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I dream of a church...

This past Sunday, I preached a message entitled "I dream of a church."  If you are a part of the Hilton Head Island Community Church family and did not have the opportunity to hear it, I encourage you to take a listen this week.  On our four year anniversary and  the dawn of this new chapter now called Hilton Head Island Community Church,  I wanted to define what kind of church we are to be. We'll get to what we'll do as a church in the days, weeks and months to come, but I thought it was important to describe who we should be right out of the gate.

I dream of a church...

• ...that tells people that they can belong before they must believe or behave.
• ...that offers people the opportunity to deal with their habits, hurts and hang-ups without the embarassment of being judged.
• ...that is a spiritual urgent care center open for people to receive healing in a time of crisis.
• ...that demonstrates the love of Christ to those who are suffering.
• ...that allows broken people who have been redeemed to passionately worship God.

It may not always be easy or pretty. In fact, sometimes it'll be downright difficult and messy.  God's love is so strong that there is NOTHING that can seperate us from it (Romans 8:38-39). In light of this, we should be compelled to create an environment for people to be drawn toward that love regardless of where they are coming from.  The world needs the answer we have.  Let's not be afraid to share it!

On your mark, get set, Go!

Four years ago this weekend, LowCountry Community Church launched the Hilton Head Island Campus as a multi-site extention of itself on Hilton Head Island.  This past summer, LCC's elders voted to send us out to become our own church.  And so tomorrow begins a new chapter in the life of this congregation.  Tomorrow Hilton Head Island Community Church (HHICC) will be born!

I'm honored to have led this extention of LCC over the past four years.  I'm thankful for the vision of LCC's Lead Pastor Jeff Cranston, the leadership of its elders and the friendship of the staff.  I am forever grateful for Jeff's influence in my life and we, as a church, will never forget how we got to where we are now.  I look forward to the days ahead as partners in kingdom work!

With all of that said, it's a new day and it's time to get ready for the future. Over these last 4 years, dozens of lives have been changed as a result of God working through LCC-HHI, but I believe we've just scratched the surface.  I believe our greatest impact on the lives of Islanders for the cause of the kingdom is not in the rearview mirror, but is ahead in our not too distant future.  It's time to take our mark and prepare for God to work in and through us.  Are you ready HHICC?  On your mark, get set, let's GO!  See you tomorrow at 9:30 or 11:00!

Margaret Feinberg

Scouting the Divine

SHEEP
The imagry of sheep are all throughout scripture. Nearly 700 references to sheep in Gods word.

John 10:1 - 5

The shepherds voice draws the sheep in.

The shepherd knows the details of the sheep.

Not only does the sheep know the shepherds voice but the shepherd knows the voice of the sheep.

HONEY
Nearly 70 references to honey in scripture

Exodus 3:8a
A beehive is like the body of Christ. Each person works together for a purpose and each person has to do their job.

VINE YARD/ WINE
Hundreds of stories of wine and vineyards.

John 15
Pruning
A pruning tool is small and sharp. It is precise not general.

Abiding
It's not until the 4 th year that the first grapes come fourth, 7th year the first wine and 17th year that a vine financially produces profit.

A vine is planted in rocky soil to force the vine to push forth down deep into the ground.

We should all scout the imagry of the Divine!

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

Mark Batterson

Building alters vs building monuments

I Samuel 14:35
• Alter building is one of the most important tasks of the leader.

• We don't celebrate enough of what God has done right.

I Sam 15:10
• Saul went from building an alter to God to building a monument to himself

• If we think small of ourselves then we begin to set up monuments to ourselves.

• Insecurity leads us to thinking small of ourselves. God has appointed those who are called!

• We have to do the right things for the right reasons.

• Saul became so concerned with competing with David. His focus became about numbers.

•. You are not appointed by people you are annointed by God

• Have I forgotten God's call on my life?

• Need confidence in your leadership? Remember that you are annointed by God!

• Sometimes the failure of a dream is God's greatest gift.

• The greatest thing that God does is often in spite of not because of us.

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

Catalyst - Reggie Joiner

Reggie Joiner A shift in how we view the family 1. Most of us have been influenced by the church but ALL of us have been influenced by the family. 2. We all have a picture of what the family looks like. • It's a disolusion for us to have a preconceived idea of what the family should be. • What family actually is sometimes is unexpected to us. 3. If we hold to tightly to our ideal picture of family we set up families to be disillusioned. 4. God doesn't really give us a picture of the ideal family in scripture 5. Your calling as a leader isn't to get families to conform to a common picture. SHIFT IN THINKING Lead them to a relationship with God 6. There are two different approaches: • give them a better picture or • give them a better story - every family can realize the story of restoration in their life. A bigger story! 6. Parents don't need a better picture they need a better story. They need hope. 7. LEARN TO COOPERATE WITH GOD SO YOUR KIDS CAN HAVE A FRONT ROW SEAT OF THE GOODNESS OF GOD! 8. God doesn't use perfect people he uses broken people! Dueuteronomy 6 • Moses is concerned that Israel will forget who god is • How do we transfer faith from one generation to the next. When you have a bigger story approach you: 1 - imagine the end 2 - fight for the heart 3 - make it personal 4 - create a rhythm 5 - widen the circle In a given year the average church has about 40 hours to influence a child. The average family has 3000. Who should we be influencing? The child or the family? Who is the next entity to influence the family? It should be the church. Lead our families to see the story of redemption and restoration in teir lives. Let go of pictures and embrace stories!

Reflections on Team Leadership

Hi, I'm Todd, I like to work alone.  Yes, I'm an independent thinker, I'm stubborn, I tend to go it alone and I usually believe what I think is the best way to do things.  Not too many people know that I'm this way because I mask it with diplomacy that I learned at a very young age.

This independent attitude may be my greatest strength and my greatest weakness.  As LCC-Hilton Head Island nears it's two year anniversary, which by the way will be held on Sunday, September 13th at 10:30 at Hilton Head Island High School, I've had time to reflect on my ability to lead our great group of staff, lay-leaders and volunteers.  There were a lot of successes and a lot of failures in my ability be a team oriented leader.

As the summer has gone on I've been thinking more and more about what it really means to approach decision making, visioneering and moving the ball forward more and more as a team. 

Then a few weeks ago, Cynthia told about Andy Stanley's Leadership Podcast on that very subject.  WOW!  It knocked my sock off!  So, I decided to pick up a book that someone gave me that has been sitting on my desk, unread for some time, called The Power of Team Leadership by George Barna.  I feel as thought a new world awaits me. 

TEAM LEADERSHIP.  Over the course of the next few months, I'll pick up my blogging again and center most of my thoughts around what I'm learning about the whole idea of TEAM LEADERSHIP.  Contribute, comment and join me on this journey and let's see what we can learn about working together as a team.

posted by todd

A long hiatus

It's been quite a while since I've blogged.  I've even backed off of facebook and twitter....I know heaven forbid.  But there have been other pressing things that have consumed my life, not the least of which is a purchasing a new home that we'll move into within the next week.  Once we get moved in and life settles down I'll begin blogging again.  I've got a lot of things in my brain that I want to get on my blog.  But for now the world will have to wait.  Thanks for being patient!  See you soon!

Todd

memorial places

OK, I love Genesis 35:13-15:  

"13 Then God went up from him at the place where he had talked with him.  14 Jacob set up a stone pillar at the place where God had talked with him, and he poured out a drink offering on it; he also poured oil on it.  15 Jacob called the place where God had talked with him Bethel." What great imagery.  I can just picture Jacob overcome with a sense of Jehovah Jireh, the God who provides.  It's interesting to note that the place that he went back to, that was so special and meaningful to him, was the place where God was most personal to him!  In Jacob's case it was the place where God audibly spoke to him.  Then Jacob poured out a drink offering and oil on the stone pillar that he set up as a memorial of what God had done.  Those stones with the drink and oil dripping from them was a place for Jacob to remember God working in his life.

Do you have memories of God speaking to you or moving in your life in a particular way?  Do remember the place and circumstance surrounding that time? I recall when God was leading me into full-time Christian ministry as a 16 year old kid at Awanita Valley in South Carolina.  I remember God working through some serious spiritual issues in my freshman dorm room in Lynchburg, VA.  I remember the tree that I sat under on the Appalachian Trail when He told me that I was supposed to ask Cynthia to marry me (so glad she said 'yes').  I can recall the bed that I was sitting on, one sleepless night, when God began to renew his call on my life in our apartment in Kennesaw, Ga.  These are very vivid memories.  It's too bad that I can't build and altar at these places, like Jacob did; but my memory will have to be my memorial. So where is your memorial?  Where did you accept Him as your Savior?  Where did he call you to live a better life than the year before?  Where was it that He told you to finally rid yourself of that nasty habit?  Do you have that memorial place where God spoke to you or moved significantly in your life?  I'd love to hear about your memorial place.  Leave a short comment and let me know about that place where God took care of business with you, just like He did with Jacob.

inauguration day

As I begin writing this, the clock just struck midnight EST on January 20th, 2009.  Now, I really don't like to blog about politics, but today's Inauguration is history, not politics.  I just can't allow the 2009 Inauguration go by without saying something about the significance of the day and our responsibilities as Christians as a result.

As an American, I believe that today is a watershed day in our country's quest to blot out the dark and destructive mark of racism from our history.  Regardless of where you stand politically, you simply cannot deny that the Inauguration of Barack Obama today is a benchmark in our nation's history.  Barack Obama taking the oath of office is, in some sense, the culmination of the sacrifice of those who died for the abolition of slavery and those who stood boldly against the strong tide of  racism and bigotry that gripped our nation during the past century.

As a Christian, I believe we have a God-inspired obligation to pray for our nation's leadership, including and especially for President-Elect Barack Obama.  In I Timothy 2:1-2, Paul exhorts us that "...requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness."

Christians, we ought to heartily support President Obama on those issues with which we agree; we should respectfully, resolutely and appropriately oppose him on those issues with which we disagree; but more importantly, we should passionately and specifically pray for President Obama often!  For more information on how we can pray for our new president, visit The Presidnetial Prayer Team's website.  Let's join together in prayer, starting today, for our new Presidnet, Barack Obama!

You Version

OK, I've been looking for an online tool to use this year to focus my Bible study/reading/devotions around and I found the International Bible Societies read through the Bible in a Year.  I was excited about using it and I still may use it.  Specifically, because it has a function where it will read the daily passage through some type of MP3 player. However, my wife found the coolest thing that I AM going to use this year which will allow you to write an online private journal about your thoughts on that particular passage. It's in beta, but it's pretty cool, Check out youversion.