when we are sick...

It has been one of those crazy weeks when we have sick kids in our house. Kozbi has been ok, just simple allergies, but Kelyn has been really sick for the past 3 days. It is wild how we change gears when our kids are sick. We go out of our way to take care of them and show them we will help them get better. Really, the rules go out the window. We really try to watch how much TV our girls watch and make sure they sleep in their own room each night. Not when they are sick; we just throw all that junk out the door! Kelyn has watched one million episodes of Dora the explorer, ended up in our bed the past 3 nights, and drank juice like a drunk at a keg party! We just want her to know we are going to help her rest and get better. We will go to any extreme to make sure she gets better.

It is so cool for me to read in the Bible where Jesus compares our love for our children to the extreme love God has for us. Jesus asks his followers if they know how to give good gifts to their children how much more will God do the same with His children? It is crazy that when we are spiritually sick we try to run from the very one that wants to help us get better. When we are stuck in the hurt of sin and its consequences we run away from the one place of healing. As I take of my little girl this week it just reminds me that my Heavenly Father is there to heal the sickness that traps me so often.

Are you spiritually sick? Are you hurting? Are you confused? Are you sacred? God is there! He is ready to help! Instead of running away run in His direction.

unique experiences...

This week we wrapped up our unique series at Grace Community and Ron talked about how we all have unique experiences that shape our life. We had everyone take home a small card with four simple questions on it so they could process their own story and how God is and has worked through their life. I thought I would work through these 4 here on the blog. Here goes...

List three negative experiences that have shaped your life.

1. my parents divorce
2. the loss of some close friends to cancer
3. dealing with the consequences of sin in my own life (this would take a BOOK)
   

List three positive experiences that have shaped your life.

1. marrying chelsea parks NOW chelsea bayne
2. getting to parent kozbi and kelyn!
3. growing up with parents who love Jesus

List three spiritual experiences that have shaped your life.

1. salvation and learning what it means to follow Christ!
   
2. having the chance to mentor and invest in the lives of teenagers
3. finally embracing the fact God called me to innovate and create as I serve the church

Describe how you think God could use those experiences to bring Himself glory.
When I look back at all my experiences He has prepared me to be right where I am now. God has prepared me for this moment in my life. For the first time I am surrounded not just by people who go to my church but real people, living real life, in this city. It is very cool to be able to invest in those around me and learn with them what it means to follow Christ.

Really every situation, every problem, every relationship, every good and every bad is all to shape and mold my life for God. I look back at everything and understand God has had a plan and my choices have not surprised Him. It is amazing how God uses the past to get us ready for the next adventure we will face. I am so thankful God can use my good and bad.

Have fun if you want to do this short homework project. Ron, good job Sunday! Thanks for being open with us about your life and pointing us to follow after Jesus with our life.

go check our www.50000shoes.com

There are billions of people all over the globe that struggle to have the basic food, water, shelter and clothing they need day to day. Imagine not having shoes to wear to work, school, soccer practice, or just to go outside. soles4souls is an amazing charity located in Nashville that has one mission: get shoes to people who need shoes. Over 300 million people around the world don’t have shoes and are forced to walk around unsafe and in potentially life-threatening conditions. Not only is it unsafe physically, but having to look down all the time causes these people to also live without dignity and confidence.

Here is the idea... what if we could raise enough money to buy 50,000 pairs of shoes in 50 days? The goal is simple and you can be a part of the movement. Go to www.50000shoes.com and donate 5 bucks. 5 dollars buys 2 pair of shoes! Join the movement on facebook. Blog about it today on your blog. Tell your friends about what is going on. Many of you have already embraced this idea through Toms Shoes. This is just one more way we can meet a basic need for kids living in poverty all over the globe.

Go for it...this is an amazing charity and you can be a part of making a difference in the lives of people all over the globe. Here is some info about souls4shoes...
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Nashville-based Soles4Souls(TM) facilitates the donations of both new and used shoes, which are used to aid the hurting worldwide. Since its inception, Soles4Souls has distributed more than 3.5 million pairs (or one pair every 23 seconds) to people in 61 countries, including Honduras, Romania, Thailand, and the Sudan. The charity has been featured on CNN Headline News, NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams, ABC News, FOX, CBS, and hundreds of regional outlets around North America. Soles4Souls is a 501(c)(3) recognized by the IRS; donating parties are eligible for tax advantages. Visit www.giveshoes.org for more information.

sunday night MIND DUMP...

Great weekend here, just have been thinking a few thoughts today as it wraps up...

• Praying for Katrina Watts our director of grace acres here at GCC...she lost her grandmother this weekend. Praying for her and her family, Katrina is doing an amazing job with our preschool team!
• Ron and the worship team did an amazing job this morning in our gathering at GCC. Go get the podcast! I will post some more thoughts from Sunday later this week. Thanks guys for leading us this morning.
  
• This week we have a big meeting about launching the first KIDSTUF in Clarksville. Kidstuf is a worship experience where kids and parents worship together. We are really excited!
• Ready for a change in Knoxville with my Vols. How do you lose to Wyoming???
• Go Titans, we are that good!
• Got to go to homecoming at MTSU this weekend. MTSU has done an amazing job thinking like a BIG SCHOOL. The facilities are amazing and if they can ever string together a few winning seasons they are going to really build their fan base! Go Blue!
• My wife and kids are amazing! It was great to be with them all weekend. Since there is no school we are gonna hit the pool at the Y in the morning. Should be fun.
• Get to speak at a retreat for FBC Smyrna this coming weekend. I am really excited...
• Look for some big news on a ton of blogs in the morning, big announcement and big push coming all across the country.
• At Remix we start a new series on dating, go look at www.relevantstudents.com
  
• About to watch amazing race with my wife, YES! love that show!
  

one more worship song?

14 But I will always have hope. I will praise you more and more.
15 My mouth will tell about your righteousness, about your salvation all day long. Even then, it is more than I can understand. Psalm 71:14-15 GWT

This summer I began to question, why do we need more worship songs? Why do we search out new artists singing new songs about this God we serve? No matter what style of music you like there is a desire for that new song, that new idea, that new melody. When we hear it we grab on to it and make that thought part of our lives. New worship music is needed and helps us to think new thoughts about a God we will never be able to contain.

From some people I hear this complaint about our consumption of worship music. It is almost like there is something wrong with the way we engage new music. It is like the enjoyment I have from a new song about God is bad! I keep coming back and questioning how desiring new ideas about God expressed through new music can be a bad thing. The real desire for new music flows from a desire within all of us that longs to connect with a God we have a hard time grasping. Art (music) helps us express how we feel about God and understand truth about God when we struggle to find ways to express it. Here are some places I have landed when it comes to music in the Christian faith...

• When it comes to music we need to strive to create rather than copy. Regardless of style make good art that honors and amazing God. (GOOD ART, not stuff that is "safe" enough to get played on Christian radio - HA)
  
• Embrace the new and the old. Can we ever say enough about the God who created the universe?
• We learn our theology from music. Yes we need lyrics that express truth, God's word, and solid doctrine in our music. We learn about God as we sing about God. This goes for every age group in the church.
  
• Music can challenge the way we view God and view life! Controversy and be good when it makes us think. we ave to allow artists to stretch the way we view following Christ. THINK DEREK WEBB, that guys challenges the process. You do not have to agree with him but let him express his art and think?
• Great worship music leads us to this amazing God we serve and exalts Him. Worship music should be God centered.
• Lets give artists the freedom to create and quit being so FEARFUL that someone might say something wrong. Why ask artists to stop expressing thoughts about God and life???
  

So for those of you out there writing new music, keep rolling! Thanks for helping our hearts connect with this amazing God! Thanks Steve Fee, Hillsong United, Charlie Hall, Daniel Doss, Eddie Kirkland, Kristian Stanfill, Robbie Seay, Todd Fields, and so many more for stretching our view of God through your music.

www.adoptionclarksville.com A GREAT IDEA!

One of the wild things about Grace Community is that we do our best to empower people with ideas and then give them support so that they can go carry out that idea. A few months ago, a few people passionate about adoption came to our team and asked about hosting an event to help people understand the adoption process. GREAT IDEA! We had 2 choices. They could go out and make it happen or they could wait until we hired a pastor to lead that effort. (yes we have been told at other churches that every ministry of the church has to have a staff person to help lead it or watch it or make sure it does not go cRaZy) We decided to let this team go for it and now we have an adoption event coming this month for our community! Go to www.adoptionclarksville.com and check out what is going down. This just makes sense and there are babies and future babies all over the globe needing homes with moms and dads who want them. Spread the word here in our community and think about hosting an adoption event in your community. Supporting the pro-life movement is way more than voting for a president. The movement must help give people looking for abortion options that make sense. Thanks to all of you who work to provide wise options for scared women who need a different way of handling an unexpected pregnancy and do not want an abortion.

Go check it out // www.adoptionclarksville.com

so what now?

We all know who our next President will be now. For many of us our "guy" did not win the election. for some of ya you got the "win". It is wild how we walk away from every election day with some feeling thrilled and some devastated. I love to follow politics but my true hope does not lie in who wins or loses an election. A perfect politician does not exist and every politician with every party will make many choices that you and I do not support. Many mistakes will not not be seen because we do not have access to that level of political life. As followers of Christ it is so critical we pray for the good of our nation. We pray that God will bring salvation to millions far from Christ. We pray God will give wisdom to the men and women who represent us in government. We pray that God will give wisdom and guidance to our president elect. As I was working out this morning at the Y God worked through my shuffle on my mp3 player...yes God does work that way...here were two songs that played in a row, just a little sample from each.

Steve Fee - Faithful
You were before time
and You'll be when it ends
for you have no beginning
and no end
Your word shall endure
without change it is sure
on Your promises
we will stand secure

Faithful
You are ever faithful,
You are ever faithful
to us, God
Powerful
You are crowned all-powerful
all the world will bow before
You, Oh God

Kristian Stanfill - Lord of All
There is none so High and Holy
King of Kings the One and Only
You are adored, You are the Lord of All

We are not defined by a party, denomination, government, or man made organization. We serve a God who Reigns on High! Live, Dream, Serve, and Love in and through Jesus Christ!

youth pastors...PLEASE empower your team...

This weekend we pulled off our second CRAVE weekend of relevant student ministry history (that sounds official!). The band (Matt Blair led!) did great, Jay Strother did an amazing job speaking, but the real difference makers in the weekend were our lifegroup leaders. Yea, we call our adult group leaders lifegroup leaders. We love what happens in each session. We are passionate about the teaching and worship times at every retreat. We love havinf fun, but when I look back at last weekend the most important thing that happened was the relational bridges built between the teens and their lifegroup leaders. The group times that went down at CRAVE come back to Clarksville with each group. The crazy things that happened come home with each group. The ideas that God impressed on each kids heart come back with each group. What happened on retreat keeps SWIRLING back at our weekly gathering because our lifegroup leaders took the time to go with their kids to CRAVE. Thanks so much to our team for doing such a great job.

I think the most important thing every youth pastor can do is empower their adult volunteers to move from "youth worker" to youth minister. It has to be OK that students call their group leader when things go wrong. It has to be OK that our group leaders are at their ballgames and plays instead of us. It has to be OK that our group leaders have input into the direction of the student ministries we lead. Instead of trying to be "super minister" each of us responsible have to stop doing it ALL, taking all the credit, and empower the team we lead. Your team is there to serve, minister, and lead not just be bossed around doing all the junk you do not want to do! Empower your team, listen to them, serve them, pray for them, and then step back and watch God work as you multiply your ministries effectiveness! (Oh yea, your juniors and seniors can be great leaders also, we know because we have some of the best! Do not be scared to empower High school students!)

happy halloween LATE...

Ok, I was gone on Halloween getting setup for our Crave Retreat last weekend. This is a picture of my girls at a Halloween party that our friends put on. WOW, are not cute. Our kids love Halloween and they are the ones dressed up in the hat and purple ballerina dress. My girls get to go to Grace Community with these kids every week. We all are going to start a community group in January. Chelsea and I are just grateful for the relationships God has blessed us with here at GCC. OK, I will stop being sappy, here is a late HAPPY HALLOWEEN.

you can vote however you like

Yes we go vote in the morning. Chelsea and I are going to take turns hanging out with the kids so we can both go and vote. It is very exciting to see so many people passionate about this election. If you know me then you know I love a little political action. It has really been cool to have friendships with democrats, republicans and independents and hear their ideas and passion for this election. Yes you can be a follower of Christ and be any of these three options. We need a viable third party in America for all of us who really do desire reform ans who have been burned by either the blue or red. Jesus is not involved in anything but advancing the Kingdom of God. So for all of you who have your ideas of what will is the best plan for America, good luck. The best thing we can do as Christ followers is vote, pray, live out our faith, and serve others. We can make this country a better place to live, raise a family, and work as we as followers of Christ live as Christ. I am so thankful that God has given us freedom here in America. Go out and vote. Not matter who wins, our God reigns! Oh and watch this video to inspire you to go vote on Nov. 4!