What a fantastic Easter Sunday morning at North Side! Having 3 full services of energetic worshipers is always an exciting way to start a day. We started a new series called “30 Days to Live.” We focused on how would we live if we only knew we had one month to live. What would you do? How would you change? …
I’ve received a lot of questions this week about Easter. Unfortunately, most questions have not been around the cross, the empty tomb, or all of history being changed in one moment. No, most of my conversations have been around the Easter bunny. I don’t know why, but I have been asked what I think about the Easter bunny, pastel clothing, …
Easter is this Sunday. Hopefully you have been thinking upon the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus a bunch. I pray you get overwhelmed with it yet again. But many people haven’t experienced the life that can be found in Jesus, and many of those people will go to your church this Sunday since it’s Easter. So how can you …
This Easter Sunday we are kicking off a brand new series entitled “30 Days to Live.” The concept comes from a book written by the Shooks, and the graphics came from a campaign that Life Church did a while back. The concept is simple: if you had 30 days to live, what would you do? What would you stop doing? …
March has been an incredible month for North Side as we have gone through the series, “Who Are the People in Your Neighborhood?” Last night in my C-Group, we got real honest about the successes and the failures that we had experienced over the last month reaching out to people who need Jesus. While we all had things to share …
Depending upon what service you went to today, you might have experienced something a little different. God speaks through prayers and plans weeks ahead, but sometimes God speaks in the moment and the most spiritual thing you can do is rip up your flowsheet. That was 11:15 today. The first 2 services went great this morning, and God moved in …
In this week’s worship training, I wanted to discuss when God hates worship. There are times when God states he wishes someone would just close the doors to block people from gathering together. He wishes that we would simply lock the doors and stop gathering together. Seems shocking? Listen to his words from Isaiah 1: 11 “The multitude of your …
I announced last week about the upcoming CD I am releasing called “Coming Home.” Since then, I’ve had some of you ask about what songs are going to be on the CD. The CD will be 10 tracks. 3 of the tracks are songs that have been previously released. “Hallelujah (O What a Savior)” I recorded on a project I …
Today is a bittersweet day. It is Hannah Nichol’s last day on the North Side staff. It is bitter because we are losing one of the best employees a church could ever ask for. It is sweet because we are so excited she is marrying Traylor this weekend and they get to start their kingdom focused marriage together in …
What a day great day in the neighborhood! It was another wonderful day at North Side as we talked about helping those people in the ditch. Holy Spirit – send us out! I loved hearing from the Erskines today and how God is using them at Connie Maxwell. So wonderful to know that by giving at North Side you are …
This week’s book of the week is John Piper’s The Passion of Jesus Christ. Love me some Piper, but I love me some Jesus even more. This book’s tag line (and what the 2nd edition was renamed) is 50 Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die. These 50 small chapters pack so much theological truth into the reasonings Jesus came, died, …
In this week’s worship team training, I wanted to focus on making amends before offering worship. 23″Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.” …
Recently, I made a post on Twitter and Facebook that got a bit of a reaction: Just because you are a critic of yesterday’s church does not make you an expert of today’s church. It seems that I struck a nerve out there, so I wanted to dive in a little deeper because it seems that many people have been rubbed …
I have some pretty exciting news this morning: I am releasing an album in a few weeks. While the final details are still being worked out, I’ll give you what I got right now. Back when we accepted the call to adopt, I wrote a song for our coming son. Without ever seeing his picture or knowing his story, I …
Our C-Group had a great conversation about intentionality concerning sharing our faith last night. Amanda and I continued to talk about it last night. I thought I would share with you 2 evangelistic extremes that may not be the best models: In college, I saw two extremes of the outreach. The first extreme was the Holy Roller. I went to …
What a great Sunday @ North Side! We had a blast as we continued to go through “Who Are the People in Your Neighborhood?” This week we focused on “The Person in the Tree.” Like Zaccheus, there are many people who are trying to see Jesus but they can’t because the religious crowd is getting in the way. Today’s service …
This week’s book of the week is Rocking the Roles by Robert Lewis and William Hendricks. I just realized that Lewis is the man who wrote the curriculum for Men’s Fraternity which I have been learning a ton from these last few months. This book serves to clarify what the Bible says about the roles of husband and wife. This book …
This week’s worship training tip has to do with value #2: credibility – leading with integrity. Never let your public worship exceed your private worship. At my first Passion event years ago, I hear Beth Moore say that she never wanted her public worship to exceed her private worship. She said that it is very easy to get excited about …
We did receive on update on Eli yesterday. With our agency, families pass through court in groups and then also travel together. Group 91 to Ethiopia was processed through court yesterday, and we were not on the list. While that is sad, it seems very sure that we are going to be in the next group. The next group will …
Last night, I got the privilege to take some friends to Passion 2011 Live Link. The event was hosted at Center Stage in Atlanta but was being broadcasted all over the world. Passion was celebrating their CD release, “Awakening,” which is out today. So thousands of people joined in live over the internet from all over the world. We were …
We started a new series today called “Who Are the People in Your Neighborhood?” with the topic “The Person in Your House.” I am so excited about this evangelism series. Jeff was so transparent and shared his own failures and fears and it spoke to my heart so much. Challenged the fire out of me too – check it out …
This week’s book of the week is David Allen’s Getting Things Done. The funny thing is I am a week late on this book review because I have had too much to do! I made it 7 weeks into the new year with a book a week, and I failed miserably on the week I was reading a productivity book. …
This Sunday, we are starting a brand new series at North Side called “Who Are the People in Your Neighborhood?” The heart of this new series is a call for personal evangelism. We want our people to live the lifestyle of a missionary in their daily lives. Specifically, we want our people to be attentive and intentional about connecting with …
“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matt. 25:41). Hell’s Description Hell is everything that heaven is not. While usually people imagine hell as a blazing inferno filled with devils and pitchforks, the sure reality of the place is that …
In my C-Group last night, we talked a lot about eternity, and we realized that we have misconceptions about heaven and hell. I thought I would share some of what we talked about last night on heaven and then also talk about hell later this week. We talked about if St. Peter is really at the gate, is there a …
We concluded the “True[ish]” series today with the service focusing on “Eternity: More Than You Can Imagine.” These last two months we have focused on essential doctrines of the church. The time has been a great investment in ironing out the theology for members of our church. Heaven and hell are real. We must live knowing we are preparing for …
This is part 3 of a blog series on why we sing. You can check on the other posts here. WE SING BECAUSE IT MAKES GOD SMILE. [Tweet “We sing because it makes God smile.”] Obedience is when we do something God says we should do. The Bible repeatedly instructs us to sing in worship. So when we sing, we are …
I had a question from a friend the other day about the King James Version of the Bible. Maybe like you, this person had read a sign that said, “If it ain’t King James it ain’t Bible” and wondered where that sentiment came from. There are many people who believe that the King James Version is the version that Jesus …
A couple of nights ago while I was reading Obadiah a book at bedtime, I pointed to the corner of Africa where Eli lives. Since that time, every time we open that book up and turn to that page, Obie points to the corner and says, “E-ya, brubba, E-ya.” Yes, that is where he is for now, but hopefully, he …
My C-Group had a great time last night discussing the weekly topic of “Church: More Than a Building.” We talked about what people wrongly assume is church (building, programs, activities, social club, etc.). We talked about what killed local congregations (selfishness, wrong ways of evaluating progress, apathy, refusal to biblically confront, and biblically unfit leaders). We got to the place …
What a great day with North Side today! Week 7 0f 8 in the True[ish] series and we got to the doctrine of the church. It’s been great to see all these weeks grow upon each other – I have learned so much! Jeff’s message was great and reminded me of why I am so thankful to be a part …
This week’s book of the week is the ever-so-polarizing The Shack by William P. Young. I have received more questions about this book than I did about The Da Vinci Code. When people ask, it normally starts like this, “Have you read The Shack? What did you think about it?” I’ll ask what they thought about it and they want to …
This is part 2 of a blog series on why we sing. You can check on the other posts here. WE SING BECAUSE IT MAKES THEOLOGY MEMORABLE. Another reason we sing is because a worship song can make the complex memorable. In Col. 3:16, Paul wrote, “Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and …
Sunday, I introduced a new original worship song entitled “No Greater Love.” We are planning on leading it again this Sunday due to some very encouraging feedback. I told you why I tend to shrink back from leading with original songs a couple of weeks ago, but as God continues to stretch me, this is one of the songs I …
We had a great Valentine’s weekend at the Agnew house. Even though our Friday night date night plans were canceled due to the snow, we had a great time. On Sunday night, the three Agnews were sharing cuddles, hugs, and kisses before we put Obadiah down for the night. As we were making sure that every family member received an …
I am writing to tell you about our next step meeting for families wanting to pursue North Side’s growing adoption/foster care ministry. We have decided to call this ministry “Homes for Hope.” Since everyone’s involvement would be different, we didn’t want to call it adoption ministry or foster care, since there are so many ways to help. We also did …
Happy Valentine’s Day! Or should I say, happy salvation day! What a great day to celebrate the gospel and watch lives be transformed by its message. Thanks to all our volunteers, especially the parking lot team, for helping people have a memorable morning as the snow was still melting on the ground! You guys are the best! Reminder: get your …
This week’s book of the week is Donald S. Whitney’s Simplify Your Spiritual Life. I first read Dr. Whitney’s book on spiritual disciplines in seminary, and he has one of the most helpful and practical voices to helping people grow spiritually. In a chaotic world, he wrote this volume to give many bite-size chapters on how to simplify your spiritual …
It’s one of my most anticipated and most dreaded times of the week all at the same time. It’s Sunday mornings. I walk across the stage, tune my guitar, turn on my microphone, and attempt to lead people in worship. What’s so conflicting about my job is that so many people are continuing the song they have been singing all …
I had a conversation about church hopping with a buddy of mine recently. He goes to another church in another town but had recently been discouraged with members from his church leaving to find another church. What hurt him so was all the time and energy and prayers he had poured into this family, and then it seemed like they …
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