04/28/08 UPDATE



Well, after much prayer and seeking God, we have finally found a worship leader. Jared and Brooke Totten started Sunday and it went great. I could have removed my sermon from the service and the songs he selected and several comments he made would have said exactly what I had planned. I'm really excited about having them on the team. Pray for us this week as we seeking out what God wants us to do and begin laying out how to get there.

Yesterday went pretty well. We had several regulars gone and still had 38 (26 adults/22 kids). Three of those were first time guests. At Community Group last night, we had 9 and really good discussion.

I had a great time at the Church Planting Conference last week. I have several pages of notes to process and they contain some really powerful ideas.

Two areas for prayer:

1. We have several people who are here for several weeks, then gone for several. We are trying hard to figure out how to connect with them and help them become more committed. It is a difficult and frustrating process, so pray for God to move.

2. I have been working to try and secure the Middle School as a meeting place for the the summer and next year. They only do the contract for the upcoming school year. I am not having a lot of success in getting a response and I'm not sure why. It could be good (they're in no hurry because its a formality) or it could be bad (they don't plan to renew it and don't want to address it). This is a critical thing for us because we don't have other affordable meeting spaces in the area. Pray that we can make contact and that it will go well.

04/21/08 UPDATE

This will be quick - I'm leaving in a few minutes for a church planting conference in Orlando. I'm participating in a track that is entitled "Post-Launch." We're entering a vital few weeks before summer. There is a substantial "core" forming that are committed to helping and we need to incorporate them into the work so that we will be able to reach more people. Our "surge" in February added a few, but many came and didn't come back. I think that was largely because we were unprepared for them. In addition to this conference, I will be starting the Coaching Network next week that will assist in building this structure. Please pray for me in this process.

We had 36 yesterday (22 adults/14 kids). Our Community Group meeting last night had 10 and Wednesday night had 7.

Check back next week for a major announcement!

04/14/08 UPDATE

Al Gore is an idiot. This is not a political rant. I also know that he is far smarter than me . . . I never would have even thought of the internet:) I'm referring to the whole "global warming" thing. All I know is that it's the the middle of April and we had two days of snow (Friday and Saturday). Grrrrrrrr. It's fine in late fall/winter, but in the spring it's ridiculous! Ok, I feel better now.

Yesterday it was not snowing, thankfully. We had one of those Sunday's which (from a leader's perspective) was rough and ragged. I had a miscommunication with my worship leader and we had to use the iWorship DVD's. I was having a hard time getting my stuff together, I made a big announcement and got the date all wrong (i just realized it this morning), etc. Sigh . . .

We had 39 (22 Adults/17 Children). I had a great talk with one of our ladies who is really growing in her faith. She was asking about prayer - how to do it, when, what to pray, etc. Her husband is also really interested. Pray that God will draw him.

We had our Community Group meeting last night. I think it went really well. We had 13 adults (and 8 kids). My favorite time is watching people who don't know each other all that well talking and getting to know each other. Last Wednesday, we had 12 at the Community Group at a local coffee shop. I am pleased with how the groups are beginning. Pray that they will continue.

4/6/08 UPDATE

We had a great Sunday yesterday. We had 53 (34 adults/19 children). God was at work in the service. I received several comments about how God used the sermon to speak to things that were going on in people's lives. In fact, I got an email that said this - "By the way, it was a great sermon today! It was like you heard [our] conversation on the way to church! It seemed like you were talking directly to us...kind of scary! :)"

There were also several specific answers to prayers:

- I've been asking you to pray for children's workers and we were able to get 4 volunteers this week.

- We had someone indicate that they wanted to become a follower of Jesus. Considering that I preached on becoming a slave to Jesus, that was a rather remarkable decision - it wasn't very "touchy-feely."

- We've had two people indicate that they want to be baptized.

- Things are still progressing well in our conversations with a prospective worship leader.

- We had 10 people at our first Community Group meeting last night. We have another one on Wednesday.

- I was accepted to a Pastor's Coaching Network in Tampa beginning in May. If anyone has any frequent flier miles you don't plan to use, give me a call!

One thing I'd like you to pray for this week is my planning and scheduling. I'm getting crushed with stuff that needs to be done. I realized last week that I've got things messed up - I do the least important things (which seem the most demanding) and then don't have time to devote to the necessary things. I'm also working seven days a week. That isn't how God designed things, so I've got to take some time to rest and trust Him. I plan to begin prioritizing and planning better so that I change that AND find a way to get some time to rest. Pray for wisdom and guidance.