Day 2 of Mission...

Day 2 of Spring Break Mission Trip 2010 is done. It was a great day here at Mission Arlington. Your students are truly amazing. They have stepped out of their comfort zones to share the love of Christ with this community. Terrace Clayton and myself couldn't be more proud. It is great to watch and experience. Be proud of them!

We have the best volunteer leaders around, they are rocking it out. God is using them and I know that He is being honored and glorified through their service. Mario Lerma, Pete Rigsby, Chuck Pickering, and Philip Middleton are doing a great job with the construction side and keeping students busy. Tina Rigsby, Nicole Prosser, Stephanie Lavey, Kimm Cashiola, Josh Mullett, and Taylor Watts are doing such a great job with students at apartment complexes. Just wanted to give them a shout out. They are awesome.

Today they did some construction projects, bible studies, and hanging out with less fortunate kids...all while sharing Christs' love. They shared stories of what God did through them tonight during our debrief session. Very cool stories. It's crazy cool as they see God working in them through serving others. They are starting to see how serving is what God is calling us to do. They tackle challenges with no whining...crazy I know! ha.. But God is doing something in their lives and I love seeing it and being a part of it. We are truly blessed by your students. Living with intention...working it out a day at a time. Below are some pictures from today. Enjoy:

Spring Break Mission Trip 2010: HOPE...

Well, we are officially on our Spring Break 2010 Mission Trip. Myself and Terrace Clayton had planned a trip to Piedras Negras, Mexico but with the increasing violence we decided against taking students down there. Found out on the way today that people were being banned from coming in and getting out...thankfully God gave us the vision to not continue with that trip.

So we have brought middle school and high school students to Mission Arlington. We have traveled to Arlington, TX to serve people in this community. God is doing some amazing things here. People are getting their lives back on track and they are seeing God for the first time. The lady that started Mission Arlington said that last year alone 330,000 people came through the lobby and saw Jesus for the first time. WOW!

We are here with the best group of volunteers that anyone could ask for and the greatest group of students around. This week, we will be going into apartment complexes and doing a bible study and hanging out with kids and families, while sharing Christs' love with them. We will also be doing construction on a church here: cleaning up, painting, remodeling, fixing broken and faulty things in the community. Such a neat deal to be able to give our lives away. Hoping that the students taste Jesus this week in a new way, as for myself and all the volunteers.

I realize today how lucky and blessed we are. May God show you this and you give back to your community. I'm praying for God to show up and show out, to be honored and glorified through us this week. Please keep us in your prayers as we serve the hurting people of this community. I love hanging with these students, they always amaze me...I'm a lucky man. Here are some pics from today:

Make the most of every moment...

I came across this tonight...and it's so true. Make the most of every opportunity you can, find value in everyone and everything. Cherish moments...love God, love others, forgive, trust, find value in others. Seek God and your life will be a life of abundance. Trust it, God is good. This is from Ralph Marston:

While it's here

It doesn't do much good when you appreciate the value of a moment only after that moment has passed. By that time, it's really too late.

Instead, see the value of each moment while it is here. Live and experience that value while you still can.

The biggest regrets are for opportunities missed, for the things you could have done but didn't. Choose to deal in action rather than in regret.

Take the opportunity presented by each moment as the moment arrives. Dive into the richness before it fades away.

Life is filled with great abundance. But the abundance can't be saved for later unless you live it now.

Live it now, and make the most of it while it's here. And then, though the moment will soon pass, you'll always have its value.

-- Ralph Marston

A Woman of Character.

We are in a series called "Cooties" in middle school at River Pointe. We are talking about dating, sex, and relationships and how they correlate to our relationship with God. And what it looks like in our lives as middle schoolers, high schoolers, and adults. This is the outline that Shelley Pizzitola gave to our girls when she spoke to them. I thought it was genius and right on point. Feel free to use this. Enjoy.

The secrEt 2 boys

River Pointe Church | Middle School Girls | February 21, 2010
By Shelley Pizzitola

What does God say?

The Secret to Boys was God’s idea.
The Secret to Boys’ Hearts is Purity and Character in me.

SecretText Code:

S2Bh=P+C n Me (Secret to Boy's heart= Purity and Character in me)

Purity & Character in real life: What is it? What does a girl of character do?
-see Proverbs 31:10-31

She trusts God.
-This makes her fearless and courageous.

She is honest.
-This means she does what is right, even when no one is looking.

She is hard working.
-This means she has skills that she practices in order to improve herself.

She exudes dignity.
-She cares more about what God thinks of her than what boys think of her.

She is faithful.
-She studies God’s word, she prays, and she can make great decisions.

She is strong.
-She trusts God to see her through the hard stuff. -This gives her confidence to say “no” to friends, pressure, fear, and boys.

Clocks with Birds...and Jesus

Have you ever put a 3 yr old down for bed? They just want to keep on going and talking about whatever they see or is on their mind. I was putting a friends daughter down and she just would not stop. She didn't want me to leave. She even said "sit on my bed with me." 

As I watched her fall asleep, it hit me, like a ton of bricks. Why are we not constantly asking God to stay with us and just sit...and listen to us about whatever is on out mind.  We go about our days without even acknowledging God and His presence, but expect Him to bless us and make our lives happy. 

So we sat there, me and the little girl, and talked about Belle, and the clock with a bird on it. Until she fell asleep. As she breathes deep breathes, you can sense a pure resting going on in her life. 

I challenge you to talk to God...not demanding this or that, but talking to Him about your clock with a bird on it or maybe Belle.  I don't know, but I do know He wants to talk to you. Ask Him to sit on your bed with you.  Take a deep breathe and rest in Him...Jesus Christ.

OneLove,
JNix 

Fear...

This is a response to a great friends blog, John Gregory. Click on his name and you can read his great blogs about life. He is a very insightful man. He has been writing on Satan's tool: FEAR. I was doing a funeral for a dear lady and this is what I said about fear. (some notes from the funeral are also compiled from a great friend, Jason Pizzitola)

Circumstances in life will fail us and circumstances will disappoint us. We pray for circumstances in life to change, and they don’t and we feel let down. So your sense of peace and joy and hope has to be founded and based on something bigger than fleeting circumstances…which should be founded on loving God. Don't be afraid. Don't fear. I think that is important to mention, because God tells us so many things about fear.

Isaiah 41:13, it says

“For I am the Lord, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.

Psalm 23 deals directly with fear. The writer of this passage, David, has a perspective on life which is: lets not be afraid. Lets put our faith in something bigger than our circumstances.

The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.

2 He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,

3 he restores my soul.
He guides me in paths of righteousness
for his name's sake.

4 Even though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.

5 You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.

6 Surely goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD
forever.

The passage is for us. It's saying DON’T be afraid. I am with you. Yes, trouble comes in life, but I will lead you and comfort you. I will walk with you through this I will see you through this like a shepherd does his sheep. There is goodness and love ahead for you…more than anything, I think it says it is scary, but you can trust me.

Today, we need to have the ability to trust. We need to believe in something bigger than ourselves and our own circumstance. May God transform our hearts today!!

OneLove,
JNix

You Are Faithful

Simple truth. Powerful. Encouraging. You are faithful by Hillsong. Listen and be encouraged.