How did I get here?

Blessed are those who keep the word!

christophercornwell — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 12:07:00 +0000

“And he [Jesus] said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”" (ESV)

Luke 11:28

I pray that everyone who is reading this knows what it feels like to have God call on them for something. I pray you are used to hearing God speak, more so I pray that you respond when God speaks to you.

Let me say that over the last 6 months, I have begun to listen to God and try and be faithful to Him by responding quickly to what He is telling me. As there are things He has revealed to me that are still in the working cycle, some things are much more immediate. Recently I felt God calling me to do something fairly outrageous for me. He wanted me to sit down and do something that was just beyond my imagination for things I would ever do in my life. I must say that when God showed me what He wanted me to do, I got pretty excited about it. I got started on it and I can now tell you that I have finished “phase 1″ of my assignment. A new type of joy welled up inside of me last night as I put the finishing touches on this little project. A lot more has to happen with it, but how blessed I am to be a part of what God is doing in my little corner of the world. I hope you have experienced God’s blessings in your life and when you do, be sure you give Him praise for it! Our God is a God who loves and cares for His people and He ALWAYS stays faithful to us (Isaiah 40:28). Remember when you hear God speak, be sure to respond as quickly as you can.

*i know some of my posts are pretty candid as of late. stay tuned and when the time is right you will be showered with a plethora of information as it pertains to my walk in the Father. Thank you for reading and being patient with me!

RushHour Feb 2009

christophercornwell — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 03:15:00 +0000

Tonight I was honored to be a part of the LifePoint Student Ministry outreach event for middle school students. Our events are called RushHour and tonights theme was “Iced Out.” There was an ice carver, snow cones, ice cream, huge inflatables, you get the idea. Basically this is all done for one major reason: to bring lost students to church. We encourage students to invest in and invite other students who do not regularly attend church here or elsewhere.

We do all of this listed above so that we can make all students as comfortable as possible, then we sit em down and preach the gospel. Chris Hollomon did a phenomonal job bringing the Word tonight. The best part of it all? We regularly have between 300-500 students on wednesday nights, when you combine middle and high school. Tonight? We had over 400 middle students alone!!! How many lost people got to hear God’s word tonight!?!?!? Awesome job students and Praise God the Father for stirring in the hearts of LifePoint Church.

What’s Our Calling?

christophercornwell — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 12:57:00 +0000

“Don’t ask me to be confronted with the strong reality of redemption on behalf of the filfth of human life surrounding me today; what I want is anything God can do for me to make me more desirable in my own eyes.” -Oswald Chambers

Slow down for just a second because it is not a quote that Chambers actually said or something I am endorsing. But think about it for a second. Do we ever live our lives in this manner, maybe without ever realizing we are?

Chambers is hypothesizing why some Christians act the way they do. I think he is right. How often do we get caught up in our own wrong message to the world about Jesus Christ!? I recently read a blog post by Tony Morgan, Are We Married to the Mission or the Methods? How often are we getting caught up in all the hoopla surrounding the great and lavish church services that we have created in today’s society? Beyond getting caught up in the lights and sounds, what about in ourselves?

How much time do you spend with God on a daily basis. I hope a lot. Maybe some of you are saying, “Not enough.” Well that is fine, but are we solely focused on this? 1 Thessalonians 5:23 says, “Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (ESV).” God’s ultimate goal for us is to obtain Holiness, be one with Him, and live forever with Him when this earth and heaven pass away (Revelation 21). While we are commanded to strive for this by doing God’s will and follow Jesus’ teaching, THIS IS NOT OUR CALLING.

Our calling is to preach the gospel, plain and simple. First take a look at what God said in Exodus 19. “…And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests…” God calls us ALL to be a kingdom of priests, not a kingdom with a priesthood. We are all called, just to do different levels. And while some are called to be pastors and ministers, preaching the gospel is not reserved for a select few. Again in 1 Peter 2:9-10, “…that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” And what was the last thing Jesus said to the disciples before ascending into Heaven? He looked at the disciples and said, “ok now guys, it is up to you. I have equipped you with all that you need and now it is time for you to go and do your thing.” And Jesus gives us the Great Commission at the end of Matthew 28.

The best example we have of a believer carrying out his purpose is that of Paul. Paul was not overly interested in himself. Paul was not conscious of himself. He was recklessly abandoned, totally surrendered, and separated by God for one purpose – to proclaim the gospel of God. He understood full and well what being a Christ follower was really about. Do we?

Isaiah 45:22

christophercornwell — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 13:31:00 +0000

Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other (ESV).

I think alot of times, as Christians, we often sit around wondering,

“Ok, what’s next!? I have done the whole, I believe in Jesus bit, I got baptized, I go to church, I do missions, I even shared Jesus with my neighbor down the street like 4 years ago! Why do I still feel like I am in this revolving door of a lame, mundane life?”

Once we realize that being a part of the body of Christ is so much more than just going through the everyday, Sunday-morning Christian routine, we can begin to experience life abundantly (John 10:10). I digress regarding my original point to this post, but we should always remember that obtaining Holiness, God’s ultimate goal for all of us, is sought after through our relationship with Him.

Moving on to what I am getting at…do you ever wonder if you are hearing voices? Well, you are not crazy, but you are hearing voices. Everyday you and I struggle with discerning the voices of God and the Enemy. Our student ministry at LifePoint is moving through a series called voices and through last night’s service and my quiet time this morning, God spoke to me regarding the voices that adults hear even when we think might be some untouchable, I-walk-daily-with-God Christian. So I finish with students and head home to watch Lost, all the while I am struggling with the thought of hearing voices. “God I know not only were You speaking to that small group through me, but also You were speaking directly to me.” So what was God telling me? When I finally sat still enough to listen to what God was telling me, it came during my quiet time this morning. Isaiah 45:22. The verse posted at the beginning. Specifically the first part. “Turn to me and be saved..” But isnt this for non-believers and new-believers alike!? Well I think it depends if you are feeding on spiritual milk or spiritual meat.

As new believers we are fed spiritual milk as to say we are nurtured as ‘baby Christians.’ (1 Cor 3:2) Once we begin to grow in Christ and can really discern the differences between good and evil, we graduate to spiritual meat as our relationship grows with the Father. So as I ask God how this verse pertains to me, He says, “Dude being for new believers is the milk of this verse, the meat of the verse is what I am trying to show you if you will just be still and listen.”

Do we really turn our lives over to God in EVERYTHING we do!? Do we fully trust Him? That is the meat of this verse, “Turn to me and be saved!” When even as a Christian, new or mature, we begin hearing the Enemy tempting us to stray from our path, it is the simplest of sayings that gets thrown around everyday. We toss it back and forth, but is NOT cliche. We really do just need to turn to God and be saved from what keeps us from Him.

LifePoint Church

christophercornwell — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 19:55:00 +0000

Today was a very exciting day in the life of the family of followers at what used to be known as First Baptist Church Smyrna, TN. Not only has a very exciting journey commenced for a small group of people, myself included, but as the church as a whole. The small group of people have embarked on something that is destined to bring tremendous things to the Glory of the Kingdom of our Almighty Father and I cannot wait to be able to reveal what that means! (you will just have to keep following my blog!) The church body as a whole has now turn the page in the church’s 100 year history and unveiled its new Glocal Identity. No, that is not a typo, I really did type glocal. It is the thought behind grabbing ahold of the ministry on a global scale while still being connected locally through all facets of ministry and missions. make sense!?

Well here is a toast to what is to come and what is now known as LifePoint Church. God has great things in store for His Kingdom and His Glory and I am so glad to be a part of it.

Check out the video below and get a glimpse of the start of the new chapter at LifePoint.

LifePoint Church

4 Beautiful Years

christophercornwell — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 02:19:00 +0000

Well, today is my 4th anniversary. (for those of who you just went, “wait isnt it christmas eve!?”….yes we got married on christmas eve!) Where has the time gone!? In 4 years so much has happened and changed, the majority of it being documented below. (my daughter, hint hint) I just want to say Thank you Lord for the gift of my bride. Nancy, I love you will all that I can possibly give you and love having you stand by my side everyday. Here’s to the next 4 and the rest to come!

Reflections on a year gone by…

christophercornwell — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 01:35:00 +0000

Well where do I start!?

One year ago today we had been at the hospital for a little over 12 hours at this point and we were finally getting ready to wind down and take on our new adventure as parents. What an adventure it has been!

Being a dad is something I never even considered ten years ago and now here, and I am pretty darn good at it I think! So here I sit, just typing away my random thoughts about the amazing joys that Bug has brought to my life. I have had such an honor to watch life come into full focus through the eyes of a newborn and now as we enter the toddler phase. Just tonight, Lilli figured out that she could put on a ‘pouty’ face in order to get me to pick her up so she could fulfill her own wish to play with the remote control! Oh how fast my little girl has learned to bat her beautiful blue eyes at her daddy to get what she wants!

But not only have I had the tremendous joy of watching my daughter learn how to do some of the most simplest things in life, but maybe one day I will be able to sit down with her and tell her about how she was put into my life in order to teach me some of the most simplest things in life.

If Bug has done one thing, she has inspired me to commit to everyday memory that I need to be the spiritual leader in this house. God gave me this little girl in order to teach me the things that He has been telling me for years and I have been to human to listen. Springing forth from not only a physical desire to be the leader of this house, but a deep spiritual desire as well.

From this basic spiritual need to learn about being a leader to my family, I have learned to listen to God more intently. God gave us His Spirit so that we could be helped through life. God tells us that life is impossible without Him. When we can learn to embrace this, God teaches us He has a will for us all. Interestingly enough, this will is the same for us all, to enter into a loving relationship with our Father God. It is the extent of the mission in which we are called to carry out his will that differs for us all. We are all called to be ‘little priests,’ to carry the message of our Lord. I can only hope, through the grace of God, to bring light to people as it pertains to the message of Christ.

The extent of the mission is what I pray to be talking to you about more in the future. For now, enjoy life as sometimes it seems to pass by way too fast. Bug is growing and I am just glad I get to be a part of it.

Bug’s 1st Pseudo-birthday…

christophercornwell — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 03:57:00 +0000

So today we took time to celebrate with our extended family and closest friends, the occasion of Lilli’s 1st birthday. While I have a plethora of pictures and videos, I just dont feel completely right, officially documenting this occasion since her actual birthday is this coming tuesday, dec 16th. Check back here on tuesday to see the birthday girl in all her beauty!

Happy Thanksgiving!

christophercornwell — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 19:14:00 +0000

Just wanted to take a moment to say Happy Thanksgiving to anyone who actually reads my little corner of the internet here. This time last year, Nancy was getting ready to pop with our child and now here we are one year later and Lilli gets to celebrate her first thanksgiving (well second actually we had thanksgiving with our small group last sunday).

I can honestly say that never before, in my life, have I been this close to my Lord, my Father, the source of yours and my salvation. All week long I have constantly reminded myself of what I am thankful for and what this holiday should really mean to all of us.

Thank you Nancy for being my rock and standing next to me no matter what. You are a blessing to me and are far more than anything I deserve. I love you!

Thank you Lilli for bringing so much joy and life to this family. I can’t wait to see the Godly woman that I pray you will become.

Most importantly, thank you God for everything You have given me. I am honored to be a manager of these blessing during my short time here on earth. Thank you for sending Your Spirit, that we might be able to understand Your word and enter into a loving relationship with You. Above all else, Thank You for sending Your Son that we might have a chance to spend eternity with You.

Today I pray that we won’t forget what we should be thankful for and that we dont just take one day a year to set aside a moment to thank you Lord for what You have done for us.

Enjoy the football and have a wonderful thanksgiving everyone!

Our 1st Halloween!

christophercornwell — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 01:19:00 +0000

Yeah so I know it is like 1 1/2 weeks late, but here is a picture of Lilli and her first halloween! As I have stated previously, we call her bug so it was only natural that she was a ladybug, rather a Lilli-bug, for her first halloween. I can’t believe that as of next week it will be eleven months and subsequently next month my beautiful little baby girl will 1 year old! Man, where does the time go!? I am going to try really hard to post some more even though the rest of the year is just going to get to busier and busier with the holidays coming. For those of you who don’t know, Lilli’s b-day is dec 16th. Our wedding anniversary is dec 24th, then you add thanksgiving and christmas and new years, we stay pretty busy.
But there is a lot to document over the next couple of months as well as, we just had some professional shots done of the whole family, so I will get those up as well.
Furthermore, I have plenty to share of the things God has been teaching me lately and some of those are still being put into words so as they culminate, they will be right here! God bless!