Easter Invite Card & Free iTunes Download...

Here's the invite card I designed for our "Mixtape" series we're doing starting April 12th - Easter.

Front:


Back:


"Today" is the first song, from our upcoming Lifepoint worship album, that's completely mixed and mastered. "Today" is also the song that we're giving away as a free iTunes download (as listed on the back of the Easter invite card).


Hope to see you Sunday.

Today Was A Good Day...

To quote the great Ice Cube "...today was a good day..."

We had a really good morning at Lifepoint...starting a new teaching series that serves to remind us what our mission is as the church. From time to time we have to be reminded, challenged, encouraged and pushed. This morning's talk was very stern, but taught in love. If we, church staff, can't be honest and transparent with those who attend...who's going to do it? I'm just like everyone else...I need a firm kick in the butt sometimes.

After our time together at church...a whole bunch of us headed down to the park for a cook out and a time of just hanging out. So much food! Everyone ate way to much and just sat around enjoying each other's company. Several of us played "cornhole"...the worlds greatest redneck game. So much fun...with so many great people. Today was a good day.

Hope to see you Sunday.

Prayer...

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.

Today, in week 1, we covered why people don't pray:
1. People aren't sure how to pray.
2. We get bored or distracted while trying to pray.
3. We think our requests are too small for God.
4. People aren't sure if our prayers will make a difference.

We also looked at four steps in talking to God:
1. With gut-level honesty.
2. Talk to God about everything that matters to you.
3. Pray continually.
4. Listen for His response...this is the most important in my opinion!

I'm excited with what God is doing at Lifepoint and the direction, momentum and future...

Hope to see you Sunday.

Tough Talk...

Sunday's talk was a rather tough one. Not only did we discuss Hell, in our current series "So You're Dead...Now What?", but I also touched on giving / tithe. How do Hell & tithe go together? Let me explain it this way...

During our talk yesterday I said that "...If I were the devil...my number one priority or strategy would be to convince people that Hell wasn't real...or at the very least...Hell wasn't that big of a deal." By convincing people of that...2 things would happen: 1.) Unbelievers would continue to reject Christ & believers would not fear (be in awe / have respect) for God and ALL His commands. 2.) You wouldn't feel the need to share your faith. - - I'd submit this because of the way that most of us live our lives...we don't fear God (we don't obey ALL his commands) and we don't share our faith...which means we must not fully believe in Hell. That's hard to teach and hard to hear isn't it?!?!

In America we have a "cafeteria" approach to Christianity. It's like we walk through a cafeteria line picking and choosing the things from the Bible that we want to believe and live out in our lives...while leaving the things we don't want to believe or follow sitting on that "cafeteria" counter.

I was VERY CLEAR THAT NOT TITHING WON'T KEEP A BELIEVER OUT OF HEAVEN. However, I pointed out that all to often the tithe is one of the things we decide not to put on our tray as we go through the cafeteria line...and by doing so I was also perfectly clear in stating that "...by not tithing...you may be keeping someone else out of Heaven." Let me explain...

When we are not obedient in EVERYTHING that God calls us to do...which includes the tithe...churches won't be able to function...churches all over America close every week because of the lack of finances. And when churches close...well, that means fewer people are likely to hear about the amazing love and grace of God...thus missing a chance to have a relationship with Christ. Again...it's hard to hear, isn't it?! We've all got to do our part...not just in the easy things (like showing up to a service, giving of our time & energy)...but in the things that we as Americans find so hard...giving of our finances.

Tough talks are hard to teach and hard to hear. But when those tough talks come (and they will)...we have to remember that reaching people who are far from God is what we are called to do. That's what it's all about...LOVE WINS.

Hope to see you Sunday.

Another Amazing Day At Lifepoint...

What an amazing day at Lifepoint today...we had an awesome crowd, engaging worship, and a bunch of positive feedback on the teaching!

Today we started a brand new teaching series called "So You're Dead...Now What?" Today we examined death, next week we'll look closely at Hell, in two weeks we'll talk about Heaven, and in the final week of the series we'll have a Q & A session. I was extremely impressed today with our set up team and our stage team...they did a great job transforming the stage between worship and the teaching. The set design looked great and we heard nothing but good things about the props. Way to go Lifepoint Church...what a great win today!

Hope to see you Sunday.

One Ends & Another Begins...

We had another great day at Lifepoint Church today: powerful worship, a great crowd, and a message that touched many hearts!

Today we ended a 7 week journey of talks entitled "Love Wins"...we looked a many different aspects and characteristics of love...ending today with "love is forgiving." This teaching series, in my opinion, was the most powerful and deep cutting series of talks that we've experienced at Lifepoint Church. Week in and week out during the journey...one person after another told me how they were impacted by the weekly talks. I loved studying, preparing, and teaching "Love Wins." Overall, the series was a HUGE win for Lifepoint Church...and even though the series is over..."Love Wins" will continue to be a mantra for Lifepoint Church members and attenders.

As one teaching series ends...another must begin. Starting next Sunday, October 26th, we'll begin a 4 week series called "So You're Dead...Now What?" This is going to be a tremendous group of talks...that will be both informative and life changing. During the course of the next 4 weeks we'll be discussing: death, hell, heaven, and we'll wrap up the series with a Q & A session. I'm really excited and looking forward to teaching some deep and powerful truths.

Hope to see you Sunday.

Signs, Signs, Everyone Signs...

Today at Lifepoint Church we continued our current series, "Love Wins," with a talk entitled "love is respectful." We dug deeper today into our study of love and what love is, using signs (stop, no u-turn, yield, and scenic route ahead) to highlight and emphasize the importance of showing respect to those we come in contact with. There was a ton of positive response to today's message...if you'd like to listen, go to our "podcast" page (http://www.lifepoint-church.net/index-6.html) and click on "love is respectful" from 10.5.08 - message will be available Monday morning.

Hope to see you Sunday.

Current Series "LOVE WINS"...

Here we are...two weeks into our current teaching series, "Love Wins," and so far it's been amazing!

In week 1 we talked about what matters most to God - which simply stated is: that we are to love our God with all our heart, soul, and mind...and love our neighbors as ourselves. We talked in great detail about what "love" is and what is is not. Love is a command, love is NOT a feeling, love is a choice, and love is a conduct OR behavior (an action - something you do). We discovered that if we don't live a life of love: nothing I say will matter, nothing I know will matter, nothing I believe will matter, nothing I give will matter, and nothing I accomplish will matter - bold statements, huh? They come directly from God - look at the first 3 verses in 1 Corinthians 13.

This past week, week 2 of "Love Wins," we discussed the fact that love is kind. We looked closely at the parable of "The Good Samaritan" and discovered, very clearly, how Jesus wants us to respond to those around us. God wants us to start seeing the needs of people around us...and to fully do that we need to learn how to slow down. We talked about sympathizing with people's pain and found why in 2 Corinthians 1:4 (Message). And as the service ended we talked about seizing the moment, doing what needs to be done to help others (showing kindness) when they need it - not when it's convenient for us, and we fully realized that when we do show kindness to others...it always comes with a price tag (our time, money, energy, emotions, etc...).

So far during this great teaching series I've recommend two books: "Love Is The Killer App" by Tim Sanders (if you've got a job and work with other you gotta read this book) & "They Like Jesus But Not The Church" by Dan Kimball. Go out and get them or come borrow mine.

This coming Sunday, 9.21.08, we're gonna talk about the fact that love does not envy. It's gonna be a good one...you won't want to miss it.

Hope to see you Sunday.

Music & Outreach...

Next Saturday, August 30th, our Lifepoint band will be playing at the Savannah community event. What an amazing opportunity for Savannah to get a little taste of Lifepoint Church. I'm hoping to have around 40 or 50 of our people at the event...loving on people, painting faces, and handing out invite cards. It's going to be very strategic outreach leading up to our 1 year anniversary, September 7th, and Lifepoint Church is currently praying and fasting for great things to happen...I'm praying for over 200 in attendance!

On September 7th we're going to be starting a brand new series - "LOVE WINS" - during this series we're going to look at the many attributes of love. "LOVE WINS" isn't just going to be a series of talks and information...it's going to be part of the DNA of Lifepoint Church. I'm very excited about what's to come: personal growth, spiritual growth and numerical growth of Lifepoint Church.

Hope to see you Sunday.

Jonah / Prayer & Fasting...

Today we finished our series "Jonah" - we wrapped it up with "Jonah's Anger." Overall, I'm very pleased with the series, the content, and the response from our people. Knowing that Jonah is typically considered a "kid's story"...it was encouraging to hear so many great responses from adults who had never spent any time reading the 4 chapters in Jonah. Jonah can teach us all a lot about obedience, prayer, repentance, and anger / resentment.

For the next several weeks I'm going to be challenging Lifepoint members / attenders to pray and fast for the upcoming school year. My expectancy level for what God is going to do is sky high. Just to think a year ago Lifepoint Church didn't even exist...and today we have roughly 110-120 people who call it their church home is amazing. Our 2nd year is going to be even better. We're going to break 200 in weekly attendance, obtain land, and start a building project!

Pray for us...pray for those who are far from God in our area...and pray that we have favor with those we come in contact with.

Hope to see you Sunday.

Jonah...

Today is the last week in our current series "Jonah"...we'll be talking about Jonah's anger and unforgiveness in our own lives.
We'll also touch on the point that it's NOT about us...it's about Nineveh. Everywhere we go is NiniIt's gonna be a good one.

Hope to see you Sunday.

Guest Speaker...

So this past Sunday, 8.3.08, I had the amazing privilege to teach at Palm Valley Church (our sister church) in Mission, Texas. Now, obviously Lifepoint Church is my FAVORITE church...but Palm Valley Church is a very close 2nd. If you don't know, Palm Valley Church is a church of about 2,500 people (3 separate worship services on Sunday mornings) - and is led by an amazing Pastor (Rick Gannon). 3 different services, in what I consider a BIG church, was awesome! I have to admit...Saturday night I was a bit nervous...but Sunday morning was amazing. I loved every minute of it...and look forward to being able to do it again someday.

Sunday was a big day for Lifepoint Church as well. Johnny our Student Pastor taught his very first Lifepoint service...and he did an amazing job! In addition, Blake was back from vacation...back leading Lifepoint Church in worship...he was missed the previous week. I love our church and it's people!

Hope to see you Sunday.

Lies & Class 101

I love our current series "Identity Theft"

Within this message lies the truth. Actually, it's the truth about lies. The lies we tell ourselves and the damage they do if we let them take hold of our lives. There's nothing little or white about them - lies keep us from finding our true identity: the identity we have knowing that we're living up to the amazing potential that God has planned for our lives.


We're still running well over 100 (just 7 months into the game)...we've had several new families in the last several weeks / months...so we're starting a new round of "Class 101" tonight ...I'm pumped...another 12 adults wanting to become members of Lifepoint Church = +30 members in just two classes. We'll do another class at the end of June and one half way through September. My desire is to have 60-75 members by the end of September (at our 1 year anniversary) and weekly attendance to be close to or over 200.

Hope to see you Sunday

The Christmas Series

I'm so excited about what is happening at Lifepoint Church...the last 12 weeks have been amazing. We've had 2 interesting series: The Journey Begins & We Are Family. Last week our worship leader, Blake Knight, taught Lifepoint about the importance of worship and the many aspects of worship.

We hope you'll join us starting December 2nd for "The Christmas Series."
Week 1 - The Miracles of Christmas
Week 2 - Jesus Came to Light Up Your Life
Week 3 - The Rest of the Story
Week 4 - Why Christ Came

Again, the last 12 weeks have been a blast.
So many new faces and families...God has blessed us with some awesome new friendships.

I hope to see you this Sunday.