I have had the privilege of attending two of the most powerful and life changing conferences of my life the past three weeks.  While in Georgia yesterday God and I had some pretty tough conversations on the topic of people and how we look at them.  You see God looks at people through their names.  The majority of us Pastors look at them as numbers.

Several of the speakers in Georgia we're honest enough to admit that successful pastors are successful because they have a lot of people, also known as large numbers.  My heart's desire has always been to see changed lives through salvations and to reach as many as possible.  Every person that spends eternity in hell or heaven is a number.  But, everyone of them has a name also.  Jesus Christ sees every person through their name, not just another person with a number.

One of the speakers asked how we saw people, as names or numbers?  I gotta admit, the question got all over me.  Why, because one of the first questions I ask at the end of Sundays is how many did we have today? 

Rick Warren pointed out that Christ did give us the great commission and it says,

Matthew 28:18-20
Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. [19] Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, [20] and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

I've begun to ask myself if we're making disciples or just reaching a lot of people.  Don't get me wrong, nothing excites me like seeing lives changed eternally through accepting Jesus as their Lord and Savior.  But, Christ said to make disciples.  I can't get this thought out of my mind.  God just keeps pressing me towards taking those we've reached and turning them into warriors for Christ. 

Let me be real honest with you, turning baby Christians into disciples of Christ is tough work.  But its a job I'm excited about tackling.  With this in mind your going to begin to see a few changes at 5 Point.  I'm going to begin to encourage people to get involved into some type of discipleship and we're going to offer several ways.

Some other thoughts:
* Excited about teaching New Members class tonight.  Have a big group coming.
* Lunch with Rick Warren yesterday was incredible.  Definitely an experience I'll never forget.
* Tim, Corey and myself met this afternoon and I'm jacked up about what we're doing this Sunday.  Off the chart creative and I'm convinced God is going to do some incredible stuff. 
* Make plans to be here and bring a friend.  I promise you they won't be disappointed.
* We start our new series FOCUS this Sunday.
* Easter is almost here.  We need eggs.  Stop by Hobby Lobby in Easley and buy thousands (seriously) or just give Sunday towards the eggs.  We'll be stuffing 200,000 eggs this year.  Can't wait to see them being dropped from the helicopter.
* Got word on my foot today, no ruptured tendons which means no surgery.  But the doctor still has no clue why this has happened again.  So aggravating. 
* Quick question, have you done anything to help the Kingdom of God grow this week?
* Another question, how much have you already done to grow your personal kingdom?
* Go do something radical for Jesus!