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!