03/05/07 UPDATE

I thought i would introduce you to the Cunningham's. If you've been reading this, you probably remember me mentioning them to you. Jeff is a meteorologist for the Air Force. Kelly stays busy keeping Jeff and Jocelyn in line. They have signed on to help us as we start Redeemer Church. They've already been a great source of encouragement to J'line and I and they are excited about all the stuff to come. Please remember to pray for them as you remember our work.

The big news from last week was The Blizzard of 2007. Thursday morning around 5 it started snowing and the wind was whipping. It snowed all morning and we ended up with about a foot of snow. Pretty much everyone was stuck inside.

I'm learning that snow is a big opportunity for me. I wait inside, sipping coffee and staying warm until I hear a snow blower fire up. Then, I put on all my stuff and go outside to shovel snow. There's an interesting phenomenon - everyone on the entire street comes out about the same time and it provides a great opportunity to get to know your neighbors. I've now made the acquaintance of everyone on the circle and found out a lot more about the rest of the street.

We all pitched in to help one guy get his two cars unstuck out of the street so the plows could theoretically clear our street. After that, we all went to clear our drives. I cleared two stips and was about to have a heart attack. Then one of the guys walked his snow blower over and finished it up for me. I then spent the next couple of hours talking to people on the street.

Apparently, we live in an atypical neighborhood. Most people who live in the 'burbs say that they have lived there 5, 6, 10 years, whatever, and barely know the names of their neighbors. We must have moved to party central, because I've met everyone and they are very friendly. We were welcomed warmly and that seems to just be part of the deal. Throughout the summer, they just pull a grill out in the street and everyone brings their own meat for a big cookout. On the fourth of July, one guy makes a run for fireworks and puts on a big display (which forces the ATF agent to leave for the evening so he doesn't have to arrest anyone:)) Anyway, it seems like a pretty cool spot. Pray for opportunities to continue to develop among the people in our community.

This week will be very busy for us. We have something going on almost every night. We're hoping to be able to meet with Kyle and Kim Moeller this weekend. They are very interested in helping us but still have several questions. We've been hoping to meet with them to hopefully make some progress. I'm really beginning to obsess about our need for people to be involved. As I was stressing about it yesterday I read Mt. 9:37-38 where Jesus tells us to pray for God to send workers into the harvest. Please make this your primary prayer focus for us.

Also, my parents are coming this weekend to spend a couple of weeks with us. Pray for them as they travel.

Thanks for the prayers!

SPECIAL REQUEST

I usually post requests for our family and ministry, however, I had a special request today. Ms. Edna Arnold is a lady in south Alabama who has been a part of our prayer team since the beginning. She went home to be with Jesus last week. Please remember her family in your prayers.

2/26/07 UPDATE

We had a really good week this week. For those of you who have been praying for my midweek request about the church planting coach, I decided to go ahead and apply. I sought the counsel of several people, and all of them thought it was a sound decision. As I prayed and thought about it, I felt stronger about the decision, so I applied. I'm awaiting hearing the outcome.

One other thing I've been requesting prayer on was opportunities to share the Gospel. I've been working really hard to solicit the help of believers (more about that later, I think its essential) but I also realize how necessary it is to reach unchurched people. So this week, I've been praying fervently about it. I experimented with several ways to get out and bump into people, start conversations, etc. Well, it really didn't go well until Thursday. I went to Scooter's as normal and had a great discussion with a lady who works there. (If you want to read more about the whole story, you can check out my other blog, but I'll spare the gory details here). It was a great conversation where you know the person is hearing and processing what you're saying. Please pray for her as she wrestles with this - her name is Lisa.

I also had several good contacts with believers this week. As I said earlier, I think believers who are willing to set aside their preferences for the good of others is essential (and also hard to find). I went to check on a building where we can meet. As I talked to her, I found out they are members in an SBC church where they are finding it difficult to connect. They've helped start a church in Massachusetts before moving out here. She said that she thought we were in a good area because she knew of 4 couples off the top of her head who were searching for a church like we were describing. It was encouraging and may lead to some people to plug into the launch team.

We also met with two couples on Sunday night who have been talking about helping us. They are seriously considering it, but they are also struggling to make the decision. Its a big step for anybody to leave behind what they know (friends, family, church, etc.) to go across the country or the city. I shared with them that I don't want anybody doing it just "cause" - because they don't like their church, think it would be cool, or anything else. I want people involved because they are convinced God is calling them to be a part. Otherwise, when it gets hard (and it will), they'll bail out. I actually find people who wrestle with the decision more encouraging than those who say, "cool, let's do it" the first time they hear.

This week involves a lot of preparing for what is to come. I'm meeting with a guy who's helping me file all of the necessary paperwork to get the church "official." I'm also working to finish several of the things I've got to submit for my application to a church planting network. We're being assessed (again) in March, so i've got to finish several papers, surveys, etc. this week.

PRAISES:
We continually find places where God is working.
God is answering the prayers that are being made for the work.

PRAYERS:
Our assessment with Acts 29 (church planting network) and our application for coaching.
Clarity for those we've met as to whether God is calling them to be a part. Specifically, Kyle and Kim, Nick and Kelly, Bruce and Brenda, Al and Mary.
God to show people their need for salvation and opportunities to discuss it with them. Specifically, Lisa, Brad, Mandy, Duane and his wife.
Wisdom for the myriad of decisions that have to be made.

WISDOM

Greetings all! I have a special, mid-week request. I learned of a coaching network for church planters that is meeting in New York once a month, April-September. A friend participated in a coaching network by the same group and i saw dramatic results in him and his church's ministry. I am very interested in the opportunity for learning and assistance and think it would make a real difference. Since 80% of church plants fail, I can use all the help i can get. At our assessment, one of their recommendations was to get a church planting coach. I've tried locally with no success. Additionally, after completing this, it would open the opportunity to coach other planters in our area, which fits my vision of starting other churches in the area.

All of this makes it seem like a no-brainer to me, but the concern is over two issues. is this the best use of my time and limited resources? The use of time is probably the most difficult issue right now. I think it would help focus my work and planning now. In addition, it will lay the groundwork to free up time after the launch by helping me engage others in the work. The major challenge for resources is that it will require airfare to NYC six times and a monthly fee.

I am trying to make wise decisions in this time and I would appreciate your prayers to that end. I'm trying to solicit prayer and counsel for major decisions.

Thanks!

02/19/07 UPDATE

GOD IS GOOD!!! I make that statement totally seperate from anything related to church starting. rather, it was 40+ degrees and sunny yesterday!!! WOOHOO! I never thought 40 would feel so warm. I went for a long run just to enjoy the sun. I have heard many people say this has been the worst Jan and Feb in a long time. It hasn't really been that bad, but it sure is nice to have it warmer.

On other news, you know the housing market is in the tank right? Well, my mother-in-law has a new idea. She's been in the process of retiring, selling her house and moving out here with us. She decided to sell her house by doing nothing. No sign in the yard. No ad in the paper. Certainly no realtors involved. She got a call on Feb 7th from her neighbor about a lady interested in buying. Her neighbor mentioned Juanita's place. The lady (who's 81) looked at it, liked it and brought her son to look at it on the 9th. They closed last Friday (16th). Go figure. The week before she had started to pray for God to send the right person who could buy it and would enjoy it the same way she had. It looks like she'll be here around the end of April. Now we have to get that basement finished:)

I also finished my prospectus last week and emailed it to several people. If you have any interest, email me and I'll send you a copy (can't figure out how to post it here). Please pray that God will use it to show people the need for churches in Omaha and lead them to either help us or someone else in the work. I met with a pastor from Lincoln, NE that is starting a new church and has a vision for starting one church in each of Nebraska's 93 counties. Many of them are very rural and have NOTHING - not like they have a Lutheran or Methodist, but not a Baptist. i mean NOTHING. I have a vision for planting several churches in the Omaha area, so there is a huge need and several opportunities. Please pray for a movement of new churches in Nebraska.

Saturday, I thought I would take a day off and take the family to a fish and game expo. OK, I know it sounds like something I would want to do, not the family, but I think J enjoyed it more than I did. She and the boys watched guys tie flies, talked dog food, watched a seminar on dog training, and sampled several things they'd never tried (elk, duck, pheasant, etc.). The really cool part for me was that there were several people I have needed to talk with that I haven't been able to catch. I think I saw just about every one of them there and had several productive discussions.

One specific request I have is that you would pray for openings for the gospel. We have several people we've gotten to know and are trying to follow up on those. There are a lot of open doors. Much of evangelism in my book involves these repeated contacts, sharing, praying, until God opens their hearts. I am probably most productive with this approach, but we really need a quicker harvest. it has been difficult to meet people lately (they all bunker down with the cold), but I really need wisdom on how to meet them, opportunities to share Christ, and some to respond. Salvation is God's work, not the result of our efforts alone, but concerted prayer to open the hearts of unbelievers moves God to work. You have not because you ask not.

PLEASE PRAY FOR:
Supporters for a church planting movement in Nebraska.
Open doors to share the Gospel - and fruit from it.
God to call those who are to be involved in the Launch Team.

Thanks for the prayers - they move heaven and earth!

For those of you who are interested, both of you, I've created a new blog for my random thoughts, things God is teaching me, encounters, experiences, or anything else I feel like writing about. This blog will remain focused on updates to the progress of the church start, the other will allow me to share other stuff. That way, I can talk about stuff without offending the majority of you:)

http://leecordell.blogspot.com/

By the way, you may notice some changes to this blog. The picture is the downtown Omaha skyline. Also, there is a feed that you can subscribe to at the bottom of both blogs (Suzanne). It will allow you to get the new info when I post it without checking the blog (I think the new Internet Explorer has a feed reader).

02/12/07 UPDATE

Man have things gotten busy! We had a really eventful week that I hope will prove productive. On Friday of last week, I had a meeting that resulted in a guy volunteering to make a promotional dvd for us. The only problem was, I had to have a script written and ready to go by Wednesday night. I also had to finalize my prospectus and prepare to preach yesterday. The DVD really took a lot of time. I hope it will turn out well and give some of you a look at the area.

I had to finalize the prospectus because our Director of Missions had a meeting with a group from Missouri who was interested in helping us and was going to Mississippi to meet with some other prospects. I've also got several contacts that we are pursuing. Please pray for God to pull things together as He sees fit. We need these groups to help with sending mission teams, praying, and financial support. Our salary is being provided but there are a lot of startup costs for equipment, advertising, facility rent, etc.

Preaching went pretty well yesterday too. Thanks for praying.

I also had meetings with prospects almost every day last week. Several doors opened for relationship building and sharing Christ. I also had a significant discussion with two couples who are considering helping us out. We have similar thoughts about church and ministry, so it seemed pretty good.

Again, the frustration is that things don't follow my schedule. For example, I had a follow up meeting with one of those couples for tonight, but something came up for them and we won't get to meet for almost two weeks. I keep having to remind myself that God is in control and things are moving along according to His plan, not mine. I've experienced that before, but in a normal church situation, your "postition" is secure and there are other things clamoring for your attention. Here, everything depends on those contacts working out, so it's a little more stressful.

Please pray for:
God to begin tying up some of these loose ends for us.
Opportunities to share the Gospel - pray especially for Brad and Mandy, Duane and his wife, and Spencer.
God to call those He wants involved in the work. Pray for guidance for Kyle and Kim, Nick and Kelly, Don, and Joe.
Wisdom as we make decisions for everything that has to be done.

2/5/07 UPDATE

It's strange how numbers affect your perception. I told a friend that so far things were going well . . . but then again, we haven't done anything "measurable." For instance, you look at contacts made, plans developed, time spent praying, etc. and those things can look good. The problem is, there's nothing about them that is concrete to evaluate as good or bad. That's why people say you should make goals that are measurable. That way, you know if you met them or not. Well, our first measurable thing is "The Gathering" on Sunday night. The good news is, it's easy to measure. The bad news is, it's easy to measure - you barely need both hands:) it went really well in continuing to develop our relationship with Jeff and Kelly. I had hoped to invite several unchurched people i've met since we were watching the football game, but none were able to make it.
Next week, we're going to work really hard to involve some others and begin praying and preparing for the church launch. Pray that several will respond.

The other bummer from last week was that several of the meetings i had set up fell through. We rescheduled, but it was frustrating that they didn't work out. I did get one to work out and it proved really helpful. There's a couple here who are really excited about church planting. They don't think they're cut out to personally do it anymore due to being "chronologically challenged," but they are very supportive and helpful. I met with Carl on Friday and he is going to help me with a lot of the administrative work - WOOHOO! MAY HIS TRIBE INCREASE!!! Hopefully, that will take several of the less exciting items off my plate. In addition, he has a friend who makes DVD's coming to town and set it up for him to help make one for us. It will hopefully be a promotional piece for those interested in supporting us. It will also have a track for those of you on the prayer team, so that you can see a bit of what we keep talking about. I hope it will work out well. The bad news is, I have to put together a script for both of them by Wednesday night. Oh yeah, and I'm preaching Sunday at Heartland. So. . . this is a busy week.

Please pray for me as I prepare to preach on Sunday and as I prepare the script for the DVD.
Also pray for us as we begin taking care of these administrative items - securing the name, domain name, building a website, finalizing the prospectus, on and on and on . . .
Pray for The Gathering and people we are inviting. Continue to pray for God to call those He wants involved and to connect us with them.

HELPING DADDY BUILD "SUMPING"




Last week I spent a lot of time putting together bookshelves and stuff. During that time, I made a new little buddy - Leighton. The other two were busy with school and since I wasn't "working," he decided to "help" me out. He really just hung around and talked to me and showed me stuff he built with lego's. Whenever i started working on one of these projects, he decided he wanted to help. He'd say, "Daddy, can i help you build sumping." (that's 4 year old for something)

Ok, i know it makes me sound like a loser-dad, but i don't really do well with that. I just want to get the junk done and move on. More often than not, the boys only slow me down and make things take longer. I decided to let him help, though. I realized that he does well when i give him a project and let him go for it. I'd start a screw and give him a screwdriver. He'd sit there cranking on one screw while i did the rest. Then, I'd come back, finish up what he was doing and polish it off. He'd be really proud and tell everybody to check out what "we" built. I really started to enjoy it and snapped a couple of pictures.

A few days later, I was thinking about the whole deal. Suddenly it hit me. That's how things work with me and God. I bust my chops doing stuff to start a church. In reality, at my best, I'm just cranking on a screw that never even gets tight. God puts it all together and then I throw up my hands and say "YES! Look what we built!" Right.

It's cool that God lets us in on what he's doing. We get to know Him better and see things done that we could never accomplish. It's also nice to know it doesn't depend on our abilities, but His power. That's how things really work, we're involved, but He's the one that really does it.

So. . . Daddy, you wanna build sumping?

01/29/07 UPDATE

Yesterday was a very eventful end to a very busy week. We worked like dogs trying to get the house ready for a small group meeting on Sunday night. It probably wasn't the best idea to do it that quickly, but I have been doggedly determined to get something going, even if it was a small something.

Yesterday morning we went to Grace Fellowship Church (I preached there in November). The pastor and I had talked about how they could help. He invited me to come and invite people to help out. He preached and then I spoke for about 5 minutes. I invited people to help in one of three ways - 1) be on the prayer team 2) be a "missionary" to come and help us for 6 months, a year, whatever God led them to do 3) put me in contact with people they knew who lived in our target area. We had several good leads in all of those areas. 2 people asked to be on the prayer team - and one of them was going to have his fellowship group pray for us. Several couples inquired about helping us get started by being part of the launch team. I was encouraged because they mentioned a focus on reaching unchurched people of various walks of life. Several offered their services - technical advice, oil changes for our car, etc. There were also several who gave me names of their kids or friends who might be interested. I was really excited.

It was also a bit strange though. We went to lunch with Mitch and Rebekah (the pastor and his wife) and talked about the leads. On the way home, I told Jacqueline that I felt like a thief. It was really odd. I believe God is going to bless both us and Grace Fellowship through this. I also am committed to doing the same thing for someone else after we get going.

Last night we had our first small group meeting. It was definitely a "small" group meeting. I really only expected two other couples besides us. We were joined by Jeff and Kelly Cunningham. They are the couple I met in the Bible study I led shortly after arriving. We had a good time and they "signed the dotted line" to commit to helping us. It was also good for both of us to spend some time hanging out.

We are hoping to see this meeting grow in the coming weeks. This week the invitations were sent out late because I didn't know if we'd be ready or not. We have to plan a few weeks out to allow people to get it in their schedules (everybody is so busy up here). I currently have about 30 adults on my prospect list (not all 30 realize they are prospects yet, but they'll figure it out eventually:))

Continue to pray for God to draw and call people to be a part of the launch team. I'll be following up the leads from Sunday, so pray that God will speak clearly to me and to these people about the desires and roles He has for them. I also have meetings with people every day this week who are prospects or supporters. Pray for God's leadership in our meetings.

I will be preaching at Heartland Community Church on Feb. 11th, so pray for my preparation.

Finally, my goal for February is to design some type of outreach focused Bible study for unchurched people. I'm not really sure how to do that (what's the best way), so pray for guidance and that God will connect us with those who He is already working on.

Thanks for the prayers - they move heaven and earth.

01/22/07 UPDATE

Well all of our stuff is now inside - we are just trying to get it unpacked. I hope to be able to stand upright again in a few days.

Sunday was interesting. we got 7" of snow on Saturday night, so many churches cancelled their services. Ours was one, so I was able to take some ibuprofen and let them kick in before i had to go out and shovel the snow out of the walk. I decided to make it "purposeful," so I waited until i saw some of my neighbors outside in hopes of meeting them. Finally, the guy next door fired up his snow blower, so I went out to tackle the chore. It worked like a charm - I guess everyone was waiting on teh first person to take the plunge. When you looked down the street, almost every house had someone out shoveling.

I was also able to meet all of our immediate neighbors. The people to our right go to an sbc church here in Omaha. In fact, it was the first one i preached at. They were really friendly and let the boys use their sled and the hill in their backyard - our yard is basically flat. I think they all conspire to make the new people fat. One neighbor brought us a cake last night and this morning another guy showed up with a hot, fresh now box of Krispy Kreme donuts. DUDE, THIS IS MY KIND OF PLACE!

Please pray for us this week as we prepare to have our first Gathering. It will probably be a bit slow since I haven't invited everyone early, but I hope we will have several people show up. We are going to spend the first 2-3 weeks getting to know each other and then begin preparing to see if everyone wants to be part of the new start.

Also, I will be speaking for 5-10 minutes at a local church on Sunday to invite people to join up with us. Please pray for God to call people to the work. I also have to line up several follow up meeting with people this week. Pray that God will be at work in these too.

Thanks for praying!

01/15/07 UPDATE

Sorry the post is late. J hasn't allowed me to put down a paint brush to do anything else lately. She slipped out to the store, so I have a minute:) We've almost finished the painting and hope to move on Saturday. This will be a big relief. It looks like we'll meet our target of having "The Gathering" (our small group time) on January 28th.

One exciting development last week was a phone call from the pastor of a new church in town (Grace Fellowship - I preached there in Nov?). They really want to help us with our start. The funny thing is that they plan to build there church in basically the same place we are targeting. He has already talked to a few people to see if they are interested in helping us and at least one of them is. We are meeting Thursday to see how they may be able to help further.

I'm also slowly meeting our neighbors. So far, I've met Mark our neighbor in the back right. He's a golf pro at a local course (I was praying for a hunting and/or fishing guide, but that will work:)) He has a wife who teaches 2nd grade and two little girls.

There's also Donna. She has three granddaughters who stay with her a lot.

Yesterday I met Alex. He also has a daughter.

It sounds like there's nothing but girls here (till we moved in), but Donna told us they were hoping girls would move in because there weren't that many. I've seen, but haven't met our next door neighbors and they have three kids. Our back door neighbors have 3 boys and one across the street has 2 boys.

I tell you all these details so that you can pray for these people. Ask God to draw them and open their hearts to Him.

Thanks for your prayers. Continue to pray for contacts with believers who are well connected with lost people and with unbelievers.

1/8/07 UPDATE

Last week was really eventful. We closed on the house without any issues. It was incredibly easy - I just filled out an online app, met with an officer once, and it was done!

Two other significant things took place:

One, we went for the final walkthrough of the house. I found some things the previous owners left behind that showed they were active Mormons. This had a big impact on me for a couple of reasons. One, they were doing essentially the same things we're hoping to do. I have to be conscious of that as I meet people, so that we aren't lumped in with them. We have to make sure they understand a difference. That may seem like a clear distinction to you, but it isn't to most unbelievers (and to an alarming number of believers too!).

This may be a little "wierd" for some of you, but I had a sense of wanting to pray through the house before we moved in. As we talked about it later, J had the same sense. I've never done that before, but I just had a sense that we needed to this time - maybe because it is essentially our church for now, our center of ministry, whatever. Once we made this discovery, I really wanted to do that - since it was being used as a center for false teaching, I really want to see it established as a Kingdom outpost. Please pray for us in this regard - especially for our neighbors, that we will be able to communicate clearly the truth of Jesus and that God will reveal the truth to them. Pray that Satan will not be able to use this "confusion" to harm the work.

This all served to underline the fact that this is all spiritual warfare. This is the "wierd" part for some of you, but we really are engaged in a spiritual battle, there are lives and souls at stake, and you play a vital part. Please join me in pleading for the souls of people here in Omaha and against the work of Satan.

The other significant event took place at closing. I had not met our actual loan officer before. The day before our "interview" he fell off a ladder and ended up in ICU, so someone filled in for him. We met for the first time at closing and he asked a lot of questions about the church and how things were going. I didn't even know for sure that he knew what we were doing. As things progressed we talked further and he asked me to keep him posted on the progress. I asked if he was going to church anywhere and he replied that he was, but that they had been discussing a change and that's why he wanted to know more about what we were doing. Again, just another instance of how God randomly draws people together.

Please continue to pray for us in that regard. Ask God to raise up people - believers who are well connected with lost people and lost people who God is dealing with. We've been seeing answers to these prayers, so please keep it up.

As for everything else, we are busy painting and preparing to move in. We're hoping to have our first small group on the 28th.

Thanks for you prayers!

greeting all! just a quickie today. we closed on the house and are busy painting. J'line won't let me have time off to blog, so i'll try to post my update on wednesday. there's more cool news of God connecting us with people.

see you wednesday!

01/01/07 UPDATE

Well, you can tell by the picture what the highlight of this week was! We weren't supposed to get snow, but we got about 3 1/2". The boys were excited to get to see it and use their sledding stuff and snow equipment. It started snowing Sunday morning and really started about 15 minutes before church started. J came in to get the boys and was all excited to get them to see it. They came running back inside all excited and L had a present for me - he brought me a handful of it so I could see it too. They've been sledding, throwing snow balls, making snow angels, the whole bit.

This past week has been both encouraging and productive - although in an odd way. I haven't been "working" as much as I would like. Since Christmas, I've found that it seems like I'm one of the only people in O trying to work! A lot of what I might have hoped to get done, didn't.

However, my biggest concern has been meeting people (especially lost people). To that end, I've been working to build relationships with people here. One was with a guy named Spencer. He works at our bank and helped us open our accounts. We hit it off because he's a huge college football fan, so we were talking about that. Since then, I've been intentionally going to that branch and going inside to make conversation, etc. I really felt like it was a waste of time though, because he told me he lived across the river in Iowa (that would put him on the complete other side of Omaha than we're targeting). On Tuesday, I went in to get some of the stuff straight in preparation for closing and mentioned that we were buying a house. He asked where and I told him 168th St. He said, "Cool, I live at 144th St." (That would be 2 miles away, which is just around the block out here) When I said I thought he lived in council bluffs, he said, "Yeah I did but we just moved a couple of weeks ago." I got his phone number and he told me to call him "when I was having a big party or something." Hmmm, I think my last "big party" was about 15 years ago, but we'll figure something out. At this point, the Darth Vader theme shoud be playing in the background with the Millenium Falcon being pulled to the Death Star by a tractor beam (some of you may have to rent Star Wars to figure this one out - or just ask Mike Dunn if you're in St. Joe). I had a seminary professor use that as an illustration for the Holy Spirit drawing people to God.

Another interesting contact was on Friday. I went to a local lake/park to work on my sermon. My neighbor Brad said he goes there often to fish. I hadn't seen him for several weeks because he and his wife have seperated. We haven't talked since that happened and I've been looking for an opportunity. He teaches school, so I knew he was on vacation and kept watching for his vehicle. I happened to see it, so I put my coat on and took a walk in the rain. I "bumped into him" eventually and we got to talk for a pretty good while. He shared with me some of what was going on and we talked about getting together sometime to fish and I was able to invite him to church.

If you will notice, I asked you to pray for "fruitful contacts" last week. I think these would classify as answers.

Sunday went well, too. I preached at the church where we've been attending. I got some really good feedback, so i think it went well. I even kept it in the 30 minute range! That was really important since the movies start very shortly after church. It was funny to preach in a movie theater - they project the power point on the "big screen." From the front, it looks just like everybody's watching a movie while you're trying to talk to them. Some even had sodas and coffee (no popcorn though - but you can buy it on the way out). We had invited several people to come, but the snow kept most of them away. We did have one couple show up though.

After church we went to lunch with a huge group of people from the church, which was fun. Then we got a call on Monday to hang out with some friends for New Year's so that was cool. Anyway, it was a pretty eventful week considering I didn't feel like I got anything "done."

The big deal for this week is closing on the house. We're trying to get it set for Thursday afternoon since we had someone volunteer to keep the kids. If so, then Friday will start the painting. I am NOT looking forward to that process! Please pray that the closing will go well and we will get all the work done quickly. I'm hoping to have our first "Gathering" (small group) by the end of the month.

Also, keep praying for fruitful contacts. Lost people. Leaders for the work who are well connected with lost people. Opportunities to share the Good News.

Thanks for the prayers. You got it - they move heaven and earth.

12/25/06 UPDATE

Sorry, we're a day late. For some reason, I was preoccupied with other things yesterday.

I hope everybody's Christmas went well. Ours was a little different, but all in all it went pretty well. We got to talk with some friends that we haven't heard from in a while, which was nice. The boys were loaded down with stuff as usual. It's always funny to me how we pick stuff we think they'll be wild about and then they end up liking some random item best. For example, yesterday they got tons of "fun" things that were all wrapped up. We had decided to buy them some plastic sleds (the little disk things and another one that's torpedo shaped) and snow gear (boots, gloves, snow bibs, coats). We layed all of this stuff out on the back of the couch since it was big and utilitarian and we thought they'd just blow by it. (For the record, we have received no measurable snowfall yet, despite all the other areas around us getting bombed. They are saying possibly this weekend.) Anyway, L immediately grabbed his snow boots and gloves and put them on. He hardly took them off all day and had to put the boots in his room last night. Go figure!

There are several things you can pray about this week:

1 - I'm preaching at Heartland Community Church on Sunday.

2 - We're trying to get all the final details finished up before closing on the house.

3 - Pray for fruitful contacts - leaders who are well connected with lost people and lost people.

thanks for praying!

12/18/06 UPDATE

Last week was a significant milestone. J and I celebrated 10 years of marriage. What did we do to celebrate? Well. . . we bought Quizno's and went to a park so the boys could go play on the stuff and we could have a few minutes alone to talk. I know, a meager attempt, but it was the best we could pull off under the circumstances. Where's a Geoghagan girl when you need one:)

We had lunch on Wednesday with a couple who've been involved in several church plants. They are a retired couple who really are amazing. They are involved in tons of stuff - an inner city ministry, on "staff" at their church, meeting with a variety of church plants and planters. Most of all, they are very in touch with ministry in the context of today. It was encouraging to see a couple who are older than we are, put aside their preferences and desires to serve others. As I've visited "younger" churches in the area, I've been amazed at the number of older people present. They often seem very involved and working. Most acknowledge that there is a sacrifice involved - it might not be there "style". i'm not trying to stereotype a certain group of individuals - that's not my intent. I've been challenged by their example because i know it is difficult to set aside your preferences to pursue what is best for the kingdom of God. My prayer is that I'll be open to change as my "methods" and "preferences" are no longer the most effective.

We had a good weekend. Friday night, Heartland Church (where we've been going) had a get together and took a bus to look at Christmas lights, There's one subdivision here where everyone pays people to put up elaborate decorations. it was cool and the boys had a great time. We learned moderation is a good idea for 5 year olds and hot chocolate! We also hung out with some friends after church yesterday. It's really cool when we hang with them because our kids get along great, so we can talk the whole time with minimal interruptions.

For prayers, the main concern I've been having is for meeting people. Pray that God will connect us with people. Mainly lost people who God has been preparing to hear the gospel. Also, for Believers who are well connected with unbelievers. Not finding a good way to do this has been the most frustrating aspect of our time here so far.

Thanks for your prayers. They move heaven and earth.

12/11/06 UPDATE

LOTTIE GETS HER'S TOO!

Well, this is an update to last week's praise. We received another check for $150 - so now the kids get their Christmas and Lottie gets her money too. I hope the last post wasn't misconstued as a plea for more money - that wasn't the intent. It was just significant to me that God provided the boys exactly what they would have had. Anyway, I won't belabor the point, but THANKS!

This last week involved a whole lot of office work for me. I keep getting pushed to plan, plan, plan - which I hate to do. I've been going through a church planting manual and it contained a helpful tidbit for me in this regard. They encouraged an extremely detailed plan for 3 years into the future. That seemed excessive to me, but the rationale made sense. Once you go public with the church, you will be slammed trying to stay on top of things. There will be no time for planning at that point. So, one prayer request is that God will help me focus my thoughts, hear His desires for His church, and be able to articulate all of these things. Oh yeah, and pray that I won't get too frustrated with the process.

My plan is to take the cold months to plan and continue networking. In the spring, we will really start to ramp things up and then kick them into high gear in the summer.

One goal I've got for now is to develop community with those who have expressed an interest in helping. To that end, we had Jeff, Kelly, and Jocelyn over for dinner Saturday night. it was fun. We haven't really been doing much entertaining due to our present living arrangements so it was fun to do it again. It felt like getting ready for small group. it was nice to have a couple over as "friends." Most of our encounters have been more business related. We find ourselves in the situation of trying to break into other people's social networks and such and this is tough. Think about it - you've got your set of friends, so when you have time to do something, you usually call those people. you don't really think, or work to, include others who may not be "in" yet. It's hard to stress too much the importance of intentionally developing friendships with people for the sake of sharing your hope in Christ. I personally believe that building relational bridges with lost people is the most important and effective thing you can do as an ambassador for Christ. Ok, enough preaching.

One last request. We are having the first real struggle since we got up here. In the big picture, it's not that big of a deal, but it does bother both of us. We're entering the Christmas season and don't have any family around. Normally, that wouldn't be that big of a deal because their are friends, church family, etc. to fill in the place. But, we don't really have any of those three options at the moment, so we do feel a bit lonely. Nobody's ready to jump off a building or anything, but we would appreciate your prayers.

WEIRD AND FUNNY

WEIRD

I went to get tags for the Jeep today. In the office there were three windows. I was at one and heard the guy next to me say he just moved up from Florida. I said where and he told me Tampa. I said, I just moved up from the Panhandle myself. To which the guy in the third booth said, I just moved up from Tampa too.

FUNNY

Conversation between Jackson and I:

J - "Dad, have you decided where the church will be yet?
(great, now I've got pressure from the kids too:))

L - (I wasn't exactly sure what he meant, so I asked) "Do you mean where in Omaha it will be located or the specific building we'll be meeting in?"

J - Have you decided where the church will be. (Thanks, that helped)

L - Well, do you know where we looked at the house? It will be around that area somewhere. If you mean what building will we meet in, it will probably be in a school. We'll meet in the cafeteria or some other big room.

J - But I don't like green beans.

L - WHAT????

J - I don't like green beans, so I'd prefer not to have them.

L - We'll just be meeting in the cafeteria, it doesn't mean we have to eat there.

J - OOOOHHHHH, WHEW!!! (As he wipes his hand across his forehead).

12/04/06 UPDATE

Last week was a really good one. We did several things that were really cool. God also answered several prayer requests.

First, things are rolling along smoothly with the house. We had the inspection which turned up no big problems. We're approved for the mortgage - HA! I find it scary how much money banks are willing to "give" you.

Second, we got a "treat" on Wednesday. Some friends gave us tickets to a college basketball game. See the post below for a laugh.

Third, we had a really good meeting with a family interested in the church plant. He likes to fish and loves college basketball, so he should make the cut! They are a great couple - we'll see how God orchestrates things in the future. We told some friends who attempted a church plant that we had 3 or 4 couples who were seriously interested. They said "Well, you've made it farther than we did." We've still got a long way to go though.

Fourth, we had not just one, but two opportunities to do things without the boys! WOOHOO! That's the first time since we moved up here. The church had a parents night out on Friday. They rented a big fitness center/gym with a pool, etc. and the kids had a blast. Then on Saturday, we had the ministers/wives associational Christmas party. Another "its a small world" moment for those of you from G'ville and St. Joe - I was talking to one of the pastor's here. He moved up from Louisville, KY about 18 months ago. He had been the educational associate at Bill Cook's church.

Fifth, I had one of those answers to prayer where you think God is really trying to make a point. (The following details are included just because they made the answer very clear to me, not to imply any need, etc.) We've been discussing finances a lot lately because of the pending house purchase. As we were talking last week, J said "Oh, we won't be getting a Christmas bonus this year." The pertinent point being that the bonus we used to get from the church is what we used to buy Christmas - we didn't "save up" for it. We'd usually get $300 and give $150 to Lottie Moon and spend $150 on our family Christmas presents. When she said that, I realized I hadn't thought of that either and I voiced a prayer to God, something along the lines of "God, would you provide for that in another way." I've been learning to just say a quick prayer to God when something crosses my mind, rather than trying to remember it for later and pray more extensively about it. i usually forget and don't pray about it at all. so, in this case, I shot up a quick request. Almost as soon as I prayed it (almost out of reflex), I then thought about what I'd said. My thought was, "Yeah, right. Like anyone's going to think about that." Well, a few days later, i got an email that said a check was in the mail that was for the kid's Christmas. The amount? $150. I was rebuked (and encouraged). I've been thinking that I hadn't been sharing enough answers to your prayers with you, so I wanted to in this case.

Yesterday we had a very different church experience. We went to a traditional church. Not First Baptist, etc. I mean REALLY traditional. Like 300 A.D. i have a friend who is Eastern Orthodox. He invited me to church Sunday because his son was getting "churched." I had to ask what that was, because the only "churching" I had heard of involved kicking somebody out and his son is only 5 weeks old! Apparently, they have a tradition that mother and child are welcomed back into the church after 40 days. There is a small ceremony where they are presented to the church and committed in prayer to Jesus. It was a really different experience. The entire service is a liturgy that was put together by John Chrysostom (sp?) a famous preacher in the late 300's. They were kind enough to translate it into English, unlike the Greek Orthodox. It was a very different environment. My friend seemed touched that we had come. That was the main reason we went - building the relationship.

Also, pray for our neighbors. I have been looking for an opportunity to share the gospel with them. It seems that they are going through a time that might make them very receptive.

PRAISES
House
God hears and answers prayers - even if we don't think He will.
More good contacts for the core and to share the gospel.

PRAYERS
We need MORE good contacts for the core and to share the Gospel.
God to call people to the work.
God to lead people to salvation.
Wisdom as we plan, prepare, explore, etc.
Pray for things to go smoothly with the house and Juanita's transition up here.

HA!

Yesterday, some friends called to tell us that they had extra tickets to the Creighton University basketball game. We all loaded up last night to take the boys to the game. We had a blast at the game and then left to walk back to the van. In case you haven't noticed the weather out here, it has gotten cold. It was 17 when we left the game with a pretty steady wind of 10-20 mph. Here we are walking across the parking lot to the van. The open parking lot had nothing to break the wind and it was hitting us right in the face. It was rather cold.

We were all bundled up with our coats and toboggans. J'line was carrying L and he had his head buried in her coat. I was holding J and A's hands as we walked. We hadn't gotten far when the yelling started. J is screaming "AHHHHH, my brain is freezing! My face hurts!" over and over. On the other hand, A is screaming "I'm cold. I'm cold. I wish we had never moved up here in the first place! I wish we had never left Florida!"

Sigh. I'm sure it was a funny picture.

11/27/2006 UPDATE

We had a whirlwind week last week. My parents, my sister, and my two neices were here. We also had a prayer team from Goobertown, Arkansas (I'm not being mean, that was the name of their community). We went to serve Thanksgiving dinner at a mission downtown on Thursday night. J had her traditional Black Friday shopping trip. AND we got a contract on a house.

Despite being overloaded (which I think is just a foretaste of what the summer will be like), the week went great. My family got to see O (and decide that it was too cold). We got to see my two neices - one for the first time ever and the other for the first time in a couple of years.

The prayer team from Arkansas was great. I have the target area narrowed down to 7 square mile blocks. They prayed through all of the neighborhoods. We had a couple of contacts surface - at church, one family found out where we were focusing and asked us to pray for their daughter and husband who live there but don't go to church. Another lady from our association was helping and said she has extended family in the area who don't go to church. They did a great job of laying a prayer foundation for the area. Many of them will be coming back in June and September to follow up with other ministries in the area (Block parties, Backyard Bible clubs, etc.) It is humbling to see people give up time and money to help in the ministry God has called you to. Thanks to them and all of you who are helping as well.

One prayer that was answered is that we found a house. It has been difficult finding something because most of the neighborhoods are new, so you can't find an older house that is cheaper or a fixer-upper. We finally found a house that is 13 years old, is right in the target area, is in a neighborhood that is crawling with children, has plenty of room for an office for me, and has a basement that is almost completely finished (mainly needs a bathroom) for my mother in law to move up. We are set to close on Jan 5, so pray for us as we jump through all the hoops. (The address is 16820 L Cir, Omaha, NE 68135 if you want to look it up on Google, Tommy. Check out all the houses around.)

Also, on Thursday, we'll be meeting with a family who read our story in the associational newsletter and called to express an interest in helping. Pray for God's leadership.

PRAISES:
We've had several contacts from churches and people interested in helping.
We've been given several contacts in the area.
The house.
The prayer team's work.

PRAYERS:

That the closing on the house will go through if this is where God wants us to set up an outpost.
Pray for various contacts we've had, specifically for opportunities to share the Gospel and God to draw them to salvation:
Valerie, Brad and Mandy, Kent and Kim, Shawn and Sara, Lindsey.
God to give a clear calling to those who are supposed to help.
God to raise up a core group.

11/20/06 UPDATE

This week the update will be brief. Things are really busy around here.

A group of 13 people showed up from the Jonesboro, Arkansas area to prayerwalk. We were at the target area yesterday and will be going back out today. They are laying some very important groundwork which will be followed up by surveying and ministry teams in the spring and summer.

We put a bid on a house yesterday. It seems to fit all the criteria. Pray that things will work out if this is the one we are to purchase. Pray also that God will give us that neighborhood.

Also pray for valerie. She's J's trainer at the gym and they are having some good spiritual conversations.

Also pray that the remainder of the week with my family will be enjoyable. We've been having a great time so far, even though I have been busy. They'll be flying home on Friday.

Thanks for the prayers - they move heaven and earth.

11/12/06 UPDATE

Whew! What a day! I guess I've been getting used to going to church with no responsibilities. I got up and went to Grace Fellowship Church yesterday about 8:30, preached at 9 and 11, went to lunch with the pastor, then went to look at houses. When we got back home (for the first time since I left at 8:30), i was sitting in the recliner while J got dinner ready and fell dead asleep. The boys are screaming and running through the house (literally) and i didn't even budge. I was only out for a few minutes, but when I got up they were all at the table eating supper. It was fairly amusing. I know it may not sound that exhausting to you, but there's something about preaching that just takes it out of you. I know it sounds really weird, but its true, so remember that and pray for your pastor. I know I often don't want to say anything about it because you feel silly telling people who do manual labor all week that you're bushed because of 30 minutes talking. It's more than talking though, it is engaging in a spiritual battle and I think almost every pastor feels that way. As another tidbit of insight, Monday are usually a "hangover" day, so it may not be the best time to drop a bomb on your pastor. Just a little free insight. Thank me later:) I don't know how the pastor of Grace Fellowship does it. He leads worship AND preaches for two services. yikes.

Most of my week was taken up by preparing to preach and preparing for the prayer walking team that will come up on Saturday through Wednesday. For those who aren't familiar, prayer walking is where groups of 2 or 3 people walk through a neighborhood and pray for the people who live there as they walk. They are praying for many of the same things that you are, persons of peace, people to be part of the church, God to open their eyes to their need for salvation/draw people to himself, etc. It is really a neat practice - as you walk, you see things that will spur a thought to pray about, for example, you see a park and are led to pray for all the children who will play there, their parents, etc. We'll give out guides that will include suggestions for prayer, Scriptures, etc. This week I'll be finishing up those brochures and maps of the area.

Yesterday, we looked at a house that is on the south of the "target area." It is on a hill and overlooks the area. It was amazing, because there was nothing visible but house after house. In the middle of it all is one white steeple. This steeple is found on a beautiful, new, red brick building that looks just like any church down south. The problem is, the sign out from says The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. To make it even more sad, their only competition in the area is maybe 7 churches, most of which are not evangelical and small. I don't want to paint the situation in Omaha as too bleak, because there is a significant Christian presence, but most of it is from megachurches or churches that aren't in this area. Where we are focusing is brand new development and there is little of anything besides houses - businesses, churches or anything.

Keep praying for us - there is a great work to be done and we aren't sufficient to get it done ourselves. It is God's work and you participate by lifting us up in prayer. Although there aren't a lot of "concrete" answers at the moment, God is working. I keep hearing of people who are interested in what's going on and deciding how (or if) to participate. For example, last week the secretary at the association asked if a man had called me. He had called the office to get my contact information and said he and his wife "weren't sure what they were going to do." Yesterday, we had a lady get our number because her daughter and her fiance were looking for a church to get involved in. Jeff and Kelly Cunningham (the young couple from the community group I led) drove up to hear me preach. There are many leads of a variety of levels of interest. Pray that God will draw together those he wants involved in this mission and let them know of that "calling." Also, pray that we will have wisdom in making decisions, pulling together the team, etc.

Thursday my parents, sister and neices arrive for a week. The boys are really excited to see them. The prayer team will be here the same time, so pray that I'll have the energy and time for both of them.

UPDATE 11/06/06

Remember the pretty tree from last week? Well, now its in about a dozen 30 gallon bags and 4 garbage cans. i can barely bend over with a sore back . . . oh yeah, and this morning? you can't even tell we raked. This is the third time we've raked this year. People up here maintain their yards the way most people maintain their living room floors. Funny how quickly your perspective changes!

Work-wise, I spent last week working on the proposal and preparing for the prayer-walking team that arrives on the 18th. I really want to have a specific idea of what is located in each neighborhood. The more specifics I can give the pray-ers the better they can pray. Since the area is growing so quickly, you can't find any updated maps, so I'm having to "fix" them. It's a lot of work, but I believe it will be well worth it. Time spent in prayer is far more effective than time spent doing anything else. It multiplies effort in other ways and at other times.

On Friday I took a diversion. Several pastors were going pheasant hunting. As a precaution, deacons weren't allowed :) I've never been before, so I borrowed a gun and went too. It was fun even though I didn't get anything. We saw some pretty country, had fun watching the dog work, had some great fellowship, and got a pretty good workout. It was easy to see that these pastors are good pastors because they haven't had the time to practice shooting!

Saturday I took the boys to church to work on pinewood derby race cars. They had a blast getting them ready. I kind of enjoyed it myself.

Sunday we went to Heartland and then the boys and J went home. L was sick. I went to Grace Fellowship - another church in town. I'll be preaching there on Sunday at 9 and 11 so please pray for me. It will be fun to be "back in the saddle" again.

Things are largely in an "incubation" stage here. We're continuing to pursue leads and wait for God to open doors. Pray especially for several contacts that we've made and are continuing to build relationships with. Pray especially for God to open a door for the gospel and that I will proclaim it boldly and clearly as I should. We are really looking for a chance to get to know our neighbors better. We've spent a lot of time hanging out at the fence and are trying to find some other things to do.

Also, pray for us as we look for a house. I don't think there are really any "deals" out there when buying a house or a car, so just pray that we'll make the right choice. The bigger issue for me is that we will find a productive location for the work of the gospel and establishing the church. All the "options" are side issues to me (but not so much for J!). Pray that we'll find the right spot (with options that make J happy and will be fruitful and productive for the work).

Thanks for praying! It moves heaven and earth!

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.

9/25/06 UPDATE

As you may have noticed, I've added a few links to the right. These are all churches and organizations that are sponsoring us in some way. For those of you who don't understand the Southern Baptist lingo, the Eastern Nebraska Baptist Association is an affiliation of SBC churches in the eastern portion of Nebraska (think of it as a county - churches in a "smaller" region affiliate together for resourcing, etc.). They are our immediate sponsoring group - they were the driving force behind all of the events leading up to our coming here. The Kansas/Nebraska Convention is a larger group of SBC associations (think of this as a state, composed of many counties, composed of many cities/churches). I just realized I'll have to add one more - the North American Mission Board. They are the national organization for the SBC's work in North America. West Bellevue is our sponsor in this immediate area. They are providing immediate oversight and partnership with our soon to be "mission church." Long Avenue is the church where I have most recently served and have been sent as a church planter. They are providing monetary and prayer support for our work. Southview is the "newcomer" to the party. I met Pastor Aaron Householder has a vision for church planting and is sponsoring a work in Lincoln. In the meantime, he heard about what was going on in Omaha and wanted to help there. They recently blessed us with the funds to get my van repaired and to purchase a new notebook! Both were greatly needed!

I say all of this just to say thanks to all of these groups. If I were to go into listing each individual who has helped in addition to them, it would take a seperate blog. Still, I want to let each of you know how much you have been a blessing in your support for us, whether it it money, prayer, a phone call or email, whatever. I have been overwhelmed and humbled by all of the support that has been given. To each of you, I again say thanks.

I'm learning to recalibrate my measuring a "successful" week. In church planting, things aren't really judged by the number of items checked off the list. I'm learning that things are often much slower and much of the things to be done are of a foundational nature, so they take longer but pay off in the long run. That being said, I think I accomplished two big things this last week. One, I think we FINALLY narrowed down an area to focus on. It will be in southwest Omaha in a really growing area. It's on the outskirts of the growth, so we can kind of grow with the city in some respects. This allows us to reach many people who are transitioning to a new home, city, etc. As you may know, these times often represent a significant opportunities to reach people. It will also allow us to possibly find some land in the future, when the time comes. Anybody want to invest in some Omaha real estate? The "boundaries" for the area will be Q Street to the north, Giles on the south, 144 to the east and 192 to the west. This forms a rectangle 2 miles by 4 miles. It's hard to express the number of lives represented in that rectangle. I don't know everything that is located there, but I do know of 1 very large high school, 4 elementary schools and 3 middle schools, if that tells you anything. I want to stay toward the western end of this area where there are five or six large subdivisions, most of which are at the stage of only having the model homes completed.

Two, I found a coffee shop from which to base my operations. I know that seems like a small issue, but it really isn't. My task now is to find a way to make contacts and penetrate the culture. One way I've found is to just "get out there" and be available. Coffee shops and the like allow me to be accessible to a wide array of people and provide the place to get some work done. The one I've found is owned by a very interesting guy who's very involved in the Eastern Orthodox Church. We seem to have hit it off and have had some significant conversations. Pray for my time working there - that it will be productive, both in terms of working (reading, writing, thinking) but even more in terms of contacts with people. Pray for providential meetings, conversation starters, etc. Pray too for wisdom as I seek ways to penetrate the culture and get to know people.

So where do we go from here?

Well, this week, I'm going to be exploring a few possibilities for meeting places (schools and the like). We probably won't be meeting anywhere in the immediate future, but we've go to find a place. That's huge.

Also, there are several people that we've met who came to Omaha to start churches. Most of them just moved up here and found jobs to help by being part of a core group for a church start. Those starts have sputtered out for a variety of reasons. I've had several conversations with different individuals who are part of these groups. There seems to be a collective question of "What's God doing here when there are several people who have a heart for church planting and a church planter?" We're going to try to start meeting to just see if we "click" relationally and also explore if there is a fit philosophically too. If so, do we all want to be part of trying something new? One concern is that most of these individuals have been involved in trying to start a church for 2 years or so and the process was very difficult. Coming out of a time like that, it takes some time to recuperate (we know because we were there after "the New Hampshire Project"). Right now it's probably a bit early for many of them to really want to dive back in. Pray for God's leadership.

This week for J and the boys went pretty well. J has really made a ton of contacts. She got connected with a home schooling network and has been in contact with several ladies. One lives just a block or so from us and has three boys - 7,5,3 - how weird is that. They went on a field trip to the Arbor Day Tree Farm. They all had fun - we now have three blue spruce trees in jugs in the back yard, a bag of freshly picked apples, a 1/2 gallon of apple cider and a 1/2 gallon of cherry cider (never had it before, but it's AWESOME). They've also been involved in Awana and took a "hike" on Saturday to collect things God made. They also took a trip to the zoo last week to see the sharks fed.

Well, that's probably more than most of you wanted to read:) Here's a summary.

PRAISES:
Good week of homeschooling
Selected a "target area"
Contacts at the coffee shop

PRAYERS:
Meeting place
Leadership - meetings with prospectives leaders, core, etc.
Contacts with prospects in SW O!
Wisdom for ways to connect with people

HERE'S THE DEAL

Some of you are probably wondering what's going on (I am too, so don't feel left out:)) Last week I had several really good meetings with pastors. The frustrating thing is wanting to start seeing people saved, the church growing (or even started for that matter). The reality is that I've got a huge learning curve. I'm trying to rely on the insights of others who have been here longer to help me understand the city, people, some of the openings and opportunities they see, and the like. There have been several great contacts with other leaders, etc. who have a similar mindset and approach to ministry as I do. I'm trying to stay patient as I try and prepare the foundation for the church God is building. It's tedious and slow, but necessary as well.

I have started to find one good place of contacts with others - a local coffee shop here. It's becoming my new "office." Once I'm able to get a new laptop with wireless access, I'll be ready to roll! I'll be working to develop more points of contact in the coming weeks.

As for the location, I'm thinking a little differently about it than everyone else (i know nobody's surprised by that). There have been some contacts in various different places. I'm really thinking of trying to have several Bible studies in various locations where these leads are coming up. I'm hoping to develop leadership among these, progressing up to a public launch. Once that's in place, we can draw all of them together and develop the church in a central location. That would be phase one. After things settle down a bit, we can go back to those areas with the hopes of starting a church at each one - that would be phase two.

We had a really good meeting with a couple last night. They share some of the same ideas as J and I. They also have 4 kids (9, 7, 3, 1), so when we pulled into the driveway, Andrew said "Wow, there's kids here!" Most of our excursions have been with adults and I guess they've gotten a little tired of that. They had a blast playing while we ate and talked.

Praises:
We found out that we've been approved for insurance (they wanted to deny J).
Home schooling has been going pretty well.

Prayer Needs:
Wisdom as I do all the foundational stuff for the church.
Persons of peace to begin Bible studies, etc.
God to raise up leadership for the work.
The Spirit to move in the Bible study I'm leading beginning Thursday night.

HMMMMMM. . .

When people ask why your church is growing, the answer should be Jesus - not the name of the pastor.

SUNDAY FUNNIES

So the boys were cracking me up yesterday. We went to Heartland Community Church. They meet in a huge movie theater. When we pulled up, the boys said, "What are we doing here?" When we told them we're going to church, Jackson said, "We can't go to church in a movie theater." Of course, once we got inside, they got mad because we weren't going to watch a movie and wouldn't let them play on the arcade games. One of their attenders told me that it takes about a month before the kids go to church without being upset because they don't get to see a movie.

When we got done, we went to lunch with several couples and were walking past the theater to the van. Jackson pipes up as says, "Dad, there are thousands of people going to church in Omaha." After a short pause, he said, "Well, looks like our work here is done!"

We really enjoyed the church on Sunday and made several good contacts with people our age that have kids, etc. I think J'line hooked up with some times for children's story hour, women's Bible studies and the like.

One thing that was really cool is that they had earplugs available at a cart by the door - SWEET. It really wasn't that loud, but it was good and we enjoyed it.

So here's my dilemma . . . I'm in a city of 850, 000 in the Metro area, very few churches, lots of lost people, tons of needs. You could basically throw a dart at a map and just start a church there. I've got to determine the best place to start a work in the middle of all of that. We've got a couple of areas narrowed down and a few people who are possibly interested in each. I'm waiting to hear from or talk to them to find out a little more. I really need to narrow this down and fairly quickly. I need you to be praying that God would show us the best place for us to settle down and work. Pray that he will move in the lives of these people who could possibly be involved and have them commit to working on it - if that's what He wants.

To give you a little more info, we're considering the southwest portion of omaha. If you look on a map, Interstate 80 runs out to a city called Gretna. Essentially, that entire area from I-80 back to the city of Papillion has no churches and they are building houses everywhere. Our sponsoring church has a few people involved from that area. There are also a few people who indicated they might be interested in a Bible study in the city of Springfield. Springfield and Gretna are small farming communities that are now booming with new growth. That's one possibility.

Another is the city of Bennington - Northwest of Omaha. Same deal with the growth. In fact, as I was writing this, a native of Bennington was in and said there are 15,000 building permits issued for the area around B'ton. There's 2 Lutheran churches and another church meeting in the Elementary School. That's it. I met a couple at church yesterday who are both graduates of Southwestern Seminary and came up here to help start a church that didn't work out. They live in B'ton and told me I needed to start one there. I have to follow up with them and see if they would want to help.

In short, I need wisdom and discernment. We've got to get this decision narrowed down.

Thanks for praying.

QUOTE

Never tell anyone it can't be done . . . God may have been waiting for centuries for somebody ignorant of the impossible to do that very thing. - J.A. Holmes

I knew my stupidity would come in handy:)

CHURCH LIFE

Well, we went to our sponsoring church yesterday for worship. We've been wanting to get involved - particularly so the boys have a place to connect with friends. They got to go to SS and we signed them up for Awana's on Wednesday night. J and I will be going to a small group that meets in our target area on Thursday nights beginning Sept 21.

It was an invaluable experience for me. I've been stuck in one church culture so long that you get used to it and your brain kind of fills in the blanks of things that a newcomer finds baffling. Yesterday reminded me of what it is like to go to a church for the first time. You don't know where things are, how things work, what isn't communicated clearly, and what you need to have available for a first timer. Fortunately, i met the discipleship pastor at the door and he walked me through it all. after worship, we connected with the DOM's wife and she helped us with the rest of the stuff. The most helpful person of all was a young lady at the sign up table for children's ministries. She helped me with the stuff to fill out, but most of all she talked to Jackson, made him feel welcome, and helped introduce him in his class. She was awesome!
The moral of the story - when you see someone new at church, ask if you can help them with anything and walk them through it (take them to the class, etc.). Also, you don't have to be a professional, you just need to be friendly, helpful, and willing to have your junk interuppted to help someone else.

I also had two more "It's a small world" moments last week. You know, things like the Sunday i announced our move to the church and Chris Earley's grandson was there - from Bellevue, NE, when I told Bruce and he did DMin work with our sponsoring pastor, when I preached at FBC PSJ and a guy told me he had just moved to PSJ from Omaha. Well the two for this week:
I met the discipleship pastor (Joel Davis) from our sponsoring church, West Bellevue. He asked where we moved here from and I told him PSJ. He got a grin on his face and i said, "Do you actually know where that is?" He replied, "Yeah, I'm from Panama City. My parents had a house on St Joe Beach for years." He went to school at Graceville. The other involves my sister. She moved to Watertown, NY (upstate, way upstate) a few months ago. She was talking to her neighbors last week and i guess mentioned what we were doing. They told her they grew up in Papillion, NE (our target area). Weird, huh?

Thanks for praying. Your prayers got the van out here - i think the waterpump went out. I should have had you pray for it to not break down - period! This week I'll be prayer-driving our area with Steve Holdaway (our sponsoring pastor). The boys will be starting Awana's. J will be starting homeschooling:) I'll also be meeting the pastor of a church in Lincoln that may help for the remainder of the year. I'm also meeting with a guy I hope may be part of the core.

Your prayers make a difference, please keep it up! You are an invaluable part of our efforts to make a difference for the Kingdom.