Weekly Rundown (5.9.2010)
- Several of our staff went to the Drive Conference in Atlanta this past week. They came back pumped up!! Love their inspiration.
- Great reports from our team that went to Haiti. We’re very excited about the partnership developing in that country. Check out the video here!
- Be in prayer for our Baptism Celebration that is on May 23rd!! Time to celebrate new life in Christ with public obedience to Christ who commanded and modeled baptism!!
- In the past 5 months we’ve added about 500 new people … WOW!! This has brought lots of opportunities, excitement, and challenges as we seek to connect folks to Christ and lead our church at this new level … and to the next level that God has for us.
- After today’s message on “Word Power”, I’ve been trying to work on a few things myself:
- I am better at assuming than communicating as a leader … when this happens and I get frustrated, I have no one to blame but myself!!
- My tone of voice is not always full of “love and truth”.
- Can’t wait for Part 4 of Rx for Relationships … bring a guest!!
- This was Beth’s FIRST Mother’s Day … she is amazing
Obey God No Matter What
Obeying God no matter what is one of the principles that I would love to be the basis for my life and am seeking to model & teach to my boys.
As I seek to “obey God no matter what”, I’ve discovered that obedience is not limited to what we don’t do (the thou shalt not’s), nor is obeying God is not always black & white or as simple as the 10 Commandments and the Golden Rule. There are perhaps four types of obedience we must be aware of to actually “obey God no matter what” –
OBVIOUS OBEDIENCE: this probably gets the bulk of our attention & most of us know if we are obeying or disobeying God in this category because it is obvious. Either we feel good about ourselves (“I don’t drink or smoke or chew, or hang with guys who do!”) or we feel guilty because we don’t measure up. Obvious obedience includes things like the Ten Commandments and treating people right.
OPPORTUNISTIC OBEDIENCE … this is when a door opens and we have an opportunity to live for God that we did not have before. Things like inviting a friend to church, praying for someone in need, being generous (more than the tithe, the tithe is obvious) with extra money, and taking the initiative to do the right thing (see James 4:17). This type of obedience requires being alert, being prepared, and being bold.
We must look for God to open doors (see Colossians 4:2-4), be ready to go through them (i.e. When God opens the door for a single to begin dating, is their character ready? When God opens the door for you to share Jesus with someone, do you have the knowledge to explain why your hope is in Christ?), and we must have courage because opportunistic obedience requires us to seize the moment for God.
LIGHT YOU HAVE OBEDIENCE– Often times we will never have all the facts, all the information, or the level of certainty we would like. But God always gives us enough light to take the next step of obedience. Sometimes God works like a flashlight does on a dark trail. We have enough light to take two, maybe three steps but as we take those steps the light moves ahead of us and so we keep moving. This means we don’t need to worry about all the things we don’t know, just respond to the light we have. This keeps us moving and keeps us from regret. The underlying principle here is that the amount of light we have at any given moment is not nearly as important as what we are doing with that light. (Psalm 89:15)
ENDURING OBEDIENCE is being consistent in your walk. We can’t be hot and then cold. We can’t seize opportunities and walk in the light today and tomorrow be afraid to obey and drawn to darkness. We can’t love our neighbor (obvious obedience) on Monday and curse him on Tuesday (obvious disobedience). Enduring obedience is obeying God in “all of the above” categories which ultimately leads us closer and closer to God, God’s best, and God’s blessings.
Monday is for Missions
In 2011 we will have the opportunity to go on short-term missions trips with Living Water International. We are excited about this partnership with an amazing Christian organization seeking to bring physical and spiritual water (see John 4:14) all over the world.
These trips will involve both physical work (building or repairing a water well in a community) and relational/spiritual connections with the people. We will be getting more information out very soon about dates, costs, and how to sign-up. Please begin praying now for this trips and our long-term partnership with Living Water.
Weekly Rundown (5.2.2010)
- Teaching on the Golden Rule this week rocked me personally and forced me to ask, “How much I am asking God for so I can spend my life giving to others?” (see Matthew 7:7-12)
- Anytime we talk about relationship issues, problems, and areas of relational neglect come to the surface. This is happening to many people across our campuses right now. While this is often painful, it is ultimately healthy. When God shines a light into a dark place, go there with Him! Let Him correct, comfort, change, heal, and restore!!
- First Wednesday is THIS week!!
- Baptism is coming up on May 23rd!!
- Glad our team to Haiti returned safe … and changed! They are excited about their experience and the opportunities we have in front of us as a church.
- Eyasu & Abreham came to church on Thursday night!! Great to see them at Rock Bridge. Even better was seeing how excited Eyasu was about his projects. Heard he loved the worship time too! Praying they both grow in the knowledge of God and His love and that this leads them to find their life in Christ alone.
- Have a great week
Too Easily Satisfied
One of Satan’s most effective tactics is to get us to settle for the good instead of God’s best. The forbidden fruit was “good … pleasing … and desirable” (see Genesis 3:6) yet it cost Adam & Eve God’s best. This is true for all sin. Initially, sin seems good and pleasurable, but ultimately it proves very costly.
The Bible teaches us that the highest satisfaction we can discover is in Christ alone, the greatest pleasure we can experience comes from God, and that the greatest desire we can have is for God.
You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand. [Psalm 16:11]
Direct me in the path of Your commands, for there I find delight. [Psalm 119:35]
For most of us “joy”, “pleasures”, and “delight” are not something we typically associate with God. So we look for those things in money, sex, food, other people, careers, hobbies, and entertainment choices. And those things may be good or at least seem okay, but we’ll never enjoy God’s best if those are what we “settle for”. We become too easily satisfied while our senses are deadened and our ability to enjoy God is dulled.
I was thinking through some of the highest and greatest satisfactions my life … and to be honest I have at times been satisfied with sin. However, the highest and greatest pleasures for me have come from God.
- Marrying my wife, Beth. She is God’s gift to me.
- Starting Rock Bridge Community Church. Hard, challenging … but WOW!!!
- Times in worship when I have literally sensed God’s manifest presence … I could have done it forever if my knees, feet, back, and voice could have endured! (Most recently for me this happened at the last Disciple Now 2010 service.)
- The times when I preach and absolutely know that it is not I who speak, but God.
- Moments in prayer when the still, small voice of God comes through loud and clear and God’s presence is tangible in my heart.
- When I read the Bible and have an “AHA!” moment of clarity and insight.
What about you? In what ways are you too easily satisfied, settling for the good at the expense of God’s best? When have you been completely satisfied by God?
Monday is for Missions
As a church we have charted a course to be much more involved and intentional with mission work, both locally and globally. We are tripling our missions giving over the next 3-4 years, launching short-term mission trip opportunities within our congregation, and deepening our partnerships in our local communities.
We’re excited to announce a partnership with H.E.L.P — Help End Local Poverty. Through this partnership we are working to restore orphans in Zimbabwe affected by the HIV/AIDS crisis. There are over 15 million children who are orphans because of AIDS, and 12 million of them live in sub-Sahara Africa! We are supporting an orphanage in Zimbabwe. We directly support these 5 children through our church budget:
Tendai (18 months)
Karen (3 yrs) — loves to play with dolls and go to church
Luke (11 yrs) — favorite activities include school, soccer and other sports
Kudzanai (14 yrs) — likes soccer, learning English, and geography
Cynthia (17 yrs) — like to cook, sing, and play with younger children
Please commit to praying for these 5 children, the work in Zimbabwe, and the H.E.L.P. Team!!
Weekly Rundown (4.25.2010)
- So glad, excited, & grateful to be back preaching for this week!! I missed Rock Bridge!
- Spent a lot of this week getting my head around all that is going on around here … I’m pumped and looking forward to an exciting spring:
- Advance team is currently on the ground in Haiti working to set-up opportunities for us to partner and minister there.
- New series on relationships kicked off this week.
- Spring Baptism is coming up (click here for details).
- More opportunities for people to get connected in groups and ministry teams.
- Joel Team is hard at work “strategizing” ways to improve our church and establish systems/practices for us to ministry more effectively.
- Beth & I are loving being parents!! Every day has something new, challenging, and exciting. Eyasu (3 years) has learned how to say, “I love you” (probably because we say it to him 1000 times a day) but he says it a little differently — “I love boo.” Still melts our hearts every time!
- A few other words he has learned: motorcycle, “poo-poo”, underwear, computer, television, more (as in he wants “more” food!), brush teeth, dog, book.
- To answer a few more questions:
- Yes-we are getting to sleep! Eyasu sleeps about 9 hours a night and Abreham sleeps anywhere from 4-6 hours straight depending on when and how much he last ate (he loves to eat).
- No-the kids will not be coming to church yet. They are doing great but we are trying to help them adjust to their new home, language, life, and culture. They have lost their biological parents and all they have ever known. They are doing well in their new home and seem to be loving being part of their new family; however, multiple sources of wisdom have consistently advised us to move slowly and keep things predictable, avoiding too much too soon.
- Really excited about all that is happening at our campuses in Chatsworth & Calhoun. The volunteers are amazing, the energy/vibe at those sites is strong, and we’re excited to be sharing God’s Word & love to more people in NW Georgia (2 Thess 3:1)
- Have a great week!
The Rundown (4.20.2010)
Been a long time since we did a “Rundown” blog post … but let me just say it is GREAT TO BACK in AMERICA and at ROCK BRIDGE!!! I can’t wait to preach again this week!!
Being a parent is awesome, challenging, exciting, and a sacred stewardship from God!
“I will praise the Lord no matter what happens. I will constantly speak of His glories and grace.” {Psalm 34:1}
Ethiopia Update #4: HOME!
We’ve been home for a few days now and things are good … very good. Hearing our toddler say “Dad-dy” & “Mom-my” with his little accent is awesome! The kiddos seem to be adjusting well to their new home. We’ve got some medical appointments over the next week dealing with everything from teeth to nutrition.
The trip home was exhausting: 24 hours on planes and in airports with a 3-year old and infant … not the greatest experience but one we’ll definitely remember. Neither of us slept much at all. We are still playing catch-up while trying to keep up with our boys
Some random stuff:
- We are very grateful for America.
- The Ethiopian people are amazing: humble, kind, & affectionate.
- Ethiopian coffee = very, very strong.
- Jet lag stinks.
- Parenting is awesome.
- It is amazing how much Eyasu (toddler) is understanding us.
- We cannot begin to thank everyone for all the kindness, support, gifts, and prayers!!
- I am more convinced than ever of the sovereignty of God. His hand at times was hard to see but in hindsight His presence and plan were woven throughout the entire adoption process and our journey to Ethiopia.
A Theology of Technology in the Church
Guest Blogger: Brian Holt, Rock Bridge Technical Director
When I was in high school I worked sales at RadioShack in Xenia, Ohio. Although it was that long ago, I remember how easy it was to sell mobile phones. Very few people had them, but everyone wanted them. Fast forward a decade and it is hard find anyone without a mobile phone.
Technology in the church hasn’t been much different. I remember growing up in church using hymnals and overhead projectors. Church websites, video and lighting were not even in our vocabulary, much less a church hiring a {gasp} full-time Technical Director. Why in the world would a church waste money on that? And what would he or she do for the rest of the week?!? But looking at the Church in America now, it’s not uncommon at all to find churches using all sorts of technology, and (thankfully for me) it’s not uncommon to find full-time staff members devoted to managing that technology. But that question is still a good one to ask: Why spend the money on technology?
The answer is easy. Technology (specifically electronic technology) allows the Church to reach people in a way that it never could before. It gives us an opportunity and reach that would not exist without it. Here are just a few examples:
1. Technology lets us expand geographically. We can expand geographically (through multi-site) while still allowing for strong shared leadership and vision. In the same way the early church leaders sent letters to be read aloud by the local “pastors”, we are able to send video to multiple campuses. This is a very effective way to expand the reach of God’s Word. Here’s why:
It’s economical. The cost of a portable facility is a mere fraction of what it would cost to build a larger auditorium and start a church from scratch.
It’s more effective. People may drive a long way to go to church, but if they do they won’t bring their friends. Expanding geographically with technology means that we’re going to them, rather than them having to come to us. Sounds kind of like the Great Commission to me.
2. Technology lets us create an environment that reaches a person holistically. I could talk for hours on this alone. Growing up, church was mostly an intellectual task. Show up. Listen. Learn. Grow. Not a bad equation to be sure, but it left something out. Where was the emotional connection? Where was the creative artistry that inspired me to be in awe of the God who created all? Those things were missing. Technology allows us to create an environment that allows for those things through the use of creative lighting, video elements and moving music. All of these are based in the truth of God’s Word and support the message of the weekend, but communicate that truth in new and different ways. We can take the weekly message and expand how it’s communicated much like taking an object and looking at it from a different angle. It’s the same object, but we see it in a different way. Sometimes seeing something from a different angle helps us understand it – and helps us connect with it.
But where technology is an incredible tool that can be used to expand the reach of God’s Word to be sure; its use is limited. There are things that technology can do well, and things it simply cannot. Technology can’t comfort you when you’re hurting. Technology cannot hold you accountable or help you grow through a tough situation.
None of these technologies work without a physical presence. This is why we have campus pastors to love the people in a way that a video can’t. This is why we encourage people to live life in small groups, not just watch the message. Technology can present truth, but it can never LIVE truth … that’s what you’re for.