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Yesterday at The Rock, Kevin dropped some series Man-Bombs!  I left feeling like Chuck Norris round house kicked my man card right out of my jockstrap. It was a long, shameful, tail-between-my-leg bicycle ride home.  In all seriousness, this “The Naked Truth” series has whooped my tail!  So I wanted to share with you a few things about being a real man that I’ve been learning:

• REAL MEN make a difference, not excuses. This statement packs a huge punch, and rightfully so.  When you drop the ball, man up, accept the failure, and move forward.  When you sin, man up, confess it, and move forward.  Men, we fall into a long line of finger pointing, excuse making, whiny, little mama’s boys who ran away when the heat turned up. (Adam, Moses, David, Jonah, Judas).  Dudez… are you tough enough to remain strong in tough times?  Do you let things fall through the cracks?  Do you buckle under pressure?  Do you finish things you start?
• REAL MEN view women as meaningful pursuits, not disposable pleasures. Proverbs 18:22… nuff said!  This is a quote I stole from one of the manliest man movies EVER… James “007″ Bond!
• REAL MEN have a plan. Chicks dig dudes with a plan. Dudes in ministry LOVE to talk about casting vision and making plans for the church… but how about for your family?  Guys, do you have a plan?  Do you know where you are going in life?  Where are you leading your family?  Where are you going for date night this week?  Do you even have a date night?
• REAL MEN provide for his family. Proverbs 6:9-11.  Before God gave Adam a woman He gave Adam a J.O.B.!!!! Dudez… Put down the video game, get out of your mom’s basement, get on your bike and go get a JOB!  How can you provide for your family if you don’t have a job (1 Timothy 5:8).  If you can’t get a job b/c of the economy, see point #1.  Ladies… you can learn a lot about a guy by the way he spends his money.

Teenage Dudez… we are hitting manhood hard this week @ Katalyst.  Man up, and be there!  I challenge you.  I Dare you!

That’s it for now.  I’m going to take of my training wheels now and attempt to regain my man card.

Here’s just a few Judo chops I took in the face from yesterday’s service:

• People of Walmart
• “Even when my kook-o-meter goes off, I still reserve a space for the possibility that the person might be the real deal.”
• “There’s a reason John didn’t fit into the organized civilized religion of his day.  And that’s because God didn’t either.”
• “Giving yourself to Jesus turns your heart into a place where the Spirit of God roams around wild!”
• “Your best act of rebellion is for YOU to rebel against YOU!”
• “How many battles could you and I both win if we simply learned how to say ‘NO’ to ourselves?”
• John 3:30
• 1 Corinthians 9:27
• GOD USES FOLKS WHO STRUGGLE!
• “There is no such thing as a follower of Jesus who doesn’t struggle.”
• “Our struggles/circumstances don’t change the character of God.”
• “Sometimes heroes like John the Baptist get beheaded.”
• “You want a Christianity that is nothing but easy and shallow. Watch some TV preacher and send him a check. It’s fake faith, but you’ll feel blessed.”

KEEP YOUR FORKS!!! Its about to get crazy!

• FATHER’S DAY!!! Dad’s have such an important job (and they get overlooked so many times).  Thanx Dad for all you did/do!
• It was rush rush rush at the Brown Household.  I am a last minute packer, so you can imagine.
• I was PUMPED to be at The Rock yesterday!  It is AMAZING how our volunteers completely transform that movie theater into a sactuary of worship.
• Seeing our church dedicate themselves to the support and care of the babies (and future leaders of The Rock I might add) is AWESOME!
• Soon as Kevin walked off the stage, a few of us saddled up and headed to CALIFORNIA!
• The flight was probably the smoothest I’ve ever been on.
• Delta is a RIP OFF! This was the first flight I’ve been on that made you pay for food/movies AND they didn’t have wifi AND the didn’t have a power outlet for my laptop… c’mon Delta… time to get on it!
• Seeing the world from bird’s eye view never gets old.  I kept thinking of how I’ll get to sit with God on His throne and check out the view for the rest of eternity!!
• Hannah was mistaken as Kelly Clarkson on the plane… AGAIN!
• We landed in California, picked up our mini van and rolled out!
• Heard good report about Katalyst! You know when you can step out of the picture and the ball continues to roll that you serve with AWESOME people!

So here we are… its Monday morning in Orange County… I slept great… I miss my wife.. and I’m eager to hit the strip! You guys can join us in praying for the next steps in having OUR OWN BUILDING!

I’d love to hear what some of you thought when Kevin asked the question, “What would I really do if I could do anything I wanted to fulfill the purpose God has in my life?“

• Joe Sangl is contageous!  No, I don’t mean he spread the flu.  I mean his passion and excitement for the life changes that result from financial freedom gets me PUMPED!
• If you missed out… well, you REALLY missed out!  but you can guy buy his book here and check out his online resources here.
• I am officially trained to help you manage money… scary… I know.
• Before heading to The Rock, I read through Nehemiah 4.  It was interesting to see how those rebuilding Jerusalem “worked with all their heart” but just a few verses later you find “the strength of the laborers is giving out.”  We have some very dedicated Rockstar volunteers whose strength is giving out.  When you pray, add in our volunteers.  You can pray for a renewed strength and passion.  Pray that their excitement for serving will be contageous.  Pray for wisdom for our leadership.
• “The job of a manager is to make money for the owner.”
• “God owns it all!” (not just the 10% I give)
• “I will be held accountable for the way I managed the money given to me.”
• “Debt doesn’t define your life”
• “Has God blessed you with some?  How have you used it for the Kingdom?”
• KATALYST WAS DANK!
• We started a new series entitled ‘SEXED” where we will spend the next 5 weeks talking to your student about: overcoming sexual temptation, purity, immorality, murder, divorce, sexting, st. nate, integrity, fishing, putting on your Jesus face, and being naked without shame.
• We watched this.
• “In order to overcome sexual temptation, we must EXPOSE the lie and SPEAK the Truth.”
• “There is always more at stake than what we think.”
• “Jesus knew there was more at stake.”  Matthew 4:1-11
• “When we give into sexual temptation, our FUTURE, FAMILY, and FAITH are at stake.”

After a full  day of AWESOMENESS, I sat on the couch with my wife and turned on Gilmore Girls.  It was a good day!  And now its monday… the day of critique… the day of “I could have done this better…” and “I should have said that…” and “How can we fix this…” and “What will make this better…”

two words…

BRING IT!!!

Here’s some thoughts from yesterday:

• My day started off with a fierce, duel of fates with my printer.  With a little persuasion, I won and now my printer works perfectly.
• After reading Romans 8:1-18 I coulnd’t wait to get to The Rock!
• I walked into the building to find a few of the Rock’s finest engineers overriding the electrical system.  Haha… LOVE IT!
• Volunteers = Awesome!  Our ministry couldn’t happen without them… period!
• The new business cards are SWEET lookin’!
• Our children’s ministry is DANK! Lights, music, hula skirts, coconut tops… oh yeah!
• I LOVE OUR COLLEGE STUDENTS!  God is doing some HUGE things in and through them.
• I watched the service from the upstairs video control room.  That was sick!
• I loved the series video with the little boy writing the word ‘SIMPLE’.
• “Real Christianity was never intended to be easy.”
• “Christianity that doesn’t cost you anything doesn’t do anything.  It’s just superstition with some morals thrown in.”
• “Real Christianity is like trying to fight your way UP a crowded DOWN escalator.”
• “I quickly found that the American church is a difficult place to fit in if you want to live out New Testament Christianity.”
• “One of the greatest mission fields is the church.”
• Was VERY relieved that God held off the rain for our Katalyst pool party.
• Watching students fight over a Vaseline covered watermelon in a pool is hilarious!
• Heard a student say that he loved Katalyst because of the small groups.
• Apparently Katalyst < concerts on the coolness scale.  Guess its time to take some things to the next level!
• We’ve had new students every week since I can remember… THAT’S AWESOME!

I went to bed last night ready to get back to work.  Despite my tin man syndrome, I am PUMPED!  I love what I get to do!

ps. If you are reading this, take some time to throw up a prayer for our fearless leader.  I’m convinced there are things he deals with that I can’t and won’t understand.

Jesus replied, ” ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.”

When I made a commitment to accept Jesus, I was challenged to stand infront of 100+ college students and boldly announce my decision.  The last three Sundays at The Rock, Kevin has challenged the ones who had just made the decision to follow Christ to stand boldly in front of the entire church.  2 weeks ago, I was challenged to stand in the middle of 12 classmates and say Matthew 22:37 out loud.

Now its your turn!  Wherever you are… work… school… home… No matter who’s watching!  On the count of 3, Stand up.  Seriously!  Right there at your desk… Tell your God that you love Him with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.  Say it loud so everyone can hear you boldly proclaim your love for your God.  The people around you will probably look at you a little funny, but Jesus is worth it, right?!  Ready?

1…

2…

3!!!

Who would you say had the best outfit?

Hearing Jerimiah on the djembe had me all kinds of PUMPED!  Amazing Grace gets me every time.  Just think, even after 10,000 years in heaven, we will still the rest of eternity to hang with Jesus!  Shameless plug:  I LOVE the djembe and don’t have one, yet… *cough*

Let me say this too… by inviting your adult friends to The Rock, YOU had a direct influence on Katalyst.  We had several students come for the first time because their parent’s came to The Rock for the first time and loved it.  That’s awesome!

If you don’t know Adam Sewell, let me take a second to introduce him.  Adam is one of our college students who is getting ready to graduate from CCU with a degree in Marine Science.  He also is involved with several campus ministries.  Adam lead worship last night at Katalyst and I have to say, I haven’t seen high/middle school students worship like that in a long time!  Blew me away!

As for my Katalyst volunteers, you guys are one of the HUGEST blessings in my life!  And I don’t say that lightly.

This morning I feel like I got hit by a bus, but I am ready to do it all over again!

You still have a few hours to invite those last minute friends!

oh, and I think my new book list plug-in is causing my page to lag a little.  Let me know if you notice.

We see the importance of physical health… but what about emotional health?  “Well, in neglecting our intense emotions, we are false to ourselves and lose a wonderful opportunity to know God.  We forget that change comes through BRUTAL HONESTY and VULNERABILITY before God.“  Scripture tells us to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength.  In order to do that, we must know God and ourselves on those deep internal levels.

Emotional Health is defined as 2 things:

1. The awareness of my feelings and emotions along with an understanding of what causes them.
2. The ability to express them in healthy ways to others.

Which do you think people struggle with most?

Jesus showed emotion.  He wept.  He expressed anger.  He was disturbed, stressed, longed to be with His disciples, and compassion for widows, orphans, and the blind man.  He was the perfect example of an emotional healthy leader.

The enigma for Christians in leadership is that you can be spiritually doing it on the outside but completely immature on the inside.  If we get BRUTALLY HONEST with ourselves, that’s how we want it to be.  We simply cannot let people know our junk.  The pressure to be honest and authentic is suppressed by fear of losing a job, losing confidence, losing influence… or in other words,  being found out and then kicked out.

Over the next few days I’ll hit on characteristics of an emotionally healthy leader in our PERSONAL LIFE, RELATIONAL LIFE, and our SPIRITUAL LIFE.

For now, ask yourself this question: Over the last week, how have you felt?  What emotions have you experienced?

Mine would be: Overwhelmed, Frustrated, Annoyed, Anxious, Resentful, Suspicious, Puzzled, Frazzled, Overjoyed, Happy, and Lovesick (hey, i’m about to get married).

As for those who call me emotional, I call you superficial.