Twitter has been an awesome tool for me. Not only do I use Twitter to network with others but I also use it as a tool that I can grow from. If you are on Twitter already then you know how much of a help Twitter can be for you. If you aren’t … well … your missing out.

I was thinking the other day. Who do I follow on Twitter and why? Now if you look at my twitter account right now you will see that I am following 132 people but reality is that I am not reading every tweet out there from these 132 people (although I do read a majority of them). I have to admit that I have my favorites.

I decided yesterday to write down my favorites and why. I know this may sound kinda prideful although that’s not the heart behind it, but I noticed that I follow some awesome people and that I tend to admire and be like many of my Twitter peeps.

I would love share my list with you as some of the people I follow; you may want to consider following as well. If you are not on this list … PLEASE don’t send me hate mail. LOL It doesn’t mean I don’t respect or look up to you. I am just listing the Top 5 people I follow and why. You are probably #6. LOL

The Top 5 include (in no specific order)
1. @BrianCHouston – I really enjoy following Pastor Brian Houston because he tweets some really awesome leadership goals and wisdom. I will be reposting several of his leadership goals in an upcoming post but some of the stuff he posts really gets me thinking and creates change in my life. Not only that but he is also the Senior Pastor of Hillsong Church in Australia which has one of the best children ministries (and leaders) that I have ever seen.

2. @StevenFurtick – Pastor Steven Furtick is one of those preachers that I get. Seriously, I listen to all of his messages online (my ipod is packed with his messages). He just really knows how to throw a punch politely. Every time I listen to a message he preaches …. I grow. He also periodically shares some really deep stuff via Twitter which I soak up!! The anointing is all over Pastor Steven Furtick.

3. @RickWarren – Everyone knows who Pastor Rick Warren is. Personally I didn’t know to much about Pastor Rick Warren until about two years ago. Since I found him on Twitter I have enjoyed reading his tweets as they push me to be all that I can be and to really think about ministry “outside of the box”.

4. @kidinspiration – David Wakerley is in my mind one of the best children’s pastors I have ever “followed”. He is the Children’s Pastor at Hillsong Church in Sydney, Australia. He is doing an awesome work there in Australia and I am looking forward to seeing him at the “Napkin Conference” in February.

5. @nerdfeliz – Carlos Dyonisio (aka Cadu) is in my mind CRAZY! Crazy about reaching kids for Christ!! He has such an awesome passion for children’s ministry and an awesome sense of humor! I am also looking forward to seeing him at the “Napkin Conference” in February.

Like I said there are 132 people I am currently following on Twitter and I only follow awesome people. People who inspire and people who are reaching souls for Christ!! If you want to see everyone I am following click here! I encourage you to follow them as well. They are really awesome people.

I hope that by sharing my Top 5 and the list of people I follow on Twitter that you will find some people to follow who may inspire you and challenge you to reach further and to do more. At the minimum, I would encourage to follow the Top 5 listed above. I think if you followed them alone … your life would be forever changed.

Coming up in Part 2 – Blogs I read daily and why?

Who, what and why do I? Over the last few months I have really done a lot of deep thinking. Thinking about who I share personal information with, who I look up to as role models, the kinda people I choose hang around with, what I do with my time and why? Trust me. You can maybe sit down and answer these questions in just a few moments but I think that after you write everything down you will wonder why you do trust certain people, why you look up to certain people, and why you do certain things.

I have been through all the Covey classes and have found some interesting things out about me through those classes but I think I am finding more out about me by just sitting and examining my life. Examining the decisions made in the past and making even better decisions in the future.

With this, I have decided to share some very basic information about who I follow online and offline (aka who I stalk) and why? What I like read and why? And what podcasts I choose to listen to online and why?

Now I know, some of you are like … “WHY? Why are you sharing this?” but I guarantee you that if you take the time to read this next short series of posts that you will not only find new people to network with and follow (aka stalk), new books/blogs to read that may just change your life forever, and podcasts that will encourage you and show you how to handle certain things.

This is going to be a series that you won’t want to miss so if you aren’t subscribed to my blog updates via email or RSS then I encourage you to do so right now! Click here to sign up via email.

I had the wonderful opportunity of attending the Pathways production called “Life Happens”. Mom and Dad went with me to see this awesome production created by Pastor Gary Smith.

Below is a short video from the production. There is another production coming up on Dec 12th & 13th called “HERE”. You don’t want to miss it. For more information … contact me.

One of my good friends was recently in an acting competition. You may or may not have ever heard of it but it’s called the “One Act Competition”. Basically what it is a team of High School students that have to not only act in a drama but they are also are responsible for setting up and tearing down the stage. All this must be done in a record amount of time. If I remember right they had to not only set up but also take down the stage in less than 10 minutes. So if it took them 6 minutes to set it up they only had 4 minutes to tear it down. BTW they only needed a little over 3 minutes to setup. (CLICK HERE to watch a video of the team setting up and tearing down as well as some other still captures.)

None-the-less, the team at Appleton North did an awesome job!! (WAY TO GO JACOB)!! They won state again for the 11th consecutive year. They rocked it out!! I am so proud of them … especially my buddy Jacob.

Here are a few pictures from their big send off to state.

Congratulations to The Odyssey One Act Team for earning the CRITIC’S CHOICE Award for overall excellence at the Wisconsin High School Theatre Festival. They also earned an Ensemble Acting award and a Director’s award.

Like I said, Appleton North has received the CRITIC’S CHOICE for the past eleven consecutive years; the only school in the history of the state competition to achieve such a distinction. Way to go team!!

As you can see the site has changed slightly. Mainly a new color scheme. I am still working on some other changes … including a better header graphic however … that may take a few days as I am not a graphic artist. LOL

Anyways … look forward to some new post, book reviews, guest posts, videos, and photos coming over the next couple hours to days. Now that my laptop is back up and running hopefully I can keep the blog updated a little more!!

Thanks for stopping!! I soooo appreciate you all!!

It’s been a little bit since my last “Favorite Tweets” post so I thought I should update!! Here are some recent tweets that I have enjoyed!

The Deep Tweets
@RickWarren posted: When believers focus on loving Jesus,differences melt away.When we focus on anything else,the more divided we are.Gal.3:28

@nfietzer posted: Going to the grocery store without your wallet isn’t going to get you any groceries.

@carajaneau posted: Don’t ever think ur too holy for Gods grace.

@PRobKelsey posted: “the unexamined life is not worth living”. Socrates

@_coat posted: The church is not a pyramid scheme, so why do we focus so much on building leaders rather than applauding and rewarding followers?

@BrianCHouston posted: Leadership goal: Lead in a way that makes it easy for people to BELIEVE you BELIEVE in them!

@perrynoble posted: Focus on Christ will bring clarity of vision…focus on popular opinion will bring death to vision!

@stevenfurtick posted: Stop waiting for what you WANT & work what you’ve GOT. The dream in your HEART always starts w s/t in your HAND.

The Odd/Funny Tweets
@nfietzer posted: I enjoy giving people a little scare sometimes. Imagine, your sleeping in your room and suddenly God says “BOO!!” and then laughs!!

@friedmanjon posted: They’re serving bratwurst over here at NBC today. I’m gonna pass on any food that has the word “worst” in it. Am I right?!!

@kevin_nealon posted: I hate having to get up at 2am to set my clock back.

@glass posted: Just did laundry and all the socks matched back up. It’s the little things.

@friedmanjon posted: I Can’t Believe its Not Butter now comes in a spray. What more do they have to do before we don’t believe that it’s not butter?

**Note: The funny tweets are in fact funny however some of these accounts I do not follow due to the other content they tweet. I found these tweets searching the web.**

This past week I had an awesome opportunity to speak with my good friend Samuel Sebuliba from Uganda. He is an awesome man of God doing an awesome work.

He is really focusing on reaching the children of Uganda. He has always had a heart for the children. This holiday season they really want to make sure that no child is left out. They are organizing “Christmas Parties” throughout the area. They want to invite all the children in the area to come and hear the story of Christmas, the story of Christ’s birth and he also would like to make sure that every child gets a gift. Many of these children don’t get gifts ever. For many of the children that live in the slums it will be their first experience of Christmas.

I think it’s important to support ministries like this. We often times spend hundreds (even thousands) of dollars on our children’s ministry programs and forget about ministries over seas that don’t get the opportunity to do so.

If you feel like God is speaking to you about supporting the New Destiny Community Church in Uganda I encourage you to contact them via the information below:

Mailing Address:
New Destiny Uganda
Attn: Samuel Sebuliba
P.O.Box 30252
Clock Tower,Kampala,
Uganda

Email Them: info@newdestinyuganda.com

Or you can call them: (+256) 782967074

If you are on Facebook … feel free to add Samuel as a friend. His profile is located at: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=732078451