Every Day Is A Gift

Just this past week, I had an opportunity to attend the Global Impact Conference at First North in South Carolina. What an incredible week hearing from some spiritual giants in the world of missions! Last Friday, I was invited to share about our church plant with Mrs. Coffee's 4th grade class there at the Spartanburg Christian Academy. On the way into the class, I went into the same area of the building that I went to kindergarten in. It had been around 30 years since I had really been able to go in to this part of the building and really take time seeing what was in there.

Talk about being overwhelmed!!! I saw the same rooms that I was in when I was 4 years old!!! Crazy!!! After seeing these rooms, we went upstairs toward the classroom and I then remembered that I went to children's church just down then hall. Some of those memories seem like they were just yesterday. After speaking to the class, I took about 15 minutes to go and just sit and think in the old children's church room. Here are the thoughts that raced through my mind:

1. 30 years goes by about like 15 seconds sometimes. 
2. I wish I could go back as that 4 year old and change some things.
3. God has brought me a long way.
4. Children's church made a huge impact on my life (because it was done really well).
5. Did I really turn 34 years old that quick??
6. I'm almost halfway through my life. What will the next 34-40 years look like?
7. Thank you Lord, for adults who loved me and cared for me as a kid.

As I was just completely overwhelmed by the brevity of life, I thought of this song by Chris Rice:

 

^{Psalm 39:4-7}

⁴ “Lord, remind me how brief my time on earth will be.
      Remind me that my days are numbered—
      how fleeting my life is.
 ⁵ You have made my life no longer than the width of my hand.
      My entire lifetime is just a moment to you;
      at best, each of us is but a breath.”
                         Interlude

 ⁶ We are merely moving shadows,
      and all our busy rushing ends in nothing.
   We heap up wealth,
      not knowing who will spend it.
 ⁷ And so, Lord, where do I put my hope?
      My only hope is in you.

1st CHURCH180 Worship Experience

We're officially at the "EXCITED!" stage! What has been over a year process is quickly arriving faster than the speed of light! We're preparing for our very first public worship experience for the people of the Montrose area. 

Our very first service will be October 9th at 6:00pm. Here's just a little about our upcoming services:

1. We'll focus on Jesus.
2. Everyone is welcome. (Yes . . .  we do mean EVERYONE!)
3. It won't be boring!
4. We'll meet at the Montrose Aquatic Center (25 Colorado Ave, Montrose, CO 81401). 
5. We'll meet initially on the second Sunday night of each month at 6pm. 

Why Sunday nights? Many families in the Montrose area go off for the weekends and others work on Sunday mornings and afternoons. We hope a Sunday night format will be the best time for most people. 

Why monthly? We'll eventually "Launch" into a regular weekly schedule in the spring of 2012 but in the meantime, we'll focus on building momentum steadily. In between each monthly worship experience, we'll have a "Comeback Event" where we get together informally and just have fun hanging out. Starting off with weekly worship experiences from the beginning is a lot to undertake! 

If you'd like to be a part of the start-up team, click HERE to learn more.

Hope to see you there! 

Reflections On An Incredible Week

If you're from Montrose, it's very likely that you got to experience part of the CHURCH180 vision last week. What an incredible week!!

For those of you that don't know, here's what happened. With the help from our friends at our home church in Mississippi, we were able to get kicked of with some major outreach events.

1. We did a "we pay you" car wash on Saturday and on Tuesday. We paid people $1 to wash their cars for them with no strings attached. We also gave out some $1 Looney Bean Coffee House coupons!
2. We had a really great worship service Sunday AM with the team.
3. We got to meet a lot of people in the community neighborhoods and give away some $4 Looney Bean coupons. 
4. We did a massive community cookout for the people of Montrose. We served around 350 hamburgers, 300 hotdogs, cotton candy, snow cones, and pop corn. We guessed that at least 300 people came out for the event. 

What a great way to kick off the CHURCH180 vision. Our vision is simply to impact Montrose, Colorado, and even the world with the "180" life-changing hope of Jesus. We believe He can bring new beginnings and fresh starts. He did it in us and He can do it in you and anyone else.

We'll have our first public service on October 9th at 6pm at the Montrose Recreation / Aquatic Center. If you'd like to be a part of helping CHURCH180 start up, just click here and let us know you want to be a part. 

Finally, a big "Thank You" to all our friends from Saltillo! You guys are awesome!!! We love you and appreciate you!!!

It's Not All It's Cracked Up To Be

So you wanna be a church planter huh? I never thought in a million years (well maybe just 34 years) that God would call me to plant a church, much less be a pastor. But through all of the hardships, trials, and challenges, Rachel and I have come to appreciate the calling that God has given us.

With that being said, I want everyone to know that starting a church (aka "Church Planting") isn't all it's cracked up to be. It's not easy!

Here are my top 10 things you may want to know before you plant a church:

1. You BETTER be called by God Himself!!!
2. Be prepared to give up everything you know
3. Be prepared for spiritual attacks that don't stop!
4. It's lonely sometimes
5. Your family will pay a price
6. It's one of the hardest things you'll ever do
7. Get ready for a lot of unknowns (you name it, and it's an unknown!)
8. You better have a game plan
9. You're now the secretary (and the musicians, and the set up team, and on and on ..... at least for a little while)
10. God will bless it when you're faithful to His calling - but only when we're faithful

When God is in it, there's no denying that He's up to something big. But guess what ..... It's not about me or you. It's all about Him and His agenda!