what a sweet picture...

The power of the mac, that is where that pic came from...yea, this is my little brother Adam and I from Atalanta this past weekend. we had the chance to go to the Sundays at North Point conference, a 2 day experience where we got to see the environments at NPCC and got to meet with staff and talk about the ministry flow at the church. Great weekend, great experience to see the church up close. North Point has been so influential in my life, and seeing it up close did not disappoint. Adam and I both learned so much but what I took away from the weekend was seeing how far God has allowed GCC to come with family ministry in Clarksville. We have been putting new methods of family ministry into action in Clarksville for the past 2 years and so much we discovered though the team at NPCC. Really I am just proud of our volunteers, our staff, and the GCC church family for all the work over the past 2 years. As i watched the North Point team go for it Sunday I was thrilled to think that back in Clarksville our team was going for it with the same passion. I am thrilled with the difference God has allowed us to make so far and I am so excited to see what is next for our team. Lets dream big, trust God, and go for it!

Last week, Chelsea and I painted and finished Kelyn's BIG GIRL BED. yes both my girls are now sleeping in their own bed and it is so cool. yea, I know we are moving out of baby stage, but man we are thrilled. we have loved our girls as baby BUT man it is sweet to see them both grow and play together also. Both beds were beds that my brothers and I had when we were kids. Love my girls and so glad we could pass the beds down to them.

This is a big week at GCC, Daniel Doss released his CD today, yea it was on Itunes and in stores! Daniel is a great friend and he leads us each week at GCC. I am so thrilled that God has given him this chance to lead others in worship of Jesus Christ. Go out and get that CD!

wow, our team is amazing!

Well, it is Sunday and I have been here in Atlanta all day checking out North Point Community church. (http://www.northpoint.org/) Andy Stanley, Reggie Joiner, Steve Fee, the North Point team have been such an influence in my life and ministry and it has been good to finally see their environments up close and it has been well worth the time. All this time and this is the first Sunday I have ever been to the church.

Will say more about the experience later but I had to just get on here and type out my thanks to our team back and GCC, wow...gone all day and we had an incredible night at REMIX. It is so great to have an amazing team that will work to hit a home run every week. It was also amazing to be able to leave for a Sunday and have my pastor invest in the teens at our environment. Thanks to all who made it happen this week. Can not wait to see everyone next week for the DDB cd release concert!

More coming from last week with some new pics of the girls. Kelyn got her BIG girl bed!

I broke it...

You see that board...yea...I broke it on Sunday night at REMIX. (www.relevantstudents.com) we launched into a new series call THE GOOD FIGHT that is trying to help teens fight for a relationship with their parents. To help set the series up Taylor Hughes a friend I know who is a black belt came up and brought me a karate suit, and taught me how to break a board and in front of a ton of people broke that thing. I had to post it and I am keeping it in my office. You do need to come by and check that out. It was so much fun.

Today is Valentine’s Day and man I am blessed with an incredible wife. We are going on a date on Friday and I am ready for the time with her. God so blessed me with such a beautiful woman with such a love for life. She is an incredible mom and wife and I love her so much. Chelsea you are the best! Oh yea...we had a sweet party for my little girls also. They know their dad loves them.

This is a week that I have needed to step back and get better perspective on life and ministry. It has been challenging but God has brought me through to see things a little clearer. For me when things are going well I still go through times of self introspection and find myself evaluating the ministry going on around me. There is a balance to find in evaluating, creating, improving, and stepping back and RESTING in the God that this is all for. My life is for His Glory. There are times to step back and embrace that truth. I am His and I live for be fully pleased in God. This is the day to step back and REST and TRUST. Thanks God for all you do.

good stuff...

Yea, Grace Community church got a visit by the Catalyst Road Trip (http://catalystroadtrip.wordpress.com/) Yep, those good looking guys are Ben Chad and Bayne with LV and Mack from the Road Trip. You can go to the blog and check out what these guys are up to. You have to go see this van they are rolling around America in. It was great to share with the guys what God is doing at GCC. God is on the move in Clarksville and it is so great to be a small part of what is going on. Moments when we get to talk about GCC to other people are times when we realize that God is allowing us to create a culture of worshippers who are different. We are not a copy of any other church...yes we have learned from others but we are striving to allow God to give us our own unique environment. Great to have a visit from the Road Trip crew. If you have never been to the Catalyst Conference you have to make plans now!

This weekend is going to be wild. I get to speak to fathers and daughters at a Clarksville event called the Purity Ball put on by the Hope Pregnancy Center. It is so cool because yep, I have daughters and it is one of those dress up nights. After this I am speaking in Cross Street Sunday morning then Remix Sunday night - 4 talks in one weekend. Need God's strength for sure!

Good news, I have heard the new Daniel doss band Cd and I have to say - it is amazing. All of you who have been led by D over the years at church, camps and retreats are in for a sweet surprise. This is an amazing CD. Get ready to get it...the CD release party is Sunday night March 2 at Rossview High with DDB in concert.

conclave 2008 in Chattanooga

Been here in Chattanooga at Conclave 2008...(http://www.southeastconclave.0rg/) thinking and dreaming about student ministry. In my new role at GCC I work with our team to minister to kids from preschool to High School, wow...it has been good to narrow the focus and just dream about student ministry. Conclave moves to Atlanta next year for 2009, great conference and one I will bring some of our team back to next year. With that said the picture here is Charlie Hall leading us in the session tonight. I want to say thanks to the people at Grace Community for allowing us to create an environment in Clarksville that moves beyond "contemporary" (what is that anyway) TO an atmosphere of creativity that allows people to get beyond distraction and focus on the love of Jesus Christ for humanity. I used to go to conference and wonder why I had to go back to worship gatherings that made were founded in traditions of years past. Why could the gathering not be today? Why could it not make sense? Thanks Grace for allowing us to create a place like this. All of you would have felt right at home here at the conference. Hope Charlie gets to lead us in song at GCC sometime. Thanks Daniel D and Michael H for leading us each week. I appreciate it and how you strive to lead us to see Jesus clearly in the songs we sing.

Tonight Erwin McManus said this about the church today...
"We have loved traditions more than our children...we have been willing to lose a generation of our children to protect our traditions inside the church" WOW...chew on that a little. Thank God teens and college students are finding community each week in our Sunday morning gatherings at Grace. When our gatherings become foreign to teens and college kids we might need to evaluate our traditions. It is amazing to create student environments not to supplement the CHURCH or create a separate teen church but rather to simply help teens become fully devoted followers of Christ (this gathering is what we call ReMIX at GCC). That is what I do now because on Sunday mornings our services are making sense to today’s generation. Our traditions are not sacred. Methods are not holy. Our Savior Jesus Christ is sacred and this is all for Him.

what happened to fun...

When people start yaking about work and fun many of us just shut down. Many of us work at jobs we hate and honetly the best part of our week is Friday when we clock out. I have had jobs like that, walked in those shoes but hope to never put them on again. When i think back about work I think of so many times when we made what we did fun. Yes even at Food Lion when I was in college we had fun while we knocked out our 40 hours during the week. Fun was always relational...yes I connected with the people I worked with and we made it fun. Even as a teen my brother and I found ways to have fun while we worked our rears off on the farm. The thing with the work idea is that it was not our idea. God made it right off the start and gave man work right at creation. Adam was created and began the process of naming the animals...WORK. Can you imagine being the first human to see a elephant and have to name it. That had to be a fun job. We were all made to work, to create, to add value to the world around us by what we "do".

With that said this week at staff meeting to celebrate the 50th anniversery of Lego our co-pastor brought out a box of Legos and we all went to work creating what you see in that picture and yes that is Daniel Doss as a backdrop. We all helped, we all felt a little dumb and first, and we all laughed in the process. We were in staff meeting and had fun. Let me type that again. In staff meeting at a church we had fun. There are not many times where staff meeting and fun merge but many times lately we have found ourelves having fun being with each other. It seems like every time we have fun together we get closer to trusting each other and enjoying the work we do more.

Just a reminder this week that we can relax and have fun in the church world. Our staffs our churches our weekly gathering can be fun and should be a place where leaders want to work and volunteer. We miss it when we do not help our people have fun. When we enjoy what we do in the church we are free to serve in the joy of the Lord at every turn. We are free to bless others with kindness and a smile because we love what we do. Because of a email conversation this week between a few pastors and leaders in the area I have been reminded of how quick FUN can be zapped out of serving God in the church. Problems, doctrinal issues, distrust, arguments and busy work can drain the joy out of serving and being with other followers of Christ. I know, I know there are times to be serious and focus, but come on and lets have fun while we serve the one true God who made us. Today is a new day - live in it to the fullest and take some time to have fun.

always influencing...

As I go to bed each night I still find myself taking just a few minutes to talk to God before I go to sleep. Somewhere back there I started it and I just can not seem to stop now. I learned a long time ago that it could not be long because I will go fast to sleep right in the middle of prayer but I just take a few minutes just to pray for my girls, whatever is coming up the next day, and take some time to say thanks to God for another day. Last night I was praying just as any night and I found myself asking God a really dumb question. Have you ever asked God something really stupid? I know, you can ask God anything...but this question really seemed dumb after I asked it. I prayed, " God give me chances to influence my girls for You." As soon as I said it I had an OH MAN moment, It was a "why did I ask that" moment because my brain was taken over with all the chances in a day when I get to influence my kids. I was asking God to do something he was already continually doing. Every moment with my girls is a moment to influence. They are always watching me...they get mad like I do, laugh like I do, sing crazy songs like I do, treat others like I do, ask questions like I do so it makes sense that when I live out my faith in Christ in front of them I will be influencing them. My girls are watching me, they are learning from me. Every moment is a moment to influence them and point them to the God I love, to my Savior Christ. Our kids will embrace God when they God become real in our every day life. We never have to ask for a chance to influence, God is giving us the chance every moment.

office notes...

This may be a church "office" first! I got to work last Thursday trying to get back from time off with the Holidays and right in our hall was a ton of inspirational pictures on the wall. Yes the picture you see on this blog is from the Grace Community office and it is a huge montage of pictures and quotes from the tv show the office. Yes, we all watch it. Yes, when we saw these up on the wall we all fell over laughing. They are crazy and you can get the pictures from nbc.com I think or HP's web site...not sure. I am so thrilled to work with the people I work with. Office atmosphere and and environments that people enjoy do not happen by accident. We attempt to hire leaders at every level for every position and I am learning that the environment that leaders work in matters so much. People will not be productive in negative or tight atmospheres. Leaders must be listened to, leaders must have input, leaders must have direction and information in order to lead others! we are trying to create that kind of environment at GCC, we hope people want to come to work - not dread it. We hope people feel valued and supported and free to work and dream with passion. we are gonna keep trying. Thanks to the guys in our office for making work fun. Working in and for GOD's economy should be the best environment in the work to be in. To all of you in the "church" who lead others. lets keep trying to create environments that work so others can work.

hello 2008...

The first post of the year is always fun. This will be year 2 of my blogging life! I have enjoyed this during year one. For some reason it helps me to come on this thing and hammer out some thoughts and some memories from my crazy mind. I have enjoyed it, hope to keep it up for year 2. It has reached habit stage! I actually have stuff happen and think...i need to blog that out. HA! Many times it does not make it here as I forget the thought or the idea but hey, forgive me being dad, husband and minister can keep a guys mind hopping. We have enjoyed the first few days of 2008. Spent a few days just hanging out with folks we love and watching football. Go titans and vols, I am so stoked with Tennessee football, it is good to be a titan and vol fan. I also got to play Weii for the first time. OK, I love it, it is a great system. Love tennis! It rocks. Golf is sweet also. Hope to get one of those for our family next Christmas.

Dec. 30 something odd happened in my life...my church...did not GATHER. For one Sunday we actually did not have services. I have never experience this! Let me explain, at Grace Community we have not had services the last Sunday of the year since the launch. It does seem odd to not have services but it has been an amazing time of refreshment for our folks. We had a ton of choices for the day. What would we do with a day with no service at our church. We decided to not go to another church but rather just have some folks over to eat breakfast. It was wild to look around the room on a Sunday ad just BE together with no plan. Yes it was amazing, to have one day for our children and preschool leaders to be able to rest, to relax, to not have to prepare. As I thought about the benefit of the day I could not help but think what a blessing it was for all of us who invest into the lives of kids at our church. We have an amazing group of people who love on kids! it was great to give them one week during the year to REST, to catch a breath, to remember all that God has done. It was so incredible to look around and hang out with people who invest so much during the week. At the end of the day I came away thankful once again for my church family. I can not wait to gather Jan. 6 and see how God works.

One last thing...reading Unchristian right now by Dave Kinneman and Gabe Lyons! WOW, you need to go get this book and do some reading. The book looks at the perception people outside the church have of Christianity and it is blowing me away. To have this kind of research is amazing and eye opening for me as a Christ follower and a leader in a local church. Go get it but be ready to be challenged.

one last time for 2007...

One final post for 2007, here it is here we go. We just got back in from celebrating Christmas with our family in Shelbyville and the trip was a ton shorter this year. we cut our trip from 13 hours to one and a half, wow. We did miss our VA friends but man we did not miss the drive. Chelsea and I got to celebrate 12 years of marriage last night. I surprised her with a night away from the kids with a little overnight trip to downtown Nashville and the Melting Pot, wow what a great place to eat. It is wild to look back and realized we have been married for 12 years. Our hope and prayer is to make it another 12, we have to many friends and family who have not but hey we are going for it. We love each other and understand each other so much more today than we did 12 years ago. I am so blessed with my family, God dropped a huge blessing in my lap and wow I am blessed. with 2 girls now and a wife I am learning what it means to balance being dad and husband. STILL learning, everyday I am learning, got to keep learning and living and loving my girls.

Looking back on 2007 I am blown away by all the changes and how much personal growth I have experienced. God brought so many dreams to reality in 2007. So many ideas that have been exploding in my head for the past 7 years are beginning to be lived out in my everyday life. I learned this year that I am not crazy for thinking the thoughts I have about church. I am not alone in the mission to redefine "church life" here in America. There are so many of us who have surrendered to God's call to create environments for people to connect with God not just preserve or maintain. I have been called to think dream and create and in 2007 I have been released to do that very thing. In 07 I discovered that relationships MATTER. Yes that seems so simple but for years most of my relationships have focused on people inside my local church, my volunteers, my group of teens and this year I have been awakened to the relationships I need to maintain and nurture outside my little safe Cristian bubble. There is so much to learn from those around us from those who follow Christ and those who do not. Those who are like me and those who are not. I have learned this year to listen and be aware of the people around me and look for the relationships God has intended for me. People matter so much to God, they should matter to me. In 2007 I am learning the art of being generous, yes it is a an art to me because it does not come natural for me. Giving away my time, money, and the grace I can give to others matters. In 07 I have learned that High def tv is sweet especially when I am watching the Titans or Vols (sorry had to get that in). Thanks a little to this blog I am learning to express my thoughts a little better in 2007. In 07 I have have learned even more the art of leading a team of people who are incredible leaders. Leading leaders mean listening, means casting a big vision, and it means being willing to accept other ideas. It is fun but challenging and I get to work with some incredible people. In 07 I have been reminded to live and enjoy everyday...no day is guaranteed. In 07 I have been reminded to pray - sounds simple but how can we gripe about stuff we never talk to God about, yea thanks Chad for that idea! In the middle of life, kids, bills, problems, parties prayer seems to be the one thing that gets pushed, learning I have to fight for it, want it or it will never happen. 2007 was a wild year and I know there is so much in 2008. Chelsea and I are gearing up for new challenges and new lessons. God has amazing plans,we are blessed with every day we get to be a apart of His mission. Here comes 08 - happy new year "yall"