J.R. Lee

Guest Blog:  Blake and Emily Goss (Worship Pastor @ Freedom Church)

I bought into the lie that it’s normal to live in debt. Like most people, Emily and I financed brand new cars, used credit cards, and lived above our means. Being a young married couple, that’s what we thought you were supposed to do. Our entire way of thinking about money was changed in February when we read Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover, while on a cruise that we put on our credit card.  Our eyes were opened to the way that God intendedfor us to handle His money. As a result, I wanted to do whatever it took to
reconcile our finances as quickly as possible.

We immediately changed our entire lifestyle. We cut the credit cards, downgraded to basic cable, cancelled our home phone line, cut out all the “extras”, and the list goes on and on. The hardest thing was selling both of our brand new cars. We sold both vehicles and with the money we got bought two very good cars with cash. By selling our cars we were immediately saving $200 a week. Now we take all the money that was used for car debt and put it toward the rest of the debt.

Since we started in February we’ve been able to payoff $43,000. It’s not because I make that much money, but because we sold things we didn’t need and cut back on spending that wasn’t necessary. I cannot even begin to describe the freedom that comes with getting your financial life under control. It has helped my spiritual walk, my marriage, and my overall stress level. By 2009 we will be debt free (except house) and have paid off $55,000 of debt.

To celebrate we’re going on another cruise, but this time we paid cash!

I am so proud of Blake and Emily!  I hope their story inspires you to take action as well.   That’s the reason we are doing DebtFreeAcworth.  Your financial breakthrough could be the story that everyone is talking about.  What are you waiting for?

Guest Blog:  Brian and Shannon Ladd (Life Change story from Freedom Church)

Last December, a group of crazy guys had decided to sleep in a crane to help kids get bikes for Christmas.  As a result, I decided to go check this church out.  Brian and I never went to church except for an occasional wedding or Christening, so I walked in not knowing what to expect.  Before walking out, I knew we had found the church for us!

We had both considered ourselves Christians, but never realized how far from God we really were.  On September 6th, Brian came up to me with a huge smile on his face.  He said, “I did it.  When Pastor J.R. was praying, I prayed for Jesus to come into my life.”  I have never been happier for Brian!  During the next week, we sat in the evenings and read the Bible and prayed.  We joined a small group and have begun a spiritual journey together!

The next week, as I sat in the auditorium, I really felt like Pastor was speaking directly to me.  I couldn’t sit still during the message because I just kept waiting for him to say “Shannon, I AM talking to you”.  So on that day, I called Brian (he was out of town) to tell him that I too had prayed to accept Christ!

It’s only been a few weeks since then, but we can already see a difference in our lives.  We are different people.  My kids even get excited about Freedom and can’t wait to learn about God every week.  Things that use to get us stressed and upset just don’t seem to matter as much.  Now, we pray about it and let God handle it.  We are both looking forward to growing in our relationship with God and with each other.  We are truly thankful for Freedom Church and truly blessed that God led Pastor J.R. to start a church in Acworth!  We love seeing Freedom grow and reaching more people who are far from God so that they too can experience life in Christ!

Guest Blog:  Ty and Katie Tyson (Life Change Story from Freedom Church in Acworth)

Before Freedom, Katie and I would show up at church every once in a while, hoping that it was enough to have our sin taken care of.  Little did we know how far from God we really were.

One night after dinner we heard a knock on our door.  A blond girl was there handing out cake and a card for a church that was starting in a couple of weeks. We had no idea that she was the Pastors’ wife.  I was very skeptical, but Katie was really excited about this church called Freedom and was going to drag me kicking and screaming if she had to.  I am a firefighter and I had to work the week they launched so we didn’t make it till week two.

I really don’t know how to describe the feeling that came over me that day, but I was hooked.  God grabbed a hold of me that day and I don’t ever want him to let go.  A couple of weeks later my wife and I both accepted Christ at Freedom and were baptized together as well.  What a journey we have been on for the first year of our marriage!  God has not only given us each other, but the greatest thing is that He has changed us so we could give our lives to him!

I guess all I can say is thank you Jesus for all that you have done for us and all that is to come in our future!

Thank you Jesus, for Freedom Church!

This is what it’s all about!  I want to hear your story as well!  Send it in!

• Great day at Freedom Church on Sunday.
• Several people let us know that they had accepted Christ!
• Newcomers Lunch was slammed.  Over 25 people made the decision to partner with us to reach this community!
• A church planter named Austin Porter hung out with us this weekend.  Expect big things from his team in NC.
• I thought my voice was leaving right at the end of the 9:30.  It didn’t and all went well during the 11:00.
• We’ve added two new rooms for FreedomKidz and are making major changes in the lobby.  Love it!
• I am told the new Tshirts will be here Friday!
• FreedomGeneration kicks off this Sunday at 6PM!  Having the chance to win $1,000 and a Wii makes me want to be a teenager for a night.  Tyler has big plans for FGen and will do a GREAT job!
• Headed to learn from Perry in the AM. I love learning from him and all the guys in the network.
• We are in the process of praying some ridiculous prayers right now!
• I got to hang out with Pastor Johnny last week!  That man knows leadership – and sees things from every angle.
• Watching people’s reaction when they watch one of the friends that they invited accept Christ – is priceless.
• I am proud to be the Pastor at Freedom Church.  We have some passionate people who will stop at nothing to accomplish the vision!
• Hung out with my former Pastor, Steve Flockhart.  I always have a great time with him and his family!
• We are making one shift in our staff meetings that I am super excited about!  It will drastically speed up the vision transfer process.  More about that soon…