WholeHeartedLife

Front Page, BABY!

I'm out of town, but just heard that we are on the front page of the Fayetteville Observer!

Read it here!

Much thanks to Venita Jenkins for an excellent article - you definitely get it!

Did ya see...

Did you see the "cheesy-lookin'" fellow on WBTW 13 tonite? Look for the "Lumberton Secrets Website" Video. Thank you, Jesus!

Last Minute Free Publicity!

Timing is everything?

         My friend Hubert called yesterday and said, "107.7 is talking about 'LumbertonSecrets.com' - the dj has set up a forum and asked the question, 'do you think the website is a good thing, a place to make honest confession or do you think it is an inappropriate way of ministry and a ploy to get people in the church?'

        So, I turn there, get the number and call in and proceed to do about an 8 minute on-air interview, sharing the vision and purpose of the site, talking about JESUS and the fact that 'He came to seek and save that which was lost!"

        Before we got off the phone she said that she already spoke with Foxy 99 and that they were doing the same thing today!

        Last Thursday, Pastor and I did an interview with the Fayetteville Observer about the Secrets site (they contacted us - thought it was a great idea). You know, it's interesting that two radio stations and the largest newspaper in the region have contacted us at the end of this series...

       I guess that's the best thing about the internet - once the series is over, the site can "go on". May God FREE people from all the junk that keeps them from Him.

This is an addition to the original post... after reading it live, like you do, I wanted to say that "OJ" (the dj at 107.7) gave an awesome description of the site... she promoted it unbelievably on air saying, "I know i might take some heat on this because i have a lot of listeners who are 'religious', but if you can reach people who otherwise won't be reached and give them true hope, just know that OJ's got your back." Pastor Harrell looked at me, smiling, saying, "that's EXACTLY the kind of station we need to be on!" I agree, Pastor - We need to be where the real people are!

Living Pure

QUESTION: Do you have a goal for the condition of your mind? Have you ever really thought about the fact that personal holiness is such a conscious decision? "Good people" have the possiblity to go through life sometimes obeying all of the "good rules" yet, at the same time, their mind be as far from God as those who live far from God. This morning we talk about living pure.

You know, purity is about WAY more than just sexuality... purity is a decision to make ALL things subject to the will of God for our lives. 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 reminds us that we have available to us Divine power to overcome strongholds in our mind.

See the goal is not just to overcome your thought life in the issue of sex (which may not affect everyone as strongly)... the goal is having your mind truly be conditioned to be pleasing to JESUS. In other words, this applies to more than just the "pervs" (just kidding people ).

So, here's a few applications - things that you can do to begin to make positive progress in these areas (in no particular order):

• Examine your mind - be honest: is there ever anything that runs through there which would not be pleasing to God? Not just sexual thoughts, what about sinful thoughts in general. Remember, this is not just about overcoming sexual purity issues, this whole thing is about having our mind be pleasing to God in all areas.
• Consider removing obstacles/temptors from your life (Matthew 5:29) This is a killer point Pastor has brought up week after week. Sometimes you must make radical changes to be free from that which you struggle with.
• "Set your mind on things above" - when you are tempted, have displeasing thoughts, etc. PRAY. Stop what you're doing and ask God to help you to focus on something pleasing to Him.
• Set up accountability in your life. Can I stress this enough? How in your life has permission to ask you the tough questions? (do they know this - meaning, have you told them to ask you?) When you know that someone's gonna ask and that you will either have to confess or LIE (and why have accountability if you're just gonna lie about it?) you will think twice before you act.
• Allow God to truly hold you accountable - meaning, get serious about your walk with Him: there is no substitute for prayer and bible study - NONE. You aren't living FOR God if you aren't living WITH God!

You may remember a statement that I've made in the past: In order to live WHOLLY for God we must live HOLY to God. How do we live holy to God? The place to begin is through the renewing of our minds - Not only will God help you to succeed in this area, it is His will for every follower of Jesus - this is a promise for you - living "pure" is a pathway to a deeper place with Him. So, back to the QUESTION we began with: Do you have a goal for the condition of your mind?

What do YOU say?

this ought to be fun...

(I know that I said that we were discussing addictions this week on WholeHearted but in light of the fact that only 1 person was willing to discuss it I'm moving on... series take a lot of thought and prep - we'll talk about addiction again when the time seems right. SO... we're gonna move onto the other thing on my mind this morning...)

Week 3 of Secrets will be one of the toughest messages we've ever had to present at hyde park. The title is "Let's Get Pure" and deals with having a pure mind in the area of sexuality. Which begs the question: Why is hyde park talking about something that seems to be so controversial? I think that the question is a fair and valid question - I'm glad that we have forums like this to address things of this nature.

We are not trying to be controversial when we address these issues: we're talking about things that real people (even people in the church) are dealing with from a biblical perspective. In a conversation with Pastor Harrell yesterday, he said, "Sexual issues are at a CRISIS POINT in America - How can the church NOT address these issues?"

Do you think that he actually WANTS to talk about pornography or sex? Have you thought about the fact that he actually has to stand in front of hundreds of people, knowing that they are uncomfortable with the subject he's talking about? (By the way, God wants His called to talk/do things that others are not willing to do OR deal with... In Isaiah 20, God tells Isaiah to take off his clothes and walk around naked to make a point - I'm pretty sure that pastor WON'T be doing that soon - read it for yourself.)

We have thought through the negative implications and the consequences of taking on the hard parts of living for God and truthfully, the consequences are greater if we DON'T talk about these things from a biblical viewpoint - enough with the worlds opinions and band-aid treatments. The world tries to "fix" things after they're broken to pieces with band-aids (just covers up) - we want to avoid the life-shattering consequences BEFORE they happen (truth-speaking, even when it's controversial)... and when it's too late to help a person avoid something because they have already commited that sin we lead them to the place of repentence and forgiveness through the only One able to heal their hurt and forgive their sin. That's what the church is all about - love, forgiveness, grace and mercy. Were it not for grace...

I heard a pastor ask the question recently, what is the one message that scares you to DEATH to think about preaching? That message is probably the EXACT message your people and community need to hear. I applaud my pastor for being brave enough to go where He doesn't want to because it's necessary (in season and out of season / when it's popular and when it ain't!)

By the way, wait until you hear the statistics that pastor will share on Sunday about how much this issue has become an epidemic in America (and wait until you hear the way that IT AFFECTS YOUR CHILDREN!) This IS a can't miss message - do everything you can to be here and to invite someone.

Disorder?

In the world today, so many people try to make excuses for their problems (or addictions) by blaming others and as Pastor said Sunday this is a problem that goes all the way back to the beginning of the human existence: "but God, it's the woman's fault -she's the one who told me to take the bite".

It seems today like there is an excuse for everything - no responsibility lies with the individual. Many people would even refer to addiction as a disorder - for once, I would have to agree with them. ADDICTION IS A DISORDER.

ADDICTION IS A "WORSHIP DISORDER". Instead of trusting and depending on Christ to meet our true needs and satisfy our hearts, we turn to someone or something to temporarily satisfy some physical or emotional desire (my secret 2 Small group Study).

Last week on "LumbertonSecrets.com" someone posted about their struggle with an addiction to food - they said...

"Please pray that God will make me aware each and every time I start to use food as medication."

When I read that I thought, "man, that is so deep... we are trying to medicate our hurts, loneliness, struggle - whatever - with an application of food." I had truly never thought of it like that.

It was like in the story of the "Golden Calf" found in Exodus 32 - you know, Moses goes up on the mountain to worship God (because God told him to) and the people get tired of waiting on him so they say, "Aaron, make us a god to worship" (which he does - unbelievable - this stuff never gets old ). The reason I bring this up is that, prior to Moses going up on the mountain, God sent Moses to bring the people to the foot of that mountain - He wanted to show the people that HE (God) was there, at the mountain - and the people saw His power and trembled. If you know the story, Moses then goes up on the mountain and apparently stayed too long, because the people ask Aaron to make them a god to worship (the one that made them tremble must have been too slow). Help me to understand this, they saw the power of God at the foot of the mountain (not to mention many other miracles, hello? the red sea?), they heard Moses speak to Him and He answered, the trumpet is blasting from the mountain, thunder, lightning, etc. COME ON! And somehow that just wasn't enough to convince them that He was not the same as a calf made from their earrings?!? They knew (at least in part) the truth, but it didn't matter - they had a need to meet and decided to handle it their own way...

But Is that not how we are? We know what we should do, what we need to do - we even often know God's Word about the matter, but we choose our own pleasure - EVERYTIME.

How, in your own life, has the "worship disorder" shown itself to be in control. I will give my answer, but probably in response to one of yours (or possibly in tomorrow's post). Discuss.

This Week We're Talkin'...

...addictions on WholeHearted. Yeah, I know - "good - i won't have to read this week because if there is one thing that I am not, it is an ADDICT!"

ARE YOU SURE ABOUT THAT?

I thought that it was interesting that in our BFG yesterday, from what I could tell, everybody (except for one guy who will remain nameless ) was addicted to something. EVERYBODY IN THE PLACE! Is that as amazing to you as it is to me (and no, i DEFINITELY was not that person ).

One of the biggest problems with any addiction is the fact that it is what I call life-out-of-order. Sometimes your addiction is a good thing (cleanliness/excercising) that is keeping you from your best thing (that would be GOD being 1st in every area of your life). Drop in tomorrow as we begin the challenging discussion - hope you'll join us in this!

I don't know about you, but God is really stepping on my toes with the "Secrets" series - oh, and if I didn't say it yet - get EVERYBODY you can here this weekend!

Let's Get Honest!

16 These six things the LORD hates,  Yes, seven are an abomination to Him: 17 A proud look, A lying tongue,  Hands that shed innocent blood, 18 A heart that devises wicked plans,  Feet that are swift in running to evil, 19 A false witness who speaks lies, And one who sows discord among brethren. (Proverbs 6:16-19)

The Bible speaks to me. Preachers speak to me. Books speak to me - you get the picture. I seriously do not understand how people can continuously attend a challenging worship service and never make the connection that "THIS" is something that applies directly to them. (you know, like the people that, when they fill in the last blank turn the pastor "off"- or, routinely get up during the Pastor's invitation, as if the invitation is NEVER for them.) When Pastor was talking about the above scripture on Sunday, he made the comment "and if you think that none of these applies to you than you're most likely guilty of the first one." (the one highlighted with the special color).

Well, there are a few people deciding to "get honest" about the sin of lying in their lives. Such as the lady who said...

"My mother has exaggerated everything all her life, and guess what? I am my mother’s daughter. They are mostly of the “little white” variety but it is not who I want to be. It is mostly to escape the disapproval of others, but I want a heart that avoids only the disapproval of my Awesome God! ...Prayers, please."

Or the person who posted last night who said...

"I lie to people and to myself that I’m happy with my life. The truth is I’ve been unhappy all my life. I try so hard to be happy but I’m afraid that if I enjoy life something bad will happen. Please pray for me."

There are some who would wonder why we would use a means like this: BECAUSE PEOPLE NEED HOPE AND THE MEANS OF THE PAST ARE NOT COMMUNICATING THAT HOPE ANYMORE! It is my goal to "redeem" technology and use it for the glory of God!

Praise God for the age that we live in - for the opportunities that we have - may He do things in, through and around us that are so unbelievable that we could not possibly take credit for them!

(and by the way - if you missed Sunday's message you GOTTA check it out - here's the link - and, oh yeah, share it with somebody - what a great tool to get someone to attend these special services!)

Stand

Everyday, more and more, I am reminded about what it is that we are really doing at hyde park...

10Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. 12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. (Ephesians 6:10-12 NIV)

Have you come to the realization yet that our battle is a spiritual battle for the souls of the men, women and children who live within our reach?!? It seems this gets a little more real for me everyday - each person who you have influence over is being battled for: Satan wants to destroy them, their lives and the lives of those around them... God wants to free them from their junk, showing them the love, compassion and freedom given through the cross!

It's funny that with all this talk about "battle" the war has finally hit on the homefront (I knew it would ) - we had someone who was "appalled" by what they read on the site. You know, it's unfortunate, because the person had no background about the site OR the safeguards that we've set up to make sure nothing inappropriate hits the web (nothing goes live on www.lumbertonsecrets.com without going through moderation first - including negative people who are more concerned with their comfort level than the fact that so many people are lost, see no way out, feel unwanted at church and without help will spend eternity separated from God in hell! Lumbertonsecrets.com is NOT for people like this "who don't need help" but for the lost, for those far from God. Period.). So, I'll say it again: Our battle is not against people - we are battling for the souls of the men, women and children who are far from God.

What is "Secrets" all about? Why would we launch a site like "lumbertonSecrets.com"? Because THIS IS OUR "STAND":

10Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes.

Satan has manipulated the people of this region of Robeson County long enough - He's stolen their lives, killed their dreams and made them think that THIS is "just the way life is" - they are living beneath the promise of God! The devil has schemed long enough - now it's our turn to STAND, to not just accept things as they are...

BATTLE for those you love who are far from God - do all you can to get them here Sunday - I PROMISE that it will be a powerful day!
STAND against the desire to put off til tomorrow what you need 2 do today (make that phone call/visit).
PUT ON THE WHOLE ARMOR OF GOD (read the whole passage - Eph 6:10-18 - and pray this way)
REMEMBER, the battle is not against people (flesh and blood) but we are standing against spritual forces trying to destroy lives - so pray that way! (and this includes "religious" people who just don't "get-it").

Only 3 days until "SECRETS".

Lying

"How many of you would admit to occasionally lying?" Let's be honest - most people would lie as they answered.

Over the next 5 weeks we're looking at "Secrets" - People are held captive by the secrets in their lives. This weekend's the 1st message of the series and It will deal with Lying. This message is going to be so important because it is on this 1st message that we will build this whole series. Unfortunately, lying is probably the very foundation of all the secrets that hold people captive. This is why we have worked so hard at trying to inspire you to be the difference maker among those that you have influence over. INVITE THEM TO CHURCH THIS SUNDAY - let's make this one of the biggest days in the history of hyde park! Speaking of this weekend...

• The hits on www.lumbertonsecrets.com are racking up - people are hitting the site trying to figure out what it's all about...
• The confessions on the site are just heartbreaking - i am reminded more and more, with each confession, WHY we're doing a series like this...
• Traffic on our regular website is up for some reason - it must be the invite cards that YOU are giving out...
• We are gearing up for an unbelievable weekend...

I am reminded that what is happening here is so of God... we're not talking about a major metropolitan area like Atlanta with North Point or even Charlotte with Elevation (and Steven Furtick, if you're reading and have time - get up with me, i've got some questions i would love to ask you!) - this is Lumberton!!! If you're reading from outside you're thinking, "where in the world is Lumberton?" Well, it's the middle of nowhere - but GOD made it and loves the people who live here - HE DIED FOR THEM and is in the midst of doing an unbelievable work among them!

Are you amazed?