This Sunday

A couple of observations from yesterday and a couple of things about this coming weekend at Foothills Community Church:


Yesterday at Foothills:

** Had the day off from preaching, which is always a good chance to catch my breath.

** Thanks to Paul Carr for pinch-hitting for me.

** Introduced our Foothills family Christmas, which is an effort to provide Christmas gifts to 250 needy children this Christmas. This is a rough time for lots of families. If you would like to participate either by giving to the cause, or if you know of a family that could use some help, let us know.

** It's amazing how many new babies (and pregnant women) we have at Foothills. Must be something in the water



This Sunday at Foothills:

** You do not want to miss--- If you miss, you will be sad---just sayin

** We will be doing baptisms in BOTH services this Sunday.

** Baptism services are some of the best services we have.

** If you have not been baptized and you are a follower of Christ, plan on doing it this Sunday!

** We will be wrapping up the Zeros and Heroes series this Sunday.

** You won't believe what the concourse is going to look like.

** On December 13th we will begin our Christmas series called, "Do You Hear?"

** Pick up Your tickets this Sunday for our Christmas eve services.

In case you missed it

Just to get us in the Thanksgiving spirit, here's my message from last Sunday on giving thanks:

Things I learned from cleaning my desk

This morning during my quiet time I was reading from 1 Cor.14:33 "For God is not a God of disorder, but of peace...", I'm not sure if that was what inspired me, but I then decided to try to make some order of my desk.

When it comes to my desk, I have my own system of tracking where stuff is. I would describe my desk as organized chaos. But every once in a while, I get the urge to try to regain control.

Now in fairness to myself, I have been on a sermon writing frenzy over the last few months that has allowed me to work ahead by nearly 2 months, so my desk has research stuff for probably 6 or 7 sermons on it at one time.

It was amazing the things that I uncovered! Things that I had forgotten about completely were once again discovered.

I got to thinking about the church. People come in with cluttered lives, and slowly Christ helps them to regain control of their lives. Lost things are rediscovered, and a sense of peace prevails.

Unfortunately there is another side to this. There are some people in the church that never connect. They attend regularly for a while, but never get involved, and slowly the clutter starts covering up the joy of Christ in their lives, and before you know it, they're gone.

Every once in a while I'll run into someone at a restaurant or a store, and it dawns on me that I used to see this person attending faithfully, but they've slowly moved off the radar screen. Some end up at other churches (which is fine), but unfortunately some drop out of church all together. Clutter has a way of doing that.

Is it time for you to do a little cleaning and organizing? Why not start today?

sunday night review

A great day at Foothills in spite of the nasty weather. Talked about being thankful today, so I thought my Sunday review would be things that I was thankful for today.

** Thankful to Jesus for paying the price for my sins -- I am so undeserving

** Thankful for our church (Foothills Community Church). Seriously, most Pastors would give their right arms to be able to serve in a church like Foothills!

** Thankful for people who ventured out in the cold, rainy weather to worship our King.

** Thankful for the great worship leaders, musicians, singers, and tech people who make my job so much easier.

** Thankful for all of our volunteers who serve tirelessly every Sunday (and throughout the week) to make it all possible.

** Thankful for the umbrella team who make sure people stay dry on the walk from the parking lot

** Thankful for all of the changed lives every week

** Thankful for all of the people who invite their friends to church. I love it when people come up to me and introduce me to their guests!

** Thankful for a church that genuinely loves people.

** Thankful for our Toccoa campus. They are such a cool group of people. I don't get a chance to be there in person with them often, but when I do, it's a blast!

** Thankful for people who sacrificially give to help us reach more people for Christ.

What are you thankful for today?

Baptisms coming up soon

Baptism services are hands-down some of the best services we do at Foothills. Over the years we have done our baptisms in lakes, swimming pools, and in horse troughs. No matter where they are, they are incredibly exciting.

Your next opportunity is just a few short weeks away.
On December 6th (At our Seneca location) we will be doing baptisms during both Sunday services.
In case you haven't experienced baptisms Foothills style, here is a video of our last one:

It's time to repent when ______

A few thoughts running through my mind this morning.

It's time to repent when ______

* When a Pastor begins to care more about how much the offering was instead of how many souls were saved.

* When you cater to the critics instead of forging ahead with the vision God has given you.

* When you change your focus to how do we keep the congregation happy instead of how do we reach our community for Christ?

* When you spend more time talking about what God did in the past than what He is doing today.

* When your "quiet time" is your sermon prep.

* When fear replaces faith.

* When "convenience" and "what's easiest?" trumps an attitude of whatever-it-takes to reach people for Christ.

* When optimism is replaced with pessimism.

* When the pursuit holiness is replaced by the pursuit of happiness.

* When The Bible becomes equal or secondary to any other book.

* When the reliance of being "cool", "slick" and "hip" to reach people outweighs our reliance on the Holy Spirit.


There's probably hundreds more I could come up with, but lots to do today!

Sunday highlights

Great day at Foothills yesterday. We're in a series called Zeros and Heroes. It's been a fun series so far. Up to this point we've only talked about some of the Zeros, but next week we start looking at the Heroes.

Here are a few observation from yesterday:


** Talked about the life of Lot. Sad story of a man who got caught in the current of compromise.

** Talked about the three stages of compromise. Stage 1: Small concessions. Stage 2: Ignoring the danger Signs. Stage 3: Full-blown Compromise.

** Attendance seemed good yesterday. Still lots of people out sick.

** The band did the song, Slow Fade. Very powerful---especially the little girl singing at the end. (I believe her name was Taryn)

** Loved the video in between the songs.

** Saw lots of people I have not seen in a while.

** I hear that our Toccoa campus had a great day as well.

** Baptisms coming on December 6th. if you have not taken the plunge, sign up on the info card next Sunday.

Family Carnival

Don't forget that this Saturday will be the Foothills Family Carnival. Tons of things to do for all ages. Rides, Inflatables, Rock Climbing Wall, Mechanical Bull, food, and lots of fun!

Lessons I'm learning

Over the last few weeks I have learned alot of new things and been reminded of some things I forgot. Here are a few of the things I'm learning:


** You can't always control your circumstances, but you can always control your attitude.

** When trials come, I am responsible for my response.

** I am never responsible for someone else's response (that's between them and God)

** Comfort breeds mediocrity

** Discomfort breeds growth

** God is more interested in my character than my comfort

** God sometimes puts us in situations that force us to grow/change

** People are people

** You will never please everyone

** Leadership comes with a price

** Leaders are often misunderstood

** There has never been anything that has taken God by surprise

** With faith nothing is impossible

** Our vision and passion to reach people that are disconnected from God is more white-hot than ever before

** I serve with the most amazing people in the world

** I can't wait for Sunday!

Christmas Eve

Can't believe Christmas is right around the corner. Our creative team has been spending a lot of time planning for those services. All I can say is, these will be the best services we have ever had at Foothills Community Church!

Here are some things you need to know:

Christmas eve services will be on December 24th (hence the name "Christmas Eve") at 4:00pm and 6:00pm in Seneca and at 6:30pm at our Toccoa campus.

Here's how it will work at Seneca:

* It will be a ticketed event

* tickets are free

* If someone shows up without a ticket we won't turn them away

* The reason we are using tickets is to manage crowd flow. We anticipate over 3,000 people showing up. If everyone shows up at 4:00pm we would be in trouble, so it will help us balance the attendance.

* Once all the tickets are gone, we will probably add a third service.

* Ticket will be available beginning around Thanksgiving

* The tickets will be available at The Stoop bookstore, and the Welcome Center and possibly a few more locations (I'll give you more info as I find out)

* Tickets are first come- first served

* you may take as many tickets as you need. So pick up enough for yourself and the people you will be inviting

* Yes, you NEED to invite people to come. They will hear the gospel, and we will see many lives changed that night!

* We will be providing our regular Children's environments (Planet Kidz and Discovery Kidz), so please take your kids to one of these rather than the main auditorium. (They will have a much more enjoyable time in an age-appropriate environment)

* The two times out of the year that people who don't attend church will come to church is Easter and Christmas eve---- so invite, invite, invite!!

Until then our services will incredible, so don't miss out this Sunday!

Sunday thoughts

Another stellar day at Foothills

** Talked about hypocrisy, and why it's so dangerous.

** Everyone struggles with hypocrisy (saying one thing and doing another)

** The best actors are not in Hollywood, they're in churches.

** Hypocrisy is one of the top reasons people don't go to church---too many hypocrites.

** People are not looking for perfection in a church, they're just looking for authenticity.

** Yes, it is true, I did have the leading role in The Gingerbread Man in kindergarten.

** The worship today was exceptional in both services.

** David Odom slam-dunked that Gavin Degraw song!

** Great energy in both services.

** Late Clemson home games affect church attendance! (congrats though to Clemson-- nice win!)

** Already excited about next Sunday's message.

** It was cool having my wife on stage with me today!

** Don't forget about the Family Carnival this Saturday at Foothills.

** Got to bow hunt this afternoon. only saw 1 small buck. Let him walk. Having a good year with my bow, 3 deer so far.

** Planning on waking up early tomorrow to play basketball.

wednesday updates

We had a great conversation in our Senior Management Team meeting this morning. The reason I love this type of conversation was because it was all about our vision at Foothills Community Church.

Here are some bullet points about what was discussed:

** Sunday mornings are a huge front door to the church.

** Our services need to be engaging and creative.

** The D.N.A. of Foothills Community Church is a church that is a lot of fun. A place where the unexpected is expected, and where lives are changing.

** We must always see our services through the eyes of the first-time guest.

** It is possible for services to become too slick.

** Humor is a good thing.

** People generally view the church from the vantage point of what they experienced the first time they attended.

** People are seeking a connection with God at some level every Sunday. They are wanting to be more than entertained; they want to be engaged!

** Are we taking enough risk?

** When people are excited about the church, the overflow is inviting their friends.

** How important are lost people? Really?

** Are we willing to tick off the religious for the sake of those that don't know Christ?

** Our best days are still ahead of us!

** The people that attend Foothills are the most amazing people on the planet.

** We need to spend money on things that will help us reach people!

In case you can't tell, I am fired-up about what's coming up at Foothills!

Sunday thoughts

A little different twist on my thoughts for Sunday, because I wasn't at Foothills this morning! I now it went great though.

Every once in a while, I will take a Sunday off from delivering the message and go and visit a church somewhere else. It's pretty cool, because I can be totally anonymous, and just worship.

This morning I drove to Lawrenceville, Ga. and visited 12 Stone Church. They are one of the fastest growing churches in America, and it's easy to see why. They had an incredible service. Great music, wonderful message, and some creative elelments that were awesome (No doubt, I came back with some great ideas for some future series!)

I have not been there in a couple of years, and this was the first time that I had been in their new facility---very cool!

I went to their 9:00am service, and I was surprised because it was packed--at 9:00am! Their auditorium seats around 2,500 people. They still had 2 more services after the one I went to.

The parking lot attendants did a good job of helping everyone get out pretty quickly, which was pretty amazing because it was full.

Every time I am away from Foothills visiting another church in another town, I always feel so humbled to be able to lead such a great church. I also come back with a new excitement.

Most of all, when I come back to Foothills, I realize how blessed we are. God is doing something very special right here in Seneca,SC and Tooca,GA!!