Can you believe it? 12 weeks from now and we will be living back in NC. Today here in NY it is 35 degrees and we had about 2 inches of snow last night. Today in Wilmington it is almost 70 degrees. Now that is what I'm talking about. I will really miss the people here and the friends we've made, but one thing I won't miss is the weather. It is still so hard to believe that 12 weeks from now we will be moving. So much to do and so little time. One of the things I have been doing lately is studying the book of Proverbs. I have really been asking the Lord to give Ash and I and those who are moving with us wisdom as we make this transition to planting a new church. Till next time.
Friday, March 28, 2008
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Church Planting Journal Entry #7
Sunday, January 13th, 2008
Today we told the Victory family about our calling and the fact that we would be leaving the end of this school year. All three services responded with a very authentic standing ovation. What a humbling experience this was for Ash and myself. Never expected that type of response from the church body. I wondered how I would feel after making it public and it was a very conformational time for me even as I stood there and shared my heart with the people. After the service we received even more confirmation from people who share that they would miss us but were excited about what God had in store for the future. We probably had at least half a dozen people tell us that they had family or friends in the Wilmington area who needed a good church.
This day was filled with many mixed emotions. The biggest fact was that it was now reality for us there was no turning back, not that we wanted to anyway.
Today we told the Victory family about our calling and the fact that we would be leaving the end of this school year. All three services responded with a very authentic standing ovation. What a humbling experience this was for Ash and myself. Never expected that type of response from the church body. I wondered how I would feel after making it public and it was a very conformational time for me even as I stood there and shared my heart with the people. After the service we received even more confirmation from people who share that they would miss us but were excited about what God had in store for the future. We probably had at least half a dozen people tell us that they had family or friends in the Wilmington area who needed a good church.
This day was filled with many mixed emotions. The biggest fact was that it was now reality for us there was no turning back, not that we wanted to anyway.
Church Plant Journal Entry #6
Sunday, Jan. 6th, 2008
What an interesting day. This morning after our service I met with all of our adult and students leaders to announce to them that we would be leaving to plant a church in Wilmington. There really seem to be mixed emotions after the meeting. I really can’t put into words what I sensed from everyone there. Obviously I think that everyone would like for us to stay but they understand.
Sunday night as well was interesting. Just before getting up to speak for the Mix I began to hear from the Lord. He began to remind me of the passage in Eph. 3:20 that says “Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we could ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.” As I began to think about this scripture it was like the Lord was saying to me, “even if you were the worse pastor in the world, I could take you and make you the best pastor in the world.” God can do more in me through his power than I could ever imagine and I have to stop fearing what I don’t know and trust that He does know what he is doing. God wants to do great things through me I just have to let him.
What an interesting day. This morning after our service I met with all of our adult and students leaders to announce to them that we would be leaving to plant a church in Wilmington. There really seem to be mixed emotions after the meeting. I really can’t put into words what I sensed from everyone there. Obviously I think that everyone would like for us to stay but they understand.
Sunday night as well was interesting. Just before getting up to speak for the Mix I began to hear from the Lord. He began to remind me of the passage in Eph. 3:20 that says “Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we could ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.” As I began to think about this scripture it was like the Lord was saying to me, “even if you were the worse pastor in the world, I could take you and make you the best pastor in the world.” God can do more in me through his power than I could ever imagine and I have to stop fearing what I don’t know and trust that He does know what he is doing. God wants to do great things through me I just have to let him.
Church Plant Journal Entry #5
Saturday, January 5th, 2008
What a week! A week filled with a lot of different emotions. Times that brought excitement, times filled fear, and finally times filled with thoughts that said WHAT IN THE HECK ARE WE DOING!!! But through all this continually being reminded of the specific call that the Lord had given us.
We spent this week in Wilmington with the Pratt’s and the Palmer’s. They too experienced much of the same emotions that we did. We were able to finally find an apartment after looking at 15 different ones. We finally decided on the Avalon apartments and even put $50 down. They are brand new apartments that will not be ready until April. They are in the Forest Hill elementary school district.
The neatest thing about this whole trip was the fact that each night we got together and spent time debriefing the day and praying together. This was always a neat time to bring everything back into perspective that God had called each of us to this place to begin to share the message of Jesus Christ with people who needed to hear it.
While we were there we also go to meet a couple that knew Mark Pratt. There names were Hayden and Heather. Hayden works for a pharmaceutical company called Kendal Pharmaceutical. He told Ashley that he could most likely get her a job working there if she was interested. We both saw this as an open door and another way that the Lord was saying he was going to take care of our every need.
What a week! A week filled with a lot of different emotions. Times that brought excitement, times filled fear, and finally times filled with thoughts that said WHAT IN THE HECK ARE WE DOING!!! But through all this continually being reminded of the specific call that the Lord had given us.
We spent this week in Wilmington with the Pratt’s and the Palmer’s. They too experienced much of the same emotions that we did. We were able to finally find an apartment after looking at 15 different ones. We finally decided on the Avalon apartments and even put $50 down. They are brand new apartments that will not be ready until April. They are in the Forest Hill elementary school district.
The neatest thing about this whole trip was the fact that each night we got together and spent time debriefing the day and praying together. This was always a neat time to bring everything back into perspective that God had called each of us to this place to begin to share the message of Jesus Christ with people who needed to hear it.
While we were there we also go to meet a couple that knew Mark Pratt. There names were Hayden and Heather. Hayden works for a pharmaceutical company called Kendal Pharmaceutical. He told Ashley that he could most likely get her a job working there if she was interested. We both saw this as an open door and another way that the Lord was saying he was going to take care of our every need.
The sign in the yard
Well it is finally offical and reality is begining to set in. Just yesterday around 5pm we officially put our house on the market. Now we sit back and let God do the rest. Each step that we have taken along the way God has been in, and we know that he wil continue to walk through this part of our journey as well. Until next time.
Friday, March 14, 2008
God's Hand
Well we are now 3 and a half months away from moving to wilmington. Since making the decision in September to follow the call of God we have seen God's hand at work in amazing ways. At present we have 4 other families following the call of God to move to Wilmington NC to help us plant the church. I am just amazed by the sacrifice these families are making to move from NY and even one family from Chicago. These are exciting days and seeing God's hand at work has been life changing for myself and my family. We are seeing God and understanding faith in ways that we never have before in our journey with Christ.
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