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

We took the boys down to grandpa’s this weekend.  Grandpa lives on a finger canal to the Indian River in Stuart and it’s always fun to get away to grandpa’s.  We do a ton of boating, fishing, swimming and just all kinds of stuff in the water when we’re down there.  This weekend, however, grandpa surprised the boys with a tube to pull behind the boat.  Needless to say we all had a blast skimming across the water and getting flung all over the place.  Sandi even got out there and gave it a try - and loved it.  But I got to say, I was really impressed with my dad.  He is almost 71 years old and he was out there bouncing around on the tube with the boys.  Can you say IcyHot night!?  Of course at the rate I’m going lately, I’m just praying I’ll still be able to move when I’m 71. 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. 

So Sandi always finds the coolest toys for summer.  This year she found the Bonzai super slide.  It’s kind of like a slip and slide, except it holds in the water and you can skim board across it.  The boys had a blast and of course even though I’m a little over the manufacture’s height and weight recommendations I had to give it a shot as well.  It’s a lot of fun and I haven’t broken anything yet so this is definitely a good toy for the summer.

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!!!

Summer is here!!!  And to kick the summer off, we start One Prayer this weekend at C3.  This is going to be one sweet series as we get to hear from churches around the nation on what their one prayer for the church would be – ya don’t want to miss it.

This weekend also officially kicks off the “Ultimate Crave-Out Summer for our students.  If you’re in 6 – 12 grades you got to come check out all the different events we have planned for you this summer.  For more info check out the Crave Spam page over there à and make sure you grab a Crave summer calendar at church on Sunday morning.

Then on July 6^th, C3 is hosting a benefit concert with Shane and Shane to raise money for clean water wells in Africa.  It will take place at the Avalon Park amphitheater and everything will get started around 5:30 that night.  This is going to be an awesome time with music, fun and games for the kids, food and of course a great opportunity to make a huge difference in the lives of others.

What a great day we had yesterday at C3!!!  As always the service was awesome.  One of the things I was thinking about on Sunday was how it seems to be human nature to complicate things.  Whether its life, work, church or God, we just seem to have a way to complicate it.  But, God never meant for a relationship with Him or the Christian life to be that way.  This Sunday really showed the simple and easy steps to begin a relationship with God, be baptized and then begin to grow in that relationship with Christ.  Part of that growth is intentionally investing our lives in the lives of others and we all have a really cool opportunity to do exactly that this week.  Remember to take your One Prayer bands with you this week and let’s make sure we are intentionally looking for people to pray for and invite to C3.   

Part of my job here at C3 is to protect the environments of our church.  Whether it’s children’s ministry, youth, Sunday mornings, baptisms or anything else we do.  It is my job to make sure folks have the freedom to worship, celebrate and seek God without the distraction of people who only care about themselves and want to ruin what God is doing in the lives of others. 

I take my job very seriously.  Because of that, as you can imagine, I’ve had to have several difficult conversations with people who are bent on disruption.  A few of those conversations have actually turned out really well and I’ve seen God work in their lives in amazing ways.  However, as you can also probably imagine, most of the conversations don’t go so well.  They usually feel hurt, which I can honestly say has never been what I wanted to do, and then they usually they end up calling me names and other things. 

A year ago the name calling and threats would have really twerked me off.  But the other day I read Psalm 37 and it really made me realize that no matter what you do, there are going to be people who twist the truth and fight against you.  That’s ok, because even when folks act like butts - God is still in control. 

So now, “whatever” comes to mind.  While I’m surprised that there are still folks out there who would like to stir up crap from the past and make sure they are the center of the spot light, that’s fine.  For me, I’m just glad I can be a part of creating and protecting environments where people are coming to Christ, children are protected, and people can worship without distraction.