Live... Without a Net!!!

No, Really… I Do Like Mondays!

This may be the anti-post of the day in the entire Western World, but Monday is not a bad word in my vocabulary. It’s my day off! Actually, Monday for me is like Saturday minus the college football!

But it’s not that I just lay around and do nothing all day. I GET to carry Julia to school just like every other day (I love that!)! I do a few things around the house and yard, decompress from yesterday, spend some time planning out the week, read, and hang out with all my girls. Hey… it’s always better to spend your time doing something you love with people you love than doing nothing at all by yourself!

So… Amy and Avery are about to be home, and unless I miss my guess, there’s a few pieces of bread and some peanut butter with my name on it that I’ll get to enjoy with them! Just another part of another GREAT day!

So goodbye for now… Until tomorrow!

Thayer

Weekend Impressions

Hello ya’ll,

Whew!!! What a great weekend… Here’s a few things that grabbed my attention!

We live in a great neighborhood… with so many good friends. We had a fairly impromptu neighborhood cookout on Friday evening, with lots of great food, plenty of games, and God’s gift to outdoor cuisine – s’mores! BTW – This man was a GENIUS!!

Saturday night, Rob and April took us to Rocky Mount for some Never Ending Pasta Bowl action. It was also great to see some great friends from our Rocky Mount days.

Bartimaeus is an amazing guy, but guess what… Jesus is more amazing. Unstoppable faith…Make the most of your opportunities, persist through the distractions, be clear about what you need, and use what you’ve been given to point people to Jesus.

We are excited to roll out a brand new ministry to our military families here in Goldsboro. We’re calling it Home Front! Check out the flyer below, and click here for more info on Home Front…

Communion, Baptism, Baby Dedication, and an incredible time of worship are coming as we re-launch First Sunday on Sunday evening, October 4 @ 6 PM! Check out Gateway’s website for more info on First Sunday…

Some people asked me today, why I changed clothes between services. It’s pretty simple, really. I’m wearing a suit for the messages in `Traditions series. It’s a way to honor those who’ve come before us, and I’m glad to be able to do it. But at the same time I want people to not be caught off guard when they come for our next series, and I’m preaching in my jeans and a knit shirt.

Speaking of our next series at Gateway… We’ll begin something brand new on the very real danger of temptation on the morning of October 11. We’re calling it

Later, ya’ll!

Thayer

20 Things I Wish I had Known about Ministry 13 Years Ago…

It was about 13 years ago that I took my first ministry position in small church here in NC. It’s been a great ride so far, however, there are a few things I wish that I had known from the very beginning. I suppose we all enter ministry with a dose of naiveté and evaluated experience is ALWAYS the best teacher, but here’s twenty lessons that they don’t necessarily teach in seminary…

1. Church people can be some of the most gracious, humble, and sweet-spirited people in the world. Church people can also be some of the cruelest and most spiteful people in the world.
2. Arrogance ≠ Conviction
3. Pastors communicate in EVERYTHING they do.
4. Hire your own staff. If you are considering a church ministry position, insist that you have final say about the support staff who will report to you. If the church will not give that responsibility, no matter whatever else they promise you, DO NOT GO!
5. Not everyone who agrees with you is your friend… not everyone who disagrees with you is your enemy.
6. Solid relationships will matter much more to the long-term health of your congregation than any single message you preach.
7. Your relationship with your wife is the most important of those solid relationships. I’ve seen it too many times, guys, if you ignore your wife to build your ministry, you will one day lose both.
8. Sermon preparation ≠ Your time alone with God
9. Maintain an accountability relationship with someone unassociated with your ministry… someone you can trust who has no personal stake in either your success or failure in ministry.
10. Be an active part of your church’s small group ministry.
11. Understand that everyone you give your mobile phone number to just might be the person that calls you twenty times a day. Unless you really enjoy those calls from those people, only give your mobile number to your family, your staff, and those you trust to not give it away.
12. There is no substitute for excellence in every area of your ministry.
13. ITD (Identify Leaders, Train them for Ministry, Delegate Responsibility to Them). One of my greatest flaws is that I still struggle with this.
14. You, your talent, your passion, and your charisma are not the greatest thing to happen to Christianity since Jesus. That’s only what Satan wants you to believe.
15. If you are unwilling to love people, you have not been called to ministry… it doesn’t matter what you feel, believe, or have been told.
16. When putting together a ministry team, a person’s past success in ministry is not as important as his/her passion to do ministry in the present and future.
17. Given your position, people will look for any potential fault in your life, especially in your morality. Perception is reality to the world around us. Therefore, guard your heart, and live your life above reproach.
18. The heart of the gospel will always be 1 Corinthians 15:3-4.
19. When you make a mistake, ask for forgiveness.
20. Take care of the body you’ve been given. Do not feel compelled to eat the entire lemon meringue pie just because you’re the pastor. You will find it absolutely impossible to effectively challenge people for their lack of self-control when you have none yourself.

Thoughts on a man who got everything EXCEPT the thing he wanted most…

Mark 10:17-27

17. The question of a lifetime… From what we find out later, Jesus was “good” enough to ask, but not “good” enough to listen to…

18. Jesus used “good” to set this guy up. If this man rejected Jesus’ answer, he wasn’t rejecting a mere mortal, he was rejecting God.

19. Jesus runs through the commandments. He mentions those that relate to our relationships with others… “Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not lie (even reinforces that one with “do not defraud”), and honor your parents.” There’s one that’s conspicuously absent, however, “do not covet.” It’s left out for a reason… stay tuned!

20. Who is this guy?! He’s either extremely ignorant or extremely arrogant. Both are deadly.

21. Mark says that Jesus loved this guy… And Jesus’ instruction would force him to come to terms with how much he loved Jesus in return.

22. Fifteen of the saddest words in all the Bible. If anyone is serious about following Jesus, he can let nothing get in the way. The man’s material wealth kept him from real wealth. Where his heart was, there was his treasure also… His covetous nature won in the end.

23-26. Whoa!!! This statement rocked the disciples’ world. To them, material wealth was a sign of God’s blessing. The more God loved you, the more money he gave you. Jesus turns this around completely. Having stuff was not God’s guarantee that you were right with Him; stuff was often an insurmountable barrier, because we’re tempted to love the “stuff” more than we love the God who gave us the stuff. In the end, it’s not a stuff problem; it’s a heart problem. This man was Exhibit A for that tendency.

Now, has stuff (or any other thing—good or bad) so captured your heart that it’s become a barrier you can’t overcome on your own? Then verse 27 is for you!

27. Enough said!

The Power of Story

“… in his public ministry he never taught without using parables” – Mark 4:34 (NLT)

Over the past few days, I’ve been consumed by the book of Mark. Our current message series at Gateway, Traditions, is all from the book of Mark, but trust me… I’m getting much more out of my personal study of Mark than ever before…

The passage above, Mark 4:34, really captured me this AM. In fact, I’ve spent a great deal of the day simply thinking about those ten words. Why would Jesus tell stories? I believe that it was more than just a way to convey spiritual truth to his hearers. It was more than that. Jesus knew it was the BEST way to convey spiritual truth to his hearers! I also believe that we fail miserably in our preaching when we ignore Jesus’ example and neglect to take full advantage of the power of story!

A few years ago, Robert McKee wrote a book entitled, Story, which attempts to explain the phenomena of story and its unique power to transform human existence. Read these words… “Day after day we seek an answer to the ageless question Aristotle posed in Ethics: How should a human being lead his life?… Traditionally humankind has sought the answer to Aristotle’s question from the four wisdoms—philosophy, science, religion, art—taking insight from each to blot together a livable meaning. But today who reads Hegel or Kant without an exam to pass? Science, once the great explicator, garbles life with complexity and perplexity. Religion, for many, has become an empty ritual that masks hypocrisy. As our faith in the traditional ideology diminishes, we turn to the source we still believe in: the art of story.”

McKee is not writing something that is completely new. There’s an old saying that goes, “If it’s true, it’s not new!” The power of story may have been forgotten for a while, but it’s certainly not new. Jesus understood it (after all he created us with our love of story in the first place) and he employed it better than anyone before or since. Stories were the heart and soul of Jesus’ public ministry.

What happened? Why aren’t stories more a part of the church’s public ministry today…?

Weekend Impressions

Hey ya’ll… Very long, but VERY GOOD day. Here are a few thoughts!

We began our Traditions series this morning… Here are a few pics of the platform…

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Remember… Jesus loves you more than you’ll ever know, he has a part for you in his plan, and he will change your life forever.

You will never REALLY follow Jesus until you “get up” from your old attitudes and then “follow” him. (Mark 2:14)

If you’re content to merely follow Jesus at a distance, are you really following him at all?

If you cannot follow Jesus now, you will continue to find excuses for why you cannot follow him in the future!

Don’t you love how Jesus accepted the invitation to eat with sinners for his disciples! When we follow Jesus he leads us into uncomfortable places to meet the people that he loves(Mark 2:15)!

Don’t fool yourself! Before we know Jesus, we are “sick.” Apart from Jesus, we would still be “sick.” No one has the ability to be “well” on his/her own! (Mark 2:17)

We had our first official Life Group Meeting this evening!! It’s my second time to personally go through the “LO$T” series, but wow… those messages are really rockin’ my world! And BTW, I love our new group!

I’m really lookin’ forward to some time off tomorrow… One word, four letters… R-E-S-T!

G’night, all!

Thayer

Traditions Eve!

Wow! It’s 12:30 on Sunday morning. First service begins in less than nine hours, and I’m still awake!

I am so pumped up about what God is going to do tomorrow in our brand new series at Gateway, Traditions. It’s a little “out of character” for us, but that’s why I love it so much. Some people may think we push the envelope too much (it’s probably because they are quite comfortable in the envelope!). But I enjoy pushing myself to think about things differently, churning up the creative juices, and exploring different ways to communicate the timeless message of the Jesus Christ!

Now… remember this! There’s nothing old-fashioned about calling people to RADICAL FAITH!!! More about that at 9:30 and 11 AM later on today!

G’night people…. I gotta make myself go to bed! I’ll see a lot of you in just a few hours!

Thayer

5 Reasons I'm Pumped Today!

I got to spend the morning (alone) with my wonderful wife! We went to… (drumroll, please…) HARDEES!

We had a great Life Group Fellowship at Logan’s last night! Check out these pics!

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Madi let me take all of her dogs to disk competitions in her Nintendogs game for DS.

Football season is about to start (High School, College, NFL, & FANTASY!)

God is getting ready to do some SPECTACULAR THINGS AT GATEWAY… How do I know this? Because He’s doing some SPECTACULAR THINGS IN ME!

Have a great evening!

Weekend Impressions

It was great to be back on the platform this morning with some of the most awesome people on the planet. I was glad to get away for a few days, but I need to get away from time to time… and you need for me to get away as well. Thanks for time off!

Think about it… I’m still tryin’ to wrap my mind around this. “Since God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never know him through human wisdom, he has used our foolish preaching to save those who believe.” 1 Corinthians 1:21 – That passage is really rockin’ my world here lately. Isn’t God’s plan absolutely amazing?!

Here’s a few things to remember today…

• Satan is real.
• His MO has ALWAYS been lies!
• The remedy for lies has always been, is, and will always be truth!

If you’re interested… the 9 lies that Satan would love you to believe can be found here!

Remember that God can "yin" Satan's "yang" anytime He wants!

If you have a Blackberry or an iPhone, here’s a link to the You Version of the Bible. It’s an app you absolutely need to have

Finally… Satan is real, but remember that God is MORE REAL!! Now… Armor Up, Wield the Word, and Have Confidence in Jesus Christ!

Later,

Thayer

Weekend Impressions

S3 Blast got off to a terrific start on Sunday, and we’re looking forward to another great evening. We’ll be posting pics soon!!!

It’s always a privilege to talk about what’s going on at GCC! Here’s a few slides to help us tell the story…

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Thanks to all who wished me a happy birthday on Sunday! I had a great day!

Later,

Thayer