WholeHeartedLife

New Attenders Class is this Weekend!

Wanted to give a big shout-out to all of you who have begun attending hyde park in the past few months!! We are SO committed to helping you to connect with us on the next level, to do the "Next Right Thing". This weekend is your opportunity to take your connection to the Next Level.

Take it from me: if you are just attending but haven't committed to the church it is easy to fall away. How often have I personally seen this played out in people's lives? All the time.

This weeked we will host our next New Attenders Class - We call it FAITHTrac 101. FAITHTrac 101 is a one session class with Pastor Dennis that will help you to understand Why we do What we do the Way that we do. It begins at 9.51 and includes a wonderful lunch for the whole family.

When: This Sunday, February 22nd - 9.51am
Where: The ROC Gym
Who: YOU!

Interested? Let us know today!!! We want you to do the "Next Right Thing".

The Plunge AFTER I Believed

In honor of our next baptism coming up on February 1st I began thinking about my own:

I was baptized on April 20th, 1997, the day after my daughter Madison's 1st birthday (I gave my life to JESUS on the previous Sunday, April 13th). One difficult circumstance that happened with my baptism was sharing with my family (mom and dad) that I was being baptized. Why? Because being raised Catholic, I had already been "baptized" (sprinkled) in the eyes of my family.

I remember the tension of telling them I was being baptized - why did I tell them? I HAD TO! Why? Because they were already planning on coming to church that day because Madison was being dedicated. I had no choice. (which reminds me that God does have a sense of humor - I probably would've wussed out and told them later otherwise).

The reason you always hear me ask, "have you been baptized SINCE you believed?" is because I know that many times a person has been baptized prior to conversion because of the denomination that their parents raised them in.

Is post-conversion baptism important? IT'S HUGE!!! It's literally the 1st step as a new believer! It's saying to the world, "Yes!! I Believe that Jesus Christ has begun changing my heart!". I am one of those guys of the persuasion who believes that you will never live a productive life as a believer if you won't even take the first step of obedience through baptism.

Personally for me, once I got through the difficulty of sharing the news of my baptism with my parents, the day was AMAZING FOR ME! I knew that I had begun a new journey, a new life with a new leader - I could feel it as I was lowered into those waters of baptism - when I come up LIFE BEGINS

If you've not been baptized SINCE you believed and would like more information or would like to be scheduled for baptism on February 1st, let me know.

Let us learn more about you: Share with the WholeHearted readers the story of your baptism day.

(One more thing: Hope you caught yesterday's post about tension - it's short but it will challenge you!)

What He Said - Part 1

This week I am sharing with you some recent post by others that have moved me to the point of saying, "What HE said!" because I couldn't say it better myself, so I won't try!

We talked a lot a few months ago about doing the "Next Right Thing". The point was ACTION! Doing something about what you KNOW is the right thing to do in response to what the Lord is saying to you.

Buddy Cremans (Pastor of Northway Church in Upstate New York) posted on his blog the other day about how his world was ROCKED! by the realization of what's happening in the backyard of his church.

You've probably heard somebody say something before and it SO expressed your feelings that you wanted to say, "What HE said!". Well that's what I say in response to his post - Please read it here and then return to answer this Question: What should we do about the least of these in our backyard?

Have You?

This picture hangs behind my desk. It was a Father's Day present some years ago. I've always loved what it symbolized to me. (Psalm 1:1 - Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers.)

Last night, as I was reading this I was thinking how amazing a verse this is. You know, ever since this day JESUS has been willing to do that very same thing with us. Anytime that I (or you) are ready, He will sit down and teach us; even this very moment. Question: when is the last time you sat down with Him and allowed Him to teach you like the man in the picture?