What a great Sunday! Even though we had some technical difficulties during the last service, it was such a special time of worship. The smiling girls in the picture are of Autumn and Bridget Kennerly, John’s and Heather’s daughters. The reason we didn’t have part of our band during the beginning is because these girls and a few others were …
This week’s book of the week is Gary Chapman’s The 5 Love Languages. While I have used the premise of this book often in counseling, I had never actually read the book. Since this week was a heart book read, I decided to go through this book finally. The idea is that we all have primary love language that we …
I’ve been a songwriter since I started playing guitar. I love it, but when I became worship pastor, a dilemma arose. If I have the choice to lead with a song that I have written or Chris Tomlin has written, if I defer to quality, we would always play Mr. Tomlin. I love his songs, and our people love singing …
GUEST BLOGGER: Kyle Richter – This complete article can be found in the current edition of the Compass. The dictionary defines sanctity as “the condition of being considered sacred or holy, and therefore entitled to respect and reverence.” The argument is often made that life demands respect and therefore abortion and euthanasia are wrong. According to the definition above the …
The groundhog has spoken. And it’s bad news. Punxsutawney Phil has emerged to see his shadow before chilly revelers in Pennsylvania, meaning winter will last another six weeks. German tradition holds that if a hibernating animal sees its shadow on Feb. 2 — the Christian holiday of Candlemas — winter will last another six weeks. If no shadow is seen, …
At times in my life, there has been one song that has impacted me. Someone wrote the words that my heart had been singing. At high school graduation, it was Steven Curtis Chapman’s “Speechless.” In Japan, it was Vineyard UK’s “Hungry.” A year ago, Leeland’s “May Our Praise” was my daily anthem. Right now, Phil Wickham’s “Cielo” brings me …
Continuing on in the True[ish] series, North Side focused on “Jesus: More Than a Role Model” today. A time to celebrate the cross and remember Christ’s sacrifice through observing communion. Today, we worshiped to: Here I Am to Worship – Tim Hughes Amazing Grace – Chris Tomlin (NS Worship Version) In Christ Alone – Stuart Townend How Deep the Father’s …
This week’s book of the week was Andy Stanley’s Making Vision Stick. Stanley is the pastor of North Point Community Church. He is one of the smartest leaders I have ever had the privilege to be taught by. The guy breathes organization and systems. He is often criticized for his use of corporate leadership within the church, but he rebuttles that …
Who loves the North Side Worship Team? I, for one, do! And I bet you do too. Take for instance the tech team. Without those talented techies, you wouldn’t be able to hear or see a thing on Sundays. They are amazing team players! Or what about the music team? Such gifted and yet humble people. They take us to …
One way you can make doctrines stick with you longer is by utilizing Scripture memory. The Bible repeatedly encourages Scripture memorization. If we hide it in our hearts (Ps 119:11), then the Word of God is with us even when the leather-bound edition of it may not be near our hands. You can memorize and meditate on the truth throughout …
North Side hosted its first Shepherding the Shepherd Conference this weekend. Jamie and his crew did a fantabulous job putting this event on! Friday night, we gathered all our shepherds for an appreciation dinner. Allen Levi entertained us, and Kickers cooked for it. Great night! Saturday morning, we had some shepherd development (for those not accustomed to North Side’s strategy, …
The above picture is a shot reveals part of our wonderful tech team from this morning. Without these chipper souls, you wouldn’t know what to sing or see on Sunday mornings. Our volunteers are the best due to their skills and their hearts! What wonderful people I get to work with! I got to get off the worship leading hiatus …
This week’s book of the week is Timothy Keller’s The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism. You can listen to him explain the book in the video above. My college roommate, Phillip, told me about how great Keller’s writings were, and since I started my religion course back, I thought this would be a good mind-stretching selection …
It has been a few weeks since I posted a worship team training thought on here, so I wanted to post something I had been working on. This month’s value is unity: leading with selflessness. We are a team. The musicians, technicians, and host team. We all work together to make one thing happen: we want to create an environment …
In constructing correct doctrinal beliefs, we each must wrestle with the issue of the Trinity. The Trinity is the term used to express the belief in the Christian Godhead as one God in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Trinity is one of those beliefs that Christians claim to hold, but we often find ourselves unable to articulate …
Last night, North Side’s staff took on the Sonshine ministry in what proved to be the basketball game of the century. The Sonshine ministry is a service we do for clients from the Burton Center, a ministry that assists adults with special needs and disabilities. We lost. Badly. The final score is 126 to 52 I think. I mean it …
Eli is still weeks away from coming home, yet he has already taught me, his father, so much. If you didn’t get to catch his story, you can do so here. The short version is God has called Amanda and I to adopt an orphan from Ethiopia who has some special needs. Due to severe malnourishment, he has some delayed …
Today was another great day at North Side. Since I was out of town this week, I just got to come and worship today. It was great! No leading, no preaching, I just came and worshiped. It was so refreshing. And I was also so humbled to be led by our team. Amanda, Angela, and John shared the lead vocal …
This week’s book of the week is by Francis Chan entitled Forgotten God: Reversing Our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit. Chan has been a mentor of mine from events, sermons, and writings. I believe he has been placed by God in this generation to wake the church up and invite us back to walking intimately with God. In this …
If you are like me, the pictures on the news are still too much to bear. With questions abounding and people making statements concerning God’s judgment or God’s absence, I wanted to address some of those comments. As soon as I wanted to, I read Southern Seminary’s president, Dr. Al Mohler’s response, and I can’t think of a more complete …
Help for Haiti All of us have been devastated over the recent days with the images that have come across our screens. The chaos present in Haiti is overwhelming. As the church, we are called to meet those needs. There are many great organizations for you to give to in order to help, and we have been contacted by some …
This post is dedicated to my new batch of students this semester taking RELI 101: Sacred Texts and Ideas. Please only students in this class comment on this post. All the rest of you are welcomed to read the intriguing data collected, but please don’t submit a comment. Class, here is your assignment: Submit 1 comment containing 10 Lander students’ …
We were thrilled to be able to introduce a new and improved Compass layout last week with the brand new edition. This new edition highlighted the Crawfords at our church who have been married for 71 years! I love how the covers have been showing the plethora of members that make up our church. God is using this church – …
This week’s book of the week is Raising Dad by Thom S. Rainer and Art Rainer. I am grateful to Chuck Lawless for recommending this book to me. Lawless is the dean at the Billy Graham school at Southern Seminary. His predecessor was Thom Rainer, now the president of LifeWay Christian Resources. In conversations with Dr. Lawless concerning being a …
Today, we started the new “True[ish]” series, and I wasn’t even there! My niece was being dedicated at her church in Charlotte, so I hated to miss out on the goodness but this is what I know: We worshiped to: Your Grace is Enough – Chris Tomlin Glorious One – Steve Fee Thy Word – Amy Grant Make Me Holy …
Don’t know the story behind this one. You can read what it says, but what message do you think it is sending the community?
Someone shared this with me a few weeks ago. I thought you would enjoy it:
Just got back from Passion 2010 in Atlanta, GA. I met our group there a day late, but the days I was there was full of the majesty of God. Louie Giglio and his team orchestrated a wonderful conference inspiring college students to worship and mobilizing them to impact the world. Led by the likes of Louie Giglio, Beth Moore, …
God’s will is unstoppable. If He wants it to happen, it’s going to happen. Here’s a comforting thought to me today: If God wants it to happen, there is nothing you can do to mess it up. If God doesn’t want it to happen, there is nothing you can do to force it to be. No amount of failures, no …
What a fun day at North Side! We spent the day on “A Year in Review.” We took a look back at what God did in 2009 and anticipated what God is going to do in 2010. It has been such an incredible year, but God is not through with us. He is yet to use us reach even more …
This week’s book of the week is Alexander Strauch’s Biblical Eldership. Our elders at North Side have gone through this book as a study. The book is a biblical exposition of the New Testament model of elders within a local church. While we studied it in groups going over different sections, I took this week to reread it and really …
Ben and I got to go to Catalyst conference a few months back, and one of the most incredible moments was this Compassion International spotlight. Sit through it. The story is incredible, but the ending is stellar. This young minister in training gets to meet the man who had sponsored him and introduced him to Jesus. Catalyst 2009 Compassion Moment …
Another part of planning for 2010 comes with a Bible reading plan. If you don’t have a target, you don’t know where to aim. A Bible reading plan can provide you a systematic way to work through the Scriptures rather than just haphazardly thumbing through the pages. There are plans that get you to read through the Bible in …
I used to hate reading. I mean, hate it. It had to change in college. It helped that I began to enjoy what I was reading. When I had to read through a book on Jesus for class, I got more into reading. Through college, seminary, and doctoral work, my reading lists were mandated to me. I acquired extra books …
Wow! What a year 2009 has been at North Side. This week, we are reflecting back and looking forward. One of those areas is looking back over what God taught us this year through the series at North Side. As I have been developing sermon series with Jeff since the summer of 2006, I have never experienced such a powerful …
The last Sunday of 2009 served to be a great day to serve as a transition into next year. On the last Sunday of “A Pastor’s Wish List,” we focused on the topic: “For Men to Rise Up.” The Apostle Paul stated that when he became a man, he put childish ways behind him. The Bible gives instructions on how …
This week’s book of the week is Russell Moore’s Adopted for Life: The Priority of Adoption for Christian Families and Churches. Dr. Moore is the dean of theology from my alma mater, Southern Seminary. He has adopted two boys from Russia. We got this book back when we were considering adoption. The only problem was that Amanda was reading it …
Merry Christmas from the Agnews! Pray that this day is full of Jesus and a call to give ourselves away! John 1 9 The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.11 He came to his own, and his …
It seems like every time angels showed up in a biblical scene, they had to utter the word, “peace.” You see, angels are not the cuddly baby-esque figurines we have commercialized. Angels are protectors, warriors, and avengers. They are some pretty intense beings. Whenever they showed up, they had to say, “peace.” Calm down. Do not be afraid. Don’t …
I have received some great links to some great Christmas decorations this year. I thought I would share with you my top 5 of the season. 5. Frosty the Fisherman Never ever miss a fish. 4. Santa’s Trailer Did you happen to notice the flag flying in the front yard? 3. Redneck Reindeer Words can’t even describe this… 2. “Ditto” …
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