no more complaints of being tired. i have a great job, a great calling, and a great God.

thinking of church planting this morning. i am beginning to get notices of the churches that are kicking off in a couple of weeks. i really wish they would kick off on another sunday because so many of our guys start the first sunday after Labor Day and that is WRC anniversary sunday and i hate to miss, but would also love to attend some of the start ups so i can see what God is doing in the lives of church planters. (when i started that sentence it wasn’t supposed to be a run-on, my daughter will complain ).

anyway if you are reading this and you are getting started with a launch or grand opening in the next few weeks please keep me up to date. 1. we want to pray for you, and 2. we want to celebrate what God does in your midst.

class on CP this month will focus on vision, values, mission. love these lessons.

new boss begins tomorrow. it will be an honor to work with Tony Morgan. i am looking forward to learning more about systems and sustaining them. also cool i think he’s bringing the “Next” network coaching sessions here to WRC. i hope i can sneak in.

selah, whatever that means.

returning from vacation is always a pain. trying to catch up on what you missed and doing the work you need to be doing and then handling emergencies.

this week we have had two deaths. one you’ve probably read about from either my blog or somewhere else, the other a guy that attended occasionally. i ended up leading the funeral for the occasional attender. it was rough, he was young, had had a difficult life and struggles. the good news is that i was shown a gideon’s nt that he carried with him wherever he went and in the back was this profession: “on this date ______________ i understood and accepted the gospel.”

John Hyden, who lost his daughter this week said to me, “i don’t know how families without Jesus get through these times.” I agree John. how do people without hope, go on?

during these times, and as i shared with the family yesterday, lean on the promises of God. know that He promised never to leave or abandon their loved one, He promises perfect peace to believers, He promises a place that He is building for us, and He provided a way to get there, the Way – His name is Jesus. too many of our church members still believe that if they are just good enough or if a person believes faithfully in “whatever” god they will be alright. lies, lies, lies. “there is no other name under heaven by which we can be saved.” i hope you don’t miss it, your future depends on it. both today and tomorrow.

got hard news this morning, Michelle Smith, passed away last night. Please pray for the Hyden Family. John was our Facilities Manager here at WRC. Michelle served the church and many of our families as a housekeeper. She will be greatly missed.

please respect the families privacy at this time. pray for them, call them, serve them. they ask for and want your presence if you are a friend.

Michelle is now in the presence of the Savior she loved. He is holding her and loving her as never before. Thanks for the promise of God that “nothing can snatch you out of the Father’s hands.”

returning from vacation is such a deal. catching up on email, even if you do have an iphone is tough. answering questions. stuff that didn’t get done. stuff you forgot to get anyone to do. phone messages to be returned. just stuff!

then there are emergencies that a pastor has to deal with. hard stuff. unhappy people, sickness, death. sometimes being a pastor is not that much fun. don’t get me wrong, seeing life change is worth all the grief, because ultimately i know that in the end “we win.” that sounds so trite sometimes. but thank God it is true.

“what can separate us from the love of God? nothing!” on that i rest this morning.

vacation observations:

great to spend time with my kids this week. i love what God is doing in their lives. just wish it was closer to Dallas sometimes. great week relaxing. in my younger days i always had to be doing something. i actually spent about 6 hours on the beach one day and didn’t throw a frisbee or football, just sat and read. never in my life have i done that in addition the one time i got in the water a jelly fish got me big time on the leg (and i didn’t even cuss or cry, but i almost did both). got to do some interesting stuff: blues and cue cruise in the Charleston Harbor-recommend it, good band but the bbq ain’t Memphis or KC bbq, but it is edible, barely, romantic on the water though. dolphin tour, cool evening adventure, got to see some dolphins although the captain was getting nervous toward the end, one cool thing on the dolphin tour was we saw a horseshoe crab swimming through the water, it was about 10 inches across and more than a 3 foot tail, swimming on its back, i have never seen a live one, so that was cool. lots of good seafood – family put down some shrimps and fishes plus a few crabs and scallops (on the way home i demanded red meat for lunch). steak planned for tonight; late nite got us some great dessert at Kaminski’s, i HIGHLY recommend it, it’s in the market in Charleston; got to spend time with church planter extraordanaire Todd Magouryk, Tuesday – core group meeting (30+ in attendance) Wednesday morning coffee before the family got up, and Thursday looked at some schools that are possible meeting locations for River Church, hope he takes my advice on locations, so it wasn’t all fun and games. but it was good to disengage for a while. the best part was that on 4 of the 6 days i got out to the pier before the sun rose, just kinda sat, prayed, praised, and sat in awe of God. i am so thankful i get to serve such a creative and powerful God!

and finally, keeping it real, only gained one pound. lot of walking helped. i’ll get back to the ministry stuff tomorrow.

Gone fishin’ in Charleston, SC. Update next Monday, Aug 24.

Keeping it real – Weight Watchers Weigh in – 250, lost 24 pounds. gonna gain half of it back this week in shrimps and fishes.

saturday a entirely new crew of folks will show up to discuss, learn, and prepare for church planting. a varied group – georgia, alabama, brazil. african-american and caucasian. pastors and postal workers. young and younger. first time to pastor and years of experience.

so what do you learn – we start with some good old theological stuff – Kingdom and Call, practical stuff – Prayer, Vision, Values, Mission (what everyone teaches mostly), how we do what we do – administration, small groups, evangelism, missions, core group development, leadership. important stuff.

why do we stretch it out over so much time? first and foremost by meeting monthly and on a Saturday it allows bi-vocational folks to attend. another benefit for bi-vocational folks is they do not have to take vacation to attend. then there is the whole you get to practice and ask questions between sessions. in other words if you take advantage there is coaching available if you get stuck. and lastly i find a lot of people leave a weeks worth of training assuming they have all the tools needed to start a church. a week is not enough time for the vision to germinate to become a body/organism that becomes a church.

this class almost didn’t happen. we decided to pull the trigger at the last minute. we had some last minute enrollees that made it possible. i’m probably gonna owe some partners an apology that think this didn’t happen. i apologize.

next class starts in January 2011.

most of you have probably heard that @tonymorganlive is now the executive pastor overseeing ministries here at WRC. we are excited to get to work with a man of varied experience in the ministry world. Tony has worked at some great churches and written great books. i know that his experience and expertise will serve church planting and WRC well.

speaking of employment. i met with a church planter today and we had a little powwow about where he was and where he might be going. i had asked him about leadership profiles and such. he brought a really good report with him that he took some years ago. it was interesting in going through the report with him we discovered something. he was working, living, and acting just like God had created him to be. his areas of struggle were areas that were right there in the report. his areas of strength were right there in the report.

here’s the deal, you were created by God. He did not make a mistake. be whom God created you to be. in your area of weakness find someone that will make you strong. in your area of strength, find someone to mentor. we are the body, not everyone is a voice, or a hand, or a foot. but the body needs them all to function at peak capacity. if you take a profile test and you are honest the report can guide you a long way to success to whatever ministry God has called you to.

i hope our time together was profitable for the church planter. it serves as a reminder to me that i function best when i don’t try to channell someone else (yeah like Hillary can’t channell Bill,) i can’t channell stetzer, hornsby, driscoll, or any other church planter strategist. i gotta be me. God seems to use that from time to time.

listening to the news this morning. another guy has stepped forward and claimed paternity for michael jackson’s kids. i get really p——- off about deals like this. not one of those men or women were concerned enough for the birth or care of those children when mj was alive, or that they were letting a potential (notice i didn’t say he was) child molester have children. but now they are all concerned. give me a break. it’s all about the money. not one of those adults give a d—- about those children. having worked with abused children and juvenile delinquents for about 15 years of my ministry i am passionate about children. all of you selfish, money hungry perverts including debbie roe, the doctor, and now the actor (the “godfather, who has a religious relationship with the children” hahahaha!) should leave these kids alone. give them half a chance at normalcy. rant done.

GREAT service @Revolution church yesterday for their fifth birthday! Preston did a great job – we have been different (santa rap, easter egg hunt, meeting places, etc), we are in a different situation (looking for a pastor, hard times in economy), we will continue to be different (God hasn’t changed the vision, “we’ll do anything short of sin to win men to Jesus”). Great word based on ACTS.

btw – Thad and the band released a new cd friday. wife and i both bought a copy. you ought to go pick it up at itunes. the music at revolution is great. really enjoy the rock “feel”.

good job guys, tim, preston, chad, thad, ricky, jenna, jennifer, and carol (i think, sorry) have done a great job of hanging together and carrying on in the face of very difficult circumstances. proud of you guys. as Preston said, “Revolution will survive and thrive.”

one of my favorite passages of scripture is John 17. most people call the passage in Matthew the Lord’s Prayer. in actuality that is our prayer. the disciples said, “teach us to pray.” and Jesus said, “when you pray…” so the prayer that begins “Our Father” is our prayer not the Lord’s Prayer. sorry to burst bubbles this morning but.

so John 17 is the REAL Lord’s Prayer…”After this Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed…”

This is the message series that begins this week at WRC. It is also a series being delivered in several churches around the community as the local churches in Cobb and Paulding Counties UNITE around one theme.

in the REAL Lord’s Prayer Jesus prayed that we would know eternal life, that we would be obedient, that He would finish the task the Father gave Him and glorify the Father, that we would receive joy, that none would be lost, that we be protected from the evil one, that we be sent into the world as He was sent into the world, and here’s what i really like, – that in the future that those that believer’s talk to will understand and receive the message also. that is how you and i became believer’s – Jesus prayed for the disciples, the disciples told others who told others who told others until the message got to you and me! and finally that one day those who have been given to Jesus would one day be with Him.

this is an AMAZING PRAYER! i am very excited that we get to study Jesus’ prayer for us over the next several weeks. UNITED around the community, in our churches, we can make a difference. that was Jesus’ prayer. come and see!