08 Jun

Posted at 11:06h in Uncategorized

Anne and I have been married for over 30 wonderful years!  However, what you may not know is that we knew each other when she was 8 and I was 14.  She was a nice little Christian girl and I was anything but a nice Christian teenager.  I did not know Jesus and was quickly spiraling downward towards total immersion in the culture.   I got born again at 20 and eight years later my mother called me and suggested I give “Anne Holderness” (that was her maiden name) a call.  She was now 23 years old.  This was way back in...

01 Jun

Posted at 09:27h in Uncategorized

The first of each month we share - First Tuesday's Teaching Tips These are teaching nuggets from over thirty years in ministry. As we jump into Summer let's share about: Life Choices  ~The longer you put something off, the harder it becomes to do ~ Do not let circumstances adjust you. Adjust your circumstances ~ Do the right thing when you don't feel like it ~from Winning with Wisdom Volume 2 (available for purchase in the Joy Store at Joy Church, Mt. Juliet, TN) Come join us at Joy Church on the first Wednesday of each month for our leadership series. ...

18 May

Posted at 10:16h in Uncategorized

Over the last two months we began our series - Remember our key verse for this series from Ephesians 5:15-17:   “See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise.  Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.  Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.” Notice the word “walk.”  This is the Greek word “peripateo.”  It is a Greek compound word that comes from “peri” which means “around” (we get our English word periscope from it) and “pateo” which means “path.”  Put those words together and it means “to beat a path around”...

11 May

Posted at 10:15h in Uncategorized

As a pastor, I have two hobbies that I truly enjoy that are “mental getaways” for me.  The first is college football and the second is shark fishing!   Last September I was in South Carolina doing a little shark fishing.  My son, and a friend from church and I walked down to an oceanic sound where I fish often.  We walked to the spot where I always fish and we dropped our gear.  I was only there for a couple of minutes when I spotted two little children approximately three and five years of age drowning!  The father had a third...

04 May

Posted at 16:38h in Uncategorized

The first of each month will will begin to share First Tuesday's Teaching Tips These are teaching nuggets from over thirty years in ministry. As we just celebrated the Resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, this month we share on: Relationship with God ~ God is not a car-wrecking, cancer-causing creator. But a loving, life-giving Lord ~ How you view Him will determine how much you go to Him ~ Don't struggle to find God's will, but continually seek Him and believe He is leading you into His will! ~from Winning with Wisdom Volume 1 (available for purchase in the Joy Store...

27 Apr

Posted at 08:00h in Uncategorized

Last time we discussed “Three Plan Principles”: Acknowledge that God has a plan for your life (Jer. 29:11).  “Three Acknowledge Axioms”: God has a wonderful plan for your life…not a wonderful life for YOUR plan!Destiny is not to be decided.  Destiny is to be discovered.What you were created for is connected to who you were created by. Accept God’s plan for your life (Mark 8:35). “Eight Accept Axioms”: If we always do what we want to do, we may end up where we don’t want to be! If you get whatever you want now…you may not get what you really want later. In other words, you might really...

20 Apr

Posted at 08:00h in Uncategorized

I am an avid college football fan and every fall, Saturday is dedicated to college football.  The only problem with that is we are one of the few churches that have both Saturday and Sunday services!  So every fall I kindly ask our congregation not to share any football scores with me as I will DVR some of them and watch when my schedule permits.  I have one particular team I have rooted for since I was a little boy growing up in Ohio (God’s team…Ohio State!)!  So telling me that particular score is particularly taboo.   After services I will stand...

13 Apr

Posted at 09:00h in Uncategorized

Many years ago, our Multi-Media Director was heavily involved in all kinds of dangerous drugs.  Well over a decade ago, he came to Joy Church and was touched by the Gospel of Jesus Christ!  He walked the aisle in our old building and gave his life to Jesus!  He then absorbed the Word of God and became a dedicated disciple of Jesus Christ.  Now anything that has to do with our social media, videos or livestream ministry, Chad and his team are responsible for the efforts behind this fruitful ministry.   When Chad Davis walked the aisle and gave his life to...