Aug

28

What we’re doing - Part 2

Post Category: Blog Posts, Church Planting 

Our first phase of planting this new church involves something I’ve said that I have wanted to do for quite a while. As soon as our house sells we’re going to get a motor-home and take 3-4 months to travel the country and look at dynamic, life-giving church models. You read right, a motor-home. With Lisa, Chloe, Emily and I inside nice and cozy with each other for 4 months! It may sound kind of crazy but this has been a dream of mine for a while now.

At each church we visit we want to sit down with the pastor and leadership to discuss ideas and examine what has or hasn’t worked for them. Wherever possible we also want to sit in on any Creative Team or Leadership meetings to see the behind-the-scene workings of their church. We will be looking at churches of all sizes but will pay special attention to healthy, growing churches that have been planted in the last five years. I’ll be keeping a journal of everything I observe and will be posting faithfully here on my blog as well. This will be another huge step of faith for us as it will require a motor-home (which we don’t have), gas for the trip (at least 10,000 miles by my initial estimations), as well as food and RV park expenses along the way.

However, we are confident that the God who has called us on this exciting journey will also miraculously provide what we need. Because we know that vision usually precedes provision we are stepping out in faith and trusting that God will honor our commitment.

Lisa and I would greatly appreciate your prayers during this time and in the future months as we are stepping out in faith and having to trust God in ways we have never done before.

More to come in my next post�about the organization we are looking into partnering with for our church plant.

Aug

28

Sidenote

Post Category: Blog Posts, Church Planting 

By the way, I’ll be sharing a lot of information that may seem sudden to many of you. There’s a lot to absorb, even for us! If you have any questions or want to get together and talk about where God is taking us please get in touch with me.

God has given Lisa and I a passion that makes me feel like I’ve got Red Bull running through my veins! We are so excited about the things that God is pulling together and I enjoy talking about it!

Aug

27

What we’re doing - Part 1

Post Category: Blog Posts, Church Planting 

I�ve known from an early age that God placed the calling of a pastor on my life. I�m passionate about the Church, its influence on culture, and making it better. The time I�ve served here at Life Bridge has played a huge part in developing and cultivating the gifts God has given me.

Over the summer I began to feel a growing restlessness and a lack of fulfillment in my day-to-day ministry responsibilities. As we sought God it became evident that this growing unrest was not due to the church, my responsibilities or schedule. We realized that God was preparing us for a new chapter in our lives and ministry even though we had no clue what was ahead. Believe me when I say this � we were a little bit scared!

We have grown to love the people we�ve met at Life Bridge and the thought of leaving saddened us. We had to trust though that God had everything under control and would give us direction when it was needed. The only thing we were really sure of at the time was that God wanted us to graduate the current class in 29:11 and take them through the summer. We had the joy of watching kids we had invested in over the last 3-1/2 years begin the next chapter in their lives. Lisa and I felt like proud parents.

A couple of weeks ago we sat down with Pastor and Mark and shared with them where we were at. The passion we had for youth ministry was being replaced by new desires that God was birthing in us. While we talked with them Pastor Campbell asked me a question I�ve asked many students and young adults through the years when we were seeking God for direction for their future. He asked, “If money were no object and you had no financial limitations, what would you be doing right now?” My immediate response was, “We would plant a church.” At the time I still thought this would take place years down the road. However, in the days that followed God confirmed for us through several sources that his timing was right now. Once we realized that God was calling us in this direction we experienced an amazing peace despite the incredible level of uncertainty for our future.

Lisa and I are already in the early phases of planning and preparation for this new church. So far we don�t know where it will be yet (hopefully someplace like Hawaii or St. Lucia�just kidding) but we do have a time-table of 12-18 months. We are selling our house and everything else we can to prepare ourselves financially for the months ahead.

This is going to be a huge step of faith for us! Please keep us in prayer during this time. I�ll post more later about “Phase 1? of our new Church launch.

Aug

24

Going Fishing

Post Category: Blog Posts, Family 

I’m up in Manistee, Mighican today going salmon fishing with my brothers and Dad. We got up at 4:15 this morning to head out. Pretty impressive, huh? Obviously the fish weren’t that impressed because we didn’t catch anything yet. We’re going to go back out tonight so hopefully we’ll at least come home with something!!

Aug

22

I have not yet begun to fight

Post Category: Blog Posts 

It seems that, once again, I’m wide-awake at 1:00 AM, unable to sleep because my mind won’t shut off. When God begins to stir your heart and awaken your passions it breathes new life into you. I really believe that there is nothing more powerful than a person who is completely abandoned to God’s will for their life and living it out with reckless abandon.

The story

Aug

21

Innovation or Mediocrity

Post Category: Blog Posts, Makes You Think 

Man is this a challenging quote!! This is worthy of printing off and putting on my “quote board.”�

�Not innovating is more dangerous than innovating. The opposite of innovation is not death; it’s mediocrity. In fact, death–or a near-death experience–might be a better outcome than mediocrity because people are forced to rebuild or move on. By contrast, people can cling to mediocrity indefinitely.��
Guy Kawasaki

Aug

21

AIDS Experience

Post Category: Blog Posts, Social Justice 

I’m going to be participating in the World Vision AIDS experience on Friday, September 10th at Fellowship Missionary Church. It looks to be an eye-opening way to learn more about this disease that is affecting millions around the world - including many innocent women and children.

If you are interested in learning more or reserving your free tickets go to www.worldvisionexperience.org�and click “Tour Dates.” This exhibit will be at Fellowship Missionary Church here in Fort Wayne from September 7-10 with time slots open throughout the day.

Aug

17

Pursuit of Passion

Post Category: Blog Posts, Makes You Think 

This post may seem a little “pie in the sky” or impractical to some. It goes against the grain of how many in our culture live.

We’re told from a young age that we can be anything we want to be. As children we set our sights on being an astronaut, fireman or the President. We believe that we can do anything we set our minds to. As we grow older we’re faced with realities like the economy, the job market, and declining industries. Instead of pursuing our passion we seek security. And in the process we let our dreams die.

Call me overly optimistic, naive or foolish but I believe that our dreams are God-given and priceless beyond measure. Our world needs more dreamers who will chase down their passions with a relentless abandon, disregarding the opinions of short-sighted critics.

Remember, it’s never too late to step into the unknown. The dream that God has given you may be dormant by now but it is still there. It will cost you. It will stretch you beyond what you thought you could be stretched. It will redefine who you are and what you thought was possible. You will be called a fool by those who seek the safety of security. Chase your dream anyway. Pursue your passion at all costs.

“Disturb us, Lord, when we are too well pleased with ourselves, when our dreams have come true because we have dreamed too little, when we arrived safely because we sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, Lord, when with the abundance of things we possess we have lost our thirst for the waters of life; having fallen in love with life, we have ceased to dream of eternity and in our efforts to build a new earth, we have allowed our vision Of the new Heaven to dim.

Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly, to venture on wider seas where storms will show your mastery; where losing sight of land, we shall find the stars. We ask You to push back the horizons of our hopes; and to push into the future in strength, courage, hope, and love.”

Aug

16

Dreaming Big

Post Category: Blog Posts, Makes You Think 

“Dream as if you’ll live forever. Live as if you’ll die tomorrow.”�
Attributed to James Dean

Aug

15

God is doing something

Post Category: Blog Posts, Church Planting 


Did you ever get the feeling that God was about to do something…but you just didn’t know what it was? It’s that air of anticipation that lets you know that something is coming down the pike that may rock your world. Your emotions are a mix of excitement, fear, and uncertainty.

At times like this we do best to trust that the same God who led us this far won’t abandon us now. He knows the road ahead. He sees our future and has plans for the life He wants us to lead. But with every new opportunity there is always the anticipation and hesitation of the waiting period.

It’s kind of like the smell of rain in the air and the distant rumblings of thunder before a big storm. I love a good thunderstorm. Nothing shows the power of God than hearing the loud claps of thunder and seeing the lightning blaze across the sky. It’s the rain that brings new life to creation and I like to think of the thunder and lightning as the orchestra and light show that accompanies it. The rain falls and washes away the lingering reminders of what happened yesterday and penetrates the soil to bring fresh life and growth to the plants and trees. It fills the lakes and floods the streams.

I can hear the thunder in the distance�and the clouds are forming on the horizon. God is getting ready to do something.

I’m standing with my face towards the sky waiting for the rain.

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