Peach Buzz

New Thru 30 Week 2 Books

2010-01-20T03:23:00.002-05:00

I got a little long-winded on the parable of the sower in the second service this week, and didn't cover the theme pictures to help us remember what each book of the New Testament we're reading is about.

Here's the memory aids for your notes: in the first service about the eight books we're reading this week.

Book Title Memory Aid Theme Memory Aid
Mark "M" Ark Jesus as Servant "Serving an Ant"
James "J" Aiming Faith Gauge Aiming at a Strong Faith
Galatians Gull Lay Shine Unshackled Shackles falling off
1 Thessalonians 1 Thistle Onion Stay on Target Trying to stay on the target
2 Thessalonians 2 Thistle Onions Work while you Wait Work while you weigh
1 Corinthians 1 Core-Indian Spank the Saints Spanking the Saints
2 Corinthians 2 Core-Indians Anatomy of an Apostle What's inside Paul?
Romans Row man (oars) Paid in Full Debt Paid in Full

We'll get the MP3 what I said about them in the first service on peachtreechurch.com today.

New Thru 30 Discussion

2010-01-10T18:34:00.001-05:00

Peachtree Church is reading through the New Testament in 30 Days! Leave your comments here!

Seals, Trumpets, and Bowls of Tribulation

2009-10-04T06:04:00.000-05:00

Some additional material for the message:

What will happen in the End Times? (Oct. 4, 2009 at Peachtree)

Seven Seals (over 21 months of the Tribulation)
1st Seal: White Horse- AntiChrist who brings false peace (Rev 6:1-2)
2nd Seal: Red Horse - WWIII (Rev 6:3-4)
3rd Seal: Black Horse - Rampant inflation, famine/disease (Rev 6:5-6)
4th Seal: Pale Horse - Death (25% of world pop.) (Rev 6:7-9)
5th Seal: Martyrs (The Gospel still goes out!) (Rev 6:9-11)
6th Seal: Earthquake (supernatural judgment from God's hand) (Rev 6:12-17)
7th Seal: Seven Trumpet Judgment (All from God's Hand) (Rev 8:1-2)
Seven Trumpets (over next 21 months of the Tribulation)
1st Trumpet: Hail, fire, and blood - Ecological disaster (1/3 of earth's trees and grass destroyed) (Rev 8:7)
2nd Trumpet: Mountain of fire (Meteor?) - 1/3 of everything in the sea dies (Rev. 8:8-9)
3rd Trumpet: Star called Bitter (Meteor?) - Poisons earth's water (Rev 8:10-11) )
4th Trumpet: Darkness (Rev 8:12)
5th Trumpet: (1st Woe) - Locusts that sting unsaved but they don't die (Rev 9:1-11)
6th Trumpet: (2nd Woe) - four angels released killing 1/3 of mankind with "fire, smoke, and sulfur" (Rev 9:13-16)
7th Trumpet: Loud Worship in Heaven at the soon-coming victory of Jesus over the Antichrist (Rev 11:15-19)
Seven Bowls (over last 3 1/2 years of Tribulation, “The Great Tribulation”)
1st Bowl: Boils (Rev 16:2)
2nd Bowl: Sea turns to blood (Rev 16:3)
3rd Bowl: Rivers and springs turn to blood (Rev 16:4-7)
4th Bowl: Sun scorches men (Rev 16:8-9)
5th Bowl: Darkness on the Beast's Kingdom (Rev. 16:10-11)
6th Bowl: Euphrates dries up (preparing for entrance of armies of the "Kings of the East) (Rev 16:12)
7th Bowl: Earthquake and hail (Rev 16:17-21)

Then Christ’s Second Coming

Ecclesiastes

2009-08-03T06:46:00.001-05:00

Just finished the most amazing personal study of Ecclesiastes. I’ve spent the summer listening to Matt Chandler's 15 part message series (awesome) and meditating on it myself. It has been life-changing.

The conclusion of the whole matter (after Solomon’s life-long experiment of partying, sex, building, comfort, study) —

Fear God and keep His Commandments

Ecuador Photos and Journal

2009-07-07T08:10:00.001-05:00

Cathy Carpenter is posting daily some photos and text about our trip. Here’s the link to that:

http://carpwiki.wikispaces.com/Ecuador_Mission_Trip_2009

I just had breakfast. Still behind a day on posting, but I’ve got to prepare the team devotional right now.

Catch up with you later!

Ecuador Trip, Day 2

2009-07-06T19:54:00.002-05:00

Had a great scrambled egg breakfast at the Hostel. Katie had a HUGE pancake (yes one, it looked like cornbread).

I led a team devotional at 9:00 from Ephesians 4:11–16. Every one of us is here for a reason (God got you here), and we must work as a team, and God will do His work through us.

Steve outlined the day for us and then we went by bus to our three stops:

1. cable car up to 13,300 foot mountain peak to overlook the 13 million people city of Quito

2. Visit the equator (including a museum and SEVERAL science experiments showing the geographical uniqueness of the equator)

– see water drain different directions on either side of the equator

– balance an egg on a nail (more gravitational force at equator)

– how your balance is thrown off at equator

3. These were neat, but then it was on to what we came for: ministry.

This first day of ministry, we went to the Guayalbamba Baptist Church, the fellowship Steve & Cathy are intimately connected with.

Dean and I prepared to bring a message while most of the team prepared game activities for the children of the church. Sheila practiced with a praise team made up of Andy, Savannah P., Ashley, and Cody.

At 5:30pm, service began with two songs by the American worship team, Dean preached on Jesus (Who do you say that I am?, Matthew 16). with an interpreter.

One more song, and then I preached with Steve interpreting from John 15 (I am the vine, you are the branches).

I’ve preached with an interpreter in Romania (when I was 22!). Both times (including today) felt very much the same: Not very effective.

Steve did a great job of interpreting (I guess;>)), but the culture barrier feels almost insurmountable.

I don’t know what they think is funny (never underestimate the power of humor to get a congregation to listen), I don’t know, in this kind of setting, what they struggle with, and I’m just a white face to them instead of a trusted shepherd.

I’m not gifted to speak to people I don’t know…give me the Peachtree flock any day that I can walk alongside and know what life if like, so I can apply Truth to our joint problems.

As I reflected on it, I totally got the Incarnation, why it was so important for Jesus to be God with us.

Plus the incredible importance of having trained national pastors who can walk with their congregations knowing what struggles they face. (Jason & Kerri Gupta, thanks for investing your lives in training national pastors!)

The Ecuadoriano congregation was so gracious, and I certainly felt that connection with Christ-followers I feel no matter what country I’ve been to.

They led worship for us, and though I could only pick out about 1 out of 10 or 15 words, the adoration for our God came through, and I sang loudly the Spanish words (reading them off the overhead projections).

When we sang, “Lord, I Life Your Name On High”, I sang it in English.

The pastor shared how much Steve & Cathy had helped their congregation, and there was OBVIOUSLY a love for them. It was so neat to hear Steve tell our team how God had led them to this congregation and what all had been accomplished in a few years (will save that for another post).

Games with the kids, then fed by the ladies of the church: fried pork, fried banana, dehydrated banana chips. I loved it!

We began the hour drive back to the hostel at 9:30pm or so (Spanish church services go long).

The altitude has made us all tired (my theory, that or all the walking we do), and most of us slept on the way back to the bus.

The Peachtree Team has had incredibly positive attitudes, and our team is bonding together VERY well.

Tomorrow: Prayer Walking and meeting Street Kids

Ecuador Trip, Day 1

2009-07-06T19:52:00.001-05:00

Met at Peachtree at 1:00 (Saturday).

Left for airport at 1:30.

Through security, no problem.

Sat for about 2 hours. Boarded plane and had an on-time takeoff at 5:40pm.

About 2 hours before landing, a passenger repeatedly fainted and the plan diverted to Panama City, Panama. There was about a 2 hour delay to get rerouted back into the air traffic.

Arrived in Quito, therefore at about 1:30am instead of 9:55pm.

Steve & Cathy were waiting along with Lori, Savannah, and Dean, our team members who had come on different flights.

Drove to Hostel. Got in bed about 3am.

Couldn’t see the mountains, but tons of city lights.

Lord, thank you for getting us all here safely! Can’t wait to see what’s ahead!

PCC Ecuador Mission Team July 2009 is on its way!

2009-07-04T10:46:00.002-05:00

Here we are!
Our flight is at 5:40pm today. We’ll arrive at 10:00 tonight (no time change).
Our mission this week is three-fold:
1. Work with ministries assisting street kids.
2. Encourage Ecuadorian national churches.
3. Encourage missionaries Steve & Cathy Carpenter.
And then, of course, the one that God specializes on every mission trip I’ve ever been on:
4. God stretch us to trust Him more.
Please pray for us! I hope to give some blog updates this week, so check back here at davidbreid.com
For His Glory!

Going to Ecuador!

2009-06-30T18:11:00.002-05:00

Thanks to all of our supporters and prayer partners who have gotten us to the point of going with a team of EIGHTEEN! members of Peachtree to minister to churches and street kids in Quito, Ecuador.

Also, thank you Peachtree Church for gathering 9 huge tubs of clothes, toys, and supplies to take in with us.

I will post a photo of our team before we go (leaving Saturday) and hope to post to davidbreid.com while we're away!

Thank you!

25 Things about God's Discipline

2009-03-26T07:17:00.001-05:00

^{5 And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons:

"My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline,

and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,
^{6 because the Lord disciplines those he loves,}
and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son." ^{7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?
8 If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons.
9 Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live!
10 Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness.
11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.}
1. Discipline in our lives means God loves us.
2. Discipline should be encouraging because of #1 (v.5)
3. Being disciplined means we are God’s children.
4. Don’t get discouraged when God warns you.

5. There are three levels of God’s discipline in our lives.

6. Level 1 is a rebuke (verbal command): Scripture, a sermon, a friend, or conviction by the HOly Spirit can deliver a rebuke from God. (v. 5)

7. Level 2 is Chastening (translated “Discipline” in NIV). Chastening is God changing our circumstances to bring about pressure to change:}

freepassionmovie.com

2009-03-13T06:04:00.004-05:00

Haven't seen Passion of the Christ in a long time?
It came out FIVE YEARS ago.

Remember the controversy? I still love the Pope's response upon seeing it. Half the Christian world was anxious to hear his reaction amid charges of Anti-Semitism, the violence rumored to be depicted in the movie and Hollywood tackling an intensely religious subject--the MOST intensely religious subject.

Upon emerging from the private showing, the Pope said simply, "It is as it was."

That's my reaction, too. Sure, Gibson took a few dramatic licences with scenes implying the Devil and Anti-Christ and a couple of Catholic traditions not found in the Bible.

But, in my opinion, those are easily forgiven because of the incredible Scripture-based portrait of Jesus and His Passion that are so faithfully and awesomely told.

When I first saw the movie, I read the Gospels again with brand new eyes.

Yes, it is brutal and hard to watch. But "it is as it was," and I find tremendous value in understanding for myself and communicating to our media-sensitive culture the Truth of the Gospel that "he was wounded for our transgressions" (Isaiah 53:6-10).

Because we are so prone to forget (or perhaps have never understood) the great Sacrifice Jesus submitted himself to, Peachtree Church is a crafting a Good Friday worship experience around watching the entire movie on Good Friday (April 10) starting at 6:30.

Everything is free, everyone is welcome, and kids will have their own Easter experience that evening.

For more details, go to freepassionmovie.com. I look forward to remembering Christ's sacrifice together with you!

Melancholy Treatment: It Works!

2009-03-04T09:10:00.001-05:00

Had my first real bout with being a melancholy since the temperament series this morning (I think I’m somewhat sick, too), and I just worked through my first post about how to come out of it, and wow, God’s Truth really works!
Romans 7 and Ephesians 6 (Spiritual armor) were especially meaningful to me! Put on the armor “so that you can take your stand against the Devil’s schemes.” The Death Spiral is one of his schemes against melancholies.
Even before I got to verse 18, I felt impressed to not only pray about putting on the armor for myself, but for our body as well. Then, I got to verse 18:

18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.

Just wanted to let you know God is God.
Have a great day!

Life as a Melancholy, Part 5

2009-03-03T06:14:00.002-05:00

There’s one more way to stop the Melancholy slide that I have that unfortunately most of you don’t: I have to preach every seven days.

Once a week, I stand up and proclaim that God is Good, that we are not alone, and that God can get you through ANYTHING that comes your way.

I remember when I began teaching every week, I used to wonder, “What happens when the preacher is having a bad week?”

By Saturday night at the latest, I HAVE to have a “come to Jesus” meeting with the Lord if I am to speak with integrity on Sunday morning. It creates a deadline that whatever spiral I might been going down must come to an end.

God is always faithful, and I am so thankful that “His strength is made perfect” in my weakness.

But what about you? You may not have a built-in deadline where you have to come back to the Truth every seven days at least.

Do you wallow in the pit for weeks and months at a time?

Set your own deadline. By today or by this weekend, I will spend time with God, read His Word, get encouragement from a friend, and stop spiraling down.

Six years and counting, it works!

Life as a Melancholy, Part 4

2009-02-28T17:13:00.005-05:00

Okay, this post is partly just to show off my motorcycle (some of the guys told me I have never put a pic of my new bike on my blog). This is what my 2001 Honda Shadow 1100 looks like.

But, seriously, part of defeating the Melancholy pit is in nurturing your own personal vitality. In six years of church planting as a melancholy, I have had some low lows when I've gotten depleted either spiritually, physically, or relationally.

I was reminded recently in a coaching network I'm in that there is also an emotional aspect to our vitality. Bill Hybels says our emotional tanks are filled by operating in our highest spiritual gifts and--are your ready for this...playing.

Yeah, I said it...did God mean for us to play? Paul says in 1 Timothy 6:17 that God is the one who gives us "all things richly to enjoy."

Riding my bike DOES fill my tank. I can't describe it all, but life is good when I ride regularly.

It's another story for another time that my wife let me ride, but melancholies, take note. You need to nurture emotional vitality.

Life as a Melancholy, Part 3

2009-02-28T17:11:00.002-05:00

I continue to hear stories about how the sermon last week was a lights-on experience for a lot of High C people. If you missed this series, You’ve Got Personality, you can get download it (free) at iTunes or peachtreechurch.com.
I’ve blogged this week about all my secrets to not going into the Death Spiral. It’s all about letting Jesus live His life (which is not hindered by the flesh side of a C temperament) through you.
As I’ve prepared for our new series starting tomorrow, I realized another aspect of how to avoid the Death Spiral.
Focus on serving others.
Part of our C is to think about how poorly things are going for us (whether it’s true or not—in fact, by the very definition of being a C, it’s really not as bad as we think).
But when we obsess over our situation, our finances, our view of our perceived success or failure, we are left to stew in our melancholy juices.
But there is a MUCH better (and more holy) way.
Serve someone else. It takes the focus off of me. It puts our admirable C qualities to good use for the good of our neighbors instead of letting our dark side spiral out of control.
Jesus modeled it for us. (John 13:1–17)
It’s not about me, after all.

Life as a Melancholy, Part 2

2009-02-28T07:54:00.002-05:00

I can’t believe I didn’t mention this as a cure to the blues.

Every melancholy should own an iPod.

Worship songs lift me out of the pit and remind me of Truth like nothing else.

Here are a few of my favorites (specifically geared to avoiding the Melancholy Death Spiral):

1. The Voice of Truth – Casting Crowns
2. Any Michael Card (I love his theologically accurate songs) – Sunrise of Your Smile, The Basin & The Towel, the whole Ancient Faith set, The Final Word…he’s got a song about his grandfather being a pastor that makes me cry almost every time I hear it (Title: For F.F.B.)
3. Any Keith Green (I love his passion for the Gospel; it convicts me)
4. Sarah Groves (Very theological as well) – The Word, Painting Pictures of Egypt, and He’s Always Been Faithful all rock my world.

I have a playlist on my Ipod called “Truth for David” I listen to it about once a week. Here’s a few of the Spiral-busting songs in it:

1. Good to Be Alive (Geoff Moore)
2. The Voice of Truth (Casting Crowns)
3. The Word (Sarah Groves)
4. Painting Pictures of Egypt (Sarah Groves)
5. He’s Always Been Faithful (Sarah Groves)
6. Blessed Be Your Name (Matt Redman)
7. Beautiful Savior (Tim Hughes)

I need to get Mighty to Save and this AWESOME new song we’re doing at church “Yahweh”

Hope this helps!

Life as a Melancholy, Part 1

2009-02-27T05:40:00.006-05:00

I’ve gotten lots of feedback from the message Sunday.

Melancholies saying, “I didn’t know anyone else struggled with the Death Spiral you described. I thought it was just me.” Lots of Cs in the body have confirmed this frequent bout with down emotions.

I’ve told Katie before, “It’s a curse to be me.” But Jesus is able to make us stand (Romans 14:4). Here’s some counsel and encouragement for my High C friends.

One thing I didn’t have a chance to mention is that I think that the spiral has to do with “high standards” a C has how he or she feels life should be.

We tend to be perfectionists, have high standards for ourselves (and others), and when our standards are not met, we are very hard on ourselves and think we are failures. Enter the death spiral.

Other temperaments have lower standards and think life is fine the way it is. But not us.

The seminary prof who taught me all this said Paul was a C/D (same as me) and that that is the most tortured personality there is because they have very high standards (C) and they are task-oriented and feel responsible to reach them (D). You see it in Paul in Romans 7:14–25:

“Why do I do the things I don’t want to do?...Who will deliver me from this body of death…”

It is amazing how quick it can happen for me.

If you want to study this more, you should borrow The Spirit-Controlled Temperament by Tim Lahaye from me. It will help with the C Death Spiral.

Here are all the spiritual secrets I know:

1. Take every thought captive to make it obey Christ (2 Cor 10:5)

2. Put on your spiritual armor (Eph 6:10–18)

3. Mediate on God’s Word and promises—nothing better to get you out of the Pit.(Phil 4:8–9).

4. Don’t worry—but PRAY—and the PEACE OF GOD which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus (Phil 4:6–7)

5. Recount your blessings and God’s victories in your life (Exodus 15:1–21, Psalms)

6. Pray and look for God’s hand at work in your life now (Don’t be shy to get an objective party to help you see this).

7. Remember: “By definition, things are not as bad as you think.” You’re a C and you will see the world worse than it is; so whatever you think, it’s not as bad as you think.

8. Think about the good side of being a melancholy: What makes you feel down often is the same thing that makes you a very sensitive person to others. You feel deeply, even others’ pain and feelings. That’s a very Christ-like quality to have. Like everything, it does have a dark side to watch out for…but life without Cs would be a lot less caring.

9. Realize you think about what people say to you far more than they do. Let it go.

10. Surrounding yourself with encouraging Is and Ss (Katie, Tandy, Tanya Cole, Candace Raines, Angie Wheelus, Andy Whitworth) as well as Cs who know the struggle.

One you know the battle, it’s easier to pull yourself out of it by realizing

1) It’s not as bad as you think.

2) You do have control over your emotions…I can choose not to go down the path.

3) It’s more fun to come out of it than to stay there.

The seminary prof I mentioned above believed Paul’s “thorn in the flesh” was his temperament.

It’s definitely one of the thorns for Cs. Jesus told Paul about his thorn:

“And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is perfected in weakness.”

Paul’s reply should be ours:

“Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.”

BTW, I am a great encourager for melancholies because I know the pattern. Send me an email or write me on facebook, and I can give you some good perspective and you’ll feel better.

Print this out and keep it in front of you.

Knowing Jesus

2009-02-25T12:54:00.001-05:00

Just got back from a great conference (churchplanters.com). I’ve been thinking through what I received. It was very good stuff.

I want to listen to Ed Stetzer and Bob Roberts again right away. They are very Christ-focused. Stetzer’s notes from yesterday are here.

Each year this is the most spiritual conference to me personally. This year, the Lord was confirming in me things He keeps showing me. My personal take-away from the conference this year is that the goal is to make disciples, not grow churches (Matthew 28:18-20).

We HAVE to make it always about knowing Jesus Christ. He is where the life-change comes from…He is the One who forgives sin; He is Who preserves someone through a storm in life; He is Who empowers Someone to live well according to God’s design in marriage, money, parenting, and a million other things that make us who God created us to be (which brings glory to Him). He is the One who defeats our pride and protects us from the Enemy. He is the One who Deserves our worship. He is the One who saved us. Anything less or different than knowing Jesus that we focus on is just chaff.

My prayer this morning has been that what was true of Paul would be true of me, our staff, and would be what Peachtree Church is known for:

For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. 1 Corinthians 2:2

Although I have “known” this truth for a long time (I preached a similar sermon at Dallas Seminary chapel the week before graduation), we are all prone to cover up knowing Jesus with knowing stuff. So, let me flesh out a little of what I believe it looks like because there have been seasons in my teaching where I believe I am following 1 Cor 2:2 and other seasons (I say to my shame and with repentance) where I have missed the pearl of great price.

So there is no confusion:

1. I believe the You’ve Got Personality WAS a good example of teaching knowing Christ. The application of each sermon (I’ll use the C from last week), what that the cure to the melancholy blues is taking thoughts captives to Christ. Moses in Exodus and Numbers was to show Cs what the problem is (you are prone to depression and death spirals)…what is the answer? Overcoming the flesh with the power of Christ.

a. Thinking of other recent series, State of the Church, He Shall Be Called, and even the Perfect Storm – in my heart and preparation, a focus on knowing Jesus was driving me.

Do help me make sure that that point (Jesus is the answer) is getting through in the sermons…if not, I have robbed the power of the Gospel.

2. What is teaching that is not about knowing Christ? Anytime we make it about simply knowing more or being more disciplined, we are missing the mark. Willpower might even look like life-change for a while…but “our righteousness is as filthy rags” because it is done in the power of the flesh, it leads to pride, and furthermore, it won’t carry you through the storm. I know in my counseling of couples over the years, in the midst of crazy arguing, etc. I’ve sometimes just tried to get them to do x (have a civil conversation, whatever), and I’ve often felt afterward that I did the equivalent of putting a band-aid on someone who is lethally poisoned. They needed the antidote, and I gave them false comfort. When I do share that they need Jesus, sometimes it has fallen on deaf ears, but that does not weaken the power of the Gospel for those whom God is calling at the moment. (This is not to say that I’m always not thinking about the Gospel, but I did want to clearly illustrate the difference…God forgive me to the extent I’ve preached and taught the chaff instead of the pearl.)

Note: I’m not putting our teaching ministry in a box to say that doing different types of sermons (felt needs, teaching theology, etc.) are wrong…but each one should be part of pointing people to Jesus.

A great question was raised at dinner last night. Are we discipling people at Peachtree? A more specific question that really gets to the heart of the issue is, Are we helping people know Jesus? (leading people into a life-changing relationship with Jesus)...or something less. And if we are leading people to know Jesus, I believe we will see fruit.

Are we really discipling? The comments from Cs on Sundays (and Ds on three weeks ago, and Is two weeks ago) suggest to me that we helped a significant number of people know that Jesus is the solution to the problems of being overbearing, insecure, and depressing.

As I think of Men’s Ministry, WEM, SM, CM, Connect Group (topics and being part of the body), there are major aspects of each where men, women, students, and children are being helped to know Jesus. I think we are all guilty sometimes of missing the pearl (knowing Jesus) for the chaff (even in our own lives) and thus are in danger of doing it as we pass the Truth on to others.

I’m starting to ramble now, but Are we helping people to know Jesus? Yes, there are some GREAT Christ-focused things going on in DOZENS of specific people I can think of, and SCORES of people who hear the sermons, certainly Katie and myself, I see lots of evidence of it in our staff as well. The five couples in Fireproof with Chris & Angie Wheelus (most of whom we are REJOICING to see in a marriage class) I believe are being pointed to know Jesus. The Truth Project…Crazy Love…

Is everything we’re doing helping people know Jesus? Probably not, and we need to cut that stuff out.

I desperately want this to be true of my life, our lives, and our ministry:

7 But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ.

8 More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ,

9 and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith,

10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death;

11 in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.

12 Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.

13 Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead,

14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. - Philippians 3:7-14

Hold me accountable for making it all about Jesus. We will see fruit if we do that.

Memorable Birthdays

2009-01-18T21:04:00.002-05:00

I just completed my 38^th trip around the sun (January 15). There are several birthdays I specifically remember.

Age 12 – Spider man Surprise Birthday Party

Age 16 – Got my first car 1980 Nissan 200SX

Age 30 – Watched my very first DVD (Hollow Man, kind of scary)

Age 37 – (last year) – rode an elephant in Thailand

Age 38 – Dinner with Dan Poynter, expert on self-publishing.

Actually, I thought the Dinner with Dan Poynter was what I would remember from my 38^th Birthday. But today (the Sunday after my birthday), a full house congregation sang Happy Birthday to me. I will never forget that!

Thanks, everyone!

Our Christmas Letter

2008-12-22T19:17:00.002-05:00

Katie wrote our Christmas letter this year that we send out to mostly far-off family and friends who don’t know what’s going on with us on a regular basis. I thought it summed up this year very well, so I decided to post it here for those of you who live life with us every day. Merry Christmas to all our friends and flock at Peachtree Church. We love you all!

For to us a child is born, to us a Son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders.
And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
- Isaiah 9:6

Dear Precious Friends and Family,

We pray that this letter finds you surrounded by loved ones, blessed by the Lord’s daily presence and anticipating His Goodness in the New Year ahead. We in the Reid household can only look back at 2008 with awe and gratitude for all that God has done. It has been an exciting and full year for us.

Abbie turned six years old in July and is a bubbly, happy, compassionate girl. First grade has been fun and full of learning for her. She has many friends and can read anything she sets her eyes on! Ben will be four this February; he’s a silly, playful, and energetic little guy. He loves Preschool, making friends, playing super-hero and creating decorations for our fridge. Our kids are a GREAT blessing, and we’re excited about how God is growing our family. We completed paperwork and got the all-important “log-in date” to adopt a little girl from China on October 21. We expect an infant to be granted to us in about two years. We appreciate your prayers during this process. Abbie and Ben love to talk about “when our China baby comes”.

Dave and I were both given some incredible ministry opportunities this year. In January, we had the awesome privilege of traveling to Thailand to encourage and minister alongside a dear friend working in Christian ministry there. We have always dreamed of going on a mission trip together and this was a great first experience.

In April, Dave was able to spend a sabbatical in Israel for two weeks along with other pastors. He applied for and received a ministry grant that allowed him to experience the Holy Land for only $300. He enjoyed much rest and spiritual refreshment.

Another highlight of this year was celebrating the 5^th Birthday of Peachtree Community Church! It’s incredible to see how far God has brought us, the many lives He has touched, and how He has faithfully provided for every need. We continue to be in awe over the building we now have and opportunities we have to reach our community with the love of Jesus Christ.

Over the summer, God began to lead David into a couple of new adventures. First, as a result of what God did in his heart while in Israel, he’s started writing a book about marriage and intimacy. Some of you already know about this faith step. If you want to know more about it, feel free to contact us (The provocative title is LEADING to the Bedroom.) The second exciting new adventure for Dave came as the result of a childhood dream, a response to rising gas prices and only after a work of God stretching my faith so that I could let go of fear. . . Dave got a motorcycle! He has had such a good time with this new hobby! I even enjoy going with him. We have been able to enjoy the West Georgia countryside in a whole new way together!

My year has been full, too! In August, we made a bittersweet trip to Wyoming for my maternal grandmother’s funeral. Dave had the privilege of performing the service, and we were all encouraged as we celebrated Grandma Miller’s full and influential life. While in Wyoming my parents, older brother and I were able to reconnect with aunts, uncles, and cousins that we haven’t seen in years. It was fun to see how our family has grown and where life has taken each of us.

I have been leading the Women’s Ministry at our church for over two years now. This includes leading Bible studies, planning events, and personally mentoring ladies in the church. This is ONLY possible because God has given me a WONDERFUL team of ladies with a passion for the women in our church. We recently hosted 45 ladies at a three-day Fall Retreat and 120 ladies for a Christmas Tea. Dave was in charge of childcare for servers (25 men in our church!) and I emceed. Leading WEM is definitely outside my comfort zone, but God’s grace has proven sufficient all year.

The Tea was an exciting and exhausting way to begin the holiday season, so our personal goal for our family Christmas has been to “keep it simple!” Dave’s preaching Isaiah 9:6 every Sunday in December, each week in turn focusing on a prophetic name for Jesus: how He is our “Wonderful Counselor”, “Mighty God”, “Everlasting Father”, and “Prince of Peace.” We pray that you know the Truth of these promises, and that Jesus is the Prince of Peace for you and your family in these uncertain times. Merry Christmas! We love you!

Grace and peace to you,

David, Katie, Abbie and Ben Reid

HP Giveaway Contest

2008-12-01T06:02:00.001-05:00

Here's a contest I've entered to win 4 computers for the church. Posting a link to it on my blog increases our chances. Here it is:

Jake Ludington’s HP Magic Giveaway

Being Remolded

2008-10-24T03:37:00.003-05:00

I'm having one of those times where God is stacking things together in my life to do something really big in me.

He's been orchestrating events lately to bring pressure on me as a leader and as a man, and I have this real feeling that He's trying to break through a stronghold in my life.

Everything I read right now, everything Katie and I talk about, circumstances going on around me, teaching I'm exposed to, conversations of people I've never met before, and the needs of the church are all bearing right on a particular area of my life that God wants to shine a light on and clean out something I've walked with since I was a kid.

It's really hard to feel the weight of change that is needed, but the pain of staying the same would be worse.

Right now, I'm meditating on

2 Corinthians 9:8 and 2 Corinthians 12:9

All prayers are welcomed!

State of the Church, September 30, 2008

2008-10-01T06:02:00.002-05:00

Talking points from my report to the Elders last night.

Basically, my message was that God has done something AWESOME in each area of C4 or we’re poised to make significant progress just around the corner.

To God be the Glory!

C1 Gold Rush / House of Blues Success

311 people (100 kids!)

284 people (82 kids)

Great Response to series

C2 11 Connect Groups

111 People Connected (More than ever before!)

Discover this Sunday

C3 Greeters, Guest Services, full

Need to Fill Jobs in CM, FIT, SM needs a guy D-Team leader

Pray for Discover to produce some of these

Tracy, Donevan – specific people I think are next

C4 3 salvations this series

Probably need to schedule a baptism after Discover

Blues - Most successful felt-need series

Using Money series as a felt need series in Heroes

Ideas: “Fireproof” series in Feb.

“You Asked For It” series

C5 Gearing Up for 2009 Planning

Financial Planning for 2009

David registered CP Coaching Network at MLC

Perhaps the Lord will act on our behalf

2008-10-01T06:00:00.002-05:00

Love this quote from Mark Batterson:

Here's one of my favorite phrases in Scripture. I Samuel 14:6 says, "Perhaps the Lord will act in our behalf." I love that modus operandi. But I honestly think many if not most Christians take the opposite approach. Perhaps the Lord WON'T act in our behalf. We let fear dictate our decisions. We have a better-safe-than-sorry mentality. We live as if the purpose of life is to arrive safely at death.

Maybe it's time for a paradigm shift. When did we start believing that God wants to take us to safe places to do easy things? Here's a thought: the will of God is not an insurance plan. It's a daring plan.

I think we've made a false assumption that the will of God gets easier as we grow spiritually. Some dimensions do get easier with the consistent practice of spiritual disciplines. But I also think God will give us more difficult, dangerous, and daring things to do!

I love this phrase. It's so hopeful. It's so optimistic. And it's the key to living with holy anticipation. Perhaps the Lord will act in our behalf. May God give us the spirit of Jonathan!

End of Summer Mind Dump

2008-08-28T04:10:00.002-05:00

Wow, except for yesterday, I haven't posted since June 11.

It's been a full summer.

One of the New Year's Resolutions I've made was to blog for me, not for anyone else. (Not always the right answer, but got me over the hump of feeling like I needed to say something spiritual in every post, which made me approach blogging like preparing a message, which made me hesitant to post.)

Here I'll catch up with what's been going on:

1. I love motorcycle riding! Since I got my motorcycle in June, I now ride it to work almost every day. Yesterday, Katie rode 30 miles with me.

2. Adoption paperwork! It takes a LONG time. But we finished all our paperwork yesterday!!! (We celebrated with a motorcycle ride.)

3. Preaching through Romans - this has been awesome for me. I love getting a handle on the message of a whole book, and I understand Romans so much better than I have before, and it has really clarified lots about our walk with Christ. Romans 6:13 and Romans 12:1-2 were the best for me.

4. Getting ahead on Message Prep and Service Planning -- Peachtree is officially four weeks out on service planning (sermon AND music and creative elements). This is a first! Clinton, Sheila, and I have worked really hard all summer to get ourselves ahead. We've also got series mapped out through the end of the year.

5. Writing a book - I'll save this one for a post by itself.

Adoption Progress and How it All Began

2008-08-28T03:53:00.004-05:00

Today Katie and I turned in the very last of the paperwork for our adoption from China. Praise God! It is now in China's hands (and the Lord's). We should get our LID (log-in date) sometime next week.

This process began May 2007. We were bike riding at the Silver Comet trail and actually were talking about dream travel plans we had (it you don't make a regular habit of dreaming with your spouse, you're missing out; it's so fun to share your biggest, boldest thoughts with someone, and it's amazing how many dreams we share with each other that God ends us bringing about) I changed subjects and mentioned that I had thought about adopting from overseas as a dream, and Katie promptly told me she'd been thinking the same thing recently.

We both confessed that we'd thought the other one wouldn't be interested and that it would be a hard sell to the other. (I thought she'd prefer biological children, she thought the cost of adoption would turn me off to it).

We agreed to pray about it and look into it further.

The next month we had the privilege of going with our youth to SuperWow and David Platt preached a message on theological adoption (God adopted us into His family) and ended it with a slideshow about the the number of orphans around the world (145 million!) and challenged Christians to consider adoption.

God was speaking right to us. We skipped the next session and walked around for an hour on the beach processing what we'd heard. We decided that the only reasons we could come up with not to adopt were selfish, that it felt like every call from God (to seminary, to church planting) we've had, and that as we've always decided with God's calls: we'd be crazy not to do it.

We spent the next weekend praying and researching on the internet. Two documentaries really go to us: The Dying Rooms and China's Lost Girls (National Geographic).

I'll write the rest of the story in another post.

Romans 1

2008-06-11T15:49:00.002-05:00

Preaching through Romans this summer.

Key verse of Romans 1 and Paul's reason for writing to explain the gospel:

Romans 1:16-17

(mouse over to see the Scripture passage)

Insight of the week: Paul

The Shadow

2008-06-11T15:45:00.003-05:00

Here's my bike. Ventured on the main road today for the first time. Got up to 60 mph.

Yeah, it's true!

2008-06-10T15:37:00.004-05:00

Yes, it's true...Pastor Dave got a motorcycle.

It's also true I've never ridden one (alone) until yesterday.

$4.00+ gasoline finally pushed me over the edge from interest to action.

I spent my first hour learning to ride in my neighborhood, and I love it!

I'll try to post a pic of my 1983 Honda Shadow (I was twelve when it was made!) soon.

Thanks for all of you who are praying for me.

Day 4 - April 6

2008-04-08T08:21:00.002-05:00

So much to tell about and only one computer which is often occupied. I hope to come back later and add some detail.

Incredible morning devotion by a guy from my group who dramatically performs MLK, Jr's sermons. He quoted the last fifteen minutes of MLK's last speech the day before he was assassinated. It was VERY moving.

Saw Church of St. Gabriel (Mary's Well) - alternate traditional location of where the Annunication happened

Toured Megiddo - a city that was inhabitated for 7,000 years and was used as a military lookout because of its perfect overlook over the Plain of Jezreel in the crossroads of all armies moving through the area...Since it was destroyed 25 (get that, twenty-five) times over the years, it became a symbol of good vs. evil -- Revelation tells us that the last battle (ultimate good vs. ultimate evil) will be fought in this valley (Revelation 16:16-19).

Naboth's vineyard (1 Kings 21:1ff) was also in the Plain of Jezreel.

A few other Megiddo Scriptures:
2 Kings 23:29ff
1 Chronicles 25:20-24

Visited Caesarea (Maritime near Joppa. Herod the Great built a theatre and palace there in honor of Augustus Caesar (why he called it Caesarea). It's a signficant place for our faith because here Cornelius had a vision to send for Peter, and Peter, having had a vision of God telling Peter to eat animals considered unclean by the law, was able to tell Cornelius the good news of Jesus was for Gentiles, too! (Acts 10:1ff)

Paul was kept a prisoner here also where he talked to Festus and Felix, and then appealed to be tried before Caesar.

The most profound thing about this site for me was the theatre there was built in the first century around the exact time the New Testament books were written. The theatre is in ruins. The New Testament is still with us, proclaiming the great news about Jesus. What do I want to put my life into, was the question I heard God saying to me...

Spent the night (and will the next several) in Tiberias right on the Sea of Galilee.

Got to run now, people waiting for the computer.

Love you all!

Day 2 - Nazareth

2008-04-05T09:36:00.002-05:00

Had a great breakfast and worship time this morning (I definitely lack rhythm compared to my group).

Got on the bus at 9am.

We went to the Church of the Annunciation, which commemorates where tradition says that Gabriel announced to Mary that she would be having Jesus. There have been five churches on the site (destroyed and rebuilt thorugh the tumultous history) and it is built on an excavated site of a house in the first century (supposedly Mary's parents' home). Very cool to see the first century excavation.

Then across the way to Church of St. Joseph (commemorating the location of Jesus growing up in Nazareth after the return from Egypt). Awesome excavations under it as well, including carpenter's shop.

From there, we went to "Nazareth Village" a re-creation of what life was like in Nazareth in Jesus' day including a stone house, winepress, shepherding (with live sheep), watchtower, synagogue (with teaching on Jesus reading from Isaiah 61 in the synagogue at Nazareth and being rejected (Luke 4)

Then finally, a first century Nazareth lunch with pita bread to be dipped in hyssop, olives grown on the property, lentil soup, and chicken cooked the OLD fashioned way.

Last stop of the day was Mount Carmel where Elijah challenged the 450 prophets of Baal to a contest to decide who the true God was (1 Kings 18:20ff). After they lost and were slaughtered, Elijah prayed for rain (which he'd prayed to stop years earlier) looked toward the Mediterranean Sea and saw a cloud as big a man's hand and soon rain came.

Now back at the hotel, about to read for a while.

Tomorrow, on to Galilee...

Israel - Day 1 (Travel) and Day 2 (Nazareth)

2008-04-04T23:17:00.002-05:00

Had great flights. Two were late, but that just meant less time on the plane. They made up the time on one.

It is now 7am here on Sat morning. We are in Nazareth. Wanted to email you last night as soon as our travelling was over, but there areonly two internet kiosks here, and they were quite popular.

Going to the Church of the Annunciation this morning (commemorating Gabriel telling Mary she would have Jesus), Sepphoris (Roman/Jewish city in Jesus' day), and a village set to look like Nazareth in Jesus' day complete with a chicken lunch prepared as Jesus would have eaten.

They have switched April 3 and 4 days on my itinerary so that we are at the church sites (I think there's one other church site for today) on Saturday and not on Sunday.

Took a walk in Nazareth last night. Our hotel is at the top of the highest peak in Nazareth, so you can walk around outside and look over the whole city.

Slept great on the plane (actually on both flights), and decent night's sleep last night. My roommate is great, and there is a great grateful spirit among all our group.
Not able to post a photo at this kiosk, but will try to at the next place.

Will check out of this hotel in Nazareth tomorrow and spend the day at Megiddo (saw it yesterday from the bus; I'd say a 200 million army would fit there...it's a HUGE plain) and Mt. Carmel where Elijah challenged the prophets of Baal.

Also saw Mt. Tabor, traditionally thought to be the Mount of Transfiguration.

I miss Katie, Abbie, and Ben!

I've written out a set of questions I am seeking God about. Personal and church direction type of things. Please pray that I will be agood listener this trip.

Love you all and Thank you all!

Love,
Dave

I love Easter Sunday!

2008-03-18T15:50:00.001-05:00

We’ve been preparing for Easter since January 1 this year, and we’re in great shape. The body has been serving like never before, and I’m excited about this Sunday.

If you’ve received one of our postcards this week, come and check us out.

I’ve being studying spiritual warfare for about a month now in preparation for our series starting this week, and I also have to say, I’ve been practicing it as well.

I believe this series has the potential to change the way you look at your spiritual life, whether you’ve been following Jesus for years or are yet to met Him yet.

We have two identical services: 9:30 and 11:00. We’ll be having an egg hunt for kids through fifth grade immediately after both services.

Come celebrate Jesus’ resurrection with us!

I'm grateful for... My Upcoming Trip to Israel

2008-03-04T17:32:00.006-05:00

Three years ago, our elders graciously instituted a sabbatical policy allowing a sabbatical for ministerial staff. This policy allows me a sabbatical time off after five years of service, and 2008 is my sixth year as pastor of Peachtree Church.

I've been thinking of what to do with my time for, let's see, I'd say...three years.

About three months ago, I got an email inviting me to apply for a grant for a "Holy Land Pastoral Renewal Pilgrimage."

I applied, and now I'm going to Israel for two weeks in April.

I love to travel, I love history, and I love God's Word.

I also love hearing from Jesus, being challenged in my walk, receiving direction, and getting away from the busy-ness of ministry (thought I often need an external force to make me do that).

The intersection of these various loves of my life would be a trip to the Holy Land.

The more I hear about this trip, the more I realize it is going to be life-changing for me. Though I am at one of the healthiest places personally I have been over the last five years of church planting, I really believe the Lord is providing this trip at this time to renew me.

Peachtree, I thank you so much for giving me the freedom to be a regular person. I never feel that you put unrealistic expectations on me, Katie, or the kids. All the freedom you give me to care for myself and my family just makes me love you guys more and want to pour my whole (refreshed) heart into you, my church family.

Elders, I thank you for being open to new ideas and always supporting where I believe the Lord wants to take us. I know this sabbatical idea was new for some of you, but I can assure you, I will come back with more of me to give for the long haul.

Katie, you are too good for me. To let me go to Israel twice since we've been married while you haven't gone once...and to be loving and supporting through it, you are very unselfish. (For all of you reading this, I received a scholarship to go to Israel for a three-week study trip in 2001, and because of funds, Katie stayed home (and by the way had to move us out of one apartment into another while I was gone), and this trip is a grant for pastors only (not spouses).

Katie, I promise the next time I go to the Holy Land, you are going!

Proverbs 3

2008-02-29T21:30:00.002-05:00

Pr 3:2 – Wisdom prolongs your life “many years” and brings you prosperity.

Pr 3:3 – New subject: Love and loyalty as part of your life will win you favor and a good name in the sight of God and man.

Pr 3:5–6 – One of the most incredible Truths of life in a tiny, poetic sentence. Andy Stanley unpacked this verse so incredibly and took it out of my Sunday School understanding into a major theme for life direction. Here’s a few emphases:

Trust in the Lord with ALL your heart (not half-heartedly, but with your whole heart; I’ll do WHATEVER you say, God)
Don’t trust your own understanding (just because I think it doesn’t make it right)
In all your ways ACKNOWLEDGE Him (not give Him a nod, but pursue hard after His will in all your ways (arenas of life))
and, (as a result) He will make your paths straight (plain or smooth) — it will be obvious what you should do…The Lord is not trying to hide his will from us.
But He’s not going to give it to you if you’re not serious about following Him. Very encouraging and convicting at the same time.

Pr 3:7 – Wisdom equated with fear of the Lord and shunning evil.
Pr 3:8 - Wisdom leads to good physical health.

Pr 3:9–10 – One of my favorites to teach giving. This wisdom proverb teaches the same thing as Malachi 3 (OT Tithing for Israel) and 2 Cor 9 (NT Sowing and Reaping)…at is essence, it is wise to honor God (who allows you to prosper). Those who do, he prospers more. “Overflowing” and “brim over” speak to the abundance of God blessing those who honor him with the firstfruits.

Pr 3:11–12 – When I feel God’s discipline, it’s a sign that loves and delights in me. Whenever I’m strongly convicted about something, I often feel joy that God has not given up on me.

Pr 3:13–15 – Wisdom is more valuable than money.

Pr 3:16 – Wisdom offers long life and riches and honor.

Pr 3:18 – Wisdom is a “tree of life”; a reference to the right choice for Adam & Eve back in Eden

Pr 3:21–25 – More benefits of wisdom: life, prestige, safety, security, courage, rest,

Pr 3:26 – If you live wisely, “the Lord will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being snared.” (wow!)

Pr 3:27–32 – The Golden Rule is wisdom.

Pr 3:33–35 – God curses the wicked, but blesses the righteous

Wise/Foolish Choice #3
Respond quickly to the Lord’s discipline. If you are being convicted about something, don’t look for reasons to continue. I find I generally know what wisdom is in a given situation, but sometimes I want to pretend I don’t know. Do the wise thing!

Proverbs 2

2008-02-28T08:21:00.003-05:00

BTW, on this Proverbs journey, I’m reading from the NLT (my Daily Walk Bible): I like the word choice:

Pr 2:1 – “Tune your ears to wisdom” – you can choose what you want to pick up “concentrate on understanding” – you need to focus if you want to grow in wisdom

Pr 2:4 – “Seek [wisdom] as you would for money or hidden treasure” – it has value

Pr 2:6 – “The Lord grants wisdom” – Reminds me of James 1:5.

Pr 2:7 – “He grants a treasure of common sense to the honest…” — very interesting, it says God gives wisdom to those who are honest…it very much is true to life (honest people I know tend to be wise); Honesty, as I see it, is part of biblical wisdom (skillful living with the viewpoint that there is a God in Heaven we are accountable to)…thus, if you apply wisdom, He gives you more…neat.

Pr 2:7b – “He is a shield to those who walk with integrity” I’d much rather God be my shield instead of me try to shield myself with lack of integrity

Pr 2:8 – He guards the path of the just and protects those who are faithful to Him — I’ve so seen this to be true.

Pr 2:11–12 – LOVE these verses:

“Wise choices will watch over you
Understanding will keep you safe
Wisdom will save you from evil people.”

And another great one!
Pr 2:16 – “Wisdom will save you from the immoral woman”

Pr 2:21 – only the godly will live in the land (the Promised Land being a primary symbol of blessing for Israel)

Wise/Foolish Choice #2
Katie and I have a great life. Things seem very often to go smoothly for us. We feel overwhelmingly blessed. I believe much of the stability and blessing of our life comes from from striving to make wise choices in our money, marriage, relationships, etc. according to wisdom found in God’s principles in His Word. Take the Lord at His Word!

Proverbs 1

2008-02-23T06:05:00.007-05:00

Proverbs Intro
Chapters 1-29 Written by Solomon
(Ch. 30 by Agur, Ch. 31 by Lemuel)

Pr 1:2 - Purpose of Proverbs is to teach people wisdom and discipline (I need both!)
Pr 1:3 - Purpose is to teach people to live disciplined and successful lives, to help them do what is right, just, and fair

Pr 1:5 - let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance—

Pr 1:8 - Wisdom comes from parents' instructions to us

Pr 1:10-19 - Stay far away from sinners' influence

Pr 1:20-33 - Wisdom is personified as an announcer in the streets

She calls to the crowds, freely offering herself (point: it is not hard to get wisdom)
But
Pr 1:22 - "simpletons" (naive)
"mockers" (defiant toward true wisdom)
and "fools" (morally numb)
pay no attention to wisdom

Pr 1:26-27 - Consequences of Ignoring Wisdom:
"in trouble"
"disaster overtakes you"
"calamity"
"anguish and distress overwhelm you"

Pr 1:31 - If you ignore wisdom, you "must eat the bitter fruit of living your own way" (what a line!)

Pr 1:32-33 - Summary of this purpose chapter:

32 For the waywardness of the simple will kill them,
and the complacency of fools will destroy them;
33 but whoever listens to me will live in safety
and be at ease, without fear of harm."

Finally, each day, I'm going to write one wise or foolish decision I've made in life (usually related to that day's reading).

Wise/foolish decision #1:
By far, the wisest decision I've EVER made (see definition of wisdom above) is to surrender my life to Jesus in June 1981.

My Proverbs Journey - Introduction

2008-02-23T06:03:00.005-05:00

I’ve always wanted to do a careful study of Proverbs. This “Book of Wisdom” has so much meat in it that reveals God’s perspectives on so many things. Since “His Ways are higher than our ways,” some of the Proverbs are counterintuitive; others bear witness with our spirit immediately.

Proverbs covers an incredible range of subjects (Daily Walk Bible quotes “folly and wisdom, pride and humility, vengeance and justice, laziness and initiative, poverty and wealth, enemies and friends, lust and love, anger and anxiety, masters and servants, life and death.”

Most of them are sayings from the wisest man ever lived, King Solomon (see 1 Kings 3 (1 Ki 3:1) and 2 Chronicles 1 (2 Ch 1:1) for the source of his wisdom.

Wisdom, biblically speaking, means “skillful living”, not just being smart, but knowing how to apply good sense to your life. Also, in Scripture, to be truly wise has a spiritual aspect to it as well. Chapter 1 says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” This means that as you live your life, you recognize that there is a God in Heaven we are accountable to, and you recognize your place under Him, and therefore it informs how you live. A life lived in light of that truth reflects wisdom, skillful living in the fear of God.

Join with me for the next 31 days as I seek to apply God’s 3,000 years-young wisdom to my life in 2008.

Sunday Night Reflections

2008-02-03T20:53:00.000-05:00

Where did January go?

Oh yeah, we got ready to go to Thailand, went to Thailand for two weeks and then had a week of jet lag recovery and reconnecting with our kids and each other after a big trip.

Was back in the pulpit today (after 3 weeks out including the snow day!), and loved it. There's a great feeling at church right now, and even though I preached too long today (always do after missing a Sunday, sorry!), I believe the message was just what God wanted me to deliver today.

I'm so excited about 2008; the staff is efficiently working on our 100 tasks for 2008.

My time with God has been incredible lately. God sent two Michael Card songs from his album Poemia directly to me. Check out the lyrics of Sunshine of Your Smile:

Reject the worldly lie that says,
That life lies always up ahead,
Let power go before control becomes a crust around your soul,
Escape the hunger to possess,
And soul-diminishing success,
This world is full of narrow lives,
I pray by grace your smile survives.

Chorus- For I would wander weary miles,
Would welcome ridicule, my child,
To simply see the sunrise of your smile,
To see the light behind your eyes,
The happy thought that makes you fly,
Yes, I would wander weary miles,
To simply see the sunrise of your smile.

Now close your eyes so you can see,
Your own unfinished memories,
Now open them, for time is brief,
And you'll be blest beyond belief,
Now glance above you at the sky,
There's beauty there to blind the eye,
I ask all this then wait awhile,
To see the dawning of your smile.

Michael Card is by far my favorite Christian artist. His music soothes my soul and challenges my walk. I'd love to meet him someday.

Jet Lag is a Downer

2008-01-24T15:55:00.001-05:00

I jumped back in to going to the office right after returning home and today it has caught up with me big-time.

I've been melancholy today and very tired.

I'm very thankful Brian is preaching this weekend, so I can bounce back. I'm excited about preaching next week, though. I'm fired up about the last American Idols message.

Post Trip Mind Dump

2008-01-22T22:28:00.001-05:00

Not having a laptop for 15 days (perhaps the longest I’ve been without a computer since 1986) AND having ongoing insights and leadings from the Holy Spirit caused me to write pages of lists (usually in the end pages of the books I read while away).

I’m going to get them down here for myself; they may not be relevant to anyone but me.

1. Finalize 2008 Reading List
Post Daily Checklist
Get staff bdays on calendar
Summarize and put in front of me:
7 Practices points
Comm. for a Change points
Leadership Challenge points
Good to Great points
Chase the Lion points
C4 points
Making Vision Stick points
OK to be boss points
Get missionary bdays on calendar
Review 100 Tasks
Call GO Team Meeting
Write a book on sending (start in Fall)
Read/research Pirolo (2 day getaway) 1 day to pray, 1 day to map out ch.
Finalize 100 Life Goals
Mission Trip Follow-up
Contact Jim Akins
Write sermon
Map out Paradise Found series
Set goals for Lead Pastor Role
Hear from God
Pray
Bible
Read
Lead the Staff
Read
Manage every day. (15–5s)
Preach the Word
Listen to my sermons
Listen to iPod sermons
Get ahead
Cast C4 Vision
Get 4Runner back
Have Katie make hang-up quotes for office

Partial 2008 Reading List

2008-01-22T22:12:00.001-05:00

Seven Practices of Effective Ministry
Communicating for a Change
The Leadership Challenge
It’s Okay to be the Boss
In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day
Puritan Books
Sex & the Supremacy of Christ
Magnify Your Vision for the Small Church
Go Big
Grace Walk

Books I Read in 2007 (Partial)

Making Vision Stick
Simple Church

Days 8-11

2008-01-22T21:51:00.001-05:00

We are home now, just still suffering from a little jet lag. Our days feel like nights and nights feel like days.

I apologize for not giving daily updates for the last few days of our trip; once the conference started, we were up at 6:00am and going till 11:30pm, with every minute filled with preparations for the day, prayer, serving, or encouraging workers, and there was NO time for posting.

Katie and I had the privilege of serving about 20 field workers who came to consider the needs and potential for going into the country we were praying for.

It was during this three days that the value of all of our preparation and our purpose for coming became very evident.

I’ll unpack these more as my jetlag goes away, but here are the major lessions I believe God wanted to teach me through this trip and to share with our body:
prayer,
sending,
the sovereignty of God,
the urgency of our Mission (here and abroad),
and
willingness to surrender our dreams to those of our Lord’s (including patiently waiting for His timing not ours).

I want to thank all of you who prayed for us every day, sent comments to my blog (I treasured any word from you guys!), and followed our journey.

Peachtree, I’m also so grateful you guys gave me time away and the church supported our trip. We were able to greatly encourage our friend our church supports, and I am so eager to share with you guys how I believe God wants us to step up our role in missions.

Katie and I will plan a night for debriefing with all of you as soon as we get back to normal.

Thank you so much for praying for us!

Day 7

2008-01-17T03:06:00.001-05:00

Heard we missed a great snow! Wow, that's hard to believe with the way the weather is over here.
conference starts 24 hrs from right now and we have up today all split up to work on a million (actually about 30) last minute tasks.

It takes forever to get simple things done because of the language barrier and because of the lack of resources we take for granted.

After what we've gone through to get some color handouts printers, I will not complain again about our copier at church.

We have had some incredible prayer times for the conference and much of the conference is going to be prayer for a country so we are expecting great things from God to raise up workers.

Katie and I have really started missing our little ones -- we've been looking at the photos we brought a lot.

Abbie and Ben, if you're reading this, we miss you and hope you had fun in the snow!

We'll be home soon!

P. S. Please pray ewith us for the conference togive attendeesdirection for their next step

Love, D

Day 6

2008-01-16T09:44:00.000-05:00

sitting in a hotel lobby in Asia posting to you from my iPod

Flew from north Thailand today to the south . Took 2hr taxi ride to conference location
have been preparing conference handouts all day
I know we have been a huge help to our friend because she says so repeatedly.
will write more later when I have a bigger keyboard

Love to all,
D

Day 5

2008-01-15T07:57:00.000-05:00

We're on the run today so I don't have much time to write. We're packing up (it's 8pm now) to fly back down south first thing in the morning to get ready for the conference. We've done lots of errand running, letter writing, and logistic planning today.

Also, we've had a GREAT time catching up with our friend.

BTW, we also squeezed in an elephant ride today for my birthday!

50/50

2008-01-14T02:59:00.000-05:00

Peachtree will be five years old this April. From day one, 10% of our congregational giving has been designated for missions.

While I was in seminary, Robertson McQuilkin (author of The Great Omission, former president of Columbia International University, and champion for overseas missions) challenged us future pastors to shoot for as a life goal 50% of our church's budgets to go to missions.

Certainly the needs of the unreached in the 10/40 Window are great, and it has been my experience that one of the greatest obstacles to the Gospel advancing is the support needed for missionaries who desire to Go.

Why not? We are the most blessed Christians on earth. What if we sacrificed our niceties so that the called may go.

Now, I am not against us investing in ministry here (I am called to be a church planter in North America!)

And as our student pastor, Brian Bolden, says, "Doesn't matter if your lost in China or Villa Rica...you're still lost"

I guess there's two ways to look at it...We can send more money for the Mission overseas by:
1) spending less here and/or
2) giving more

What if, in Year 6-10, we asked the Lord to allow us to increase our missions giving by 1% of the budget every year (or 2% or more?)

Year Percent toward Overseas Missions
6 11
7 12
8 13
9 14
10 15

I like it!

Day 4

2008-01-14T02:41:00.001-05:00

3:00pm here in Thailand. 3:00am Monday morning to most of you.

We've had a great day today praying for a country and for the conference. Katie and I have been privileged to help our friend prepare for conference, and I'm working alone right now to get my session down on paper.

Last night, we went to the "Sunday Walking Market" and saw tons of crafts and other things for sale by Thai people. It was a blast to see all the night life.

We ate several exotic foods including "mangoes and sticky rice", and several other things our friend would buy samples of and feed to us. My stomach is holding up well, though my lips are still burning from lunch today. I kept drinking up all the water on the table and my face was flushed.

I have a missionary heart, but not a stomach to match.

I've been having lots of time alone with the Lord, and Katie and I are both having our passion for Peachtree being a strategic sending church rekindled.

Hope all is wonderful there. Miss all of you!

2008 Praises/Highlights/Blessings

2008-01-13T19:45:00.000-05:00

Katie and I have had a tradition that started in our second year of marriage of consciously tracking the blessings of each year.

They can be small or huge things, whatever we want to thank God for. When we're conscientious about it, we usually fill up about two pages on the fridge of things we are thankful for that happened during the year.

This year, I'm going to track them on my electronic fridge (right here on my blog). If you want to see them all, I'm labeling these posts Praise.

First, here's a few from the end of 2007:

1. 5 day cruise Mobile to Mexico in December
2. Our GG leaders James & Bryony Hite and all our GG friends
3. $25,000 Jesus' Bday offering! Able to bless some missionaries we support, set aside money for a baptistry, and bank 2 months of salary for new staff member Andy Whitworth!
4. Andy Whitworth on staff!
5. Great time with family over Christmas
6. iPod Touch - love listening to sermon podcasts and the Bible while walking
7. Peachtree at Blackstock - building is completed and 2008 will be all about ministry! Yeah God!

Now, things I'm grateful so far in 2008:

1. Abbie Reid - 93 sight words out of 100! Smart girl!
2. One month completed of my new health habit. - I walk 45 minutes about five mornings a week: Goal: 10,000 steps a day!
3. Privilege of going (with Katie!) to Thailand to encourage a missionary friend and share at a conference
4. Mom & Dad keeping Abbie and Ben so we can go to Thailand
5. Inspired by...The Bible Experience: Complete Bible - bought this with Christmas money, and it is Really good!
6. Peachtree Staff - competent to handle everything while I'm away
7. Peachtree Church - I am so grateful for my family at Peachtree. It is my privilege to be your pastor. We are a blessed people!
8. Jesus! - The more I get to know Him, the more I see His wisdom and beauty and power to accomplish just what He wants. Lord, I surrender to you!
9. Katie - my life would not be near as sweet without my precious life Partner
10. Ben Reid - can't leave him out...my best buddy. His fourth year (2008) is going to be FUN for daddy!

Every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father of Lights...

Thank you, Lord, for all your perfect gifts!

Day 3

2008-01-13T06:41:00.000-05:00

Today is Sunday, actually Sunday night here. We got to go to our friend's church and heard a great message on Grace and the righteousness of God being given to us by Christ.

After church, we went out for Thai food, and drove around some more.

We met with some of our friend's team to pray for the upcoming conference.

We may go out to a night market tonight.

The people are all very friendly, and there are people everywhere!

Our friend's apartment is really nice, and Katie and I have both been surprised at how modern everything is. The grocery/department store last night rivalled Wal-Mart in its diversity of products.

Tomorrow we get going in earnest on conference preparations.

Pray for us! We're missing Abbie & Ben.

Prayer Request

2008-01-11T23:39:00.001-05:00

Since we announced this trip last Sunday, Katie and I have been asked to lead a session for potential missionaries on how to relate to sending churches. I'm very excited about that. This is an area of passion me (sending well); would you pray that we would have something very meaningful to share?

One Night in Bangkok

2008-01-11T23:21:00.000-05:00

After arriving in Bangkok at 8:30 pm Thai time, we very smoothly went through customs, got our luggage and caught a taxi to our hotel. I told Katie it seemed easier than doing the same thing in Dallas, TX.

The taxi ride has been our biggest adventure so far; since the price is regulated by the government, you make more profit by doing more runs, so we had a SPEEDY ride, and let's just say if you think I'm a side-seat driver in West GA, you wouldn't believe how many times I put on the brakes in the back seat.

Motor scooters and riding in the back of a truck are very popular here. We even saw an entire family (mother, father, kid) on scooter.

We checked in about 10pm, slept through the night, and I woke up about 4:30am.

We've had a great breakfast and spent a lot of time talking this morning about missions, including what we think the Lord has planned for us here and what He wants to do at Peachtree in 2008.

It is 11:30 am Sat now here (I think it's 11:30pm Fri night in Atlanta), and we're getting ready to go to the airport to fly on to meet our friend. It will be so great to see her after two years. We are bringing greetings from all of you.

I'm writing this from the business center in the hotel, and hope to post some pictures at our next stop.

Thank you, Peachtree, for all your prayers this week. Hope you guys have a GREAT Sunday, and we are praying for you!

P.S. What does that song "One Night in Bangkok" mean?

Arrived Safely

2008-01-11T23:14:00.000-05:00

Flight to Tokyo was fine. 14 hours is a long time, but the Boeing 777 we were on had cool TV screens in front of each seat which had movies, TV shows, video games, and tracked on our flight on a map of the world. We were over Wisconsin, Minnesota, Canada, Alaska, the Bering Sea, the Pacific Ocean, and Philippines, on our way to Japan. Cloud cover the whole way, but we could see the ground as we were landing in Japan. I was surprised by how rural it looked. I thought it would be very densely populated everywhere.

Also, we were VERY blessed by God in that only Katie and I were assigned to the three seats in our row, so she had a window, I had an aisle, and we had a seat between us to stretch out a little more.

The Lord really does provide in the smallest detail, becasue we were both dreading the long flight, and it turned out to be fine.

For those of you who were wondering, I didn't make Katie talk about 2008 goals the whole trip...only half of it ;>)

2 hour layover (2:30 pm Tokyo time) in Tokyo was just the right amount of time to get over to connecting flight.

We both slept five of the six hours of the second flight from Tokyo to Bangkok. That was a BLESSING as well.

Jesus at the Center

2008-01-08T15:08:00.000-05:00

God has been doing some awesome things in mine and Katie's heart (it's cool how often He brings us to the same focus independently). We've both been dwelling on REALLY having Jesus at the center of our lives, and I am preached on it this Sunday and it resonated with many people.

I'm excited to see what Jesus wants to do this year at Peachtree.

The Asia Connection

2008-01-08T15:05:00.001-05:00

Katie and I are leaving for Thailand this Thursday for 10 days to encourage a missionary friend Peachtree sends. We will be helping prepare for and conduct a conference for potential long-term workers in the 10/40 Window. I will be keeping our church posted through my blog. Please pray for our prayer requests below. We will be gone Thu, Jan 10 – Mon, Jan 21.

How to Pray:

Please pray for:

- Safety during our travel

- Abbie & Ben while we’re away

- Practical ways to support and encourage workers in Thailand

- Victory in spiritual warfare

- Conference we are assisting with for prospective workers

- Unreached people groups in Central Asia

- Opportunities to share the Gospel

- Clear direction from God for friends of ours regarding their next assignment

- Jesus will be made known among the nations

Stop Doing in 2008

2007-12-30T21:37:00.000-05:00

1. Admin for the church (Andy Whitworth is coming on board for that...yeah God!)
2. Time-wasters (the 80% of the jobs that only get 20% results)

Focus

2007-12-30T21:24:00.000-05:00

I've been intrigued with the notion of a "Stop Doing" list ever since I first heard the concept a few years ago. What do I need to stop doing with my precious 1440 minutes per day in order to have time for what is most important?

Add to that Andy Stanley's "Less is more" idea (The secret to concentration is elimination), and there's a huge challenge to me to stop doing many things so I can do the few things that really matter.

As part of my thinking for how we gear the church (and my role) to grow to 600, I came up with the four (only four) things that I am called to do:

1. Hear from God
2. Preach the Word
3. Lead the Staff
4. Cast C4 Vision

Next post: Candidates for my "Stop Doing" list for 2008

New Year's Resolutions

2007-12-30T21:14:00.000-05:00

I love fresh starts, especially the new year.

I'm working on my resolutions for this years...here's a few I'm thinking about so far:

1. Reading (25 books this year???)
2. Exercising (10000 steps a day)
3. Preaching Prep - sermon outline by Thursday noon
4. Blogging - 3 times per week
5. Kids - strategic time every day
6. Scripture Reading - NT, Psalms, Proverbs - 5 days per week

Why I want to Blog in 2008, Part 2

2007-12-29T17:40:00.000-05:00

2008 marks five years of service at Peachtree Church. The elders and I put a sabbatical policy in place about three years ago which provides for a short summer sabbatical to rest, renew, and recharge after five years of service.

I've been dreaming for a year now about what I would do with my sabbatical time, and I was pretty set on a serious study of the life of Paul including a Footsteps of Paul trip.

But God has blessed me with something that will be just what I want/need and is going to be far cheaper. I applied for and received a free two week trip to Israel for April 2008 specifically for renewal.

I'm really excited about this, and am just blown away by the Grace of God that He would allow me to travel back to the Holy Land. My first trip six years ago was the trip of a lifetime.

So, I want to blog about my time on that trip this year.

Why I want to Blog in 2008, Part 1

2007-12-29T17:26:00.000-05:00

God is blessing me with some incredible opportunities in 2008; I'm VERY excited, and look forward to sharing them here.

In January (9-20), Katie and I are travelling to Thailand as ambassadors from Peachtree to encourage and assist a dear missionary friend our church sends.

This will be my first overseas mission trip since I was married and the first Katie and I have been privileged to go on together.

I'm looking forward to what God will do for His global glory, and I'm anxious to have my vision for missions expanded and ignited.

Blogging in 2008

2007-12-29T17:16:00.000-05:00

I love the idea of blogging. Most of all, I think it is incredible that I could have a journal of my whole life...the highs and lows, all on the web and forever searchable. What an awesome testimony of my life with Christ to be able to see what what I was thinking a year ago, three years ago...wow!

Just think of the legacy that I could leave for my children to know what their dad was thinking and how he was growing at different stages of life.

The problem I've always had is that I usually fret over whether a thought is lofty enough to put out there.

Three things just intersected my life at the right time, though, so I'm excited to try my hand at blogging fresh for 2008.

The first thing is that I always love making new habits and new year's resolutions at the end/beginning of a year, and Blogging was one thing I was thinking about getting serious about.

The second thing was I just read a quote that said, "Don't blog for the world; blog for yourself."

That's what I needed; permission for my blog to be my quick unedited thoughts, not a polished complete analysis of whatever thought I'm having at the moment.

The third I'll save for the next post.

If you want to join me from time to time to see what I'm thinking, I'd love for you to join me.

Peachtree 2.0

2007-11-04T17:14:00.000-05:00

Just got back from our staff retreat. Was a great time! We need to hang out more together. Our staff are the greatest servants I know and they are some of mine and Katie's best friends!

After reading Simple Church this year, we have just revamped how we communicate our mission. Everything we do is about leading people to C4:

Celebrate Jesus' glory and grace.
Connect to Christ's people
Contribute to His Kingdom's cause, and
Call others to follow Jesus.

We built the calendar and budget around these four elements of discipeship. It was cool how quickly we put things together when everybody is on the same team.

I also led the staff to "upgrade" our systems (how we do things). 2008 is going to be our best year yet!

Money...for Dummies

2007-11-04T16:51:00.000-05:00

We've got some great things going this month that I am so pumped about!

Our Money for Dummies series kicked off today, and I shared with the congregation one of my greatest dummy mistakes in money (I bought $2000 of Cisco stock at the highest price it's ever been and sold it three years later for $450).

Then we looked at Matthew 6 and how Jesus told us he wants us to submit our finances to the rule of God and he will give us everything we need (without bondage to debt or worry).

I am praying that our congregation will get this truth in a big way.

We are bringing in Joe Sangl for one of his Financial Learning Experience seminars on Sunday, December 9 5-7pm. That should be cool!

Heroes of the Week! - Work Day Servants

2007-08-04T18:12:00.001-05:00

Wow!

I can’t believe how much we got done today at our Church Work Day at the new Peachtree! It is awesome. We had about 30 people working today.

The entire nine acres is cut and weed-eaten.

Much weeding and landscaping and transplanting was done around mailbox and in the courtyard outside the theatre.

Billy McLemore is doing AWESOME on the floors…bathrooms, office hallway, and nursery hardfloor is done and must dry and then get two coats of a sealant. They are putting the chips down for all of of coffeeshop floor today.

Ronnie Savoie is going heighten the posts for the permanent PCC sign, take off the scaffolding around the sign, and put up posts to do current series sign.

A lot more paint touch-up was done in the theatre and middle room.

Two Codys painted gates black.

The preschool walls were painted today by Sheila, Cody, and others.

Theatre chairs arrived on site today courtesy of Candace & Mickey (they also got our 250 worship center chairs earlier this week in ONE LOAD!)

Mickey bushhogged by the road, filled in the craters in the lower playground area (left when swings sets were dug up by former owners) and spread wood chips around the riverbank.

What a fun and productive day!

Thanks to everyone of you…you are loved and appreciated!

Get Ready for the Fall

2007-07-26T10:40:00.001-05:00

Hey Peachtree,

Guys, I’m fired up from our study of Exodus, and God has definitely set me free from some fears I’ve had about leading our church (humanly speaking, I’m staying true to my commitment a few weeks ago to let Christ lead His church)

This Sunday, you’ll hear from my heart where we need to go this Fall. We’re going to faith-risk to see people far from God connect to Him MORE THAN WE EVER HAVE BEFORE! We have a $1 million tool in our hands (the new building) and we’re going to put all the energy of the church into leveraging that tool to reach MANY more people for Christ from now until Christmas. We have a strategic window this Fall to impact West Georgia, and we must have all hands on deck.

Also, this Sunday, you’ll see some never-before-seen photos of the new building and a great testimony of lives changed at Peachtree!

DO NOT MISS this Sunday! I can’t wait!

Villa Rica Fireworks

2007-07-04T20:41:00.000-05:00

Flickr: Photos from reidbook70

Wow, what a great night!
For those unable to make it: PCCers met at the north end of the football field right under the fireworks.
We brought a cooler of water and about 20 popsicles from our freezer and they went over great with our people.

At 8:00, we organized a low-pressure blitz of flyers through the crowds, and I heard several positive reports of conversations. I had several good conversations with our people in our community, and Tandy knows of several families who want to come Sunday. We gave out all 500 flyers. I’m sure we’ll see from fruit. It was awesome to see our students reachig out. This was our very first stab at this as an outreach (this was only the 2^nd year VR had fireworks). We all agree it would be so much easier to invite people if we were also giving out popsicles or glow sticks.

PCC kids were having a blast climbing on the goalposts (is that wrong?)

The fireworks were AWESOME! Everyone said they were the best they had seen even from cities much larger. And everyone also commented that this was the closest they’d ever been to them. They had an incredible finale and really, really loud ones.

Afterwards, all PCCers waited for about an hour for traffic to clear out, but the kids were playing and everyone was talking…it was great.

Ideas for next year:

1. We bring coolers of drinks for PCCers (bring your own picnic food or buy from the booths they have)

2. Hang out from 7:00-8:00

3. At 8:00, we hand out popsicles or glow sticks/loops, frisbees or small beach balls (Stephanie Cartwright’s idea) along with a flyer/postcard/You’re invited businesscard

4. April had the idea of red, white, blue “Freedom in Christ” shirts.

Basically, we make it a fellowship/outreach.

Hope to see you guys we met on Sunday!

Thankful for the God of Freedom

2007-07-04T16:26:00.001-05:00

Last summer, I read John Adams by David McCullough, the biography of our second president and one of the Founding Fathers.

What struck me was how tenuous the whole founding of America was:

Getting agreement of leaders of the colonies (many of whom were loyalists),

the harsh circumstances the Fathers endured to hash out agreement (John Adams was separated from his wife months and months at a time while she endured tremendous hardships including loss of a child)

the gathering together of an army to go against the British

the incredible circumstances which allowed the Americans to prevail againt a vastly stronger nation

etc.

The more tenuous the situation seems, the more God’s hand is evident.
For America to exist, there were many “If God doesn’t show up, we’re sunk!” moments.
It seems that’s what God loves to do.
And He uses faithful men and women who are willing to risk it all to accomplish what He wants.
I am thankful for His perfect strength and timing.
And today, July 4^th, I’m very thankful for all the brave men and women who serve on our behalf in uniform.
Thank you, God for freedom in our country. May You bless those who protect it!

Exodus, Above and Beyond

2007-07-02T05:45:00.000-05:00

We're in a series on Exodus 1-15 called the Great Escape: Breaking Free from the Things That Keep You Enslaved.

When you're teaching through a book with a firm date to start your next series, you have to pick and choose what you're going to cover which is sometimes hard since it is all inspired and has meaning.

Two people in my congegration noticed I skipped over this little gem in Exdous 4:24-26 (Thanks for being in your Bible, Jeff Lynn and Sheila Whitworth!)

Exodus 4:24-31

24At a lodging place on the way, the Lord met Moses and was about to kill him. 25But Zipporah took a flint knife, cut off her son’s foreskin and touched Moses’ feet with it. “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me,” she said. 26So the Lord let him alone. (At that time she said “bridegroom of blood,” referring to circumcision.)

Then in verse 27-31, it goes right back to the story of Moses and Aaron getting together with the Israelites (above).

So, what are verse 24-26 about? I actually thought about preaching it as one of the messages, but it didn't quite fit with the theme of Breaking Free as well as everything else does.

First, since the passage (3 verses) doesn't have a whole lot of detail., most of the commentaries I read "supposed" a little of the situation.

Basically, ever since Genesis 17:10-14 God had told Abraham for all males who believed in God to be circumcised.

The Bible Knowledge Commentary summarizes the point of this passage best:

In his years in Midian Moses had neglected to obey God’s command (cf. Gen. 17:10) to circumcise one (or both?) of his sons. So God was about to kill Moses, perhaps by causing him to be gravely ill. Zipporah reluctantly circumcised her son with flint and then God healed His prophet. Her touching Moses’ feet with the son’s foreskin was possibly a symbolic act of substitution, in which obedience was seen as replacing disobedience. Zipporah called Moses a bridegroom of blood. The meaning of this phrase is unknown, but some say it was used in a derogatory way to suggest that she did not favor the rite. (Yet she did it to save her husband’s life.) Others propose that she saw in the act a sort of redemption by which the blood of the youngster restored Moses to the Lord and also to her as a new bridegroom.

At this time Zipporah and the sons may have returned to Jethro (18:2-3). Moses’ sudden illness was a warning that he must obey God wholly and fulfill his mission.

Walvoord, John F. ; Zuck, Roy B. ; Dallas Theological Seminary: The Bible Knowledge Commentary : An Exposition of the Scriptures. Wheaton, IL : Victor Books, 1983-c1985, S. 1:115

Had I preached it, the point would have been: We must get right with God if we want to do His work.

Saturday Night Feeling

2007-06-30T19:28:00.000-05:00

Got the Saturday night, sermon is ready, but feeling weird blues...

This has been an eventful week emotionally, a good friend's dad died who was also related to my family, so there's been that.

There's several families who are hurting at Peachtree; I always feel their pain...

And I'm going through one of the biggest faith tests I've ever had...

Tomorrow's sermon really addresses it, and tonight, I'm in that "I've got to believe this truth and live it out in my heart before I can preach it to others" feeling.

If you're reading this, pray for me.

Hero of the Week: Brian & April Bolden

2007-06-23T20:56:00.000-05:00

I just got back from an incredible time at summer camp with our 6th - 12th students. The spiritual growth and Christian community among our students this week was awesome!

I never say it often enough, but we have the most talented and committed staff of any church plant I know. This week, my heroes are Brian & April Bolden, our youth pastor and his wife. Brian & April have been at Peachtree from the beginning with a heart to reach students in West Georgia. They started with 2 youth and have grown our group to a thriving community of over 30 students. The kids' love for the Boldens is evident, as is theirs for the students.

Lives are being changed significantly as our students are being built into.
Brian & April, Christ's light and love shines through you. May your tribe increase. Thank you, Brian & April, you are my heroes!

Wow!...Super Wow!

2007-06-22T06:29:00.000-05:00

This is our last morning of youth camp, and it has been incredible! Katie and I have LOVED getting to know our incredible students! The teaching and worship has been off the hook...I've been super challenged in several areas (I love to be challenged in my walk with Jesus!)

But last night was the greatest part of it all. 24 students stayed up until 1 am praising God, praying for each other, and sharing their renewed commitment to following hard after Jesus.

Two of our students trusted Christ for the first time on this trip (awesome!) and all of us are returning from a mountaintop.

Lord, use these students mightily for your glory in West GA!

Off to Camp!

2007-06-18T05:42:00.000-05:00

Katie and I are excited about going with 23 of our students to SuperWOW at Jekyll Island.

I'm praying God is going to do incredible things in the lives of everyone who goes. I'll try to post during the week and give you updates.

Pray for us!

Hero of the Week: Brenda Lynn

2007-06-15T20:52:00.000-05:00

Brenda Lynn is the hero of the week for making Jason & Belinda Stradley (relatives of Brandy & T.J. Savage) feel very welcome at Peachtree recently. They've been coming about a month.

Here's what Belinda wrote to me:

"I wanted to tell you Brenda came up to me in the parking lot and introduced herself and invited me to Girls' Night Out. I have been to other churches and no one has ever approached us like to people at your church. Great job for Peachtree. You all make people feel so welcome.

Thank you so much, Brenda, for taking time to love our guests! You're my hero!

Many Thanks for Your Heart-felt Sympathies

2007-06-09T20:15:00.001-05:00

My Uncle Kenneth died Wednesday night of kidney cancer after an almost three-year struggle.
It’s been a hectic weekend since I did the funeral, but what a neat celebration of his homegoing.
So many PCCers came to comfort my family or sent emails. Thank you guys so much. We have felt really loved.
I can’t wait to see you guys all tomorrow and to get to teach.

Church Planters are the Neatest People

2007-06-08T09:23:00.001-05:00

Take Tony McCollum. He is one of the most creative and funny people I know. Not only that, he would give you the shirt off his back (or at least ones that didn’t make the cut for his congregation).

Tony sent me a free “These are my church clothes” t-shirt, and Tony, I’ve worn it already.

Tony’s blog is a must-read for planters.

Thanks, Tony.

FAQs on Heaven

2007-06-06T16:36:00.001-05:00

Randy Alcorn’s book Heaven is a GREAT resource about the place we most long to go (in God’s time!).

Here’s an article with some of Dr. Alcorn’s frequently asked questions.

We have the book in the church library as well as the unabridged CDs. It is wonderful to hear what God has in store for us!

Keeping On For the Long Haul

2007-06-05T14:41:00.001-05:00

As a melancholy whose thorn in the flesh is discouragement, I collect articles on how to stay up in ministry. Love this post from Tony McCollum summarizing Bob Russell’s advice after a great long run in ministry.

What a hero!

2007-06-05T12:33:00.001-05:00

This has nothing to do with anything I normally post about, but last night Katie was in the Carrollton Wal-Mart on Aisle 1 and a purse snatcher took her purse with Abbie and Ben sitting in cart as Katie had walked to pick up some produce.

My sweet wife instantly began yelling loudly (according to her testimony, I wasn’t there): “Stop that man! He has my purse!” over and over.

A UWG student Chad Krish chased the thief down, tackled him, and retrieved the purse. An accomplice helped the thief get away, but they got his description, tag #, and vehicle description.

What a story. Chad, thank you so much for stepping in to help out. BTW, Chad is a criminal law major. Way to go!

Blaize & April - Getting Married!

2007-06-02T10:33:00.001-05:00

I have the privilege today of performing the wedding of a wonderful couple who is very dear to me.

Blaize Stewart was a college student at University of West Georgia when I came to West GA to plant Peachtree. Blaize and I clicked and he has been a very faithful servant and launch team member until he went to New Orleans Seminary.

There he met April Price, an awesome partner for him, who actually came to Peachtree for many months after Hurricane Katrina to see if Blaize was the guy for her. We LOVED having April at Peachtree, and were sad when they returned to New Orleans to finish school.

We had the best time meeting April’s family at the rehearsal dinner last night, and the wedding is going to be a very worshipful and meaningful time today at 2:00.

Blaize & April, congratulations, and thanks for giving me this great privilege!

The Dip - So That's What It's Called

2007-05-30T16:38:00.001-05:00

I’ve been reading a lot of church planters’ blogs lately. We are very similar lot. In fact, it’s quite encouraging to hear that the hard stuff we go through, everyone else has too.

Ben Arment has a great 4 part series of posts on The Dip. Peachtree staff, we’ve been in the dip for over a year. This fall, we’re coming out. I can’t wait for our meeting on June 9.

Daily Time with God...more advice

2007-05-29T23:17:00.001-05:00

Eric Wright has a great 5 steps program for spending time with God. 30 minutes (what I’ve just started doing) in the morning keeps coming up. Cool.

What would _______ think?

2007-05-29T23:03:00.001-05:00

I need to read this awesome post by Steven Furtick every day.

Thanks, man!

Psalm 19: General & Special Revelation

2007-05-29T18:13:00.001-05:00

Psalm 19 is beautiful.

The Heavens declare the glory of God (Hebrew El – a generic word, much like our English usage of the word God)

Creation points to the majesty and power of the painter of everything we see, but it doesn’t tell us his character.

But the Law (v. 7–14), reveals Yahweh.

Yahweh’s law: revives the soul (v. 7), makes the simple wise (v. 8), and gives joy to the heart (v. 9).

I especially like verse 13–14:

“Keep your servant from willful sins; may they not rule over me.” and

“May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.”

Psalm 18: Praise for Deliverance

2007-05-29T18:12:00.001-05:00

(Part of my series of commenting on the Psalms)

David is grateful to God for delivering him from Saul.

Great verses:

1 I love you, O Lord, my strength

2 The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer…

28 You, O Lord, keep my lamp burning, my God turns my darkness into light. With your help I can advance against a troop; with my God I can scale a wall.

That’s a great thought: with my God, I can leap over any wall.

Wow, I just read Ps 18 in Eugene Peterson’s The Message

Here’s a sample:

Psalm 18:1-6 (The Message)
^{1 I love you, God— you make me strong. 2 God is bedrock under my feet, the castle in which I live, my rescuing knight. My God—the high crag where I run for dear life, hiding behind the boulders, safe in the granite hideout. 3 I sing to God, the Praise-Lofty, and find myself safe and saved. 4 The hangman’s noose was tight at my throat; devil waters rushed over me. 5 Hell’s ropes cinched me tight; death traps barred every exit. 6 A hostile world! I call to God, I cry to God to help me. From his palace he hears my call; my cry brings me right into his presence— a private audience!}

Great words for today.

My Vision for Peach Buzz

2007-05-28T05:44:00.000-05:00

I believe blogging is an incredible tool. The many comparisons to the Gutenberg's invention of the printing press in 1517 are apt, I believe, both in terms of technology giving the expression of individuals the ability to persuade masses, as well as the revolutions such persuasive expressions were able to cause. (Don't forget, the Protestant Reformation was what it was because of the printing press).

I blogged for about a year (first post: March 2005; last post, April 2006). I didn't consciously decide to quit, but a couple of things happened:

1. I went through an internet funk where other blogs began to discourage me (not based on their content; I don't know if it was jealousy or mid-life crisis (Katie says I'm too young for that; I'm 36) or what, but for the sake of my spiritual life, I swore off blogs for at least six months.

2. We had a CHALLENGING year at Peachtree (my staff says, which year has not been been challenging). Deciding to buy/build, leading a capital campaign, and choosing the place consumed 2006, and much of it was not glamorous to write about. Looking back, God has been so faithful to led us to His best for us, but there were lots of faith-stretching moments along the way.

To sum it all up, I've felt really led to share my voice, this time around, primarily for the congregation at Peachtree and the people of West Georgia. I have several church planter friends I hope will be encouraged and I really do hope to connect with some guys who are leading well and down the road ahead of me (Perry Noble, Scott Hodge, I'm dying to meet you guys...Gary, hook me up)

But, I really want to share life with my closest brothers and sisters and the people we are called to reach.

So, don't be shy. Let me know what you think…what you’d like to talk about, and especially who you are.

Got a question or comment...I look forward to our conversations!

Also be sure to check out Peachtree Community Church
Peace be to you,
Pastor Dave

Praying through the Psalms

2007-05-26T08:23:00.001-05:00

I’ve been reading Eugene Peterson’s Under the Unpredictable Plant and it has inspired me to “Pray through the Psalms”. I’ve never done this before, but basically you read through Psalms as personal prayers. It seems the church fathers and the church through history used the Psalms as a “school of prayer” and it has really been cool for me. Let me know if you want more details about it.

One of my heroes of the faith

2007-05-26T08:14:00.001-05:00

Here’s one of my heroes of the faith. Every time I’ve ever heard Bill Hybels speak, something wells up in me to go all out for the Kingdom.

Here’s what Bill said recently at a conference to church planters:

Bill said that his greatest horror is “what if I would’ve given my life to a lesser dream?”

Bill finished his talk by telling us that after 31 years this would be his advice to church planters:

KNOW THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A “HANKERING” AND A “HOLY DISCONTENT”. A “hankering” is thinking that you might like to try this someday; but a “holy discontent” is something that if you don’t do it you will implode! Church planting can not be a “hankering” it has to be a “holy discontent” that you have to do.

KNOW WHO HAS WHAT GIFTS. You need to know not only your gifts, but also the order of your giftings. Most people have 3 or 4 gifts and you need to know which is first, second, third and fourth. You also need to know the gifts of your team and the order of their gifts as well.

KNOW THE CONNECT BETWEEN LEADERSHIP AND FAITH. Faith is what allows you as a leader to continue to move forward even though what you hope for is not yet in sight. Faith is essential for a spiritual leader.

DECIDE TODAY THAT YOU WILL TAKE THE “HIGH ROAD”. There are too many church planters who have ditched their efforts because they compromised in the area of sexuality or financial impropriety. If you are going to plant a church decide right now that you are going to take the moral high road.

ASK GOD TO LET YOU FINISH WITH A FEW OF THE PEOPLE YOU STARTED WITH. Don’t start this new adventure on your own; do it with a team. Create a community that feels more like a family than it does like a profession. And then ask God to let you finish with some of the same people with which you started this church.

Faith that moves mountains

2007-05-26T07:35:00.001-05:00

Okay, so it’s a little play on words, but make no mistake, Peachtree moving to a new facility so we can connect more people in West Georgia to God is the biggest faith risk we’ve taken so far.

Check out the progress.

Foundation will be poured next week!

Psalm 17: Oh, to be a man like that!

2007-05-26T07:34:00.001-05:00

Psalm 17 struck me this morning.

David makes bold statements I long to be true of me.

Take verse 3 — “though you (God) probe my heart and examine me at night, though you test me, YOU WILL FIND NOTHING; (for) I have resolved that my mouth will not sin.

Wow, the certainty of that statement in a prayer to God reflects a man who’s examined his own heart closely and knows there is nothing between himself and God.

The context (see v. 9–12) suggests this is written while David was on the run from Saul (17 years of running!)

And yet, this prayer reflects a complete confidence that God will deliver.

How I want such confidence in God from a pure heart!

Psalm 17 (NIV)
^{1 A prayer of David.}^{Hear, O Lord, my righteous plea; listen to my cry. Give ear to my prayer— it does not rise from deceitful lips.
2 May my vindication come from you; may your eyes see what is right.
3 Though you probe my heart and examine me at night, though you test me, you will find nothing; I have resolved that my mouth will not sin.
4 As for the deeds of men— by the word of your lips I have kept myself from the ways of the violent.
5 My steps have held to your paths; my feet have not slipped.
6 I call on you, O God, for you will answer me; give ear to me and hear my prayer.}^{7 Show the wonder of your great love, you who save by your right hand those who take refuge in you from their foes.
8 Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings
9 from the wicked who assail me, from my mortal enemies who surround me.
10 They close up their callous hearts, and their mouths speak with arrogance.
11 They have tracked me down, they now surround me, with eyes alert, to throw me to the ground.
12 They are like a lion hungry for prey, like a great lion crouching in cover.
13 Rise up, O Lord, confront them, bring them down; rescue me from the wicked by your sword.
14 O Lord, by your hand save me from such men, from men of this world whose reward is in this life. You still the hunger of those you cherish; their sons have plenty, and they store up wealth for their children.
15 And I—in righteousness I will see your face; when I awake, I will be satisfied with seeing your likeness.}

Blackstock Photo Friday

2007-05-25T14:43:00.001-05:00

Wow, what a week at the building site. We found out that we had our own Stone Mountain under the worship center plot. Not in our budget, the estimates of $10,000 and up to blast it were sad news for Peachtree Church.

But a providential phone call to Big John Postell, a dynamiter for 40 years, led to him blowing up our rock for FREE, zero, zilch, nada.

The Lord has done great things for us!

Hey, they also let me detonate it. I felt like Jack Bauer on 24.

Thank you, Big John and friends! We are very grateful!

The existing building should be done in four weeks and the worship center in eight.

Cool!

My New Routine

2007-05-25T09:10:00.000-05:00

I’m terribly task-oriented.

I’m the kind of person who writes the smallest tasks (i.e. put on clothes, well maybe not that bad) on my list so that I get the dopamine rush of checking it off. Sometimes, I’ll even put a task on my list after I’ve completed it.

The upside is that I get a lot done and am always working on something.

The downside is that I get going on tasks early in the morning and can go all day marking things off the list and miss developing relationships, most importantly, my relationship with God.

I’ve had some great times with God lately, and I’m going to formalize it into a routine (a daily task…hey, it works for me)

Here’s what it looks like for me:

Immediately when I get up:

5 minutes Listen to a worship song on my iPod
5 minutes Read a chapter in the New Testament
10 minutes Pray through the Psalms
10 minutes Pray and write in my journal

What’s your way of spending time with God?

This is our God

2007-05-24T09:09:00.000-05:00

We’re teaching the Book of Exodus right now, and as part of my research, I watched The Prince of Egypt today.

I have chills as the scene plays of the people of God walking through on dry land.

This is our God!

Ready to Live Free?

2007-05-24T08:04:00.001-05:00

I’m pumped about the series we just started. It’s going to be Exodus like you’ve never seen it before. God is all-powerful and He cares deeply about whatever it is that’s holding you back from what He designed you to be. Add these two together, and you’ve got the setup for The Great Escape…

This Sunday, we slipped lists of what we are in bondage to (sins, habits, attitudes, emotions) into the links of a chain. We are asking God to deliver us from these chains.

I can’t wait to see what our God does!

Getting Away

2007-05-23T12:05:00.000-05:00

Church planting, it has been said, is the extreme sport of ministry.

When I think about my role, I am part preacher, part leader/motivator, part business manager, part counselor, part vision caster, part boss, chief financial officer, etc.

On top of that, I’m attempting to follow Christ apart from ministry, be a godly husband, effective father, honor my parents, and have deep, meaningful friendships along the way.

As the urgent always battle for attention from the important, it’s easy to get overwhelmed with the hundreds of details that make up a ministry week.

A blog I read a long time ago (I’d give anything to find that insightful post) made a convincing case for church planters to get away two days every 6 or 7 weeks.

I really do try to do that. When I just get away from the chatter and change setting, my faith is increased, I hear from God better, and I can see the vision more clearly.

God’s blessed me with an Elder board who allows me the freedom of flexibility, a church that values seeing me healthy, and a staff that fills every gap when I’m away.

I’m currently at my dad’s on Amelia Island, FL (northeast corner of FL) through Memorial Day. The fam gets to enjoy the beach, and this is a planning week for me.

Please pray for me; God has already been revealing more than I keep up with.

Peachtree, I miss you; but it’s a sweet miss. ;>)

Exodus Notes

2007-05-19T20:00:00.001-05:00

Passover – Jewish Independence Day

Plagues of Egypt

2007-05-19T19:56:00.001-05:00

I’m researching for my current series on Exodus…Here’s a list of the Ten Plagues God unleashed on Egypt…

The plagues as they appear in the Bible are:

1. (Exodus 7:14-25) rivers and other water sources turned to blood ('Dam')
2. (Exodus 7:26-8:11) reptiles (commonly believed to be frogs) ('Tsfardeia')
3. (Exodus 8:12-15) lice ('Kinim')
4. (Exodus 8:16-28) Either flies, wild animals or beetles ('Arov')
5. (Exodus 9:1-7) disease on livestock ('Dever')
6. (Exodus 9:8-12) unhealable boils ('Shkhin')
7. (Exodus 9:13-35) hail mixed with fire ('Barad')
8. (Exodus 10:1-20) locusts ('Arbeh')
9. (Exodus 10:21-29) darkness ('Choshech')
10. (Exodus 11:1-12:36) death of the firstborn ('Makat Bechorot')

Plagues of Egypt - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Groundbreaking

2007-05-16T10:19:00.000-05:00

This is from our Groundbreaking over at Blackstock...Check out the trees.

Too cool

2007-05-15T22:36:00.001-05:00

Wow, I was able to send this pic from my phone straight to my blog. That could come in handy. This is my Big Ben, by the way. He has dumped the paci since this pic.

The Great Escape

2007-05-15T22:17:00.001-05:00

I am REALLY excited about our next Teaching series at Peachtree.

The Book of Exodus is all about God delivering His people from bondage.

I can't wait to see what God breaks people free from in this series.

What is it that's keeping you bound?

Peachtree's New Location

2007-05-15T08:22:00.000-05:00

If you haven’t heard, Peachtree has a new location. We’re not meeting there yet, but things are really happening on the property. We bought the former Blackstock Montessori School on Hwy 78 at the end of March and the existing school building should be done by June 30, and the worship center we're building should be done by July 15.