I got to have lunch with Perry Noble last summer, and one topic that came up as I fired out questions as fast as I could was his absolute insistence that pastors not burn themselves out. Coming from a guy who nearly died from a nervous breakdown and has been vocal about battling depression (despite seeing thousands of people come to Christ as his church grew to over 10,000 in a small town), I definitely listened.

One thing he constantly teaches young bucks like me is to realize I’m not a super-pastor who needs to be the only voice my church hears. In fact, he encourages guys to not preach more than 42 times a year and to have at least a couple times each year where the pastor takes two Sundays off in a row. This is because preparing a sermon (well, preparing a sermon the right way) and preaching multiple services will literally drain you. On top of counseling, managing staff, worrying about church finances, working on improving ministries, planning for the future, AND constantly working on the next Sunday’s message, it can definitely get pretty grueling. Don’t get me wrong. I love every bit of it! But every once in a while I heed that godly counsel I got last summer and I take a little break from the pulpit to recharge my batteries.

And they are definitely recharged! I am so stinkin’ pumped to be back in the saddle this Sunday at OneLife. We are kicking off a new series about the Old Testament character Joseph and it is going to be great. It won’t be your usual Sunday School study about his coat and brothers who didn’t like him. We’re going to see how he dealt with a CRAZY family past (can’t we all relate to that!?), how he kept from getting revenge when he was framed in a SCANDALOUS way, and how he forgave the very people he should have hated the rest of his life. It’s gonna be incredible and life-changing!

I really hope you’ll be there and that you don’t come alone (10 or 11:30 at Powell HS!). The next four weeks will lead us up to our Super Bowl – Easter – and we need to get ramped up. Let’s make Knoxville an impossible place to live and not hear about Jesus in a real way!

Last year we emptied our bank account on the day before Easter to host the Powell Egg Drop. As amazing as it was to see literally thousands of people coming to an event we hosted for our community, it was TOO big! If we were to do it again, we would literally need a bigger field with tons more parking (just ask anyone who tried to get through Emory Road that day…yikes!). One day we’ll do it again, but for now we decided to think of a better way to do something for the families of our community.

Then one night I was watching “Super Nanny” right after our baby was born. After thinking to myself 1,000 times, “I sure hope our family never turns out that way!” I then thought, “What will keep us from being like that?” Then it hit me. This is something OneLife can do to truly impact our community!

So this year we are doing something to reach out to the families of Knoxville that will have lasting value. An egg drop makes for a fun day, but really doesn’t do much after that. What we are hosting this year can last for months or even years to come. We are hosting the Lace Up Parent Conference.

This conference won’t be your typical, boring conference. It will be fun. It will be entertaining and energetic. It will be OneLife! Think about the Christmas Eve Service but packaged for parents. And on top of that, we are bringing in two of the leading experts on parenting in the country who teach in a way that will have you laughing but also making some changes to forever impact your family and kids.

So mark your calendar for April 15 and 16 and help us spread the word! Registration is now open at www.knoxparents.com and is only open to the first 400 people who register! So you better register now and tell everyone you know to do the same!

Truett Cathy, founder of the Christian Chicken (aka Chic-fil-a) once said “Focus on getting better before getting bigger. If we get better, our customers will force us to get bigger.” In a sense, that’s where we are as a church right now. We are looking hard at what needs to get “better” for us to truly reach more people instead of just trying to get bigger.

One area that we are focusing on is OneLife Kidz. We have an incredible group of volunteers that is growing weekly. So now we are trying to improve our processes and systems as church leadership to give them everything they need to be successful. Since January we’ve made some great improvements. Elementary areas were re-branded, pre-school rooms were moved around, curriculum was secured for toddlers, and leaders have been put in place.

Now we’re making even more improvements. The biggest one parents will notice this weekend is computerized check-in. We’ve been slow to move to this simply because of the cost, but now we have so many kids coming we need it to get them all checked-in quickly! So we’ve made the investment and as a parent, I know parents will really appreciate the improvements.

Here’s what you’ll notice:

• Check-in will be much faster! A volunteer will type your name in a computer and bam…a name tag for your child, diaper bag (if needed), and security tag/receipt for the parent will all be instantly printed!
• This “receipt”, which is required to pick up your child for security reasons, will include a uniquely generated ID number each week so if parents are needed, that ID number will be shown on the screen in the auditorium.
• The child’s tag will now display any allergies or special notes, letting our volunteers know easily what special considerations need to be made.
• Parents will be asked to no longer enter the child’s room. We have so many kids it gets too crowded! For example, some services will have as many as 10 toddlers or pre-schoolers in each room. When all the kids combine with parents and volunteers, it makes for a hectic time and one that isn’t the safest or cleanest for the kiddos. So now parents will be asked to stop at the door and their child will enter from that point.

Another big change that is CLOSE to happening is what we will call “Round 2.” This is a room for kids whose parents volunteer one service and attend another service. Instead of being in the same class both hours, we will have a special room just for fun for those kids who are there both services.

I am PUMPED about the changes being made for our kids! If you want to be on the front lines of helping us make it happen while making a huge difference in the lives of our kiddos, email volunteer@onelifeknox.com today!!!

Parents, check out what the new check-in tags and security tags will look like:

Six months ago we outlined our non-negotiables as a church called “The Gauge.” This is a list we use to literally gauge how we are doing at accomplishing our goal to see people discover God and how their one life can make a difference.

One of the non-negotiables is “We Reproduce.” Healthy organisms reproduce and so, too, should healthy churches. Yesterday morning I got to see that in action and it pumped me up!

First, we are in between series and I wanted to give a couple of our staff guys the chance to preach and develop their skills in that area. Today was our Volunteer Coordinator Kydon Bowen. I got to work with him throughout the week on prepping it, and I knew the whole time it would be great. He didn’t disappoint! The fact that I got to help “reproduce” a new preacher at our church fired me up all week long! If you missed it, you need to check it out here.

Second, I went to OneLife’s set-up at 8:30 expecting to be needed. Not only was I not needed, but everything was almost done already! It was Spring Break, the time change had everybody an hour behind on sleep, the fearless leader for our volunteers was focused on preaching, but yet our awesome volunteers didn’t skip a beat! Once again, reproduction was key. Lots of volunteers who weren’t around six months ago were there making it happen because we’ve reproduced the number of volunteers and opportunities. It was a blast to just get to hang with them for a few minutes.

Next, I got to meet with a group of men from a church launch team during OneLife’s 10:00 service and then they attended the 11:30 service. These guys will be moving to Knoxville from Charlotte in 2011 to launch a new church in the Turkey Creek area. They asked some great questions about managing ministry and marriage. On top of that, we hosted another church planter from Murfreesboro who will be launching a new church there this fall. I love getting to network with new churches and the opportunity to help THE Church!

Finally, having the day off meant I got to go check out Overflow Church, a church in South Knoxville that we got to help plant. We were their sponsor church, had some OneLifers join their launch team, supported them financially, and helped with some of their volunteer teams. Yesterday was only their ninth Sunday since launch and it was a great experience! Signage at the middle school where they meet was great, greeters took us straight to kids check-in, the nursery workers took great care of our child, and Pastor Josh preached an incredible message about how to deal with anger. It was INCREDIBLY encouraging to see this church that we got to help get started doing so well!

OneLife, the State of the Church is strong and it will continue to be…as long as we reproduce!

Yesterday we took 30 OneLifers to an annual one-day conference at NewSpring Church called Unleash. It is a conference for church leaders and volunteers to learn and be encouraged from this church, which started 11 years ago in a small town and now has more than 10,000 in attendance each week!

This church and their pastor have been HUGE helps in getting OneLife started so I was pumped to take such an awesome group of OneLifers to check it out. I took some notes from the two amazing main sessions taught by Perry Noble and the breakout session for Senior Pastors, also led by him. Here’s what I learned, got reminded or was pumped up to hear:

• “You can’t water down the Gospel! It’s the GOSPEL! Jesus told stories. Did he water it down?”
• “Social justice without Jesus is social injustice. People don’t need a blanket they need JESUS.”
• “The church doesn’t have an agenda. It has a Savior! God’s not green. Kermit is!”
• “So-called mature people aren’t mature. Here’s what I’ve learned. Mature people give up their rights first.”
• “Two questions parents want to know about their kids at church – Did you have fun? What did you learn? Set up your kids ministries for that!”
• “If you make a pros and cons list to make decisions, you’ll never make a God-sized decision. The cons will always outweigh the pros!”
• “Pastor, if your church isn’t on fire for Jesus…look in the mirror.”
• “When you step out to do God’s vision, people won’t see the whole picture and they’ll think you’re crazy!”
• “Church staff and leaders – you can always submit to Godly authority and trust that the end result will be ok.”
• “You must care more for staff and volunteers for who the are than for what they do.”
• “Too many staff in the Church want to be known instead of being used! They want to be discovered more than they want to be developed!”
• “A good leader asks ‘Do I get to do that?’ instad of ‘Do I have to do that?’”
• “Staff and volunteers can take a cue from Jonathan in 1 Samuel 14:7. Tell your leader/pastor ‘Do all you have in mind. I am with you heart and soul.’”

OneLifers, God wants to do something fresh at our church and we have some big dreams. Are you with me heart and soul?! I hope so. I can’t do it without you.

Hey Volunteers…if you were at Unleash, what did I leave out? What did you learn? How were you challenged and encouraged?