Ministry

Lost and Found

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But how can people call for help if they don’t know who to trust? And how can they know who to trust if they haven’t heard of the One who can be trusted?  And how can they hear if nobody tells them?  -Romans 10:14 (MSG) To truly realize how lost the world is, we must first realize how lost we …

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“My Hope” // Storytellers

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We led the song “My Hope” yesterday from the upcoming “Stand Firm” project.  This fun bluegrass tune gets so rowdy I felt the need for both a banjo and a harmonica!  The track is filled with mandolin, cowbell, and about anything else we could find. The song started with 1 Peter 3:13-17 as we studied through 1 Peter. The Scripture …

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A Reason for Our Hope

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December has been such a special time at North Side.  So much energy and focus – I love it. Each week we are doing some type of instrumental Christmas number to begin our time together.  Today, Gary Funderburk did a great version of “O Little Town of Bethlehem” on the saxophone.  We then did the wonderful song “Let There Be …

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Blocking Your Own Team (And How Churches Do the Same Thing)

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College football just experienced an intense weekend.  So many games were on the verge of an upset and Auburn’s victory over Alabama in the last seconds will be talked about for years to come. With many highlight-worthy moments this weekend, you might not have seen one of my favorite highlights from the previous weekend.  It came when Florida lost to …

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“I Will Honor You” // Storytellers

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Last Sunday, we concluded our services with the song “I Will Honor You.”  We originally unveiled it at our Epworth Night of Worship and I heard so many encouraging words.  It was a perfect way to end our services on how husbands are to love their wives. While the wives’ song had 6 verses to use, this song for husbands …

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The Good Life

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Special day, today. We focused on how to experience the good life.  How to have peace on earth. To begin the services, we played a little Trans Siberian Orchestra and told the story of the cello player in Bosnia where the melody originally came from. After the Allens did a great job welcoming us into worship, we did a worship …

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Know Your Wife

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Special day today. I loved watching God at work impacting homes. We focused on 1 Peter 3:7 today. One verse drove our services. It all focused on how husbands are called to live with their wives. As we focused on a time of worship geared on our thankfulness to God, it was great to hear our church express gratitude towards …

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“Without a Word” // Storytellers

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We played “Without a Word” for the second time yesterday.  We originally unveiled it at our Epworth Night of Worship and I heard more comments about that song more than any other one.  As we got to 1 Peter 3:1-6 yesterday (the text for the song), I heard just as many positive comments. This passage presented a dilemma for us: …

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A Word to Wives

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Such a specific day at North Side. What I mean by that is oftentimes you can leave from a gathering and unable to sum up what the point was.  Today, it was very clear: wives need to live for Jesus in front of their husbands to bring them closer to Jesus. Mama Barnes and the Faith Home did a fantastic …

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Has Social Media Created Evangelical Idolatry?

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Churches used to compare and compete with other churches down the road.  You would hear about what another congregation was doing and you would try to repeat it, hijack it, improve it, or do the complete opposite to try to attract disgruntled folks down the road. With the rise of social media, you can now compete with any church anywhere …

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46 Things Most Parents Don’t Know About Their Children and Technology

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  Last night, I got the opportunity to teach two groups of parents at North Side concerning children and technology.  We simply scratched the surface concerning education and protection of their children. Most of the things I shared were enlightening.  Technology and media change so rapidly, it is hard for a parent to keep up.  And while 20 years ago, …

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“Suffer Like Him” // Storytellers

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As we begin the countdown to the release of our “Stand Firm” worship project based on 1 Peter, I wanted to provide you with some info on the songs written.  This first storytellers edition is on the song “Suffer Like Him” which we have sung the last 2 weeks at North Side. The 5th song on the project, “Suffer Like …

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Epworth Night of Worship

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On this Monday, I am joyfully exhausted.  We have been praying, studying, planning, rehearsing for months now for Saturday’s night event.  And yet, once it happened, it reminded me of how much more than an event this turned out to be. Our worship team was able to be a part of discipleship through worship.  We were using songs to teach …

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Suffering for Doing Right

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After a long weekend of worshiping at Epworth, our worship team was riding on one of those exhausted momentum moments.  You know the kind when you are tired yet excited all at the same time? We were so glad to have the Peak band lead us in worship this Sunday.  These students are so advanced beyond their years in so …

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Your Home But Not Your Prison

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Mark Driscoll hosted the Resurgence 2013 Conference this week.  I was able to stream some of it late in the evening and early in the morning.  In his opening address, he spoke out against tribalism.  It’s the dangerous trend that we get stuck in the way our group does church and tend to think that everyone else are foolish. Just …

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We May Go to Jail Together

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In the times we live, it is hard to have respectful disagreements.  In this age of tolerance, people are intolerant if you say your beliefs are correct.  There is no absolute truth except the absolute truth that there is none (are you getting the problem here?). In these current cultural wars, oftentimes, theological differences are accepted for the sake of …

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How We Plan Worship

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Every week, I look forward to leading our church in worship.  I get to serve alongside some of the most godly and talented folks that I have ever encountered.  Each week, I love to hear God’s people singing out God’s truths. Even more importantly, I love watching God’s people live out God’s truths. For that goal is how we direct …

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Submission and the Believer

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As we left the church campus today, I told Amanda I am sure that I have never heard a complete message on what it means to submit to governing authorities.  And I also don’t think I have ever heard a preacher talk so specifically even as a sidebar of what that means.  Today was straight up real talk, folks. “Submission …

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Skipped Passages of 1 Peter?

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I have heard some great feedback concerning our 1 Peter worship project.  From people within the church to people that have heard about it somewhere else, folks have been very encouraging about the thought about an album that teaches the truths of a book of the Bible through music.  The music is complete and we are less than 2 weeks …

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The Battle of the Soul

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1 Peter 2:11 Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. 12 Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation. As we continue through 1 …

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Stand Firm – Night of Worship

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We would love for you to join us for our Stand Firm Night of Worship on Saturday, November 9th at 6:30PM at Epworth Camp. Join us as we record a live CD based off of original music that has been written at North Side for the 1 Peter series “Stand Firm.”  We have already used some of the music at …

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Chosen People

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Today was a great day to worship with the church family.  We got to 1 Peter 2:9-10 this week as we discussed being God’s chosen people. We introduced a new song from our “Stand Firm” project.  The song was entitled “Declare Your Praise.”  It was based on the Scripture for this week and surrounding weeks. Someone commented after worship that …

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“If It’s Based On the Word of God…”

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Our band got the privilege of leading worship at First Baptist Ware Shoals Sunday night.  We were asked to do the “Knowing Jesus” event and our group always loves getting to go through that music together. The music was composed by our band and it tells the story of Christ through the major events and teaching. Since writing the music …

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Living Stones

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We focused today on the “Living Stones” described in 1 Peter.  Built upon the cornerstone of Jesus and solidified by the Word of God. In addition to some worship music focusing on these elements, we also highlighted our partnership with End Bible Poverty.  We are raising the funds to translate 1 Peter for the Mushere people of Nigeria.  The map …

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Is Jesus Really the Only Way?

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Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”     -John 14:6 (NASB) His name was Yohei.  It was the year 2000 in Tokyo, Japan.  He told our mission team that Jesus, Allah, or anybody else who claimed to be God was probably correct.  They all …

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Grow Up

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The Word of God causes us to be born again and can also cause us to grow again. Therefore, we should both desire it and consume it, especially since we know how good it is. Focusing on the need to “grow up” spiritually, the service was planned all around understanding the goodness of God and the willingness for that good …

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“Call Me Jeff”

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  On Sunday, we surprised Jeff and Sandy Lethco with a banquet after morning services to celebrate their 15 years at North Side.  We shared testimonies, gave 15 gifts, and thanked God for their influence in our lives. I spoke to many who were excited about this time, but who got very emotional during the service.  They had the intention …

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The Enduring Word of God

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This was my Sunday: Soundcheck. Worship. Worship. Surprise Lethcos. Banquet. Clean up. Set up. NSU. Community group. Hopewood Haven awareness night. Drive thru. Recliner. It was great.  I wouldn’t trade anything for it.  It was a full day but it was a great day. The entire time of worship was great.  Surprising Jeff and Sandy was stellar.  The church’s encouraging …

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Bad Church Sign: Drop It Like It’s Hot

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Do churches need to be cultural to be commissional? This church must think so.  Their sign reads: BRING YOUR SIN 2 THE ALTER AND DROP IT LIKE ITS HOT What you think?    

Motivation for Holy Living

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I got to be a part of today’s worship while I was on the beach with my family.  We had taken a quick family vacation, and we had family worship together around the table that morning, but as I was getting the kids ready for the day, I got to join in worshiping with the church family over my phone. …

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The Gathering Recap

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After an incredible 4 days of the Gathering, there really aren’t words to describe all that God did.  Here’s a few things I know: I really, really love Jesus. I love my church. Our church really gets worship. We don’t pray enough as a church. The gathering of the church changes drastically when everyone comes prepared. We don’t fast enough …

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Be Holy

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“Some people can’t be holy because they are seeking someone else’s approval.” -Jeff Lethco

What a strong word today on what it means to be holy.  Digging into 1 Peter 1:13-16 was incredible.  God’s call on us is clear.  We are to be holy because our Father is holy.  He is different.  He doesn’t fit into this culture and neither should we.

The time of worship today was so rich.  I love seeing all the new faces worshiping with us.  God has been working on lives among us and calling people into deeper levels of holiness.

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What They Didn’t Know We Do

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Today is going to be a busy but fantastic day:

Soundcheck, 2 worship services, college lunch, teach NSU, lead discipleship group, Gathering practice tonight.  I can’t think of better ways to spend my time than that!

What They Didn’t Know We Do [Series: Stand Firm]

Scripture: 1 Peter 1:10-12

As believers, we can be encouraged by realizing we know things that neither the prophets knew or the angels know!  With this knowledge, we can patiently persevere and follow the example of Christ who experienced glory after his time of suffering.

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Trial by Fire

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On a Labor Day weekend with a bunch of college football enthusiasts up late last night, I was concerned at the energy level of everyone this morning.  I should have never worried.  It was such a great day with some genuine, engaged worshipers.

We started our services with family dedications and it was such a special time as always.  We also watched a video on persecuted Christians from around the world.  This served to guide our prayer time and it also always helps to worship with the big “C” Church in mind.

Today, we worshiped to:

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Living Hope

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We joined with 40+ churches in the area today to pray for spiritual awakening. Alan Quigley at South Main Street Baptist Church led the initiative and there were a lot of great things going on this weekend. The prayer was for spiritual awakening to happen in churches all over Greenwood. Love it when people focus on churches working together rather than competing with one another.

I’m not sure about other local churches, but God is continuing to do some amazing things at North Side. Loved our prayer time for spiritual awakening, and I love to hear stories of people who are being discipled at our church.

Today, we worshiped to:

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1 Peter Worship Album

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I’m excited to share with you a new project for North Side Worship.  We are writing an album based upon 1 Peter.

Our church is going through a study of 1 Peter.  It is entitled “Stand Firm.”  We started it last Sunday, and if calculations are correct, we will be finishing the end of January 2014.  The book is all about standing firm as believers during difficult times.  It’s a pretty timely message these days.

Since we would be spending so much time in this book, we wanted to cement these biblical truths in the ears of our church.  Ever since we started focusing on discipling people through worship, we have been amazed at how people are growing through this ministry.

Our band got together and studied 1 Peter one day intensively.  We studied and we studied.  After really understanding it as a book, we then broke it down into about 12 songs that we wanted to write.  That day we started on some of them.  We have a goal of about 4 songs a month.  We have 4 complete, and we are in the process of the next 4 as we speak.  We hope to finish all the songs by the beginning of October.

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The Gathering – Sept. 15-18

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I just sent out the final preparations to our band for The Gathering.  I am so excited for these coming 4 days at North Side.  It is a time to seek the Lord.  The times together are going to very special.  We have been praying and planning a lot.

Here are some details on the week:

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Elect Exiles

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I was so excited to start our new series today, “Stand Firm.”  This study in 1 Peter will last a few months and focuses how believers are to endure through the trials of this life.  I can’t think of a more timely series.

We started our worship off today with a spoken word video from Amena Brown as the band built into the first song.  The service was built all around the passage of the day, 1 Peter 1:1-2.  I’m gonna be emphasizing that even more in the weeks to come hoping to help connect the dots for everyone.

Today, we worshiped to:

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The Discipline of the Church

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We finished up our “Church Matters” series today as we focused on “The Discipline of the Church.”  This isn’t a topic you would normally hear about in a sermon series on the church, but if we neglect this issue we are avoiding a serious issue in the New Testament.

Jeff mentioned in his very practical sermon on this matter that we have replaced God today with the god of tolerance. America’s favorite verse to quote is “judge not” and it is taken out of context and not understood.  If we don’t keep one another accountable within the church then our witness and stand in the world weakens.

Today, we worshiped to:

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Hissy Fit or Pastoral Duty?

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You will have an opinion about the following video.  If you haven’t seen it, it’s been quite the topic of conversation.

Baptist Pastor Jim Standridge has made a name for himself after a video of one of his sermons, showing him rebuking some of his members, went viral.  Out of all of his messages he might have desired to become famous for, I don’t know if he saw this one coming to the top of the list.

The preacher from Immanuel Baptist Church in Skiatook, Oklahoma, for 24 years, left the platform, stepped down from his pulpit into the seated congregation on May 19 to call out one member for dozing off.  But that was just the beginning.

Spotting someone else in the congregation, he then called out a member, Ryan Underwood, who had missed several services, “You are one of the sorriest church members I have. You’re not worth 15 cents.”

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