My Dad [if you don't know, my Mom and Dad live in China] wrote this letter to me a few weeks ago. It should humble us to the core at HOW BLESSED WE REALLY ARE. Give thanks! Give thanks! GIVE THANKS!! This is just pure wow. I smell total crap rising up within me because I am so rotten to the core. How about you? What do YOU have to be thankful for…truly thankful?

Dear Family:

Marlon has worked for me going on 2 years. He is from the Philippines. I was looking forward to meeting his wife and 2 children today but she did not come. I asked him why? He said her supervisor in the factory where she works in the Philippines said she could not take a vacation or she would be fired. She has had no vacation in over 5 years. Marlon works here in China and is able to go home 2 times per year for 1 week at a time. His wife works 6 days/week 8 hours per day. She receives about $65.00 per week USD before taxes.

I was able to give Marlon 3 raises in hopes that his wife could quit and come live with him here in China. He said he still does not have enough income for her to come to China. His wife lives with her mother and her mother watches the children while she works. I asked if I could tell his story and take a picture with me to send to my family. He said no problem boss.

Mary and I have always had a special love for the Philippines and the people there and this is just another reason why. It looks like things have not changed much in the Philippines since we left there over 40 years ago. Marlon is nothing short of being an excellent worker. Despite his separation from his family he wares a smile on his face which I think means he still has hope. Today I made a New Year’s resolution to be more humble and kind to those like Marlon.

We all know some like Marlon but in the USA there is usually a way out, if you want it, and are willing to work for it. Today most of in America live like kings compared the rest of the word put together. Maybe the best thing we can do for those around us is share a little kindness and dispense a little hope. My last pay raise was more than 2 1/2 times his wife’s annual wages. I asked Marlon to go to lunch with me tomorrow just show him I care and that he is very important to me no matter where God may have put him on the ladder of success. He still has our Christmas outreach card with Jesus on the front of it, hanging on his office wall since 2010. I believe that he knows who the ultimate giver of hope is for this world (see last picture attachment).

Thankful, Dad

So the title says it all…we are all still SPEECHLESS. Look at the picture below of what happened to Grace on her first day at her new school in Hilliard, Ohio…She found this in her desk her first day:

1. An Envelope that says: “Welcome to Scioto Darby” [her new school...she is in 5th grade].

2. A Letter [I will transcribe below.]

3. A Picture of the Girl Who Wrote It.

Here is the letter:

Dear Grace,

I would like to ask you to join me at recess, I also thought that you might want to join me at the lunch table. I just wanted to write you this letter because you are coming from a while away. I don’t know what it feels like to be a new kid, but I might have an idea how it feels. So I would like to offer you to hang out with me at recess and sit with me at the lunch table.

From, Hannah

p.s. There is a picture of me in the envelope for you to see what I look like and I hope we can be best friends.

Being JESUS is so much harder than talking, teaching, and preaching JESUS. [That is easy...DOING it is so much harder!] I am not sure if this little girl knows Jesus, but this is one of the best expressions of the face of our Savior that I/we have ever experienced. [Whatever you have done unto the least of these...you have done for me... -Jesus in Matthew 25.40]

Acts of love done with a pure heart can change the world…how ’bout it?

Or wait…I can see the headlines now: “Hillbilly Archer Misses Mark and Wounds Passers-By” or “HIllbilly Archer Sees 12 Point Buck and Shoots It Dead Instead of Balloon…Pastor Furious” or “Archer Misses Mark and takes Down a Canadian Goose, Gets 12 Months in the County Jail”

or insert your line here: _______________________.

Aww…it’s worth the risk. FOR REAL: Hope someone does this in church in 2012! It’s a great one!

Scholars, conferences, blogs, and other’s religious views should shape us…but many people seem to ONLY follow someone else’s Jesus and someone else’s Spirit. How about you? Read on…

“The Word we study has to be the word we pray. My personal experience of the relentless tenderness of God came not from exegesis, theologians, and spiritual writers, but from sitting still in the presence of the living Word and beseeching Him to help me understand with my head and heart His written Word. Sheer scholarship alone cannot reveal to us the gospel of grace. We must never allow the authority of books, institutions, or leaders to replace the authority of KNOWING Jesus Christ personally and directly. When the religious views of others interpose between us and the primary experience of Jesus as the Christ, we become unconvinced and unpersuasive travel agents handing out our brochures to places we have never visited.” [--Ragamuffin Gospel pp.45-46, Brennan Manning]

Lord, take me to the places you want me to take others…make me still, quiet, and dead to the world around me, but alive in your Spirit. Show ME your truth, your ways and your character, and fill others around me who help me on the journey with your light alone.

Wow. What a difference 3 years makes. From the hardest decision we have ever faced to leave our family, friends and amazing church family in Ohio to move to Utah to plant a church! From our first outreach event where 0 [that is a zero] people came, to our 2nd event [where 1 person came:]…to seeing just under 200 people at our biggest service this year, God has been doing some amazing things here at OCC and in our lives! And we owe a debt of gratitude to YOU!

Just as we were shocked, scared, sad and a bit disoriented when we felt the call of God to transition to the next season in our lives from New Hope in Ohio to Utah, we feel the same feelings as we announce that God is again calling our family to a new season of ministry. With this, there always comes a ton of questions, and for those who know us deeply, you understand that we are upfront and honest with our personal lives as we feel it is the only way to truly live life. “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free!” [John 8.32]

First, we want to THANK YOU each of you who have sacrificially given of your time, talent, treasure, prayer and other support to the calling of God to plant a church where many people have tried, and few have seen the vision realized. Without you, One Community Church would not be what it is today and without you, we would not see a church that is doing some amazing things in this area started and continue on! We needed you to start this work, and our family will continue to need to sense your love and support as we are obedient to what God is asking Tiffany, myself and the 3 blessings in our life: Christian, Grace and Joi.

1) What is happening at One Community Church?     The church is going great! As a matter of fact, out of the churches launched in Utah, we are TRIPLE the size of other churches launched in 2011, and DOUBLE the size of churches launched in 2009 and 2010! We praise God for HIS favor, especially being called to a very tough spiritual area. We owe this to the grace of God, your support and a great, great team that we have around us here at OCC. Our attendance is up, volunteers are up, giving is up, and we have some great people joining our team as of late and in the near future! Our core people at OCC have been notified and our talks with them have been great. They have all graciously understood the calling here, and the calling to a new season wherever God leads.

We also have a great pastor and friend who helped us launch OCC in Pastor Tony and Shanda Simoncini and their family. Tony has been sharing the leadership load with me the past 3 months as we have prayed through this potential transition. He has been called with his family to Utah for a time such as this, and we know that God will lead greatly in this as our church has grown to love he and his family! Tony and Shanda completed church planting assessment and passed with high marks as being ready to lead this church! He has been preaching often and is more than ready in my opinion to take the lead role. Please pray for Tony and his family as they transition into this role. They will be the official Lead Pastor and Wife and this will be their calling. It will not be an interim role as they are called, gifted and confirmed as the next leaders of OCC and I want to be the first to welcome them as your new Pastor and Pastor’s Wife.

2) Why are we transitioning?  About 3 months ago, it became apparent to Tiffany and I that the past 3 years have taken a much larger toll on us and our family than we anticipated. There are some personal reasons and some wounds that have occurred over the past 3 years [and even before] that have caused us to reflect on where and what we are called to do in ministry.

There is NOTHING juicy, NOTHING sinful, NOTHING crazy. If there were, we would list the reasons because you can’t keep gossip like that from flying around. Our marriage truly is stronger than ever. Our family is stronger than ever. There are some things that we both have come to terms with in knowing who we are as a couple, as a family and what we feel God is asking us to do in this next season of ministry.

Tiffany came to me to share that the depression she has battled off and on for 18 years had grown much worse. I also had been sensing a deep and growing sadness in my life and a lack of passion that I am not accustomed to.  I talked at length with some trusted pastors, friends and our Management Team asked Tiffany and I to pray for a couple of months about whether God was leading us into a different season and calling due to these reasons that were appearing in our lives. God uses a variety of things to rattle and shake us, and they are not always “good and pleasant” things!

We had already had a 1 week intensive counseling session scheduled outside Denver, Colorado [talking about it for 2+ years and finally got to go!], for us to listen to God and to listen to the counselor who has extensive experience in ministry as for the next steps we had in ministry. This counseling was to explore ourselves as individuals, to seek to become as healthy as possible in Christ and to seek out what future ministry may hold. Blessing Ranch is a place that I encourage every Pastor/Couple to attend and I challenge each of you to seek out counseling before there is a big reason to whether you are in ministry or not! It was a life-changing experience for us and a very healthy look at our souls in-depth.

The Doctor who was our counselor was able to point out some amazing things in our personal lives that we needed to work through and how that might impact future ministry. Tiffany was struggling with depression and the Doctor said that I was as well [a shock to all who know me]. It was apparent after conversations and prayer [thanks Mom!] and thanks to all of you who confidentially led us through this difficult time, that God was actually calling us away to a new season in life and ministry as the Lord leads.

We were called to start this work in Utah, to see it to a healthy place [as healthy as a church plant can be!] and then to release it to capable hands. We are not abandoning ship, there are no internal issues, no other reason other than GOD knows what is best, and obeying HIS call is our first priority. We LOVE the people of OCC. We have so many dear friends and relationships that have formed and we love this state! It has been an amazing few years as we sought out to plant a church in a place we had never stepped foot in! This is why this transition is so difficult. WE LOVE THE PEOPLE OF OCC! [Did you catch that?]. But we also have to listen to the Lord and my first priority as pastor is to shepherd my family.

3) Where are we going?  My sister Sarah [thanks lil' sis :], located a rental house for us to live in located in Hilliard, Ohio where we lived for a time when I was a Police Officer in Columbus, Ohio and where our son Christian was born. I will be looking for a secular job more than likely when we land in the Columbus area and would appreciate your prayers as we seek what God has for us next in life, our family and ministry as the Lord leads and opens up opportunities in His timing and as He leads.

As most of you know, we are totally open to the call of God in our lives and are willing to go ANYWHERE HE LEADS! But with the wise counsel, some super-natural experiences and the counsel of Dr. Walker, we are confident that God is calling us back to Ohio for some reason! We know we cannot be back in the area where we planted New Hope, but that our passion for Ohio has not left us.  We need to put our family first and the calling that is down deep in our hearts. It is with this end that we said, “OK God…if it is Ohio, then why not move us to the middle of the state and we will wait for your call!” So that is what we are doing.

I do not have a job, we do not have any firm plans. Again, we just got a house rented 1 week ago! We are just trusting that God wants us to be in a healthy place, as many tears have been shed for the love of the people here at OCC, we are also excited that God has a plan and that we are ready for the next steps that He is calling us to, whatever that might be!

4) Can YOU help in any way? Never thought you would ask! Of course you can. We need your love, support and prayers! Ministry and leadership can be terribly lonely, so your words, prayers and actions of support are greatly welcome! Pray that God would continue to bring healing to our souls, and our family during this transition. Pray for our kids as they adjust to a new school and a new set of friends. Pray for OCC and the leadership here as they work through this transition. Pray that those who feel led to continue to support OCC [there are still a ton of cities without 1 church out here!!!!] as the church plant is still not at the point of being fully self-sustaining. Would you consider continuing to support the work God called us here to begin?

Most of all, your love and prayers will go a long way in helping us continue in the work of expanding the kingdom. With the uncertainty of what lies ahead, we ask you to join us in the work of our Lord to help us land back on our feet strongly, and thank you in advance for your love, prayer, and support!

5) Are you coming back to the Loudonville area? We would love that of course! Our family and friends are there and a church we dearly, dearly love, but that is not something that we feel we could do in any way. So for those who have already asked…we would not do that:) Pastor Rob and Bethany Patterson have been called to continue the work at New Hope and our other amazing pastors at the campuses we started are doing a great job, and we would not seek to disrupt that work! I have appreciated Pastor Rob’s love, his counsel and his friendship as we have talked about the transition God is calling us to. We also appreciate the love and continued support from our New Hope and OCC families!

THANK YOU for making One Community Church a reality, and THANK YOU for understanding and supporting the next call in our lives! Being called to be a starter is not a bad thing, though many might never understand it, this is certainly something that we were called to, and we revel and relish this calling! It is now time to see what God has next and are beyond excited about what God will be doing here at OCC and in each of your lives as you trust in Him! THIS IS GOD’S CHURCH and God’s Word says: “I WILL BUILD MY CHURCH and the GATES OF HELL WILL NOT PREVAIL AGAINST IT!” [Matthew 16.18] and also “Trust in the Lord with ALL YOUR HEART, and do not lean on what YOU THINK IS BEST. In ALL YOUR WAYS acknowledge HIM, and HE WILL DIRECT YOUR PATHS.” [Proverbs 3.5-6]…and we believe every word of this! This church doesn’t revolve around a pastor, leader or groups of families. This is HIS CHURCH and HE ALWAYS WINS! We trust that with all our soul, might and strength.

Thank you again to our friends, family, Stadia Church Planting, ICPA, The River Conference, Potential Church in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, The Crossing Church in Quincy, IL [our 5 major partners], and many other personal and church support [you are all MAJOR TOO and you know who you are!] that have provided support, funding, prayer and your love as God has called us here to Utah.

And we thank you in advance for your support in helping us seek out the Lord in relocation and in the days ahead. We could not have done this without YOU and we can’t live out the next phase without YOU either! Below is our contact information. Feel free to contact Tiffany or I anytime. We would love to hear from you and it would be a blessing to sense your love and support at this point. Leadership can be a lonely place at times:)

Partners in Expanding the Kingdom,

Charles and Tiffany Hill and Family

**Charles: chazzdaddy17@gmail.com  // **Tiffany: stayayhomemom76@gmail.com

I am performance-oriented. I am a people-pleaser. I feel that I have to prove myself over and over to people and these are good traits at times, but at unhealthy levels causes a very messed up view of how I see people and especially how I see God. It especially plays out in how I see God’s grace in my own life. Things are never good enough for me, and certainly you can’t do enough to please me either because you will usually fall short. That is how screwed up I have been at times because I don’t understand grace. I am this way for a reason though. Not as an excuse, but it is the foundation that I allowed to be built for me early on in life and I have continued to build on that foundation that is simply sinking sand.

Growing up with a father I couldn’t seem to please until way later in life when he came to Jesus; growing up in a fundamentalist, legalistic view of God where points were given and taken away; and lastly, believing that my performance of living a “Godly” lifestyle equaled his view of how much He loved me in return and how much He would bless me. Moving to 3 different states and living in small towns doesn’t necessarily help you either as you seek to crack the codes of where you live to be accepted.

The crazy thing is that I GIVE grace like Jesus did [much of the time, I am not perfect here...] but I cannot figure out how to RECEIVE the same grace that I give. I give it, but my screwed up view of grace can’t receive it for myself, and I live with anxiety, fear, and even depression brought on by the fact that I can’t score enough points to win the game.

Today I learned that grace isn’t about getting “it” right. It’s about embracing the fact that God has already gotten it right. It’s done. It’s finished. That’s grace.

What is “it”? It is my performance. It is “living right and sinning not.” But who the hell can say what is sin these days? Did I just sin by saying hell wrong? Did a glass of wine do me in? Homosexual lifestyle? An R-rated movie? Eminem on my iPod? It’s not about getting “it’ right, it is embracing the fact that Jesus already made it right and we need to accept it, live in it, love it, thrive in it, accept his LAVISH GRACE. Grace has nothing to do with living right and sinning not. It has everything to do with the fact that it has already been made right. How arrogant of me to think I can make HIS grace even better that it is!

So what about those 4 words that changed my view of grace?

GOD SMILES AT ME.

I lost it with my counselor today when he said that to me. Totally lost it. In the world I am used to, no one smiles at me, so I seek to please everyone…for them to force a smile at me for my performance. I have never felt like an insider…no one really smiles at me, and God especially doesn’t smile at me, unless I am doing the right things, which are hit and miss, and usually they are miss, because I can never seek to do enough to make Him smile all the time, if ever. Not my Dad, not my youth pastor, not my school-mates [man was the hell on earth?], not my wife and kids. I can never do enough to satisfy this hole in my heart that hasn’t come to grips with grace.

GOD SMILES AT ME. It is finished. He loves me. He lavishes it on me. I must stop performing. I must stop pretending. It is already done. The mess is cleaned up and he stands there SMILING AT ME because He loves me and has set me free…but I don’t believe that, so I work all the harder to please Him and do the right things. That is arrogant, wrong and has screwed up my life and caused some terrible internal struggle for years. It is time to let that go. It is time to stop performing…

GOD SMILES AT ME. And you know what…HE SMILES AT YOU TOO. That’s grace.

I say it time and time again. the #1 thing is to EXPAND and GROW in your leadership and walk with JESUS! // OK…and how do I do that?  // YOU GET WITH SOMEONE WHO HAS BEEN THERE! I find it amazing that every team has a COACH. The best players can’t even see what is happening the way a COACH can.

He or she has BEEN THERE, they SEE what you don’t see in the heat of the battle! They calmly steer you to PERFORM, not tell you what to do! And sometimes they chew on you a little bit, to get the best out of you that is possible!

I am coached every week and it is the BEST thing I have ever done. Our church PAYS for it every month. It is the BEST investment I can make and has returned 1 million-fold. No joke.

I run THE STICKS coaching network and get calls all the time, and that is an awesome step 1. Then, I usually get the e-mail:

Dear Charles: I really want to do coaching, but we don’t want to invest in it right now. Our leadership doesn’t feel it is the best investment currently. Thanks, ____________.

So doing the same thing you keep doing with no success is the definition of insanity. There is NO GREATER investment you could make! That’s like starting a restaurant and not wanting to invest in cooking equipment, so your sales continue to plummet and you can’t figure out why. Everyone says that you have a great menu, a kind staff, a nice location, even the right dinner music and those cool faucets/sinks in the restrooms, but the food isn’t cooked [and this is not a sushi place:], and maybe you should by something to cook with. TO this you reply: “Well, we can’t afford it at this time…maybe one day.”

Or that is like not investing into your 401K plan just hoping something will happen! You have to INVEST!

For real…that is what it’s like. I don’t care if you use our network [I care about the KINGDOM!], GO GET A COACH! It will change everything. Mine will be calling me in exactly 25 minutes…and I can’t wait.

Want some help with coaching in our network or a recommendation to another one? e-mail me: chazzdaddy17@gmail.com

“Without wise leadership, a nation falls;  there is safety in having many advisers.” [Proverbs 11.14]

“Plans go wrong for lack of advice; many advisers bring success.” [Proverbs 15.22]

After 12 years of ministry, I have witnessed:

Worship Wars // Purpose-Mission Statement Focus-Leadership Focus // House Church-Cell Church Movements // The Emergent Movement // The Social Media Revolution // The “Missional” Movement // The “Attractional” Movement // Social Justice Revolution // Theological Re-immergence in the Reformed Movement. // Plus Many Others!

While I understand that everyone has a unique calling from God and wants to promote “their” way and the way that the church is supposedly going in their eyes [in the next decade with research to boot]…I still see a vast array of beauty called the BODY OF CHRIST. Glad we aren’t all kidneys or gall bladders or colons! [You figure out the colons].

So, please…SHUT [the] HELL UP! Stop telling us that YOU and YOUR group have the answers to where the church is going in America, the world, your backyard or on your screen, because you don’t know what Jesus is going to do! Stop throwing rocks at models that are bringing people to Jesus just because it isn’t exactly the way that you would do it!

I see missional, attractional, reformed, arminian, traditional, contemporary, house, bar, barn, field, social justice-oriented, build a building oriented, outreach focused, discipleship focused, liturgical, insense-swinging, candle-lighting, robe wearing, choir singing, KJV-only [well, kind of], rock and roll circus and lights show, video preachers, on-line campuses, multi-sites, barely 1 site, spirit-filled, spirit-killed, and blah, blah, blah…and I see JESUS being lifted up on high and the GOSPEL being presented and DISCIPLES being formed! WHAT IS SO WRONG WITH THAT?

The church of Jesus cannot be contained to one form, one book, one conference, one theology, one best-practice, or one anything. IT TAKES ALL OF US WORKING TOGETHER as the beautiful, different parts of the body and bride of Christ!

HOW BEAUTIFUL IS THE BODY OF CHRIST! How beautiful is the GOSPEL! How beautiful is the multitude of expressions that hold up the GLORY of God and HIS BRIDE! We need all the parts of the body! <— Take that to the bank, because it is Scripture!

So STOP TRYING TO TELL EVERYONE WHERE THE CHURCH IS GOING, and stop throwing rocks at the other models. THIS IS THE NEW “DENOMINATIONAL WARS of MY GENERATION!”  Stop it! Stop it! Stop it! S-H-U-T   U-P! [This is especially troubling in smaller communities, where everyone knows everyone and every ministry knows every ministry!]

I hear people discussing broadly one particular pastor/blogger who left his church to “find a better way of making disciples” than the seemingly 1,000 or so that sat before him every weekend. Talking about being stressed out, burned out, weekend-focused, etc. He and his family [whom I respect] are now embarking on a new venture where I assume it is easier and less stressful to make disciples?!?!?!?! Last time I checked, Jesus kind of died at a young age for His calling and had no where to lay His head. Had he not been the Son of God, I wonder how “stressed” out and “burned” out Jesus would have felt if He were not God? Maybe that is why Jesus OFTEN withdrew to lonely places to pray?

The problem isn’t the MODEL…welcome to ministry in the way God has wired you. Now go do it! AND DON’T WORRY, IT WILL CHANGE OVER YOUR LIFE-TIME! [It's OK!] You will get burned out and stressed out and not as passionate in several years of your new run too.

So drop the throwing rocks and publicly bashing what you built in the first place. Let God decide what to do with the church that I hope he called you to help build in the first place…did He change His mind or did you hear wrong in sin?

If a “model” or “move of God” isn’t for you, but it holds the gospel and Christ on high, then leave it alone! Drop your rocks, stop trying to sell books and conference tickets and do what God has called you to do and leave everyone else alone. I believe that when we do this, we will begin to shut down hell…when we shut [the] hell up and worry and pursue the way God has wired our part of HIS BODY! Leave the foot or hand or heart or eye to do it’s work and you keep doing yours!

Until then, write posts, books, conferences and other various matters that show you have it figured out. I’m sure that your theology is almost 100% on the money too, and there is no room for discussion there either.

Yes, the church must change! Yes, I have changed a lot and these voice need to be heard. But please, stop throwing rocks as you move to the passion God has for you. I prefer subtle shifts as the Spirit leads with emerging voices of truth [because all of them have aspects of truth in them! Some more than others, some you resonate more with, some you don't!] All models, visions, dream and pursuits have flaws, because we are flawed sinners!

But please…let’s build HIS kingdom together and take a cue from friends like Hugh and Tim. Can’t we all just get along and see disciples being formed and hell losing population? Denominations seem to be dying and our personal missions and our ministry/blog/conference/book groupies are quickly taking their place. [p.s. again, though I referenced one popular pastor/blogger, this was not intended for them alone].

LET’S BE THE BEAUTIFUL EXPRESSION OF CHRIST TO THE WORLD AND SHUT HELL UP by SHUTTING [the] HELL UP unless we have something beneficial or at least critical in a unifying way!

Who feels the same?

We decided to practice what we preach and actually get somewhere with our finances. After years of teaching bits of Financial Peace University [but never going through it ourselves. yet compelling many to do it] we actually are going through it and LIVING IT!

1. We rented out our house [with a management company]. Result = Renters pay our mortgage, we do nothing, we pocket $40 a month profit. [seems like a crime. and don't do this without some experience...trust me.]

2. We rented a house ourselves [some down-size since our new rental is twice the size with a killer view of the entire valley:] Result = Savings of $850 a month over our mortgage payment by going to a short-sale house.

3. I sold my truck [thought I would need a 4x4] and am driving my 1997, 5-speed, 2 wheel drive, 3 passengers at best Ford F-150. Result = Saving $550 a month.

Debt Snowball: Already off the hook. [We only had some minor "dumb" bills, some not so minor medical bills and 20K+ in my master's degree loans]. = $200-$500 a month, maybe more…already!

Total savings so far in 2 months…around $1,650 [maybe more...and snowballing every week] a month already. We are on our way to close to $2,500-$3,000 a month of freedom from debt!

What would YOU do with that? And BTW, we give over 10% already to our local church and support outside missions, all the while so my wife can continue to stay at home which is her calling for now.

Am I bragging? No way…our church is new, the church still needs massive support, but we as a couple REFUSE to live the same way ever again. The secret is…YOU CAN TO! Don’t just listen to it, know about it, or like me, teach on it. FREAKING DO IT!

Talk about financial PEACE? We finally know what they are talking about, and it feels GREAT! More time to think about MISSION instead of MONEY! How about YOU…what’s your story?