I drove by a Miniature Golf place the other day.  Immediately, my mind started racing…  What would I do if I owned that thing?  What would my goals look like? What end would I pursue? 

      ·                     A crowd every night so that the organization could make a large profit?

·                     A great place to hang out so that people can have a great time?

I started thinking about the opportunities.  Within 30 seconds my “dream” had that place looking more like the Disney World of miniature golf– or at least the best putt putt place on the planet.

What’s the point?  We have been wired to dream huge dreams.  The kind of dreams where people give you that “bless your heart - you’re an idiot” look when it is explained.  The look of disbelief from people who wish you well – but think you are insane as soon as you walk away.  If your dreams are not bigger than you are – they are not worth chasing!  Regardless of what profession you are in - chase the dream!

Here’s the deal…

I have received a ton of emails from people saying they think they want to enter the weight loss thing… With that in mind I am going to keep it to the first 10 teams of 2.  If you want in - let me know ASAP! 

It will be a blast winning the $1,000!

Went to the conference and thanks to Shawn, realized there was a bunch of us that need to lose some weight.  Most of us guys are pretty competitive people - so to make it a little more interesting - we are turning this into a little not-so-friendly competition!

 Here’s how it will work…

2 person team
$100 entry fee (No we’re not gambling - it’s an investment in preventative health care and WINNER TAKES ALL)
% weight loss for the 2 person team by May 1st
Must be “registered” by Thursday PM by emailing your name’s and weight (don’t lie Gary)to jr@freedomlive.net

So far…Me and Todd, Mark and Shea, Gary and Tim

As of Friday, let the games begin!

Having a blast hanging out in Cumming at the churchplanters.com conference.

It’s good to catch up with a TON of people and just hear what’s going on all over the country… Great stuff so far and when it’s all said and done, I will link to some guys so you can check out what’s been said from the stage. 

Quote of the week comes from none other than the Freedom Church EP -Todd Lollis…Deep thoughts!

“I love Sunday’s at Freedom Church! I just wish it came around at least once a week”.

In order to be as effective as possible, I have to work very hard a several things…

1.   … learning ahead of the curve.  I don’t want to become an expert at leading a church of 150 people.  I need to be actively learning how to lead a church of 500.  As a church of 500 I will be actively learning how to lead a church of 1000.  I’ve heard the saying a million times, but the definition of insanity is doing the same things over and over again and expecting different results.  I should always spend time building relationships with and learning from people who are ahead of me in the journey!

2.  … raising up other leaders. 

3.  … giving more responsibility to others.    

4.  … leading the way in generosity.  If this isn’t a glaring characteristic of my life – it will never be a characteristic in the life of Freedom Church. 

5.  … making time to hear from God.  What I have to say is not nearly as important as what He has to say. 

6.  … at being willing to confront.  Being unwilling to confront others is always a sign of pride in my own life.  Be willing to speak into the life of people. 

7.  … at being a person of integrity.  Without this, the other 6 are irrelevant.

  Today we hosted our very first Newcomers Luncheon.  Right at 40 people spent 45 minutes with us as we walked through our story, our values, our culture, and our partnership opportunities.  I loved meeting everyone and just talking about the vision of Freedom Church! 

The opportunity to partner with those in this community is going to be huge.  I think it was very important to show people that even if one thinks they have very little to offer - God can take our limited resources and use them to produce limiltess results! 

Today was a very good day in the very brief history of Freedom Church.  I love this!

When Lexi (5 yr. old) was born, I started doing something on the spur of the moment…

Anytime there is a holiday that requires a card (birthday, Vday, etc.), I always buy two.  One to give right away and one that I will give much later.  For example, when Lexi had her first Valentines day, I bought her a card to open immediately and a card that she would open on Vday as a 13 year old.  The following year (2 years old), she would receive another card to open immediately and one to open on Vday as a 14 year old, etc., etc.

Not sure how it will end up, but it is very strange writing something to your “14,15, or 16 year old” daughter when she is just a little girl.  I hate it actually, but I think it will be pretty cool down the road.  I want them to know how much I love being their dad! 

No punk boy can give my daugher a gift that will compare to something like this.  If he does - I will kill him

When it comes to people, Freedom is a little bit of everything. 

Freedom is young (kids, teenagers, young families), old (70+ yrs. old), black, white, experienced (those who have been to church their whole lives), and not so experienced (people who have never been to church outside of a wedding or a funeral).

I love it and we have prayed for this for a long time.  I am pumped that diversity is happening this soon.

One of the first questions every church planter asks is “how am I going to get paid”?  The second is like it “if I am going to start multi-staff, how in the world am I going to provide for them”?

Here is our story…
We have 5 staff members.  Three are full time and two work part time. 

The three full-time staff members (including myself) are responsible for raising their financial support for the first couple of years.  The two part time staff members work full-time jobs in other locations. 

Support can be raised in several ways. Here are the two most common…
1.  Partner churches who believe in the individual and the vision of the new church.
2.  Individual partners (friends, family, visionaries who believe in the vision, etc.)

 This is a difficult process but I wouldn’t change it even if I could.  I love the idea of hiring on vision alone.  Recruiting staff with nothing to offer financially will help you find out quickly who is on board and who is not.  When your team is rallied around a God-given vision rather than a paycheck - something great is being born!  Do we desire to become self-sufficient as a church ASAP…absolutely.  Will we reward those who sacrificed to see this become a reality…you better believe it!

Not sure if this is the best way to do things - this is how we did it - and I wouldn’t change a thing.

There’s a guy at our gym that consistently makes a point of being totally naked in front of as many people as possible. 

He always walks to the shower wearing his towel, turns on the water, drops his towel, and stands around for a few minutes looking at the mirror.  Not just looking at the mirror - but “looking” if you know what I mean. 

Random blog I know - but I thought you would like to know…

Any funny gym stories out there?