Weekend Activities

It's Saturday morning and I wish I could say I was just waking up.  Unfortunately, there are some alarm clocks you can't unplug such as my dog Bossie.  When the sun starts coming up, it's time to wake up and eat.  Technically I don't have to get up, but I'm less bruised if I do . . .

Had a great time with Marc & Lynn Reed last night at their house.  Steak and potatoes . . . twice baked at that, were great.  Awesome time together.  Billie and I are looking forward to more of them.  The Reed's are just some of the great families that God has been sending our church's way.  And we're so proud and thrilled to have them all. 

We spent most of the day yesterday cleaning house after lunch and today we'll do much of nothing until tonight when we'll be putting on the youth's Bananarama at church, or better yet, in Perry.  They'll have a list of things to measure in bananas and also a list of stunts to pull with bananas.  Youth teams will have one hour to get as many things done as possible.  Team that wins scores 10,000 points for each individual member in our Points contest in the youth ministry.  Individual with the most points wins their choice of a Wii, X-box 360, or PS3. 

Looking forward to service tomorrow at church.  Interested to see what God does next . . .

Praising God for a great Fellowship Dinner last night

Once a month, we have what we call a "Fellowship Dinner" at the church.  Everyone brings finger foods and drinks.  It's nothing real big like a covered dish deal or anything.  It's simply a time to get together and talk and get to know folks.  Last night we 90 folks show up.  Our social hall seats about 70.  We had folks in the classrooms and standing up to eat.  It was amazing!  It was so great to see the reactions of many of the church folks who have been at the church for awhile.  These past few months have just been all God.

I read a scripture last night in Matthew 9.  Verse 35 starts off talking about all the miracles Jesus has been do ing.  Verse 36 then speaks of His compassion for the crowds.  He says the look like sheep without a shepherd.  It's in response to this sight that He then turns to His disciples and says they should pray to the Lord for laborers for the harvest is ripe.  I bet I've quoted those last few verses a hundred times since I've been pastoring this short while, but absent verses 35 and 36, they aren't nearly as powerful I believe.  Why should we pray for laborers?  Quite frankly, because this world is filled with sheep wondering around from this place to that place and that promise to this promise and this quick fix to that last fix looking for an answer.  If the church refuses to work and labor, then we have no one to blame but ourselves when the world around us continues their pattern of spiraling out of control and looking everywhere but Christ for answers. 

Jesus saw His own limitations in the flesh, as such one man, that is, the pastor, the music man, the youth pastor, the SS teacher, the clerk, can't do all the work.  This is supposed to be a team effort and if we will accomplish the Kingdom objective, we will do so as a team. 

So what do you say?  Want to be part of a team?  Want to "corral" the lost sheep and take them to the Great Shepherd?  We need laborers . . . are you one of them?

Second post today . . . WOW!

Let me quickly give an update on the blog site itself. If anyone has followed the blog since its first start at wordpress.com, it's been tricky for me. I wasn't too pleased with my blog at wordpress, not because of the site, but because of me. I felt like my writing was portraying me to be someone I wasn't. That, and I felt like I needed to write to make things sound better than maybe they really were for folks who would read the blog and maybe get introduced to the church. As I kept reading what I was writing, I found that my blog was no longer about me or the church . . . it became an image of what I wanted to be and what I hoped our church would be. I'm no expert, but there is a distinct difference in dreaming about something better and pretending. All that said, I moved to the blogger site and started my new blog to have a fresh start. So, that will continue. You're going to hear a little about the church, because ministry is very much part of my life. You're also going to hear a lot about me, my struggles, my victories, my frustrations, and my triumphs. It is what it is with me.

So for my new start AGAIN, I changed up the title and the header. I've come up with a new slogan for our church. The old one was, "Where every road leads to the cross." I really liked that and still do. For me, it suggested that everything we do at the church leads folks to the cross. But as we've grown and as I've grown, I've come to the realization of something I've known for quite awhile. People can't stay at the cross. Instead, we must pick up our own cross and hit the road. So while everything we do at church certainly leads to the cross, we must have a plan in place to move folks past THE cross and take up THEIR cross. So, I've put together a new motto, using our church name and the moniker for our city; "At the crossroads of Christ and culture." For me it suggests, that our church seeks to take people who live in culture, introduce them to Christ, and help them to become empowered to take Christ into the culture for the purpose of making a change. For too long churches have existed on the polar opposite of culture. Our rationale was that we must remain separate. Indeed, we must, but there is certainly a way to engage our society while still remaining separate in regards to our testimony, personal holiness, and image. Jesus did it and so can we. So that's the new change and that's why.

As for me, I'm trying to find some Disney World tickets . . . . lol

Kept my promise

So I'm back for blogging . . . two days in a row. Got to be a record, I know. Thanks for your patience. If I'm honest, I really don't think I have that much to talk about . . . well at least that perfect strangers would care to hear about. But maybe that's just me. If Sonya in Kansas City (there's your shout out!) wants to read about what God is doing in Perry, GA and in my own life, then heck, why not write about it I suppose.

I left out last night talking about our expansion project. On September 13th, we laid out our vision relaunch for the church. It includes a brand new education building which will house our youth and children's ministries. They will have their own individual "sanctuaries" to decorate as they please. In addition, we'll have a larger nursery . . . if that's not a sign of growth, I don't know what is! The building will house 4 new classrooms, 2 large bathrooms, 4 offices, and a copy room. All of this is very much needed. We've already got a rough sketch drawn out, but it's way too early to post that yet. In time good folks. In time.

That's the expansion project. Now for the remodeling project . . . We're planning to enlarge our foyer. Currently our main entrance to the church opens straight into a hallway with the bathroom doors a step away from the entrance. It's not exactly the most kosher situation. Our foyer area is also very small. In one spot, 3 people can't even stand next to one another in a straight line across. Additionally, we're removing some metal beams that are visible inside the church. We'll have a vaulted ceiling. It'll look great. New lights are on their way too. Of course, new carpet as well. The fellowship hall will also get a makeover as we'll be busting out the 2 classrooms and 2 offices housed in the fellowship hall to make seating capactiy greater. The kitchen will also be expanded.

So what are we doing right now . . . well other than busting at the seams, having church and planning. Right now, we're taking donations for church chairs. We are getting rid of our church pews in exchange for chairs to give us greater seating capacity and flexibility. We're running a "Buy Your Own Chair" campaign where we're asking for donations of $28 from individuals to purchase a chair. I plan on setting up a page on our website for donations, just in case any of our readers and website viewers would like to help us with this project.

God is doing some amazing things here at Perry Crossroads Church of God and the sky is the limit!

Time for an update

Well, here I am. I'm still breathing. I'm not going to waste your time and my time to tell you how crazy it's been lately and I've been unable to get back to blogging as I planned. But . . . I'm going to do my best to get back regular. I've received several of the emails some of you have sent me and I'm overwhelmed at your interest in the blog and what God is doing at the church. So here's the timeline of what has transpired recently . . .

The second Sunday of August, we broke an all time church attendance record at the church with 91 in service. Bishop Garner was with us and he certainly blessed us. He's going to be working with us on our plans for expansion, and we're so excited! The next week, we broke the 91 attendance mark with the first ever number of 105 in service. We finally broke 100 after 40 plus years in the church's history. Just this past Sunday, September 20th, we established a new attendance record with 112 in morning worship with 92 coming back for Sunday night discipleship. People are hungry at the church and in the community and God is moving mightily. Since the beginning of August, we've seen 19 saved. We've seen 13 saved since last Sunday. It's just been amazing to see what God is doing.

The first Sunday of September, we brought out on first part time music minister in Russ Creamer. Russ has been a friend of mine since I was a teen. We attended church together, played ball together, and worked together. He was always the boss man . . . the tables have turned now . . . lol. Just kidding man if you're reading. Russ has done a tremendous job at the church in 3 services. The worship is going up and the excitement is building.

I started a new series entitled "Revelation Revealed" the first Sunday of August and I'm still going. I was hoping to get it in 4 or 5 messages, but Sunday will be my 8th message in the series, and I probably have 2 more. God is moving mightily in the series and I'm so thrilled to see what God is doing. 22 months ago, we started with 7 people and a dream. Now we're a church of more than 100, but we still have our dream. That will never change.

Thanks for your prayers and supports. We've got a major remodeling and building project that we're about to embark on. I'll talk more about it tomorrow. Have a good night.

Bad Yard Sale Day

Can I just rant for a minute? Let me first say, I've never been a fan of yard sales. Sometimes you can hit it big. Most times you hit about middle ways. And sometimes, you're just lucky if you hit anything.

We had a yard sale today. We're trying to get some extra money to get the air conditioner fixed in our Nissan Extera without having to dip into our vacation fund. So we cleaned out the house, rearranged some things and had what I felt was a good variety of items. We had a piano, a washing machine, a gas burning fireplace, an entertainment center, a 40" TV, a paper rack, name brand clothes, suits of clothes, CD's, DVD's, a stereo, Billie's scrapbook creations and a rug. Everyone that came either wouldn't buy or tried to talk us down from our price. A TV that's not even 3 years old going for $40 is bad??? Really? I just hate people's attitudes sometimes. They come to a yard sale expecting you to be Target and have the nicest things at dollars and cents prices.

Oh and ladies . . . I love ya and God does too. But don't hand me your money that you pull out of Victoria's Secret . . . Seriously . . . we have wallets, purses, or maybe even pockets. Bras weren't made to hold money.

Ok, so I feel better now. Looking forward to tomorrow's second installment of our Revelation Revealed series. Dealing with chapters 4 and 5 tomorrow morning at 10:30 AM. If you can come, we'd love to see you.

What a wild ride!

Ok, so my plan to get back to blogging regularly didn't work out. I promise I'm trying. Between pastoring, youth pastoring, being the music minister and my wife doing the Children's ministry, I feel worn out most days and I can't get my writing juices going to write anything worth reading. I'm working on that however!

Let me try to update everything that has been going on . . . and it's all be great too!

August 8th - We took some teens to Six Flags Over Georgia for Christian Concerts. To be honest, I probably wouldn't do it if I had it to do over again. Too crowded. Concerts got started late and we ended up missing the main act to get back in time. Made for some upset folks and tired and grouchy teens. Heck, I was tired and grouchy too!

August 9th - Our State Administrative Bishop, Rev. Ray Garner, came to the church for the first time in some 10 years he thought. We broke an attendance record that morning with 91. We had a great day. We got to talk afterwards over dinner at Cracker Barrel about our future plans with the church. Coming soon is going to be our new Education building which will house a big youth room, a big children's church room, classrooms, and offices. We hope to start that project by the end of the year if not before. This of course will allow us to knock out the classrooms in the social hall and enlarge it which is desperately needed!

August 10th - We started an extensive discipleship group with our teens called Live Aid. Applications have to be completed to join. Each month we will read a book together to challenge us. Ministry activities and training will be part of the group. There is also a special password protected message board linked to our youth website (www.thecrossingym.org) in which we have discussions. These teens will be the future leaders in our church!

August 11th - We started 24-2Double as a church. This program is designed to train and equip pastors and churches for growth. As the numbers of Christianity continue to decline, this program seeks to engage our world to win the lost without watering down our message. It's designed that if you go through everything and work the program that in 2 years your Sunday morning church attendance will double. After going through the first workshop, I believe it. We'd already incorporated probably 90% of what we talked about into our replant here in Perry. As of December 2007 we had 7. As of last Sunday . . . well I'll get to that in a minute. Let's just say God has helped us to more than double.

August 15th - What a day! I had a wedding to officiate at 2:00 PM at the church. Then at 3:00 PM, I had a funeral to help with at the local funeral home. Talk about a rush! We made it though and I think both events turned out very well. Congrats to Jim and Billie Jo Rudd on their union. Farewell to Sis. Evelyn Prater. You will be missed.

August 16th - We broke an all time record for Sunday morning attendance with 105! We finally broke the 100 mark. We've been here going on 22 months, and God has given us the increase from 7 to 105. We had 3 families out Sunday as well. One individual claims that the church has had that before, but no one I've talked to or any records I've found or called about has ever reported the church having that many people except for maybe a midweek revival service, wedding, or a funeral. God is definitely doing something in our church and it's awesome! I'm completely humbled and overwhelmed. Why God is using me, I have no idea . . . I'm the worst or the worst. But I'm thankful that He is allowing me to experience all this. It's amazing. Next up . . . how to deal with being crowded. Our sanctuary seats about 125 comfortably. Our social hall seats about 70 comfortably. We have 2 classrooms. You get the picture . . . But nothing is too big for God. We also had a youth service Sunday night where the kids took over and led church. Crossroads Canyon Children's Ministries came out first and sang and danced. Then the youth led in praise and worship and the offering. I preached a message on waiting on God, and the youth drama team performed their original drama to the song "While I'm Waiting" by John Waller. We concluded with having teens that wanted to be used come to the front and pray with adults in the altar. It was an amazing sight!!!

August 17th - Had dinner with Rusty and Brandi Pearson. These guys are great. We enjoyed ourselves so much with them. Look forward to more times of fellowship!

So that's it. I'm caught up now. As you can see, it's been a whirlwind. Tonight I'm starting a 5 week curriculum with the local Cub Scouts called "God and Country." Should be a great time and maybe we'll meet some good folks. Tomorrow is our Fellowship Dinner at the church and we're hoping for a good turn out and Thursday is Chinese night for our Women's Ministries called "Esther Group."

A lot happened. If you live anywhere near us, we'd love to have you come grow with us!

Our trip with our Primetimers

Let me say that the perks of "replanting" a church is that you have a hand in the starting of every ministry. This usually means you get to enjoy some of the perks of those ministries, at least while they are in their infant stages. One such perk was getting to "chaperone" four of our Primetimers to Cleveland, TN and Murphy, NC this past Thursday and Friday. It was a great experience.

We drove up to Cleveland on Thursday and had a guided tour of the Church of God HQ. It was a great experience. I had only been to the HQ once for a meeting, but that was it. We were able to see the room where the Executive Council meets. We also got to go in our General Overseer, Raymond Culpepper's office. We saw other meeting rooms. I got to see a Lori Lewis who along with her husband Gary are great people and have certainly helped me out a lot in ministry. Seeing the mural in the Evangelism building and the presentation was wonderful. We also saw some artifacts from the beginning of the movement. It was a great experience and certainly eye opening for those we brought. They realized that our church is part of something worldwide and we're all in this thing together. I then took them to Lee University and Seminary and then we went in North Cleveland Church of God and I showed them around. We went up to the Prayer Tower which they all really enjoyed. We shopped at the mall and then gave them their first taste of Five Guys Burger and Fries. We spent the rest of the evening in the hotel.

Friday we got up and drove to Murphy, NC for Fields of the Wood. The replicas of the Golgotha and the tomb were great. The 10 Commandments covers a whole side of a mountain and Sis. Audrey Cason and I walked the whole thing. The pastor working the gift shop said it was 358 steps total. I believe him! We also got to walk up the other side of the mountain to the place AJ Tomlinson prayed and received confirmation about the Church of God. The highlight though was going to the place where the first General Assembly took place. It was overwhelming. You could feel the presence of God in the room and we all had prayer together. Pictures of the first delegates were in the room and it caused us to think about all they paid just to get this movement started. We think we suffer persecution, and certainly we do. But these people had their houses burned down. Their churches were burned down. Their families were killed and possessions were taken. They endured all of this to proclaim the Pentecostal experience of the book of Acts. They went to church in rain or snow. How we need the pioneering spirit back in our churches today. We also felt the same thing at the marker for the old Shearer Schoolhouse and at a marker where the first log church was put up where the Holy Spirit fell for the first time. It was amazing to say the least.