So I got the results of my MRI back and there are no tears in my shoulder – Thank you Lord!!!  Instead I have evidently sprained my shoulder - never knew that was possible.  Anyway, now I have 2 weeks where I’m supposed to rest my shoulder and not lift anything.  It’s already driving me crazy not being able to do anything with my arm.  I mean really, how are you not supposed to use your right arm?   But, I’m really thankful it’s only 2 weeks instead of 2 months if it had been a tear.  Thanks for your prayers!!!

I’ll see you Sunday night at the Shane and Shane concert.  Don’t forget to invite everyone you know. J

Wow my feet still hurt.  Yesterday Crave went to the Ice Den at the RDV for a little ice skating.  It was my first time ever to ice skate and it was definitely a unique experience.  Several of our students had the whole ice skating thing down.  The Lofye’s, Shay and of course our girls from Minnesota (not fair) were whizzing all over the rink.  For the majority of students though, it didn’t take very long for them to get the hang of it and they skated along with ease.  However there were a few of us who have been in Florida all our lives (and still can’t figure out why people actually want to get anywhere near a big block of ice) that pretty much hugged the wall and just prayed we’d survive (Christina I still think you cheatedJ).  All in all it was an awesome day and of course it’s always cool just to hang out with the Cravers.  Don’t forget our next event is Islands of Adventure on July 9^th.   Keep checking the Crave Spam page for all the latest summer activities.  See ya on Sunday.

I am so love’n this One Prayer series that we are in on Sundays.  It has been awesome to hear from pastors around the country and their prayers for the church.  This past Sunday was phenomenal and it is so cool to think about the things that we as Christ Followers can accomplish if we would unite together under our common purpose.  One thing that really stuck out to me is when Craig said there is strength in our differences.  It’s so true.  I think about how God has brought together so many folks from different church backgrounds, denominations, nationalities, and so on here at C3 and how we have accomplished so much by coming together under one purpose.  Things like feeding 400 families for a week, building wells in Africa and seeing friends and neighbors come to Christ.  God has really been doing some amazing things.  Also you don’t want to miss this coming Sunday as we finish up the one prayer serious with a “dangerous” message.   

Did you ever have a time where you just felt like your falling apart?  This morning I spent almost 2 hours at the dentist as he replaced two lose fillings and filed a cavity.  Then yesterday I went to see the Doctor about my shoulder.  I actually hurt my shoulder while I was working-out a little over a month ago, but as usual, I just down played it and worked through the pain.  I know, not smart, but I really just don’t like going to doctors.  Anyway, the doc says he thinks I’ve torn a couple muscles in the rotator cuff.  So, he scheduled me for an MRI on Monday.  Until then I’ll just have to keep myself together with duct tape and superglue.  Of course Sandi keeps reminding me that I’m not 20 anymore, but I still feel like I’m 20, so I guess I’m just going to have to up my insurance. J 

Thanks for the prayers!!! See ya on Sunday at C3.  Remember invite some friends. 

Yesterday officially started our summer Crave events by taking the students out to Aquatica.  We had a blast and the Lord blessed tremendously.  No one got hurt, except for me, but that’s to be expected.   The lines were not as bad as everyone told me they would be and we didn’t get a single drop of rain even though it was suppose to storm during the times we were there.  Of course we all came back a couple shades “red’r” then when we started, but overall it was a really awesome day.

A few folks asked me to report back on how the park is.  So, here is my humble, but I think accurate opinion.  Aquatica is a pretty cool water park and has some unique features, like; two wave pools (one calmer than the other), a rapids ride (looks a lot like a lazy river but the water moves really fast) and then of course the ride through the dolphin pool (which 9 out of 10 people don’t see a dolphin when they ride it anyway).  All in all I think Aquatica is definitely worth checking out at least once, especially if you have kids.  However, the park is way over priced for what you get.  If you’re looking for the most bang for your buck then Wet’n Wild is probably a better bet or one of the Disney parks when they run their specials. 

Cravers don’t forget; ice skating in 2 weeks!!!

Yesterday was an extra special day as I got to baptize my son Luke.  It was just one of those awesome tender moments.  Luke was very excited, he asked me all day; “are you going to baptize me tonight” and when it was all over he could just not stop talking about his baptism and following God.  What made it extra special was he was able to be baptized with a couple of his close friends, Emily and Wes.  It was really cool for me as well since Sandi and I really view Emily like part of the family.  Luke was also really excited to be baptized at Pastor Byron’s home.  It was just a really great setting for baptism and Luke said he’ll now be calling the Pastor’s pool the baptistery from here on out. 

Another really cool part of the night was that we were able to baptize all but one child who had just finished our Great Adventures class that same Sunday morning.  I love teaching the Great Adventures class.  It’s a really sweet experience where I really get to spend time with kids who have usually just accepted Christ and I get to dig into God’s word with them.  This class is offered for any child who is finishing up 1st grade through 5th grade.  If your wondering why we make sure the child has finished 1st grade - well, as you probably have figured out, we here at C3 are not into legalism at all or just making folks attend a class just to attend a class.  But with Great Adventures it really allows us to make sure each child fully understands and comprehends what it means to be a Christ Follower and what baptism is all about.  To do that effectively we have them do some reading and writing that’s at a 1st grade level.  - I don’t know if you really wanted to read all that about Great Adventures, but now ya know.

We had an awesome Sunday at C3 this weekend.  We had several first time visitors this weekend and I just finished talking with a bunch of them.  I love being able to talk to first time guests.  It’s so cool to hear their story of where their from, what they thought about the service and how they heard about C3.  What I think is more than awesome is that the majority of those that I spoke with were invited to C3 by our members.  They had neighbors, friends and coworkers invite them to come check out C3.  That’s so cool that you guys are helping those that you know to connect with Christ by inviting them to C3.  That’s actually one of the reasons Sandi and I enjoy that our boys are so into sports.  Because their sporting events allow us to really build some awesome friendships with other parents from their teams.  Of course these friendships mean so much to us and we love when we get the opportunity to tell them about and invite them to C3.  Keep on investing and inviting and I’ll see you and your friends on Sunday.

This has been one of those up and down kind of weeks.  The week started off with some good friends losing their father over the weekend and he was only in his 40’s.  They held services on Monday and Tuesday and it was just a sad start to the week.  However, the awesome part is that just days before he passed away, Elvis prayed to receive Christ as his personal savior.  I love the Rosario and Torres families, you guys are awesome.  Please know Sandi and I and the staff are praying for you every day. 

Then also this week, it seems that I’ve pulled something in my shoulder.  It’s driving me crazy because I’m trying to take it easy so it can heal, but as you know I don’t do easy very well. 

I’m extremely pumped about this weekend; there are just a ton of awesome things going on.  The service is going to be off the chain as Pastor Byron continues to dig into the Big and Rich series.  This is just one of those series where you get so much practical and life changing info on how to experience God and the abundant life that He desires for us.

Also this weekend we have a summer camp meeting for our Crave students and their parents.  I’m so jacked about summer camp this year.  We are heading over to Big Stuf camps in Daytona Beach and it will be a camp like our students have never experienced before.  So Crave students and parents don’t forget, even if you’re just a little interested in camp this year make sure you’re at the meeting this Sunday from 5 to 6pm. 

Hey Power House Leaders don’t forget we have a mini team meeting this Sunday between services in theater 6.  We have some awesome things planned to really take Power House to the next level, but to get there we need you.  You guys do an awesome job, see ya on Sunday. 

Wow, I am wiped!!!  I spent the day with our Crave students hitting the surf at Cocoa Beach.  It was a sweet day, with perfect weather.  Cocoa didn’t have a single cloud in the sky the whole day, of course that means all of our students are now bright red.  I think everyone had a blast, just hang’n and enjoying the sun and surf.  We even had a few educational moments on the trip as I got to explained what a man-o-war was, how rip currents worked and the most important how to boogie board – awesome job K.  Dudes, thanks for an awesome day at the beach, I’ll see ya on the 13^th for Crave-Live and don’t forget we have a summer camp meeting that day also.  Stay sweet to each other!!!    

So, it’s been a rather eventful Friday.  The day started off awesome.  A good buddy of mine took me out on Mosquito Lagoon for a little fish’n.  It was a beautiful day to be out on the water and I had never fished Mosquito Lagoon before.  It was really sweet over there, we saw a couple of manatees and several dolphins.  We caught some trout, a sheeps head and one too many blow fish.  It was a blast.  On the other side of today, we had to take Caleb down to the urgent care center with his first sports-related injury.  As much as he loves sports and as hard as he plays, I just have the feeling this is just the beginning of our trips to doctors and urgent care centers with him.  The good part though is that the injury is not serious, he just pulled something in his knee.  So, he’ll have to wobble along on crutches for a couple of days.  I feel sooo bad for him as he walks along on these mini-size crutches.  Of course, the worst part for Caleb is that he has to miss his first soccer game of the season tomorrow.  Total bummer.