JOHNNYROBERTS.TV

Blog: Think Orange/Hillsong/BOD Student Ministry

Busy week culminating in a great day of worship:

*  We had a wet, I mean really wet start at The Iron Mountain Festival but when the clouds cleared and the sun came shining in the people came out.  It was amazing to see a child's eyes get as big as silver dollars when I was able to tell them it was FREE this year because we were sponsoring it.  A big thanks to the faithful givers at TheBOD.tv for making ministry happen.  Now that's what I call SERVE THE WORLD!  Also a big thanks to Shawn Edwards for helping plan and organize the event.

* Friday night in Norman with HILLSONG UNITED was fantastic.  I'm guessing there were at least 35 BODers in several different groups there worshiping like crazy with the other 10,000 plus.  What an awesome night.  For many it was their first Hillsong live experience and they didn't walk away disappointed.  At several times I guess there were 95% of the people with hands in the air singing at the top of their lungs.  

* I love leading worship.  It's awesome partnering up with Cassi, the band and the BODers for a time of all out passionate worship.  Nothing is so sweet to me as the presence of God resting on our worship.  I ignites my soul.  It renews my spirit.  

* Headed to the THINK ORANGE Conference Wednesday.  Over the past few months we have been making a significant effort to communicate and point our systems to this idea of PARTNERING WITH PARENTS.  I believe it will some day be seen as one of the most significant decisions we have ever made.  I believe it will transform our community and impact families for years to come.

* Dropped in on the students last night for some volley-ball and TALK-IT-OVER discussion.  I am praying for this group.  They have been on my mind and in my heart a lot lately.  It is such and important time in their lives and they are so vital to the life of the church.  Praying that God will help us to raise up the next generation of FULLY DEVOTED FOLLOWERS OF CHRIST.  If you are not already serving this would be a great area to plug into and be ON MISSION.

I'll be posting pics and notes from the THINK ORANGE Conference.  Pray for us as we travel and that God would open our eyes, hearts and minds to all He would have us to.  DON'T BLINK... 

Sunday Recap 2-14-10

Reflections on this week at TheBOD...

* I love our volunteers.  They serve week after week, faithfully filling their role as a critical part of the big picture.... CHANGED LIVES.  It was an honor to recognize Jerid Wynn who has, through rain, snow, sleet and hail worked the crosswalk. Thank you Jerid.  Then to recognize John and Angie Pena.  They have both served faithfully as greeters.  John was the lead man on our house remodel and Angie works on the first time guest follow-up process every week.  Thank you guys for being ON MISSION at TheBOD.

* One of the toughest things for me to do is ask people to give up their 11:00 seat for a 9:30 seat.  I'm not sure why.  It's a great and simple way to serve and be on mission with us.  This simple act opens up seats that will lead to lives being changed.  So I'm praying that they don't hear "we don't have room" but rather "COME JOIN US ON MISSION AND LET'S CHANGE SOME LIVES TOGETHER!"

* Great trip to Lifechurch.tv-South Tulsa Saturday night.  Enjoyed some Ted's Mexican food, fellowship, and LC with a few staffers and families.  Enjoyed hooking up with Tome Dawson, the Campus Pastor.  Those guys are rocking it!

* From the message on Marriage and Relationships Sunday I have an additional take-away... When CHURCH becomes the answer:  1. You compromise more than you should... chasing church will lead you away from Christ.  You'll find yourself making decisions for the institution rather than for loving people.  2. You Become Demanding -- "relationship becomes a CONTRACT rather than a COVENANT" -- We view the church as our personal spiritual ATM.  I've done this now church you owe me... 3. You always end up dissatisfied -- the church was never intended to meet your "needs" and never will.  Being the church is about relationship and real community.  Fulfillment will be found only in relationship with Christ lived out in Biblical community.

* Building update... not much to report.  TOOOOO WETTTTTT!  It'll happen.

* I love our church.  I love our people.  I love what I get to do.  I love what God is doing and where we are going.  It's good to be TheBOD.... DON'T BLINK!

Sunday Recap 2-7-10

• New face after new face.  God is entrusting us with the lives of many people.  Our prayer lives and diligence in developing strategies matter more than ever.
• Great BIG SHOUT OUT to our First Impressions teams.  Serving and loving our guests is so important and you guys are making it happen!
• Work day was very beneficial to the church.  Thanks to everyone who worked so hard Saturday to freshen up the building.  Lots of fun.
• Craig was back.  Funny, Engaging, raw and real.  He can say things that I could never say live.  
• I love it that our church life does not revolve around who wins or loses a football game.
• I like greeting outside.  Even in the cold I love seeing everyone come pouring in for worship.  The parking lot gets pretty full... Can’t wait for the new building!
• Chris & the team did a good job this week.  I love the fact that we are able to invest in young musicians discovering what God would do with their talents.  God is worthy of our worship.  God is worthy of the talents he has loaned us to be used for His glory alone.  Leading or being involved in the worship team is HARD WORK.  Be sure to appreciate and love on these guys.
• ELEVEN OCLOCK was as alive as I have ever seen it.  MUCH ENERGY!!  The students from The Hill are priceless.  God is igniting a freshness of growth and new faces across the board and that is sparking mission and worship.
• Reminded this weekend of what it means to BE a Christ follower filled with the Holy Spirit.  Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Gentleness, Faithfulness, Goodness, & Self-Control are the fruit of that life.  Are you bearing fruit?  

Sunday at TheBOD 1-17-10

A few favs from the message:  MARGIN

*"The best things in life happen in the margin."

*Stay-cation- a vacation spent at home with the family.

*"Quit playing with your little twitter!" - Craig on being there when you are with someone.  Get your nose out of your mobile phone screen and engage the people you love!

*Matt 11:28-29

*"Living life according to the rhythms of God's Grace."

*Haiti -- join LC.tv for an hour of prayer 7pm CST at church on-line.  I love our partnership with Lifechurch.tv.

Sunday Recaps 1-10-10

Big Day at TheBOD...

* Looking forward to 21 days of fasting.  Allison and I will be doing the Daniel Fast.  Actually giving up caffeine has been the toughest part to this point.  The headache should be gone by tomorrow or the next day.  I almost crumbled tonight at supper and brewed a big pot of coffee but the weakness reminded me of the point of the fast...  Reliance on God.  God is good and I cannot wait to see what the next 20 days will bring for me... and YOU. 2 Cor 12:9-10  

* ONE THING:  Praying about my options.... wisdom, slow down, the heart of a shepherd... are you seeking God's ONE THING for you in 2010?

* What does life look like when lived according to the rhythms of God?

* I love Baptism at TheBOD... The story of lives changed.  Emma, Reid, Allen, Justice, Terri, Jessica, and Mike... I pray that you become spiritual giants leading hundreds of others to our Loving Savior.  I promise I will do everything I can to help you run the race. 

* ONE THING QUESTIONS Craig challenged us to answer as we begin the new year.  Get busy.  1. What one thing do you desire from God? 2. What one thing do you lack? 3. What one thing do you need to let go? 4. What one thing do you need to claim?  If you missed the message check it out at LIFECHURCH.TV.

* Next week we'll have an update on the building project and talk about partnership at TheBOD.  TWENTY-TEN is going to be an amazing year... DON'T BLINK.

Sunday Recap

Wow... I so much enjoyed Thanksgiving this year.  I was in much need of a break and stole a mini-vacation at home this year.  Feeling GREAT this morning and ready to hit the ground running again.

Chris Beal...  A few notables... "We must get away and get alone with God"... "God wants to be with you"... "At the end of myself the hardest person to be honest with was God... I was afraid to be alone with Him."  

Quoting Craig... "It is the things no one sees that results in what everyone wants". 

There is a story in every chair.  No one knows the heart but God.  What's going on inside of you, how you spend your idle time, your study, your prayer, your lies, your secrets... all lead to the real you.  The you God sees.  I've also been reading about Paul in a book by Chuck Swindoll.  I'll share more tomorrow on this very subject of alone time with God (solitude).  

GIFT MART THIS WEEK!!! I cannot believe it's already here.  It's going to be awesome.  Check out the details HERE.

October Event at TheBOD.tv 2009

A quick run down...

* We exceeded our GOD SIZED goal for the DON'T BLINK Building Offering by $14,576.00.... WOO HOO... GOD IS GOOD!!! When it stops raining the dirt will start moving.

*We honored some dedicated volunteers:

LOVE GOD AWARDS (Evangelism & Experience) recipients:

Lesley Pratt, Bob Nash, Cassi Brower

LOVE OTHERS AWARDS (Groups & Growth)

Tami Matney, Anita Doubrava, Kendra Armer

SERVE THE WORLD (Ministry & Mission)

Donna Edwards, Ken Clark, Rick Rutherford

SMOOTH STONE AWARDS ("The Giant Killers")

Jaci Pitts, Marty Lynch, Debbie Bonner, Mark Koenigseder, Jake Roberts, Scott Williams

* Too much talking and too little dancing.... BODers like to dance.  I can see an all out dance in the future for TheBOD.tv. 

* A huge thanks to Steve and Jamie Clark for hosting us.  The barn, the hay rides, the bon-fire... the whole place and graciousness of their family and team were amazing. 

* The vote to pass the budget, the Board, and the debt for our new building was 100% YES!!!

BUCKLE UP BODers... this is going to be a wild ride!  I won't even say DON'T BLINK because I don't think there is any chance of that at this point.  You guys are jumping in to the mission God has called us to with both feet! 

Sunday Six

*Word.... what a roller coaster of a day.  The highest of highs and the lowest of lows.  Hope, Love, despair, pain... and I get to watch God do what he does.  He is good... He is good and He loves us.  It was great to have a group of Jake's new Stillwater LC friends.  I believe God is raising up a whole new generation of world changers.  These guys and gals inspire me.  They help me press on.  They remind me that every day we must get up and press on.  That we are called to pass the baton.  To lead... and then get out of the way.  I just want to jump up and down and scream thank you God for allowing me to live in such a time as this.

*Our hearts go out to Lesley and the family for the loss of David her father.  As the news came in I watched the BODers mourn and hurt, then move into action... action of expressing the love of Christ.  I am thankful to be the pastor of this bunch of messy, idiot rhinos.  

*Jake... Oh How He Love Us... what a message taken from TAKEN.  Allison noted that if you walked away without getting the point from this message you absolutely were not paying attention.  Nothing so fulfilling as watching God mess up your son's world in a really good way.  Nothing except soaking in the beauty of God's love... I've done that all day.

*MOVIES at the BOD.... wow... God showed up in a huge way today.  After the faithful hard work of so many God poured out his favor on us.  He showed up in a huge way.  He is moving in the lives our His people.  A big thanks to Lifechurch.tv for inspiring us, to the copyright guys for keeping us from being able to get the Lifechurch messages and to God for granting us the privilege of carrying His good news to the world.  Now I can't wait until next week.

*  Jason is up next week.  I want to give big props to him for the video editing he's done on Jake's message.  He will be working extra hard the next couple of weeks as we pull off this series.  If you think of it... send him some love.  Maybe even a nice gift certificate or card.  Rachel has poured a ton of heart and work into this series as well.  We are blessed to have them at TheBOD.

*At the end of the day... I am left to reflect on the goodness of God.  He is good.  Our God is good.  Just before dark I was able to make a run through the garden.  This is what I found!!!  What's better than a fresh picked ripe tomato?

 

2 Corinthians 9:10
Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness.

PS.... #7... I get to lead worship next Sunday... I can't wait!

Sunday Six 3-1-09

*I love having the LINKers on the front rows during worship.  Cool to see the silhouette of a sixth grader on the screens throwing up his hands during worship. 

*The Children's Hopechest mission speaks to my soul.  We will impact hundreds of orphan's lives.  The details of the challenge will come this week.

*Yes... Craig really said having six kids is like "having six drunk midgets running around the house"... I don't think that qualifies as politically correct.... but he used a phrase I loved.... "closing the gap between intentions and actions"... I love the concept of converting intentions into actions.   

*Daylight savings time change this Sunday.  SPRING FORWARD... we lose an hour but I love the extra daylight at the end of the day.

*Our first Next Steps class is scheduled for March 22nd in preparation for another Baptism Bash on April 5th.  Get signed up NOW.... another of my favorite things at TheBOD...  BAPTISM BASH!

*God is giving me new insights and dreams and hopes and expectations... He is calling us to change the rules and break the mold.  He is calling us to "BE" on mission, but probably not in the way you imagine it when you hear the word.  He desiresto live in the middle of where you live.  I have come that you might have life will ring true at TheBOD... I can't wait.

Sunday recap

*Cold.... brrrrrrr..... 

*Leading worship... it had been a while.... it felt good. 

* Practical Atheist -- what a series... so many lives being impacted.  We have seen our highest number of people giving their lives to Christ in this series compared to any other.  God is GOOD!

*AdventConspiracy.org -- 98 cents... that's all it takes to give a person clean drinking water for a year.  I will never look at a bottle of Aquafina the same again.  Anna Clark did a great job in the video.

*HeiferInternational.org -- give a man a fish or teach him to fish... these guys and WorldVision.org will literally take your money and turn it into a livelihood for a family in great need.  

*Angel Tree -- 93 kids will have a Christmas (including FOOD) this year because BODers care.

*Food Boxes -- there are still 12 boxes that need filled for whoever missed one this week.  You can pick one up this Sunday or contact Zenda Rutherford this week. 

*Happy for the Sooners... proud of the Cowboys.  Good game...

Change the world... DON'T BLINK!