Now this is interesting...

I was going through the various blogs I read and I stumbled onto an entry by Kent Schaffer. Check this out. If the results of that survey are to be believed...and I think they should be...then we have some work to get done.

What will get the unchurched to grace the doors of TRCC? Our friendliness! Are we doing all we can to extend the hand of friendship each and every day? If not, are we doing all we can to extend the hand of friendship on Sunday morning?

The exciting thing here is that we don't have to invent new programs to reach people. We simply need to extend the hand of friendship in love. That is simple. That is the easy stuff. So let's start showing love and friendship to people around us everyday. Who can you extend the hand of friendship today? Who can you show love and kindness to today?

I am heading out to lunch right now! I am going to make a new friend. Come join me!

Mountains and Valleys

We all have those times in life where we are standing on the mountain top of life. Everything looks great and feels wonderful. We also all have those moments when we are in the valley of life and it seems dark and forbodding. Nothing seems to be going right and we wonder if we will ever be able to climb out of the darkness.

The interesting thing about a valley is that it is situated between two mountains. That is the good news. There are mountain top experiences awaiting you on both sides of the valley.

I am reminded of Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Who am I preaching to?

In this current series I have delivered a few tough messages. They were not only tough for me, but tough for some people to hear. This has gotten me thinking about my real audience for preaching God's Word.

I resolved in myself several years ago that I would not take criticism personally as long as what I preached was biblically sound. Most of the time criticism about a message is coming from someone that is wrestling with something that God is trying to work-out in their heart.

I realize now that I preach each Sunday not to the people of TimberRidge or our internet audience. Instead I preach solely and completely for the Lord. If He is happy with my proclamation of His Word then I have done what he has asked me to accomplish.

Weekend Musings

All the rain we received on Thursday ended up washing out our Golf Scramble on Saturday. We will be rescheduling the Scramble for September.

Thanks to all my guys who stood up on Sunday and recited the Warrior's Creed! We are raising up some serious Warriors in this house!

I got my passport today...no more procrastinating on this Uruguay trip. I cannot believe the amount of support I have received from the great people at Faith Community Church in West Chester, Ohio. Thank you so much!

Monday Morning Reflections

We took the kids camping this weekend. Lisa and I were reflecting that every time we have gone camping it has rained on us! We got out to the campground Friday evening and not five minutes after I got the tent up it started to rain. We tried to cook dinner anyway, but found that even my little hiking stove could not combat the rain (although it will boil pot of water in less than a minute). We tried to wait it out in the tent, but we finally just got the kids back in the car and headed for home to cook dinner. Thankfully it stopped raining and we headed back out to the tent an hour later. The next day we seriously hot, but we had a good time in the great outdoors.

This Sunday we continued "The Warrior" series. We talked about "The Wounded Warrior". We did some different things this Sunday. I asked the men from the praise band to play "By His Wounds" in the middle of the message. I had never done that before, but it seemed to be very effective. Once again, we had some men make life changing decisions. I am really thankful to Craig Groeschel and the LifeChurch.tv folks for introducing me to this series idea. It is molding the men of TRCC into warriors for God!

Weekend Reflections

I spent the 4th of July holiday with the family. We grilled some and went to the State Park for a little recreation. Loved watching my little six-year old warrior try to catch a squirrel!

Yesterday we started "The Warrior" series. I have borrowed the concept from my friends at Lifechurch.tv. I have been praying for a way to energize the men in our church to become warriors for God. I am praying that this series will be the launching pad for an awesome men's ministry.

Saturday night I got a call from a friend and long-time attender of TimberRidge. She and her husband went on short missions trip to Mexico last February. I shared with them that I have a burning desire to go on a missions trip and share the Good News and be the "hands and feet of Christ". God does answer prayers, but you better be ready when He does. They have a chance to go to...ready for this...Uruguay in late October of this year. Uruguay! I had to look on a map to find out where it was in South America. It sounds so awesome and God has put a burn in my heart like never before. I don't have any details, but they don't matter as much as the chance to go somewhere where the majority of the people do not have a relationship with God. I will be walking into furtile ground for the Kingdom and a chance to put action to my words. Thanks God for giving me this chance! Now...how do I raise the $2,000.00 needed to get there...I know God is in that also.

Have a great day!

Independence Day!

We are getting ready to have a small family cookout tomorrow and enjoy the holiday. Independence Day...the day we remember the fight our forefathers fought to free us from the tyranny of England. A battle fought on the fields of this country and in the hearts of our ancestors. It was difficult for them to imagine what self-government would look like. They had been under the Monarchy of England for their entire lives. Nevertheless they embarked on a brave an awesome journey that you and I celebrate tomorrow.

My prayer is that you will find true independence. You will find independence from addiction, oppression, self-doubt, bitterness and loneliness. I pray that you will find the freedom that comes from claiming the strong name of Jesus Christ as your Savior. You will find the independence of knowing that you are a child of God and nothing the evil one does can ever change that. You are God's beautiful creation and He has set you free from the things that bind you up. So this weekend claim your freedom and celebrate a real independence day!

Are we helping?

The leadership team has been talking a lot about the Isaiah 58 ministry here at TimberRidge. This ministry touches lives every day of the week through meeting peoples immediate needs with bills and food. The question is whether we are truly doing enough? Are we seeing lives being transformed? In my wrestling with these questions I was reminded of our church mission statement. We are a church where "no one walks alone." Are we truly walking with them, or trying to get them to follow us? There is a real difference...then I read this blog post by Perry Noble. He is the Senior Pastor of NewSpring Church in Anderson, SC.

I found myself praying the following prayer: "Lord, please just let me be your hands and feet. Help me to put aside my sinful need to control and govern Your work. May everyone we help see you in all that we do and say. Show me ways to walk alongside your people and show them the love of Jesus each and every day."