Life Point Blog

Sunday Night Mind Dump

* - I was very surprised at number of people in church today. We had a GREAT crowd...
* - Our set up team is doing a really good job setting up and taking down... thanks guys you are awesome
* - We had a lot of first time guests today and all were pumped about Life Point.
* - We got 2 new couples who are anxious to get plugged in awesome!
* - I am glad Christmas Classics series is over but I loved todays sermon on PRAYER...
* - New England is undefeated!!! The Falcons still stink and The playoffs begin yea!
* - Clemson is going to kick Auburns butt tonight in the Chick Fillet Bowl
* - Cant wait until tomorrow 2008 football, turnip greens cornbread rice and black eyed peas
* - Next weeks new serie will be on the Vision for Life Point ... I cant wait

Sunday Night Wind Down: The Best OF Etta James

Sunday Night Mind Dump

* Man what an awesome service today. Everything clicked. It was awesome
* Tammy had a bunch of kids and did an outstanding job. She is a GREAT Children's Pastor
* The music was awesome
* Terry, our piano player has an AWESOME voice... reminds me of Shirley Caesar
* This was the hardest week of my life... stressful but it turned out REALLY well
* Clemson Basketball Team lost to Mississippi... whats up with that
* Took Management Team to ZA ZA's a gourmet pizza place owned by Joe Dimaggio Jr. THE BEST Bolognese
* Todd loves his pink candle
* We had a new family come today that will be a huge asset to LPC
* We have got TONS of new stuff coming after first of year
* Santa comes tomorrow night...YEA!!!
* I am really pumped about our next series DESIGN...all about our vision
* I love all the people at Life Point and am so lucky to be apart of a GREAT Group of people
* Our Web Site launches in one week

Sunday Night Wind Down..... Christmas Classics... Songs of The Early Years

Sunday Night Mind Dump

* I got to tell you I am REALLY REALLY Tired
* Today was an UNBELIEVABLE Service ( I know they all are)
* I love it when I done preaching and am so so wiped out and all sweaty and dont remember what I said
* Scott is 35 today.. HAPPY BIRTHDAY .. He is also THE BEST WORSHIP LEADER
* Music ROCKED I mean it ROCKED... We really have a GREAT worship team and they are doing it
* It was great to have Terry back where she belongs... on piano. She was doing final school stuff
* We had a great crowd, lots of new faces and tremendous fellowship
* Rick looked really good in his reindeer ears while giving the welcome. We told him it was his initiation
* Rick is really gullible... but A GREAT ADDITION TO OUR STAFF
* Tina is now on staff handling all the First impressions stuff and helping with womens ministry.
* I cant wait to eat MASTER CHEF Toms cooking Wednesday Night. Its our 1st Life Point Christmas Party
* We are playing "Dirty Santa" ... watch out... I already bought my gift... SOOO COOOL
* One lady who I was praying for was there today and I know she is going to heaven... NEW CHRISTIAN
* YEA GOD!!! Its all about getting people to JESUS
* Dolphins WON.. YEA...Falcons Sux royally
* We got some BIG changes coming after first of year...stay tuned... Its ALL good
* I gave my blood today... really ... we sponsored a blood drive for Red Cross. Awesome
* We are getting really really cold weather coming... low of 60 degrees and high of only 75 Life is rough
* Scotts mom and dad ROCK.... gave us tables for our cafe ...THANK YOU Gary & Sandy
* I cry every time I see White Christmas Movie... we used that in church today
* Next Sunday we are using Christmas At The Kranks.. can't wait... Talking about The GIFT....
* I never want to take for granted that God gives me the honor of doing this every week
* I get to do this next again week ... AWESOME!!!!

Sunday Night Wind Down... Amy Grant Tennessee Christmas

How Are You Growing

EVERYTHING Bil Cornelius writes is a golden nugget. I have to share his latest post. HUGE!!!

12:08 PM (4 hours ago)
How Are You Growing
from My Weblog by Bil Cornelius

Yesterday I talked about he conference coming up this February, where I will be sharing some insights on being a resilient leader (www.churchplanters.com). This conference got me thinking...here's a question we should all be grappling with: Do we have a growth plan? So you want to be a better leader...how's that going to happen unless you plan on growing? This is why I believe so much in conferences. At leadership conferences you get to learn from people who are leading their field. You get to learn what you didn't even know you needed to learn! In my opinion, seminars are the seminary of the future. This is not to say that we don't need theological education (I've got it hanging on my wall as I write,) but that once we have graduated, we are not finished learning. Show me your bookshelf and I can determine the year you died...it's the last book you read. Here's my growth plan:

1. Stay in God's Word regularly.

2. Go to at least 2 conferences a year (not ones I'm teaching at).

3. Read one book a month.

4. Listen to mentors (just talked to Ed Young today...and of course, he taught me something new in one conversation.)

5. Attempt something new in our church that scares me at least once or twice a year.

6. Stay accountable to my wife, my closest friends, and my church leadership team.

What is your growth plan? It doesn't have to mimic mine, but I can promise you this...even if it's a bad plan, it's better than no plan.

What's Important To Us

I want people to know what we value. We have written somethings that I will post soon that can be used freely that show what we believe, what we want to do and what Life Point is all about. Here is a graphic I made a while back that clearly communicates who Life Point is and what we value.

LED ZEPPELIN returned to the stage

LED ZEPPELIN returned to the stage last night with their first full set in 19 years. Original members JIMMY PAGE, ROBERT PLANT and JOHN PAUL JONES were joined by dead drummer JOHN BONHAM’s son, JASON, 41. The trio — with a combined age of 183 — burst on stage and opened with Good Times Bad Times, the first track of their debut album. I saw them in concert twice in 70's and would have given anything to be there last night. If they come to USA I promise Henry will be there no matter where they are...
Check out the genius set-list for the comeback gig of the year.

1 - Good Times Bad Times
2 - Ramble On
3 - Black Dog
4 - In My Time Of Dying
5 - For Your Life
6 - Trampled Underfoot
7 - Nobody’s Fault
8 - No Quarter
9 - Since I’ve Been Loving You
10 - Dazed And Confused
11 - Stairway To Heaven
12 - Song Remains The Same
13 - Misty Mountain Hop
14 - Kashmir
15 - Whole Lotta Love
16 - Rock N Roll

Please get on your knees and pray for a live album of last night....wow :-)))))))

How to Get Your First Time Guests to Come Back

We are starting to get a lot of visitors coming to Life Point church. I want them to come back. I came up with a check list we will be using. Here are some facts to consider:


Fact #1 - Your visitors make up their minds regarding your church in the first ten minutes.
Before a first-time guest has sung an inspiring song, watched a compelling drama or well-produced video vignette or heard your well-crafted sermon they have made up their mind whether or not to return. But, you probably spend more time and energy on the plan and execution of the worship service than preparing for the greeting and welcoming of your first-time guests.
Action - Use the following questions as a quick checklist:
• Are parking attendants in place?
• Is there appropriate signage?
• Are your ushers and greeters performing the “right” job?
• Is the environment user-friendly and accepting to guests?

Fact #2 - Most church members are not friendly.
Churches claim to be friendly and may even advertise that fact. But my experience in visiting churches as a first-time guest demonstrates that most church members are friendly to the people they already know, not to guests.
Watch to see if your members greet guests with the same intensity and concern before and after the worship service as they do during a formal time of greeting. The six most important minutes of a church service, in your visitors’ eyes, are the three minutes before the service and the three minutes after the service.
Action - Encourage your church family to:
• Introduce themselves with genuineness.
• Find out if guests have questions about the church.
• Introduce guests to others who may have an affinity or connection.

Fact #3 - Church guests are highly consumer-oriented.
If your church building is difficult for newcomers to navigate, if your people are unaccepting and unfriendly, another church down the street may have what they’re looking for. You need to look at your church through the eyes of a first-time guest. Rick Warren says that the longer a pastor has been a pastor the less he thinks like a non-pastor.
Action: Consider employing objective, yet trained, anonymous guests to give an honest appraisal. Many restaurants, retail stores, and hotels utilize the service of one or more “mystery guests” to provide helpful analysis of welcoming and responding to the consumer. Churches would be well served to utilize a similar service.

Fact #4 - The church is in the hospitality business.
Though our ultimate purpose is spiritual, one of our first steps in the Kingdom business is attention to hospitality (Hebrews 13:2). Imagine the service that would be given to you in a first-class hotel or a five-star restaurant. Should the church offer anything less to those who have made the great effort to be our guests?
Action - Encourage members to extend hospitality to guests by offering...
• to sit with them during the church service
• to give them a tour of the church facilities
• to eat lunch with them after service
• to connect with them later in the week

Fact #5 - You only have one chance to make a good first impression.
Your first-time guests have some simple desires and basic needs. They decide very quickly if you can meet those criteria. The decision to return for a second visit is often made before guests reach your front door.
Action - Use the following questions as an evaluation tool:
• Are you creating the entire experience, beginning with your parking lot?
• Are you consciously working to remove barriers that make it difficult for guests to find their way around and to feel at home with your people?
• Do newcomers have all the information they need without having to ask any embarrassing questions?
• Are your greeters and ushers on the job, attending to details and anticipating needs before they are expressed?
• Does anything about your guests’ first experience make them say, “Wow!” and want to return?

Sunday Night Mind Dump

* It was a GREAT DAY!!!
* We were down in numbers but several new people
* Service went off with NO Technical problems!!!
* The people at Starbucks and Panera Bread are the best people to work with
* Our women's ministry got kicked off Saturday... Way to go Tammy and Tina
* Christmas Classics got kicked off with a bang and I LOVE Charlie Brown 's Christmas
* Tyler, Scott and Missy really did a great job on music
* How many days until Christmas?
* Went to Shanes Rib Shack for lunch and I got some collards that are almost better than moma's.... almost
* Clemson will kick Auburns butt in Atlanta December 31st
* We may be doing our second location at FGCU...stay tuned
* I am tired.....

Sunday Night Wind Down: MILES DAVIS: KIND OF BLUE (1959 ver)

Men's Ministry

MAN UP!!! That will be our theme as we start thinking about putting together our men's ministry. I am suggesting Man-Point for a name. Because real men have a point. I came up with this graphic and the invite for first get to together. Man Up!! Yea I think I will

Christmas Classics

We start a brand new series THIS Sunday. Our first sermon is called "X-PECTATIONS. It is about what the characters in the Christmas story expected and what really happened.

We also will be having a red cross blood drive next Sunday. The red cross truck will be at the Muvico from 12:00 until 3:00. Hey whats a pint of blood? Also you get a free movie ticket. Our men's ministry is getting ready to kick off on January 9th and we will meet at the Muvico from 7:00 pm til 9:00 pm..

Wow... we are really starting to give life to Life Point. :-)))