toliveischrist.cc | The weblog of Jonathan Howes

Video Blog: God multiplied our $10,000 “seed of faith”.

June 11, 2013 by Jonathan

Cool God-story…I had breakfast with John Reeves this morning. John is planting a church in Dubuque, Iowa. Graystone gave his church plant $10,000 at our 2013 Vision Night…Click here to see the video from Vision Night and hear the back story. God is already multiplying our small mustard seed of faith (Mark 4:30-32).

Watch my video blog below. Hopefully, you can get the gist of the story. I get a little sloppy/scattered at the end and have to cut the video, because I’m about to lose it…not that I am a crier or anything. God is blowing me away right now with all HE is doing! Thanks for being a part of it.

Posted in Graystone Church, Missions/Outreach, Stewardship | Tagged church planting | 1 Comment »

I’ll Never Forget This Week 5 Years Ago

June 3, 2013 by Jonathan

Graystone Ground Breaking Service on Sunday, June 1, 2008

My wife, Jennifer, and the resident Graystone Church Historian, Heath Hollandsworth, corrected me that it was Sunday, June 1, 2008 that we had the Ground Breaking service at the church property on Ozora Road (I said in my message yesterday that it was the Sunday of Memorial Day Weekend in 2008.). It was Monday 5 years ago that our loan with the bank fell through, and we were unable to break ground on the new building. We had also cancelled Sports Camp that year because of the planned construction of the new building, and Jennifer and Melinda Hollandsworth, the founders of Sports Camp and former Graystone Volunteer Children’s Pastors, were pregnant with Jessie and Kate.

On Friday of that rough week in 2008, we had our Annual Graystone Golf Tournament. This is when my good friend and tennis partner, Matt Harvie, fell off the back of the golf cart and landed head first on the concrete cart path. He had a major head injury and was airlifted to Gwinnett Medical.. He was in a coma for over 1 month and almost didn’t wake up. He is alive and well today living with his wife and 5 kids. We no longer have an Annual Graystone Golf Tourney.

When I was sharing the story at church yesterday, my almost 14 year old daughter, Julia, was crying. She had never heard the story about the loan falling through and all the “hardships” Graystone had experienced. I think there are many reasons God allows us to go through difficult times, but one of the most important is that it causes us to depend on Him.

Building our first permanent building on Ozora Road was the hardest thing I have ever done in ministry. It was a total team effort from an incredibly generous and faithful Graystone Church family and friends. I think because it took so much faith and perseverance, we appreciate it even more. Every time I see the 40 foot high church building appear in the clearing beyond the trees as I’m driving up Ozora Road, I am reminded of God’s faithfulness and His ability to “do immeasurably more that we can ask or IMAGINE”. Sometimes I get a little teary-eyed when I pull into the Ozora campus parking lot…not that I am a crier or anything.

God is GREAT!

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” Ephesians 3:20-21

Posted in Bible, Discipleship/Spiritual Growth, Graystone Church, Miracles, Monday Download | 4 Comments »

Friday 5: Jase, Sports Camp, Baptisms, Basketball Court, The Man Series

May 31, 2013 by Jonathan

1. Jase is now 6 weeks old. He is still living with us. BTW, he loves the beach, the Braves, NBA Playoffs, and LSU. Late every night when I’m changing his diaper and feeding him his bottle, I quote Matthew 25:37-40. We’re still praying for a family to adopt him.

2. 70 people have crashed the waters of baptism at Graystone Church in the first 5 months of 2013. PRAISE GOD! I call that a REVIVAL! If you are ready to go public with you faith, you can sign up for baptism online here.

3. You will be blown away when you see the new basketball court at Graystone Church. It is the nicest outdoor basketball court I have ever seen. And our guys got it ready just in time for Sports Camp. A big THANK YOU goes out to the men who installed 6 basketball goals until 1:00AM Wednesday night. We have a church full of servant leaders. The courts will not only be great for Sports Camp but for youth team practices and just a safe place for kids (and adults) in our community to come play basketball. THANK YOU to everyone who gave to the 2012 End of the Year Offering to provide this basketball court for our kids and community. God is good!

4. Sports Camp is next week. It’s one of the greatest weeks of the year at Graystone. If you want to volunteer, just show up one night M-TH around 6:00PM. If you still haven’t signed your child up, you can do it online here.

5. Graystone’s Annual Man Series begins on Father’s Day, June 16. I will be sharing a 3 week message series based on the life of Samson from the Old Testament. We’ve already started our planning and preparation. In fact, several of the staff guys and men from the church are shooting automatic weapons and blowing things up as I write this blog. I was bummed that I could NOT make it out for all the fun today. Hopefully, they will all come back in one piece. I think we are having a promo video this Sunday.

This Sunday, we continue our Once Upon A Time message series, and I will be sharing the story of Benaiah (2 Samuel 23:20-23). Lord willing, it will be “one of my good ones”. :-)

Posted in Bible, Discipleship/Spiritual Growth, Graystone Church | Tagged Foster Care | Leave a Comment »

7 Reasons We’re Still Married After 18 Years

May 20, 2013 by Jonathan

May 20, 1995

Today, Jennifer and I are celebrating our 18th wedding anniversary. It’s so obvious to me that God had the perfect plan in bringing us together. I’m not sure what song this comes from but “she is my lover and my best friend”. Jennifer and I do not have a “perfect” marriage, but it is a pretty darn good one. There are many reasons we are still married after 18 years but here are 7.

7 reasons we are still married after 18 years:

1. We try to be the first to say, “I’m sorry”. Fights and disagreements are inevitable. We apply Ephesians 4:26-27. Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry and do not give the devil a foothold. Don’t sweat the small stuff (I.e. pet peeves). There is no need to start WWIII over an un-replaced toilet paper roll or dirty clothes laying on the floor. BTW, divorce is not an option. It never has been and never will be. We made a covenant with God.

2. We do not center our family around the kids or their activities. The kids have never been the CEOs of our family. Although, I do feel like Jessie, “our grandchild”, may call the shots sometimes. I’m only joking here. Our marriage has always been a higher priority than our kids. Our kids will come and go, but we will stay together for a lifetime.

3. We always keep the romance “hot”. The key here is looking to meet your spouse’s needs and not your own. I don’t think I have to explain His Needs Her Needs. If you are meeting your spouse’s needs, she/he will have no reason to look elsewhere. We try to keep the grass green in our own yard.

4. We focus our marriage on Jesus Christ. If the husband and wife are growing closer to God, they will grow closer to one another. A cord of 3 strands is not easily broken. I think Joel Thomas said it great in his message Sunday at Graystone Ozora: ”A heart not deliberately set on the Lord will settle somewhere else.” We need to seek the Lord with all of our heart, mind, soul and strength.

5. We do life together. Jennifer and I are not living two separate lives. She really is my best friend. Sure, I play basketball (BTW, Graystone has the best church basketball team in the universe.) and she goes to the spa with friends. But most of the time we do stuff together. We walk. We meet for lunch. We watch TV shows together. We talk. Actually, “we could talk or not talk all day.” Sorry, that was a quote from Best in Show, which I wouldn’t recommend watching with your church staff team.

6. We set proper boundaries. We are NEVER alone with someone of the opposite sex. This sounds extreme but it’s not. If you mess with fire, you will get burned. Also, we protect our time together. We protect family time. We spend most of our evenings together as a family. Our marriage and family is much more important than our careers. My family is a higher priority to me than the growth of Graystone Church. If Graystone doesn’t make the Top 100 Fastest Growing Churches in America list this year, I’m not going to lose any sleep. I’m married to Jennifer not the church.

7. The purpose of our marriage is so much more than us growing old together and living happily ever after. God brought us together to fulfill a great work for Him. Right now and for the next 12-15 years, He has called us to DOMINATE our community with the love of Jesus Christ. God’s purpose for our lives is so much bigger than ourselves. It’s not about us or our happiness. It is about HIM!

I hope this short list helps you, your marriage and your family.

Posted in Bible, Discipleship/Spiritual Growth, Family, Graystone Church | Tagged marriage, Purpose in Life | 1 Comment »

Every Day Counts with David Pollack

May 17, 2013 by Jonathan

Posted in Graystone Church, Sports | Tagged College Game Day, David Pollack, Every Day Counts, health and fitness, UGA Bulldogs | Leave a Comment »

Did you know? (Part 2)

May 16, 2013 by Jonathan

This is the second blog post this week for those who like to be “in the know”.

31 kids were dedicated to the Lord last Sunday. PRAISE GOD! I am so proud of these parents for committing to raise their kids in a Christian home and the church. BTW, none of the kids were left at Graystone for me to raise. Thank you! If you missed my message Sunday about Hannah leaving Samuel at the temple to serve God his entire life, you can watch it here.

There are over 400 kids preregistered for Sports Camp. We are currently 18 days away. You can register your child online here. Also, we still need tons and tons of volunteers. You can sign up to serve by emailing: katie@graystonechurch.com.

This is Jessie’s first Sports Camp. She is signed up for cheerleading and kitchen chaos. Also, she loves to sing and dance, so I know she will enjoy the opening and closing rallies, especially with Julia helping lead worship. I’m going to predict that Jessie will be on the stage by the Thursday night.

We are pouring/installing a brand new basketball court which we hope to ready in time for Sports Camp. It will be located directly behind the Kids Village (modular buildings). The resources for this project are coming from the 2013 End of the Year Offering. Thank you so much for your giving. I know the kids, students, and I’m sure, adults, will love the new court. Our goal is to make it the nicest outdoor basketball court in the area. I’m hoping to start a NBA (Noon Basketball Association) League at least once a week for those in the area on their lunch break.

We have also installed brand new carpet over the cement floor in the smaller auditorium that we use for middle school, high school, and elementary worship. The kids hang out in the student room, then go into the smaller auditorium for their worship and teaching time. It sounds so much better is there, and it looks a lot nicer as well.

Nate Rector will be speaking live Sunday at Graystone Walton. I’m not sure if he will be wearing sweatbands (see his pic in an earlier post). He will be talking about God’s forgiveness as part of our Once Upon a Time series. We will show Joel Thomas’ message the following week, May 26, at the Walton campus. And Nate will speak at Ozora on the Sunday.

The Big Serve Award

Staff Awards for the month of May go to Katie and Chris Hunt. Chris earned The Big Serve Award for going above and beyond in the making dozens of videos as well as working hard on many other duties. He is also responsible for capturing my messages on Sunday at 9AM, so I do not have to record them on Thursdays.

Pretty Feet Award

Katie receives the Pretty Feet Award which is given for sharing the gospel. The Bible says “how beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news”. Katie continues to bring the good news of Jesus to our kids. They are our #1 mission field.

Speaking of the mission field, our church is taking 2 short term mission trips this Summer: Honduras (June 15-22) and Haiti (July 13-20). If you’re interested in going on one of these trips, please contact our Missions Pastor, Jim Hollandsworth (jim@graystonechurch.com).

Jim also heads up the Path Project, and they are having their annual Gala, which I am personally pronouncing “gay-la”, on Friday night. Jim’s decorating team is sprucing up the Graystone joint. It is actually the most formal event held at Graystone Church. I will be breaking out my khaki suit. I have 2 suits… a grey one for weddings/funerals and the khaki one for the Path Project Gala. We’re trusting God to raise over $60,000 on Friday night for the Path Project. Please pray with us.

BTW, God continues to answers prayers and perform miracles at Graystone. But I better wait until later to share with you some really EXCITING NEWS. God is GREAT!

Posted in Bible, Discipleship/Spiritual Growth, Graystone Church | Leave a Comment »