Are you giving what's right, or what's left?

Hello Anchor Family,

I hope everyone is enjoying their summer. Between family vacations and late summer nights, we sometimes forget to give back to the one who created it ALL. As you all know we are in week four of our summer series Servolution. The main factor in serving, is giving. Not only giving your time but, giving financially as well.

I have one question for you, Are you giving what's right, or what's left? God is concerned with what is in our hearts, and a good heart has responsible character assigned to it. That is what being a good steward means. This is shown to us by our role in taking care of creation, the testimony of the Law, and the Psalms, to name a few. Stewardship, in Hebrew, means "house law and rule." It means that the person who is hired is to manage the affairs for the owner. This means that the property, resources, money, and previsions are under the steward's control and responsibility. They belong to God, and are entrusted into our hands.

Is God concerned with what is in your heart? Yes, He is, and being a good steward will show that you have a good heart! As good stewards, we cannot be wasteful. Being a bad steward was under penalty of death in Biblical times. Fortunately, we are under grace, and Christ's atonement covers us from God's wrath when we mess up, but that does not mean we are to be careless. We are not to go around thinking all we need to do is think we are good, just as we cannot think we are good at our job or school, and be late all of the time, or slack off. We have to think carefully about the most prudent way to allocate and manage the gifts and resources He puts in our care! This is in response to what He has given to us--abundant grace and love, and His mercy and care. We must understand that being bad at stewardship is wasting what God has given, and even wastes our lives, and opportunities.

- Stewardship is not worrying, but rather, trusting in Christ.


- Stewardship means knowing that God is concerned with us personally--what we go through, deal with, and how we manage what He entrusts to us.

- Stewardship is focusing on God and not on the material things in and of themselves. We are always to view the material world with the perspective of being God's caretaker of it, not of its lust or greed.


Love you guys,
Chuck Lewis

Give On-Line Today
e-giving

http://www.anchorchurch.us/give/

Fulfilling the Dream!

Yesterday was an amazing day for me! Emma, my 9yr old daughter, was sick and I kept her home from school. So, she hung out with me all day. It started off with an 8am breakfast meeting and then off to local missions work. She and I went to Skyland Mobile Home Park to meet up with Ron Waits, our Local Missions Pastor. It was here that I really witnessed the vision of the Anchor Community Church coming together. Ron sat down with people as they came in, looked them in their eyes, placed his hands on their hands or shoulder and asked "How can we help meet your needs?" Every week various people of this community within our larger community of Locust Grove come their community center, Ron and his team pull out their laptops and ipad and begin helping them fill out on-line job resumes, search for jobs, discover needs they may have around their homes, or food needs, they also connect them with "Connecting Henry", a local agency. But this is only the beginning. We are not there just to meet their physical needs. We are there to help them discover God's plan for their life. We are their to help them embark on a spiritual and physical journey.

Then, Emma and I left Skyland and headed off to Locust Grove City Hall Pavilion where The Anchor Community Church, lead by Jennifer Carlile, hosted our monthly HERO luncheon. We walked into a sea of Anchor T-shirts filled by people serving the ones who serve us. This group of Anchor volunteers spent countless hours in food preparation as well as promotional time getting the word out to the HEROs. To see the Anchor family walking around, shaking the hand of an officer or firefighter and telling them thank you for allowing us to serve you...that is fulfilling the Dream of the Anchor!

For all of those of you who served yesterday...THANK YOU!
For all of those of you who were not able to be there, but helped in some way to make that happen...THANK YOU!

There are tons of way to get plugged in and serve the people of Locust Grove!

I Love you guys.....thanks,
Chuck!

Start your engines....

When I was a teenager I began watching NASCAR racing. (however, I am not the die hard fan that wears all the clothing and hats) Several years ago I was able to go to my first live NASCAR race at Daytona. I can still remember the words that everyone anticipates at a race. "Gentleman, start your engines!" You could hear the rumble of the cars and even feel the anticipation in the air! I couldn't wait until they got to the start/finish line that first time and see and feel and hear what was about to happen.

Now, I get to feel that feeling every day! No...I have not taken a position with a NASCAR team. What I am talking about is the feeling that we are experiencing at the Anchor Community Church. Everyday I get to work with the best of the best volunteers that could be assembled. Everyday I get to hear stories about God moving in peoples lives. Everyday I feel like I am standing at the start/finish line anticipating something BIG is about to happen.

Get ready Anchor Church....we are going for the ride of our lives!

The PARTY has began...

This past Sunday, we had CHURCH at the Anchor. The music was awesome, I felt like the message was good. I am loving the book of Acts!

Have you noticed that we sort of stay on the move? We are constantly tweaking things, changing things, starting new things and putting to rest things that are dead! Here is what I mean by that: For ever, it seems like, we have tried to get people from the worship experience into small groups and serving. For many people that has worked. Unfortunately, for many this plan has been very ineffective. So, in typical Anchor fashion we took that plan, re-tooled the plan and have now designed a Master Plan for our church. (which is people...not buildings and places we go)
Starting this week we are kicking off step one of the Master Plan in a "pilot" project called "Starting Point". This is for anyone in the church that has not been through Acclimate class or has been through it, but still have not found the right tools to grow daily in their walk with Christ.
We are also changing the time when I taught the children's leaders at 10 am to 9:30 and that is now becoming our Pep Rally for all volunteers! (Trust me, if you are volunteering you will totally miss out if you miss this!)

The party has started! I look forward to seeing you on Sunday!

Love ya,
Chuck

Where in the World is Chuck? Part 7

Renewal

As I write this blog I have been out of the office for two weeks and have not taught at the Anchor for two Sundays. Where I love the Anchor and love teaching, it has been very refreshing to get away for bit. The first week was spent completing some needed tasks before leaving, hanging with family and packing my bags for Puerto Rico. The end of the 1st week and most of the 2nd week was in Puerto Rico. There I spent much of my time with Pastors and missionaries. The other part of my time there was just relaxing, spending time with Jesus and beginning a much needed renewal process. I returned on Wednesday on a flight that only God could orchestrate. The end of the week My family and I spent time with my parents and some new friends in central Georgia.

Spending time with various missionaries, Pastors and Jesus and His Word I have learned some very profound things. Namely, I have learned that ministry is exhausting. I know, when we do it all in the name of Jesus with right hearts and attitudes He will renew us and we can continue. Here is the other thing I have learned... We never stay spiritually perfect. We do things out of wrong motives and wrong passion. We are doing the right things, but a bit misguided.

There must be times when we get away with God and let me speak right to our hearts. And that is what I am doing. I will not be blogging every day, or on Facebook or twitter every day. I will be with my Father everyday!

Stay on the look out for new blogs!

Where in the World is Chuck? Part 6

Hope

Do you remember a few days ago I blogged about God giving me a passion, but then we did not see that for a while?

Here is the scary reason as to why...I was praying, I was doing all the things a Pastor should. Naturally I could have done better and could still do better today. But I was doing THINGS right. My passion had become my driving force. Not God! I was going through the motions everyday, giving God His pleasantries. However, my relationship with Him was falling apart.

Hey...stop right there. Do not judge me. If I guess right your thought was, "This is my Pastor...How can this be?" This can be...because I am a human just like everyone else.

My wife and I began to argue. Something that we have never done. I was short and impatient with my kids. Everyone...I mean everyone got on my last nerve!

I know, I am confessing way too much here. But you need to know that my passion to see people come to know Christ was overran by my own passion! I see this happen to people in our church and in my life on a regular basis. They think, as do I at times, that if I have a passion then I should pursue that with everything. AND, If I can add God to that it will be all the better! But here is where HOPE comes in. God does want me, He does want my passion but He wants me to want HIM! No matter how bad I fail at that, even it is the wrong reason, He is still here to catch me, love me and send me back to the battle field!

I have been hearing from God. I am not praying that I need to hear Him. I am praying that I will LISTEN to Him!
What is He saying...Let's talk about that tomorrow!

Where in the World is Chuck? Part 5

God....where are you?

During the first year of our little church plant we witnessed an amazing amount of people confess Jesus as their Savior, their Lord. In the second year of our church we witnessed an amazing amount of people drop away from their journey with Christ at an amazing rate!

There were many days that I would cry out to God. (I guess saying the words "cry out" make me sound like David) I yelled at God and asked "God, where in the heck are you in all of this?" How in the world would God let so many people come to know Him, yet let them fall away?

I felt like my fellow church planting "Friends" (and I use that term very loosely) were looking at me like I am some failure because I am not lying about my church doing as well as theirs. But, in all seriousness, I really did feel like a failure...not to those guys, but to God. He has entrusted me with so much and let Him down. Week after week I would see young Christian families fall from our church. Week after week I would walk away feeling like such a failure.

My dad always raised me to be tough, fight it out, stick in their till the end. So, every week I would dig deeper and fight harder. Only to figure out that the volunteers, the servants of our church I was pushing away because I was fighting so hard. (to those of you this has happened to...I really do love you and I really do apologize!)

Every week, Every week I would yell at God...What are you doing, where are you, why is this happening?

Check in with me tomorrow and I'll give you some of those answers!