Take Your Best Shot

12 Aug , 2009 No Comments

I recently read Austin Gutwein’s first book (I’m sure there are more to come), Take Your Best Shot. It tells the story of the creation of Hoops of Hope and Austin’s own heart for Africa from the time he was nine years old. The book is written for teens, so if you’re not a teen, it should be a quick read. It is filled with some great stories that Austin has experienced in the last few years while experiencing parts of the world that most of us know nothing about.

I was encouraged and again impressed by what this nine year old kid was willing to try. No matter how many times I hear the story, I am still so proud of Austin and the man that he is becoming (he’s now 15). You should check this book out, especially if you have kids. We could use a few more Austins in this world.

Here are a few quotes that stood out to me:

“…doing something bigger than yourself truly requires having Someone bigger than yourself inside you!”

“…those kids seeing themselves for the very first time. That’s a little funny isn’t it? Because here in America, we have the exact opposite problem. We are so used to seeing who we are on the outside that we never find out who we are on the inside.”

“Doing something new that’s bigger than yourself doesn’t depend on how old you are. It depends on how available you are.”

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Open Source Preaching

06 Aug , 2009 No Comments

Central is hosting Willow Creek’s Leadership Summit again this year and one of the presenters, Gary Hamel, posed some interesting questions to churches. One of them is why don’t preachers employ open sourcing when it comes to writing the sermons?

Open source philosophy is one of the secrets behind the success of things like Wikipedia, Linux, and the iPhone. It allows unlimited amounts of people to speak into the creation of a product or project. So here’s an idea that I’ll throw out to you: I would love to post the message topic a couple weeks out and invite your feedback as we write them.

So let’s try it and I’ll open it up to you guys. In two weeks, we begin a new series called Famous Lost Words. The first week is on integrity. So if you can take a moment, please leave a comment with any ideas you come up with concerning movie clips, quotes, scriptures, illustrations, etc. for the topic of integrity. I’d love to make this a part of the sermon creation process if you guys are willing to speak into it. The sky is the limit, so think creatively and share some of your genius.

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Famous Lost Words

05 Aug , 2009 No Comments

Here is a video we posted onto Central’s Facebook page as a promo for our new series coming up in a couple of weeks. I don’t think people realized that I was making all of this stuff up…

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Competitive Fitness

23 Jul , 2009 No Comments

Competitive FitnessI started going to a gym about a week and a half ago called Competitive Fitness. It is in Chandler and it has a unique approach to helping you get in shape.
Every membership comes with personal training. The gym isn’t filled with a bunch of machines like your typical gym because the idea isn’t that you go in for a bit and work out by yourself. Instead, there is one workout a day that everybody does, and then they write your time or weight on a whiteboard. This creates an awesome community feel to it since everyone is doing the same thing. It is also tremendously encouraging since there is always someone to walk you through the excercises and encourage you along the way. Most workouts can be done in about 15 minutes or less. They use a system called Crossfit (think P90x in shorter time).
So far I feel great and I feel overall much more healthy and strong. If you are looking for something to help you get in shape, definitely check them out.

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Guest Blogger-Austin Gutwein

16 Jul , 2009 No Comments

I’ve been spending some extra time with Austin Gutwein this summer talking about ministry, God, and life in general. In case you haven’t heard, Austin is the amazing guy that started Hoops of Hope when he was nine years old. He’s also got his own book coming out in September.

I asked Austin to guest blog for me. The question I asked him was: “What has God been teaching you lately?” Here is his response:

“I have been reading a lot about the beginning of the church. It is really incredible for me how these people stayed in Jerusalem just like they were told by Jesus and waiting for the Holy Spirit. As I read through this in the beginning of Acts, it really hit me just how incredible this must have been for these people. Here they were sitting together just waiting for the Holy Spirit to come over them. I have never ran track before but I am sure it was just like that for the apostles. They had their feet all ready to go and they were just waiting to burst out with energy and excitement. That is what I imagine it was like for the apostles, all of them waiting in a room with a tremendous excitement for what was to happen. They knew when the Holy Spirit came upon them it was like the gun had sounded. All of a sudden they would be able to go out and share the gospel. And they did just that.

Acts 2:6-7, “They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them all of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.” I love this passage so much I just think that would be the most amazing thing to see. The Holy Spirit sure did come into them but in an incredible way. And what is even more incredible is what they were able to do after that. They spoke in people’s own language. They didn’t need Rosetta Stone. They had the Holy Spirit. And God gave the Holy Spirit to the apostles at the perfect time. Pentecost, the Jewish harvest festival, requires all the Jew’s to come and give their 10% to God. Now just as all the Jews are in Jerusalem, they are able to hear the truth of Jesus in their own language.

Once I finished reading this passage it helped me to realize that I can speak to my non-Christian friends about Christ because I have the Holy Spirit with me. Even though I might not have a “tongue of fire on my head” I have a renewed energy to go out and help those who need Him.  And I know He will give me the words to say when the time comes.” — Austin

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OTR – Nate Larkin

09 Jul , 2009 No Comments

Nate Larkin is the author of a book that I recently read, and loved, called Samson and the Pirate Monks. It is a call for men to enter authentic brotherhood together. Nate’s own story is fascinating (he realized he was a sex addict while he was a pastor) and he tells it with such honesty and passion. I would recommend this book to all guys out there that are reading this (and I’ve been told by a trustworthy source, who happens to be a woman, that women can also get a lot out of this book). Nate has started the Samson Society, which has blossomed up all over the place and creates an environment for guys to connect.

Jeremy: Tell us something odd/unique about you.

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