This year, American Idol’s ratings dropped severely. Was it due to not as much talent as previous seasons? Was it the arrival of Ellen? Was it the soon-to-be departure of Simon? Maybe it was that and a lot more. The show’s viewership dropped 50% from 2006 (50.6 million) to 2010 (24.5 million). Can it be saved from such a …
What a fabulous day with the North Side family! We kicked off a new series called “5 Things That Will Kill This Church.” Today, we worshiped to: How Great Thou Art – Paul Baloche Let God Arise – North Side Worship (Tomlin) Center – Charlie Hall Amazing Grace (My Chains are Gone) – North Side Worship (Tomlin) Amazing to hear …
Don’t lust in your heart for her beauty or let her captivate you with her eyelashes. For a prostitute’s fee is only a loaf of bread, but an adulteress goes after [your] very life. Can a man embrace fire and his clothes not be burned? Can a man walk on coals without scorching his feet? So it is with the one …
As our worship team strives to be available by leading with presence, this month we have focused on praying for different sections of your church. This week, I want you to continue to pray for church members, but I want you to do something unusual: I want you to pray for the ones you don’t know. I have given our …
I’m the father of two boys. Two 2-year-old boys mind you. I constantly evaluate how I am parenting them. Am I intentional enough? Am I too hard? Am I showing favoritism? Recently, Jeff taught on the four stages of a parent in one of our Men’s Fraternity meetings. Life-changing stuff. Here they are: Coach – During elementary years, children need …
You know those moments. It’s those times when you wish the song wouldn’t come to a close. It’s those times you feel like you are going just to be caught up into glory. It’s those times when you choose to worship when everything isn’t alright. It’s those times when no one is around to impress, and you just get after …
Husbands, love your wives, just as also Christ loved the church and gave Himself for her, to make her holy, cleansing her in the washing of water by the word. He did this to present the church to Himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but holy and blameless. In the same way, husbands should love …
We concluded the New Testament 101 series today with another great Sunday @ North Side! I snapped this picture in between services of two of the most dedicated team members anyone could ever ask for. David Hjalmers runs sound most Sundays and is dependable and encouraging as they come. Jessica Griffith Wolfe, serves as my assistant on staff, and she …
Continuing in our quest to learn how to pray, I want to encourage you to pray for other church members this week. You might have a long list – there are a lot of people to pray for! But that doesn’t mean you can’t get started. Don’t pray: “God bless all the church members.” That’s good, but it’s hard to …
It’s wild to think that I released Freshman 15 a year ago. As graduation time approaches, if you need a book for a graduating senior, you might think about giving this a try. I wrote it in part because I got so many books that were a tad fluffy when I graduated. They were high on the encouragement to “survive” …
Last year, I wrote curriculum for LifeWay’s LifeTruths. The topic was called “I (Still) Do.” May has been the month it has been used by over 2000 churches for their Sunday School and Bible study curriculum! Pretty wild to think about. It has been so neat to hear from people that I know and even make some new friends through …
Today was a great day to be a part of North Side. The praise band led us in this amazing time of “unplugged” worship (have I told you people lately I am working myself out of a job?!) – thank you Eric, John, Peggy, and Leah. Breathtaking and genuine: Made to Worship – Chris Tomlin Make Me Holy – North …
This picture was taken between the 2nd and 3rd services on Sunday. Eli was speaking a mixture of 3 languages, so not sure what he was saying. I know what he did. So, use your creativity, what’s the caption of this picture? What’s going on inside this boy’s head?
Continuing in this month’s focus for our worship teams to pray fervently and specifically, I have another prayer point this week: pray for the members of your worship team. Every Sunday before we lead worship, our team huddles up, grabs a hand, prays for the person on their right, then on their left. Prayer is a big deal, but it …
Jealousy: The word stems from the French jalousie, formed from jaloux (jealous), and further from Low Latin zelosus (full of zeal), in turn from the Greek word ζήλος (zēlos), sometimes “jealousy”, but more often in a positive sense “emulation, ardour, zeal” [9][10] (with a root connoting “to boil, ferment“; or “yeast”). The color green is often associated with jealousy and envy, from which the expressions “green with envy”, and “green-eyed …
Excited to tell you today that “Coming Home” has been released on iTunes and Amazon! This musical endeavor was a labor of love comprised of songs that I have written at our church and in our home. I recorded it to serve as a fundraiser for our adoption effort of Eli. I’m now praying to see how the proceeds can …
…submitting to one another in the fear of Christ. Wives, submit to your own husbands as to the Lord, for the husband is head of the wife as also Christ is head of the church. He is the Savior of the body. Now as the church submits to Christ, so wives should [submit] to their husbands in everything. –(Eph 5:21-24, …
Today was a great Mother’s Day at North Side. Our family dedicated Eli along with many other families dedicating their homes to new additions. Such a great time to introduce the new Agnew to the church family. The praise band did a wonderful job (without me again – I’m really going to lose my job here). They led us in: …
The prince of preachers, Charles Spurgeon, was once asked about the secret of his success and he stated, “My people pray for me.” In this month’s worship team training focus, availability – leading with presence, I want to focus on being available to one another through prayer. Today, I want to challenge you to pray for your church staff. North …
I’m not going to lie. The trip back from Ethiopia was the most physically and emotionally grueling experience I have ever had in my life. I knew a 16 1/2 hour plane ride from Addis Ababa to Washington, D.C. with a 2-year-old (who was learning to trust his father) in my lap would be difficult. What I didn’t expect were …
I scheduled this post a while back. If all goes according to plan, I’m back in the States with my son, but didn’t get to worship with you this morning. So, I know what is on the agenda: Carl shares his passionate heart about the Gideon’s ministry. Kennerly and the gang leads you in a powerful Jesus-focused worship time. Today, …
It was another great day in Addis Ababa. This was the first full day I got to spend with Eli. Much needed I think for the both of us. Started the day when the head nanny to invite me to pray with them to start the day in the baby room. As they started at sunrise, everyone dropped to their knees …
How does a worship team balance performing and leading worship? As a group, you are called to engage the congregation, but you engage them not to rally them around your team but point them to God. So how do you know the difference? Once again, I will let the worship leading guru, Paul Baloche, instruct us today:
I can’t begin to express how appreciative I am to all of you for your love, prayers, and support. I honestly believe the reason Eli has had such an easy time bonding with me is the huge amount of prayer warriors joining us. You’re amazing! The last two days have been some of the longest of my life. I have traveled in some …
Passport? Check. Tickets? Check. Suitcase full of bubbles for orphans in Ethiopia? Check. Now all I need is to get my hands on my son, Eli. 22 hours from now I will be touching down in the land where my son was born in order to bring him home. I have had so many people ask me how I feel …
I get the privilege to talk with worship pastors concerning their worship teams a bunch lately. It is a huge blessing. One of the common questions I hear is: “what if my worship team won’t practice?” This is a temptation for any musician or any vocalist in the system for a while. We tend to get used to the opportunity …
At the beginning of March, I whiteboarded all the major projects that had to be done before picking up Eli. This list included: CD, Honey-Dos, weddings, RELI 101 wrapup, messages, services, etc. I had to map out a plan to get the stuff done, but then I realized something: I can’t get all this done. I need help. And lots …
I am a father. The father of 2 two-year-old boys. One of the things I notice from empty-nesters is a noticeable appreciation for things that currently gets on my nerves. When my child does things that annoy me, I notice empty-nesters laugh it off. At first I thought it was because it wasn’t their child, but now I’m beginning to …
The state of adoption in our world is in crisis. First off, you have this boy in the picture above who was an orphan once, taken into a home, and then orphaned again by his adoptive mother sending him back on a one-way plane to Russia. The only thing worse than being orphaned is being orphaned twice. Second, Ethiopia is …
The above picture is of Obadiah warming up his daddy’s guitar this morning before worship (if dragging around the guitar and throwing the pic inside the guitar can be classified as warming it up). It’s kind of wild to think that the next time I lead at North Side, I will be taking two boys down to the nursery! Today’s …
North Side is having a ministry fair this Sunday night in the FLC at 5:30. This fellowship time full of food and such will also be a place where you can get more info on how you can get involved in all things North Side. Have you ever wondered if your place to serve in ministry is on our worship …
“Coming Home” is an album made in Addeybug Studios as a fundraiser for bringing our son home from Ethiopia. Coming Home by Travis Agnew Download Chord Charts – Coming Home
Today is the day! “Coming Home” is available for your listening pleasure. We are so pleased with how this project came out, and we pray that this CD will be a blessing to you. We pray that it will call you closer in worship, encourage you to say “yes” to God’s call, and think seriously about your role concerning the …
Ah, Monday. The day full of tackling projects and trying to make a difference in the world. Today’s partial agenda: help North Side impact the world when our building’s doors are closed. Many people see the internet as the Devil’s playground. In many ways, it is. While you can waste a lot of time on here and get into all …
Today was a special day at North Side! Today’s initiative with 30 Days to Live: “Be at Peace with God.” Since I was preaching today, I was excited and upset at our band this morning. I was excited because they were awesome and they led us in worship. I was upset because they are going to cause me to lose …
“KING OF KINGS” Leading up to Tuesday’s release of “Coming Home,” I wanted to post a few early mixes of some of the songs. This first one is a new song called “King of Kings.” Not the final mix but close. This song is my attempt to worship the matchless majesty of Jesus. Take a listen below and leave a …
The above pictures are new ones we received of our son, Eli. A gracious woman who was in Addis Ababa last week picking up her son snapped some pictures of Eli and sent them our way. He has grown so much from those last pictures. It is so great to see him grow in size, while he is still an …
As worship team’s strive to lead with excellence, oftentimes, it is a good thing to make sure you have a spring cleaning. Update, plan, organize, and remind. So this week’s training is all about updating your information in Planning Center, our online scheduling database. Watch this video for the updated tutorial: Volunteer Training from Planning Center on Vimeo. Do your …
I’m filling in for Jeff on Sunday. It’s always an exciting thing for me to preach, but it’s always a humbling thing to fill the pulpit for someone I respect so much. I don’t ever want to go about preaching God’s Word in a careless way. I will be preaching the 2nd week in the “30 Days to Live” series …
I got to know Carlos Whittaker via a worship leading network a few months ago. He is a worship leader for North Point churches, and is about to move out to Chicago to help with the Soul City Church plant. His first major release on Integrity Music is coming out in the next few days. I love his heart, his …
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