Bottle Rockets

I Am Second

This Sunday, as we closed our series "Victory," we took a different approach. We exchanged the rows of chairs for tables and the band for a clean stage. Instead of worshiping God by singing songs we worshiped Him by watching a few stories on a great site called "I am Second."

The site is a collection of stories about how God has transformed the lives of people and used them in some pretty incredible ways. It ranges from ex-rockers and actors to an American Idol contestant. It's a great site that can be used as an evangelism tool or an inspiring pick me up. If you are looking for a reminder of what God can do then this is a site you can't pass up.

The morning was pretty different but sometimes that's exactly what we need. Sometimes it takes a different approach to see God in fresh ways. It was a pretty cool morning and one I won't forget.

This one's for Keith

The upperclassmen guys small group moved locations to the Taco Bell last night. It was Jake Edward's first trip to the border in 6 months! I saw on Twitter that Keith was dreaming of the Bell but managed to fight the craving. Then I saw this. I couldn't resist.

100 Movies to See Before You Die

Yahoo has released it's list of 100 Movies to See Before You Die. I've only seen 36 of the 100 movies and to be honest I think I could have definitely died before seeing Groundhog Day. So what do you think is missing from their list?

I would have added
    Tommy Boy
    Gladiator
    Empire Strikes Back

I don't know what a Pelephone is but I want to live here

Star Wars + Macgyver = Amazing

Disowning Yourself

Ever been on a diet? If you have then you've probably experienced the strange phenomenon of the life threatening cravings of whatever it is that you have sworn off. A few months ago my wife forced me to take a little fry fast and for a week I've never wanted a fry so bad in my entire life. Denying yourself a favorite food just isn't easy, but Christ has called us to do more than that. He's called us to deny ourselves all together!

This week at Awake we continued our series Victory by looking at Mark 8:34,

And He summoned the crowd with His disciples, and said to them, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.

The part that really jumped out at me was the word deny. That word could also be translated "to disown," that's a bit stronger than to deny. I've been on several diets and usually if I'm "really good" during the week I'll let it slide on the weekend, but when you disown someone there's no coming back. It's final. You can't disown someone and then ask them to come hang out on Friday night. It is an absolute separation and that is exactly what Jesus has called us to. He has called us to disown ourselves. We are a new creation and we have to cut off the old us. We once were chained to a life of sin but through Christ we have victory and it's time to disown that old life.

1 Peter 2:24

He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.

Victory: The Danielle Lorenz Story

I've never been so excited for Easter in my entire life. For the past month or so our church has been trying to journey with Christ threw His final days leading to the cross, His death and ultimately his resurrection. Many people fasted, we watched the Passion of the Christ at Catalyst and many people attended one of the churches' Good Friday Services. I'll admit, each of those experiences were new for me as prep for the biggest day in the Christian calendar. Fasting showed me my dependence on Him. The Passion helped me reconnect with His suffering. Good Friday reminded me of His burden. And then, after what felt like an eternity, Easter came.

I couldn't wait to wake up that morning. There was energy in the air. In High School we talked about how Christ gives us victory over sin. We don't deal with losing well, but that's exactly the situation sin puts us in. Many people try to ignore it or try work harder at making up for their sin, but in the end Jesus is the only way that we can overcome it. He's our only chance at victory. We had an awesome morning but the highlight for me came in the main service.

In the middle of the service after some awesome worship, the congregation watched a story of a high school girl who had submitted her life to Jesus. She told about the void left in her life by not having a father and the consequences of trying to fill it. But the story turned as she told about how ultimately she had to let God fill that void. The line that jumped out at me was that she "used God." It seemed a little too deep for a junior in high school, but it showed that she got it. In a room full of adults that were still trying to figure it out we got a glimpse of a girl that could teach us something from her young walk with the Lord.

I was so proud of Danielle that morning. She's a great girl with an amazing heart. What's most impressive is that as people compliment her on the video I keep hearing her say, "I'm not awesome, He's the one that's awesome!" Wow. That's a pretty cool Easter story. If you see Danielle, let her know how proud you are of her. If you'd like to see her video you can check it out at www.wrcc.org or just click here.

Road Trip: Day One

It rained the enire way but that didn't stop our Golden van full of students from having a great first day. We stopped in Louisville for lunch at Mark's feed store (great BBQ) before finishing the trek to Knoxville, Tennessee. We grab dinner at one of my favorite Mexican hole in wall resturaunts and then went to a rocking college service. We worshipped and studied the word with over 400 college students before crashing back at JBC. It was a great first day. I can't wait for today to get rolling!

Who's King on Friday?

This Sunday at Awake we started a new series called Victory. For the next few weeks we are taking a look at how we can experience true victory through Jesus Christ. This week was Palm Sunday so we studied the story of Jesus' Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem. I think what's so interesting is that the same people that rolled out the red carpet for their new "king" would be the same crowd that would cheer for his crucifixion. And even though they would lay their cloaks down for his donkey to walk on, they would protest his innocence on Friday. Jesus knew that these people today would betray him in less than a week and yet when the Pharisees tell Jesus to silence their praises he didn't. He knew that their praises wouldn't last but he didn't tell them to stop. He didn't get angry. He let them do what they were created to do, worship.

I'll be the first to admit that there have been weeks that I've praised him on Sunday with one crowd but turned my back on Him on Friday with another crowd. Many of us chose Christ as King, on Sunday, but chose to sit on the thrown the other six days of the week. I'm so thankful that through my years of being "prone to wander" He has accepted my worship along the way. I'm still learning to let him be King both on Sundays and during the week.

Jesus said that if the crowd kept quiet that the stones would cry out. Well, I'm determined to not have a stone worship in my place. When we learn to accept Christ as King everyday, that's when we experience true victory.

 

An Awake Amputation

After skipping more college classes than I'd like to admit my minor in Foosball has paid some huge dividends. I may not have earned scholarship money. I may not have any trophies or banners. The university will never hang my t-shirt from the rafters of the student center, but my commitment to becoming the best Foosball player I could be has led to some sheer domination of some high school boys. Crushing their adolescent egos on a weekly basis has done wonders for my pride, but as they say "pride comes before the fall."

It all started with an innocent match with a few high school girls. (On a side note, they were spinners. Remember kids, "Spinners aren't winners!") Walking into the game I didn't expect much competition and that's when the foosball fiasco began. My team was up a couple of goals when the unspeakable happened, Foosball Man Fluhr (grab the back story here) was severed, cut in half, amputated! After years of training I should have seen this coming. My over sized forearms would eventually prove to be too much, but to my surprise it wasn't me who dismembered the foosball man, it was a teenage girl!

We both stood in amazement. Who knew a teenage girl could be so dangerous? Look out boys, these girls mean business. Guess it just goes to show that you can never be too careful or cautious. Things aren't always as they seem. That's the last time I'll underestimate a girl on the foosball table. (Guys, I think I'm estimating you just fine.)