Philip Anthony Earns Eagle Scout Rank

Join us this Sunday, April 27th, 2008, when Philip Anthony, son of Odulia and yours truly holds his Eagle Scout Ceremony. Check out the video.

Lakeside Launches Two Services

Tomorrow we begin our second service. The worship music will be a blend of hymns and newer written music accompanied by a praise band. This is a first for Lakeside and it is our desire that folks who enjoy this genre of music will come and worship the living God with us. I hope to see everyone at either the 8:30 am contemporary service or the 10:45 am traditional (Classic) service.

Elected and Installed as Moderator of Central South Presbytery

Last week I had the privilege of becoming the moderator of the Presbytery of the Central South in the EPC. The moderator leads the presbytery throughout the year. I was blessed and enjoyed my first meeting. Several Lakeside members and commissioners attended the presbytery meeting held in Natchez, MS.

New Year Resolutions

I must confess that keeping New Year Resolutions can be difficult. Just a couple of weeks ago I suggested to everyone several resolutions for 2008. Here are some taken from the application of the first chapter in Deuteronomy:

RESOLUTION: “Lord, with your help, in 2008 I will remember your faithfulness in the past and commit to studying your word with more diligence than at any time in my life because I know it is active and alive and can do great things in my life.”

RESOLUTION: “Lord, with your help, I commit to run with the vision you have given me to become more like Christ, to lead my family towards honoring you and to help my Church be a beacon of life for my community.”

RESOLUTION: “Lord, with your aid, I commit to living under the authority of my civil, family and church leaders so that I will be under your authority”

RESOLUTION: “Father, with your help and grace, I will seek to battle the things of the world, the desire of my sinful nature, and the power of evil and satan.”

RESOLUTION: “Lord, with your help, I resolve to live in 2008 in such a way that I put you first place regardless of those who oppose me so that the fear (respect) of you will win over my fear of man”

RESOLUTION - “Lord, empower me with your Holy Spirit, that I may recommit my life to serve and obey you in 2008 and for the rest of my life.”

The Meaning of Advent

"Advent—Close Encounters of a Liturgical Kind"
by Chris Armstrong,

I confess: when my parents tried to impress on my two brothers and me the importance and the intricacies of Advent observance, I could hardly keep from rolling my eyes. In a country that spends its cold Decembers in hot pursuit of food, presents, and parties, the historical niceties of an ancient liturgical season seemed … well … irrelevant.

These days, on the other side of an evangelical conversion and nearly a decade of graduate study in church history, I've begun to see what excited my parents about Advent. I'm even entertaining the possibility that my own young family might benefit from an informed observance of Advent. …

In fact, Advent season presents a unique opportunity to many Protestants. It's like the once-a-year conjunction of two planets: It brings a great mass of Bible-loving, praise-and-worshipping, extemporaneously praying born-again Protestant Christians into close contact with a big chunk of the historic church's liturgy. Even many non-liturgical Protestants don't think twice about joining in the season's rituals, old as well as new. They pull out and count off advent calendars, listen to lectionary sermon themes and Bible readings, and recite set prayers at the dinner table around candles in meaningful hues of purple and rose….

What is this thing called Advent?

Once upon a time, in 4th- and 5th-century Gaul and Spain, Advent was a preparation not for Christmas but for Epiphany. That's the early-January celebration of such diverse events in Jesus' life as his Baptism, the miracle at Cana, and the visit of the Magi. In those days, Epiphany was set aside as an opportunity for new Christians to be baptized and welcomed into the church. So believers spent Advent's 40 days examining their hearts and doing penance.

It was not until the 6th century that Christians in Rome began linking this season explicitly to the coming of Christ. But at that time, and for centuries after, the "coming" that was celebrated was not the birth of Jesus, but his Second Coming. It was not until the Middle Ages that the church began using the Advent season to prepare to celebrate Christ's birth. And even then, this newer sense of the Lord's advent or coming did not supplant the older sense—the Second Coming. And the muted, Lent-like mood of penitential preparation remained alongside the joyous anticipation of Jesus' birthday.

So, the modern liturgy divides Advent into a period, through December 16th, during which the focus is Christ's Second Coming, and a period, from December 17th to the 24th, focusing on his birth. It starts with sobering passages and prayers about the apocalyptic return of the Lord in judgment. Then it moves to Old Testament passages foretelling the birth of a messiah and New Testament passages trumpeting John the Baptist's exhortations and the angels' announcements.

Every year these rich Scriptural reminders and the traditional prayers that accompany them set my blood rushing a little faster and bring a rising excitement: Christ came with plenty of prior notice! Prophets and angels joined to proclaim his coming! And now I can join too, with the cloud of witnesses stretching back to apostolic times, in the same proclamation!

And in the protected, quiet times of meditation, I can respond as I imagine believers have done on every Advent since the tradition began: I can bow my head and prepare my heart to receive the One who is always present, but who seems distant in the busyness of the season. I can mourn for my hardness of heart. I can hope in his grace. And I can rejoice that in answer to the cry, "O come, O come, Emmanuel," he came. Would I really be able to do this—in the midst of December's commercial rush of lights, decorations, present-buying, and piped-in carols—without a gently insistent, weekly liturgical pattern? Maybe. But I'm not rolling my eyes any more.

Condensed from Christian History & Biography, © 2002 Christianity Today International. (12-6-02). For more articles like this, visitChristianHistory.net

Unless The Lord Builds the House

Sometimes we cannot understand why we cannot get more done. Frustration arises when our effectiveness begins to wain. What do we do? Well, we need to remind ourselves of the scripture:

Psalm 127:1 Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain.


Jesus said, "I will build my church..." It belongs to Jesus and he is the builder.

Good Stewards of Days and Opportunities

Sunday I preached on stewarding our days and opportunities. Stewardship is not just an appendage or "add-on" to our Christianity. Stewardship is what the Christian life means. It involves making every day count for God's glory. It means we carefully manage and act upon the opportunities that God gives to share His love, good news and gifts. Our prayer every day should be, "God, help me to steward (manage) my day for your glory!"

Now, let's get out there and steward the day for Jesus!

Your fellow steward,

Greg