May the words I speak be trustworthy and anointed .

It's Saturday night and I sit at my desk preparing for Sunday. The manuscript for my message is printed, marked with my highlighters, folded and placed in my Bible. I pray and seek God's face for tomorrow. I read several emails this evening from first time guest to the church who stated how much they liked the worship experience and plan to return.

When we enter into our worship by music we will stand and shout together












The sermon is ready - now I seek God to make ME ready for the delivery of His Word that the words I speak with be trustworthy and anointed by the Holy Spirit. To God be the glory!

Satan lost another one

On Sunday November 1 I began a new teaching series at NRN. I began my message last week with these words:

Today we begin a teaching series entitled Identity Theft. Every 79 seconds in America there is an identity theft victim the stealing of someone’s identity. Identity theft is a serious issue.

Random check of credit reports in 2003 50% credit reports checked were victims and they didn’t even know. It is serious 1 of 50 people will fall a major victim to it in 2010. It will take every victim close to $1500 dollars to repair the damage and get things put back together not counting lawyers fees. Here is the tragedy of identity theft- You can spend your whole life building your credit, building your identity credit and in one moment somebody steals your identity and your future is destroyed.

The same thing happens in the spiritual realm. You can spend your entire life building your spiritual identity but all it takes is one moment to forget who you are and make a stupid decision and it will take you and I years to fix what one decision did, because we forgot who we are. I have a confession: This series of messages is more for me than you. Over the past several months I have been fighting some of the biggest spiritual battles of my life. My love and concern for my family and for YOU – the church has been almost overwhelming. This series comes out of very personal experience.

I have listened to many sermons and worked hard on this series. It is influenced by a book by a teaching pastor at Willow Creek, and another book called Identity Theft by Jay Strack of Student Leadership Ministries.

We began by examining the lie that the world and the devil likes to whisper into the ear of our heart and mind. The lie is: "I have to be strong".

The truth is taken from 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 (The Message): My grace is enough; it's all you need. My strength comes into its own in your weakness.Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ's strength moving in on my weakness. Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size—abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become.

We will continue in this series on November 8th with a message addressing the lie: "This is just the way I am." I believe some people are held prisoners in their own minds that they cannot change. When a person opens their heart to Jesus Christ - everything changes!

Here is a clip I recently viewed about how Satan wants to whisper his lies into our heart and mind. Hold on - this is powerful:




If you were blessed by this - but it went a little "fast" for you - you can simply post a comment - or email me - and I will be glad to send you the words of this poem by Blair Wingo.

November 1 - Happy birthday to my daughters

Sunday - November 1st was a fantastic day at NRN! It was very evident that God invaded our presence. Before I began my message I was privilege to preform the baptism and dedication service for Rachel Cook. I stated that Rachel and I will have a special connection because of her date of birth - February 13th - which is also my anniversary of birth. You can tell - I love the privilege to present children unto the Lord! She is a beautiful little girl.

It was a joy to share these special moments with her family...

Later in the afternoon Sharron and I traveled to Greensboro to meet our family to celebrate the birthdays of Danielle and Stephanie. We connected at TGI Fridays for a fun meal. Here are my daughters on their birthday this past Sunday.

But often - this is the picture in my mind of my daughters as they would laugh and play in the multi-purpose room of Christian Fellowship Church in Vienna, Va. This picture was taken in late 1982 with our friend Beth who worked in the daycare center at the church.

Here is Josh, Stephanie and Alyse as they smile on Stephanie's birthday...

Here is Jessie, Danielle and Jayden as the celebrate Danielle's birthday...

Sharron and I feel blessed with two beautiful daughters and their families.

Happy Halloween Contest

Tonight was a great evening at NRN as we celebrated TRUNK N TREAT in our church parking lot. Here is a short pictorial from the evening:

Special appreciation to all those who decorated their vehicles and welcomed the kids with a lot of candy and games.


Chef Rodney stepped away from the Connection Cafe' for a short time to hold the little bumble bee (Cole). Several new families came by to enjoy the free coffee and cupcakes at the newly established Connection Cafe.

A beautiful bee also came to visit Papa and enjoyed one of the games. Yes - she can play with her eyes closed...

She especially seemed to enjoy the game beside the vehicle of a favorite host of the evening. His accent and costume was a hit and I heard a lot of laughter coming from this station. Do you know who this person is? This is my contest question - If you were NOT at Trunk N Treat - give a guess - Who is this man?

I did appreciate my grand daughter Alyse taking a moment for a poised picture before heading upstairs for the evening.

It was a fun night for all who attended! Thanks to all those who provided their vehicles. Thanks to the family of NRN for all the candy donated. We appreciate the hard work for the staging and sound as the puppet team brought a lot of joy to the crowd. Special appreciation to Pastor Jordan and the students of Element for making this night possible.

Set your clocks back tonight and enjoy the extra hour of sleep as we say goodbye to daylight savings time and return to standard time. Prepare for a great worship experience at NRN. I look forward to beginning my new teaching series on Identity Theft.

Preparing for this weekend at NRN

As I prepared for this weekend at NRN God has spoken to my heart. I am excited about this coming Sunday. Here are some of the steps preparing for Sunday.

1. This evening at 8:00pm there are a group of people gathering at the church for prayer. The purpose of the time together is for a prayer walk throughout the church. I believe that a prayer walk is deliberate intercession for others. It is an involvement in spiritual warfare. A prayer walk is offensive praying to attack the strongholds of the devil I think tonight is a big first step in making the devil mad. It is not an end in itself. I do believe it is preparation for an evangelistic witness. Here are some trustworthy sayings to assist those gathering tonight for prayer:

"Likewise the Spirit also helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what we pray for as we ought, but the spirit Himself makes intercession for us ..." Romans 8:26

"For there two or three are gathered together in my name, I am there in the midst of them." Matthew 18:20

2. On Saturday at 2:30pm I plan to meet with the members of the Children's Ministry Team. We are so excited about a recent decision of the church board to appoint Amy Manshack as the Volunteer Director of Children's Ministry. She is very excited about this opportunity and the ministry team is gathering around her with great ideas and support. This is another big step in making the devil mad. I am really excited about the plans and the new direction of our children's ministry at NRN. I am hearing excellent reports about the number of volunteers, the new director Tot Town and the upcoming revision of Children's Church.

3. On Saturday beginning at 4:00pm the parking lot at NRN will be transformed. There will be many cars lined up with the trunks opened revealing lots and lots of candy. Thanks to all those who donated candy over the past several weeks. We launch a special event called Trunk 'N Treat -

This is an alternative family event for Halloween. People from North Raleigh Nazarene will make available the trunks of their cars for wrapped candy. From 4:00 p.m.–6:00 p.m., the kids will go from trunk to trunk gathering treats. The Connection Cafe is scheduled to be open making coffee and hot chocolate available. There are games and some surprise activities planned. Pastor Jordan and ELEMENT - our student ministry of NRN - are sponsoring this event. Tell you family and friends and plan to join us on Saturday beginning at 4:00pm

4. Daylight savings time Don’t forget to “fall back” next Sunday morning by turning your clocks back one hour! The Connection Cafe opens by 9:15am. We invite you to bring a friend to church with you and stop by the Connection Cafe for free cup of coffee, tea, hot chocolate or bottle of cold water. Then check out one of our Adult Connection classes which begin at 9:30am.

5. On Sunday I begin a new teaching series:

In this series, we are going to study several different lies that our spiritually enemy wants to use to rob us of our spiritual identity. How can we feel so close to God one moment and totally turn our backs on Him the next? How can we have days of incredible spiritual victories followed by periods of intense defeat? What is the devil’s greatest weapon in spiritual identity thief?

In John 8:44 Jesus said, “When he [the devil] lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” On Sunday, we are going to look at one of the most common lies that our spiritual enemy wants us to believe - the lie that we have to be strong.

I am preparing my heart for a great worship experience and expecting that God will invade our presence in a mighty way on Sunday. I invite you - take time Saturday evening to prepare your heart for worship and come expecting....

Danielle and Jessie on thier wedding day

The past several days have been filled with family moments. On Sunday October 25th I took this picture of Danielle just before she entered into the room for her wedding. I think the big smile on her face says it all. She was filled with joy as she prepared for her life changing decision:

After walking down the isle to the music of "Cinderella's theme" Our close friend Rev. Forbis Kivett said these words:

“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here in the sight of God and in the presence of these witnesses, to join this man, Jessie L. Bolder Jr. and this woman Danielle Marie Hudgens, in holy matrimony, which is an honorable estate, instituted of God, and signifying to us the mystical union which exists between Christ and His Church. It is therefore not to be entered into unadvisedly, but reverently, discreetly and in the fear of God. Into this holy estate these two persons come now to be joined.

Jessie and Danielle, this is a high and holy day in your lives. You have chosen October 25th, 2009 as a day long to be remembered and cherished. Your life together will be truly blest if you allow God’s love to guide you.”

Scripture Reading - (1Cor. 13) “This love is patient and kind; it is not jealous or boastful; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in right. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails … so faith, hope, love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”

Danielle and Jessie have pledged their love to one another and Danielle has pledged to accept and love Jessie's five year old daughter Jayden as her own. Here is one of the first pictures taken of this new family:

The wedding was a small family event and all who were in attendance wish the very best for Danielle and Jessie.

I did catch a picture of Stephanie and Alyse sharing a moment as Alyse takes a moment to smell the flowers.

Josh, Stephanie and Alyse took time for a quick family picture. Stephanie stood with her sister during the wedding. Stephanie also prepared the cake for this special event.

And you can tell - Danielle and Jessie enjoyed the first two pieces cut from the cake - I think Danielle more than Jessie-

So Danielle and Jessie Bolder begin their life together. Our best wishes and prayers are with them. We are so happy for them and wish them the very best.

These are just a few pictures from my camera. We hope to have the "official" pictures later this week. I wanted you to see first hand the joy we shared with Danielle and Jesse on their wedding day!

WOW!

Did you hear about what happened last Sunday at North Raleigh Church of the Nazarene?


We had promoted this Sunday to prepare people for the WOW!


Here's what happened:

We launched our newly developed Guest Services Ministries at NRN.

It began with a ribbon cutting of the new Connection Cafe. The first cup of coffee was served to Harold Wetzel, Sr. - a founding member of our church.



Special appreciation goes to Rodney Rhoads and his leadership as the Director of Guest Services. Thanks to Dawn and Mike Stroupe for their work on the Connection Cafe; to Kathy Muller for coordinating the baked goods; to Dave Joslin for the purchase and mounting of the flat screen TV; to Sandy Floyd and the team that painted the foyer in preparation for last Sunday. The list could go on and on - for all those who gave of their time, and generosity in financial gifts to enhance our foyer to welcome all who enter the doors at NRN!

I always want to express my appreciation to Bob Floyd and Bob Shouse for serving on our parking team. They stood outside in the NC chill to smile and wave to those entering our campus for the first time. When you come to church this Sunday - and you see the guys in the orange vest - be sure and wave and say THANK YOU!

Coffee, select teas, hot chocolate and bottled water will be available to those who come to Sunday School a little early. The Connection Cafe will open it's doors before 9:15am. The Cafe will resume service by 10:15am for those who come early for church. Bring a friend and enjoy the free baked goods and a refreshing drink of choice on Sunday morning. The TV will roll our announcements and worship videos this Sunday. Enjoy the countdown to enter the worship center for a great worship experience. Don't miss this Sunday at NRN!

If you missed Big Top Sunday - or last Sunday at NRN - you may want to listen to the podcast of services. Click HERE to listen.