Travis Agnew

Travis Agnew serves as the Lead Pastor of Rocky Creek Church in Greenville, SC. His most recent book is Just (About) Married.

Courageous is Coming to Greenwood

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I was thrilled to find out the other week that the movie Courageous will be showing on opening weekend in Greenwood!  We were able to get a private screening for leaders in Greenwood, and the response was incredible.  Church, ministry, and business leaders got behind this and we made a plea to get it here, and God obviously wants this movie on fatherhood to impact this community.

We are working out the details for advanced tickets, and I should be able to give you some info on that soon.  I am indebted to Alan Quigley and others for doing so much to help get the movie here.  This movie will impact homes, and churches need to be ready for what the next step is if you can get the people to the movie.  It’s a great, emotional experience, but don’t leave it there!

For those of you who follow my blog, you are aware that I have been blessed to be a part of writing a Bible study to accompany the movie entitled “Honor Begins at Home.” Since so much of the study has critical clips to the movie, it won’t be released until after opening weekend.  I am planning on leading the study at some time in some place, but just waiting on some few details.  So any fathers, aspiring fathers, mothers, empty-nesters, etc. who want to hear more of what God expects in the home, I would love to have you join me in this 8-week curriculum.  You can see an early sample of the curriculum here.

Here’s the synopsis of the movie:

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Why Your Church Needs More Percy Sledges

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It’s one of my most anticipated and most dreaded times of the week all at the same time.

It’s Sunday mornings.  I walk across the stage, tune my guitar, turn on my microphone, and attempt to lead people in worship.  What’s so conflicting about my job is that so many people are continuing the song they have been singing all week long, and others are eagerly waiting the opportunity to sit back down.  I love it and dread it all in the same moment.

No matter what service you frequent, when someone asks you to stand and sing, I think you need to open your mouth and give it everything you got.  And here’s why:

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Revival Through Intimacy

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Had another great worship experience last night at North Side!  It was wonderful to watch our team lead without me there!  They are so talented and have such wonderful hearts, they didn’t miss a beat!  Loved it! Jeff’s message walking through Psalm 139 was fantastic!  Listen to it online if you didn’t get to hear

Major in the Minors: Zechariah

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Had such an interesting experience at the church house today – I worshiped from the other side of the stage.  After a week of vacation, I got in the van with my family, took my boys to the nursery, and worshiped with the congregation next to my wife.  It was great!

I loved watching our wonderful workers in the nursery love my boys and teach them how to pray for others.  I loved being made to feel at home by our wonderful host team.  The tech team was so seamless with their tasks, I didn’t even notice they were there!  The Shake-n-Shine band did a wonderful job leading worship (wish I was as talented and mature as those students)!  Jeff’s message was powerful.

I might take vacation more often 😉

Today, we worshiped to:

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Happy Birthday, Dear Daddy!

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  Happy birthday to me!  I’m getting pretty old, maybe I can receive some wisdom now to go along with my senility.  30 Reasons I’m Blessed Today: 1. Jesus loves me this I know for the Bible tells me so. 2. I love my bride more today than ever. 3. I am the adoring father

A Healthy Fear of the Lord

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Psalm 86:15-16

15 But You, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God,
slow to anger and rich in faithful love and truth.
16 Turn to me and be gracious to me.
Give Your strength to Your servant;
save the son of Your female servant.

Our fatherless society is killing our perception of God.

Whether you like to admit it or not, your relationship with your father often alters the way you view God.  If your father was absent, you might find difficulty accepting that God is near and cares for your smallest concerns.  If your father was a temperamental dictator, you might view God as the angry deity in the sky waiting to pummel you with lightning bolts whenever you step out of line.  If your father was a softy and a pushover, you might find yourself living more loosely because God would never really punish you for breaking his rules.  If your father was simply a detached provider, you might find yourself accepting God’s blessing without ever desiring his company.

Most likely, God is a lot different than you father.  God’s plan is that your father imitate him (Eph. 3:14), but unfortunately, that rarely happens.  We rarely see a combination of both love and holiness.  While God has many attributes, theologians categorize all attributes under those two headings – love and holiness.

This description of God, first mentioned in Exodus, is repeated many times throughout Scripture.  The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and rich in faithful love and truth.  What is so shocking to us modern readers is that someone can be both compassionate and angry.

A common misconception is that Jesus of the New Testament was compassionate and the God of the Old Testament was angry.  How do you explain God’s constant rescuing of idolatrous Israel and how do you explain Jesus chasing religious people out of the temple with a whip?

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The Walmart Dilemma

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We have all experienced the Walmart dilemma.  You enter into the massive store full of your city’s most eclectic citizens with the intention of buying one needed item.  As the greeter wishes you a good day, you coach yourself that you don’t need anything else except that one item.  As you return to your car, you are unaware of how you just spent $50 on drive-by items.

What’s even worse is when you have bags full but have forgotten that one item for which you came.  The Walmart dilemma is that you lose focus on what you came for because you are overwhelmed with all the other items clamoring for you attention.

The psalmist is in a similar position.  Other gods are present and vying for his worship.  The world powers claim they need not to swear their allegiance to the Lord.  Circumstances are apparent that distract his focus.  So, what does the psalmist pray?  He prays for an “undivided mind” in order to fear God’s name (v.11).  He is acknowledging the presence of distractions, and he is asking for God’s help to leave the store with solely the one item.

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Just What the Doctor Ordered

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1 week.  With the 3 greatest people in the world. This vacation is just what the doctor ordered. I’m unplugging for the week, but you can check back here each day for some new blog posts I scheduled.  Live for Jesus this week with all you got.  Peace out!

Revival of the Heart

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No picture from tonight’s services.  I got the wonderful privilege to preach at South Main about Courageous and fatherhood.  I got to share communion with our worship team and listen to them practice and then head out. I heard the team did great.  They just led worship with everything they had – nothing surprising there.

Major in the Minors: Haggai

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What a great day at North Side!  I was so honored to lead in worship with a group from this summer’s Worship Academy.  This is part of the crew that studied together for 7 weeks this summer.  We’re missing a few more, but it was great to get most of them together and lead our church in worship.

Honestly, we stayed more in the Bible than on stage during training (first things first).  We only got our instruments out to play together last Wednesday.  Many of them had expressed interest in playing together, so it was a great time to let this crew lead.  They did a wonderful job!

Today, we worshiped to:

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