Cleaning House

I know I haven't entirely kept up with all the info for the 40 day revolution. I have been really busy with everything going on with Sarah. We went to the doctor yesterday thinking maybe we would have Brooklyn, but we got sent home. I already told you how excited I am to have Brooklyn here.

Back to the 40 day Revolution. Growing up my mom always made me clean the basement on saturdays, before I could do anything else. I am talking thorough cleaning. Dust, Vacuum clean the bathroom. You get the picture.

So today since it is Saturday, and we are focusing on this 40 day revolution, I wanted to give you a challenge to clean house. What I mean is to clean the junk out of your life, the dirt and debris and stuff you clutter your life with. It may be things that have distracted you in your walk with Christ for a long time. Drugs, alcohol, books, posters, movies, music, magazines, clothing.

Ask God to help you love Him more then these things that displease Him. Read Psalm 119:11; II Chronicles 7:14. Notice how God works with people who seek him, and then he calls on His people to turn from their wicked ways. So what can you do today to clean out your house.

Randomness

Uuugghh! Sarah and I are still waiting on Brooklyn. Now I am getting excited to see her. It feels like it is never going to get here. Kind of like when I was a kid and I couldn't sleep on Christmas eve because I was to excited.

Watched a new show tonight and I absolutely loved it. It's called "The Principal's Office." Stinkin Hilarioius! Thats all I have to say. Man kids think that Principals and teachers are just stupid. If you haven't watched it yet you have to see it. It's on TRU tv. Not reality. Actuality. Ok that's it. enough pluggin of a network TV station.

I hope everyone is having a great week. Tomorrow is friday, one more day of school till the long weekend.

The power of the Invite

I hope and pray you're having a good week at school so far. Today we want you to focus on a friend you can invite to WNT. This is an opportunity to plant a seed, and get them connected to the church. I want to encourage you to do all you can to get them to come. Offer to pick them up, buy them dinner. We want to be very intentional about inviting others to be a part of Springhill.

You may be asking yourself, why? Jesus called us to be the light of the world, and to be witnesses for Him. But I want to go a little farther. What I want you to think about is this. If we claim to believe Jesus is the only way, or we say that Jesus loves the world, or that He died for the sins of the world, then why don't we actually live it out. A great statement I read recently was this: “If you REALLY believe in the saving power of Jesus Christ then why in the world would you show up at church every single Sunday without a carload of people who need Him?”

The power of the invite can be amazing. Investing and inviting others is what Jesus was all about. When a friend heard the truth and saw the truth of Jesus they could stay silent and they couldn't help but invite someone else to see and hear the truth.

Jesus said in Luke 19:10 that He came to "seek & save that which was lost!”

If Jesus was passionate enough to die on the cross for the lost , and that was His whole purpose in coming …and if Jesus lives in our hearts…then that HAS TO BE IN OUR HEARTS AS WELL!!

We CANNOT claim to be followers of Jesus and NOT CARE ABOUT WHAT HE CARES ABOUT!!!

Jesus said "follow me and I will make you fishers of men."

Get on board with the reality of who Christ is and His heart beat and passion. Watch God work in ways that are completely amazing.

Go for the ask! Invite someone to church.

Day 4 Administrators day

YOUr principals and other administrators spend alot of time and energy preparing for the school year. They have a very difficult job, and get little thanks. When students begin to pray for and serve their administrators, it will have an amazing impact on the school. Here are a number of ways you can serve your administrators.

Pray for your principal, vice principal, counselors and other support staff.
Serve one of them in a unique and caring way. ( Buy them a coke, ask them if you could do anything to help them out.)

When we begin to see all they do and the investment they put in, you can't help but be thankful for everything. Tell them how much you appreciate what they do.

40 Day Revolution Day 3 Forgiveness Day

Jesus encouraged us in the Sermon on the Mount to forgive people that have sinned against us. In other words make this day a day of forgiveness and forget about how they have treated you in the past. Read Mattthew Chapter 6:14. This will bring to light the truth behind forgiveness. Make sure your heart is right so you are in right standing with God. Ask GOd if ther is anyone (friends, teacher, parents, brother, sister) who need to ask forgiveness from and then do it.

You may need to forgive someone else. Forgiving those who have hurt you could be really difficult. Many of you have no doubt been wronged by a parent, frind or someone else. When you forgive it helps you heal. Forgiveness is crucial to a vital walk with Jesus.

Make a list of people you haven't forgiven.
Ask God to help you forgive someone today.
When you have asked for forgiveness or forgiven this individual then scratch their name off the list.

Giants' Day

It has officially begun. The 40 Day Revolution. I am praying that over the next six weeks God will work in ways we have never seen before. Remember to check out the blog daily as I update what we want to encourage you to do on a daily basis.

Identify the giants in your life. What is the distraction that keeps you from responding to the voice of God. It could be: TV, computer, cell phone, laziness, sexual sin, drugs/alcohol, personal sin, sports, boy friend or girlfriend, etc... Some of these things aren't bad things, but you have kept your life so full of the busyness that you have yet to stop and listen for the still small voice of God. Pray for the thing that is going to be the biggest problem for you this year.

Identify the Giants on your Campus. When you do this and begin to pray that God would use you to make a difference on your campus, your eyes are open to how God wants to work through you. What do you want God to do on your campus? What are you expecting, or not expecting? Pray that God would use you to help your school with the giants that are faced on a daily basis on your school campus.

Read I Samuel 17:45-47- Pray that God would come and move on your school. Ask God to reveal to you your biggest distraction. Once He has revealed that to you be ready for the battle you are going to face to run to the distraction rather than God.

3rd Reason I am excited for this year is "Excitement"

Watching God move is always an awesome thing. I have been watching Him do amazing things in our midst, and look forward to everything we are going to see this year. I feel a new sense of energy and passion in the lives of each one of you, and pray that God uses that to build bridges with those around you to invite them to come to WNT or Family Groups or anything else. Investing in the lives of others while you are at school and inviting them to come is one of the easiest ways to share the gospel with your friends and peers at school.

I am excited to see all the anticipation and excitement as God continues working in our student ministry.

Commitment, Reason # 4

I believe that we have more students committed to Christ on a daily basis now then ever before. The truth of God's word and His Spirit continue to lead each one of you in ways that we could never imagine. I am praying for a great movement in your lives, and in your schools.

When studenst are open and willing to let God do whatever He wants in our lives we begin to impact this world in a way we could never have imagined. This will only happen when we give up our self interests and desires and strive for a life that glorifies God in all we do.

5 Reasons why I am excited about this upcoming year

Each day this week I am going to talk about some great things coming up this year. Things that I believe will transform our lives personally, and will transform the student ministry here at Springhill.

Revolution! What comes to mind when you read that word? American Revolutionary War? A change in the status quo? maybe something else? I don;t know, but what comes to mind when I see Revolution is change. That's what I want to see, that's what I have been praying for and that is what God wants to do in and through each one of our lives.

Over the past three years, I have seen God revolutionize the lives of each of our students, and that's AWESOME! But that is just the half of it. We must begin to influence others is a positive light and let them see Christ in everything we do. God is calling each one of us to be the change the revolution. This means living Christ out on a daily basis. That is the only way you are going to impact your friends and peers on your school campus.

God has so much He wants to do in and through each of us, and I believe we are just beginning to scatch the surface on the impact he wants to make in and through Springhill. I have prayed that we would be such an impact on the community surrounding us that people would begin to ask what's going on over there? Rememeber that we are to reflect or show the greatness of God and who He is. Magnify Him aqnd the revolution begins.

I don;t know about you, but I am excited about the revolution.

What a Rush!

WOW! Tomorrow Sarah and I have been married for 8 years. Words can't begin to describe all that I feel for her. I do know that I am so glad I waited on God to bring Sarah to me and I didn;t force other relationships. I love her more now then I did when we got married, and I look forward to another 80 years together Lord willing. I love my wife.

This is a photo of when we got married. I actually did shove the cake in her face first. Got sick of all the groom's at weddings that chickened out.

But as you can see she got me back. I love to see Sarah smile, and laugh. It is so contagious. Never give in or try and force a relationship to work, because you will always be amazed at who God brings into your life to complete you.

Sunday Reflection

Just a little thought on how things went this morning. It looked like we had quite a few visitors in our second service. What an awesome time to be at Springhill and watch God continue to work in the lives of each person who attends. I truly believe that God is up to something great. We haven't even begun to see all He is going to do, I believe we have just begun to scratch the surface.

Today may have been a little controversial for some, because Scripture today pointed out that the church is to be the change agent in a society that sees the world as nothing but a bunch of hypocrites going into a building, and causing grief. I addressed some key areas Christians have begun to place their faith in, mainly politics. Political systems and government were never God's method to make His wisdom known. Take a look at Eph 3:10-11 and you begin to understand the truth that the church has always been God plans to make Christ known. There is no other option.

May we as a church continue to pursue the truth of the Gospel on a daily basis, and live out what we say we believe. The world doesn't need more hypocrites, the world needs the light of Christ to be displayed for all to see.

Making Him Known,

Brian

The ETHYL experience

Where do I even begin to explain how awesome Ethyl was this year? The best part was watching God and the truth of the gospel challenge and change each one of us. Again as I have said in previous posts, our theme was "ONE" and we wanted students to be challenged with the truth of God's word and see God for who He really is. One Love, One God, One Way. Curt Jones did a phenomenal job teaching this week, and every one of our leaders did an outstanding job. Without them Ethyl wouldn't have even got off the ground.

I was completely amazed at what God did and is going to do in our student ministry and I believe our church this year. I believe God is preparing Springhill for a massive influx of people who we are going to have a chance to impact with the Gospel of Christ through our schools, and various outreach opportunities we are going to have coming up here soon. Thank you Lord for you continued guidance and leadership in the church. We continue to wait and watch to see all that you are going to do.

Ethyl Here We come!

Off to Ethyl, and looking forward to it. The theme this year is "One." We are going to be looking at how Christ is "One Love, One God , One Way. I pray that the students understand the necessity to tell others about Christ and the truth of the Bible. I am praying that God brings amazing life change in each student this week at camp. Lord have your way and change each one of us.