“back to school, back to school”

So, over the past couple of weeks I have entered a new arena of life. This is a cool arena, but at the same time scary. Kinda like a MMA arena. They look cool from the outside, but from the inside you realize it is on! You begin to learn new challenges, get faced with new obstacles and there is work to be done!! I have recently started my masters degree work at Liberty University Online. God is teaching me soooo many new things that if you follow me closely you’ll see my ears drip from information overload (it looks kinda like wet Cheetos!!). It is an awesome thing to be challenged and it is already making me more disciplined, which is what I really need (though I still hate getting up early in the morning). I don’t remember the last time I read a book in three days!! Oh yeah I do, it was Clifford the Big Red Dog, and that was last year. In times of challenge always remember Gods promise found in Philippians 4:13 “I can do ALL things through HIM who strengthens me.”

PRESS ON!

JOEY

To be clear, this is a picture of the Halloween edition of Cheetos. When they are wet they turn blue. YUMMY!

I wanna ride!!

Big night tonight! Wrapping up the Re(act) series at Detour is always a sad time for me because I really love spending time in God’s word and being challenged to react to the needs of others. It is so amazingly clear in God’s Word how important it is to Him that we care for other people, help the poor, feed the hungry, but we allow these passages in scripture to pass through our fingers as we thumb through the Bible looking for the next place to start. I pray that as we wrap up this series that this next year we will not allow ourselves to become so consumed with life and ourselves that we miss what God wants to do through us. May we remember that God is Love and he has equipped us with the tools, resources, time, and money to help others. WHAT IS IMPORTANT TO GOD MUST BE IMPORTANT TO US!

unity, teamwork, and drums!

Unity and teamwork are two words that surround my work environment everyday.  In order to accomplish all of things for Detour and Echoloud no one person can do it all.  Unity and teamwork takes time, patience, and a lot of practice. But when unity and teamwork are a mastered craft, the result is a product that blows the mind  and leaves you in awe.

Through school I was really involved in marching band, (yeah go ahead and chuckle its okay) it placed a lot of structure in my life and gave me the experience of first hand leadership and teamwork. But as I look back the most important thing it showed me was true unity.  Unlike other sports or team activities when one person is off their game it can’t be made up/covered up by anyone else, the individual out of step with the others just stands out and makes the entire group look or sound bad. They’re are no superstars of the game that scores the points or saves the team at the buzzer, its only the group!

Every once in a while something amazing happens when unity truly clicks.  Outside of high school marching band there is another level of musicianship that truly rocks the house and that is DCI or Drum Corps International.  This is the NFL of band if you will.  These men literally, live eat and breathe music.  They sleep on buses, gym floors and travel across the country for months practicing anywhere there is open space. In 2002, a corp by the name of the Cavaliers, put on one of the greatest live music performances of all time.  With a score of 99.125 they had reached the highest score in DCI history. While all corps in DCI are full of talent and the greatest musicians, the Cavaliers locked into the key…UNITY!

Whether you know anything about band at all is irrelevant.  When you watch this video notice the precision, duplication, and synchronization that takes place. As you watch ask yourself “Am I showing unity in my life? With my work, school, team, marriage, relationship with God and others?”

(if your in a hurry move up to 4:28, if not enjoy the show)
p.s. the shapes on the field are not actually “making” anything imparticular…(common question)

City on Our Knees

As I started my morning here at the office, I checked my voicemail and email as I do every morning to start the day. As opened up my twitter feed I saw that Toby Mac had released a new single today.  I went to itunes and gave it a preview and decided it was worth the dollar so I downloaded it.  I have to tell you I have always been impressed with the way that he has been able to push forward in style and production continuing to cut the edge of sound in christian music and push others for excellence and truth.

As I started the song I was caught by these opening words:

“If you gotta start somewhere why not here? If you gotta start sometime why not now? If we gotta start somewhere I say here, If we gotta start sometime I say NOW!”

What and incredible challenge!

“through the fog there is HOPE in the distance from Cathedrals to third world missions”

As I look back on my own life and see God do work all over the world from the city to the dirt roads of impoverished nations there is Hope because God is light.  Are we a city,a church on our knees?  Am I on my knees praying for that hope to spread.  Am I DOING?

weekend

So this weekend I had a great time just relaxing a bit and trying to prepare my mind and spirit for a very busy September and Fall season. On Thursday I had the opportunity to hang out with Jon on the boat and just see how awesome God is by his creation.  I think one of the coolest things about our area is that every once in a while you find a spot that doesn’t belong here.  A place that you wouldn’t imagine being in North Carolina but more like the Caribbean or some private island.  When the tides are right and low, and God pulls back the waters he often creates an incredible experience and view just when you need it.  The following pic is from right here in NC.

ridiculous vid

Found and awesome vid…pop and lock+krump+drama+God=sweet

This past summer has absolutely flown by. With all that has been going on its been hard to sit back and take in all that I have experienced this summer. From Bigstuf Camp in Panama City FL, vacation with my wife, React trip to Buffalo NY, 2 series at Detour and Coldplay in concert. It has been packed. So here are a couple of pics to help illustrate!

its been a while

yep

memorial weekend

This weekend was pretty sweet. Tonya and I hung out at Carolina Beach with the incredible Brinkley family. Bill and Amy have been incredible friends and partners in our college and student ministry here at the church. It is weekends like the past one that leave me amazed at how incredible God is and how fortunate I am to have been so blessed by His hands. I am looking forward to this wednesday night because we will be wrapping up the Text Me series which has been great. Hearing from our students on the issues that they want to know about has a great way to reach directly into the hearts and minds of our students. Alex our video guru did an awesome job with the bump for the website. check it!