I have an 8-year old daughter and the most famous person she’s heard of is probably Miley Cyrus.  This girl is just a teenager, but she’s probably the most influential person in elementary culture.

That’s exactly why teenagers who love Jesus should be serving in our elementary environments. To an elementary kid, a teenager is a movie-star.  Think of that influence!  Think of what could happen if that influence was used for God’s glory.  If elementary isn’t their thing, then there’s preschool, parking, production, setup, greeters, ushers, resource table, sound, lights, and more.

At Oak Leaf Church, nearly every volunteer area is open to teenagers, and this is a good thing.  We don’t believe youth are second class people…we want them to connect and serve, just like adults.  And trust me, in the long run, teenagers getting on volunteer teams where there are caring adults who will train them and disciple them, is one of the best things EVER for their own spiritual growth.  It’s so much better than sitting through another youth service with a band and a speaker.

Parents…get your students connected to the church, not just attending a youth group meeting.

Over the years, we’ve tried a variety of formats with our students ministry, searching for that right combination of leadership and meeting times. Honestly, this has been one of those areas where I’ve been a little bit frustrated by the potential. When we first started a student meeting (Limelight), it was on Thursday nights. Then it moved to Sunday morning (but competed with the weekend services). We tried Sunday nights at Club 104. Finally, we went weekly and moved it to the House of Rock.

As we came into the summer, we realized that we did not have enough adult leadership and band members to sustain the pace, so we took a break in the summer to evaluate. While building up a team of adult and student leaders, we’ve also been looking at format. I honestly do not believe our students need another worship service – what we do on the weekends is very appropriate for that! However, we do believe that a weekly gathering, where small groups is a part of the mix, is necessary.

So we are gearing up for Fuel to happen every Wednesday night, with worship and teaching, but with an added small group element.  Connecting teenagers to adults who will pray for them and model the life of Jesus before them is something that we’ve missed, and it’s absolutely necessary.

We can’t just sustain that without the right leadership, so we are taking this fall to prepare. Student leaders are meeting with Jake. Adult leaders and those interested in leading small groups and volunteering are meeting with Suzy. We’re developing a consistent set of musicians.

When all of those elements are ready, we’ll start FUEL back again. To start earlier would mean that the energy and momentum would fade. And I’m more interested in something working in the long term than in the short term.

So this fall, students can get connected with the group of student leaders (Jake is meeting with them every Wednesday night) and attend church services. We’re also making an intentional effort to get students connected to volunteer teams. (Trust me parents…in the long run, your teenage guy working on the parking team with Tommy will do more for their spiritual growth and health than sitting in another church service!).  High school students who want to grow in their faith ought to be serving in elementary or preschool environments, get on a greeter team or a parking team or the production team.  There’s a group of students attending the 9:30 service on Sunday and serving at 11:15….that’s very cool.

Once a month, we are doing some student events. We want to stay connected. The idea is to do these events this fall, work behind the scenes on student leaders, adult leaders and small group leaders, and kick Fuel of (for good) in January.

Student ministry is not going to be babysitting, or just having another mid-week service that is pretty much the same thing as one of our weekend services.  It is going to be about empowering students to serve in the church and in the community, and connecting them through small groups led by adults who know what’s going on.

Last year, we challenged our church to write down the name of one person they would pray for, invest in and invite to church.  And I’m really proud of my wife, who prayed hard for her “one.”  We showed this video in church last weekend as a reminder of what God can do.

Then we asked everyone to come and write the names of real people who need Jesus.  Hundreds of names were written all over the front of our stage.  We’re praying for boldness and opportunity to talk to these people about Jesus, and invite them to Oak Leaf Church.   We’re asking that people make an extra effort to get people here in September for a series called BREAK FREE.  They will hear the Gospel clearly explained.

Over the past few years, I’ve learned not to try and justify what God is doing here or defend our actions to those that disagree.  I’m not in this to please people, but to lead people from where they are to where God wants them to be.

A local pastor has written an article which appeared in The Christian Index. I confess that I was upset after reading, because I did not feel like it was a fair assessment of what is happening in churches like Oak Leaf Church.  In fairness, our church is not directly referenced, and the Christian Index ran a favorable article about our church last year.   I thought long and hard before posting this, because it’s not my intention to start an argument.  I do believe that the attitudes perpetuated in this argument do harm to the body of Christ, and feel the need to speak up.

I share my thoughts, not to instigate, but to inform.  To the many Oak Leafers who are a part of what God is doing…be encouraged and be informed.  Let God be the judge and be true to your calling…learn from everyone, including those who disagree with you. I agree with the some of the article, and many of the theological observations the author makes. It’s the application of those principles that I find misleading.

Here’s the PDF of the article with my comments in red. Feel free to leave a comment, but no name calling or church bashing allowed.  Civil discussions only.

Here are a few pictures from our 3rd year anniversary weekend, including a few of the baptism and cookout at Riverside Park.

We’re continuing the Contagious series, but we’re also celebrating our THREE YEAR ANNIVERSARY as a church.  This weekend is going to be one for the history books, and we’re ending the service in a way that you have never seen before.  Trust me, you don’t want to miss it.  Come Saturday night at 6, Sunday morning at 9:30, or Sunday morning at 11:15.

Then at 4pm on Sunday, we’re having an old fashioned get together at Riverside Park.  Bring covered side dishes and lawn chairs.  We’re grilling hotdogs and hamburgers.  We’ve got inflatable games for the kids.  There’s some staff vs. volunteer football.  And then at 5pm, we’re baptizing people in the river!  I think there are about 40 people signed up so far.

Make sure you’re there for one of the services this weekend, and make plans to join us at Riverside park at 4pm on Sunday.  It’s going to be a great weekend!

What does it mean to be on staff at Oak Leaf Church? What’s the culture around the office. Here’s a few words and metaphors that we use to describe this place.

First up…We’re looking for linebackers.

Great linebackers have an intensity about them. They do not approach the line of scrimmage flippantly, but they are dialed in and charged up.  They will get in your face and they will not stop until they hear the whistle.

If you’re on staff at Oak Leaf Church, you must have an intensity about you. You must have a whatever it takes attitude. If something needs to be done, you’ll do it, and you’ll do it well. If that means staying late, you’ll do it without complaint or trying to bug out early the next day.  If you need something, and it’s in the back of a 26′ UHaul, then you will unload it in the rain to get what you need.

You’re relentless about the details and you operate with urgency, because you know what is at stake.  After all, this is not a hobby, or a hamburger stand…this is the Church.

I’m proud of Oak Leaf Church and the good that we’ve been able to do in Cartersville and around the world.  And if you think it sounds like I’m bragging on Oak Leaf Church, I AM!

• A few weeks ago, people at all of our weekend services gave the very shoes off of their feet and we were able to deliver over 1,600 pairs of shoes to Soles4Souls.
• A few weeks after that, we talked about God’s heart for the poor and more than 100 children were sponsored through Compassion International.
• Last month, The Coffee Bar wrote a check to the Good Neighbor Homeless Shelter.  All of the proceeds generated by The Coffee Bar are invested into community partners, so every time you drink a cup of coffee, you’re doing good.
• It also makes me happy that we are able to financially support church plants like Gallery Church of Baltimore and Emmaus Church in Seattle.  Soon, we’ll begin supporting Vince Antonucci and Verve as well as Anthony and Axiom.

I am proud to be a part of a church that doesn’t exist just to keep the lights on, the choir robes dry cleaned, and new tires on the church van.  We’re spreading the Gospel, and helping people along the way.

One year ago today, I signed the paperwork and Oak Leaf Church became the official owners of 243 S. Tennessee Street, more commonly known as the House of Rock  I used to sit in the parking lot and pray that God would make it possible for our church to meet there.  We watched the price come down, and then we submitted an offer.  Our people gave some money and we renovated the space.  In our few months, we’ve seen about 50 people decide to follow Christ here.

But the best is yet to come.

We’re starting a new series at Oak Leaf Church this weekend.  It’s called Contagious, and it’s coming from the book of Acts. Here are some graphics to stick on your blog, facebook profiles or sent out to your twitter followers.  Spread the word.

Here’s a link to the series page.  And here’s a link to send an e-vite.

One of our partners had this sign in his front yard. Apparently, someone wasn’t too happy and added some of their own words. This doesn’t tick me off. Actually, it makes me smile.  It means we’re doing something right.

Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you (Matthew 5:10-12).

Honored to have Anne Jackson with us this weekend at Oak Leaf Church.  Anne talked about God’s heart for the poor and needy, and challenged our people to adopt children from Africa through Compassion International.  When it was all said and done, more than 102 children were sponsored and will be able to break free.   Here’s some other highlights.

• Anne is gracious and humble and very much the real deal.
• If you didn’t get a packet, we still have about 25 more kids that need to be sponsored.  I really don’t want to send them back.
• Since I wasn’t teaching, I hijacked the band and led worship.  I hadn’t led worship in about four or five years.  It was a lot of fun and I enjoyed it.  I got compliments on my spin moves.
• I picked easy and singable songs…Everlasting God, It is Well (new Todd Fields arrangement), Glory to God (new Steve Fee tune), and Jesus Saves (Tim Hughes).
• Playing with Marcus, Will, Matt and Kyle was a ton of fun. Proud those guys are a part of our church and want to lead people in worship.
• Really proud to be watching our church become more generous.  A few weeks ago, people gave 1,600 pairs of shoes to Soles for Souls.  And people and families are stepped up to sponsor 100+ children from Burkina Fasso.
• We’re still trying to work out the page design for our live webcast site and testing the technology and trying to get the video and chat windows correctly sized.  We’re live broadcasting the Saturday night service.
• We’re kicking off a new series next week called CONTAGIOUS.  We’re going to walk through some of the book of Acts and see how the church grew and expanded.  I’ll post some web graphics tomorrow so you can splatter them on your profiles and blogs.
• On August 16, we’re celebrating our three year anniversary as a church.  After the services, we’re partying at Riverside Park.  Grilling out, baptizing people in the river, and lots of games for kids.  We’re even going old school and asking people to bring a covered dish!  If you’re interested in being baptized that day, email Tiffany.
• Once again, I’m really proud of our church.  The best is yet to come!

Excited to welcome Anne Jackson to Oak Leaf Church this weekend.  Now usually, our staff doesn’t like it when I say I’m not teaching, because people tend to do goofy things like not coming to church.  But I’m breaking the unofficial rule because Anne is going to do a great job and you need to be here.

She’ll be speaking tonight at 6 and tomorrow at 9:30 and 11:15.  And I’ll be there…listening and taking notes.  I’m also leading worship for the first time in about five years, so this should be interesting.

To get a feel for Anne, I’ve taken the liberty of selecting a few of my favorite blog posts for your reading enjoyment.

Lessons in Marital Communication

Anne

My Thoughts on Boobies

Are You Hooked?  The Christian Designer Drug

Becoming the Boundaries & Margin Nazi

Excited that Tenth Avenue North will be playing at The House of Rock on September 16.  I first met these guys in South Florida when they were college students.  They played at several youth camps for me when I was a youth pastor, and they played our first two preview services at Oak Leaf Church.  They played our first service when we moved to Woodland High School.  Then they signed a record deal, moved to Nashville and won a Dove Award.  Great guys, and this will be a great worship concert.  Tickets will be on sale too, and we expect it to sell out.

We’re no strangers to change, because if you want to keep growing, you have to keep changing. And as a three year old church, we’re constantly learning what we’re doing. One of my goals for the next year is to get the right people on the right seats on the bus, so that we can continue to grow and change. So this summer, we’ve gone through a process of refining our strategy. Here’s some updates.

• Anthony, our executive pastor, is moving to Gainesville, Florida to start a church.  We’re sad Anthony is leaving because he’s done  a great job, and we like Carrie and the kids.  So while we’re going to miss him, there will be a good church in Gainesville reaching people who need Jesus.  You should check out his blog and join their prayer team.
• We’re reorganizing the staff a little bit, creating more of a team at the top.  As the Lead Pastor, things ultimately rise and fall with me, but I need qualified people around me to get things done. So Jody May is taking over the role of Ministries Pastor and Brian Kase is coming on as director of operations.
• This basically means that Jody is in charge of the ministry side of things (kids, groups, students, connections, discipleship, etc), while Brian is in charge of the business side of things (finances, facilities, database, human resources, etc.)  Both of these guys will keep their eyes on the big picture and help me lead at a high level.
• We’re hiring Casey Graham and The Change Group to handle our finances. They will do our book keeping, check writing, and handle reporting. Casey is also going to spend time with me and our staff as a financial consultant. I’ll write more about this change later.
• Mache, who has been our bookkeeper and who has done an amazing job, is moving to the ministry side of things. She will be helping Will and the Creative Arts team.
• Russon, who has been our summer intern, is coming on board to help with Discipleship.  He turned down other jobs with better salaries because he loves what God is doing at the Leaf and wants to help lead people from where they are to where God wants them to be.
• Jonathan Sutton, who has been doing family ministry, is stepping off the staff team. He’s going back into the business world but the Suttons will continue to remain important people around here. Rebekah is going full time and leading Oak Leaf Kids.  She’s a sharp, young leader and is going to do a great job leading the kids ministry.
• I’m pretty sure I’m still the Lead Pastor.

I really believe that all of these staff changes are helping us get more healthy so that next year, we will be ready to launch a second campus.  All of these changes are a good thing, and what God is doing here is amazing.   We’re going to keep pushing forward, keep reaching people and teaching them about Jesus.  I’ve never been more excited about the future of Oak Leaf Church.