Filed under: Bahamas Mission Trip
We had an awesome meeting yesterday about our upcoming mission trip. It is hard to believe that our new church is already forming a foreign mission team but it sure is exciting. We had 21 people (and we have more meeting on Tuesday) who are seriously interested in the mission trip come to the meeting. Of those 21 people, only four had ever been on a foreign mission trip. Isn’t that cool? People excited about sharing Jesus with people they don’t even know. People excited about taking the message of Jesus to a completely different culture. Now, we had our normal concerns - money, being able to dry our hair, and of course the bathroom and shower facilities but we talked about the transforming power that comes in sharing God’s love. I can’t wait. I believe that we are going to see some people experience some radical life transformation over the next few months. Stay tuned!
Filed under: Sundays
Sunday was just awesome. We ended the service with what is becoming one of my favorite songs – God of this City. I don’t know about you but I can sometimes get caught up in the negative. This song reminds me of the great things that God has planned for us. It reminds me of the great things that God wants to bring about. It encourages me and inspires me to live life confident of God’s promises. I think of how far God has brought us in one year and can’t wait to see where God will take us in 2009. I also loved to see the new faces. The first week of the year can be a time where some people make a decision to start attending church and I think the message hit home with alot of us. We all have areas in our lives that we know are not quite in line with the way God desires for us to live – our challenge is to name it. Commit to living differently in 2009. Remember, God has great things in store for us.
Filed under: Sundays
Have you seen the movie – ‘Talladega Nights’? There is a scene where Ricky Bobby is saying grace before the meal and he prays to baby Jesus. His wife yells at him that Jesus grew up but Ricky Bobby tells her that he prefers to think of Jesus as a baby.
I think we do that sometimes as well. We celebrate Christmas and we like the image of Christ as a baby. Sweet, pure, and innocent. It makes us feel good and comfortable. Yet, Jesus grew up. Jesus experienced some tremendous temptations. Jesus suffered. Jesus sacrificed alot for me and you. As I prepare for this Sunday, I am reminded what an incredible HERO Jesus is. I am looking forward to this coming month at The Well as we look at HEROES and how we can grow in our influence within our family and friends.
Filed under: Holidays
The beginning of a new year is always a time where we stop and think back on the previous year. We remember the good times and we reflect on the difficult parts. As I work through this process in the life of the church, I can’t begin to tell you how thankful I am for everything that God has done.
As we began the year, we had about three or four families that had committed to The Well. We had no location and we very little resources. All we could do was pray. Pray for God’s guidance and clarity and the courage to follow through on what God was calling us to do. I have a group of people that I send prayer requests to every week (I have been doing this since we first found out that we were planting a church). Fortunately, my friend saved all my requests and sent me the prayer requests that I sent at the beginning of 2008. My prayer at the beginning of the year was for “God to guide people into my path that either had a desire to help start a church or were in need of a church community.” As I looked at that prayer and thought about the year, I stand in amazement. We just completed what was probably our most labor intensive week in the life of our new church. During the week of Christmas, we moved our entire church 5 different times. If you are part of a church that has a physical location, think about that when you think about the pros and cons of your building. Even though we moved the church 5 times, we had people willing to do that. Some took time off from work and others used their vacation time to make sure that everything was ready and available for Sundays and Christmas Eve. We had people willing to serve. In addition, we had hundreds come on Christmas Eve that did not have a church community that they called their own.
I am reminded of how faithful God is and how His timing is not always my own. As I prepare for 2009, my prayer doesn’t really change. I still pray that God will guide people into my path as I know that there are still so many people who need to find a church where they can worship. I also know that there are resources that God has for our church that I simply have to wait on. But, I will say that I pray more confidently and boldly. I know God has great things in store for The Well and look forward to being a part of such an awesome community of faith.
Filed under: Sundays
Here is a simple thought – God is amazing. I have been thinking this past week about how God truly changes us. I wish that I could explain it but it is something that you experience. This past Sunday, our new church had the privilege of watching a family give their hearts to God. A mother and her two daughters were forever changed. It was a powerful moment and a wonderful reminder of God’s ability to change us.
Over the past week, I have had time each day to reflect on the change that God has brought about in me. (Believe me, it is certainly God bringing about the change.) I know that I have a long way to go in my relationship with God but watching a baptism inspires me to think about how God has worked in my life. I think about some of the relationships that have been restored. I think about some of the greed that has been taken away. I think about some of the bad habits that God has broken and some of the positive habits that God has poured into me. I am not the same person that I was many years ago. I am sure that those of you who knew me in high school and college are probably thankful for that. But, the scripture in 2 Corinthians that talks about that in Christ, we are new creations is certainly true. The scripture goes on to say that the old has gone and the new has come.
When I think of that scripture, I immediately think of these three brave women who have entered into a life in Christ. The scripture focuses my attention on the future. What does God have in store for these women. What will He use them to do? I think of all the people that guided me on my path and wonder – ‘who will they guide?’ Who will come to know Jesus through something they do or say. Who will be forever changed becuase of some random act of kindness that they show? We may never know the answer to these questions (in this life) but I know that God is alive and working in our midst. He is bringing about change that truly matters. I think it is going to be fun to watch.
Filed under: Life Experiences
Here is a simple thought – kids just get it!. I know that the Bible teaches us that we should have the faith of a child. Now, I also realize that we should desire to grow in our faith but I truly hope to keep the excitement and sense of awe that children have. I hope to grow in my ability to run toward God with such an expectation of His presence.
I came home today after doing some of the last minute things that you do on the Friday before a new church launches. I had gone to Walmart for supplies, put out what seems like 1000 yard signs, worked on my sermon, and made sure that people were in place for the various servant positions. I came home tired and ready to just sit and rest. My son came home from school (8th grade) and was excited and joyful. I figured it was just the fact that it was Friday and that meant that he had two days away from school.
Over dinner, I asked him why he was in such a good mood. He quickly responded that he was excited for the launch. He was excited that we were going to have church every Sunday. He was excited because people were going to come to church on Sunday that might never have gone to church. Here I was tired and wanting to sit and rest and my son was excited and ready to move. I want that excitement. I wonder some times about the effect that planting a church has on my kids. Will it require too much of my time?
What I realize is that my kids are seeing the scriptures come to life. They are seeing the value of commitment. They are seeing people come back to an active faith. They are seeing the attitude of Jesus in the service opportunities. They are seeing the church working with a unified purpose. They are seeing God move in a group of people. In addition, they are feeling God move in their own life. They are excited about worship. They are excited about serving. They are getting it and they want to share it with others. I pray that we all come to that place in our life.
Filed under: Uncategorized
Here is a simple thought – God is Creator. I have grown up in the church for most of my life (high school and college years are a different story) and I have always thought of God as the Creator. The Bible teaches us that God created the heavens and the earth. I look around and see leaves changing and I know that God’s creation is in the midst of change. While this may seem very simple, I never really thought much about God as a present day Creator. For me, God as Creator was always a thought of past creations. I know it sometimes takes me longer than some people but I have learned so much over the past year about God as a Creating God. He is still creating.
When I came to Cartersville some fourteen months ago, I did not know a single person. I moved my family here with the passion to start a church. I am sure that I had ideas of what I would do but I have learned that I am much more effective when I tap into what God is already doing. Church at The Well is not my church. It is God’s church. I have met people that literally said that they were ‘waiting on us’ to move here. They didn’t know me. They simply knew that God was calling them to something. I have met people that moved here years before I did and were searching for something. They just didn’t know what they were suppose to do. I have met people that moved here about the same time I did and just didn’t know how to connect. I have also met people that were not even thinking about church. Looking back over the past year, I could give you story after story of people that God has (and is) bringing together to be part of The Well. I stand here amazed that God created His church and has been planning and creating for years to get us to the place where we are today.
As I sit and write this post, our church is three days away from the launch of weekly services. We have prayed and prayed. We have planned. We have prepared. We have promoted. We have done everything we can do to be ready for this tremendous day. Just think, you don’t have the opportunity very often to watch God create something out of nothing. Despite all of our efforts, I still find myself standing in awe of what God is able to do. One of the ways that we have promoted our church is to purchase the cover of a local magazine here in Bartow County – Bartow Buzz. The magazine got delivered today. I just checked my email and I had an email from a person who has lived here in Cartersville for a couple of years. She told me that her family just never found a church that they felt comfortable. She said that she had seen signs for The Well but never even knew what we were or even cared to find out. She said that she had prayed LAST NIGHT for God to guide her to the place she needed to be to connect to Him. Today, she got the Buzz in her mailbox. She said she knew nothing about The United Methodist Church. She said she knew nothing about modern style of worship. She has never heard me preach. But, she said that she also knew that God wanted her at The Well on Sunday. I have no idea if she will become a member of our church. But, I know that God is working in her life. God is reaching out to her.
That is a comforting thought. It brings me hope and peace because I know that God is continually reaching out to me. God is working to grow me toward Him. When I look at myself honestly, I find it overwhelming that God is still creating. He is creating in me. He is creating through me. The same is true for you. Isn’t that cool?
Filed under: Life Experiences
Here is a simple thought – I am too busy. I dont know about you but I realized over the weekend just how busy I am. My family and I went away for three days to get some rest and have some family time before we move into the next phase of the new church. Three days away from phones, no cable, no internet – just a nice cabin in the woods away from it all.
I have to admit that it took me several days just to get ready to ‘get away’. I had severe email problems over the past week and lost all of my email contacts and I spent a good bit of time trying to rebuild my email list. In addition, I lost all my emails that I had been saving in my inbox. So, I was somewhat frustrated to say the least. How would people know that I was away and not able to return their email? Then, a friend suggested that I view this email ‘disaster’ as an opportunity. Without all of the incoming emails, I would have more time to ’sit with God.’ While it seemed like a good spin on a bad situation, I will admit that I never really contemplated the situation as an opportunity.
Then, we went to the mountains. Nestled in North Georgia and surrounded by some of the prettiest landscape I have seen in a while, I found it hard to just STOP. We went hiking, the ladies went shopping, the kids played Wii (they had a TV, just not cable). Even without the internet, phone connection, television, our way of living came through in our inability to just sit. We came back last night – tired and exhausted from vacation.
So, I walked into my house last night with this whole concept of not being able to just sit on my mind. If we couldn’t do it in the mountains away from it all, how are we going to do it here – with school, work, new church, baseball, and life in general. I figured I would veg out in front of the television and figure it out. I went to turn on the television and it didn’t work. I can’t explain it. The last thing we did when we were walking out the door for vacation was turn the television off. We come back and it has no power. So, I grabbed my Bible study and began to study. The whole time I am studying, the concept of ’sitting with God’ was on my heart. Here is where you realize that it takes me awhile for some things. It did not dawn on me until I turned off the lights and got ready to go to sleep, that I had just ’sat with God’ for an hour. In the midst of the trappings of everyday life, we have to find time to ‘just sit’. How we do it is part of the struggle. For me right now, it was not having the ability to turn the television on. It gave me space. It gave me freedom. It gave me time.
I know that we will have to get the television working but for now – I am simply going to enjoy the quiet time. I mean it is late morning and I haven’t even checked email yet. That is a big deal for me but I think it is important that we all find time to ’sit with God’. How do you do it? How do you keep yourself from getting too busy?
Filed under: Sundays
Here is a simple thought – time flies when you are having fun. I know this is a cliche but it is so true. It seems like just yesterday when I moved to Cartersville to start The Well. The launch of the church seemed so far away. Fast forward to today and October 5th is going to be here before I know it. I watch the countdown on the website and get more and more excited about where God is leading us.
We had our August preview service this past Sunday and we had some incredible time of worship. Kyle O’Neal, our worship leader, did an awesome job at leading us to a place where we could experience the presence of Christ. The message was based on Jesus’ teaching in Matthew where he tells us all to hunger and thirst for righteousness. We mess this up so much because we look to fill the void that we have in our lives with so many things. Culture tells us that we can fill it with money, sex, drugs, work or a variety of other things. It doesn’t work. God tells us to focus on Him. We may know that these other things won’t really satisfy us but we listen to culture anyway. (If you want to see a video that we put together that visually expresses this tension between culture and God’s direction, Road Trip Video #3.) I have to tell you. It was amazing to preach and look out at the congregation and see what God has done in such a short period of time. People are excited about coming to church. They are signing up to get involved in small groups. They are serving at different events in the community. They are doing all of this and we haven’t even offically had our first launch service. Isn’t God amazing? It is so fun to sit and watch God work and it is exciting to think about where He is going to take us. I will tell you what I am sure of – I can’t wait (not that I have to because time is flying by).
Filed under: People in the community
Here is a simple thought – Church should be fun! I had a discussion this morning with a gentleman that found out I was in the process of planting a new church here in Cartersville. He obviously had some pretty negative feelings about new churches and he surely didn’t mind vocalizing his dissatisfaction. His argument is one that I have heard before. Church should be reverent – church should be holy – church should be sanctified. When we bring in modern music, guitars, drums, flashing lights, according to this gentleman, we lessen the message of Jesus Christ.
I listened to his argument and I even understood where he was coming from but I simply could not disagree more. I think church IS Holy but not because of anything we do. Church is Holy because God is Holy. Why do guitars and a more modern approach to church have to be viewed as contrary to reverence, holiness, and sanctification. Jesus was committed to reaching lost people. Jesus would go anywhere and associate with anyone in order to reach people. He talked differently and he didn’t always follow the rules. When we allow any rule to become more important than reaching people with the gospel, I think we find ourselves in a very dangerous place. Don’t get me wrong – we have to keep the gospel message as core. We have to focus on Christ. We have to love God and our neighbor. If we do those things, regardless of our church model, people will come and grow in their relationship with God.
I contrast this man’s reaction and view of church with a elementary-aged young man that I was speaking to earlier in the week. He was excited that Church at The Well was having its monthly preview service this Sunday. As the pastor, this got me excited and I began to talk to him and find out what made it exciting for him. He said that ‘church was fun’. I was curious what that meant to a 10-year old boy. After some more questions, he told me that he had never gone to a church where he could have fun and learn about God at the same time. Even at a young age, he had this presupposition that learning about God and fun had to be mutually exclusive. Why? He went on to tell me that he was bringing a friend with him to church this Sunday because he wanted his friend to have fun. His friend, by the way, is from a family that does not attend church. Isn’t that cool? By allowing people (of all ages) to understand that church can be fun, people get excited and invite people to come with them. When these people come with them, I believe that the Spirit of God works in their hearts and that they experience the power of the gospel in their lives. Isn’t that what Jesus commanded us to do?
I would challenge you to ask yourself a question that I ask myself all the time – ‘is whatever I am holding on to worth it at the expense of not reaching someone for Jesus Christ?’
