KELLY LOFLIN

It's late again . . . can't sleep. My mind playing out day to day things. Once again, I am drawn to thoughts of you guys. How our lives will never be the same since God allowed our paths to cross. Interesting about the phrase"paths to cross." I guess every path of life leads to 'The Cross.' A point in time where we all need to make a decission to follow Him. It could be a decission regarding a job, marriage, children . . . . at some point it all comes back to 'The Cross' and the path that lead us there. What path are you own today? Where do you see it taking you . . . . fame, success, failure or regret? Either way it always ends up at 'The Cross.' This is where you see yourself for who you are and what you could be with Christ . . . this is where all your sins, mistakes, ugliness, failures, regrets, should haves are laid bear. This is wh ere the blood of Christ washes away all of that . . . He speaks peace to your weary soul . . . lifts up your head . . . calls you His own . . . makes you new. My heart is full . . . it longs for the people of Denton to know Christ. Not just the guy we do Sunday for . . . but really know Him. The One who completely knows us for who we are and loves us anyway. I pray for each and every one of you today. That God would reveal Himself to you in a very real and personal way. He is closer than you think . . . those words are so comforting to me. When you think you are all alone . . . He is closer than you think. Jesus . . . Jesus . . . please fill our hearts . . . give us joy unspeakable . . . help us Lord to see You . . . help us Lord to know You. Thank You for 'The Cross'. Thank You that You loved us with an everlasting love . . . thank You that You gave Your life for us so that we may know You . . .and all our short comings, sins and ugliness are forgiven. We are beautiful in Your eyes. Thank You Lord. In Jesus Name. A-men.

High Rock Community Denton, NC was birthed from the Bringle Ferry Campus of High Rock Community Church in Salisbury, NC the summer of 2006. It has been a challenging year and a half, but God has proved His faithfulness to us. With hard work and prayers, the campus has grown form 30 to 100 people on any given Sunday. The praise band has evolved from a keyboardist and a soprano with a tamborne to a full fledge band. These are some of only a dozen or so answers to prayers. We have seen lives transformed, marriages restored and people coming to know Christ as their personal Savior following in baptism. Glory be to God!!!! This past weekend was especially sweet . . . our praise team had had a retreat over the weekend and the spirit of God was moving as we were all in one accord. The same sweet spirit swept over us on Sunday as we welcomed Him into our warm up time and service. Over the past week and a half, we have been learning that worship is not an event, emotion, place or thing . . . it is a lifestyle. As we learned about what worhsip was, I beleive that we opened ourselves up to allow God's presences be known in our own lives which came out in our act of worhsip. God is doing some great things in Denton at High Rock Community. We are excited about what the year 2008 holds for us as individuals and as a church. As our lifestyle reflects God's glory and we praise Him for that, we pray that lives will be changed through the power of the Holy Spirit . . .

I am sure you are familiar with the background of this moment in scripture Luke 10: 41-42. Jesus had come to dinner at Mary and Martha’s house. They were sisters. And, like many siblings, they had very different personalities. In fact, it is easy to see some of the difference in this passage alone. Martha was type “A” all the way. She was extremely concerned with making sure all the arrangements were just right and that the food was prepared properly. She had probably cleaned the house four times over and whipped up her most popular culinary delight. She was busy bustling around the home, yet she was bothered. While Martha was working hard, she noticed her sister was hardly working. Mary was busy too, but in a much different way. She was sitting at Jesus’ feet. (vs. 39) This bothered Martha greatly. It bothered her so much that she even appeals to Jesus to get Mary to help her! Look at vs. 40: “But Martha was distracted with much serving and she approached Him and said ‘Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the work alone? Please tell her to help me.’”That is when Jesus responds with “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.” How many times have you and I been guilty of getting so wrapped up in many things, that we don’t do the one thing that is most important? I don’t know about you, but “the most wonderful time of year” to me is also the craziest and busiest time of year. And, if we are not careful, we will get so wrapped up in preparing and doing the "many things", that we don’t do the ONE THING…sit at Jesus’ feet and worship Him! Were the many things Martha was doing, bad things? Absolutely not. They were important. They had to get done and no one would have had anything to eat had Martha not prepared it. But Jesus can look deep into our soul and see who we really are. As for Martha, she was worried and troubled over many things and was consumed by it. Sound familiar to you this holiday season? We get so caught up in the needs of our Christmas productions, the rehearsals, family situations, job stress, shopping crowds, etc. that if we are not careful, it will consume us. We will wake up to realize that we were wrapped up in business, and missed out on holiness. We could potentially worship our work instead of working at our worship. What good was it doing Martha to have Jesus Himself in her living room, if she wasn’t going to spend any time with Him? Could it be she was more concerned with His perception of her cooking than she was with the condition of her soul? Maybe she wanted to impress her friends and the community with the fact that Jesus had come to her house and she had prepared a meal for the Messiah. Unfortunately, the Messiah wasn’t impressed by her preparation and production. What He wanted was her attention and her affection. I don’t know what Martha’s motives were. But all the while, Mary sat at His feet and worshiped him. Psalm 27:4 says “One thing I have desired of the Lord, that I will seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord…”This I do know. The one thing will simplify and purify the many things! As we move into this crazy time of shopping, hauling, traveling, singing, partying, and everything else-ing, let us remember the one thing…worship Him! That is why our worship services should take precedence far above any other activity or program in the church. The worship of our Lord must remain the primary focus of what we do and who we are! Everything else, "important stuff", falls under the category of many things. So as we go about this season, remember that the many things are about doing. The one thing is about being. God is more concerned with our being than He is with our doing. Have a Merry Christmas . . .

Why does God seem to take so long when we want Him to answer RIGHT NOW? We've all had tough times in our lives - times of discouragement and pain. Maybe you are going through one of those times right now. Maybe your marriage isn't all you dreamed and prayed it would be. Maybe your spouse isn't the perfect man or woman you had hoped for, and your children are angelic only when they are sound asleep. Or perhaps you are facing a serious health challenge. You cry out, "Lord, fix him...change her...help me...TODAY." And then you wait. .Lazarus' sisters Mary and Martha knew exactly how you feel. They sent for Jesus to come and heal their brother, and then they waited. No answer. They waited some more. Lazarus died. They waited four more days. Finally, Jesus showed up. They thought He was four days late, but actually He was right on time! He didn't answer their plea to heal their brother. He had something much bigger in mind. He raised Lazarus from the dead...four days dead! If He's not answering you quickly, you can be sure He has something much bigger in mind than what you are praying for. It might seem to you that He's late, perhaps too late...but actually He's right on time. So don't get tired of doing what is good. Don't get discouraged and give up, for we will reap a harvest of blessing at the appropriate time. (Galatians 6:9)

God is up to something good . . . we will soon have our one year anniversary for the Denton Campus. I wish I had enough space to share all the stories from this past year of how God has been faithful to us. We are so excited about our first baptism coming up Septemeber 2nd. There will be at least 5 -6 people that we know of that will follow the Lord in baptism that Sunday at High Rock Lake . . . we hope to have many more. Our one year anniversary party is coming up Saturday August 25th from 1 pm - 4pm. For your enjoyment, we will have ice cream, balloons, clown, music, inflatables . . . everything is free.

Now what really is important . . . the lives that have been changed. People who haven't been in church for years, people looking for a place to belong, people lookin for grace, people looking for Jesus . . . they have found it here at High Rock Community - Denton. As I look back at this past year, I am overwhelmed at how God has used me and my family . . . only because we made our self available for whatever He wanted. This time last year, my husband and I had been praying for a confirmation on whether we were to be a part of Denton . . . as I sat in a service in Greensboro during a missionary presentation . . . God was speaking. On this missionary's power point flashed a verse that jumped off the screen and into my spirit . . . John 15:16 "For you have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you to go and bear much fruit, fruit that will last." God has a plan for each and every one of us if we would just seek Him and listen when He speaks. You'll never know how He will get your attention . . . just be ready to hear Him speak . . . God is always up to something good.

There are so many people out there today looking for happiness. We know as Christians that true happiness only comes from a personal relationship with our Creator. The One who made us knows us best. Here, I want to encourage you in your journey with a few simple rules for happiness.

1. Free your heart from hatred . . . forgive.
2. Free your mind from worries . . . pray.
3. Live simply and appreciate what you have . . . grateful attitude.
4. Give more ... extend grace.
5. Expect less . . . humble yourself.

Be encouraged as you try to live more like Christ.

Today, I awoke to a beautiful sunny day. Although I knew had to attend a memorial service, there was something positive in the air this morning. Maybe it was just the fact that God allowed me another breath to breathe. To enjoy His goodness. As I started to Winston-Salem for the service, my thoughts went back to a time where I had known this young lady (Chrystel) as a child. Her life was full of hopes and dreams . . . kind of like what was in the the air this morning . . . "God's mercies are new every morning . . . Great is His faithfulness." Tragically, this young girls life was cut too short by terrible circumstances that were some what beyond her control. I often think . . could I have done more? Was I truly there for her. I know that you cannot live your life for what could or should have been, but today . . . His mercies are knew . . . I am challenging you to find someone this week that needs the love of Christ. This means getting involved in their life and pointing them to Christ. This takes time and effort. To put it mildly . . . it may cost you some comfort . . . it will cost you something . . . but the rewards out weigh the cost. Are you making a difference in the world around you . . . one child at a time? The question was . . how are you living the dash? May 1967 - 20? Are you living it vainly for yourself . . . or are you making a difference in some one's life who needs Christ. I challenge you to find a Chrystel . . . before one more child has to loose out on their hopes and dreams. Deuteronomy 6:7, Eccl. 11:8, Proverbs 14:26.