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!!

I love this!

Nothing more fun than a game of bowling. Nothing more funny than to listen to Jim Gaffigan talk about bowling!

monday thoughts

Lots of things happening at Foothills.

** This past Friday night we had Resonate, a benefit concert that was to raise money for some area ministries. It was INCREDIBLE! We raised over $6,000 and donated almost 3,000 diapers and I don't know how much peanut butter.
There is absolutely no doubt that God has blessed us with phenomenal talent. We have 3 outstanding worship leaders and multitudes of awesome singers, musicians, and technical people. They put in so much time to make Resonate the very best it could be. Thank you guys and gals.

** Sunday we started a new message series called, Zeros and Heroes. My message was on decision that we make. I talked about Adam and Eve and some of the poor decisions they made. We are the sum total of all of our decisions. let's make wise decisions today!

** This Saturday we are doing the Trunk or treat at Walmart. We have around 100 cars lined up to participate. Here's one thing we do need though, CANDY! Walmart will be donating much of the candy, but we need more. last year 8,000 people showed up---that's a lot of candy.

** On November the 14th we will be having the Foothills Family Carnival. This is going to be a blast. This is a great event to invite your friends to.

** We will be having our last baptisms of the year on December 6th during both services at the Seneca campus.

** Our Toccoa campus is working hard to complete the renovation of their new building. If you have experience with plumbing, electrical, painting, or are a good laborer, they could use your help. Call the church office and we'll give you more info.

Start inviting people to church this Sunday NOW!

Start inviting your friends to church this Sunday, right Now! We are kicking off a brand new message series called, Zeros and Heroes, and it's going to be awesome.

This week's message is, "How to Really Mess Up Your Life". You read it right, I'm going to give you 3 sure-fire ways to mess up your life.

The good news is that after this weekend's message, you will have tools to help you make great decisions in your life.

Here's what I'm asking you all to do: Invite your friends! If Foothills is the best hour of your week, then let others know.

Use your Facebook and Twitter and blogs and get the word out. Trust me, this series is going to be phenomenal!

If I could do it over again

I have a lot of church planters ask me, If you could start over again, what would you do differently?

Well, here are a couple of things that I would do differently:


1. I would begin with a larger core group.

We started with 17 people meeting in my living room, but if I were doing it again I would try to build a core of around 50 people or more.

Statistics show that churches that begin with a core of less than 50, rarely ever get beyond 200 in attendance. I suppose we were very fortunate that the 17 people that helped start Foothills Community Church were unbelievably committed to reaching this community, so we defied the odds.


2. I would put more emphasis on music.

In our early days we underestimated the importance of quality music. We did the best we could, but overall it wasn't too good.

If you are a church planter, don't skimp when it comes to the music. It is basically half of your service, so do what you can to find the best worship leader possible.


3. I would be slower about selecting leaders.

In the early days of a church plant there is such a huge need for leaders, that sometimes we can move too quickly and fast-track people to leadership positions that can burn you later. I can tell you from first-hand experience, you do not need people in your leadership who don't truly buy into the vision (even though they say they do)


4. I would trust God more.

This sounds like a no-brainer, but sometimes as a church planter you live with this continual pressure to grow the church. Almost every church planter that I know struggles with the emotional roller coaster of attendance. When the attendance is good--- you like life. But when you have a low attendance week--- you think the sky is falling. It's not!
Over the years I have come to understand better, that it's not MY church, it's HIS! He is perfectly capable of building His church. My job is to just be faithful.

5. I would enjoy the journey more.

Visionary leaders generally struggle with enjoying the moment, because they are always thinking about the future. When you're a portable church, you are always thinking of how nice it will be to have your own facility. When you have no staff, you you're always thinking about the day you have a full staff. I can tell you, that some of the most incredible days of a church are those early days, when you are totally dependent on God. In the early days, it's such an adventure, heck, you're not even sure anyone will even show up from one week to the next. Enjoy the moment!

6. Money is overrated.

Too many church planters are convincing themselves that the reason they're not growing is because they don't have money (or buildings, or all the bells and whistles)

Go back and read the first couple of chapter of Acts. Read Peter's sermon. No building, no lights or sound no fog machines, no big budgets, or guitar solos. There was nothing slick about it, but three thousand people were saved. Why? Because of the Holy Spirit working through a servant that was sold-out to Jesus.

That's it for now. I may think of a few more to share another time.

By the way, if you are a church planter or Pastor of a church with less than 500 people, why not consider being part of The Strategic Pastor coaching network.

new coaching network

I am very excited to announce that my friend Eddie Cox and I will launch thestrategicpastor.com coaching network in November 2009.

It is a network designed to help churches with less than 500 in attendance. (As far as I know, this is the only network that is exclusively for smaller churches)

Both Eddie and myself have always felt that part of our responsibilty and calling is to help other Pastors. We get calls on a regular basis of Pastors that have questions about how to take their churches to the next level, so we decided to develop this network and try to cover the most common questions we are asked. We will be limiting the group to 15 Pastors to allow for plenty of personal interaction.

The best part is that the cost is a fraction of what most coaches charge. Our goal is to help churches reach their communities more effectively for Christ.

If you are interested or know of a Pastor that might be, check out our website for more information and to register.

Remember, the first group begins in one month, so hurry!

A showdown with a skunk

I went hunting this past Sunday afternoon. As I was walking back to my truck after dark, I saw a pair of green eyes ahead of me. I wasn't sure what kind of animal was watching me, so I stopped, but it kept watching me at a distance of about 15 yards. Finally it moved on.
As I walked a few more yards, the green eyes were ahead of me. I tried to make as much noise a s possible, so it would move on and allow me to pass, but it wouldn't move.

I still couldn't tell what it was, and by now, all kind of things are running through my mind, and I'm getting a little nervous. What kind of ferocious beast is stalking me? I took off my backpack and found my bright flashlight and shined it on the animal and then I saw what had been watching me---a skunk!

I had a bit of a problem. The skunk was blocking the trail. I really couldn't go the left or the right because of the briers. I picked up a rock and threw it at him, but it only made him mad. He had his tail sticking straight up and was ready to spray me if I came any closer. I threw another rock, but this time he sort of charged me. Believe me, I was backing up pretty quick. Finally after what seemed like 20 minutes of this stand-off, It decided to move on, so I made a dash and got as far away from him as I could.

As I thought about that, it occurred to me that in life we face many obstacles. There are many things that get in the way of where I want to go and who I want to become. Unfortunately many times instead of charging through the obstacles, I allow my fears to hold me back.

What is God wanting to do in your life, but you are being deterred by something? Instead of backing up, why not try blazing a trail? Is there risk? sure there is. Could you get a little dirty in the process? you bet! But I can tell you from experience, once you face those challenges, there never quite as big and bad as you thought they were!

Sunday highlights

** Message yesterday was about sharing our faith. I challenged people to use their social networks to promote Christ and Foothills Community Church. People are already leveraging Facebook and Twitter!!

** It never ceases to amaze me at how responsive Foothills people are. You guys and gals rock.

** I mentioned that it looks like we will be the only church doing the Trunk or Treat at Walmart this Halloween. I can't believe other churches are bailing on this. last year 8,000 people showed up! This is a huge opportunity for our church.

** We need hundreds of people who would be willing to bring their vehicles for Trunk or Treat to hand out candy. You can sign-up this Sunday.

** Don't forget about our benefit concert on October 23rd, called Resonate. All proceeds will go to The Foothills Crisis Care Pregnancy Center, Our Daily Rest, and The Golden Corner Food Bank. Tickets are $10

** We had so much energy at our services yesterday, it was incredible.

** I love to hear stories of people who come to Foothills after having been out of church for long periods of time. I heard about one person that hadn't been in church for 32 years, and came to Foothills and loves it!

** We will be wrapping up the "Disciple" series this Sunday. The following Sunday we will begin a new series called, "Zeros and Heroes"

phrases that get under my skin

I mentioned this past Sunday during my message, that I had a pet peeve about people who use the phrase: "I used to go to _______ Church, but I don't go there anymore because I wasn't being fed."

I came up with a few more that I hear occasionally that make me laugh:
I have also included some responses---So Please excuse my obvious sarcasm :)


** "You're not DEEP ENOUGH" (another variation is "they're a mile wide and an inch deep") (This one doesn't deserve an answer!)

** "At my old church we used to do_______" (Come on, If your old church was so great, why did you leave?)

** "We've never done it that way before." (Which is precisely why we're doing it now!)

** "I don't know everyone anymore" (Neither do I. The object is not to know everyone, it's to reach more people for Christ)

** "Why don't we have ______ ? (you can fill in the blank with just about any ministry... Awanas, Choir, Sunday School, etc.) (Some of these things are incredible ministries, but we have made the decision to simplify things and put our efforts into the things that absolutely essential to accomplish our mission)

** "You always talk about money". (ahh, no I don't)

** "You're a Pastor?, so what do you do the rest of the week?" (golf, fish, hunt :) )

** "A Pastor should preach in a suit, not jeans." (Isaiah preached in the buff (Isa. 20:2-3)---so maybe jeans aren't so bad after all)

** "Can we have a southern gospel night?" (ummm, NO!)

** "Pastor Greg, are you always this sarcastic?" (No, I'm just feeling a bit frisky today!)

Have a great day!!

sunday highlights

I know I say this every week, but it was another fantastic day at Foothills Community Church yesterday!

** 2nd week of Disciple series. Did a message called, Grow Up! Basically the message challenged everyone to take responsibility for their spiritual development.

** I am more pumped about the vision of Foothills than ever before. To help people find and follow Jesus.

** I just heard that we have seen nearly 500 people make significant spiritual decisions already this year (1st time salvations, and re-commitments)

** Can't wait for our benefit concert called Resonate on October 23rd. Proceeds will go toward the Foothills Crisis Care Pregnancy Center, the Golden Corner Food Bank, and Our Daily Rest homeless shelter. Tickets are $10 and are available at the Welcome Center. All proceeds will go to support these ministries.

** This Sunday I am doing a message called, Share. I am really praying that something huge happens.

** Had one of the best staff meetings we have ever had this morning. God is about to do something ridiculous at Foothills!

LEADER (part 5)

The second "E" in L.E.A.D.E.R. is:

E xpresses truth--no matter what.

Honesty is not only the "best policy"-- it's the "only policy".

Leaders need to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, even when it's difficult.

Some leaders seem to be deceptive, and give a lot of 1/2 truths.

Here's the reason why being honest is so important; it gives you credibility. When we mess up and are honest enough to admit that, people respect our authenticity.

I have worked for people who were less than honest and you always have a sense that, something just isn't right. You get to the point where you're not sure what's truth and what's a fabrication. That's a very unhealthy environment.

When doing our staff reviews I have found that it is extremely important to be very honest. People need to know exactly where they stand. They need to know what areas they are doing well on, and which ones they need to work on. If we are afraid to be honest and give a good review, but there are areas that need improvement, then we are doing them a disservice. They need (and want) us to be honest.

Next time I am going to wrap up this series of posts with the "R" in L.E.A.D.E.R.

Shine

Some of you know that for the last couple of years we have done an annual Shine project, where 1,000 plus volunteers from Foothills Community Church have tackled various community service projects. It has been a huge success.

Well, we had the idea that we would use the same concept again except we would ask the volunteers to serve at Foothills campus in Seneca.

First impressions are important and we have always sought to have the most pristine campus possible so that guests would feel like we were prepared to receive them.

Even though our facility is pretty new, there are a lot of things that need attention. We have some outside things like, grass seeding and pressure washing, and landscaping, and then there are some inside things like painting and general clean-up.

On Saturday October 10th from 9:00am until noon, we need your help. This is a great chance to give some of our most precious commodity--time, back to your church!

We'll be giving you more info this Sunday, but go ahead and mark it on your calendars.

Sunday thoughts

What a day today at Foothills Community Church. I can't believe what God is uo to at both of our campuses.

**First, a shout out to our Toccoa campus. Wow, can you believe what happened there? They celebrated their one year anniversary with a new record attendance and they baptized 8 more people!

**They were watching the , "What If... Today Was Your last Day?" message, and Shannon Chiles, our campus Pastor told me that one lady that was baptized was held-up at gunpoint this morning before church (she works at a convenience store) So needless to say, the message hit home with her.

**I can hardly wait to see what happens when they move into their new facility in a couple of months!

**At our Seneca campus we began a new series called, "Disciple". The message was called, "The Gospel". Basically I just preached the Gospel. The gospel is so simple, yet so profound.

**Once again, I want to brag on all of the staff and volunteers that pitch in to make things happen at Foothills--Thank you, thank you, thank you.

**Taylor did a great job again with the stage set. worship was awesome. Scott Chatfield did a nice job with the Via Dolorosa video at the 11:15am service. All in all, a great day.

**Next Sunday my message is called, "Grow Up". I wish tomorrow was Sunday, I can hardly wait!

In case you missed it

For those of you who could not make it to Foothills this past weekend because of the flooding, here is what you missed. What If... Today Was Your Last Day?

Dozens of people were baptized in horse troughs set up on stage (you can watch them on the video as well).

Leaders (part 4)

The "D" in L.E.A.D.E.R. is:

Do the right thing--always.

That's right, integrity is one of the most important attributes of a leader (probably the most important)

Leaders have to keep their guards up at all time. One slip morally can be fatal to your ability to lead, and your reputation.

In 1 Kings 15:5, we are reminded of this. It says: " For David had done what was pleasing in the Lord's sight and had obeyed the Lord's commands throughout his life, EXCEPT in the affair concerning Uriah the Hittite."

All of the great things that David did throughout his lifetime, like defeating Goliath, and great military victories were overshadowed by his lack of integrity.

I wonder how President Nixon will be remembered? Most likely it will be Watergate.

Or how about President Clinton? probably for his dealings with Monica Lewinsky.
How about you? What will you be remembered for?

It takes a lifetime to build integrity and only 1 moment to lose it!

Leaders, it is up to us to model integrity.

Leaders (part 3)

The "A" in Leaders stands for Admonish. Great Leaders:

A dmonish when necessary.

Colossians 3:16 says to "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom.

Great leaders are not afraid to confront people when necessary. It has been said that confrontation is the greatest form of love. It's hard to do, but when you truly care about people you become willing to take the relational risk associated with admonishment.

It's a whole lot easier to let things slide, but if you keep in mind, the goal of admonishment is actually to help another person, then it's a little easier.

Admonishment is not meant to be critical it is meant to correct. It's designed to spur a person on to a higher way of living.

I remember reading about former Miami Dolphin head coach, Don Shula. he was once talking to a reporter and was asked about on of his players mistake during practice. He said, "we never let an error go unchallenged." the reporter then asked, "isn't there a benefit in overlooking one small flaw?" He responded by saying, "uncorrected errors multiply. You've got to face them someday, so you might as well face them on the spot."

Over the years I have found that there are some keys to proper admonishment. Here's a list:

** Admonish quickly.
** Admonish in private (praise in public)
** Pray before confronting
** Admonish in love
** Check your motives

Sunday thoughts

Today will go down in history as one of the best at Foothills. Here are a few highlights:

** Woke up this morning to a driving rain. Always hate torrential rains on Sundays. It definitely affects attendance.

** Today we did spontaneous baptisms. It's always a little scary because they are so unpredictable. But I guess that's why i love doing them. It is a total step of faith.

** We had 3 horse troughs set up on the stage to do the baptisms in. (You never know what to expect at Foothills!)

** Leading up to the message, the band did the Nickelback song, If Today was Your Last Day. Then we had some eerie organ music playing with some slides on the big screens that had scriptures talking about the brevity of life, and then we had pallbearers carry out a casket---very creepy.

** The message today was, What If... Today Was Your Last Day? It was probably the most "gloves-off" presentation of the need to follow Christ as any message I've ever done.

** We had a ton of responses of people giving their lives to Jesus, and 36 people baptized spontaneously---it was awesome!

** The buzz in the concourse was crazy. I had so many people tell me that a friend got baptized, or someone they invited gave their life to Christ. Very cool.

The best part is, we have another Sunday coming up in 7 days, and we will start a new message series called, "Disciple"!

This Sunday

Every weekend at Foothills Community Church is a great time to invite a friend to come with you. Every single service that we do has hundreds of hours of planning, preparing and praying behind it. But there are some Sundays that are prime for inviting your friends. This Sunday is one of them.

This is a Sunday that I believe will go down in our history as one of the most powerful Sundays ever. It is a Sunday that you do not want to miss. It is a Sunday that if you have friends that don't know Jesus, that you need to do ANYTHING you can to get them there.

I will be wrapping up the "What If..." series, with a message called, What If... Today was Your Last Day?

The message is going to be one of the most frank, honest, and sobering messages I've ever preached. I'm pretty sure that it will cause every single person there to re-evaluate their lives. I am praying that we have record numbers of people make significant spiritual decisions.

We've got a couple of other things planned that we've never done before, and of course, some incredible music.

See you Sunday---and bring someone with you!

Leaders (part 2)

The "E" in L.E.A.D.E.R.S is:

E xhibits humility

Humility can be one of the leaders greatest assets. Jesus said in Matthew 20:25-25, "You know that in this world kings are tyrants, and officials lord it over the people beneath them. But among you it should be quite different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant."

Jesus said this in response to the request of the mother of two of his disciples (James and John) who wanted Jesus to allow her two sons to sit in the place of honor beside Him.

Jesus taught that the way up, is actually down---by humbling ourselves. This is in stark contrast to the flamboyant power-hungry, controlling leadership possessed by some leaders.

Humble leadership is when the leader, doesn't always have to be right, or have his own way, or have his stamp of approval on every aspect of the organization. He learns to trust the judgment of the team around him. He knows that they are more qualified to make decisions in some areas than he is. A humble leader admits when he is wrong instead of making excuses.

Next we'll discuss the "A" in leader.

sunday night review

It was an absolute blast at Foothills Community Church today. It was just one of those days that makes me so thankful to be the Pastor of this great church!

9:30am service attendance was a bit light, but Eric Peters and his team knocked it out of the park.

The 11:15 service was pretty full and David O and his team rocked the house. We had a fiddle player and she was awesome!

The question I asked today was, What If... I got connected? I talked about the benefits of being in a LIFE group. We had a LIFE group fair tonight. Hopefully a lot of new people signed up for a group.

Talked to a friend of mine a little while ago, Daniel Lucas from Crosspoint Church in Morehead KY. They had over 100 people give their lives to Christ today!!

Next Sunday is going to be one of the coolest services that we've ever had at Foothills. Pray-Pray-Pray!

If you have friends that do not know Jesus, bring them next Sunday. Trust me, it will be worth it.

Leaders

I wanted to talk about leadership from the angle of what a great leader IS, and what a great leader DOES.
I will be using the acrostic, L.E.A.D.E.R.

L ooks out for the interests of others.

A great leader is not first and foremost interested in himself and his own interests, he cares about others --especially those on his team or staff.

Ephesians 5:1-2a says, "Follow God's example in everything you do, because you are his dear children. Live a life filled with love for others, following the example of Christ, who loved you and gave himself as a sacrifice to take away your sins."

Martin Luther King Jr. gave himself for the sake of others. He set aside his personal comforts for the equality of the oppressed.

Great military leaders lay their lives down for the sake of freedom of the masses.

Jesus willingly laid down His life for us-- so that we might have life.

It would be hard to argue, that Jesus was not the most successful leader that ever walked the earth. In 3 short years, He led a movement that is still flourishing today. And when you study Jesus leadership style, it is not the type A leadership that you would expect from someone tackling such a big endeavor.

Yes, Jesus was driven. Yes, Jesus never backed down from a fight. Yes, He was committed, but He was first and foremost a Servant-Leader.

In fact Jesus taught against the "push my weight around, do it because I say so" type leadership that many leaders of His day were teaching.

For clarity, this does not mean that as a leader you need to please everyone. It does not mean you don't lead with passion and conviction. It doesn't mean you have to poll everyone to make sure everyone is good with the decision before you make it. It simply means that ultimately you consider others around you.

In my next blog, we'll look at the letter E in Leader.

a few thoughts

** A long weekend is nice but a short work week is a little stressful!

** Spoke to Charles Hill about doing some things with The Sticks conferences in the future. We share a similar heart to help reach small to mid-sized towns for Christ and helping to equip pastors.

** Speaking of equipping pastors, my friend Eddie Cox and I are about to unveil The Strategic Pastor, which will be a coaching and equipping resource for pastors. It looks like we will begin in October.

** Very excited that in the last 2 weeks we have received over $30,000 to go towards our building renovation in Toccoa, and another several thousand dollars in pledges. The people of Foothills Community Church really get it!

** I am super excited about this Sunday at Foothills. We have some unbelievable services planned. PLEASE make sure to be on time, especially for the 11:15am service. Be in your seat when the countdown clock hits zero, or you will miss out. (actually, that's something to shoot for every week!)

** This Sunday we will be having our Fall Grouplink event at both Foothills locations. Toccoa Grouplink will be following the morning service. The Seneca Grouplink will begin at 6:30pm. If you want to get connected at Foothills, This is THE WAY to do it!

** God is up to something bigger than we've ever experienced!

Today was a blast

I had a blast this morning. I got to preach live at our Foothills Toccoa campus. Here are a few highlights:

** Very good attendance. It was comfortably full.

** They have so much energy over there, it's incredible. They sing loud. They are rowdy. They hung with the message and interacted a lot.

** Jonathan Bryant and his team did a phenomenal job of leading us in worship.

** Shannon Chiles (our Campus Pastor) has a team of tireless volunteers who do an amazing job.

** It was an added bonus that the Ga. Bulldogs lost on Saturday. I took it easy on them and didn't talk much smack.

** Shannon took me and my wife to see their new building after the service. They are doing a ton of renovation over there. Most likely they won't get finished until November, but it's going to be nice!

** I'm praying that everyone will step up and give to the What If...? campaign.

** Back in Seneca, I heard that Brian Rhodes did a great job delivering the message.

** Already looking forward to next Sunday. I'll be back in Seneca.

Thursday quick hits

Productive week so far here at Foothills. Here are few quick hits about what's been happening.

** Our student ministry (Thrive) had 100 kids there last night. Gaining serious momentum!

** Last Sunday our Seneca campus stepped up and gave over $14,000 in a spontaneous offering to help renovate our Toccoa campus!

** If you weren't prepared to give last weekend to the Toccoa project, you're in luck, because you can do it this Sunday!

** Looking forward to Sunday.

** College football season is officially here. Yes!

** Weather has really cooled off. It feels like Fall.

** I have been working on our next message series coming up on September 27th. It's going to be awesome.

** The "What If...?" series is stretching a lot of people. 3 more weeks to go. Trust me, you don't want to miss any of it.

** I am really enjoying my study of the gospel of Mark. I think I'm going to do an entire series on this great book.

** I love doing what I'm doing. I am blessed beyond measure!

monday thoughts

Fantastic day yesterday at Foothills. I am overwhelmed about all of the life-change that is happening!

Strong attendance in Seneca---Toccoa added more chairs and keeps filling them up. Really looking forward to see what happens when they move into their new facility soon.

Talked about money---more specifically about giving. I know it was very direct, but hey, there's no need to beat around the bush because the scripture doesn't!

I'm not sure how much was given toward helping renovate the new Toccoa facility. I should find out soon.

We had a blast this morning, because instead of our regular weekly staff meeting we went bowling. Not bragging, but my team was 2-0 (It aint bragging if it's the truth :-) ) For the record, we have some quality bowlers on the FCC staff.

Many of our staff got a chance to hang out at the Golden Corner Food Bank and help distribute food this morning. Unbelievable how much of a need we have in this county. I had no idea.

Had a very good creative team meeting this afternoon. Some powerful stuff coming your way very soon.

Football season is upon us---thank you God!

Some of the things I've been thinking about

Had a few random thoughts floating through my mind this week, thought I'd share them:

** What If..... I depended totally on the Holy Spirit? What would my life look like? What would our church look like?

** How do we train people to sit through the entire service without getting up to get something to drink/ go to the bathroom/ go check on their kids/ stretch their legs----or whatever other reasons people get up for?

** Why do people bring their kids into the adult services? Don't they realize that we have the most incredible Children's Ministry on the planet?

** Did they ever get around to burying Michael Jackson yet? For the record, when I die, please put me in the ground as soon as possible!

** Taylor Chandler and his team do an amazing job with the stage sets and lighting!

** I really like Jimmy Buffet's music! (and I'm not even a parrot head) When I was on vacation, I had a rental car that had Sirius radio. I listened to him a lot. They have an entire station dedicated to his music.

** I am looking forward to speaking at our Toccoa campus live in the near future!

** I have been shooting my bow a lot in the evenings, getting ready for hunting season. Shooting better than I ever have!

** I hope many people get connected to one of our LIFE groups this Fall.

** Studying the Gospel of Mark right now. I love that book!

** I am so looking forward to this Sunday's message. I really think it is going to stretch people.

** Awesome to find out many of my old friends are listening to messages from Foothills. Thank you Facebook for the hook-up!

Well, I told you they were random thoughts. Time to get some work done.

What If...

We kicked off the "What If..." series yesterday at Foothills, with the question, What if... I lived up to my potential? Here are some highlights:

** Watching hundreds of people stand asking God to help them live up to their potential was absolutely incredible!

** I have been hearing some of the most amazing stories of life change lately. We are going to be capturing some of those to video, so everyone can see what God is doing behind the scenes.

** We had a huge attendance yesterday (don't know the numbers yet), but I do know that we had over 500 in KidZone between Seneca and Toccoa campuses!

** Speaking of Toccoa, I hear that they had a full house yesterday as well!

** In this Sunday's message I will be tackling the thing that's on everyone's mind. (No, it's not a message about sex--- it's the other thing that's on everyone's mind!!)

** College football is right around the corner!

** Meetings today. Ready for a good week!

** Doing some remodeling of our website, so be patient please.

Thrive

One of the things that we are passionate about at Foothills Community Church is students. Every Wednesday evening at 6:30pm we have what's called, "Thrive", which is a worship experience for Middle and High schoolers.
This ministry is gaining some serious momentum and tons of new kids are showing up every single week---and having a blast!
It is led by Brian Rhodes and his sidekick Tim Wadsworth, and a bunch of incredible volunteers. These adults pour their hearts into this ministry, and as a result, kids lives are changing. Just last night 8 kids received Jesus as their Savior! Did you get that? 8 kids that met Jesus!! That's what it's all about!
Here's my question to teenagers, and parents of teens, If you haven't been to Thrive, Why not? You are missing out on some serious fun.
Need a little more information about it? You can check it out here.

A little Chick-fil-a humor

Tim Hawkins is one of the funniest guys out there. Here is his parody on Chick-fil-a

So many options---how do you choose?

It seems like not a week goes by and our church is invited to participate in an event, ministry opportunity, or missions effort. (or give money to these things) Generally all of these options are good, noble causes. The question we struggle with is, which of these options does God want us to be involved in?

Our former approach was to use the shotgun approach, which means we got involved with a lot of things in a very minimal way. We gave small amounts of money to many different organizations. We had several mission trip opportunities to choose from. We did lots of different events. Recently we have been discussing a need to have a more focused approach to these things. We no longer wanted to be a "jack of all trades and a master of none".

We are going to give more money, effort and attention to fewer things. And I think the results will be much better.

3 of the local ministries that we will be supporting are the Foothills Pregnancy Care Center, The Golden Corner Food Bank, and Our Daily Rest homeless shelter. In fact we are going to be doing a huge concert on October 23rd called "Resonate" , and all proceeds will go toward these ministries.

Make sure you mark that date on your calendars. It is going to be amazing. Our 3 worship leaders will bring their teams together to celebrate the power and passion of music. It will have a lot of surprises and it will be an event YOU DO NOT WANT TO MISS!

I will be posting more details in the near future.

Sunday recap

We had such an incredible day at Foothills yesterday.
It will go down in history as one of the most unusual days we have ever had. Some crazy things happened, but God was moving big-time!

In the 9:30am service as soon as I turned on my mic and began to speak it just started making this huge popping sound. Now bear in mind, the mic had already been tested during the service run-through, and worked fine, but apparently when I put it on, the cable that connects to the belt pack got damaged (which was the cause of the problem). So we had to improvise, which means I had to use a hand-held microphone. For the record, I hate to use hand-helds. It made it especially difficult because I was using a visual illustration, that really needed two hands! Somehow I got through that message, and we swapped cables between services so I had my regular mic for the 11:15am service.

In the 11:15am service, as soon as I got ready to read the passage of scripture, I picked up my glasses and they broke in half. I could not use them to read the scripture, so I had to read from the big screens in the front of the auditorium. Over the last 4-5 years, I literally have to use reading glasses, or I cannot see to read.(It stinks getting older!) Fortunately I don't use sermon notes or I would have been in trouble (1 more reason to go noteless, Pastors)

But despite all of those things, God showed up. The worship was awesome (thanks Eric, David and their teams), The attendance was strong, the people were pumped, and there is this sense of expectation that is so tangible. WOW!

I am in awe of what is happening in our midst. I have no idea what God is about to do, but it is going to rock our world---get ready!

This Sunday we will begin a new message series that is called, What IF....
This series is going to be one of the best series we have ever done. You do not want to miss an of it.

Also remember, now that school is back in, people are starting to get back into a more normal routine. And Fall is always a time when many people start to think about going to church. Why not invite some friends to come with you this Sunday?

Our Toccoa campus is rocking and rolling. They are so excited about their new facility. They have basically finished with the demolition, and will begin putting up new walls next week! If you have any type of construction skills and would be willing to put those skills to good use, why not consider helping at the Toccoa campus?

a few thoughts

Recently I started reading a book by Jim Cymbala (Pastor of Brooklyn Tabernacle) called Fresh Power. All I can say is Wow!

I've had this book for a couple of years, and I think I have already read it, but there have been some fresh takeaways for me.

I thought I would share a few quotes from the book that have stood out to me.
(disclaimer: I do not agree with everything that Jim Cymbala teaches, but this is some good stuff)

* Audiences are best gathered by the unexplainable work of the Holy Spirit.

* If you can fully explain a church, then something's wrong. (Warren Wiersbe)

* HE (God) wants the church to be a place of awe and wonder--two qualities that we have largely lost in our meetings

* The preacher must have the power given by direct connection with God..... God does not mix His power with other solutions to give it efficiency. It is not some or much of the Holy Ghost mixed with some or much of other ingredients. (E.M. Bounds)

* An anointed pulpit is the mightiest agency that God has in this world. (E.M. Bounds)

* A decade of gadgets and gimmicks will never accomplish what God, the Holy Spirit can do in one month as He works in the life of a church.

* Revival comes when people get dissatisfied with what is and yearn deeply for what could be.

* If God were to take the Holy Spirit out of this world, most of what the church is doing would go right on, and nobody would know the difference. (A.W. Tozer)

sunday thoughts

Great day at FCC yesterday.

** Week 2 of man vs Wild. John the Baptist is the man!

** You do not want to miss this Sunday's service.

** During the 9:30 am service near the end of my message, a mouse ran across the stage (Although I would like to take credit for creativity,for the record, that was not planned to go with the man vs wild theme). I didn't see the little sucker. Apparently he ran behind me. I heard people start to laugh. Honestly my first thought was, "is my zipper down or something?" I guess when you build a facility in the middle of a field, mice go with the territory.

** Attendance seemed a little light in Seneca. You could definitely tell people are cramming in those last vacation days before school starts next week.

** Attendance in Toccoa was strong. School starts there today.

** Lots of guests again today. People seem to really enjoy Foothills!

** For those who asked if I would show the dorky picture of me when I was 12 years old that I mentioned yesterday----the answer is NO!!!

** My Flag football team had practice yesterday at 2:00pm in the 95 degree heat. For the record, that is not too much fun.

** Busy week at the office.

** Been shooting my bow a lot lately. That means one thing--- archery season is just around the corner! Can you say venison sausage?

Vacation reflections

Sometimes coming back to work after being on vacation takes a few days to get acclimated once again. Fortunately it didn't take me long!

During my time off, I got a chance to reflect a bit about life and ministry. Here are few of my thoughts:

** I must be totally dependent on the power of the Holy Spirit for anything significant to happen in my life.

** I have no desire to waste my life by playing it safe. I want to live by faith. I want to take risk. I want to make an impact.

** I am way too insulated from the "real world". I live in a ministry bubble, that by its very nature, cuts me off from interaction with non-Christians.

** I want to see Foothills Community Church experience the same type of movement of God that the Acts 2 church experienced!

** I desire more than anything else, to be used by God in a significant way.

** I want Foothills Community Church to have more impact from a global perspective.

** I am not interested in church growth through slick programs or promotions. I want God to do something so significant that there would be nothing human that we could point to, when trying to explain what is happening at Foothills Community Church.

** I desire to be a church that produces true disciples of Jesus.

There are so many other things that I am praying about. But one thing I am convinced about, and that is our best days as a church are still in front of us. I am so excited to serve God with each of you!

Man vs Wild stage set

Here are a couple of pics from our new series, Man vs Wild.
Great job Taylor!

Sunday recap

We had an all-around fantastic day at Foothills Community Church yesterday. Here are a few highlights:

** Really fun to be back delivering the message after being gone for 2 Sundays. I had to cut the message short in both services, because I felt led to spend more time on point #1 than I originally thought.

** Started our Man vs. Wild series. Taylor C. created a great, "wild' looking stage set with vines and moss, etc. ( I kept feeling like something was going to jump on me)

** In case you're wondering, Man Vs Wild is a look into the life of John the baptist.

** Scott C. did a phenomenal job with all the graphics, videos, etc.

** If you missed out yesterday, make sure you are at Foothills this Sunday!

** Yesterday evening we headed over to our Toccoa campus' new facility for a building dedication. It was awesome. It is a former furniture store that we will be converting to a worship center.

** There were a lot of very enthusiastic people from Toccoa there that are pumped about reaching the community for Christ. Jonathan led worship (man, Toccoa, you all really sing loud!) After worship I did a short challenge message, and then Shannon C. had people take markers and write the names of people that we prayed would become Christ-followers--- what an awesome evening.

** We hope to be done with the renovation and have our first service in the new building in late September.

KidZone

After seeing this news report about a 7 year old boy who stole the family car so he didn't have to go to church, it reminded it me how fortunate we are at Foothills to have such an amazing children's ministry!

KidZone is a safe, fun, age-appropriate children's environment that meets during service times (9:30am, and 11:15am in Seneca--- 11:00am in Toccoa)on Sundays.

Discovery Kidz is for younger children 6 weeks to K-5, and Planet Kidz is for kids K-5 to 6th grade

It is led by staff and volunteers that are passionate about making Sunday the best hour of your kid's week!

It is not unusual for kids to bring their parents to church on Sundays because of how much they love our kids ministry!

If your kids have never experienced KidZone at Foothills Community Church, why not bring them this Sunday? Click here to pre-register your kids.

This Sunday

I am wrapping up the last couple days of my summer vacation. I have been having a blast. I think I have worn a watch about 1 day over the last 10 days. Nothing like being a beach bum!

I wanted to remind everyone that this Sunday I will be back at Foothills Community Church to begin a new series called, Man vs Wild. Over the next 3 Sundays we're going to examine the life of John the Baptist. Undoubtedly he was one of the most eccentric Biblical characters, but he lived with incredible passion. I can hardly wait!

In case you didn't know, our Tooca campus will be moving into a new location this Fall. We will be leasing a former furniture store right on Big A road. It is going to be an amazing facility. If you have construction experience in the trades, or would be willing to volunteer to help with general labor, we need you. I will be giving you contact information soon.

That's it for now. Time to squeeze in a little more fishing before I have to head back. See you Sunday.

vacation fun

I have not been blogging lately because I am on vacation in Florida. Every time I get away from the routine of daily life, I feel so refreshed.

When I am on vacation, my main goal is to rest. I am also using this time to visit family and friends, hang out at the beach and to listen to God.

Lately I have been spending a lot of time in the book of Colossians. It is a short book that packs a punch. I am looking forward to doing a mesaage series from Colossians in the Fall from what God is teaching me.

It's hard to believe that there are only 4 Sundays until school gets back in session. If you haven't taken a few days to unplug, I heartily recommend it.

Sunday thoughts

A heard that we had another stellar day at Foothills Community Church. I am in Florida on vacation, so I couldn't witness it in person, but I've heard from a bunch of people.

We visited the Stuart,FL Campus of Christ Fellowship Church. Had a great time.

Paul Carr, our Connections Pastor delivered the message. I'm thankful to have staff that can cover for me while I'm away!

I heard we had a very strong attendance. I think when the Fall gets here we are going to explode with growth again.

Been here 3 days and I've only fished once. What's wrong with this picture?

It looks like we have found a new location for our Toccoa campus! Details to come.

Blessed

I have the opportunity to meet with a lot of Pastors from all over the country. Many of them come by our facility here in Seneca. Every time I get a chance to give the tour of our facility to one of them, I am reminded of how blessed we are to have such great space to meet in.

We have always said that Foothills Community Church is not about building buildings--- we're about building Christ-followers, but you've got to admit, it is nice to have such a great tool to reach people for Christ!

It's hard to believe that we have been in Phase 2 almost a year now. In that time we have added hundreds of new people.
For those who have never seen our facility, I will post a couple of pictures of our auditorium:

Sunday notes

We had a great day at Foothills again this Sunday. I love being a part of this movement of God known as Foothills Community Church!

** Dog days of summer are upon us. Lots of people on vacations. Attendance overall was pretty good, but the 9:30am service was definitely light. 11:15am made up for it though.

** Taught on the power of our thoughts from Philippians 4:8. No doubt about it, our thoughts have the ability to shape our destiny.

** Met a lot of new people today. One of the things I've discovered over the years is that we grow through the summer, but you don't notice it until the fall when everyone gets back to a more normal routine.

** I talked briefly to my son who is at Bigstuf in Panama City. He said that things were going really well. Keep praying for all of the kids at Bigstuf.

** I had a great weekend. Looking forward to getting back to it tomorrow though.

** Looking forward to playing basketball at 6:00am tomorrow. Need to get to sleep soon or else it's going to be tough to wake up that early.

Unstoppable Stage set

We have some very talented people on staff at Foothills. Among them is Taylor Chandler who oversees our stage lighting and stage set design. Here are a couple of shots from our most recent stage set. Well done, Taylor.

Thursday thoughts

** Lots of great feedback from last week's message about worry, called Unstoppable Peace. If you missed it, you can watch it here.

** I'm really excited about a new project that Eddie Cox and I are working on called, The Strategic Pastor. We met yesterday to finalize some things, and we will be ready for our first group in September. We will have more details by the end of the month, so stay tuned.

** I have been spending a lot of time planning new message series that will be coming up in the Fall of 2009. I should say, re-planning, because I thought we would be doing something else, but really feel God's leading in this new direction. I am a big proponent of planning way in advance, but I always want to be flexible, so that God can do whatever He wants to.

** Would you join me in praying for the teenagers that will be headed out tomorrow to Bigstuf camp in Panama City, FL. I am praying that God would light a fire in their hearts for Him that will change the world.

sunday highlights

We had a phenomenal day this past Sunday at Foothills. Here are few thought:

** 4th of July weekend affected the attendance, but not the energy. It was amazing!

** It was fun having a week off last Sunday, but it was great being back up.

** Preaching on overcoming worry connects with 100% of the people.

** Worry is defined as seizing by the throat, or tormenting oneself--- so why do we worry?

** Both of our campuses had baptism parties on Sunday afternoon. 28 more people baptized at Seneca, and 6 people baptized in Toccoa!

** The Unstoppable series continues this Sunday. This will be another one of those messages that has high take-home value.

** I love it when people come up to me in the concourse and introduce me to their friends that they brought to church with them---You all truly "get the vision"

** Looking forward to talking to church leaders in Alabama today via a Skype conference call.

** Looking forward to picking up my son from the airport this evening after he spent the last couple of weeks down in FL --unfortunately I have to drive to Atlanta.

** Working on some leadership training material that we will extend to people in the church that want to improve their leadership skills.

weekend thoughts

Happy 4th of July everyone. We are fortunate to live in a country where we are FREE!
Here are a few things that I'm thankful for today:

Jesus Christ, who makes us truly free!

My family. Without them, my life would be incomplete.

My friends. Friendship is one of God's greatest blessings.

All of the men and women who have bravely fought to keep our country free.

Foothills Community Church, the greatest church I know!

All of the material blessings that I have, when so many people in the world have nothing.

I guess, this list could go on and on, but let's remember that every good thing we have comes from our God!

** You do not want to miss church tomorrow. I will be discussing a topic that I guarantee everyone will connect with.

** Also don't forget our baptism/tailgating/block parties we will be having in Seneca and Toccoa tomorrow afternoon. (Toccoa at 3:30pm, and Seneca at 6:00pm)

Toccoa Campus Baptism

Just wanted to mention that our Toccoa campus will be having a Baptism Party on July 5th too.

For the record, the Toccoa campus party has better food than the Seneca campus!

If you live in the Toccoa area you NEED to be there!

Why Baptism?

Some people wonder why we make such a big deal about baptism at Foothills Community Church, so I thought I would address that question;

1) Because the Bible makes a big deal about baptism.

2) It is a huge step of obedience for the Christ-follower

3) It motivates the church (there's just something about watching a new believer being baptized that just jump-starts my faith!)

4) For a brief second, you actually get to see inside the heart of a person (baptism is an outward expression of an inward faith)

5) It is a symbol that someone who was lost is now found. That someone who was dead is now alive!

6) It is an indicator that the church is doing what they have been called to do.

7) It is a chance to party with all of heaven. Lk 15:8-10

Here's the deal---If you have given your life to Jesus Christ and have not been baptized, then plan on coming to Foothills this Sunday at 6:00pm for our Baptism/Tailgating Party

sunday recap

I had a much easier Sunday than usual, because I didn't preach. I got a chance to sit and listen to Daniel Lucas. He did a phenomenal job! I met Daniel last year at a leadership event that he and I were in together.

He and his wife planted Crosspoint Church in Morehead KY about a year and a half ago and already have almost 500 people attending. He challenged our people to not get too comfortable in our success, but to press on. Good stuff!

If you're not a preacher, you won't understand what I'm about to say, but even when I'm not scheduled to preach, I get almost as nervous as I do when I am preaching-- so wierd.

Attendance was pretty good. Not sure of the numbers, but it looked healthy for a summer service.

Eric Peters led both services in the main auditorium today, while Bill Swindle led in the venue. We have unbelievably talented people on our team.

Pray for the children that are going to kids camp this week in Alabama.

Don't forget that next Sunday at 6:00pm we will have a baptism/tailgating party at Foothills. If you are a Christ-follower, and have never been baptized call the office and register (864)888-8008

Exciting Sunday

We have an exciting Sunday planned at Foothills Community Church tomorrow. I absolutely LOVE Sundays, I can't wait.

We will be in week 2 of our Unstoppable series, and you do not want to miss it---We've got a cool surprise planned.

On another note, it's been a busy weekend for me because I bought a new cell phone. Many of you know that I don't even carry my cell phone with me 90% of the time. (Years ago, when pagers came out, and I had to wear one and absolutely hated it, so I am still in rebellion.) Anyway, my wife and I decided that we are going to cancel our landline and go exclusively to cell phones, which means I will be carrying my phone most of the time. We'll see how that works! So I'm learning how the new phone works. This phone is a lot smarter than me!

God is really challenging me about a few things when it comes to some messages coming up this Fall. I am seeking His guidance.

Coaching Opportunity

One of my best friends in ministry is Eddie Cox who is the Pastor of Marathon Church in Powdersville, SC. Eddie planted Marathon Church 12 years ago and they have had thousands come to know Christ there during that time. They have over 2,500 people in attendance each Sunday.

Eddie and I have been thinking of ways that we can help other Pastors, especially those that have 300 or less in attendance that don't have lots of resources. Both of us interact with lots of Pastors that have lots of questions about things that our churches have already been through. As we began to brainstorm some of our ideas, we came up with a plan that would allow us to mentor a small group of Pastors.

The plan is not totally finalized but basically here's what we're thinking: We would open this group up to 15 Pastors that would agree to meet once a month for 3 months. During our time together we would talk about nuts and bolts leadership stuff that would be specifically geared toward churches of 300 or less that want to push beyond where they currently are.

You may be wondering, "why restrict the group to churches under 300?" The answer is simple, both Eddie and I feel that the smaller churches are under served as far as resources are concerned. Most conferences and seminars are geared more toward larger churches. While it is true, that both Marathon Church and Foothills Community Church are large churches, Eddie and I planted our churches and remember the struggles of leading a smaller church.

Most likely we will begin our first group in September. We are still in the design phase of this idea, but if you would like to be considered for part of this group send an email to office@foothills.cc

This is a unique opportunity, so don't wait!

Doing what you know you need to do

The last couple of days has been extremely beneficial for me and the staff of Foothills Community Church. We had Dr. Sam Chand come in and do a consultation with us to help us put some things in place as our church continues to grow.

Some churches bring in a consultant when things aren't going well, but we brought Sam in, in the middle of some of our best days as a church. Dr Chand has amazing insight and works with some of the largest churches in the world.

He spent most of yesterday talking with me and my wife, and other staff and leaders. In his assessment he pointed out some things he felt that we could do to go to the next level. Much of what he talked about was new systems, structure and processes.

Almost everything he told us, we kind of already knew. But sometimes when someone from outside of the organization brings a fresh set of eyes to it, and then makes recommendations, it is very confirming.

What does this mean to Foothills? It means that we have some internal things that need to be in place for us to have maximum impact. A lot of those changes are things that I need to make as the leader. For instance, there are a lot of meetings that I don't need to attend. There are details that I don't need to know. There are a lot of capable leaders at Foothills, so I need to be constantly empowering others to lead.

By God's grace we have had impact on our community, but our best days are ahead so we are positioning ourselves to be ready for those things now!

Sunday notes

We kicked off the Unstoppable series today at Foothills. Here are a few highlights:

Opening Video was unbelievable! Scott Chatfield and company created probably the best video we've ever done.

David Odom and his team led at both the 9:30am and 11:15am services in the main auditorium. Eric Peters was on a well deserved vacation.

Bill Swindle led worship at the Venue this week. He's got an amazing heart for worship.

Rachel Gregory totally nailed, Lead Me To The Cross.

David O. absolutely tore up, "Empty Me" as the feature song. Great energy

I preached today from the porcelain pulpit----yes, I had a toilet on stage with me. We talked about Paul's statement in Philippians 3, where he said "everything is manure compared to knowing Jesus."

Also talked about the "scoreboard" of religion vs. having a relationship with Christ.

Attendance was off a bit today. I guess vacations are in full swing. For those who missed today's message check the Foothills website on Wednesday to watch it.

Excited about hanging out with Dr. Sam Chand over the next couple of days!

Also looking forward to having lunch with Eddie Cox this week to talk about possibly doing a Pastor's coaching network together.

About to head to Atlanta to take my son to the airport so he can spend some time with grandparents in Fla.

This Sunday

Don't forget that Sunday we will begin our new series at Foothills called, Unstoppable. You don't want to miss. I will have something on stage that I'm guessing you've never seen on a church stage before!

Record temperatures happening this weekend. Good news, we have air conditioning at Foothills! Don't worry, the lake will still be there when you get out of church.

I did something today that I rarely do anymore-- a wedding! My schedule doesn't allow me to do them very often, so it was a change. The worst part of a wedding for me is having to wear a suit! (In case you're wondering why I don't do many weddings, is because I work on Saturdays prepping for Sunday--- and because I don't like wearing suits!)

Remember, tomorrow is Father's Day. Let your father know how much you love him!

mentoring part 2

I just got back from my leadership lunch with 8 of our 20-30 year old staff members, and I had a blast. These guys are sharp. They want to serve God at the highest level possible---you've gotta love that!

The big question that seemed to continually be asked in one form or another was, "how do I find some sort of balance between my ministry and my family life?" That is a great question. Here's how I answered it:

First of all, I'm not sure there will ever be balance. Ministry is a unique calling, so there is a tendency for it to overlap. It's really not something you can compartmentalize, BUT you have to be able to understand that your life is more than your ministry calling, so your priorities have to reflect that.

For instance your priorities should look something like this: 1)Jesus 2)My wife 3)My children/grandchildren 4)other family and friends 5)My ministry

First and foremost, I need to be known as Greg Oraham, the Christ-follower, not Greg Oraham, the Pastor. Our titles should not define us, our faith should!

When Christ has His rightful place in my life, the other areas tend to work out pretty good. That's pretty much what Jesus said in Matt. 6:33, "Seek the kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and He will give you everything you need."

What do your priorities look like? This Sunday we will begin our new message series called, Unstoppable. This week's message is called, Unstoppable Priorities. Hope to see you there.

mentoring

Call it "coaching", "mentoring", or "pouring into another person"-- whatever you choose to call it, it is Biblical.

As a leader, there are a lot of things that demand my attention. However not all of those things are really the things that I need to be doing. We have a very talented staff that are so much better in some areas than I am. So many of those things I empower others to handle.

There is one thing that I have really sensed that I needed to be more intentional about, and that taking time to mentor our younger leaders.

I am really excited about tomorrow, because I will be meeting with about 7 staff members that are between the ages of 20 and 30 with the goal of mentoring and leadership development. (I'm also planning on learning from them!)

I asked each of them to send in 3 topics that they would like to discuss. I plan on taking the top 3 or 4 questions and trying to answer them.
No doubt, this will be a valuable time for all of us!

Sunday recap

We had an incredible day at Foothills Community Church yesterday. So many great things are happening at FCC right now.

Ended the Questions Uncensored series yesterday, with a message called, What is God's Definition of Sex?

The big question I asked everyone was, "If my views, opinions, and feelings about sex are different than God's view, am I willing to admit I'm wrong, and accept God's view?

Our 9:30am service was phenomenal. Eric Peters and his worship team nailed it!

Mark Medlin kicked things off with the song, Keep Your Hands To Yourself. Great job Mark.

At our 11:15 service we had Joy Hunnicut back to sing with David Odom and his worship team---unbelievable job!

Our 11:15am Venue service is strong!

I heard that our Toccoa campus had a record attendance day!

We are gearing up for our next message series called Unstoppable which starts this Sunday. You don't want to miss that.

Staff meetings this morning, gotta go.

Sunday

You do not want to miss this Sunday at Foothills Community Church. We will be answering the question, What is God's definition of sex?

It is going to be fun, but controversial (I love that combination!)

Rumor has it that Joy Hunnicut will be singing again during the 11:15am service. She is amazing!

Come ready to worship. It makes such a big difference when you don't feel so rushed and stressed. Show up a few minutes early, check in the kids and have a cup of Java and a donut and hang out.

Summer is my favorite time of the year! I know alot of people feel the temptation to head to the lake instead of church, but the lake will still be there when we're done. (You can always come to the 9:30am service too)

See you tomorrow!

Wednesday randomness

** I'm finished preparing this Sunday's message, "What Is God's Definition of Sex?" I am praying that when culture's definition of sex, intersects with God's definition, that people will be willing to adopt God's definition.

** I am really wishing that the Questions Uncensored series was a little longer. Unfortunately this Sunday is the last message of the series.

** I am very excited about the next series though; it's called "Unstoppable" We'll be in the book of Philippians (one of my favorites!)

** Son Sports is half way over, and it has been hugely successful. Here's a pic of some of the stuff that happens in the auditorium before the kids head out to their sports activities.





** Looking forward to my softball tournament this weekend!

** Will be heading down to Columbia on Friday for a wedding of a young lady who was part of our original core group that helped start Foothills

** Also going to the eye doctor on Friday. Things are looking mighty fuzzy these days!

** Praying for my Father-in-law's surgery next week.

** I love Summer!

** Already daydreaming about fishing down in Florida in July! Here's what I'm hoping for.

Weekend review

Great day at Foothills yesterday. Here are a few highlights:

Attendance was strong. (Normally on the first weekend after school lets out, it's a little off)

The momentum and energy have been almost tangible.

I spent a lot of time in the concourse yesterday meeting people. I can't believe how many new people are coming to FCC--- and absolutely loving it.

We had a Belong class (membership class) yesterday, and I hear that the room was packed out with people taking the next step.

We had our summer Discovery Life group sign-ups yesterday, and had over 300 people sign-up to get involved in a group for the summer. In case you don't know what a Discovery group is; it's a group that meets together centered around a hobby. We have softball, basketball, bowling, Ultimate, scrapbooking, Moms and Tots, motorcycle, 4-wheeling, hiking, and others.

Yesterday's message answered the question, Can I Lose My Salvation? The response was amazing. So many people commented that they used to live in fear of not knowing if they were saved or not, but now they can walk in confidence!

Our Venue service is really growing!

We are gearing up for Son Sports, here at FCC this week for kids. Already have around 250 kids pre-registered. It's not too late to participate!

You don't want to miss this Sunday's services as we wrap up the Questions Uncensored series, with the question, What is God's definition Of Sex?

Bad weekend for my softball team. We lost all 3 of our games. Tournament next weekend. A chance to redeem ourselves!

Busy weekend

It has been an extremely busy week, and it looks like the weekend will be no different.

My in-laws are in for a quick visit on their way back to Virginia. We always have a great time.

I've got 3 softball games scheduled this weekend (if it doesn't rain)

Kids are out of school for the summer. Congrats to all the graduates!

We are gearing up for Son Sports beginning Monday at Foothills (I'll do a separate post about this event), but if you're a parent of a kid kindergarten through 5th grade, you need to have them at Foothills next week. Son Sports is unbelievable! Go here for more information.

Can't wait for Sunday. I will be answering the question, Can I lose my salvation? This question actually tied for #1 most asked question. Be at Foothills this Sunday to find out!

Foothills student ministry has an awesome summer calendar of events planned for our teenagers. If you want a calendar go here and click on "student ministry" to download one.

dealing with problems

Yesterday I had to deal with a problem. I had a leak in the main water line to my house. That leak reminded me of a very important leadership lesson: ALWAYS DEAL WITH PROBLEMS.

Unfortunately, I violated that principle. You see, I knew that I had a potential leak about a month ago. One day while mowing my lawn, I noticed that there was a soft spot in my yard that was a little damp. My initial thought was, "maybe there is a water leak underground somewhere", but I didn't do anything. I chalked it up to, it has been a little rainy lately.

Each time I cut my grass since then, it has been kind of soft and soggy, but I convinced myself, that if it were a leak that there would be a lot more water, so I did nothing. Yesterday evening, my wife turned on the kitchen sink faucet and it kind of sputtered. I knew immediately that I definitely had a leak, so I walked to the soft spot in the yard and dug down and sure enough I found a connection in the pipe that was leaking a bit, so I drove to Lowes and bought the materials and got ready to fix it, but didn't have the tool to shut off the water at the street, so it still isn't fixed. (Fortunately it is barely leaking, so I still have water)

But the reality is that I could have saved a lot of hassle if I would have dealt with the problem as soon as I realized I had a problem. Instead, I had to deal with problem, on it's terms.

Here's what I tell our staff about problems:

* Always deal with problems: immediately, lovingly, firmly

* Problems never take care of themselves

* Problems always get worse with time

* Confrontation is one of the greatest expressions of love

* Problems are just part of life -- don't run from them

What problem do you need to deal with? What person/situation do you need to confront, that you've been procrastinating about?

cool or effective?

Cool or effective?
That is a question that a lot of Pastors wrestle with. And how far are we willing to go to be relevant?

I think in my first several years of ministry I was a little further on the side of cool/relevant, but in the last few years and especially in the last year, I am firmly on the effective side of things.

I still feel that relevance and being current is essential, just not at the expense of some other things. I still believe that we should leverage all of the creativity, technology, and the arts to help convey the message of Jesus Christ. I just don't want to do something JUST because it's cool.

Over the last few weeks, I have read a few blogs that have communicated what I have been feeling over the last year or so. I thought I would share a few links with you about this topic. The interesting thing to me, is that all of these blogs are by leaders who have been in it for over 10 years. I'm at the 11 year mark leading Foothills, so maybe that's why these thoughts resonate with me so much. (I'm not sure if it's a maturity thing or a cynicism thing:))

This post and this post by Craig Groeshel were spot on This response by Tim Stevens was amazing, because I don't think it has to be an either or.
And this video by Ed Young Jr. was also great.

For the record, we spend countless hours in creative team meetings every week (and will continue to do so). Hundreds of man-hours go into designing culturally relevant, and effective services. We will use anything and everything (short of sin), to reach people for Christ. I still believe that the church should lead the way in creativity and excellence, but at the end of the day, it's the power of Holy Spirit that really changes lives!