Re-energized

Our trip to Daytona Beach has been wonderful this week. We played in the ocean with the kids and caught some rays. I think I got a tan...with my fair complexion it's always hard to tell!

I definitely feel re-energized. I had been dragging the past few weeks and I think my brain needed some down time. I'm excited about June and what it has in store for TrueNorth:

-June 4 starts our summer series "Short Stories". We're going to walk through some of Jesus' parables and how they apply to our lives today.
-June 11 is Dunk'd at the river. What an exciting time to see 40+ people dunk'd for Jesus!
-June 23 is Facedown. If you haven't been to Facedown before, it is incredible. What is Facedown? It's our way of doing communion. We celebrate and meditate upon what Christ has done for us. This edition's theme? Freedom. More to come soon...

God has really impressed on me this week how blessed we are to be alive. His creation is absolutely beautiful! And He wraps His loving arms around us everytime the wind blows or the sun shines. How awesome it is to be alive!!!!

The Beach!!!

Laurie and I packed up the kids today to go on a little roadtrip to Daytona Beach. Nice. We actually have never been to the beach together...there's a first for everything. I didn't grow up going to the beach a lot, and haven't really tried it much as an adult, but that's probably because of the incredibly fair skin I have. The sun doesn't like me. I'm convinced of it!

Anyway, we pulled in around 6pm tonight. Got the van unloaded and the kids settled. One thing that is really cool about our room is the balcony that you can go out on and admire the view. As I was out there, it hit me how endless the ocean is. I mean, there was no end as far as I could see. It made me think on God. He is so BIG and HUGE...and ENDLESS. I have a feeling I'm going to be hit with some much need inspiration this week! Until next time...

Ouch!!!

So, I experienced a very humbling thing Sunday night. I was playing basketball with some guys at the high school and things were going pretty good, with the exception of my out-of-shapeness! I had the ball, cut to the left and then stopped to cut to the right. I should actually say that my body went to the right, but my left knee kept going to the left! Long story short, my knee popped out and popped back in. Probably THE most painful thing I've ever gone through in my life!

I bring this up because I've come to realize that I take some very simple things for granted...like walking. Laurie has had to help me tie my shoes or take off socks. It's been very humbling...and frustrating! But through it all, I've felt God telling me to appreciate the little things.

It doesn't look like anything is serious (probably just a sprain!), but even if there is something serious, I'm learning to take things in stride and be thankful for what I do have! As Job said, "the Lord gives and the Lord takes away!"

TNC brings the funk!

Today we started our new series, Da Vinci Defunked, today and I have to say it's off to a great start! We got a little funky today, with Brad Nichols singing lead on "Play That Funky Music". It was a fun change-up to our services.

Steve did an excellent job starting this series and also looking at "The Mary Myth". If you weren't there, check it out here. What an incredible opportunity we have to engage a culture with something that is relevant to their lives.

Hope to see you back for the last two weeks of Da Vinci Defunked!

Worship Like a Child

Relevant Magazine has a great article posted on their website about worshipping God like a 1st grader. I have noticed in my short stint on this planet that people become more "refined" as that get older, which can be good and bad.

Wisdom is a treasure that only comes with age. I can't wait to get older for that very reason! But what about the passion of someone younger? When I went to the Passion Conference in Nashville back in January, I got to experience the worship of 18,000 college students...all on fire for Christ! They were uninhibited.

We're all capable of this. Go to a college football game. It's amazing how many "grown adults" make fools of themselves over a game that lasts a few hours, but those same people won't even consider acting the same way for the everlasting God who has saved them from sin and death.

I'm guilty of this too. Oftentimes I don't feel like it, or I'm focused on myself. Self-centeredness is the biggest obstacle to worship. That is why self-sacrifice is a key ingredient to entering the presence of God.

Next time you're in worship, think about what Christ has done for you and then let your heart respond how it wants to. Don't worry about who is watching. Just let it go. That's the sacrifice of praise.

Missions

Perry Noble, pastor of NewSpring Church in Anderson, SC, had a great post on missions this past week. Check it out here!.

He makes a really great point. Yes, we are to take the gospel to everyone in every part of the world. But sometimes we forget that there are missions ops in our back yard. There are countless people that we come in contact with that haven't heard the gospel or had a bad experience with church. We MUST be the light to this darkened world and reach out to the people...and that has to start in our town!

His Space

We wrapped up our His Space series today. A series that looked at how to change My Space into His Space. I think this series has been very relevant to our lives today because it took a fresh angle on how to live the Christian life in today's world. LIke Steve said today, we're to live in the world...not away from it.

So I'm curious to hear your thoughts on the series. What spoke to you the most? What have you taken away and applied to your life? How has God changed you through this series? I'd love to hear your feedback! Just leave your comment(s) and feel free to respond to someone else's thoughts. Let's open up the discussion!

Freedom isn't Free

My JTeam talked last night about how to win over temptation. Something we talked a lot about was how hard it is to be a Christ-follower in today's culture. It is so easy to compromise today because we can justify in our minds that we're not as bad as the world. But what we don't realize is how far removed from God the culture has become today. If we are content staying just one step away from the world, we are still going to drift away from God. It's a 24 hour, 7 day a week battle!

Something our pastor, Steve, mentioned in his message a few weeks ago was that freedom isn't free. Think of America. We have soldiers all over the world fighting for our freedom. To stay free, we must sacrifice something...we must fight!

Galatians 5:1 says that "it is for freedom that Christ set us free." Christ didn't set us free so we could continue to live bondaged to the same struggles. No, He set us free so we could enjoy life the way it is truly meant to be lived...FREE. I would encourage you to look at your life and see what things continue to tempt you. Once you realize what they are, avoid them! Don't continue putting yourself in temptations way. As the last part of Galatians 5:1 one says, "stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery."