We can all learn a lot.

So I got this from a friend of mine.

I normally don’t do these kinda things, but I figured I might as well this time around.  It’s on my Facebook wall, and I figured I’d also put it on my blog.  So here goes.

Rules: Once you’ve been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 16 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 16 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it’s because I want to know more about you.

1. Three years ago, I almost went to North Carolina School for the Arts and majored in Film. Thank God they are a fancy art school that wouldn’t accept me. I would’ve missed out on the extremely valuable experiences I’ve had in the last three years and I wouldn’t be blessed with the life-long friendships I’ve developed.

2. I have an unhealthy love for Texas Holdem.

3. I love big cities. I hope to live in many over the course of my life.

4. When I was little, I dreamed of having many simultaneous professions when I grew up. But living in the now, I’ve realized that it is difficult to be very effective when you’re spreading yourself thin. I’m passionate about many aspects of life and living, but choosing the areas to focus my passion in order to be most effective is something I’ve had to come to terms with. I’m getting there .

5. I’m a nerd. I watch Star Wars. I have a huge tub of Star Wars action figures under my bed at home. I was made fun of on the Voice of Truth trip for buying Star Wars action figures from FAO Schwarz in New York City.

6. One passion I’ve focused is Real Estate. For almost two years I have been a licensed Real Estate Agent (or the fancier title is REALTOR ®……. yes, with the “R” for registered beside the title, crazy I know) with Jason Free Realty in Rome. I can sell any property that is currently on the market in Georgia.

7. Another passion I’ve focused is bridging my Creative Passions for Art, Film and Music with Ministry. I am a part of a team of people planting a new church in Rome Georgia called Connect Rome. Our mission is to Make it Simple for People to Connect to God and Each Other. Our goal is to be a organization that engages people who are far from God. We desire for the environments we create to be so irresistible that people WANT to come back. We want people to know it’s about a Relationship with a Father who will love them no matter what and not some rigorous religion filled with pasty traditions. We want to love on the people who are at the end of their rope and show them the love of a Father that can catch them when they fall. We will always preach Jesus, Jesus and more Jesus and we will never water anything down.

8. I love U2. They might be my favorite band of all time.

9. I believe transparency is very important in many aspects of life – Work, Finances and Relationships just to name a few. Think about it…. would we be in half the messes both individually and as a society if we were completely honest with everyone?

10. I use X3 Watch to keep me from looking at things on the internet I shouldn’t. Pornography is a real addiction with real consequences that too many men write off. X3 Watch is an accountability program put out by XXX Church in California. XXX Church targets Porn Stars with the Love of Christ. Visit www.XXXChurch.com for more info.

11. There is a book called “Good to Great” written by a man named Jim Collins. In this book, he discusses how to go from being a good leader to a Great Leader. There is a quote from the book that I have made a conscience effort to try to live by. The quote is simply this – “Spend more time being Interested and less time being Interesting.”

12. I’m in the process of looking for a mentor who is over the age of 40. If you know any potential candidates, let me know.

13. It is sad I know and I am working on it I promise, but Northpoint Community Church in Alpharetta Georgia and anything that is related to them is like a drug to me.

14. I have love handles and a huge forehead, both of which piss me off and won’t go away. But, I’m slowly coming to terms with the fact that God created me this way for a reason.

15. My family has ties to Jesse James and Donald Trump…. just throwing that out there.

16. If it were up to me, I wouldn’t live in Rome Georgia the rest of my life. There are too many other fascinating locations to experience.

BONUS!
17. Filmmaking (writing, directing and editing) is one of my passions, yet I haven’t seen as many films as most other people. Everyone always asks how I can be a filmmaker if I haven’t seen………………….

……………

18. In the last 10 years, my family and I have driven through 42 of the 50 states. We’re crazy, I know.

19. I was homeschooled from K-12. Try not to hold that against me.

1000 People giving $25 to Transform a City!

Connect Rome is a movement of people trying to Make it Simple for People to Connect to God and Each Other.  We have a desire to see Rome Georgia transformed for good!

People deserve to eat.
Children deserve school supplies and clothes.
Families deserve the opportunity to have a great Christmas.
Marriages deserve to be restored.
And every man, woman and child deserves multiple opportunities to make an informed decision about Jesus Christ.
This takes money.
That’s where you and your friends fit in…

We’re going to raise $25,000 dollars before 2008 ends.  We’re not looking for a few people to give 1000’s of dollars. We are looking for one thousand people to give $25.  God is doing incredible things in Rome, GA.  Would you consider helping play a part?

I need you to do three things.

1) Go Here

2) Consider giving $25.  I know the economy is rough.  Just eat cheap a few days.  Or brew coffee at your house rather than making your morning trip to Starbucks. Make a sacrifice. Invest in the Kingdom. Your donations are tax deductible.  You will get a receipt for your gift.

3) Ask your friends to give.  Send your friends an email or give them a call.  Tell them what we are doing and ask them to consider being a part.  You can post a link to our cause page by copying this link -

https://www.causes.com/fb/donations/new?cause_id=115215&fundraiser_id=18187177&m=e006ddf7

Feel free to post this on your blog, as well.

Thanks friends.  With your support, encouragement, and participation we can show our city how great and awesome our God is!  I am so excited about what he is doing in Rome, GA!!

Soooo, my last 2 weeks?

They have been CRAZY.  I’ve had two relatives die – a grandmother and great-grandmonther, both whom I’ve been pretty close to growing up. I worked ALL last week at a kids conference in Fort Walton Beach Florida called Breakaway.  I learned a valuable life lesson about grace and I got to experience first hand why it’s SO incredible.  The mere fact that when we screw up beyond all thought of redemption, we are offered the compassion, love and acceptance that we don’t deserve makes me wanna go hug someone or something. 

Then yesterday, we had our first launch team meeting for Connect Rome.  We had about 25 people show up, and others that wanted to but couldn’t.  God has really showed up in the whole launch process, even now when we’re still 6 months out from launching, he makes himself look super huge.  I look forward to the coming months to see what else he might do.  You can follow the whole process on Josh’s blog better than you probably could on mine.  

I’d like to share something that I read on Kristian’s blog this morning.  He was applying this to worship leaders, but it’s applicable to anyone who wants to be a part of adding to the kingdom that Jesus has called us to.  It is John 15:1-8 which says:

1“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes[a] so that it will be even more fruitful. 3You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. 5“I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.7If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. 8This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. 

If you are actively pursuing God’s calling in your life, these few verses should be your home.  We are called to not only build others up in the Lord, but also to feed our spirit with the principles that are Holy and Righteous.  We are called to be his hands and feet, but how can we when we have trouble walking on our own?  Hmmmmm.  

Alice Cooper loves Jesus?

So I just came across this quote on Leading Smart’s blog that I have to share it with you guys.  This is a quote from Alice Cooper in the book Life on Planet Rock, page 66-67.

I was pretty much convinced all my life that there was just one God, and there was Jesus Christ, and there was the devil. You couldn’t believe in God without believing in the devil. I always tell bands that the most dangerous thing you can do is to believe in the concept of the devil or the concept of God, because you aren’t giving them full credit.

When you believe in God, you’ve got to believe in the all-powerful God. He’s not just God, he’s the all-powerful God, and he has total control over everyone’s life. The devil on the other hand, is a real character that’s trying his hardest to tear your life apart. If you believe that this is just mythology, you’re a prime target, because you know that’s exactly what Satan wants: to be a myth. But he’s not a myth, of this I’m totally convinced of that.

So here we are. We have God pulling us one way and the devil pulling us another, and we’re in the middle. We have to make a choice. And everyone, at some point in their life, has to make that choice. When people say, “How do you believe this? Why do you believe this?” I just say nothing else speaks to my heart. This doesn’t speak to my intellect, it doesn’t speak to my logic-it speaks right to my heart and right to my soul, deeper than anything I’ve ever thought of. And I totally believe it. That being said, I’m not a very good Christian. I mean, none of us are ever good Christians. That’s not the point. When you’re a Christian, it doesn’t mean you’re gonna be good, it means you’ve got a harder road to pull.

Freaking Incredible! Praise God for people who are real!