Fastbreak 2009

Just got back from Fastbreak in Cleveland, Tennessee last Monday (a week ago, I forgot to publish this).  It was amazing!  God is amazing.  God really spoke to everyone there.  I was able to work with the programs team and ran the switchboard for the cameras, so I had the luxury of experiencing the conference from the back of the room.  I have always been the person who wants to sit in the back, both in class and in church.  Not so I can zone out and no pay attention but  I want to see what is going on.  I enjoy seeing the process of change God is inducing. And from that unique perspective you get to see everything that develops.  I noticed the first night that a lot of students were sitting down (the students that “didn’t” want to be there, little did they know God would use them being still to His advantage and speak to their hearts). One of the most encouraging things to me is a person raising their hands in worship for the first time. I noticed that each night more and more people were down in front of the stage during worship.  And by the last night a lot of the chairs were empty. And that’s awesome!

The power of God is sometimes overshadowed these days by Society. Or at least we think it is. We tend to think we can overlook God. But that is impossible! No matter how loud our hearts are, God is louder. No matter how much we do to make out lives louder than the voice and power of God, we will never succeed. It is only a matter of time before God is moving in your life.

Seeing those kids move from doing anything they can in order to not listen to God to worshipping in front of people they did not know was amazing. I saw God working in front of my eyes. His voice was louder than their hearts.

Darren

Simply put

I was browsing through some friends blogs and read something that I have read multiple times but had one of those “light bulb” moments.  It is, in my opinion, the proper way to pursue Christianity.  We as followers tend to complicate everything in our faith and our walks with Christ.  This is a very serious problem within the church we have created.  We feel as though we need to build, do, out-perform, out-last, and create things within the church or other churches in order to grow closer to God.  Hm, interesting right?  Want to know a little secret?  Check out Ty Faulk’s banner on his wordpress.  It is simple. And simply put: “Keeping it simple by loving God and loving people.”  I have believed in this for years and now for some reason felt compelled to write a blog about the subject.  Jesus gave the church things they were supposed to do, yet we create others. And if you went to a church service or grew up going to a church you would think Jesus told us the format and what to do each Sunday.  But when it comes down to it, Jesus gave the church very few things to do.  But what I feel the greatest thing Jesus told us to do is to Love God with all of heart, soul, and mind and love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:37-40).  The church has done a horrible job loving other people.  It has been about buildings, numbers, and money for generations.  What about the people Jesus tells about in Matthew 25?

Simply Put: “keeping it simple by loving God and loving people.”  The church has done it wrong for so long, just look at today’s church and our society.  We need to stop adding complexity to Christianity, when we simply need to love others!
Darren

Oh Tom…

Hmm…Check this video out…it will blow your mind.  I have no idea what he is talking about haha…

I guess I am out of the arena…

Darren

Wow…It’s been a while!

It would seem as though I have forgotten about wordpress and in all reality, I have.  My life has been completely focused on finishing school and my internship.  But, that is now done!!  And I am home!! FOR GOOD!!  Back in Marietta.  “Welcome home,” right?  I think so!

Well a lot has happened in the past few months!  I graduated from Augusta State…finished my internship…moved home…and I am now in the process of finding a job!  I have my resume out to a few churches for student pastor jobs.  I keep getting job offers from out of state churches and really traditional churches.  I feel as though none of the churches that have contacted me have really been where God wants me.  However, there is one I would love to work at…Hopefully God will provide me with that incredible opportunity.  So, keep that in your prayers.

I just got home from BigStuf camp in Daytona Beach, Florida!  It was freakin’ awesome!!  God did some amazing things there.  They always say leaders and teachers learn more than the students and I definitely learned more than my students.  God revealed Himself to me in incredible ways!  It was awesome how God provided me a time and place to just worship Him only a few days after I graduated.  It felt like God was just saying to me…”OK, first and foremost, I want you to start out on you journey of life without school worshipping Me as loud and as hard as you can!”  And I want that to set the tone for my life.  Constantly growing closer to God.

Well, there is always more…so check in for updates.  Now that I am home, I will have more time to update…Hopefully!  Call me to hang out!!  D-SWEEZY IS BACK!

Decisions…

I have a lot of decisions to make tonight…A lot! I need to figure out my priorities and keep my cool. Is it worth all the hard work for no results?

The Complexity and Simplicity of Christ

Coming Sermon: an Intro to “The Complexity and Simplicity of Christ”

How did we get here?God created the Heavens and the Earth…and then us?How can that be?Why God’s offer of salvation in the form of a man?Why a crucifixion?Isn’t it amazing to sit back and wonder these things?All the thoughts, all the questions.Yet, God is working to reveal Himself to you.It is so evident that God is here.Just look around, look in a mirror.There is no way a person can walk through life, live 65 years and not wonder at least once, “How did I get here?”Thoughts such as, “this Christ guy I hear so much about, is He real?How is He alive now?”All very complex questions.All with answers, some not so easy.However, the deal God has made with us is rather simple.Christ wants a relationship with you and me.It is as easy as accepting the life He sacrificed for you.You do not need to do anything.There is no extra work, no payment, it has been paid for you.Such a complex situation that took place to give you the opportunity to live in Heaven, with such an simple response: “Yes God I want to know you and I ask for your forgiveness!”

To Be Continued…

Darren

Crazy

It is crazy how many times we can lose sight of who God is and how amazing He is.Sometimes it seems our lives become so consumed with school and work that we forget the true awesomeness of God.It is the times when our lives are so hectic that God is the loudest and brightest in our hearts.Sometimes God calls us to just sit and breathe in his greatness.God can seem more real and even more satisfying when everything in our life is going crazy and we finally get a chance to just talk with our creator.God is there.He will always be there.There is no greater truth on earth than this: God is real.God is on our side.No matter how busy your life becomes, God wants to be a part of it.

Darren

The New Year

Welcoming in the new year can be a mix of emotions.It can be anxious and uncertain about what lies ahead.It can be exciting to see what God has in store for us.It can be sad because the memories we leave behind and the moments that we will cherish forever.It can be rewarding to finally see a year of hard work pass by.It can be a relief to see a year of pain and suffering end.But one thing is for sure: God will be there.No matter what the year is or how many people try to cover up the undeniable truth of God, He will be there.As the years go by God reveals Himself to more and more people.The world can fight and scratch to disprove God’s existence, but they cannot succeed.God is the reason there is a new year.He is the reason for new life: eternal life.He is the reason for our happiness and the blessing we receive each and every year.Welcoming in the new year is a time for thanking God for the thing’s He has done and what He will do in the next year.

Darren

It’s that time again…

It is that time of year again…when presents, trees, and stockings consumes our lives.It is easy to get caught up in all the commercializing of Christmas.Every place you go is covered in red and green and there are lights every where.There are sales at our favorite stores.Everyone is full of joy, OK maybe that’s a lie.Everyone is grumpy and stressed out because of their last minute shopping.I love getting presents, don’t get me wrong but it seems to consume our lives during this season.It goes from a season of giving gifts to a season of giving the finger.But this is all to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, right?Although this is my favorite time of year, I too get caught up in the importance we place on what we give and what we get, instead of focusing on why Jesus came.Today I was at North Point Community Church and had to leave because all the overflow rooms were full and come back to the 12:45 service to get a place to sit.It offered an hour and fifteen minute break from the Christmas rush in our lives.It gave me and the thousands of others there to worship a chance to remember the true meaning of the word Christmas.It allowed me to remember the reason we celebrate.Christ came for the soul purpose to die for us and redeem us from sin.Not only was He sent to die for our sins, but He did die for our sins.Never will there ever have to be someone else come to save us again.So during this time of Christmas, celebrate His birthday, but more importantly celebrate the reason for His birthday.Merry Christmas!

Darren

Kathy Griffin…Wow…

You know, a lot of times I just laugh off the ignorance of people.I find it funny how a person who has denied God their entire life, makes it a point to express their atheist views.I have never been a person who gets angry by what people say about God and frankly it just opens my eyes.All criticism towards God encourages me to continue to put the up most faith in the God who is mighty to save and just shows me how important it is to continue to share the story of Christ.I came to the realization that people voice their opinions and disagreements about God to the mass public only do it because they cannot deny the true life change people have experienced throughout history.By acknowledging you have thought about if there is a God or not further shows your deep thoughts about the subject.You do not have to accept the truth to believe in the truth.Denial of the truth is an actual acknowledgment of the truth.In order to feel better people claim there is no God.It is something they have to go out of their way to make sure people know.That shows that God is an important subject in their life.He is revealing Himself to them, so they must push Him away and bash God in order to feel they have not accepted the underlying truth that God is real!

Darren