Weekly Rundown (1.31.10)

• It snowed ... again!! Twice in the same month!!


• Had a great Elders meeting to kick-off the new year! Excited to have elders in place in Calhoun.


• Rock Bridge Chatsworth is getting rolling with "practice" services ... and we actually had some 1st time guests!! The unofficial launch date is February 28th.


• Beth and I had an amazing time at Brasstown Valley Resort in Young Harris, GA for Leadership Georgia.  Lots of learning with some great people from all over our state.


• Our Thursday night services continue to be well attended ... with great energy and excitement.


• Praying hard that we pass court on February 11th!!


• Have a great week!!

Adoption News: A Court Date!!

Today another milestone in our adoption journey was reached -- we have our court date!!  Our scheduled date is February 10th.  This is sooner than we anticipated :)

The purpose of court is for an Ethiopian judge to verify everything regarding the adoption process -- paperwork, reasons for adoption, our qualifications to be adoptive parents, ethics, etc. etc.  If all the criteria are met and the judge is satisfied, then we are declared the legal parents of these two brothers!!

However, we keep reminding ourselves that lots of things can hinder the court's verdict, everything from bad weather to incorrect paperwork.  So we are praying for a smooth process ... and that we "pass" court on the first round.

Once we pass court, we are expecting to travel to pick them up within 4-6 weeks.  This means that if everything goes "smoothly" we could the boys home by the end of March!!

Thanks so much for the continued prayers and encouragement!

What God is Teaching Me: Striving or Yielding?

I think my favorite thing to do is to "try harder".  I'm always striving to get better and constantly looking for ways to improve ... so I work harder, pray longer, try and try again.  However, God is teaching me that this strategy is flawed and leads to frustration and failure.  Why?

Because God works by faith, not by works.  When I work, I compete with His work and negate faith.  God is honored and glorified by my faith, not my efforts.

The biblical strategy is to stop striving and start yielding to God.  Let God be God and respond to His work.  Here's how this seems to be working itself out in my life:

• Instead of "working for" God, I "work with" God.  Big difference. When I work for God, He is like a boss that I can disappoint.  When I work with God, He is a partner and I seek to cooperate with His work in me and around me.


• I can busy or I can be in touch with God, never both.  God is not busy, He is God.  When I am in step with Him and yielding to His still, small voice, I am not rushed, busy, or anxious ... I am fruitful, peaceful, and blessed.


• This does not mean I don't put forth an effort or try or work.  It means my effort is in a direction He gives, in a cause He initiates, and in a plan He develops.

At least for me, the problem is rarely a lack of effort; it is normally a problem of failing to yield myself to God.

Weekly Rundown (01.24.2010)

• Rock Bridge PM ... once again we had to "move the curtain" to open more seats ... I'm blown away!!


• The downside of "Rock Bridge PM" ... I can't figure out if it is morning or evening:
  
  
  
  • On Thursday night I was telling people, "Good morning"!!
  
  
  • This morning, I said, "Tonight!"
  
  
  • Hopefully, I'll get it figured out :)
  
  
  
  


• The offering for Haiti Relief is approaching $20,000!!!  The "quick" generosity is awesome!!


• Rock Bridge Chatsworth officially starting practicing their set-up operation today!!! Get ready Murray County, here we come!!


• We've had some positive feedback on our "FUEL" devotional that is inserted into the weekly bulletin. We hope this helps get people into the Bible on a regular basis.  Email jay@rockbridge.cc with feedback.


• Beth & I are cleaning out our house to get ready for our future children!!  We have emptied 2 rooms and set-up a baby bed ... I can't believe I just typed that -- there is going to be a BABY in my house FULL TIME ... and he will be MY SON ... WOW!!!!!!!!


• Have a great week!!

Weekly Rundown (1.17.2009)

• What an incredible week ... I stand amazed at God, at our volunteers, at our staff, and at our church.


• We launched Rock Bridge PM on Thursday night ... had 297 seats in the Wink Theatre ... wasn't enough!!
  
  
  
  • We had numerous guests who work on the weekends saying, "Thank you ... I can come to church now!"
  
  
  • People received Christ as their Lord & Savior :)
  
  
  • We thought Sunday attendance might be down as a a result of Thursday night ... wrong!! It was up!!
  
  
  
  


• Gus Waters, our Chatsworth Campus Pastor, informed me that today might be his last day ... in Dalton!! He's hoping to start practicing set-up in Chatsworth as early as NEXT Sunday!!!  Things are happening!!


• We don't have all the Haiti relief counted yet ... but as of now over $6000 in cash (this does not include checks)!!  Blown away ... we are being the church!!
  
  
  
  • We are going to send relief money down 3 avenues:
    
    
    
    • Water: people cannot live without water for long.  Safe, clean water is big need right now.  We will be helping fund efforts to build or rebuild 500 wells that can service 250,000.
    
    
    • Overall relief: medical, physical & spiritual -- we plan to support Samaritan's Purse's efforts.  They are not only meeting physical and medical needs but they also have chaplains on the ground.  In one area they helped 21 people cross the line of faith and become Christians!!
    
    
    • Long-term missionary work: we are partnering with a missionary on the ground.  We will be traveling to work alongside him in a long-term partnership.
    
    
    
    
  
  
  
  


• Had a great meeting this week about forming a church planting alliance for the Atlanta-North Georgia area ... this could be something really amazing for the kingdom and planting healthy churches.


• Beth & I really appreciate all the prayers and support and congratulations regarding our adoption.  Having names and pictures and a story is incredible.  Please keep praying because nothing is final or for certain yet.
  
  
  
  • Pray for a quick court date and pray that the legal process goes smoothly!
  
  
  • We've started cleaning up and clearing out their future bedroom and playroom :)
  
  
  
  

Responding to the Earthquake in Haiti

The news is filled with the disaster of a major earthquake literally destroying a large portion of Haiti.  The death and devastation are heartbreaking.

We have been talking "in theory" about increasing our missions efforts with three avenues: local impact, Great Commission partnerships, and Global Poverty (see "Rock Bridge and the World" blog post).  Interestingly enough one of our partnerships was shaping up to be with a Christian missionary in Haiti named "Ed".  Ed has been posting through the night on Facebook about what he is witnessing and asking Christians around the world to pray.

We can move into action immediately (see James 4:17).  We have the ability to act to relieve suffering and provide hope.  Here's our plan:

1) Pray.

2) Collect a special offering during our services this week. (including Thursday night).

• For checks write "HAITI RELIEF" on the memo line.


• All loose cash and loose change will be directed for Haiti relief.

3) Use a portion of our approved "missions" budget for Haiti relief.

• The funds collected from #2 & 3 above will go to help Ed provide relief in Haiti as well as to another Christian relief effort already working on the ground in the country.

4) A relief drive/effort for Haiti.

• We are not sure of the details yet but we are working to see how best to respond with specific supplies.


• We are hoping to send our initial, "advance" team into Haiti this Spring.

The "Perhaps" of Rock Bridge PM

This Thursday we begin an unorthodox experiment.  We have prayed & prepared but I know ultimately the outcome is up to God (Proverbs 19:21).

We are being faithful to what God has called us as a church to do which is to connect people from all walks of life to life in Christ. And "all walks of life" includes the shift worker who can't make church on Sundays, the weekend traveler who is often out-of-town, the college student, and anyone else who might otherwise be inclined not to come to church at the typical/traditional times.

This service is an offering to God to use as He sees fit.  I hope and pray it is for His glory.  I hope and pray that He will do more than I can ask for or imagine (Eph. 3:20-21).  I feel like Jonathan on his way to fight the Philistines as a severe underdog saying "Perhaps the Lord will act on our behalf ..." (I Samuel 14:6).

Because I want to pray specifically, here is my "Perhaps List" -- the list of things that "perhaps" God will do as we take an unconventional step to share God's amazing love with more people in NW Georgia:

• Perhaps God will bring hundreds of previously unchurched people to church ... and they will discover the difference of Jesus Christ.


• Perhaps God will cause people to be more consistent in their church attendance as they have more opportunities to meet together and practice Hebrews 10:25.


• Perhaps God will raise up more people in the church to serve Him through the church (Luke 10:2).


• Perhaps God will raise the temperature for evangelism in our church ... that we would be willing to risk, serve, pray, and labor for the salvation of others in our community (2 Timothy 2:10).


• Perhaps God will open another door for His message to go out (Colossians 4:3).


• Perhaps God will cause the message to spread rapidly & be honored by many (2 Thess 3:1).

Perhaps YOU or SOMEONE you invite will join us THIS Thursday at 6:30 pm in the Wink Theatre?

Our Adoption: It's a Boy ... x 2!

Last week we got a call from our adoption agency ... a call we have been waiting on since we began this process one year ago.  The call was our "official referral" to adopt two orphaned brothers from Ethiopia!!

We have spent the past week looking at pictures and reviewing all the information provided to us about these children.  We have prayed, asked follow-up questions, talked to our families, and prayed some more.  AND today, we mailed our official acceptance, signifying our desire to adopt these brothers and bring them legally, emotionally, relationally, and spiritually into our family.

The oldest brother is 3 years old; his younger brother is 4 months old.  We can hardly stop looking at their pictures, thinking about them, and praying for them ... BY NAME!  We can't wait to travel and bring them home :)

We cannot share much more (pictures, names, locations, etc.) at this time about them because of privacy and confidentiality agreements designed to protect children.

What happens now?

1. We get a court date.  In court an Ethiopian judge must legally make these children ours.  As of now, we do not have a court date but expect one sometime in February.  {Nothing is guaranteed until we pass court.}


2. Once we pass court, then we arrange travel to Ethiopia to pick them up.  The trip is about a week long and involves meeting the children, their caretakers, visiting birth relatives (if possible), and obtaining visas at the American Embassy.


3. PLEASE PRAY FOR THESE 2 BOYS and FOR US!!!

Weekly Rundown (1.10.09)

• Great to teach again today after 2 Sundays off.  I LOVE to preach but I needed the break.


• Services at both campuses were off the chart--
  
  
  
  • Great crowds ... great excitement!
  
  
  • Baptism celebration in Calhoun.
  
  
  • New Ministry Center opened in Dalton.
  
  
  • Message was on focus & clarity in 2010.
  
  
  
  


• Check out the new Rock Bridge logo on our web site.


• Clarified our mission and core values today
  
  
  
  • Rock Bridge exists to connect people from all walks of life to life in Christ.
  
  
  • 5 CORE VALUES:
    
    
    
    • Reaching People
    
    
    • Christ-like acceptance
    
    
    • Intentional environments
    
    
    • Active participation
    
    
    • Radical dependence
    
    
    
    
  
  
  
  


• "I love coming to church" -- from a child as his parents checked him into RB Children's Ministry.


• Rock Bridge PM starts THIS week!!
  
  
  
  • PRAY! INVITE! SERVE!
  
  
  
  


• Our path to launch Rock Bridge Chatsworth is getting increasingly clearer.  We're hoping to be doing preview/practice services in a few weeks and are aiming for a late February launch!!


• I am so pumped and so excited about 2010 ...
  
  
  
  • Our church has great opportunities and God-given clarity.
  
  
  • God is REALLY teaching me what this means right now.
  
  
  • We are done with buildings (for now) and ready to focus 100% on ministry!
  
  
  • Beth & I should have our children home from Ethiopia this year!!
  
  
  
  


• I was asked what I thought about the movie Avatar so here's my take on the Christmas movies I watched:
  
  
  
  • Avatar: amazing special effects; some good action; the "mother earth" stuff got a little weird fast for me.
  
  
  • Sherlock Holmes: my favorite holiday flick: action; funny; engaging
  
  
  • Invictus: great story; lots of leadership lessons; solid acting but I don't know much about Rugby.
  
  
  
  


• BCS National Championship ... God allowed Colt McCoy to get hurt early in the game so that he could say this. God is sovereign and EVERYTHING can be used for His glory!!
  
  
  

My New Position: An Example (Part 2)

{You can read Part 1 here}

Our doing and working are but the fruit of Christ's work in us.  It is when the soul becomes utterly passive, looking and resting on what Christ is to do, that it's energies are stirred to their highest activity, that we work most effectively because we know that He works in us. {From Andrew Murray's, Abide In Christ]

The other day I was tempted to sin by saying something I shouldn't say.  The comment would have been funny and the people I was with would have laughed; however, it would have also been sarcastic, at someone's expense, and generally not very encouraging.

For several months in my time with God I have sensed Him stirring in me to watch my words and to be more encouraging as the Bible instructs in Ephesians 4:29.  Unfortunately, after my Quiet Time these words are quickly forgotten.  Scripture memory, "will power" and trying harder have yielded little results or fruit because they are the products of my own power.  Jesus' words "apart from Me you can do nothing" expose the faults in my strategy.

But now because God is stirring me to remember my position, claim who I am in Christ, and let Him work through me a different result occurred.  When the tempting situation happened, I sensed God saying "Abide in Me". I rested in that thought, I yielded to that truth, and God's power working in me overcame the power of the temptation to speak words that would not encourage.

This same thing happened when I was tempted to feel anxious about something at church and then feel burdened to act on anxiety rather than on God's work.  Again, "Abide in Me" and the anxiety was averted and I rested in the God who never sleeps to be my peace because of my position in Christ.

The believer can each day be pleasing to God only in that which he does through the power of Christ dwelling in Him.  The daily inflowing of the life sap of the Holy Spirit is his only power to bring forth fruit.  The believer lives along in Him and is for each moment dependent on Him alone. [Andrew Murray, Abide In Christ]

My New Position (Part 1)

This holiday vacation was much needed for me.  Like a car, I needed a spiritual tune-up.  God, like a trustworthy mechanic, was more than eager to help.  What were the symptoms of my condition?

• My sense of duty for God was high but my love for Him was low.


• My heart was growing insensitive and impatient with people and with God's ways.


• I was carrying burdens and feeling anxieties God never intended for me to carry.


• I had forgotten or was ignoring God's promises which left my faith vulnerable and my heart unguarded.

Then I began a slow study of John 15 and these verses grabbed my soul:

⁴Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. ⁵"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.

My position is NOT to worry, NOT to carry heavy burdens.  My position is to remain (or "abide") in Christ.  My position is to draw life FROM Him and then give TO others. When I draw on my own reserves, I will dry up, wither, worry, and waste away.  But His reserves are limitless and unending (see John 7:38) and my position is to receive everything from Him.

These words from Andrew Murray's classic, Abide in Christ, really spoke to me:

"God had destined [me] to something better than short-lived blessedness, to be enjoyed only in times of special prayer, and then to pass away ... He has prepared for [me] an abiding dwelling with Himself, where [my] whole life and every moment of it might be spent, where the work of [my] daily life might be done, and where all the while [I] might be enjoying unbroken communion with Him."

Murray goes on to say that "the whole Christian life depends on the clear consciousness of our position in Christ."

This is how this is translating in my life:

1) I begin each day with a yielding of myself to Christ. I must remind myself that I am100% dependent on Him and Him only, surrendering my self-confidence to Him as my Source, my Vine.

2) I remind myself constantly that I am IN Christ. The world wants to get me out of position.  God simply wants me to realize my position: in Christ I am fully accepted, fully righteous, and fully His.

3) I look to where God is working in me and cooperate. I don't have to make things happen. I don't have to force things.  God is working, stirring and moving.  I simply wait, watch, and discover God's work.  When I pray now, I seek to discern how and where God is working.  When I read the Bible, I read not looking for mere information, but looking to see what stirs my spirit in God's direction for I am IN Christ.