justincaseyouwantedtoknow

"LOST" Season Finale

2010-05-24T11:04:00.015-04:00

SPOILER ALERT!!!

This post is partially a blog that I read through Entertainment Weekly's website recapping the season finale of LOST. While I don't agree with it entirely, it does point out some great insights about the show that I had suspected all along. I loved this show and I hate to see it go....I am only left confused with the subliminal imagery of various diverse religions displayed together as one. Obviously, I didn't approve, knowing that there is only ONE TRUE GOD. That being said....the show was different, the show was captivating, the show was good to the core. Check out the recap below:

Lost went out in a manner that was refreshingly not like that of so many dramas, which tend to become more dramatic, serious, and bleak in an effort to prove their ultimate profundity. Instead, the long Lost last night was a combination of a greatest-hits album and a lively Sunday-school lesson. Everyone was forgiven; everyone smiled. If The Mary Tyler Moore Show hadn’t done it first, I suspect that the Lost producers would have had every member assembled in the final scene gather in a group hug.

If there was any big surprise last night, it was how overtly Christian in its imagery and message the series proved to be. [Justin-"This was no surprise to me"] Its heavily underscored lesson was that everyone was forgiven — that word was used over and over. And the water at the Magic Glowing Source was used for the purposes of transubstantiation: “Drink this,” Jack was told upon being handed water, a phrase later repeated when Jack gave water to Hugo. Given the liquid’s effect particularly on Jack, the dialogue might just as well have quoted directly from a Communion service: “Drink this, for this is my body which is given unto you. Do this, in remembrance of me.”

For if there was one thing we can probably all agree upon, in the end, Jack Shephard was a Christ figure whose sacrifice saved many other people. The imagery could not have been more specific: Jack’s questioning and obeying of his father; his leadership of a small group of disciples; his final ascension (in TV terms, in a glowing white light). Even the piercing of his side by Locke/Man In Black was in the part of his body where Christ was speared while in agony on the crucifying cross.

But for most of its long but rarely boring length, the final Lost did not huff and puff and labor toward a heavy metaphorical conclusion. Instead, it was, well, pretty delightful, full of reunions that were both emotional and funny. There were sweet little jokes, such as when, 90 minutes into a two-and-a-half-hour show, someone said, “It sure don’t feel like it’s over.” I don’t know how it’ll play with hardcore Losties, but I was glad to see a fan favorite such as Hurley not only avoid great suffering, but become the most important assistant in Jack’s glorification. Hurley was always the most lovable character in Lost, and it turned out that if he represented anything, it was Love itself.

The metaphor that had been used weeks earlier, about the cork in a wine bottle that kept evil from escaping — that was dramatized well, when Desmond first uncorked the island and it did indeed look as though Evil had been loosed upon the island world. Then it had to be, re-corked by Jack, to refute Evil’s pronouncement that “you died for nothing.” Quite the opposite: Jack died so that everyone could gather in the Church have a splendid wrap-party of the soul.

Putting it in a TV-critic’s historical context: Was this an all-time great finale? I wouldn’t say so. The endings for Newhart, the aforementioned Mary Tyler Moore Show, perhaps M*A*S*H, St. Elsewhere, and The Fugitive all ended more decisively, with a more precise snap. But it was a better finale than an awful lot of other, more contemporary Highly Esteemed Dramas and Sitcoms. And as a way to bring this vast fantasy to an end, Lost had a finale that suited our troubled times: It was comforting, reassuring. It even had a dog that made me, for one, wipe away a tear.

What do you think?

The City of Refuge Story

2010-05-17T20:04:00.002-04:00

The CCO staff and I recently traveled up to Atlanta, GA for the Drive Conference (a church leadership conference) at NorthPoint Church but we decided to go a little earlier than planned to get this amazing story on video. This is the story of how Bruce Deel followed the call of God and started the ministry "City of Refuge," a non-profit, outreach facility/church specializing in rebuilding the city of Atlanta. They work with homeless mothers, single mothers, drug addicts, the abused and much more. Listen to this story and be astounded by God's provision and possibility.

The "NEXT" iPhone

2010-04-21T01:07:00.063-04:00

It's been quite a while since my last post. I've kind of fallen of the blogger wheel but I couldn't help to post about the latest breaking news concerning the "NEXT" generation of the iPhone. Here is a re-post of another fellow blogger and lover of all things technology.

You are looking at Apple's "NEXT" iPhone. It was found lost in a bar in Redwood City, camouflaged to look like an iPhone 3GS. We got it. We disassembled it. It's the real thing, and here are some of the details. For more in depth investigation of the "NEXT" iPhone visit Gizmodo.com.

Click Images To Enlarge

While Apple may tinker with the final packaging and design of the final phone, it's clear that the features in this lost-and-found next-generation iPhone are drastically new and drastically different from what came before. Here's the detailed list of our findings:

What's new

• Front-facing video chat camera
• Improved regular back-camera (the lens is quite noticeably larger than the iPhone 3GS)
• Camera flash
• Micro-SIM instead of standard SIM (like the iPad)
• Improved display. It's unclear if it's the 960x640 display thrown around before—it certainly looks like it, with the "Connect to iTunes" screen displaying much higher resolution than on a 3GS.
• What looks to be a secondary mic for noise cancellation, at the top, next to the headphone jack
• Split buttons for volume
• Power, mute, and volume buttons are all metallic

What's changed

• The back is entirely flat, made of either glass (more likely) or ceramic or shiny plastic in order for the cell signal to poke through. Tapping on the back makes a more hollow and higher pitched sound compared to tapping on the glass on the front/screen, but that could just be the orientation of components inside making for a different sound

• An aluminum border going completely around the outside
• Slightly smaller screen than the 3GS (but seemingly higher resolution)

• Everything is more squared off
• 3 grams heavier

• 16% Larger battery
• Internals components are shrunken, miniaturized and reduced to make room for the larger battery

Click Images To Enlarge

As you can see, there are some considerable differences between this "NEW" iPhone and it's previous model; both physically and internally.

25 Things I Hate About Facebook

2009-09-19T01:38:00.004-04:00

I'm sure you have seen this video circulating the web since it has over a million views on YouTube.com but for those of you that actually have actual responsibilities in your life to tend to and don't have time to browse YouTube during insomniac spells I thought I would share it with those of YOU. For the most part I would have to agree with Mr. Julian Smith and his Facebook video phenomenon. If you like this then you should check out some of his other Viral Video creations here at www.juliansmith.tv. I have not viewed all of the material on this site due to the mass quantities of galleries and so I would advise you to proceed with caution. ENJOY!

Note: if you are viewing this through Facebook's Notes and you can't see the video CLICK HERE.

My Buddy Jerad in High Flight Society

2009-08-25T21:54:00.011-04:00

I just wanted to share High Flight Society's new music video. I am so proud of my buddy Jerad who recently joined HFS a little while back. He's playing rhythm guitar and singing back up vocals. In this video, he is to the right of the lead singer and is playing a black guitar and wearing a black hat. If you don't know who High Flight Society is you should check them out by clicking their name in this blog and hopefully you will like them and get their CD. You can find them on iTunes, YouTube, Vimeo, MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, or PureVolume. Help my buddy and his band out and support them by buying some merchandise.

Selling my G5...

2009-08-19T00:24:00.017-04:00

Well, I am looking to sell my PowerMac G5. It has been a great computer to me and has been such a great help in all my video editing projects and graphics design work. It is an outstanding computer but I am ready to let go of it and down size a bit. So if any of you are out there looking for a good machine....CHECK IT OUT! If you are interested...leave me a comment or send me a message via Facebook.

System Specs:
Apple PowerMac G5
OSX 10.4.11
Dual Core 2.0 GHz Processor
512 MB DDR Ram (8 slots available and only 2 being used)
150GB HD
Wireless Airport
CD/DVD burner
Wireless Bluetooth Keyboard
17" Apple Cinema Display

SOFTWARE Also Included:
Adobe Creative Suite
Microsoft Office
DVD Studio Pro
Final Cut Pro HD Studio
Fast DVD Copy
iLife '08
Stuffit Expander Deluxe
and much more...

Click on any of the images below to get a closer view

FoleyPro 2.04 - Audio Bed Producer

2009-07-26T20:44:00.043-04:00

Recently our staff at CCO attended the Drive Conference at North Point Church in Alpharetta, GA and one of the sessions that I gleaned so much from was North Point's student ministry Q & A and Showcase "Inside Out." Inside Out is the high school ministry at NPC and to just sit and watch how others do youth ministry and then to get the opportunity to sit and ask the leaders questions was so helpful and informative.

One of the resources that I took away from that session was the audio software program FoleyPro Version 2.04 for Macintosh OSX and Microsoft Windows. FoleyPro is a software designed to help make your productions and events run smoother by giving you more control over your music beds, bumpers, soundFX and Performance Tracks. I'm sure you have been frustrated with 'CD, MD, & iPod player' lag? I'm sure your services/shows have not been as tight as you would like? I'm sure your volunteers sometimes miss a queue? FoleyPro is your answer. Designed to play your music or effects instantly, FoleyPro will help you to produce a tighter service flow.

FoleyPro is designed to be easy to learn and use. It's so easy that anyone, starting from DAY 1 can use it like they've used it for years. Setup is easy, just create a library for the show or event, load it with your music and you are ready to go. FoleyPro will play all common music and sound formats: AIF, MP3, WAV, AIFC, M4A, M4P and more. It also has features like auto fade, auto mix, and a countdown display that gives your tech crew a heads up for when your audio bank is coming to an end.

System Requirements:
FoleyPro is designed to operate on either the Macintosh or Windows XP/Vista system.
Macintosh: Mac OSX, verstion 10.4.x+, 1024x768 Screen resolutions or greater, Quicktime Version 7+
Windows: Windows XP/Vista, 1024x768 screen resolutions or greater, Quicktime Version 7+ for Windows, Supported Sound Card or built -in sound hardware.

You can purchase the software HERE at nuePoint's site. Hitting this link is your best chance at finding this program. Before tracking down the creator of the software by phone I tried to do a Google search to find it and I was unsuccessful. Luckily, the Inside Out Tech Crew gave me the creators number. After speaking with him he was very helpful with explaining at that it can do and walking me through the purchase process. But once you find FoleyPro's site you will see the process is very simple. The program is a little pricey but it will relieve a load of tech frustrations during your service programs.

Hopefully this little tutorial video can give you an idea of what FoleyPro can do for you.

Judah Says "Dadda?"

2009-07-24T23:39:00.018-04:00

Judah has been talking a lot of gibberish lately but I think he is trying to say "Dadda." It has been very hard to catch this on video because every time you lift a camera up to press record Judah just freezes and seems to be entranced by the camera lens. But, nonetheless, here are a couple sneak attack video shots that managed to capture. I apologize in advance for the shortness of video and the shoddy camera work; I had to be quick and sneaky as the butler from "Mr. Deeds." You be the judge or you can just flatter me by leaving a comment to give me your opinion.

Got My Mac On...

2009-07-24T23:21:00.007-04:00

Lately, I have been getting much scrutiny from the people in my life because of my recent new purchase. Through much drama with a ridiculously crappy Blackberry Storm (DON'T EVER BUY ONE), that lost calls because it's software wasn't quick enough to even allow me to answer a call, and it's incapability to sync with my MacBook Pro (which I was promised that it would be able to do), I decided to make the hard vote to cancel contract with Verizon (who I had been with for 4+ years). Yes, being the Apple fan that I am, I made the switch to AT&T to possess the AMAZING new iPhone 3Gs. Granted, the wireless service is not quite up to par with Verizon's "Can hear me now" promise but it is still pretty good and the iPhone completely makes up for any other short comings. This phone is amazing and despite the numerous comments I get from all the youth in our student ministries and the silly jokes I get thrown at me by our staff I must boldly say that I got my mac on with iPhone 3Gs. Confused? Watch this and you will completely understand.

Twitter Will Kill You!

2009-07-21T10:44:00.006-04:00

I came across this little gem of a video on a blog site I subscribe to and I thought that I would share it with you. I haven't jumped on this whole Twitter Rage Bandwagon that everyone else has "yet." I just haven't seen the point in it all. I have a Facebook account and I have a MySpace account and I have this blog also and on most of these sites I have the option of updating my status as well as many other social networking options. I just don't see the point in adding one more status update site to my internet bookmarks. I mean, seriously, who is that interested in my life? Relishing in the possibility that people actually read this blog and my facebook and MySpace accounts is a stretch already...Well, maybe you have an argument of your own about Twitter. I would love to hear what you have to say on the topic. So leave me a comment and voice your opinion. Until, then...ENJOY this Twitter parody that the Crowder Band threw together...It is sure to make you LAUGH!

Blog Break Over...

2009-07-20T23:34:00.003-04:00

I haven't been blogging much lately and I am sorry for those that actually read this thing from time to time but the blog break is over. I'm back and I will be trying to post quite a few blogs over the next week or so to make up for my blogging absence. I have lots to share; ministry resources, media resources, tips and tricks in various areas of work, and updates on life in the world of the Johnson clan. So please keep checking back, subscribe to the sites RSS feed, or check me out on my other various social media outlets.

The Beginning of the End?

2009-07-18T12:42:00.009-04:00

I'm sure you have seen this video circulating all throughout the media but the media is almost convinced that this was the beginning of the end of Michael Jackson. Below you can see the newly released "behind the scenes" clip, as well as the commercial in it's entirety. They say that this incident sparked the beginning of a long life plastic surgery and pain pill addictions. It is a theory but I am not so convinced. I really just wish people would leave Michael and his family alone and let them grieve in peace. I've always been a fan of MJ and I hate to see this continual probing and prying of his personal life.

The World Is a Stage

2009-07-16T19:10:00.002-04:00

I came across the video the other day when my co-worker e-mailed me a link and then I heard the audio of this song played during one of the "So You Think You Can Dance" contestants routine and so I thought that I would share it with all of you. ENJOY!

Judah Trying to Crawl

2009-07-03T11:55:00.008-04:00

This was a video I shot with my iPhone while spending the 4th of July weekend at my parent's house. Judah is about 6 months old here. Julie thought I was mean when I kept taking his toys away but I would just call it motivation to crawl.

His Yoke Is Perfect

2009-05-22T00:01:00.019-04:00

These past couple weeks of Identity Youth have just been AMAZING. I know I haven't blogged in quite a while because of the crazy pace of my life lately but I just wanted to get on blogger and give God some glory for what he has been doing in and through the Identity Student Ministries. Last week we had a whole night of worship with the ID Band. We changed it up a bit and kind of did an acoustic set. I say kind of because we did some acoustic guitar stuff with a box drum and we did some electric stuff too. The presence of God was so strong!

This past week's service was just as anointed. I spoke to the youth at Identity on the subject of "Who Are You?" It was based off the scripture Matthew 11:30 For my yoke fits perfectly, and the burden I give you is light (NLT). We talked about how God's plan (yoke) for our life fits perfectly and we need to take ownership of the call that God has on our life. He's called each and everyone of us to something and no one can fulfill that call except us (the one He called). His yoke fits US perfectly.

One of Identity's youth, Garrett, has just started heading in the direction God is calling him and is beginning to realize that his life must first be yoked to God before he can ever step into the calling God has for him. Here is his testimony that was shown last night at Identity.

Lang on Leno

2009-04-25T22:26:00.021-04:00

I guess I am in the video mood because here comes another one. Jonny Lang was on Jay Leno and rocked the house. If you haven't heard of Jonny Lang then do yourself a favor and get his CD. He is an amazing blues musician that got saved and now rocks some blues style music for Jesus. God is so good! You can read more about Lang's story by clicking HERE and downloading the article Radiant Magazine did on Lang and his music during his amazing conversion to Christianity. Another amazing song that depicts his recent decision to follow Christ is "Only A Man" and it can also be heard by clicking HERE.

God Bless You...

2009-04-25T21:54:00.003-04:00

I came across this little gem of a video when I visited my family this past weekend in Tampa. My brother Jason showed me this off of the break.com website. Maybe this will cause you to cover your mouth next time.

Create Your Own Countdowns

2009-04-20T21:26:00.024-04:00

If you are in youth ministry then you probably use countdowns to start your services. After buying multiple countdowns from various media websites and youth leadership conferences I came across a handy little tool that allows me to create my own custom countdowns. It has been very useful. You are able to set whatever time limit you desire, add your own background images or movies, and make changes to your fonts. I even created a 30 day countdown for a series my Pastor is teaching that runs throughout the service while he preaches. The countdown program that I found is produced by a company called TRIMONIX. You can see a lot of their work on the website Stufficanuse.com. TRIMONIX is relatively inexpensive for what you get. By the time you purchase a few countdowns from the usual church media sites you could end up paying for this program. The only draw back to TRIMONIX is that it only works on a MAC computer and it doesn't export audio. So if your video background already has music on it, when you export your final countdown product, it will not have any audio. You will have to use another program like Final Cut Pro or iMovie to add your audio. Here is an example of a countdown that I created with TRIMONIX in conjunction with FINAL CUT PRO and LIVETYPE as well as a video background that I downloaded from VIMEO.com.

If you have a PC then there is still hope. Since the rest of the staff at our church have PCs they found an alternative program called COUNTDOWN CREATOR. I know it's not an original name but this program is just as impressive and it does allow you to add your own audio as well as images, videos, fonts, and etc. Here is a video that gives you a brief demo of what it can do.

Jesus is my friend

2009-04-19T22:09:00.016-04:00

I couldn't help the title of this blog...this past weekend we went to see our friend Lester's show "The Last Adam" with our friends Erin, Mike, and Holly. It was a really great show and it was such great weather, considering that it was an outside theater. This was also the second week of Christ Church of Orlando's three service times. God is so good! It all started on Easter and a high attendance is always expected on a holiday like Easter. Our staff were all curious to see what a typical Sunday's service attendance would be like. We were all very excited to see the church full this morning in all three services. Later on Sunday night we had our church business meeting and our church got to reflect back on the year and see the accomplishments of our church and to catch our Pastor's vision for our church in the days ahead. Even looking back on some of this past year's video footage, while editing a promo video for our church wide outreach campaign "WE CARE", it made me realize how amazing our church is. You can view the video I made HERE or by scrolling through the Vimeo video widget at the top right hand corner of this page. After getting home, Julie and I both were beaming with pride and we had our own little reflection time by ourselves. We both just went on and on about how blessed we are to be apart of what is going on here in Orlando. We truly know that JESUS is our friend! And as a tribute to this post here is an oldie but a goodie "Jesus Is My Friend."

and then there were 3...

2009-04-13T00:30:00.048-04:00

Yet, another crazy 3 day weekend for the Johnson clan....

DAY 1
We started with Friday night as we drove to Tampa to drop Judah off at Gammy and Papa's house so that they could watch him (which they never argue about doing) while we went to a concert. My lifelong friend Jerad Griffin was playing a show at his sister's church, Element Church. I was so excited to see him play a show since he just joined the band High Flight Society. If you haven't heard of them you should definitely check out by going to their MySpace page and buying their CD. Jerad never ceases to amaze me in his talents. He is currently singing backup vocals and playing guitar. It was so good to see Jerad, his wife, and some of the old Riverhills youth group crew from back in the day. After leaving the show it just seemed too late to drive home and so we had an impromptu sleepover at my parents house.

DAY 2
The next day was no less occupied. We started off by driving back to the O-Town to get ready for a wedding that I was scheduled to sing in. The wedding and reception lasted about 6 hours. Our pour little guy, Judah. He must be so tired of going and going and going. We are hoping to slow it down over the next 2 weekends. We'll see how that goes...lol

DAY3
Day three started at 5:30am as we got up early for the start of our new service times at Christ Church of Orlando. We have been toying with the idea of going to 3 services for about a year now and today was the day it all began. It took us a while to pick our actual times but through many discussions, surveys and phone calls to other churches that have 3 services we finally decided on 8:00, 9:45, & 11:30am. It was a scary step of faith but we knew that if we were going to grow any more then we had to do it and so we just trusted in God that He would fill the church and BOY DID HE EVER!!! Today, we packed the place out. 1st service was a full service, 2nd service was so full we had to pull out chairs in the isle, and 3rd service was packed too. If our numbers are right...we think we had 770 people in today's church services. I am so excited with what God is doing in and through Christ Church of Orlando.

Not only did our church have an amazing day but this was also Judah's first Easter celebration with our family. Julie and Gammy (Grandma Johnson) also had a little fun putting together Easter baskets for the little guy and Mimi (Grandma Watson) bought his Easter Outfit. Overall, our Easter weekend was jam packed full of GREATNESS. And if the numbers at church weren't enough to get excited about, many testimonies of God's goodness were shared today in service through Cardboard Testimonies, Song, and Dance and many lives were won to Christ and rededicated. I rustled up some video footage a lady in our church shot (Cynthia) to show some of what took place today at CCO.

Identity Youth Retreat Recap

2009-04-11T01:01:00.006-04:00

In the previous post a quickly recapped our youth retreat's success and briefly talked about some of the activities. Well, here a video that one of my youth shot and I edited. Take a look and tell me what you think...

Spring Break Madness

2009-04-06T22:06:00.067-04:00

Spring Break has come and gone and it has taken all of my energy with it. I am so beat. Jules and I have been going nonstop since last week. First, we had another amazing opportunity to take our youth band to another youth rally here in Orlando called "Spring Break Free." They made us so proud. They have been allowing God to use them in so many ways and as they make themselves available their talents get better and better. Just this week we got another call to lead worship again at a "To Write Love On Her Arms" venue. God is so good! Without Him, none of this would be possible. For more photos of the ID Band's last worship experience click HERE.

Well, all of that was on Thursday and on Friday our youth group took their 2nd annual youth retreat in Lake Wales, FL at Lake Aurora Christian Camp. Let me just say..."IT WAS AMAZING!" Last year was our first time taking a retreat with our kids and needless to say...the entire youth group wasn't completely sold on the idea and therefore we only had 21 attend. Well, when they came back from the trip last year the impact was definitely evident and our youth were the best advertisement for this year's trip. This year we took 43. We more than doubled our attendees. We take a lot of trips with our youth throughout the year but this is the cheapest and by far the most impacting, in my eyes. This years trip was no different. We tell our kids the whole purpose of the trip up front. It's all about unity and relationship. It's our chance to bring those in from the outer edges and make them feel apart of the group. It's our chance to encourage each other while being encouraged by God in our times of prayer and worship. It's a time for good healthy competition to illustrate that we are all in this together and we need each other to win this race. And it's a time for us to unplug from the world and our electronics (we collect all cell phones a soon as we get there) and just get back to the basics; God and His body of believers.

This year we pulled some new activities out and had a blast with them. They include Cheese IT, Extreme Dodge Ball, Canoe Races, Obstacle Courses, Barrel Brawl, Slip-n-Slide Kickball, Flour Power Capture the Flag, Ropes Courses, Worship, and Baptisms. As you can see with some of the photos below our youth enjoyed every minute of it and seeing them have fun with no complaining, and no cliques or insider clubs was just AMAZING. You can check out more of the photos from our retreat HERE.

But now that the weekend has come and gone we have to head back to reality and part of that reality is that Judah starts his first week of daycare. It goes without saying that Julie was not that happiest camper...lol...She had already been gone for 2 days away from Judah while my parents babysat during our youth retreat and the last thing she wanted to do was leave him with a complete stranger at daycare. He did great his first day and Momma Jules is learning to cut the umbilical chord...lol...Until next time, HOLLA!

Going and Going and Going...

2009-03-30T16:23:00.022-04:00

Wow! I feel like we have been going nonstop. Every weekend we have either been going to Tampa for different reasons (family, etc.), doing church events, or planning youth events and we have barely slowed down to take a breath. Some people have asked how Judah has coped with all of it but I keep telling them, "If all He knows is a busy lifestyle then he won't know any different." Judah has been great. When we get in the car and go...He just rolls with the punches. We are so blessed to have such a good baby boy. Here is our last daddy/son outing to IKEA that we took today. I can't help to take some photos on our trips. Here are some extra photos that we took on our last trip to Tampa. This is in an open field next to an RV dealership off of I-4. They modeled this marketing scheme after the "Cadillac Ranch" in Amarillo, Texas. Here are the photos...

Fun With Fonts!

2009-03-20T19:29:00.056-04:00

I use Photoshop quite a bit and I love it when I find great resources for fonts. If you do any kind of graphic design then you know that fonts are a large part of the design process. I found a new font resource this week and I thought I might share it with the readers. It's a site called VTKS.com. He is a free lance designer and he has quite a few FREE font downloads on his site. He is also listed on other font sites such as FONTSPACE.com. Here are some other sites I frequent when looking for the latest and greatest fonts; DAFONT.com & SIMPLYTHEBESTFONTS.com. Happy Downloading. Once you start...It will be hard to stop....

Just a couple of "Design Hints:"

1. Don't get too carried away when using fonts in your work. Limit your designs to 2 fonts each. In rare situations you can use more but if too many different fonts are used then your design work will loose it's impact and will also make your work too busy and difficult to read.

2. Don't load all your fonts at once. If you store all of your fonts all at once you can cause your computer to run slower than usual. Like I said, you can get carried away downloading fonts and if you go too crazy your computer has to load and search through all of those fonts when using your programs, such as Microsoft Office, Adobe Creative Suite, Final Cut Pro Studio, and etc.

Here Are Some Font Design Possibilities:

Back to Blogging

2009-03-09T22:16:00.013-04:00

Well it has been a long time since my last post and much has happened; good and bad. To catch you up to speed, here is what has been going on in my life. Lots of my family made their way to Orlando to participate in the dedication of our amazing Judah Avery Johnson. It was a bittersweet moment for my whole family. We were so proud of our baby boy and we were so ecstatic that our family made the trip to join us in his dedication. But after the Sunday service we all went out to eat at Mimi's Cafe and as we were leaving, my Nana Bussell (grandmother) suffered a really severe stroke. In a previous post I wrote about the moments Judah met all of his great grandparents. Well, my Nana Bussell was not in that post because he had not yet met his Great-Nana Bussell. Judah's dedication was only the second time she got to see him. She met him just a couple days before that at our friends wedding shower. My Nana Bussell has been such an inspiration to me in all that she has done. She has been such a shining example of what a marriage relationship looks like and what it should be. She and my grand-daddy were married for so many years until he past and they both raised some of the most amazing girls that I know; including my Momma. We are just asking that everyone continues to keep her in your prayers as she goes down a long road of recovery. We know that God is more than able to heal her body and restore her health.

Well, our son's dedication hasn't been the only celebration we have enjoyed over the past couple of weeks. I also had the amazing privilege of marrying a childhood friend (Robert Noland) in Sarasota, FL this past weekend. It was the second wedding I have ever performed; the first being my other childhood friend, Eric Long. Funny enough, they have both been outside weddings. The first, being on the beach and the second, being under a massive oak tree on a golf course. It was such a beautiful wedding and it was so good to see so many friends and family that I haven't seen in years. Not that they wanted to see me....Judah took the spotlight in all of the conversations. Now that you have been caught up to speed and my life has slowed down a bit maybe I can get back to posting some more blogs. Until then, please help me pray for my Nana, Shirley Bussell's recovery.

Meeting the GREATS!

2009-02-17T01:03:00.010-05:00

This past weekend Jules and I traveled to Tampa on short notice to see Judah's great-grandparents. My Papa Johnson has been in the hospital and isn't really doing too good. Please keep him in your prayers. We took Judah to see him for the very first time. What a proud moment for me. My Papa is someone that I have always looked up to and have respected all my life. He, in my eyes, has been such a great role model; as an example of great character, a faithful Christian, and an amazing do-it-all kind of guy. Ya know, a seize the day kind of guy. We have done so many great things in our life, from going fishing on the house boat all night long, to hunting for deer in the freezing cold, to celebrating the Johnson family Christmas in the old country barn. Visiting him this weekend was a proud moment for me because 4 generations of Johnson men sat in the same room; Me, Dad, Papa, and Judah. I was so happy to show Judah off to Papa and Nana Pat and to see him filled with joy while looking at my new son just made me so happy. I hope that I can live up to the standard my Papa set for being a great father and role model.

Not only did Judah get to meet his great grandfather but he made a trip to his spunky great-grandmother, Nana Faulkner. He just fit right at home in her arms. This woman has been such an amazing person in my life. She has been the best cook, the most welcoming and hospitable woman I know, and she has also given me the pleasure of living with her for a couple years. If you don't know her or if you have never met her....I can guarantee that she will make you laugh. She is everyone's grandma; if you know what I mean. That's just how she makes you feel. Even this past weekend....as we were leaving she tried to give me and Julie money for some food on the road. She is always trying to take care of you (like a Nana should) and she is always trying to fill your stomach with some food...lol...Papa and Nana, I just want you both to know how much I love, respect, and appreciate every minute I have with you. I'll love you always. - Justin

David After The Dentist

2009-02-11T01:25:00.003-05:00

I know that you probably have seen this video before but our piano player told me to check this clip and I just had to share. I look at my 4 week old son and some of the faces he makes and I just laugh like crazy but if he ever did anything like this I would be struggling to catch my breathe because I would on the floor rolling. Enjoy and tell me what you think...

A Recent Update...

2009-02-05T01:01:00.017-05:00

Things have been unbelievably AMAZING in my life lately. The family is doing great and our new addition, Judah seems to be fitting right in. Here is a recent shot of him sleep on the ottoman in our family room. But...WOW....I have just been on such an incredible high with God and I feel as if He is really doing some great things through us, our youth ministry, and our church as a whole. There just seems to be exponential growth taking place, not only in our church growth but also in the spiritual lives of the people that are attending. Once again our Identity Youth service was packed full of teens that are excited about God and excited about coming to youth. Each week, the newcomers from the previous week are back and they are bring their friends too. I just talked with some new teens after this weeks service (Nelson and Alisin) and they said, "We love this place. We are going to make it a point to bring one new friend every week from here on out." Needless to say, I am so excited about that.

This past weekend was a HUGE weekend for our student ministry. Not only did we have an AWESOME opportunity to lead praise and worship at a local youth rally here in Orlando but we had a pretty outstanding Super Bowl fundraiser on Sunday night that helped us raise a ton of money for our youth budget. Maybe we can finally break even from some of this past summers big events. But what was so cool about this weekend was I got to see our youth get outside of the four walls of our church and truly minister to our local community. After we were through leading praise and worship at the Orlando youth rally many other groups were excited to possibly invite us to lead worship at their future events. God just seems to keep opening doors for us to do the extraordinary. I was so proud of our kids this week. It's so cool to see them grow into such outstanding men and women of God.

But God isn't just doing great things in our youth ministry. He is also moving so pure in our Sunday morning services. Just recently we have been moving in a direction of multiple worship leaders leading simultaneously. After about a year and a half of leading worship on Sundays and Wednesdays it has been nice to have some of load lifted. But I have been co-leading on Sundays with a guy named Lester and the worship has just seemed to be heading in such a great direction. God is showing up so evident in our services and the layering of multiple leading voices has been unexpectedly great. God is good and I can't believe that He chooses to have a relationship with me. I love Him so much and I am honored to work for His kingdom.

Another Great Night...

2009-01-29T11:34:00.024-05:00

WOW! God is just really blessing my socks off with how He is blessing our Student Ministries at Christ Church of Orlando. The Identity Students have really been grabbing hold of the evangelism concept we preach so much at Identity Youth. Our students are becoming some of the BIGGEST witnesses at our church. For example, just last weekend one of my youth, Morgan, was at the mall and she saw these girls walking down the sidewalk. She just went up to them to start a conversation and found out that they were waiting on the bus to get a ride home and she offered to take them home. While riding home she got to talk with them about God and church and one thing led to another...Well, all 4 of them came to Wednesday night's Identity Youth service and they loved it. They all said they plan on coming back next week. We have had such an influx of newcomers and they aren't just visiting. They are all coming back the following weeks. Last night we had 67 in the service and for a church of around 450 people....I think that is outstanding.

This weeks service was not only jammed packed with students, causing us to add more and more seats, but it was jammed packed with great stuff. We started off the night with a Crowd Control Game called "Road Race" and the kids loved it. It's a voice activated game that is controlled by the loudness of the crowd. It had me on the floor rolling and laughing. Then we moved into a time of worship. Our piano player wasn't there this week and so I was stuck playing keys during half the set but there just seemed to be such an atmosphere of praise to our God during our worship. We started off with "Break Free" (United) and then moved into "I Am Free" (Desperation Band). Then one of our students came to the stage and encouraged our youth to really press into God's presence and man, did they ever. We finished the PW set off with "Oh How He Loves Us" (John Mark McMillan) and "Saviour King" (United). God's presence was so evident. After worship our drama team performed "The Ledge Skit." It's a spoken skit on temptation and peer pressure. Then we continued the 2nd part of our new series on temptation called "Hooks" and used "The Select Fit" video clip from Mosaic Films. I used it to illustrate the dangers of taking scripture out of context to validate our sin.

Our church and youth has really been going through a change of seasons. A few months ago we had a lot of changes take place in our attendance and as a staff and church we all began to fast and pray during the Advent and Christmas Holidays. During that time our senior adults pastor gave a word of knowledge to our pastor. She said, "Pastor, I feel that God is taking us through a pruning process and when He is done pruning it will make way for great growth. It will be a [Healthier] growth that will produce an abundant harvest." I believe we are seeing the fruits of that today. I am so amazed with God. Aren't you?

2 weeks....Come and Gone!

2009-01-25T22:58:00.031-05:00

Well, it's been two weeks since Judah has been born and we are still alive. Today was the first Julie and Judah's first day to the church. Everyone couldn't wait to see him and we felt so loved. Our church has been great during this whole transition. Ironically, Judah fits right in at church....He seems to just be so chill when he is there. Another funny fact is.....whenever he is in the car and he starts to get really fussy...all we have to do is turn up some David Crowder really loud and it just seems to put him to sleep. That's my boy! He's just like his daddy. You can't go wrong with some good ole' Crowder.

To mark his 2 weeks on this amazing earth we took some photographs of Judah the other for his birth announcements and I thought I would share them with you. So here they are...Tell us what your vote is for his birth announcement photograph. For more of our photos you can click here.

This Wednesday...

2009-01-23T00:04:00.012-05:00

I just thought I would just thank God publicly for the amazing youth service we had last night at Identity Student Ministries. God is really doing something amazing in our church and our youth ministry. He's pruning and growing us at the same time. Our people seem to really want to connect with God and they seem to want to know Him in a deeper and more authentic way. Our students and stepping out into leadership roles and leading others in the direction God is calling us as a whole. I can't wait to see what this year holds for us. 2008 was amazing in itself (see video post below) and we as a church and as a youth ministry did some things that we had never done before but I feel and our Pastor has already challenged us to EXTRAORDINARY things this year. I can't wait to see the fruits of 2009.

Settling for Mediocrity

2009-01-16T22:55:00.016-05:00

I thought I would share an experience I had over the Christmas Holidays. Every year Jules and I do our annual Christmas Greeting card and at times we have also given our Grandparents updated photos of us to display in there homes. As usual, once we have taken our photos and collected all the images we would like to print we send them via The Internet to Walgreens and we have them printed. Well, this year I sent the photos to the Walgreens in my parents home town so that I could pick them up when we arrived at their house. As I approached the counter of the photo center the clerk withheld my prints and called for the manager. I asked what the problem was and the clerk replied, "Please wait for the manager to talk with you." As the manager approached he proceeded to tell me that he had the photos printed but would not sell me the prints. Infuriated I asked, "WHY?" He continued to tell me that photos were too professional looking. I insisted that these were my personal images and that they were taken with my camera. I also told him that I would show him the camera that I took the images with and I would also show him the SD card that the images were still on. He still proceeded to tell me that he would not sell me the prints. My response to the manager was, "So what are you telling me? I have to shoot crappy photos in order to get my photos printed? Why is it so hard to believe that someone can take professional quality pictures?" He continued to deny me the purchase of my prints.

It aggravates me when people set a standard of mediocrity. I can understand if I brought pictures in that had a photographers logo on the back of the paper but these were images pulled straight from my SD card that came out of my camera. Needless, to say...we will no longer use Walgreens to print our photos. We now use Wal-Mart Photo Center and we have been VERY pleased with the service and the quality.

Who's Got The Looks!

2009-01-13T16:14:00.005-05:00

The family is still in debate to as where Judah gets His looks and so I thought I would poll the readers to see what you think. Here are the baby pictures of Judah, Julie and myself. Tell us what you think and maybe the debate of who's got the looks will come to an end.

Indescribable Experience

2009-01-09T02:07:00.012-05:00

Well, today was the day and man was it a long and hard day but so worth the process. Today Judah Avery Johnson came into the world at 5:34 pm on Thursday January 8th 2009 weighing 7 lbs 9.5 Oz. and measuring 20 inches in length. He has BIG beautiful blue eyes and the coolest peach-fuzz brown hair. Julie tried her best to push through the entire day and make it through to a NATURAL birth but her body just wasn't responding to the induction and so we went forward with a C-section. It was not our preference but we just wanted to do what was best for Judah. After being wheeled into the operating room and going through with the surgery, Julies epidural slipped out and her medication began to slip towards the end. Needless to say...she is feeling the affects of giving birth and she is in considerable pain. She is doing great but just keep her in your prayers as we continue to help her heal and get better so that she can take care of our new HEALTHY (Praise the Lord) baby boy. I am posting some pics of him because I am already giddy with pride. You can click on any of these photos and they should enlarge but you can also go to my personal MySpace by clicking HERE and it will take you to his LARGER photo gallery. Thank you for all your prayers and amazing encouragement. We appreciate each and everyone of our friends and family. We love you and can't wait to show Judah off!

IT'S B-DAY!

2009-01-07T22:54:00.005-05:00

Well, I am just a few hours away from having my life change forever and holding my new baby boy in my arms. That's right Julie and I are both going at 3 o'clock in the morning on Thursday January 8th to be induced. Hopefully by this time tomorrow I will be able to post pictures of little Judah Avery Johnson and glow as I hold one of God's amazing creations in my own two hands. This year could not be starting any better than it is. I just got home from an AMAZING youth service where I got to minister to the teens in our church and the lives that were there were truly changed tonight. Kids filled the altars and I got to witness countless lives be touched by the power of the Holy Spirit. I know that I just posted a 2008 recap video below but I also put one together for our youth ministry to show what great things God did through us in 2008. Here is the video I showed tonight. I can't wait to see what He does through us in 2009. Until my next post....keep us in your prayers as we embark on a life-changing experience.

2008 RECAP!

2009-01-04T01:36:00.008-05:00

I've been up late working on a video for this week's Sunday morning services. We are taking a look back at 2008 and seeing all the accomplishments we have made. We at Christ Church call these the "BIG WINS!" Anyways, here is the video I put together to show our church. Tell me what you think.

2009!

2008-12-31T22:56:00.026-05:00

I can't believe 2009 is finally here and 2008 has come and gone. It seems so completely different than what we all might have thought it would be. I am sure you can all remember yourself growing up watching movies like Back to the Future and imagining what the 21st century would hold for all of us; flying cars, crazy technology, and a Jetson's-esque type lifestyles. Well, now that we are all here I think we can all say that our imaginations were way off. We are still driving on the ground and paying tons of money for Gasoline and no space age clothing is in sight. The end of the year is here and we are saying good-bye to our 2008 Christmas decorations and saying hello to our newly added beautiful nursery for our new addition to the family, Judah Avery Johnson. This Saturday marks the day the doctors guestimated for his arrival but he is proving to be content with his surrounding in Momma-Jules' belly. I can't wait until he gets here but until then I thought I would share some pictures of his new pad. Here are some individual shots I took today but I also pieced some shots together to give you the full 360˚ affect. From the Johnson family to Yours...HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Get 'Em While They're HOT!

2008-12-29T23:35:00.008-05:00

Well, Christmas is over and once again God has blessed us beyond belief. We were able to get our hands on a really nice camera this Christmas and with the future of our new baby boy, I couldn't be more amped to own a Canon Rebel XSi SLR Digital Camera. For those of you that have no idea what I just said...that means it's pretty close to professional grade with abilities to shoot completely manual with the option of changing lenses and filters. It is an amazing piece of technology.With the new addition to our tool box of gadgets I am will be selling our old digital camera. It is a Panasonic Lumix. It takes great pictures. Most of the photos that have been posted below have been taken with it and it is not a cheap camera either. We have had it for three years and it is still in GREAT condition. I am planning to sell it on eBay or Craiglist but I thought I would post on here and see if any of my readers are interested. I also bought a new external Harddrive for my ever growing photo and video library and I will also be selling my old Western Digital External "MYBOOK" Harddrive. It has been a great asset to me in storing photos, files, video, and backing up my computer. Here is a photo of it. It has USB 2.0, Firewire 400, and 800 capabilities. So if anyone is interested in any of these items just let me know. I won't be listing them on eBay or Craigslist for at least a week but after that it will be up to the auctions. Until then, I'll be here if you are interested. Just leave me a comment and I will try to contact you.

Merry Christmas From The Johnsons

2008-12-25T13:35:00.013-05:00

With the coming of our new baby boy this Christmas seems to be extra special for our family. I love my family. The closeness of my family is like non other. This year we had 4 generations in celebration of the Johnson family Christmas party. There's 5 generations if you count baby Judah in Julies belly. I thought I would share the family pics from this year. MERRY CHRISTMAS from the Johnson family!

Merry Christmas Christ Church!

2008-12-24T23:15:00.007-05:00

This past week was our Christmas Concert at Christ Church of Orlando and the show was the best it has ever been. The actors, singers, kids, videos, and lights were all outstanding. Our former daycare director wrote and acted out an extremely moving monologue that tied all of the music and singing together to make one great performance. Attendance in both services was jammed packed and pushed over the 600 mark. This past Sunday was a HUGE WIN for Christ Church of Orlando. This is a small video somebody shot from the balcony. The footage and audio capture doesn't do the show any justice but here it is anyway. This is the song I sang (This Is Our God) in between running lights for the show.

Photos and Photoshop

2008-12-17T23:33:00.023-05:00

I took some photos of Jules this past week at our house and I thought I would share. My wife is so beautiful! Tell what you think....of the pictures and of Jules...

A quick snapshot and a little Photoshop does wonders....huh?

Changing How The "Head" Thinks

2008-12-12T14:50:00.021-05:00

WOW! It's been a while since I have posted and I am really sorry. I have been swamped with holiday stuff, church musicals, and not to mention the last month of our pregnancy. Well, I was sitting at home last night watching some television and I came across the latest LA INK show. As I was watching a guy named Brian "Head" Welch (EX-lead guitarist for Korn) came on to get a tattoo. I had heard his life story through a couple of second-hand translations but this was the first time I had heard him tell about the day God consumed his life and changed the way his HEAD continued to think. He tells about his lifestyle while in Korn and now his lifestyle outside of the secular rock and about the day Jesus changed his life FOREVER. Check out his story for yourself in this video below.

It's amazing! God blows me away in how he reaches his people. One of the biggest things we instill in our youth at our church is the importance of reaching for God. We hammer it into them. We want them to realize that God has given us the HUGE responsibility of sharing His truth and love. But then I see a video like this one and it reminds me that, YES, He is calling us to reach people but He is a BIG enough God to do it on His own. If you listen to the multiple times Brian "Head" Welch has given his testimony on CNN, FOX NEWS, YouTube.com and many others, you can hear Brian say that something in the spirit reached out to him and miraculously changed his life. GOD, YOU TRULY ARE AN AWESOME GOD!!!

If you want to know more about his God encounter you can read his new book titled "Save Me From Myself: How I Found God, Quit Korn, and Lived to Tell My Story." Brian "Head" Welch has also released a NEW christian NU-METAL album also titled "Save My From Myself." Check them out and support his decision to follow our AWESOME GOD. You can hear his new album here.

Busheezy.com

2008-11-17T13:01:00.010-05:00

Well, once again I was living out my nocturnal lifestyle and I was doing some late night web surfing and I came across this amazing website. Brusheezy.com is a website that I found that allows artists and graphic designers to download and vote for the best custom Photoshop Brushes and Photoshop patterns on the internet! This site is updated every day with new Brushes for Photoshop. It also has Vector patterns and designs that are FREE to download as well. I spent about few hours looking through pages and pages of amazing brushes and I have already started using them in some of my designs. If you use Photoshop at all or if you just like to play around with design then you should definitley check this site out and get some FREE stuff and even Submit your own! They only accept the best photoshop brushes so be sure to read the terms of use for the official rules before submitting your Photoshop Brushes and Photoshop patterns.

The Youth Ministry Chair

2008-11-14T03:51:00.008-05:00

I came across this video on a Youth Ministry Blog that I RSS feed to and it so hilarious I almost wet myself but in the end it really hits home the point of why we do ministry. The Skit Guys are so amazing at what they do and they can tell a story like no other. Check it out!

Poking Fun @ Windows...

2008-11-13T16:55:00.006-05:00

I found this humorous video on YouTube and thought I would share. Enjoy!

Judah's 2nd Party

2008-11-09T22:22:00.009-05:00

Well, we have had the second baby shower for lil Judah and boy was it BIG. My Mom and my Aunt Suzy threw us an awesome shower this past weekend in Tampa and the crowd came ready to shower us with blessings. Here are some of the photos from this past weekend.

Random Thought...

2008-11-06T19:17:00.008-05:00

This is a completely random thought so excuse the weirdness of it's content but I found myself watch the election outcome on television and as I watch our new president elect take the platform (not the outcome I hoped for) I couldn't help to notice that our new first lady greatly resembles the actress Sigourney Weaver. I know it's random but tell me what you think.

I VOTED!

2008-11-04T18:12:00.021-05:00

Well, today I voted and I found myself walking into the voting precinct excited and I left feeling overwhelmingly proud to be an American Citizen. I just want to publicly thank God that I live in an amazing country that allows me to live in freedom and also allows me to have a voice. We truly are blessed. I know many people look around and feel overwhelmed with how the economy is and how long we have been at war but I think we need to stop voicing the negative and stop allowing that to be the center of our focus and step back and see how blessed we are to live in this free country...and just so you know, "I VOTED!"

Candidate Dance Off

2008-11-02T21:48:00.012-05:00

My co-worker sent me this video to me this week. I thought it was hilarious! I hope you enjoy! Can you believe that we are getting a new president this week. Don't forget to get out there and ROCK THE VOTE!

The Masters of Disguises

2008-11-02T21:46:00.022-05:00

Well, as usual on October 31st we have our annual Fallelujah Festival at the church and Julie and I have such a blast making our own costumes. We just can't find it in us to spend money on costumes at the local party shops. We always go to the costume stores and get ideas and then find some way to make them ourselves. This year Julie and I went as "Where's Waldo" and "Mike Wisowksi" (pictured left). We couldn't spend the cash on the costumes like we have in the past and due to the fact that we are bringing a new life in this world and money isn't growing on the trees. Granted, they haven't been our best and most well executed costumes but they were fun, nontheless. Here are some of the other costumes we've made in the past years. Last year we went as "Charlie Chaplin" and "Betty Boop" and the year before that we were "Willie Wonka" and "An Oompa Loompa." Tell us how close our likenesses have been. Hope you enjoy!

Judah's 1st Party

2008-11-01T20:22:00.024-04:00

Well, today we had out first baby shower for Judah and boy did he get lots of stuff. God is so good! Our GREAT friends, Erin and Mike and the Lafever clan, threw us a shower at the church and the whole church was invited. She (Erin) does such a good job when it comes to entertaining and Julie does such a good job when it comes to opening gifts. HA! After the shower we headed home to install a new closet organizer to make room for all of Judah's new clothes and baby gadgets. Wow! You never realize how much baby stuff there is until you actually need it; just a forewarning for anyone thinking of getting pregnant anytime soon. Well, here are some of the pictures I took just before I left to let all the girls have fun doing all that girls stuff. Keep us in your prayers as we await Judah's debut.

Twitch!

2008-10-31T01:45:00.010-04:00

I found this crazy video with a guy with too much time on his hands and too many brain cells to fry...
I feel for him as he takes a slight sigh of fearfulness...ENJOY!

A Birthday Surprise!!!

2008-10-28T14:24:00.005-04:00

This is an old video but it is hilarious. This video was shot by my uncles employees. They played a practical joke on him on birthday. They filled is entire truck with thousands of ping pong balls. PRICELESS!

12 Ways to Reduce Stress in Ministry

2008-10-27T22:34:00.013-04:00

12. Get Organized.
Ministry workers can tend to be a little messy and disorganized. File, organize, schedule, and clean. Trust me. Things will run smoother and you will feel less pressure when looking for a certain message you preached last year and when things are organized future planning becomes a breeze. Life just seems easier when it's in order. Take a look at our Heavenly father and His creation. Everything has it's place and order and it works amazingly.

11. Take regular breaks.
Ministry workers are usually workaholics. There are appropriate times when you need to settle down and crunch through some work, but when it’s done, leave your workplace a couple minutes. Go outside, walk around, and get some sun. You’ll be amazed how refreshed you feel coming back. A 10-15 minute break outside can really energize you to finish the rest of your work in much better time and in higher quality, too.

10. Work when you focus best.
It seems like most people I know in ministry are early-morning people. They love waking up before the sun and hitting the office early. If that’s what works best for you, then do it! However, some people, like me, think mornings are nonexistent and can’t function until lunch time. I honestly work best between 10:00 PM and 2:00 AM. I stay focused and tend to crank out my best work during that time. Find out what works best for you and capitalize on it.

9. Address the work at home.
Stacks of bills, car maintenance, yard work, and home repairs can really stress you out, especially if it seems like everything else going on in life is always a higher priority. If tasks start piling up at home, take an extra day off to get it all done and set your mind free.

8. Eat healthy.
Give your body food that will keep it well nourished. Balance your carbs, fruits, vegetables, and grains. Junk food will drain your system, making you tired and unfocused. A sugar rush may give you small bursts of energy, but the crash at the end will keep you going back for more sugar all day long. I'm still working on this one.

7. Stay in shape.
It’s clinically proven that regular exercise reduces stress, gives you more energy, improves your sleep at night, and helps you stay more alert during the day. There’s really no excuse not to stay in shape, especially for people in ministry. For me it's a little tennis and racquetball here and there. And if you have tight muscles and achy joints, see a massage therapist or a chiropractor. The bill will bite you in the end, though.

6. Use your vacation days.
Many of us may be happy with our jobs, our ministries, and the work we do, but there are always small things about each job that we hate. That’s just a part of life. Over time, those annoyances can build until they become frustrating. Make sure you take a break, time to rest, time to get away, and leave it all behind. If your ministry can’t function without you for a couple days to a week on a regular basis, the ministry is way too focused on you and is unhealthy.

5. Keep ministry simple.
Lots of activity and responsibilities may make you feel more important than you really are, but it’s a guaranteed formula for stress and burnout. Know your limits and be realistic. If you have too much on your plate, delegate some of it to others or simply cut it out of your life. In my ministry, if no one steps up to help or take over something I don’t have time to do or shouldn’t be a priority for my limited time, it simply doesn’t get done. It’s really that easy. Just because your ministry is busy and active doesn't mean it's moving forward. Activity doesn't mean progress.

4. Listen to worship music.
I don’t mean just have it playing in the background, although that might help. Sit down and really listen to it. Let the Holy Spirit work in your life as you spend personal time in worship, thinking, reflecting, and meditating on Him. All the other stressful things in your life pale in comparison to a healthy reminder of who God is.

3. Say “No!”
I don’t know why ministry workers feel like they have to say yes to so many things. Maintain boundaries on your life! If the ministry is focused around you, you’re doing something wrong. You shouldn’t be out more than 3 nights a week maximum! Be at home with your family.

2. Maintain healthy relationships with your spouse.
Remember, your primary ministry is to your family, especially your spouse. Don’t wait until the relationship starts feeling dry to do something about it. Maintain the relationship so you never get to that point in the first place. Spend alone time together, go on dates, read the Word together, do random romantic acts, be sexually active. Celebrate what you have.

1. Focus on the Lord.
Regular time with the Lord is critical, but it often seems like it’s the first thing we set aside. Spend time with God on a personal level and also make it a priority for your family. You can’t serve the Lord and follow Him without knowing where He’s leading you. Otherwise, you fall into a stale rut of just “doing” ministry, rather than leading a movement of God’s people.

Entering the Digital Age

2008-10-25T01:33:00.008-04:00

I found this gem of a video while doing some late night surfing. I think all of us can relate to this video when it comes to explaining technology to our parents and grandparents. I love you, Mom but you are not far from this....lol

BECOME A BETTER DESIGNER: RULE #1: Limit Your Fonts

2008-10-25T00:44:00.006-04:00

Part One of Seven Easy Principles to Becoming a Master Designer.

Ok, “master designer” might be a bit of a stretch – but you can at least become a “proficient designer” by following 7 easy principles. This will be the shortest, most informative series of blog posts you’ve ever read on how to become a better designer. Please note: these principles CAN be broken… these are not laws, they’re just general guides that I typically follow when putting together a design. Follow these simple design principles and you’ll be on your way to artistic excellence.

Principle One: Limit Your fonts. A big part of putting together a good design, as you’ll see, is making sure the over-all look is consistent. The best way to accomplish a consistent look to your design is limiting the number of artistic motifs (themes) that you use. The fonts you select are the first variable you want to limit. It;a good to just pick 2 fonts per design.

The first font can be fancy or artistic. This font will be used to give your design some flair, character and personality. It’s this font that sets the mood for the piece. Is it a fun font with swirls for a girl’s party, or is it a grungy evil font for a rock band? I would use this fancy font for the header copy – anywhere it’s big, I’ll use this font. The fancy font will be the focal point of the piece. You will usually have less copy in this fancy font, but it will be much bigger – so that’s what people will see and focus on.

The second font should be very basic. The audience shouldn’t take notice of this secondary font at all. This secondary font needs to be very easily legible. It’s this basic font that will be used for large bodies of copy. Obviously, it’s very hard to read large bodies of copy that are in some extravagantly artistic font. So, this second font is all about functionality. Here is an example of proper use of fonts in a design. As you can see, there is only two fonts used here. The fancy font is used as the headers and the basic font is used for the copy. It looks clean and consistent.

Here is a Bad use of fonts. In this case I used too many fancy fonts. It just makes the piece look inconsistent. The sub sections don’t seem like they match with the main header.

Having too many fonts in a design is the biggest mistake. Nothing looks worse than someone who has used 8 different fonts on their flyer. Even worse than that is using a very fancy font for your body copy. Here is a sample of font use at it’s worst:

That’s it for this quick post. Thanks for reading. Keep an eye out, 6 more posts coming in this series!

I.D. Check

2008-10-25T00:34:00.002-04:00

Just wanted to get on the blog and talk about how amazing God is. This week's Identity youth service was just stellar. The kids were great, the morale was great, the worship was amazing, and God was able to use someone like me to deliver His word. I love my job. Granted, it's not easy at times and there are days you just want to quit but I can't help to think that there is nothing else I would rather be doing. This weekend is going to be one of the chances that I get to enjoy the perks of my job; planning fun events with our youth. This weekend we have created an AMAZING RACE of our own and the kids will be on a sprint around the Orlando area uncovering clues that lead them to the next one and at each stop they must complete certain tasks. It cost them a little to play but the winning team gets a BIG pay day if they have completely everything first. I can't wait to see how it turns out.

Rock The Vote!

2008-10-21T22:03:00.004-04:00

Now that I am about to be a parent pretty soon, voting becomes an entirely different thing for me. I have always taken pride in my freedom to vote but after watching this video you will understand what I am talking about. Take a look...

That Hurt...

2008-10-20T22:19:00.008-04:00

You have got to see this. Patience is a virtue. Wait for it...Wait for it...Wait for it...

YUP! That just happened...

Nostalgically Blessed

2008-10-20T11:10:00.004-04:00

This past weekend me and Jules visited where I grew up because an old friend of mine was getting married. It was so cool to see all of the friends I grew up with and to finally see all of us married and successful with kids on the way. There comes a point in your life where you look around and you realize how far you all have come and much you all have been through together. Not only to we have an awesome time visiting the past but as we returned to Orlando (the present reality), we had another amazing surprise from the past. Our old friends from the Campus Choir days, Larry and Kristin Kusic stopped in to visit our church on their way home from a family vacation. It's so good to have friends that you can just pick right back up where you left off and still keep connected.

This weekend, God was so good to me. He showed me how blessed we are and on top of that he showed me how faithful He is to give us life and to the fullest. Let me explain. Not only did He give us an opportunity to revisit the past He also blessed us in the now. As you all know, the economy is tight but we have always been faithful in our giving regardless. I will admit that it has been hard at time but we have stood on God's promise that "if we put the Kingdom of God firs that all else will be added." So Sunday morning I wrote out my tithe check as usual and trust that God would supply all our needs. Just as the first service ended, a new member of the church, that I don't know all that well, shook my hand and handed me some money. As the crowd began to disperse out the exits I looked down in my hand and I saw the same amount of money I had just paid in tithes. THANK YOU, JESUS! But I'm not done...Second service rolls around and I feel that if God blessed first service then I have give back to the God who supplied. So I gave again in the offering. I kid you not...later that night at a prayer and worship service someone handed me a card with the same amount of money I paid in the second service. WOW! GOD IS SO GOOD!

When the world is trembling in fear because they rely on their own resources to financially stabilize their own economy, know that we can trust in God that is faithful to follow through with His promises. THANK YOU, JESUS!

The Future of Worship Media

2008-10-17T15:31:00.005-04:00

Now this is trippy...It's a visual worship loop that you control the speed, direction, and motion of with the slight movements of your mouse. Check it out and fun by clicking here.

SHHHH... ACTion!

2008-10-15T09:38:00.005-04:00

I was reading in my devotions this morning and as I was reading in Luke I had one of those "AAHA Moments." You know what I mean? It's when you've read something so many times before but God decides to bring His word to you in a-whole-nother light. I just began to read about the ministry of Jesus and how He went from town to down preaching the news and doing the works and miracles of God. All of a sudden, as I was reading, I began to just realized that Jesus, in the beginning, didn't want people to tell others about Him. He didn't even want the demons he cast out of people to shout, "You're the Son of God!" I kept asking myself, "Why wouldn't He want people to know who He was?" That's when the "AAHA Moment" came. Jesus wanted to show God and not just proclaim that He was God.

I began to think about us as Christians and how we would love to tell everyone that we are Christians at times, but on the flip side, our works are not seen. I think if we are going to be Christians (CHRIST-like) then we should probably take a lesson from Jesus and let our works tell of His Grace and Mercy and Love before our mouths proclaim "OUR" position in all of this. What a powerful tool of evangelism. Jesus knew this. If we just allow our works to do the miraculous then eventually the doors of the people's heart will be unlocked to share the Christianity. Jesus knew the importance of reaching people's "world" before He showed them His own.

Judah's 2nd Sonogram

2008-10-13T10:33:00.032-04:00

Well, today we went to the Doctor for our 2nd sonogram. Everything seems to running perfectly. He is right on target for all of his measurements and the heart beat is steady and strong. We cannot wait to see him and hold. As we sat and watched Judah move around as we probed his momma's belly the sonogram wand, we couldn't help to think that God's creation of life is so spectacular. How can someone witness the formation of a human life and see it's complexity and perfect and think that there is no GOD? GOD truly is amazing and I thank Him everyday for blessing me with all that is in my life. My wife, my baby, my home, my job, my health, my home, my family, and list goes on and on. THANK YOU GOD for just being GOD!

Practical Joke

2008-10-12T17:02:00.006-04:00

I thought I would share the small practical joke we played on Jules. She was supposed to go with us to Catalyst in Atlanta but she couldn't get off work and she was a little bitter about it. Well the first day we were in Georgia we spent the entire day at the Atlanta Aquarium (the worlds largest aquarium) and me and my co-worker Erin (the Wednesday night director at our church) took a photo and Photoshoped Julie into the shot and sent it to her that night, via e-mail. She felt sad that she really wasn't there but also felt very much loved that we thought of her the whole week. If you haven't been to the Atlanta Aquarium, do yourself a favor and go. It really is spectacular. Why we were there they were actually working on the new expansion for dolphins. It should be done within the next year. Click here to check it out.

CATALYST DAY 2

2008-10-11T00:41:00.028-04:00

Well, day two is done and I made it back home to Orlando. Man, the days are long at Catalyst but filled with so much good stuff. Today's worship was lead by Steve Fee again as well as Kristian Stanfill, and another kid named Aaron Keyes. The day started off with an African choir leading us into worship and then later Lanny Donoho bringing an elephant into the room and then soon after that bringing in a donkey. I'm sure there was some symbolism trying be conveyed. The speakers were mucho better today...I thought. Tim Sanders gave a compelling talk on contagious compassion and how it has an amazing ripple effect when we step outside of ourselves in deliver an act of compassion that it is contagious to those around that witness. After Sanders was through, Dave Ramsey took the stage and blew everyone away. Not doing the typical and obvious talk on finances, Dave gave an authoritative talk on building unity within your ministry and not apogozing for holding a standard of excellence in all that we do. Here is just a taste of his closing talk. These are the 5 enemies of unity he says everyone must fight against: 1) Poor Communication, 2) Gossip, 3) Unresolved Disagreements, 4) Lack of Shared Purpose, 5) Sanctioned Incompetence. Another great talk was from a guy named Matt Chandler. He gave a talk on authentic living and ministering. He said that too many people use God just to grow their ministry or church and don't use God to grow themselves. How can we challenge people to live fully committed to God and live by faith when we ourselves can't. Live the Life. Overall, Catalyst was good and I can't wait to see what it has in store for the future 10th year anniversary. Next year they have already revealed to us that there will be 2 Catalysts. One on the east coast in Atlanta and another in Orange County, California. Hope to see you there!

CATALYST DAY 1

2008-10-09T21:27:00.027-04:00

Well, today was the first day of Catalyst and once again they have pushed the envelope of creativity, stage design, leadership training. As you can see to the left, the stage was in the center of the arena and massive wall of LED screens surrounded the drummer in the center of the stage. The only thing that stinks about this stage set up is that you can't always see everything that is going. But all in all the lighting, sound, and design was stellar.

After the opening worship set, led by Steve Fee, was over and the circular LED Screen lowered back down...Andy Stanley took the stage first as usual and spoke to the leaders about our moral authority. He challenges us to understand that moral authority is so much more powerful than positional authority. He said, "As soon as you lose your morals you've lost your influence and if you don't have influence then you no longer have authority, regardless if you have positional authority or not." Later on we had the an awesome opportunity to hear Jon Foreman (the lead singer of Switchfoot) do an acoustic set while he played guitar and another band member played the cello.
We also had the chance to make the biggest floam art piece in the world. If you have no idea what floam is and I have totally confused you then you can either look the photo provided or you click here for more info. They also interviewed this 14 year old kid that started a basketball fund-raiser when he was 9 years old that raised $2,000 the 1st year, $30,000 the 2nd, $120K the 3rd and $210K the 5th year running. He felt called to raise money to build schools in Africa at the age of 9 and with one thought created a non-profit fund-raising ministry, partnered with world vision ministries. WOW! What an inspiration to all of us leaders. Afterwards they raised $1,000 for every slam dunk the extreme team made. THEY RAISED $10K in about 2 minutes. WOW! I need them to come to our youth ministry....lol
Not only were we entertained during intermissions with floam, basketball, and bands but we also got to see a semi-celebrity from one of my favorite shows, So You Think You Can Dance. This kid is amazing. He didn't make it through the competition on TV because he dropped out but he came back on the season finale to battle another pop and locker. This is a photo of his performance today but you can see a video of him here. Although all of us this was quite fun and inspiring I would say that I was most inspired by a guy that took the stage at the age of 28 (the same age I am).
It's a guy by the name of Steven Furtick who after 2 years of leading his church, Elevation Church, it now runs 3,500 people in weekly attendance. His humility and appreciation for where God has brought him moved and inspired me and challenged me to live and minister with the same passion and vigor. I even continued to watch him as he left the stage and approached his wife. They embraced and hugged for quite a long time and you could just see the amazement between the both of them, that God had done, what they thought, was the unthinkable. For a guy that was in the nose bleed section of Catalyst just 2 years ago, he now found himself as one of the very speakers/leaders he aspired to live like. Day 2 of Catalyst is ahead and I feel like so much has been experienced. Stay posted for tomorrows update. Until then...Lead the people around you like it's the last chance you 'll get!

HEROES CONFUSION

2008-10-07T02:04:00.007-04:00

Just a small post today...Is anyone else confused about what the heck is going on in the world of Heroes. When this show first came on I was addicted but it has really taken some crazy turns and I am just getting more and more confused about what is going on. I understand the element of mystery that the producers are probably trying to implement but I think they are just shooting for too far left field. If you anyone can sum up in a small synopsis of what is going on this season...That would be GREAT! Until then....go and try to save the world one cheerleader at a time. It's starts with ONE!

CATALYST BOUND!!!

2008-10-06T02:08:00.016-04:00

Well, I am gearing up to go to Catalyst this week. For those of you that don't know what Catalyst is, it is one of the best conferences around for young ministers around the globe. It's an amazing place to get fresh and new ideas and it also helps give perspective of what else is going on in the world as far as Christian Culture is concerned. Past speakers have consisted of: John Maxwell, Andy Stanley, Dave Ramsey, Rick Warren, Erwin McManus, Francis Chan, Craig Groeschel, George Barna, Louie Giglio, and many more. Not only have the speakers been amazing in the past but the music has also been top notch.

Every year I leave Catalyst with tons of teaching resources as well as new media and video ideas for the upcoming year. Catalyst seems to always push the envelope when it comes to music, stage design, marketing ideas, and thinking. If you have never been you owe it to yourself to either talk to someone that has been or just get a ticket for yourself and go. This might be my last year to go due to the fact that one of Catalyst's biggest supporters and guest speakers Andy Stanley has started his own conference called DRIVE and focused more on the administrative side of church. He answers the question, "What's the best way to run church business?" It's sad that it might be my last year to go to Catalyst but I am excited to see what else is out there. I never want to get stagnant in regards to where I glean all my ideas and resources. I want to always keep pushing myself outside my comfort zones and see what else God has to reveal. We try to do the same thing within our youth ministry by always going to new places and conferences and never doing the same-ole same-ole! So CATALYST BOUND, I am!

He's a BIG GOD!

2008-10-02T16:33:00.010-04:00

Identity Youth was AWESOME last night! We just had a great spirit of camaraderie and worship and attentiveness and flow and receptiveness to God's word and presence. Our church as a whole has been in unity about focusing on God's word lately. With my pastor's series "TXT" and the youth series "LOST" God has really been challenging us as a church body to read, study, and dissect His word with hopes of further revelation about the text He has sent us. MAN!!!! I have seen the fruits of this focus! Our youth are hungrier about God's word and they are sticking to their commitment and it is paying off. I have heard story after story about our youth not comprehending something they read in their devotionals and as they begin to ask God, "What does that mean?" and they begin to further study and research the deeper meaning or the point God is making the in text that they are reading, He has shown and given them BETTER understanding and because of that understanding they are becoming more like Christ. GOD IS GOOD!

This past Wednesday night we talked a lot about facing struggles head on and not fearing the unknown of the future and just truly relying on God to pull us through our difficult times and trusting God to be more than faithful to do exceedingly, abundantly beyond all we could have ever hoped for. I was reading a friend 's Blog today and he was reflecting the economy and it's struggles right now and it is so good to hear that even though the world may worry in fear of the stability of our economic structure, we trust in a God that is bigger than money. We trust in a God that spoke the world into existence with the utterance of a few words and He has all of our lives in His control.

YOU SEND IT

2008-09-30T12:10:00.005-04:00

Many of you might know about this site but for those of you that don't...CHECK IT OUT! It's not flashy looking or aesthetically impressive but it's capabilities are very useful. For someone like myself who has to send and receive large files such as videos and graphics this site comes in handy. Almost all e-mail servers limit your file transfers and yousendit.com gives you the ability to upload your file and e-mail it to someone through the yousendit.com website and YouSendIt will e-mail your recipient a hyperlink to their site to download the file. The FREE version of this allows you to send 1GB of files every month and you can upgrade your file transfer limit for a cost and you can see those prices and details here.

10 that tempt and bring death to leaders

2008-09-30T11:55:00.013-04:00

1. Focus on personal advancement instead of team success.
2. Shift blame to others instead of absorbing it yourself.
3. Avoiding a hard conversation because you might not be liked afterward.
4. Wanting to be heard instead of trying to listen.
5. Delegating to the point of being unaware.
6. Make decisions that please people instead of the right ones.
7. Delaying tough decisions under the disguise of needing more information.
8. Always acting like you know all the answers.
9. Never seek advice or wisdom for fear of appearing incapable of your role.
10. Believe you've learned all there is to know about what you do.

VIMEO VIDEO

2008-09-17T11:17:00.046-04:00

I know this is the age of YouTube but I have just discovered an amazing website that is free of charge that delivers much better quality, options, and a better looking result. It's a site called VIMEO.com. Vim (rhymes with him) ee (rhymes with bee) oh (rhymes with go). Vim-ee-oh is the correct pronunciation. I first noticed VIMEO when I watched a video on Ed Young's church site. You can see this video a few blogs below but I noticed that his videos were extremely clear and clean looking. I did some searching and found the site that he uses to post videos on all of his sites. At the end of my searching I found VIMEO. Let me just tell you some of the great features this video blogging site allows you to have creative control over. First off, the upload process is very quick and easy to follow and while your files are uploading you are still able to roam the site and make setting changes to the video that is currently uploading. Once the video has completed uploading to the site you can now add search TAGs to the video to help others easily find it. You can change privacy settings such as, making it private or public. You can allow others to post comments on your video or not. You can give viewers the option of downloading your video to their computer. You can allow others to add your video to their "channels" or websites by grabbing the html code right of the video window. You can credit people that appear in the video. The options are considerably greater than other sites. Another great feature I found cool on VIMEO is the option of choosing your preview screen or your video thumbnail. Previously, with other video blogging sites, your video thumbnail was just determined by whatever image was on the screen at a certain time lapse into the video you posted. You never knew what it could be until after you had posted the video.
I have had videos in the past that got stuck with a freeze frame of someone's face in an awkward position and it just becomes a horrible first impression when people are browsing your site to see videos. VIMEO gives you 12 freeze frame options that are randomly selected from your video as seen to the left and you also have the option of uploading an image or graphic that you choose to be the thumbnail. Not only does VIMEO give you countless options in uploading your video but it also gives you multiple choices with how your video is presented when posted to other sites. VIMEO gives you the option of changing size and format of your video while still keeping the aspect ratio. It also allows you to change the color of the buttons displayed and an amazing feature that this site has that others sites like YouTube does not is the ability of clicking an expand button on the video window that will expand the video playing to full screen. If you are in youth ministry or you just use video quite often in your video blogging and website designs, this is a site you definitely want to check out. VIMEO allows you to create small video galleries that can be placed on your websites so that your site's pages aren't cluttered with video windows. You can see an example of this on my blog's home page. The only complaint I have about VIMEO is that the site limits your "weekly" upload to 500MB. I have been reading up on the site and there will possibly be a professional upgrade to expand your weekly limit. Other than that it is a great site for being free of cost and since I have been using it I have noticed that quite a few large churches and organizations use VIMEO for their website video posts. I highly endorse it and seriously hope that you check it out. HAVE FUN!!!

Relevant Marketing

2008-09-15T14:05:00.018-04:00

We had a band come and play at Identity Student Ministries the other day and as they were setting up their merchandise they observed our youth t-shirts a made a surprising comment. They said, "These are the first youth group tees that we've seen that we actually like." They went on to say, "I even want to by one. So many youth groups have such cheesie tees." Remember, these are their words and not mine but I think is something we (those in ministry) can all think about. I have made it a point to create t-shirts and graphics that our students will wear and use. Too often people choose a cheaper priced tee and graphic and the quality of the product suffers. We have to remember..if they don't thinks it's fashionable then they will probably not wear it. And if they won't wear it then your ministry won't get the exposure that you probably are hoping for. A lot of people have asked me how do I make the graphics and t-shirts for our youth ministry and it always amuses me. The reason is...I can't take complete credit for everything that I do. I use graphics from everywhere: iStock, Google Image, wallpaper sites, graphics exchange, iChurch Photo, Relevant Magazine, Deviant Art, and more. A key thing that I tell everyone is to keep a library of starter graphics that can act as a base or foundational background and then add to those to make them your own. Who has the time to start from scratch? Anyone in ministry knows that your time is spread thin in many different areas of ministry and so we have to use our time efficiently. That's why it is important to always keep your eyes open for great graphics and fonts EVERYWHERE you look. Just a few types of medium and media that I have pulled inspiration and graphics from: Magazines, other church websites, other secular websites, clothing, photography sites, and so on...You can pull inspiration from everywhere. Just start collecting stuff that grabs your eye. Here are just a few things that I have created for our youth ministry in the past.

RENEWVAL '08 Highlights Video

2008-09-14T00:22:00.012-04:00

Well, here are just a few of the highlights from this year's RENEWVAL. Some of the camera work is questionable, due to the fact that I was shooting video with a High-Def camera that I have never used before and all focusing and zooming had to be manually operated, but it was fun nonetheless. I hope you enjoy!

Being Loving Not Religious

2008-09-12T11:51:00.017-04:00

I came across this video the other day on Ed Young's site and I thought was interesting. I'm not the BIGGEST Ed Young fan but he has done a couple things here and there that have really caught my heart. This video, once get past the commercial at the beginning talks about his unusual meeting with a local porn star. I love that he didn't focus his attention on the sin but on the sinner instead. Too often we look at someone sin and we automatically write them off and want nothing to do with them but we must remember that Jesus welcomed all sinners into his company. If you think about it...the only people Jesus got angry at was the religious people. We had this situation a while back in our church and this video reminded me of that situation. Our church is located right down the road from a gay night club and so we have quite of few homosexual couples in our churches neighborhood. Well, one day a lesbian couple started attending the church and the attended on a regular basis. I loved that they were attending. Notice I didn't say I loved that they lived a gay lifestyle but I just loved that we had an opportunity to pour Jesus into their life and maybe after time it would change their lifestyle...who knows? My point is, you have to catch a fish before you can clean. The word says that He came to this world not to condemn the world but that the world MIGHT be saved. Well, to make a long story short...the lesbian couple began to make long time church members uncomfortable with how close they sat to each other and eventually they felt negativity and left the church. This was a real upset to me. When will the church stop looking at the sin and see the sinner that needs Jesus. I began to ask myself, "What made their sin any different from the sin of the struggling addict that sits two rows back?" or "What makes their sin worse than the husband that struggles with pornography?" or "What makes their sin more sinful than the wife that lies to her husband about how much she spends at the mall?" I think we ALL need to evaluate how we see sinners and ask ourselves, "Are we looking at the sin or do we see the sinner that needs the love of Christ?"

RENEWVAL RECAP

2008-09-12T03:47:00.011-04:00

Well, the craziness of this past week and our 3rd annual RENEWVAL has finally slowed down a bit and I have finally got to work on posting some of this years photos. Here is just a taste of what this past week was like. It really was a successful event this year and I am so proud of my team of leaders and the ID youth band for the amazing job they did. WOW! We have come such a long way and I can't wait to see how God uses Identity Student Ministries in the future. Stay tuned for a RENEWVAL Highlights Video...

Kingdom Minded

2008-09-09T03:28:00.011-04:00

Well, our 3rd annual three day youth conference "RENEWVAL" is finally over and it has left me with a loaded question..."What ever happened to being Kingdom minded?" Let me explain. Our vision for this amazing youth conference we host has always been to build relationships, to build ourselves and to build the kingdom but somewhere along the way it seems that people have lost the most important element of what RENEWVAL was birthed to accomplish; the aspect of building the kingdom. Let me explain further. Every year me and the Identity Student Ministry leaders bust our tails to plan, promote, and host RENEWVAL and every year we pursue other youth ministries in the Orlando area to come and participate with us in worship. Our goal is that we all (all Orlando youth ministries) benefit from the amazing atmosphere RENEWVAL creates to share the message of Christ with as many teens as possible and every year multiple youth pastors promise me they will be in attendance with a van full of youth and every year, all but one youth pastor disappoint. Whatever happened to integrity? What ever happened to being a man/woman of your word? I just don't get it. Is it a fear of losing their kids to another youth group? Is it a fear of comparison? There have been many times that I have brought our teens to other's youth ministry events in support of what other ministries are doing and even if I had no youth with me I would still come alone to support. I just guess I don't understand prioritizing the success of a "ministry" over the success of the "Kingdom." Am I making any sense? I think that somewhere along the road of building ministries churches have lost the most important aspect of what God called us to do; seek the lost. Somewhere we've turned to focus on ourselves and we've lost the element of evangelism; and it's not just other youth pastors. I was also left scratching my head after RENEWVAL because our own youth. Some of our youth brought unsaved friends to RENEWVAL and they got saved (PTL) but others... When will we get past our fears of rejection and start inviting our unsaved friends to church. Are we so insecure of how people will perceive us that we choose our comfort zone over someones eternity. Don't get me wrong...I could use work in this area as well...I just thought that "our" youth would have come through with their end of the deal for such an amazing event that they are so proud of. I guess somewhere along the road it became all about..."What can "I" get out of RENEWVAL?" instead of "What can "THEY" get out of RENEWVAL?"

ready, set, BLOG!

2008-09-09T01:13:00.001-04:00

Hey Guys,
Well, I'm not foreign to technology but I am new at this whole blogging thing. I know it's all the rage in this generation but for me it's just a healthy outlet to get things out of my system. If you know anything about being in the ministry you know your choices of open candid conversations are limited. I figured this is as good a place as any. It will probably be a great place for unedited creative juices to flow...like I needed one more website to maintain. Well hopefully good things will soon come justincaseyouwantedtoknow. - J