Growing up in the south has its advantages. I can think of things such as sweet tea, good biscuits, and Cheerwine.  You are blessed with a really cool accent and unbelievable cooking.  We have also been blessed to have a rich heritage of Christians and Christian churches, hence the nickname “The Bible Belt.” As good as the south is, there are some disadvantages. These go beyond the humidity and the mosquitoes.

It can be a disadvantage to grow up in a place that has been saturated to the point where most people think they are Christians just because they grew up going to church (even if it was only on Easter and Christmas).  Christianity in the south is often is synonymous with church attendance, helping others, and being a good person.  A few authors have termed this kind of religion as moral, therapeutic deism.  It is the idea that, as Matt Chandler says, “we are able to earn favor with God and justify ourselves before God by virtue of our behavior.”  Because Christianity has become so closely related to the culture in the south, some have subtly and tragically separated removed the gospel from the equation. At best, the gospel has been “assumed, not taught or proclaimed as central.” It has not been explicit.    

Explicit Gospel by Matt Chandler as you can probably guess is about making the gospel explicit. Matt Chandler is a pastor in Dallas (one of the most “Christian” cities in the US).  He pastors a large church there called the Village Church. Through pastoring the church, he has seen a generation of twentysomethings and thirtysomethings who grew up in churches where they heard “talks about Jesus and about being good and avoiding bad – especially about feeling good about oneself – and God factored into all of that.” But, the gospel was not there.  This has caused a lot of confusion among a generation that desperately needs to hear and be changed by the gospel of Jesus Christ.

In order to make no assumptions, Chandler takes a look at the gospel message from two different viewpoints.  The first view point he calls the gospel on the Ground.  In this section, he traces the Biblical narrative of God, Man, Christ, Response.  It begins with “God’s needless self-sufficiency…culminating in a sinner’s Spirit-abled response to the good news,” of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection.  The Gospel on the ground shows the work of the cross in our lives and the lives of those who are around us.

The second view point he calls the Gospel in the Air.  In this section, Matt Chandler uses scripture connection “human salvation to cosmic restoration.” In this section he traces the big story that we see throughout the Bible of Creation, Fall, Redemption, and Consummation.  The cross not only affects us personally, it affects the universe.  The gospel changes everything!

In his debut as an author, Chandler is readable, funny, and conversational.  Reading the book is almost like sitting down in your living room and listening to Chandler speak (If you have never listened to any of his sermons, I would recommend that you do that sometime).  I was convicted multiple times while reading this and yet I was encouraged.  Matt Chandler’s honest approach to the gospel and the culture’s need of it was refreshing and exciting.

In all honesty, when I started this book I began to ask myself, “Do we really need another book about the gospel? Haven’t we heard this story again and again?” As I reluctantly started the book, I began to realize that my asking the question was the exact reason that we do need another book.  As Christians, we constantly need to be reminded of the beauty of the gospel.  We need to be reminded of the implications for new life that the gospel brings to us.  We need to hear the same “old, old story” again and again. We need the gospel not only for salvation but for daily living.  We need to hear the gospel again and again so that we can proclaim it over and over to those who have never heard it.

Read this book with a friend. Read it in a group. Whatever you do, just read this book.

“I love to tell the story,

‘twill be my theme in glory,

to tell the old, old story

of Jesus and his love.”

In April, I went to a conference in Louisville focused on the power of the gospel. Besides worshiping with over 7,000 people and hearing the Word of God correctly handled and boldly preached, one of the things I was looking forward to most about the conference was the books that would be given away. Over the last several years, I have become a collector of books.

Not all of them are great books. Some of the books that I have accumulated really should have never been published. It really is a wonder sometimes to see some of the books that get published. Do people read this stuff? I guess they do because people keep writing them, and publishers keep publishing them.

I have grown to love reading. I would rather read in my spare time than do pretty much anything else. I usually read with a pen in hand so that I can comment on pages, underline things that I want to go back and record for future use, or make notes that will help me to remember what I have read. It is still taking time for me to get over my contempt for writing in books. However, thanks to Lit! by Tony Reinke, I am learning to get over it. Although, I still have a deep conviction that pages in books should never be dog eared! This one I will never get over.

I can only hope that my children will one acquire this love for books that I have grown into through the years. I have tried to surround them with books. We read together before naps and bedtime. One day I look forward to reading The Chronicles of Narnia or the Lord of the Rings trilogy with them. But until then, The Poky Little Puppy will have to do. Knox has begun to enjoy this Bible before bedtime. Reading this is always one of the highlights of my day.

I have a bad habit of leaving any book that I am reading on the coffee table in our living room. I also usually leave the pen with it. My son, Knox, is just the right height to reach the pen and the book. Recently, I have begun to notice that in all the books that I am reading, all kinds of great artwork is beginning to appear. The haphazard lines look to be drawn by tiny little hands and fingers that lack fine motor skills.

The first time this happened, I was tempted to get mad. I could not figure out why anyone would scribble such wild and insanely unintelligible things inside a good book. Then I realized that Knox was two years old. This seemed to be a satisfactory explanation. But as I began to think again on why he would do such a thing, it hit me that he was only doing what he had seen me do time and time again. I have spent countless evenings laying with him in his bed as he drifts of to sleep. A lot of these nights I grab a book and a pen. He falls asleep with the lights on, while I work my way through various texts. He watches me as I underline and make notes in the margin. All those times that I thought he was drifting off to sleep, he was watching. All those times I thought I was simply killing two birds with one stone (putting a child to sleep and getting some reading done) I was really teaching him about something that was important to me.

So, when my mom was keeping him and informed me that he was writing in my books, I could not get mad at him or scold him. I had to tell my mom that he was only doing what he had seen me do multiple times.

Children are fast learners. Early in their lives and throughout their childhood, they will learn what is important to their parents. Because of this it is crucial that parents model things for their children that are important. I am thankful that my parents did this for me. My childhood wasn’t perfect, but I learned many things from my parents that I did not even realize that I was learning. I learned that family was important. I learned that church was important. I learned that the Bible was important. They would probably tell you that they would have done many things differently in raising my brothers and me, but I am thankful that God used them to teach me about who He is.

I can only hope and pray that the Lord is as gracious to my two children as he has been to me. I pray that they would put their faith in Jesus Christ and follow after Him. I pray that their identity, their pleasure, and their hope would be found in Christ alone. I also realize that the Lord has given me the incredible task and amazing privilege to teach them about who he is.

I do not care if my children are the greatest athletes, smartest students, or talented musicians. My strongest desire for them is that they are lovers of Jesus Christ.

Parents, if you say with your mouth that loving God and being a part of a church is important, but you spend a majority of your Sundays during the year on a field or in a gymnasium somewhere, your children will learn what is important. When the field or the gymnasium is out of their lives, it’s a pretty good bet that the God you talked about and the church you occasionally attended will not be much of a priority. We cannot only try to teach with our mouths, we must also teach with our actions.

Your children are learning from you. What are you teaching them?

Some good resources:
1. “5 Ways to Make Your Kids Hate Church”

2. Gospel-Powered Parenting by William P. Farley

3. “The Duties of Parents” by JC Ryle -

Hey guys

I hope everyone is doing well. I can’t believe that it is already February.  It is crazy that one-twelfth of 2012 is already behind us.  Here is to making the remaining eleven-twelfths of the year the greatest eleven-twelfths of any year yet!  We have a lot of things going on with the High School ministry and there are many opportunities for you and your students to be involved. Below I will expound upon a few of them.

VeggieTales Family Fun Event

Western Avenue Baptist Church Fellowship Hall//Friday February 17//5:45pm – 10:30pm//Anyone who is in Preschool to Fifth grade at Western Avenue has received a special invitation to a VeggieTales Family Fun Event hosted by the High School Students at Western Avenue.  The movie will be the forthcoming Robin Good and His Not-So-Merry-Men.  The movie is a lesson in handling hurt and conveying that there is no hurt that is too big for God.  The students and families will show up at 6:30pm and the movie will start at 7:00pm.  We will have activities afterwards.  High School Students are invited to stay after the movie for games and snacks. Click Here to RSVP (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dEs2SFVldGFRZzRDcExuUmNTWklVa0E6MQ)

Girls Sleepover

The Snider’s House//Friday February 24//6:00pm until the next morning//Please sign your girls up for an exciting opportunity to gather at the Snider’s house for a special girls night.  This will be a time to hang out with some of your friends as Mrs. Holland wraps up some stuff from our Purity Series.  Please make sure you RSVP with Mark or Mrs. Holland so that we can plan accordingly. Click here to RSVP (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dEJTNTkyN3RRb3h3Y2VVbzVqckNETnc6MQ#gid=0)

DiscipleNOW

March 23-25//$30 per person//please make arrangements to sign up for our DiscipleNOW weekend.  This is going to be a great weekend of teaching, learning, fellowshipping, and playing. I hope you can join us.  Please click here to sign up (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dGZqeVNpZHIzZGJfRlpkS2ZsdlB1QWc6MQ)

The Well

On February 22 at 6:00pm Hank Dahl will be joining us to talk about Reign Ministries and world missions.  Please make sure you come out for this.  Maybe you are a parent and you student has expressed interest in a summer mission trip – going with Reign ministries could be a great option for you.  Come and hear what Hank has to say so that you will be inform if your student comes to talk to you about mission opportunities.

Starting on March 7, the High School students will have smaller group Bible studies on Wednesday nights.  We will go through the book of Colossians in 12 weeks.  Please make every effort to come and bring your friends.  This is going to be fun.  This is an effort to try to learn from the Word and to teach students how to study the Word on their own.  We will be joined by great teachers (Jilian Pestotnik, Laura Holland, Brian Pestotnik).

I hope you all have a great weekend.  I hope that you are able to prepare yourself for worship Sunday.  Let me know if I can do anything for you.

Be God’s

Mark

Hey Guys

I hope everyone is doing well. I am here to keep you updated on a few things that we have coming up pretty soon.

Super Bowl Party

Remember that we are getting together to watch the Super Bowl on Sunday Afternoon February 5^th at 6:00pm at Scott and Amy Lowry’s house.  If you are planning on coming make sure you bring some snacks.  Try to bring your favorite drink and finger food.  If everyone does this, we should have enough food to last the whole game!

VeggieTales Family Fun Event

On Friday February 17^th we will be hosting a VeggieTales Family Fun Event.  We will be showing the new movie Robin Good and His Not-So-Merry-Men. This movie has not been released so this will be a sneak peak for all the families in our church. Please come and help set-up, serve, fellowship, and clean-up.  High School Students are invited to stick around afterward for a time to hang out with one another. If you are planning on serving please come at 5:45pm.  The families will begin to show up around 6:30pm. We will have crafts, snacks, and a great movie.  I hope that you will take advantage of this opportunity to share your time with others in our church family.

Discipleship Groups

If you haven’t been coming to our Wednesday night Bible study or if you are a parent who would like for your student to start coming to our Wednesday night Bible study, now is the time to start coming.  For the month of February we are talking about some Bible study tools.  Then for the months of March, April, and May we will have smaller group Bible studies.  These will give us the opportunity to have more interaction with the Scripture and with each other.  We will be walking through the Letter to the Colossians in twelve weeks.  This would be the prime time for you to start joining us for Wednesday night Bible Study.  We always begin our time together at 6:00pm in the Multi-Purpose Room for a time of corporate worship with the Middle and High School Students. We hope to see you there.

DiscipleNOW

Make sure you sign-up for the DiscipleNOW weekend March 23-25.  The cost is $30.

I hope you and your family have a great weekend. I am looking forward to seeing you on Sunday for worship. I pray that you will spend the next couple of days preparing yourself for that.

Happy New Year

I always love when January rolls around. Everything seems so fresh and new. There are new opportunities to take advantage of and new challenges to face.

This year for the High School, we have some great things planned.  I hope that you will be encourage to take part.

Super Bowl Party

Beginning in February, we will hit the ground running with a few events.  The first event is a Super Bowl Party at TBD. Students can come and hang out and watch one of the biggest games of the year.  We will not be participating in watching this year’s halftime show, so if you want to watch that, make plans to watch it somewhere else.  Instead we will enjoy some extra time chatting and talking with one another. This will be a fun time together.

VeggieTales Family Fun Night

The High School Students will be putting on another VeggieTales Family Fun Event in February as well.  The last one we did before Christmas went over really well.  This is a great opportunity for you to serve families  in our church who have elementary age students.  The movie this time looks especially interesting.  It is called Robin Good and His Not-So- Merry Men. Please join us on February 17th in the Fellowship Hall at 5:45pm to begin serving.  The Elementary students and their families will show up around 6:30pm and the movie will begin at 7:00pm.

Purity Series

For the month of January the High School Students have been learning about Purity.  We are called as God’s children to be pure and holy because He is holy.  The Guys and the Ladies have been talking separately about different aspects of purity.  To follow up this teaching, the girls will have a sleepover at Tracy and Michell Snider’s House on Friday February 24th beginning at 6:00pm.  Please make sure you have your students sign up for this event.

LEAP DAY Celebration

February 29th only comes around every four years.  This year, it happens to land on Wednesday Evening.  We will be having a fun time to celebrate this strange occurrence of a 29th day in February.

Discipleship Groups

During the months of March-May our Wednesday Night High School Bible Study will take on a new structure for 12 weeks.  We will have smaller, discipleship groups. There will be four groups—9-10 grade guys, 9-10 grade girls, 11-12 grade guys, and 11-12 grade girls. We will all be going through hthe same Bible book study, but we will have the flexibility to have more discussion and more input from students.  Our desire is to help our students learn how  to study the Bible.  I pray that your students will join us for this time as we head into a crazy summer schedule.

DISCIPLE NOW—The Way

Our DNOW weekend is scheduled for March 23-25. This is one of the best weekends that we have with students all year.  The Scavenger Hunt will be back along with multiple avenues for awesomeness.

Most of the teaching will take place in homes this year.  The Baptist Student Ministry groups from UNCC will be joining us to teach about the only way to God through Christ.

Crossroads Summer Camp

The dates for Crossroads Summer Camp for the Summer of 2012 are July 23-27. This is a little bit later than we have typically gone, but it gives us flexibility with the earlier part of the summer.

Please start turning in your deposit of $50 by February 5th to reserve your spot.  There are only 45 spots available for camp this year so make sure you sign up quickly.

Eleuthera Island

On June 30th 2012, 11th and 12th grade students will have the opportunity to go to Eleuthera Island to participate in a mission trip. The trip will consist of doing VBS in five different communities in North Eleuthera as well as participating in church activities on the Island. This is a fairly inexpensive international mission trip and a great experience for students

Please plan on joining us for our interest meeting on January 22, 2012 at 4pm in the Multi-Purpose room.  We will have an overview of the trip along with a Q & A for parents and students

Parting Thoughts

As always, we will continue praying for you all.  I hope you have a fantastic weekend. Prepare yourself for worship on Sunday . Come ready to worship, serve, and hear from God.

Today, Desiring God is offering Bloodlines: Race, Cross, and the Christian, The newest book by John Piper, as a free PDF download.

Check out this short video, and download the book.  The offer lasts for only today.

John Piper: Bloodlines Documentary Trailer from Crossway on Vimeo.

A year or so ago, I picked up a copy of a book called The Charlatan’s Boy written by Jonathan Rogers.  I didn’t not know much about the book except for the fact that Jonathan Rogers wrote for the Rabbit Room blog (a blog that I like to read about art, creativity, and community - http://www.rabbitroom.com/).

So on the night of the last Christmas performance, I picked up the book from my office and went to stand in line a few hours early so that I could get good seats. I didn’t mind getting here early.  I had to be here for the show and I wanted to get some reading done. I thought that this would be a perfect time to start this book.

I had no idea what the story was about. However, after a few minutes, I was hooked. Jonathan Rogers writes fantasy fiction in a Southern accent.  It was an incredible mixture of Southern storytelling in a fantasy world. The Charlatan’s Boy is the story of Grady, a really ugly young lad forced to perform as a sideshow act. Grady doesn’t know anything about his past, but his travels open many doors as to his identity. This is a fun story that all ages can enjoy.

About halfway through this book, I realized that Jonathan Rogers had written an earlier trilogy called The Wilderking Trilogy. So, I decided that I would begin a quest for the three Wilderking books. The first book is called The Bark of the Bog Owl.  This is followed by the Secret of the Swamp King and the Way of the Wilderking. These stories were about a young boy named Aidan and his adventures in Corenwald (the same setting of the Charlatan’s Boy). Aidan’s story is a semi-retelling of the story of King David.  It is like King David meets Narnia and Mark Twain. This was an incredibly fun set of books to read.  Once I picked the first one up, I read straight through all of them.

If you are looking for good stories to read with your children, or you are looking for a couple of hours of good entertainment, you should check out these books. I highly recommend them.

Jash Garrels’s Love & War & the Sea in Between is available on his website for free. I downloaded this album months ago. I started listening to it again over the last couple of weeks. I loved it when I first downloaded it and I think I love it more now. It has solidified its place as one of the best albums of 2011. Download it for free here (http://joshgarrels.com/)

This album was named album of the year by Christianity Today. They have a nice article about Josh Garrells here (http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/music/interviews/2011/fartheralong-december20.html)

Hello to All

I hope you are all doing well.  I expect that you are busy getting ready for Christmas.  Hopefully, you will spend time with family and friends this year. I am praying for all of you as you have time together. Be safe if you are traveling.

Christmas Eve Service

This year’s Candlelight Christmas Eve Service will begin at 5:00 pm in the Sanctuary. This is a great time to come together with the body of Christ and reflect on and celebrate the coming of Christ. As we celebrate Him coming to earth once as a child, we also anticipate His return - Oh what a glorious day that will be! If your family does not have any Christmas traditions, this is a good place to begin.

Christmas Morning

On Christmas morning, we will meet for worship at 11:00 am. I have seen and heard much talk about some churches who are not having services on Christmas morning. I am excited that Christmas is falling on a Sunday this year. I know it can throw some wrinkles in some plans, but I can think of no better place to be than together with a group of believers celebrating the birth of our Savior.  Instead of dreading coming to church on Sunday, prepare yourself and your family for worship of our King on that day. Christmas is about Him!

Happy New Year

With New Year’s Day falling on Sunday we have decided to forgo our annual New Year’s Eve Party.  Enjoy your time with you family and friends on New Year’s Eve this year. Don’t stay up too late. Remember we have church the next day and I am preaching! The New Year’s Eve Bash will be back next year so be ready!

The Well Returns

On January 4, the Well will return for 2012. Make sure you come to the Multi-Purpose Room for worship with 6-12 grade students at 6:00pm. Following this time of worship, we will begin our four week GUY TALK/GIRL TALK sessions on purity.  Laura Holland will be teaching the girls in Room 137 (The Security Room) and I will be teaching the boys in Room 146 (11-12 grade Sunday School Classroom - for a time I like to call the Horseshoe of Brotherhood). Parents please know that you are welcome to sit in anytime.

S/ALT

The Student and Adult Leadership Team will be meeting at the first of the year to plan some activities for the upcoming spring and summer months. Be on the look out for these dates.

Crossroads

Crossroads dates this year are July 23-27. Sign-ups will begin at the Well in January.

I hope you all have a great week. Praying for you all.