YouVersion 2.0

Just discovered my new favorite Bible study website! I've heard people talking about it, but I never checked it out until this morning. I saw it on Chris' blog . . . thanks Chris!

YouVersion 2.0 was released on Friday. This great resource from LifeChurch.tv just continues to get better and better. Here are several links for more information.

• YouVersion Website
• YouVersion Blog
• ChurchCrunch
• Iphone App
  
• YouVersion Mobile

Catalyst West | Perry Noble #2

This post, along with the others titled "Catalyst West," is a way for me to process and record as much as I can about what I learned at that conference. Here is a brief explanation.



I could probably write all night long about what Perry Noble said at Catalyst, but here was another great nugget that had immediate impact on my life.

Perry talked about the struggle of knowing what to do next when it comes to God's plan and vision for your life. The thing that I struggle with, and I think many of us do, is the unknown and what to do "next." I struggle with it so much that I overlook the NOW while I'm looking for the NEXT. I lose sight of the task at hand and the current vision that God has given me because I'm worried about choosing the right path for the next time.

I loved this quote: "Do what I've told you to do, then I'll tell you what to do." - GOD

Do what God has lain out before me now . . . then he'll tell me what to do next. Not only is this completely common sense, but it is also one of the most freeing concepts.

These past few months have been difficult for my wife and financially, they have for everyone. But I've spent so much time being consumed with how I can provide for my family that I lost sight of how God wanted to use me. Now, I need to be careful because I want to emphasize that I need to work my butt off to provide for my family, but I was letting that consume my life. I lost sight of what God wanted from me NOW because I was too concerned about LATER.

Catalyst West | Perry Noble #1

This post, along with the others titled "Catalyst West," is a way for me to process and record as much as I can about what I learned at that conference. Here is a brief explanation.



If there was one moment at Catalyst that stood out to me it was the second half of Perry Noble's talk at the end of the conference. He was talking about the size of the vision that we receive from God. He gave three reasons that we don't realize that vision in our lives. One of them stood out to me and has been ringing in my head ever since:

"I am obsessed with being noticed, not with being developed."

When he said that line I almost cringed. It was convicting thinking about how much time I've spent these past few months worrying more about people noticing what I'm doing than facilitating development in my life.

How much have I missed out on what God has for me because I'm more concerned about what God has for ME than who God wants me TO BE for him?

That is changing now . . . I can say that with honesty. These posts are actually part of my plan to facilitate growth and development in my spiritual life, along with reading every Andy Stanley book I can get my hands on! (more on Andy coming later)

Catalyst West Programming

Well, it would be hard to talk about all the creative program elements without being able to show any, so I thought I would just point out one of the best ones. One of the speakers was Guy Kawasaki who used to work for Apple in the 80s. My guess is they used that for inspiration to create this hilarious video . . . a commercial for the iBible.

Check it out here!

Catalyst West

Over the next few days/weeks I'm going to be processing some of the things that I learned from the amazing two day leadership conference called Catalyst West. I was truly blessed to be able to go and experience what turned out to be an incredibly inspiring weekend!! Jud Wilhite, the senior pastor at Central was the host for the entire conference and did an awesome job! It was so cool to see him up there . . . it definitely brought a sense of pride.

There was a group of us from the student team that were able to go and be a part of the experience. One of the best parts of the entire week was just being able to hang out with those guys. There was no meeting agenda, event to promote, numbers to count, or services to plan. We were just able to relax, eat, hang out, and be led. Anyways, I'll leave it at that for now and continue to write about what I learned.

These posts are mostly for me to process and put on "paper" my thoughts, but I hope that they bring some insight and encouragement to anyone who may read them. Feel free to comment, ask questions, challenge my thinking, or add insight to what you may see or read.

You know you're an adult when . . .

So I'm starting to feel the pressure of becoming an adult. It's exciting, but difficult for me. I realize that a lot of responsibility comes with this! So I thought I would share this list with you so that you too can know when you are becoming an adult.

Here are the top ten signs that you are growing from "young adulthood" to just plain "adulthood"


10 - you get a cat because they are such little work, but still a sign of maturity (kinda)

9 - You get a dog of your own because you realize how boring and stupid cats are. You also think you are responsible enough for this, but not responsible enough for a kid.

8 - You get a Costco membership

7 - You use your costco membership to buy more than mac & cheese and soda (I'm talking the frozen chicken, fruit, toothpaste, movie tickets, make-up, gas for your car . . . as you all know, the list goes on)

6 - You spend more time going through the coupons in the news paper than actually shopping at the grocery store (but it's worth it!)

5 - You get excited about buying furniture for your house

4 - You get even more excited about buying furniture from a garage sale and talking the guy down to less than half of the original price

3 - Dave Ramsey becomes the 13th apostle and you follow his every word (because it works people!!)

2 - Having a kid becomes exciting and not AS scary as it used to be

1 - You stop talking about putting other people above yourself, and you actually start living that way.


Ok . . . maybe this is just my list, not everyone's (minus the cat, I would never in any situation agree to have a cat).


Anyone else feeling like they are growing up??

Summer Noise Project

On Tuesday the High School team at Central took a quick day trip out to Los Angeles to check out our summer Noise Project location. It was a great trip that really opened our eyes! We are going through a great organization called CSM. They have been in LA for 21 years now. What I love about them is that they partner with other existing organizations in the city to give support, and also to build into the students that come and serve. We are taking 100 students this summer to the heart of South Central and Watts to serve on Skid Row and other "notorious" locations in LA.

CSM does a great job of breaking down the cultural walls between the students and the city by immersing the students in the culture in every way possible. Like I said, we will be staying in South Central and Watts, two heavily gang controlled neighborhoods. Also, every night the students will eat at a different ethnic restaurant . . . Thai, Indian, Ethiopian, Korean, and the list goes on.

It is obvious that CSM has two equal passions, the City/the students. I am so excited about seeing myself grow on this trip as well as seeing our students grow!!