Get Ready DAG ReTHINK MONEY is coming!

Yesterday morning I had the privilege of having a mocha frappuccino with a new friend. Casey Graham is the President of ReThink Money. Casey started ReThink Money because he had a passion to help others learn how to handle the resources God has given them. From the beginning of our conversation it was very clear to me that he was the real deal. Awhile back Casey called me out of the blue because of a comment I left on Shawn's blog. Here's the crazy thing, as we were talking I mentioned that I was in the middle of a financial series at our church. He had no idea I was even teaching about money. I truly believe that God still orchestrates divine appointments.

When I started this series I wanted to do more than just teach about money. Realizing many of our people were struggling financially I wanted to help our people take what they would hear on Sundays and put it into practice on Monday. So I started to look for some kind of tool, but there are so many different programs and "ministries" out there and honestly I was overwhelmed just looking at all the different material but then I get this call from Casey Graham. God's timing is perfect!

The main reason why I decided to team up with Casey and ReThink Money was because he wasn't trying to sell me a program. He genuinely wants our church to experience freedom in their finances. In other words he cares about what I care about. My desire is that our people will get the tools to handle their resources so that they can begin to live the life that Jesus died for.

So on Saturday, August 9th from 8:30am - 12:30pm Casey and ReThink Money will be doing a one day 4 hour seminar at Dahlonega Assembly of God in Dahlonega Georgia. There is a cost for attending the seminar $35 for couples and $25 for singles. The cost covers the resources that everyone will get that morning. Also, Casey mentioned that there will be some pre-work to do before the seminar. I will let you know what exactly you need to do before the 9th.

DAGer's PLEASE make every effort to be there on the 9th. In fact if you have friends that would benefit from this seminar INVITE THEM!!! Personally, I have been inviting people left and right. I want you and the people that you care about to take advantage of this amazing opportunity!!! So get ready DAG because ReThink Money is coming.

Can't Sleep

It's 1:33am and I can't go to sleep. It's crazy how on Sunday we had an amazing service. The worship was great, I felt like I communicated the message very clearly, our attendance was great and we had the best offering since I have arrived. It was one fantastic day! Suddenly two days later the high from Sunday wears off and I'm reminded that life goes on. Bills got to get paid, families are in pain, people are dying and going to hell become they don't know Jesus, and the list goes on and on.

I know this might sound a little weird but it's almost 2am so deal with it. Since we have become Senior Pastors the one think I have really notice is how more sensitive we have become to people's pain. So here I am at 1:59am praying about the finances of the church, praying for the families in our church, and praying for the lost in Lumpkin County and Dahlonega Georgia. As I was sitting here praying and thinking about these things I honesty believe that the Lord used a tv preacher to share Psalms 91 to me. After read this I felt impressed to share this with the blogger world.

So don't blow this off I believe there is someone out there that needed to read this post and Psalm 91 I pray that you are encourage as much as I was when I read it. So read it and go to bed or stop worrying about the stuff your worrying about remember HE is your REFUGE and FORTRESS!

enjoy I'm going to bed...

Psalm 91:1-16
My Refuge and My Fortress 1He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.2I will say to the LORD, "My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust." 3For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence.4He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.5 You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day,6nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor the destruction that wastes at noonday. 7A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you.8You will only look with your eyes and see the recompense of the wicked. 9Because you have made the LORD your dwelling place—the Most High, who is my refuge—10no evil shall be allowed to befall you, no plague come near your tent. 11For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.12On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.13You will tread on the lion and the adder; the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot. 14"Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he knows my name.15When he calls to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him.16With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation."

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!!!

Monday Mind Dump

• Yesterday was a great service!
• Attendance was a little low...lots going on this month plus a couple in our church got married yesterday afternoon so everybody's mind was in a different place.
• Laterly though we've seen a rise in teen attendance! I'm pretty jacked up about that!
• Also many of our former students for our last church showed up yesterday. Even one of the parents showed up with them. It was so good to see them. I am so proud of all of them. A couple of them are going to school for full-time ministry! I'm a very proud spiritual daddy!!!
• Once again I am so proud of our worship team. It was a little shakey in the beginning but they pulled it through. Every week I can see the improvement. You guys are amazing!
• Sunday was our second week of "How To Be Rich". I want to give props to Andy Stanley for the title to this series. I totally went in a different direction regarding content put I loved the title. So I borrowed it!:)
• I was so jacked up about all the teenagers on Sunday. When I saw all the teenagers there I sort of tweed the message so it could really impact the students that were there. It's never to early to get a biblical view regarding money.
• I love pastoring DAG!
• Next week I will be ending our series "How To Be Rich". I can't wait til Sunday it's going to be awesome.
• After church I had lunch with our former students. All I got to say is "welcome to Moe's"
• Afterwards I headed to Gainesville for the wedding. My amazing wife played wedding coorinater for the day. I was so proud of my wife!
• Honey you were amazing...thank you so much for jumping in and helping and serving you are my HERO!
• I was so much fun hanging out with our church at the wedding! I think it is so funny how people let loose a little more when they are not at church.
• The wedding was amazing! Matt & Crista I pray that blesses you with many years of joy and love.
• I was so proud of my youth pastor. He performed the ceremony and did an amazing job! You rock Pastor Blake!
• I can't wait to see what Jesus doesn't this week!

Finding your Happy Place!

Earlier this week while I was doing some yard work I discovered something...I found my HAPPY PLACE! I know how could working in the yard be a "happy place"...well, I love a manicured lawn. I love standing back when everything has been trimmed, edged, and cut and enjoying the fruits of my labor. Aside from enjoying the finish product the other thing that I love about yard work is the alone time.

Nobody wants to hang out with me when I mowing my lawn. Maybe it's because of the noise from the mower or the smell of gasoline or maybe it's my outdoor mowing the lawn sweating profusely odor...whatever it is I honestly don't mine the time alone. I have discovered that mowing the lawn is one of my HAPPY PLACES.

What's a happy place you ask...it's a place where no one bothers you, a private sanctuary, a place away from your computer and cell phone, a place where you can gather your thoughts together, a place where you have uninterrupted time with God, finally it's a place away from the craziness of life.

I believe that everyone NEEDS to have a "happy place." Oh my gosh, even Jesus had a "happy place"...don't believe me read Mark 1:35. If Jesus, the Son of God, had to find a happy place how much more do you and I need this special time and place. I discovered two things happen when we spend time in our "happy place"

1. WE'RE REFRESHED. In Mark 1:32-34 we see Jesus doing some serious ministry. He's spending time with alot people, healing folks left & right and kicking some demon butt! I'm pretty sure He was physical exhausted at the end of the day. Jesus realized that the only way He was going to get REFRESHED was He had to go find His "happy place" and spent time with His DAD.
2. WE'RE REALIGNED. In verse 36 we see the disciples are looking for Jesus and when they find Him the tell Him that everyone is looking for Him. I love Jesus' response, "38Jesus replied, "Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come." I believe the time Jesus spent in His "happy place" realigned His priorities. I'm sure Jesus loved healing people but He made it very clear that He came to preach a life giving message.

So let me encourage you to do whatever it takes to find this "happy place" in your life. Whether it's mowing the lawn, in the shower (that's my second happy place), driving your car, in your bedroom, taking a walk, working out, taking a bath, riding your bike, siting at Starbucks, or going to Chili's and enjoying a huge cup of sweet tea with an order of chips and salsa:) where ever it may be make it a daily or weekly practice to go to that place and be REFRESHED AND REALIGNED!

Preach IT Pastor Perry!

Hey DAGer's some of you may remember Pastor Perry from NewSpring Church in Anderson SC. We watched him a couple of Sundays ago during our ONE PRAYER series. I was reading his blog recently and came across a series of post entitled "Pastors/Church Planters BEWARE that totally echos how I feel regarding SEVEN types of persons that try to neuter a church. I will be reposting his post because I believe we could ALL learn from Pastor Perry's and NewSpring's experience.

I was thinking the other day about what I would types of people I would warn a pastor/church planter about–there are seven, here are the first few…

#1 - The “I’m Going To Leave If” Person
Pastors, you are going to have people threaten to leave your church–period. And 999 times out of 1,000 the best thing you can do is let them go. I remember once in the early years being on the telephone for over an hour, begging a young lady in our church not to leave. Why was she wanting to leave? A group of singles had gotten together and forgotten to call her. You are going to have people who don’t like the music, your wife, you talking about your kids, the way you dress, the kind of car you drive, the version of the Bible you use, your hairstyle, your zodiac sign, your staff, and your belief on the end times. You can’t please everyone…and, to be honest, that BOTHERS me! But, reality is, according to Hebrews 13:17 you and I will stand before God one day and be held accountable for how we led the church…and I would much rather a disgruntled person walk out that God’s presence go instead! Don’t ever be held captive by a person who keeps threatening to leave.

#2 - The “Let Me Tell You How Much Money I Have” Person.
Pastors, you’ve GOT to make a choice early - are you going to be motivated by money (thus becoming a prostitute, not a prophet) OR are you going to resign to the fact that Jesus purchased you, thus making you not for sale? I remember early on a guy calling my assistant and demanding that I come to his house for dinner. (Something I just don’t do…explanation later!) He told her where he worked, where he lived (a NICE neighborhood), the kind of car he drove and also told her he wanted to get financially involved in the church…all I had to do was some to his house for dinner. I didn’t go. I don’t play that game. When people begin to dangle money in front of you…it is ALWAYS attached to an agenda.

We have some incredibly generous people at NewSpring Church who give faithfully every single week. In our two campaigns that we’ve done we had a giver once give $1.4 million and another one gave $1 million…and neither of them ever asked me for one second of my time. They gave with a pure heart and with pure motives.

When people threaten to stop giving then that is an issue they will have to work out with God. Don’t let a person who has a lot of $$$ keep you from doing what God has called you to do.
When a person begins telling you how much money they have…trust me, they ultimately desire to either buy you or control you. Don’t let it happen. Tell them you are excited they have money, ask them to give generously, challenge them to be faithful in their giving…but don’t EVER begin to let them dangle money in front of you, thus becoming your source of motivation.

All I got to say is PREACH IT PASTOR PERRY!!!

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.