| Boyd Bettis |

A Beautiful Idea

 
 

A friend of mine, Kent Shaffer, sent me some information about a little project called A Beautiful Idea. His wife Evie is asking artist and creatives to produce a product and donate the funds to a project to help others. 

This is a great opportunity if you are the creative and type and want to partner with some world changing ministries. Please take a few moments today and check out A Beautiful Idea and see how you can play a part. 

Also,
For those of you who don't know Kent Shaffer is the man behind churchrelevance.com. One of the best blogs out there. He provides you with fresh and relevant content to help you engage culture and become more effective in your ministry.  

Routine Prayers

Can I interrupt your prayers a little today. 
Can I challenge you to think about the prayers you pray every day. 

When you start a meeting with the same prayer as last weeks.
When you pray over your meal the same way you did the last meal.

Do you ever catch yourself praying the same routine each time you pray?
I know I do. 

I then question if I was truly praying to Jesus or was I just offering up some religious jargon. 

  

Ever heard of Irish Twins?

 

Announcement Time, sorry it's a day late. 

Irish Twins: term used to describe two children born to the same mother in the same calendar year or within twelve months of each other. 

Or in other words, 

Some times in life you get a little unexpected surprise blessing.
So here we go again. Whittaker is going to be a big brother.

Announcement Coming Tomorrow

I've got a little exciting announcement for you tomorrow. 

Nuts and Bolts

 

I want you guys to take a moment and check out this one day event called Nuts and Bolts. My good friend Michael Lukaszewski and his church Oak Leaf Church are hosting it. 

You are going to get some of the most practical information you could need. You won't get a lot of hype or unattainable information here. Mike and his team are going to provide for you content that you can use immediately as you leave the conference. 

Two of the best things I like about this conference is that it's $10 a person and on a Saturday. You can take a quick trip over the weekend. If you fly into in Atlanta you can be home that night and back home to preach the following Saturday. 

Take a moment and check out the details on their website.  

 

Friday Five

Let's talk about tonight's plans and our favorite coffee drinks for this edition of the Friday Five. 

1. Tonight I'll be kicking with Whittaker. We are giving mom a night out and we are going to hang out with my good friends of Ascension Worship.  They are kicking off their first event of 2010 tonight. It's going to be a great night of worshipping Jesus. Here's a link for directions and times if you are interested in coming tonight.

2. We'll grab dinner with my good friend Chance Craven of It's Chance. His ministry is going to get highlighted tonight as well. 

3. I've been drinking a ton of Americanos lately. Which is two shots of espresso with the rest of the cup filled up with hot water. 

4. I've also, been learning to make authentic Cuban coffee. Which is two shots of espresso with a lot of sugar. This has been fun learning to make. 

5. You - What are you doing tonight and what's your favorite coffee drink as of right now? 

It's not a mistake, It's a willing decision

I wonder why we like to consider our sins as mistakes. 
I think it's a way to make light of our sin.
It's a way for us to feel less guilty or remorseful over our sin. 

Sin is not a mistake we make,
It's willing choice of action we make.

If we are going to choose to sin,
lets own up to it and call it what it is.

Don't try to make yourself feel less guilty
by sugar coating and calling it a mistake.  

You've got a way out

'No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will provide a way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.' - 1 Corinthians 10:13

One thing that bothers me is when we feel as if sin has defeated, beaten, or even has power over us. We have the work of the Holy Spirit of God to come out victorious over our sin. 

When you are tempted to sin, you make one of two decisions. You either choose to willingly to sin or you take the escape route in which Jesus has provided for you to escape the sin. 

Full of the Holy Spirit

I've been reading through the New Testament in 30 days with my Life Group and have been tracking little notes and thoughts along the way. I'd like share some with you here at boydbettis.com over the next couple weeks.

In the book of Acts, the apostles were described at various times of being filled with the Holy Spirit, full of power of the Holy Spirit, and full of power and grace. They would then preach, heal, or address a crowd or individual. 

I wonder what that looks like today in our ministries? Are we seeing the Holy Spirit move in powerful ways like he did through the book of Acts. 

Two questions I've asked myself:
Am I doing ministry out of the power and work of the Holy Spirit?
Am I allowing the Holy Spirit to move boldly through me or am I suppressing His work by my own talents, skills, and desires? 

My prayer for my generation

If I could call out and prayer for the current generation, here's what I'd say: 

I wish we would see the result of our ignorance of ignoring investing time making much of Christ known to the generations that follow us. If we could see the responsibility God has given us to invest our time making much of him, so that those behind us would love him because we made him known. 

I pray that we would find Jesus to be treasured above all else. That we truly invested our lives in passing on the grace of the gospel to the generations behind us. That we build strong biblical foundations for the generations that would follow us. And that we break the inherited sins of our fathers and start a new cycle in our families of men and women who love Jesus.