I am not a New Year Resolution guy, but I do think the start of the year is a GREAT time to set some goals and evaluate what is working and what is not working in your life.  I’ve been thinking a lot about my life lately and realize I let some things get me off course in 2007.  I’ve been thinking of the areas of my life that I am going to focus on in 2008 and to keep me accountable, I am going to post them for all of you to see.

Spiritual:

• Start EVERY day in the Bible and prayer
• Consistent Family Devotions
• Listen to at least 2 sermons from someone else a week
• Spend more time with my mentors - I did a BAD job of this towards the end of the year
• Lead our staff by example in spiritual matters
• Learn from others more
• Read 2 books a month

Personal:

• Lose 30 pounds
• Ride 100 miles a week on my bike
• Take a day off EVERY week
• Enjoy the adventure of life more
• Get away twice a year for a few days by myself to spend time with God

Family:

• Date my wife
• Spend more time with my children
• STAY off the computer when I get home from work
• Turn off my cell phone when I get home
• Become debt free
• Realize my family is my #1 ministry

Church:

• Lead Revolution without apology
• Pour my life into our staff
• Become MORE dogmatic aboout our vision (I feel I let some people and some things sidetrack that just a little)
• Love and appreciate our volunteers more
• Get back to investing in church planters
• Continue Revolutionary Love year around
• Launch a second campus
• Invest in Haiti Cheri with more than just our finances (not sure what that looks like yet)

We had our first Jasper informational meeting last night and I was BLOWN away.  We didn’t know what to expect and we were holding it at a funeral home, so the odds were stacked against us. :)  We had right at 50 adults there and there are PUMPED up about what God is getting ready to do in Jasper.

I am amazed at the buzz that is already taking place in Jasper.  Seriously, it is insane.  I found at last night that another church in town had a meeting where they discussed starting a contemporary service just because they heard we were coming.  Someone stood up in the meeting and told them not to bother because they had been to our church and there was no way they could do it as well as we do!!!

I never understood why other churches get upset when a new church is coming to town.  Last time I checked, we were all on the same team.  We aren’t coming to Jasper to reach their people so they have no need to worry.  However, we are coming to rock Jasper with the message of Jesus Christ!!!  So, the devil should be worried.

This Friday at 7:00 p.m. we are having our first informational meeting about our Jasper campus.  If you are interested in being part of the team that helps launch our new location in Jasper then this is a can’t miss meeting.

The meeting with be Friday at 7:00 p.m. at Roper Funeral Home (Yes, you read that right).  This will be our ONLY meeting at the funeral home and if there are viewings, we will be counting those people as part of our launch team.

To sign-up, contact Mitchell Harris at mitchell@therevolution.tv

I have a very open day today so I am going to take some time and knock out some posts by answering several questions we get on a regular basis.

I’ll start with this one:  What is Revolution doing to prepare for it’s second campus?

We get this question non-stop from other church planters and pastors.  I always feel bad when guys call us and want to know how we do certain things because the truth is we are very simple.  We don’t over-complicate stuff.  We don’t have systems in place, we aren’t great planners, and to be honest, we fly by the seat of our pants A LOT!!!!!!  Our staff excels at big days and we just have a knack for pulling them off, so we normally start thinking about an event right before it is time to do the event.

We have treated launching a second campus just like we would if we were launching a second service.  As of today, we are planning on launching on January 6th, 2008 (We are learning that could change due to building permits, inspections, etc.).  We have not had one meeting with those going to Jasper.  Yes, you read that right, we have not had ONE meeting.  We have our first meeting planned for November 30th and that will probably be one of two meetings we will do.

I understand that many churches do launch team meetings to prepare, but we don’t feel that is necessary.  The people we have going to Jasper are really an All-star team.  We have some studs that live in that area.  We have key volunteers in almost every area that live in that area.   They will do what they already do in Canton except they will do it in Jasper.  To me, it is like a second service.

These people already know our vision, they know our mission, they know our DNA, they know our vibe, and they know what we have planned.  Why complicate things with a lot of meetings about stuff we already know?

We are using our staff at Canton as “overseers” of the same ministires in Jasper.  For example, Tim is over worship at both campuses, Jenna is over children about both campuses, etc.  So we have spent a lot time internally planning for the launch in order to equip our people to serve and make the campus happen.

We will met with the people who want to help with that campus about twice and then we will launch that sucker and we believe it is going to make a huge impact in Jasper.

So for someone who is geared toward step by step directions and systems, our method probably would stress you out, but we thrive on it.

I know I am getting old because this Church Planting thing is wearing me out!!  As I work on getting Jasper ready to launch in January, I forgot how much work it is.  The good thing is I love what we are doing!

Spent half the day in Jasper today looking for locations and had an AWESOME meeting with Mayor John Weaver (VERY cool dude) and he seemed excited about us coming to town and stirring it up a little. :)  He gave us some very cool insight into the city and was a good help as we are looking for a location to meet in.

Launching new campuses is hard work and I could let one of our staff guys do it (Malcolm has done a ton), but starting new churches is my heartbeat so I am enjoying it a lot!

Malcolm and I are about to head to Jasper to look at an old, closed down bar for our Jasper location!  I’m pretty excited about the possibilities!!!!!  It just seems to fit.

Found out today that Pickens County Schools is a big fat NO on meeting in the schools.  Bummer.  But that just means God has to show up in a big way and do His thing.  I like it that way a whole lot better anyway.

Spent the day talking about future expansion and even talk to some people about various buildings in town.  Bottom line is there is NOTHING in Canton.  However there are several things down towards Holly Springs.

That is the beauty of multi-site.  We’ll stay at the theater with a Canton location and free up space by opening something right where Hickory Flat, Holly Springs, and Woodstock all merge together.

A person can dream can’t they?

We have a meeting withe head of Picken County Schools on Thursday at 8:30 a.m.  This meeting is HUGE for us in regards to our multi-site vision.  We need the High School and this is the man that can give us permission to rent it.

Pray that his heart is open to us meeting there.

Pray we can be a blessing to the school we meet in.

Pray we turn Jasper upside down with the message of Jesus Christ!

As you know we are launching our second campus in Jasper in January!!!! We are pumped up and the buzz is already going strong. Here is what I need from all of you who call RSC home: I need you pray about a possible meeting location. We have two different places we have been looking at but a church meeting in either one of these locations is so new to a small town like Jasper that we have some questions to answer and some convincing to do. I know it will work out, but be praying because we want to nail that down asap!

BTW, here is my favorite line of the day when Malcolm talked to one of the people about using their space: “Well if we let you in, we have to let everyone in including the Ball Ground devil worshippers.” Uh…okay. Did any of you know there was a group called the “Ball Ground Devil Worshippers.” Not just any devil worshippers, but the Ball Ground Devil Worshippers. BTW, Ball Ground is a city here next to Canton. I’ve laughed over that all day long.