Crud, I was going to list some New Year’s Resolutions then Chris Elrod posted against them so now I’m not.
However I do think the first of the year is as good a time as any to evaluate your life and look at areas that need improvement and put plans together to improve in those areas that need it. Before starting The Stone, I was on staff at West Ridge Church and the leadership lessons I learned there were second to none. One of the things that stuck with me was how Brian Bloye (Lead Pastor) has 6 areas he evaluates his life in every day to make sure his life is being lived in a way that is honoring to God. As I have prayed and thought a lot over the last few weeks, I have decided I am going to steal his 6 H’s and apply them to my life to help me grow in 07.

I figured since I tell you guys everything, I might as well share this area of my life as well so you guys can keep me accountable.
Holiness - I want to live a life that is honoring to God. I want my life to be above approach and I want to make sure that I am living a life that is glorifying to God not only in public, but also in private. As a pastor, I am not exempt from the temptations that are out there. Matter of fact, I am pretty weak so in many ways I feel I am in their path even more. In 07 I am going to bring accountability partners in my life that will ask the tough questions, I want to spend more time praying and seeking God for my actions and I want to live a life that is Holy before God.

Home - The most important thing in my life after Jesus is my family. It might not be a popular statement but I have said it before and I’ll say it again: I’ll let the whole world die and go to hell before I lose my family by neglecting them. If my home life isn’t right, then it is impossible for me to lead The Stone. This year I am making it a point stay off the computer when I am not working, I am making a point to not stay at the office late if I don’t have too, I am making it a point to take my days off, I am making a point to date DeAnna, I am making a point to tell others no where I can tell them yes, I am making a point to put them first over the church, and I am making a point to enjoying my time with them. I have the greatest family in the world but talk is cheap. This year I am going to work better at showing them.

Health - Ugh. Pastoring a church leads to a lot of eating out and not enough time for working out. This year that changes. I actually have DeAnna on my case so that is a big thing. I need to lose about 30 pounds and I am going to do that by being at the gym with Tim every morning and actually working out and not pastoring every one there. I am going to do that by eating smarter. Multiple services is going to kill me if I don’t take better care of my body. If your body is temple, mine is starting to look like a lot of the dead mountain churches around here. I am 30 years old and I want to be around to see my kids grow up.

Humility - When we started The Stone it was NEVER my goal for anyone to know me outside of Canton. For whatever reason, God has opened doors for me and has given some attention to our work here at RSC. I thank God for the sphere of influence. Very quickly we have become one of the largest churches in Canton and if things continue on this year, we will might be the largest church in town by the end of 07. That is all well and good, but I never want it to become about me, my name, or what I am doing. I want everything here to be about Jesus. This year I am making it a point not to read my own press and allow it to go to my head. I think anyone who has known me for a while will tell you it is all about Jesus in my life, but I want those who don’t know me to know that just from what they read and hear.

Happiness - I think this is THE area I grew in during 2006. In the first year of planting RSC, I was never happy and never content with all that God was doing. This last year, I entered into a place with being very happy with where God has me. My marriage is as good as it has ever been, I love what I do for a living, and I have learned to treasure my children. Life is to short to be miserable. Loving life and having a blast are HUGE to me. This year I am going to constantly remind myself the enjoy the ride because it is over before you know it.

Hunger - I feel as if 07 is going to be one of the best years ever for RSC. We are going to do some awesome things this year and as we grow, I MUST grow as a leader and in my hunger for God. It was very easy for me to get so busy with the church last year that I didn’t spend as much time as I should have hungering to grow in my passion for Jesus and growing as a leader. This year that will be different. I am going to devour everything I can on leadership, great preachers of the past, etc. I am going to take time meet with great leaders. God has put GREAT leaders in my life and I am going to take advantage of that. I am going to start every day with God and I am going to eat, sleep, and drink Jesus and Leadership.

I could go on and on but this is way to long already. My passion for my life, family, RSC, and Jesus is as strong as ever.

I am looking forward to 2007.

Every year since we have started we have taken the Sunday between Christmas and New Years off. This year because of all we have going on we didn’t want to lost mo so we had church.

To still give everyone a off Sunday we decided to really scale things back. We only set up 4 pieces of staging instead of 25 pieces. Tim lead worship with just him and his guitar instead of a band. We didn’t use any motion backgrounds, just black screen with white words. Should have been a simple Sunday.

Nope.

Today might have been one of the roughest services we have ever done. It actually took us LONGER to set up the smaller amount of staff, we had HUGE sound problems which we never have, Tim was losing his voice, and I wasn’t clicking on all cylinders at all. On top of all that is was POURING rain during set-up, during church, and during tear down.

We did have a great crowd for a holiday weekend and the attitudes and energy was great as well.

Next week we get back to normal and we are launching a series on marriage that I am pumped up about!!!!!!!!! Next week is going to be awesome.

The great thing about days like today is you get another chance in 7 days to do it again.

In what is a depressing day for me, I am here to announce my official retirement from club concerts.
Last night DeAnna and I went (can you believe DeAnna went?) with about 16 other people from The Stone to check out The GnR Tribute Band at the Peachtree Tavern in Buckhead. I had a good time but I am old as crap. They didn’t take the stage until midnight. By then my feet hurt, my back hurt, my head hurt and I was dying from the smoke. It is over, I am done, I will never go to another club concert again. I’m to stinking old. I’m sad but I am glad I have come to accept that I am old and can’t hang anymore.

BTW, the band rocked. The Fake Axl was amazing. The Fake Slash, stunk.

Life is starting to get back to normal….Thank God! DeAnna is taking down the Christmas junk, I am getting my energy back, and the kids are coming down off their sugar high. It appears the pink eye is under control as well.

Tomorrow we are all going to the Tennessee Aquarium. We have a season pass there and it will be a blast. Yes, we have an aquarium in Georgia but we actually like the Tennessee one better. It is about the same drive from our house, it is a lot less crowded and it is more kid friendly. The kids will have a blast and that is all that matters to me.

Friday I will go into the office and work on a few things to get caught up.

Then being the loser I am, I am heading to the Peachtree Tavern Friday night some people from the Stone to see Appetite For Destruction, a Guns n Roses tribute band. Believe it or not, they rock and I am looking forward to hanging out with some of our people.

Then comes Sunday. We are kicking back and chilling this week and it should be fun. Tim is leading worship by himself, we aren’t setting up all the video equipment, and I am going to have a very frank talk about what God is leading us into the next year. You don’t want to miss Sunday.

Well, it is 4:00 p.m. and I am still in my pajamas so I think I should get a shower and get cleaned up.

We meet in a movie theater so we have always put upcoming events signs over existing movie posters to help get the word out about what is going on at The Stone. This week we added a few free standing signs to help promote very HOT upcoming events. These signs get passed by everyone in the church and looked sharp. They will change weekly.

Here are some pictures of our new signs in the theater. We changed our colors and logo about 3 months ago and finally got around to getting the inside signs change to that look. These signs are HUGE and take about 1 minute to put up.

As always o2 graphic design did the work. Not only do they do graphic work, they are in the process of becoming a clearing house for portable churches. Seriously they are becoming a one stop shop for portable churches. They did the design work and ordered the signs and stands. They were about $40 a sign cheaper then everyone else we looked at PLUS they did the design.

We have used them for:
90% of our graphic design
Our new signs and stands
Did a Video Projection consult for us
Heck, we have even had them there at 6 in the morning the last few weeks to help us with set-up.
If you are a portable church and you haven’t looked at these guys, you are missing the boat.

Someone asked for some pictures of our kids area. I don’t have any in the classrooms, but I am looking. Here is what the hall looked like Sunday. Very Griswald Christmas.

Check out the Bogg’s cute little girl, Sadie. That is freaking awesome!!! Too cute for words.

Here a a couple of pictures from Christmas Eve. Our set up crew did another GREAT job getting things set up and tore down in time.

About a month ago I posted about the ChurchPlanters.com conference coming up at Mountain Lake Church.

I honestly feel this might be the best conference happening this year. The main session speakers stacks up against any conference I have seen. Shawn Lovejoy, Ed Stetzer, Perry Noble, Matt Carter, and Dave Ferguson are all ACTUAL planters who have ACTUALLY grown churches. These guys are not giving you theory, they are going to be talking about actual principles that are getting the job done and helping them pastor some of the sharpest churches in America.

The main sessions alone are enough to sign up for the conference BUT on top of the main sessions, they also have some of the best breakouts I have seen for a conference. The guys doing the breakouts are also guys on the frontline getting the job done. I have been asked to do a session called “Going All Out For The Disconnected.” Even though they have the age of our church as 3 years old when we are only 2 years old, I am still pumped about speaking on this topic. Seriously, reaching the disconnected is THE issue to me in church planting.

If you are looking for a typical “how to start a church” conference this isn’t the conference for you. There are a ton of those out there and they are great. However if you are looking for a conference that is going to stretch you and allow you to be around guys who are getting the job done, then this is the conference for you.

One more thing, the conference is $99 until December 31st. Not only is it the best conference line up around, it is the cheapest conference around.