Sunday Night Mind Dump

Dang you people are impatient!!!! I’ve been spending the afternoon with my family after a crazy two weeks and you’ve lit my inbox up! I guess it is good to be loved…or hated.

• Historic Day at Revolution!!!!
• Yes, we finally launched Holly Springs!!
• I don’t have exact numbers but we had around 225 people at our first Holly Springs service.
• The amazing thing is our attendance from the looks of things was “normal” at our Canton campus.
• That is a 20% attendance increase in one week!!!!
• It is funny how crazy pastor’s expectations are because people keep asking me if I am disappointed.  No, we are not.
• Would we have loved more??  OF COURSE!!!!!!  We always want to reach more people but considering the craziness of this week and our lack of marketing, we’ll take that as a launch team ANY DAY!!!
• We learned a lot through this experience.
• We learned that when your mailers go out 10 days before launch that isn’t good.  The post office messed up and sent our mailers WAY early but that is life!
• We learned that we will NEVER try a build-out in 90 days!!!
• We learned that we as a staff dropped the ball becoming so distracted with getting this project done.  Next time, we will hire a General Contractor and let him go at it.
• We learned you CAN build a church with volunteers BUT you have to give yourself WAY more time because they have this amazing thing called LIFE happening.
• We learned that video WORKS!!!!!!!!!!
• We learned to test the AC before your first service. Yes, the one thing we contracted out was the AC and it didn’t work. THAT WILL BE FIXED THIS WEEK!!
• We learned that we have a lot to learn!!!!!
• We learned that when you follow God, it is always awesome!!!!!!!!!
• Multi-site works. It is a lot of work and we have a lot of tweaking to do but this site is going to blow up!!!!
• I am so proud of our staff.  They went above and beyond. I saw us step in areas that I didn’t know was possible and I saw us show flaws in areas that I didn’t know exist. Both are good because the strengths can be built on and the weaknesses can be improved.
• This morning was CRAZY. In the hustle and bustle of everything we forgot to the move the U-Haul with all of our children’s stuff. When we went to move it, it would not crank. Nice. We got it there about 1 hour late. Stressful.
• Getting that area set up was a beautiful picture of teamwork. Our band and sound crew actually left their run through and unloaded the truck where our team could get a jump on getting set-up.
• Mitchell and Theresa Harris MADE the set-up in kid’s area and children’s area HAPPEN!  They stepped up big time and took charge!  Proud of them for showing leadership like that!!!
• Here are a few pictures of our Holly Springs service.
• I made it to the end of our second service in Holly Springs and I loved what I saw!!!!!!!!!!
• Did I mention the air didn’t work and the building was about 89 degrees????
• I preached one of the hardest messages of my life. If I sounded mad, I was. I am sick of men being wimps and not leading their families.
• It took us ONE Sunday for our first family to walk out of a Holly Springs service.
• I’m disappointed in myself for allowing our team to get so distracted with launching Holly Springs. We’ve got to do a better job of equipping people to lead.
• Music was rocking at both campuses today!!!!
• YES, I know the music was ear splitting at Canton. We have a brand new digital board and it is still in the tweaking process. Be patient and grab some ear plugs on the way in.
• I think there was a church there scouting out Thad today. Some couple walked in and started filming our worship. When I was walking up to preach, they walked out. It was weird.
• How bout them Dawgs??? Looked great yesterday.
• This week we got South Carolina and I can’t wait!!!
• Looking forward to things getting back to normal this week. We have to refocus on reaching people and not on buildings.
• Andy Highsmith has been helping us with sound lately and I got to tell you, I like the guy. He makes me laugh and KNOWS what he is doing. We’ve got some great volunteers in that area but they are all very new at mixing so I’m looking forward to have Andy and my friend Scott King working with them to take them to the next level.
• My fantasy team’s stunk today. I mean stunk.
• I am watching some show about people trying to get through a hole in the wall. It is stupid.
• BLOWN away by the pastor friends God has sent in my life. I got so many emails and phone calls today from guys letting me know they were praying for me.
• Turns out I have a bunch of pastor friends who have my back when they feel we are attacked too. That is good to know.
• Next week, I am talking about sex. One of my favorite subjects
• I’m ready to launch a 3rd campus!!!!!!!!!
• Will Henderson was hanging around today. The dude is from Australia and hanging out in America for a year to learn all he can before going back and planting a church. I have only met him a few times but I dig the dude. Looking forward to getting to know him.
• Thinking through some structure issues. I see some restructuring of how our org chart looks coming up, but not sure what that means.
• Back to eating right and riding my bike in the morning. I haven’t ridden in three weeks due to Holly Springs but I’m up and at it in the morning.
• I am so freaking tired but can’t sleep because I’m so jacked about today.
• Before riding, I’m sleeping LATE as possible!!!!!!!
• PUMPED ABOUT REVOLUTION STUDENTS KICKING OFF IN TWO WEEKS!!!!!!!!! Contact Michael for details!!!!
• I love having Michael and Linda around. Michael stepped up big time this week in making familiy ministries happen.
• I’m glad the fall season of television is back on. I missed Prison Break and Heroes.
• At our Canton campus they opened up with Last Man Standing by Bon Jovi today. GREAT song.
• Holly Springs will hear this week.
• My mind is racing and Lead Team tomorrow will be one of our best ever as we discuss, tweak, dream, argue, and improve.
• I’m going to hang out on the porch with Tim.
• Did I mention how pumped I am for our people, Revolution and Cherokee County? Awesome!!!
• Peace out.