Fruitcake and Ice Cream (0)

There may be some of you who are familiar with the title of today's blog post. Others are thinking, "Wow. This may be one of the most random topics ever." Still others don't really care, and just want me to get to the point. OK. Fine. I'll stop chasing rabbits. You happy? Sorry...just felt like being stupid.

"Fruitcake and Ice Cream" is a message by Louie Giglio. This is one of the most powerful talks on the topic of grace that I've ever heard. We really wanted our students to hear it, but the only way that we could get Louie to FCC was by video, and the video was fifty-five minutes long. As a lot of you have experienced, it's hard to keep a teenager's attention for fifty-five minutes. In order to show the video in its entirety, we felt that we had to create an atmosphere and worship experience that was totally out of the ordinary for us. Our answer: a candle-lit auditorium and interactive worship stations.



The candle light had one purpose only: immediate visual impact. You know...the "wow" factor. The interactive worship stations served two purposes: 1)it gave us an opportunity to teach our students that worship is something that you do, not that you sit through, and 2)it enabled us to break the lengthy video into four fairly equal sections. At any point in time during THRIVE, the students could move to one of four stations: the Prayer Wall, the Journal Station, the FAQ Station, or the Clock Station. Each of these served a vital role in night, and correlated with the message. Along with the worship stations, we interspersed the band during the four "breaks" in the message. We didn't use one worship set. This also gave us the chance to come-up on stage, follow-up on the previous section of the message, and introduce a new worship station.



I know that it sounds really involved, and difficult to pull-off. Yes and No. Yes, it took a lot of planning and work. No, we just sat back and watched God work. We saw teenagers praying for each other's needs, writing down their stories to share with their friends, committing to share the Gospel with friends and relatives, and asking questions about how a holy God to love such messed-up individuals like us. It was an awesome night!



I've added a couple of pictures from the evening. They don't give you the full effect, but you can get a general idea of what took place. Labels:

That's What I'm Talkin' About (0)

The only problem that I have with this video is that the official doesn't wrap-up. You don't want that guy to bounce off of you and keep going. Regardless, that's the way to put a Gamecock in his place.

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The Challenge Has Been Issued (2)

As we wrapped-up our series on temptation ("MMM..."), we issued a challenge to our students. It had nothing to do with temptation, but was huge nonetheless. The challenge? Let's have 93 students here this Sunday. Why 93? The answer is simple: our highest total since July has been 92. With the challenge, we proposed this reward: if we hit 93, I'll shave my goatee into a handlebar mustache. That's what they wanted me to do, so I agreed. I will admit that I'm beginning to get a little freaked-out about the possible concequences. I received text after text from students who were inviting entire classes at school. 93 is a real possibility.

Some may say that we're going to have students show-up just to see me shave. Maybe...probably, but while they're here, they will experience a presentation of the Gospel like never before. We have planned an incredible night of THRIVE this Sunday. No, I'm not going to tell you about it now. We want you to be here. If you're a parent or prospective volunteer, we'd love for you to join us as well. You'll leave with a great understanding of how we are trying to do what no one else is doing in order to reach those that no one else is reaching.

So, for those of you within driving distance of Oconee County (that includes anyone within an hour and twenty minute radius since that's what I've been driving), come check us out at 6:30 on Sunday evening. Labels:

Mr. Tim and the Effects of Over Eating (0)

Here's our second installment of Mr. Tim Tation. This episode has some crazy special effects provided by the wildly talented Cole Oraham. Enjoy!



I've been told that Mr. Tim sounds a lot like the Gingerbread Man from Shrek. Here's a video for you to compare.
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How's This For Embarrassing (0)

So, I'm on my way to church yesterday morning...hold up. Let me set things up a little bit. Yesterday, I was a part of one of the most incredible services ever. We were doing cardboard testimonies during our services, and I was one of the testimonies. BTW...it was awesome! I'll post a link to the video later.

Anyway. Because I was involved in the service, I had to be in Seneca at 8AM for rehearsal. As you can imagine, that meant an early wake-up call in order to drive in from Greer. I left the house around 6:30 in order to give myself plenty of time. As I turned onto to Bountyland Road (the road that the church is located on), I looked at my clock and it was 7:45, so there was no need to hurry. For whatever reason, I floored it. Before long, I was doing 60 in a 45, and guess what: I passed a cop.

As I looked back in my mirror, I didn't see him put on brakes. "Yes! He's letting me go." WRONG! About 200 yards from the entrance to the church I see the blue lights. Yep. I was pulled-over for speeding in front of the church. By the time the officer made it to my window, I was already holding-out my license, registration, and insurance info. This is where the story gets even more embarrassing.

The officer walks up and says good morning. First of all, no, it's not a good morning. It was until I got busted. He asked me if I had any good excuses (exact words). My response was the following: "Not really. See, I'm on staff at Foothills Community Church (at which time I pointed to the building), and I'm supposed to be at a rehearsal at 8. My wife and I haven't sold our house yet, and I had to drive from Greer, so I wanted to make sure that I was here on time." Yes. I pulled the "feel sorry for me because I'm driving an hour and fifteen minutes to church" card.

His response was classic: "That's where I have to be at 8, too; but, 60 in a 45?" Oh yeah, I felt about two inches tall. Not only was I pulled-over for speeding, but I was pulled-over by one of the sheriff's deputies who work security at FCC on Sunday mornings! He told me to give him a minute. As he went back to his car, I figured that I was looking at at least $250 and 4 points. When he came back to my window, he informed me that I was only receiving a warning! THANK YOU JESUS! I apologized for speeding, and thanked him for his generosity. During my apology, I noticed that he had a sly grin on his face. Why? Because he realized that the greater punishment would be me having to see him for four and half hours...at church! You know what? He was absolutely right. I went out of my way to avoid him. A certain staff member who will go unnamed, told him that he should have thrown the book at me. Others, just laughed and pointed. It was definitely punishment.

So, anyone else get embarrassed like that this weekend? 

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Catalyst '08 (0)

I can't wait to jump on I-85 and head to the ATL for Catalyst. Thursday and Friday will be incredible times of teaching, encouragement, challenge, and fun. I probably won't blog over the next two days, but you can follow the action one hundred forty characters at time via Twitter. Labels:

"MMM..." Bumper (as promised) (0)

Nothing special. Just thought I'd share.


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Weekend Round-Up (0)

*Showed the house a couple more times. We have some interest from a family in Louisiana! Please pray that something works out soon.

*No Clemson football this weekend. Good thing, too...we may have lost to "Open Date" for the first time ever.

*Awesome day at Foothills! The concourse was buzzin', the bands were on point, lighting and video were awesome, and Greg's message was great. He really knocked it out of the park yesterday.

*Josh Gibson led worship at THRIVE...incredible! I've heard nothing but positive feedback from students and volunteers.

*We began a series on temptation called "MMM..." Last night we talked about some misconceptions about temptation. From what the life group leaders have told me, there were some great conversations about what was taught.

*New series means new videos. We're doing a three week spin on the Mr. Bill Show. If you're not familiar with it, head over to youtube and search for it (I'm too lazy to help you out). Last night's video is below.

*I'll add the new bumper video later.

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