My Personality

For my application into the Acts 29 network for church planting I had to take a new personality profile test.

These things always amaze me. A 10 minute test and they nail me to the wall!

Here I am.

The Prosperity Gospel...

is a false Gospel.



Pastor Johns comments at the end of the video on the "over-realized eschatology" are priceless. If you think heaven should invade earth before the second coming of Jesus you should study up on this.

The words of the apostle Paul from 2 Timothy 4 are being fulfilled in front of our faces.

I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: 2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. 3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. 5 As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

The prosperity gospel tells me what I want to hear. People who are consumed with the things of this world love it. My pride loves it. My ego loves it. God will bless me in such a material way that the world will know that I am special. Too bad its a myth. A myth built upon dozens of scriptures taken out of context while ignoring thousands that state its opposite.

You can't believe Psalm 91 and ignore Psalm 88.

As for me, I choose to believe the Gospel of Jesus. I choose to walk the ancient path that the apostles walked. I choose to believe that all treasure is "in Christ." That He is the pearl of greatest treasure and I can only be satisfied when He is my greatest desire. When my greatest desire is Jesus, I can walk through great affliction, endure suffering, and still be molded into the likeness of Jesus. My suffering actually pushes me into my relationship with Christ.

When my desire is health and wealth "through Jesus" my suffering actually pushes me away from the gospel because I see it as "not working." I have met many people who have walked away from Jesus because they didn't get their healing, money, or prayer answered.

Don't come to Jesus because He can make your life better. Come to Jesus because He is better than life.

This is why people need to read their bibles.

If the prosperity gospel is true, show me one apostle in the New Testament who got rich after following Jesus (one might argue that Judas did). Show me one follower of Christ who was commended for living the "American Dream." Show me one instance where the apostle Paul preached that followers of Christ should expect a life of ease, riches, and absence from affliction.

The prosperity gospel is a fools gospel.

1 Timothy 6:17-19
17 As for the rich in a this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. 18 They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, 19 thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.

Jesus saves from the American Dream.

Sacred City Church Update

I think my summer vacation to Wisconsin Dells was preparation for the past two weeks of my life.

While in the Dells, my family and I went to a huge amusement park called Mt. Olympus. They had some of the best roller coasters I have ever ridden. One of them was called Hades. Hades whipped me around, brought me to the highest point in the whole park, dropped me to the lowest part of the whole park, gave me whiplash, and ultimately made me smile uncontrollably and gave me a great story to tell my friends and family all in about 1 minutes time.

God has shown Himself faithful to us in the past two weeks. We have had incredible highs, gut wrenching lows, but we have a great story to tell.

Within a few hours of my last blog, God gave us an amazing building in a perfect location. Right in the middle of Davenport, surrounded by homes full of families that are unreached. It was a HUGE answer to prayer!

Then last wed night, we hosted our first ever Sacred City Church service. 146 people showed up and we had an intimate communion service that was marked by the sweet spirit of God gracing us with His presence.

It was a picture of the peace of God in the midst of the storms of life.

Then at 1 o'clock on thursday, we had an open planning meeting and over 20 leaders showed up to help move us forward. It was a special moment. Everyone was really encouraged by the first service and loved the vision of Sacred City Church. It was very clear that God had orchestrated a unique set of events to get us exactly where He wants us. God has brought worship leaders, preachers, leaders, outreach experts, designers, carpenters, chiropractors, managers, accountants, planners, and students together under one vision in less than a weeks time. Even when the waves are rocking the boat, Jesus is still in charge!

I thank God for his Sovereignty over all the kingdoms of men.

Thank you so much for your prayers and support! Many of you even took it to another level and sent us money to help us get started! I really cannot tell you how much it has meant to me, to know that you believe in what God is doing here in the QC. You are awesome, and I thank God for you!

A new season.

We did.

Today marks the beginning of a new season in my life and ministry.

I am still in shock.

Last night was the last KYC service that I will ever be a part of.

My wife Amanda and I are starting a new church here in Davenport, Ia.

It will be a young church. It will be a passionate church. It will be a church consumed by the word of God, marked by the study of God's word, and sent by the power of Jesus great commission.

It will be a church that does as much or more for the Kingdom of God outside the walls of a building as it does inside them.

It will not be reduced to a building, it will be a people consumed by the grace and Love of Jesus Christ who are compelled to waste their life for the cause of Jesus Christ.

I pray that this new work will bring glory to the one and only Jesus Christ.

Our purpose is to know Jesus intimately and to make Him known to the WORLD.

I pray that we lead people to the face of Jesus Christ where the glory of God is found.

2 Corinthians 4

"5 For whatk we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, withl ourselves as your servants [2] for Jesus' sake. 6 For God, who said,m “Let light shine out of darkness,” n has shone in our hearts to giveo the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ."

Amanda and I need your prayers now more than ever. We are searching for a location and are planning on starting services as soon as possible. I am working with the Acts 29 team to plant this church as gospel centered and missional as possible. We are close to choosing a name but are stilling praying through our options. If you have questions DM me on Twitter, leave a comment here, or FaceBook me.

Thank you for your prayer and support.

KYC in the ATL

HopeATL

I am bringing a team of 17 young leaders to Catalyst 09 next week.

We have been stoked for months about this conference!

Early this week, I saw this video.

We decided to leave a few days early and make a difference in some people's lives before we get blessed so greatly by Catalyst 09.

So we are leaving Monday morning and will spend Tues and Wed serving the people of Atlanta!

If you would like to help, go to their website www.HopeAtl.com

Live KYC service tonight!

One of our KYC family members has been in a terrible car accident and is in the Intensive Care Unit.

Tonight we are going to broadcast our service Live for her. We will start the broadcast at 6:45 pm CST. It won't be professional, but it will get the job done.

Please pray that Caitlin receives a miracle from God tonight!

We will broadcast right here in this window.

Watch live video from kyctv on Justin.tv

Scarred Deeply and Blessed Greatly!

This summer, God in His sovereignty brought an amazing new relationship to my life.

Through some form of Social Networking, I think it was twitter, Pastor Tony Wood and I made a connection.

He leads Generate, a face melting next Gen ministry that is touching roughly 3000 people each wednesday night, and thousands more through their innovative Facebook Campus. Thousands getting saved, hundreds getting baptized, and dozens of students being sent out on Missions throughout the world.

God is doing a great work in and through Pastor Tony Wood!

Pastor Tony hosted my team and I one wednesday night as we were in LA serving at the Dream Center.

It was an amazing night. After the service, Tony and his team poured into us until late into the night. Tears were shed, hearts were blessed, and a friendship was born.

It is rare that you meet a high profile leader who truly walks humbly before the Lord. Tony's humility and hospitality were amazing. My team and I just wanted to say, "Ummmm, you know your a big deal right? Why are you wasting your time on us, a little ministry from Iowa." There was something different about Tony, something that I really connected with.

A.W. Tozer once said, "It is doubtful whether God can bless a man greatly until He has hurt him deeply."

Our weaknesses and failures are what qualify us for spiritual leadership. Our calling, ministry, and purpose is so much more about God looking good in our weaknesses than us looking good in our strengths.

I am challenged by Tony's humility and honesty and I thank God for the new friend He has brought into my life.

Here is an amazing video testimony of what God has brought Tony through. He has been scarred deeply and now God is blessing him greatly.

Tony Wood: People of the Second Chance from Deadly Viper on Vimeo

3 Tough Questions...

1) Am I as passionate about drawing close to Jesus Christ as I am about building His church?

-Ministry, work, sports, entertainment all have a draining affect on me. I must spend adequate time being refilled by the spirit of God. The guise of success whispers to me to do "whatever it takes to make it happen." The end justifies the means. Bill Hybels is quoted as saying, "Working for God was killing God's work in me." If your a preacher you know the temptation to blow off your quiet time to study for that next message. The fear of preaching a bad message can be overwhelming.

2) What is God's scorecard for me?

-What things will God judge me on? What gifts has God given me that need to be developed in order to produce more fruit? If God wants me to produce apples, I don't want to waste my time trying to pop out an orange! Right now, I think this is Leadership, Preaching, and Vision. I need to spend at least 80% of my time in these three areas.

3) What is God's scorecard for the ministry that He has entrusted to me?

-I know that this is more than just numbers. Giving and Attendance have been higher than ever and show no sign of slowing down, but I am feeling a restlessness, a holy discontent, a divine angst forcing me to my knees in search of God's leading. It is a lonely, scary place, but it is where God is, right now, for me. Kind of like a Moses mountaintop moment, where everything could change but the real purpose is that I come out changed.

How to start a movement.

If changing our world interests you, you should definitely read this review of Malcolm Gladwells book, "The tipping point."

This book needs to be read by every next generation leader. I just cannot get these principles out of my mind. Every week since reading the book I keep returning to them and praying over them. How can we leverage these thoughts to make an eternal impact in our generation?

Check them out, write em down, pass em around.

I found it here.

THE TIPPING POINT IS:

• That one dramatic moment in an epidemic when everything can change all at once.
• The moment of critical mass, the threshold, the boiling point, a place where the unexpected becomes expected, where radical change is more than possibility. It is a certainty. Epidemics...
• Tip b/c of the extraordinary efforts of a few select carriers. But they also sometimes tip when something happens to transform the epidemic agent itself.
  
  1. Ideas and products and messages and behaviors spread just like viruses do.
  2. Are another example of geometric progression: when a virus spreads through a population, it doubles and doubles again into infinity.
  3. Epidemics are a function of the people who transmit infectious agents, the infectious agent itself, and the environment in which the infectious agent is operating:
     • They (Epidemics) have clear examples of contagious behavior.
     • They both have little changes that make big effects.
     • It takes only the smallest of changes to shatter an epidemic's equilibrium.
     • They happen in a hurry.
• This is the most important trait, b/c it is the principle that makes sense of the first two and that permits the greatest insight into why modern change happens the way it does.
• Epidemics involve straightforward simple things; a "product" (I put this in quotes b/c Gladwell writes this book using mostly marketing/business ideas. However, I see it as a way to spark revolution.) and a message.
• In order to create one contagious movement, you often have to create many small movements first.
• Contagiousness is in larger part a function of the messenger. Stickiness is primarily a property of the message.

THE LAW OF THE FEW

There are exceptional people out there who are capable of starting epidemics. All you have to do is find them. With an epidemic, a tiny majority of the people do the work. Once critical factor in epidemics is the nature of the messenger. Messengers make something spread.
Word of mouth is still the most important form of human communication. Rumors are the most contagious of all social messages. Connectors
People with a special gift for bringing the world together, people specialistsKnow lots of peopleHave an extraordinary knack of making friends and acquaintances, making social connections.Have mastered the "weak tie"; a friendly, yet casual social connection.Manage to occupy many different worlds and subcultures and niches. By having a foot in so many different worlds, they have the effect of bringing them all together.Acquaintances represent a source of social power, and the more acquaintances you have the more powerful you are.Social glue: they spread the messageMavensInformation specialistsOnce they figure out how to get that great deal, they want to tell you about it too.Solves his own problems, his own emotional needs, by solving other people's problems.Have knowledge and the social skills to start word-of-mouth epidemics.A teacher and a studentIn a social epidemic, Mavens are data banks. They provide the message. SalespeopleHave the skills to persuade when we are unconvinced of what we are hearing.Little things can make as much of a difference as big things.Gives nonverbal clues that are more important than verbal clues.
"Interactional synchrony": human interaction has a rhythmic physical dimension. We dance to each other's speech�we're perfectly in harmony.Motor mimicry: we imitate each other's emotions as a way of expressing support and caring and, even more basically, as a way of communicating with each other. Emotion is contagious. "Senders" are very good at expressing emotions and feelings. They are far more emotionally contagious than the rest of us.
Persuasion often works in ways that we do not appreciateYou draw others into your own rhythms and dictate the terms of the interaction.

THE STICKINESS FACTOR

There is a simple way to package information that, under the right circumstances, can make it irresistible/sticky and compels a person into action. All you have to do is find it. In order to be capable of sparking epidemics, ideas have to be memorable and move us into action. Content of the message matters too.

What is needed is a subtle but significant change in presentation to make most messages stick.The elements that make an idea sticky turn out to be small and trivial."Clutter" has made it harder and harder to get any one message to stick. The information age has created a stickiness problem.Pay careful attention to the structure and format of your material, and you can dramatically enhance stickiness.Can tip a message by tinkering, on the margin, with the presentation of their ideas THE POWER OF CONTEXT
We don't necessarily appreciate that our inner states are the result of our outer circumstances. We are more than just sensitive to changes in context. We're exquisitely sensitive to them. And the kinds of contextual changes that are capable of tipping an epidemic are very different than we might ordinarily suspect. The impetus to engage in a certain kind of behavior is not coming from a certain kind of person but from a feature of the environment.
Small changes in context can be just as important in tipping epidemics.An environmental argument.What really matters is little things
"Broken Windows Theory": in a city, relatively minor problems like graffiti, public disorder, and aggressive panhandling, are all the equivalent of broken windows, invitations to more serious crimes (Rudy Gulliani's belief)
An epidemic can be reversed/tipped by tinkering with the smallest details of the immediate environment.
There are specific situations so powerful that they can overwhelm our inherent predispositions.Human beings invariably make the mistake of overestimating the importance of fundamental character traits and underestimating the importance of the situation and context. We are a lot more attuned to personal cues than contextual cues.Character is more like a bundle of habits and tendencies and interests, loosely bound together and dependent, at certain times, on circumstances and context.The convictions of your heart and the actual contents of your thoughts are less important, in the end, in guiding your actions then the immediate context of your behavior.

THE MAGIC NUMBER 150

"There seems to be some limitation built into us either by learning or by the design of the nervous systems, a limit that keeps our channel capacities in this general range (i.e. the human minds inability to comprehend things beyond sets 7)" �George Miller "The Magical Number Seven"
"The figure of 150 seems to represent the maximum number of individuals with whom we can have a genuinely social relationship, the kind of relationship that goes with knowing who they are and how they relate to us. Putting it another way, it's the number of people you would not feel embarrassed about joining uninvited for a drink if you happened to bump into them in a bar." �Robin Dunbar,

Even relatively small increases in the size of a group [beyond 150] creates a significant additional social and intellectual burden.The rule of 150 suggests that the size of a group is another one of those subtle contextual factors that can make a big difference.Peer pressure is much more powerful than a concept of a bossTransactive memory: we store information with other people. Since mental energy is limited, we concentrate on what we do best.Groups of 150 are an organized mechanism that makes it far easier for new ideas and information moving around the organization to tip; to go from one person or one part of the group to the entire group all at once.

CONCLUSION

First Lesson of the Tipping Point
Starting epidemics requires concentrating resources on a few key areas. Your resources ought to be solely concentrated on the Connectors, Mavens, and Salesmen.
Second Lesson of the Tipping Point
The world does not accord with our intuition. Those who are successful at creating social epidemics do not just do what they think is right. They deliberately test their intuitions.

Important Conclusion!

What must underlie successful epidemics, in the end, is a bedrock belief that change is possible, that people can radically transform their behavior or beliefs in the face of the right kind of impetus. Tipping Points are a reaffirmation of the potential for change and the power of intelligent action. Look at the world around you. It may seem like an immovable, implacable place. It is not. With the slightest push; just in the right place; it can be tipped. NOTES, ETC.

Diffusion model: a detailed, academic way of looking at how a contagious idea or "product" or innovation moves through a population.

1. Innovators: the adventurous ones. Visionaries.
   
   • Connectors, mavens, and salesmen make it possible for innovations to connect with the early adopters. They are translators: they make ideas and information from a highly specialized world and translate them into a language the rest of us can understand. They drop extraneous details and exaggerate other details so that the message itself acquires a deeper meaning.
     
2. Early adopters: the slightly larger group that is infected by the innovators. Visionaries.
3. Early Majority: the deliberate and the skeptical mass, who would never try anything until the most respected of this group try it first.
4. Late Majority
5. Laggards: the most traditional group that see no urgent reason to change.

Augusts books

Great book for communicators and marketers! I read this one last year but needed to read it again! Phenomenal book!

The tipping point was amazing! Great book for anyone who is wanting to start a movement!

Solid book on an often overlooked principle from scripture. We need to know how to encourage ourself in the Lord instead of looking for other people to encourage us when we lose strength.
Amazing book that I read on vacation on the dangers of overwork, and living at an unsustainable pace. Ministry is demanding and this book was a much needed eye opener for me! Burn bright but don't burn out!

Redefine Conference 09

I can't tell you how excited I am about our 2009 Youth Conference called Redefine 09!

Formerly known at "The Mix" this conference has been a culture shaping weekend for us every year and Redefine 09 is going to be bigger, badder, and better!

Halloween weekend, Oct 30-Nov 1st, we are staying 2 nights this year. We have added another nationally known speaker. We have the rapper Young Chozen coming for a late night show. We are staying at Fun City with an indoor waterpark, lazer tag, go carts, and restaurants.

This weekend will be EPIC!

The cost for this experience will be $135 before Oct. 1st and $150 after Oct. 1st.

Get your money in as quick as you can. If you know that getting the money is going to be an issue, send me an email at justindean7@mac.com right away so that I can work on getting you a sponsor.

July's books

I'm still trying to get caught up from being in Kenya and LA most of the month of July. Here the books that I finished this month.

Great Book! It will fire you up to color outside the lines!
I had to read this because I am learning how to work with an assistant. It was very helpful.
Read this on my way to Kenya. It was solid. I believe that God still does miracles and we should expect them. The problem is most of us don't allow ourselves or enjoy being in a position where we need a miracle.

One Big takeaway. "The more people I pray for, the more people get healed." Lets stop arguing over the details and start praying for people who need a healing! Let God do the rest!!

This is Grace

I want you to meet Grace. She is the girl with her hands lifted towards heaven.

Such a beautiful girl, and such a picture of the grace of God.

Let me share with you her story...

In Kenya, the hygiene is primitive.

In most places the bathrooms consist of a pit in the ground with a concrete slab overtop with a single hole in it to do your business. Very similar to a port-a-pottie here in the states.

One day an elderly lady walked out to the bathroom and heard a baby crying. She couldn't see any child and soon realized that the baby had been dropped into the waste pit. Grace's mother could no longer take care of her so she threw her into the pit filled with tons of human waste to die.

The old lady went to the villagers and they had to break up the concrete in order to get her out. When they got her out she was very sick and had a terrible eye infection from being covered in human waste for so long.

The old lady was not able to take care of her so she gave her to Fishers of Men Ministries.

Today she is a beautiful healthy girl who loves Jesus with all of her heart and has an incredible future ahead of her. We provide her food, healthcare, clothes, housing, and education, all for 30$ per month.

This is why we sponsor children in Kenya. This is why we have an orphanage. This is why we built a church. This is why we are drilling wells and building a High School. This is Grace.

If you have not sponsored a child yet, please sacrifice 30$ per month and do it now. The easiest way to sponsor is by choosing a child on the FOM website and then paying online.

This trip to Kenya has changed my life. It has strengthened my resolve and confirmed that this work is of life and death importance to Him. We are the hands and feet of Jesus Christ in our world.

What are you doing to show this world the love of Jesus Christ?

Please, join me and my wife and save the life of a child in Kenya, Africa.

Kenya Experience Kit

On Thursday I fly out of Moline, Il.

After a few connecting flights and over 17 hours in the air, I will arrive in Nairobi, Africa.

I'm going to cut the ribbon on our church plant in Kenya and I plan on preaching my guts out!

I'm scheduled to preach and pray for over 20 hours in 2 days!

The other days will be spent catching up with the three children my wife and I sponsor and planning for the High School that The Rock is building in the next couple of years.

I plan on capturing as much of this experience as possible and making it available to you as I find wi-fi hot spots throughout Kenya.

Here is my Kenya Experience Kit!

500 gig Hard Drive, 4 gig Ram Duo 2.2 MacBook Pro

Flip Mino HD

120 gig Rocketfish External Hard Drive

Kindle 2 (Did I mention I will be on a plane for 17 hours)

Sony HDD 30 gig HandyCam

Canon Powershot SD870 "The workhorse"

~And I will be packing all of this into my new LowePro Camera/Laptop DayPack!

Rock Church Africa

Interview with African Pastor from Justin Dean on Vimeo.

MLK in AutoTune

Planting a Global Church

Planting a church in another country is not a luxury bestowed upon financially "successful" ministries.

It is a command for all of us from the Resurrected Jesus Christ found in Matthew's Gospel chapter 28

8 And Jesus came and said to them, h “All authority i in heaven and on earth has been given to me.19 j Go therefore and k make disciples of l all nations, j baptizing themm in [2] n the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them o to observe all that p I have commanded you. And behold, q I am with you always, to r the end of the age.”

The Rock Church has succumb to the grace of God. By God's gracious hand, We have been forced from our "land of comfort" and into the African bush.

We have needs at home. We have an unfinished building project. We have underpaid staff. We have very little in savings. But we also have a mission from God. GO MAKE DISCIPLES OF ALL NATIONS!

When God speaks, we choose to move. When it looks fearful, we choose to trust in Him!

I am so thankful to be a part of a church that is more concerned with The Gospel of Jesus Christ going to all the world, than their own personal comfort.

This sunday we raised another $3,500.00 to finish the construction of Rock Church Kenya.

I am told that it is the nicest church building in the region.

In less than a month it will be filled with people, and I will be preaching my guts out.

I believe that God will be glorified, Jesus will change lives, and the devil will take another beating!

For less than $10,000, we were able to buy 10 acres and build this church building where hundreds of families can worship Jesus Christ and within the next 2 years we are planning on building a High School as well. God is Soooo Good! This is a picture of a New Testament Church in action!!

So Good!

Birthday Suprise!!

Last day at 29

My life is good. Actually it's scary good and I don't want to screw it up.

Yesterday, another high profile church leader admitted to sleeping with his secretary and was asked to step down from the large church that he planted.

That really scares me.

Things can be going so good and be gone in an instant. We start to feel successful, like we are beyond moral failure. Who needs boundaries... not me! I am anointed. I am strong.

Such a lie.

I feel especially small today. I realize that I have spent 29 years 364 days on planet earth and I feel lonely and insignificant.

I have achieved a moderate amount of success but it does not bring lasting joy. I'm afraid my work will be devoured by fire or blown away like chaff. Have I built a ministry on me? If I have, it will not last. I place far too much of my identity in the office that I hold.

I am a Pastor. I am a Shepherd. I am a leader.

Today, I am a weak man that is struggling to keep his life on the altar of God.

Just being real.

May's Books

I have a total ManCrush on John Piper. He really motivates me to Study and Preach Jesus Christ with Boldness! Great little book.
Why Great Men Fail was an awesome read! I suggest it to every leader. I might make this required reading for my proteges.

This was a very inspiring book. The grace of Jesus Christ is absolutely amazing.

Stay on top of your game

Of those to whom much is given, much is required. And when at some future date the high court of history sits in judgement on each of us, recording whether in our brief span of service we fulfilled our responsibilities - our success or failure, we will be measured by the answers to four questions:

Were we truly men of courage?

Were we truly men of judgment?

Were we truly men of integrity?

Were we truly men of dedication?

-John F. Kennedy

It don't come natural!

Some people think that growth comes naturally. People are like wine, they get better with age.

I disagree.

I have come to a place in my life and ministry where I don't know the next step to take.

Several other Youth Pastors in the area have raised up youth ministries that have reached the 300 barrier. In the past few years everyone of them has cashed in their chips.

Some failed morally, some moved away, some moved "up", and some just burnt out.

None had longevity. None broke the 300 barrier for any extended amount of time.

I pray that God grants me both!

But I know that it won't happen by me doing the same things I've always done. I need a fresh perspective, I need bold leadership.

Today I spent an hour on the phone with a Youth Pastor who is several steps ahead of me.

Brad Cooper is leading Fuse*, the youth ministry of Newspring Church, aka Perry Nobles church. God is doing some amazing things in their ministry and today God used Brad to encourage me, motivate me, rebuke me, and pump some freshness into my soul!

I thank God for this Web 2.0 relationship that stretched me to believe God for more.

More souls, more depth, more relationships, more margin, more results.

Growth does not come natural. Growth is intentional.

Quit sitting around waiting for the day that you grow up into what God is calling you to do.

Make a phone call to a mentor, join an internship, read a book, take a class, stretch yourself and at the end of everyday ask yourself this question...

What have you done today to grow yourself personally, spiritually, or relationally?

Bring it On!

One thing is true about teenagers and that is they all have questions.

Questions about life, sex, the bible, sex, the end times, and sex.

We have been doing Question and Answer services for over 5 years at KYC, and we call them "Bring it on!" services.

We started out by passing out little slips of paper where they could anonymously write out their questions and I would answer them ALL! I think there was about 10 teenagers that first week.

Throughout the years, these services have become increasingly difficult because the number of teenagers that we have attending has went through the roof.

We are now only able to answer a fraction of the questions, and sorting through 300+ little pieces of paper is time consuming and difficult.

In comes Mobivity.

For less than a hundred bucks our teenagers can now text message their questions to us, during service.

All of the messages are routed to an email address. The questions can then be copied and pasted into our presentation software and projected on the screens, plasma tv's on stage, and in our overflow room.

This is the first week that we are offering text to screen Bring it On and I am very excited to see how it goes!

How are you leveraging technology to get your message out?

Killing is Killing no matter what you call it!

How to be a Truth Drenched Youth Ministry

My Prayer is that Youth Ministry around the Country would be shaped by a new set of behaviors.

I pray that Dodgeball and summer camp will no longer define us.

I have tried my best to exemplify all of these behaviors that are written below. I thank God for His grace and His blessings that have been poured upon myself, my family, and Kingdom Youth Church.

Currently, we are one of the largest youth ministries in the midwest but we are not event driven or entertainment driven.

I preach for at least an hour each week. (I'm not good enough to keep it shorter)

We have seen over 200 new teenage believers baptized in the past year and a half.

I would attribute this moderate amount of success to staying drenched in Gods Truth.

I have taken this straight from John Pipers, Desiring God Blog.

(Author: Abraham Piper)

The following is from my notes at Kempton Turner's session yesterday at the CDG conference.

1. Be a truth-drenched example.

1 Timothy 4:16

Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.

The example of your life is the hammer that drives your message home. If your life doesn't exemplify what you expect, your message will not be believable.

2. Have a truth-drenched marriage and family life.

1 Timothy 3:4-5

He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God's church?

We shouldn't see if someone is fit for the ministry by how they do in seemingly less important ministries. Rather, we should see what kind of husband and father he is. If he leads his family well, then maybe he's fit for the ministry.

Paul assumes that a church leader first leads his family. A truth-drenched youth ministry will get the overflow of the youth minister's leadership of his wife and kids.

3. Cultivate a truth-drenched staff.

Acts 13:2-3

While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them." Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off.

Gather as a staff mainly to go vertical. Meet with God and see what strategy comes from this worship.

4. Preach and teach truth-drenched messages and lessons.

Hebrews 13:7

Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.

The main thing your youth should think about when they remember you is how you spoke God's word to them.

Don't replace teaching truth with games, media, skits, etc.

5. Develop and implement a truth-drenched vision and philosophy of youth ministry.

Proverbs 29:18

Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint, but blessed is he who keeps the law.

Picture youth ministry as a mountain. Develop a plan that puts the cross at the top with all the other good (but less important) things below. Then the truth of the gospel will flow down that mountain over everything you do, drenching your ministry.

Get your bike on!

I went for a little trail ride on Wednesday morning and decided to shoot a little video footage while I was out.

I love mountain biking! You get a great workout, your adrenaline starts pumping, and your outside. What more could you ask for?

I had the Red Hot Chili Peppers song Hump de Bump for the soundtrack but YouTube switched it out because of Copyright issues.

The place where I am riding is called Sunderbruch park and is in West Davenport, Ia.

April's books

I finished three great books this month.

Sticky Church was all about how to get people plugged into your church and keep them growing. It was very insightful and enjoyable to read. We are using many principles for this book in our small group system at The Rock.

I believe Spiritual Disciplines is a must read for every follower of Christ. Great stuff on bible study, prayer, fasting, journaling, and silence and solitude.

The Divine commodity was eye opening and very fresh report on the state of the American Church and our personal faith. I really enjoyed his insights and loved the cover design. This book partnered well with "Flickering Pixels", which I am in the middle of right now. I would highly recommend all of these books.

The Dead Zone

We started a new series this week at The Rock called The Dead Zone.

This is how we started the message.

Building Margin into your life

This was emailed to me this morning by an awesome parent.

It goes along with what I preached last night, so I thought I would re-post it for you. It was from Rick Warren.

April 22, 2009

Building Margin Into Your Life

by Rick Warren

In our Devotionals series, Pastor Rick Warren discusses the Bible passages that inspire him the most. Today's Devotional is based on this passage:

"Jesus said to his followers, 'Go everywhere in the world, and tell the Good News to everyone'" (Mark 16:15 NCV).

A lot of people are on overload and headed for a crash. Consider these statistics among U.S. citizens:

• People now sleep 2 1/2 fewer hours each night compared to people from one hundred years ago.

• The average work week is longer now than it was in the 1960s.

• The average office worker has 36 hours of work piled up on his or her desk. It takes three hours a week just to sort through it and find what we need.

• We spend eight months of our lives opening junk mail, two years of our lives playing phone tag with people who are too busy to answer, and five years waiting for people who are trying to do too much and are late for meetings.

We're a piled-on, stretched-to-the limit society; chronically rushed, chronically late, chronically exhausted. Many of us feel like Job did when he said, "I have no peace! I have no quiet! I have no rest! And trouble keeps coming" (Job 3:26 GWT).

Overload comes when we have too much activity in our lives, too much change, too many choices, too much work, too much debt, too much media exposure.

Dr. Richard Swenson says, "The conditions of modern day living devour margin. If you're homeless we direct you to a shelter. If you're penniless we offer you food stamps. If you're breathless we connect you to oxygen. But if you're marginless we give you one more thing to do. Marginless is being thirty minutes late to the doctor's office because you were twenty minutes late getting out of the hairdresser because you were ten minutes late dropping the children off at school because the car ran out of gas two blocks from a gas station and you forgot your purse. That's marginless."

You need margin in your life. When you're not hurrying and worrying all the time, you have time to think. Time to relax. Time to enjoy life. Time to be still and know that God is God (Psalm 46:10).

Rick Warren is the founding pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., one of America’s largest and best-known churches. In addition, Rick is author of the New York Times bestseller The Purpose Driven Life and The Purpose Driven Church.

This is my day.

Help me God!

I think it is funny that people think pastors only work on Sundays.

Update

(The quality of this pic sucks because I snapped it from my iPhone on Sunday morning and it was pretty dark.)

This is an extremely exciting time to be involved in the Rock Church.

1. In the last two weeks we have seen 94 teenagers baptized.

2. For the first time ever we had over 700 people attend our church in one week.

3. This was the first sunday we have had over 400 people worship with us. We had 429 people attend our Easter services.

4. God is moving, people are excited, and the best is yet to come!

Marchs Books

This book has completely changed my life and ministry. If you struggle with getting things done or you are overwhelmed with how much stuff you need to get done this book is for you. I have to get a lot done and still be really creative. That is tough for me because my mind is always on my tasks at hand. This book teaches you how to get more done and more off your mind to enable greater down time and creativity. I highly recommend this book!

Ortberg is an amazing author. This was a good read.

If you read Tony Morgan's blog then you don't need to buy this book. It is filled with insights and leadership tips but overall it was a letdown for me. It was written similar to Axiom by Bill Hybels but was no where near as beneficial or as powerful.