Sunday review

It was an incredible day at Foothills Community Church yesterday. It was great to be back.

** The worship team is absolutely on fire. It is easy to take for granted the quality of our worship because we see them every week, but I can tell you that what we experience Sunday after Sunday at Foothills is among the best teams in the Country!

** We continued our One Hit Wonders series. I spoke about Caleb. Every time I read about Caleb, I get inspired. He was a guy that lived on the edge for God throughout his entire lifetime. He was full of passion and focus, and he wholeheartedly followed God.

** Do we "really" follow God wholeheartedly? Remember, the word "wholeheartedly", means complete, in every area. It's so much easier to be half-hearted in my devotion to the Lord, but we need to continually relinquish control of our lives to Him

** Next Sunday, the message will be on a more obscure Biblical character. You don't want to miss it. I will also be sharing a story about me and my wife and some alligators!

** I am working on the Questions Uncensored series. It's hard to narrow down the questions.

** We will be celebrating the Lord's Supper on August 8th at 6:00pm at our Seneca campus. Those are such powerful times together.

** We are planning our next Baptism at Foothills. It is going to be unbelievable. I can't give you any more details yet, because we are ironing out some details. All I can say is, it will be a huge party!

vision test

Tomorrow morning I am scheduled to go for my annual eye exam. I know what to expect, I've done it before. They'll do a series of tests (including the dreaded puff of air in your eyeball!), and then he'll suggest any improvements that can be made.

For the first 40 or so years of my life, my eyes were stellar, no problems reading at any distance or any font size. These days, not so much so. I have to wear glasses to read my Bible or the newspaper.

Here's what most eye doctors will tell you: the older you are, the more your vision tends to get out of focus.

The same is true for churches. The longer a church has been in existence, the more the vision tends to get out of focus. Foothills Community Church began 12 1/2 years ago. In the early days when we were meeting in my living room, or in the high school, everyone seemed to know the vision. It was crystal clear. The numbers of people attending were smaller, and it was just a given that Foothills was all about helping people find and follow Jesus.

12 years later, as we have grown, a large amount of my energy as a leader is poured into helping people stay clear on that vision-- helping people find and follow Jesus. And if you think about it, is there anything else that even comes close to that in its importance to our church.... or our lives?

For 12 years we have held to that vision and we will continue to do so. We have been mandated by Jesus Himself in the great commission to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and to teach these disciples to obey everything he has has commanded.

You may ask, "is it paying off?" My answer is ABSOLUTELY. We have seen hundreds of people saved, baptized , transformed and connected into the life of the church. That's the power of vision!

sunday review

We are wrapping up our vacation soon and it has been SO relaxing. I planned it so that I would be gone for 3 Sundays. I miss preaching, but it was essential for me to take the break and recalibrate a bit. I have had a phenomenal time with my family and I can hardly wait to be back at Foothills Community Church.

We worshipped again at Christ Fellowship's Stuart Campus. It was a great service. God really spoke to me through the teaching of His Word, and through the music.

I love to let some other guys speak for me while I'm away. The first 2 Sundays, Brian Rhodes preached and today Tim Wadsworth preached. I watched Brian's sermon online, and he did an awesome job. Obviously I have not had a chance to hear Tim's message, but I heard it was fantastic (at least that's what Tim told me :-)

If you have teenagers, you realized how blessed we are to have both Brian and Tim leading our Student Ministry!

I am personally thankful to have such an incredible staff, that I can go on a vacation and not have to worry. That is a blessing. I am also thankful for all of the people who give of their time, talent and treasure to make Foothills the amazing church that it is!

You do not want to miss this Sunday as I will be continuing the One Hit Wonders message series.

vacation fun

Here are a few pictures of some fish we've caught so far on our vacation. Picture quality is poor because they were taken with a cell phone. My wife as usual is outfishing me.



here's one I caught



here's my wife



here's my son and nephew with a bunch of croakers



here's Liz again

sunday highlights

Well, this Sunday was a little different because we are on vacation down in FL.
I did hear that things at Foothills Community Church were outstanding today.

** Big shout out to Brian Rhodes for doing the message. Heard it was great.

** I also heard that the music was excellent. We are blessed with the most talented worship team anywhere.

** Our Toccoa campus baptized 3 more people. That's why we started the Toccoa campus!!

** We worshipped this morning at Christ Fellowship Church in Stuart FL, and it was awesome.

** They did a very patriotic service. I was reminded again that we are blessed to live in this great country.

** It has been cloudy and a bit rainy, so we haven't fished much, although I did manage to catch a 4 lb bass. My wife showed me up again with a 5 lber!

** The airlines lost my suitcase on the way down here. Apparently it never made it on the airplane. They said they found it, but will have to send it to me. Hope it shows up soon.

** Hoping the weather clears up so we can hit the beach tomorrow.

Happy 4th of July weekend

The 4th of July weekend begins today. It's a great time to spend on the lake, or barbecuing in the back yard or just being with friends and family, but why not take a few minutes to thank God you live in this wonderful country.
In spite of our nation's flaws we are still the greatest nation on earth!
Have a safe, wonderful weekend!