Last night Adam, Tim, Preston, and myself all went and got a Revolution tattoo. We had been talking about it forever and decided before this trip that it was time. We grabbed a taxi and headed over to Skin Factory and let them do their thing. They are great and did an awesome job!

This picture came out real orange for some reason and this is right after I did it so it hadn’t been really cleaned up yet, but it gives you an idea of what it looks like. Anyone who says they don’t hurt is an idiot. It was awful, but Crystal was awesome and got me through it without killing me.

Sorry I haven’t been posting much this week but the internet here is spotty and we’ve been pretty busy meeting, planning, eating, and having a good time hanging out.

By far, this has been our most productive staff retreat ever.  We have redesigned our org chart, we have finally put job descriptions together for everyone, we have talked a lot about systems and focused on some of our systems that really needed improvement.

Today we will be talking through adding a third service and what it will look like to stagger service times (meaning we will have two services going on at the same time, all live with the same band and the same teacher).  We are also nailing down our teaching series for the rest of the year.

We have had a great time and I love that our team can work hard and play hard as well!!!!

BTW, I can’t wait for Sunday!!!!!  I haven’t taught the last two Sundays and I am ready to go!

No time to post anything but I want all of you to know we are alive. Our staff was supposed to be in Seattle for the Multi-Site Exposed conference. I’ll tell you the story later, but our plane hit something and we never took off and never made it to Seattle. We instead flew to an undisclosed location in the west and are in the middle of our Staff Retreat.

As always, I have a story to tell that will make you pee your pants laughing. It has been a nightmare, but we are having a blast!

11 years ago today I married the love of my life.  I feel like I have been married my entire life, but I also feel like we just said “I do.”

I can honestly say today that I am more in love with DeAnna then the day I married her.  To me she is Proverbs 31 woman in every way.  She is my best friend, she stands by my side no matter what, she has followed me moving her across the country, she is the greatest mother in the world, and just the fact that she puts up with me is amazing.

I would be lying if I said the past 11 years have been easy.  Marriage is hard work.  We have had GREAT times, good times, and we have had very bad times.  I have shared this in church before but DeAnna almost left me while I was pastoring my first church.  I was cheating on her, not with another woman, but with the church.  I will never forget the thought of knowing I might lose her.  It was the worst feeling in the world and that day changed our marriage for the better.

Many people at Revolution don’t even know who DeAnna is but trust me, Revolution wouldn’t exist without her.  She has prayed for Revolution, served behind the scenes at Revolution, and supported Revolution and me every step of the way.  She is not someone who needs or wants the spotlight, but she is my backbone as I lead.

Today we are sitting here with no children and it is just awesome.  We spent last night with some great friends that go to Revolution (isn’t it great you can be friends with people you pastor?), we slept late today, got up and got breakfast and now we are headed out to simply enjoy the day with each other. I’m blessed.

I thank God every day that we didn’t quit on each other.  I thank God every day for sending DeAnna my way.  I thank God every day that my children have her as their mother.  I thank God every day that Revolution gets to have her in the church.

The best part is it has been 11 years and she still lights my fire!!  I think she is hotter today than the day I met her.  I’ve gotten fatter, balder, and grumpier, and she has just gotten more hot!

I’m a lucky dude.

Last night DeAnna and I went to Chili’s to eat in Cartersville.  As we were eating there were these 3 girls behind us talking about church so like any good pastor I started listening.

They were talking about a camp they had been to recently and about their experience at this camp, blah, blah, blah.

The conversation then moved to their church and some of the other churches in town.  I then heard the words “Oak Leaf Church.”  Of course, Oak Leaf is pastored by my friend Michael so I was REALLY listening now.  What came out next about made me fall over laughing.  As I was sitting there this is what I heard:

“I visited that Oak Leaf Church and it was obvious that I could not get drunk in the spirit there.  The music is good, but if you can’t get drunk in the spirit, why keep going?”

Don’t know why I thought that was so funny, but it just made me laugh.  If OLC is reaching the same people we are, you might not be able to get drunk in the spirit, but that sure ain’t keeping their people from getting drunk on other things.

Today I am back in the office and I started the task of processing all that God has spoken into my life this week.  Some All of it is uncomfortable but the overwhelming theme from this week is simply WHAT STANDS BETWEEN REVOLUTION BEING WHAT IT IS AND WHAT GOD WANTS IT TO BE IS PAIN. 

The question is not what will it take or if I have the ability to do it; the question is am I willing to do it?  Am I willing to pay the price that it will cost?  Am I willing to be uncomfortable?  The answer is YES.  Yes, I am willing to do whatever it takes to become the leader God wants me to be and I am willing to do whatever it takes for Revolution to be the church that God wants it to be.

I got in the office today, caught up on some things, listened to TD Jakes from the C3 Conference, had some hard meetings, and I am now getting ready to head home.  I feel good.  I feel good that God has put people in my life that will speak the truth even when I don’t want to hear it.  Last night I sat and talked with DeAnna and I am blessed to have a wife who backs me and supports me every move I make but will also tell me what needs to be said even if I don’t want to hear it.  I think I must be hard headed. :)  Because God has used 4 people to slap me upside the head this week, but I think I finally got the hint.

I’m heading home now to spend the next two days with my beautiful bride and NO children.  Saturday we will have been married 11 years!  I can say without a doubt she is the love of my life and I am more than blessed to have her as my bride.

I’ll see all of you on Sunday as we continue our Rock Star series!!!!

I took last Sunday off from teaching and to say I feel GREAT would be an understatement!  It is amazing what taking a Sunday off will do to you physically, mentally, and spiritually.  I am as ready to preach as I have been in a long time.  Next time I preach I might go about 2 hours.

Today we went up to Charlotte  with our Lead Team to hang out with Steven Furtick and the crew at Elevation.  God allowed me and Pastor Steven to cross paths over a year ago and it has been an awesome thing.  He serves on our Board of Overseers and is one of the people who is allowed to pour into my life uncensored.  I’m still processing everything that was said to me today, but I took page after page of notes.  I remember CLEARLY meeting with him on Valentines Day in 2007 and that being a turning point in my leadership and our church and today will be another one of those days.  I haven’t processed everything but here is what God has spoken to me since we left today:  It is time for me to get uncomfortable.  What that means and looks like only time will tell, but I want Revolution to be the church that God wants it to be and I want to be the leader God wants me to be so bad that it is time to get uncomfortable.

Adam and I stopped in Anderson S.C. on our way home and we are heading to New Spring tomorrow to sit in on their creative meeting.  I’m looking forward to seeing how they do things and I’m looking forward to doing lunch with Perry and picking his brain on some things.

As much as I love leading and I love teaching, me taking a break from those things to rest and learn from others is what is going to enable Revolution to rock North Georgia with the message of Jesus Christ.

• I didn’t preach today!!!
• Man, I needed the break!!!!
• Preston was awesome!!!!
• First week of Spring Break and our second highest attendance of the year. The place was packed!
• I went to check out Freedom Church in Acworth. GREAT job by JR and the guys there. They are 10 weeks old and it brought some back some huge memories.
• Got back to Revolution at the end of the second service and just hung out with our people for a few minutes. Love our people!
• First time in a LONG time I got to hang out with some of our people and just talk without worrying about teaching that morning. Very nice.
• It was weird not being at Revolution all morning.
• Our Lead Team is headed up to Elevation Church tomorrow around lunch. We are hanging out with them on Tuesday. REALLY looking forward to this!
• Adam and I are headed to New Spring on Wednesday to sit in on their creative meeting. Should be awesome!
• Tomorrow night I get to introduce our staff to one of my favorite people, Jimmy Britt. We are going to hook up in NC for dinner. Love that dude!
• Pumped up about being part of One Prayer in June! This is going to be a huge thing for Revolution as we partner with churches all over the world!
• We are going to hook up with some community projects during One Prayer with my friend Ross Wiseman and the guys at Embassy Metro in Woodstock! I’ve known Ross since before they launched but we seem to have really connected this year. Excited about what God is doing through these guys and MORE excited about partnering with another church in the county to reach this area!
• Anyone who knows me knows I am NOT the most humble guy but I TRULY am shocked and humbled at how many churches have contacted us wanting to make sure we are pre-producing a sermon on video for them to use during One Prayer. We are going to have a sermon on the site available for you to download to use if you are crazy enough to use it.
• NO, I will not cuss in the video (have gotten that question a lot as well).

• Can’t wait for Prison Break to begin!!!!! We did Rock Star working along with Tadd, and we are doing Prison Break working along Dave Anderson.
• Between us working with others on teaching series, us partnering with Embassy Metro for One Prayer, and us helping out church plants on a constant basis, I guess that our critics will just have to find another rumor to complain about in regards to us. The one about us hating other churches just doesn’t seem to be true.
• Haven’t decided what we are naming our message yet, but it will be on my passion: reaching the unchurched in our communities.
• In the next three weeks I will travel to North Carolina, South Carolina, Washington, Nevada, and back to North Carolina. Not good for someone who hates to travel!
• We had a group go to Celebrate Recovery training yesterday. Very excited about that!
• Took the kids to see Horton Hears A Who on Friday. They loved it and I got to admit, it was good as well.
• I need an extra $130,000 at Revolution. I have 3 hires I want to make by the end of the year. Pray with me about that.
• I have stepped up my prayer about someone giving Revolution a house. I want to be able to house interns and church planters for free and let them be part of what God is doing here without worrying about rent. If you got a house you want to give, dial me up (I promise you’ll get through).
• Favorite band right now: 3 Doors Down. Love these guys and think they are very underrated. New CD comes out next month!
• I can’t help but laugh at the musicians that God sends us. Most church bands are full of skinny dudes who wear women pants and they would make hot chicks. Our guys look more like they would cut your heart out with a rusty butter knife. We are THE bar band church and I love it. Wait to you hear the new vocalist who has been checking us out. The dude can wail!
• I won the NCAA basketball pool at the office. A little spending money is always awesome!
• Went riding with about 5 or 6 people today including DeAnna! She’s a beast.
• Tons of people over for dinner tonight.  I am anti-social so I wasn’t digging it. DeAnna loved it.
• I’m going to bed.

DeAnna woke up this morning and hit the ground running.  She has been cleaning like a mad woman.  I hate cleaning but love a clean house so I decided I would help out.  Now that it is 1:00 p.m. I am going to get a shower, put some clothes on and run a bunch of junk we need to get rid of to the dump.

Yipee!

To all of you who called, emailed, texted me, sent cards, and sent me birthday wishes through Facebook, THANK YOU!

I’m 32 today.  That seems real old to me for some reason.  It was a great day.  The kids woke me up with presents, I went to the office and DID NOTHING, went to lunch with Adam and gals (all the guys were out office today), and got bored and went to see 21 with Adam at the movie theater.  Now I am home and DeAnna just cooked my favorite meal, is getting the kids ready for bed, and I am chilling the rest of the night!

Life is good.