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1) Don’t park in the best spots. Save those spots for people who are new. The front row or section in the parking lot should be relatively empty until the time church starts.

2) Say Hi to people you do not recognize. Smile. Remember you are showing God’s love. Don’t screw that up. Someone visited FOSM a few weeks ago and said only staff people said Hi. We can do tons better.

3) Sing with all of your heart. Don’t just sit there with a frown on your face and make new people think it must suck to follow Jesus.

4) During the message, listen with all of your heart. Why? See #3…

5) Go into the auditorium before or as soon as the service starts. It says you think it’s important to be in there…

6) It is AWESOME to see people we know and love at church. But, save the big talks until about 6 minutes after the service ends. New people leave ASAP.  Use the time right after the service to meet them before they are gone.

7) Come to church 10 minutes early and meet people who are sitting in the auditorium waiting for church to start. At FOSM, most of the people in the auditorium 5 minutes before the service are new people.

8) Speaking of Early… Children’s ministry stuff should be set up and ready to go at least 30 minutes before the service starts. First time guests are the people who are MOST LIKELY to show up early. If the class isn’t set up, or if there is no teacher in the class, a first time visitor will not feel like their kids will be safe. If that is true, they probably won’t come back. Even if it only happens once (the Sunday they are there) they will think every Sunday is like that. Our Children’s Ministry is AWESOME and strives to be the best in the city. We would never want anyone to think otherwise.

9) Don’t get up during the service to go to the bathroom or get a donut or whatever. It communicates that it all just ain’t that important. It’s like we are saying “meh” to God.

10) Get excited during the offering time. It shows we love God and are excited about what He is doing. It shows we have BOUGHT INTO His Vision!

BONUS: Be nice, think of others, and have fun.

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1) FOSM this morning was AWESOME… The music, the message, the props, communion, and just getting to see my brothers and sisters in Christ after being out for a few days… it was all really special. You rock FOSM!

2) Speaking of FOSM, I am pumped about hiring Marty Mosher as our new Home Team coordinator. Marty is a great guy that I have known and loved for many years. He was the founding pastor of Fellowship at Plum Creek. This past September 1, he resigned from that position to begin working on his new ministry of launching, growing, and multiplying small groups. God has really blessed FOSM by putting us together.

3) I had a great night tonight with my family. We played Halo 3, watched a little extreme home makeover, and played on the floor with the 2 year old and his collection of rescue rangers. I am a rich man.

4) I really like twitter, texting, facebook, and stuff like that. A lot. Spent about an hour tonight connecting with several people. Laughed a LOT.

5) Um, some people I know have some really big news. That’s ALL I can say right now.

6) We kicked off our new series this morning called “Resolution.” It’s a vision series. I feel like a kid unwrapping presents (and looking forward to more) as I share what I believe is God’s vision for FOSM. I can’t wait until next Sunday!

7) I’m competing in the “8 Week, Weighdown, Throwdown” hosted by Clayton Bell. I’m paying 20 bucks to compete to lose a little weight with a bunch of other mostly pastor types. Winner takes all baby. Two things: a. I LOVE competition. b. I love redneck pastors who think up stuff like this so other redneck pastors can make losing weight a manly thing. Thanks Clayton!

PS. I ate about a half gallon of ice cream tonight so I would be nice and fat for the first weigh-in tomorrow. Let’s keep this our little secret and never speak of it again…

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