The real “F” word…

“Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.” Colossians 3:13 NLT

I dont know about you, but I find certain verses in the Bible easier to follow than others.  Do we have to forgive?  What about those who REALLY betrayed and HURT us?  What about that whole “eye for an eye” thing?  Why does the Bible say that we MUST forgive others?  Join us this Sunday and we will find out why forgiveness is the REAL “F” word.  This is going to be intense.

Wisdom teeth out…

Laughing gas = FUN 🙂

Memorial Day…

Lets not forget the reason we have the day off… CLICK HERE

Sunday night thoughts…

• I know that it is Memorial Day weekend and attendance is supposed to be down… but today was simply awesome!  This has been the BEST THREE week stretch in attendance since Lifesong Started.
• TWO people recieved Christ today!  That is why we do what we do!
• Just finished up with a creative meeting to help plan out the next several series, some pretty AWESOME stuff is coming up.
• The children’s area is simply amazing.  We had a ton of regulars out today and they were still jammed.. VERY COOL!
• We had several key volunteers out today that caused some challenges but YOU GUYS are amazing and pulled it out.
• Ryan did a great job leading worship today… I have seen this dude grow alot in the last six months and its awesome.
• New people are plugging in and volunteering… we are seeing people really connect and get involved in relationships… this makes me smile 🙂
• We had one family put off their trip to the lake to be at Lifesong this morning… that made my day.
• MAN… we NEED another trailer, FAST!
• Ladies, don’t forget that Girls Night Out is this Saturday… send an email to tammy@lifesonglive.com to sign up!
• I have a feeling that things are going to get moving REALLY FAST sooner that we think… are you ready?

Friday five…

Here are five things that I am praying for Lifesong church right now…

1. For us to NEVER loose sight of the vision that God has for Lifesong.  For this church to always do whatever it takes to reach this generation with the Message of Christ and never settle for ANYTHING less.
2. That God would send workers, especially in the children’s area.  We have seen amazing growth and I am concerned for the volunteer’s in the children’s department.  I never want to see these awesome people become burned out and discouraged. 
3. For God to identify LEADERS within the church to help take Lifesong to the next level. 
4. A second trailer.  I know that sounds shallow, but we are is desperate need of a second trailer to hold all our stuff.  God miraculously provided the trailer we have now, and I am praying that He does it again.
5. For me as the Lead Pastor to not SCREW up.  I pray that I am NEVER the cause for Lifesong not reaching its full potential. 

What are YOUR prayers for Lifesong?

American idol…

OK, I admit it… I watched last nights final, well most of it.  The two David’s are pretty good the rest of them will be working in Branson or coming to a McDonalds near you (holy cow the group singing was PAINFUL).  I was glad that David Cook won, he was BY FAR the best.

Here is the thing that amazes me… Nearly 100,000,000 votes were cast, thats more than most PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS.  I did a Google serach on American Idol and there were OVER 39 MILLION hits… I did a search on Jesus Christ and there were less than 10 Million hits.  Kind of makes me wonder what would happen if the Church got as excited about Jesus as we do about a television show.  Just my thought, whats yours?

Leadership…

I read ALOT.  Somebody one said that leaders are readers and I guess I took that to heart.  One of the things that I became aware of very early in the creation of Lifesong was that my limitations as a leader would be the barrier that would keep Lifesong from being all that it could be.  To keep that from happening, I have spent the last couple of years reading books on leadership and speaking to ANY leader that I could to gain wisdom and insight.  I picked up Leadership Gold by John Maxwell last night and in the first chapter he gives the best definition of leadership that I have ever heard…

Leadership is the willingness to put oneself at risk.

Leadership is the passion to make a difference with others.

Leadership is being dissatisfied with the current reality.

Leadership is taking responsibility while others are making excuses.

Leadership is seeing the possibilities in a situation while others are seeing limitations.

Leadership is the readiness to stand out in a crowd.

Leadership is an open mind and an open heart.

Leadership is the ability to submerge your ego for the sake of whats best.

Leadership is evoking in others the capacity to dream.

Leadership is inspiring others with a vision of what they can contribute.

Leadership is the power of one harnessing the power of many.

Leadership is your heart speaking to the hearts of others.

Leadership is the integration of heart, head, and soul.

Leadership is the capacity to care, and in caring, to liberate the ideas, energy, and capacity of others.

Leadership is the dream made reality.

Leadership is, above all, courageous.

I am not there yet, but I am doing all that I can to become the leader that God has called me to be to lead this church to become what God birthed it to be.

Sunday night thoughts…

• It was another awesome weekend at Lifesong.  We had some challenges but we got through them.
• The children’s area is blowing up!  God laid on my heart a desire to reach young families through Lifesong and we are seeing that happen… very cool!
• We had a suprise today when we got to the theater… movies started VERY EARLY today.  Thanks to everybody that helped load-out today.
• I am amazed at the giving of this church.  Many new church starts really struggle in this area and we are blessed.  When we started Lifesong we had (and still have) very little outside support coming in and it had to be finianced  by God through the people of Lifesong… very cool!
• Several couples headed up last night to the Married Life Live conference.  Honestly, the conference was good but the chance to hang out and get to know each other was awesome.  One rental van+the Varsity+backing into a parking garage= one great night!
• The band sang “God of This City” today… that is my prayer for Griffin.
• God is doing something amazing and this is just the beginning!

Preach your own funeral…

Today i had the honor of speaking at one of the most Godly ladies funerals that I have ever known.  As I was at the funeral home last night with the family and watched the memorial video of family pictures that they put together, I was struck with this verse…

“So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days.  Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do.”  Ephesians 5:15-17 NLT

One of the things that I commented on today was that some funerals are easier than others.  Mrs. Betty’s was easy… not because she wont be missed, but because she preached her own funeral by the way she lived her life. 

Are you making the most of every opportunity?  You may not realize it, but you “preach” EVERY day that you have breath… the question is what message are you sending?

Sunday night thoughts…

• Wow… what an awesome day!  I think this may have been my favorite Sunday at Lifesong yet.
• The crowd today was great… lots of excitement… very cool.
• Much thanks to Todd Baugh.  He did a fantastic job with the family portraits, much more than I expected!  We will have the photo’s next Sunday.  If you need any truly professional pictures, make sure to give Todd a call.
• Also want to give a shout out to Al for filling in (last minute) for our lead guitar player (Ryan)… you sounded awesome, bro!
• I am really looking forward to the rest of the Games of Life series… todays message was something simple but something that EVERYONE needs to be reminded of.
• The kids were in service today for the beginning of the service to help pass out roses to all the ladies… holy freakin’ cow!  There are ALOT of kids!  Very cool! 
• Speaking of alot of kids… contact tammy@lifesonglive.comto volunteer in the childrens department 🙂
• My favorite comment of the day came from a guest who said… “this church is so ALIVE!”  She also said that “I had IT.”  I don’t know what exactly I have but I hope its contagious.
• Spending a couple of days with my wife (aka HOT MOMMA) in Savannah for our 14th anniversary.  This is the first chance that the TWO of us have had to get away since we started Lifesong… we needed some quality time away.
• Thanks to Greg for the recomendation of the hotel and the awesome restaurant for dinner.
• Got to go… I have a hot date 😉