First Ever

What a great weekend of worship this past week! There was a lot of energy in the room at all three services, and I believe God was greatly honored by our praise. We celebrated our Crossing Together total (over $400,000 since June 1), and we cheered like men and women who serve a great big God! It was awesome!

I will have to admit, however, that a lot of the buzz this past week was not about Crossing Together…it was about the first ever addition of a tuba to our band.

Read more »

God just ignores me

Seriously, I have all these great plans and ideas of how to make God famous. If He would just stop managing global affairs for a minute and listen to me, He’d know how awesome and perfectly planned these ideas are! I’ve got it all worked out, and if he would just follow the plan, the world would be in awe of Him! Read more »

Fade resistant

The end of summer is almost here. Next month, we’ll be vacuuming sand out of our cars, throwing away broken pool toys, and wondering where the summer went. But for a lot of the children, students, and Next Generation servants at Covenant, they get to take their summer with them. Read more »

Let’s Celebrate!

I’ve been in the Book of John for the better part of the last two months. As I have read a small passage and studied and meditated on it each morning, I have been surprised by John’s account of Jesus’ ministry.

Jesus stopped everything and went to Jerusalem for EVERY Jewish feast. Read more »

Try something new

“No-one’s around during the summer in Greenville. There’s no use in trying anything new.”

That’s a statement I’ve heard at Covenant from many people. When I first arrived four years ago, I contemplated it and observed the comings and goings of our congregation. However, ultimately, I take statements like that as personal challenges. That’s why, this summer, we decided to … try something new. Read more »

The culture of GO

My wife is a packing magician. I guess it comes from moving every two or three years when she was growing up as her family followed her Air Force dad all over the world. This summer, it has really come in handy. She has helped at least five of our Covenant students pack suitcases to go on mission trips out of country. Read more »

Moving

The first blessing of heaven is…you don’t have to pack. This spring, as we combed through our rooms and storage spaces looking for what we no longer need, we discovered that we still “need” quite a few things. The greatness of heaven became even clearer when I realized we would one day move to a place so complete, you don’t even need a carry-on and even if you did, you wouldn’t get charged $20 for it! Moving is tough on the back, and it’s tough on the heart. In the short time we were in Texas, we made friends—good friends. Since we announced our move back to North Carolina, our friends have shared their “moving” stories with us.

Evidently, Texans move a lot. And, if you move outside of Texas, it’s evidently considered an international move. Read more »

Selecting Leaders

During the last couple of weeks in worship, we’ve been looking at 1 Timothy 3 and Paul’s description of the qualifications for elders and deacons (overseers and administrative leaders) in a local church. If you’ve missed either of these messages, I suggest you listen to them via our website. I have to admit, I had no idea the effect these words from 1 Timothy would have on our congregation. I’ve noticed three things: Read more »

How’d that happen?

Our first-ever Medical Mission to the Dominican Republic

What a great first experience! A team of twenty-six just returned from launching an international medical missions ministry, serving Jesus in our partnership neighborhood of Barrio George, in La Romana, Dominican Republic. The stories of how God moved in and through this team are still unfolding. Check out the “GO” blog to read about the team’s experiences. Read more »

Overflowing with thankfulness

I can’t even imagine.

If you had asked me nine years ago if I would ever move to Greenville, I would have said, “You’re crazy!” At that point, I was living in Raleigh and thoroughly entrenched in a community I had been a part of for fifteen years. Over the next year, however, God intentionally intervened and guided me to join His work in and through Covenant. Thank you, Lord! Read more »