“TEAMzao”

Our online ministry is changing its name from “New Life Health Ministries” to “TEAMzao”, as of October 1st, 2016.

There are many reasons for this change, and much prayer has gone into the decision. One reason for this is because we do not wish to sound like we are some old, southern baptist organization (we love some of those organizations – but, they simply are not us).

Generosity – The Proving Element of Love

Josh:

Me and Doctor Showbizhair watch a show called My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. It is an educational television series about the magic of friendship…. That’s what I choose to refer to it as, anyway. In this show, there exists something called “the elements of harmony”. These elements represent the magic that is found in friendship. And one of these elements is “generosity”.

Livin’: Body, Mind, and Spirit

Zach:

Hey everybody, long time no talk!  I have been extremely busy living life to the fullest.  I got married, my wife and I got a puppy, and I started a new full time job as a patient care tech – all while still going to school full time.  Sounds like I got a lot on my plate right?  Sounds like I am living life right?  Well, I am here today to say I have not been living the way I was supposed to be living.  To explain why I said this, I am going to tell you a little story:

Abide.

We’re about to take off. I promise we’re gonna go somewhere. This flight consists of a lot of Scripture. My prayer is that you read and understand it like you never have before.

Fasten your seat belts.

Going Rogue.

Josh: 

I have always loved, LOVED, pirate lore! However, I don’t like the pirates we are typically told about in history class. I like the ones who stood for something, not the pirates who just plundered and killed and raped.

Spiritually Hangry

(/ˈspiriCH(əw)əl-ē  hˈaNGɡrē/)

adjective.

 

“Spiritually hangry” is a term I coined during my third week of youth camps in Batesburg, SC.

Got Plans?

I’m tad bit OCD.

So to me, plans are a tad bit attractive.

I don’t just love planning; I love planning plans. Heck, I love planning plans to plan plans.

I see some nice plans and have to use my index finger to lower my shades to my nose and wink at them real quick. Dat plan. So organized, dotted points, crisp border, slick font, arrows, boxes and circles. I like all of dat.

On being Southern

I am southern, and I am from the country. Our (mobile) home was surrounded on 3 sides by farmland and the other was a swamp. Everything was 20 minutes away, except for the corner store my grandpa’s brother ran. Blue jeans and boots and flannel shirts weren’t a grunge fashion trend for us, it was work clothes. My neck has been red from working in the hot sun all day.

• I’ve worked in fields, picking beans, checking watermelons, squash, zucchini, and cucumbers.
• I grew up on Johnny Cash, both Hank Williams (Hank III notwithstanding), Garth Brooks, Alan Jackson, and all the country music.
• As a kid (and maybe still as an adult), I have watched professional wrestling in just my underpants, sweating into the couch and cheering for Ric Flair.
• I have cursed General William Tecumseh Sherman for burning our beautiful homeland.
• I devoured Mark Twain’s colorful stories of life that hasn’t changed much in the 125 years or so since he wrote.
• I have celebrated my southern heritage my entire life. I thought I knew all about my culture and what that entailed, from tailgating (I’ve even done so at church after service) to cooking barbecue to bow ties and khaki shorts and red Solo cups.

That is,until a couple of weeks ago. A colleague of mine posted an article quoting Flannery O’Connor. In addition to confirming my fears and suspicions about ministry in the South, it also opened my eyes to a part of my culture that I had neglected: diversity in literature.

This Life.

 

I fell asleep in the theatre watching the first Avengers movie.

Why God Doesn’t Want Your Sacrifice….

Something I really hate to do is apologize. Not because I’m a bad person or because I think it wrong…. It’s just hard for me. I have to apologize for some of my past mistakes and past teachings. I have been glorifying and romanticizing self-sacrifice to the point that I missed the point of scripture at certain points in my life. I would love to just start with that straight apology and get it over with, but as a story teller I have forbade myself from starting with the climax.