Jon McClarnon

This Friday night the Garner Trojans kick off the season in a great matchup against Millbrook. This is a huge game that is airing on 850 the Buzz, as well as Time Warner Cable. You can read about it here and you’ll see the fancy True North logo/link underneath.

As a church, we’re going to be represented at all of the games this year with a very simple banner that has church name and web address on it. Seemed like a good thing to do since 5 - 6,000 people go to the games and another 400 visit the website every day. Who knew?

Anyway, if you’re watching on TV you can see the banner hanging on the fence just behind the Trojan bench. If you’re listening via radio, listen up for the mention of the church as a sponsor.

Now you know - if you hear anyone mention it - you’ll be able to say, “absolutely, great church…you should check it out.”

By the way - I’ll be out at the game on Friday night if you want to connect - let me know!

I’m going to admit from the top that I am beat. I’ll probably take it a little easier than normal today - it’s been a busy stretch. But it was definitley a great weekend for me and another good day at True North on Sunday.

– Got to hang out with 25+ people from True North on Saturday night. Love being with the people who are part of our church…grilling, eating, playing, hanging, brewing…
– Finished up the “Fanatic” series yesterday. Didn’t feel like I was on my A game, but got lots of good feedback from people who were really challenged by the day and the series.
– We had a pool full of middle and high schoolers last night…more grilling, eating, playing, hanging. A good time. It was very cool that 5 guys and one young lady kicked off the party by being baptized. You can catch a few photos at the “other” TNC blog
– I think the best part of the baptisms for me was to see two dads baptize their own kids. I love that. And to have a mom who says that she had prayed over her pool to see this day come for her own kids! That’s awesome!
– Someone showed up to True North yesterday because they lost a wager. Hhhmmmm…whatever it takes huh?
– My apologies go out to everyone who was/is on a swim team…it’s just not for me personally. (This will be a “had to be there” moment.)
– We’re seeing a steady stream of new faces. Gotta love that.
– This weekend we’re starting our new series, “Tattoo”. I leave you with the message teaser created by Bam Bam Canady - good work!

Tattoo Teaser

This one goes out to all the men of True North - heck, if you’re a reader who is not part of the church community - hopefully take it to heart as well.

I’ve been thinking and praying alot in the last few months about raising the level of challenge for the men in our church. We have some awesome guys for sure! I’ve made great friends and am in the process of building on those relationships. I’ve had several men be a great source of encouragement to me personally…almost every week I have someone ask about things to pray for…and I have several guys who randomly check in and see how it’s going. It’s a really awesome thing!

In an effort to get guys more connected and comfortable with - we’re having our first “Man’s Night” on Sunday, August 24th. Just cooking out and playing some casual games at the park. As part of the evening I was thinking about putting some challenges out there to push a bit more and encourage us to keep making progress towards being men, husbands, fathers, leaders, etc. that are really and truly “Gods’ Men”.

Out of that evening I hope to challenge us to find the natural connections with other guys that we feel comfortable with and take the leap to start some smaller, consistent, and intentional community groups that can keep raising the bar for each other in these areas.

I was scribbling out some thoughts on the legal pad one day and came up with 3 very distinct commitments that I hope will characterize the men of True North.

1. Authority. It’s about our relationship with God. It’s the beginning place for everything about our life…our families, work, hobbies, decisions, etc. To operate under the authority of God. That His Word would be the standard for all that we do. That God would be seen as the first and last word on life and what it means to be men living for His purposes. Whenever there’s a question, a decision, a struggle, a sin, a victory - that we would consult God’s Word together.
2. Accountability. It’s about our relationship with others. I’ve had lots of friends, even great friends over the years…spiritual friendships too - and only on a few rare occasions will you find other guys who are willing to get gut level with each other, admit their struggles…ask for help with their blind spots…and see the value to having other guys who are committed to their own well being and life success that will ask for help. When we accept each other and commit to each other’s best interest, we can become greater together.
3. Authenticity. It’s about the truth we tell ourselves. For me, it simply means being honest with yourself so that you can be honest with others. It’s a challenge to be men of the highest character in every area of life.

So that’s it. I’m looking forward to talking about this with more guys and seeing if we can’t get some organization to it. Don’t forget “Mans’ Night” - should be a good time!

Stuff coming up and stuff to know about at True North. Here’s the top 5 things to know:

1. Middle and High School end of summer/back to school swim party. This Sunday (8/17) at 5 PM. The calendar page is always up to date and will give you the low down.
2. Man’s Night - hey, the creative juices drain from time to time…it’s just a name. It’s a week from Sunday (8/24) at Lake Benson Park. Again - check the calendar for details. Starts at 5 PM and there’s grillin’ and games.
3. Are you on Facebook? If so, look me up…and you can join the True North Church group. You’ll find pictures, videos, other True North-ers. The only catch is that you have to be in the Raleigh/Durham network.
2. “Tattoo” series starts on 8/24. I am way excited about this idea. This is going to be a great time to bring some peeps along with you. Start inviting and make sure you are there on the first day.
1. “Fanatic” comes to an end this Sunday. One last chance to make a statement on your fanhood and support your team, band or cause. I’m coming with the Oklahoma Sooners!

Just a quick look back to yesterday - we hit week 2 on the “Fanatic” series. Not sure if it threw anybody off or not but we put the message at the top just after the opening song. I thought the nature of the message deserved for “worship” to be the response. Seemed to go really well to me though.
Lots of new faces on hand - it’s been a good couple months for that, even though it’s summer.

It was Ryan’s last day to lead worship for us. Was glad we got to say our thanks and appreciate him…and we let him go a little crazy with the band!

One more week to go with the Fanatic series - one last chance to support your team, band, cause, etc. I’m saving the football gear for this coming Sunday.

TODAY - I’m heading out with a guy from the church to shoot a video at Monkey Ink. Been looking forward to this for a while now. It’s in prep for our next series, “Tattoo”. On that note - check out the latest poll.
Looking forward to working with a video expert - Benjamin. Should be fun!

Check out the new poll asking “Do you have a tattoo?” Just go to the top of the page and click on “Polls”.

Late reminder for anyone reading on the weekend - tomorrow at True North you’re invited to come dressed in support of your favorite team, band or cause. Even if you gave it your all last weekend - and many of you did! - go for again.

On that note, we’ll be continuing the series “Fanatic”, talking about worship and how vitally important it is to “choose wisely”.

I’ve been a little negligent on my reading lately, but today I picked up these two books and they’re looking really good so far.

Crazy Love by Francis Chan. I have not read this guy yet, but I’ve heard some really cool things about him. I think the opening quote in the preface sets the stage for what’s to come: “To just read the Bible, attend church, and avoid ‘big’ sins - is this passionate, wholehearted love for God?” - Francois Fenelon (”The Seeking Heart”)

My Beautiful Idol by Pete Gall. Never heard of it before but the title captured my attention. Seems like a collection of personal stories of his life and that most of his “christianity” was merely the pursuit of a variety of beautiful idols. Looks interesting.

Have you seen these yet? True North snacks! Someone came back from a vacation a few months ago and brought me a bag. Then someone else brought me a bag they had found at Sam’s Club. Then someone in our small group brought a bag to a meeting one night. In the last few months I’ve received a half dozen of these. You can stop now - I don’t even like nuts.

But apparently they’re pretty good. And you can find them in the nut aisle - wherever that is - at most chain places like Walmart or Target.

When you check out their story and why they went with “True North” - you find some interesting stuff - they could have just as easily been a church.

The number one definition for True North snacks? “A passion in life which leads to extraordinary things.” Their story? Keep in mind…we’re talking about nuts here…”our all consuming passion - our “True North”…hope to inspire other people to find their own True North.”

I did see a commercial for them the other day. It was pretty good and some of their phrases are worth repeating. I found myself hoping that the commercial will trigger something for folks - work as another touch not intended for snacking but to point people to the church somehow.

Anyway - check out the snacks…and by all means…don’t bring me anymore!

I was very unsystematically reading in the book of Hebrews today - a totally random selection and I came across these Scriptures: “See to it that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.” It’s Hebrews 3:12-13. I’ve read those before but something stopped me today. It’s the idea that the writer is telling us to watch each other’s backs. He’s telling us to be involved in people’s lives who have a blind spot. He’s actually recommending that we have the potential to save some we know.
I think we all have someone in our immediate circle that is about to make a terrible decision OR has just made one OR is slipping into some dangerous patterns OR is on the verge of drifting into a dangerous way of life.

The tendency is to remember what we were taught growing up:
Most of us grew up thinking or being told to “mind our own business”. You remember - “hey, that doesn’t concern you” OR “nunya, my boy, nunya”. I say this to our kids all the time…”hey, I’ll take care of this one, it’s none of your business”.

I let this happen to me a while back. I was having lunch with a guy who kept checking out all the ladies whenever they walked by. It was obvious what was happening. I knew exactly what he was doing. I thought to myself - I should say something…and then I backed off. Why did I do that? I convinced myself that it wasn’t my place to be the one. According to the writer here - if it was laid on my heart and mind to say something…I should probably be the one to do it. And, it just might be a saving word of encouragement from letting a fellow Christ-follower drift away.

The writer in Hebrews is telling us to make sure that we watch out for each other - that YOUR business is MY business. As people who are on the journey together towards the life God has for us…we have to take action on behalf of each other and watch out for each other.

The word is “encourage”. It’s way more than just building up and pumping up and rallying people to try harder and hang tough. Encourage means to appeal, to beg, to urge, to exhort. When I really “encourage” someone, I might have to say, “wait a second…”, “timeout here…”, “don’t go there…”, “don’t do that…” OR “frankly, you just messed up”.

For all Christ-followers and especially people of the same local “body” of believers - this is way important. We’re made of the same stuff, on the same mission, part of the same group. We owe it to each other to “encourage” this way.

Who do you know that is walking a dangerous direction? Will you talk to them? Have you prayed for them? Could their future as a husband, wife, parent, employee, friend hinge on your courage to encourage?

And…who do you think is in your circle of influence that would come to you if you needed this encouragement?