Making money is not an evil thing and can be a thing that God uses to meets the needs of others. But an overly-ambitious heart can lead to greed and the downfall of a man’s wealth and integrity.
Take a moment and read Proverbs 28:21-22:
“Risen” – Storytellers
The song “Risen” off of our “Knowing Jesus” project was 1 of the 2 original group writing sessions we did. John, Jamie, Laura, and Phillip camped out in my playroom and studied the 4 gospel accounts of Jesus’ resurrection. After a while, they had a pre-chorus section and a few different chorus ideas. The “come and see, the tomb is empty, He is risen” was the first section written.
We knew we wanted minor verses, major choruses. We also decided that we wanted the mood to carry over from “It Is Finished” before it. We wanted to convey at the beginning a sense of hopelessness and confusion. So the song starts out with just pad and vocal. Was the cross the end? Now what? We wanted people to experience what the disciples must have felt.
The rest of the song is a rowdy celebration of the power over death found in Jesus’ resurrection.
Knowing Jesus Recap (And What’s Next)
I know I am two weeks behind to give you a “Knowing Jesus” recap, but things have been a tad busy as of late. In short, the event exceeded my expectations which were very large. After all the prayer, study, work, and preparation into this event and resource, I set the bar high in my mind. I never imagined what would happen that night.
I thought the entire roof was about to blow off the building. When God’s people responded to the revelation of Jesus Christ, it was beyond intense. As the storyline unfolded as we told the life and ministry of Christ through song, genuine, passionate worship erupted among us.
I had many comments (some of them were very sup rising), and here are the most repeated ones:
Risen
Focusing on missions and the power of the resurrection – what a Sunday!
Samantha Vickers did a fantastic job sharing her “Ni Zan Je” testimony and showing what faithfulness to the call looks like. It was great for her to commission our mission team leaving out this Saturday in Hausa. “I will follow Jesus anywhere no matter the roughness of the road.”
Today, we worshiped to:
Never Seen the Righteous Forsaken
“Men work. Men provide. And when those men are children of God who call on Him as their Father, they can be sure that God will always meet their needs” (From The Resolution, page 160).
Sometimes, even the hardest working man comes upon financial challenges. Families grow, bills increase, unexpected expenses occur, salaries shift, and yet in the middle of all of these circumstances, God provides.
Take a moment to read Psalm 37:25-29:
Man Up
Scripture is full of servants who took a stand to confront evil. Look up these passages and learn from these examples. When the prophet Nathan heard about King David’s adulterous relationship with Bathsheba, what did he do about it (2 Samuel 12:7-9)? He confronted and rebuked the King. When Nehemiah heard that God’s people were taking financial advantage of others, …
It Is Finished
What a wonderful day to be a part of North Side! I got the privilege to lead worship and preach today. It is always a humbling thing to be in the room when God saves people. We got to be in His presence when He did just that for a good crew of people at the 9:30 and 11:00 services. I got to speak with some wonderful people and received some great emails today of people who Jesus saved today. Absolutely amazing to see how God is transforming lives!
I preached from John 19 on the crucifixion of Jesus and the 3 greatest words I ever heard: it is finished. We do not need to keep fighting a battle that has already been won by Christ. He has offered the final sacrifice and has sat down at the right hand of God – it is finished!
Hebrews 10:11Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; 12but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, SAT DOWN AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD
Today, we worshiped to:
When God Got His Hands Dirty
While Genesis 1 summarizes Creation, Genesis 2 takes a behind-the-scenes look at a very pivotal part of the work created on day six. The author presses rewind and looks at the significance of how God created the unceasingly, stubborn race known as Mankind. While Genesis 1 describes Elohim the Creator, when his work with mankind is revisited, a subtle English shift takes place with major Hebrew implications.
Instead of God creating Adam, the LORD God creates Adam. In many translations, you might read the word “Lord” with every letter capitalized. This word is not the simple Adonai meaining “Lord,” this word is Yahweh. This is the name that God designates to himself when Moses later asks him how he should describe him to Pharaoh. “I am who I am.” Only when the shift happens from universal creation to the creation of mankind is Yahweh mentioned. This shows that there is a God over all, but there is a LORD in relationship with some.
While God spoke everything else into existence, he “made” man (Gen. 1:26). God formed man out of the dust from the ground like a potter skillfully shaping and molding a vessel to his liking.
His hands, matted with dusty earth, shapes this man to be a specific image-bearer.
Pilate’s Judgment
Powerful time of worship this morning at North Side. The above picture was a pretty special moment as Jeff served as both pastor and father to some missionaries we commissioned. Jeff’s daughter, Emily, Scott, and Baby Lucy are leaving this week to serve as missionaries in Africa. It has been amazing to watch this father be so proud of his family for a decision that will keep them far from the comforts that we take for granted and yet so much closer to Jesus through their obedience. It was an honor to pray for them – will continue to do so! We have some prayer cards at the church for you!
Today, we worshiped to:
Knowing Jesus
Jesus changed everything. The world has yet to recover since the moment the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. As North Side Baptist Church studied through the Gospel of John, our worship team studied the life of Christ and wrote songs about some of the pivotal moments in His life and ministry. We wanted to tell the story chronologically …
21 Tracks
“Knowing Jesus” album is available on Sunday night at North Side. We are hosting our “Knowing Jesus ” worship event at 6pm and would love to have you join us for worship!
The album is 21 tracks. We would have done more, but we were seconds away from having to go double-disc. We have so much music, we aren’t doing it all on Sunday night, but I have listed a track list to give you an idea on what each of these songs are.
Walking with God, Adam Was Still Alone
In the early stages of this relationship, God and Adam were close. Adam experienced a level of intimacy in the Garden that no other human has ever fully experienced. There was no sin. There was no separation. There was no Fall, curse, or corrupt nature. God strolled through the Garden that Adam tilled. We are talking face to face, eye to eye, life to life interaction.
And yet, amidst this intimacy, God says one of the most shocking statements concerning the only creature he formed in his very image: “It is not good that the man should be alone” (Gen. 2:18). The rolling rivers were good. The berries on the tree were good. The curiously formed duckbilled platypuses were good, and yet Man, made in God’s own striking image, was not good.
He was alone.
If An Album is Played in the Forest, Does Anyone Hear It?
Last night, I had the privilege of listening through the “Knowing Jesus” album with our band at our home. They had each contributed in the writing, arranging, recording of the process, but none of them knew until last night that this project is 21 tracks. It is as close to 80 minutes that the disc will allow.
Why that much music? Why 21-tracks?
The end of John gives us a hint:
Jesus & Pilate
In addition to some powerful worship time, we were honored to have a Courageous Resolution ceremony for some men in our church who went through the study “Honor Begins at Home.” It was powerful watching these men make these commitments in front of their church and beside their families. It is even more amazing watching these guys live out the change. If you are interested in joining us for the next Sunday starting in 2 weeks, click here for more info.
We continue in our “Knowing Jesus” study. Jeff’s message was powerful. The entire service kept showing Jesus on display. Love hearing our worshipers get after it!
Today, we worshiped to:
Providing for Your Family
Providing for your family — it’s one of those interesting paradigms in God’s Kingdom. In some ways, you are to do all that you possibly can do to provide for them. You also are to pray and believe that God can provide all that you need. We are even to look at what “our hands have done” as a gift from God. It is a wonderful partnership and privileged responsibility.
So how is your family is doing?
Are there any needs in your immediate family that are not being met? If so, what are they? What can you do to help? What can you pray and ask God?
God is Good (And So is His Creation)
A simple threefold pattern describes the first six days of Creation. In each day, something was stated, created, and affirmed. God spoke something into existence. He used words. He said, “Let there be light.” Using solely words, light burst forth at 670,616,629.2 miles per hour across nothing to illuminate the beginning of something. God stated, and with those words, he created. Each day, reflecting upon the day’s work, he would affirm it. He saw that it was “good.” It wasn’t evil. It wasn’t imperfect. It wasn’t lacking. God’s creation was good.
God’s creation was the way it was intended to be before something so vile began to corrupt something so good. In these first days, everything was new and vibrant and life-giving. It was good. It couldn’t help but be good — God created it.
He is good and it is only fitting that his creation would reflect his character.
“Knowing Jesus” Wordle
You can tell a lot about something based on what words are used the most.
“Wordle” is a program that you can copy a section of text and it highlights the most used words by making them larger. The more the word is used, the larger it is displayed.
So, do you know where this wordle is from?
Spare the Rod
In raising children, discipline must be involved. We live in a culture though that greatly disagrees in the manner of discipline that should be utilized upon children. I understand why. Many parents have crossed the line and abused children in the name of spanking. And parents who do not believe in spanking have still enraged children with discipline without communication. There are angry kids out there, but is spanking by itself the problem?
How did your parents discipline you? How did that impact you?
Take a moment and read Proverbs 29:15-17 and see what God’s Word says about raising children.
Peter’s Denial
Great, impacting, insightful, honest worship today at North Side. I took this picture on my phone during Cole’s soundcheck and it looked like the heavens were opening up! Cole Strickland did a fantastic job on a Peter monologue to setup the message on Peter’s denial perfectly.
In addition, we heard a powerful testimony about mission work in West Africa this summer. She did such a great job making the passage of the day go along with her testimony. It was incredible to hear how someone who followed Christ across the world still struggled with denying Christ but saw him move anyway. So wonderful that 2 of our main worship leaders today were our college students. So great to see so many of these students not waiting until they graduate to serve, they get it now!
Today, we worshiped to:
Teaching an Old Dad New Tricks
Want to be a better father? Join me for the course Courageous: Honor Begins at Home.
Derek was a “good enough dad.” He provided for his family. He stayed faithful to his wife, never committed any of the “really bad” sins, and took his children to church. Most people would look at him and think he was a model father.
In his late 60s, something changed. As a retired grandfather, he become exposed to biblical teaching concerning a father’s responsibility to teach the truths of the Bible to his own children. Through the conviction of God’s Word, he began to seek out how exactly God had called him to live. As he watched the movie Courageous, he realized he too didn’t want to be just “a good enough dad.”
But it was too late. His children were out on their own, married with their own children. While all of his children were fine members of society, God was a part of their home and not the central piece. He realized that his children were simply repeating what they had seen.
His children were out of the home, but they were not beyond his influence.
In the Beginning…
In the beginning, God. The first words of the Old Testament leave no room for misunderstanding. Before the details of the rest of the story are conveyed, the author wants to make sure the reader grasps a fundamental doctrine: in the beginning, God. In the beginning, there was nothing other than God, and from the beginning, there was nothing that did not come from God.
God created everything we know and see out of nothing. Usually, when someone tries to imagine “nothing,” they fall short. Normally, that person is imagining space or a dark expanse, but even that is something. That something fails to be nothing. Aristotle stated, “Nothing is what rocks dream about.” It’s impossible for our finite minds to even comprehend the concept of nothing, but that is exactly out of what God created. He created the world ex nihilio (“out of nothing”).
He didn’t need any outside advice or help. He wasn’t scrounging around for building supplies. All he used to create everything we experience today was words uttered from his lips.
The Love Test
1 Corinthians 13. Commonly called “The Love Chapter,” this passage of Scripture directly speaks to how we are to love those that are closest to us.
Read 1 Cor. 13:4-7:
4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
I want to invite you to do a quick activity that could really reveal something about yourself.
Count Your Blessings
To honor God, we need to always maintain a proper perspective.
You have been greatly blessed. While you may not be the richest person in the world, you have been showered with blessings. Let’s take some time to reflect on God’s provision in your life.
What are some of the financial blessings in your life? What are some of the relational blessings in your life? What are some of the spiritual blessings in your life?
While all of those blessings are very different, they all actually have the same origin. Read about it in 1 Corinthians 4:7.
The Arrest of Jesus
What a wonderful day to be the church! In addition to our exciting things happening, we were so honored to have to roll out more tables for our college lunch with 100 students hanging out after services today. It was so great connecting with these wonderful students from Erskine, Lander, Piedmont Tech, and Presbyterian College. Just a reminder for you college students to join us on the City and get your free tunes!
Today was such a great worship service to be a part of. Wonderful stories of those being baptized. Worship centered on the cross. New song from the “Knowing Jesus” project. Incredible message on the arrest of Jesus – wow – Jesus is control. He doesn’t need our help. Jesus is the Great I AM. I felt like shouting today!
Today, we worshiped to:
Does “Love Win?”
Rob Bell started a firestorm last year when he questioned the reality of hell. MSNBC host Martin Bashir questioned him keenly on his claims. Another theology think point for this week:
Would My Life “Fit” in the Bible?
Is my life biblical? Is our church biblical? In 50 years from now, what will people look at us and say was weird by the way we followed God? Great message clip to make you think:
Women’s Rights
With all the political conversation going on these days, there is plenty to argue about. I don’t want to argue. I don’t want to debate. Our country is in trouble, and no political leader can fix what is truly broken. There are so many issues, but you must decide what THE ISSUE is going to be for your this election …
“Video Games Are Stupid”
On this Labor Day, I thought I would share a challenging video clip from Mark Driscoll entitled: “Video Games Aren’t Sinful, They’re Just Stupid.” This may or may not offend you depending upon how many video games you play, but my main reason for posting it is to make myself and anyone else willing to think how we spend our …
Jesus & the Church (Make Them One)
What a great day to be a part of North Side! We celebrated a bunch of family dedications, communion, worship, wonderful teaching, and so much more!
It was great to have the local colleges back in session and to have so many rows filled with our college students again! We missed you and can’t wait to disciple you again!
Today, we worshiped to:
Knowing Jesus – Night of Worship
I am excited to announce the details for our “Knowing Jesus” Night of Worship. Mark your calendars for Sunday, September 30th at 6:00pm for an incredible night of Worship entitled “Knowing Jesus.” Get ready for a unique worship experience where we walk through the life of Christ and worship Him at every turn. We will also be releasing a new album with songs you will hear on this worshipful night. Invite your family and friends, and we’ll see you there (you can get more info on the City and also help us get the word out on Facebook).
Back in January, our worship team began studying Scripture and writing songs around pivotal moments in the life and ministry of Christ. Since that time, we have shared 4 songs from this upcoming project (It is Finished, Risen, All Things Are Possible, and I Will Follow; with more to come this Sunday and in coming weeks). We start with the anticipation of the Messiah, go to the incarnation, Jesus’ baptism, the temptation, and so much more. We eventually end up at the cross, the empty tomb, and the giving of the Great Commission.
Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
Ah, Mister Rogers. Life was so simple with this man and his sweater vests. He desired to be our neighbor. He wanted to help us. Unfortunately, we live in a time when we are lacking that type of compassion to one another. Someone who has truly experienced mercy loves to give mercy to others. It becomes a habit. Showing mercy …
“May Your Life Be” – Storytellers
I wanted to share another story behind the song from one of the tracks off of our “Enter His Gates” album (You can get your copy of the album at the church or on iTunes). “May Your Life Be” is the 16th (!) and final track off the album we released in June. It is such a wonderful prayer with which to end the entire worship project.
John Kennerly wrote this song and we included it on “The Time is Now” project with an acoustic feel. The vocals on this song are some smooth and open, I wanted to take a different approach to really open it up. We went to a pad being the primary instrument for the song, and besides a few piano parts and timpani hits at the end, that’s all you hear from instruments. Vocally, John and Angela changed up some of the parts, but once again, the congregation on this song sounds amazing.
Since the song is a prayer for lifestyle worship, we needed all of our singers on this one, so North Side is singing their hearts out. Sometimes, I walk into our worship center during the week and see the empty seats and imagine the worship that might be going on all over the city while we are scattered. We want Jesus’ life to be alive in us!
We Can’t Hear THE Name Because All We Hear is YOUR Name
We live in a very interesting time in American Christianity. In some ways, so much incredible Kingdom stuff is happening. In other ways, I feel like we can’t hear THE name because all we hear is YOUR name.
Translation: many Christian leaders and Christian ministries are focused more on building their kingdoms than they are on building God’s Kingdom.
Jesus & the Disciples
What a special day as we celebrated the fact that Jesus prays for his disciples! In today’s service, we tried to connect the original disciples with current disciples. The call of Jesus is the same. The prayers of Jesus are the same. The goal is the same!
We were blessed to have Cassandra Erickson give us our 2nd installment of “Ni Zan Je” today as we continue to hear about our partnership with the unreached in West Africa. Her story was powerful. It was great to follow up her story with a new worship song our team has written called “I Will Follow.” The song was written for our upcoming “Knowing Jesus” worship album which highlights portions of the life of Christ. This song deals with Jesus calling of the disciples.
I played this song for Cassandra and some of the others this summer while we were in Africa during a power outage. It was such a unique time as we sang this feeling connected with Jesus calling us just as He called the first disciples. It was great to be able to share this song with the church as a whole today!
Today, we worshiped to:
The Reason for Reconciliation
Who has a problem with you? Maybe you know they have said things to you or about you. Maybe they have been distant ever since that one day. The issue is so real you can feel the conflict when around them or when their name is mentioned.
Today, we are going to study a passage of Scripture that should completely altar your schedule today. No matter what you have on the agenda, something is about to take priority over all other matters: it’s time to seek reconciliation with those you have wronged. Read Jesus’ words on the issue in Matthew 5:23-24.
“No Greater Love” – Storytellers
“Oh, what joy could make You stay? Enduring the cross, despising it’s shame…”
I wanted to share another story behind the song from one of the tracks off of our “Enter His Gates” album (You can get your copy of the album at the church or on iTunes). Track #15 is “No Greater Love.” I originally released this song on a solo project that was a fundraiser for our adoption. We had used it often at our church, and so it seemed a good fit to include it on this project.
We also decided to do this semi-live. In the worship world, all live recordings are semi-live. Elements are recorded live, but overdubs are done on every project because of bad notes played or off-tone elements. We don’t have the capabilities at the church to produce a high-quality live recording, but so much of what happens special with our team is when our congregation is in the room with us. So we played along with a click-track to make sure our tempo was correct and set out to record live congregational singing more than anything else.
Too Old to Adopt?
Randy was nearing retirement when he became burdened for something he never saw coming. At his age, his children were out of the home, he had “served his time” in the church, and he was eagerly awaiting the payoff of hitting the golf course everyday. Everywhere he turned though, he became increasingly aware of a problem in our world.
There were too many orphans in the world.
Some of them were orphaned because parents became ill and died. Some were orphaned due to selfish neglect on the parents‘ part. He really wanted to see someone do something about it, but, “Honestly,” he said, “I didn’t want to be that one.”
Jesus & the Father
Loved being back with North Side this morning as we dove into John 17 and the High Priestly Prayer. We focused the entire service on Jesus and the Father. The key thought was giving glory to Jesus for His life and work on this earth.
We were blessed to have our first installment of “Ni Zan Je” (“I Will Go”) as Lacy Little shared with us some of the work Jesus did around her and through her in West Africa this summer. I appreciated her honesty so much as she shared the roughness of the road Jesus called them to this summer.
Today, we worshiped to:
North Greenville Crusade Recap
We had a busy yet wonderful time at North Greenville University this week. I got the extreme privilege to serve as the preacher for the North Greenville Crusade. This partnership with the school and the local Baptist Association is an attempt to unite the church together and bring the Word!
The picture above is from Saturday night at the festival they had at the football stadium. To invite people to the Crusade, they had free food, inflatables, and music throughout the night. You can see my two sons really enjoyed their snow cones. No matter how I tried to show them to stay clean, it was obvious they enjoyed it and you could even tell what color each of them had hours later that night. The evidence was undeniable!
And that was my prayer for the week. I wanted Jesus proclaimed so that there would be no denying that He had been in our midst! I wanted the campus atmosphere to be different. I wanted people to walk around and their faces portraying that they had “tasted and seen that the Lord is good” (Ps. 34:8).
Here’s what I preached:
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