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To Sum It Up

• Cynthia, Debbie & Daniel Cort and the rest of the production/band team did an amazing job leading worship.  It was one of my all-time favorite Sundays!
• The only think that I like better is when Debbie & Daniel happen to sit behind me in the service and sing in our congregation.  God has gifted us with a multitude of talented vocalists and musicians!
• My takeaway from yesterday is that Jesus is truly the ONLY way to everlasting salvation.
• I love Palm Sunday.  I love the fact that Jesus entered Jerusalem on a donkey, an indication that He was coming in peace.  But the people of Jerusalem responded by laying down their robes and palm branches in His path, an indication of royalty!  He came to this earth to bring peace and those who followed Him made Him King of their lives.  I LOVE THAT!
• We can do that same thing in our own personal lives.  He comes to being peace and we should respond by making Him King of our personal lives.

I've been praying specifically for people to make lasting commitments to Christ at HHICC.  These past few weeks, during our message series I AM, I've been offering an invitation for first time salvations, recommitments, and assurance of salvation commitments.  Two weeks ago, we had two people make first time commitments, last week another two and yesterday at least seven.  God is moving in the life of HHICC and our Island!  He is hearing our prayers.! Would you join me in praying for our Easter services this coming Sunday?

• Pray for good weather for Saturday set-up and  for Sunday worship services.
• Pray that many people come prepared to have Jesus radically changes their lives.
• Pray that there are many brand new lives who answer "YES" to the question, "Do you believe?"

I hope you can join me on Thursday for our Maundy Thursday service as we reflect on Christ's death for us through communion, prayer, and worship. If you are a Christ follower, this service will be an amazing opportunity for you to express your love and gratitude toward Christ and his sacrifice for you.

So...it's Easter Week! I look forward to seeing you Thursday and then Sunday, 9:30 or 11:00 AM under the "covered environment." (it's a tent, Cynthia...)

Wanted: People who are better than me

It used to bother me when I had bosses, colleagues, employees and volunteers who were faster, smarter and more creative than me.  I always felt like I had to prove something.  I didn't want it to be said of me "He couldn't do that."  Let's call it what it is...insecurity.

Then September 1, 2011 arrived.  That was my first day on the job of being a Lead Pastor.  I don't know if my perspective changed or if what we were going through as a church (quick start-up and a new facility) caused me to change.  Perhaps the combination of all of my responsibilities (husband, father, pastor, son, friend, counselor, etc...) forced me to have a change in my attitude.  

I still have a long way to go.  Sometimes I still try to sound more intelligent (that never works by the way) and to prove myself to other people.  However, I'm enjoying the faster, more creative, and "better" people around me so much more than I have in the past.  I'm more inspired now by them rather than feeling insecure by their skills, experience and results. I find myself really thankful for them and longing for more of them around me every day!

To Sum It Up

Hi everyone.  This past Sunday was one of those days that I'll remember for a very long time.  Allow me to sum it up...

• After over 14 months of negotiations, we were able to announce that Hilton Head Island Community Church had executed a lease/purchase contract with Hargray at mm 9 on Hwy 278.
• We have roughly 100 days to complete our demolition/renovation work for Phase I, which should start in the next few weeks.  If you signed up to volunteer to help with the Phase I work, you will be contacted very soon.  The best way to help us now is to respond quickly.  Every day that we delay at this point is a waste of money.
• I want to remind you that while the church is NOT a building, that God will use our new facility  to draw people to Himself.  Praise to God for seeing us through this thus far.
• My message last Sunday centered around the relationship between Naomi and Ruth.   I talked about being patient with our loved ones means staying close to them, sacrificing for them and serving them.
• Perhaps there are some of you who have already been doing these things and your own patience is running thin.  Let me remind you that Paul encourages us in Galatians 6:9 not to "become weary in well doing."  You might not be able to physically continue this three step process, but you can still have an spirit of patience in those situations.

Here is how you can pray for HHICC and the Phase I renovation project at the building at mm9.  Pray that...

• ... the permit process with the Town of Hilton Head Island is completed in a timely manner.
• ... we are able to raise the remaining $ 85,000 that is needed to complete Phase I renovations.
• ... all those who work on this project are kept safe during the demolition/renovation work.
• ... God would use this new facility to further His kingdom here on HHI!

Have a great week!

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!

i had a rough day...

OK, I had a pretty rough day at church.  Check out our campus blog.

no more gongysmos!

I was listening to a podcast from one of my favorite pastor's - Rob Bell from Mars Hill Church - while on one of my morning jogs earlier this week.  Rob is going through the book of Philippians and talked about Philippians 2:14 "Do everything without complaining or arguing."  I never knew this but, but the Greek word for grumbling that is used here is the Greek word gongysomas.  Now, that mean's nothing to you and me, but seriously, don't you love that word?  Here is what it means: arguing-foolish disputatious reasoning - reasoning that have ulterior and malicious desires.

As I was running and listening, I realized two things: 1 - Paul's audience was the Philippians.  They were fairly mature Christians and his writings are one's of encouragement.  I think that even the most mature Christians needs to be reminded often to not grumble and argue. 2 - Recently, I've been the biggest gongysmos"er" that I know!  My life sometimes is boiled down to how much I just gongysmos all the time!  I get my eye off the ball and get very petty and trite.  I must correct that and be, as Paul says just like a few verses later "shine like stars in the universe" So, who wants to join me?  Let's shine like stars and....no more gongysmos!

prayer pillar #2

Yesterday there was a "vacationer" at our church. He and his family were there for two weeks in a row, vacationing from rural Arkansas. I could tell by his voice and by his questions that he was a pastor, but I didn't confirm that until yesterday. He was a very kind guy and we had several good but brief conversations.

The question that he asked me yesterday caught me by surprise. However, my initial answer almost surprised me even more. He asked me, "To what do you attribute your growth and recent people making professions of faith in our church campus?" Without hesitation I answered by saying "prayer".

My shock was that I'm really beginning to believe that prayer is our main source of strength! I think he was looking for newspaper adds, slick marketing, outreach, BBQ at schools. And all of those would have been good answers, but they are second tier. There is no doubt that because our campus is praying people are starting to get saved. I desire us to be a church campus dedicated to prayer, that is why I'm introducing the second prayer pillar....small group prayer!

Over the next few weeks, I'll be visiting all of our Island small groups to encourage and challenge them. One of the things that I'll be focusing on is getting our small groups praying for our campus here on Hilton Head Island and for the 26,000 people who don't have a church home. In the first church, probably in very small groups, the disciples dedicated themselves to prayer (Acts 2:42-47). We should do the same, and we will! I look forward to seeing all that God will do when our small groups begin to pray!

unity vs. controversy

My wife posted what I think is one of her better post's on her blog last night. You can check it out at www.cynthiacullen.com The subject matter: her personal call to full-time church ministry and how that relates to the hot potato topic of the day of women being involved in the workplace and more specifically, the church. Her blog was both personal and tackled the issue in a non-divisive way. I loved the point she made about going to a different church if you don't like the fact that women are involved in leadership in your church. Leaving a church for those types of reason causes much less division than if you were to stay and grumble!

I have heard this topic discussed over and over again lately from a variety of viewpoints. It is one of those topics where I believe from Scripture an argument can be made either way. I'm just not sure why this particular topic has become so visceral and divisive in the church today. There are many other doctrinal stress points that we overlook in the church today. Why do we make one of a person's involvement in helping further God's Kingdom, or in this case that lack thereof, such a high priority?

Perhaps is that when a mom and/or dad abandon their home for church work, or any other work for that matter, then the home is in jeopardy. I can understand that discussion.  Certainly any Christian home where the man and woman are working must be always ready to place boundaries and parameters on the schedule, involvement and lifestyle. We have those types of conversation regularly in our home and quite honestly I believe it make us both better parents.

The point that I would like to make is one of a balance between unity and controversy in today's church. At the end of the day, I look to "themes" in scripture to see where God's priorities lie. Salvation, sacrifice, love, money are all mega-themes; things that are talked about in great quantity in the Bible. I believe that God places a high value on those issues. Another one of those themes that Scripture focuses on with great frequency is unity among believers. A woman's place in the church or outside of the home is a topic in Scripture for sure, but it is mentioned with much less frequency than unity in the church.

So the question that we should be asking is: "Is our discussion of a woman's role in the church so dogmatic that we are causing division in the church and perhaps driving the unbeliever away as a result? I believe that with the tone of much of today's rhetoric, that answer is YES. I believe that we, as Christian leaders, have a responsibility to "tone down" these types of issues for the sake of unity of the Church and the Great Commission. I'm not saying don't discuss or debate, but the tone of this issues I believe is once again driving people away from the church.

When we all have to stand before God one day and give an account of what we did for Him, do you think He'll say: "Well done good and faithful servant. You were doctrinally correct when you caused so much division and drove so many people away from me?" I just don't think that God is going to reward being right (which is debatable anyway) over being one who promoted unity and drew people to Jesus.

new blog

My wife rocks! She took much of this week's free time (like she has much of that anyway) and developed a new blog for our church campus. She, Barb Weatherwax (our Promiseland Director) and I will be contributors to the blog. It's purpose is to disseminate information and be a place for our church campus to connect in a safe online environment. I hope you like it. Thanks honey!