New Blog... I'm a dot com!

I used to keep 2 blogs. Now I keep 1 blog. You can find it at www.alifewellphotographed.com. Scoot on over and let me know what you think of the new do!

Why be in a small group?

Below is an excerpt from a post I put up on the Summit West Club Campus blog. You can read the full post here.

"Why be in a small group?

2 years ago I walked into the Cole Mill Campus for our very first GroupLink. I was a little intimidated to be sure but I went and participated. Little did I know that I would not only find a Small Group, but a family.

I’ve found over the past several years that I grow to be more like Christ when I’m walking alongside of others who are seeking the same thing. One of the benefits of being in a Small Group is living life together, walking alongside of one another.

I distinctly remember the day when my small group became my family."
You can read the full post here.

Decade

Where do you hope to be in ten years?

Your mind probably jumped to an answer similar to the ones you wrote in your school papers. I hope to have graduated college, have a good job, live with my spouse in my house with a white picket fence and 2.5 children.

Let me challenge those thoughts.

This morning as I mulled over this question I couldn't shake the this thought - the things I most hope to be doing ten years from now is to be more fervently living and speaking the gospel. I hope to be doing that ten minutes from now and ten days from now.

Just shy of 20 years ago, God changed my life with the words of the gospel. Having grown up going to church I had heard that the wrong things I did (sin) broke my relationship with God. I knew that Jesus came to earth, lived a perfect life, and died in my place, for my sin creating the way for me to be in a right relationship with God. God reminded me that I was created to be in a right relationship with Him but that I was only ultimately living to please myself. In God's grace, I repented of that and was welcomed in to the family.*

As I look back over the last ten years I see that God has worked in me through the gospel... as a believer. It has been the gospel that has gotten me up some mornings, the gospel that has grown me and grown those I've discipled, the gospel that has saved my family members, friends, and neighbors. The truth that God can't love me any more or any less, nothing can separate me from His love, is so freeing. I am honored to love Him in return and see Him honored and point others to Him.

Don't get me wrong. It is a great thing to have goals in life! It's good to work toward graduating from college or enlist in the military or learn a trade. It will be in those (and other) settings that you are able to live out and speak the gospel.

I am really excited right now as I think of so many people whose lives God will change as His gospel is spoken in truth and in love by those who are compelled to speak it. I pray that you and I will speak.

*I would love to talk with you more about this. You can send me an email to alifewellphotographed@gmail.com

Baptism Celebration this weekend!

Baptism Weekend! from The Summit Church on Vimeo.

This weekend, at each of our campuses, after each service, we'll be celebrating baptism. If you've never been baptized by immersion since committing your life to Christ, this weekend is your time!

Click here for more information.

Ownership

God continues to bring me back to 2 Corinthians again and again to pray for my neighbors and for my believing friends who are in relationship with them. I was just reminded by a friend that we read different genres in different ways. 2 Corinthians is a letter. So I started at the greeting this morning.

"Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come." 2 Cor 1:21-22

Take a few minutes to see what God has and is doing for you, if you belong to Him. Be encouraged!

City Uprising 2010 Informational Mtg Invite

Check out this post on Jason Gaston's blog. I wanted to copy and paste but I don't have the capability.

Really, check it out!

Holy?

I think it's safe to say that people in the culture I live in would equate keeping the Ten Commandments (the essence of them if not the actual Ten Commandments themselves) with holiness. Okay, maybe just with being a good person. They would recognize that they don't keep them all but that they keep most of them and that is what makes them a good person. If they think there is some sort of life after death they will think that being a good person is what earns them a better life after death.

For Christians we certainly, like the Galatians, fall into this same trap. Paul calls them foolish and says to them in Galatians 3:1-3, "who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. I would like to learn one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?"

But typically, we Christians think we don't even break any of the Ten Commandments. Okay, we remember that we used to lie but we are too old for that now, right? Or sometimes I forget to rest during the week but that project for work really needed to be done.

So wherever you find yourself, here's some expansion of (not "addition to", mind you) the Ten Commandments.


(This is from our www.SummitWestClub.com campus blog, posted by our Campus Pastor, Brad O'Brien.)
This past Sunday, Pastor J.D. continued his current series ‘Presence‘. In his sermon, he challenged us to be honest with ourselves in regards to how well we measure up to the 10 Commandments. Here is the list of commandments and how he adapted them to our everyday life. He has adapted this list from Will Metzger, Tell the Truth, Appendix A.IV.

DO YOU KEEP THE TEN COMMANDMENTS?

1. You shall have no other Gods before Me: I have never put anything before God in my life. I have never loved or trusted or obeyed anything more than God. God and God alone has always been pre-eminent in my thoughts, affections, and actions.

2. You shall make no graven images of Me: I have never had any wrong conceptions about God nor worshipped Him in a way not directly proscribed by Him. I have always rejected wrong images of God and refused to redefine Him according to my liking.

3. You shall not take My name in vain: I have always held the name of God, which signifies His character, in highest respect, invoking it only with thoughtfulness and reverence. I have never used His name as a swear word. I have never been lethargic or apathetic during worship. I have never desecrated God’s name by calling myself His follower but not representing Him well. The way I talk, act, spend money, and drive give honor to the God whose name I attach to my life and whose bumper sticker I display on my car.

4. 6 days you shall do all your work… and remember the Sabbath, to keep it holy: I have always worked diligently and willingly at whatever task is set before me, seeing it as my God-given service each day, and making the most out of the time God has given me. In the 6 days of the workweek, I work hard, am not lazy, and don’t procrastinate. And I consistently remember to set apart one day weekly to worship God with others.

5. Honor your parents: I have never disobeyed nor dishonored my parents or any others in authority over me. I have always respected the authorities in my life, and given them honor and willing obedience, whether they were watching or not. This includes my parents, my teachers, traffic cops, the IRS, and my president.

6. You shall not kill: I have never murdered anyone… nor had hateful thoughts nor have taken the slightest pleasure in seeing harm done to another human being. I have never fantasized about the premature death of my spouse nor wished harm on my boss. I have always held the highest regard for any human life, and cared as much about the pain of others as I have my own.

7. You shall not commit adultery: I have never practiced sexual impurity, neither physically having sex with someone outside the bonds of marriage nor having impure thoughts about someone I’m not married to. If married, I have never flirted with or fantasized about someone who is not my spouse.

8. You shall not steal: I have never taken anything that doesn’t belong to me. This includes taking credit that didn’t belong to me, downloading illegal music, or cheating in school or on my taxes. I have never taken extra Chic-Fil-A sauce to stock my shelves at home. I do not waste my company’s time internet surfing, twittering or facebooking. I have always respected the belongings, rights and creations of others and been completely truthful and fair. I have always been willing to take only what I’ve earned.

9. You shall not lie: I have never lied nor slandered another person. I have always told the truth in every situation regarding every person I have ever known. I have never exaggerated the truth and I have kept all my covenants and agreements, whether verbal and written.

10. You shall not covet: I have never been greedy for something that wasn’t mine, nor jealous of the abilities, looks, position or possessions of others. I have rejoiced with others in what they have, glad that they have it even when I don’t. I have never complained about what God has provided for me (your car; you job; your pay), always been thankful and fully content with what I have and where I am in life, willing to share what I have with others who have less than me.