Ministry

He MUST Increase

by

What a great morning at North Side!  Walking through the Gospel of John, Jeff decided to take an extra stop a long the way to talk about the joy that John the Baptist had in decreasing.  While I hadn’t planned the service around that passage, it was wonderful watching the Holy Spirit unite elements to make a powerful service.

We were blessed to have some missionaries from North Africa talk with us about how to truly partner with missionaries on the field.  Awesome insights and wonderful to pray with them.

Today, we worshiped to:

READ MORE

Songs of Our Faith – This Sunday Night!

by

Last night we had a fantastic practice/worship time as we prepared for this Sunday’s night of worship.  I say it was practice, but it was really worship.  When you get to work with the people I get to, practice turns into worship.

I’ll say this: this entire project (recording, planning, arranging, practicing) has been a more daunting attempt than anything else we have ever done.  The arrangements are very complex.  The instrumentation shifts from song to song.  Players and vocalists are being pushed to the max.

And, I’ve never been more proud of this group!

READ MORE

When the Church Vote Doesn’t Go Your Way

by

I posted yesterday concerning the approval at the South Carolina Baptist Convention of the Great Commission Resurgence.  This approval met with a very significant majority vote (which shocked me personally).  While there are many different changes, the one that keeps me focused is that it changes the budget for more emphasis on sending more missionaries to the field.  It takes away some money from our institutions but also gives them allowance to raise money in other avenues.

The vote was a significant majority, but everyone involved are not raving fans (I know you’ve never heard of a situation like that in a church setting ;)).  I’m sympathetic to both sides.  I have dear brothers who were a part of leading the change and I have dear brothers who tried to stop it.  I see both sides, but the reality is, the change has happened now.

So, what do you do when the church vote doesn’t go your way?

READ MORE

The Great Commission Resurgence (And South Carolina Baptists)

by

North Side is a part of the Southern Baptist Convention, and within that denomination, we are specifically aligned with the South Carolina Baptist Convention. Yesterday, we took a group of the staff to be a part of the yearly Convention meeting.

Recently, there has been dialogue concerning the allocation of Southern Baptist funds. When the recession hit, the Convention as a whole had to figure out how and where to cut back. From that event, the Great Commission Resurgence was a movement within the Convention to review how we spend money and where we send our resources. Yesterday, part of our leadership were in attendance to decide how South Carolina should go forward with their funds.

When North Side takes up an offering each week, 10% of that automatically goes to the Cooperative Program of the Southern Baptist Convention. When all of our Baptist churches put their funds together, we “cooperate” and send more missionaries than individual churches could on their own. So, even if you haven’t heard about this discussion, the decision yesterday effected where some of your tithe and offering money goes to.

We thought it would be great for you to hear how a large group of very different people united together around the gospel yesterday. Of course there are concerns about the strategy, and some people are not raving fans, but what I thought was amazing yesterday was very opinionated people got together and shared together in a Christian, civil way.

The following is an article provided by the Baptist Courier:

READ MORE

The Wrath of God

by

 

Continuing in our study through the Book of John, “Knowing Jesus,” we talked today about the wrath of God and reality of hell.

Throughout the whole service, we dealt with the topic head on.  Jeff’s sermon was right on.  True and compassionate.

Rick also shared some details concerning our Project Love Christmas bash.  Here’s how you can get involved.

Today, we worshiped to:

READ MORE

Night of Worship: Songs of Our Faith

by

On November 20th at 6pm we will have a worship service here at North Side. We will be releasing the new North Side Worship album, Songs of Our Faith, after the service. This is the followup to last year’s Overcome service. Groups, ministry teams, other churches, families are all invited. We are partnering with other churches who will be helping …

READ MORE

NGU Men and Women’s Conference

by

  I would appreciate your prayers for our family this week. Amanda and I are speaking and leading worship at North Greenville University in 4 chapels Monday-Wednesday. This week is called the Men and Women’s Conference. Dealing with sensitive issues such as forgiveness, purity, dating, and marriage is a big challenge. Please pray God uses us in a mighty way …

READ MORE

You Must Be Born Again

by

Powerful day of worship today!  Jeff’s message was spot on.  John 3 – you must be born again.  Incredible to watch people give their lives to Jesus!  Wonderful time of baptism and more children being baptized by their fathers – love it! Today, we worshiped to: Jesus Loves Me – North Side Worship All My Fountains – Chris Tomlin I …

READ MORE

Cleaning Out the Temple

by


 
What a great day at North Side!  The big idea focused on Jesus’ cleaning the temple.  Whether you realized it or not, we attempted for every element to focus on this passage.  From song selections focusing on the sanctuaries of God, to praying for God’s work with other churches, to the message, we all tried to get this point across.

So appreciative for David Little, Director of Missions of the Lakelands Baptist Association, joining us today to remind of God’s work among our other churches.  It was wonderful to pray for other churches in our city.

Today, we worshiped to:

READ MORE

Do Children Make Good Converts?

by

How many mission trips have you been a part of in which the evangelistic focus was centered around children?  In my mission and ministry experience, the most common demographic for evangelistic efforts are children.  Energetic teams hop off a bus armed with balloons, refreshments, and gospel presentations ready to win the next generation to Christ.

Going through different ministry trainings, I heard numerous times that the chance of someone becoming a Christian dramatically decreases once that person reaches the age of 18.  In my experience, I would agree with that assessment.  Due to that belief, great focus is reasonably put on reaching younger people with the gospel.

But is it the best approach?  Imagine that one day, on your drive home from work, you notice a lot of activity in the park near your neighborhood.  As you drive by this festival-type atmosphere, you realize that your 7 year-old daughter is sitting down with a bunch of other children listening to some type of story time.  You recognize many of the children, but the storyteller is unknown to you.  After parking your car, you see your daughter raising her hand.  One of the adults begins to talk with her and it looks as if they are praying together.

Curiosity turns into concern, and you start to pick up your pace a bit only to realize that a group of Bahá’í missionaries have just converted your daughter to the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh without your permission or approval.  Outrage is an understatement.  You are considering calling authorities to address this unthinkable situation.

I paint that picture because our method of carrying out the Great Commission must be addressed.

READ MORE

Water You Turned Into Wine

by

What a great to day to be a part of North Side!  Grateful for all the wonderful things going on!  Remember: 1. The Fall Festival this Saturday from 3-5.  Thanks Georges for reminding us!  2. Africa interest meeting tonight at 6 pm in the chapel.  3. Families are growing stronger since this move to united worship.  It was awesome hearing those stories today!

Jeff’s message was the BEST message I ever heard on John 2 when Jesus turned water into wine.  It was the ONLY sermon I’ve ever heard on that passage, but even if I had heard tons, that dog would hunt (that’s country slang meaning it was great!).  I never knew all the implications of what happened.  Huge message!  Check out this Baptist preacher talk about alcohol in a completely different light!

We had a great family worship last night where we talked about this passage.  Getting ready for services this morning, I asked the boys, “What did Jesus turn water into?”  Since wine isn’t a word we use around the house often, they were trying their hardest to come up with it.  I helped them out by starting with the “w” sound.

Obadiah said, “Waffles?  Jesus turned water into waffles.”

Almost.  Well, he could have if he wanted to!

Today, we worshiped to:

READ MORE

Worshipers on Boycott

by

It’s intriguing to see how encouragement and ministry happens over the Internet.  When I started sharing North Side’s journey of uniting our church concerning worship styles, services, and preferences, I mainly was attempting to share our thought process with the people of North Side.  Along the way, I began to receive correspondence from other pastors desiring to unite their churches but were afraid of the fallout.

We are still in awe of how God is doing more than we could possibly imagine during this time of transition in our church (Eph. 3:20).  Sunday was our 7th united worship service schedule, and attendance is up.  Involvement is up.  Excitement is up.  Of course, there are people who are not raving fans of the changes, but it is very minimal.  God is challenging all of us to strive for a united church.  It’s been a great thing.

I was asked last week by a minister in another church: “What do you do with disgruntled worshipers?  They are boycotting the music.  We have members waiting outside until the music is over to come in.  Some cover their ears.  Some refuse to sing certain types of songs.  Some won’t even stand up and sit there with their arms crossed.  It’s offensive to me.  What should I do?”

My first word of advice: “Stop being offended because those people’s actions are not against you.  They are against someone else.”

READ MORE

God Did NOT Tell You to Do THAT

by

Recently, I was made aware of a situation involving fellow ministers of the gospel.  Someone told me a piece of a conversation, and before I jumped to any conclusions, I decided to go to the source directly.  Sure there had to be a reasonable explanation or a miscommunication, I assumed all would be cleared up with one simple phone call.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t cleared up.  Justifying his thought process, he explained to me what went down between them.  I thought that a brother confronting him would be enough to show some type of remorse, but that’s not what happened.

Actually, he informed me that God told him to do what he did.

READ MORE

The Call

by

What a great day at North Side!  As we focused on Jesus’s saving nature and the fact that he still calls out disciples for his work, we got a chance to Skype in with one of our own serving on the mission field, Kim Tomlinson.  Serving in the American Samoa, Kim is reaching many families for Christ.  By her saying yes, she was not only obedient to Jesus’ call, but she served as such an inspiration to our church.  Kim’s Facebook status: definitely worth it to stay up from 130am-430am here in Samoa to be able to skype with my church family in Greenwood 🙂 🙂 So thankful to have an amazing church family that supports me 🙂  

This is a picture of the baptism service she talked about yesterday – I hope her description impacted your worship yesterday like it did mine!

Today, we worshiped to:

READ MORE

“Why Isn’t Your Name on the Cover?”

by

As Courageous has been making headlines around the country for the success in the box office, I have been rejoicing at all that God is doing through it.  I’ve kinda been surprised that my small role in the ministry aspect of it has caused me to be interviewed by a few different sources.  The Bible Study book that I worked on is available now, but the whole kit with the DVD and extras won’t be available until Feb. 2012.

In a phone interview last week, someone had already picked up the book and asked me this question: “Why isn’t your name on the cover?”

As you can see by the picture, the  leaders for Sherwood Baptist Church and Sherwood Pictures names are on the cover, and this inquiring mind on the other side of the phone wanted to know where mine was.

Well…

READ MORE

Preachers’ Kids

by

Our culture has a stereotype of pastor’s children that is the complete opposite of this biblical expectation.  When people mention a “preacher kid,” they are normally referencing some rebellious hellion bent on tarnishing his father’s reputation in the community.  This stereotype reveals more than an unfortunate circumstance, it shows unbiblical perspectives and qualifications present in the church today.

Repeatedly, many preacher kids reveal a father who took care of the needs of everyone else except for those living in his own house.  In attempts to appease this member or that family, he neglected his own wife and children.  As the years went by, not only does the minister’s family resent the man of the house, but they also resent the church and many never return once they leave home.

Your pastors need to care for their own children more than they care for your children.

READ MORE

Songs of Our Faith – Track Listing

by

We are so excited as recording is picking up pace around here.  North Side Worship is in the recording studio again working on our next worship project entitled: “Songs of Our Faith.”  This collection of worship hymns is full of wonderful lyrics pointing the church to Jesus!

The concept art is coming together.  The band is putting together some unbelievable music.  The vocalists are pushing themselves more and more each week.  The arrangements are more complex than anything we have ever tried to pull off.

We are planning on releasing the CD on Sunday, November 20th at 6pm.  We are in the initial plans of this worship event, and we hope you can come out.  We have some really special stuff planned.

So do you want to know what hymns made the cut?

READ MORE

Prepare the Way for the Lord

by

I was so thankful that my buddy, JW, got to lead us in worship today at North Side!  We did a highlight for our Sonshine ministry at North Side, and Greg Thompson and JW helped us be mindful of how God is using all of North Side.  After the video, they both shared, JW prayed and then led in worship to “I’ll Fly Away.”  Awesome time!

Today, we worshiped to:

READ MORE

Why Many Student Ministries Are Failing

by

Since the inception of student ministry (not that many years ago), the growing belief is that parents should aid and assist the student pastor to evangelize and disciple the students.  By serving in either assistant teaching roles or crowd control, parents are expected to help the student pastor in his ministerial work focused on their children.  I cannot begin to tell you how many parents describe that situation and say that the student pastor spiritually “raised my child.”

If we were to follow the biblical example, we would reverse the trend.  Parents should not aid and assist the student pastor.  The student pastor should aid and assist the parent to evangelize and disciple one’s own child.

READ MORE

Family Worship Guides

by

I mentioned last week that I was making a big announcement during my message on Sunday, Sept. 25th.  I told the church that God had blessed me by leading worship and preaching at North Side, but I felt God was leading me to do something else.

I felt like God was leading me to lead worship in the homes of our church.  As we focused on family discipleship the last few weeks, my big application was for the leader of the home to begin leading the family in worship before they came to the church house each Sunday.  My commitment in the deal is that I will provide a worship guide each week by Thursday on the City so that they can lead their family in worship sometime before Sunday morning.

Last week was the first week I provided a worship guide.  The picture above is us taking our boys through the guide in our own home.  Since we were studying John 1 the next day in church, we spent some time focusing on that Jesus is the light of the world.  As we took our boys through some dark rooms in our house guided by a flashlight, we talked about how Jesus shone his light into this dark world.

I made the worship guide, but I also had to adapt some things to make it work in my home.

READ MORE

In the Beginning Was the Word

by

 

Wow, what a stellar day to be a part of North Side!

We kicked off a new series today studying the Book of John entitled, “Knowing Jesus.”  To start things off, we celebrated some baptisms.  We sang “Come and Listen” as our candidates told why they were being baptized.  My favorite part of the day was watching fathers baptize their children!  Doesn’t get better than that for me.  Coming off the “Courageous” series, movie release this weekend, and our 1st family worship guide, it was incredible to watch!

Today, we worshiped to:

READ MORE

Go See Courageous This Weekend

by

I’ve shared a lot about my involvement with the Courageous resource, Honor Begins at Home, which will be available next week.  I can’t urge you enough: go see this film this weekend.  It is a powerful movie that could change your home, church, and community if the principles are applied. I am posting a clip below from the film.  This …

READ MORE

The Family Altar

by

It was an emotionally charged Sunday at North Side.  In our 2nd week of Courageous, we discussed “The Family Altar.” I had a pregnant lady in our church say that she was emotionally exhausted from the service and she needed to lay down.  I felt the same way, and I had no baby weighing me down!  It was an intense …

READ MORE

Zuckerberg, Lucas, and You

by

Something is wrong with the world as we know it.

Facebook has changed yet again, and the Facebook community is in a tizzy.  Disgust and outrage fill status feeds, news reports, and paper headlines.  How dare Mark Zuckerberg keep changing a good thing?

Within days of the Facebook mutiny, global Star Wars fans are distraught that George Lucas has changed scenes yet again in his recent Blu-Ray versions of the Star Wars saga.  Tinkering with some effects is one thing, but when he started changing details in the story lines reopened the scab for those still upset that Han Solo was “provoked” by Greedo.

So, let me get this straight.  Most of the world is hooked on Facebook.  Created by brilliant college student, Facebook is the way people attempt to share life these days and is the most visited website in the world.  It has literally changed how people function in our society.  And we are mad at the guy who made it because he changed it?

George Lucas, who single handedly changed the movie industry, wrote a script that millions of fans have memorized.  When he decides to enhance a story that he wrote, we get mad at him for changing what we like as if he has no rights to the story.

The outrage this week reminded me how we think we are the center of the universe.

READ MORE

Redeeming Your History

by

What a great day at North Side as we kicked off our 2 week Courageous series.  In addition to a great prayer time for our Africa team, we had a wonderful worship time together.  Taylor did a great time of focusing our prayers for that team and the unreached people group.  The worship team did great today!  So much energy, passion, and skill.  They led me to the throne – it was fantastic!

Today, we worshiped to:

READ MORE

“You’re a REALLY Big Bear!”

by

Psalm 107:33 He turns rivers into desert,
springs of water into thirsty ground,
34 and fruitful land into salty wasteland,
because of the wickedness of its inhabitants.
35 He turns a desert into a pool of water,
dry land into springs of water.
36 He causes the hungry to settle there,
and they establish a city where they can live.
37 They sow fields and plant vineyards
that yield a fruitful harvest.

38 He blesses them, and they multiply greatly;
He does not let their livestock decrease.

43 Let whoever is wise pay attention to these things
and consider the Lord’s acts of faithful love.

After reading a book about a family of bears one day, my firstborn came up to me and said, “Daddy, I’m a little bear, Mommy is a big bear, and Daddy, you’re a really big bear!”

In addition to his comments causing me to diet the next week, I also realized the power that perception has in the eyes of a child.  I’m a tall dad.  My toddlers think I am ginormous.  When a balloon escapes their grasp and heads towards the ceiling, they came looking for me.  When they want to soar above the crowd, they come begging to sit upon my shoulders.  Contrastingly, when they are in trouble, I can tell that our height difference also causes them to sit up a little straighter when I walk in the room.

Don’t read anything more into that comment.  The fact is they are small, I am big, and that causes them sometimes to have a reality check.  I believe that’s one of the reasons God makes babies so small (in addition to wanting women to survive labor).  He wants children to have a healthy fear of their parents.  The problem only comes when they think they are my size.

Our problems come when we think God is our size. 

READ MORE

What They Don’t Teach You in Seminary

by

 

I haven’t been a very consistent blogger this week.  I apologize.  It’s been a crazy week of ministry thus far.  On weeks like this, you realize all the things they don’t train you for in seminary.

Here’s some of the things I have dealt with this week:

READ MORE

What Do You Wish 2012’s President Would Bring to the White House?

by

We’re still a long way off from the election, but the news coverage is already constant.  With the Republican debates going on, President Obama making attempts to salvage the economy, and everyone having an opinion about both, a lot is being promised. At the end of last night’s debate, Wolf Blitzer asked a unique questions: “If you were elected as …

READ MORE

The Keys to the Kingdom

by

We had a great day as we wrapped up our “Intentional Discipleship” series.  It’s been amazing to hear the stories of people who are taking the job of disciple-maker very seriously.  I love hearing about all the different ways people are investing in others!  We’ve also been amazed at how well family worship has been and how much our children have been getting out of the new schedule.

Jeff’s message was so great.  I loved the emphasis he put on keeping the Sabbath and maintaining rest.  It is definitely something we have to be on the regular to watch out for.  Phil Zigos did a wonderful job leading a prayer time for America on the 10th anniversary of 9/11.  We also were able to ordain Dan Flint into the ministry and pray for our mission team leaving next week (Jeff Lethco, Jukie Leary, and Martin Ridgeway).  Love the prayer focus today!

Today, we worshiped to:

READ MORE

“So, How Did the Change REALLY Go?”

by

In the recent weeks, I have learned that there have been 3 people very interested in the changes going on at North Side.

  1. North Siders – This group has been interested in how all of it would look when the dust settled and the new day was here.  What would worship be like?  Where would their families go?
  2. Other Greenwood Churches – We also have heard that it’s been quite the conversation among other churches, and even in some churches, people have attempted to lure people to their congregation because their worship style was something they would enjoy better (that’s on both the contemporary and the traditional side).  I guarantee if someone leaves one church because of music and find refuge in another, those are the type of members who leave the 2nd church one day as well.  It’s like young ladies who feel like they have to advertise to get a man.  Whatever it takes to get him will be what takes him one day.  The same is true with churches.
  3. Other Church Leaders – Along the way, I’ve been contacted through this blog, Facebook, or email with questions how we are going about these changes.  It seems there are a lot of churches who desire unity as well.  Many congregations are tired of the church buffet lines, but we served as the “guinea pig” to many of them.  If it works here, maybe it could work there too was the thought process.

So, I posted on Sunday that Sunday was a great day, and it was.  I believed it was going to be a great day, but I didn’t think it could have gone that smooth.  But many people emailed me on Monday morning and said, “OK, you can tell me, how did the change REALLY go?”  As if Sunday everyone would be all smiles, but then Monday morning, our inboxes would be overflowing with hate mail.

So, how did the change REALLY go?

READ MORE

College Discipleship Groups

by

  What a wonderful weekend with the North Side family!  We were blessed to have a bunch of college students worship with us yesterday from Lander, Erskine, Piedmont Tech, Presbyterian College, and much more.  It was a blessing to connect with so many of them at our lunch yesterday and our dodegeball tournament last night. We want to make all …

READ MORE

Following Jesus

by

The day so many of us have been praying for and planning for finally came.  We did something that most church growth experts and consultants say should never be done.  With what we did today, we should have had a church split or people walking out in disapproval.

Instead, we worshiped as one family.

Today, North Side united 3 services into 2.  We got rid of 2 styles and united under the heading of “worship.”  We united families instead of segregating them.  And while I believe that God has been honored with our church before, I think this was another level of obedience and worship that we engaged into today.  I’ve heard plenty of encouraging words from this morning, but even if those weren’t there, God was honored and our church worshiped today in spirit and in truth.

Today, we worshiped to:

READ MORE

Reminders for Sunday’s New Schedule

by

Just a reminder about Sunday’s new schedule at North Side.  We have worship and discipleship groups for all ages at both 9:30 & 11:00.  Get there early to make sure you and your family are in the right spot at the right time.

Here’ some additional notes for you to remember:

READ MORE

“We Said We Would Never Visit North Side…”

by

Yesterday, I talked about how North Side is experiencing incredible growth even during a time of transition.  Normally, you are supposed to lose people when you make changes to your church, and in reality, we are gaining people.  Lives are being transformed by the gospel.  People are being baptized.  All ages are signing up for discipleship groups and service groups.  It’s been amazing to watch!

I wanted to tell you one story that we have heard through this time of change.  A couple recently moved to Greenwood who had been church leaders in another state.  As they began their time of searching for the right church, someone invited them to come to North Side.  They checked out the website, asked some questions about the church, and told this person they wouldn’t come.  They had doctrinal stances they had to ensure which our church met with no problem.  But they had one other criteria as far as looking for a church that was a non-negotiable for them.

Do you know what the one criteria they had that was hindering them from coming to North Side?

READ MORE

Aren’t Churches Supposed to Lose People When They Change?

by

When I was in seminary, I was taught that before you ever make a change in your church, you need to calculate how many people you would lose if you changed.  An honest look at how those departures would affect attendance, volunteers, and especially budget should give you an indication of whether or not you should change.

North Side is in the middle of a change (if you haven’t heard ;)).  We are going from 3 worship services to 2.  2 worship styles to 1.  We are having a simple flip-flop schedule with worship and discipleship groups for all ages at both 9:30 & 11:00.

We decided to change for 2 basic reasons:

READ MORE

Values of a Disciple-Maker

by

Cannot begin to put into words what is happening at North Side in these days.  This morning, I was reminded of how focused, committed, determined, passionate, and sacrificial our church is becoming.  God is on the move, and it is amazing to watch!

We continued in our “Intentional Discipleship” series today as we talked about the values of a disciple-maker.  My notes have that someone who is serious about making disciples is someone who commits to authority (God’s Word), intentionality, maturity, and accountability.  People are stepping up to make disciples – not more programs, but to get into the lives of people and see multiplication rather than just addition.

It was great to surprise Stan Ligon today.  As Jamie Parler and Stan shared a testimony about the power of small groups, we wanted to thank this disciple-maker by allowing some of his guys to say thanks over a secret video.  It was pretty awesome to watch Stan talk about how much he needed these guys then followed by the guys saying how much they appreciated and needed him.  Kingdom living!

Today, we worshiped to:

READ MORE

Bad Church Sign: No Way Out

by

This week’s bad church sign (thanks Easler for sending this one to me) states: “HELL ONE WAY IN  NO WAY OUT WELCOME” How would you improve this sign’s message?

+ MORE POSTS