quick update

As you may have noticed, I am blogging a lot less. I actually contemplated shutting my blog down, but I have decided to keep it open but I will probably only blog about once a week.

Here is the latest:

Today is day 2 of Son Sports. The first day was awesome. We had a record number of both kids and volunteers this year. That is very exciting. I have to brag on my wife, Liz. She heads up our Family Ministry department at Foothills Community Church, and besides her regular responsibilities of putting together our incredible weekly Kids worship services, she also heads up Son Sports.

She could not pull this off on her own. She has so many people that step up to make everything possible. I know that she is so grateful for each of them. She has also put together an amazing staff that are passionate about helping kids find and follow Jesus.

Just about every week I have someone come up to me and tell me that they come to Foothills because of our great kids program. I love hearing the stories of how the kids ask their parents every day, "Is today church day?"


In other news, we continue our Sunday sermon series through the Gospel of John. It has been an amazing journey (and we're only half way done!)

This Sunday I will be teaching from John 10 on whether or not we can lose our salvation. You do not want to miss it.

Don't forget to sign-up for our next baptism which will be on June 30th at all of our campuses during the morning services. If you are a follower of Jesus and you have not been baptized this is your chance.

One last thing. Our campus expansion plan is in full swing. Our newest campus in Cornelia, GA will begin on September 15, 2013. They will be meeting in the Community House in downtown Cornelia. If you or someone you know is interested in this new campus OR if you live in an area that would like to be considered as another possible campus location, let us know!

Hartwell Campus Pastor introduction

In case you weren't at Foothills Community Church this past Sunday (I wasn't there either. I was preaching at my friend, Jeff Cranston's Church) you missed this video introducing our new Hartwell campus Pastor, Austin Canen and his wife Emrie.

We are so happy to have them leading the Hartwell campus, and are looking forward to God using them in an incredible way!

To see Austin's story click here.

A few quick things

I have not posted a blog in a couple of weeks, so I'll try to pick up where I left off.


* The last 2 Sundays have been awesome. The rain has been pouring, so it has affected attendance, but the people who have come are there because they want to be there, so their enthusiasm makes up for the lower attendance.

* I've always thought it was funny how on Sunday if it's raining, people can't get to church, but on Monday they can make it to work just fine.

* I am so thankful for all of the people who serve on our umbrella teams. They have been busy, but they make such a big difference!

* Last Sunday, David Odom, our Seneca worship leader was out of town but the worship didn't miss a beat. We have a great worship team.

* This Sunday at Foothills Community Church we will have parent/child dedications. Tons of kids signed-up!

* Our gospel of John series is my favorite ever. I mapped it all out and it looks like we will finish in early December. Which means we will have spent 11 months walking through this amazing book of the Bible.

* Son Sports is just around the corner.  (June 10th-13th from 6:30pm until 8:30pm.)  What is Son Sports?
Son Sports is kind of like a vacation Bible school on steroids. Kids from 4yrs.old thru 6th grade participate. It has a sports theme, but each day there is also music and Biblical teaching. Activities include arts and crafts, basketball, soccer, football, cheer leading and lots of other things. This year there will also be a magic show by Bam Magic. Every year athletes from Clemson University come and meet the kids too. Son Sports is a huge deal. If you have kids/ grand kids make sure to bring them. You can sign them up right now.
We also need volunteers. Lots of them.  Every year we have at least 100 volunteers help out. Let's shoot for 150 this year! Would you be willing to carve out some time to make a difference in a kid's life?

15 year anniversary celebration Sunday

(15th anniversary. The band was rocking the house!)

Well, our 15 year anniversary celebration is history. We spent so much time praying and preparing for this day and all I can say is, "it was even better than any of us could have hoped for!"

Our morning services were incredible. Good crowds and lots of energy. Then on Sunday evening, all 3 campuses came to Seneca for a night of worship. Here are a couple of highlights:

* Foothills Community Church is truly blessed with musical talent. Unbelievable! All 3 of our campuses worship leaders were there along with other musicians and singers. Plus, we had a praise choir. It was so uplifting.

* Sharing communion together with all 3 campuses was amazing. Pastor Brian Rhodes did a wonderful job leading us through that.

* I love that our Hartwell, GA and Toocoa, GA came dressed in Georgia Bulldogs red and sat right down front in the middle. They are rowdy and I love that!

* Best Part of the day= 55 people were baptized!

*  We had some moments of reflection. We saw a video from the last 15 years and how far we've come.

* We had a lot of fun moments. When we started Foothills Community Church 15 years ago I had a mustache, so pretty much the entire worship team and choir were wearing fake mustaches. When I came up to do the welcome, my wife made me put one on as well. Here is a picture of that:

(the infamous fake mustache)

* I got a chance to share what our next step is as we start the next chapter of our history. In case you missed it, I announced that Foothills Nation will be expanding. On September 15th we will have the grand opening of our 4th campus in Habersham County Georgia!!


* I also spoke briefly from Exodus 33:15 where Moses says to the Lord, "If you're presence does not go with us, don't send us from here." For 15 years we have tried to follow God. As we move forward, if He does not go before us, we don't want to go anywhere. The good news is, that He is leading us. Our job is to follow. There are many more opportunities and we will seize as many as we can.

* We ended the night with some time to hang out in the concourse. A few of us lingered after everyone else had left, and shared some funny memories.

* All in all, one of the best days in our history. BUT THE BEST IS YET TO COME!