I'm moving... We'll my blog is moving.
Strategic reason #3 has multiple parts to it (which will be labeled: 3a, 3b, etc...) - I'll briefly touch on those in a latter posts. All I'm going to say today is that the old adage "location, location, location" is so applicable! The future site of Lifepoint Church is in a hot bed of future development and surrounding infrastructural improvements. Location, location, location!
The 2nd strategic reason that I want to share with you regarding the future site of Lifepoint Church...is that fact that Denton ISD recently purchased 50 acres less than 1/4 of a mile from our future front door (right across the field from our future home). This 50 acres will be the future site of a Denton ISD middle school & high school. This simply means that thousands and thousands of people - students, staff and faculty will be in shadow of Lifepoint Church. 
In our location land is EXPENSIVE! Not just "...hmmm, that's a lot of money..." expensive. I'm talking "...there's no way in the world we could obtain land unless God has extreme favor on us and does a miracle..." expensive. Which is exactly what has happened. The exact amount is not important at this time...just know that God has given us extreme favor.
What an amazing day at Lifepoint Church! We had a record breaking crowd, Blake and the band were just insane, the teaching was powerful / well received, we had several first time salvations, a ton of rededications and we announced the future location of Lifepoint Church! Simply amazing!
I got some amazing news today... News that I've been waiting for for over a year. 
To quote the great Ice Cube "...today was a good day..." 
This past week we decided to go visit family up in Iowa...NEVER AGAIN. The time with family was great and we value every minute we get with them, but I don't want to make that trip by car ever again. I'm not sure if it's the 11 hours in the car, a screaming baby at times, a 4 year old who can't sit for more than 20 minutes without asking "...are we in Iowa yet?" or a 7 year old who's an accident waiting to happen (countless splinters, skinned knees and fingers caught in car door) that makes me never want to take the trip again.
I'm all for polyester suites, disco shoes, mirrored balls, lit-up dance floors and shaking my groove thang (yeah, I said it...lay off me). But the Saturday Night Fever that I'm dealing with right now doesn't have any of those elements. Instead, I'm working with: cold sweats, huge headache, queasy stomach and body aches...not fun. What makes it even worse...my entire family is sick OR is just getting over the same stuff. Don't come to our house. I'm going to bed...pray for us.
If you would have asked me that Wednesday morning...my answer would have been - never. However, this morning my answer is very different. Last night we set up our student ministry, preK, and Kidz club...in the pouring rain. It wasn't just pouring...it was stinking freezing...like 37 degrees. Me and 4 other guys pulled up and unloaded our trailer in record time! It's funny how freezing conditions and soaked bodies can increase productivity.
Daylight savings (especailly springing forward) sucks! At least that's what I was thinking about 10:05 Sunday morning, when there was only about 1/3 of our normal Sunday morning crowd sitting in the auditorium. I decided to just sit in the front row (not looking at the crowd behind me) and not worrying about the attendance...because there really isn't anything that can be done about it anyways (not at 10:05 anyways). 
Today we started a great series of talks called "Prayer." We kicked off the series with just a simple foundation of what prayer is: communicating with God...that's it. I'm really excited and the feedback today after the service was great. Next week we'll be looking at the mystery of unanswered prayers and in week 3 we'll learn how pray like Jesus prayed. 
I've spent some time over the last several days working to get the Lifepoint Church website updated. The main page has a new feel...I've removed some of the previous elements and added a cleaner looking "rotating banner." The rotating banner (when clicked on will take you to the information within the site that directly relates to the image clicked on) is just a simple way to make the site look cleaner and to change things up a bit.
So, I had the opportunity to go to C3 last night...and took it! What's C3? C3 is the "creative church conference" that Fellowship Church puts on every year. Last night was amazing! Pretty much standing room only and the crowd was truly electric. There was a tremendous sense of anticipation around what was going to happen.
speaking...and what they had to say was incredible! 
The problem is not with external issues OR habits...it's ALWAYS a heart issue. Always. And for the church world to place so much emphasis on externals is wrong. And what is saddening is that those who have yet to cross the line of faith...they see this and want nothing to do with the church because they think it's all about rules. 
After watching a recent televised event I came to several conclusions...here's one that I want to share with you: 
From the mom (the names have been changed to protect the innocent)
It's official...Lifepoint "Point Groups" are kicking! Tonight we launched our Men's, Women's and Student Point Groups...and the turn out for the very first night was awesome. We had around 10 or 12 who made an effort to notify us saying that they wouldn't be able to make it for various reasons...and still had well over 80 in total attendance!
We moved to a new location this past Sunday and did everything we could to notify those who attend. In fact, we sent out a mass email and letter to anyone who has ever even stepped foot into one of our services...just to let them know about the change in location. All that time, finances (stamps are getting to be expensive) and energy...and we still had nearly 30 of our regulars not show up. And guess what?!?! We still had right around 130 in attendance! Wow!
We're starting our brand "Point Groups" this Wednesday night for men, women, and students (Pre-K through 12th grade). What are Point Groups? Point Groups are what we at Lifepoint Church refer to as our "gatherings & studies" outside of Sunday mornings. They will be a time of cultivating genuine relationships and spiritual growth. We'll have seperate men's and women's Point Groups...and what's really cool is that our students (Pre-K through 12th grade) will have their own groups as well. Savannah Elementary, on Wednesday nights, will now be our "student center"...full out children's ministry and youth service...with plenty of room for growth! 
Today at Lifepoint Church we had the "Big Mo" in full effect. What's the "Big Mo"? Momentum baby! It's also apparently a creamy caramel chocolate bar with Dale Earnhardt Jr's face on the wrapper...but what I'm talking about today is MOMENTUM. We added 20 new adults members this past Thursday night + anticipation of our upcoming "point groups" (starting Feb. 4th) + throw in the current teaching series we're in...what does that equal? Momentum. Today we had a good number of our regulars out and we still had nearly 90 adults in the main service...with somewhere around 130-140 in the building. The "Big Mo" is a leader's best friend. Not only does it encourage leadership...but it excites attenders / members. 
Wow! Last night we had our first "Class 101" (membership class) of 2009. Including children we had over 45 people in one home for the class - that's insane (a good insane)! We had an awesome time...so much energy, excitement, and desire to be a part of what God is doing at Lifepoint Church.
This past Sunday, January 4th - 2009, I gave the first ever Lifepoint "State Of The Church" address. We revisited the vision of Lifepoint Church (Lifepoint Church is a community of real people committed to connecting individuals to Christ through: Genuine Relationships, Engaging Worship, and Relevant Teaching). We also made sure that each and every person understands our mission, which we refer to as "L3" (L3-live, learn, lead - live life together, learn about those around us and more about Christ, and lead others to God). Just so we're on the same page - our "vision" helps us accomplish our "mission."
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