Just Do Ministry & Shut Up About How Your Church Is Like No Other!

Maybe in my older age and in my 5th year of a church plant I'm getting a bit grumpy, but if I hear one more church declare how Jesus Christ personally appeared to them and wanted to let them know how their church was the coolest, most relevent, authentic, real, cutting-edge, exciting, happening, church like no other and not like all the other churches around, I think I'm going to explode! Where in the Bible does Jesus say our goal as churches is to outdo one another and to compete for "coolest" church around award? If your church attracts bikers on Harleys wearing leather and is reaching people for Christ, I'm for you! If your church is reaching blue collars, white-collars, or no collars, using guitar and drums, banjos and bluegrass, or Steinways and handbells, I'm for you! As one famous Pastor declared, "We need all kinds of churches for all kinds of people."

So, with that said, the church I Pastor (Ridgeview Church) will be out this Saturday from 10 am to 12 pm conducting a "Single Moms Free Oil Change" over on highway 101 here in the Blue Ridge area of Greenville County. We're not the first to do this in our community. It's not original with me; as if that has to be a criteria for doing minisry. We're simply going to be out there seeking to obey the Great Commandment and the Great Commision because we believe good deeds can be the bridge upon which the good news can travel. We're part of the Kingdom of God working alongside our sister churches to do what Christ has commanded us to do. Life is too short to get caught up on any other cause than that!

Happy 1st Birthday,

Landon Jack!

We had a good day, didn't we? We went to Brushy Creek Park and rode "George" the train. We went to the playground afterwards and watched

your brother run around. You'll be out there soon enough. Mom baked you a cake and it sure was good, wasn't it? You liked the wrapping paper more than the presents themselves, didn't you?

God has blessed us with another blond-haired, this time blue-eyed, little boy. We pray for you every day and with the Lord's help will do our best to "train up a child in the way he should go.." (Proverbs 22:6)

I came across a 2006 survey that identified occupations that have the highest satisfaction rate. Here is the sampling:

Clergy—87 percent percent
Firefighters—80 percent percent
Physical therapists—78 percent percent
Authors—74 percent
Special education teachers—70 percent
Teachers—69 percent
Education administrators—68 percent
Painters and sculptors—67 percent
Psychologists—67 percent
Security and financial services salespersons—65 percent
Operating engineers—64 percent
Office supervisors—61 percent

For every one negative experience I have as a Pastor there are ten wonderful things I enjoy about the opportunity of being a shepherd to a group of people God has entrusted me with. Let me share a few: seeing people grow, counseling people as they prepare for marriage, officiating weddings, comforting those who've lost loved ones, giving hope and encouragement to those struggling, preaching on Sunday and seeing life change by repenting of sin or commiting to an action step of growth, overseeing and being part of small groups that connect people to their church family and foster spiritual growth in their lives, leading our church to reach out to the community and being a bridge of God's love to them by single mom oil changes, community basketball tournaments and community Easter egg hunts and community Christmas eve services, and ultimately, to see people come to know Jesus and have the opportunity to baptize them showing to everyone the outward sign of an inward change.

Being a Pastor is a high privilege and I thank the Lord that He has given me this opportunity. I will have to give an account one day of how I led God's church. That's what keeps me on my knees in prayer!

I returned from my monthly trip to NYC last Saturday. I had never gotten the opportunity to venture into Central Park. My brother met me up there and we went walking through part of the park on Saturday before I returned. Neat place!

When I return to New York next month for my coaching network we will be discussing financial stewardship in the church. Unfortunately, our giving at Ridgeview has taken a major dip into January. I have to do a better job of teaching our people on giving. One thing I do know: you cannot separate giving from discipleship. Any person who claims to be a Christ follower will be a person who gives financially to his church. And when I say financially, I mean the "tithe." Some say that's Old Testament stuff, and we are now under grace. I would say I agree; in fact I believe as Christ followers we should be giving even more than the tithe, or 10% of our income. Remember, Jesus talked more about money more than any other subject. He knew that where our money goes our heart will follow. I want my heart following Jesus. Therefore, my family sends our money to support His Kingdom.

Huckabee rolls through Blue Ridge!

Today Presidential contender Mike Huckabee made a campaign stop at North Greenville University. Milo and I drove up there to catch the action. In fact, as we were getting out of my car Governor Huckabee's bus came rolling in past us. It was interesting to be a part of a campaign rally and observe. I'm still undecided but I like many of the things Mike Huckabee stands for.

Tonight it started snowing. Half of the Upstate will be closed tomorrow! I'm going to get up early, get some message prep out of the way, and take Thursday instead of my regular Friday off. It's going to be fun to take Ethan (and maybe Landon) and play in that white stuff! I told Ethan today on the way home that we were going to have snow tomorrow morning. He told me, "No daddy, no snow, pop-tart!" Sometimes you gotta say, "Whatever?"

New York City Coaching Network January Meeting

I spent today at the Journey Church office in Manhatten with 15 other pastors from around the nation for a coaching network I'm involved in. I've never been involved in a network like this. It's been a great benefit to me. The issue at hand today was that of evangelism. Pastor Nelson Searcy laid out four areas concerning this area: The Pastor's role, Personal Evangelism, Promotion, and Preservation/Preparation. One thing that stuck with me today was the "principle of spiritual readiness" we discussed. Those who use well what they are given will be given more. We can put some preparation into expecting God to work in our church and God will bless it. Roy Mansfield stated churches pray for the fire of God to fall down on their churches but don't prepare the wood to burn. Are we as a church preparing for God's blessing to fall down on us by getting ready for Him to entrust us with new babes in Christ? Growth groups we are starting next month are a great first step!

By the way, I shot a video in Times Square I am going to share Sunday morning in my message. It is short and sweet but I couldn't waste an opportunity to be in the most recognized place in the world and not use it in some way to illustrate a message point.

Practicing Jesus Habits

Yesterday, I spoke at the ordination service of our worship and student Pastor, now the Reverend Milo Wilson. I gave a charge to him and it is a reminder to all of us ministers, whether full-time, part-time, bivocational, etc. BTW, all of us are ministers; God has simply called some of us out to equip the rest of the church to carry out His will. At Milo's ordination I shared that we can learn much about the teachings of Jesus, but we can also learn much about the habits of Jesus. I shared these habits that I gleaned from a book by Jay Dennis entitled, "The Jesus Habits."

*Practice seclusion

*Practice prayer

*Practice worship

*Practice building relationships

*Practice confrontation (with love)

*Practice challenging the status quo

*Practice listening

*Practice love

*Practice thankfulness

*Practice faith

*Practice handling criticism effectively

*Practice making family a priority

*Practice having fun

*Practice integrity

*Practice resting

*Practice giving

*Practice fitness

*Practice keeping your word

*Practice using and memorizing Scripture

*Practice living for a purpose

*Practice fasting

It was a wonderful night of affirming a brother in Christ into the ministry. Thanks again to Pastor Aaron Rayburn at Edwards Road Baptist Church for moderating the council and allowing us to meet at their beautiful church facility.

Wild West Fall Fest!

Halloween night our church sponsored a "Wild West Fall Fest" at the Red barn right off highway 101 in Greer. Lots of families came out and it was a great time. Thanks to many who volunteered their time in working the games, bringing hay and decorations, keeping the campfire going and making s'mores, conducting hay rides, crafts, refreshments, parking, "Pecos Pete's Pumpkin Patch," and the grand finale "Trunk or Treat." We were able to connect with over 30 families in our community to let them know God loves them. That's why we did what we did. Last year we had a fall festival at the home of one our dear ladies in our church. It was a blast! But, this year I wanted to take the good time we had and share it with our community. If there's any way we can be a bridge of God's love to people, I'm all over it!

Journey Church Coaching Network

After the Fall Fast the next day I packed my bags and headed for New York City for a coaching network I've been accepted in. I arrived Thursday, spent the night, and headed into Manhatten to the Journey Church offices on west 44th st between 8th and 9th avenue promptly at 10 am. There are 14 other guys that have been accepted into this network. We will meet 5 more times; once each month from 10 am to 3 pm. We have a book assignment to read in which we'll write up application points. Most importantly, Pastor Nelson Searcy from the Journey Church will guide us through church systems. Now that may not sound real exciting to you. But for me, I'm eating this stuff up! Many times we hit roadblocks in our churches. We can blame the people for being unfaithful, uncommitted, blah, blah, blah. Now, sometimes that may be true. But, many times it's a problem with our system. Pastor Nelson says that systems save you time, energy, money, and stress. There are eight systems in the church. He asked us to identify our strongest and weakest. I came away from this conference fired up. I am ready to get to work on two of our most important systems: the weekend worship system and our small groups system. We are going to take them up notches above where they've been. Hold on!

SeaCoast Church

Today is a treat for me. I am not preaching at Ridgeview Church and am going to take a break and just be out today. My family and I are going to worship at SeaCoast Church in Greenville. This church is doing a great job of reaching people for Christ. They are a multi-site church based out of Charleston and one of the most innovative churches in America. Sometimes as a Pastor when I visit a church it's hard for me to get out of "evaluation" mode and just be a person that's there to worship. I want to truly relax this moring and focus my mind's attention and my heart's affection on Jesus. But, when I get back and reflect I will jot a few notes down of great things they are doing and see how we at Ridgeview can improve. It's all about the Kingdom! I am focused on helping as many people in my lifetime as I possibly can escape the prison of a Christless eternity. That's what drives me. I look forward to the Christmas season to throwing the lifejackets out to many people in our community as we start a new series entitled "Christmas 3:16."

Last night it was announced on the local news that Blue Ridge High school coach David Farnham is battling cancer and is in Greenville Memorial Hospital. I first met Coach Farnham two summers ago as he was helping lead a clinic for the Blue Ridge Youth Association. We had him come speak this past February at our church for our church's SuperBowl Sunday. We even put a humorous video together with him in it. I still laugh every time I see it. Check it out at: www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAwxTQ--fS4.

My prayers are with Coach Farnham as he battles this illness. He's a great man not because he's a good football coach but he loves the Lord and lives his faith out as he leads young men.

Thank You!

Today in the morning worship service my wife announced her resignation as children's minister of Ridgeview Church. She has begun a new job at Piedmont Psychiatry counseling chidren and adolescents. I can't thank her enough for all she has done! Almost 4 years ago we as a new church had our first worship service. From day one we had a children's church for parents to leave their children as they made their way into the worship service. It was staffed from preschool to 5th grade. We literally had nothing when we first started as a church with no structure or program for kids. Tanya came in and gave it structure. Now, I feel our children's ministry is running on all cylinders. We had strong numbers this morning in our Ridgekidz area. We baptized a young girl today as well named Eden Huskey. Our Wednesday night Champtions 4 Christ is a great discipleship time for 14 to 15 kids who have signed up. It's high commitment. Thank you Tanya for going on this journey with me and jumping in there where needed in this new church plant. You have helped plant seeds in young hearts and minds that are growing into a harvest of young men and women sold out to Jesus!