I am excited about our launch team Christmas party tonight! It will be a blast!

From what I have heard, the food is going to be amazing…

See you there!

1. Bikes or Bust is going to be a ton of fun!
2. Todd has made 345,000 emails, 631,000 phone calls, and 234 personal visits in order to make this thing happen!
3. Overflow (Gift Offering) is going to be intense! $15,000 in one night? Sacrifice! Generosity!
4. The more effort we put into Freedom Church - the more I realize that we are completely reliant on God!
5. It is raining! In Georgia - that is VERY good news!
6. January is getting here FAST!
7. I just saw a duck-billed platypus. Random!

“The positive things you do in excess, followers will emulate in moderation. The negative things you do in moderation, they will emulate in excess.”

This is a great reminder to live a life of grace, generosity, and sacrifice. Everyone is a leader to someone!

In an attempt to make an investment in our community, we have had to do something a little different. We knew we wanted to do something significant, but didn’t have the funds needed to pull it off. As a result…

Beginning Tuesday, December 18th at 10AM we will begin “living” on top of a rather large scissor lift in the parking lot of Day’s Chevrolet in Acworth. We will stay up there for at least 48 hours in an attempt to partner with the community to obtain 100+ brand new bicycles to give away to students at McCall Primary and Acworth Elementary. 43% of the students at McCall and 53% of the students at Acworth Elem. are on the reduced lunch program. These are great kids and they deserve a great Christmas!

94.9 The Bull will be broadcasting live from the event on Tuesday and doing call-ins throughout the event to monitor the progress! Wal Mart is giving disounts on the bikes and making it very convenient for everyone to take part in Bikes or Bust!

It should be a ton of fun!

We headed out to the Cheesecake Factory last night for our first staff Christmas party. We had a blast! We were able to sit out on the patio since it was the opposite of cold - which means we had the entire place to ourselves. We definitely needed it!

After leaving there, we headed right next door to ESPN Zone for some video games, football, basketball, etc. Gotta love that!

We have an incredible team! People that are extremely talented and a ton of fun to hang with.

Thank you Eric, Todd and Joni, Blake and Emily, Justin and Dawn! Y’all are awesome

We have a big meeting today about a community project we are putting together for next week. It is going to be VERY interesting! I am excited about the opportunity to demonstrate gratitude and generosity this early in the process. It is going to be much fun!

Once we get the website up and running, I will post all the details. In the meantime, pray that next week is not windy, and that I do not fall off of anything!

The weather outisde is…..

HOT!

I just turned on the air conditioner at the house!

White Christmas? Probably not…

At this stage in the journey, we believe we have some pretty good ideas - but that’s all they are - ideas. Nothing has really been tested in our context. As a result, I tell every church planter that calls that the advice I give them is theory.

That being said, Tom Brady, just made a statement that reiterates what I am trying to communicate. In reference to a young guy on another team who guaranteed a victory over the Patriots this week…Brady commented, “Well done is better than well said”.

As we continue on the journey with Freedom Church - my desire is to make sure we always remember that. When it’s all said and done, I want to hear “Well Done”, more than just “Well said”.

A friend of mine apparantly thinks his name is Orville or Wilbur because he figured out how to fly around his backyard with a gigantic boxfan. This is worth checking out right here.

No I am not kidding. Dan Craddock is a psycho!

One question we get asked alot is how we are able to recruit staff in our situation. Basically, how can you recruit staff members with no money? Good question. Here’s our story.

Freedom Church has 5 staff members. 3 full time. 2 part time (I use that term very loosely).

Our full time staff members are responsible for raising our own financial support for the first couple years. This is done through relationships with people and/or other churches/organizations. This is HARD! You definitely learn what it means to be God-dependant. Our part time staff members work full time jobs and are still able to give quite a bit of time to Freedom Church. These people are an invaluable resource!

We have been very blessed with an INCREDIBLE staff. For our entire team - it is not about money. It’s not a “good job opportunity”. It is about a calling from God and the opportunity to be a part of something that is bigger than us!

It is difficult! To say that it’s not would be a lie. That being said - it is more than worth it!