Bobby Williams Live

What Happened To The Man Known As Bobby Williams?

bdub77 — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 14:48:07 +0000

I want to help pastors, church planters, and churches with my limited knowledge (I feel like I can tell you more of what not to do- than DO on most things- but that info is good too).

So as I’ve mentioned before, I will be starting a new blog and soon killing the man known as bobbywilliamslive.com to focus my blogging efforts on helping the church I have the honor to pastor (theridgechurchblog.com) as well as the BIG C church with a new blog effort that will include myself as well as other church leaders/planters. There will even be a nice slice of pie for the planter’s wives out there.

I’m looking forward to this new effort and hope to have something up very soon. So if you see cob webbs around here, don’t be alarmed. There will be new life coming.

It’s The Monday After Easter….

bdub77 — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 14:51:49 +0000

I have a thought similar to this every Easter, but for some reason, it’s more real to me today than it has ever been. The thought is this; It’s Monday and the tomb is STILL empty and Jesus is STILL alive! Simple I know. Profound? Probably not. But it has a world of implications for me, our church, and staff/volunteers.

Every Sunday – every DAY for that matter – is Easter.

I know we should, but dont…

I know we could…but we don’t…

If we put the same energy, focus, passion, enthusiasm, prayer, and planning into every week like we do for Easter, there would be no stopping HIS church.

Why don’t we? The tomb is STILL empty and Jesus is STILL alive. Let’s act like it.

A Church Planter Will….

bdub77 — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 13:48:13 +0000

A church planter will….

Not take NO for an answer
Make it work
Create it if they don’t make it
Live on the edge of insanity
Pray like it depends on God and work like it depends on us
Want to quit on Monday and plant again on Tuesday
Break the bank to reach a community…or just ONE person
Navigate through more crap than most people
Use Duct Tape if he has to
Find a way
Do it different
Have too much fun

What would you add to this list?

Bases Are Loaded

bdub77 — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 13:24:50 +0000

After yesterdays service at Ridge Church, I feel like the bases are loaded and our league leading home run king, future hall of famer, best player to ever play the game hitter is up at bat next with a lame pitcher pitching.

I’m not sure I would call yesterdays service the best day ever, but over the last few weeks/months, we’ve been hitting consistent singles, and now the bases are loaded with Easter coming up this Sunday. Yeah…I’m stoked.

Yesterday we simply compelled our people to invite others to Easter services because life is short and hell is hot. I DO care that every seat is filled in our auditorium…TWICE! Because every seat is an opportunity for someone to hear the Gospel this week. We asked people to respond by writing the names of those they were going to invite on a sticky note and place it on the stage. I think every person in the service wrote at least one name down; some notes had 10+ names on it!

This will be our 3rd Easter service as a church and I believe it’s going to blow all the others away. I’m praying for some specific things and believing God to show off!

Teaching Preaching

bdub77 — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 13:51:26 +0000

Currently at our church, I have the opportunity each week to pour into 10 men on the topic of preaching and teaching. These are 10 men that feel called and led to communicate the Gospel more effectively. Some of them will do it from a big stage; others will do it in their workplaces; others will go on and plant churches and possibly preach to many more than I ever will.

I don’t know a lot about preaching. But I’ve had the honor to be doing it for 14 years and have had some of the best communicators in the world pour into me. Some on a personal level and others from a distance. I’m just jacked out of my mind that this many men in our church are stepping forward in this and are hungry to learn and hungry to communicate God’s Word.

My prayer is that we will get to do this class for men every single year and that from this, some will take up the calling to plant churches and we will constantly have different people sharing the Gospel from the Ridge Church stage.

Real Marriage Book Review

bdub77 — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 01:53:15 +0000

Back in December, I received an advance copy of Real Martiage by Mark & Grace Driscol. It was perfect timing because our church was about to start a corresponding series based on the book. Not only did I enjoy the book, but had a great time preaching the series as it has been one of the most powerful to date.

Here’s a few quick thoughts on the book…

I LOVED the realness of pastor Mark & Grace with thick theology of marriage throughout.

Many people were taken back by some of the graphic content & I’m just glad a pastor took it on instead of letting MTV teach it again.

The beginning of a new marriage with the same spouse begins with repentance.

If we could all get our heads around Ephesians 5 better, we’d all have hot marriages.

Serve, serve, serve & serve some more.

It’s not about me.

Our marriages are a reflection of God & we are His image bearers.

I could go on & on. It was a great book. By far one of the best on marriage giving a real & raw look. But the best part was how practical it was. It wasn’t just good ideas.

So yes…I highly recommend this.

Going From 1 Service to 2 Services

bdub77 — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 14:18:26 +0000

We’re getting a crash course at Ridge Church about adding multiple services currently. We are turning 3 years old in a few weeks and things are moving so fast, we’re growing so quickly, and running out of space in a hurry, that we are adding a new service time option.

In two weeks on Easter Sunday, we will start a second service time. We’ll have services at 9:30am and 11am. I can’t wait, but moving from 1 service to 2 is NO JOKE. There’s a lot more involved than just picking a time. After we get a few weeks into this, I’ll post a little about what we have learned. Everything from promotion to adding volunteers to logistics.

Hopefully going from 2 to 3 and 4 and 5 will be a little easier

My Unleash 2012 Review

bdub77 — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 14:52:10 +0000

Almost two weeks ago, I had the opportunity to travel with several members of our team to Unleash at Newspring in Anderson South Carolina. We take a crew every year, and every year take away something new. Here’s a little of what I learned while there…

God is done with you when He kills you
When it’s over- let it go
People can’t always see what I see
No disciples without evangelism
Our job is for people to recognize the power of God
How we plan our services either cripple it or enhance it
People are gifted to lead but called to serve
There is never anything wrong on a Sunday that can’t be fixed on Monday
Excellence doesn’t need accessories
If someone has to declare their authority, they’re not a leader
If you don’t resource it, don’t expect it
If you’re lazy with your gift, you’re dishonoring God
Care more about what your leaders are becoming than what they are doing

Those are just a few of the notes that I took which covered about 4 pages in my notebook – and I write small.

I encourage you to take a team with you to one of the most affordable and best conferences around next year, Unleash 2013.

Waves of Momentum

bdub77 — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 15:37:38 +0000

It’s no surprise in church world that spring leading up to Easter is a super BUSY season in the life of the church. It can also be a season where you’re riding the wave of momentum. All that is true right now with me and the life of Ridge Church.

In fact, the wave of momentum has never been higher at our church. I would even say the wave we are on currently has exceeded the wave we rode through the gain of our new building back last fall. When I say God is doing amazing things, I truly mean that God is doing AMAZING THINGS. We’re setting attendance records, setting giving records, adding great, new volunteer staff members (more on that later), increasing ministries, making impact on our community like never before and most importantly, seeing lives changed by the Gospel. One day this wave will crest; but you better believe I’m surfing it all the way into shore!

When the waves come, ride them out and enjoy every second of it. Eventually that wave will crest, but use the dip between the next wave to swim back out and prepare to catch the next set. Don’t sit on the shore crying because the great wave is over.

Why We Take a Team To Unleash Every Year

bdub77 — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 17:04:56 +0000

In Anderson South Carolina, there’s a little town with a little church called NewSpring, and every year in March, we take a few car loads of people to Newspring for the Unleash Conference. So what’s so special about about to Unleash? Let me take a few moments and tell you…

I love pastor Perry and the Newspring staff – Several years ago, I had the opportunity to be in pastor P’s coaching network. During that time I was able to get to know pastor Perry, the staff and others. Not only that, I grew as a leader because they poured into me. AND…they still do years later.
Unleash is great for volunteers to attend – There are a lot of great conferences out there. I went to one last week. But most are several days long. I love Unleash because it’s one day, it’s close, it’s less expensive than others, and because of all that, we can take a ton of volunteers to get recharged.
It’s simply a great conference – I get PUMPED up every time I go to Newspring. Call it what you want, but I always come back charged up. And even more so when I see how our vols get charged up.
I go for the relationships – One of my favorite things to do at Unleash is just catch up with guys I haven’t seen in a long time. It’s good just to catch up with them face to face.
Time with the people I love most – YES…I love our volunteers at Ridge Church and I get to spend two whole days with them, riding, chatting and worshiping with them. I call that a good time.

If you’re coming to Unleash, be sure to say hi! I’d love to meet you!