Message

Making Space

Dec/11/2011 04:34 PM

You might have noticed that it’s been nearly two months since my last blog entry… Been really busy the last little while. You know how it goes, right? I just tend to get caught up in too much stuff sometimes.
makespace1

It’s kind of an ironic situation… MAKING SPACE is what our Christmas series is all about. Sherry told me this afternoon that “this series seems like it is for you as much as it is for anyone else.” She’s right. To be honest, this wasn’t the original series at all. In fact, I had been so overloaded lately, that I had intended to preach through a book about a different topic during these three weeks to reduce the load on my personal schedule. But God very clearly led me in a different direction. This is definitely a series about a topic that I haven’t fully worked out in my own life, and I suspect there are many others out there that struggle with the same issue. I hope this series is a blessing to you this season. You can get the series right here.

Shift your prayer life

Oct/16/2011 07:26 AM

For this morning’s message in Ephesians, we’re looking at how Paul the apostle prayed for the church. I thought it would be helpful to link back to an older message on the basics of prayer, so here it is!

SHIFT: Prayer

I Have Some Questions

Aug/20/2011 02:43 PM

“I notice you preach from notes… Why aren’t you ‘Spirit-Led?’”

Since moving to the mountains of North Georgia, I have heard this question a time or two. I’m not sure exactly where this particular view of being “Spirit-Led” comes from, but it seems to be from that group of people who believe that a preacher should “receive a word from God,” stand up in front of a crowd unprepared, and just let fly whatever comes out of his mouth. Now, I’m not positive, but I think the mentality behind this method comes from the passage in Matthew where Jesus is talking to his disciples, and he tells them the following:

Matthew 10:18-19You will stand trial before governors and kings because you are my followers. But this will be your opportunity to tell the rulers and other unbelievers about me. When you are arrested, don’t worry about how to respond or what to say. God will give you the right words at the right time. For it is not you who will be speaking—it will be the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.

I think it is a mistake to interpret this passage the way some seem to. Why? Because Jesus here is NOT talking in this passage to pastors… He is training his disciples who he is sending out on their very first missionary journey to begin spreading the Good News. These guys are brand-new at this, and they aren’t shepherding a group of people. They are heading out for the first time to spread the Gospel. If you’re going to apply this verse to all Christians as a general rule, then you have to apply the whole of Jesus’ training here, which starts out with “Don’t go to the Gentiles or the Samaritans, but only to the people of Israel—God’s lost sheep. Go and announce to them that the Kingdom of Heaven is near.” (Matt 10:5-6) In other words, if you apply all of this equally, then NONE of us as Gentiles should have ever heard the Good News to begin with!

Now, contrast that with what you read in the three books written specifically to pastors; 1 and 2 Timothy, and Titus. They’re called the “Pastoral Epistles,” and they are written to instruct pastors in how they are to be most open to being used by the Holy Spirit in people’s lives… These letters are filled with language such as

1 Timothy 4:14-16Do not neglect the spiritual gift you received through the prophecy spoken over you when the elders of the church laid their hands on you. 15 Give your complete attention to these matters. Throw yourself into your tasks so that everyone will see your progress. 16 Keep a close watch on how you live and on your teaching. Stay true to what is right for the sake of your own salvation and the salvation of those who hear you.2 Timothy 2:15Work hard (“study” in the KJV) so you can present yourself to God and receive his approval. Be a good worker, one who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly explains the word of truth.

2 TImothy 4:2-4Preach the word of God. Be prepared, whether the time is favorable or not. Patiently correct, rebuke, and encourage your people with good teaching. 3 For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will reject the truth and chase after myths.

Titus 1:8Teach the truth so that your teaching can’t be criticized.

Simply put, God has clearly instructed pastors to “study,” to “work hard,” and to “be prepared.” I have a divine responsibility to keep a “close watch” on staying with “good teaching” that is “sound” and “wholesome.” This means being responsible for what I say… Praying, studying, and researching so that what you hear me say is truly HIS Word, and not simply my opinion.

I believe that I am VERY “Spirit-Led.” I do not believe that the Holy Spirit only moves on Sunday mornings… In fact, I believe that I am led by the spirit IN EVERYTHING I do. The Spirit leads as I:

travel

pray for the church
meet with our board
plan out our next big event
have coffee with a lost friend
take out the trash
pray with a lonely person
write this blog entry
have dinner with my family
AND as I prepare for Sunday’s message!

And, guess what… YOU have the Holy Spirit in you, too! If you are in Christ, then the same Holy Spirit that lives and operates in me lives and operates in you as well.

Romans 8:13-17
For if you live by its dictates, you will die. But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature,* you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.” For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children. And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory.

First Question

Jul/27/2011 10:24 PM

Why Does God Allow Suffering?

This is the first, and possibly the hardest question that we’ll be answering during this series on Questions. This one was pretty popular, as a lot of people asked one variation of this or another.

Think Ahead:
You don’t have to look far to find suffering. Scripture says that there are basically THREE types of suffering that we humans must endure:
>Suffering caused by particular sin
>Suffering leading to God’s greater good
>Suffering caused by cosmic evil forces

Read Ahead:
Psalm 102:1-28 (what the psalmist says about suffering and crying out to God)
Hebrews 12:5-12 How does God use suffering in our life?

Listen Ahead:
These are some of the songs we’re singing on Sunday morning
My Glorious
We Are Hungry
Sing Sing Sing

Faith in the midst of suffering:
We had some very powerful testimonies along these lines just a couple of weeks ago at our Lord’s Supper service... You can download the podcast right here from our server, or here from iTunes.

Dealing With Questions

Jul/27/2011 04:53 PM

The “I Have Some Questions” series begins this Sunday! This will be a bit of a departure from our normal practice of digging through books of the Bible, so I thought I’d give you the quick rundown on how this series has been pieced together.

First, I spent some time praying about the idea and direction of this series. I knew that some people would prefer the ability to submit questions anonymously, so in addition to our weekly “response card” that is handed out in the service, I set up a web page where questions could be submitted without names or email addresses. Over the course of several weeks, we received well over 200 questions on cards and on the website. Most came in online. Nearly all were anonymous. Some questions were very general, some were very specific. Some questions were theological in nature, and some were obviously very personal.

A couple of weeks ago, I printed all the questions out on cards and spread them out on a big table in our conference room. As best as possible, I grouped the questions into categories. (I landed on seven of them... One category being “questions that don’t fit into the other six categories.”) After grouping them, I spent some time thinking through and praying through them. I did my best to distill each category down to it’s own central question, which became the individual message titles for the series.

Once I had the questions formulated, It was time to start gathering resources. Books, articles, podcasts, lectures... Anything that could help shed light on these very difficult answers to some very personal questions.

The ultimate goal is NOT to discover what Steve says about these questions... Not to discover what individual authors say, or even what the church says. The objective in this series is to go back to the Word of God to discover what HE says about them. HE is the truth, and He is all we need.

Epic Ending This Week

Jul/18/2011 06:11 PM

After beginning our walk through God’s EPIC work of redemption beginning last September, we are finally bringing it to a close this coming Sunday. I really hope and pray that this has been a beneficial study for you during this time. As you know, we broke this long study up into seven smaller series. Do you remember all of them?

...

As I was putting these pictures on here, it got me to thinking about some of my favorite quotes from this series... Here are a few of them:

“The journey is not about doing what He says, but being where He is.”
Epic 01: What Are You Waiting For?

“You can’t grab hold of God’s promises until you let go of everything else.”
Epic 03: When God Doesn’t Speak, Return to the Altar

I loved both of those Melchizedek messages.
Epic 05: “Who Is Melchizedek?”
Epic 05A: “Let’s Make A Deal?”

“God’s delays are not necessarily denials.”
Epic Fail 01: “How Long?”

“Prayer is about us joining God, not God joining us.”
Epic Gift: Naughty or Nice

“Living enslaved to the Law is a mockery of God’s gift”
Epic Gift: All I Want For Christmas

Walking in patterns of blessing... This was a good one, too.
Epic Timing: Obey and Pray (short version)

Possibly my two FAVORITE messages from the whole series came during the Joseph story:
Epic Dreams 07: “Forgiveness and Trust” (Forgiveness)
Epic Dreams 08: “Change Is Good”(Repentance)
In fact, my favorite quote from those is right here:
“The sacrifice of Jesus was sufficient to buy forgiveness FROM God FOR you... So effective that it buys forgiveness FROM you FOR others.”

As always, all the messages from this series can be found on our podcast page. I hope they’re a blessing to you. If so, be sure to share them with others!

Tags: ellijay, message, series, genesis, epic

Got more questions?

Jun/20/2011 05:36 PM

Wow! I have been totally amazed at the questions that people are asking. Our next series, “I Have Some Questions,” begins in July. This afternoon I printed out a consolidated list of questions that have come in on response cards, email, and via the website. I’ve roughly organized them into several categories, and am starting to think and pray through these. Obviously, we won’t be able to answer ALL of the questions, but we will give it our best shot!

It’s STILL not too late to ask your question! You can do so anonymously right here!

Got Questions?

Jun/13/2011 10:33 PM

Getting ready for this next series we're doing, called “I Have Some Questions.” its all about some of the confusing, or unanswered questions on people's minds. Here are a few of the good questions I've received so far:

I am a strong believer. I know I have been saved and blessed beyond belief. Yet still, I occasionally have thoughts of unbelief. Why?
Why is homosexuality wrong and will they go to heaven?
Where is Children/Youth Ministry in the Bible?
The Bible says divorce is a sin, but what if the marriage is abusive?
If we are forgiven for all sins, is there still punishment for those sins in Heaven? also are all sins forgiven?
What is the deal with the naked guy in Mark 14?

These are just some of the questions that have come in so far... What are your questions? Email them to me here, or submit them anonymously right here. I would love to read them. Who knows? Maybe we’ll base a message on it.

Back in the Saddle

Jul/20/2010 04:25 PM

Well, having the last couple of Sundays off from preaching was really a nice break. BUT, I am ready to be “back in the saddle” this weekend. We only have THREE more weeks in our study of The Other Jesus in the Gospel of Mark before we’re DONE. Can you believe it?

I’d also like to say a special thanks to John Bailey, who really made some extra study time possible. I really believe that it ALREADY IS paying off in big ways! In fact, yesterday I delivered a “series overview” to our board and our creative team that lays out how we are going to approach the book of Genesis beginning on Sunday, September 12, all the way through May of 2011. (That’s right... We should be able to handle 38 chapters of Genesis more quickly than we took the 16 chapters of Mark!) I’ve also written up synopses for all of the first 10 or so individual messages. This will allow us to pray ahead on the preaching AND the creative communication! SO, we’ll be able to use music and other resources much more effectively! I am really excited about this series. I think it will be a blessing to Ellijay and Gilmer County.

NOT ONLY are we GOING to be more creative in the upcoming weeks, but I’m going to let you in on a little secret... I’ve already had enough extra time to piece together a little “teaser trailer” for our upcoming series that we will show in church later in August. BUT, we will give a SNEAK PREVIEW of the trailer this weekend at the Family Meeting! I showed it to the board this morning, and they were excited about it. I hope you’ll be there with us on Sunday evening for that meeting.

Guard your heart

Jan/03/2010 06:40 PM

During this morning's message, John Bailey talked about "guarding your heart" in the new year... This really resonated with me, and I felt like God was sending me a message.

I thought to myself about how permissive I have been with the things that come into my heart lately... I've heard the "f-word" more than a few times in a couple of the movies I've watched. I've listened to individuals talking about others in what turned out to be a gossiping manner.

It's funny, isn't it, how we justify the outright contamination of our hearts to ourselves... For some reason, we think that we can just put whatever we want in there, and it won't affect us.

Proverbs 4:23
Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.

Notice the importance of guarding your heart... Why? Because your LIFE is determined by it! Think that isn't true? You wouldn't put motor oil in your dishwasher, would you? Or dish detergent in your truck? What would happen if you did that?

But, we think that it doesn't matter what we listen to... What we look at. "It doesn't affect me," we think.

Yet, Madison Avenue advertising firms spend BILLIONS of dollars each year to affect your buying decisions by putting their ads in front of you on TV. Somebody thinks it affects you.

God's Word doesn't just tell us that we ought to guard our hearts, but it tells us HOW... Read the next few verses:

Proverbs 4:24-27
Avoid all perverse talk; stay away from corrupt speech.
Look straight ahead, and fix your eyes on what lies before you.
Mark out a straight path for your feet; stay on the safe path.
Don't get sidetracked; keep your feet from following evil.

Where you look is the direction you will head. I learned this lesson while motorcycle riding on North Georgia's curvy mountain roads. If you keep your eyes on the road immediately in front of your bike, you will have great difficulty navigating the tight curves on that steep mountain... You will likely not be able to make your turn, lose control, and end up in a disaster. BUT, if you look farther ahead, THROUGH the curve and keep your eyes on where you WANT to be, rather than where you ARE, you will sail through much more easily. Where you look is the direction you will head!

Are your decisions resulting in growth, or stagnation? Are your actions resulting in steps in the directions you desire? Are you being transformed into HIS image? HE does the work in you... But WE make ourselves available to HIS work in us by keeping our eyes and lives focused in the right direction.

Philippians 4:6-7
Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

The Most Important Thing

Aug/19/2009 04:33 PM

We have been rolling along for several months now at The Orchard Church, and I really like what we are doing. The food each Sunday morning is great, worship music is awesome, the videos are fun. The Truth of God’s Word is life-changing. We do a lot of great things. But are we doing the most important thing? Paul, writing to the Corinthian church clearly explained what the most important thing is:

I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said.
1 Corinthians 15:3

Over the past few weeks, we have been SO blessed to have a huge group of first-time guests. Our Sunday morning crowd has swelled from around 90 just a few weeks ago, to over 130 this past weekend! Man, that rocks! But, the lingering question continues to ring in my head... Are we doing the MOST IMPORTANT thing? We eat, sing, teach, fellowship, laugh, and learn. These are all important. But are they the most important?

I honestly believe that, as important as these things are, they all hinge on ONE thing. The most important thing... The good news that Jesus Christ died for our sins. Without this as our foundation, none of the rest of it matters. We fellowship because of the good news. We sing and are able to worship because of the good news. The Gospel is the key to everything that happens in church. Without it, nothing else matters. At all.

Up to now, we’ve been intentional about sharing the Gospel at The Orchard Church, but we haven’t been as consistent as we could be. We haven’t always explained the Gospel as clearly as we could. My desire is that we would be known all around as a church that preaches the Good News.

For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes- the Jew first and also the Gentile. This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.”
Romans 1:16