Little Drummer Boys

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On Tuesday, we had some eager people who wanted to bring something by the house for our boys.  This seemed a little different than other trips.  Something in my gut said this was more than handing out cookies. When I walked in my home, I realized that these people had already arrived.  These people brought a loud device with explosive …

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Derailed by Sex

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What a great day to be a part of North Side!  I got the privilege of preaching for Jeff on the topic of “Derailed by Sex.”

Questions concerning sex and marriage were plaguing the Corinthians church and still plague believers today.  The church raised questions through their lifestyle and in their letter to Paul in which he felt the need to respond on the issues of sex outside of marriage, sex within marriage, divorce, and singleness.  His instructions to them still hold true for us today.

It was a difficult topic to address and a whole lot to cover, but I pray that it was a benefit to those listening today.  If you want to check it out online, you can listen here.

Today, we worshiped to:

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Good Friday Service

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On Good Friday (April 22nd), spend your evening at North Side with a special service spent remembering the cross. Baptism & Lord’s Supper. We will include baptism and an observance of the Lord’s Supper this evening.  If you would like to be baptized on this date, please comment here.  Your RSVP is helpful too as we prepare for the Lord’s …

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Should I Tithe While in Debt?

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One of the most frequented asked questions I receive from people concerning giving is: “should I tithe while in debt?”

My short answer is yes.

Now, here is the medium answer concerning why I say, “yes.”

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Fathers: It’s Better to Attempt Than to Regret

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Last week’s evenings were pretty full for our family, and so I took off early last Tuesday to do something special with the Agnew boys.  Some of the guys in our college Bible study play for Lander’s baseball team, and so I decided this would be a great trip for us.  We had been playing a lot of baseball in the yard as of late, and I thought the game would mesmerize the boys.

After loading the boys in the truck, finding our way to the field, I realized something about taking 2 almost 3-year-olds to a baseball game:

It’s a horrible idea.

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Lift Recap

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Words can’t even express how humbled I was to be a part of Lift.

Having North Side’s own volunteers give up their Saturday to work on things they already do so well is a reminder of the quality of people we have.  Having groups from the Carolinas travel from up to 5 hours away to spend their Saturday to learn with us is a reminder of stewardship in the Body of Christ.

At Lift, we worshiped to:

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Derailed by Lawsuits

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I love loud worshipers, and North Side got after it this morning!

Wow, what an incredible time together.  4th week in our Derailed series through 1 Corinthians, and today we landed on lawsuits within the church.  You gotta love the Word of God that makes it so clear for us to follow!

In addition to a great message, we also got to hear wonderful testimonies and promo for our Priscilla Shirer simulcast next week, commissioned some more college missionaries, and sang our faces off!  For the entire flowsheet, go here.

Today, we worshiped to:

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Definition of “Church”

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Honestly, it is one of the most confusing terms in American culture.  Most people have an answer.  Most people are convinced of their answer.  And most answers are very different from each other. So I want to hear from you. What is the definition of “church?”

Praying With Your Eyes Wide Open

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When we were little, adults taught us to pray with our eyes closed.  I suppose it had something to do with eliminating distractions or focusing on the One that we can’t see physically.

My son, Eli, has a different approach.

And I don’t plan on stopping him.

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LIFT is This Saturday!

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I was so encouraged yesterday hearing about the building excitement for Lift this Saturday!  We are only days away.  Our team is putting last minute touches on the event, and we could not be more excited!

On March 26th we will have a free worship workshop held at North Side Baptist in Greenwood, SC.  Bring your whole team and get equipped on how you can lift your worship, your team expectations, and your team’s abilities.  Tracks in musicians, vocalists, technicians, host teams, etc.  Good for choirs, bands, and anything in between!

The day has a funnel type schedule focusing on music, tech, and host teams that work in worship settings.  We start large, go to medium size, smaller groups, and then back all together.

This workshop is for seasoned worship team members and also for those who are just curious if they have the skills needed to join.  It’s free lessons, so nothing to lose!  Not only will we have a lot of information, we are going to have a lot of fun!

Here is our promise: we are teaching principles, not models.  We don’t want you to copy what we are doing, we are going to teach principles that we have been learning that can be applied into any context.  If you want to reserve your spot, you can do so here.

See below for the information on all the classes:

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Derailed by Negligence

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Within the church, a sin that can wield more damage than immorality is that of negligence.  When Christians don’t confront sin within the church, unholy living can become widespread.  The Apostle Paul handles this situation in a surprising way in this ignored passage (1 Corinthians 5).

Today’s service was all about being “Derailed by Negligence.”  We put the whole service together dealing with how do the people of God handle sin committed by the people of God.

In addition to a video on temptation, we had a prayer time for people who we knew that were getting far away from God.  Using James 5:19-20 as our prayer focus, we prayed and planned how we would lovingly confront that person.

We also used some help to start out the message today.  Using a mom, coach, and sheriff, we got everyone to imagine what those environments would look like if there was no discipline.  Jeff came up then and asked would a church would look like without any discipline.  Powerful message.  The 1st time I have ever heard a pastor preach on 1 Corinthians 5.

Today, we worshiped to:

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Book of the Week: Christian Beliefs

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This week’s book of the week is Wayne Grudem’s Christian Beliefs: 20 Basics Every Christian Should Know.  This book is a condensed version of the condensed version of his first systematic theology textbook.  The big one that I read in college is 1,290 pages, and he has a condensed version of 528 pages.  This volume is down to 159.

I’ve always known Grudem had a brilliant mind.  Just recently, I discovered he’s my hero as he shared a testimony concerning marriage at Family Life’s Art of Marriage conference.  He is truly loving his wife the way Christ loved the church.  Never imagined this great theologian as such a romantic!

So much good stuff in here.  A short chapter on each belief.  Lots of scripture references and study.  I’ll give you 10 great lines from the first chapters to whet your appetite!

10 of the 20 Chapter Summaries:

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Sometimes the Best Notes Are the Ones Not Played

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Sometimes the best notes are the ones not played.

It is very easy for a band to get too busy while leading songs. Every musician has something to offer or else they wouldn’t be in the band.

What tends to happen is that at a turn-around in a song, every instrumentalist thinks it is their turn to contribute. Leading from the verse to the chorus, oftentimes, a band will have a drummer going on a monster roll, the guitarist bending strings like never before, the bassist sliding up to a fret that’s not even on the neck, and the keyboardist ripping and roaring down the ivories.

Vocalists can get up in the trap too when they silently compete to hear who can hold at the note the longest and the loudest.

While your group members may not be intentionally trying to steal the show, inability to understand and create powerful dynamics can ruin a song. The end product can sound more like a group of independent musicians than an actual unified band.

Here are some questions to ask:

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Anticipating the Arrival

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There’s nothing like going home to me.  I wish you could follow along with me my drive up the driveway after work every day.  The excitement is at different levels at different days, but normally I walk into 3 people jumping around and cheering like I am the best person in the world.  No matter how hard the day had been, this hysteria at 5:10 makes all things right in the world.

The other day, as I noticed Obadiah and Eli’s faces pressed against the window, banging on it with their hands, I thought they had gotten taller.  Turns out, they had climbed up on the window sill anticipating my arrival.  I don’t know why Eli was still peering out the window when I was standing behind him, but regardless, it was a special moment as they climbed up eager to see my truck arrive in the driveway (even if they did disobey by climbing up there).

The reason they get that excited is due to their perception of the person they are anticipating.  I don’t think I’m that spectacular, but in this season of life, they do.  And they show me in how they eagerly wait and celebrate my arrival.

The problem is that we aren’t that eager concerning Jesus’ return.

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AVL Field Trip for Our Worship Team

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This week our worship team training time involved a field trip.  We didn’t leave the building, but I took all of our techies, musicians, and vocalists all around the building so they could experience how all the audio, video, and lighting for our services worked.

As we are teaching our worship value excellence this month, I thought it was important that the people on the stage realized that the work of the people off the stage was just as vital to our worship services.  Singers can lead a song, but without someone putting the lyrics up at the proper time, no one can worship along.

So we took a trip.

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Hymnology: Brethren We Have Met to Worship

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Some hymns have many stories attached to them.  I am coming up with very few leads on one of my favorites as of late, “Brethren, We Have Met to Worship.”

This is what I do have:

It was penned by George Atkins in 1819 who was a Methodist pastor.

And…that’s it.  So if you do have more, I would love you to share any info you find in a comment below.

We arranged it with a touch of bluegrass.  Since most of the chordal arrangement focuses on a 1-5 progression, I wanted to exchange some chords to open it up a bit.  At the second half of the verse, we go in a different direction with the chords, and I think it breathes some new life into the song as it opens up and builds.

I also wrote a chorus to go along with it.  The song is great in itself, but I thought it needed some type of break in the middle and an additional part to it.  The chorus is simple and carries the message of the song: “We have come together in the name we adore, we have come to worship Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Yesterday, I explained what “manna” meant to the congregation so that no one would be singing what they didn’t understand (“manna” is the food that God provided while the Israelites wandered in the desert – he provides, he is enough).

The only problem I had with the song was the theological implications of the end of verse 4.  Here are the lyrics:

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Derailed by Immaturity

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2nd week of Derailed, and what an incredible walk through 1 Corinthians so far!  Getting to 1 Corinthians 3-4, we learned that Paul taught that immature believers are still selfish at their core.  A believer, or a church, can get derailed when they make all the decisions based upon selfish desires.

It was great seeing the church in action today.  We got to watch a great Disciple Now video recap highlighting our youth serving the community this weekend.

We also got the privilege to pray for Lander BCM students who have said yes to God’s call to go this summer!  This crew is going to South Carolina to India and everywhere in between.  It was so humbling watch “strangers” come up to these students and pray over them commissioning them out.  Wonderful time!

Today, we worshiped to:

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Book of the Week: Radical

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I had already shared my problems with David Platt’s book, Radical, a few months ago.  Still having a few chapters left at that time, I finished this book this week and still have the same soul-stirring problems when I started it.  Platt is so dedicated to God’s Word and his commission.  I just pray it is contagious in my heart …

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Help for Japan

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My heart has truly burdened by the images across my TV screen concerning the Japanese.  Serving on 2 different trips to this spiritually dark place makes the magnitude of this disaster even harder for me.  But we serve a God who can bring salvation from such disaster! Here’s how you can help!

Hymnology: All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name

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Recently, I had worked through an arrangement of “All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name” for worship.  A couple of the upcoming Sundays were calling for a song with this particular emphasis, but I wanted to make it palatable for all types of backgrounds.

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Here is the story behind the hymn:

Edward Perronet, the son of an Anglican vicar, originally introduced “All Hail The Power Of Jesus’ Name.” His family was closely associated with John Wesley of the Anglican Church. The verses written by Perronet have been called “The Coronation Hymn.” The lyrics affirm the kingship of Christ and His authority. Much of the imagery used is from the Book of Revelation and from Jeremiah. The music sounds particularly beautiful when played by a violin. One of the more famous stories surrounding “All Hail The Power Of Jesus’ Name” involves the use of a violin.

A missionary to India named E. P. Scott learned of a wild mountain tribe that had never been introduced to the message of Christ. Since they had never been presented with the gospel, he decided to visit that tribe. When he reached their mountain home, he discovered a group of savages on a war expedition. They took him back to camp and threatened to kill him. He closed his eyes and starting playing ” All Hail The Power Of Jesus’ Name” on his ever-present violin. The natives were so overcome; they dropped their spears and invited Rev. Scott to stay with them. He lived among them for over two years, converting many to Christianity.

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Why We Have Been Leading So Many Hymns Lately

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If you are a part of North Side or follow my Sunday’s set list on my blog, you might have noticed I have reintroduced some hymns lately.  While we have always sung hymns over the years, we mainly have used arrangements that others have used, but lately we have been adding some original twists on some classics.

Why might you ask?

Because I believe that Chris Tomlin and Charles Wesley are both my brothers in Christ and both have been blessed to write songs for the Church.  Too many people get stuck in a particular style of worship music that they can’t appreciate how God has gifted the entire Body of Christ over its entire life.

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Robert’s Rules of Order vs. the Holy Bible (Which Guides Your Church’s Meetings?)

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I’m still in awe of a meeting we had at church last night.  A group of 100 leaders from our church have been gathering together to pray and to plan in this One Initiative our church has been going through.  Last night, we discussed some possible changes that would affect everyone.  From the report that I get from friends, if those type of changes were being discussed in some congregations, it would have gotten ugly.

Let me give you an example.

A friend called me a couple of years ago after a church business meeting.  In tears, he retold of the ungodly things stated among the people of God.  He told me concerning personal attacks that took place.  He told me of the name-calling, the cursing, and the selfishness that pervaded the entire meeting.

He asked me what I thought went wrong.

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Derailed by Disunity

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Each week, I start out my post from Sunday talking about how great a morning it was.  This week was no different.  The services were a great outpouring of God’s goodness, but I must admit the entire day was amazing of watching the church in action.  In addition to wonderful services, I watched a volunteer team give it their all amidst great setbacks, a Spirit-led business meeting, and a group of guys pushing each other on to selflessness.

In short, I love our church!

Today, we started a new series entitled “Derailed,” where we began our study of 1 Corinthians.  While we looked at Ephesians as a church who got it, this church is the exact opposite.   In 1 Corinthians 1-2, the Corinthian church found themselves way off track from where Paul had planted them.  One particular way they had become derailed was in the area of disunity.  Their preferences of different styles of ministry kept them from unifying around Jesus.  We would be wise not to follow their example.

Today, we worshiped to:

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Book of the Week: StrengthsFinder 2.0

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This week’s book of the week is Tom Rath’s StrengthsFinder 2.0.  This book was given to me as a gift.  Within each book is a code that allows the reader to take an online survey which determines the 5 top strengths of the reader.  You then can read more concerning your personal strengths. The premise of the book is found …

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Critical Listening – A Tip for Unprepared Worship Teams

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The manner in which a team member prepares for worship practice is immensely important. If members come to practice unfamiliar with the songs, the time together can easily get frustrating.

The best way to get the most out of your practice time is if you group will engage in critical listening. This is best if they do this on their own, but the process can also be done as a group.

I send out scheduling requests for our musicians at least ten days out from the Sunday they would serve. This allows ample time for preparation. In addition to getting chord sheets and lyric sheets, they also have access to listen to the songs we are going to lead.

While they have ample time to prepare, sometimes it is easy for any of us to get slack on prepartion. It is normal for any of us to resort to passive listening. Passive listening is when the music is going on in the background of the house while you are doing other things. Passive listening is when you just hear sections of the song or get distracted by one element in the song that you forget to really think about what is transpiring. Passive listening leads to unprepared musicians.

There is another way.

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Shh…Eli Has a Secret…

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I took this picture when we were getting our boys new shoes the other day.  We were on the way to do some ministry at North Greenville on Friday, so we took our time and spent some time together in Greenville.

These boys are growing up very fast.  Their abilities and speech are taking off week by week.  I feel like I have two little men around me.

One of the things we have been having fun with is whispering in each other’s ears if we have secrets.  I’ll lean into the boys and say I have a secret, and I will say, “I love you,” or “Daddy is so proud of you.”

Obie got the hang of it first and began to repeat some of my secrets back to me.

Then Eli got into it, but I wasn’t prepared for what he was going to tell me.

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Confessions of a Narrow-Focused Church Member

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I have a confession to make: I am a narrow-focused church member.  I look at all the possible changes at our church at how it would affect me and mine.  I judge the worth of programs based upon how they benefit me and my family.  If it can make me feel better, I’m all in. I tend to refuse to …

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Homes for Hope (What a Year!)

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Homes for Hope was started at North Side in 2010. After a message on orphan care in December 2009, we were overwhelmed with the response of families wanting to help out. The interest was so great that Jeff Lethco told me to figure out a way to organize this so we can help people regularly.  The mission behind Homes for Hope is to make orphan care simple. If you have ever attempted to get through the paperwork attached to orphan care, you understand that sounds like an absurd statement. We can’t make orphan care easy, but we can make it simple. Our goal as a ministry is to provide logical steps in the 5 major ways to get involved.

James 1:27 commands us to care for orphans: “Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress…” There are many ways to help rescue the 143,000,000 orphans in the world. Here’s how our church is assisting people:

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The Armor of God (for the Church)

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What a great day at North Side!  We concluded a 3 month tour through the Book of Ephesians today as we studied the armor of God.

While this world is full of trouble, God has not left us defenseless.  In the concluding words of Ephesians, Paul includes directions for the armor of God that is meant to defend Christians.  Covered in his protection, the Church can endure the trials of this world.

I couldn’t think of a better way to end the study than the message today.  Jeff’s words were so good and God used him immensely in my life to really think about the armor of God and how it wasn’t written to the individual but to the church as a whole.  We are to all put on that armor so we can stand firm together!

Today, we worshiped to:

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Book of the Week: Sex, Romance, and the Glory of God

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This week’s book of the week is C. J. Mahaney’s Sex, Romance, and the Glory of God.

This short read is full of great scriptural insights into romance within marriage.  What I love about the book is that it is not crass but it is also not fuddy-duddy.  It speaks of marriage, sex, and romance in a practical, engaging manner and gets its boldness from the Word of God.

While it is geared primarily towards men, his wife also provides some chapters at the end.  So practical and so God-glorifying.  A great reclaiming of the joy of romance for Christians living God’s way!  Great read!

Top 5 Ideas:

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Lift Schedule

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Details are coming together for Lift, and our team is getting more and more excited by the day!  People from Greenwood to Summerville or planning on making the trek for this Saturday worship training session, and we could not be more humbled to partner with others to lead churches in worship.

I wanted to provide you with the schedule so you can make your plans.  It’s a funnel type schedule focusing on music, tech, and host teams that work in worship settings.  We start large, go to medium size, smaller groups, and then back all together.

This workshop is for seasoned worship team members and also for those who are just curious if they have the skills needed to join.  It’s free lessons, so nothing to lose!  Not only will we have a lot of information, we are going to have a lot of fun!

Here is our promise: we are teaching principles, not models.  We don’t want you to copy what we are doing, we are going to teach principles that we have been learning that can be applied into any context.  Please list any questions you might have.  You can register here.

See below for details:

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Caption Please: Pigeon Suit Guy vs. Bird Feeder

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I came across this video this morning and it made my day.  The quality is bad, but it is well worth 18 seconds. The sign reads: “Warning: Due to Overfeeding Some Pigeons May Become Aggressive.” If you were reporting on this story, what would you say?  Caption please…

Why God Might Be Out to Get Your Church

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Your church bears the name of Christ.  Most likely, your church was founded for his glory, was organized the way it is for his glory, but churches can get off track.

Our assumption is that God is for every church.  The very fact that it is called a church automatically receives God’s blessing, right?

What if I told you that God was actually against certain churches?  What if I told you that the most powerful being in the world actively opposed certain bodies?

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Your Job

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Great day at North Side as we are nearing the end of Ephesians.  Today’s big idea: Your Job (Eph. 6:5-9) – For most people, a job is something you endure rather than enjoy.  When we choose to see our performance in our job as an act of worship to God, it not only changes our perspective but probably our level …

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Book of the Week: The Multi-Site Church Revolution

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This week’s book of the week is The Multi-Site Church Revolution by Geoff Surratt, Greg Ligon, and Warren Bird.  Multi-site churches are growing by the day.  That term means a whole lot of different things, but fundamentally, it means being one church in many locations. Some of these congregations show videos of their preacher in different locations.  Some have campus …

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Platform Ministry Can Never Replace Relational Ministry

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Platform ministry can never replace relational ministry.

This week’s worship training consists of the worship value: availability – leading with presence.

When people are gifted in the arts, oftentimes, they are put on stage to perform ministry.  While time on the stage may be an outlet for ministry, oftentimes, the time off the stage validates the ministry.

Someone can get up in your church and raise the rafters with their vocal pipes.  It will provide emotion, goosebumps, and a positive experience, but it cannot compare with a talented worship leader who is involved in the lives of the people in the church.

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“Boy, Don’t You Know That There Are Orphans in Africa…”

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Eli came home on May 1st.  It is hard to believe he has only been home a year, because I can’t remember what our family was like before he was here.  I can honestly say that when I look at those two boys, I see my two sons.  I don’t see one biological and one adopted, I see the two Agnew boys.

Yet there are still moments when I say something that reminds me how much he is mine.  Sometimes if he gives me a look or I have a flashback of our time in Ethiopia, I remember for a moment what it was like when we were strangers.  More often than that, I find myself forgetting that he hasn’t been with us all the time.

Which brings us to what happened last week.

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Your Church’s Best Days Are Not Behind You

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I was talking with a friend the other day concerning the future of his church.  As a pastor in another state, he is working with a congregation that has seen some incredible moments in their history.  The problem is – that’s all they think about.

“Remember when pastor so-and-so did this…remember that revival years ago…remember when all those young families started coming…”

His dilemma was that they had seen God move in the past, and all they wanted to do was to tell of the glory days.

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True Love (In Sickness and in Health)

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mcquilkinOn this Valentine’s Day, I want to introduce you to one of my heroes.  I’ve never bet Robertson McQuilken, but his life has had a huge impact upon me.

Robertson and his wife, Muriel, were married in 1949.  As a young missionary couple, they spent 12 years in Japan before returning to the United States.  He became the  president of Columbia International University in 1968.  In the early 1980s, his wife Muriel was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.  Through the gradual worsening of his wife’s condition, he eventually decided to resign from his post as president in 1990 to care for his wife full time.  This video is a brief summary of Robertson’s love for his wife, concluding with an excerpt of his resignation speech before the student body at Columbia.

It’s one thing to make a vow on a wedding day saying, “In sickness and in health”, but it’s another thing to keep that vow when it’s put to the test by something like Alzheimer’s disease.  I don’t know what your picture of love is on this Valentine’s Day, but it’s more than cards, flowers, chocolates, and physical attraction.  Maybe it’s something like that:

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