Yesterday, I had the privilege of meeting with David Foster, Lead Pastor of The Gathering. We met at my favorite Starbucks in Cool Springs. I always like meeting with Dave because he is very inspirational and encouraging. He truly is a pastor of pastors.

As we talked, I could sense the enthusiasm he had for The Gathering’s potential move from the movie theater in Franklin to Centennial High School. They would have a bigger auditorium and more space to have kids classes. In the middle of all that, they will also be closer to the growing area in south Franklin.

I shared with Dave about what’s been happening at Elevation and his comments were very encouraging to me. It reminded me of Ben’s post about the church planter’s second church plant (say that 5 times really fast). There were so many takeaways from our conversation, but here’s one. He said the best thing for us right now is to enjoy the season we’re in. To truly love on people and allow God to grow the church (because it’s His anyways). Enjoy the time, love the people, and allow God to grow the church.

Meeting with gifted leaders always leaves me challenged. Next week, I’ll be meeting with another buddy of mine here in Nashville, Pete Wilson. Should be a blast!

Here’s some really awesome links to check out:

• Volunteers needed for chocolate study: Any takers???
• Windows XP3 has hit Microsoft’s servers: Link
• Absolutely loved Ben’s take on surveys: Link
• And also his take on the 2nd time for church planters: Link
• Pete has a great post on Anne’s blog today: Join the discussion
• YouVersion now can be accessed through your mobile device: Link
• LA Times’ story about an Iranian film producer’s take on Jesus: Link (Safe 2 say there will be protests)
• Walking barefoot helps your body (anyone in the south knows this): Link

George Barna came out with a new book titled “Pagan Christianity.” I had the privilege of hearing him speak on two separate occasions and walked away challenged each time.  In his new book, he researches many of today’s Christian practices and has found that not only are many of them unbiblical, but they can hinder people from finding Christ.

I haven’t read his book yet, but I plan on picking up a copy soon. Here’s some thoughts for you to consider from his book:

For more info., check out his web site.

I had a great meeting today with Mike Burns. He pastors North Point Church in Columbia. For the last few weeks, Mike has been leading his church by using the “Jonah” series from LifeChurch.tv’s Open site. As we talked, we discovered that we both have a Kokomo, IN connection. I was the student pastor at First Church of God during the time Mike took classes from Temple Baptist Church through correspondence. Six degrees indeed.

Mike has a big heart for people and loves his wife and six kids. I noticed right away that he’s a person who is ready to do whatever it takes to see people come to Christ.

For a while now, I’ve thought about the 10%. I’m focusing on the influence of a local church. Here in Middle Tennessee, we have large churches all over the place. While I haven’t seen any evidence to suggest this, I think that a single church can have a maximum 10% of the community in attendance. So let’s say that a church is located in a city of 50,000 people. By the 10% rule, that would mean that the church would max out at 5,000 people.

You’re probably saying whoa now. That’s not true. Let’s continue.

Lakewood Church in Houston reportedly has close to 50,000 worshipers on a given Sunday. There are over 1 million people living in Houston. So the math holds true here. Another example is Willow Creek. In a city over 2 million people, Willow averages around 20,000 people each weekend.

This percentage does not apply to all cities and towns. AND I’m not saying that this percentage will never be broken. We are seeing the rise of multi-site churches and Network churches all across the country. It’s safe to say that at some point, that number will eventually be broken.

What this says to me is that we need to be working together to reach our communities for Christ. Instead of my church putting on an event, why not team up with another church in town. Or many. Instead of being territorial, let’s lay down our pride and do it for the sake of the Gospel. The point is, we’re in this thing together to lead people to become fully devoted followers of Christ. Let’s do it together!!

What do you think?

Maybe you’re like me. When I move to a new location or go into a new community, it’s easy to see the brokenness all around. But over time, that vision changes into what I call tunnel vision. You get familiar with your surroundings and get used to the surroundings. It really takes something out of the ordinary to get you to look and notice the surroundings. It could be as simple as a road sign or as large as a new building under construction.

My good friend David Foster put this post on his blog yesterday and it’s a reminder of why I moved here and what my calling is. I encourage you to read it and may God bless you with a holy discontent to do something about it.

Alicia and I are in Oklahoma City for LifeChurch.tv’s December event. Today, we heard from Craig, Jerry, Kevin, Bobby, and Sam. All of them are on The Leadership Development team and did a great job. Andrew from the Hendersonville campus is here too. This has been an amazing experience for me. Tonight, we we went out to eat for some Oklahoma brisqet and got to meet other Network churches. I am so glad to know that we’re all in this thing together. I’ll share more about it on Sunday. See you then!

In his talk on Sunday, Craig mentioned how important naming a child is. The message was very timely for Alicia and I because our son Dalten had a homework assignment about his name–what it means, why we chose it, etc..

Some people have a hard time naming their child. But I don’t think this person’s parents had a hard time choosing her name or possibly her profession.

Dave Anderson made a post on his blog back in August that I bookmarked immediately. In his post, he said that church planters:

1. Believe they can change the world!
2. Wonder all the time “will this work?”

Both of these really describe me this week. Actually, for quite a while. This week has been wildly chaotic in so many aspects, but I still believe that we can change the world and it all starts right here, right now. We’re inviting and praying for lives to be forever changed; starting this weekend.

The last time I was this convinced of doing something great for God I had just graduated high school, became a Christian in my living room, dropped my enrollment at UT, and headed off to Oklahoma City to study how to become a pastor. A small town guy left the mountains and went to the desert to follow Christ & lead people to Him.

Elevation’s opening weekend is going to be better that I envisioned back in April. I can’t wait to experience it all for myself. The band is gonna rock out. The kids will be having a blast. This will be a weekend to remember. Get ready, ’cause this is gonna be one wild ride!!