If you do not subscribe to Catalyst Monthly…you should.
This article by Ed Stetzer (who by the way will be a speaker at the STICKS regionals) totally hit a home run this morning as I read this article.
Thanks Ed, for saying what I have wanted to say, but could never say in a way that you say it was said…
CHECK IT OUT.
AND YES! I WILL BE BACK IN THE SADDLE THIS WEEKEND @New Hope…been missing ya!
I first want to say Amen! Thank you all sooo very much for helping me out this past month with getting back to school. This past month was not a good one for myself or my family and receiving this gift of generosity and one awesome miracle sent from God, I am able to return to college this semester.
I prayed and talked to God so much during this time of hurt and man is he ever so grateful. I want to thank you all again very much for giving me this opportunity to return back to school and pray that God will return to you with many blessings.
Thank you for making it happen. Thank you and God Bless!
To everyone who sent money to help send a young man who has had a tough life back to school…I say a HUGE THANKS! YOU MADE IT HAPPEN!
The power of everyone chipping in…TOGETHER, we all made it happen and without each of you we would not have made our goal! Since I have been out of town, I don’t have an exact total, but I know we needed $608, and we ended up exceeding that, so we can send some spending money with him for this semester…not a ton of course, but a few bucks that will be a huge blessing.
How GREAT it is when like the Acts 2 church, we truly live in community as believers, because the church is so much greater than the 4 walls where you go for weekend worship. We are across the street and around the world. In person or via internet. In spirit or in flesh…let’s live radical community to the fullest.
Now…let’s all go and be a blessing to someone else today in BIG and SMALL ways. KNOWN and SECRET ways. When we WANT TO and when we DON’T.
Small MIRACLES can push people toward faith and the kingdom in ways we could never ask or imagine. You never know when you will be an answer to someone’s PRAYER or MIRACLE. Just like this young man.
Since these next few days I am praying with Tiff and hanging out to hear from God…don’t expect any posts for a few…but I will be back with a vengeance and you won’t believe what I picked up while out here. It rocked my world, and I believe that the next few weeks of posts will be some of the greatest tools and vision in quite some time.
(And I won’t lie…skiing my first real slopes here in Winter Park, CO in 1 hour and 42 minutes…has me beyond jacked. These things are freaking huge!) And that is one of MY places where I have time to be with God. Do you have those spaces and places? See ya…off to be alone with the WORD and PRAYER before a few hours of no doubt: bumps and lumps. Pray that we HEAR from GOD these next few days.
Blessings today!
If I asked you if you knew a place where 9 out of 10 people were unchurched in a major city, and a place where MOST church plants fail, what would you pick? China? India? Somewhere in Europe?
How about DENVER, COLORADO! (and even worse in the small towns that I have a passion for surrounding her!)
I am overcome with how NO ONE makes a plea about this territory out here. Denver is a HUGE, growing city with so much opportunity and so few churches. And the church plants that are here have some of the highest failure rates anywhere.
Denver is the 4th fastest growing city in the COUNTRY. That’s insane! And one of the least churched and growing by the hour.
Maybe this will help: After talking to most church planters in this area, many of them said: THIS IS NOT THE PLACE TO PLANT A CHURCH! That’s coming from church planters! Many of them are struggling and many have planted several times and many have given up and quit. This area is an independent minded place where spirituality is found in the individual and in the outdoor playground that is the Rocky Mountains.
I am overwhelmed driving this area and seeing HUGE, HUGE development with MILLIONS more people expected and the sad fact is that from 1990-2000 in the entire state of Colorado (with the hub of people between Colorado Springs and North Denver), there needed to be 792 MORE churches started in that decade to keep up with the growth, and that was through the year 2000! In the past 8 years growth has skyrocketed and churches have not at all.
How overwhelming!
As Tiffany and I took in a Denver Nuggets-Detroit Pistons game last night, we were surrounded by young people everywhere, and our hearts broke for them. Each generation is truly removed from spiritual things. (Pistons won in the last second…what a date night with my bride!) The one nicer thing about the east coast and the south regions of our country is that a major proportion of people would probably identify with some sort of church experience, at least as a child. Here…not so at all. Absolutely no church background at all.
Demonic and satanic activity are large here. Stories of witchcraft and satanic worship and influence are heavy as where there is no Christian presence, the evil one has free reign.
Huge thanks to Paul and Jan Mitton from Converge Rocky Mountain for taking us through the area and being amazing hosts and connecting us with several pastors and leaders. Their heart for this region is amazing, and their game plan is even sharper. Paul is a man who will get the job done out here…but the missing piece: Church planters.
Paul’s vision is to not plant 1 church with Tiffany and I, but to allow us to recruit 5 church planters and start a ground assault whether here in Denver or in SLC. And his passion and drive will help make it happen. He is a very sharp leader and ready to partner with many out here on the Front Range.
Please continue to pray as we seek the Lord. Tomorrow afternoon we will be heading to the mountains to a room where we can pray and seek the Lord. I also look forward to some time alone with God in a place where I can think…the ski slopes, which is a place where I connnect with God and slow down big time.
I mean…my God, My God…what is happening out here and in the US? We were called to lead the way and within 1 generation we might be a thing of the past as in Europe. The majority of the world is already there…and we must step up and do something about this on the home front and send out others in the world to reach their native peoples. But with the facts that I gave you about SLC and Denver…where would you go? It’s unbelievable in each region. Wow. Pray for us.
We will return on Wednesday, but while in the mountains and the days to follow…please pray as we seek to hear HIM SCREAM into our souls. Pray for visions, dreams, increase, whatever you feel led to pray as we wait on HIM to reveal HIMSELF without a doubt to us.
Blessings as you seek HIM in your MISSION right where YOU are!
pics: Denver and I also included some pics from the I-70 drive we had to and from SLC which was one of the most amazing sights I have ever witnessed.
http://flickr.com/photos/drivebyphotographer/1581355223/http://flickr.com/photos/22189353@N02/2139094169/
http://flickr.com/photos/-zcubed/2767270503/http://flickr.com/photos/denverjeffrey/104378472/
http://flickr.com/photos/denverjeffrey/392506553/http://flickr.com/photos/fortphoto/2266212159/
http://blog.eturner.net/images/denver_skyline.jpg
I am alive. Wow, what a few days it has been. I want to be brief and share some thoughts so far as we put our feet on soil and instead of casting vision like I am used too, I am trying to hear the vision. As we said when we announced to the church, we only had a few contacts, no money and a crazy vision that God had asked us to consider and this was our first stop.
It’s those walks into the great unknown that will really energize your faith, but they also weigh on the soul a bit!
We flew into Denver and made the 8 hour drive across Colorado and Wyoming and then dropped south into Salt Lake City. What a drive! 80+ MPH winds and snow in spots made it very interesting! There were 3 semi’s just blown over in the road from the winds, and that is just par for the course in the winter in Wyoming!
SLC was a totally different picture. It felt a lot like being back home climate wise, but yet due to the dry air, it felt much warmer. All I can say about SLC is that I did not expect anything much from this city…but got way more than I bargained for.
It truly is one of the most beautiful places on earth and with so much to do there, it just blew my mind. I thought because Mormonism is king here that everyone would be walking around in their white shirt and ties and skirts. Ummm…no. It looked like a normal college town and though not as crazy as many big towns, was not at all what I imagined.
To be honest, we flew out here thinking that SLC would be a quick stop, because after all, why plant churches where their is a pre-dominant undercurrent of another religious group? But that is exactly what we soon learned the need would be. Very few have taken up the challenege of going into this place and have left it desolate for the truth. It takes a CRAZY person to come to this place to plant churches. Hmmmm.
Here are some quick facts:
*2 Million or so people, and almost NO Christian churches. Yes, that is not a typo.
*50% of SLC is NOT Mormon! Hear that one! So 50% are totally seeking something!
* Of the 50%, only 2-3% attend church on a given weekend. (Worst in the US! Second worst is Nevada at almost 10%!!!!!!!!!!!!)
*Utah was the fasted growing state in the COUNTRY (economy is still very good and this place is beautiful, and the 2002 Winter Olympics put them on the map).
*But yet as the fastest-growing state, Utah is the MOST unchurched state in the COUNTRY! Are you kidding me?
* There is 1 Christian church for every 5,000 people. In Arkansas (the comparison state for this study it was 1 for every 500!) I assume Ohio is in the same range. Unbelieveable.
*There is a town here of 40,000 people that has NEVER in the history of the town EVER had a CHRISTIAN CHURCH. EVER! If that were anywhere else, there would be 100 church plants and denominations heading into town. But because these are forgotten people in a very hard region to plant, people won’t take up the call to come here.
*This one kills me: Utah is the only place in North America that because of the above information is considered and UN-REACHED PEOPLE GROUP. Are you serious in the US?
WHY ARE PEOPLE NOT TALKING ABOUT THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN REGION? We hear about the Northwest and Northeast being rocky soil, but dang, Utah has the worst stats in the COUNTRY and was the fasted growing state last year and is expected to grow by 1-2 million in the near future! (And no, it is not from Mormon births, but try this one on, there are still 40K+ polygamists in SLC even though the church outlawed it long ago).
People (many non-Mormon) are moving here because of the robust economy, the vast beauty and outdoors scene, and it feels like a small town because though the Mormon theology is way off from Christian doctrine, they practice love and kindness like no other people around. It was the friendliest big town I have ever been it, and of course that translates to a low crime rate.
EVEN IF IT IS NOT US THAT IS CALLED, THERE IS A NEED FOR AN ARMY TO COME OUT HERE! Those facts break my heart, especially when in many places in the country there are churches everywhere!
I need to send out a huge thanks to Dave Nelson (and his wife) who bugged me to come out here and not just tour Denver. K2 is doing an amazing job. Church planting here is like church planting in a foreign country when most of the people around you are of a different religious group. They have done the impossible through the power fo Christ and average 1,300 people every week in 2 locations on their property and are starting their first multi-site campus this fall. WOW. God has blessed them and their staff. Dave is a phenomial leader and his staff and the church was so accomodating as they showed us around for a few days. I can’t say enough or thank them enough. Thanks to ALL of you, but special thanks to Kim and Steve for lodging us, Andy for the long tour and gun pics, Dave for sharing his heart which was the beginning of making ours melt with vision, and Mike for being a cool dude who shared his journey and great insight into K2. (And your CD rocks bro!)
We are looking for a challenge. God has never called us to easy things. We came out here open, but not very open to SLC because of pre-concieved ideals, but we were open and God flooded our hearts. This is way different a vision than I thought we would get when we announced to NH, but we are open to the possibility and could easily make this place our mission field. We are not afraid of challenege or the fact that this would be the hardest place in the country to plant a church. But hey, K2 answered the call, and God is moving big time. Maybe this is it for us too?
And yes, there are nothing but SMALL TOWNS for us to work into in both states. That is our heart and passion and always will be!
After a really long drive (but the most beautiful drive in my life back to Denver on I-70) we are set this morning to tour Denver. I am excited to tour this huge place where 9 out of 10 people are unchurched. You heard me. Anyone else’s heart breaking for this region? We are OPEN to this ground as well…so:
Pray that God would SCREAM to us in the next few days about where the call should be. And maybe it is not anywhere out here, but dang, after what I just wrote, how can this region not be a place that needs the Lord like NO PLACE in the country?
pics: http://www.geo.arizona.edu/geo5xx/geos577/images/SaltLakeCity.jpg//http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.geo.arizona.edu/geo5xx/geos577/images/SaltLakeCity.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.geo.arizona.edu/geo5xx/geos577/&h=311&w=450&sz=87&tbnid=gFYscnvs028FpM::&tbnh=88&tbnw=127&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dsalt%2Blake%2Bcity%2Bpictures&usg=__ySW8oiPa6sae3LpydBZjGntZQPM=&sa=X&oi=image_result&resnum=2&ct=image&cd=1
Hey all! Sitting here at the airport getting ready to set off on the first tour trip to put our feet on the soil and ask God to lead. And for those still wondering…NO, we have NO IDEA where we will end up, so don’t put us in the wild west yet. We have NO support, NO money, NO plans, just a desire to set out and let God lead. Pray for us please. It’s a bit nerve racking, and every time I go to New Hope it kills me. But what a journey of faith (Genesis 22). Maybe we will end up near YOU?
Here is one of the most important things the church continues to fail to do and it is KILLING us. Mark Batterson wrote this post about New Year’s Resolutions and it spurred a thought that has been killing me for years. Read his post HERE.
Follow-up. We are bad at this, and so many other churches are as well. We preach on SERVING, GIVING, SOCIAL JUSTICE, COMMUNITY OUTREACH, etc. but do we give people a very EASY clear way IN, and a very EASY clear way OUT? Do we make it SIMPLE? CLEAR, COMPELLING, and do we HANG WITH IT or are we onto the next great thing?
Capital campaigns. Most of us can raise the funds, but do we clearly lay out how to keep the funding up over 3 years and follow-through as strongly as we initiated the push?
Small groups. Is it EASY to get into one, or do you have to find some obscure location that someone is supposed to man to sign up for one, and then is it a confusing ordeal? What if I don’t like my group? What is a group anyway?
Tasks. Our church was collecting 3.5″ floppy discs for charity. The bulletin said to put them in a basket at the information center. This weekend I took mine and found no basket. Do we make tasks easy, and check on them to assure that they are being accomplished?
You name the initiative HERE…most people can start something, but most teams can’t close it or follow-up with it and slam it home.
Simple Help: **Make it EASY to join and do something. Make it EASY to TRY before you BUY. Answer all questions in print or verbal or on the web.
**Have MULTIPLE AVENUES of marketing the project [remember: people don't start catching the vision until we start to get tired and really bored of casting it] and MULTIPLE AVENUES of signing-up or seeking more information.
**Communication card, web request, e-mail, phone call). The more ways the better the response. Some don’t use e-mail, some won’t call, some won’t use a communication card but want to talk to someone. We list e-mail, phone, name and allow communication card response. Why not?
If we care about the project, we will make FOLLOW-UP easy and we will make it happen. So often we crap out after just 1 week and we sit back and wonder why no one is motivated to do “anything.” I can’t tell you how many things I have started and not finished or maybe that our team has over the years, and I bet you have the same story! That’s why Paul encourages us TO FINISH THE RACE!
Systems and follow-up are the key to long-term sustained growth. Just as LOVE must be cultivated in a marriage and is not wham, bam, so must the spiritual development and assimilation of seekers and believers in the church. We do a great job of GETTING THEM IN, but what do we do to KEEP THEM THERE in the grip of GOD’S GRACE, GROWTH AND LOVE?
Are we about STARTING WELL or FINISHING WELL? I pray that both happen, but I would rather FINISH WELL I think. HOW ABOUT YOU? What would you add to this list? If we get this one thing right, we will stop KILLING THE CHURCH in many ways!
blessings today!
pic: http://flickr.com/photos/foot_solutions/2601023241/
If you are ever rubbed raw by the nonsense that goes on in the sporting world, here is a story that will rock your world. I love sports, but the business behind it can be pretty dark.
Parents push, push, push at all expenses. Players are paid millions. Money is God and king. But all of that changed one night when people opened their hearts and went against the grain.
Take time to read this quick story on how the church was the church and people acted like Jesus on a football field in Texas.
Love it.
pic: Melinda Wright, courtesy espn.com
Great question.
I can’t wait to preach my last series at New Hope. Don’t read that wrong. Not to leave, but because I have been waiting to teach this for 7 years. It’s all about how to HEAR THE VOICE OF GOD/FOLLOW HIS WILL. We will start that series in February.
So, here is some view into our lives for the world to see. We have finally been led to a region that we will consider for church-planting. It is not a given, as a matter of fact, we could EASILY come back and know the answer is NO. So don’t send us there yet.
Here goes: 2 years ago we were at a conference in the Rocky Mountain region (Denver Area) and we loved our time there.
That’s it? That’s certainly a start. What? No angel visitation, stars exploding, mysterious calls or letters in the mail. No…after calling several people and praying, we found out some interesting things about the Rocky Mountain Region that coupled with a like for the area will lead us to further investigation.
*9/10 people are un-churched. We are losing this battle bad folks.
*Churches aren’t connected very well at all.
*Church planters feel very much alone and there isn’t a large movement to connect them.
*And when I say Salt Lake City, need I say more?
9 out of 10? Are you serious? We then found out that Colorado is the 3rd most un-churched state IN THE COUNTRY. Wow. Especially as Denver is expected to grow by 2 million people in the next 20 years.
And Utah is the fastest-growing state in the COUNTRY. UTAH? Yes, you read right.
When you hear that stuff, how can you not say, hmmmm. But then again, we ended up in a town that had not seen growth in a long, long time. Only God. Only OBEDIENCE.
The region is ripe for the harvest. And the region New Hope is in hasn’t made a dent yet, so we still have a long way to go here as well and the mission that was started must carry on!
So one call led to another and we will be touring both Salt Lake City and Denver next week. We will spend 2-1/2 days in each city and 2-1/2 days praying in the mountains asking God what to do next. Yes or no. Close the door or keep us pursuing.
Reading Scripture, fasting, praying, working out some of the ancient practices gathered and explained for connecting with God that I have been immersing myself in from this BOOK. And as mentioned, going to someplace where you hear God (beach, mountains, skiing for me…where is your sacred space away from the ordinary?) Isn’t it supposed to be hard, whips, chains, carry the cross, fast everyday and sit in silence atop poles to head the will of God? Ummmm. No.
We will also have 2 travel days, so this is no short trip.
We will go and hang out and talk with as many people that we can. Churched and un-churched. We will hand in coffee shops, malls, bars, wherever we can find people who will talk. We are goong to try to take in a Nuggets/Pistons game and be around thousands of people and see what we can stir up. Anything to be around people and immerse ourselves in the culture.
As far as open doors go, I believe Satan opens a lot of doors…so I look more to watch God to CLOSE DOORS, because there are open doors everywhere around me! So there is my take on OPEN DOORS.
We will also wait for other calls, requests and e-mails from people to come check out regions and pray on that as well, but we will focus on 1 region at a time, and then narrow it in from there.
It truly feels like the Abraham call in Genesis 22, where God asked Abraham to have radical obedience and sacrifice his son. He told him to go “to the region I will tell you about…” but just set out first, and when you get there, you will know. WOW. We are on that same journey. God always leaves that HUGE element of DEPENDENCE ON HIM as a mark of faith.
So…get with the people, rub shoulders, get into the world unless you are looking to plant a church for the churched people to come to, in that case, go talk to the already convinced.
And then get alone and seek GOD. Then trust HIM to say yes or no, and I promise that a passion will burn within you. It will make your heart race, your blood-pressure rise…and keep you up at night dreaming about the possibilities. You won’t be able to stop talking about it.
That’s what happened when we came to LOUDONVILLE, our first “region that God told us about.” And we trust the same for the next steps.
Pray for us as we leave next week. For GOD to SCREAM to our souls.
And if you have any other suggestions for us to pray about or suggestions in how to better discern the Lord…let me know! We have had Hawaii, Alabama, Phoenix, New York City, and London thrown into our hearts and will certainly pray on everything as we seek HIS will.
Follow me on twitter or facebook as I chronicle our journey…and thanks for shouting out a prayer or 10 for us.
pic: http://www.flickr.com/photos/wildcountry/119970662/
OK…here goes. Let’s do this thing in 1 day.
There is a young man who has had a rocky road in his home life growing up. His life has had many ups and downs.
He has been a part of New Hope and served and given so much back to the Lord and this community since day 1. He has come for years by himself with no support at all.
Both of his parents (they are separated) lost their jobs and their entire family was actually homeless for a few weeks.
He is in the middle of his junior year at college, which he works a few jobs and takes out student loans to pay for. I saw him at work the other night and asked when he is going back to school and he said he probably couldn’t this semester because of lack of funds. I asked him how much he needed.
$608 (yes, six hundred and eight dollars). He brought me a copy of his bill.
His student loans were that much short and the college says…sorry.
I blurted out: “That’s all? I said…let me take care of that and you plan on going back right now.” So, knowing I can’t give the full amount, I stepped out on a limb of faith, knowing that this is an amazing community of faith in the BIG and the SMALL.
Can’t New Hope just write a check to him you ask?
With our benevolence fund being almost null and void with the vast amount of needs right now in our community, I thought…what the heck, with all the people who follow this blog, if everyone gave a small amount, it would be wiped out immediately and this young man could stop stressing and not let a tiny amount hold him back. Could take care of it in a few hours I suppose.
I also think it AMAZING that a small miracle can happen to him from a GROUP of people who don’t even know this young man, and the church can be the church and do what we are supposed to do…meet the needs of others in Jesus name.
I will be the first to step up and make this tiny amount disappear.
HOW ABOUT YOU? Whether you go to New Hope or not, if God speaks to you, please e-mail me with the amount you can give and either mail the check to New Hope or drop it in the red box this weekend with (STUDENT AID) on it. ($5, $10, $100?) Everyone can do something.
But please e-mail me so I know when we have reached the amount. Thanks for being the church.
New Hope Community Church
c/o: Student Aid
637 N. Market St.
Loudonville, OH 44842
my e-mail: charles@newhopewired.tv
Scared about the future that is so unknown?
Anxious that you won’t sell your house?
Worried about starting a church in this economy?
Afraid of what might happen at New Hope in the future?
Stressed about whether your kids will adjust to a new place?
Sad that you are leaving your friends and family?
Tired and worn out with all that is uncertain and left to do to prepare for this journey?
Excited about the possibilities?
The truth is that all of this has come into play or will at some point in our families lives.
But this one thing is certain: OBEDIENCE in all things is such a firm foundation, that when the winds start to stir (and they have for us…it’s been a very hard week), we have to take refuge in the one who made the CALL in our lives. The one who spoke to us as He spoke to Abraham in Genesis 22.
And after Jesus gave the GREAT COMMISSION to all of us, He said some of my favorite words in all of Scripture that settle me down when I center my soul on HIM and not the situation and circumstances:
“…and behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (matthew 28.20b.esv)
What is your list that you are holding? What do you need to turn over to HIM in 2009? It might not be as “large” as the call that we are undertaking…but think on this: Is any calling from God small? I don’t think so. It’s only large or small in our eyes.
Whether it is a call to something that really shakes us, or the call to reach out to a neighbor or family member, or the call to be disciplined in our devotional lives or giving or serving, or whatever the whisper is…get on it. OBEDIENCE sets a firm foundation.
pic: http://flickr.com/photos/jrey/117310657/
