July 4th Freedom Fest

Yesterday at 5 Point Fellowship, we celebrated the 4th of July by having sort of a community party/festival that we give to the community for free. There were inflatable rides, bungee slingshots, a rock wall, music, popcorn, cotton candy, sno cones, face painting, hotdogs and most of all, lots of smiles for free! I, along with many other volunteers, was able to share the love of Jesus Christ with people in word, but also through what we were doing. I was really proud off all the people from the church that started setting up about 1:00 and didn't leave until the parking lot and church were cleaned up at almost 11:00 at night! It was great to have so many hands pitching in, and when asked to do anything, no one said, "That's not my job." Every single volunteer pitched in where they saw a need! I love working with this bunch! For those who may read this who have never even heard of 5 Point Fellowship or even Easley, SC...Sorry the blog is a little off my normal fare...I just had to brag on my people!

Getting Attention...

Tim and I went to Walmart today to pick up some drinks for the 5 Point Fellowship Freedom Fest coming up on the 4th of July. We bought about a thousand cans of Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Diet and regular of both. That makes two grocery carts very full of nothing but 24packs of canned soda. The cool thing is that people came up and asked us what we were doing just because we were buying a ton of one product. We were able to tell them about the church and the event. Not that everyone is going to start a church marketing campaign build around buying cartloads of Mountain Dew, but it was interesting to see how it worked!

Freedom Fest 4th of July!

This Saturday, our church, like many churches around our great country, is throwing a great big party for the 4th of July. Part of my job at the church is coordinating events like this. Today, I was getting the last of things together and two volunteers came in and offered to help me set up the "staging area" (A nice word for putting all the stuff that goes to one area on Saturday, in one pile in the church lobby). With their help, what would have taken me hours to do only took about 45 minutes! Earlier in the day, I was unloading a truck full of water, and a friend stopped by and helped carry cases of water. Others helped unload some stage platforms. God is great at sending help when we need it! There are so many incredible volunteers that make events like this possible! If you are one of them and reading this, whether you are volunteering for my church or another one, I want to tell you Thank You! Without all you guys pitching in, things like this would never happen! Oh, and if you are looking for something to do on Saturday, July 4th in Easley, SC, just swing by 5 Point Fellowship anytime after 3:30 and enjoy the fun! Everything is free! Inflatable rides, Thomas the Train, Rock Climbing, Bungee Swings, Hotdogs, Snowcones, Cotton Candy, Popcorn, Drinks, lots of smiles... Hope to see you there!

Redefining Church Membership

I was sitting here thinking about church membership. At our church, people who want to become members must go through a class and then sign a covenant agreement. People can serve in our church without being members. One would think that with such a system in place, only those serious about participating in the ministry of the church would want to join. Over the years however, I have seen that many people still join just to get their name on the roll list. Which by the way won't get you any discounts, or a get out of hell free card or anything...but they still want to join. When joining doesn't require anything, than it also doesn't mean anything.
In 8th grade, my friend Adam joined the AARP. While the AARP is a great organization for retired people or people over 50, it doesn't cater in any way to a 13-14 year old. For some reason, maybe his lack of a job at that time, Adam was accepted and received his AARP card in the mail. Many churches seem to be like that. Anyone can join. Let's be honest, we are a very inclusive club. We are a family of like minded people who love and serve Jesus Christ and we want everyone to be in our club. However...if we give people a card that says they are in the club while they still haven't met the requirements like loving Jesus with all their heart, serving Him or at bare minimum having asked Him to forgive them of their sins...are we really doing them a disservice? Like my friend Adam who when he turns 50 may have some trouble getting an AARP card due to the fact that he will have already had one for almost 40 years, will these people stand before God on judgment day and say, "But Lord, I know I didn't know you, but I have my membership card from ________________ Church! Doesn't that get me into heaven?" While not wanting to revert to a legalistic draconian method like the board inquisition that led to D.L. Moody not being able to join his local church, I would love to hear suggestions on how to make church membership be an accountability tool and to mean something. Now you get to post a comment!

A HUGE God!

Our God is so BIG! This is really a random thoughts type blog post today, but I have a lot of thoughts about all that God is doing in this world that I know about...He is doing so very much that I have no clue about! (That is your cue to post comments about things you see God doing!) Many times, he works through people! Yesterday in church, Pastor Dean asked the church to step up and buy 200 chairs for a growing church in Africa. The chairs are simple plastic $10 chairs. It was great to see the congregation give above and beyond what they were asked for with a cheerful heart! Now the church in Africa will not only be able to have chairs under their tarp, but they will be able to buy a piece of land they were looking at and will be able to build a church! God is incredible!
I blogged last time about going to my Aunt's house to help her out with some house projects. It was not only great to work with my dad again, but seeing the joy that doing that list of simple projects brought to my Aunt was wonderful! God knew that she needed help, and through an odd series of events, brought my dad and mom to this part of the country at this time. I couldn't have done the projects myself, but with Dad's help, they went smoothly, and we had a good time working together.
Seeing new believer's growing in the Lord never gets old! God is doing some incredible work in the lives of many new believers in our church!
There is a camp in Honea Path, SC that has been having a great affect on kids and teen's lives over the years. This year, a group of retired people got together to go work on the camp before it opened. This year was also the first year that the camp director was able to feel like things were ready when the first day of camp came around! (Note to retirees, you have worked hard and can spend your retirement years as you wish..but I want to put a bug in your ear to investigate one of the many groups that volunteer to work and help out volunteer organizations. Most denominations have a ministry that helps match up retirees with jobs around the country. It is a great way to travel, meet new people and also lend a much needed hand at the same time.)
God is using youth to reach out to the community as well. In our own area of the upstate of South Carolina, Youth are helping out with groups like Meals on Wheels, Miracle Hill(children's home), Soup kitchens and many more...
I am amazed at the things God is doing through people and I am praying for magnificent supernatural things to happen that can only be explained by giving credit to God! Have an awesome day! We serve a HUGE God!

My Aunt...

This week, I am heading to my Aunt's house along with my parents. This means that I will be interacting in an environment in which once again, I am the kid. No longer will I be a respected college instructor or pastor...I will just be the son/nephew that they have known since birth. I love those times! (For those who are reading that with a sarcastic bent, you are dead wrong!) I absolutely love the times when I can work with my dad and just be his son. No one is looking up to me for answers or advice or relying on me for anything more than, "Hey son, can you hand me that hammer?" type stuff. We will knock out my 70 year old aunt's "honey do" list of things she needs done around her house. Her husband is long gone, so trips to see her brighten up both of our lives. A few blogs back, I mentioned that I have great parents. They come from families of wonderful people. This Aunt, Abby is her name, has been like a second mother to me at many times in my life. It is great to be able to give something back to her now after she has done so much for me throughout my life. To those of you reading this...I know it isn't cutting edge church leadership ideas, but it is very, very important stuff! In a day when pastors and politicians seem to be falling by the wayside right and left with problems stemming from problems in the family/marriage, it is important to put God first, spouses second, kids third, and keep our priorities straight. Not sure exactly where God plans for extended family to fall in our list of priorities, but I am sure it is near the top. In Jesus' day, I don't think they differentiated much between "immediate family" and "extended family". Take time to take care of your family today!

Some thoughts on Acts Chapter 5

Acts 5: Verses 12-16 seem almost impossible, and if we separate it from the rest of the chapter, it most likely would be. After verse 16, we see how the early church leaders were persecuted. Even though they were spared death by Rabbi Gamaliel’s speech, they were still beaten. (vs. 40) Notice that in verse 41, the apostles who had been beaten with whips were rejoicing “because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name. “ So how does that affect the miracles going on in verses 12-16? The early church lived dangerously and at the same time powerfully! Not in their own power but in the power of the Holy Spirit! They didn’t just pray about the sick in their congregation, they healed them! Many of these healings throughout the book of Acts are sudden and dramatic. They aren’t just someone feeling a little better after a prayer is said, they are crippled people getting up and walking, paralyzed people not just twitching a toe, but getting up and leaping and jumping in the air! People are raised from the dead! Before you start thinking, “that was then, we live in the 21st century now and those things don’t happen”, remember, our Lord Jesus Christ is the same Yesterday, Today and Forever! (Hebrews 13:8) Pray believing that the Lord will do miraculous things!

Excellence

The following quote is by Richard Pachter and is referring to the book The Dip by Seth Godin.
The one possible weakness of this otherwise terrific little volume is that it is aimed solely at people who are creative, intelligent and want to succeed. Those who are mediocre, unmotivated or just coasting through life will probably not get much from Godin. He is not an elitist, but his message is squarely aimed at those who want to succeed or at least achieve excellence.
After reading the quote, it made me think of the Bible! The message isn't elitist, God wants that ALL people recognize HIM and come to know HIM in a very personal way. HE would love for ALL people to fall head over heals in love with HIS Son Jesus! Why is it that the church is so full of "mediocre, unmotivated or just coasting through life" Christians. Have a great day serving God with excellence!

Dealing with Attendance Slumps...

Ok, so your church has been thriving and growing, and it seems like God is blessing you immensely! And then, something happens. Is it sin in the camp? Is it the music? Are the greeters to friendly? You experience a drop in attendance. It may, or may not be accompanied by a drop in offering, but you notice that there aren't as many people coming. How do you as a leader approach this new dynamic. You can put your head in a hole and not admit that anything is going on. You can make excuses, "Its summer." "Holiday weekend" "Raining" "Beautiful weather for a day at the lake" "Game day" "Race day"... You can blame people in the church for not being holy enough to make God a priority. (And there may be some truth in that one.) Or you can get away with God and find the passion for Him that helped you through when your church was just a church plant. Find the excitement that you had when you first took over the church and you saw all the potential that this congregation had for reaching out to the community. As a leader, are you casting a vision that people want to follow? Will they really miss anything if they skip a week? When someone asks, "So what's new at your church?" Do they respond with enthusiasm about all the great things God is doing and the ways the church is reaching out to the community and changing lives? Or do they say, "You know how it is..., same old, same old." If the leadership of the church doesn't know where it is going, then those on the outer circle won't make it a priority to be there because they won't know either. Have an awesome day! Let God inspire you to greatness in your ministry whatever that may be!

Just for fun...

Ok, not my normal fare, but my aunt sent this to me in an e-mail. I found it quite funny.
TOP 12 INDICATORS THAT THE ECONOMY IS BAD....

12. CEO's are now playing miniature golf.

11. I got a pre-declined credit card in the mail.

10. I went to buy a toaster oven, and they gave me a bank.

9. Hot wheels and Match box car companies are now trading higher than GM in the stock market.

8. Obama met with small businesses - GE, Pfizer, Chrysler, Citigroup and GM - to discuss the Stimulus Package.

7. McDonalds is selling the 1/4 ouncer.

6. People in Beverly Hills fired their nannies and are learning their children's names.

5. The most highly-paid job is now jury duty.

4. People in Africa are donating money to Americans.

3. Motel 6 won't leave the lights on (Gore & Pelosi are thrilled).

2. The Mafia is laying off judges.

............And the Number 1 indicator

1. If the bank returns your check marked as "insufficient funds," you have to call them and ask if they meant you or them.