1. Tonight was our last launch team meeting at NorthStar.
2. We are moving the last three launch team meetings to North Metro Tech at 10:30AM! Full set-up included!
3. From this point forward - Sunday morning will never be the same for me again!
4. I think it has rained more in the past 7 days than it has in the past 7 months.
5. 2008 will be a year like no other! I can’t wait!

A few random thoughts…

1. Not 100% sure what it will be like in hell….but I am pretty sure that it will involve quite a bit of painting!
2. They now make lavender scented tires. Why?
3. A friend of mine was given a ton of church planting resources called “Church Planting on the Cutting Edge”. They were on cassette. That’s funny.
4. The Freedom Church Website is almost ready! (not the one you can see now - the real one)
5. After all the food I ate the past couple days, I need to add about 3 extra miles per day to the running routine.
6. What a great Christmas!

Last night was the Overflow gift offering.

We fasted, prayed, talked to other pastors, etc., and decided to set the goal at $15,000 to help with the $39,000 worth of equipment we had to order. $15,000 for a church that hasn’t even started yet was a God-sized goal to say the least. Several people told me that I was insane and that if we got anywhere near that number that it would be a miracle!

I felt confident that if everyone on our launch team gave sacrificially we could meet the goal that God had placed on our heart. I have communicated repeatedly that we want to live in the realm of the unexplainable…meaning that I want God to be the only answer for what is happening at FC. Last night that happend… After it was all said and done, the launch team of FC had given $20,435.90! That’s insane! I was speechless at that display of generosity! God is doing some great things in the lives of our people - I can’t wait to see what He has in store!

In the midst of a busy week, one word seems to dominate my mind…

Gratitude! I am grateful for so much, but here are a couple recent blessings at the forefront of my thoughts.

Mike Linch and NorthStar Church - God has used this man and these people in my life and the life of Freedom in a HUGE way! In a meeting with Mike late last week, he told me that they were going to help financially support FC. Talk about being Kingdom minded! We are only 4 miles away - but together we can accomplish more than we could alone! Mike gets it and I am honored to know him!

Michael Lukaszewski and Oak Leaf Church - Michael has decided that as part of their Gift Offering this year, they are going to help FC as well. These guys have been a huge resource and a model of generosity and Kingdom mindedness. God is doing great things in Cartersville and I am grateful for the opportunity to learn from the type of leaders that they have on their staff. Thank you!!!

The people of Freedom Church…I will write more later, but you have officially blown me away!

Malachi 3:10 says, “Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test!”

With that verse in mind, Overflow takes place on Sunday night! What an incredible opportunity for everyone on the launch team at Freedom Church to make a sacrificial investment as we get ready to hit the ground running in Acworth! Most of us say we believe God to be trustworthy - on Sunday we will put that statement to the test!

We are praying for $15,000 in one night BEFORE we officially open the doors to the public in January. This would be an incredible testimony of the provision of God as we move forward with the purchase of close to $40,000 worth of equipment that we will need to operate with excellence from Day 1!

God is going to do great things Sunday Night!

BikesorBust was a ton of fun, but it was a ton of work as well. THANK YOU to all the people who made it happen…

Craig, Teri, Maddi, and Kelsianne Regan
Rick and Shiree Goss
Carl Bargsley - for always fixing our power when we seemed to break it!
Tyler Orr
Chris and Sharon Williams
Zach and Jessi Brown
Jason Coobs
Ian Schneider (I would link to him, but he never updates! Hint, Hint)
Joni Lollis
Rick Crosby
Mayor Tommy Allegood
Devin Lee
MaryBeth Lawler
Corey and Jenn Tutor
Justin and Dawn Boye (Same update thing with Justin - Hint, Hint)
Eric Crosby
Blake and Emily Goss
TODD LOLLIS (He organized the entire event, the volunteers, etc. - GREAT JOB)

Those who purchased bikes, hung out at the lift site, braved their life on the lift, did shifts at Wal-Mart, sent press releases, made phone calls, sent emails, delivered food, etc., etc….thank you! You modeled Generosity to this great community! Keep it coming!

This hit the paper today…Front and Center!

We have somewhere between 111 - 120 bikes! Either way - we exceeded the goal!

We had a ton of fun, met a lot of people, did several interviews, took a ton of pictures, rode bicycles through elementary schools with the principal, and helped a TON of kids and their families!

After we celebrate this one a little - the preparation for next year will begin…A special thank you blog will happen tomorrow. With 4 hours sleep in the last 48 hours, I will forget just about everything!

1. The Webcam was out for a while today. No power at the top for a long time, but its all good now.
2. Did and interview with CBS 46 News. More to come on that later!
3. The principals of both McCall Primary and Acworth Elementary made it up on the lift! Both were awesome and weren’t phased at all!
4. Acworth Mayor, Tommy Allegood, did a great job on the interview! Can’t wait to see it later!
5. We have been awake 41 of the past 42 hours. Ridiculous!
6. I will write much more about this later but we have had a TON of volunteers put in a TON of hours making this thing happen. More to come on that but THANK YOU!
7. Still 10 short on the bikes so far…No worries- that will be taken care of soon enough I am sure!