Great thoughts from an Atheist

Weekend Recap: ROCKSTARS...have fans!

This weekend in the AZ Theater we learned that ROCKSTARS have fans. We learned that Jesus is our biggest fan and that He calls us to be His fan as well.

Bible Story: The story comes from John 6:60-71. Jesus got done giving a tough "sermon" and many of those following Him began to leave Him because of it. As many of them were leaving He then turned to the 12 disciples and asked them, "Are you going to leave too?" There response was great. They spoke up and said where would we go? Who else is there worth following? Basically telling God that they were His biggest fans and they didn't want to be anywhere else than right there where they were.

Series Memory Verse (for the whole fam): "For God so loved the world so much that He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but will have eternal life" John 3:16

Game: To stay within the ROCKSTAR theme we had each Band (aka small group) give there best attempt to making the Barney theme song a rock song. The kids of course went nuts and loved every minute of it.

The Homework: Strike up a conversation with your kids about something they really love (what they are fans of?). During that conversation discuss with them two things: 1) the fact that God is and always will be there biggest and best fan forever. 2)Let them know that God wants us to be His biggest fan as well. Discuss with them ways that your family can show that they are fans of God. Conclude with reminding them how much of a fan you are for them as well. Kids can never hear that enough. Let's continue to follow Him together...Rock On!

n a rut?

Every Christian gets in a spiritual rut from time to time. So what can you do when you are in one. Here are 4 options that have helped me.

1) Surround yourself with godly people (not Christians). This is huge. Be sure to get around people that look, talk, think, and smell like Jesus. What I mean by (not Christians) is that I know a lot (too many) of so called strong Christians that don't reflect Christ at all. Avoid those people and cling to those that reflect Jesus.

2) Get in the Word. This is hard because when we are in ruts the last place we want to be is in the Word. But that is one of the ways He pulls us out. When we are stuck in a rut we often feel discouraged, hopeless, fearful, sinful, etc. When we read His Word it gives us hope, it takes our fears, it encourages us to keep on keepin on, and it reminds us that He is still on the Throne.

3) Mix it up. Read a book (I recommend the one to the right by Francis Chan). Listen to a sermon podcast via iTunes or a great worship playlist. (I have some recommended ones on the right as well.) Create time and space to be alone for a couple hours or a day just being with Him. Whatever it is just break the routine. As Pastor Dave Moenning taught me create space for the Holy Spirit to move.

4) Go serve someone. Buy that homeless man a Happy Meal and eat with him. Show up early to church and help set up. Write someone an encouraging note. Do something nice for your neighbor. Do whatever you got to do to take the attention off you and put it on someone else. Scripture tells us that He will elevate the humble. Lift up others and Christ will lift you up.

If you know of another option please let me know...thanx

Awesome song, worth your time to listen to

New Creation from Pace Hartfield on Vimeo.

I've been loving this song, can't stop listening to it. The lyrics are so powerful. Great job Fellowship Church, another HOME RUN!

Are you sure what your ministry is doing is the right thing?

After being in children's ministry for over a year now I've began to realize a very scary truth. I don't know if what we are doing will work. I think it will but I have to trust God that it actually will. As a Children's Pastor my job is to help kids fall in love with Jesus. When I was a Youth Pastor I was able to see God moving or not moving on a weekly basis. However as a Pastor to kids we don't really see much fruit until further down the road, maybe 3, 5, or 10 years; who knows when. This thought led me to an even greater one...as children ministry workers (of all kinds) we must be connected to God as much as possible. There is too much at risk for us not have our A game when it comes to connecting with God. With kids it is almost 100% trusting God with the direction He is calling you to go with your ministry. That is huge! Thus we must be bath all we do in prayer. We must be completely devoted to scripture. We must follow Jesus closely. We must make it a habit of listening to His voice and direction. If we don't we may be taking a whole ministry to a place Christ never intended them to be all because we were too distant from the Father to hear His voice.

Weekend Recap: ROCKSTAR II: Encore

This week in the AZ Theater we talked about the Greatest Encore Performance in history, that of Jesus Christ. How He loved us so much that He'd do anything to get more of us in His future. Jesus was the one in the crowd screaming, "Encore, Encore, Encore" for us. Wow, something wrong with that picture. The homework for us parents is for us to take your child to something they love to do or a place they love to be at. A place they won't want to leave. After 5 minutes pretend your leaving and just before your child throws a temper scene open the conversation about how that is what it was like with Jesus. He had us briefly, then we sinned (which separated us from Him), which made Him want us soooo bad, so He died so we may be forgiven, rose again (Encore) so we can be together for ever. Moms, Dads, YOU ROCK!

The Flip is for real

Recently we purchased a couple of these Flip Video cameras and I love them. They are so easy in every area. They are as small as an ipod. The "flip" name came from it's usb port that flips right out of the top which makes downloading easy. The software is built right into the camera as well. Sharing it to a website or via email is a cake too. I'm not tech savvy at all and I made my first video in 30 minutes, you can check them out below from the Easter blogs. Both of them came from this Flip Video. The ones we have are HD so quality is great even on the big screens. We've already used it to shot announcements to the people in a quick and fun way. The cost is $200 and it's the best investment I've made in a long time. Great buy, I recommend it if you are looking to get your church to know what is going on behind closed doors during a service. It's called the Flip Mino HD, you check it out more @ http://www.amazon.com/Flip-Video-MinoHD-Camcorder-Minutes/dp/B001HSOFI2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1239992907&sr=8-1

I hate brokeness

Today I went to the post office which is next to Goodwill so there are often down and out people around there. The first person I met was a lady who began banging on my car as I was backing out. She told me how hungry she was and just needed a couple bucks. No worries, here are some crackers. She gives me a bad look and stuff them in her pocket. I go on my way and as I pass by the bus stop nearby there is...Rodney. Rodney was laying on the ground sideways with his motorized wheelchair all taken apart trying to fix it. Rodney was beat up by the police at the age of 17 (Rodney said it was His fault not theirs). The injury left Rodney (now 36) with stroke like symptoms. He moves extremely slow and can't function his arms or legs like normal. So I began to assist Rodney and I was blown away. Rodney was unlike any homeless person I'd ever met. He was smart and driven. He was like McGyver when it came to the wheel chair. He took it all apart, fixed it right there, and put it all back together moving at a snails pace with claw like hands. It gets better, as I get a screwdriver out of his bag I notice he's got 3 well worn Bibles. This of course leads me into a conversation about his faith. For the next hour Rodney proved to to be one of the most together Christians I've met in a long time. He was quoting scripture, asking me biblical questions, and I realized Rodney was just on fire for the Lord. Not once did crippled, broken, and homeless Rodney ask me for anything which only made me want to give Him the world. I can't imagine life on the streets. I can't imagine life as a crippled. I can't imagine life on the streets as a cripple. He says because of his disability he is constantly getting robbed, and actually has only been homeless for 3 months. He has an intern job at Disney which has potential to earn money. I hated telling him goodbye. Knowing I'd soon forget about him and he has to live in complete hardship everyday. Where is there hope for Rodney? Where is there love, peace, joy? Yeah from Christ but I'm not sure if "His grace would be enough for me" if I was in Rodney's shoes. Pray for Rodney. I have his email address and look forward to talking to him again soon. PS: if you know of any low income apartments or free ones please let me know.

Small Group Winners: Pizza Party

What: A Madagascar 2 Pizza Party
When: Friday @ 6:30—8:30 pm
Where: The AZ Theater @ Fellowship Orlando
Why: Because your child’s team “won” the series.
Cost: $2 for food and drinks
Please rsvp by calling the church office @ 407-888-3101 or email us @ dustin@fellowshiporlando.com

FOkids Easter recap, funny guitar solo

Aagaard's Easter 2009

Good Friday...Phenomenal Sunday

If today is Good Friday then I declare it's Phenomenal Sunday this Sunday. I am completely humbled and amazed that my Savior, my King, my Lord died for me. Not just took a bullet for me but died a violent and torturous death. May we never forget all that our King has done for us. Christ may we never forget what you did on that cross for all of us. Knowing we'd doubt, sin, be lukewarm, and even spit on you ourselves. Forgive us Lord. Help us to lead lives full of the passion, the courage, and the determination like you did for us that day on the cross. Thanx for your amazing grace. Amen

ROSKSTAR, new FOkids series

This weekend is our Super Bowl. It is what we Christians are all about. As the Apostle Paul says in I Corinthians 15:16-19 if there is no resurrection then we are to be pited more than all men. Yet there is a resurecction of Christ and of all those who believe in Him. Thus our new series for FOkids is ROCKSTAR, making Him famous! This is another great series out of the awesome church in North Carolina, Pine Ridge Church, http://www.pineridgechurch.com/ Thanks Tadd for knocking it out of the park with this series idea. The ROCKSTAR series is about teaching kids that Jesus is the ultimate ROCKSTAR and that our job is to make Him famous. We will be learning that 1) Jesus is the ultimate ROCKSTAR. 2) Jesus is still ROCKIN out. 3) ROCKSTARS have fans. 4) ROCKSTAR fans are nuts for Him.

C3 Conference Recap, better late than never.

Friday 2 - C3 2009 Recap from Fellowship Church on Vimeo.

Time for a Change

Welcome to Dustin Aagaard.com 2.0 I thought its about to change it up a bit. Also some news on TJ. She is improving a lot. She hasn't used her walker in several days and yesterday we made family trip out to Target and finished just over 2 hours. She'd had several doctor appointments that have been encouraged by her progress but say it still is a long course for full recovery. Today she and Riley are sick so you can pray for that but otherwise things are good and she is doing her best to try and make it to an Easter service this weekend. Thanks for all your prayers, encouragement, and support, it has blessed us a lot.

Monsters vs Aliens

Last week the kids and I went and saw Monsters vs Aliens. I was looking forward to it since Monsters Inc was so good. Well I guess I am a moron because this movie has nothing to do with Monsters Inc. All in all I thought the movie was OK to good but nothing like I thought. The whole movie was good vs evil battle with no happy ending except the Monsters beating the Aliens. This made Callie Joy, my almost 4 year old daughter scared most of the movie this she sat on my lap. My 5 1/2 year old son Riley enjoyed it. So there is my 2 cents. You can always get great reviews a media review site put on by focus on the family @ http://www.pluggedinonline.com/

Fellowship Fun Run

This Saturday we are hosting the first ever Fellowship Fun Run. It will be a 5k family style race that you can bike, skate, run, or crawl. The race begins at 9 am and following the race we'll have some food, games, and various forms of entertainment. You can register @ www.fellowshipfunrun.com

30 Day Family Challenge

This is from this past weekend in the AZ Theater for kids in 1st-5th grade.
Dear Parents,
Today we challenged the kids to read the Bible for 30 days straight. We also want to challenge you. We challenge you to read the Bible for 30 days straight as well. We know that your role as a parent has a huge impact on your child developing new habits. So we challenge you to help carve out time for you and your child every day to take 5 minutes and read the greatest book ever written, God’s Word, the Bible. Below you will see I have given you some guidance on where to start. I am excited that you are stepping out and doing this challenge, I truly believe this exercise has the potential to change your relationship with God like never before. Know we are praying for you and look forward to seeing how God will impact your family.

□ Day 1, John 1 □ Day 2, John 2 □ Day 3, John 3 □ Day 4, John 4
□ Day 5, John 5 □ Day 6, John 6 □ Day 7, John 7 □ Day 8, John 8
□ Day 9, John 9 □ Day 10, John 10 □ Day 11, John 11 □ Day 12, John 12
□ Day 13, John 13 □ Day 14, John14 □ Day 15, John 15 □ Day 16, John 16
□ Day 17, John 17 □ Day 18, John18 □ Day 19, John 19 □ Day 20, John 20
□ Day 21, John 21 □ Day 22, Psalm 23 □ Day 23, Psalm 27 □ Day 24, Psalm 37
□ Day 25, Psalm 42 □ Day 26, Psalm 51 □ Day 27, Psalm 119:1-72
□ Day 28, Psalm 119:73-144 □ Day 29, Psalm 119:145-176 □ Day 30, Psalm 139

April Fools Day Video