Thunder Up!!!!

The Thunder struggled last night but I still think they can upset the Lakers. I know most people will think I'm crazy but I'm pretty sure they will win game 6 and then all they have to do is steal game 7. Easier said then done right? Well I'm gonna pull some inspiration from the movie Miracle. We may play 8 games in LA and get beat 7 out of 8 times but we only need one win in LA to win it all. Game 7 will be that one game!!! Go Thunder!!!

P90 Fail

Well I have been faithfully doing P90X for 4 weeks with only missing a workout here and there and haven't lost a pound! I could blame it on the workout but the reality is my eating habits have not been good. For some reason I thought because I was doing all these workouts that I could eat worse and it has busted me in the face. I forgot that when I lost over 40 pounds I did it with eating healthy and only working out once or twice a week.

The lesson learned that is applicable in many different areas in our life: one bad habit can ruin good intentions and bunch of good habits. It's gotta be all or nothing for true success!

Weekend Highlights

1. Thunder Up!!! Both Thunder games were awesome & I think they can win the series!

2. I watched the NFL draft & loved it! I can't wait for August!

3. Baseball is back & my Yankees are looking good. I'm looking forward to back to back championships!

4. Enough of sports, Sunday at People's Church was amazing as always . Many lives were changed! I love being at a church where every Sunday is an unforgettable experience!

5. After church Jamie, Jace & I went to the Arts festival and shared an Indian Taco! It was a cool experience & great food!

6. Sunday night something happened to me that hasn't happened since I was in Elementary school...I fell asleep before 9 pm. I'm still shocked! Must have been a tiring weekend.

7. P90x is still in effect but the weight is not coming off, I'll blog more about that tomorrow.

Hillsong United Concert

Last night I went to the Hillsong United concert, they are my favorite worship band. We had floor tickets and this was my first time seeing them live. At first I didn't like being on the floor because people kept squeezing in, bumping into me and I felt more like a spectator then a worshiper but then I moved to the back by myself and had an amazing time with God.

It was extremely refreshing and God was speaking to me in so many different ways. Sometimes on Wed and Sun it's hard to worship like I did yesterday because I'm thinking about details, students, my message and everything else that goes along with ministry. I still worship but it's not the same. As I was processing this God really spoke to my heart about having more personal times of worshiping! I read my bible, pray and listen to worship music but I'm going to start having more times of listening AND singing. Tonight I will be spending some time worshiping to the songs Tear Down the Walls and With Everything!

Lord of the Bling Highlights

Currently we are in a series called Lord of the Bling. Here are some highlights from this series:

1. The last two weeks we have talked about money and still have seen over 20 students commit their lives to Christ. Thank you Jesus!

2. The first week we talked about what it meant for Jesus to be Lord of our life, he must be Lord first before we are going to give him control of anything, especially our finances. If he's not Lord of all, He's not Lord at all!

3. It's been a huge blessing to see students returning the tithe to God since we started this series, Jr. High and High School students!!!

4. I was blessed by a student who shared with me his plan to tithe, put money away in savings and be wise with the rest. The best part was his enthusiasm, he was so pumped! Thank You Lord.

5. My high school students went crazy when I said they could buy a pair of Jordan's at Ross, they laughed at me like I was crazy. I didn't get it because you really can buy Jordan's at Ross!! They may be old but you can. :)

6. Tonight I shared with students the one way they could get more money. I told them to give it away, a number of students at the same time said "What?!" They thought I was crazy but then we dived into God's word and they were totally engaged with the message.

7. Next week we are talking about the Misconceptions of Money, this has a been a great series and I'm looking forward to closing it out with a bang!

If you missed any of the messages check out our podcast on iTunes. Search Epic Student Ministries.

Side Note: Thanks to Kevin Moore for his book on Teens questions about money and to Rusty Railey for the creative title Lord of the Bling!

Switching It Up and Going Lefty!

I'm not sure what happened but a couple months ago I hurt my right elbow which has prevented me from playing racquetball. Well two weeks ago I decided to try and play left handed and really enjoyed it. I hit the ball like a weakling but it wasn't too bad. Playing with my off hand forced me to run around more and get a better workout.

It made me realize I got so comfortable with my right that sometimes I slacked when it came to moving around the court because I knew my swing could bail me out.

This has caused me to look at my spiritual life and ministry. Have I gotten too comfortable with the motions and my strengths that I'm not doing things that will stretch me and force me to grow? Am I using my strengths to bail myself out, skimp on prep and conditioning? I encourage you to ask yourself these same questions. I know if I'm going to be a great leader I must always be growing and stretching.

Currently I'm being stretched by many things and I always want to keep it that way, which means from time to time I'm going to have to use my left hand to keep myself in check.

I'm also gonna become an ambidextrous racquetball player. :)

Sweating

I just finished the 1st workout of week 4 of the p90x workout. I tried to do this workout in the past but only lasted a few days. This time is different because I have two motivating factors:

1. Jamie, Jace and I are going on a cruise in a few weeks and I don't want anyone mistaking me for a whale that jumped on board, lol.

2. Jamie and I have been doing the workout together. This is more motivating then the other part and I'm very thankful that me and my wife can do things like this together.

I started this workout weighing 220 pounds and am very curious where I will be when I finish. My goal is the elusive 200. During the workout I'm going on a cruise, to the drive conference and a visit to Indy will make it tough but I know I can do it.

I will be sure to let you know the results! Peace out homies!