Are We Living In the End Times?

Are we living in the end times? That is the question we tackled today as we continued our Questions Uncensored series.
I said that when it comes to the end times, most people are asking the WRONG questions. They want to know When and How? The question we need to ask is WHAT? Since we know that Jesus is going to return, WHAT should I be doing in the meantime?

** The big takeaway from scripture when it comes to the end times is, Be Prepared!

** Another very big attendance today.

** The worship sets were amazing.

** Eric Peters knocked it out of the park with his opening song!

** The Venue service is starting to become a nice option for many people--that's cool!

** A ton of first-time guests today.

** Still getting amazing feedback from the "Can A Christian Drink Alcohol?" message.

** I can't wait for next Sunday's message, Can You Lose Your Salvation?

This past Sunday

If you didn't get a chance to be at Foothills this past weekend, you have probably heard that I did a message called, What About Interracial Relationships?
It challenged all of us to not be prejudiced.

You can watch the message here.

Good stuff

I am a huge fan of Charles Swindoll, especially his books. In his book, Living Above The Level Of Mediocrity, he talks about the character traits of a person who chooses the life of greatness. I thought I would share it. I hope it inspires all of us.

The World Needs Men (and women)

who cannot be bought;
whose word is their bond;
who put character above wealth;
who possess opinions and a will;
who are larger than their vocations;
who do not hesitate to take chances;
who will not lose their individuality in a crowd;
who will be as honest in big things as in small things;
who will make no compromise with wrong;
whose ambitions are not confined to their own selfish desires;
who will not say they do it "because everyone else does it;"
who are true to their friends through good report and evil report, in adversity as well as prosperity;
who do not believe that shrewdness, cunning, and hardheadedness are the best qualities for winning success;
who are not ashamed or afraid to stand for truth when it is unpopular;
who can say "no" with emphasis, although all the rest of the world say "yes"

May all of us have this type of resolve!

Are you prejudiced?

Great day at Foothills today! We answered the question, What About interracial Relationships?, but then we talked about the real issue---prejudice.

The definition of prejudice is forming an opinion or judgment about someone before the facts are known. It's very easy to judge a book by its cover. I'm so glad that God doesn't look at our exterior, but looks at the heart!

As I spoke about prejudice I think most people were thinking, "this is a good message for SOMEONE ELSE", but when I asked some personal questions about how people really felt, things got really quiet!

Here are a few of the questions I asked:

How do you feel when you see a bi-racial couple?
How do you feel when you hear a Northern accent?
How do you feel when you hear a Southern accent?
How would you feel if you heard that an hispanic family was moving in next door?
Have you ever used the phrase, Why don't those people just go back to where they came from?
Then I asked some questions about stereotyping.

Long story short, ALL of us struggle with prejudice to some degree. The Bible teaches that prejudice is sin, so we've got some work to do.

Today's message created what I call some "uncomfortable tension"---but that's really good sometimes.

Yes, I also admitted that I have been prejudiced against Nascar! (I still don't get that sport)

I'll be answering the question, Are We Living In the end Times? next Sunday. That's going to be fun!

busy week

This has been one of those, "Where did the week go?" type of weeks for me. Things have been busy at Foothills (as usual).

I got a chance to hang out with my Pastor's roundtable group. That's always a blast.

Me and another Pastor-friend are thinking about ways to help other church leaders with another coaching network---stay tuned for details.

Had a great staff party last night. I know you know this, but Foothills is very blessed to have the people on staff that we have! (just a side note, I lost at ping-pong, and air hockey. I'm not making excuses, BUT I think it could have something to do with me not being 100% because of my sinus infection!)


Gearing up for tomorrow's message, What About Interracial Relationships? Do not miss it!

Still getting so much feedback about last weeks message on alcohol. I guess it struck a nerve (in a postive way)

Even though Memorial Day starts "summer" for most people, at Foothills we have unbelievable services planned throughout summer. So be sure to take some time this summer to get away with your family, but be sure to be at church when you're in town.

Can A Christian Drink Alcohol?

The buzz about last week's message has been unbelievable. If you didn't get a chance to be at Foothills Sunday, here's the answer to that question.

Remember, this weekend's message is, "What About Interracial Relationships?" You definitely don't want to miss it!

Sunday's coming!

I just finished writing my message for this Sunday. The question I will be answering is: What about interracial relationships?

I won't answer the question in this blog. You'll have to come to Foothills this Sunday to find out!

But we will be dealing with the SIN of prejudice. Make no mistake about it, the Bible calls it sin.

In preparation for my message, I was thinking about some old sitcoms that had characters that were blatantly prejudiced. I immediately thought of Archie Bunker and his neighbor George Jefferson. Archie and George were certainly 2 of the most ignorant, bigoted characters ever to grace the airways. These shows probably wouldn't be shown on network television these days, but they dealt with some controversial topics (in a very humorous way). I'm so glad we have come so far in the last 25 years when this video first came out.

Please note----Some of this video is offensive because of a few racial slurs, so play at your own risk.

What a day!

Week 2 of Questions Uncensored was absolutely incredible! We answered (or attempted to answer) the question, Can A Christian Drink Alcohol?

I can't remember a time that I've done more research, praying, studying and wrestling with my own beliefs as I did with this particular message. As I mentioned in a previous post, this was tied for our #1 question, so it definitely resonated with a lot of people.

I had tons of people coming up after the message and telling me they appreciated the honest way we handled the topic. I pray that people would work through this issue on their own and come up with their personal convictions about where they stand.

We had another really big crowd today -- right at 500 children at Foothills today!

Heard some really great things about Ignite Weekend, that was for our middle and senior high school kids. 7 of them were baptized on Saturday night!

All in all, a stellar day at Foothills today. Don't forget to invite your friends next week when we answer the question, What about Interracial relationships?

Guarantees about tomorrow

I can't wait for tomorrow at Foothills. We will be continuing our Questions Uncensored series, and answering your #1 question, Can A Christian Drink Alcohol?

Here are some guarantees for that message:

* Some people are going to be challenged

* Some people are going to get mad

* Some people are going to be freed up

* Some people are going to have their eyes opened

* Some people are going to need to repent

* Some people are going to have to make some adjustments

* Some people are going to get inspired

* Some people are going to have to rethink their personal convictions

* Everyone is going to see Jesus name lifted up!

See you tomorrow

Just a blur

This week has been like a blur for me. For some reason I was thinking that today was Wednesday (pretty scary, but I lost a day somewhere)

There has been so much activity around Foothills it's ridiculous.

We did our staff job performance reviews this week. (Our exec. Pastor reviewed most of the staff, and I reviewed the Senior Management team)

I have been working way far ahead on my message prep, which is really good, but extremely exhausting. Our series, Questions Uncensored requires more work than the normal messages because of all of the external research necessary----but it's fun.

We've got a lot of minor office construction and moving people from one office to another going on right now.

There is a lot of prep work being done for Ignite weekend for our students. It's going to be amazing. Pray for Brian Rhodes and his team, but especially pray for our students.

Praying for our Toccoa Shine 09 projects this Saturday.

Our Foothills staff guys are going hog hunting tomorrow. That's going to be fun. Pray for the hogs!

Why I love Foothills

I am so blessed to be the Lead Pastor of Foothills Community Church. Here are a few of the reasons:

** We have a God-given vision that is focused on the world outside of the doors of our Church.

** I get to serve with an amazing staff that is completely sold out to that vision.

** I get to serve with the most committed volunteers on the planet who are also sold out to that vision.

** I get to preach in jeans instead of a suit!

** We have the most incredible children's ministry that I have ever seen (and besides I've got a crush on our children's director---don't get any ideas, she's my wife!)

** People are being saved every week, and seeing lives changed is "normal" at Foothills!

** We have unbelievable unity

** There is an expectation that God is going to show up and do something great every week!

** Our people are more interested in reaching their neighbors for Christ, than going to business meetings and arguing about the color of the carpet.

** We have phenomenal worship leaders who set me up for success.

** We have a congregation that is hungry to grow in their faith

I could go on and on, but the bottom line is this; I am so thankful I get to do what I do.

Sunday notes

Phenomenal day at Foothills Community Church today. Here are some highlights:

Awesome Mother's Day song to kick things off today. David Odom sang a duet with his mom. She can really sing. Oh, and so can David. By the way, Yes, he wrote that song.

Parent/Child dedications were very cool. I think we had like 35-40 kids dedicated. Lots of babies at Foothills. Must be something in the water!

Our children's department is knocking it out of the park. It is so cool to see kids making their parents take them to church!

Started the Questions Uncensored series. It is going to be a lot of fun. Answered the question today, "is the Bible really true?" Next week, Can a Christian Drink Alcohol?

Very big attendance in both services today. Probably a lot of extra people came to watch parent/child dedications.

Got a chance to hang out in the concourse quite a bit today. Met lots of new people who are pumped about Foothills.

Lots of buzz about Shine 09 service projects. Our community definitely felt Christ's love by your unselfish acts of service. Way to go Foothills. (our Toccoa campus will be serving Toccoa next Saturday, so if you didin't get a chance to participate, call the office, we'll get you hooked up with them)

committed to small town Pastors

In case you haven't heard yet, the Sticks conference was cancelled. Here's the complete story from Charles Hill, the Sticks founder.

Although it's disappointing, I'm sure something positive will come out of it. The thing I am disappointed about the most is that I will not get to meet some of my fellow small-town Pastors.

I know there were many people who had registered for the conference that were hoping that they might hear something that would help them to better reach their communities. I want to help.

Here is what I am offering to any of the people who were registered for the conference: If you have a specific question or two that you think I may be able to help you with, email our church office (office@foothillscc.org) (use "question for Greg" on the subject line), and leave your contact info, and I will get in touch with you and try to answer your questions.

Looking forward to connecting with you!

Questions Uncensored

You do not want to miss church this Sunday. We will be starting the Questions Uncensored series, where we asked you to send in the questions you've always wanted to ask about God, the Bible and life.
I must say there have been some really great questions sent in (and a few that were pretty funny!). Unfortunately I won't be able to get to all of them, so I'll be tackling the top 6 or so questions. It's going to be fun, but very challenging and even controversial. As I have begun my research, some of my own personal beliefs have been challenged----I think that's really healthy.

This week the first question that we will be answering is, Is the Bible really true? I realize that a lot of people would say, "of course the Bible is true", but do you really know why you believe that. Is there anything to support your belief? And if it's true, how does that affect the way I live?

The following week I'll be answering the question, Can a Christian drink alcohol? So no doubt this is going to be one of the most interesting series we have ever done.

in case you're wondering

Just a quick note. Our website is being updated and will be out of commission until tomorrow (May 6th).
Sorry for any inconvenience, but we're working on incorporating our 2 campuses into one site, yet giving each some autonomy.

The Sticks Conference

I am really looking forward to speaking at The Sticks Conference on May 12-13 in Canton, Ga. What I love about this conference is that it is geared toward those churches in small to medium sized towns.

It is also designed to be more up close and personal than most conferences. There will be plenty of time for direct interaction with the speakers, and breakout sessions that will allow time for questions. If you haven't signed up yet, stop what you're doing and do it now! Seriously, it will be money well spent.

It is a real honor for me to share the platform with Charles Hill, Tony Morgan, Perry Noble, Ed Stetzer and Gary Lamb. All of these guys have a heart to reach, and help others reach small-town USA.

I recently recorded a podcast with Sticks founder, Charles Hill. Here is a link. (I can't believe I endorsed robbing a 7-11! For the record, Don't do that!)

sunday thoughts

Yesterday was a very historic day at Foothills Community Church. I issued the Shine 09 challenge, and people responded---big time! I don't know for sure how many people signed up to do projects, but from what I saw, the majority of those attending did. (If you weren't at church and you would like to participate, just call the office (864)888-8008 and we'll hook you up).

I am praying that everyone who signed up will show up at their projects and serve. Our goal was to have 1,200 people from Foothills serving next Saturday.

Other churches will be participating as well. One Pastor friend of mine said that his church was expecting to have 100 people serving our community.

Lots of great conversations in the concourse of life change. That never gets old.

My goal was to preach a 25 minute message yesterday----that didn't happen.

We did however leave a little time at the end of the service for people to find a service project.

I also want to say that Kathy Badura did an unbelievable job of running point on Shine 09. Her and her team worked crazy hours putting things together. You guys are amazing.