Rumor has it that our entire staff team and thier spouses (unless they are out of town or are pregnant-which is already 2) will be running in a 5k on Thanksgiving morning at Marietta Square.

Nothing like running 3 miles in the freezing cold to grow you together as a team and get you ready to eat a bunch of food later that afternoon.

Should be a lot of fun. If you are in the area, are part of Freedom, or just wanna give it a try, let me know!

After trying to sell their home in a TERRIBLE housing market, having one offer fall through at the last second, and being forced to live apart from each other (Craig in Memphis, and Teri, Maddi, and Kelsianne in Georgia) for the past 4 months - the Regans have officially sold their house!

In spite of all the hassle, God has been working behind the scenes in a big way. The falling through of the first offer ended up being a huge blessing as the second offer was much more profitable for their family!

It’s pretty amazing to look back on the process. God was at work orchestrating a better outcome than they would have drawn up for themselves.

I think that happens quite often in our lives - I just wish I did a better job of remembering that in the middle of certain situations!

Wow! Just got two quotes back from different companies about our sound/lighting/video needs for FC.

One was for $100,000.

The other was for $19,000.

The interesting thing is that the quotes were for basically the same thing. So it looks like we will go with the $19,000.

One thing is true. Knowing which price to go with and how you are going to pay for it are two completely different things. Pray with us about that! I am sure a pretty incredible “God story” is just around the corner.

Gotta throw a shout out to all the new KSU people running across the blog…

It’s funny what a half a million doughnuts will do when given out on campus!

We love free stuff - so we figured you would as well.

No worries - you will be seeing us quite a bit. Round 2 coming soon to a dorm near you!

If you are praying about planting a church - then you need to be praying about who will come on board as your associate/executive pastor. This decision is HUGE!

You have to be able to fully trust this person with your life. If you do not have that type of relationship with the person - than he probably shouldn’t be a candidate for the position.

Look at every church that is really getting it done across the country and each of them has a GREAT executive pastor. I can’t overstate how important this person is to the organization..

With that in mind, I thank God every day that He has allowed me the opportunity to work with Todd. He is in a role he has never been in before; however, he spends massive amounts of time and energy learning from the best executive pastors in the country and is now way ahead of the learning curve. He is doing a great job and I can’t wait to see how God is going to use him in even greater ways at Freedom.

The launch team meeting last night went very well. We are getting closer to where we want to be before launch, but we have a LONG way to go!

I have several questions running through my mind about the potential opportunities and challenges that are ahead of us.

Church planting isn’t easy, but there is nothing I would rather be doing!

Miami is on the right track but we are DEFINITELY a year away from being a decent football team. We have some good players but we desperately lack execution. Without execution - great coaches and a great gameplan are irrelevant.

We must execute! Whether on the field or life in general - execution is vital.

Ever feel like you have to earn the approval of others and/or the approval of God? I think most people struggle with this more often than we would like to admit. I know I do.

Ever feel that you, the real you - yeah that one are totally unworthy of God’s love and His forgiveness? I am guilty again!

Here is reality as a follower of Christ

My chains are gone
Ive been set free
My God My Savior has ransomed me
And like a flood, His Mercy Reigns
Unending Love, Amazing Grace

That my friends….is good news!

Another round of meetings today…

First, I met with a guy about our sound/video/lighting needs. He was a GREAT guy and I look forward to receiving his quote later today. He impressed me with his knowledge and his desire to give us the best possible solutions for our situation. Even though he does this all the time - he made us feel like we were at the top of his priority list….Trust me when I say that this is VERY important!

After that, I had lunch with Russ Butcher from Church at the Grove. He is a year in to the church plant and is doing a great job. I really enjoyed hanging out and learning from him. Not to mention that we hung out at the Cheesecake Factory. Can’t beat that. Russ has some great ideas and I am excited about what God has in store!

I am in the process of learning the difference between praise and encouragement. Both are good - but encouragement is more far-reaching. Praise is general while encouragement is more specific.

Praise - “Great job at church today”.
Encouragement - “I really appreciate all the hard work you put into the childrens ministry this morning”.

We are challenging our leaders to use both praise and encouragement to speak into the lives of people. With both praise and encouragement we must be consistent, honest, specific, and immediate.

These go a long way in creating a culture of excellence, gratitude, and sacrifice.