I can't believe what we are seeing in regard to Japan! Unbelievable! We are praying for Japan!

Only ONE God!

Maybe God established the nations and it's leaders to reveal something. When more than ONE tries to be in charge, it only leads to chaos!

There is absolutely no way that there is more than ONE God! How do we know which God is the real one? Just look at the facts (Creation, History, Science), when you don't twist the TRUTH there no comparison!

Jesus Christ... Think about Him!

Capitalizing in the Red Zone

The red zone on the football field is the area between the 20 yard line and the end-zone at both ends of the field. How well a team plays in this area of the field often determines the outcome of the game. To win, teams must offensively and defensively play well in the red zone.

A few weeks back the Missouri Tigers upset the Oklahoma Sooner’s. During the game, the Sooner’s were in the red zone one time with seven points to show for it. The Tigers on the other hand were in the red zone three times with thirteen points to show for it. The greater the performance in the red zone, the better the chance for success on the score board!

As men we all have certain marked boundaries in our lives. These boundaries and how we play life in these areas are crucial to whether or not we experience victory or defeat. What are the marked red zone area's in our lives? For me, it is the beginning and the ending of each day.

When I spend quality time with Jesus at both ends of the day, the red zone, I win! Spending time with Jesus changes me! When I begin my day with Him, He fuels me. When I end my day with Him, He calms me and gives me peace. So for me, playing strong in the red zone of my life is equal to spending quality time with Jesus. To break it down, when I spend time with Jesus, that means I am reading the Word (Bible), and spending time in prayer. When I capitalize in these disciplines at both ends of the day, I am confident that I will be at the top of my game.

Are you having a tough day? Is life right now a struggle? Is there a lack of peace, confidence, and faith? Do you seem to have little to no direction? If this is you, let me ask the question. How are you playing in the red zone?

Likewise, if things are going well and you feel like you’re winning in life, DO NOT neglect your red zone performance. If you do, sooner or later, it will come back to bite you!

To win, you must play well in the red zone! -LiveChosen

Many spend hours planning a vacation & never think about death or eternity. We're all going to die! There is one way to Heaven, and that is through Jesus Christ.

John 14:6 "Jesus answered, 'I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.'"

Time…Use It or Lose It

For those of us working with students, we know that we only have them in our ministries for a very short period of time. How we make use of that time is vital. Do we just entertain them or do we disciple them? Time is such a sensitive issue. Hopefully, we strive to be intentional with our time, which allows us to be as effective as possible.

Effectively living, really isn't about tomorrow, it is about today. None of us know for sure if we'll be around tomorrow; but I am confident that I am today. For this very reason, we must spend the bulk of our time and energy on living today with excellence. This is why procrastination is so dangerous and setting priorities is so vital.

Everyone at some point and time is asked, "What would you do today if you knew you'd be gone tomorrow?” When that question is answered, we should be able to establish what our priorities are. Some things may not seem quite so important if we only had one day left to live. For example, cleaning out the garage may be a priority, however, if we knew we'd be departing this life tomorrow, there is a pretty good chance that the garage would no longer be a priority.

So, my questions to you is, are you making the most of your time? Are you being intentional and setting priorities within your family and ministries? Do you know how you plan to use the time you have been given today for building God’s Kingdom?

In my opinion, this is one of the issues many youth pastors and leaders struggle with. Many youth pastors and leaders have vision and know what they believe God wants to accomplish in their ministries, yet there is a struggle to put it into play. Often times the struggle can be addressed by developing an intentional mindset and learning to manage time effectively.

Want to up your effectiveness everyday?

Be intentional with your bottom-line priorities!

Live Chosen!

No need to beg, just receive! God is Faithful!

A week or so ago, my family and I were in Detroit on a business trip. We had just eaten lunch downtown at a well-known pizza joint. It was very good!

We ordered two small pizza’s to feed the four of us hoping it would be enough. When the pizza’s arrived needless to say we could have just ordered one.

After enjoying the pizza and our time together, we had the leftovers boxed and decided to head back towards the hotel. It was mid afternoon and it was really hot and humid. We were only about five blocks from our hotel and were looking forward to the walk back.

As in many bigger cities, they seemed to be quite a few homeless around. We had been in town for nearly a week, and although we had seen many around, we had not been approached for anything the whole week.

On the way back to our hotel, I noticed across the street a man who was going through the garbage cans. He would look into each garbage can and then slam the lids down. They must had just been emptied. You could tell the man was becoming very upset.

As we continued to walk he took a course to cross the street. It was very evident that our courses would soon meet. As he entered onto the sidewalk from the street he look me right in the eyes and began to speak. I stopped him, as I knew what he was about to ask.

I asked the man, “Are you hungry?”

“Yes,” the man answered.

“Would you like the rest of our pizza? It is almost a full one!” I said.

He said yes and proceeded to ask if we could afford some money to buy him a drink as well. We gave him some money and prayed with him and he was on his way.

What stood out to me the most from this interaction was the look on his face when I stopped him from having to ask us for food. He didn’t need to ask, we could clearly see his need. It seemed to be such a relief to him that we recognized his need and that he did not need to beg.

I thought about Jesus and His faithfulness to meet our needs so faithfully. Although, we are encouraged to ask for our needs, it is a fact that they are often met before we ever get to the place of asking. God is such an awesome God. He see’s our needs and meets them every time.

Like Darnell, what a relief to know that God sees and know our needs. It is such a relief to know that God does not want his children to be beggars, but rather just receivers. God loves to give!

I will never forget the relief and gratitude on Darnell’s face that day. That day he did not have to beg, just receive. He was thankful. Are we thankful for God’s faithfulness to meet our needs? I know I have taken it for granted too many times.

Take a moment today and thank God for His faithful giving. Think about the many times that you did not need to beg but only receive from the goodness of our Great God!

God is Awesome...Camp Is Off The Charts!

We are in the middle of our camp season and finishing up Sr. High camp. First off numbers were up for us this year, we had a full camp! Praise God! Spiritually, God has rocked these kids in every service. Their hunger and passion for God has blown me away! Last night we showed the movie "To Save A Life" an incredible movie I highly recommend! It has a very powerful message and is extremely well done!

After the movie we had a 100% response from the students to take a stand for Christ, in their schools and communities. Then worship broke loose, several students were baptised in the Holy Spirit with no prompting, it just happened. The worship band Pneuma (incredible!), starting singing "Let It Rain." After singing it through several times, the team stopped playing and for the next half hour the students would not stop singing "Let It Rain."

This morning we challenged the kids to follow through on their stand from the previous evening and to become Campus Missionaries. We had 90 our of 185 students commit to becoming CM's in the SNED! I praise God for all He is doing in all of our camps. It definitely feels like something is about to break! I have junior high camp next week and can't wait to see what God has planned!

We also broke off in the morning with myself and our speaker taking the guys, and Tina and a few of our female ladies taking the girls. We addressed gender related issues. Wow, these students opened up and laid it all out there. It was such an awesome time of cleansing, challenge and building accountability. Our speaker did a challenge to the guys this morning called "Man UP" that was off the charts!