December 2nd

This Sunday (December 2nd) will be a day that you do not want to miss at Foothills Community Church.

On Sunday morning I will be doing a message called Brand New, that I am pumped about. Then after that we will celebrate baptism at all 3 of our campuses! To me, the days that we do baptisms are my favorites. I love watching people go public with their faith in Jesus.

The Bible teaches that every person who becomes a Christ-follower needs to be baptized. If you have not done it yet, this is your chance. This will be the last opportunity for 2012, so don't miss out.


Then at 6:00pm all 3 of our campuses will descend upon our Seneca campus for a huge night of worship. There will be worship leaders/ bands and singers from all 3 campuses leading us. We will also be observing communion that evening. This is going to be amazing!

This is a perfect opportunity to invite some friends. Believe me, they are going to love it!

A couple quick thoughts

* This past Sunday was great. I had the opportunity to preach for my friend Lee Boyd in Prestonsburg Kentucky at Destination Community Church. It reminded me a lot of the early days of Foothills Community Church. I got to meet a bunch of great people and I really enjoyed my time there.

* Back at Foothills Community Church, my friend Jeff Cranston from Low Country Community Church in Bluffton, SC came and delivered a powerful message about forgiveness. I have heard many comments about what a great message it was.

* It's hard to believe that Thanksgiving is this week. It's even harder to believe that Christmas is just around the corner.

* I'm looking forward to bringing the message this Sunday at FCC. Many of you will have out of town company for Thanksgiving. Plan to bring them to church with you this Sunday.

* Don't forget to mark your calendars for December 2nd. The whole day is going to be unbelievable. During our morning services I will be sharing a message called, Brand New. Then we will finish with baptisms at all 3 campuses. If you have never gone public with your faith, this is the time. It's not too late to sign-up. Then at 6:00pm we will be having a Worship night and communion service to celebrate. All 3 campuses will be joining together that night, and worship teams from all 3 campuses will be leading. It is going to be one of the greatest nights in our history!

* On December 9th we will begin our Christmas series called, Empty. You will be hearing a lot more about this very soon, but start thinking about who you can invite to come with you!

* We had a very nice article recently in the Seneca Journal about FCC's partnership with Habitat for Humanity, and our Project Reach initiatives. In case you didn't know we are currently building 2 homes with Habitat.

Sunday review

I'm still processing all that happened at Foothills Community Church today. I loved the services this morning, but I also loved our last Get In The Game class of 2012.

* All 3 campuses did Get In The game today. That's pretty exciting, because lots of people are getting connected at FCC. In fact, in 2012 we had by far the most people of any year that have gone through the class!

* The worship team, once again brought the heat. The theme of the day was Christ is The Cornerstone.

* It is important that we make Jesus the foundation of our lives, because the storms are coming. I feel sorry for people that don't have Him in their lives when they face tragedy and crisis.

* I have enjoyed the My Secret Life series. For the next 3 Sundays we will have some stand-alone messages and then on December 9th we'll begin our Christmas series.

* I loved taking a moment during our services to honor all of the people that have served in the military.

* I can't wait for December 2nd. The morning services are going to be outrageous as we celebrate baptism, and then at 6:00pm we will come back for a huge Worship night in Seneca. This will be the first event that all 3 of our campuses will come together!!

sunday reflections

I know I sound like a broken record, but Sunday was another amazing day at Foothills Community Church. Here are a few quick thoughts:

* Having an extra hour of sleep makes for a more energetic crowd!

* This was the first time some people have ever been on time to church.

* The worship team is at the top of their game. Holy cow, we are so blessed at ALL 3 of our campuses! All of the people that serve on those teams do an incredible job of making it easy for me to get up and preach.

* I dealt with a very serious topic, Spiritual posing. Many people are pretenders when it comes to their faith. It was awesome seeing many people admitting that and truly giving their lives to Jesus!

* As I look around the concourse, I am totally overwhelmed by all of the people that Volunteer at Foothills. Thank you to all of you. You are making a difference!

* We have a lot of people signed-up to attend this Sunday's Get In The Game class at all of our campuses. It's not too late to sign-up. You can do it now.

* I hope everyone exercised their rights as Americans and voted today.

* We have an incredible day planned for December 2nd. During the morning services we will be having the last baptisms of 2012 at all 3 campuses. This is a highlight for me. Then from 6:00pm until 7:30pm we will be having a Praise Night. Worship leaders from all 3 campuses will be at our Seneca campus for this blow-out event. We will also be observing The Lord's Supper together. You do not want to miss this!!!!

* Don't miss this Sunday as we wrap up our My Secret Life series. If you have ever felt like your life was out of control, you need to be there.... and bring some friends.

Happy Halloween

Here's a funny Halloween comedy routine from Jerry Seinfeld. This always makes me laugh.

Don't Forget

Here are 3 important things you don't want to forget:

1) TRUNK OR TREAT.   This Wednesday (Oct. 31st) from 6:00pm until 8:00pm  we will be having Trunk or Treat at the Seneca Walmart. If you have not signed-up to bring your car and hand out candy, just show up no later than 5:30pm at the back of Walmart.
This is a HUGE event. Last year we handed out candy to around 8,000 people! Every year because of this event, many people will show up at Foothills Community Church on a Sunday to worship with us.

2) Daylight Savings Time ends.   Don't forget to set your clocks back 1 hour this Saturday night. (I wasn't going to mention this, because it would have been the first-time some of you would have made it to church on time!)

3) Get In The Game.   Our next Get in the Game class is scheduled for Nov. 11th at all 3 of our campuses. If you've ever wondered about who we are and what we value and believe as a church, this is for you. You will also have the opportunity to meet some of our staff members, and enjoy a free lunch on the house. Sign-up today.

Sunday highlights

Sunday was one of my favorite days EVER at Foothills Community Church! If you missed it--- you really missed it.

* I felt like David Odom and the worship team took it to a new level... Wow! We are blessed to have such amazing worship leaders at all 3 campuses of FCC. They do such an incredible job of leading us, and they have developed their teams so well. I heard Kevin Robison knocked it out of the park in Toccoa as did Bill Swindle in Hartwell

* I absolutely love the My Secret Life series. Life-change is happening and many people are finding hope in Jesus Christ.

* This past Sunday I spoke about when our kids make bad choices. It was a transparent message about some of the things I have struggled with in my own role as a parent. Those are always tough messages to deliver, but I really believe that God did a great work relieving people over the guilt that they have been carrying regarding their prodigal children. If you weren't here and you want to watch the message:



* Our Toccoa and Hartwell campuses had some technical glitches, but it sounds like God did great things in spite of that.

* I'm so excited about Foothills Community Church's partnership with Habitat for Humanity. We are building 2 homes which will be starting in the next week or so. Lots of people have signed-up to help, but there's room for more. Contact our church office for more info.

* I can't wait for this Sunday. My message topic is going to hit home for a lot of people, and it is going to help them so much. Don't miss!

Post Sunday thoughts

Well, another Sunday is in the books. But this was no "ordinary" Sunday. It was the Grand Opening of our newest campus in Hartwell, GA. There is no way to describe how excited I am about our potential to reach more people for Jesus!

It has been a whirlwind preparing for the Grand Opening. There was all of the work on the facility to get it into shape for a service. There was a lot of training to get leaders ready for the big day. There was all the marketing, inviting, and getting the word out. And of course there was the planning and preparation for the actual service.

I am so thankful for every person that has helped in some way to make the dream a reality. Under the leadership of our campus Pastor Duane Hall it is official, we are one church in three locations!

I have heard that for the most part everything clicked and the service went quite well. You always are a little nervous about this kind of thing, but the Lord showed up and they had a great service.

They had 140 people show up for the service!! (which is exactly twice as many as we had when we launched Foothills Community Church in Seneca, SC back in 1998)

This week there will be a lot of follow-up, and some tweaks for next week's service. If you attended the Grand Opening, come back next Sunday and bring a few people with you.

On our other campuses great things are happening as well. On Saturday, our Toccoa, GA campus had a huge community party. Hundreds of people showed up to that. Most of the people attending were blown away that it was completely FREE.

On Sunday both the Toccoa and Seneca campuses also had awesome services. We started a new message series called, My Secret Life. This series is going to hit home with a lot of people. Next week the message is called, "My Kids Are Making Bad Choices" If you or someone you know has a "prodigal" son or daughter, get them to Foothills!!

Don't forget, our next Get In The Game Class will be on Nov. 11th at all 3 campuses. Sign-up today.

Big things coming up

This past Sunday was a great Sunday at Foothills Community Church all the way around. I am honored to serve such an awesome church. If you have not plugged in yet at FCC, I would encourage you to sign-up for our next Get In The Game class on Nov. 11th at all 3 of our campuses. This is a great opportunity to find out all about FCC.

This coming Sunday is going to be epic at Foothills Community Church. I will begin a brand new message series called, My Secret Life. I believe this will be one of the best series we have ever done. We are going to tackle some topics that are very sensitive, but very real.

Also, Don't forget that THIS SUNDAY October 14th will be the Grand Opening of our new FCC Hartwell campus. To say I'm pumped would be the understatement of the year. If you live in or around Hartwell, Georgia or know anyone that does make sure to invite them. Our staff has been praying overtime about this big day. Please join us.

Don't Quit!

In addition to what my blog normally is, I am going to do some posts on my fitness journey.

One of the things that most of us struggle with is perseverance. Most of us start well, but finish poorly (if we finish at all). This is true in almost every area of our lives.

As a Pastor I see this way too often when it comes to people making spiritual commitments. I think in our hearts we really do want to fulfill those commitments, but we get tired, or things come up and we get distracted, or maybe we don't see the results quick enough.

In Galatians, the Apostle Paul exhorts to stick with it by saying, "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up."

This lack of perseverance is also seen in the physical arena of our life. How many times have you started a diet and given up within a week? Or how many people have bought the latest and greatest home gym only to end up using it to hang up their clothes on? 

Several years ago my wife and I did the Body for Life program. We stuck with the program for the entire 12 weeks and we had very good results. But after the 12 weeks I kind of modified the program to allow me to eat a little differently and work out a little less. Before I knew it I was back to my old ways. It wasn't an overnight thing, it was a gradual process.

Here's what I've discovered. when we are going on diets or working out only for the aesthetics of our bodies, our likelihood of quitting goes up exponentially. But when we are doing these things for our health and the way we feel rather than the way we look, the likelihood of success goes up exponentially.

Now, it isn't wrong to care about how your body looks. You should.  I love having 6 pack abs and low body fat. I like the looks of that, but what keeps me focused and willing to get out of bed at 5:00am is my overall health. 

I do not want to be someone who has all sorts of medical issues that could have been prevented by health, fitness and nutrition. As a Christian I really believe that my body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, and I do not want my lack of care for my body to restrict what God wants to do in me and through me. Don't get me wrong, the spiritual aspect of our lives is the most important thing, BUT I function better spiritually when I am functioning properly physically!

As you know I am a huge fan of P90X. I love the program. Quite frankly it's not for everyone. It's hard. It's very hard. But there are many other programs available that may fit you better. You may not even want to do a program. I get that, but let me tell you why I find it helpful to me. When I press play, I immediately feel like I am being pushed by a personal trainer. Everything is timed and there is no wasted time. You move from one thing to the next. 

I have been in enough gyms to know that most of the time when I finished with a set I had a tendency to take too much time before starting my next set. I would be in the gym for an hour and a half and hardly feel like I've worked-out. I can do my P90X from start to finish in less than an hour and I am whipped. It's awesome!

Even with things like P90X most people don't persevere. For those that do, there is change. For those that don't, there is regret.

I firmly believe that the only way to persevere with any type of fitness and nutrition is to make it a lifestyle. It isn't something you DO, it is something you ARE!

sunday review

I had a lot of fun yesterday at Foothills Community Church. It was pretty much an all-day event, but it was so worthwhile.

* Our morning services were solid. The band was on it, the people were singing out. Well done worship team.

* My message was what I called a "kick in the rear end" message. It was a challenge to quit procrastinating about doing what the Lord commands us to do. Sometimes we all need those type of messages to bring us back to center.

* We had quite a few people respond to the salvation invitation. I'm not sure exactly, but probably around 8-10 people.

* We had a ton of first-time guests. I love that our people love their church enough to invite their friends!

* I am so thankful for all of our volunteers at Foothills. We couldn't do it without you!

* Yesterday afternoon we held our Party In The Pasture which is a huge blow-out to celebrate baptisms. But this is no ordinary party. We had a petting zoo, inflatables, a car show, lots of food, a live band (Stone Echo), and of course, baptisms.

* A couple of people have asked why we invited Stone Echo to a church event. For those that don't know, Stone Echo is a local classic rock band, that is awesome by the way. First of all, music is not necessarily a good thing or a bad thing. It is a neutral thing. If you think about it, music is just a compilation of words and notes.  A certain genre doesn't mean it's bad, nor do certain instruments. Secondly most of the band members are also church members. They love Jesus and they love Foothills. Thirdly they were extra careful to play songs that would be appropriate in our setting. But the best part about having them play was that many unchurched people from the community came yesterday because they are fans of Stone Echo. And in addition to a concert, they witnessed something very moving and powerful. They saw 31 people baptized as an outward expression of their faith in Jesus Christ. And for that reason alone it was totally worth it!! Think about that for a minute. Many of those people were not in Church yesterday, but they were inspired by what they saw at Party In The Pasture! I am praying that many of those people will be joining us for worship some Sunday. And when they come, I can promise you they will hear the Gospel.

* Yes, I said that we baptized 31 more people yesterday!

* Thanks to everyone for coming to the party. We estimate 1,200-1,500 people partied with us!

* All in all it was a long, exhausting, wonderful day! Thanks to all the volunteers that went the extra mile to serve at the Party In The Pasture.

A couple of quick thoughts

This past Sunday was historic for Foothills Community Church. It was our first Sunday as one church in three locations!

* Our new Hartwell campus met together for their soft opening. Basically the soft opening is designed to work out the kinks before the Grand Opening.

* They had 84 people show up, which is fantastic. In fact that's more than FCC Seneca Campus Grand Opening back in 1998! That's with no advertising, or hoopla. There's no telling how many people are going to show up for the Grand Opening.

* Hartwell's Grand Opening is scheduled for October 14th at 10:30am. Their address is 1541 Anderson Hwy. Suite D Hartwell, GA. It is located in the former Walmart building next to the Tractor Supply.

* October 14th is also an all-campus huge day because we will be kicking off a new series that is going to be incredible. It will be called, My Secret Life. We are asking all of our people to invite, invite, invite for that day!

* This Sunday at our Seneca campus we will be having Party In The Pasture. This is a party for the whole community so invite your friends. There will be all kinds of stuff to do, but the highlight will be baptisms.

* Our Toccoa campus continues to rock and roll. They have some serious "mo" happening right now.

a few quick thoughts

It's been a busy week so I'm just getting around to blogging. This past Sunday a good friend of mine, Bill Giovanetti from the Neighborhood Church in Redding, California spoke at Foothills Community Church. I have heard a lot of positive comments about Bill's message, and I agree (I watched it online), it was great.

While Bill was preaching here, I got a chance to preach at another good friend, Doug Walker's  church in Dallas, Texas. I had a great time. It was pretty much non-stop. I preached 1 time on Saturday evening and 4 times on Sunday. Sunday evening we did a interview-type event where I answered questions from the audience. All in all I had a wonderful time.

This weekend will be a historic one at Foothills Community Church because we will have our first-ever service at our new Hartwell, Georgia campus. This will be a soft-opening, so it will be kind of a dry run for the big Grand Opening on October 14th. But nonetheless we are now officially 1 church in 3 locations!.

A few other things:

* We are gearing up for our Party In The Pasture which is set for September 30th. This is a huge community-wide party with games and inflatables for the kids, live music, food, a car show, and most importantly, Baptism! You Don't want to miss this. Don't forget to bring some friends.

* Our Toccoa campus continues to have record or near record crowds every weekend!

* I am very excited to share this week's message called, Keeping The Main Thing The Main Thing.

* I am going bow hunting tomorrow. Love this time of year! Hoping for some fresh venison.

* I apparently have a case of tendonitis in my left arm. I've had it for a couple of months, but in the last couple of weeks it has been acting up. I continue to do my P90X, but back and bicep days are being replaced with other exercises.

sunday review

We had a very solid day at Foothills this past Sunday. I am loving the Be The Church series. It is so cool to see people "get it" when it comes to their responsibility to not just go to church, but to be the church.

* We focused on Acts 2:41-47 for the second week in a row. The thing that you see in the church back then is that everyone did whatever it took to meet the needs of one another. There were no spectators. Everyone was involved.

* It was sort of preaching to the choir, because we have such a high percentage of our congregation that are serving in some area of ministry. I know there were a many that had not served before that took a step to sign-up to begin serving!!

* Every time I share the story of the little kid that threw up in the salad bar, people want to know which restaurant it was. Trust me, you don't want to know.

* Our Toccoa campus was right at another record attendance. Love it!

* On Saturday we had 34 people show up at our new Hartwell, GA campus to paint the facility! What was really cool was that there were people from Seneca, Toccoa, and Hartwell serving side by side. They got completely through painting the lobby and worship center, and got quite a bit done on the kids area. So proud of all of you that sacrificed your Saturday to help.

* We will be working there Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday this week, so if you are available, call the church office for times and directions. (864)888-8008

*On Sunday evening we held our first-ever Get In The Game class at our Hartwell campus. It was a blast  to meet all the new people. They are super-excited and raring to go.

* This Sunday evening we will be doing training at the Hartwell campus for all areas of ministry in preparation for the first service there on September 23rd. Their official Grand Opening is set for October 14th.

* Our Toccoa campus baptized 6 more people Sunday!!!

* Our next baptism opportunity at Seneca will be on September 30th at Party in the Pasture. Be sure to sign-up ASAP, it's going to be awesome.

New campus coming soon

Right now there are so many things God is doing at Foothills Community Church it's hard to keep up.
During Sunday's service I mentioned a few of these things. But there is so much more.

* One of the things I'm very excited about is our new campus in Hartwell, Georgia.

* We are shooting for an official Grand Opening on October 14th. Between now and then there will be a lot of things that need to get done. One of the big things is getting the facility ready for services. As I mentioned, we are renting a portion of the former Walmart located at 1541 Anderson Hwy. Ste D in Hartwell.  I really want to thank all of the folks from our Seneca and Toccoa campuses that have volunteered to help over there. You will be contacted this week with the schedule of work days.

* We have a group of people in Hartwell that are very excited about Foothills coming to their town. If you live in Hartwell or know someone that does, let them know about Foothills Hartwell.

* Our Toccoa campus is exploding right now. It looks like another service will be coming soon to accommodate the growth.

* We are talking to people about adding a Foothills campus in a couple of other towns. That's pretty exciting!

* We believe that God has given us a unique vision to add campuses in small towns.  In case you missed it, here is our campus expansion strategy.

* On another note, this past weekend services were fantastic. Yes it was Labor Day, and yes, there were a bunch of people out of town, but wow, it was a good day!

* I am loving our new series, Be The Church. We talked about the need to get connected with a small group. I know a lot of people signed up for our Find and Follow small groups. I love it.

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

* Our Toccoa campus will be celebrating baptism THIS Sunday!

* Our next Seneca baptisms will be on September 30th. It's not too late to sign-up.

sunday review

I can't get over what a fantastic day we had at Foothills Community Church yesterday. Now that school is back in session, our attendance continues to grow.

* The worship team did an amazing job leading us. It was powerful and inspiring worship!

* I especially loved the scripture reading between songs. It fit well, and added so much.

* We started the new series, Be The Church. The first message in a series tends to be a little longer because you have to spend time setting up the series. This particular series is on the book of Acts, so a little background of the book really helps people understand.

* Yesterday we covered Acts 1 and some of Acts 2. We talked about the Holy Spirit. I really hope that the message cleared up any confusion people may have had regarding the Holy Spirit.

* It is astounding that every single believer has the same power inside of them that raised Christ from the dead. Why do we try to live our lives in our own strength when we have His power available?

* Our Toccoa campus had their highest non-Easter attendance EVER yesterday! They were setting up chairs to keep up! It looks like they will be needing to go to two services very soon!

* After church at both campus locations we had our Get In The Game (membership) class. It was the second largest class of the year with 75 new people attending. There will be one more class in 2012, in November. We are on pace to have more people go through Get In The Game this year than any year of our existence!

* The momentum we have right now is unbelievable.

* We are getting ready to launch our Fall Find and Follow Groups. If you are not a part of a group already, be sure to sign-up this weekend. We have several new groups that are forming, so there is room for you.

* We are praying about a couple of huge opportunities for additional campuses. More info to come shortly.

* Now that Fall is here, I want to challenge everyone to make sure to keep inviting those friends of yours that have no church home. We do many forms of advertising, but without a doubt, by far most people come to Foothills because someone invited them.

* If you are a teenager or know a teenager, make sure you let them know about ICE. It's happening this Wednesday evening. This thing is going to be huge.

sunday review

It was so much fun being back at Foothills Community Church this past Sunday. I had not spoken in 4 Sundays, so to say I was raring to go would be an understatement.

* I keep hearing wonderful feedback on the messages that were done in my absence. Thanks to Michael Robison, Brian Rhodes and Justin Terry.

* This Sunday I spoke from Psalm 1, which is one of my favorite Psalms, on The Secret To Success. I have learned that everyone wants to be successful, but few know the real meaning of success. You can watch it here.

* I love my church and all that God is doing here. I am looking forward to our next message series which begins this Sunday, called "Be The Church". It is going to be a series on the book of Acts. There is so much we can learn about what it means to be the church from the 1st church. It is going to be great. Make sure to come and bring a bunch of people with you. I have found that once school gets back in and people start to get to a more regular schedule they are very open to attending church.... so INVITE!

* I am very excited about our new Campus Expansion Plan. If you have not heard, we are currently seeking God's direction for possible new campus sites throughout SC, GA, and NC. Check out this video for more details:

Foothills Community Church Campus Expansion Video from Foothills Community Church on Vimeo.


* I am also excited about some new technology that we are planning to implement that will improve our multi-site strategy. I won't go into detail, but it will significantly enhance our campus experience!

*  I got a chance to hang around some great Pastor friends today from Marathon Community Church. I have known some of these guys for almost 15 years, and they have always been huge supporters of Foothills Community Church.

* It is less than one month until archery season. That makes me happy!

* I am praying for all the faculty and students as they begin a new school year today.

* In case you have not heard, FCC is about to begin a new small group for young adults 18-25yrs. old Tons of response already. For more info stop by the link at the back of the Concourse on Sunday.

* If you have not gone through our Get In The Game Class, you can do it THIS Sunday at both campuses. If you like what you see at FCC and want to take your next step, this is it.

Let's get in shape

** Click here to go to my new fitness website, Pastorfit.com


 Back in April I did a post on fitness/nutrition that created a lot of discussions with people. I would advise you to read it first so that this post will make sense.

Now to today's topic. Once again I want to talk about fitness/nutrition. I know I might sound like a broken record but if it helps someone, then it's worth it.

A couple of weeks ago while on vacation in Florida I posted a few pictures to my Twitter account. One of those pictures was me on the beach holding my cast net without my shirt. What I didn't know at the time was that posting that picture would generate so many questions about what I was doing to get in shape. I have lost count of the people that have asked me about this.

15 months ago, I THOUGHT I was in pretty good shape. I ate relatively well, and exercised moderately a few days a week. As I look back at pictures from 15 months ago I realize that although I wasn't "fat", I had gotten really "soft". I guess compared to other 51 year old guys I was in OK shape, but in reality I had a long way to go.

I refuse to settle for OK anymore when it comes to my health. I am committed to do everything I can do from a human standpoint to not have health problems. That's why I work so hard everyday to get in the best shape possible.

Over the last 15 months I have lost around 12-14 pounds and added lean muscle. My body fat is now around 6%. I work out intensely 6 days a week, and eat clean. It is ridiculously hard! But at the age of 52 I am in the best shape of my life. I am passionate about this. I don't dread waking up at 5:45am to work out. I look forward to it! My motivation is not the mirror, it's my health.

So why am I sharing this with all of you? Because I care. Because I want to encourage you. Because I'm sick of hearing people making excuses for their poor health. I want you to say, "if he can do it at the age of 52, than I can do it too!"

By the way, my wife is just as passionate about working out as I am. She looks awesome!

I am going to list and link all of the tools that I am using for my health in this post. Some will be redundant if you read the post from April I referred to earlier.


My workout= P90X (I love it!)
Note: I am going to be starting a new program called Body Beast in the next couple of months.

My supplements: Multi -vitamin once a day, fish oil pills twice a day, Vitamin B-100 pill once a day, Suma Root pill twice a day.
Pre-workout: 1 scoop Body Octane, 1 scoop Hemavol, Con-Cret Creatine powder, 1 serving Crystal light Energy (all of the above mixed with 20 oz water 20 minutes prior to work out) and 1 handful of raisins.
Intra-workout: 1 Scoop Xtend powder with 12 oz water.
Post workout: 1 scoop of Dymatize Iso-100 Whey protein mixed with 8 oz skin milk (sometimes add a second protein supplement in the P.M.)

I order all of my supplements from All-Star Health. Best prices I have found



Workout schedule: (This varies quite a bit, but for right now it might look like this)

Monday, Wednesday (sometimes Friday) CARDIO--6:00am-7:00am basketball
Abs (either ab-ripper X or Body Beast abs) Monday, Wednesday and Friday (usually p.m.)

Tuesday: P90X Back/Bicep routine (6:00-7:00am)
Thursday P90X Chest/Shoulders/triceps routine (6:00am-7:00am)
Friday (If not playing basketball) P90X Legs/Back routine
Saturday P90X Shoulders/Arms routine
*As you can see if you're familiar with P90X, I have customized it for myself


Nutrition: (By the way, It is true, Abs are made in the kitchen. In order to get 6-pack abs, you need to lower body fat below 10%)

* I hate the word, "diet". A diet is something temporary. This is about lifestyle changes.

I track all my eating with MyFitness Pal.
In order for me to maintain my weight (based on my size) I need 2,170 calories per day. I track all my macro's, especially my fat intake. Per my cardiologists orders, I am allowed no more than 30 fat grams per day. I eat roughly 300 grams of carbs and 150 grams of proteins a day.

I won't list all of what I do and don't eat. You can read it here.

Just to be clear. There are NO Short-cuts. Sorry, that's just the way it is. It is hard work and a lot of discipline. But I also want to say this. I know I tend to be a little extreme with all this. You may have read some of this and thought, that's way too much work. Please don't let that stop you. Something is better than nothing. For you, a big step might be to walk around the block. Fine. Do it. It beats sitting on the couch. Or maybe instead of always frying the chicken you might start grilling it. Just start somewhere.... Please!

At the risk of embarassing myself, I will post kind of a before and after picture. The first picture is from April 2011 (1 month before having my 2 stents installed)(Not really fat, but soft)
The second is from August 2012 (this month)

Lastly. If I can help in any way, let me know! I don't have it all figured out. I'm learning every day.

*** Update: Here is a link of an update on my health/ fitness as of August 2013***

Before (April 2011)

After (August 2012)

Sunday review

This was not what I would call a normal Sunday by any stretch of the imagination. As I mentioned in my last post, my father-in-law passed away in Virginia so I left on Friday to spend time with the family.
It was a bit of a whirlwind trip, as I got to Virginia on Friday afternoon and got home last night at about 1:00am. In case you're keeping score at home the trip is about 9 hours each way. So needless to say, we're a bit exhausted today.
The memorial service for my father-in-law was a beautiful time of remembrance of this great man. I was honored to be asked to give the eulogy. It is so hard to encapsulate someone's life down to around 15 minutes. I pray that my words honored him, and brought comfort to the family.
I was so proud of my wife and oldest son. They shared (along with other family members) how he had impacted them. It was a phenomenal service.

Between my vacation and the funeral, I have been away from preaching at Foothills Community Church for 4 Sundays in a row. That is the most Sundays consecutively I have ever been away. I am so proud of our staff and volunteers. They not only held ground, but took new ground in my absence!!

This Sunday I am preaching on one of my favorite chapters in the Bible. The message is called, The Secret of Success. You do not want to miss it. I am about to burst because I have been gone for so long. I promise not to preach for more than an hour :-)  (In case you're wondering, that last sentence was a joke..... kind of!)

The following Sunday we will begin a new series called, Be The Church. This series is going to be life changing, trust me.

One last thing. If you have never attended our Get in The Game Class, your next opportunity will be August 26th at both campuses. The class will tell you about Foothills' history, vision, values, and strategy. I will personally be leading the Seneca class and Pastor Brian Marshall will lead the Toccoa class. Free childcare and lunch will be served. You can sign-up today here.

I'm back

I haven't blogged much lately because I have been on vacation. I am home and am ready to get back to work.
Our usual summer vacation is a trip to Florida to stay with my parents. I also tow my boat down with us. We fished quite a bit (and caught quite a bit). The highlight was watching my son Cole catch his first sailfish. He did an awesome job handling the fish, and the sailfish put on quite a show.
My daughter Kristen wasn't quite as enthusiastic about fishing offshore. She found out after catching a bonito that it's a workout to reel them in.
My wife and I caught a bunch of dolphin (mahi-mahi) one morning about 12-15 miles offshore. That was a blast.
We also fished from the beach several times. The schools of bait stretched for miles along the beach, which meant there was some pretty good action. We caught a lot of fish, and did hook-up with a 50+ lb tarpon that got off, but not before going airborne several times.
I also got a chance to spend a lot of time with my parents. They are such wonderful people and great hosts!
Unfortunately just before we were scheduled to leave, we got a call from my wife's mother in Virginia letting us know that her Dad was in the hospital and fighting for his life. She booked the next flight out and got to Virginia to spend a little time with here Dad before he passed away. I will be leaving to go to be with them later this week.
It is humbling to have such wonderful friends. So many people calling or sending notes of encouragement. Thank you all so much. To top it all off, when I got home yesterday evening after driving for 11 hours, David and Jerod Ayers were at my house cutting my grass! I said, 'what are you doing?', he said, "I didn't want you to have to worry about cutting grass with all that is going on right now" Wow!
My father-in-law was a great man, and I will surely miss him.

Also, I am blessed to be able to get away and not worry while I'm gone. The staff at Foothills Community Church are the best in the world. Thanks guys!

Here are a few pics of my time away: