New blog site

It's time to make the transition from here to our new blog. We didn't have a name when we kicked this thing off. So we were just 1145 because that's about the only thing we were sure of at the time - that we'd be meeting at 1145 on Sundays.

Starting today, we will be posting updates and info about Reveal at http://revealatfbc.blogspot.com/. I will send out an email reminder later today.

1145atfbc will remain active, at least for a while so that we can post some items that may or may not be relevant to Reveal.

Don't forget, our next launch team meeting will be on Sunday, August 3 at 11:45 am in the Apex.

-- Peace, Jamie

Super Rabbit

As my wife will attest, I'm not a good pet owner. It's not that I dislike animals. I just don't have the patience for them. Marjorie on the other hand would have a house full of pets. As it is, we have two cats, two hedgehogs, two mice, and a frog. During the 18 1/2 years that we've been married, we've had parakeets, fish, hamsters, gerbils, a guinea pig, and two rabbits. One of the rabbits we had chewed on everything. It never seemed like the smartest or bravest rabbit around. But I hope that if we ever needed it to perform an act of heroism, it would have just like this Australian rabbit.

-- peace, jamie

Launch Team Meeting

We will have our next Launch Team meeting on Sunday, August 3 at 11:45 in the Apex. The meeting will probably last about 45 minutes to an hour. Some of the things that we will need to accomplish are getting support teams organized, setting future meeting dates, discussing Bible study options and more.

Also, we will be moving to our new blog sometime this week. I will let you know when we are live and ready to go.

--Peace, Jamie

Night

Elie Wiesel in his Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance speech uttered the following:

I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Sometimes we must interfere. When human lives are endangered, when human dignity is in jeopardy, national borders and sensitivities become irrelevant. Wherever men and women are persecuted because of their race, religion, or political views, that place must - at that moment - become the center of the universe.

After spending a year in concentration camps in WWII Germany, Wiesel witnessed firsthand the terrible evil that is possible in mankind, the utter depravity that man apart from God is. Upon entering Birkenau for the first time and seeing the crematorium, he was astonished that such evil could happen in this world during this time without an outcry from the ends of the earth. He has dedicated his life to being the voice of the tormented and the victim.

What does this have to do with Reveal? Too often, we see those who aren't Christ-followers as the enemy. We condemn their lifestyles, their choices, their actions, and, in a very real way, we condemn them. Instead, we should see those who are follow the ways of the world as the tormented and the victim and Satan, the prince of this world as the true enemy, as the tormentor and the oppressor. More than that, we cannot remain neutral in the fight. We must take sides and overcome the darkness of this world with the Light. If the goal of Reveal is to shine Light into darkness, what are we as individuals doing now to shine? Are we conscious of who the real enemy is? Are we aware of the brokenness around us? We must make sure that we aren't neutral, and, as a church, we must make the lives of those living in darkness the center of our universe.

-- Peace, Jamie

Good, Better, Best

Do you ever feel like you can't add one more thing to your schedule and then some really cool opportunity comes up that you just can't pass on? Or do you ever feel like you're so busy doing a hundred small things that the one big task that needs your focus gets less attention than it deserves? How do you handle those situations?

Following up with some of what I said on Sunday, it's important for us to focus on what God's call is for our lives as individuals and our life as a church. It's easy to get so busy doing small things that the big task gets neglected. In the same way, it's easy to get busy doing good things and missing out on the best things.

I came across this passage today. The apostles had to make a choice - taking care of widows (a good thing) or focusing on prayer and the word of God (the thing they were called to do). In giving up the good thing to others, it did two things. It allowed them to focus on their calling. It also allowed other people's giftedness to be used.

What is distracting you from maximizing your value for the kingdom? What is distracting us as a church from doing the same?

-- Peace, Jamie

PS - If you're in our college ministry, we are planning an international mission trip to Costa Rica next summer. Put July 11-17 on your calendar and make plans to have your world rocked.

Monday AM Thoughts

• I had a great time speaking yesterday. That's twice in four weeks for me and I have to admit that I enjoy the opportunity to open up both scripture and my life and share what God is teaching me through both. My voice wasn't as shot after yesterday. But that's probably because I didn't speak as long yesterday because the worship services were so packed (especially the second).

• I love the response I get when I show up wearing a tie on Sunday mornings.

• I've heard some great things about the Reveal Band from yesterday's SEBO service. I'm looking forward to being able to worship with them this coming Sunday.

• It rained on our Young Adult couples last night at Bowater Park. So we did what any group of Baptists would do, we talked and ate until it was too late to get in the water. Also, there was a mean game of cards going on almost until the gates closed.

• Chad Wyatt posted this after a recent trip to Starbucks. I'd loved to hear of any similar experiences that you may have had. Also, do we focus on making our guests welcome at FBC on Sundays? If not, what do we need to do to make sure that we do?

-- Peace, Jamie

Creative Team Meeting

I am so pumped! Our CT meeting went great tonight. We landed on a logo and put together the first two weeks of our pre-launch gatherings in September. Lots of positive energy, give and take and tons of creative energy were flowing. Everybody was sweating before the meeting was over. We went a little bit long. For which I apologize to the Creative Team.

Here's what's coming:

• We will be launching a new blog soon, complete with logo and more in-depth discussion about Reveal.

• We will be having more Launch Team meetings soon. I'll finalize them and let you know about them by the end of the week.

• We have dates for our first and second series of pre-launch gatherings. I'll post those sometime next week.

Thanks to the Creative Team for their hard work tonight! You guys are awesome.

-- Peace, Jamie

Encouraging Words

Hello Team:
I have run across some scripture and encouraging words that I think apply to REVEAL:

To encourage us to reflect on Him-
Deuteronomy 10:21 "He is your praise; He is your God, who performed for you those great and awesome wonders you saw with your own eyes!"

To encourage us to accept His love-
"If somebody was willing to give his life for you, would you trust him? of course you would. Jesus loved you then. He loves you now. He'll be loving you every minute of every hour of every day of the rest of your life, and no matter what happens, nothing can separate you from that love!"
Elisabeth Elliot - Secure in the Everlasting Arms

To encourage us in our purpose-
Isaiah 42: 6-7 "I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people (of Rock Hill), and a light for the Gentiles (your neighbors), to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness."

Lori B.

Sunday Morning Conviction

I've been thinking a lot this week about the sermon on Sunday.  I was really struck by how DESPERATE some of these people are for the Word.  And I had to ask myself, "Am I desperate for God and His Word?"

You know I counted 10 bibles that Lori and I have between us (not counting the Hebrew OT and Greek NT from seminary) and I don't know how many other books that I have "about" God or worship or scripture or whatever.  And you know what, there are many times that I would rather pick up one of those "other" books that to go to the source and read there.  So needless to say, I was convicted to really spend some time in the Word.

Random Thoughts

#1 - Coughing or clearing your throat while wearing a face mic is a bad idea.

#2 - Noah was in the Ark a long time: Feb 17 to Jan 1 (about 11 months).

#3 - It is frustrating when the plugin that you want to use for your web-browser only works with a previous version that you can't download anymore.

#4 - The people in the OT had some weird names.

#5 - The band is starting to come together (check us out Sunday morning 9:30 AM in the Apex if you get a chance).

#6 - We need a keyboard player, if anyone knows someone.

#7 - Soon we are going to need a weekly Creative Team Meeting - be thinking of a day and time that might work.

-Will

Are You Listening?

Last night at our college Bible study, we had an interesting discussion on chapter 5 of The Organic God. I simply asked the question, "Do you feel like God is surprisingly talkative?" as the book contends. After some discussion, Hunter pointed out that he agrees that God is talkative but he thinks we can be 'surprisingly deaf.' What a great way to put it.

God is talking to us all the time - through His word, our gifts, our circumstances, teachers and pastors, and so many other ways. What are we doing to make sure that we're listening? We fill the silences in our life with phone calls, ipods, tv shows, computer games, movies, etc. We fill our still moments with activity.

The practice of simply turning everything off for a few moments each day and listening for the voice of God in our stillness will make it easier to hear His voice in the midst of the chaos of life. Take a few moments today to listen because I think we have a God who is surprisingly talkative.

-- Peace, Jamie

Housekeeping

Tomorrow night, we will have another creative team meeting. Hopefully, we will be put the finishing touches on the logo that we will be using for Reveal. Once we do that, we will begin tranisitioning to the new blog (revealatfbc.blogspot.com). Keep the creative team in your prayers as we meet.

Also, the band is beginning to come together. They led worship for the first time last Sunday at the youth worship gathering (SEBO). They'll be leading at two more gatherings (7/13 and 7/20) before we kick off our pre-launch gatherings in September.

Finally, we need to have a few more Launch team meetings between now and September as well. We need to finalize the Launch team, place people on Support teams, and begin praying together for Reveal. Look for more info about dates for Launch team meetings soon.

-- Peace, Jamie

The Air I Breathe

I've been reading through Louie Giglio's book The Air I Breathe as we continue focusing on Intimate Worship as one of our passions at FBC. He points out something that all of us probably know instinctively but don't think about on any given day. It's that we are created to worship and as a result we all worship - something. Something could be an object (car, clothes, house), an idea (a job, a vacation, retirement) or a person (spouse, children, friend). Of course that something should be God. After all, He is the creator of the universe, the most powerful being to ever exist, and the One who loves us more than anyone or anything ever could.

So how do we know what the object of our worship is?

• Where are you spending your money? This is pretty easy to check. Look at your bank statement, your credit card statement, your receipts. Jesus was pretty explicit on this one. Check out Matthew 6:21.

• Where are you spending your time? Not as easy to check but it's possible. Keep a journal during the week. Log how much time you spend watching TV, surfing the internet, reading, playing, etc. Now, this isn't a guilt-trip into a monastic life with no technology (because technology CAN play a role in our spiritual development). Rather it's a challenge to look at where you can change some habits in order to focus your worship where it should be.

• What do you think and dream about? Much tougher to do, but maybe the most important. Our thoughts will greatly influence our actions. What drives you to do what you do? What do you spend your free moments dreaming about? If there were no constraints on you, what would you choose to do? Those are the kind of questions to ask yourself when evaluating what or who you are worshiping.

My hope is that Reveal will help us stay focused 24/7 on what God is preparing and calling us to do. Have a great week.

-- Peace, Jamie

100 Greatest Songs in Christian Music (50-41)

50. Dare You To Move - Switchfoot (2000)

Charlie Hall discovered a young San Diego rock band by the name of Chin Up in 1996.  He convinced them to change their name.  They chose a name lifted from their favorite activity (surfing) and thus Switchfoot was born.  "I Dare You To Move" was featured on their third independent release Learning to Breathe.  In 2002, Warner Brothers was working on the film, A Walk To Remember, starring Mandy Moore.  Moore pressured WB into highlighting Switchfoot on the soundtrack (4 songs).  With the films success, the mainstream label Columbia came calling and signed Switchfoot.  They changed the name of the song to "Dare You To Move" and even released another song "Meant To Live" as the lead single for their ablum A Beautiful Letdown in 2003.  Says lead singer Jon Foreman, "DYTM is an attempt to honestly face the gap between who I am and who I want to be; between the way the world spins and the way it should be.  I've heard it said that we only use a small part of our brain. Maybe our soul is the same way. And maybe we're half asleep most of our lives, simply reacting to the stimulus our brain receives. Action, true action, is rare indeed."

49. Shut De Do - Randy Stonehill (1983)

I have heard this song many times before and I honestly thought it was an old African American Spiritual.

48. The Warrior Is A Child - Twila Paris (1984)

Spent 18 weeks at #1 in 1984.  Written after the release of her second album, this song offered a peak at the vulnerability of the rising talent. She remembers thinking, I just write these little songs and sing them. Yes, I do try to live out and work out what I write and be faithful in it.  But that doesn't mean that I'm like an elder in the church, you know!  While seeking the counsel of a spiritual leader in her home church, he told her, "No matter if we're a general in the army of God and have been serving God for years, and have all this experience and He's given us lots of responsibility - before Him, we're still a child."

47. Jesus Will Still Be There - Point of Grace (1993)

One of the six #1 hits off their self-titled debut album.  "When it looks like you've lost it all, and you haven't got a prayer, Jesus will still be there."

46. Secret Ambition - Michael W. Smith (1988)

The video of this song told the story of the Resurrection in a very powerful way, years before Mel Gibson's movie, The Passion of the Christ, became an unexpected global phenomenon.

45. Heaven - Bebe & Cece Winans (1988)

Featured a guest appearance by Whitney Houston and became the first gospel recording to reach the Top 10 on Billboard's Hot R&B chart since Aretha Franklin's "Amazing Grace" did it in 1972.

44. People Need The Lord - Steve Green (1984)

All people need the Lord, not only the lost who have never heard of Him, but also those who are living a external, performance-based Christianity.  Green calls those the "Elder Brothers" (from the Prodigal Son Parable) who never ran away from home nut were just as lost as the prodigal.

43. Breath of Heaven (Mary's Song) - Amy Grant (1992)

Already written by Chris Eaton when Grant first heard it, she decided to rewrite the verses from a woman's perspective (being very pregnant herself at the time.)

42. People Get Ready, Jesus Is Comin' - Crystal Lewis (1996)

Powerful song, by a singer with a powerful voice.

41. Love Crucified Arose - Michael Card (1983)

Inspired by a line from Emily Dickinson, "When love was crucified, it arose."

Random Thoughts

-- The Launch team meeting on Sunday was great. If you were there, thanks for showing up and showing an interest in the new gathering. Will and I met yesterday to begin putting dates on meetings and gatherings. I will be posting those soon as well as sending them out on via email.

-- One of the things that I seriously lack is an eye for decoration. If you don't believe me, stop by my office sometime. The Apex is in serious need of some character. If you feel called and equipped to do some serious decorating without serious funds, I would love to hear from you.

-- College Bible study was awesome last night. I love that after we conclude there are still discussions about scripture going on in groups around the room.

-- That reminds me (Margaret Feinberg), our college group will be going to Isle of Palms in August for a day at the beach. If you have any restaurants to offer up as a place to get some good seafood, let me know. Chip suggested Hyman's (which is a great little place in downtown and has some pretty good crab dip that you can get free if you have a coupon). I like Sullivan's on Sullivan's Island (cool how that happens). But I would love to hear some more suggestions.

-- I'm not even a big superhero fan, but I thoroughly enjoyed this post.

-- Peace, Jamie