As 2013 rushes to a close, it’s time to look back over the shoulder at some of the thoughts, ideas, concepts, and random ramblings here at my blog. The top 10 most-read posts from 2013 were: This Child Isn’t Coming Home My White Daughter’s Black Baby Doll Just Like My Daddy 46 Things Most Parents Don’t Know About Their Children …
I heard a story about D. L. Moody in college that stuck with me. He was a great evangelist that had an incredible ministry. As the story goes, one day a lady criticized Moody for his methods of evangelism. Moody’s reply: “I agree with you. I don’t like the way I do it either. Tell me, how do you do …
For the Christian, pain and rejoicing are not mutually exclusive. We can and should experience them both at the same time. As the last services of 2013, we were able to receive some wonderful encouragement through Scripture. 1 Peter 4:12-19 serve as a great look back over last year and a great perspective for the year to come. Suffering is coming …
The Christmas Eve service at North Side has become one of my favorite times of the year. While we have had many memorable moments worshiping together in that room, this year’s Christmas Eve service may have been one of the most special. I don’t think I have ever heard the volume from the congregation be as loud as it was …
I love celebrating Jesus with our church family. Today was a rainy Sunday before Christmas and yet the house was full of joy! Each Sunday this month we have started our services with some type of instrumental piece. Today, we started with a flute choir and they did fantastic. Led by Leah Wilson, we had five ladies who played, and …
“This is the command – the statues and ordinances – the LORD your God has instructed me to teach you, so that you may follow them in the land you are about to enter and possess. Do this so that you may fear the LORD your God all the days of your life by keeping all His statutes and commands …
Abraham was the father of Isaac. Isaac the father of Esau and Jacob – twin boys. While Esau was the older and rightful heir to the family inheritance, Jacob manages to take the birthright from his older brother (Gen. 25:29) and receive Esau’s blessing from their father, Isaac (Gen. 27:18-29). In the first instance, Jacob exploits Esau’s hunger and lackluster …
Great day to celebrate the life in our church! We started the services out with a piano Christmas instrumental. Inspired by the Piano Guys, we wanted to come up with our own arrangement of Christmas carols but take the lid off the piano and get a bit creative. The biblical call is to “play skillfully on the strings” (Psalm 33:3) …
But how can people call for help if they don’t know who to trust? And how can they know who to trust if they haven’t heard of the One who can be trusted? And how can they hear if nobody tells them? -Romans 10:14 (MSG) To truly realize how lost the world is, we must first realize how lost we …
We led the song “My Hope” yesterday from the upcoming “Stand Firm” project. This fun bluegrass tune gets so rowdy I felt the need for both a banjo and a harmonica! The track is filled with mandolin, cowbell, and about anything else we could find. The song started with 1 Peter 3:13-17 as we studied through 1 Peter. The Scripture …
December has been such a special time at North Side. So much energy and focus – I love it. Each week we are doing some type of instrumental Christmas number to begin our time together. Today, Gary Funderburk did a great version of “O Little Town of Bethlehem” on the saxophone. We then did the wonderful song “Let There Be …
Mornings are always fun at the Agnew house. Church office hours begin at 8 for us, so I try to get up early and help Amanda by getting the kids going before I leave. The other morning, Obadiah was complaining about his stomach hurting when he woke up. The night before he had been a little defiant as the evening …
College football just experienced an intense weekend. So many games were on the verge of an upset and Auburn’s victory over Alabama in the last seconds will be talked about for years to come. With many highlight-worthy moments this weekend, you might not have seen one of my favorite highlights from the previous weekend. It came when Florida lost to …
Last Sunday, we concluded our services with the song “I Will Honor You.” We originally unveiled it at our Epworth Night of Worship and I heard so many encouraging words. It was a perfect way to end our services on how husbands are to love their wives. While the wives’ song had 6 verses to use, this song for husbands …
Special day, today. We focused on how to experience the good life. How to have peace on earth. To begin the services, we played a little Trans Siberian Orchestra and told the story of the cello player in Bosnia where the melody originally came from. After the Allens did a great job welcoming us into worship, we did a worship …
We are called to examine ourselves to see if we are genuinely believers or not (2 Cor. 13:5). As a parent, how can you thoroughly examine to see if your children are Christians? Even a young man is known by his actions – by whether his behavior is pure and upright. -Prov. 20:11 Parenting is challenging, but it is extremely …
Special day today. I loved watching God at work impacting homes. We focused on 1 Peter 3:7 today. One verse drove our services. It all focused on how husbands are called to live with their wives. As we focused on a time of worship geared on our thankfulness to God, it was great to hear our church express gratitude towards …
As we are nearing the end of Lander’s semester, it was time last week to hand out evaluations for my students to complete. As I was handing out their forms, I received last year’s evaluation from my Old Testament class. There are things they grade you on and then there is a place for comments. I received 12 comments and …
For the last few summers, my dear friend Jody Jennings had asked me to go to Family Camp with him up North. The concept of a summer camp for family was great, but the distance was just not feasible for us. I began to talk with friends about the idea, and over and over, people said they wished something like …
In this stage of parenting, I hear one phrase as much if not more than all other phrases: “Dad, look at what I did.” Even if it is Baby Gloria babbling at me and pointing to something she knocked over, my children desire for me to recognize their accomplishments. I am constantly being called to look at pictures drawn, letters …
We played “Without a Word” for the second time yesterday. We originally unveiled it at our Epworth Night of Worship and I heard more comments about that song more than any other one. As we got to 1 Peter 3:1-6 yesterday (the text for the song), I heard just as many positive comments. This passage presented a dilemma for us: …
Such a specific day at North Side. What I mean by that is oftentimes you can leave from a gathering and unable to sum up what the point was. Today, it was very clear: wives need to live for Jesus in front of their husbands to bring them closer to Jesus. Mama Barnes and the Faith Home did a fantastic …
Churches used to compare and compete with other churches down the road. You would hear about what another congregation was doing and you would try to repeat it, hijack it, improve it, or do the complete opposite to try to attract disgruntled folks down the road. With the rise of social media, you can now compete with any church anywhere …
At 100 years old for Abraham and 90 years old for Sarah, they finally have a son, Issac. God’s promise is fulfilled. God has blessed their family so they can be a blessing to all the families in the world. Yet, God makes things interesting again. When Issac is older, God calls Abraham to sacrifice his son (Gen. 22:2). After …
Last night, I got the opportunity to teach two groups of parents at North Side concerning children and technology. We simply scratched the surface concerning education and protection of their children. Most of the things I shared were enlightening. Technology and media change so rapidly, it is hard for a parent to keep up. And while 20 years ago, …
As we begin the countdown to the release of our “Stand Firm” worship project based on 1 Peter, I wanted to provide you with some info on the songs written. This first storytellers edition is on the song “Suffer Like Him” which we have sung the last 2 weeks at North Side. The 5th song on the project, “Suffer Like …
On this Monday, I am joyfully exhausted. We have been praying, studying, planning, rehearsing for months now for Saturday’s night event. And yet, once it happened, it reminded me of how much more than an event this turned out to be. Our worship team was able to be a part of discipleship through worship. We were using songs to teach …
After a long weekend of worshiping at Epworth, our worship team was riding on one of those exhausted momentum moments. You know the kind when you are tired yet excited all at the same time? We were so glad to have the Peak band lead us in worship this Sunday. These students are so advanced beyond their years in so …
Mark Driscoll hosted the Resurgence 2013 Conference this week. I was able to stream some of it late in the evening and early in the morning. In his opening address, he spoke out against tribalism. It’s the dangerous trend that we get stuck in the way our group does church and tend to think that everyone else are foolish. Just …
In the times we live, it is hard to have respectful disagreements. In this age of tolerance, people are intolerant if you say your beliefs are correct. There is no absolute truth except the absolute truth that there is none (are you getting the problem here?). In these current cultural wars, oftentimes, theological differences are accepted for the sake of …
Every week, I look forward to leading our church in worship. I get to serve alongside some of the most godly and talented folks that I have ever encountered. Each week, I love to hear God’s people singing out God’s truths. Even more importantly, I love watching God’s people live out God’s truths. For that goal is how we direct …
As we left the church campus today, I told Amanda I am sure that I have never heard a complete message on what it means to submit to governing authorities. And I also don’t think I have ever heard a preacher talk so specifically even as a sidebar of what that means. Today was straight up real talk, folks. “Submission …
I have heard some great feedback concerning our 1 Peter worship project. From people within the church to people that have heard about it somewhere else, folks have been very encouraging about the thought about an album that teaches the truths of a book of the Bible through music. The music is complete and we are less than 2 weeks …
1 Peter 2:11 Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. 12 Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation. As we continue through 1 …
My wife does a fantastic job of teaching our children to appreciate their father. They are regularly expressing gratitude for providing for them. It’s a sweet thing, but it does have its consequences. The other morning I was getting the kids dressed and ready for the day when Eli asked his daily question. “Dad, do you have to go to …
We would love for you to join us for our Stand Firm Night of Worship on Saturday, November 9th at 6:30PM at Epworth Camp. Join us as we record a live CD based off of original music that has been written at North Side for the 1 Peter series “Stand Firm.” We have already used some of the music at …
Today was a great day to worship with the church family. We got to 1 Peter 2:9-10 this week as we discussed being God’s chosen people. We introduced a new song from our “Stand Firm” project. The song was entitled “Declare Your Praise.” It was based on the Scripture for this week and surrounding weeks. Someone commented after worship that …
Our band got the privilege of leading worship at First Baptist Ware Shoals Sunday night. We were asked to do the “Knowing Jesus” event and our group always loves getting to go through that music together. The music was composed by our band and it tells the story of Christ through the major events and teaching. Since writing the music …
We focused today on the “Living Stones” described in 1 Peter. Built upon the cornerstone of Jesus and solidified by the Word of God. In addition to some worship music focusing on these elements, we also highlighted our partnership with End Bible Poverty. We are raising the funds to translate 1 Peter for the Mushere people of Nigeria. The map …
The Agnews piled in the minivan in the middle of September for a 4-day trip to the beach. We had just finished a month where we had started homeschooling and I returned to teaching at Lander. We had started back up our college group at the house. We had also just finished a week of Gathering services in addition to …
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