welcome fusion parents!

Video Updates...Are You Serious???

2009-05-14T09:19:00.001-07:00

Hey Mom and Dad,
This will more than likely be my last post that I write out to you, as I have gotten a new toy thanks to my boy Dustin Aagaard...a new video camera! So from now on each week i will post a summary of what we talked about at youth. I will share with you what scriptures we used and highlight any up-coming events you need to be aware of. Please take some time each week, and watch the video and be informed about what's going on within fusion!!

Also if you did not already know, you can listen to all of the messages online at www.pineridgefellowship.org. if you go to the church's site you can click on the messages tab and a player will pop up for you to select a message and play it. You can also subscribe to our podcast there which is cool. This will allow you to know what your son or daughter is being taught without ever having to step foot in the worship center on Wednesday nights!!! Anyways, take some time and check it out!!

Don't forget...fusion Open House on June 3!!! You do NOT want to miss this one!

Thanks,

tom

The Way...

2009-04-29T21:44:00.001-07:00

Hey Guys!!
Tonight we kicked off a new message series titled, "The Way". This series is based around the idea that God has a "way" or plan for us in our lives and we need to quit making decisions based off what we think and start acknowledging God's way and His plan by looking to Him for guidance to answer the questions we face in life!!

Tonight I wanted the students just to realize that God HAS a plan for them in their life! The one thing i really wanted students to lock into was that there is a God who has invested everything in them because He believes in them and has a plan for them! Everything we talked about tonight was centered around this!!

Parents/Guardians you can now go onto the Pine Ridge website and download the message on your ipod. Simply go to the site...www.pineridgefellowship.org and click on the "messages" tab at the top. A player should pop up, where all the messages will be Sunday's and Wednesday's, and you can listen to them over the web like say if you don't have an ipod or mp3 player. But if you do have an ipod, just click on the ipod icon on the bottom of the player and it will direct you to itunes where you can sign up and subscribe to the podcast!!! Parents please get involved with us and this ministry, take time to listen to the messages and discuss things further with your son or daughter!

Scriptures Used...
Psalm 139:1-18
Job 14:5
Ephesians 2:4;8-10
Romans 8:28

tom

Selfish Christians...

2009-04-03T12:33:00.000-07:00

Hey Guys!
Man this week was good, I felt like things were back to normal which was good! We had some new faces which is always refreshing and even some old faces we haven't seen in a long time which is cool...over all the night went well.

The message Wednesday focused not on non believers, but primarily on people who profess faith in Christ and proclaim that their life is now for Him. America is a selfish nation, i don't think many people would argue that but when it comes to our faith have we bread our faith with our selfish mentality? I think in a lot of ways we have and that was the heart of the message.

So many people within the church are so caught up and concerned about them self that they are blinded to those around them that are truly in need and are those to whom God calls us to minister too! I tried to illustrate this Wednesday night to the students by NOT providing any chairs for the students to sit in and force all 150 of them to sit on the floor. We are so spoiled within the American church and I really believe God is calling us to take our eyes off of ourselves and put them where they belong, on Him and begin to care about the things He truly cares about!

We looked closely at two passages of scripture from the book of James that talks about our deeds and good works being evidence of a true and genuine faith in Jesus Christ. James urges followers of Christ to not just listen to God's Word and what He commands but to live it out and I challenged the students to not be so self consumed that they miss out on loving others as much as they love them self! It was and probably will always be not the most popular message, but one that I think is so relevant. We as Christians have to be obedient to the whole Bible, to all of God's commands, not just the ones we like and choose to follow!

With that said, this upcoming week is spring break and we have NO FUSION next Wednesday night!! Please plug your student into one of our Spring Break activities next week that is listed above!! Also we need drivers on Monday and Wednesday to take students to and from the beach, so if you can help we need it!! Thanks...

Scriptures Used...
James 1:22-25
James 2:14-26

tom

The recipe For Life...

2009-03-26T07:24:00.000-07:00

Hey Guys!
Last night was a very welcomed break from the norm we experience each week within fusion. We had about 50 less students here last night than normal and I'll be honest, it was nice to have a little smaller crowd for a week! On top of that we as a ministry were blessed to have Trinidge Stone with us leading us in worship! If you have never heard of them, they are a local group that include 2 students from this ministry, and God has placed a high call on their lives to lead others in worship! Last night they were awesome and played some fusion favorites like "We Shine" and "All I Need Is You" but also introduced a new song called "Seek the Love" which is an amazing worship song! Anyways it was nice to have them with us last night!

The message last night was on following God with all of our heart! I used a demonstration for the students where I baked...yeah that's right I baked, but anyways I baked two trays of brownies. One tray I followed the directions that the lovely Betty Crocker gave me and the second tray I followed some of the directions but then added my own ingredients hoping to create a new way to make awesome brownies! I brought a student up to taste test the brownies and tell me what they thought of them. The first tray, the tray I followed instructions on he loved. The second tray, the tray i sorta followed instructions for but also added my own ingredients he took a bite of and almost threw up!

My point to the students was so many of us in our lives we want things the Bible promises like joy or hope maybe some peace or happiness or even love and genuine acceptance. We crave those things because God made us to crave them, yet we don't follow the steps that God lays out for us to experience them. We Don't follow God's recipe for life, we try and make our own recipe and sometimes our recipe might even have some of God's ingredients in our own mix of life, but we don't follow His way exactly how He asks us to and thus we don't get the finished product we are looking for! We miss out on joy, hope, peace, love and even more importantly salvation. I challenged the students who felt like their life was like the second tray of brownies to start over and turn to Jesus Christ, accepting Him in their life as being the first step in God's instructions on how to live life His way! We had over 30 students stand last night, count the cost of following this man Jesus Christ, and receive Him as being Lord over their life...PRAISE GOD!!!!!

Please pray for our ministry, that more and more lives would be changed. Also we need help! Our leadership team is shrinking when our growth is increasing...that's not good...if you are interested in serving at fusion please contact me and let me know and I would love to meet with you and talk about this ministry!! Please just let me know...

Scriptures Used...
Matthew 13:44-45

tom

What If...

2009-03-24T11:19:00.000-07:00

Hey Guys!
If you were not present last Wednesday, you missed out on an awesome night! We had our second parent open house where I handed out what I am hoping will be a HUGE resource for you as a parent. If you missed out last week and need a copy of the DVD please email me or contact me and let me know and I can get one in your hands as well as explain what the DVD is all about!

Wednesday night's message felt good to get off my chest. I read from this verse in Luke where someone asks Jesus if many will enter the Kingdom of Heaven and Jesus responds to the man basically saying to work hard because many will try and enter but only a few will enter the narrow door into the Kingdom! That verse scares me greatly! I challenged the students to play the what if game and ask them self what if they were one of many who are thinking they are getting into heaven only to be told by the Son of Man, Jesus Himself, that He has no idea who they are and they cannot enter! What a scary thought that is, and it's one that burdened my heart in the way I lead and teach the students. Am I portraying the Gospel as being something that is easy, not requiring a lot of work and really 100% devotion or am I telling the truth as Jesus Christ did Himself?

That was the heart of the night, to remind students and the parents on hand that Christ requires nothing less than 100% of our hearts and if we are not willing to do so than we are not fit to bear His high and holy Name! If you do not believe me, look at Luke 18:18-30 or Luke 9:57-62 or Luke 9:23-27! That's all I ever see Jesus doing in the Word, calling His followers to go after Him with everything they got, not half-hearted or with 97% of their life but with EVERYTHING! I want to be a part of a ministry that is living that, and I really wanted to remind the students and parents of fusion that that is the expectation from our King and if we want to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven we must believe in Him with that kind of saving faith. The kind of faith that screams out 100% commitment and devotion!! What kind of faith do you have?

Scripture Used...
Luke 9:23-27
Luke 9:57-62
Luke 18: 18-30
Luke 13:22-30 (Main Text)
1 Corinthians 15:19
Ephesians 2:8-9
Galatians 5:4

tom

Gettin' Rooted!

2009-01-22T13:42:00.000-08:00

Hey Guys!
I know it has been a long time since i have posted anything and for that I apologize! We have had three great weeks at fusion! All kinds of new faces and great turn outs have been such a shot in the arm for us as leaders! We have focused, these first few weeks of the year, on what our mission is as a ministry.

In fusion are heart for the students is to see them get rooted in their relationship with Jesus Christ! Everything we do as leaders, we do it to see students get connected to the King of this universe! The scripture that goes along with this verse is Colossians 2:6-7, check it out cause it's what we're about!

The first two weeks we focused on things you can do to get rooted in your faith and walk with Christ. The first week was about getting in the Word of God and that when you devote yourself to reading and studying God's word and living out His truth you begin to get more and more rooted in your walk with Him. Last week we talked about serving and actually took the Lord's Supper together because I wanted to teach the students that we serve because Christ has first served us! And that one of the ways you become rooted in your faith is through serving others!

Last night was all about prayer and how you develop a prayer life. I figure most of the students we had with us last night do NOT have any sort of prayer life, so we focused on 4 key components of an effective prayer life!

1. Faith
2. Humility
3. Love
4. Worship

We then took some time to worship our great God and lift our prayers to Him! It was an awesome night for sure and I really believed God is in the midst of doing some great things among us, I am so excited to see whats coming our way at fusion! I'll try and do a better job at keeping up with the blog...thanks for taking an interest in whats going on within our little community!

tom

Scriptures Used:
Colossians 2:6-7
Hebrews 11:1;6
Matthew 5:3
Luke 11:5-10
Psalm 26:8
Psalm 51:6
Matthew 6:7-8

God Believes in Us!

2008-12-18T09:40:00.000-08:00

Hello Parents/Guardians,
Man it is crazy to think that tonight was our last fusion of the year! We had something happen that I have been craving for a while now and that is 2 students prayed to receive Jesus to be their Lord and Savior!! The part I have been craving is that I was NOT the one who led the students to Christ, their tribe leaders were! Isn't that awesome...that is truly what community is all about! I am so proud of our developing leadership team and just believe there will be more of that to come with this group of leaders!!

The other cool thing of the night was Curtis Froisland, PRF's Lead Worshipper led us in worship tonight with the fusion student band! I really appreciated Curtis and the leadership he brought to fusion! He also shared a new song with us that he wrote called, "Run to You" you should check it out for sure cause it is AWESOME!

The message tonight was something I do not think I will ever be able to fully fathom! We are in this message series titled, "Old School" where as a community we are going back and looking at the Old Testament to learn more and understand better the character of God! Tonight we looked at one of Israel's greatest Kings, Josiah, who at the age of 8 was crowned King over Judah! That's right, age 8, crowned King! What I wanted the students to see and understand was that God has a plan for their life. Not one person is an accident in God's eyes and He is willing to use all of us to change and impact this world. The Bible tells us not that Josiah was good looking at the age of 8 and that is why he was crowned King, or that he was incredibly smart at the age of 8 and that's why he's King...no the Bible tells us that Josiah was obedient to God. God took an 8yr old and changed Judah simply not on ability but on obedience and availability!

I connected, briefly last night, the story of Josiah the 8yr old King with the Christmas story. I wanted the students last night to think about something they may have never realized. When we look at the Christmas story we see a God who could have chosen any woman He wanted to give birth to His Son Jesus, and yet He decided to choose the teenage girl, Mary! You see that's the story of God. He believes in us, even when no one else does. He is willing to team up with us to make a real difference, and He is not concerned about age, talent or intelligence! He is concerned about choosing people who are willing to be obedient to Him!

Last night looking out at 100 students or so, I wondered what the potential was from those seated in the room. What could God do with 100 teens sold out to Him and fully committed to being obedient to Him in their lives! That thought is what is what pumps me up! I'll be praying for that for years to come and would ask you to do the same!!

Have a Merry Christmas from my family to yours!!!! See ya next year!!

Scriptures Used:
2 Chronicles 34, 35
Jeremiah 1:4-9
1 Samuel 1-13

tom

Crazy Love...

2008-12-11T10:03:00.000-08:00

Hey guys,
Last night we began a new message series titled, "Old School" in which we are aiming to learn more about the Christmas story by examining the Old Testament and looking at the character of God the Father. We began the series with looking at Abraham and his family. God told Abraham or Abram, that He was going to make Abram the father of many and that from his seed there will be many nations. The craziness of the story is that when God first mentioned this to Abram he was 75 years old. His wife Sarai or Sarah would have been around the age of 65 years old. Well God remained faithful to his promise to this old couple and about 25 years later, God gave Abraham and Sarah their first son and they named him Isaac.

To understand God better, we looked at the story of Abraham and Isaac and how God asked Abraham to sacrifice his only son to the Lord. What I wanted students to understand from this story are two truths about our heavenly Father. The first is that He is a God that will always stay true to His word. Remember God promised Abram, at the age of 75, that he would have this family that many nations would come from...that literally Abram would be the father of the Israelite people. Well in order for that to happen Abram or Abraham would need a son. God gives him the son He promised and then asks Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac back to Him. I wanted the students to see that God was faithful, and even though He tested Abraham's faith, God did come through and provide the lamb to be sacrificed!

The second thing I wanted the students to walk away with last night was a clear understanding that God is crazy in love with them! This is how I connected the story of Abraham to the New Testament and the story of Christ's birth. I reminded the students what Christmas is really about, that it IS more than presents and food and time away from class. It marks the day God sent His One and Only Son to this earth to die for us ultimately so we could in turn believe in this Son and have a relationship with God because of it! This is the Christmas story. It is a story about a God that is crazy in love with His people and is so desperate to have a relationship with them he will do whatever it takes including sending His One and Only Son to die for them!

Remember in Genesis when Isaac asks his father Abraham, "Father where is the lamb for the sacrifice?" and Abraham responds boldly, "God will provide the lamb, my son."!!! Years later as Jesus was walking, another man declared something similar. John the Baptist saw Jesus walking and the Bible tells us that he said, "Behold! There is the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!". See Christmas is about God providing the lamb in each of our lives to be the sacrifice on our behalf! My prayer is that the students walked away last night understanding their heavenly Father a little better also realizing the true meaning of Christmas!!

Next week WILL be the last week we meet for youth this year! WE NEED YOUR HELP!!! I HAVE CHALLENGED THE STUDENTS LAST NIGHT TO DONATE SOCKS FOR A HOMELESS MINISTRY. NEXT WEEK WE WILL COLLECT THE SOCKS. THEY MUST BE NEW SOCKS, NOT USED!! PLEASE GET INVOLVED IN THIS WITH US AND TOGETHER WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE AND GIVE A CHRISTMAS GIFT THAT WILL TRULY MEAN SOMETHING!!! PLEASE DO NOT FORGET, NEXT WEEK DECEMBER 17 WE WILL COLLECT THE SOCKS!!! Thanks guys!!!

Scripture Used...
Genesis 12:1-3; 13:14-17; 15:1-6; 17:1-6; 22:1-19
Jeremiah 29:11
Luke 1:26-35; 2:8-11
John 1:29
John 3:16
Romans 5:8

tom

Love, Love, Love!

2008-12-03T18:45:00.000-08:00

Hey Ma & Pa,
Man tonight was definitely not all fun and games. Tonight we wrapped up the message series we have been in called "Broadcast." with answering the question...WHO are we called to broadcast the message of Jesus Christ to? I have felt for a long time that the students of fusion do an amazing job at sharing their faith with their friends. Every week I meet new people that were invited by a fusion student, which in a lot of churches or ministries would be something that was extremely rare, but in any case is something that is fairly normal within fusion. Students inviting their friends to youth.

Tonight's message was a challenging one because I was very honest with your son(s) and/or daughter(s) and shared from Luke 6 how Jesus calls us to love not just those who love us in return, but to love those who hate us. Jesus calls to love our enemies. He calls us to love those who mock and make fun of us. He calls us to pray for those who curse us. See the problem at fusion right now is we share the message of Jesus to the people we know and like. Anyone who does not look like us or act like or is somebody we do not like, we don't share the message of Christ with them! This is exactly why almost everyone at fusion looks the same. I was honest tonight about the conviction on my heart to not be leading a club, where everyone looks the same and acts the same and simply does not care about those around them...count me out for that!

I asked the students to look around the room and I asked them how come there are hardly any Black students or Hispanic students in the room. We as people tend to stay in our own little world and only talk to those who are apart of that world. And that's when Jesus comes in a blows our little world away with the words from Luke 6. Tonight my heart is heavy for fusion and the future of this ministry. My prayer for us is that we would remember that God loves everyone, even those who are rude and mean and mock us in life...God loves them! My prayer is that fusion would live out that love and it would be represented more and more in our small little community!! Please pray that this ministry and the students of it would become like our Savior, Jesus Christ, in all areas of their lives!

Scriptures Used...
Revelation 4:1-11
Psalm 96:1-3
Luke 6:27:36
2 Timothy 2:23-26

tom

Poop, Poop, Poop...and More Poop!!!

2008-11-20T10:28:00.001-08:00

Hello Parents!
For those of you who were there last night, you understand the title of this description of last night!!! Man last night was awesome! I loved having you guys (parents/guardians) apart of the worship experience! The message was part 2 of a series, "Broadcast." where we as a ministry have been looking at how to broadcast our faith to others. Last night we aimed to answer the question how...as in how do I share my faith or how do I broadcast the message of Jesus Christ to others.

I used a story from Luke 8 to answer that question. In the story Jesus tells of a Farmer that throws seed on four different types of soil. In the story the Farmer is God, the Seed is the good news of Jesus Christ and the soil is our hearts. I challenged your student(s) last night to be the fourth kind of "soil" or fourth kind of heart. Jesus describes this heart as the one that receives the "Good News" and clings to it with their life! I encouraged the students last night and the parents who were in attendance as well to cling to Christ as the answer to the question...how do I broadcast Christ to others. I believe it is when we are fully in love with Christ and fully devoted to Him that in turn we have NO problems talking about Him or living out His commands in front of others!

Next week we will finish up this series with answering the question...who? Who are we called to broadcast to? Please continue to be in prayer for this ministry as we have such a long journey ahead of us. Last night for those of you who were not there, I told the parents that our aim is Colossians 2:6-7. This verse is our goal. It is a high goal but I believe it is high because it forces myself and the other leaders to rely on God. Please pray for next week and also take the time to talk to your son or daughter about last nights message. And thanks again for those of you who came out last night, I really appreciate it!

Scriptures Used...
Psalm 96:1-3
Luke 8:4-15

tom

Pride - 10/22/2008

2008-10-23T08:16:00.000-07:00

Hey there!

This week, God brought another amazing message through Tom in the "Poser" series. He talked about two different kinds of pride in our lives - pride in thinking we are better than others and pride in thinking we are smarter than God.

In Luke 18:9-14, Jesus tells a story about a Pharisee and a tax collector who both go into the Temple to pray. The Pharisee, puffed up with pride, uses his prayer to scorn the tax collector for being a sinner, while the tax collector is humbled by his sinfulness and begs for God's mercy. Jesus says it is the tax collector, not the Pharisee, who leaves justified before God. Tom challenged the students not to be like the Pharisee. Our faith is not based around what we don't do - I don't smoke like her; I don't drink like him; I don't mess around with my boyfriend like her, etc. So often, we justify our faith by comparing ourselves with other people, and that's a dangerous trap of pride to get caught in. Salvation is not a reward, and God is not impressed by the "good" things we do. The present is always the best time to repent for the times we dare to think we are better than others because of what we do or don't do.

To illustrate the second area of pride, Tom used stories of people doing things that obviously lacked in common sense to show the students that is what we are doing when we try to run our own lives. We crave the things God designed for our lives - love, joy, peace - but we're not doing life the way God designed. We dare to think we are smarter than God. We have to stop letting our pride get in the way and instead choose to live our lives the way God and His Word direct us to. Then, His Fruits will overflow in our lives and onto those around us.

After the message, Tom challenged students to spend some time during the musical worship repenting of the pride in their lives - toward God and toward others. He also reminded all of us that repentence isn't a negative thing. We should be encouraged by opportunities to come before God with a humble heart and ask Him to make us whole again.

Like every other topic in this series, we all struggle with pride in our lives. When it comes to pride, what areas of struggle AND victory can you share with your student? Please continue to pray alongside the leaders for the students and the direction God is taking the ministry. Have a great week!

-Shannon

Scriptures used:
2 Timothy 3:1-5
Luke 18:9-14
Ephesians 2:4-9

Grace - 10/15/2008

2008-10-16T08:17:00.000-07:00

Hey Fusion parents and guardians!

Tom's been in a message series called "Poser" and has been challenging your students to look at how they're living their lives. Tonight, he really felt God leading him to talk about grace, so the students wouldn't be weighed down by feeling like they have to try not be a poser on their own. If we're following Jesus, at some point in our lives, we'll all be a poser because it's impossible to do this life on our own - enter God's grace and Jesus's sacrifice! Being a poser isn't a bad thing IF you're going to do something about.

Our sin makes God angry, and we've ALL sinned and fallen short of God's standard for our lives. We're ALL posers in one way (or more than one way) or another. But God knew we would fall short, so out of His Perfect Love for us, He sacrificed His only Son to fill in the gap and satisfy His anger at our sin. So many of us have heard the story before, but tonight, Tom used two Biblical encounters with Jesus to encourage the students to ask themselves if they have chosen Jesus like the woman at the well or chosen the world like the rich, young ruler. Have you chosen Him?

There was no musical worship before the message tonight and afterward, Tom gave students time to experience worship in a different way - by getting on their knees before God. Students spent about 20 minutes praying for their own lives, their peers, their leaders, their schools, the Presidential election, the community, Benjeson and Yolanda (the kids the students sponsor through Compassion), and so much more.

And so...we ask the same of you: Pray for your student, their school community, the direction of Fusion Student Ministries and that all of us would have the courage to do something about being a poser and choose Jesus.

Scriptures used:
2 Timothy 3:1-5
Romans 3:22-26
John 4 (the women at the well)
Luke 18 (the rich, young ruler)
Isaiah 64:6-9

-Shannon

Who's the Star of Your Life?

2008-10-10T15:47:00.001-07:00

Hi Parents/Guardians,
This week Tom and the entire PRF Staff are in Atlanta, GA for the Catalyst Conference. Since Tom was out of town Wednesday night, we welcomed our former Student Pastor, Dustin Aagaard, to cover for Tom and to preach (but NOT sing…that is not a talent God gave him!). All joking aside, the night went really well.
As I said before, since Tom was not in town, we halted the series titled “Poser” and Dustin gave a great message that was named, “Rockstar.” Dustin brought some Rockstar Energy Drinks and gave them out to students who answered some questions (sorry if you child was a little wired!). Dustin’s message really tied together well. He spoke about John the Baptist in John 3 and focused on Verse 30 which says, “He (Jesus) must become greater; I must become less.” Dustin gave an example and told us he used to be a big fan of the Christian Rock Band, MXPX. He went to their concert a while back and he was brought on stage with them to rock out! Dustin said it was one of the coolest moments he has ever had. He then compared that to our relationship and our lives with Jesus, saying that Jesus is the Star already on “stage” sitting on His throne in Heaven. Jesus knows we are not holy like He is, yet He desires us to be with Him forever on “stage” in Heaven. Dustin then said we usually want to be the ones solely on stage as the center of attention instead of making Jesus the center of attention. As it says in John 3:30, He needs to become greater; we must become less, yet because of our sinful nature we have the desire that we should be greater; therefore, making Jesus less. Dustin mentioned that we should desire to be like the “techies” in the back of a concert making whoever is on the stage look good, meaning that we should desire to make Jesus famous always and making Him look the best He can.
Dustin then explained how we need to be in the Word, praying, and growing closer to God so we don’t have the desire make ourselves greater but to only make Jesus greater and famous. Again, it was a great night.
Please keep praying for our fearless Student Pastor, Tom, and be praying for all of the leaders and students. One last thing: CAMP DEPOSITS ($50/CHILD) ARE DUE WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 29TH. I just went to my first Student Life Camp and it seriously changed my life forever. It would be an AWESOME experience for your child. Have a great weekend!

Lauren (Student Prayer Director & 9th-10th Gr. Girls Group Leader)

One of Those Nights...

2008-10-01T20:43:00.000-07:00

Hello Parents,
Tonight was "one of those nights" that seriously will keep me up tonight and probably for the next few nights. I was extremely frustrated tonight during our worship service. I felt as though the majority of students don't get it, they have not connected the dots about who Jesus is and who He wants to be in their life!

Tonight I wanted to continue on in our message series titled, "Poser." and I wanted to look at how Paul says in II Timothy 3:1-5 that there will be people who love money and pleasure and themselves in the last days over and above anyone or anything else. I described how the world sells selfishness which is the polar opposite of what Christ calls us to live out. As I challenged the students to be selfless and to live their life no longer for themselves but for God, i received these blank stares as if to say, "why would I do that?" I felt like students didn't even get what the problem was with being selfish. In our lives before we can be selfless for God, we have to experience God and His endless love for us! We have to have a reason why we would NOT be selfish, which we do and His Name is Jesus Christ! The problem is I felt like so few students knew that answer or were even asking that question of why be selfless.

My hope and prayer is that fusion would be a ministry that helps connect students to Jesus Christ and supports them as they begin a life-long journey with Him. Nights like tonight remind me of that vision, and remind me of how important it is to pray for these students. Please join me in doing that, I would greatly appreciate that!

tom

Life is Crazy!

2008-09-30T09:03:00.000-07:00

Hey Guys!
Man life has been nothing short of nuts lately for me! It has been an incredible couple of weeks for us within fusion. Two weeks ago we had our outreach party with over 350 students! The night was amazing, nothing short of amazing! I was so proud of our young people and the way they lived out their faith among their peers. My prayer that whole week was that students actions over the course of the night would speak louder than anything said on the stage...I really believe that happened! Parents, you guys were awesome that night. You served with everything you had...thank you so much for being the best! Looking back, I could not be happier with the way things went...PRAISE YOU GOD!

I would also be very dumb if I did not mention Diane Hendricks! Diane was a HUGE help to me and the student ministry. Her and Michelle Myers decorated the worship center and made it look sweet! Diane was my right hand "woman", she really freed me up and the other leaders up to simply connect and invest with new students...so thank you Diane for all your help, I greatly appreciate it!

This past Wednesday...as in 6 days ago...was a good night too. We had 2 students pray to receive Jesus Christ as their personal Savior! We also had 15 - 20 students cry out to God and admit they were a poser when it came to their faith. They cried out to our awesome Lord and declared they were tired of being a faker when comes to being a committed follower of Jesus Christ! Good stuff for sure.

For the next 5 weeks we will be in a message series looking at 2 Timothy 3:1-5. I would beg for your prayers as I feel called to lead this student ministry through this text and some of the intense issues it offers. Tomorrow night we will look at being a lover of self and money. Each week, over the next five, at the end of the message I will give students an opportunity to cry out to God, please pray for that moment over the next 5 weeks. Pray that more lives would be changed and that Jesus would do something radical within this ministry!

Again I am sorry it has taken me this long to update what has been going on, thank you for your patience! Also please note that camp deposits for Student Life 09 are due at the end of this month...Wednesday Night October 29. Camp can be a life changing experience and for whatever it is worth, I strongly recommend getting your student(s) there! There is more info listed above, please take a moment and check that out...it is going to be SWEET!

tom

Why Are Christians So Weird?

2008-09-12T12:51:00.000-07:00

Hey guys!
Tonight was a challenging night...I'm not going to lie. We were short help as we had some leaders sick and it was another packed night. We took some time Wednesday to talk about the outreach next week! We need a ton of help with it, so if interested please contact me. Also we will have some sign up sheets outside of church on Sunday for those who would be interested in getting involved!

This week's message was a little shorter than normal, but during the teaching time I asked the students why Christians feel the need to be weird all the time. This past weekend I was at Rock the Universe, a Christian event at Universal Studios, and I was overwhelmed by the behavior from students who claim to be Christ followers! The world looks at Christians as being weird, and after being at this event over the weekend I can see why.

As far as I can tell, Jesus does not call us to be weird. He calls us to be light. To shine so brightly for Him. Some Christians think they are weird because it is the Christian thing to do, but in reality they are weird because they're just weird! Jesus wants us to be more than weird, He calls us to stand out by the way we live of lives. This was the challenge to your student(s), next week we as a ministry are going to have an amazing opportunity to SHOW people how awesome Jesus is...the challenge being, lets make the most of that chance and shine like all get out for Christ!

I am excited and scared to death at the same time, but I just know Jesus WILL be with us next week, and that this outreach will be AMAZING!! GET INVOLVED...YOU DON'T WANT TO MISS OUT!!

Scriptures Used...
James 2:14-17;24;26

tom

What Are You Wearing?

2008-09-08T13:35:00.000-07:00

Hey Mom and Dad!
Sorry it has taken me so long to post what we talked about last Wednesday. Last week was a neat night. There was, for the first time in a while, an excitement to worship God musically! One thing that was awesome is that the student band wrote a song last week and led it that night. the song is called "Beautiful Refuge". We are looking forward to teaching it to you adults Sunday October 5. Some of the lyrics go as follows...

Cause Your my
Refuge
The One I
Cling to
And Lord I
Love You
Beautiful Refuge

As far as the message it was intense for sure. We talked about forgiveness, which is always a tough topic to deal with. Within the first 2 months being the new student pastor i was overwhelmed with the number of students that would talk to me about somebody else who hurt them. I shared over and over again Colossians 3:12-14, encouraging the students to forgive others as Christ has forgiven them. I finally decided to teach on it. Last Wednesday night I urged the students to clothe themselves in love, for Paul says in verse 14, the most important piece of clothing to wear is love! I challenged them to wear love in their relationships with others and to create space in those relationships to allow for one anothers faults! I had some very meaningful prayer times with some students afterwards who were ready to let some things go! It was neat, a great night for sure!

We still are looking for help for the outreach event coming up next week, September 17. If you are interested please email me and we will get you plugged in! Thanks for investing in the life of your son(s) and/or daughter(s) alongside of myself and the other leaders within fusion.

tom

Welcome Back!

2008-08-28T11:28:00.000-07:00

Hello Mom & Dad,
Man it was awesome to be back again with students last night. It had been 3 weeks since we last met on a Wednesday night, and it was cool to gather as a community again and worship our great God! This was our first meeting of the school year, so it was the first week for many students in their new "tribe" or small group. This is basically when we had our graduation...8th graders moving up to the 9th grade tribe...so ask your son or daughter about their tribe, as they may be in a new one this year.

I feel like the night went well. I shared about the difference between our passion and our purpose. Each of us have a passion for something. I shared last night my passion was to be apart of a ministry that was making a difference in the community for the glory of God. I talked with the students about what our purpose is. I shared how in Colossians Paul says we were made by Him (Jesus) and for Him, and that our purpose really is to love God with all of our hearts. That is what we were made to do. I challenged the students to not confuse their passion with their purpose. So many times in life we get so focused on our passion that we forget to live out our purpose, and by doing that eventually our passion fades away! My heart for fusion is that we would indeed, "be the change", but that we would be the change from a heart that is overflowing with love for Jesus Christ! I want to make a difference in this community, and I have spent all summer talking about that, but that is not the first priority, helping these teens fall passionately in love with Jesus is! I thought we got off to a great start in this 2008 school year, and I really am looking forward to seeing God move in extraordinary ways in the life of this ministry and church! Remember we have the outreach coming up, and we need some major help with that. Also if you plan on sending your child with the youth group to go to rock the universe, your last chance to sign up for that is this Sunday!

Scripture Used...
Ephesians 3:14-21
Colossians 1:16-17

Thanks for partnering with me and the other leaders to make a difference in the life of your child!

tom

ATTENTION PARENTS...HERE ARE SOME FURTHER DETAILS CONCERNING CAMP!

2008-08-06T13:03:00.000-07:00

Hello Gang,
I can not begin to say thank you for your patience as I know we are only one day away from camp and not everything is posted yet. I wanted to communicate some KEY things to help answer some of your questions.

We have changed the price of Chaos Camp...It is now 25.00. Our heart is to have everyone involved that would like to be involved. Please do not let money stop you from bringing your child! All the money is for is food and drinks throughout the weekend. If you would rather pack lunches for your child you do NOT have to pay the 25.00. Please make sure they have food though for the following times...
Friday Morning
Friday Afternoon
Friday Evening
Saturday Morning
We have some fridge space, but most of it will be used to store the food for the rest of the campers, please keep that in mind. If money is still a problem please speak with me directly, and we'll figure things out together. If your student is serious about meeting with God, I am willing to do whatever I need to do to make that possible!

What to Bring for Friday's Sleep Over
(When You Drop Off Your Student Friday Morning)...
Your son/daughter should bring 2-3 changes of clothes depending on how clean they like to be...seriously! We will be active all day Friday and I would think most people would like to change after their free time (See Schedule Above). Also they will need a change of clothes for Saturday morning. Please help us to keep this environment all weekend long distraction free...short skirts, tank tops, speedos and anything else that could cause distractions can stay home. This time is all about meeting together with God...I could really use your help on watching out for that! You need to bring a sleeping bag and pillow as WE WILL be sleeping Friday night. Also students need to have their toothbrush...again no distractions, and whatever bathroom supplies they might need. The church does not have a shower, so there will be NO showering going on, but students will have time to "freshen up" in the bathrooms in the lobby.

Pick up will be Saturday afternoon at noon. Please help us in dropping off and picking up your son/daughter on the times listed above on the schedule.

I am beyond stoked to watch God move in mighty ways this weekend! We have some really cool things planned and I really believe God is going to speak into the lives our students. We still need some help during free time on Friday, we need some help serving lunch and dinner Friday night. If you are interested please email (email listed in the top left hand corner) me and let me know! If you have any other questions, please feel free to contact me, otherwise I look forward to seeing you Thursday night. Thanks again for linking arms with me and this ministry! Please be looking over this blog site each day as I will list things to pray for as well as cool God moments! Thanks again mom and dad...you guys rock!

tom

What's The Point of Prayer?

2008-07-24T16:16:00.001-07:00

Hello Mom & Dad!!
Last Night was truly a cool night! We were blessed to be led in worship by Curtis Froisland, PRF's new Lead Worshipper. Curtis shared some music that he wrote that God used last night in a big way. He shared a song that was all about breathing in God and he posed the question to the students in a attendance what would their life be like if they truly breathed in God. I loved that question! After the song I challenged our community to think of what it would look like for fusion to be filled with students that are committed to continually breathe in our awesome Lord!

I invited students to stay in the worship center instead of breaking into tribes to pray to our God and invite Him to fill our lungs and lives...It was awesome to be apart of it for sure!

I finished up a message series on the Lord's Prayer and I simply asked the students last night what the point of prayer was. We talked about prayer being a key ingredient in a love relationship between the God of the universe and us! And that the whole point of prayer is to simply stay connected to the One we say we truly love! It was a neat night from start to finish!

Scriptures Used...
Luke 18:9-14
Revelation 3:15-20

Remember we have the Sr. High Lock-in tomorrow night! Also be lookin for some new news about chaos camp on sunday! Thanks for staying connected with us...we love you mom and dad!

tom

3 Things to Lock Into...

2008-07-16T22:40:00.000-07:00

Hello Baby Makers,
Tonight was a difficult night but God took care of everything...like ALWAYS! I found myself a little over whelmed at the pile of things to do that was waiting for me after a few days off, and i struggled to focus tonight. But where I am weak, my God is so strong. The leaders tonight and I joked that maybe the night would be low key with a bunch of people on vacation and junk. We said it would be sweet to have like 20 kids for the night...yeah didn't happen. as it turned out we had by far the largest crowd i have ever seen at fusion, probably around 170 kids...NUTS!!!!

Tonight we continued our series on the Lord's prayer and I challenged your kid(s) to lock into 3 things as they pray to their God. (1) Was to lock into the fact that we have all that we need in God. (2) Was to allow for each others faults in life and to forgive others like Christ has forgiven them. (3) Was to ask God to empower them to withstand temptation and to use their bodies for the glory of God. We will wrap up this series on prayer that i am hoping is making a difference in the prayer life of your child. Next week Lauren, the 9th & 10th grade girls leader, will finish off the series as she talks about praying in faith. Please be in prayer for her that God would speak clearly through her and also please pray that students would put into practice what they have learned over the last two weeks in their own prayer life!

Scriptures Used...
Matthew 6:9-14;19-21;24-25;31-33
Luke 10:1-4 (All We Need Is God)
Ephesians 4:31-32 (Forgive Others As Christ Has Forgiven You)
Romans 6:12-13 (Give Yourself to God Completely)

Mom and Dad we need your help with either Lock-In Coming up. If interested in helping please email me at the address listed above. Thanks a bunch...

tom

Prayer...It's Not About You!

2008-07-09T20:42:00.000-07:00

THE JR. HIGH LOCK-IN WAS POSTPONED TO THE FOLLOWING FRIDAY...
JULY 18

Hello Parents!
Tonight was another solid night! This week for me has been nothing short of difficult, I probably more than anyone else, needed this time with our God. Tonight we embarked on a 3 week journey in which we will take a closer look at the Lord's Prayer. Tonight was part 1..."It's Not About You". I talked about the first couple of lines of the Lord's Prayer and how they deal with who God is. Too many times we think God is our genie, we just run to Him when we need something. Tonight I really challenged that way of thinking. God is so much more than a genie, and if we want to connect with the God of the universe through prayer we have to realize when we pray it's not about us but it's all about Him!

My heart for the next 2 weeks is that as a community, our prayer lives would grow deeper. That we would acknowledge who God is, and that we would not casually run into His presence! Please in your prayers, ask God to continue to reveal Himself to us. Please pray for me as I am leaving early tomorrow morning...Thursday July 10, to go to Ohio for a funeral of a family member!

tom

Wednesday July 2, 2008

2008-07-02T18:42:00.000-07:00

Ma & Pa!!
We had a great night within fusion tonight! Richie Owens, one of our "tribe" or small group leaders did the talk tonight and God used him greatly! Richie's message was based around Philippians 2:14-15 as he challenged us to not complain and be thankful for what we have. It was a God inspired message no doubt! Richie shared a neat story about an encounter with a homeless man that really opened his eyes to how "blessed" he really is! It was another solid night for sure, we were down in numbers a little from summer vacations and what not, but the students were hungry to worship which is all I care about!

Please be in prayer for the students of fusion not to be complainers, but to be thankful for all that they have in Christ Jesus. Also next week we are starting a 3 week series on prayer, where we will look at the Lord's Prayer. Please pray that we would learn as a community how to pray and that our prayer life would grow much deeper as we progress through this message series! Come hungry on Sunday for meatball subs...I'll see ya then!

tom

"Live" Recording Nights...

2008-06-26T18:46:00.000-07:00

Hello Mom and Dad!
Well it has been a crazy couple of days. We had the Sr. High "Live" last night, and then tonight we had the Jr. High Night and boy did God show up in BIG ways both nights. What we did was we, as in the student band, had the students vote on their favorite songs. The 10 songs that got the most votes for Sr. High was there set list, and then the 10 songs that got the most votes from the Jr. High was there set list. Something that was really cool was that both groups, Jr & Sr High voted for the song God of This City, the song that proclaims Greater things are yet to come and greater things are still to be done in this city! The fact that 12-18 year olds would vote for that song really excites me and I hope it excites you as a parent. This really tells me that there are some hungry students within fusion that want to bring and be the change for the glory and honor of our amazing Lord! That fires me up! Please pray that the students would indeed be apart of the greater things God has in store for Deltona! Good nights for sure! Don't forget, we have the bake sale coming up on sunday...I'll see ya then!!

tom

Fusion Student Ministries Parent Link

2008-06-21T15:27:00.000-07:00

Hello Mom & Dad!
This "blog", which is a fancy word for an online journal, was created to help keep you, the parents, in the "loop" when it comes to fusion . Each week I will post what we discussed at youth to help you converse with your child and enable you to get involved with the ministry without ever having to commit to being there! I will also post prayer needs here to help you know what to pray for concerning fusion. Join us this week for a "live" night of worship on Wednesday night or Thursday night! Hope to see you then...

tom