God

Driving up and down the highways of my city over the past two months I have been amazed at how many billboards look the same. The white, black and blue palates of color make up different questions, statements and a website link. Rumor has it, that this is the biggest billboard campaign the city of Austin, Texas has ever seen. With 1,834,303 people, the city of Austin and its surrounding suburbs, I believe God and His Church are on the brink of something BIG, making history for His Kingdom!

Explore God was an idea, a thought, a dream that became reality. Check this out, over 330 churches in the city are doing the same series, exploring the same questions, at the same time! “Explore God” Today marks the launch for 6 weeks worth of what can be life altering or discovering faith kinds of questions for those that might be far from God. The goal is that 100,000 spiritual conversations would evolve as a result of this series and church partnership to engage the city.

Each church has trained discussion facilitators to host small group discussion in their home, work place, or even a local pub. The point is not to convert or even argue about God, but to merely allow a safe place for questions and discussion.

My leaders and students are joining the movement. We kicked it off this morning with 160 middle school students, I’m excited to see what happens tonight with our high school students.

Would you take a moment to pray for the city of Austin? Pray those that are leading this movement but also those that might be intrigued by a billboard or conversation, that they would seek out the website and perhaps a church in their neighborhood.

Today’s Question: Does life have a purpose? Here was a quick intro video.

Many more questions, videos and materials for your church can be found on their website. www.exploreGod.com

The truth is that I’m addicted to some things.

ad·dict·ed – to become physiologically or psychologically dependent on a habit-forming substance.

Every morning when I wake up I find myself gravitating toward TWO things I depend on for my day, without them my day falls apart…

1) COFFEE. Typical for the youth pastor trying to keep that crazy schedule of hanging out with students and leaders, healthy though?! I would think not…surely it can’t be healthy when one is addicted to a caffeinated, acidic, beverage of this sort. I know the headache at 1pm all too well – it hurts REALLY bad! This means I didn’t get my one mug fill for the morning…perhaps in another post I’ll talk about fighting addictions but for now I’m just confessing mine. Check out some stuff I found on us coffee drinkers, or even those of you who think drinking coffee is unhealthy!

I found a poll that questioned 4,700 people…

Overall, about 34% of those people say they need coffee to get through the workday. I’m victim of the 34%…the people who are addicted and get headaches early afternoon without their “fix” of the double shot espresso or venti mocha, I personally like my coffee with a little white mocha!

Of those who drink coffee,

46% say they are less productive without it.
61% drink two or more cups a day
28% drink three or more cups a day
I drink one cup…okay sometimes two

While coffee was once considered bad for your health, it’s now thought to have many benefits besides simply jolting you awake in the morning.

Heavy coffee drinkers may be half as likely to get diabetes as light drinkers or nondrinkers, perhaps because coffee may contain chemicals that lower blood sugar.
Coffee might also help protect against cancer. Coffee drinkers are 50% less likely to get liver cancer than those who don’t drink it, and a few studies have found ties to lower rates of colon, breast, and rectal cancers among coffee enthusiasts.
There is some evidence that coffee may protect men, but not women, against Parkinson’s disease.

How would you like that?

Attorneys and judges are most likely to take their coffee black, as are hotel workers
Human resources professionals and personal caretakers are most likely to take their coffee with cream and sugar
Editors, writers, government workers and teachers are most likely to favor flavored coffees

2) SHOWER. I know this one may seem odd but it’s the truth. If I don’t get my shower in the morning I’m just not awake and ready for my day…it’s not the piping hot, well water that smells like sulfur and rotten eggs, nor my old spice body wash that does it for me. It’s my WATER PROOF BIBLE! Yup, believe it or not I do have a waterproof Bible I keep in the shower and have had it for over a year now. I’m addicted to it. Show this thing off at your small group, students love it! It does cause me to take longer showers, and highlighting my favorite verses doesn’t really work well, but it is one of the only places in life I can get away from it all…no phone, no computer, no TV, nothing…absolutely nothing, just me and the waterproof Bible. Being addicted to the Word is a good thing I suppose, without a little pep-talk with God my day seems empty and can quickly become about me rather than the one I serve. I have become dependent on it, the shower that is…I know it is the first thing I must do when I wake up. Okay okay, so sometimes I have my coffee first!

Do you have a favorite place you connect with God?

What are you addicted to?

Is it healthy?

Life of a youth pastor .

Explore God – Making History in God’s Kingdom

I’m addicted 2 things…