Refuge Tomorrow

I can't believe it is actually here. My first day as a church planter. I guess this is what we have been preparing for over the past four months but I can't believe it is actually here. Part of me is very excited while another part is kind of scared. I guess that is to be expected when you are stepping out of your comfort zone into uncharted waters. Just as Jesus told Peter to come out of the boat, sink or swim, I know Jesus will pick me up. 

Please pray that Jesus will lead me to the right people to talk to tomorrow, people who are in need of His healing power and are longing to be apart of a community, dedicated to bringing God glory as we seek Jesus together.

A nite in Angels Camp

We had a great meeting tonight. When we arrived at Golden State there was a note on the door that said they would no longer be open on Sunday nights. This got me very excited because it meant we had the building all to ourselves. On Friday we prayed that God would open the doors for a more user friendly facility. We never thought this would be how God would do it but it works for us.

We studied the first 14 verses of Nehemiah 4. These are some of the most exciting verses in the book. We had a nice night. People felt the freedom to be open with one another. I guess this is the benefit of going to church with only 1o people. Mary Stratton shared with me a word that God had given her for the church plant. It is exciting to be apart of what God is doing in my life, the lives of my family and the lives of the people who are on board with this church plant.

Here are a few things we would like you to pray for with us; the quick sale of our house, a ministry center, connections with people in Angels Camp (especially families) and direction as far as this new journey is concerned.

Not a respecter of persons.

I am so glad that Jesus doesn't require you to be a mega-church in-order to show up. Tonight we had a handful of people and studied a genealogical record, but our time of worship and communion was sweet. 

I am looking forward to what the new year has in-store for Connie and I. I must admit that it is kind of scary, but we believe that God is in this move. Please pray that God will bring us to the perfect location for a ministry center. We have some ideas for a center, but we want to make sure that God is in it before we move forward with the idea. Actually, it will have to be God, since we have no money. 

For those of you who read this and pray for us thank you. It means a whole lot to us. 

Merry Christmas

Just thought I would take some time to wish everyone a Merry CHRISTmas. 

Hey look, keys.

Well this week we didn't forget the keys. I think everyone was relieved. Actually most people have expressed that last week's trial was more like a blessing. We actually laughed at it.

As for our bible study, we seem to be working out the kinks pretty quickly and Connie is excited with how well our kids are doing during the worship time. It has been really nice to have all of us together working on this church plant.

I am getting excited for the near future. More specifically, having office hours in Angels Camp. Please pray that I will have wisdom in scheduling my life during the next few months. This time will be critical in regards to the church plant. I want God to guide me to the people that he is pursuing. It is going to be wierd not doing youth ministry anymore, since I have done it for so long but I feel like God has definitly closed those doors.

Locked in

I can honestly say that tonight was a first. Things started well tonight as we held our second Bible Study. It wasn't until the end that I realized that I forgot something very important. The keys. Not the keys to the passage but the keys to the building. The reason this is so significant is because the employees lock the facility when they leave, locking us in the building and the keys are needed to unlock the building to let us out. So you guessed it, we were locked in. After a couple attempts to get ahold of Dan Rule who has the other key we called Brit. Brit is Mark's daughter who rents our apartment. She graciously came back to Sonora to get the keys and then brought them to us in the locked in building. Now at first this seemed like a huge burden on everyone, but once we realized that there was nothing to do but wait it out we had a great time of fellowship. So as usual God had his hand in it. That or he just redeemed my stupidity. I guess both are true. Tonight was a good night. I am excited to see the fruit that comes from God's redemption.

Prayer and Planning

 As the new year approaches there seems to be a new challenge in front of Connie and I. Naturally, sense something new is ahead, something old is being left behind. Change is inevitable and it is something that we should all be prepared for. We can not totally be prepared for what we don't expect but, we can pray. I believe that prayer is one of the ways God prepares us for change. 

At the end of the month, I will no longer be the youth pastor at Calvary Chapel Sonora. Actually my last Wednesday (December 17th) will mark the 15 year anniversary of doing youth ministry at Calvary Chapel. The only other thing I have done for that long is being married to Connie.

Because you are at this blog site, you know, that I am a part of a church plant to Angels Camp, so this isn't the change I speak of.  The change I am thinking of is leaving 15 years of youth ministry and the relationships that go along with it. I know that I am not walking away, never to see them again but the fact is, what I've done for so long is ceasing. 

Now that I've caught you up to speed, here are my thoughts. As I began preparing for Sunday it became apparent to me that God knows what he is doing (this is not something new to me). I began reading Nehemiah 2:1-8 and realized that when this man, Nehemiah stood before the King he was prepared. He knew what he wanted and wasn't afraid to ask. What got him to this point was his prayer life, Nehemiah was a man of prayer.  This is what I am asking of you, pray for us. Don't stop. Pray that God will give us boldness to take on the tasks He has set before us. In my travels to Angels Camp I have found a lot of oppression and spiritual bondage. I have no desire to stand toe to toe with Satan and yet I know that in order to be obedient to the call Jesus has placed on my life, engaging in the spiritual battle is necessary. The full armor is going to be required and the playing field isn't going to be fair, but Jesus has the victory.  So please pray for us as we seek to bring glory to God as we follow Jesus.