Sunday Mind Dump

• What a fantastic day!
• Great drive up to Dahlonega this morning!
• When we first became the Pastors of our church I wasn't crazy about the 30 minute drive up to the church but now I treasure it!!!
• that 30 minute drive becomes my prayer closet...just me and Jesus
• best part is for most of the drive up my phone doesn't get a signal...NICE:)
• I was the first one at the church today...
• Gave me an opportunity to walk around and pray and dream out loud!
• From the moment that I woke up this morning I had this HOLY ANTICIPATION something was going to happen.
• Prayed with the worship team before their run through. I love praying with these guys!
• They sounded great during their run through and did an awesome job during worship!
• This was week 3 in our Baggage series.
• Talked about the emotional baggage we all carry in our life.
• This was probably one of my most personal messages I have ever shared.
• By the end of the message you can see the FREEDOM in people's eyes!!!
• Lovin' this series!!!
• Don't miss the end of this series next week...it's going to be awesome!
• Looking forward to Palm Sunday and our Easter message!
• Interviewed a young man interested in our student ministry position...
• don't know if it's a right fit...I have literally spoken to or interviewed at least 20 individual about our student position.
• Although I have had some great interviews I can't rush this decision...
• DAGer's please pray for me as I continue the search for a new Student Ministry Pastor.
• Had lunch with one of our new families...the food was stinkin' amazing!!!
• Thanks Martinez family for the invite we had an awesome time hanging out with ya'll.
• Had a couple of teenagers at our Student worship experience tonight!
• I really hate rebuilding seasons...they can mentally kick the snot out of you.
• But I am so proud of our boys that showed up...remember guys someone has to take the FIRST STEPS. Thanks for taking them with me.
• LET THE REVOLUTION BEGIN!
• All in all what a great day!!!
• Except for the messed up comment I got on my blog...more about this later.
• As far as pastoring DAG I'm lovin' it!
• DAGer's thanks for letting us lead ya'll it truly is an honor and privilege for Tami and I to be apart of your lives.
• Let's keep DREAMING OUT LOUD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sunday Night Mind Dump

• What a crazy weekend!
• I'm finally home!
• For those of you who don't know I spent the whole weekend in the hospital.
• Friday night I started to have sharp chest pain but I thought it was something I ate so I ignored it.
• On Saturday morning I still had the pain and then I felt my left hand go numb. I'm sure I don't have to tell you that this FREAKED MY WORLD OUT!
• I told my wife how I was feeling and she told me to get my butt to the doctors.
• I went to Urgent Care but they told me to immediately go to the ER.
• So that's where I spent my entire weekend.
• Thankfully I didn't have any heart damage.
• In fact my heart looks great, blood pressure is great, but my cholesterol level is too high!
• So it's time to change some things in my life.
• It's time to replace bad habits with good habits.
• I see my future filled with a ton of grilled chicken and veggies:)
• and of course a lot of exercise.
• Tami and I want to say thank you to all of you for your prayers and concern.
• WE REALIZED THIS WEEKEND HOW BLESS WE ARE TO BE SURROUNDED WITH PEOPLE LIKE YA'LL.
• We love all of you.
• Also I want to thank all of you who stepped up today for church.
• It was so good to know that I don't have to be there for the church to move forward.
• DAGer's ya'll are amazing!!!
• I want to give a special shout out to Pastor Dustin Hall.
• Dustin thanks for filling in for me. I heard you brought the WORD this morning!
• Thanks again for all the prayers and we will see all of you on Wednesday night.

Sunday Night Mind Dump

• TODAY ROCKED!!!
• from my understanding there were 9 first-time guest this morning!!!
• it was so exciting seeing so many new faces!
• someone told me that they had a hard time during our meet & greet time trying to meet all the guests.
• what a great problem to have!
• another great problem that I think we are going to have to deal with is our parking space.
• our current parking lot is small and from what I heard it was pretty close to capacity.WOW!!!
• So DAGer's I need your help. Can you please park in the spaces furthest from the main doors.
• Let's give our guest the "red carpet" treatment when they visit us for the first time. THANKS!
• If this great problem continues I'm going to need ya'll to park on the grass and along side of the building...I can't wait to see this happen:)
• Who knows maybe by summer we'll have to update our current lot and add more spaces...JUST DREAMING OUT LOUD:)
• Once again our worship team did an amazing job!!!
• It seems like every week it gets better and better and better!
• This morning when I got to the church someone shared with me that they had a dream that the stage had a ton of people in our worship team and that the sanctuary was packed!!!
• I LOVE HEARING ABOUT THOSE KIND OF DREAMS!
• DAGer's it's just a matter of time...
• Did I mention that we had 9 first time guest;)
• I finished our God's Game Plan series today. I had a lot of fun teaching this series. It seemed like many people were challenged throughout the entire series.
• Remeber DAGer's I would love to hear about your stories of faith as you begin to step out to make the "game winning touchdowns".
• Finally, tonight we relaunched our Student Ministry.
• So with a handful of teenagers we ate pizza talked about the future and started to dream about how God could use us to start a REVOLUTION in Lumpkin County.
• I hope that Lumpkin County is really for a REVOLUTION because Revolution Student Ministries is going to turning our community upside down!!!
• I can't wait until Wednesday and Sunday!!! I love Pastoring DAG!!!

Sunday Mind Dump

• What a fantastic day!


• We had several new faces in the crowd today.


• It was great getting to meet our first time guest.


• My wife and I did notice something today. We got a little taste of what will happen when we have several first time guest at one time.


• More kids in kids church more babies in the nursery caught us off guard today.


• DAGer's it's time to step it up and become Partners in Ministry in these areas.


• If today was an indication of what the next couple of months/future is going to look like it's time to bring our "A game" every Sunday.


• Our kids deserve our best!


• Our worship team did an absolutely tremendous job today!


• I personally want to say thank you to everyone on the worship team. You guys are amazing thank you for using your talents and leading our church into God's presence.


• At our PM worship experience our worship team came together and sang and play a song that they literally learned this afternoon...AND IT WAS AWESOME!


• YOU GUYS ARE FREAKIN' AMAZING!!!


• I want to give a special shout out to Laura for stepping up and jumping on the keyboard! Seriously I almost cried as she played in the background while I was praying:)


• One of the things that I love about this church is its heart for missions.


• So today was all about Foreign & Home Missions.


• During our Morning Worship Experience Mike Holt was our guest speaker.


• He is a missionary to our public/private school systems throughout Georgia.


• It was so great to hear how God was moving throughout Georgia schools.


• During our PM Worship Experience Ben & Kami Heilman were our guest speakers.


• They are newly appointed Missionaries to the country of Cambodia.


• I am so excited for Ben & Kami their passion for the Cambodian people is so infection.


• I can't wait to see how God uses this amazing couple to change the country of Cambodia.


• If you want to invest into people who are making a difference for the Kingdom check out this website.


• Mike, Ben & Kami thank you for being so passionate about Jesus and for answering the calls on your lives.


• DAGer's I personally want to thank all of you who made Faith Promises today. I realize this isn't the greatest time to make financial commitments to anything but I am so honored and proud that you are willing to DREAM OUT LOUD with me as we send out missionaries all around this world.
• If you haven't made a Faith Promise yet I want to triple dog dare you to DREAM OUT LOUD with me as we INFLUECE THE WORLD through giving to missions.
• My hope and goal is that we will be able to continue to support ALL our current missionaries, fulfill our $10,000 commitment to the LA Dream Center and add two more missionary families to our list.
• Let me make this very clear NO AMOUNT IS TO SMALL!
• In fact one of our high school students has committed to give $2 a month to missions for the entire year. THAT'S HUGE!!!
• When you think you can't give...that is the moment to give!
• YOU CAN'T OUT GIVE GOD!
• In a couple of weeks after everyone has had an opportunity to make a Faith Promise I will be sharing with ya'll our monthly Faith Promise amount!
  
• I LOVE PASTORING THIS CHURCH!!!

Sunday Mind Dump

• WHAT A DAY!
• It was great seeing several new faces in the crowd.
• On top of that it felt like our regular people were so jacked up about being at church.
• The worship team did a fantastic job!
• Even though we still lack some worship team members, every week our guys sing and play their hearts out. Thanks worship team ya'll are amazing!
• For the last several Sundays we have been late starting our 10:30am worship experience on time. But thanks to David we did a lot better today.
• Thanks David I really appreciate your help with keeping things moving forward.
• All the walls are finally painted in our Kid's church. It looks so stinkin' cool! PE you rock! Thank you so much for everything you and your team have done.
• We still have a lot more to get done and honestly it's an overwhelming task. We need more help, time, and money but we want to create an environment where our kids can become life long followers of Christ. So no short cuts only the best for our kids and teenagers.
• I continued our February series called God's Game Plan.
• Even though it had a football theme/feel to it, today was a pre-service for Missions Worship Experience next Sunday.
• I guess the best part of today was when I shared the DREAM OUT LOUD CHALLENGE! I'll share more on this in a later post. Let me just say I believe this verse with all of my heart.
• I finally started the process of looking for a new Associate Pastor that will pastor our teenagers. Please pray for me I don't want to rush into this just because I need the help. I need a person or couple that is passionate about student ministry.
• After our 10:30am worship experience we had a Council of Achievement Ceremony for our boys who participate in our Royal Rangers ministry.
• As always the food was great and the fellowship was wonderful.
• I was so proud of our boys as each of them went up to the front to receive their awards.
• I just want to give a quick shout out to Mike Cowan and the Ranger leaders for doing a great job today and for serving with all of your hearts. Thank you for giving our boys your best.
• Finally, I had a blast hanging out with some of our students tonight. We went to WinterJam 09' at the Arena at Gwinnett Center. It was freakin' awesome!
• All I got to say is Toby Mac is still the man!!!
• It felt great hanging out with teenagers again but the problem is that I ate like I was a youth pastor...not good:( that's all I'm going to say about that!!!
• I loved all the smoke, lights and screens. I was imagining how our sanctuary would look if we did a little makeover:)
• I am so pumped about next Sunday. We're taking the entire day to focus on missions.
• I have two incredible speakers coming to share what God is doing in their life regarding missions.
• DAGer's it's going to be an incredible worship experience! I promise you won't be disappointed.
• Lastly, I want to give a shout out to my good friends Chris and Jessica Lewis. They are church planters with the ARC. They had their very first service today in Conyers Georgia. I'm so proud of you guys I can't wait to hear about your first service. I know ya'll are going to turn Conyers upside down!
• If you live in or near Conyers Georgia I totally recommend their church Life Church

Sunday Night Mind Dump

• What a fantastic day!
• The worship team did a GREAT JOB again!!!
• I know it seems like I say the same thing about our worship team all the time but our worship team is really amazing.
• Thank you worship team for leading us into God's presence this morning.
• I am so proud of ya'll.
• I love pastoring Dahlonega Assembly!
• All of our Partners in Ministry are awesome!
• Every Sunday I see people rising up and serving with all their heart.
• I honest can't wait to for Wednesdays and Sundays.
• Every Sunday I get a glimpse of our future.
• How DAG is going to turn Lumpkin County and Dahlonega Georgia upside down!
• I can't wait!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
• If this morning was a preview of the future it's going to get crazy...in a good way.
• We had several new and returning faces this morning.
• I had a blast preaching this morning. I LOVE talking about Jesus.
• I never get tried of watching people respond to God's word.
• It's kind of like when a deer looks into a cars head light...their stunned for a moment and then it smacks them in the face.
• Our Kids Pastor and her team have been working really hard on our kids church.
• It's looking freaken AWESOME and it's not even half way done!
• Pastor Erica thank you for serving with ALL YOUR HEART!
• I can't wait til tomorrow...I'm flying out to Phoenix AZ for Pastor's School at Phoenix First.
• Tommy Barnett has been mentoring and teaching Pastors for over 30 years. I don't know if I'm going to be able to sleep tonight.
• I got to give a shout out to my friend Chris Lewis for getting a ticket to the conference.
• I also got to give a shout to Troy Shaw at Osasis Church in Loganville Georgia for inviting Chris who then invited me. Thanks Pastor Troy...I'm looking forward to meeting you and your team.
• Oh DAGer's just because I won't be here for Wednesday night doesn't mean we're not going to have church.
• My father in law will be sharing with the Adult class on Wednesday night and I promise you don't want to miss it.
• So don't skip church on Wednesday!!!
• Seriously I got to try to go to sleep now I have a long day a head of me.
• Love ya'll and don't I tell you already that I love pastoring DAG!!!

Sunday Mind Dump

• What a fantastic day!
• The Sunday before we had to cancel services because of the weather so I was ready to preach!
• The worship team did an amazing job!
• Even though we are still missing a guitar player, bass player, and a few other spots our current worship team is still able to do a great job in leading us in worship. YOU GUYS ROCK!
• I finished up our fasting series today. This is our final week of our fast and I can't wait to see how lives are changed!
• Our Kid's Pastor Erica and her team started to paint our kids church area.
• Pator Erica and team thanks for all your hard word this past week. It's looking freakin awesome!
• I am so excited about our kids ministry! I can't wait to see our kids church packed! We're going to do whatever it takes to reach kids in Dahlonega Georgia.
• DAGer's thanks for having a heart for kids and understanding that we MUST reach the Kids in our community.
• We have many small projects going on in the church. We're trying to make the greatest first impression we can for our guests.
• I got to give a shout out to one of our amazing families that has been helping me with this process Mike & Densie Cowan. Thanks Mike and Denise for serving with all of your hearts. The things that ya'll are doing now are helping us become the church that God wants us to be.
• I spoke with a woman today who has been coming since Fall Carnvinal. She shared with me how her life has been less stressful and how more joyful since she started to attend DAG. She also told me she has been telling all her friends at work that they need to come to church. WOW!!! Thank you Jesus!
• DAGer's this is what it is all about!
• When one person begins to experience Jesus it become infectious!!!
• I can't wait to hear more stories like this in 2009!
• DAGer's don't forget JUST ONE MORE WEEK keep KNOCKING and don't stop until the door is open.
• I love pastoring this church!!!

Sunday Mind Dump

• Today was so stinkin' awesome!
• We had some major changes in the worship team this weekend.
• But like always the team stepped up and it was amazing!
• I was so excited to see several guests today!
• This morning as I was driving up to the church I asked the Lord to send people that have never been to DAG before and my Jesus came through.
• DAGer's we can't afford to dream small. We haven't seen nothing yet! I'm telling you the BEST IS YET TO COME!!!
• Talked about FASTING today. Next Monday our church begins our 21 day Daniel Fast.
• I am so jacked up about this fast. I'm expecting HUGE things to happen in my family, in my life, in our church, and in Dahlonega. I'm talking about HUGE THINGS HAPPENING!
• Everytime I start thinking about what God is going to do at DAG I'm telling you it's hard to sleep.
• I can't wait until next Sunday. We have our annual business meeting after our Sunday morning worship experience.
• I have decided to rename this meeting to out annual VISION meeting.
• I know several guys who hate church business meeting because of potential issues popping up.
• But you have nothing to hide then you got nothing to worry about.
• Sure you have to give an update of the church but what a great opportunity to cast VISION to the next year. I can't wait until Sunday!!!!
• DAGer's you guys are amazing!
• I LOVE PASTORING THIS CHURCH!!!

Sunday Mind Dump

• Sunday was an AMAZING DAY!
• Our worship team did a great job once again. You guys are awesome!!!!
• Every now and again I jump into the middle of worship and share some thoughts with the folks and yesterday was one of those moments.
• Yesterday was a wreakless moment in worship and I felt like folks were missing a great opportunity to connect with God.
• So I reminded them how King David was wreckless in his worship as the ark (God's presence) came back home.
• It's time to get on worship on!!!
• Sunday was also our Youth Pastors last Sunday with us:( He and his wife have decided it was time for them to leave.
• They have been apart of our church for 10 years and have served as the youth pastors for 4 1/2 years.
• We are going to miss them a ton...
• Pastor Blake and Kristie thank you for serving faithfully all these years. It was an honor serveing with you. I pray that God directs you and your family during this new season of your ministry.
• I started a message series called "NO PERFECT PEOPLE ALLOWED".
• I have decided that this is going to be more than a collection of messages, NO PERFECT PEOPLE ALLOWED is going to be our new church mantra.
• I want everyone in Dahlonega and Luumpkin county to know that DAG is a place for everyone no matter where they are on life's journey.
• As we get closer to the new year I have been talking about our 1st 21 day Daniel Fast.
• We have so much to do that it is essential to spend a part of January seeking the Lord through praying and fasting.
• So please pray for our church from January 12th through February 1st as we seek God through praying and fasting.
• DAGer's I am so proud of all of you! 2008 was a wonderful year but I can't wait to see what God does in 2009!!!
• I love pastoring DAG!

I REFUSE TO STAND IN POOP!!!

This morning while I was playing with my son I noticed a very strong smell hovering around him. No matter where he went in the house the fowl smell followed him. Having an 18 month old I knew exactly what it was...you guessed it, it was a dirty, stinky, poopy diaper. At this point I had two options, option one allow my son to continue to stand around in his poopy diaper or option two pick him up and change him. Option one produces a very irritable and unhappy baby while option two produces a very content and happy baby. It amazes me how my 18 month old son understands that a poopy diaper is a bad thing and it makes life miserable.

Only God can use a moment like this to teach me a major life lesson. The reality is life is filled with poopy moments. I realize that many Pastors that blog like to keep things positive which for the most past I agree. The problem with taking this stance all the time is that when the crap hits the fan every body acts like nothing is wrong (either because we don't want to face the crap or because we don't want to offend anyone) while standing in waist high poop! Whether the "mess" is in our lives or churches it doesn't help our families or churches to totally ignore the "mess" all around us. The sad part is that many of us have gotten use to living and even worshipping in waist high poop and find nothing wrong with it.

Let me take this a step further...what is poop? (sorry about the poopy talk but you got to admit it's a great analogy:) It's left over waste that our bodies don't need. Because God is such an amazing Creator He created our bodies with the ability to distinguish the difference between substance (the good stuff) and waste (the bad stuff). Substance keeps us going strong and healthy and waste is the toxic material that can do some serious damage to our bodies if we don't get rid of it.

So how does this "weird/funny" analogy apply to our lives and churches? We can't be okay with wallowing in waist high poop. A mediocre mindset is poop, unforgiveness is poop, resentment is poop, bitterness is poop, a religious attitude is poop, legalism is poop, SIN is poop, you get the idea.

Keeping things positive is a wonderful idea especially since we live in a very negative and sarcastic world, but as leaders and Pastors we can't be afraid to help people get out of their "mess." I've met too many Pastors who love using the "keeping everything positive" statement just because they don't want to get dirty. Let's be honest MINSITRY IS MESSY! We're fooling ourselves if we think throwing a lifeline from the pulpit will help people become the men and women God created them to be.

So if you're a Pastor stop thinking that if you ignore the "mess" all around you that somehow it will all disappear. As leaders and Pastors we should strive to keep things positive but we must be ready and willing to roll up your sleeves and clean up. A lifeline is okay but what people really need is someone to be a life guard willing to jump in and help them out of the crappy situations of life. My point is that when we REFUSE TO STAND IN POOP WE ARE MOVING FORWARD!

My name is Gabe Trevino and I REFUSE TO STAND IN POOP!!!

Mind Dump: Monday Edition

• This past week was crazy!
• I worked some weird hours at my other job which drove me a little wacky this past week.
• Preparing for our Fall Carnival took a lot of work.
• Learn some valuable lessons.
• We had a great turn out...I'm thanking God for what He did last Friday Night.
• We had around 250 people showed up for Fall Carnival.
• It was great having all those folks on our campus.
• The greatest part of the night was watching the faces of our folks. PRICELESS!
• I am so proud of our church!
• DAGer's you guys were amazing.
• Thank you for serving with all your hearts.
• On Saturday I had to be at work at 5:45am. That was rough!!!
• I can't wait till I'm at the church full-time.
• So if any one has some extra funds on hand that they don't know what to do with may I suggest my salary fund:)
• Sunday was off the hook...that means amazing.
• Seriously, the worship time did a great job!
• I think my new favorite song is Jesus Messiah!
• Our attendance was really off on Sunday.
• We had one family show up from Friday's event.
• I think our church was a little disappointed especially since we just had 250 people on Friday night.
• Honestly I was a little disappointed but then I realized if we did our Fall Carnival for just that one family it was totally worth it!!!
• It was so good preaching again.
• It had been two weeks since I had preached so I was SO ready to share God's Word.
• I think I went over board...I preached for over an hour.
• I honestly didn't mean to but I really felt like the message I was sharing needed to be heard.
• After the message we had communion.
• I love having communion with our church it makes me feel closer to everyone and it reminds me how amazing Jesus is.
• Over all it was an fantastic weekend.

Sunday Night Mind Dump

• WOW what an incredible day!
• I am totally exhausted but it was totally worth it.
• I am so proud of our worship team! Every week it gets better and better.
• We had several guest.
• Life has been a little crazy and stressful for many of our folks.
• I really felt today that alot of people had their JOY restored.
• Our guest speaker, Noel Rosa, hit it out of the park this morning and tonight!
• He has this unique way of connecting with every generation.
• He really stressed how important it is for the older generation to pour into the younger generation.
• If you want someone that knows how to jam on the guitar and tell you how it is you have got to invite Noel to you church, school, or events. I promise you won't be disappointed.
• Let me know if you want his info.
• Had lunch at the Smith House in Dahlonega it was amazing!
• It's a little pricey but totally worth it...it's the best country food in north Georgia.
• I was so jacked up about our fall carnival this Friday. It's going to be blast.
• I am so tried...
• Still working on several projects at the church.
• I just ordered our new church sign.
• Our current one was made in the 70's...seriously. It looks pretty bad right now but hopefully we will have our new sign in 5 weeks.
• Pretty excited about our new cafe area. we're currently looking at furniture to complete it.
• I'm think about getting a tap for a rootbeer keg to make rootbeer floats:)
• Just thinking about it:)
• The last couple of weeks I haven't preached so I can't wait to preach next Sunday!!!
• The Sunday before Election Day...it's gonna be interesting.
• Good night!

Sunday Night Mind Dump

• Wow Sunday was amazing!
• I want to give a quick shout out to everyone on the worship team. You guys did awesome job on Sunday. Thank you for serving with all your heart!
• Our attendance has been weird lately. A little frustrating but God is still in control.
• I was so ready to preach I couldn't wait to get up there and share what the Lord had laid on my heart.
• I'm loving the series that we are on right now it's called Fear Factor.
• We're taking a look at how FEAR keeps us from our full potential as people and especially as Christians.
• check out Sunday's message at our NEW website. Let me know what you think:)
• At the end of my message I asked folks if they had any fears that were keeping them from their maxium potential and if they were ready to face it and take it out to raise their hand...it was so awesome to see people step up and take the challenge and begin to move forward! God is so good.
• I GOT TO BRAG on God for a second. Right now we are in the middle of a lot of projects at our church right now. I mean BIG projects like we just put on a new roof, we just repainted our building, we're doing a ton of painting inside, we just installed a new water filter system, we are about to order a new street sign, we are getting ready to create a new kids church area, we're thinking about doing some work on our parking lot, and the list can go on and on my whole point is that God has been extremely faithful throughout this entire time.
• I am discovering when you are doing exactly what God wants you to do and has called you to do even when it doesn't make sense to you EVERYTHING falls into place.
• Thank you God for being BIGGER than our circumstances and thank you DAGer's for being faithful during this season of transitions. I can't wait to see what God does in the next couple of months.

Sunday Night Reflections

• We had a great service today!
• Pastor Blake and the worship team did a great job.
• One of my favorite thing about being a Pastor is helping folks discover their potential and watching them use it.
• I am so proud of our girls ministry leaders and girls they had a yard sale yesterday and did a great job.
• Thanks ladies for working hard this weekend. I promise those girls will never forget your commitment.
• Today I preached on one of my favorite topic...dreams!
• I preached about how Caleb never forgot the dream that God gave him.
• At the age of 85 Caleb made it very clear to Joshua that regardless of his age and the obstacles he was ready and willing to walk into his God given dream.
• Too often WE give up on our dreams because of time, inexperience, obstacles, people, or lack of faith.
• The greatest lesson we learn from the life of Caleb is that he believed with all of his heart that if God said it was possible that nothing would stop him from walking into the dream.
• I am looking forward to the next two weeks. I will be taking a much needed speaking sabbatical.
• Next Sunday one of my great friends, Chris Lewis, will be speaking. He and his wife are getting ready to plant a church in Conyers Georgia. Check out his blog here.
• In two weeks we are going to be celebrating our 32 anniversary at DAG. I'm really excited about this weekend.
• It's great to remember the past but it's much more exciting to dream of the future!
• Finally we went to a birthday party this afternoon. I love sharing these life moments with people. It is such an honor for me and my family to share these special moments with our church families. I love pastoring DAG!!!

Sunday Mind Dump

• Today was an amazing day!
• Attendance was great! It seem like everyone is done traveling for the summer and getting ready for school.
• WORSHIP WAS SWEET!!!
• I know I say this every week but I am SO PROUD OF OUR WORSHIP TEAM!
• Thank you guys for practicing hard and serving with all of your hearts.
• We actually had one person leave during our worship time because the music was to loud. I guess we aren't the church for everyone.
• It was hot in the sanctuary today. A/C wasn't working well.
• My wife shared about the ladies brunch yesterday. From the sounds of it they had a blast. I love to hear my wife teach God's word. I can't wait til she teaches on a Sunday morning.
• I ended our How To Be Rich series today. Felt really good about how we ended it.
• I walked on stage wearing my Party City BLING. Huge dollar sign chain with my dollar sign rings on both hands and of course my favor favor massive gold clock. It I can't wait to see how this series effects our church.
• Tomorrow I have a meeting with Casey Graham of ReThink Money. I'm looking forward to meeting him.
• By the end of the service I was burning up! Thank God I was wearing a black t-shirt because I was sweating profusely by the end of the service.
• I later found out that the motor on the A/C unit for the sanctuary burned out. Seriously smoke was literally coming from the motor. Pray that we find an affordable replace.
• One of the highlights for today was that we had the largest offering since i have arrived. I am so jacked up about this not just because it's money but the people of DAG are beginning to see why we exist.
• DAGer's thank you so much for living to give and loving to give. The best is yet to come!
• I love pastoring DAG!!!

Sunday Mind Dump: Tuesday EDITION

• We had an amazing service on Sunday morning!
• There were some first time guest. One couple exactly was visiting our church because of this blog...I thought that was totally amazing and funny.
• Our worship team continues to amaze me with their heart to serve. Seriously you guys are SO AMAZING!!! Thank you for stepping up and leading.
• Our prayer time after worship was great. I love praying with our church!
• After prayer I was sharing some thoughts about our Hunger & Thirst night and one of the ladies that was there on Friday night told our church that on Friday night she was late because she was having some serious pain but didn't want to miss it so she still came but some time during that night all the pain she was feeling all day was gone and has not returned since then.
• Jesus is the MAN!
• Started a new series about money on Sunday. I wasn't sure how our folks were going to respond to it but it seems like they were into what I was teaching.
• I know it seems silly to be doing a message series on money in the middle of summer but I believe that our church needed (myself included) to get a grasp on what the Bible says regarding money before the Fall hits.
• Sunday was the first time I taught with a table and stool on the stage. It felt a little weird but it was a nice change. I liked having the option of sitting down and walking around. I'm thinking about making it a permanent thing...
• After service we had a Q & A session with our members regarding some ministries in our church. It was another opportunity for me to share the vision and purpose of our church to our people.
• Overall I believe everybody got a more clear picture of where we are headed and why we exist.
• I'm really getting excited about our kids ministry. We have some big plans for our kids and teenagers. DAGer's say it with me...BIG DREAMS...BIG RISK...BIG FAITH...BIGGER GOD!!!
• I love our church!
• Still making plans to reach North Georgia College and State University or NGCSU for short. If you live in a college town and if you are reaching you college I would love to know how you are doing it. Drop me a comment.
• On Sunday I let our church know that we were going to adopt some foster kids in our community and invest into their lives by buying them school supplies and school clothes. We are teaming up with Family Connections of Lumpkin County to make this happen.
• I still jacked up from our Hunger & Thirst night!
• After church on Sunday we had lunch with one of the amazing families in our church. We had a great time hanging out with this family!
• Overall Sunday was one encouraging day! I can't wait for tomorrow night. I get to hang out with some of the most amazing people in the world.

Monday Mind Dump

• We had a GREAT service yesterday!
• I am so proud of our worship team. You guys did an amazing job!
• During our prayer time I was lit up! I could feel God's presence in the room and I wanted to soak in it for a while.
• I read Psalms 20 to our church, prayed over some folks, and preached a mini sermon to our church regarding how God was setting us up to reach our community.
• It was an amazing prayer time! Wait until Friday...i'll blog about this later.
• After our prayer time I invited our worship leader with his wife up front and our entire church prayed over them.
• Sunday was their last Sunday with us. Although we are excited for this new season in their life it was sad to see them leave. They have left a huge mark on this church.
• James and Debbie thank you so much for your faithfulness and servants heart. We love ya'll and we will miss you so much.
• After all that worship and prayer we finally got to the Word.
• Sunday we ended the ONE PRAYER series by hearing an amazing sermon from Pastor Perry Noble.
• OH MY GOSH...Lord, make us Dangerous was PERFECT!!!
• Our church loved the message...they loved Pastor Perry. (but I'm not jealous...)
• Pastor Perry thank you for such a timely WORD. You made our church laugh, think, ask questions, and respond to the Word.
• We are definitely going to the next UNLEASH conference.
• Had lunch at Moe's with some amazing folks from our church.
• I love hanging out with the people of our church. I love hearing about what God is doing in their lives and families.
• We started to talk about ways that we can impact our community...I WAS LOVING IT!
• I love watching peoples faces when they start to connect to the new vision of our church.
• I can't wait to see God move our church and our community...it's going to be awesome!

Sunday Night Mind Dump

• Today was an amazing day!
• We had 8 people become members of DAG!
• Wow...Steven Furtick preached the WORD at DAG this morning!
• At the beginning of the ONE PRAYER series I was a little worried how our church would respond to video sermons but after this morning I can definitely say we will some day be using video technology.
• Just remember DAGer's nothing is impossible of Jesus!!!
• After today's message I am so jacked up!
• We have more family in this week it's been great hanging out with them.
• Had lunch at the Smith House in Dahlonega for the first time. It was a really cool experience. There's a real gold mine underneath the house...very cool. It's a southern style restaurant so be ready to get grub on.
• Went back to the church after lunch and found our Youth Pastor and teenagers practicing for the youth service tonight. It was sounding awesome.
• Afterwards we did a little shopping at the outlet mall in Dawsonville. I bought me some BIG DOG shorts...I'm very sad though I found out that Big Dog is going out of business:(
• All in all it was a great afternoon with the family.
• I can't wait until next Sunday it's going to be AWESOME!

Sunday Night Mind Dump

• my boy was a daddy's boy today. mommy wasn't quite enough today...it was all daddy! all I got to say it's about time!
• Half of our church was gone on vacation. it was weird i think they all got a group rate at Myrtle beach.
• this was our second week of ONE PRAYER.
• Craig Groeschel preached at our church this morning.
• WOW...he did an amazing job!
• it felt so amazing being apart of something worldwide and historic.
• it was the first time ever that our church has ever used technology in this way.
• it seemed like everyone responded well.
• had lunch at Shane's Rib Shack...i love bar-b-Que!!!
• my youth pastor's basketball loss a championship game to a team they beat four other times today...seriously dude I don't want to talk to you til Wednesday:)
• praying for a new Worship Pastor...if you know anyone tell them to read this post.
• praying for some serious financial breakthrough for our church...
• praying about how DAG can impact North Georgia College and State University.
• had a baby shower/farewell party this afternoon of our current worship leader and his family. i hate losing this amazing family. we love you guys a TON!!!
• the former pastor and his wife joined us for the party. it was great having them tonight. they were so excited about the changes we have made.
• still working on some projects at the church. totally rearranged my office this afternoon...thanks Chad for your help.
• I love being the Pastor Dahlonega Assembly!
• the people at DAG are freakin' amazing!!!!
• I can't wait to see what God does in Dahlonega!!!

SPECIAL EDITION: Mother's Day Mind Dump

For a long time Mother's Day was a really hard day for us to celebrate. For six years we tried to have a baby so during these six years every time Mother's Day rolled around it was very difficult for my wife. After the sixth year we came to the decision that if we didn't become pregnant the next year we were going to start looking into adoption. But in 2007 God blessed us with an amazing little boy and this year's Mother's Day had a whole new meaning to us.

It's almost been one year since our son was born and it has been amazing seeing my wife become the most amazing mommy! I just wanted to share with the blogger world that I have the most amazing wife in the world. I have learned so much about the love God has for us just by watching my wife love our son. I always knew my wife would be an amazing mommy. If was so much fun celebrating this year's Mother's Day! Here are some other highlights of the day;

• This mornings service was amazing!
• We had several first time guest this morning.
• A couple of my former students showed up this morning at my church it was great seeing them!
• Worhsip this morning was freakin' awesome!!! Daniel thanks so much for leading our church into God's presence this morning you did a GREAT job!
• All our volunteers this morning this an amazing job! Thanks for serving our church and guest you guys are amazing. Thanks for step up this morning.
• I got to give a shout out to our children's Pastor Erica. She graduated from Emmanuel College this weekend...I AM SO PROUD OF YOU ERICA!!!
• We had lunch at Wylie's Cafe in Dahlonega Georgia and I had the best rack of ribs I have had in a LONG TIME. Do yourself a favor if you are ever in Dahlonega go to Wylie's Cafe and get the ribs!
• Spent a relaxing afternoon with my wife, son, and in-laws.
• I gave the moms in our church a ziplock bag of dirt for Mother's Day. I explain in a later blog.
• Had a much needed relaxing afternoon. Relaxed by watching the Deadliest Catch marathon.
• For dinner my father in law grilled some huge rib eye steaks!
• What a day!!!