I find some pictures of the church we planted in Iowa today. Man, that thing was rough. I planted Heartland when I was 22 and I didn’t know anything. I was there 3 1/2 years and during that time we grew, bought 10 acres right across the street from Wal-Mart, and I learned how NOT to plant and pastor a church (something others should learn). This church about killed me, about killed my marriage, but it also made the man I am today with the convictions I have today about church and church planting. I am very dogmatic in my views on church. You don’t go through what I went through in Iowa and not have firm views on how church should be.

For a long time I struggled with my time there but, I am able to look back now a be very thankful for my time there.

1.) They are going great. I often joke that the best thing that ever happened to them was me leaving. They just completed their second building program in three years, they are growing like crazy and some of the people we got attending there are now serving and growing in their faith. That was hard for me for a long time. I am not as spiritual (thank God) as some of you and I struggled that they were growing after I left, but if they would have died, I would have been a pretty bad leader. I got to plant and someone else go to enjoy that. That is cool with me.

2.) I have a great young couple in my church who are from that church. They serve everywhere in our church and I KNOW they would do anything for me. My time in Iowa was worth it for them.

3.) My time there is greatly responsible for what God has done here. Like I said, I learned how NOT to plant a church there. I have heard through the grapevine that I brag to much about RSC on my blog. First of all, get over it. RSC is a God thing and that is worth bragging on. Second of all, after what I dealt with in Iowa, I can’t help but be excited about what God is doing here.

Anyway, none of you probably care about that, but seeing the old pictures made me smile….

“Those who can, do. Those who can’t, teach.”

Man, I am learning this to be true in church planting.

Well, the madness is over and nothing blew up. I have to be honest, I’m bummed. Every one was evacuated so no one would have gotten hurt.

The fact is I wanted to see something blow up.

That is the GBI Bomb Squad truuck two houses down. That was the danger zone. The Toyota is Tim’s and I know he was freaking thinking it was going to blow up.

My front yard. This is where the road was closed off at.
Channel two news camera man in my front yard. He filmed me on the porch. I am sure I was really high class looking. Tim trying to get the scoop. BTW, for those who don’t know. Tim is only our Creative Arts Pastor, he is my stinking neighbor.
Only in the dirty south baby. This is my other neighbor standing on his roof watching the bomb robot do it’s job.

Okay they think they found dynamite in a huge rock a few houses down. The news reporter’s are actually in my yard and my Jeep just made the news.

I feel like the big redneck you see when disaster hits that is always on the news.

Yeah baby. Outside my house is helicopters, police cars, fire trucks AND the bomb squad. They just released the robot three houses down.

They think they have found a bomb!!!

I’ll keep you updated….

Someone today at church was telling me about Canton having a blog so I googled it today and found it. That’s cool.

Canton is a very cool town. I love everything about it. I think it is cool someone has started a blog about highlighting how awesome this town is.

For those of you who don’t live in Canton, you could probably care less, but for those of you who live here, you can stay in the know by clicking here.

EDIT: After checking the page out a little more, I think it is run by a guy who e-mailed me a few weeks ago. He is thinking of joining the long list of church planters who are starting churches in Canton. The church planting population must by the fastest growing demographic in Canton. Everybody and their brother is planting here but the fact is there IS a need. Oh well, if the church plant thing doesn’t work out, he can be work for the city of Canton because he has done a good job with the blog.

Thanks to Tadd here are some pictures of our service this week. I think one of the best investments a church plant can make is in a large format printer. We got one about 2 months ago and we use and abuse it. The cost is small and the benefit is huge. We decided Monday we were doing this series and didn’t start on the stage until Wednesday but because of the printer we were done with the design and printing literally in hours.

Today we finally got rid of my boy Tadd. Tadd was on staff at The Stone before we started and for our first 13 months after we started. He then got out of the will of God and left, only to come back a few months later.
Well, today we got rid of him for good. We brought him before the church and prayed for him as Becki and he are off to North Carolina to plant a church. It will be weird not seeing him around. I always thought it was funny when Tadd left, that EVERY ONE was looking for some type of gossip and a falling out between us. I think it shocked people to see that he simply felt God moving and that it was that simple. People always look for the negative thing.

Anyway, we wouldn’t be where we are without Tadd and I am excited to see God work through them in North Carolina. If you are looking to support a sharp planter, I recommend Tadd 100%.

Today we had a great day. The crowd was good (for summer), the band was simply rocking, the sermon was needed, the creative team did a great job, and it was just a nice shot in the arm.

I taught VERY hard and VERY blunt today and it is funny watching visitors who are not use to it, but it is awesome to watch our regulars who just know it is par for the course.

Audibles can be a disaster but, every once in a while you score a touchdown.