2008 - Things I can't wait for......

• Our 11th year of ministry at NStar - each year gets better!!! We baptized 200 in 07 - I am praying for more this year!!
• Planning our first NStar conference "Take-out" where we will talk about how a church connects with their community! It truly is what we do best! Can't wait - I think it could revolutionize a lot of churches and communities!
• Easter 2008.....I love Easter Sunday!
• Feb. 24...this will be my last birthday as a 30 something....scary!!!
• My 14u "Kennesaw Titan" travel baseball team season...I am so excited about this years squad!
• Spring break 08 - going to Destin again with my 3 favorite people in the world
• Impact (June 2-6)....my favorite student camp on earth - this is my 20th year being involved and this summer I will be speaking and Casey will be there as a student! I started going when I was 19 and he will be 14.......oh how time flies!!
• Our baseball season ends with a tourney at Disney in their "Salute to Baseball" July 2-9!
• Allatoona High School opening up!! They are building a great staff & team there and we (NStar) can't wait to be a part!!! Go Bucs!
• New business leaders breakfast that I am working on - can't wait to tell you about it!
  
• Figuring out how to handle everything God is sending our way on Sundays at NStar!!
  
• Praying we get our road out to Cobb Parkway in 08 - this will be HUGE to us!!
• On the GT front - can't wait for the Paul Johnson "Triple-Option" attack on the Flats of Tech!
• Mary-Michal will start middle school in the fall and Casey will start high school.....we are sad as a parents but excited for them! (We love our kids so much!!)
• Anne & I will celebrate 17 years in October!!

I could go on & on but I will stop there!!! I love a lot to look forward to and a ton to be thankful for!! God is amazing and I feel so blessed for all He has sent my way! Thanks to all of you (all of my 3 readers) who make my life better on a daily basis!! Happy New Year!

One of the good guys!!

I found out this week that a good buddy of mine from my playing days at Liberty University, will be the new 3rd base coach for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Tony Beasley is truly one of the good guys and I can not tell you how proud I am right now for him! I remember first meeting Tony and being blown away at not only what a great player he was but he truly was the hardest worker that I had ever met! After his playing days at LU - he played a number of years in the minors with the Pirates. He has also done an awesome job managing in the minors and I am hoping this is his first break to managing a Major League squad! It is so cool to have a guy like Tony who gets what it is all about and that will use his influence to make an "eternal" difference in a lot of young men's lives!!

Way to go Tony!!!

It was so nice!!

Today I got to something "way out of the ordinary"...I rode to NStar with the fam!! I cannot remember the last time that we all rode to church together and it was a blast! Nick & Brad (our middle & high school pastors) spoke today and were awesome! They were right on the money and blessed me a ton!! Our students are so blessed to have these 2 guys - they are incredible communicators!!! Stephanie Ford did a Nicole Nordeman tune and nailed it (as usual) and really set up the message perfectly!!

It feels so good to be a part of a church where people let you be you and just show up & worship and giving you your space!! I love NStar so much and this just adds to the list of WHY!

What goes up must come down

Today was the official "taking" down of Christmas day at the house. Anne had the house so beautiful for Christmas but we were so ready for things to return to normal! We have been taking it all down and are now just chilling hard!!

The break continues and we are being total bums and enjoying every minute of it! We have decided to take advice from the classic movie "What about Bob" and Richard Dreyfuss character "Dr. Leo Marvin" who told Bob "Bill Murray" to "Take a vacation from his problems"....We are officially on vacation without leaving our house and have decided to celebrate by eating "take-out" or eating out every night!

We have loved the Wii "tennis" and I dominated until last night when Casey figured out how to smoke me in that too! Stinks - have to find something that I can win!!

Praying hard for the upcoming weekend services - Brad & Nick will be speaking and I know that they are going to be awesome!!

Christmas 2007....

This year was the latest we have EVER slept on Christmas morning (7:15am)....I was crazy tired after our 2 Sunday services and 4 live services on Monday....I was worn out!! Christmas morning was as fun as ever - we love watching the kids open their stuff (especially) since we have been looking forward to playing some of their new toys!! My parents made the trip up from Fayetteville and spent some time with us and Anne's parents and brother & his family spent the day with us. We were bums and did almost nothing except play Guitar Hero & Wii!! I am brutal at both but we have had a blast playing them!! Today I talked some smack to Casey about NCAA 08 Football and he smoked me 3 games in a row....I better keep my mouth shut from here on!

It has been a long time we have just hung out after Christmas and done absolutely nothing...it is actually nice! We finally felt guilty tonight and got out to eat & hit big Target!! It is bad when all of our exercise from 2 days has come from Wii tennis!!

We found out also today that over $95,000 was given to NStar from 2 separate families.....people like this blow me away! Their generosity with the blessings that God has given them blows me away!

Back to bumming.....and waiting for some good football in a few days!!

What a day!!!!

I can't believe.....Christmas eve is no more and the big day is almost here!! I cannot even begin to describe what an amazing day we had at NStar! Our band and technical team got to the campus to start rehearsing at 11am and we walked out tonight around 7pm........long day for our volunteers!! Our staff team arrived around 1pm and did an amazing job creating a great atmosphere to walk in to! We have a bunch of stinkin all-stars that are the best of the best.....

We had no idea what to expect with our 4 services yesterday closing out our "Little Big Town" series and great crowds. Today exceeded our expectations with close to 3,000 people walking through our doors for our 6 services!! Every year I am amazed and seeing a packed room with candles closing out the service never gets old!! If only we carried that light all year - we could really change the dark world we live in!! I love it!!

Christmas Eve 2007 is over....sort of sad.....but it feels good hitting the sack tonight knowing that a bunch of people today heard the "real" Christmas story!!!

Merry Christmas from the Linch family and the NorthStar family and I cannot wait to see all that is in store in 2008!!!

Christmas Eve!

I cannot believe that today is Christmas Eve! We finished our "Little Big Town" series yesterday and get ready today for 6 total Christmas eve services (2:15, 3:30, 4:45 & 6:00) - the 4:45 & 6:00 will also be live in our True North auditorium! It is going to be a blast, the services are always such a rush for me and I love being there all day!!

Alright...one admission that is a little embarrassing....when I look out and see a big 2:15 crowd I will start worrying that there is no one left to come to the others ones....I will do that until we are done at 7pm tonight!!!

Here are a couple of thoughts from the weekend and looking ahead to this week:

• Yesterday I saw some former NStar families that came back for the day and it was so good to see them! These families were part of my life when I was in student ministry and were there when we first started NStar - these folks were a huge part of our lives!
  
• Last night we had dinner with some old neighbors and it was a blast to sit & laugh (and then wonder on the way home if we ran them all off????) We did have so much fun!
• I will leave out shortly to run by the hospital and see one of our NStar team that is there (Nidia Walkup) and then spend the day at NStar......Casey is going with me today - that will make it so much more fun!! It meant a ton that he wanted to come with "old man rivers" and then I found out he was meeting "some friends....female" at the building and hanging with them(their parents are on staff as well)!!!! Too funny!!
• Thanks to J.R. Lee for his kind post today..
• I am putting the finishing touches on my Christmas eve message for tonight...trying to keep it different than our 4 weeks of "Little Big Town" Christmas series...As any pastor knows - that is harder than it sounds!!
  
• Can't wait to start "NorthStar take-out" series which starts January 13!
• Can't wait for Christmas morning!!!! Always a big day at the Linch house!!!

Movie Reviews

Save the money on "the Chipmunks"....pretty bad!!! National Treasure 2 - AMAZING!!! I loved it - as good if not better than the first one!! Great stuff!

Saw a ton of NStar families out today and met the owner of the Mellow Mushroom on Chastain Road, he & his family are members of NStar and I have never met them.....I love meeting people and getting connected outside Sunday!!

What a week!

This week has been a whirlwind!!! We have had something every night and it has been an absolutely crazy week!! Here are some highlights from the week:

• We had a great Management Team meeting on Monday. These are leaders from NorthStar that serve alongside me helping with critical decisions and also accountability as we lead NStar into the future!! Their business wisdom is incredible but their genuine walks with the Lord is even greater!!
• Tuesday I got to enjoy the evening with our Worship Team at the Alliance Theatre on Tuesday night watching "A Christmas Carol"....we had a blast at dinner and the play was great!! We got in some great laughs!!
• I got to have a great lunch on Wednesday with our hospitality team leaders....this team sets the tone each week at NStar in creating an atmosphere that makes it easy for someone to attend for the first time!
  
• Wednesday evening was also our time for our staff/family Christmas party at our True North building....I looked around the room and we have so many amazing people serving with us - they are the best!!
• Thursday, I took the day off and got to attend my daughter's Christmas party at her school. I am a little sad that it will be our last Christmas party......the kids are getting old and so are we!!
• Today we are going to check Casey & Mary-Michal out of school early and go see the "Chipmunks" movie and also "National Treasure 2"....a movie double dip - should be a blast!!!!

• 
  

Rearview Mirror

• Incredible week 3 of Little Big Town.....takeaway of morning "Christmas is about the impossible becoming possible"
• Worship was incredible....as usual!!
• On Saturday, I got to see "Shop with a Warrior" and "Shop with a Mustang" at North Cobb and Kennesaw Mountain High Schools. These 2 schools had over 800 students out to shop with over 4oo under-privileged students from our area. The 2 schools raised well over $60,000 to do the shopping!! Can you believe that....unreal!! NStar got to give $5,000 to each school and help with feeding with NCHS....Marlon, Brad, Lee Ann, Jimmy & Nick did an amazing job with this!!! I was so proud to watch this happen - AMAZING!
• NorthStar this year gave over $30,000 to "Shop with" a Hero, Mustang & Warrior programs along with our people adopting 70+ families for Christmas! Those families represent 600+ people.......this is most giving church I have ever met!!!
• We had our family Christmas party (for the Linch side) on Saturday and it was so fun to see everybody!!
• Just had end of the year Management Team meeting for NorthStar - what an amazing group of leaders that God has assembled here.....I am blown away that I get to serve alongside these awesome men!
• Met a family yesterday that was at NStar for the first time and they are moving in from Maine. They have been listening to the podcast since early fall "Coin series' and have already decided to join us before ever attending their first service!!! Too awesome!
• So proud of our outdoor greeters and parking lot teams yesterday...it was SO cold but they had a smile on their faces and were so incredible!!
• Drove on campus last night for our Student "Fuse" event (my son loved it) and saw all of the cars and it was so cool to know that upstairs in True North Freedom Church was meeting getting ready to launch in January! Glad we could play a part!
• Another week of experiencing God's blessings!
  

Legends

I just got done watching a NFL Films special on: Tom Brady, Brett Favre and Peyton Manning. They titled these 3 QB's as legends and talked through each of their careers. None of these 3 have missed a start since becoming the starting quarterbacks.....unreal!! They are all very different quarterbacks but there a couple of things that they have in common....

• They each took advantage of their shot when they got it!
• They love what they do and it is contagious to their teammates
• They work their tails off and seek to get better each time they take the field

Bet this would work in churches too.......

Marathon

Yesterday I had the chance to meet with some good friends in ministry...(Todd & J.R.) from Freedom Church and Matt Willmington from West Ridge. One of these churches is getting ready to get started and the other is 10 years in and doing great! I made a comment in both of those meeting that we said for years around NorthStar, "It's a marathon not a sprint".....

It is so easy in ministry to do everything in a sprint and not pace our ministries for the long term. I guess one reason is that most Pastors are not around but a few years at a church so you have to hurry to get everything in but I think one's that are in for the marathon really get it done! I think when you are pacing it out you get to enjoy the journey a little more and enjoy the people you are running with a little more!

I love looking at guys like Bill Hybels, Rick Warren, Andy Stanley, Jerry Falwell, Johnny Hunt.......guys who stuck it out and got to see a lot of the fruits of their ministries and see their visions and dreams take shape. These men have sure made a mark and their marathan has influenced and touched so many! I pray that my marathon has half of the impact that their marathon's have had!

I am sorry Mr. Blank

I am so sad for Arthur Blank...a man who bought a brutal franchise and poured his heart & soul into the Atlanta Falcons and he has been slapped at every turn. First, a coach goes on the radio last year and talks about a college job while his team is still playing, his star quarterback goes to prison and now his current Coach jumps ship while the team still has 3 games left! Brutal!!

Mr. Blank, I am a nobody but I have been a life-long Falcon fan and you have done more for this city than anyone can really measure! You don't deserve this - I am so sorry!! Hang in there - find someone who will love this city like you and I bet some championships will be in your future!!

I hope you like the Hogs Coach Petrino - I hope you leave your Falcon gear for our next Coach who really wants to be here!

Praying

My heart is so saddened for what happened in Colorado yesterday with the shootings. Every Pastor thinks at some point of something like this happening, however the reality makes me sick! Though we have officers on campus and in all of our services, you just never know!

So proud

There are times in life that I think it is okay to feel proud....not prideful, because what I want to talk about really has nothing to do with me but rather with others who I get to surround myself with......Here are a couple of things that I am so proud of:

I am so proud of:

• Being at a church that it is FUN to go to and the people who come GET what church is about!!
• Watching our children's ministry team each week make NStar happen (Marsha, Tricia, Terri, Lyndi & Tim) create environments that my even my kids look forward to Sunday mornings!! They are the best!
• Nick & Brad for being "heroes" in the lives of our middle & high school students - they are making our student ministry THE PLACE TO BE!
  
• Ruby, Roach, Randy and Bruce creating multiple areas for people to get connected with other people and begin to grow in the journeys with Christ in smaller environments! Whether it is couples groups, womens groups, mens groups or "growthstarts" gatherings - excellence is always there and people are given the opportunity to grow!
• Greg & Julie for using their experiences in life to help others "survive" their tragedies! These two are making an impact on tons of singles!!
• Bryan, Lee Ann & Jimmy touching college & high school students lives on a day to day basis!
  
• C.A., Nadine & Chris B. for taking ideas in our creative team meetings and putting feet to them and making them look so incredible!! I am blown away by the creative abilities of these three!! If it looks good and you see it or watch it - it was one of them!!
• Daniel, Bonnie, Stephanie, Drew, Greg, Amanda & Winfrey for never letting a Sunday be anything less than a homerun when it comes to what happens in one of our venues! I am amazed at what this team executes week in & week out! There is never a bad week or a slip up - they constantly hit it out of the park and more than that - they live it every day!!
• Jamie & Niki for keeping us between the lines financially and letting me sleep good at night knowing that there are 2 brilliant minds staying on top of our finances! You guys rock!
• Ludell, Paul, Sharon, Emory & Chris G.for sometimes being behind the scenes but always making the details of happen day to day and doing it with such kindness and grace!
• Marlon for being the "go to" guy for NW Cobb County and keeping us "on point" that it is about the "community" and who is not coming!! Marlon truly never stops thinking of ways for us to serve and stay focused!
• Robert, Steve & Carl for keeping our campus "cleaner" than my house and never letting anything be done "less than the best".....I do not know how these guys do all they do!!
• Wally & Nidia leading the charge taking the "love of Jesus Christ" to others in the world!! They love missions and it is contagious!
• Robert Ledbetter for being the Pastor to the people who never get to attend NStar. He & his sweet wife Linda constantly love on people in Assisted Livings, Nursing homes & hospitals......their ability to love is felt wherever they go!~
  
• Kelley for the untold hours of work she puts in to the bookstore and giving people a place to get resources on weekends!!
  
• Our hundreds of NStar volunteers, small group leaders and technical staff that put untold hours into creating a place that OTHERS can "exchange" ordinary living for extraordinary life through the transforming power of Jesus Christ"!!!
• Finally - a wife (Anne) and two kids (Casey & Mary-Michal)who let me be me and who I get to enjoy this journey of life with!!! They are amazing and I truly look forward to coming home every night!!
  

I am so PROUD!!!

Packed out!

Today at NStar we had the 2-5 year olds close out service singing......dude, it was slammed out both hours and our True North was stretched to capacity!! The kids were so cute and great...though this out of the ordinary for us - I am always so glad we do it and I love seeing the parents trying to get a good shot of their kids on stage. It is the only weekend of the year that the front row seats go first!! The morning turned out great on Week 2 of our "Little Big Town" series. Key point today: God still is looking for the insignificant to do something significant through!!

Tonight we have "Couples Night Out" and it is a sold-out event! Can't wait to meet tons of the new people that are attending NStar that I do not know!! I will let you know how it turns out!! Fun night to eat, meet & laugh!!

A New Day

It's a new day on the Flats of Georgia Tech with the hire of Paul Johnson from Navy!! He has been my number one choice from the start He is a proven winner and I think we will have some football days ahead!! I cannot wait for next fall to see what the Jackets look like with their new offensive schemes.....Way to go Jackets!

Blogs

I love that we live in a world where we can learn from the best leaders without ever leaving our home or office! Thanks to all of the great leaders that are bloggers and share their "lives" for free! Everyday I open up my bloglines account and read through 30-40 leaders who are sharing their experience with me!! Many of my favorite blogs are listed on my links!! Thanks everyone for making me stronger & better!!

Last night

For a few years now I have been asked to speak by a local funeral home "Winkenhoffer Funeral Home" at a memorial service they do for families that have lost loved one's this past year. I usually love speaking and look forward to it - but this event is one I love to do but it is so hard. When I stood up last night in front of a few hundred, there were so many sad eyes in the room. There were people in that room that never dreamed in a million years that they would be sitting there without this special person in their life!

What felt so good was to encourage these families to know....The Lord is near and that He will see them through! They may not feel it or think it but it is a fact that God will is right with them and He will see them through!

Though the night was hard - I left there knowing that is what I love to do the most....walk into to people's lives and encourage them to keep going! Easy sometimes....no.....fulfilling....always!

Learning Leadership

Tomorrow our team at NStar will continue our "Learning Leadership" series with Brian Bloye, the Pastor of West Ridge Church in Dallas, GA. I am so excited to have Brian back with our team - Brian is a great leader and has done an outstanding job leading West Ridge into being truly one of the greatest churches in America!

I remember 11 years ago and meeting Brian and him telling me that they were called to Paulding County to plant a church.....honestly, I thought he was crazy!! Dude, was I wrong......Brian & his team have done an amazing job capturing the heart of a community that I really thought was years away from being able to embrace a church like West Ridge!! Just goes to prove - when God lays something on your heart and you know you have been CALLED to a community - do not let anyone or anything deter you!!

It has been great over these past 11 years sort of growing up with Brian in this and watching all God has done at NStar & West Ridge!! Can't wait for tomorrow!!!

BCS

Playoffs......anyone for playoffs??? My sweet precious wife Anne is a ferocious WVU fan and last night was a DARK night for the WVU nation. Our greatest fear was the Dawgs slipping in through the cracks into the National Championship game.....thankfully they are headed to the Sugar vs. Hawaii - should be a fun game to watch!

Wouldn't a playoff be a blast for College football - the best 8-12 teams would have shot to get to the Top 2 spots......that would so rock! For some reason, I do not think the Humanitarian Bowl would be on the playoff list - maybe next year Jackets!!!

Parades & Bullhorns

Today we got up and went to downtown Atlanta for the Scottish Rite Christmas Parade! Mary-Michal's cheerleading squad was chosen to dress like little "Santa Helpers" (elves) and to walk with Santa.....they were adorable!! The crowds downtown were huge with the SEC Championship in town and tons of people there to watch. We are not typically big parade people but we had a blast, especially watching the little kids be mesmerized with everything coming by!!

As Casey & I waited on Mary-Michal's group to come through - we met some great LSU fans who flew in for the game! There was only one "blight" on the day......the bullhorn guy!

Right at the end of the parade route there was a guy on the street corner telling everyone that they were going to Hell and burning there especially since they were there to see Santa....He went on & on and absolutely NOBODY listened other than to just to shake their heads. Honestly, it ticked me off! To all who heard the bullhorn man.....I am sorry!! God is sure not who the "bullhorn" made him out to be!

Elf

Anne is hosting a party upstairs for all of our NStar staff ladies & wives of staff.......some absolutely awesome ladies!! I love a good party but since it is a "ladies only" - Anne has banished Casey & I to the basement.....

To liven up our evening downstairs, we ordered some great Chinese and are watching Will Ferrell in "Elf" - dude, that is just a Christmas classic!! We are laughing out loud (about my 10th time) watching and it is funny every time!!

Impact

Yesterday I was able to attend a meeting in preparation for "Impact"......it is a summer camp for middle & high school students but it is run by student pastors from all over Georgia! Though I have now been out of student ministry for 10+ years I have stayed involved with Impact. It is certainly not because I have tons of spare time but it is because I do not want to forget what is was like to be in student ministry!! I do not think there are any guys on the planet who work harder than student pastors and anything I can do to give them I am honored!! I now have a student in 8th grade and our guys at NStar (Nick & Brad) are two of his heroes.....and I love it - they are two of mine as well!

I would also say - Impact is the greatest camp I have ever been associated with. This coming summer will be my 20th year.....crazy how time flies!! If you have leadership students and do not have a camp to take them to - check out Impact and let me know if you have any questions!!!

Two things

I always enjoy hooking up with our team on Wednesdays and hearing about what is going on with everyone! There are times I miss the early days when "the whole staff" would see each other all the time and you knew everything going on.....now with 30+ folks going a ton of different directions, it is really easy to disconnect from each other. Our Wednesday time serves as a great time to hear what is going on and to celebrate God's faithfulness!

Today at the close of the meeting we watched the video of Steve Jobs doing the commencement address to the Stanford University graduates. What an incredible challenge he gave the graduates and what a challenge it was to our team as well. Here are a couple of the highlights:

• You cannot connect the dots of your life looking forward, you can only connect them when you look back
• Do what you believe is a great work
• Courage to follow your heart

His final thought...........stay hungry & stay foolish!

Goodbye Coach Gailey

As you may know, I am a die-hard Georgia Tech fan! Since following the Jackets as a kid, I have seen a ton of ups & downs through the years. Why I became a Tech fan I have no idea, I guess my dad liked them and so back then you had to choose (UGA or Tech) and I chose Tech! I have endured endless ribbing and heckling from Dawg friends and have almost become numb to their "barks"!! Ha! I was not smart enough to go there (hated Math) but always loved the Jackets!

Today, GT announced that they have fired Coach Chan Gailey and have decided to take the program a different direction. Regardless of how you may feel about Coach Gailey as a coach, there are none who differ on the fact he is a great man who truly loves his players and loves His Lord! I know that there is a lot of good still in store for Tech but I have to admit, you always hate days like this.....though they are a part of life they are still no fun!

So Coach Gailey from a "nobody" Tech fan - thanks for being the man you are and thanks for work you have done molding these football players into young men!! I pray for God's best for you & your family as you go forward!

Great post!

Craig Groeschel at Life Church TV had a great post today that all pastors should read!! Good stuff!

Choices

I am in the middle of studying for the "Little Big Town" series that we are starting at NStar this coming weekend. This little town of Bethlehem had some big stories and really none bigger than Mary & Joseph stopping in to deliver their newborn son. This is going to be a fun series!

I guess in the middle of studying, one word keeps hitting me....choices. Mary & Joseph both had choices in the matter but their obedience to God and to do what was right...not what was easy....kept them going in the right direction! I think all of us want to make good choices but invariably we do what we do not want to do. Why is that? Here is my shot.......Our most natural instinct is to choose easy & pleasure now and not what we have to wait for and what we cannot see.

My prayer today for you & for me is for God to keep us focused on what we cannot see but by faith know is there......if we can do that, our choices will probably match up to what God has for us a little better!!!

Black Saturday

I just got back from Atlanta and the GT - UGA game......brutal! The Jackets had a ton of chances to do something with the game but could not catch a break.....from some officiating calls to dropped balls....the Jackets could not get it together! The highlight of the day was the Volunteer score being posted during the game and the Dawg fans hopes of the SEC championship going down the drain!!!

Maybe next year or at least the next!!! No matter the outcome - I am glad to be a Yellow Jacket!!

Happy Thanksgiving

I want to wish all of my friends & family a very Happy Thanksgiving!! We have so much to be thankful for and my life has been so blessed by all the special people that God has sent my way! Today I get to spend the day with the people in my life that mean the most to me, my incredible family, and think about how blessed we really are to have each other and to have such a great life!

Today, my heart goes out to my assistant Ludell Bishop, whose mom went home to be with her Savior early Wednesday morning. I know that their hearts are heavy during this time - so please lift up this special family! When Anne & I moved to Kennesaw in 1991 Eddie & Ludell Bishop were two of the first people to take us in and model for us a great marriage and the way to parent.....they have blessed our lives more they will ever know! I am sure praying for this family during this time!!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Day off

Today has been so awesome.....we have done absolutely nothing this morning and it has been so nice!! I am so thankful for so many things in our life but I am incredibly thankful for times of rest where we just chill!! We may catch a movie this afternoon and enjoy the day together as a family....no where to be and nothing to do.....good stuff!!

Last night I took a great walk with my little girl and we had a blast. I did not know it was possible for a human being to "walk, dance & sing" all at the same time....She had to of burned 10x the energy that I did because she would not slow down! I love that girl....she truly makes me laugh!! I kept saying that I would do the "soul ja boy" dance in the neighborhood and the fear of that frightened her to no end!! Thanks Mary-Michal for being not only a great daughter but also my most faithful blog reader!!!

Pause - Spin Series

If any of you missed NorthStar this past Sunday...here is the video from the service! We did it in three parts with worship in between and gave out a card for people to work through. The response to the morning was huge and actually I was blown away!! I hate you do not have the worship that was done during the morning....it was unreal!!! The video was really a small part...but it was fun and different!!

Great post

C.A. Phillips, one of NStar teammates, wrote a great post about how thankful he is for NorthStar!!! Way go buddy......a must read and a great reminder of all we have been blessed with!! I told our crowds yesterday, that they are what I think God had in mind for the church to be!! Good stuff!

Pause

We wrapped up our "Spin" series today at NorthStar. Today was an incredible day just taking a "pause" and slowing down to be reminded of what we are thankful for in life. The whole message we shot on video and we did it in 3 segments with worship in between.....it was nice to just in the crowd and enjoy the day.

Pausing is something that I need to do more, I move through life at a pretty quick speed and most of the time never slow down long enough to appreciate much. The only time we normally pause is when life throws us a curveball and we have to......we normally only appreciate something when we have lost it or stand to lose it. What a sad way to live life.....I don't think that is the way that God intended for it to be.

I hope sometimes this week you will take a pause and appreciate all you have been blessed with...isn't that what thanksgiving is all about!

News

I was reading today in the AJC about a local pastor who has been charged with a crime against his wife. I do not know him but have heard great things about him through the years. It broke my heart for he & his family and it also served as a great reminder.....

No matter what happened or did not happen, our lives can become headlines in an instant and all of the years we have spent doing good can be erased in a second. That scares me.....I pray it always scares me enough to think through every decision I make. I was reading what comments on the article and of course people used the story to blast Christians and Pastors....

I will be praying for this Pastor and his family and I hope we all pray daily for ourselves and our families..........we all sure need don't we??

Good luck Warriors, Hoyas & Jackets

On Friday night there will be a "Orange Out" in Kennesaw! The North Cobb Warriors will be battling the defending state co-champs Peachtree Ridge at North Cobb. I was at a lunch with Coach Queen today and he made a statement that I loved....."We fear no one but respect everyone"....I love it - tons of confidence without the cockiness....

Good luck to Harrison & Sprayberry tomorrow night as well - we are pulling for big Cobb victories!

Great friends

There are people that you meet in life that becomes friends for life. This week I have had in town a great friend that one was one of my roommates at the Liberty and also we played baseball together at LU! He is in town and visiting schools about the possibility of moving this direction for the 2007/2008 school year and coaching and teaching in the NW Cobb area.

Dave & his family currently live in Phoenix, AZ and have been there since college. We have only seen each other once since I left LU in 1991 but we have picked up right where we left off then. After him being in town a few days, it is like he has lived around here for years and we have never missed a beat! We will all miss him a ton when he leaves and cannot wait for him to come back with his wife & kids!

God thanks for friends like Dave, who are still walking the walk and living for You......what an example that is to me and so many others!

Are you kidding me?

What a day at NorthStar yesterday......we were part 2 of our "Spin" series and I do not know if we have had any other series that so touched a nerve in our people's lives like this one has. At the conclusion of the message, I had people bring up their biggest worries and leave them on the stage as a reflection that we no longer will hold them as worries but turn them over to God in prayer! I began reading through the worries today and was overwhelmed at what our people are going through.....it broke my heart and also reminded me how much I love the people I get to be with each week...I almost feel guilty getting paid for doing something I love so much!

The week before in Spin, we talked about one of the best things we can do in life is when we are in tough times "a spin", is to do something to serve someone else. We gave out grocery bags and asked NStar families to buy thanksgiving groceries for needy families and we would partner with Redemption Baptist to get the groceries out. Yesterday, NStar families brought over 800 bags of groceries and someone donated $2500 for Redemption to buy turkey's for families in their community!

I guess yesterday was proof again.....NStar is it's best when we are serving & giving!!! Way to go NStar - you are the best I have ever seen!!!

Black Saturday

UGA grabbed the headlines again with their black jersey's and their thumping of Auburn......the black cloud is not the jersey's or crowd in Athens but rather the mood at Tech knowing the Dawgs are getting hot just in time for the clash with the Jackets.......Why does this happen every year?

Way to GO!!

I am overdue in doing this, but here are some "High-Fives" to some of my NorthStar buddies who had big weeks!!!

• Watched the CMA Awards the other night.....awesome show with some great country music! The guy doing all of the voice overs is John Willyard, one of our core NStar members! I think John has been doing this now like 12 years...huge! Every time we heard his voice we started cheering - because John is just one of those people that you have to love!! You hear his voice all of the time and do not know (WKHX 101.5 plus hundreds of other stations!) John, you are proof that preachers kids and nice guys do not always finish last but rather come out on top!!
  
• Coach Billy Shackleford, the head coach at Sprayberry High School, guided Sprayberry back to the playoffs after a long time! This was Coach Shack's first year there and he turned it around quick!! Way to go Coach!!
• Emory Lott, one of our staff, is Chaplain for the North Cobb Warriors and they finished with a perfect season last night (10-0) and they go to the state playoffs ranked #1 in Class AAAAA. Way to go Coach Queen!!
  

Saturday

Here is a little run-down of what is ahead today........

• Going through my message "Spin Out" one more time and putting on the finishing touches...tomorrow is a big day! We have some hurting people right now and I think what we are going to talk about is very timely!! Pray for NStar tomorrow!
  
• Finishing cleaning around the house and getting ready for company for a few days
• Watching some good football today (does it get any better than GT vs. Duke? HA!)...as much as it pains me, I am looking forward to the UGA vs. Auburn game! Go Tigers or is it War Eagle!
  
• Check in with my brother and see how his twins are progressing! Keep praying for John David & Lucy Elizabeth!
• Picking up an old college buddy, David Eeles, tonight at the airport! He & his family are praying about moving here from Phoenix, AZ next summer.....He is a teacher & coach and he is meeting with Principals from some schools next week! Dave is a winner all the way around and we are praying God opens up a door for his family to move here!! "Wheels" was our catcher at Liberty and one of my old room-mates......I am sure we will not run out of things to laugh about and talk about!
• Getting ready for Kennesaw Business Association where I am speaking on Tuesday.....I am praying that God uses that time to touch a lot of lives!
• On the baseball front....we will play one last scrimmage tomorrow at 3pm and I am using it to take a look at a few players we are thinking about picking up! Sounds like the weather will be perfect!!

Enjoy your Saturday!!!

Hurting and down

I have had some pretty interesting feed-back this week from some guys in ministry who are discouraged. You would think this would be the profession that would be the most rewarding and uplifting but in fact sometimes it is the thing that can sometimes drain you the most! My heart breaks and goes out to all of you out there that are not in a place that you love and where you feel that you and the other leaders of the church are not on the same page......

Take a look at many of the great churches that are going out there(there are so many super one's)and many of them started from guys who said, "It doesn't have to be this way!!"

Is that you? Are you down? Trust me buddy, "God is Near" and He has your back! Keep walking tight with Him and praying that your eyes are open when the right door opens!

I am a new uncle

My brother and his wife welcomed twins into the world yesterday! We got to meet (John David & Lucy Elizabeth) today and it was just a great reminder what an awesome God we have! Congratulations to David & Nancy!! Your new world has just begun!

Rearview Mirror

• Great start to the "Spin" series
• Response to the message at the end was OVERWHELMING....we have a ton of people really hurting right now
• The worship team wrapped the message with "Little Moments" the new tune by Steven Curtis Chapman in both our venues......totally nailed it!
• The crowds were up BIG time over October and it was a holiday weekend - go figure!
• My little girl's squad took first place again yesterday in her cheerleading competition - way to go Hoya's! Anne is their coach and she is incredible - I would probably be smart to turn my baseball team over to her!!
• Working on a new baseball coaches small group that I am going to roll out after the new year for high school baseball coaches in our community - I have a huge heart for these guys!
• The Falcons won again........can you believe it?
• I met tons of new people coming to NorthStar that just wanted to let me know about what is happening in their lives - crazy what our people are having to go through.....
• I am taking the day off today with my kids being out of school - so we are going to enjoy the day off together!!

Thanks Alan!

NorthStar is full every week of some awesome people and great bloggers! Thanks to Alan Riley for a nice post today!

Idea

Yesterday I got to enjoy my day off by going out to lunch with Anne. It was so good to not be in a hurry to get anywhere and while we were sitting at lunch we came up with an idea that we are going to do as a couple this spring! I can't wait to tell you about it......later! A lot of details to hit but I think what will come out of will be huge! Stay tuned!

Great recipe

This weekend we will begin a new series at NorthStar "Spin" that is about what to do when our world seems to be "spinning" out of control. Paul in Philippians 4 gives us a great recipe for how to navigate during these tough circumstances. I am really looking forward to sharing with NStar what this recipe contains.......we all sure need the good word that Paul left for us!

Shout Out

I wanted to give a shout out to J.R. Lee & Todd Lollis from Freedom Church. I ran in to them early this morning at McCall Primary School, they had just dropped off treats for the teacher!

Way to go guys - if Freedom catches your hearts, you have some awesome days ahead!!

Trick or Treat

I am sitting here in my house right now a little sad........not because it is Halloween and as one of my staff members heard one person say "It is Satan's birthday"....that is funny to me! I am sad because my 2 kids just took off trick or treating with their friends and it seems like yesterday they were the little one's coming to the door and now one is about to go to Middle School and one to High School!

I am feeling nostalgic tonight and feeling like time has slipped away so quickly!! Dads, if you are reading this, don't wish away time, enjoy every minute......it goes so quick!! Don't get so lost in planting or growing a great church that you can't remember what their costume was for Halloween and which house on the street to avoid because they pass out "toothbrushes" instead of candy!! A kid's nightmare!!

Over the last 10 years of NorthStar we have experienced some things that I never dreamed I would see or be a part of......but........the last 10 years of experiences with my 2 kids have been even better!! Don't miss the best chasing what you think is better!!

Better go, there are some goblins & cowboys coming up my driveway!!

Andy Stanley

We had the privilege to have Andy Stanley come and "pour" in to our staff & friends today. I have read all of Andy's books, I listen to him speak all of the time, but I have to say I was a little intimidated that he was coming to our campus to be with us.

Andy's content was amazing and the stuff he shared was so on the money and relevant to where we are. For an outline of what he shared visit J.R. Lee's blog where he shared the "quotes" that Andy shared. What I appreciated most was the humility that he exhibited and how he stood around and asked more questions than he answered. This is huge....I have met a ton of church planters and young guys who have all of the answers and spend their time meeting with us telling us what they are doing and never asking questions to learn. Here is the pastor of one of the most innovative kicking churches in the country and he is the picking the brains of guys on our team and some church planters we are working with! What a lesson for me and our team!

He is always pushing himself and his team to be better and to not focus on yesterday but figure out ways to do it better in the future! What a challenge!

Thanks Andy - our expectations were high and you exceeded them by a mile!

Sunday Stuff

Here is some Sunday stuff.......

• My little girl's squad took 1st place today in their cheerleading competition!!
• We had an awesome morning at NStar talking about "Team Players"...I am so glad to be a part of a church that people know they can always come home to!
• I never want to be a part of an "older brother" church again - a place that is always throwing stones at those that have been away
• NorthStar is a big time hangout for Prodigals
• Our special guest at NorthStar today was the real deal "Heisman Trophy"...can you believe that....the Holy Grail for College Football fans......We had it in both services and TONS of people came up and struck the Heisman pose and got their picture made with it!
• Shout out to Kevin & Nissan North America for allowing us to have it for the morning as a prop for the "team player" sermon.....pretty sweet prop!!!

Tomorrow is going to be an amazing day - Management Team meeting in the morning at 6:30am to talk about the details of NStar, this is a great team! Then we have a special all-staff meeting with some of our church planting buddies to hear from one of the greatest communicators in the country.....can't wait to tell you about it later tomorrow!

Special visitor to NorthStar

I can't wait to let you know about the "special guest" at NStar tomorrow......pretty crazy stuff! You'll have to wait.........I can't wait!!!!

Here we go......congratulations Dawgs

This pains me but it is well deserved......congrats Dawg Nation. I never would have guessed but you guys took it to the Gators and picked up a big W! Good job Coach Richt..........I will be looking for the Dawg fans to be out in force at NStar tomorrow! Glad the Jackets were off and we did not lose, that would make it even worse!

Game Plan

Had a quiet friday night and we caught a super new movie with our party of three (Anne, Mary-Michal & myself).....Casey had his own plans...yes those days are here!

We saw Game Plan with "The Rock".....it was awesome! If you have elementary age kids, you have to catch this great flick with them! I laughed a ton and the story line was super!! It is so rare to find a clean movie we can all see, this is one that we will buy & keep!!

Sweet 16

Sixteen years ago today, I married the greatest woman on the planet!! Thanks Annie for 16 incredible years......I can't wait for a ton more! It is great to be married to someone you love but it is even better when it is to someone that you love to be with! I would choose to be with Anne over anyone else in the world! (She loves me...who knows why, she loves the Lord, she loves our kids and she loves sports......can it get any better??)

Great post by Perry Noble - Deep Enough?

Great blog today by Perry Noble.

Perry is the lead Pastor of New Spring Church in Anderson, SC.....they are blowing it out up there!! Good stuff Perry!

Practicing Greatness

We just finished as a team reading the book "Practicing Greatness" by Reggie McNeal.....what a super book! There are some super ideas contained in the book and Reggie is an author who gets it! We had him a few years ago to do a staff meeting and he knocked it out of the park.

He hits throughout the book certain disciplines that a leader has to have to practice greatness. One of the disciplines that he hits is the discipline of belonging. In fact McNeal says it this way, "Great leaders belong to their followers". It is really in leadership to serve "over" our people and we forget how huge it is to belong to our people. That is what makes a great team and what makes churches! This is how churches become a force for change and are able to embrace a community with love because they do it "with" their people and everyone has a part in it!

If you are a new leader and just getting started in leading a church......take note of this quote from Reggie off page 141......it is good stuff!!!

“Great spiritual leaders belong. They belong to their families, their friends, their coworkers, their mentors, and their followers. This belonging provides them with both an anchor and a platform for their leadership. It provides them with both with both identity and credibility in a sphere of leadership that is ultimately about relationships. They have determined that the benefits of belonging outweigh the risks involved. These leaders have made the courageous decision to be real where it counts the most.” Page 141

Energy

I had a great meeting this morning with our Focus team....(these are the staff team leaders of each of our ministry areas) about how we will take the November "Spin" series and apply it throughout the life of this church! Our in every series is not just to do something good but to do something that applies and is pushed throughout the life of the church!!

While we were meeting with the team, you could just feel the energy building as we talked about ways we can all make this happen! It was incredible and there is going to be some great stuff come from it!

It would be so easy to sit and build a message series in isolation and then people just show up & hear it on Sunday's....but we believe that the weekend message is part of the life-blood of the church and every ministry is affected! I love doing things as a team and I always leave those meetings with new ideas and a fresh perspective on what we are sharing! I also love to know what is going on in ministries and when it ties in, I can push it in the message (Rick Warren is the master of this)!! If we do not keep moving this way, each ministry can become a "silo" and exist to itself and the church can begin to serve the ministry rather than the ministry serve the church......scary stuff there!

I love the team here!!!

Tears of the Saints

When we were at Catalyst the other week, we heard the song "Tears of the Saints"...it was powerful! We knew that we were doing "Away games" at NStar and we thought it would fit perfect for the weekend. I have been in tons of NStar services through our 10+ years and when the team nailed that song after message, it may be the most moved I have ever been! At the 11am service in Compass, two grown men got up during the song and walked down front to pray......it was unreal the feeling in the room!

The fact is, I am selfish by nature and my prayer is that God gives me "tears" for those who do not know! I pray He gives our church "tears" for those all around us and we will be the church that God had in mind all along!

great day.......except for

What an awesome day today getting to be with my family at the GT homecoming! The Jackets rolled to a big victory and the day was about as beautiful as it could be! There are a ton of great things that go along with being a Pastor and one of those is people that are nice enough to think of you with extra tickets. Since about every other illustration I use has something to do with sports, I guess people think of us! Thanks today to Mike & Donna Raines for the great seats for a super game. The only downside of the day was our stud back Choice going out in the 1st quarter with an injury.....not good!

Can't wait to put the finishing touches on my message for tomorrow....God has called us to "live in this world but not be of this world".....we live in a perpetual away game. How do we do it - how do we influence people who do not believe like us? Tomorrow is going to be fun and I am praying we see what difference we can really make in other peoples lives!

Friday

I am so glad that is Friday.......here are some reasons:

• One day closer to NStar on Sunday Morning (Away Games in Fanatic Series)
• Friday night football tonight! I will be at the Kennesaw Mountain vs. Harrison game.....should be a packed out place!
  
• Going to the GT vs. Army game tomorrow with my family....it will be fun to be all together for the day!!
  
• Spending the day today with my favorite person in the world, my good-looking wife Anne!!
• Last two baseball games of the fall are Sunday - glad for the break but sad it is over - our team has really looked good lately!
• Mary-Michal's cheerleading competition her squad has worked so hard on is Sunday......go Hoya's and go Mary-Michal!!!

It is great to have things you love to do and people you love to be with.......when your whole weekend consist of those two elements, it should be a blast to experience!!

Upcoming Series

We are in the middle of a totally fun fall series called "Fanatic" that is challenging the NStar people to leave the stands and get involved in the game! The first week was the challenge to "get in the game" and serve in ministries and last week was "Home-Field Advantage" which was about opening up your home to host a small group! We have had great response both weekends! This weekend is about "Away Games", which is about how we reach out to those who are not "interested" in church or God.....should be really interesting!

Yesterday, our creative team spent two hours brainstorming our new series coming out in November "Spin".....I love these times because I leave the meeting with so many great ideas for the series! With our economy & market like it is right now in NW ATL, I think the series out of Philippians will be timely. I think a lot of our people feel like their lives are in a "Spin" right now and they really do not know how to get out! I am praying for a breakthrough series for a lot of our people!! I will keep you posted!

Sunday thoughts & Golf Tourney

I am sitting down after a totally crazy day and just got in a good evening with my family watching "Extreme Home Makeover".....love that show! This is the one show we watch every week together and my kids always go, "Dad, are you crying?" That show tears me up!

Had a blast at NStar today....great services and great crowds! The True North venue is coming, still need to move about 50-75 per service over to the new room!! I have heard nothing but great stuff from everyone who attends, we are off to a great start! My mom and dad were able to come out today to church, it was so great to have them in the 11am service and I got to give them a tour of the new building. It was great to see them and show them around! It was a super day except for my voice giving out on me.....I know I sounded totally awful.....Dread doing our review on Tuesday and watching the video from the service and having to hear myself again!

My 14u baseball team played a single game today and took it to the West Cobb Redhawks (13-1). Our guys are really coming together and I enjoy so much the time I spend with them!

I am going to a golf tourney tomorrow in Canton, that is in honor of a young man who passed away in a plane crash a few years ago. Brent was in his mid 20's and only married for 8 months. He was a former college football player and had married his high school sweetheart who was a former SEC cheerleader. His family means the world to me and they use this tourney "Rooster Classic" to raise money to send high school athletes to summer FCA camp. This is the camp where Brent was saved when he was a teenager. I will go tomorrow (even though I am not a golfer) and hang out with Brent's family and enjoy the day! In ministry you will meet those families you connect with and Brent's family is one of those....they are great people and they have made good of a totally tough situation.

Late Saturday

• My Jackets went to Miami and took a big victory against the Canes at the Old Orange Bowl...the up & down season continues!
  
• Was in a beautiful wedding in downtown Atlanta tonight - great couple & fun crowd
• Got home in time to see the end of the LSU/Kentucky game.....what a game!!!
  
• Putting finishing touches on "Homefield Advantage" message for NStar.....praying for 50 more people to open their homes and become leaders for our small groups! This is key to the future of NStar!
• My parents are coming to NStar tomorrow - can't wait to have them in our services! They were not perfect parents but they sure were great ones!
• Can you believe this.....Kentucky just stuffed LSU and knocked off the the #1 team in the land! Gotta love College Football!!
  
• GO Vandy!

Blogs & Thoughts

I absolutely love catching up and reading guys blogs across the country. What an opportunity to learn from some sharp guys and to keep up with what God is doing and what God is teaching them! To all those out there that are writing - keep it up.....good stuff! Ten years ago you had to go to conference to continue learning and growing and staying challenged but now you can listen to podcast (Have over 20 I listen to at various times) and read daily blogs(20+) that I subscribe to so I can keep up!!

God has blessed us so much here at NStar - I pray we are faithful to give away the lessons we have learned! This next year, I want to put together a once a month lunch for 5-10 church planters so we can dialogue and learn from each other. If you are interested in being a part of this, shoot me a note (nstar710@gmail.com) and we will begin meeting in November. I don't have tons of wisdom but I have gotten some great experience in church planting and learned some great lessons in the last almost 11 years! Thought I would throw it out there...this is a free deal and I will even pick up the lunch!

Hero

I have a few heroes in this world and tonight I had the opportunity to be with one of them. When I was in college I had the opportunity to be coached by and play for one of the all-time baseball greats, Bobby Richardson. Richardson played for the NY Yankees during their glory years in the late 1950's & 60's. He was the 1960 World Series MVP, 5 time gold-glove winner and 7 time AL all-star at second base. When you think of the Yankee greats....Maris, Mantle, Dimaggio, Skowren, Kubek, Berra...Richardson is always mentioned in the same breath!

However, Coach Richardson is most noted for his strong walk with Jesus Christ and the influence he had in the Yankee clubhouse. He has spoken on national television at the funerals for Yankee Dick Howser and most recently at the funeral for Mickey Mantle who he & his Betsy helped lead to Christ before he passed. Richardson is a frequent guest in Major League Clubhouses and at other major sporting events where he shares his story and tells of his years with the Yankees.

After playing for Coach for 3 years at Liberty in the late 80's and early 90's, I got to see him on a daily basis live out his faith. He is the same ALL the time and is truly one of the most genuine people I have ever met. Tonight, I got to sit in a room with my 13 year old son and he got to hear the same stories I have heard so many times through the years and as usual he left saying, "That was one of the greatest nights of my life"!!

I pray that one day when I am in my 70's and my kids are grown (like his) and I have been married for 52 years (like Coach).......I pray that my walk is still true and my passion for others to know Christ is strong and I guess I pray the most.......that those who know me best will love me most!

Thanks Coach!!!

Toast

Post Gameday.....

I am toast and feel like I have been on a month straight!! Great to be at home in my study today - rejuvenating and just what I needed!! I will be back strong tomorrow AM!

Game-Day

What a day at NStar today! I have to admit, it has been a long time since I had butterflies prior to the morning!! Our team did such a super job today making the morning happen and the atmosphere on the campus was electric......the tail-gating grills, the I need 2 ticket signs, the parking lot sandwich boards, the music going, almost 2o student baptisms between services......You can't help but get a good feeling about the morning when you look around and see everyone in the favorite team jersey's and just laughing and seemingly...glad to be there!!!

The True North venue went off without a hitch, our technical team was amazing pulling this off!! We had great crowds in both venues and we have some serious momentum to build off of!! 9:30am was our strongest crowd but the 11:00am was just behind it!! It felt weird only speaking twice, but knowing that there were 4 separate crowds was pretty cool! Can't wait to find out how many people signed up to be a "Fanatic" and get in the game.....we'll see - will post what I know tomorrow!

Left an amazing day at NStar and went to our Titan doubleheader at North Cobb High. The first game we unloaded on the East Cobb Stars beating the 16-2 and then lost the second game in the last inning 6-5 after leading the whole game!!

Long day - but totally fun one!!

Here you go

• Enjoyed our two days at Catalyst
• I thought Andy Stanley was right on the money in the opening session talking about being the most "powerful person" in the room......the person who serves leads the way
• The worship was great both days!
• Craig Groeschel from Life Church.TV was absolutely incredible on the 2nd day when he talked about being a "Practical Athiest".....I do not think there was a pastor in the room that did not get or understand exactly what he was talking about. Not only was his content on the money but he was a super communicator! This one session was worth the whole trip and it will be one that I will make our entire team listen to together!
• Dave Ramsey was great - good content, great communicator!!
• We had a good time overall as a team - but I did not feel like Catalyst was as strong as last year, not sure if we might not only come & do the breakouts next year.....

Game-Day 2007 - Fanatic Series
Well, it's here....Game-day at NStar is tomorrow! Hopefully as soon as someone pulls on the campus, they will "feel" the atmosphere! Should be pretty cool! There are so many unknowns tomorrow but what is known is that God has told us to share His word, His way and when we do that, we can't help but win! Have to admit that I have a few pre-game butterflies, but I am psyched about all that is ahead!!

Catalyst 07

Off to Catalyst 07 - I cannot wait!! We have 11 of our staff going - I am so looking forward to all that we are going to learn and be challenged with - hope to see you there!!

Great lesson

This morning, I gathered with my executive bible study group and continued our series through the life of Moses. We are reading through Chuck Swindoll's character series on Moses and it is rich with good stuff!!

Here is some great quotes from Moses from Swindoll......

"Maturity is moving from a soft skin and a tough heart to a tough skin and a soft heart"

"Everybody can afford to step down if God's is still on the throne"

"The Greater the dreams that God may give you, the more persistent the rabble that puts them down"

......so much good stuff!! I love his character studies - I learn so much!!

Sunday evening

• Loved talking about what it means to "share" of what God has blessed us with!!
• I am really excited to see what it looks like when people "try the tithe" next weekend on "GameDay".....I am praying for an unforgettable day!!
• During my baseball doubleheader today - one NStar family on my team had a call from a friend that wanted to know if you give off the "gross" or "net"....not a conversation normally had at the dugout!!
• Love Extreme Home Makeover.....I cry every time!! We have so much to be thankful for!!
• We split our double-header, played awful first game and incredible second game!!
  
• Today in our services we asked how many people had been disconnected from God before their time at NStar...at least 70% per service (Overwhelming!!) I always realize that - you just forget until you see all of the hands!! Those lives are what it is all about!!
• Next week is Gameday......I am nervous/excited/thrilled/scared/trusting/worried.....all of those emotions but yet a peace that great days are ahead!!
• I love our NStar team - they are incredible & such servants!!
  

Can you believe it?

How about the Jackets taking it to Clemson today 17-3 down at the Flats! We had an absolute blast at the game with one of my best friends in the world, Steve Roach. Roach & I have been best friends since 2nd grade and now we get to work together at NStar and we both have been life-long GT fans and have endured our share of "lip" from our Dawg friends! It was sweet to win over a great Clemson team but it was even sweeter to be with my son & Roach! Good times!!

Tomorrow is a huge day for the future of NorthStar......pray for God to do some big stuff through His people learning to share!! When people learn to share, God begins to bless!! I have experienced it in my journey and I am praying hundreds of other NorthStar families will begin to share as well!! Could be a day that we look back at years from now as the day that the "gates" were opened and the "blessings" poured out and even more lives were able to be changed!!! Pray with us for big stuff!!

So Cool

• Casey (my 13 year old son) and I started out the night having a great dinner at Whistle Stop (a great little spot in downtown Kennesaw)....their country cooking is delicious!!
  
• When we drove up in the NStar parking lot (we are located right across from North Cobb High)I saw tons of people tail-gating in our lots......that was so sweet!! (The food looked good as well!!)
  
• Along with Chick-Fil-A, NorthStar hosted the "Civil War Classic" football game between Kennesaw Mountain & North Cobb High Schools.......it was incredible to see around 30 NorthStar people working the concession stands and serving so the parents of players could watch their kids play!!
  
• I stood in the end zone area and literally talked to people all night and met tons of people that are coming to NStar now and also saw tons of other NStar families & students that were at the game.....it is so great to have lived in an area long enough to really feel a part!
• It was so cool to look on both sidelines and see coaches/players & administrators that are a part of NStar and to see the two chaplains for both teams (Marlon/KMHS and Emory/NCHS) and know they are on our team!! Those guys give a ton of time to their teams!
  
• I sat for few minutes last night and remembered when all of this was just a "dream" and we prayed that one day God would give us some influence in our community.....we are not totally there yet but I think we are heading in the right direction!!
  
• After the game - our student ministry hosted an "After-Party" along with Destiny Church in our parking lot - kudos to Brad & Nick and their teams for making the night happen!

Only "Downers" last night.....

• KMHS had a rough night - felt sorry for them, they have the most awesome coaching staff in the world and they really love those boys!
• My wife's WVU Mountaineers went down to South Florida......probably good that I was not home to see.....she was pretty hacked with them! Being a GT Fan - we are used unfulfilled expectations!!

Off to see GT battle Clemson at Grant Field today....hope the men in Gold can pull off an upset!!!

The Kingdom

Yesterday, I made my over to FBC/Woodstock to hear Vance Pittman talk about their church plant in Vegas. I began to question why I was going about half way there and wondered if it would really be worth my time........it was, big time!! They are knocking it out there and really touching the Vegas community. He shared some good stuff and had some pretty rocking stuff to say about "The Kingdom" of God. Love some of the ideas and we are going to crank out a "Kingdom" series in early 08! Thanks Vance for the thoughts!! Vance has a super friend of mine, Chip Riggs, on his team and he is one of the sharpest guys out there....it was great to see & connect with Chip again!

Also ran into some great friends from around Atlanta.....Jeff Chandler from SouthCrest Church in Newnan, Larry Grayes from The Midtown Bridge at Atlantic Station and J.R. Lee from Freedom Church in Acworth. These guys are doing a super job in each of their communities and really get what growing a "difference making" church is all about! J.R. & I were able to hook up today for lunch and it is always so fun to be around him because it reminds me of NStar & all of us 10 years ago when we were getting ready for to crank up! They have a super future ahead!

Welcome to Blogging!

Welcome to Jamie Maddox as he begins sharing his thoughts on money & life!! Jamie is our Pastor of Stewardship at NorthStar and is an amazing leader for our church on how we spend our money and how we help our people in spending money God's way! Jamie is not only a great friend but a great leader and absolutely one of the funniest people I know!! You will love his insights!

Details

I am probably like a lot of Pastors & Planters and I do not like details......they scare me but they are a necessary evil! In my first few years of NStar when I was Ike's associate, I had to worry about and take care of all the details...great training ground for what I do now! I have been in creative planning meetings since 9am this morning and there are so many things that have to happen just right to make things go and our team nails them each & every week!!

Details are funny, if they are taken care of, you do not even notice but if they are forgotten......everyone knows!! Thought I hate details and am not great at them, they are part of what makes things go! My role on Sunday is just part of the big picture and though I may be the most recognized of our team, I am certainly not the most important!! As we say on the diamond, it is the little things done right that win games!!

Every Sunday is someone's first time and maybe someone has been inviting them for 6 months & praying for them to have a great experience here at NStar.........the little things to them will be a really big deal!! Details....gotta love them and gotta love the team that makes them all happen!!!

Incredible!

I love seeing life change.....last night we baptized 24 people in a "chilly" pool but it was so awesome to see 100+ people gathered around the pool deck at the Starnes' to cheer them on!! Our team puts in a ton of hours into making NStar happen and then we watch God do something that is bigger than us (salvation & eternal life) it is all worthwhile!! Then we left baptism and had 35-40 people who are new to NorthStar attend our "Newcomers" event that is a great get-together so they can learn more about the church!!

My challenge to any church-planter who is just coming out of the ground and is not seeing what they thought they would see.....stick with the plan that God called you to do!! Learn all you can and learn from as many people as you can, but find something that you are great at and stick with it! After 10 years of ministry at NStar - I feel like we are really just getting started!!

Weekend thoughts

• Georgia Tech is wearing me out.....we are down to UVA and need this win!!
• West Virginia blew out ECU today - Anne is a happy girl!!
• Roll Tide!
  
• My little girl, Mary-Michal, has homecoming today for her cheerleading squad at their football game...she loves cheering but has no idea how the game is going - it is actually pretty funny!
  
• We continue our Coin series tomorrow "Pocket"....we are going to talk about the fun subject of "debt"....it may not be a "sexy" subject but it is sure one we need to get a handle on!
• I spoke to the NStar men at Berry College last night on being a servant leader.....we have some super-sharp guys and I had a blast with them!
• We have our next baptism tomorrow night at the home of Derek & Dawn Starnes - we have 30 signed up to be there....that will give us 155 in the past 2 months.....that is what it is all about!!
• After baptism we will have NStar Newcomers with about 20-30 new people who are new to the church....these are always a blast!!
• Tomorrow will be a long day (3 services, a baseball game double-header in Powder Springs and then baptism and newcomers)...whew......all fun stuff!!
  

Thursday

Great day today!! I started today meeting with my accountability group....3 awesome men that I asked to meet with me once a month and help speak truth in my life. These guys are in their 50's and have raised great families, have great marriages and done super in each of their careers. Even more than that; they love God in a big way, they love NorthStar and I know they love me! They are not a board but a group that can ask me about anything at anytime and a group of "wise" men that I can bounce things off of personally......what they have meant to me, I cannot put into words! I look so forward to our time at Cracker Barrell and how I always feel when I leave!! Thank you guys!!

We are continuing moving ahead to Game-Day at NStar......we have some pretty funny stuff coming out about it!! Keep your eyes posted on our website!!

Great to see!!

It is a crazy thing, when we moved to Kennesaw, GA in 1991 I never planned on being around this area very long!! Here we are 16 years later and I cannot imagine living any where else! I love this community, I love the people but there is always a stirring in every leader to make a huge impact a lot of other places as well! The cool part is, God has sent us some guys through the years here at NorthStar that have gone out and made it happen other places and taken our heart to new communities.....

• Aaron Coe, Lead Pastor, Gallery Church in Manhattan - Aaron is an amazing leader who is one of the best visionaries that I have ever met! Aaron and his wife Carmen & his team are doing an amazing job in the middle of NYC! Aaron served as our Elementary Pastor back in the early 2000's.....
• Roscoe Lilly, Lead Pastor, NorthStar Church/Clifton Park, NY - Roscoe & his wife Mary are servants and have done an amazing job in up-state NY starting from absolutely nothing and at Easter having over 200 people. Mary served with us in our student ministry and Roscoe was a lay leader with us.....
  
• Russ Butcher, Lead Pastor, The Church at the Grove/Loganville, GA - Russ is one of those guys that I have known for years in student ministry and then he served with us at NorthStar for 5 years. He had church planter written all over him and he & his wife Jill are an amazing team and blowing it out at CATG!
  

There are so many others that I could list but these are just a few guys are making it happen and I love reading their blogs and websites and keeping up with all of the stuff they have going! I am praying for more like them - I pray for the day we have a "NorthStar" influenced church in every state and we can see thousands across the US "exchange ordinary living for an extraordinary life"!! You can visit our website and see our network of churches that we have had a part in getting started - I am praying for many more!!

Looking back - looking ahead!

Here are a couple of thoughts from the weekend......

High Points:

• Clothesline ended up giving out 1000 huge bags of clothes again this year and over 280 volunteers made the weekend happen!! Incredible!
• The student ministry hosted the first "After-Party" on Friday night after the game - great crowd and a great start!!
  
• NStar hosted the Friday night "Top of the Rock" football game between rivals North Cobb High & Harrison High. 22 volunteers from our singles ministry worked concession stands and our "grill crew" cooked over 700 hamburgers to feed the huge crowd!! This allowed all of the football booster parents to watch their sons play in the big game! By the way - NCHS took home the Top of the Rock trophy for the first time since it was created in 1998 with a 13-12 victory. Thanks NStar singles for making the weekend happen!
  
• We continued our "Coin" series with Scream......we talked about greed and ways we control greed in our lives! Maybe my favorite message we have ever done on finances! We started in 2003 being very open about money and the role it plays in our lives......I never mind sharing stuff that God says so much about and can set our people free if they follow!! Fun day - great worship (as always) and just a great time!
• The Kennesaw Titans (14u travel team) swept a DH from Johns Creek (7-2 & 8-3) and improved to 5-1 for the fall season! Long day on Sundays (3 services and 2 games) but fun!!
• Today we will work more on our Coin series and work on our next 2 messages - good stuff!!
• After a long day away yesterday - we hung out in the backyard last night as a family and it was so sweet!!

Low Points:

• My beloved GT Yellow Jackets toyed with me again and got my hopes up and then got busted in the chops by a very good Boston College team! I still think the Jackets will have a strong season!
• All of the Dawg fans were back to harass me at NStar yesterday, I guess the big victory over the Catamounts of Western Carolina got their confidence back up!!
• The Falcons...it is bad when I am gone all day and miss the game but don't even care to TIVO it and watch it later.....
• The Braves season is getting close to being over...we will wear black for a few days with the Bravo's going off(unless a miracle happens in the Wild Card race!)

Enought about last week - I am going to dive in to this new one and see what great stuff is ahead!!! Game day is just around the corner - October 7th is quickly approaching - can't wait to see how NStar adapts to all of the changes!! I am feeling another "surge" coming!

Clothesline

Yesterday, Anne & I spent the morning at the NStar building. It was no normal Friday, it was the weekend of Clothesline, a ministry birthed in the heart of Melanie Mooney, one of our NorthStar members. After a small first year, it has grown into a 48 foot trailer being filled top to bottom with clothes donated by NStar families. Melanie & her team (130+) volunteers sort the clothes and turn the auditorium into the most incredible shopping area you have ever seen!! Needy families are invited on Saturday to come & shop and take as much as they need. On Friday, schools bring students that are in need to shop and it is one the most touching things I have ever watched or experienced!

While we were there on Friday, a young high school came out after trying on a "Prom Dress" and modeled it for her teachers and for the ladies at Clothesline....she was so proud & happy and I was dripping tears like a leaky faucet! I was so happy for the young lady but I was also so proud of people like the Mooney family "who get" the mission of NorthStar! I had absolutely nothing to do with the dream of Clothesline or execution of it but easily over 1000 huge trash bags of clothes will leave that building this weekend and bless many lives all because of one sweet lady and the dream of her family (who are right there with her all the way!)

Every weekend we say, "We exist to show God's love in such a way....." this weekend is a picture of everything we are talking about!! Hundreds of families blessed and hundreds of people serving & giving...........I think, just maybe, this is what God wanted the church to look like!!! Way to go Melanie & NStar and way to go God!!! I will post some pics soon!

Quiet Strength

I love sports, I love studying great coaches and I love seeing someone who can find that switch that makes things go & tick! Tony Dungy in his new book Quiet Strength (incredible book) shared some principles that he shared with his Tampa Bay squad while he was coaching there. He noted that in the book that the Tampa Bay team had a history of losing and of having a losing attitude - these principles are right on the money.......

• Be a pro
• Act like a champion
• Respond to Adversity;don't react
• Be on time. Being late means either it's not important to you or you can't be relied upon
• Execute. Do what you're supposed to when you're supposed to do it. Not almost. All the way. Not most of the time. All of the time.
• Take ownership.

Whatever it takes.
No excuses, no explanations

True North venue

Our team blew it out of the park tonight in pulling off our "preview" of the True North Service! I was tucked away down in an empty auditorium speaking while our amazing team created an awesome worship environment....... the ball was set on a tee for me to speak! You are never stronger than your team and that is for sure and I have one STRONG team that I get to serve with!!

I cannot wait for October 7th to see what is in store!!

1997

Yesterday I took some time to look at some notes that I used for a message in January of 1997. NorthStar was three weeks old the first time I spoke and it was so funny to look back at the notes of that message and remember all we were thinking & feeling at the time! The energy, passion, excitement, fear but resolve that we were going to watch God do something that was bigger than us! Now 10+ years later we are about to step out on a new adventure with our True North video venue and all of those feelings that I am having again!! Game day is always exciting but it brings it comes with butterflies too! Tonight we are doing a preview service for some families of the new venue and I am speaking from the main auditorium and they will shoot it live.....Game Day!

Love what I do

I started a new book last night The Three Signs of a Miserable Job by Patrick Lencioni. Lencioni wrote the classic Five Dysfunctions of a team among many other great books on leadership. In his great style he paints the story of a great guy who feels he can turn those that work with him into LOVING their work!!

Strangely I found myself at home last night and was able to knock out 100 pages of this "future" classic. I was reminded of a few things....first, I love what I do and it is never a pain to get up and do what I do.....second, I work with people who sure seem to love what they do and that makes it even more fun to come in every day....third, we do something that I really believe can make a difference for eternity for people and it counts....finally, I just do not deal with a long of junk from the people of our church - they are here because they have met God here and it has changed their lives!!!!

I remember being in college worrying I would hate working one day....it is really just the opposite, I LOVE IT!! I pray for the day that every Pastor can find themselves in the place that I am in and that we at NorthStar can become an influence for good and ALL churches will be places that people love to work at!