i have grown to admire carlos whittaker, what he stands for, and his influence in the ministry world.

he recently put out this challenge.  you can watch it here.

basically, for the next 30 days, instead of making holiday excuses for the disconnect we feel in our lives, let’s make an intentional effort to grow in certain areas.  mainly:  spiritual, relational, physical.

so here are my goals:

1.  physical – get under 200Ibs (currently 206)

2. relational – hang out with my parents more intentionally (coffee, lunches, etc)

3. spiritual – finish B90x (before 2010) & memorize the verses los puts on his blog.

hope you’ll come along for the ride.

this past sunday I led a 10th grade small group.  it was fun.  i brought m&m’s.  nothing like some chocolate to get discussion rolling.

Jeremiah 23:32 says this:

Indeed, I am against those who prophesy false dreams,” declares the Lord.  “They tell them and lead my people astray with their reckless lies, yet I did not send or appoint them.  They do not benefit these people in the least.” (emphasis added)

God seems to be using Jeremiah to call out a ton of false teachers and prophets.  They’re all over the place, pretending to be sent from God.  In verse 28 of the same chapter, God urges those have His word to speak it faithfully.

Notice, though, that in verse 32, God specifically calls out one of the weaknesses of the false prophets.  It doesn’t help anyone! God’s Word is always beneficial.

If we’re truly teaching God’s word.  It’s gonna help someone.  Is what you’re saying beneficial?

check out the video from our launch weekend in Saline

First Sunday in Saline!.

my phone is awesome.  it’s an iPhone.  at any moment i can:

check my email

pay my phone bill

check my bank statement

make a car payment

update my twitter/facebook status

track my weight loss

read the Bible

check the weather

keep up with the latest football games

listen to music

check the latest woot.com ’shirt of the day’

and oh…send text messages and make phone calls.

it’s pretty great.

but if i’m not careful, i am proned to be more concerned about my phone than i am about how close i got to looking like Jesus today.  dang.  that hurt.

just thought i’d remind myself of that.

well, northridge started their second campus.

it was HUGE!

i’m honored to be leading rustproof out there.

today we had our very first event.  bowling.  oh yes.  it was classic.

God is doing great things, and it’s cool to be a part of it.

(feel free to check out #RPSaline on twitter and follow the craziness)

today was neat.  if for nothing else than the fact that it was 9/09/09.  some creatives got together and came up with a leadership event called “The Nines.”  it was 9 minute leadership clips from 70+ leaders from around the world.  it was awesome.  what made it even more great?  Brad Powell did one of the 9 minute clips.  it was solid.

however, one clip stuck out from the rest.  i can’t remember his name, or what church he’s from.  but he talked about the power from being engrossed in the word of God.  if we are not being daily filled up by the word of God…then how are we filling others up?  are we filling them up by our own strength? our own abilities? too often this is true.  i think that’s why we get so burned out.  we’re trying to do it on our own.

may we fill others with the overflow of what God is doing in our own lives.

now go read your bible

here are some off-the-cuff-not-well-thought-out reasons i am really enjoying living in Ypsilanti

-there are homeless people, and they’re not ashamed to ask for money. for real, this provides a way for me to help, and it keeps things in perspective

-it’s far from perfect.  you can tell the city is being worked on…it’s just not done yet

-it has energy.  living in a college town has its benefits.

-it has history.  i live in a mansion that used to house the mayor.  how cool is that? bill clinton stopped in and ate at Abe’s Coney Island…that’s kinda cool?!

-people are welcoming.  so far, this has been my experience.

that’s all for now.  might come back for round 3 and give ya more.  why do you love where you live?

I recently moved to Ypsi.  I am loving it more and more.  why?  that’s for a separate post.  for now i will leave you with this pic…i’m on the roof, the sun is setting, and i’m reading 2 Kings.  i’m kinda hating that in 2 months i won’t be able to do this (due to michigans bad habit of getting cold).  i’ll enjoy it while i can

here it is folks.  our week-long outreach trip in just over 3 minutes.