Welcome to this great world

Here is the story of Payton Renee! This morning my wife woke me up cause she kept getting out of bed. I asked her if everything was alright and she said yes, that she was having a few contractions. At 4am she then came back into the room and said we need to go to the hospital. Sarah's preferred doctor is in Bolivar, so we knew that we had a 25 minute drive. Sarah called our next door neighbor to come over and watch Ethan and Brooklyn. (Thank you Lord for great neighbors and friends). As we pull out of the drive way, Sarah tells me that we need to hurry because her contractions are getting closer together, They are about 3-4 minutes apart. We get on to Hwy 13 heading north and I am going about 75 mph in a 65 zone. I ask her how shes doing and she tells me I need to go faster. So I speed up to 85mph. Hoping not to see a police officer going the other way, because I had already made up my mind that I wasn't stopping till I got to the hospital. By the time we got to Hwy 215 near Morrisville I was at speeds in excess of 95 mph.

At this point Sarah's contractions are about 2-3 minutes apart, so she calls the hospital and tells them we are coming and her contractions are getting stronger and closer. I then tell her to call 911 and tell them we are flying low coming North on 13, so that way we won't get pulled over. Sarah calls them and they take our information down. A few minutes later we get a call from a Bolivar police officer telling us they are waiting at the Hwy 13 & Hwy 32 exit and will escort us into the hospital. At this point I am traveling at 100 mph just trying to get to the hospital. I didn't want to be delivering this our baby on the highway. I pulled up to the hospital at 4:39 and they had a couple of people one with a wheel chair there to help Sarah in. I went and parked the car and got into the room right as Sarah was having another contraction. Sarah told the nurse she felt like she had to push. The nurse said go ahead and then Sarah's water broke and Payton was born 2 pushes later. She weighed in at 6 lbs 13 oz and was 19 1/2 inches long. She was born face up, and thank goodness she was. The doctor said that if she would have been face down she might have been born on the Highway. Thank you Jesus she was patient enough to wait. I couldn't imagine puling the car over to deliver my own baby. She is precious and beautiful. Mom is doing well. I am extremely proud of her. All natural birth, no pain meds, no IV. Wow! She could blow me away with her pain thresh hold.

Popularity Zoo

I'm sure we have all been to a zoo. As you walk around and look at the different animals you see alot of different interactions between them. You see different traits and characteristics that make thse animals different from each other. I mean, could you imagine if a peacock had the tempterment of a lion. Obviously they wouldn't be walking around freely in the zoo. They would be caged up.

This week I have been thinking alot about popularity vs. influence. We are currently going through a series in The Merge called "Surviving School." Our main goal being that we want kids to do more than just survive school, we want them to thrive. In order to thrive I think they need to understand some basics in dealing with people and striving for popularity. Our culture is obsessed with popularity. Look at the TV shows like: any of "the Real Housewives," all of these reality shows that deal with talent (American Idol, Singing Bee, Dancing with the Stars, America's Got Talent & Sing Off etc). So my question is this. Is it popularity people want or influence?

Popularity can lead to vanity, influence can lead to reaching some for Christ. Influence is harder to measure, but it is worth the effort. Getting people to do something for the sake or benefit of others, is what Christ called us to. To be people who influence others with love and truth and teach people to follow and obey God so that they can influence others for the gospel. What a clear picture of evangelism. Too often we throw away our influence for the sake of popularity without thinking through all the ramifications of this.

So how can I make sure that popularity is not my focus and Influence is? I think Paul covers that topic quite well in I Corinthians 9:19-23.

19 Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to
everyone, to win as many as possible. 20 To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win
the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I
myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. 21 To those not
having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from
God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. 22
To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all
people so that by all possible means I might save some. 23 I do all this for the
sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.

Paul has 3 goals in these verses. Win as many as possible, save some and share in the blessings of the Gospel. Notice How Paul emphasizes "win." 5x he makes the statement throughout these verses. Do you think this is something important. He uses his influence with other to win them over, but does this lead to their salvation? Not necessarily. Because in vers 22 he makes it clear that only some will be saved. It is not our responsibility to save them, God will take care of that work. It is our role to love our neighbor and influence them with the truth of Christ so there is no doubt about who God is and what He has done. Finally, Paul is doing all this for the sake of the Gospel and for the ability to share in the blessings proclaimed in it. We benefit as individuals when we use our influence for the sake of the Kingdom. The Gospel must go forward and we are the vessel that God has chosen to proclaim it. So strive for influence with people and proclaim the Gospel always. By your fruitful labor and through your commitment to Christ all can hear and some will be saved.

Surprising find? I think Not!

I was reading an article today and thought that I would share it with everyone out there. It is a tough article for most, but it really reveals an issue that needs to be corrected. The reality is that Safe Sex is not an option. Safe Abstinence is. There is a reason why God established a standard of waiting for the person you marry. It is more than Him being a big fuddy duddy. It is his protection in our lives and in the lives of our kids. So here is the article from Fox News "Why Today's Sex Education won't work." . I hope you enjoy it. Let me know what you think.

Mission Cheyenne

I wanted to post a few pictures of the Mission Cheyenne team and some of the work we did. The team did a phenomenal job working with Element Church and Sunnyside Baptist Church. We had a great time serving in the name of Jesus and helping these churches keep Christ in front of the communities in Cheyenne.

We also helped a woman whose husband has recently been diagnosed with alzheimers and it is very bad. We helped her get the house painted so that they could sell it. It was a huge blessing for her and she took very good care of everyone who pitched in on the effort. The house looks great thanks to the hard work of many individuals.

Sexuality & the church

I know the title is going to throw a few of you off. It is a strong title and there are alot of conotations that come to mind. However, the church has been silent for a long time on sexuality and Ed Stetzer has written a great blog article "The Pornification of American Culture," that I would encourage you to read. I would be interested in hearing your thoughts and responses to how the church can be on the offensive against Satan in this movement in culture. How can we respond as a youth ministry that will strengthen your kids to stand firm against the devil? LEt me know your thoughts.

What's Your Priority?

I was excited when the Denver Broncos announced that their second selection of the 2011 NFL draft was Tim Tebow QB from the Florida Gators. I have never liked the Florida Gators because they are in the same conference as Alabama. However, I like Tim Tebow. He has an unusually high level of respect and leadership among his teammates and with his coaches. Time was also one who took a stand for Christ, even when he was in the limelight, he never passed up an opportunity to express his thanks for Jesus.

Tim Tebow has a great story. If you haven't heard much about it you need to do some checking. His mom was advised to have an aboriton with him and she chose not to. That will make you think about the importance of life. I was reading a blog on Focus on the family here and was impressed again for what Tim stands for. I would encourage you to read it.

No matter what your story. No matter what struggles or difficulties or the success you've had, God wants to use your story for His glory. So? What's your priority?

Grace & Parenting

Do you struggle with parenting? Do you disipline your kids or struggle too get them to obey you? I think all of us can answer yes. I read this blog at the Gospel Coalition website and thought I would share it with you. Here is a great foreward to a book that is coming out soon. Give them Grace I hope you enjoy it. I have ordered my copy to check it out and will let you know what I think.

Joplin aftermath

Yesterday we took a small group of individuals from Springhill to Joplin to help out a couple whose house was severely damaged. Their house is still standing but it has suffered some severe damage fromt he tornado. Springhill is going to have an opportunity to serve ur brothers & sisters in multiple ways over the coming days, weeks and months. It is going to be a long and arduous process and we want to do all that we can to help them through this difficult season.

So, here is the plan over the next couple of weeks. Springhill will be planning on taking mulitple teams down to help in the debris removal process for homes as well as looking for opportunities to help families in any way we can. As of right now we are encouraging everyone to make a $10 donation to Convoy of Hope by texting Convoy to 50555. For every $1 donated Convoy can get $7 worth of food and water. This is an awesome opportunity to be a blessing and be wise with our money.

Graduation!

I love this time of year. It is warming up, the gloominess of winter is turning into the joy of spring and the heat of summer. With all that school is drawing to a close and a special group of teens who have worked hard for the past 18 years are getting ready for a special occassion.

GRADUATION! The culmination of many years of work, battles, fights, emotional, spiritual and physical struggles. Today I want to conGRADulate all of our graduating seniors. Here is a list: Kylee Anderson, Taylor Arnott, Maleah Brown, Jeremy Edwards, Mark Harris, Christin Hartman, Nathan Kittleman, Dylan Louderbaugh, Lauren McCurry, Kylie Petersen, Seth Thomas.

We also have a special group of College graduates: Sarah Gott, Todd Wallace and Erin Ward. Congradulations to all of you.

Did God really say?

I was reading a blog today by Steven Furtick, pastor of Elevation church in Charlotte, NC and I thought I would share it with you. I hope you enjoy this read. click here.

Got Love?

Parents,

Over the past month we have been going over the whle dating, marriage sex debate with the teens. I wanted to give you a couple of books that I hope will be interesting to your son or daughter and will challenge them to think beyond what the world says about this whole issue.

First of all, let me be very clear that the Bible is the ultimate authority on all these issues. Second, just because I recommend reading a book doesn't mean that I line up with the author on every minute detail. I believe it is our job to read Scripture and then view and interpret everything we read or watch through the lense of Scripture. So, with that said let me recommend a few books that are written by Christians that I believe parents should read and go over with their teens.

For Girls:

- Sexy Girls by: Hayley DiMarco

- Technical Virgin by: Hayley DiMarco

- Every Young Woman's Battle by: Shannon Ethridge

For Guys:

- Every Young Man's Battle by: Stephen Arterburn

For both:

- Passion & Purity by: Elisabeth Elliot

- Dateable by: Justin Lookadoo & Hayley DiMarco

- Pure Excitement by: Joe White

- What's The Big Deal? by: Jim Burgen

- Sex: It's Worth Waiting For by: Greg Speck

These are just a few books that may help you bring up the conversation and discuss how Scripture talks about dating, sex and marriage. This is a big deal in culture and is something that has to be taught at a young age.

Paying Attention

So, I walked into our bedroom the other night and a few teens were on the internet. When I walked around the corner all of them got up and were embarrassed. They were listening to something they knew was questionable but still weren't bothered until I walked in. It got me thinking about what they might be listening to.

Now don't over analyze this or read between the lines too much. I love good music. Some of it is Christian some of it is not. But I watch very closely what I listen to. I received this great link here that I thought many of us might be able to think through and examine to find out what we are really listening to. Just a short challenge I thought you might enjoy.

Family Fuel

WOW! That is all I can say. We had a great sunday at Springhill with our Family Fuel sunday. I hope you come prepared next sunday as Dr. Rodney Reeves from SBU comes to bring the Word to the families of Springhill.

I got permission from Tom Hufty to post last night's "12 Cries Parents Need To Hear." You can also to listen to any of yesterday's messages here.

So here are the 12 cries and the need that is associated with it. Along with various other notes I wrote down to remind myself. I hope you enjoy them and I hope they help out.

* Kids will aggressively try to meet their needs.
* If their needs are not met at home they will go somewhere else to have those needs met.
* They will embrace the values of those who meet their needs.


1) Cool Scale
Need – Acceptance
- Kids will do anything to be accepted. You love them no matter what.

2) Compliment Starved
Need – Affirmation
- Love does not equal affirmation
- you have to be intentional in affirming your child.
- Find one thing a day they do well and praise them.

3) Confirmation Seeking
Need – Approval
- they need to know where the lines are.
- help your kids pick their friends.

4) Constant Strokes
Need - Affection
- kids need affection
- find ways to show affection daily

5) Consistent Safeguard
Need - Authority
- point them to the ultimate authority
- authority is a safeguard in life.

6) Common Schedule
Need - Access
- they need access to you.
- family must be a priority over everything else.


The following six were not talked about, but I will throw in my two cents on a couple of points.

7) Craving Significance
Need - Action
- children want to be contributors, we need to challenge them with the mission of the Gospel
- Give them actions steps that will help them reach their friends.

8) Character Struggle
Need - Attitude
- children are trying to identify and build character
- help them grow throw the difficulties by showing them the correct attitude

9)Continual Support
Need - Accountability
- be an accountablitilty partner with your children.
- that is your role as a parent. Help them learn from mistakes and prep them for difficult situations.

10) Childish System
Need - Adulthood
- don't allow your child to maintain childish ways.
- adolescence was never mentioned in Scripture because you went from being a child to adult.
- help them become an adult.

11) Culturally Seduced
Need - Arsenal
- The world is calling out to them trying to mislead .
- use them as weapons (arrows) to piere the darkness.

12) Counseled Structure
Need - Advice
- give them advice when needed
- remember you are their parents not their best friend.

I hope you enjoyed yeasterday as much as I did. Enjoy and I would love to hear you comments.

National Collegiate Student Week

Hey all you college students! I hope you are making plans for going to National Collegiate Student week August 7-12. It is going to be a great week with some challenging speaking from Matt Chandler. Make plans now to go. The cost should be somewhere around $200.

Got Love? Dating and Teens

Dating and teens. Two things that go hand in hand, but two things that create someserious problems if not addressed with the right belief and attitude. It is a diffucult thing for parents and teens to discuss because many teens don't want their parents to give them advice on dating, but let me assure you of something. They are getting advice, the question is from who? It is your role and responsibility as a parent to talk to your kids about dating, marriage and sex. So, I am going to post some of the stuff we talked about last night that I hope will create some conversation in your home about any of these topics.

Dating- dating is something that creates an artificial environment for evaluating another person’s qualtities and characteristics.

The principles of dating are man centered and culturally determined. In other words, dating was never addressed specifically in Scripture, and the culture determines how dating is accepted. For example, In India and parts of Africa there is no such thing as dating, or even meeting your future mate. Your marriage is arranged and you will most likely meet your husband or wife the day of the wedding. SHOCKER!

Different types of dating that usually go on in a relationship:
1)Fast and Furious Dating (Phil 2:3)
This thing starts out hot and heavy and in no time at all has fizzled out. This person wants all the benefits of marriage without the commitments. You may have heard it said, "Hit it and quit it." That describes this individual. This person wavers in what they do and are usually afraid to commit. They are dating for one reason alone: Themselves. If it does not bring them self satisfaction then they want no part of it. This is what is portrayed often times in the movies and shows that target teens.

2) Joined at the Hip Dating (John 15:13)
This person is willing to give up everything for the sake of the relationship. They will give up time with their parents, family and friends. They usually end up burning bridges in the end and have to work that much harder at rebuilding the trust in their friendships from before the relationship. This type of individual gets mad when there is family time scheduled because they want to spend time with their boyfriend or girlfriend. NOTE: Parents don't take your son or daughters boy friend or girlfriend on vacation with you. They are not a part of your family. You are encouraging them to act like they are married. (My Soapbox, if it offends you sorry. I guess you'll get over it.)

3) Mission Field Dating (II Cor. 6:14-18)
This is the type of person that is willing to go out with Non Christians because they think they can lead them to Christ. You may be in it to win them to Christ, but be very aware that you are playing with fire. Do not ask God if it is his will for you to marry a non Christian, he has already given you that answer. God doesn't change his standard because you love another person or because you think they are cute.



4) Dare to be Different Dating (John 15:19, Psalm 27:4)
This person is focused on their relationship with God and building it up first. They have lots of good friendships, but are not dating anyone in particular because they realize that they probably are not going to get married. Always puts others first. God is recognized as the foundation of the relationship, without Him it will crumble. Are you willing to give up everything to passionately pursue Love with Christ? It's funny how when everything in my relationship with Christ is squared away, he brings me closer in relationship with my wife, and will do the same for you and your future mate. (I Thes 4:3-8)

When looking at dating, ask yourself four questions:

1)What is God’s Standard for me entering a dating relationship? (Heb 13:4, 8)
God’s standard does not change, he is not going to change his mind just for you. He sets up standards to protect us, and help us in our relationships. God desires to spare the pain without spoiling the fun.

2)What is my plan / reason for wanting this dating relationship? (Gal 6:7-8)
Why do I want to proceed in making this relationship work? Do I get my acceptance and approval from this relationship? If I do I'm not ready to be dating, because my true identity and approval comes in Christ because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

3)What is my standard for entering a dating relationship? (John 13:15; II Cor 6:14-18)
We used a great example by tying two people together who were going opposite directions. When you are unequally yoked you are going to struggle going the direction God wants to take you because you husband or wife is not a believer and is not going to follow God's leading.

4) Do I have my parent’s approval? (Eph 6:1)
Like it or not, you need to respect and honor your parents when it comes to dating. They are the ones who raised you and they have your best interest in mind. When you disobey this one you set everything else into conflict. When you disobey your parents you create tension in your relationship with God because of disobedience. When there is tension in your relationship with God then there is going to be tension in your relationship with your parents and with every other relationship you have.

Dating is difficult, but if you can't follow these four guidelines, and answer these questions honestly then you aren't ready to be dating. I hope you enjoy this video from Sanctus Real because this is what it means to be a godly Father and Husband.

Parents work with your son or daughter and encourage them to make a list of the biblical characteristics and qualities they want in the person they want to marry.

Loving a weekend with my wife!!

In honor of having a weekend in Branson with my wife for the Springhill Marriage retreat I wanted to post this video by Tim Hawkins. I Love You Sarah!

Teens & Money

I know, I know! I have been splacking on this blog thing and I really don't have a major excuse other than I haven't done it.However, I am going to get back into the swing of thing to keep everyone informed and to talk ablut some stuff that we have been covering in the youth ministry here at Springhill.

Three weeks ago in the high school class, we started covering how to have a Biblical perspective on money. So I thought I would mention a few highlights from the previous three weeks and hopefully encourage some of you students to think about money more wisely and some of you parents to teach your kids how to properly use money.

So, let me begin. According to Ben Patterson"There is no such thing as being right with God and wrong with money." I wholeheartedly agree. Money can become our chief rival to God and if this becomes the case then we show the true reflection of our heart. Remember what Matthew 6:21 says? For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. I believe that if your heart is on God first then money doesn't drive your decision making process. God does. Money is not evil, rather it is the love of money that is evil.

My challenge to you over the next few weeks is to be consistent in teaching your teenager how to use money. How to make wise decisions when making purchases and how to live so they can give. I will continue addressing issues and discussing topics that are going to deal with God and money so I hope you enjoy it. You may disagree or you may have some great advice. I would love to hear your response, so please make comments.

Luke 16:11, "So if you have not been trustwworhty in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?"