It’s that time again. One of the best line-ups on the face of the planet and amazing sessions that are outside the norm. And that is just the start of it.

BTW: The big “Secret” of the NOC is that it is not ONLY OUTREACH! It is so diverse…but of course OUTREACH is the passion and heartbeat behind what happens!

And one more for free: All of the display/sponsors…yeah, you know what I mean…those hawkers and gawkers. This is not your Mother’s convention.

They make it a TRUE CONVENTION where networking and learning about the latest and greatest is a best kept secret. You hate most conferences where the sponsors lure you in like a kid with candy and free Starbucks cards…this convention is for real and the exhibit hall is worth the price of admission! I took away more ideas from that one space than I did all year probably!

I am doing THIS TALK…and I am beyond excited to present it. I will be talking about steps to capture the RELEVANCE and REVIVAL needed to radically change communities that God has called us to…with a focus on smaller communities. Come on over and see me.

I am also leading the church planting discussion group for you silly planters who want to set the world on fire.

I am humbled, blessed and honored to partner with NOC this year. They have an amazing team top to bottom! Lindy Lowry [world record interview], Kim Levings…the entire gang love Jesus and make you feel loved. So proud to say they are friends! Come on out and say hey in beautiful San Diego in November! [Or freeze your butt off in Fargo. Your choice.]

ALL THE DEETS HERE.

Yeah. Some of you would just like God to fund you. I feel you. I am potentially bringing on our first major partner in November, but I have a gap of $0 income from October 1 to November 15th. [Pray for this partner and for our gap...many of you know where we are, and I know where you are.]

It’s for this reason that I remind you of today’s thought: GOD CAN AND WILL FUND YOU IN WAYS YOU COULD NEVER PLAN.

I need some major partners like YOU do. I am working hard like YOU are. I am praying hard like YOU pray. I am pushing on every door, like YOU are. I am trying to work outside bi-vocationally to help out like many of YOU are…on and on.

But it is those smaller, “unplanned” off the wall phone calls and e-mails that make me smile from ear to ear. It is that I share with you today from an e-mail I received this morning:

“Dear Charles: …When we began Destination Church in January we agreed to put 5% of all money brought in for the purpose of future church plants we will do or to help others.  I feel led to help you guys.  It’s not much but it’s being faithful on our part.”

WOW. Only God and a humble leader could pull this off.

Destination Church just launched this past SUNDAY. You read right. This past Sunday with little funding themselves.

Thank you JESUS for the way you fund your church in ways that I could never ask, dream or imagine. Hold on friends…God shows up like he does in the Bible in ways that only He could know and plan! Keep your eyes on the prize!

And thank you Lee and Destination Church for your heart and passion for the kingdom!

Stay focused leaders…stay on track…keep pressing on! [And remember, this is coming from a guy who is also out of funds just like many of you!] Keep fighting the fight to build the kingdom! Don’t give in. The kingdom is counting on you.

I thought I would start writing a bit more on planting since that is what I am engaged in right now. Especially you planters in THE STICKS where resources, staff, people and vision is at a premium! So…we will see how long these short posts will run.

And todays is NOT a shameless plug for our coaching network…it is just the truth.

TODAY’S THOUGHT: If you are not planting with a team above you, with you and below you…you are destined to fail.

ABOVE YOU: Who are you accountable to? Are you a rogue, lone-ranger? Do you have a “false” board or accountability team…you know, one who you never really report to and when you do…it does not go deep? Who is coaching you and helping you on the journey that has been there, done that? **You need at least an external team of experienced planter/pastor/leaders who actually AGREE with your vision [not fight it!] And yes…I coach 5 guys and have coaches who work with me coaching others, and yes…I have a coach myself! Always will…[and a project manager, and an external board, and a ton of friends I can call on anytime.]

WITH YOU: Who is serving beside you on your team? Who has your back in the battle? If it is just your wife and kids and maybe a friend or 2…you are in deep doo doo. **You need at least 3-5 other “staff” type leaders at your side.

BELOW YOU: Yes, people might not like this term, but you are leading a team of people who are not above you, and are not beside you, but they are who you are leading. On the org chart, they are below you. They are the warriors who are the foundation of what you are doing. **If you don’t have at least 50-75 of these warriors, without God’s help, you are destined to a very tough road ahead.

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Where no council is, the people fall, but in the multitude of counselors there is safety! [Proverbs 11.14]

**If you want some information on our Coaching Network [for planters, transitioners, worship, bi-vocational, youth and kids, multi-site or any other position in the STICKS...hit me: [charles@onecommunity.tv] We have someone who has been there, done that!

When people ask about how New Hope grew in an Ohio cornfield to 3 regional and 1 international campus and now: How has your launch team grown from 1 to over 50 overnight?

The past 2 posts we talked about the HOW. It’s the same HOW as HOW to grow SPIRITUALLY. It applies to your numerical growth as well: You LISTEN to God and then OBEY ALL HE SAYS TO DO. [sorry for so many CAPS]. But you get the point.

I grow weary of people who say they listen to God but are afraid to carry out what HE says to do because a staff member, Elder, charter member, fill in the black, is holding them back. Grow a set and be obedient to the one who really counts. When you say a partial yes to God, it is a complete NO to Him.

Here is the SECRET PRAYER that is not so secret that I pray [I love all the SECRET titles out there].

When we have HEARD from GOD and OBEYED what He said to do…and I mean fully obeyed. When we have sought wise counsel [that's another post...yes, I coach 5 people and run a coaching network, and guess what: I have a coach myself! And I have an external leadership board I am accountable to]…When you have done all you can, there is NOTHING left for YOU to do. So here is my prayer [usually with my team, out loud and with all my heart]:

Lord, we have PLANNED, PRACTICED, PREPARED and PRAYED…now we PLACE it in your hands. Do what you need to do.

When and if you can pray that prayer with TRUTH and you have given it 110% and you have done your BEST to listen and obey…it’s out of your hands. Let it go. And if 1 person or 1,000 show up, remember…it’s was never up to you after that prayer.

“Pray like it depends on God, but push like it depends on you.” [not sure who is credited with this one].

Yesterday we learned: STOP.LISTEN.OBEY FULLY= BLESSING!

I like the saying: “PRAY as if it depends on GOD and PUSH like it DEPENDS on YOU!” Well, if we believe this little mantra that puts us in the mysterious middle of God’s sovereignty and our humanity and request from our leader to GO and to BE and to ACCOMPLISH, then we will stop at nothing to make this happen.

Here is a practical example. If God is asking you to do something audacious [let’s talk macro level here]…and you are led to do a capital campaign that encompasses:

1) A building project to house a 7 day a week facility where on Monday through Saturday you are using it as a sports outreach facility and on Sunday as a church gathering spot.  [EXTERNAL FOCUS]

2) Raising money to hire additional staff. [INTERNAL FOCUS]

3) Putting clean drinking water in Africa and rescuing those caught in the sex trade industry. [WORLD FOCUS]

OK, that is big vision. But if God says to do this, don’t shortchange it by saying, “Well if we get enough for the first 2, we will do all 3.” CRAP! STOP! WUSS!

If God says it, don’t short-change HIS vision or none of it will happen! [please re-read the previous sentence.]

So, if you do EVERYTHING that HE has asked you to do, and you have done it with prayer and reckless abandon, then you can REJOICE that you did everything you could and left the results up to HIM. Nothing more…nothing less.

When people ask HOW did New Hope do what it did? How did you launch team grow to 50+ overnight? It might sound trite, but this is why. When you grab God’s vision and do it without excuses, the results are up to Him, and they are usually way beyond our wildest dreams.

Are you hearing from Him? Are you too busy to hear from Him? Are you afraid of casting His audacious vision? Do you need some help to accomplish the vision and have too much ego to ask outside of yourself?

One more post on this tomorrow. How have you seen this work in your life or ministry? Help us all out here…

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Come learn more from other smaller community leaders and warriors! THE STICKS conference is just around the corner! Win a free Ipad in the process! Yes…the Ipad has made its way to the STICKS!

How do you go from 1 person to 50 people overnight?

Well…the Spirit of God does that. I just wanted to get that out of the way before someone commented and wondered if I thought more highly of myself than I ought! Without the power and Spirit of God, we are NOTHING!

But I am crazy enough to believe that God still speaks to us today. And when He speaks, it is easy…just obey! Sometimes the things that help one leader can help another, so I thought I would continue to share.

What is it like to have ONE person show up, and what does it take to be truly excited about that and not just say that we are excited about it? [See this post for the foundation of what we are talking about].

Well, it takes a lot, trust me. I can’t wait to explain how God sent us forward from 8 on our launch team [and the ONE from Utah that we added] to 50+ overnight, but let’s start with this fundamental question:

How can we truly be excited about ONE person?

Again, I believe this with all of my heart: When you listen for Jesus and He tells you to do something…you HAVE TO DO IT WITH RECKLESS ABANDON!

One error I have watched our staff and teams make over the years is short-changing God’s vision. If God says to do these 5 or 6 things, then don’t you dare do 4 of them and expect a full measure of blessing! Why do I believe we grew our launch team to over 50+ overnight? We did what we were asked. All of it. Plain and simple. NO EXCUSES.

STOP.LISTEN.OBEY FULLY= BLESSING! [Jesus always did the FULL will of His Father.]

And when you do all you can…if ONE person shows up…then that should make your day. The results are not up to you. Obedience is.

More to come…stay tuned. How has this played out for you in the past?

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THE STICKS is giving away a free Ipad for leaders in Smaller Communities: Check it out HERE.

Yeah…we are not ashamed to be the Brett Favre of the ministry world.

THE STICKS was birthed out of a passion to reach those in smaller communities and hard to reach places where resources, staff, vision and people are at a premium. How do you do a lot with a little? Does smaller town mean smaller church? If you just had more money, the right staff addition, or the right program, everything would change right?

SMALLER COMMUNITY does not mean SMALLER IMPACT! And with that, we set out to gather pastors and leaders in small towns across America through: Conferences, Coaching Networks, Resources and Regional Gatherings.

I never foresaw God calling my family away from our first plant in Loudonville, OH to the rocky shores of Utah where 70-80% of our neighbors are LDS. I also did not foresee losing all of our funding due to something that still blows my mind. At that point I had to make a decision: Do I keep trying to do both? With no staff now for our plant or for the STICKS, God made it clear. You have to lay down the STICKS. It was the hardest decision of my life, but God knew.

I had no idea that when I prayed: Lord, I am laying this at your feet and when you send a great leader to help pick it back up fully, with funding, with staff, with vision and with leadership, I will do my best to bring it back with full passion.

It only took a couple months when I got a phone call out of the blue. There are many pastors [thanks to all of you who are a part of our current scattered team] who want to help with THE STICKS, but their level of commitment while noble is not what will revive the movement as none of us has the time to commit on an Executive level to THE STICKS. It has to be from someone who has the resources, the staffing, the vision and the time to pull off a major move of God.

Enter Artie Davis and Cornerstone Church. Artie began a multi-ethnic church in Orangeburg, SC the same year I started New Hope in Ohio [2002]. Artie is in a town of 12,000 people and has a booming multi-ethnic church of around 2,000 people who call Cornerstone home. They have 1 other site in Bamberg, SC, and a 3rd Campus launching in 3 weeks, Summerton. As if that is not enough, they are launching a 4th on Easter, in St. George, and a 5th next September in Gaston, SC. God is doing some incredible things through Artie’s leadership and the staff at Cornerstone.

Artie just turned over the reigns at the first campus to a campus pastor and has devoted his time now to THE STICKS network as well as THE COMB network, which is a church planting network like no other reaching, developing and launching churches in small communities around the country.

Artie Davis is the real deal. He is a proven, tested, humble and spirit-filled leader. I am humbled to be a part of any team that he is raising up. This is one of the few leaders around the country that I would feel comfortable saying…here is the ball, run with it!

He is a mature leader who is years ahead of where I am, and lesson here for all of us…when God brings you a leader like that…lay it down. Don’t be so prideful that you have to hold onto every last inch until something dies. We do this all the time though in our leadership. I think this one time at least…this was a great give-away and this will be a great partnership. With that in mind and in an effort to keep this novel short on time, here is the point.

1. THE STICKS is back and will be better than ever. Who knows what God is going to do in the years ahead as we ALL [that means you] pour our hearts into making a difference and to bring revival to smaller communities across America.

2. Our gathering this year at Cornerstone will be our biggest and best ever. We are kicking it off over at THE STICKS site…so go check it out.

3. We are giving away FREE TICKETS, an IPAD, and FREE AIRFARE to THE STICKS in the next 90 days…so watch for the big kick-off.

4. We are also launching the blog that will include resources, information, sermons, vision and ideas submitted by YOU and others who are in smaller communities as well as podcasts and an all-around hub for doing church in the smaller communities where God has called us.

5. My role will be to continue to cast vision, network, marketing, and being the Executive Producer of the conference itself. I will also be a key leader in THE STICKS coaching network as we continue to coach and train leaders around the country. So a ton has been moved off my plate and I am only doing what I have time to do and along with an amazing team, am excited about this strategic shift.

Now…here is the scoop. We have been on, then off, on, then off, but that is how God saw fit to do this. If you are in a smaller community and your believe that God wants to bring revival, passion and huge things to smaller communities, we need you to spread the word and to come to our next gathering at Cornerstone. It’s that simple. Re-tweet, re-facebook, e-mail, sign up for the free give-aways…do it all and do it with passion. A grassroots fire needs started and it begins in your heart and life.

God is going to do something so amazing, I can’t even begin to fathom it. It feels so great to have THE STICKS back on the playing field. Here we go…let’s kick Satan’s butt in the name of Jesus and send him packing from our smaller towns all around the country!

Hit THE STICKS website and the BRAND NEW STICKS blogand let’s get it on!

How would you react?

After years of seeing hundreds [or thousands] of people show up at New Hope over the years [our first plant]…we found ourselves in the rocky soils of Utah wondering who would show up to our first events. Certainly we had the Jesus mojo right?

We decided to do ALPHA and had this big strategy that would see Alpha grow, expand, multiply and help us take over this area in Jesus name! We would then put missional communities into each city around us and together, these groups would form a launch team.

We were ready to the last details…we know how to roll events. We were so certain that this would rock it…we were not just hosting Alpha on 1 night, we were rolling it out on 2 nights per week!

Tuesday night Alpha was upon us and as our team waiting in anticipation of the crowd rolling in…we waited, waited, waited, ate the food, waited…and not ONE person showed up.

Well, what the heck, at least we have Wednesday night Alpha and I know we would have someone there because I invited a girl from the coffee shop and she said she was coming. Wednesday night was met with anticipation and what do you know? We grew by 100% [I know, 100% of 0 is 0, so hang with me]. We had 1 person show up and our team was forced to kind of act like she wasn’t a celebrity, but she was.

We hosted Alpha that night for in essence, one person!

Eventually we learned some things about our new context we found ourselves in and I want to start sharing about that with you as I blog in the days ahead.

Great news is that we found a name for our church finally. ONE Community Church was birthed with the premise that if ONE person came to know Jesus, there was still a party going on in heaven, so why should we not celebrate as well?

That was not my reaction at the time, trust me…but it has become a core conviction. Hang in there leaders…we are walking the path with you! ONE person is a party, so start acting that way huh?

[To clarify...this Alpha launch was held last Spring. A lot has changed now with what we have been learning and our launch team is growing by leaps and bounds! Our latest round of Alpha is seeing around 35 total people in attendance...how? why? what? we will talk about that as we journey together.]

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• We did not come out here to start “services” but our previews are a way to add people to our launch teams and invite people into community. Just wanted to clarify that. “Church” is more than corporate worship…now the hard work on the “back-side” part of discipleship, building community, house churches, and our launch team.
• Are you kidding me? We had 4 weeks to go from literally NOTHING to a full “service”. Our team literally worked round the clock to see it happen [and our family moved in the midst of this.] ONLY GOD! Think about that: 4 weeks from 0 to full throttle. If you are an experienced planter, you know our inexperienced team had a miracle from God to do that.
• We borrowed everything almost. Our 10×20 foot screen we do own  made of paper [remember, I am the "how to do a lot with a little guy"...you just have to make it happen...no excuses]…well, it fell apart so we stretched painters cloth across the brass frame, and it worked well enough to get us going! Thanks to the other churches who let us borrow their gear and people!!! [K2, South Mountain, The Journey, New Hope West Valley and Early Light Academy for their gym!]
• It’s still true…there are 25+ cities in our immediate areas  [maybe 200 or so in the entire state] without 1 church. Imagine that? We have a lot of work to do. And still need 150 partners at $25 a month minimum to launch full time this fall or early winter. Go HERE, and make it happen: We are listed under MISSION WEST.
• For a first service: I have NO IDEA how we borrowed gear from a church that packed up their gear at 3ish and we somehow got our last trailer moved into place at 5:30 and still pulled off a 6pm service? Again, only God. No one really knew what we were doing, we just did it. Planters…just make it happen, no matter what!
• Practice services were EASY this week…all our gear was ready to roll. When we have our own gear, we will set-up on Saturday AM and walk in on Sunday AM ready to roll [nice perk of being in our school who also lets us store gear there and only charger $13 an hour!!], but until then, we had maybe 1 hour and 45 minutes to set-up someone else’s gear? Thank you Jesus is all I can say.
• I have NEVER worked harder in my life than I have the last 4 weeks. And I am a pretty hard worker. With a small team, we all had to do some very heavy lifting. I found myself creating logo’s, doing graphics work and a website…all of which I really have never done or barely did 9 years ago when New Hope started. [Our graphics person puked out on me at the last minute] Really miss a full staff at this point, but wouldn’t trade the experience for the world! Thanks Aaron Floyd for filling some of the gap for us this past week!
• Our team was simply brilliant! Many of them have NEVER experienced anything like this…and our tech/worship/set-up bro [Mike Stake] just got an e-mail address a couple years back…yeah, that’s what we are rolling with, and we love it!
• Our team deserves so much credit. We needed every single hand, and the hands of a few churches who came from all over the valley to help us. Thanks guys for working long nights and long weeks to make this happen. YOU made this happen in HIS power. THANK YOU!
• So, the deets of the night?
• 110-125+ [not sure...didn't even get a real count yet...our operations person will fill me in I am sure] were with us. We had many well-wishers of course from the campus we serve at K2, so we will see who shows back up next week. That will be the true test. It was also a holiday weekend [don't try this at home]. Pioneer day [July 24th, when the Mormon Pioneers entered the valley is bigger than the 4th of July holiday here]. Still had people show up!
• Here is the kicker: when I gave the challenge to trust Christ, I was so unsure of what would happen [we were just happy people showed up]…I couldn’t believe what I saw: at least 15 people or more responded to trust Christ. [Thanks to Pastor Josh Gonzales, my good friend for tracking that one.] Hands went up everywhere.
• Now stop…you are thinking: wow, that is amazing, and I have seen that before. No, seriously. When 7 or 8 out your 10 neighbors are of a different faith background that is dominating this area and you are lucky to have 1 person show up to anything you do…this was a TRUE MIRACLE! I am not usually blown away by things, but I was blown away at the response. [Side note: The air was broken in our brand new building...it was 83 degrees after the 1 hour and 50 minute service, and people stayed and were so gracious...they loved it!]
• Best part of the night: the stories.
• I baptized my 9year-old, little girl Grace. No better way to kick off ministry in our new home. Doctor’s told us she might have downs syndrome and abortion was a possibility. Are your freaking kidding me? We wanted her however God gave her to us. She was born healthy…and her name is Grace. What a night!
• Mike and I baptized his Wife, Kym. They are true brothers and sisters to us. What an honor to see her make her decision public to trust Jesus.
• In this perfect slice of the world [it really is a leave it to beaver place]… tattoos and piercing’s were in abundance. And that is what we were hoping for. A church for people that no one else wants! No Perfect People Allowed! Our mailers said: “THIS IS NOT YOUR MOTHER’S CHURCH.” And it wasn’t! [Still not sure if or how many mailers went out...another story.]
• One lady told me afterwards that she is in “limbo” with this Christianity thing and wants to go deeper. Her husband had tears in his eyes as she was talking. Found out they live right around the corner on our street!
• Follow-up/Community? We are offering ALPHA, HOUSE CHURCHES [which meet right now as our launch team], and DINNER WITH THE TEAM [dinner with some of out launch team to get to know people better.] Again, we didn’t just come out here to launch public worship services, but to build disciples. [The GATHERED AND SCATTERED CHURCH!]
• Love this one: A younger girl had tears in her eyes as she said: “I was looking for churches on-line last week knowing I need to connect with God, but couldn’t find anything [yep, that is why we are here...]. The next day I got a door hanger from you guys. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? She trusted Christ last night. Thanks to David Bradford and Celebration Church for hanging almost 4,000 door hangers and coming all the way from Alabama to help us out! They are warriors!
• Well…time to chill out. My Mom is in from China [not planned, just happened, ONLY GOD!]. My little sis comes in today to visit from Ohio, and we are planning a very relaxed week…well, until next weekend rolls around again. One more preview to go. PRAY FOR PEOPLE TO JUMP ON BOARD WITH WHAT GOD IS DOING OUT HERE! Thanks for your prayers and support…we could not have done this without you!
• In the midst of pure chaos, I went alone on the mountain-side to pray HERE. Then I ran a quick 5K to clear my mind. It’s not about DOING, but BEING, right?
• I am a health nut now you know, but what they heck? I celebrated with a 20 piece Mcnugget at Midnight with my bride and my Mom watching Sports Center rejoicing at all that God had done!
• Will be blogging for you church planters and leaders who are wondering how in the world this could have happened. Let me start here: ONLY GOD!