Serve

This whole week our church has been out in the community every day serving. This week culminated with a program called ACTS of Pickerington, which combined several churches in Pickerington as we served together. We passed out water, gave cookies to service people and fixed up some parks. We had lunch and then did a meal packaging event to feed starving kids in Uganda. We packaged over 40,000 meals in 2 hours. It was an incredible thing to be a part of. Altogether, the day was amazing and God got the glory.

keep moving

There are times in life where it is easy to just coast. To let up on the personal growth, dreaming and planning for the future and just slip into the land of comfort. But the truth is, we reap what we sow. If we are not planting anything today, there will be no new plants or fruit tomorrow. What happens tomorrow, depends on what you prepare and plant today. So keep moving!

story

I was listening to a podcast this morning and Andy Stanley was talking about decisions. One thing he said was "When it is all said and done, what story to you want to tell?" Cause after the decision or the event or even the consequences, we are always left with a story. With every decision, think through what story you want to tell?

camp 2

God never ceases to amaze me what He does in students lives, in and through camp. We saw God move powerfully and lives were changed. I pray that they guard what God did in their lives as the enemy would love to steal it from them. How do we guard what God has done? Here are a couple ways: - Journal it: so you can go back and re-read what God has done. - Make a plan: how will your life be lived out different? Get a plan for what specific changes that will be made. - Accountability - tell someone what happened and how you are changed. Then, have them ask you tough questions to hold you accountable to that. - Don't stop - keep chasing Jesus, get in your Bible, pray daily, get plugged in a good church. How do you keep a fire going? Add fuel to it. Continue adding fuel to your spiritual fire.

Camp.....

I will always love camp. It's at camp that God does some amazing things in students lives. I used to run camps all summer and now get to occasionally be the speaker at them. I'm at a camp right now and truly enjoying it. Last night there was a huge storm that knocked out the power so we had acoustic worship and I spoke from a megaphone....but God still moved. I'm looking forward to the rest of the week.

how to get vision out

Anytime vision is presented, it must be given by more than one person in order for it to be truly grasped. There are 3 classifications: 1. Casters 2. Clarifiers 3. Communicators As vision is cast it just can't be words, but it must be lifestyle and modeled through behavior. "Vision has no force, power or impact unless it spreads." - Barna

leaky

We are all love tanks that leak. Think about it. We all need love, belonging, approval, etc and it has to be continual because we leak. We find ourselves seeking love in many areas, most are unhealthy. Can you imagine what life would be like, if the only one you wanted to please was God, who already loves you and accepts you unconditionally? It would change our lives. The crazy thing is...it's true. So, let's seek the love we need to fill our tank, from the ONE who is Love!

awards

Today, Keri and I went to Kaden's awards ceremony at his school. I was blown away how smart my son is! He racked up 6 awards. Intellectually, he is in unchartered territory for someone with the last name "Stephens." ha... It's amazing how you begin to see your kids find their giftings and realizing what they are good at. This was a great lesson to teach him, that when you work hard, it does pay off.

Panama

We had an incredible trip to Panama! Our church raised $10,000 to build a new church in Colon Panama. Our team did amazing and kept focused the whole time. We truly left the country with no regrets. It's amazing how you can bond with people by serving together. We did a lot of construction by laying block and putting the tin roofing sheets down, as well as some demolition of some old walls. At night we did services and saw 11 people come to Christ in this new church plant. It was a great trip.