So, in my last post, I talked about what I was preaching about tonight. But I didn’t do it. For some reason, I changed fifteen minutes before Fusion started. I just wasn’t feeling it. I prayed and prayed and just felt God leading me to Malachi 1. So I went there. Fusion was fun tonight getting back together. I got …
So I’m pretty exicted right now. I’m trying to finish my message for tonight and I’m only using one verse – Matthew 13:44. One verse? Short message, eh? Well maybe. Or maybe it’s so stinkin’ loaded and I’ve been struggling with this verse for so long now that I’m trying to deal with all the implications loaded within its 34 …
Fusion is starting back this Tuesday @ 7:30 in the Family Life Center. 7:00 if you want a free Chick-Fil-A meal. I wanted to tell you about a competition we are going to have starting this Tuesday that can get you two free tickets to the David Crowder* Band. It’s called the Pic-It for Ticket Contest. Details about the contest …
My wonderful wife, Amanda, has slaved so very hard as of late and is about to graduate with her Master’s from USC in Music Education this Saturday. We are so very excited now that we will have Monday evenings where one of us is not in school and every free moment is not dedicated to some book to be read …
Here is a neat testimony that happenned the other night at Engage when we presented the gospel with those kids: Janel and I had the opportunity to talk with three girls, only one who was really old enough to comprehend the gospel. The other little girls just sat there on our laps and played with the grass. However, one girl …
Jim Wideman recently shared 3 questions he often asks to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of his ministry: What am I doing that someone else can do? What do I need to be doing that only I can do? Is there a better way to do what we are doing? Train yourself to regularly ask these questions. If you do, …
Jamie Parler, our Community Pastor, sent me this article he found. It was written from the perspective of a nonreligious man attending church with what possibly he might want the church to know about him. Very interesting read: Hello there. My name is Nonreligious Guy and I’m going to attend your church tomorrow. Here are the things you need to …
I have been finding a lot of great resources on the web lately concerning church work. Sometimes I’ll find a site that gets me thinking about so many great possibilities and options for our church that I get overwhelmed at what to do first. One great site is churchrelevance.com. Kent Shaffer puts it together and he collects a lot of …
Reading in Galatians this morning, and I came across a fitting verse for this morning. It reads, “But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more?” (Gal. 4:9). How …
If you were at North Side yesterday, you were in for a treat with Jamie Parler giving the word on community. Jamie is our Community Pastor and showed that, like a drum set, individual parts just don’t sound good. They need community. I love Jamie for many reasons: 1) he is an awesome drummer, 2) he loves Jesus, 3) he …
How do we view prayer? Do we see it as our steering wheel – it steers everything we do or do we see it as a last resort spare tire when we’ve done everything we can possibly do? It is very interesting that Jesus’ disciples never asked for teaching how to exorcise demons, preach, heal, divide food, walk on water …
After the message on Sunday on worship, Amanda and I had to jet to Columbia because she was singing in a concert. But I did get to steal away for a moment and do what I promised to do: I sought God and asked Him was He pleased in worship today? As I prayed and allowed the Holy Spirit to …
The thief comes to steal, to kill, and to destroy, but I have come to give life and give it abundantly. -Jesus (John 10:10) In class today, we are talking about Satan’s attacks against God’s church. Dr. Lawless is giving so many good stuff on this topic, I am keeping a running list here in class, so it may seem …
Only four more Sundays before we move into our new auditorium. The construction guys are working feverishly, the staff is making final preparation, and all we need is some people to fill it up three times. The new auditorium at North Side will be opening up on Sunday, July 29th. Official festivities, times, etc. will be posted later. We are …
Got some good stuff in class today from the Evangelism Director for the Illinois Baptist Convention, Randy Mullinax. He said that one of the things that he has noticed over his time in ministry is that ministers who are transforming lives are having lives that are being transformed themselves. I will repeat: Ministers who are transforming lives are having lives …
An interesting conversation developed today in class. The school at Southern Seminary at which I am getting my degree is called the Billy Graham School of Missions, Evangelism and Church Growth. The dean was asking us about what kind of connotations the term “Church Growth” gives. Some people, believe that the Church Growth Movement (labeling anything as creativity or different …
“We should be less concerned about making churches full of people and more concerned about making people full of God.” -C. Kirk Hadaway and David A Roozen
Tuesday was my three-year wedding anniversary. Man, we are getting old! This has been the third year though that we have not been with each other the whole day. Amanda was having to stay at USC to work on her Master’s, so we celebrated by me cooking hamburgers out in the rain on Monday. Such bliss. I have realized something …
Missions is going crazy this summer! I love it. I just have been reading up on our Romania team at their blog, it’s great stuff. Most of this team have never taken a trip like this, so it is incredible to see all that they are doing – pray for them and check them out here: Romania Team’s blog.
We started our backyard Bible club in Abbeville last night for n*gage. We are taking college students and 20-somethings to a park and investing in these kids’ lives for the summer on every Tuesday night. Last night was great. The kids were wonderful. So much fun. I got to meet some of their parents last night who were very appreciative …
So, I gave a pretty exhausting testimony/message at North Side on Sunday. It had to do with my relationship with my dad and God teaching me what forgiveness truly means. I think the message is online now at the church’s website. While in some ways I was dreading speaking on this topic because I couldn’t be “preachery” but I had …
Tonight we started the mission project for 20-somethings in Greenwood called n*gage. On Tuesdays this summer, meet us at the Lander Baptist Student Center for free Chick-fil-a, Bible study, and then to go out on a mission project. Next Tuesday we are going to run the Mega Relay for our Shake-n-Shine camp. And then the next eight weeks, we will …
This Sunday, we will be singing “The Heart of Worship” written by Matt Redman. Many of you probably know the story behind the song, but if you don’t, I have it included below. Like Redman’s church, it’s so easy for churches to get into worshipping their worship. Whether it’s a style, a preference, a feeling, or whatever, we come describing …
I was listening to a message from Andy Stanley the other day that made me laugh so hard and think a whole bunch. He was talking about the different types of church government. When he got to the congregational style government, he said that there were three times when God’s people took a vote in Scripture – see if these …
So after I preach, I often have alot of doubts, second thoughts, and questions that I mull over. “Did that make any sense…did that connect with anyone…was I too pushy…was I bold enough…did I represent God well…did I misuse God’s Word…is anybody going to do anything with what I said today?” You know, nothing big or anything… But some of …
I just submitted my last assignment for my master’s at seminary. The air is fresher right now. The sun seems a little brighter (even though it is cloudy). My calendar seems a little more free. Tis the summer of Trav.
I was reading some highlights from the Q Conference in Atlanta and read this: The mysterious and anti-just-about-anything Rob Bell led Q attendees in a meaning-filled time of communion on Thursday night. I really appreciated his rhetorical question that asked “If [y]our church was removed from [y]our community, who would protest?” Pow! That’s a pretty interesting thought. If North Side …
“Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary.” Jeff gave a devotion on this passage in this morning’s staff meeting. It was much needed. I think it is hard sometimes to explain to people what goes on in the lives’ of people leading at a church. You …
I got to play bass at North Side yesterday morning, and I am beginning to notice something: you people sing really loud! I love it. Yesterday I felt like we all just had to tell God how much we loved him and how great he was, and just quiet voices couldn’t get it done. I love Fred Hammond. He’s a …
I read this blog today that I thought was very revealing. It is 10 ways to avoid building community at church. The first 5 are: 1. Keep conversations short. 2. Always sit in your “assigned” seat. 3. Avoid new people. 4. Come in late. 5. Leave immediately after the service (or early). If you want the whole article and the …
We are in the middle of a Life Focus series at North Side entitled “Invest and Invite” focusing on relational evangelism. I was reading a book by Thom Rainer called Surprising Insights from the Unchurched and have read some…uh…surprising insights from the unchurched. In the area of reaching out to the unchurched, I came across a staggering statistic: “Only one …
So we finished up the sermon series “7 Things to Do Before You Die” on Tuesday at Fusion with “Read the Bible from Cover to Cover” where we did a music/message approach to telling the one story of the Bible in one hour. OK, it was one hour and four minutes, I got unexpectedly emotional one time. Next week, we …
I have been reading a book on worship by A. W. Tozer lately and I came across a quote that really challenged me. He was talking about how consumer-oriented we tend to become concerning worship. If we like the songs or if the message really connected with us, we equate that with “good” worship. But worship is not an event. …
One reason why Submerge went so great was that it was about the Kingdom. There were churches there, but it was just one big family. No one was terratorial. No was defensive. We just all saw it like one big happy family. 230 people, over 9 churches together – just to go deeper in our relationship with Jesus. I love …
It’s about 1:11 in the morning, and we are starting to pack up for Submerge. It has been an amazing week and God has done some incredible things! I will tell you some more soon – but thank you for all those who have prayed.
I can’t wait to celebrate with the family tomorrow – HE GOT UP!!!
This week, in my new favorite show, 24, there was a great lesson in postmodernism. If you don’t know, postmodernism is the favorite pattern of thought in America today. Its basic tenet is that there is no absolute truth. Your truth is truth. Mine is truth. Even if they absolutely contradict, they are both true. Brilliant, huh? On 24, Doyle, …
Number 4 at Fusion tonight. You can see the notes here…
So, I’m searching the internet to get a taste of what other churches are doing around the globe, and I stumbled on to this church called Gateway Community Church in Virginia who did something crazy last October. They canceled services! But they canceled the services in order to serve. The whole church body got together that morning, not to sit …
We are starting our 2-week series entitled, HOPE, tomorrow at North Side Baptist Church in Greenwood. I am so excited about the Easter season and I think that the next two weeks are going to be two of the most incredible, memorable days of worship in North Side’s history. OK, I know I sound like I am betting on some …
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