What's going on?

I know that those of you who are using bloglines are frustrated because you can't add www.toddlive.net to your feeds. Trust me, you aren't the only one. We'll figure it out soon and I will let you know!

Ch-Ch-Changes...

A year ago, I barely knew what a blog was. Now it has become a part of my daily activity. Needless to say, I am really excited about having a new blog. So, if you are looking for me, you will have to go to www.toddlive.net.

It will be nice to have my own design and not to have the same template that 46 million other people have. Thanks Jon for designing this thing. You are the man!

Weekend Random Thoughts...

1. This is post #250. I can't believe that people actually read this stuff.
2. A new blog is coming! It should be up by Monday.
3. Joni and I spent 26 hours in the car over 3 days.
4. I love having the opportunity to hang out with Joni. We had lots of stuff to talk about. She is certainly the smarter and better looking of the 2.
5. We just added the 5th (and final) member of our staff. It has been amazing how things are coming together. Check out JR's comments on his new blog (jrlive.net).
6. I am learning so much about God and trusting Him. I am loving trusting Him for huge things.
7. Some people have asked me "what happens if this all doesn't work out"? There is no plan B. We are confident that God has called us to do this and He will provide.
8. Being away from your kids for a couple of days makes you miss them and appreciate them like crazy!
9. It is awesome to have people that you can trust to take care of your kids while you are away.
10. Looking for houses is exciting and scary, especially when yours hasn't sold yet.
11. I care deeply about what happens at Crosspointe after I leave, contrary to popular belief.
12. It is amazing how quickly your emotions can change.
13. I really enjoyed beating Stevie at NCAA 07. The strawberry milkshake was amazing.
14. I am still praying for Jason. I know that these are really tough days!
15. This guy has become one of my favorite people!

So you had a sad day?

In 1996, I was a freshman at North Greenville University. One night I was sleeping soundly when something woke me up very quickly. As I sat up, I realized that water had been dumped on my by Jason Patterson and Bryan Lark. This was my introduction to these guys. We have since become the best of friends (and I am not sure how that happened).

Today I drove to SC to attend the funeral of Jason's dad. Robert, or Big R (what most people called him), was an incredible man. It was awesome to see how he had impacted the lives of so many. It was one of the saddest funerals that I have ever attended. Cancer cut short the life of a man that was the 'real deal'. He was a model of integrity, godliness, and love for people.

Here are a couple of thoughts that ran through my head while I sat there:

1. Big R's death has really caused me to think about my family. He was basically the same age as my parents. It seems way too early in life for my friends' parents to be dying.

2. I want my kids to be able to stand and say the kind of things that Jason said about his dad.

3. I want to live in such a way that people will agree with the thing that are said on stage about my life. I don't want some guy to have to make up some stuff!

4. I love guys like Big R. They are serve and love in a very unselfish way. He allowed God to use him in an incredible way to make a difference in the lives of so many....including mine!

I know that this was a morbid post, but it is what is on my mind!

Interesting Days Ahead...

Tomorrow, Joni and I will get up at 4:00 am to drive to SC for a funeral. One of my greatest friends in all the world just lost his dad in a battle with cancer. It is really hard for me to imagine that one of my friends, who is about the same age, just lost his dad. Jason, Rita, and Casey, please know that we are praying for you guys. I can't imagine the pain you are feeling at this time.

We'll have dinner with our parents and hang out with them. Friday morning, we will have to drive to Acworth early to meet with a realtor and look at some houses. Then, we will hang out with some friends and drive back to Memphis on Saturday. It seems like we are going to be driving pretty much all weekend.

It is going to be a few interesting days and I am sure that they will be very tiring. I am looking forward to spending lots of time hanging out with Joni, just the two of us.

By the way, I think I forgot to mention yesterday that I ran over a cheerleader when I was in the Hamster Ball. She will never been the same after being run over by a fat guy in a clear inflatable ball!

What do you get?

What do you get when you mix a horrible NBA team, 4 guys looking to have a good time, great seats, bbq nachos from Bigfoot Lodge, and 2 huge inflatable balls? A very, very interesting night! Josh, Andrew, JR and myself all went downtown for dinner and a Grizzlies game.

For some strange reason, JR and I were selected to participate in a hamster ball race. The objective? Weave in and out of some cones the length of the court and back. Sound easy enough? Not so much when you are inside a huge inflatable ball. JR defeated me by a narrow margin. I was trying not to fall because we refused to wear the ridiculous looking helmets. They promised to give us free tickets to next Monday's game. Instead they gave us a medium tshirt and squishy ball. It was worth it just for the experience.

The Grizzlies lost, the food was great, and a good time was had by all! We seem to be able to make any night interesting! I don't know anyone else that can say they rolled down the court in a big hamster ball!! Thanks for the hookup, Andrew and Josh.

Prayer

I have had several people ask me about how they can pray for my family and JR's family during this transition time. Here are a few specific things that you can help us to pray for:

1. Wisdom.
2. The right people to lead the student ministry at Crosspointe.
3. Buyers for our houses.
4. Houses for us to buy.
5. Our wives and kids to be able to adjust well.
6. People to jump on board with the vision of Freedom Church.
7. $$ needed for Freedom Church. We need over $300,000 dollars for the first year.
8. 2 Laptops (Everything for us is about to have to become portable.)
9. The people of Acworth, GA

Thanks for praying with us and for us!

He is Risen!

1 Corinthians 15:14 And if Christ has not been raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your faith is useless.

15 And we apostles would all be lying about God—for we have said that God raised Christ from the grave. But that can’t be true if there is no resurrection of the dead.

16 And if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you are still guilty of your sins.

18 In that case, all who have died believing in Christ are lost! 19 And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world.

20 But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead.

Good Friday

I love Easter! I love it because it is an opportunity for us to take a break from the busyness of life to spend some time focusing on the HIGH price that Jesus paid for you and for me. I get so overwhelmed when I think about how Jesus was willing to go through all of the pain and agony of the cross for ME! One of my goals in life is to make sure that I remind myself of that on a daily basis and NEVER get over what God has done and is doing in my life!

Toby Mac meets Chris Farley..

I am a HUGE Toby Mac fan! Check out this video for a good laugh. Several times, I ahve thought about it randomly and just started laughing. Maybe it is so funny to me because I identify with it so well. Check it out:

http://www.tobymac.com/default.aspx
(Scroll down to the featured video)

It's Gettin, Gettin, Gettin Kind of Hectic...

As the days go by,

...I get more excited about Freedom Church and the future.


...I get more sad about leaving Crosspointe, where I have been for 7 years.

...I fear the unknown even more.

It is a very awkward time to have Lollis or Lee as your last name. I will be posting some specific things that you can help us to pray about. I'm out! It is time to go hang out with some of the greatest students in the entire world!

Entertain for a Change

Over the past few weeks, I have had several people make a comment to me that I simply doesn't make sense to me. I understand the comment, I just do not understand why a person would think that way. Here's the comment:

"People shouldn't come to church to be entertained. I guess they were just coming for the show."

I totally agree that Jesus should be all that we need. His Word and His presence should be enough. But here is my issue with that statement.

Entertainment shouldn't matter. But it sometimes does. We would be ridiculous if we didn't acknowledge that we are competing for people's attention. People have very busy lives and will not give their time to something that is irrelevant, pointless, and boring. Things have changed. People will no longer attend church just because they are "supposed to".

Churches should be the most creative places on the planet. God gave us a brain and allows us to use it freely. We have the opportunity to create an atmosphere that is appealing to those that are far from God. However, most of the time we spend little time and energy making it excellent. People tend to make statements like the one above because their churches are lazy.

There are those people out there that think that their attendance only counts when they are miserable at church. They feel like there should be no fun (After all, God demands reverance, right?). I think the opposite of that is true. Church should be fun. It should be a place we desire to go to. We should get out of bed on Sunday mornings longing to go to worship. In fact, I think it is a sin to make church boring. How can we take the most exciting news in all the world and communicate it in a way that people are not interested? That, my friends, is a sin!

You want me to tell you what is exciting? LIFECHANGE. People having an authentic encounter with the Creator of the Universe will create excitement and buzz that no one can contain. People beginning a relationship with Jesus. People getting set free from the chains of sin. People being forgiven.

If I have to do creative things to draw in the people, that's perfectly ok with me. Because I know if we can get them in the door, we can see God do something amazing in their lives. Without a doubt, I am willing to entertain someone, if that means that their life can be changed for an eternity.