What a great Sunday at North Side as we continued through our 2nd week of “Solitary Confinement” as we focused on the big idea of “Authentic Christian Community.” Some of us struggle to grow in our walk with Christ because we fail to get in the right environments. In authentic Christian community, God uses other believers to strengthen us. Are …
Authentic Christian community is more than an novel concept, it is a biblical command and practice. Looking at the life of Jesus, one can find an example on how to share life with others. It’s more than coming to church. It’s doing life together. It was a great Sunday as we kicked off the new series “Solitary Confinement.” The picture …
We just pulled back in from a leadership team retreat. On my desk is a box of legos that were donated to my boys. I have a list a mile long of to-dos. I have more ideas in my head than I know what to do with. And I have a new box of dry erase markers. Happiness. I love …
Worship is all about God. Whenever we serve in a manner to get attention for ourselves, we are attempting to rob God of his glory. People who are called to lead others in worship must be bent on leading humbly before God and his people. In the humility department of leading worship, I believe 3 things are absolutely key: Genuine Faith – …
This second week in the “Dear God” series we heard Jeff’s 2nd prayer for our church: “Dear God, make us one.” In a church, truth, convictions, and preferences are always present. Unfortunately, we normally focus on our preferences or convictions more than we do the truth. If our church is truly to become one, we must lay aside our preferences …
One question: what’s keeping most churches from experiencing true unity today? On your mark, get set, go.
As the United States soccer team was eliminated from the World Cup, America must wait another 4 years to impress the world with our skills. An interesting set of 4 games that they played still had them losing in the first knockout round. Americans don’t like to lose. America’s reputation is often that we think we are the best …
Happy Father’s Day! We had a great day celebrating fathers and the church. Great moments: The Spearmans Testimony – So great to see a father and sons going and serving on mission together Romania Commissioning – Great time commissioning the Romania team for their trip – they leave on Saturday Worship – It was a great time of worship, so …
I get to talk with church leaders a bunch about how North Side does ministry. I would love to hire a ton of people on our staff to do all the ideas we have, but that’s just not feasible. So we cheat a lot. What I mean is we find good resources that make what we do better. Sometimes we …
Item #3 that could kill North Side: looking the other way. What can bring a congregation down? When we fail to engage in church discipline. Yes, you could hear a pin drop today in services. In his message, Jeff preached on the need for discipline within a local church body. To his admittance, he stated that the concept of church …
This year, American Idol’s ratings dropped severely. Was it due to not as much talent as previous seasons? Was it the arrival of Ellen? Was it the soon-to-be departure of Simon? Maybe it was that and a lot more. The show’s viewership dropped 50% from 2006 (50.6 million) to 2010 (24.5 million). Can it be saved from such a …
You know those moments. It’s those times when you wish the song wouldn’t come to a close. It’s those times you feel like you are going just to be caught up into glory. It’s those times when you choose to worship when everything isn’t alright. It’s those times when no one is around to impress, and you just get after …
We concluded the New Testament 101 series today with another great Sunday @ North Side! I snapped this picture in between services of two of the most dedicated team members anyone could ever ask for. David Hjalmers runs sound most Sundays and is dependable and encouraging as they come. Jessica Griffith Wolfe, serves as my assistant on staff, and she …
Today was a great Mother’s Day at North Side. Our family dedicated Eli along with many other families dedicating their homes to new additions. Such a great time to introduce the new Agnew to the church family. The praise band did a wonderful job (without me again – I’m really going to lose my job here). They led us in: …
At the beginning of March, I whiteboarded all the major projects that had to be done before picking up Eli. This list included: CD, Honey-Dos, weddings, RELI 101 wrapup, messages, services, etc. I had to map out a plan to get the stuff done, but then I realized something: I can’t get all this done. I need help. And lots …
North Side is having a ministry fair this Sunday night in the FLC at 5:30. This fellowship time full of food and such will also be a place where you can get more info on how you can get involved in all things North Side. Have you ever wondered if your place to serve in ministry is on our worship …
Ah, Monday. The day full of tackling projects and trying to make a difference in the world. Today’s partial agenda: help North Side impact the world when our building’s doors are closed. Many people see the internet as the Devil’s playground. In many ways, it is. While you can waste a lot of time on here and get into all …
Recently, I made a post on Twitter and Facebook that got a bit of a reaction: Just because you are a critic of yesterday’s church does not make you an expert of today’s church. It seems that I struck a nerve out there, so I wanted to dive in a little deeper because it seems that many people have been rubbed …
My C-Group had a great time last night discussing the weekly topic of “Church: More Than a Building.” We talked about what people wrongly assume is church (building, programs, activities, social club, etc.). We talked about what killed local congregations (selfishness, wrong ways of evaluating progress, apathy, refusal to biblically confront, and biblically unfit leaders). We got to the place …
What a great day with North Side today! Week 7 0f 8 in the True[ish] series and we got to the doctrine of the church. It’s been great to see all these weeks grow upon each other – I have learned so much! Jeff’s message was great and reminded me of why I am so thankful to be a part …
I had a conversation about church hopping with a buddy of mine recently. He goes to another church in another town but had recently been discouraged with members from his church leaving to find another church. What hurt him so was all the time and energy and prayers he had poured into this family, and then it seemed like they …
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 …
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 …
In my love of bad church signs, I thought I would share with you some of the most intriguing church signs of this Christmas season. Here we go: 1. NO OFFERING PEACE ON EARTH – I mean does a church want to advertise they can’t provide that. 2. SANTA CLAUS NEVER DIED FOR ANYONE – I actually kind of like …
Jeff and I normally catch up Sunday mornings at about 7:30 in the video room. We’ll talk about the weekend or a crazy idea we had over the weekend. I love it on those mornings when he walks in and says he’s going to call an audible. Jeff preached the “Weakened Defenses” message he had planned on preaching in about …
Another great Sunday @ North Side! We took some time at the beginning of the service today to get everyone at church to fill out a survey today. The survey was a way of evaluating how connected our church is. If you didn’t get to pick one up today, make sure to get one next week at the information desk …
Second week in the Wilderness series. This picture is of Fred the Manequin who watches over our tech team in the back on Sunday mornings. He has served the last few weeks as a stand-in for Jeff as our light and camera techs work some things out. He has scared many people over the last few weeks as they walk …
Last night, we had a special tech team training and appreciation event. I knew this before last night, but it served as a great reminder – our tech team is incredible! They are sincere servants. They have massive skills and incredible hearts! It is an honor to serve with them. While we spent time vision casting and fellowshiping, we also …
(Mal. 2:13-15) 13 And this is another thing you do: you cover the LORD’s altar with tears, with weeping and groaning, because He no longer respects your offerings or receives [them] gladly from your hands. 14 Yet you ask, “For what reason?” Because the LORD has been a witness between you and the wife of your youth. You have acted …
As All God’s Children started back up a few weeks ago, we mentioned in staff meeting the need to make sure we were careful driving in the parking lot. As parents drop off and pick up kids, sometimes people can get moving pretty quickly in the parking lot and not realize kids darting towards a van. We decided to get …
I can’t begin to sum up into words what happened last night at the Greenwood Community Theatre. Churches united under the umbrella of Emerald City Worship. I was asked by a man last week who would be delivering the message that night. I had a great response for him five minutes after that conversation. We would be offering the message. …
I waited a long time to post this because I wanted the situation to be far removed so no one could figure out who this happened with. But alas, I cannot contain it anymore… The Story My family and I were at a religious function recently. Mostly Christians were there, but the people weren’t all from the same local church. …
Infertility is a reality, and many of you might have troubles reading stories about having children because at this point, you do not have any of your own. As you pray concerning children, maybe you should consider that God has given you children already – you just may not have birthed them yourselves. James wrote, “Pure and undefiled religion before …
Today, I am writing asking you to consider joining one of our Sunday morning tech teams. As the need is growing, I want to have 4 teams full of volunteers who serve one week a month. With the growing needs, I need volunteers to come to practice on Wednesday evening and Sunday morning. If you can’t be there on Wednesday, …
I recently had a conversation with a friend who is a member at another church. He said that his church didn’t communicate anything. He was upset because he missed an event and swore that no one told him about it. I began to ask him questions concerning his attentiveness during announcements and how much of the church’s publications he read …
Tuesday through Thursday, I went to Hickory Knob State Park with North Side’s leadership team to strategize and to simplify. We worked on the year’s upcoming budget and calendar and also tweaked a few things that needed improving. While there is no way to include everything we worked through, I can give you a few topics so you can be …
North Side has launched its new website! While some of the look is similar, the layout has completely changed to help you navigate through it easier. Here are some of the highlights: Updated Homepage – The homepage is updated every time you come back. You will see the most updated videos, sermons, events, and blog posts every chance you visit. …
This week’s bad church sign of the week states: “CHANGING CHURCHES? – DOES IT MATTER WHICH ONE YOU STAY HOME FROM?” I wonder if someone is a little bitter about attendance numbers. While I am not a big fan of transfer growth (the type where people hop from church to church), it does happen. Legitimate transfer growth is when …
Today was another great day at North Side. We concluded the All-In series today with a topic “All There Relationally.” Jeff did a great job reminding us all our need for each other. I need you and you need me. I often tell Jesus that I would follow Him all by myself if I had to, but I’m so grateful …
This week’s bad church sign is actually a sign war between a Catholic Church and a Presbyterian Church. Supposedly, these churches are across the street from each other and decided to engage in this battle over the souls of dogs, but it most likely someone doing this on the computer to make a funny. It worked.
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