Weekend Update

1. It was a great weekend! Friday, I got my haircut, worked out at the gym and got some Starbucks’ coffee. Then, I got home and spent the rest of the day with my family.

2. The family and I went to eat at one of our favorite spots on Friday evening.

3. My wife and I rented a movie and watched it after we put the kids to bed.

4. Saturday morning, I slept in. My wife got up with the kids, and I laid in bed until 9AM. That is not normal for me, but it sure was nice.

5. I did a lot of work on Saturday. God has been giving me some clear direction for our church, and I'm making plans to implement what He is speaking to me. We also have quarterly reviews this week with our staff, so I was preparing for that as well. Plus, I had to put some final touches on Sunday's message, and I read a book. BUSY BUT PRODUCTIVE SATURDAY!

6. The Juicy Fruit series is really impacting a lot of lives, including mine! I thank God for the work of the Holy Spirit. God is moving at PC. Believers are growing spiritually, and people far from God are giving their lives to Christ! Thank You, God, for all the people who placed their faith and trust in You on Sunday!!

7. Our Newcomers’/Membership Luncheon went really well on Sunday after the fourth service. Many people signed up to be a member which means that they are getting committed to PC. There's nothing like getting COMMITTED to a local church.

8. I was wiped out after speaking 4 times on Sunday and then speaking at the luncheon, but it's a good wiped out when the Kingdom of God is being advanced!

9. This coming up Sunday is GOODNESS! Yes, goodness is a fruit of the spirit!

10. HAVE A SUPER MONDAY!

Random Thoughts

1. It has been a great week.

2. I ate really good this week and worked out at the gym a bunch. I have eaten bad for several months in a row, and my body started to feel bad. I've lost some pounds this week and feel much better. Next, I'm going to shed a few more pounds.

3. We have several exciting changes that will be taking place at People's Church over the next couple of months. I can't tell you what they are right now, but trust me, it's going to be exciting and allow us to make an even greater impact in OKC!

4. God has really given me some great clarity and direction regarding People's Church. I really love when God is speaking to me about the future direction of PC!

5. PC is experiencing a wonderful momentum. Great days are ahead!

6. Juicy Fruit has been a great series for our church. Studying for this Sunday's sermon has really challenged me. I struggle with patience. You, your friends and your family will be challenged and inspired by this message.

7. I went to lunch with Clark Mitchell on Wednesday. Clark is the Senior Pastor of Journey Church in Norman, OK. www.journeychurch.tv. We have become pretty good friends over the last 1 ½ years. Clark gave me some wonderful insight about some decisions I was wrestling with. I am very thankful for the circle of pastor friends that God has placed in my life.

8. My mom's birthday is today! Happy Birthday Mom!

9. Today is my off day. I have a couple of errands to run, and then, I'm spending the day with my family. We are going on a family date night, and my wife and I are going to rent a movie and watch it. I don't think I will eat popcorn while watching the movie. I have to watch what I'm eating :).

10. Next week, I will be sharing more things that you may not know about me.

11. Make it a GREAT Friday and weekend!

Things You May Not Know About Me pt. 3

11. I ran a 4.4 forty yard dash my senior year in high school. It was in the high 4.4 (4.48 or something like that).

12. I preached my first real sermon when I was 17 years old. When I was a kid, I preached to the church when they let the kids run the service one evening. I can't remember how old I was. Somewhere around 7, 8 or 9 years old.

13. My first (real) sermon was to my youth group at First Baptist Church in Wewoka.

14. My youth pastor, Jimmy Reynolds, was very instrumental in my spiritual growth.

15. My favorite food is Mexican and seafood. Mexican is probably my favorite. Well...I like a good medium steak as well! :)

Things You May Not Know About Me pt. 2

6. I grew up eating a variety of foods such as squirrel, rabbit, coon, chitterlings, pig ears, pig feet, neck bones, quail, frog legs and alligator. This list GROSSES my wife out!!!

7. When I was growing up, my hometown only had two chain restaurants, Pizza Hut & Sonic. I guess that's why I love Pizza Hut and Sonic so much today :).

8. I was Vocal Music President my senior year in high school. The Worship Team needs me desperately, NOT! I really am a bad singer, and I can't figure out how I carried a tune back then. I guess I was an OKAY singer in high school, MAYBE!

9. I was National Honor Society Treasurer my senior year in high school.

10. I was Student Council President my senior year in high school. I guess you could say I was pretty involved. It's my A.D.D!

Things You May Not Know About Me

1. I was born in Los Angeles, California. Both my dad and mom are from Oklahoma but moved to California for a brief period of time.

2. We moved to Wewoka, Oklahoma when I was a little kid. Wewoka, OK, is located in Seminole County.

3. I was one of the fastest kids in elementary school, if not the fastest. I'M PROUD OF THAT :)

4. When I was in middle school, I thought Guess Jeans were the bomb.

5. I grew up eating and loving barbeque burritos. My mom took us kids to a convenience store almost every Friday to buy burritos.

YOU WILL LEARN A LOT ABOUT ME SO STAY TUNED IN…

Weekend Update

1. Friday, my wife and I got a babysitter to come watch the kids after we put them down for bedtime, and then, we went to the movies. We went to the Indiana Jones movie. I thought it was good but not great.

2. Saturday morning, I went to help out at giving Eisenhower Elementary School a makeover. The community missions project was a huge success. I know the kids and faculty will be very excited about the make over. The principal of the school goes to our church, and she was super excited about the makeover. There's nothing like seeing the church in action. YEA GOD!

3. One of my closest friends, Tommy Sparger, spoke at People's Church on Sunday. Tommy is the Senior Pastor of North Point Church in Springfield, Missouri. He started the church almost 5 years ago, and they have 2300 people attending on Sunday mornings. He did a very good job! He talked to us about allowing God to stretch our faith. I needed that message. The Christian life is a life of faith, and I want to be known as a man of faith!

4. Our Programming Director, Brian Rush has been on vacation the last two Sundays. I thought our Worship Team did a good job while he was gone. GOOD JOB, WORSHIP TEAM! PC is truly blessed to have such talented, humble and anointed musicians and singers.

5. There were lots of people that gave their hearts to Christ!

6. I am so pumped up about our 42,000 square foot addition. We needed more space yesterday. Tommy Sparger, reminded us yesterday of how more space is going to allow us to go to the next level in reaching MANY more people for Christ. THANK YOU, GOD, FOR BLESSING THIS PROJECT SO THAT MANY, MANY MORE LIVES CAN BE IMPACTED FOR YOUR GLORY!

7. We are diving back into our series titled Juicy Fruit this coming up Sunday!

8. Have a super Monday!

Random Thoughts

1. Today is my birthday. I don't really celebrate or expect anything for my birthday. Just another day, but I do thank God for his many blessings!

2. I took my boys to a movie earlier in the week. They love to go to the movies with me. We ate popcorn and M&M's.

3. My wife is a beautiful pregnant woman.

4. We went to some friends’ home last night and ate pizza and went swimming. We had a great time. I even got to play on a Wii game system (I think I spelled that right). I lost in baseball and tennis, but I won in bowling. If my friend is reading this, you better practice up your bowling skills because I think I may be pretty good. :)

5. Tomorrow from 8AM to 5PM we are invading Eisenhower Elementary School and doing some great projects! It's going to be an awesome day as we SHOW KINDNESS to our community!

6. This morning my wife is sleeping in, and I'm hanging with the kids. I just fed them breakfast. Cale and Caris had pancakes, and Cade had a waffle. My wife deserves some rest. She is a great mother to our kids.

7. My number one responsibility as a pastor and as a man of God, outside of cultivating my relationship with Christ, is to take care of my family. I'm passionate about loving my family.

8. Next week I'm going to blog about some very personal information.

9. Church family, I look forward to seeing you on Sunday as we lift up the name of Christ!

I Hate Staff Retreats pt. 3

Fun

That's right! We go on staff retreats because I like to have fun with the people I work with. One of the non-written core values of the People's Church staff is to have fun. I want to work with people who know how to work hard and who also know how to play hard. Our staff flat out gets the job done. They are all super hard workers. They are driven for excellence. I require excellence and productivity! What I have tried to cultivate in our fast-paced, get-it-done, working environment are times of fun. Everybody who gets to know me knows that I love to crack jokes. I don't take myself too serious. I love to laugh. Because I value fun with our staff, we do fun things like have a Leadership Team Fantasy Football League. We go to Buffalo Wild Wings in August or early September and eat lunch and spend a couple of hours drafting our players. Every week during football season, we have a great time harassing each other about who's winning and who's losing in our league. It creates lots of fun and laughs for our staff. When I'm losing, it creates frustration! SERIOUSLY! :) Because I value fun, we go on an all family leadership staff retreat to the lake. We have a blast at the lake for a few days. The staff really looks forward to this fun time every year. I THINK THE WORK PLACE CAN BE FUN, AND I TRY MY BEST TO MAKE IT THAT WAY!

I Hate Staff Retreats pt. 2

Investing

I enjoy staff retreats because it's one of the ways that I can invest in my team. One of the huge reasons People's Church is such a great church is because of the INCREDIBLE staff that God has blessed us with. I am so blessed to work with such gifted, passionate and God fearing people.

I want to invest in my team spiritually so we begin every year with prayer and fasting and have other times throughout the year of prayer and fasting. I want to invest in them financially so our board of directors makes sure they are paid well. I want to invest in them physically so I encourage them to work out, eat right, take vacations and to take their days off every week. I want to invest in their growth as leaders so I have them read books, we listen to cd's and DVD's of great leaders, we go to conferences, we have quarterly reviews and I encourage them to connect with other sharp leaders. I want to invest in them relationally so I have them over to my home throughout the year, we go out to eat twice a month as a team and we go on a all family staff retreat once a year.

Investing in our leadership team pays huge dividends! Staff retreats is one of those investments!

I Hate Staff Retreats

Just kidding, but I thought that I would capture your attention. We got home on Friday from our annual staff retreat. As the Senior Leader of PC, I want to share with you why staff retreats are important to our staff.

Relationships: We take the Leadership Team and their entire family on our annual staff retreat. One of the major focuses of this retreat is relationship building. All the men have a great time hanging out, talking about life and of course talking about sports. The ladies really love it. I know you probably won't believe this, but the women seem to talk more than the fellows do. I'm a big believer in having a strong and good relationship with those who work closely with me. I believe ministry flows best out of relationships. I think Jesus modeled this for us with his twelve disciples. Our annual staff retreat is the one time during the year where we get away for a few days and just connect, strengthen and deepen our relationships as a Leadership Team.

More tomorrow…