This video was posted as a Myspace Video by a high school student who went to Superwow the week I preached there this summer. You rock, bro!!!

SuperWow 2008 Anson McMahon

Speak of the devil.....

Last week I started to preach a brand new sermon series at The Point (12Stone's High School Ministry). To listen to the talks from the point just visit the link at the bottonm of this post!

The title of the series we just began is MAN VS. WILD. Obviously it's taken from the Bear Grylls TV series of the same name which can be seen on the Discovery Channel each week. The metaphor I am springing off of as a launching pad for this series is as follows: Just as Bear Grylls is trying to overcome and conquer the wild as he is dropped into places like Siberia and Iceland, those of us who are Christ-followers are also in a battle to overcome our own adversary. Namely the devil (or Satan) & his army of demon-cohorts. Spiritual warfare isn't just something that really freaky "charis-maniacs" with colorful prayer banners and green point of contact handkerchiefs sticking out of the pockets of their leisure suits believe. It is real and the church, in my opinion, desperately needs to learn more about it. This by implication means that those of us who are pastors need to begin to step to the plate and teach more about it.

In week one we focused on the idea that Satan is prowling around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. He is constantly lying and attempting to deceive us with lies like "If it feels good do it..", "This world is all there is..." and "You are the only one that matters..." If we are not alert and constantly on guard against these lies we will soon be led astray by them and destroy ourselves. John 10:10 tells us bluntly that Satan comes "only" to steal, kill, and destroy. He never ever comes at us will beneficial things in mind for us. His objective is always to lure us away from Christ until we openly rebel just as he and the demons have already done!

Could it be, however, that GOD has communicated to us through His Word, the Holy Bible, some vital survival skills we can and should implement in order to overcome our adversary the devil? This is the question we are seeking the answers to in our series MAN VS. WILD. I hope you'll comment me with some thoughts of your own!

Visit the link below to listen to messages from THE POINT High School Ministry.

http://apps.facebook.com/filefactory//folder/1201615135/83def2634a31d1d1f9f3b257cf78dbe4/

SuperWow 2008

During the week of June 16-20 Heather, Annabelle, and I travelled south down less-than-interesting Interstate 16 to toasty Jekyll Island, Georgia. I was to speak that week for a summer camp that's pretty near to my heart. SuperWow. Besides having the coolest name on earth, there are many other reasons I love this camp so much. This is the same camp I use to travel to as a High School student years ago with my youth group. It's the place I first saw Dave Busby preach. It's the place I first felt GOD's leading to surrender my life to full-time vocational ministry. The place where I first sensed a clear call to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus loudly and passionately until I either die or go mute (whichever comes first).

During the evenings I preached on a variety of different topics; Noah the righteous man, Jonathan the warrior, the parable of the warrior king, and the parable of the sower. During the morning sessions, however, I felt a leading to teach on the topic of Heaven. I first taught on this topic about 6 months ago when we were still in California. The thought was to set up the topic of Heaven in the first session and then answer a ton of frequently asked questions in the last two sessions including, "Who goes to heaven?", "Do we become angels in heaven?", "Are there animals in heaven?", "Will we know each other in heaven?", "Is there sexual intercourse in heaven?" and the all so popular "Will we use the bathroom in heaven?". Now- before you get upset at my crassness you must understand that these are the questions teenagers are asking today! One of the problems with student ministries today (in my opinion) is that we're answering a bunch of questions that nobody is asking! That may actually be the problem with a lot of churches too for that matter. So on-and-on we go each week as more and more people stare glassy-eyed at the preacher and wonder how much longer it will last. By-the-way, is it just me or does it seem like for a place we as Christ-followers will spend all eternity, Heaven is a topic that seems to be conspicuously missing from our teaching series calendars?!!!

Anyway, it was incredible to hear the responses of people throughout the week as we spent time on this topic. The Lord did it again! He alone knows what people most need to hear! It's amazing to watch what the Holy Spirit does in the hearts of spiritually lost people when you discuss the place called Heaven and spend time teaching the scripture texts in GOD's Word that speak of it. Many students came to Jesus. Not because of the preacher. Not because of the music. Not because of the illusions. But because of the promise to be in the presence of Christ forever......... in the place called Heaven.

Lessons from Denver

I spent this past week in the Denver area at Group Publishing's headquarters with my buddy Brett, the Middle School Pastor at 12Stone and my boss Shannon. We were hanging at a small conference only a few churches had been invited to. The conference (or should I say round-table discussion) ws moderated by Rick Lawrence, editor of Group Magazine and the Student Pastors from Saddleback Church, Doug Fields and Kurt Johnson.

I had never been to Colorado before. The following items are the Top 15 things I learned this past week.

1. Brett Moore makes me laugh so hard I think I actually busted a blood vessel in my eye. "I love...."

2. Doug Fields and Kurt Johnson are way more down to earth than I expected. I'm not sure why that surprised me.

3. Pastors have the same heart issues for the most part! Longing for more intimacy with Christ. Longing for Christ-centered accountability with other dudes. Longing to spend our lives for the Gospel in healthy ways.

4. Being trapped in conversations where others are talking about nothing more than ministry, numbers, and strategy makes me wanna jump off a building. I fantasize about being a Wal-Mart greeter in those moments.

5. Coors Field in Denver is nowhere near as sharply and technologically pimped out as Turner Field in Atlanta is!!

6. Downtown Denver is the bomb at night. VIVA LA ESPN THE ZONE!!!!!

7. The student ministry dudes from Lancaster County Bible Church in Pennsylvania are some of the coolest dudes I've ever hung out with!! I'm looking you guys up when I'm in Philly next year!!!

8. The Stanley Hotel in Estes Park looks nothing like it did in the movie The Shining!! "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy."

9. Frontier Airlines needs to get their act together!! 40 minutes on the tarmac with no explanation?! DUDE?!!

10. The words shared with me on the last morning of the conference by a few fellow Student Pastors are words I will never forget. Thanks to my brothers from So-Cal, New Jersey, and Connecticut.

11. The indoor pool at the La Quinta in Loveland, CO is strangely warm. Almost too warm. EEeeeeewwwwww.

12. It's never easy to sleep at night when you have salsa music thumping right outside your window all night and a roomate who is ready to kill the guilty parties.

13. The students who work in the bookstore at the University of Colorado in Boulder are the rudest people I have ever met. I will pray for you.

14. Ernest from Seacoast Church in Charleston, SC is a cool dude. Keep walking with Jesus, my friend.

15. There's no place like home.

"I am Iron Man!!"

Last Wednesday after THE POINT was over, me and a few of our High School Ministry volunteers bolted and went to the IMAX Theater at Mall of Georgia to see the much talked about Iron Man. It's been years since I caught a late show and I was pretty concerned that all the nights of going to bed early over the past 2 years because I'm getting old (and that's what you do when you have kids!) was going to ruin me. I was sure that I probably wouldn't last through the first couple of previews.......especially after preaching and sweating profusely for 2 hours!!

The cool thing was that we were the only dudes in the Theater!! Except for the 2 couples in the back who kept giggling and speaking spanish. Seriously. Anyway, there we were.....all 5 of us men. Of course we each had the obligatory "I am not on a date with this man....I'm married to a woman!" empty seat between each of us.

Just so you know, I thought the movie was absolutely bomb-a-licious!! Iron Man is the quintiscential American Superhero. I will say, however, that I honestly didn't know whether to laugh or cringe at his arrogance. There is a fine line between confidence and arrogance and most of us end up crossing it if we're not careful.

My favorite scene in the movie was when Iron Man saves Lois Lane from falling off of the Eiffel Tower and then traps the Joker in that web he shoots from his wrist right before turning into a really muscular green monster. This movie rocks!!!!

UNDER THE SEA!

Last week I loaded up the family in the trusty Honda Pilot and we headed out on an adventure. The mission: To explore the ocean without getting wet or having to put on really uncomfortable scuba gear while avoiding the sad experience of becoming an appetizer for some famished Tiger Shark. The Destination: The Georgia Aquarium. 

Living in California for over the past 5 years, and having only heard about the aquarium, Heather and I honestly weren't sure what to expect! For all we knew it was a large pool in downtown Atlanta surrounded by a rusty barbed-wire fence with 50 pound catfish and a couple Alligators, wrestled away from their home in the Okefenokee Swamp, only to be dropped into midtown! We would buy our tickets from a man in a straw hat named Cleetus who would then point and say "It's down yunder yawwwll." Man, were we in for a huge surprise!!!

During our time in California we were blessed to be able to visit the Monterey Bay Aquarium a few times and I really do think that this one could give that one a run for its money! Or maybe this experience to an aquarium was just a trillion times more fun because of the little girl I had on my shoulders who about every 6 seconds would scream out, "DADA FIIIISSSHHHHH!!"

They had just about every underwater creature you could possibly imagine with the exception of live mermaids and the loch ness monster (though I'm pretty sure they have probably sent some south Georgia big-game hunters to Scotland to bag that one!!). There were tropical fish, fish from rivers, and fish from deep down in the darkness of the ocean. There were penguins, beavers, sea lions and my personal favorites: Four Tiger Sharks!! I think the Tiger Sharks are my favorite because if I were a fish that's probably what I would be. Tiger Sharks remind me a lot of myself in-other-words. They are strong, intimidating, sleek, extremely cool, it's known for eating a wide variety of items, and, according to Wikipedia, "It has sometimes been found with man-made waste such as license plates or pieces of old tires in itsdigestive tract."  

Don't ask!!

Finally, there were the Beluga Whales. Spectacular, massive, creatures that almost look like they have a human face on them. It kind of reminded me of Randy Jackson. Seriously!! Find a picture of one and tell me that dude doesn't look just like a Beluga Whale!! I mean no disrespect...just tryin' to speak the truth!!

Anyway, as I walked through the Georgia Aquarium that day with my wife and my daughter surrounded by water and a vast array of ocean life I was struck with a realization. Only a fool would say, "There is no god!" YAHWEH has revealed Himself in what we call General Revelation in spectacular ways!! Whether it's through the smile on the face of a Beluga Whale, the stripes on a tropical fish, the tail on a stingray, the waddle of an emperor penguin, the laugh of my own daughter as she watches the emperor penguin or the way my wife winks at me because I remind her of a Tiger Shark. All of these incredible miracles reveal that there must be a Creator behind all of this creative-creation!! 

I am consistently amazed by the fact that there is a huge segment of our American populace that goes home at night after a day surrounded by the miracle of creation while living on a planet that hangs unsupported in space, miraculously and yet consistently revolving around a gigantic star that helps sustain life on this planet, while they eat and drink and laugh with their families and yet they still believe that GOD is not. We ask for GOD to show us miracles and then we'll really believe. Maybe He's already answered that prayer. Look! FIIIIISSSSHHHHH!!