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.