DOUG DUGGINS

Well it happened last night. My oldest son (by 36 min) asked me one of the hardest questions a kid could ever ask their parent (besides WHY? about 300 times in a row). He asked this question:

“Daddy, why does Santa go out on Christmas and give presents to everybody?”

DANG!

That was the first thought that popped into my head as it was spinning. I mean come on, how can I be truthful with him, honor Christ with my answer, and not kill every bit of fun that he has with Christmas?

DANG! “Why didn’t you ask your mom that?”

I thought do you tell him there is no Santa. NOPE, not a chance. Do I act ordinary (like and idiot) (from the message this weekend apparently I don’t have to act I already am)? I can’t do that because I always explain things to my kids even if they may not be able to understand. This is what I do and I believe they expect it.

“God, please give me an answer for this question.”

He did. This is what I told Timothy: “Christmas is when we celebrate Jesus’ birthday and what do we give people at their birthday party? “Presents” Timothy said. “That’s right son.”

Now I know this didn’t specifically answer the question about “why Santa” but it got me off the hook for now.

Feel free to give me your answer to the hardest question ever.

www.createyourcountdown.com

Have you ever been in a heated “discussion” with someone and you had to walk away because you were afraid of what you might say? You were afraid to continue talking because you might say something that you would regret or want to take back but couldn’t. Maybe you wanted to talk to someone about some issue going on but didn’t want to risk confrontation because certain things might be said and feelings might get hurt.

Over the past couple of weeks I have had these situations come up in my life. I have had conversations that I didn’t want to have because of the issues. I was afraid that the other people had a bone to pick and were ready to give me a piece of their mind. I didn’t want to confront them about what was happening, but I did.

Don’t you know after each of these conversations there was a stronger sense of peace and unity between me and the other folks. I think it is amazing that often the conversations we fear the most are the most rewarding in the end. I think this is true for a couple of reasons:

1. God desires for believers to live in harmony.

In Acts 2 the people of the church did everything together and had everything in common. They lived in harmony. It’s a model for us to live by.

2. Resolving conflict is obedient to Christ.

Jesus commands us in Matthew 18 to work out our issues with other believers, not to let them linger. He even gives an eternal promise that if we learn to agree, then what we ask for will be given by God.

Satan would want nothing more than for believers to have bitterness towards one another because that would destroy the love between us and hinder our efforts to reach others for Christ. God’s love for us is our example of how to love others because “God is love” 1 John 4:8. God’s love drives out fear. Christ has faced the ultimate fear of eternal life separated from God in a very real place called Hell. He defeated it, not for himself but for us. If we believe this, then there is nothing in life that we should be so afraid of that it causes us to disobey what God desires for us to do.

So who do you have an issue with today? I encourage you to go to them, with love in your heart, and talk to them about the problem. Work it out. Don’t let Satan win the battle between love and bitterness.

Have you ever asked this question? Have you ever asked God to “just be with me.” There were two believers in the Bible (Luke 24:13-34) who thought this same kind of thing. After Jesus rose from being dead, the two men were walking down the road when Jesus himself came to walk with them. However, these two men didn’t know it was Jesus because God kept them from recognizing him. The men were complaining about their leader, Jesus, not being around anymore to help them with their problems, share good stories with them that might have something to do with life if you think about it in the right way, and to attract big crowds of people to preach to. These men were so discouraged they even began to question if Jesus was the Messiah.

I know that many believers have wondered where God was at certain points in their life. They have asked the question “God where are you?” The funny thing about this question, even ironic, is that if someone really thought the God had left them, they wouldn’t call out for him at all. If your wife goes shopping, do you start talking to her like she is standing right their? Do you talk to your husband, like he’s in the room, about his day after he has already left for work? While your kids are at school do you talk to them about their homework? Most likely not. Why? Because they are gone and you know it. What’s the purpose in calling out for someone who is not there?

We believe that God is still here but we are sometimes just too focused on what’s going on around us, our own problems, and our own disappointments to notice Him in our lives. What is keeping you from recognizing God working in your life?

Remember when you feel like you are completely alone, God is closer than you realize. After the men realized who was with them and Jesus left, they talked about the burning (Esh’) that they were feeling as Jesus talked to them. Ask the Holy Spirit today to burn away clouds that cover up the presence of God in your life.

about pumping gas at the Gas Buy Down was awesome today. We were completely slammed from 10 until 12. We pumped gas, washed windows and meet a lot of cool people. The feeling you get from serving others without expecting anything in return is truly priceless. That’s what Agape love for others looks like. I can’t even imagine how God feels after he shows Agape love to everyone in the world. Wow, God is good. Thank you to everyone who served their community today and showed the love of Jesus to others. That is how we want our church to be defined, by how we help others in need.

Check out the photos by clicking here

This week I saw one of the craziest things ever. Dana and the kids went out of town for the day. I talked to her on her way home and when after she got home. She called me after the kids went to bed and asked me to pick up some medicine on my way home. As I pulled onto the driveway, at about 10:00pm, I notice the passenger side rear tire looked funny. I thought, “What could Dana have run over that stuck to the tire?” It was dark so I just rub my had across the weird looking spot, being careful because I thought it was something nasty, and it had a sound like a dry leaf. So I tried to grab it and pull it off. When I did that is when I realized something was really wrong. My finger got stuck and began bleeding. Leaves can’t do that. I just happened to have my flashlight in my pocket, as good Boy Scouts always do, and shined a light on the tire. That’s when I saw there was a huge chuck of the tire missing. The rubber was gone all the way down to the wire cords that keep the tire together and some of them were busted. Immediately I was thankful that Dana and the kids were safe at home. I began thanking God right then as I was rushing inside. Dana was lying on the couch and I gave here a big hug and told her I was so thankful that she and the kids were alive. She was confused and asked why I would just say that. I told her what I saw on the tire. She sat up and said “I knew something happened to the tire on the way home tonight. I stopped to look at what could have happened. I didn’t see any thing and I even kicked the tire and it had air. So I drove home.” Dana drove home on the interstate at 70 mph on this tire:

This is going to be a blast. You don't want to miss it. The reaction we will get from people is priceless. See you Saturday.

Last weekend was one of the most awesome weekends of my life. I got home on Friday night at about 11:15pm or so and I wasn’t even the least bit tired. I was so pumped up because of what had happened that night and was going to be happening throughout the weekend I couldn’t go to sleep. Just ask Dana who was trying to go to sleep but I couldn’t stop talking.

Let me explain for those of you who don’t know. On Friday, Halloween, the Salisbury campus had the Hallelujah Festival (the safe alternative to Halloween). We had Trunk or Treat, tons of games for kids, free hot dogs and pop corn, costume contest, and much more. The coolest part is the Bible Woods Hay Ride. For this we have my students, at different spots, in the woods, not to scare people, but to teach them about a person from the Bible like Moses, David, Mary, etc. As the hay ride goes around it stops at each character and the student explains a little about that person's life. The last stop of the ride is “Peter” and at this stop the gospel is presented and the plan of salvation is offered, for everyone, but mostly the kids. This year I was Peter and I prayed with 10 kids who offered their live to Christ. WOW. I was so excited. I had prayed for all the hay rides that just one person would be ready to accept Christ and dang-it if 10 didn’t pray with me. As the night went on I just kept getting more and more excited. I just couldn’t believe it. A really great part of this is I don’t think 10 kids would have accepted Christ if it wasn’t for the work that the students had done before the hay ride got to me. Their parts were crucial and very good. They practiced for at least 3 weeks on their parts and it paid off. GREAT JOB IGNITE AND 180.

So when I got home I started processing what had happened and I couldn’t stop thanking God for all that had happened that night. Then I started thinking about what was going to happen over the rest of the weekend and I just got more excited. I just kept praying and thanking God. So much so that I only got about 2 hours sleep. Here are some of the other things that happened over the weekend:

Salisbury Gas Buy Down – we pumped over 1300 gallons of fuel into 111 cars. We washed their windows and best of all we showed them the love of Christ when they weren’t expecting it.

Heating Vouchers giveaway in Kannapolis – Brian gave away $50 vouchers to our people to give to someone they know who needs help paying their heating bill.

Brian Preaching – It is great to finally have Brian in Kannapolis full time. I think everyone was excited to have him their also. I think he did a great job.

OCTOPLY - Brian made a new word. I am not sure if that has to do with math or toilet paper but I am sure going to have a great time joking him about it. LOL

The Church being the Church – I believe that the efforts we are making during our “Whatever It Takes” campaign is what the church is supposed to be “doing.” I feel like we are giving folks the tools they need to minister to those who have needs. There is a different feeling in the air right now at each campus. It’s like people sense we are not just going to sit back and be happy where we are. We are going to use what God has gave us for his glory and to reach those who don’t know Him.

We’re not stopping – This in not going to stop. As a church we are committed to continue reaching outside the wall of the church building to those who are not here. Everybody needs Jesus and it is each believers responsibility to GO and DO for others to show his love.

I love our church.

Leanne - While watching me brush my teeth she said this...

“When I grow up I am going to brush mommy’s teeth.”

Timothy - This came from nowhere as we were eating dinner on the deck...

“Daddy were you nervous when mommy drove to work in the snow?”

Parker - We were building a castle and we had to have a drawbridge... duh

“Let me count how long my drawbridge is... 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and a half. My drawbridge is 6 and a half long.”

My kids are awesome.

Over the past couple of weeks people have been doing things for me out of the blue. I have received cards and gifts it seemed like for no reason at all. These nice gestures made me feel so appreciated and loved. Really, I have never felt so appreciated in all my years as a pastor. I just couldn’t understand why people were doing these nice things for me. Then Dana told me someone had offered to keep our kids for half a day while we do whatever we want. I asked her what for, that is so weird. Then she told me it was Pastor appreciation month. Then the light bulb flash on and it all made sense.

Thank you to everyone who has said something, done something, or sent something to show your appreciation for me. You have lifted my spirit more than you could ever imagine. All of you are awesome and I love being one of your pastors.

It really was in Kannapolis. These are just a few of the reasons why I think things were so great:

· We had first time guest. This is so cool because people are looking for a place to attend church that is not the same as what they have been going to. Also, people are inviting others. To me there is no better way for someone to visit our church.

· I got to speak on something that is one of my biggest passions in life – marriage. If you read just a couple of my blogs you will realize this. God has showed up in a major way in my marriage and I want to tell everyone about it.

· We have Kannapolis people volunteering in areas that I would otherwise do or someone who is on loan from the Salisbury campus. Our goal is to have Kannapolis people taking up all the volunteering spots. We haven’t set a date for this but we need to so that we will push ourselves to raise up leaders and encourage members that live near Kannapolis to serve.

· We had a 3 piece band but it felt very full to me. The guys did an excellent job. Rick does an awesome job with the sound. Thanks Rick. The songs were great and the invitation time was very moving.

· In the span of a week we had two Kannapolis faithfuls in the hospital with not good news. Then we began to pray for them. One person came to church and played the bass a couple of days after having a heart cath. and the other came to church yesterday (that was Anita). Anita was told she would loose her job if she didn’t go back to work on Saturday and her doctor said she couldn’t go back to work until next year at least. Like I said not good news. After we prayed for her she saw a specialist and was told going back to work was fine as long as she didn’t over work. She went back to work Friday. Praise God. I gave her a big hug on Sunday when I saw her and she looked fabulous. I am so stoked that she is feeling better. BTW – she was diagnosed with MS a while back and needs your prayers regularly for her health and her family (husband, 2 beautiful little girls).
Let’s do it again next week.

Check out this video we made for our series EconoMe. This video played at the Kannapolis campus. I had a great time shoot and putting this video together. Jon performed this song live at the Salisbury campus but it is so much funnier on video, trust me.

Some of the elements that went into producing this video were things I had never done before and I think they turned out great. One of the really cool parts was that this was filmed in a recording studio. So I didn’t have to worry about the mic’s. Thank you Mike Revis, of CMR studios, for letting us have the studio time to shoot a video. BTW – Mike laughed more than the rest of us while we were there. It was fun and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

You might want to check out Jon’s blog because we actually made two of these video’s that day. The other video has Ron Loflin, the Denton campus pastor, as the interviewer. Jon said he was going to upload it so check it out, you might think it’s even funnier.

I wanted to give everyone a quick update on the up fit of the new building in Kannapolis. We are waiting. Just waiting. Waiting on the architect to give us a quote for drawing the plans for the up fit. This is really hard to do because we know what we want to do and need to do, but the county has to agree with us. After we wait on the architect to get the quote and make the drawings we are going to have to wait on the county for the permits. Getting the permits from the county to do the up fit work is usually slow but very important. I know we could have done the work without asking, I even got advice to do just that. However, the last thing we need is an article in the Independent Tribune with the heading “Church shut down, not up to code.” So as we wait be praying for two things: first that God will move, specifically with the county to get the permits back in under four weeks. Next that the Kannapolis campus will grow during this time so we can have a grand opening with two services. I will be fasting and praying, until we move in, for God to do these things. I would love for each of you to join me.

Anxiously waiting,

Doug

It has been a crazy few weeks for me. I know most of us have times like this in our lives. Times when things are happening so fast you can barely keep up or even hang on. At the Kannapolis campus we had the door hanger event where 84 people passed out 4500 or so door hangers to the community. The next week we had a family day in the park where we gave away 300 hot dogs, 250 snow cones, 6 iPods that 98 people signed up for, and had a ton of fun. Added to these events we still had church on Saturday in Salisbury and Sunday at all 3 campuses and I gave the message in Kannapolis two weeks in a row. Finally last week my family and I took a vacation to the mountains. It was wonderful and couldn’t have come at a better time. It was funny, Dana and I were talking about taking this trip for a few weeks and were trying to figure out when. One day I was sitting at my desk and looking at all that was coming up. I knew that I would be exhausted after all the events and sermons so I emailed her and said "book the camp ground." By the way I forgot to mention that I was supposed to teach Salisbury’s 301 class that week also but no one signed up so we didn’t have it.

This was an absolute blessing from God because that Sunday’s message was the hardest message I have ever had to give. Not because of the content or any emotional or personal feeling I had, but because of one lady who chose to speak her mind in the middle of the sermon. That’s right she interrupted me in the middle of the message and gave her opinion of what was being said. I was giving a message about wives respecting their husbands. I read Ephesians 5:33 that states the husband is to love his wife and the wife is to respect her husband. I said that God wants the wife to respect her husband even when he is not worthy of respect. Now I was only one third of the way through the message when she spoke up about this. Her compliant was that she could not respect a man who didn’t love her first and did not earn respect. She actually had a legitimate compliant. This is very hard and I never said it was easy.

Needless to say this surprised me and threw off my train of thought and broke the attention of everyone in the room. I just asked her to give me a few minutes to finish the message, we would get to her complaint and I would talk to her after the service. However, I don’t think she was listening anymore after that because the message addressed her complaint with biblical reasons why this is true and after the message she still didn’t believe it.

As you can imagine I have thought about this moment for more hours than I care to count. I have ran through this scene in my mind over and over wondering what went wrong, what did I say to set her off, why didn’t she believe or understand what I was saying, and even if what I was saying is true.

The last question to myself is the hardest one for me to get over. I may never get over that and in some ways I never want to. You see, I know this is true in my heart and mind and believe it for two reasons.

First, I know this is true because four to five men and women that God has entrusted to lead High Rock sat around a table and wrote this message. We looked at it from many angles and debated the meaning and studied the context of the verses. Even while I was giving the message I thought about the day we wrote this message and I know that all of us couldn’t have been totally wrong about this. So I know in my mind this content is true, however my heart was wondering.

About an hour and a half after finishing the message I was driving home alone just thinking about it when God spoke to me very clearly and told me what I should have said. He told me why in my heart I know why the wife showing respect no matter what is how He designed marriages. He told me I should have talked about what I had seen and heard. The problem is I already knew that I should have done this.

When God spoke to me it hurt and I wanted to cry because I missed an opportunity to affect someone’s life for eternity because of what I have experienced. I wished I would have told this lady that when my marriage was going to end, because I was a piece of crap husband, my wife chose to stay. My wife had been told that I didn’t love her and my actions didn’t say that I loved her, but she stayed. I wished I would have told her that my wife chose to begin praying for me and respecting me, when I didn’t deserve that kind of treatment. I wished I would have told her that my wife found a church with people in it that told her truth about what marriage is and gave her examples of how a godly marriage looks. They encouraged her stay with me and not leave me. I wished I would have told her that when my wife went to church she gave me a kiss and said she would “be back home soon” when she left. I wished I would have told her that I know this is true because when my wife started respecting me unconditionally and praying for me and our marriage, God’s promise came through for us. God’s promise that the wife who respects will win her husband over happened in our marriage. I wished that I would have told her that I would not be standing in front of her today if my wife would not have done these things. I wish I would have told her she could dispute the meaning of the verse all day long but she can not dispute the results of the changes in my marriage. She can not refute the things that I have experienced and that have changed my life. I wished that I would have told her that my marriage is stronger today than it has ever been and is getting stronger everyday because of the decision my wife made to obey God in our marriage. I wished I would have told her what I have seen and heard.

The pain of not doing this, of not doing what should be natural for me, I hope I will never forget. Because of me not doing the natural, I feel kept me from seeing God do the super. God may still do something super in her life but I may never know it this life. It’s painful because I feel like, in trying to reach people, all God is asking from us is to talk about what we have seen and heard. To talk about the experiences in our lives. To talk about how God has taken something that was dead and brought it to life, and I did not do that this time.

In Luke chapter 2, the shepherds came to visit Jesus. They were amazed at the sight of Jesus, the Savior. When they left they returned to their community “glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen.” They did not quote scripture from the old testament or give a 3 point sermon about why Jesus is the Savior. They just talked about what had happened to them that changed their life forever.

In Acts chapter 4, Peter and John were in prison for preaching about Jesus in the temple courts. They had to explain their actions to the highest ranking ruler and the ruler before him. Men who had the authority and power to have them killed. Peter and John told the officials to judge them however they wanted to but they “cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.” Peter and John were ready to face death, not because of what they read, but because of what had happened in their life. Because they had seen something that was dead come back to life forever.

I have learned a valuable lesson from this experience and I think others can learn also. People’s lives change because of what happens to them. Because of things they experience in their life that leave a lasting impact. It is not often that someone begins believing in Jesus because of what they read or having all the information or having all their questions about how to follow Jesus answered. People follow Jesus because of what he has done for them. People follow Jesus because of an experience that changes their life forever.

I have learned that God wants us to tell others what we have experienced in our life. To tell others about the changes that occurred in our lives because of choosing to follow Jesus. To tell others what we have seen and heard. I feel that if we do this natural action God will do the super action and lives will be changed for eternity.

Since then the existing walls have been removed and the floor coverings have been taken up. This is what it looked like today when I was there.
Now we have something to work with. I will give weekly updates on how the construction is coming. We hope to be in by July 27th at the latest. The earlier the better though. If you are looking to help just contact me and I will find something for you to do.

I had a conversation with someone the other day that really got me thinking. The conversation had to do with whether or not the Kannapolis campus was either never going to grow or not make it at all. You see this stemmed from my past experience in a new church.

In 2003 I helped start a brand new church (TFP). I loved this church and the people in it. However, after four years we closed the doors. The church just never grew and our pastor did not want to be part of a church that was just about the people in it. He wanted to lead a church that reached to those outside the church who did not know Christ. This was the second hardest time of my life. It was even more difficult for my pastor. There are many reasons why it didn’t grow but I will not get into all of them right now. I want to tell you what I see that is the difference between the new Kannapolis campus of High Rock and TFP.

First of all, this is not an autonomous church plant. TFP was autonomous. Here at High Rock we have the support of hundreds of people already attending. We have a group of people who already believe in the vision of High Rock and will serve where they are gifted and needed. The campuses of High Rock also have the support of pastors with experience in the style of church that we are. Since all the campuses are the same (DNA) it makes it much more efficient to plan sermon series, worship music, community events, marketing campaigns, media content for messages, dramas, stage design sets, and on and on. We have people who are willing to do these things no matter what campus it is because we are one church with three locations.

Second, our location. There are not many churches in the Kannapolis area that have the same style that we have here at High Rock. There are so many people that do not connect with traditional church and need a place to meet God and people who love God. Our style of church will at least take away some of their excuses for not going to church. Also, our location allows the Kannapolis team to stay in contact with the Salisbury and Denton Campus. This is the vision of our campuses. To stay connected with one another because “A cord of three strands is not easily broken.” Ecclesiastes 4:12 (NCSB). The more campuses we have working together the stronger the entire church will be.

Third, and this is the biggest part of why I believe the Kannapolis campus of High Rock will not ever close its doors. God has given a vision to our lead pastor Ray to plant a church in Kannapolis. He has given Ray a burden for the people in that area to know Christ. Ray went to high school about 4 miles away from where Kannapolis currently meets. He has a passion to see the community change and this is the driving force that keeps all of us going. As easy as it would have been to say “we shouldn’t start the campus right now because we are in a shaky time. It’s not a good idea” he didn’t allow that. Why should what our perfect God has started be stopped by imperfect men? Then our campus pastor resigned and another shake up happened before the church was launched. This was another chance call the whole thing off. But again Ray was committed to this and encouraged us to continue the good work God started. Ray is a strong leader that lives a life of faith and the pastors and staff of High Rock feed off of that. I am not saying that my pastor at TFP was not a good leader or not called by God. Not at all. Planting a church is hard and you never know if people are going to come or how to get them to come. Ray has already experienced this and still wanted to plant the campus. Ray is 100% committed to seeing the Kannapolis campus be all that God wants it to be. He is ready and willing to do whatever it takes to make this happen. Ray has faith. That is, Ray knows that God has made promises and believes that God will stick to those promises. Ray is committed to this and so am I and the rest of the pastors and staff at High Rock.

That’s why this ain’t your grandpaw’s Cadillac.

Doug Duggins

Well this is my first ever blog. I am officially a blogger now. If you are reading this you must be then a bloggie. Just some up front stuff about my blog. Most of the stuff I write about will be concern the Kannapolis campus of High Rock. That is where most of my efforts are going right now so this will just be natural to write about. Some will be about the stuff going on at the Salisbury campus. Some will be about random thoughts going on in my head (most of these could fit in one of the first two categories because I love what I do and think about it quite a bit). Some will be about my family and what’s happening with us (Wife-Dana, twin boys-Timothy and Parker, one girl-Leanne, and one little dog-Sugar). I will always try to put up the latest video that I make just so if you don’t attend High Rock or missed the service you can check out the crazy stuff we are doing on video (like making two Jon’s). Some may be about racing or possibility volleyball because I love both of those sports. Some blogs may be about the youth because I love them and they may be the only ones to read this, who knows. Not much will be about politics. I’ll leave that for another one of our pastors (he’s much more passionate about it than I am). None will be about baseball or American Idol because I think those are ssssssssssss – illy. Anyway I hope that everyone enjoys. Thanks for reading.

Check out what it takes to change over from a gym to a church worship service – in 2 minutes.

Doug