sunday thoughts

Yesterday was a very historic day at Foothills Community Church. I issued the Shine 09 challenge, and people responded---big time! I don't know for sure how many people signed up to do projects, but from what I saw, the majority of those attending did. (If you weren't at church and you would like to participate, just call the office (864)888-8008 and we'll hook you up).

I am praying that everyone who signed up will show up at their projects and serve. Our goal was to have 1,200 people from Foothills serving next Saturday.

Other churches will be participating as well. One Pastor friend of mine said that his church was expecting to have 100 people serving our community.

Lots of great conversations in the concourse of life change. That never gets old.

My goal was to preach a 25 minute message yesterday----that didn't happen.

We did however leave a little time at the end of the service for people to find a service project.

I also want to say that Kathy Badura did an unbelievable job of running point on Shine 09. Her and her team worked crazy hours putting things together. You guys are amazing.

random thoughts

** Had a great day hanging with some Pastor friends in Easley today. These guys challenge me and inspire me.

** We met at 5 Point Fellowship where my friend Dean Herman is the Pastor. Their building is located right next door to a funeral home with a crematorium. When I was leaving, a big cloud of black smoke came pouring out of a pipe on top of the funeral home and blew in my face. I'm guessing someone was in the oven. That was pretty gross!

** We ate at a Japanese restaurant for lunch. (before the crematorium incident)

** Really excited about Shine 09. Keep your calendar open for May 9th from 9:00am until noon so you can participate.

** My son Cole picked up his tux for his prom. He looks pretty slick, I must admit.

** Lots of people freaking out about the Swine Flu. Let's not panic.

** Great services planned at Foothills this Sunday---can't wait!

** Looking forward to playing basketball tomorrow morning, even if it is at 6:00am

** Speaking of basketball----Lebron James is ridiculous! My guess is that the Cavs go all the way.

** Can't believe that Adam was in the bottom three in American Idol last night. I'm picking him to win, although I would rather it be Danny or Chris.

** My 3 year old grand daughter has found where we stash the candy in the house. She has been caught eating candy 3 times in the last 24 hours ! She comes by her sweet tooth very honestly. Has to be genetic.

** My wife has been killing me in card games lately. I hate to lose----anything!

** Have you joined Foothills facebook group yet?

Shine 09

This weekend I will be wrapping up the When Love Comes To Town series.
I will be outlining our Shine 09 project, but here it is in a nutshell:

We have a goal of 1,200 volunteers from Foothills Community Church serving in our community on Saturday May 9th from 9:00am until noon. (this shouldn't be a problem considering last year we had 1,000 volunteers).
Do the math, 1,200 volunteers for 3 hours = 3,600 man hours of service!

We have invited all the churches in the county to be a part by serving as well. Several churches will be joining us. I'm not sure exactly how many people the other churches will provide, but I'm excited to be partnering with others to reach our community!

We have 125 projects lined up. We will be serving some schools, county parks, individuals with needs, providing food, building wheel chair ramps, and things of that nature. We will be painting, landscaping, etc.

There are no strings attached. There is no cost to the people we will be serving. They don't have to agree to come to our church----it is just our way of saying, "Christ loves you, and we love you"

There will be projects in all areas of the county. you will have ample opportunity on Sunday to select a project. We will have tables set up with descriptions of the projects and maps to get there. (On May 9th you will go straight to your project and start serving)

I will probably preach the shortest message that I ever have, to give plenty of time for you to get your project (at least, that's my goal!)

I believe that this could be the most important thing our church will do all year---do not miss out on history!

Huge Sunday

Incredible day at Foothills yesterday!

** Brian Rhodes, our Pastor of Student ministry spoke for me yesterday morning. He did an awesome job. He is a gifted communicator.

** Eric peters and David Odom led worship and knocked it out of the park!

** Lots of families hung around for the Kidzone Picnic. I hear that they had a great time.

** Last night we had our Night of Praise. It was a blast! Had a great attendance. It was really cool having our Toccoa campus hanging out with us. Those people have some serious energy! Their worship leader, Jonathan Bryant led worship with David Odom last night, and brought the heat!

** Sharing communion with the church body is such an honor.

** We baptized 43 people after Night of Praise in 2 pools set up in the parking lot! That is always a highlight for me.

** It went over so well that we'll probably do it again in July or August.

Big Day tomorrow

We have a huge day planned at Foothills tomorrow.
First we will have our services in the morning. We will be continuing the series, When Love Comes To Town. We are just 2 weeks into this series, and it has been phenomenal.
Second, there is a Kidzone Picnic for children and their families at 12:45pm at the church. The weather is going to be great for a picnic. If you have not registered, there are a FEW openings left.
Third, we have a Night of Praise beginning at 6:00pm. We will worship, share communion and have a baptism. IT IS GOING TO BE UNBELIEVABLE!

Definitely a full day, but I can't wait. See you tomorrow.

Questions Uncensored

Have you ever wondered what the Bible has to say about certain things, but didn't know where to go to find answers? Well, your chance is coming soon. On May 10th we are going to start a new message series called, Questions Uncensored.
It is your chance to ask any question that you've been wondering about. We are selecting the top questions and then I'll try to answer them during the series.
We have received dozens already (some really great ones), but there is still some time for you to send us your question. You can go here and submit it.
The deadline for your questions is tomorrow (April 24th), so hurry up!

Night of Praise

April 26th @ 6:00pm
A Night of Worship, Sharing the Lord’s Supper, & Baptism!

You and your family won’t want to miss out on this special event at Foothills Community Church as we join both of our campuses together for one big night. We will be celebrating life! A life found in Christ. We’ll be doing this through a time of worship led by our three worship leaders: Eric Peters, David Odom and Jonathan Bryant. We will also be spending time sharing in the Lord’s Supper, remembering and celebrating the price that he paid on the cross for us. Following this time we will continue our night of praise with a baptism celebration. Please plan on joining us for this time of celebration. Child care will be available for those 6 weeks up to Kindergarten.
If you would like to be baptized, please call the office at (864)888-8008

Shine 09

Last May we did a community service project that we called Shine 2008. We took a Saturday from 9:00am until Noon and tackled 85 service projects. It was incredible! We had 1,000 people from Foothills volunteer to serve our community.

This year it's going to be bigger and better. We will be doing Shine 09. This time we plan on having 1,200 people volunteering from Foothills, and we are also inviting other churches to participate. We have over 100 projects lined up. Make sure to set aside a few hours on Saturday May 9th from (9:00am until Noon.)

I will be sharing more about this in my message on May 3rd. This is an opportunity to give back to our community. Don't miss it!

Here is an article that ran recently in the local paper about it.

This Sunday

As you already know, this past Sunday we had the biggest day in Foothills history. We had hundreds of first-time guests and tons of salvation commitments (around 100 people raised their hands during the invitation). The expectancy level was off the charts. All in all, it was amazing---- BUT...
This Sunday is going to be awesome as well!

I will be continuing the series, When Love Comes To Town, with a message called Bringing the Love. Trust me, you don't want to miss it.

I am privileged to lead a church like Foothills! I believe that our biggest days are still ahead. See you Sunday.

Easter recap

Whew, what a day we had at Foothills Community Church yesterday. God showed up! If you missed the services all I can say is "it stinks to be you!"

Here is a quick recap:

** Record attendance 3,177 total people at Foothills (almost 3,000 of them were at our Seneca campus) Check this out -- 1 out of every 23 people that live in this County was at Foothills yesterday!

** Toccoa campus had a record attendance too!

** We had people saved yesterday in 4 different venues. Seneca main auditorium, Seneca Venue auditorium, Seneca Planet Kidz auditorium, Toccoa Campus

** Had dozens saved yesterday. (during the invitation time probably a hundred people raised their hands signifying that they were becoming Christ-followers)

** We had over 100 people make re commitments yesterday as well.

** We had over 650 kids yesterday!

** Joy Hunnicut who appeared on the Intervention TV show, was back with us yesterday singing with David Odom. -- Oh my gosh, that girl can bring it!

** Our technical stuff really was incredible. Scott Chatfield created some amazing video pieces.

** The testimony video that we showed was unbelievable.

** We held our first ever Venue service. It ran live simultaneously at 11:15am. I understand it went pretty well ( by the way we had 4 people give their lives to Jesus in the Venue)

** Kudos to Bill Swindle for stepping in at literally the last minute to lead worship in the Venue. Eric Peters was scheduled to lead, but had strep throat, a fever, and was at the hospital because he also became a grandfather yesterday!

** Foothills volunteers---you all are phenomenal! There isn't another church in the country that has a team like we do. Many of you came here at 5:00am and stayed til 1:00pm -- thank you.

** I'm pumped. We get to do it again this Sunday --Jesus is STILL alive!

** Mark April 26th on your calendars. We are having a Night Of Praise. It will be at 6:00pm at the Seneca campus. Our Toccoa campus will also be joining us. We will have communion, and baptism as well as an unbelievable worship time. Music will be led by all 3 of our worship leaders (Seneca and Toccoa) If you want to be baptized, let us know.

Easter reminders

I am so pumped up about Easter and tomorrow's services at Foothills Community church I can hardly satnd it. I thought I would mention a couple things one last time before Easter.

1. Easter is all about Jesus, and how He defeated sin and death. (It's important to remember this because it's so easy to get distracted)

2. We will be having 6 service in 3 locations tomorrow. Toccoa Campus: 9:15am and 11:00am ----- Seneca campus (main auditorium): 7:55am, 9:30am, and 11:15am ---- Seneca campus (The Venue auditorium) 11:15am

3. Show up early---but not too early! Doing multiple services is a little tricky. Most congestion in the parking lot and concourse occurs as one service is letting out and the next service is about to begin. It is best to plan on showing up about 15-20 minutes before the actual service time. This should give you ample time to check in your kids and have some refreshments before the service starts.

4. Pray like you've never prayed before that people would give their lives to Jesus.

5. Invite like you've never invited before. People WILL come to church IF you will invite them---especially on Easter.

6. Leave the best parking spots and seats for the guests. We want to roll out the red carpet for our guests, so that will want to come back.

7. Come with expectancy. Expect that God is going to touch your life.

8. Say hello and smile -- a lot!

9. Bring your A-game. Worship Christ with passion for what He's done for us!

10. Let's have fun---we've got something to celebrate! (refer to point #1)

And the winner is...

We have a winner. The most creative Easter invite goes to... The Riley Group Real Estate.
On their front sign in Clemson they are letting their light shine. Way to go guys!

could this be church?

This week about 25,000 people in Oconee County will be receiving a card in the mail that simply says, www.CouldThisBeChurch.com When they go to the site it will link them to our website.

The reason we came up with that domain name was because that question (could this be church?), is a question we hear a lot at Foothills Community Church.

When people pull up in the parking lot and are warmly greeted or when they're given a hot cup of coffee and refreshments, or when their kids are upset because they don't want to go home, or when people walk into the auditorium and feel the music and hear a message that is Biblical and relates to their everyday life -- they often ask, "could this be church?"

There are many great churches in the area that are reaching people for Christ, but if you don't already have a church, why not come to Foothills this Easter? And before you ask; Yes, this is church!

Easter stuff

** I can't believe how many of you have responded to the challenge of inviting your friends to Foothills. I've seen your invites on Facebook, and Twitter. Keep it up!

** We have already given out around 2,500 tickets, and I know many people haven't picked theirs up yet! Please go here and print out your tickets right away. (the tickets are free. It helps us get a head count for each service)By the way, you don't need to pick up tickets for your kids. There should be plenty of room in Kidzone.

** If there is any way you could come to the 7:55am service, that would help tremendously. It would help free up seats for guests during the prime times (9:30 and 11:15am). There are plenty of seats available for the 7:55am service. I know it's early, but the benefit is that you will have the rest of the day to relax.

** Remember, we are beginning a new service on Easter Sunday called, "The Venue" It will be in our former main auditorium, which is currently our student's auditorium. The Venue service is at 11:15am.

** We are about to send out 25,000 direct mail cards to homes in the area, which will direct people to CouldThisBeChurch.com

** Our Toccoa Campus will be rockin' this Easter too. They will be having 2 services, 9:15am and 11:00am. We will be sending out 7,500 mail pieces (actually they will come inside your newspapers) advertising those services.

Countdown is on!

We had another great day at Foothills yesterday.
There was so much energy in the building, I can't even describe it. People are pumped about Easter.
Yesterday I challenged our folks to invite everybody they know to come with them to our Easter services. (I know I was preaching to the choir because you all know how to invite your friends---you do it EVERY week). But a lot of people took it to a new level.
I went out to eat after church and I was told by a waitress that she and another waiter had already received 2 invitation cards each!
Here are a couple of ways that you can invite your friends---Facebook, Twitter, texting and you can go here and send an invite electronically.

Trust me, I will be sharing a message that will give people an opportunity to personally receive the risen Lord this weekend. If you have friends that do not know Christ, get them there. Invite them, drive to their house and pick them up, bribe them, kidnap them, do whatever you have to do to get them here (Just for the record, don't kidnap them. I felt I should mention that because I know some of you Foothills people are a crazy enough to actually do that!)
Here's another reminder of the times of the services at the Seneca campus. (Toccoa campus service times are 9:15am and 11:00am)

Big day this Sunday

My focus on my blog lately has been on Easter Sunday, but I just wanted to let you know that tomorrow at Foothills is going to be incredible too!

We are going to wrap up our EKG series. (It has been an amazing series). The focus on tomorrow's message is geared toward making an impact in other's lives---it's going to be a lot fun.

We are expecting another big crowd tomorrow, so plan on getting there a few minutes early so you can be in your seats when the service starts. You won't want to miss a minute of the service!

Why not call a friend and invite them to come with you.

Risk

A couple of months ago during our all-staff meeting, I shared a message about risk. I was thinking about this recently and thought I would share some of my notes from that meeting.

There are 3 Types of risk:

Stupid risk-- This is the kind of risk people take that throws common sense and caution to the wind. It's like in High School when one of your friends double dog dares you to do something really crazy, and you do it. People who engage in a lot of stupid risk, either end up broke, dead or hospitalized!

Calculated risk-- This is the kind of risk where pretty much everything lines up, and on a human level makes sense. Cautious people fall into this category. These are the type people that will only attempt something if every detail works out. People in this category rarely get anything important done. Their motto is "better safe than sorry"

God-Ordained risk-- This is the type of risk that requires faith and obedience. It doesn't usually make sense on a human level, but underneath the white knuckle fear, there is a sense of peace. God-ordained risk never contradicts scripture. It always makes us say, "If God doesn't come though, I'm in big trouble." Biblical examples of God-ordained risk would be Abraham leaving his homeland to travel to an unknown location; David's willingness to fight Goliath; Joshua leading Israel into the Promised land.


As I think back on some of the things that God has called us to do here at Foothills, I can recall some of the feelings of sheer terror, but also feeling certain that God was leading us; so we went forward. And each and every time we followed God's leading, He did something miraculous.

What is God calling you to attempt for Him? (If you don't swallow real hard and start to sweat a little bit, it's probably not God, because God is going to call you to do things that are so big, you couldn't possibly do them on your own)

Why not take a risk?

Easter planning

Easter is just a couple of weeks away and the staff and volunteers at Foothills are in high gear preparing for the biggest day in our history!

Historically we have a surge of about an additional 50% in attendance. So if you do the math, we will have over 3,000 people attend Foothills on Easter Sunday. But our goal is not to just get people to come for a one-time experience, but to help people get connected.

The best way to measure success on Easter, is to see how many people come back in the weeks following Easter! The best way to get people to come back is to create an engaging environment that begins in the parking lot and continues through the entire worship service.

Here are just a few things we are doing in preparation for our Easter services:

*Our First Impressions team is stepping up by adding tons of additional volunteers to welcome people, help people find parking spaces, answering questions, helping people find a seat, and just being available.

*Our Hospitality team is preparing by making sure there are plenty of donuts, and refreshments.

*Kidzone is preparing for record numbers of children by adding extra volunteers and thinking through room assignments and capacities, and how to expediently check in that many extra kids.

*Our Creative team has been preparing by helping design a worship experience that is both engaging and inspiring.

*Our assimilation team is preparing by adding extra volunteers who will be following up on guests that request information, and following up on all spiritual decisions.

*Our Care and Compassion team is preparing for the extra volume of prayer requests.

The Stoop (our bookstore) is adding extra items for people to purchase to help in their ongoing walk with Christ.

*Our Connections teams are preparing by making new on ramps available to all of the people ready to take some next steps toward getting connected.

*The Technical team is preparing for our new Venue service which will begin on Easter Sunday in our former auditorium that will run simultaneously at 11:15am.

*Our Toccoa campus is preparing by adding an additional service for Easter (9:15am and 11:00am)

*Our Student Ministry is preparing by connecting with a whole new group of middle and high school students that will be attending.

I could go on and on, but the bottom line is this. If a church doesn't prepare for tons of guests than most likely they won't have tons of guests. And if by some strange turn of events, they actually have a lot of guests, but weren't prepared, most likely those guests will not return.

One last thing; If you haven't picked up your ticket for Easter, thean you can print some out by going here.

sunday recap

Another awesome day today at Foothills.

Big crowds at both the Seneca and Toccoa campuses!

Planet Kidz and Discovery Kidz are the best children's ministry on the planet. Yes I am biased, but it's true! (almost 500 kids today!)

I Talked about forgiveness today, and judging by the feedback there were alot of people who were struggling with forgiving someone.

Can hardly wait for Easter. It is going to be unbelievable. Who are you bringing with you?

Went bowling tonight with the bowling Discovery group. Got beat by Paul Carr (our Connections Pastor) I am dreading hearing him talk smack tomorrow.

Watched some of the golf tournament before I left to go bowling. Tiger Woods is a freak! Another victory.

I will be wrapping up the EKG series next Sunday. It has been one of my favorites. I can really relate to David.

poor leadership

I am continuing my study through the book of 2 Kings. One of the things that really strikes me is the number of kings with this moniker: "But he did what was evil in the Lord's sight"
There are a few exceptions but for the most part, the kings were wicked.

One example that I was reading about today was king Jehoahaz, who reigned as king of Israel for seventeen years, and you guessed it, he did what was evil in the Lord's sight. Even after the Lord rescued him he continued to sin.

The result of his poor leadership is that Jehoahaz nearly single-handedly ruined the nation of Israel's armed forces. In 2 Kings 13:7 it says, "finally Jehoahaz's army was reduced to 50 charioteers and 10 chariots and 10,000 foot soldiers. Can you imagine having only 10 chariots left in the mighty Israeli army?

Here's the takeaway for me. Leaders have to live their lives with integrity and a commitment to do what is right in the Lord's sight. We need to ask for God's wisdom, and lead well. Anytime a leader starts making decisions that dishonor God, trouble is not far away.

Commitment

There is one word that separates players from spectators---commitment
There is a huge difference from watching a game from the grandstands and being on the field in the heat of the battle.
When it comes to church there is a big difference from showing up on Sunday (occasionally), and really getting involved by serving, giving, connecting,and participating by being part of the team.
In 2 Samuel David took a census (which angered God), but when Joab came back and made his report, he told David that There were 800,000 capable warriors in Israel who could handle a sword and 500,000 in Judah. That phrase "capable warriors who could handle a sword", is huge. It meant that there were people who were trained, and ready for battle. They were not casual spectators, but full-fledged participants that were ready to lay down their lives if necessary.
One of the values we have at Foothills is that we want to make disciples of Jesus Christ. We want to raise up people who are all-in in their walk with God.
It's troubling to me when I see people with so much potential, choose to remain in the bleachers when Christ is calling them to get in the game.

If you've never taken that step (and it can be a little intimidating), why not try. Here are some things that you may consider: if you're not a Christ-follower, why not commit your life to Him--right now!. If you've never been baptized why not sign up for our next baptism on April 26th? If you've never gone to our Belong Class, why not attend our next one on April 5th at 9:30am? If you've never served on one of our ministry teams, why not sign up on the info card this Sunday?
Take a step. It's a whole lot more fun on the field!

Sunday recap

Another epic day at Foothills Community Church. I spoke about sin and repentance, which is never easy, but people seemed truly challenged.

On of the difficulties of preaching on repentance is that for the most part, the word repentance has been abused. When people think of that word, the image of an angry preacher standing on a street corner, screaming, "repent" in a condemning manner comes to mind. But the word repentance is one of the greatest gifts that God gives us.
Because of God's grace we have the ability to repent of our sins and return to Him. And the best part is that He is waiting with open arms----not to condemn us, but to accept us back and lavish His love on us.

Our attendance was way up, especially in our children's area. Between our 2 campuses we had nearly 500 kids!

Our worship leaders brought the heat yesterday1 They do an amazing job of taking us to the throne of God every week.

We started giving out tickets for our Easter services. If you didn't get yours yet, pick them up this Sunday or go to our website and print off as many as you need. Whatever you do, be sure to get enough tickets for you and your friends that you are inviting.

If you want to invite people, you may want to go to our website and send an e-invite to your friends.

Busy week this week. We're hosting a Leadership roundtable for some Lead Pastors on Thursday. Really looking forward to that!

Really starting to get excited about speaking at the Sticks conference in May.

Easter Services

We are in high gear planning for our Easter services here at Foothills Community Church.

Here's a couple of things you need to know:

On Easter Sunday, April 12th we will begin a new series called, When Love Comes To Town

We will have 6 services in 2 locations

Our service schedule will be as follows:
Seneca campus: 7:55am, 9:30am, 11:15am Main auditorium, 11:15am Venue service (in former auditorium)
Toccoa campus: 9:15am, 11:00am

We are expecting over 3,000 people to attend!

To try to make sure everyone gets a seat, we are giving out tickets (Seneca campus only) for each service.

The tickets are free, and if someone shows up without a ticket we will do our best to make sure they get a seat. But it would be extremely helpful if you would either pick up your tickets this Sunday in the concourse OR go to our New website and print a ticket for yourself.

If you are a regular attender of Foothills it would be great if you could come to the 7:55am service to free up seats for guests.

Please pray about who you can bring with you that doesn't know Christ, because they WILL get a chance to meet Him!

We are doing an advertising program called CouldThisBeChurch.com there will be billboards and direct mailers going out soon.

In case you can't tell; we are jacked up about what we know God is going to do!

25 years!

They say that time flies when you're having fun. And that's how I feel when it comes to my marriage.
Today is my 25th anniversary. On March 17,1984 my wife, Liz and I exchanged our vows of commitment to each other, and I can honestly say that the last 25 years have been the best years of my life. For those of you who don't know my wife, I will tell you that she is the most beautiful, godly, selfless person that I know. She is as close to the Proverbs 31 woman of anyone I have ever met.
25 years ago I was not only a brand new husband, but also a brand new Christian (I was saved during our pre-marital counseling) Our life together has been an incredible journey over the last 25 years, and I can hardly wait to see what God is going to do in our lives in the next 25 years.
Liz, you are an inspiration to everyone you meet. I would not be where I am today without your love, encouragement and support. You have believed in me, when no one else did. You are my best friend, and biggest cheerleader. I love you

God showed up-- big time

Yesterday's services at Foothills will go down as one of the top 10 days ever! Awesome.

I think it will go down in history for the most salvations in a single day. We probably had between 50-75 people raise their hands to receive Jesus!

The video we showed absolutely tore people up----powerful!

We did a come forward for prayer invitation yesterday and it looked like a mosh pit, there were so many people.

Rainy, and cold outside, but inside it was blazing.

Eric Peters and his worship team did double-duty and knocked it out of the park. (David Odom and his wife Amanda were busy recuperating in the hospital after baby #2 was born!)

Our new advertising campaign is underway. It's called, CouldThisBeChurch.com

Busy week coming up. I'm pumped.

new website

Foothills Community Church has a new website! You can check it out here.
There are still a few things not finished yet, but we're working on them as we speak.
We probably would have waited to introduce after it was 100% done, but we have some advertising that will begin in a couple of days, so we needed the new look.

Hope you enjoy, and pass it along to your friends.

Thanks Foothills

I am very fortunate to be the Lead Pastor of the most amazing church on the planet, Foothills Community Church! It's hard to believe, but on April 12th, we will be 11 years old as a church. That just blows my mind.

What started out as a handful of faith-filled followers of Christ has become a movement of God that has spread from a living room to 2 campuses in 2 different states.

The best part of our history is that which is still unwritten---our future!

I am sensing another huge wave of growth and lives changing. I believe God is about to do something so big, that we will stand back in total awe of His power.

Here's the thing i want you to remember. Easter is just around the corner on April 12th---(yes, that is our church's birthday). There are people that you work with; go to the gym with; and work with that don't know Jesus. THEY WILL COME TO CHURCH WITH YOU ON EASTER------If you will invite them! Start asking God who it is that you need to bring with you.

I'll give you a heads-up. We will be starting a new series on Easter Sunday called When Love Comes To Town, and yes, your friends will hear the Gospel, and yes, they will have an opportunity to meet Jesus! It is going to be incredible.

In the meantime, do not miss out on our current series called EKG. This Sunday's service is going to be very moving, trust me. See you then.

The Sticks Conference

I'm really looking forward to the Southeast regional Sticks Conference coming in May at Revolution Church in Canton, Georgia.

I have been asked to be one of the speakers, and will be sharing about Foothills Community Church's story of doing ministry in a small town. I will be joined by Perry Noble, Ed Stetzer, Gary Lamb, Tony Morgan and Charles Hill.

What I love about the Sticks Conference is that it is geared toward reaching small and mid sized towns for Christ. As most of you know, I have a huge passion for this! I can hardly wait.

If you are looking for a great conference to bring your team to, this is one YOU DO NOT WANT TO MISS!

This Sunday

I am incredibly pumped about this Sunday at Foothills!
It seems like just about everyone I talk to these days has a sense of uncertainty. On top of that, I can't think of a time where I have talked to so many people who are struggling like right now. People are struggling with their finances, health, jobs, marriages, relationships... the list goes on and on.

That's why you don't want to miss this Sunday's worship services. Trust me there are going to be some powerful moments, including a video that will bring you to tears. But as always, there is going to be a message of hope.

Make sure to also invite your friends, especially if you know someone that is experiencing adversity right now.

sunday thoughts

We had a great day at Foothills Community Church today. The bands did a phenomenal job leading us in worship. I serve with some very talented people.

We covered the second attribute to becoming a man (or woman) after God's own heart, Faithfulness. Key thought---David went from the pasture to the palace, but in order for us to go from the pasture to the palace we have to be faithful in the "process".

We can't move to a place of greater responsibility UNTIL we have been faithful with what we have now.

The weather was amazing today. 75 and sunny. That's always a good thing.

I didn't notice anyone coming in real late because they forgot to Spring forward. That's a first.

Our new church website should be unveiled next week!

My basketball team lost our first tournament game today (by 2 points) It's a double elimination tourney, so we have to win next week.

On a sad note. If you didn't hear about the tragic shooting at the church in Illinois, (here's the story). Please pray for all parties involved. In case you're wondering why we pay to have off-duty policemen at our services (we also have a security team that is not in uniform), this is why. We live in a terribly crazy time in history. It's a shame that it has come to this.

Spring Forward

Just one more reminder---Don't forget to move your clocks forward tonight. You don't want to be late for tomorrow's servcies at Foothills!

random thoughts

Don't forget to move your clocks forward on Saturday night. (Don't you hate to lose an hour of sleep---it's just not fair)

Getting ready to talk to my friend Daniel Lucas who Pastors a church in Kentucky that is exploding.

I am absolutely loving preparing for the messages in our current series, EKG. It's on the life of David, one of my favorite Biblical characters. This week we;re going to talk about how God defines success

My sun tan that I got on our cruise is fading quickly

It's supposed to be 75 degrees this weekend!

We are praying that God will open doors for a new location for our Toccoa campus. A school would be ideal, but for some reason Stephens County, Georgia doesn't want churches meeting in their schools. What part of "extra money" don't they understand?

Looking forward to having my friend , Pastor Jeff Cranston from Low Country Community Church and his staff come and hang out for a couple of hours with us next week

Our new website is almost finished!

We are getting ready to do some really cool marketing for our Easter services. Billboards, and direct mail, and a few other things. We are expecting 3,000 people for Easter!

Lots of other things rolling around in my head, but that's all for now

Customer service

This past weekend I got a taste of what I would describe as some of the worst customer service I have ever experienced. Here's what happened:
I had rented a car for 2 days from an agency at the Fort Lauderdale airport. We were scheduled to leave on our cruise on Monday, but we flew in on Saturday and spent a couple of days with my parents in Stuart FL. Anyway we came back, turned in the car and went on our cruise. We arrived back at the end of the cruise and disembarked from the ship at around 10:00am and were not scheduled to fly back until 4:30pm. So I figured that we would rent a car for a few hours so I didn't have to sit at the airport.
I went back to the same Rental car place and was told that they couldn't rent me a car for the same price that I had rented one 5 days earlier. I asked to speak to the manager who said, "no problem", and agreed to rent it at the discounted rate.
For some reason the woman at the counter was not happy that the manager had discounted the rate and basically told me that I was lucky to even have a car to rent and I should have been happy to have it at the rate she quoted me. I told her that there were probably a lot of other car rental agencies that would be happy to have me as a customer, and she just rolled her eyes. I managed to control my tongue, and just left it at that, but I can tell you, there's a good chance that I will never rent a car from them again.
When it comes to the church, I believe "customer service" is even more important. People need to feel accepted and warmly welcomed. They need to feel like they are VIP's, because as far as God is concerned, they are. I have attended churches where I felt as if I was a bother. Instead of making me feel like an important guest I felt like I was more of an inconvenience.
At Foothills we have always tried to roll out the red carpet for our guests. Pastor Brian Marshall and his team go the extra mile to make sure people feel welcomed. I can't even begin to tell you how important all of you who serve on that team are. Thanks for what you do!

Sunday recap

We had a great day at Foothills yesterday (Seneca and Toccoa) in spite of the weather.
Attendance was off a bit, but not what you would expect with the winter weather advisory in effect. Way to go Foothills. We're not going to let the threat of bad weather stop us from worshiping our God!

It was fun to be back preaching yesterday after being gone on our cruise for a week. I couldn't help but use a lot of cruise ship illustrations!

Speaking of my cruise, my sun tan is already starting to peel. I look like a snake shedding its skin.

I just finished our Big Idea meeting a few minutes ago. We are planning some services that are going to blow you away. Spent a lot of time talking about Easter today. Very cool.

Looking forward to attending Unleash Conference next week.

Have lots of stuff to do to try and catch up after being gone a week.

been a long time

My last blog post was a week ago. At first blush it may seem like I was just slacking, but I had a good excuse. This past week my wife and I celebrated our 25th anniversary by taking a cruise to Cozumel, and Belize. It was awesome!
The weather probably averaged about 80 degrees and it was sunny almost all the time. I came home with a tan and a bunch of great memories. I may post a couple of pictures this week.
Unfortunately the weather forecast for us here in SC is possible snow some time after noon tomorrow---are you kiddding me?
Now let me say this; we will be having church tomorrow. (I didn't leave 80 degree sunshine to sit at home!) It is supposed to rain in the morning and then possibly turning to snow in the afternoon, so unless something drastic happens between now and tomorrow morning, we're going to have services. Don't stay home and miss what God wants to do in your life.
I will be starting a new message series tomorrow called, EKG. It is going to be awesome.

Moving Forward

With the current economic fiasco going on in our country there is a tendency for churches to pretty much put things on hold until this thing blows over. Basically play it safe.
Now, there is no doubt we should use wisdom in our decisions, especially right now, but the church MUST keep moving forward. In fact I would argue that it is during the difficult times in a nation that people tend to look to God for answers. (Think about the Nation of Israel in the Old Testament, and for a more modern example think about how people began to look to God on September 11, 2001)

People are looking for answers, and the church has THE answer. So rather than hunker down--- we've decided to advance.

We have 2 major initiatives right now that we are working on. First, we will be adding a new worship venue on-site at our Seneca campus (for more info click here). Second we are actively looking for a more visible location for our Toccoa, Ga campus (which will help us reach more people).

Both of these initiatives will cost money. Exactly how much, we will know very soon. But here is the bottom line. The Bible is clear that we need to "seize opportunities", and that's what we're going to do.

If you believe in the vision of Foothills Community Church I want you to begin to think and pray about how you can help. We're here to reach people who don't know Jesus Christ; people who are hurting, oppressed and depressed.

I believe that we are going to see a movement of God unlike we have ever seen before! Are you with me?

We are Blessed

We are blessed to live in the USA. God has surely shed His grace on thee.
Not all countries experience our quality of life.

You NEED to read this post by my daughter (who spent a year in South Africa with Youth With A Mission).

Playing like a team

Got a chance to go watch the Clemson/Maryland basketball game with Josh last night. Clemson played an incredible game, and won it by 29 points!
What made it really amazing was the way the team played together. Ten different players scored points (6 different players hit 3-pointers), and six players ended up in double figures--- that's the power of a team.

The church, when it's functioning properly has that same potential. When every person steps up and contributes something there is tremendous power. Conversely when a church has people who either are focused on themselves or refuse to contribute, things unravel quickly.

One of the things that I love about Foothills, is that there is this tremendous sense that we are on a mission together. People are recognizing that they bring something valuable to the table. We have more people actively involved than at any other time in our history.

If you haven't yet discovered where you fit into the team, why don't you stop by the welcome center this Sunday and we'll see if we can't point you in the right direction.

Sunday recap

Great day yesterday at Foothills

**Attendance pretty good even with a 4 day school vacation

**Made a smoothie on stage. Tasted the smoothie I made after the 2nd service. It looked better than it tasted--trust me!

**Would have much rather eaten the DQ Blizzard, but someone beat me to it (pretty sure it was Eric Peters)

**Speaking about blended families resonated with a lot of people. I wouldn't be surprised if over half of our congregation is in a blended family. (I think it's very cool that Foothills is a safe place for people to come)

**Had some great conversations in the concourse. People absolutely love Foothills Community Church. Their lives are changing, and they love it.

**I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that Foothills Community Church has a Facebook group. If you have not joined why not do it today?

Just a reminder

You do not want to miss church this Sunday. I will be talking about a topic that almost never gets talked about at church (although it directly affects half of the people, and indirectly affects everyone)

Not only that but I will also be attempting something that I have never done before. (things could get messy!)

I have begun working on a message series we will begin on March 1st, called EKG. It is going to be awesome!

Had a really cool phone conversation with a Pastor from rural Wisconsin, whose church has 10% of the city's population at church on Sundays!

We are developing a new website. We were hoping it would be ready next week, but now it looks like it will be some time in Early March

A blast from the past

This week I was contacted by 2 friends that I haven't seen since High School (which in case you're wondering, was a long time ago!).

It is always cool to catch up with people you haven't seen in a while. To hear a little about what life has been like for them since the last time you saw them.

As I let my mind wander down memory lane, it struck me, that if someone would have told me back in those days that I would be doing what I am now (a Pastor), I would have laughed---a lot! In fact, if someone would have told me that I would even be a Christ-follower today, I would have laughed.

So here's my take-away; Never underestimate the power of God to touch people's lives. Maybe you have a friend or relative that is a million miles from God right now----don't give up believing that He can reach them. I'm living proof of that.

New things in the works

At Foothills, change is part of our culture. In our history we have gone from meeting in a high school cafeteria with one service, then to two services. Then we moved to our first permanent building and went from two services to three services to four services. Then we built again (our current home), which gave us a lot more space, so we went back to two services. Then we started a new campus in Toccoa,Ga.... Which leads us to the present.

I am excited about another new experience at Foothills. beginning Easter Sunday, April 12th, we will be adding a new service in what will be called "the Venue"

Let me explain how this will work (hopefully). At our Seneca campus we will have our normal schedule in our main auditorium (9:30am and 11:15am). Most of you know that we have two worship leaders at our Seneca campus, Eric Peters, who leads worship for our 9:30am service, and David Odom who leads the 11:15am service. Beginning Easter Sunday we will have two 11:15am services. After Eric and his team lead worship in the 9:30am service he and his team will head over to our Student auditorium ("the Venue") and do the same worship set in there. The message will have a live feed from the main auditorium, and shown on a huge screen.

The new Venue will be smaller for those of you who may like a little more intimacy. It will be more casual---yes, you will be able to bring your coffee and donuts in with you. It will have less of a "concert" feel. (a little less volume and less moving lights) It will still be 100% Foothills, but it will be more like it was when we used to worship in our former auditorium.

The good news is, that we will have more seats available during our 11:15am service time (in case you haven't noticed it's been filling up pretty steadily)

I'll be explaining this more in the days ahead, but I've got to tell you, I'm extremely pumped about this!

parenting message

I spoke about parenting today at Foothills. The response was wild.

I can't tell you how many parents with grown kids came up and said, "I wish I would have heard that message _____ years ago."

I think the parents with young kids are in denial because they don't think it gets any harder than the terrible twos. Trust me, it gets harder!

I got a huge applause when I said that "one of the problems in our country today is that we quit spanking our kids." (yes, I know.... I'm not politically correct)

Parenting is the hardest job in the world.

Most Biblical families were a little dysfunctional. (If you don't believe me just read the Old Testament)

If you're bringing your young kids in the main service, you are doing them a disservice. Discovery Kids and Planet Kidz are incredible worship experience environments that are age-appropriate for them. PLEASE let them worship there.

It was awesome praying for all the parents today.


You do not want to miss next week. I will be talking about a topic that is almost never discussed in church----and NO it is not sex!

Thursday stuff

* The stomach flu has been traveling through our house this week. So far, I've missed it.

* Went to the Clemson/Duke game last night with Josh. It was incredible! Coach K looked like he was confused. Oliver Purnell outcoached him. The Clemson players outplayed them. Total domination.

* Going to try to drive over to Toccoa today-- really praying for a new location for our Toccoa campus that has some visibility

* You do not want to miss the services at Foothills this weekend --continuing the Revolution series. It's going to be phenomenal!

* Got to talk with my friend, Jim Carpenter who Pastors Compass Church in Athens,Ga. God is doing something big over there.

* Hoping to have our new website up at Foothills in a couple of weeks.

* I've got some BIG news to share concerning something that we are starting at Foothills on Easter Sunday---you're not going to believe it! Stay tuned for details.

* I love doing what I am doing!

Little things mean a lot

I have always said that the difference between a good church service and a great service is the details.
I am fortunate to work around people who spend time on the details.
I was speaking with Eric Peters, our worship leader for our 9:30am service (we have 2 worship leaders at our Seneca campus--Eric Peters and David Odom, who leads during the 11:15am service), anyway Eric was telling me that the vocalists practiced for over 6 hours on just one song for last week's service. It was the Beatles song, Love Is All you Need (I'm not a musician, but apparently that song is pretty tricky). Think about that. 6 hours on a song that lasted about 3 minutes. Some people may think that that is a waste, but not me. I believe that excellence matters, and that God deserves our best--period!

Now while it is true that a Beatles song may not have huge spiritual implications, it is also true that a person who is unchurched coming in and hearing a familiar tune played with excellence is more likely to listen to the rest of the service.

What little things could you do to improve your services?

Sunday recap

We kicked off our Revolution series yesterday, and I can already tell that it is going to be one of the best, and most helpful series we have ever done.

Yesterday I spoke about marriage. This is a message that I have wanted to do for about 3 years, but I felt that this was the right time to do it.

I tackled the very controversial marriage mandate found in Ephesians 5 where we are clearly give the roles and responsibilities of the husbands and the wives.
It's controversial mainly because it's misunderstood and misinterpreted.
The wife's responsibility is to submit to her husband, and the husband's responsibility is to love his wife.

There was a Gallup poll that said, "A wife should graciously submit to the servant-leadership of her husband-- 69% disagreed!

Submission is an unpopular concept and yet, in the context marriage it is meant to positive. The word submission comes from the words "sub" and "mission" (sub means to put under, and mission means the business with which such a group is charged.)
In a Christ-centered marriage the mission is to honor, glorify and obey the Lord---so essentially the wife is to voluntarily put herself under that mission. Submission does not mean that women are less important or inferior in any way.

Now, from the man's perspective, his responsibility is really even more difficult because we are charged to love our wives the way that Christ loved the church and gave his life for it. Which means that you are to treat your wife with love and kindness and gentleness and patience. No man has the right to disrespect his wife or put her down or abuse her--she is to be cherished, and honored. And husbands we will be accountable to God as the spiritual leaders of the family.

The message should be up on our website within a couple of days, so you might want to check it out.

Starting this Sunday

You do not want to miss this Sunday at Foothills Community Church! We will be starting a new series called, Revolution (the Beatles Guide To Family)
During this 4 week series we will be talking about marriage, raising kids, blended families and being single (pretty much something for everyone).

Every time we do a series about family it goes over big-time. That's because no matter how much experience you have, there's always more to learn.

I am REALLY looking forward to Sunday!

God is at work in Kentucky!

Got an email yesterday from my friend Daniel Lucas. He planted Crosspoint Church in Morehead, Kentucky one year ago.
This past Sunday (their one year anniversary) they had 478 people in attendance! They are knocking it out of the park. People are being saved and lives are changing. Way to go Daniel!

In case you're wondering

I am going to be twittering, so if you're interested in checking that out click here.
At this point, it's an experiment, because I'm not sure whether I'm going to like it or not, so I'm not making any promises!

Choosing

I am a firm believer that the choices we make will define who we become. So at the beginning of the new year I wrote out 7 questions that I asked myself for 2009. They are not original, but they challenged me. I thought I would share them with you.

** Do I want to IMPRESS people or IMPACT people?

** Will I settle for GOOD or strive for GREAT?

** Do I want to be DISCOVERED or DEVELOPED?

** Will I seek to be SERVED or choose to SERVE others?

** Will I MICRO-MANAGE or choose to LEAD and EMPOWER?

** Will I settle for SUCCESS or strive for SIGNIFICANCE?

** Will I choose to SIT ON THE THRONE or BOW AT HIS FEET?



What questions are you asking yourself?

Sunday recap

We had an amazing day again at Foothills!

We had large crowds again (especially at the 11:15am service)

There was a ton of energy (in both services)

I spoke about the responsibility of people stepping up and finding a place to serve, and the response was awesome!

We wrapped up the Sticky Church series. During the 3 week series we had about 100 people sign up to take the Belong class (membership class) next Sunday, we had over 100 new people sign up to be in a Life Group, and around 150 new people sign up to begin serving!

I love hearing the stories that people share about how Foothills has made a difference in their lives.

Our Toccoa campus also had a great day. It was Jonathan Bryant's first official day as their worship leader. Shannon Chiles (campus Pastor) and Jonathan Bryant will make a good team.

Speaking of Toccoa, big things are in store for the Toccoa area. I believe our impact there is about to go to the next level!

Can't wait for Sunday!

I love Sundays. I love worshipping with all of you at Foothills. I love the energy and anticipation. I love everything about it. Fortunately there are a whole lot of you that feel that way too!

One of the comments I hear alot from people who visit Foothills Community Church for the first time is, "It is great to come to a church where the people actually want to be there!"

I have been to churches where it seemed like most of the people were there out of obligation, but not really because they wanted to be there. It's kind of depressing. There seems to be no life; no energy; no enthusiasm.

I am very fortunate to be the Lead Pastor at such a great church!

Tomorrow, I'll be wrapping up our Sticky Church series, and I want to encourage you to continue to bring your "A" game to worship. I want to encourage you to keep bringing your friends with you. We've got an incredible service planned. I can't wait for Sunday!

Challenging myself

Last week I got a chance to hang out with Dave Travis and Sam Chand. They came by for a tour of our facility. Then we headed to Greenville to hang out with Matt from Grace Church. It was a great day!

There was a lot of discussion about what it takes for a church to continue to grow, and breaking through potential growth barriers. And as you might imagine, the discussion turned to the responsibility that the Lead Pastor has to continue to grow personally in order for that church to grow.

Sam is an author and church consultant that travels all over the U.S. working with leaders. The average size of the churches that he works with has about 5,000 people in attendance. Dave is an author and on staff at Leadership Network . So these guys know what they're talking about.

I am still trying to process our conversation, but here are a couple of things that stood out to me:
A church can only grow to the level in which the leader is willing to endure the pain. (in other words, a leader must be willing to endure pain for his church to continue growing. If he can't endure the pain that comes with going to the next level, the church will stop growing) (If you're not a Lead Pastor that statement will probably not make sense)

As the church becomes larger, what type of structure and systems changes will need to be made?

As a church of 2,000 I have to become more focused on just a few things, and be strategic with my time now more than ever.

I am in the process right now of some more changes in my personal life, so that I don't become the bottleneck of our growth. I have shared some of this with our staff and they are excited about it. That's good because the changes will affect all of us.

There was so much more that we talked about, but that's it for now.

email problems

Here's an update on our email problems at Foothills. Apparently our email host's server is down. We can't get a hold of them (it's like this company has vanished into thin air). So if you have emailed us since last Friday---we haven't received it!
We have changed hosts, but it will probably be another day until we are up and running.
This is extremely frustrating, but we are doing the best we can.

We are getting a chance to develop the fruit of patience, and it's not fun!

Sunday recap

We had a great day at Foothills yesterday. Unfortunately there was more bad weather on Sunday (that's 4 Sundays in a row!) But yesterday there were a few snow flurries and some sleet, so it definitely hurt our attendance. (If one snow flake falls within a ten mile radius, people absolutely freak out -- it's crazy1)

I talked about the importance of having relationships at church. I made a statement that if people don't get involved in either a LIFE group or serving group, they won't be here 12 months from now. That's what we have found over the last 10 years. Just coming on Sunday mornings is not enough to keep you at a church----no matter how good the services are!

The good news is, we had a whole bunch of people who signed up to come to the Grouplink event this evening at 6:30pm to find out more about how to connect with others at Foothills. If you didn't sign up, but would like to come, just be here at 6:30pm


One last thing. If you have sent an email to pretty much anyone at Foothills since Friday, we haven't received them. Our email server is down! Be patient.

In case you're wondering

In case you missed this past Sunday at Foothills Community Church, or you're just wondering what our vision is, you can watch this.

This Sunday is going to be incredible. Make sure you're not late---trust me!

If you have been feeling cramped in the 11:15am service, then you may want to check out the 9:30am service.

Thursday thoughts

As I mentioned in a blog a few days ago, this past Sunday was kind of the state of the Church message that I do every year. It is all about our vision as a church.

Sunday was also our membership renewal Sunday. (Every year we ask people to re-sign their membership covenant if they are still behind the vision).

But we also give people the opportunity to take the next step toward becoming a new member, it's a class called "Belong". We had 95 people sign up to take the class on February 1st!

I know that some of you have been thinking about it since last Sunday, but you didn't sign up yet. Well, it's not too late. You can bring your cards with you this Sunday (or pick one up at the Welcome Center), and put it in the offering buckets.

Here's what I've discovered about vision:


You can't talk about it too much

People are attracted to a church with a clear vision from God

People are attracted to a leader who has a clear vision from God

You can't sell a vision that you don't believe deep down inside

The stronger you communicate that vision, the more people will want to be a part of it

Not everyone will agree with your vision (but at least they will know where you stand)

Vision leaks --talk about it often

Vision makes it easy to make decisions

A clear vision will give you the confidence to take risks

Where there is no vision the people perish

Excellence at every level

Yesterday during our staff meeting we watched a message from T.D. Jakes that he delivered at a past Leadership Summit. It was awesome. He is one of the best communicators out there. I could tell he was holding back a little bit because he was speaking at Willow Creek and not his own church, but nonetheless he challenges all of us big-time.

I was writing as fast as I could, but I still didn't catch everything he said, but here are a few of the things that stood out to me. His talk was Excellence at every level. He spoke from Exodus 17.



**Moses led on 3 different levels-- Moses led WITH the people--IN FRONT of the people, and ABOVE the people.

**We miss who we could be by emulating others.

**Leaders are controversial.

**You can't be insecure and lead.

**If your leadership style doesn't change as you grow, you can't get to the next level.

**The change begins with ME!

**Make a list of the top 10 changes you need to make---start with the thing you are complaining about most.

**Good leaders anticipate problems --good leaders develop solutions to these problems

**Any problem you don't conquer, will conquer you!

**You can't fight today's challenge with yesterday's weapons.

**If you are still doing what you were doing, you're stunting your growth

**You will know what you're called to do, by what you can't stand.

**The thing you're complaining about--that's what you're called to do!

holy cow, what a day!

Hands down, this Sunday's message topic was one of my favorites to talk about---the Vision of Foothills Community Church. Here are a couple of things that stood out to me:

** I am praying that God would break my heart for what breaks His. As Jesus rode into Jerusalem and looked over the city, He wept. When is the last time we wept over the lostness of our cities?

** Vision messages do one of 2 things. Either they fire people up or they chase people away. Either way, it's good. (If someone can't get behind the vision of their church, they need to move on and find a church with a vision they can get behind.)

** Today was also Memebership Renewal Sunday. Basically ever January 1st we purge our membership rolls and start from scratch. If people are still behind the vision and want to continue to be a member, they re-sign the membership covenant. (what's the point of having names of people on a membership roll who don't even attend there anymore, or who no longer agree with the vision?) Tons of people re-signed today, and tons of people who have not been through our Belong Class, signed up to become members.

** I think today's message was the longest I have ever preached. It's hard to be brief when you are as passionate about something as I am about our Vision!

** The music in both services was unbelievable!!!

** God is rocking my world right now and I am so excited I can hardly stand it!

** I played basketball after church today. We started a basketball league at Foothills, and we had our first practice. Actually we ended up scrimmaging one of the other teams. I am wiped out. I play basketball 3 morning a week, but I usually only play half-court, but today we played full-court---oh my, what a difference!

Do Not Miss Church This Sunday!

Trust me, you do not want to miss church this Sunday. I just finished wrapping up my message, and we are going to cover what God did in 2008 and look ahead to 2009. Any time I get to speak directly about the vision of Foothills Community Church I get so hyped I can barely contain myself!

We are starting a new series called Sticky Church, and over the next 3 weeks we're going to talk about the heartbeat of Foothills Community Church. So whether you've been a part Of Foothills since day 1 or you've never been before, it is probably the most strategic Sunday of the year.

Not only that, but the worship time is going to be amazing too!

Resolutions

I know that many of you made some resolutions for 2009.

Whether you call them resolutions or goals, all of us should look for ways to improve ourselves in different areas of our lives. I thought I would share a few of the areas that I have personally set some goals in for 2009.

Intellectual goals (my goal is to read 2 books a month in 09)

Spiritual goals (spend at least 1 hour with God (not including sermon prep) per day at least 5 days per week, share my faith regularly, a total dependence on the Holy Spirit daily)

Physical goals (exercise 5-6 times per week, eat right)

Relational goals (become a better encourager, love and serve my wife better, express love to my family more)

Professional goals (attend at least 2 leadership events, begin a website dedicated to small town Pastors, begin a leadership roundtable group, start a second satellite campus)

These are a few of the things that I'm shooting for in 2009. There are some others too, but for now that will give you a little glimpse into what my focus will be in 2009.

What are your goals? Write them down and then live them out.

What a day!

Today was a tremendous day for me. I got to speak live at our Toccoa campus for the first time!

It was actually the first time that I had seen the gymnasium transformed into an auditorium. I must say that it looked awesome. Here are a few of my takeaways from today:

**Shannon Chiles, our campus Pastor is doing an incredible job.

**As soon as you pull into the parking lot you can sense the Foothills DNA all over the place. It's even more evident once you get inside.

**The volunteers are amazing. They truly seem to love what they're doing. They broke down the entire building and had everything put up in 40 minutes!

**They had donuts and other goodies (definitely Foothills!)

**The band rocked. Jonathan led worship today, and did a great job.

**Met lots of new people. They seemed so excited about Foothills. Most of them commented that I looked a lot different in person (not really sure how to take that!)

**I believe that our Toccoa campus is going to really reach lots of people in Stephens County, Georgia.

**The only downside to my entire experience was when the guys back at the tech table flashed a Georgia Bulldog logo on the screen and played their fight song!


Meanwhile back at our Seneca campus, I heard that Brian Rhodes brought it today delivering the message! A big thank you to all of the crew in Seneca for keeping things rocking, even though I haven't been there in 2 weeks.

Look out next Sunday because we are starting a new series called "Sticky Church". Next week's message is one of my favorite topics to talk about----Foothills vision.

Happy New Year!

Well, it's 2009. that is so hard to believe. 2008 went by like a flash.
I just wanted to do a quick blog post to wish everyone a Happy new year.

Why not sit down and reflect on 2008, and take some time to write out a few goals for 2009. Write out your spiritual goals, physical goals, relational goals and intellectual goals.

2009 has the potential to be the best year ever. A lot will depend on what your goals are. Nothing great happens by accident. It takes focus. 2009 is a blank slate. Seek God like never before in 2009, and He will open up great doors for you.

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!