Getting Ready

This weekend will be a great weekend. First, we will have our very first "Encounter". (Third gear in our system) I am so excited to see what God will do in the lives of those who are signed up to come. It has been great so far to watch our "system" begin to change the lives of people and change how we think.
Next, we are starting a new series called "So Whats the Difference?"
This week we are talking about the difference in Mormonism and Christianity.
In this series we will tackle issues like homosexuality, holiness and our country's founding fathers. It's going to be exciting. We will also be having Saturday night prayer at my place which has been incredible so far.
To top it all off, Alabama gets to beat up on Georgia. Number three against number eight. Not to mention i have a date scheduled with my awesome wife.
Make sure you do not miss this Sunday!!
BRING A FRIEND!!!!!!!!!!

Change

There is so much talk of change right now in our country. Everybody is talking about the need for change. Change our gas prices, change the housing market, change the economy, change the White House and on and on. John McCain and Barack Obama both say that they are the answer.
It's interesting to me to see that most people want change but are looking in all the wrong places for it. We want someone else to come in and fix our problems for us. It's easier that way. If I can point a finger of blame, I am not responsible for my situation. It's either the government's fault, big oil company's fault, my boss's fault, even God's fault.
The big question is this. At what point do i accept responsibility for my own life? My own actions? My own decisions? I am persuaded that we will see real, lasting change in America when we, as a nation, take responsibility for our lives. This is the greatest country on Earth. We are blessed with more opportunities than any other country of the world.
Change. We all want it. Do we want to pay the price for it? The truth is, we can't stop it. The only thing that doesn't change is the fact that things are going to change!! We will fall into 3 categories of people. Those who make things happen. Those whom things happen to, and those who ask, "What just happened?".

Still amazed

Sunday, after 2nd gear, a couple stayed over to share with us a testimony of what God is doing in their lives. I listened as one of them talked about how their marriage and ability to communicate is changing drastically and how they could "see" God moving in their lives drawing them closer together. (The story is miraculous)
This was coming from a person who, 6 months ago wasn't sure there was a God and absolutely didn't want anything to do with church, the Bible or Christians at all. While he was talking it was if i could hear a voice saying to me, "This is why you do what you do". All of the hard work. All of the sacrifice. All of the set backs and disappointments. Standing right in front of me was some fruit. A life changed!!! His family has been changed for generations to come. Who knows what God has in store for this family!
So if you are feeling tired.........just take some time to look around at the fruit. For me, that was better than any conference i could attend.

Feeling it

I love momentum. Just the very mention of the word gets my blood pumping. When you have it, you can accomplish the unconceivable and without it, the simplest tasks seem to drain you. I know that momentum can be created and generated and great leaders are the ones who know just how to do that and what's even better, maintain it. But the greatest time is when momentum is generated by God. Thats exactly what is happening all around me. Things are "falling" into place. The right people are getting in the right seats on the bus and I know that I had nothing to do with it. It's like the feeling you get when something miraculous happens right in front of your eyes. Your eyes get BIG and you take a step back and...."Did that just happen?" I am doing that everyday it seems. When Jesus said he would build His church, He meant it. To quote a friend of mine, pastor Vance Pitman, "Fancy campaigns and slick slogans don't plant churches. God does." I couldn't agree more.
Momentum is oozing from even the little things. People giving me prophetic words that are almost word for word in two days time. A kids pastor???? A youth praise team that is the seed for a youth group? An amazing answer to a wife's prayer in just hours time. All in one week........"Did that just happen??" It's getting incredible around here. I LOVE THIS PLACE!

What I Have Learned So Far

I had a great lunch yesterday with a friend of mine, Pastor Chuck Angel from Georgia. (bridgepointechurch.org) He was the member of the ARC assessment team that was assigned to me and Tracy. We sat and chatted about all kinds of great stuff and then we began to talk about church planters and expectations. I shared with him how almost every expectation I had about starting this church has gone unmet while at the same time great things that i could have never expected or planned for have happened. I read the books, went to the seminars and interviewed several planters so i THOUGHT i was pretty prepared for starting this church. After all, i was coming from a fairly large church. I had it all figured out in my head like a mathematical equation. Enough mailers and advertising would cause the right amount of people to show up for week one and then 50% would return for week two and we would be at the 200 barrier (or close to it) and..............there you go. Instant church. I tell you after that first Sunday when 99 people showed up i was totally messed up. That was with 28 adults on our launch team, 11 adults from another church to help and every kid we could count!!! I want to share some things that i have learned so far being 7 months into this:

So far it has been more about what God is doing in me than in the church.
There have been so many things that God has built in me and knocked out of me during this time. I am understanding that I was not ready to lead this church and the worse thing that could have happened to me would have been huge numbers. And it would have caused me to loose focus of the assignment of this church.

Jesus really does build His church.
Do everything you can as a planter to pull off a great launch but at the end of the day, God is the one that will get the people there or see to it that they don't show up! I am not saying that God doesn't want people to come to Christ or doesn't want your church to be a success. I am saying that in my case having a big crowd there would have hindered what He wanted to do in me and it would have caused us to miss His purpose for being in Vegas. Everything that has been successful so far has been a direct result of God's work. Bringing the right person, the $$ showing up right on time, opening a door that we didn't even know to knock on!!

If there is any quit in you at all, don't plant a church!
Our first 3 months of doing church, there were 3 Sunday's total that i left there thinking to myself, "If i were a guest, i would go back". The rest of the time i left aggravated, deflated, depressed and disgusted! (I am not kidding!) If i was a quitter I would have packed up and headed back to Alabama several times. This has been the hardest thing i have ever attempted in my life but at the same time it has been, by far, the most rewarding and fullfilling thing I have ever been a part of.

These are the big 3 lessons that I have learned so far on this journey and i know there are sooooo many more to come. I am at the place as a follower of Christ, a husband, father and pastor where i welcome the lessons because I know that God is at work here in Las Vegas and He is teaching me to be the man that can join Him!