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Many of you have asked for some updated pictures…so here is a pictorial journey through Emma’s first seven weeks! (in no particular order)

Today was the beginning of the next stage in the life of Freedom Church.  After only 11 months at North Metro Tech, it was time to hit the road.  North Metro Tech was a great first temporary worship space.  However, if we are truly going to reach those who are far from God in Acworth, Georgia…we have to go right to the heart of where they are.  A few weeks ago the leadership met to pray that God would give J.R. and the staff clarity on where to go next…and we started making plans to head to Barber Middle School.

Today was the first day in what J.R. has deemed our “new temporary facility”.  Freedom Church is not about a location.  From the beginning, Freedom has been interested in being the catalyst for a revoluntionary movement of God in Acworth.  Barber will not be the final move…just the first of many!

The band and production team did an incredible job getting the stage ready for today…it looked awesome!  Even as we were driving through downtown Acworth, the new signs looked great.  We drove into the parking lot and the new signage looked good and there were greeters everywhere.  The lobby looked a lot better at Barber than it ever has because it is bright and a little more like the entryway in a person’s house rather than just a hallway.  Clint took a bunch of pictures and he said that the FreedomKidz area looked really good. In fact, next week we will be taking our daughter back there for the first time…and we are so pumped about Emma having an opportunity to experience God through FreedomKidz!

The message this week was part one of our new series called Dominate.  The text was from Acts 3:1-10.  The band opened with “We Will Rock You”…and they did! There was a ton of energy and that was an excellent way to kick off this new phase of the journey.

Here are some notes from J.R.’s sermon this morning.  Tons of great stuff!  I have the privilege of being a part of our creative team that meets to go over sermon ideas and a lot of Sundays I feel like I have heard part of it before…but with J.R. there are always some surprises.  Today was no exception and it was one of the best messages I’ve heard at Freedom.

-”We have the capacity to connect people to the power of God”

-”How often do we ask for table scraps when God wants to give us a feast?”

-”The same power that was on display through Peter and John can be on display through each one of us.”

-”God has a great plan for you that is exceedingly, abundantly more than you could ever think, ask, or imagine.”

And…to top it all off…4 people raised their hand to say that they had prayed to receive Christ!  How awesome is that?  God used a public middle school as the location for people to find salvation!

Great first Sunday of 2009…it will only get better from here!

Day 2 of my journey through the Bible using YouVersion.com.  Our readings for today are Genesis 3-4, Psalm 3,5, and Matthew 3-4.  These readings are all familiar, but it is always exciting to see how God can pull out things you have read several times and make them brand new again.

Matthew 4:19 And he said to them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.

Psalm 5:4 For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil may not dwell with you.

Connect the verses and you realize that God wants us to follow Him so that we may become fishers of men.  However, God does not delight in wickedness.  If we are evil or think evil thoughts, we can’t dwell with Him.  Simple truth = great reminder.

“Look, I’ve been popular and not so popular. But the thing that matters most in life is not one’s popularity but principles. And I am not going to sacrifice my principles on the altar of political popularity. If you chase popularity, you’ll be a lousy president. If you make decisions based upon sound principles, you’ve done your job.”-President George W. Bush

I have really enjoyed reading “Leading From the Second Chair” by Mike Bonem and Roger Patterson.  Tons of great stuff regardless of whether you are a first or second chair leader.  I am currently a second chair leader and trying to spend some time this year deciding if that role is permanent or if God has different plans for me…can’t wait to see how that unfolds!

Here are some notes from the first couple of chapters.  Hopefully they will be helpful to you, they’ve given me  a bunch to think about the last several days.

Preface
•    When a group of leaders is willing to be used by God and is unified in following His vision, exciting things happen.
•    Being in the second chair is the ultimate leadership paradox.  It is the paradox of being a leader and a subordinate, having a deep role and a wide one, and being content with the present while continuing to dream about the future.
•    Those who thrive in this role, whether for a season or for the long run, learn to live with the tension that this creates.

Chapter 1: Living in the Paradoxes

•    God desires to use this experience in the second chair as a transforming season in your life.
•    This role challenges your ego, buffers your speech, and keeps you anchored in your calling.  It is a place of growth and development, a place of real contribution, and a place that tests your commitment.
•    A second chair leader is a person in a subordinate role whose influence with others adds value throughout the organization.
•    Regardless of where you are on the leadership development journey, there is room to grow and learn.
•    Ultimately, in Christ’s Kingdom, we are all in the second chair, submitting to Christ as the head.
•    Three tensions that are three apparent paradoxes of second chair leadership: subordinate-leader, deep-wide, and contentment-dreaming.
•    The second chair requires a special leadership lens that brings clarity to the challenges of the three paradoxes.  The lens must be trifocal, allowing you to focus on how you manage your relationships (subordinate-leader paradox), your work habits (deep-wide paradox), and your emotions (contentment-dreaming paradox).  As you see and understand more clearly the tensions experienced in the paradoxes, you will be better equipped to navigate your way through them.  Being better equipped, you will become a better leader, making a more significant contribution to God’s Kingdom.
•    Too many leaders focus all their energy on moving to the next chair as quickly as possible, and they miss the opportunity to develop their gifts in the current chair.

Chapter 2: Am I A Second Chair Leader?

•    The key to leading in a subordinate role is identifying and understanding opportunities to cultivate influence each and every day.
•    How much credibility do you have with the people who are affected by your ministry?  Do they see you as someone they trust at a deep level?
•    Without credibility and trust in their eyes, you will not have influence.
•    Building credibility and influence requires putting the prestige of your position aside and picking up the towel of service.
•    Leadership is relational.
•    Second chairs who are committed to cultivating influence and adding value have the opportunity to make the entire organization better.
•    A person’s position may be a platform from which to lead, but a title is not what makes someone an effective second chair leader.
•    Those with a leader’s temperament have a strong desire for the ministry to reach its fullest potential, and they always work toward that goal.
•    Genesis 39:2-4 tell us: “The Lord was with Joseph and he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master.  When his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord gave him success in everything he did, Joseph found favor in his eyes, and became his attendant.”
•    Joseph’s choice to honor his God and do his tasks with diligence and excellence led him to a place of great influence.
•    An essential attitude in the second chair is submission.  This is recognition of the authority God has placed over your life; it calls you to submit willingly to that authority.
•    An attitude of submission is not a loss of authority.  It is recognition of the source of authority.  If you are to model Christ to the world and to those in your ministry setting, you must be willing to be under the authority that God has established.  It is paramount that you possess this attitude of a submissive heart.

Planning to read through the Bible this year using YouVersion.com.  I love the fact that it is available online and also on my iPhone.  Email me if you’d like to join me.  It would be great to have some folks to journey with this year through the Bible.

Sweet! I finally figured out how to blog from my iPhone. This will be a huge help in my quest to be a more consistent blogger in 2009!

I am looking forward to catching up on some reading the next several days while we are travelling and enjoying some down time hanging with our families.  Matt Willmington recommended “Leading from the Second Chair“.  Since that is the chair I currently find myself in…I am going to check it out.

Check back here for some thoughts from the book over the next few days.

**Please note that we would never dream of giving Emma Diet Mountain Dew at this point in her life.  However, she was very helpful in carrying some things out to the car today..including this mostly empty soda bottle.  One day she will be old enough for Diet Mountain Dew and she will make Mommy and Daddy very proud the first time she asks for it!!**

God has really been speaking to my heart this week about just how tremendously blessed I am.  Here are a few of the places He has shown it to me…

1.  One night last week I spent about 3 hours straight wrapping Christmas presents.  That wasn’t even all the presents we are giving.  Thank you Lord that you have blessed us in such a way that we can bless others!

2.  Tuesday Emma and I spent all day in my closet.  Typically Clint and I do a major cleanout right around the end of the year.  This year I decided to really dig in…clothes, shoes, purses, dresser, closet, etc…nothing was safe.  Thank you Lord that it took me all day to go through all of my stuff…and that all of the stuff I am giving away takes 5 trips down the stairs.

3.  Just realized that this week was the 8 year anniversary of my college graduation from the University of Memphis.  Thank you Lord for the gift of a great education!

4.  Clint and I are having a blast celebrating our first Christmas with our baby girl.  Emma has made Christmas more exciting than it has ever been before.  Thank you Lord for blessing us with our precious daughter!

5.  We had a great time hanging out with all of our friends from Freedom Church at Bikes or Bust this week.  God is doing some amazing things through Freedom and our family is pumped to be a part of it.  Thank you Lord for allowing us to partner with a church that is seeking to reach those that are far from you so that they can experience life in Christ!

I’m sure that I’ll have plenty more of these moments in the next several days…I’ll look forward to sharing some more!