We got a ton of stuff going on at Revolution right now so I thought I would give you the 411 on all that is happening over the next few weeks:

• THIS Sunday, May 18th - We are wrapping up our Prison Break series by talking about Breaking Free From Religion.  I have loved this series and the feedback has been off the hook!  This week we are closing it in style.  You don’t want to miss Sunday!
• Sunday, May 25th - Annual Tailgating Service.  Every year on Memorial Day weekend we party outside!  We’ll combine services and have a time of worship, baptisms, baby dedications, inflatable games for the kids, the grill will be fired up, and you’ll get to hang with the awesome people of Revolution!
• Baptisms - During our tailgating service on May 25th we will be giving you the opportunity to let the world know you’ve entered into a relationship with Jesus Christ.  Baptism is the first step in obedience in following Christ and is our way of letting the world know about the decision we have made.  Contact Preston at preston@therevolution.tv to sign up.
• Baby Dedications - On May 25th we will also be doing baby dedications.  If you would like to bring your child before the church and allow us to pray for you as parents to raise them in a Godly way, we would love to do it!  Contact Preston to sign-up!
• Partnership Class - Take the next step in partnering with the vision of Revolution Church on Friday, May 30th.  During this class we will tell you the history, vision and expectations expected of those who call Revolution home.  We’ll serve you dinner so all you got to do is show up.  Class starts at 6:30 and is being held this time at the ROCK BARN next to Cherokee High School.  We will not have childcare.  Contact Preston to sign-up.
• Sunday, June 1st is going to be one of those CAN’T miss services.  We are going to rejoice in all that God has done at Revolution Church and I am going to share with you some very COOL news about the future of Revolution.  This one is going to be BIG!
• Sunday, June 6th we are joining with over 700 churches across the country for a teaching series called One Prayer.  During this series we are going to be showing some of the greatest teachers in the country teaching their ONE prayer for the church.  It is going to be an awesome series!

Holy Smokes, tomorrow is going to be an awesome Sunday!  We are continuing our Prison Break series and we are hitting on a subject that hits EVERY one at one time or another.  We are going to be talking about breaking free from unforgiveness and I pumped about the service we have planned.

It is amazing the amount of people I meet who hold onto bitterness and unforgiveness for literally years and it is even more amazing how much it affects  them without them realizing it!

Kyle O’Neal is leading worship in the morning and I am excited about hearing him bring it and I am big time pumped about sharing what God has shown me on the subject of unforgiveness.

Invite a friend and I’ll see ya on the morning!

God is doing some amazing things across America in terms of church planting.  I love to keep up with stories of guys who have started with nothing and now are knocking it out of the park.  It also seems that it is the same people you hear about all the time.  Don’t get me wrong I love hearing about God moving in around these guys, but I want to learn about those guys have have started churches that have grown and are truly impacting their communities and no one has heard of them.

I’ve got some guys like that I want to share with you over the next week or so, but if you know of some guys getting it done in your area, send their information to me by clicking the contact button at the top of this page, I want to learn from them.

We shot our video sermon for One Prayer tonight and it was strange to teach in that setting. I have never taught in a studio setting and focusing on the camera and the people on the other side of the camera instead of the people in the room was different. I think I could have done a lot better job, BUT I was very pleased with it being the first time we have ever done it.

Most amazing thing is I kept it to 25 minutes! It took me longer to record all the personalized intros for the guys who requested them than it did the sermon.

Shout out to Ryan Fitzgerald and Joe Wiggleston for the video help!  This was our first time working with Joe and I dug the dude.  Ryan is always awesome and I enjoyed catching up with him for a few minutes.

We are getting ready to shoot our sermon for One Prayer and I am actually nervous.  Not sure why but to know others will be showing our video has me a little freaked out and this is the first time I have ever taught in front of a camera so that will be different.

The good thing is I have a ton of video intros to do for churches who are using our sermon so I can warm up a little doing those.

Earlier today I mentioned that had cut way back on which blogs I read.  At one time I was reading about 120 through bloglines, but I am now down to around 20.  After that post I have gotten several e-mails asking me how I decide which blogs to read so that got me thinking about it because I guess I had an answer since I did pick which ones to keep and which ones to delete, but I had never thought about it before.

So after looking over the blogs I have kept, here is how I decided which ones to keep:

• I have a relationship with most of the bloggers whose blogs I read
• 90% are church planters.  I am one and I relate to those planting churches
• I kept guys whose church and leadership speak to me
• Most of the guys I keep up with mix their blog with leadership stuff, church stuff, and personal stuff.  I like that.
• Guys that I just like.  I know that sounds dumb, but at one time I was reading guys just because everyone else was.  Now, I am focused on guys that I simply like to read their stuff

Some of the ways I decided to quit reading some blogs:

• If you are always selling your crap on your blog, I ain’t reading
• If you post very long posts, I ain’t reading
• If you aren’t being real, I ain’t reading
• If I don’t really know you, I probably ain’t reading

That doesn’t mean any of those above things are bad, they just are some things that personally drive me nuts.

I will still keep up from time to time with some of the blogs I deleted and I will hopefully be adding guys back as they connect with me during different stages of this adventure in pastoring.

Preston beat me to the big news, but I am excited to announce our newest hire at Revolution. You can go here to see a video of him in action.

Nice

EDIT:  Just realized this guy is going to be down by my buddy Chris so I might have to go check him out.  Chris, can I crash on your couch?  I HAVE to see this guy kick someone in the face or leg drop a pastor!

I am at the warehouse right now listening to the band (they are rocking) and let me say this:  IT IS FREAKING HOT!!!!!!!!!!!!  As you know, our AC was put in wrong in the warehouse so it is NOT cooling down right now.

I said all that to say if you are planning on coming to the One Prayer taping tomorrow night you need to dress in summer clothing.  Conditions are perfect for a sermon on hell.

See ya tomorrow at 7:00!!!!!!

Thursday night we are filming our message for One Prayer at The Warehouse.  It is going to be a fun night and would love to have you join us.  The Warehouse doesn’t hold many people, but we’ll fit you in!  I am going to be teaching on the subject, Lord, Make Us REVOLUTIONARY.

We’ll start at 7:00 p.m. and we’ll close the doors at 7:15.  After 7:15 you will not be allowed in as we will be filming.  So be on time

I get asked a lot about what a typical day at the Revolution office is like.  I know that seems weird but I totally understand the question because it is one I ask a lot when I met with various pastors and something I try and observe when visiting other churches.  I have been at both ends of the spectrum.  I have been at a church that had NO office environment at all (you came and went as you wanted) to one that was very corporate (dress code, you had to be quiet, etc.).

I’m not sure how you would describe our vibe, but I can try and give you a glimpse into a typical day:

• LOUD!!!  I am loud, Preston is loud, Taylor is loud, it is loud!
• LOTS of music!  There is always music blaring and you never know what you are going to hear except that it is going to be loud.
• Lot of “hall meetings.”  I think our best meetings are unscheduled and just happen
• Lots of Revolutionaries in and out.  We always have people up at the office serving, dropping off food, and just coming by to tell us some crazy story.
• Lot of working in each others office though this is changing a lot.
• Occasionally Adam walking around with certain parts of his clothing not on.  Trust me there is nothing good about a ghost white man covered in tattoos walking down the hall uncovered.
• Heated debate.  We can get pretty passionate and pretty heated about topics.  I love that.
• Lot of the girls telling us to hold the noise down.
• Meetings.  Man, we have a lot of meetings.
• Lot of sharing awesome stories from the people of Revolution
• Normally there is some type of bet taking place or betting pool to join.  Right now we have all selected wrestlers that we think will die next.  Winner takes all.
• A lot of asking how much money would it take to do or eat something gross.  Tim normally is willing to do it for the least amount.
• Probably one good fight a day.
• We do lunch together 90% of the time
• 75% of our time is focused on Sunday services
• Dress code is pretty slack though we are getting tighter but we do ask that they at least wear clothes
• LOTS of fun!

Between all this A LOT of work is happening as we are getting people celebrating, connected, and contributing to the vision of Revolution.  The only day things aren’t like this are Wednesday and on that day it is a ghost town.  That is my study day and it is very calm and very quiet which I like.