way to go braves!

All of my NStar friends know that I am HUGE Braves fan and today is a big day!! Getting "Tex" from the Rangers to play first base will be huge to the season for the Braves and then adding Dotel to the bull-pen...gotta love it! Not only is Mark Teixeira a great hitter and first baseman but......he is a former Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket(you know he must be a good guy!!) I am so pumped for the stretch run!!

Monday

Tonight was a special night for my family, we did something we really never get to do......NOTHING!!! We were home all evening and we just enjoyed each other! There are no people I would rather be with in the world than with my incredibly good-looking wife and my 2 awesome kids!! Life will change this week with cheerleading starting for my daughter and baseball for my son - but for tonight.....it's good to be home!

NorthStar @ the Lake!!

WOW - what a night!!! The crowd for the pic-nic was crazy big but seeing 122 people baptized tonight was about more than I could stand!! One 65 year old gentleman when he came to me in the lake said..."it's been a long journey to this point but now...it is all worth it!!" I was overwhelmed because this is WHY we do what we do!! Words cannot express how I feel right now about our team at NStar and the amazing way that God has blessed us!! To have a standing room only crowd at our middle service this AM and two other huge summer crowds and then following up with baptism....it just does not get much better than this!! I will post some pics in a few days!!

Shake Bluff, TX

The Summer of Love tour continues this morning and we will be heading to Shake Bluff,TX! In this town, there is a major lack of folks who want or will tell the truth! The truth is never easy to receive or give, but it is always for the best! Paul said it this way in I Cor. 13:6 "Love rejoices in the truth"!

One thing I have discovered in life.....it is hard to be totally truthful with God without being truthful with those around me! If I am shading truth with them - I will be shading truth with Him! Let's not live in Shake Bluff....Hope to see you this AM!!! Can't wait to tell you late r how the day turned out!!!

Weekend

I have to say that this is a bittersweet weekend in a lot of ways. I feel bad because the summer is coming to a close and we absolutely LOVE our kids being out of school and having fun with them around the house! Yea, they are normal kids and we have our ups & downs with them but overall - they are a blast!! I love those two!!! However, I am REALLY looking forward to Sunday in a big way.....we are not only coming to a close on our "Summer of Love Tour" but Sunday evening we are gathering as a church at the lake for our end of the summer baptism & picnic!

As of right now, we have over 130+ people signed up to be baptized!!! We are so pumped because we do tons of stuff to serve throughout our community and we get after it on Sundays, but ultimately we are about "changed lives".....to see 130 adults, students & children be baptized in one evening will be unforgettable!!

I cannot wait until tomorrow night!!! I will "figure out" how to post some pictures so you can get a small taste of the evening!! If you are in town - come on out to Dallas Landing in Acworth - directions are on our site www.northstarchurch.org Hope to see you there!!!

Blast from the past!

Later today my family is loading up and heading out to Fayetteville to see one of my old college baseball coaches who is town for a few days! When I left high school to go to Liberty back in the fall of 1987 I only knew one person going to LU and I was scared to death! I had no idea that while I was there I was going to make some of the greatest friends in the world and also meet my wife(the best part)!

Coach Pastors was a rock for me during my time at Liberty. He was more than a baseball coach, he was there for us during so many crazy times that you have during college. The realization that you have reached the last level of baseball that you are going to play (for me at least) and the harsh reality that this game you love so much will not be a part of your life any more is a tough pill to swallow! I remember the day it settled in on me that I was done with my baseball career, Coach P was the one that I went to and his words to me that day I will never forget!

I know tonight we will do a ton of laughing about old times and remembering all of the fun we had while there! I also look forward to Coach P meeting my family and my kids getting a chance to meet this person who played such a big role in mine! I pray that they have a Coach Pastors in their life one day - they sure will be better people for it!! My parents are also going to join us tonight for dinner - it is going to be a blast.....can't wait!!!

Wisdom

I am so thankful that in my journey and in my life at every stage I have had people around me that have great wisdom that I have learned from at times and leaned on at times!! You really never know how much you depend and need people with wisdom until you do not have them around you and then you feel like you are making decisions in a hole!

Today I had breakfast with a group of men that I asked to come around me...guys who are a little older than me, men who have been walking with God for a while......and I asked them to see if they would help me do this journey of life! I cannot tell you how energized I feel after leaving my time with them. It is really nothing they say specifically, it is just knowing that I have 3 men who I know are there to bounce stuff (church, family, etc) off of!! I hope you have some friends like that - I know I sure need them!!

Predicaments

Every other Tuesday morning I do one of my favorite things and that is gather with about 20-30 guys in an Executive Bible study. This group is an amazing group and it is full of guys who the world would say "have made it to the top" yet they feel like they are all just beginning the real journey of following Christ every day, with all aspects of their lives! I love these guys because they are honest & open and totally transparent about where they are and what they are learning! To find 20-30 business owners/company presidents/key managers all willing to meet at 6:30am at a tractor dealership board-room to study through the Bible is so crazy but so incredible as well!

We are studying right now the life of Moses and what his journey was like. Today, where were reading, he & the children of Israel were stuck after fleeing Egypt.....the armies of Pharaoh were close on their tail and the Sea was in front and there was no where to go and there was no where else to look but UP! Does this sound familiar - ever been there before - all options are shot and it is God and God only who can come through for you? Scary spot but great spot!

Lesson we learn......we typically only trust God when we HAVE to therefore.......He sees to it that we HAVE to!!!!

Bitter Valley, AZ

What a day at NorthStar today! Our "Summer of Love" tour stop today was "Bitter Valley, AZ". This is the place we begin to live when "bitterness" and "resentment" settle in to our lives! It was incredible to watch people in our services, literally by the hundreds, let go of their past and move on out of this town they have wasted years in! If you weren't with us - stop by our website www.northstarchurch.org and listen in - it was an awesome morning!!

I can't say I have never spent time in Bitter Valley, I am just thankful that I have not lived there for long!! I have been forgiven so much - passing it on is now my job!

Flashback!

Today I get to meet with 2 guys are planting churches, one of the them soon and one of them is still praying through the place to go! I have no doubt both of them are going to do a super job because they have a million of other things they could do and be great at but CHOSE to plant......that is a big deal!! I meet a lot of guys that are doing it because their options are not as good and they struggle in "pouring"themselves into a community to make it work!!

Meeting with guys like J.R. Lee (Freedom Church) and Adam Bishop gives me flashbacks to 11 years ago when we were getting the plans of NStar together......those were fun days!! Keep your eye out on these guys, I believe that they are both going to do some great stuff!!!

2 Things to Remember

We have had a young man hanging out with us the past few days that is a student in seminary. Having gotten the seminary degree and doing that journey myself, I realize that there were some things that I did not get! He has spent time hanging out with our staff team and learning how they do their ministry and what makes them tick! Yesterday, he & I spent some time together talking about my role at NorthStar and what it is like and what is really important to me.

There were two things that stuck out that we talked about in that hour discussion about what makes a great church and a church that is a "fun" place to work! (by the way, I think church is like a marriage - we work on it as we grow it but we do not work "at it" all of the time - trying to make it work). The first thing, in my role that is huge that you may not learn in seminary is that your #1 calling is to love God & love people, if you do that He blesses you and they (the church) always sense that you have their best interest in mind and they cut you some slack!! I have also noticed that they "love you back".........NorthStar is the most incredible place about keeping you encouraged! The second thing is that you are only as strong as the team around you! You better pick great team-mates for the journey! We have hired 80% of our team from within NorthStar and that has worked great because they have already bought into the vision of who we are and where we are going! I rely on our team (no doubt the best I have ever worked with) more than anyone will ever realize!!

If you can master those 2 things - I believe you are off to a great start in building a church of "influence"! Thanks NorthStar for being such an awesome place and letting me learn as I go and thanks NStar team for making it happen day after day and week after week - you are a blast to do life with!!

Fun Day!

Tuesdays are days that I love! Each & every weekend we have one hour of people's attention and our job we feel at NorthStar is to create an environment where people can make the "great exchange!" Sundays are planned out on Tuesdays and the team that sits in that room every week is amazing - the greatest are never mine and in fact by the time they reach Sunday it is hard to remember who came up with what! We try to stay two weeks out on planning and that gives our creative team time to do what they are great at!! This team is comprised of 10-12 members of our NStar staff team and depending on the week, we may bring in a few more to help out! Our goal is not only a creative service but providing a next step for people to take! This team has taken NStar to new heights and it is a blast to hang out with this team......I feel guilty sometimes for having this much fun and getting paid!

Today we will be finishing up planning the Summer of Love tour (I Cor 13) ...the best summer series we have ever had in 10 years at NorthStar!! The reason it has been the best is because each week ties together but still stands alone so if you miss it is okay and you do not feel like you are lost in the series. Usually we do 4-6 week series, but SOL will be 10, but it has fit summer perfectly!! With each week seeming to stand alone, it has been a super time to have other guys on our team speak (Steve Roach, Marlon Longacre and the dynamic duo of Brad Parkhurst & Nick Person) each of these guys have knocked it out of the park and we have picked up momentum every week!! Our crowds have been unreal and the energy in the building has been amazing!!

Off to the day!!

Are you smarter than a 5th grader?

I just completed an article this morning for a local magazine about our August back to school series..."Are you smarter than a 5th grader?" I guarantee you that I will NEVER appear on a show like that where my "forgotten years" of school may be exposed and the world may find out and my diploma's could be revoked!!!

In our series we are going to talk about what every parent needs to teach their kids about: "Life, God & Sex". It did make me start thinking about my 2 kids (13 & 10) and what is it that I really want them to know. Am I going to leave it to someone else to pass on to them or am I going to be the one that passes on the word....I think I will choose me! With that being true - what is it that I want them to know? Stay tuned........

Sunday Wrap-Up

• Great time this morning on the Summer of Love Tour in Angertown, AL.
• Unreal worship with Daniel & the team and the Lifehouse tune "Bridges" was amazing
• Today I had the honor of dedicating Sean David Cullen, the son of Todd & Cynthia Cullen, who were two of our original NorthStar staff members.......great lesson - those you begin the journey with will always be part of your "family"
• I love being around NorthStar people - they are most encouraging people I have ever met!
• The Braves have won 3 in a row since the break - love the Braves!
• 14U fall baseball is just around the corner - ready to take to the diamond again with 12 great kids!! (4 of the players & families from last years family now come to NorthStar - that is why it is so fun)
• Spent the afternoon with my family - life gets no better than this!!
• Great week ahead to look forward to!

One of the reminders in this adventure of leading is to never let programs & the work of ministry be bigger than the relationships IN ministry. This week I have be in touch with a few of our former team-mates that have moved on to some great stuff and it is so good to be able to "cheer each other" on with a clear conscience because relationships have always been at the center of what we do!! If you are a pastor or leader - love people - you will never go wrong.....I promise!!

Summer of Love Tour

Tomorrow we will continue the Summer of Love tour (1 Cor 13:5) at NorthStar by stopping in on Angertown, Alabama. Of all the stops on the tour this summer - Angertown is sure a place that I have resided at times! I guess as I look back on life, I get the most angry when things do not go my way and the outcome is not what I would choose for it to be.

My prayer for NorthStar tomorrow is that "we" would learn to live God's way and understand that when His love comes from the inside of us and we are full of Him and not us - maybe my visit to Angertown will be a quick stop and not a place that I will stop and stay! I am praying for big stuff tomorrow!!!

Honored

This past week I got to meet one of my hero's...Max Lucado. I have been reading Lucado's books since I was in college and love the way he has the ability to make hard things simple! I was invited to a lunch downtown for Thomas Nelson publishers regarding a new project they are doing with Max that is rolling out this year called "316 words of hope". Before the event I was able to spend a little time with this man who has now over 50 million of his books in print and is known as one of the greatest Christian writers of this generation. I am always afraid to meet these people I have looked up to so much for fear that I will be let down by how they come across in a smaller setting. His introduction of himself to me said it all..."Hi, my name is Max"....That's it - no accolades, no grandiose stories, just...Max. What a great lesson to those that are still running the race and following behind like me.....