Sailors, Saints, & Sinners

The Rundown (3.13.2012)

Big stuff on the horizon as we head into Easter season –

• Disciple Now: March 23-25
  • 6th-12th graders
  • More information including registration information here
• Easter 5K: 5000 in worship over Easter weekend. How?!?
  • Multiple services: Thursday night, Saturday night, & Sunday morning
  • Multiple locations: Chatsworth, Calhoun, & Dalton
  • INVITE! INVITE! INVITE!
  • PRAY! PRAY! PRAY!
• NEW SERIES: Delayed – what is happening when God makes us wait? Why does God allow things to go from bad to worse? How is God working when it feels (and looks) as if He is completely absent and inattentive?
  • Starts this weekend at ALL our campuses!

An on a lighter note, the Harlem Globetrotters are in town this coming Monday night at the NW GA Trade Center … and yours truly is the “guest referee” (I wonder what will happen to me?)!

Weekly Rundown {1.29.2012}

• Great weekend of celebrating baptism and continuing with Joy Switch — Part 4.
• Loved preaching the incredible truth of the Gospel, justification by faith, and the supremacy of Christ from Philippians 3.
• I was asked today who (what type or group of people) we attempt to target as church. Great question. My answer: anyone who has not heard or not understood the gospel of Jesus Christ.
• We reached our goal of having 125 small groups by 1/25 … this was such a God-thing: we added over 40 small groups in about 2-3 months!!
  • Thanks to our campus pastors, groups staff, and all the group leaders & hosts who stepped up and stepped out!
• We have started interviewing candidates for our Missions Pastor position. So excited about this position and the person God will use through it.
• Beth started back to work this week in Rock Bridge Student Ministry on a part-time basis
  • Please pray for her as she eases back into work and more normal routines — it is still flu season.
  • So grateful and humbled that she is doing so well. Thank you for your prayers!
• First Wednesday is THIS week: Chatsworth/Dalton in the Wink Theatre and Calhoun at Gordon Mills Shopping Center.
• We finish Joy Switch this coming weekend at all campuses … and we’ll preview our next series — very excited about our new series that starts February 9/12.
  • Start praying about who you can invite to church with you!

Weekly Rundown (1.16.2012)

• Great to be at our Chatsworth Campus yesterday! Great environment, great volunteers, and great worship together!
• My wife went to church yesterday for the first time since in about 14 months!! So awesome to worship with her … she loves praise & worship!!
• We are having LOTS of guests at our services —  Please be alert, be helpful (give directions, give up your “preferred” seat, answer questions, etc.).
  • Spread the word about ways to connect: small groups, serving, 1st Wednesday, 2nd Wednesday Membership and Servolution (Dalton campus), etc.
• Our Missions Pastor search is narrowing down to under seven candidates. So excited about God’s person for this role and the potential our church has to meet needs and share Christ locally and globally!!
• 2012 Mission trip dates are coming out. Check the web site frequently for more information.
• JOY SWITCH — Part 3 is THIS week!!
  • Who are you inviting?
  • How is the daily Bible reading plan going?
  • Don’t forget: Rock Bridge PM (Thursday @ 6:30 pm) is in Stage 123.
  • Please pray persistently for all our services and all God wants to do in & through Rock Bridge!
• JOY SWITCH — Part 2 recap:
  • What God is doing in and through me is greater than what is happening to and around me. This truth of the Gospel (Philippians 1:6) sustains my joy by giving me a “category” for my situations, setbacks, and successes. What God is doing is ultimate; what is happening in this world will not take my joy.

Weekly Rundown (9.26.2011)

• Pray for our team in Honduras this week as they dig a water well for a local village and share Jesus with villagers.
• We are starting the process of elder selection for 2012.  We have 4 elders rotating who are rotating off at the end of this year. This New Testament position within the local church is very important and serves a critical role in helping our church stay on mission with wisdom and integrity.  Any church member may submit a nomination.
• First Wednesday in October is a little over a week away. I’ll be sharing some things on my heart for Rock Bridge and I’m asking all group leaders (adult, student, and children), all ministry team leaders and captains, all members, etc to make a special effort to attend this special edition of our First Wednesday time of worship, prayer, & the Lord’s Supper.
  • If you attend our Chatsworth campus, please attend in Dalton (Wink Theatre at 6 pm).
  • Dalton campus will meet in the Wink Theatre at 6 pm (dinner before in Stage 123 after 5 pm).
  • Calhoun campus will meet in the new building (at the Gordon Hills Shopping Center) and we are planning to ‘live stream’ parts of the service from Dalton SO all our campuses will be connected together for this one night … one church in multiple locations with one mission and one vision from one AWESOME God!!
• Remember: next week in Chatsworth starts one service at 10:30 am in Bagley Middle School.
• Please consider being part of our $10-$50 Plan to help us meet and exceed our 2011 budget goals!!
• An update on Beth:
  • She is supposed to come home this week for about 8 days.
  • We are awaiting a couple of important test results that could “map out” what the next few weeks/months look like … so please pray we are still on track!
  • She feels stronger and overall better everyday.  Truly amazing to see how much better she looks and feels. Check out her ‘Foto Friday’ blog from this past week!
• Have a great week and remember: “This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” {Psm. 118:24 NIV}

Weekly Rundown (9.19.2011)

• Amazing baptisms yesterday! I really believe baptism not only blesses the one being baptized, but those watching and welcoming the new Christ-follower.  Baptism is a public and bold reminder of what God works inside the heart of man. My faith grew larger yesterday, and I was reminded that God is indeed mighty to save.
• We are continuing to see people saved in regular frequency in our worship services.  We praise God for this and ask for more! The greatest thing in the world is to be saved and satisfied by Jesus Christ!!
• Our new series “LIFE APPS” continues this week.
  • Is there someone you are positioned to invite?!? Praying you do!!
• To all our amazing volunteers: THANK YOU!! You live out our core value of active participation.
  • I’m excited to be able to hang out this week with our Tech/Production ministry team.  They are true unsung heroes because 99% of people never know they are there unless something goes wrong. And >>>99% everything is right because of their hard work, service, and commitment to excellence!!
• Missions update:
  • We have a team going to Honduras later this month to dig a well and present the Gospel.
  • After one year of radically increasing our missions giving and going, our elders believe we will need to hire a missions/outreach pastor in 2012.  I believe our church has unbelievable potential to impact our local communities and penetrate lostness & relieve poverty around the globe.  Ask anyone who has taken a trip this year and you will discover how God enlarged their heart to match more closely His heart.  This is what is happening to our church’s collective heart as well. Psalm 67!!
• Beth has a scan this week to hopefully/prayerfully discover that all the EBV ‘nodes’ are gone from her body.  Please join us in prayer.  Once this hurdle is cleared, we should be able to talk more about moving her back home “full time”!!

Weekly Rundown (9.13.2011)

• Excited to kick-off a new series called “Life Apps”.  If you have a smartphone, you love the “apps” or applications it has to tell you the weather, find a location, check your bank balances, etc. etc. … in this series, we’ll learn that God has some “apps” to help us navigate life.
• Baptism is this weekend!!!! Life change, going public for Christ, obedience, the wonderful illustration of salvation … not to mention the BBQ and fellowship … can’t wait!!
• At our Dalton campus this weekend, we are experimenting with a new environment called, Meet the Pastor.  We’ll meet in the Gathering after every service (Thursday 6:30 pm, Sunday 9:30 & 11:00 am) on announced weekends.
  • This will be an informal and easy way for me to meet guests and newcomers as well as for those looking to connect more with our church family.
  • We’ll have other staff members and ministry leaders there as well, plus refreshments!
  • If you know someone who is new to our church, then please invite them to this!!
• Beth has been home for the past week!! She’s done great and it is awesome to see her energy returning and her start to feel so much better!!
  • She’ll head back to NYC later this week. The next big check is a repeat PET/CT Scan to check for Epstein-Barr “nodes”. She had a few left (reduced in size) last time and the doctors.
  • Last conversation with her doctors gave us some indication that she could be home permanently by early to mid-Fall!!
  • Your grace and prayers to us continue to be tremendous blessings!

Weekly Rundown (7.31.2011)

• Closed out the 4-part series, Epic Fail, on the stumbles of first church leader, Peter.  I really felt God move in me and our church during this series.  And we saw numerous people make decisions for Christ, indicating salvation!
• I know of so many of us who are going through tough times and adversity.  Everything from illneses to the economy to struggles with sin.  Please ask for prayer and seek to participate in prayer with others through a small group or our monthly, First Wednesday service which is this week.
• A few staff members met me in Brooklyn, NY last week to attend the Brooklyn Tabernacle’s Tuesday night prayer service. God’s providence and power were so evident.  3000-4000 people fully focused on prayer with obvious passion for Christ was absolutely beautiful … a taste of heaven!
• Ukraine mission trip reported over 450 individual presentations of the Gospel with over 100 indications of first-time salvation!! WOW!!
• Some of our staff department heads and pastors are going on a strategic work retreat in a few weeks and we’d appreciate your prayers.  We are committing the time to lots of prayer and discussions about everything (yes, everything!) in our church.  We are going to a place with no internet and no cell coverage … unplugged from technology to plug into God!
• Got to marry two of the first students who participated in Rock Bridge Student Ministry this weekend … yes, I cried
• Beth is doing okay. The mucus issue in her throat, sinuses, and nasal passages is still unresolved, causing some nausea and making ‘normal’ eating problematic. We are asking for 3 very specific prayer requests:
  • For the mucus issue to be resolved — healing, removal of excess mucus, & restoration of normal eating.
  • For protection from infection and for EB virus to be completely gone (it’s in retreat but not fully gone yet).
  • For 200 “T-cells”.
    • 200 is the “magic number” because it means her immune system is strong/mature enough to offer adequate/better protection.  This is the number that triggers steps toward her returning home, being able to be around more people, etc.  As of last week, she is about 70% there.

The Rundown (7.25.2011)

I’m back in NYC for a few days with Beth after spending 2+ weeks at home. Beth & I continue to be humbled and blessed by your prayers and concern. We do feel like the big picture is much brighter as all the major problems and obstacles are resolving (leukemia in remission, EBV in full retreat); there are some lingering throat-mucus problems that cause eating-drinking issues and resulted in the G-tube.  Overall, cautiously optimistic yet prayerfully vigilant!

• The Rock Bridge staff team is simply amazing.  Almost every encounter I had over the past 2 weeks including praise for our staff:  work ethic, passion, leadership, growth, etc.
• Had lots of great conversations about the direction and health of our church.  We are all excited about what we see God doing in us and through us.
  • Biggest area we are working to upgrade is how we connect new people into the church.  Everything from first-time guests and salvation to group involvement and membership.
• I was able to connect with a few of our mission partners and I’m so excited about the “to the ends of the earth” work we get to be part of in our NW GA communities and across the oceans.
  • Our work with Compassion International will continue to grow. 4 Rock Bridgers went to Ethiopia to meet our partner church in Awassa and were blown away by Compassion and by the opportunity we have to do something significant for Christ!
  • The Living Water trip to Honduras to dig a water well was fantastic and another group goes in September. We anticipate 2-3 more trips in 2012.
  • Our Ukraine trip just returned and the initial reports are exciting!!
  • I’m very excited about our work with church planting through Launch Network. With 5 church planting “hubs” (and more to come) across the U.S. we are able to invest resources into planting healthy churches.
    • On a more local level, we can welcome and begin to pray for Wesley Odum and Dynamic Church which will be launching in Chattanooga in 2012.
    • Pray for Terrence Lester as God has called him to plant in Atlanta.
• Above all, I think many of us are being drawn by God to pray passionately, consistently, and specifically for Him to move. We are more aware than ever of our need for Him (apart from Him = nothing!!) and yet His desire to work through His people and churches.

Weekly Rundown (5.22.11)

• Finished Modern Family today.  Can honestly say this was a great and needed series for us.  Already hearing stories of people freed, marriages moving from divorce to restoration, and salvations!  Soli deo gloria!
• Baptism … what can I say?! God gave us this command to remind us of His salvation and His power.  I believe public, bold baptisms are also a great encouragement to those who have already been saved.  Baptism reminds us that God is still mighty to save and our work to evangelize and connected the disconnected is not in vain!
• Sign-up for E-GIVE!
  • During the summer months our church attendance is less consistent which translates into lower offerings to the church.  However, our mission continues and God’s work does not let up … even in the summer.  So E-Give not only helps you give automatically and consistently even when you can’t physically put something in the offering during a worship service; it also keeps our church’s ministries and missions going strong year round.
  • To sign-up go to www.rockbridge.cc and click on “Give”.  You’ll need your checking account number and your bank’s “routing number” (found on a personal check).  It’s simple and easy.
• Our Calhoun campus’ new building is ready: NEXT Sunday at either 9:30 or 11:00 am (going to 2 services too!).
  • I toured the building on Friday and WOW!! It is amazing.  It is at the old Piggly Wiggly location right off Highway 41.
  • Praying God uses the building to further His mission, advance His kingdom, and increase RBCC’s impact for Him in Gordon County!!
• Update on Beth: Thanks so much for asking and staying faithful to pray for her and our family.
  • She is still in the hospital and may get released by mid-week. Her throat area is still healing and now shedding the scabs so eating and drinking has been difficult.
  • We expect to have another PET scan this week to determine how well all this treatment has worked against the Epstein-Barr virus.  This “EBV” continues to be our biggest concern and obstacle so we are praying it is all gone!!
  • Prayer requests:
    • The complete and final defeat of the Epstein-Barr virus in Beth’s body.
    • Healing for her throat area and the ability to eat and drink normally again.
    • T-cell production to ramp up (several of the medicines she had to take lately suppress this part of the immune system)!!
    • For the family of our dear friend, Edwin who passed away last week from a post-transplant infection.

Monday “Randomness” and An Update on Beth

• Always love hearing follow-up stories from Easter weekend.  Praise God for life change, for people returning to Him, for passion rekindled, for Good News proclaimed and received!!
• Thanks to all the volunteers who helped make this weekend happen.
  • I also want to thank our amazing staff team … your passion, work ethic, love for Christ and His church is a testimony to the worth of our great God. I love serving Him with each of you!!
• Got to baptize my niece Saturday … very special.
• Praying for God to use our next series, Modern Family. It starts THIS weekend. Who will you bring with you?!?

An Update on Beth:
The Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) is still present and problematic. Beth will continue to receive treatment this week in hopes that real progress is made by Friday.  This virus is obviously a very real obstacle and complication in Beth’s recovery.  We would very much appreciate specific prayers against EBV, for full recovery, and just for rest.
Because EBV continues to linger and complicate things, we we have postponed the boys’ trip to NYC (rats!).

HE IS RISEN! HE IS ALIVE!