A quick shout out to Heather...
First and foremost she is a great mom to Sydnie and Mackinley! I had the girls for about 5 hours on Saturday and I had a whole new appreciation for what she does everyday! Thanks Heather!
Furthermore, she participated in the Danskin Triathlon at Disney on Mother's Day! I won't give you all the details (as not to embarass her), but she did quite well...let's just say there were about 1000 people who weren't as fast as her! Nice job.
In case you're wondering, here's what the next part of the journey will be about...over the past couple years I have felt God's call to church planting. God has made it clear that His timing is now. I finish with RTS in a couple of weeks. I will continue working with the student ministry until the end of June (most likely) in order to assist with the transition. August will more than likely bring the start of a 12 month church planting apprenticeship at CrossPointe Church here in Orlando. This is not a "done deal" yet, but it is moving in that direction. The leadership at this church have put together this program to assist future church planters in this risky endeavor. CrossPointe has already helped plant several churches throughout the area and I believe I have a lot to learn from them.
I am extremely grateful for my time at Orangewood and the leadership continues to be very supportive of my family and me and the plans we are making. They see it as kingdom work. Too many pastors leave churches because of all sorts of "messy" situations--I am thankful that I get to leave because of a calling God has placed on my life.
Though we certainly have a ton of questions and unknowns, this has been and will continue to be, a time of faith growth for Heather and I. This is new territory. Many times we are scared of what the future may bring--will we be living in a van down by the river this time next year? You know, random thoughts like that. Yet we are learning to trust in Jesus in new and profound ways.
Well I should probably wrap this up. More info/details to follow. I will say this...it feels good to be able to "talk" about this more openly now. As surrreal (my word of the day) as this all is, I have beeen looking forward to being able to share/talk/blog about this openly. If for no other reason than we need people on this journey. So with that in mind, we would certainly covet your prayers.
Peace.
According to Starbucks, “The best way to build a brand is one person at a time.” Though it could be argued this rings of some cliche’-ness, it is nonetheless true. Apparently Starbucks intentionally spends more money on training staff than on advertising. Because of this their turnover rate is unbelievably low.
As a church leader, I need to pay attention to this. It’s easy to get caught up in the hype and “marketing” of your events, programs, etc. However, if the leaders are not being invested in then I’m missing the point. I wonder if churches have high turnover rates (especially amongst volunteer leadership) because the vocational leaders don’t invest enough. Are we too concerned with the “brand” and not enough with the people?
Hmmmm...I haven't posted in about 3 weeks now. It's not that there's been a lack of things to post about, but more a lack of time. The past 3 weeks have seen us renovate a new student ministry space in an old storefront in Maitland. It's been very cool to get back into a permanent meeting space. The students and leaders alike have really liked the new spot, which has been cool. You can check out some pics here and here. However, moving and "home improvement" always takes more time and energy than I think it will. It's definitely good to be on this side of it now, having finally finished the space (for the most part) and gotten my office set up (been without since December).
On a completely different note, Richard Pratt preached at Orangewood a couple Sundays ago and it was fantastic...if by fantastic you mean getting worked over from the pulpit (I mean that in the best possible sense). Challenging would be a serious understatement. You should definitely have a listen. You can do so by clicking here. Let me know what you think.
You can find out more about Richard Pratt and his ministry, Third Millennium Ministries by clicking here.
After listening, and you find yourself in need of some comic relief check out this clip (you're watching before listening to Pratt aren't you?)
