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Friendship Quote=rich

27 Jan

“Friendship is acting out God’s love for people in tangible ways. We are made to represent the love of God in each other’s lives, so that each person we walk through life with has a more profound sense of God’s love for them. Friendship is an opportunity to act on God’s behalf in the lives of people that we’re close to, reminding each one who God is. When we do the hard, intimate work of friendship, we bring a little more divine into daily life. We get to remind one another about the bigger, more beautiful picture that we can’t always see from where we are.

True friendship is a sacred thing, important thing, and it happens when we drop down into that deeper level of who we are, when we cross over into the broken, fragile parts of ourselves. We have to give something up in order to get friendship like that. We have to give up our need to be perceived as perfect. We have to give up our ability to control what people think of us. We have to overcome the fear that when they see the depths of who we are, they’ll leave. But what we give up is nothing in comparison to what this kind of friendship gives to us. Friendship is about risk. Love is about risk. If we can control it and manage it and manufacture it, then it’s something else, but if it’s really love, really friendship, it’s a little scary around the edges.”

Shauna Niequist

NEW VIDEO

21 Dec

Video Shoot

7 Dec

It was a big day last Friday in the story of Connect.

We had a project with Ben Smallbone of Radiate Films in Watkinsville to help us capture the Connect Story, the C3 Story, and a commision for Church Hosts of C3.

We highly anticipate the results of this video project and are thankful for the opportunity.

Below are pictures from the set.

If you are a C3 Host, be on the lookout for this in Atlanta on February 1-2!

u2 in Atlanta

7 Oct
Went to U2 360 Tour last night. Bryan Meadows met me in my sinful state and offered a free gift, floor ticket, at 3pm yesterday. I woke up not going to the concert and by mid afternoon I was in a state of bliss and panic in my effort to get to the Dome. We were 20 yards from the most state of the art stage in history. Their message was bigger than their music. During one of three encores….
Bono started singing…
Amazing Grace by John Newton. By the time I recovered from my coma, I pulled my phone out and caught the end of the song, but what ensued was unreal. Visually, musically.
For nearly a week, my co-work, Mark Lamb, trashed talked me about his ticket to see my favorite band U2. He would sing lyrics. He would whisper “Bono” in quiet and still moments.
Well…
I went to U2 360 Tour last night. Bryan Meadows met me in my sinful state and offered a free gift, floor ticket, at 3pm yesterday.
I woke up not going to the concert and by mid afternoon I was in a state of bliss and panic in my effort to get to the Dome.
We were 20 yards from the most state of the art stage in history.
Their message was bigger than their music. During one of three encores….
Bono started singing…
Amazing Grace by John Newton. By the time I recovered from my coma, I pulled my phone out and caught the end of the song, but what ensued was unreal. Visually, musically.
We struggle to articulate what we experianced…

celebrate then evaluate

6 Oct

Evaluation is a process that is hard to turn off for a leader. In any environment you walk in as a leader, you tend to become a critic and evaluate every little thing.

We know there are times, places, and seasons for this. But for many of us, it is hard to turn off.

But I wonder how many of us operate our of a “fix-it” mode? We see things not as they should, so we spend energy figuring out how to fix the problems.

I have been a part of organizations that you would think, “fixing what’s wrong” is their mission statement.

But one thing I have noticed in my short time with Connect is the mode we evaluate from; CELEBRATION.

Celebration is a part of who we are. High 5’s and Shouts are normal. People making a group announcement by stepping outside their office or sending an email happen daily. We eat and play together. We actually like coming to work with each other.

We celebrate all day.

And I haven’t felt us operate under the “fix-it” mode of evaluation.

What if we all spent more time celebrating?

We operate out of celebration that leads us to want to push further towards greatness. This is an uplifting process. This is a joyful and fun process. This can allow the leader to look forward to evaluation.

No one wants to stop and consider all that is wrong. But if you spend more energy on all that is right, the right gets pushed aside and weeded out.

We celebrate to the point where the good rises to the top, the not-so-good sinks to the bottom. Then we scoop off the top and run with it to make it even better.

Celebrate today. Throw a party. Spend some time thinking how your ministry, church, or organization has been a change agent in your and your communities’ life.

Celebrate.

Celebration Based Evaluation.

Celebrate.

BIRTHDAY TODAY

25 Sep

Happy Birthday Connect Ministries

On this day 3 years ago, Connect Ministries was birthed.  For us as a team it is amazing to look back and see where God has taken this ministry. In just the past 3 years Connect Ministries Headquarters have moved to 5 different locations.  It all began at a Kitchen table, then to a Croc Shoe warehouse without heating or air.  Ken Thomas and Gabe Norris had two office spaces in the warehouse where the camp equipment was stored.  They would have to wait until the warehouse next door had their door open to be able to connect to the wireless signal.  In the wintertime they would arrive to work and close their doors, and place a towel at the door to keep cold air from coming in, and turn their space heaters on.  To communicate they would use the intercom system on their phones instead of opening their doors. Then we moved to a 5 office building in Nolensville, Tennessee, where there was heating and air, a great conference room to dream in and a kitchen area where lots of fun conversations took place.   Currently we are in an incredible office space in Watkinsville, Georgia, with 10 offices, heating and air and even a telephone system.  There have been special memories in each of these locations.


Connect Ministries also grown in the resources that we are able to provide to churches. Connect 3on3 Basketball will be having 12 tournaments this year, one of which we have partnered with Rick and Bubba to host an event in Birmingham, Alabama. Connect Day Camp started 3 years ago with 2 locations and about 210 campers.  Then with the partnership with WinShape Camps, C3 Day Camp was able to go to 27 communities the first year with around 3,000 campers.  This past year C3 was in 36 communities impacting around 6,000 and then in 2010 we will be in 45 communities. All of this was started with a vision of helping churches connect with their community. With all of these events we continue to look for other ways to grow with the expansion of Connect Basketball, as well as the addition of Connect Race.

Today we want to celebrate what we have experienced in the past 3 years. We love telling the story of how Connect Ministries was started.  Our Team never wants to forget what God took us through and where he is taken us in the future. Thank you for celebrating with us today! If you have a Connect Story, send us an email or comment here.

Also be looking for twitter to update you on the days celebrations. Gabe is grilling burgers!

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