April 2013
2 posts
The Middle
3When Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and put them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened on his hand. 4When the native people saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “No doubt this man is a murderer. Though he has escaped from the sea,Justice has not allowed him to live.” 5He, however, shook off the creature into the fire and...
God's not laughing
I’ve touched on this before but since it was in my daily reading let’s do it again. We’ve all laughed at ourselves at some point. Laughing at yourself is good (I’ve made a living out of it), what’s not good is laughing at God when He talks to you about your potential. Have you done that? Have you shrugged off big responsibility and thought: God can’t be talking...
March 2013
1 post
Done Waiting.
If there’s one thing I’ve been disappointed with in The Bible series on the History channel….It’s the special effects when supernatural things happen. I admit, my disappointment probably comes from watching too many Hollywood movies. When Jesus heals someone I want the slow mo Matrix vibe that shows our dimension we’re living in rumble and flicker.
When the angel...
December 2012
2 posts
Remembering Newtown
One week ago today, exactly at this time I started hearing reports of a shooting in Connecticut. At first it seemed like just another random story. When in fact, over the course of a day you and I felt something reverberate through every heart that broke upon hearing the news. While our lives go on, families are devastated this Christmas. Those scars will never heal. I hope you join me in praying...
Pray for Newtown
Friends. Sometimes there are no answers. We are never promised that from God. We are only offered peace, from God. This tragedy is unspeakable. In our mostly tragedy free society, we forget atrocities like these happen weekly around the world. Governments killing their own people/women and children, regimes doing unspeakable things to the innocent. We just don’t think twice about it until it...
November 2012
3 posts
It's not your fight
We all go through seasons in life where we feel like it’s ME against the world. You know, when it seems your enemies are rising up against you in record numbers! I’ve been there. I bet you do what I usually do…we have 3 choices when we feel like this:
1) Wall ourselves off from everyone, including God and feel sorry for ourselves.
2) Grab your sword of self righteousness and...
HIS love endures FOREVER!
I don’t know about you but I like rare things. I don’t want the breed of dog everyone else has, I don’t want the shirt 10 other guys are walking around with from the rack at Kohl’s. I usually take the unexpected path to get to a joke…or go the opposite way in my preaching than I’ve heard other pastors go. Rare steak has the best flavor after all. I named my kids...
Are you being deceived?
Deception. The word alone irritates us. It makes our skin crawl. What words come to mind when you hear the word DECEPTION? Fake. Liar. Untrue. Broken Trust. Deliberate.
The word deception, or deceived always means there was a deceiver somewhere close by. Someone, some THING that messed with you. That betrayed you. You were taken down a road by the enemy dressed in a friends clothing.
Was it a...
October 2012
2 posts
You know you want to!
Oh 1984. You gave us unforgettable movies like Ghostbusters, Beverly Hills Cop, Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom, Gremlins, The Karate Kid, Police Academy, Purple Rain, The Natural and of course, Red Dawn.
Drama, Horror, Comedy, Adventure and Sci Fi. All popular categories that are a recipe for box office gold when coupled with a compelling story, good acting and A level cinematography.
...
Live WHILE you are dying
**WARNING** the following is longer and more in depth than normal, this is not for the skimmer. If you need to get in and get out quick to log in your Jesus hours, come back to this post later.
Once upon a time there was an old man who had lived a fairy tale life. He had been the recipient of wisdom and knowledge. Like a wish granted by a genie he was given the crown of the wisest man who ever...
September 2012
3 posts
Tiny Violin
I wrote this on a friends wall today. Upon reading it to myself I have to laugh. Literally nothing is working right on my facebook. If you ever just stop hearing from me…it’s not that I’m dead, it’s that my final way to post has shut down. If this is the case I will destroy my current page and build a new one. I will have no pictures, videos or fun things archived for your...
Island Vacation!
Oh my, does even the word Island transport us to somewhere with …well….somewhere that looks like this…
Whoa. Shut up and just look at it.
Well, I took a 5 minute typing break right there…even if you’ve never been to a tropical island (you need to rethink some things in your life) you’ve seen endless pictures like this one. You know the drill:
slow down,...
August 2012
4 posts
Back Away from the Hammer!
Last night I had the daunting task of putting furniture together at my house. I can’t stand putting furniture together. Oh, I can do it…I’ve certainly done it enough…but any chance I get to buy the floor model, I take it. There’s never enough screws, the directions can make even a NASA engineer break down and somehow I always split the nice beautiful wood by...
Are you ready to say YES?
As I am ready to preach this weekend, I am praying for YOU. I hope that you all understand the extent God is ready to change YOUR life by jumping all in for HIM!
Are you currently using the gifts God has given you? Are you contributing within the walls of the church? God is ready to make something big happen for YOU.
It’s my prayer that you show up this weekend with an open heart and a...
Put the flute down!
How many people in your life have you written off as spiritually ‘dead’? Friends, family, loved ones that refuse to get to know Jesus and may even laugh at your efforts to even try? We know them. We love them. We try to stay patient with them.
Often through years of being patient we sometimes tend to throw our hands up and lose hope. After all, it’s on them, not YOU....
Tumblr, I have neglected you!
Wow I haven’t posted something Jesus nuggety in a long time! I need to get back to it as the iChat show launches next week! That’s right, iChat people.
March 2012
2 posts
Thankful for the mud
If there’s one analogy we all get, it’s being stuck. In life. In a relationship. Emotionally. In a job. With a bad attitude. In debt. In a rut spiritually.
You’ve been there. You’ve also been literally stuck. In mud. In your car. In the snow. In a ditch. In that nasty sludge at the bottom of the pond. One way or another, we all get it.
It’s never where we want to...
Worth Every Moment
Today I found my daily reading starting the book of Acts. God knows exactly what I need and when I need it and it’s no surprise I find myself here staring down Acts chapter 5. The surroundings take place at such a pivotal time. Jesus had ascended into Heaven after His resurrection and the apostles were wrecking the world for Christ, unapologetically. People were lining up in the streets,...
February 2012
1 post
Picture your favorite vacation spot. Make sure it’s the one with the most dramatic, scenic landscape. In other words…not Gary, Indiana. I hope there’s an ocean there…or mountains. Maybe both? if you’re really smart I bet there’s palm trees and Jimmy Buffet there too, right now, as you’re picturing it.
You know that place where you’ve stood time and...
January 2012
8 posts
Begging for mud
Do me a favor…I want to ask you to read more than usual. Don’t worry. It’s a story about Jesus. A REAL story and a blind beggar. I don’t care if you’ve read it before:) I’ll catch up with you after you read it.
Jesus Heals a Man Born Blind
1 As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth.2 And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his...
SOPA Is Dead: Smith Pulls Bill →
Lamar Smith, the chief sponsor of SOPA, said on Friday that he is pulling the bill “until there is wider agreement on a solution.” “I have heard from the critics and I take seriously their concerns regarding proposed legislation to address the problem of online piracy,” Smith (R-Texas) told Re…
Face to Face
Jesus was passing through Samaria…Sychar to be exact, when He stopped by a well to rest. The disciples had gone in to town for food…you know, the inevitable Taco Bell run. You’ve been there. A woman comes up to Jesus and they have some conversation. Jesus is testing her out to see if she’ll tell Him the truth about questions He’s asking. Of course He already knows the...
The good news: He's got this. The bad: You aren't...
You know it’s true, I know it’s true. It’s the worst kept secret in the universe. It’s the biggest flaming bag of poop on our front porch that we’ve ever seen. The problem is…it wasn’t the kids down the street pulling a prank you on, ringing your doorbell and running. It wasn’t anyone, except for you.
You and I are in denial daily. We talk a big...
Best things come from surprising places
I don’t know about you but I love to be surprised by things. Especially when it’s good news, expensive gifts or a good doctors report. ha
I’m one of those people who always try to figure everything in life out. I like to have a plan…and when I get pleasantly surprised, it messes with that plan and makes me appreciate life more. Don’t get me wrong, I NEVER try to...
Shut Your Mouth!
Check out part of my reading today: 10 But Moses pleaded with the LORD, “O Lord, I’m not very good with words. I never have been, and I’m not now, even though you have spoken to me. I get tongue-tied, and my words get tangled.”
When is the last time you felt unfit for God’s calling? You know, maybe even NOT qualified to do what we challenge you to in a weekend sermon? Here’s what we...
December 2011
9 posts
No Thank You →
Christmas Chaos
Christmas for me the last 15 years has meant Chaos. On staff primarily on the arts team at a growing church has made me want to scream every year about this time. This is the first year that I’m not singing or playing guitar or reading a script. I just get to film a few videos to play at the Christmas services. It’s really allowed me to take it all in this year.
My pre-Christmas...
South Toledo GRAND OPENING!
This is a HUGE weekend for us here at www.cedarcreek.tv! As our South Toledo Campus opens tonight join me in prayer for the many people who will show up for the first time. Some of them have never darkened the doorway of a church in their lives! I know what everyone there on staff will encounter….I was a part of our PBurg launch, Whitehouse launch and West Toledo launch….and what...
I just got sick →
Oh Snap! SOMEONE is going to blog again!
That’s right. We’re firing up all things online at the Creek. It’s been a crazy few months. We’ve been trying to figure out what the crap to do with the icampus, our website and everything interwebs. Long story short…we’re pimping it all out. We’ll have iGroups up and running early in 2012…the iChat show will be back in a new studio we’re...
June 2011
2 posts
Whoops, sorry Tumblr!
In this cray transition with the icampus and getting my twitter account up to sub-par I have left my Tumblr all alone!! Don’t get mad at me Tumblr, when I get home from vacation next week I’ll give you some love. Maybe some daily inspirational nugget of authoritative power? Or perhaps an in depth devotional to bring everyone to their spiritual knees? More than likely it will just be...
May 2011
2 posts
As Christians we are always encouraged to LOVE the lost. Most churches at least preach that we’re supposed to ‘reach out’ to those that don’t know Jesus, whether they put their money where their mouths are as churches is up to them. Regardless it’s at least talked about. At CedarCreek we have kept that primary focus at the forefront of our vision/mission since day...
Hydrate with Fear!
We all know what it’s like to be dehydrated. You just feel run down. When it happens to me my stomach gets upset, I get a headache and I just feel like I have no energy. I can remember one time years ago when I was in the hospital from the stomach flu. I was so dehydrated I couldn’t stop from cramping….my hands, arms, legs….everything. I couldn’t even walk! The first...
April 2011
1 post
Time to Gear up!
We’ve been so busy in so many peripheral ministries that it’s been hard to keep the icampus ‘fresh’ the last month. That’s all going to change! Josh and I are busy restructuring and scheduling the icampus…..meaning…..our efforts will be solely focused on getting more ministries on during the weeknight with live events.
We’re also efforting on the...
March 2011
2 posts
Help us raise money for MS!
Friday April 15, 2011
Erie Street Market Civic Center
7 p.m. - Midnight
(You must be at least 21 years of age to attend)
Tickets on sale NOW!!
www.DanceMS.org
· Or call (419) 897-7263 - between 9:00a.m. and 5:00p.m.
· Or stop by the National MS Society, 401 Tomahawk Dr. Maumee, OH - between 9:00a.m. and 5:00pm
Gold Circle Table (seats 10)
Among the first two rows surrounding the...
icampus week 2 update
Well, the 2nd week of the official launch was amazing. From the tech side of things we had most of it under control. Some complained of LOW audio levels and we’re efforting on fixing that…though there’s not a lot we can do. We are pumping out maximum volumage from our end. (that’s official lingo)
The weekend went amazing. I do have to tell of what happened just before we...
February 2011
1 post
Get Ready!!!!
We had a GREAT soft launch of the icampus this weekend. We had over 400 people represented in our ‘private viewing party’ with over 25 states represented! We had a few glitches but they’re all ones that we can iron out.
I’ve been in church work for 16 years now and I can’t remember feeling more excited for something around here! I love Jesus, I love social media, I...
January 2011
10 posts
Facebook and CedarCreek
Not surprisingly so, over the 4 years I’ve been on facebook I’ve tried to do a lot of testing. I like to see what kind of posts do well, what time of day does well…what bombs and what sparks a lot of ‘sharing’. On our CedarCreek ‘Fan Pages’ I get the actual numbers…how many of you looked at each post, interacted and shared it…..etc. I...
all things to some people
I received a facebook inbox tonight from someone who I didn’t know, but went to the Creek and was obviously on my friends list because that’s what I do….try to connect people with the Creek and make their experience authentic. Sometimes that works out and other times, not so much:)
I won’t post her name, nor will I give too many details about what she said, out of respect...
So Thankful
This is an email I sent to our whole staff today. I felt I should share it because I know many of you feel the same. I don’t share this sort of thing often, but I encourage you to thank a volunteer or staff member the next time you see them…..they are truly incredible.
I want to share a little something. As you know, I’ve logged more time on stage, in the mix of this crazy...
Something is working
As you are raising your kids sometimes you forget to stop along the way and make sure they’re actually getting it. I do this intentionally sometimes. Like, when I tell them ‘NO’ just to make sure they’ll be ok with it:)
It’s good to check in on them occasionally and test the process. It’s good to help them understand the universe doesn’t revolve around...
