2010,The Building....

2010 has possibly been the busiest year of my life. We began work on our new building January 22, 2010 and have worked diligently ever since. I do not think I have worked less than 60 hours per week this year and sometimes 70-80.  I am not complaining because I signed up for this.  I will say however, I sure will be glad when we are in this building.  I am so encouraged as we have so many people willing to give their  time and efforts.  Just this week we have had around sixty different people working. The work is going really well and in just a few months we will occupy the building.  In fact, we will be  moving our offices to the new location next week.  All of this is for a purpose.  We are here to make His name known.  "But those who trust in the LORD for help will find their strength renewed. They will rise on wings like eagles; they will run and not get weary; they will walk and not grow weak." Isaiah 40:31 (GNT)

"Buildings Don't Go To Heaven, People Do."

It seems like yesterday we were about to close the deal on the building. In fact, it was one year ago this week that we received the news that we were approved for the purchase of the new building.  One year ago this coming Friday was when I received the call from the bank that we had been approved and we could close before the end of the year.  I remember well because I was on the way to Memphis to run in the St. Jude Half Marathon when I got the call.  We ended up closing  on the building later in December.

A lot has transpired since that time. We took possession of the building and late January we had our first work day. We have worked steadily since that time. We have had six teams from outside our church that have come in and assisted us in the process.  In addition to those six teams, our friend Danny Smith has been our general contractor throughout the process. Countless numbers of people from NorthStar have worked tirelessly moving us forward to the point we are today.  For all of this we are grateful. We are especially grateful for the way God has worked so mightily among us preparing us to enter the building.

I am reminded of what  Lemuel Penelver, a pastor friend of ours from the Philippines, said to us about church buildings: "Buildings don't go to Heaven, People do."  This puts it in prospective when it comes to our task.  Our job is to share the good news with others. In the end, the buildings we use are just a tool to assist us in making His name known to all the world.  Having said this, I am thankful that the people at NSC have the vision to reach people for Christ and our building is secondary.

It is all about priority and focus.  While we work hard trying to get in our new building, we must always keep our focus on the reason we are spending the time constructing.  It is so that we can spread the base and reach more for Christ.  With this in mind, we must continue to work to get in the building so that we can fulfill the purpose in which we were created.  The work is going great and we are in the final stages of being ready to prime the walls for painting.  I am so excited about the day we will be able to enter the building but I am more excited about the lives that are going to be changes because so many worked so hard bringing it to completion.

Busy Days...

Wow! These have been busy days here at NSC. Last month we saw over 1400 attend our Fall Fest. Baptism never gets old, as we saw 6 more take the step of baptism in October. We saw over 20 motorcycles hit the road to raise money for the Philippine Mission Trip. It was last month that we announced our new partnership with a brand new church plant in Huntsville, Alabama called Ignite City Church. Tons of work was accomplished at our new building both from our own people and from the Workers For Christ group from Alabama and Georgia. Numerous lives were changed, as people surrendered their lives to Jesus Christ. I could literally go on and on. Isn't God great?!   I am so glad to be a part of this church and to have a front row seat as we see the Creator of the Universe work in and through His people here. I thank God every day for NorthStar Church. I am so excited the direction our church is heading and cant wait for the next step He leads us to take.

19 Baptized at the Lake

What an awesome event as we saw 19 take the step of baptism this past Sunday at the Lake.  This was definitely a time I will never forget. Seeing people take the plunge never gets old. I am so thankful to God that He is still changing lives at NSC.  Sunday at the lake reminded me again why we are here. We are here to make His name known!! Keep it up NSC!!

1421

As soon as the service was over September 12, Marla and I hopped on my bike and headed for the mountains in North Carolina. All I packed was two tee shirts and just a couple other necessities. When we turned off the interstate at the South Carolina state line, we began maneuvering the Appalachian Mountains. After hundreds of 20 MPH curves and steep inclines, we approached our destination around 11:00 P.M. It's all good. We were tired but glad to be there. Just to let you know where we were, we were an hour away from the nearest Wal-Mart. A common way to describe where you are is how far it is to the nearest Wal-Mart. I was really looking forward to riding the mountains and especially the most popular motorcycle rides in North Carolina and Tennessee. We got up Monday morning and found that there were coffee filters in the room but no coffee. Emergency # 1:  I needed to go and buy coffee.  Emergency #2: When I went outside, I saw that most of my transmission fluid was on the pavement under my bike. I wasn't too disturbed over this because I found myself praising God nothing bad had happened the night before climbing the mountains. This was a little setback but nothing He could not handle. It wasn't but just a few minutes that I began to see the purpose in our trouble.


The maintenance man at our resort needed to talk. It was obvious things were not up to par in his life and we spent the next 45 minutes talking. In fact, while I waited on the tow truck to come, he took me to town to buy some groceries. Objective number one: buy coffee. When we arrived back at the resort the tow truck showed up and took me to Anderson, South Carolina. The driver proceeded to tell me he had been on every drug known to man but had given His life to Christ. It was a good 45 minutes before he asked me what I did for a living. "I'm a pastor" I thought he was going to jump out of his skin. The truck swereved.  I said "my bike." He began telling me how he had prayed that morning that God would send him a positive witness in his pickups for the day. Me, I just want to ride the curves but God had other plans for the day. We had a great time talking about the things of God. It was obvious to me this was another divine appointment.

We arrived at the Harley dealership and the owner met us at the truck and unloaded the bike. He took a look and said: "We will get you fixed up pretty soon." He in turn called Perry Noble at NewSpring Church in Anderson and asked him to come down to meet me. Unfortunately Perry was sick but we had a great time hanging out while getting my bike fixed. This was another divine appointment. While waiting, another man was getting tires put on his bike and we struck up a conversation. I'm still thinking: Lord get me back to Marla so we can ride. God said okay but you are going to ride back with the guy you are talking to. We began to talk about God and what God was doing. Yes, and we rode back across the mountain together. Finally, I arrived back at our resort around 7:00 P.M.

I had not planned on spending the day with these four people but God had other plans. I am thankful for the way God puts people in our way to speak to us and through us. Often times the delays in life are for a purpose. This day was just another way God showed me He has awesome plans for our lives and how He is even concerned about the smallest details. When I got back I thanked God for the opportunities He had given me that day to share His love with others. I thanked Him for protecting us on Sunday as we rode through the mountains with a busted transmission seal.

The story goes on. We rode over 700 miles in the mountains before deciding to spend our last day at the Leadership Conference at NewSpring Church in Anderson. Hearing guys like Francis Chan, Perry Noble, Mark Driscoll, and Judah Smith was just another reminder God wanted us in the mountains. When we arrived at NewSpring, they took us to the registration counter and asked who we were and what church we were from. The guys smiled and said: Welcome to NewSpring, you are our guest today." Wow, that saved us the same amount of money that it took to fix my bike. Go figure! 1421 miles later we got back to Tupelo. God is good.

Questacular

Don't be surprised. This is not the first time i have coined a new word. At NorthStar, we are on a quest to fulfill the purpose of God for our church and it is a spectacular, awesome journey.  A couple of weeks ago when we had a record in house attendance of 731, (other than Easter Sunday) and baptized 9, it was questacular!  In fact, the stuff God is doing here is indescribable. Each Sunday, as I prepare to go on stage, my heart beats fast because I know God is doing some pretty incredible things in our church. I am asked by those outside our church, "What do you contribute the success to? Is it your worship band? Oh, it is your speaking right? (just kidding) Is it your children's ministry?"  My answer is, "It is a Work of God" This is not some spiritual answer I know to give, rather it is the truth.  The reality is that no man, band, or plan could do what is being done here.
God has a divine purpose for His church to reach those outside the church.  When God's people catch the vision of fulfilling His purpose for their lives, things begin to happen.  We have a passion for the lost and we want to do something about it.  One of the things we have purposed to do and be a part of is starting new churches with the same passion.  We have had some part in three different church starts over the past four and a half years.   From commissioning members to go, to pre-launch groups checking us out, we have been blessed to have some part in what God is doing in other areas around our region.  We have even seen churches start in the Philippines as a result of our work there.  As I announced Sunday, we are embarking on a brand new partnership with a brand new church start in Huntsville Alabama.  The Ignite City Church will launch early spring in Huntsville and we are pumped about working with them.
God is at work here and for this we are thankful. It is Questacular!!!!

Where Are You?

You will never discover God's best for your life until you take a serious look at where you are in life.  God's desire for your life is greater than you could ever imagine. God has greater dreams for us than we are living.  Jesus told us that He desires to bring us life to the full.  We talked about this past Sunday three zones that we could find ourselves. The Dream Zone, is where God wants us to live.  It is in this zone where we have a strong passion for God. The Drained Zone is that place where 70-80% of Christ followers find themselves. It is here that we feel frustrated, tired, overwhelmed, discouraged and overworked.  We try to hang on by keeping the plates spinning and we feel there is no way out. What happens when we are in this zone is usually we are ineffective at what we do and vulnerable to the attacks of the enemy. The Danger Zone is where things really start to unravel. Usually there is unconfessed sin in our lives. If you find yourself in the danger zone, it is time to confess, repent and refocus on Christ.  If you find yourself in the drained zone, it is time to put your eyes on the vision, prioritize and hear from God.  If you are in the dream zone, keep your eye on Christ, walk closely with Him and allow Him to renew you, speak to you and take you where He wants you to be.

What Is Important Is Not Who Is In The White House, But Who Is In The Church House

I said this past Sunday, as we kicked off our brand new series "In Rhythm", "What is important is not who is in the White House, but who is in the Church House." For too long our church culture has been yelling at the non-christians in the world telling them how they are living like non-chiristians.  What we need to do is take a hard look inside the church to make sure we are right with God.  We then need to take the cross to the world and let them know there is room at the cross for them. It is then that they will listen to us. I am pumped about this series.  We are looking at how we, the church,  can walk in sync with our Creator.  It is when we get in rhythm with Him that we can be what He wants us to be. I believe our church is about to go to a HNL.  God wants us to take it to a new level. I believe He is going to use NorthStar Church to be a major difference maker in our city, county and region. We must never forget it is God that is making it happen.  We just need to be in step with Him.

What Am I Doing And Why Am I Doing It?

God is the only one that can bring true meaning to life.  It is in Him we find identity, significance and purpose. However, sometimes we tend to forget how important it is to give Him all of our lives. Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'Matthew 22:37 (NIV)
There are some dangers we face as we try to live in the zone with God. We often live our lives seeking the  approval of others. We do this to the point that we spend a lot of our time doing things that will make them happy rather than asking ourselves "what do we need to do to please God?". Another danger is being busy but not necessarily doing the best things.  We get so busy doing so many important things that sometimes we fail to do the best things God has for us. I know in my  life I find myself really busy doing a lot of things.  I need to consistently make an evaluation of my life.  I need to evaluate my motive and my actions.  I need to make sure I am trying to please God and if I am spending my time wisely.  Am I following God's vision, purpose and priorities for my life?

Waiting On The World To Change?

God wants us to be His agents of change. It is easy to look around and see all the things that need to change in our lives, churches, and culture and be overwhelmed at thinking there is no way I could make a difference. John Meyer’s song entitled, Waiting On The World To Change states: “That's why we're waiting, Waiting on the world to change, We keep on waiting, Waiting on the world to change.” Sometimes waiting is the very thing that perpetuates the problem.  Sometimes we are waiting on someone else to step up to feed the hungry, minister to the needy, share the love of Christ, and do acts of kindness. The truth is however, we can make a difference. God has called us to be salt and light to the world. Agents of Change! Jesus said: "You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men. You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”( Matthew 5:13-16 NIV) When it comes to making a difference, the waiting is over. Let's be agents of change and see what God will do through us and in us.

The journey of NSC continues to be incredible. God continues to change lives at NorthStar and His Grace continues to be manifested among His people. The building project is progressing really well.  Sometimes it seems like it is taking a long time to progress but in reality, we have done a tremendous amount it just seven months.  We entered the empty building to do an initial clean up on January 23 and the rest is history.  In just six months we are just weeks away from painting. God has really blessed us with outside work teams and for this we are grateful. However, the five work teams from our church(made up of over two hundred people) have been irreplaceable. These teams have been faithful in doing the work and moving us closer to completion. NSC Work Teams, You Rock. Speaking of rock, we still have some sheet rock to hang :) Just thought I would mention that.

While all the building stuff has been progressing life at NSC still continues.  We had fourteen go through our membership class this past week and we are seeing many come to Christ in our weekend services. God is so awesome and i love to talk about the things He is doing! In fact, I will be speaking down south in a few weeks to 60 churches on the importance of church planting and what God is doing at NSC. I cant wait to tell them the story of NorthStar.We are real people at a relevant church who connect people to a growing relationship with Christ and each other to fulfill their life purpose.

NorthStar Church, an awesome place to serve.
On the Journey,
T

Give It Up, Pass It On, and Bring It Home

This year has been a whirlwind, but it’s all good. I would not exchange what is happening in my life and in the life of our church for anything. NorthStar is an indescribable place. God is doing some pretty incredible things here at The Star.

I had just run the St. Jude Half Marathon in December and with a hurt knee I decided to lay off running until I found the time for surgery. Yeah, right. I ran New Years Day but not a day since. I am hoping to get back in the swing pretty soon as I hope to run the whole Marathon in December. I went to the first work day at our new building on January 22 and wow did the work begin. Not because I was there of course but because God’s people showed up in force ready to work. After my trip to the Philippines, I hopped back on the work schedule and the rest is history. It is hard to believe it is July already. Things are progressing really well and we are excited about getting in the building for our first service. (Date still undetermined)

We have been blessed to have had four work teams from churches out of state/area that have come in and assisted us with the work. Our people at NSC have given sacrificially of their time to work tirelessly in order to move the project on to completion. We have 5 work teams within the church that are really going after it. They are great! It is going to happen! "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen`~Ephesians 3:20 (NIV) God is doing the work through us.

I decided that it was about time I updated my blog. Here goes! One of the statements we use at NorthStar is: Give It Up, Pass It On, and Bring It Home. We have different ways of saying what we are about at NSC. We believe we are to give it up to God in worship. We were created to bring pleasure to God and one way He is pleased is when we worship Him. I am constantly amazed at the creative and authentic worship that takes place at NorthStar. Both personal and public worship is needed. Pass it on is what we, the body of Christ should be doing in relation to ministry and evangelism. Every believer is a minister and ever believer must pass on the good news of Christ to others. God put us here to love each other and to share His love with others both at home and abroad. Bring it home. We are most effective when we are maturing as His disciples. The early church in the New Testament matured in the faith and fellowshipped together. We have got to do the same.

This blog is probably as scattered in thought as I am sometimes but here is what I am saying. NorthStar is a place where real people in a relevant church connect to Christ and each other in order to fulfill their life purpose. I am thankful for what God is doing here and look forward to what He is going to do next. Give it up! Pass it on! Bring it home!