LifeChange Event

I have to tell you about this exciting event that is coming to our church this Sunday night! Read on!

LifeChange Event
Sunday, April 27th at 7 pm
At Bethel Baptist Church
Pre-service music starts at 6:45 pm

Speaker
Brad Kelley
World’s Strongest Bench Press in His Weight Class
Holds many World Records!
Bench presses over 800lbs!
His twin brother, Bart, will be here to support him and help him as they show great feats of strength!

His most powerful feat of strength is the incredible testimony that God has given to him.

He is the Associate Pastor at Mountain Creek Baptist Church, where he devotes his time to the families and youth in the community. Come and see the great strength God has given to him and hear the inspirational testimony that God has laid upon his heart!

“Brad, is one of the most incredible, powerful, and inspirational speakers I’ve ever heard. God has anointed this man of God to do many great and powerful things and I believe the best is yet to come. I am blessed to call this man a brother in Christ and one of my best friends.”
Pastor David Bagwell
Bethel Baptist Church
Westminster, SC 29693

Simple Church: For those you who have YET to read it! Shame on You!

I read this book when it first came out two years ago and it has revolutionized how I look at church. I have blogged about it, dreamed about, and think about it EVERY SINGLE DAY! Two years later people are still blogging about it and so thrilled about how great it is! I have taken our staff through it and now I am taking our deacons through the book. If you have not read it...YOU SHOULD! Here are some of the quotes from the book.

"Churches with a simple process for reaching and maturing people are expanding the kingdom."

• "Many of our churches have become cluttered. So cluttered that people have a difficult time encountering the simple and powerful message of Christ."
• "Great amounts of activity do not produce life change. It only gives the impression that things are happening, that there is life."
• "If the purpose is hazy, the process for making the purpose happen has not entered the picture."
• "If the goal is to keep certain things going, the church is in trouble. The end result must always be about people. Programs should only be tools."
• "The goal is to partner with God to move people through the stages of spiritual growth. Changed lives are the bottom line, the intended end result. Christ formed in people is the goal."
• "The first group consisted of growing and healthy churches. These churches had grown 5 percent a year for three consecutive years. Few churches do that. Sadly, less than 2 percent of all churches in America experience that type of consistent growth."
• "Some churches are not clear on a ministry process because they do not have one."
• "Focus does not make church leaders popular."
• "To be simple you have to eliminate the unnecessary. Most of the things you eliminate will be good things. They were started with a passionate leader and a perceived or real need."
• "People will not live out something they cannot remember."
• "When you are tired of talking about it, people will just be in the first stages of understanding."
• "Sadly, in many churches people are stuck in the same place spiritually. And there is no intentional process to move them."
• "You must begin with the process, not the programs... If the programs do not fit into your process, you need to eliminate them."
• "Choose one program for each phase of your process... Multiple programs for each phase of the process divide attention and energy."
• "Church leaders must avoid the two extremes of micromanagement and neglect. Micromanagement stifles creativity and hampers shared leadership. Neglect fosters complacency and leads to a fragmented team."
• "One would think that the more programs and the more special events that are offered, the great the impact. Our research has confirmed that the opposite is true."
• "The churches that experienced the highest percentages of growth were the churches that offered fewer programs."
• "The majority of churches choose not to change. They would rather die. Tragically, in most churches, the pain of change is greater than the pain of ineffectiveness."

Tennessee Mission Trip

What an ABSOLUTELY fantastic mission trip! 13 men from my church traveled to Hancock County, Tennessee, which is the poorest county in the state. We worked with New Freedom Baptist Church and built a porch, stairs, and a bathroom.

I would estimate from driving around the countryside that the majority of the churches and homes we saw outside of town are using outhouses! Let me stop there and say that I DID NOT use it! Haha...of course many of our men did and we even "accidentally" left one guy in the outhouse in the dark! The rest of us left for the cabin. We didn't know till later that "hey anybody see Joel"....haha I am just glad he forgave me. I have never left a person behind before and that includes taking children on trips, youth on trips, and adults to Ecuador, England, and Romania.

You could have not put a better group of guys together! The guys are already talking about a doing another trip. I am so PUMPED about what God did through our men on this trip. Because of their efforts a sister church can better meet the needs of their members and visitors and provide a better atmosphere for growth.

Here are some pictures of before and after. I can't wait till the next trip!

Do you wanna get Dunked?

The past three weeks have baptized 9 individuals! It has been a great experience! What better way to worship the King of Kings than by following through in the act of Baptism!

Baptism is the perfect symbol of obedience! It is a symbol to the world that they are not ashamed of being a Christian and a Child of God! Everytime I perform baptism I get emotional, it is a just powerful and holy event!

Would it not be great if I got to do BAPTISM every week! This should be the goal of every church!

Yard work

I worked Monday so I figured I would take off Thursday and do some well needed yard work.

Well its Thursday and it has rained all day. I guess the Lord had something else planned.

Is it not funny that God has a way of messing up our plans. And though it can be aggrivating I am sure glad God does it.

Who wants to yard work anyway...