GrowthStarts

Fighting temptation

I spent most of yesterday writing devotions for next week based on Sunday's sermon in the Villain series. Talking about Satan's m.o. and how he operates. According to Satan's temptation of Jesus in the wilderness, he only has three "knocks" to try to get into our hearts and trip us up. You'll have to hear Mike's message Sunday for more, and don't forget to use the Digging Deeper devotionals next week!

In light of all that, I asked for prayer in staff meeting because each week when I write these devotionals I can palpably feel the oppression of Satan coming against it. So I ask for your prayers as well. Satan hates it when we get into His Word on a daily basis.

In my quiet time this morning reading through the book of Titus, the verse that stood out to me, especially after thinking all day yesterday about how we fight temptation, was Titus 2:12 (NIV): “It [grace] teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age.”

Though Satan may be trying to lead us into ungodliness and worldy passions, grace teaches us to say "No" to these things and instead say "Yes" to living self-controlled, upright, godly lives.

If grace is my teacher, what am I doing to improve my learning? This is not something you can cram for at the last minute. This is a test that you need to study for every day. And part of that involves a daily time in God's Word and in prayer, in fellowship with the Master Teacher, who is full of grace and truth.

Another random thought this morning about temptation...Charles Stanley writes that Satan tends to come with temptation when we are under certain conditions, which he outlines using the acronym H.A.L.T.:

• Hungry
• Angry
• Lonely
• Tired

This means we must always keep our guard up! You can see these conditions when Jesus was tempted in the wilderness. But we can overcome, in spite of these limitations.

One more nugget from Charles Stanley...he notes that Jesus used Scripture to fight Satan and lists four reasons why the Word is so effective against temptation:

1. God's Word exposes the sinfulness of what you're being tempted to do. Satan tries to convince that sin really isn't that bad, but the Bible exposes sin for what it is.
2. God's Word gives you God's viewpoint. It helps you separate yourself somewhat from the emotional impact of temptation.
3. God's Word helps you focus your thoughts elsewhere--the principle of displacement. It keeps you from thinking about temptation by focusing your attention on God's thoughts.
4. Turning your attention to God's Word helps you express faith that God can get you through this.

Bottom line: If you want to be successful in fighting temptation, you need to immerse yourself in God's Word daily!

Aqua goodness

Just got the spring Aqua Box from Catalyst. It's a quarterly box of goodies as part of a Catalyst Filter membership. Here's what came:

• Book: Mad Church Disease: Overcoming the Burnout Epidemic by Anne Jackson (Zondervan, 2009)
• Book: Fixing Abraham: How Taming Our Bible Heroes Blinds Us to the Wild Ways of God by Chris Tiegreen (SaltRiver, 2009)
• Book: Life@Work GroupZine Volume One: The Art of Balance (Nelson Impact, 2006)
• DVD: For Tomorrow: The TOMS Shoes Story
• CD: On the Blue by Joel Auge (Integrity Music, 2008)
• CD: Kari Jobe by Kari Jobe (Integrity Music, 2009)
• Magazine: Collide: Where Media and the Church Converge, January/February 2009 issue

Mmm...aqua goodness...

Week-end Update

Happy 2009, everybody!

• It's been a nice, relaxing week and a half off for the holidays.
• Our family has enjoyed some down time, although it's quickly coming to an end. :(
• We've enjoyed the Wii that we gave Jenni, although getting a base hit in baseball is proving elusive for me, just like in real life. But I'm da bom in cattle racing, which unfortunately has no real-life connection.
• Had a nice relaxing New Year's Eve at home, as per tradition. This was the first year that Jenni stayed up with us to ring in the new year. She was looking pretty sleepy around 11:30, but she made it! We toasted each other with chocolate milk and then shot off a few fireworks in the driveway.
• Spent a good deal of Jan. 1 & 2 putting away Christmas decorations. I will so miss the lights at night.
• Trying out a new cake recipe today...Italian Cream Cake (coconut, pecans, cream cheese icing...yum!), a recipe from Johnnie Gabriel, local baker who is Paula Deen's cousin. This is for a family birthday celebration Sunday night.
• On the other end of the spectrum, my wife and I are commiting to getting healthy in 2009. We want to be more disciplined this year to lose weight and exercise.
• The new year will be a year of 50s for me resolution-wise. Taking off 50 pounds and reading 50 books. Any competitors want to join me on either front?
• I think my theme verse for 2009 is 2 Timothy 1:7: "For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline" (NIV).
• Disney World's theme for 2008 was the year of wishes. Our cat Mae has said that for her 2009 is the year of vicious. (What? Your cat doesn't talk?)
• Mae's favorite Christmas present was a two-dollar red laser pointer. Makes her wild.
• We're also re-examining our routines and calendars to make improvements for the new year.
• Thinking through some possible changes for GrowthStarts. I've been restless for a few months. I know God has a "new thing" in store. I'm excited about the future of this ministry!
• Also excited about NorthStar. Incredible growth in 2008 has led to starting this new 5 p.m. Sunday service beginning Jan. 11.
• This coming week means life getting back to normal, whatever that is. We start a new series tomorrow at NorthStar: Core. And it's back to school and back to the office Monday.

Randomneity

• It's quiet here in the office on a Thursday afternoon. I get more done when it's quiet.
• Due to the crazy gas shortage, our staff has been advised to telecommute Monday and Tuesday next week.
• Passed four gas stations with no gas before I stopped at a QuikTrip this afternoon. Gas for $3.97 with cars snaked out into the street. But they had two employees directing cars to empty pumps so it went fairly quickly, smoothly, and anger-free.
• My throat is sore. Hope I'm not coming down with something.
• Looking forward to taking a walk with my family tonight. Gotta love this fresh fall air starting to take over our days.
• Busy weekend coming up: family reunion Saturday and Six Flags Sunday.
• My iPod mood today: Elton John.

13 happy years

Took a day of vacation today to spend with my lovely bride Cheryl. It was 13 years ago today that we braved the summer heat (part of the AC was out in the church) and said "I do" in front of about 300 of our closest friends. I truly cannot believe it's been 13 years.

Celebrated in a very low key way today by eating lunch at Elevation (a new restaurant in Kennesaw, GA right on the airport where you can see planes take off and land) and doing a little shopping. Frankly, it's not what we do, but just being together, that makes life special.

My prayer for myself this week...

"May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
       be pleasing in your sight,
       O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer."

-- Psalm 19:14 (NIV)

Simple pleasures

Sometimes it's the simple things that bring the most pleasure:

• Lounging around yesterday morning, drinking coffee till the pot is dry
• The all-day process of making homemade ice cream
• Catching up on Bloglines
• Reading a book (remember those?)
• Grilling a burger
• Watching Huey Lewis & the News on A Capitol Fourth on PBS
• Watching Huey Lewis drop his microphone on live TV in front of millions of people <snicker>
• Watching Acworth's fireworks from the parking lot of WalMart so we can avoid the crowds and traffic (and overhearing a couple of guys in a pickup truck saying, "If watching fireworks from the WalMart parking lot isn't redneck, I don't know what redneck is!")
• Putting on our own very small show of fireworks (from Publix) in the driveway while neighbors behind us fire off industrial grade ones to rival A Capitol Fourth
• Making waffles this morning

So far it's been a great 4th of July weekend!

I'm back...

It's been an interesting week full of bronchitis and last minute prep for yesterday's Walk Thru the New Testament Seminar. I have had no time and no energy to blog until now.

I came down with something Tuesday night and it was sudden. I was up all night except for 2 hours of fitful sleep at the end of the night. After having walking pneumonia last year, I didn't want to play around this time...and I wanted sleep! So I called the doctor's office Wednesday morning in hopes of an appointment. After being told there were none available Wednesday and Thursday looked iffy, they called me back and told me that his 9:15 had just canceled and could I be there that soon? Absolutely! (Thanks, Lord!)

Verdict: bronchitis. My lungs sounded quite croupy. Got some great antibiotic and heavy-duty cough syrup (with a narcotic!) and back home I went to sleep the next 2 days.

Somehow God gave me the strength for the seminar yesterday. Thank God I did not have to teach it! It was a great day with about 140 registrants. I'll report some more on it in a day or two after I process everything. But for now, here's a nice note from Robert Ledbetter (one of the registrants as well as a colleague on staff at NorthStar):

Linda and I had a great time today at “The Walk.” Thanks for the free ticket. Every one I spoke with had a great time and really learned a lot about the New Testament. The food and teaching were first class. I’m really proud of the way NorthStar was able to show God’s love today.

(By the way, he got a free ticket simply by being a staff member. I believe in taking care of your own. Membership has its privileges!)

So it was a great day and thanks to great volunteers we pulled it off. And I came home and crashed...and I'm still crashing.

Looking forward to watching a little Super Bowl (mostly the commercials) and eating some party food a little later.

Catching Up

It's been a fast-paced few days with no time to blog. Here's some of what's been happening:

• Acworth Mayor Tommy Allegood gave his State of the City address last Thursday, January 24 at NorthStar as part of the Acworth Business Association meeting, with about 250 community leaders present. Our senior pastor Mike Linch and community pastor Marlon Longacre took part in the proceedings. And this morning Mike was Chaplain of the Day for the Georgia State Senate downtown.
• Our 8-year-old daughter went to her first sleepover Friday night for a birthday party. I can't believe Jenni is almost 9. Yikes!
• Our new Stephen Ministry group finished up their 50 hours of training and had a small commissioning service Saturday afternoon. I led worship and Mike took part as well. Pam Plasket and Cindy Isgette have done an incredible job of shepherding this vision. We commissioned 12 Stephen Ministers (including Pam) and they are now ready to serve. Stephen Ministers come alongside hurting people for a season and help them through tough times. You'll be hearing more about them soon...
• Our GrowthStarts premarital seminar "ENGAGED: Starting Your Marriage Off Right" was a huge success Sunday. Laura Belli, a licensed counselor with Legacy Strategy Inc., leads this practical seminar that prepares engaged couples for marriage. We had 7 couples (plus 1 seminary student "auditing"). The next premarital seminar is scheduled for April 20. (Register here.)
• In services Sunday we had an offering of over $100,000, almost making up for the missed offering the week before when churches were closed due to the winter weather. That is incredible!
• Today I have been working from home. Jenni is home sick and my wife Cheryl is teaching. It turns out that half the kids in Jenni's class are out with the same symptoms! In fact, it's the lowest attendance day the entire school has ever seen! Excuse me while I go disinfect the entire house...
• At this point we have 124 registered for the Walk Thru the New Testament Seminar this Saturday, February 2. There's always room for one more, so...go ahead! Sign up here.

Merry Christmas!

"The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."

-- John 1:14 (NIV)