Hey ARISE peeps! ALL ARISE VOLUNTEERS meeting tonight (Wednesday the 11th) at 6:30 at the school! We will be having subs or pizza! We want all our volunteers to be there as we prepare for a new season of ministry at ARISE! If you would like to serve in some area but aren’t involved yet, come tomorrow night and explore volunteer opportunities at ARISE!

Though it seems like it would be an easy thing with two dudes in the house, Griff and I seem to have a hard time getting the garbage to the curb for pick up on Tuesdays.  We forgot it last week and so we had to finally, on Saturday night, take the can to the convenience center ourselves.  It was stinking up the whole garage…BAD!  By the time we took it, the can was full and we had trash bags piled around it too.  When we got the the site and dumped it out, it was, well, er, funky… to say the least.  To top it off… read later if you just had lunch… in the bottom of the can were a pile of maggots.  Fat, disgusting, juicy, maggots.

You know what?  Our lives are that way.  If we don’t regularly “get rid of the garbage”, the next thing you know, our entire lives will begin to stink.  We try to cover the smell with our appearance, our stuff, our jobs, our money, but you can’t cover stink.  It just gets worse.

Here is what I know, some of us, many of us, have been carrying around loads of garbage in our hearts.  Some of us for years.  And it stinks.  It stinks up our whole lives. Doesn’t it?  Garbage of GUILT from things we have done in our past.  People we have hurt.  Sins we have committed.  Stuff.  Bad stuff.  Maybe sexual sin.  Maybe a secret sin.  Maybe you walked out on your family years ago and just can’t undo what’s been done.  Maybe you had an affair.  Maybe you stole.  Maybe you weren’t there for someone close.  Maybe a parent passed and you never fixed things.  Whatever it is, you carry the GUILT.  Day to day, house to house, relationship to relationship, the GUILT, the shame, the pain, the regret, is ALWAYS with you.  Oh, now you know.  Hindsight is 20/20.  You wish you could go back.  You wish you could redo.  If only you could undo what has been done.  But, that can’t happen.  What’s done is done.  So, now what?  The penalty box for the rest of your life?  Must you now carry the chains of garbage and guilt with you for the rest of your life?

Some of us are carrying around loads of garbage from GRUDGES.  Pain from our past if things people have done to us.   Maybe you were the one walked out on.  Maybe your were the one cheated on.  Maybe you were left, abandoned, abused, lied about, lied to… and the GARBAGE that has left in your heart you still CARRY around with you like a prison ball of maggot ridden GRUDGES and pain from what people have done to you.  Some of us carry GRIEF.  Not normal grief, which is a good, healthy thing, but unresolved, un-dealt with grief from things in your life that brought you pain.  Terrible heart crushing pain.  GRIEF.  Grief that you have never dealt with.  GRIEF that has over time, turned to GARBAGE.  Decaying, maggot infested, painful, garbage… that has pretty much stunk up your entire life since.

Is that you?  Have you carried trashbags of GUILT, and GRUDGES, and GRIEF within your heart for so long that your heart stinks?  Are there maggots of GUILT, shame, remorse, pain, regret, that aere eating away at your soul?  Are there maggots of GRUDGES, unforgiveness, bitterness, hate, anger, that have contaminated your soul?  Has unresolved and not dealt with GRIEF now turned to GARBAGE that has your entire life a stinking mess, and you don’t know how to fix it?

Here is some of the BEST news you will EVER hear…  I know a great garbage man.  I know a guilt exterminator.  I know a mac daddy grudge disposal service.  I know a grief waste management service.   Here is some of the best news you will EVER hear…  You can LEGITIMATELY, COMPLETELY, RIGHTFULLY, PAID IN FULLY…. LET GO (did you hear that?),  LET GO, of and be TRULY FREE from— ALL of your GUILT, ALL of your GRUDGES, and ALL of your GRIEF.  Say that with me again…  “I can… (come on say it again…)

How much of it?  ALL of IT.  How free?  TRULY COMPLETELY FREE.  How??????  Come back tomorrow and I will tell you…  Let’s just say I work for GOD’S Waste Industries…

Sunday was an amazing day at ARISE!  Shout out to Branch and the band for an incredible job leading us into worship!  I talked about how to LET GO of the Guilt (for the things we have done in our lives), the Grudges (for the things other people have done to us), and the Grief (from the bad things we have been through in life.)  These things weigh down our hearts and are like garbage that we carry around inside so long that that they stink up all our lives.  Like a cancer: guilt, grudges, and even prolonged grief, can eat away at our souls.  Listen, here is the truth and some amazing news:  JESUS is the only one who can truly make us FREE from our 3 G’s!

At the end of the message, we gave everyone a red balloon that represented all the garbage of Guilt, Grudges, and Grief in our lives and said that it is now time to LET THEM GO to the LORD and BE FREE!  We all went outside and released them together!  It was an AWESOME day!  Here are some of the pics!  Here is what Jesus said about our junk…

The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him; Psalms 103:8-13

The problem with so many marriages is that people still have a key out the back door stuck away somewhere. So when things get tough, they have one eye on the back door. They always have that “out” in case they want to use it. Here’s what you need to do. Padlock the door, throw the key away, and look at each other and say, “Ok, we can be miserable, or we can work at being happy, but we are gonna be together.”  (I do believe there are exceptions in severe cases.  Infidelity, abuse, safety, etc.  In cases where there is no choice.  In those situations, GOD will provide the key!)

Great start to our new series “YOU GIVE LOVE A BAD NAME” at ARISE yesterday!  The music and worship was simply awesome and I honestly felt like the message was one of the best of the year!  (Thank you JESUS!)  If you missed it, you can listen online this week (hopefully by Tue).  I have to be honest and say that the series is having a big time impact on ME personally.  It is one of those series that God can use to revolutionize and make an immediate impact in a life, a marriage, a home, a friendship, a workplace, a team, even a church.  Here is a quick overview…

The bible says this straight up and with no doubt about it:  If you ain’t got love, you ain’t got anything.  If we don’t get LOVE right, NOTHING else matters.  In an overwhelming statement that everyone needs to hear, the scripture says that if you can speak in the language of angels, can move mountains with your faith, can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, give all your money to the poor, and die a martyr’s death (dang)… but don’t LOVE…

then you lose, it doesn’t matter, you have nothing, you gain nothing.  Check it…

If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.   1 Corinthians 13:1-3  (Enter OH SNAP!)

And Jesus, when asked what was the single most important command in ALL of God’s word, (insert ok, you got my attention), simply answered to LOVE God and the people around you.

“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:29-31

Why?  What makes love so major that God says if you miss that, you miss everything?

Let me give you 3 reasons.

1. BECAUSE NOTHING MOTIVATES LIKE LOVE.

Think about it.  Is there any more powerful motivating force in the world than love?  Nope.  NOTHING motivates like love.  Ask a mom.  Ask a dad.  Ask a man in love with a woman.  Ask a dude who loves to hunt and fish or golf?  Ask a Tiger fan who loves football.  Ask a missionary.  Ask a person caring for an elderly parent with Alzheimer’s.  Ask a person whom God has forgiven of their sins and changed their life.  NOTHING motivates like LOVE.  The bible says that LOVE was God’s motivation for the greatest gift (and act of love) in history.

“For God so LOVED the world that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”  John 3:16

When asked why they lived their life with such reckless abandon and passion to change the world for Jesus, Paul simply answered,

“Christ’s love compels us”  2 Corinthians 5:14

NOTHING MOTIVATES like love…

I will give you the other two tomorrow!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Easter is kind of like Christmas for Christians.  Usually our churches are planning some kind of “special” service for the special holiday and so, naturally, we don’t want to miss it!  That is normal, even understandable. The PROBLEM is that very often creates a very stressful dilemma for those in charge of finding volunteers to serve in areas, like children’s ministry, nursery, greeters, etc, because no one wants to “miss the service”.  But, when you truly think about it.  What is the “service” really about?  Isn’t it about “SERVEing”?  Didn’t Jesus kind of tell us that with His example on the night of His passion and betrayal?

The bible says that on that night when Jesus was going to be betrayed, after supper  …He got up from the table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist, and poured water into a basin. Then he began to wash the disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel he had around him. After washing their feet, he put on his robe again and sat down and asked, “Do you understand what I was doing? You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you are right, because that’s what I am. And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you. I tell you the truth, slaves are not greater than their master. Nor is the messenger more important than the one who sends the message. Now that you know these things, God will bless you for doing them.”  John 13:4-17

On the most intense night of His life, when He was about to give His life for us, Jesus gave us an example of what true SERVICE, and perhaps, true WORSHIP (Romans 12:1), is really about.  It is about the SERVICE!  It is about selflessness.  It is about humbling taking the place of a SERVANT to others for HIS GLORY and following HIS example.  Ironically, we think that we will miss the special blessing if we miss the SERVICE, but Jesus said that if we DO THE SERVING we will be BLESSED!  (John 13:17).  SO, I encourage you peeps, all of you, no matter what church you are a part of, ARISE or any other, GO today to your church leaders and VOLUNTEER to SERVE EASTER SUNDAY.  Tell them that the reason is that you can miss the music, you can miss the sermon, BUT you TRULY don’t want to miss the SERVICE!  Because THAT is where the true blessing is!  HE gave His life for us!  We can give our time and service for Him!

Can I just say “OH SNAP!” The ARISE Easter experience is going to soooooo ROCK!!! Our theme is — I Need Easter– and will be about real people with real life stories who confess freely– I Need Easter!  The worship service will be outside!  The music is going to be AMAZING! The creative element will ROCK YOUR WORLD!  Then a BAPTISM outside! ALL to WORSHIP a SAVIOR who is RISEN from the dead and is– LORD of All!

…THEN!: FREE Barbecue for everyone, an Egg Hunt on steroids, Games for kids, Cornhole tournament, Dunking booth, free snow cones, and more…. It’s ALL FREE and YOU ARE INVITED!!!  11 AM Easter Sunday, April 4th at Walhalla Elementary!

Please pray for my sweet Lucy!  I dropped her off today at Dr Oliver’s office for her surgery to be spayed.  The whole thing has been a mess and I feel like a terrible papa!  For one, Lucy is already nine months old (time has flown!) and I procrastinated to schedule her surgery until last week.  Then, like the NEXT DAY, we discovered she was in heat for the first time!  So Dr Oliver said it would still be ok to do the surgery but she would just bleed more.  (Great.)  Then, Kris and I forgot to tell Griff not to feed Lucy this morning because she was not to have food after nine last night, and, of course, of ALL days, Griff decides for once to do his chores without being told 3 times, and feeds her!  (Great.)  So I call to cancel the surgery and they said that she could still do it, they would just need to give her nausea meds.  (Great.)   I felt very uneasy about going ahead with it even after I got there, but they assured me that they would take great care of her.  I have got to be honest, it broke my heart to leave her.

I can’t believe how much I have grown to love that CRAZY dog already!  She is no Millie, but I just love her so much.  It is funny.  Lucy is such a picture of what GRACE is.  It was like she took Millie’s spot.  Not her place, but her spot.  It was like when Millie died and Lucy came, Lucy has received Millie’s position without having to earn it.  That is like us.  Jesus died for us and through faith in Him, we are declared RIGHTEOUS.  We get all of Jesus benefits without earning ANY of them because God gave us HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS!  It was because of what Millie was that Lucy has been given such favor.  It was because of what JESUS did that we have been given such favor.   She is a handful…  She is work… She is CRAZY…  But I LOVE LUCY!  Thank God in Heaven that although I am sinful…  I fail often… I am a handful…  JESUS STILL LOVES ME!

You may WIN A $40 GIFT CARD to the Restaurant of your choice!!!

Hello!  This is an online survey and questionnaire for people of Oconee County (ONLY) who DO NOT go to church regularly and/or who have not made the decision to become a Christ follower.  There will be a drawing at the end of the survey time for a FREE $40 Gift Card!  PLEASE DO NOT respond to this survey if you already go to church or if you do not live in Oconee County, SC.

WHY do we want to know what YOU are thinking?  For one thing, as a Pastor, it is my calling to try to reach out to people with the love and good news message of Jesus Christ.  But how can I effectively do that without knowing where YOU are coming from and what your thoughts, needs, even issues with church, are?  I am truly curious about YOU! Another reason is that I feel like too many Christians assume they already know what un-churched people are thinking, and perhaps we don’t!   But mostly because I know how very much GOD loves you and how much he wants you to know him!

So here goes!  Here is how it works. If you read this post via Facebook, you can just post your thoughts as a comment, or, if you feel uncomfortable posting your thoughts publicly, you can send them to me as a Facebook email and I will post them anonymously.  You have my word on that.

If you post your thoughts via PastorT.tv, you can post your thoughts here as a comment, or, email me at travis@ARISEChurch.tv.

There are only 3 rules.  1.  You must live in Oconee County.  2.  You must NOT already be involved/regularly attend a local church.  And 3.  You MUST BE HONEST.  COMPLETELY HONEST.

The drawing for the $40 Gift Card will be at the conclusion of the survey!

Here goes…

ARISE ONLINE SURVEY

1.  What would you say are the top 5 needs/issues/stress points in YOUR life right now?

2.  If you WERE to go to church, and could “pick the topic” the pastor was going to talk about, what would your top 3 topics be?

3.  What is your overall view of church?  Be honest.

4.  What is your overall view of church people?  Be honest.

5.  What is your overall view of God and Jesus Christ?

6. If you could ask God three (honest) questions.  What would they be?

7. What kind of music to you listen to?

8.  If you were to be completely honest, what is holding you back from making the commitment to being “saved” and following Jesus Christ?

9.  If you could give advice to a local church and pastor what would you say?

Thank you SO much for responding to this survey!  May God bless you!  Pastor Travis