The pic above is Mama Barnes teaching us all how to dance at 80 years old! She dances better than 18 year olds!
Mama Barnes and the Faith Home Choir helped lead us in worship today and it is always a privilege to have them. We consider this group as part of our family, and seeing the change that this ministry makes in the lives of people is always such a thrill to watch.
Today, we worshiped to:
Continuing on through the Book of Acts, we arrive at one of my favorite passages of Scripture. In Acts 5, Peter and the disciples are at it again. Preaching in the name of Jesus when they have been warned to stop.
They continue anyway.
While they are threatened, they show no sign of wavering. One of the Pharisees, Gamaliel, escorts the disciples out and tries to reason with the angered religious leaders.
His comments are incredible:
The above picture is the Love {in}Deed map that we unveiled today at North Side. We are excited that on March 10th, we are leaving the worship service for the real service to begin as we serve in nearly every corner of Greenwood. Signups were a great first day, but we still have some open spots!
I was so thankful to have some of our high school students help lead worship today. These young men have a genuine passion for the Lord and are leading off stage and on stage at such a high level. Not a high level for their age. A high level. It is an honor to have them help lead worship. I am looking forward to letting the next generation in our church lead more often!
Today, we worshiped to:
In this week’s study of the Book of Acts, we have arrived at the Lying Church present in Acts 4:32-5:16. In this section, it shows how the early church continued to grow and how no one was in need because people were actually selling land and homes and giving it away to those who had need.
Pretty incredible stuff! We think it is awesome when people give 10% to meet a need, and these people were actually selling stuff if the need was too great.
Then, they walked in.
Ananias and Sapphira were a part of the church. They were watching all the hype happening with the people. The church was celebrating individuals for their acts of holiness, and they decided to try to cash in on the excitement.
Bad, bad idea.
They did sell a piece of land. They did give some of the money to the church, but they lied about how much it was so that they could: 1) benefit themselves, and 2) receive praise from man. The Holy Spirit alerted Peter of their deception, and he calls them out individually and each of them dies in the midst of the church body.
I’m sure Peter had everyone’s attention then! Can you imagine this scene at your church house if this happened on a Sunday morning?!
Here’s what we can take away:
As people celebrate Lent today, many people have decided to give something up. My recommendation to you is to join me and pick something up instead.
Would you consider joining me for the next 40 days for The Andrew Challenge?
The Andrew Challenge is very simple – be intentional for the next 40 days to bring someone to Jesus.
Andrew was one of the 12 disciples of Jesus. We don’t know much about him other than the fact that he was responsible for connecting his brother, Peter, to Jesus.
One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ). He brought him to Jesus. -John 1:40-42
That’s the challenge. Use the 40 days leading up to Easter to invest in someone pointing them to Jesus. Invite them over for a meal. Grab some coffee. Pray for them. Share your testimony. Begin to share the gospel with them when the door is open. Look at the next 40 days as a consecrated time to invest in someone intentionally.
Here’s what you need to do:
There was an ironic joke that was shared concerning the song “It Is Written” from our “Knowing Jesus” project. With all the songs complete and recorded, there was only song that had not yet been written. It’s name? “It Is Written.”
To say that this song barely made it on there is an understatement.
We wanted a song to focus on Jesus’ sinless perfection. We wanted to tell the story of how Jesus stayed faithful during the temptation of Satan. It needed to be a little eerie, but a lot triumphant.
And we could just not land on the song.
While I am a part of the crew that creates the worship services, I was shocked at how much I was personally impacted today. I felt like I was on a roller coaster ride a couple of times, and I felt the story was told in such a heavy way today.
We started with an acoustic and just vocal song to encourage people to sing out into worship. We then continued the theme and lifting Jesus up and getting out of the way. After reading some Scripture about Jesus’ temptation, we then sang “It Is Written” as a call for us to obey God’s Word instead of our desires. Some of our college students then did a fantastic job of doing the “Everything” drama set to music by Lifehouse. As that ended dramatically, we began to sing, “Knowing you, Jesus, knowing you, there is no greater thing.” And then the message that was full of truth!
I don’t know why – but it was heavy for me today. I was blown away by some of the comments today after services and some of the stories that I was hearing of how individual elements spoke to different people. There are people who were on the verge of throwing their lives away that are turning away from this world system and turning to Jesus. Overwhelmed!
Today, we worshiped to:
In Acts 3-4, we see the story of the lame man sitting outside the temple. Peter and John pass by and instead of giving him money, they get him to walk. Much better.
As they enter the temple, the man is leaping and praising God. He is also clinging to those that reached out to him. And with the great thing that happened, enemies of Jesus are against it completely.
Here are some things to note about this proclaiming church:
I am thrilled that NSU is starting up this Sunday, Feb. 10th!
North Side University is a 2-year intensive training for those interested in growing as a disciple-maker. The training is comprised of course information, practicum experiences, and intentional mentorship. At the end of the 2 years, a completion of this program would equip a disciple-maker to effectively carry out the Great Commission within his or her specific context.
THE 2-YEAR PLAN consists of:
This week’s edition of storytellers focuses on the song “You Must Increase” from our “Knowing Jesus”project. This song was written focusing on the period of the consecration of the Christ. This song was to highlight his relationship with John the Baptist and the entire religious scene at the time.
As Jesus’ cousin, John the Baptist knew plenty concerning the Christ. His entire life was purposed to point people away from himself and towards Jesus.
His famous words in John 3:30 served as the crux for this song: “He must increase, I must decrease.”
I had the privilege of serving college students this weekend at BCM Converge down at Myrtle Beach. The boys and I had a great time hanging with students, and I got to talk with two great breakout groups concerning orphan care.
So, as I am heading back today from a wonderful weekend, I did miss out on being with North Side this Sunday, but I am confident everything was fantastic!
Today, we worshiped to:
We had the privilege last night to lead worship at Leath Correctional Institute. It’s one of the South Carolina women’s prisons that is stationed here in Greenwood. For many of our band, this was the first experience like this.
And it was one of the most memorable times of leading worship I have ever experienced.
We led the “Knowing Jesus” presentation and I did a sermonette towards the end. It was intended to be a mere couple of minutes, but they were giving me too much response for me not to go on a little bit longer.
We originally were supposed to go Wednesday night, but the storm kicked us out because they didn’t want 200 inmates in an open room if the power went out. When I told the workers that it’s all good and we were there to serve them, they said that was a unique attitude. Many that come into the prison to minister or to help have shown a little arrogance. That’s just not so wonderful to hear. So we decided to really change the vibe in there as much as we could.
Many people claim what we saw last night was “jailhouse religion” that is just an escape from reality. It is a crutch to get through. It is a safe assurance that won’t last longer until they get back on the streets.
The reality? Some of their spiritual maturity in prison makes so many of ours seem shallow and empty outside these walls. Shame on us who walk in spiritual and physical freedom and yet never live a life that beams gratitude.
Here are just some of the highlights from the evening:
I was his father. He was my son. But at the time, we were just learning each other.
I was in Ethiopia getting ready to bring my son home from the orphanage. We had many obstacles in his life to combat, but we really had faith that God was going to do some special things in his life.
When I called home to tell Amanda about our first encounters, I told her of how Eli was so handsome, funny, and energetic. I told her that the nannies called him the “bus driver,” because all the bus drivers in Ethiopia were short, fat, and assertive. Not sure if that was a good thing at the time or not.
She then asked if there was anything else that she needed to know.
Well, there was on thing for which she needed to prepare herself.
As we composed the music for “Knowing Jesus,” there were some time gaps that deserved a song, but you didn’t want to force lyrics upon the situation. Some of the moments could be better suited instrumentally than trying to come up with forced lyrics.
One example is the time after Jesus’ birth until his entrance into ministry. This time covers from an infant until he is 30 years old. It’s a large gap of time. It’s the biggest timeframe of his life, but there is little biblical material on the timeframe. We know the magi came to visit, he stayed around in the temple as a young boy, and we are told that he grew in wisdom and stature.
That’s about it.
So, I asked our very own Eric Bryant if he had or could compose some finger-picking acoustic music that would sound like a boy growing into a man.
He said he’d work on it.
That’s why I love this team.
The above picture is a shot of my sermon notes today. 1 John 2:3-6 is so plain, there isn’t a ton to unpack there. It’s pretty simple. If you really know Jesus, you will keep his commandments.
There really wasn’t a lot to add to that Scripture, so I didn’t try to add a bunch to it. God’s Word is sufficient. It doesn’t need frills, it just needs to be heard.
So that’s what we did. We ended my message early and let God speak.
As we continue our study in Acts, we come to the topic of the family church. While Acts 2:42-47 is descriptive in nature, it does have some activities in which all churches should emulate.
Here’s the description of what the Church looked like after Peter’s message at Pentecost:
I’m preaching Sunday. I sometimes have mini-sermonettes while I lead worship. I feel like my part of my job is to be a pastor with a guitar. Not the fella who picks out the songs. But this week, I get the honor of opening up the Word of Life for the North Side family. And I’ve got that feeling. I …
The picture above was taken during the funeral for Eric Petrus. Eric was a friend of mine for many years. We’re the same age. Eric battled cancer for over a 3rd of his life.
And he won.
He has finally been healed by God. The struggle is over, and cancer will never cause an ounce of pain or grief for him ever again. He is home.
As I sat through his funeral, I watched the most vivid example of the “peace that surpasses all comprehension” displayed through Ken Petrus at his son’s funeral. That is Ken on the right side of the picture praying over the hundreds of people in attendance. For those in attendance, it was a remarkable display of composure and peace.
It’s much more than he didn’t break out into weeping like most people would. That wouldn’t have made his message a failure. Grieving is not evil. It was his honesty and hope that spoke volumes.
“Twisted crown of thorns upon Your head.”
When we got together to begin the process of writing “Knowing Jesus” – a chronological worship project focusing on the life of Christ – the above lines were the first ones penned. I had put a group of 4 in our living room to work on the crucifixion song, and 4 of them were in the playroom working on the resurrection song. The task was to study all 4 gospel accounts on the event for a good while before writing anything down.
The groups studied the Word for a long while. After I went back and forth between each room, I eventually allowed them to start writing the song. It was so incredible to watch Woody, Evan, Peggy, and Michael work. The line that served as a catalyst for this group was John 19:2 as it described a twisted crown of thorns placed upon the head of Jesus. If you are familiar with the artwork, you also see how this line played a big part in the big picture.
This one took a long while for it to be finished (kinda ironic).
I’ve tried to make the biblical text of the day always guide our services, but recently I’ve felt the need to take it a step further. As a worship leader, I sometimes feel like I need to state the obvious. I don’t pick out songs based on what songs I would like to sing. I design a service to set the table for the Word to be proclaimed. I love it when the Word has already been proclaimed before the preacher gets on the platform.
So, today, I stated the obvious. Since 1 John 1:5-2:2 was the focal text in which the service was designed, I read different passages as we went through the service. Since the 1st section came from the 1st section of the service, I tried to connect the dots for the worshipers. Same thing for the 2nd part and following. Hopefully, our church is able to see the biblical intentionality that we take for every single thing that goes in a service.
Today, we worshiped to:
Week 2 in our study of Acts and we come to see what the empowered Church looks like. What could happen when the Spirit of God radically changes lives in a congregation?
One of my mentors, Chuck Lawless, once taught me that the scary thing about many people is how much “ministry” they could actually do in their own power. Natural talents and gifts could be so visible that it appears that God is blessing something when in actuality, maybe it’s just worldly success. It could be simple influence.
I don’t want to settle for influence. I want the Spirit of God.
My first job out of college was college and missions pastor at North Side. Dual responsibilities are always challenging in a church, but I loved both of them. I thought I had figured out college ministry pretty early on. We began to do a “cutting-edge” worship service away from a church building, because doing it in an established church would …
I admit it: I am bald.
Some of you may say that I am going bald, let’s just face it: I’m a few steps away from taking a straight razor to the remaining stragglers out there. The enemy has advanced and there seems no sign of surrender on its part.
So many people have noticed my beautiful baby girl Gloria as of late and say, “Oh, how sweet…she is so beautiful…she’s got Amanda’s smile…well, she looks like you with the hair…”
If I had a dollar for every time someone has pointed out the obvious statement like it was a new revelation, Gloria’s college would be paid for. Yes, my baby has some peach fuzz. Her mom didn’t have a full set of hair till later, so I suppose the jokes will continue for a while. But she is way prettier than me, and please don’t scar her for life by saying she looks like her bald daddy ;).
It’s OK. I’ve accepted the fact that male pattern baldness has overtaken me.
I was an early starter to this whole thing. I noticed it in my junior year of college. When I would play ultimate frisbee, I began to realize that my longer hair, at the time, would all kind of huddle up together in the middle into this swooping pattern.
One day, one of my best buddies, Steven Furtick, asked me if he could shave my head.
“Our Father” was the song written for “Knowing Jesus” to capture the essence of Jesus’ prayer life. In studying the gospels, you can’t escape from the fact that Jesus prayed a lot. And when Jesus prayed, stuff happened.
Unfortunately, for many of us, our prayer life can be characterized by the statement: “All we have left to do now is pray.” Can you imagine the Almighty God hearing such pathetic pleas as if He is a last resort? Prayer is not a spare tire. Prayer is not a last ditched effort. Prayer – communion with God – shakes heaven and earth.
There is something so strong when church worship is centered around the Word of God and not ourselves. While a commitment to and a love for the Bible has always been present at North Side, it just seems as if it grows in intensity each week. I am so thrilled with what is going on at North Side! In …
I’m teaching through the Book of Acts this semester. I’m not teaching at Lander this Spring, but I am teaching a survey of sorts. I’m teaching it in 3 places: 1) College group at our house on Wednesday nights, 2) worship team practices on Wednesday nights, and 3) this blog. I will be sharing some insights here weekly.
I’m teaching on Acts for a few different reasons: 1) it’s a book of the Bible, 2) it’s really good, 3) we are tragically neglecting the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives, and 4) I have never known such a time as then when Christians were more confused concerning what the Church really is.
We are clueless to what the Church really is.
I was blessed to gain some true men of God as brothers when I was in college at North Greenville. Out of those relationships, the Via family became very near to me. I have told you about Josh Via and his family’s quest to bring their daughter home. Through many crazy adventures, their daughter came home even when it didn’t …
I am the Fantasy Football champion. Well, at least for my league. The guys in my community group created a league for the 2nd year, and after being blown out in the 1st round of the playoffs last year, I was able to withstand some serious close calls to pull out for a championship victory.
I have so arrived.
What’s interesting about fantasy football is your attention becomes solely on the players instead of the teams. I didn’t care if the Vikings or the Panthers won, I just wanted Adrian Peterson and Cam Newton to rack up points. I was more concerned with the success of one than the victory of the team.
And the majority of the Church in America is operating out of the same perspective.
Over Christmas, we led the song “Gloria” at North Side a few times. This song is included on the “Knowing Jesus” project and covers the incarnation part of Jesus’ life. It’s the Christmas song. Jesus came to us.
Back at our songwriting day at our house last year, Strutton, Evan, Linda, and Nancy had a small session to work on this song. They had gotten stumped on parts of the song, but they came before the larger group with a 4-part choral arrangement of simply singing the word “Gloria.” While it wasn’t long in length, I absolutely loved the beauty of it and knew that would be the foundation of the song. The main melody became the instrumental hook at the beginning and throughout the song, and it also was the bridge of the song. The final sounded very much like what was sung in my living room.
The chorus was written on the plane while I was traveling to Africa. I was reading Luke 2 and just heard this escalating line in my head: “Glory to God in the highest.” I recorded it on my phone while my traveling companions were sleeping so I wouldn’t forget it. When I returned to the States, I opened up Luke 2 again and simply began to sing. The majority of the song could be sung straight out of the ESV Bible with little variation to that text. Love it when the Word takes over. The remainder of the song was written in about 15 minutes as the Word and the music just kinda collided together.
Since the song would be a turnaround from the dramatic opener, we needed something to grab attention at the beginning.
I never thought I would find the beginning of the song sitting with my wife in the doctor’s office.
New year. New series. New book. We started our 3-monthish focus of 1 John this morning with a series entitled: “Knowing That You Know Jesus.” If you recall, we studied the Gospel of John and it was called “Knowing Jesus,” but this focus is really settling on testing to see if you are in the faith or not. How can one be sure that he or she is saved?
Today was one of our most packed and energetic Sundays I can ever remember. Both services were hopping, and there was a real eagerness to encounter Jesus today. I was so thankful to Cole, Patrick, Julio, and Sam for sharing about their time at Passion 2013. So great to hear how God was using them and how God is leading them for their next steps. Can’t wait to see what he does through these students and the many others who went with our church.
Today, we worshiped to:
At the beginning of 2012, I huddled our worship team together to dream a bit. I started with the slide above. As worship leaders, I wanted us all to grow a bit. I wanted us to respond to God’s revelation through worship, but I also wanted us to begin to really pray how we could apply Colossians 3:16 in our church. How could our worship team better disciple and teach our church the truths of God’s Word?
Part of the answer?
So, what did you do on your Christmas vacation? The North Side staff enjoyed some days with the offices closed between Christmas and New Years (all except for those things called “Sunday’s” stuck in the middle ;)), but today we are back to the grind.
My Christmas vacation was spent with the most 4 precious people in the world – Amanda, Obadiah, Eli, and Gloria. Eli asked me every morning, “Dad, is this the day you have to go back to work?” I eventually pulled out the calendar to show him when I went back, he then went running around the room saying he couldn’t wait to wrestle, build bonfires, play hide-n-seek, play Wii, and many other things. He had my agenda planned.
So, what did I do?
Wonderful Sunday to wrap up 2012 at North Side. Being the week between Christmas and New Year’s, I gave the band the week off for practice, and then we had 2 ladies call in sick this morning unable to sing. So we had to do some major scrambling and changing of the setlist this morning, but this worship team never ceases to amaze me with their ability to be flexible when I have to call some audibles.
Today was the first time I have ever led worship with the banjo. I got to play that on one song, the hammered duclimer on one, and guitar on others. It was a definite bluegrass kinda morning. The fellas did a great job! It was wonderful to hear an update on Project Love Christmas Bash today as well as pray for our West Africa team which just landed earlier. The gospel in Greenwood and beyond. Love being a church committed to the Great Commission!
Today, we worshiped to:
Almost didn’t write this song. Definitely close to finishing project and not recording it. Didn’t want an album full of bluegrass Christmas songs to be interrupted by an original that didn’t connect. Surprisingly, the song “Peace on Earth” has meant so much to our congregation in light of personal struggles and in light of national events like the shooting in …
If you have ever wondered who is the media mastermind behind our services, look no further. My son, Eli, is the technological guru behind all things AVL during our services. Well, he at least likes to act like he is. Honestly, he’s so smart and skilled in these areas, it won’t be long.
I always love the Sundays before Christmas. Today was a little different. The worship was great. Message was powerful. Great services full of eager worshipers, but so much stuff happening before, during, and after services that it is hard to process. Watching families work on reconciliation in our midst. Unemployed fathers trying to find assistance to provide for their family this year. Single moms trying to find hope. Families unable to attend worship because they are beside hospital beds. And so much more. It’s the Body of Christ. It’s church. It’s not usually glamorous, but it’s real life, and I’m honored I get to alongside these people as Christ draws them closer.
Today, we worshiped to:
Personally, I have been overwhelmed and humbled by the encouraging amount of feedback we have received about our 4th 2012 worship album: “Peace on Earth: A Bluegrass Christmas.” What started as a neat idea to have a small EP turned into something a little larger and more thematic. We have sold out of our original run, and have been refilling stock as often as we can. Many of our members have given theirs away and needed another one.
There are some random stories and interesting facts from each track. If you like knowing some of the behind the scenes stuff, read below:
Like the rest of the country, I’m attempting to obtain some sense of normalcy since the Newtown shooting. When Adam Lanza barged into an elementary school and killed 26 unsuspecting children and adults, the country is taken to a rightful standstill. The only person not engaged in the conversation in America is the one we would like to receive answers from – Adam Lanza.
In the ensuing moments, our minds linger elsewhere. For some of us, we thought of our children. For some of us, we thought of policy changes. For all of us, we naturally went to what what have fixed this situation.
Well, what could have stopped the Newtown Massacre?
We had a wonderful time being the church today. Whenever the service starts out with Jeff getting on the banjo, you know it is going to be a special day!
We actually sold out of our “Peace on Earth” CDs today, but we will have some more copies available for tomorrow night at the mall. So thankful for the encouraging response we have received. The time of worship was powerful, and I never knew how God was orchestrating the details of the service together.
We had a powerful time of worship and intercession over the people of Newtown, CT. And what I loved about it was the order of service was in play before the tragedy occurred. We had planned to sing the new song “Peace on Earth” during the service as a lead into the message, and was the song ever timely with our congregation yesterday. Pictures from Newtown filled the back wall as we sang, “There are wars in the streets, there are wars where we sleep, o, the wreckage it grows by the day. My soul can only take so much of this heartache, help me, Jesus, please don’t delay.”
As we sang, you could tell the amount of prayers going up in the room hoping that the people devastated by this tragedy will realize that the peace on Earth Jesus promised can be found in him even among such horrible times.
Today, we worshiped to:
Wanted to invite you and your family to join the North Side family at the Greenwood Mall Monday night. A bunch of things are happening and we would love for you to join us!
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