Andy, even though you have probably never heard of me and have no idea who I am, I wanted to say THANK YOU for your new book Making Vision Stick. The book was a great read and I learned a lot and was reminded of a lot. However the main thing I want to thank you for is that this book is SHORT!!!! In only 74 pages you said what need to be said. Thank you! You didn’t stretch it to 250 pages like most people do. Thank you! You didn’t repeat yourself a thousand times. Thank you! You were direct and to the point. Thank you!

For the first time in a LONG time I actually finished a book and can remember what I read. You’ve hit a homerun with this book and I hope more authors follow your leadership and learn that less is more.

It has occured to me that DeAnna and I have turned our family into those crazy people I said I would never become!  Be careful what you make fun of because you might become it is the lesson I have learned.

At the age of 31 here is what we have become:

• We went and picked up a whole cow today that is 100% grass fed.  Why?
• We ordered a 100% corn fed pig.  Why?
• We drink only 100% raw milk and drive all the way to South Carolina to get it.
• DeAnna bakes her own bread.
• We home school our children.
• DeAnna buys most of our fruits and vegatables at the Farmers Market.
• We own a mini-van.

No, we are not amish.  :)  We just have issues, I guess.  I like to convince myself we are still a hip, cool young married couple, but I have become convinced we simply are a lot of things and hip and cool is NOT one of them.

I’m depressed….

Tony Morgan just put out a list of his 25 blogs he can’t live without and I made the list.  When I took the strength finders test, I rated at #3 in Significance so I am vain and liked making his list. I’ve had the honor of knowing Tony for a few years and I have called on him for advice many times and he was always helped.

When we decided to change our name to Revolution, Tony contacted me and gave me many things to think about. This time I didn’t have to ask his advice, he simply took it upon himself to contact me BECAUSE he cares about our church and us impacting our community. To me that is very cool and true friendship.

Thanks Tony for the shout out!

I never cease to be amazed at how God protects us.  I have made no secret that we HAD been trying to get out of the movie theater due to movies starting earlier and earlier.  Everytime I would move, God would slam the door shut leaving us at the theater.

I couldn’t understand why.

Well, in the last few weeks God has made it VERY clear why.  The Cherokee County School system is making life hell for churches in schools.  A couple have moved out, they have more then tripled the rent for guys, and there is talk of totally banning schools from having churches in them.  The message they are sending is loud and clear.

Now, I am thanking God for the movie theater and the awesome relationship we have with them.  When we outgrow it for two services, we’ll just have to launch another site IN Canton somewhere else.

I wouldn’t mind seeing Revolution Macedonia, Revolution Holly Springs, and even Revolution Waleska. I love multi-site and I love that God knows best and keeps me from leading this place into a bad decision like moving to one of the schools.  Hopefully by the time the need is there for us to move, the school system will have figured things out and realize having a church in them is a good thing.

Most of you know I am a music junkie.  Along with that comes an addiction to concerts.  This month has been concert time at the Lamb house.

DeAnna and I went and saw John Mayer a couple of weeks ago.  The dude can flat tear up a guitar.  I was actually a little disappointed with this concert.  John was solid, but the crowd was not into it, he didn’t play some of his hits, and I just wasn’t digging the vibe too much.  Still it was a good concert.

DeAnna went and saw Justin Timberlake with two hellions at the church and she said it was OFF the hook.  She said it was the best concert she had ever been too.  After hearing her talk about it, I wish I would have went.

Last night DeAnna, two chicks from church (this chick and this chick) and I went and saw Michael Buble.  You can’t get any less manly then that.  This is going to shock you but the dude was AWESOME!  It was a GREAT show.  The guy puts is a great entertainer and I had a blast.  It was at the Fox Theater and there is NO where better to see a concert then there.  I had a great time.

Next Saturday the streak ends with Def Leppard, Styx, and Foreigner.  Loud, 80’s hair metal!  It is going to be awesome and I’m looking forward to rocking out to some old dudes shredding guitars.

I just got out of one of the BEST creative meetings we have ever had.  We put the finishing touches on our next series called “All In” and believe me when I say it is going to be one of the biggest series we have ever done, I mean it.  We are going to hit on some cool topics and we have some very cool creative elements.  On top of that we are doing an event that is going to create a huge buzz in the community and raise close to $10,000 for a local charity.  More details to come on that….

On top of getting ready for the next series, we put the finishing touches on this weeks message and IT IS GOING TO BE OFF THE HOOK!!!!  I truly believe this might be one of the most important messages we have ever taught at Revolution.  We are going to be looking at how to handle the subject of sex with your children.  I am going to give you some stats that are literally going to shock you and break your heart.  GET your friends to church this week if they have children.  TRUST me, they will thank you when it is over.  I am very passionate about this subject because I am sick and tired of seeing the devil having a field day with our youth because the church AND parents won’t teach their children about SEX!  It is going to be a powerful Sunday.

• Holy Crap, today was awesome!
• I will never understand the two service thing. Today we were up by 150 people. The day we had to stop doing it this summer we dropped by 100 instantly. It is odd.
• It was awesome to be back at two services!
• I think for the FIRST time ever our crowd was actually shocked by the video we played to start the message. Honestly, it made me uncomfortable as well. I loved it!
• I think I broke my thumb last night. You’ll have to listen to the podcast to hear how. Yes, that IS a true story. No, I am not proud of it.
• Dean Herman is in town to hang out today.
• Dean and I almost got into a fist fight at Longhorn’s today. This guy went nuts on us. That is the second time this week I have almost had a fight. It is crazy.
• Preston had almost 200 elementary kids today!!!!! Are you freaking kidding me??? That is insane!!!
• I’m going to Michael Buble tomorrow and believe it or not I am excited!
• I have a pretty good idea what Jay is going to name his church.
• Next week I am teaching one of the most important messages EVER in our church. I am going to talk to you about how handle the subject of sex with your kids.
• Watched The Sopranos season 1 this last week. That might be the reason I have almost gotten into a couple of fights this week.
• I think we have found our campus pastor for Jasper!!!! Yeah baby!
• You got to see my new fish aquarium. It is so pimp!
• Has anyone had a tank full of jellyfish? If so, email me.
• I am so proud of our staff and leaders.  They literally have worked non-stop over the last week and a half getting everything done.
• I said last week that our name change was more then a name change, it was a 100% change of attitude.  To me that was obvious today.  You could just feel the energy.
• Joel nailed First Time by Lifehouse.  I love that guy and as much as I hated to see him leave, I am glad Michael is only 5 minutes from him instead of 40 minutes like we are.  However, I am still glad we can call him in from time to time.
• Pumped for Tadd today!
• Our website was mentioned in Relevant Magazine as a website to check out.  Shout out to o2 for that.
• IT IS HOT!!!!!
• Got a few books coming.  I go through stages with books and I am back in the reading stage.
• This series is off the hook, but we are pulling out all the stops for our next one!!  I can promise it is going to create a buzz in the community.
• Got a new 37 inch TV given to me today.  To the person who gave it, thank you!  You’re the bomb-diggity.
• I’m out…

Just want to remind all of you who attend Revolution (finally getting use to saying that) that we are back at two services tomorrow.

We are starting a new series called Satan’s Sex Ed and service times are 9:00 and 10:30 a.m.

Shout out to Malcolm and Matt for fixing our email after we screwed it up!!! You guys rock!

EDIT:  Spoke too soon :)  our TheRevolution.tv email works.  So if you knew my old email just put @therevolution.tv after that and you can get in touch with me.  Hopefully our ridgestonechurch.com account will be up today sometime.

• It is HOT!!!!!! 103 today.
• I literally almost got into a fist fight with our office neighbor today. The dude was on tilt. He was fired up and I was sick and tired of it. 2 years of him complaining and yelling every time someone gets in his parking place and I’ve had enough. Who from Revolution is going to bail me out of jail?
• Damion from Elevation was in town today. The dude is sharp. He is helping us put our video system together for our future sites. I am pumped about that!
• Michael Buble this Monday!!! I am actually excited. I am as excited about the people that are going as I am the concert. I plan on laughing a lot.
• NO email is killing me.
• Malcolm and Amy are superstars but the last two weeks they have been SUPER superstars. They are amazing.
• The aquarium goes up this next week. Still trying to decide between a predator tank or coral reef tank.
• I am so pumped about the series this week!
• The third week of this series is going to be awesome. I already know it is going to be my favorite service EVER. I am having someone teach with me which is something I have never done and I can’t wait for you guys to HER. I happen to think she is the hottest chick in the church.
• Did I mention how FREAKING hot it is?
• I fired the grill up and halfway through grilling I ran out of gas. UGH!!!
• I haven’t done a freak of the week in a while but let me give a shout out to Ricky Merrefield. Ricky is AWESOME. He is has been working 16-20 hours a week at the church for FREE and is doing such an awesome job. I love the dude.
• Dean Herman is coming to church this Sunday to hang out. The dude played for Clemson and won a little thing called a National Championship in football there. I hate him for that, but I am excited he is coming to church this week!