Let's talk about health

Well I decided to dedicate an entire post to health and fitness. As most of you are aware, last April (2011) the doctor discovered that I had a build-up of plaque in a couple of the arteries in my heart. It apparently was a hereditary thing, as I had no symptoms whatsoever. The only thing that was slightly elevated was my overall cholesterol number which was 225. This wasn't a real concern for the doctor because my HDL (good cholesterol) and my LDL (bad cholesterol) numbers were so good. But as it turned out, there was still a couple of arteries with significant blockage.
They decided to do a heart cath, and once they got in they decided to put in 2 stents to fix the blockages. All of this came as a complete shock, to say the least.
After the procedure the recovery time was quick, and I was back playing softball within a week, and basketball within 2 weeks.
 My cardiologist also changed my diet (which really wasn't too bad to begin with) to a very low fat diet. My maximum fat grams for a day I am allowed is 30, which is difficult at first to get to. I decided that I was going to go all the way with my health so I took it upon myself to adjust my diet even further. Which leads me to this blog post.

I have had so many people ask me what I'm doing I decided to cover everything.

Let's start with nutrition. A lot of people go to the gym, but never adjust their eating habits and get minimal results. You have to eat right. I track everything I eat using MyFitnessPal. My main concern is my fat intake, but I monitor everything anyway.

Over the last eleven months I have lost approx. 12 lbs. but it's not because I'm not eating. I'm just eating the right foods. I pretty much eat all day long. My personal target calorie intake is around 2,000 calories, which goes a long way when you're not eating junk.

I have cut from my diet all fatty foods, fried foods, beef, processed foods, cheese, ice cream (I do have fat-free yogurt), cake, cookies, candy, pizza, fast food, butter, margarine, regular mayonaise, regular salad dressings, potato chips, high sodium foods.

I do eat mostly chicken or turkey breast, venison tenderloin, fish (all of these are grilled only) I will sometimes eat lower fat, lean sliced turkey deli meat. I eat a lot of fruit. I can have all the veggies I want, unfortunately I don't like most veggies. I do eat a lot of salads (Low fat dressing), brown rice, whole wheat pasta, whole wheat pita bread. I have a Myoplex lite protein bar daily as a meal replacement. For breakfast I eat Kashi cereal with raisins and skim milk.

As far as supplements, I take a daily multi-vitamin, fish oil, and on weight training days I will have 2 protein shakes with skim milk. I use ISO-100 because it's fat and carb free, and it tastes awesome!
Although I keep track of carbs and protein, the main thing I focus on is my fat and  cholesterol intake.

Now let's talk about fitness/exercise.

Most of you hear me talking about P90X. I am a huge fan. Over the years I have done my own thing, and I have also done Body For Life, but in my opinion, P90X is hard to beat. I do not follow their program exactly. For instance, because of my cardiologists recommendation, I bypass the P90x eating plan. I also substitute basketball in place of P90X cardio routine. If I don't play basketball or if I don't feel like I played with enough intensity, I will do P90X Plyometrics routine (which is a beast).

Here's what this looks like for this week coming up. Monday: Basketball, and P90X Ab ripperX in the evening. Tuesday: P90X shoulders/arms.  Wednesday: Basketball and P90X ab ripperX in the evening. Thursday: P90X back/bicep.  Friday: Basketball and P90X ab ripperX in the evening (Possibly also Plyometrics) Saturday: P90X Chest/shoulders/triceps.  Sunday: Rest (play softball).

The average P90X routine takes approximately 50 minutes. it is high intensity with few breaks. It is awesome!

I purchased my P90X DVD's on Craig's List for $55.00 new in the box from someone who got them as a gift, but didn't use them.

I can honestly say that I am in the best shape of my life. I have never been overweight, but I have not only dropped pounds , but also a couple of inches off my waist, and my body fat is less than 8%

My cholesterol has dropped from 225 to 128 in the last 11 months.

I had to go back to the cardiologist a couple of months ago for a follow-up visit for a nuclear stress test. Basically, they shoot you up with medicine and put you on a treadmill to try to see what your heart does under stress. The people doing the test said that they couldn't get my heart rate up enough because I was in such good shape!

My latest fitness challenge is that I have ordered the Insanity DVD's and plan to do a hybrid P90X/Insanity/basketball routine.

Here's the bottom line. Anyone can do this! It takes hard work, and dedication. It's not easy, but it's worth it. I have added links to a lot of the stuff that I am doing, but there are  lots of other good ways to get healthy. I would also recommend Upstate Bootcamp. Pamela helps people acheive their fitness goals, She is a member of Foothills Community Church and has helped hundreds of people!

I probably left a bunch of things out, so if you have any questions, just ask.

Sunday Review

A little late getting to this, but it was a great Sunday at Foothills Community Church. In case you missed it, here are a few things that caught my attention.

 * I am really enjoying the Kings series. It is always so amazing that there is so much we have in common with people that lived thousands of years ago.

 * We talked about the "IT" Factor. If you've ever wondered what God looks for, it's our heart condition. What made King David special was that he was a man after God's own heart.

 * This Sunday we will look at a king that I guarantee every single person will be able to relate to.

 * David Odom and his team nailed the worship set. They just keep getting better and better.

* I love what is going on at our Toccoa campus! I am so proud of Pastor Brian and Pastor Kevin and all of the amazing volunteers. 

* I am always excited to hear great stories. I received a note this week from someone who has been out of work for three years. They had made a vow to God that when He provided a job for them, they would give the entire first paycheck back to Him. The note was attached to their check fulfilling that commitment to the Lord---- WOW!

 * We will be having our Parent/Child dedications on Mother's Day (May 13th) during both services. If you are a parent of a child/baby, and would like to dedicate them to the Lord publicly, you can sign-up this weekend.

* I had a blast leading our Get In The Game on Sunday. I love leading that class. If you have not gone through it, make sure to do it in our next class in June.

* I ordered the Insanity DVD's. I am planning on working some of that in with my P90X. If you are looking for a fantastic exercise/nutrition program I would highly recommend the P90X program. I have had a lot of people ask me about my fitness regiment, so I'll probably do an entire blog post related to that.

* I am so thankful for the staff of Foothills Community Church! * Really hoping for the weather to warm up soon.

Sunday review

The Sunday after Easter is always pretty interesting. History tells us that not everyone that shows up at Easter will be back the following week (I write that with a slight hint of sarcasm!), but many people will return a second time. Which is always exciting.

I can't help feel sorry for those that won't make it back to church until Christmas Eve. When I consider the important role the church plays in my life, it grieves me that so many actually miss out on it.

Sunday was another fantastic day at Foothills Community Church. People gathered to worship, lives were changed and Jesus was lifted high. In a way, sometimes I think that because the services at Foothills are done with such a high level of excellence, many people take that for granted.

We as humans have an uncanny ability to become "familiar" with things to the point that we no longer have the same passion that we once had. It happens in our marriages. It happens with the cars we drive and the homes we live in. When we first get married, or buy that car or house we are so excited. But as time goes by, we lose some of the "wonder" or appreciation.

It happens in churches as well. If we are not careful, what once was excitement, and passion can turn into complacency. Let's not ever let that happen.


Let's get back to Sunday, shall we?

* Once again David Odom and the worship team brought the heat. Such a great worship set.

* It was great seeing so many people return after Easter. I do my best to mingle in the concourse between services and shake as many hands as possible.

* I absolutely love to see our members and regular attenders going out of their way to connect with new people. I heard of a couple that met a first-time guest and took her out to lunch after the service. Nice!

* Foothills volunteers rock. They go the extra mile EVERY week!

* Talked about obedience and people-pleasing. We need to live for the applause of God rather than men.

* Religious activity is not a substitute for obedience.

* True obedience is doing what God says willingly, immediately and completely.

* I can't wait for this Sunday. We will be talking about the "IT" factor. Invite some people to come with you!


*

Happy Birthday Foothills!

Well today is the 14th birthday of Foothills Community Church! That's right, 14 years ago, on April 12th 1998 (Easter Sunday) Foothills officially launched.


Here's a copy of our first newspaper ad (not very impressive!)


It was an incredible day. After much prayer, planning, preparation, promotion and perspiration we held our first service. 70 People showed up! We were ecstatic.
We didn't have a lot of resources or expertise but we had a vision from God and a heart to reach people! And God showed up. Lives were changed, and a movement began in Seneca, SC.

It's hard to believe it was 14 years ago. I remember on that Easter Sunday wondering if anyone would actually show up. Fortunately they did. And they have continued to show up. Since then we have expanded by opening a second campus in Toccoa, GA, and once again God is growing a church there.

Over the last 14 years we have seen THOUSANDS saved, over a thousand baptized, and countless stories of life-change. But here's the best part..... WE'RE JUST GETTING STARTED!! That's right, I believe the best is yet to come!

I want every person who calls Foothills home to strategically build relationships with people who don't know Christ and invite them to come to church with you. I want all of us to live our lives on mission, seeking ways to serve Christ and others.

We are praying about some new opportunities that God is giving us to expand our reach even farther. These are exciting times. I hope to share some incredible news with you in the next couple of months about these opportunities, so stay tuned.

In the meantime let's faithfully support what God is doing at Foothills. If you are reading this and you don't have a church home, I invite you to come and see what all the buzz is about.

Easter review

To say that the Easter services at Foothills Community Church were incredible would be an UNDERSTATEMENT! They were absolutely amazing.

* Every single one of our teams were firing on all cylinders. From the moment you drove onto campus until the time you left, there was so much energy.

* I want to state for the record, that the volunteers at Foothills are THE Best in the world. For everyone that volunteers, I want to thank you. You are making a difference.

* Both campuses had fantastic crowds, in fact, our Toccoa campus had their all-time highest attendance! Between the 2 campuses we had around 2,500 people experience one of our services.

* We had 48 people make first-time decisions to follow Jesus Christ!!

* David Odom and the worship team killed it! They inspired us with incredible music. When they did "In Christ Alone", I think I could have walked on stage and gave an invitation, it was so powerful.

* The new stage set was very cool. I think it was one of my favorites ever.

* Tons of kids in KidZone (almost 500 at Seneca campus alone!)

* I got a chance to meet so many first-time guests. I love watching the expressions on people's faces when they come for the first time. Most people have huge smiles on their faces, but every now and then you see the "what did I get myself into?" look!

* We kicked-off our new series, Kings. This is going to be a life-changing series. Whatever you do, don't miss a single week.

* I am praying that many of the guests who came yesterday would connect and discover the joy and benefit of having a church home.

* I am so glad that our team that served in Haiti got back safely. I know that their lives will be changed forever.

* Don't forget that on April 22nd I will be leading our next Get In The Game class. Please plan on attending. I would love to meet you.

Easter Update

Easter is just a few days away so I wanted to share a few very important things with you:

* There are very few tickets left. Most of the remaining tickets are for the 11:15am service. If you have not picked yours up, you can print your own tickets here.

* Make sure to invite some people to come with you. One recent survey showed that 82% of people said they would most likely attend church this Easter if someone invited them. There are lots of ways to invite, but one of the best is by sending an E-Vite or using social media like your Facebook or Twitter account. We have these available to send out here.

* This Easter at Foothills Community Church we are pulling out all of the stops. The stage set looks absolutely amazing. The band, singers and choir are all preparing for some of the best music anywhere. The hospitality and guest services teams are all set to make this the most enjoyable experience for everyone that walks through the doors.

* We will be also starting a new message series on Easter called, "Kings". I can't wait to do this series!

* As far as our service times, at our Seneca, SC campus we will have services at 8:00, 9:30, and 11:15am. At our Toccoa, GA campus we will have services at 9:30, and 11:00am

* Make sure to arrive a little earlier than usual to allow for the large crowds.

* I am praying that we have record number of people that give their lives to Christ. Please join me in that prayer.

* Our staff spent part of Monday morning praying over every seat in our auditorium.

* Easter will also be Foothills 14th birthday as a church!! Time sure flies.

Back in town

I'm back at the office after being gone for the past week. My week has been a whirlwind. It began last Monday as my wife and I headed to California for a Leadership meeting. It was the first time I had been to California, and the first time I had seen the Pacific ocean. Being from Florida, I still favor the Atlantic, but it was still beautiful.



My leadership meeting was incredible. There was a group of approx. 25 Pastors from all over the country. I picked up so much valuable information. It was nice having Liz with me too.



After the meeting was over, we decided to take a few extra days of vacation for our 28th anniversary. We drove to Las Vegas and walked the Strip. I'm not sure how many miles we walked, but it was a bunch. It was also my first time in Vegas. The best way I can describe it is "interesting". We did a lot of people watching, and let me tell you, there are some strange people in Vegas!


We then drove to the Grand Canyon, which was awesome. I have seen many pictures of it, but none of them came close to being there in person. Breathtaking scenery. God's creative genius is on display everywhere. It was 27 degrees in the morning, but quickly warmed up to the mid 60's. The skies were the bluest skies I have ever seen. There was still some snow on some of the mountainsides.







After the Grand canyon we headed back to Vegas. We attended the Saturday evening service at Central Christian Church, and then got to tour the facility with my friend Tracey Smith, who is their Small Groups Pastor. That was a great experience.

All in all we had a wonderful time. I am grateful to the great staff we have at Foothills Community Church. They do an amazing job. I can go out of town and not worry about a thing.

Don't forget, Easter is this weekend. I'll share more about our services in my next blog post.

Sunday review

It was a great day at BOTH campuses of Foothills Community Church. Let's start with our Toccoa, GA campus:

* They had another big crowd and exciting services.

* 11 People were baptized! Toccoa continues to get it done, when it comes to baptisms..... amazing!

* The stories of life-change are awesome.

* Lots of first-time guests.

In Seneca, SC we had a fantastic day too. Here are some highlights:

* We continued our Genius of Generosity series. It is such a challenging series.

* Whenever you talk about $, some people get pretty tense. Seriously, from my vantage point on stage, it is very interesting to see the responses. Lots of squirming and people getting up, etc.

* I'm pretty sure that the reason that the Bible has so many verses about money and possessions is because we have made it our God.

* If all of the people of Foothills could grasp the concept of stewardship (The careful responsible management of the things God places in our care), it would change our lives.

* Fortunately many are already catching that vision. Just this this morning a man came by the office to drop off a check for the church to use to help someone in crisis!

* I can't wait for this Sunday as we wrap up this series. You do not want to miss it.

* We topped of the the day with a Lord's Supper service yesterday evening. It was an incredible time of worship.

UN-Believable day

It was truly an unbelievable day at Foothills Community Church. There were so many highlights for me, but I wanted to share a couple:

* I LOVED having the youth sitting front and center today. But what was really great is that they weren't just sitting passively, no, they were totally engaged. Students, you raised the bar for the adults this morning!

* Another great part was that we baptized 30 more people today!! That is why we do what we do!

* I know a lot of people were dragging a bit from losing an hour of sleep, but I'm thankful for everyone that came ready to worship.

* I am pumped out of my mind about our new series, The Genius of Generosity. I truly believe that this will be the most life-changing series we have ever done. there are going to be a lot of people that learn what it means to be generous, and not only will it change their lives, but the ones that will be the recipients of their generosity!

* You don't want to miss part 2 next week!

* We will be observing the lord's Supper next Sunday evening from 6:00-7:00pm at our Seneca campus.

* I love what God is doing at Foothills Community Church!!

Heads-Up for this Sunday

Just a quick heads-up for this Sunday:

* First of all..... DON'T miss it. We are starting a brand new series that I think could be the most life-changing series we've EVER done at Foothills Community Church!

* Don't forget to set your clocks ahead one hour tonight. That's right, we lose an hour of sleep. That's a bummer I know, but just prepare for it by going to bed a little earlier.

* We will be celebrating baptism at both services at Seneca campus (Toccoa will have baptisms on March 18th!) We will be doing them a bit different. We will do them right after the second worship song, which means if you are going to be baptized come prepared. So come into the service in your shorts, shirts and towels.

*One last thing. As I type this, our students are right in the middle of their IGNITE weekend. Please stop what you are doing and pray right now for them! Thanks.

Sunday review

Awesome day yesterday at Foothills Community Church. It was great having my good friend, Doug Walker delivering the message. Doug is the Lead Pastor of Fellowship of the Parks in Texas.

Doug and I got connected through a leadership community he and I participated in. He has become a great friend, and I must say he did an incredible job. He spoke very candidly about his adoption, and showed a video that brought most people to tears. I am thankful that Doug gave up a weekend to be with us!

It is always a little "different" for me when I am not preaching. Believe it or not, in some ways it's actually harder. But I must say, it is nice to have a week to take a breather. I am actually trying to do that more. I think it's healthy for a church body to be exposed to many different speakers. Generally I preach between 38-40 Sundays a year.



A couple of other thoughts:

* Ignite begins this Friday. Please pray for our teenagers, staff, and volunteers. This weekend could change lives for eternity!

* Got a chance to introduce Justin Terry, our new Student Pastor to our church. We tried to trick him by telling him that since this was his first Sunday, it was customary to wear a suit. He didn't buy it, but he did wear a tie!

* Follow-Up on Sunday evenings has been a blast! I think everyone is enjoying it.

* I am absolutely crazy-excited about the new series we'll be starting this Sunday!! It will be life-changing.

* I'm loving doing P90X. It is brutal, intense and difficult, but strangely enjoyable.

Big Sunday planned

I have been looking forward to this Sunday at Foothills Community Church. You do not want to miss it.

We will be wrapping up the Social Networks series in a very cool way. Rather than tell you what we have planned, I'll leave you in a bit of suspense.

In addition to that, this Sunday at our Seneca campus we will introduce our new Student Pastor, Justin Terry. I'm very excited about that.

Speaking of student ministry.... on Friday March 9th, our annual event called, Ignite will begin! This is a life-changing event for so many teenagers. Be sure to pray that God will do some amazing things in their lives. I have copied some of the info that Brian Rhodes shared from the Ignite Facebook page so you can get a feel of what is coming up:


If you're new to IGNITE, here's a general description. Think of it as an entire weekend of Thrive! The weekend will include 3 main sessions, a concert, mission projects, and free time activities. Students will be housed at host homes with a group leader. Both the host home volunteers and group leaders have been thoroughly screened, and trained. Students will be grouped according to age and gender. This allows for a meaningful small group time where students and their leaders can follow-up on the main session.

This year we've chosen to do something a little different. In the past, we've brought in a single speaker from outside the group to teach. In preparing for this year's event, I felt that God was leading us to make this more of a “Big C” church event, so each session will be led by a Student Pastor from a local church. We're excited to have Jeremy Garret from Open Door Baptist Church and Shane and Nicole Frank from United Assembly of God leading two of our sessions. The third will be led some no-name dude from Foothills :) Worship will be led by Chase Callahan. He was with last year, and did a phenomenal job. We're pumped about having him back.

Wow! A Pastor's Dirty Little Secret

This article really saddens me. I can relate to some of it, but thankfully not a lot.
This article makes me even happier that I Pastor a great church like Foothills Community Church!!

Sunday review

It was a long Sunday for me, but I had a blast! I pretty much spent the day at church. (I actually got a chance to run home for an hour or so, but had to turn around and come back)

* We continued our Social Networks series. We have been talking about relationships. But rather than talking about the common relationship topics, we have been discussing the messy side of relationships.

* Yesterday's topic was loving our neighbors and loving our enemies. Tough stuff!

* Lots of people told me that God did some serious convicting in their hearts about some people they have not really forgiven for hurting them.

* The public schools had a 4 day weekend, so I think a lot of people were traveling.

* We will be wrapping up our series this Sunday.

* Speaking of this Sunday, you don't want to miss it. We have a surprise for you!!

* We had a great Get In The Game class yesterday. A bunch of new people got connected!

* We also had our 2nd Follow-Up campus group. It was a wonderful time. I would encourage you to come this Sunday at 6:00pm in the Venue auditorium.

* I am already pumped about the next series that we'll start on March 11th called, The Genius of Generosity.

* Also on March 11th, we will be having our next baptisms. It's not too late to sign-up.

* I love Foothills Community Church!

get connected

They say that there are only 2 things that are certain; death and taxes, but I have found something that is nearly as certain when it comes to the church.

Here it is: If people do not get connected, they will not stay more than a year.

I have seen this play out over and over. Someone starts attending regularly, and then the next thing you know, they're gone.

Sunday morning worship service attendance is not enough!

In other words, if the only connection a person has is attending a church service on Sunday morning, they won't make it for long..... no matter how much they enjoy the services.

The key is connection. The way to get connected at Foothills Community Church is through serving and Find and Follow group participation.

Let me explain these 2 connection points:

Serving: At Foothills we have dozens of ministry teams. There are opportunities to get connected through serving in such areas as KidZone (Children's ministry), Thrive (Student ministry), stage construction, administrative support, hospitality, praise team, choir, musicians, video, graphics, lighting, greeters, group leaders, care and support, and many more. In addition we have many opportunities to serve in our community and around the world with our Project Reach initiative.

Find and Follow Groups: These are groups of people that meet together throughout the week to study the Bible, and connect through relationships. Some of these groups meet in different members homes, some meet on our campus and some groups meet for different sports and hobbies.

Ideally you will serve and attend a Find and Follow group. The more relationships you build the "stickier" a church becomes.

The bottom line is, you need to get connected if you're going to stick. We want you to stick, we really do.

Sunday review

Hey Foothills family. God is up to something big right now! Sunday was an amazing day.

* Cold, rainy day, but it didn't seem to affect the attendance or the excitement that the people had.

* The worship team did two original songs yesterday. The last song of the worship set was one that David Odom wrote. I promise you, that song could be a hit song on the radio!

* I love our new website.

* The umbrella team was incredible yesterday. Thanks to all of you that made people's worship experience a dry one!

* KidZone numbers were way up. Our kid's ministry is second to none! These kids are finding and following Jesus.

* I wish I could get people to sit near the front rather than the back. Why is it, at a football game we would rather have seats on the 50 yard line near the field, but at church the back seats are the premium seats??

* Lots of people are discovering the ease of giving online. Have you signed-up yet? You can do it in just a couple of minutes here.

* We had our first Follow-Up yesterday evening. It was very cool. Had a lot of people come, but there is room for more. Plan on coming THIS Sunday at 6:00pm

* The Social Networks series has been amazing. This Sunday is going to be the most challenging yet!

* Jeremy Lin and Linsanity has become a nationwide sensation. He is not only a phenomenal basketball player, but he's a Christ-follower. Here's a clip of him sharing a little about his faith.

Follow-Up

I have mentioned this several times, but I wanted to remind everyone again about anew campus group that I will be leading that starts THIS Sunday evening from 6:00pm until 7:00pm called Follow-Up.

Here's a few things you should know:

* We are serious about producing true followers of Jesus, so this is another opportunity for you.

* You won't need to do any preparation prior to our meetings. We will take the topic from Sunday morning and go a little deeper with it.

* We will begin at 6:00pm SHARP, so get there a couple minutes early!

* Bring a Bible and a noteook/ paper, and a pen.

* This would be a great group to attend if you've never been in a group or if you're in-between groups, or are just wanting to grow in your walk with Jesus.

* We will have a couple of acoustic worship songs led by one of our worship leaders, a time of Bible study, and prayer (and possibly a few other things).

* There will be child care from birth to 5th grade.

* It's going to be fun!

* This group will run from Feb. 19th until March 25th.

* We will be meeting in the Venue (student) auditorium, which is in Foothills north building.

OK, there you have it. Pretty much everything you need to know about Follow-Up. Hope to see you there!


P.S.
You don't want to miss Sunday morning at Foothills Community Church. I am back, and I'll be continuing the Social Networks series. Bring some friends with you.

P.S.S.
It's supposed to rain on Sunday. You're bed will be calling your name to stay in it. Don't listen to it! Bring your umbrella and come to worship! (If you forget your umbrella, you're in luck, our umbrella team will be there to assist you!!)

Sunday review

This will be a little bit different type review because I wasn't at Foothills Community Church yesterday, but here's what's going on:

* I heard the services were awesome yesterday. I am so thankful for Brian Rhodes for bringing the message. I heard that he did a fantastic job!!

* Also heard that the first service attendance was a little lower yesterday. No doubt, the coldest temperatures of the year had something to do with that.

* Speaking of cold temperatures, I guess I timed my trip to Florida about right. Although it was cold down here too. Only got up to 60 degrees yesterday.

* I'm really looking forward to the message I will be sharing this Sunday at Foothills. I am really enjoying the Social Networks series!

* Our congregation has been singing some of the original worship songs that our team has written. I love that!

* Don't forget 2 very important things: I will be starting a Campus Group called "Follow-Up" this Sunday at 6:00pm in the Venue auditorium. If you are not in another Sunday evening group, I would love to have you join me. Secondly, on Feb. 26th, I will be leading the next Get In The Game class. If you want to know more about Foothills and are looking to take your next step, this class is for you. The class will be held from 12:30-2:15pm. Free lunch and childcare will be provided.

* On March 11th we will be having our next baptisms! If you are a Christ-follower and have not been baptized put that date on your calendar! (The date for baptisms in Toccoa will be March 18th)

* I am so excited about what we get to be a part of at Foothills. God is moving in a powerful way! See ya Sunday, and don't forget to bring someone with you.

The Best Investment of Your Time

Many times people ask me questions about having a quiet time with the Lord. I honestly believe that it is impossible to have a thriving, intimate relationship with Jesus without a regular, and consistent quiet time.

Let me first define what I mean by "quiet time". It is a time that you set aside for Bible reading, prayer and reflection.

I believe that the only way to be consistent, is to have a set time to have it. Maybe the first thing in the morning, or while you're having your breakfast (or lunch), or maybe some time in the evening. The time doesn't really matter (although I personally find it beneficial to have mine in the morning before I face the day), as long as it's consistent.

Once, the church I was attending brought in an author and conference speaker on the topic of prayer and quiet time. This guy was amazing. He told us how he would wake up every day at 4:00am and then have 3 hours of quiet time. I was so inspired, I vowed to start doing the same thing. So the next morning I set my alarm for 4:00am. I got my Bible and sat at the breakfast table and began to read. The next thing I remember was being woken up by my wife 3 hours later with my head laying in a puddle of drool in my open Bible! I had fallen asleep within the first 5 minutes. I felt like a failure, but the truth is, what worked for that guy, didn't work for me. the key is to figure out what works for you.


Another question people ask is, "how do I know what to pray about or what to read?" Those are great questions. I like to keep things pretty simple, so I basically start with prayer, and then some Bible reading and then reflection. (Remember, this is about increasing the quality of your relationship with Christ, not checking off a bunch of things on your spiritual to-do list)

On the Prayer part I usually pray the A.C.T.S method. A= Adoration. I begin my prayer with giving glory and adoration to the Lord. C= Confession. I confess my sins specifically by name. T= Thanksgiving. I thank Him for all He has done in my life. S= Supplication. I lift up my requests to Him.

As far as Bible reading, I generally like to read a couple chapters a day of a book of the Bible, and stay in that book until I'm finished. One thing that I do occasionally, that is really good is what is called the SOAP method of Bible reading (The acronym of SOAP is S= Scripture. O= Observation. A= Application. P= Prayer). Here's how it works. Let's say the today I am reading Hebrews chapters 2 and 3. As I am reading I am paying attention for the Lord to show me a verse that kind of stands out to me. After reading the chapters, I then come back to that verse, take out some paper and journal. It would look something like this:

S. (Scripture) Hebrews 3:13 You must warn each other everyday, while it is still today, so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God.

O. (Observation) Sin is deceptive. It lures, then it destroys. It promises, but never delivers. It is short-term satisfaction with long-term consequences. One of the consequences is that it causes our hearts to be hardened towards God. When this happens, our desire for God, His word and the things of God dissipate.

A. (Application) The closer to God I remain, and the further I stay from sin, the better my life will be! I must guard against sin's deception.

P. (Prayer) Lord remind me that sin leads to death, no matter how enticing and harmless it may seem. I desire closeness in our relationship, so help me to be strong.


That's it! Anyone can do that. If you don't have a regular quiet time, why not start today?

Sunday review

We had a great day at Foothills Community Church yesterday. I absolutely LOVE what God is doing right now!

* I was a bit worried that we were going to get washed-out because the weatherman had forecasted a 60% chance of rain, but it was a beautiful day.

* Kelly Ross was prepared for the rain with an entire team of volunteers who serve on the umbrella team. I love how our volunteers are always ready to go the second mile for our guests.

* David Odom and the worship team nailed it yesterday. It was extremely cool, that we got a chance to sing a song written by some of the FCC staff members during worship.

* I spoke on dealing with conflict in relationships.

* Conflict is 2 people trying to occupy the same space at the same time

* The word "unity" is a bit misunderstood. Unity is not the absence of conflict, it's the willingness to work through the conflict in a Christ-like way for God-honoring results.

* The goal is not to win the argument, it's to win the person.

* Always work toward resolution.

* Our student ministry, Thrive is seeing some great things happening. This past Wednesday, another 4 students committed their lives to Christ!

* Also on Wednesday, our Student Pastor, Brian Rhodes announced that he would be stepping down from our Student ministry to focus more of his efforts in our SERVE ministry. This was a difficult decision for Brian to make. He loves students, but felt that his gifts could be best used in his new position. Brian has served Thrive with excellence for the last few years, and I am pumped that he will still be serving on Foothills team! That's right, he is NOT going anywhere!!

* Brian also announced to the students that our new student ministry pastor will be Justin Terry. Justin will begin in early March. In the meantime, he will be busy winding things down in his current position in Virginia. It has been great getting to know Justin, who was introduced to us by his friend, David Odom. When he gets here, I'll bring him up on stage and introduce him.

* Brian will work with Justin during a transition period to show him the ropes. And then Brian will move to the SERVE area, and his focus will be helping people find a place to serve at Foothills. He will have some other responsibilities, as well. When you see Brian, let him know how much you appreciate him.

* Can you believe that Easter is in 2 months? We are working hard to put together the most creative, compelling services we have ever had!!

* In case you haven't seen it yet, our new website is up and running. We have a few things that will be tweaked, but it looks awesome. Thanks to Shane Smith for all of his work.

* Kidzone is really going strong . lots of kids. Also. I'm not really sure what's going on, but we have about a dozen pregnant ladies in our church right now.

* We could use some extra people to serve in our nursery. (See above)!!

It's in the air

If you have been to Foothills Community Church lately, no doubt you have felt the presence of God in a very powerful way. It's one of those things that you can't see with your eyes, but you can just sense. There is a hunger for more of God. There is a passion for worship, and as a result, there are lives changing every week. Lots of lives.

2012 has started with a bang on both of our campuses. The Lord is up to something very big. I anticipate that this year will be our best ever! It reminds me of this verse: Isaiah 43:19 NLT For I am about to do a brand-new thing. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness for my people to come home. I will create rivers for them in the desert!

Here is what every one of us need to be doing: Pray for God to continue this great movement, and also pray that we would not be distracted (which is a common tactic of Satan when things are going well). We must continue to yield our lives to Jesus every moment of every day so that we can live our lives on mission. We must keep inviting people to church, and warmly welcoming them when they show up.

I can honestly say that I cannot remember a time when I sensed we were on the brink of something so great as right now!!!

I will be sharing a message this Sunday that has the potential to change your life when it comes to dealing with conflict in your relationships. If you know of anyone that is in the middle of some conflict issues, get them there.

Also, don't forget the Superbowl party at FCC this Sunday. Tailgating starts at 5:30pm.

On February 19th we will launch The Follow-Up, which is a campus group that I will be leading. It will be held in the Venue auditorium in Foothills North building from 6:00pm until 7:00pm

On February 26th we will have our next Get In The Game class. This is our membership class at FCC. It will be held from 12:30 until 2:15pm. We will provide lunch and child care. Sign-up soon. Over 100 people were at the last class in January, so sign-up soon!

sunday review

We kicked off our new series on relationships called, "Social Networks" today at Foothills Community Church. It was a great day in so many ways.

* Most of us don't have enough deep, quality relationships. We need people in our lives that will stand by our side in tough times and people that will get in our face when neccessary.

* We are having tons of first-time guests every single week. What I really love is that so many are coming back week after week.

* Our Toccoa campus had another huge day. I love what God is doing over there!

* I am so proud of the people of FCC. You are really catching the vision of helping others find and follow Jesus. Thanks for inviting your friends!

* I also want to brag on all of the people who serve on a ministry team at FCC. Over 700 of you have discovered the joy of serving God and others. If you haven't tried serving, why not stop by the Link on Sunday to learn more.

* Planet Kidz was jammed today. Lots of kids. Lots of first-time kids!

* I am really getting excited about the new campus group I will be leading called, Follow-Up which will begin on Feb. 19th at 6:00pm. If you are not in a Sunday evening group, I would love to see you at Follow-Up.

* We have a big announcement to make this week. Yes, I am super-excited!

* I can't wait for next Sunday. I will be talking about how to handle conflict in your relationships.

* I can't stress enough how important it is for all of us to build relationships at church. Coming only on Sunday mornings does not lend itself to developing deep relationships. That's why we have Find and Follow groups meeting on and off campus. Stop by the Link on Sunday and we'll help you find a group that will fit you. Or you can find out more here.

Discipleship

Fan or Follower? from Foothills Community Church on Vimeo.

This past Sunday I spoke about what it meant to be a true follower of Jesus. (If you missed it, here's the video).

I am so pumped about the spiritual hunger of the people of Foothills Community Church!
In 2012 we are offering many ways for people to take their next step in their spiritual journey.
A couple of the things that I will be personally involved with are a new campus group I will be leading called, Follow-Up. This will be a continuation of Sunday morning's message. The format will be interactive, as we dig deeper into the scripture. Follow-Up begins on February 19th at 6:00pm in the Venue auditorium. It is open to everyone, and childcare will be available.

The other thing that I'll be doing is taking a group of people through an intensive discipleship process. On Sunday I issued a challenge for anyone that was willing to make a huge commitment of their time to growing spiritually. The format essentially would be monthly meeting with me (and the group), plus a commitment to do a series of daily activities, and lots of homework. The duration would be 1 year!
When I issued the challenge, I had no idea if anyone would be willing to be a part of that. To my surprise nearly 60 people said they were interested! Wow, that is incredible! I have no idea how many will actually complete it, but we'll see.

Sunday review

Absolutely amazing is the only way to describe yesterday at Foothills Community Church.

* The worship services were unbelievable. David Odom and his team bring the heat every week! I'm also really proud of Mary Douglas. She has grown by leaps and bounds as a worship leader.

* So many first-time and returning guests at FCC. Just blows me away!

* Preached a message on discipleship, and what it means to be a true Follower of Jesus, and not just a Fan of His.

* That message was months in the making. I know it wasn't an easy message for most people to digest, but sometimes that's good.

* There is such a huge level of excitement in our services, but also in the concourse between services.

* Our Toccoa campus is knocking it out of the park too! They just keep growing.

* Probably the highlight of the weekend for me was our Get In The Game membership class. We had 114 people attend the class and 100 of them committed to membership!! Welcome to all of our new members.

* In case you missed Get In The Game, the next class will be on February 26th.

* Our next baptism will be on March 11th, so put that on your calendar too.

* Don't forget to hand out your invite cards for our new series that begins THIS Sunday, called Social Networks. We will be looking at the good, bad and ugly sides of our relationships.

* You should also get a direct mail card about the new series in your mailbox this week.

* I love serving as your Pastor!

A fan or a follower?

This Sunday I will be sharing a message called Fan or Follower? I am super-excited about it for a few reasons.

First, I am excited about this message because it will be challenging. Actually challenging could be an understatement. This could possibly be the most intense message about real discipleship that I've ever shared!

Secondly, I am excited because I think it is timely. I think churches all across America are seeing a trend in people hopping from one church to another, looking for their next "spiritual buzz". Commitment and loyalty to Christ and the local church are foreign concepts to some people.

Finally, I am excited because I think this message will be helpful. I know that for me personally, just preparing this message has been helpful in bringing me back on center, and I'm hoping it will be the same for many other people.

I believe that we are going to see major spiritual breakthrough, so make sure you do not miss this Sunday!


I am praying that 2012 will be a year for incredible spiritual growth for the people of Foothills Community Church!

Here are 2 more very important things to remember.

1) This Sunday I will be leading our Get In The Game Class. This is your next step if you have been visiting Foothills and you like what you see, and you want to know more. At the end of the class you will have the opportunity to become a member at Foothills. You will also have a chance to meet our staff, and we will feed you a free lunch and provide child care. The class begins at 12:30pm and finishes at 2:00pm. Trust me, this will be a great investment of your time.

2) On February 19th we will begin a new campus group called, Follow-up. It will start at 6:00pm and last for about an hour. The format of this group will change from week-to-week, but basically I will take the message from Sunday morning and go into greater detail. This will have a more interactive, unplugged feel. Most likely we will have some acoustic worship time and then jump into the Bible, and then will wrap up with prayer. Here's what you will need to bring: Your Bible, a pen/pencil, paper or journal for notes. This group is designed for those who want to go deeper. By the way, you don't have to be a Bible scholar to attend, so if you are a new believer, you will enjoy this as well as the more seasoned Christian. There will be childcare thru 5th grade.

Sunday review

Today was one of those days where everything clicked. It was one of the best services ever!

* We continued our Find and Follow series. Today's topic was living on mission. All believers are called to a mission of leading others to Christ.

* I challenged every person to make a list of 5 people that they could impact for Christ in 2012.

* Wouldn't it be amazing if all of us brought a guest with us next week?

* I really embarassed our Worship Pastor, David Odom this morning. I had him stay on stage before I began my message and bragged on him. We are blessed to have him at Foothills Community Church!

* We had a ton of guests again this morning. I got a chance to speak to many of them personally.

* One first-time family shared with me how they heard about Foothills. They said that they received a random phone call from a teenager (they didn't know the teenager) that went to Foothills. In the phone call the teenager said that he had a dream, and in the dream God told him to dial a phone number and invite the person that answered the phone to come to church. The guests told me that they had just been praying and asking God to direct them to a church! That's wild!

* I am praying that the Lord would give every person that attends FCC the opportunity to invite someone to church in the next couple of weeks.

* There are still some people that have not renewed their membership yet. Do it today online.

* If you are not a member of FCC but want to learn more, don't forget the next Get In The Game Class is next Sunday. You can sign-up today here.

* Next Sunday is a day that you Do NOT want to miss. We're going to talk about what it means to be a Follower instead of a fan of Jesus Christ.

* On January 29th we will begin a new series called, Social Networks. The series will be on improving the relationships in our life. We will be giving you invite cards next Sunday to put in the hands of the people on your impact list.

* We will also be sending a mailer, inviting people to the series. It will show up in the mailboxes of over 26,000 homes soon!

Sunday review

This past Sunday was amazing at Foothills Community Church. Every year at this time I do a series on our vision at FCC. It is one of those messages that unify the church, and bring us back to the reason we do what we do. Nothing fires me up more than talking about the heart of our church!

* I spoke on Luke 15, but the real focus was the older brother in the Prodigal son story. I compared the heart of the older brother and the heart of God.

* The older brother had forgotten what was important... his lost brother who was now found. Instead he refused to participate in the celebration.

* The Father never gave up hope that the prodigal son would one day return home. When that day finally arrived, the Father ran to his son and restored the relationship and then threw a party because he had returned. (Let's not forget that this in this story, the prodigal son is all of us, who have sinned against God, and the Father represents God, who is waiting with open arms for us to come to Him.)

* Some churches have become like the older son. Their focus shifted from ministry to maintenance. It moved from others to themselves. They don't see life change, because they don't celebrate it.

* At FCC I want us to have the Father's heart. To continue to be a place that opens its arms to the lost, broken, and hurting. In order to do this our focus must be EXTERNAL.
Our mission statement is to help people FIND and FOLLOW Jesus. It has to be balanced between those things, but we can never lose the heart to reach lost people.

* Having said that, in 2012 we are also going to put a great emphasis on helping people FOLLOW Jesus (Discipleship). In fact on January 22nd I am going to do one of the most intense and challenging messages I have ever preached in regards to becoming a TRUE FOLLOWER of Jesus! Trust me, this message is not for the faint of heart.

* Sunday was also Membership renewal Sunday. If you didn't fill out your renewal, you can do it online now. (Remember, you must have already gone through the Get In The Game Class)

* If you would like to become a member of Foothills Community Church, then you can sign-up for our next get In The Game Class here.

* Here are some of the stats from 2011 I shared on Sunday:
* 438 people gave their lives to Jesus
* 323 people made a re commitment to Jesus
* 168 people were baptized
* 185 people went to Get In The Game class
* 706 different people served on a ministry team
* over 12,000 prayer requests were prayed for
* over $40,000 was given to local families in need from our benevolence fund
* $12,500 was given to our Christmas offering to provide gifts for children
* Over $150,000 was given to Project reach and distributed to do ministry in Haiti, Harlan County Kentucky, Church Planting in North America, and 5 local agencies helping the hurting in our community.
* Over 4,500 volunteer hours outside the walls of the church to help people.
* 3 mission trips to Haiti and 2 trips to Harlan County Ky. Many teams serving with our local ministry agencies.

* I am so excited about 2012. I believe we are going to see God do more than we've ever seen, so put on your seat belts!

Foothills New Worship CD

Many of you know that Foothills Community Church just released our first live worship CD. Every single person NEEDS to buy this CD. It is incredible. I couldn't be more proud of all of the people that serve tirelessly each week to bring the best worship to us at FCC.
I just found out that it is now available on iTunes as well! Go ahead and download it today.

sunday review x 2

Haven't updated in a while, but a lot has been going on at Foothills Community Church. Here's what's been happening:

* Our Christmas Eve services were unbelievable. Probably the best we've ever had! David Odom and his amazing team pulled off some tremendous music, while Shane Smith and his team did equally amazing things with the technical aspects of the services.

* We had around 25 more people give their lives to Jesus!

* Right after our services were over in Seneca I rushed over to our Toccoa campus and did the message live there. Kevin Robison and his team nailed the music!

* There were more people saved in Toccoa too!

* All in all, Christmas Eve services were a home-run.

* On Christmas Day we had a special worship DVD that we gave out to hundreds of people, and we had hundreds more view it online. There was a ton of positive feedback about that.

* On January 1st (today), we were right back at it again. Even though attendance was a bit light, it was a great day.

* Next Sunday we will begin a new message series called, Find and Follow.

* Don't forget that next Sunday is also Membership renewal Sunday. If you are not a member yet, you can sign-up for our next Get In The Game Class on January 22nd from 12:30 until 2:00pmpm in the Venue auditorium. There is a free lunch served and childcare available.

A Foothills Christmas

Some incredible things are going on at Foothills Community Church this Christmas season.

** First off, let me thank all of the generous people of FCC. Thanks to your generosity we have received over $11,000 towards our special Christmas offering and it's still coming in. This means that so far we have been able to provide Christmas gifts to over 250 kids!

** Don't forget that THIS Saturday we will have our spectacular Christmas eve services. I am pumped out of my mind about this! Here are a few things to remember about these services:
*Service Times: Seneca Campus- 2pm and 4pm, Toccoa Campus- 6pm (I will be doing the message live in Toccoa, and I can't wait!)

*Bring someone with you. Statistics show that most people would be open to coming to church on Christmas IF someone invites them. Let's hand out those ticket/invite cards to everyone we see.

*If you need more ticket/invites, you can print them online here.

*If you have a friend that doesn't know Jesus, I can't think of a better day to get them there.

*Arrive early. The services will be crowded, so get there early, have some refreshments and find a seat. Don't forget to scoot to the middle of the rows.

*Kidzone has some special things planned for the kids, so get them checked in a bit early too.

*Trust me, you DO NOT want to miss the first song. I heard that it might be THE best Christmas song we have ever done. Which is one more reason to get there a little early.

*Don't forget to pick up a special Christmas DVD we created for each family to take home with them. Instead of having services on Sunday (Christmas day) on our campuses, this DVD is meant to play on Christmas morning to have a worship time in your own home with your family. There is music from our band and a very short message from me.

*Our regular service schedule will resume on January 1. You will not want to miss this service either, we are going to have a lot of fun.

Why I'm Taking a Break From Facebook

As we move toward a new year I am making a few changes. Here is my first one: I am officially taking a break from Facebook. I thought I would share a couple of reasons why I have decided to do this. Since I am a Pastor I thought I would alliterate :-).

DISTRACTION. In many ways I have found that Facebook can be a bit of a distraction. Having to check your status or make updates throughout the day is not a wise use of my time.

DRAMA. I have found that 80% of the people on Facebook are pretty normal people, but the other 20% wear me out. It seems like they go from one crisis to another. (I shared a post about this a while back)

DISSENSION. A very troubling trend I am seeing on Facebook is the number of people airing their personal disputes on a public forum. Many people say damaging things about their spouses, their friends, their churches, etc. Matthew 18 tells us that if you have a problem with someone, you are to go directly to them and settle it privately. By expressing your disagreements publicly it causes dissension.



I am not suggesting that anyone else needs to take a break from Facebook, but this is what I am doing. I may take a break for a month, or a year, I really don't know.
In the meantime I will continue to use my Twitter account (gregoraham), and I will probably blog once a week or so (gregoraham.blogspot.com).

I love you all!

random thoughts

It's already Thursday, where has the week gone? There has been a lot of activity around the FCC offices preparing for Christmas and our new series, Misfits, which begins THIS Sunday at our Seneca campus (The following Sunday in Toccoa)

* The concourse looks absolutely amazing. As soon as you walk in the doors, you get in the Christmas spirit.

* The Stage set looks unbelievable. Thanks to all of the folks that have been working so hard this week to get it ready for Sunday.

*Last Sunday we had baptisms. We baptized 24 more people! Our Toccoa campus will be doing baptisms this Sunday!

* Our Student Ministry (Thrive) Had 4 more students give their lives to Christ on Wednesday. That's 60 this year!

* The students also collected peanut butter for the Golden Corner Food pantry and diapers for the Foothills Crisis pregnancy Care. I am so proud of our students giving back to the community

* Speaking of giving back to the community. We are collecting money for our special Christmas offering. Last year we were able to get Christmas toys to over 300 children. This year we hope to surpass that!

* As I mentioned earlier, we will begin our new Christmas series this Sunday called, Misfits. I think this will be the best Christmas series we have ever done.

* Don't forget to pick up tickets for our Christmas Eve services. And don't forget to take some extras to use as invitations for your friends. I am telling you, make sure you bring some people with you, it is going to be awesome!

* Our Christmas Eve services times are: Seneca Campus: 2 and 4pm. Toccoa campus 6pm. I am extremely excited that this Christmas Eve I will be doing the message LIVE in Toccoa! Can't wait!

* Also, don't forget that on Christmas Day (Sunday) we will not be having services at the church building. Instead, we are making it possible for you to have a worship service right in your living room! We have created a DVD to play on Christmas with your family (It will also be available online). It has music from our worship team and I will be sharing a small devotion.

* On January 1st we will be back to our normal service times. You don't want to miss the New Year's day services. The worship team will be doing your favorite songs from 2011. Kind of a Best of 2011 thing. You will be able to cast your votes This Sunday!

Sunday review

We had an amazing day at Foothills Community Church. The best part of the day was that 36 people on our Seneca campus and 1 person at our Toccoa campus gave their lives to Jesus. That is why we do what we do!

* The message was "If Heaven and Hell are real, then what?" We talked about how "not" to get into heaven, and how to get into heaven. Unfortunately there is so much confusion about this.

* This Sunday we will be wrapping up the GLOW series and also be celebrating baptism (Toccoa campus will be having baptisms on Dec. 11th) I absolutely love watching baptisms. I really struggle with Christians that don't get excited about baptism Sundays. Let me make this very clear...If you are a Christ-follower and baptisms don't excite you, there' something wrong with you!

* The following week we will begin our Christmas series called, "Misfits" I am super-pumped about that series!

* Start making plans for our Christmas Eve services. The times will be: Seneca campus-- December 24th at 2 and 4 pm. At our Toccoa campus the service will be at 6pm (I am going to be doing the message LIVE in Toccoa!)

* Tickets for the services will be available beginning THIS Sunday. Be sure to get some for yourself and the people you will be inviting.

Sunday review

We continued the GLOW series at Foothills Community Church yesterday. This is one of my favorite series we have done in a long time.

* The weather was nasty yesterday. Not terrible, just nasty. Chilly, gray, and drizzly. It definitely affected the attendance at our Seneca campus, but not our Toccoa campus. They had a big crowd.

* I have never understood people when it comes to church attendance. If the weather is too bad, they don't come, and if the weather is too good, they don't come! Pretty funny!

* For all of the people that did come, wow, we had a great service, didn't we?!

* We talked about our purpose yesterday. It is awesome to think that God created each of us with a purpose. Unless we discover and fulfill that purpose we will always feel frustrated.

* Had more people give their lives to Jesus yesterday! I love what the Lord is doing in the hearts of people. Gotta love life-change.

* Joy Hunneycutt was back with us yesterday. She does such a great job leading worship. Wish she lived a little closer.

* I am totally fired-up about this Sunday at Foothills. If you have a friend that doesn't know Jesus. Get them to Foothills this Sunday! trust me.

* Don't forget that on Dec. 4th (Dec. 11th in Toccoa) we will be having baptisms. Oh yeah, I love those days!

* Thanksgiving is right around the corner. Hard to believe how fast this year has gone by.

* We have some exciting details that we will be sharing with you about our Christmas Eve services. I can't wait for that.

Sunday review

Sunday was an amazing day at Foothills Community Church. The GLOW series is connecting with a lot of people. I love hearing the stories!

* Talked about God's holiness. An intense topic for sure, but much needed.

* Also talked about our need for personal holiness. Also much needed.

* David Odom blew it out of the water singing Holy, Holy, Holy.

* Holiness is not a list of do's and don'ts, but conformity to the character of God and obedience to the will of God. In short personal holiness is becoming more like Jesus.

* More people gave their lives to Jesus on Sunday! Over 300 people have given their lives to Jesus this year at Foothills!!!!

* Our next baptism will be on December 4th at both services at our Seneca campus and on December 11th at our Toccoa campus. If you have not been baptized, and are ready to take the plunge, go here and register.

* Our Dream Team celebration on Thursday night was a blast. I love serving with all of you!

* Looking forward to having Joy Hunneycutt back at Foothills this Sunday. That girl can flat out sing! She also has an amazing story of God's grace. Joy was featured on the TV show, Intervention a couple of years back. She has overcome her drug addiction and is now using her talent to serve the Lord.

* The next 3 Sundays at Foothills will be perfect days to invite a friend that does not know Jesus. PLEASE invite, invite invite!

* I am super excited about our Christmas series. Our creative team went all-out, and you do not want to miss any of it. Our Christmas Eve services are going to be the best we have ever had!

Our Dream Team

Tonight we will be throwing a party for a bunch of true heroes. I am speaking of our army of volunteers, that we affectionately call our Dream Team.
Once a year we throw this party, and I think it is one of the most important nights of the year. It's a time where the staff of Foothills Community Church gets to serve our volunteers!

We are blessed at Foothills to have so many people that are willing to use their gifts, talents and abilities to serve the Lord. In fact I believe that we have over 600 hundred people that serve at Foothills!!

Many people look at our church and think, "they have it covered, they don't need me". Let me assure you. If you have been thinking that, it is certainly not true. You are needed. You have abilities that no one else has. You are uniquely created by God, and you have something to offer.

Not only that but we could double the number of volunteers and still have a need for more. It takes a lot of people to make a church function at its full potential.

If you are not serving, why not check off the box on you Foothills Flier this Sunday about serving. We'll have someone follow up and help find just the right place for you. If you are already serving, THANK YOU! You are incredible!

Sunday review

We had a great day at Foothills yesterday. Here are a few highlights:

* I'm not sure what the numbers were, but it looked like we had a very good attendance

* Having an extra hour of sleep definitely had people come in with a ton of energy.

* The worship set was awesome. loved having the choir up there.

* We started a new series called, Glow. We are asking the question, If so, then what? Yesterday we asked, If the Bible is true, then what?

* The 3 main points were, we must Accept God's Word, Absorb God's Word and Apply God's Word.

* Yes, I really did accidentally put on my wife's jeans. (You will have to watch the video to understand!)

* We had a great response to the message, in fact we almost sold out of Bibles in our bookstore!!

* We had a Get In The Game class yesterday afternoon. I absolutely LOVE leading that class!

* I heard that our Toccoa campus also had another incredible day. The momentum at that campus is amazing. I have been encouraging some of our staff from Seneca to get over there on a Sunday and just experience it.

* On another note, I was asked to lead a couple of sessions for my friend Dean Herman's staff retreat last Friday. It was a great joy to do it. Dean's church is preparing to move into a new facility, so I talked about some cautions to be aware of.

* This Thursday evening we are having our annual Dream Team appreciation celebration. This is the night where our staff gets to honor all of the volunteers that make our jobs possible. If you have never volunteered at Foothills, you are missing out!

Sunday review

Yesterday was a great experience all the way around for me. I actually got a chance to worship at both campuses of Foothills Community Church, so that was very cool.

* Brian Rhodes preached at our Seneca campus on parenting. As a new Dad, his approach to the message was, I'm not an expert, but here's what I want my daughter to know". It was very heartfelt and everyone really enjoyed it.

* Next week we will start a new series called, GLOW. Basically this series is going to ask the question, If so, then what? (I'll tell you more about it on Sunday) Make sure you bring a friend!

* After the service at Seneca, I rushed over to our Toccoa, GA campus for their 11:00am service. It was awesome! Here are a few observations:

* It was packed out. In fact I heard that it was a non-holiday record attendance.

* The energy was amazing. The people are totally into it. They laugh alot, sing loud, and smile... a bunch!

* I kind of snuck in after they got started and sat down and just "observed"

* They baptized 5 people in the holy horse trough! Lives are changing for sure!

* Pastor Kevin Robison did a killer job leading the worship and Pastor Brian Marshall is obviously in his element. They make a great team, along with all of their awesome volunteers!

* They had a huge party yesterday evening for the community, and they estimate around 700 people showed up!

* A few other things:

* Foothills will be participating in the Trunk or Treat at the Seneca Walmart this evening from 6 until 8pm. This thing is huge. last year there were around 8,000 people that showed up!

* If you have a car (and some candy) and you would like to help out at Trunk or Treat, show up at Walmart at 5:30pm

* I have heard a bunch of great feedback from our Lord's Supper service last Thursday. Many thanks to Brian Rhodes for leading in my absence.

* I was in Dallas, TX meeting with a group of Pastors that I have had the privilege of getting to know over the last 2 years. I am totally indebted to each of them for their friendship. These are some of the most godly, wise men that I know. Each of them are leading significant churches from across the United States, and I can assure you that the Lord is at work in our Nation!

* It was also nice that my wife was able to come this time as well!

Sunday review

Week #3 of our Family Wipeout series was a tough message to deliver. we talked about marital infidelity. So many marriages/families have been destroyed because of this epidemic.

* The statistics are staggering. Some show that 50% of all men and 40% of all women have had adulterous relationships--- that seems unbelievable to me.

* I talked about 4 things you can do to avoid an affair: 1. Improve your walk with God. 2. Invest into your own marriage. 3. incorporate guardrails into your life. 4. Imagine the consequences.

* It was tough to do that message knowing that there were people in the service that were dealing with the aftermath of adultery.

* There is an attack on the family unit. Foothills Community Church is committed to helping families, that's why we tackle the tough topics.

* David Odom knocked it out of the park, singing Ring of Fire!

* I am so pumped about this Sunday's message. We will be talking about the Blessing. You need to be there!

* Our staff is working on some new parameters for serving as a leader at Foothills. We are going to be raising the bar, but that's what leadership is all about!

* We will be doing the Trunk Or Treat for Halloween at Walmart again this year. This is a HUGE opportunity for us to connect with our community. Last year there were over 8,000 people that came!!

* Our Toccoa campus will be having their Big A Party on Oct. 30th. It will be very similar to the Seneca campus Party in the Pasture, but they will be having a trunk or treat in their parking lot too.

* Looking forward to connecting with some pastor friends next week in Dallas. I love hanging out with these guys!

* Honored to be asked by my friend, Dean Herman to help lead his staff retreat in November. God is doing big things at Dean's church.

* Hoping to go to the Clemson game next Saturday. How bout those Tigers?!

Project Reach and Launch Network

As many of you know, Foothills Community Church is a Partner church with the Launch Network, a church planting organization that has a goal of planting 1,000 churches in the next 10 years. A portion of our Project Reach funding is going toward this huge goal!

A friend posted this on his blog, so I thought I would pass this along. Here’s a list of the church planters Launch will have assessed, trained and resourced. Some of these churches have already started. Others will start in the coming months.

* Brad Raby, Discovery Church (Knoxville, TN)
* Will Goodwin, Oak Leaf Church (Canton, GA)
* Chad Davis, Venue Church (Hattiesburg, MS)
* Christian Newsome, Journey Church International (Lee’s Summit, MO)
* Robert Green, Fondren Church (Jackson, MS)
* Justin Craig, Vinings Church (Atlanta, GA)
* James Cordell, 101 Church (Rockmart, GA)
* Josh Nelson, The Station Church (Carlsbad, CA)
* Jeff Phillips, The Crossings Church (Vancouver, BC)
* David Bradford, Celebration Church (Hoover, AL)
* Angus McKinley, Elevation Church (Loveland, CO)
* Damian Boyd, Vertical Church (Atlanta, GA)
* Keith Montgomery, Kingdom Come (Woodstock, GA)
* Brandon Brilhart, Relevate Church (Lawrence, KS)
* Doug Sibcy, Impact Church (Lebanon, OH)
* Wesley Odum, Dynamic Church (Chattanooga, TN)
* Jonathan Napier, Newnan Church (Newnan, GA)
* Joey Baynes, Restoration Church (Greensboro, NC)
* Chaz Churchwell, Restore San Diego (San Diego, CA)
* Travis Fox, Salt Lake City Church (Salt Lake City, UT)
* Shawn Peoples, Grace Community (Kaneohe, HI)
* Chris Hughes, Hope Church (Orlando, FL)
* Terence Lester, Innovation Church (Atlanta, GA)
* Bryan Carter, Bozeman City Church (Bozeman, MT)
* Bryant May, The Exchange (Jackson, MS)


Thanks to all of you that have given to Project Reach. You are making a difference! We will be becoming even more active with this in the near future, but until then please pray for these new churches!

Sunday review

Sunday was awesome at Foothills Community Church. We continued our Family Wipeout series. I spoke on the art of communication. No doubt communication is the key to healthy relationships.

The 4 main components of communication are:

1) What I hear (being a good listener is the most important part of communication)

2) What I say (choose words that encourage, bless and edify)

3) How I say it (be extra careful with the non-verbal communication such as body language, facial expressions and tone)

4) When I say it (timing is everything)

If we can master these 4 things we will enhance every relationship we have.

Other thoughts:

* The music was excellent. It was cool having David Odom and Adam Courtney tag-teaming leading worship!

* Stephanie did an amazing job leading us during her song!

* Shane Smith's team does a great job with all of the technical aspects of our services

* Foothills has the most incredible volunteers!

* We have had almost 100 people give their lives to Jesus in the last 9 weeks!

* This Sunday I will be tackling a very difficult topic. How To Avoid An Affair. I can't tell you how many marriages I know that have been destroyed by infidelity.

* We had around 40 people show up for our Project Reach family day last saturday, serving at the food pantry! Wow!

* We have a team of 14 people heading to Harlan County Ky. this weekend to serve on a Project Reach regional mission trip!


Some dates to remember:

* Thursday October 27th at 6:30pm. We will be celebrating the Lord's Supper at our Seneca campus.

* Sunday November 6th from 12:30pm until 2:30pm we will be having our next Get In the Game Class. Lunch and childcare will be provided.

* Thursday November 10th at 6:30pm. Our annual Dream Team Celebration. This is our annual celebration honoring every person that has served at Foothills during the last 12 months. Our staff gets to serve the volunteers as a way of saying "thank you". This is a blast. I believe that we will be having karaoke again this year! Desserts will be served and childcare will be provided.

What a weekend

Last weekend was unbelievable at Foothills Community Church.

* On Sunday morning we kicked off our new series, How To Avoid A Family Wipeout.

* For whatever reason, every time we do a series on the family it seems to really connect.

* I spoke to the singles about raising the bar when it comes to dating/marriage. It was also a reminder to all of the married people about continuing to do those things that you used to do when dating.

* This Sunday we will be talking about what is probably one of the most important parts of relationships. I have a feeling that this one is going to connect with everyone that comes.

* On Sunday afternoon we had Party In The Pasture. Wow, what an amazing party it was. We had inflatables for the kids, a classic car show, a petting zoo, lawnmower races (and yes, I believe one of the mowers blew up!), food, a concert by Stone Echo with some good old classic rock!, and best of all we baptized 32 people!!!

* I was blown away by how many people came to the Party In The Pasture. It was crazy, but it was a lot of fun!

* As my wife and I drove away that evening, we were so thankful for all of the staff and volunteers that made the event so special. It was one of my favorite days ever at Foothills!

* I absolutely love it when the church just comes together to have fun!

An Important re-post

I had the privilege of speaking at the Nines conference on the topic of health in ministry. That got me thinking that I needed to re-post something I wrote right after my surgery 4 months ago. My hope in re-posting this is that it may challenge someone to take a step toward physical health.


FROM MAY 17th, 2011


I want to thank all of you that have been praying for me. In case you were not aware, I had a recent physical (which I passed with flying colors), but kind of in passing, my Dr. suggested I have a Cardiac Calcium Score test done. I had never heard of this test before, but I figured, I may as well make an appointment. The test took 5 minutes and cost $99. The lower the score the better. Unfortunately for me, my score was high.
I was then sent to a cardiologist who scheduled me to have a heart cath done this past Monday. The idea was, if the cath showed no sign of any plaque build-up, I would be given a clear bill of health, if not they would install a stent in my arteries. Unfortunately I had 2 blockages (1 was 80% blocked, and the other was 75% blocked), so they put in 2 stents.

The surgery took about 3 hours, and other than me keep waking up and having to get more anesthesia, it was pretty easy. I stayed overnight at the hospital, and will have to take it easy for a week, but then I can resume my regular pace.

I am thankful that my Dr. recommended the test. Keep in mind that I am not overweight, don't smoke or drink and exercise regularly. My cholesterol is just slightly above normal, I don't have high blood pressure and eat pretty well. I had no symptoms of any sort. Not even during strenuous exercise. That's pretty scary.

Here is what I am hoping this post will do. I hope you ask your Dr. about scheduling to have this test done, and get it done. If everything is clear, you're only out $99, and you have some peace of mind. If not, then maybe you can catch a possible heart condition before something tragic happens.

least likely

When you read the scripture, you notice a recurring theme; Jesus always gravitated towards the least likely people. One great example of this is found in John 4 when He encounters the Samaritan woman. Jesus broke through the cultural taboos by speaking to a woman, and not just any woman, but a Samaritan woman. In that culture this was totally unacceptable. In fact it surprised the woman when He struck up a conversation.
The woman had been divorced 5 times and was living with her boyfriend. She carried the social stigma of her past mistakes, and yet Jesus reached out to her and offered her living water. In verse 26 He tells her that He is the Messiah. She is so overwhelmed that she leaves her water jar, and goes into the town telling everyone about her encounter. The result..... Spiritual awakening happens throughout the city.

I believe that if the Church in America is ever going to see spiritual awakening like that, it's going to take all of us that have had encounters with Jesus to go back into our cities and introduce people to the Savior.

I am thankful every time I think that God would use a "least likely" like me to tell others about Jesus. Let's keep on proclaiming His name everywhere we go!

random thoughts

* Sunday was phenomenal at Foothills Community Church. The best part was that 37 people at the Seneca campus and 2 people from the Toccoa campus gave their lives to Jesus!!

* It was great having Joy Hunnicut back with us.

* David Odom and his team brought it on Sunday (as usual). Seriously, we have the best worship team in the Country!

* We will be wrapping up the Stranger Than Fiction series this Sunday. It has been a lot of fun. This week we will talk about what to do when your world falls apart. You do not want to miss it.

* On October the 2nd we will start a brand new message series called, How To Avoid A Family Wipeout. This series will be the best time to invite someone to church. There will be topics that everyone will be able to relate to.

* I am excited about a conference next week called, The Nines. It has a unique format, with lots of speakers throughout the day, each given 5 minutes to talk. It's all free and it's all online. By the way, I will be one of the speakers!

* Don't forget about Party In The Pasture on October 2nd at our Seneca campus at 4:00pm. This is a community event with giant inflatables for the kids, Lawnmower races, food, a concert and Baptisms!! Invite EVERYONE!

Sunday review

Awesome day at Foothills Community church on Sunday. There were so many great moments, i don't have time to list them all, but here are few that come to mind:

* It was extremely moving to commemorate the 10 year anniversary of 9/11. Bill Swindle did an incredible job on that song!

* The attendance once again on both campuses continues to climb.

* Our Toccoa campus had their highest non-holiday attendance of the year!!

* We continue to have so many first-time guests. Sometimes I wonder, where are all of these people coming from?

* Our Student ministry, Thrive has been seeing teenagers come to Christ every week. Wow, I love to hear that!

* We had 61 people attend our Get In The Game class on Sunday afternoon! Leading that class is one of my favorite things to do. There were several people that came to Foothills for the first time on Sunday and then came back for the class!!

* I am very excited about this Sunday. I cannot wait to share what God has laid on my heart.

* Joy Hunnicut will also be back with us singing with our Worship Team.

* The band will be doing a feature song that will bring the house down, so be ready!

* I love the staff I get to work with. These guys and gals are AWESOME!

* I am looking forward to the Party In The Pasture coming up on October 2nd. (see the video below) Let's invite every single person in the community to this event!

* On October 2nd we will also be starting a new series called Avoiding a Family Wipeout. INVITE everyone!

Party in the Pasture! from Foothills Community Church on Vimeo.

Sunday review

Sunday was another fantastic day at Foothills Community Church. Just when it seems that it can't get any better, it does!

* Adam Courtney was back as our guest worship leader. Not only is he a great worship leader, he is a great guy.

* David Odom will be back leading worship this weekend. I can't wait to see what they have put together to remember 9/11.

* I can't remember having so many people connect with a message as they did on Sunday. We talked about breaking free from the things that hold us captive.

* As I was preparing for the message, God showed me some really cool things from the scripture that I think resonated with our folks.

* Both of our campuses are experiencing an incredible awakening! it is so much fun to be a part of that.

* Looking forward to catching up with some Pastor friends this week!

* College football season is in full swing. I am really happy about that.

* Archery season opens up in 9 days. I really like that too!

* This Sunday at Foothills it is going to be awesome. Start thinking about who you can bring with you.

* Our children's ministry aka Kidzone is exploding right now. I don't think most people really have a clue what goes on in the kids area while we are in the main auditorium. All most of us see are the game room or big playscape, but that is just a way to draw kids in. What really makes the difference is what is happening in each of the rooms. Kids are learning about Jesus in an age-appropriate environment. We hear stories ever single week from parents whose children come home and can share with them exactly what they learned, and begin to live it out.

* Don't forget about the next Get In The Game class THIS SUNDAY at 12:30pm in the small auditorium. There will be free food and childcare. We will have you out of there by 2:30pm. It's not too late to come. just go here and register.