Anyhow, here we go…

• I’m really excited about Church180. Today we launched our new website in preparation for the thousands of mailers that will be landing in people’s mailboxes tomorrow! We are inviting every family in a 10 mile radius to join us for FAMJAM and the beginning of our new teaching series on Sunday, Parenting Beyond Your Capacity.

• We really miss Sadie (our dog for the last ten years). I keep forgetting she’s gone and when I remember it makes me really sad.

• I’ve been enjoying dating the girls lately. It’s neat to see their individual personalities blossoming. On our next date, Reagan and I are going to cook dinner for our family (she’s really into cooking right now).

• I’ve been learning a lot about racial issues over the last year. God has blessed me with some honest, gracious black men who I am proud to call “friend.” Asking them questions, reading books, watching movies, and living in a primarily black neighborhood has given me some fresh insights and a deep burden to stand shoulder to shoulder with my neighbors and friends.

• We are headed into the election season and I couldn’t be happier! I love politics! This time of year for me is like the college playoff season for football fans. (Don’t even think about trying to take my ManCard for that comment).

• I am reading a lot of early American history right now including Thomas Paine’s Common Sense. I’m actually reading it with a buddy and we are going to be dialoguing about it. Next up is Alexis De Tocqueville’s “Democracy In America“.

• I love my parents a lot but find myself sometimes disappointed with our interactions. I wonder what my kids will think about me when they are my age?

• Speaking of age, I’m 35 now. I feel pretty good but I need to do something big like run a marathon or compete in a mixed martial arts fight. Is this a midlife crisis? I don’t think so. I’m madly in love with my bride and happy in my work environment. I just need to do something that challenges me physically.

• I have some good friends. Last week my life got a little chaotic so I called my buddy to let him know I had some monsters chasing me (lust and anger). We prayed together and he kept checking in on me. I passed the test and am thankful for friends who will hear your story, love you and hold you to a high set of expectations.

• Recently Sherri and I have been making new friends. I always enjoy hearing people’s stories and getting to know them outside of church. It’s always fun to see people realize that a pastor is a man too!

Anyhow, it’s been a good stretch and I’m looking forward to the next few days!

Our Family Pastor, Alex Miranda, says this about FAMJAM:

FamJam brings kids & parents together for a high- octane experience that rivals any family event. This 1 hour production uses music, dance, video, and a clubhouse of insanely funny characters that make it a blast for the entire family. FamJam will highlight a core virtue- RESPECT! Its fast- paced extreme fun with a purpose!

As a daddy, I can’t wait! My girls are excited and inviting their friends too! I love that! I love that my kids are excited about what the church is doing!

One of the funnier parts of FAMJAM is the introduction of the “Irish Rappers.” They made a special appearance at church yesterday.

These guys are indeed fierce warriors and are a great addition to the FAMJAM crew!

Thanks you two for being such a great part of FAMJAM!

We had Sadie before any of our children. Before we had children we treated her like our child.

She greeted all five of our daughters when we brought them home from the hospital. She traveled with us to the beach for many years. She made made four moves with our family. She was a great guard dog who kept lots of people at bay. She was wonderful with all of our children. We never worried about them with her. We have lots of great memories with her and sure are glad for the ten years we had with her.

After talking at length with the veterinarian, consulting with several people, crying, and crying some more, we made one of the hardest decisions we’ve ever made… “say goodbye to Sadie.”

We all sat on the floor in a small room in the veterinarian’s office and hugged her and talked to her as she went to sleep. And then we left the room.

It is a really sad night.

Today we have a 4×8 sign going up on a heavily traveled road right beside our church (India Hook road). It will change with every teaching series. Here’s what it looks like going up…

This sign will change every 3-5 weeks depending on the length of the teaching series and will let people know what’s going on inside.

Additionally, in two weeks we will be inviting 12,187 people 2x to be a part of our next teaching series, “Parenting Beyond Your Capacity.” This teaching series will start in conjunction with the launch of our second service!

We will be adding a service and changing our service times from 10 a.m. to 9:30 & 11 a.m. (I’ll be sharing more about the series and the service in upcoming blog posts).

We’re looking forward to this next phase of ministry and expect to continue to expand the influence of Jesus in Rock Hill and beyond!

(I’d also like to give a big shout out to the guys from Apex Marketing Solutions for the great job that they are doing!)

Yesterday, at a Volunteer Appreciation luncheon at Pilgrims Inn, Church180 was awarded the “Volunteer of the Year!”

Additionally, Mountain Lake Church was recognized and so was Dirk Theys (Dirk helped lead the work project on the roof at Pilgrims Inn).

Mountain Lake sent a team of 6 volunteers from Atlanta to Rock Hill to partner with us on this project. This project saved Pilgrims Inn close to $12,000! We provided the materials and the labor and today, because the roof no longer leaks, the 4 year old’s who learn under this roof are no longer displaced every time it rains!

Thanks to all of you here in Rock Hill and in Atlanta who made this happen!

I’m excited about the teaching series that we are kicking off this weekend.

We are headed into a busy, potentially high impact season of ministry and we know this… when you begin to expand the influence of Jesus, Satan gets aggressive.

A few things that are coming down the pike as we move into the fall season of ministry:

• We are launching a second service (9:30 & 11 p.m.) and doing a lot of marketing to let people know what’s going on.
• We are launching FAMJAM.
• We are launching a new semester of LIFE groups.
• Later in the fall we will be launching our student ministry (grades 6-12).
• We are planning some more community projects revolving around our community partners, Ebinport Elementary and Pilgrims Inn.
• We will be introducing some new World Care initiatives later in the year.
• We will be teaching on some pretty tough subjects over the next several months.

If these things go as we pray and expect that they will, we will be expanding the influence of Jesus in a pretty significant manner… and you know our enemy won’t be dormant.

To equip ourselves, we are taking 3 weeks to unpack the soul and equipment of a warrior and call everyone to be just that… a warrior!

(Click here to read the story and watch the news clip).

This new cafeteria is the result of two churches (Church180 and Mountain Lake Church), a local business and a local designer (both the business owner and the designer attend Church180) coming together to do what Jesus would do.

Last month our two churches partnered together to wipe out two big projects: a new roof on Pilgrims Inn (a homeless shelter for women and children) and a renovation of the Ebinport Elementary School cafeteria. (click here to watch a video of the work that was done.)

Here are some pictures from yesterday’s ceremony:

Principle Goodwin introduced me and asked me to talk about how this project took place.

I was proud to talk about Taft Floyd and Jerry Hyatt (co-owners of Apex Marketing Solutions) and how they donated the labor for this project… almost 300 total hours! Taft plays the drums at Church180 and is doing an amazing job of growing a business in this crazy economy! I’m proud of these guys!

I was also able to introduce Alex and Angela Miranda (Alex is the Family Pastor at Church180). These two, along with a team of volunteers, have been putting in LONG hours helping Ebinport get ready to launch their new school year! Alex actually set up all of the computers in the school this year because they had no one to do it due to budget cuts!

Both Church180 and Apex Marketing Solutions were awarded plaques of appreciation from the PTO (the president of the PTO attends Church180 too!)

And finally there was the ribbon cutting!

Hundreds of children will enjoy the Eagle’s Nest Cafe because a handful of people acted like Jesus and did what He would have done!

Way to go guys!

This morning I took three ladies to school.

I can’t believe how quick they are growing up!

2007 – Lexington goes to school.

2008 – Reagan goes to school.

2009 – Lexington and Reagan go to school.

Reflecting on these moments and pictures makes me focused. Time and memories with my children are investments with a high rate of return!

This is the same beach that Sherri and I came to on our honeymoon. With a few exceptions we have returned to this beach every year since then.

Yesterday as we took a family walk down the beach Sherri and I agreed that because we have so many memories here we should make this our permanent vacation spot.

Just think…

13 years ago we started our marriage here.

For 5 years we came here childless and watched families play with their children as we splashed through the waves with our dog.

Then we started having children. Every year it gets “funner” as we watch them move from eating sand to building sand castles… from being scared of the waves to diving fearlessly into the waves.

Every year we catch something fun (from crabs to, this year a dead stingray) and take pictures of it!

Every year we visit the aquarium and eat one dinner at “Bushwhackers” (a local restaurant on the pier).

Every year we start our vacation with a trip to Food Lion (the local grocery store) where we stock up with food for the week. After leaving Food Lion we head over to Michelangelo’s for pizza so that when we get to our house we won’t be starved.

Every year our beach arrival time is different. This year we headed out every day after lunch. This gave everyone time to sleep in, eat breakfast and get ready for the beach! PLUS, 4-5 hours on the beach per day is plenty when you’re under 7 or over 30!

We used to dream of what it would be like to be parents and have our children with us to enjoy the ocean.

Now we talk of someday returning here with our children and their spouses… and our grandchildren.

This week has been a great week! And it is one more great week in a portfolio of memories that we are building, because remember, the only thing that matters tomorrow are the memories that we make today.