Drive 2006

Well Drive 2006 is over and we're back home...I took some notes but I wasn't as thorough as Tony and Tim. Check those links out for some awesome notes from the conference. I'm hoping that Northpoint offers the sessions online like they did last year.

I did bump into Tony and like the idiot that I am, I thought of several things to ask and say after I walked away. Like "Hey Tony, who else came with you?" And then I would have found out that Tim was also with him...I've listened to every podcast that they've made so far and ....well duh! And I could have told them that the funniest moment on their podcast (so-far) was when they called Kem Meyer on the phone during one of their "What are you doing" segments.....and who knows Kem may have even been there too.... Well at least I met Tony, and I told him that I want to get to Granger sometime in the future, because I want to see their screens and meet Jason, because I've kept tabs on him for a while too. (I knew that Jason wasn't gonna be at Drive because I had asked Tony that in an e-mail before the conference.)

Some other comments about Drive and Northpoint:

Their creativity level is off the hook!

• They had us put our name on a small little white tag which they placed on a chain-link fences on the stage. (There were 2500 people there). (My name tag actually got camera time on the big screens during worship at one point.) Then during the 4th session worship, we notice that all the tags were gone from the fences. Well they had placed all of them on a bigger chain-link fence and then raised it up into the scaffolding on stage and the tags were all put together in the shape of a cross...I can't remember the song that they were doing at the time, but man was the whole effect powerful.
• KidStuf Showcase made me cry again (no shocker there!) During "The Word" they told a bible story 3 times in 3 different ways and man oh man, everyone was on their feet giving an ovation at the end. Awesome.
• Deal or No Deal live on stage, giving away gifts.....
• Videos, videos, videos, live camera shots, lighting, lighting, lighting. Micah, Brandon, Julie and team.....Keep it up.
• They finished their video control rooms since Jan. when we were down there for Sundays at Northpoint and I vowed to Micah then that I wouldn't post pictures of the room or even mention what they were doing. They had the door to the room open and you could see in and Brandon came by and took Mike and I through again....awesome.
• Their folks are very open to talking to you while you're there. You see everything that they're doing there and it makes you feel like a little guy, and they walk around like everyone else (I even passed Andy Stanley in the hall twice, but I wasn't as bold to stop him and say "Hi") and you walk up and say "Hi" and they take interest in you, they want to know where you're from, what you're doing and even encourage you that they started little too. After all......."we're not there yet... "

The Difference between Guys and Girls

Here is a prime example of the difference between guys and girls.
We took a "little" tour of Atlanta today and we came across a waterfall when we were at Atlanta Underground.

Here's the Girls:



















And now the Guys:

Visit to Buckhead Church

We attended Buckhead Church this morning. (We wanted to see how they do church here because Buckhead is similar in size to our building)

• They have a major parking problem, but it's a good problem to have! We had to park two blocks away. Other businesses/stores surround Buckhead (which was once a grocery store) so they have it clearly marked where you can park and where you can't park. We were surprised that they have so many people attending since the people here watch the message on video.
• As we entered the lobby, people were sitting on the floor in the hallways because there was no more room in the main section. People are content to watching the message on TV's in the hallways and lobby.
• We attended KidStuf first. Their area for KidStuf is smaller than the gym in the school but it was cram packed with kids and parents. The kids and parents were excited about it. They started rolling the 10 second countdown clock and the kids knew what was coming and they stood and started screaming. Makes me cry every time I see it. (just being honest)
• We left after the fist 20 minutes of KidStuf so that we could get a seat for the service. Worship was awesome. The subwoofers were kickin' and they made my shirt move (which kind of tickles when you're as hairy as me.) It was loud but not painful and I loved it.
• They have gremlins in their technology too. There was a hiccup in KidStuf and the main service.
• Buckhead is building a new facility, which they seem to really need with all the people that are going there.

Tony Morgan (who I hope to bump into at Drive) from Granger attended Browns Bridge this morning. You can read about his experience here.

Playing catch up

Wow, June 25 was my last post....well not really. I found out about Mychurch.org and I've been posting there but I found out that I can get my Blogger posts updated there, so, kewl. Rock Spring has a page at MyChurch you can check it out here, and if you come to Rock Spring, then sign up on MyChurch and associate yourself with Rock Spring.

Some things that I've accomplished over the last few months.

• Rock Spring is now podcasting messages instead of just making them available on the web to download. For those that are a little behind the times you can download ITunes for free and then subscribe to the Rock Spring podcast. When you have Itunes open on your machine, ITunes automatically downloads the latest podcast to your computer so you can come back and listen to it without having to wait for it to download, and if you have a .mp3 player like an Ipod, you can take the message on the go with you. Neat, huh. If you already have ITunes click here to subscribe to Rock Spring's poccast.

• We did a homemade video for one of our sermon illustrations and called it Reflections. You can check out the video's on Rock Spring's MyChurch Media page

I leave tomorrow with 7 others from Rock Spring to head down early to the Drive Conference. I'm excited for several reasons:

• we're going early, my wife will be with me, that means alone time with her, no kids.
• before the conference, we will be going to an aquarium, I've never been to one and apparently we're going to "the largest and most engaging aquarium in the world."
• This guy and some of his team will be attending as well. I hope I get to bump into him and meet him.
• hopefully we'll get some time to catch up with one of our RS family's that recently moved to the area.
• Mike said that when he went last year that this was the best conference that he's ever been to.

I'll try to post about our experiences while we're down there, so stay tuned.