A few things I saw / heard this morning:

1.       We have some awesome volunteers in our pre-school area.  I watched many this morning go out of their way to help families…great job guys.

2.       The “What’s Happening” was very “Old School”…If only you could have seen the dancing behind the camera.

3.       Mark had a great song this morning…love hearing that acoustical sound…he’s almost as good of a guitar player as me.

4.       We tried to talk Pastor into wearing an “old school” outfit this morning…I voted for the 70’s John Travolta look.

5.       We started sign-ups for our volunteer team to work Fall Fest…huge first week response…it’s going to be awesome…more rides & food…giddy up!

6.       Pastor finish week 2  of Old School and this morning was about Samson, here are a few points he made…”You are supposed to be different so you can make a difference.”

7.       Talking of Samson…“The spirit of God had left him and he did not even know it”…that my friend is a really strong statement!  We all need to think through that for the week.

8.       “Samson could conquer others but not himself”…what a great point.

9.       “Samson was not into submitting to authority or accountability”…will never understand how some people choose not to be connected in a group…Maybe I’m not there yet, but I need encouragement and accountability.

10.   Great Sunday Southside!

I can honestly say that I’ve never been more excited about a sermon series as I am about the one I’m starting tomorrow night.

The reason I’ve titled the series, “Lessons from the Whiteboard” is because the next four weeks, I’ll be using a whiteboard to help me communicate.

Now, I’m not known for hyperbole, so when I say that you don’t want to miss tomorrow night and the first message in this new series, I mean it.  I think it’s going to be great! And more than that, I think every Christian in our church will benefit from what I’ll be saying.

Hope to see you there!

Over the last eight years, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been asked, “When are we going to get a church sign?”  

My typical answer to that question has been, “People don’t seem to have any trouble finding our church so I don’t see why having a sign is such a big deal.”

Usually I don’t mean those words.  It’s just my way of getting people off my back.  

Well, I’m pleased to announce in this blog post that a sign is coming!  

And not only that, but there are a few additional surprises that we’ll be throwing in to make our campus look more beautiful than ever!  

I don’t want to give everything away (at least not right away), so that’s all I’ll say for now, but trust me when I say it’s going to make our campus look amazing!  

A few things I heard / saw this weekend:

1.       Freedom Fest was HUGE! …what a great day all around…the evening weather was perfect and the bands, speaker and of course fireworks were awesome.  To all those volunteers that stayed up past 4:30am cleaning up…THANK YOU.

2.       Amber’s song was amazing…not sure if it gets any better than that.

3.       We had a volunteer named Rick Gonzales led the choir during Amber’s song…that dude was rock’in!  It was fun watching his energy and passion…I almost danced, and then the Holy Spirit reminded me that I have no rhythm.

4.       Absolutely love how our church is beginning to truly reflect our culture…all people.

5.       We put a Southwide conference brochure in every bulletin…this is going to be a great conference for all our church family to attend.  We have a great line-up…

6.       Pastor asked me to be the keynote / headline speaker for the conference…very kind of him, but my Fantasy football duties have my free time booked up.

7.       Few things from the sermon this morning: “God did not need Gideon to believe in himself, He needed Gideon to believe in Him.”

8.       “God, help us be heroes in our culture today.”

9.       “God says go in the strength you have and watch me work in your weakness”

10.   I walked away this morning saying “thank you Lord for using Southside to change Warner Robins.”

Don’t forget that this Saturday is Freedom Fest!  The last three years, we’ve averaged over 10,000 people and we’re expecting another big crowd this year.  With that said, let me say a few things about Freedom Fest 2008:

• If you’re one of our amazing volunteers, thank you in advance for all you’re going to do to help us pull off this big event! 
• If you’ve never been to Freedom Fest before, make sure you stay after the concert for the fireworks (this is not your average neighborhood fireworks show…we go all out!)
• If you’re planning on showing up toward the end of the night, you might want to change your plans and come earlier.  There will be people everywhere, and the sooner you get here, the better seats you’ll be able to secure (which reminds me, bring a blanket and some chairs)

We can’t wait to see all of you this Saturday, and if you have any questions, or just want to know more about Freedom Fest 2008, click here.