Here are some highlights and thoughts from recent days…

• My fantasy football team scored a victory last weekend. Who’s laughing now about selecting Tony Romo to be my quarterback?
• I had lunches with Cliff Marshall, the pastor of Freedom Fellowship in Greer, SC, and Greg Oraham, the pastor of Foothills Community Church in Seneca, SC this week. I really enjoy hearing what God is doing in other ministries…especially when it involves a free lunch.
• Abby scored a couple of goals in her first soccer game. Jacob was voted student council representative from his class. Kayla just wrote a stellar report on Italy and was a starter for her recent volleyball game. I’m pretty proud of my kids.
• Since we are in a very important season of ministry at NewSpring, we’ve all decided we won’t be traveling for vacations and conferences through early October. It’s all hands on deck.
• Oh, in case you’re wondering, I just did the math yesterday. We have 72 full-time and part-time staff members at NewSpring. And, we’re averaging 7,300 people in attendance for the year. That means our attendance to staff ratio is about 100:1. How does that compare to your church?
• Can someone from Furman tell me what a Paladin is? And, more importantly, does knowing your school mascot is a Paladin inspire you to greatness?
• One slight disadvantage to living in the South is the Palmetto Bug. Don’t let the term fool you. It’s a cockroach. And, they’re very big in the South. I’m pretty sure we could put a saddle on one and let Brooke ride it around the house. You should see the process Emily and I go through to determine who gets to kill the cockroaches. I keep telling her she can take the cockroaches, and, as a trade off, I’ll take care of every pesky rhinoceros that gets into our home.

Here are my thoughts and highlights from Zechariah as I continue my journey through the Bible:

• God cares very deeply for his people. "I feel very possessive of them."
• "Quiet, everyone! Shh! Silence before God. Something’s afoot in his holy house. He’s on the move!" If I don’t regularly quiet myself and listen, I may miss a move of God.
• God really wants us to love each other. "At that time, everyone will get along with one another, with friendly visits across the fence, friendly visits on one another’s porches."
• "Does anyone dare despise this day of small beginnings?" I desperately want to be a part of a ministry that impacts the lives of hundreds of thousands of people across the world, but I also need to embrace our situation today when the ministry is small.
• Be alert.
• "Put your minds to a life of responsive obedience to the voice of your God."
• "Should we plan for a day of mourning and abstinence next August." I knew there was a reason why August wasn’t my favorite month of the year.
• "You’re interested in religion, I’m interested in people." What’s my focus? Am I encouraging people to be more religious or to care more deeply about others?
• "God became angry, really angry, because he told them everything plainly and they wouldn’t listen to a word he said."
• Don’t be afraid.
• "Keep your lives simple and honest." Sounds like a simply strategic idea.
• When God does something amazing through a group of people, others are interested in learning more. "People and their leaders will come from all over to see what’s going on. The leaders will confer with one another: ‘Shouldn’t we try to get in on this? Get in on God’s blessing?…What’s keeping us? Let’s go!’"
• "Religious experts spout rubbish. They pontificate hot air." God, please don’t let me become religious.
• "I know their pain and will make them good as new. They’ll get a fresh start, as if nothing had ever happened."
• Part of my responsibility as a dad is to pass the God-sightings on to my children. I need to "keep the story alive" with them.

It’s hard to believe that Unleash 2008 is only six months away. That’s an eternity for some folks, but it’s just around the corner for those of you who are looking for a bargain. Our super-duper-earlier-than-early-bird special runs through the end of September. That means you have less than three weeks to lock in registrations for your groups at last year’s conference rate of $45 per person.

For only $45 you get:

• A one-day conference that fits into your schedule and makes it easy to invite volunteers
• Two main sessions with Perry
• Live music from Lee and the NewSpring band
• Two breakout sessions with NewSpring staff leaders and special guest presenters (more details on that in the coming months)
• Southern hospitality from hundreds of volunteers
• Food and "Cokes" and sweet tea for lunch and breaks
• The opportunity to see our new facility expansion under construction
• The chance to rub shoulders (or hug if you prefer) 2,000 of your closest ministry friends from all over the country

If you’re looking for a deal, now is the time to pull the trigger. Unleash 2008 will be on Thursday, March 13. You can reserve spots now without knowing exactly who will participate. Register by September 30 to save lots of money. If you have questions, email Sarah. She’s very helpful, and she speaks multiple languages including Texan and Pentecostal.

Here are my thoughts and highlights from Haggai as I continue my journey through the Bible:

• God pointed out that "people procrastinate." It’s funny. There are times when I’m waiting on God, and he’s actually waiting on me.
• "Take a good, hard look at your life. Think it over." I need to make it a discipline to step back, consider and pray about where I’ve been and where I’m going.
• God said, "Rebuild the Temple. Do it just for me. Honor me." My life needs to honor God. Often times that just involves listening to God and doing what he says.
• "Put into action the word I covenanted with you… Don’t be timid. Don’t hold back."
• "I am about to shake up everything, to turn everything upside down and start over from top to bottom."

GameTime launched at NewSpring today. I’ve included pictures below to prove it. GameTime is the plan we believe God has given NewSpring to reach people in the Upstate of South Carolina for Jesus. Perry outlined the plan in each of the four services. It includes:

• Opening a new campus in Greenville by next Easter. We’re getting close to acquiring a 60,000 square foot building one exit south of Haywood Mall on I-385. The campus will have a 1,000-seat auditorium with children’s ministry space. Programming in Greenville will be the same as Anderson, but the teaching will be live via satellite video. Perry mentioned today that he hopes to have campuses in every major city in South Carolina within the next ten years.
• Construction of a Student Life Center at the Anderson campus. This will be a 37,000 square foot facility with a 1,000-seat auditorium. It will be the home of both our middle school and high school ministries.
• Expansion of the Anderson campus children’s facility. This 45,000 square foot expansion includes eight new nursery rooms, dedicated space for Special Needs Ministry, three large theaters for elementary-aged children and a renovation of our existing children’s space for preschool rooms.
• Investing in local and global missions. Our primary local focus will be helping the students who attend Homeland Park Elementary School. We are also planning foreign missions efforts. One dime of every dollar raised will be invested into future missions to reach people for Jesus. We’re hoping to raise a total of $20 million for these projects, so as much as $2 million may go to missions.

We’ll have more details, downloads, pictures and videos available on the church’s website in the coming days. I don’t know about your reaction, but the Morgan house was abuzz this afternoon. We’re excited about what God has in store for NewSpring and are praying and talking about how he wants us to get in the game.

One of the local newspapers covered yesterday’s baptism event at NewSpring. Here’s the story from the Anderson Independent-Mail. This was my favorite quote:

Just before entering the water, Kim Jordan admitted her heart was pounding. “I need to follow the example of Jesus,” said Mrs. Jordan, who
started attending NewSpring two years ago. “If it was good for him,
it’s good for me.”

It was an amazing day today at NewSpring. We had an all-church baptism celebration out in the parking lot. Perry invited folks to come tailgate prior to the celebration. The parking lots were full and we had cars parked out in the grass. People went all out with the tailgating. It looked like a Clemson football game with RVs, tents, grills and TVs set up to catch updates on today’s games.

We set up three pools in the parking lot and baptized six people at a time. By the time we were finished, 559 562 people were baptized. It was an incredible experience. I’m not going to be able to sleep tonight…especially since the new GameTime series launches tomorrow morning. Here are some pictures from today.

Because of family and ministry priorities/focus, I don’t often take the time to really engage in any serious dialogue on my blog. I enjoy the conversation. Wish I had more time for it. But, I’m in the season of life where I really have to prioritize where I invest my time.

That said, I knew the "Love Us or Hate Us" post would generate some push back. So, I’ve taken that opportunity to reveal a little bit of my personal passions and convictions. You may still disagree with me–even vehemently, but maybe it will help you understand the heart behind it.

Just so you know, I’m still learning. There’s a lot I don’t know about life. There are mysteries about God that I don’t comprehend. I’m not perfect. And neither is my understanding. I’m still a work in progress.

That said, here’s the conversation generated by "Love Us or Hate Us."

So many updates, but so little time…

• I finally broke down and downloaded the Steve Fee album. I hate to be a crowd-follower, but I’ve really enjoyed the songs Lee and the band have included in the regular worship rotation on Sundays.
• Speaking of worship, this may be one of my favorite Perry posts of all time. Uh, #3…Amen.
• And, while we’re on music, does it scare anyone else besides me that there are four Rihanna songs stored on my iPod?
• I may pass on the iPhone and just wait for the Google Phone.
• MyNakedPastor.com. Love it!
• We ended up with over 100 church nominations for this year’s most innovative churches list. I’m already getting input from the panel. Can’t wait to publish the new list in the January issue of Outreach magazine.
• Steven from Stonecreek Church in Alpharetta, Georgia sent me a gift. It’s a very stylish shirt from the Buckle. This goes back to a joke Steven made when I transitioned to NewSpring earlier this year. Yes, if you send me a free shirt, I’ll mention your church too.
• Death Valley. Wow! Turner Field. Yawn.
• "GameTime" starts this Sunday. Perry is going to use this new series to talk about NewSpring’s future. I’m jazzed about what’s coming next.