Random Rantings of a Redheaded Reverend
New Blog Address
In case anyone is still checking in on this old blog site, we have moved! You can now go to www.hopecreekchurch.net and click on our new pastor's blog there.
Easter Series!
Hello everyone! We are gearing up for the biggest weekend of the year to celebrate the biggest event in history-- the Resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! I hope that you are excited about this incredible weekend when God showed how very much He loved us by giving His life for us! Jesus said in Luke 19:10: “I came to seek and save those who are lost.” So many people feel that way today: "Lost." People feel lost in the direction of their lives. People feel lost in the pain from their past. People feel lost in their problems and weaknesses. People feel lost in their relationships. Many even feel lost from God. But Jesus came on God's search and rescue mission: To seek and to save the lost! I hope you will jon us on Sunday as we begin our new Series LOST with Episode I: Lost from God. We will have two service times. 9:00 and 10:30. It is going to be awesome!
QUESTION
I have been thinkin a lot latley about a creative way to build curiosity in people we invite to HCC with our invite cards AND about calling the "service" something besides the "SERVICE"! Man, does that captivate??? "Hey ya'll come check out our "service"." "Boy our service sure was good wadn'it?" Sounds like a FUNERAL! "Boy, mama shore looked good didn't she?" "What a good service." SERVICE just don't cut it! So help me out with ideas.
How about an invite card shaped kind of like a movie ticket? Saying something like..
MessageattheMovies.com
or
ChurchattheMovies.com
Then we could invite people to the Message at the Movies or Church at the Movies.
(Gary Lamb, dude, do't steal my idea and register the domain name! Or any other of you theater pastors for that matter!)
Or what about the Sunday Ticket?
Ideas that have been shot down...
Come check us out at the Moveme's. (that was mine and i even think it is pure CHEESE!)
Let me know what you guys think and any ideas you my have!
Thanks a bunch. See you at the service Sunday. Dude, that has got to go!
HUGE FRIDAY SHOUT OUT TO KAREN SHIRLEY, TINA HAWKINS, and ASHLEY JONES
I have got to give a HUGE shout out to these three God gals! They are all new to the Creek and doing GREAT! Their enthusiasm about HCC is just AWESOME! We are so glad to have them and their families! Karen is like BRINGIN' EVERYBODY! We are feeding her family with free chicken sandwich cards! -)! Tina is just ON FIRE about what GOD is doing. And so is Ashley! You guys are such an encouragement to me and your enthusiasm is contagious! Keep it up!
ONLINE SURVEY
SERIES IDEAS
Dreaming together to find God’s creativity for Hope Creek
Hey ya'll. Online Survey for Creekers. Here are the ideas that I believe GOD is giving me for upcoming series at the Creek. To be honest I am BLOWN AWAY at GOD'S goodness. There is NO way I would know what to say to people if GOD didn't show me! Give me your thoughts on these topics and let me know which are your top three or four that you wold like to see us do at the Creek. Thanks so much for your input. Travis
The COLOR Of MONEY (March 19th – April 9th)
Keeping the GREEN in the BLACK
GREEN with ENVY
STAYING out of the RED
INVESTMENTS of GOLD
The VERDICT (April 16th – 30th)
How do I get to Heaven?
Am I Living the LIFE?
Am I a Christ Follower?
::RELATE:: (May 7th – June 25th)
Why Learning to RELATE is Vital
RELATE with my KIDS
RELATE 101
RELATE with GOD
RELATE with my MATE
RELATE on my JOB
RELATE with my CHURCH
RELATE with the UNCHURCHED
JULY (2nd-23rd) OPEN
SUMMER BLOCKBUSTER: The Life and Times of David Jessie’son (July 30th - August 27th)
Fighting Giants
Forming Friendships
Flirting with Temptation
Facing Discouragement
Fathering Kids
INKED: What would God say in PRINT
A Series on the Sermon on the Mount
Live Like You Were Dying
Know GOD
Make a DIFFERENCE
LOVE people
ENJOY the Ride
SHARE Christ
Pure SEX
Sex is a good GOD thing
The GREATEST Sex You’ve Ever Had
Twisted Sex
What Happens in Vegas WON’T Stay in Vegas
Sex and the Single
AMAZING GRACE (A Series on the hymn Amazing Grace. In a modern version!)
Amazing Grace
Grace from Fear
Grace through Trouble
Grace for Eternity
PAST TENSE: How to RELEASE MY PAST
RELEASING My Guilt
RELEASING My Grudges
RELEASING My Grief
ROOTS
A series about Adam and Eve to help explain the roots of man.
KEYS
The Key to Peace
The Key to Fulfillment
The Key to Power
The Keys to the Kingdom
The Key to Everything
MARGIN
Time Margin
Financial Margin
Emotional Margin
Relational Margin
GOD in HD
GOD is LOVE
GOD is HOLY
GOD is SOVEREIGN
GOD is FORGIVING
GOD is GOOD
GOD is LORD
GOD is COMMANDER
CARDIAC ARREST (Jan 07)
How’s your Heart? (Spiritual Heart Health Assessment)
Blockages (Blockages to God’s best)
Open Heart Surgery (Letting God give me a new heart)
The River of God (Jan 07)
Intimacy with God
Interaction with People
Impact through Ministry
BLUEPRINTS for RENNOVATIONS (Series on the book of Nehemiah)
Brokenness/Desire to renovate
Dependence on God
Perseverance
Teamwork
SHOUT OUT TO MY GOD DAUGHTER HANNAH
I have got to send out a SHOUT OUT to my God daughter Hannah Smith! She is an incredible, awesome young lady and I am SO proud of her and my God son Jacob. They are both just GREAT, SMART, and COOL kids. Can Frank Smith really be their dad?? Anyhow, shout out to Hannah because the girl has about the whole Salem High School at HCC! Seriously, she has brought about 5 friends to HC already! It is so AWESOME to see all of those kids there on Sundays. This is a hoot. Hannah got her drivers license the other day (watch out world) and Rhonda asked her if she wanted to get something to eat. Hannah said sure I have like 5 chicken sandwich cards that Travis sends me for inviting people to church! (We give free chick-fil-a sandwiches to people who invite their friends as a “thank you” for not being chicken to invite people to church.) That is a HOOT! You keep ‘em coming Hannah Banana and we will keep your family in chicken! I love you, Trav.
HUGE SHOUT OUT TO GARY LAMB AND RIDGESTONE CHURCH
Hey ya'll. WOW! God is brangin' da' WAVE at HCC! 128 on Sunday with 3 of us in Canton to check out Ridgestone Church and some other regulars out too. More new people again with 4 more welcome packs going out! There is just a BUZZ in the air at HCC that I have so DREAMED of but NEVER seen like this! It is AWESOME! Huge thanks to Buck for bringing the word Sunday for me. Also, a HUGE shout out to Gary Lamb and the volunteer staff at Ridgestone Church in Canton, Ga. We went over Sunday to check them out because they meet in a theater too and are a lot bigger than us. It was awesome! There is such an incredible buzz in the air there about what GOD is doing. The volunteers were awesome. And Gary, dude, he is like John the Baptist...with ADHD....on STERIODS! The man is WILD! But way COOL too. It was a great experience for us and showed us that we are right on track. I was stoked about the way they do kids ministry and set-up. Their band was awesome too. They were so receptive to us and Gary even gave us an unscheduled tour before the service started. I really appreciate that dude. Ya'll are right on track man. Stoked to about C3 next week. AWESOME things are happening in the KINGDOM!
COOL STAFF
I am so grateful and thankful for our staff at HCC. Yesterday and today have just been two of the BEST staff days you could imagine. Sheila just sacrificed yesterday and stayed way late too finish up the month end and today W and I just had an awesome day working and dreaming. It takes a TEAM to be the CHURCH and to quote the coach of the 1980 US Hockey team. "The NAME on the front of the jersey matters more than the name on the back." Man, is that ever true in the KINGDOM of GOD. At HCC we have a staff that feels that way. And I am blessed to have them.
GOD IS AWESOME!!!!!!!
Wow! GOD is blowing me away! We sent out 11 Welcome Packets today to visitiors at the Creek! ELEVEN! Is that AWESOME?! And what is way cool too is how many of them are young people, more than 1/2 were teens! I am SO STOKED! The WAVE is UPON US. Are you ready to RIDE?
SO HUMBLING
I am just BLOWN AWAY and SO MOVED and HUMBLED at what people are sharing about what GOD is doing at the Creek. Here is what a new person e-mailed today.
"I wanted you to know how much [my daughter] and I are
enjoying Hope Creek. We love the music and your
messages. and Thank you for the Bible you gave to
[my daughter]. ...[A friend] came with [us] yesterday and she really
liked the service. ...She told me she really
enjoyed it and she is planning on attending this
Sunday. I think [she] is on the verge of really
giving her life and heart to Jesus Christ. Please pray
for her..."
AWESOME!!!!!!
ONE GOOD LOOKING HEEL
Can you believe we beat the Dukies on Saturday! Woo Hoo! That is the FORMERLY #1 Dukies! On SENIOR night.... IN DURHAM!
Let e just say that UNC-DUKE is THE RIVAVLRY in SPORTS. Not just basketball. SPORTS.
Tiger vs Mickelson at Augusta. Nope.
Palmer vs Nicklaus. Nope
Nicklaus vs Watson. Nope
Georgia vs Florida?
Auburn vs Alabama?
Ohio St vs Michigan?
Army vs Navy?
Oklahoma vs Nebraska?
nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope
Florida vs Florida State?
Clemson vs USC?
Lakers vs Celtics?
Cowboys vs Steelers?
Oakland vs Chiefs?
"Nature Boy" Ric Flair vs Dusty Rhodes (ok close but still nope)
Braves vs Mets
Yankees vs Red Soxx?
NOPE.
UNC vs DUKE
Tarheels vs Blue Devils (devils,,, and you wonder who's side God is on? -))
There is NO GREATER RIVAVLRY in SPORTS. At least in my book. (I don't really have a "book". What does that mean? Ok, I digress.)
Tarheels. Blue Devils.
Heels win. Did I mention that?
Somebody console Ronnie Hodge, Gerald Towe, and Mike Reynolds.
DO YOU BELIEVE IN MIRACLES!!!!!! YES!!!!!!
One word: WOW! Maybe two: AWESOME! Ok three: INCREDIBLE!
Five words: PRAISE YOU JESUS! YOU ROCK!!!
Man, Sunday was just awesome at the Creek! GOD did AMAZING things! We had 134 people there Sunday! 134! That is a 25% increase in attendance in ONE DAY! GOD IS AWESOME! The service was POWERFUL! I had been dog sick during the week and God just showed me that His strength is made perfect in weakness. I felt like the message was just so from God. It just flowed. I began the message asking the question that Al Michaels made famous in the 1980 winter Olympics when the big time underdog USA team defeated the mighty Russians. As the game ended Michaels asked “...do you believe in miracles? Yes!” So I asked “Do you believe in miracles?” We then talked about Jesus healing the bent over woman and raising the widow from Nain’s son from the dead. I said that what we need in life is JESUS.
A FRIEND instead of a FORMULA
A PERSON instead of a PRESCRIPTION
A SAVIOR instead of a STRATEGY
A MESSIAH NAMED JESUS instead of MOTIVATIONAL JARGON
Then we simply asked people to “Cry out to Jesus”. Sometimes that is all we can do. The band then did Third Day’s “Cry out to Jesus”. People were praying. Three people came down front to pray with me. It was AWESOME!
GOD is doing so many INCREDIBLE things at the Creek. The WAVE is HAPPENING! There were so many new people there! And we had a BUNCH of Creekers out Sunday! I PRAISE YOU SO MUCH LORD! It is ALL of YOU and ALL for YOU!
THEN, (I know, it just keeps coming), we told the church at the end of the service, (we have GOT to call it something besides “the service”), we told the church that we had an incredible opportunity to purchase a newer video projector from this place we found out about in Atlanta. We could get a 3000 lumen projector (way brighter than the one we have now) for $1200
(a $3000 projector) and then the software we need for $400. (I mistakenly thought just the projector was 1600. But that was for both things.) We told the church that we believed this would enhance our worship services and that it wasn’t so we could IMPRESS but to be a BLESSING. But the deal was that I had like $20 bucks for it. They laughed! So I asked them if they would respond and help us get it. After the service people just kept bringing me money. It was so awesome! By the end of the day we had over $1600! PRAISE JESUS! We ordered the projector TODAY! EASTER at the Creek is going to ROCK about THE ROCK!
WOW! GOD YOU ARE AWESOME! THANK YOU SO MUCH for just allowing ME on THE RIDE!
HOW BOUT THEM TARHEELS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Tar Heels Upend No. 1 Duke, 83-76
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North Carolina's precocious freshmen earned another victory on the road, in perhaps the toughest setting. They ruined Senior Night at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Tyler Hansbrough scored 27 points, fellow rookie Danny Green came up with the key defensive stop and the 13th-ranked Tar Heels held off No. 1 Duke 83-76 Saturday night in the final home game for J.J. Redick and Shelden Williams. Bobby Frasor, yet another first-year player, converted two clutch free throws with 23 seconds remaining, and Hansbrough later made two more.
(more)
from: tarheelblue.collegesports.com
All is well in BLUE HEAVEN!
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