PRIMAL - A Quest for the Lost Soul of Christianity

I recently had a chance to review a new book by Mark Batterson (author of In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day and Wild Goose Chase), called PRIMAL: A Quest for the Lost Soul of Christianity. (Thanks Mark and Liz!) Here is a small taste of what the book is about, as well as my thoughts:

When Jesus was asked what was the number one command, He responded with this: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength... and love your neighbor as yourself." Sounds like 2 commands, but maybe it's just one...

Mark Batterson makes a challenge for all Christ followers that we all need to be reminded of, and we all need to focus on. If we can simply live up to this primary command, it would be revolutionary, not just for our lives, but all over the world!

If you haven't created a reading list for the new year - or even if you have - put PRIMAL at the top of that list and make it your first read of the new year!

SUMMIT SUNDAY - THIS SUNDAY!

This Sunday @ 9:30am should be one of the most exciting mornings of the fall for students and parents!

Do you want your student to be successful in all they do - to reach the peak of their potential? Make sure they're at SUMMIT SUNDAY this Sunday at 9:30am!

Here's what we have for students Sunday:


Here's what we have for PARENTS this Sunday at 9:30am:

FREE Parent Breakfast and Seminar @ 9:30AM in FLC 108

Parenting Your Teen in a Media World.

Angels and Demons

Last night in our high school ministry, we started a 2-part series called, "Angels and Demons". We're looking at the reality of spiritual warfare and talking about ways that we can see/sense the spiritual realm impacting our lives daily.

As I began preparing, I had a strong sense that the enemy would work hard to distract students (and me) from what God wanted us to know and understand in this area. So, last night, we tried to kill a few myths:

#1 - Everyone should pray to their guardian angel (while guardianship may be a reality, the phrase "guardian angel" is not actually found in Scripture - and angels should not be prayed to or worshipped - Hebrews 1 talks about this)

#2 - The devil is just a halloween character - no big deal

#3 - Angels are little babies with wings

#4 - The devil is everywhere and can control anyone at his choosing

#5 - They don't exist - This is the scariest one to believe

The truth is that they do exist... and the battle fought in the spiritual realm is a battle that impacts us on a daily basis - whether it is a spirit of complacency, insecurity, lust, deception, pride, fear, anger, etc, we lose regularly because we don't pay attention.

Here are a couple key truths we ended with:

- This is REAL. It's scary. Apart from Christ, we walk this battle every day alone, in fear, in emptiness, and in darkness.

- The reason we turn on lights when we're afraid is because we were made for the Light.

FALL RIOT RECAP

1599 students and adults

156 decisions for Christ

44 first-time salvations

1 Savior to receive ALL the glory!

What an incredible night! Thanks for your prayers and for helping make it possible!

FALL RIOT 2009

Wednesday, October 7th
6:30-8:30pm
North Campus Worship Center

FREE COMMUNITY-WIDE STUDENT RALLY!

FREE Chick-Fil-A!

Football highlights from area schools!

Big prizes!

Live music!

Dance crews!

Quarterback challenge!

Drum lines!

So much more!

Don't let your student miss this HUGE event!

FALL RIOT

Wednesday, October 7th @ 6:30pm

FREE COMMUNITY-WIDE STUDENT RALLY!

football highlights from area schools!

FREE Chick-Fil-A!

big prizes!

live music!

dance crews!

quarterback challenge!

drum lines!
so much more!

Destiny...

I've taken some time away from blogging, but I come back with one of my favorite videos of all time. Such a true message! If we haven't embraced it, we've missed out. If we don't embrace it, we'll continue to miss out. When we do embrace it, watch out!!!

Celebrating Freedom

Today, we celebrate our independence. We remember the sacrifices made in the past - and still being made - to secure our freedom as a nation. To my grandad to my cousins, family and friends, people I know personally and those I dont - Thank you!

Today, I can't help but think of the freedom purchased for us on the cross. "Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom." Freedom not just live, move and breathe, but to LIFE - a life that is exciting, often tough, filled with adventure, but full and better than one could imagine. That's the free life in the Spirit, bought on the cross.

The First 6 Years...

This weekend, Michelle and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary! We went out to the Kemah Boardwalk for the first time, ate dinner on an outdoor balcony at sunset, rode the ferris wheel and the wooden rollercoaster, ate ice cream, and watched the sailboats come and go.

The weather was beautiful and the night was awesome, but I am most thankful for my beautiful wife and the awesome 6 years we've spent together! I am so lucky to spend my life with her as my wife!

At sunset, I asked her what she enjoyed most about the last 6 years... she's pretty good:

BEACH RETREAT 2009

What an AMAZING week at High School Beach Retreat! We took 334 students and leaders from our North Campus and saw 75 students follow Christ in baptism - 34 for the very first time!

Check out these pictures of the week:

BEACH RETREAT 2009

The best week of the summer! See what happens and what students say about Beach Retreat...

SHIFT STUDENT MINISTRY

SHIFT is the new title of the North Campus Student Ministry! Every one of us in on a spiritual journey. Some people are still stuck in the driveway with their vehicle in Park, while others have been on the road for years, seeing sights that they never could have dreamed of or described. Imagine taking this journey in first gear - you won't get far and you'll never be on a good pace. So many people get stuck in the same gear spiritually, and our desire is that students would SHIFT their faith into a new gear! For some that means getting out of Park and starting the journey. For others, it may be getting out of the same gear (spiritual rut) that they've been in for a while.

The Christian life is about constantly SHIFTing to the next gear. Our desire, purpose, and vision is to see students all over the North Houston area SHIFT their faith and enjoy the incredible journey that God has laid out for them.

Here is our vision in one statement:SHIFT STUDENT MINISTRY is building a generation of students who LIVE passionately for Jesus in a way that impacts others, who GIVE of themselves, and GROW in Christ's love!

Premiere Weekend

PREMIERE WEEKEND IS JUST ONE WEEK AWAY!

Join us February 6-8 as we roll out the red carpet for Premiere Weekend. Students will be in host homes throughout the Houston area for an incredible time of fun, fellowship, and growth. Our featured guest speakers will include Dr. Jay Strack, Alex Himaya, Brent Crowe, and the Student Leadership University team.

Premiere Weekend will feature high energy worship led by the ELEVATE BAND and Aaron Ivey (Spur58). The worship, small group times and activities will make this event one powerful weekend in the lives of the students who attend.

Cost: $65 to register and then bring $10 at Friday's check-in for recreation and fun. This cost includes a Premiere Weekend T-shirt, all food, our incredible speakers & worship bands and an amazing weekend to remember.

Schedule: Friday, February 6th at 6:00pm check in at your Second Baptist Church Campus. We will finish after church on Sunday, February 8th.

Information: High School Ministry: 713-365-6305

Download Premiere Weekend Registration Form Here

Simplicity

I read some great thoughts today about simplicity from Ken Blanchard, Phil Hodges (authors of Lead Like Jesus) and Lee Ross. Here are some of their thoughts on how to focus on simplicity:

• Buy things for their usefulness rather than their status.
• Reject anything that is producing an addiction in you.
• Develop a habit of giving things away: “de-accumulate.”
• Refuse to be propagandized by the custodians of modern gadgetry. Time-saving devices almost never save time, and must be maintained.
• Learn to enjoy things without owning them.
• Develop a deeper appreciation for creation. Get close to the earth. Walk whenever you can. Discover once again that “the earth is the Lord’s and everything in it.”
• Look with healthy skepticism at all “buy now, pay later” schemes
• Reject anything that breeds oppression in others. In a world of limited resources, does our lust for wealth and pleasure mean poverty for others?

A SHIFT IS COMING...

What Christmas is All About

Purple Cows

One blog that I subscribe to - and receive daily updates from - is Mark Batterson's. He is a pastor in D.C. and also is an author. If you haven't picked it up yet, Wild Goose Chase is his newest book and it is a must read. Recently, he made a post called Purple Cows. In part of it he says:

"One of my favorite marketing books is Purple Cow by Seth Godin. The book revolves around this metaphor: if you've seen one brown cow you've seen them all. But a purple cow, now that would catch your attention. One statement in the book has profound implications: "If you aren't remarkable you're invisible."

Every church needs to paint itself purple. I'm not talking about gimmicks. I'm not talking about being different for difference sake. I'm talking about making such a remarkable difference in our communities that we are unignorable."

Never thought I'd want to be purple until today...

Sexy Shows and Students

This is an interesting article from the Chicago Sun Times...

SEXY TELEVISION SHOWS LINKED TO TEEN PREGNANCY
November 3, 2008
By Monifa Thomas
Health Reporter
CHICAGO SUN TIMES

Parents who think there's too much sex on TV have good reason to be concerned, groundbreaking new research suggests.

Teens who watch television shows that have a lot of sexual content are more likely to become pregnant -- or to get someone pregnant -- by the time they turn 20, according to a study in the journal Pediatrics.....

click here to read the rest of the article

Texans Game

We got a chance to go to the Houston Texans game yesterday with Jeremiah Ramer (West Campus High School Pastor) and his wife Tessa.  It was a great game, PERFECT weather, great seats, and we had a blast hanging out with Jeremiah and Tessa (always fun to get to know our staff better outside of work).  Here are some pictures of our view and all of us enjoying the game.

FALL RIOT was an incredible night in the High School Ministry! We had tons of students from all the local schools come out and be a part of a quarterback challenge with local HS QBs, a hot dog eating contest between football players, cheer squads, and drill teams, awesome music and worship, and tons more.

Most exciting, we saw 8 high school students commit their lives to Christ for the very first time!

Here are a few pictures to give you an idea of what the night looked like...

FALL RIOT

Next Wednesday, October 1 at 6:30pm, tons of students will come together for for one huge night we call the FALL RIOT!

- Quarterbacks from the local schools will do a QB challenge!
- Linemen will take on cheer squads and drill teams in a hot dog eating contest!
- The night will be filled with music, prizes, games, free food, tons of school spirit, and more!

We want to see every student in the area join us for

FALL RIOT!
Can't wait to see you there!

Hurricane Ike

I haven't really had any power or internet at the house in a week, but for those who have been in a hole for the last week, here are some pictures of the damage from Hurricane Ike:

Our neighborhood:

Our community:

Here are some other pretty incredible pictures:

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2008/09/the_short_but_eventful_life_of.html 

WEEKEND SCHEDULE

Power has been restored at the church and we will be having all normal services and Bible studies this weekend!

SERVICES:

  Sat @ 6:00pm

  Sun @ 9:30am & 11:00am

BIBLE STUDY:

  Sat @ 7:15pm

  Sun @ 9:30am & 11:00am 

Baptism Night

God continues to do AMAZING things in the High School Ministry at Second Baptist Church!
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Last night, we got together as a student ministry and had over 235 students and leaders out for a Wednesday night under the pavilion.
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We saw 15 students make first-time decisions for Christ, as well as 12 students choosing to follow Christ by taking that first step of baptism!!!
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Here are some pictures to help you see a little of what happened!

The Vision...

I read this years ago and came across it again this week. Yes it's long, but I promise you it's worth the read...

The Vision - by Pete Greig

So this guy comes up to me and says:
“what’s the vision? What’s the big idea?”
I open my mouth and words come out like this:
The vision?
The vision is JESUS – obsessively, dangerously, undeniably Jesus.
The vision is an army of young people.
You see bones? I see an army. And they are FREE from materialism.
They laugh at 9-5 little prisons.
They could eat caviar on Monday and crusts on Tuesday.
They wouldn’t even notice.
They know the meaning of the Matrix, the way the west was won.
They are mobile like the wind, they belong to the nations. They need no passport.
People write their addresses in pencil and wonder at their strange existence.
They are free yet they are slaves of the hurting and dirty and dying.

What is the vision ?
The vision is holiness that hurts the eyes.
It makes children laugh and adults angry.
It gave up the game of minimum integrity long ago to reach for the stars.
It scorns the good and strains for the best.
It is dangerously pure.
Light flickers from every secret motive, every private conversation.
It loves people away from their suicide leaps, their Satan games.
This is an army that will lay down its life for the cause.
A million times a day its soldiers choose to loose,that they might one day win the great ‘Well done’ of faithful sons and daughters.
Such heroes are as radical on Monday morning as Sunday night.
They don’t need fame from names.
Instead they grin quietly upwards and hear the crowds chanting again and again: “COME ON!”

And this is the sound of the underground.
The whisper of history in the making.
Foundations shaking
Revolutionaries dreaming once again
Mystery is scheming in whispers
Conspiracy is breathing…This is the sound of the underground

And the army is discipl(in)ed.
Young people who beat their bodies into submission.
Every soldier would take a bullet for his comrade at arms.
The tattoo on their back boasts “for me to live is Christ and to die is gain”.
Sacrifice fuels the fire of victory in their upward eyes.
Winners.
Martyrs.
Who can stop them ?
Can hormones hold them back?
Can failure succeed?
Can fear scare them or death kill them ?

And the generation prays
like a dying man with groans beyond talking, with warrior cries, sulphuric tears and with great barrow loads of laughter!
Waiting. Watching: 24 – 7 – 365.
Whatever it takes they will give: Breaking the rules. Shaking mediocrity from its cosy little hide. Laying down their rights and their precious little wrongs, laughing at labels, fasting essentials. The advertisers cannot mould them. Hollywood cannot hold them. Peer-pressure is powerless to shake their resolve at late night parties before the cockerel cries.
They are incredibly cool, dangerously attractive
Inside.
On the outside? They hardly care.They wear clothes like costumes to communicate and celebrate but never to hide.
Would they surrender their image or their popularity?
They would lay down their very lives - swap seats with the man on death row - guilty as hell. A throne for an electric chair.
With blood and sweat and many tears, with sleepless nights and fruitless days,they pray as if it all depends on God and live as if it all depends on them.

Their DNA chooses JESUS. (He breathes out, they breathe in.)
Their subconscious sings. They had a blood transfusion with Jesus.
Their words make demons scream in shopping centres.
Don’t you hear them coming?
Herald the weirdo’s! Summon the losers and the freaks.
Here come the frightened and forgotten with fire in their eyes.
They walk tall and trees applaud, skyscrapers bow, mountains are dwarfed by these children of another dimension.
Their prayers summon the hounds of heaven and invoke the ancient dream of Eden.
And this vision will be.
It will come to pass;
it will come easily;
it will come soon.

How do I know?
Because this is the longing of creation itself
the groaning of the Spirit
the very dream of God.
My tomorrow is his today.
My distant hope is his 3D.
And my feeble, whispered, faithless prayer invokes a thunderous, resounding, bone-shaking great ‘Amen!’ from countless angels, from hero’s of the faith
from Christ himself.

And he is the original dreamer, the ultimate winner.
Guaranteed.

SLEEP!

For the first time last night, Brayden slept through the night!!!  He finally went to bed at midnight and slept until about 7:30!  Needless to say, it was amazing!

Also, for your enjoyment, here is a video of him smiling last week.  Michelle filmed this on her phone and sent it to me at work.  (I watch it about 10 times a day)

Expecting Great Things

I like to look back through certain "heart check" documents periodically, and recently came across this one about Keys to Expecting Great Things...

ASK THE RIGHT QUESTIONS

     WHO am I focused on?

     WHAT is my motivation?

     WHEN am I available?

     WHERE is my heart?

FOUNDATION STONES

     Someone must lead the way!

     We base it all on the Bible.

     Relationships rule!

     We craft character and make memories.

     We must do the usual unusually well.

     Our excuses can kill our opportunities.

Non-Negotiables for Life and Ministry

One of our pastors on staff - Don Anderson - led a meeting with our interns this week to talk about having non-negotiables in life and ministry. Don is a great leader - he led massive teams of sales people for AT&T - and now is over our volunteer ministry. Incredible man of God with incredible discipline. Here are 10 of his non-negotiables:

1. Integrity in personal and professional conduct
2. Start each day by spending time with God
3. Time with family is priority over work/ministry
4. Commit time each week to exercise and nutrition
5. Respect others - be on time
6. Be prepared - know your audience and your product
7. People are more important than processes or programs
8. Give back to the community
9. Tithe
10. Always safeguard and protect yourself from any hint of sexual impurity

VBS / VBX

VBS week here at Second Baptist Church is always exciting. This year, thousands of kids have come out to the North Campus for VBS and VBX (for 5th and 6th graders). It has been an exciting week and we have seen hundreds make decisions for Christ. Here are a few pictures of the incredible BIG SHOW:

How Big is Your God?

This past weekend, I had the opportunity to preach in our weekend services. I had the chance to stand in front of our whole church body to share 3 obstacles to BIG FAITH:

1. Ourselves - we think God could never use us

2. Our opposition - we think the opposition is too great

3. Our view of God - we don't think God is big enough to do the impossible.

Over the past 9 months, we've had a group of students who have chosen to believe that God could do BIG things through them and tons of students on their teams and in their schools have committed their lives to Christ and are actively involved in a growth journey!

God is doing the impossible through students with BIG FAITH!

Thoughts from My Hospital Bench/Bed

My wife was readmitted to the hospital last Friday and told she'd need to stay for 24 hours... 4 days later, she was finally released. In the midst of much prayer, joy with our new son, frustration and uncertainty about what was happening, and sleep deprivation, I had a few thoughts stick with me:

1. Family is more important than ministry

I know I always hear it and say it, but as hard as it has been to be gone for another weekend (I've missed church for a couple weeks in a row... and I'm still in Houston), I want and need to be with my wife and son.  My dad always made it a priority and it impacted me.  When he missed every Wednesday night as a pastor of our church to watch me play baseball or basketball, people often asked how he could justify that.  His response was, "Anyone can lead a Bible study.  I'm the only one who can be a father to my children."  No one can take your place in your family.

2. Duplicating myself is critical

I've never had a time where I felt like I was completely bailing out last minute on weeks at a time.  While we were somewhat able to prepare for one weekend, being back in the hospital and missing 3 straight weekends is enlightening.  Fortunately, we have AMAZING staff and volunteers that are prepared to take it and run, without missing a beat.  If function of ministry ever suffers because I am missing, then I'm not doing as good of a job as I need to training people and giving ownership.

3. Quality leadership can't be replaced

It's amazing how at peace I am knowing that quality people are leading the ministry while I'm away.  I'm very particular, so that's a huge deal for me to have peace when I'm not there.  Quality leadership is crucial.

4. Sleep is good

No explanation needed.

Just One Week

The last week has been amazing.  It has been tough - how can a baby poop that much all day long?  It has been exciting - we never know what is coming next, like when he smiles one minute and pees on my mother-in-law the next.  It has been tiring - he sleeps all day and is wide awake at night... It has been amazing.  

There are a lot of memories that really stand out to me about the last week - seeing him the first time, standing by the table holding him for the first time, our first time together as a family, having my "moments" with him every day where I just get to hold him, talk to him, and sing to him - I love those moments.

One other thing that really stands out about the last week was when he was in the nursery right after he was born (they let us hold him for about 10 minutes, then they took him to a transition nursery for 5 hours and we weren't allowed in - we could just look through the window).  They took his foot and made a small cut so they could take blood, then they squeezed it and scraped to get the blood into a tube.  I wanted to jump through the window and take him out of there.  I knew it was for a good reason, but I didn't care.  I couldn't take it anymore.  I left.  I could not stand there and watch my son go through that. 

As I walked away frustrated with the face that I could not do anything about it, I began thinking about what God must have gone through watching his one and only Son be beaten, mocked, whipped, tortured, and hung on a cross by nails through his hands and feet.  Here's the part that got to me most - God could have done something about it.  He could have said, "No, I'm not going to watch this happen to MY SON!  You are not going to do that to MY SON!"  He could have just ended it.  Taken them out.  But He didn't.  How could God stand back and watch that happen to His Son who He loves?!?  It's because He loves my son that much.  Because He loves me.  Because He loves you that much!  He loves us so much that He would allow His Son to die so that we could be His children.

1 John says it this way: "How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!"

10:10

Jesus said, "I have come that they might have LIFE and have it TO THE FULL."
John 10:10

What an incredible blessing it is to have our beautiful 10:10 baby boy!

Brayden Brooks Gray

Brayden Brooks Gray arrived yesterday at 1:00PM. He measured 10 lbs 10 oz (10:10 - awesome, if you know my favorite verse in all of Scripture!) and was 22 3/4" long! Since no one really cares about what I'm writing, I'll give you all what you really want...

One Day

We're down to less than 24 hours!  Tomorrow morning, we go to the hospital for the medically assisted delivery of our son.  This is the first time for us.  What is it like?  What do I need to do to be a good husband in the delivery room?  (Really, I'm just praying that I won't pass out!)  What will the next few weeks be like?  How will the baby respond?  How will Michelle's recovery go?  We're both a little nervous about the procedure and process.  We're both unsure about what it will be like.  But most of all, we're both sure that this is one of the most exciting and anticipated moments of our lives!  I can't imagine what it will be like to hold my son for the first time.  Now that I've started this blog, I even wonder if I'll even remotely be able to communicate the depth of love, joy, and excitement of the next few days... probably not.  But I guess that's really ok.

I wonder what my prayers will be like.  For the past nine months, it has been "God, there is nothing I can do, but trust You.  I have no control, but I trust that You do."  I wonder how much that prayer will change.  I also wonder how much that prayer will continue to be the same.

All I know is that tomorrow is a big day.  Tomorrow is my son's birth day!

rookie blog

In my rookie blog, I couldn't think of anything better to write about than the one thing I am most excited about right now - the upcoming birth of my son Brayden.  He will be born this week - either on his own or medically induced - and we can't wait.  My beautiful wife Michelle  - radiant even pregnant - has been carrying him for over 9 months now and we're both ready to hold him and carry him in a new way.  People always ask if I'm nervous.  I might be crazy, but I think I'm just too excited right now to be nervous.  I can't wait to see my son and to hold him in my arms.  This whole process has been a very spiritual one for me.  I have grown to understand that I will never understand the depth of God's love for each of us... and I haven't even seen or held him yet.

I can't wait.