EMC Baptism 11-19-06

Embassy Metro Church in the AJC

Take a look at this link to see an article that emc was a part of concerning churches that meet in Non-conventional space.

Georgia Outdoors

Wednesday afternoon I got a call from Jeff Nobles. He and his wife Mary have been incredible additions to our worship band at the church and to the Embassy. I knew Jeff was a hunter and that his family has leased property in Waynesboro (Eastern Central Georgia). Well he asked if I wanted to go hunting for a couple of days at the 10 points hunting cabin. We had an incredible time. The property is 600 acres of pristine hunting grounds. The members have done a great job of managing the land to produce incredible environment for deer hunting.

I have always hunted with a shotgun or a compound bow, but for this hunt Jeff provided me with a rifle (30-30). In Ohio we can't hunt with rifles for what ever reason I'm not sure. I always thought it was because there is so much flat land in Ohio and a rifle round carries so much further than a deer slug out of a shotgun, but where we were hunting was as flat as Northwest Ohio. Also when hunting in Ohio I have mostly still hunted (walking on the ground) or hunted from small climbing stands (12-15 feet up). This hunt was amazing as we hunted from 20 foot high blinds that 3 people could fit in easily. We were meat hunting so we let all the bucks with antlers pass and we took 2 deer each the biggest being one of Jeff's does (130 lbs.)

My deer would have got me laughed at in Ohio where we grow monster deer, but they will be great eats and the lady at the butcher's acted like they were fine deer. I would say one was 80 lbs the other about 100lbs. So if you read this Eric, Mike, or George don't laugh at me for taking these little yearlings. I know we won't be laughing when we have a mean bowl of deer chili or fried tenderloins. BTW all my Ohio friends can you believe this one license and tag ($19) gets you two antlered deer and 10 antlerless) that's right 12 deer if you want em' If they did that in Ohio maybe we would have a lot less car-deer collisions.

We had a great time and now I am looking forward to Turkey season. Thanks Jeff & Alex for a great hunt.

K2 Series Comes to A Close

This past Sunday was wild. It started off with Jared's voice nearly gone and my sinuses a mess (I still can't hear after 16 days)
Then the bulletins didn't get brought and the boxes that contain our kid's check in system were left as well. Both of these items were realized at 20 minutes til the hour. So Fred ran to the two different houses to get the stuff and got back just in time for service to start. While he was gone I was trying to talk to Todd our head of guest services and Pastor Robby. With my ear the way it has been and the left side of my face numb from the medicine I have been on (not sure why the side affect) I am talking like a drunk man. I couldn't articulate or keep a train of thought to save my life. The guys were gracious and didn't laugh at me.....thanks. Robby asks if I am ok. I'm like no pray for me and they did.

I went into the service in a fog. This is not how I wanted the K2 series to end because it has been so great. Well God definitely got involved and we had an amazing day. We shared how at the end of an expedition or a day of hiking you get back to the campsite and that at the campsite stories are shared. Gathered around a campfire with friends you begin to share your victories, explain your discoveries, and voice your questions and concerns about life. To me that sounds like the environment that a church should be . So to close out our K2 Series we worshipped together and we opened the floor up to hear what God is doing in people's lives. This is always risky, but it was well worth it. Often things at church are just too sanitized so Sunday we gathered around the campfire and told our stories. The set was great as we sat in camp chairs in front of a tent and fire pit.

It was awesome hearing your stories of finding healing, acceptance, and miraculous provisions while on your expedition of life. The take away for the day came out of Peter and John's story where they were charged to not use Christ's name anymore, but they said "how can we keep quiet about what we have seen and heard" Acts 4:20. In other words they had seen too much on their journey with Christ to keep quiet about it. I challenged us to live our lives in pursuit of God and what God had created us to do and be. Living a life like that will always give you a story to tell because God will meet you on the trail of life and He will change you forever. My take away was this: Live your life in such away that you will have a story to tell.

When church was over we went to Faith Family Church on Bells Ferry Rd. where we baptized 5 people!!! We then had a great dinner together to celebrate the past 6 week adventure we experienced during the K2 series. Later that night I got a call from a couple on our worship team. Their daughter made the decision to follow Christ and that evening mom and dad prayed with her as she asked Jesus to come into her life!!!! Man what a day...it sure did start out rough, but God really had his hand on the whole day. It's so good to know that it's not up to us to make everything come together, but truly He is strongest when we are at our weakest. Thanks God for all you are doing with my friends at the embassy.

OSU Michigan Game did not Disappoint

What a great game with two amazing teams. Truly the best teams in the nation. I think Bo and Woody would have approved. Go Bucks....one more game will say it all!!!!

Today's the Big Game!

The day has finally arrived. My boy and I will put on our beloved scarlet and grey and we will watch in anticipation as undefeated Ohio State takes on undefeated Michigan at the Shoe. This will truly be another great showdown on the Scioto (pronounced sigh-OH-tuh just like O-hi-uh) 3:30 seems like days away, but I am sure the day will warrant the anticipation and excitment.
O-H, I-O / O-H, I-O / O-H, I-O Go Bucks!

It's Not an Ear Stroke!

The past 11 days have been awkward not being able to hear. I tried several other voodoo related treatments to no avail so I finally broke down and went to the doctor. Doc says everything looks fine no sign of an ear stroke! Also the eardrum is in tack, more good news. Bad news for fluid to clear up in the inner ear it can sometimes be a real process. Doc put me on steroids, so in a few days my ears should be really ripped. Yeah that's me....the guy with ears that look like Arnold Swartzenager. "I am the earinator.....I cun ear you fram acrossed da thee-a-tah. ya dats good nahw. I feel much betta. Thank God it wasn't a toomah"

I Am Seriously Off My Game

Last Friday night as we went from P.F. Chang's into the cold air and then into the warmth at a Barnes & Noble my left ear decided to just close up. No pain, no pressure, just all Helen Keller like. In the morning I was fine I went outside and back inside and boom plugged again. Sunday more of the same. At least it cleared up during church so I was able to function pretty normal (that's a matter of opinion I know). Well by afternoon It closed up for the final time and I still can't hear anything three days later. I finally broke down and got some antibiotics so I should be fine by Sunday.I should have just got with doc and got my pills on Monday, but I didn't feel sick one bit.

My folks are crazy with all the homeopathic stuff so mom's like burn a candle and dad's Appalachian roots come out as he tells me get some sweet oil to put in it. I'm thinking sugar oil in my head and saying prayers using candles isn't going to do a thing, but make me worse. Mom explained these candles aren't for praying, but for burning and about this time I'm thinking my mom believes I have a demon.

Well I found out these candles you put in your ear, and yes.....I can't believe I am going to say this.....you light it on fire while it's in your freakin' ear. Did I say this funnel shaped cone of wax is on fire in MY EAR! What was I thinking listening to my mother. well as I lay in the middle of the floor with fire supposedly drawing ought my disease Adalee my oldest says, "hey we should roast marshmallows" Ha that's funny and we had a good laugh.....then Amie passes out forks and marshmallows. My family is roasting marshmallows on the side of my head. Ha that's hilarious, for everybody BUT ME!

Anyhoo when we were done in went the sweet oil as Amie waved a chicken foot over my head counter clock-wise and said neleh rellek three times. Needless to say that didn't help and today the other ear began to plug up too so I gave in and called the Doc (Thanks Doc A. you're still the best)

It's wild how much one ear being plugged can throw you off. I haven't been myself for days. The Bible speaks about how when one part of the body isn't functioning right or hurting it affects the whole body. Boy ain't that right. The church is no different we are the Body of Christ and when something is wrong it throws us off. Listen, if you're hurting get help quick. If you feel pressure there is relief, If you are having a hard time hearing from God, don't go it alone. We have all been their physically and spiritually. Look to others in the body that can help you. If you want call me and I'll hold the candle for you..... hey kids bring the marshmallows. No really let's always be a place where we help each other out when we are off our games.

Annual Thematic Series Schedule

In my previous post I said that I would present the info that we fleshed out during our staff retreat morning work session. Maslow's Hierarchy gave us fuel to power our minds as we explored theme's and possible sub categories for future series. God really used it as a tool to empower our brainstorming session. Below is the info we came up with. I didn't include a copy of the calendar only the thematic blocks and some sub-categories if any body has anything to add feel free:

Thematic Annual Series Schedule
Based on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Discipleship:
-Personal Growth & Fulfillment
-Worship
-Stewardship
-Fasting
-Prayer
-World View
-Living your Faith
-Holiness
-Self-Discipline
-Evangelism




Esteem:
-Acceptance Issues: labels, insecurities, I’m a star, Image driven society
-Psychological Issues: Hurt, Depression
-Identity & Self Worth
-Who you are in Christ
-Confidence
-Humility
-Pride
-Reputation
-Purity
-What would Jesus do?
-Authenticity
-Creativity


Relationships:
-God’s view of sex
-Dealing with difficult people
-How we relate with/to others
-How we relate to others to bring value to their lives
-Contentment in relationships
-Church family
-Family relations
-Victims
-Relating to the World: evangelism vs fortress mentality
-Dating



Life Security:
-Finances
-Fear
-Worry
-Faith
-Stability
-Emotional Security: peace, contentment
-Trust in Christ/God’s faithfulness
-Insecurity
-Rest
-Boundaries
-Security in the Home
-Abuse: Spiritual, Physical (a response to molestation), Neglect
-Authority: God’s Commands, God’s Order
-Failure


Team Theme:
-Mission, Vision, Values of EMC


Elements that can be used with any Thematic Need

Hooks:
-January, Easter and weeks following, August

Bible Book Studies:

Character Studies:

God at the Movies:

God on the Billboards:

I Love my Staff!

This past weekend we had our very first staff retreat. It was great spending time with my team and with their spouses. Friday we got lost getting to P.F. Chang's that was Jared's fault and for some reason that felt really good. I guess because it's usually me getting us lost. I should have asked Robby how to get there seeing how he has lived in Atlanta forever, but I was trying to keep it a surprise. The food was great and our waiter Michael was amazing. we then went to Barnes & Noble's and each team pastor and spouse got to buy something that would help them grow, or relax. Everything from MUTEMATH's newest cd to Andy Standley's new book Communicating for a Change was purchased.

After that we got back home and crashed. We woke everyone up in the morning with the smell of bacon and french toast ala me' (unless ""ala" means "all over me", not "by me", because that would be gross and reason enough to continue sleeping.) Anyhoo we had a nice breakfast and then began one of several work sessions throughout the day.

The session I will make mention of that I thought was just great was the one when we were brainstorming an annual thematic preaching schedule. OK so what does that mean? We desire to be very purposeful in how we are helping people grow in their faith, self-development, and relationships. To do this well we need to be sure that we are teaching to meet the needs of the total person and their roles in life. I believe a random approach to weekly teachings will fail to connect a person to the vast flow of transformational power and information found in God's Word. Preachers (my self included) have a tendency to find a niche and work that niche to the expense of not delving into other areas that help us become balanced in our faith and how that affects our lives, relationships, etc....

This past year we have been purposeful in our monthly series, but maybe not as purposeful in our major thematic blocks. Ok ,again Ross what are you talking about? I want to be sure that we hit themes that are actual needs that people face in life. On the other hand I want to be sure that year to year we have a tool that will help us when designing specific series to be sure to hit on a variety of themes so as to be speaking towards people's spiritual, physical, emotional, and social concerns.

I have been trying to think of a way to help jog our thoughts during this brainstorming session and what came to me a few days prior was to use Malsow's hierarchy of human need. This worked amazing as we began to identify and define for ourselves the needs of people that we need to speak to on an annual basis. After coming up with 6 or so major themes we then began to look at each month in the year to see when that theme would best fit. Finally when we were finished we had a thematic calendar that year to year we can design and plug series into making sure we do not lean to heavy on one side of personal development at the neglect of other needs.

Sometime soon I'll blog our discoveries and lay out our proposed thematic calendar. For now I'll just tell you a few of the thematic categories; relationships, life security, team theme (vision/purpose of emc), discipleship, etc..........

I am looking forward to using this calendar as a guide as God helps us to design teachings that will meet needs, challenge hearts, and give direction for the entire man while on their journey with God, purpose, and friends.

I'm loving this Series!

The K2 series has been great. People are discovering what they have been created for and are finding themselves beginning their own personal ascent into the life God purposes for them. Each week in the series we have added a call to action and a have designed the journey groups to further place the truth of the week deep into our lives.

The first week was "Kreated 2 Connect" and we designed the service so that we ended with a group connect. The second week was "Kreated 2 Serve" and we presented 2 opporunities to serve others in the community. This past week was an amazing Sunday as we explored "Kreated 2 Worship" What a great day of mixing worship, teaching and communion into a cohesive expression of our response to all that God is. We have two more K2's and then on Nov. 19th we will celebrate all that God has done in our lives through worship and our personal stories. Following the 19th's emc experience we will be borrowing a local church's baptismal and rec space for a baptism and party.

I can't wait to hear what God is doing in the lives our emc-ers. One thing that I am seeing is how many new people are connecting in Journey Groups and serving God through the ministries at the embassy. Both community events that we served at; Woodstock Family Fall Fest & Woodstock Kid's Fest were being accomplished by many who had never done anything like that before. Thanks for stepping out and making a difference.

I'm lovin' this series, and I'm lovin' what God is doing at the embassy!