Weekend Update

1. I picked Kansas to win the NCAA National Championship on my staff bracket. At least it's in the Big 12 family. I think I heard that it's the first time ever that all number one seeds made it to the final four.

2. My youngest son was running a high fever this weekend. He seems to be doing better.

3. I forgot to tell the church on Sunday that we are having a baby boy. Our fourth baby is due in July, and it will be another good looking boy!

4. There were over 20 people who gave their lives to Christ on Sunday. Thank you, JESUS!

5. I love having the extra parking in the PC parking lot. It's hard to believe that we have been operating a church of our size with only 168 paved parking spaces. I thank God for the overflow gravel parking lot we have had over the almost two years of being in the new building, but I am glad we were able to get over 160 more spaces paved before Easter. WE NEEDED IT!

6. The Perfect Kid series is going really well. God is helping a lot families and future families.

Random Thoughts

1. My wife and I went on a super hot date. We went out to dinner and then to a movie. We had so much fun and laughed our heads off at dinner and especially at the movies.

2. Both OU boys and girls got beat out of the NCAA tournament.

3. On my NCAA bracket, I picked Kansas to win it all.

4. The weather has been great this week in Oklahoma.

5. I can't believe April is next week.

6. I can't believe that I get to live my dreams every day. I mean it. I am living the life I could only dream about as a kid. This is awesome.

7. We have a super special family day planned for the kids. The kids are going to have a blast today. I am taking them to one of their favorite places before nap time, and after nap time, we are having our family date night.

8. There is CRAZY work going on at our land. They are working like CRAZY to get us into our 42,000 square foot addition as soon as they can.

9. Sunday, I will be speaking on The Best Thing You Can Do For Your Kids Pt. 2.

10. Invite a friend, neighbor, relative or co-worker to join you at church on Sunday.

What My Week Looks Like pt. 3

My Monday and Tuesday schedules are changing beginning next week. Mondays will look a lot like Wednesdays. I am moving my executive meeting to Tuesday afternoons, and immediately following the executive meeting, I will be leading our leadership staff meeting (6 people). I am taking over leading our staff meeting because Josh, the executive who has been leading the staff meeting, is overseeing the construction of our new facility. I want him to be laser-focused on getting us into this building with speed and excellence. After nine months of primarily leading our Executive Team, I have a new energy, passion and excitement about pouring into our Leadership Team.

Here Are Few Helpful Hints About Time Management

1. Do what works best for you. I've learned my own rhythms and I roll with what works for me.

2. Do not let people control your schedule. This is an easy trap for pastors to fall into. Of course, things come up that are unexpected in my schedule, but me and my assistant do our best to stay in control of my schedule.

3. Do not feel bad for saying no. There are always good opportunities that will easily distract you from what really matters.

What My Week Looks Like pt. 2

Wednesday & Thursday

1. I spend some time hanging with my kids when they first wake up.
2. I have my quiet time with God.
3. I work out at the gym.
4. I study for Sunday's message. On Thursday afternoon my sermon is emailed to the office for the bulletin notes and PowerPoint presentation.
5. I finish the day with busy work, a meeting with a staff member, or with creative and strategic thinking.
6. I head home around 4:45 to 5:00PM to eat dinner and spend the evening with my family.

Friday

This is my off day and family day.

Saturday

I take some of the day off. I spend some of the day making last minute changes to Sunday's message and memorizing portions of the message.

Sunday

I preach 4 times and then come home and hang out with the family and relax. During football season, I come home and watch football and cheer on my fantasy teams!

What My Week Looks Like

Many people are interested in what a pastor’s week looks like. I do enjoy gleaning from how certain pastors organize their daily routine. I am always eager to learn and become a better time manager. Over the next few days, I will share what my week looks like and some changes that I am making to my daily schedule.

Monday

1. I spend some time hanging with my kids when they first wake up.
2. I have my quiet time with God.
3. I work out at the gym.
4. I have my Executive Meeting.
5. I study for Sunday's message.
6. I usually finish the work day by swinging by the office and finishing up some busy work or meeting with a staff member.
7. I go to my Community Group.
8. I spend the rest of the evening with my family.

Tuesday

1. I spend some time hanging with my kids when they first wake up.
2. I have my quiet time with God.
3. I work out at the gym.
4. I study for Sunday's message.
5. I finish the work day with busy work and/or meeting with or coaching a staff member.
6. I head home around 4:45 to 5:00PM to eat dinner and spend the evening with my family.

Weekend Update

1. Our 5 Easter services were PHENOMENAL!

2. I thought I was going to pass out after preaching 5 times in a row. My body is use to 4 times, but adding a 5th service was tough but doable.

3. We almost had 2500 in attendance.

4. The excitement level was off the chart yesterday.

5. 80 people gave their hearts to Christ! THAT'S WHAT IT'S ALL ABOUT!

6. Volunteers, YOU SHOWED UP IN A HUGE WAY YESTERDAY! Thank you for stepping up and ministering to our church family and our guests. You all are truly inspiring and UNBELIEVABLE!

7. The worship team was off the hook yesterday. Thanks worship team for leading us into God's presence.

8. To the staff that I have the privilege of serving with, THANK YOU for your hard work to pull off an incredible day. It's a joy serving at PC with you!

9. To all of our guests, it was GREAT having you worship with us at PC yesterday. I look forward to seeing you back at PC this coming weekend for another great time in God's presence!

10. Invite EVERYBODY you know to be at church this Sunday as I continue the series The Perfect Kid. The title this Sunday is The Best Thing You Can Do For Your Kids Pt. 2. Trust me, you don't want to miss this message, and you’ll want to get everybody you know to attend with you. It will revolutionize your family!

Random Easter Thoughts

1. EASTER SERVICE TIMES: 8:30AM, 9:45AM, 11AM, 12:15PM & 1:30PM!

2. Invite everybody you know to attend services this Easter. Get to church early because the intro video is AWESOME! I saw it yesterday, and it got me pumped up!

3. Regular attenders, we need you to attend the 8:30AM and 1:30PM services if all possible. This will free up seats for our many guests.

4. Regular attenders, on EASTER, don't spend all your time talking to the people you know, find a guest and get to know them. You all are always very friendly and inviting, but LET'S TAKE IT TO ANOTHER LEVEL THIS SUNDAY!

5. I am going to have a relaxing and fun day with my family.

6. SEE YOU ON SUNDAY! IT'S GOING TO BE A GREAT EASTER! Don't you dare miss it!

Risky Business pt. 3

Here are some of the risks (FAITH) that we have taken at People's Church.

1. Tiffany and I left what many would consider a very successful traveling ministry to start People's Church. God had blessed us with a full speaking schedule, spiritual results and financial blessings, but we left it all to start a new church called People's Church. We sold our home in Missouri and moved to a city that we had never lived in before. I am from Wewoka, Oklahoma and my wife is from Wisconsin/Nebraska (she lived in both states while growing up).

2. We had no fat cats that promised to give us money to start the church. We just moved here with Brian and Alicia (our programming directors) and prayed like it depended on God and worked like it depended on us. THIS WAS A HUGE RISK!

3. We started a brand new church in May of 2002. Starting a new church in May is not the smartest thing in the world to do. Matter of fact it is called STUPID! I was depressed all summer long and I was even wondering if I missed God's will for my life. Churches normally don't grow in the summer and we didn't break that mold with our new church plant :)! This was more of my stupidity than a risk :).

4. We started our second Sunday service when we were a little over a year old. God blessed that risk in a wonderful way.

5. We bought 50 acres of land when we were just a little over two years old. We also kicked off a stewardship campaign around the same time to build our first facility. We raised money to build our current facility from many people who had been attending our church for six months or less. That's a huge risk, but God blessed it!

6. Our first Sunday in our new building we added a third Sunday service. Most churches drop services after they build a new facility but not us, we added a service. We just had faith that God wanted to bless our church and BOY DID HE EVER!

7. We added two Saturday night services in January of 2007. They were successful but they didn't accomplish the mission of our church so we stopped them in December of 2007. Of course, both of those moves were risky.

8. We added a fourth Sunday service in January of 2008. God has blessed this step of faith!

9. We kicked off our second stewardship campaign in February of 2008. We haven't even been in our new building for two years but because of the tremendous growth, we are building again. It's a risk but I know God is leading us.

10. Our stewardship campaign commitment Sunday was February 24 and we broke ground and started building our new building on February 25. We didn't let any grass grow under our feet. We made a lot of the preparations for this new building long before we knew what our people would commit. We even ordered the steel for this building a month before commitment Sunday. It was risky, but once again God blessed it and People's Church pledged 3.1 million and our church family is already giving generously and aggressively above their tithe to build this 42,000 square foot addition!

11. Invite everybody you know to our 5 EASTER SERVICES! 8:30AM, 9:45AM, 11AM, 12:15PM & 1:30PM. God is going to do awesome things this SUNDAY!

12. If you are following God, it's RISKY BUSINESS!

Risky Business pt. 2

Every time I've seen God do something significant in my life, it first required risk (FAITH). Before I preached my first sermon at age 17 to my youth group, I took the step of faith and surrendered my life to Christ in front of most of my high school football team at an FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) meeting. I think it is a positive thing that I became a follower of Christ before I preached my first sermon :). I don't know that this always happens in our world today :).

After my freshman year of college, I left my full football scholarship at a state university to pursue the call upon my life for full-time ministry. This was a major step of faith, but God honored it in a huge way. 7 months later God opened up a door for me to play college football at a Christian college on a football scholarship. This opportunity allowed me to get a Biblical Studies Degree. That huge step of faith literally changed the entire course of my life. I built relationships that I still have today. I made ministry connections that I am still reaping huge rewards from. The best thing that happened to me is I met my wife Tiffany at this college. We fell in love and now after 10 years of marriage, and almost 4 kids later (our fourth baby is due in July), we are still madly in love. If you are really following God, it's RISKY BUSINESS!

More tomorrow

Risky Business

For the next few days, I want to talk to you about risk (FAITH). I think most people go through life playing it safe. I think most people live a life full of regrets. I think most people get to the end of their lives and think, "I wish I would have __________________." You can fill in the blank. I am determined not to live a life of full of regrets and thinking I wish I would have _________________. I want to stay in tune with God, hear His voice and respond to His leading. When it comes to responding to God's voice, I would rather be aggressive than passive. Face it, we all miss God sometimes, but I want to be known as a person who aggressively pursues God's plan and vision for my life, my family and for People's Church. If I miss God from time to time (and I will), I am going to miss God moving forward in faith rather than standing still and doing nothing. If you are really following God, it's RISKY BUSINESS!