Expectations

Last week I took 25 students, leaders and adults on a mission trip to Ecuador. It took 9 months of preparation and hard work for us to pull it off, but on Saturday, June 27th we left Sky Harbor Airport and after 14 hours arrived in Quito, Ecuador.
During the months of preparation and during the flight over, I ran through a wide variety of expectations that I had for this trip.
I expected to fail.....
I expected to be frustrated....
I expected to be tired and miserable....
I expected to get sick....
But once again, God clearly showed me that my expectations are usually nothing more than my attempt to put myself in the center of things instead of allowing God to be the center.

From the moment we landed in Quito until we returned to Phoenix 9 days later, God clearly showed me that I've got to quite making my own plans and my own excuses.

The trip was incredible.....850 people accepted Jesus Christ in 5 days. 8 new churches were started and some flourished with over one hundred people in attendance each night. Nearly 500 0f those who accepted Christ spent numerous hours being discipled in Bible lessons and all were introduced to the local church in their area by church members who accompanied us.

Over and over again, God proved to me that he is in control. Everything that happened, happened for a reason and it happened in God's perfect design. It was an amazing week that changed not only 850 people in Ecuador, but also 34 people who went on this trip.

We all have expectations about our lives but God has a plan....and when God works out His plans....EXPECT great things to happen.

What does commitment look like for a Christian?

Commitment.....it's a word I don't hear much these days. Why not? Maybe it's because we really don't understand it or we're afraid of what it might mean. The disciples and the early church clearly understood it....it cost them their lives because they were committed to Christ and his church.

I have begun a spiritual journey that started a couple of weeks ago. The purpose is to discover what real commitment should look like for me in my Christian walk. I'm asking myself to discover if I'm really committed or am I just dabbling in my faith.

I've asked several of my college students what they think real commitment looks like and they have been very helpful and we talked. Please let me know what you may think. As I continue on my journey, I'll let you know what I discover about myself and commitment.
Pastor Brian

What does commitment look like?

What does commitment look like?

Tomorrow has been cancelled!

Tomorrow has been cancelled.....for all of us that day could come at any moment. Are you ready for it? I doubt that anybody really is. That's why we put things off....we always think there will be another tomorrow for us. Another tomorrow to confess our sins.....another tomorrow to get right with God....another tomorrow to start living for Jesus. But what happens if your tomorrow is cancelled?

Start focusing on the important things in life....your relationship with God. Make sure today, that you're ready for tomorrow.....no matter if it comes....or if it's cancelled.

Pastor Brian

Church Activities

OK. I am posting this Blog because their has not been anything posted on this blog since last year.

Every Sunday we have high school at 9:30. Currently we are going through the book of Ecclesiastes. It has one main message: life is meaningless, unless you are living for Jesus Christ. Our youth band (This Fallen World) plays every week for our high-school service.

Common Ground is every Sunday evening at 6:00; for college, high-school, and junior high students. There is music and our youth pastor, Brian McDaniel, usually speaks. Occasionally we will have very intriguing guest speakers.

We also have a Wednesday evening service called Breaking the Silence, which talks about many of the tough issues teens face today. There is a free dinner at 6:00 and we normally start around 6:45.

I hope some of you will come, visit, and enjoy!

Bryan L.

Teen Suicide

Last wednesday we discussed teen suicide...during the discussion a youth pastor from a Phoenix church came in and sat in the back of the room. After our discussion, I approached him and introduced myself. He told me about himself and his ministry. He came because he saw our sign out front about the suicide discussion. He told me that two week prior, one of his girls in his group has commited suicide. He was devastated and so was his group.

Suicide among is the 3rd leading cause of death among 15-24 year olds. According to the national instituteon mental health, 18 teenagers per day kill themselves in the U.S.. Even worse, 1000 teens attempt to kill themselves every week!!!

Every attempt is an attempt to say "I need help". If you think it won't happen to you or someone you know, you are sadly mistaken. Statistics show that you have peer around you now that have tried it....you just don't know about it.

My purpose in all this is to make you aware of the problem....and to ask you to be aware of those you call friends. If you have friends who do the following....GET INVOLVED!

Talk about suicide or death more
Talk about"going away"
Refer to things they won't be needing anymore and they start giving away their stuff
Talk about feeling hopeless or guilty or unloved or worthless
Start pulling away from friends and family
Start engaging in self destructive behavior (cutting, drugs, drinking alcohol ect)

Think about this. Suicide is a permanent solultion to a temporary problem.

Pastor Brian