Another Thing

This sunday we will be talking about What is the purpose in Spiritual Storms. You will love this revelation!! See ya Sunday!

An Awesome Week

Hey Everyone,
Sorry about not blogging...this week has been awesome. I was given tickets to the BMW ProAm Classic at The Cliffs in Greenville, SC. It was awesome. The course was in GREAT shape. I acutally got to see J. Peterman (John O'Hurley, yes I'm a Seinfeld fan), Wayne Gretzky and his wife, and Catherine Bell (JAG). This was a Nationwide Tour event so I didn't know many of the pro's that were there but we had an AWESOME time. I will be back to blogging first of next week...have a great weekend.

Sunday April 23

Hey Everyone,
We will be continuing the series on "The Storms of Life" tomorrow. I am so excited I can hardly wait. After a HUGE Easter service I am expecting God to continue to blow our minds. If you want to read the scripture for tomorrow prior to service I will be taking from Acts 27. Take care and I will see you in the morning!

TAG

Hey Everyone,
Mary brought up TAG in her comments to my Apirl 20th post...sorry for the mix up...I was going to wait and do TAG once we got in our new building for a advertising campaign...Help me pray...we might can do it now and again then...maybe even make TAG a yearly event...Let's pray about it.

I love it when God hits me with reality!!!

I was talking to someone today and they said, "Heard you were mean last night." I said, "What?" They said, "Yeah, I heard you told everyone to GROW UP." (emphasis was on GROW UP)...You know...when God tells me to grow up I REJOICE!!! Why? Not because I love to be disciplined but because of Hebrews 12:6...it says, God disciplines those He loves. When I hear a sermon that speaks to me or God speaks to me in His own subtle ways...I LOVE IT...Because HE LOVES ME!!!

How old are you?

I have been wondering why so many christians refuse to grow in Christ? I am not trying to be mean but many will agree with me that so many christians never seem to grow out of childish things. How long have you been saved? Does your age in Christ reflect your response to life? Do the same things that hindered your walk with God years ago still have an affect on your life today? I remember growing up my best friend, John Rochester and myself would play for so long that we would end up getting tired of each other and fighting...I used to get so mad when he would play iwth the toy that I wanted to play with...sound familiar? It happens in church all the time...why can't I do that? Why does he/she get to do things I don't get to do? Why do they get to play with the toy I want? It's time to Grow up in the house of God!! Let's get to it.

Resurrection Seed!!!

Hey Everyone,
Just a quick note to let you know that we are getting the resurrection seed totals ready for Wednesday night. It's looking GREAT!!! Thanks to everyone who contributed this year. It's amazing to see what God is doing with a group of people who are determined to see God rule and reign in Anderson, SC. To God be the Glory!!

WoW What an EASTER!!!

I can not really believe this morning. The praise TEAM ROCKED OUT!!!! Thanks to everyone who put in so much time and effort. It was truly amazing. The atmosphere in that place was totally unreal. Everyone was so focused on God and it showed. Again, Thanks to everyone! As a pastor you have defining moments that really change you and this morning was one of those times.
I was waling from our children's building right before service...on the way all I could see was a large group of people getting out of their cars and walking toward our church. I thought to myself...wow that's awesome everyone is getting here a little early...I made it to the door before the crowd, stepped inside and BOOM....it hit me...the sanctuary was already FULL. With changing around the seating we only had around 90 chairs...and there was already 70+ in the sanctuary. We had a total of 109. People were so blessed and you could tell. CIOC ROCKS!!

Easter Egg Hunt 2006

Oh my Goodness...where did everyone come from? The Easter Egg Hunt was rained out last week and this week people came from EVERYWHERE. Someone told me we had over 450 people there today. 10,000 eggs were in "hiding" (you can't really hide 10,000 eggs in nothing less than a forest)...everyone had a GREAT time and my HUGE grill did the job. They told me they had almost 200 hotdogs on that grill at one time!!!! Thanks to EVERYONE who helped. Next year is already in the planning stages. Thanks to Mary and Tony Motes for heading this event up...you guys ROCK!! You can email her marymewm@aol.com or Tony at FISH0461@aol.com
Also, thanks to Church Revolution and Strait Christian Church for participating!! Can't wait till TOMORROW at CHURCH!!!

Just had a thought today and

I was working at the church today (yes I do work LOL) and while working I had a thought...is salvation a decision or a changed life? The reason for this thought is I see a lot of people going to church making a "decision" for Christ but their life doesn't change much. I understand we are ALL a work in progress...but the key word here is PROGRESS. Webster defines progress as a FORWARD MOTION; AN ADVANCE. I was talking with my father-n-law (Mike Hill who is a VERY WISE man)...I asked him this question and his answer floored me...he said, "I think it's a decision to change your life." WOW....I just don't want to water down the CONVERSION of anyone...I desire a true change in my life...I don't just want to talk about Jesus or talk about being saved...but I want...or should I say, NEED a change in my life. Just a thought...Blessings to You.

Easter Egg Hunt and Sunday Morning

Hey Everyone,
Just a quick note about this Weekend. Saturday will be our 2nd annual Easter Egg Hunt. We are hiding 10,000 eggs all with candy in them!!! YIPPPEEEEEEE!
Sunday will be awesome. We have worked all week to get the sanctuary ready for you to enjoy a tremendous day in the Lord. Our lighting is finished. We will have a GREAT time in the Lord. Sunday is also our Resurrection Seed Offering Day....we have already taken in $36,000.00....We need $5,000.00 more so come prepared to sow a seed into our building fund. Also, (this is the last thing) we will be unveiling our Site Plans for the property...you DON'T WANT TO MISS IT!!!

One great post...

I read this post by Perry Noble and thought it should be shared:

Got Joy? (A Pastors Perspecitve On Rumors!)

A fact that the enemy must deal with is that I am not his...and I never will be. I totally belong to Jesus & my soul is untouchable; however, if he cannot destroy my soul then the next best thing for him to come after is my joy. (Don't worry...if you are a Christian he will be coming after yours as well!!!)

So how does he accomplish this? I would say it is different for each person. For example, some people will lose their joy because their car will not crank...or a bad grade...or their children bring home a bad grade...or, as I said this morning--the batteries in the remote control go dead! (God help us all!!!)

These things get to us--make us angry--and we forget the things that God has done for us and the ways we are blessed and begin to hyper focus on the circumstances--thus losing our joy.

As I said earlier...the enemy uses various things to get us distracted--and one of the things he has hit me with over the past year is rumors.

Any pastor of a church will tell you that he takes what people say about the church personally. Let me say this up front--one of the DUMBEST things you can ever say to a pastor is, "Now I have some things to share with you...and don't take this personally..." That is equal to saying, "Hey dude--your baby is ugly...don't take that personally!!!"

And, this goes without saying, anything said about me...well...I take that personally as well.

AND...the enemy knows this--and that is why he attacks my joy through rumors. We've heard it all--there was the one about the new building having a statue of me in it--there was the one about us not allowing Bible's into our service--there is also the one about us NOT letting people join our church unless they show us their W2's and/or last years tax return. (I am NOT making this up--these have been quoted back to me by several sources!)

And there have been rumors about me as well...one of my favorites of all time is when I nearly died back in July--that all of that was merely a set up and that none of it actually happened! (WOW--I'm a great actor!!!)

But the latest one...wow...this one takes the cake. I was informed yesterday that there is talk in the community about our lead team...and how in staff meetings all of us drink and get drunk every single Monday! Once again...I am NOT making this up!

People, when I heard this I have to be honest...I REALLY wanted to track down the source and explain to them that alcohol has not touched my lips since 1989...and NO--we do NOT drink in staff meetings!!! (Except for large amounts of coffee!)

This rumor was particularly offensive to me because of my previous struggles with alcohol. I battled it and I overcame my addiction--and for someone to begin to throw things around set me on fire with anger that rarely comes to the surface!!!

BUT--I realized what this is...a tool of the enemy trying to tear me down and get me unfocused. So when I heard this, after thinking about it for several minutes I decided, "Oh no you don't--you have gotten me before...BUT NOT NOW!" I refuse to allow the enemy to steal my joy!

One thing you need to understand is that there will always be stupid people in the world! (That's right--I said stupid--I meant it...anyone who spreads rumors or tells what they have heard and begins to tear apart the character of a particular person OR particular group of people is a stupid person!) And you can't allow the enemy to use them to tear you down.

If you are in the ministry you have GOT to understand--people spread rumors about the Apostle Paul...they said things that were not true about Jesus--but that didn't slow either of them down. If they had spent all their time battling rumors then do you think they would have actually gotten any ministry accomplished?

I don't have time to battle rumors...and neither do you! Don't let things that people say about you steal your joy. If you are doing something right then others WILL say things that are untrue...deal with it...and get over it...and let Christ shine through you!

The enemy IS coming after your joy--look back over your life and you will see his pattern. Identify it and then don't let him do it again--remember that Scripture tells us that the God who lives IN us rules OVER him!!!

Well, that's about it--I am going to go to bed now...and it's not because I have a hangover!!! :-)

It's Easter Week!!!

I can't believe it's EASTER!! I love EASTER!!! There is always an excitment that comes with this season and time of year. I love EASTER in the South. All you have to do is walk outside and ssee all the Blooms and it reminds you of life after death. For months now we have seen brown grass and bare trees. Now, there is LIFE. What an awesome sight. Thank you Lord for making this time so awesome.

Easter at CIOC

Ok I admit that I have no idea what is going to happen on EASTER at CIOC....But, I am excited. I have a feeling that Easter @ CIOC will be the most awesome service to date. I have been working on the sanctuary and things are coming together and in place. I can't WAIT!!! You shouldn't wish your life away but IT'S EXCITING.

Forgiveness

At church we have been talking about the Lord's Prayer. I have really enjoyed teaching and learning more about this order of prayer God has given us. Sunday and Wednesday we talked about "Forgive us our trespasses AS we forgive those who trespass against us." (Emphasis mine) This morning in my devotion I was reading the parable of the Unforgiving Servant. This story really grabbed my heart and challenged me to do an invetory on my feelings toward others. In both cases (The Lord's Prayer and this parable) Jesus is teaching us that God doesn't give to us what we are not giving to others. If we are unforgiving to others emotional rollercoasters then God will be unforgiving to ours. For some reason we have this mentality that we can treat others any way we want and God will still treat us with goodness and love. Well if the parable is right, and I believe it is because Jesus was teaching it, the master who had forgiven the man of his debt went back and threw the man to the torturers until he would pay. God is a merciful God, I understand that...but God expects us to treat others the way He treats us...with love, respect, AND forgiveness. God Bless.

Simple but Totally Necessary!!

I was with my covenant group this morning and was totally blown away with what I heard. Did you know that 80%, YEAH 80%, of those who attend church have NO daily Bible reading or quiet time with God. Oh my goodness...I was aware of it being a Great number but 80%???? Are we seriously trying to live a God kind of life with no relationship with Him? Seems like we are! I must admit that it challenged me to the BONE. Not because I do not have time with God but for me to make it more of a priority. I would be interested in knowing how many of the 20% doing a daily devotion are doing it out of relationship or duty?? Many times we treat the Christian Disciplines as a daily check off list of things we "have" to do. Just thinking?!?

What has happened to Discernment?

Discernment is simply knowing that something is right or wrong. Knowing that something is of God or is not. I am amazed at how many Christians find themselves in compromising situations simply because they didn't take time to see if what they are about to say or do is the godly thing to do. I am also amazed at how we can not determine who we should and who we should not allow to speak into our lives. Psalms 1 talks about if you want to be blessed do not listen to ungodly counsel. We need to return to the days that we seriously pray about things affecting our lives. We need to see what God has to say about things and not simply move on our impulses. I call it (because I heard it somewhere) the Esau spirit. Selling out eternal things for temporary circumstances. Esau was hungry and he sold his birthright for a bowl of beans...problem is tomorrow he will be hungry again and will have sold an eternal thing (birthright) for a temporary circumstance (hungry). I want to encourage you today to pray about things before you jump into them. Pray, pray, pray. God will direct your life according to His plan!