Connecting

Visualize Yourself Succeeding

2011-05-19T18:07:00.000-05:00

Success is something that everyone needs to experience. Some people have more chances than others, but we all need to experience it. The culture that we live in is a very selfish culture. It’s all about me. Almost everything you do is about you and to better you and to make sure everyone knows that you are “something.” IF you read this and say that the last statement is false, I would ask you to take a look at your finances and lifestyle.

In our society, people do not grab life by the horns because they have fears. Fear will cut you down. Fear will keep you from attaining your goals and going beyond your potential. God calls us to not fear, but believe. Believe that He is going to provide for you. Believe that He is going to satisfy you. Believe that He will give you an abundant life.

Did any word stick out in the last paragraph to you? Believe. Correct. Do you want to succeed? You have to believe that you will succeed. You have to visualize yourself succeeding. Once you believe in yourself, you will succeed and you can believe in others. When you believe in others, something huge happens. They start believing in themselves. When they believe in themselves, they succeed.

I think true success is when you help others succeed in life. I talk with clients on a daily basis. The most effective statement I make is this: “I’m here to help you succeed, because if you don’t succeed…I don’t succeed. I believe in you and your business.” This statement speaks volume, but only if I truly believe. Anyone can say these words, but only you can choose to make them true!

Be an influence of something positive. YOU can change the world. Believe in others. Help someone experience success.

OneLove,
JNix

Blink & You Might Miss It...

2011-05-18T16:52:00.005-05:00

I blinked and found myself on the brink of a new era in life. I've met the woman of my dreams, the woman that I will spend the rest of my life with...my beautiful Bonnie (and no she doesn't lie over the ocean or the sea, she is actually right here with me). I'm in a new industry. My work environment has changed drastically. No longer are the days of wearing shorts and flip flops in the office. Or hanging out in student's cafeterias and planning spring break mission trips. While a huge part of my life, which has impacted me and shaped me into the person I am today. I was ushered into a new phase of life. God was preparing me for something bigger than what I had ever imagined.

I am now working in the corporate world, in risk management. I wear slacks, dress shirts and dress shoes to work. I take business trips across the nation to meet with clients and help them understand the importance of managing assets. I work in a big downtown office...with lots of women, and they all know way more than me! I'm no longer that frontman. I have moved to the bottom of the totem pole and I'm making my move back to the top.

I deal with clients all over the nation on a daily basis and I have to implement what I have taught to students and adults for nearly 10 years. I actually have to put into play the whole "practice what you teach" method.

It's difficult at times, but students and adult leaders from Arkansas, Missouri, Florida and Texas have taught me a great deal in listening and managing this new corporate world. I commend each and every person whoe life I have touched becuase you may not know it, but you have touched my life even more! Thank you.

I'm excited about the journey God has me on. He has carried me through tough times and relationships to ge me to this point, so I could say "WOW! God you are amazing!"

If you're wondering "what next or why God" I encourage you to hold on to His truths because Christ is going to blow your mind away! Keep seeking God and showing His love to others. Don't blink...you just might miss it.

I'm still writing so stay tuned. You who read this keep me in the writing business!

OneLove,
JNix

Friendships

2011-03-03T05:30:00.001-06:00

Friendship: Value that is found in friendships is often the result of a friend demonstrating the following on a consistent basis:

-the tendency to desire what is best for the other

-sympathy

-empathy

-honesty, even when the truth hurts

-understanding

-compassion

"A true friend is the man who knows everything about you, and still likes you" -Elbert Hubard

God is a true friend that values you on a consistent basis. Have you ever thought that you have really given up on God? I don't know about you, but I don't like seeing people get hurt or hit rock bottom...because after a while, they may not be able to get back up. God says that he turns people over to their sins...He doesn't give up on them, but He lets them waller in their sin. IF your sin gets the best of you, it'll kill you...but if you can see and truly experience Christs love and reach out to Him, then you can be restored and healed and made new. God says that when we become His children that we are a new creation. God knows everything about you and me and He still loves us no matter what we have done or will do. He loves, unconditionally.

You see, as children of God, friends...we never give up on God or fall from his grace. You know the song: He's got the whole world, in His hands. He's got the whole wide world... You get it and you are probably singing now, but He has the world in his hands, He has you and me...and just when you think that you are running from God because you think you are giving up; remember that God has you. You are merely running circles in His hands. God is a true friend...He never leaves you, never forsakes you, but only loves you. He sees not your faults, but only the good in you. Christ values you on a consistent basis. That is what a true friendship looks like.

The next time you feel like you are standing all alone on a rainy night, thrashed and wasted from the hurts of this world and wondering what has happened... Remember that Christ is your friend and that He values you on a consistent basis.

Value people on a consistent basis, show the world the love of Christ and the true meaning of friendship. To all of my friends...you know who you are, I love you and value you.

OneLove,
JNix

Attaining a Peace of Christ

2011-03-02T10:20:00.005-06:00

At first glance you think that I misspelled "peace" in the title, but actually I didn't. It is exactly as it is written. There is a peace that is Christ that we can all attain. I encourage you to read Ephesians 5-6 today and see what God says to you. These are some thoughts from Ephesians 5-6.

Peace Of Christ.
How do you get the peace of Christ? When I think about it, for peace to be attained in our world many people have had to and still have to fight for it. It doesn't come cheaply..it's actually purchased. You see, everyone can enjoy God's perfect peace by reconciling the past, present, and future.

-We all have a past
-We have to realize where we are now in the present
-And if we're really God's children...then we have to realize that we are going somewhere...you have a future.

You are not just stuck right here...and you can't be stuck in the past. You have to know that you are here for a purpose. You are still here for a purpose. God saved you for a purpose and He brought you here for a purpose! And maybe He brought you here so that you could get this: that He is not done with you yet! Your future is bright and He has incredible plans for you...but you have to reconcile your past, present, and future.

Ephesians 5:20- "submit, love like Christ loved, to die completely to self and to lay our lives down."

Make Peace with Your Past.
How do you do that?

-make peace with others...Jesus said "blessed are the peacemakers"

Philippians 3:13-14- "forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me."

-making peace with the past (whether good or bad) means forgetting what is behind and pushing forward with Christ.
-saying "God what are you doing right now? What do you want to do in me?"

Ephesians 6:1-9- "obey, serve God sincerely with your life."
Jeremiah 29:11- "for I know the plans I have for you, to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

-You have to ask "God where are you taking me right now?"

Make Peace with Yourself.
You can't change the past...but you can change the future!

Ephesians 6.10- Remember that maturity is a moving target. You have to know that you will never arrive. You won't wake up one morning and say "wow...I'm there!" It'll never happen...you will never arrive until you see Jesus face to face in Heaven. Until then you are growing and learning...and breaking old stuff off that shouldn't be in your life. You are still BECOMING the person that He wants you to be.

-God gives you that kind of grace! Realize that you are still growing and make peace with your past.
-You can't change it, make peace with your present by being realistic about who you really are:-It's why prayer and repentance are so big...because if you become real honest with yourself and do a self assessment you will say "that you're not all that you should be... but thank God I'm not where I was and I'm becoming someone so much better and so much stronger than I used to be."
-Make peace with your future and realize that you're not going to get there overnight.
-It's not OK to be OK with your sin once it's been pointed out to you. Let God's truth begin to illuminate in you life and then you need to change a little bit about your present and future as you see faults...and then begin to peel off sin and clothe yourself in righteousness and not let yourself be tainted.

Make Peace with God.
This is the only relationship that matters.

-We need God's peace...I need God's peace...You need God's peace.
-If you're trying to function without God's peace...then you are missing out on God's plan for your life. Because the Bible says "that He's supposed to give you a peace that surpasses all understanding." You should have peace when everyone else is freaking out!
-You have the peace of God in YOU!!!

This peace will eliminate fears that you have carried all of your life. It is a peace that is super-natural...and you can have it, but you have to reach out for it. It will not be handed to you. And just like people today have to fight for peace...You will have to fight for it! And I promise God will honor it...He will in His perfect timing and you have to trust that and know that.

I want to see you all succeed and I want to help you when you fail. Not because I have it all together...trust me, I don't, but because God calls me to that. May you find and have this Peace of Christ in your life today! God is doing something in your life...hold on, because you are going to be blown away.

OneLove,
JNix

What does God call you too?

2011-02-28T14:26:00.004-06:00

I remember as a kid, I would watch the baseball greats like Bo Jackson, Jose Canseco, and Nolan Ryan do things on the field that would blow my mind. Everyone wanted to see them at the ballpark, everyone wanted their baseball card. I mean, I can still smell the piece of bubble gum as I ripped open the baseball card pack and I can still smell the popcorn and hot dogs in the air as I think about these baseball greats. The cracking of a bat and famous "take me out the ball game!" These guys were legends, they were "the BEST."

It was an honor to be considered the best. Whether it was the best at baseball, academics, computers, coffee, food or sewing. There used to be something great about being or being considered "the BEST." Nowaday's "the BEST," is not good enough. If you're "the best," you're just mediocre or not even actually on the radar...or are you?

Society says everyone and thing has to be better than the best. There is a phrase "best of the best," it alarms me. What is the definition of "best of the best?" Dictionary.com defines "BEST" this way: of the highest quality, excellence, or standing. How does it get any better than that?? Our society places this standard on us that many times people give up because they can't attain this "BEST OF THE BEST" in their life. They are, in a sense, just sidelined in society as the best. Losers, if you will. When I looked up the phrase "best of the best" I find only one definition, and that, in the Urban Dictionary. "Best of the best" is equated with the words crap and garbage. Which I find strikingly disturbing. You see people sell out and will pay any cost to try and be this so called "best of the best." They will forsake everything because of their selfishness to become this "best of the best." And...for what? A title? I don't know about you, but I am completely fine with being the best.

God calls us to be the best we can be, not the best of the best. Not better than the guy next to you, just be YOUR best. It is a lonely road when you are trying to be the best of the best. I'll tell you what God has taught me: "love God, love others." If you can harness your attention and focus on doing these 2 things, then no matter what you do...you will be the BEST person that you can be. You WILL be everything that GOD calls you to be. Worry not about being at the top...but instead of the here and now. Love God, Love People. Just like I remember the smells of the baseball and the cracks of the bat, you too will remember what the best feels like when you practice this.

Serve. Share. Set in Motion.

OneLove,
JNixon

The Paradox of Social Media: The More Social it Gets, The Less Social We Become by Gord Hotchkiss

2011-02-25T13:50:00.007-06:00

I read this yesterday by a writer named Gord Hotchkiss:

I have teenage daughters. At least, I assume they're still my daughters. They hang around our house and eat our food. But, to be honest, it's been a while since we identified ourselves to each other. Between Angry Birds, SMS and Facebook, there's precious little actual conversing going on in the Hotchkiss household. I barely recognize their faces, lit up as they are by the cool blue digital light of an iPhone screen. I assume that, at times, there's a living being at the other end of their multi-texting, but I'm not really sure.

Yesterday, I overheard this in our lunch room: "I went for dinner the other night but have no idea how it was. Between tweeting my location, updating my status and posting a review to Yelp, I never actually ate anything."

I'm guessing this comment was made in jest, but you never know. I remember one after-conference party held under the bridge in Sydney's magnificent harbor, watching one very well-known search guru tweet his way through the entire evening. I don't think he even noticed the Opera House on the other side of the bay. He was so busy tweeting his experience; he overlooked the actual "experiencing" part.

It seems to me that the more we engage in social media, the less social we actually become. The world in front of our noses is increasing being obstructed by one type of screen or another. The more we live in our new digital communities, the less we live in our real-life, flesh and blood ones. I can't remember my neighbor's name, but I can track the minute-by-minute location of people I've never met and probably never will. And by the way, congats on becoming Mayor of the Beans n' Buns coffee shop on the corner of "LOL" and "OMG" in a city I'll never set foot in. I'm not sure why that's important to me, but all the "in" people assure me it is.

Humans were built to be social, but I'm not sure we were designed for social media. For one thing, research has proven that multitasking is a myth. We can't do it. Our kids can't do it. Nobody can do it. Much as we think we're keeping all our digital balls in the air, eyes darting back and forth from screen to screen, it's all a self-perpetuated ruse. Attention was designed to work with a single focus. You can switch it from target to target, but you can't split it. If you try, you'll just end up doing everything poorly.

Secondly, we're built to communicate with the person in front of our nose. We pick up the vast majority of a conversation through body language and visual cues. Try as technology might, there's just no way a virtual experience can match the bandwidth or depth of engagement you'll find in a real face-to-face conversation. Yet, we continually pass up the opportunity to have these, opting instead to stare at a little screen and text our thumbs off.

As we spend more time with our digital connections, it's inevitable that we'll have less satisfying engagements with the people who share our physical space and time. The disturbing part about that is we may not realize the price we're paying until it's too late. Social media has slyly incorporated many elements from online gaming to make using it treacherously addictive. I suspect if we wired up the average teen while she was using Facebook or Foursquare, we'd find a hyperactive pleasure center, bathing her brain in dopamine. We're forgoing the real pleasures of bonding to pursue an artificially wired short-cut.

The ironic part of all this is that I wrote this column on a four-hour flight, spending most of it staring at some kind of screen or another. The person sitting next to me on the plane? I don't think we spoke more than four words to each other.

Gord Hotchkiss is a senior vice president at Mediative. He loves to explore the strategic side of search and is programming chair of the Search Insider Summits, as well as a frequent speaker at Search Engine Strategies and Ad:Tech.

Make A Move...

2011-02-08T11:03:00.004-06:00

I remember one time being hit in the head with a hammer. I know, I know...for many of you that explains a lot about me. You see, it did not happen on purpose; but none-the-less it hurt. Very badly. I can remember taking that hammer and throwing it away after this incident. I didn't throw it out because I hated it, but I threw it out because it had lost its purpose. Kind of like an old shirt after it's been covered in oil or grease from working on your car. It's just not useful. Hammers were not made to hit people in the head, they were made to build things. To connect things that in turn can be something beautiful. God has a purpose for each and every one of us. It's an important purpose, SO important that God is not going to let us stop until we have lived it out. God wants us to move with His purpose.

In the Bible, there is a story when the people of this earth had lost their purpose. Once they lost their purpose, they were trashed. They didn't want to move with His purpose, so they were trashed. In Genesis 6; the story of Noah illustrates, perfectly, this idea of moving with His purpose.

You see, the people that lived during this time were full of wickedness and they essentially lost all purpose of what God had intended for their lives.

"The LORD saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. The LORD regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled. So the LORD said, 'I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them.' But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD." -Genesis 6.5-8

God was sad that he created them, so he made a decision to trash them and start over. He found favor in Noah and called on him to grab a hammer and make a move!

"So God said to Noah, 'I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth. So make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out.'" -Genesis 6.13-14

God told Noah to build an ark SO BIG, that he and his family and 2 of every animal could enter. Noah listened and moved with God's purpose. God brought on a great rain and flooded the earth killing everything that was not on the ark. Could you imagine what was running through Noah's mind??? God asked him to make a HUGE move!

In order for Noah to make this move, he had to get rid of the things in his life that had lost purpose and hindered him from hearing God's voice. God gave Noah a new purpose and he left behind his house, friends, work and so on and so on. I believe that God calls us to this same kind of radical move in our life. Not building an ark, but putting things behind us in order to hear God's voice and move when His purpose calls us. If we are going to make a move, we must get rid of things that have lost purpose. In the new testament, Paul calls us to throw off anything that is hindering us from fulfilling the purpose that God has called us too.

I'm not saying that we have to get rid of friends...but if they are hindering you from making a move for God, then you may have to get rid of them. All kinds of things can hinder you from making a move for Christ: cell phones, computers, myspace, facebook, twitter, food, blankies...your past, your failures, your successes, your pride. You see all of these things, and many more, have the ability to hinder you and me from making a MOVE...

Make a MOVE for Christ. Hear His voice and fulfill the purpose He has called in your life.

OneLove,
JNix

A Strategy For Success

2011-01-31T15:29:00.003-06:00

Don't plan to fail. I listen to many people talk about being overweight and wanting to lose weight. I myself have lost over a hundred pounds and have managed to keep 85-90 pounds off. Now, I actually help people set goals and change their lifestyle so that they can be fit and healthy. It is not easy and many times people mess up or they get discouraged and ultimately give up...or fail.

I've heard it like this before:
"If you're not aiming for anything, you're just going to flounder around." -John E. Tucker

If you do not have a plan or a strategy then you will fail. No questions asked. So many people tell me, that they can't eat healthy or they can't eat at certain times of the day or they can't excersise. That's the point where I tell them to come back to me when they are ready to change their life. It takes discipline to achieve goals...they don't just happen. You have to make the decision that you want to be different. That you want to be healthy. That you want more out of life. You have to make the choice to be a better person. When you come to that point, then you can conquer the world! It's at this crucial time that you have to have a strategy:

1. Plan
-Draw a strategy. Grocery shop. Cook your meals in advance...take a lunch box or bag. When you go the gym, have your workout written down so that you can look at it and move quickly throughout the gym.

2. Execute

-The more detailed your plan, the easier it will be to execute. Stick to your plan.

-Keep a journal of what you eat and when and what you exercise.

3. Measure

-Look at performance, I know this is weird...but take pictures of yourself. Look back over your journal at your weight sets.

4. Analyze

-Take stock of where you've been & compare it to your plan. Figure out how to be more efficient. As you look over your journal, find out your weaknesses and the times that you are most vulnerable.

5. Adjust
-Make changes so that you can be the best you can be. Then keep moving forward.

If you fail to plan, you're planning to fail. Only you can make the decision to be fit and healthy. So dig down deep in your heart and let your beauty shine!

Go beyond your potential this year! Make a plan to be better than your best!

OneLove,

JNix

Authenticity

2011-01-20T08:17:00.003-06:00

Website: a group of connected pages on the World Wide Web containing information on a particular subject. Usually a place that you can find out information about something, a business, a plan, a friend. A website should be built on integrity and character. It should portray what the business is or what the plan is, or how you can become friends and so on and so forth.

Have you ever looked at a website and seen one thing, then actually checked it out in person and it was something totally different?? You know you look at McDonald's website and you see this Big Mac sandwich that looks absolutely velomptuious. But when you order one at the local McDonald's it comes in a box...thrown together. While still absolutely delicious; it doesn't look like it does on the their website. (a side note, I haven't had one since Jan 2009, but writing this makes me want one. Ha) Disturbing to find out that something is different than advertised.

Businesses and churches, alike, are guilty of this very act.

I have been to many of churches. I have worked in a few and looked at many websites. I have a very close friend who was working on his church's website. When I looked at it I said "bro, I've been to your church and I've never seen any of those people." His response startled me: "its what we want our church to be." I thought "thats false advertisement."

My take away: I just don't want people to look at church websites and then come to church expecting to find something that they are not going to get. Which in most cases is diversity, great single's groups(without creeps), and youth programs. These 3 areas intangled with authenticity are lacking in many churches today. Authenticity...well it's lacking just about everywhere.

Be genuine. Be up-front. Be loving. Be careful. Be authentic: live it.

OneLove,
JNix

America's Economy and Gun Rights

2011-01-14T07:50:00.006-06:00

California:

The Governor of California is jogging with his dog along a nature trail. A coyote jumps out and attacks the Governor's dog, then bites the Governor.

1. The Governor starts to intervene, but reflects upon the movie "Bambi" and then realizes he should stop because the coyote is only doing what is natural.

2. He calls animal control . Animal Control captures the coyote and bills the State $200 testing it for diseases and $500 for relocating it.

3. He calls a veterinarian. The vet collects the dead dog and bills the State $200 testing it for diseases.

4. The Governor goes to hospital and spends $3,500 getting checked for diseases from the coyote and on getting his bite wound bandaged.

5. The running trail gets shut down for 6 months while Fish & Game conducts a $100,000 survey to make sure the area is now free of dangerous animals.

6. The Governor spends $50,000 in state funds implementing a "coyote awareness program" for residents of the area.

7. The State Legislature spends $2 million to study how to better treat rabies and how to permanently eradicate the disease throughout the world.

8. The Governor's security agent is fired for not stopping the attack. The State spends $150,000 to hire and train a new agent with additional special training re: the nature of coyotes.

9. PETA protests the coyote's relocation and files a $5 million suit against the State.

Montana :

The Governor of Montana is jogging with his dog along a nature trail. A Coyote jumps out and attacks his dog.

1. The Governor shoots the coyote with his State-issued pistol and keeps jogging. The Governor has spent $0.50 on a .45 ACP hollow point cartridge.

2. The Buzzards eat the dead coyote.And that, my friends, is why California is broke and Montana is not.

Verizon/iPhone Collide

2011-01-12T12:29:00.004-06:00

"Verizon will carry the iPhone starting Feb. 10th." The big announcement that everyone has been waiting for. The world is now a better place. I'm afraid that it's going to be the ultimate letdown.

I think the most common misleading information in the cell phone arena is: people thinking that they are getting an iPhone 4G. It's actually an iPhone 4...and on AT&T you have 3g coverage with an iPhone 4. With Verizon's new addition of the iPhone 4, you'll have 3G CDMA coverage...which is slower than AT&T's 3G. I like to think of it as an analog edition of 3G. Now Verizon will have 4g coverage soon, everywhere, but that only implies to data...not voice. You will not be able to talk on the phone and look up facebook on the web at the same time(I know right?? Who does that anyway...someone who thinks they are WAY more important than they actually are. And trust me I know people who do it.)

Its unfortunate for Apple, because Verizon users will not get to experience the full potential of Apple's product. I'm a Verizon user and have asked for it as long as I've been a customer, but its not ready. I had the iPhone from the beginning to 3Gs and switched to Verizon for coverage. I love the iPhone, but Verizon is not ready...in my opinion. My opinion is not worth much. Ha.

There are positives and negatives to both sides...so pick your toxin! Ha. Maybe this has shed a little light that you havent seen before. If I were you, I'd research it as much as possible to make the best decision for YOU.

OneLove,
JNix

Accomplishments...

2010-07-06T16:02:00.005-05:00

I have accomplished a lot of things in life. One of the most memorable accomplishments was this past year...I have lost 108 lbs and I was an Ironman 70.3 finisher. Many people think that they can't get better or they couldn't possibly do certain things in life. But I am here to tell you that you can.

On February 3, 2009 I decided to move to Houston, TX. I had 3 goals, I wanted my relationship with God to grow deeper, I wanted to serve God, and I wanted to get healthy. While I've had my fair share of ups and downs, one thing is for certain: I am ground in the Word of God and I'm standing on it!

GOAL #1: My relationship and dependency on God has grown to depths I never thought. I'm looking forward to the future to see how God will continue to stretch me and grow me into the man that He wants. My dependency on His Will has grown...Christ is my everything. I wake in the morning refreshed and certain that all I want in life is to glorify and honor Him. I am nowhere near perfect, have never claimed to be, but I press on toward the prize that God has called me toward.

GOAL #2: I have had the opportunity to serve some of the greatest students and people in Houston and God has richly blessed my life through these relationships. He has shown me the meaning of authentic friendships and love. He has taught me to love unconditionally and to walk alongside people in their deepest times of need...to stand by them and be a friend. God has blessed me.

GOAL #3: Getting in shape...whew. Probably one of the hardest things I've ever done, but one of the funnest things I've done. When I went to Houston, I weighed 310 lbs. I started running and cycling. Lost a few pounds, then decided to change my eating habits. I always worked out so that I could eat whatever I wanted. But I'm here to tell you that eating is 90% of weightloss. On July 24, 2009 it all started coming together, I changed my diet and eating habits and started dropping pounds. I also had the encouragement of some very special people in my life. I did a sprint triathlon in October 2009, I finished with a time of 1 hour 11 minutes. I decided to sign up for the Ironman 70.3 with my good friend Michael Head. In April, 2010 I finished the Ironman 70.3 in Galveston, TX. I finished in 6 hours 56 minutes. I just finished another sprint triathlon in Sugar Land, TX with a time of 1 hour 7 minutes...improving my time by 4 minutes since October. During the July 4th weekend I went home to Arkansas to visit my folks and saw that there was a 5k race in Little Rock. So, I decided to run it...doing so I have a new personal best on the 5k finishing in 25 minutes. It was a great feeling. Today I weigh 202 lbs. Total loss of 108 lbs.

I say all of this to encourage you. You may be reading this and thinking I need to get in shape or my relationship with God needs to grow. Maybe you don't know where to start? Just start. God says "come as you are." If you are hurting or you have been thrashed or you are just making mistakes in life...just look up, reach up, because God's hand is right there. All He wants is for you to look up. He will restore you, no matter what, he will rescue you and deliver you. If you want to get healthier, then you can do it. Trust me, if I can do it, you can do it. All you have to do is walk 3 times a week for 30 minutes and change what you eat. If you'd like a plan or help, please email me I'd love to help you accomplish your goals! Take a look at the pictures below and know that you can do it, I lost 108 lbs and I'm still losing. Enjoy and God bless you. YOU CAN DO IT! Go beyond your potential and achieve more than your goals starting today...because what you do today matters.

OneLove,

Jeremy

Summer Pop...

2010-06-25T11:44:00.001-05:00

WOW.

2010-06-07T21:11:00.000-05:00

This is crazy! Check it out...

Drafting the Question...

2010-05-18T14:55:00.003-05:00

I love cycling, but I can only do so much on my own. I can ride at 20 mph on my own, for a while, but I soon die out. I have the fortunate opportunity of riding with a few guys on Saturday's. When we ride together we can ride at speeds much faster than that and for a longer time. How do we do it? We draft!

Drafting is what some cyclists do to be more efficient. They follow closely behind one another in a TEAM of cyclists to go faster and further. One rider leads for a small time, then the next guy, then the next guy and so on and so on. In the end, they ride faster and further. I've been thinking on this concept of TEAM and I'm thinking about the team of volunteers that serve in River Pointe's Middle School Ministry.

There are more than 20,000 middle school students in Ft. Bend County. The question that I am trying to answer is: "How do we reach these students?" I can only reach so many students by myself, but with the help of volunteer leaders we can reach these students. We can essentially draft off of each other.

My plan this year is to invest in volunteer leaders. To equip them to reach out, to help create a passion in their lives and spread enthusiasm throughout them to share the love of Christ. In Ephesians 4 Paul goes on to say that the cat is out of the box, we are here to share how extravagant the love of Christ is...since the cat's out, do this: Run down the road God has called you, and steadily pour out the love of Christ on people. God's calling us to travel down the same road together...to draft...because everything is permeated in Oneness. We have to be unified and when we do this, He will do amazing things through us.

What is the question that you are asking about yourself? Your ministry? If you're not asking questions, then you've either arrived or you don't care. I don't think anyone has arrived. So do the hard thing and ask questions of how you can be a better person...may God do something in you like never before. Get ready, God is moving.

OneLove,
Jeremy

Sixth Grader covering Paparazzi by Lady Gaga..Impressive.

2010-05-07T11:06:00.000-05:00

Endurance...

2010-04-19T16:33:00.003-05:00

ENDURANCE: sticking to what you started even when it gets tough!

Have you ever messed up, then gave up?? We have the choice to give up, or to show ENDURANCE. The truth is we’re going to run into problems...sometimes daily! Sometimes bad things happen, no matter what you do. Even if it seems like you are doing all the right stuff, sometimes things can still go wrong.

I'm reminded of a story in the Bible about Paul and Silas. You see, Paul and Silas were faced with big problems and they made smart decisions. One day, Paul and Silas were out sharing the love of Christ. They were doing exactly what God had told them to do and a slave girl started following them. She had a spirit inside of her. God told Paul to heal her, so Paul healed her. The problem was that 2 bad guys were making money off of her, but now that Paul had healed her; they couldn’t make money. SO they became very angry! They took Paul and Silas to the king and accused them of many bad things. Paul and Silas were beaten and thrown into jail. Can you imagine how confused they were, since they were doing the right things? And even though they were doing all the right stuff, bad things happened to them. I bet it was hard to trust that GOD had a plan, but they did.

When they were thrown into jail, they sang, prayed and praised GOD. They didn’t know how things were going to turn out, but they showed ENDURANCE and kept honoring GOD. They knew he had a plan. At midnight that night an earthquake shook the whole jail so hard that all the prison doors opened and the prisoners chains had broken. They were free. Do you think that Paul and Silas ran away? NO. They stayed right where they were! They knew the jailer would be in big trouble if the prisoners had escaped. So Paul and Silas kept all the prisoners in jail, because it was the right thing to do. When the jailer woke up and saw the doors open, he knew that he was as good as dead and he started to pull out his sword and kill himself. But Paul yelled at him at said, “Hey, its okay, everyone is still here.” The jailer couldn’t believe his eyes. He remembered Paul and Silas singing and praising God and he knew that this had to have been a work from GOD. The jailer fell at their feet and asked how he could have a relationship with GOD. And that night, the jailer and his whole family heard about God and believed in him.

God doesn’t promise us that life will be easy when we trust in Him, because there are going to be days that we face problems. Some big, some small, but we have to keep trusting in GOD.

Paul and Silas could have to chose to not listen to God and walk past the sick woman. They wouldn’t have been thrown in jail, but all the people wouldn’t have heard about God either. They could have run when the prison doors opened, but instead they followed God’s plan and it all turned out for the best.

Sometimes bad things are going to happen, even when we think we’re doing all the right stuff. But God always has a plan. If we can show ENDURANCE and stick with His plan and not give up when it gets tough, GOD will use you for amazing things!

Things are going to change, the world is going to change, trends are going to change…but Christ is constant, never changing.

We TRANSCEND change. Christ in you, the hope of glory.

OneLove,
Jeremy

The Effect of Music...

2010-04-15T18:38:00.004-05:00

This blog was inspired by a talented musician…

Music…it says things that you cannot say, it takes you places you cannot go. Many times it speaks louder than words and draws on a level of perspective that you can’t describe. You are swept off your feet and taken to a place that has no gravity. You lose yourself in the moment and forget about everything else in the real world. What is it about music that jolts us into this realm of satisfaction and insouciant state of mind?

You see, music has the ability to lift you up…or drag you down. It’s a vital part of our culture and almost every person uses it in everyday lives. Music unlocks and evokes powerful emotion. Emotion…good or bad, is something that is powerful and we have become very reliable on music to send us to a place that we feel we can’t reach otherwise. The effect that music has on you is dependent on you. You have the choice of how you let music affect you.

I know for myself music is one the first things that I run too. It soothes the soul. When I am in a bad mood or a sad mood, I have music I play that will lift me out of these feelings. It has the ability to bring you to a place of peace or calm you down. When I am in a happy mood or energetic mood, there is music to egg those feelings on. At any rate, music is something that is powerful in our world.

Music has been around since before the beginning of time. Which is fitting that most everyone loves some sort of music. It’s just something that’s in us. God has hardwired us to enjoy music. It is something that is good for your soul...something that can allow you to express your anger, frustration, love and feelings.

So how will you use music? Will you use it to say something to someone you may not otherwise be able to say? Or will you use it to come out of a state of depression or anger? However you choose to use it, remember that it’s a powerful thing. God created music…it’s a good thing. Express yourself wisely and allow your imagination to run freely because the communication of music to your soul is something that is breathtaking and peaceful.

OneLove and Rock on,

Jeremy

(listened to Jonny Lang and Bryson Van Cleve while writing this blog.)

Roadside Jesus...

2010-04-12T18:42:00.002-05:00

This is a video we did today as a teaser for the new series we are starting in Middle School at River Pointe. The series is called "Roadside Jesus" and we will be talking about the different encounters people had with Jesus along the roadside. Enjoy.

Redefining Success...

2010-04-08T11:56:00.002-05:00

This blog is brought to you by NLT Leadership Devotional sent to me from my good friend John Gregory. This spoke to my heart and I think that it can touch yours...read on:

"So the LORD was with him, and Hezekiah was successful in everything he did. He revolted against the king of Assyria and refused to pay him tribute."
2 Kings 18:7

What does it mean to be successful?
Success usually brings to mind financial achievement or being number one. Others would define success by the bumper sticker: “He who dies with the most toys wins.” Some like to think that success is being busy--on the go, racing from one appointment to another, and having too much to do with too little time to do it.

The problem with these definitions of success is they exact a high cost. The Executive Digest has noted, “The trouble with success is that the formula is the same as the one for a nervous breakdown.” That’s sobering, uncomfortable, and too often true. Maybe the definition of success that you are familiar with is not the correct one. I would encourage you to reassess your definition of success before it is too late. May I propose a new look at the word S.U.C.C.E.S.S.?

Service. There is no such thing as success without service. The secret of success lies in meeting the needs of others. And when we are meeting people’s needs, we will discover fulfillment.
Understanding contentment. Let’s not measure success by how much we own or how much money we have but by a sense of inner contentment. Real success is always internal, never external.
Character. Character is of greater value than how much money or status we have. A man’s best test of character is revealed in how he treats people around him. So measure your success not by your possessions and achievements. Measure success by the quality of your character and conduct.
Compassion. What really matters is not money, power, and ego but issues of the heart--such as compassion, kindness, bravery, generosity, and love. Do you love people more than things?
Excellence. Excellence is not being the best but being your best.
Significance. The popular notion of success has not cut it. A growing number of people yearn for significance more than success. Significance comes by giving ourselves to something that is greater than us and that will outlast us.
Sacrifice. A problem in our society is that we are spending our entire lives looking for something worth living for. It would be better if we found something worth dying for.

Success under these guidelines will bring you into harmony with God’s guidance.

Restoration...

2010-04-07T13:01:00.010-05:00

Blue skies paint the imagination of your mind and flowers are blooming before your eyes. You can smell the aroma of springtime and for a moment in your life everything is going the way you think it should be. You exclaim, "Life is great!" It's like walking on clouds. We can conquer anything, and then in a subtle moment we screw up or something bad creeps into your life. How does that happen?

Why do we continue to make mistakes and let God, others and ourselves down? We are human, we can never be mistake free...that's why we need a Savior: Jesus Christ. If we never messed up and had a perfect life, then we wouldn't have a need for God and His never-ending, engrossing...limitless LOVE and redemption.

I know that we are not perfect, but we can do something about repetitious screw ups. Mentally, when we screw up, it's almost as though there's some sort of memory blackout in our minds. While everyone around can see that we're repeating a screw up, for you it's like the first time. Almost like there's no record of the experience...or maybe the mind rejects the memory of the experience without allowing it room to be lodged in the conscious or the subconscious. We have to allow the wisdom of experience to operate and the mind can, then, remember the hurt and pain...and send out a message for a screw up to not be repeated. Our dependence has to be in Christ and we have to allow Him to work in our hearts and minds.

Emotionally we see it, all to often, when people "fall in love." Or they keep falling in love with the same kind of person that has hurt them in the past. It's like we never learn our lesson and we keep getting hurt and keep screwing up. Ultimately...we hurt even more and the pain lingers on. It seems that there is no emotional lesson learned from failure or past hurts. It's as though we are caught on a circular treadmill that goes round and round, and we never get off even while we are happy. We have to call out to God and ask Him to help us see more clearly and judge whats good. We have to cry out to God and be more discerning and objective the second time around, so that we do not continue to make the same mistakes. Use your experience and allow God to restore you...and get off of that treadmill.

We have to realize that we are in need of something much greater than our vices. The redemption that God offers is no strings attached...come as you are. Just come and sit with Him, give Him everything: your past, your failures, your hurts, your pains, your vices, your future, your present. Give it all to Him. Stop what you are doing and seek His face. Get out of the downward spiral of bad mistakes and hurts. Make a stand today to follow Him and seek Him! Because what you do today...matters.

OneLove,
Jeremy

Easter Bunnies and Fancy Neon Lights...

2010-04-01T16:58:00.004-05:00

I sit here and think about Easter, and what this weekend represents. Many people will visit a church so they can be "churched" for the year and they will miss the whole meaning of it. Yeah, they'll think about it and maybe reflect. Maybe even say they're going to be better, but unfortunately many will get nothing out of it.

And that breaks my heart. The Germans brought the Easter bunny to the Americas in the 1700's and we have run with it ever since. So far...that, bunnies and eggs and candy are all over the place from February until April...CRAZY. Even crazier, bunnies don't even lay eggs...but nonetheless, we've narrowed this weekend down to a bunny that delivers chocolate eggs to "good" kids. I can't help but wonder what God thinks about this?

I'm not saying that I'm not into the whole bunny and candy thing...I mean as a child I would eat Reese's eggs by the handfuls, seriously. And that's why I struggle and work so hard, on a daily basis, to be healthy...but that's beside the point. I enjoy "hunting eggs" and finding chocolate behind every other tree. But the idea of a bunny hopping through a forest carrying a basket is...strangely...ODD. And I fear that our emphasis is solely on that, instead of the real reason behind this weekend.

Christ had the decision before Him to die for you and me...or to walk. He could have, at any moment called the angels down, but He knew that the only way for us to see the Father in Heaven was to die, a brutal death...defeat death and rise again. We, as a world, take this too lightly. "Oh yeah, someone died, Passion of the Christ...saw it, went to church and got a shirt," we say and think that life is good.

My Prayer: "God, I am sorry for belittling this weekend for so long. May YOU be honored and glorified in my life today...this weekend...this life. I want more than what society says about this weekend. Will you fill me and use me?"

There is more to life than bunny rabbits and fancy neon signs...it's about a relationship with CHRIST. If you're not hearing from Him, it's not His fault...do a self-examination and see what is hindering you from hearing GOD! Then...all you have to do is this:

Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in His wonderful face and the things of this earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace.

OneLove,
Jeremy

Storms...

2010-03-21T14:18:00.005-05:00

You know, we all at some point face storms in life. We come to a crossroads...and we have to decide what to do next. These decisions rarely come when things are going great for you in life. They come at the worse possible time for you and nevertheless our lives are impaled into a force of speed that seems all to fast for us to handle, let alone endure.

We all want clarity in life. We want the answers to every question, desire, and dream given to us. Rarely does this ever happen. Even if it did, we wouldn't be satisfied...although we think we would be. We allow things to build up in our lives and we feel like there is no turning back, or we feel like we can't do good enough, or be good enough. We feel like we are worthless or unable to be used by God. We pray and ask God to show us the way, we don't get the answer we want or our hearts are too hard to hear God's still, small voice. And just as clarity is seemingly less elusive, we give up or we turn our backs on God because we haven't received the answer we want.

My friends, the question I beg of you is this: What is it that God desires? Are your desires and dreams the same as God's? We have to align our lives with His. This is easy to write, but hard to do. I struggle with things in life just like the next person. I don't pretend to have it all together, nor do I show that. What is it that you're struggling with? Give it to God, don't ask God to give you the answer you WANT, but instead ask God to give you His desires and dreams.

Pray to the Father, don't give up. Don't stop praying, ask God to tear down the walls around your heart and seek Him with everything that you have. I promise He'll answer you and clarity will come to you...when you least expect it. You will be wowed by the grace and mercy of the Father. You see prayer is not a ritual, it's a way of life. It's power is not in volume, but in it's earnestness. Clarity will come!! Louis L'Amour says it like this: "Victory is won not in miles but in inches. Win a little now, hold your ground, and later, win a little more.” Victory will come and the desires and dreams that God places in your life will blow your mind...because they are God's, not yours.

I would challenge you to ask yourself these questions when you are amidst a storm and have to make tough decisions:

1.) Do I really need it?
2.) Do I really have the time that is required to take care of it?
3.) Will it benefit my walk with Christ?

Write down the pros and cons...face the storm, cry out to God and never give up. NEVER, ever give up. Ask for help. Seek God before, during, and after the storm. He wants you. He's passionate about you and only wants the best for you in your life. When we struggle with things in life God's hand is right there, He's telling us to reach out and grab a hold of it. What will you do?

Storms come, but they also pass. Hope in the Son that is coming after the storm!

OneLove,
Jeremy

Life...

2010-03-20T21:03:00.003-05:00

This is how life is: messy, risky, gut-wrenching. Things don't always turn out well, sometimes they don't turn out at all. Sometimes everything falls apart and we wonder if there is any point to any of it? We are tempted to shut ourselves off and fortify the walls around our hearts and forge ahead. Promising ourselves that we will never open ourselves up like that ever again. But I have to believe that we can recover from anything. I have to believe that what God, Jesus, invites us to trust is as good as He says He is...loving, forgiving, merciful and full of grace.

"Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me." Rev. 3.20

Christ wants us to know that there is more to life than this. He wants our relationship to go to the next level. It's real, authentic, special, and sacred. Behold, God is here and He wants to have dinner with you. He wants to sit, talk, laugh, cry, and hangout for hours with you.

God is here and He wants to have dinner with you...

I challenge you to accept this invitation, and go deeper in your relationship with Christ.

OneLove,
Jeremy

5th and Final day of Mission Trip...

2010-03-19T22:04:00.006-05:00

Spring Break Mission Trip 2010 is over. We are back home in Sugar Land, TX. The students of River Pointe Church were great and God did some amazing things. We couldn't have pulled off a week like this without a solid group of volunteers. Hats off to the volunteers who helped lead the students throughout the week. They were fabulous and we are so thankful for people willing to give their lives away for our students. Living with intention and living on mission, they exemplified it to a "T" this past week. Thank you so much for volunteering.

The students were hard to peel away today as it was our last day to work with Mission Arlin gton and the community there in Arlington, TX. Relationships were built with kids in the community and it was a great thing to see our students CONNECT with them. It was hard to say goodbye today to the community of Arlington. It has impacted their lives and hopefully they will take what they have learned this week and continue to spread God's love to our community here in Sugar Land, TX. Parents your students were great this week. You have great students and I'm glad I get to work with them!

Memorable experiences and moments were made this past week. Putting something like this together is an exhausting task, but my teammate Terrace and myself wouldn't want to do anything else. To see the expressions of love and God shown in your students gives us so much pleasure! We are already talking about next spring break and what we will be doing and I can assure you your students will not want to miss out. We are excited to see what God is going to do over this next year.

For me, connecting with students is so joyful. I was so happy hanging with students this week. God reminded me of what He has called me too: connecting with people, sharing His love, and helping people meet and fall totally in love with Christ. My prayer is that through this, our students will catch a glimpse of what God is up too, and jump in! God is doing some amazing things and I don't want to miss anything. I want to be right in the center of His will. So, I'll keep seeking Him and searching Him out, loving on others and doing my best to bless others...even though I'm a messed up individual, living in a dressed up world. I'm going to continue to serve Him and ask Him to keep showing me small pieces of this puzzle we call life, because I want God to be honored and glorified in mine.

Volunteer Leaders..thanks, you're the best! Parents...your students are awesome! Students...I love y'all so much and I'm glad we're doing life together. I had a great time this week with all of you. God is going to bless you and honor your commitment to serve Him this week and living missionally. God is good! Trust that, seek Him, serve others and see what happens. God will blow your mind!

Signing off for the Mission Trip...OneLove,
Jeremy

Day 4 of Missions...

2010-03-19T00:07:00.003-05:00

Our 4th day on Spring Break Mission Trip 2010 was great! We started out this morning by heading back out to the apartment complexes and to the construction site. The community loves our students and they are seeing Christ in a new way. This is exciting. I love seeing God work in our students. Patrick Kelley came and joined us today. It was a treat to have our Pastor drive up and hang out with the students.

After lunch, we went to Six Flags. There were tons of people there...spring break and six flags means for long lines. I waited 30 minutes to ride the scrambler...3 times with students, 40 minutes to ride the log flume(which was awesome!), an hour and a half to ride flashback, 40 minutes for a turkey leg, and 35 minutes for a funnel cake. I also won a couple of turtles on the sledgehammer game for 2 middle school girls...I hit 100, 6 times. I also waited various times on other rides, only to get out of line because I didn't want to wait. My body aches now.

Tomorrow we will go back to the apartment complexes to spend one more morning with the community, then we'll be heading back to Sugar Land. Of course we'll stop at Buckeye's, what's a trip without a stop at Buckeye's right? This week has been great and we are praying for God to work in us tomorrow! Please keep us in your prayers, thanks for letting us hang with your students this week, it's truly a blessing. Great students. Here are a few pics from today:

Day 3 of Missions...

2010-03-18T00:12:00.004-05:00

We went bowling tonight with the students. They loved it! It was a blast, I bowled a 192...I'm not bragging, but I did want to mention it. HA!! Pride cometh before the fall, so I'm on the look out. The students are great, they are having a great time and we are loving watching them serve and love on others. Here are some pics from today. Enjoy, talk to you tomorrow:

Mid-day 3 Spring Break Mission 2010

2010-03-17T17:40:00.003-05:00

It's always amazing seeing people drawn to the cross of Christ. People are seeing Jesus for the first time this week at Mission Arlington. I'm listening to stories of people who are leading kids and adults to Christ. Unbelievable!! Loving this. Stories of Jesus and His Love never get old.

You'll never know the impact that our students are making on peoples lives here in Arlington. Kids are wanting our students to come back and can't wait until they come back in the morning.

Our construction crew has wrapped up their work at the mission church. The students did an amazing job and that place looks great. One of our students, Rand, helped install a sprinkler system. Very cool. We have 2 more days of working with kids in apartment complexes, so we're excited.

When we get back to the hotel, I'll load some pictures and give another update.

Be proud of your students! They are great. We are having a good time being together. Keep praying.

OneLove,
Jeremy

Day 2 of Mission...

2010-03-17T00:00:00.004-05:00

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...

2010-03-15T22:54:00.005-05:00

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...

2010-03-14T23:41:00.003-05:00

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.

2010-02-24T10:32:00.006-06:00

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

2010-02-23T20:45:00.002-06:00

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...

2010-02-23T16:50:00.002-06:00

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

2010-02-22T10:50:00.002-06:00

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

Disc Golf and Life...

2010-02-19T21:41:00.004-06:00

I played disc golf today with a great friend, Kevin Bouse. As we played disc golf I noticed something about the frisbee. You see each frisbee is made to do different things. One is made to turn to the right, one to the left, one is made to go really far, others made to go mid-range, and others are made for a finesse shot. There are different weights and plastics made so that each frisbee is made to do something specific.

If you've ever played disc golf, you know that even though a frisbee is made to go this way or that way...many times is doesn't do what you want it to. As I watched the frisbees fly today I noticed that if you release it early or late it will do something different than it's suppose to. Or if the wind caught it, it would dive down or go up. Or if it hit the ground, it would roll the opposite direction. The frisbee ultimately went to where it was supposed to go...that is the basket. When playing disc golf, I visualize my line and see the shot playing out a certain way for me to win. But rarely does my plan play out the way it does in my mind.

In life we have a goal that we are aiming at. A destination. Just like the frisbees we, so often times, don't go the way we want to go. We release early or late and, in turn, go away from our goal. Thomas Merton said, "your life is shaped by the end you live for, you are made in the image of what you desire." He's saying that whatever it is that is out there at your end, your target, is really essential and important...because whatever it is that you're living for is what's going to shape your heart. What are living for? What is your destination?

You know I have walked a round of disc golf with the legend Ken Climo and he told me this: "you know Jeremy, anyone can throw it long...but it's all about that recovery shot. It's what you do with the next shot that matters. Recovery is what separates the good from the pros. Watch this, my drive hit a tree...but this next shot will be in the basket." What he said came true...it went in the basket when I thought there was no way possible.

If you've found yourself left or right of the target, your end goal, the game is not over! It's the recovery shot that matters. What you do next is important...because whatever it is that you desire most in life is going to make you into its own image. Run after Christ with everything you have!!

OneLove,
JNix

OutSourced Society

2010-02-18T16:05:00.000-06:00

We live in such an outsourced society. We work 50+ hours a week and are too tired to spend time with our kids. Or if we do, it’s not enough. I saw a sign that said you could get bicycle-riding lessons for you children. Swimming lessons, baseball lessons, lessons for this and lessons for that. Classes that fill up and countless amounts of money…all outsourced; yet, simple things, that parents should be teaching their kids. Time that is precious and foundational in their kids lives, but yet we outsource these things at an early age because we don’t have time or we are impatient.

Time goes by and instead of spending time with our kids, we just give them a $50 bill and hope that it is enough to get them off of our back for a while. So we continue this out-sourcing cycle throughout their lives as they grow up and they expect more and more…then they are let down and they can’t take life anymore.

I have had parents ask me to fix their kids. NEWS FLASH PARENTS: love your kids, give them time; give them your undivided attention and your unconditional love. Students reflect the moods of their parents; they mimic your lifestyle. If you outsource them, then they in turn will outsource their life as well, maybe its alcohol or drugs or sex or even worse? Be careful parents. All they really want and need is precious time with you.

Don’t outsource…take the time and invest in your child’s life. It will make the all the difference in the world.

OneLove,
JNix

Hugs...

2010-02-16T22:12:00.001-06:00

It's awkward, but it's free. And you just feel so loved once its happened. I don't understand why someone would turn down a free hug, it baffles me...but still some do. Once they feel the warmth and love of the hug, their lives change. Watch as people's lives are changed one awkward moment at a time.

Happy Birthday Dean...

2010-02-16T13:55:00.002-06:00

Dean is our Business Administrator...it's his birthday, but he hates hugs. So he is in for a surprise when we sing to him and I give him a HUGE hug. Priceless.

A Prayer for the New Year

2010-01-05T14:01:00.004-06:00

I Hold Up My Life to You Now
by Rev. Ted Loder

Patient God,
the clock struck midnight
and I partied with a strange sadness in my heart,
confusion in my mind.

Now, I ask you
to gather me,
for I realize
the storms of time have scattered me,
the furies of the year past have driven me,
many sorrows have scarred me,
many accomplishments have disappointed me,
much activity has wearied me,
and fear has spooked me
into a hundred hiding places,
one of which is pretended gaiety.

I'm sick of a string of "nice days."
What I want is passionate days,
wondrous days,
dangerous days,
blessed days,
surprising days.
What I want is you!

Patient God, I hold up my life to you now,
as much as I can,
as high as I can,
in this mysterious reach called prayer.

Help me not to let my life slip away from me.
Come close, lest I wobble and fall short.
It is not days or years I seek from you,
not infinity and enormity,
but small things and moments of awareness,
awareness that you are in what I am
and in what I have been indifferent to.

It is not new time I seek,
but new eyes,
a new heart,
and you, always you.

O Patient God,
make something new in me,
in this year,
for you, for others,
for the abundance of this life lived in your presence.

Amen.

Santa and God

2009-12-28T14:32:00.003-06:00

I'm glad God is not like Santa. Although I feel it would be nice, easy, and convenient if he were; but then everything would already be figured out and there would be no mystery which always keeps me on my toes. Thinking and wondering how in the world God could and would do some of the things he does. And...although it would be nice to be able to physically see and feel God, then my faith wouldn't be the same.

That mystery is so frustrating at times, but so awesome to think about. One day I will be with Christ and it will be good. All of my thoughts and dreams will come to life. I am so glad that I can count on God and know that he is not fake! My God is REAL, not an impostor. Everyday I learn something new and this makes me think about all the struggles I face and carnal thoughts in my head. Just when I think my life is so complex and when I think God is the farthest from me, he whispers to me and says "I understand and I know your pain and struggle. I'm here and I'm in control. I created the heavens and the earth...and you, and I care so much for you."

It's good knowing that we will never be let down by Christ. So many times we are let down by people, icons, leaders, and even Santa Claus. Throughout life we are let down and it leaves us feeling sad, bitter, and hurt; but Christ came to lift us up and give us life abundantly. TRUST HIM!! Its nice to know that He will never let us down and that, my friends...is a good feeling!

God wants us to talk to him. Be encouraged to seek God and question him...and truly talk to him holding nothing back. But ALWAYS know that we WILL get an answer. He wants us to seek his face fully and humbly. Not knowing the answers, but trusting that he will reveal himself a little more to us each day.

Trust Him and be encouraged,
JNix

The Third Line...

2009-10-23T12:44:00.001-05:00

Craig Groeschel from Life Church. Check this out:

The Third Line from Greg Pinkston on Vimeo.

Determination

2009-10-19T13:38:00.006-05:00

Yesterday I competed in a sprint triathlon in Houston, TX called Try Andy's Tri. It was a 300m swim, a 10mi bike, and a 3mi run. My goal was 1 hour 16 minutes. I crushed it with my fastest time yet in a sprint triathlon: 1 hour 10 minutes 55 secs. I was so pumped. I trained and ate right, held the course and succeeded. I couldn't have been any more happy. I had the best fans in the world out there supporting me. Thank you. Here are some photos:

False Advertisement

2009-10-11T20:16:00.003-05:00

Matthew 21:18-22

Early the next morning Jesus was returning to the city. He was hungry. Seeing a lone fig tree alongside the road, he approached it anticipating a breakfast of figs. When he got to the tree, there was nothing but fig leaves. He said, "No more figs from this tree—ever!" The fig tree withered on the spot, a dry stick. The disciples saw it happen. They rubbed their eyes, saying, "Did we really see this? A leafy tree one minute, a dry stick the next?"

But Jesus was matter-of-fact: "Yes—and if you embrace this kingdom life and don't doubt God, you'll not only do minor feats like I did to the fig tree, but also triumph over huge obstacles. This mountain, for instance, you'll tell, 'Go jump in the lake,' and it will jump. Absolutely everything, ranging from small to large, as you make it a part of your believing prayer, gets included as you lay hold of God."

-The Message

Have you ever seen a false advertisement? It probably made you mad. The same thing happens in this story to Jesus. I can remember playing golf a while back and became thirsty. There was not a cart girl to bring drinks around; but I saw a 10 gallon jug, of what I thought was full of water, and was overly joyed. When I came to it...it was empty. Needless to say I wasn't happy, and still thirsty. As a Christian, God wants us to shine his love to everyone. If we become false advertisements...I'm afraid he may curse us like he did the fig tree.

Sometimes it happens like this: we get what it means to be a Christian and we experience salvation and God is #1 in our life. We are on fire, telling all of our friends about Jesus and sharing his story with everyone. Its like we have no fear and we are not worried about anything but sharing the love of Christ, but then for some reason over time we begin to slowly stop sharing this story and we become a false advertisement, in a sense, to God. We become like the fig tree with leaves, a false sense of security, unproductive of fruit. We go to church and events, but we don’t share the love of Christ with others. I don't know about you, but I always want to be producing fruit. Because when fruit is not being produced, God curses it and it dies. We have to focus on one goal, one purpose, and that purpose is seeking GOD’s face! Trying to get to his face, to his throne!! When we do this, we will never be a false advertisement.

God help me to shine you! And produce fruit so that you will be honored and glorified in my life.

OneLove,
Jeremy

I dare you to pray this...

2009-09-16T23:02:00.001-05:00

I dare you...

Life Change

2009-09-16T17:58:00.002-05:00

Life change through friendships at River Pointe Church. I love this!!!

Sitting on the Dock of the Bay...

2009-09-15T01:33:00.002-05:00

Are you ready? God is always up to something. Tonight I had the privilege of sharing God's story with a man by the name of Joe. My plan was to sit on the dock of the bay, and watch the tide roll away. Just wasting time, enjoying the evening. Looked like nothing was happening, Joe walked up. God showed up. It was an interesting evening to say the least. We talked about life, I shared my story and God's story. A seed was planted...glad God would choose to use me when I least expected it.

God calls us to be ready in season and out of season. 2 Timothy 4:2

Are you ready? Be encouraged, God WILL use you!! YOU ARE HIS MASTERPIECE.

OneLove,
JNix

Dollhouse

2009-09-15T01:30:00.001-05:00

WOW! Look out, Priscilla Renea is about to blow up.

Unfiltered...

2009-09-06T16:58:00.003-05:00

Today’s blog was inspired by:

I was helping a friend tweak her bike and had the help of her 2 yr. old daughter. The little girl was so full of life and joy. She would instantly put a smile on your face. She would ask to help and then, help. I thought to myself, why couldn’t we be like this, as Christians…so full of life and joy?

As I watched and listened to this little girl, I noticed that she would share whatever it was that her little heart desired. Every thought that was balled up inside her head…came out of her mouth unfiltered: “mommy, I am in the closet,” “mommy, I have sprinkles,” “mommy, I don’t want any fruit,” “mommy, I want some M&M’s,” “mommy, I want some water,” “yes, I am awesome,” “fruit is nasty, I don’t like fruit,” “look I am eating,” “look I am over here and this is fun,” “I like that,” “here you go,” my favorite: “but I want to help.” It has me thinking about the way we talk to our Father.

What if, instead of thinking about talking and asking God for things, we actually talked to God…in an unfiltered manner? God tells us to have the faith of a child, right? Couldn’t we say: “daddy, I am here in the closet,” “look over here daddy,” “daddy, I want some water,” “oooohh, no daddy, I don’t like that,” “here you go,” or “but daddy, I want to help.” It makes God happy when we talk to him, as our Father instead of as some kind of statue.

As I listened to this little girl talk, it made me smile. I can’t help but think that God smiles and even gets a good chuckle at us when we come to him and speak our minds…unfiltered.

OneLove,
JNix

Wobbly

2009-08-06T13:05:00.002-05:00

Today I was at the Power Pole at Carolina Creek Camp, and I was helping students suit up for the climb. The students were in teams and they go around to different activities. On this particular one, they climb up a 30ft. telephone pole, stand on top of it, then turn and jump off while trying to grab a trapeze handle. Crazy stuff.

1 student gets to the top and shouts "I cant do it, its to wobbly!" We shouted back to him "you can do it, take a deep breathe, focus, stand up, and jump." You see he had a harness and a rope attached to him...there was no way that he could fall. But since the pole was wobbly, he became scared.

Sometimes in life things become so wobbly that we don't think we can go on. We can't climb up another step or jump. We become scared and start to back up. As a Christ follower, GOD has a hold of us. There is no way we can fall! We are harnessed in through Christs salvation and God's hand and love is our rope. We can know that we are able to climb to the top and jump...go for it with everything. God has this life thing under control.

We just have to remember that through Christ we can do all things. All we have to do is take a deep breathe, focus, stand up, and jump!

OneLove,
JNix

Camp (Middle of Week)

2009-08-05T23:10:00.002-05:00

The students never cease to amaze me. Middle school students are at an age in life with great energy and nothing gives me joy quite like hanging with them for a week! Trust me, we are expending energy!! I can truly say that I am...uh, not all that young anymore. I'm out running around with these students, where I used to keep up and feel fine, now I keep up and go to bed at night with hurting joints!! haa. But its great, I LOVE it. All that to say that the students are having a blast at camp.

The 2nd night at camp we talked about Stephen and Paul. How their lives were pretty extraordinary, and ours are too. I learned something new that night. Saul was there when they cornered Stephen and stoned him. God used this to send Saul to Damascus to kill the Christians there. But on the way, God did something EXTRAordinary to get Saul's attention. He changed his name to Paul...and as you know Paul plays a huge role in the New Testament. Very cool things. The students really enjoyed the talk and had great conversation and questions.

We had a Camo Night the next night. Lots of fun and running around. A few students started becoming homesick. So I gave them a big hug and put them to bed!

Tonite, we talked about the EXTRAordinary life of Christ, why he had to come and why he came! There were some great skits and the students responded very well to it. We had some decisions for Christ tonite!! YES!!! And just now I had a couple of counselors that came to me to tell me about their cabin time. They said the students had great questions and they could really see their minds turning and wrapping around this idea of CHRIST.

Great times! God is doing some great things here at camp. To all you parents reading this...your students miss you and love you. But I will say this, they seem to be having a blast and God is doing something in their lives. This is very cool to watch and be a part of. Thanks for all of your prayers.

OneLove,
JNix

Camp Night.

2009-08-03T15:05:00.003-05:00

I love watching these students be goofy, interact with each other, and worship. It is a very neat thing to watch and it brings joy to my heart. Still, many students are going through rough times at home, in life with family, school, etc. But here at camp, they can leave this stuff behind and just connect. My hope is that the students will connect with God throughout this week, that they would connect with other students and make new friends, and I also hope that there can be a lasting connection with myself, T, or Megan.(What a great team to be a part of!!)

Last night at camp we talked about the life of Moses. How his life was not ordinary, but that it was EXTRAordinary! God had a plan and a provision for Moses and the same God who created Moses; created you and me. God wants to do something extraordinary in your life today. I hope that you will listen and take heed to the call God has for you and your life. My prayer is the same for me as well. Lets do this together!

Do you know and believe that you are extraordinary? God loves you, He created you in His image. Lets honor God today with our life...our EXTRAordinary life!

OneLove,
JNix

River Pointe Students Summer Camp: Middle School

2009-08-03T02:20:00.002-05:00

Today we arrived at Carolina Creek Camp in Huntsville, TX. We have 110 students on this trip. So far, it has been amazing. We had a student get sick, and his parents just picked him up. It's 2:26 am right now. I am going to bed now! Here are a few pics from the day:

2009-07-30T11:24:00.004-05:00

Sometimes, you have change direction's in order to achieve a goal. Lance Armstrong and LiveSTRONG have teamed up RadioShack to win the Tour de France 2010. Get Ready. Team RadioShack.

Laminin: A Story of Grace

2009-07-15T13:55:00.002-05:00

In Christ all things hold together. God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Christ, and through Christ, to reconcile to Himself all things by making peace through His blood, shed on the Cross.

Say What You Want...

2009-07-15T11:51:00.001-05:00

I know this has been out for a while, but I get chill bumps every time I watch. It pumps me up.

LIVESTRONG

2009-07-15T11:24:00.000-05:00

"Its not about me." -Lance Armstrong

A Beautiful, Creative Effect.

2009-07-13T21:37:00.003-05:00

This is my favorite part daddy...right when it seems as though there is no hope. He comes in and says that He talked to the dad, go pick out a white dress. Then it hit me...long live life: viva la vida. And this is the beautiful, creative effect. Enjoy. (video from long time best friend: Micheal Head's blog)

SlingShot.

2009-07-11T21:41:00.002-05:00

A small piece of wood and leather. You think what?? But there is a lot that can be learned from a slingshot. A few things can be applied straight to our lives from this weapon and the art of using it.

When I think about the slingshot, I am reminded of a story in the Bible: David and Goliath. There was a war going on between the Philistines and Israelites. Goliath, a very large man, and the Philistines had defied God. He challenged the Israelites to send one man to fight him. Whoever won, would use the other people as slaves. The Israelites, even though they had God on their side, were scared.

David, a shepherd boy, was tending to his sheep. He protected his sheep when they were in danger at whatever cost. You see he practiced using his slingshot to run off predators. He wrestled lions and bears to the ground, all for one lost lamb. David obeyed his father and went to take some cheese and other random stuff to Saul and the army. While there, he heard Goliath defy God...and he couldn't take it. So he said, "send me, I'll go defeat him."

David tried all of Sauls gear on and felt useless. So they sent for some stones and off he went. He aimed and released the stone and killed Goliath. Then, my favorite part(which most people leave out), David took Goliath's sword and cut his head off!! YES!!

A couple of things from the slingshot and this story:

1) PRACTICE- David practiced with the slingshot, so we must practice out our faith. How do we practice? Pray, read the Bible, serve others, and obey our parents. God's timing is everything. David didn't know that he would use his experience to kill a giant; but when God called him, he was able to go all in.

2) AIM- David saw his target and had it in his sights. We have to see our target, we have to have a plan and purpose. God's plan...love. We have to be burdened for what burdens God. You see not everyone is willing to go all in. Some people are afraid or not confident. But we have to be confident that God is going to do something big through us.

3) RELEASE- David practiced, he aimed, and then he released. If he had not released the stone, he never would have killed Goliath. We have to be willing to go and use our experiences to share Christ with people. We have to get out of our comfort zones.

Practice, Aim, Release. Don't be afraid to GO ALL IN. God will do big things through you. What are you waiting on?

OneLove,
JNix

Going All In

2009-07-10T21:28:00.002-05:00

Going All In...are you? We went through this series in Middle School at River Pointe Church a few weeks ago. I was looking back through some notes and wanted to share them with you. Forgive me for not being on here in a while, its been crazy hectic around here. God is doing some amazing things this summer!

In Luke 7.36, you will find a woman who went all in. Simon, the Pharisee, invited Jesus over for dinner. He knew the law and he knew the customs of the day, but he failed to do them when Jesus entered his house. A woman, who was said to be a prostitute, comes to his house to give Christ everything that she has. She knew Christ was coming and didn't want to pass up an opportunity to receive this gift that He was giving away. Here is a woman who was worthless in the sight of many people's eyes. But she came to go all in.

A couple of things we can learn from this story:
1)Apart from Christ we are nothing. You see Simon thought he was good since he was a pharisee. But the woman knew she was nothing without this Christ.

2) We should hold nothing back. Simon did nothing when Christ came to his house, he should've greeted Him with a kiss, washed his feet, and anointed Him with oil...but he didn't. The woman, she had no shame. She came into his house, washed his feet with her tears, she kissed his feet, and she anointed his feet with oil that was worth a year's wages! She held nothing back. We must throw our lives out there and live like there is no tomorrow...give everything that we have.

3)In the end, we WIN! Christ turned to the woman and said "I forgive your sins, your faith has saved you, go in peace."

Where are you at in your spiritual walk?
Are you like Simon, doing all this stuff…and holding back?
Or are you like the prostitute…going all in, holding nothing back?
When you are at school or work, do you go all in with your faith?
Or do you just go through the Christian motions?
Did you know that in the end, we win?
What does that look like, and how does that change how you live?
What will you do this week…sit back or GO ALL IN?

While Satan has a great bluff and seems to have it won, we can rest assured that we have the victory...when we GO ALL IN.

OneLove,
JNix

2009-05-04T11:14:00.002-05:00

You will definitely want to pick up a copy of this CD. Chad Strader has done a phenomenal job with this project. It comes out May 10, 2009. Mother's day, get your copy!! Also, you will want to follow this guy and see what God does in His life. God is doing BIG things in Chad's life. You can find him on facebook, myspace, and Youtube. Also be sure and check out his website. Chad is our Pastor of Worship Experience at River Pointe Church. I'm so glad to be a part of this guy's life and see God do BIG things through him. He leads people to God's throne week after week and I'm grateful to be a part of it. You will want to follow this guy and be a part of what God is doing.

Check out the other video in my next blog. Its the first song on his new "Roots and Wings" album.

OneLove,
Jeremy

Saved by Chad Strader

2009-05-04T11:06:00.000-05:00

Dave Hassell Band

2009-05-04T09:59:00.003-05:00

I have had the privilege of knowing a guy by the name of Dave Hassell. Years back he started a worship band called Dave Hassell Band. He has some very talented guys playing with him and they have a solid heart for Christ and students. The guys that make up the Dave Hassell Band are: Dave Hassell, Jesse Pierce, Kyle Thurman, and Brad Batterton. These guys are on Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace. I encourage you to follow them, check them out, listen to them, and even book them for a show, camp or DNow weekend for your students. They have a great heart and truly love leading students to God's throne. I know that you will enjoy.

I blog about these guys because I hold a special place in my heart for them. I was around in the beginning of Dave Hassell Band and I was able to hang out with these guys for the past few days. We had a lot of fun, ate some good food, played some disc golf, and just caught up and laughed...for a really long time! God is doing something big in this band and I'm excited to be a part of it. Check these guys out and be a part of something big.

OneLove,
Jeremy

Students

2009-04-22T14:33:00.005-05:00

I just wanted to share something that has burdened one of our students at River Pointe. She came across Rapha House, an organization that is committed to rescuing young girls who are victims of slavery, sexual exploitation and prostitution by providing them with a safe home where they can heal and receive an education, which will allow them to make good choices for their futures. She caught a vision and shared it with the Middle School and High School Ministry at RPC, which then led to our Pastor catching the vision and spreading throughout the church.

Our students gave, from their own pockets, for 2 months. They reached their goal of $2,000. You would have thought that it was unreachable, but they gave and reached it. Just when we thought we were going to give them a check for $2k, the church responded to the students giving. At the end of service, after we had taken the tithe and offerings for the day, the people gave another $2,200 extra to Rapha House!! How cool is that? We had already cut a check for $2k...so we voided it and gave them a check for $4,200! Amazing! All because one person caught a vision and responded to God's calling...a STUDENT!! Its VERY encouraging.

This is a great organization, we flew in one of their representatives. She is a college girl who is working with them. She talked to our students about Rapha House and what she does and how they rescue girls from human trafficking. Check out the organization and see if you don't catch the vision!

Connecting with people...where they are! Great Stuff!! It doesn't matter how old or young you are..if you catch the vision, God will do BIG things through you!

OneLove,
Jeremy

Value

2009-04-16T10:35:00.003-05:00

I was looking through some old notes I had taken, earlier today. I came across some notes, a teaching, from John Maxwell at Catalyst Conference. He said that we have to intentionally add value to people. If we are not adding value to people then we are subtracting value from their lives. So you are either a value adder or a life sucker. I'm sure that most people have heard this before, but I wanted to share it with you because it spoke volume to me this morning.

Here are his 4 points:

1.) You have to truly value people.
-in the movie 300, Leonidas valued his people so much that he gave his life for their freedom. He fought to the very end.
-Christ values us so much that He came down from Heaven to show us how to live and ultimately give His life for us so that we could live eternally with Him.

2.) Make yourself more valuable.
-read books, journal, be a mentor and get a mentor, have small group discussion,
listen to great speakers, be a part of the church.

3.) You have to know and value what people value.
-music, movies, family, sporting events, concerts, etc.

4.) You have to do the things that God values.
-love God and love people unconditionally, spend time praying and reading the Bible

What does this look like in student ministry?

We have to value students. If you do not have a heart for students and helping them meet and fall totally in love with Christ...then you do not truly value students. We have to continually be learning and reading, and making ourselves better leaders. So that we can lead this next generation to truly love God, and love people unconditionally. We have to value things that students value: music, sports, movies, and their everyday lives. We have to get into schools and hang out with students at lunches. We have to spend time with them before and after school just hanging out and talking. We have to be at sporting events...THIS is our life! If we are doing these things and BEING the church, then ultimately we are doing the things that God values.

Only the things that are done for God will last...we have to be leaders that lead and teach people the way that Jesus did. If we can wrap our heads around this idea of connecting...I believe that we will be a generation of value adders!

Are you intentionally adding value to people?

OneLove,
Jeremy

Boys & Girls Club

2009-04-14T21:49:00.004-05:00

So this morning I had a meeting with the President/CEO, Angela Hodson, of Boys & Girls Club of Greater Houston. We met at Starbucks and had cup of joe. I had an iced coffee with 4 pumps of white mocha; a favorite that my friend, Michael Head, turned me on to.

My 2nd week at RPC, we headed down to Galveston for a Mission Trip. Our plan was to go to Mexico...but given the circumstances down there, we decided to stay stateside. At any rate, we traveled a whopping 1 hour to the island of Galveston in Texas. Its crazy to think that even some 8 months after Hurricane Ike, the island looks seriously like...well a hurricane went through it yesterday. Its sad to me that it looks the way it looks. We took 80 students down there to help clean up Galveston. We worked with a builder to help get some low rent houses back up and we worked with a church to help get its doors back open. But my favorite place was working with the Boys & Girls Club.

I found out this morning that the board members and people who were funding the project had decided to pull out. They took one look after the hurricane and decided to not open again. It was a disaster and too big of a risk, and they didn't think anyone was still there. But through the work of RPC students these people came to take one last look at it and had decided that now, since the students cleaned it up, they were going to open the doors. There are over 7000 kids in Galveston, who are walking the streets...and now hopefully by the end of the month will have somewhere to go!

The people behind B&G Club in Galveston have worked and put their entire life into this place. They worked for a year at one time for free, just to keep this place open! After the hurricane, the workers there knew they weren't going to open back up. SO they prayed, fasted, prayed, fasted, and prayed more. And God honored them!! God is going to do big things through B&G Club! I just wanted to share this story with you and express how proud of the RPC students that I was. Its a cool thing to know that God is doing big things and that He is using students. Don't ever think that God can't use you...He used middle and high school students to CHANGE the direction of this club.

Great people down there, if you want to help out with Clean UP Galveston...click the link and do it! We are going to keep an ongoing relationship with the B&G Club to help out with programs and just serve the students and staff there.

Are YOU connecting?
Jeremy

The End of Christian America

2009-04-13T17:20:00.002-05:00

There was an article published in Newsweek this past week titled: The End of Christian America. Tim Stevens, Pastor of Granger Community Church and author of Pop Goes The Church, blogged about this article and posed a few questions. This was my response:

What if this is a good thing? Maybe its time for us to stop talking and start walking. I mean, "Christians," we have been doing a lot of talking for a long time in America.(don't do this, do that. if you do this then you'll go to hell) Instead of us just telling everyone what they have to do to be better people...AND what they have to get right just for them to be able to hang out with us; we should just BE what Christ has called us to BE. Lovers. He has called us to LOVE, and love unconditionally!

I think that to often times we shun people away. We become snobs and will not associate with someone who is "doing bad things." But when I read the Bible, I see Christ doing things that we don't do. He is sharing LOVE with prostitutes, drunkards, and people who are less fortunate. In America, we look down on people who practice these things, or if they smell, or if they are homeless. We have no compassion, we've become a world that is all about ME...instead of being a world that is all about CHRIST!

Now, in this "declining Christian America," we need to get back to BEING what God has called us to BE. We have to start loving God and loving others. Instead of trying to run the governments and make everything "perfect," we need to just SIMPLY Love! And share Christ's love with all. If we start loving with no hidden agendas...but just Love because God tells us too, we will see people's lives be changed.

If we are creating relationships and basing them off of Christ's love..and not being creepy about it, God will do BIG things in this "declining America." Not only there, but in your life and others lives around you.

And YES, it bugs me to death that people know us for what we are against, instead of what we are for. But if we can wrap our heads around the idea of connecting with God, the unchurched, and the community through serving...then people will start to understand what the "CHURCH" is really about.

I surely don't ever pretend to have it all together, but I strive to love God, and love others daily. Whether "Christian America" is declining or not...I'm gonna keep on loving.

OneLove,
Jeremy

Easter

2009-04-13T17:05:00.003-05:00

WOW, what a great Easter Weekend. God did some big things this weekend, it was very powerful. Chad Strader led us into God's presence and Patrick Kelley, the Pastor of RPC, brought the Word of God. It was a long weekend, and I am wore out.

But, I'm so excited to be here and working with such great leaders. Today, I have been working on the new sermon series that I will be doing with our Middle School Students. We will be doing a series called "Going All In." I'm super excited about this series, I'll be talking about how different people in the Bible went all in with their faith! I'll be giving students a poker chip that says: don't forget to go all in with your faith!

God is so big! Sometimes I forget how big He is. So if you are reading this know that God is big and He is doing BIG things!! I hope that you are connecting with God, the unchurched, and your community through serving!

One final note: check out Chad Strader's website, he has an album coming out Mother's Day. You will definitely want to get a copy of this. Its a solid album.

OneLove,
Jeremy

The Climb...

2009-04-10T23:13:00.004-05:00

I just saw Hannah Montana The Movie. I met up with some students and saw the film. And I must say Disney did a GREAT job on this movie. The story was absolutely great!

Miley Cyrus, who plays herself and Hannah Montana in the movie, portrays a young lady who is trapped between a pop star and a country girl. Billy Ray Cyrus, while most of you remember him as the "Achy Breaky Heart" guy, has come a long way. He's not the best actor, but he really is a great singer and for the purpose of the movie...did a great job. The overall film was superb, lots of laughs, romance, and some tear jerking moments. Cheers to Disney on the flick, great job!

Miley Cyrus has a great album out now called "BreakOut". My favorite song, although I love them all, is "The Climb." Billy Ray also has a good album out called "Back To Tennessee" and my favorite song on the album is oddly enough "Back to Tennessee."

The story really hit home for me, though, because so many of us try to carry on 2 different lifestyles. Especially in Christianity...we have this perfect life on Sundays, but a screwed up life the rest of the week. It WILL eventually catch up with us! We can hold it down for a while, but at some point things start to spiral out of control and we crash. I think the problem is that we try to DO this Christian life, instead of just BE this Christian life. We feel that if we can do all this stuff, that everything will be good and God will be happy. But I think God is calling us to BE the Christian...to have conversation with Him, to LOVE Him, to love His people, and to love like He loved! When we stop doing...and start BEING what He calls us to, He is most happy.

I know that lots of us become believers then we want to take on the world and we start DOing all this stuff and we slowly grow away from Christ...but He's calling us back home! Get back to BEING the people He has called us to be, then we are home and God can do big things through you and me! I don't pretend to have it all together, its always an uphill battle, and sometimes I lose but its all about the climb! May God bless you today.

Check out Miley Cyrus and Billy Ray's new albums and watch the Hannah Montana Movie.

OneLove,
JNix

Connecting

2009-04-01T15:50:00.003-05:00

Well, its been a crazy few weeks for me with the transition into Middle School Pastor at River Pointe Church in the Houston area. But it has been great. God is doing some crazy things around here!!! I've spent the majority of the day connecting with students at their lunches and through text messages. I have been emailing parents and volunteers about the students, trying to stay connected in all aspects of ministry.

The best thing about being here, is that God is using us as we reach out into the community and touch people's lives. At River Pointe Church we strive to share the love of Christ through relationships...and this excites me every single minute of the day!! I wanted to share a story with you about a person fresh on the scene at RPC.

Patrick, the pastor, sent an email out saying: I think we continue to reach the right people.
He had received an email from a couple who were visiting RPC for the first time. He wasn't a normal church attender, but his girlfriend was. They were turned onto our church through a regular attender(which is awesome). He is catholic, so the experience was different. But he liked it. He said he wouldn't lie and tell us he'd be here every Sunday in fear of getting struck by lightning! But he enjoyed the sermon and it spoke volume to him.

Here is a guy that is searching for something and a connection was made. It excites me as we are connecting here at RPC, to know that we are reaching out and people's lives are being touched through the LOVE of Christ in us. Not just the pastors, but the community at RPC also.

Where are you at? Are you connected?

Jeremy

Leadership...

2009-03-30T21:52:00.002-05:00

There has to be a time in your ministry where leadership sits down and hammers out the details of what the ministry is about and where exactly it is going. I am the Middle School Pastor at River Pointe Church in Richmond, Texas and I have spent the last couple of days in Austin, TX visioning and planning for the next year with Terrace Clayton, the high school pastor, about RPC Students.

Its a hard, grueling task, but it is something that has to be done in ministry. No one ever looks forward to sitting down and dealing with the issues that have to be faced. For us, it has been a long couple of days. As soon as we arrived in Austin, we dove head first into the vision for RPC Students and didn't stop. As a team we hammered out what that looks like and for us it is this: Connect. If you're not connecting with God, people, and missions...your are dying. The very heart of Christ is LOVE. Love God, Love People. Christ came to earth to share His love and show us how to live. If you're connected, then you are growing spiritually! And I have to think that God loves that.

From there, we switched gears and dealt with issues of how we relate to students, how we help connect students. We planned out events for the year and talked heavily on advertising and what that looks like in student ministry. What does our Sunday morning, main event look like? and our environment and missions and camps? All issues that have to be dealt with on a regular basis to stay current and keep our students asking the question...What are they gonna do next? From there we moved into Podcasting, Vlogging, Parents connection and contact work.

We planned out 6 months of Sermons and Sermon series for both High School and Middle School...which was a very long process! We actually tried to put that one off as long as we could!! But we did it and it feels great knowing that we have all that planned and ready to go!! Another very important thing we discussed was meetings with each other and our interns and assistant to keep each other accountable. We have some great books to read together: Mad Church Disease by Anne Jackson and a book called Focus about advertising and leadership.

So we are excited about the student ministry at River Pointe Church. We exist to Connect: to reach out, connect, grow, and serve. Connect with God, the lost, and through serving! Exciting things are happening and I'm so glad to be here and a part of this!

Listen you have to do this, we were fortunate to be put up in an amazing condo on Lake Travis in Austin, TX. This has been a busy couple of days, but very refreshing also. As a student ministry or any role in leadership, you have to take a step back and reFocus on what you are about. And if your not connected...you are disconnected which means that you are broken or detached, you are shut off from the current coming from the power source. In essence you are dying.

What happens, all to often, is that we become content, and we switch over to cruise control...and slowly begin to die. We have to stay connected. Get Connected. Stay Connected.

OneLove,
Jeremy

Puppet on a String

2009-03-14T16:56:00.003-05:00

Why is it that we minimize God and try to get him to do this or do that, like He is a puppet on a string and somehow we are "the master?" I'm glad that Christ has a plan and purpose for everything. Although I'm not always excited about or even like the things that life throws at me, I know that in the end it will be sweet and oh so right!

So often times we try to fix our messy lives with self help books, plans, formulas, etc. and we completely miss GOD. Why is it that we bypass the Bible, the Word of God, and go straight to these meaningless paperback formulas written by people who are completely different from us? They know nothing about us, yet we go to them for advice on how we can better ourselves or make things in our lives happy.

It boggles my mind to think that we flock to these books and spend countless amounts of money of them for nothing but emptiness. Especially when God, the Creator of the Heavens and Earth, you and me, of everything...the One who is in control and knows how many hairs are on our heads, He is right here amongst us and wants to help us. He wants to help us grow and come through whatever we are facing!!!

Many times our plans aren't God's plans. I think its funny sometimes looking back, I used to think that I was the next big thing in sports. Like I was gonna be the next Bo Jackson, but God had something else in store for me. While I still enjoy sports, God had something bigger planned to bring Him glory.

I look back now and see how God's always had a plan...ALWAYS! Through the "hardships" that I've endured and still endure, Christ is refining and molding me...making me into that person He wants me to be. While I think one thing would be good, God has something better in store! And He is teaching me patience and that He is in control; and somehow through all this mess I am happy and in a completely beautiful place.

My prayer is that God would keep molding me and showing me His ways and plans which are perfect and beautiful! I hope that you can bypass these books, and go straight to the Word of God and seek Christ and His righteousness...then and only then will these things can be added to you! God is good.

OneLove,

JNix

www.jeremynixon.org

2009-03-14T13:14:00.003-05:00

I'm very excited to introduce to the world...

www.jeremynixon.org

I hope you enjoy this site and I hope it challenges you in your life. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me.

OneLove,

JNix

New Years Challenge...

2009-01-12T20:40:00.005-06:00

You know its the first of the year and everyone has the great idea...or resolution that this year, by golly, they are gonna lose weight!! Its funny because they have a certain goal weight, completely out of sight and something they want to happen overnight, that they want to weigh or they just want to be skinny. I haven't heard one person come into the gym and say "I want to get healthy." So these people all come to the gym...for now.

I was talking to a guy in the gym today and someone said, "man there sure are a lot of people here today." To which we chuckled and replied, "they won't be here come March, most of them will not be here in Feb." (haha) A lady came in and said she wanted to lose weight! She had even said that she walks for 3o minutes everyday on the treadmill at lunch and has been watching what she eats. I say, "so do you want to lose weight or be healthy?" Lose weight, of course. I told her to stop eating and run her butt off everyday! Of course, she didnt like that...no one ever does! I told her I biked 15 miles and ran 7.25 miles last week and gained 3 lbs! And I watched what I ate too.

The lady's husband(real intense) says, "I'm coming in the morning and running the treadmill for 30 minutes, then riding the eliptical machine for 30 minutes." To which the trainer says, "and you will not come back for a week." (lol) I love truth! The truth is, they will not last. They are doing this for the wrong reason. The reason I work out and exercise it to be healthy. Its hard, it requires a lot of time. The majority of "new year resolution" people will work hard for the first few weeks and see no BIG results, give up and get out!

It reminds me of the Church. So often times people "become" Christians and they want everything so fast. They want things to happen overnight. Too many times, they don't see the BIG results, they give up and get out.

While I was watching all these people at the gym, I was reminded of a passage of scripture: Matthew 7:13-14 from the Message- "Don't look for shortcuts to God. The market is flooded with surefire, easygoing formulas for a successful life that can be practiced in your spare time. Don't fall for that stuff, even though the crowds of people do. The way to life-to GOD!- is vigorous and requires total attention."

So, come June there will only be us diehard, devoted people in the gym working out. And in time it will be us few believers who have vigorously and attentatively followed Christ, who will see His BIG results.

And what will you do? Will you try to find some easy plan to follow Him, give up and get out? Or will you follow Him with all you got? I don't have it all together, hell I don't have any of it together. But I know I'm trying to glorify Christ today! Working out and being healthy is hard, following Christ is harder.

Are you up for the challenge?

OneLove,

JNix

Raking Leaves...

2009-01-02T18:37:00.003-06:00

So I've been raking leaves for the past 2 months and I can see the end in sight. As I'm raking leaves today, I ask myself "why do we rake leaves?" Is it something that we do just because everyone else in the neighborhood is doing them? Or is it because people think differently about you if you dont rake your leaves? I'm not sure, but I'd like to find the person who thought up raking leaves and send them a thanks, but no thanks letter!

At this point I'm really wondering why we rake leaves. Its not like they look terribly bad, I look into the woods and they look really cool. Its a great sight when I'm hunting to look out in the woods and see leaves. But for some reason when I get home, they do not look so appealing. And I think to myself: "I've got to rake these leaves, its disgusting!" Its like raking leaves is something thats in all of us. This time of the year, we just do it without hesitation. I dont think I put much thought into it, I just see the leaves and rake. Its like one day, the leaves are falling and I think to myself, dang, leaves are falling. I'm gonna have to rake them before long. Then, one day I start raking and clean the yard up. Once the leaves are raked, the yard looks great and I go on about my usual business. Its just something that I do subconsciously.

If you know me, then you know that I love Wikipedia. So I looked up: why do we rake leaves...and I stumped it. Something had not been written about raking leaves, the origin, nothing. I was dumbfounded, I thought Wikipedia knew everything! ha I typed it in Google and found some interesting things about raking leaves: when we rake leaves, we practice good sanitation, that is cleaning up possibly diseased leaves or preventing a dark, warm environment for diseases and pests to develop and create problems in the spring for new tender grass growth. If we don't rake leaves, mosquitos can nest underneath the leaves and create a problem when it warms up. Its like having a mosquito breeding pond in your own yard if you leave the leaves. (pardon the pun) Bacteria and fungi can produce and reproduce underneath the leaves when not raked. When we don't rake, the leaves smother the grass. Grass needs room to breathe and grow, even in the winter. Grass needs sunlight, when we don't rake; sunlight is unable to get to the grass.

Its funny in life how leaves can sneak up on us. Not from trees to the ground, but in our hearts. Sometimes we let little things come in our life and at first its not a problem, but eventually it begins to smother us and bacteria and fungus begin to multiply and before we know it we can't see the Son's light. It feels like we can't breathe and we are suffocating, wondering why we can't hear the Father's voice.

I don't know about you, but when I'm raking leaves at my house its a 2 month ordeal. It doesnt happen in 1 day or overnight. It takes time to clean up the yard and make it healthy. The same goes when we get leaves in our heart. The bacteria will not go away overnight, it may take a while for the bacteria to go away and the grass to grow. The more of Christ's light that's in us, the faster we'll grow.

I challenge you to rake the leaves in your heart, don't give bacteria and fungus a chance to grow in your heart. Always make sure the Sonlight is getting to your heart.

OneLove,
JNix

2008-12-29T23:08:00.004-06:00

Posture...

2008-12-22T01:12:00.005-06:00

So, I've been able to do a few triathlons in the past couple of years, and I've decided to start training again to possibly do a couple of more this year. I started thinking during my training that I have a lot of different postures throughout this event. I have to make different postures to be comfortable for long periods of time and to be aero-dynamic through the wind...well, I mean, I'm not the most aero-dynamic person in the world, but I sure try to be while doing this event.

While swimming, I'm stretched out in the water; swaying side to side. While biking, I'm crowtched down with my arms straight out in front of me on the aero bars; or sitting slightly up with my arms to sides of the handlebars. At times on the bike, my arms begin to go numb so I'll sit up and bring my arms to the handlebars. Then back into aero position. My running posture is slightly forward, arms tucked in, face and hands relaxed. And the most important part of the run...one foot in front of the other!

Are my postures correct in the ways I go about a triathlon? Well, I know they work for me. Are they the best? I'm sure the pros aren't looking at me for help, but I'm a 300 lb. man, and this is what works for me and I believe it works well for me. But it may not work for you.

In life we have different postures. In worship we have different postures. I often see people in churches with one hand lifted or two hands lifted, one person is dancing, one person is not. One person is running around like a mad man, the other is at the alter. Another person has his hands half raised, while the next doesn't. One person is on their knees, and yet another is sitting, not singing. One is shouting, one is crying, one is laughing, one is frowning. What posture is correct for worship, for praying?

I believe that a number of postures are good. Some work for you, and some work for others. I dont believe any is right or wrong. You cant stay in one position all day and the Bible talks about many different positions of posture...but the important thing is that we pray without ceasing, pray continually, this is what the Bible challenges us to do.

I think that sometimes we get away from actually running the race and we focus on some "correct" posture and get away from praying continually. God's not asking us to be perfect...he's asking us to run. So whatever season of life you are in, change your posture for that. It may be a time in your life, where kneeling is it; or lifting hands or sitting silently is the key. However or whatever posture works for you, do it. Do it with everything you got, pray without ceasing, continually rely and depend on Him.

JNix

Applications on the iPhone...

2008-12-15T10:05:00.004-06:00

I was going through a read the Bible in a year application on my iPhone and yesterday's reading hit the nail on the head! I've been slowing getting back into a personal Bible study and this is what I've been doing, but nothing related to me and my life like yesterday's reading. It was like God was talking to me directly.

Yesterday's reading:

Job 16
Habakkuk 3
2 Peter 1

Job talks about the fact that even through the tough things that he is dealing with, he will still encourage you and praise the Lord.
Habakkuk talks about the fact that he heard the Lord and his heart pounded and that even though right now there was no crop in the fields and the trees aren't budding, and there is no meat in the freezer, he still rejoices in the Lord b/c God is his strength and He sets his paths for him.
Peter talks about a person's calling: we have to continually add to our faith and knowledge of God. We have to add goodness to faith, and knowledge to goodness, and self'control to knowledge, and perserverance to self control, and godliness to perserverance, and brotherly kindness to godliness, and love to brotherly kindness. He says that if you can possess these that it can keep you from being INEFFECTIVE and UNPRODUCTIVE. He then reiterates that if you dont have these, that you are nearsighted and blind and have forgotten that you've been cleansed from your past sins.

If you know me, then you know my struggles and these verses connect the dots. I dont about you, but for me these verses spoke volume to me in a time that I really needed to hear them. Its funny that God will use anything to speak to us. I sure didnt think that this application would do anything but look good on my iPhone, (the good christian thing to do...ha) but God has used it to change my life.

I challenge you to jump in the Word, just find something even if its an application for your phone, find something that will challenge you in the Word. God will use it and speak to you.

JNix

Vulnerability in Climbing

2008-12-12T14:05:00.004-06:00

I'm back from a long time off. This has been a trying season in my life. I was happily ministering in Florida with a great group of believers. I left that, on hope and faith, to pursue a church plant in St. Louis, MO. My heart was crushed only after a few months in this new place, a place where I truly loved the students.

I moved back home to Arkansas and sent out resumes to different churches, with no response. I talked to some different people about ministry...they never called back. And it was in this moment where I started to question what it was that I've been doing. I mean, I know that I was called to ministry but the "people of God" were not allowing me to do what I so badly wanted to do. Be it that I was single or didnt have enough experience or whatever, it was killing me on the inside. I, at this point, slowing sank into a depression. Not one that was noticeable, but one that has been ripping me apart on the inside ever since.

I figured I'd try to just get a job in the "real" world. I thought "I've graduated from a pretty good University" (http://www.obu.edu/) and I should be able to get a regular job. I've put over 200 resumes out with the Government and various companies...with no response or this: Sorry sir, you are overqualified or not qualified. Well, the depression starts to sink in more and more. "Whats wrong with me?" I'd ask myself. With the economy in a bad position, my fathers business was suffering, which I've always been able to fall back on. Now he's not working, I'm not working. I dont even want to leave the house! I applied for a job with Wal-Mart. (I thought anyone can get a job at Wal-Mart, right?) Well I sit here today and they haven't called me yet for a position. Can you imagine what I'm thinking? Depression really sucks. I can't even get a job at Wal-Mart.

My walk with Christ started suffering, because I stopped caring. I was not falling or running from God, I was merely running circles in the Father's Hands. I've ran myself so thin, that I thought He didnt care about me anymore. I tried to find a local church that I could serve in...no luck. Then something happened: Deer season. Finally a place that I could get away from everything...just me and the outdoors. The deer camp I'm apart of has been really good for me. You see, there is something about being alone in the outdoors that does something to you like no other. Christ became real again to me, I noticed His beauty and saw His hand in everything. Haa, you may think I've turned into a tree hugger...uh no thank you, not for me. But I felt God among me and I felt His presence and His hand...and His love.

You know I hear people saying that they are climbing a spiritual mountain all the time, and they are on a high like no other! But I dont know, I think I have to disagree with them. You see I hunt on the side of a ridge which is about a 75 degree angle(pretty steep). I've had to walk up and down this ridge to find deer and its not exactly the greatest thing walking up this ridge. Now walking down it is a breeze, and at the top is great too. But walking up it is difficult. I think when people are on a "spiritual high" they are at the top or walking down. The "valley" is when people say they are at a "spiritual low." But I believe that when people are going through tough times, they are climbing a mountain, when they are high or doing great spiritually, they have reached the top of whatever spiritual climb and/or are walking down or through a valley. I'd much rather walk down a mountain or through a valley than climb a mountain. But its when we climb this mountain that we reach the top or we find the end of a struggle. And thats when we shine.

For me, I'm still climbing this mountain and it feels as though I'm carrying a deer up with me! But I know that when I reach the summit, things will be good and I'll have a hell of mountain to walk down and I cant wait to just breeze down the mountain for a time.

So, I encourage you to keep on treking up this mountain, don't give up. Because the other side of the mountain is beautiful! Thank you to all of my friends for praying for me and loving me...even through the tough times.

Still uphill climbing,
Jeremy

Yard Work...

2008-04-17T18:03:00.002-05:00

Well, many of you know that God has been doing some amazing things...since before time and even more so now! I'm in Arkansas for the moment, and I'm doing some yard work with my dad. The last couple of days, I've been cutting grass and today we decided to cut down trees and trim trees so people could see its true beauty. (well and b/c my dad had some free labor in me, lol)

As I was cutting and trimming today, it hit me. God hit me, you see sometimes on this road of life, things happen. Life happens. All to often, we find ourselves saying things like "its ok," or "it looks alright," "we can get to it later," or "it'll be fine until next month," but the problem here in lies us...because we know how beautiful it once was... (stay with me)

Many people don't know or understand His beauty, because they don't know Him. Why would they want to know Him when our lives do not show His true beauty!?! We don't shine His true light, and relationship with the Father is mediocre. We have allowed branches to grow down and we find ourselves reading the bible and praying just enough to say..."oh, I'm good." Its like me yesterday mowing my folks land and pushing back branches and picking up sticks, so that I could get everything mowed and the yard would look decent!!!

Today, we took time, cut down bad trees and trimmed back many branches that hung so low and made the yard look bad. We picked up limbs and burned a lot! We did yard work and at the end of the day, the land looked spectacular! I thought, "man, this really looks good." I didn't realize that their land could look so great. Last week, you would've drove by and said "oh just regular ole' unkept yard." And it was not a site to see. But this afternoon, I couldn't stop going outside and just looking in amazement at the beauty. It was a total turnaround from last week.

Life happens... In my life, I've had to take the time to do some yard work, I'm asking God to help me with the yard work in my life; so that He can be glorified and His beauty can be seen by everyone! I'm tired of putting it off and thinking that my walk is "good," or it looks "just fine." No, God do something now, so that people can see your beauty in my life. I don't want to remember how beautiful it was once, I want to see your beauty all the time.

I've learned that it takes hard work to keep up a yard, but the rewards are great! In life, it takes hard work to maintain a relationship, especially with the Father. We can't just simply read the bible or pray every once in a while, we have to work at it every second of our life! If we can do this, I believe God's beauty is seen in us and through us...so that ultimately, the world can know His beauty.

Will you take the time to do some yard work in your life? I love you all...

God is Love,

JNix

Some things I've been up to lately...

2008-04-14T12:44:00.005-05:00

Photography...

Best friends in Houston...

Los Angeles was a blast...

Shows in Arkansas...good times.

Good times with some great people I call friends...and family! I miss many of you and I love all of you!

OneLove,

JNix

Door Closed...

2008-02-22T09:18:00.003-06:00

Sometimes doors close right in front of you. Have you ever seen someone walking into a restaraunt and the door shuts in their face! (and we laugh) Its kinda funny, ok well its a lot funny, but the truth is that it hurts! Or have you seen someone walk into an open door and and it shuts quickly on them...and we laugh! They get embarrassed and think what a loser! Or what about the person who walks into a closed door! Now thats funny. I've seen that happen at Pizza Hut.

In life sometimes, we find ourselves walking into closed doors...or we have doors shut on us. We get jobs, then something happens. The door shuts. We get into a relationship and when you think things are going great, you're not in a relationship anymore? The door shuts. And even sometimes in marriage, 2 people who were "in Love" just find themselves not in love anymore and they get divorced...the door shuts. Best friends have a disagreement, they stop talking...the door shuts. Someone dies...the door shuts.

As for me, a door has shut in St. Louis. But I am excited to see what God has in store for me in the future! But whatever it is, I rest assured that God is in control and His plan is grander than anything I can imagine! I have chose to pick up and enter the next door. You know, when we choose to pick and go into the next door....great things happen. For the guy at Pizza Hut...well, he got the best pizza a man can get! And I love pizza! lol

I love you all, thanks for your prayers.
OneLove,
JNix

Happy Valentine's Day...

2008-02-14T11:02:00.004-06:00

Well, its another Valentines day. Another on the brink of passing... You know, its surprising to me that nothing really goes back to a cupid shooting an arrow through a lover's heart, its just something we've made up. (in the 1800's a guy made a lace card to send to his ladyfriend, cupid comes into picture) Valentine's were actually Christian martyr's...awkward! The Roman Catholics wanted to honor these martyrs' of the Christian faith on this 14th day of Feb. I'm not by any means discounting love or dis-honoring it, matter of fact, I love Valentines day! I just think its funny we set aside a day to honor love to that one special person, on a day that is supposed to honor martyrs!?! lol

Here's some funny facts, in different parts of the country; different things are happening. For instance: America- guys buy gifts and cards for ladies, Europe-a guy knocks on the back door and leaves sweets and gifts for kids(isnt that Santa?idk), Finland-its a day of remembering your friends...not loved ones, South America-couples exchange gifts, The Middle East-well, its crazy there, most of its banned; but in Egypt, its like a huge party at night! And in Asia-the girls buy candy and gifts for the guys.

Guys listen, don't wait for Feb. 14 every year to do something special...do something special everyday for your special someone, make her feel like The Queen that she is.

But as for me, I'm still a hopeful romantic and Sam Cooke puts it best:

Cupid draw back your bow

And let your arrow go

Straight back to my lover's heart for me

Cupid please hear my cry

And let your arrow fly

Straight to my lover's heart for me

Now I don't mean to bother you

But I'm in distress

There's danger of me losing all of my happiness

For I love a girl who doesn't know I exist

And this you can fix So...

Cupid draw back your bow

And let your arrow go

Straight to my lover's heart for me

Cupid please hear my cry

And let your arrow fly

Straight to my lover's heart for me

Cupid with your arrow make her love strong for me

I promise I wll love her until eternity

I know between the two of us her heart we can steal

help me if you will So...

Cupid draw back your bow

And let your arrow go

Straight to my lover's heart for me

Cupid please hear my cry

And let your arrow fly

Straight to my lover's heart for me

I love that one! I love you all, I hope you have a wonderful Valentine's Day! I hope you feel the most important love of all...God's Love.

OneLove,

JNix

Update...

2008-02-12T19:15:00.000-06:00

Thank you so much for your prayers...I could feel God holding me! Today, I woke up feeling a ton better. It was like a load of bricks lifted off my body. Yesterday, my body was fighting this respiratory infection, and it was a struggle. I could just feel my body fighting it off and I was in tremendous pain! Today, I could finally breathe and I felt good. I am still weak, but on the road to recovery.

I have been resting and trying to just sleep, I had the TV on for a while and saw a casting call for MTV's Real World. I passed it off yesterday, but today i saw it again...and thought this would be fun, I got real excited. I went to the website to find out what I have to do, in order to get a casting call. Well much to my surprise I missed the call by 5 years. Thats right, 18-24 yrs old, I missed it. My hope of being on Real World is crushed in one click...oh well. I think I would have been a great addition to the Real World cast? What do you think?

Trust God, Love Others, Pray
JNix

2008-02-11T11:58:00.001-06:00

I am currently reading Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire by Jim Cybala. The book is all about prayer and how God works through prayer and how prayer is key in life. I'm not as happy right now as the picture may seem or the way you read this may incur. I'm actually in a lot of pain, I don't know whats up, but I lost my voice Friday, Sunday night I woke up with the shivers...I was shaking and couldn't stop(it was 78 degrees in my apt), my head was stopped up and I could hardly breathe. It really sucked! My body aches and my throat still is in a lot of pain! I'm in STL, alone and for the first time, this sucks! I'm sure its just some sort of flu or cold going around, but this the worst I've been through yet! I am going to the doctor as soon as I post this.

Prayer, its key...its what the church was built on. And I believe in it, God has shown me His power, I trust it. Now I ask that you would cry out to God on my behalf for Him to heal me. Because I'm struggling...its taken me about 30 min to post this, so far! Thank you so much for your prayers, for your love, for your support. I love you all.

OneLove,
JNix

i think this started with a meeting thur. night, i went to a meeting and there were a few sick people, I, of course if you know me, covered my face...why would they come? stay at home, i dont't want any of that sick junk. they say, "oh don't worry, i'm over it, this is just the end," or "yeah we've had it for weeks," "dont worry, its not contagious anymore." i'm not buying it. (listen to me, if you are sick, even remotely sick, stay at home...i beg you. i'm a bystander caught in the middle of this crossfire, its like second hand smoke, it kills, its worse for the bystander than the smoker, the smoker is so selfish and unaware.) i love smokers, i'd rather hang out with a smoker, than catch whatever it is that i have now. please pray

2008-02-05T21:23:00.000-06:00

Well, I do know that "its too late to apologize," ha! but I'm sorry for not blogging the last few days! I was in an accident last week, and I drove to Arkansas and back to St. Louis 4 times in 3 days! Lots of driving, but I'm ok, my mom's Aviator, not so good, but she loves me! :) Last week after the accident, I was preparing for our FOCUS weekend. It was awesome, God did some amazing things! Sean Michel came to lead worship and Kevin Bouse came to speak truth to us. God is most definitely RAD! We FOCUSed on Christ and our relationship with Him. Thank you to everyone who made this happen! Thank you for praying through this event.

After the event, I was so tired! I dropped Kevin off at the airport around 4pm Sunday, came home and crashed off and on through the SuperBowl. I was awake to see the end...nice outcome! Then I slept until 2pm Monday! lol, then I slept until noon today! Its been good, I still have a hoarse voice, but I'm feeling good! Mad props to MHead, there is a lot of work that goes into a weekend like this. (he also had a great weekend with his students)

But Today...Today is Super Tuesday, Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday...aka rainy day in STL. It has rained here all day! I didnt want to get out...except to buy Tiger Woods '08 this afternoon. When I got back to the apt, I flipped on the tube and started to veg out! I started watching the "Biggest Loser," and I also ordered a pizza!!! lol :) it was great, the irony! The pizza was delish, while I watched people hard at it. Did I get convicted? ha Did I want to get up and get out? lol What did I do? I ate pizza, took a pic of myself and decided to talk to the World!

What a SUPER TUESDAY! lol I love you all!

OneLove,
JNix

Good News, Good Weekend...

2008-01-20T18:04:00.001-06:00

God is good, prayer is good. This week at The Passage (http://www.thepassage.org/), we had a couple of new people and it was really awesome! We had prayed and I asked God to blow me away and I asked for Him to just be present. God most definitely blew me away. It was a great morning, we talked about temptation and how to overcome it. Most of the time, we as christians, are on the defensive...backing down and using a shield to try and keep Satan from just killing us. But God calls us to be on the offensive and use our sword to strike back at the devil, WE WIN!!! I was convicted to memorize scripture today, its our sword when we are tempted! Be strong guys and fight back.

This afternoon, seriously, the best $12 I've ever spent! I went to the City Museum (http://www.citymuseum.org/). Guys this place was absolutely awesome! I had the time of my life this afternoon. It made me feel like a kid again! If you come up here, we are most definitely going! It had slides, tunnels, climbing things. It was so cool, I got stuck in some caves and I really felt like a 10 year old kid! Exciting times, oh and it's downtown. Its cool, check it out!

I talked to a good friend yesterday, its been a minute since we had last talked. It was refreshing and really good to talk. Its really cool to see that God is working everywhere!! We know it, but to talk to people in other places and hear what God is doing there is just awesome and very encouraging! Guys God is good and He is doing some awesome stuff among us...Dont miss out! Seek Him!

I love you all and please forgive me for the camo...its really warm! lol

OneLove,

JNix

God's Power

2008-01-17T21:54:00.000-06:00

Today, I've started my newest book: Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire by Jim Cymbala. You should most definitely pick this one up! Its about prayer. Prayer has been on my mind since over the Christmas break. Prayer came real to me, and it's really all I've been about this new year. Everything great starts with prayer! I preached to the Passage (http://www.thepassage.org/) at the beginning of the year and charged them to PRAY this year. For the city. For the community. For lost people. For the world.

I told them I would have a plan; so that together, we could pray and see God do something amazing starting right here in our lives! The plan: meet on Thurs. nights, in the Target parking lot. "What if its cold, raining, or snowing?" I went on to say that "I would be there no matter what, praying for the community...rain or shine, cold or hot, I'm going to be there. You don't have to come for me to pray..." I'm praying for lost people to come to Christ. Thats my heart.

Thurs. night 7 p.m.: I'm standing there by myself, Scott (our pastor) shows up...and that's it! We prayed for the community, people drove by and mocked us, but we kept on. Not a successful night in many's eye, but I had asked God to show me His power...please show up! At 6:45 p.m. P-Dub (www.wilflo.com), the guy from yesterday, shows up. He told me that he was praying for me and our mission, to reach lost people! This absolutely blew me away, someone, who is not from the Passage, showed up to tell me, he was praying for me and that he loved me! God showed up and through P-Dub showed me His power. P-Dub's (Willie Moore, Jr.) Auntie passed away, my prayers and love go out to you bro! God is good.

God really is alive, and He has some great plans before us! Trust that...

OneLove,
JNix

Luck of the Draw

2008-01-16T16:48:00.000-06:00

Well, if you know me, then you know my luck...ha! I went to get my oil changed last week because it was due time for an oil change. Since I have just moved to Saint Louis, I needed to have my antifreeze changed over to, well, Saint Louis antifreeze. In Florida the antifreeze is rated a little different, it never freezes there. But in The Lou, there are some days that it doesn't get above freezing. So my poor car, was struggling. This event last week cost me $150. The said I needed a new air filter, I'm a church planter, who am I to argue. So I got that too.

This week, my car has been making a funny sound for the past couple of weeks. And its time to get it checked out, I can't take it anymore. I just want my car to be healthy. Lucky me, right!?!, I paid $2,000 for a warranty on my vehicle to cover everything. I only have to pay $75 deductible, and everything else is covered. Well, I come to find out that not everything is so great in life. I am out $200 for this. (it cost over $500, the warranty paid $300) I was infuriated, called the warranty co., they hung up on me, I called the place I bought it, they said... "we see claims come in everyday, and for years I've never seen one not paid...this is the first exception, that we've ever seen...I'm sorry"

Ha, wouldn't you know the first exception would happen to me! Then I had to buy a new battery for my car...$100. Its been, well, a spine-tingling week with me and the car industry with around $450 directly out of my pocket.

-Side Note: I met a rapper/R&B singer: P-Dub. (www.myspace.com/pdub) This guy has a heart for students and sharing the Love of Christ, we both had this overwhelming joy when we met, and I'm looking forward to working with this guy! He had been praying to meet a white guy, and you know me, I'd been praying to meet a black guy to hang with! It was a God thing, and we both believe God annointed that meeting. I also talked to my good friend, Sean Michel, today about worship and our struggles, it was a sweet thing. (www.myspace.com/seanmichel) We prayed together and it was just good. I really needed these 2 things to happen today, I was down and God picked me up!

I love you all.

OneLove,
JNix

A Dirty Road...

2008-01-14T14:19:00.000-06:00

An elderly black man, almost empty on life, walks up and says "excuse me sir." At this point most people would dash for the car and duck into their comfy lifestyle of "I'm better than that person, I sure as hell wouldn't be caught talking to this!" The young man, though without hesitation, said "hey, how are you?" The feeble old man, with one eye wired shut, says "i was wondering if you could feed me?" He ducks his head, you could see the disappointment or well sadness, that had overcome him and he couldn't believe that he was actually having to do this. Tears run out of his left eye.

To understand the setting, this happens in a place where black people are looked down upon, thoughts go through people's heads like: black people are scum, worthless, and they're the whole reason crime is there. A sad place, I have to say. Lets face it, we drive by people like this all the time. What do you honestly think when you drive past someone like this? Do you see Christ in them or do you just pass by, and be happy with yourself and what you think you've accomplished in life?

Back to the story, "where do you want to eat?" says the young man, he himself had just finished eating. The older gentleman, says "white castle." "White Castle it is!," the young man shouted. They walk across a busy intersection, dodging cars...all the while people staring, and poking fun. Thoughts like: I can't believe this guy, what is he doing? The two men talk and they order food...a lot of food for the older gentleman. They talk more, then the older man is on his way, the young man is on his way.

I wonder sometimes if people really get what we are here for? Luke 19.10 says "Christ came to seek and save those who are lost." Thats it. We are to be like Christ in everything, every aspect of our lives is supposed to look like Him...point to Him. Luke 19.10 was Christ's mission, in turn, its the least we can do, right? Seek and save the lost, in easier terms: share the love of Christ. Ultimately isn't this what that means, He was showing His love, He came to earth, shared love, died on a cross. LOVE. He saw himself in everyone. We are all created in His image.

Is it easy? This road less traveled? Hell no. The road is dirty, sometimes you can hardly see it, its covered with leaves, sometimes there is no help and you can't see the end. At times its down right disgusting, sleeping on the dirty ground, people driving by not paying attention to you or maybe getting out and even pissing on you. And these are the "christians" right? Let me explain it like this: A major highway has all the amenities you could ever need. You can stop at any exit; get gas, food, sleep, entertainment, and even shop for whatever you want. You don't have to worry when you are on a highway, someone will stop. But on a backroad, the road less traveled, there is a possibility of running out of gas, and if this happens; well there could possibly not be help for miles! What do you do? What do you do when you pass someone by? Most of the time, we say "man that sucks, too bad for them." And we keep on going...

You know some people have everything, they've got it together. Some people though, they go through tough times. What are you going to do? Are you going to be that person who helps out, who sees Christ in others, or are you going to keep going and pass them by?

My prayer is this: that we could see Christ in everyone. Its not easy, because most of the time we are scared, but lets let go and let Christ. Its the least we can do.

By the way, the old man's name is Delbert. He's 49, been shot in the eye...and lived! He knows that God has a purpose for him, he's not sure what it is, but he is keeping on. And we're scared of what?

OneLove,
JNix

NYR

2008-01-09T23:30:00.000-06:00

Well I've been in St. Louis for a month now, we are excited about the new year and just had our first trip as the PassageStudents. We went to Petit Jean Mountain, in Arkansas, and we went horseback riding and hiking! We had a blast. There were 11 of us and this trip allowed us to really bond, become unified. We are getting to know each other more and trust is building up in the students. My buddy Scott came up to hang out, and my buddy Drew came to hang out and talk about missions. I was pumped that they were able to hang and share their lives with us.

The students here are pumped about the new year and excited about growing in their walks. It was a great trip, and I'm glad God has put me here to be a part of these people's lives. The students excite me and challenge me, its really a sweet thing! I love you all! Remember the Kingdom is bigger than our small world! Pray!

OneLove,

JNix

Dinner for Two

2008-01-06T20:21:00.000-06:00

"Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and
opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me." Rev.
3.20

Many times, people use this verse for salvation. And it just became real to me today. This verse is not an evangelical verse. This verse is in a letter written to believers, not un-believers. It is an invitation to dinner for two.

Today, we often eat lunch with random people. Be it lunch appointments for work or meeting up with friends, or just sitting in a cafeteria...We often take it for granted or really just don't care. But back in this time, an invitation for dinner was something that was special. It suggested that the people's relationship, had entered a new level. It was a sacred thing. People took joy and pride in getting invitations for dinner, it would sometimes last up to 5 hours. It was real, authentic.

Christ wants us to know that there is more to it than this. He wants our relationship to go to the next level. Its real, authentic, special, and sacred. Behold, God is here and He wants to have dinner with you. He wants to sit, talk, laugh, cry, and hangout for hours with us. There is most definitely more to this walk, than just going to services each week.

Behold, God is here and He wants to have dinner with you...Dinner for Two...

I challenge you to accept this invitation, and go deeper in your relationship with Christ.

OneLove,
JNix

TRUTH...

2007-12-29T21:25:00.000-06:00

Just finished the book: "SEXGOD" by Rob Bell. It was really a great book, it challenged me and made me think. I'd like to leave you with the epilogue from the book, and of course it will be a bit JNix paraphrased. But it spoke volume to me.

Rob says this:

"I did a wedding a few years ago and it was beautiful. The bride wore a white summer dress and the groom wore a white linen shirt. They wanted a simple wedding, they said their vowes. They exchanged rings, they kissed, and everyone clapped. It took 7 minutes. This event was an event that I would never forget." (there is more to it, than just this) Great story right?

"Quickly their marriage imploded. Their beautiful story was going downhill. She struggled with fidelity, his pornography addiction became known. She started avoiding the home, he entered into a deep depression, they seperated, they divorced. She moved an hour away and he moved to another part of the country." What happened?

"He finished with this story because this is how life is: messy, risky, gut-wrentching. Things don't always turn out well, sometimes they don't turn out at all. Sometimes everything falls apart and we wonder if there is any point to any of it? We are tempted to shut ourselves off and fortify the walls around our hearts and forge ahead. Promising ourselves that we will never open ourselves up like that ever again. But I have to believe that we can recover from anything. I have to believe that the God, Jesus invites us to trust is as good as He says He is...loving, forgiving, merciful and full of grace."

And I do agree with Rob on this. Life can be messy and hard sometimes. I just thought that this was good, especially with what God has been doing in my heart. It goes along with yesterday's blog.

I am now reading "To Own A Dragon" by Don Miller. Its challenging too! Its very good so far!

LoveJoyPeace,

JNix

Never Let Go...

2007-12-28T19:30:00.000-06:00

Last night was a different night. It started out with eating dinner at Sakura. It is a Japenese steak house. It was delicious. I ate with 2 other guys, a couple, who were all over each other, and 5 women. I knew everyone, but it was funny that we were all eating together...beside the point. These people all have played a part in my life, in the past and its really encouraging when you re-connect with people who say that you impacted their life...and you then realize how much they impacted yours. We had a good time.

I met up with an old high school buddy, I consider him one of my best friends. We grew up together and graduated high school together. He became a believer in college, realized that God gave him a gift of music and talent like know other! He is insanely gifted on guitar and his vocals are amazing! He got married and moved to Hollywood to pursue this passion that God had laid on his heart. Great story, the end. But thats not it; in reality, life is hard. Many times when people become christians, they think that life will be easy or perfect. (not that my friend does) But I believe that the church puts on this masquerade of some sort. We hide behind the fancy neon lights, like everything is perfect.

When people come to services, they ask "how are you?" With the reply, "just fine!" (thinking I just beat my wife, or I just looked at porno, or I just lost my job, or lost my wife, or lost my house, or my car was impounded, I'm up to my neck in debt, I can't pay the creditors) but our response, "just fine!" And we wonder why people dont belive christianity to be real. We are the best (or to me the worst) fakers! I say this because, my friend could've said he was fine...but he was broken. We stood outside in the cold pouring down rain and we talked to God together, we discussed our brokeness, our failures, and defeats, we also talked about God's accomplishments through us. We havent talked in years, but we connected with authenticity, like we never spent time apart; we vowed to pray for each other. It was truly a great moment in my life.

Today I was driving down the road, listening to David Crowder Band's song "never let go." Through the hard times and the good times, God never lets go. We sometimes think that we have fallen through the cracks or we are running from God, when in all reality, if you are believer, we are just running circles in God's hands. Why can't we just love, no matter what. Through all your relationships, He never lets go. Through your divorce, He never lets go. Through your struggles with porn, your addictions to drugs, your struggles with creditors, losing someone you love, bad relationships, married life, single life...in all things, He never lets go. Try to see Christ in everyone, smile and who knows you may be the image of Christ that someone needs to see. He never lets go.

OneLove,
JNix