The End and Beginning

As I look back at last weekend I celebrate all that God did. First there were a couple of folks who made decisions to recommit their lives to following Jesus! I love this stuff!!! We also finished our series, The Good, The Bad and The Manly. Did you get a chance to see the final chapter of the saga between our Oro Valley campus pastor, Jim, and our Continental Ranch campus pastor, Toby? If not, here ya go:

Also we set out the plan and dates for His Man as a follow up to the series ending. If you are a man, 16 years and older, I encourage you to be a part. You can come for one night or you can come everytime - whatever works into your schedule. We will be doing His Man on the 3rd Monday of each month beginning the 3rd Monday of July at our CR campus: Rock-N-Java.

So this week we begin the new series: The Good, The Bad and The Beautiful. I am very excited to start this teaching series and believe it will be equally life changing for all of us at Alive as the last one. I look forward to being with you all this coming weekend. Invite a friend, meet them at a service and let's continue to lead people who are far from God to be followers of Jesus!

Here's What Happening In My Art Life

This large oil painting (At The Edge Of The Watering Hole, 30" x 48") was recently purchased by the National Cattleman's Beef Association (NCBA) and is now part of their private collection. It is currently being displayed in their offices located in Washington DC. When I heard the news I celebrated by grilling out a nice New Your Strip! For a farm kid from Ohio, this is my kind of collector!!!

There seems to be a theme for me right now, I recently was invited to submit paintings once again to The Oyster Club Invitation Art Show here in Tucson, got the invitation now I'm hoping to get in the big show! By the way, once again my kind of collectors. Yes I have had mountain oysters and found them to be pretty good once I got past the idea of what they were. I'll buy for anyone who is willing to give them a try!!!

What's Being Said About The Encounter

The video saga between two of our campus pastors continues for one more week. If you missed it I have it embedded at the end of this blog. You don’t want to miss Pastor Jim trying to get on his horse!

As we have gone through this teaching series, The Good, The Bad, The Manly, there have been so many things I felt I needed to teach the ladies but have not had time in this short series, so after this coming weekend I will start a series called The Good, The Bad, The Beautiful. Ladies not only will you want to be at this series but you will want your man (anyman in your life) at this teaching series so they will better understand the incredible beauty and value that God has given you.

This was the 2nd weekend of our newest venue: The Encounter. If you are looking for a little different flavor when it comes to your worship experience (acoustic driven, a mix of the 80’s 90’s and today’s music with an extended time of worship) then you need to take a Sunday evening and check it out. Listen to what one Encounter attendee said about this new venue:

“What I see at The Encounter is amazing! The music worship time is fabulous, this weekend I could see people entering in to their own time with God and also times when it seemed as if there were hundreds of people singing together. This venue is one that I thought would be difficult with me and my ADD; to watch the teaching via the big screen instead of live but I was wrong. The teaching time is very engaging and we all feel a part, partnering with the entire vision with Alive, one church, one vision, multiple locations. Thanks for listening.”

Thanks for sharing and allowing me to pass this on. I would encourage all of you weekend warriors to take advantage of The Encounter as well. It is a great way for you to do your weekend activities and still get your week started right by going to church.

The Good, The Bad, The Beautiful

In the middle of this series, The Good, The Bad, The Manly, the response has been so moving. In fact I have felt the Lord leading me to segue into a similar series for women after this one is over called The Good, The Bad, The Beautiful. We are going to spend a few weeks talking about the feminine heart and the life God created women to live. This will be a series, much like our current one for men, to celebrate, recover and release the hearts of women.

For this coming week, I want to encourage all of you to get every man in your life to this teaching. I will be talking about the importance of son ship. This teaching will set many men and their families on a new and better course for their lives. If you have a Dad, son, boyfriend, husband, brother or friend who is male, I encourage you to do anything you can to get them to attend a service this weekend. They will thank you.

Ever just have one of those crazy weeks? I think I’m in one, but that’s usually a good sign for me. The more important the weekend teaching the more the enemy tries to distract and keep me from it. That being the measurement – I’m stoked about the weekend!!!

For those of you who don’t know me well, during stressful times there are a few things that I make time for. I love to paint, so I will probably do that some over the next few days coming into the weekend – I will post one on FB. I also spend more time in prayer, I like to pray while I’m painting. Another thing is music. Music gives life to the soul for me. I’m listening to Lynyrd Skynyrd as I finish this blog – music the way God designed it to be played. My favorite is Journey during the Steve Perry days. A little Toto?

See you this weekend – pray for all of our lives to be transformed by the Father.

So Much To Share So Little Blog Space

The Good, The Bad and The Manly began this last weekend as we focused on what it means to be His (God's) Man. It was a very encouraging time as many men made a commitment to be Shepherd/Warriors and many women to pray for the men in their lives in such a way. (Father, brother, husband, boyfriend, sons)

If you did not get a chance to view the beginning of the ongoing saga between our campus pastor for this series take a few moments. Part two of this saga is coming this weekend:


Have you met Pastor Tom? I put his picture in my blog here. Tom Ulrich has been working with Alive Church as a Children's pastor on the Oro Valley campus. This week Tom started working FULL time as our Children's Pastor and will be giving leadership and training for all of our campuses in this area. Welcome to the team Tom. I am excited to be able to have your focused attention and passion for our kids. I know you will take us to a new level in our birth through fifth grade.


If you haven't seen all of the kids that we have the privilege of ministering to, take sometime during one of the services and cruise through the children's area and meet some of our many incredible volunteers and let them give you a tour and talk to them about how you can make a difference in kids lives through this ministry!

Oh, Oh, Oh! You all know that this weekend is the first ever service for The Encounter venue right? Sunday night at 5pm on the Oro Valley campus. This venue is going to be led by Pastor Ken Ballenger, with the teaching from the Sunday am service via the big screen. The worship music will be a mix of the 80s, 90s and today with a totally different flavor of worship. Invite a friend - loved one - nieghbor or coworker and check it out!!!