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What is FUSE??!!

UNIFY!!

  UNIFY is our annual Student Ministries Spring BLOWOUT!!  We gather all our students from all campuses to go crazy for God!

This year's gonna be killer.  We are bringing in our good friend Tyler Tullos from Healing Place Church in Baton Rouge, to share a sweet Message.  We've got the band "Sent by Ravens".  They RIP! But the stuff I'm most stoked about is our student involvement!  We've got students doing battle in the dance crews from their youth groups.  We've got students rapping in a Human Video to the T.I./Timberlake track to "Dead and Gone," and students blowing up in our UNIFIED praise band!  AWESOME!  I get real fired up about young people who have discovered Jesus and are focusing their lives on HIM!!

STUDENTS: GET THERE!!  Sunday, March 22, 5PM.  Find out more here!!

Tattooed on the Inside

Do you have any tattoos?  I like them, but I was always a little too nervous about that buzzing needle to get one.  When I was in my early 20’s, I was pretty radical, but I never got tattoos.  All my buddies were getting them, but I used to tell everybody that I was “Tattooed on the inside.”  I honestly didn't know what that meant, but I think it had something to do with individuality.  My Bros were getting art to show that they were unique and distinctive.  I never felt that urge.  I felt different enough.

When I got saved, I finally realized what that phrase meant.  Check this Scripture: Ephesians 2:10.  We are initially created in God’s image.  But when we get saved, our spirit comes alive.  That word, “Workmanship” means “poetry.”  See, we are unique.  We are distinctive.  We are not cookie-cutter.  We are not all identical, we are each individual.  And, we are all saved by God to accomplish some awesome purpose that He has planned for us.  We are all tattooed uniquely on the inside.

 

Our distinctiveness comes to life when we receive Jesus as our Lord.  In Colossians 1:27, Paul is writing to Believers.  Christ in you is the hope of Glory.  Christ in you is the deposit that ensures an eternity in heaven.  Christ in you is what everyone is looking for, until they get it, then they’ve got it, and THEY become filled with the hope of Glory.  Tattooed on the inside.

 

That glory, God’s glory that lives in you, is the hope of the nations (Matthew 12:21).  The hope inside of you is the hope of all peoples.  Everybody wants to know how to know God.  Everybody wants to know the meaning of life.  YOU’VE GOT IT!  It’s tattooed on the inside of you.  It’s a part of who you are. 

 

Are you tattooed on the inside?  Are you uniquely designed?  The answer is yes.  I know it.  Pastor Big John knows it.  All our Element Coaches know it.  That’s why we pour our lives into you, our students.  We know the Divine artistry that each of you reflect.  And, it’s up to us to help you deliver the hope of glory, tattooed on the inside of you, to the world.

 

At Element, we are going on two missions to Costa Rica in July.  We’ll be doing the ministry of Jesus, teaching preaching and healing.  We’ll be doing a small building project.  We’ll be hosting picnics for the locals, and playing soccer in the streets with the kids.  We’ll be going on prayer walks, praying for all kinds of needs in Jesus’ name.  All while we deliver the hope of glory to beautiful people, who contain within themselves poetry waiting to be expressed.

 

God is calling a bunch of us to go on this trip.  You know you’re one of those being called if your heart is starting to beat fast as you read this.  Maybe you feel the butterflies rising up in your belly.  It’s so important for you to respond to the call.  Don’t think about the challenges.  If Jesus considered the challenges, he would never have made it to the cross.  If Paul considered the challenges, we would have never heard the Gospel here at Celebration Church.  Simply step out in faith, step up to the challenge, and deliver the hope of glory in you to Costa Rica this summer.

 

Find out more on the Element events page, here!!

PJW

Second day at NYWC

Wow.  What an amazing two days of worship, communicators, workshops and lectures!

So far, we've heard Francis Chan, Shane Claiborne, Tony Campolo, and more.  David Crowder led worship last night, and tonight it was Lincoln Brewster and Matt Wertz!

I was in workshops with Dan Kimball and Duffy Robbins.  The crew and I had lunch today with the Middle School pastor and his team from Willow Creek.

If all of this sounds fun to you, you are probably a Youth Pastor!

Live from NYWC

Me and the fellahs from Student Ministries are in Nashville this weekend for the National Youth Workers Convention!  We'll be blowing up on twitter all weekend.  It should be awesome to watch the mayhem unfold!

This is my first Youth Conference, and I'm stoked to take it all in.  More than anything, I'm looking forward to growing as a Youth Staff with Big John, Josh and Sean, our awesome team of Youth Pastors!

Stay tuned!

God at Work in Stephan

Stephan Morrison is one of my good friends.  He's one of our leaders at Element and College Life.  He leads our Prayer Team, plays hardcore guitar, and loves Jesus with a passion and fire I've rarely seen!

A few weeks ago, he was in a ton of pain, and went in to the ER.  He found out he had testicular cancer.  He went in last Friday for surgery. It was successful! 

Honestly, we are waiting expectantly for the good report that's coming soon, when we hear that he's completely cancer-free!

Stephan has been an incredible inspiration to me.  His reaction to this trial has been amazing.   I know he's fighting fear and doubt, but he's fully trusting God.  He's fired up about God using this to win his family to Jesus!

I am truly inspired by Stephan's faith.  Please believe with us for his complete healing!!

Stay tuned for updates, check out his blog, or find him on FaceBook, and keep reminding God to move on Stephan's behalf!

Aww, Man! It turned out to be a myth...

We've been busting out the series "Urban Legends" in Element for the past few weeks!  Why?  Some things you have heard about following Jesus are myth.  WORD!

Anyway, I have some bad news for ya: this awesome picture turned out to be a hoax...

Hey, aren't you glad Jesus is the real deal?!!  You can't always trust your eyes, but you can trust the Spirit.  Jesus RIPS!!!!

Go Away, Fay, OK? Hey! We don't wanna PLAY! Do you hear what I SAY?

Alliteration?  Or onomotopaea?  You make the call!

In the meantime, TS Fay is producing tons of rain and wind in Florida.  We haven't had much here as of Wednesday morning, but it's coming.  So stoked that our sick-sicamore is GONE!

Fay is interacting with a High pressure, producing a high gradient fetch pointed right at the First Coast!  Too bad it's victory-at-sea conditions.  Completely blown out.  I hate storms over land.  Why can't this one be about 500 miles out producing some surf?!!

Jesus commands the wind and the waves, and they obey (Luke 8:25)!  So... GO AWAY, FAY, in JESUS' NAME!  We've got some worship services to blow up tonight! :)

Rush Week

Rush week is how we do back-to-school prep at Celebration Student Ministries, Baby!!  Four days of insane blowouts, designed to get our students ready to go richter for God in their schools this year.

Our topic this year are built around "guarding your heart."  We take it to the extreme, and say that we need to "guard our hearts like freakin' NINJAS with bowstaffs, stars, and LIGHT SABERS, if need be!!"

Be there, or follow us on Twitter as we go big in God this week... www.element633.com!

"The Praying Church"

Hola from Costa Rica!!

6:8 Ministries, here in Alejuelita, hosts dozens of groups from Churches around the U.S. every year.  Celebration is sending a bunch of those groups in 2008. 

I was so blessed to hear that when they refer to Celebration, they call us "the praying Church,"  What an incredible way to be thought of.  That tells me we're doing something right!  Our teams love to start each day with a long prayer session, to get prepped for the day ahead.  We throw on the ipod, cue up the 'worship your face off' playlist, and go after God.  Our Element group blew my mind this morning.  They were throwing out Scriptures and proclaiming boldly the promises of God!  AWESOME! 

Praying is certainly one of the greatest gifts Jesus bought us on the cross.  What an honor to be able to connect personally with the Lord of the universe!  In the mission field...but even more so at home.  Every day, I want to exhibit behavior that makes people point to my reliance on God. 

"The Praying Church" has to be full of praying people. 

I wanna always be one of them.