Stop Doing in 2008

1. Admin for the church (Andy Whitworth is coming on board for that...yeah God!)
2. Time-wasters (the 80% of the jobs that only get 20% results)

Focus

I've been intrigued with the notion of a "Stop Doing" list ever since I first heard the concept a few years ago. What do I need to stop doing with my precious 1440 minutes per day in order to have time for what is most important?

Add to that Andy Stanley's "Less is more" idea (The secret to concentration is elimination), and there's a huge challenge to me to stop doing many things so I can do the few things that really matter.

As part of my thinking for how we gear the church (and my role) to grow to 600, I came up with the four (only four) things that I am called to do:

1. Hear from God
2. Preach the Word
3. Lead the Staff
4. Cast C4 Vision


Next post: Candidates for my "Stop Doing" list for 2008

New Year's Resolutions

I love fresh starts, especially the new year.

I'm working on my resolutions for this years...here's a few I'm thinking about so far:

1. Reading (25 books this year???)
2. Exercising (10000 steps a day)
3. Preaching Prep - sermon outline by Thursday noon
4. Blogging - 3 times per week
5. Kids - strategic time every day
6. Scripture Reading - NT, Psalms, Proverbs - 5 days per week

Why I want to Blog in 2008, Part 2

2008 marks five years of service at Peachtree Church. The elders and I put a sabbatical policy in place about three years ago which provides for a short summer sabbatical to rest, renew, and recharge after five years of service.

I've been dreaming for a year now about what I would do with my sabbatical time, and I was pretty set on a serious study of the life of Paul including a Footsteps of Paul trip.

But God has blessed me with something that will be just what I want/need and is going to be far cheaper. I applied for and received a free two week trip to Israel for April 2008 specifically for renewal.

I'm really excited about this, and am just blown away by the Grace of God that He would allow me to travel back to the Holy Land. My first trip six years ago was the trip of a lifetime.

So, I want to blog about my time on that trip this year.

Why I want to Blog in 2008, Part 1

God is blessing me with some incredible opportunities in 2008; I'm VERY excited, and look forward to sharing them here.

In January (9-20), Katie and I are travelling to Thailand as ambassadors from Peachtree to encourage and assist a dear missionary friend our church sends.

This will be my first overseas mission trip since I was married and the first Katie and I have been privileged to go on together.

I'm looking forward to what God will do for His global glory, and I'm anxious to have my vision for missions expanded and ignited.

Blogging in 2008

I love the idea of blogging. Most of all, I think it is incredible that I could have a journal of my whole life...the highs and lows, all on the web and forever searchable. What an awesome testimony of my life with Christ to be able to see what what I was thinking a year ago, three years ago...wow!

Just think of the legacy that I could leave for my children to know what their dad was thinking and how he was growing at different stages of life.

The problem I've always had is that I usually fret over whether a thought is lofty enough to put out there.

Three things just intersected my life at the right time, though, so I'm excited to try my hand at blogging fresh for 2008.

The first thing is that I always love making new habits and new year's resolutions at the end/beginning of a year, and Blogging was one thing I was thinking about getting serious about.

The second thing was I just read a quote that said, "Don't blog for the world; blog for yourself."

That's what I needed; permission for my blog to be my quick unedited thoughts, not a polished complete analysis of whatever thought I'm having at the moment.

The third I'll save for the next post.

If you want to join me from time to time to see what I'm thinking, I'd love for you to join me.

Peachtree 2.0

Just got back from our staff retreat. Was a great time! We need to hang out more together. Our staff are the greatest servants I know and they are some of mine and Katie's best friends!

After reading Simple Church this year, we have just revamped how we communicate our mission. Everything we do is about leading people to C4:

Celebrate Jesus' glory and grace.
Connect to Christ's people
Contribute to His Kingdom's cause, and
Call others to follow Jesus.

We built the calendar and budget around these four elements of discipeship. It was cool how quickly we put things together when everybody is on the same team.

I also led the staff to "upgrade" our systems (how we do things). 2008 is going to be our best year yet!

Money...for Dummies

We've got some great things going this month that I am so pumped about!

Our Money for Dummies series kicked off today, and I shared with the congregation one of my greatest dummy mistakes in money (I bought $2000 of Cisco stock at the highest price it's ever been and sold it three years later for $450).

Then we looked at Matthew 6 and how Jesus told us he wants us to submit our finances to the rule of God and he will give us everything we need (without bondage to debt or worry).

I am praying that our congregation will get this truth in a big way.

We are bringing in Joe Sangl for one of his Financial Learning Experience seminars on Sunday, December 9 5-7pm. That should be cool!

Heroes of the Week! - Work Day Servants

Wow!

I can’t believe how much we got done today at our Church Work Day at the new Peachtree! It is awesome. We had about 30 people working today.

The entire nine acres is cut and weed-eaten.

Much weeding and landscaping and transplanting was done around mailbox and in the courtyard outside the theatre.

Billy McLemore is doing AWESOME on the floors…bathrooms, office hallway, and nursery hardfloor is done and must dry and then get two coats of a sealant. They are putting the chips down for all of of coffeeshop floor today.

Ronnie Savoie is going heighten the posts for the permanent PCC sign, take off the scaffolding around the sign, and put up posts to do current series sign.

A lot more paint touch-up was done in the theatre and middle room.

Two Codys painted gates black.

The preschool walls were painted today by Sheila, Cody, and others.

Theatre chairs arrived on site today courtesy of Candace & Mickey (they also got our 250 worship center chairs earlier this week in ONE LOAD!)

Mickey bushhogged by the road, filled in the craters in the lower playground area (left when swings sets were dug up by former owners) and spread wood chips around the riverbank.

What a fun and productive day!

Thanks to everyone of you…you are loved and appreciated!

Get Ready for the Fall

Hey Peachtree,

Guys, I’m fired up from our study of Exodus, and God has definitely set me free from some fears I’ve had about leading our church (humanly speaking, I’m staying true to my commitment a few weeks ago to let Christ lead His church)

This Sunday, you’ll hear from my heart where we need to go this Fall. We’re going to faith-risk to see people far from God connect to Him MORE THAN WE EVER HAVE BEFORE! We have a $1 million tool in our hands (the new building) and we’re going to put all the energy of the church into leveraging that tool to reach MANY more people for Christ from now until Christmas. We have a strategic window this Fall to impact West Georgia, and we must have all hands on deck.

Also, this Sunday, you’ll see some never-before-seen photos of the new building and a great testimony of lives changed at Peachtree!

DO NOT MISS this Sunday! I can’t wait!

Villa Rica Fireworks

Flickr: Photos from reidbook70

Wow, what a great night!
For those unable to make it: PCCers met at the north end of the football field right under the fireworks.
We brought a cooler of water and about 20 popsicles from our freezer and they went over great with our people.

At 8:00, we organized a low-pressure blitz of flyers through the crowds, and I heard several positive reports of conversations. I had several good conversations with our people in our community, and Tandy knows of several families who want to come Sunday. We gave out all 500 flyers. I’m sure we’ll see from fruit. It was awesome to see our students reachig out. This was our very first stab at this as an outreach (this was only the 2^nd year VR had fireworks). We all agree it would be so much easier to invite people if we were also giving out popsicles or glow sticks.

PCC kids were having a blast climbing on the goalposts (is that wrong?)

The fireworks were AWESOME! Everyone said they were the best they had seen even from cities much larger. And everyone also commented that this was the closest they’d ever been to them. They had an incredible finale and really, really loud ones.

Afterwards, all PCCers waited for about an hour for traffic to clear out, but the kids were playing and everyone was talking…it was great.

Ideas for next year:

1. We bring coolers of drinks for PCCers (bring your own picnic food or buy from the booths they have)

2. Hang out from 7:00-8:00

3. At 8:00, we hand out popsicles or glow sticks/loops, frisbees or small beach balls (Stephanie Cartwright’s idea) along with a flyer/postcard/You’re invited businesscard

4. April had the idea of red, white, blue “Freedom in Christ” shirts.

Basically, we make it a fellowship/outreach.

Hope to see you guys we met on Sunday!

Thankful for the God of Freedom

Last summer, I read John Adams by David McCullough, the biography of our second president and one of the Founding Fathers.

What struck me was how tenuous the whole founding of America was:

• Getting agreement of leaders of the colonies (many of whom were loyalists),


• the harsh circumstances the Fathers endured to hash out agreement (John Adams was separated from his wife months and months at a time while she endured tremendous hardships including loss of a child)


• the gathering together of an army to go against the British


• the incredible circumstances which allowed the Americans to prevail againt a vastly stronger nation


• etc.

The more tenuous the situation seems, the more God’s hand is evident.
For America to exist, there were many “If God doesn’t show up, we’re sunk!” moments.
It seems that’s what God loves to do.
And He uses faithful men and women who are willing to risk it all to accomplish what He wants.
I am thankful for His perfect strength and timing.
And today, July 4^th, I’m very thankful for all the brave men and women who serve on our behalf in uniform.
Thank you, God for freedom in our country.  May You bless those who protect it!

 

 

Exodus, Above and Beyond

We're in a series on Exodus 1-15 called the Great Escape: Breaking Free from the Things That Keep You Enslaved.

When you're teaching through a book with a firm date to start your next series, you have to pick and choose what you're going to cover which is sometimes hard since it is all inspired and has meaning.

Two people in my congegration noticed I skipped over this little gem in Exdous 4:24-26 (Thanks for being in your Bible, Jeff Lynn and Sheila Whitworth!)

Exodus 4:24-31

24At a lodging place on the way, the Lord met Moses and was about to kill him. 25But Zipporah took a flint knife, cut off her son’s foreskin and touched Moses’ feet with it. “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me,” she said. 26So the Lord let him alone. (At that time she said “bridegroom of blood,” referring to circumcision.)

Then in verse 27-31, it goes right back to the story of Moses and Aaron getting together with the Israelites (above).

So, what are verse 24-26 about? I actually thought about preaching it as one of the messages, but it didn't quite fit with the theme of Breaking Free as well as everything else does.

First, since the passage (3 verses) doesn't have a whole lot of detail., most of the commentaries I read "supposed" a little of the situation.

Basically, ever since Genesis 17:10-14 God had told Abraham for all males who believed in God to be circumcised.

The Bible Knowledge Commentary summarizes the point of this passage best:

In his years in Midian Moses had neglected to obey God’s command (cf. Gen. 17:10) to circumcise one (or both?) of his sons. So God was about to kill Moses, perhaps by causing him to be gravely ill. Zipporah reluctantly circumcised her son with flint and then God healed His prophet. Her touching Moses’ feet with the son’s foreskin was possibly a symbolic act of substitution, in which obedience was seen as replacing disobedience. Zipporah called Moses a bridegroom of blood. The meaning of this phrase is unknown, but some say it was used in a derogatory way to suggest that she did not favor the rite. (Yet she did it to save her husband’s life.) Others propose that she saw in the act a sort of redemption by which the blood of the youngster restored Moses to the Lord and also to her as a new bridegroom.

At this time Zipporah and the sons may have returned to Jethro (18:2-3). Moses’ sudden illness was a warning that he must obey God wholly and fulfill his mission.

Walvoord, John F. ; Zuck, Roy B. ; Dallas Theological Seminary: The Bible Knowledge Commentary : An Exposition of the Scriptures. Wheaton, IL : Victor Books, 1983-c1985, S. 1:115

Had I preached it, the point would have been: We must get right with God if we want to do His work.

Saturday Night Feeling

Got the Saturday night, sermon is ready, but feeling weird blues...

This has been an eventful week emotionally, a good friend's dad died who was also related to my family, so there's been that.

There's several families who are hurting at Peachtree; I always feel their pain...

And I'm going through one of the biggest faith tests I've ever had...

Tomorrow's sermon really addresses it, and tonight, I'm in that "I've got to believe this truth and live it out in my heart before I can preach it to others" feeling.

If you're reading this, pray for me.

Hero of the Week: Brian & April Bolden

I just got back from an incredible time at summer camp with our 6th - 12th students. The spiritual growth and Christian community among our students this week was awesome!

I never say it often enough, but we have the most talented and committed staff of any church plant I know. This week, my heroes are Brian & April Bolden, our youth pastor and his wife. Brian & April have been at Peachtree from the beginning with a heart to reach students in West Georgia. They started with 2 youth and have grown our group to a thriving community of over 30 students. The kids' love for the Boldens is evident, as is theirs for the students.

Lives are being changed significantly as our students are being built into.
Brian & April, Christ's light and love shines through you. May your tribe increase. Thank you, Brian & April, you are my heroes!

Wow!...Super Wow!

This is our last morning of youth camp, and it has been incredible! Katie and I have LOVED getting to know our incredible students! The teaching and worship has been off the hook...I've been super challenged in several areas (I love to be challenged in my walk with Jesus!)

But last night was the greatest part of it all. 24 students stayed up until 1 am praising God, praying for each other, and sharing their renewed commitment to following hard after Jesus.

Two of our students trusted Christ for the first time on this trip (awesome!) and all of us are returning from a mountaintop.

Lord, use these students mightily for your glory in West GA!

Off to Camp!

Katie and I are excited about going with 23 of our students to SuperWOW at Jekyll Island.

I'm praying God is going to do incredible things in the lives of everyone who goes. I'll try to post during the week and give you updates.

Pray for us!

Hero of the Week: Brenda Lynn

Brenda Lynn is the hero of the week for making Jason & Belinda Stradley (relatives of Brandy & T.J. Savage) feel very welcome at Peachtree recently. They've been coming about a month.

Here's what Belinda wrote to me:

"I wanted to tell you Brenda came up to me in the parking lot and introduced herself and invited me to Girls' Night Out. I have been to other churches and no one has ever approached us like to people at your church. Great job for Peachtree. You all make people feel so welcome.

Thank you so much, Brenda, for taking time to love our guests! You're my hero!

Many Thanks for Your Heart-felt Sympathies

My Uncle Kenneth died Wednesday night of kidney cancer after an almost three-year struggle.
It’s been a hectic weekend since I did the funeral, but what a neat celebration of his homegoing.
So many PCCers came to comfort my family or sent emails.  Thank you guys so much.  We have felt really loved.
I can’t wait to see you guys all tomorrow and to get to teach.

Church Planters are the Neatest People

Take Tony McCollum.  He is one of the most creative and funny people I know.  Not only that, he would give you the shirt off his back (or at least ones that didn’t make the cut for his congregation). 

Tony sent me a free “These are my church clothes” t-shirt, and Tony, I’ve worn it already.

Tony’s blog is a must-read for planters.

Thanks, Tony.

FAQs on Heaven

Randy Alcorn’s book Heaven is a GREAT resource about the place we most long to go (in God’s time!).

Here’s an article with some of Dr. Alcorn’s frequently asked questions.

We have the book in the church library as well as the unabridged CDs.  It is wonderful to hear what God has in store for us!

 

Keeping On For the Long Haul

As a melancholy whose thorn in the flesh is discouragement, I collect articles on how to stay up in ministry.  Love this post from Tony McCollum summarizing Bob Russell’s advice after a great long run in ministry.

What a hero!

This has nothing to do with anything I normally post about, but last night Katie was in the Carrollton Wal-Mart on Aisle 1 and a purse snatcher took her purse with Abbie and Ben sitting in cart as Katie had walked to pick up some produce.

My sweet wife instantly began yelling loudly (according to her testimony, I wasn’t there): “Stop that man!  He has my purse!” over and over.

A UWG student Chad Krish chased the thief down, tackled him, and retrieved the purse.  An accomplice helped the thief get away, but they got his description, tag #, and vehicle description.

What a story.  Chad, thank you so much for stepping in to help out.  BTW, Chad is a criminal law major.  Way to go!

Blaize & April - Getting Married!

I have the privilege today of performing the wedding of a wonderful couple who is very dear to me.

Blaize Stewart was a college student at University of West Georgia when I came to West GA to plant Peachtree. Blaize and I clicked and he has been a very faithful servant and launch team member until he went to New Orleans Seminary.

There he met April Price, an awesome partner for him, who actually came to Peachtree for many months after Hurricane Katrina to see if Blaize was the guy for her. We LOVED having April at Peachtree, and were sad when they returned to New Orleans to finish school.

We had the best time meeting April’s family at the rehearsal dinner last night, and the wedding is going to be a very worshipful and meaningful time today at 2:00.

Blaize & April, congratulations, and thanks for giving me this great privilege!

The Dip - So That's What It's Called

I’ve been reading a lot of church planters’ blogs lately. We are very similar lot. In fact, it’s quite encouraging to hear that the hard stuff we go through, everyone else has too.

Ben Arment has a great 4 part series of posts on The Dip. Peachtree staff, we’ve been in the dip for over a year. This fall, we’re coming out. I can’t wait for our meeting on June 9.

Daily Time with God...more advice

Eric Wright has a great 5 steps program for spending time with God.  30 minutes (what I’ve just started doing) in the morning keeps coming up.  Cool.

What would _______ think?

I need to read this awesome post by Steven Furtick every day.

Thanks, man!

D

Psalm 19: General & Special Revelation

Psalm 19 is beautiful.

The Heavens declare the glory of God (Hebrew El – a generic word, much like our English usage of the word God)

Creation points to the majesty and power of the painter of everything we see, but it doesn’t tell us his character.

But the Law (v. 7–14), reveals Yahweh.

Yahweh’s law: revives the soul (v. 7), makes the simple wise (v. 8), and gives joy to the heart (v. 9).

I especially like verse 13–14:

“Keep your servant from willful sins; may they not rule over me.” and

“May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.”

Psalm 18: Praise for Deliverance

(Part of my series of commenting on the Psalms)

David is grateful to God for delivering him from Saul.

Great verses:

1 I love you, O Lord, my strength

2 The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer…

28 You, O Lord, keep my lamp burning, my God turns my darkness into light.  With your help I can advance against a troop; with my God I can scale a wall.

That’s a great thought:  with my God, I can leap over any wall.

 

Wow, I just read Ps 18 in Eugene Peterson’s The Message

Here’s a sample:

Psalm 18:1-6 (The Message)
^{1 I love you, God— you make me strong. 2 God is bedrock under my feet, the castle in which I live, my rescuing knight. My God—the high crag where I run for dear life, hiding behind the boulders, safe in the granite hideout. 3 I sing to God, the Praise-Lofty, and find myself safe and saved. 4 The hangman’s noose was tight at my throat; devil waters rushed over me. 5 Hell’s ropes cinched me tight; death traps barred every exit. 6 A hostile world! I call to God, I cry to God to help me. From his palace he hears my call; my cry brings me right into his presence— a private audience!}

Great words for today.

My Vision for Peach Buzz

I believe blogging is an incredible tool. The many comparisons to the Gutenberg's invention of the printing press in 1517 are apt, I believe, both in terms of technology giving the expression of individuals the ability to persuade masses, as well as the revolutions such persuasive expressions were able to cause. (Don't forget, the Protestant Reformation was what it was because of the printing press).

I blogged for about a year (first post: March 2005; last post, April 2006). I didn't consciously decide to quit, but a couple of things happened:

1. I went through an internet funk where other blogs began to discourage me (not based on their content; I don't know if it was jealousy or mid-life crisis (Katie says I'm too young for that; I'm 36) or what, but for the sake of my spiritual life, I swore off blogs for at least six months.

2. We had a CHALLENGING year at Peachtree (my staff says, which year has not been been challenging). Deciding to buy/build, leading a capital campaign, and choosing the place consumed 2006, and much of it was not glamorous to write about. Looking back, God has been so faithful to led us to His best for us, but there were lots of faith-stretching moments along the way.

To sum it all up, I've felt really led to share my voice, this time around, primarily for the congregation at Peachtree and the people of West Georgia. I have several church planter friends I hope will be encouraged and I really do hope to connect with some guys who are leading well and down the road ahead of me (Perry Noble, Scott Hodge, I'm dying to meet you guys...Gary, hook me up)

But, I really want to share life with my closest brothers and sisters and the people we are called to reach.

So, don't be shy. Let me know what you think…what you’d like to talk about, and especially who you are.

Got a question or comment...I look forward to our conversations!


Also be sure to check out Peachtree Community Church
Peace be to you,
Pastor Dave

Praying through the Psalms

I’ve been reading Eugene Peterson’s Under the Unpredictable Plant and it has inspired me to “Pray through the Psalms”. I’ve never done this before, but basically you read through Psalms as personal prayers. It seems the church fathers and the church through history used the Psalms as a “school of prayer” and it has really been cool for me. Let me know if you want more details about it.

One of my heroes of the faith

Here’s one of my heroes of the faith. Every time I’ve ever heard Bill Hybels speak, something wells up in me to go all out for the Kingdom.

Here’s what Bill said recently at a conference to church planters:

Bill said that his greatest horror is “what if I would’ve given my life to a lesser dream?”

Bill finished his talk by telling us that after 31 years this would be his advice to church planters:

1. KNOW THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A “HANKERING” AND A “HOLY DISCONTENT”. A “hankering” is thinking that you might like to try this someday; but a “holy discontent” is something that if you don’t do it you will implode! Church planting can not be a “hankering” it has to be a “holy discontent” that you have to do.
   


2. KNOW WHO HAS WHAT GIFTS. You need to know not only your gifts, but also the order of your giftings. Most people have 3 or 4 gifts and you need to know which is first, second, third and fourth. You also need to know the gifts of your team and the order of their gifts as well.
   


3. KNOW THE CONNECT BETWEEN LEADERSHIP AND FAITH. Faith is what allows you as a leader to continue to move forward even though what you hope for is not yet in sight. Faith is essential for a spiritual leader.
   


4. DECIDE TODAY THAT YOU WILL TAKE THE “HIGH ROAD”. There are too many church planters who have ditched their efforts because they compromised in the area of sexuality or financial impropriety. If you are going to plant a church decide right now that you are going to take the moral high road.
   


5. ASK GOD TO LET YOU FINISH WITH A FEW OF THE PEOPLE YOU STARTED WITH. Don’t start this new adventure on your own; do it with a team. Create a community that feels more like a family than it does like a profession. And then ask God to let you finish with some of the same people with which you started this church.

Faith that moves mountains

Okay, so it’s a little play on words, but make no mistake, Peachtree moving to a new facility so we can connect more people in West Georgia to God is the biggest faith risk we’ve taken so far.

Check out the progress.

Foundation will be poured next week!

Psalm 17: Oh, to be a man like that!

Psalm 17 struck me this morning.

David makes bold statements I long to be true of me.

Take verse 3 — “though you (God) probe my heart and examine me at night, though you test me, YOU WILL FIND NOTHING; (for) I have resolved that my mouth will not sin.

Wow, the certainty of that statement in a prayer to God reflects a man who’s examined his own heart closely and knows there is nothing between himself and God.

The context (see v. 9–12) suggests this is written while David was on the run from Saul (17 years of running!)

And yet, this prayer reflects a complete confidence that God will deliver.

How I want such confidence in God from a pure heart!

Psalm 17 (NIV)
^{1 A prayer of David.
Hear, O Lord, my righteous plea; listen to my cry. Give ear to my prayer— it does not rise from deceitful lips.
2 May my vindication come from you; may your eyes see what is right.
3 Though you probe my heart and examine me at night, though you test me, you will find nothing; I have resolved that my mouth will not sin.
4 As for the deeds of men— by the word of your lips I have kept myself from the ways of the violent.
5 My steps have held to your paths; my feet have not slipped.
6 I call on you, O God, for you will answer me; give ear to me and hear my prayer.
7 Show the wonder of your great love, you who save by your right hand those who take refuge in you from their foes.
8 Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings
9 from the wicked who assail me, from my mortal enemies who surround me.
10 They close up their callous hearts, and their mouths speak with arrogance.
11 They have tracked me down, they now surround me, with eyes alert, to throw me to the ground.
12 They are like a lion hungry for prey, like a great lion crouching in cover.
13 Rise up, O Lord, confront them, bring them down; rescue me from the wicked by your sword.
14 O Lord, by your hand save me from such men, from men of this world whose reward is in this life. You still the hunger of those you cherish; their sons have plenty, and they store up wealth for their children.
15 And I—in righteousness I will see your face; when I awake, I will be satisfied with seeing your likeness.}

Blackstock Photo Friday

Wow, what a week at the building site. We found out that we had our own Stone Mountain under the worship center plot. Not in our budget, the estimates of $10,000 and up to blast it were sad news for Peachtree Church.

But a providential phone call to Big John Postell, a dynamiter for 40 years, led to him blowing up our rock for FREE, zero, zilch, nada.

The Lord has done great things for us!

Hey, they also let me detonate it. I felt like Jack Bauer on 24.

Thank you, Big John and friends! We are very grateful!

The existing building should be done in four weeks and the worship center in eight.

Cool!

My New Routine

I’m terribly task-oriented.

I’m the kind of person who writes the smallest tasks (i.e. put on clothes, well maybe not that bad) on my list so that I get the dopamine rush of checking it off. Sometimes, I’ll even put a task on my list after I’ve completed it.

The upside is that I get a lot done and am always working on something.

The downside is that I get going on tasks early in the morning and can go all day marking things off the list and miss developing relationships, most importantly, my relationship with God.

I’ve had some great times with God lately, and I’m going to formalize it into a routine (a daily task…hey, it works for me)

Here’s what it looks like for me:

Immediately when I get up:

5 minutes Listen to a worship song on my iPod
5 minutes Read a chapter in the New Testament
10 minutes Pray through the Psalms
10 minutes Pray and write in my journal

What’s your way of spending time with God?

This is our God

We’re teaching the Book of Exodus right now, and as part of my research, I watched The Prince of Egypt today.

I have chills as the scene plays of the people of God walking through on dry land.

This is our God!

Ready to Live Free?

I’m pumped about the series we just started. It’s going to be Exodus like you’ve never seen it before. God is all-powerful and He cares deeply about whatever it is that’s holding you back from what He designed you to be. Add these two together, and you’ve got the setup for The Great Escape…

This Sunday, we slipped lists of what we are in bondage to (sins, habits, attitudes, emotions) into the links of a chain. We are asking God to deliver us from these chains.

I can’t wait to see what our God does!

Getting Away

Church planting, it has been said, is the extreme sport of ministry.

When I think about my role, I am part preacher, part leader/motivator, part business manager, part counselor, part vision caster, part boss, chief financial officer, etc.

On top of that, I’m attempting to follow Christ apart from ministry, be a godly husband, effective father, honor my parents, and have deep, meaningful friendships along the way.

As the urgent always battle for attention from the important, it’s easy to get overwhelmed with the hundreds of details that make up a ministry week.

A blog I read a long time ago (I’d give anything to find that insightful post) made a convincing case for church planters to get away two days every 6 or 7 weeks.

I really do try to do that. When I just get away from the chatter and change setting, my faith is increased, I hear from God better, and I can see the vision more clearly.

God’s blessed me with an Elder board who allows me the freedom of flexibility, a church that values seeing me healthy, and a staff that fills every gap when I’m away.

I’m currently at my dad’s on Amelia Island, FL (northeast corner of FL) through Memorial Day. The fam gets to enjoy the beach, and this is a planning week for me.

Please pray for me; God has already been revealing more than I keep up with.

Peachtree, I miss you; but it’s a sweet miss. ;>)

Exodus Notes

Passover – Jewish Independence Day

Plagues of Egypt

I’m researching for my current series on Exodus…Here’s a list of the Ten Plagues God unleashed on Egypt…

The plagues as they appear in the Bible are:

1. (Exodus 7:14-25) rivers and other water sources turned to blood ('Dam')
2. (Exodus 7:26-8:11) reptiles (commonly believed to be frogs) ('Tsfardeia')
3. (Exodus 8:12-15) lice ('Kinim')
4. (Exodus 8:16-28) Either flies, wild animals or beetles ('Arov')
5. (Exodus 9:1-7) disease on livestock ('Dever')
6. (Exodus 9:8-12) unhealable boils ('Shkhin')
7. (Exodus 9:13-35) hail mixed with fire ('Barad')
8. (Exodus 10:1-20) locusts ('Arbeh')
9. (Exodus 10:21-29) darkness ('Choshech')
10. (Exodus 11:1-12:36) death of the firstborn ('Makat Bechorot')

Plagues of Egypt - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Groundbreaking

This is from our Groundbreaking over at Blackstock...Check out the trees.

Too cool

Wow, I was able to send this pic from my phone straight to my blog. That could come in handy. This is my Big Ben, by the way. He has dumped the paci since this pic.

The Great Escape

I am REALLY excited about our next Teaching series at Peachtree.

The Book of Exodus is all about God delivering His people from bondage.

I can't wait to see what God breaks people free from in this series.

What is it that's keeping you bound?

Peachtree's New Location

If you haven’t heard, Peachtree has a new location. We’re not meeting there yet, but things are really happening on the property. We bought the former Blackstock Montessori School on Hwy 78 at the end of March and the existing school building should be done by June 30, and the worship center we're building should be done by July 15.

I'm baaaack!

After a year hiatus, I am back to blogging.