10/30/06 UPDATE

I included a picture of our house - so you could see where we live, but also so you could get a taste of fall up here. It's been beautiful. We live in a community called Maple Village and the maples have been gorgeous. It should be much less tonight though. There's a front moving through with 30 mile an hour winds - it got up to 70 today, but dropped considerably at 2 and will be 28 tonight. yeeha!

Last week was largely one of paperwork and praying. I've been working on a proposal for the church plant and have spent a lot of time on it and trying to hear from God about it. I made a few other contacts too. One was a leader in a local church who has some interest in helping us out. They started in uh, well, um - well they split from a large church here. They are focusing on moving into the same area we are targeting in the future. It will be several years before they do, but they have a good lead on land, etc. Anyway, we're just exploring things and seeing if there's some way we can work together. The pastor actually called this afternoon to ask if I could preach for him on Nov. 12th, so you can pray for that.

The biggest item that J and I have discussed is our need to meet people - particularly lost people. We've been meeting a lot of church people, but it's harder building relationships with lost people (particularly when we don't live in the area). I've been working on getting a Bible study started at one of the coffee shops where I hang out. The big problem is figuring out how to "fill" it. I mentioned it to one of the ladies who works there and last week she asked if I had decided when I was going to do it. I'm not sure if she was interested or not, but it helped spur me to try to get something going. I think I will at least post a sign in the store and see if anybody shows. Pray for God to pull on people to show up, even if they aren't sure why.

Another thing we're trying is joining a fitness club. We want to do it for the fitness benefits, but it is also productive for meeting people (i hope). When I stopped today to give them my sign up stuff, the lot was packed - its a huge place. Pray for my time there, that God will provide fruitful contacts.

Also pray for wisdom as I seek ways to meet people and penetrate the community. One big item is that we can find a place to live in the community. So far, J'line's house searching is not really panning out. Pray that we'll find the right place - smack dab in the middle of a bunch of lost people that God's working on:)

This week I have a ton of paperwork stuff - go figure, i don't even have a church and I have paperwork! I'm finalizing the proposal, pulling together plans for a prayerwalking team due here on Nov. 17, getting a newsletter finalized, and lining up someone to help with logo design and a website. Whew! I'm thinking it won't all get done.

Thanks for praying. It moves heaven and earth!

10/23/06 UPDATE

Well, at least I'm discovering a rhythm now. It goes like this. . . catch your breath on Monday and Tuesday and then begin a mad downhill dash from Wednesday to Sunday. Weekends are especially busy. One of the "nuggets" I got a few weeks ago was to fill every breakfast, lunch, etc. with an appointment to build relationships with people. Well, we're finding that many of those contacts are taking place on the weekends when other people have time, so our weekends are really busy.

Friday, I went with the boys on a field trip to the Strategic Air Command museum. They were doing a special presentation on space travel. There was a really interesting video on the Columbia and then the boys got to build paper rockets and fire them off in a hangar. I was able to hang out with a couple we've been getting to know (Brent and Michelle Myers - they have three boys the same age as ours). On the way there, J and I talked about another lady involved in the home school network whose husband is "not in the same place she is spiritually." We wanted to get an opportunity to know her and her husband. When the groups split up, J wasn't able to get in her group, but at lunch, the lady came over and asked her to get together next week. It's really weird how God works things.

Saturday, we went to dinner with another couple (Jeff, Kelly, and Jocelyn Cunningham) that have expressed an interest in helping start the church. He is an officer in the Air Force and they are a really cool young couple (they're like 25 or 26). We had a great time and they said they'd be interested in participating in a Bible study and praying about helping us out. I really wish people would start "signing the dotted line" and committing, but this was an encouragement. It's the most concrete committment we've had yet.

Sunday, we went to Heartland (the movie theater church). Afterwards, we had dinner and hung out with another couple with kids (Art and Valerie Calderon). The boys have really hit it off with their kids. We all had a blast, but didn't get home until about 8:00 because we left their house at 6 and had to stop to buy winter coats, gloves, etc. for the boys. We saw our first snow on Saturday - nothing stuck and it wasn't serious, but it sure is early for snow! Our poor kids can't even figure out how to put on a pair of gloves!

This week I'll be working on our "proposal" to present to several churches - that's my major task. Pray that I will have some productive "thinking time" and put together a good, God-driven, coherent, visionary, and exciting proposal. Continue to pray for a partnership to develop with Westside, as well as others. We'll talk with them more once I get the proposal together. They've been very interested though, so I'm encouraged.

Also, as usual, I've got several decisions to make. One is that the small group I've been leading wants to continue to meet (and have me lead). I'm not sure what to do because I have limited time and need to invest all of my energy toward the church. The Cunningham's are a part of the group and one other family mentioned they would like to help in theory, but that the proposed site is too far away. That's the only interest from the group, but I'm not sure if more might be cultivated if we continued. It's just another dicey decision to make.

WOOHOO!

Well, I had my meeting today with the pastor of Westside. He was very encouraging and said that they want to help us out. He's thinking through some different ideas on how that can take place. I also have homework - I've got to put together a prospectus for the church (think business proposal). That will help them decide if they want to help and how they do. It's also one of those things I really HATE doing. It's so much easier to keep it in the lala land between my ears.

That was a big praise - you guys are doing a great job. Now I just need for you to pray that I can get a big, black SUV (JUST KIDDING!!! - well, about the SUV part). You are really helping. Your prayers are making a difference. Please keep it up.

10/16/06 UPDATE (ON 10/17!)

Trusting God is hard work! I would say church planting is hard work (which it is) but you can probably relate better in other ways. As I mentioned last week, we are faced with the harsh reality that we can make this work on our own, it has to be God's work. We can be trite and say that's always the case, but in reality, we can usually do something on our own. When things get tough, we just do what seems best to us and we have some way to alleviate the tension of the moment. Well, last week I found myself about to blow a gasket from stress (and I'm generally not a worrier). However, I emailed Curt (the pastor at Westside) on Monday about meeting and prayed every morning for God to bring about productive contacts. Each day passed and neither of those things took place. I found myself ready to run down the street screaming because there was nothing I could do.

Jacqueline took the boys to a gym time that they've arranged for the home schooling moms up here on Friday. When she came back, she said, "I've got news for you!" A lady had approached her at the gym time to find out what we were doing with church planting. She and her husband have started meeting in a "house church" that some missionaries to Afghanistan had started. They were uncomfortable not having the corporate part of worship, so they were still attending a mega-church in town. She had accepted Christ and been baptized at Westside when she was young, but was attending Trinity now (an inter-denominational mega-church in town). Anyway, the missionary couple started the group, but don't really plan to lead it and they aren't really sure they want to just have a house church. We're supposed to talk with them more about what they're doing and what we're doing. There may be some way to do both together . . . we'll see. Just pray for God's leading. J will be meeting with this group of ladies tonight (10/17)

Friday night, we went to see a couple (Brent and Michelle) who are in J's homeschooling network. They have three boys the same ages as ours - weird. We had a great time hanging out with them. They are a great couple and the boys got along great together. That was a blessing because J had been lamenting his lack of friends that morning.

While we were at their house, I got a call from Curt's (Westside pastor) secretary who apologized for not calling me back, she had misplaced the message. She set up lunch for us on Wednesday (10/18), so you can pray for that meeting tomorrow.

We were supposed to have dinner on Saturday with a couple who has expressed interest in helping (possibly). They are in the small group I'm leading on Thursday nights. However, L and A were ummmm, unable to keep anything down on Saturday, so we had to postpone it (maybe this saturday).

On the church attendance front, I got my time in this weekend. I went with Brent and Michelle to their church's Saturday night service. it was really good (and challenging). It seems like everywhere I go, the pastor preaches something that really whacks me in the nose. On Sunday, we went to Heartland Community Church (the movie theater church).

Sorry the post is late this week, I was out playing golf yesterday with a local pastor. I really needed the stress relief, so it was good. This morning, I went hiking/praying at a state park. People keep asking me what my strategy is for pulling together a core group. Most have planted a church before and say, "I had a few people to go with me, I can't imagine going somewhere that I don't know anyone." It's funny how it wasn't really a big deal for me (at the time). I tell them, I have no clue! Today, however, I decided on my strategy. I'm going to pray them out of the ground! (Actually WE are going to pray them out of the ground). I figure if God can send Peter to Cornelius, Philip to the Ethiopian eunuch, knit dry bones together, etc., this should not be a big deal. Besides, He's the one building His church.

PRAISES:
My brain didn't ooze out of my ear last week! - seriously, God sustained me.
The contacts that were made.
We had a great time with Brent and Michelle and family.
The sickness didn't last long.

PRAYER:
My meeting with Curt tomorrow. Pray that he'll feel led to help us out.
Wisdom for our meeting with people who have expressed an interest.
Opportunities to share the gospel with lost people.
The house search.
Wisdom. Lots and lots of wisdom.

UPDATE 10/09/2006
(FOR THOSE INTERESTED IN THE GORY DETAILS, READ AWAY. FOR THOSE WHO JUST WANT THE BOTTOM LINE, SCROLL TO THE BOTTOM FOR PRAYER REQUESTS.)

I've received several good nuggets of advice since I arrived in NE. It's kind of difficult to figure out what a church planter does and should do - there's really no outward forces exerted on you to make you do certain things. In many respects, it's a very fluid thing. Mainly, I find myself just trying to meet people and build relationships with them on various levels - some are "prospects", some pastors, etc. (As a sidenote, this is rather draining for an introvert like myself. By Friday last week, I wanted to crawl into a cave for a few days.) Oh yeah, I was talking about advice. . . well one nugget was that "church planting is often about following every lead that comes up. The secret is to praise God when they work out and not get too down when they don't." I've had several ups and downs and these may or may not have come through in the blog entries. It's weird that these things come and go rapidly, so I find my life is much like riding a serious roller coaster (without the bar to hold you in:)) Another nugget was "Your biggest challenge is keeping your sanity and taking care of your wife and kids." Wonderfully encouraging words about your new job, huh?

That being said, I have a really interesting lead to pursue. It could be very crucial to what is taking place here. Westside Church is the "mother ship" here in Omaha. It is the SBC mega-church. You may be familiar with their ministry through the works of Calvin Miller - he was once pastor there (in fact he may have been the founding pastor - not sure). Anyway, I had been told that they were not really interested in helping with church planting. Since I've been here, I've been praying that God would give a vision for church planting to the pastors who could help with the work here. Last week, we had a pastor's meeting and I met two of their staff members. Both of them were very interested in the work we're doing. One of them (John) worked to take me to lunch on Friday and give me some advice. It was a really helpful meeting for me because he has planted two churches and served as a church planting strategist. He suggested that we join them for church Sunday (which we did). After church I met their pastor (Curt), who told me to contact him because he would like to take me to lunch. This is all to mention a BIG prayer request for this week. Please pray that God will work this out - that we will be able to make contact, that he will catch a vision for church planting and feel a desire to help a poor church planter out. In particular, I am praying that they will send some people our way to help with the start. All of these guys have planted before and know what it's like, but sometimes you forget. I told J'line that I had to polish my sales pitch, but then I said, "No, I've got to pray harder, because this will be a God thing." I truly believe that, so I'm asking you to join me. God will work this out either way, but their support could be a critical thing.

A second prayer request is for people. The number one hurdle to this whole deal is pulling together a core group. I'm trying to get a Bible study started - in fact, I just asked the owner of the coffee shop if we could meet here and he said we could. Now I just need to find the people to fill it. Pray that God will lead us to lost peole that will be receptive to doing this. Also, you can pray that pastors will be willing to share some of their people resources with us and that God will lead some of their people to catch the vision of being a missionary/pioneer. (Another nugget was that "there are a lot of settlers, but few pioneers.") Most people would rather sit back and see if things are going to work before they commit, but at this point every single person who commits to help makes a HUGE impact. Another thing related to this arena is that God will bless our home and hospitality. John said the best thing I can do is fill up every breakfast and lunch making contacts and have a ton of people over to our house. We've been talking about that very thing and plan to do it. In fact, as we were raking the yard last night, I noticed J standing there doing nothing and got a little perturbed. As I peeked around the van, she was talking with our neighbor from next door and the one across the street. We're planning to have them over soon. I'm also looking for ways to meet people in our target area, which is tricky since we don't live here. Another piece of advice from John was to move in this area ASAP (which you can pray for too). Pray for wisdom in finding the most profitable places to meet people and build relationships.

PRAISES:
We had a great time at church yesterday.
We have made some good contacts with church leaders who can help.
We are building some good relationships with neighbors and others.

PRAYER REQUESTS:
Meeting with Westside's staff members. Pray that they would be receptive to partnering with us.
We need core members.
Profitable contacts with potential members.
Wisdom for the places to invest myself in meeting people/building relationships.
Aaron, Nicki, Brad, Mandy, Kimberly, Jeff, Kelly, Todd, Christine, Art, Valerie (these are all "prospects" in one sense or another).

We sang this song at church yesterday. It was a new one to me. It was written in 1871 by a pastor from the East Coast (Mass. I think) to communicate with the community of sailors where he lived. It was "redone" for guitars, etc., but I really enjoyed it.

Jesus, Savior, Pilot Me
By Edward Hopper, 1871

Jesus, Savior, pilot me
Over life’s tempestuous sea;
Unknown waves before me roll,
Hiding rock and treacherous shoal.
Chart and compass come from Thee;
Jesus, Savior, pilot me.

While th’Apostles’ fragile bark
Struggled with the billows dark,
On the stormy Galilee,
Thou didst walk upon the sea;
And when they beheld Thy form,
Safe they glided through the storm.

Though the sea be smooth and bright,
Sparkling with the stars of night,
And my ship’s path be ablaze
With the light of halcyon days,
Still I know my need of Thee;
Jesus, Savior, pilot me.

When the darkling heavens frown,
And the wrathful winds come down,
And the fierce waves, tossed on high,
Lash themselves against the sky,
Jesus, Savior, pilot me,
Over life’s tempestuous sea.

As a mother stills her child,
Thou canst hush the ocean wild;
Boisterous waves obey Thy will,
When Thou sayest to them, “Be still!”
Wondrous Sovereign of the sea,
Jesus, Savior, pilot me.

When at last I near the shore,
And the fearful breakers roar
’Twixt me and the peaceful rest,
Then, while leaning on Thy breast,
May I hear Thee say to me,
“Fear not, I will pilot thee.”

OOPS . . . I FORGOT

I started another website for family pictures, etc. I'll try to keep this focused on the ministry, how things are progressing, prayer requests, etc. The other will be more personal stuff. J may even put in an entry or two. We mainly wanted to do it for family, but some of you may be interested as well. Here's the link:

http://web.mac.com/ljcordell/iWeb/Site/Welcome.html

10/02/06 UPDATE

I went to another church Sunday, CORE Community in Omaha. They are part of a church planting group that I am interested in called Acts 29. It was a really cool service and I saw a several elements that were interesting. For one, the welcome time was about 5 minutes - almost uncomfortably long. However, it allowed people in the congregation to actually engage one another in a meaningful dialogue - not just "how's it goin'", handshake, see ya. Two, when the band started to come down and the preacher got up from behind the drums (yeah, he played the drums) the entire congregation remained standing. They did the good old "Stand for the reading of God's Word" but it made a real impact that this is important, it is why we are here, you should pay attention to what it says. Third, they did communion (side note - it should be a sin to do communion with wafers instead of the real thing). That was interesting since communion was THE centerpiece of worship in the early church. Anyway, just random musings. For those of you who wonder about "these young guys" leading churches, you should be encouraged - many of them have a strong desire to know and proclaim Jesus and many of them are deeper than you average church (even if the music is really loud).

The most significant event of last week was that I talked to the Director of Missions about my plans, target, etc. There is a large church in town (SBC) that is focusing on the area we "targeted." We are supposed to meet more this week to see what their plans are for the future. One funny thing is that if they are focused on moving out there, we may focus where they are right now - which is right beside where we live. J has made a lot of contacts in the area. I told Mark (the DOM that I'd be happy to change places with them). Who knows, I'm glad God's driving this thing because I'm clueless. Other than that, he affirmed the direction I'm taking and the planning going on. I'm assuming that we will continue to target the area I mentioned before but that may change. Blessed are the flexible for they will not be bent out of shape.

This week, I'll be trying to lay the groundwork (name, core values, etc.) so that we can pull a website together, get some info printed, etc. to use in the future. One problem is that in a metro area, if it doesn't have some "feel" for being established, people ignore it, so that's why all the work in this area. I'll also be working on laying out some ideas and times for mission teams to come up and work next summer.

In the next 2-3 months, we hope to pull together a core group. As I've said, there are prospects that I'd like you to pray for that we've already met. There's a lot more we don't even know about. Continue to pray that God will raise them up. There may even be some in existing churches and we'll be working on that. You can pray that God will lay a burden on the hearts of area pastors to give support and allow their people to become involved. Once we get them pulled together, we'll begin training, praying, etc. for a big launch (most likely in the Fall of 2007).

In November we have a prayer walking team coming up to lay some spiritual groundwork for the upcoming work. There will be more in the summer, along with a variety of ministry teams (block parties, backyard Bible clubs, sports camps, etc.) to help get us out there and involved in the community. Following all of this, we hope to build momentum for a public launch of the church in the Fall. That should help you understand the timeline and hopefully inform how you are praying.

PRAISES
J has made several significant contacts with a homeschooling network - both on a practical (homeschooling) level and on a personal/relational level
Things seem to be progressing as expected

PRAYER
Wisdom as I make plans this week.
People to form a core group - participants and leaders to allow their people to be involved.
Relationships and contacts that we are making to continue to develop.