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!

Lola, The Street Evangelist

Lola sitting in front of the fireplace being a good girl

If you know us, you know we have a four-legged daughter named Lola. She's an American Boxer Bulldog. She's our 85 pound lap dog and she's a little over 4 years old. We got her when she was about four months old and though she's brought some aggravation into our lives, she's "one of us" and she's part of the family.

After moving here to Montrose, CO Rachel and I have gone on some neighborhood walks and taken Lola with us and she does really well (until she sees a cat and then it's on like a chicken bone!). Anyway, it's really neat how having a dog can open up conversations with people you've never met before. Just this past weekend, we were able to meet a really nice young family in our neighborhood and connect with them. We were able to tell them about CHURCH180 here in Montrose and the family seemed really interested!

Just last night, Lola and I went on a walk a little later at night and a neighbor flagged me down to ask about Lola. I ended up talking to him and his wife for about 20 minutes just getting to know them. It turns out that we have a few things in common and we hope to invite them over soon to get to know them.

The moral of the story you may ask??? I realize this is silly but I'm dead serious. Don't ever think of your dog as "just a dog." Your dog can be a bridge that helps you get to know other people and develop relationships. Use every tool you have to point people to Jesus - even if it's a dog. Your dog may very well help you point someone to faith in Christ. 

First Days In Montrose

Ok . . . I realize it's been a while since I updated this blog. But hopefully, I'm back to some sense of normalcy (whatever that is).

I began driving to Montrose, CO on June 9 and got here June 10. I spent the next few days cleaning our rental home and getting it ready for Rachel and the boys to arrive. After getting chemical burns on my hands for a short time from Lysol cleaner, I now realize that house cleaning is NOT my calling in life.

Rachel and the boys flew in on June 13. Her younger sister Rebecca was so nice to fly out with her to stay with us a couple of weeks and help out with the boys. She's been great!

The moving truck got here on the 14th (Tuesday) with most of our stuff but we're still waiting on the second shipment to get here who knows when. Moving our junk in and unpacking our junk is not something that we found to be extremely exciting. If nothing else, we realized (especially Rachel) that we have a lot of things we simply should just get rid of. We spent Wednesday all day unpacking some more.

Thursday was a day set aside for just fun. After all we've been through over the last several months, we needed it. We drove an hour and a half up to Telluride, CO where a friend of mine is a pastor (Tree Cooper at Alpine Chapel). We met him, his wife Robin, and Anna for lunch and then rode the gondola (enclosed ski lift) up to the top of the ski mountain there. Simply put, the whole area and especially the top of the mountain was nothing short of God's unbelievable and beautiful creation.

Friday and Saturday (June 17-18) were more unpacking, cleaning days, and time with the family. Sunday, we went to a friend's church here in Montrose that started about 4 years ago (Chip Martin at Celebration Church). Chip's a great guy.

Monday and Tuesday were more unpacking days and just spending time with the boys. I love our boys! Last night (Tuesday) we invited our area missionary (Brad Cowger) and his wife Traci over for dinner and had a great time with them. They've become great friends.

Today, I'm sitting in my part-time office (the Looney Bean Coffee Shop in Montrose) beginning some work on church planting stuff.

As you think of us, please pray for us. While Montrose is incredibly beautiful and as close to perfection as anywhere I've ever lived, we're still finding it hard these first days to adjust through the transition. Being away from everything that's comfortable, safe, and familiar has been tough on all of us. Cross has really had a difficult time adjusting with a new room at night times. Pray for him. Pray for Rachel and I as we work together on our new calling to be unified and solid for what God has called us to do here. And pray for Kip to adjust in his own little way.

Why would we move away so far and step into so many venues of uncertainty?? Why would we go into a situation where we're not sure if we'll have much of an income? One reason and one reason only  . . . . Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior who has lived sinlessly, died sacrificially, and rose victoriously. There is no other reason at all. Jesus . . . . all for Jesus.

SOMEBODY BIT ME!!!!

About four weeks ago, I was playing with my oldest son Cross in the backyard. He's only two years old and he hasn't quite figured out that everything outside isn't edible. For just a brief minute I took my eyes off of him and then it happened.

He was squatting down and eating the grit from the shingles on the roof that the rain had washed down one of the spouts. So I rushed right away to rescue him from the grit. I stuck my fingers in his mouth to get the grit out before he swallowed it, and then . . . . WHAM!!! It felt like the jaws of a Great White locking down on my thumb. Ouch!!!! Cross bit me!!

Here's my takeaway from this wonderful little incident.

1. Sometimes, our worst pains come from those we love the most.
2. Sometimes, people don't really intend to hurt us. They just want us out of their business.
3. Sometimes, the pain is only temporary, but the scars remain for a long time. (Remember that this pic was taken 4 weeks after he bit me!)
4. Sometimes, we have to just get over the offense and choose to love and forgive.
5. Sometimes, the ones that hurt us need us the most. 
6. Sometimes, our love for others should overlook the pain they cause us. 

I still love you Cross!!! I always will!

Reflections On The Last 5 Years

Over the last 5 years, I've been on staff at First Baptist Church Saltillo, MS as the Worship Pastor. As of last Sunday, I have officially finished my service there to begin planting a church in Montrose, CO called CHURCH180. Here are just some brief reflections on these 5 years of ministry at FBCS and how God has used these years in my life:

1. God has grown me more here in my ministry life and personal life more than any other place of service. 
2. As a general rule, "church people" are much kinder and nicer than sometimes given credit for. Over the years, I've saved "nice emails" which totaled around 104 and "nasty emails" which totaled around 12.
3. When people disagree with me, I shouldn't take it personally. Disagreements can be some of the most powerful learning tools in life.
4. When you leave a place of service, you really don't leave 100%. You will always leave a piece of your heart and hopefully a piece of your legacy.
5. God is always preparing you for the "next thing." That may be staying right where you are but stepping it up a notch but it may be a new calling. Learn to listen to what the "next thing" is that God has for you. Prepare for it and don't waste time!
6. It's easy to say nice and meaningful things to people when you're leaving. Things like "I love you" and "You've meant a lot to me" and Thank you for what you've done" should never be limited to our departing language. These types of phrases should always be on our lips.

Thanks to all of my friends at FBCS. God has used you in my life and I love you!