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Relevance in the Rural

Relevance in the Rural
How to be relevant in ministry in a rural area

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Love this skit
2008-01-31 04:59:00
Okay,I'm not usually the one to post you tube videos of youth groups doing skits, but I love this one. I think it's amazing. Even if you're not a fan of skits and dramas watch this. Wonderful use of the Lifehouse song-everything.
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Kudos to Lindsey and Derek
2008-01-14 17:09:00
Yesterday was a great day. First we had an amazing Sunday Morning at South G. The last three weeks we have had someone join our church, as we've been talking about moving forward with vision, and yesterday we had three new people join. I was so excited to see people taking steps of faith and trusting in God for vision and hope. I know our church will be blessed with this kind of commitment. Last night I was able to travel to Jamestown First Baptist, and speak their youth group. My long time high school friend Lindsey and her husband Derek are the Youth ministers at the church. It was no doubt an amazing time.They meet in an old basement in a youth house next to the church. They have built a stage for worship, have a sound system, and the best part.....A DISCO BALL behind the pulpit. AMAZING!They've been doing an incredible job at reaching kids that maybe a lot of churches wouldn't want to reach. It was incredible to see these kids energy level and enthusiasm, especially since non...
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Some fun videos at the end of the day
2008-01-07 04:43:00
Well I'm sitting here with my wife after a GREAT day of ministry. Tonight we decided as a church to adopt a brand new constitution and by laws to help us to be faithful to what God wants. It's 100% in agreement, which is great confidence that God is doing great things! Now we're just relaxing after a great day. Me and Taran are just watching some fun videos on youtube and thought we'd share them with you.Very much worth your timeWe have Bob Dylan singing gospel, muppets with weezer, and the elderly doing the disco, God blessENJOY!
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Looking forward to the New Year
2007-12-31 21:13:00
Last night I had a great time at Horse Cave Baptist, Josh Houk invited me to come and preach the word for a couple of services for teenagers, with the green county original permeir band "STEADFAST". We had a pretty good time, one girl made a decision to come back to God after a time of rejection of God. It was a pretty cool night. I think I'm becomming an old man, since I'm married, because at midnight I was totally tired and ready for bed,,,,I never thought the day would come when I went to sleep at 10:30. WOW! What has the world come to.We also started a new sermon series yesterday at South G..."HELP! I'm spinning my tires in the mud!" A new series focusing on moving on with life and into the direction that God wants. We don't want to waste our time spinning in the mud when we can be going somewhere for God. I'm praying for South G as we move forward into a new year with vision and hopefully lots of movement from God. I'm thankful for my church and I ask God to cont...
More About: New Year , Year , Forward

Christmas Time is coming!!!
2007-12-23 04:02:00
My great Grandpa, Curtis Crenshaw, had a favorite Christmas song. I had never really heard the song till after he passed, but he sung it a lot. It brought him a lot of joy, probably because it was a song from his childhood, but I thought I'd share this old cowboy christmas song on the blog, as a little poem, as we approach Christmas.Christmas Time 's A ComingHolly's in the window Home where the wind blows The cane foam's a-runnin' Christmas Time's A-Comin'. Can't you hear them bells ringin', ringin' Joy, don'tcha hear them singin' When it's snowin', I'll be goin' Back to my country home. Christmas Time's A-Comin' Christmas Time's A-Comin' Christmas Time's A-Comin' And I know I'm goin' home. White candle's burnin' My old heart's a-yearnin' For the folks at home when Christmas Time's A-Comin'. Snow flake's a-fallin' My old heart's a-callin' Tall pine's a-hummin' Christmas Time's A-Comin'.Christmas Time's A-Comin' Christmas Time's A-Comin' Chr...

Team Honduras Blog
2007-12-22 22:46:00
I want to update everyone on my upcoming mission trip to Central America, Honduras . This will be my seventh trip to Honduras and if you are feeling God leading you in that direction I would like to steer you towards our team bloghttp://ragerteam.blogspot.comGod bless!
More About: Blog , Team

FINDING CHRISTMAS JOY
2007-12-10 23:38:00
We began our new sermon Series called "FINDING CHRISTMAS JOY". My original idea was to call it "Christmas : Uncensored and Unedited", but after looking at the topics I was going to get Finding Joy is so much better. In this series we are looking at the things of life that sometimes get us down. Things that will bring despair and brokeness, but if we look at the reason for Christ, King Jesus, we will find real true joy.Yesterday I spoke about Joseph. Can you imagine how God used Joe? I mean if you read in the text the bible says that he named our Lord Jesus. Of course the angel told him to do this, but what a great privelage he had. But can you imagine how Joe felt when he first found out the news about Mary? I bet he wasn't filled with Joy then, he probably thought his life was ruined. Thats the thing with God. When we think God ruins our life, something crazy happens and we are brought close to Jesus. God is the master of turning awful situations into blessings, to draw ...

Titus wrapped up!
2007-12-07 03:37:00
The series on Titus has come to an end! It's been a great joy for me, as this is the first whole book of the Bible that I've had the privelage of preaching through. Here's a quick overview of what we learned from Titus.1. We are to be a Bible preaching Church- we preach truth. We faithfully preach the word of God 1-32. We need Biblical Pastors- Elders that will guide the church with a life that reflects Jesus 4-93. We need to be aware of false prophets that creep into the church- Those that retreat to legalism and myths 10-164. We all have a role in the church- From young to old we are encouraged to represent Christ Chapter 25. We must not forget God's Kindness- we must love the unchurched and non christians, we at one time were them. 3:1-86. We press forward- we meet the urgent needs around us. We are relevant, with a future, reaching people, not getting hung up on "silly" issues 9-15And that was Titus: Building a God Sized Church. I have some of the messages from ...
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The Theology of Coffee
2007-11-28 23:05:00
I've always considered myself somewhat of a coffee drinker, and just recently my passion for the piping hot pot has been reawakened and revived. It all started with this substitute teaching gig that I got, it requires me to wake up early. I don't do mornings. I really don't, ask my wife, I could sleep through the Apocalypse. So when it comes to waking up, I need to constantly hit the snooze button and then to heavily caffeinate myself.This sometimes comes in the form of Diet Mountain Dew (or since I've been married Diet Citrus Drop, a poor mans diet drink), but since me and Taran received a sleek,stylish new coffee pot for our wedding, I've been using that beast.So every morning on my way to the school to sub, I load myself up with coffee from the hip trendy coffee pot that sits on my kitchen counter. I will spend the first three periods sipping on my coffee from my Thermos to acquire a nice rank coffee breathe and stained teeth.I suppose I first started drinking coffee when I ...
More About: Theology , Coffee , Theo

new name and new look
2007-11-24 07:37:00
If you have my site on a RSS feed you will immediately realize that the name of my blog went from "Relevance in the Rural" to "Relevance and Revival". I've decided to change the name to open up a whole new door of conversation and discussion. A major passion of mine has been revival. Not just a three day meeting, but genuine awakening and realization of who Jesus Christ is. So I've decided to kind of "merge" the topic of being "relevant", communicating in an understandable way, with the topic of "revival"I believe that when we truly realize what God has called us to be, we will then understand the dire importance to communicate the gospel of Jesus Christ to the masses. When His Spirit is speaking strongly into our lives, we must be relevant in communicating the messages. So I hope this opens up brand new conversation and a new dimension with this blog. We will still be talking about being relevant in the rural, but I believe this can just open up so much more. I have also obtained...
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VISION FOR THE RURAL!
2007-11-20 22:48:00
Not to long ago I discovered a book entitled "break out churches" By Thom Rainer. This book was very helpful for me as a pastor, on so many levels. But one thing that I really gleaned from the book was the part about vision.In a nutshell, without being technical, Rainer suggest that we allow "VISION" to discover us. While serving in the ministry and reading book after book, you cannot escape the word "vision".Vision is our sight. It's the direction of where we are going. How we see it, and how we're going to get there. But have you ever noticed something about vision? Usually you open your eyes, you see whats in front of you, then you go.If I wanted to see Disney World, the way to see it would not be to shut my eyes, and then open them magically expecting Orlando Florida to be in front of my face. I would first have to look to see where I'm at, and then I would plot my course to arriving at Disney World.I love the idea of allowing God to show you what your vision is. Many pastors...
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INCREDIBLE WEEKEND!
2007-11-19 05:16:00
What can I say, except it was a wonderful weekend! This weekend we did our very first "Bible Conference" Basically it was kind of like a mini-revival. But it was no doubt a HUGE success. We had two speakers a night, on Friday Night and Saturday Night, a Total of four. They brought very challenging words from The Lord, that were very relevant and very applicable for our people.Tonight it ended with a bang, with our missionary that we work with in Honduras, Sam Feazel. He came and shared how God is moving in Central America, and basically REVIVAL BROKE LOOSE! It was incredible. People praying over the missionaries, people on the altar, and people worshipping authentically! What a great weekend!I wasn't able to record our Sunday sermon today, but keep downloading the messages. I'm not for sure if anyone listens to them or not, feedback would be appreciated, so I can know to keep uploading them or not. I hope God is blessing you! We had an awesome weekend!check out this linkhttp://www...
More About: Weekend , Incredible

T.V. Evangelist RAP (Prosperity Gospel)
2007-11-15 05:11:00
A couple of post ago, I posed about being aware of those that are out there that may not be all they seem to be. To be careful and watchful of those that are out for dishonest gain and ripping off the bride of Christ.This is a rap done by The "MOSAIC" Church In L.A. at Erwin McManus's Church. This is very powerful. A Rap may not be the most relevant tool in the Rural, but I do believe this message needs to be delivered in the rural. We must be ready to teach that true Biblical teaching is needed more than the emotional, money grabbing, health and wealth Gospel , that is out there. The other video is John Pipers response to the Health and Wealth Gospel. Watch both! They pack a very strong message! Feedback welcomed!
More About: Prosperity , Prosperity Gospel

You gotta feed the need to read..
2007-11-13 05:24:00
In the last year I have absorbed myself in reading! Whats really funny is, is that I've read soooo much more than what I did in the couple of semesters I did in Seminary. HA! I was such a slacker, maybe when I go back one day I can apply my habits.Wanted just to take a few minutes and just recommend some great reads for you all. These books are some that I've read in the last year, and I really wanna just take a few seconds to tell you about them.Top Ten Mistakes Leaders Make: Hans Finzel.An older book taking a look at leadership gone bad and how we can learn from Mistakes. Easy read, a little technical at times, but some great aspects of Leadership. Breakout Churches: Thom Rainer.Excellent book looking at thirteen churches that experienced "BREAK OUT" Breakout is defined in the book as having the same leader in the church, but going through a time of plateau or decline. And How God pulled them out of it.Soul Cravings: Erwin McManus.I'm a big fan of McManus, especially his...
More About: Read , Feed , Gotta

Barney Fife and Tele-Evangelists
2007-11-12 05:41:00
We are still going strong in the book of Titus! This tiny little book is packed with so much relevancy for the modern church! Today we had a little fun, as we talked about the Cretans. I kind of get this weird vibe, when I read about the Cretans, and I picture them as cheezy and hokey Tele -evangelist.I'm not knocking tv Evangelist,,,,but sometimes they do so much to spread infection within the church. Health and Wealth Gospels mixed in with an obvious extravagant lifestyle,,,,which paints a horrid picture of true Christianity.As we read about the Cretans, especially those of Jewish Descent. We see people that are consumed with strict dogma, Mystic Beliefs, immoral life, and a love for money. This just rings the bells of stero-typical con preachers.In the rural we must always be careful to guard ourselves from false preachers, they may be coming through on the television. Not all TV preachers are bad. Not at all! But make sure you are able to discern whether or not a man is preachi...
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TITUS: Buidling a God sized Church
2007-11-04 20:37:00
Last week we began our new sermon series "TITUS:BUILDING A GOD-SIZED CHURCH". In this series we are expository preaching through the Book of Titus . Can you imagine if you went on a mission trip, saw many people get saved, and when you were about to leave the leader said "NO WAIT! You can't go! You have to stay here and plant churches for all these new Christians!" What would you do?!?This is what happened in the book of Titus. Paul and Titus bring Christianity to Crete. Many get saved, and Titus is left behind to organize churches. As we preach and teach through this section of scripture, it is a return to the roots. Are the churches in the rural biblical? Are we the way God intended for it to be?Last week I preached in the introduction, which states we need "THE WORD OF GOD" and "PROCLAMATION" of the Word. We weren't able to record the first sermon in the series but hope to be able to have the rest. Today we spoke about "BIBLICAL ELDERS" and what a Pastor is supposed to look like...
More About: Church

TITUS: Building a God sized Church
2007-11-04 20:37:00
Last week we began our new sermon series "TITUS:BUILDING A GOD-SIZED CHURCH". In this series we are expository preaching through the Book of Titus . Can you imagine if you went on a mission trip, saw many people get saved, and when you were about to leave the leader said "NO WAIT! You can't go! You have to stay here and plant churches for all these new Christians!" What would you do?!?This is what happened in the book of Titus. Paul and Titus bring Christianity to Crete. Many get saved, and Titus is left behind to organize churches. As we preach and teach through this section of scripture, it is a return to the roots. Are the churches in the rural biblical? Are we the way God intended for it to be?Last week I preached in the introduction, which states we need "THE WORD OF GOD" and "PROCLAMATION" of the Word. We weren't able to record the first sermon in the series but hope to be able to have the rest. Today we spoke about "BIBLICAL ELDERS" and what a Pastor is supposed to look like...
More About: Church , Building

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