I’ve got a guy in my church named Kenny. I wish every church had a Kenny. This guy is great! Super faithful, naturally evangelistic, always looking to bring the least and the lost to church. One of our core values at Mt Vernon is that we “embrace the messes.” Kenny is one of the guys that leads that charge. He works in “the mess.” He’s a bail bondsman. Kenny is constantly using his platform as a bail bondsman to tell... Read more
Over the past few weeks the Annual Church Profile of the Southern Baptist Convention has come out, and the numbers are discouraging. Southern Baptists showed a decline in membership and baptisms for the 7th year in a row. Seven years! That’s not an anomaly. That’s a frightening trend. For years Southern Baptists have smugly looked on as mainline denominations have fallen by the wayside. In our eyes, it was their abandonment to the inerrancy of Scripture that led to their... Read more
There are a lot of ways people come to Christ. You wouldn’t expect tithing (give a tenth of your income to the church) to be one of them. But God can use anything! Earlier this year I borrowed an idea from NewSpring Church and gave our church the 90-Day Tithe Challenge, encouraging them to take God at his word in Malachi 3:10 and see if God would show up in a tangible way. Many of our folks took the challenge... Read more
Missed last Sunday at Mt Vernon? Here is the final message from the War of the Worlds series. https://vimeo.com/97342147 Read more
“The secret of your success is determined by your daily agenda.” John C. Maxwell Take some time out today to continue learning and growing. Here are five articles to stimulate your thinking. Enjoy! 1. 10 Characteristics Shared By Great Leaders – great insight into some of the great leaders of today. 2. On Parenting Teens – Jen Hatmaker shares another incredible blog post. 3. Pornography, Cerebral Plasticity, and Transformation – insightful article about the neurological effects of pornography on the... Read more
Worship is an incredible weapon in our spiritual arsenal. Watch this clip below where I talk about how to utilize this powerful weapon at our disposal: https://vimeo.com/97356162 Read more
The rising wave of homosexuality in the church has reached the shores of the evangelical world, forcing us to respond. Several weeks ago, a Southern Baptist pastor (Danny Cortez) and church voted to embrace the LGBT community, even though they may still be in a relationship. In his own words: “So now, we will accept the LGBT community even though they may be in a relationship. We will choose to remain the body of Christ and not cast judgement. We will work... Read more
In 1959 the world was introduced to one of film’s great villains: Maleficent, an evil fairy who curses Princess Aurora, otherwise known as Sleeping Beauty. She was reviled and hated for generations . . . until this past weekend. With Disney’s latest adaptation (with Angelina Jolie playing Maleficent), we’re introduced to a new side of Maleficent. (Don’t worry, no major spoilers ahead). Watching the movie, the viewer is introduced to something previous generations never got to see: Maleficent’s backstory. There... Read more
Yesterday my gorgeous wife and I celebrated twelve years of marriage. I’ve blogged about marriage many times, but my anniversary is another opportunity to share what I’m learning along the way. Here are 12 things you’ll learn after twelve years of marriage: 1. You’ll look back at your wedding photos and say, “Who are those kids?” 2. Being knee deep in parenting, you’ll think back and wonder, “What did we do with all that free time we had before we... Read more
If you missed last Sunday at Mt Vernon Church, I talked about the armor of God we have for spiritual warfare. Here is the sermon if you want to catch up. https://vimeo.com/96943803 Read more
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