Link for the Wedding!

OK. We are going to be live from Victoria tomorrow, Saturday August 8 at or around 2:45 p.m. (PST).

For those of you who couldn't make it to the wedding but still want to see it.

Click HERE.

It's going to be a hoot!

I will also attempt to embed the video stream here if you would prefer that!

Wedding from Canada

Hey,

Some of you may know that part of my vacation will be in Victoria Canada where our Student Ministries Director Chris is getting married on Aug. 8.

I know there we a bunch of you who wanted to go but couldn't so we are going to do our best to broadcast the wedding here online.

Once we have the details finalized I will post the link here so you can watch.

Stay tuned for more and block out some time starting about 3:45 p.m. Mountain time on Saturday August 8!

Time for Vacation

I am relieved that it is finally time for a vacation. It's been a while since I was able to get away and I get to do this with my wife and little boy for two weeks!

I won't be at FBC, but I will be in church.

I won't be in Pocatello, but I will stay connected.

I won't be working, but I will get things done.

I am really looking forward to the whole thing, except for the 10 hour drive there and back.

Oh Well. It's worth it. So updates will happen but not often. Until then, I won't see you until August!

Things your brain forgets when you don't sleep

Micah has chicken pox. What that means is he is really unhappy and daddy doesn't get to sleep. As a result there was one really important thing that I forgot to mention yesterday!

Vision Night

Sunday, August 16

6 p.m. in the Worship Center

You need to be here for this. We are finalizing the new years' budget and will have that for you to vote on, we will also have updates from the elder team about the new governance and several other important things. There will be some time for your questions too!

It really is important that you be here for this. We need you to help us and to communicate with us so that we all call accomplish what it is that God has out there for us to do!

I'm going to be there. Are you?

Teach Me Lord, Teach Me Lord, To Wait

It's the middle of summer. I know it hasn't been very hot yet, but it's the middle. School starts in a little more than a month (I know, I know), and I haven't had a vacation yet, (can it be summer without a vacation?). It's not even the dog days of summer. And I still feel like I'm just tired out.

Maybe it's because I played/worked so hard at the beginning of summer, I don't know.

Does anyone else feel that way?

It's in these moments that I think it's really important to remember God. We look to God when things are bad, we always get reminded not to forget God when things are good, but how often do we remember God when things just are?

Read Isaiah 40.

Did you read it?

Be honest now.

What an amazing picture of who God is. I don't know how you could read that and not feel a sense of awe and wonder. But here's the thing that gets me.

At the end, after this majestic portrait that's laid out this is what Isaiah says...

"He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall feel exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and be weary; they shall walk and not faint." Isaiah 40:29-31 (ESV)

What we need is for God to teach us to wait. Maybe that's where you are, I think that's where I am. I am learning to wait. And when the time is right I will be able to run and soar and the glory will go to God in that moment because it will come out of my exhaustion and weariness.

If that's you, let's wait together. Don't quit. Even though you're out of energy. Don't give up.

Ask God to teach you to wait. And then do it.

At some point His strength will come, and then watch out!

(Bonus points if you know the song the title comes from!)

4th of July Parade

Wow. Parade done. It's always a physically draining morning for me. We meet at the church at 6 a.m. to start setting up, hang out until the parade starts, play like crazy for 45 min, break a little, play 15 more minutes and then back to the church to tear down and in this case set back up for weekend services tomorrow!

I get tired after all of that. But you who aren't on the truck have the bigger job.

My job is highly visible, lots of people see me. But at this event you guys, who are in the park and on the street, make the biggest impact.

I can't talk to people. I don't get the chance to shake a hand, give a popsicle, or share a hot dog.

But you do. You're the front lines of the ministry.

And I want to thank you for it!

Thanks!

I also want to hear your stories. I get a few pieces here and there, but I know that there are a bunch more out there. So share! Post here in the comments, send me an email (aaron@fbcpoky.com) catch me on twitter (@floyaaro) grab me in the hall. Whatever.

But make sure you share your stories somehow.

I look forward to hearing them and seeing you tomorrow!

Ouch!

Saw this on twitter and wanted to share...

Once the Bible is less than God's Word Jesus becomes less than God & sinners become less than sinful. The Bible is highest authority. - Mark Driscoll

What do you think?

3 Questions, 3 Suggestions

Okay, so I know I'm not old. But I feel older than I used too. It's taken a day and a half to get over this trip and I still don't feel 100%. However, I wanted to give you a few more things before my official DCLA blog tour is done.

Three Questions:

As you talk to your kids (you do talk don't you?) here are some questions to ask. These questions we're asked of us each time we got together in the big room.

1) What? - What did God teach you? What stuck out the most?

2) So What? - What does that mean to you?

3) Now What? - What are you going to do about it?

These are good questions and should help you get a better understanding of the work that God is doing in the life of your kid!

Three Suggestions:

I am not smart enough to come up with all of this on my own so I wanted to share with you what Mark wrote on his blog about students coming back:

When your camper gets home, I suggest you do three things:

1. Let them sleep. Let them sleep a lot.
Fatigue is an enemy and they'll be at their best when they have had some rest.

2. Don't tap the brake.
Fight any temptation you may have to "temper" their enthusiasm for Christ. Even if they make bold and unusual statements like, "I'm going to win all my friends to Christ," or "I'm going to start carrying my Bible to school with me." Even then, don't yield to your temptation to suggest they calm down, slow down or lower their expectations. Let them dream. Let them step-up to a new level of devotion and commitment. Let them feel your support - even when they're attempting something that can only happen if Almighty God steps in and makes it so. (Because Almighty God just might!)

3. Say, "That's great," or "That's awesome," a lot.
When they tell you a story about camp, say, "Tell me more about that." When they talk about the steps they took toward Christ, say, "That's wonderful. I'm proud of you." Your encouragement means more to them than mine. Your encouragement means more to them than the encouragement of their camp counselors. Encourage them - and watch them grow!

That's good stuff there! Anyway keep on the lookout for more rewind info as we get it put together and if you get a chance ask someone who was on the trip those questions!

Pivotal Days

Every conference I've ever been to has what I like to call a "pivotal day."

It's a day when everything changes.

It's a day when people finally let go of their hang ups and worries and dive into what God has fro them at the event.

It's a day when all of the work that has been poured into them starts to bear fruit.

Here in Los Angeles, with your kids, I believe TODAY is that DAY!

We've had a day and a half of great classes and worship experiences. We've had a great week of bonding and laughing and disagreeing and just being together in a group. The ground work has been put down. And I believe that today will be the day when the work that God has been doing will begin to blossom.

What can you do?

Pray...

Seriously...

We need you to be praying for your kids.

Because as part of our church family even if their not YOUR kids their your kids.

God is doing some amazing things. We are seeing leaders being raised up, relationships healed, lives opening, maturity happening, and a bunch more.

Prayer is the key to unlocking it's full potential. We are going to be rolling back with a bunch of students who are going to be ready to live as integrated followers of Christ. We need to lift them up in prayer.

We've already had major attacks in getting here and I don't believe that they will stop when we get back. In fact, I would imagine that they will get stronger.

So pray for your kids, pray for kids that aren't yours, pray for the leaders and pray for Chris.

Something big is about to happen and I think it's happening today!

DCLA Update

Well we made it.

It took some phone calls and frustration but we finally got a ride to the Convention Center Yesterday. Our original bus was fixed and got to the hotel shortly after we left.

It seems that everything is smoothing out now that we are here. The opening session was very cool. A great blend of motion graphics, video, teaching, drama and music. It was very creative and engaging and gave me some good ideas to try later.

The students are doing great. They've held up under the stress of not having a bus and the fatigue of late nights and early mornings. Fortunately we don't have to be up early the next two days.

Several of our students were chose to lead groups of other students during portions of the event. Growth is happening.

We are going to do our best to put together a recap for all of you who aren't here with us. Look for it on this site and on Chris's blog.

Brakes or not!

So in case you didn't hear yet we've hit a snag.

We lost the brakes in the bus going down a hill this morning as we were leaving for LA.

No injuries, no damage. Just a jumped curb some ruin vines and a shaken up crew.

Needles to say the plans for today have been changed. We'll miss out on the Dream Center but we should still be able to get to the convention center in time for the start if DCLA.

As the week goes on it becomes more and more obvious to me that we are being fought against. The enemy seems to have a vested interest in keeping these students away from this event. His biggest problem is that he is not in charge. He can throw all kinds of issues at us but we are being watched a guided by the one who is really in charge!

The enemy has nothing that our God can't handle.

What you can do is pray for us and with us. The things that God has in store for each student on this trip is out of this world.

I will keep you updated as I am updated.

Welcome to California

We made it. Long bus ride and cranky people aside we are now in Southern California.

I don't want you to be jealous but we are a bout to roll to In-n-Out for lunch.

Today is a day of refreshing after a fourteen hour bus ride. A chance to rest and play as we get ready for the incredible things that God is going to do in our lives.

I've already read two book and written some new song lyrics, so look out.

If you think about it pray for our teens as they walk into this conference on Thursday. I feel like this is the start of something big in the life of our church, and it's important that we be praying about it so we don't walk into it blindly.

I will keep you updated as we go, and hopefully we'll get some live blogging during the conference.

Check back often...

Prayer Night Recap Part 2

Yesterday I gave you a list of some of the things we can be thankful for. Today I wanted to give you the list of things that we prayed for on Sunday night and that we need to continue to pray for.

• DCLA trip
• Project House
• 4th of July Parade
• Church Finances
• New Ministry Year
• Small Groups @ FBC
• New Families/People who are attending
• Habitat for Humanity
• Adoptions
• Vern and Carol Fraire
• Summer Weddings
• Parents Health
• Family Relationships
• Employment Needs

Our God is bigger than any of these things. We need to make sure that we remember that. It can be easy to let our problems become so big that don't give God the room to work that He wants. So join me in praying for each of these things and lets give God the opportunity blow our minds!

Prayer Night Recap

Ok so I know it's been a few days since the prayer night but I wanted to give you guys a recap in case you weren't there. Here goes....

We started by looking at Philippians 4:4-7

Next we took some time to thank God for the things that he has been doing!

Here's the list...

• 11 baptisms
• 2 new student workers
• Jobs
• Kids being discipled
• Provision for DCLA
• Marriages restored
• New babies
• I Saw the Lord
• Women's Bible study
• Personal witness
• Student Ministries
• Restored health
• Financial protection in our valley
• Rain
• Portneuf Gap Project
• Church Leadership
• Spiritual growth
• Prayers answered
• Stepping into service
• Madatchurch.com
• Regional growth
• Project house
• DCLA

Wow! God has been doing a lot of different things. You should take a second and give up some thanks for each of these things and anything else that isn't on this list.

Tomorrow I'll post the list of things we need to pray for...

Time to get this real!

Are you Brian? Will you be the realtor? Watch this and decide...

BRIAN HEAD WELCH - I AM SECOND from BRIAN HEAD WELCH on Vimeo.

Learning to lead better.

As a leader it can sometimes be difficult to find ways to grow. Lets face it, after so many books my brain just wants to shut down.

Conferences are great. But if you hadn't noticed most of them are not here and not cheap. That's one of the reasons why we have been trying to get more things here. (More on that in a future post)

However, I just got invited to be a part of something both very cool and very challenging. I'm going to be participating in a Creativity/Leadership Coaching Network with Carlos!

I'm really excited for a few reasons...

• I get to hang with some great people
• I know that God will use them to challenge me
• You will get some of the rewards of my growth
• I will be able to learn how to leverage online interactions for community building
• We may be able to transfer some of this to the region

There are a lot of other things I probably don't even know about yet but I'm still excited.

Starting in October I'll be meeting with Carlos and four other creatives from around the country once a month, and with just Carlos once a month.

It should be awesome!

The Green Bottle

This is exciting. I've been a dad now for 19 months and this is the first time I get to post something like this here!

Yesterday my son, Micah, was cranky. Not like the "I'm a little boy and I'm tired" cranky but the "I'm a little boy and I want you to do what I want to do so I will be happy" kind of cranky.

I love my Micah. I want to do things that make him happy but I also know that I need to do things that are good for him. We all know that those two don't always go together.

We were playing downstairs. I needed to go upstairs. Micah wanted to come, but he was holding his blankie, his milk, and a bottle of aloe (because it was green). I asked if he wanted help, he said yes. I took the blankie and the milk but he wouldn't give up the aloe (did I mention it was green?). I went upstairs and he tried to follow. The problem was, though, he couldn't climb the stairs and hang onto the green bottle. I asked if he wanted help he said no. He sat on the bottom step and cried because he couldn't get to where daddy was without letting go of the green bottle (it really is a cool color of green).

After a few minutes of crying I went down and took the bottle out his hands. This did not make him happy.

Then he looked up and saw his blankie and milk. He took off up the stairs and never looked back.

Then God said to me, "Do you want help?"

"You need to give me your green bottle (which is a cool color)."

So I am letting go of the things I'm holding onto that prevent me from getting to where "daddy"is.

It sucks in the moment. But as soon as I look up and see my blankie and milk I know I will forget about my green bottle.

Do you need to let go of your green bottle?

I'm just askin'

I want to pray for you.

Do you have space?

It sounds like a simple question, but the answer is very important.

This post by Brad started a line of thought in my head about it. (If you're tempted to not read Brads post stop right here. Don't go on until you've read it!) Where is the space in my life? How is that affecting everything I do and everyone I interact with?

It's that space that says, "I need drums and guitars to worship."

It's that space that says, "I can only worship in quiet and solitude."

It's that space that says, "I don't like it when you challenge me."

It's that space that says, "If it doesn't look/sound/feel like I think it should it's not really worship."

It's that space that says, "I can read a few blog posts and watch a few videos and know another persons heart."

It's that space that keeps us from being honest with other people.

And most importantly, it's that space that keeps us from being honest with God. Even though he knows exactly how we feel and what we're thinking the space makes us think we can get away with it. The Bible (Jeremiah 17:9-10) is clear that it's difficult for us to have a clue about or own motives and desires.

I know I have that space. I know that I am disobedient. I know that my life doesn't look like it would if God REALLY owned all of it.

I want that to change. Do You?

Change isn't going comfortable or easy though. As I get closer to who God wants me to be the things that are in that space are going to get squished out. Disobedience and God cannot occupy the same space, and I want God to win that one!

So you pray for me as I squish the space and let God really own me and I want to pray for you. 

Post in the comments the thing I can pray for you and everyday this week I will pray for that. 

God wants all of us and I want to help you... 

Creativity on a....

And people worry about Twitter and iPhone in church services...

Who am I?

This post from Brad made me stop and think about how I live my life during the week. 

I wonder if it will help you think about your day-to-day experiences also?