Guys. I am so full of vision and energy these days I can hardly live with myself.

Here's some of what I'm thinking these days where I see us by the end of next year...

- In a couple of weeks our staff pastors are heading to the mountains for a staff "forward" - not a retreat. I agree with Steven Furtick that church staffs should never retreat but always be moving forward. Among other things, we are going to plan out next year's teaching and events calendar (yeah, for the whole year!). We've never done that. We're also going to put some BIG details to our new small group (we call them Rock Groups) strategy to kick off next year (which is only two months away if you can believe it).

- Next time you come into the office you will not recognize the place. We have had volunteers working in the office now for two solid days painting, putting in new lighting and throwing stuff away. One of our major themes for 2009 is EXCELLENCE! We should give God our very best!

- Tiffani and Donnie are working out so well. I can't even begin to tell you how proud I am of those two hires. VERY SOON you will notice a HUGE difference in the way a lot of things are done at Rocky River. We are just stepping up things BIG TIME.

- I am so pumped about building our first facility next year. I show everyone who walks into the office (practically) the building plans. We're putting stuff together now for the banks to try and get the financing handled. PRAY!

- Karen and I are working on a married couples retreat for early next year. We're wanting to take about 30 couples to Charleston, SC for the weekend to work on marriages. Instead of just talking about the importance of healthy marriages we're going to jump in and really do something about it. Would you be interested in going? The cost is probably going to be around $250 per couple. Send me an email so I'll know if there's interest, or not... jimmy@rockyriverchurch.com

- When we go on our Staff Forward I am going to challenge our staff to stop thinking about 500 people and we're going to focus on reaching 1000 people. I'm praying and believing God for exponential growth. The challenge is to have the systems and processes in place to handle that kind of growth. God won't give us what we can't handle. Believe you me, we have the core staff who can handle this kind of growth. I truly believe this is what God is preparing us for.

- We are working on new and better ways to communicate with our people and keep them up with what is going on at Rocky River and in our community. We're willing to change anything to make it happen. You're going to notice big changes in things as simple as bulletins in the near future. Be on the lookout!

- What would it look like if we had added a third service to the Rocky River schedule? Maybe something on Sunday evening? Maybe something for the college crowd and/or singles? Just thinking...

- If you are connected to Rocky River and end up sick and in the hospital, be on the lookout for Randy Mauldin. Randy is helping our staff right now with pastoral visits and pastoral care. We are considering Randy as a high capacity volunteer staff person to do pastoral care, hospital visitation, and counseling. Randy and his wife Greta and their little daughter Sidney have attended Rocky River for several months now. He has been professionally trained in Pastoral Care at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary.

I say that to show you the kind of people God is bringing around us. It is very exciting!

- Our Christmas series this year is called "Hope for the Holidays." The tag line is "Find Hope for the Holidays by Discovering the Purpose of Christmas." I'm meeting with Brandon and Shrop on Monday to talk through graphics and text and the look of the series. I think people are going to have less under the tree this year which will cause them to look elsewhere for the true meaning and purpose of Christmas.

Anyway, there's more but I'm kicking out now to get ready for bed. BTW, I know that a lot of churches are holding back on their visions and plans. We're not! God is God and faithful even in hard times. We're gonna keep moving forward Rocky River.

Later... J