While the United States is still working on how to appropriate the funds for our national bailout, we are still unaware of when or if this financial crisis will be averted. If you watch the news at all (or gaze at your retirement), you feel the pain and realize that this national crisis is affecting everyone. I believe that the …
Do you ever get to one of those places in your life where you really, really want to follow Jesus? I’m not talking about simply being involved in religious activity, I mean, do you ever truly desire to follow Jesus the way He commanded us? In Chuck Colson’s book, How Now Shall We Live?, he writes of a lady who …
This week’s bad church sign states: “There’s no A/C in Hell! …either.” First off, I believe hell’s description is a tad bit worse than simply the absence of controlled air. If that is the worst description you can think of, you really don’t understand it. But by using an exclamation point, why are the deciding to yell at us? Then…”either.” …
Today was week 2 in the Crossroads series. The message today centered on “The Muslim Salvation.” In my message, I spent half of the time giving the history of the prophet Muhammad and the foundation of Islam. For the second part of the message, I explained five key differences between Islam and Christianity. We had a recording glitch yesterday, so …
I love this weather cause I can take my little buddy to the park:
This week’s book of the week is A God Divided written by Christopher Catherwood. It is our featured book in the bookstore for the Crossroads series. If you are wanting some extra info on the differences between Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, you need to pick up this book. Top 5 Ideas: “By the ironic nature of its title – A …
Wanted to make sure you knew the official time of Submerge 09: June 12-16. In an attempt to let more student groups go this year and not having to worry about different Spring Breaks, we are going to the summer this year. This camp (Friday-Tuesday) will also help more adults go this year without having to take too much time …
For my reading for my last seminar, I choose two of John Maxwell’s volumes on leadership that I had not read previously. Through this reading, I learned some valuable lessons concerning leadership. The first lesson was concerning influence. In Developing the Leader Within You, Maxwell wrote, “Leadership is influence. That’s it. Nothing more, nothing less.” Since I have influence, I …
I am so relieved to tell you that the content for my Freshman 15 book is complete! After many hours of work (filled with many months of taking off of the process), I have been working feverishly for the last four weeks to complete the content, and I am happy to say that I have finished it yesterday afternoon. …
I don’t know what I love more about this sign: the message or the pastor’s name. Anyway, this week’s bad church sign of the week states: “Tithe if you love Jesus! Anyone can honk!” While this sign is reacting to the bumper stickers that state, “Honk if you love Jesus,” this church sign reveals either a church struggling to make …
I once read a quote from John Hancock Field in a great point concerning accomplishments. Field stated, “All worthwhile men have good thoughts, good ideas, and good intentions, but precious few of them ever translate those into action.” This thought truly resonated with my current work. I feel as if our church has never had so many opportunities to reach …
Today was the first day of the “Crossroads” series. The message topic was “The Jewish Faith.” The praise band did great today. It is such an honor to be led by worship by those guys and gal. Their exaltation of Jesus being the only way led to my message in such a simple way. The message got across before the …
The moment when Obadiah realized Dad had installed cabinet locks… I have you for now…
John Maxwell once wrote, “When I have integrity, my words and my deeds match up.” As a leader, it is possible to confuse influence with actual integrity. Just because my reputation with people is positive does not mean that my character before a holy God naturally corresponds. I desire that what those around me perceive of my character line up …
Sometimes I feel like doing this… Beware you who sit on the front row…
Three of the major world religions all claim the same source of beginning. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all hold Abraham to be the man from whom their religion began. But all three of these religions arrive at a dramatic crossroads at the person of Jesus Christ. The message, ministry, and life of Christ forever separated these movements. The Crossroads series …
I had fun last night speaking at Anderson University’s FCA. I took Brian with me for prayer support and a time of C-Group sharpening, and we had a blast up there and back. Being on campus made me nostalgic thinking about picking up Amanda for dates in Anderson when she was in college there. Man, I am glad we are …
This week’s bad church sign states: “Will you go through God’s roadblock called salation into hell?” A friend sent this one to me and commented that the title of this church is quite humorous since they misspelled salvation. Funny stuff.
As I woke up this morning, I thought that the “Marriage by the Book” series was what we have been looking for as a church. Not only was the content right on, but the whole effort was so quality due to God’s leading and his servants responding. We did pray that some marriages would be saved through this series. I …
Today was our last Sunday in our Marriage by the Book series. What a great day and what a great series! In our team prayer time this morning, we prayed that some marriages that were hanging on by a thread would be saved this day, and I believe they were. I would like to give props to Walt, Kimberly, Joshua, and …
After you become calloused to the culture, the next step is that you start compromising your own standards. While you once held to a certain desired level of holiness, you have now met somewhere in the middle between God’s standards and the standards of the culture. This compromise is anything less than God’s ideal. The prophet Jeremiah told his culture …
While I have been in school, I have been blessed to have some great professors pour into my life. One such mentor was Dr. Chuck Lawless while I worked on my Master’s degree from Southern Seminary (he is my adviser now for the current degree). In a course focusing on the logistics of ministry, Lawless gave the class practical tips …
I’ve had some of you contact the office about Sunday’s sermon. We did record it, but our website’s back end was experiencing difficulties (no pun intended, that’s really what they call it). Anyway, the message is up and all should be well in the world. Check it out here…
I spoke at Greenwood Christian School this morning. This is their Spring spiritual emphasis week, so I will also speak on Friday. This morning, I spoke on what I considered the most important and often neglected message to deliver to teenagers: honor your father and mother. This message isn’t ever preached in churches to teenagers. In an ideal world, parents …
While Katrina has been gone for many months from New Orleans, the Big Easy is still in need. Thousands of homes and other buildings still lie in ruins as the city continues to try to rebuild. While the news doesn’t reveal the devestation as much as it did before, it still is a reality. That’s why North Side still continues …
I laughed out loud when I saw this church sign this week. I hate when my wife puts out a description of me (ha, ha): “Women’s Bible Stud.” I am so thankful for that missing “Y.” I don’t know if: a) the wind blew it off revealing God’s sense of humor, b) someone stole it to be funny, or c) …
Today was week 3 in the Marriage by the Book series entitled, “How to Fix Your Wife.” Since I was gone to seminary last week, it was great just to sit back on the keys and the mandolin, and let Kennerly, Eric, and the rest of the gang lead. I am so honored to lead beside men and women that …
I am the luckiest man in the planet! Being away from my valentine for a week reminded me how truly blessed I am!
I started playing guitar my eighth grade year. I almost quit two weeks after my first lesson. Honestly, I wanted to play the guitar more than anything. My air guitar moves were getting better by the day, but I earnestly desired to add an actual instrument to my routine so that I could improve my audience from my bathroom …
This week’s bad church sign states: “Stop, Drop & Roll will not work in Hell.” I am not a fan of making light of the fact that people separated from Jesus will spend an eternity away from him. I believe it, but I don’t laugh about it. Plus, we must ask the question: what is the purpose of this …
On Sunday, we had week 2 of our Marriage by the Book series as we tackled the topic: “How to Change Your Husband.” Ladies, rise up. We did see a whole lot of ladies on Sunday. I think the way Jeff handled the topic was great. While our culture has distorted Scripture’s teachings on a woman’s role, what submission means, …
God has blessed me with many positive male ministerial mentors in my life. Through their example, I have learned what it means to be a husband, father, and pastor. With so many negative examples of ministers, certain men’s faithfulness to Jesus and to their family have kept me encouraged and hopeful. From these men, I have learned to seek balance …
Nate and Obie watching some TV last night.
This week’s book of the week is Stop Dating the Church!: Fall In Love with the Family of God. This small book by Joshua Harris is full of sweet goodness. While Harris is a great writer, this book is a critical read for many people. Many people (especially college students) have a tendency to church hop or church shop or …
I was honored a few months ago when some of the ladies from the South Main Street Baptist Church’s Women’s Ministry asked if they could use one of my songs for the theme song of their upcoming retreat. That retreat was this weekend up at the Cove led by my good buddy, Ruth McWhite. Even though I wasn’t there and …
What a Tuesday! And that is an understatement if I’ve ever muttered one. After giving a quick test for my religion class, I hurried over to the funeral home to conduct the funeral for my grandmother. I was so honored to have so many family and friends present in honor of my grandmother. In my message at the funeral, I …
I woke up a little after 3:00 Sunday morning. When I knew I couldn’t get back to sleep, I went into the living room to read the Bible and do some work. A little later, I got the call that my grandmother passed away Sunday morning. She passed away sometime after 3AM peacefully in her sleep at the Hospice House. …
Today’s service started our brand new series, “Marriage by the Book,” and today’s service was all about this big idea: “Don’t Marry the Wrong Person.” Next to following Jesus, the most important decision anyone will make is who he or she will decide to marry. In this message, “Don’t Marry the Wrong Person,” Jeff makes sure that all know what …
The first Date Night is officially a wrap. I don’t know about you, but I had a blast. I haven’t gotten the final count, but we were blown away to have somewhere around 250 couples show up last night. As Amanda and I were sitting together during the message, I grabbed her hand, and said, “What would happen to this …
This week’s book of the week is the Book of Genesis. I received a new ESV study Bible this week, and started rereading Genesis even though I read it once this month. Since I am reading through the Bible in a new plan, I wanted to go through it in this Bible so I wouldn’t just jump in at a …
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