Impact

Recently, I had the awesome opportunity to attend my 4th summer camp, Impact. To say I knew exactly what God had in store would be a lie (who really does anyway?) But as I looked back God showed me that the biggest changes I made in my life were almost always at camp.

It was at camp that I dedicated my life solely to God. It was at camp that I learned of my calling to be a pastor. It was at camp that I got filled with the Holy Spirit. It's obvious that camp has had a big impact (no pun intended) on my life.

This year was no different in that sense. The biggest thing to happen to me at camp this year was definitely getting baptised. I'm really surprised it took me so long, and honestly, I didn't feel any different initially. But the moment we got into worship that evening I felt more in touch with God than I ever had before. Since returning from camp I've been feeling more and more of the spirit inside me leading me as well.

God also really challenged me to castaway all the other secondary things in life and focus on him primarily. What we need to know the most is that God and his will are to be first and foremost in our lives. EVERYTHING ELSE should come second to that. That means putting down the controller or the remote and spending time with him.

Overall, God continued the tradition of changing my life at camp and setting me ablaze for the year to come!

Being a Doer

Recently my church held their annual Impartation conference, with Doug Jones and Keith Moore coming to speak with us from Saturday-Wednesday. To say it was an awesome experience would be understating it. I had come expecting great things and God gave me that and more!

I've heard some of the awesome things that God did in other people's lives during Impartation, but for me, it wasn't about what God did, it was what he promised. For the past couple months I had been content on living  a modest life, not really concerned about being an example of Christ and doing what he's called and more with living life as I saw fit. Content to live life in my own little bubble.

Monday night that bubble was shattered. Monday night was Keith Moore's first night and he got my attention instantly with these words."Don't tell me what you believe, tell me what you've done, then I'll know what you believe."

Immediately I perked up. "He's talking to you..." my mind would tell me, and he was. (Of course he wasn't just talking to me but you get the point.) I then asked myself a very important question...what have I done?

The bible tells us to be doers of the Word. (James 1:22) To not just live our lives for ourselves but for Christ, who gave his life for our redemption. That means doing the work he's called us to do. And up until that night, I hadn't been, he had laid on my heart for a long time to wise up and start being an example for him and for whatever reason, I neglected to do it.

God has given us the promise that if we follow him we will live a life free from the hold of sin, free from death, that nothing can ever hope to hold us back because the God that created the stars is with us! Looking at it now, I don't know what I was so afraid of.

I've come to the conclusion that if we truly want to make a difference in this world, we must be doers, our actions, more than anything, speak the message of Christ. "Tell me what you've done, then I'll know what you believe." Every action we make speaks to who we are. Be a doer, and you won't believe what God does through you!

One Year Later/C.U.G?

We're taking a detour from the testimonies for a minute because today is an important day. A year ago today, I started this blog. To commemorate, I've changed the layout and some other stuff around the blog.  It's hard to believe it's been a year already, instead of going through last year, which I've already done, I've decided to take the time to look ahead.

Now, I can't predict the future but from what I see this year is going to be big, I mean HUGE! There's tons of stuff I'm working on, from videos to....other things that I can't really mention. There's no doubt that this is going to be my biggest, and busiest, year yet! Normally, I'd be worried, but what do we have to worry about when we have God?

In short, this year is going to be amazing. To prove it I have an announcement that will blow your socks off! (When you realize what it is.)
What is C.U.G?

Now, clearly there's a ton of questions and I can't really say much at the moment. What I can tell you is that I'm in charge of C.U.G and that your questions will be, hopefully, answered in the coming week. Until then, wrack your brains trying to figure out what the heck C.U.G means! (Hint: It's not Christmas United Germany.)

The Lookback

And so we reach that time of year where everyone looks back in order to look forward. 2009 is coming to an end and 2010 is straight ahead. So, nows the time for me to make my final post of the year, and it's only fitting that my final post for the year be me looking back on this year. Before we begin, let me point out that I am not the type of person who records moments in a journal, I really wish I was, but I just can't will myself to do it. So, this entire post will be off the top of my head as think about what this year means to me.

This year didn't start out on the best of notes. Things fell apart with a girl I liked and I was losing sight of God. The main reason things didn't work out was because I had lost sight of God. I had become so enamored with this girl that it interfered with God. Let me tell you now if you haven't caught it yet. No person can fill the void that God can. Your not whole until you know God and you won't be able to truly love until you know the one who designed it. With the help of some amazing friends and an awesome mentor I got back on track and I haven't looked back.

The rest of Janurary and Feburary are a blur, I only remember lots of struggles and lots of arguments and tons of prayers. March brought Acquire the Fire, my first time going to the event. If you don't know, ATF is a traveling group of bands and speakers that go around the country and tear it up! While there I had the distinct pleasure of hearing Nick Vujicic speak.

Nick is a very special man, you see, Nick was born without any arms or feet. (With the exception of a little foot, he likes to call the chicken wing.) Despite this setback, Nick has more faith than most of us who have both our arms and legs. His passion is visible just by looking at him and he loves his life. What Nick showed me, is probably the same thing he can show you. It doesn't take arms or legs to make a difference, it takes heart. All you need to change the world, is heart. I can say, that if it wasn't for ATF, especially Nick, I probably would have relapsed back into sin. But, they inspired me and kept me going forward. I can only hope they do the same to you.

April and May were uneventful, then came June and with it Internship at my church. To be honest with you, Internship was rather uneventful. Don't get me wrong, I love that my church takes the time to teach us, but nothing big happened in Internship, they happened during Internship. Camp came at the end of June, but that too was rather uneventful. The summer seemed to be filled with fun moments, but nothing big, then I went to Costa Rica.

I've talked about Costa Rica twice already, most of what can be said has already been said. But, I'll let you in on a secret. I'm still in Costa Rica, not physically, of course, but my heart and mind remain there. That will never change, I'll always remember the look on people's faces when we built them a new home, the children who had such joy in their hearts despite their conditions. The blood, sweat, and passionate fury that helped us all work together to achieve one goal. Guess, there was still stuff to say about Costa Rica.

The rest of the year went by fast from there a couple small events happening here or there, but the one constant thing remained, I continued to grow in God. Let me tell you right now that I have to be one of the luckiest people on the planet. I have a church that strives to make a difference in the world, amazing friends who I can call at any time and they would be there, and most importantly, a God who loves me. He loves you to, and if you get anything from this post, this whole blog, get this. God loves you and he'll never stop loving you. He wants the best for your life. If you don't believe it, look at me, I can't believe how much he's done in my life, just in this year. So, here's to God and here's to one awesome new year! 2010 here we come!

The 2009 Swannies!

First, let me apologize for my absence, I'm sure all 3 of you who regularly read this blog were disappointed that I didn't post the entire month of November and barely posted in this month. I've been very busy and haven't had the time to blog. But, you can take solace in the fact that I am back and will be trying to post as much as possible, I have lot of great posts floating around in my head and 2010 is going to be the year of Swanson!  But, before I can focus my attention on 2010 I have to look back on 2009. So I created my own award show! The Swannies, in which, I give away awards to those who I think earned them and made a big impact on me this year. Let's go!

Album of the Year: Church Music - David Crowder* Band

It was a tough decision but David Crowder and company earned it, unlike the Hillsong and Switchfoot releases, this one was solid from beginning to end. Probably because every song flowed into the other! It was the only album this year that had no song I disliked. To those who say Church Music has no real worship songs, I challenge you to really listen to the album. Every song on here is worship, DC*B is a band that is unafraid to try new things. Something the rest of the Christian music should really try to do.

Song of the Year: Tear Down the Walls - Hillsong United

2009 was one great music year and this was the toughest choice for me. While Crowder's "How He Loves" was filled with worship and Switchfoot's "Your Love is a Song" was powerful, "Tear Down the Walls" was the only song this year that combined both fluently. It immediately makes you want to get up and change the world. Like Hillsong's "With Everything," this song continues to build on itself until it explodes with power. It makes you want to jump up, run around, and lift up your voice. This song shouts and demands to be heard. That's why it's the Song of the Year, possibly the decade.

Band of the Year: David Crowder* Band

David Crowder* Band has always been original and has always defied the stereotype of Christian music. But this year they did it tenfold. Crowder and his ragtag group of musical geniuses crafted not only the best album of the year but set forth the challenge to all of Christian music. Are you going to defy the stereotype or live by it. Crowder has taken the old rules of what Christian music should be and thrown them out the window. What Crowder and the band showed everybody this year, is that the music doesn't have to sound the same to be worship, that we can all defy the stereotypes by being original.


Best Show on TV: Glee

Some people might be offended by this pick, and the show in general. I've heard many people say many things about Glee and most of the time, they're right. Glee does feature sex jokes, Glees does talk about Teen Pregnancy, and Glee does feature blatant stereotypes. But there's more to Glee than this. The underlying message of Glee is one everybody can relate to. Stand up and be who you are. Don't be what people tell you to be, be yourself. For that alone Glee is head and shoulders above the rest of TV.

Biggest Surprise: We're giving away a what?!?!?


The biggest surprise for me this year came from my church. Around the month of October word has started to circulate that our youth group, Revolution would be moving to one weekend service on Saturday. To make the change easier for everyone and get new people, they decided to give away a car! That's right, my youth group is giving away a car! The truth of the matter is this, most unsaved people won't come to church if they don't have a reason to. What better reason to come than getting the chance to win a new car! To those who go to Revolution: You have no reason to not invite somebody, go out and take a leap of faith, you'll be surprised what you find.

Best Part of the Year: Costa Rica


I had the distinct pleasure to spend a week in Costa Rica, and it changed my life. I never truly left Costa Rica, parts of me are still there, and always will be. And I know that I made a difference in people's lives, who may have never known God if it wasn't for us. But, the most important part of the trip, were the people. They had almost nothing and yet their loved life, how many times do you see that in America. I wish everyone could see what I saw in Costa Rica. I wish everyone's hearts could break like mine did. I look forward to going on another missions trip next year, and hopefully it fills me with the same joy and hope the Costa Rica did.

There you have, this is my best of 2009. Some of you will agree, others will disagree, that's what the comment section is for. Seriously, give me your comments, tell me what you would have put. I wait for your replies and wish you all a Merry Christmas and, if you don't see me before, a Happy New Year!

Costa Rica

I recently had the pleasure to be involved in my first missions trip. Since returning home I've been thinking of the perfect way to describe to those who didn't go, how awesome and life-changing the trip was. But then it hit me, there is no perfect way to describe it. Simple words won't help you understand how great the trip was, because the trip was pure emotion. That's what a missions trip is all about. It's about forgetting the culture, forgetting what the world says and going out and making a difference in someones life.

Now, I could spend the rest of this blog telling you all the awesome and amazing things that happened there, but it wouldn't matter. Most of you reading weren't there. Instead of telling funny and crazy stories that won't affect your lives in any real way, I'm going to stick to telling you the lasting impact we made there.

In just 1 week, we made 2 homes for 2 families, that otherwise would have nothing. It was all possible because of God. God used us to make an impact on these families and that community. Every time people look and see these houses, they'll be reminded of the 20+ Americans who gave up a week of their lives so they could change someone else's. Those houses will stand as a symbol of what God does for his people. Those homes will be the symbol of hope for that community.

If you've ever asked yourself, "why should I go on a missions trip?" here's the answer. At the end, after all the hard-work, after the proverbial "sweat and tears." Your reward is seeing those families, seeing how thankful they are that you did this, seeing their hope restored and their faith renewed and the overwhelming joy you feel in your heart. That, my friend's, is what a missions trip is all about.

A Camp Intermisson

As the title suggests, I'm taking a break from our current series to reflect on camp.

For those who don't know, I had the pleasure of going, for the 2nd year in a row, to the SummerScream camp in Illinois. It was a fun experience (though some would disagree.) Here are some of the highlights from the week.

• All week we had Pastor Larry Battencourt teach us on our Identity, and he tore it up! If you know anyone who went ask them about the fish and the egg.
• People gave there lives to Christ and got filled with the Holy Spirit. It's awesome to think about how much they're live are going to change because of these decisions.
• I prayed for people (and got prayed for) in the Holy Spirit. If you think it's awesome to pray for people normally wait until you do it in tongues!
• Got to meet and hang out with friends, old and new. Ask me sometime and I might explain to you what Ryan Nuzzo's late night talk show would be like.
• Ice Cream Twix, heaven in my mouth.
• Shredding our struggles in a shredder and deciding to rise above them.
• Celebrating a year fully-devoted to God. Time to go for number 2!

Well that's pretty much it, but before I go, I want to encourage everyone who went to camp to share their favorite moments, the things that changed their lives, and your general thoughts on camp. God wants to do big things in all of your lives, and I'm excited to see where he takes you.