Randomness

Rick shows up with his leaf blower every Sunday morning to clean the sidewalks. Why? So that people far from God can experience life in Christ!

Corey scrapes the black marks off the floor at the school. Why? So that people far from God can experience life in Christ!

Kurt puts out directional signs, no matter what the weather is like. Why? So that people far from God can experience life in Christ!

Kelsianne spends the night at my house every Saturday night and brings my kids to church since Joni and I get there at 6am.  Why?  So that people far from God can experience life in Christ!

Our set-up team arrives at 6am.  Why?  So that people far from God can experience life in Christ!

Our tear down team stays until 1:30pm.  Why?  So that people far from God can experience life in Christ!

Other partners (more than I could ever name) park cars, greet people, seat people, run sound, serve in Freedom Kidz, etc.  Why?  So that people far from God can experience life in Christ!

Plain and simple….everything that we do is so that people far from God can experience  life in Christ!!

1.  I am still trying to wrap my mind around what happened yesterday.  It was un-freakin-believable!

2.  We had our biggest crowd…by far.  We also had 10+ people Accept Christ.

3.  I’ve never seen people more excited about coming to church.

4.  I’ve never been more proud of my church than yesterday.  We brought our ‘A’ game!  Every area exceeded expectations.

5.  I know that every church says this, but our partners are the greatest.  Yep, I’m publicly declaring that our partners can beat up your volunteers!

6.  We have ramped up security over the past few weeks and those guys are doing a great job of making Freedom Church a safe place for everyone.

7.  Did I say that our partners are amazing?  There is no way that we could accomplish what we do without them!

8.  Freedom Church was recently featured in an article in the AJC.  Check it here.

9.  I got so pumped up yesterday reading blogs, receiving text messages, and talking with people about what God was doing all over the country.

10.  Some additional thoughts about the day can be found here.

Recently, I have tried to shift my thinking about the partners of Freedom Church.  Maybe it wasn’t a total shift, but more of an adjustment.  I realized that everyday I pray about the opportunities that we have for people to partner with us.

I started to view them as a gift from God.  I know that sounds super spiritual.  But it’s true.  We pray and pray and pray.  Then God sends us the people.   They really are a gift.

Which brings up another question.  How are you treating your partners/volunteers?  Are you treating them like a gift? I think we have done a decent job in this area, but I desire to exceed expectations!

I’d love to hear your thoughts.

1.  The Acworth Egg Drop was amazing.  Seeing the looks on the kids faces as the helicopter dropped the eggs was priceless!

2.  Our partners freakin’ rock!  They helped us to pull of the event without a hitch.

3.  Joni did a great job organizing the event.  She knows how to rally people and is EXTREMELY organized.  She did a great job!  I am a little partial though:)

4.  My sister and her boyfriend were in town this weekend.  We had a good time hanging out with them at Elevation Chophouse and at Atlantic Station.

5.  Sunday morning was incredible.  Pastor J.R. challenged Freedom in a big way to go after this community.  Plus, we had people accept Christ.  That NEVER gets old!

6.  I got to cut grass for the first time this year:(

1.  We are 8 days from the Acworth Egg Drop.  You won’t want to miss this event!

2.  Here’s a secret about me.  After my team loses, I cheer for everyone else’s team to lose too.  Clemson got bounced from the tournament early, so I was hoping my friends’ teams would too.  Now only UNC needs to get beat.

3.  A group of guys from Freedom get together every Friday to play some basketball.  To say that my skills were lacking would be an understatement.

4.  We close out the ‘Let’s Get It On’ Series in a big way this weekend.  Don’t miss it!

5.  By the way, I love the March Madness tournament.  It is the greatest series of sporting events all year.

6.  I am specifically praying for and intentionally inviting 5 families to our Easter services.  How about you?

7.  Did I mention that you don’t want to miss the Acworth Egg Drop?

8.  One of my weekend goals is to finish reading ‘Killing Cockroaches’.

I wasn’t able to watch Biggest Loser last night but I’m positive the following things happened:

*A Temptation Challenge occurred where most people resisted but at least one person caved.

*There was an Elimination Challenge

*Jillian yelled at the people during the Last Chance Work Out.  Bob wanted to pet them.

*The Weigh In took 45 minutes but could’ve took 10 minutes.

*All of the extremely large people cried together.  And cried some more.  And cried some more.

(Disclaimer:  I actually love this show and it has motivated me to lose a lot of lbs.)

1.  Very disappointed with the end of Clemson’s season.  I thought they were a different team this year.  Guess not!

2.  We have a special surprise during the service on Sunday.  You will want to kick yourself in the face if you miss it!

3.  If you aren’t Twittering, you should be.  If you aren’t following me, you should be.

4.  Fantasy Baseball draft on Monday.  Could this be the year?

5.  AIG doesn’t have a lot of friends right now.

6.  I am close to weighing less than I have since I was in high school.

1.  I am excited about going to the churchplanters.com conference next week.  One of the highlights will be connecting with some friends and learning about how we can move forward!

2.  I am especially pumped about this Sunday at Freedom.  It is going to help a lot of people and you will see something that you have NEVER seen before at church.  You’ll also hope to never see it again.  The title of this week’s message:  WE Bare All:  Sometimes I Like to Look at Naked Women. 

3.  This week was extremely productive.  There are some BIG things on the horizon!

4.  I’m loving the fact that Clemson is having a great basketball season.  There used to be nothing to cheer about during this time of year.  Here is a great article about playing at Littlejohn!

5.  We are trying to determine a name for baby #3.  It seems so much harder to pick out names for a girl.

6.  I listened to TD Jakes while running this week.  I think he made me run faster!

1.  Spent the morning hanging out with my kids.  They’re really awesome!

2.  The beginning of 09 has been amazing but especially excited about some stuff that is coming up in the next couple of months.

3.  Running a half marathon(13.1 miles) tomorrow.  Run the Reagan will be the 1st official race that I have ever run that is longer than 3 miles.

4.  What am I watching on TV these days?  American Idol, Biggest Loser, LOST, 24, The Office.  Also pumped up about the return of The Amazing Race this weekend.

5.  Just for the record, I feel that Valentines’ Day is overrated.  I spend time dating my wife and letting her know I love her throughout the year.  So, in the Lollis’ household, it isn’t such a big deal.

Here is this week’s list of random things that you might not know about Todd:

1.  I HATE feet.  I think they are disgusting.  I don’t like people touching my feet and I don’t want to touch anyone else’s feet.

2.  I fell out of a moving car when I was 5.  I broke my right arm, left leg, and almost broke my jaw.  Guess that explains a lot!

3.  Joni and I dated for 7 years!  It took me that long to convince her that I was worth her time.

4.  I was born in SC.  I have also lived in NC, TN, MS, and now GA.

5.  I graduated from North Greenville University in 1999 with a BS in Christian Studies.  I graduated from Mid-America Seminary in 2002 with an M. Div.