You Can Know God

Fantasy Football

One of the reasons fall is great is because it's football season.  Saturday and Sunday in the fall are great.  I love college football, the NFL, and Fantasy Football.  I'm in three Fantasy Leagues, but the one I really want to win is the inaugural Oak Leaf league.  Will isn't going to win because he drafted too many defenses.  Matt isn't going to win because he wears ugly pants.  Anthony doesn't even understand the rules and wouldn't join the league.  Anyway, here's my team.

QB: Matt Hasselbeck
RB: Willie Parker, Willing McGahee
WR: Marvin Harrison, Chris Chambers, Isaac Bruce
TE: Kellen Winslow
K: Stephen Gostkowski
D: Panthers
Bench:  Brett Favre, Cedric Benson, Leon Washington, Plaxico Burress, Donte Stallworth

Friday Five

Five things coming to you this Friday.

1. Does anybody else think that it's crazy that the department of transportation spends millions of dollars advertising against drunk driving? I think if we made the penalties stiff, and throw these people in jail and fine them big bucks, that would do a better job than a billboard.

2. Jennie is going on a cruise this weekend with her mom and sister-in-law. I'm watching our two girls the whole weekend.  I've already stocked up on some junk food.  I think we're going to take a brave trip to Chucke-E-Cheese on Saturday. And we are going to watch college football.

3. You may have already seen this, but just in case, you have to watch Miss Teen South Carolina answer a question on national TV.  Absolutely hilarious.  And be sure to check out Jimmy Kimmel's reponse down at the bottom.

4. This Sunday we kick off a series called "Issues." This is the most controversial series we've ever done, and we're going to talk about the things many churches are afraid to talk about. And there's a big Oak Leaf announcement coming soon.

5. Apparently, global warming is causing an increase in Cougar attacks. I wonder what Ricky Bobby and Al Gore would say.

Prayer for Oak Leaf Church

My aunt who lives in Jacksonville is a part of a praying church. I didn't even know this but they had hundreds of people praying at all times of the day for Oak Leaf Church on a regular basis. I think it's so cool that another church would take us under their wing and offer up prayers to the Father on our behalf. My sister sent me the prayer that they prayed, and I thought I would post it.

God we thank You that Jesus is Lord over Oakleaf Church. We thank You that Your kingdom comes and Your will is done in this church. The people of Oakleaf have righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost.

Father, we thank You that all people of all ages come to discover and partake of the life of God through this ministry. Every program, department, outreach, event, service and media broadcast is anointed to lead people to the fullness of Your good plan for their lives.

Thank You, Father, that all of the staff and leaders of Oakleaf live under Your Lordship. They are submitted and committed to You. They work as unto You, and they lead as servants with pure hearts. Thank You that they are faithful and able, and they abound with Your blessings.

Jesus is Lord over Pastor Michael. He abides in the will of God for his life. He lives a life that is pleasing to You. He has the grace and anointing and character necessary to carry out Your plan for his life.

Thank You that ever member, visitor, and friend of this ministry dwells in Your secret place and abides under Your shadow. You daily lead them with the benefits of:

· Forgiving their sins
· Healing their diseases
· Redeeming their lives from destruction
· Crowning them with loving kindness and tender mercies
· Satisfying their mouths with good so that their youth is renewed like the eagles.

The Lord is their Shepherd therefore they do not want. There is not one feeble among them and not one who lacks any good thing. We pray that the Word preached will pierce the hearts of the people and change their lives.

We pray for all the churches in the city of Cartersville. Jesus is Lord over every church and ministry. Every church is anointed to meet the needs of the people in this city. They feed the people with knowledge and understanding of the Word. They minister to the people with the love of God. Jesus is lifted up in this city and all men are drawn to Him.

Thank you that your Word has free course in this city. Your people lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. We pray that every elected and appointed official, every civil servant, every person in the armed services abides in Your presence, is led by Your Spirit and serves as unto the Lord. The churches of this city have favor and liberty to minister to people and change their lives.

Thoughts from an All Staff Meeting

Once a month, we gather for an "all-staff meeting." Our Lead Team meets weekly, but this meeting includes everyone who is on staff. We talk about a book that we've read that month, give updates from our areas, and I cast vision. I wanted to pass along a couple of comments from people.

• Tanya, our preschool director, said that she doesn't have a volunteer on her team that is not totally dependable. That's a huge thing!


• Anthony, our executive pastor, said that it's taken him two months to look under every rock, and he's figured out what he's gotten himself into.


• I talked about how I'm trying to focus on leadership and teaching, and encouraged the staff to continue to solve problems and go to Anthony as the point person.


• Tim, our connections paster, was pumped that about 250 people signed up to be in a Journey Group this past Sunday. That would mean that more than 50% of our adults are involved in a group. Groups are a huge part of our strategy.

There were lots of other discussions and lots of laughs. And we talked about the big announcement that I'm going to make in the service on September 9.

The Problem with Christian Schools

Let me stir the pot a little bit today.

I just read an article about a movement in Baptist circles to put a renewed emphasis on starting private, Christian schools. Before I give my opinion, let me say that I attended a public and a private school growing up, and that I taught a year in public school and a year in a Christian school. I do not think any one form of schooling is the solution to the problems of our day.

Apparently, Southeastern Seminary, where I attended, is leading the charge. Here's a quote from the article. "In the public schools, you don't just have neutrality, you have hostility toward organized religion," said Daniel Akin, president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest. "A lot of parents are fed up."

Here's the problem I have with this. Of course there is hostility towards organized religion. It's called the world. There's hostility towards God in countries all over the world, yet we send missionaries there. In fact, it's that where we SHOULD be sending missionaries. It seems like there was hostility towards Jesus and the disciples. Jesus told them to expect it and Paul said to consider it an honor. He didn't tell his disciples to remove themselves from an area that was hostile towards religion.

I know that Baptists aren't calling for a mass exodus from public schools (though that does seem like a silly resolution that they would try to pass at a convention), but this is a step in that direction. I don't have any problem with someone who homeschools their children (we have MANY of those parents at OLC) or parents who choose to send their children to Christian school (we did that with Lauren for 2 years). But I do have a problem with refusing to be in the world.

I think pulling children out of public school can be like pulling light out of the darkness. Remember, you're removing yourself from relationships with those parents too. If the salt doesn't encounter the world, it's not much good. Schools are where people that don't know Jesus congregate. If your faith is solid, and you're teaching your child about Jesus at home (where it's far more important for them to learn), can't they serve, invite, share, and be a missionary in the school system.

What if we launched a movement to send Christians INTO the schools, instead of pulling them out and creating our own bubble-like institutions? What if we really viewed public schools like the mission fields they are, instead of complaining that they are too worldly?

I just dropped my 5 year old at school this morning and took in snacks for the class.  Her teacher took a moment to tell me how glad she had Lauren in her class, that she was sweet, and she had invited the whole class to Oak Leaf Church.  When I drop her off in the morning, we pull over in a parking spot and say a prayer.  She prays for her friends and teachers, and I pray that she would think of school as an opportunity to let people know about God.

I'm not saying that Christian school is bad, or that homeschooling is evil.  There are valid reasons and circumstances where those things might be best.  I'm just saying that we shouldn't be so quick to pull our kids (and ourselves) out of environments that are anti-God.

Good to Great

Last month, our staff read Good to Great (I've read it several times, and always come away with something new to process). Here's two thoughts from this current read:

1. The medicine is for the patients, not the profits. This was a statement that a drug company used to help them stay focused on the mission. In our church, it's not about building facilities or gaining power, it's about taking the good news to those that need to hear it. So much of what we do at a church is for people that are not even at our church.

2. Don't pursue every opportunity, only those that fit. I have more ideas than I have energy. Our church has more missions opportunities than it does money. Because of our focus on our mission, you are not going to see us start a Christian school or a sports ministry or do a Fall Festival. We're not just going to do things because other churches do them or because they are good ideas. In some churches, you hear pastors encouraging people to start ministries, rather than suggest them to the leadership. At Oak Leaf, we're not starting them just because someone wants to. We're only going to do things that fit in with our strategy. I can give you a couple of examples.

• There are some that want us to do Limelight (our student service) every week instead of once a month. But just because we can, doesn't mean we should. We could not do it well if we had to do it every month. And that would cause it to suffer.


• We tried to do a once a month service on a weeknight with some more teaching and worship, but we didn't have the time, energy or resources to pull it off. Good idea, but it didn't fit at the time. So we pulled the plug and learned a lesson.


• Occasionally, people suggest that we start a mens ministry (too many times this is an excuse to go camping or something manly...you can go do these things with the guys without the church making an official ministry out of it) I tell people our men's ministry meets at 6 AM at the back of the box truck. Seriously. Guys can jump in, and what better way to do ministry!

Leadership isn't just adding things. Sometimes, it's saying no to opportunities in order to focus on the ones that matter most.

Sunday Stats 8.26.07

Here's the stats from this past Sunday's service, for those keeping score at home.

Attendance: 740. (A 226% increase from this same Sunday one year ago). There were 553 adults and 197 children. 23% of adult attended the first service; 37% attended the middle service, and 40% of adults attended the 11:15 service. We've grown by approximately 200 people over the last 5 weeks.

Songs: The band opened up with Love the Lord (Lincoln Brewster) and then did Spring of Life (Kristian Stanfill), Sing to the King (Passion) and Everlasting God (Tomlin).

Message: Part 4 of "Isn't She Lovely" focused on getting in small groups. I used a chainsaw to cut a leg off of a three legged table to illustrate what can happen when we don't have biblical fellowship in our lives. We also showed a funny video that we purchased from Northpoint called Small Group Nightmares.

Next: Next week is Labor Day weekend, but we're kicking off what will probably be our most controversial series to date. It's simply called Issues. This week, we'll answer the question, "Does a woman really have the right to choose?"

Notes: We've been in three services for six weeks, and that service has grown from 95 to 219 people. The first time we had the third service, there were 6 elementary children. Yesterday, there were 34 at that hour. Seems like adding that third service was the right decision.

Church Planters Practicum

I just signed up our team for the Church Planters Best-Practices Practicum that will happen at Mountain Lake Church October 22-23.  I've had the opportunity to learn a lot of good stuff from Shawn and David, and we learn a lot of things from Mountain Lake's example.  It looks like developing leaders, clarifying the vision, money, teamwork and discipleship are on the agenda.

If you're a church planter, you should check it out.  I bet it would help you.  Me and two other guys from our team will be there.

Sunday Recap

Some quick hits from week #53 (or year two, week one) at Oak Leaf Church.

1. There were 740 people at church this morning. Another all time record.  These numbers may have something to do with a big announcement that we'll be making in the next week or so.


2. For the first time ever, there were more people at the 11:15 service than the 10:00 service. As we kick off Issues next week, and I'm not sure where everybody is going to go. Your best bet will be to come to the 8:45 service.


3. We sent our worship leader and small groups pastor to visit another church this weekend (kind of last minute), but Matt Moody did a great job leading worship this morning. I'm still not sure about those thrift store pants he was wearing. Obviously, we keep Matt around more for his worship leading prowess than his fashion wearing sense.


4. I talked about the need to get into small groups.  When it gets compressed, I'll upload some video from the message, specifically the part with the chainsaw.  Anytime you can operate a chain saw on the stage, that's a good thing.  You can always listen to the whole message by subscribing to our podcast.


5. We kicked off sign ups for a bunch of new Journey Groups. We'll have one more week of sign ups and then jump start these groups on September 9.  We should be starting about 12 more groups.  We want every single person at Oak Leaf, from Middle School on up, to be in a Journey Group.


6. The setup guys did a great job this morning - from killing a bunch of ants in various theaters to using another whole cart full of pipe and drape.

Friday Five

Five things I'm bringing to the blog world table today.

1.  Andy Stanley and Northpoint now have a podcast.  I imagine it will be a big hit around the country.  I think Andy is one of the best teachers out there, and I'm a big fan of Northpoint.

2.  I created a playlist called "Chick Chill" that I have been listening to in the office this week.  I added a whole album by Colbie Caillat.  You need to check her out.  All the songs on her latest project are great and you won't have to skip any of them.  A song from Pink and another from Avril Lavinge made it onto this playlist as well.

3.  I am thinking about taking a last minute trip to the Innovate Conference.  There's been a lot going on around here and I could use a little refresher.  I haven't been to a conference in a while.  I used to like them.

4.  The OLC fantasy football live draft is tonight.

5.  I will have a big announcement for the Oak Leaf family in a couple of weeks.  It might have something to do with the fact that we're packed out on Sundays and need space.  (Come at 8:45 or 11:15, just completely ignore the fact that we have a 10:00 service if possible.) Anyway, stay tuned.