Stepping Out Of Your Boat

Thursday night I was coming back from taking Tanya and the boys out for dinner for her birthday (Happy 40 Tanya!). We were heading home when Ethan suddenly had to go to the bathroom. So, the closest one around was the Chic-Fil-A in Greer. As we quickly made our way in I ran into the three ladies you see above. In the middle is Renee Morton. She is the Pastor's administrative assistant at Taylors First Baptist. On the left is Anita Jeter along with her daughter. They are also members of Taylors First. 

 As we talked Anita reminded me of a sermon I shared at Taylors First Baptist over eight years ago entitled, "If you want to walk on water get out of the boat." I based much of that sermon on John Ortberg's book that greatly influenced me. We are all visual creatures and I used a kayak on stage that night to emphasize my point. Anita shared with me that because of that sermon challenge she stepped out of her boat and went on an overseas mission trip for the first time. That was incredibly encouraging for me to hear!

Let me ask you a question. What is your boat? I will tell you that your boat represents safety and security to you apart from God himself. It is what you put your trust in, especially when life gets a bit stormy. It is what keeps you so comfortable that you don't want to give it up, especially if it means joining Jesus on the waves. It is whatever pulls you away from the high adventure of extreme discipleship. You can identify your boat by looking at your fears. Ask yourself, "What is it that produces the most fear in me, especially when I think of leaving it behind and stepping out in faith?" 

Starting a church eight years ago was my step out of the boat. I'd like to share some points on how you can step out of your boat and be used by God mightily. I have personally experienced every one of these principles in my journey.

1. Express to God your willingness to take a step. 
In Matthew 14:28 Peter said to Jesus, "Lord, if it is you...tell me to come to you on the water." Peter was willing to take a step. He had made up his mind that if it was who he thought it was (Jesus), then he was heading that way.
 

2. When you get the go ahead, Go AHEAD!
Jesus told Peter in verse 29, "Come." Peter didn't need to pray a little more, fast, go to a retreat, memorize some verses, etc. He had a clear command and so he stepped out. In his stepping out, he experienced some things we all must be prepared for as well.

*Expect problems
Verses 29-30 state, "Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water, and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind..." Have you ever seen the wind? You were trying to serve God in a new way and you experienced setbacks, obstacles, and opposition. Some people never step out of the boat because they know the problems they will face. Thomas Aquinas wrote, "If the highest aim of a captain were to preserve his ship, he would keep it in the port forever." If you step out of the boat you may start to sink, but if you don't step out you will never know the joy of walking on water. Staying in the boat is risky, too.

*Expect fear as the price of growth.
The choice to follow Jesus and to grow is a choice for constantly facing fear. Peter steps out of the boat and becomes afraid when the wind came. There will be other times in Peter's life where he becomes afraid.

 When stepping out in faith, accept the fact that the fear will never go away. Because once you face your fear and tackle it, God will challenge you to take on a new challenge. He will constantly stretch you and that will cause fear in you again. There will always be a battle between risk and comfort. If you are a disciple of Jesus, you will have to renounce comfort and expect fear as the price of growth.

*Master failure management.
Verse 30 states, "But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, 'Lord, save me!'" Peter began to sink in the water and we may rush to quick judgment and point out his failure. It is true he sank. He did fail in a way. But you know what? There were eleven bigger failures sitting in the boat. They failed quietly. Peter was the one who knew public failure. But Peter also knew the thrill of walking on water and being rescued by Jesus in a time of need.

When you step out of the boat there will be people who criticize you and bail on you the moment you start to sink. But you have to live your life for an audience of One. Teddy Roosevelt said, "It's not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena...who, at best, knows in the end the triumph of great achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly so that his place will never be with those cold timid souls who know neither victory or defeat." John Maxwell said, "Failure is not trying something and it not succeeding. Failure is never trying anything at all." Stepping out of the boat means dealing with failure management.

*Wait on the Lord.
In the Matthew 14 story the disciples had to wait until the fourth watch of the night before Jesus showed up. Why didn't Jesus make the wind die down before Peter got out of the boat? Maybe Peter and all the disciples, like us, needed to learn something about waiting. Waiting on the Lord is the hardest part of trusting!

Life is so short. I don't want at the end of my life to view a video Jesus put together for me on his Apple Macbook Pro entitled, "What could have been." So, what about you? Imagine what God could do through you if were willing to trust Him more with your time, your talents, your finances, and your relationships. Imagine what God could have done through you if you had only stepped out of the boat. Guess what? It's never too late as long as you are alive. Today is the present; it is God's present to you. Don't play it safe. Step out of your boat and live it for God's glory!

Jennifer White

Eight years ago January Ridgeview Church officially launched our first
worship service at Mountain View Elementary. All our praying,
dreaming, and planning were coming to fruition as we opened our doors
wide to the Blue Ridge community. I'll never forget the first family
to walk through our door that Sunday morning. It was Jennifer White's
family. They made their way through the foyer down the hallway to
check in their precious girls at the Ridgekidz desk and then entered
the worship service. After the service they expressed how much they
enjoyed their experience and would be back.They actually did come back
again and again and made their way into the life of our very young
church.

I have had the wonderful privilege of seeing Jennifer White grow not
only as a musician but as a woman in Christ. In August of 2004
Jennifer was rebaptized. It was a renewed commitment she made to
Christ. Since that time I have seen her conquer so many odds because
of her faith in Christ. She is the embodiment of "I can do (endure)
all things through Christ who strengthens me" (Philippians 4:13).

Pastor Rick Warren says that you do not judge a church by the seating
capacity but by the sending capacity. I also believe that we should
judge a church by the disciples it makes. I am so proud that our
church has been used by God to be a bridge of God's love to Jennifer
White. We have seen her grow as a disciple of Jesus Christ. Now, we
are seeing her go as a disciple to lead worship in a new church in
Spartanburg.

I couldn't be more proud of Jennifer! This Sunday will be her last
Sunday at Ridgeview and she will be leading us in worship through
music. We will miss her on Sunday mornings but know God will continue
to use her gifts for His glory!

See you Sunday!

Pastor Tommy

Ecclesiastes' Challenge For Us All: Living Above Or Below The Sun?

Today our church had a wonderful opportunity to feed close to 50 high school students breakfast for their Fellowship of Christian Athletes meeting. Bill Howell, Ken McCormick, Jack & Linda Lewis, along with Pete Baker were there to help set up, serve, and take down. They were awesome to work with! While we were there I shared briefly with those students the message we've been looking at in Ecclesiastes on Sunday mornings. I shared with them the challenge of Ecclesiastes 1 where the Teacher states many times "Meaningless! Meaningless!...I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind." 

The challenge I laid out to those students is the challenge we all face. If we live our lives "under the sun" with a "this world only" perspective, then yes, life can be meaningless. However, as Christ followers, God has set eternity in our hearts (Ecclesiastes 3:11). We are not living our lives for the here and now under the sun. We are living our lives above the sun. It doesn't mean we should withdraw from everything around us and cocoon ourselves. Quite the opposite. We go into our schools, we go into our neighborhoods, we go into the marketplace, we go into government, we go into the prisons, we go into countries to unreached people groups; we go anywhere and everywhere to share the good news of Jesus. 

The challenge I face everyday is to live with an eternal perspective. How about you? I am grateful for the fact God hasn't left me alone in this endeavor. He's given me His Holy Spirit. He's given me brothers and sisters in the church to walk alongside me. As we look at Ecclesiastes 4 this Sunday the Teacher will remind us that "Two are better than one...if one falls down his friend can help him up." 

My challenge for you: live above the sun keeping your eyes on Jesus; and while you do it let's do it together. It's called the Church. Jesus died for His bride the Church. We need one another!

Hope to see you Sunday,

Pastor Tommy

Awakening: 21 Days of Prayer And Fasting Begins This Sunday

This Sunday we will embark on our third prayer and fasting campaign. We will join with thousands of churches across our land and devote ourselves to praying with fasting. The national emphasis is called Awakening and you can find more information on it along with fasting resources at awakening21.org.

Oswald Chambers said, "Prayer does not equip us for the work; prayer is the work." Setting aside a time for concentrated prayer and fasting is the work we must do! Jesus assumes His disciples will do this. He says in Matthew 6:16, "When you fast..." He doesn't say, "If you fast." So, I invite you to devote the next twenty one days starting this Sunday for a time of prayer and fasting.

What are the areas that need prayer and fasting?

*Your walk with Jesus. 

*Your family. 

*Our nation. 

*Our church. 

January Bible Study: Ecclesiastes

Every year Southern Baptists have designated the month of January where they focus on an expositional study of a book in the Bible. High priced ad agencies have been hired for some creative marketing and have come up with the title: January Bible Study. Okay, that's not true. What is true is the book has been chosen and we are going to make our way through it verse by verse, chapter by chapter. That book is Ecclesiastes.

Ironically, as many years as Southern Baptists have been conducting these January Bible studies, the book of Ecclesiastes has never been chosen. If you've read through it at a passing glance you may know why. It seems so depressing. For example, Ecclesiastes 1:2 states, "Meaningless! Meaningless! says the teacher. "Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless." This book has been labeled the "black sheep of the Bible" along with adjectives like pessimistic and depressing.

I would say those labels ring true if you only give a passing glance at this book. However, we are not going to do that. In fact, you will find that this book is actually inspiring and will call you to action when you discover what it is truly saying. I invite you to join us this Sunday to discover Ecclesiastes. God has a word for you!

In Christ,

Pastor Tommy

P.S. Many thanks to those of you who helped make our eighth annual Christmas Eve service at the Red Barn a success. We saw over $400 given to missions that night and one person placed his faith in Jesus. According to my scorecard, that is success! Thank you for all you do for the Kingdom!

Stop The Hop This Christmas & New Year

I'd like to share a blogpost that Pastor Steven Furtick wrote way back in January of this year. Pastor Steven Furtick is one of our nation's most gifted Pastors. He is a North Greenville University graduate and grew up near Charleston, SC. He started Elevation Church in Charlotte in February 2005 with 121 people attending their first worship service. Since that day Elevation Church has been one of the fastest growing churches in America. They saw 11,500 people attend their Easter worship services this year. They have seen over 15,000 people make professions of faith and have baptized over 4,600 people. We were honored to have Steven's father in law, Murrill Boitnott, speak at Ridgeview this past May.

Steven's blogpost is not written from a Pastor who has seen a declining church. They continue to see explosive growth. So, I share his message as a challenge to us all. It is a challenge shared with love. We are not Elevation Church, I know. But, God has called us to "go and make disciples" and my desire is for Ridgeview Church to make the biggest impact in this world for the sake of the gospel of Jesus Christ!

Stop The Hop

By Steven Furtick

One of the things that really troubles me about the church today is the phenomenon of church hopping and church shopping. It's a consumeristic mindset towards the body of Christ that grieves the heart of God.

It's time for us to stop the hop. This isn't Christianity. Jesus didn't die so we could sample different churches like varieties of meat on a party platter. Jesus died to establish His church as the most powerful entity on the planet.

We are alive at the greatest time in history for the advance of the gospel. We have so much going for us.

We have the ability.
We have the resources.
We have the people.

What we don't have is them committed to a place where they can actually be used for their God-ordained purpose.

If this generation doesn't make the impact it should, it won't be because it didn't have the resources. Or even the passion. It will be because it was too busy hopping to different churches to stop and commit to one where its resources and passion could actually find an outlet.

The church is the change the world is waiting for. God help us if we keep the world waiting for us while we try to find the perfect church for us.

If you've fallen into the trap of church hopping, let me encourage you: embrace your place somewhere where God can use you. At the end of your life, God's not going to be impressed or pleased that you saw what He was doing at ten different churches. He's going be more pleased that you were a part of what He was doing at one church.

And you're never going to find the perfect one, so give up looking. If the church you're visiting doesn't have what you're looking for, it might be because God wants you to provide it.

Let's all commit together to begin a campaign to stop the hop.
Find a place to get planted. Embrace it. And start changing the world.

The question of our day isn't if God wants to do incredible things through the church. The question is will we be in place to experience it?

Lottie Moon Christmas Offering Is For Tim & Anna

Several years ago a young couple named Tim and Anna attended our church. They were North Greenville University graduates and were preparing to be assigned as missionaries with the International Mission Board of our Southern Baptist Convention. It was a pleasure getting to know them and it was a delight having them in our Growth Group. In fact, when I had to switch back to Verizon from AT&T (remember those days when only AT&T had the iPhone?) I painfully gave Tim my iPhone that they would take to the country they were assigned. If I had to give it up, I was consoled it would be used for missions. 

Recently, I received an email from Tim. He stated, 

Tommy,

I would like to think we are sent out from Ridgeview and you would claim us as YOUR IMB Ms in ____________. I just got back from the trail. I hiked 5 hours in on Monday, preached to more than 100 people before coming home today. No one responded in faith so continue to pray that God would remove the blindness and they would receive the gift of faith.

Eph. 2:8&9

tim

Sent from my iPhone

This Sunday we will show a video of Tim being interviewed by the International Mission Board. Aren't you proud that when you give to the Lottie Moon Christmas offering you are helping Tim & Anna take the gospel to unreached people groups? There is no better investment of your money this Christmas!

Pastor Tommy

Stage A Simulation

Recently, I finished reading Tim Sanders' book Today We Are Rich. It is an excellent book and has helped me tremendously. One of the chapters is entitled Prepare Yourself. Lots of great content in that chapter. One very practical piece of advice he gives is to "stage a simulation." If you speak publicly, have a job interview, etc, seek to simulate the experience by rehearsing it live. 

For me, I preach each Sunday. Before I ever get up on the stage on Sundays I rehearse messages out loud in my office. I seek to prepare for things beyond my control such as sound system feedback, a baby in the audience crying, people getting up out of their seat to go to the restroom, and many other factors. All these things have happened while I've been preaching/teaching at my church. 

Whatever you find yourself doing, seek to "stage a simulation" before actually doing it. You'll find in the moment when obstacles arise in the live event you're prepared. You will silently say to yourself, "I was expecting that," and then move with confidence.

You've Got To Play The Game

Back in 1997 I attended my first and only Baylor University football game in Waco. My girlfriend at the time and Baylor grad, Tanya, wanted me to go with her down there for homecoming. Baylor was playing Texas with Heisman winner Ricky Williams running the ball for the Longhorns. To my surprise, Baylor defeated Texas 23-21. A classic David and Goliath match up. The fans stormed the field and tore the goal posts down. It was a surreal feeling! I have had some of those memories come back as I saw Baylor defeated #5 ranked Oklahoma last Saturday.

I also had the unfortunate opportunity as a sophomore at Carolina to witness the Citadel Bulldogs defeat the Gamecocks back in 1993. It was an awful feeling that day for us Gamecock fans as we left Williams Brice stadium.

I've learned a few things in life when it comes to sports. You've got to play the game. Just because a team is ranked nationally and the other team is not doesn't mean the underdog just needs to go ahead and forfeit. Sports is a great microcosm of life. You've got to lace it up and play the game, regardless of the odds against you. You've got to believe in yourself and the God who created you. Attitude makes all the difference. Henry Ford said, "If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you're right." Thank you Baylor for reminding me of that lesson this week. And by the way, that girl named Tanya became my wife. I knew I was out of my league but laced it up anyway and went after her. So glad I did!

South Carolina Baptist Convention Great Commission Task Force Report

Yesterday I traveled to Columbia, SC for the annual SC Baptist Convention meeting. I served on the enrollment and credentials committee registering people who forgot or never received their messenger cards. Messenger cards allow people to receive ballots so they may vote in SC Baptist proceedings. Later that night we had the "Great Commission Resurgence Task Force Report." This task force and report was mandated by the messengers from last year's convention to study the effects of the GCR on our state's institutions. This task force brought forth a plan that would allow our state to to increase our contribution to missions (both foreign and domestic). It would mean some state Baptist agencies would take a cut. 

Getting Baptists to agree on anything is no small task. After discussion of the report, the plan presented, and others offering amendments to the current plan, we took a vote. The messengers spoke and by majority the recommendations were accepted as is without any amendments.

Not everyone agreed with the totality of the changes, but at the end of the night many left on a positive note in which our state convention is headed. Here are some of the recommendations that really got me excited:

1. "We increase South Carolina's contribution to the IMB (International Mission Board) by 21.95 percent over the next three years.

2. "Church revitalization, Missions Mobilization/Evangelism, and Church Planting be made the primary focus of the SCBC."

The theme of the report was "The harvest is plentiful." That is so true! Six billion on this planet are living in spiritual darkness, desperately needing the light of Jesus Christ. I'm proud SC Baptists are uniting in purpose; to help take the light of Jesus Chrsit into the darkness.