I love Craig Groeschel... but I love Q&A with Craig Groeschel even more! Soak up the insight.
RSS Subscribers: There is video here.
(ht to my friend Ben Arment)
RSS Subscribers: There is video here.
(ht to my friend Ben Arment)
Labels: Church, Culture, Leadership, Resources, Straight Up Funny, Videos, Youth Pastors
TWILIGHT: WITH CHEESEBURGERS
For all the Twilight Fans (or Cheeseburger fans) who are readers of TerraceCrawford.com
RSS Subscribers: There is video here.
For all the Twilight Fans (or Cheeseburger fans) who are readers of TerraceCrawford.com
Labels: Creative, Culture, Hot Topics, Media, Movies, Straight Up Funny, Students Only, Videos, Youth Pastors
Manic Monday Minute is a serious mind-dump that will probably take you one minute to read. Here are some thoughts going through my head right now...
This is the Manic Monday Minute - pollen laced edition Still dealing with allergies -- ugh! I have a cough I cannot seem to get rid of. You want it? Attended a nice little BBQ on Saturday and enjoyed fellowship with friends. Love the Q! (vinegar-based of course) Spent some time in Jamestown on Saturday afternoon. Had a good time riding the Ferry and participated in a Ghost Walk tour (kinda by accident). This makes two weeks in a row that I've actually toured historical sites. Pretty soon I can guide this jink! Remember: Jamestown is *not* a town! (HA!) Got to preach in this weekend's services. We continued our Courage series.
Showed a vid testimony of Nick Vujicic, from Life Without Limbs during my message. What an amazing story he has of Courage. We are praising God for the miracle of our friend's life after being involved in a shooting this weekend at a local university. Found a small baby turtle in the backyard of our offices last Thursday. Our office manager named him "Malachi" and I took him home. He freaked out for about 24.6 non-stop hours and I decided to release him. I decided to drop him off in a bit of a local turtle paradise. Missed attending Catalyst last week but followed the feed enough to know what I missed. Love the opener Catalyst put together for the conference Just arrived home from a leadership meeting where we discussed the future of Crossroads. We have a number of challenges we are facing right now but we have such an exciting future that its giving us all energy and faith to press on. I'm stoked!
Washed my car over the weekend. It needs another wash already. Darn pollen & dust. Nervous about American Idol this week. We're down to a great Top 5. More on this later. Saw an ad for HillSong United coming in a few weeks to Va Beach. I'm ready to get my tickets. Working on some real cool ideas to reach our community. Congrats to my friend Laura Story who picked up the Dove Award for Inspirational Album of the Year. My good friend Dave is giving you the hook-up on the upcoming Echo conference in Dallas. Hoping I might get to attend the conference and learn all the cool innovative ideas from guys like him. Played Journey non-stop this afternoon while I was working. Made for great ambient music. Ok - I'm out!
Labels: Manic Monday Minute
Many of you saw the local or national news about the shooting at Hampton University early Sunday morning. One of the victims shot in this incident was a church member at Crossroads.
The result of the event is actually a miracle of God because the 3 bullets our friend received to his body (one shattered his hand, the other entered his neck and one in his chest) actually missed all of his vital organs. He is still in the hospital receiving care but has been taken out of critical care. Praise God with us for this miracle and pray for the families of the victims during this critical time.
Related Links:
Fox News Coverage | Statement from Hampton University
Labels: Church, Hot Topics, News
We are right in the middle of our Courage series at Crossroads. I have the awesome privilege of being on the preaching team so I got to speak for our weekend services. I spoke on our Purpose in this journey and it was a lot of fun! There was so much energy in the room and our youth ministry band also led the worship on Sunday and did an amazing job. More on this series: We're on a journey together, going where we've never been before. For each of us, the journey will require a great deal of trust, a good measure of hope, and a real sense of courage. In this series we will explore the importance of understanding our position, identifying our purpose, and having persistence even when the journey gets difficult.
As Catalyst West kicks off this week in Orange County, the new Catalyst Conference site launched today promoting the speaker line-up for Catalyst East in October. The speaker roster features some of my speaker-heroes too! I am beside myself right now. Catalyst is also giving away a Flip Video camera every 100 hours until the event! Go check out the new site and enter for your chance to win.Labels: Catalyst, Conferences, Leadership, Marketing, Resources, Site Shout, Youth Pastors
Manic Monday Minute is a serious mind-dump that will probably take you one minute to read. Here are some thoughts going through my head right now...
This is the Manic Monday Minute - pollen laced edition I'm dealing with allergies. Ugh. Running on fumes - literally. I feel like I sleep for 3 weeks. We had a huge weekend for our students. Pulled off an incredible Disciple Now and brought in a number of my friends to help lead. We had so much fun. Chuck helped me emcee the weekend. We had fun - especially with our own version of the Diet Coke\Mentos experiment. Hilarious! I ended up running the media for Sunday - which made things very interesting. I will actually be speaking this Sunday at Crossroads. Say a prayer. We're in a new series on Courage. Spoke earlier today at a local school. Really enjoyed my time with the students - a real fun group to speak to. One of the teachers sent me a message on Facebook earlier today stating that the students were quoting me all day long. Ha. Quick shoutout to my Aunt Retha (my mother's twin) who told me over the weekend that she loves the Manic Monday Minute! Thanks Aunt Retha - glad you're a reader. A friend got me into the Freda Payne concert on Saturday evening, after DNOW ended. Afterwards I got to meet her and talk with her for a few moments. She'll be on American Idol this Wednesday performing her classic "Band of Gold." Had a great time with my friend Jason last week who came from Connecticut to hang. We spent time last Wednesday touring Colonial Williamsburg and Jamestown, which I had never actually done. Clarification: Jamestown is *not* a town. At least, that is what the lady at the visitor center emphasized. She kept saying it over and over to me. It was pretty funny. Oh, thanks to the wonderful students who spontaneously decided to wash my car during rec time at DNOW. By the way, you missed a spot. Spent some time praying with my friend, Phillip, who is headed to boot camp in South Carolina today. He just got married two weeks ago. Say a prayer for he and Michelle, his new bride. Tornadoes touched down not far from our church earlier today. They had to shut one of the highways down. Crazy! This evening the hail and rain came down. Catalyst West is this week. I wish I were there. Dear sickness, please go away. Crawford, its sleepy time.
Labels: Manic Monday Minute
I ran across this video (courtesy, Calvary Chapel Ft. Lauderdale) on YouTube yesterday and thought this was pretty creative for a youth ministry video announcement about summer camp.
If you'd like to showcase your handiwork, just include a link to yours in the comments. I'd love to see some others.
RSS Subscribers: There is video here.
If you'd like to showcase your handiwork, just include a link to yours in the comments. I'd love to see some others.
RSS Subscribers: There is video here.
Labels: Church, Creative, Marketing, Videos, Youth Pastors
I had lunch with a friend of mine the other day and took a call (albeit brief) during the middle of our time together (I know, rude) and he called me out stating "I hope this doesn't happen all the time." He wasn't talking about me being rude but rather me being so consumed with work. I started to defend myself and then realized it was pointless to start. For years I've dealt wrestled with being consumed with work, although there have been periods where I seemed to find the balance. (Please note: Let me say, this is not a rant about my current job or even my last but its more about who I am and where I am at.) I will say that I'm grateful to have a boss that frequently urges his staff to take a sabbath (as he actually reminded us this week, again). When will the work be done? Why does it take me 2 to 3 days to unplug when I'm on vacation? The questions I also wrestled with.
I never really knew how to put the struggle into words until I read Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell a few years ago. He pointedly urged the reader (that would be me) to kill the super pastor within. I write this because I know I don't struggle alone. There are more pastors and leaders who struggle with the same tendency. Here are a few exerpts from that book that I want to share with those of you this post is resonating with:
and here is a great truth that we all need to hear...“I had this false sense of guilt and subsequent shame because I believed deep down I wasn’t working hard enough. And I believed the not-working-hard-enough lie because I didn’t function like superpastor, who isn’t real anyway.
So I had one choice - I had to kill superpastor.
I had to take him out back and end his pathetic existence.
I went to the leaders of our church and shared with them my journey as it was unfolding. I told them if they needed to release me and find a superpastor, I understood. If we don’t know who we are or where we are trying to go, we put the people around us in an uncomfortable position. They are doing the best they can with what they have - but sometimes we haven’t given them very much have we?…”
I meet so many people who have superwhatever rattling around in their head. They have this person they are convinced they are supposed to be, and their superwhatever is killing them. They have this image they picked up over the years of how they are supposed to look and act and work and play and talk and it’s like a voice that never stops shouting in their ear.
And the only way not to be killed by it is to shoot first.
Yes, that is what I meant to write.
You have to kill your superwhatever.
And you have to do it right now.”
So what next? Well, here are a few action steps I've written for myself:“…[sometimes] the talk seems so shallow. Like nobody is talking about what really matters. I think this is a direct effect of the state of the souls of many pastors and church leaders. So many leaders in Christian communities are going so fast and producing so much and accomplishing so much that they become a shell of a person. There is no space to deal honestly with what is going on deeply inside them…”
(photo courtesy: Brad Ruggles)Labels: Church, Hot Topics, Issues, Leadership, Personal, Youth Pastors
Yesterday I Googled My Name. I've done this before at the recommendation of Tim Sanders, when he suggested I do this to find out who is talking about me (and subsequently, encouraged me to send them a note to thank them if its positive talk). So I googled my name and the name "Terrence Crawford" came up (which I've never been called before) with over 1,240,000 hits. "TC" as he is commonly called (hmm... I am too, but I'm the original recipe) played basketball for Oklahoma State and appears to have had a very decent collegiate career. You can learn some interesting things by just typing your name in a good ole search engine. What do you find when you google your name?
Labels: Personal, Technology
Manic Monday Minute is a serious mind-dump that will probably take you one minute to read. Here are some thoughts going through my head right now...
This is the Manic Monday Minute A literal mind-dump of everything thats happened in the last few days. Easter weekend was amazing. We had a great Crosswalk in Historic Yorktown. Saw a mass number of people come through for the spiritual experience. Our alternative worship experience on Saturday evening was also very moving. The creative elements were incredible - including a crown of thorns made of barb wire. The church was packed on Sunday for our Easter services. We had to add 12 rows of additional chairs (last I counted). Very encouraging to see so many people. Maybe they will decide to attend next week too. A friend of mine told his congregation (on Easter) last year "you know we are open every Sunday." I thought that was funny. I said "Happy Easters" from the stage on Sunday. I couldn't resist. People were laughing out loud on that one. We had great services - with lots of creative elements. Loved hearing the testimony of one of the ladies in our church whose husband was killed in Iraq. Her story is a message of Hope (in spite of great tragedy) and she told what Christ means to her. Very moving to close our Hope series. I was invited to a couple of egg hunts but didn't get to attend any. Maybe next year. My pastor and I had a great idea that we should hijack the helicopter doing one of the egg drops in the area and get them to drop some eggs on our campus. Sound like a plan? An old lady rear-ended me earlier this afternoon. I was on the way to my pastor's home and was stopped at a traffic light. BAM! She hit me. No damage to my car or my body - thankfully. I twittered the experience when it happened. Thanks for everyone who replied back to see if I was okay. Again, I'm very thankful nothing serious happened. Was able to get a ticket to see Jennifer Hudson in concert on Sunday evening. Enjoyed seeing her in concert. She covered a few songs - including one by Whitney Houston and another by Aretha Franklin. Girl can sing - just sayin. She also supposed to perform on American Idol this Wednesday. By the way, I'm expecting Anoop Desai to go home this week. My clock is saying its 3.00AM. I am a night owl but that is definitely wrong. My alma mater contacted me about a new website they are launching. They are planning to list alumni bloggers - including yours truly. I can't wait to see who else is blogging out there. Had a late dinner tonight. I'm stuffed! Congrats to my friend, Laura Story, who has been nominated for 4 GMA Dove Awards - including Female Vocalist of the Year! Laura, I hope you win... You've got my vote. Reading an advanced copy of Jud Wilhite's new book "Eyes Wide Open." Can't wait to blog about it. Had on a polo shirt (with collar of course) on Sunday. Chuck thanked me for dressing up for Easter. Ha. Hoping to catch my friend Tim interviewing Marko this week on his podcast. I'm typically busy and miss his show. Have a friend (from Connecticut) visiting me this week. Gonna be fun. Some students showed up at my door earlier and hung out for a few. Thats always cool. Crawford out.
Labels: Manic Monday Minute
My friend, Barton Damer, remixed S.M. Lockridge’s words about Jesus Christ in this amazing video.
RSS Subscribers: There is video here.
RSS Subscribers: There is video here.
Labels: Creative, Resources, Video, Youth Pastors
We're preparing for our future at Crossroads. This is happening today.Labels: Personal, Photo Gallery
The Simply Youth Ministry Media Store launched today. It is a place where lots of goodness is obtained. Go check it out now.Labels: Church, Media, Resources, Site Shout, Technology, Youth Pastors
A friend of mine in college use to wear a shirt and tie to class a couple of days a week. It was very odd to me seeing how most of the students wore t-shirts and jeans or even pajamas to class. One day I actually stopped him and asked why he did this. He replied "I'm in the zone." I said "what the heck does that mean?" He continued to explain that when he dressed up for class he recognized that he paid closer attention to the professor and his performance was much better. Sometimes taking a few practical steps like this can help you focus, get you centered and you take your performance to a whole notha level. So what puts you in the zone?(photo: Brad Ruggles)
Labels: Leadership, Random, Students Only, Youth Pastors
I ran across an anti-bullying site the other day where you can create your own animation posters. I immediately thought of how I could use them for my own purposes. :-)
I created the generic picture, plugged it into Keynote, and created my own speech bubble. Animated posters in just minutes.
I created the generic picture, plugged it into Keynote, and created my own speech bubble. Animated posters in just minutes.Labels: Creative, Marketing, Resources, Students Only, Youth Pastors
Manic Monday Minute is a serious mind-dump that will probably take you one minute to read. Here are some thoughts going through my head right now...
This is the Manic Monday Minute Man was it Manic too! This was moving weekend for me. I am officially wiped out. I had some great help though. We pulled it off without a hitch. Actually, there may have been a hitch involved. and a uHaul truck. You never realize how meaningless your stuff is until you go to move it. Lets just say that I am now clutter-free. I'm loving it too. Sunday services were off-the-chain. They were the best (I've experienced) services yet! I think it was so incredible because of all the creative elements involved (lighting, dance, drums, scripture reading, etc). Definitely a palm Sunday service to remember. We are working on some cool stuff for this Sunday too. Its Easter! We have some very cool Easter plans. Our creative team is also working hard on an alternative worship experience for Saturday evening too. It is going to be incredible. If you want to check it out and are near our area, email me for more info. Had a great student service on Sunday evening too. Our youth ministry band broke out in "Too Late to Apologize" at one point - we had fun. Just got an advanced copy of Jud Wilhite's new book "Eyes Wide Open." Can't wait to blog about it. Went to a wedding on Saturday in the middle of my big move. It was a very nice ceremony. One of my favorite highlights was the bride's mother (and our office manager) & her closest friends doing a song from Mama-Mia. It was pretty hilarious. Praying for my friend who interviewed with a church last week. Haven't heard an update. I keep getting emails from people on the job-hunt. Considering starting a job board at some point. I'm happy to help hunt these workers find positions... Been selling a few things on Craigslist and eBay lately. I could get into this. Haven't joined the Y yet. Had a great time at Leadership Community tonight. Pastor Chuck spoke on 6 Leadership Principles he got from Rick Warren. Very good stuff. Chuck told the church about a cool email he got from one of our first-time guests last week. The email said "your church doesn't seem religious at all and exalts Jesus at the same time." They found it refreshing and returned this past Sunday. I loved it. American Idol - starting to disappoint me. All I'm saying is the blind boy from Alabama needs to go. I believe he has talent but not top-ten worthy. My poor car has run ragged during this move. I'm praying for it. Can't get the song God of this City out of my head. Thats a good thing. Weather was great today. I wanted to be out on the beach. Have a friend (from Connecticut) coming to visit in a couple of weeks. I cannot wait. Weather was beautiful today. Felt grreeat. Hoping for the same temp the rest of the week. Crawford iz out.
Labels: Manic Monday Minute
I am doing two breakout sessions at the Summer Youth Ministry Conference at the Virginia Baptist Resource Center in Richmond, VA on May 18-19, 2009. I will be doing a seminar titled Pop Goes the Culture as well as a new one about Leveraging Technology in Youth Ministry, although the titles have been changed a bit to fit the theme. Registration is still open. Cost is $65.00 and includes all sessions, lunch on Tuesday, a conference notebook, and complete outlines of ALL workshops offered.By the way, I loved the bio the coordinators put together, especially since they said I have the "gift of twittering and blogging." Thats funny. I wrote that down in my journal and will laugh about it again later.
Labels: Conferences, Culture, Personal, Resources, Youth Pastors
Steven Furtick, lead pastor of Elevation Church, LOVES my blog. At least, that is what he twittered. Guess its April Fool's on me. When I first got this tweet from him [on March 27, 2009] I was skeptical if it was the real Steven Furtick twittering. This is one twitter account but here is yet another under his name also. Yea, its not so much him [the real Steven Furtick] that sent me the tweet. I did some further checking (into his earlier tweets) and there is a confession by the poser that he is not the real Steven Furtick. Actually, he apparently wants people to guess his identity. I have no clue, but my guess would be that its one of the 20 people @sfurtick is following (and no, its not me).Would the real Steven Furtick please stand up! please stand up!
Labels: Blog Shout, Straight Up Funny, Youth Pastors
