I get the huge privilege of talking to church planters all the time.   I talk to guys who are doing a great job, guys who will do a great job, and guys who could go either way.  With that in mind…

One statement that I hear all the time is that “it’s easier to deliver a baby than it is to raise the dead”.  You definitely can’t argue against that thought; however, it doesn’t mean that delivering a baby is easy.   I don’t know, but I am assuming (based on how much it cost) that delivering a baby is a little complicated. 

The same is true of planting a church.  You have to do your homework, spend massive amounts of time with God, and learn from people who are ahead of you.   If you don’t - regardless of how “innovative”, “contemporary”, or “biblical” you think you are, your church planting journey will probably be a short one. 

Still can’t believe that we are less than 6 days away from something that we have been talking about for the past 2 years! 

The journey leading up to this point has been incredible!  I feel like all the hard work is coming together and everyone is ready for Sunday!

We are asking people to not just pray for Freedom Church, but to pray for the city of Acworth.  We aren’t here to just plant another church -we are here to transform a city.   The next phase begins very soon.  Can’t wait!

1.  Before our launch meeting, I spoke at a thing at First Woodstock for a few minutes.  I almost had them ready to start wearing jeans :)                  

2.  Last launch team meeting before we officially begin next Sunday.  We had a big prayer/communion service and it went very well.  It was good to just slow down a little bit and admit that we desperately need God!

3.  Kenny (the big giant truck) doesn’t like the cold.  Not even a little bit!

4.  We brought a good bit of the launch team to First Woodstock last night.  Pastor Johnny prayed for us and for the name of Christ to become famous in the city of Acworth! 

5.  I am not happy about the Packers losing. 

6.  6 more days until Freedom!

Well unless something drastic changes, the HUGE snow event that had been predicted was a no-show. 

Looking out the window right now, and if I collected every single flake of snow in the entire neighborhood - I could probably make at least half a snowball. 

Oh well, maybe next time?

For anyone out there looking to plant a church, but you still haven’t decided on a city….

Email me.  I have some great leads on some “undiscovered” territory with a TON of potential!

A bunch of us just got back from handing out 3,000 cookies to the houses closest to where we will meet every Sunday morning.  We weren’t trying to talk people into coming - just wanted to be nice to the neighbors :) 

Here is a cool email I received before I even got home…

JR,

You came by earlier today and brought me some chocolate chip cookies.  While I need to be on a diet, I thought the sentiment was nice.  I do believe in God, and have liked going to church in the past.  Plus, I do need to get out and meet new people.  But, it was also great that you didn’t try to give a speech when you were by.  Instead you just handed me the cookies and let me quickly know about the church.  I appreciated that. 

I had seen your signs down the road, and hope to check out a service.  I’m one of those people that most churches don’t really want in their church, which is one of the reasons I haven’t been going.  But, I like that you welcome all. 

Anyways, thanks for your effort and offer….

Sincerely,

Jimmy

I wanted to put Eric Crosby on the blogging world’s radar! 

He is our Creative genius as well as Freedom Church’s MOST ELIGIBLE BACHELOR!  He brings a ton to the table on a weekly basis and I am pumped to have him on board!  Go to his site to check out some of the video’s that he has put together.  We haven’t done a ton yet - since we haven’t officially started, but they are still mucho bueno!

By the way, he also doubles as a pretty darn good wide receiver for our many football encounters!  Eric, you are amazing and this write up should be worth at least one PWCM at our next staff meeting!

The snow has come - and the snow has gone. 

School is not cancelled here so there will be a ton of very unhappy kids in the area.  My five year old daughter, Lexi, will not be one of them.  She loves school and was very excited to be able to go this morning.  That is really strange!

Update:::  Forget everything I just wrote.  Once she found out there was no snow - she went into convulsions.  I am not kidding as much as you think I am

I absolutely LOVE the early rounds of American Idol! 

 It still isn’t over, but I have just heard the funniest line I have ever heard on TV.  If you watched the show - you know exactly what I am talking about!

 It makes me laugh every single time I think about it!  You need to look it up right now!   “I wanna love a girl…”

Much fun today!

Met with Jeff Murphy, a church planter, and had a great time.  He has, by far, the most unique name for a church I have ever heard!  I can’t wait until he announces what it is!  He will do a great job!

After the meeting, my bumper fell off.  Literally.  I must have been too close to the curb because when I backed up, I heard a strange noise.  I got out of the car and sure enough - my bumper was just hanging there.  Apparantly, my car is weird because it just snapped back in place and was perfectly fine!

Then, I headed off to meet Todd and Blake for an interview with the newspaper.  Everything went great!  I am looking forward to seeing how the hour long interview looks on paper!  Thanks Amanda and Rachel!