Thursday, July 26, 2012

Week #2 "Why Can't We Be Friends?"

Hey Guardrailers, thanks so much for the turnout last night! We had a great class with lots of good discussion and feedback!

I wanted to take this time to encourage all of you who are struggling with having to step back from a friendship(s) /relationship(s). Remember what our scripture told us last night, "Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm." Proverbs 13:20 

Don't allow yourself to be with the wrong people, at the wrong time, in the wrong place. You may not ever become a fool, but if you keep company with them, eventually one of their mistakes, disasters, or problems is going to hurt you in a dramatic way.

I also want to give you a second scripture that is even more to the point, "But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,  without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people." 2 Timothy 3:1-5 

These are very strong words of warning from the Bible. We need to listen to what God's will for our life is, "Face up to God’s will for you and Step Back." You won't regret it in the long-run, the "wise" make decisions today based on tomorrow, and the day after that, and the month after that, and so on.

I'll give you two easy outs when breaking off these relationships:

#1. Blame the Bible, "The Bible tells me that I need to step back from this friendship because it is counterproductive to my spiritual walk." Then give them the scriptures and do your best to walk away in peace. I'm not telling you to be mad at them, do it in love. Let them know that you are there for them, but that the only way for you to be the best friend you can be, is to step back and take care of yourself first.

#2. Blame me, I'm your teacher, and I am telling you that if these friendships are causing you to change directions in your life, compromise your morals, and are making you act like someone you aren't, its time to step back. Blame me, I'm 100% OK with that. Have them call the church office and chew me out, I'm fine with that. You know why? Because the Bible tells us we need to face up to God, and step back. It isn't God's will for you to be in a friendship that compromises your personality and ignores wisdom. If they are a true friend they will care about what's valuable to you, if they don't care...they aren't a true friend to you.

My prayer for you today is that you will have the courage and the strength to step up to God's will for you. That you will have the desire to follow the will he has for you in your life. That you will take a step back and take care of your own spiritual state, that you will get plugged in at church, be accountable, and get discipled and grow in your faith. When that happens, you will be on the right side of the guardrail, so that when your friend(s) crash, you will be spiritually prepared to help take care of them, lift them up, encourage them, and speak life into their Hearts.

Thanks again for coming last night, Marty and I love having each of you in class and look forward to seeing you in church on Sunday and in class next week where we will be talking about relationships again, but this time we will be focusing on staying away from sexual immorality, Week #3 "Flee Baby Flee!"

Below are the notes and "Guardrails" from Week #2 along with some important links for our class!

Week #2 Notes "Why Can't We Be Friends?"

Guardrail Definition World View-
Guardrail: a system designed to keep vehicles from straying into dangerous or off-limit areas.

Guardrail Definition Spiritual View -
Guardrail: A Standard of behavior that becomes a matter of conscience/ethics/morals.

We need guardrails in friendships because friendships can be dangerous...why?

Friendships help us to drop our guards
In friendships we crave acceptance
* Acceptance leaves us open to INFLUENCE
We close down around rejection
We OPEN up around acceptance


5 Guardrails for Friendships

#1 - It dawns on you that your “core” group isn’t moving in the direction you want your life to be moving.

#2 - You catch yourself pretending to be someone other than who you really are.

#3 - You feel pressure to compromise, "When something that has never been a real temptation all of a sudden becomes a LIVE option" 

#4 - You hear yourself saying, “I’ll go, but I won’t participate”

#5 - You hope that the people you care about most don’t find out where you been or whom you been with.

If you have friendships that compromise these guardrails, it is time for you to remove yourself from that friendship or that group of friends. Face up to God's will in your life and step back before its too late.

Be intentional about walking with the wise, because the companion of fools……eventually suffers harm.

If you are a Facebooker, make sure you join the Guardrails Facebook group HERE! Also send your friends to our class page HERE!

Make sure you leave your questions and comments by clicking HERE! 

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Week #1 Direct and Protect!

Thank you to all of you who came last night! Marty and I had such a blast! If you are a Facebooker, make sure you join the Guardrails Facebook group HERE! Also send your friends to our class page HERE!

Last night we covered the basics of what our Class "Guardrails" is all about! We learned that Guardrails Protect and Direct.

Here is a video about next weeks class, "Why Can't We Be Friends?" Make sure you check out the notes from last week below the video!


Here are a few notes from last night:

What is a guardrail?:
"A Guardrail is a system designed to keep vehicles from straying into dangerous or off-limit areas."

Where do you find guardrails?: • Bridges: little room for error
• Medians: to protect you from oncoming traffic
• Soft shoulders/curves: unexpected change

Why are we talking about Guardrails?:
To encourage you to establish guardrails in other arenas of your lives . . . guardrails that are so strong and established that when we bump up against them they bother your consciences.

 Why can't we just go with the flow of culture?:
Culture feeds us with advice as "Drink Responsibly," don't have sex until you are "Ready," merely "talk" to your kids about drugs, and many more useless concepts. Establishing guardrails in all aspects of your life protects you from having disasters.

Scripture for this Week, Ephesians 5:15-17: 
"15 Be very careful, then, how you live —not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is."

Nobody plans to...: 
1. Have financial ruin through debt
2. Have a violent marriage
3. Get involved with a married man/woman
4. Fall in love with Mr./Mrs. Wrong
5. Become addicted to anything

Guardrails are how you plan "NOT TO" have disaster in your life.

Conclusion: 
1. Here’s the added benefit to all of this. Guardrails not only protect, they DIRECT.

2. You will find it so much easier to discern the voice of God in your life once you establish guardrails. You will be amazed.

3. In the weeks to come, we are going to touch on friends, money, time, and marriage. Emmy and Tiffany will be helping Marty and Ryan on the subject of marriage.

4. What do you need to face up to today? Where are you flirting with disaster? That’s where you need to begin. And this isn’t the first time you've been warned, God is bringing these things to your attention for a reason. 

Make sure you leave your questions and comments by clicking HERE!


Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Getting Geared up for Guardrails

Pastor Marty and I are stoked for Guardrails to get started on July 18th!!!!

Visit our Facebook group HERE!

If you've been in either of our classes in the past we strongly encourage you to come join us in Guardrails, this class is going to be outstanding.
Nobody plans to enter into a violent marriage. Nobody plans to ruin his or her finances. Nobody plans to struggle with an addiction. What steps do you take to make sure these things don't happen? Set up guardrails. You can tell yourself that you'll "be careful." Well, setting up guardrails is how you "be careful."

See you soon!

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

The Final Week of Class!

This week in class we will be signing our commitments to God to be active in our witness and not shy away from opportunities to spread the Gospel. To no longer be afraid of witnessing and that we will go forward and SHARE JESUS WITHOUT FEAR using the tools we've learned in our class and with God's help!

I would like to hear a story or two this week of some witnessing experiences and also how some of your outlooks on witnessing has changed since starting this class. I know that as I prepared to teach this class each week I continually am learning new things about witnessing. Not to mention learning the patience and wisdom to step back and let God's Word and the Holy Spirit do the work on the unbeliever.

We have to remember that no matter how hopeless we think someone is, God's Word can do all the work that is required to convict someone. It is our job to share that Word and be ready to pray with them when the situation is right. There isn't anything any one of us can do to "make" someone get saved. We also have to remember that just because someone didn't accept Christ while we witnessed to them does not mean that we have failed. Success is sharing the gospel with an individual. Remember that when you witness with the right heart and share God's Word, we do not fail. Isaiah 55:11 "God's Word does not return to Him void..."

I look forward to seeing you in class this week. Also remember this is the final class period for points, so get those pictures of your yard signs and bring those visitors!


If you have a Facebook account please feel free to visit and join our Facebook group HERE! If you take a picture of your WednesdaysOnPurpose Yard sign and either bring the picture to class or post it in our Facebook group I will give you an extra 5,000 class points. The 3 class members with the highest point totals at the end of tomorrow night will receive a free set of witnessing tools and materials!

If you want to comment on the blog to earn your bonus points you can click right HERE, make sure to sign your name in your comment!

Make sure you visit our 2 main websites: www.WednesdaysonPurpose.com & www.ButterfieldAG.com to stay up to date with whats going on at the church and WednesdaysOnPurpose!

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Share Your Story...

We are coming in on the final weeks of class. I hope that you are all able to make it this week. I really enjoyed last week's class, we had some really great discussion. I'm excited to hear from some of you about the opportunities God has given you to witness.

This week in class we are going to hear the details behind Bill Fay's testimony and the events prior to his salvation. I'm also going to share some unique aspects of my conversion experience along with those of another young man I had the privilege of witnessing to.

It is vitally important as you minister, share scripture and build relationships with an individual that you also liken yourselves to them the best you can. The best way to do that is to share some form of a testimony, whether it be how you got saved, healed, or some other kind of a miracle, its always an awesome story to share with someone you are trying to lead to Christ, especially when you can directly apply it to a situation they are going through. No matter what you may think of your own  testimony, God can always use it.

Additionally it is always important that we are keeping ourselves in the best spiritual condition as we can. We need to be praying to God, reading our Bibles, and keeping fellowship with other believers. We need to be sensitive to the unction of the Holy Spirit. We want to be able to receive His leading and convictions! It is hard sometimes but we have to "Let Go, and Let God" when it comes to witnessing and reaching out to the Lost. We have to follow his lead. There is nothing any one of us can do to "SAVE" someone, that is all between them and God. It is our duty, however, to share the Gospel with them and show them what the life of a True Christian really is.

I look forward to seeing you in class this week, the points races are tightening up, make sure to be in class @ 7:00 sharp!

If you have a facebook account please feel free to visit and join our facebook group HERE! If you take a picture of your WednesdaysOnPurpose Yard sign and either bring the picture to class or post it in our Facebook group I will give you an extra 5,000 class points. The 3 class members with the highest point totals at the end of the next 8 weeks will receive a free set of witnessing tools and materials!

If you want to comment on the blog to earn your bonus points you can click right HERE, make sure to sign your name in your comment!

Make sure you visit our 2 main websites: www.WednesdaysonPurpose.com & www.ButterfieldAG.com to stay up to date with whats going on at the church and WednesdaysOnPurpose!