I am writing from my office. This is rare because my office is where I accomplish the least of my desk work.  My days at the office are normally filled with appointments with members, a variety of phone calls, and time with staff.  But today is an exception.  I am actually sitting at my desk and typing this blog.  As I type I hear the sound of the copier out of my right ear and over my left shoulder the rumblings of staff in the hallway.  Will be a miracle if I can write more than 10 minutes without a knock at my door.

Well we experienced another terrific Sunday.  Pastor Jeff is doing a great job with worship and the team continues to improve in every area.  It seems they are jelling well!

Our What on Earth Am I Here For Small Group Campaign is off to a great start. We have estimated nearly 150 adults have connected to a small group.  That is awesome.  We also have 1 couple from a Catholic Church who has decided to join us. That is terribly exciting.  I want to encourage you to post your daily thoughts on your Facebook and tag https://www.facebook.com/TCMcDaniels   so we can trek together.  This will also allow us to glean insights and inspirations from one another.

What’s Next? 

As many of you know we are excited about John Jacobs and the Power Force returning to LifeBridge on June 2-4.  These guys are terribly impressive. During this visit John is bringing one of the world’s strongest men.  This man actually holds the world record for the bench press!  This is going to be breath taking to watch.

They are also ministering at Union Grove School and Newgate Mission. Please pick up your invite cards and spread the word! We are setting a goal to win 500 people for Christ during these 3 days.

Random Good Stuff

• Did you know that Brian Hyatt and Deanna Manley are getting married on Saturday May 25th in the sanctuary at 2 pm.  Brian has been a faithful member at LifeBridge for many years and has served on our Usher Team. The reception is in the Life Center.  They would love for you to attend.

• Did you know that Scott and Tammy Maxwell are having a baby this week?  They are having a boy and his name is Skeeter Maxwell.  We are rejoicing with them and cannot wait to see little Skeeter.

• Our son Brian is home for the summer.  He just completed his first semester at Christ for the Nations.  He is majoring in Youth Ministry. We are excited for him and looking forward to what God is doing in his life!

• Hope your Mother’s Day was fabulous.  Nothing quite as enjoyable as being with family and celebrating MOM!  We certainly enjoyed our Mom party and the Fried Chicken throw down that accompanied.

Blog Party

Pastor Scott and I are hosting a Blog Party at LifeBridge on Saturday May 18 at 9AM in the Life Center.  Our plan is to connect bloggers and blogs.  We will be sharing blog addresses, themes, and our favorite blogging topics.  Be prepared to introduce yourself, the target audience of your blog, and your favorite bloggers.

Our seminar will include:

• How to setup a new blog using WordPress.com
• How to write an effective blog
• How to attract traffic to your blog
• How to use graphics effectively

Hope to see you Saturday and if not see you Sunday.

Your comments are solicited and appreciated.

I am writing from home.  Ms. Charlotte is in the yard playing with Daisy.  Both of them love the outdoors and playing games.  I love cold AC and hot coffee from Starbucks.

WOW!  Last Sunday services were powerful and life-changing.  Many lives were changed.  God is so awesome, and we receive His reward and results when we hear His voice and obey His commands.

I awoke at 5:05 Sunday morning with a sense that God wanted to change my thoughts from a message to simply an exhortation.  I immediately text Pastor Jeff and we notified the worship team to prepare for a Holy Spirit invasion.

We really were not sure of what God would do.

This is normally the case.  Here is what I posted on facebook about the weekend services. 

In services last week many people received major breakthrough’s as God was breaking yokes and healing hearts. He also used the exhortations from a variety of different people to inspire and encourage others. All this happened because God wanted the show. This all sounds easy and convenient, but it requires change, flexibility, and courage. As a church we experienced something awesome. But this was the result of letting go of the usual, taking a risk, and letting go of the normal. It was a decision someone had to make! Now, here’s how that applies to you. What choices must be changed in order for you to experience a new and fresh experience with God?  Are you willing to change?  Are you willing to take some risks?  I hope you ARE!  The reward is EPIC!

What on Earth Am I Here for?

Our next Connect Group semester begins Monday May 13th.  Our new curriculum is entitled What on Earth am I Here For?  The series is written by Pastor Rick Warren.

As many of you know we begin our new series this Sunday and in our Connect Groups next week. We are so excited about this.  This is the first time we have launched a series simultaneously on Sundays and Connect Groups.  We are also equally excited that every age group is involved in this study.

We are expecting permanent life-change and permanent church change.

We are adding a number of new small groups during this semester.  We are expecting our church attendance to enlarge as well. I want to thank Pastor Scott for his continued hard work and dedication to develop our small group ministry.  As you know we do not consider this a program but a lifestyle.

We want to welcome the following new leaders; Amy Baker, Lindy Rowland, Mark and Mandy McGee, Grace Jackson, Charles and Grace Plumbley, Colleen Hagman.

Unusual Facts

Were you aware that LifeBridge has reached 124 new people for Christ this year and has seen 178 people rededicate their lives to Christ?  Phenomenal!

Did you know the Red Kangaroo of Australia can jump 27 feet in one bound?

Did you know that Ms. Charlotte was teaching the Women’s Meeting this Friday night~May 10th at 6:20PM?

Were you aware that we are praying about Planting a church in Tyler, Texas in 2o14?

Were you aware that we supply food for nearly 200 families every month through LifeSource?

Were you aware that we need 18,000.00 to complete the purchase of the playground for the kids?  We still have over 8,000.00 in savings for the playground!

Did you know the telescope on Mount Palomar, California, can see a distance of 7,038,835,200,000,000,000,000 miles. WOW!

What’s Coming? 

We are excited to announce that John Jacobs and the Power Force are returning to LifeBridge on June 2-4.  These guys are terribly impressive. During this visit John is bringing one of the world’s strongest men.  This man actually holds the world record for the bench press!  This is going to be breath taking to watch.

They are also ministering at Union Grove School and Newgate Mission. Please pick up your invite cards and spread the word! We are setting a goal to win 500 people for Christ during these 3 days.

Blog Party

Pastor Scott and I are hosting a Blog Party at LifeBridge on Saturday May 18 at 9AM.  Our plan is to connect bloggers and blogs.

Our seminar will include:

• How to setup your new blog
• How to write effectively
• How to attract blog traffic
• How to use graphics

We hope many of you will join us.

Well, you’ve been briefed. Your comments are solicited and appreciated.

I would love to hear from you.

This is a live picture of our recent trip to Kolkata, India where we spent 8 days with Pastor Michael Jha and LifeBridge India.  The trip was personally impacting and relationally life-changing for us and the Jha family.

Our awesome team consisted of some wonderful and powerful people.

Alana Blanks ~ https://www.facebook.com/alana.blanks?fref=ts

Lauren Clark ~ https://www.facebook.com/lauren.clark7777?fref=ts

Tim Bunch ~ https://www.facebook.com/tim.bunch.75?fref=ts

Charlotte McDaniels ~ https://www.facebook.com/charlotte.mcdaniels.9?fref=ts

You can grab a variety of pictures at https://www.facebook.com/TCMcDaniels 

For tips on traveling internationally I wrote a blog that you can find here.

Like all International trips the flight was quite lengthy.  You know what I am talking about if you have ever flown economy for over 21 airplane hours.  We also had a 13 hour layover at an international airport.  Fortunately it was in Dubai so we had the opportunity to do a little sight seeing.  Dubai is truly a beautiful place to experience.  I recommend you stopping there if you are ever traveling through the Eastern part of the world.

Upon our arrival in Kolkata the first thing you notice about the culture is the mass amount of people.

There are people everywhere.  It’s as if there is no one that’s not somewhere and there is always a crowd ~ everywhere!  From an evangelism filter this is great because there is opportunity everywhere. From a filter of meeting needs it seems overwhelming.  The goal has to be to reach one at a time!

We began our ministry by heading to West Bengal.  A village over 2 hours east of Kolkata by car.  We arrived at the village to minister to about a dozen Muslim women that Pastor Jha and his team are training to work.  These are women that have been rescued from sex-trafficking and prostitution.  Charlotte, Alana, and Lauren all minister the word with passion and wisdom.

At the Village we also have the privilege of meeting 6 Pastors that are under Pastor Jha and LifeBridge India.  I have never met these guys before. These young men are dedicated to the Gospel and serve as Pastors of 3 village churches.  They are on the front line and and are surrounded by Hindu’s and Muslims that are in conflict toward the Gospel.  They make 25.00 a month as part of a full time salary. Incredible commitment!

The next day I have the opportunity to teach over 90 Pastors.  The day is filled with a time of fellowship (tea time and lunch) and 4 teaching sessions.  My topic was the power of vision.  I shared how to hear God’s vision plan and how to stick to the plan.  Many were blessed.  I also learned how to preach effectively with an Indian interpreter.

On Saturday the ladies ministered the word at a Women’s Conference.  The girls were fabulous.  We were so pleased that over 100 ladies attended the conference. They taught with fervor and passion.  They also had the opportunity to pray over every lady.  One elderly lady was instantly healed of severe back pain.

The conference was a huge success and all of us left there praising God.

On Sunday I had the huge privilege of preaching at the first ever Baptist Church established in Kolkata.  That was huge to me and a sign of God’s favor. The church was over 125 years old.   The Baptist congregation was warm and caring. The interpreter was impressive and mimicked my every move.  I passionately preached about the importance of God’s voice and God’s word.  It was well received!

Sunday night may have been the brightest part of our journey.  Again the girls take center stage.  They ministered to the elementary children at Pastor Jha’s church. The highlight of the evening occurred at the altar call.

The girls used the beads on a necklace and the various colors as sin, forgiveness, and Lordship.  To our surprise several Muslim children accept Christ as their Lord and Savior.  It was so exhilarating to our team and especially the ladies.

Mission trips always sneak up on you.  Each of us think that we are going to go around the world and bring change to people.

The truth is that trips like this always change us.

I recommend everyone reading this to add a trip to another country to your bucket list.

Your life will forever be changed!

Your comments are solicited and appreciated.

I am writing at 3:52AM while riding on a plane between Dubai and Calcutta, India. The day has been long but rewarding and fun. While in Dubai we were able to see the world’ s tallest building. It was truly a sight to see. In fact, everything around that building was stunningly beautiful.

I am accompanied by my wife Charlotte, Lauren Clark a seasoned missionary, Alana Blanks our Missions Director, and Tim Bunch who calls himself a prophetic janitor.

Our mission includes serving at Mother Teresa’s orphanage, teaching a women’s and Pastors Conference and a visit to a home housing women escaping from sex trafficking.

What an incredible Easter. I thought it was our best Easter ever. We set an attendance record (over 1300) and a record for the number of salvations and re-dedications to Christ. Pastor Jeff was responsible for most of the creative ideas and Pastor Cameron was responsible with the construction and set design. Great job guys and to everyone in the Worship and Media Team.

As you know the VIP’s are always our volunteers. Huge thanks to all of you!

Lifebridge continues to establish itself as a Soul Winning Church. We also continue to improve our disciple making and serving our community.

We have an exciting April planned. The Twenty Something’s (412 ministry) is getting together and we have both worship and prayer nights planned in the coming weeks. We are looking forward to hosting these gatherings where the Holy Spirit can move and have His way with little or no time restraint. We believe miracles and signs and wonders will follow! Get ready!

We are so stoked about our new curriculum for the next semester in Connect Groups. The title is What on Earth am I Here for? The curriculum is from Saddleback Church and Pastor Rick Warren. We are most excited about doing the study as a community. We have also purchased materials for all ages. Going to be a blast to watch everyone from the nursery to the Senior’s grow together.

If you are not in a Connect Group this is the time to jump in. This material is designed to help every age group to grow spiritually and as a person. So good!

We are also pumped about the Night of Fun we have planned on the First Wednesday in May. An evening to get acquainted and have fun. The actual date is May 7th. Going to be simply a blast. Yard games and all the pizza you can eat for 5.00 per person. Games include horseshoes, basketball, soccer, blow ups, and the Connect Group Volleyball Challenge!

Did you know we have lots of bloggers at Lifebridge? Well we do! We want to get all of you together. We are also planning on giving a blog writing seminar. Topics include how to start a blog, quick tips to WordPress, how to expose your blog, and quick tips to blog writing.

The date is Saturday May 18th. Everyone is invited. Childcare is not available and no children less than 10 years old will be able to attend. So sorry for this one!

Well, you’ve got the inside story. Lets stay connected and keep moving our lives in GOD’S perfect direction so we can experience an AMAZING YEAR!

Would love to hear from you.

Your comments are solicited and appreciated.

Well I am at home on Thursday afternoon after 48 hours of fighting off a sinus attack.  It’s Valentines Day and rather than lay around I decided I must celebrate with Char.  So off we went to Barron’s for lunch.  She had the Maple Pecan Salad and I had the Chicken Noodle Soup and Fish Tacos.  We both carried a rose into the restaurant to signify our V-Day celebration and enjoyed a quiet lunch.

Seek God for the City

I hope you have joined us in the Seek God for the City Prayer Campaign. You can still get on board.  The campaign is 40 days of prayer leading up to Palm Sunday.  You can pick up a prayer guide at Guest Services or go online and download an app at www.waymakers.org. This gives you the opportunity to join millions of others in praying over specific areas and nations of the world. Prayer matters!  You can also catch one of my latest sermons from the “Get Series entitled” Get Prayer.

Here is what the staff is praying the next few weeks.  Let’s prayer every day and expect God to do what only He can! We are praying for 1) Amazing services, 2) Worship Night, 3) Prayer nights, 4) Seek God for the City Prayer Campaign, 5) Easter Services to be AMAZING,  6) 7 Days of Miracles,  8) Interest meeting for College and Career, 9) Financial Breakthroughs  10) Miracles, Signs and Wonders!

Well remember those words; isn’t it amazing what a prayer can do?  Let’s pray and find out!

Amazing Things Coming

We have some truly amazing things coming in 2013.  We will soon be setting the dates for the worship night and our first ever evening prayer times.  Both are going to be scheduled in March.  Both of these provide us the opportunity to allow the Holy Spirit to have his way without a time restraint.  We just want to allow God to move our hearts and open up the heavens above LifeBridge.

Did you know that Pastor Jeff launched a new worship website? You can take a look here.

Also, be looking for the new short clips.  These clips are short clips of the Sunday sermons.  We are wanting to start a craze of these and let them go viral on our social media networks and through text messaging.  You can find these clips under the Vimeo button on our website.

Easter 2013

Well our next BIG EVENT is Easter.  We are truly anticipating an EPIC EASTER season.  We actually chose a different theme since our last blog entry.  Our theme is “God’s Not Dead.”  We are expecting over 1,000 in attendance.  We are planning services at 8, 9:30, & 11:30AM. We will also provide invite cards and take home yard signs for you and to increase our opportunity to WIN SOULS!

We will also be doing the “7 Day Stand” again this year.  The 7 Day Stand will be called “7 Days of Miracles” and will include corporate prayer and fasting during Easter Week.  We will host corporate prayer on Tuesday morning at 6:30AM, Tuesday evening at 5:45PM and Good Friday morning prayer at 7:00AM.

Write an Amazing Declaration

I hope you took the time to write a declaration of how and what you want to make AMAZING in your life this year.

I wanted to share my amazing sentence with you. Here it is.  In 2013 I desire to glorify God and be amazing by using my body, soul, gifts, and callings to assist others in reaching their fullest potential in life.

I would love for you to write an amazing statement and email it to me at tmpastortom@gmail.com

Your comments are also highly appreciated.

See you next time until then – stay amazing!

I am writing from home. It’s 10:00 pm on Sunday night and I still have not came down from my Sunday morning church buzz.  Ms. Charlotte is staying the night with our new GRANDDAUGHTER and Daisy (our Dog) is fast asleep on the couch.

Last Sunday was church on steroids! The services were filled with God’s undeniable presence. People’s lives were profoundly changed in both services.  The 2 services are both unique in their own ways. This week the second service blew up through the worship song “Break Every Chain.”  People began to bring drugs, cigarettes, lighters, and other items and laying them on the altar. Many were set free from personal bondage and still others filled the altar to confess their sins to one another.  Many were in tears as they repented of a variety of sins to the our precious prayer partners.

It was an incredible move of God’s Spirit.

We are anticipating more of this in our church throughout the year. God is truly doing a new thing with LifeBridge.  God has placed a fresh desire in our hearts to see Him glorified.  We are prepared to follow where God leads in every service. We are ready to scrap our plans and follow the cloud.  We are also hungry to see signs, wonders, and miracles.  We are not sure where we are going, but like Abraham, we are willing to launch out!

We do know that some of our next steps include Worship Nights and Corporate Prayer.  I want to encourage all of us to be prepared to scrap our schedules and set aside our normal plans.  In this season we are not satisfied with normal church. We believe that corporate prayer on Tuesday nights and Worship Nights will set the tone for a changed Lifebridge! We are very excited about the future!

New Worship Website

Did you know that Pastor Jeff launched a new worship website? You can take a look here.

Also, be looking for the new short clips.  These clips are short clips of the Sunday sermons.  We are wanting to start a craze of these and let them go viral on our social media networks and through text messaging.  You can find these clips on our website.  Here is one of our latest clips.

Unusual Facts

My friend Steve Keating on Twitter loves to post unusual facts.  I will share a few with you.

• 72% of Americans sign their pets’ names on greeting cards they send out.
• A snowflake can take up to a hour to fall from the cloud to the surface of the Earth.
• There are an average of 18,000,000 items for sale at any time on EBay.

Easter 2013

Well our next BIG EVENT is Easter.  We are truly anticipating an EPIC EASTER season.  Our theme is “The Easter Conspiracy,”  I will be sharing the different conspiracies of The Resurrection. Of course we know the resurrection is not a conspiracy, but unbelievers still doubt that it was real.  Going to be an interesting study.  We are expecting over 1,000 in attendance for our Easter services.  We may be adding an additional service, we will be sure and let you know.  We will also provide invite cards and take home yard signs for you and to boost our opportunity to WIN SOULS!

We will also be doing the “7 Stand” again this year.  The 7 Stand is 7 days of prayer and fasting during Easter Week.  We will host corporate prayer on Tuesday evening at 5:45 PM and Good Friday prayer at 7:00 am.  Our staff will lead the way in a 7 day prayer and fasting journey as we seek God as a church family.

Brian and Christ for the Nations

Charlotte and I cannot express how exhilarated we are about our Brian going to Bible College.  It has been a total joy.  In just a few weeks God has so changed his life. We always knew that God had a plan for him, but this has exceeded our dreams and unlocked his. The picture on the left is Brian a few years ago and our Jared right beside him and many of you recognize Pastor Michael on the left of Brian.

Most of you do not know but when Brian spoke at LifeBridge last Sunday that was only the second time he has spoken in a service his entire life. It was incredible to watch as a parent!

We love you, and are so stoked that you are a part of LifeBridge!  I would love to hear from you. Leave a comment and I will get back with you!

PTL!

The Bustle of Christmas 

I am writing in my office on a day that is actually kind of calm around here.  That is rare at LifeBridge.  Our office hallway is filled with Christmas gifts from the angel tree program.  I want to thank everyone who helped us to provide gifts for 17 families equally gifts for 45 children.  What a great blessing!

We were all shocked with the terrible tragedy that occurred in Newtown CT.  Christmas always brings both wonder and warfare. The loss of these precious children and teachers shocked our world and altered the joy of the season.  Our nation is in grieving but God is still on the throne and giving grace that we cannot see or discern.  Pastor Scott wrote a great blog in response to the question; Where is God?  You can catch that by clicking here.

Celebrate the Wonder Christmas Series

Our Christmas season began with an enlightening Christmas evening on our First Wednesday service.  The room was filled with the Wonder of Christmas as we opened with a live manger scene.  It was impacting!  Our own Tye Jackson was spectacular in preparing this service with a variety of creative elements and a master job by our Creative Arts Team.  It was an evening that left an undeniable memory. Thanks Tye and everyone!

I am so excited about our Christmas morning devotion.  My greatest thrill is sharing it with you. Our plan is to have a short 15 minute Live Stream devotion on Christmas morning at 9:30 am.  Charlotte and I are looking forward to sharing Christmas Communion and a small devotion with you through Live Stream.  Hope you will be sure and join us.

Christmas Service schedule for this Sunday is 9:30 and 11:30 am.  Hope to see you here or catch us on Live Stream.

2013

I am expecting 2013 to be a stellar year for LifeBridge.  God continues to challenge us to keep soul-winning at the fore-front of our heart and our passion.  We are anticipating growth and expansion in our small groups, and our Servolution outreaches.

Our plans include making our services better than ever as we discover creative ways to express God’s heart to a hurting world.

Your comments are solicited and appreciated.

Merry Christmas

Well the last few weeks have flown by.  My last writing was 3 weeks ago, seems shorter.  Time flies when we are busy and having fun! Having fun and hard work is 2 parts of being Pastors at LifeBridge.  Charlotte and I love being your Pastors.  We love our church, the staff, and the people.

It’s true that when you love what you do, it never feels like work.

It has been an interesting last few weeks.  Charlotte and I have been incredibly busy and doing both ministry and personal traveling.  We made a quick 4 day trip to Indiana to see family and 2 days later did a turn-a-bout to Woodward Oklahoma to be with Pastor Eric and Shellee Cox.  We spent 4 days together and Charlotte and I both preached to their church.  We enjoyed being there but desperately missed our home church and all of you.

Special Thanks

Charlotte and I so appreciate Pastor Jeff Carson and Pastor Scott Grizzle who filled our pulpit with powerful truth and excellent messages. Both these men are inspiring speakers and high level leaders.  We are blessed to have them on our staff!

Christmas 2012

Well Christmas is here. Christmas always brings both joy and challenge.  The challenge of affording gifts,  traffic jams, crowded malls, and long check out lines.  Christmas gives us opportunity to practice patience and personally display the joy of the season.  Let’s be sure and not get caught up in commercialism of the season but use the season to draw closer to God and worship His Son!

I hope you enjoy the beautiful decorations at Lifebridge.  We simply want to express the beauty of Jesus and to celebrate the traditions of Christmas. We love creating an unforgettable environment that people enjoy and remember.  We want people to feel safe and surrounded by God’s presence!

We will officially launch our Christmas Celebration on Wednesday night December 4th at 6:30 pm.  This is a night you won’t want to miss as we go all out for Jesus. Desserts, skits, music, and more will fill our celebration.  Be sure and be there!

Christmas Morning

I am so excited about our Christmas morning devotion.  My greatest thrill is sharing it with you. Our plan is to have a short 15 minute Live Stream devotion on Christmas morning at 9:30 am.  Charlotte and I are looking forward to sharing Christmas Communion and a small devotion with you through Live Stream.  Hope you will be sure and join us.

2013

I am expecting 2013 to be magnanimous.  We will have a special announcement for you at the beginning of the year.  We are hearing God in several areas.  I look for growth, expansion, and for all of us getting better at advancing God’s Kingdom and our vision.

Social Media

Here’s the social media stuff – Get involved and connect with these awesome people!!

Have you connected with the new Lifebridge Fanpage?  You can do that here

Pastor Scott’s blog is developing a large following – http://pastorscottie.wordpress.com/

Hope’s blog is about freedom in Christ and her victory over same-sex attraction -  http://www.hopespassage.wordpress.com/

Tye Jackson’s blog is enticing – http://tyejackson.wordpress.com/

My blog page is designed for leaders and Pastors  – http://www.thomasmcdaniels.com/blog/

Pastor Jeff on twitter – https://twitter.com/jeffcarsonmusic

We love you, see you next time.