A Man With A Mission

Speaking of a mission God has given us a big one! The Whole World!!! It is a big mission but HE is a BIG God, and he has given those of us at "the creek" the vision to accomplish the mission. Today was another great day at HCBC. With 4 baptisms, 2 salivations and 3 coming to be a part of the creek family. The morning service was awesome with almost 400 people in attendance, but the the evening service rolled around with close to 300. WOW It is so awesome to see a people that loves God enough to come back and fill His house up on a Sunday night! Not only did they come but they worshiped God with everything it seemed that was inside of them. As I close this day, I am so thankful that God has placed me and Mel at HCBC and given us a mission, a vision, and the passion to see it come to pass. Jesus was the man with the mission, and HE has passed it on to us, not just at Hawk Creek, but to every church that names the name of Christ! That means the churches in London, Corbin, Lexington, Knoxville and America have been given the same mission and it should be the man who gave us the mission that guides us and stirs us to go farther, worship harder, tell more people and do anything that it takes to see that Mission accomplished

The plan

This has definitely been a long week! Please don't think that I am complaining, but just giving you a fact. God has reminded me of an important lesson this week in the midst of the hustle and activity. He is still in control and has a good reason for what He does. This week began with a swift trip to Frankfort, then several awesome ministries to work on. After an awesome service at the creek Sunday with 8 saved, four baptized and many re dedications, that kind of start to the week meant no rest, but God still had a plan. On Wednesday I left for a conference, then back a day early to take care of some business back home. Again, rushed but still reminded that God has a plan. In life we need to remember to go with the flow, and trust God, not become so ticked off or "frazzled" that we lose sight of who is in control. What was the reason or the plan God had this whirlwind week? I am still not sure but I know this because His word is clear....God has a plan!

God provides but when?

We hear all of the time that "God provides", He will meet your needs", but what do we do when He doesn't do what we want, when we want, how we want? What we do and what we should do are two different things. The thing we usually do is whine, blame, and come up with a plan of how to take care of ourselves. What we should do is take God at His word, trust Him and ask what the next step that He wants us to take. In Isaiah God's word tells us that God's ways or plan is higher or better than our plan. But sometimes we think our plan is better and should be the way to God because God took too long. Even in my own life I find myself at times wanting to go a different direction at times because I feel as though God has taken more time than I would have. I am so thankful that God loves us even when we do take a different direction and loves us enough to show us where we went wrong and helps place us back in the right direction. Time and time again, God reminds us as the song says, "He's an on time God, Yes He Is!"

And He keeps going and going and going and going...

God continues to bless at The Creek! This Sunday was definitely a God thing! With 2 saved and 6 people joining the church, it was definitely refreshing and a blessing. Each week we talk about what a blessing to be a part of a church family that is so alive, but do we really think about what being alive means? Of course, it is the opposite of dead, deceased or as the KJV would state it, asleep. Being alive is not just a statement for the atmosphere of a church, but for those of us who are saved, it means life and substance! Thank God that His son, Jesus Christ has made us alive in our soul and given us life that is full! Being a part of "The Creek", has taught me that Jesus makes us alive in Christ, and the Holy Spirit has made our church a place filled with life! What a thought that we can live life to the fullest by giving God our best Monday-Sat, but also coming together as a family on Sunday to worship Him in an atmosphere that is lively! I wonder sometimes how people could criticize a church that claps, crys', shouts, raises their hands, wins people to Christ, reaches out into the community, and sometimes does things "out of the box". Then I realize, they criticized Jesus for doing things differently, so why not follow His example. Let me close with this. If the method you use is reaching people, centered around Christ, and is something that can only be accomplished if God does it, then you might find yourself in the center of God's will. Just be obedient, stay faithful and love God by loving people and giving them something that they need, the life changing gospel!

The throat and the heart!

Have you ever had a time that you lost your voice completely? I am talking, no sound comes out no matter how hard you try? Sunday night, right in the middle of worship, my voice went completely out! I tried to keep a smile on my face, while inside I was screaming to the top of my lungs, GOD HELP! I'm my mind I thought, "Lord, how can I praise you if my voice is gone? But then, at that moment God reminded me once again, that it is the heart and the attitude in which I worship that is pleasing not my feeble attempt to make a noise. Even when we cant make a sound, or even know what to say, God knows the heart and is touched by the overflow of love, praise and adoration that can come from our lives! Today, there was definitely plenty of things to praise God for. A couple folks were saved, at least 10 re-commitments, a couple joined and about 350 people in the AM service with about 270 in the evening service! God is definitely doing something that only He can take credit for, but something that we can definitely raise the praise for!

The End Of Summer is just the begining!

Summer temperatures have been very hot! Over 100 degrees for several days. But cooler days are coming, according to the weather lady. Even though things are cooling down outside, they are heating up at the creek! I am amazed at how God blesses a church once they become obedient to Him and Him alone. I am thankful for the holy spirit that He gives us to refresh us and remind us of His unfailing live. And I am in suspense of what God is going to do next. In the bible, God used people throughout history who were normal, cracked vessels, but yet they were obedient. In our personal lives, I believe that God would do so much more if we would be obedient and just go where He leads and not where we meander off to. He tells us in Psalm that He leads beside still waters. This scripture does not say that he stands by the water and watches us walk by ourselves but it implies that God, through His spirit, leads us into places that we can rest, regroup and get back into the fight for the gospel! I believe that God is finished leading us beside the still waters for now, but praise God, He is still leading and it will be into the greatest days our church and congregation has ever seen!

The future looks bright!

When Jesus told us to be the light of the world, I don't believe that it was to be a dim light, or even a candle that has burned so far into the wax that you cant tell if it is even lit. I do believe that he wants us to be a light that is so bright that it causes darkness to leave completely! At the Creek, God's light is shining like a spotlight and the focus is completely on Jesus! Some get caught up in talking about other churches, pastors, people and problems and all that does is showcase the problems. At HCBC, we spotlight Jesus! His life, His sacrifice, His kingdom and His priorities. It is all about Him, and nothing about us. The future looks bright too. As long as the light of Christ is what we shine and not our own, then the sky will be the limit for God's people at the Creek. With the light of Christ I can see, thousands coming to know Christ as Lord and Savior. I can see drug addicts, drug abusers and others with hurts, hang ups and habits, set free from their addictions and chains. I can see Missionaries in countries all over the globe sent out from Hawk Creek! I can see pre-schoolers, children, students, college students, singles, young families, and senior adults serving Christ together!!! Could a food and clothing ministry exist in the Creek's future? Could a Homeless shelter be in the outlook of our congregation? Could God use HCBC to begin a Christian School or Ministry training center? Is it possible that so many lost people could be saved through the ministry of HCBC that we are going to be out of space in the new building before it is even built? I do not know what the future holds, but I know that with the Light Of The World still shining, that our future is BRIGHT!!!