Some thoughts about Christmas

I love Christmas. I love everything about it. I love Christmas trees and Christmas decoration, and I really love Christmas music. In fact I am listening to the Charlie Brown Christmas cd right now. I also love church during Christmas time and I love Christmas specials on television. Last night I watched the return of Frosty and both Charlie Brown Christmas movies. I was in heaven. Last Saturday Krista and I took a break from decorating The High Dive and went and go our Christmas tree. We decorated our apartment, 532, nice and cozy. She made fudge, a Box Christmas tradition and then we watched ELF, a instant Christmas classic if you ask me. It was awesome. I love Christmas traditions. When I was growing up one of my family's traditions was that my brother Ben and I would climb onto the top of our two story house and hangup Christmas lights while my Dad would throw us my Mom's famous fudge from the front yard. It was a blast trying to catch the fudge while also trying hard not to die. I love Christmas. Well, I am excited to announce the launch of a new Christmas tradition. The Two14 Student Ministries Christmas Scavenger Hunt! It is going to be a blast. I am sure y'all, and your friends, are going to love it. I hope it catches on and can become a every year event. Well, I gotta run. See y'all tonight at D-Groups. Don't forget to finish up your stuff.
- Jake

Random Thoughts

Hey y'all,

So I'm pretty excited about having a youth room all to ourselves. I've been thinking a lot about how cool that is going to be. No more flying Harry Potter hanging from the ceiling and no more books everywhere and no more school hallway or school anything for that matter. That is going to be nice. God has really provided for us. Saturday night was a blast. I really had fun hanging out with all of y'all. I really like our group. I think God has brought together a great group of students here and I can't wait to see what He does in your life and through your lives in the coming semester. I think big things are just around the corner for us...and I think that is pretty cool. But enough of what I think, what do y 'all think? Write me and I will post it...

What I think about my friends

This Sunday I asked in discussion groups for you to tell me something you have done because your friends convinced you to do it. I don't know about you, but I can think of about a million things I have done simply because my friends influenced me to do it. In fact almost all of my crazy stories are a result of my friends influencing me to do crazy things. For example, I would have never headed off to the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City if Adam Brunson had not called me and convinced me that we could do it. And I wouldn't have ever stopped off in Aspen to get in a little skiing on the way back if Adam, Ben and Kendal had convinced me that we could pull it off. My friends really have gotten me to do some crazy things in my life. I remember in college when I was going to a costume party dressed as a pirate and my friend Bryan convinced me to peirce my ear for the party. Then he pierced it. Man that hurt. I only kept it in for 6 hours, the length of the party. I would have never done that if Bryan hadn't been so bent on making it happen.
I also remember when Adam convinced me to go to the mall and witness to people with him. I remember not wanting to do it, but he kept at me and finally I gave in. I remember going back with him all summer to share the gospel with the kids that hung outside of the mall. I remember when Bryan was my roomate in college and he would tell me what God had been teaching him lately and how that would make me want to spend more time with God so I could tell Bryan what God was teaching me. Friends have a lot of sway in our lives. It is good to have friends who you can do crazy things with and it is great to have friends who will help you live crazily for God. I thank God that He has given me such great friends and I am praying for all of y'all that God would do the same for you.

Carpe Aeternitam

Lately all I have been thinking about is Heaven. As I have been preparing to teach at the Jr. High Fall retreat I have spent a lot of time studying what Heaven is going to be like. I have been reading this awesomely massive book called Heaven by Randy Alcorn that is incredible. In it he discusses how important it is for believers to think about, talk about, and live for Heaven. I don't think we think about Heaven enough. And sadly, often when we do think about Heaven we don't have a biblical view of what Heaven is really going to be like. We let Hollywood or Far Side cartoons color our thinking about Heaven more than God's word. That is sad. It seems like most people have one of two images of Heaven in their head. They either picture Heaven being all clouds and harps and tiny naked angels or they picture it to be one eternally long (and boring) church service. Neither of those get me excited about spending my eternity there. Thankfully neither of those are Biblical depictions of Heaven. Our God made us, He knows us, He knows what we love and what gets us excited. In fact He gave us those desires. He designed us that way. He knows an eternal church service doesn't get us jazzed, He also knows clouds and harps aren't our thing either. He didn't make us that way. Instead, what we are going to find in Heaven is exactly what we were made for, a physical place on a New Earth, similar but much better than the one we are on right now. Heaven will be full of cities, cultures, people, adventure, work, rest, play and God's glory. We will worship God constantly in Heaven, but not like a church service all the time, instead it will be how Earth is supposed to be. What Paul instructs in 1 Cor. 10:31, "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God" will be a reality in Heaven. We will play, hangout with friends, go on adventures, work, eat, ect... all for the glory of God. In Heaven we will finally be able to live as we were meant to live, in the place that God designed without any corruption. That is the Heaven God describes in His word and that Heaven is something worth thinking about.

Just thinking...

So, I am not off to a great start on this whole blog thing, but I am going to get better, I promise.

Anyway, I was just thinking about this past Sunday and the challenge I gave y'all about sharing the gospel this week. That is pretty big stuff. One thing I failed to do was to tell y'all that I am going to share the gospel this week too. I mean, come on, I am your leader, I better lead if I want y'all to follow. So, if I fail to share the gospel by The Gathering then I am going to where a UT shirt on Sunday and not as an undershirt. Man, now I really have to do it.

I was also thinking and praying for y'all about finding someone to share with. I know it is hard for all you home-schoolers to find good opportunities to do that. As a pastor I can relate because I work with, hang out with, talk with and chill with all Christians too. It is not like I can walk down the office and try to witness to Phil, even though it might not be a bad idea. Just joking Phil, don't fire me. Anyway, for the home-schoolers and for me as a pastor we have to go and make opportunities. It takes a lot of effort, but it can be done. I look forward to hearing about the opportunities you make and how God blessed your effort.

So yeah, that is what I have been thinking about. Well that and football. I love football. I'll see you guys soon. Take it easy.

What am I thinking?

What am I thinking? That is a good question. I am thinking this blog site is going to be pretty cool because I am going to get to talk about great topics like, who I think is going to win the DDR competition and why I love our new website. I can promise you that I will talk about something you care about and let you weigh in with your thoughts as well. I think that is pretty sweet. I also think that if I say too much on this firt post then I might have a hard time thinking of anything else to say when the site really kicks off so I think I will call it quits for now...

Jake