General
Good Quick Reads
Below are some good reads (click the title):
J.D. Greear on When Should You Move to Another Church?
Michael Hyatt: 10 Reasons Why You Aren’t Done Yet
Michael Hyatt: 5 Marks of Authentic Leadership
His Child Orphan Care on The Spirit of Adoption
Hijacked Blog: Special Announcement
This is Carla Bray, Matt’s assistant, and I’ve hijacked his blog 
The reason for my bold move is to announce a “Drop In Shower” hosted by friends of the family to celebrate Matt & Beth’s adoption of their two precious boys, Eyasu and Abreham. Anyone is welcome to come so spread the word!
Monday, March 22nd: Rock Bridge’s Stage 123 — drop in anytime from 4:30-7:30 pm
If you want to get them a gift, Matt & Beth are registered at Babies R Us; Butterfly Kisses (Thornton Ave in Dalton — used to be Davies); Target; and Wal-Mart. Gift cards or love offerings are also great ideas that would bless them as well!
If you have any questions please email me at Carla@rockbridge.cc.
Weekly Rundown (1.31.10)
- It snowed … again!! Twice in the same month!!
- Had a great Elders meeting to kick-off the new year! Excited to have elders in place in Calhoun.
- Rock Bridge Chatsworth is getting rolling with “practice” services … and we actually had some 1st time guests!! The unofficial launch date is February 28th.
- Beth and I had an amazing time at Brasstown Valley Resort in Young Harris, GA for Leadership Georgia. Lots of learning with some great people from all over our state.
- Our Thursday night services continue to be well attended … with great energy and excitement.
- Praying hard that we pass court on February 11th!!
- Have a great week!!
Responding to the Earthquake in Haiti
The news is filled with the disaster of a major earthquake literally destroying a large portion of Haiti. The death and devastation are heartbreaking.
We have been talking “in theory” about increasing our missions efforts with three avenues: local impact, Great Commission partnerships, and Global Poverty (see “Rock Bridge and the World” blog post). Interestingly enough one of our partnerships was shaping up to be with a Christian missionary in Haiti named “Ed”. Ed has been posting through the night on Facebook about what he is witnessing and asking Christians around the world to pray.
We can move into action immediately (see James 4:17). We have the ability to act to relieve suffering and provide hope. Here’s our plan:
1) Pray.
2) Collect a special offering during our services this week. (including Thursday night).
- For checks write “HAITI RELIEF” on the memo line.
- All loose cash and loose change will be directed for Haiti relief.
3) Use a portion of our approved “missions” budget for Haiti relief.
- The funds collected from #2 & 3 above will go to help Ed provide relief in Haiti as well as to another Christian relief effort already working on the ground in the country.
4) A relief drive/effort for Haiti.
- We are not sure of the details yet but we are working to see how best to respond with specific supplies.
- We are hoping to send our initial, “advance” team into Haiti this Spring.
The “Perhaps” of Rock Bridge PM
This Thursday we begin an unorthodox experiment. We have prayed & prepared but I know ultimately the outcome is up to God (Proverbs 19:21).
We are being faithful to what God has called us as a church to do which is to connect people from all walks of life to life in Christ. And “all walks of life” includes the shift worker who can’t make church on Sundays, the weekend traveler who is often out-of-town, the college student, and anyone else who might otherwise be inclined not to come to church at the typical/traditional times.
This service is an offering to God to use as He sees fit. I hope and pray it is for His glory. I hope and pray that He will do more than I can ask for or imagine (Eph. 3:20-21). I feel like Jonathan on his way to fight the Philistines as a severe underdog saying “Perhaps the Lord will act on our behalf …” (I Samuel 14:6).
Because I want to pray specifically, here is my “Perhaps List” — the list of things that “perhaps” God will do as we take an unconventional step to share God’s amazing love with more people in NW Georgia:
- Perhaps God will bring hundreds of previously unchurched people to church … and they will discover the difference of Jesus Christ.
- Perhaps God will cause people to be more consistent in their church attendance as they have more opportunities to meet together and practice Hebrews 10:25.
- Perhaps God will raise up more people in the church to serve Him through the church (Luke 10:2).
- Perhaps God will raise the temperature for evangelism in our church … that we would be willing to risk, serve, pray, and labor for the salvation of others in our community (2 Timothy 2:10).
- Perhaps God will open another door for His message to go out (Colossians 4:3).
- Perhaps God will cause the message to spread rapidly & be honored by many (2 Thess 3:1).
Perhaps YOU or SOMEONE you invite will join us THIS Thursday at 6:30 pm in the Wink Theatre?
Stepping Together
Something I constantly thank God for and ask Him to protect is the incredible unity that has marked our church. When movements are marked by unity there is tremendous focus, teamwork, and momentum.
One example of unity we see in Scripture is unified giving. Whether it was the giving to build the Tent of Meeting and Solomon’s Temple or to assist the suffering church in Jerusalem, God’s people gave together, recognizing that more can be accomplished when everyone combines their stewardship of God’s resources in the same God-honoring direction.
RBCC followed this pattern when we launched our Next Step Campaign in 2007. We unified our giving above and beyond regular tithes & offerings to sacrificially and generously fund the much needed Dalton campus expansion.
As part of this campaign, we want to hold a special offering to further unify our giving and increase momentum as we head into the final stretch of this campaign. On December 13th (or anytime in December) we will have a Step Together Offering. This offering will be help reduce and eventually pay off the construction loan since construction is finished.
- We are asking everyone who made a Next Step pledge to give part of your pledge on December 13th (or this month). We are not asking for a new pledge.
- We would also invite anyone at our Dalton campus who was not able to make a pledge or was not part of Rock Bridge back in 2007, to prayerfully consider participating in this special unified offering.
- Simple indicate “Next Step” or “Step Together” on your check or use the specially marked envelopes.
I echo the words of King David (I Chronicles 29:14):
“…who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from You, and we have given You only what comes from Your Hand.”
Rock Bridge PM
After much prayer, lots of discussion, and a church survey we’ve decided to start a 3rd service at our Dalton campus … on Thursday evening! Our goals are the same as they have been for 7+ years … to expose more people to Christ, to reach more people for Christ, and see more people changed by Christ.
Thursday evening appears to be a perfect opportunity to do that as we reach out to those who work on Sundays and cannot come to church (lots of shift-workers, restaurant employees, etc in our area) as well as those who travel on the weekend. A secondary benefit will be that this service will free up some seats on Sundays @ 11 am when we are most crowded.
This will be an experiment and we confess we don’t know exactly how it will work … BUT we are committed to trying BECAUSE of the potential to be accused of this “… you have filled all Jerusalem (Dalton, Chatsworth, Calhoun, NW Georgia) with your teaching about Him [Jesus] …” {Acts 5:28}. We believe that when Jesus is worshiped with passion and taught with clarity that God-sized things occur!!
Now we have to seize this opportunity TOGETHER … unified, committed, and excited! I want to share ways YOU can help … {We’ve created a web link here for more information}
- PRAY! Please lift this service up, asking God’s Name to be glorified & honored.
- INVITE! Start telling your friends … the service kicks off on January 14th @ 6:30 pm in the Wink!
- SERVE! We need people to step up and commit to serving on Thursday nights. The need is greatest in children’s ministry where our desire is make Rock Bridge Kids the “best hour of a child’s week“!!
- You can SIGN-UP to SERVE right now by clicking HERE.
Opportunity
Ephesians 5:16- “Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days.”
Once Christ invades our life to become our life, giving us a new identity with new desires for Him and a new power (Holy Spirit) from Him, the rest of our lives are a giant opportunity. We don’t enter into a holding pattern waiting for heaven. We don’t continue living in habitual sin because God will just forgive us. And we don’t just sit around hoping for a good sermon or song every now and then. We have opportunities to seize!
As Christ-follower we must constantly ask the following questions:
- How alert am I for God-given opportunities to love, serve, encourage, invite, & share?
- How willing am I to act on those opportunities?
- What keeps me from making the most of opportunities … fear? Comfort? Complacency? Disobedience?
Where to spot opportunity:
- In the family of believers, our local churches — God’s church will always have great opportunities.
- In our sphere of relationships … anywhere you have influence with people, you have opportunity.
- At work … God created us to work and fills the workplace with opportunities to honor Him.
- Wherever challenges exist … every obstacle presents an opportunity (think David & Goliath).
Twilight: What Can the Church Learn?
In an attempt to learn about our culture so we can better minister to our culture, I will stay on the Twilight bandwagon for one more post (first post is here). This time let’s see how we in the church might learn from this series.
1) People like a good story and the Bible is full of them. Bible & boring do not belong in the same sentence.
2) People are starved for people they can identify with and relate to and will even pursue pseudo-relationships with fictional characters. Church & the opportunity for meaningful relationships should go hand-in-hand.
3) People want a hero. Jesus is the ultimate and only real hero.
Why Is Twilight So Popular?
{Forgive me for this momentary lapse in my blogging to comment heavily on pop culture, of which I try to study or at least be somewhat aware …}
The #’s are in and they are shocking: Twilight New Moon took in $140.7 million dollars on its opening weekend (#3 all-time)!! It was the biggest Fall opening in history. And what is even more remarkable is the storyline seems so, well, so outlandishly freakish: girl falls in love (nothing new there) … with a vampire (Whoa!) … who is opposed by a pack of guys who become wolves (What!?!) … one of whom likes the girl who fell in love with the aforementioned vampire (Say that again!).
So here’s my question: Why is it so popular and why did I, of all people, get drawn into this freakishly weird love-gone-wrong story?
1) People like realistic love stories. I know the vampire-wolf part is not “realistic” but love is never easy, is way more complicated than we care to admit, is opposed by forces often outside our control, and takes a lot of effort to work. At the core the Twilight series is a love story … the vampire-wolf stuff is just part of the “complications”, as Edward would say.
2) There is a character in the story that most people can easily identify with. Again, look past the vampire-wolf mythology to the heart of the characters. We all want someone who understands us, someone who shares an experience, a struggle, a hope or a dream that we have. This is the power of a good story … fiction or not, realistic or fantasy … it does not matter. People will flock to something they can relate to either personally or emotionally, either in real life or only in their dreams.
Do you struggle with a habit? Do you have a “fatal flaw” that sometimes holds you back? Are there things about you that you wish you could change? Then look no further than everyone’s favorite vamp, Edward Cullen.
Have you ever fallen in love with someone or something that you couldn’t have … or have in the way you wanted? Ever had your heart broken? Ever struggle with where you fit into life’s big plan? Then you’ll identify with Bella Swan, the main character who tells us this story.
Ever compete for something you valued and lose? Ever feel like you’re always a day late and a dollar short? Ever feel like the nice guy who always finishes last? Jacob Black is your guy!
{Incidentally, regarding points 1 & 2 … this why I love the Bible: full of real people experiencing real life! I can relate!}
3) The plot line is anything but predictable and routine. Most stories fall into a predictable pattern that has the audience or reader guessing with incredible accuracy how everything will end. Not so in this book. The twists and turns are virtually non-stop. This is why we see the two camps: Team Edward and Team Jacob emerging. People are pulling for their guy, but unless you read all the books you really never know who Bella will choose or how or why she will make her choice. This is creative story-telling at its best because routine is death to creativity. Now some will say that this creativity is too much and is big-time “jump the shark” stuff. That criticism may be fair but the audience is so desperately hooked on getting to the final answer, they tolerate and even enjoy it.
4) Twilight scratched an “itch” by finding a good niche. This series has proven that teenagers and women are a powerful bloc of people who were ripe for a blockbuster made for them. 80% of all ticket sales on opening weekend were purchased by women! A film, book, or movie rarely succeeds by trying to be all things to all people. It’s wise to know your target audience. It’s also wise to know that your target audience will bring people outside of your target audience with them for the ride (i.e. the husband or boy friend).
5) For whatever combination of reasons Twilight has reached a cultural “tipping point”. Tipping point is a term that basically means unstoppable momentum. People on the outside of this momentum can’t understand it, they criticize it, question it, mock it, and even hate it … but they are powerless to stop it. Think about the emergence of social networking (Facebook, Twitter, etc.). Many of these tools have reached a tipping point where now we see CEOs, football coaches, and politicians updating their status and sending out “tweets”. Only in hindsight do these waves become explainable. So it is with Twilight — we can’t really explain it … yet.