Grace! (well sort of)

Upgrade - A Must-Read Real Life Story!

Below is an email we received from someone new to Bible Center in the last few months:

"After being in another church setting for years and being betrayed by the leadership hierarchy*, I withdrew my membership and got out of the boat so to speak. I began looking for a church that would spiritually fed me and would help me stay connected to Christ rather than being in a place of being preached at, told what was wrong with our congregation and getting no teaching or coaching on how to be Christ like in our everyday life.

I was drowning.

Since finding the Bible Center I have never been so spiritually fed, I feel like a new person, I am learning from the messages and tools I am receiving. I feel reborn! I use every opportunity to share the experiences I am having at Bible Center. My faith, life, attitude, energy level, health, finances, relationships are changing from the messages I am receiving.

The Lord is truly helping me find my next steps. The teachings I am receiving are invaluable to me. What an encouragement and help Bible Center has been for me in helping me on this journey. My up grade has begun. Thank God for the Bible Center and its teachings and resources."

*the portion in italics was adjusted slightly from the original email only to keep identities involved anonymous

Going Green!

Sunday, I mentioned how the landscape around the new Southridge Campus was a bit brown when we moved. Well, now things are much greener. As the grass, trees, and plants have come in, the campus looks alive and vibrant.

The ridge lines of the beautiful West Virginia hills stand in stark contrast to the deep blue sky above. The campus is alive!

Add to this the hundreds of cars coming and going from the parking lots and a sense of fresh excitement and energy emerges. Then, consider the people - people of all ages enthusiastically entering the gathering space ready to celebrate, grow, and serve. A fresh wind of God's Spirit is gently moving among us. If green symbolizes life, then the ministry of Bible Center is going green!

Google Maps and the Bible

The internet has delivered some fabulous resources for studying the Bible. BibleMap.org is a great tool to see the location of biblical events. Simply type in a book and chapter of the Bible and all of the places listed in the text show up in a Google Map based window. You can move around, zoom in and out, and change display settings.

Descriptions of the locations pop up as you click in the biblical text or on the map icons. This is a valuable tool in understanding the geography of passages within the Scripture.

Anything we can do to grasp the real life settings of people, events, and places within God's Word will help us discover what it means and how to apply it to our lives. Give it a try. Go to www.BibleMap.org and enter in the book of 1 Samuel and chapter 17. This context tells the story of David and Goliath. Move your way around the site. Enjoy!

We Are One

While attending a start up church on a Sunday afternoon in an old Soviet school building in rural Hungary, I was moved by what was being sung. The small congregation of about 30 sang a tune Lesli and I immediately recognized.

The words being sung in Hungarian were unintelligible to us, but we knew the familiar chorus: “We are one in the spirit, we are one in the Lord….” What a blessing to be with believers in another nation and instantly know the bond we share in the Lord!

Somehow the reality of the chorus seemed more significant to me in that setting. But, no less remarkable is the fact that a couple thousand believers who have no other connection other than Jesus gather each week at Bible Center in Charleston, West Virginia. Because of Jesus, we are one!

The Lyrics:
We are one in the Spirit
We are one in the Lord
We are one in the Spirit
We are one in the Lord
And we pray that all unity
May one day be restored

And they’ll know we are Christians
By our love, By our love
Yes, they’ll know we are Christians
By our love

We will walk with each other
We will walk hand in hand
We will walk with each other

School's Out, School's Out!!

Yep, it's officially summer for kids!

My kids were so hyper yesterday - the last day!

When I was a boy, it seemed that summer lasted forever. It was its own lifetime. Every day was a new adventure. Time stood still - at least until late August when you started getting that sinking feeling that school was just around the corner.

As an adult, or at least someone who is suppose to act like an adult, summer just flies by. Lesli and I reviewed and compared our calendars a few weeks ago. When we were done, we both felt as if summer was over. It will go so quickly!

But, we should seize the day and enjoy the backyard barbecues, picnics, pool parties, fireworks, vacations, and evenings on the deck. We should also harness the season as an opportunity to share Jesus with others around us. When school is out and the long summer evenings come, we naturally gear down a bit. It is also the time for leisure contact with family, friends and others. We get new windows through which to share and show the love of God with others.

Let's leverage the summer for a time of relaxation and renewal, but also for communicating the Gospel with others.

If You Need a Good Boost!

In a clip available on Youtube, Christian author and speaker Louie Giglio lifts the believer's eyes to the great God and His ability to give us a boost anytime, anywhere.

If you have eight minutes, it is worth the time. Maybe you should bookmark it in your browser so you can go back to the clip when you need to be reminded of the incredible truth Giglio describes so well.

We all need a good boost from time to time and God is there to give it.

To see the clip, CLICK HERE or on Louie Giglio's picture.

Update on the Upgrade!

At the conclusion, of the sermon Sunday, each person was given the opportunity to indicate whether God had worked in a specific way in his or her life. The database upgrade card had a section for a personal upgrade response based upon the morning message.

The Upgrade Cards were sorted today. Wow! God is working in our church family!

Seven people indicated that Sunday morning they prayed to receive Jesus as their personal savior as they crossed the line of faith. We are working hard as a pastoral team to get to each of these and make sure they understand the decision they made and point them to the clarity of the promise of God's saving grace.

Over 400 people indicated that they were asking God to take them outside their comfort zone in a specific way. An email will go to these folks to encourage them along in their willingness to follow God's voice.

Pray that God will work His plan and purpose in each of these lives.

Revved Up and Ready!

"There comes a moment when you have to stop revving up the car and shove it into gear.”
- David Mahoney

Many of us as Christians make a lot of noise about living all out for Jesus. We make bold decisions. We talk the talk. We get all revved up and fail to get into gear.

I don't want to be a loud engine that does nothing. I want to use all the horsepower to get and gear and go forward for God!

How about you?!

By the way, this is a picture of my dream car (this is a 1964 model - I would like a 66).

Our Spiritual Comfort Zone

Below is an excerpt from John Ortberg's book "If You Want to Walk on Water, You've Got to Get Out of the Boat." Taken from pages 83-84.


Most of us have an area that might be called our "spiritual comfort zone," which is the area where we feel most comfortable trusting God. When God calls us to go beyond our spiritual comfort zone, we begin to feel nervous or uncomfortable. We would prefer not to go outside the zone until we feel better about it.

For example, we might be comfortable talking about God with church friends, but nervous about explaining our faith to someone who does not believe. We might be comfortable in our current job, but anxious about the possibility that God wants to do some vocational realignment. We might feel enough faith to pray for people we are in relationship with, but actually confronting someone who has been behaving badly toward us would make us cringe. We might discuss past problems smoothly enough, but the idea of honestly naming our current struggles to a trusted friend would send us running.

There is only one way to increase your spiritual comfort zone, and acquiring more information alone will not do it. You will have to follow the Path of God, which requires taking a leap of faith.

You need to get out of the boat a little every day. Begin the day by asking God for wisdom about where you need to get your feet wet that day.

Call someone whom you have been avoiding out of fear. Express your faith to a person who does not know about your beliefs. Make a gesture of friendship toward someone when you are tempted to hold back. Risk speaking the truth to a spouse, parent, or friend when your normal course would be to hesitate.

It does not matter whether all these steps turn out the way you hoped. Of course, things will end in failure sometimes, but you are giving your faith a chance to grow.

You have to get out of the boat a little every day. As you do, your faith will deepen and your spiritual comfort zone will widen.

Where is God calling you to walk on the water?