Merry Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas to you all!! I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year!! I'll see you next year!

Staff Dream Day

Next Tuesday our Student Ministry Staff will be having a Dream Day where we will take 3 hours, find a coffee shop, and pray and ask God to show us our direction and new vision for this next year. I'm pretty excited about it and I'm looking forward to hearing all that God shows my staff. I encourage all leaders of ministries to consider doing this every 2 or 3 months to get away from the office to just pray and seek where and what God would have you do. I can get caught up in planning things, then asking God to bless them, instead I need to see what God wants to do and then do what He is planning on blessing. Pray for us that we will discover all that God wants to lead us to do.

We will miss you Russell

Last night Russell Freeman, our worship pastor, went to be with Jesus. Our prayers and thoughts are with the Freeman family. Russell had a heart attack almost 5 months ago and has been unconscious throughout this entire time. Russell served here at First Baptist Church for over 4 years and has been dearly loved and has taken our worship ministry to new and amazing heights. On a personal note, I have never known anyone so genuine and kind. We only got the opportunity to be around him for about a month, but he touched our lives so deeply. From bringing us KFC the night we moved in, to standing in his driveway till midnight talking about his heart to lead people into true worship, to sitting in the worship services he led and being in awe of God, he truly touched our lives. We will definitely miss Russell but how exciting that he is with the King of Kings worshiping with all his heart.

Crazy Stats

I've been reading a new book called iY Generation by Tim Elmore. It is a fascinating book and I highly recommend it to any Youth Pastor, Teacher, Coach, or anyone involved with the next generation. Here are a few staggering statistics out of the book.

In 2009
60% of college graduates moved back home with their parents with no plan.
30% of teenagers did not graduate from high school.
Many of these will face a quarterlife crisis at age 25.

A typical U.S. teen sends and receives an average of 1,742 text messages a month
44% of high school boys have seen a pornographic photo of a classmate on their cell phone.

For the first time in 20 years when students were asked who their hero was it was not an athlete but "mom and dad"

Staggering statistics but still so much hope. Parents keep praying for your kids and continue to model a Godly lifestyle always before them.

Amplify Wednesday Nights

God is doing great things here at First Baptist Broken Arrow on Wednesday nights during our Amplify Service for Students. If you're a student in the Tulsa/Broken Arrow Metro area come see us every Wednesday night at 6:30 p.m.

Our new Administrative Assistant

Manoah Sinclair has recently joined our Youth Staff as our new Administrative Assistant. Students and Parents if you have any questions or need help with anything feel free to ask Manoah. We are very excited to have you Manoah!!

Russell Freeman

This Sunday we will have special services to recognize Russell Freeman our Worship Pastor, continuing to pray for him and his family. In all 3 services we will be lead in worship by Russell via old videos of him leading in services from several months ago. If you are in the Tulsa/Broken Arrow area you don't want to miss this special day. Please continue to pray for Russell and his family, he is to be moved home this week but still has a long journey ahead of him.

Pray for Josh Hamilton

Josh Hamilton has been on my mind and in my prayers this morning. I have been amazed at how God has used him throughout the playoffs and his faithfulness and steadiness to give praise and honor to Christ every time a microphone is in front of him. Every once in a while an athlete makes a powerful stand for Christ and I believe that God uses them so greatly because everyone is watching. The World Series is a huge platform and Christians need to pray for Josh, that God will use his words, his talents, and his incredible testimony to make Jesus famous. Go Rangers!!!

My Pastor's New Blog

Our Pastor Nick Garland has started a new blog. He has amazing insights in every post. I'm so blessed to serve under such a Godly man with clear vision and a heart for people. Check out his blog at:

nickgarland.org

New Girl's Ministry Devotional Blog

Our new Girl's Associate Minister has put together a devotional blog for teenage girls to read through. She posts a new devotional every few days. A great way to stay in God's word. Check it out at:

fbcbagirls.blogspot.com

New Student Worship Leader

Well it's official, Nick Livingston is going to be coming on board as our new permanent Student Worship Leader here at FBC Broken Arrow. He officially joined the Student Ministry Staff today. Nick has been doing kind of an interim deal for us the past few weeks, but we loved him so much we begged him to stay. He has agreed to join our team and we are thrilled about it. Nick is an amazing worship leader and has an incredible heart to reach students for Christ. Students please give Nick a shout out and welcome him to the team.

New Blogger Staci Warlick

Staci Warlick is our new Girls' Associate here at FBC Broken Arrow. She has a new blog up to help students and women involved in girls ministry. This will be a great tool for everyone. Check it out at:

www.staciwarlick.blogspot.com

Collide

Collide is this Wednesday night October 6th at 6:30 p.m. We will have plenty of food, we are giving away 2 Itouch, plus you can win $200 for making a half-court shot. Bring tons of friends. We hope to see you Wednesday night at Collide!!!

Girls Associate

I'm very excited to announce that Staci Warlick will be coming on as our new Girls Associate Minister. Staci is an outstanding individual with an amazing heart for God and for Students. She is going to bring a fresh and exciting element to our Student Ministry team that I am fired up about. Staci will be full-time here and will be starting Oct. 4th. She will be in attendance this Wednesday night at Amplify where we will introduce her and give students an opportunity to meet her.

Staci has served at Fellowship Bible Church in Rogers, Arkansas and Centreville Baptist Church in Centreville, Virginia. Students please plan on coming this Wednesday night at 6:30 p.m. to Amplify she is very excited to meet you.

Our Son Logan

I continue to be amazed at how God chooses to bless us. We now have a wonderful healthy baby boy. My hope and prayer for Logan is that he will love God with all of his heart and that God will use him to reach many for the Kingdom of God.

Silver Ring Thing at FBCBA

We are hosting Silver Ring Thing here at First Baptist Church of Broken Arrow this Sunday night, Sept. 19th at 6 p.m. This is an amazing event calling students to purity. For more details and to get signed up go to the website:

www.silverringthing.com

New Student Ministry Website

I'm very excited about our new Amplify Student Ministry Website. Jamie Pope has been working overtime to make it happen and it looks great. Check it out at

www.amplifystudentministry.com

3 more weeks

We are down to 3 weeks until we have our new little boy. It's hard to believe we will be trying to keep up with 2 kids when we can barely keep up with 1 right now. Being a dad has been one of the greatest blessings of my life. I never imagined how awesome it would be before we had our daughter. My prayer for my kids every day, that they would follow Jesus with all their hearts and with all their lives. My hope and prayer is that they would be willing to do whatever, go whenever, and speak wherever He calls them to. There would be nothing greater than having children who give everything to follow him, even if that means me losing everything, I pray they will go for it.

Jamie Pope's new blog

Check out Jamie Pope's blog. Jamie is our Associate Student Minister here at Fbc Broken Arrow. He is doing an awesome job.

Check out his new blog at

www.jamiepope.org

My Daughter's new Word

Yesterday my little girl, who just turned 2, used a word that I haven't heard her use before. She was wanting me to turn the water hose on for her to play in the water. I said "No" and thought that would be it, but out came her new word when she asked "Why?" I didn't know she knew that word, so a little surprised I was just honest and said "Because Daddy's tired and I don't feel like cleaning up the mess you will make if I let you get all wet in the water." I don't think she understood anything I said but she again responded with "Why?". It's going to get old quickly and I'm sure I'll get to the point where I'll be saying "Because I said so". But it got me thinking about all the times I've asked God the same question "Why God?" "why didn't I get that?" "why did this have to happen?" "why didn't you answer my prayer?" We often question God but we have to realized that He sees much more than we do. He sees the whole plan and picture and I believe that He does answer our prayers one way or another, it's just sometimes He answers with a "No". It's sometimes not what we want but it's always best when it's what He wants. Maybe we should stop questioning God and start thanking Him for helping us in times that we don't see the overall plan.

Amplify Project Kansas City

This past week we took a group of students to Kansas City for a mission trip. It was an amazing trip for sure. The greatest part for me was to get to know our students. We have an amazing group of students. Also thank you to my Youth Staff and all the Adult Volunteers who did so much on this trip. What a great week. Can't wait for next year.

Check out Kyle Sullivan's New Blog

Kyle is a summer intern here at FBC Broken Arrow. I've really enjoyed working with him this summer. He does a great job and our students love him. He definitely has a bright future ahead in ministry. He just put together a new blog. Check it out.

kylesullivanonline.com

Please Pray for Russell

At about 8 a.m. this morning our Worship Pastor here at FBC Broken Arrow, Russell Freeman, had what appears to be a heart attack, while driving from church to his home. He is now in Southcrest Hospital in Tulsa and is still non-responsive. His heart rate is unstable and doctors have now placed him in a coma for the next 2 days hoping to revive him after that. Please keep Russell in your prayers. His heart for the Lord and leading others in worship is unmatched. He is an unbelievable worship leader and has done so much for me and my family already just in the short time that we have been here. Please also pray for his wife Kathy, son Tyler, and daughter Lauren in this time.

There will be a prayer service tonight at 6 p.m. in our worship center.

2 words for Lebron James

I think Lebron James just made a massive mistake in choosing to go the Miami Heat. It is going to fun to watch but I have 2 words for Lebron, Ego and Kobe.

Having 3 guys who have ran their teams for years play together won't work. Now the Big Three in Boston have done it well but it won't work with these 3. The Miami Heat are Dwayne Wade's team. He moved over when Shaq came to town and they won a championship but he's been there so long now that Lebron and Bosh will be step children of the Heat. Lebron's ego is the biggest of the 3 and he won't be satisfied unless it is His Team. If he doesn't share it won't work and I don't think he's really going to be up for sharing.

Then there is still no way they are going to be able to overcome the Lakers. Kobe is too strong and will die on the court before he lets this 3peat slip away. He is more of a competitor than all 3 of those guys but together and he will figure out a way to win. Then throw in Phil Jackson, Pau Gasol, and Andrew Bynum, and it's a done deal. Who is the coach of the Miami Heat again? That's right.

Finally if they don't pull out a championship this next season this will be the greastest failure in NBA History. Trades will start happening so fast Lebron will wish he had stayed in Cleveland.

Sorry to branch away from ministry but I love sports too. It's going to be fun watching everything unfold. Can't wait till next June.

Explosive Giving

Yesterday to celebrate our Independence, Americans spent over 350 million dollars on Fireworks. It was definitely cool blowing stuff up but 350 million dollars seems pretty extreme. Now I'm not against fireworks, I love fireworks, but are our priorities in the wrong place?
I was reading the other day in Exodus 35 and 36 where the Lord spoke through Moses telling the people to bring offerings to the Lord. He told them to bring jewelry, linen, gold, silver, etc. and the people began to bring it in, and bring it in, and bring it in. They brought so much in that Moses literally had to say "Stop!!" there was too much to handle. They brought more than was needed.

What if we began to see this in our churches again. That we brought in so much that people had to be turned away because there was too much. Sadly it blows my mind to even think that way. The resources are there but it's not a priority. Lets give to the Kingdom of God and reach more and more people, lets give so much that we have to be told to stop giving. Wow! What an impact we could make.

Exaggerated Numbers

One of the most tempting things about ministry is to exaggerate our numbers. In ministry, in a way, we are sized up by the numbers we bring in. I do believe that numbers are important because a number represents a person but that should never give us an excuse to lie about them. It is always a temptation to round up. If we had 45 it's easy to say we had 50 or if we had 180 it's easy to say we had 200. But it's a lie. I just want to encourage ministers to tell the truth about the numbers they are running and not fall into the temptation of seeing your number as your worth.

I really do feel like this has become a significant problem. Someone is always going to ask how big your group is, whether it's your boss, a fellow youth pastor, or your mother-in-law. The next time someone asks make sure you tell the truth without exaggerating. Lets be concerned with honoring God more than honoring ourselves.

Aaron Sadler

Check out Aaron Sadler's new blog. Aaron is our Student Worship Leader. He has an amazing heart for God, loves these students, and does an incredible job leading worship. God is using him greatly. Check out his blog.

arocksadler.blogspot.com

We Made It!!!

Well we have officially made it to Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. We got all the boxes unpacked, all the pictures hung up on the walls, and we are still alive. It's great to be here, I'm loving working at the church, and life is good. Thanks for your prayers.

Please pray for our Trip Across America

Just wanted to ask you to pray for us through the next week as we make our way to Broken Arrow. Here's what the week looks like:

Yesterday - Packers Came and Packed us Up.
Today - Jenna, Emma, and Samson started driving up, they are in Alabama right now and should make it to Cabot, Arkansas by tonight.
Tomorrow - Movers come and load the truck with all our stuff. I will hopefully leave tomorrow at a decent hour to start the trek to Cabot, Arkansas. Plan on getting there late tomorrow night.
Saturday - Monday - We will be in Cabot, Arkansas with Jenna's family and Zach my brother for the weekend.
Tuesday - head up to Broken Arrow and meet the moving company, get all moved in and settled.
Wednesday - Start work at FBC Broken Arrow. I will be speaking Wednesday night to all the students. Really looking forward to that.

We appreciate your prayers. A tough but exciting week.

Moving to First Baptist Church of Broken Arrow, Oklahoma

Seven weeks ago we received a call to ask if we would begin considering and praying through an open position at First Baptist Church of Broken Arrow. They were looking for a Student Pastor to lead their students, staff, and volunteers. After much prayer and tears we have decided to leave our church here in Brandon and move at the end of this month to Broken Arrow. God is doing a great work in Broken Arrow and we are very excited about joining the team there. Yet on the other side of things we have been here for nearly 4 years. We have been happy here, we have loved the students, parents, and leaders. It's going to be so difficult to leave, but we feel that God is moving on to a new place. Nothing bad has happened here and nothing has gone wrong, it is simply a great opportunity for us and a firm knowledge and understanding that God is leading us to a new place in ministry and in our lives. Jenna, Emma, and I love the students and people of First Baptist Church of Brandon, Fl. Thank you for loving us and allowing us to be a part of your lives. God has done incredible things here and I have been so honored and blessed to be your Student Pastor. For more information about our new church you can check out their website at http://www.fbcba.org/
We love you all and will miss you terribly. We will stay in touch.
Jeremy

Camp 2010

This summer we will be headed to Daytona Beach for Student Life Camp. We're excited about going and are praying that it will be an amazing week. Students you can still get signed up and the dates are July 12-16. Chris Tomlin, Louie Giglio, the Beach... Need I say more.

New Orleans

This year we will be taking our Students to New Orleans for our annual mission trip. This will be our 4th trip there. Students get signed up to go make an impact on the city of New Orleans. We go through an organization called Mission Love Never Fails. It was founded in 2006 by Chris Lange. He has a heart to reach that city and does an amazing job putting together a great mission trip for churches. For more information check out their website at www.missionloveneverfails.com

Missional Student Ministry Workshop

We are very excited to be hosting a Missional Student Ministry Workshop on April 20th, put on by Jeff Hessinger and The Florida Baptist Convention. If you are a Student Pastor or Key Volunteer in a Student Ministry this will be a great workshop for you. Please be apart of this and bring a couple of people with you. For all the details visit www.jeffhessinger.com .

Texting Translations for Parents

Do you ever feel lost when your teen texts OMG or LOL or ROTFLOL? It's hard to keep up with the latest lingo in the text messaging world. If you're a parent of a teenager this link will revolutionize your text messaging skills. I'm very excited about this tool and I'm sure you will be too. Check out this website that can translate the meaning of more than 2,000 popular text abbreviations. Click on the link below.
http://www.lgdtxtr.com/

My Final Four Picks

I've decided to let everyone know who is going to be in the Final Four. If you want to copy my picks you're more than welcome to. I'll share my prize money with you guys after I win it all.

Final Four:
Tennessee
Syracuse
Kentucky
Baylor

Final Game:
Syracuse
Kentucky

Winner: Kentucky Wins 68-64.

You can thank me later.

Games on the Fly for Student Pastors

A few weeks ago I went to speak at a local school's Christian club. When I got there the leader told me they wanted me to do a game for 15 minutes and then speak for 20 minutes. I had prepared to speak but hadn't prepared for the game. So I had 5 minutes to come up with a game for 35 Middle Schoolers in a classroom setting. And it needed to be cool or else they wouldn't listen to my 20 minute message. O the Pressure!! It worked out but I wanted to give Youth Pastors 3 great game ideas in case this happens to you.

1. Hand to Foot.
This requires a decent amount of space but can be played with 12 to 500 people. Have them grab a partner and form 2 circles. One circle inside the other and have partners separate into the different circles. Have one circle rotate clockwise and the other counter clockwise. Then call out 2 body parts for example hand to foot, head to head, finger to eye, ect. The partners have to find each other as fast as possible and place those 2 body parts together on each other. Begin eliminating the last ones to make it until you narrow it down to 1 pair. Great game.

2. I Never.
This can be played anywhere, requires chairs, and is best played with 6 to 30 people.
Create a circle of chairs leaving one less chair than there are players. The person without the chair stands in the middle and states something they have never done before ex. I have never been to California. Then everyone who has been to California or has done whatever was stated gets up and changes chairs, person in middle also needs to fight for a chair. Then the person left without a chair will be the next player to have to state what they have never done before. The goal is to find a chair as quickly as possible. Don't let players change chairs directly beside them. Have them get up and move at least one chair over. Great get to know you game. It can go on forever so play for 15 minutes then call it quits.

3. Make a Song
Can be played anywhere and is best played with 8 - 50 people.
Have everyone form groups of 2-10 depending on size of overall group. You give them a word such as love, girl, time, etc. Then they have 2 minutes to come up with a song that has that word in it. Once time is up have each group sing their song to the rest of the groups. If they can't come up with a song in the time given or if they use a song that was used in a previous round they lose. Lots of fun to see what songs they pull from.

There you go. 3 games for you to use when you're put on the spot or if you need one for next Wednesday night. Have fun.

New Richest Man in the World!!

The new Richest man in the world is Carlos Slim Helm. He is worth $53.5 Billion. Bill Gates was a close second with $53 Billion. Carlos' home is in Mexico. Interesting but pointless fact that I thought readers might appreciate. So instead of saying you hope to be as rich as Bill Gates one day you should now say you hope to be as rich as Carlos Slim Helm one day.

Allison Martin Wins Miss Tampa

Congragtulations to Allison Martin for winning Miss Tampa last night. Allison is a Lifegroup leader in our student ministry. She's on her way to Miss Florida. Way to go Allison!!!

Students vs. Leaders

This is the Battle of the Year. Who is greater our students or Lifegroup Leaders. Come Battle it out next Sunday March 14th for High School and then April 25th for Middle School. It starts at 10:30 a.m. in our High School Room March 14th. Bring Your Friends.

180 Weekend

What an amazing Weekend we had. God moved in amazing ways. Our students truly worshipped and it was Awesome. Thanks to everyone who helped make this possible and thank you students for being so great.

180 Weekend

Tonight our big 180 Weekend (Disciple Now)starts up. These weekends are always so exciting and God always does a great work in lives. I'm praying that He will do the same this weekend. I'm praying that God will change lives for eternity through this weekend. I'm praying that damaged and hurt students will be healed. I'm praying that worshippers will rise up. I'm praying that the lost will be saved. Please pray with me that this will be a weekend they will never forget because of all that God has done in them.

We can do More Together

Today I had an amazing meeting with Youth Pastors from 8 different churches around the Brandon area. We are looking at and praying through joining forces for an event in September. At the meeting I was amazed at the humility and willingness to work together to make a difference for the Kingdom of God and to reach the students of our city. I feel so blessed to work in a town where we want to see God's name lifted up and not our own name or our own church's name.

It is such a temptation to want to only grow our student ministry or our church and so we sometimes get on our own island and try to avoid other churches because of fear that our people will go there. I actually think, however, that when we lift up other ministries in prayer and work together that it will only help our own ministries.

I love in John 3:30 where John says, "He must become greater and I must become less." Let us be reminded of this in ministry. It is about Jesus and making His name known, it's not about us.

Saints Win It!!!

We've taken our Students to New Orleans for the past 3 years to help rebuild the city after the Hurricane. It was great seeing the Saints win and to see how far the city has come. Way to go Saints!!!

New Baby on the Way!!!

I haven't had a chance to mention our new addition coming here on the blog yet. We found out last week that my wife Jenna is pregnant. The due date is tentatively September 28th. We are extremely excited and counting down the days already. Please keep us in your prayers. Emma is now 18 months, it's hard to believe she's that old now. This time has absolutely flown by. She is such a joy and we're all glad that she is looking more and more like her Momma. I believe we'll get some pictures in early March of the baby and I'll be sure to post them once we get them. Thanks for reading.

Tim Tebow Commercial

Keep an eye out for Tim Tebow's commercial during the Super Bowl. Tim Tebow and his mom are going to be featured in a commercial sponsored by Focus on the Family. This will be Focus on the Family's first SuperBowl commercial. This will be a great witness to millions of people. I'm looking forward to seeing it.

Proud to be Southern Baptist!!!

Several weeks ago a friend asked me if I would ever consider serving at a non-Southern Baptist Church. I said "no, I'm Southern Baptist through and through". It's nothing against any other denomination but today I was reminded again of why I'm so proud to be Southern Baptist.

This disaster in Haiti is absolutely terrible. So many deaths, so many left homeless, and so many with no food or water. As we watch the footage and look at pictures we're left scratching our heads wondering how we can help and what we can do. The great news is that if you tithe to a Southern Baptist Church then you have already done more than you can imagine. A percentage of your tithe that you give to your church goes to the Cooperative Program. Most churches generally give between 7-10% to the Cooperative Program which goes to support disasters like these all over the world. It also goes to help support over 10,000 missionaries serving across the world, it helps our seminaries train ministers and missionaries, it helps brand new church plants, and so much more.

Today there are already Southern Baptists in Haiti helping people get food, medicine, and sharing Christ with them. Southern Baptists are always one of the first groups on site during disasters. They are making a plan and sending tons and tons of food and supplies to help. This is all because of your tithes and offerings to your church. To see more of what Baptists are already doing check out these 2 sites www.flbaptist.org and www.imb.org

I love being a Southern Baptist because we are making a greater difference together than any other denomination in the world. May God continue to use us for generations to come.

DNow Weekend - "180"

Students be sure to get signed up for our DNow Weekend. It's going to be Feb. 19th - 21st. We are going to have the Chris Allen Band here as well as guest Speaker Spencer Barnard. It's only $25. Don't miss this weekend. It will be lifechanging.