On Sunday I will continue the series of messages I began last week about re-designing certain rooms of our house. This week I will talk about re-designing the bedroom. The focus will be on your relationship with your spouse. Just recently, I have discovered the best book on marriage that I have ever read. I will be using some material from it in this week's message, it is called Love and Respect by Dr. Emerson Eggerichs. It's a marriage book that even men will like!
If you want to purchase your own copy of this book you can do so here.
See you on Sunday!
Friday, November 9, 2007
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Leadership Community
Well, I have managed to successfully follow-up a week where I posted five straight days with a week where I have written one post on Monday and now the second on Thursday. One reason why is that I spent lots of time preparing for our Leadership Community Meeting on Tuesday night. These meetings are times when I am able to sit down with some of the key leaders at Freedom and share ideas, dream big, and look forward to the future of what God wants to do in Greer. Some of the things we talked about this week are:
- The need for Jesus in our state: This Sunday there will be 3.5 million people in South Carolina who are not in church. We believe that Freedom Fellowship exists for these people, not just for us and our families. That is also why we are committed to be a church that helps start more churches. New churches reach new people. It's simple but true.
- We can't play it safe and reach the 3.5 million: We are at crucial point in the history of our church. We could survive for 100 years at the size we are now. We must be sure that we aren't satisfied with where we are, and that we are constantly trying new methods to reach our community with the unchanging message of Jesus.
- We are determined to keep things simple: If we try to do everything we will accomplish nothing. We will not be pushed into starting a ministry to fit in every niche. Our plan is to do a few things and do them well.
- The first and most important step is to ask God to do it: I challenged our leaders and now I am challenging you to pray everyday for Freedom Fellowship. Pray everyday that we will find new ways to effectively reach our community. Pray everyday that God will do what only He can do, transform lives for eternity.
By the way, our Budget Planning Team has almost finished the budget for 2008. I am very excited about the new churches we will be supporting, as well as some other things we will be giving money to. I will tell you more about those next week.
- The need for Jesus in our state: This Sunday there will be 3.5 million people in South Carolina who are not in church. We believe that Freedom Fellowship exists for these people, not just for us and our families. That is also why we are committed to be a church that helps start more churches. New churches reach new people. It's simple but true.
- We can't play it safe and reach the 3.5 million: We are at crucial point in the history of our church. We could survive for 100 years at the size we are now. We must be sure that we aren't satisfied with where we are, and that we are constantly trying new methods to reach our community with the unchanging message of Jesus.
- We are determined to keep things simple: If we try to do everything we will accomplish nothing. We will not be pushed into starting a ministry to fit in every niche. Our plan is to do a few things and do them well.
- The first and most important step is to ask God to do it: I challenged our leaders and now I am challenging you to pray everyday for Freedom Fellowship. Pray everyday that we will find new ways to effectively reach our community. Pray everyday that God will do what only He can do, transform lives for eternity.
By the way, our Budget Planning Team has almost finished the budget for 2008. I am very excited about the new churches we will be supporting, as well as some other things we will be giving money to. I will tell you more about those next week.
Monday, November 5, 2007
Monday Morning Quarterback
If I continue to do these Monday morning updates after football season is over, do I have to change the title to something other than Monday morning quarterback?
We had a great morning of worship at GHS yesterday. I thought the skit was very funny and it was obvious that Lance and Ivey were prepared. Andrea wrote the skit and she did a great job of setting up the message about effective parenting. The band did awesome yesterday especially on the new song "Hosanna". The way they lead us to worship week after week is incredible.
I had a great conversation with a couple who had visited with us for the first time after the service. They talked about how friendly everyone had been to them and how welcome they felt. So many of you do a great job each week of spotting new folks and helping them feel welcome.
My parents came to town for worship and we got to spend time with them yesterday afternoon. We ate at Rock's, and my Dad got my usual order and loved it. Next time you want something good for lunch you should try it: grilled bologna and cheese sandwich and an order of onion rings. Don't eat it everyday or even once a week, or your doctor will love you.
If you were at worship yesterday I'm certain you noticed that I got a haircut last Friday. I certainly got my money's worth on this one. The lady that butchered me must get paid by the amount of hair she sweeps up after each client. When she got done with me there was more on the floor than on my head. It's just hair. It'll grow back.
One more useless piece of information about me: The Patriots / Colts game yesterday was fun to watch. I can watch NFL games for the fun of it, therefor they are more enjoyable. I watch every second of every Gamecock game that's on, and I take it way too seriously. In fact, I am considering recording the games and only watching them after the fact if Carolina wins. That way I won't put my body through all of the emotional ups and downs I experience during a normal game. I really should just lighten up. I'm trying.
We had a great morning of worship at GHS yesterday. I thought the skit was very funny and it was obvious that Lance and Ivey were prepared. Andrea wrote the skit and she did a great job of setting up the message about effective parenting. The band did awesome yesterday especially on the new song "Hosanna". The way they lead us to worship week after week is incredible.
I had a great conversation with a couple who had visited with us for the first time after the service. They talked about how friendly everyone had been to them and how welcome they felt. So many of you do a great job each week of spotting new folks and helping them feel welcome.
My parents came to town for worship and we got to spend time with them yesterday afternoon. We ate at Rock's, and my Dad got my usual order and loved it. Next time you want something good for lunch you should try it: grilled bologna and cheese sandwich and an order of onion rings. Don't eat it everyday or even once a week, or your doctor will love you.
If you were at worship yesterday I'm certain you noticed that I got a haircut last Friday. I certainly got my money's worth on this one. The lady that butchered me must get paid by the amount of hair she sweeps up after each client. When she got done with me there was more on the floor than on my head. It's just hair. It'll grow back.
One more useless piece of information about me: The Patriots / Colts game yesterday was fun to watch. I can watch NFL games for the fun of it, therefor they are more enjoyable. I watch every second of every Gamecock game that's on, and I take it way too seriously. In fact, I am considering recording the games and only watching them after the fact if Carolina wins. That way I won't put my body through all of the emotional ups and downs I experience during a normal game. I really should just lighten up. I'm trying.
Friday, November 2, 2007
Real pictures of my awesome family!
I finally figured out how to put pictures on this thing, so get ready, now I'll probably bore you to death with thousands of pictures of my girls! These are pictures from Halloween. Our girls dressed as old ladies about to go to bed. The first picture is of our cool jack-o-lantern, before the squirrels demolished it.
Building character: part 3
The guys that wrote Deadly Viper: Character Assassins shared some of the questions they asked one another that got them thinking about character building being a team sport. I think these are some good ones for men to ask one another.
- How come we never talk about the really important stuff?
- What are the big issues that are ready to take us down?
- What are the stupid choices we are on the verge of making that would wreck our lives?
- How could we help each other be healthier leaders and find true meaning for our lives?
About a year ago, a minister friend of mine who I have known for 20 years left his wife and kids after having an extended affair with another woman. I can't help but believe that if he had been in a relationship with some other men where they asked and answered these types of questions, he would still be married and raising his kids. The consequences of refusing to build our character are too great to ignore.
I'll finish this subject (for now) with another quote from the book that I thought was great.
"Choosing honor, nobility, and the good can become extensions of who we are. We reject the small-minded, ineffective approach of those who focus simply on specific bad behaviors and miss the lifestyle approach."
Building character is a daily endeavor.
Have a great weekend. Bring someone with you to worship on Sunday!
- How come we never talk about the really important stuff?
- What are the big issues that are ready to take us down?
- What are the stupid choices we are on the verge of making that would wreck our lives?
- How could we help each other be healthier leaders and find true meaning for our lives?
About a year ago, a minister friend of mine who I have known for 20 years left his wife and kids after having an extended affair with another woman. I can't help but believe that if he had been in a relationship with some other men where they asked and answered these types of questions, he would still be married and raising his kids. The consequences of refusing to build our character are too great to ignore.
I'll finish this subject (for now) with another quote from the book that I thought was great.
"Choosing honor, nobility, and the good can become extensions of who we are. We reject the small-minded, ineffective approach of those who focus simply on specific bad behaviors and miss the lifestyle approach."
Building character is a daily endeavor.
Have a great weekend. Bring someone with you to worship on Sunday!
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Trick or Treat update
Two posts in one day! I just remembered that I promised to give a pumpkin carving update. We went with a fairly traditional triangle for the eyes and nose face on our pumpkin. I did try and make the mouth extra big this year. We took some pictures and I think I know how to actually post pictures on this blog. If I figure it out I will put a picture on here soon.
On a side note, I was a little disappointed with the turn-out in our neighborhood last night. I guess since it was Wednesday night lots of people were at church events. Many of the houses we normally go to had their lights off. My friend Jonathan Everette wrote a great post about the low turn-out in his neighborhood that you can read here.
On a side note, I was a little disappointed with the turn-out in our neighborhood last night. I guess since it was Wednesday night lots of people were at church events. Many of the houses we normally go to had their lights off. My friend Jonathan Everette wrote a great post about the low turn-out in his neighborhood that you can read here.
Building character: part 2
If building character is done best in community what are some things we need to consider to make that happen?
- It will not happen by accident. This is especially true for men. If you put two women who don't each other in a room, within 30 minutes they will know about each other's personal life. If you put two men who don't know each other in a room they will talk for 3 hours about work, sports, and politics and not have learned anything about the other guy's personal life. That's just the way we men are, so if you want to build character together with some of your friends you will need to decide to talk regularly about personal issues.
- You'll have to be real. The whole idea of meeting together with your friends to discuss real life issues will be a waste of time if you decide not to reveal the real you. Building character won't happen if you don't admit what areas you need to improve in.
- There has to be trust within the group. From the beginning you will need to be sure that everyone in your group understands that what is talked about is private. If that is the environment that you create then getting real about your character issues is more likely to happen.
- Character isn't built quickly. The guys who wrote Deadly Viper put it this way, "Character isn't a destination, but a journey towards becoming a more whole, complete, and healthy leader."
In part 3 I'll give you some questions the guys who wrote Deadly Viper ask each other on a regular basis.
- It will not happen by accident. This is especially true for men. If you put two women who don't each other in a room, within 30 minutes they will know about each other's personal life. If you put two men who don't know each other in a room they will talk for 3 hours about work, sports, and politics and not have learned anything about the other guy's personal life. That's just the way we men are, so if you want to build character together with some of your friends you will need to decide to talk regularly about personal issues.
- You'll have to be real. The whole idea of meeting together with your friends to discuss real life issues will be a waste of time if you decide not to reveal the real you. Building character won't happen if you don't admit what areas you need to improve in.
- There has to be trust within the group. From the beginning you will need to be sure that everyone in your group understands that what is talked about is private. If that is the environment that you create then getting real about your character issues is more likely to happen.
- Character isn't built quickly. The guys who wrote Deadly Viper put it this way, "Character isn't a destination, but a journey towards becoming a more whole, complete, and healthy leader."
In part 3 I'll give you some questions the guys who wrote Deadly Viper ask each other on a regular basis.
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