the Logos

If you have completed the book Radical , then you will know that there is a year long radical experiment discussed at the end. Mt. Zion will be doing this radical experiment during 2011. There are five parts to the experiment: 1) Pray for the entire world. Pray for specific needs among the nations. We will be using Operation World as our prayer guide to pray for every nation. 2) Read through the entire Word. Get through the entirety of Scripture in one year. We recommend the following reading plan to take us from Genesis to Revelation: Canonical Reading Plan . 3) Sacrifice money for a specific purpose. We should put a cap on our spending so that we can give more. Give to the church for ministry, give more to love offering, give toward mission trips, etc. 4) Spend time in another context. Whether it's overseas for a short term mission trip or the soup kitchen downtown, we must go and be with people who aren't like us. We are planning two mission trips during 2011: Ec...

Download now or watch on posterous Radical Christmas.wmv (4489 KB) For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this. Isaiah 9:6-7 (ESV) Posted via email from willieharris's posterous

The day after Christmas is the time that many people take back gifts to return or exchange. But when you exchange a gift, you can only exchange it for something of equal or lesser value. You can't take those ugly socks and exchange them for a flat screen TV (now that would be nice)! But when Jesus went to the cross, the most amazing thing happened. There was a great exchange. At the cross, the exchange was in our favor! Jesus took our sins and gave us forgiveness! Jesus took our death and gave us life! Jesus took God's wrath for us and gave us peace! Jesus took our sinfulness and gave us His holiness! Jesus took our hatred and rebellion towards Him and gave us His love! Jesus took our stony hearts and gave us a regenerated heart of flesh! Jesus took our old life and gave us a new life! So don't let Christmas be merely about exchanging gifts, but place your trust in Christ whose exchange at the cross was a glorious work on our behalf to grant us eternal life!

Just a reminder, there is no Wednesday evening & Thursday morning Bible Studies for 2 weeks. This will give our teachers a break to spend more time with family during the holidays. Bible Study will start back up in January. Starting in January, we are having the Family Power Hour (Sunday School for families). It will be held on 2nd and 4th Sundays. Families of all sizes are welcome. Don't forget to pick up copies of The Story at the Welcome Center to give to family and friends during the Christmas holiday. Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas!

Did you know that you can "feel the power of the Word" while doing ordinary things? Have you ever wondered what could make Sunday School more fun? Did you know you can have get the Word, have quality family time, AND have fun? Well you can! Mt. Zion Church will wow you with the FAMILY POWER HOUR on the 2nd and 4th Sundays beginning January 2011. Come and explore God's Word as a family! See you there!

As always, Christ First Christian Fellowship Center put on an excellent Christmas program called "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year". One part of the program that I particularly enjoyed was a selection that showcased great diversity (including an Indian dance and someone signing for the deaf). Wonderful job, Christ First...keep up the great work! In January, our next Bible Study series will be based on "Radical". Make sure you pick up the book and read. Please register online to help us plan with materials. The deadline to sign up is December 18th. Thanks to all who gave generously to help the family in need. You gave enough to take care of getting the power turned on in their home.

Pastor Larry Snead and Christ First Christian Fellowship Center invites us to their 3rd annual Christmas program, "Most Wonderful Time of the Year" on next Sunday, December 12th, at 6:00pm. Unfortunately due to a lack of participation, we are canceling our Christmas Play (scheduled for this Saturday). But we are still going out that evening to sing Christmas carols at the area nursing homes. So meet us at the church at 6:30pm on Saturday, 12/11 and help us spread the love and majesty of Christ to our neighbors at the nursing homes. As Christmas is approaching, let's not try to live above our means but be good stewards over our money in a way that honors God. By not going into debt buying stuff we can't afford or don't really need, we can be more generous to give to the ministry and to those in need. So what kind of giver are you? We have a humorous video (see below) in the announcement but it contains a lot of truth. So carefully give some thoughts to whether...

Youth & College students: the next Ignite Rally is this Saturday, 12/4 at 6pm at Cary Church of God . The Ignite Conference will be a powerful time of worship and preaching. So bring a friend. To all members who live in ZONE 4, thanks for staying after the service today to meet your Deacons and learning how we can serve each other within the body of our church family. This is the first Sunday of the Advent season. Advent, which means "Coming", is the time to celebrate the first coming of Christ (His birth) as we also prepare for His Second Coming. Again, I remind everyone to not let the Christmas holiday be about excess consumerism but a time of rejoicing in the gift of God's Son and sharing that gift to family and friends.

We had a full schedule today. At 2pm, Mt. Zion is ministered at Chatham Commons nursing home. At 5pm, we are joined with Grace Bible Fellowship for a Thanksgiving Celebration. I had a great time speaking on the topic "A Pilgrim's Faith" from Hebrews 11:8-16 . We thank Grace Bible Fellowship for the great food and hospitality. We look forward to more fellowship in the future. We have a great outreach tool available called The Story . This little booklet is a great way to share the wonderful Good News of God's redemptive story. Pick up copies at the Welcome Center to share with family and friends during the holiday season.

Reminder: Our church family is reading "Radical" by David Platt before the end of the year. Also, I encourage and challenge our youth to read it as well. Also, a reminder to those who are sponsoring an orphan in Uganda: when sending your money, please indicate the child you are sponsoring. Make sure you read over all of the info you received in your information packet if you have any further questions. Next Sunday, Mt. Zion will be having a joint Thanksgiving service with our neighbor, Grace Bible Fellowship . I will be speaking and the Everready Gospel Choir will be singing. Service starts at 5:00pm followed by a time of food and fellowship. Everyone is invited to join the celebration.

Thanks to all parents and teachers who attended the DiscipleLand workshop. Parents that missed Friday's workshop really missed out on a lot of great info. I'll try to get some of that info to you via our parents mailing list. You can subscribe to the parents mailing list by sending email to parents-subscribe@mtzionmb.org. Please pray for Haiti and India. Haiti is being hit by Hurricane Tomas while Evangelist Sukumar reports a cyclone is devastating parts of India. At the end of this year, Sis. Phyllis Lewis will end her tenure as Director of the Children's Ministry. She will transition to working with the Youth Ministry. Sis. Daureen Richards will take over as director. We want to thank Sis. Lewis for 20 years of devotion and dedication to teaching and training children.

"Do you believe that Jesus is worth abandoning everything for?" I'm asking that all of our Mt. Zion church family read the book Radical before the end of the year. This book will convict, challenge, and prayerfully move all of us into radical obedience to the Gospel. "In Radical, David Platt invites you to encounter what Jesus actually said about being his disciple, and then obey what you have heard. He challenges you to consider with an open heart how we have manipulated a God-centered gospel to fit our human-centered preferences. With passionate storytelling and convicting biblical analysis, Platt calls into question a host of comfortable notions that are common among Christ's followers today. Then he proposes a radical response: live the gospel in ways that are true, filled with promise, and ultimately world changing." (Click here if you can't see the video) Order your copy of Radical today!

If you missed the Church Family Meeting, check out my entry about our model for ministry (which is Discipleship). Also, I'm asking the entire church to read the book, "Radical" by David Platt. This book will definitely challenge you but will transform your thinking and deepen your faith. We are hosting a DiscipleLand Workshop for parents on this Friday from 6 to 8:30pm and for teachers on Saturday at 9am to 12pm. For Friday's workshop, child care for ages 12 and younger will be provided and refreshments will be served from 5 to 6pm. Dick Crider from DiscipleLand will be our guest speaker so we're asking all parents and teachers to participate. We don't want Mr. Crider to come all the way from Texas and only a few people show up. Also, let's show our children that we care about their spiritual development. Today is Halloween. I'm actually actually that it's on Sunday this year because that's the day we celebrate the fact that Jesu...

Research has shown that the USA is the third largest country of lost people (behind China and India). This statistic is so surprising to me since we have freedom of religion and a large percentage of Americans call themselves Christians. I believe the reason for this is a lack of discipleship in the church. Making disciples is the primary mission of the church. Historically, Mt. Zion has always been good at solid Christian education and encouraging one another through fellowship. But as we face limited funds and the need for more volunteers, there is a need to refocus to make sure that we are accomplishing the mission that Christ gave us. Our vision and purpose continues to be "Worshiping Christ by Spreading the Gospel and Serving the Community". But we realize that the best way to do that is to make disciples. So we have developed the following "Discipleship Model" to show how we are going to accomplish that mission. This will be our philosophy for minist...

I hope everyone who attended the Dave Ramsey Live event on Saturday enjoyed it. We will host a Financial Peace University (FPU) class starting on 11/13. There will be a sign up table in the hall each Sunday from now until 11/7 for anyone who would like to sign up or request more information. Thanks to everyone who helped us spread the Gospel to our community. We ministered at Cary Health & Rehab Center on Sunday afternoon. I know that the residents were encouraged by the worship and the Word of God. Another reminder of our Church Family Meeting on 10/25. I will be sharing our model for ministry. You don't want to miss it.

Reminder: Dave Ramsey Live event is on 10/16. His financial advice based on Biblical principles is great. You can purchase tickets through the church for only $25. Bro. Daryl Cody delivered his Initial Sermon today at 4pm. Thanks to all who came out to support him. Please keep Minister Cody in your prayers as he starts his ministry of preaching God's Word.

I'm pleased to announce that Deacon Daryl Cody will deliver his Initial Sermon on next Sunday, October 10th, at 4:00pm. Everyone is invited to join us for this special occasion. This is an early reminder for our last Church Family Meeting of the year on 10/25. Don't miss it as we'll talk about a refinement to our ministry focus, exciting changes for Sunday School, & Children's Ministry update. Big thanks to everyone for their support of our BBQ Cook-off & Bake-off fundraiser and Blood drive. We exceed our goal for the blood drive. The goal was 30 and we had 35 to donate blood! There was a lot of smack talk from the participants so here are the winners with bragging rights (at least for this year).... For the BBQ cook-off winners: First Place: Ivan Porter Second Place: Staci Issac and Gerald Vincent. Bake-off winners: First Place: Karen Gray (Dreamsickle Cake) & LaDonna Bethea (Honey Bun Cake) Second Place: Cecilee Steinmetz (Gluten-free Peanut Butter Cup...

I want to thank our church family for coming together with the other churches to assemble the AIDS Caregiver Kits. We thank our fellow churches for partnering with us: First United Methodist (Assoc. Pastor Rick Wilkerson) Faith Community Church (Pastor Gyasi Patterson) Mt. Pleasant Worship & Outreach Center (Rev. Lynwood Swan) Christ First Christian Fellowship Center (Pastor Larry Snead) New Destiny (Pastor Maurice Wright) Working together we put together enough kits to equip 42 caregivers with a year's supply to care for AIDS victims. Also thanks to the Children's Ministry who helped in advance by writing cards to the caregivers so that we could put extra cards in the kits. For those of you that are sponsoring an orphan from Uganda, you should have received a letter detailing how to send money, letters, cards, etc. Please review the information and if you have any additional questions, contact the Outreach Ministry . Our vision is to spread the Gospel and serve our ...

Join us for a BBQ Cook Off and Bake Off Fundraiser. There will also be plenty of games, food, fun and fellowship! The American Red Cross will be on site (9:30am - 2pm) conducting a Blood Drive during this event. Come out and show your support! Help us raise funds for a church van to accomplish our vision of going out into the community to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ . For general information or contest entry rules and fees, email marketing@mtzionmb.org or call 919-469-5323. To schedule an appointment for the blood drive, go to www.redcrossblood.org and click on "seach by sponsor code". Enter 15848 and select the time you would like to give blood. Posted via email from willieharris's posterous

Great opportunity to spread the Gospel today. Mt. Zion ministered at Phoenix Assisted Care today at 2pm. Phoenix Assisted Care is located on West High Street (off of Cary Parkway) across from Westwood Baptist Church. On Oct. 2, join us for a BBQ Cook Off and Bake Off Fundraiser. There will also be plenty of games, food, fun and fellowship! The American Red Cross will be on site conducting a Blood Drive during this event. Come out and show your support! For general information or contest entry rules and fees, email marketing@mtzionmb.org or call the church office.

Dave Ramsey is coming to Raleigh for a live event on 10/16 at the RBC Center. Since, FPU is a good follow-up to the live event, we are going to postpone our FPU class to start after the live event. We will have tickets available at a reduced price for the live event. Stay tuned for more details. Registration for the Truth Project small groups in Cary/Apex and at the church are now closed. There is still space at the Raleigh small group that starts on Friday, 9/17. You can sign up here . The AIDS Caregiver Kit Assembly event is this Saturday, 9/18 from 10am to 2pm. Everyone is invited to join us along with other churches that we are partnering with for this event. Let's impact the world by helping to equip those who care for AIDS victims with much needed supplies.

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If you want to check out some of the content for Financial Peace University (FPU) , we will have another free preview on 9/8 at 6:00pm. Truth Project is starting this week (beginning Friday)! It is a great course that will transform your thinking. We have 3 small groups: Cary/Apex, Raleigh, and the church. Sign up for one today. Back 2 School Jam is this Friday with special musical guest, Leviticus !

Financial Peace University (FPU) is a great course to learn biblical principles to break free from the bondage of debt. If you are interested in learning more about the class content, check out our free preview dates on 9/1 & 9/8 at 6:00pm. Classes are scheduled for Tuesdays, September 14th to December 7th. From the last class we hosted, we started the course with about $500 K worth of debt and after 13 weeks, reduced it by $200 K! It's definitely a worthwhile program. Registration for this round of Truth Project is now open. The Truth Project is a 13 week, DVD-based, small group curriculum that will help you develop a biblical worldview. Register TODAY. Mt. Zion is partnering with Churches Helping Churches to rebuild churches in Haiti. On 3/31, we watched a message from Pastor Mark Driscoll after a trip to Haiti right after the earthquake. This Wednesday, we'll watch a message from Pastor James MacDonald. He'll preach from Revelation 6 and relate it to h...

As announced at our last Church Family Meeting, we are changing our shepherding modeling from last names to zones. Beginning in August, we will transition to Shepherding Zones. There will be 4 zones and each member is assigned to a zone based on your zip code. Each zone has a team of deacons and ministers assigned to care for the members. You can determine which zone you are in by looking under the Shepherding Ministry section on our Contacts page. Here are some benefits we see in moving to zones... 1. The zones will allow us to connect Family C.A.R.E and access to the members with visits, calls, emails, fellowships, and study groups. 2. This will allow gifts, skills, and resources within the zone to be utilized within the church and zone. 3. Quicker response to members since deacons live in the same zone as the members. 4. One on one contact will still be available between member and deacon. 5. Deacons will research to find Christian and non-profit organizations that can assist...

Bro. Kevin Coppage will give his Initial Sermon on next Sunday (8/22) at 4:00pm. Everyone is invited to join us for this special occasion. As announced at our last Church Family Meeting, we are changing our shepherding modeling from last names to zones. There are 4 zones and each member is assigned to a zone based on your zip code. Each zone has a team of deacons and ministers assigned to care for the members. I will blog more about the new shepherding zones this week.

We have many new members who have not finished the New Member Orientation for various reasons. Join us on this Saturday, August 7th, and take the entire course at one time. Class will run from 8:00am-11:30am with breakfast provided. Space is limited so sign up on at the kiosk next to the Welcome Center or online . Contact Deaconess LaDonna Bethea for more details. I'm happy to announce that we have sponsorships for all 22 orphans from Uganda. Thanks to all the families for stepping up to sponsor these children. Copies of the child's picture and bio and further instructions on payment method, when to start payments, etc. will be given to everyone shortly.

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Our next Church Family Meeting is Monday at 7:00pm. All members are asked to be present. We will be presenting a new way of doing our shepherding ministry instead of by alphabet (I will blog about this later). Outreach Caregiver event is Saturday Sept 18th from 10am-2pm. Kits will contain items (flashlight, washcloths, petroleum jelly, etc) for those that help care for dying aids patients. Many of these kits will be shipped to 3rd world countries, but will be used all over the world where aids assistance is needed. We got new info about the kit assembly. For every 1 kit assembled in a hard orange case, there will be 4 kits assembled in drawstring backpacks. We are ordering 210 Caregiver Kits, so we would assemble 42 hard case kits and 68 drawstring kits, thus equipping 42 Caregivers for an entire year! Also, our church family is being asked to seek God about sponsoring a child in Uganda (where there is an orphanage under Pastor John's ministry) whose parents have died of AIDS. ...

Because the Gospel has so impacted our lives, we are compelled to spread this message both near and far. Our desire is to see the Gospel expressed in practical ways. This year's theme is "Impact the World". So on September 18, we will have several area churches partner with us for an Outreach Caregiver event from 10am-2pm where we will assemble caregiver kits. These kits will contain items for those that help care for dying AIDS patients. Kits contain items such as a flashlight, washcloths, a tablet of paper and pens, petroleum jelly, etc. Many of these kits will be shipped to third world countries, but will be used all over the world where AIDS assistance is needed. In conjunction with this event, Pastor John's (from Uganda) orphanage cares for children whose parents have died from AIDS. Our church family is being asked to seek God about sponsoring a child in Uganda at the orphanage. To read about the children, see their picture, and sign up for sponsorship,...

Dads, how is the summer reading plan going? For those who missed it, we are reading through the Gospel of John with our kids. If you have small children like me (or even teenagers), I want to offer you this encouragement: even if your kids don't seem to understand or want to pay attention, keep reading God's Word to them. Romans 10:17 (NLT): "So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ." So let's keep reading the Good News about Christ as it is revealed by John and pray for the development of faith in our children.

The next Adult Bible Study series, "The Kingdom and Our Culture" will begin on Wednesday, July 7th, at 7:00pm. Please join us for this new series. The next "How to Study the Bible" class will begin on Wednesday, July 7th, at 7:00pm. NEW MEMBERS: You are the guests of honor at our next Pastor's Tea scheduled for Friday, July 9th, at 7pm. If you joined anytime in the last year, please join us for an evening of fellowship and fun! Please sign up at the Welcome Center. The Mt. Zion Church family is invited to join Little Zion Missionary Baptist Church (Youngsville, NC) in celebrating the 10th Anniversary of their pastor, Rev. Patrick Clay on Sun. July 11th, at 4:00pm.

This Sunday, we are starting a series called Gospel-Centered Marriages. Whether you are married, separated, single, or thinking of getting married in the future, you will not want to miss this 3 week series. Join us and bring a friend. Posted via email from willieharris's posterous

My wife will be one of various guest speakers giving a short talk at Philippian Community Church's 2nd Annual Women's Conference, a "Boundless Love" Women's Worship Service, on Tuesday, July 6th, at 6:30pm. The event is free and men are invited to attend as well. In 2 weeks, I'm starting a series called Gospel-Centered Marriages. Whether you are married, separated, single, or thinking of getting married in the future, you will not want to miss this series. Join us and bring a friend. Due to the July 4th holiday, we will have communion on the second Sunday in July (7/11). Also, my family and I will be out on vacation next Sunday. Please pray for our safety and traveling mercies.

Happy Father's Day to all dads. We are so grateful to have a great number of fathers at Mt. Zion who lead their families. For some, Father's Day can be an awful reminder of a bad father. But don't let the failings of an earthly, sinful man distract you from the fact that you have a Heavenly Father that will never leave you nor forsake you! I'm issuing the Father's Summer Challenge . The "How to Study the Bible" class is being offered again starting on 7/7. Make sure you sign up & attend. There is limited space in the class. We had a report by the Ignite Youth Ministry for the recent outreach to the Oxford Children's Home. I want to thank all the teens and youth directors for their outreach to Oxford and everyone at Mt. Zion who gave towards the supplies we donated.

Fathers, as prophet of our homes, we should be bringing the Word of God to our families. Join me in redeeming this summer by reading through the Gospel of John with our children. If you have really small children, you can read to them, but if you have older children, they can read it with you. Then spend some time discussing what you read. The point is to spend quality time with your children and Jesus as He is revealed in John's Gospel. Here's the Gospel of John summer reading plan... Week of 6/20: Chapters 1, 2 Week of 6/27: Chapters 3, 4 Week of 7/4: Chapters 5, 6 Week of 7/11: Chapters 7, 8 Week of 7/18: Chapters 9, 10 Week of 7/25: Chapters 11, 12 Week of 8/1: Chapters 13, 14 Week of 8/8: Chapters 15, 16 Week of 8/15: Chapters 17, 18 Week of 8/22: Chapters 19, 20, 21

I wanted to provide a quick update on last week's message ( Rediscover the Book ) where I gave a brief history of the church (regarding Martin Luther & the Protestant Reformation). It was confirmed to me that Catholic Church no longer practices the selling of Indulgences I also don't want us to appear to be anti-Catholic or assume everyone who is Catholic is not saved. There is Catholic Theology I believe is contrary to God's Word. But there is also theology that comes from other Protestant churches that are contrary to God's Word. We would do well to study & follow the Scriptures and not demonize a particular church or denomination. Mt. Zion ministered at the Phoenix Assisted Care this afternoon. The Men's & Women's Ministries accompanied Elder Wilbur Lucas as speaker and the J.A. Lewis & Youth Combined Choirs rendered the music. Mt. Zion once again will partner with " With Love From Jesus Ministry " on Saturday, June 19 from 9:00am t...

This afternoon, I spoke at Scott's Grove (on Hwy 55) for their Pastor's Aide Service. My message was from Titus 3:1-8, "Be Ready for Every Good Work". Good works flow from our salvation. God saved us because of His mercy alone and not because we deserved it. Good works manifest themselves from a proper understanding of the Gospel. Congrats to Christ First Christian Fellowship Center and Pastor Larry Snead for their 2nd Church and Pastoral Anniversary. My wife and I are opening up our home to fellowship with our church family. We will do this monthly until we have invited all of our members. We had our first fellowship on yesterday and had a great time. We hope this will allow you to get to know my family & I better as well as meet other members. Please make sure your address and contact info is up-to-date with the church because we don't want to miss anybody. We look forward to fellowshipping with all of you. Next Sunday is our annual Children'...

Memorial Day is the recognition of those who have died in service to this country. So as you enjoy a day off from work with food, friends, and family, please take some time to pray for those families who have lost loved ones. Today is the last day to participate in our Sunday School survey. Please help us with your input. Take the survey online or at the Welcome Center. VBS will be starting this week on Wednesday. Make sure you registered and come out for food, fellowship, and the Word. I will be speaking at Scott's Grove Holiness Church (Hwy 55) for their Pastor's Aide Service on next Sunday, June 6th, at 4:00pm. Everyone is invited to attend. Christ First Christian Fellowship Center invites everyone to the 2nd Pastoral Anniversary Celebration of Dr. Larry D. Snead with special guest, Pastor Maurice Wright (New Destiny) on next Sunday at 4:00pm.

Thanks to everyone who traveled with us to Lovingston Baptist Church in VA. And thanks for all who prayed for us. We had a great time helping Pastor Austin to celebrate his 27th Pastoral Anniversary. Reminder: the deadline to apply for The J. Allen Lewis Memorial Scholarship is May 30th. All 2010 seniors are invited to submit the application for consideration. Don't forget to register for VBS (which is every Wednesday in June). It will be the same content but spread out weekly over the month. Thanks to everyone who gave generously in today's love offering. The love offering will go towards the Oxford Children "Totes 4 Teens" project. I got the ESV Study Bible for my birthday and I love it! I highly recommend it. The study materials are phenomenal!

Women of Worship: Here are the locations & times for the remainder of your 6-week study on Patience: Mondays at 6:30 at Mt. Zion , Wednesdays at 11 am at 211 Cole Valley Drive in Cary, & Saturdays at 8 am at Mt. Zion. We need your input: Please take the current survey regarding Sunday School. You can take it online or pick one up at the Welcome Center. The deadline to complete the survey is 5/30. On 5/22, I will be speaking at Lovingston Baptist Church (in Madison Heights, VA) for their Pastor's 25th Anniversary at 4:00pm. All that can come are invited to join us. And your prayers are greatly appreciated. The Ignite Youth Ministry will be hosting a community outreach project to raise funds to purchase much-needed items for the Oxford Children's Home . Oxford's Children Home is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit residential home which exists to care for disadvantaged and neglected children. Children in the residential care program live in a family setting and receive qua...

Happy Mother's Day. Moms, we honor you! Often, you may feel insignificant and neglected, but I want you to know that your influence is great. A South African proverb says, "The hand that rocks the cradle rules the nation and its destiny". The Couple's and Fine Arts Ministries will be presenting a stage play entitled "What's Love Got to Do with It? ... Everything!" on Saturday, May 15th, from 4:00pm to 6:00pm. Everyone is invited to attend and bring a friend. Admission is FREE. On 5/22, I will be speaking at Lovingston Baptist Church in Madison Heights, VA for their Pastor's 25th Anniversary at 4:00pm. All that can come are invited to join us. VBS is coming in June. We are trying something different this year: instead of 5 nights in 1 week, we'll have 5 nights over a month (every Wed. in June). Registration starts next Sunday.

The king was recognized as the ruler who had authority. It was his responsibility to govern the people and lead them into battle. A godly king recognized that he is merely a steward to rule and protect the domain that God has placed him over. A king can become arrogant and full of pride as King Saul did, when we forget that all that we have is given by God and really belongs to Him. When we forget this, it's easy for men to get prideful and self-reliant. Many of us are blessed because we are married to beautiful women who put up with us, have children, have a good job, bring home a decent paycheck, have a nice home, drive a nice car, etc. We can look at our entire "domain" and begin to credit ourselves with all that we have done. Remember, it is God who gives us the power to be successful! 1 Corinthians 11:3 (ESV): But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God. Men are leader...

Whereas the prophet speaks on behalf of God to people, the priest speaks on behalf of people to God. The priest is appointed by God to represent men before God. In one sense, he served as a mediator between men and God. The priest represents man in the things of God. He leads the people to make gifts or offerings to the Lord. He leads men in prayer, worship, righteousness, morality, witnessing, and in the study of spiritual things. All too often, it is women who lead the families and churches in prayer, worship, witnessing, righteousness, and Bible study. This should not be the case! Men, we are to lead and represent our families and churches before God in prayer, worship, and spiritual study! Men should offer up prayers to God on behalf of people. Men are to be intercessors. We must pray for others. We must pray for our wives, children, siblings, parents, church, neighbors, co-workers, the unsaved, etc. We are to bring the needs of the people before God. Inter...

Often, we simply think of a prophet as one who foretells the future. But a prophet is also one who forth tells: brings forth the truth of God's Word. A prophet is to speak to people on behalf of God. He does not come with his own message but he speaks whatever God has commanded him. Men must proclaim the Word of God to their wives, children, brothers, sisters, parents, friends, co-workers, neighbors, and people in the church. This presumes that before men can speak the truth of God's Word to others that they know the truth of God's Word for themselves. Men cannot function in their role as prophet if they do not study to understand the Word of God. For all husbands and fathers (and those desiring to be), you are the prophet of your family. You are to be the primary teacher of God's Word in your home. Another duty of the prophet is to point out and identify sin. Men must boldly declare and identify sin (especially in our families and churches). Too many men ...

As a community of faith, let us continue to pray for one another especially those who are sick and experiencing bereavement. We have had several members who have lost their mothers recently. You can check our Family CARE page to find the name of those to pray for. Another opportunity to spread the Gospel & Serve the Community: Mt. Zion will minister at Cary Commons (Chatham St.) on Sunday, May 16th, at 2:00pm. We need Mini Faith in Action volunteers to clean & dust railings inside the nursing home during the time of the service. Supplies will be provided by the nursing home but you may also bring your own. Please sign up at the Welcome Center. We just wrapped up part 1 of the "Sharing the Faith" Bible Study series. We're starting a new series, "Lies That Go Unchallenged" this Wednesday at 7:00pm. Please join us.

There are 11-13 million more Christian women than Christian men. 60% of Christians are female. While I love my Christian sisters, where are the men? Where are the men who lead their families and lead in the church? I fear we will end up with a feminized church and generations of boys and young men who will equate Jesus to be nothing more than a breaded, effeminate man in a dress! But that's not the picture of Jesus we see in the Scripture. Jesus is a strong man. Yes, He showed emotion when He wept over the death of His friend but He always spoke with authority when He taught, regularly rebuked the Pharisees and the self-righteous, and even threw money changers out of the Temple. Jesus clearly demonstrated that He is Prophet, Priest, and King. So we need men who love Jesus! Jesus chooses messed up, ordinary men, and saves us! We need godly, bold, gifted, competent men to lead families, communities, and the church. This week I will blog more on man's role as prophet, pr...

Don't forget that our Church Family Meeting is tomorrow (Monday) at 7:00pm. All members are asked to be present. Mt. Zion, along with a few other local churches, has adopted West Cary Middle. They are asking for our help with proctoring End-of-Grade (EOG) exams. In the first 3 days of the EOGs, they need 65 proctors each day. If you are interested, pick up a flyer with details at the Welcome Center or email me and I'll send you the flyer. We had a special guest with us today, Pastor John from Uganda. He shared with us about his ministry in Africa: 1. Church Planting (By His Grace we have planted 5 Bush Churches which are growing rapidly spiritually and numerically.We have answered The Great Commission Call and continue planting more Matthew 28:19,20 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations,baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you: lo, I am with you always...

We had great Men's Conference this year! Wives don't be surprised if your husband starts acting more like a prophet, acting priestly, and kingly. Mt. Zion ministered at Cary Health & Rehab Center on Sunday afternoon. In addition, Mini Faith in Action volunteers worked outside in planting and gardening while the service took place inside. I will be speaking at New Destiny Christian Fellowship (in Raleigh) on this Thursday at 7:30pm. Everyone is invited to join us in celebrating their 6th Anniversary. Click through to the blog post if you can't see this video. We are going to donate 10% of our yearly love offering to Churches Helping Churches to help rebuild churches in Haiti. Please give generously to the love offering. Consider how you can sacrifice to give more to the love offering.

"So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith." - Galatians 6:10 The earthquake in Haiti has devastated and destroyed their churches. Pastors Mark Driscoll and James MacDonald took a fact-finding trip to Haiti to get the story of the churches. They returned and preached a message to their respective churches reporting about the death and devastation that they saw. We watched Pastor Driscoll's message on 3/31. If you missed it, you can watch it here. Click through to the blog post if you can't see this video. We plan to watch Pastor MacDonald's message on 9/1. Driscoll and MacDonald formed the organization, Churches Helping Churches . Mt. Zion will be joining these churches across the country to help rebuild churches in Haiti. We will donate 10% of our yearly love offering to Churches Helping Churches. We are asking that you give generously to the love offering. Consider giving m...

Men, don't forget to register for the Men's Conference happening this week, Thursday & Friday (6:30pm-9:00pm) and Saturday (8:00am-12:00pm). The theme is "Prophets, Priests, and Kings." I have the pleasure of being the speaker for the three days of the conference. The cost is $25. All men are invited to participate. Mt. Zion will minister at Cary Health & Rehab Center on next Sunday, April 18th, at 2pm. In addition, volunteers (for a mini-Faith in Action) are needed to work outside in planting and gardening during the time of the service. Volunteers are asked to sign up at the Welcome Center. Bring your gloves, gardening tools, etc. Please note: we only have one hour, so the volunteers that work outside will need to keep time because we'll need to get there ahead of time and be ready to work on time so that when the inside service is finished, we can all leave together. Accompanied by the Male Choir, I will be guest speaker at New Destiny Christ...

The Lenten season and its encouragement to take an extended time to focus on the death and resurrection of Christ provides us with an opportunity to honor God as we prepare for Easter Sunday. Another way to consider the value of recognizing Lent is to consider the ways you currently prepare for Easter Sunday. New clothes for the kids? A flower for mom? A roast for the oven? Candy for baskets? Now, consider if there might be a better and more beneficial way to think about the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

"And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you." Matthew 6:16-18 (ESV) Fasting has great spiritual value, but some hypocrites, such as the Pharisees, had turned it into a way to gain public approval. During a fast, they made themselves look pale and disheveled so people would notice and admire them. The Pharisees negated the purpose of their fasting by making sure others knew that they were fasting. Public recognition would be their only reward. When you fast, Jesus said, go about your normal daily routine; don't make a show of it. Then no one but God will suspect you are fasting. Jesus commended acts of self-sacrifice done quietly and sinc...

We are invited to Christ First Christian Fellowship Center's 2nd Annual Easter Musical, "At the Foot of the Cross," this evening at 6:00pm. We are having an Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday at 1pm. Join us for the fun and fellowship. Next Sunday, we have our Sunrise Easter Celebration at 6am. That will be our only service. We will not have Children's Church so all families can worship together. We will celebrate Communion and have breakfast right after the service. Invite your family and friends to come and spend Easter with us. Don't forget to join us at Bible Study this Wednesday where we'll watch a message regarding helping Haitian churches and explain how we will be helping. The video is a little over an hour long so we'll start promptly at 7pm. Click through to the blog post if you can't see this video. We're having a big Tailgate Party on October 2nd. During this event the Red Cross will be on site taking blood donations for the local ...

Our visit to Phoenix Assisted Care today was canceled due to sickness among the residents and the staff. The staff has asked that we pray for them. Don't forget that we will have only 1 service on Easter at sunrise. Following the service we will celebrate community by having breakfast together. Please invite family & friends to spend Easter with us. Mt. Zion will be joining churches across the country to help rebuild churches in Haiti. Join us at Bible Study on Wednesday, 3/31 where we'll watch a message regarding rebuilding Haitian churches and explain how we will be helping.

Often the money that is saved from giving up something for Lent can be given to help the poor and oppressed (giving of alms). As we fast, we are reminded that we have a Savior who is rich in mercy. In response to this mercy, we follow the pattern set by the One who became poor for our sake, so that we, by his poverty, could become rich. 2 Corinthians 8:9 (ESV): "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich." As we give of our resources (time and treasure) to those in need, we remind ourselves of Jesus' self-giving mercy and we demonstrate to those in need the kind of Savior we serve.

The controversy over Bishop TD Jakes is whether he denies the Trinitarian nature of God (that God exists in three distinct persons: the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit). Jakes appears to be a Oneness Pentecostal (or Modalist). Oneness Pentecostals deny traditional Trinitarian doctrine, while affirming their belief that God took on flesh in the man Jesus Christ. Like Trinitarians, Oneness adherents believe that Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man. However, whereas Trinitarians believe that "God the Son" (a being whose existence is denied in Oneness theology), the eternal second person of the Trinity, became man, Oneness adherents hold that the one and only true God—who manifests Himself in any way He chooses, including as Father, Son and Holy Spirit—became man. Oneness believers view "Father", "Son", and "Holy Spirit" as titles, reflecting different manifestations of the one true God in the universe. Oneness Pentecostals are regarded by ...

Where are the men who are not ashamed to proclaim the Gospel in front of millions?! This is a great response from Steve Lawson on the uncertainty of Joel Osteen. Here's the referenced Larry King interview:

We are extremely proud of some of our youth who attended a purity conference called Silver Ring Thing and committed to abstain from sex until marriage. Let us as a church family continue to encourage them as they face great pressure from the culture to have premarital sex. For Easter this year, we want to do something special. We will have only 1 service at sunrise (6am). We will celebrate Communion as a family and following the service we will celebrate community by having breakfast together. Invite family and friends to spend Easter with us.

The following comes from "Why Bother with Lent?" by Elliot Grudem & Bruce Benedict Fasting and prayer are two traditional focuses of Lent. Fasting, joined with fervent prayer and reading of Scriptures, is a spiritual discipline of humbling ourselves in abstinence before God to turn away some tragedy, or for obtaining of some special blessing. Fasting is traditionally the act of willingly abstaining from some or all food, drink, or both, for a limited time. Some people give up a certain behavior or habits during the season. We fast (not just during Lent) because Jesus told us to do so (Matt. 6:16, Mark 2:20). We fast because we continue to see the pattern of fasting practiced in the church (Acts 13, for example). We fast because it is one of the means God uses to break the power of sin in our lives, prepare us well for prayer, and humble us before him (for unlike God, we need food to live). The act of self-denial can be a helpful tool in your Christian growth. There is n...

Just a couple of items... Don't forget our Drive for Change to raise funds for the purchase of our church van. We are also actively seeking volunteers to provide transportation for those who are without transportation on Sundays. Anyone interested in working in this ministry is asked to please contact the church office. Ladies: The Women of Worship is having the 'Sweet Life Cafe' conference on Saturday, March 27. Conference cost is $40. Stop by the registration table today to sign up and make a deposit.

As adults, we get pretty excited about a lot of things. Some get excited about new cars, homes, clothes, etc. Personally, I get excited about computers, gadgets, turtles (the candy not the animal), and chocolate cake! But do we get excited about sharing the Gospel to others? Here's a wonderful story from one of the parents at my church about the excitement her son had to share the Gospel with a classmate... When I picked up Dominic last week from school he was running down the sidewalk as fast as could to get to me. Out of breath, he says with great excitement, "I had the best day ever at school, Mama!" I ask why and he proceeds to tell me that he and his friend got to share the Gospel with another classmate on the playground. They talked about Jesus and what Christmas is really all about, Passover, Easter and "on and on" he tells me. Then he says to me "Mama, I don't know if he believed me or not but I'm excited I was able to plant the seed!...

Our Truth Project small groups start this week. Remember if you can't attend the group that you registered for during any given week, you can attend another group so you don't miss any lessons. I'm really looking forward to my small group. If you are not able to participate this time, there will be more small groups starting in the Fall. Don't forget if you need prayer and can't come or don't want to come during the altar call, you can get prayer on Tuesdays during our Prayer Meeting between 6 and 8pm. Someone from our Deliverance Ministry will be glad to pray with you. Starting next Sunday, I'm starting a sermon series entitled "Makarios". This is the Greek word for "Blessed". We will look at how Jesus defines being blessed which may challenge most of our thinking regarding this topic. Join us for this exciting series and bring a friend to church with you.

This is last week to drop off your donations for Haiti. After this week, we will take our donations to Cary Church of God who is serving as an authorized Haiti Relief Donation Center for Eastern North Carolina. Flyers are available at the Welcome Center with the list of needed supplies . During Lent, I will be sharing information on fasting and prayer on this blog. These posts will also show up on Facebook as Notes. But I know some of you are fasting from Facebook, so I encourage everyone to subscribe to my blog. I'll send info on how to subscribe to my blog to the church's mailinglist. You can subscribe to the mailinglist by sending an email to mailinglist-subscribe@mtzionmb.org. We are waiting on our new giving envelopes (with our new logo) so we have some temporary ones. Please write in the category and amount of your contributions.

Our 2010 Adult Christian Education Curriculum is available (download from website & we'll post on church bulletin board). New classes will be offered like "Defending Your Faith" (currently started) and "How to Study the Bible" (starting in March). Take advantage of these new course offerings to continue in your spiritual growth. This Wednesday is Ash Wednesday which begins the Lent season. Immediately after Wednesday Bible Study, we will anoint with ashes. I'm calling for a church-wide fast for Lent. Prayerfully consider doing one of the three types of fasts . During this fast, there are three areas that you can pray for: Repentance (confess & repent of the sinful areas in your life: pride, apathy, selfishness, etc) Haiti (especially during the rainy season that is about to start) God's will regarding the sell of our old church property Next Sunday during our worship service, we will have our Gift of Heritage program to celebrate Black His...

The Couples Ministry is partnering with The Flower Shuttle . This ministry reuses & repackages flowers left over from events to deliver to hospice, nursing homes, hospitals, meals on wheels, etc. We can help by donating mugs, small vases, and flower pots. The Couples Ministry will set up a table in the front near the welcome center to collect these items. There's another opportunity to help Haiti. The Cary Church of God is serving as an authorized Operation Compassion Haiti Relief Donation Center for Eastern North Carolina. They will be receiving materials until 2/28. Starting this week we'll be collecting donations to drop off at Cary Church of God. Click here for the list of needed supplies. Fliers are also available at the Welcome Center. Mt. Zion along with other area churches is adopting West Cary Middle School (WCM) . We are looking for volunteers to help tutor, mentor, proctor exams, etc. If you are interested, please get a volunteer packet at the Welco...