I LOVE My Church!

I know that everyone gets sick of hearing me say how much I LOVE Restoration Ministries but deal with it! I DO! There is no place like RM in the world! There is no other group of people with whom I'd rather be in covenant relationship. You guys are the GREATEST!

We have some incredible things happening right now that I want to point out.

1st - We have seen 2 people accept Christ in the last two week!!! I am super excited about this!

2nd - We have been consistently over 100 in attendance on Sundays for more than 7 months now!! We are now pushing to break the 200 barrier! Keep inviting your friends, family, neighbors, co-workers, cashiers at Wal Mart, strangers at the gas station! Invite everyone you can! God is doing some powerful things and we want as many people as possible to be a part of it.

3rd -Our Kids Ministry is averaging around 30 kids a Sunday!!! I didn't know how much that was until they were all brought into the main auditorium when we installed Pastor Z into the Executive Team. Man, that was a lot of kids!

4th - We now have new Youth Pastors, Greg (Coop) and Ragan Cooper. We are super excited about this couple pastoring our teens. AND last night they had 16 teens in their meeting!! God is getting ready to do some incredible things in our student ministry as well.

5th - Our pews are GONE! We will all be sitting in comfortable, cushioned chairs this Sunday. There will be a little different arrangement as well. We are excited about this change.

6th - Our food distribution has been serving many families each week and has been averaging 11 volunteers!!! People are catching the vision of serving our community!!

I am PUMPED about all that is going on and all that God is doing here at RM! I've said it many times before and you'll probably get tired of hearing me say it...

I LOVE my church!

Catching Up!

I can't believe that I have not blogged since August of last year! That has just been slack. However, am going to begin blogging more consistently now in 2010 so for starters let me catch everyone up on some of the wonderful things going on at Restoration Ministries!

First, we have added another team member to our Executive Team. Pastor Zabrina Robinson is now serving the ministry as our Children's Pastor. She has been the director of our Children's Ministry for over a year now and has seen tremendous growth. It is with great excitement that we add her to this team!

Next, Greg and Ragan Cooper have agreed to become our Youth Pastors! They have been attending RM for about six months or so and we have watched their faithfulness and love for people during this time. We are pumped that God has sent us such a wonderful couple to disciple teens in this area.

Last, our pews have been sold and will be picked up at the first of march!!! We are pushing for a few of the renovations in the sanctuary to be completed by Easter!

This is an exciting time for RM! God is doing incredible things! Don't miss out!

Bold as Lions

In my devotional time this morning I read Proverbs 28:1 that states

"The wicked run away when no one is chasing them, but the godly are as bold as lions."

I thought about it for a few minutes and had to ask myself this question...

Which side better describes me?

Many times in life we are faced with chances to be bold in our beliefs or to be timid about being a Christ-follower. I have to admit, when I am asked what I do for a living by new people I meet, I find myself on the more timid nature. See, I can't stand it when people act normal around me until the find out that I'm a pastor. It seems that then they turn on this "religious" facade.

It's not that I'm embarrassed about what I do. It's not that I'm insecure in my gifting. I just HATE fake people. I have a hard time with ministers who talk in their "preacher voice" at the dinner table with their kids. I struggle with pastors that cut their grass in a suit and tie. That isn't REAL!

On the flip side, I can't stand it when someone is using profanity until they learn of my pastoral position and then starts throwing out "Hallelujah" and "Praise the Lord." In the same respect, that isn't REAL!

I can allow the boldness of the Holy Spirit to flow through my life without making others feel like the scum of the earth. I should be secure enough in who God is and who He created me to be that I don't have to prove my position by demanding others to stop being themselves.

Boldness: there have been a lot of weird and crazy things that have gone on in the name of boldness. Tell me your stories. Let's have a laugh together.

Also, how can we still be bold without becoming a flake? What are your thoughts?

The Poopy Bathroom

So, after church today, we went to Olive Garden to eat. After eating I took Micah to the restroom where there was someone in one of the stalls ridding themself of some recently consumed pasta. As soon as we walked in, Micah says (very loudly) "Dad, it's the stinky bathroom!"

I tried to squash it by explaining that every bathroom stinks... To which Micah replies "It's the poopy bathroom dad!"

It wasn't but a few moments until they were done and out of the bathroom!

I LOVE parenthood!!!

Give Us Direction

This weekend Restoration Ministries is hosting a Prophetic Weekend with Tracy Stewart. Now before you start having a cow and think that we are a bunch of freakish charismatics that get together so that we can "prophesy" to one another, hold on!

By "prophetic weekend" we mean that we long to press in and hear from the Father. We want to know what He is saying to us in this moment.

Tracy Stewart is a powerful prophetic voice with an incredible gift to be able to expound on the Word of God with humor and simplicity.

Service will be Friday and Saturday at 7PM and Sunday at 10:30AM and will be held at Restoration Ministries at 338 Amy Drive Goose Creek, SC. Full service nursery will be available for all services as well.

If you are near the area, come by and let's hear what God is saying to us. It's going to be a powerful few days.

Old Time Religion

Tomorrow I am going back into my series "Old Time Religion" in which I am trying to look past the methods of the "old church" and find the principles that we would do good to practice.

Many times we have written off all of the stuff that we learned as children but there are many principles that we need to reclaim to be a true Christ follower.

The last principle we looked at was the principle of perserverance. The "old timers" had the ability or, should I say, the tenacity to push past turbulent times and make the best of their opportunities. They would just buckle down and make things happen. They could push past adversity and remain committed to their cause.

Todays generation is quick to quit... a job, a church, a friendship... we are even the first generation to divorce our parents. We would be a better people if we all learned the principle of perserverance. Stay committed, even when we don't fully agree.

Anyway, tomorrow we are going to be looking at the priniple of the drop... or as some would say, sacrifice. Come on out and let's take a look at this "old school" principle that would do much good in todays culture of greed and materialism. Invite a friend and let's see what God wants to do!

Irrelevant Language

Over the past few months God has been doing something powerful in me. While it is powerful I am finding myself changing. I have always been and will always be unapologetically pentecostal. However, many of the things we pentecostals do, in the name of being pentecostal, reeks of irrelevance! The language we use and the way we portray Christ would send most seekers running away from instead of to Christ.



We have been searching for ways to cherish our deep pentecostal heritage while at the same time presenting Christ in a relevant manner to those that don't know him and that may not be familiar with our pentecostal antics.



Now for those of you that think I am running off the deep end and going "seeker"... Well I AM! Shouldn't we do everything we can to reach the "seekers"? Isn't that what the Great Commission is all about? Didn't Jesus come to seek and save that which is lost?

However, I am not leaving my pentecostal roots or beliefs. I STILL pray in tongues. I STILL prophesy. I STILL confess the word. I STILL get lost in passionate praise & worship. I STILL follow the leading of the Holy Spirit. What I REFUSE to do is become one of those spooky kind of people!

I have a heart for SOULS! I want to see people become true followers of Christ. I want lives to be changed! And I don't want to freak them out in the process!!!

So come on folks, let's stop being super-freakishly spiritual and live out our faith in a REAL way. After all, that's what Jesus did.