Discipleship

Remodeling (The People in) Your Home

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Since we moved a few months ago, I’ve been working at remodeling our home.  I’ve had some pretty fantastic help.  While Eli obeys orders well, he also watches an example and learns quickly.  There have been many times he has taken his toy screw driver and hammer and pulled up flooring or shoe molding that was not intended to come up.  It’s hard to get frustrated with such a cute kid (that’s not to say I never did ;)).

If you were remodeling a house, the best bet would be to have a systematic approach to your work. You would determine which room needed the most desperate attention. You would organize the needed tools to find the job. You would seek help for the jobs that you felt unqualified for.

You may not be remodeling a house, but you are called to disciple your children which is actually more work and requires more dedication than any other house project you could imagine. Have you ever thought about what your goal is in your home.  Get honest about your approach. I put together a list below that could serve as a template for your approach.  Copy and paste the section below and then fill it in for each child in your home.  Fill in the sections below honestly and prayerfully.

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“I Got All These Trees”

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Our little family is growing.  Not only in number or size, but we are slowly getting things.  Our minds are growing.  One of my prayers for my children have been, “God, give them a mind to comprehend your nature and help them develop a big heart with which to love you.”

We use different types of teaching plans or Bibles with the children during family worship.  I have contended for a while that the best way to bring my kids up in the Lord is not the best church programs, but what we do in the home.  Lately, I have been retelling the Old Testament narrative over and over to the boys.  I have them repeat different elements to me, and we keep stacking more of the story each time.  They know the days of Creation, the 10 Commandments, and the big picture with the main characters involved.

Sometimes, you wonder if they are getting it, and then, you have a moment like I did last week and you remind yourself that you might be on to something.

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The Selection of the Christ

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As we continue in our Christology series, we have now arrived at section 5 – the selection of the Christ.  This section deals with Christ calling his 12 disciples and thrusting them into ministry.

Jesus’ calling of the disciples displayed the attribute of grace.  When you look at this rag tag group of men he chose, there isn’t anything special about them.  In fact, if you were on a pastor search committee and drafted up a list of qualities you were looking for in a spiritual leader, you would probably list out things that none of these men possessed.  They weren’t obvious choices, and yet, they were Jesus’ choices, and for that, they would develop into who Christ had called them to be.  The old saying is true here: Jesus doesn’t call the qualified, he qualifies the called.

Here are some things to note during this time of ministry:

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Discipleship Through Worship

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I mentioned recently that our worship team is embarking upon some pretty exciting stuff.  I’ve struggled with how to share our plans – in parts or all at one time, but for right now let me give you a couple pieces of the puzzle.  As our team has met together, our time has focused on one verse in particular.

Colossians 3:16 says: Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

I am very big on reminding people worship is all about God.  And that is true.  But in that glorification of God process, there is also a discipleship element.  This verse is shocking to me in some ways.  As Paul reminds his people to let the biblical message abide within oneself, he reminds us that we are called to teach one another – through worship!  Our worship should be so biblical and so memorable that it makes theology more portable.

That is why we are going to focus in 2012 that our worship ministry is going to focus on: discipleship.

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North Side Would Fail Church Growth 101 Class

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Saturday morning, leaders from North Side gathered together to continue on this journey God is leading us.  We talked about discipleship.  We celebrated the lives that are being changed, and yet we also focused upon those people who are still struggling to follow Christ.

We laid out a strategy that is a little different for a church our size.  In fact, North Side would fail Church Growth 101 class if we were taking it.  Let me explain:

Church growth these days is all about the large groups.  Get more people in the seats and that means that you are winning.  What we are finding is that it is easy to fill seats, it is hard to disciple people.  And in our current church culture in America, people are church hopping, filling out commitment cards, getting baptized, and then dropping off the face of the earth!  The parable of the Seed and the Sower should scare us enough to realize that we might be giving people false assurance of their salvation that way – they need to be discipled!

Here’s some things I took away from Saturday:

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Don’t Drop Your Kids Off at Church – Now Available!

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My new book is available today!  Order Don’t Drop Your Kids Off at Church here.

Synopsis: Parents have often developed misplaced priorities when it comes to their children.  Many children in America are so busy with numerous activities that their spiritual lives are unfortunately neglected.  Our approach is to drop our children off at the best church in town which we qualify by which one has the hippest youth minister, most attended programs, and nicest facilities.  For all our efforts, children are still walking away from church once they leave the nest.  There is another way.  Don’t drop your kids off at church — bring them home to it.

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Family Worship Guides

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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.

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The Keys to the Kingdom

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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:

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College Discipleship Groups

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  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 …

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Following Jesus

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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:

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Reminders for Sunday’s New Schedule

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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:

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Values of a Disciple-Maker

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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:

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Stages of Discipleship

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What an incredible day at North Side!  We jumped into week 2 of “Intentional Discipleship” as we studied the stages of discipleship.  It was one of the most incredible days I can ever remember at our church!

I was shocked at the growth in our services.  God keeps bringing such a diversity of people to be a part of our church and watching God unite this congregation is amazing!  Jeff’s message on the different stages of discipleship was so powerful.  It made me evaluate where I was on that circle, and I’ve got a long way to go!

Nancy West shared her testimony, and God used her so much!  She was so passionate, articulate, and authentic.  Knowing Nancy even makes it even more powerful.  Her testimony was powerful, her life is even more powerful!  I have loved watching her stay faithful to God during these years.  If you ladies want to sign up for the Beth Moore event, you can do so here.

Today, we worshiped to:

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Discipleship 101

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What a great way to start out the new school year today at North Side!  We had packed worship services with passionate worshipers – what else can you ask for?  We started a new series entitled “Intentional Discipleship” geared towards people who are ready to stop being stagnant and start growing in Christ!

Some service highlights were having Ben Ridgeway, one of our high schoolers, pray for all students, teachers, and faculty members going into their mission field tomorrow.  It was great having a video testimony of my buddy, Brian Rackley, who was a self-proclaimed “back row Baptist” until God called him into ministry.  This morning he wasn’t with our church anymore because he has accepted a call to preach at Bethany Baptist.  The whole service was geared around following Christ with no turning back.

Today, we worshiped to:

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Sheep-Stealing Tactics

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I love the Body of Christ, but sometimes some of the members make me require an Advil.

I believe in the Church of the capital “C.”  That means that all of the local churches all belong to the big Church – the universal Body of Christ.  That means that we are all on the same team.  That means that we aren’t in competition with the church down the road.  That means that when someone leaves a church to come to ours, we challenge them to work things out with their family.  That means that we celebrate when other churches around us grow.  Big “C” mentality.

That’s where the Advil comes in, not everyone thinks that way.  I was talking with some college students a couple of months ago who were put in a very awkward spot by another pastor.  This pastor was telling them to leave North Side and come to his church.  The words they shared were, “North Side is big.  They don’t need you.  We need you at our church.”  There were other things that the pastor shared, but basically saying that their church was way better and way cooler than ours and that reason should cause them to leave North Side.

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What’s North Side’s New Schedule Mean for My Family?

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You probably have heard that we are going through some changes at North Side.  I’ve got lot’s to blog about where we are heading.  To make it simple, we are uniting our church.  3 services down to 2.  2 styles of worship down to 1.  Adding some programming so that we can have a flip flop schedule on Sunday morning which will help families worship together and grow together.

Let me talk to you concerning how this affects families with children still at home.  I was asked this weekend by a church member if the additional hour of children’s programming will be something different than the first hour.  The answer is yes!

This united schedule provides an hour of worship and an hour of discipleship for EVERY age.  Many people are choosing to spend an hour at worship and an hour at service.  Either way, there is something different.  All of the options, except for Sonshine service, will be repeated.

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The Most Segregated Hour in America

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“We must face the sad fact that at 11 o’clock on Sunday morning, when we stand to sing…we stand in the most segregated hour in America.”  -Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., spoken in 1963 Almost 50 years ago this line was delivered, and have we gotten any better?  Are more churches open to multiethnic congregations than before?  I think more …

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Revival

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This summer, we are praying for a revival!

During the summer, we will be having Sunday evening services from 5:30-7.  We will be teaching through the Psalms in a series called, “Revival.” All ages will be studying the Psalms in order to revive our hearts towards God. The schedule will only have two breaks during the summer (June 19th for Father’s Day and June 26th for the Homeland Choir Concert at North Side).

Here’s the summary of the time together that will begin on May 22nd:

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College Students – Dates to Remember

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We had our last college Bible study of the semester last night.  What a great year we have had.  It’s been amazing to see these students grow in their love for the Word and the world.  I shared some dates last night that I wanted to make sure everyone knew about (actually, all of these apply to you whether you …

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Robert’s Rules of Order vs. the Holy Bible (Which Guides Your Church’s Meetings?)

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I’m still in awe of a meeting we had at church last night.  A group of 100 leaders from our church have been gathering together to pray and to plan in this One Initiative our church has been going through.  Last night, we discussed some possible changes that would affect everyone.  From the report that I get from friends, if those type of changes were being discussed in some congregations, it would have gotten ugly.

Let me give you an example.

A friend called me a couple of years ago after a church business meeting.  In tears, he retold of the ungodly things stated among the people of God.  He told me concerning personal attacks that took place.  He told me of the name-calling, the cursing, and the selfishness that pervaded the entire meeting.

He asked me what I thought went wrong.

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Confessions of a Narrow-Focused Church Member

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I have a confession to make: I am a narrow-focused church member.  I look at all the possible changes at our church at how it would affect me and mine.  I judge the worth of programs based upon how they benefit me and my family.  If it can make me feel better, I’m all in. I tend to refuse to …

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10 Things That Will Kill Your Men’s Ministry

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Recently, I was talking to a buddy about why or why not men’s ministries work in certain churches.  I tried to condense what we talked about, so here is a list of 10 things that will kill your church’s men’s ministry:

1.  Hypocritical Leadership – You won’t find perfect men to lead your men’s ministry, but you better find men who are consistently striving towards godliness.  Men can spot fakes easily and provides easy excuses for them.
2.  Getting Too Close and Personal – You need to allow them to get close, but don’t force them to act in a manner against God-given manliness.  Your group can be spiritual without group hugs.
3.  Not Getting Close and Personal Enough – While you don’t force men to be something they are not, don’t also settle for anything less than biblical community.  They need to be close enough to push each other to love and good deeds (Heb. 10:24-25).
4.  Cliques – When men come to your church’s functions, you need to remove the clique factor among them.  Make sure to get men with the gift of hospitality (that just means they make people feel welcome) at your doors and get men connected with others in the room.
5.  Trying to Copy the Church’s Women Ministry – Just because your church’s women ministry has a hanging of the greens doesn’t mean you get your guys to decorate the church too.  It works cause it is for women.  Let guys be guys while always challenging them to be men of God.

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Small Group Values

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Following up from yesterday’s post, I want to share the 4 values on which my small group focuses.  There are many great lists out there, but this is my attempt at trying to maintain focus within the group I lead. Small group values: AUTHORITY Make sure each member knows that the authority in the study is the Bible.  The teacher, …

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The City is Coming to North Side

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North Side is growing.  Praise the Lord.  While we are excited about numerical growth, we also are burdened to always grow closer as we grow larger.  As we continually get busier and busier, how in the world can we truly connect people to each other in the church?

As we prayed, we believed that God led us to an answer.

The City…It’s a new communication tool at North Side Baptist Church. The City has been implemented to allow the members of North Side to connect with each other. This tool provides a unique way for members to keep up to date with each other…as well as events, happenings, prayer requests and needs of the North Side family.

It really focuses on 3 key things:

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Welcome Back Lander Students!

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So excited to see Greenwood buzzing with all the new and returning Lander students this week!  As you guys get back in the groove, I wanted to let you know about a few things for college students: RELI 101 – I still have some openings at TR 1:15-2:45 for my Religions course I teach.  Would love to see you in …

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Help Us Make Disciples

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What a great day at North Side!  Jeff threw a bomb on us again this morning as we went through the “Dear God” series. Jesus defined Christianity by a simple phrase: “make disciples.”  How much of that actually takes place in our lives?  Jesus’ call was not for an institution to do that, but we, as individual believers, are to …

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The Green-Eyed Monster

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Jealousy: The word stems from the French jalousie, formed from jaloux (jealous), and further from Low Latin zelosus (full of zeal), in turn from the Greek word ζήλος (zēlos), sometimes “jealousy”, but more often in a positive sense “emulation, ardour, zeal” [9][10] (with a root connoting “to boil, ferment“; or “yeast”). The color green is often associated with jealousy and envy, from which the expressions “green with envy”, and “green-eyed …

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Asking for Help (And Actually Getting It!)

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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 …

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The Internet Doesn’t Have to Be the Devil’s Playground

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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 …

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30 Days to Live (What Would You Do?)

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This Easter Sunday we are kicking off a brand new series entitled “30 Days to Live.”  The concept comes from a book written by the Shooks, and the graphics came from a campaign that Life Church did a while back.  The concept is simple: if you had 30 days to live, what would you do?  What would you stop doing? …

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What Did God Teach You Through “Neighborhood?”

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March has been an incredible month for North Side as we have gone through the series, “Who Are the People in Your Neighborhood?” Last night in my C-Group, we got real honest about the successes and the failures that we had experienced over the last month reaching out to people who need Jesus.  While we all had things to share …

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Hell: More Than Fire, Pitchforks, and Satan’s Mancave

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“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matt. 25:41). Hell’s Description Hell is everything that heaven is not. While usually people imagine hell as a blazing inferno filled with devils and pitchforks, the sure reality of the place is that …

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Heaven: More Than Clouds, Harps, and St. Peter at the Gate

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In my C-Group last night, we talked a lot about eternity, and we realized that we have misconceptions about heaven and hell.  I thought I would share some of what we talked about last night on heaven and then also talk about hell later this week.  We talked about if St. Peter is really at the gate, is there a …

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I’m in a Holy Huddle (And I’m Proud of It)

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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 …

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The Cycle of a Church Hopper

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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 …

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Confession: I’m a Horrible Shepherd

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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, …

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Compass Deadline (New & Improved Edition Coming)

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It is deadline day for the January/February Compass which means we are running around doing last minute touch-ups to the magazine.  Our team is knocking it out of the park to make this edition extra special. A few months ago, I tried to figure out how to expand this great piece and even make it more effective in connecting and …

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“The Church is Always Talking About Money…”

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I will never forget that conversation this year.  I talked with a guy who said every time he came to church, the preacher was always talking about money.  That revealed two things: 1) He had been to one of our church services twice within the last year, and 2) money had become his god.  And we cannot serve two masters. …

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“Offering” CD Listening Party

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Last night, I had our band and spouses over for some fellowship time and the group’s first opportunity to listen to the “Offering” Christmas Worship CD all the way through.  We were missing a few last night, but most everyone involved in the project could come. I just loved watching their faces as they listened to it.  Most individuals had …

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Owning Our Mistakes

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Last night in C-Group, we spent some extra time studying Exodus 32 concerning the Israelites fashioning the golden calf when Moses was MIA from the group for too long.  Moses is receiving the 10 commandments and other important info from the LORD Himself, and the people get restless.  They encourage Aaron to help God out, and so Aaron gets everyone …

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