Man, I just left the office and all I can say is WOW!!!!!!!!!! I knew the band was practicing tonight so I wanted to hear the music they were playing for Christmas Eve and all I can say is YOU DO NOT WANT TO BE LATE THIS WEEK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Seriously, the song the band is starting the service off with might be the best song I have ever heard them do. They were rocking it out! What was the song? You’ll just have to be on time and find out.

Man, I can’t wait for Sunday to get here!!!!!!!!!!

Yep, just when I thought the buzz was dying down, the AJC ran another article on us!

It makes me laugh every time I read it.

You can check it out here.

We had a discussion on the way home from the movie about what our entrance music would be if we were a boxer, wrestler, or a cage fighter.
Malcolm said his would be Wildside by Motley Crue. Not a really bad choice.
I can’t remember Preston’s but I think it was something like Can’t Touch This by MC Hammer (okay, not really but I don’t remember his)
I said mine would be Simple Man by lynyrd Skynyrd. I just think it would be different and sort of have the same effect as when Matt Hughes comes out to fight to Country Boy Can Survive.

No one probably cared but now you know.

• Sick staff
• Last minute rushing
• Last minute ideas
• Long hours
• A few staff fights
• Lots of stress
• Little sleep
• Lot of money being spent

Yep, it is the week before a big Sunday and I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This week has been intense (in a good way), but one thing about our staff is we always find time to have fun as a team. I make no bones about the fact that I have hand picked all of our staff because not only can they do the job, not only do they buy into the vision, but also because I LOVE doing life with them. I enjoy being around my team and I don’t care how busy things are, I like to have fun.

So today, we stopped what we were doing and piled into the car and went and saw Rocky Balboa.

Here is the deal: Rocky is the first movie I ever remember seeing and I’m not sure why but when we went to see it, we saw 1 and 2. So Rocky has always had a awesome place in my heart. Rocky Balboa isn’t the greatest movie I have ever seen but it is Rocky and is nice closure to the series.

Just as I was as a kid, I was on the edge of my seat during the fight scenes.

It was a nice break to the week and more importantly and awesome time hanging out with our team.

I found out Sunday that The Stone has started it’s second campus and I didn’t even know it! We have a cool couple in our church and their parents live in North Dakota. Well, their church hasn’t had a pastor in a while so they send them my CD’s and that is what they listen to on Sunday mornings.

Very cool.

Yesterday I heard two stories that reminded me why we do what we do:

1.) We have an awesome lady who attends The Stone and has for about 6 months. She is a brand new Christ-follower and is so hungry for the things of God. Her husband is an atheist and has not been happy about her attending church. There have been a ton of prayers thrown her way. Anyway, he saw the rap video and told her (without her asking) he would come to Christmas Eve services with her.

2.) Because of the lovely e-mails we received in protest to the rap video, we brought in an off-duty officer yesterday. He was the son of a pastor and had been out of church for years. He was blown away by our people and the services and told us that he was bringing his wife to check the church out because he loved it so much!

In case you are wondering, THAT is why we do things the way we do them….

Tomorrow marks a first for Ridge Stone. Our first direct mailer will hit mailboxes. People find this surprising but we have done very little marketing since starting church. We do a full page ad in Around Canton Magazine every month and we have did some door hangers in the early days but we have never done anything else.

God has blessed and we have grown and we have actually created quite a buzz in our community but we are coming stronger in 07. For the first time in our 2 years, we have the systems in place to break 1,000 and we will do it in 07. We are coming strong with marketing to get our name out and make it easier for our people to invite friends and family.

Along with our direct mail piece tomorrow we are coming back in two weeks with another one for our marriage series, then another one at Easter, along with the cover of Around Canton. The time has come for us to get the word out. To be honest, until now we could not have handled 1,000 people, but the systems and staff are in place and our people will step up to the task.

This is going to be a HUGE year for us and I can’t wait!

We are launching a marriage series in January called 4 Better 4 Worse that is going to be off the hook. We are pulling out the stops in the creative arena and I can’t wait. We have a HUGE surprise that is going to be awesome during the January 7th service. Trust me, if you ever thought your marriage couldn’t stand the test of time, you will NOT want to miss what we have in store for you. There won’t be a dry eye in the place.

In February we are going to do a series simply called SIMPLE. We are going to be talking again about the vision The Stone has for everyone who attends and how we got about implementing that. I am stoked about this series not only for the content but because the band is going to be breaking out the theme song of my life: Simple Man by Lynyrd Skynyrd!!! Great son with a great message and our people will rock it out!!!

We are still batting around the creative elements for our March series but it will be focused on telling the story of what God has done in the lives of our people with their friends. RSC exists to bring those on the outside into the inside and that happens when our people are out telling their story. It is going to be awesome!

Then it is Easter!!!! I am not ready to unveil what we have planned for this day but we are shooting for breaking 1,000 for the first time on this day and we are pulling out the stops to make this happen.

I am as pumped about pastoring RSC as the day I started it. It is an awesome feeling to know you are where God wants you and it is even more awesome to see God fulfill the vision He has given you.

Ridge Stone, hang on for your life because 07 is going to be a wild ride as we go the next level as a church!!!!!

Anyone who knows me, knows I LIVE for Sundays. I love being at The Stone on Sunday, I love hearing the worship, I love seeing everything come together, and most of all, I love teaching and seeing people get IT!

I can’t describe but seeing lives changed is like a drug to me. It is the ultimate high and I live for it.

Every week excites me but there is something awesome and special about Easter Sunday and Christmas Sunday.

We have tired to create a lot of buzz about our Christmas Eve services and I can’t wait to walk into the theater Sunday and see it all come together. Our set-up crews will start arriving at midnight and there will literally be people there all night getting the place ready.

I am teaching a simple message called The Gift and I can promise if you have friends who don’t know Christ, they will have heard about how awesome He is before the leave.

I am praying for all of you as you are investing and inviting your friends to church this week. Mailers should start arriving in mailboxes tomorrow and this is a great way for you to start a conversation with your neighbors about the church!!!

Sunday is going to rock!

Let’s face it, most church plants don’t make it. Matter of fact I have heard that 2 out of 3 don’t make it to year 2. I meet with a lot of planters and I am often asked my opinion on what is the reason why most plants don’t make it.

As with most things I have my opinion but that is all it is but I believe there are several practical reasons why most church plants don’t make it:

1.) MOST guys who think they are called to plant a church simply aren’t - That sounds rough but if you started a church because you wanted to preach, wanted to be a lead pastor, couldn’t get hired by another church, or are mad at your current church then you probably aren’t called to plant. I have met so many guys who have REAL skills in the area of pastoring but they AREN’T called to be planters. Starting something from scratch takes a different type of skill set and not everyone has that set though they have other gifts that many planters don’t have.

Far too many people think planting is the answer to church growth and an easy gig. HA! Shows they don’t know much. I am convinced most guys who are planting simply aren’t called to plant.

2.) Most planters aren’t called to their area to plant - Again I am not questioning anyones calling as that is between them and God. However I think as planters we spend entirely to much time looking at demographics for the fastest growing areas and most white collar areas and think that is where we fit. I remember when I felt called to plant that I immediately started looking at all the fastest growing areas. Problem is every other planter in America was looking at the same places. Don’t get me wrong, Canton is growing but it isn’t growing like many other towns I looked at. However we went to an area that fit us and that needed to hear about Jesus.

Someone pointed out a blog to me where someone commented about how our rap video was prove they wouldn’t fit as a planter in Canton. I am glad that person realized they wouldn’t fit here (Though I think the video would have worked anywhere). Far to many planters don’t realize who they are and realize the importance making sure they area they are called to fits them.

3.) Most planters don’t know their area - Again, all of them think they do, but most know their area through their churchy eyes. They see the area they way they want to see it and not the way it truly is. I think planters need to be at the forefront of knowledge when it comes to the city they are called to plant in. I know as much about the history of Canton as I do the present. I also know tons about future plans because they will effect how we do church.

Planters need to know their area.

Guys want to blame everything and anyone on why their plant doesn’t make it. Everyone wants to start over and thinks everyone else had it better but the fact is most guys simply fail in some of the above areas and therefore their plants are doomed from the beginning.

I have a few more reasons why I think plants don’t make it but that is enough for now and those are important because they focus on the planter and not the plant. I’ll give more as I get time….

I have often said that my hobby is church planters. I love them. I love being around them. I love learning from them. I love investing in them. I love to hear them dream. I love to see church planters do what they do. Basically, I love church planting!
Today I got to teach at the West Ridge School of Church Planting. I served on staff at WRC and I can honestly say that there is no church in America investing in helping churches get started and training church planters to start churches like West Ridge is. In the last three years, they have started 6 churches in Atlanta including The Stone, 1 in Cleveland, and one in Utah. They are church planting machines.

They had 18 planters at the school today and I taught on learning your community and reaching the unchurched in your community. This is a topic I have a lot of passion about. I am actually teaching this same session at the ChurchPlanters.com conference this year (more about that next week).

Being around the planters got me pumped up and I learn as much from them as they do me.

If you are a church planter and want to be part of learning more about how to launch and start a church, I would encourage you to look into the school, it is pretty good.