May I Speak Freely?

Thanks...I take it that if you are still reading this your answer to my topic of the day is YES. So here goes. Why do we talk so much? The past couple of weeks I have been extremely quite. If you know me you know that is something that doesn't happen too much. When you lose a child, or anyone for that matter, you realize how foolish you can be at times. I have been reading some in James. I believe most Christians leave James out of their yearly Bible reading. Why? Because James is plain. Plain like The Rock...you know The Rock...on wrestling? Well, I don't really know anything about hiim but my Worship Pastor and his son watches wrestling. They told me that the Rock always says, "Know your Role and Shut your Mouth." Man he must be reading James. James basically says the same thing! Our mouth gets us into trouble. Not really just with each other but with ourselves. When you get quite (James talks about that too) you listen more. You begin to see why people are so miserable in life. Why? you might ask. Well because what they say isn't edifying anybody including themselves. God wants us to know our Role in the Body of Christ...and then simply fulfill it. I am reminded of a Cosby show I watched one time. It was about Rudy and her wanting to play the cymbals and not another instrument. She pouted and fussed and all the while her dad, Cliff, was trying to get her to understand that her instrument was just as important as any of the others. 1 Corth. 12:27 says, "Together you are the Body of Christ." (NCV)...Together...you see, you will NEVER fulfill the call of God on your life alone. If you can, it's not God's call on your life. God's call will require others to believe in you and support you. We have a false theory that if we are part of a team we will never fulfill God's plan...well, sorry to disappoint you but God loves team work. Romans 12:5b says, "Since we are all one Body in Christ, we belong to each other, and each of us needs all the others." (NLT) It's all about Love and Relationships in the Kingdom of God. Peace

To Grow or Not to Grow...

that is the question. I have been reading some about true discipleship and christian growth. I am finding that a large number (you know that I am a percentage freak so I am trying not to throw out too many figures, pray for me) but a large number of christians never grow. I was amazed. Many serve God for years to never really grow in God. I don't know about you but I want to grow in God. I refuse to live life only to find that I could have had a more abundant life had I grew in the Lord. I found a few things that have helped me and I want to share them with you as we enter the Weekend! (In case I get on a rabbit trail and forget, DON'T MISS CHURCH THIS SUNDAY!! Oh my goodness of all that is happening. I can't tell you but trust me you want to be a part of this year at CIOC...Get INVOLVED! Get CONNECTED!! Because God promises all that comes to this church will flow to those CONNECTED to it.) Ok back to growth..which that was actually one of the reasons...people refuse to get into a church, join it, get involved and stay. The greatest sign of maturity is self evaluation. The second greatest is relationships. As a pastor it's hard for me to have close personal relationships with everyone. I do, however, have a group of people (only 2 go to our church and 6 of them are around the nation) that I am connected too. Be aware of those who are constantly moving and changing those they hang around. (please don't take this wrong...I am speaking on a personal level) There are those who have made me mad..and I have had to take time away from them too keep from getting angry...but rest assure...I always reconnect to those who have been close to me. Why? you might ask? Well, the message of Jesus was one of Love and Relationships...Moses said do not covet your neighbors wife...Jesus said, if you even look on her...Jesus was clear about relationships. Relationships MAKE us GROW...anyone who has had a long time friend or has been married for more than a week knows for you to have relationships you must bend, change, and grow. That's why God wants us to be a part of his family...Let me be CLEAR, You will NOT grow in Christ if you are not a part of His family and a part of a local Church. God said in Genesis 2, "It's not good for man to be ALONE." God created 2 institutions so that man would not have to be alone...1) The Church 2) Marriage....85% of Americans admit to intense feelings of Lonliness...85% (sorry, there goes the figure throwing) but 85%...that means the church ought to be a place of connectedness and love...but for that to happen and for you to Grow you must be involved to the point that sometimes those around you rub you the wrong way...you might say Pastor that's not Biblical...well, David had Saul. If you like reading, read "A Tale of Three Kings." It shows that God will put the Sauls in your life to push the Saul part of you out....if all you do is run from those who challenge you and rub you wrong...you might go to another place or even another level...but the Saul in you will try to kill those sent to you to build the kingdom....Blessings to all...SEE YOU SUNDAY!

Off for a couple of days

Hey everyone,
Just wanted to say hello. Tyra and I have been in the mountains of GA. A friend allowed us to use their mountain cabin for a few days and so we went. As many of you know I have been religiously walking a couple of miles a day now for several weeks. Well I can tell you this...you can be sore from not doing anything at all. It was raining the first 2 days we were there so we just laid around and watched movies...(anyone who knows Tyra and I know that this is our favorite past time). I also wanted to remind everyone about tonight at Church. We are having Rev. Mike Wiles come preach for us. Trust me when I tell you that you DON'T want to miss this dynamic preacher! See ya tonight!

What a Day

I want to first say a huge THANK YOU to everyone who showed up this morning. It was probably one of the largest crowds we have had in several months!! The State Overseer was totally blown away. He was shocked at how awesome a store front church like ours does church. Pastor Wally and the whole praise team/band showed OUT! That song "Everyday" was the greatest to date! This is what church is all about. Please be in attendance over the next several weeks as we are setting some great foundation for the future of this church. Going through what Tyra and I have had to go through the past couple of weeks has really changed our lives. We are determined, now more than ever, to build a church here in Anderson. One that Builds Faith, Gives Hope, and Loves People! Get ready!

This Sunday

This Sunday we are hosting Bishop Jerry Chitwood. Bishop Chitwood is the Administrative Bishop for South Carolina. As you know we are building this YEAR!!! Praise God! Bishop Chitwood wants to come and see what we are up too. As stated before, the Church of God in SC has offered to help us in our building program. I am asking everyone to come out and support CIOC this Sunday. Let's show Bishop Chitwood why we are good soil to sow seed! See you Sunday!

Oh My Goodness

Hey Everyone!! What can I say about last night? I have no clue if anyone got anything out of last night's message but I do know that I felt a release to just be myself again. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you CIOC for allowing me room to just be myself. For some reason only God will know I felt something just click last night. I have had several come up and say that Sunday's message on "What I Learned the Past couple of Weeks" was for them...Well, it was for me too and last night something just broke off of my life. The past couple of weeks have been wieghing me down so heavily. It was a chore to actually come to church...not a chore to be with you but to worship when all I had was questions. Not to rob RWOC of thier slogan...but....I Can't Explain it...but I DID experience it. Please continue to pray for Tyra and I because I know that only time and God can help grieve and hurt...(and you can't speed either one of those up) but I know that we are coming back stronger than ever!!

Ever Wonder why We Speak in Tongues?

Well tonight we will begin the journey on answering some tough questions on the gift of the Holy Spirit, Speaking in Tongues. This series will take 2-3 weeks so you will want to clear your calendar to attend. Can't wait to see you tonight!

What a Day

First of all let me say a HUGE Thank You to all of you who made Tyra feel comfortable at church yesterday. It was a hard decision for her and I but I believe the Lord spoke directly to both of us. Yesterday was an awesome day. The offering was over $4,700.00 making it one of the largest single offering to date (other than resurrection seed day.) This also gives us only $10,000.00 till our next payment on the land!!! Praise God!!!
Thanks to everyone who has sent cards, letters, emails, flowers, and offered to do anything for us. We love you more than you know.

A few Questions Answered

Hey everyone in BlogLand. I want to answer a few questions that up till now I could not find the strength to answer. 1) Did you name the baby? We did not name this baby. We had to make some very hard decisions in a short amount of time. We decided to ask God to heal this little boy if it be His will. We had picked out names for a girl and a boy but didn't feel to name this little boy either. We simply named him Baby Boy King. 2) How is Tyra doing? Tyra is doing much better. They have told us that she could relapse for up to 8 weeks so please continue to pray. 3) Are you holding a service? We have decided to hold a private service for Tyra and I and our parents. We know that so many of you are hurting too so we ask that you take a moment to remember this child. I hope that everyone reading this will understand that we loved this baby very much. That we did what we felt was the right thing to do. Things here are getting better day by day. We still desire your prayers.

Home at Last

I hesitate posting this because I know how you CIOCers are. (LOL) Tyra came home today. She is still under watch from the Doctors and the next few days and weeks are critical to her complete recovery. As I said last night, this is only a temporary situation and we appreciate your thoughts, prayers, cards, letters, and emails. We are so thankful for a church like this one. We look around and almost feel that we came to this church instead of birthing this church. We don't know how you guys got so loving and caring but you are and we applaude you for it. Keep us in your prayers and GET READY FOR SUNDAY!!! Please invite a friend, a family member, or just someone you bump into at the mall. Let's grow this church because I know from experience we have the best church anywhere....this is something you are going to see around CIOC for a while...it's a quote I found during this time..."The only difference between churches is the way they treat their memebers and visitors." People can go anywhere and there is no shortage of churches in Anderson or the upstate for that matter. Someone told me one time that the upstate of SC has more churches per capita than anywhere else in world...I am sad to say that it's not because we are that in love with God...I am more sad to say it's because we are religious and can't get along. (sorry but that's true). If you are wondering why you should invite someone to CIOC, well because over 80% of all Americans have intense feelings of loneliness and CIOC is the most loving church ever. Take care and see you Sunday.

The Fellowship of Suffering

Tonight was an awesome (believe it or not) time of healing for me. I want to thank CIOC for allowing the opportunity to share what all has been going on the past couple of days. I mentioned 4 types of fellowship tonight and couple of people asked about them. I received these from a study of Rick Warren's 40 days of community that we will be starting in February. 1) Social Fellowship 2) Study Fellowship 3) Servant Fellowship 4) Suffering Fellowship

Faith Talking

Yesterday I posted about one day at a time. I guess that was faith talking. What I have found is I am blessed if I have a good minute. I haven't made it to a good day only good minutes. I know time, prayer and God will change things but for now I am just praying to have a good minute next minute. We love you guys. Thanks for reading and allowing me an avenue by which to chronicle my thoughts.

One Day at a Time

I know...you can hear Christy Lane singing that song on the infomercial selling her CD. (Sorry) This statement is so true. There is so much that can happen in a day. A loved one can get saved, married, or something bad can go wrong. All I am learning to do is take it one day at a time. When something so devastating happens it's so easy to try and "fix" it. I can't fix it, all I can do is live it. Thanks to everyone for respecting me and Tyra and our families. We love all of you so very much and our time of grief will subside one day but for now thanks for the space and the time to allow us to go through this as a family. I know that you hurt too. I know that you might have questions too. God knows I have been laying a few on Him myself. Please know that we need and covet your prayers. And again thanks for the time and space to be with our families. You all mean the world to us.

a simple thanks

Tyra and I along with our parents, Mike and Peggy and Billy and Clara, want to say thank you to everyone who has prayed for us the past 3 days. As you can imagine these last few days have been some of the most horrible we have ever experienced. We know that you guys love us so much and we can feel the love and the prayers. Many of you have asked about meals and visits. Tyra and I are asking that we have no visits or meals at the time being because of the high risk Tyra is at the moment. The next 3-4 weeks are critical, according to the doctors, for her recovery. Please know that we love all of you and covet your continued prayers. Please feel free to write cards, letters, and emails often. I can get these and print them off for when Tyra is feeling good enough to read them. Thanks again for everything!