Elevate Student Ministries » Spiritual http://www.elevationgeneration.org/blog elevating a generation Fri, 30 Jul 2010 18:05:08 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 Foursquare Missions in Haiti http://www.elevationgeneration.org/blog/2010/07/foursquare-missions-in-haiti/ http://www.elevationgeneration.org/blog/2010/07/foursquare-missions-in-haiti/#comments Fri, 02 Jul 2010 03:18:26 +0000 Shawn Michael http://www.elevationgeneration.org/blog/?p=3937 A missions update from Haiti.  I love seeing our Foursquare family doing the work of Jesus there.  My heart goes out to them…

For more information or to get involved, please visit http://foursquarehaiti.org.

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]]> http://www.elevationgeneration.org/blog/2010/07/foursquare-missions-in-haiti/feed/ 0 Team Elevate Volunteers http://www.elevationgeneration.org/blog/2010/06/volunteer-love/ http://www.elevationgeneration.org/blog/2010/06/volunteer-love/#comments Tue, 29 Jun 2010 04:40:44 +0000 Shawn Michael http://www.elevationgeneration.org/blog/?p=3899 Elevate Student Ministries wouldn’t be what it is without our loving, caring, and committed volunteers.  We love you!

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]]> http://www.elevationgeneration.org/blog/2010/06/volunteer-love/feed/ 0 Gungor: “Beautiful Things” http://www.elevationgeneration.org/blog/2010/06/gungor/ http://www.elevationgeneration.org/blog/2010/06/gungor/#comments Sat, 26 Jun 2010 05:16:44 +0000 Shawn Michael http://www.elevationgeneration.org/blog/?p=3887 There are probably a lot of you familiar with Michael Gungor and his music, you just don’t know it yet.  Michael toured with Acquire the Fire a few years back and became well known for his worship songs “Battle Cry”, “Wrap Me in Your Arms, “Friend of God”, and the like.  He has recently changed his band’s name from “Michael Gungor Band” to simply “Gungor”.  With it comes a new and refined sound and creativity that I am absolutely digging.  The creativity and musicianship is excellent; I cannot get enough.  Here’s a taste of their newest release, “Beautiful Things”, that was released earlier this year.

This week, people started asking me, “Who is that singing/playing that last song in Zion’s ‘first day video’ [shared here on my personal site] ?”  That’s when I realized that I wanted more people to experience Gungor.  Here’s a beautiful acoustic version of their title song, “Beautiful Things”…

Lastly, Gungor plays “The Earth is Yours” live and in the forest. Love it!

Dare I say Gungor’s “Beautiful Things” might be my favorite album of the moment? I think it might be! Go check ‘em out on their [official web site] and snag yourself some awesome music now!

]]> http://www.elevationgeneration.org/blog/2010/06/gungor/feed/ 0 Be Diligent, Not Slothful http://www.elevationgeneration.org/blog/2010/06/be-diligent-not-slothful/ http://www.elevationgeneration.org/blog/2010/06/be-diligent-not-slothful/#comments Tue, 15 Jun 2010 16:56:08 +0000 Shawn Michael http://www.elevationgeneration.org/blog/?p=3862 David Crowder Band posted a link to “Meet the Sloths” this morning…

The Bible has a lot to say about being slothful.  Romans 12:11 (NLT) says, “Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically.”

It seems that maybe the church has busied herself so much in the “business” of doing church that we’ve become SLOTHFUL and/or lazy in one of our highest callings: loving others.

Jesus LOVES the church.  The church is vital and important.  The church is His bride.  Don’t give up on the church… but maybe she needs a makeover.

Adam McLane shared an excellent post on his blog this morning – read it here – reminding us that “churches don’t reach people… people do.” As Adam states, “Less than 5% of our culture is actively involved in church. That’s a lot of smoke and not much fire.”

The church is people, but sometimes we become so busy in church culture that we lose sight of the real-world culture — the world full of people just outside of our neighborhood doors.  They need real people to show them God’s real love.

I believe that if we’d focus on our absolute highest calling of loving God, that His heart and passion for others becomes infused with ours.

Don’t let yourself become so busy and self-focused in serving God that you become SLOTHFUL or lazy in loving others.

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]]> http://www.elevationgeneration.org/blog/2010/06/be-diligent-not-slothful/feed/ 1 The Sound (John M. Perkin’s Blues) http://www.elevationgeneration.org/blog/2010/06/the-sound-john-m-perkins-blues/ http://www.elevationgeneration.org/blog/2010/06/the-sound-john-m-perkins-blues/#comments Mon, 14 Jun 2010 18:24:28 +0000 Shawn Michael http://www.elevationgeneration.org/blog/?p=3859 New from Switchfoot…

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]]> http://www.elevationgeneration.org/blog/2010/06/the-sound-john-m-perkins-blues/feed/ 0 How NOT to Evangelize http://www.elevationgeneration.org/blog/2010/06/how-not-to-evangelize/ http://www.elevationgeneration.org/blog/2010/06/how-not-to-evangelize/#comments Mon, 14 Jun 2010 16:45:09 +0000 Shawn Michael http://www.elevationgeneration.org/blog/?p=3856 Hmmmm… what’s wrong with their approach?

This video was inspired by the original, “The Good Word”, by Barats and Bereta.

[video enclosure] HT Misti Torpey

]]> http://www.elevationgeneration.org/blog/2010/06/how-not-to-evangelize/feed/ 0 The Car Lot http://www.elevationgeneration.org/blog/2010/06/the-car-lot/ http://www.elevationgeneration.org/blog/2010/06/the-car-lot/#comments Sun, 13 Jun 2010 17:57:51 +0000 Shawn Michael http://www.elevationgeneration.org/blog/?p=3852 Just a head’s up, there may not be a lot of students (or any at all) at Catalyst Discipleship tonight.  That’s because this week is the community-wide VBS-Alive and several of you are plugged in, serving and ministering.  We think that’s AWESOME and are rooting for you!  God’s gonna do incredible things through you this week — we know it!

In the case that there are students at Catalyst this evening, we’re gonna be looking at the parable of the shrewd manager from Luke 16:1-13.  Check it out in this modern-day retelling of the story…

If you can’t be at Destiny tonight, whether you are serving at VBS-Alive or not, consider reading through this parable — you can do it online HERE — and thinking through these questions.

1) Are we supposed to look at this story as an example of what to do… or what not to do?

2) How can the church be more creative in advancing God’s Kingdom?

3) What is our student ministry doing to be “shrewd managers” of God’s Kingdom?

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]]> http://www.elevationgeneration.org/blog/2010/06/the-car-lot/feed/ 0 Shake The Dust http://www.elevationgeneration.org/blog/2010/05/shake-the-dust/ http://www.elevationgeneration.org/blog/2010/05/shake-the-dust/#comments Tue, 25 May 2010 16:46:35 +0000 Shawn Michael http://www.elevationgeneration.org/blog/?p=3803

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]]> http://www.elevationgeneration.org/blog/2010/05/shake-the-dust/feed/ 0 To Our 2010 Graduates http://www.elevationgeneration.org/blog/2010/05/to-our-2010-graduates/ http://www.elevationgeneration.org/blog/2010/05/to-our-2010-graduates/#comments Fri, 21 May 2010 03:40:12 +0000 Shawn Michael http://www.elevationgeneration.org/blog/?p=3794

Download the song from artist, Josh Shipp ($1.99): http://joshshipp.bandcamp.com.

Follow Josh on Twitter and visit his official site at http://joshshipp.com.

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]]> http://www.elevationgeneration.org/blog/2010/05/to-our-2010-graduates/feed/ 0 Drawing Heaven http://www.elevationgeneration.org/blog/2010/05/drawing-heaven/ http://www.elevationgeneration.org/blog/2010/05/drawing-heaven/#comments Thu, 20 May 2010 16:34:46 +0000 Shawn Michael http://www.elevationgeneration.org/blog/?p=3786 Child prodigy artist whose inspiration is God. Pretty incredible…

[video enclosure] ht @timmossholder

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