A good friend of mine Marty Estes, who happens to be one of the coolest Student Pastors I know, was taken by ambulance to the hospital yesterday afternoon. As I write this, Marty is in the ICU with two HUGE blod clots in his lungs. Marty has been a Student Pastor for the last 8 years in the small town of Adamsville, TN with his awesome wife Erin and their son and daughter. To say that he is overworked and underpaid would be an understatement.  This morning, he was lying in the hospital bed stressing about how the medical bills for this stay were going to get paid because his insurance is so bad that there will be a big out of pocket expense.  Marty is the poster-child for ministry burnout and it has caught up with him. I know the second thought on his mind after his family is the students that he serves with his whole heart. There rarely is a night that goes by that there is not students hanging out at his house. I don’t know any student pastor that is pouring as much into “making disciples” as Marty is.  The students he serves are why he is in ministry and God is using him in great ways with the students in Adamsville.

The band Hearts of Saints and I have been to Adamsville, TN several times ministering alongside Marty. We were there in February and saw tons of students come into relationship with the Son of God.  We are planning to head back to Adamsville in the weeks ahead to do a night for Marty and ask community to help with the family’s financial need with these extra medical expenses.  So here is what I am asking:   would you guys come alongside us and Marty and give big to cover the necessary expenses and all of the money we raise that night can go to bless Marty and his family?  We need to cover hotels, meals, some travel expenses, and the cost of the production for the night. We are working out details as we speak to make this work.  I am firm believer that the big “C”hurch has to be the hands and feet of the Gospel.  We have an amazing opportunity in front of us to make a real difference for a fellow minister.  I don’t make it a habit to come to you guys asking for help, but I believe this is a family that could really use all the help we all can give.  Would you please click this link to give whatever you can.  Thank you!  I can’t wait to let you all know what your gift will mean to Marty and his family.

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UPDATE

What an amazing night in Adamsville!  The people of this town came out in full force to show their love and support for Marty.God blew this family away with doing what only He can do…going above and beyond.  On the financial side, through the gifts from students and adults and other provisions Marty’s medical bills are not only paid but he has a fund that will pay the follow up visits that he has to take.  AMAZING!!!  The night was also great because we saw even more students in this town begin a relationship with Christ.

Alright guys! You have spoken and I have listened. I am currently working on a promo video to allow you a glimpse of what it’s like when I come to your town. After sorting through hours of footage and editing , I hope to bring you enough highlights to show you what I’m all about. We are working on the final edits as you read this post. Be on the lookout for a news story when the video is done and posted on the site. I am excited for you guys to see it. And, let me know what you think! There may even be a new press kit along the way too!

Just wrapped up some time on the road doing our newest event “For The Love.” This new event is in the vain of True Love Waits, challenging students to a life of purity. First up, I made it all of the way to central North Carolina with our boy Steve Keaton to challenge his students! We were up against another event across town but God moved in the youth from 5 or so churches across Winston-Salem. They rolled out the red carpet for us. Beef O’Brady’s was open after the event just for us! Who knew North Carolina was so big? Next time I head to that part of NC, I am flying!

We also had an amazing night last night in Adamsville, TN. Hung out with some new band friends from Kentucky, “Hearts of Saints”. You will be hearing a lot from these guys for sure. God did an amazing work in the lives of students in Adamsville. We showed up just ahead of an ice storm, but the place was packed…standing room only! The band played a rockin set and then led the room in some killer worship. As the message went on it was clear that God was on the move in that place. The altar was flooded with students connecting with their Creator, confessing their mistakes, and committing to do relationships God’s way. As if that was not enough, over dozen students accepted Christ into their lives for the first time! Huge shout out to Marty and his team for taking such amazing care of us. Can’t wait to go back soon. Also, can’t wait to the next round of “For the Love” events!

Just getting home from Cocke County, TN in the city of Newport for the 8th time in the last 10 years. This town feels like my small-town home away from home. The churches in this town have welcomed Leslie and I into their families. This town and this week will always hold a special place in our hearts for sure! The vision began for our infuse events when we held our 1st Hungry Crusade in Newport in September 1999.  What an infuse really has really been stated well by Webster (infuse v. 1: teach by frequent repetitions, to instill 2: fill, as with a certain quality 3: undergo the process of infusion 4: let sit in a liquid to extract a flavor or to cleanse 5: introduce into the body) We had another amazing week in Newport this year. I got to eat one of the best ghetto Mexican food La Carretta, or the Cart to us gringos. The above photo is from our lunches at CCHS…school lunchroom cooking at its best! Rob shared with me during out time there that five years ago we gave an invitation challenging students to the called to ministry and how 25 students made that commitment. Now five years later 17 of those students are in ministry or pursuing full time ministry. That is what reminds me why we do what we do, not just a big night at an altar but a move of God that continues 10 years later. That is my heartbeat, not to see tons of kids flood altars and sing a Chris Tomlin song, but rather students radically changed forever for the Glory of God. Wow! See you next September Newport!

…she said I do (and so did I). It was a hot TX afternoon in September (114 degrees to be exact) that in a little chapel followed by a time of worship with our friends and families Leslie and I were married. It has been an amazing 10 years. I am writing this at Walt Disney World. Leslie and I just got off a Disney Cruise Ship, chased down two hurricanes and are going to spent a few days here at the Wilderness Lodge Resort. Tonight we are dining at California Grill atop the the Contemporary to celebrate our ten year anniversary . Don’t tell Leslie but at our table when we get there will be some roses and a crown for my princess. Doing the ministry that we have been called to has required an unbelievable amount of sacrifice on Leslie’s part. There is no way that I would be able to do this ministry with out the love and support to my awesome wife! There have been many adventures whether it is being chased by a hurricane, a romantic valentines dinner at a youth camp, bands sleeping on our floor, picking me up at the airport late at night, getting to town for an event and realizing that we are sharing a twin bed, or whatever crazy thing this ministry has lead us to. With her support we have seen thousands of students come to know Christ and countless other lives changed. Leslie, I love you thanks for being there for more ways than there are adjectives.

Wow what a a crazy two weeks. Just getting back home from some time on the road. I took my soon to be a freshman in high school little brother Dalton with me on this trip. Speaking in a packed room full of students is one thing. Speaking and having your little brother dramatically changed took it to a whole other level. It was definitely a week of brother bonding time! Before we headed off to a week of SURGE camp we were in Atlanta for Atlanta Fest and the eXtreme Tour Stage. After a weekend of getting our faces rocked off, it was back to NC for SURGE camp. The photo above is just one of the groups that were at the camp, Milford FUMC from Ohio. They have an amazing team of youth workers and some of the coolest kids I have ever met. This was one of those weeks were I had to speak in the morning and evening services. The constant thing that I noticed each night was that there are students dealing with stuff you could not even imagine. I had some amazing conversations over meals with students in the cafeteria. The camp theme was REALity. When I spoke about REAL relationships the faces of broken students broke my heart. You could just see their brokenness as I spoke about purity and giving yourself away. Seeing lives radically changed is what its all about.

We are still sitting in a hotel room in the mountains of NC recovering from our first of two FEEDBACK conferences for this year. It was amazing weekend with a powerful ending. Our weekend started with Shaun Groves reminding us not just what are “saved from” but what we have been “saved FOR”. A real paradigm shifting idea when you think about it. Our good friends Ryan Dobson and Mark Stuart from Audio Adrenaline joined us for this amazing weekend of ministry. Sunday morning ended with me speaking to conclude the event. We started with a clip from Rocky about taking the hits and to keep moving forward. Life does hit hard and God has promised us that no matter how hard it hits that He would be there with us. The whole weekend came to a close with a powerful time of worship and pausing at the communion table to remind us how the Son of God got hit hard for us. Keep Moving forward!!!

Its another late night during Gospel Music Week. Today we co-hosted an event called the Objective. During the day, artists had a chance to be mentored and fed spiritually. It was great to see artists standing together to say that they are going to keep the main thing the main thing and follow the Matthew 6:33 principle. Todd Agnew and Mark Stuart joined us for this day. I got to speak to end the day. Right before I spoke I had the privilege of interview Mark from Audio Adrenaline about his life on the road and the success and the failures that go along with it. Later that night, we got to see 3 of our artists perform during the showcase time. It was great to be with our Fuselage family and see our artists come together as part of this successful event. Check out the Object pledge online at http://the-objective.com/.

I just got back from outside Asheville, NC at speaking at big Ski Weekend with By the Tree and Group One Crew and saw over 100 students come accept Christ and hundreds of other recommitted their lives to the Lord.  We shot some video footage that may make into a future Terry Weaver promo video. There is nothing more amazing to me than to see that in a room full of 1000 students, 100′s of lives changed by the Son of God. We had an amazing time hanging out with the students and the staff over the weekend. Aaron the new lead singer for By The Tree did amazing job leading us into the presence of God. Group One Crew brought the house down as always. Thanks to Marty and Tawana for taking amazing care of Leslie and I as always. See you this summer, when it will be much warmer!

It has been a busy spring and summer of ministry. The ministry has taken us from FL to TX and a few stops in-between. Sorry I have not been such a good news poster. Well, greetings for an airport hotel in not so lovely Newark, NJ. Continental Airlines thought it would be fun if we could spend an extra night here! Leslie and I got to the New York area a few days early to celebrate her birthday. You can see the photos on my MySpace page photos in the NYC July 2007 album. We somehow managed to go to every Ann Taylor Loft in the greater New York Area. Went to see the Lion King on Broadway; so stinkin good! Ate some amazing food (it was restaurant week in NYC) which was topped off by Bobby Flay’s Mesa Grill. That was some of the best food to grace these lips. Fate of Angels got to town and we headed to Camp Misery in South Jersey for a gathering of campers and staff and had a great time with them. Then it was off to Smartswood, NJ in Northern New Jersey for two evenings with their students. Thanks to Declan and Dale at Algersgate Center for taking such good care of us in the midst of chaos. Its pretty humbling to a part of an event where the staff is really just there to serve you when you were there to serve them. Saturday, we had to run to town and get John the drummer from FOA, so the fellas wanted a quick tour of NYC. We went to Ground Zero (like the train took us right through there), hung out at Wall Street, and saw the Statue of Liberty. I gave them a pretty impressive 6 hour tour of the city, with a crazy, drunk man on the subway included. Well, time to get a few hours of sleep before the o’dark 30 flight.