developing lifestyle worshipers

God is a lot more concerned with your future than he is your past. Sometimes we keep a distance from God due to a sinful past. Some people keep God at a distance because of their self-proclaimed “righteousness.” But God isn’t concerned with yesterday. He’s really concerned about what you do today.

That’s what North Side was all about this Sunday. It was such a great day as we looked at our “Overshadowed Past” which is the third big idea in the life focus series, God’s Believe It or Not. When you start talking about people’s pasts, they begin to cringe. But God is a lot more concerned with your future than he is your past.

Today’s worship songs were:

• Your Grace is Enough – Chris Tomlin
• Marvelous Light – Charlie Hall
• Jesus Paid It All – Kristain Stanfill
• Grace – Silers Bald

I was actually running around behind the scenes this Sunday, but when I was passing through back stage, I heard North Side worshiping so loud that I had to come out and be a part of it for just a moment. I loved seeing the intensity on some of your faces. I loved the authenticity in your voices. If I love it that much, just imagine what God thinks about when we offer him true and pure worship!

Don’t even get me started.

Today’s baptisms were amazing! I love watching a visual representation of what Jesus had done inwardly in lives! Watching a father baptize his son was incredible for me. Fathers and mothers, I hope you got the idea. The most critical spiritual environment is the one in which you live. This is where we are heading North Side. Get ready…

Make sure to check out the ever-expanding northsidebc.org. Sermons are online, as well as photos, videos, wallpapers, and so much more – so search around. Even more stuff coming this week!

If you haven’t heard, I am teaching REL 101 at Lander in the Fall.  It will be Tuesdays-Thursdays from 9:45-11:15 (weird timings in the Fall).  We still have room, so sign up when you get a chance.  The class is called Sacred Texts and Ideas and here is the course description:

This course introduces students to the reading of sacred texts and the vital role of religion in human experience.  Texts will be examined with a focus upon literary and cultural dimensions that produce patterns of belief, ritual, and human action.  Three semester hours.

Here are the top 10 reasons you should take my class at Lander:

1. You get credit for listening to me talk (some of you come to church and volunteer that effort, now you actually can get college credit for it)!
2. From time to time, I’ll bring gummy bears and sour patch kids to class just because I’m a nice guy.
3. You will be forced to abandon your parents’ faith and discover your own.
4. You will be educated in the scriptures of other faiths besides your own.
5. We will look at the arguments to prove or disprove the existence of God.
6. Your major project will focus on studying and defending the message and the credibility of the scripture of your choice.
7. We’ll take field trips to Starbucks.  To learn about ancient meditation rituals…
8. Your textbook contains a whole bunch of sacred texts from every major religion.
9. From time to time, I might bring my newborn son in as a guest lecturer.
10. You’ll learn how to graciously handle one of the most sensitive issues in our world right now: God and religion.

So if you haven’t signed up yet, get after it!  It’s going to be a fun semester.

There’s a lot going on today, so I thought I would just give you a lil’ taste of what is up in my world today.

• Passion – we have a few spots left for the Passion Regional in Atlanta on April 11-12.  You can bring your deposit in by Thursday, but if you were smart you would bring it tonight to Fusion because we might run out of spaces.  Deposit is $25.  Weekend with Chris Tomlin, David Crowder Band, Charlie Hall, Louie Giglio, and Francis Chan.
• Sermons Online - Our website is still going through an update process, but we do have North Side sermons online again.  We are currently archiving them, but go and listen away to some of the messages from the last few months.
• Internships – Applications for summer interns at North Side are due April 15th.  We only have 8 spots this summer, so you need to apply and get it in ASAP.
• New Fusion series starts tonight called “April’s Fools.”  I always get questions from this age bracket about God’s will for their lives.  Who should I marry?  What type of job should I get?  Where should I live?  If you are wanting any help in this department, join some other college students and 20-somethings at Fusion Tuesday night @ 7:30 at the North Side coffee shop.
• SOOOOO excited about North Side’s summer plans!  I don’t know if I can officially tell yet.  But it should blow you away.  I want the summer to get here now so we can start experiencing this!  Stay posted, we are going to be the church…
• I have eight people in my class thus far for Lander in the Fall!
• We are about to plan for Submerge 09 in a few moments (we are either extremely organized or crazy…).
• Clarity, clarity, clarity.  We need more of this at North Side.  How do we make our message and steps clearer?

That’s what’s going on with me right now.  Its a great time to be the church!