How can I express all the amazing things that God did on the Brazil trip?  You truly don’t understand the act of dying to yourself until you walk out of your comfort zone and usually out of the country.  If you haven’t gone out of the country on a mission trip, I would challenge you to get to Brazil.  Pete and Jodi (the missionaries in Brazil) are absolutely amazing.  They obviously are running after the Lord and are directly in the center of His will.

One of the most amazing things of this trip was the fact that every student shared the gospel with several people.  It is a cool thing to watch students who have constantly been poured into finally pouring into someone else. 

One of the challenges that I gave these students was to continue to pour into the student ministry for their final five months.  But then after that they need to be on the forefront of the college ministry vision.  I pray that God would use this class of Seniors to really raise up a generation of students that want to run after God.  I also challenged them to multiply themselves.  I have a small bible study with a group of guys on Thursday nights for the purpose of growing them spiritually and multiplying myself.  I told them that in the same way I multiply myself by pouring into them they need to multiply themselves with some students younger than them.  We all need to be finding a Timothy to pour into.  We are simply wasting our God given lessons by not passing them on.  As a result of hoarding our spiritual maturity we are raising up a biblical illiterate, ignorant of God generation.  May we pass on the baton to those in waiting.

Anyways, God did an amazing thing through our High School Seniors and I truly believe that Brazil will continually produce fruit in their lives for many years to come.  They were able to make their faith their own.  They came into contact with people who are desperate for Christ.  The main problem with Americans is that we are wealthy enough and comfortable enough that we really don’t need God.  We don’t have a desperation for God.  May God always grant us a spirit that is desperate for him.  May we never become complacent and never settle for ordinary.

God is so good!  He has given me and my wife our first full year of marriage.  And really ministry!  I am realizing that there is no way I could do ministry as well as I do (if I do it well) without her.  She adds so much to who I am as I hope I do for her.  We truly are better together than apart. 

I have included some pictures of our wedding cake that we enjoyed last night.  It was delicious.  We really have a fun time.  There is no one that I have as much fun with as my wife.  She is truly amazing.  One thing is for sure, this year has gone by so fast.  It feels as though it was yesterday that we were on our honeymoon. 

Praise God!!  I pray that God continues to move in our lives the way and beyond the way He has in this past year.  I look forward to spending the rest of my life with my beautiful wife.  Thank you God! Your amazing!

I am so excited about getting to go to Brazil.  If you don’t know we are taking a group of six seniors in high school on this trip.  I am excited about the change it is going to make in Brazil but also in all of us.  There is usually nothing more moving than serving.  It is funny how every mission trip that I have been on, especially out of the country, I feel as though I have been blessed more than I have been a blessing.  It is amazing how some of the most spiritual growing that you will ever do will be done only through service. 

This is one of the reasons that we believe in student serving within the church.  I remember sitting in countless Sunday School classes while I was in high school and I just can’t recall anything vital that I learned.  While it wasn’t a complete waste of time, I just wish I would have had the opportunity to do something worthwhile.  I became a believer as a junior in high school, so I didn’t technically grow up in church.  I think because of that I could never understand the concept of hearing more than one message in a day.  I could never remember both and honestly I quickly became bored.  My heart would burn with passion about just doing something.  I found myself getting upset at the fact that we could have been in our church or in our community doing something with purpose rather than sitting in a choir room basically hanging out with a cute little bible story mixed in.  This is no knock on my teachers or the church, but rather a plea to have purpose.  As a leader in my student ministry I would have loved to lead the way in serving in our church.  My attitude is I want to make a difference not just take up a seat.  Maybe I am just crazy.

How in the world did I get on that? 

Brazil.  Please pray diligently for us.  That God would move in Brazil and in our lives.  May God change both Brazil and our student ministry forever because of His work on this trip.  Please dedicate yourselves to praying for us.  We honestly covet your prayers.  Not to mention that I will be will high school students.  haha.  Phillip Elliott, Canaan Chapman, Scott Humphress, Cory Hutchinson, Olivia Schroder, Ashley Shinn, Me, Jennifer McCaman, Amanda Filkins, Chris Hollomon, Bret and Suzie Cox, Allen Kimble.  Please pray over us.

I am a humbled man.  I realize that God is doing great things in our ministry, and yet I realize that I have a long way to go.  The most amazing thing for me was that Northpoint was esentially started out of a desire for ministers to be both hard worker and yet have great families.  They keep everything simple so that they might be great fathers, mothers, husbands and wives.  And because of this, God has blessed them incredibly.  Praise God! 

I have learned a ton.  I pray that God would cultivate the things He taught me into what we are now doing.  May His words and lessons not return to Him void.  Praise God that He continuously draws us farther and farther on a journey with Him.

God has his hand all over our student ministy.  We spoke this past Wednesday evening we continued our Life’s Anatomy series focusing specifically about Hell.  We taught that there were 4 agonies that would take place in hell; emotional, physical, relational, spiritual.  The student were very engaged.

We attempted a new technique.  We sat students around tables with their small groups.  I would teach a short section and then allow the small groups to disect that particular segment.  This seemed to work brilliantly in getting all of our student tasting small groups.  If the one that don’t come would only give it a try they would see how great they truly are.  I am a huge fan of small groups.  Life change will rarely happen outside of close godly relationships. 

Anyway, I presented the gospel and gave students a chance to accept Christ.  I then asked that the students would look at me so that I could know who prayed to recieve Christ, and I saw several eyes.  I pray that God would convict students to do as we asked and communicate with their small group leaders that they have gave their lives to Christ.  My heart burns to see students lives changed.  I want nothing more than students to understand that God loves them and has a great purpose for their lives. 

Pray your heart out about this upcoming week.  I am speaking about Heaven.  Pray that God changes students hearts to live with eternity in mind.

I cannot say enough about what God has been doing in my life.  God is really moving in our student ministry.  Our High School retreat (Collision) happened this weekend.  God truly moved.  Many students are beginning to feel a call to ministry and truly learning that God is good.  My heart absolutely burns for students to realize their God given purpose.  At Collision Phillip Martin was our speaker and communicated that we were all made by God and therefore were made with a purpose, to follow Him and to lead others.  We had a great communion time where I prayed over each male student and Mel prayed over each female and we serve them individually their communion.  Potential leaders are beginning to emerge into real leaders.  Pray that God continues to call them to something much higher. 

Last night we had our high school outreach event called FUEL.  There were over 200 students here and 19 students prayed to recieve Christ.  It was an amazing night.  We started the night with an improv group called isaac improv.  They were hiliarious.  Beyond that they were really cool to hang out with.   The funny thing was that their names were Ryan and Tim (neither one of them being Isaac).  It was a fabulous night where God once again moved in a great way.  I believe God loves to surprise me.  Often when I think that the night is just not going well he shows me that someone is getting it.  Praise God the God of surprises.  May he continue to surprise all of us.