Stand Strong from Ebenezer BC on Vimeo.
Tips on using Smart devices in worship at EBC
8 JunYes, I WANT YOU to use your iPhones, iPads, and Droid devices in worship. At least, to PARTICIPATE in worship. And YouVersion (a FREE Bible app) has made an engine available that allows us to provide some enhanced content for the sermon. So, here are a few tips:
1. If you do not already have it, add the YouVersion app to your device. You might also consider a donation to this awesome ministry, but it is not necessary. YouVersion DOES require an internet connection to access all content, but we have FREE WiFi at the church. On our church campus, log in to ANY of the “Guest” hotspots with this password: 8436691802
(Does that password look familiar?? It is the church phone number)
2. If you’d like, create a free YouVersion account and join the Ebenezer Baptist Church group. Not necessary, but would make the content easier to access within the app. You can also open the app and it will list geographically any new events that are happening.
3. If you do not want to do any of that but still want to access the enhanced content, just pull up our church Facebook page and click on the published link. It will take you to the event.
The enhanced content might ask additional questions, will publish the used scripture, and give you windows where you can take notes. Hopefully it might take your consideration of God’s word to a deeper place.
If you have any questions. let me know. This is a developing project and will change (and hopefully get better) as time goes on!!
18 Years ago .. Today …
5 JunI just realized a few minutes ago. It was 18 years ago TODAY when I drove in to Florence in a U-Haul, loaded with stuff, my family, and my calling to Ebenezer as the Minister of Youth and Recreation. WOW! Drew was one month old. Krissy was 4 and a half. And I was MUCH, MUCH younger… and had a mustache.
In some ways, it seems like a lifetime ago and in other ways it seems like only yesterday. When I think about all that God has done since June 5, 1995, it really boggles my mind. And I am thankful for it all!!
WHY are people playing on their smartphones?
3 JunDURING WORSHIP??? I mean, REALLY … THE NERVE!! People all around me are playing on their phones. And, the preacher even has the nerve to USE HIS iPAD WHILE HE PREACHES!!! We never did it that way before!!!
Well, then a confession is in order … I have been preaching with an iPad for over THREE years now. Quite frankly, it is so much easier to manage my notes with it than with regular paper. And, if there is any question about whether or not that iPad is the REAL Bible, then I’ve got to tell you I have access to about 11 Bibles on my iPad. And a few commentaries. It is a great study tool.
A couple of weeks ago, we jumped into a different pool with technology. YouVersion (a FREE smartphone Bible app) provides community tools for worship. FREE tools that enhance worship and allow feedback DURING worship. And, all you have to do is bring your smartphone or device, hit the link on the church Facebook wall, and VOILA! You are transported to the event that was created to accompany the sermon.
IF you go to youversion.com and create a free profile, you can join the Ebenezer community and find the event within your app. But you don’t have to do that… All you need to do is click on the posted link on Facebook and it will take you there.
WHY DO THIS?? Is this just another way of trying to be hip or cool?? NO. I have already had feedback from visual learners who say “THIS HELPS SO MUCH!!” It’s another avenue through which the truth of God’s word might be communicated in our worship. So, WHY NOT???
Inspired by the Crash
30 MayI’ve got to confess something to you … As pastor of a church, you deal with a bunch of different things. Lately we’ve had too much death at Ebenezer. But, you never know what you will face. You never know how people will respond to change.
And I am SOOOO proud of our Youth Ministry right now. Specifically of our YOUTH. Our new Associate Pastor/Minister of Students, Nathan Neighbors, began his ministry at Ebenezer on Sunday. And our youth have responded with a great sense of love and anticipation for what God is going to do!!
It’s tough to go through a year like they have faced. Justin, who was and is much loved, resigned after 7 and a half years to follow God’s call to another place. As much as our kids love him, they really wondered if they could love someone else that much. This week, they proved to me that their hearts are in the right place. They have welcomed Nathan with open arms!! And, as a pastor, that makes me so proud!!!
Now, it’s time to pray. Pray for Nathan as he begins this new tenure. Pray for our youth, as things are already ramping up for them to find their place building the kingdom of God.
And we could ALL learn a lesson about how resilient and open to God these kids are …
Don’t back away
22 MayWe are called. Called to be the hands and feet of the Kingdom of God. Called to be light and salt in a world in DESPERATE need of the truth. Called to be the voice of the Good News.
How are we doing on that?? The Holy Spirit will empower us and direct us. Through Him, God will show us exactly WHAT WE NEED TO DO, WHERE WE NEED TO GO, and WHAT WE NEED TO SAY. So, what could we possibly have to fear??
The devil WANTS YOU to be afraid … be VERY afraid. He wants you to shrink back and hide. He does NOT want you to use your hands, feet, mind, voice, or anything else to build the Kingdom of God.
I don’t know what God is calling YOU to do today, but DON’T BACK AWAY!! If God called you to it, you can bet He has your back ALL THE WAY THROUGH IT.
They were just babies
20 MayYesterday. All my troubles seemed so far away. I had my entire life ahead of me. My children would jump up and down and get really happy when I came home from work. They would run to me and hop up in my arms. And life was good.
Then I blinked my eyes, and one walked across a stage to receive her Bachelor of Science degree. And the other … He is ready to walk across a stage for his high school diploma. And, it seems like only yesterday when he would hop up in my lap just to spend time with me. He could barely walk, but he sure could hop up in my lap. Where has the time gone???
Yesterday (the LITERAL day) was awesome. And one of the hardest days of my life. As I prepared for the Baccalaureate Service at EBC, I couldn’t help but realize who those graduates were. Those graduates hold a piece of my heart, and they have since the beginning of my ministry at Ebenezer.
When we moved here almost 18 years ago, Drew was one month old. And most of those kids that walked down the aisle in their caps and gowns were babies. Just babies. And I have watched most of those children grow up at EBC. Keith Pettigrew and I have coached them in basketball, some of them in baseball. Diana and I have cheered them on in many other sports. These kids are like my own children. And I love them that way, too!!
If ever there was a class that I personally KNOW Ebenezer has impacted in a positive way, this is it. And here is something I could’ve NEVER said yesterday: As a parent, I am SOOOO thankful for everything Ebenezer has done to prepare my son for the next step in his life. From the Nursery, Sunday School, Children’s Church, RAs, and every aspect of Youth Ministry, there have been many hands that have shaped my son into the man he has become. And I am thankful for every one of them!! (And I know every parent in that room yesterday feels the same way)
I cannot see these kids as babies anymore. They are young men and women. And many of them are ALREADY making a tremendous impact on this world for the Kingdom of God. And, life is GOOD!!!
