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I read Proverbs 15:15 in my time with God this morning. It struck a chord with me. Isn’t it true that a cheerful heart has a continual feast? When I generally approach life with a positive outlook, the things that come my way don’t throw me for a loop. If I’ve got a cheerful heart, I experience life in a cheerful way. It’s a continual feast. More of the same.

I think the opposite is true as well. Yes, contentment breeds contentment, but discontentment breeds discontentment. Anger breeds anger. Stress breeds stress. Worry breeds worry. I worry about why I’m worrying so much, don’t you?

Today I want to choose joy and see if I get more joy as the day goes on.

I can’t think of a time when I’ve been more tired in a LONG time. What a weekend. This is a great kind of tired! This is gonna be a long one. You could say a lot has gone on this weekend!

I’ll recap the service from today first:

• I really enjoyed the service today. I know I say that a lot, but it’s true. I can’t believe this journey I get to be on. It’s more fun than I deserve!
• Began No Perfekt People Allowed today in Acts 2. The crucifixion and resurrection remove all the walls between us and God for everybody.
• Lots of new faces today, many from the Egg Drop. Lots of regulars gone as well, which is to be expected as a lot of our students and young adults go home to go to church with family. Still by far the biggest day we’ve had.
• It felt like God sent us a lot of new people today but not more than we were ready to receive and welcome the way He’d intend. Today felt really healthy and I think we all needed it after yesterday!
• Setup went really fast today. And we got lots of chairs set up. Thanks to the BCM at WSCC for the extras.
• Thanks to everybody who sacrificed part of their Easter for ministry to someone else! Our team is incredible. In the words of our guest sound guy: “You guys have a lot of committed people.” I couldn’t agree more!
• Love hearing stories about people who say this is the first time since they were kids themselves that they actually look forward to going to church. That keeps me going.
• Can’t wait to get to John 4 for the next 2 weeks of NPPA. Hope you can make it! Jesus is able to take our past, make us new, and then use it to impact others.

Okay, let’s talk Egg Drop.

• Overall, it’s hard to imagine an event this large happened this weekend. It was an absolute blast to me.
• Our volunteers knocked it out of the park. Think about this: 12 weeks ago, we weren’t even in existence. Yesterday over 50 people gave their time, energy, and shoes to make this happen. I can’t even communicate how proud I am of Arrowhead Church.
• We were expecting 500 people for the event. We were prepared for 1,000-1,200. Nearly 3,000 came. As you can imagine, that brought out a set of challenges.
• Registration was set to open at 10:30, which was 30 minutes earlier than we had advertised. People started trickling in at 9:00 and were pouring in by 9:30. Our volunteers still handled it really well.
• The pilot of the helicopter had to call an audible at the last minute for everybody’s safety. He had to drop in another area. Many people won’t understand that, but I’m glad he did what he did!
• We learned a ton and will process this week all that we can do better. Who knows? Egg Drop 2010 may be just around the corner.

Gotta run. I’ve got an appointment with Tiger and Phil. Have a great week!

If you think you’re perfect, stay away from Arrowhead Church on Easter and the 3 weeks that follow! We’ll start a teaching series in the Gospel of John called No Perfekt People Allowed. I’ve been looking forward to this series for a long time. Churches, whether rightfully or not, get the reputation of being made up of plastic people who refuse to be real. We’re exposing the fact that we’re not perfect for the next 4 weeks. Arrowhead is a place where it’s okay to not be okay.

I’m in a men’s small group on Tuesday night where we’re reading the book Why Men Hate Going to Church. It’s a great read. The sad fact is that in most of America’s churches women drastically outnumber men. The book argues that churches are actually structured and operate in a way to reach women more so than men.

If you don’t know who he is, Matt Redman is a great British worship leader. Here’s a video where he talks about the issue of worship music and it’s often-feminine nature.

At my current count, there are 44 people in Dunkin Donuts right now. We don’t have money or jobs, but we’ve got enough for Munchkins! “New” is a powerful concept. As a new church, we get the privilege of experiencing it too. I pray God builds something lasting from all the momentum we experience. (And I pray Dunkin Donuts does too! We needed it here in Motown!)

Easter is a celebration that no one is powerful enough to hold down the One that gave us life! Acts 3:15 must have been a wake up call for those who were there at the crucifixion. Our sins cost Him His life but He defeated death and brings life to us!

This is a great post from Shawn Lovejoy, pastor of Mountain Lake Church in Cumming, GA. Couldn’t have said it better myself, though I’ll try later on the week in a post about our upcoming series beginning on Easter!

Days like today are why we do what we do!

• That’s not because the crowd was good, which it was (a tie for the biggest crowd we’ve ever had).
• It’s because some real life-change took place. We’ve spent 2 weeks talking about what you do when you’ve walked away from God. You know He’s working when people are willing to come out and tell their stories, and that’s what took place today. Hearing people say “that message was for me” when the topic is what it has been is a powerful experience.
• I’m absolutely blown away at how you guys have responded to the Egg Drop. It’s going to be incredible seeing over 50 volunteers working together to serve our community on Saturday!
• Had lunch with the college students who have been coming to Arrowhead today. I really believe God is about to show off on the campuses of Carson Newman and Walters State. I love college students because college was when God began shaping me in big ways. We don’t want to just be another option for a campus ministry. We want to offer students a place to connect across generations and a place to serve. It’s so cool to hear them desire the same things.
• Music went great today. Tyler and the band (Zach, Carson, Hank, Stewart & Jessica) turned up the energy level today. I thought they knocked it out of the park. God gave us a little freedom today!
• Student small group again tonight. Great time talking about putting our faith into action.

Gonna see how long I can make it watching the ACM Awards before I fall asleep. Have a great week!

It’s so easy to get caught up thinking we’re responsible for the results of our lives. We’re responsible for our actions, but we’re not responsible for the results. The very fact that you and I are alive means God gave us life.

That means everything else is Him too. We have choices but He brings about His results. I don’t mean to over-spiritualize life, but think about it: He directs your steps (Proverbs 20:24). Why are you healthy? Because He’s allowed it. Why did you go to church today where you did? Because He wanted to speak to you.

The Egg Drop is in the newspaper, planned and promoted. Nearly 5,000 invite cards have been handed out or will this week. Our Easter services are coming next Sunday. But every time somebody gets an invite card this week, there’s the possibility for the supernatural to take place. God can direct any individual’s steps this week in the direction He intends for their life to go.

That’s what happened in the Book of Acts. It wasn’t natural that people who didn’t even think about Jesus met Him in chapter 2. It wasn’t natural that new relationships formed between people who previously didn’t know each other or God and that thousands were “added to their number.” It wasn’t natural when people sacrificed their time and resources so the work of God could multiply.

But that’s what happened. When you pray for Arrowhead this week (or for your church if you don’t go to Arrowhead), pray for supernatural unexplainable results. Pray for those results they saw in the Book of Acts!

We made the Tribune again folks!