07/20/08 UPDATE

Last week, I was in Tampa for a coaching meeting with Nelson Searcy and 19 other pastors. We were studying Stewardship and how to develop it within your church. It was very beneficial since there is little being done to communicate the need to give within Redeemer. We take great care to make sure it is handled above board, but little to communicate the need for giving to our people or our gratitude when they do.

The more I study money in the Scriptures, the more I become convinced that we (as pastors) have done a disservice to the people who attend our churches by not teaching God's plan for money (including giving) more. One takeaway I got from the meeting was "Do you want to live on 100% of your money that is cursed by God or 90% of your money that is blessed by God?"

We had 42 people yesterday (31 adults/11 children). That is about our summer average. The really exciting thing about that number is that 12 of those people had not attended Redeemer before the summer. After church, I talked to one lady about baptism. God is really moving in her life and bringing some major changes.

In spite of that, Sunday was one of those Sundays. I don't really know why it happens. There is usually no discernible reason, but I walk away feeling beat up, discouraged and down. Like I said, I don't know why, it just happens. I guess I only really tell you for two reasons. One, so you can pray for us. Two, so you can pray for your pastor (because I think we all confront it).

I guess I just need a vacation . . . speaking of which . . . we are taking our first true "our whole family is going somewhere together with no purpose except to just have fun" vacation in a really, really long time. Pray for us as we travel and pray for Jared as he fills in preaching for me on Sunday.

There will be no post next Monday because I'm vacating:)

07/14/08 UPDATE

This week, we had a mission team from Central Baptist Church in Jonesboro, AR. For some of them, this was their third trip to Omaha. They worked really hard and contacted close to 2,000 homes and hosted two block parties. Friday night's party went pretty well - we had over 50 people come out. Saturday's party went really well. I'm guessing that we had close to 100 people. Those who came were very open and appreciative. When I finished our giveaways, they even applauded to say thank you.

Sunday continued our summer roller coaster. We had 52 (35 adults/17 kids), but 10 of the adults and 4 of the kids were from the mission team.

After church, we had a meeting with several of the mother's in the children's ministry to discuss improvements that we could make there. It was a very productive meeting. They had some great suggestions and are taking charge of them. While we were meeting, the guys got together for lunch and discussed ways that they could get together for men's meetings. It's great to see the ministry growing and me not having to drive it.

Keep praying for us as we push towards a Fall Launch on September 14th. I think this fall is going to be very exciting.

Also, be praying this week for the coaching meeting that I am participating in. We are dealing with finances and it is very timely. In fact, I get back on Thursday and have a meeting to try and develop a strategic budget for the fall. We've had a lot of changes since I put the one together at the beginning of the year, so we'll rework it with our latest information. Pray for us as we seek God's wisdom for the things we need to do in the future and trust Him to provide the needed funds.

07/07/08 UPDATE

We had a great Sunday yesterday. There were 43 (34 adults/9 children). The exciting thing was that we had 7 first time guests and 2 second time guests. Of these, all but two came as the result of a personal invitation. It's great to see people taking ownership and reaching out. Strangely enough, one family was invited, came and realized that another friend of theirs is coming to Redeemer too.

As I write this, we have another mission team in route from Arkansas. We'll be passing out fliers door to door tomorrow and Wednesday and then hosting two block parties on Friday and Saturday. Pray that God will connect us with people that He is seeking and that we will have productive interaction with them. Also, pray for good weather. At the moment, they are not calling for storms (which could change), but it has finally gotten hot up here.

We're also doing more planning to get ready for our "Fall Launch" on September 14th. Sunday, we're having a meeting after church to discuss our children's ministry. Also pray for Jared as he continues to develop the music ministry. We're also doing a lot of work getting our worship atmosphere improved by decorating, etc. It's all in an effort to put our best foot forward, but if feels like changing the tire on a moving car!

06/30/08 UPDATE

Yesterday was a great day at church. We were running summer numbers - 37 (27 adults/10 kids). However, we had several really cool things. For one, a lot of our "regular attenders" were out and most of the crowd were "newer" faces. In fact, of the 27 that were there, only 8 were with us before the first of the year and 18 have only been coming since the first of march. I think it will be exciting in a couple of months when school starts and people become more regular.

Also, several of these "newbies" are getting involved and helping out. In fact, we had a "band" yesterday for the first time. It was just a guy playing bass guitar, but it was still a big step forward. I asked for volunteers to help with an outreach we're starting and had 5 volunteers. It's good to have people who are getting involved and serving.

Please pray for:

- Our continuing efforts to reach new people over the summer.
- The mission team that will be coming July 7-13.
- The block parties on July 11 and 12.
- Relationships to continue developing among those who are attending.

06/23/08 UPDATE

I participated in the second of my Coaching Network meetings last week. They are proving to be a tremendous benefit. God is teaching me a lot and giving me the confidence to go for the things He is leading me to do. I've begun implementing a lot of the changes and they are being well received.

We had a great day at church yesterday. Although the numbers were lower - 39 (24/15) - we had 4 first time guests. We tried something new - we bought a djembe ("jim-bay" - it's a bongo drum). We don't have a drummer, but we bought the drum anticipating that God will provide a drummer. Jared put it at the front and told everyone to pray for musicians whenever they saw it. After church, i talked with one of the first time guests. He plays drums and his wife bought him a djembe a few months earlier. coincidence? Another funny note was that they came to church because a friend told him about the church. He said he didn't think the friend has come to church here, but he knew about it. I'll take 'em any way i can get 'em.

Continue praying for us this week. Pray for God to continue drawing people and for many of them to plug in with us. We're beginning to get more of our new people involved but there's still a lot of work to do.

06/15/08 UPDATE

We hosted our first mission team of the summer this week. They spent the week passing out invitations to come to a block party and also join us at Redeemer. The team was from Long Avenue Baptist Church in Port St. Joe, FL. They brought along 21 people and spent Tuesday and Wednesday contacting about 1,500 homes in the area.

On Friday and Saturday we hosted block parties in two neighborhoods. The first night, we had 53 people who signed up (along with about a dozen who came from the church). Saturday night, we had 49. Of these, we had 6 families who requested information on the church and I will be following up with those.

Honestly, I was a little disappointed by the turnout. However, I learned last year that there is absolutely no correlation between people who came to the block party and those who attended church. Several people came to church because of the block party (they got the flier and card for the church) but they never came to the party. Only a couple who attended the party actually made it to church. Keep praying for God to use the efforts spent sowing this week.

We had 63 at church yesterday. Of those 21 were part of the mission team, so that left 42 local people (27 adults/15 children). One couple was a first time guest (they saw our sign out beside the road). Just before church started (about 8:30) we had a severe thunderstorm roll through with hail and lightning, so I think we had several who stayed away due to that.

Praises:
- The mission team arrived safely.
- They worked hard and accomplished a lot they we could not have done on our own.
- We met several people who are interested in the church.
- We have had a first time guest each week for several weeks.
- Several people are getting more involved in serving at the church.
- Jared totally lost his voice on Thursday night, but recovered to lead worship on Sunday.

Prayer:
- That God will continue dealing with and drawing those who were contacted this week.
- Safe travel as I meet at the coaching network this week.

BIG PRAISE!!!



This map came out in the paper today. Sunday morning actually saw two tornadoes come through our area. Originally, they just thought there was one to the south. I placed a star where our house is located. As you can see, we have a big praise since we were all in bed asleep when it passed over. The warnings didn't come through until it was already past us.

06/09/08 UPDATE

We got a real scare at 2:29 Sunday morning. Jacqueline and I awoke to horrendous wind, rain, etc. a few minutes before the tornado siren started going off. We got the kids up, went downstairs and it all passed without too much trouble. We lost a big limb from our maple tree up front and a few shingles. The tornado passed by a couple of miles away and destroyed a few houses, businesses, etc.

We had 25 at church (19 adults/6 kids). Everyone was pretty bleary-eyed and tired from the night. It makes life rough when you have to wake kids up and go to the basement - they don't want to go back to sleep. I think several of our people didn't make it due to the night before. Of those people who were present, two were first time guests and another was making his third visit.

This week is going to be crazy. A mission team from Florida is arriving tonight (Monday) and we will be working to contact about 1,500 homes this week. On Friday and Saturday night, we will be hosting block parties in two neighborhoods (Cattail Creek and Hickory Ridge). Please pray for these neighborhoods - that people will be receptive and that God will draw people through us. I'm praying for 10 families from each neighborhood.

Praises:

- Jared has contacted one of our recent families about playing bass in the worship band.

- Another of our new families started helping with setup this Sunday (and another starts next Sunday).

- Two ladies began/volunteered to work teaching the children's class.

- We had a movie night and 8 of us had a great time hanging out.

Please pray for:

- GOOD WEATHER THIS WEEK! Especially Friday and Saturday.

- A harvest from the block parties. I'm praying for 10 families from each party this summer.

- Safe travel for our Mission Team.

- Help! We have 6 baseball games, 2 baseball practices, 2 block parties, 1 mission team, and 1 church service this week. It will be crazy busy.

06/02/08 UPDATE

We had a great day yesterday. It started off rough - I was having a hard time getting my stuff together, one of our children's workers didn't make it, etc. I started getting stressed until I realized that I was preaching on "anxiety." If you've ever heard someone say "don't pray for patience," preaching on a subject works the same way:)

We had 41 (29 adults/12 children). Of those, we had 6 first time guests. 4 came from the mandolin player's family (he's a friend of Jared's and came to play with him - it was really cool). One was a church planter who is starting a church in the area in October. He's been "watching us" since October (and reading the blog - 'sup Blaine)so now he knows what not to do:) The other was the husband of a lady who has been coming. I've been praying for him since September, so it was cool to get to see him there.

We also had several families who've started attending regularly begin to get involved in tearing things down afterwards and sticking around to talk. Those are two good signs that they are getting "invested."

Pray for:

1. Our block parties start next week. We have a mission team coming from FL, so pray for their safe arrival. Pray for the communities of Cattail Creek and Hickory Ridge - that the people will be receptive.

2. Jacqueline and the boys will be traveling home this weekend. Pray for safe and smooth travels.

3. Implementation of the things I'm learning in the coaching network. Lesson #1 - "One of the greatest blocks to organizational productivity is the lack of a decision by a senior person about the necessity of a meeting, and with whom, to move an important issue forward." I'm meeting with our finance, set-up, and children's teams.

05/26/08 UPDATE

Greetings web fans! Sorry the post is late, but I've been out of town. We had an incredible week in Florida. I had the privilege of conducting the wedding for a young lady that grew up in our church. It was really fun. We got to see a lot of old friends and family, drink a lot of coffee, eat at Pepper's a couple of times (the best Mexican joint I've ever found), get far too little sleep, do some fishing, and get our brains beat in on the trip across the bay.

I also attended my first coaching meeting with Nelson Searcy in Tampa. I'm really excited about the upcoming 8 months of coaching. They mentioned several benefits of the coaching network that I saw firsthand with the church planter network. ONE, God moves in a mighty way. I don't know why, but He does. Almost every time I had a cp coaching meeting, God would come through with a huge answer to prayer. It got to the point that I looked forward to the meeting, just to see what God was going to do. TWO, it seems that God gives me a boldness and courage to do the things that He is calling me to do. Again, I don't know why, but it is certainly the case. THIRD, God does work on my soul. He reveals sin to be repented of and changes I need to make. It is always a tremendous growing experience for me . . . and when I grow, the church grows.

Things went well on Sunday. i don't know the numbers, but it was about the same as it has been for several weeks. No new faces, but the "regulars" were there. It was encouraging to me to see that I was gone and things rocked on without me.

UPDATES AND REQUESTS:

1. It looks like we will have the school to meet in for next year. We are working out some details with the insurance, but it looks good.

2. Our first mission team is arriving next week (June 9-15). Pray that they will arrive safely and that the people of Cattail Creek and Hickory Ridge will be prepared for their work.

3. Our transmission went out on the van. The good news is that it didn't "break down" while the family was on the road. The bad news, it will be about $3,000 to fix. Pray for God's provision.

05/19/08 UPDATE

We had 39 (30 adults/9 kids) this week.

Another praise from this week is that I had another young lady email me to say that she wanted to be baptized. We now have five people who are awaiting baptism. i hope to have a service in June.

I have recently been convinced that we've gotten into the "doing church" groove and focused less on outreach. I've been personally praying about my own efforts and God seems to be moving in several relationships. I've been able to have several promising discussions. I'm also beginning to challenge our church to think about outreach more. Pray for God to move and give us opportunities. Also pray for the Spirit to work, bring conviction of sin, give us the words to share, and give faith to those who are hearing.

I'd like to ask you to pray for these people particularly:
Joe, Bob, Jean, TJ, Jason, Todd, Kyle, Demi, Heidi, Eric, Brian.

Also, our first mission teams will begin coming in June. Pray for these groups of missionaries - Long Avenue Baptist Church, Central Baptist Church, and Mt. Zion Baptist Association. Pray that God will prepare them for the work.

Pray for these communities where we will be doing block parties as well: Cattail Creek, Hickory Ridge, Sun Ridge, Black Elk,Coyote Run, and Spring Hill.

Pray for our meeting space as well. I have been approved through the first of July, but the insurance for our association expires then. They are going to renew the policy, but they won't give us a letter showing that we have coverage beyond that date. The school won't consider any dates requested until we show evidence of coverage. Bureaucracy is driving me crazy!

05/12/08 UPDATE

Happy Mother's Day to all you mother's (belatedly).

Church went well yesterday. We had 51 (34 adults/17 kids). We had several people who were there because one of our families had their children dedicated. They basically canceled out all of our regulars who were out of town. We also had two couples back for the second time.

My biggest concern is still waiting to hear about a meeting space for the summer and next year. Long story, but I've submitted the application and am still waiting to hear back. I'm confident that it will work out, but there's always anxiety until you hear for sure.

Prayer requests:

We have one of our regulars who went home to visit family and asked that we would pray for his unsaved family. He's the only believer in his family. Please pray for opportunities to share and the Spirit's leadership.

A contract for meeting space at Beadle.

That God will begin preparing the mission teams who are coming this summer and the people that they will be contacting. Our first team will be here june 9-15. The second July 7-13. The third July 21-27. Please pray for these neighborhoods: Cattail Creek, Hickory Ridge, Sunset Ridge, Spring Hill, Coyote Run, and Mission Hills.

Musicians to develop our worship. Jared is doing a great job and now we're looking for help!

05/05/08 UPDATE

It was a busy week for the church. We had 40 yesterday (28/12). Several interesting notes, one couple came for the first time. They had initially sent me an email asking about the service times in Sept 2007. You just never know when it will pay off. Another family were there because the husband is working to start a new Evangelical Lutheran Church in the area. He told me that 4 or 5 people had given him mailers that we had done, so he came to check it out. I wonder if they cause the same buzz with non-Churchgoers?

We followed church with a cookout. We had 31 show up, pig out, and have fun. Our community groups had 16 last week. We also had 9 get together to go eat and see Iron Man. All of those things are just ways we're getting to know one another better and building community.

Keep praying for our meeting space. I submitted the application to the school Friday and I am waiting to hear back.

Also, keep praying for us as we seek to connect people with the church. Last week produced some interesting conversations with some of our regular attenders. My gut feeling is that it's just the natural movement of things, but I want to do a little more digging to make sure there isn't something we can "fix." I've actually got a ton of thoughts on the whole scenario, but i'll save you the boring details. Just pray for me as I think all of this through. Ask God to give me wisdom and insight. I'm excited about the lives that are being changed through Redeemer (and they are considerable). I just don't want to leave anyone out because we're doing something (or not doing something).

04/28/08 UPDATE



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

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

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

Two areas for prayer:

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

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

04/21/08 UPDATE

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

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

Check back next week for a major announcement!

04/14/08 UPDATE

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

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

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

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

4/6/08 UPDATE

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

There were also several specific answers to prayers:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

03/31/08 UPDATE

Sunday update - we had 46 (27 adults/19!!!!!!!! children). This is the second-most children we've had. It is extremely taxing on the limited workers that we have. This area is very difficult for us at the moment. We need more workers, but can't just ask anyone to do it. There are also tons of difficult decisions, etc. to make.

There were several exciting things that took place. One is the spirit that is developing among the people. God is building community among them.

For the past several weeks, God has been giving me a renewed emphasis on praying for people to be saved and respond by being baptized. Baptism is a huge challenge for us. In Omaha, the majority of the people have been baptized (since they are Catholic or Lutheran), however, this usually takes place as an infant. It is hard to get them to understand the importance of being baptized after they make a faith commitment. I've hit it hard for two weeks now and yesterday two people indicated that they wanted to be baptized. I know there are several more who are contemplating it.

In addition, the boys started baseball. I decided to help out and have been praying that God will give me opportunities to share the gospel through the people that I will meet. Please pray that God will be present in these practices, give me open doors, and the words to share. I've already had a couple of interesting conversations.

Please pray for:

- Our Community Group meetings (small group Bible studies) that begin this week.

- Our discussions with a prospective worship leader.

- Opportunities to share the Gospel and people to respond.

- People to make their decisions public by being baptized.

- Wisdom for how to work with the children who are coming.

03/24/08 UPDATE

I hope everyone had a great Easter. We had a pretty good one. I wasn't sure if we would have an increase or decrease from the holiday. A lot of our "regulars" were out, due to going to see family and the flu (please pray for this to break, we have families going through their second bout with it and it takes them out 2-3 weeks). We had 50 (41 adults/9 children). Of those, we had 6 first time guests and several returning for their second, third, or fourth time.

Please pray for us in the coming weeks, because I think it is a very important time. It feels like we have a lot of momentum building, but we can't seem to capture it. On April 6, we are beginning Community Groups (our small group ministry). I think this will help people to get involved in the church, grow in their faith, and build relationships. Until now, this has been a major problem spot for us. Pray that God will help us put all of this together and lead people to get involved.

Please pray for:

- Community Groups - that God will lead people to sign up and participate.

- Worship Leader - I've had some very promising discussions with a guy in town. Pray for wisdom for both of us as we continue in the process.

- Facility - It is about time for us to renew our contract with the Middle School. Please pray that we will be able to continue meeting at Beadle.

- Wisdom - I am working on our leadership structure (Constitution and By-Laws, etc.). Pray for wisdom as I study and put this together.

03/17/08 UPDATE

We had 48 yesterday (34/14). The flu is still going crazy here. We have sick people everywhere. That had an impact on the service, but we still had a good crowd.

There were several really good developments this week:

I talked with one couple who was back for there second visit and they said that they were very interested in the church. I also had coffee with another guy last week who said that they want to plug in and begin serving.

I had been praying about how our church could get involved in service at an early stage, so that it won't feel like its all "about us." A lady called me late in the week because she had seen a special on the local news about a single mom with three kids who lost everything in a house fire. They didn't have renter's insurance, so she is in a really tight spot. God put the family on her heart and she began trying to get people to help. She called to ask if we could help too, so yesterday I had her share with the church. She is participating in the Experiencing God group and it really helped that concept come alive to them. Several people have responded, including one couple who had bought a new set of dishes and decided they weren't exactly what they wanted. They decided to give them to her!

One of the biggest developments is that I met with a prospective worship leader last week. He led for us yesterday and I got great feedback from everyone present. He has a lot of talent, a great voice, etc. but there are also several common areas of philosophy and church direction between the two of us. In particular, there is substantial theological depth on his part, which is exciting to me. I am looking for more than a "singer" but a worship leader - someone who understands God and can help our people see Him, value Him, and surrender to him. We will be continuing to discuss the possibility, so pray that God would lead us.

Also, Easter is coming!!! Pray for us as we make preparations this week. Pray that God will draw people to the service. We sent out a mailer to the area, so pray that people will be receptive to it and respond. Pray that I will preach the gospel empowered by the Spirit and that people will respond. We are praying for 125 and we'll see what happens!

I am also trying to plan for our community group ministry which will start on April 6th. I need wisdom!