Archive for February, 2008

Celebrate

I believe we have the most committed and dedicated group of volunteers anywhere. I see it constantly on Sundays and hear so many great stories throughout the week. It’s simply amazing.

Here’s just one example. Earl Williams and Jon Hamby serve on one of our Parking/Host Teams. Recently, they saw some trash on one of the lots that we’ve reserved for Sundays. Even though we don’t own the lot, they decided to start picking up the trash because it wasn’t an appealing environment for our arriving guests.

Andy often says that the sermon starts in the parking lot. Earl and Jon obviously felt like the sermon shouldn’t start with trash around. Now, they could have easily thought, “Hey, I’m already out here serving. The last thing I’m going to do is pick up trash.” Instead, they showed what a true servant’s heart looks like. And this is worth celebrating. Way to go Earl and Jon!!

But let’s not stop with Earl and Jon. Today on the blog, celebrate other volunteers by sharing a story. Who deserves a pat on the back for their great service at Buckhead?

Jeff

text 2: A sobering question

It didn’t take me long in my reading today before I was hit with a sobering question. First, here’s what I read from our Scripture reading plan from the text series:

“And God spoke all these words:
I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me.” Exodus 20: 1 – 3.

Isn’t it ironic that after everything the Lord did for Israel He would have to remind them not to put any other gods before Him? It would be funny if it weren’t so sad.

But before I get so high and mighty against Israel, the question is posed to me as well. After all that the Lord has done for me, isn’t it ironic and sad that I can so easily place other gods before the one true God?

What other gods are you tempted to place ahead of God? I know that’s a personal question and many of you won’t respond because of that. But for those that have the courage, even if you want to do it anonymously, what’s your answer to that question?

Here’s mine. I think the god I place before the one true God is usually me. If I’m not careful, I can so easily fall into the thinking that this life is all about me. Most people are kingdom builders and the kingdom they are building is for themselves. This is rampant in our ego-centric society. It’s so subtle, very futile and especially dangerous. For there is only one true God, and you and I aren’t it.

Jeff

Thank You!!!

Below is an actual email correspondence I received this week from one of our amazing Buckhead leaders. After the “Just Ask” series, she decided to do just that. She used the evite we sent out and simply but specifically invited a friend to Buckhead. Here’s a portion of her email, (with the names withheld to protect the innocent). ☺

“Hey…. I was wondering if you wanted to come with me to Buckhead Church this Sunday and then we could grab lunch after or something fun… It looks like a neat new series. Anyway- hope y’all can come!”

So her friend decides to attend and wrote an email reply on Sunday night that said: “Thanks again for inviting us today. It was great to see the new building and hear such a well-spoken sermon. I am going to try and do my verse reading this week. ☺ After going through law books all week, it can’t be any harder!!”

So very cool. This reminded me that I haven’t said something very important lately so I’ll do it now. THANK YOU!! Thank you Buckhead Church for not only embracing the vision but living it. God is on the move in your hearts and lives. It is an amazing privilege to have a front row seat watching the Lord at work through you.

Keep it up.

Thanks,

Jeff

Carlos in Uganda

Carlos Whittaker, your Service Programming Director at Buckhead, is currently in Uganda with Compassion International. His post today entitled “My Change of Mind” is much better than anything I could write. Check it out: www.ragamuffinsoul.com

Los, thanks for what you’re doing. See you soon.

Jeff

ONE WILD WEEKEND…MIDDLE SCHOOL WALKING WISELY 2008

The one guarantee that we give about Middle School Walking Wisely is that the students will be tired when their parents pick them up. If you happened to notice some tired looking middle schoolers wearing their new “WWW ‘08” sweatshirts and pajama pants strolling the halls of Buckhead Church last Sunday morning after church, I think you would agree we accomplished our goal.

Walking Wisely Weekend is our annual “in-town” retreat where students spend the weekend in and around Atlanta with their small group. Each group stays in a local home and comes to Buckhead Church for Friday and Saturday nights of awesome music, fun, worship, and messages. The rest of the time is spent in fun, free-time activities planned by each small group leader. If you weren’t tracking, that means that each group spends TWO sleepover nights in a row together…alongside their HEROIC adult small group leaders. That formula ends up yielding great times, lots of laughs, a minimal amount of sleep, a maximum amount of junk food, small group bonding, a new way to see God’s truth, and memories that will last a lifetime.

We want to give a HUGE “thanks” to all the volunteers who made this a memorable retreat for the 200 middle school students that participated. A mammoth amount of appreciation and awe goes out to the small group leaders that stayed with their students all weekend. (Get some rest! You earned it!) Thanks, also, to all the parents who helped with registration, transportation, and parking. Special recognition goes out to the families who opened their homes to the small groups, cooked food, and have yet to notice the broken lamp in the basement. All of these wonderful people combined to make WWW 2008 a memorable milestone where students learned to make wise choices with their friendships.