relaxing

I am blogging from Virginia today. We came up to Virginia to visit some family for a couple of days.
I wasn't at Foothills this past Sunday, but I got the full report, and it sounds like they had a great day!

I heard that Paul Carr really connected with his message at our Seneca campus.

I also heard that our campus Pastor, Shannon Chiles did an amazing job doing the message live in Toccoa (at least that's what he told me!) Seriously though, I am so proud of Shannon. It was his first EVER sermon. Way to go bro!

David Odom led worship at both services at Seneca, and as usual, knocked it out of the park.

Numbers were off a bit in Seneca, but up in Toccoa.

I remember in the old days, almost being afraid to go out of town, because I thought the place would fall apart without me. I realize now, it was my fear and pride. Now I have such an amazing team around me, I could be gone for months and Foothills wouldn't miss a beat.

I can't wait for this weekend! 2009 is going to be our best year ever!

video blog

sunday recap

We had 3 amazing Christmas services at Foothills Community Church! Quite possibly the best services we have ever had.

** The place about came unglued when the band played Little Drummer Boy--It was Incredible, you guys rock! (If you missed this, it stinks to be you!)

** The stage set was amazing, and the lighting was unbelievable.

** We had tons of guests. I love seeing their faces when they first experience Foothills.

** I know alot of families have already headed out of town, but we still had ALOT of people.

** I'm probably going to have nightmares after seeing Brian Rhodes in green tights! (if you didn't get a chance to see him, you should thank God for protecting you!)

catch-up thursday

I am back in the office today after two days in Dallas. I had a great time. I got an opportunity to spend a day with some amazingly smart people (not really sure why I was invited!). Anyway when we got there it was about 30 degrees and earlier that day they had freezing rain and sleet, so the roads were salted down --what a mess. It was cold and cloudy and foggy and dreary, and we got stuck in some major traffic. In spite of that, I am glad that I had the opportunity to go. I met some Pastors and other leaders and I was challenged by what was shared.


Here are a few of things that were shared that have me really thinking:

** The church historically has been about "catch and keep", but the goal should be to "catch and release" (as in sending people back into the community and around the world to influence the world for Christ, not just to have everyone show up for a church service)

** There are 4 levels to live life on:
Level 1 -- Struggle
Level 2 -- Success
Level 3 -- Significance
Level 4 -- Surrender

** My job is to DIRECT and RELEASE energy, not to SUPPLY it.

These things probably won't make sense unless you were there, but I am going to be unpacking these thoughts over the next few weeks.




Because I was gone for 2 days, I am playing some serious catch-up today. I can't believe that this weekend we will be having our Christmas services. I am so pumped I can hardly stand it!


Don't forget to hand out those invite cards.

Sunday recap

Another incredible day at Foothills.

In Seneca, major props to worship leader David Odom for leading worship in the 9:30am service because Eric Peters was at home sick as a dog (the stomach flu is running rampant around here). It was cool to see the band come together and make it happen.

We started a new series for Christmas called, Wrap it Up. Yesterday I talked about prioritizing worship at Christmas. I stressed coming prepared to worship on Sundays. Wouldn't it be cool to see everyone have the same zeal and passion on Sunday mornings as we have on Saturdays at the Clemson football games!

At our Toccoa campus they had a major milestone because they baptized 4 people! I heard that the water in the pool was just a bit chilly, but everyone survived. I am looking forward to preaching in Toccoa live soon!

This weekend is going to be unbelievable! Our Christmas services will be Saturday at 6:00pm and Sunday at 9:30am and 11:15am. Bring your friends and family.

I'll be out of town Tuesday and Wednesday, so this week is going to be very busy. I'm really looking forward to this trip because I am going to get to spend some time with some incredible leaders.

busy Friday

Most of you know that our offices are closed on Friday, but there is so much to do as we lead into the next couple of weeks and the Christmas services, that I needed to come in for a little while.

It has been a great but hectic week. I had a chance to bring some of our staff to my coaching network on Thursday. That was very cool. I know that I got challenged personally by a few things that were discussed.

This Sunday we begin our Christmas series called, Wrap It Up. This weeks focus is keeping the right priorities during Christmas.

Don't forget that next weekend are our Christmas services. Make sure to invite everyone you see because the services are going to be incredible. Here is the schedule again: Saturday Dec. 20th at 6:00pm and Sunday Dec. 21st 9:30am and 11:15am (all 3 services will be identical) Plan to come a little earlier than usual because it is going to be crowded!

A church member gave me tickets to the Clemson men's basketball game for Saturday. Really looking forward to hanging out with my youngest son Cole.

reunion

Went to Atlanta yesterday to pick up my daughter and granddaughter from the airport. It was a great reunion. They have been in South Africa for the last year serving with Youth With a Mission.
I am so proud of her commitment to get out of her comfort zone to serve God. She is praying about what her next assignment will be.

Here's what I have discovered. There is a whole generation that wants to change the world, not just talk about it. I wonder how many of us that are "slightly" out of our 20's would be willing to take on these kind of challenges to reach people for Christ?

Here's the honest truth, most of the time I don't want my little world and my little routine to be disrupted for anything or anyone.

When is the last time that you went out of your way to share Christ with someone, or to help someone in need?

Sunday recap

Another fantastic day yesterday at Foothills. We baptized 65 people. That makes over 200 people baptized this year!

We had a few technical glitches in the first service, but by the second service things were clicking pretty good.

This Sunday we begin our Christmas series called "Wrap it Up." Be sure to keep inviting all of your friends.

This week is going to be a little hectic. I have to go to Atlanta on Tuesday, and then on Thursday I've got my coaching network. This month all of the guys are bringing some of their staff members for leadership training with them. I'm really looking forward to having some of my staff go with me.

Next week is shaping up to be another crazy week as well! I love what I do!

This Sunday

I am so excited about this Sunday. We will be doing baptisms in both services. I'm not sure of the exact amount of people that we'll be dunking, but there's a bunch!

There is nothing I do that gets me more fired-up than watching people go public with their faith through baptism.

If you have not already signed up, you can still be baptized. Bring an extra change of clothes and a towel and we'll walk you through the rest.

This is going to be one of the most incredible services we have ever had at Foothills, so don't miss out!

30 days to live

What would you do if you found out you had 30 days to live? That question has been the topic of many sermons and songs, such as Tim Mcgraw's, Live Like You Were Dying.

But what would you really do if you had 30 days left?

This past Sunday we showed a video of someone from Foothills Community Church who basically found out that he had just a short period of time to live. His name was Ray Stamm. Ray and his wonderful wife Lucy have been part of Foothills Community Church since our days in the High School. By his own admission the music style and volume of Foothills was not the type he would listen to in his car, but Ray was passionate about seeing people reached for Christ, so he set his personal desires aside to see young people come to Christ.

Ray has battled with cancer for many years, but this time the cancer got the best of him and he has gone on to be with the Lord. but before he died we went to his home and interviewed him about his faith. In a sense this video would be a legacy that would continue reaching people for Christ even after he was gone.

This video was shown at his funeral, and this past Sunday we showed it during my message. It is one of the most amazing videos I have ever seen. If you haven't seen it yet, do yourself a favor and click this link and watch it(Ray's video begins at 31:25)

Goals--Leadership Development

I have an honest confession. I love to set goals. I don't know when it started, but as far back as I can remember, I have been doing it.

I'm sure we've all heard that when you set a goal, you should write it down. It should be measurable and it should have a deadline.


I have been thinking lately about some of the goals that I want to set for 2009. Under the category of Leadership Development, one of the things that I am going to do is to set more time aside to develop young leaders. I have asked 4 of our younger staff members to join me once a month for a time of leadership development and mentoring. I am really looking forward to that.

I also know a couple of younger church planters that I hope to be able to pour myself into in 2009.

Along those same lines, I hope to be able to be a part of another leadership round table discussion group in 2009. I have been in one for the last several months and it has stretched me as a leader. I want to be exposed to as many great leaders as possible. I will also attend leadership conferences as well.

I have always been a reader, yet in 2008 I have not spent nearly enough time reading as usual, so in 2009 I will set a goal of reading a certain number of books to hone my leadership abilities.

I will make a concentrated effort to put myself in a position to grow as a leader so that as our Church continues to grow that I will not be a bottleneck to our potential.

Obviously some of this I have not finished working through but that is a rough draft of the type things I will be doing in 2009.

What goals have you set?

monday stuff

We had some incredible services yesterday at Foothills. More people flipped the switch! Next Sunday we'll be doing baptisms during both services. I can't wait.

Our attendance was off a bit, not surprising on a cold, rainy, Thanksgiving weekend. Overall though, the month of November was our highest attendance ever. We have added over 500 people in the last 12 months!

We had a great all-staff meeting this morning. I taught on risk. Had a lot of great input. I am fortunate to have a staff that is 100% sold-out to helping people meet Christ!

We are finalizing a few things for our Christmas services. All I can say is, they are going to be amazing. The band is going to do a few old Christmas favorites, and they have some surprises as well.


A few other random thoughts:

Clemson rolled South Carolina. Maybe next year Gamecocks.

I hate cold weather.

I have a bunch of meetings on Mondays

after Thanksgiving random thoughts

Thanksgiving is a great Holiday. We had a lot of fun with family and friends (and too much food). I have so much to be thankful for!

My wife almost broke her tradition of waking up at dark-thirty to go shopping on Black Friday. The key word there is "almost". She gave in and went shopping and saved us lots of money. She told me that the stores weren't as crowded as usual.

On the list of things that I hate to do, shopping is near the top, just below going to the dentist for a root canal.

Clemson/Carolina game today. I'm not going, but I will be watching on TV. With this weather it could be a mud bowl. Go Tigers!

Speaking of the Tigers. I hope they offer Dabo the job.

With the bad economy many families in Oconee County are having tough times, and as a result there are a whole bunch of kids who may not get any gifts this Christmas. Foothills is going to do something about that, so we will be taking a special offering for the kids for the next 2 weeks. Last year we did it spontaneously after the services on one Sunday and received over $5,000. So this year I want to see us surpass that mark.

Don't miss tomorrow at Foothills. It's going to be awesome!

The goal of a church service

This may not seem like a very spiritual question, but what is the goal of your church service? I have found that most churches really don't know the answer to that question.

Over the years I think my answer probably has changed somewhat, but I believe that basically the goal of a church service is to lift up Christ so much that people genuinely encounter God.

The goal is not to entertain (although sometimes it is very entertaining). The goal is not to just gather corporately to catch up with people you haven't seen in a week (although that happens). The goal is not to become a spectator of a performance, where the people on stage become the players and the congregation becomes the audience.

The goal is to engage. To connect with a holy God. To offer praise. To be challenged.

When we sit in our creative meetings we try to think through the elements of a service. We want to be sensitive to what God wants to do during that service. We purposely try to help people connect the spiritual dots. We want to design services where people have an opportunity to engage, and interact.

I really feel that 2008 has been one of the most spiritually enriching years our church has ever had. As I reflect on some of those services, it gets me fired up! Every service we do, I truly believe that God is going to show up and change lives----and He always does.

I am so thankful to all of the people who are part of Foothills Community Church!

Sunday recap

Things keep on going well at Foothills, and yesterday was no exception. My message was on John 3:16, and when you talk about God's love people respond.
We had many more people flip the switch and begin a relationship with Christ! (Not sure how many yet) Our baptism services on December 7th are going to be incredible.

Tons of first-time guests, especially in our Kidzone ministry. I have to say that our Children's ministry is one of the best that I have ever seen---anywhere!

Our Toccoa campus set a record for attendance since going to one service. Shannon is doing a great job of leading. I can't wait to go there and hang out with them. I am planning on getting over there one Sunday very soon and do the message live!

I made a mistake in a previous post about our Christmas service times. The correct times are Saturday December 20th at 6:00pm and Sunday December 21st at 9:30am and 11:15am

Mark this on your calendar

As most of you know, God is doing some things at Foothills that have been indescribable. There have been record numbers of people that are being saved, and coming up on Sunday December 7th we will be doing baptisms in both services. As usual, we will be doing them different than ever before, but I promise you they will be exciting!

If you are a Christ-follower but have never gone public through baptism, this is your chance. Just let us know by checking off the box on the info card in the Foothills Flier this Sunday and we'll contact you to let you know what to do next. We are expecting a ton of people to be baptized, so it is going to be awesome.



Another thing to note is that this year's Christmas service schedule will be as follows:

Saturday December 20th at 6:30pm and Sunday 9:30am and 11:15am

This year we have decided to pour all of our energy into these 3 services, so we will not be holding Christmas eve services. Instead we're asking you to invite all of your friends and family to one of these 3 services and then on Christmas eve spend that time together with your family.

December is going to be an exciting month!

Sunday recap

**We continued our Switch series yesterday. Lives are changing!

**The feedback from yesterday was awesome

**I think we had another 30 people or so who gave their lives to Christ.

**They had 3 people "flip the switch" yesterday at our Toccoa campus!

**Had the largest attendance we have ever had (not counting Holidays or the Grand Opening of the new building)

**Tons of first-time guests and tons of people returning.

**Looking forward to this Sunday's message. We're going to take a real close look at what could be the greatest verse in the Bible!

**Our student ministry is on fire right now with lives changing. Brian told me that there are around 15 teenagers who will be baptized in December.

**Foothills has the most incredible staff of any church. These men and women are committed to the core to reach more people for Christ.

**I am truly blessed to lead such a phenomenal church!

Saturday thoughts

Haven't blogged in a few days, so let me try to catch you up.

**On Thursday I went to my monthly coaching network. It was awesome, and I always take away so much good stuff.

**Went hunting in the fog and rain on Friday morning. Shot a nice buck!

**Friday evening we had a family night at Foothills.It was a lot of fun, and lots of people attended. We had a magician come and perform, and he did great.

**On a sad note, a wonderful Christian man and a great friend lost his battle with cancer last night.

**Praying really hard for this Sunday's services. Please, if you have a friend who doesn't know Christ, get them there Sunday!

**Sunday's message is going to get a little uncomfortable, but that's a good thing sometimes!

**After all the rain and wind, my yard is covered in leaves. I guess that's why it's called "Fall." It's supposed to get cold tonight. I miss summer already!

What would you ask?

In December I have been invited to be a part of a group of Pastors that will meet in Dallas to spend a few hours with a very well respected leader. One of the things that I was asked to do before the meeting was to email 3 questions or topics that I would like to have discussed.

I just sent my questions in. My fear is that the rest of the Pastors are going to send in some deep, profound questions and mine will sound really stupid! But the reality is, I have always heard that the only stupid question is the one you don't ask.

I have tried to make it a practice to ask questions. Some people are naturally more inquisitive than others, but when you ask questions, you get answers. Let me say that again. When you ask questions, you get answers. (Profound, huh?)

I cant tell you how many times by asking someone a question it saved me from making some bad decision, or saved me a lot of time or effort.

Let me give you an example of what I'm talking about. When we started to prepare for our second campus, I knew that I didn't have the answers, so I asked questions. In fact I put together a group of 7 or 8 other Pastors that were also considering second campuses and we got together for a couple of days and asked each other lots of questions.
There were still many unanswered questions, so we sent our campus pastor to a multi-site conference before we started so that he could ask questions.

Do yourself a favor, start asking lots of questions. You may be surprised at what you will learn.

Can you say, amazing?

Yesterday we continued our Switch series, and it's hard to describe what happened, but I'll do my best.

Another huge crowd. People definitely invited their friends!

We had over 40 people "flip the switch", and give their lives to Christ yesterday! (that's what it's all about)

We actually did a "come forward" invitation yesterday (we normally just do response cards) it was different, but very cool.

The worship teams did another fantastic job leading us.

There is an unbelievable buzz at Foothills right now.

Sunday is coming again in just 6 days, so go out and invite your friends that don't know Christ. Pray that they will flip the switch.

The test

On Sunday I showed a video clip that was part of a research project that shows some college students passing a basketball back and forth. The goal is to count how many times the basketball gets passed.
You can try it here

Before you read any more take the test---count the passes.



Now, if you are like 70% of the people in the world you didn't see the gorilla that walked across the room. The reason is because when we get focused in on something (like counting the basketballs), we automatically block out everything else.

I wonder how many times we go through our everyday lives and get consumed with our own little world, that we miss all of the hurting, lonely, frustrated, and disenfranchised people that are all around us. Jesus once said, "wake up and look around. The fields are already ripe for harvest."

This Sunday at Foothills we will continue our Switch series. Ask God who you can invite to come with you. I promise you, they will have an opportunity to "flip the switch!"

Because People Matter

This weekend we are hosting a conference to honor our volunteers and to help other churches. Mark Waltz from Granger Community Church will be leading the conference. Mark does an excellent job communicating the importance of first impressions.
The main conference is this Saturday from 9:00am until 12:00pm and you can find out more about it here.

It's not too late to sign up. I can promise you that it will be worth your time coming to this.

There is no cost for all Foothills Community Church volunteers, and for other churches there will be a very low $10 per person fee. This includes lunch and all materials. Please note that there will be no childcare available.

sunday recap

We had another fantastic day at Foothills today! Here are a few of the highlights:

**Kicked off our new series called, "Switch" today. The focus on today's message was helping others flip the switch spiritually.

**Tons of people handed in their switch cards with the names of their friends they want to see become Christ-followers.

**We had a huge attendance today. I guess an extra hour of sleep helped everyone.

**The services went long today. We need to work on that.

**We're expecting tons of guests over the next few weeks as our people invite their friends.

**I heard that our Toccoa campus had great services today too!

**The band rocked today, especially in the 11:15am service during the walk out song at the end of the service

**Hamilton Allstatt is officially the best electric guitar player I have ever heard.

**Lots of meetings tomorrow. Gonna be a great week!

Intervention Video

Well it took quite a while, but we now have the video from our Intervention series when Joy Honeycut was at Foothills. I have had so many people asking about it.

It was one of the greatest services we've ever had. It's hard to get the total feel of a service like that if you weren't there in person, but here it is anyway.

Love

I am glad to see my daughter is blogging again from South Africa, where she is on staff with Youth With A Mission (YWAM)
She had a great post today defining Love, and I think she nailed it.

How would you define love?

Back In Black Challenge

I just got the final numbers on our Back In Black financial challenge. Absolutely amazing!

360 people signed up for the 90 day tithing challenge

325 People signed up for the Financial Learning Experience seminar

The bottom line is this. Financial struggles have become commonplace because of the economic crisis, but God has the answer. If we apply Biblical principles to our lives (not only in our finances), then there is hope and freedom.

To all of you who are taking the tithing challenge, be sure to email me your God stories of what God is doing in your life to challenge@foothillscc.org

sunday debrief

I got a chance to relax today, because I didn't preach. Instead I asked Joe Sangl to come and do a message about money. Joe is the author of the book "I was broke. Now I'm not!" He did a great job. He is passionate about helping people get financially free.

This Wednesday Joe will be back to lead his Financial Learning Experience seminar at Foothills this Wednesday at 6:30pm. Lots of people signed up for the seminar.

As I mentioned I had an easy day. All I had to do was introduce Joe at the beginning and make a couple of quick announcements at the end of the service and then set up a short video introducing our new series which starts next Sunday, called Switch. Unfortunately I forgot to set up the video in both services, so it didn't get shown.

Speaking of our new series, Switch; invite everyone you know that doesn't attend church or have a relationship with Jesus Christ, because it is going to be one of the clearest series we have ever done about how to have a relationship with Christ.

Attendance was off a bit today. Either it was because the public schools are out Monday and Tuesday OR because we were talking about money! Hmmm?

Toccoa campus has been doing a great job, and from a technical standpoint they seem to have worked out the glitches.

cardboard testimonies

I have had a ton of requests for a link to the message I did where we included the cardboard testimonies. So here it is.

It was an amazing day, for sure. Hope you enjoy watching them.

WOW!

The response to last Sunday's tithing challenge has been amazing (we have over 200 people who have taken the challenge!), and God is already doing some cool things.

I received an email this week that I think is amazing that I wanted to share with you. It's a story of faith in a God who promises that with Him everything is possible.

If you have not taken the tithing challenge because you thought it would be impossible, then read this!


Dear Pastor Greg,

My name is ----, I have been in limbo for almost 2 years now. I have seen my way of life change dramatically. I have been humbled and know that I could not have survived if not by the grace of God. I have been struggling financially in ways that I never thought I would ever know. I have recently felt my life slipping away from me, and knew it was the work of Satan, trying to make me feel that I was just not good enough for the Kingdom of God. I was hurt, lonely, depressed and felt unaccepted. I had not been able to get to church on a regular basis. Fuel prices were my excuse, I was running out of gas on a weekly basis, and was conserving, not to go anywhere but home and work. Bad excuse huh. But it was the truth. I was eating where I could eat, and had to do the unavoidable by asking for help from friends, family and Aid Centers. I was not wasting my money. There just was not enough of it to make my bills.

I woke up one Sunday and told Satan he was not going to steal another minute from my life. I got dressed and drove to church on fumes. I came in and felt the world was lifted off of me...

So, this brings me to why I am writing you. I have always strongly believed in tithing and when I was faithful, my finances were usually not too much of a problem, just bad stewardship. I have just found myself in such bad financial shape that I did not see how I could possibly tithe.

I do believe with all my heart and soul that God is in control of my life, and your message has hit home in such a powerful way that I am committed to taking the challenge. I believe in his word and know it is true that he only wants us to succeed in life to the fullest.

Thank you for being a Pastor that is not intimidated to preach his powerful word. I will be tithing and believing that God has a plan for my life that is greater than anything I could have ever imagined. If you would, please pray this for me too.

weekend recap

We had an incredible day yesterday at Foothills. Started a new message series called, Back In Black. It's about finances.

Money messages usually freak some people out, but as bad as things are economically for people, everyone seemed extremely receptive.

I issued a tithing challenge for 90 days. I'm not sure how many people signed up for the challenge, but there is a huge stack of cards! All of you who said "yes", better buckle your seat belts because God is about to do something great in your lives!

I told a story about a guy who put in his offering check with a note that said that he was only going to give half of his tithes one week because he said he only enjoyed half of the service! Unbelievable!

Also we have another huge stack of cards of people who will be going through the Financial Learning Experience on October the 29th with Joseph Sangl. (Joe is on a crusade to help people get their finances in order). Joe also wrote the book, "I was Broke. Now I'm not!"

It's not too late to take the tithing challenge or sign up for the Financial Learning Experience ---you can do it this weekend.

Passing on what you've learned

One of the things that I feel most strongly about is our responsibility to pass along lessons we've learned along the way.

Today I had the opportunity to have lunch with a guy that is preparing to enter the world of church planting. I love those kinds of conversations. Every time I have them, it reminds me of all the people who had those conversations with me when we were getting started. It's kind of like a pay-it-forward kind of thing.


I encourage my staff to learn from others, and to help others who want to learn from them. Tomorrow, I'm excited about bringing two of my staff members to my coaching network. I'm sure a lot of what they learn, they will be able to pass along.

Who are you learning from?
Who are you teaching?

Super excited

** We are starting a new message series this Sunday called, Back In Black. It is going to help people--alot.

**Just finished writing this week's message (I'm ahead of schedule). I can promise you it is going to challenge a whole lot of folks.

**This Sunday's message topic changed my life almost 25 years ago!!

**This weekend's message is actually one that has rattled around in my mind for probably 2 months. It is an angle on the topic that I've never heard anyone preach on before.

**In case you're wondering, no, I'm not going to tell you what the topic is yet. You'll have to come Sunday to find out!

Clemson football shake-up

By now most of you college football fans know that Clemson head football coach Tommy Bowden will no longer be the coach of the team.

Coach Bowden has done great things for the Clemson program, and will be missed by many people. One thing that is undeniable for anyone who has spent time around him is his passion for Jesus Christ. He has been a blessing to Foothills Community Church over the years, and for that I am very thankful.

Coach Bowden we wish you well in the future.

His interim replacement is my friend Dabo Swinney. Dabo is also a fully-devoted Christ follower, and I think he will fill the role as head coach well.

One thing that is certain about life---it's very uncertain. Many times unexpected things come our way. I'm sure Coach Bowden's life is a little upside-down right now, but because of his faith in Christ, he'll land on his feet.

sunday recap

**Wrapped up the Intervention series today. It will go down in the books as one of the best series we've ever done.

**We had over 20 people share their cardboard testimonies --- it was extremely moving to watch.

**We have had tons of people giving their lives to Christ in the last month or so!

**Heard that they had a great day at our Toccoa location today. They also had a few technical glitches. We will get them taken care of.

**Being one church in 2 locations is harder than it looks!

**Got a chance to go to the Catalyst conference last Thursday. It was really good. Steven Furtick knocked it out of the park. The best part was hanging out with some of our staff.

**Tons of stuff going on this week. Really looking forward to my coaching network meeting on Thursday.

Hope

In Hosea 2:15 God says, "I will return her vineyards to her and transform the Valley of trouble into a gateway of hope."

God promised to the Nation of Israel, that if they would just turn back to Him, he would restore hope once again to their lives. Hope is an incredible thing!

All of us at some point in life find ourselves in the valley of trouble. It could be a failed marriage, problems with your kids, a health crisis, financial ruin or unemployment. But when we are in those valleys it can seem hopeless, but if we will focus on God and not so much on our trouble, He will transform that trouble into the gateway of hope. By the way, He doesn't always remove the trouble. Sometimes the transformation is what happens in us, not our situation.

Sunday recap

Sunday was another huge day at Foothills. God is continuing His work in such an incredible way.

Tons of people experiencing life-change right now. This Sunday we are going to be having cardboard testimonies, and I can assure you, it will be awesome. Do not miss church this Sunday!

Our Toccoa campus had a few glitches with technology, but they had phenomenal services as well. Joy Honeycutt helped lead worship. She has an unbelievable story of God's intervention!

Toccoa campus had around 170 people in attendance, which is a great showing for a second week in a row! I am so proud of you folks in Toccoa!

We will be wrapping up the series, Intervention, this weekend, and then we'll be starting a new series called, Back In Black. This will probably be one of the most helpful message series of the year.

Purpose

Last year while on vacation in Florida, my son Cole and I were fishing in a golf course pond. He was on one side of the pond and I was on the other side. Some golfers hit a ball near the water and one of the golfers said to my son, "hey son,what are you fishing for?"
Without skipping a beat my son said, "whatever bites!"
I have thought a lot about his answer, and from a fishing standpoint, it's not a bad strategy. Essentially he was saying, "it really doesn't matter to me, as long as something comes along and takes my bait, I'll be fine."

But unfortunately many people go through life basically approaching life that way. "Hey what are you living for?" "I don't really know. I'm just sitting here waiting for something to come along and take the bait." So many people go through life not really having a specific purpose.

Did you realize that God has a purpose for you? I meet so many people who are brand new Christians at Foothills, and they've never been able to figure what their purpose in life is. I know one thing that we're created to do, and that's to serve God and others. If you have never volunteered for a serving team at Foothills, you're missing out!

There are several ways to get plugged in. You can check off the box on your Foothills Flier for serving opportunities on Sunday. You can attend the BELONG Class the first Sunday of every month at Foothills. You can stop by the Welcome station and get information. And very soon you will be able to register online at our website. (we're in the process of finalizing a brand new website!)

At Foothills we're committed to helping you discover your life-purpose.

We want more

At yesterday's staff meeting we went around the table and asked our staff to share some stories of how they experienced God' movement from Sunday's service. One by one people shared their stories, and at the end I wrapped up by saying, "we have truly experienced God in a remarkable way in yesterday's services, but I want MORE of God. I want to see God do even greater things!" Everyone agreed---we want MORE of God than ever before.

I have never received so many emails of people who were moved in such an incredible way. A common statement that I heard was, "this was the most amazing church service I have ever been in."

My wife told me she talked to a woman who came to Foothills Community Church for the first time Sunday. She came to the 9:30am service and was so moved that she drove home between services and got the rest of her family and made them come back with her to the 11:15am service!

Some people have asked me, "what are yo going to do to top last week's service?" Well the answer is nothing. That's God's job. We can pray, plan, and prepare for services, but if God doesn't show up, we might as well just go home. So I am praying for more of God than ever before. Would you join me in that prayer?

sunday recap

Unbelievable day today! I really can't put into words what we experienced at Foothills today, but let's just say that God showed up!

Our special guest was Joy Honeycutt who was featured on the A&E show, Intervention. She has experienced some amazing things in the past year since her intervention and God is truly using her. She sang the feature song and just knocked it out of the park. We did something a little unusual for Foothills Community Church, we asked people who wanted God to do a divine intervention to come forward to be prayed for---and the people came. In fact in the 11:15 service there was not enough room down front so people were literally all the way up both aisles. It was crazy!

I have had many people tell me that this was the most powerful service they have ever been at. I am hoping to be able to have the entire service put up online.

Also in Toccoa our new campus launched today! I heard that they had a fantastic day. I don't know all of the numbers yet, but I think they had over 200 people there. What a great start.

Then to top things off, tonight we observed the Lord's Supper. WOW!

Foothills people keep inviting your friends because I believe that the best is yet to come.

Tommorow is going to be huge!

Tommorrow is going to be huge for Foothills Community Church.

Our Toccoa campus will have its grand opening. They will launch with two services, 9:30am and 11:00am. I can't wait to hear what God does there!

Also in Seneca tommorow could be one of the greatest services in our history. Don't miss it and bring someone with you. I'm not going to tell you what's happening, you'll have to come to find out.

See you tommorow.

Spirit led preaching

I have always tried to preach with 2 thoughts in mind--what do I want them to know? (information), and what do I want them to do? (application)

I think that many times Pastors focus only on either information or application, but I believe there must be a combination of both. Jesus was a great example of this. He preached about 1/3 information and 2/3 application.

Spirit led preaching should compel people to do something. In the book of Acts, Peter got up and preached his first sermon. Filled with the Holy Spirit he lets it rip. In Acts 2:37 it says that "Peter's words pierced their hearts, and they said to him and the other apostles, Brothers, what must we DO?"

Then he tells them they need to repent and be baptized. And that day 3,000 people follow through with action.

To the pastors that read this blog, do you always give people an opportunity to respond in some way? If not, why? Life change happens through the application of God's Word.

just for laughs

Here is a little Rodney Dangerfield to brighten up your day.
He was one of the truly funny comedians.

catching up

I haven't posted in a few days, but here's what's been happening in my world:

** Went to my Pastor's Coaching network last Thursday. Had a great time, and learned so much! Looking forward to next month's meeting.

** Our Toccoa campus did their last run-through Sunday. It sounds like things are going well. This Sunday will be their official first service!

** We started our "Intervention" series yesterday. This is going to be an incredible series. This Sunday is going to be amazing--don't miss it!

** Archery season has started, other than my chiggers, things have been kind of slow. Hope that will change soon!

** My wife has been beating me in cards lately. What's up with that? I hate to lose.

** More great stories of life change shared with me this Sunday as I walked around the concourse. God is doing a great work here at Foothills.

** Today is the first day of Fall. I don't mind Fall---I just don't like Winter.

** Clemson won big Saturday. I know it was only SC State, but 54-0 is still a big win.

** I heard that some of our Toccoa campus folks had some red Foothills Community Church T-shirts made up that had a Georgia Bulldog logo on them! (If they send me one I MIGHT wear it)

Little things mean a lot

The difference between a good restaurant and a great restaurant are the little things. After all, they both serve food, they both have menus and wait staff. But there are the subtle small things that separate good from great. Spotlessly clean restrooms, candles on the tables, a waitress that goes the extra mile... the little things.

The difference between a good car and a great car are the little things. Both will get you where you want to go, but one does it with more attention to the details, creating a more enjoyable experience.

The difference between a good church service and a great service are usually the little things. Things like attention to detail. Tying the message theme into all aspects of the service. Making sure that there are no spelling mistakes in the bulletin, spotlessly clean restrooms, a smooth check-in for new children.. the little things.

Never overlook the little things.

As I write this I am reminded how noticeable the little things are. I have about 20 chiggers that have taken residency in various parts of my body. Chiggers are nearly microscopic, but I promise you, when they are present you notice them! (If you've never had the joy of having chiggers and being itchy all day and night, you'll have to trust me on this one)

One of the things that we attempt to do at Foothills is to give attention to the small details, in hopes of making a guest's first visit be enjoyable.

Intervention

This Sunday we start a new message series called Intervention. We are fine tuning the creative elements that will support the message, and all I can say is, "this series is going to touch some lives in a powerful way."
I can't tell you what we have planned during the series (you'll have to come each week to find out), but I can tell you that we are going to be doing a couple of things that we've never done at Foothills!
If you or someone you know is in need of an intervention from God in their life, then get them to Foothills!


On another note, on September 28th at 5:30pm we will be sharing the Lord's Supper (or communion). It will be the first time observing this in our new building and we are revamping the way we do this. It's going to be a great time, not only will we observe the Lord's Supper, but I will be sharing a message and both of our worship leaders (Eric and David) will be there leading worship. It will last an hour or a little less, and there will be child care for the little ones. We're hoping for a full house that evening, so plan on coming.

weekend recap

** We wrapped up our Bonding With James series yesterday. 5 weeks in the book of James. It was fun to teach, but I feel like we barely got started, and it's already over.

** It was a little strange yesterday not having the Toccoa group with us. They were busy setting up and tearing down their new worship location. It was only a dry run, but they are super excited about September 28th (their official first services!)

** They are still people "smuggling" coffee into the new auditorium. We know who you are!!

** Our worship teams knock it out of the park every week.

** I had a couple of incredible conversations in the concourse yesterday. One lady told me that for the last 3 years she has been in depression because of a divorce, and basically all she did was go to work and come home and cry. 5 weeks ago she started attending Foothills and she has discovered purpose, and she is excited about life again!

** Met a couple who are part of a new church that will be starting in the Simpsonville area. they are going to be part of a new campus of Marathon Church, whose main campus is in Powdersville. Their Pastor is one of my best friends in ministry, Eddie Cox.

** Looking forward to my Pastor's Coaching network meeting this Thursday.

** Very pumped about a new message series we are starting this weekend called Intervention! This could be the best series we have ever done.

** Don't forget to invite your friends.

surrounding yourself with good people

When you read about the life and times of David in the Old Testament. You read about a man with a lot of ups and downs in life. At one of the lower points in David's life he was on the run from king Saul. He finally ended up hiding at the cave of Adullam. At that moment in his life I'm sure he felt alone and abandoned, but he was eventually joined by family and friends that believed in him. In 1 Samuel 22:2, it says that "others began coming---men who were in trouble or in debt or who were just discontented--until David was the captain of 400 men."

These men who joined him were people who were also struggling, but they believed in David and David believed in them. Later when David eventually became king, many of these same men would play important roles in David's army.

David understood the importance of surrounding yourself with good people. By "good", I'm speaking of loyal people. The kind of people who will have your back in times of trouble. That will fight back to back with you. Every great leader that I know has good people around them.

I am thankful for my family, friends, and staff that I have around me. There's something comforting about knowing that there are people you can count on in your life!

Unfortunately I meet people from time to time who don't have that network of friends around them. When difficulty comes their way, they buckle under the pressure and usually crash and burn.

Who do you have around you? If you have good people around you, stop and thank God for them. If you don't, then make it a point to try to build that infrastructure around you.

wednesday stuff

** We had an amazing time at our creative team retreat yesterday. We firmed up pretty much everything as far as our services go, until the end of the year.

** Some of the series titles are "Intervention", "The Vine", "Back In Black", "Wrap It UP", and "Switch"

** We really sense that these will be some of the best message series ever at Foothills! I can't go into a lot of detail, but there are going to be some incredible "God moments"

** Our Grouplink on Monday night went well. We have tons of people who are going to be in groups this year. It's not too late to join one, just contact the office for more info.

** Our Toccoa campus is right around the corner ( first services are September 28th)---can't wait to see it get started!

weekend recap

** Got a chance to go to the Clemson game with my wife on Saturday. It felt like a hundred degrees out there but we had a great time watching the Tigers beat the Citadel!

** Our services at Foothills were awesome yesterday!

** We had over 500 again in our Children's ministry!

** David Odom gets the Iron Man award for leading worship with a 101 degree fever. He actually had been throwing up earlier in the morning, but somehow managed to lead us in worship! (I thought "Live and let Die" was awesome!)

** It was so cool to bring the Toccoa launch group come up on stage and pray for them. What a great group of people (even if they are Bulldog fans!). They are fired up.

** This Sunday we are going to finish our Bonding With James series. I'm sure going to miss old James.

** I hear that phenomenal things are happening in our Youth Ministry. Brian is doing a great job!

** Have a Creative team retreat tomorrow up in the Georgia mountains to plan out some future message series.

** Hard to believe it's September.

Exciting Times at Foothills

After Labor Day historically has been a huge time of growth at Foothills over the years. I am really excited about some of the things that our creative team is working on for services between now and the end of the year!

** This Sunday is one you do not want to miss. I'll be talking about something all of us can relate to; improving our relationships. Plan on getting there a few minutes early because of the crowds.

** The next Sunday, we'll wrap up the Bonding With James series. Then we'll start a new series that I am pumped about, called Intervention.

** After that we will have a 2 week mini-series that I think will be one of the most helpful and practical series we've ever done. (And there are some others that I'll give more details about later. All I can say is, get ready because God is doing some unbelievable things!

** The stories of changed lives are everywhere at Foothills. Not a week goes that someone doesn't stop me and tell me how God has used Foothills Community Church to transform their lives!

** Keep inviting your friends, because there is always room for more!

Toccoa Campus update

It's hard to believe but Foothills Toccoa campus will have their first service on September 28th! Just a few weeks from now. I wanted to give you some general information.

Our Campus Pastor is Shannon Chiles. Shannon and his wife Amy and kids have been at Foothills for a long time, almost since the beginning. They now live in Toccoa.

We will have services in the Gym and Fitness Center of Osborne Wood Products at 4618 Ga. Hwy 123 just outside of Toccoa (4 1/2 miles east of Big A road) This will be a temporary location as we are actively looking for a location a little closer to Hwy. 123 and Big A road

We will launch the new site with 2 services to choose from. Service times will be at 9:30am and 11:00am

There will be full children's programs for birth thru 5th grade available during both services.

It looks like there will be about 75 people from our Seneca Campus that will help get things started in Toccoa!

This Sunday will be the last Sunday that the Toccoa group will be at the Seneca Campus, so we are going to do something special for them at both services.

sunday recap

** We had a great day at Foothills today. For a Labor Day weekend, the attendance was good.

** We baptized another 45 people today! (I never get tired of watching baptisms)

** If you want to be baptized and couldn't make it today, the next opportunity will be in November.

** Paul Carr, our Connections Pastor spoke today (I needed the break)

** People were pretty somber today after the way Clemson got spanked last night by Alabama.

** Gamecock nation was loving life though!

** Hoping to unveil our new website soon.

** Golfing with some friends tomorrow.

First Impressions

At Foothills we are huge into trying to create a positive first impression on our guests. Everything from the facility, to our greeters, to our welcome center, to the signage, and everything in between. As they say, "you only get one chance to make a first impression."

It's such a big value with us, we have a staff Pastor (Brian Marshall) who is responsible for First Impressions. Brian and his team try to make sure that guests have an enjoyable experience at Foothills.

I am excited to announce that Foothills will be hosting the guru of First Impressions, Mark Waltz, from Granger Community Church for a First Impressions workshop on November 8, 2008. (You might say Mark wrote the book on First Impressions!)

Mark was here a couple of years ago and did some training and it was phenomenal, and he and Brian have developed an on-going friendship, so we're bringing him back.

We will be opening this conference to all of our volunteers at Foothills, and also to a few other churches that want to shore-up their first impressions. We have limited room, but if you are a Lead pastor or a staff member at another church and would like bring some people to be a part of this, you can email Brian Marshall at brianmarshall@foothillscc.org and he will send you more information. I can promise you this, it will take your first impressions to another level.

Leadership

Had a chance to talk to my new friend JR Lee this morning. We are in Pastor's Coaching network together, but had not had a chance to really talk. Anyway JR and his team are making a huge impact in Acworth, Ga.
JR asked me a question about the "weight" of leadership that Lead Pastors carry. It got me thinking. There are certain things that only a Lead Pastor will be able to understand about how heavy the weight of leadership can become. There is the weight of caring for an entire congregation. The weight of responsibility of leading well. The weight of knowing that there are people whose eternities hang in the balance every week, (and you might be the last person who speaks to them about Christ) There is the weight of having to prepare a message every week. There is the weight of financial decisions that have to be made. The weight of leading a staff and the weight of trying to balance your job and family. At times it can feel overwhelming!
For the people who say, "I wonder what the Pastor does for the rest of the week?), all I can say is, you have no clue! There is no way you could unless you were the lead Pastor. (By the way, I'm not complaining -- it is what it is)
Here's the key: We aren't supposed to carry that weight by ourselves. Jesus invited us to offload that weight to Him.

I know there are many Pastors who read this blog. Let me encourage you to let Him carry some of that leadership weight!

Monday thoughts

We had a great day at Foothills yesterday! Attendance was very strong again, and there is so much momentum right now that you can feel it.
The "Bonding With James" series is hitting home with a lot of people. The feedback has been amazing.

This weekend we will be celebrating baptism in both services. If you would like to be added to the list of those who will be baptized email the office at office@foothillscc.org (we are going to be doing things a little different---it will be cool)

We are just about 5 weeks away from the opening of our Toccoa campus! (I'll do a separate post about this later in the week)

We are working on our next series called "Intervention", which will begin September 21st. It is going to be unforgettable.

College Football season kicks off this week!!

Can't wait for Sunday!

I honestly feel that way every Sunday---I can't wait!
I love hearing the stories of people who never had the slightest interest in church who now wouldn't miss church if you payed them. They rearrange their lives so they don't miss. If you were to ask them what's the best hour of your week, they would say "Sunday from 9:30am until 10:30 am, or 11:15am until 12:15pm". I think that's awesome.
Tomorrow we will be continuing our Bonding With James series, with a topic EVERYONE can relate to. (You'll have to be there to find out what it is!) See you then.

back up and running

When we moved into our new building we installed a very elaborate audio, video, and lighting system. Unfortunately we discovered that there was an oversight on some of our video equipment in relation to being able to record for the internet. So basically we were unable to capture video for the first 3 weeks. I am happy to announce that this past week's message is online!

The first part of the video was actually our welcome time when I drove on stage in the Beamer wearing the tux. Then it skips to the actual message. You can watch it here.

Baptism and LIFE groups

One of the things that I love the most about being a Pastor is seeing life change. I believe that Baptism is one of the most phenomenal outward symbols of a new life in Christ. I never get tired watching people publicly profess their faith in Christ through baptism!
If you are a Christ-follower you need to be baptized. We are having our next baptisms on August 31st at Foothills. If you would like to be a part of this email our offices at office@foothillscc.org, and register. It's going to be incredible.

Our creative team has been working hard to put together some incredible worship experiences. You definitely need to make sure that you are at our services on Sundays.

Also you might have noticed our LIFE groups display at the east end of the concourse. Our LIFE groups are a great way to connect, so be sure to stop by this Sunday and learn more! Here, here and here is a little more about the groups from our Connections Pastor Paul Carr.

Synchronized diving

I like a lot of th Olympic events, but one that I really don't care for is synchronized diving. Basically 2 people stand side by side on a diving platform and then simultaneously jump off and do identical tricks and land in the water at the exact same time. To get the highest score from the judges, not only do you have to do precisely the same moves at the same time, but you have to enter the water at the same time with minimal amount of splash.
I guess that's the part I don't really like---the minimal splash thing. I think it would be really cool if they had Olympic synchronized Cannonball or synchronized belly flop events, where the highest scores are given to the most splash. If you empty the pool, then you get an automatic "10". I would watch that for sure!
I kind of have the philosophy that in life, we need to make the biggest splash possible; empty the pool. Forget trying to make a minimal splash. Go for the gold. Take some risk. God has given us this life, and desires for us to live it to the fullest, so cannonball your way through life!

Grand opening thoughts

Well the Grand Opening of our building is now behind us. It was pretty incredible. We had a few malfunctions, like the power flickering on Saturday evening's service, which caused our lighting system to do some funky things. We also had our fire alarm trip on Saturday and Sunday. Fortunately it was before the service, not during it!

We kicked off our new series, Bonding With James (5 weeks in the book of James). The whole James Bond theme was pretty cool. I got a chance to wear a black Tux, and drive out in a BMW convertible---that was fun.

We had a strong attendance of 2,389 people (over 520 in the kid's area!)

The feedback from our guests have been amazing. One guy said that he hasn't been to church in years, but he came on Saturday night. He liked it so much that he came back on Sunday morning!

God is at work at Foothills!

Coaching Network recap

I had a phenomenal day over at Newspring for a Pastors Coaching Network that Perry is sponsoring. There are a group of extremely sharp Pastors that are a part of it. There was a great mix of guys, some are just starting out, while some of us are a little further down the road. But all of them have a heart to reach their communities for Christ.
Some of the guys I already knew, like Gary, Chris, Jeff, Jeff, and Dean, but also got a chance to meet some other guys. I'm not sure if I have everyone's blogs to link, but here are a few, Tadd, J.R., David, Clay,Daniel, and Mark

I learned a ton, and I'm looking forward to next month already!

Pics of new building

If you have never been to Foothills, these pictures should give you the feel for what's going on here.

Don't forget the Grand Opening this weekend. there will be 3 services to choose from. Saturday 6:30pm, Sunday 9:30am and 11:15am.

busy week

Lots going on this week. Here are a few things that I am doing:

* Preparing for our grand opening this weekend. It is going to be phenomenal. Our creative team has been working hard to kick off our new series, Bonding With James. Whatever you do, don't get in the auditorium late or you will regret it!


* Figuring out some details for our next baptisms on August 31st. If you are a Christ follower and have not been baptized yet this is for you. We're going to be doing baptisms a little different, which is going to be very cool!


* Looking forward to going to a Pastors Coaching Network on Thursday. It is a group of a dozen Pastors learning from each other. I love this type thing.


* Trying to finalize a meeting location for our Toccoa campus which will begin on September 28th---Yikes! A lot of closed doors so far.


* Finishing my message for Sunday



* Tons of meetings, and stuff like that.

One more side note. For those who watch or listen to our weekly messages online, you may have noticed that for the last couple of weeks there haven't been updates.
Here's the deal. With all of the stuff going on getting in the new building, we have had our attention drawn to other matters. We also found out that we did not have adequate equipment to do this properly. Hopefully we should be up and running soon.

Proud Daddy

I just read my daughter Kristen's latest blog post. She blows me away with her passion for God!

What a Day!

Yesterday's services at Foothills Community Church were unbelievable. Our worship leaders, Eric and David did an awesome job.
The message was about king Josiah who made a revolutionary spiritual change.
At the end of the service we asked people to respond to their willingness to change by filling out a card that said, "Lord empty me of_______ , so I can be filled with you." It was very moving watching all of those cards laid at the foot of the cross.

We are getting prepared for the grand opening this weekend. If you have some free time this Saturday at 9:00am, we are going to put the finishing touches on the building and could use about 100 volunteers.

It's In the Air

The excitement about our Grand opening is in the air!

I just got finished being interviewed by our local newspaper for a story that will run about Foothills (I think it will be this weekend). Every time I talk about Foothills I am amazed. I get a chance to re-live where we have been and how far God has brought us. I get re-energized about our vision to reach people who are far from God. I am also reminded that this is a "God-thing". What is happening here could not be manufactured by man.
For the record, The Grand Opening of the building will be Saturday August 16th at 6:30pm and Sunday August 17th at 9:30am and 11:15am.

Of course you don't have to wait until then to come to Foothills, because we will be wrapping up our message series, Young Guns, this Sunday (9:30am and 11:15am) in the new building.

Controversial Jesus

When you read the Gospels and follow Jesus' life you realize how controversial He really was. He turned the "religious establishment" upside-down. In spite of all of His great works, the miracles He performed, the healings, and the love He poured out, there were those who hated Him.
The most interesting thing to me is that the ones who hated Him were the "religious" ones. The Pharisees saw Jesus as a threat. They were blind to the great works He was doing and who He was, so they lashed out.
On the other hand the ones who loved Him most were those who were the furthest from God, the down and out of society. The ones who gravitated to Jesus were the prostitutes, the thieves, the hurting, the hopeless, the lost. In Him they found freedom and life.
If you are a leader in a church that is truly reaching out to lost and hurting people, please understand---you WILL be misunderstood. There will be those who will hate you as well (even though they don't know you!) Most likely the ones who will slander you, and lash out will be the modern day Pharisees. Don't be discouraged, you're in good company!
We made a decision when we started Foothills, that we would be a church were hurting, lost, lonely, messed-up people could find healing, hope and salvation. And we would do WHATEVER IT TOOK to reach people for Christ. Are we misunderstood sometimes? Sure. But I am willing to take that risk to help people find Christ.
Rick Warren author of the "Purpose Driven Life', and Pastor of Saddleback Church once said, "When your church is small they ignore you. When your church is growing they will criticize you, and when your church is large, they will resent you."
I am so excited about our future. I believe that we will see thousands more who will come to know Jesus Christ in the days ahead. We are committed to that cause!!

The power of a team

One of the things that I am constantly reminded of is how blessed I am to be surrounded by such a great staff team. Without a doubt we have the best collection of staff members we have ever had. There is such a great feeling knowing that you have capable, competent people around you.
When a team comes together there is synergy and cohesiveness. There is a sense that even greater things are on the horizon.
When we meet together on Mondays we go around the room and share in 3 minutes or less what God is doing in our lives and ministry area. I come away from those meetings excited about our future.
Staffing is THE most difficult thing we do. We have learned to not get in a hurry when selecting new staff members because you usually end up regretting it.
We definitely look at the 3 C's when hiring new people. Character, Competency, and Chemistry. Of these 3 Character is first, then Chemistry and then Competency. I used to underestimate the importance of Chemistry (how that person "fits" in the team and with the Foothills culture), but this one is huge.
The big thing is waiting on God's timing when looking for new staff.

Monday thoughts

Had another great Sunday at Foothills in the new building. We had a few minor technical difficulties, but overall it was awesome. A pretty good size crowd, and a ton of excitement.

I discovered that we have a ton of Clemson fans, and based on the cheers, next we have a lot of Georgia fans and very few South Carolina fans (I guess that makes sense!)

After church we went to the Atlanta airport to pick up my youngest son who was at my parents for an extended vacation in Florida. I want to officially go on record as saying I hate Atlanta traffic! We figured that on Sunday afternoon the traffic would be light. Boy were we wrong. They were re-paving I-85 and we had to merge 5 lanes down to 2. It took us about an hour to travel just a couple of miles. I'll take a small town over a big city any day. But it was great to have Cole back at home!

I've been in meetings non-stop today. That's how we roll around here on Mondays.

pumped about this Sunday

I can't wait for Sunday! We're going to talk about a topic that I think will hit home with alot of people ---Commitment.
It's something that most people shy away from. Commitment is scary. We don't like to feel obligated. That's why we have pre-nuptial agreements, and escape clauses in contracts. That's why people say, "I'll TRY to make it", instead of saying, "you can count on me." And yet commitment is one of the things that God honors in our lives.

It's going to be an awesome day at Foothills, so show up a little early and be prepared to connect with God!

Leadership lessons from my Dad (part 3)

One of the biggest lessons I have "caught" from my Dad is to Never Stop Dreaming.
My Dad is an outside the box thinker. He has always kept on dreaming bigger.
Even now that he is in his 80's he continues to dream. He is still contemplating new business ventures.
Every now and then someone will say to me, "Foothills is so amazing, did you ever in your wildest dreams believe this would happen?" Honestly, I didn't know exact details, but I really did always believe that it was possible. I think the reason I always believed it, was because I was not afraid to dream.
One of my life verses is Ephesians 3:20, "Now all glory to God, who is able, through His mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think."
Do you have a dream? If not ask God to help you dream bigger. If so, then pursue that dream!

Leadership lessons from my Dad (part 2)

Another lesson I learned from my Dad was to always find a job that you love. He taught me that life is too short to be in a job that you don't enjoy.
I have met so many people who have a career that they absolutely hate, but because of financial obligations they feel like they have to continue. So day after day and year after year they punch the clock hoping that they can hit the lottery or retire---anything to get out of their job.
The problem that most people have when it comes to choosing a job, is that they ask all the wrong questions. They ask, "how much does it pay?" (which is a legitimate question, but it shouldn't be the first question). If the job pays well, they take the job.
What are the hours? How much time off do I get? What are the benefits? Again, these are all good questions, but they're not the BEST questions. The best question is, "Is this something that I will look forward to waking up and doing for the rest of my life?" Because if you don't like what you do---there is not enough money in the world to make it worthwhile.
You might be thinking,"how do I find the right kind of job?" First ask yourself, "what do I enjoy doing?" "What am I gifted to do?" "What abilities do I possess?"
If you're stuck in a dead-end job, but you feel trapped because of financial commitments why not start trying to scale back on some things to put yourself in the position to make a career move. It might take a couple of years, but in the long run it will be worth it!

Leadership lessons from my Dad

I am very fortunate to have grown up in a home where I was always loved unconditionally and encouraged to pursue my dream. My parents are incredible people. My dad is a great leader, and there is much that I have learned from watching him. I thought I would highlight a few leadership lessons I learned from him in a couple of posts.
The first lesson I learned is that truly great leaders are people of character. Character is not something you can go to school to take a course on, or read a book about. True character is something that is at the core of who a person is.
One of the things that stood out to me growing up was hearing my Father's friends and customers always saying "Your Father is a great man." I can verify that. I have always seen my dad go the extra mile to do the right thing. He is a second generation jeweler that has been self-employed for as long as I can remember (he's sort of semi-retired now). I remember sitting at his store when I was a kid and watching customers come in and watching his interactions with them. His customers were more like friends.
I remember times when someone would come into his store and want him to make a small repair on a piece of jewelery (that they bought somewhere else), and when he was done fixing it, he would say, 'there's no charge." I would ask him, "how come you didn't charge them?", and he would say, "it was an easy repair, and who knows, maybe the next time they need some jewelery they'll come back."
He wasn't about the bottom-line, and that's pretty unusual these days. to him your reputation was much more important.
As a leader, does your life reflect character? Are you honest? Is your life above reproach?, or are you taking some shortcuts?

a few other thoughts from yesterday

I thought I would link a few of our staff bloggers for their feelings about our first services at Foothill's new facility.

Check them out here, here, and here

If you missed yesterday, don't worry, we'll be having services again this Sunday!!

Holy Cow

Just got home after our first services in the new bilding, and all I can say is "Holy Cow!"

We had 2,198 people show up today! (there were 480 in our kids area!) Folks this is still the middle of summer. Our first service we had over 90% of the chairs filled in the auditorium and in the second service we were at 75%!

The good part is that everything went pretty smooth. I am not aware of any major glitches, but there are a few small things that we'll have to work on this week. People were so excited. What a great vibe we had in the concourse, and the energy in the auditorium was amazing.

The new series (Young Guns) is going to be awesome. Looking forward to talking about Daniel next Sunday.

That's all for now!

overwhelmed

I stopped by the church this morning and all I can say is---WOW! I am blown away by the people of Foothills. They looked like a bunch of ants descending on a candy bar, they were everywhere. People just wanting to help get ready for this weekend. There were dozens of people outside finishing the landscaping. There were people in the kids areas putting the finishing touches on what will be the coolest kids facility around. there were people in the auditorium getting the sound, lights and video ready. There were people in the concourse tidying up. It was absolutely amazing!

This weekend is going to be huge. Our first Sunday in our new facility. There are still a lot of kinks that we'll have to work out, but we'll be in! Of course our Grand Opening will be August 16th and 17th (We will be doing 1 saturday evening sevice and 2 Sunday morning services for that weekend only), so hopefully we'll work out all the kinks by then.

A couple of reminders for this weekend. First--remember, Two Services, 9:30am and 11:15am. please get there a little earlier than normal to have your coffee and donuts because you can't bring them into the auditorium. Also it might take a couple extras minutes to get your kids checked in. Trust me, you will want to be in your seat when the service starts because the opening is going to be powerful.

We are starting a new series tomorrow called Young Guns. I am really excited about that too! See you tomorrow.

I love it!

I was taking my trash to the local convenience center (that's a fancy name for the dump), and as I was getting ready to leave I spotted this hanging from the fence.
I had to laugh. You know what they say, any advertising is good advertising!

By the way, what's the strangest place you have seen a Foothills license tag?

Latest picture

Here is a picture of the front of the building I took this morning. You can see that some of the landscaping is in. It's looking really good.

On the inside it's shaping up too. I was over there a little while ago while they fired up the sound system-- Dude, it's awesome!

Sunday is going to be crazy, but it's going to be a blast!

Incredible weekend

On Saturday around 100 volunteers converged on the Foothills Community Church campus for a day of service (I wasn't there). They landscaped, and set up children's rooms and put up sound panels. Man it looks great. I'll try to post a picture.

Then on Sunday we had 3 absolutely incredible services. People are jacked up with excitement. It's crazy! We had a large crowd--- we are almost at pre-summer numbers, and it's the middle of July!

On Sunday evening we had a Toccoa campus informational meeting over in Toccoa. A great turn out with about 50 people. There is so much excitement, it's incredible. If you are interested in helping out or know someone who might be, have them email toccoa@foothillscc.org

Don't forget--- this weekend we will have our services in our new facility at 9:30am and 11:15am. Try to get there a little early especially if you are checking in your kids. And whatever you do, be in your seats when the service starts. You do not want to miss the opening. Remember, in the new building you can't bring your refreshments in the auditorium, so get there early so you can enjoy them while you hang out in the concourse.

Almost ready

I just finished walking around the new facility. It looks amazing!

It still is hard to believe that we will be having our first service in it in 10 days. There are a lot of little things that have to be finished. I'm sure some will get finished by July 27th, and some won't. But either way we're going to meet in there (If we pass all of our inspections)

Here is the outside of the building. The irrigation system is in, but the landscaping is still yet to be done, but the sign is up!

**Held our first Toccoa Informational meeting yesterday at Foothills for our new site in Toccoa Ga.. Lots of interest. The next one is scheduled for this Sunday at 6:00pm at the Days Inn in Toccoa.

**I need to hurry back and teach Paul some slick moves so he doesn't do something like this again!

**I am pumped about this Sunday at Foothills. We'll be talking about spiritual markers. It will be our final service in our current facility.

**I'm thinking about going on the Bassmaster tour! What do you think?
First there was this one, now there's this:

Great day at Foothills

We had another great day at Foothills today----at least that's what I have been told because I wasn't there! I had the opportunity to go back down to Florida for a couple of days, so that's where I am. With the new building coming up and preparing for our Toccoa, Ga launch I figured I better get as rested up as possible.

Paul Carr, our Connections Pastor did the message today and I hear that he knocked it out of the park!

David led worship today for the first time as a Foothills staffer! I heard he brought his "A" game!

I also heard that the attendance was way up. The momentum is building for the Fall.

Unfortunately, we had some computer problems at Kidzone check-in.

Next Sunday will be our last worship service in the current building--- it is going to be an amazing service. You do not want to miss out.

It's all about the Kingdom

God is at work at Foothills, no doubt. We see lives changing every week. We have grown rapidly and we have alot to celebrate. But this weekend is also a special weekend for my friends over at Newspring Church. This Sunday they will be launching a second site in Greenville, SC.
Perry, Tony, Jason, Jason, Jake, Paul, Shane, Lee and all the rest of the staff and attenders, we are praying for God's blessing on you! May God continue to use you to reach Greenville and beyond.

Some things on the horizon

Even though we still have 2 more weeks of our Crossing Jordan series, I am extremely excited about our next series which begins on July 27th. It's called Young Guns.I saw the bumper video yesterday. Scott did a nice job. We will look at the lives of 3 young revolutionaries from the Bible.
On week 1 we'll look at the life of Jesus and his revolutionary Compassion. Then the 2nd week, we'll talk about Daniel and his revolutionary Commitment, and finally we'll look at Stephen and his revolutionary Courage.
It will be our first series in the new building, and it's going to be awesome!
But until then don't miss the next 2 weeks of Crossing Jordan.

A new blogger

I want to welcome to the blog world Dave Odom!

David along with Eric Peters are Foothills worship leaders.
Dave is one of our newest staff members at Foothills. He is a tech savvy guy, so the big question is why did he wait so long to start blogging?

Creative Teams

One of the things that I really like to hear after a service is, "Wow, everything just seemed to tie together. From the music to the message to the flier (bulletin), to the stage, etc. Basically from the beginning of the service til the end there was a common thread")

Those things don't "just" happen. They are result of a collective effort of many people who sit around a table on Monday afternoons discussing upcoming services. I wish I could say that every one of those meetings was one great creative thought after another, but the reality is that many times it just doesn't seem to flow.

Here are a couple of ways to make those meetings more effective:

Add new faces ----every once in a while bring in a new person. They bring with them fresh ideas

Change locations --- We don't do this enough, but for some reason a change of locale can stimulate new ideas.

Come to the meeting prepared--- when people come already armed with ideas, it makes the meetings a whole lot more productive.

Create an atmosphere where you can brainstorm freely. Where every idea has potential. Where you can take time to let one idea spawn another, than another. I have found that seldom do we choose the first idea. Most of the time it is a variation of the first idea.

Set aside adequate time--- It's hard to schedule creativity. You can't really say, "OK from 2:00pm until 3:00pm we are going to be creative. It might happen, but it might not. Don't be afraid to adjourn the meeting if it just isn't clicking.

If you don't have a team of people who meet with you regularly to help with the creative elements of your services, they will soon become stale. Find some people who seem to have a creative flair and invite them to meet with you. It will make a big difference.

stepping up

At Foothills we believe that kids matter. When you walk through our facilities you will see lots of space for kid's ministries. Our new building has a large percentage of space for children, and when we vacate our current building the teenagers will take over a majority of that building. We decided a long time ago that if you really believe kids are important, you have to put your money where your mouth is!


Consequently we have been having some amazing things happening in the lives of our young people.

A couple of weeks ago, we had our Son Sports summer program. Over 200 kids were involved and there were several dozen spiritual decisions.

Then last week we had over 80 teenagers head down to Panama City FL for Bigstuf.
Our new Student Pastor, Brian and his wife Michelle got a chance to connect with them. You can read more about it here.

Also last week we had 18 children go to kid's camp in Alabama. I have heard some incredible reports about what happened there.

If you know a child or teen that is not involved with a church, tell them they need to check us out.

monday thoughts

It's been pretty crazy around here lately. Here are a few thoughts from some recent stuff.

** The new building is really is getting close. They are putting down the carpeting today!

** Second week of our Crossing Jordan series yesterday at Foothills. We talked about how to be used by God. I understand that we had a lot of people who are willing to make themselves available to start serving!

** We have introduced a new concept called Worship 1-Serve 1 The idea is that when we move into our new facility we want EVERYONE serving somewhere. So we are asking people to worship at one of the services and serve in the other.

** Had a great attendance yesterday, especially considering it was 4th of July weekend!

** Yesterday was the first time we didn't do the 6:00pm service. It was a nice break. I almost felt guilty!

** First service in the new building will be July 27th. (9:30am and 11:15am)

OOPS!

Someone sent me this picture. It took me a second to notice the spelling mistake. (you have to look close)

Imagine this guys reaction when he looked in the mirror.

Obviously the tattoo artist was a University of South Carolina grad!

More stuff

** David Odom showed up for his first day at Foothills. Glad to have him on board!

** I'm so proud of my daughter. Here's one of the reasons why.

** Talked to my wife today. She told me that everyone was having a great time at kid's camp in Alabama. I sure miss her.

** Just found out that a friend and long-time Foothills member is having surgery today. It's pretty serious.

** I don't know if this happens to everyone or not, but it seems like whenever I am preparing for a message, that God puts me in a situation where I have to try to practice what I preach! Ouch!

** Had a great time last night with 5 other Pastors last night over dinner. These guys are great friends and their churches are making a huge impact in the state of SC. They're supposed to stop by this morning and tour our new building.

** I picked up my bow this week to practice for archery season. It's not until September, but I'm already starting to get excited about sitting in a tree trying to shoot Bambi!

Monday stuff

** Started our new series, Crossing Jordan yesterday. I got a chance to talk about something most people don't like to talk about---Change!

** I did a very unscientific survey yesterday. I asked these questions. How many of you don't like change? How many of you do like change? It was split about 50-50.
Then I asked, how many of you think that change is basically bad? How many think change is basically good? The results were amazing. 100% of the people thought that change was basically good. (Which means even among people who don't like change, they recognize that change is good!)

** Kind of weird yesterday I talked about the Batman ride at Six Flags yesterday in an illustration. Then I heard about this. Please pray for the family of this teenager.

** Over 80 of our students and volunteers are in Panama City at Bigstuf camp, and a bunch of younger kids are in Alabama at camp this week too.

** I hope to get a chance to hang out with some church planter friends tonight for dinner.