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!

Coin

I began a new series at NStar yesterday called "Coin". The series is about what we do with what we have been blessed with, in fact we are Rich! We have had this series planned for about 4 months and then discovered that Andy & Northpoint had just done a series called "Rich"....Great stuff and great place for some ideas....okay, a lot of ideas!! We really did have this down to do for a long time!!

Today I was meeting with Steve Roach who was helping me write and formulate the upcoming message "Scream". We were going through some different stuff and study material and we fell upon a quote by Ed Young Jr......when talking about Greed he said we have to learn to be "content with our contents"!! WOW - that is right on the money!

I wish I could stand up on the stage this coming weekend and know that I have this area of my life completely under control but I do not and it is a process for me! I want to be that "content" with the "contents" that God has blessed me with....it is hard when you are driven and you have this desire to acquire and do more but you have to balance that with if God chooses to only give me what I currently have - that is cool!

Learning a lot in studying for Coin........I want to pass on the right way to my kids and they are going to do what they see not what I say!

Unload

Thoughts from the weekend:

• Georgia Tech #15 in AP poll....
• South Carolina, need I say more?
• Great start to Coin series today....bottom line - We are blessed to be a blessing and we really are rich!
• Incredible time of worship at all 3 of our services - it is hard to believe how incredible our team is every time they hit the stage!!
  
• Had soft start to our new True North "video" venue today...heard it went great but more work to be done to work out kinks before official launch on October 7
• Great crowds all 3 services.....really curious how it is going to shake out when we have 4 good times (9:30 & 11am)...a little nervous but really excited!
• Long day at the ball park today - we split a DH - should have won both!!
• Started Tony Dungy's new book on Friday - what a great man and a great coach!! It is full of great quotes and great thoughts and some good stuff to build your life around!
• Looking forward to a busy week as we keep preparing for game day on October 7th!
  
• Tomorrow - I will be studying all day and writing for the Coin series and the Fanatic series in October!
• Ready to chill for the evening!!
  

Friday........

I have always loved the day Friday, in elementary school it was the beginning of a long weekend just doing nothing!! In middle school & high school, I always remember looking forward to Friday night football or basketball games and then in high school, going out on a date or out with friends to start the weekend!! Friday's in college were the beginning of great weekends whether playing ball on the baseball diamond or just hanging out with your buddies!! It is just a great day!

It is so great to see that same expectation in my kids as they know it is the one day, even if you have homework, you can put it off until tomorrow and it is the night you start making plans about what to do for the weekend!!! Friday's are awesome!! I still love going to high school football games and on a normal Friday night, I am somewhere (Harrison, North Cobb or Kennesaw Mountain) watching a great game and seeing players, band members & cheerleaders from NorthStar!

However, selfishly I know look forward to Friday's because it is the one day Anne & I get to just be together! The kids are in school until 2:30pm and I am off and the morning & early afternoon is ours......it is a blast to just run errands, hang out at the pool or catch an early movie!! To have a best friend and that best friend be your wife is just too good!! I fell in love that good-looking Liberty U cheerleader the first time I laid eyes on her in the fall of 1989 and now in the fall of 2007 - she looks better than she did then (I don't.....in too many ways to describe) but she does!! Saturday's are full and Sunday's are crazy but Friday's are just too good!! I love Friday!! Off to enjoy the day!

Lessons

We take one Wednesday a month and bring in a guest to train & challenge our staff team. It is really easy to get into a rut and not be challenged by someone from the outside in the area of leadership. I believe that you if you as a leader are not learning and being stretched, you will slip into "ruts" that you may live in for miles. I remember the old quote, "a rut is just a ditch with both ends kicked out".....Very true!

Yesterday, Chuck Bengochea, the CEO of Honey-Baked Hams, came & spent almost two hours with our team talking about "Sustaining Excellence". It was good stuff!! Not only is Chuck a passionate follower of Christ but he brings years of great corporate experience at GE, Coke and now Honey-Baked Ham to the table. There were so many great take-aways for our team but one of the things he said that stuck out to me was......what you execute is really what represents your de-facto strategy. So many times we say we are good at this or that but the reality is what we DO and finally execute is our strategy! Chuck also made a comment that is huge for anyone in leadership and that was...you must be passionate about the destination & the journey. He said that it really does not matter what you represent, but passionate people draw followers! So true....I have watched so many churches through the years and the styles of what they did were so different but the passion of the leader was contagious! It was great to have J.R. Lee and Todd Lollis from Freedom Church with us in our meeting - they are two guys who have passion for what God has called them to do and they are going to do a great job in leading a great new church!

I guess our real leadership prayer should be.....God never let me lose my passion for You & for People!

The Art of Delegation

I got my day started early meeting with the Executive Bible study that I lead every other week. These men are not only great leaders but great men. The majority of them are either leading their companies or they are in key positions in their organizations. Today we were studying through the life of Moses and in Chapter 14 of Moses by Chuck Swindoll. The lesson we learned about was delegation and how important it is in our lives to learn to share leadership with others. It was so fascinating to hear from many of these guys (around 20) some that have reached the height of the what the world says is success and to hear about the lessons they have learned a long the way.

Moses father-in-law Jethro was huge in his life and in the eventual organization of the nation of Israel....the key was Moses listened! I am so thankful that I have guys in my life that have been that for me through the years. If I had to look back on my journey and lessons learned over 16 years in full-time ministry and 10+ years at NorthStar....learning to build great teams by delegating to the right people would be right at the top of the list!

Here is the outline from Moses by Chuck Swindoll:

Four Thoughts to Grow On:

Ex. 18:17 Moses' father-in-law replied, "What you are doing is not good. 18 You and these people who come to you will only wear yourselves out. The work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle it alone. 19 Listen now to me and I will give you some advice, and may God be with you. You must be the people's representative before God and bring their disputes to him. 20 Teach them the decrees and laws, and show them the way to live and the duties they are to perform.

1. Separate the essential from the additional

“The principle is that God assumes responsibility for enabling His man to fulfill every task to which He has appointed him. Now there are some self-imposed tasks which others can do better that we, and we should relinquish them. But even should they do them worse, we should still relinquish them – a severe test for the perfectionist?” J. Oswald Sanders in Spiritual Leadership

2. Restrain yourself more, involve yourself less

3. God’s servants are not exempt from natural laws

“You will break the bow if you keep it always bent” Old Greek Motto

“his eye was not dim, nor was his vigor abated” Deut. 34:7 Moses was 120 when he died

4. Efficiency increases as we relinquish

(adapted from Moses by Charles Swindoll)

Post game

It feels good to chill out after a crazy day today.....

• Great day at NStar - Chris did super leading in the Lord's supper...always a great time to stop & reflect and remember how much He really did love us!
• Due to not speaking today - I was able to go up and hang out with the students for a few minutes....even thought it was Labor Day - the middle & high school students were slammed in the new True North auditorium - it was nuts!!
• We announced our new schedule today that begins Oct. 7th.....2 great times (9:30 & 11:00am) in both the Compass Centre and now in the True North venue. We will be shooting the signal to True North live so we will have awesome worship in both places and I will be speaking live in Compass and on video live in True North!! It is going to be awesome!! ALL ministries will meet at both hours - I will keep you posted on how it goes - as usual - NStar people just go with the flow! Our people are the best!!
• My travel baseball team won again today 11-3....we are off to a great start!
• Came to tonight after a long day and hit the pool with the fam and now it feels good to just chill and know I can sleep in tomorrow!!

How about those Jackets..

Tech fans are never confident in big games....I will be honest, my expectations were low with the GT game today!! I am blown away at how complete the squad looked at South Bend!! Could this be the year? It was great to see NorthStar product Tyler Evans with big playing time today and local legend Jonathan Dwyer, a true freshman, with a TD on his 2nd collegiate carry!! Dawg fans, let us enjoy our day!! How about the Mountaineers of Appy State taking it to the Michigan Wolverines....gotta love College Football!!

If the day was not good enough...WVU won big (my Annie is happy) and my little girl's rec. football game was cancelled because not enough of the other team showed up!! I am out of hot water with my 10 year old - that is really good stuff!!

What's a man to do?

I am dying today.....

• Braves vs. Mets at 3:30pm
• My beloved GT Yellow Jackets vs. the dreaded Irish at 3:30pm
• West Virginia vs. Western Michigan at 3pm (I don't care - but my Mountaineer wife does and if Momma is happy my life will be a lot happier as well)
• My little girl is cheering this afternoon for Due West Hoya rec. football and I am on a guilt trip from her you would not believe for not attending (this one is gonna cost me)
  
• Gotta pull for Oklahoma State vs. UGA tonight (sorry Dawg fans but gotta start early pulling against the Dawgs - Like Coach Richt - not the Dawgs)
  
• Tons of other great games on.......just too much!!!
  

What a great weekend it would be to get wins from all of my teams - Tech needs one to start the season and beating the Irish would be huge!! The Brav0's need a win in a big way to stay in the hunt for the playoffs......Oh well - the basement is cool and the wings are hot and I am tuning out to tune in for a great day on the tube!