Vision Night Rewind

Student Ministries Vision Night from Aaron Floyd on Vimeo.

Holidaze Take 5

1. In the wake of a very successful Student Ministry Vision Night, God is up to something amazing. There were 54 total students and adults in attendance!!! AWESOME!!! God is raising up a new generation that is going to change the world.

2. The announcement of the DCLA Conference was so exciting. Not only am I fired up about the trip but students and their parents are too! God is going to use this entire journey to LA in a mighty way. Hang on to your hats and glasses!

3. Angel Tree - I am so proud of the seven students who gave up their Friday night and served at the Angel Tree Party. A difference was made for the Kingdom.

4. Relationships are a lot of work. Much love to the staff and my circle of friends as they have come around me and Natalie as we prepare for the next step of marriage. Their support has been unmatched.

5. Personally, I have been learning some good but hard lessons about my life. I know that my walk with God is not where I want it to be (and I say this being in full time ministry). God is making my life very uncomfortable right now. All I know is that when things get crazy and uncomfortable growth and blessings are on the way.

Holiday Top Ten

1. Seeing 5 baptisms (2 of them students) last Sunday fires me up beyond belief, God is up to something amazing!

2. I learned that no matter how someone is dunked in the tank they are still baptized when they come out.

3. Being home with my family is great, You stay classy Orange County.

4. God really protected my family during the recent fires in Orange County, It came closer than I thought.

5. Get to show Natalie off at my home church tomorrow, I'm stoked!

6. Thanksgiving - what a holiday! I love stuffing!

7. Got to have lunch at IN N OUT yesterday. (Need I say more)

8. God is challenging me to start to uncomfortably take my knowledge of Him to a new level and that my weaknesses are no reason to limit myself.

9. I am so blessed to have a wonderful God honoring family that can encourage one another!

10. Finally, the whole Boblit family is going to Disneyland on Monday!!! I am so excited.

Off to CHIK-FIL-A for breakfast, it's biscuit time!(I've always wanted to post that!)

Totally Jacked. . .

So it's 12:05am and in a few hours there will be 3 students getting baptised during the 11am service!!! I am totally stoked and can't sleep. I am excited and a little nervous. It's going to be a celebration tomorrow (I might start running laps around the church!) Well, time to try to get some sleep.

Comfortably Uncomfortable

So here's the deal, this week I feel that God has affirmed my call to serve more clearly than ever. For the past 3 years I have struggled with the call and vision for my life. Probably didn't need to be so dramatic about "the rest of my life", but it has been my prayer that God would reveal His plan for me. And in God's faithfulness He has answered and continues to answers. In the past 6 months of being on staff I have been stretched and challenged more than ever. Through this I have learned to press into God more than ever. Not saying that "I'm there" yet but we are gaining ground for the kingdom. In this growing process I have had to be in some uncomfortable situations.

If we are not in situations that make us uncomfortable and stretch us spiritually something needs to change. Don't take this the wrong way, but God wants to take us from a place of familiarity and comfort to a place discomfort and full dependency on Him. When we are uncomfortable, God has a place to come in and do serious work in our lives. Just a sneak peek for the future, there are going to be things that happen that are going to stretch our students and leaders. Don't push back but take it as an opportunity to rely on God more than you ever have. When we do that we can just hang on for the ride!

You

Finally. . .

Hey everyone! I know it been been a week since the last post but I have some good news. Last Thursday I proposed to Natalie and she said yes! We are getting married on August 8, 2009 in Victoria, British Columbia. We would not have made it to this point if it were not for the support of our families and our many friends that have invested in our lives in the past year and a half. My head is still spinning so I am going to end the post here. But I ask everyone to pray with us as we enter this next chapter in our lives. Much love to all!!!

Shaken and Stirred

So I'm finally back to normal operating status! I had the opportunity to go with the staff to the regional convention in Boise last Friday and Saturday. We got to go to a real mall and ate some seafood at this place owned by Joe. Saturday was jam packed with a bomb speaker and some interesting workshops. The highlight of the weekend was the wave of encouragement that hit me and the rest of the staff about what God has been up to around First Baptist recently. For me, this only added to the encouragement and clarity of His vision for Student Ministry at F.B.C.

Ministry is an ever-changing business which requires us to try different thing from time to time. Along with our Core Groups on Wednesday nights , the staff and I have some ideas brewing that are going to shake things up around here. Change is never easy and most times hard. I'm going to throw this out there, I hate change! It is a constant struggle in my life to actually ask God to shake things up. When I finally get over myself and get out of the way, God shows me that His provision and blessing awaits me on the other side. On the flip side, I don't believe in the "this is how we have always done it" approach to ministry. I want to follow the lead of the Father and go where He is going. We live in a turbulent time right now. Don't forget who is doing the shaking.

Slow Down and Listen

So I have been sick for most of the week. It totally sucks!!! I hate being sick, I hate the feeling that my head is about to explode and that I can't do anything about it. With the failure of over the counter medication and just overall discomfort I dragged myself to my laptop to hash some thoughts out. Having been in Ezekiel 1-2 this week for the I Saw the Lord study, it came to me that God uses strange circumstances in our lives to draw us closer to Himself. If it is getting an unexpected cold or a sudden life change God uses all things to speak to us and reveal His glory. We may not acknowledge it or like it very much but God works through all things.

Sometimes I think He just wants us to listen. Just to be still and stop the noise of the world and tune into His channel. Though He does use the chaos of our lives to speak to us, He will speak in the stillness of our hearts. It is up to us to slow down and take a moment to encounter the Creator. We need to long for these quiet time as He longs for us to meet Him. As I go to get some more chicken soup take a second and be still. Ask God to speak to you in the quietness of your heart and be willing to wait for it.

Trouble will come

"Dear Brothers and sisters, whenever trouble comes your way, let it be an opportunity for joy. For when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be strong in character and ready for anything."

James 1:2-4

So if anyone hasn't noticed there will be trouble in our lives. If you say that there is not trouble and trials in your life then you are lying (sorry it's true). Right now, I personally feel that life is throwing one trouble after another my way. And to be really honest, I don't consider it joy a majority of the time. My Dad reminded me of this passage recently and in so many words said to me said "Suck it up! This stuff is all part of life." After hearing the cold hard truth of the matter I had to kick my self in the butt and remember that our joy must rise above our current circumstances. We must consider our times of trouble an opportunity to trust God more than we know how to.

I had the opportunity to help coach a Jr High football team this fall. Not knowing what to expect I found that some of these guys could really hit. Everyday at practice we would run plays and work on our tacking skills. Even though they were becoming better football players their bodies were getting beaten up. I think we can take this into our own lives as we go through these times of trouble. We will get beaten up but through these pains we have the opportunity to rely even more on God. And as we press into God we discover His joy and that every trial is an opportunity to grow in faith.

The Times They Are A-Changin'

Come gather 'round people

Wherever you roam

And admit that the waters

Around you have grown

And accept it that soon

You'll be drenched to the bone.

If your time to you

Is worth savin'

Then you better start swimmin'

Or you'll sink like a stone

For the times they are a-changin'.

Come writers and critics

Who prophesize with your pen

And keep your eyes wide

The chance won't come again

And don't speak too soon

For the wheel's still in spin

And there's no tellin' who

That it's namin'.

For the loser now

Will be later to win

For the times they are a-changin'.

Come senators, congressmen

Please heed the call

Don't stand in the doorway

Don't block up the hall

For he that gets hurt

Will be he who has stalled

There's a battle outside

And it is ragin'.

It'll soon shake your windows

And rattle your walls

For the times they are a-changin'.

Come mothers and fathers

Throughout the land

And don't criticize

What you can't understand

Your sons and your daughters

Are beyond your command

Your old road isRapidly agin'.

Please get out of the new one

If you can't lend your hand

For the times they are a-changin'.

The line it is drawn

The curse it is cast

The slow one now

Will later be fast

As the present now

Will later be past

The order is

Rapidly fadin'.

And the first one now

Will later be last

For the times they are a-changin'.

I love the message of this classic Bob Dylan song. Right now I feel that everything around me is in transition. Not only is my personal life changing but also the culture around me. Sometimes I get really angry because I feel that I just can't keep up with it all. And the one thing that I keep telling myself that is that as difficult as change is, it is still going to happen in my life.

Deuteronomy 32:3-5

I will proclaim the name of the Lord;

How glorious is our God!

He is the rock; His deeds are perfect.

Everything He does is just and fair.

He is a faithful God who does no wrong;

How just and upright He is!

In the mist of the chaos of change we must acknowledge that God's plan is perfect and His ways are not always our ways. I have learned that especially in my life that change needs to not be rejected but accepted. Like Bob Dylan says "Then you better start swimming or you'll sink like a stone cause the times they are a-changin'"