A Week Off...

This past weekend Greg Surratt - my former boss and pastor - from Seacoast Church came to speak at The Net. It was great to sit back and soak in a message, even if for one weekend!

We had lunch at Sugar's Ribs and Greg got a glimpse at how we do BBQ in Tennessee (see pic).

After lunch, the wife, the baby, and I headed out of town for a few days. Love being so close to the mountains for the much needed short getaways!

TACKLING A TABOO!

Easter is still 6 weeks away - but, we're already looking beyond toward what will follow. Beginning April 19th - we are starting a series at The Net on the book of Revelation. You know the one... the End of World, Armageddon, 666... We may be the first 4-month-old church to ever teach on this. I don't know... What I do know is that you won't want to miss a single week of it!

And to help us kick it off in true End Times fashion, we've developed yet another website - this one is called PredicttheEnd.com. And we are looking for the most creative and comical prediction of when the world will end... and we're willing to pay $500 to get it! Seriously.

Go to the site and hear some samples, then give us your best guess. On April 19th, we'll start the series and award the winners. Any other details can be found on the site. The only question left... is who will get it right?

www.predicttheend.com

THE BIG PICTURE

If you are interested in knowing more about The Net and gaining insight into the hundreds of other churches like us that are springing up around the globe, here's a link to Billy Hornsby's latest blog entry.

Billy heads up the ARC (Association of Related Churches) - an organization all about starting new life-giving churches to reach the un-churched... or as we call them in the bible-belt, the de-churched!

Enjoy the read: Click here to read the entry.

THAT'S A WRAP!

The If You Hate Church series is officially behind us. For those who called, emailed, or took the survey telling us "you can't hate the church" this day could not have come soon enough! For the rest of us who enjoyed engaging the segment of our population who were hurting, skeptical, or otherwise disinterested in the church this closes one of the most exciting chapters in the brief history of The Net... Of course, be assured - more good stuff is to come... In fact, at this very moment we are cooking up an after Easter series to end all series (there's a hint in there somewhere)!

As for IYHC - I must say I was pleased. The responses, both in number and content, went beyond my expectation. And I've enjoyed the conversations and friendships it allowed us to begin. Thanks to everyone who took the survey. Thanks to our team - who rallied around it, not knowing where it would lead.

And now the work begins... I'm looking forward to a long and faithful journey at The Net and in the city of Chattanooga - the city I love.

Week 4 - Cruising Altitude

Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We seemed to have reached a comfortable cruising altitude of 226 attenders this past weekend. In fact, since take off, we have yet to drop below an altitude of 200. We are quite pleased with our take off and ascent to this point - however, we would also like to inform you that our final destination is far above the clouds, which will require us to continue ascending further and further in order to reach our goal of seeing as many people join our journey as possible.

We are asking each passenger to make the seat next to you available to passersby. Please let them know we have plenty of room for seating as well as overhead compartments for small children between the ages of birth to 5th grade... and that we are one of the few remaining airlines that still offer free in-flight beverages and snacks!

Next week we will be concluding our first in-flight series: If You Hate Church. We look forward to seeing you - and hope this week's turbulence will be kept to a minimum for you!

Signing off for now...

IF YOU HATE CHURCH: THE SERIES CONTINUES

We're 2 weeks into the If You Hate Church series and I'm loving every minute of it. I think I could stay with this for years. I love addressing the issues that plague Christianity and I revel in unpacking the reasons people do not attend church.

This weekend we will be talking about judgmentalism - the top complaint against the church according to our survey. Over 2/3 of the people who took the survey agreed or strongly agreed that people who go to church are quick to judge others. What does this mean for the church? How do we hold to the standards of the Bible and still heed Christ's call to "judge not, lest you be judged"?

Hope to see you Sunday as we wrestle with this issue together.

Week 2 - No Signs of Slowing...

Sunday morning as I was heading to the Rave, I didn't know what to expect. Everyone had been telling us that we would see half the crowd we had our first week. Minus all the out-of-towners that came to our Grand Opening that would have put us at around 100 people.

But, that's not what happened. People poured in - you could feel the excitement. And at the end of day, 240 people walked through the doors of The Net. We somehow managed not only to avoid a big dip, but see an increase. In part - I'm sure - due to last week's weather. In part due to the added press we received from another news article about the survey results and a radio interview with local host, Jeff Styles. But, I would say the biggest part came as a result of how touched people were by the whole experience.

Here's an excerpt from an email I received from one family in attendance:

"What an amazing encounter with God we had - a truly worshipful experience. There were so many things that happened this week that told us we need to make The Net Church our home. We have had the feeling all week that God has been speaking to us about making a decision to leave our comfort zone and follow where He is leading. Today sealed it for us. It has been a long time since I have been excited about going to church and I have never felt this kind of excitement. We brought two families of friends with us this week and they all loved it, as well. Can't wait till next week!"

Thanks to every volunteer! Thanks to all who came and came back! Thanks to God for allowing us to be a part of something so special!