We had a men’s breakfast at Marathon this past Saturday. It’s just a wonderful time to get together, hang out with each other, and talk about life.
This morning we had Tony Eubanks come and speak to us. Tony is the Chaplain for the Clemson Tigers, and he did a wonderful job. Tony really challenged us to be the men that God has called us to be, and to spend time in the Bible, and alone in prayer.
He also challenged us to make a difference at Marathon, by bringing more people in so that more lives can be changed, and make a difference in the world.
Tony made the point that he was a basketball player working as a Chaplain for a football team, but that he wasn’t there to teach football, he was there to help those kids find God. That’s what we are here for. As the men of Marathon, our goal should always be to bring more people in, and help change people’s lives.
I walked into Faith’s room the other night to read to her. I’ve been reading books to her lately, and that night we were going to be reading a book on prayer.
But as I came into her room, she said “Dad, you’re interrupting me!”
I said “Oh Really? What am I interrupting?”
She said, “I’m Praying!”
I thought it was so great the Faith was doing this on her on – that I didn’t have to tell her to pray – that we had been praying enough for her to realize the praying was something that she needed to do. I mean, she’s only 5 years old! I wish that I had gotten that when I was 5 years old.
So, I think we’re doing good so far, and I hope she keeps it going.
I really hope that I walk into her room when she is a teenager, and she says “Dad, don’t interrupt me. I’m Praying!”
Then I’ll really know that she’s got it.
On November 1st the clocks will “fall back”, so we gain an hour!
One of the things that we’re doing at Marathon is that we’re trying to target our lost community. We are basically trying to figure out when the best time is to have services so they will come. Research tells us that the best times to reach people in South Carolina are at 9:30 and 11:00.
Now, we have already baptized 140 people this year! So, what that tells us is that we are close to hitting our target. Now we’re honing in on 9:30 and 11:00 for our new service times, in order to take Marathon’s ministry to a whole new level.
The 9:30 service will be our Classic Service, where we will have the praise and worship music that has been in the early service and the Venue Service, and bring them together. The 11:00 service will be our Contemporary Service where we will have the music that we currently have in the main room at 10 and 11:30.
So, people have been asking us how we are going to get everyone in there. Well, it is going to be tight for a little while, and we will have to add a 3rd service somewhere, once we work all of the details out. But now that we have the expanded children’s space, we are able to move to these 2 services, reach more people, and better serve our community.
So it’s going to be packed out. It’s going to be tight for a little while, and then we’ll be adding the 3rd service (that’s just like Marathon), but we are going to be reaching more people, and THAT is what we are here for!