Not a lot of "noes"

I don't really know the plural form if the word 'no', but I know there aren't a lot of them at the beach. That's the best thing about the beach. Like any parent, I feel like I tell my boys "no" all the time. I have to try to find ways to say yes. But the beach is full of yesses. Can we build this? Can we jump waves? Can we have a snack? YES! Parents, let's make sure we find room for "yes."

Hats off

So, I've been spending a few days at the beach with my four boys but without my precious wife. Supermom deserved a few days off. Luckily, my mama came to help out. But we're definitely ready for supermom to get here today.

It has made me realize what superheroes single parents are. I don't know how you guys do it. You are selfless and an inspiration.

Hats off

So, I've been spending a few days at the beach with my four boys but without my precious wife. Supermom deserved a few days off. Luckily, my mama came to help out. But we're definitely ready for supermom to get here today.

It has made me realize what superheroes single parents are. I don't know how you guys do it. You are selfless and an inspiration.

Nothing to Fear

I got to spend the afternoon with my boys watching Green Lantern. Not a bad movie. We love superhero movies, so it was cool to spend time with them that way - and I got to be a kid again.

But it had an interesting premise. Essentially, it was about fear and courage. Fear=bad. Fear does not come from God. God teaches us that "if he is for us, who could be against us." What do you have to be afraid of if Almighty God is walking with you and on your side? Do you ever stop think about that?

New, new, new

This morning we prayed for and sent out 2 new church planters and 2 new church. Nothing is quite as exciting as a new church. There's nothing quite like the adrenaline rush that first year.

Pray for new church planters in your community. The truth is that we can't hardly have enough new churches. People like new things, including new churches. We need new and creative and different ways to reach and engage the culture around us.

Quote of the Day

"Catch on fire with enthusiasm and people will come from miles to watch you burn."
-John Wesley

What makes it "home"?

I'm so blessed to spend the week in The Classic City - that's Athens. Athens made such an impact on my life during my years at UGA, namely because I embraced the community. I was lucky to befriend a number of folks who were Athens natives who helped show me the community.

Because of that, Athens became another home. It still feels like a second home. I found myself grow with the diversity and culture of Athens. It changed me.

I find that so many people don't embrace their community. Athens was home for a time for me, but now Gwinnett is home. And we've embraced it. You make a community your home by how much you pour yourself into it, by investing in it, by eating at little holes in the wall, and by getting to know people.

How are making your community your home? How are you letting it change you? How are you changing your community? Athens left a dent on me. I hope I left a dent on it, and I hope I will leave a dent on Gwinnett.

Go Church of the Way!

Church of the Way was recognized this morning as one of 5 churches in our conference that officially chartered this year.

Also, we finished ranked #7 out of over 930 churches in 'highest percentage membership increase'. Woohoo! Go God! Go Church!

Thanks for letting me serve such a great place!

Annual Conference has started!

I was up and out early to Athens today for our denomination's annual conference. United Methodist are like any other denomination...we have to have meetings. There is simply business that has to be done. Sometimes we begrudge that kind of work, but it's necessary to order the work of God.

The plusses? I get to see a lot of friends and colleagues. I get to spend a week in the Classic City. And I will surely get to test the battery life of my iPhone :)

Prat for church leaders across the world that are ordering the church. And remember that every job, even fun ones like mine, have meetings they have to go to.

The Devil didn't make me do it, but he sure tried to stop me

Yesterday, our Student Ministry made an epic journey to St. Simon's Island for our annual summer beach retreat. I say epic because it was quite a journey. They had a bus break down and ended up w/ no A/C and had to tie the electric doors w/ shoe-string to keep it closed. It was quite an ordeal. But they made it. That was the MAJOR problem. Of course, on another bus, a mirror came loose and on another the windshield wipers stopped working. Those were the MINOR problems. The good news is that they made it there safely.


I joked to our student pastor that "God must have something big in store for the retreat because the devil was trying everything he could to try and stop it." It's kind of one of those things that you hear preachers say a lot, but there is some truth to it.


Let me be the first to say that I'm not exactly sure how the devil works. I don't know what he gets to control. I don't think the devil gets to make people sick or cause catastrophes. I do think the devil gets to tempt us. I think the devil gets to get under our skin and get on our nerves. And I do think the devil is fully capable of putting bugs in engines and projectors and electric guitars and A/C units. Because I do know what the Bible says about the devil, and that's really all I can go on: "Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." (1 Peter 5:8).


There is an enemy at work and he wants to thart us from good and from God's blessing. He wants to turn our attention away from what it should be on. He wants to take our eyes off the path, and I think he'll do anything within his power to do it.


The great news is that we serve a God who has overcome the enemy. That doesn't mean that you won't face a few broken down A/C's a long the way. Life is full of adversity, but we serve a God that has overcome adversity. The key is to keep our eyes focused on Christ. The enemy will try to get our eyes on all the secondary stuff, all the side-bars. You don't have to worry about that stuff. God wants good for you. He's working for good for you. Know that there are going to be some distractions. But stay focused on Jesus.

Pressing On

It was a pretty awesome site today to see our students up on stage before they leave for our annual beach retreat. We sent 46 kids off the St. Simon's Island this afternoon.

Eighteen months ago, we had about 6 kids in our student ministry. It's been pretty amazing to see what God has done through that ministry. The key is leadership. Our student ministry has had a group of adult leaders and counselors who have invested in them and haven't given up on that ministry. 46 kids leaving for the beach is a testimony to that. I don't think leadership can be under-rated. Everything rises and falls with leadership. No organization or church or ministry or team can succeed without leadership.

Praise God for 46 kids at the beach and praise God for leadership!

Go for a Rolo

Might I suggest the Rolo McFlurry now being offered at McDonald's. I'm quite certain that it's not in your diet plan, but if you're looking for a treat on a cheat day, it's worth the calories. It's vanilla ice cream w/ chocolate and caramel goodness. Of course, it's offered for only a limited time.

Speaking of 'limited time.' Why is it that restuarants offer things that are really good for a limited time. If you have something that is good and people are buying it and you're making money on it, why would you only want to offer it for a limited time? It just confuses me. If it's good and people like it and you're profiting...what's up?

Here's hoping the Rolo McFlurry sticks. And aren't you glad God's love is not for a limited time!

Happy Friday!

Glad to be out at the Archer Football 2011 Golf Tourney. God bless the poor team that ends up with me.

The Danger of Hypocrisy

I'm pretty judicious about my Sports Illustrated. Usually, no matter what the cover story is, I start at the beginning. I read the short pieces at the start of the magazine as kind of an appetizer to the big, meatier stories that come at the end. It's a weekly process. That is, until I ran up on this this cover:

(cleveland.com - from Sports Illustrated)

I couldn't resist. I'm a huge college football fan and it's June and I'm desperate for any college football talk this time of year. Moreover, I've been fascinated by the story of Jim Tressel and Ohio State. Now, full disclosure here. I'm a self-avowed UGA fanatic and an SEC snob. I grew up on Southern football. But, I don't hate Ohio State or the Big 10 like a lot of other SEC fans do. In fact, I greatly admired Tressel. I appreciated his character and how he handled himself with class. I also have an affinity for coaches that wear ties, and he is just about the last of his breed in that regard. Ohio State has cool colors, too. My high school unis my freshman year looked almost identical to the Buckeyes and the local high school team I cheer for now, Archer, looks a lot like OSU. Plus, my Dawgs wear red and silver. So, I'm drawn to the color. (Yes, I'm THAT simple). Anyway, I liked Jim Tressel. And don't hate OSU.

That being said, some of the stuff in that article is terribly damaging. And the damage I'm most worried about is to the Kingdom of God. What concerns me most is how a leader who says he is a devout Christian can be so terribly deceived. According to the article, it's been going on a long time. One former colleague said this of Tressel from back in his younger days when he was in charge of football camp at OSU and would rig raffles so that star high school recruits won the prizes:

"In the morning he would read the Bible with another coach. Then, in the afternoon, he would go out and cheat kids who had probably saved up money from mowing lawns to buy those raffle tickets. That's Jim Tressel."

As I read that, I thought, "That's about the awfulest thing you can say about anyone." And my next thought was this: "I hope no one ever says that about me and my faith." Hypocrisy. It is one of the most dangerous things in Christendom. Hypocrisy can under mind good intentions. One moment of hypocrisy can ruin decades of faithfulness. Studies show that one of the main reasons that outsiders don't come to church is because of hypocrisy. They don't see the difference between Christians and non-Christians. Who can blame them. We often say one thing and do another. We claim one way of life but act out another. Look, no one is perfect. We all have our moments. What I think God wants from us is an attitude of obedience. What breaks my heart about Tressel is that a man of faith was led astray by some kind of faulty thinking that he didn't have to follow the rules and that it was okay to say one thing but do another. Maybe it was his position that did that. Maybe it happened slowly over time. I don't know the man. However, I know we are all capable of talking ourselves into believing that our hypocrisy is okay. It's not. Let the Church be known as faithful, not hypocrites.

My Brother's Keeper

This past Sunday was kind of a promotion day for our Children's Minsitry. Kids that were certain ages moved up to the next age group. This was a mixed bag for my second son, Tanner. He would not be moving up. He didn't really care about that. He's happy with his class. But, his 'best friend in his class', Jake, was moving up. We encouraged him and told him that he could still be friends with Jake, he'd just have to find a new 'best friend in his class' to hang out with on Sundays. After church, I asked Tanner how it went. He said that he was still friends with Jake but he had a new best friend in his class. I asked him who it was and he answered, "Walker."

Walker is my third son. Promotion day meant that he got to go to his big brother's class. Of course, it made me proud that Tanner chose Walker as his new 'best friend in his class.' But I was a little surprised, too. Tanner and Walker, like most brothers, spend a fair amount of time fighting, screaming at each other and crying because one took a toy away from another. There are many times they are mortal enemies, not best friends. But they are brothers, and brothers they will always be. I'm glad my second born son sees that.

Family life is sometimes messy. Family members make us mad, say things that hurt us, and do things that sting. Family members sometimes get on our nerves and sometimes make us cry. But they are still family, and they always will be. And we shouldn't take them for granted. Do you appreciate your family? Are you able to recognize their friendship? Have you told them that you love them? Remember what my boy remembered: when all else fails, you family will still be there. Thank God for family.

Only God

I was reading this morning about the story of Abraham and Sarah, how she laughed when God told Abraham that they would conceive a child in their 90's. It is pretty humorous. My grandmother is 94, so, yeah, I can see the humor. But my grandmother has had two kids. Sarah had had none. She was barren for 90 years. Only God.

I live in a world of "only God" because of my job. It's part of the deal for me. Our church can do everything right. We can do ministry with excellence, preach the best sermons, make it easy to connect with God and others, play incredible music, have have the best graphics and technology, and have the most dynamic children's and youth ministries on the planet...but there is still an 'only God' element.

I can't make people get out of bed on Sunday morning and come to church. Only God can. I can't make a newcomer make plans on Saturday night to try out our church for the first time. Only God can. I can't force people away from their coffee, cereal and the Sunday paper to worship. Only God can. And, yet, He does. God is continuing to bring new people to Church of the Way (and churches all across the world) because he is drawing them to Himself. Though this is one of those deals that can be frustrating (because we all want control, right?), it's also one of the most freeing things about ministry. Moreover, I've found that it applies to life as well.

My guess is that you've got some areas in your life that are 'only God' areas. That is, it doesn't matter how much money, time or energy you throw at it, there is an element to it that you can't control. There is something that needs to be done that only God can do. When we get to our 'only God' wit's end, we're starting to get in a better spot because, then, we're starting to depend less on ourselves and more on God. When we have an 'only God' spot in our lives, we get on our knees before God and pray like we've never prayed before. When we have an 'only God' area, we tell others to pray for us. We study His Word. We begin to trust. We cling to faith...because it's all we have.

Maybe you're one of those people in that isn't sure about Jesus yet. I'll bet you've got an area of your life that is puzzling you. Maybe you can't get it fixed. Have you considered that it might be an 'only God' area? Maybe you're a Christian but you like control. Maybe it's time you gave it up. Maybe Jesus wants to tell you that 'only God' can step in where you've stepped in far too often. Is it time for you to let God do what 'only God' can?

In the Eye of the Tornado

Our church took a group to Ringgold, GA on Saturday to help with the continued clean-up going on there in the aftermath of the tornado several weeks ago. The impact on the community were simply devastating. The destructive path the tornado left was mind boggling, as you can see:

That photo is from a neighborhood that probably looks a lot like the one you and live in. Just normal folks who worked hard to build or buy a house and it's simply gone. About the only question that comes to mind when you see that kind of destruction is "Why?" It's natural to ask, "Why would a God that loves us so much allow such a terrible thing to happen?" My oldest son wondered this when the tornadoes ripped through Alabama and Georgia. He said to me, "Doesn't God control the weather?"

He really hit on the key word there: control. There is a big difference between controlling and being in control. I'm in control of my family, but I don't control everything my boys do. God is in control, but He is not a controlling God. That's because God gave us control. God gave us freedom. Freedom to to choose. Freedom to do things our way. A long time ago, we humans chose disobedience. God promised that if we disobeyed, death would enter the world. A world with tornadoes, tragedy, and murder is not the world God imagined. It's the world we created out of our disobedience. Our sin threw the universe off it's axis. But, be encouraged, help is on the way.

Jesus is the answer to that problem. Jesus is the step God has taken to begin redeeming the world and reconciling all creation to him. In Him there is a promise of a world turned back to the way God invisioned, without tornadoes or tears or death. And in the midst of that, our response HAS to be being a part of His redemptive work in the world. For me, and for our church, it meant taking a crew to Ringgold and standing on a forklift to cut down limbs in the yard of a sweet little old lady, Frances, who is lucky the limbs fell on her fence and not her home.

The Church can't stop a tornado, but we can be determined to not let it win. God is calling you to be a part of His redemption of the world, abroad, in another state, or maybe across the street. There will come a day when good will win and there will be no more tragedy and things will be set back in place the way they orginally intended. But we can start the process now. Where is God calling you to be a part of the story of his redemption of the world?

God made it all

Great day at CHURCH OF THE WAY! Our Wonder Way kids class sang "God made it all" today. One of the lines talked about God making our eyes, ears and teeth. You ever thought about God making your teeth? You ever thought about the kind detail that God went to in creating you? I mean, you are special. He put thought into our teeth! I'm thankful for teeth because I'm thankful for corn on the cobb and peanut brittle, both incredibly difficult to eat without teeth. I'm thinking God is a brittle fan. That's probably why he thought of the teeth.

Long day

Back from a long day of helping some folks in Ringgold. Still a lot of devastation there. We got to help 2 ladies clear some trees.

On to Ringgold

On our way to Ringgold to help with tornado clean up. May God continue to bless those affected by the storm.

Date Night

So, last night my wife and I had a mini-date night. It wasn't that extravagant. Movie and dinner in the food court at the mall. We've had better. We had some cheap movie tickets and wanted to just make it a quick date. But, even 'mini-date nights' are important. There are things that happen that are tangible when we get away like that.

• We hold hands more. Maybe it's because we're not holding other little hands or pushing a stroller, but it's a good thing.


• The tension is released. We get to be us. We don't have to be parents for a couple of hours.


• The conversation is different. We talk about the future, the kids. We talk about life. We enjoy each other


• The meal is stress free. It's nice not to have to feed someone else or clean up everone else's mess.


• We serve each other. We spend so much time serving our children, that we it's hard to serve each other when the kids are around. It's nice to serve one another

I think a lot of marriage problems could me solved over dinner without kids. I think parents get in a rut of not knowing how to be anything but parents. Raising kids is stressful. It's the most stressful job on the planet. I recently said that starting a church was the hardest thing I've ever done except parenting. Parenting never gives you a moment off. In the midst of that stress parents often forget who they really are and who they fell in love with in the first place.

Marriage is a lot of work. You hear people say that all the time. But it's not rocket science. It simply takes discipline to do the things that will nurture our relationship with each other. If we're not doing that, then we're not investing what we need to invest in our spouse. It's simple. You probably fell in love taking walks, sitting over a table of good food or holding hands at a movie. Keep falling. Keep doing the things that led you there. Date nights, even a mini-date night, sure can solve a lot.

The Power of Presence

There is one reason I trust God's leadership in my life: "I will never leave you nor forsake you" Joshua 1:5. That one verse says it all to me. I trust God because I know that he will be there. I think this is an extremely important point for leaders to understand. The people you lead need to know you're going to be there.

A good friend recently told me that he expected this to his last year at his current organization. I was immediately worried for him and his leadership. When you've got one foot out the door, your team members, co-workers, employees and colleagues can sense it. Most importantly, those that you lead won't trust you. They feel like you've already left. It's very difficult to lead if you're thinking about being somewhere else in 6 months, a year or even five years. I'm thinking five to ten years down the road all the time as I lead my church. I have to. I have to make decisions believing that I'll have to live with them for the next decade, not that they'll be somebody else's mess to clean up.

Now, this isn't to say you never move or that God doesn't call us elsewhere. It's more that if you're feeling led away as a leader, go ahead and scratch that itch. Leaders can do irreparable damage to an organization when they lead as lame ducks for a year or two. I fully believe that God calls us to different places for different seasons of our lives. However, I also fully believe it's best to operate assuming you're going to retire at that location or in that organization. If God calls, you go. But don't lead with a foot out the door. You'll only damage the organization and your legacy.