Lunch @ Reveal

Just a quick midweek reminder that we will have lunch in the cafe immediately following Reveal this Sunday, May 3. This is a great opportunity to invite someone who is not involved in Reveal to join us for worship and a meal. Hope to see you Sunday!

-- Peace, Jamie

Kent Couch and The Flying Lawn Chair

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Here is the video clip that I showed Sunday from MSNB about Kent Couch flying from Bend, OR. I hope it inspires you to great heights. My prayer for you this week is that you get to edges of the yard and enjoy the adventure that God has called you to!

-- Peace, Jamie

The Creative Team Needs You

Hey, we need you. Yeah you, the one reading this post. No, not the person who you sat next to on Sunday at REVEAL. No, not just the people on staff. We need you!

What am I talking about? The creative team has been working for almost a year now on planning services and sermon series stuff. What that means is that we have become comfortable in our routine, ideas, talents and skills. As such, we need an influx of new blood, new ideas, new passions, new talents, new skills. And that means you.

Did you know that we plan creative ideas, graphics, illustrations, video clips, etc. not just for REVEAL but also for the 9:15 and 10:30 services as well? Yep it's true. And we need your help.

If you would be willing to be on a rotating list of people who come to Creative Team meetings once in a while to help us plan things for FBC, please let me (willb@fbcrockhill.org) or Jamie (jamieb@fbcrockhill.org) know. Hey, here's an idea, just post a comment on this blog post and let us know. We need you...no, really, we need you. I'm not kidding, we really do.

Dream Big...Pray Bigger!

Will

Set List 04.26.09

Here is the music that we used for 04.26.09 - The Amazing Chase - Week 2. This week Jamie spoke on "Chasing Adventure".

[Opening Song]
Run - Collective Soul

[Welcome]
You're Worthy of My Praise - David Ruis (Jeremy Camp Version)
All We Need - Charlie Hall
All Who Are Thirsty - Brenton Brown (Kutless Version)

[Message]
"Chasing Adventure" - Jamie Burdette

[Closing Song]
Beautiful The Blood - Steve Fee

I thought that the service this week went really well. The band was on and the congregation was involved. Just a great time of worship. We had about 65 in worship this morning. We had some visitors this morning from another church in our area who just started a service like ours and was wanting to see what we are doing. Had a chance to go to lunch with them and we had a good time chatting about things that we do well and some things that we need to work on.

Next week is the final sermon in "The Amazing Chase" series. May 10th kicks off our next series called "The Core". Steve Hogg will be back preaching for REVEAL on the 10th. Looking forward to it.

As always, check out other Sunday Set List's over at Fred McKinnon's blog.

Dream Big...Pray Bigger!

Will

The Amazing Race (week 2)

One of the first games that most of us played with our friends was some form of chase. Whether it was freeze tag or toilet tag or something else, we were all chasing someone early in our lives. As we get older, we still play the chase game. We chase girls, grades, cars, music, popularity, etc in middle and high school. We chase jobs, friends, the best deal on late night pizza, etc in college. We chase children, promotions, houses, retirement, etc as adults. Will the chase ever end? Not until the end of our lives. However, the object of our chase is an incredibly important aspect of our lives.

This week at Reveal, we will look at Jonathan and how his chase led him into adventure. Invite a friend and join us!

-- Peace, Jamie

Twitter

If you haven't heard of twitter, it's basically a micro-blogging site that allows you to post what your doing, thinking, or considering in 140 words or less. I looked into twitter about 2 years ago and even signed up for an account. I never found much appeal in twitter and basically didn't think much about it until about a month ago.

Long story short, I ended up logging into twitter about a month ago and actually added a couple of people to the list of people that I was following. Then, I started having one of the twitter feeds sent to my cell phone. Up until Tuesday night however I had not posted any updates on twitter. Then on Tuesday afternoon, I received an email notice that Hunter Platt was following me on twitter. I was unsure of why Hunter would choose to follow someone who hadn't posted any updates at all. (Side note - I've never posted a Facebook status, either, which is a point of pride for me at this point.) Feeling the pressure of having someone as important as Mr. Platt watching my every move, I quickly tweeted, "Heading home after a fun staff meeting. Lots of laughs!" I know, I know, deep stuff.

Since then, I have exchanged tweets with Hunter, Andrew, David, Marjorie and some others. (Will made it very clear at our creative team meeting on Wednesday that he won't be tweeting on twitter.) Sometimes it can be fun to share some random thought or event with others and to hear some of the going-ons in the lives of others.

The point though is that I never felt a need to twitter or even a desire to twitter until I realized that someone was watching me. (Turns out, twitter just went through Hunter's gmail account and added me automatically. He really wasn't that interested in following me.) How often do we live our lives without awareness of those around us? How often do we brush off brief encounters with others as distractions? How often do we stop and think about what we're doing and the implications for eternity? Yeah, me too. Take a moment today to realize that the most important person in the universe is watching your life. Take a moment today to think about what you would do differently in the last 24 hours if you could re-live those moments and realize that you can't have those 24 hours to re-live but you do have a fresh 24 in front of you.

Feel free to join me on twitter (user name: jmburd). I won't tell Will.

-- Peace, Jamie

Administrative Professionals Day

For those of you who didn't know, today is Administrative Professionals Day. We celebrated with a lunch to honor the people who work in our office. Among other things, they take care of the details and make sure that deadlines aren't missed and keep track of schedules and meetings and make key contacts with members, guests, and the community. That doesn't begin to describe the importance of each member of our team.

Why do I tell you this? To let you know that part of Reveal is having people like Tammy Wallace and Tracee Durden on our team. They help us with our weekly handout, with supplies, with contacts, and more. Though they are never at Reveal, we couldn't do it without them. If you get a chance, shoot them an email to thank them for what they do for us (tammyw@fbcrockhill.org or traceed@fbcrockhill.org)

-- Peace, Jamie

10 Years Ago Today

Do you remember where you were on April 20th 1999? I do. It was my last quarter at Georgia Tech. I had some morning classes and when I got back to my fraternity house everyone was crowded around the television. I didn't know what was going on, but it didn't take me long to figure it out.

At 11:19 AM (Mountain Time), two students at Columbine High School in Columbine, CO, started one of the worst school massacres in American history. Thirteen people died that day.

One of the students and the first to die was Rachel Joy Scott. She had written this in her journal:

"I am not going to apologize for speaking the name of Jesus, I am not going to justify my faith to them, and I am not going to hide the light that God has put into me. If I have to sacrifice everything...I will."

I have this quote written in the front of my Bible. I read it almost every time that I open it. It reminds me to be bold for Christ. How about you? Where were you when you heard the news? What is your take-away from it all?

Dream Big...Pray Bigger!

Will

Set List 04.19.09

Here is the music that we used for 04.19.09. This Sunday we started a new series called "The Amazing Chase". Jamie, our Young Adults/College Pastor is preaching this three week series.

Life can be tough. We can lose our passion, our faith can be stale, and our life can become mundane. How do we reclaim the passion, have a faith that is adventurous, and inject meaning into our life?

[Opening Song]
The Solid One - Jeff Zabel

[Welcome]

[Worship Set]
Everlasting God - Brenton Brown
My Glorious - Martin Smith
I Stand Amazed (How Marvelous) - Charles Hutchison Gabriel

[Message]
"The Amazing Chase" (1) - Rev. Jamie Burdette

• Jamie preached on the story of the rich young ruler. We also used a clip from Ice Age: The Meltdown to show what someone passionate about something looks like. In the clip, Scrat (the little squirrel) climbs up a sheet of ice to get a acorn.

[Closing Song]
We Fall Down - Chris Tomlin (Kutless Version)

I only led the first song. Dave Kerns, a member of our congregation, led the bulk of worship for us this week to give me voice a break. This is because we played a city-wide festival called Come See Me this afternoon. Here is the set that we played there:

Long Train Runnin' - The Doobie Brothers
The Solid One - Jeff Zabel
I Don't Want To Be - Gavin DeGraw
When Love Comes To Town - U2
My Glorious - Martin Smith
Keep On Shinin' - Third Day
This Is Who I Am - Third Day
Call My Name - Third Day
Every Breath You Take - The Police
God Of This City - Bluetree
Let God Arise - Chris Tomlin
All We Need - Charlie Hall

It was a great day for us and a time of fun, worship, and proclaiming God's name to the people of Rock Hill, SC.

Check out what other churches did today in worship at Fred McKinnon's Sunday Set Lists.

Dream Big...Pray Bigger!

Will

Come See Me - Sunday 3:30

Just a quick reminder that the REVEAL Band is playing at "Come See Me".

When: 3:30 PM, Sunday April 19th (that's tomorrow)
Where: Cherry Park

It'd be awesome to see you guys there. According to FaceBook, we have 300+ RSVP'd. If you come make sure you bring some REVEAL cards to hand out to people and wear your REVEAL shirt if you bought one.

It's is going to be a great chance to spread the word about REVEAL and to enjoy some great music from our band.

Dream Big...Pray Bigger!

Will

Shortcuts

So the other day as I was driving home from church on Dave Lyle the light in front of McDonalds turned yellow as I approached it. I slowed down and stopped and the light turned red. Just then, to my left a truck drove through the red light. After a short time the light turned green and I continued on to the next traffic light at the on-ramp to I-77 Southbound. I looked to my left and there was that truck. Ummmmm...

So this thought went through my head. Was breaking the law (running the red-light) worth it for those few moments of being ahead? Well, I doubt that the driver was given a citation for this incident and I am sure that I have done the same thing at some point. But what about God's law? How many times do we try and circumvent God's law because it is more convenient to do something another way. I know that I do it more times than I would like to admit.

Could it be that it is only by God's grace that another vehicle does not crash into us while we are "running the red-light"?

Dream Big...Pray Bigger!

Will

Galatian vs. Abraham

Sometimes I'm "Galatian" and sometimes I'm "Abraham". If you are a little bit confused, read Chapter 3 of Galatians.

1 You crazy Galatians! Did someone put a hex on you? Have you taken leave of your senses? Something crazy has happened, for it's obvious that you no longer have the crucified Jesus in clear focus in your lives. His sacrifice on the cross was certainly set before you clearly enough.

2-4Let me put this question to you: How did your new life begin? Was it by working your heads off to please God? Or was it by responding to God's Message to you? Are you going to continue this craziness? For only crazy people would think they could complete by their own efforts what was begun by God. If you weren't smart enough or strong enough to begin it, how do you suppose you could perfect it? Did you go through this whole painful learning process for nothing? It is not yet a total loss, but it certainly will be if you keep this up! (Galatians 3:1-4 - The Message)

Are you like me? Do you sometimes try to earn your keep with God? Do you try and barter good works for forgiveness? I do. I think it's normal to do so. But that doesn't mean it's right. It's just that it is what we see around us. As a human, we know that nothing is free and many times we try to use that thought process with God. We say that it just can't be that easy. There must be something more to this forgiveness thing. There must be some small print somewhere that I haven't read yet. But you know what...there's not.

And that is really hard for me because I like to fix things (if you don't believe me just ask my wife.) When a problem comes up, my first instinct is to come up with a solution and solve it. So I try to do for God as well. I try to do good deeds to make up for my failures. And I have to constantly remind myself that my doing does not make me anymore attractive to God.

It's hard...I struggle with it...but I want to spend my time working because of the joy that is in my heart and not from a sense of deficit. How 'bout you? Where do you see yourself? Comment and let us know.

Dream Big...Pray Bigger!

Will

Crazy Love

Francis Chan's book Crazy Love has been making the rounds in a lot of circles. I started it on the Baltimore mission trip and finished it up on our staff retreat a couple of weeks ago. On the whole, it was a challenging book that included a chapter called "Profile of the Lukewarm" that everyone needs to read.

Here are some quotes from the book that caught my attention:

• The life that Jesus calls us to is absolute craziness to this world.
• Calling yourself a Christian, being involved in a church, and trying to stay away from things that "good Christians" avoid - drinking, drugs, etc. is an incomplete view. When we have this view, our God is too narrow and small.
• On the average day, we live caught up in ourselves. On the average day, we don't consider God very much. On the average day, we forget that our life truly is a vapor.
• The irony is that while God doesn't need us but still wants us, we desperately need God but don't really want Him most of the time.
• Are we in love with God or just His stuff?
• Lukewarm people don't really want to be saved from their sin; they want only to be saved from the penalty of their sin.
• Our greatest fear as individuals and as a church should not be of failure but of succeeding at things in life that don't really matter.
• I need God to help me love God.
• It is when we stop actively loving Him that we find ourselves restless and gravitating toward other means of fulfillment.
• What are you doing right now that requires faith?
• We've elevated safety to the neglect of whatever God's best is, whatever would bring God the most glory, or whatever would accomplish His purposes in our lives and in the world.
• Obsessed people orient their lives around eternity.

-- Peace, Jamie

I am Barabbas

As a follow up to Easter, this blog post really made me think.

I am Barabbas

Dream Big...Pray Bigger!

Will

Set List 04.12.09

Here is the music that we used for 04.12.09 - Easter Sunday.

[Opening Song]
My Hero - Foo Fighters

• Love this song. Heard it for Easter at NewSpring (Anderson, SC) a few years ago and have been really wanting to do it. I did change the lyrics at the end of the chorus from "He's ordinary" to "Extraordinary"

[Welcome]

[Video]

[Worship Set]
Glory Defined - Building 429
O Praise Him - David Crowder
Thief - Third Day

• We kinda mixed the original version with the new version on the Chronology album. We had the lights off and only a spot on me. Then when the band kicks in after the second verse, we brought all the band lights up and rocked it out like on Chronology. It was awesome and by far the highlight of the service musically.
  

[Sermon]
Rev. Steve Hogg

[Closing]
Love Song - Third Day

• Very simple production on this one. Me on guitar and vocals with Tommy on Mandolin. Sounded great. It was cool to do Thief and Love Song in the same service. These are my two favorite Third Day songs.
  

Let God Arise - Chris Tomlin

• We just did this last week in the combined service, but I thought it would be a good fit for us to play as people left the service. Went over well.
  

Check out all the other set lists at Fred McKinnon's Sunday Set Lists.

Dream Big...Pray Bigger!

Will

Back in the Swing

Other than my announcement about the t-shirts, it's been almost 2 months since I've posted anything on the blog. I make no promises but I will try to do a little better over the next few weeks.

I spent the first part of last week in the Rochester, NY area planning a mission trip for this summer (June 20-27). If you're looking for a place to plug-in and do something that is aimed at reaching a radically unchurched area, let me encourage you to get onboard. We will be doing a little bit of everything - helping plant a church in a small village about an hour south of Rochester, renovating an old church building for a new church plant in a village about 45 minutes east of Rochester, working with existing churches in Rochester doing backyard Bible clubs, block parties, and more.

I put off the trip to Rochester from February to April to avoid snow and cold weather. I'm a fan of neither. Of course, it was cold and rainy the day we arrived and snowing on our way out of town. Yep, that's how my week went.

I spent the rest of last week laying on my couch watching Law and Order, taking Benadryl and going through box after box of Kleenex. That's why the email that you received this past Friday was so incredibly off. For the record, we didn't have lunch after Reveal, the band is NOT playing at Glencairn Gardens on April 19 (they'll be at Cherry Park), and we were not in week 6 of God's Purpose Right Now.

Hopefully this will be a better week. As I type this, I've been antihistamine-free for almost 28 hours. Woo-hoo!

I hope everyone has a great week!

-- Peace, Jamie

A Common Man from Nazareth

Who believes what we've heard and seen?
Who would have thought God's saving power would look like this?

The servant grew up before God—a scrawny seedling,
a scrubby plant in a parched field.
There was nothing attractive about him,
nothing to cause us to take a second look.
He was looked down on and passed over,
a man who suffered, who knew pain firsthand.
One look at him and people turned away.
We looked down on him, thought he was scum.
But the fact is, it was our pains he carried—
our disfigurements, all the things wrong with us.
We thought he brought it on himself,
that God was punishing him for his own failures.
But it was our sins that did that to him,
that ripped and tore and crushed him—our sins!
He took the punishment, and that made us whole.
Through his bruises we get healed.
We're all like sheep who've wandered off and gotten lost.
We've all done our own thing, gone our own way.
And God has piled all our sins, everything we've done wrong,
on him, on him. (Isaiah 53:1-6; The Message)

Easter is coming! When Jesus came, there was nothing outwardly special about Him. He was born to common people, grew-up as a tradesman and only had three years of ministry. By the world's standards He was unnoticeable. But I am so glad that a few people did notice. And that they thought enough of Him to tell others. All down through history this is how the news was passed until it was passed on to me.

How about you? Do you know someone who needs to meet this unnoticeable man? If He has made a difference in your life, don't you want to allow that to happen to someone else too? This week, let's gossip about the single most important thing in our lives - our relationship with a common Man from Nazareth. Share your story, invite someone to church. People will come to church on Easter and Christmas that won't come any other Sunday. Don't miss this chance to speak hope into someone's life.

Dream Big...Pray Bigger!

Will

Come See Me

Just got an email from one of our band guys. He recently set up a Facebook page for our band and then subsequently set up an event through it for Come See Me 2009. For those of you who don't know, Come See Me is a week-long festival that they have every year here in Rock Hill, SC. Kind of a city-wide open house I guess.

Anyway, they are having a concert event on Sunday April 19th at Cherry Park and they invited the REVEAL Band to play in it. And through our Facebook event, we have 305 people RSVP'd to come. WOW!!!! I am shocked...and humbled...and so looking forward to it!

Dream Big...Pray Bigger!

Will

Rev 2:4

So yesterday I talked about a project that we did on the Staff/Deacon/Spouse retreat this past weekend and I said that I'd share with you my work so here it is:

First, the New American Standard Bible translation:

"But I have this against you, that you have left your first love."

So here is my rewritten version:

"Even though you do a great deal of good, there is one blemish on your record - you have replaced knowing and spending time with me and now instead you do in the my name."

Here are some others that I thought were moving:

"I want you back."

"What have you done? Don't put anything in front of me."

Wow! God was really working on our group this weekend. Here is part 2 - my prayer:

"God, I have abandoned You, my first love. I have sacrificed my time with You on the altar of ministry. I spend time singing about You and not to You. I read books about You and not Your book to me. I have chased a Cliffs Notes version of You because it is more convenient, more comfortable. Stretch me, Heal me, Ruin me for Your sake that I might return to You, my first love and renew our relationship."

I'd love to hear how you rewrote the verse or your prayer, post your response here so we can all be uplifted by what God is doing in you.

Dream Big...Pray Bigger!

It

This past week the ministry staff of First Baptist Church went on their spring retreat at White Oak Conference Center. It was a great time of planning and renewal. On Friday Night, the Deacons and their spouses joined us along with several of our spouses. After dinner, we met and had a time of worship. During this time of worship we watched a video message by Craig Groeschel (given at Catalyst 2008). Craig is the pastor of Life Church (a multi-site church with locations in several states.)

His message was about "It". Have you ever walked into a church and felt "it"? Maybe you have met someone and they just had "it"? Or for a negative example, have you ever walked into a church just felt that something was missing, that they didn't have "it"? This was a powerful message and several of our group had moving experiences. It is so encouraging to see staff members and deacons who are willing to fight for "it" in their lives - to get it and keep it.

As a follow-up to this video, Pastor Steve asked us to spend some time in Revelation 2:1-7, paying special attention to verse 4. He asked us to write this verse in our own words and then to write God a personal prayer based on this verse. I'll share my work with you tomorrow.

Dream Big...Pray Bigger!

Will

Set List 04.05.09

Here is the music that we used for 04.05.09. This was the final week of God's Purpose...Right Now. We actually combined all three services and bands and had one church wide service.

[Opening Song]
Let God Arise - Chris Tomlin

[Congregational Song]
God of This City - Bluetree

[Prayer]

[Special Song]
A New Hallelujah - Michael W. Smith

[Welcome]

[Congregational Song]
Great and Mighty
At the Cross
In Christ Alone (w/ The Solid Rock) - Keith Getty (Travis Cottrell version)

[Testimony]

[Special Music]
He's Always Been Faithful (w/ Great Is Thy Faithfulness) - Soloist Kim H.

[Message]
Rev. Steve Hogg

[Closing Song]
I Will Boast - Paul Baloche

The REVEAL Band kicked it off with the first two songs and then we had combined 10:30 band/orchestra/adult choir/kids choir on "A New Hallelujah. We then did three hymns. Kim Harvell did a great job on her solo and man did Steve bring it on the message today.

Today was our commitment Sunday for our new capital campaign and it was so encouraging to see people bringing their commitments up to the front. God is doing amazing things!

See other set lists on Fred McKinnon.com.

Dream Big...Pray Bigger!

Will

Thoughts from the Spa (Part 3)

One of the cool things at the Grove Park Inn Spa was the big pool in the center of the building. In it they had speakers that played music. But this music couldn't be heard if you were sitting on a lounge chair beside the pool. In fact you couldn't even hear it if you were sitting on a bench in the pool. To hear the music you had to put your head in the water so that your ears were under the water. Then and only then could you hear the music.

It reminded me of the verse in Psalm 46:10:

"Be still, and know that I am God." (NIV)

The NASB says, "Cease striving..." and The Message says, "Step out of traffic..." Man, now that is some great imagery. It goes really well with the idea of putting your head under the water. It is really cool how all of the outside noises get cut out and you are just surrounded by silence. This is how God wants to meet with us. For us to be able to cut out all of the noise and just spend time with Him.

Now I know that this is not always possible or easy. But it is necessary from time to time (even if it is for 15 minutes). Remember that God does not always speak in loud, jaw dropping events. Many times, He chooses to speak to us in soft whispers (See 1 Kings 19:11-13).

Try to find some time today to "Be still..."

Dream Big...Pray Bigger!

Will

Thoughts from the Spa (Part 2)

While I was sitting in the outdoor hot tub at the Spa on Friday, with the cool rain falling on my face, I saw several golfers running from the rain. They had their plans changed by the weather that day and they didn't look very happy. (After all, it is pretty expensive to play on that course.)

But I also saw several small birds happily chirping away in the trees. They didn't seem to be phased at all by the rain. They were doing what they do best - flying around and singing. And I thought that many times we act like the golfers and not the birds.

When life throws us a curve ball, what do we do? Do we raise our fist to the heavens and curse God and cry out in wonder and concern, "Why me?" Or, do we do what we were created to do. Praise God with everything we have in us? I'll be the first to confess that way too many times I act like the golfers. I get upset that MY plans had to be changed because of course I know what I need. But thankfully, I usually come to my senses and remember that God is in control and He is not surprised by whatever is going on in my life that I think is so outrageous.

"Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God. And you count far more to him than birds." - Matthew 6:26 (The Message)

Is there something in your life that you are stressed-out about? Something that didn't go your way? Let it go and let God take back the reigns of your life.

Dream Big...Pray Bigger!

Will