Weekly Rundown (8.30.09)

• Monday through Friday at a church is somewhat out of sight to the majority of people but those days are the critical link in the chain between Sundays.  Not only are services planned, but people are cared for, volunteers and equipped and encouraged, prayers are offered, ideas are generated, administrative functions are carried out, and leadership is given to the church's mission and vision.  I just want to THANK OUR STAFF for the fantastic efforts and leadership in this critical Monday-Friday time frame!!


• Rock Bridge volunteers ROCK!!


• Great "5th quarter" celebration at Sonoraville High School Friday night ... looking forward to several more!!


• This past weekend was a whirlwind for me personnally ... I'm ready for a nap!
  
  
  
  • Football Friday TV show
  
  
  • Saturday wedding up in Bowling Green back late
  
  
  • Sunday services @ RBCC
  
  
  
  


• Great meeting this past week with staff from Athens Church! God is working in that great college town!!


• Here's some things to remember this week:
  
  
  
  • First Wednesday services!
  
  
  • Bring soap, shampoo, razors, and toothbrushes for our local missions drive!
  
  
  • Baptism is coming up: Sept. 20th! More information here.
  
  
  
  


• Dawgs play on Saturday!!  College football is HERE!!!!!


• The rainy season is ending in Ethiopia ... pray Beth & I get our adoption referral soon!!


• Read my first book on parenting last week.  Single sentence summary: Do NOT spare the rod!!!


• My (current) favorite restaurants (I'm not including my "local" favorites ... too many to mention):
  
  
  
  • P.F. Changs ... still #1 ... shrimp w/candied walnuts :)
  
  
  • Buffalo Wild Wings ... love the sweet BBQ boneless!!
  
  
  • Date day is Monday ... where should I take Beth?!?!
  
  
  
  

Michael Vick and the Wisdom of Alcohol

Just read a news report that said Michael Vick had an alcoholic drink after an NFL practice.  His mentor, the well-respected Tony Dungy (led the Colts to a SuperBowl title), criticized Vick's decision (check out the article here).

Now I'm not one for piling on or adding more condemnation than Vick has received but this story offers us insight into lots of things: guarding our reputation & integrity, being above reproach, and most importantly, making wise decisions.

Often we try to reduce life and Christianity down to right versus wrong with the result that we become moral minimalists who walk close to the edge of the cliff and sometimes we fall or slip or get pushed over the side.  Yet the Bible tells us to resist sin and contend for our faith.  So God calls us to walk by wisdom not merely right or wrong.  Wisdom keeps us safe, wisdom keeps us on the right path, protects our integrity, and sets up a positive future!!

• This past weekend the Coast Guard, life guards, and the Weather Center warned thousands of would-be swimmers of the dangerous waves and currents Hurricane Bill was bringing to east coast.  Yet several decided to brave the waters.  Was this right or wrong? Who can say? Was it wise? No, clearly it was foolish and tragically several lives were lost.


• Married men often spend time alone with women other than their wife. Is this wrong? No ... at least not on the surface. But is it wise? We protect what we value and is this a way to protect one's marriage when countless number of affairs have begun this way by well-meaning people who said "It won't happen to me and there's nothing wrong with it."?


• Lots of people spend money without a budget. Lots of people use credit without thinking about the bill they will receive in a few weeks.  Is this wrong? No.  Is this foolish? Yes.

When wisdom is applied to the equation of decision-making we are forced to think about the future, we are forced to get past our emotions (which can convice us we are right!), we are forced to pause and think, AND we are forced to ask other people ... because part of wisdom is SEEKING ADVICE (Proverbs 12:15).

Proverbs 14:8

The wisdom of the prudent is to give thought to their ways, but the folly of fools is deception.

Decisions That Made a Difference

As we approach our 7-year anniversary at Rock Bridge, I was reflecting on some decisions that we've made that I think have made a big, long-term difference in the church we are today and the direction we are headed.

1)  The pastor needs to spend the vast majority of his time in the two areas of message preparation (studying, praying, etc.) AND vision (casting, clarifying, guarding, etc.).

It is so easy to get bogged down on urgent matters and the details that occur daily in the life of a church; however, the long term health of the church comes from a hot from God vision and passionate, Word-centered preaching.  From the beginning our church freed me to focus on these areas and challenged me to grow in them.  To this day, our elders will frequently ask me, "How is your study time?"  They hold me accountable and encourage me to spend my time in these two areas.

2) Tearing down the distinction of "clergy", avoiding the temptation to let the "staff run everything", and challenging people to serve, get involved, and take an "owners" interest in the church.

While there are certain matters that the staff has to oversee and be directly involved in, I can honestly say that we've made very few decisions where multiple members were not involved and we've NEVER done any ministry initiative that has not been highly dependent on volunteers and the support of the congregation.  Volunteers oversee our budget and run our core ministries.  Our elders are all members who give extra time to shepherd the church, help steward resources, and seek God's wisdom for major decisions.  The result is that I think the people of Rock Bridge have a stake in Rock Bridge.  They care more, give more, and serve more.

Even the questions and criticisms we receive on staff, most of the time are asked because the people of Rock Bridge care and want this church to be the best for Jesus in this community.

3)  We have laid aside personal preferences and egos to change the question from "What do I want from my church?" to "What does Jesus want from HIS church?"

In our core team meetings we had two sayings, "The Bible is our only tradition." and "Leave your ego at the door (because ego equals "edging God out")." This attitude allows us to have a lot of clarity when discussing issues because let's be honest most issues gets discussed from our personal perspectives and prejudices.  When the Bible is the backdrop and humility is the prevalent attitude, God can get a lot of traction from the church.

4)  We've never been afraid to fail or afraid to change.

By constantly trying to improve and continually evaluating for effectiveness, things tend to move in the right direction.

Additionally, the "risk" (if you can call it that) of failure is acceptable if it is made trying to reach more people for Christ and radically love people.

5)  We've sought to balance the corporate and personal aspects of the church.

As a church grows there are some natural challenges that occur.  You have to add staff.  You have to get more organized.  You have to have policies and procedures.  You have to get multiple phone lines.  You have to expand how you communicate.  In summary, you have to become more "corporate" or business-like in many of your functions.  If you don't things won't happen or they won't happen well.  Acts 6:1-7 is a great example of this dynamic at work.

However, at the same time you have to stay personal with people.  People still want to talk to a "real live" person.  People still need to be visited in the hospital, prayed for, and encouraged.   So as the church grows larger it still has to stay personal.  The church is not trying to be General Electric but a (growing) family of God.

At Rock Bridge, sometimes we've failed in this area but it wasn't for a lack of trying.  We have added some systems and policies that help us operate more efficiently and effectively, but we are always trying to keep things personal, to thank all our volunteers a lot, to care for people in crisis in personal ways, to communicate well, and to really be a spiritual "family" (vs. a business).

This is huge in small towns where some people are suspicious of "big" and worried that they will be forgotten or just a "number".  At Rock Bridge we did not start out big, we started with 25 adults.  But we started out loving people like Jesus, and as a result we started growing and getting big.  The key is to never quit loving and caring for people as you grow, but to find more effective ways to love and care for more people.  I think we're working hard to do that!!

Weekly Rundown (8.23.09)

• Starting this week's Rundown with a little college football news: the 'Dawgs are #13 in the AP and Coaches' Poll.  I like starting there much better than #1.  Kick-off in 2 weeks!!!!!!


• Got to give a shout out to our amazing tech volunteers at all our venues and campuses.  This team works hard to make our Sunday mornings happen. Most people don't even know them or see them but you see their work ... from sound and lighting to video and camera shots ... they "git 'r' done!!"


• Sunday Night Live for our Students is in full swing up in Dalton and Area Bible Studies kicked off last week as well.  Lots of amazing opportunities for students to grow closer to Jesus and have some fun doing it.  Calhoun Student Ministry's BIG kick-off is just weeks away!!
  
  
  
  • What is an "area bible study"? An gathering of teenagers in homes all over the place where they hang-out, have fun, and do a Bible study in a relaxed, conversational environment
  
  
  • PARENTS: DID YOU KNOW?  If you son or daughter starts participating in an area bible study when they enter 6th grade, by the time they graduate high school they will have studied about all the major parts of Scripture ... life of Christ, Old Testament, Paul, etc. etc.?!?!?!  AMAZING OPPORTUNITY to leave high school with a working knowledge of the entire Bible :)
  
  
  
  


• Some cool learning opportunities coming up this week ... I love to learn new things!!


• We are starting to look at various opportunities for our church to get more involved with foreign missions and God's GLOBAL work.  We are very involved in local efforts but we know the call on the church is a global call and so we're trying to figure out what that looks like for Rock Bridge.


• Football Friday starts this Friday night -- look for me on local TV!!


• The rainy season is almost over in Ethiopia so we are hoping that speeds up our adoption process!!


• Have an awesome week!!

Student Ministry Kick-off

Dalton student ministry had a BIG kick-off this past Sunday (Calhoun's is coming soon). Awesome event!

Proverbs for Life

As I've finished up a study of Proverbs, I've noticed some pretty amazing stuff regarding just living life.   When following these things tend to make life simpler and smoother.  These principles are grouped into four (4) main categories ...

The Essential Ingredients for Life -- these are "gotta have" aspects that we must have in ever-increasing measure

• A healthy view of God -- Proverbs calls this the "fear of the Lord" (1:7)


• Integrity (10:9) ... it's important to get there, but get there the right way


• Discipline and the ability to deny immediate pleasure for God's long-term purpose


• The ability to listen to God


• Wisdom and the desire to learn, grow and be developed


• Love for people & dependability (20:28)

Avoid "stupid" errors -- lots of mistakes in life are preventable and avoidable.  Common problems come from these common mistakes

• Laziness (22:13)


• Fighting the wrong battles (26:17)


• Impulsiveness and rushing into big decisions (21:5)


• Speaking too much, speaking too soon, speaking w/o thinking ... just speaking in general. (15:1-2; 28)


• Violating your organization or team's "code" or internal "DNA" ... some things are off limits, period (22:28)


• Failure to listen to correction


• Don't self-promote ... self-promotion means it is about us rather than Him!! (25:6,27)

The ability to distinguish between God's part and our part

• We have to be comfortable with uncertainty while living on earth.  We must know that victory rests with the Lord, knowing that God conceals matters to guard His glory and keep us walking by faith.  However, we can be
  
  
  
  • Clear even in the face of uncertainty ... VISION gives this clarity and keeps things (and people) moving forward even when things are cloudy (29:18)
  
  
  • Prepared for whatever God might have planned (19:21; 21:29-31)
  
  
  
  

Making "wise" decisions -- decisions determine the paths we take and the paths we take determine the destinations we reach.

• Seek out wise counsel and listen to voices of "correction"


• Scan the horizon for danger and act with boldness when you see it. (27:12)


• Don't jump to conclusions when making decisions ... usually there is more than meets the eye! (25:8)

Weekly Rundown (8.16.09)

A little more detailed "rundown" this week on a few items ... Have a great week!!!!

Elders @ RBCC Calhoun ... Elders are one of the few "defined" church positions in the New Testament.  They are guardians, overseers, and shepherds of the local church.  We are in the process of nominating, screening, and selecting Elders at our Calhoun campus.  Rock Bridge Elders have played a very important role in discerning God's direction for our church, leading our church during major initiatives, helping people during times of crisis, and advising the staff.  Email carll@rockbridge.cc with any questions.

Chatsworth Update ... The excitement, interest, and momentum for our Murray County site is growing!  We believe there is big opportunity.  In our 7 year history we have recorded over 700 guests from Murray County who have come to our Dalton campus!!  That means they have driven 15+ minutes to worship.  The harvest is plentiful ...

We are still working hard to locate a building and have several possibilities but nothing definite.

Next Step construction ... The construction on the Dalton Ministry Center is running ahead of schedule!  The building is looking great ... the walls are being painted, light fixtures installed, and the elevator goes in real soon!  This building even has some cool "green" features that will save on electricity.  The work on the new "north-south" lobby continues which means the Wink downstairs bathrooms are still OOC.  This new lobby will connect the Dalton campus from Crawford Street (Wink entrance) to Gordon Street into the lobby/check-in area for Children's ministry.

Budget & Financial News ... Despite these tough economic times giving to our regular offering has held strong and grown by about 10% over the past year.  We are blessed and thank God for this!  Still our staff and Stewardship Team have taken measures to cut spending when and where we can without interfering with the "core" ministries and priorities of our church.

Random Stuff ...

• We are looking into the possibility of providing a way to translate one of our services into Spanish!!  We have several people who could already use this service and it could open the door for more people to hear God's Word!!


• We're working on some ways to continue broadening the base of servant-leaders in our church.  Raising up more and more people to do more and more in Jesus' Name and through Jesus' Church is a MUST for Christianity!!


• Working to improve our web site and service.  Sorry for all the problems with podcasts and audio.


• Our worship/tech team has started a worship blog.  You see all the songs we sing along with who wrote them, plus some insights into worship, music, technology, etc.  Check it out here!


• Continue to hear amazing stories of life change!!


• Lots of people are hurting bad and in tough times ... please pray.


• We had a great meeting with our prayer teams.  We know that prayer fuels God's work and opens His hand.  We have people praying during our worship services and prayer walking on our campuses.  We will be looking to have "prayer rooms" on our campuses soon.  The church is to be a "house of prayer"!!! Please contact your campus pastor (carll@rockbridge.cc or gus@rockbridge.cc) or Alfred (alfred@rockbridge.cc) if interested.


• College football is only WEEKS away :)


• I ate fondue last week and literally felt myself gaining weight!

Proverbs Highlights (Chapters 5-10)

The Proverbs journey continues ...

Proverbs 5:3-5 -- sin usually starts out very attractive and alluring but ends up fatal.

Proverbs 5:18 -- enjoy the wife you married as a young man!! In other words, you may grow old but don't let your marriage EVER get old!! Fight for joy, romance, and intimacy!

Other Proverbs 5 thoughts -- a lack of discipline takes you off course and gets you trapped (Remember the feeling when you didn't study along the way and had to cram the night before ... TRAPPED & SCARED!!)

Proverbs 6:26-27 -- Sin has consequences (period!).  We need to learn to hate sin as much as we do the consequences of it!!

Proverbs 7 -- We can be easily deceived (vv. 22-23); therefore, we must guard ourselves and internalize God's teachings (vv. 1-2)

Proverbs 10:18-19 -- the warnings about our words begin!!  Basically, if you talk a lot then you are probably sinning a lot!

Proverbs Highlights (Chapters 1-4)

I recently read through Proverbs and have made a commitment to do so frequently because it is so powerful and practical.  Here are the highlights of my recent journey through this amazing book of the Bible ...

Proverbs 1:7 -- the place to start in life is with a healthy view of God.  Once I get a skewed and inaccurate view of God, then my life goes in "foolish" directions.

Proverbs 1:19 -- the end does not justify the means!!  Ill-gotten gain leads to loss and regret.

Proverbs 1:29-33 -- I call this the "Listen Principle" which basically says that the voice we listen to and follow the most determines where we end up!  Jesus said that His sheep know His voice ... am I listening?  Which "voices" get most of my attention?

Proverbs 2:1-5 -- the pursuit of wisdom involves an intentional process.  The only way to start a process is to desire a certain outcome.  We must desire wisdom and have the discipline to pursue it.  Often we don't want wisdom but rather validation of our own selfish desires.

Proverbs 3:25-26 -- there is a way to live without fear and worry!  It involves putting God, forsaking our "common sense" and obeying God even when it doesn't make sense (see Proverbs 3:5-6).  The difficulty is that we want to be responsible for outcomes, we believe we are smarter than God, and we would rather be "self-confident" than God-confident.  Sooner or later we'll lose this battle.  I think Proverbs teaches that humility and wisdom go together.

Proverbs 4 -- continues on the value of wisdom and the commitment it takes to get it;  Proverbs 4 also warns us against impulsiveness (how many dumb decisions have I made because I just didn't slow down??) and tell us to avoid evil paths and evil tendencies.

Summer Blockbusters ... a look back

It's no secret that Beth & I love movies (our first date was STAR WARS: Episode I)!  This summer there have been lots of blockbusters and we've gotten to see most of them.   My number one criteria for a good movie (as you will see) is NOT the plot's believability or some powerful "moral" theme; I just want the movie to be entertaining, the acting to be good, and the plot to move at the right pace.

Honorable Mention: The latest in the Harry Potter saga.  I had never seen these movies before or read any of the books; however, I have to say the creativity and special effects were amazing!

#4 -- The Proposal -- my summer's best "chic flick":  funny & entertaining with solid acting.

#3 -- TRANSFORMERS part 2 -- lots of action, good special effects and entertaining

#2 -- G.I. JOE -- some nostalgia here as I collected and played with these action figures when I was little ... the movie was full of action and the plot moved quickly; good effects.  This movie was a close second to ...

#1 -- STAR TREK -- how surprised I was at this one!  I had never seen a Trekkie movie before and WOW!.  The story was compelling, the acting excellent with lots of good action and timely humor.  All of that combined have made this movie one I'll see again ... sometime in the not so distant future.

Martin Luther on God's Will

Martin Luther who helped lead the Protestant Reformation had a very simple but profound take on God's will--

A man became a Christian and approached Luther asking, "What is God's will for my life?" Luther asked him what his occupation was and the man said he made and sold shoes.

Luther then replied (paraphrase), "Then make a good pair of shoes and charge a fair price."

Now that is God's will made simple ... obey all that you know where you are!!

Philippians 2:14-16-- ¹⁴Do everything without complaining or arguing, ¹⁵so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe.

Weekly Rundown (8.9.09)

• Kicked off "You Asked For It" today by asking folks send a text message in church ... great response!!
  
  
  
  • Today's Big Idea on the subject of God's Will:  God's will is more about WHO we are and WHO we are becoming ...
  
  
  
  


• School is back and so was the crowd today ... WOW!!


• Found out some areas that need some attention by our staff ... showing signs of neglect -- communicating with volunteers, tracking progress, following-up, etc.  We'll attack these this week!!


• We've started work on our 2010 Rock Bridge budget ... I'm reminded of two things:  God owns everything and we are His stewards!


• Don't forget to check out the "WHAT'S HOT @ ROCK BRIDGE" list every week on our web site!!  This will help you know what the big items are at church for that particular week.


• So I've been back on Twitter for a week and I LOVE IT!  I'm following some organizations, pastors, news feeds, etc and I've gotten some good sermon ideas, learned some things, and been inspired.  Good stuff!


• The "Dawgs are ranked preseason #13 ... at this point who knows?!?!


• We had a great all-staff meeting this past week.  Learned about the value of "mutual submission".  What do we do at all-staff meetings?
  
  
  
  • We eat :)
  
  
  • We do a team building exercise that sometimes works but at other times causes me to yell at Carll :)
  
  
  • We celebrate birthdays and employment anniversaries (Beth & I have worked at Rock Bridge for 7 years!!)
  
  
  • We talk about current church news, share stories, and cast vision.
  
  
  • We do some type of leadership development or spiritual exercise.
  
  
  
  


• Have a great week!

Weekly Rundown (8.3.09)

• Wrapped our 2-part prayer series today. I cannot believe how much I have underestimated the power, purpose, and privilege of prayer!!
  
  
  
  • Today's BIG idea: Prayer is how we exercise our God-given authority and God-allowed influence to call in God's power to accomplish God's purposes.
  
  
  
  


• Great night of worship tonight in Calhoun! Awesome job to Stephen and the band!! God was in the house!!


• Great meeting out in Chatsworth this past week! Good food, good fellowship, good vibe ...
  
  
  
  • We looked at another building ... ??? Keep praying for open doors and God's direction ... we do need it!!
  
  
  
  


• Don't forget to vote for next Sunday's opening song!!


• First Wednesday returns this week ... I'm pumped!!
  
  
  
  • We're encouraging all of our volunteers to come out for encouragement and prayer as we ramp up for another big ministry season!!
  
  
  
  


• Can't believe that some of our area schools start back this week ... that means football is right around the corner and that makes me happy :)


• We have our monthly all-staff meeting this Tuesday. Always great to hang-out with our team.


• So I decided to return to the world of Twitter tonight. You can follow me by going to here.


• The finale for So You Think You Can Dance is this week!! Beth & I love watching this show together ... the talent and creativity are amazing!




• Got our dogs shaved this week. Bear looks pretty ridiculous.


• Long ago we prayed for God to send our church people who were hurting, broken, and in need of Jesus. He has certainly answered that prayer. The pain people are experiencing is tough to see but we take hope in knowing that God's grace is sufficient!!


• Here's how you can pray for me this week:
  
  
  
  • Leadership wisdom from God.
  
  
  • Message for 1st Wednesday.
  
  
  • Key meetings with staff.
  
  
  • To have an "open" heart before God.
  
  
  • For our adoption referral to happen quickly ... but in God's timing :)
  
  
  
  

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