it.

I am reading a book called "it" by Craig Groeschel for the second time. It just released and has been a big deal for me in looking at how I lead and adjusting my character so that God can use me however he wants too.

From the back cover:

"What is It, and how can you and your ministry get and keep It? Combining in-your-face honesty with off-the-wall humor, this book tells how any believer can obtain It, get It back, and guard It."

You got it, or you don't. Join me for the next few weeks as I look at the discussion questions from it.

Also you can buy it here. I recommend it.

Tonight.

Tonight has the potential the change your life.

It has the potential to change the life of your friends.

God is calling us HOME. Pack out the house and let's lead people to be fully devoted followers of Christ - Together.

Home - Week Two

This week will be week two of our new series Home!
This week is a great one to invite a friend to as we learn about how God blesses us when we are home with Him!

Hope everyone is lovin the stage set up - props to my friend Jason French for a bunch of free props!
Also props to my wife for making it look awesome!

Thanks everyone for being a part of leading people to be fully devoted followers of Christ. Let's reach our generation!

Repost fun!

This is from Pastor Steven Furtick's blog, and it's so good I gotta share:

King Saul tried to help God out: he got tired of waiting for Samuel to offer the sacrifice, and decided to take care of business himself.

(Study 1 Samuel 13:7-14)
In his panic, he set off a chain reaction of events that led to his downfall.
His intentions were understandable. After all, God had promised him victory over his enemies. He was simply trying to expedite the process and make sure that God didn’t miss His deadline.

I’ve seen lots of people get in heaps of trouble in their attempts to give God a helping hand.

I’ve seen terrific girls marry complete losers because they got tired of waiting for God to send the right man into their lives. So they take their chances with the best available option, figuring they’ll fix him up. And boy, do they pay a high price for their impatience.

I’ve seen couples try to enjoy a standard of living that’s way over their heads in the first year of marriage, accumulating debt that delayed their financial freedom for decades to come.
God’s plan was to bless them incrementally as they earned, gave, and saved wisely…they just couldn’t wait. God’s way was too tedious…they wanted to be blessed right now!

God doesn’t need our help. He desires our obedient cooperation.

If you’re going to expect God’s best, you’ll have to do it God’s way.

It's time to come home.

Don't you dare miss out on this week at illuminate!

We are starting a new three week series - Home.
This series is a look at the parable of the lost son and we will look at we can regain our identity as sons and daughters of the creator God.

This is a great series to invite a friend (or friends!) too as we look at the love and redemption of the Father.

Let's work together to pack out the room this week - not just so it looks cool - but so that we can lead people to be fully devoted followers of Christ!

Maintance.

Just a quick thought... I have a backyard patio pool like most of you know.

It's starting to get a little hazy. Been to busy to clean it and add the stuff it needs the last few weeks.

Following Jesus is pretty much the same deal, if we don't maintain it through Bible reading, journaling, and prayer... it's going to start to get hazy.

So keep up the good work neh?

Unstoppable.

Sorry about the blog hiatus! This week is part two of unstoppable.

Most of us feel like we are the polar opposite of unstoppable. Whenever I play sports, for example, I am not unstoppable. I am in fact normally the most STOPPABLE person playing.

This is why I have learned a little trick... If I want to win at sports, I need to play on a good team.

With that in mind tonight we are going to talk about an unstoppable vision. You see we didn’t just start illuminate back in March because I needed more to do every week.

We didn’t start it because my boss, the incredible leader that he is, Pastor Bernie told me he wanted a new college service. (Although he did!)

We started illuminate after we felt that GOD had a vision and a purpose for it.

You see when you TEAM with GOD it doesn’t matter how stoppable you are. HE is unstoppable.

When you TEAM with GOD you are on an unstoppable team.

So lets team with God together to bring people to be fully devoted followers of Christ.

Then [Jesus] called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. Mark 8:34