Corticelli Baptist Church

This morning is unlike any typical Sunday for me. At this very moment, I am sitting in a luxury hotel in Atlanta, waiting to leave for the airport to fly home to be with my wonderful family. I've been at a conference for 3 days for the Evangelism Response Center of the North American Mission Board. Great conference, great time, great things learned! However, now I sit in this incredible hotel, by myself, while my church family is worshipping the Lord together back home. This is the first Sunday morning sermon I've missed in over a year, so needless to say, I'm out of my norm. I share all of this to say, I would give almost anything to be home and worship with my family right now. I truly miss not being able to worship the Lord with my church family. So, the question is: why is it that I get one sunday off and can't stand being away, but other "Christians" rarely come to church or at the least, doesn't bother them to miss 2-3 Sundays at a time? Now I know some might be thinking all kinds of answers are possible, but I submit there is one answer that stands out more then any other: A person will yearn for something that has become a priority in their life. By this I mean that if church and worshipping the Lord is a priority in your life, then when you miss church on a Sunday, you will yearn to be there when you cannot be there. Am I saying that a person can never miss church? Absolutely Not! I am saying, however, that if missing church because sleeping in is more important, or being home to watch that football game is more important, or going camping is more important, or doing this and that are more important- then the Lord and His church are not top priorities in your life. I want to make a very important clarification here: most of the people who read this will not be my church family. So, I am not writing this to guilt people into being at my church to increase my church's numbers. I don't care what church you go to as long as it holds the name of Jesus above all else and teaches the Bible as the ONLY and perfect and inerrant Word of God, I don't care what church you go to, just go to a church that fits these qualifications. Did you know there are over 30 commands of God in His Word that we cannot obey and keep unless we are involved in a local church? I challenge each person who reads this to make church and worship a top priority on Sunday for the next 3 months. I will guarantee that it will transform your entire life, your family's life, and drastically grow your relationship with the Lord. With this challenge, will you let me know how you are doing with this or if you are faithful in church and worship, share what it has meant to you? May the Lord bless you and remember the "gates of Hell will not prevail against christ's church!"

Over the last couple weeks I have been praying about my purpose as the pastor of the great church I have been honored to lead for more then 5 years. Over these years, I have seen God work in many ways, many lives, including my own. Many people have come to the Lord and grown in their relationship with Him. That is awesome, but the Lord saves us from our sin through our faith in Christ and chooses to leave us in this sin-filled, tragedy stricken, grief laden world. WHY? Why does our Heavenly Father not take us to Heaven the moment we are saved and free us from the chaos? I think the question has been asked by many Christians through the years, but the answer is more simple then many of us realize. So, what is my purpose? What is your purpose? First of all, remember God created you and I to have a relationship with Him. Contrary to what some preachers may teach on tv, we were not created to be saved. Granted, that relationship we were created for cannot and does not begin until we are saved from our sin, but, if that's what we were created for, just to be saved, God would have taken us to Heaven when we were saved. This relationship we were created for has to mean something. There has to be something to this relationship in order for it to be the whole reason for our existence. So here it is, here is the million dollar question for us today: If the entire purpose of our existence is the relationship between us and God, how much of a priority should it be in our daily life? What about you? How do you make God a priority in your life?

It's surprisingly pretty cool under the tent compared to just being outside. We are trying to incorporate the old fashioned revival feel, while trying also to implement some contemporary aspects as well. Eugene Bullard will be the evangelist from Texas. John Francis will be our worship leader. This is sure to be a memorable weekend. I hope you will come join us each night. On Saturday night, we are having a western theme. People are encouraged to dress in their western apparel. (if you don't have western clothes or don't want to dress in western, come anyway) There will be many people in shorts and t-shirts. We will have a BBQ chicken dinner on Saturday. We also will have a few cowboys giving horse rides, teaching how to lasso, having "barrel" races for the kids with stick horses, plus many more activities for all ages, including washers and hillbilly golf. On Sunday night, we will have games for teenagers at 5:30. After the service we will have homemade ice-cream and other desserts. Then cap the evening with a large fireworks display. Everything on all three nights is absolutely FREE! So come each evening and bring the whole family. 6pm on Friday and Saturday for everyone, worship all three nights @ 7:30pm. Sunday, youth at 5:30pm and service, followed by ice-cream and fireworks begin at 7:30. If you have any questions, email me or call me - 8215277. Please pass this along to everyone you know. If you will "like" this post and the previous 2 posts, it will put it on your wall to share with all your friends. Thanks for your help and I hope to see you Friday night at 6:00pm.

There will be plenty to keep the family entertained. At 7:30, we will move under the huge tent for a time of worship. (don't worry, there will be hand fans for everyone and two big industrial fans to keep you "cooler") Its surpisingly

Tomorrow night (Friday) revival at Corticelli Baptist Church begins. Friday at 6pm, we will have a bounce house, games, sno cones, hotdogs, e

A little over a week from now, Corticelli will be holding it's Tent Revival. We are expecting a great crowd, but there is always room for your family to join us. There are special, fun events each night for the whole family. There are many reasons and benefits for each of us to attend. However, I want to share just a few reasons. 1) experiencing an old fashioned tent revival with a few of the "bells and whistles" of modern technology is a rare opportunity. 2) spending a summer evening with friends and family without spending a dime is priceless. 3) allowing yourself the opportunity to be refreshed and blessed by the Lord is important for your abundant living. We sincerely hope and pray you will make plans to be with us Friday through Sunday, July 1-3. Friday and Saturday evenings begin at 6:00pm with the actual service beginning at 7:30pm. Sunday evening begins with the service at 7:30pm and ice-cream and fireworks following. On Saturday, there will be a bounce house and many games for the kids. Sno cones, popcorn, etc. On Saturday, we will have a western theme. We will BBQ chicken and serve all the "fixings". We will have other activities that evening along with the bounce house again. Some of those activities will be: washer game, hillbilly golf, roping, etc. We will also be dressing in western wear, if you feel like it, but come as you are. Theses are just a few of the weekend's activities, but you get the idea. It's gonna be fun. Come be our guest, you'll be glad you did. Check the website or contact us if you have more questions. Revival happens here.

Let me begin this blog today by asking a question: If a millionaire were to randomly come up to you and offer you a suitcase half full of $100.00 bills and then say you can have that suitcase or you can have the suitcase in his other hand that is the same size, but completely full of $100.00 bills. Which one would you choose? I think the obvious answer would be the full suitcase. This would be true if the suitcase was filled with anything of value. However, if the suitcase was filled with something totally worthless, we wouldn't want either suitcase. So, as we think about this, I challenge you to think about your life with God. If we hold to the principle that we would always choose the item worth the most value, why do we so often choose to spend our time chasing things that are not from God? We know that all things from God are good and we know things not of God are not worth anything. My mentor, Dr. Gary Taylor, once asked me to list the things of importance in my life. He then asked me to evaluate each of the items on my list and determine if they would be labeled temporary or eternal. The temporary things would be anything that I can't take with me when I die or anything that won't live on after I'm gone. The eternal things would be the items that pay dividends in Heaven. That challenge from Dr. Taylor proved to be instrumental in changing the way I live my life, beginning with my priorities. Why do Christians need revival? Because we all need to continually empty ourselves of things in our life that are "worthless" and temporary in order to be refilled with things of God, things that are valuable and eternal. Revival is coming. Are you ready?

There was a man who was in debt several thousand dollars to another man. He fell behind in his payments and soon began to worry about how he would ever repay this debt. After many sleepless nights, the man went to the man whom he owed the money to and explained his difficult financial position. Fearing the worst, the man was surprised to hear the best. He was forgiven his debt completely from the man he owed. The man was extremely grateful, as you can imagine. He gave his appreciation to the gracious lender. Well, several months pass and this man that was struggling just a few months earlier was able to take the money he would have been repaying his loan with and invest it in a business of his own. Not too long after that, the man loaned some money to a young man working for him. The young man was diligent in repaying his loan every month until the last few months. The young man was struggling to repay the last $400.00 of the loan. Without hesitation, the boss looked at his employee who was late on his loan payment and fired him on the spot. He told the young man that he had no room for a man to be around him who could not pay his obligations. Now, many of you are probably filled with all kinds of adjectives for this man and, as I was when I heard this, you are probably questioning how this man could so easily forget what was done for him and be so cold to another. However, I submit that we are all like this man at times. For some of us, we are forgiven of our sin by Christ, but condemn others for the very thing Christ forgave us of for free. For others, we have accepted that free gift of God's grace, but we turn right around and allow sin to stay in our life like nothing ever happened with Christ in our life. Christians need revival in order to take advantage of that forgiveness of debt that was given to us by the cross of Christ. Revival is coming July 1-3 - are you ready?

In 27 days, Corticelli will launch it's summer revival weekend. We are calling the weekend: "Corticelli's Tent Event: Where The Old Meets The New!" Before you ask, no, it's not a car sale. We are having our revival outside in a enormous tent. Our hope is to incorporate some of the old time revival feel, while integrating a newer worship atmosphere. The goal behind this theme is to bring all generations together to connect and fellowship, while enjoying a service that will relate to all generations as well. The weekend will be packed with fun and exciting activities that surround the main attraction of worship each night. We anticipate huge crowds and huge results. Make your plans now to join us July 1-3 at Corticelli for a life-changing experience for you and your whole family.

Isaac Newton's First Law of Motion states, "Everything continues in a state of rest unless it is compelled to change by forces impressed upon it." A very interesting point of fact. Interestingly, Newton's law also applies to spiritual change as well. Our lives continue to stay the way they are unless it is compelled to change by forces impressed upon it. Unfortunately, there are many negative forces being impressed upon us each day. It's not hard to have those negative forces on us. But, we must work on allowing positive forces to impress upon us. Therefore, we cannot just live casually and expect God to change us. We must seek after God to impress upon us His perfect and beneficial transformation. Romans 12:1-2

When my family went on vacation last year to Florida, we spent a week packing and organizing for the trip before we even left. We spent even more time mapping out our route we would drive and then how we would spend each and every moment of the time we were there. We knew what days we would be at the beach, what day we would be at Disney, universal studios, etc. We had a list of all the things we would need for each of our days and strategically planned and packed accordingly. When we got to Florida, we should have just thrown the planning notes right out the window. It seemed like nothing worked out exactly as we had planned it. We had never been to Florida before, so we just planned as if we knew what we were doing. However, we began to meet many people who lived there in Florida and we began to get pointers and tips from various native Floridians. Next time we go to Florida, we will be much better prepared because we have learned first hand and from others who have been there and done that. It seems like anytime any of us go on a trip, we spend adequate time preparing for it. We certainly should prepare. However, these trips we prepare for are only temporary trips and we eventually return right back home. How often do we consider the fact that we are all going on a trip that we never will return from? One day we each will leave this old world behind and step into eternity. How much time do we spend preparing for this trip? The preparation we do for our vacations or business trips benefit us a week, maybe two weeks. But, there will be a day when we will take a permanent trip. I want to be prepared for this one more then any other trip I've ever been on. This is the only one that truly matters. This is the only trip that we will always benefit from our preparation. Are you seeking God to be prepared for the final destination you will go? It is never too soon to begin working these matters out. Just call on the Father in Heaven to help you make your packing list. Matthew 24:35-37

In 1981, a Minnesota radio station reported a story about a stolen car in California. Police were staging an intense search for the vehicle and the driver, even to the point of placing announcements on local radio stations to contact the thief. On the front seat of the stolen car sat a box of crackers that, unknown to the thief, were laced with poison. The car owner had intended to use the crackers as rat bait. Now the police and the owner of the VW bug were more interested in apprehending the thief to save his life than to recover the car. So often when we run from God, we feel it is to escape His judgement and punishment. But, what we are actually doing is eluding His rescue. When is the last time you came before God and just surrendered yourself to Him? God is not looking to confine you with rules, laws, and restrictions. He is simply looking to guide you into and through the abundant life He created you to live. Stop what you are doing right now and surrender to your creator. Proverbs 3:5-6

Years ago, in a town in southern California, seagulls found a home. This was a very prominent fishing community and the fishermen would come in from days at sea and clean all their fish in the docks. They would throw all the leftovers from cleaning the fish over into the water and the seagulls would feast for hours every day. Eventually, the seagulls became accustomed to the feeding, so they quit fishing on their own and just waited for the fishermen to feed them. They became fat and lazy. However, it wasn't long until they discovered a profitable use for the leftovers of the fish and quit throwing them overboard. The seagulls began to starve. They had forgotten how to fish for themselves, so they just sat there waiting for a free dinner that wasn't coming. The towns people were wondering how to help these seagulls. They couldn't afford to just feed them and there was no way they were going to round these birds up to take them somewhere. They were too fat and lazy to fly somewhere else. So, a college student had an idea. They went and brought in a bunch of seagulls that were used to fishing for themselves. These new birds integrated with the old lazy birds and before long, the lazy birds were relearning how to fish for themselves. The older seagulls began to get stronger and healthier and before long, they were completely revived at being what they were meant to be in the first place. Many Christians are like those seagulls today. We get accustomed to the way things are. We get used to God's favor and blessings. But when something difficult happens in our life, we have forgotten how to lean on God. We haven't been practicing our faith by reading the word of God, praying, or going to worship. So, as a result, when difficult times come or we just simply need God's wisdom to guide us through a tight spot, we are clueless and poorly equipped to receive such council. Revival is needed in our hearts and in our churches today in order to be equipped and prepared for whatever life throws at us. If we don't allow God to strengthen our faith when things are going well, we can't expect God to wave a magic wand when things go poorly and make everything instantly better. God will help us through any situation we face, but are we going to be prepared to listen and hear Him when He speaks? Is revival needed in your life today? 2 Timothy 4:1-3

At age 18, I was living as far away from the Lord as I possibly could. I believed in God. I believed Jesus died for me. I even attended church on a regular basis. However, my life did not support what I believed. A year after heading to college, the Lord began to send me signs that my life was severely lacking something. I had lots of good friends, I had a great family, I even was pretty well known around campus of my little college. As Great as things appeared to be, I was hungry for something even better. I knew there was something to give me fulfillment. That is when God began to show me His plan for me. I would like to say I immediately dropped all my bad habits (sin) and lived a "perfect" Christian life, but that was not the case. I did however, begin seeking the Lord to transform me and help me to change those areas in my life. I can honestly say that even though God was still helping me change, I felt the fulfillment I was searching for. This took place over 17 years ago and I still have areas in my life that God is helping me correct. However, I still feel the same fulfillment in my life as I did back then. I share this with you today because that was my first experience with revival in my heart. If God can change my heart, He can change yours as well. Revival is coming, do you need it to come to your heart? John 10:10

There is an old saying: "You get out of it what you put into it." However, to use this statement in regards to our relationship with God is selling God way short on His love, grace, and character. In fact, God has never just met someone half way. He always does the hard part of the work for us. This leads to the second reason why revivals today are less significant, in my opinion. God's people often look at all the sin in their life, all the change that needs to take place in their life in order to get right with God and automatically assume it is too much to expect or hope for. However, if we would just consider God's plan of salvation for us, we quickly are reminded of how little we do and how much He does. For revival to take place in each of our lives, we simply need to seek it from the Lord and trust Him to guide us and transform us by His grace, not our works. Ephesians 2:8-9

A woman once asked famous evangelist from the second Great Awakening, Billy Sunday, "why do you keep having revivals when it doesn't last?" He answered her with a question of his own, "Why do you keep taking baths?". Revivals have been around in our country as long as any of us can remember. In fact, here lately, they have been less frequent and even less significant. One reason for this, in my opinion, is because God's people don't genuinely pray for powerful, God moving revival in their own heart and in their local churches. If we truly want God to do a mighty work in our own life, we must fall to our knees and ask God to intervene. Remember, God isn't interested in us going through the motions. He is interested in the focus of our heart. 2 Chronicles 30:18-20

Lou Ferrigno, the Incredible Hulk, once won the World's Strongest Man Competition. The time he won was a very close competition for the honor. So, it all came down to the last event - the 40 yard dash. Lou ended up winning the race with a time over 12 seconds. This is a very slow time, but one very important bit of information about the race was they had to run this race with a full-size refrigerator on their back. Now, if Lou had run the race without that added weight, his time would have been half the time. 

"Revival is that sovereign work of God in which He visits His own people, restoring and releasing them into the fullness of His blessing." Robert Coleman How often do we miss out on the blessing of God? God's desire is to shower us with blessings, but we allow ourselves to be consumed by the world and neglect Him. Maybe it's time for revival in our hearts and open God's shower of blessings.

What if Jesus came back today? What would this mean to you? The day will mean stepping into eternity and into our eternal home. Those who truly have a relationship with Jesus Christ will spend eternity in heaven and those who don't will have an eternal home in hell. So, consider what "tasks" would be left undone. Would your family and friends be with you, or would they be left behind? Would you be prepared to stand in front of our creator to give an account of your life? Would your heart be right before God? If you're uncertain, maybe you need revival in your heart today! Psalm 24:3-4

Stephen Olford wrote, "Revival restrains the righteous anger of God, restores the conscious awareness of God, and reveals the gracious activity of God." God desires His people to live an abundant life. However, many of us fall into the trap of living life too casually. The only way we can live with a heart that is overflowing with the Spirit of God is for Him to fill our heart. How? - REVIVAL! Psalm 85:6

Charles Spurgeon wrote, "A genuine revival without joy in the Lord is as impossible as spring without flowers or morning dawn without light."