How Personal Evangelism Impacted My Life

Many of you probably saw my friend Mike Craig sitting with me at church this week. Mike is like a brother to me. Scratch that, he is my brother. I’m exactly a month and a day older than him and enjoy telling people that I’ve known Mike his entire life. I was thinking on the value of his friendship and what it means to me. That made me think of a mutual friend of ours, Walt Smith, as he’s the third of this trio of brothers. (there’s more guys who are like brothers to me, but trio works better for this story)

It dawned on me that Walt wouldn’t have been my friend if [Read more]

Small Group @ Greenbrier

Small Groups are a place for our members and attendees to “plug in” to what God is doing in our midst. It says in Hebrews 10:25, “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another-and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”

Life is filled with God’s blessings so why not share it with others. We want to be known in our community as a church that loves God and one another. A great place to do both is in Small Groups.

Life is about relationships. At Greenbrier, we want to do life together. Being part of a network of good friends can provide one with the strength, confidence, and joy needed to carry out our personal and corporate callings in Christ. We all need to be in relationship and fellowship with God and each other. Don’t waste another moment.

What is my life telling my kids?

I had this thought that struck me the other day while I was on the road to lead worship at a friend’s church. “What am I telling my kids with my non-verbal actions that life is about?” I was thinking about everything that I place priority on in my life and how, when I’m gone and they’re grown, they are going to take cues on how life should be lived from me. I can leave them at home while I go and do the work God has called me to and they will most likely grow up and do the same with their kids. I could sit at home and only watch TV and they will probably do the same. You get the idea.

I thought I would challenge myself, and some of my friends, on this idea. I would say that I am most passionate about Jesus, my wife, my kids, others and then everything else. But, the actions that my kids see might portray a different set of priorities. They see me after I’m done praying/worshiping/leading/mentoring/studying etc. They don’t get to see a lot of the more “spiritual” things that I do. So as I took an honest inventory of what they do see, I felt like my kids would know a few things if I were gone tomorrow.

1. Jesus is the most important thing.
2. We should worship with passion.
3. I love their Mom more than anyone else. (so far so good)
4. Tarheel Basketball is VERY important.
5. The TV can stay on most of the time. (uh-oh)
6. Having fun with friends is one of the most important things in life.
7. Daddy’s PlayStation is a lot of fun and I should definitely learn how to play it.
8. The computer and cell phone trump most things.

1-3 are pretty good, but the rest of the list isn’t reflective of my true priorities (at least in my heart) but it is probably what they see. That last one hurts especially bad. I thought about how I read and I pray, but rarely in front of my kids. Don’t get me wrong, we bless our kids every night. We talk about God. What His Word says. How its principles should affect how we live our everyday lives. But they don’t see me pounding it down, working it through, talking about it with friends, asking the Holy Spirit for wisdom.

When I’m gone, I want my kids to be able to know how they should live. I want them to say, “I saw my Dad and Mom live it; now it’s my turn and my turn to teach my kids the same.” I am sending this out to a few friends and asking them, “What is my life telling my kids?” and “What do I want it to be telling them?” If they allow me, I’ll post some of their thoughts here.

I, for one, intend to start being a little more intentional with what my non-verbal communications say to my kids. I want them to know that a relationship with God changes who we are, prioritizes our life and gives us an eternal perspective. I want them to know God is alive and well, not just by what they hear, but by what they see.