There are many things in my life right now that excite me. I thought it would be cool to share some of them with you.

  1. We have 15 people registered for Unleash 2008! I even talked Pastor Ron and Norma (mom & dad) into going! WOOHOO! Even though the super-duper-earlier-than-early-bird special of $45 ended yesterday, you can still get in on the early rate of $75. If you want to try and get a discounted rate, let Lori know by emailing her at lori@rockwilmington.com. Perry said there are already lori@rockwilmington.com. Perry said there are already over 400 people registered for the conference and it is over five months away! This gets me excited.
  2. We have been a church in transition for a while now. I have to tell you that it has been tough at times. Through this process, there have been people who did not like the process or new direction. Seeing people leave hurts. But, it never changed our determination to follow where God was leading us. As I have read the story of The Orchard and see that there is hope when you follow God’s direction, it has renewed my excitement. I have got to meet Scott Hodge. He is an inspiration to me as I support my dad in his leadership of our church.
  3. Even though people have left there are many more who have stayed because they believe in their pastors. That is exciting and humbling at the same time. I love hearing people say, “We are with you!” I get excited when people come to me and say, “I see the vision for this ministry and want to join up!” I love it when people are so excited about what God is doing here that they bring someone to experience it with them!
  4. I am excited to see people every week accept Christ. So far this year, almost 100 people have accepted Christ for the first time or recommitted their lives to Him. The cool thing is that 20 of those have happened through our youth ministry FlipSide! That is awesome!
  5. I am excited to see new faces every week at The ROCK!
  6. I am excited to see our church “getting it” as they catch the vision for the lost in our city.
  7. I am pumped up about the stories coming our of our Small Group ministry. We have about 35 people coming to the Financial Peace course hosted by Todd and Stephanie. THIRTY FIVE PEOPLE! They are all learning how to live debt free and that is exciting. It’s cool to hear each week how much debt is getting paid off.

    I’ve also been hearing amazing stories of tremendous ministry to people struggling with depression, suicidal thoughts, unforgiveness, broken marriages and generally screwed up lives. Our Small Group leaders are amazing and I love them all!

  8. I am to see that there are more senior adults connecting with our J.O.Y. (Just Older Youth) Fellowship gatherings than ever before. We love our senior adults and I am excited to see more and more of the older crowd joining us young folks.
  9. I am excited that my wife Jennifer has accomplished a lot of amazing things as our Director of Children’s Ministries. In just ten weeks and with a very limited budget, she has revolutionized KIDS Rock. She has a waiting list for people wanting to work in her ministry (a first). She has been able to connect people in ministry that no one else could reach. She has put curriculum in the hands of every teacher and given them resources to use. She, along with Matthew, have substantially finished the project of redecorating the youth/children auditorium and 2xTreme (10-12 yrs. old). In a couple weeks, her team will unveil the 3rd complete set design for our children’s church auditorium (in 10 weeks!) Many of our children’s classes have grown significantly! Kids are inviting their friends. As a result their parents are coming too!
  10. Did I mention that Matthew and his team at FlipSide have seen 20 teenagers accept Christ this year? That is crazy! FlipSide also has an amazing band too. I always have fun when I go hang out with the FlipSide crew. Pretty soon, FlipSide will unveil a new website that will have information for teens, parents and staff. If you want to hear what’s happening each week, you can check out the FlipSide Parent Blog. I am excited about what’s happening in our youth!
  11. I am super stoked about our Christmas production, Imagine Christmas. It’s going to be the biggest, craziest, most amazing production ever at The ROCK. We want to go over the top this year as we reach our city for Christ. This morning, we gave a little preview to our staff and I got excited all over again. Very soon, we will unveil a website devoted to the production. You will be able to get sneak previews, behind the scenes info, e-invites and more.

There are many more things around here that excite me. I’ll save some more for another day. But, in case you could not tell, I love my church and what God is doing here.