to his first ever Easter Egg hunt only to find him passed out in his car seat when we arrived. So much for our first ever Easter Egg hunt, we turned around and took him home. I should of known because the night before he woke up numerous times during the night crying. Our little guy was wiped out and took a great nap.

2. Saturday we also went to our first Easter Experience of the weekend at People's Church and it was awesome. The place was packed and afterwards we enjoyed a meal with friends the Wynn's at On the Border. On Sundays we typically don't go out to eat after church so this was nice, plus the food was amazing. I had never eaten at On The Border but now I will have to go back.

3. This weekend I finally understood why our NBA team is called the Thunder because Thunder in OKC is unlike any I have ever heard before. The Thunder was so loud it woke me up and felt like it shook my house. It was crazy!!!

4. Our Easter Experiences were awesome, we had over 3000 people attend and many people gave their life to Christ. Pastor Herbert's message was amazing about Jesus being the Ultimate Fighter, I really liked his last illustration, go listen to it on www.peopleschurch.tv, it will challenge you.

5. I don't dress up too often and I didn't really dress up Saturday or Sunday but I wore a bright yellow shirt to our Saturday experience and pink shirt on Sunday. I got many compliments on both shirts, I will have to wear them more often. FYI - my wife picked them both out, I'm horrible with matching and style.

6. After a long Sunday we had dinner with our friends, the Deas, who invited us over. The meal was a huge blessing and nice for us since we don't have any family near. Vernon shared with me some insights on Hip Hop and Jace loved hanging out with Nessa.

7. Jace was very sweet and for the most part gentle with baby Nessa, and for some reason he liked patting her behind. It was hilarious!

8. Jamie and I ended Sunday night with two shows we like: The Amazing Race and Celebrity Apprentice.

My Week In Review

Highlights of my Week:

1. Epic was off the hook Wed. night! We gave away BK Burger Shots to every student during the message, we had over 100 students and 8 decisions for Christ! Jesus was definitely messing some students up, it was awesome! Thank you Jesus.

2. I invited a principal, a janitor and a bunch of facebook peeps to our Easter experiences at People's Church. Praying they both show up and planning on inviting some more people. If you don't have plans come check out Pt. 1 of our Ultimate Fighter series, it's gonna be great! We have 6 experiences: 5 pm on Sat and 8:45 am, 10 am, 11:15 am, 12:30 pm and 1:45 pm.

3. Today I went to a track meet at Carl Albert High School and saw a student from PC West fall and then get stepped on, ouch! "When it rains it pours" or maybe it should be "when you fall you get stepped on." I went to see Felton, one of my students from Epic run for Northeast and he did great. It was cool to see him in his element.

4. This week has been crazy but a good crazy! Being stretched is tough but very rewarding.

5. I visited a student at lunch at Santa Fe and his friends thought I was his dad. Stupid receding hair line. Oh well.

6. Thursday we had a family date at the mall. We ate yummy Sbarro's pizza and took Jace to the play place.

7. I talked to my grandpa, grandma, mom, dad, brother and sister this week. I really try to stay in touch with my family. If you haven't talked to your family in a while, maybe you should give them a call this weekend just to say hello.

The Blog is Back with a Family Update

I just have not been motivated to blog lately but hopefully today I can get back on track. For those who read my blog regularly sorry for slackin, here is a family update:

1. Jace is one and a half and as cute as ever. He is repeating a lot of words and becoming very independent. He has to eat everything on his own now and use a fork or spoon, he also tries to zip up his jacket and will bring us a diaper when we ask for it. He can also climb on the couches and it feels like he can reach everything. He's gets a great report from preschool everyday and we love him to death! He loves to play outside, throw balls, play with his guitar and his drum set even though we lost the drum sticks, bad parents! He is still a flirt and loves to talk on the cell phone. He has been plagued with ear infections and may need to get tubes, please pray for him. We could not have asked for a better child, he is absolutely amazing and we never want to be away from him.

2. Jamie is working at People's Church as a part time worship leader and admin. She loves working at the church and she has been tearing it up leading worship. She is constantly trying out new recipes from the food network and her food is amazing. Tonight she made dessert ravioli's with nutella in them with strawberries, mm! My wife can cook! She is also extremely supportive with the youth ministry and actually preached a month and half ago and did great. Matter of fact yesterday a student told me how they used her application to help someone out. She is also a great mom and does a phenonmenal job with Jace.

3. As for me, ministry is great! I love working at People's Church and feel like I'm continually learning and being stretched. I've also started lifting weights but still have about 10-15 pounds to lose. Since hitting 210 it's been a struggle but I know I will get to under 200 pounds. On the other hand my cholesterol is still good and will remain that way for the rest of my life. My march madness bracket was terrible and I can't wait for the NFL to start back up. I like twitter and facebook, dislike myspace and have obviously been struggling with blogging, but my goal is to keep blogging at least on Mon-Wed-Fri or Monday-Friday. We have been in OKC for over a year now and absolutely love everything about it!

Weekend Highlights

1. Friday night my good friend Paul Hinzman came in town. We are going to the Epicenter Conference in Dallas today and he came in a few days earlier to hang out. Paul was my youth pastor in Indianapolis. He had a huge impact on my life and I appreciate his friendship even after his crazy antics at Pappasito's.

2. There has been a lot of blowouts with March Madness but the Pitt vs Nova game was amazing and I'm glad I watched.

3. I only picked one team correct in the final four but they are also the team I picked to win it all, UConn.

4. OU was the other team I picked to go to the final and they were a big disappointment against UNC. Blake's supporting cast did not come through for him.

5. We had great attendance at our Epic House Parties this Sunday! We had 20 students attend our Edmond House Party and 11 students attend our South Side House Party. Next month we are launching a new house party on the Northwest Side of OKC!

6. It snowed on Saturday and was beautiful on Sunday, that's Oklahoma at it's finest.

7. Sunday we had great experiences at People's Church, where many people signed up to serve at the church. Jamie did a great job leading worship, Pastor Herbert's message was awesome and Brian's "MeChurch" video was hilarious. Huge props to Andy and Brian for the video. Look up "Me Worship!" on youtube to watch the video.

Childcare Testimony

When Jamie and I knew we were going to put Jace in a childcare we looked at childcare's all over Edmond and OKC. We walked into one in Edmond and knew instantly this was the one we wanted to put him in, the problem was it had a waiting list, bummer. We put Jace on the waiting list and have been praying for 3 months that he would get into this childcare. Since then we literally put him in one childcare and pulled him out 15 minutes later because his teachers weren't friendly and we didn't feel right at all about it. He is too precious to us to get second best, although this place was like last place with their service. Anyway, thankfully through the three months God has provided us with great friends to watch Jace until we got into a childcare.

Last month our second choice had an opening and we had to make a choice whether to put him in or wait for our first choice. We decided to wait even though it wasn't a gurantee Jace would get into our first choice and their was a risk our friend would not be able to watch him much longer, meaning it could have been months.

Well this month our prayers were answered, Jace made it to the top of the waiting list and he got into our first choice! I thank God for his favor, provision and for hearing our prayer. God is faithful!

John Marshall Testimony

This Friday we had a great turnout at John Marshall. We had over 270 students come to Impact and over 25 students made a decision for Christ in the school. This was our last week to do pizza which was going to make it hard for us to do our club. Since we serve pizza, students don't get held up in the lunch line and they can come right down to impact and here the message. On top of that students aren't allowed to bring their lunch to our area and we can't do club in the lunch room. So after this Friday we had no clue what we were going to do but we had a new couple show up to help us and they offered to pay for pizza for the next two weeks. God is so good!!! He is our provider and I'm so thankful he sent us this couple. God is doing a great work at John Marshall and I'm humbled to be apart of it. I'm amazed and thankful for God's faithfulness!

Qualities I look for in a Youth Leader Pt. 1

Commitment

One of the qualities I look for in a leader is commitment. In youth ministry I'm looking for someone who will be at the youth experience every week. Every Wednesday night we are putting on an experience to reach as many students as possible and we need all hands on deck to make it happen smoothly and with excellence. We also want leaders that our students see every week not once a month. Students may have a lot of inconsistency in their life so we work very hard to make sure Epic is consistent. We want adults that will be there for them at all times not someone who is in and out of their lives. This is important because it may take 6 months to a year before some students will start to trust a leader and if a leader is not committed that trust will never be built. When I meet with a potential leader, one of the first things I ask them is "Can you commit to being here every week?"

Randomness from my Childhood Pt. 2

6. My Favorite football team was the New York Giants and my favorite player was Lawrence Taylor.

7. My favorite TV shows were In Living Color, Martin and the Simpsons.

8. My parents got divorced when I was 10 years old.

9. I wanted to play little league football and middle school football but my mom wouldn't let me because she didn't want me to get hurt. I finally got to play organized football my junior year in high school because I was living with my dad. I love my mom but I wish she would have let me play earlier.

10. I was on a swim team in elementary school and dominated in the freestyle. Now I'm a horrible swimmer, ha.

Weekend Update

1. My March Madness basket is doing pretty bad. I had Florida State, West Virginia and Marquette going far and they are all out. In my final I have UConn beating Oklahoma.

2. Friday night Jamie and I went to the Thunder game with some friends. The Thunder lost but the seats were good and we had a blast.

3. Saturday I took my first trip to the OKC Zoo with Jamie and Jace. It's a decent zoo and they had a pretty sweet dinosaur display. Jace wasn't interested in the animals at all so we may wait a while before we go back.

4. Saturday afternoon I went to Bdubs with some friends to watch the OU game. I did not eat good but the fellowship was great. OU almost gave the game away but I'm glad they pulled it out.

5. Sunday I had the opportunity to preach at People's Church and loved it. I thought all the experiences went well and many people made decisions for Christ! Thanks you God!

6. Sunday night we had a connect event with our College & Twentysomethings at People's Church and it went well. We played Apples to Apples, UNO, Phase Ten and Salad Bowl.

Randomness from my Childhood Pt. 1

1. I had a bruised front tooth that had to be pulled out. Luckily it was a baby tooth.

2. Hulk Hogan was my hero. I was a hulkamaniac and I loved the WWF. The WWF to my childhood was what 24 is to me now.

3. I was born in Belgium and lived there for 4 and half years before we moved to the states.

4. 3 times I jumped in a pool when I couldn't swim and my family members had to save me.

5. My favorite music group was Boys II Men and Color Me Bad.

Diaper Explosion

This past weekend Jace had a bad case of the runs from his medicine. Literally every time he pooped it instantly ran right out of his diaper. I lost count of how many times we had to change and wash his pants. During this weekend we went to Cracker Barrel and the poop came running. It poured out the back of his diaper up his back and made a little pool on his high chair. It was dark green like old guacamole, yeah pretty nasty. Being the great dad that I am I did not notice it or smell it. Plus Jace was chillin there happy as ever. Anyway Jamie wrapped his jacket around his pants, picked him up and took him to the bathroom. Unfortunately he left a little trail of poop all the way to the bathroom. I think we got most of it cleaned up, hopefully! It was gross and I'm so thankful Jamie was there, I don't know what I would have done if she wasn't there. Also it took 3 ladies to change this diaper. Craziness!!!

Springfield, MO Weekend Update

Jamie and I spent the weekend in Springfield and had a blast! Here are some highlights:

1. We stayed with our friends Justin and Rachel Chandler and Rox (their dog). We enjoyed our time with them and really appreciated their hospitality. Justin is the youth pastor at Hope Community Church. I enjoy talking ministry with Justin and appreciate his friendship.

2. When we first got to their house Jace was afraid of Rox but by the time we left they were best friends. She would look for him and he would look for her. He would walk around saying dog and woof woof, it was cute to watch them together.

3. Everytime we go to Springfield we go to Cheddar's. It's our favorite restaurant, we love their spinach dip. We also went to Andy's Frozen Custard.

4. Thursday night we watched CBC play bball and they got crushed. The game wasn't great but we enjoyed hanging out with old friends.

5. I also went to a Chapel and enjoyed myself. Although it was sad to see the Chapel so empty compared to when I went to CBC.

6. We also hung out with Andy Estrella who is the new Chi Alpha Director at Missouri State University. Andy is a good friend and I know God is going to use him to reach many lost students at Missouri State. If you are looking for a missionary to support Andy is a good one. Plus he's hilarious, boom!

7. All in all the trip was very relaxing and enjoyable. We enjoyed hanging with old friends and even had some excitement with an explosive diaper. I'll blog about that tomorrow :). Springfield, MO is a place we would never want to live again but we love to visit. We will probably visit again later in the year.

Weekend Update

It's late again but here it is.

1. Friday night I had a burger at Ron's Hamburgers with some new friends. It was pretty good but definitely not the best burger I have ever hard. I still think Five Guys have the best burger.

2. Saturday I went to Men's Breakfast with one of my youth leaders. The breakfast at Golden Corral was awesome and the speaker was even better. The speaker was Bob Barry Jr. who is a sportscaster for channel 4. I loved his stories because when I was in high school my dream was to work for ESPN. If ESPN offered me a job today there is no way I would take it, I love what I do and wouldn't change it for the world.

3. As you can see I didn't eat to good at the beginning of my weekend so I worked out for an hour on Saturday and it felt pretty good. I'm still at 210 and trying to get to 200.

4. Saturday night we had fajitas at our community group. It's nice to have relationships and accountability with other believers. I had no lunch Saturday since I had GC and fajitas.

5. Sunday after church some friends and I replaced the backboard on one of our bball goals. Truth be told there is no way I could have done it without them. I am not a handy man at all.

6. All in all it was a relaxing weekend and I enjoyed my time with Jamie and Jace.

Highlights of my week

1. 24 this season has been amazing, Jack Bauer is the man and I can't wait to get my DVD's back next week. We are addicted to 24 and have every season on DVD.

2. My Idol favorites are the blind guy, lil rounds and Danny Gockey, I think Danny will win it all.

3. Thursday night I went to the Youth for Christ banquet at the Cowboy Hall of Fame. Yes in Oklahoma they have a hall of fame for cowboys and I'm not talking about the Dallas Cowboys. The banquet was awesome. It had great food and even better stories of student's lives being changed through Youth for Christ.

4. After the banquet for some reason I had a headache and was out of it. I knew I had to get on the Kilpatrick turnpike to get home, so I'm looking for signs that say turnpike. Well the first one I saw said "turnpike 44 east" not Kilpatrick turnpike and like a dummy I took it without thinking. No big deal right just turn around, well if you've never been on the 44 east turnpike the first exit outside of okc is 20 miles away. Yep I drove 20 smiles, hit up a gas station and then turned around. It was unbelievable, I was so ticked off. This has never happened to me before. Oh well, Jamie and I had good conversation on our little trip to Wellston, OK and back to OKC. :)

5. The weather in OKC has been off the hook. Wed was in the 70's and the last two days have been in the 80's. I love the weather here!

6. Epic was awesome this week, we had over 100 students again and 11 students made commitments to Christ. God is doing some amazing stuff in our students lives and expanding the territory of our youth ministry! Thank you Jesus!

7. John Marshall was also great. We had around 270 students and they were very engaged into the talk. I talked about how God is a God of second chances and many students raised their hand showing they had something in their life they wanted God to give them a second chance with. It was awesome! I also had a great conversation with a student about why bad stuff happens to good people and how to witness to his friends. God is working in the lives of the students who attend Impact.

8. I also had a great conversation this week with one of my mentors. I'm thankful for the people God has put in my life to challenge and encourage me.

Incredible Pizza

Monday night Jamie and I took Jace to Incredible Pizza for one of Jace's friend's bday party. I may be crazy but I think their pizza is pretty good. It's much better then Cici's and Chucky Cheese. Jace's favorite food was the cupcake he destroyed and smashed all over himself. It was awesome! Jace also ran around and pushed a lot of buttons but he is still leery of the rides. We tried the horse, a mini carousel and a car and he cried on all of them. It's weird Jamie and I love roller coasters and Jace currently seems to be very cautious. I was the kid who ran into the pool and had to be saved three times; currently it seems like Jace will not give us those kind of problems. Only time will tell.

Weekend Update

1. I worked on Thursday so Friday I was off. I hung out with Jace all day and had lots of fun. It was a little chilly so we stayed in the house.

2. Friday night we had crazy prayer and worship at People's Church. It was awesome to pray and worship with our church body. It was a refreshing night!

3. After prayer and worship Jamie and I watched City of Angels and it was boring! So boring I fell asleep watching the movie. Normally Jamie falls asleep while we're watching tv, but this time I was knocked out.

4. Saturday night we watched Good Will Hunting on TNT and I did not fall asleep. The movie started off slow but ended well. We both enjoyed it and we both stayed awake!

5. Sunday we had an awesome experience at People's Church. The worship, message and videos were amazing! Many peoples lives have been changed and many more will be changed in a chair at People's Church. God is moving at People's Church and this is a very exciting season. Come visit us this Sunday for our new series called Imagine at 8:45 am, 10 am, 11:15 am or 12:30 pm.

Random Thoughts

1. We have had some beautiful weather in OKC and I look forward to 60's and 70's next week.

2. The NFL free agency has been crazy! Tons of players are changing teams. I'm sad to see Marvin leave the Colts but it's time. The last two years he seems fragile and drops a lot of passes. I appreciate all he has done but it's time to move on. I'm very glad we resigned Jeff Saturday.

3. Working out in the morning has been great but it definitely has given me a bigger appetite. I gotta make sure I eat healthy when I'm eating more.

4. I've officially switched from working at Starbucks to Vintage Coffee. The outlets at Starbucks don't work so I can't keep my laptop charged so I'm done. Vintage offers free wifi, it's less crowded, the outlets WORK and their drinks are pretty good.

5. We are getting closer and closer to moving into our new facility at People's Church and it's very exciting. I can't believe it's almost here and I'm humbled to be apart of what God is doing at our church. It's amazing! If you are ever in OKC you have to visit People's Church!

6. I also can't believe it's March tomorrow, I feel like time is flying by faster and faster. I love my family, my job so I guess it's true when people say "time flies when you are having fun."

7. I'm currently watching Titanic only because it's at the best part when they run into the iceberg, I could careless for the rest of the movie.

Epic Tonight

We had a great night at Epic. 8 salvations and 100 students, praise God!!! I talked about "How Far Is Too Far?" and thought it went very well. The students were engaged in the experience and I pray they will honor God physically when they date. I also have amazing leaders who help make Epic a huge success. Thanks guys and a big thanks to David Kinsey for filling in on the drums last minute and being ready in season and out. You did great. Also a huge thanks to Sherry Cunningham, Sherry is a new leader and was responsible for 8 students coming to Epic for the very first time, that is awesome! I love my team and I love what I do. Next week we are doing a Love Lockdown Uncensored where we will answer all the students questions about dating. It's gonna be awesome, don't miss it students!

Weekend Update

1. Friday night was a chill at home and watch tv night. I enjoyed my time with Jamie and Jace at home. Honestly if I had the choice of going out with Jamie and Jace or staying at home with them, 90% of the time I would prefer to stay home. I guess it's the intravert in me. Jamie also made some amazing pork chops and homemade mac and cheese! Her mac and cheese is one of my favorite dishes.

2. Saturday Jace spiked a fever, I hate it when he gets a fever. Our little guy who is normally full of energy just lays around with a glazed look. I hate it!

3. Jamie also competed in the OKC Star Finale, she didn't win but did a great job. I'm very proud of my wife and she has an amazing voice!

4. Jace's fever finally broke late Sunday morning, thank you Jesus. He please continue to pray for him. Thanks.

5. Sunday afternoon I revisited my day's in high school and played some laser tag with other college and twentysomethings from People's Church. It was a lot of fun and I took first place in our second game. yes I did it mainly by dominating some kids but none the less I won. Matter of fact our group dominated the kids, we all finished top ten except for Umo, haha.

6. My hamstrings are also sore from laser tag, to much crouching to get some good shots. Yes I'm out of shape and getting old, but it was still fun!

7. Sunday night I attended the Edmond Epic House Party and had a great discussion about dating. It was good times with our students and always fun to swing on the Thun's big swing!

Cram Night

Last night we had our first Cram night of the year and it went very well. We had 151 students and we had 24 students give their lives to Christ, Praise God!!! We had great performances from Hype; they did some amazing dance and stomp routines, check them out at gethype.org. We also had some funny games thanks to the Ellen show. The students had a blast and we hope to see them all back next week when we finish our dating series and answer the question: "How Far Is Too Far?"

Mad Money

Pastor Herbert has been preaching a series called Destinations. This series has been amazing and here is a way it has challenged and applied to my life. Jamie and I are chipping away at our debt every month as we have made a plan to be debt free in the next year or two. So far we have canceled one debt and are working on the others. We have budgeted out all of our spending except for our eating out and Starbucks. Because of this we have canceled some debt but not as much as we could have because we are on the wrong path in this area of our spending. Starting this month we have budgeted in Mad Money. Our Mad Money is the money we are allotted to spend on eating out, Starbucks, snacks, basically all non essentials. With this new budget for our Mad Money we will now be able to cancel more debt each month and reach our goal of being debt free as quickly as possible. We were on a path that was taking us the long way to our destination so we made the change so we can be on a path that put us on the most direct path to our destination. I challenge you: What path are you on that is taking you the opposite way or prolonging you from reaching your destination? Whatever it is, change it and get on the right path. You can do it!

Weekend Update

1. Friday night I went to John Marshall's bball game with a few of my leaders. John Marshall dominated and I had a great time hanging out with great people.

2. Saturday we didn't do much but relax at home since we went out for Valentine's day on Thursday. On Thursday we went to see Taken, it was a great movie. At the beginning of the movie I had the thought, "it would be nice to have a daughter", by the end of the movie my thought was "I'd be perfectly fine with all sons", haha. After the movie we went to Friday's and then back home and hung out with Rachel and Chase Allred who hooked us up with free babysitting. Thanks guys!

3. Saturday night my good friend Jason Patterson came over and we watched the dunk contest. The contest was awesome except for Dwight Howard's last dunk. I firmly believe he would have won if he did his last dunk in the first round and the 12 foot hoop dunk in the final round. He blew it! Next year will be amazing if Lebron is in the contest.

4. Sunday, Jason did a very good job preaching at People's Church and afterwards we went to lunch at Outback. That Outback special was good but it tore up my stomach...sorry Jamie, Jason and Jace.

5. Sunday night we watched the All Star game which was pointless, I probably won't ever watch it again, but I did enjoy Shaq's dance with the Jabbawokeez! It was the best part of the game. However, I threw up when they gave co-mvp's to Shaq and Kobe, give me a break. Those guys were either being fake last night or fake with their previous drama, either way I thought it was lame but probably a smart move for the NBA's marketing. I'm sure we will see Kobe and Shaq in T-mobile's "who's in your 5" commercial very soon.

Jace Update

Jace's favorite words right now are "no" and "mine", haha. How did this happen? He is still cuter then ever and now we are working on "yes" and "share", LOL. He also has his favorite room which I think is every child's favorite room, their parent's bedroom. If our bedroom door is open Jace makes a b-line for it, it never fails. The funny part is that when he goes into our room the first thing he does is grab my wallet and pull out my credit cards, this is not a good sign! He's already saying "show me the money". Once he's done with the wallet he goes into the bathroom to open drawers and pull out stuff. He can't do this in the kitchen because we have the child proof stoppers on all the cabinets. Needless to say we try to keep our bedroom door closed at all times, ha. He also loves his tooth brush, he brushes his teeth everyday. Everyday he gets more personality and everyday we love him more and more.

More Change

Lately, I have been waking up early and going to the gym to workout. This is something I have always wanted to do but have always failed. I've always been a night person that stays up to 1 or 2 am, but recently I have been tired around 11 pm and falling asleep before midnight. Weird! Since this has been happening I haven't been working out late at night like I usually do because I'm too tired, which is now getting in the way of reaching my goal of 200 pounds. I'm still at 210 if you are wondering. Eating right got me to 210 but I know working out is what I need to do to get to 200. I don't want to work out after work because that cuts into family time so last Wed I rolled out of bed, worked out and really enjoyed it. I did it again last Friday and on Monday this week. I skipped Tuesday because I went to bed too late, but got right back on track Wednesday and Thursday. I've also found that I have more energy during the day and my devotional time has improved in the sense I'm more alert instead of sleepy in the morning. I'm loving the change and thank God for my new sleeping patterns and hope to keep them this way.

Highlights from Epic

1. First off, 4 students made commitments to Christ tonight. Thank you Jesus!

2. Met some new students from Putnam City Original, Seeworth Academy, Star Spencer, US Grant and Edmond North. I love the fact that we are reaching students all over OKC, God has expanded our territory and we are going to continue to reach students all over OKC.

3. Jamie did an awesome job leading worship. Her and the band tore it up, great job!!!

4. We had some awesome videos for our announcement real, Daniel Green hooked us up with videos for our Rules, our Love Lockdown Uncensored and Epic house parties, thanks man!

5. Tonight I shared stories of two nasty break ups I had in high school and what I learned from them. These were horrible break ups but it's cool to look back and see how God has helped me through them and how much I've grown from these situations. He's also blessed me with a beautiful, on fire for God, amazing wife. Thanks you Jesus for Jamie!

6. If you missed tonight, check out the message on Epic's podcast on iTunes. Search Epic Student Ministries, tonight's message is titled "The Breakup".

7. Next week is our Cram Night where we cram as many students as possible into our auditorium. We are featuring performances by Hype, a hip hop dance crew, and giving away 2 Nintendo Wii's! It's gonna be awesome, don't miss it!!!

Great High School Bball Game

Last night I went to Oklahoma Christian Academy's bball game vs Earlboro to watch one of my students, Hans Thun. Hans is stud and had a great game. He even had a breakaway dunk! The game itself was intense, the opposing team had a 2 point lead and was trying to run out the clock with 5 minutes left in the 4th quarter, yes that's right with 5 minutes left, dribble, pass, dribble, pass. At first I thought this was lame and found myself thinking bad thoughts about this team's coach but it really was a good strategy. This team only had 3 good players, one just fouled out and another had 4 fouls, the last thing this coach wanted to do was put his bench in. Hans' team started to foul to put them at the line, tied it up, Earlsboro's 2nd best player fouled out and OCA forced overtime. In OT Han's team pretty much dominated although they did let the other team hang around and have a chance to hit a 3 to tie, but they pulled it out with a 70-67 win. On a side note, if OCA would have made their free throws this game would have been over with in regulation. They missed a ton in the 3rd and 4th quarter. This game was awesome; it had my heart pumpin, stressin and I even got light headed twice when I jumped up to cheer. OCA defeated the number 5 team in the state in their division. Great game OCA and Hans!

Thank You Jesus

Yesterday my sister shared with me that she committed her life to Christ last Sunday at a church in Indy. Thank You Jesus!!! I have been praying for my sister to give her life to Christ since I got saved which is almost 10 years. She has faced some difficult situations in her life and it was amazing to hear about her journey that led to her making this decision. She had a joy in her voice and an excitement about God that I have never heard before. In March she is going to dedicate my niece and nephew and she is going to attend a new believer's class. God is sooooo good!!! I want to encourage anyone who is praying for a loved one to come to Christ, keep praying and keep believing, never give up hope! God is faithful. Thanks to everyone who has prayed for my sister in the past and again, thank You Jesus!

Random Thoughts

1. Friday there was no school at John Marshall so we didn't have impact. I was bummed but I got a great head start on my message for Wednesday.

2. Speaking of this Wednesday, the message is gonna be off the hook. We are talking about "The Breakup", how to avoid it, how to deal with it and how to do it. I'm so pumped for this message it's going to really help some students who are dating and for others when they start dating!

3. I love People's Church, Friday night we had some worship time at our Crazy Leadership Dessert and during that time I just thanked God for bringing us to this church and I'm so excited for the future. I'm humbled and honored to be apart of what God is doing at People's Church. I love it!!!

4. I think I'm going to watch the entire Pro Bowl on Sunday, I rarely watch it unless I am there live, which I've been fortunate to be apart of 4 times. My step dad had the hook up with free flying benefits and great tickets!

5. I heard the Indianapolis Colts may get Albert Haynesworth, I would be a very happy man if that happened.

6. I'm not a tennis fan but I will never miss a Federer vs. Nadal match, they are awesome!!!

7. The weather in OKC has been amazing, Friday I wore Flip flops and Saturday I wore my Birkenstock sandals.

8. Speaking of my Birkenstock's, I had a guy make fun of me because I own a pair of Birkenstock sandals and crocs, but I don't care because they are super comfortable.

9. At the Crazy Leadership Dessert I ate a piece of Cheesecake Factory Carrot cake, I actually only ate half because their pieces are huge! I looked up the calories and found out that one piece of that cake has 1560 calories. What?!!!!!! I will never eat a piece of that cake ever again, that is ridiculous!

Epic was Awesome Tonight

Epic went really well tonight. Worship was off the hook, the videos were great, we had smooth transitions, we had a lot of guests and 12 students made commitments to Christ. Praise God!!! It was part 1 of our Love Lockdown series and I think this series is really gonna help students with the issue of dating. Tonight I did a tag team sermon with my wife and it went awesome. Jamie did a great job and really challenged our girls on the topic of modesty and what message they are sending with their clothes. I spoke to the boys about being respectful with their actions and their words and told them to don't look and lust, bounce away! Then I shared with all the students that the number 1 quality they should look for in a person they want to date is that they love Jesus. It was an awesome night and I'm excited to share pt. 2 next week called The Breakup. Students bring your friends!!!

Glasses vs Contacts

Lately I have been wearing my glasses because my contacts have been bothering my eyes. I normally hate wearing my glasses because they mess up my depth perception and I hate seeing blurry outside of the lens. They are also hard to fall asleep to the TV in and they slide off during workouts. I try to avoid wearing my glasses at all cost. The plus to my glasses is I can wear them as long as I want and they won't hurt my eyes. The funniest part about wearing glasses is I get a lot of compliments about looking smarter. Currently I've actually enjoyed wearing my glasses so I might officially switch over, plus I guess it makes me smarter. Either way I would be blind and a hazard to this world without my glasses or contacts. Thank God for this technology and I have no idea how people with bad eyesight functioned before glasses and contacts.

Random Thoughts

1. Go Cardinals! I would like to see ex-Colt Edgerrin James get a ring and I think Larry Fitzgerald is a beast. I would like to see Tomlin get one but not this year. I'm cheering for the Arizona Cardinals to win the Super Bowl!!!

2. I'm becoming a video making machine. I'm not that good at it but I'm learning and working on my third video and will start another one next week. Me and Final Cut Pro are becoming best friends.

3. This week has been crazy with the ice, school was canceled for 3 days and we canceled Epic on Wed. night. I was majorly bummed that Epic was canceled but the risk of people getting in accidents on the ice is just not worth it. This week we are starting our Love Lockdown Series where we will separate the fairy tales from the facts on dating, we are also giving away free t-shirts to the first 150 students. It's gonna be an awesome night, don't miss it!!!

4. Today at John Marshall we had 262 students. Every week we get to share the gospel with over 250 students, it's awesome!!! I thank God for such an amazing opportunity.

5. Right now I'm watching too many shows. Here is my list: 24, sometimes The Bachelor, Heroes, American Idol, Law & Order SVU, Lost, Hell's Kitchen and everyday I watch PTI and ABC news. With that some friends are trying to get me hooked on The Office, but I'm resisting. I have too many shows!

6. I can't believe January is almost over, where in the world has time gone. This is crazy!!!

7. I'm thankful the weekend is here and I'm looking forward to People's Church on Sunday and the Ignite Super Bowl Party at my house Sunday night. If you are a college and twentysomething and want to come hit me up with an email at chris@peopleschurch.tv. I'll hook you up with all the info!

An Awesome Day Off

Today was a daddy and Jace day. Our day featured playing the drums, Jace taking a nap on me, watching a little TV and a lot of tickling. I love tickling Jace and hearing him crack up laughing. It's one of my favorite sounds. He is such a happy kid and throughout the day I thanked God for my son. He brings a joy and happiness to my life that is unexplainable. Many times I just watch him and he brings a smile to my face. Being a dad is the greatest thing in the world and I feel truly blessed to have such an amazing family! My day ended with an amazing Mexican chicken dish made by my beautiful wife, one of our students came over, then we watched Idol and laughed at all the people that can't sing but think they can. It was a great day! Here is a clip of my day with Jace and him playing the drums.

The Ring

Sunday night Jamie, Jace and I attended an Epic House Party in Edmond at the Thun's House. The highlight was swinging on the Thun's huge swing. When I say huge, I'm not exaggerating, this thing hangs from a tall tree and takes you about 50 feet in the air, it's awesome! Well one of our students keys flew out of his pocket when he was on the swing, not a big deal except it was nighttime, there were leaves everywhere and it was cold! So the whole crew went looking for his keys and after 10 minutes Rachel Thun found them. Way to go Rachel!!! We go back in the house and while I'm playing ping pong I try to rub my ring with my thumb (I do this all the time) and I notice there is no ring. Immediately I go into panic mode and hope I can remember taking it off somewhere but no memory comes to mind. I know where my ring is, it's in the leaves, in the dark, in the cold. My hands were so numb from searching for the keys I didn't realize my ring came off. This has never happened but since I've lost weight my ring is loser on my finger, I guess you can lose fat off your fingers. So we go outside praying to find my ring and after 2 minutes of searching Rachel Thun comes to the rescue again and finds my ring. She needs to search for hidden treasure because she has a gift. Thanks a ton Rachel!!!! I owe you. It was a very eventful night and I'm so thankful she found my ring.