Turning The Corner

It seems to me that the fall ( after Labor Day ) is the time when the church makes the greatest strides in the area of attendance and commitment. For the church, new beginnings often come when the new school year commences. The Sunday after Labor Day, not the first Sunday of the year, is the day we look forward to as a kind of measuring stick for the next 8 months.

If this past Sunday is any indication of things to come, then we are in for a great year! On Labor Day Sunday, if such a day exists, we more than doubled my anticipated attendance.

And while I firmly believe that numbers DO matter to God, there have been other exciting developments as well: In the last three weeks, people have begun to take ownership of the ministries of the church and many have signed up to serve for the first time. . . I've seen new faces at church, and seen evidence of God at work in their lives. . . I hear people talking about who they want to invite to church and who they are reaching out to . . .

It is so exciting to see God at work, laying the foundation and putting things in place for the future!

I am looking forward to Sunday with an anticipation similar to our opening day. If you're reading this, please take time to pray for the people being invited to Threshold this Sunday. Pray that lives will be impacted and that people will be drawn into a relationship with Jesus Christ.

And watch what God will do.

Church Signs - What are they for?

In fact that does say "ETERNITY - SMOKING OR NONSMOKING"

For some time I have been annoyed by the signs that pop up all across our area on the property of our local churches. The message they often send is very negative and a turn off to people who don't attend church.

About 15 years ago I read a study (that I can no longer find) related to church signs. The study generally concluded that churches that only listed church activities were the most well received by the un-churched community. The second group of signs always had the Pastor's message for the upcoming Sunday. If the titles asked a question the rest of the world was interested in, the signs were also received well. The category that was consistently offensive was the signs that the "church" finds funny or cute.

The "That will show those unbelieving losers" kind of signs defeat the very stated purpose of the church. If you really think winning those far from God will be achieved with an offensive sign, you haven't polled your congregation to see how many came to Christ when confronted with a sign that read "Turn or Burn."

I asked a first time attender to church what drew him to our church and in the process of the conversation he revealed that he takes pictures of our local signs and shows them to his un-believing friends for a good laugh. He said "At first they offended me, then I started to look for the new ones so I could get a good laugh and eventually I started taking pictures ... they have no clue how stupid those signs are." So on a day when I had to look at two new ones in one day, I thought I would keep a photo log here. I hope I soon run out of material and the signs go away.

See a sign in Boiling Springs - Submit it to thresholdchurch@live.com. I'll be glad to add it to the list.

MyGroups

Our first MyGroup GroupLink will be held after church this Sunday, Aug. 22nd. We will eat together and a brief presentation of Groups will be made. You will have an opportunity to sign up for a group if one works with your schedule. More information on groups will be added next week.

Sunday De-Brief

Sunday Debrief - Independence Day Style

*It was good to see some old friends and new faces today as we worshiped together.

*By the way, "old friends" refers to how long I've known someone, not to their age.

* We continued our study of the Ten Commandments, specifically looking at honoring your father and mother.

* God deals with us harshly if we don't honor our parents. In Romans, He compares those who don't honor their parents to murderers.

* The music was awesome today! I think Jordan is starting to get used to us! He did a great job of helping us focus on God and and who He is.

* Our new bass player is waaay better than the last one we had.

* (I was the last bass player. It is so much much easier for me to prepare to teach when I'm not trying to play the bass.)

* It's good when church is over and folks just hang around because they enjoy each other. Seriously, I've been at churches where people just didn't like each other. I'm glad Threshold is not like that.

* I mentioned today how good God has been to us lately with financial matters. He has always provided just what we needed when we needed it. As we reach out to the community with Movies in the Park, God has supplied every financial need this brand new church has had. And it is awesome and humbling be so taken care of by Him.

So, I hope everyone enjoys the rest of their holiday. As we celebrate the freedom we have as a country, remember also, that our freedom in Christ is far greater.

Ryan

Sunday Re-Cap

* We had a great time of worship with guest worship leader Jordan Lukens.
* The children shared what they have learned over the last two months with a multimedia presentation that really helped us prepare for the message.
* I had no idea of the topic the kids would be sharing on, and it fit the sermon perfectly!
* I noticed people were laughing a lot during the sermon. I hope it was with me and not AT me. :)
* We bought a mobile air conditioner unit to supplement the big one. It seemed to be just enough to keep us comfortable.
*(Well, in conjunction with the sprinkler on the roof!)
* It was our second week of looking at the Ten Commandments. We talked about not taking the Lord's name in vain, having reverence for who God is, and being in a right relationship with God so that we can live in His protection. Good stuff.

Hope to see everyone back on Sunday!
The End.
Ryan

Excited bout the Movie

June 18 will be the second movie of 2010 for the Boiling Springs community. We will be showing THE SPY NEXT DOOR. Every family will be given a bag full of local information and valuable coupons. The give away selections are bigger than ever and one family will be treated to something that will be the envy of everyone. Chick-fil-A will be there and we will have all the free sno-cones you can crunch.

Long Time Coming

So much has happened in the last 3 months and I, once again, have had nothing to say about it on the blog. . .

We have been through at least 85 musicians in the last three months and to say the least, that has been a bit draining. (Yes 85 is an exaggeration!) It seems when something is not running on all cylinders, it just drains you a little more. There is the constant searching and calling and interviewing also. A bit of the experience has been reminiscent of American Idol... some really talented folks and some that must be heard to be believed. (I am convinced that one of the greatest wrongs in our world is mamas telling their kids they have musical talent when they don't.)

Of course that is followed closely by people sleeping under bridges and eating out of dumpsters. Actually that is the purpose of this post and the other was just to get you to agree with something I write.

It seems that we are in the habit of getting really excited about things that have little eternal significance and we have very little concern for things that make a huge difference. I have often wondered what would happen if we successfully pulled just one person from the cycle of dependance and hopelessness and could see the result of their life-change 20 years out. What would future generations look like?

Peer Pressure

You know that peer pressure can be a really strange thing. Some parts of the issue can't be fully explained by simple analysis. I'm writing this entry because of peer pressure but I am choosing what to write. My peers harass me if I go more than two weeks without an entry.

Peer pressure can be good and it can be bad. Some believe peer pressure exposes who you really are when you give in to the pressure. Of course that only applies if the thing you gave in to was a bad thing. If you were influenced to do good outside your standard character, then you are in a phase or just trying to be someone you're not.

Peer pressure can bring great rewards when acted on and it can also bring great sadness when acted on.

The greatest problem with peer pressure is when you are still suffering consequences years after a decision has been made.

This week I have seen the single most painful,lasting result of a bad decision made earlier in life.

I don't know when the first introduction to drugs came, for that matter I knew nothing about drugs or a struggle past or present with drugs in the life of my friend.

I knew about some issues with alcohol which was probably also introduced by a peer, but I had no clue of any other struggle.

My friend lost his life and everyone believes narcotics were involved. As I talked with another friend he told me of the struggles of so many to shake off and become free of the addiction to narcotics. He said he had witnessed people free from drugs relapse after up to six years. In their drug induced state they acted out of character for them. Often times it resulted in a crime being committed.

In my friend's case there was a crime committed and the proper response of law enforcement ended a life seemingly devoted to God in every aspect. But there was that one area that very few were aware of where satan was quietly using a decision made years earlier to destroy a life, even one devoted to God.

I don't doubt my friend's devotion to God but I will always wonder why help wasn't sought. I will also be left to wonder if my friend had given up on life and become weary in trying to undo the damage done by giving in to peer pressure so many years ago.

If there is any one lesson worth taking away from this experience for those who have never been bound by a drug, it is that in any area of life, God must have exclusive access. When we give Satan any place to set up camp in our life we invite a lifetime of regret for a life not lived exclusively for God.