House Church? Home Fellowship?

February 5, 2011 in Palmetto Gatherings with 4 Comments

As I posted in late 2010, my family and I left our last church on a new journey.  We felt God leading us somewhere, but we weren’t exactly sure where that was.

Well. It’s official.

God has led us, and several other families to launch Palmetto Gatherings Home Fellowship.  A network of house churches or home fellowships throughout our area.

What is it?

Church….done simply.  Some call it House Church, others call it a Home Fellowship.

Each week, families and friends gather at different homes to worship and learn together.  At our home, folks arrive around 9 AM and we spend time having a light breakfast and sharing together.  Around 9:30 we begin our time of worship with a few songs we’ve chosen and then we join the Lifechurch.tv stream for more music. After the music, we enjoy an excellent time of teaching from Craig Groeschel – Pastor of Lifechurch.  To finish up – we spend time discussing the sermon and praying.

The small group dynamic is AMAZING and creates a wonderful support structure.

Then, on Sundays and Wednesdays everyone from the different home fellowships meet together for group times.   We have groups meeting together for Children, Youth and Adults.

Yes, it’s different.

Is it for everybody? No.

We ARE finding that people are drawn to the simple, small group environment.  With few expenses, the Network will be using our resources to meet the needs of those in the communities around us.

We are looking to grow and add more homes throughout 2011.

If you have questions, feel free to ask them in the comments section and I’ll do my best to answer.

Handling Worry and Anxiety

January 24, 2011 in Christian Walk with 4 Comments

Thanks to Gary Molander for being the catalyst behind this blog post.  You really should check out his blog for some great insight and honesty.

Worry.

Anxiety.

Depression.

Just reading those words causes many people to immediately have a negative physical or mental reaction.  I'm one of them. 

Anxiety and worry are tough issues to deal with in our daily lives.  Sure, there are tons of self-help resources available, but as I've heard before, "What good is a 'self-help' tool if YOU are the one that got you in your situation?". 

But, that is exactly what we do when we become worried or anxious.  Our focus becomes narrowed and myopic to the world around us.  Our source of worry or anxiety becomes the only thing worth attention or focus.  Thankfully, it doesn't have to be that way.  Why?  God said so.

In the last week, I led a Bible study for both adults and students that covered the topic of worry.  Given the current state of the economy, job market and housing market, the topic is timely. Beyond that, I believe that anxiety and depression affect many more people than we all believe.  Many of these people choose to suffer alone, sadly some seeking relief in all the wrong places – substance abuse, relationship abuse, self-abuse and even suicide.

The Problem

Our sinful nature.

9 “The human heart is the most deceitful of all things,
      and desperately wicked.
      Who really knows how bad it is?

Jeremiah 17:9 (NLT)

Deceiftul shares the same root as deceive which means to lie.  We listen to the lies of our sinful nature and begin to believe those same lies.  Satan is the father of lies.  In fact, even when he quoted scripture to Jesus, he took it out of context and twisted it to create a clever lie – but a lie nonetheless. He whispers into our heart.

You are a failure.

You are a bad parent.

You are ugly.

No one really likes you, much less loves you.

You aren't worthy of love.

You have no value.

God could never love and forgive you.

We begin to believe those lies.  That is why God reminds us.

Those who trust their own insight are foolish,
      but anyone who walks in wisdom is safe.

Proverbs 28:26 (NLT)

and

Above all else, guard your heart,
   for everything you do flows from it.

Proverbs 4:23 (NIV)

So we see the problem and see God's command to guard our hearts so that we don't believe the lies.  But, isn't there more to the solution?

Continue Reading…

Of Funerals and Mt Dew

January 21, 2011 in Life with 4 Comments

I haven't posted since early January.  My intent was to do a much better job of regular posts in 2011.  Unfortunately, that hasn't quite worked out the way I had hoped.  After we got back from New Year's, my MaMaw (my mom's mom) passed away.  She passed away the same weekend that the big snow and ice storm made it's way through the Southeast.  Getting there was relatively easy, getting home was a story in itself for both my brother and me.

The funeral was handled very well by extended family on my mom's side.  The best part was getting to see aunts, uncles and cousins that I haven't seen in quite a while. 

One of the things we joked about most was my MaMaw's love of Mt. Dew.  If you know me, Mt. Dew is my favorite soft drink by far. She always had Dew available and would give us as much as we wanted.  You could say she got me hooked.  During the time with family, I learned that in her later years there was a time when she would drink 2 liters a day of Diet Mt. Dew. Yes – that's a lot – but she lived to be 94.  Thank you MaMaw for loving us and sharing your Dew with us.  You will be missed.

On a lighter note, I do have some topics lined up that I will be working on. I guess I need to put writing on my to do list of things that have to get done so it won't get lost in the shuffle of life.

If you have ideas for posts or topics you want me to cover, drop them in the comments. 

G

Religion Losing Influence?

January 5, 2011 in Christian Walk with 1 Comment

On December 28, 2010, the respected polling firm, Gallup, released the results of a new survey on religion.  The question asked in the survey was:

At the present time, do you think religion as a whole is increasing its influence on American life or losing its influence?

Gallup has been asking this question since 1957.  In the most recent results, seven in 10 Americans say religion is losing its influence on American life. While not the highest responses, that occurred in the 1970 survey, it is one of the highest – especially in recent years.

Interestingly, in the same survey, 54% of survey respondents answered that religion is very important in their lives.

What do you think?  How would you answer the questions?

  • At the present time, do you think religion as a whole is increasing its influence on American life or losing its influence?
  • How important would you say religion is in your own life – very important, fairly important, not very important?

As for me, I believe religion is losing its influence on American life and religion is very important in my life.

Happy New Year – Now What?

January 4, 2011 in Christian Walk with 2 Comments

It's quite obvious that I haven't posted here in quite a while.  The end of 2010 was interesting.  There were times of stress personally, spiritually and professionally that drained a lot of energy and time. 

And now we're here in 2011 and I'm even late posting a "New Year's" post.  Ok.  So we made it to 2011.

Now what?

I believe that's a question asked by so many people in January.  It may be phrased a little differently, but it's largely the same.

What are my resolutions for the New Year (like I'll keep them anyway)?

What am I going to try and accomplish this year that I failed on last year?

Do I need to be looking for a job?

or for a lot of people

Will I FIND a job?

Where will we live?

What am I supposed to be doing?

Where am I supposed to be going?

Where does God want me to serve?

Why do I feel lost?

I'm the world's worst when it comes to asking myself questions.  What if? Where? How?  And then I get bogged down in dwelling on the questions to which the answers aren't easy.

That's why there are two verses that I am repeating to myself regularly right now.

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Jeremiah 29:11 ESV

and

You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with shouts of deliverance.

Psalm 32:7 ESV

If I will just LISTEN to God's promises, I don't have to worry and fret about all the questions.  If I can only learn to lean on Him and follow His guiding then the stresses will be less stressful and the questions less worrisome.

There are so many things that will and could happen in 2011.  But I, and you, don't have to approach it alone.

The Christmas Story – Told Via Social Media

December 16, 2010 in Christian Walk with 1 Comment

We are all familiar with the Christmas Story as told in the Gospels.  The most familiar version begins in Luke 2.  We have heard it and seen it dramatized.

Now let's think about this differently.

I came across this today.  What if the birth of Jesus happened today – in the age of social media?  What would happen? 

How would YOU react if Mary or Joseph were YOUR friends……on Facebook?

Who Knows What Christmas is All About?

December 7, 2010 in Christian Walk with 0 Comments

Thank you Linus.  I'm glad you're still able to remind us of this every year.

 

Favorite Bible Translation – The Results

December 1, 2010 in Christian Walk with 6 Comments

First of all, thank you to those that took the survey.   This blog is relatively new, so I'm pleased with the steady growth in traffic and interaction on different posts. 

Over the last year of so, I have taught middle school kids and occasionally adults.  In the past, I have primarily used the NIV as my translation of choice.  But during this last year, I have used a number of translations.  While the English Standard Version (ESV) has become my go to version, I enjoy using youversion.com and switching versions on a particular passage.  This helps me better understand the verse or section. 

My primary purpose for the survey was to see what others use and why.  Now I'm going to share that with you in a few posts.  Today, I'll share with you the raw results for respondent's favorite version and second favorite version.  In future posts, I will also share why people chose certain translations, which versions were preferred by which sex, etc.

As I said, this blog is new, so I only had 35 people take the survey.  Out of those 35, here are the raw totals.

Continue Reading…

Favorite Bible Translation and Why?

November 23, 2010 in Christian Walk with 4 Comments

Most people have a favorite Bible translation and the reasons vary widely.

For me, my favorite version is the English Standard Version (ESV). It has the readability of the New International Version (NIV) while retaining some more literal translation aspects like the New American Standard Bible (NASB). In the past I have used, and still use the NIV and NASB for various things.

If you’ve read my blog long enough, you know that I have used a number of translations. In fact, the Bible verse above is from the New Century Version (NCV).

But I want to know what YOUR favorite version is and why. No, I didn’t include any texts in the original languages or in Latin variances. But, if you DO use a version not listed, please select ‘Other’ and tell me what it is. Also, be sure to let me know why.

In a future post, I’ll summarize the results.

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey, the world’s leading questionnaire tool.

Give a Kid a Smile This Christmas

November 22, 2010 in Christian Walk, Missions with 0 Comments

Water.

A smile.

For most of us, we don’t think of these two things as being directly related.  Sure, maybe on a hot summer day after working outside or enjoying outdoor recreation, we smile when someone offers us a cold bottle of clean water.  We open the bottle and take a long draw without even thinking twice.  Many wouldn’t even think about getting a glass and filling it up at the sink.

What if that weren’t the case?

What if we spent much of our day walking to get water and the water we did get was dirty?

What if we had to carry a 40 pound water container many miles back home?

That is the life for many around the world.  Instead of simply turning on the tap or grabbing a bottle of water when they’re thirsty, they have to labor long and hard for that drink.  Often times, that drink can be deadly.  According to charity: water:

  • Unsafe water and lack of basic sanitation cause 80% of diseases and kill more people every year than all forms of violence, including war.
  • 90% of the 42,000 deaths that occur every week from unsafe water and unhygienic living conditions are to children under five years old. Many of these diseases are preventable.

But what can YOU do?

Join me in my charity: water project this Christmas season and help provide a WELL for Christmas.

A clean well can help prevent disease and put a smile on a kid’s face.

A clean well can free kids and women from the daily trek in search of water and allow the kids to go to school.

A clean well can reduce violence associated with people fighting for water.

Please help.

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