By Invitation Only

I was watching a concert on TV the other day with a very famous artist. The concert was in a really small venue and was titled "By Invitation Only". It got me thinking about the church and about what I have the privilege of being a part of week after week. I wonder how often we sit through a church service where God restores us, forgives us, inspires us, etc... or when have a family experience with our fellow church body, when we work together to help somebody in need. So we do all these amazing things to help each other and to help those in need and we experience the family atmosphere in a church service where God does all those awesome things for us... BUT!

How many times do I unintentional go through my week and completely forget to share what God means to me. It is amazing the opportunities I pass up on unintentionally, but sometimes intentionally. I know a lot of people in our church alone who would have never came to Christ if it was not for the invitation. Somebody got to know these people, showed them the love of Christ, and invited them to a new way of life. Not everybody hits rock bottom and just decides to try out God. Think of the people you pass every single day just looking for a way out.

In short: Don't forget the people who will only find Christ by Invitation Only...

Brad

Kent Morris

The title of this blog is simply a shout out to Mr. Kent Morris! He has been giving me a hard time about my lack of blogging, so this one goes out to you KM.

The Ordinary 12:
This week I was reading through Matthew and took a closer look at the 12 Disciples. I am always amazed at how they would drop everything they were doing to follow him. It reminds me of how even the most ordinary person in this day and age can be used by God. I look over the awesome group of people in my church and wonder how many of them are really seeking the will or calling of God. I see some who come fairly faithfully to church but they have little involvement in the church. I wonder what God might really want to be doing with each of them. Check out 1 Corinthians 26-29. I love this passage, it defines me, it defines most of us. God is not looking for the best looking, smartest, tallest, most athletic, most popular person... He is looking for the willing. So how many excuses can you come up with about why you can't? Check this out!
So I hope wherever you are, whatever ministry you are or are not a part of... allow God to turn your ordinary to extraordinary!

BH

Brother Barry Would Be Proud?

My pastor gave me the opportunity to preach at Church last Sunday. I was really nervous for some reason. Typically I can speak to 100 young people every wed night without a drop of sweat. If you have ever had to speak to youth then you know how hard it is. The adults were much more into what I said, but it was still difficult. I didn't screw up too much but I really learned a lot for my future opportunities. If your interested in listening go here. The title is "The New Perception". Nothing that will change your life. It was just some findings and statistics from a few books I read. Till next time...

Oh if your wondering about the title... just go here

Brad

Post Election

So the election is over and I just don't feel like I got my moneys worth. It ended sooo fast! Ok I'm joking... I am SOOOO glad it is over. I have not been on here in a while due to the time factor. I had some disappointments when the nominations were selected by both parties, and had some disappointments as the President Elect was announced. I, like Kenny Liles noticed a lot of negative criticism from all my friends who were not supporting Obama. I would like to remind you that just because a man is named President does not mean he can change everything that we stand for as Christians. The constitution says "We The People..." and we still have a voice. There is a reason for our State Representatives. How many of you have every actually emailed your State Representative to let him/her know how you feel about a topic on Capitol Hill? We as a Christian nation need to remember that the outcome of this election is a wake up call. The vote was won by the young voters. That tells me that we need to do a better job of raising a young nation with morals and understanding. So Youth Pastors like myself have to take that to heart and understand the importance. I do not want to dictate a society that may not be Christian, I want to reach a society that isn't Christian. I am tired of the Christian community trying to tell Americans how to live. Jesus was a friend to everybody, no matter what they believed. He didn't go after them, they came after him. So don't decide the world is going to end now, instead be a voice like never before. Stand up for your beliefs, and reach a lost nation. Not Religion... Relationship.

B-Rad

Vince Lichlyter

If you have never heard of Vince Lichlyter you need to check him out. He was the lead singer of the Christian rock band "Jonah33". They recently ended an 8 year journey and he is now working on some acoustic stuff. We invited him to come lead worship last Wed and I had no idea what to expect. WOW! That is all I can say. He is blunt, funny, talented, genuine, and just overall awesome. He has been there with the best of them. I think what impressed me the most is he kept the attention of 80 young people ages 12 to 19 from all walks of life. From throwing out gum that he hated to the Jr high kids to singing a random song that he labeled the worst song of all time... he did great! He was very to the point and challenged the crowd to get real with God. Stop acting like everything is ok and that you have everything under control. So to sum it up... You need to get this guy at your Church or event. You WILL NOT be dissapointed! Check out some of his stuff here.

Brad

Keith Urban!

Well I just had to take a moment to share a crazy story with everybody. Lastnight I was debating on going to the Carrie Underwood and Keith Urban concert. My friends decided to go so we were off. Once we got there the lines were so long that we were afraid we wouldn't get in. We did get in and my friend Adam found a friend of his who escorted us down to the second row! Carrie did her thing and then out came Keith Urban. He was playing a while then came into the crowd, down my row, towards me! He got right in front of me, stopped, played a few solo licks, took off the guitar, signed it, gave it to me, and i began to go CRAZY. Don't believe it? Check out this video and pictures! (the bottom picture is me on the big screen after he gave it to me)

Pray for your Pastor

You know what I love? I love going to birthday parties, backyard get togethers, and anything that is a group of people getting together to just spend time together.

Do you know what I don't love? When the party, or get together is at my house. Then I have to organize it, setup for it, spend money on it, entertain, plant it out, and clean up after it.

When I show up to Church its easy to just walk through the door and enjoy the fact that everything is already setup, planned out, organized and put together just for me. Then afterwards I can walk out without a worry in the world.

So how does a Pastor do it? I gained an even higher respect for my Pastor (Tim Estes) lastnight when I had "one of those nights". My worship leader was planning to do an acoustic service then he was scheduled to speak. Around 2pm I got a call from him that his heart was giving him trouble. My first concern obviously was his health, but then I realized I have 90+ people to take care of and to make sure they have a good experience. So I show up to Church at 6:25 and now have 20 minutes to put together the service, and a sermon for these students. When it was all said and done it was a horrible flop and it didn't go the way I wanted at all. I put a lot of time, prayer and energy into Wed nights. I realize some of those students may never be in an environment to experience God the rest of their lives so I take it very serious. After service it hit me how much harder it must be on somebody who is Pastoring a Church. How often I just expect him to show up with a big time sermon and it to go perfect, and more importantly I realized how rarely I spend time praying for him and that he will stay encouraged.

From now on when you organize a get together just let that be a little taste of what it is like to pastor a Church... but keep in mind the Pastor gets to do 2 and 3 times a week.

Pray for your Pastor... and Youth Pastor :)

PB