10 Things I Would Have Done Differently as a Father

by

What a great day with North Side!  While I was hobbling from my foot and stuffy from my sinuses, our congregation carried the worship today as we gave it all we had.

Today, we worshiped to:

To setup the message on fatherhood today, I shared the story of my involvement in the curriculum associated with the upcoming movie, Courageous.  After that and watching the powerful video below, people were ready to sing out, “As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”

READ MORE

End Human Trafficking

by

At Passion 2011, I had the opportunity to give to some great mission organizations.  Passion does a phenomenal job at their “Do Something Now” center making awareness and giving engaging again.  Each station has you experience what you are giving to before you give to it.  One example is by giving to build wells in impoverished areas, they have you tote a jug of water the length it takes someone to get water in their current situation.

One need that has been really disturbing me as of late is the issue of human trafficking.  Some of the stats you hear are overwhelming.  Children all over the world are being forced into prostitution at a very young age.

READ MORE

Your Marriage

by

Today, we started our 3rd section through Ephesians.  These final four Sundays, we will see that God still has the whole world in his hands, including your marriage, family, job, and spiritual protection.  This week:

Your Marriage (Eph. 5:22-33) – God has a plan for your marriage.  No matter how far out of control you believe it to be, God’s Word has direction to bring peace into a chaotic situation.  Biblical love and respect can set a broken marriage right again.

Today, we worshiped to:

Loved our time of worship as a family today.  So great to lift our voices and sing such biblical truth as presented in these songs!  Jeff’s message has massive implications.  Whenever you talk about submission, headship, and marriage, you always have everyone’s attention.  If you didn’t hear the message, you need to listen to it.  Many sermons on marriage talks about fixing problems, this sermon was about the purpose of marriage, and once you hear it, it fixes ALL problems.

READ MORE

Overcompensation with My Ankle (And Your Church)

by

I am still in crippled status.  After 2 weeks in a hard cast, my ankle is still broken from the infamous basketball game.  I am in the boot for 4 weeks gradually applying some pressure on it.  Still on crutches.  Obie said this morning, “Daddy, your crunches go squeak, squeak like a mouse.”

They sure do.

As you look at this picture above, I will ask you, by the look of it, which ankle is hurt?  Of course you would say, the ankle on the left of the picture is the one hurting.

And you would be wrong.

The ankle in the boot feels fine.  No pain, no real discomfort, it’s just annoying to have it confined to a boot.  The ankle that is hurting more is the ankle on the right side of the picture.  I have experienced a real pain deep inside that ankle not confined to the boot.  When talking to my buddy who is a doctor, he said what I’m experiencing is called overcompensation.  Having to put more weight and pressure on the uninjured ankle oftentimes causes more long term damage than the injured ankle.

I firmly believe the principle of overcompensation is happening in your church right now.  You’ve heard of the 80/20 rule.  20% of the people do 80% of the work.  You look at the other 80% of people as if they are broke and so you start putting more pressure on the 20% that isn’t broke.  The problem?  Overtime, you can cause more damage on the 20% if you burn them out.  From the outside, you still can identify those that are not working in the Body of Christ.  Spotting them is as easy as spotting a broken ankle in a cast.

READ MORE

Courageous Deadlines Have Been Met

by

I am happy to report to you that I submitted my last work for the Courageous Bible Study today! I am way humbled to be a part of this great ministry endeavor, but I am also very tired.  It has been a lot of work to do in a short about of time. The movie comes out on September 30th, …

READ MORE

10 Things That Will Kill Your Men’s Ministry

by

Recently, I was talking to a buddy about why or why not men’s ministries work in certain churches.  I tried to condense what we talked about, so here is a list of 10 things that will kill your church’s men’s ministry:

1.  Hypocritical Leadership – You won’t find perfect men to lead your men’s ministry, but you better find men who are consistently striving towards godliness.  Men can spot fakes easily and provides easy excuses for them.
2.  Getting Too Close and Personal – You need to allow them to get close, but don’t force them to act in a manner against God-given manliness.  Your group can be spiritual without group hugs.
3.  Not Getting Close and Personal Enough – While you don’t force men to be something they are not, don’t also settle for anything less than biblical community.  They need to be close enough to push each other to love and good deeds (Heb. 10:24-25).
4.  Cliques – When men come to your church’s functions, you need to remove the clique factor among them.  Make sure to get men with the gift of hospitality (that just means they make people feel welcome) at your doors and get men connected with others in the room.
5.  Trying to Copy the Church’s Women Ministry – Just because your church’s women ministry has a hanging of the greens doesn’t mean you get your guys to decorate the church too.  It works cause it is for women.  Let guys be guys while always challenging them to be men of God.

READ MORE

Imitation is the Sincerest of Flattery

by

“Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.”  -Ephesians 5:1

Last night in our C-Group, we dug in deep into Ephesians 5 and sought to learn what it meant to imitate God.  One of the guys made a great point at how his son wanted to imitate him because he looked up to him.

I could relate.  It amazes me that these two wonderful boys, Obadiah and Eli, look up to their father.  Over the last few weeks, they have hopped around like they were on crutches  tryinb to be like Daddy.  Obie keeps telling me has a boo boo on his foot like me.  On Christmas morning, when they both got guitars, they stepped up to the microphone, stomped on foot pedals, and said, we are “playing and singing like Daddy.”

If imitation is the sincerest of flatteries, then I am a flattered man.

During group last night, I realized something with massive implications: they imitate me because they want to!  You may be thinking that is obvious, but do you get the spiritual implications?

READ MORE

Walking in the Light

by

I wish I could have hobbled closer to the choir for this picture, but my cast kept me at this distance.  The picture is of 80-year-old Mama Barnes leading the Faith Home choir today at North Side.  Before the service, she told me she didn’t want to lead the choir because she didn’t want to be a distraction.

I said, “Mama Barnes, the choir sounds great, but your dancing is amazing.  Get up there.”

And boy, did she ever!  Her energy and the choir’s passion in worship changed the room for sure!  I can’t even begin to tell you how loud, not the band, but the congregation was this morning worshiping!

We were so honored to have our partner in ministry join us for this special day.  The Faith Home, 4 decades into ministry, has cared for over 20,000 men and women in the area of Christian recovery for alcoholics and addicts.  When they sang, “If he can make a change in me, he can make a change in you,” such hope and passion came out of their mouths and their souls.  Amazing!

READ MORE

Small Group Values

by

Following up from yesterday’s post, I want to share the 4 values on which my small group focuses.  There are many great lists out there, but this is my attempt at trying to maintain focus within the group I lead. Small group values: AUTHORITY Make sure each member knows that the authority in the study is the Bible.  The teacher, …

READ MORE

Bad Church Sign: Independent Old Timey…

by

This week’s bad church sign is seen on many church signs across the Bible Belt. This sign states: INDEPENDENT OLD TIMEY HELL-FIRE BRIMSTONE KING JAMES PREACHING” Wow.  That’s a mouthful. Let me break it down and tell you what it is saying: Independent – We don’t agree with the stances of larger denominations, so we remain independent from everyone else. …

READ MORE

5 Things You Didn’t Know Fathers Do

by

I wanted to share with you a list concerning fathers I found the other day.  As I have been studying and working on Courageous, I’ve been gathering a ton of information concerning the impact fathers have on their children.  Here are 5 things you didn’t know fathers do: Fathers Teach Empathy – A 26-year study published by the American Psychological …

READ MORE

A Different Look

by

Week 2 of leading worship on crutches.  If that poor stool can make it through today, it can make it through anything!  This cast has made me realize I’m a bit more of a dancer than I realize I actually was 😉

Today, we continued on through Ephesians as we studied:

A Different Look (Eph. 4:17-32) – As a Christian, we are called to lay aside the old self and have a completely different look.  We are no longer to live in our former ignorance, but we are to shine differently than before.

Today’s message was great.  Amazing how God’s Word, written years ago, still has so much power for us today!  The point Jeff ended on was so powerful.  He taught how Paul taught in Ephesians that we are to get together before we try to get holy.  You would think you should get holy before coming to church, but this progression teaches us to get around each other in order to make us holy.

READ MORE

We Are Worshiping On the Wrong Side of the Table

by

I’m a struggling worship leader.

I’m not poor or unable to find places to lead worship.  I just struggle with the tension in worship leading.

For years, I have learned how to set the table for people to come to worship.  Setup the right mood lighting, pick the right type of music, dress this way, talk that way, and people will come back to the meal you prepared.  It’s like you are setting the environment for a nice restaurant, and you are just hoping you can serve a course that is so unforgettable, the people will come back week after week.

But maybe in churches, we have been guilty of sitting on the wrong side of the table.  What if we stopped expecting to get your needs and wants met in every worship service we attended?  What if we stopped obsessing over the service we were receiving and started focusing on the service we are offering?

READ MORE

Do Buffet-Styled Churches Honor God?

by

For years, I have bought into the church growth principle that the more choices you give people in a church, the more successful the church will be.

To agree with that principle, you must gauge a church’s success by the number of people who stay at that church.  But is that true success?

Here are the courses that the American church is serving up:

  • Worship – traditional, contemporary, blended, cutting edge, emergent, ancient future, classic, golden, choir, band, hard rock, country western, southern gospel, chandeliers, go-bos, expensive organ, expensive guitar, etc.
  • Discipleship – Sunday school, community groups, small groups, Bible fellowship classes, on-campus, in-homes, co-ed, single, married, guys only, girls only, by hobby-interest, by age, by life situations, etc.
  • Preaching – coat and tie, jeans and t-shirt, podium, table, old, young, hip, wise, screen, video, sermon, message, talk
  • Family Ministries – discipleship times, creative programs, glorified babysitting, “community” sports programs with a side of Christ, men’s ministry, women’s ministry, single, divorced, newlywed, with kids, with small kids, with fussy kids, for fussy kids, puppets, Awanas, GAs, RAs, children’s choir

And the list could go on.

  1. Is God honored when we explain what church we belong to by describing the type of music we like?
  2. Is God honored when we defend our group’s methods within the church rather than celebrating the diversity of the whole church?
  3. Is God honored when we try to woo members from other churches because this program is better than that program?

READ MORE

Be Fruitful and Multiply (And Boy, Did We Ever!)

by

I want to show you two pictures.  The first was taken in the Summer of 2007 when four couples went on a beach trip together.  At that time, there was one baby in the group.

The next picture was taken in December 2010.  Same four couples, nine more children than the photo taken 3 and a half years earlier.

READ MORE

Does Your Worship Team Need a LIFT?

by

You know the feeling.  It’s worship practice, and there is something in the room.  Call it stagnation, complacency, hitting a wall, getting settled, or maybe something else, but you know when you work with your worship team and it just seems like you aren’t getting anywhere.  You’ve hit the bottom.

That’s why you need a lift.

On March 26th (UPDATED DATE: we had some scheduling conflicts, and pushing it back makes more sense) we will have a free worship workshop held at North Side Baptist in Greenwood, SC.  At Lift, you can bring your whole team and get equipped on how you can lift your worship, your team expectations, and your team’s abilities.

READ MORE

Focused Lighting

by

Great Sunday of being the church at North Side!  Today, we worshiped to:

It was the first time I have ever led worship in a cast, but I was so thankful to have such a wonderful supporting team who helped me to a stool and get my guitar and such.  For those of you who know me, you know I don’t ask for help often, so this next few weeks are going to stretch me in all kinds of way!  I did think I was going to jump off the stool a couple of times!

READ MORE

John Piper’s #1 Leadership Tip

by

The only problem with Passion 2011 was that there was way too much to process and apply.  I’m still going through lessons and trying to implement them into my life.

One of they keynote speakers at Passion was John Piper who recently took a 7-month sabbatical and came back into the public scene the week of Passion.   His message, “Getting to the Bottom of Your Joy” was huge.  Massive implications, but that wasn’t the best part of his involvment.

The next morning, he spoke to the leaders’ group.  He had planned one talk, but then decided at 6:30 that morning to change directions.

That morning, he shared with us his #1 leadership principle he has learned.

READ MORE

What is the Age of Accountability?

by

Much debate surrounds the issue of the age of accountability. When the disciples asked Jesus who was the greatest in the kingdom (Matt 18:1), he sat a child down before the disciples to answer their question (Matt 18:2). It would have been pointless for Jesus to exalt a child to hold the mantle of who belongs in the kingdom if …

READ MORE

Moses the Snowman

by

What a great day of snow with the Agnews.  Eli’s first real snow, and he did a belly flop into it.  Then when we got in a snowball fight, he loved it until he got some in his eye.  Here are some pictures of our snowball fight and work to create a very special snowman: We’ve been teaching the boys …

READ MORE

Bad Church Sign: God’s Last Name is Not…

by

I had to pull over on the side of the road years ago to get this one.  This unfortunate church sign states:

“GOD’S LAST NAME IS NOT ‘DAMN'”

I do agree with “the entire congregation.”  That is not his last name.  And probably like this group, I am bothered when I hear people use God’s name in vain by cursing with it.  “GD” bothers me, but so does when I slip up and say, “Oh, my God” and I am not actually calling on him.  Is this sign the best way to combat what people or doing?  Not sure.

Does it bother you when you hear someone breaking the 3rd commandment: “Do not take the LORD God’s name in vain?”

That is one way to break that commandment, but did you know that there is another one that people use much more frequently?

READ MORE

Behind the Curtain

by

The City has officially launched at North Side today! This is your way to stay in the know about all things North Side. This two-way communication street for North Side. You stay updated and you can also contribute your thoughts, prayers, needs, etc. Sign up today!

Thanks so much to all the help today signing people up.  Our volunteers were awesome getting people connected, and the host team does a fantastic job at connecting people to the life of the church.

I want to say an extra special word of thanks to Jamie Strutton and Jessica Wolfe who worked relentlessly to get the City up by today – you guys are amazing and this has already helped out so many people!

We had a fantastic service today!

READ MORE

A Prayer for Downtrodden Fathers

by

As I have been working on the Courageous material, I have really developed a burden for fathers who have messed up or are messing up.  I want them to finish strong so badly.  For whatever reason, I woke up with fathers on my heart.  You reading this might be the reason I penned this prayer below.  If you want to …

READ MORE

Passion 2011 Recap

by

Still processing all that Jesus did in me and around me at Passion 2011.  I needed to go a day late due to church responsibilities, but college students were texting me telling me how incredible everything was before I even got there.  Being able to worship alongside our students and join them in giving sacrificially to worthy causes was such a fantastic way to begin the year.

I could go on and on about the programming of Passion.  Who wouldn’t love to hear Louie Giglio, Beth Moore, Francis Chan, John Piper, Andy Stanley, and David Platt speak?  Who wouldn’t be overjoyed to be led in worship by Chris Tomlin, David Crowder Band, Matt Redman, Charlie Hall, Kristian Stanfill, Christy Nockels, and other special guests?  No one would deny the energy getting 22,000 college students together for lively worship with incredible, impacting media presentations.  Everyone was impacted by the profound presentations of the needs in the world.

All of that was great, but it wasn’t my favorite part.

READ MORE

I Am Not the Best on the Team

by

I struggle with pride when I work with others.

Since my mind is constantly evaluating how to improve areas in any level of ministry in which I am even remotely involved, I often lack patience for long meetings with people deliberating over certain options.  My prideful heart wants to inform people that I have a solution that is so grand that no one should even question my ideas.

I know, I have issues.

While I do not verbalize these thoughts, I can easily become frustrated in meetings that I view as time wasters and mentally disengage myself from others.  Even if the improbable chance of my ideas always being the best were true, my attitude needs to be one of service and selflessness (Phil 2:3-5).

As of late, here’s what I am learning:

READ MORE

The Heart of Courageous

by

I’ve been so thankful for the many prayers prayed on behalf of my work with the upcoming Bible study accompanying the movie Courageous. I can tell you that if Fireproof impacted you, buckle your seat belts for this one.  It speaks to one of the greatest issues in our country today. The state of fatherhood is in trouble, and this …

READ MORE

Felton Burton: A Life Well Lived

by

A dear friend and brother-in-Christ, Felton Burton, died on December 30th and will have funeral services conducted today at North Side.  The above picture is of Felton and his wife, Doris, attending a Date Night at our church 2 years ago.  They were standing as the couple married the longest in a group of hundreds of couples that night.  I remember thinking that night that they were such an example of dedication and faithfulness.

Felton has been an icon in Greenwood.  I could go on to list his accomplishments, but you can read about those in his obituary provided by his family.

I want to focus on one element in particular about Felton that I loved the most: his commitment to making his life count.

READ MORE

Out of the Darkness

by

North Side, 2011 has begun – get ready!  What a great day to start off the new year.  While we had a lot of our crew out of town or out of pocket, our team knocked it out of the park.  Woody even called in sick this morning (that’s why I attempted to play bass and keys – boy, I missed him), and we had to change stuff around, but we a great time this morning giving God praise!

Today, we worshiped to:

We started a new series called “This Little Light of Mine” as we continued through our study of Ephesians.

READ MORE

My Favorite Posts of 2010

by

  In an attempt to recap the year, I wanted to share with you the top 10 posts that I wrote this year.  2010 was a busy year for my family and our church, so it was hard to condense, but I tried.  I kept changing the posts and the order, and I finally just had to give up and …

READ MORE

Most Popular Posts of 2010

by

  Below are the top 10 posts from my blog in 2010.  As we look forward to next year, I thought I would share these with you readers to take a look back. 1.  Top 5 Bad Christmas Church Signs 2.  Passion Church?! Giglio and Tomlin Church Plant?! 3.  Top 5 Best Christmas Decorations 4.  It’s Official: Eli is Now …

READ MORE

I Could Use Some Courageous Prayers

by

This week, I am hunkering down and working on the Bible study curriculum for the upcoming movie by Sherwood Pictures, Courageous.  I shared on the blog a while back about how humbling an opportunity it was to work on this project.  As the Kendrick brothers are working on the production side of the film right now for a September 2011 release, I have the task of sorting through the movie themes, taking their direction, and working on some of the Bible studies that will be a curriculum for a church to go through to accompany the movie.

I’ve met 2 of 4 deadlines, but the most difficult are on their way.  One Bible study has been submitted for editing, but now I’ve got to work on the remaining 7.  The goal of this entire project is for men to step up and be the godly fathers that He requires.  There is no telling what God could do through this entire project to impact homes, churches, and even cities if the boys started rising up and become men of God.

As I lock myself away for the next few days, I would surely appreciate some prayer partners.  If you can pray once, or if you can put my name or the word “Courageous” somewhere where you will see it this week and remember to pray each time you see it, anything would be much appreciated.  This whole project has been bathed in prayer and I want make sure that every word that goes down on paper is from God’s leading!

Here’s specifics on how you can pray:

READ MORE

Spoiled Rotten

by

13 For you are called to freedom, brothers; only don’t use this freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but serve one another through love. 14 For the entire law is fulfilled in one statement: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 15 But if you bite and devour one another, watch out, or you will be consumed by one another.
(Galatians 5:13-15, HCSB)

Spoiled Rotten

As a parent, I have certain rules and stipulations by which I prefer my children to adhere. My wife and I have standards of bed time routines, dietary selections, and level of freedom bestowed upon our children. We want our children to have fun, but we have certain rules we prefer them to live by.

That is, until they go and spend time with their grandparents.

READ MORE

Knowing His Work

by

It was great to worship today in the middle of the great Greenwood blizzard.  We did experience some snow last night which meant the first snow for Greenwood on Christmas since 1963!  The roads were safe enough to come to services, so we posted on the City our plans and we had a powerful time as the church today!

We concluded the Jesus Loves Me series (the first part of Ephesians) with this big idea:

Knowing His Work (Eph. 2:8-10) – We know that Jesus loves us based upon the work of salvation.  Our salvation is all his work, and none of our good deeds influenced it, but once we are saved, our lives should be characterized by good works that emerge from a grateful heart.

Great message!  Such wonderful grace!  For those who had too much ice or snow on the roads to join us, the message will be here online this afternoon.

I was also thankful he made it through it.  He told me that a stomach bug had been going through his house and at 8:30, he was feeling a little funny on his tummy.  So, he told me to be on guard.  A couple of pauses of his caused me to start leaning up in my chair, but he made it through and brought it!

Today, we worshiped to:

READ MORE

Stop Church Hopping

by

There is a growing epidemic in the United States concerning church hopping. More churches’ membership numbers fluctuate not due to new converts but due to revolving membership doors. When someone becomes upset with music styles, church programs, carpet color, differences with another member, frustration with a staff member, or any other reason, people move their church memberships like they would …

READ MORE

Knowing His Mercy

by

Knowing His Mercy (Eph. 2:1-7) – We know that Jesus loves us based upon his rich mercy.  By not giving us what we deserved, we have a chance at new life due to his deep love.  The fact that Jesus loves us changes everything.

What a great Sunday as we continued through Ephesians.  Jeff’s message was such a clear picture of the gospel.

Today, we worshiped to:

We had some really special moments in worship today.  Having the band start out with a presentation on hope, mission, and the gospel to the tune of a Trans-Siberian Orchestra number was pretty fun.  It was more than a neat musical piece, with the media presentation put together by Jessica and Jamie, the experience was pretty intense.  I have never been more proud of our hard working band (you can see it on Facebook here).

READ MORE

Dust of the Ground Video Shoot – Preferences

by

Wednesday, we got to work with the talented group, Dust of the Ground.  Jeremy and Austin are the duo that make up this talented media company.  Since I’m friends with Jeremy (Jeff Lethco’s son), I’ve seen some of the fantastic projects they have finished.  When I saw how talented they were, I knew they might be the answer to an idea I had.

I’ve had all these worship instructional video ideas in my head for a while now.  3 minute clips that could be used in churches to drive home a concept concerning worship during a service or at the beginning of a message.  By taking a biblical principle concerning worship (true worship, lifting of hands, why we sing, etc.), and giving a mini-message through the power of film, I thought we might could go further faster on some of these areas which churches struggle.

READ MORE

The City is Coming to North Side

by

North Side is growing.  Praise the Lord.  While we are excited about numerical growth, we also are burdened to always grow closer as we grow larger.  As we continually get busier and busier, how in the world can we truly connect people to each other in the church?

As we prayed, we believed that God led us to an answer.

The City…It’s a new communication tool at North Side Baptist Church. The City has been implemented to allow the members of North Side to connect with each other. This tool provides a unique way for members to keep up to date with each other…as well as events, happenings, prayer requests and needs of the North Side family.

It really focuses on 3 key things:

READ MORE

Knowing His Thoughts

by

We had practice on Wednesday for Sunday, and everything went great except for the feeling I needed to change things up.  So Friday, I sent an updated list for this morning.  I wanted to scale things back and really let our voices fill up the room with praise for our King.  I’m so thankful for a team that doesn’t complain when I send them an email and say we need to go in a different direction.  Each team member jumped in there this morning prepared and knocked it out of the park!  Great job!

Today, we worshiped to:

In addition to a great worship time, Ken also gave us a word of testimony concerning how the City has already impacted him.  This is an online tool that our church is starting to use to communicate with one another.  If you want to join the early group getting connected on the City before our January 9th launch, go here.

OG (the David Denton) also gave a word of testimony for our church.  After losing his father this year, he went through shock and pain.  But OG chose to believe in the hope we have in Christ.  He cited that he was able to overcome due to the church surrounding him and caring for him.  Such a great word from such a sharp dressed guy in his shiny white shoes!

READ MORE

Vocal Warmups for Worship Groups

by

Last night for our worship team development time as we focused on capability – leading with excellence, I decided to bring in a vocal expert: my wife.  Amanda has her Master’s in music education and focused on vocal pedagogy.  So, she got us moving and thinking about some ways that we can use our vocals more effectively at the beginning of practice.  We had all our musicians and techies go through the exercises, because it will help everyone out.  Don’t worry, our vocalists are going to be working on the soundboard soon.

Here are some of her great notes that she gave us last night:

READ MORE

Election, Limited Atonement, and Other Things That Make You Think

by

After Jeff’s message on Sunday dealing with election and predestination, I have gotten the chance to have some great followup conversations with church members.  That means, people have had some questions.  So, I thought I would give you a brief summary of some of the conversations.

  1. God is God – If God says that to get into heaven, you have to stand on your head and cluck like a chicken for 475 days straight, you have to.  He’s God.  Get over it.  So the first rule before entering into this conversation is just because something doesn’t feel right or fair doesn’t mean it might not be reality.
  2. Election is in the Bible – Like it or not, the concept of election and predestination are in the Bible.  Are they as thoroughly explained as church discipline, the Great Commission, or Christ’s work on the cross?  No.  But the concept is there even if it isn’t explained in Scripture as thoroughly as we may desire.

READ MORE

+ MORE POSTS