I'm going to start a new thing. Every Friday I am going to share with you some random facts about myself. Then as Toccoa Campus staff is added....they will be joining in on this new found fun we call FRIDAY'S RANDOM RANT!
1. I don't particularly like the color red. I especially dislike red cars. I know that hurts the UGA fans feelings, but I just don't like the color. I do however, love to write with red roller ball pens.
2. When I was very young I had to wear corrective shoes. They were incredibly ugly and other kids made fun of me.
3. I was a HUGE HUGE Evil Knievel fan! I spent countless hours setting up and jumping my bike over homemade ramps. I found out that he had died on the day of his funeral. If I had found out earlier, I would have made the trek across the country to attend it.
4. The first restaurant that my parents took me to as a baby was Shakey's Pizza. To this day, pizza is hands down my favorite food.
5. In high school I was a Chorus Geek. I was Chorus President my senior year and an All-State 1st Tenor.
Friday, June 27, 2008
Monday, June 23, 2008
Troutville, Wifi, and Prayer
I had to drive to meet my parents halfway between their house and mine to swap back my children. My parents currently live outside of Philly and my daughters all went up there this past week to, among other things, go watch the Olympic Trials for the women's Olympic gymnastics team.
I arrived a little ahead of schedule at the designated Cracker Barrel in Troutville, Virginia. Yep...Troutville! Sounds like a cool place....? Anyway with a little bit of time to kill I decided to drive around and find some free Wi-Fi! I am still not cool enough to have an iphone. (Actually not light enough to have an iphone. My wife told me I can get one when I lose 20lbs!) So, I drove around until I found some free Wi-Fi outside the local Red Roof Inn. I love this....pull up and have free instant access, internet connection! Woooo Hoooo!
Still there is an even better, free, instant access connect that we can get anywhere.... and that is prayer. Prayer is such a cool gift from God. A way to connect with him....converse....tell him our joys our sorrow, what we are feeling, what we are dealing with, and most importantly to let him know how much we love him! Have you made that connection today? If not, make sure you put aside some time to link-up, upload your praise, and download God's endless grace.
Stay Focused
Play Hard
Honor God
I arrived a little ahead of schedule at the designated Cracker Barrel in Troutville, Virginia. Yep...Troutville! Sounds like a cool place....? Anyway with a little bit of time to kill I decided to drive around and find some free Wi-Fi! I am still not cool enough to have an iphone. (Actually not light enough to have an iphone. My wife told me I can get one when I lose 20lbs!) So, I drove around until I found some free Wi-Fi outside the local Red Roof Inn. I love this....pull up and have free instant access, internet connection! Woooo Hoooo!
Still there is an even better, free, instant access connect that we can get anywhere.... and that is prayer. Prayer is such a cool gift from God. A way to connect with him....converse....tell him our joys our sorrow, what we are feeling, what we are dealing with, and most importantly to let him know how much we love him! Have you made that connection today? If not, make sure you put aside some time to link-up, upload your praise, and download God's endless grace.
Stay Focused
Play Hard
Honor God
Friday, June 20, 2008
Let's go!
I just wanted everyone to know that I have officially given my notice at Square D Company, my employer for the last 16 years and will officially start my new career as the Toccoa Campus Pastor on July 1!
We closed on our new home in Toccoa this past Tuesday (huge God thing!) and will be doing a lot of work there before we move in.
I am so humbled that God has chosen to use me this way. I have spent a lot of time over the last couple months in Toccoa looking for houses and church locations and just driving around and the more I am there, the more excited I get. There is a feeling about Toccoa that feels like people are really searching for something to give them purpose and I am convinced that Foothills will be a place that people will come, find that purpose through a devoted life in Jesus Christ, and their lives will flourish. I can't wait! Peoples lives are going to change...eternities are going to change...and God is going to be glorified!
Things to pray for -
1. Location, location, location! - God already knows where he wants us....pray that God will lead us to it soon.
2. Worship Leader - We are still looking for a person to lead our Worship in Toccoa. This position is HUGE because this person will set the tone weekly for how our Sunday morning experience is received. Again....God already knows who....pray that we find him soon.
3. Childrens Director - We are looking for a part-time childrens director to be over our childrens ministry and Planet Kids. This person has got to be totally soldout to providing an incredible environment and experience for our children on Sunday mornings! Once again, God already knows who.....
4. Personal committment. Pray and ask God what He wants you to do as part of the Toccoa Campus. There are so many volunteer needs that are going to need to be met...First Impressions (greeting, hospitality, parking), Technical (sound, lighting, video), childrens ministry (infants - K5), Planet Kids (grades 1-5), facilities (set-up and tear down if we decide on a portable location), Lifegroup leaders.
5. Me. Please pray for me. I want to be the absolute best Pastor that I can be. I also knows that Satan wants the exact opposite. People matter to God and they matter to me and I am totally sold-out and committed to reaching those people for Christ simply because I KNOW that Jesus changes lives. I expect to be attacked and discouraged from all sides. Pray that I stay focused on our vision at Foothills and the reason we do church the way we do church...and that is simply this "to take people who are far from God, and turn them into fully devoted followers of Christ."
Stay Focused
Play Hard
Honor God
We closed on our new home in Toccoa this past Tuesday (huge God thing!) and will be doing a lot of work there before we move in.
I am so humbled that God has chosen to use me this way. I have spent a lot of time over the last couple months in Toccoa looking for houses and church locations and just driving around and the more I am there, the more excited I get. There is a feeling about Toccoa that feels like people are really searching for something to give them purpose and I am convinced that Foothills will be a place that people will come, find that purpose through a devoted life in Jesus Christ, and their lives will flourish. I can't wait! Peoples lives are going to change...eternities are going to change...and God is going to be glorified!
Things to pray for -
1. Location, location, location! - God already knows where he wants us....pray that God will lead us to it soon.
2. Worship Leader - We are still looking for a person to lead our Worship in Toccoa. This position is HUGE because this person will set the tone weekly for how our Sunday morning experience is received. Again....God already knows who....pray that we find him soon.
3. Childrens Director - We are looking for a part-time childrens director to be over our childrens ministry and Planet Kids. This person has got to be totally soldout to providing an incredible environment and experience for our children on Sunday mornings! Once again, God already knows who.....
4. Personal committment. Pray and ask God what He wants you to do as part of the Toccoa Campus. There are so many volunteer needs that are going to need to be met...First Impressions (greeting, hospitality, parking), Technical (sound, lighting, video), childrens ministry (infants - K5), Planet Kids (grades 1-5), facilities (set-up and tear down if we decide on a portable location), Lifegroup leaders.
5. Me. Please pray for me. I want to be the absolute best Pastor that I can be. I also knows that Satan wants the exact opposite. People matter to God and they matter to me and I am totally sold-out and committed to reaching those people for Christ simply because I KNOW that Jesus changes lives. I expect to be attacked and discouraged from all sides. Pray that I stay focused on our vision at Foothills and the reason we do church the way we do church...and that is simply this "to take people who are far from God, and turn them into fully devoted followers of Christ."
Stay Focused
Play Hard
Honor God
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Closing.....finally!
Today, we are closing on our new home in Toccoa! It has been a long long process of looking and looking and looking. Then we had the challenge of obtaining financing for the new home......that has been a big job in and of itself. But today we will own a home in Toccoa. We don't plan on moving for another month or month and a half because there are some things we need to do to the house prior to moving in.
We will be doing flooring, kitchen cabinets, and painting. Anyone who would like to lend a hand...that would be awesome!
I have got to stop and give God glory for all of this! In our eyes, there were times when this whole thing looked impossible. We spent so many days looking for a house....and some days we would return to Seneca, honestly wondering if this move could really be God's will because we just couldn't find THE house. Then obtaining the financing appeared, from all angles, to be impossible...then we found a guy who was certain he could help us....still, daily there were obstacles. But in the end God revealed that he is bigger than any real estate agent, bigger than any mortgage company. What is impossible for God? Nothing! God has called us to live a life that is totally reliant on Him....I intend to continue to do just that.
Here we come Toccoa!
We will be doing flooring, kitchen cabinets, and painting. Anyone who would like to lend a hand...that would be awesome!
I have got to stop and give God glory for all of this! In our eyes, there were times when this whole thing looked impossible. We spent so many days looking for a house....and some days we would return to Seneca, honestly wondering if this move could really be God's will because we just couldn't find THE house. Then obtaining the financing appeared, from all angles, to be impossible...then we found a guy who was certain he could help us....still, daily there were obstacles. But in the end God revealed that he is bigger than any real estate agent, bigger than any mortgage company. What is impossible for God? Nothing! God has called us to live a life that is totally reliant on Him....I intend to continue to do just that.
Here we come Toccoa!
Monday, June 16, 2008
Link Love
I was talking to one of my best friends, Scott Chatfield the other day. He was complaining how nobody linked to his blog.....
Well Scott had a great post the other day that every husband should read....and be sure to check back often....Scott is a great guy with a lot of great insight and talent.
Read his blog right here!
Well Scott had a great post the other day that every husband should read....and be sure to check back often....Scott is a great guy with a lot of great insight and talent.
Read his blog right here!
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
I've been on the road....
For the last 3 Sundays, I have been visiting other churches in the area. Don't freak out! No need to get your FOTLs in a knot....I am not looking to go any where new..... I mean I LOVE this place. But I have been visiting other churches who do multi-site video venues (like what we are going to be doing in Toccoa)to see how they do it and maybe get some ideas, advice, encouragement, and lots of free coffee and donuts!
May 25th-
Visited Seacoast Greenville Campus. Seacoast is a pioneer in the multi-site movement. Got to meet this guy, Chris Surratt. He is the Campus Pastor there and very cool guy.
June 1st-
Greg hooked me up with an article from the Anderson-Daily News a couple of weeks ago. In the article it talked about several 'multi-site' churches in the area. The one that really peaked my interest was this one, Real Life Fellowship. This church is our of Corpus Christi, Tx and has a site in Hartwell Ga.......this I had to see. I contacted the Campus Pastor, Bill Davidson and set up a visit. Bill was super cool....made me feel very welcome and the people were very eager to show me what they do!
June 8th-
This past week I visited 12stone in Lawerenceville, GA. They have a huge campus near the Mall of Ga...but I was interested in their video venue site on Hamilton Mill. I had emailed with the Campus Pastor, Kevin Queen several weeks ago but going there this week was a last minute decision, so he didn't know that I was coming. Let me tell you this..... they do a GREAT job at Hamilton Mill. The facility is awesome, the people, were great and they had an awesome guest worship leader!
Next week I am tentatively planning on going to North Point Browns Bridge in Cumming GA. I am preparing myself now to be totally blown away..... If anyone would like to go with me just comment back or email me at shannonchiles@foothillscc.org.
Also, June 29th, Amy and I will be going to North Point Buckhead. We will be on our way out of town for some R&R, but Sunday morning we are going to visit Buckhead. This multi-site venue of North Point is the pinnacle, the mac-daddy, the benchmark for how multi-site video venues can be done. I can't wait! We are going to go to the 9:00 service and would love to have anybody who wants to meet us there do so. Just let me know and we will hook up.
Stay Focused
Play Hard
Honor God
Shannon
May 25th-
Visited Seacoast Greenville Campus. Seacoast is a pioneer in the multi-site movement. Got to meet this guy, Chris Surratt. He is the Campus Pastor there and very cool guy.
June 1st-
Greg hooked me up with an article from the Anderson-Daily News a couple of weeks ago. In the article it talked about several 'multi-site' churches in the area. The one that really peaked my interest was this one, Real Life Fellowship. This church is our of Corpus Christi, Tx and has a site in Hartwell Ga.......this I had to see. I contacted the Campus Pastor, Bill Davidson and set up a visit. Bill was super cool....made me feel very welcome and the people were very eager to show me what they do!
June 8th-
This past week I visited 12stone in Lawerenceville, GA. They have a huge campus near the Mall of Ga...but I was interested in their video venue site on Hamilton Mill. I had emailed with the Campus Pastor, Kevin Queen several weeks ago but going there this week was a last minute decision, so he didn't know that I was coming. Let me tell you this..... they do a GREAT job at Hamilton Mill. The facility is awesome, the people, were great and they had an awesome guest worship leader!
Next week I am tentatively planning on going to North Point Browns Bridge in Cumming GA. I am preparing myself now to be totally blown away..... If anyone would like to go with me just comment back or email me at shannonchiles@foothillscc.org.
Also, June 29th, Amy and I will be going to North Point Buckhead. We will be on our way out of town for some R&R, but Sunday morning we are going to visit Buckhead. This multi-site venue of North Point is the pinnacle, the mac-daddy, the benchmark for how multi-site video venues can be done. I can't wait! We are going to go to the 9:00 service and would love to have anybody who wants to meet us there do so. Just let me know and we will hook up.
Stay Focused
Play Hard
Honor God
Shannon
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Facing the Giants
I finally watched 'Facing the Giants.' Yes....I am way behind. The movie came out in 2006 I think! But God's timing is perfect...always. I really needed this movie last night.
If you haven't seen the movie....you need to! I am not going to spoil it for you.
What I got out of the movie was that when we live a life that honors God in all we do, God shows up. Nothing is impossible for God. I have felt like Satan has been throwing roadblock after roadblock in my way as I try to move into ministry....roadblocks that in my human-ness seem impossible to overcome. But I want to put Satan on notice here and now.... "I am going to praise God when I win...and praise God when I lose. Your roadblocks will NEVER stop that! I serve a BIG God....and NOTHING is impossible for Him!" I completely, 100% believe that God wants to use me in a big way to reach people who have yet to know Him. God will take care of the roadblocks....big things are going to happen.....and God will get ALL of the glory!
My favorite quote from the movie is one that is easily missed. The coach is huddling with the team before a game and says to them "Stay focused, Play hard, Honor God." That is my new personal vision statement!
Stay Focused
Play Hard
Honor God
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