Suffering for Christ

I went out the other day and bought the new Mercy Me cd. I was driving home from work, trying to sing along, and all of a sudden the most powerful song I have heard in a long time started to play. It is titled "I would die for you." (track #13)
It is written about a young kid named BJ Higgins. He gave up his life because he was obedient to God's call. He went around sharing his faith, talked to anyone who would listen about Jesus, and even started a website in which the sole purpose was to bring glory to God. At 15 he went overseas and led countless people to a personal relationship with Jesus. While overseas, he came down with a mysterious illness that eventually took his life.
The lyrics in the song are unbelieveable and to be honest, very tough to listen to.
One line in the lyrics says "You never know why you're alive until you know what you would die for, I would die for you" Wow!
After spending two years as an intern at Saddleback and learning about "Purpose" constantly, I would think that this would just naturally make since to me. I realized I dont want to just know it, I want to live it.
I kept thinking, I want to be like that, I want that passion, that boldness.
We have to be honest, we have it made. We live in a comfortable country, work at comfortable jobs, and go home to comfortable families. I pray that we will lose our comfort, and be ready for whatever God is calling us to do. (even if that is dying) It's the only real way to live!

So True!

A friend of mine mentioned that he saw an article on the cover of a magazine titled " Texas Women and 49 other reasons to go on living." It was pretty funny and Im glad to see that Texas women placed 1st. Im not sure there has to be 50 reasons to go on living though. Jesus, Texas Women, and sports are really all I need.

Click

I have always been a huge Adam Sandler
fan. I have seen Billy Madison
about 122 times. Back in the day, the purpose and pretty much only purpose of his movies was to make you laugh. He has matured a little in the past few years.
I did not know if I wanted to pay 9 dollars to see Click
. I could not tell by the previews if it would be a good movie or not and I heard mixed reviews. I caved in, and went and saw it last night. All I can say is GREAT MOVIE!!! It had its funny parts, but the greatness comes from the message. It lets you know how important the choices you make in life are. Life goes by fast and we need to make sure we have our priorities straight when it comes to how we spend our time and treat other people.
It made me want to move back to Texas
and be close to my family for the rest of my life. It does have a little bit of language and typical Adam Sandler movie crude humor, but if you can get past it, I highly recommend it. TWO THUMBS UP!!!

I'll admitt it, I'm a wuss.

For one of our summer events, we decided to take the students to a waterpark in Fresno. I was having a lot of fun hanging out with the kids. It was my first time at a waterpark in about 5 years. Now this park in Fresno was not near as glamerous as the ones I have been to in the past. The rides were not near as terrifying either.

But I realized today, the older I get, the wussier I become.
I have been skydiving, I have been bungee jumping over a river, and I use to be able to ride anything no matter what it was. High school and college, I was either fearless or just plain stupid.

Two jr. high students told me to come with them to this very tall, steep slide, called Geronimo. I didnt think twice and told them okay. I wasnt scared at first. But as we were climbing the stairs, the fear got worse and worse. But there is no way I would chicken out in front of two 13 year olds. I made the mistake by telling them I was scared. I was even asking the lifeguard how dangerous the ride was. She started laughing at me and told me that no one has ever died on it before. I sat down, closed my eyes, screamed at the top of my lungs like a jr. high girl, and got the worst headache ever. The lifeguard started sarcasticaly cheering for me yelling "you did it, you did it, Im so proud." The two 8th graders gave me a hard time for the rest of the day.

2 points to this. If you have fear, dont tell anyone. (especially jr. highers and cute lifeguards. And number 2, dont go on waterslides if you dont have to.
Life is too precious.

You're Pitiful

Another great Parody by the legendary Weird Al Yankovic.
Click here to listen

A Sad Day in Dallas

Thank you Mavericks for an incredible season.
They exceeded every expectation.
They won 62 games, Avery was coach of the year in his firt full season as a coach, and they made it to the finals for the first time in their 26 year old franchise.
Even though the refs decided the outcome of game 5, the heat played well. They were more physical and the shots just werent going in for the Mavs.
They are a young team though, and will be competing for many years to come.

GO MAVS!

Part of the job

Every week, I try to think of created ways to make the jr. high ministry at my church better. Afterall, that is my job. I just learned this week that if you put mentos candy into diet coke, amazing things happen. There has to be a way to turn this into a game. Ideas are much appreciated.

Mavs + Loss = Total Mavness

The Past few weeks, there have been times when an good number of people have mentioned to me that I am very passionate about basketball and the Dallas Mavericks. This got me thinking. Yes, I like the sport and the team, but its just entertainment. Why am I so passionate about something that really does not mean much in the big picture? The answer; I dont know, I just am.

I realized though that there is something I need to deal with and deal with it soon. Some of my friends may disagree, but it usually takes a lot to make me angry. Overall, I am a pretty easy going guy. I was watching Game 5 to the Mavs, Heat game last night. The Mavs have already lost two in a row and would be down 3 to 2 in the series if we lost game 5. As I was watching the game, anger and hatred for the players on the Heat was coming over me. Pretty sad huh? I came very close to hitting my telivision, but I have already broken one in the past. (nba playoffs 2003).Issues that really matter such as the war, gas prices, crime, the lost, I really dont think about as much as I should, but for some strange reason my day can be totally ruined by the outcome of a basketball game. I think I need help! My hope and prayer is that people will notice the passion I have for my relationship with Jesus.

What's a blog?

I try to teach students that God made us all unique. That we are fearfully and wonderfully made. We are our own person and should not try to pattern our lives with the rest of the world. We dont have to try certain things just because everyone else is doing it.

With that said, I now find myself dealing with hypocrisy. I always said that I would not blog just because everyone I know does it. Well, here I am. I am now officially a blogger. Although, I am not the most skilled at putting my words down on paper (or computer); for some reason, a lot of interesting things happen in my life that will be very entertaining to read. Stay Tuned!