But don't let the brevity of this series fool you.  It might be short, but it's going to be a powerhouse.

Have you ever said this before?

"God, where are you?"

"God, I can't do this anymore?"

"God, why aren't you coming through for me?"

Have you ever given up on God?

If so, you're in good company.  I have too.

Don't let anything stop you from being at ACC the next two weeks.  Seriously. God is blowing me up with the Word He is laying on me.  By the time I get to Sunday, I'll be ready to explode!

The blinders come in a cornucopia of different flavors, shapes and sizes…but one thing remains the same: they keep us from seeing our blessings.

Some blessing blinders…

Busyness

Disappointment

Misplaced focus

Misappropriated priorities

Unanswered prayer

Lack of prayer

Self-centeredness/selfishness

The list could go on forever.

I don't know what your blinders are, but let God lift the blinders that you are wearing today. Allow Him to show you how blessed you really are.

Last week, Brian and I visited Cincinnati Children's Hospital.  Go spend an hour in that place. That will take your blessing blinders off.

Some of the sights and sounds that met us as we walked the hallways are burned in my mind.  One little girl in particular sticks out in my mind.  I'll never forget seeing her tears as she fought through tremendous pain trying to walk.

God broke my heart in that moment.  And I was reminded of  this simple, but life altering, truth…

I am blessed.

I used to say that a lot, and I always meant it.  I believe that what we do in our church is life changing, but I've come to realize that God is the one who ultimately performs the life change.

It's not up to me to hype it up for God.  It's up to me to set it up for God.  If He chooses to take our work and change someone's life, then He gets the glory.

Given this new way of thinking, I'm very intrigued by a current ad campaign that I saw on TV.

"DIRECTV: It will change your life."

Wow!  Talk about overhyping something! I had a satellite provider for a while and it didn't change my life. (Maybe that's because it was DISH Network and not DIRECTV.)  But seriously…I think this is the worst case of overpromise/underdeliver that I've ever seen.

I'm committed not to be a DIRECTV pastor. Will I hype stuff?  Of course.  I believe in what we do with everything in me.

Every sermon series is a great sermon series.  Every opportunity is a great opportunity.  If it wasn't, why are we doing it?

But at the same time, I'm not going to promise something that only God can deliver. We will do everything we can to set things up for God to change your life. And when He does change your life, you give all credit, glory, and honor to Him.

Set your clocks forward one hour Saturday night. I promise that you do NOT want to miss a minute of the action at ACC this weekend.  We're wrapping up our Love Story series and I've got a slamming message cooking for you!

• Church Leadership = Listen to God. Do what He says.
• If we fail, we fail trying.
• When it comes to a big leadership decision, 70% sure is about as good as we'll ever get. Waiting for the last 30% is where you lose opportunity.
• For every 1 person you try to keep, there are 10 people that God wants you to reach.
• Ministry praise & criticism: "Those that deify will crucify."
• The Bible calls those who won't work "lazy." It calls those who won't rest "disobedient."
• Be more dependent on supernatural than strategy.
• We must sacrifice comfort and conformity.
• Listen to your coaches, not your critics.

Honestly, this conference went to "a whole nutha level" this year.  It was such a motivating, unifying force for our team.  We came back brimming over with passion and vision for our church.  ACC, I promise that you'll see it more and more in the coming weeks and months.

I'll post some Unleash "quick hits" tomorrow.  For now, here are the big things that God drilled into my mind, heart, and spirit last week.

• Our team is the best. I wouldn't trade them for anyone or anything. They've got my back. They would take a bullet for me. And I would return the favor.
• I have no choice but to pursue the vision that God has laid out for us. Other avenues might appear easier, but it would be sinful to pursue anything but God's vision for our church. And that vision is HUGE!
• As a pastor, I can't allow anything to distract me from Jesus. And believe me…there are PLENTY of distractions in ministry.  I've got to say "no" to good things so I can say "yes" to God things.
• Leadership requires huge sacrifice. We love the idea of progress, but not the idea of sacrifice.  You can't have one without the other.  And when it comes to sacrifice, leaders go first.
• Ministry hurts, but great players play hurt. I can't let the wounds keep me from pursuing the ministry that God has laid before me.
• God loves me intensely, deeply, and completely. I know it sounds weird for a pastor to admit this, but I needed this reminder.  God doesn't love me for my ministry.  He doesn't love me for my preaching.  He doesn't love me for my leadership.  God loves me for me. And that blows my mind!

ACC, you may have no idea how true that is of our staff. I'm seeing it up close and personal this week.

As I detailed in my last post, our Children's Minister, Melanie Presta, is having a rough week (to put it mildly).  Here's how we roll at ACC…when one staff member goes down, the rest step up.

There is some big stuff on tap in our children's ministry this week.  I don't have time to go into all the details because it would take a while, but here's the bottom line…almost every staff member and their spouse are making sacrifices to ensure that we don't miss a beat this week.

In fact, our staff is not only going above and beyond for our church this weekend…we're also making sacrifices to help out another church.

Again, I'll spare you the details just because I don't want this post to be a mile long.  Here's what you need to know…our staff is the best on the planet. The best.  I would stack them up against anybody, anytime, anywhere.

Most of you will never even know the sacrifices that our staff and their families are making this weekend (or the sacrifices that happen routinely in our staff).  That's because our staff isn't in the business of seeking recognition or approval from people.

As the lead staff member, I will go to bat for our staff every time.   Church staff members are magnets for criticism. That's true in every church on this planet. But our staff isn't like every other staff.

Before someone criticizes our staff, they need to take a minute and remember that they can't even begin to grasp the amount of sacrifices that this staff makes for our church every single week.

And I've also learned that the loudest critics are usually the laziest people.  It's easy to criticize the people doing the work.  But getting off the bench and into the game is another matter entirely. (I better stop before I start preaching!)

The staff sacrifices more than anybody else in the church.

Dang straight.

Melanie Presta's (ACC's Children's Minister) daughter is in Children's Hospital after being diagnosed with juvenile diabetes.  This came from out of nowhere, so the Prestas had their world completely rocked with this diagnosis today.

Pray for Lexie, her parents Paul and Melanie, and the rest of the family.

Here's a snapshot of what happened on March 5, 1994.

1. I cleaned my truck inside and out. (Yep, I drove a truck back then. And I will again someday.)

2. I picked Nicki up at her house and we made the 45 minute drive from Georgetown to Eastgate.

3. We went to see the movie 8 Seconds at the old Showcase Cinemas. (What else would a couple of country kids go see but a rodeo movie?) Nicki didn't want to cry on our first date, so she fought back tears during the movie. I wanted her to think I was a sensitive guy, so I actually tried to fake a tear or two.  Neither one of us succeeded in our efforts.

4. Dinner at the Eastgate Applebees. I'm not sure I even knew what I was eating.  I was too focused on not saying or doing anything stupid.

5. 45 minute drive home. Once we arrived at her house, she thanked me for the evening and I drove home knowing I was asking this girl out again.

The rest is history. Neither one of us ever dated anyone else from that moment on. And 16 years later, I still don't want anyone else.

This will be the third year I've attended this conference.  I get very emotional at this conference every year.  God uses it to break me…and then remake me. It's an amazing experience…and one that I desperately need every year.

Pray for our team as we travel and as we attend the conference tomorrow.  Pray that God will blow us up with passion and vision for our church!