the Slaves are Freed...

Last night was our first night of the Uprising since our atmosphere redesign thanks to a great friend from Metro South Church, Jon Whaley.  If you do not already know, the Uprising is a movement of students in the Down River area of Detroit that are passionately spreading the gospel to the "10,000" students in our area.  It is an exciting time in our ministry with the new year rolling around and we all feel that the Lord is leading this ministry to do something amazing in 2013.

We started out this redesign by working through Mark 5:1 - 13 specifically focusing on the Demons that took control of the man called "Legion".  It was an opportunity for all of us to come together, worship the Lord, and rejoice in the fact that just like Legion we have demons, and just like Legion those demons have been cast out.

God changed many of us last night.  He showed many that we are truly freed from what seemed to bind us, not because of our own doing, but because the demons that so easily destroy our lives tremble at the sound of our Messiah.

Our Messiah has saved us and there is nothing we can do, but rejoice, bow and do everything we can to tell the world just that.  It is an honor to serve in this ministry and I am so excited for the students in the Down River area to be drastically changed by the power of the Messiah.

WE ARE FREED!!!!


till another day,


normallyINDIE

A Childlike Gospel...

I had the honor of speaking at Twin Oaks Christian Church's Main Sunday Morning Service this past sunday.  It was an amazing opportunity and I am excited for what the future has in store.  By clicking the link you will be sent to audio of the message (video coming soon).


First Sermon @ Twin Oaks Christian Church


Thank you for listening.

till another day,



normallyINDIE

On my Chest...

The expression of "wearing your heart on your chest" is something I had never really thought of till this moment.  I would like to think of it in a little different way.  I think that God does call us to truly wear our love of Christ on our chest, but I think that God lays others things on our heart that he would like to be included when people look at us.  Most recently (besides everything else I have written about tonight) God has put on my heart the idea that we are disciples of Christ and that we have a job to do.  But even outside of the fact that we have a job to do, Jesus has faith that we can do this job.  He merely calls us to take up our cross, deny our own selfish ambitions, and follow him.  Truly do what a disciple is which is be more like Christ (our rabbi) and follow him.

God is put it on my heart so much that I did not even realize it until I entitled an entire sermon series, "Going all in" challenging our students to have Bold Faith, Bold Obedience, & Bold Sacrifice.  Little did I know God was going to talk directly to me in the midst of me talking to a group of 50 students on a weekly basis.  I did not realize that he would be challenging me to truly think about the decision I have made with my life and will make with the rest of my life and ask am I denying myself and follow Christ or am I letting my crosses weigh me down?  How are the decision I am making leading me closer to Christ and making me more like my rabbi.

If all we are called to do in this life is to love Christ and make him known, that is what I want all of my future decisions to display.  I want people to look at my heart that is surely on my sleeve and see that it is stamped by Christ.  I have a tattoo on my chest that is a price tag that is stamped with the word PAID.  I did not do this to look cool or get an awesome Christian tattoo, instead I did this to remind myself that no matter what I do or have done my life has been paid by the blood of Christ.  In response to that, what else can I do but follow the man that saved my life as close as possible.  

Following my own selfish ambitions are merely the things that led Jesus to his death on the cross, so I am going to do all I can do to throw those down, turn around, and follow my savior, my christ, my sacrificial lamb.

That is what I wear on my sleeve.  I wear a heart that has a stamp of payment on it and I have decided in order to glorify the man/God that saved my life, I am going to follow him with all everything that I have.



till another day,



normallyINDIE

Way to Long...

So, I made a commitment about 2 years ago that I would blog once a week for as long as I can and I have fallen off that bandwagon, but tonight I am vowing to catch back up.   Yes, I know it is cheating, but my hope is to get back to blogging once a week.  With that being said I will be writing three different blog posts to make up for lost time.  Starting with this crazy Michigan weather.

As many of you know (if I do have any readers out there in cyber space) my beautiful wife Jenny and I have most recently moved to the great state of Michigan.  Yes, we are living in Pure Michigan as Tim Allen likes to call it on all of those awesome commercials.  It has been such a great experience so far and we have met some really awesome people through the church I am working at here on the Southside of Detroit or as they call it here Down River (DWR).  We have been blessed with an awesome two bedroom apartment in the heart of Down River with a great church to attend (I get to work at) for the past two months.  We could not be happier with the situation that God has brought us in.

But what i find to be most exciting is the fact that we are on a journey.  We read about in scripture about the journeys that the disciples were able to take over their lifetime, traveling to far away lands, sometimes away from home, and spread the gospel along the way.  I like to think that Cincinnati was one of those stops for the past 7 months of our lives and now we are off on our next stop of this epic journey God is taking us on.  We moved here two months ago totally through God, because we definitely did not imagine that we would be packing up in early September for Michigan (a state Jenny and i had only been to briefly) and starting a student ministry.  What i find astonishing is that God continues to show us that we are on a journey.  Although we are further from the place that we love so much, being closer to our families, we have found that a ministry must be done here.  We have had opportunity to meet some great leaders from the church here at Twin Oaks Christian, as well as run into some awesome people along the way.  It is even more exciting to think that we are just at the very beginning of this very long journey, here in Michigan specifically.

We have truly felt called here, Michigan was not on either of our minds, and we both believe that although it is a had to be far from our families that we have been brought here for a reason.  God has placed us in the "DWR" to make a change and we could not be happier to be a part of such an amazing change.

My prayer over the next year is that this blog will continue to chronicle the journey that God is taking us on.  We will encounter good times and bad, ups and downs, but I am so excited to continue on this journey.  Just hoping that the little, seemingly insignificant things that we do in our daily lives would truly reflect the love of Christ with those we in encounter.  For what more is there in this world than to glorify the living God.



till another day,


normallyINDIE

the Uprising...

As many of you know as of September I accepted a position at Twin Oaks Christian Church in Woodhaven, Michigan to become their Student Ministries Pastor.  I have been working for this church for just over a month and last night we were able to launch our brand new Student Ministry service called the Uprising.

This is going to be a church led by students for students purely to spread the gospel to all of the students that are in our Down River Area.  The Uprising is dedicated to building up a group of students that will faithfully, humbly, & wholeheartedly serve the Lord.

I had the honor last night of putting on our Fall Kickoff with all the help I could get from my Adult Sponsor team.  We had a wonderful night of worship, fun, fall inspired food, and relevant speaking.  It was so exciting to see over 50 Middle School & High School Students there who were excited to hear what all of the Uprising was all about.

Now outside of all of the logistics and everything else, I am so excited to be serving God here at Twin Oaks.  To lead a service like this is what I have been dreaming about doing since I felt the call to go into Student Ministry back in High School.  I have been dreaming of the day when God will give me a chance to preach the gospel to a group of students that are anxious to hear it.  It is such an amazing feeling and I am so honored to be serving him in this way.

I cannot imagine what God has in store for us at the Uprising, but I am so excited and I know he is going to do some amazing things.

If you would like to keep up on all things the Uprising then check out:

Facebook: The Uprising

Twitter: @Uprising_SM

Website: www.twinoakschristian.com

I am so excited for the school year and to see what is going to happen.


till another day,


normallyINDIE

All Things New...

As you may know, there are a lot of changes that have taken place recently in my wife and I's life.  We have moved to a new home (Southgate, MI), accepted a new job (Student Ministries Pastor @ Twin Oaks Christian Church), as well as a couple other things.

We have recently purchased a great new vehicle for Jennifer to drive and have gotten rid of the Olds.  It was a sad day when we saw the Olds drive away, but we were happy to have the new Pontiac Torrent in our grasp.  It is a 2WD SUV, with a Sunroof, all the great technology items inside, tons of room, not to mention pretty great gas mileage (for an SUV).

2007 Pontiac Torrent

We have also adopted a wonderful 10 week old mini dachshund puppy by the name of Indie.  He is a really great, cute, fun puppy, but man are they a lot of work.  Our lives have changed, which is tougher than we thought, but we are happy.

Indie at 6 weeks old

As well as the new additions to our family and our garage, I also designed my office with some great help from Jennifer Tod.  I am still working on the wall decor, but it is a work in progress. 

One of the Great Pictures found at Urban Outfitters

The view home the front door of the new Office @ Twin Oaks 

Lastly, Jenny and I just become official Michiganders by receiving our Michigan License Plates as well as our Michigan Licenses (temporaries for the next 10 business days).  

Temp Michigan License

We are really excited for the future and our lives here in Michigan.  We are still exploring and hoping for a wonderful time here.  God is so good and we are so happy to be here.  If you would like to come visit, get in touch.  We would love to see you.  

till another day, 

normallyINDIE

The New Guy...

My wife and I most recently decided to take a leap of faith and accept a position in a state we have never visited, moving further away from family, and did I mention doing all of this in 2 weeks.  Yes, my wife and had recently decided to accept a position at Twin Oaks Christian Church in Woodhaven, Michigan as their Student Ministries Pastor.

We did not know much about the church or about Michigan in general before visiting just a few weeks ago.  But as we had our first Sunday this past week as well as my 2nd week in the office, I could not be more pleased with the decision that God allowed us to make.  The church is filled with hundreds of great people that are truly seeking after God and his mission and vision for their lives as well as students that are fully engaged in their relationships with christ.  

Upon our meeting this past Sunday Night, I challenged the students with the idea that there are 10,000 students in the Down River District, many of which who do not have a church home.  Our students here at Twin Oaks Christian Church have begun to shift their focus away from themselves, but to the 10,000.  As the year continues, we will continue to focus on this number believing that our mission is not complete until all 10,000 people have heard the message of the love of Christ as well as have found a place to grow and fellowship with other believers.  

As far as Student Ministries goes, their will be a couple changes that take place very soon and I am very excited to unveil those changes on October 7th at our Fall Kickoff.  I am so ready to see what God has in store for me with these students here as well as what role my wife and I can play in the family of Twin Oaks Christian Church 

till another day, 

normallyINDIE 

Goodbye OTR, Hello DWR...

Goodbye Cincinnati and our wonderful downtown apartment, what an amazing and adventurous 8 months it was living on 8th and Main St. in downtown Cincinnati, but we have traded in our city digs for a much nicer, quiet, hipster, 2 bedroom 2 bath apartment in Southgate, MI.

We have just recently moved into the beautiful state of Michigan, specifically south of Detroit in the Down River District.  It is a beautiful area filled with nature, wildlife, urban culture, and not to mention restaurants.  Although we very much loved the history and culture of Over the Rhine we are really excited to call the Down River District our new home.  

From what we have heard is that Detroit is one of the worst areas to live in America, but all we have found is fun loving, beautiful, great people that have a hospitality unlike any other city I have been a part of.  Not to mention, I hope that I pick of the accent that is so great up here in the north.  We have spent much of our time in Trenton, Wynadotte, Southgate, Taylor, & Woodhaven and we love the historical old homes as well as the convenience of having a Target, Walmart, Starbucks, CVS, & Redbox right near by.  

We most recently received our Michigan License plates as well as our official (temporary) Michigan Driver's Licenses (after a two hour adventure at the SOS office).  What we have been told now is all we have to get is a Red Wings jersey and a Michigan Maize and Blue hat and we will become true Michiganders.  

We are so excited to have moved a new home, with new adventures, people, and places.  Stay tuned for more updates about our favorite places to go in the DWR as well as Downtown Detroit.  

till another day, 

normallyINDIE