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Olivea and Dad play with Skype photo

2009-06-21T16:15:00.000-04:00

Olivea and I were playing with Skype and discovered how to take profile pics. Here are our top ones - I must say, I look hot.

FREE iPod Touch

2009-06-19T15:59:00.000-04:00

This Wednesday at Spiked, someone will walk out with an iPod touch. All you have to do is bring a friend - then you and your friend are qualified to win. Be here! Spiked MS - 7-830pm Spiked HS - 730-830pm (Wes and I are making love to your iPod Touch right now!)

Spiked Wednesdays kicks off with a bang!

2009-06-18T15:42:00.002-04:00

Well, it is now Thursday, and I am trying to come back down from my Spiked Wednesday night high. Wes (our MS Director) and I just cleaned up eggs that were all over the floor! We did a little game called Xtreme Egg Drop with some very daring volunteer students - and it was nasty and pointless - just how we like it. Here are some others things I remember from Spiked:

Over 70 students consumed 20 pizzas and 100 cans of soda
4 MS students were ducttaped to the wall
I had a kid spit from stage as far as he could
Jessie cranked it out on Waking up in Vegas by Katy Perry
the title of the message: How far can a monkey spit?
Already mentioned the eggs and the nastiness
Jessie, Linc, and the band rocked out Monkey Wrench by Foo Fighters
Group leaders were everywhere!
New flat screen tv's on the stage

Oh, and I almost forgot...we are giving away an iPod touch next week. All you have to do is bring a friend - and you and your friend are qualified to win!

Do you have questions that you need answered?

2009-06-18T15:37:00.002-04:00

Do you have a question that you want to ask someone and get a straight-forward answer? Well, we're ready to answer them. So, give us those questions - and in a couple weeks - we'll give you the answers! Remember, ANY question is ok! We're not promising we'll answer every question - but ask it! You never know! Loading...

Go Deep and Get Baptized this weekend at NHC

2009-06-05T06:51:00.000-04:00

This weekend is Baptism weekend at NHC. Get ready for a party, cause we party hard at newhorizonchurch.tv when folks get baptized. I was just glancing at the list of people who have already signed up; It's full of teens, kids, and adults. But don't worry, even if you haven't signed up to be baptized, you Go Deep this weekend. We offer spontaneous baptism where you can make the decision on the spot, in the moment and get baptized. We will have everything you need - down to your underwear and lady products! (Yes, I actually said that and YES, it's actually true).

A 5th grade student gives me a gift...

2009-06-04T09:19:00.003-04:00

So, one of our 5th grade students left this on my desk Wednesday night. I hope you enjoy and feel as gooey, icky, emotional inside as I did.

God is #1
God is our Savior
I love God and know that he is with me and everyone else
God was the first
God will be with you no matter what
God loves you for who you are
God saves everyone

Now, if you are like me and i bet that you wouldn't admit that, but you are, you just got the smack put down on you by a 5th grader! I had to put down my complaints and crap that I had carried around all night. My "woe-is-me" attitude just wasn't appropriate after finding that note this morning. And since I am still the only one in the office at this point - which never happens so it probably means the rapture has taken place - I feel like God just dropped this right out of the sky to kick my butt.

Change is coming!

2009-06-04T09:18:00.000-04:00

Summer brings a lot of changes, and we are making some, too. Spiked (our ministry for middle and high school students) will have a new meeting time and middle school students will now have their own unique environment!

Starting Sunday, June 14, 2009 all high school and middle school students will join the adults in the auditorium for worship environment. This will be an exciting way for students to be a part of the main service and still allow them to serve on the weekend as well.

Also, starting June 17, 2009, Spiked will be moving to Wednesday evenings. Spiked Middle School (6-8 grade) will meet from 7-8:30pm and Spiked High School (9-12 grade) will meet from 7:30-8:30pm. Spiked students will experience an awesome environment with crazy games, great music, cool people, and lots of food!

With the creation of Spiked Middle School, there will no longer be Club56. All 6th grade students will be in Spiked Middle School, and all new 5th grade students will be a part of Shockwave – our new 4th/5th grade environment. Shockwave will meet during all services in the Spiked Room.

I am very excited about these changes and anticipate it taking Spiked to a whole new level. So, mark your calendars for these new times!

Things I've learned while working in NC

2009-05-13T11:56:00.002-04:00

A possum is a flat animal that sleeps in the middle of the road.
There are 10,000 types of spiders, and all 10,000 of them live in NC.
If it grows, it'll stick ya. If it crawls, it'll bite cha.
"Onced" and "Twiced are words.
It is not a shopping cart, it's a buggy.
"Jaw-P?" means, "Did y'all go to the bathroom?"
People actually grow and eat okra.
"Fixinto"is one word.
There is no such thing as lunch. There is only dinner and then there is supper...
The word "jeet" is actually a phrase meaning, "Did you eat?"
You don't have to wear a watch, because it doesn't matter what time it is. You work until you're done or it's too dark to see.
You don't PUSH buttons, you MASH em.

say it ain't so

2009-05-13T11:19:00.000-04:00

Here is a vid from this past week at spiked - check it out.

Game Hint!

2009-05-08T10:01:00.003-04:00

What if someone really witty, funny, good looking, charming, and intelligent did a dramatic reading of some of the lyrics of one of your favorite songs?

Ultimate Fighter: The Other Thing Men Think About!

2009-05-08T09:50:00.002-04:00

You don't want to miss the wrap-up to Ultimate Fighter this weekend. Last week we discussed the thing men think about the most, and this week we'll be checking out the other thing men think about: money. You defintely want to be here for this! This is also the last saturday night service for the summer! So, make sure you are here!

Ultimate Fighter Week 2 - Wimp or Warrior

2009-04-18T11:16:00.001-04:00

Dont' miss this weekend as we go into week 2 of Ultimate Fighter. So, are you a wimp or a warrior?

Game Hint for all you cheaters!

2009-04-18T10:44:00.001-04:00

Ok, here is the game for this week. Now, for you guys that like to prepare in advance, this one can be hard or easy - depending on how much you pay attention every week! Good luck!

Game Hint for all you cheaters!

2009-04-11T00:55:00.001-04:00

BEST GAME WE HAVE EVER DONE! and for you cheaters, it's gonna be really hard to cheat... cause its coming straight out of the weirdest place ever - my brain. Good luck!

Ultimate Fighter

2009-04-10T11:53:00.002-04:00

Ultimate Fighter kicks off this weekend in all student environments - you don't want to miss it! Free stuff for everyone - thsirts, monster drinks, candy... It's gonna be crazy!

Easter 2009

2009-04-08T01:23:00.000-04:00

Dude - I am so excited about Easter this year at New Horizon Church. We are doing all kinds of prep work this week to make Easter awesome and amazing. Easter is the easiest time of year to invite someone to church and people who never go to church - people who don't believe in God at all - will show up on Easter. So, we have a huge responsibility and opportunity to share the life change that happens only through Jesus Christ. As always, we will be doing some great things and pushing the envelope. Be here. I heard this from an awesome youth pastor a few weeks ago - if you show up to church by yourself, then you don't have a relationship with Jesus. Chew on that one and bring someone to church Sunday.

It's usually not good to google yourself...

2009-04-07T21:43:00.001-04:00

Have you ever googled yourself? Well, from time to time I google myself, the church, dave, and so on to see if there is anything really bad out there that I need to be aware of. Most of the time, it's not a good idea to google yourself. I have found all kinds of stuff. But today was a good day to google me. Here is a post I found from November 2008:

last sunday i went to new horizons church and was blown away with how much of a cool place it realy was! being raised in a catholic churchgoing family(on my fathers side) i loved how religion was not being flung at me. there was not constant talk of sin and condemnment but of how to help others and relize your a part of somthing bigger. i am not ashamed to say after the music performance of scream-o(i kid you not!) i was totally sold. the youth pastor is a realy cool, and funny guy. hopefully when i get involved in this church, ill feel not so displaced anymore.

Peeps

2009-04-07T10:03:00.000-04:00

Hey New Horizon peeps. The enemy is doing some battle in hopes to disrupt the life change happening this Easter. There's been a disruption in this year’s Easter mailer. Most of them were unable to go out in the mail...so we have 20,000 mailers hanging out at New Horizon to be distributed all throughout the Triangle, help us get the word out. Stop by New Horizon and pick up invitations to Easter and put them on the doors, porches, decks of your neighborhood and wherever else you can think of. PLEASE DON'T PUT IN A MAILBOX--THAT IS ILLEGAL. Otherwise get them out wherever you can. Come get a box and let’s get the word out about the awesomeness that God will be doing at New Horizon Church this Easter.

Game Hint for all you cheaters!

2009-04-03T12:51:00.000-04:00

Ok guys - here is the title slide to the game this weekend! IT IS MY FAVORITE GAME YET! And really easy for you to study for! So, I expect you cheaters to get perfect scores! Good luck!

Whispers

2009-04-02T16:38:00.002-04:00

A whisper. It's spoken softly in quiet tones. It's hard to hear and easy to miss. And it's often how God communicates with us. Find out what happens when we pay attention to the whispers of God. Don't miss this weekend. Make sure you are here! Club56 (5th and 6th graders only) Saturdays @ 6pm and Sundays @ 930am and Spiked (7th thru 12th graders only) Sunday @11am.

Can You Hear Me? Week 3

2009-03-27T19:30:00.003-04:00

Last week of our series on prayer, Can You Hear Me? Here's what's up this week:

We can’t talk about prayer without addressing the obvious question—what happens when God doesn’t answer? Jesus has a surprising response to that—you keep asking. Because if something is that important to you, if something has captured your heart that strongly, then it’s something that you can’t let go. It’s something you can’t simply walk away from. So keep asking. And Jesus says that maybe, just maybe, God will honor your persistence.

Join us this weekend - Club56 (5th and 6th grade only) on Saturday @ 6pm and Sundat @ 9:30am - Spiked (7th thru 12th grade only) on Sunday @ 11am

New Pics

2009-03-26T14:57:00.001-04:00

I just uploaded a bunch of new pics in my photobucket.com slideshow immediately to the right of this post. Take a minute to watch them - there are some great new ones of Olivea.

Luke Lang: I AM standing up!

2009-03-24T16:30:00.003-04:00

Ok, so I just re-read Luke Lang's book, I AM standing up!, and I must say it is great. Luke is one of our key volunteers and I love working with him. Just wanted to plug his book again, not because he paid me to or anything (but I wouldn't mind if he did) but because it is truly worth reading. EVERY teenager should read this book. Click here to check it out. You can also click here to read an old post I did about Luke and his book.

Now that's service

2009-03-23T07:17:00.000-04:00

We have a new volunteer in our ministry that I just have to tell you about. This guy is dating one of our key leaders and was asked by his girlfriend to come with him to Spiked. Now, let me give you some background. This dude had a very bad experience with church when he was younger - very, very bad. So bad that he had no intention of going back ever again. And, just like a woman can do, he starting dating a solid follower and server and gave church a second chance. Luckily, that church was NHC. He started coming and thought, "hey, this isn't so bad." But, he still didn't really feel comfortable. It wasn't until he started hanging out with our students that he felt comfortable. He started helping with groups and wanted to be a group leader. Now, and this is why I am writing about this today, I just found out that he takes off work on Wednesdays just to lead his community group. Does this sound familiar to anyone? I bet there are tons of you guys that didn't really get it until you started giving it away. This is the power of serving and this is the power of tapping someone on the shoulder and getting them to serve with you.

WIFFITI.COM - texting out loud

2009-03-22T23:20:00.002-04:00

This weekend - as we continued talking about prayer - we had the students (during the service) text in their prayers. We used this cool website called Wiffiti. It was insane. Here is our live screen with some of the prayers that students sent in posted right now. The page changes all the time, so watch closely.