Final Four

How does your NCAA bracket look? Mine didn't look too bad - I picked 3 out of the final 4. I was hoping that OU could pull it out against North Carolina. Oh, well. I went with my heart instead of my head.

Who do you have going all the way?

Should be a great final four. The teams look like good matchups. I see a Villinova/Mich St. final. North Carolina will be a tough out for sure. I'll take 'Nova for the championship.

My head says the Tar Heels. I'm going with my heart again. Hope it works out better this time!

Your picks?

New bulletin format

I actually enjoy our Monday morning staff meetings. It's a good time of sharing, laughing and planning. I'm blessed to work with people I like.

Today we are working to redsign our bulletin. Our current bulletin is geared for the memeber. The new bulletin will be geared for our guests. It will explain our ministries, what to expect in our assemblies, advertise our sermon series, have an insert for writing notes (sermon and prayer requests), and will contain activity announcements.

This week I'm also working on my new sermon series "Surviving Tough Times: A Study of Philippians" that will begin after Easter.

Sunday Night Reflections

We had a great day today at Southside. We celebrated Megan Condor's baptism. Despite a snow storm, we had a packed house to worship God. Marcellus Stanley, a Southside favorite, was here to be our guest worship leader. He has a true gift of leading God's people in celebration.

Instead of having a sermon, we asked two of our new believers shared their faith story. Wow! Both shared their hearts in an amazing way. We are incorporating testimonies as a part of our worship assemblies. We all have a story to share!

Tonight we had a what we call "a small group renunion". When a month has five Sundays we gather on that evening to sing, pray and share a meal together. I was very surprised with how many came! The spirit of worship and fellowship was fantastic.

Today was a good day. I hope your family of faith had a good day as well.

Sobering Messages

Went to breakast a few days ago hosted by the West Jordan Chamber of Commerce with a state senator from Utah. He was predicting 50% inflation in the next two years. He was talking about China pushing for the one world currency. A very sobering message.

At the same breakfast others were talking about the 50 million dollar shortfall in the Salt Lake County budget. Violent prisoners will soon be let go without the officers to oversee their release. A very sobering message.

Went to a pastor's conference yesterday. One of the speakers did an excellent job of presenting the radical homosexual agenda against the church. A very sobering message.

Many churches in Salt Lake - and other places -- are laying off ministers on their staffs. Perhaps they were staff top heavy. I don't know. Most churches are experiencing 20% drop in giving and many predicitions are that will only drop further. A very sobering message.

In the words of Anne Murray, "I sure could use a little good news today."

Got any?

Unanswered Prayer/Heaven

Had a great repsonse to my first sermon on "The Pain of Unaswered Prayer". How many of us have gone through a time when we felt forgotten by God? Seems almost everyone at Southside! Probably a lot of folks at your church, too!

Had a lot of discussion in my class on "Heaven" Sunday morning. I love it when a class actually promotes a discussion of the text. People were thinking - asking - commenting. Getting people engaged with God's Word is a holy thing.

This Sunday is our "Good To See You Sunday". We aim at inviting those of our congregation we haven't seen in a few weeks. Jesus told us to leave the 99 and go find the one. That's excatly what we're trying to do. We have 11 baptisms so far this year (a great thing!) - we don't won't to forget the other things that God has called us to do. Marcellus Stanley will be our guest worship leader. Looking forward to him being a part of our special day!

Going to figure out Twitter this week! Seems it has a lot of ministry potential. One of my goals this year is to use more technology in ministry. If you have any suggestions, please pass them on!

Unanswered Prayer

This Sunday we will address the subject of unanswered prayer. It is a painful theme for many people.

Have you struggled with a time of (seemingly) unanswered prayer?

How do you respond to such a time? Stop worshiping? Stop praying? Loose faith?

Or did it build your faith? Did it cause you to dig deeper in the Word?

It's a topic that we often choose to ignore. Not this Sunday! We'll meet it head on! It will take probably two or three sermons to cover this vital topic that haunts so many.

You are invited to come to our website next week and listen to the sermon. After you do, I would love to hear from you.

Broken brackets

Experienced another baptism last night. It was a young lady raised LDS who has been coming to Southside about 6 months or so. That's just good stuff.

My brackets are taking a hit already. The trick is to pick the right upsets. So far, I have picked the wrong upsets. Hate that!

Oh, well.

It's been in the mid 60's every afternoon this week. Spring is coming to the Rocky Mountians!

Am I the only person in Utah (or America for that matter) who hasn't read Twilight? Should I see the movie when it comes out on DVD?

Things I Remember

Happy St. Partick's Day! A good day to "go green"!

Things I remember:

When "going out to eat" on Sunday meant going to someone's house to have dinner (lunch).

When we had our church clothes, our play clothes, our school clothes and our work clothes. When we "ate out" you brought your play clothes in a paper sack to change in after church.

Flying was a bid deal. You would dress up when you flew.

When you patched your jeans instead of throwing them away.

You only had tree stations on your TV and you were glad to get them.

Black and white TV. (Going to home that had color tv and we couldn't wait to see the NBC peacock in color!) I couldn't believe that Little Joe's jacket was green.

Having to polish my shoes, fill out my Gospel Advocate quarterly and taking a bath before being able to watch TV on Saturday night. (My parents checked my answers in the quarterly to make sure they were correct).

When Mighty Mouse, Underdog, Yogi Bear, Deputy Dog, Jettson's, made for a great Saturday morning.

You have any memories that stick out when you were a kid?

Bracketology

Got the brackets filled out. Here is your Final Four: Louisville (heart says Utah), Connecticut (heart says Missouri), North Carolina (heart says Oklahoma), Pitt. Final game: Pitt vs. Louisville. Winner: Pitt.

Don't call your bookie based on these predictions. I hope Utah goes all the way! The center, Luke Nehvill, goes to our church. I also pulling for Missouri. Their coach was a long time Arkansas assistant to Nolan Richardson. I was hoping that he would be named the Arkansas head coach, so I'm pulling for him!

I think OU will give NC all they can handle.

I don't think all No.1 seeds will make it. Pitt has the easiest road. We'll see.

I'm coming down with a bad case of hoop flu on Thursday. Probably won't feel better until Sunday night. The flu usually hits again a few days later.

Saturday rambling

For the second time this week I've got to install, or should I say re-install, my water heater. The new one has a defect that prevents it from working properly. Bummer. I BIG thanks to my good friend Jeff Oliverson for being my plumber. (I'm his "go-fer"). With friends like me, who gets free time?!

Went to a Utah Red Rocks meet last night. (The women's gymnastics team at the University of Utah). Took my nine year old daugther. She loved every minute of it! 15,000 fans came see No.2 Utah beat No. 4 Florida! Those girls do some pretty amazing things!

Looking forward to having my daughter home for spring break. She is leading a group from Oklahoma Christian.

Our teens are doing their annual 30 Hour Famine Lock-In. They will lead our service tomorrow and share their experiences. Should be a great time of worship.

It's a beautiful day on the Wasatch Front. Sunny skies with 55 degrees. A deep blue sky is the perfect backdrop for the snow covered mountians. Spring is trying to come!

More free ideas!

Things you can do for free:

Teach a class in Sunday School. You'll learn more by teaching than you will attending a class.

Be a security person in the church's parking lot during class and worship. Just walk around the parking lot. Criminals are targeting church parking lots during its services. They know they have two to three hours to get in and get out.

Volunteer to host a Parent's Night Out. Call another couple to help you. Host children at the building so that their parents can have a night out without paying for a babysitter. Many can't afford a night out that they so desperately need.

There must a hundred ways in which we can serve that won't cost us any money. Be creative!

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Oklahoma Christian is bringing a group of students for a spring break campaign next week. Looking forward to seeing my daughter who is a senior at OC.

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Next week is March Madness! Can't wait!

More free ideas!

During these tough economic times, I'm offering some ideas to bring honor to the Lord that won't cost you any money.

Visit a family shelter. Offer your family to clean up the play area. Help make and serve a meal. Clean up the kitchen afterwards.

Wash and vacum the church's van. My guess is that it needs both!

Drive a cancer patient to their chemo treatment.

Offer to dust the chairs (or pews) in the classes and/or auditorium at your church.

Be a reading tutor at your local elementary school.

Clean the house for your wife. Dust. Put away the dishes.

More ideas?

More free ideas

Here are a few more ideas that won't cost you a dime, just time! The good thing about these hard economic times is being creative on how we can "tithe" to the Kindgom.

You can volunteer to clean the church building! You will be amazed at the trash you find! You will develop an appreciation for those who clean the building every week.

Clean the toys in the nursery. You may be amazed how dirty they are. Guests like to see clean toys for their children.

Teach a class on Sunday morning (or sign up to be a co-teacher). Be the teacher that is there fifteen minutes early. Greet all the children as they come in the class. You will make a huge difference. First time guests love it when someone is in the classroom to greet them.

Help the secretary fold the bulletin. She always could use a helping hand.

Come down and mow the church's lawn. Prun the flowers. Prun the trees.

Clean the baptistry. I promise you it could use a cleaning.

Visit someone in the hospital. A no brainer. The visit will mean more because you are not "paid" to do so! Try it and make it a habit.

Things you can do for free!

In these troubled economic times churches are being forced to cut back on their budgets. I think it is wise. Some ministries will be cut back while others will be cut out altogether. I think every church has too many programs anyway.

Yesterday at Southside we discussed some ways we can serve that will not cost a dime yet could have a tremendous impact on your church. Here are a few ideas:

Come early and stand at a door and just greet people when they come into the building. Smile and say, "It's great to see you this morning! Welcome to __________!" If you don't recognize them, ask them if there is any way in which you may serve them. Take them (don't just point) to a class room or the auditorium.

Pray for your ministers and elders on a daily basis.

Offer to prepare communion for a month. Someone will get a much needed break!

Call those not in assembly and just tell them that they were missed. You could get a list from your preacher I'd bet.

Start a prayer group.

Be an usher in the assembly. Help newcomers find a seat. Greet people as they come into worship.

Volunteer in the nursery. They always need an extra hand!

Other ideas?

The good thing about a down economy is that it makes us more creative! There must a 101 ways in which we can serve that won't cost us a penny but will mean so much to others!

Straying Sheep

We have another baptism tonight! Boy, I love that! I love seeing new births.

Went to a workshop yesterday hosted by Roy Christian Church on how to close the back door (people leaving) of our churches. It was really good. It was not about selling a program or a book. It was all down to earth, solid, biblical ideas on how to take better care of our members.

I will say this - I use to believe that well cared for sheep would not stray. I no longer believe that. Perhaps, well cared for sheep will return when the glitz and glammer of mega church wear off?

I don't know if we'll ever close the back door. I do know that we can all take better care of the sheep. They will still wander - we can't stop that. Perhapas, we can "slow the flow". We'll see.

What is your church doing to close the back door? I would to hear what you are doing.

Well, the West Jordan Jaguars have reached the semi-finals in the boys basketball tourney. That's exciting.

Church for Atheists!

Tonight yet another baptism at Southside! Tonight Tiffinay, the wife of a man who was baptized just a year ago, has expressed interest in being immersed into Christ. She was a self confessed atheist when we first met her. Isn't that amazing?

About six months ago we baptized a young man who was a self confessed atheist himself.

We have another self described atheist who has been coming with her boyfriend for about two years.

Somehow we've become the church for atheist to come and begin a relationship with Christ!

This is definetly a God thing. Who plans an outreach of atheists?