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Mentioned this in the recap yesterday, but I just wanted to mention it in a little more detail. Tim Miller has had a burden for a long time to host a conference for people who are exploring God’s call on their lives. It’s going to be great to see that happen on April 16!

My story is that I was sure for a couple of years that the Lord was calling me into full-time ministry, but I had way too many questions that I was afraid to even ask.

Check out Response. One night. 10 speakers, 7 minutes each. 7 minutes because Tim is ADD!

What God is doing at The Walk is nothing short of a miracle and it’s gonna be cool to see a lot of people involved in that ministry as well as many others who will be called out from there with an impact that is multiplied.

Register now!

I am absolutely exhausted. What a day. It was freezing cold, raining, and nasty. Where did spring go? In spite of that we had a great day at Arrowhead.

• Had somebody indicate they wanted to begin following Jesus today!
• Despite being down an electric player today, Tyler, Josh, and Carson did an awesome job. They played At the Cross (Hillsong) during the service and I had to hear it again at the end. Thank God that the veil is torn and we’ve got access to Him forever!
• Started a 2-week series called Mood Swing. How do we walk away from God? First we hide. Then we slide. Before long we’ve denied. (Sara said I was trying to sound like a rapper.) Lots of great response.
• I love looking out into the crowd and seeing people who’s story is what I’m preaching! It’s very humbling!
• Gave away t-shirts for our Easter series today. People go nuts over free stuff! Billboard for the series goes up this week as well. Between the Egg Drop and the series we’re doing all we can to maximize Easter for life-change. Excited to see what happens!
• First night of student small group tonight. God has sent some HILARIOUS students to Arrowhead. It was a blast. Can’t wait to see what He does with these guys!
• Invites going out to all of Carson Newman for next Sunday’s college lunch. If you’re a student at CNC or WSCC, invite your friends. We’ll feed them free Zaxby’s after church.
• If you’re a student or adult who feels like maybe God is calling you to full time ministry, check this out: http://whatsyourresponse.org. It’s a conference organized by Tim Miller and The Walk at Sevier Heights. It’s gonna be a great night. Hope you can make it.
• Had Melissa Barger taking some pictures at the service today. Hopefully we’ll get them on the website this week.
• Proud of Lisa Biery for finishing the Knoxville Half Marathon today. Way to go Lisa!
• Spring break is over & flu season should be ending. I’m ready!

Every week after I post this I remember something else I should’ve said, and I’m really feeling like that’s going to happen tonight. Oh well…

Have a great week!

I won’t say how old she is, but it’s a nice round number that rhymes with nerdy.

I love you Sara!

Here’s my advice to any man considering marriage: Choose somebody you can love more as a mature woman and mother to your kids than you can love her as a young twenty-something without a care in the world. Character grows over time and it’s making Sara even more beautiful every day.

Whoa. This has never happened before. My inbox is empty. Guess that means everything is done. Ha.

Proverbs teaches us that we can’t escape the consequences of our sin. It may not be immediate and we may never see dramatic effects, but every time we choose our own way over God’s there is a price to be paid. Check out these 2 verses:

Proverbs 6:10-11 There are consequences for our laziness. When we don’t work hard we neglect the good that could be done, but we also bring about negative consequences for ourselves.

Proverbs 6:25-27 There are consequences for our sexual immorality. If we take part in immorality either physically or with our eyes, we suffer in the long run. I think verse 27 is one of the most straightforward (and funny) verses of Scripture in the entire Bible. Ladies: Watch out for guys with burned pants!

Jesus rode into Jeresalem on a Sunday as the most popular man in town. By the following Friday, they had crucified Him. How did that slide take place? It all started behind closed doors.

Find out more this Sunday at 10:00.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about seasons. Both personally and as a church (or business), focuses and direction are different in different times. We go wrong when we are blind to it. This is a great post for church leaders in thinking along those lines:

What season of life are you in? Have you adapted your schedule and your thoughts to that season?

If you don’t get enough spam emails, start a blog. Then you’ll get spam comments as well. Ugh.

Do these people really think I want to click a link and buy Viagra? Seriously. Who are they selling to? Who out there is waiting on an email with a link to their pharmaceutical dreams being met?

There has to be some kind of application to this madness.

What methods are you using in your work that were a great idea in 1993?

What a great weekend! Got to spend some time with friends, relax, and enjoy church today.

• Wrapped up Why Worry with a message on what God says to us in a difficult economy. It was the first time I’ve really focused an entire message on giving. It was definitely not the best message I’ve ever heart but I enjoyed it. God has very clear things to say about our finances. Money can be our god, or God can be our God. We’ll see if anybody else enjoyed it next week if anybody shows up!
• We brought the kids in at the end of the worship time today so we could all be together. That was an awesome time for me to see everybody together. It’s still hard to imagine to me that this is happening.
• It’s the 2nd week of spring break for CNC and Hamblen County started spring break this weekend, but we had the 3rd largest crowd we’ve ever had!
• Egg Drop is 3 weeks away! So pumped for it. Keep bringing candy!
• Still burdened about the funeral I had to do last week and the family. Keep praying.
• Tyler and the band had fun with the kids. I said I was going to tickle Tyler if he didn’t come out of his shell and clap a little. I’m not sure where that came from. I just hope the idea of tickling another guy never comes out of my mouth on a whim again.
• Today was my birthday, and we had cake. Thanks, Casey! And, nobody can get mad at a guy preaching a message on finances on his birthday. I mean, come on.
• Next week we start studentsmallgroup*. We’ve got some great students. It’s going to be awesome! I can still say awesome. I’m only 31. =)
• Found out today that some people we were really enjoying getting to know sold their house and are moving to St. Louis. Happy for them. Hate it for us!
• Just found out we have 2 different couples trying to get financed to buy our house! Pray. Hard!

Think that’s about it. Have a great week!

A few days ago I had the honor to be asked to do a graveside service for a friend of Sara and I’s whose baby only survived a couple of hours due to a ruptured kidney. It was heart wrenching. I can’t imagine what she’s going through. If you have a second, please pray for the family.

The thing that God shook me to the core with was that this graveside was attended by 15 or so people - ALL of which were female. In the midst of this tragedy, there was no father of the baby, no father of the mom, no uncles, friends, nobody. The only 2 men in attendance were me and a representative of the funeral home.

I strongly believe in the necessity of male leadership. I’ve got to believe, though, that this family isn’t the only one in the state that it’s in. My heart breaks for the condition of our culture and its people.

I pray Arrowhead would be a place where men are raised up to lead their families and lead the local church.