<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<rss version="2.0">
<channel>
<title>Steven's Blog</title>
<link>http://stonecreekchurch.org</link>
<description><![CDATA[<p>
This is the blog of Senior Pastor Steven Gibbs.
</p>
<p>
&nbsp;
</p>
]]></description>
<language>en</language>
<copyright>&#x2117; &amp; &#xA9; 2005 Stonecreek Church</copyright>
<ttl>720</ttl>
<item>
  <title>Sunday Night Reflections 2.11.2007</title>
  <description><![CDATA[Alright, I&amp;rsquo;m checking out the Grammy&amp;rsquo;s &amp;ndash; I need one of those cameras that Justin Timberlake was using.&amp;nbsp; Can someone hook me up?

I had a blast today.&amp;nbsp; First, this morning.&amp;nbsp; What a great experience!&amp;nbsp; The video knocked it out of the park, and truly captured what we&amp;rsquo;re about.&amp;nbsp; We&amp;rsquo;ll have that on the web site this week.&amp;nbsp; And what about the guys in the lobby!&amp;nbsp; They had such a great time with the kids &amp;ndash; not a set-up you see in a church lobby very often.

Then this afternoon &amp;ndash; had 2 meetings with 65-70 leaders to talk about the Raise Your Game challenge.&amp;nbsp; We have such great leaders, which is what makes Stonecreek what it is, and what it will be.&amp;nbsp; Thank you guys for coming.&amp;nbsp; To raise our game, the challenge is $1M over the next 15 months.&amp;nbsp; I&amp;rsquo;m looking forward to what God will do in our lives as we journey together.&amp;nbsp; We have a unique opportunity to leverage our location and our culture for the message of Christ. &amp;nbsp;

I must say I am sad that tonight was my last leader meeting for this challenge.&amp;nbsp; I enjoy those just as much as Sunday morning.&amp;nbsp; If you weren&amp;rsquo;t able to make it, contact Jason Howard.&amp;nbsp; We&amp;rsquo;ll be having some other group meetings, and you can hook up for one of those.&amp;nbsp; I am looking forward to those as well, as we spread this challenge throughout our church and watch God work.
]]></description>
  <link>http://stonecreekchurch.org/stevens-blog/sunday-night-reflections-2112007/</link>
  <guid>http://stonecreekchurch.org/stevens-blog/sunday-night-reflections-2112007/</guid>
  <pubDate>Sun, 11 Feb 2007 19:46:42 CST</pubDate>
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<item>
  <title>Anna Nicole Smith</title>
  <description><![CDATA[

What a tragedy to see the life of Anna Nicole Smith spiral to a premature end.&amp;nbsp; Did it have to go down this way for her?&amp;nbsp; LIfe as a stripper, Playboy model, sued, divorced, ridiculed, laughed at, depressed, drugged, hopeless?&amp;nbsp; 


Whenever something like this occurs, I&amp;rsquo;m always sad and frustrated.&amp;nbsp; If only someone could have been able to get through to her, things could have been different.&amp;nbsp; Another casualty of the fall.

I&amp;rsquo;ve had conversations this week with the family of a man who died &amp;ndash; young father of 3 young kids.&amp;nbsp; Guys, our time is short here.&amp;nbsp; We have a mission as a church.&amp;nbsp; That is why we exist, and why Raise Your Game is so important for you.&amp;nbsp; We must raise our game in order for God to accomplish all that he needs to through us. &amp;nbsp;

Don&amp;rsquo;t miss this Sunday as we launch this new series and strategic challenge!&amp;nbsp; It&amp;rsquo;s life or death for so many people - literally.&amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp;

]]></description>
  <link>http://stonecreekchurch.org/stevens-blog/anna-nicole-smith/</link>
  <guid>http://stonecreekchurch.org/stevens-blog/anna-nicole-smith/</guid>
  <pubDate>Fri, 09 Feb 2007 13:29:22 CST</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
  <title>Happy 1 Year!</title>
  <description><![CDATA[

It&amp;rsquo;s hard to believe that this week marks my 1 year anniversary as senior pastor.  We&amp;rsquo;ve accomplished a lot together over the past year.  But I&amp;rsquo;m obviously more optimistic about the year coming up.  Raise Your Game is going to be a neat time for us as a church, as we are all challenged to raise our game &amp;ndash;as individuals, families, and as a church.  We&amp;rsquo;ve got some pretty neat creative elements planned, which always helps bring a fresh perspective to God&amp;rsquo;s truth.



As promised last week, I&amp;rsquo;m posting some resources to help in talking to your kids about sex.  As a parent, you need to lead the discussion on this, not your kids friends, or the schools, but the parents.  



The Story of Me - ages 3-5.  Designed to explain to children their own sexuality.


Before I Was Born - ages 5-8.  Designed to give the &amp;quot;basics&amp;quot; about sex.


What&amp;#39;s the Big Deal? - ages 9-11. Designed to explain why God created sex and His boundaries for it.


Facing the Facts: The Truth About Sex and You - ages 8 and older. Designed to give a kid a detailed walk through what is about to happen to his/her bodies physically and emotionally.


&amp;nbsp;


This list came from Christy Brogden, our Director of Preschool.  Great way to walk your kids through God&amp;rsquo;s design.  Happy teaching!  

]]></description>
  <link>http://stonecreekchurch.org/stevens-blog/happy-1-year/</link>
  <guid>http://stonecreekchurch.org/stevens-blog/happy-1-year/</guid>
  <pubDate>Wed, 07 Feb 2007 10:47:36 CST</pubDate>
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<item>
  <title>Sunday Night Reflections 2.4.2007</title>
  <description><![CDATA[
You&amp;rsquo;ll forgive the&amp;nbsp; brevity of my Sunday Night Reflection.&amp;nbsp; It is Super Bowl Sunday.&amp;nbsp; The Bears have run back the opening kickoff, Peyton threw a TD pass, and the Colts missed the extra point.&amp;nbsp; A lot of action.

What a topic this morning!&amp;nbsp; The feedback we got on the service was great.&amp;nbsp; If you missed it, the message was &amp;ldquo;Pure Sex.&amp;rdquo;&amp;nbsp; You can download it on our website under resources.&amp;nbsp; Don&amp;rsquo;t miss it. &amp;nbsp;

I promised some resources for talking to your kids about sex.&amp;nbsp; I&amp;rsquo;ll post those this week.&amp;nbsp; They are really good, and can help understand the topic with an age appropriate mindset.

Raise Your Game is coming this week.&amp;nbsp; What could your life be, if your raised your game? &amp;nbsp; Right now, watching the Super Bowl, the score is 16-14, Colts.&amp;nbsp; Someone will have to raise their game for their team to win.&amp;nbsp; I can&amp;rsquo;t wait to see it happen.&amp;nbsp; 


We&amp;#39;re on the ground floor of something special at Stoncreek.&amp;nbsp; I can&amp;rsquo;t wait to see you raise your game over the next 4 weeks.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; What could God do with a church that committed to do this? &amp;nbsp;


]]></description>
  <link>http://stonecreekchurch.org/stevens-blog/sunday-night-reflections-242007/</link>
  <guid>http://stonecreekchurch.org/stevens-blog/sunday-night-reflections-242007/</guid>
  <pubDate>Sun, 04 Feb 2007 19:09:28 CST</pubDate>
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<item>
  <title>Movie Update 2.2.2007</title>
  <description><![CDATA[Last night was date night, so we went to see Catch and Release.&amp;nbsp; Alright, I know it&amp;rsquo;s a romantic comedy (code for chick flick).&amp;nbsp; But, I&amp;rsquo;m no good at picking movies that don&amp;rsquo;t have fight scenes, so I defer to Debby. &amp;nbsp;

The basic premise is that Gray (Jennifer Garner) is engaged to be married, and her fianc&amp;eacute;e is killed before the movie starts.&amp;nbsp; She finds out some junk about him, i.e. that he has a kid and over $1M.&amp;nbsp; She sleeps with one of his friends who she used to hate.&amp;nbsp; The movie ends with them living happily forever after on the beach.

At least we didn&amp;rsquo;t have to live through the fianc&amp;eacute;e getting killed.&amp;nbsp; However, too many sex scenes and too predictable for me.&amp;nbsp; But there were some cool scenes of Colorado, and at times some funny dialogue.&amp;nbsp; Just one of those 1.5 hour movies that was ruined by making it 2 hrs.

I would have opted for The Last King of Scotland.&amp;nbsp; However, violence is not something Debby is up for.&amp;nbsp; Also gives me some chips for seeing a &amp;ldquo;romantic comedy.&amp;rdquo;

]]></description>
  <link>http://stonecreekchurch.org/stevens-blog/movie-update-222007/</link>
  <guid>http://stonecreekchurch.org/stevens-blog/movie-update-222007/</guid>
  <pubDate>Fri, 02 Feb 2007 11:27:19 CST</pubDate>
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<item>
  <title>Check out this button</title>
  <description><![CDATA[
Check out what I found at Barnes and Noble tonight.


&amp;nbsp;





&amp;nbsp;


&amp;nbsp;


&amp;nbsp;


&amp;nbsp;


&amp;nbsp;


&amp;nbsp;


Come on Sunday to find out what else I found.  Remember, it was Barnes and Noble, so it can&amp;#39;t be that bad.=]  But, I think you will be very interested.  Don&amp;#39;t forget to invite your friends - send them an evite from our home page.  We&amp;#39;ll be concluding our series with the message, Pure Sex.   

]]></description>
  <link>http://stonecreekchurch.org/stevens-blog/check-out-this-button/</link>
  <guid>http://stonecreekchurch.org/stevens-blog/check-out-this-button/</guid>
  <pubDate>Thu, 01 Feb 2007 19:23:54 CST</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
  <title>Guest Post 1.31.2007</title>
  <description><![CDATA[
Got another guest post today.  This one is from Mike Shroyer.  Mike is our new Director of Family Ministries.  You can check out my previous post about his role at Stonecreek.


Hey Everybody!

I can&amp;#39;t tell you how excited I am to continue serving the kids and families of Stonecreek as Director of Family Ministries.  My hope and prayer is for Stonecreek to be THE place you and your kids can&amp;#39;t wait to get to each and every week.  I have loved spending time with your kids and look forward to doing everything I can to partner with you in the continued growth of your family.  Kids know me as the guy who puts stuff in blenders and the guy who is willing to do anything I can (including playing every character from the Wizard of Oz) to make the truth of God&amp;#39;s love for us come alive.  

I mentioned to Steven that all he had to do to introduce me to the adults was to let people know I was married to Ami, since so many people have discovered what a joy she is to be around.  Please know that when you see me around the halls of Stonecreek, there&amp;#39;s no other place I would rather be and nothing else I would rather be doing.  As a dad, I am thrilled for our soon-to-be four-year-old son and soon-to-be-born daughter to grow up in such a great place surrounded by so many great people.  As a member of Stonecreek, I am thrilled to have the opportunity to serve and support you in any way I can - even if it means sporting a wig while yodeling on a unicycle.

Thanks for the opportunity to be part of your life,
Mike


As I stated yesterday, you&amp;#39;re gonna love Mike.  Our staff is stoked about his family and what they bring to help us connect with people and lead them into an authentic and growing relationship with Jesus Christ.  


&amp;nbsp;

]]></description>
  <link>http://stonecreekchurch.org/stevens-blog/guest-post-1312007/</link>
  <guid>http://stonecreekchurch.org/stevens-blog/guest-post-1312007/</guid>
  <pubDate>Wed, 31 Jan 2007 06:55:41 CST</pubDate>
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<item>
  <title>Staff Addition</title>
  <description><![CDATA[
As you know, we value our unique staff culture.  I am a firm believer that as the staff goes, so goes the church.  We currently have an unbelievable staff &amp;ndash; hard working, high character, passionate for walking with God, and striving for excellence.  We actually ENJOY being around each other!  

One staff position that we have dreamed of filling is a director of family ministries.  This position would allow us to fulfill our vision of having common spiritual growth principles taught from our nursery all the way to our high school students.  With someone in that role, we can be more effective in our mission, to connect with people and lead them into an authentic and growing relationship with Jesus Christ.

We are so pumped to announce that we now have someone for that staff role: Mike Shroyer.  Mike has been serving as the point person in Kidzu.  Mike will now provide leadership for the ministries that serve birth through 12th grade, as well as oversee parental involvement and partnership within these ministries.  Mike brings a ton of experience and passion to this role.



&amp;nbsp;Mike&amp;rsquo;s wife, Ami, led worship Sunday, and if you were there you know she was great. Ami has extensive experience in leading kids and has been part of the production of many well-known kids&amp;#39; worship projects.





This doesn&amp;rsquo;t change any other staff roles, it just allows our staff to continue to specialize and focus on their ministry areas.

If you see Mike kicking around the church Sunday, let him know you&amp;rsquo;re glad he&amp;rsquo;s on board!

]]></description>
  <link>http://stonecreekchurch.org/stevens-blog/staff-addition/</link>
  <guid>http://stonecreekchurch.org/stevens-blog/staff-addition/</guid>
  <pubDate>Tue, 30 Jan 2007 09:35:22 CST</pubDate>
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<item>
  <title>Sunday Night Reflections 1.28.2007</title>
  <description><![CDATA[
Today was one of those days you live for as a church.  The baptisms, the music, the entire service was so huge!  And to have three women on stage to help me with the message &amp;mdash; with one being my wife &amp;mdash; well, that was brave.  They did a great job at helping us communicate about the beauty of women.  Check out this book that Debby mentioned: &amp;quot;Nice Girls Don&amp;#39;t Change The World.&amp;quot; The prayer she read is found at the back of the book.






Check out this photo of Jim Brown. Jim was supposed to be baptized last August. The day before he was to be baptized, he was in a motorcycle accident. His aorta was torn, and he was care-flighted to Grady for emergency surgery. Needless to say, he&amp;rsquo;s had a rough go of it. But here he is! He was baptized along his wife and many others. Thank you God, for allowing us to experience this today.





All right, next week is the grand finale for the series, Pure Sex.  This week will be a challenge.  I can&amp;rsquo;t even imagine what the prep will be like.










]]></description>
  <link>http://stonecreekchurch.org/stevens-blog/sunday-night-reflections-1282007/</link>
  <guid>http://stonecreekchurch.org/stevens-blog/sunday-night-reflections-1282007/</guid>
  <pubDate>Sun, 28 Jan 2007 09:41:10 CST</pubDate>
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<item>
  <title>MOVE WITHOUT THE BALL!</title>
  <description><![CDATA[This week I was at one of my son&amp;rsquo;s basketball practices.&amp;nbsp; It&amp;rsquo;s crazy to me how kids stand in the same place, jumping up and down saying, &amp;ldquo;Throw me the ball!&amp;rdquo;&amp;nbsp; Don&amp;rsquo;t they realize that the defense hears them, and the guy with the ball is panicking, wishing he&amp;rsquo;d stayed at home to watch Zack and Cody? 

It&amp;rsquo;s funny, but as adults we do the same thing.&amp;nbsp; We stand in the same place, expecting someone to do something for us, when we need to MOVE WITHOUT THE BALL!

This Sunday we&amp;rsquo;ll get to see some live action of people who have moved.&amp;nbsp; We&amp;rsquo;re having baptism, which is a visual reminder of our mission.&amp;nbsp; These people are taking their next step in their spiritual journey.&amp;nbsp; I&amp;rsquo;m pumped, and it will be something for us to remember why we exist. 

Also, thanks for all of you who signed up for our leader gatherings this Sunday, as I share our vision for the upcoming year.&amp;nbsp; If you haven&amp;rsquo;t reserved your spot, check out the Segue desk on Sunday and they&amp;rsquo;ll hook you up. 

]]></description>
  <link>http://stonecreekchurch.org/stevens-blog/move-without-the-ball/</link>
  <guid>http://stonecreekchurch.org/stevens-blog/move-without-the-ball/</guid>
  <pubDate>Fri, 26 Jan 2007 10:50:27 CST</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
  <title>Long Distance Shout Out</title>
  <description><![CDATA[
Got this email from a guy who used to attend our church.&amp;nbsp; I thought you guys may enjoy it.&amp;nbsp; I edited it slightly to shorten it, but you&amp;#39;ll get the drift. 


My wife is doing great and continues to grow in positive ways.&amp;nbsp;&amp;nbsp; She teaches gymnastics to 3-4 year olds several hours a day and has joined a woman&amp;rsquo;s bible study at our church.&amp;nbsp; We have been part of a small group for the past 6 months and are feeling more connected to the church.&amp;nbsp; Our pastor is also in our group and he is a great teacher and friend.&amp;nbsp; I have been so fortunate to have the positive influence from men of God in my life.&amp;nbsp; I have heard great things about what has been going on at Stonecreek.&amp;nbsp; I am proud to tell people about my first church and the man who led me to Christ.&amp;nbsp; Keep up the good work.


This man began to follow Christ at Stonecreek and was baptized in our church.&amp;nbsp; I&amp;#39;m jazzed to see what God will do through those who will be baptized this Sunday.&amp;nbsp; Baptism is such a highlight, and this one will be extra special.&amp;nbsp; You do NOT want to miss who gets baptized. &amp;nbsp; 

]]></description>
  <link>http://stonecreekchurch.org/stevens-blog/long-distance-shout-out/</link>
  <guid>http://stonecreekchurch.org/stevens-blog/long-distance-shout-out/</guid>
  <pubDate>Thu, 25 Jan 2007 08:19:10 CST</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
  <title>Website Confliction</title>
  <description><![CDATA[
Alright, I know, the website is acting up.  We&amp;#39;re on it.  Which means I emailed someone and asked, &amp;quot;when is this going to be fixed?!&amp;quot;  


]]></description>
  <link>http://stonecreekchurch.org/stevens-blog/website-confliction/</link>
  <guid>http://stonecreekchurch.org/stevens-blog/website-confliction/</guid>
  <pubDate>Wed, 24 Jan 2007 17:30:17 CST</pubDate>
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<item>
  <title>Guest Post 1.23.2007</title>
  <description><![CDATA[
Well, it took some persuading, but I was able to get Debby to post a few words before Sunday.  I think she is feeling a tinge of regret.  She sent me to Publix for some Prilosec - is that a sign? 


&amp;nbsp;


From Debby Gibbs: 


Many of you, who know me well, probably passed out when Steven said that I would be on the platform this Sunday.  I almost did, too.  But here it goes.  I will show up with something to say, because I believe women need to be heard; we do have something to say, and we do matter.  Hopefully I will be an encouragement to someone.

Pray for me this week that nerves and fear will be put behind me; that I will be able to sleep through the night without nightmares of the services;  but most of all that God will use women at Stonecreek Church to change lives in our home, our church, our neighborhood, our community, and our city.
Can&amp;#39;t wait for Sunday!  (at 12:00 p.m.!!!)


]]></description>
  <link>http://stonecreekchurch.org/stevens-blog/guest-post-1232007/</link>
  <guid>http://stonecreekchurch.org/stevens-blog/guest-post-1232007/</guid>
  <pubDate>Tue, 23 Jan 2007 18:32:53 CST</pubDate>
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<item>
  <title>Sunday Reflections 1.21.2007</title>
  <description><![CDATA[Alright, guys, way to go on getting your Date In A Can.&amp;nbsp; Incredible way to serve your wife.&amp;nbsp; You&amp;rsquo;ll enjoy what&amp;rsquo;s inside.&amp;nbsp; Your kids will enjoy a night hanging out at the church &amp;ndash; pajama party for Splash, other fun stuff for Kidzu (I know, with my kids in this area I should know what it&amp;rsquo;s called.&amp;nbsp; I&amp;rsquo;ll get back to you).&amp;nbsp; Your kids will dig it.&amp;nbsp; Take advantage of this opportunity.&amp;nbsp; We&amp;rsquo;ll have some more cans made up for next week.

I am glad that I made it through this message on Pure Men without embarrassing my wife!&amp;nbsp; She&amp;rsquo;ll be helping with the message next week, as well as a few of our other women.&amp;nbsp; You don&amp;rsquo;t want to miss it.&amp;nbsp; I may even talk her into posting on my blog once or twice.&amp;nbsp; Pleeease, Debby?&amp;nbsp; Oh yeah, pure men don&amp;lsquo;t beg. I mean I&amp;rsquo;ll tell her to do it.&amp;nbsp; Or something like that. 

As promised, for you guys I&amp;rsquo;m including a link to some Bible Reading plans.&amp;nbsp; Just click.&amp;nbsp; If these are too ambitious, just start reading 1 Proverb chapter a day.&amp;nbsp; Proverbs is book of the bible, about halfway through. There are 31 Proverbs, so just read the Proverb chapter that corresponds with the date.&amp;nbsp; I.e., today is January 21, so read Proverbs 21.&amp;nbsp; Very easy, a lot of wisdom to get started.&amp;nbsp; As I said this morning, No Bible No Breakfast. &amp;nbsp;

Also, I&amp;rsquo;ve got some bandana tying lessons for you &amp;lsquo;80&amp;rsquo;s rockers. &amp;nbsp;

]]></description>
  <link>http://stonecreekchurch.org/stevens-blog/sunday-reflections-1212007/</link>
  <guid>http://stonecreekchurch.org/stevens-blog/sunday-reflections-1212007/</guid>
  <pubDate>Mon, 22 Jan 2007 05:19:29 CST</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
  <title>Random Thursday 1.18.2007</title>
  <description><![CDATA[

Ken will be starting his sabbatical this Friday.  A great time for him to re-charge, and pursue some continuing education about churchdom.  That&amp;rsquo;s really not a word, but it expresses my thought.  



Anyway, he&amp;rsquo;ll be away for a few weeks, and we&amp;rsquo;ll miss him.  I&amp;rsquo;m looking forward to him coming back, on fire as we move forward to tell people about Christ.  Check out his blog to find out what he&amp;rsquo;s up to.  



I&amp;rsquo;m settling in to watch my new favorite show, Ugly Betty.  I&amp;rsquo;ve only seen it a few times, but was digging it.  She just found somebody in her closet, pretty nice.  I know, most guys watch 24.  I&amp;rsquo;ll deal with that on Sunday.


]]></description>
  <link>http://stonecreekchurch.org/stevens-blog/random-thursday-1182007/</link>
  <guid>http://stonecreekchurch.org/stevens-blog/random-thursday-1182007/</guid>
  <pubDate>Thu, 18 Jan 2007 20:12:12 CST</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
  <title>Was That Passive?</title>
  <description><![CDATA[
Every week I try to check my life to be sure that I am practicing what I&amp;rsquo;m preachin&amp;hellip;  This week, I&amp;rsquo;m dealing with men, and while we men generally do a decent job, we are not known for always doing the brightest thing.  (Have you seen, &amp;ldquo;My Name Is Earl?&amp;rdquo;) Too many times we&amp;rsquo;re not sure what to do, and our wives &amp;ldquo;volunteer&amp;rdquo; to help us.  I had an ironic event happen today that made me think.

My wife took her car in for an oil change, and to have the &amp;ldquo;Service Engine Soon&amp;rdquo; light checked out.  She volunteered.  It&amp;rsquo;s her car, she said.  I&amp;rsquo;ll be in the area, she said.  I could hear what she thought, though.  The light&amp;rsquo;s been on for &amp;hellip; oh never mind.  It&amp;rsquo;s the busy time of year for him.  He wants to do it, but he&amp;rsquo;s got other priorities.

When she called me with the $1700 quote for the service, I can&amp;rsquo;t write what I thought.  Not about the car, but about me.  She didn&amp;rsquo;t need my help with the car, she&amp;rsquo;s a confident woman who can handle that stuff, but I wouldn&amp;rsquo;t want her to have to make my decisions because I pawned them off on her.  Fortunately, I was in a position to be engaged with the $1700 process.  

Men, don&amp;rsquo;t put your wives, or your families, in a position to make your decisions because you are too busy or are not confident enough or too lazy to make a decision.  Make the decision and step forward. You don&amp;rsquo;t have to force your agenda, but don&amp;rsquo;t make your families decide about your dinner, or the movies, or the mall, because you don&amp;rsquo;t want to. Most of all, don&amp;rsquo;t let your families decide about God because you don&amp;rsquo;t want to.  That includes church.  Too many families default to what&amp;rsquo;s easy when it comes to church, instead of what matters.  Men, in big and small things, make it matter.


]]></description>
  <link>http://stonecreekchurch.org/stevens-blog/was-that-passive/</link>
  <guid>http://stonecreekchurch.org/stevens-blog/was-that-passive/</guid>
  <pubDate>Wed, 17 Jan 2007 19:58:52 CST</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
  <title>Don't Smell The Seatbelt</title>
  <description><![CDATA[Today was our day to &amp;quot;Drop The Mailer&amp;quot; - that is we took our mailer to the different post offices to be mailed.  It&amp;#39;s always a highlight, as we get to run around town in a big truck that doesn&amp;#39;t require a CDL and beeps when you put it in reverse. (You&amp;#39;d enjoy seeing your pastor making wide right turns in a 25 footer.) Every &amp;ldquo;Drop The Mailer&amp;rdquo; day has it&amp;rsquo;s unique challenges &amp;ndash; a truck that stalls in the middle of rush hour traffic; a loading dock already occupied with a professional truck driver operating on 1 hour of sleep; paperwork that doesn&amp;rsquo;t have all of the i&amp;lsquo;s dotted and the t&amp;rsquo;s crossed; finding diesel gas in Alpharetta, GA; a truck rental company that requires a pint of blood for insurance&amp;hellip; you get the point.


Well, the mailer has been dropped! Stonecreeker&amp;rsquo;s, expect your friends and neighbors to receive it, and use it as a jumping off point to invite them to our new series, Pure.  You can also reinforce the invite with an evite.  

&amp;ldquo;Dropping the Mailer&amp;rdquo; always brings life lessons.  One that I was reminded of today &amp;ndash; NEVER smell the seatbelt in a rental truck.  




&amp;nbsp;

]]></description>
  <link>http://stonecreekchurch.org/stevens-blog/dont-smell-the-seatbelt/</link>
  <guid>http://stonecreekchurch.org/stevens-blog/dont-smell-the-seatbelt/</guid>
  <pubDate>Tue, 16 Jan 2007 10:40:05 CST</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
  <title>Sunday Reflections 1.14.2007</title>
  <description><![CDATA[
For those of you in our services today, I think it goes without saying that the couple called out by &amp;ldquo;Visitor&amp;rsquo;s Spotlight&amp;rdquo; were not guests, but planted MEMBERS. What a great creative element by our creative team to demonstrate how seriously we take guests, how much thought we put into planning our services, and how intentional we are about reaching people. 

I was encouraged to meet so many first time guests today. As I reminded everyone, we have many tools to invite. Brochures, cards, evites (this is me sending an evite). 


 


&amp;nbsp;


&amp;nbsp;


&amp;nbsp;


&amp;nbsp;


&amp;nbsp;





I know, that is not an evite that I am holding, just an example of what the evite will look like. Just go to our home page to send an evite to someone you know. Clink on the link, and the web page will take care of the rest. 


Our next series will be off the chain. You don&amp;#39;t want to miss Pure: Men, Women, Sex. As a Stonecreeker, be sure to keep in mind those who will be coming for the first time this Sunday. Arrive Early. Help out by parking in a spot that is inconvenient for you (read, far away). If you&amp;rsquo;re a volunteer, be sure to expect people to arrive early.

Thanks to all of you who make Stonecreek happen, on Sundays, and throughout the week. 



]]></description>
  <link>http://stonecreekchurch.org/stevens-blog/sunday-reflections-1142007/</link>
  <guid>http://stonecreekchurch.org/stevens-blog/sunday-reflections-1142007/</guid>
  <pubDate>Sun, 14 Jan 2007 16:36:23 CST</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
  <title>Smiling Addiction</title>
  <description><![CDATA[
  The smiley face.  A symbol of happiness and satisfaction.   Kids get it on their homework when they do good.  People tag it to their email signatures.  Shirts, pens, stickers, paper &amp;ndash; you name it, you can buy it with a smiley face.  But at times we use the smiley face as a cover up. After this Sunday, hopefully you&amp;rsquo;ll never look at the smiley face the same. 


&amp;nbsp;


&amp;nbsp;






]]></description>
  <link>http://stonecreekchurch.org/stevens-blog/smiling-addiction/</link>
  <guid>http://stonecreekchurch.org/stevens-blog/smiling-addiction/</guid>
  <pubDate>Fri, 12 Jan 2007 20:46:08 CST</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
  <title>What do you want?</title>
  <description><![CDATA[
What do you want? This is a crazy question that Jesus always seems to pose to people.  I mean, a guy who is blind and Jesus asks him what he wants&amp;hellip; incredible.  But I think Jesus is offering this question on a different level.  This question usually revolves around what do we want out of our lives.  So, the question is, what do you want for your life?  

I can say this: I want my life to matter for God.  I want to be sure that I have done what He wants.  I&amp;rsquo;m not always good at this, but am trying.  I also want to be part of a church that wants to matter for God.  A church that cares for people in such a way that leads to action.  Not a social agenda, but an agenda that lets people plug into who God created them to be and wants to tell others.  See We Imagine.

A recent article in USA Today notes that Gen Y WANTS to be rich and famous.  

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-01-09-gen-y-cover_x.htm

Wanting only to be rich and famous can get you one thing. A smiling addiction.  Nothing else.  Not purpose, not peace, not respect, not character, not friends, not family, not good kids, not married, not heaven, not good neighbors, not health.  Only a smiling addiction.


What do YOU want?

]]></description>
  <link>http://stonecreekchurch.org/stevens-blog/what-do-you-want/</link>
  <guid>http://stonecreekchurch.org/stevens-blog/what-do-you-want/</guid>
  <pubDate>Wed, 10 Jan 2007 17:47:22 CST</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
  <title>Sunday Reflections</title>
  <description><![CDATA[
It was great to be back speaking today.  I enjoyed the break, but was glad to be back in the saddle.  God is doing so much, it&amp;rsquo;s hard to limit it to a 30 minute message!  Please check out We Imagine.


How incredible was it to hear from Brandon and Shanna Christensen! Brandon was Stonecreek&amp;rsquo;s first baptism, and now is launching off to spend a year serving in Guatemala.  You will want to remember to pray for them, and we&amp;rsquo;ll keep you updated on their journey.  They are real faith-walkers, and my prayer is that God is just beginning to call over 100 families from Stonecreek to spend an extended period of time as a missionary.  

In February, we will be launching a strategic challenge &amp;ndash; Raise Your Game.
We&amp;#39;ve all seen it.  The game is on the line.  It could go either way, victory or defeat.  Who will raise their game so their team will win?  This happens in competitions, and it happens in life.  As we learn to walk with God, there are times He will challenge us and ask us to raise our game.

Raise Your Game is a strategic challenge designed to spark individual initiative and rally collective synergy for the message of Jesus Christ in our lives, families and communities.  As we watch North Atlanta continue to expand, we must raise our game in order to be faithful to what God has called us to do &amp;ndash; connect with people and lead them into an authentic and growing relationship with Jesus Christ.  Watch for details coming soon.

You don&amp;rsquo;t want to miss next Sunday.  We&amp;rsquo;ll be talking about smiling addictions.  Do you know anybody who has one?


]]></description>
  <link>http://stonecreekchurch.org/stevens-blog/sunday-reflections/</link>
  <guid>http://stonecreekchurch.org/stevens-blog/sunday-reflections/</guid>
  <pubDate>Sun, 07 Jan 2007 12:37:26 CST</pubDate>
</item>
<item>
  <title>The New stonecreekchurch.org is UP!!</title>
  <description><![CDATA[
We&amp;#39;re glad you&amp;#39;ve
decided to visit the new www.stonecreekchurch.org. We&amp;#39;re pumped that we
will be able to provide simple information and insights into the life
of Stonecreek as we connect with people and lead them into an authentic
and growing relationship with Jesus Christ. 








This website is not intended to just be cool. Our intent is that it be
useful in order to connect into what God is doing at Stonecreek, for
regular attenders and guests alike. You will find info about what&amp;#39;s
coming up and how you can invite your friends.






Many weeks I will expand on a message given, or the next challenge that we face as a church.   


]]></description>
  <link>http://stonecreekchurch.org/stevens-blog/the-new-stonecreekchurchorg-is-up/</link>
  <guid>http://stonecreekchurch.org/stevens-blog/the-new-stonecreekchurchorg-is-up/</guid>
  <pubDate>Tue, 19 Dec 2006 18:15:38 CST</pubDate>
</item>
</channel></rss>
