So I know it has been a while since I have blogged and have even been told…man you got a sweet new blog up..and you are gonna let it fall on its face….and I do not want to talk to someone that has not blogged for two weeks…but I am back…and dang has it been a crazy two weeks! Just a quick snapshot of what God has been doing!!

Last Monday the possible next step for Will Rock 4 Food and our concert ministry was beginning to take shape…A friend of mine Jim Schmidtke (who just happens to be the guy who led Coach Tressel to the Lord)  who I have met through the involvement with THE MAIN EVENT (Columbus and Lima) called me a few weeks back and wanted my take on some concert ideas, and to help him in what a great concert, or what the next steps would be….basically wanted help with the vision behind something!! That something happens to be a concert that would be following a Columbus Crew game in September @ The Crew Stadium!! Now I do not know the involvement or anything we will have as of yet…but we had a 2 hour meeting with the President of Events for the Columbus Crew and it looks pretty good.  I never thought that when we started Will Rock 4 Food in a park in Lima, that God would do so much with it…He has already completed my dream, and now I am just completely blindsided by what is going on!!  So the day of the meeting, we  (my brother Gabe Taviano, Friends and Colleagues Charles Hill, and Dwayne Sayre) got an in depth tour of the Woody Hayes Center (the Ohio State University Athletic Training Center) a tour of the Crew Stadium and got to hold the MLS Cup, and then we jumped the little fence and ran on the field @ Ohio Stadium!!  You can see the pics on my facebook page. What an amazing day….and who knows what the outcome will be, but God!!

Then on Wednesday, we filmed the first 8 episodes of this tv show on WTLW TV 44 that I am co hosting with, Billi Dray.  The show is called the Surge, and is a Christian Music Video show geared towards taking the topics of the videos and doing little 2 minute teaching segments in between… The tapings went longer than was expected, but definitely glad to see what God is going to do with them!!  It is at its first step, and will begin to air in late March….I am new to the TV thing, and was really nervous for the first couple of shows!!  Glad to be able to host this show with a friend, and former news anchor!!  

Then on Sunday we switched all of our youth things around…times all changed and are focusing more on jr. high being separate from high school….which definitely already saw positive effects the first week.  It is amazing how middle schoolers will open up when there are no high schoolers in the room!! It was a great first week of Evolve our MSM, and Crave, which is our HSM.  We also started a joes on the road thing, where we are starting off every Wednesday night with the teens not knowing where they are going and taking them to places in which they will learn many lessons!! Tonights topic was Encouragement…so we stopped at an Older gentleman’s house from our church, and gave him a dozen golf balls and a card, and then went to a students tournament game together, and ended up at my daughters’ pine wood derby….three different ages of encouragement, and three different ways!!  

I have been swamped this week with prep for youth, prep and promo for the upcoming Skillet concert on April 4th at the Elida fieldhouse (www.willrock4food.com)  and being the best dad and husband that I can be at the same time…Lets just say, at night I am drained!!  So if you can pray for the next few weeks and this month that God will provide the energy that I will need to  do what He is directing me to do!!!

Tonight we had the Awana Grand Prix, which is a pinewood derby, and my daughters took home 1st Prize in Design (Reese with Larry the Cucumber…pics on my facebook) and 2nd place overall speed (Morgan) .  I knew or at least was confident that Reese would get a prize for design…but Morgan’s trophy was a shock to me, because every other year my cars have sucked as far as speed goes…I am not the engineer like my cousins Jessey and Joey!! This time what we did worked….plus the red track was fast all night..LOL

Finally I want to give a little shout out to a blog that you all should be following…. it is a blog from a college friend of mine named Mark Artrip!! Mark is a youth pastor at Grace Church u in Powell, Oh.  Mark actually performed at one of the first ever concerts we had (I believe you were there Mark with Godsound)  with Grits! He is a very talented and funny man, and according to his top 25 music albums….we both agree that Justin Timberlake is talented…lol!! I actually like JT’s style of music!!  You can follow Mark at www.markartrip.com   Mark was also the one that said my blog site was sweet, but I am letting it fall…lol….so I said I would blog about him!!  Mark, thanks for helping promote the concert on April 4, and for being a friend, colleague and fellow passionate member of the world of hip hop.  

Until next time!

Tug

I have always been someone to pose the question, where are we going….whether it be to my parents when I was younger…to my wife, when we discuss the option of restaurants when we go out to eat (always ending up in the words “La Charreada”) . I even pose this question to God very often, when I have no idea where my life is going to end up…or if I am indeed on the right track to get there??  This has not been a big issue, until recently…do I really need to know where I am going?

I have the ability with my iphone to make sure I know exactly where I am, and can even be followed by a little blue dot on my screen, depicting every turn I make, and telling me if I get off track!  I can zoom in as close as the street, or zoom out as far as the map will go…and it will still show me exactly where I am at, and where I need to be going.  I love this feature, and it has helped me get from point A to point B in the quickest fashion, but has it taken away some of the fun of trying to find your way to your final destination.

      from the book Still Waters and Skycrapers  

                Albert Einstein once boarded a train in Princeton, New Jersey, bound for Boston.  Upon finding a seat, he immediately started fumbling for his ticket, which he couldn’t find anywhere.  Noticing Einstein’s frantic search, the conductor reassured him: “Everyone on this train knows who you are Professor Einstein.  I don’t need to see your ticket.”  While looking relieved, Einstein carried on hunting for the missing ticket.  When the conductor came back along the train he saw the renowned scientist on his hands and knees looking under the seat.  He tapped Einstein on the shoulder and said, “Please. Professor, don’t worry about the ticket. I am quite sure you have one somewhere.”  To which Einstein replied, “No, no.  You don’t understand.  I need the ticket because I don’t know where I am going.”

               I am sure that Einstein was on a busy lecture tour covering many locations, but there is still something perversely comforting about the idea that one of the greatest minds n history could be so befuddled as to forget where he was going on a train journey.  There may be some hope for the rest of us, after all!

        We all have the stories of being lost!  We all have the regrets of making the wrong decisions, that have even possibly effected some portion of our lives, and we all have searched for the answers to actually try and figure out where exactly our life is heading, but isn’t the train ride enough!  Isn’t the fact that God is saying, Tug, I know you have your ticket, now stay in my seat, and let me take you to where you are supposed to be going!  I mean I can name the countless mistakes that I have made, for instance the time when we left Grace College in Indiana, to come back and do ministry full time, when we should have just stuck it out and finished my degree! I could either get hung up on the decisions of the past, or I could realize that these were part of the process of God shaping me in my journey with Him.  Although these are decisions that I really need to evaluate and possibly get going on reaching these lifelong goals, I would not trade in my ride for anything.  

      You see if God would give us a GPS of our life, and all we would have to do is really go from one thing to another, that would take the joy and pain of following Him out of the picture.  God gives us the opportunity to hear Him as clearly as we want to, and sometimes we hear ourselves over Him.  We jump at this and jump at that, and think that it is God!  We do not have the position that we think God wants us to have, and question the conductor of our life.  He is still in the driving seat, and He sees the road clearly ahead….so sit back put on your seatbelt, and enjoy the ride.  

       Now this is not a ride, that you have no part of, or that you just sit there comfortably….when He tells you to turn, turn.  When HE tells you to slam on the brakes, or push the pedal to the medal, do just that!!  But most importantly, keep your little BLUE DOT on his map, and watch where he takes you!!

IF you are curious to the complete information on the book that was stated above… here is the info

Still Waters and Skyscrapers : The 23rd Psalm for the 21st Generation, by Dave Tomlinson

As Valentine’s Day is approaching…I thought you may want to see this video! Watch with caution! You may actually feel the need to tell someone you love them when you are done!!

So many times we think that people do not need to hear the words I love you…or we use them flippantly and forget what meaning they actually have!  These are words that I cherish and that I hold at high regard….and honestly when I say them I truly mean them.  Maybe you are wearing a ring on your finger and you are like the guy in this video that rants and raves about people in public, but in behind closed doors, your relationship is that of confusion, or not knowing if you actually love that person.  Maybe you are truly thankful for the people that God has placed in your life..but have not went out of your way to show that you love them!! I know Valentine’s Day…is kind of a Hallmark holiday, and we feel like it is our obligation to by people cards, or give them candy….but I challenge you to not do anything if you feel obligated…but only do it because you truly LOVE THEM…..

I can honestly say that I tell my wife that I love her everyday!!  Recently have I truly began to see how important she is to me.. WHY I could never do life without her!!  Here is a short list of things that I love about her…that I can share in public at least…

1.    She is drop dead gorgeous
2.    great mom
3.    better cook than what she thinks
4.    patient with me
5.    does great with the house
6.    persistent
7.    beautiful without makeup
8.    dresses fit to kill
9.    loves to spend time with me
10.    sings amazing
11.    follows God’s lead
12.    loves soo well….especially those who are close to her
13.    appreciates when you take time to notice her
14.    loves to shop
15.    beautiful eyes
16.    good listener
17.    means well with everything she does
18.    wants to know details about everything
19.    her strengths compliment my weaknesses
20.    great driver
21.    LOVES THE KIDS…..NO MATTER WHAT
22.    GREAT HOUSEWIFE
23.    will bend over backwards for you
24.    needs to know you love her
25.    loves to look pretty for me, even though she does not have to do anything to do that
26.    Prays with the Kids
27.    strongminded(sometimes too strong but most of the time it is a good strong)
28.    loves the same kind of movies that I like…for the most part
29.    Forgiving…many times
30.    Loves to be cared for
31.    Loves my attention
32.    LAST BUT NOT LEAST>>>> SHE DOES NOT KNOW HOW MUCH I LOVE HAVING HER AS MY WIFE

I cannot tell her enough how much she means to me…and truly how blessed I am to have her as my wife!!  So Angie…when you read this…remember the words of the GREAT LIONEL RICHIE!!! ….because I’m Truly…..Truly in Love with you Girl!!

I love you

Tug

I do not even care!! I mean he was a good qb and all…but now we all get the joy of watching this story for the next month of our life…and then watch him come back again…prolly not..but I am just saying!! SORRY MOM! I will now be turning the channel every time I hear the word Brett Favre!!

For the past couple months we have been dreaming together…what the next step is in our student ministry.  The struggles of what time works best.  Is the way we are going at it, really the right way?  Is it in line with the vision of the church as a whole, and at Crossroads.  There have been a couple meetings of 6 parents, 1 elder , 2 students, the lead pastor of our church (Randy Bargerstock, and myself, and what we have noticed is that most of all the focus needs to be based partially on the developmental needs of the youth.  Currently we have alot of our meetings together…with 6th through 12th graders in attendance…and although it is great to have the community…sometimes it is difficult to teach at both levels all of the time…and flat out, sometimes we feel that the teens get lost in the shuffle.  So decision one, separate the two ministries, not completely, but give them their own identity, own time for worship, own name (branding), and own focus (importance) .

The first shift is going to be this…we are moving away from FUSION Sunday nights, in which we tried to have a junior high teaching time…games and worship together and then junior high were dismissed, to EVOLVE middle school ministry.  Evolve is going to be an all out focus on the junior high…during the 10:45 am  hour at Crossroads.  This will be filled with live worship, games, alot of interaction, and relevant teaching.  The developmental need of middle school is definitely different than that of high school, and topics need to be on their level, and something that will maintain a constant involvement of their hearts, their mind, and will get them fired up to Evolve into the Christ follower that they need to be!! The details will be coming soon…and EVOLVE will launch with its first service on Sunday Morning, March 1st…..The leadership team is being assembled as we speak to take this middle school ministry in this direction.  Some designs of fonts have been done…to create the base for the logo that will be developed…please share your thoughts in the comment section below!!  (below the image you will see some details about the high school ministry)

The high school ministry of Average joes has been also a major part of the focus during these dreaming sessions!  We are currently reshaping the way Sunday nights look for this ministry.  The time will be announced soon as to when the night will start…we are currently looking at 6:30-8, or 7-8:30 (any thoughts…share in the comment section)  This will be around the same focus as evolve…Live Worship, Big Games, Relevant Message, and tons of interaction. As for Sunday mornings, we have decided to get the high schoolers involved in many areas of the church!  From Nursery, to elementary age classes (being volunteers), to taking part in the adult bible studies (possibly even the addition of a bible study geared towards their generation).  From singing with the worship team, led by Jason Hinkle, to being greeters as people walk into the church.  From helping with sound and lighting, to being involved in dramas!  Sunday morning and Saturday night options of the teens involvement with the church as a whole are endless…and we are consistently looking at other ways of bettering the intertwining and making the student ministry completely mesh with the church!!  We are currently building our base of volunteers and leaders within this ministry as well!!  Below you will find an idea of a possible name for the high school ministry, this is not set in stone so if you have any better ideas…we are all ears!!  If you do like the name…please let us know that as well and vote for the number of the font that you would like to see as the base of the logo!!

We are also dreaming our wednesday night youth to be joes on the road…where the teens would have no idea where we are going when they get to the church… whether it be to go check out another church,go to a teens game, a families home, a nursing home, a street witnessing project, tour of a jail and anything else could be free game in this…It would conclude with a way of debriefing the experience they have had that night!  If you have any ideas…we have alot of planning to do as far as this one!!

IF we do not consistently dream, and think of better ways to go at everyday life, then we might as well stay sleeping!!

Thanks for your thoughts and interaction on this blog!!

Today has been a great day of waking up, taking Morgan to school…in which I had a talk with her teacher..due to some dang boys calling Morgan and a couple of friends “Stupid and Ugly.”  She is so impressionable at this age, and was really crushed by the comments.  It was a neat moment for her to know how much we cared for her, and what others say about us does not really reflect how God sees us.  After that I headed to the Y and ran 3.5 miles, feeling that I need to step it up from 3 miles to start to shed some more pounds…currently have lost around 53 pounds or so and am actually gaining some muscle!! Came home picked Angie, Bubby and Reese up and headed out to run around town and pay some bills, go to the bank, and then back to pick up Morgan off of the bus at home, and head to the grocery!! Angie’s dad took the two little ones, which made  shopping alot easier!!  After we put away the groceries…we headed over to watch the Shawnee vs Wapak game, which was not much of a game! Shawnee won by quite a margin!  Then headed off to Beer Barrel with Angie’s parents…and the crane game had nothing on me this night.. you know the game that you try and pick up stuffed animals..lol  tonight we won 5 of them, and the kids were so stoked, at one time the crane picked up 2 stuffed animals for us…kids had a blast!!

And now…the kids are in their rooms…bubby is sleeping, the girls are filling out valentines for people…and I am just sitting here thanking God for the most beautiful family in the world!!

How was your day??

Tug

Have you ever been to Disney World,Universal Studios, or have even taken part in a high school, church or other kind of musical that is required to build a set?  I have been thinking about this of recent and was reminded of this on my recent trip to Anderson University…which by the way is a great University!!

I watch movies all of the time, and in fact I have actually never thought of the time that goes into building the set, making it look so amazing that when we watch it at home it looks real…but in all honesty, most of them only look real from the front.  As I have taken some vacations to Disney, and other theme parks, they always want you to feel that you are somewhere that you are not….main street of New York, Paris, whatever city it is, they want you actually to be able to live there for the time that you visit.  Have you ever had the opportunity to be backstage and actually see what they look like….If I am a guessin man and I am going to be… it looks like plywood and 2×4’s…something that you may actually not build a dog house out of because it will rot in a strong storm…or will break in a high wind!!

So I began to think…wow… is that not how alot of people spend their lives…like a movie set, where countless hours are spent trying to make people feel that you are stronger than what you are!  While inside you know that if a certain temptation comes, you will break and if people would actually dig a little deeper into your life, it would actually look like crap, and would people really want to follow or watch your movie if they actually knew what the set truly looked like?

I know this was a complete revelation for me…to actually let people see the crap of my life, so that my set could be authentic…and that it looks the same on the back as it does on the front?  Now there are constant times where I spend time rebuilding, or maybe I should actually say letting God have the tools, but letting people see who I really am, the true me!

For some thoughts from scripture that sort of relate to living real….

Mark 4:1-20 (New International Version)

Mark 4
The Parable of the Sower
1Again Jesus began to teach by the lake. The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it out on the lake, while all the people were along the shore at the water’s edge. 2He taught them many things by parables, and in his teaching said: 3″Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. 8Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, multiplying thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times.”

9Then Jesus said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

10When he was alone, the Twelve and the others around him asked him about the parables. 11He told them, “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables 12so that,
” they may be ever seeing but never perceiving,
and ever hearing but never understanding;
otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!”

13Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable? 14The farmer sows the word. 15Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. 16Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. 17But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. 18Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; 19but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. 20Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—thirty, sixty or even a hundred times what was sown.”

Any thoughts???
For a fun exercise…if you were played in a movie who would be the actor or actress that portrays you, and what kind of movie would it be???
For me… I would want Kevin James to play me in a Comedy of course!!

Ok….so I am sitting in my office with a few teens from the youth  and have asked them to give me a topic to blog about and only give me a certain amount of time…The topic one gave me  was “The Super Bowl”…and the others “your heart”…so props to Kirsten, Sydney and Taylor (Giggles) for giving me the topic…and now the timed version of blogging!

So this week every where I go, there is Steelers this, and steelers that….from everything to Ben at Work signs, to Steelers Terrible Towel…I love that a browns fan probably created that towel because we all know they are TERRIBLE…but anyways… I believe that the Superbowl, has overtaken this week and has really grabbed the minds  and the feelings of 75% of people in this world, and they have honestly shifted their focus from many other things to “THE SUPERBOWL!”  I mean I go to the Y, hey Tug, who is going to win the Super Bowl…I quickly respond…”The Cardinals!”  due to my insufficient love and my passionate despising of the Steelers because I am a browns fan!  But you see, I even find myself overwhelmed by the Superbowl, and have already joined so many other youth groups that have changed their Sunday Night services from our normal activities to the “Superbowl Party!” We are even taking a road trip to the “Spencer’s Hall of Fame” to watch the game as a group!!  Am I right in doing this…is this sending the wrong message to the teens, that we should shift off of the momentum that we currently are experiencing, just to  watch this dang game!!  I could argue all of the ways around this, and really make it seem that this is the right thing to do, to build community at this time and for them to experience this sort of thing together!! So although we could argue right or wrongs about if this is really the right thing, we are acknowledging that the focus has shifted from the deepening of the relationship for this week to the betterment of the relationships on this earth…which is not better but is still great!!  So now let us shift from the superbowl to the spinoff on the heart!!
Now that your week has been overtaken this week by the Superbowl, and you have heard all of the great stories about Kurt Warner (previously on my blog), who is injured who, is not, what food are we gonna have, what party are you going to go to….and if you are a Steelers Fan….how you are going to cry when the game is over!!  But I wonder with all of the focus on the game this week, have you really been able to focus on “YOUR GAME.”  Your heart, have you lost focus off of your game, have you been putting in the practice that is needed so that when you step off of the sidelines you are really ready for the next play.  Your heart is prepared and ready to love that next person with the love of Christ.  We could sit here and discuss the game that is happening tonight and just stop there!! But truthfully this week what is going on in your “GAME” How are you stepping onto the field and running it right at the defensive line!! How are you preparing yourself for the ultimate Superbowl…every day life!! My last challenge for you today is…as you see all of the commercials, and think of all the thoughts and marketing schemes that have went into this game, what ways outside of the box are you thinking of bettering your “GAME” and sharing it with the world!!!

So tonight….Go Cardinals, and Browns…but other than that….it is just a game!!!

See you on the field

Tug

You have got to see this Crowder Production!!

I realize that this is not actually a blog…but hey…it is Saturday night and I want to watch a movie with my wife…so be happy with it…

So last night I went to an elder/staff meeting and we were discussing our vision statement for the church, which is the following:  A community of sojourners in Christ, committed to live by FAITH, to transmit HOPE, and to be known by LOVE! While we were discussing the vision, this question was brought up; “What about our vision excites you?”  I sat back for a minute, truly in thought and asking God…..tell me what really excites me!!  So we were in a point of a standstill, am I excited about the Faith part, definitely. Am I excited about transmitting Hope, for sure!  What about the love part…..and that is where it stayed…right then I began to think of I guess the way that God has wired me….I believe that without a shadow of a doubt that I can outlove anyone on this earth…no matter what you do to me, I love you….no matter how many times you crap on my parade…I love you… Now do not get me wrong….alot of people I do not truly get along with, but honestly would do anything for.  I guess I would say that I am excited about that part of the vision, because that is the easiest for me to do…it is the thing that I am wired for…but what about the weak link…what about the FAITH part?

I thought for the rest of the night, that wow, my Faith is not the faith of those in Africa, not the faith of my Grandma, that when she was dying of Cancer she was still praising God…heck when I am sick for a day…you can find me shriveled up on the couch…not doing a thing! I began to think, it is my Faith that will make me love better! It is my Faith that will make me transmit hope in a better way. It is my faith  that will help me to be involved with the community of which I live in!  But without it, am I truly doing any of it???  So now I get it….I have Faith, but why do I have it….I need Faith, but why do I need it…I preach Faith, but do I truly exemplify it… and now I blog about Faith, but is it truly written in my heart.  Now do not get me wrong, I believe that everyday I am putting an effort into becoming closer with Christ, but am I truly living by the Faith of which I believe.  The faith that God may be requiring me to think outside the box, and really dream….the Faith that this year God is definitely going to move, and I am going to be right their with Him….whatever that may be!!  The faith that no matter how bad this economy gets, God is still enough!!  I ask you what is your Faith, not just that you believe that Christ died for you…but how do you practice what you preach…or do you.   For example there is a buddy of mine, named Charles Hill….a leader in ministry that frankly is that of someone I have never seen!  Someone who gets it, and goes after it!! I am asking you to pray for his next step. He has just announced something huge in his life…he never wanted to plant a church again, thinking that he would stay at New Hope Community in Loudonville, Ohio forever….but now is following the call to plant a church in Salt Lake City, Utah….which is possibly one of the hardest places to plant a church, but is also one of the fastest growing places in our country.  I ask you to jump over to his blog, you will find it on my blog roll, and begin to pray for this man of God and his family…..that God will continue what He has started, and that no man will be able to bring it down…. Charles…keep bringing it bro!!!

Until tomorrow,

Tug

P.S.  Mall Cop is hilarious, but I am still a bigger fan of Slumdog Millionaire!!!