Rearview Mirror

• Biggest crowds I have ever seen at NStar for Labor Day....it was slammed!!  Incredible!
• We closed the August Rush series by taking the Lord's Supper and building the whole service around it.....it was solid!!  The package the team did was spot on and it was just refreshing!
• Remembering what Jesus did on our behalf never gets old
• It was so cool to watch so many people just sit & cry, overwhelmed with His mercy & grace!
• Anne is happy - WVU won & Michigan lost!  
• Mary-Michal had our first football game to cheer for yesterday and she did awesome!!  Her Hoya 6th grade feeder football team won big!
• Casey finished his fall baseball tryouts for Allatoona High and found out he was on the first team!  I am so proud of all of his hardwork - season starts Tuesday!  This will be the FIRST time I have ever sat & watched and not been out on the field coaching......should be interesting!
• We are keeping some good friends of ours kids and enjoying them this afternoon while their mom & dad get some time away!
• Looking forward to the day off tomorrow!!  We are going to hang here at the house - maybe go to the ball field for a little while and swim!
• Finished Wild Goose Chase by Mark Batterson - what a great book!!! 

Here we go!

• Great creative team day at Red Top on Tuesday! We brainstormed the next 3 series and came out with some awesome stuff!! So fun to be around smart/creative people!
• Met on Wednesday with good friend, Ira Blumenthal, who just wrote a book called Brand You. Ira is one of the leading people in the world in branding and everytime I spend time with him - I leave better! You have got to pick up his book - it is right on the money!
• NStar is blowing it out on the weekends and we are in the process of figuring out what to do next.......some of the ideas are pretty exciting!!
• Met with Alan Riley on Wednesday.....Alan works with 316 networks and is just a great guy and brilliant in the media/streaming world! I always learn so much when we hook up!
• I was able to spend some time on Thursday with Jeff Cranston, pastor of Low Country Community Church in Hilton Head, SC. When we used to vacation in HH, LCCC was where I would attend on Sunday's, and I always loved it! Jeff is on a sabbatical and coming through ATL and we were able to spend some good time together! I know he came to ask me some questions but I left with more than I am sure he did!! He is a sharp guy! My good friends, Todd & Cynthia Cullen, are serving with him now and they are leading the new campus on the Island! Look forward to talking to Jeff again soon!
• Casey started tryouts for the Allatoona High fall baseball team yesterday....it was weird watching and not being on the field! They will tryout again on Saturday and Monday.
• I spoke to the Allatoona Football team for a minute and I will do a devotional for them before their first home game tonight! Should be fun!!
• I am off to enjoy my day off with Anne....a little shopping, some lunch, a movie - all before the kids get out of school!!!
  

Have so much to tell you!

What a week....I have started about 10 posts and I have been too busy to get them finished!! Tomorrow, I will recap the week!

Rearview Mirror

• We had our 3rd week in our "August Rush" series yesterday......this has been a timely series for me & for many at NStar!
• May have been the largest crowd outside Christmas & Easter that we have ever had! The hospitality team had to start finding seats during the first song.....this is crazy!! We have always been the "LA Dodgers" with our crowds arriving late....things are changing!!
• The new Third Day song "Slow Down" was right on the money!! Ryan Williams nailed it!
• Met tons of new people and it was so incredible to hear all of their stories!
• Over 5o went through our monthly membership class....the room was slammed
• 32 people went through the Growth Starts class on prayer
• There were over 400 middle & high school students again....WOW!
• We had a super Management Team meeting early this AM and these guys had some solid stuff that was right on the money for me! Their wisdom is so good and timely in my life!
• A few of us went to Red Top Mountain for a day of "brainstorming" for our next 3 series.....The Kingdom, Average Joe & 21 - Some good stuff was flowing today - I am always blown away at the creativity of our team! There is no doubt I am the dunce on the room but it is fun being around smart creative people!
  
• A little bummed that Casey's tryouts for the Allatoona High School baseball team got rained out.....he is so ready to get out there!
• Started Mark Batterson's book "A Wild Goose Chase" -----quite possibly one of the best books I have read in a long time! You have got to get a copy and read it!! I will post some of his thoughts soon that spoke most to me!
  

Ken Blanchard

This morning, J.R. Lee & I went to a breakfast with the renowned business expert, Ken Blanchard. He had tons of great thoughts but one line I have thought about today was "Leadership is going somewhere"!

He said that as a leader, people are all looking at you to take them somewhere........real leadership is picking a direction, hopefully the right one, and going!! I am praying that I always take NStar the right way!!

Excuses

This morning I am about to head to our business leaders gathering called "Merge".....I love this group because they are people that are out on the front-line in business but they are trying to balance their faith with their daily life!

Today, we are talking about the life of Moses and some of the excuses he gave God of why he could not do what for some reason God thought he could......Isn't that a funny thought, the God of all of the universe calls you to do something but you feel inadequate and think He must have made a mistake!

Little bit of advice from our biblical mentors we read about.....if He calls, save the excuse and give what He called you to do a shot! I bet He knows better than we do!

Rearview Mirror

• Another incredible day at NStar.....heard from our student guys (Brad & Nick) that they had over 400+ students in the AM! Unreal - these guys are knocking it out of the park!
• Marsha, Tricia, Lendy, Terri & Tim (our preschool & elem team) had promotion and it was flawless.....hundreds of kids switching classes and I never heard a word about it - why - because this amazing group of leaders made sure everything was in order!!! They are super!!
• On Saturday - Ruby (women's league) coordinator had over 70 ladies from NStar and some other great local churches training for the fall......WOW!
• Daniel & the band nailed another one yesterday.....they just get better every week!!
  
• We talked yesterday about how the "August Rush" robs us off relationships....so true! I know that when I am in a rush, I do not listen.....especially to those closest to me....
• We had our 14u Titan baseball party yesterday and it was pretty emotional....these guys are going to 7 different high schools and moving on - I absolutely loved every minute I spent with them and their families over the past 3 seasons.......I pray that I impacted them half as much as they impacted me!
• Last night we had NStar newcomers - due to the baseball party running late, I did not have time to change clothes....I was in bright orange swim trunks - a brown youth camp t-shirt and in flip-flops...I apologized to all of our folks that were there but no one seemed to really care - in fact one guy said, "that is why I love this church!!".....Steve Roach on our staff said it was pretty comical to see me up there answering a pretty deep theological question looking like I just left the beach!! Just the thought of me answering a deep question is funny in itself!!
• Roach & I just got done writing the sermon for this week! We wrap up August Rush talking about "interruptions"....
• If you wondered who the famous person was that sat next to us at lunch last week, it was Jeff Franceour....you will have to listen to the podcast to hear the whole story....still makes me laugh!!
• I heard yesterday that Cedarcrest Church doubled their crowd when they moved to Allatoona High School!! I am so excited for these guys - George Wright (Lead Pastor) has a great group of folks there!! Way to go!