Love Wins.

2009-06-03T09:49:00.001-07:00

Now that I can update my blog from my phone maybe I will post more... Hmm you never know

Rock Star Youth Pastor

2009-03-26T12:29:00.000-07:00

Ignatius from travis hawkins on Vimeo.

This made me laugh. It talks about the "Rock Star Culture" that has worked its way into the church. There are definitely a few very funny one liners!

Thanks to Josh at morethandodgeball.com for the video!

One Year Ago...

2008-11-12T12:39:00.000-07:00

I proposed to my wife one year ago. Wow. It has been the most amazing time of my life.

Thanks for being the best wife that anyone could ever ask for. You are beautiful both inside and out, and encourage me more than anyone else. Thanks for always supporting me, and for being my biggest fan. You are truly my best friend
I love you Amber.

If you want to read all about the proposal and see pictures, check out Amber's Blog

Exciting Moment in My Day

2008-10-16T19:09:00.000-07:00

Amber and I headed to Walmart today, and we went to look for some "Harvest" decorations. We saw some big scare crow looking things hanging where the decorations have been for the last month. So we headed there...

I got so excited as soon as I could see that in fact Walmart has began putting out their Christmas decorations!

I am SOOO excited to figure out what to decorate outside our house with! Oh the joys of Christmas!!

Christmas Countdown

2008-10-06T18:34:00.000-07:00

In case you need to know...

I put a Christmas Countdown on the right of my page. That way we will always be able to follow the countdown!!

It's Christmas Time!

2008-10-02T17:00:00.000-07:00

Well it is officially Christmas time for me! I LOVE Christmas. So much so, that I begin celebrating it a little earlier than most people! October first begins my Christmas Celebration! And for about 4 or 5 years now, I have kicked off my Christmas Celebration officially by watching Polar Express. It is such a fun movie!

Just figured I would give you all al glimpse into my life!

Cool Things Happening

2008-09-30T08:15:00.000-07:00

There are a ton of cool things happening in the Student Ministries at Palm Valley Church. Every week we are seeing students grow in their relationship with Christ (or start a new one!).

One thing that I love is that as a church we are committed to reaching students for Christ. Here is one way that we are planning on doing that.

Style My Ride from Palm Valley Students on Vimeo.

Man I am so excited to have this resource to reach students like never before! God is so awesome!

Lyrics That Rocked My Thinking

2008-09-30T08:07:00.000-07:00

A little over a week ago, I surprised Amber by taking her to the Barlow Girl concert. If you have never heard of them, these gals truly have a heart for the Lord, and for making sure that young gals know how Christ sees them, and they just give such a positive message. I knew that Amber really enjoyed their music, so I figured it would be a good surprise for her. Little did I know that God had a plan to rock my thinking that night!

Brooke Barrettsmith has a song called Farewell that has some lyrics that have been rattling around in my head since the concert. They were: “Do you want forgiveness, or just the pain to go away?”

So often I talk with students and they talk to me about changing a behavior or action, yet the same thing happens over, and over, and over. And I think we all struggle with that sometimes.

When we ask God for forgiveness, do we just do that because we are hurting from our sin, and want the pain to go away, or are we genuinely looking for His forgiveness?

I think these lyrics will continue to rock my world for a while!

"The Rock Obama" ?

2008-09-27T09:49:00.000-07:00

I dunno Maybe it's just me, but if I am not paying attention to the TV, and Barack is talking, I get confused thinking it is The Rock. They look alike, and even their names are simmilar... The Rock... Barack... HMM

American Idol Promo

2008-07-29T13:19:00.000-07:00

Meet twins Jon and John Johnson. These guys will be showing up each week at Palm Valley Student Ministries as we watch their journey through the American Idol audition process. Join these twins in their quest to be the next... American Idol.

My Church

2008-05-04T21:42:00.000-07:00

Man I love my church! Today during service, I went around to the different children's areas.

Man it was awesome seeing every baby in the nursery being loved on, and held and learning the most important lesson a baby can learn: that someone loves them.

Seeing the preschool kids run around and play, and even the littlest ones singing "if you're happy and you know it" was so awesome. They have an awesome set of volunteers and staff who are rocking the Playhouse Preschool ministry!

KidZone was off the hook! The kids were loving singing the songs, and were even engaged in discussion about the lesson in small group!

And of course, I am a little partial, but I think WILDSIDE and Elevate were awesome this weekend! There was a ton of energy in the room and Darius shared an awesome message about finishing strong in the school year and with everything in life.

All the while, the adults are hearing an awesome message about how God created women and made them Beautiful, and how men can treat them.

Man I love Palm Valley!

I am Your Brother

2008-01-29T12:40:00.000-07:00

All I have to say is Wow...

Wonderful!

2008-01-24T11:55:00.000-07:00

Day off + Rob & Big Marathon = Wonderful afteroon!

RAGE

2007-12-17T11:16:00.000-07:00

My band, About the Author, entered in a state wide competition called the ACMS (Arizona Christian Music Showcase), along with 23 other Christian Bands. Well after 4 rounds of competition, we won FIRST PLACE!!

This means that although i am "the worst youth pastor ever" we get the chance to play at the RAGE Music Festival on MLK weekend.

It was a blast playing in the competition. We ended up having a different drummer every single night. It was cool because we totally relied on God to take care of things.

Awesome Staff

2007-12-10T13:28:00.000-07:00

Had the opportunity to hang out with the awesome staff of Palm Valley Church. I can't even tell you how much I love hanging out with them.

BRIEF Summary of the night:

AMAZING dinner! I have not had food that good in a long time!
Lots of jokes.
There's nothing like getting a book on pregnancy and child birth for a white elephant gift!
Got a One Year Bible to read through next year, I am pretty excited about that!

NOw time to focus on the WIRED Christmas Party on Wednesday night.

Engaged

2007-11-15T20:04:00.000-07:00

So what better way to start off my blog than with the news that Amber and I are officially engaged!!

On Monday November 12th I sent her on a scavenger hunt all through Phoenix where she was getting clues from a few people who are important to us. She finished the scavenger hunt in Fountain Hills where I was waiting for her in the Park. It worked out perfectly because she arrived at like 6:59 and the fountain went off at 7.

So we will be getting married on June 20, 2008!