I blogged so much leading up to the Shane and Shane concert at North Side that when I got down cleaning up the church Sunday night at 12:30, I couldn’t even think about blogging. But alas, here I finally go. I think I will just hit some highlights for me. Bethany Dillon – She’s getting married to Shane B. in …
George Barna, author of Marketing the Church, is the founder and president of the Barna Research Group. The Barna Research Group specializes in research concerning the state of the church and the culture in which the church attempts to impact. In addition to writing Marketing the Church, Barna has authored many other books concerning church health and the culture’s perception …
Another image that Paul utilized to describe the church was that of the body of Christ. Paul’s use of the analogy of the church serving as a body was a common illustration utilized in the popular Stoic philosophy of the day. In this context, Jesus is not seen as a part of this body, but individual Christians compose the body …
Wow. I’m having to catch up on my blog posts rapidly – this has been a crazy weekend, but I want to share all that God did over the weekend. Sunday was another great day at North Side. As we concluded The Original Blues, we talked about the “Fear Blues,” the ones that cripple us due to the large circumstances …
Today’s entry is number 3 on the New Testament images of the church: Branches on a Vine Nearing his imminent sacrifice upon the cross, Jesus emphasized that the church’s function was to be viewed as branches on a vine. In the Old Testament, Isaiah depicted the nation of Israel as the vine, but in the New Testament, Jesus assumed this …
I was so glad to be able to preach at Erskine’s chapel today. Thanks to Paul Patrick for the invite. I always have a great time when I get to come to Erskine. Many of you Due Westers have been coming to North Side as of late, and I am hoping to get to know you guys some more, so …
Today was week two in our series, Original Blues, where we looked at the “Death Blues.” Most of us have dealt with the sorrow associated with losing someone we love, or we are fearful that the reality of someone we love dying is coming around the corner. If you haven’t dealt with death yet, you will. But there’s nothing wrong …
The following is an excerpt from the upcoming book, Freshmen 15. You are literally picking up in the middle of a chapter entitled, “The Worldview.” Here goes: When it comes to how you view the world, I am worried that, in appearance, you look like you hold to a Christian worldview, but in reality, your actual perception of how the …
In the second installment of images of the church found in the New Testament, we come upon the bride of Christ. This phrase is used a lot, but how often do we really look into what it means? While we are servants and laborers to Christ, he is also chosen to call the universal church his one and only bride. …
Third conviction concerning worship by the iconic Rick Warren: 3. There is no correct style of worship. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 12: “There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men.“ God gives us only three requirements for worship. It …
We started a new series today at North Side called “Original Blues.” So many people are dealing with depression, sadness, grief, fear, or other emotions that cripple them. The Psalms are beautiful examples of how godly people dealt with honest emotions. We worshipped to the following songs today: Blessed Be Your Name – Matt Redman Made Me Glad – Hillsong …
I’m working on a doctorate degree which means I have to write a whole bunch and read even more. I looked back over some of the stuff and I’ve written, and I think it might be helpful to our church to read. So I’m going to take some selections from some of the papers I have written and share them …
Switchfoot’s CD, “Beautiful Letdown,” is still one of my favorite CDs of all time. It’s not often that you want to listen to a CD all the way through and rethink your life in the process. So many of Jon Foreman’s lyrics are crying out for people to live for more than what they are currently living. The song, “This …
Have you ever felt like you didn’t have enough time to get done what you wanted to get done? Lately, I have been on a big time management kick. I’ve been trying to look at what I do and see what I could do better. The reason to evaluate is that I have one life to live and I want …
For any of you cultured people who read my blog, a friend of mine, Beverly Psomas, who works with the Fine Arts of Lander just sent me this promo. I said I would help get the word out. GREENWOOD—The National Symphony Orchestra only tours in one state each year. This year that state will be South Carolina, and Lander University …
The phrase – “all we have left to do now is pray” – is one of the worst sayings in the life of a Christian. Tonight we talked at Fusion about how that shows the smallness of our depiction of God if we honestly believe that prayer is a last resort after we have done all we know how to …
Today, we finished up our Satisfaction series at North Side. What a great way to begin 2008! The last four weeks, we have shown some of the areas from Solomon’s life recorded in the Book of Ecclesiastes where he tried to find satisfaction but could never find any. As we read through the book as a congregation, it was amazing …
2. You don’t need a building to worship God. For 15 years we didn’t have a building of our own. But I guarantee we did a lot of worshipping during that time. The Bible says, “The God who made the world and all things in it, since he is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made …
Saturday, I got to lead two breakout sessions at the South Carolina BCM conference, Converge, on relationships. I had a blast getting to know different college students from across the state. We looked at what God had to say concerning dating and preparation for marriage, and I was so encouraged by the feedback I got. I am working to get …
Tonight at Fusion we discussed the need to hide God’s word in your heart (Ps. 119:9-11). Sure we’ve heard about it and people are always telling us it is wise to memorize scripture, but when are we actually going to resolve to do it? The time is now. Just like we leave in the morning with the things we need …
High school student and a buddy of mine, Sara McGee, wrote the following article for gwdtoday.com about North Side. We are making a difference folks! And we still have so much more left to do! Northside Baptist Church Shines in the Spotlight Sara McGee – Staff News Writer 17.JAN.08 Northside was founded in 1966 by members of another Baptist …
Shane and Shane tickets are available now! They will be accompanied by Starfield and David Nasser on Sunday, Feb. 24 @ 7pm at North Side in Greenwood, SC. This is a great event come by yourself, with your family, with your church group, whoever. But you want to get your tickets quickly because we are anticipating selling out! This even …
Thanks so much to all of you who came out to our 5:00 service Sunday night. So sorry for any of you who didn’t get the news and came out this morning. Here was all the stuff that led to the decision: There was some snow, but alot of slush in the roads last night. It was going below freezing …
We are going to cancel all services in the morning due to the 21 degree iced parking lot we will have in the morning (we don’t want anyone sledding down the hill in front of the auditorium), but we are going to do a 5:00 pm service since it will be above freezing by that time. We will have nursery …
A few months ago, I had been reading some different scripture passages and reflecting on how unstoppable God is. We tell him he is loving and great, but I was caught off guard by those passages that just state unashamedly – our God is the biggest and baddest (“bad” in a good way), and we will shout it from the …
I’m in class this week up at Southern Seminary in Louisville, KY where I am currently working on another degree. I know. I am a glutton for punishment. The class centers on biblical and theological issues pertaining to evangelism and church growth. Dr. Timothy Beougher is the lead professor with guest lecturers also leading our class. I’m learning a bunch …
This Sunday was week two in our Satisfaction series at North Side. The whole morning focused on never-ending work. King Solomon, in Ecclesiastes 2:18-26, spoke of his disappointment with his search for satisfaction in the means of his job. He stated that he worked tirelessly to achieve contentment, but he could never attain through that work. We live in a …
If you didn’t get to see the GOP Presidential debate in Myrtle Beach, SC last night, it was another interesting display of banter between the Republican candidates. One of the most culturally-informing moments of the debate last night was when one of the moderators asked former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee about a statement of faith he signed with members of …
Here’s another sampling of a church sign that is paving the way for the gospel on the streets of America: As we begin 2008, here’s a warm message for all of non-church goers out there – this great church somewhere in middle America, has an important New Years’ message. “Turn or Burn. Happy New Year.” Does anyone see the problem …
We began a new series at North Side today called “Satisfaction.” The picture of Mic Jagger says it all: Mic and the Rolling Stones have been singing that song since 1965. And he is still singing it today. He still hasn’t found satisfaction. And so many of us are in the same boat. We look to find satisfaction in so …
Don’t drop your kids off at church, bring them home to it. On Sunday, Jeff and I tag-team preached on the issue of the family. You don’t have to browse too much on my blog to see that I’m pretty excited about my baby boy that is on the way. What I don’t say often enough is how scared I …
I think this Christmas Eve was the second time we have done a Christmas Eve service at North Side. This year, we got to have it in the new auditorium, which was good since we were near full. It was an incredible time of worship together! We had a couple of fantastic videos to watch, the choir sang four selections …
“Is Jesus Christ the light of your world?” Jeff asked that question over and over this morning at North Side. And it was the most important question that could be asked this morning. Months ago when we prayed and planned this service, we had a lot to think about. We know that the Sunday before Christmas and Easter Sunday are …
Churches Push ‘Advent Conspiracy’ to Teach Real Giving By Nancy Haught Religion News Service Portland, Ore. — The Christmas contradiction gives Pastor Rick McKinley a headache. Americans will spend about $475 billion this year on gifts, decorations and parties that many won’t even remember next year. They will run themselves ragged — shopping, wrapping and celebrating. And some won’t pay …
I wanted to tell you all about a great event coming North Side’s way – the Vision of You 2008 Tour stopping down in Greenwood, SC on Feb. 24 featuring Shane and Shane, Starfield, and David Nassar. The first time I heard Shane and Shane, I was blown away. I heard the beautiful words of Scripture so wonderfully accompanied by …
I googled “North Side Baptist Greenwood” this morning, and I came across an article that I had forgotten that had been written about North Side a few months ago. This article is from the Baptist Press. Posted on Apr 3, 2007 | by Marilyn Stewart NEW ORLEANS (BP)–With a mission strategy of getting plugged into the world, Northside Baptist Church …
Mitt Romney is in the news a whole lot these days. But besides being one of the frontrunners for the Republican nomination for President, he is also being scrutinized because of his beliefs. Romney is a Mormon. And I regularly hear someone say, “now Mormonism is the religion that believes…” Many Christians are confused if Mormons believe the same as …
Today at North Side was week number two in our series, “Let There Be Light.” This week, we talked about the Incarnation. We talked about the darkness that we live in. We tried to drive home the fact that our sin has caused this world to be a dark place where the light of Christ is avoided. But when the …
The Submerge 08 website is officially up and running. You can go there at submergecamp.com. Submerge is a student camp that we help put on on Spring Break. This year (our fourth year) promises to be the best camp experience ever for Submerge. If you go over to the website, this is what you can expect: All the information about …
“We can’t change our circumstances, but God can use our circumstances to change us.” That line was the Big Idea for a message I preached a few Sundays ago at North Side on nothing wasted. I was so encouraged to hear that our study in the passage of Romans 8:28 was able to help so many people out. I remember …
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