Todd and I took off Monday night after staff meeting to attend the SBC.  More specifically, we drove to Indianapolis in order to vote since Pastor Johnny was going to be nominated as President.

• Todd’s car blew up around midnight in the middle of nowhere.  ($1200)
• An entire town tried to help us fix it - didn’t work - so we found a hotel. 
• Rented a car (31 miles away from our hotel) and were back on the road in the AM
• Got to the convention center in time to vote - Pastor Johnny Hunt = new President of the SBC.
• Big party last night in his honor at the Marriott.  Everyone was there - there was more wisdom in that one room than in any I had ever been in. 
• Pastor Johnny pulled Todd to the side and paid for his car repair.  Wow!
• The business part of the meeting that we sat through (2 hours) was torture.  There’s no way around it - it was pretty bad.  More to come on that later.

I am honored to be able to have incredible leaders to invest in my life.  Pastor Johnny is the real deal ladies and gentlemen.  He believes in the generation of leaders coming behind him.  I am not sure about the future of the convention; however, if anyone can navigate it through much needed change - it is him.  Yesterday was a good day - and some don’t even know it yet.

I was talking with a friend the other day about leadership, etc. 

The discussion was based on the fact that if you look back over the course of our lives - we are totally different people than we were 2 years ago, 1 year ago, and even 6 months ago.  Most of the time when people say “Man, you’ve changed. You’re not the same that person that you use to be,”  they mean it as a negative.  The truth is that you should really look at that as a positive. 

I have no desire to be the person that I use to be.  I want to consistently transition in order to become the person God wants me to be.  Leo Tolstoy said this and it is very convicting for a guy like me… “Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.”  Good stuff!

Beginning soon, I will give updates of the freedom journey in a little different format.  I already give a recap from Sunday every week, but I want to add something new to the mix.

I consistently ask myself where we are at right now, where we going in the next several months, and what we need to do in the meantime in order to get to the destination that God desires.  With that in mind, I want to make some of this journey public.  The run-down will look like this…

Here - An update on where we are right now (challenges, opportunities, etc.)
There - The destination at which we want to arrive (think short-term rather than long-term)
In-between - How do we get from “here” to “there”.  Think baby steps and little wins to move us forward. 

Pray that I can do this honestly and be as “real” as possible :)  I think this will be a lot of fun!

• Good day today!  Great 9:30 crowd.
• With the Phillies in town and getting ready for the College World Series - I haven’t watched this much baseball in the past 2 years combined. 
• Huge party tonight for all our weekly partners.  Can’t wait!
• I remember when gas was .89 cents per gallon!  Seems like a million years ago now. 
• I was actually sad that Big Brown didn’t win yesterday. 
• I can’t wait until Fathers Day!  Great day planned!

I am so tired of people believing the lie’s that they are told and/or that they believe about themselves…

“Many people succeed when others do not believe in them. But rarely does a person succeed when he does not believe in himself.”    Herb True

We don’t have the luxury of pleasing everyone.  You are worth it and you do have the capacity to accomplish something great (Eph. 2:10).  Go after it!

This Sunday kicks off a 4 week series called ONE Prayer.  It’s a groundbreaking experiment involving over 1,300 churches and close to 800,000 people!  We are putting our own spin on this thing and it’s going to be a lot of fun!

Just put the finishing touches on the message and I am now counting down the minutes til Sunday…

This week I have been speaking at a thing south of Atlanta for 250-350 teenagers.  I have had a great time - but one thing is true - I have no idea how people can commute that far every single day. 

75 minutes there.  75 minutes back.  And people do it all the time.  That is crazy!  Combine that with the fact that every road in the State of Georgia is under construction, and it provides for a wonderful experience.  My “commute” to the office every day takes approximately 6 minutes!  Now, I am even more grateful! 

For whatever reason I was thinking about this question this morning.  Who are the greatest influencers in my life?

Join in the fun!  Who or what influnces you the most?

• A person…
• A group of people (friends, coworkers, etc.)
• Culture
• Feeling
• Church
• ?

“I don’t want to start a blog - what in the world would I write?”‘

I hear this all the time and actually think it to myself in those moments when blog worthy thoughts aren’t in the forefront of my mind.  Here is what I had to get through my head…

1. At this point in my life, I am writing more for my own benefit than for the benefit of others.  As a result, I don’t have to try and impress anyone.  Nothing worse than a guy whose just started trying to tell everyone what to do!
2. Blogging is an easy way to chronicle my journey.  The journey will consist of good, bad, funny, sad, and everything in between.  I just want to be who I am.  Trust me when I say that people know the difference when you are being real and just putting on a show.
3. I will write primarily about what God is doing in my life.  What I am learning, thinking, and/or going through.  It’s pretty simple really.  I try not to make it harder than it is. 

This isn’t an exhaustive list.  What else would you add?

What does it take to feel and know that you have just experienced an “over the top” experience as a guest.  I want to think about it in the context of church. 

• If you’ve ever visited a church - what was done to make you feel welcome?
• … Did you ever feel unwelcome?  Why?  (don’t mention any church by name)
• Forcing you to wear a sombrero on your birthday at Mexican Restaurants might be okay - but probably not at the church.  Have you ever experienced ”guest relations” overkill in the context of church? In what way?

Let me know what you think!