Kevin Miller - Pastor of Awaken Church

FINAL Blog Change

2010-03-10T23:32:00.000-06:00

I’ve finally made my final blog change. Sorry for all the confusion. Tumblr didn’t have the features I thought it did - should’ve done my research.

I’ve now switched over to wordpress for my blog. Tons more features and a much more editable interface. It’ll just make for a much better blogging experience. PLUS, my favorite part is that I could import all my previous blogs from my blog on blogger AND tumblr so they’re all in one place now!

The address remains the same: blog.kevmill.com, but the RSS address will be different. You can subscribe to the blog to receive an email each time I post something by clicking the button in the upper right sidebar that says “sign me up!” under “subscribe by email.” You can also subscribe to the RSS feed for just posts or posts + comments in that same area.

Again, sorry for the confusion, but I hope you enjoy the future of my blogs here.

All-New Blog...

2010-02-24T08:32:00.000-06:00

Make sure to update your bookmarks, RSS feeds, and whatever else to my all NEW blog address:

http://blog.kevmill.com/

I will no longer be posting blogs at this blogger address - it will be all through the new, updated blog! There are also links at kevmill.com and awakenchurch.org.

Enjoy!

REACH 7: Reaching ANYONE for Christ - Brian "Head" Welch

2010-02-21T06:00:00.002-06:00

It's been great so far - we've heard from some great guys about how to reach many different groups of people. I'm really stoked about today's interview from a guy that, 5 years ago, would have never known a thing about reaching people for Christ, but in 2005, that all changed.

Brian "Head" Welch was one of the founding members and the lead guitarist of the multi-platinum rock band, Korn. He was ranked #26 on GUITAR WORLD's list of 100 Greatest Heavy Metal Guitarists Of All Time. He made millions of dollars and had the world at his fingertips, but he was depressed, empty, and hooked on drugs. In 2005, that all changed. Today, Brian tours the nation with a ministry called The Whosoevers, reaching out to people who wonder what would make a guy like him throw his whole career away! He has a powerful story and I'm excited to share a little of it with you. We're hoping to bring out The Whosoevers when they tour through this part of the US later on this year. So, read his story now, and you may be able to meet him later this year!

Find out more about The Whosoevers on their website.
Read a Wikipedia article about Brian and his story HERE.
Check out his website HERE.
Order his book online HERE.

1. Introduce yourself. Who are you?
I'm Brian Head Welch, I'm a founding member of the rock band Korn. I quit Korn in 2005 after a spiritual encounter I had with God that delivered me from drugs and empowered me to live for God and my 5 year old daughter instead of money and fame.

2. As someone striving to reach people for Christ, what are some creative ways you've found to be effective?
I've found that just being real and sharing my life with people without sounding christianese works the best whether I'm speaking in front of a crowd or putting out music. Just being real says a lot.

3. When developing your ministry designed to reach the lost, what were some important things you had to keep in mind about those you're reaching out to?
I was a lost soul just a few years ago, so I feel like I kind of know what to say. I used to laugh at Christians. I thought they were crazy, weird, goofy and weak because of what I saw on TV. I always like to share that with people because that's how a lot of outsiders look at Christians. That's how me and my friends did anyway. If people can relate to me talking about how it was weird for me at first, I hope they can relate and be more open to listen.

4. What are some of the challenges you face as you try to reach out to a lost generation and how do you overcome them?
The biggest challenge for me is having people invite me to their town hoping that me, "the guy from Korn," will draw thousands of kids to an event that they put on and save half the town. There's been some people that were let down because they had unrealistic expectations. I can't draw a crowd like they think. It's a lot of pressure on me. That's one reason I like Exit, it's not about me.

5. What are 1 or 2 lessons that you learned the hard way that stand out to you as you reach out to people who need Christ?
Let Holy Spirit lead and stay in peace. If you're too anxious to get someone "saved" they will feel it and want nothing to do with you. Another thing is you have to be ready for a trap. People will sometimes try and set you up for a trap and make it so you don't know how to answer their question or make you say something that's not cool. We need wisdom and we need to train ourselves with God to handle every situation.

6. What challenges did you face as you came out of the scene you were in and began to live for Christ?
I made 2 or 3 million bucks in 2004, then in 2005 after I became Christian, I made under a hundred thousand. Ha Ha, it's true though. Living by faith and not by what you see and feel was the hardest probably. Also, God wanted to bless me, but no one told me He wanted me to die to the things of the world so much. God used a lot of negative circumstances in life to help squeeze fear and anxiety out of me so I can be stronger than I've ever been. I have a song called stronger that will be on my new album that really says it all.

REACH 6: Reaching SKATERS for Christ - Ulises Frallicciardi ("Uli")

2010-02-20T06:00:00.002-06:00

So far, we've heard about REACHing kids, mid-schoolers, high schoolers, college students, and young adults. Today we hear about reaching a group that, in my opinion, is overlooked way too often: SKATERS. That's right. Jesus even loves them. I know they like to skateboard on your stairs and grind on your curbs, but we should have a heart to reach them for Christ.

To give us some tips on how to do it, I've asked Uli, co-founder of Christian Skaters International, to fill us in. He's a great guy with a HUGE heart for skaters. He's been ministering to skaters for years in Florida and takes skaters on trips all over the nation, allowing them to use their skills for God's glory.

Check out the Christians Skaters website HERE.
Read the Skate Missions blog HERE.
Follow them on Facebook HERE and Twitter HERE.

If you know someone who is involved in reaching skaters or you know someone who would enjoy this blog, make sure to email them a link!

1. Introduce yourself. Who are you? My name is Ulises Frallicciardi (aka "Uli") and I, and a few others, help run Christian Skaters International Ministry.

2. As someone striving to reach skaters of all ages, what are some creative ways to reach them right where they're at? Be present in their environment. Be a consistent example of Christ in their lives. Be a bright light. Be bold with the Gospel, but loving. Show them by your actions what it means to be a follower of Christ.

3. When developing a skate ministry or reaching out to skaters, what are some important things to keep in mind? Be real. Be transparent. Don't try to skate if you are not a skater. If you skate, great! But, do not try to be somebody you are not. If you have a heart for skaters and don't skate, that's okay. But, be real! Kids can see right through you if you aren't. Be proud of who you are in Christ and confident that we serve a BIG God who can be strong where we are weak.

4. What are some of the key components that make up a successful skate ministry? Consistency, Truth, Teaching from the Bible, having a leader called to skate ministry, and someone who loves & knows skate and the skate culture.

5. What are 1 or 2 lessons that you learned the hard way that stand out to you about ministering to skaters? Remember that you are leader. Have boundaries. Don't feel like you need to be their bro, but instead be an example of a Godly man or woman in their life. Keep it straight...God first, then family, then your job, then ministry. Once you get this mixed up, it doesn't work. Skate Ministry is a 24/7 job but know when to say when.

6. What are some practical ways to really get into the life and culture of a skater? Build a half-pipe in your backyard and do Bible studies (ha! ha!)....But, if you can't build the ramp, put a few rails or a launch ramp in the driveway, buy some pizza, get some Bibles and invite some skaters over to get in the Word and skate. Be present in their lives. Invest in them. Care and when they need help, give them answers from God's manual and point them to what He directs. And again, be consistent. Kids are used to people leaving them. Youth Pastors average about only 3 years in a ministry. Many kids come from homes where their dad or mom has left. They need some stability. So, make sure you are called and you are willing to commit for the long haul. Be prepared to go to funerals, hospital visits, graduations, weddings, counseling sessions, jails, etc. Be someone who they can come to no matter what, but ALWAYS point them to Christ!

Awaken is hoping to team up with Uli and Christians Skaters International to do an outreach to the Skate Park here in Clarksville this summer. Click HERE to read about it and financially support it.

REACH 5: Reaching ADULTS for Christ - Pastor Chris Norman

2010-02-19T06:00:00.001-06:00

If this is your first time reading this series on REACHing people for Christ, make sure to go back through the previous blog posts and read them. So far we've heard about how to reach kids, middle schoolers, high schoolers, and college-age students. Today we move on to adults.

We'll be hearing from Chris Norman - a good buddy of mine who pastors Kingsfield Church in Aliso Viejo, CA. I've known him for about a year or so, ever since he came to speak at a retreat we had at Calvary Albuquerque when I was the middle school youth pastor there. He's a great guy with plenty of ministry experience. If you're ever out his way, make sure to swing by his church - you'll love it!

Check out the Kingsfield Church website HERE.
Follow Chris on Twitter HERE.

Make sure to email a link to this blog to your pastor or pass it onto someone who could use it!

1. Introduce yourself a little. Who are you?
I was born in 1975 and grew up in So. Cal. after I graduated High School... When I graduated High School, there were two passions that drove my life. One was a deep passion for the Lord and a calling to serve Him with my life, the other was for a girl named Tatum that I wanted to make my wife. I went off to Bible college and after graduating, married my amazing wife Tatum. Today we have 3 kiddos and live in Aliso Viejo California where I pastor Kingsfield Church. I've been pastoring here for 3 years now.

2. As someone striving to reach young adults (30-somethings), what are some creative ways to reach them on their level?
I eat, sleep and live the 30-somethings so I guess I kind of have an advantage in this department. Maybe... That is only, of course, if I'm normal by any means. If we're going to reach 30 somethings we should start by following Paul's lead and go to where the people are that you're trying to reach. Where are they? An obvious one is that there on anything electronic.. Text Messaging, Internet, iPod, iPhone, iPad (Hmm...), blogs, Twitter, Facebook. This generation of adults is, of course, the most technologically sophisticated to date and it all serves as great tool.

3. When developing a ministry that sees plenty of young adults come through the doors, what are some important things to keep in mind?
Most young adults in the 30 somethings, seem to have a strong desire to really connect with others in a real way. It's like everyone is burnt out on the church that you just show up to and spectate. They long to be more than just a spectator at a Sunday show. We do all we can to make sure everyone coming through our doors is valued. Sunday simply cannot just be about a hard-hitting message and a rockin worship team. If you have all that and and never make them a part, we fail. We personally can't stress enough the importance of our hospitality teams that oversee everything from passing out bulletins, walking new people around, handing out coffee, and hanging with the people. That's also another reason why we focus so much on Community Groups.

4. How important of a role do volunteers and leaders play in your ministry?
Without volunteers and leaders nothing happens. They really are the backbone of the whole church. The staff can dream all day long but unless there are ministry leaders and volunteers who buy into the vision and jump on board the dreams can never take flight. Not only can they not take flight but those dreams will never see any real flavor because it's the volunteers who each season those ideas in the unique way they've been gifted to. Thats why it's so important to make sure that ministry leaders and volunteers are being taken care of and poured into. Not that we have got this all figured out, but the idea is that if you just focus on the masses you'll never reach the masses. Jesus had his 3, 12, 70, and then the masses.

5. What are 1 or 2 lessons that you learned the hard way that stand out to you about ministering to young adults?
Lesson #1 :Care more about them then you do you about being slick... It's been well said that people don't care what you know until they know that you care. Young adults can see right through a guy that's just being slick and has no genuine compassion. Lesson #2: Communicate! Communicate, then communicate again the commission that God has given us in His word. We can't expect young adults to get behind something if they have no clue what the point is - they need to know the agenda. So many are leery because church agendas have often been marred by a ministry leader's ego on one hand or lack of motivation on the other. It needs to be clear what the agenda is! It's not something that we've created, rather it's the marching orders that have been given to us in the Word of God. Many churches say it in a thousand different ways but it basically boils down to the great commandment and the great commission. We say "Connecting people to life in Christ"... by " Connecting them with God, Each Other and the World"

6. What are some great ways to really get into the lives of young adults?
Getting in to the live of anyone takes time, young adult or otherwise. Unless you set that time aside then it will never happen. If a ministry is going to get into someone's life to the place where there is genuine and honest interaction with that person there must be a commitment to be there for them. A commitment to listen and a commitment to genuinely care. That's why I love our community groups. It really gives myself and others in our ministry the ability to get into the lives of people. Young adults especially appreciate and respond well.

REACH 4: Reaching COLLEGE STUDENT for Christ - Josh Bowers

2010-02-18T06:00:00.000-06:00

As we consider how to reach different groups of people for Christ, today we'll hear about reaching college-age students.

Josh Bowers and I have known each other for years. We attended church together for a while, served in different ministries together, and now ministry has taken us about 2,000 miles away from each other. He now serves as the college pastor for Veritas College Ministry at Fresh Life Church in Kalispell, MT.

Follow him on Twitter HERE.

If you're not a college pastor, make sure to email a link to this blog to the college pastor at your church or pass it onto someone who could use it!

1. As someone striving to reach the college-age group (18-28ish), what are some creative ways to reach them on their level?

The more we can use interactive elements the better, especially media. The college age is so into media. It's all around them; internet, television, movies, television and movies on the internet. The more we can be in that world the better. We're trying to get better at this.

2. When developing a college ministry, what are some important things to keep in mind?Don't make it about you. It's about Jesus and His glory. If you keep that at the center you'll be doing good. Also, you need to have a heart and burden to reach the people of that age group. If you don't have a heart for God's glory and a burden to reach the people you're trying to minister to, then you can't effectively minister to them.

3. How important of a role do volunteers and leaders play in your college ministry?
Volunteers are HUGE! You can't have a ministry without having volunteers. Our volunteers are the core of our ministry. It wouldn't exist without them. You're never a one-man show. This is true in a technical and a relational aspect. I can't run everything technically and logistically, and I can't be deeply involved in everyone's lives relationally, but through the volunteers and leaders of the ministry everything gets done and everyone can have a personal connection with someone.

4. What are 1 or 2 lessons that you learned the hard way that stand out to you about ministering to college-age people?
Well, I could share more than two, but for brevity's sake I'll keep it to 2.
1. Delegate responsibility as much as possible. There are people in your ministry who are awesome at what they do, and want to be entrusted to do it. I used to try to do everything by myself. The result; I was totally overwhelmed and volunteers weren't feeling like they were being used to their full potential.
2. Don't take yourself too seriously. You are only used by God because of His grace, so don't get a big head, and laugh. If you can't laugh at a joke about you there's something wrong. I've struggled and struggle with having a big head, but God has ways of keeping His servants humble.

5. What are some great ways to really get into the lives of college students?
I love to be able to meet up with people for coffee. College students usually like coffee, and they love talking and building relationships. Coffee can be the way to a college student's heart. Also, doing things like going out to eat after whatever night you meet on is great too. My schedule is so busy I don't get to do that as much as I would like, but it's a great way to build relationships with a lot with people in your group in a short time. Also, just having a grasp on what is going on in the world around you through pop culture and technology can be very helpful too. It gives you more opportunities to be able to connect with students.

REACH 3: Reaching HIGH SCHOOLERS for Christ - Caleb Luke

2010-02-17T06:00:00.002-06:00

So far we've heard about reaching Kids and middle-schoolers for Christ. Next up are the high schoolers!

Today we'll be hearing from Caleb Luke. He's the High School pastor for The Well at Capo Valley Church in San Juan Capistrano, CA. He's a guy that I've just recently gotten to know through blogging and sharing ministry ideas. I'm excited to give him an opportunity to share his methods on reaching high school students! I think you'll be blessed by his heart for students like I was.

Check out his blog HERE.
Follow him on Twitter HERE.
If you know someone who serves with high school students (or mid-school too), make sure to email them a link to this blog.

1. As someone striving to reach high-schoolers (9th-12th grade), what are some creative ways to reach them on their level?

1- Content, content, content! The content that you feed the students needs to be biblically sound. The tendency, when relating to students, is to compromise the truth of the gospel. Your students do not need just another shoulder to lean on but a strong influence that will guide them to God through biblical truths.

2- Students need a leader not another “bro.” If you are in student ministry you are probably outgoing and easy to be around. Make sure when you are being followed by students that you are mindful of leading, not just relating. Leading is a cute term for having influence. You will be most effective when you lead by following, following Jesus that is.

3- Current events are a powerful tool with students. As we are up to date with current events we have the opportunity to share God’s heart in these situations. This is a great testimony that the scripture is relevant to them.

2. When developing a high-school ministry, what are some important things to keep in mind?

1- What is the community all about? You want to be relevant in your approach with the community. Offering a surfboard to a student in Idaho will not be as effective as in California. Be mindful of your community and reach out accordingly.

2- Students want fun- but fun will not regenerate their souls. Events or activities should not be the primary goal of the ministry. Activities are a great resource for ministry but remember it is simply the means, not the end.

3- Most importantly, it is being cross-centered not cause-centered. The goal as ministers is to disciple the students God has given to the ministry. Engage, Equip and Empower!

3. How important are volunteers when it comes to ministering to high-schoolers?

1-   Student ministry workers tend to be the student pastor, maintenance guy, audio-visual guy, event coordinator etc. Remember our Ephesians 4 model. Equip the saints to do the work of the ministry. We are more effective when there are 4 of us rather than 1.
2-    Students have a unique perspective. They typically think the student pastor is the ideal Christian. It is extremely important that students see more than the pastor. We want to point to Christ not take all the ministry opportunities because you are in danger of being their strength.

4. What are 1 or 2 lessons that you learned the hard way that stand out to you about ministering to high-schoolers?

1-    When you have a ship in the ocean it takes time to turn right or left. I have made the unfortunate mistake of trying to turn the ship on a dime and knocked a lot of students off their seats. Remember that students are emotional and attached to comfort. Any change is difficult so we need to be 5-6 steps ahead of any change to alleviate any disturbance.
2-   Keep parents in the loop. I once told a pastor of mine that student ministry is so much easier because we just deal with students, he quickly responded, “it is actually much more difficult because you have to deal with both, ALL the time.” I have learned by mistake that when the parents are out of the loop you are asking for trouble.

5. What are some great ways to really get into the lives of high school students?

1-   Be interested in them, not what they do. If a student is involved with an athletic team, drama or school achievement, remember, be excited for them, even if you aren’t interested in the activity.
2-   The times that are tough are the times where deep relationships are built. When the student is dealing with major issues or struggles they will remember your encouragement. Being more experienced in life as a student ministry director or pastor you may look at a situation as no big deal but keep the students emotions in mind. You want to avoid assuming that the student is strong enough to endure.

Try to remember 10 sermons that have affected you in your life… Now think of ten people that have had a great influence on you. Allow your ministry to be a relational ministry that is cross-centered!

REACH 2: Reaching MID-SCHOOLERS for Christ - AJ Villegas

2010-02-16T06:00:00.000-06:00

Yesterday we heard from Pastor Alan Brooks about how to reach KIDS for Christ. He shared some great insight from his years of experience with a booming Kids Ministry.

Next up: AJ Villegas, Velocity Student Ministries middle-school youth pastor from Calvary Albuquerque. Not only are mid-schoolers near and dear to my heart, but so is AJ. I had always prayed that when it was my time to move on to plant a church that God would raise someone up to take over for me - a Joshua-like guy. AJ is that guy. I passed the baton to him when I left Albuqerque to move to Clarksville. He's an incredible guy with some great ideas and a booming mid-school ministry with around 300 students!

Visit the Velocity website HERE.
Follow AJ on Twitter HERE.

1. As someone striving to reach mid-schoolers (6th-8th grade), what are some creative ways to reach them on their level?
Our goal is for each student to be able to get involved - to make it more than a once a week thing. We have a BaseLine (sports ministry), Mountain (outdoor) ministry, 421(prayer and service ministry), Element (Girls ministry) just to name a few and we are in the works of hooking up with the skate park one night a week to minister to skaters and musicians as well. We want to try to provide something for all students and use what they enjoy to encourage them to live for Jesus and invite others to church. We want to show them they don't have to lose their identity to live for God but use those things for His glory.

2. When developing a mid-school ministry, what are some important things to keep in mind?
Preaching the Word is the most important thing done at church. So many times we figure that everyone is at the same level, but clearly they are not. It is important to feed the sheep on all levels. Remembering to explain even simple things as well as introduce them to heavier topics. If the food is too much, so to speak, they will choke, but if it isn't enough they won't develop properly. Another thing is to remember no matter how cool you are to the students or how in touch you feel, you're still not in mid-school. The world is changing rapidly and we need to stay in touch with the issues that mid-schoolers are dealing with. Yes much is the same as when you were in school but plenty has changed too! Ask them, make a survey, and read some books on the topics.

3. How important are volunteers when it comes to ministering to mid-schoolers?
Volunteers are so important in distributing the weight of a ministry but never depend solely on them. Volunteers are just that. I have to remind myself a lot that this isn't their only commitment. God is the One who keeps it all together. Focus on Him, pray for Godly support, and let Him bring the leaders. My good friend Kevin Miller once told me don't campaign for leaders let those who feel called to youth ministry find you.

4. What are 1 or 2 lessons that you learned the hard way that stand out to you about ministering to mid-schoolers?
That I can work all the hours I want to achieve ministry success but without God's blessing what is the point? Not by strength but by God's Spirit, so to speak. Also prayer makes the most difference in your teaching. If you don't pray about your sermon and ask God to bless it and open hearts you just wasted a lot of hours studying.

5. Since you normally see the students only once or twice a week, do you have any tips with helping parents follow-up at home?
Hold them accountable. Make them bring home bulletins to see what they are learning, encourage them to take notes and get involved in events, and make an action plan with your student on Sunday night on a couple of things they can do in the week to really drive it home.

REACH 1: Reaching KIDS for Christ - Pastor Alan Brooks

2010-02-15T06:00:00.002-06:00

I thought we'd start with the young ones as we kick off this new blog series about REACHing people for Christ. Stay tuned here each morning for a new interview for the next week or so!

First up: Pastor Alan Brooks from New Life Bible Ministries in Rio Rancho, NM. He served on staff at Calvary Albuquerque as the Kids Ministry pastor for years before I went on staff there. I had the privilege of serving with him for a couple years on staff before he eventually left to plant a church in Rio Rancho, which is where he pastors now.

Check out his church website HERE.

1. As someone striving to reach kids (anywhere from nursery-age to 5th grade), what are some creative ways to reach them on their level?
Bottom line for ANY age level is our passion and excitement for what is being taught. If I'm not excited why would I think they would ever be? I believe kids especially need "hands on" personal involvement. One thing we had done successfully in the past especially for the younger ages is having a separate "story area(room)", a "crafts area(room)" and "activity area(room)" each emphasizing the SAME bible lesson from a different vantage point usually taught or led by a different part of that age group teaching team. Together with this I think its important to separate age groups for greater effectiveness and community.

2. When starting a kids' ministry, what are some important things to keep in mind?The Three "S"s:
Screening: spend the $$ and have a NATIONAL background check done on EVERY kids/youth volunteer/staff person
Safety: Develop a check-in/out system to properly identify who is authorized to check a child out of the class and be diligent about enforcing it.
Supervision: Always have TWO ADULTS in every teaching situation. Protects both the kids and the volunteers

Keep in mind that there are a lot of things called "curriculum" out there, some better than others, but always remember the Bible is our curriculum everything else is simply a tool to get the word out and better heard.

3. How important are volunteers when it comes to ministering to kids?NO volunteers=NO kids ministry. Biggest mistake churches make is treating kids ministry as nothing more than childcare. Proper ratios in the classroom (not having TOO many kids and TOO few volunteers) greatly affects retention. Make sure and show/tell the volunteers they are IMPORTANT and APPRECIATED.

4. What are 1 or 2 lessons that you learned the hard way that stand out to you about ministering to kids?Kids are the easy part...its the ADULTS they give you most of the grief.
NEVER forget what its like to be a kid...and NEVER stop being one personally!

5. Kids Ministry is normally a once or twice a week thing, so do you have any tips with helping parents follow-up at home?
This is something I think most Kids ministries usually don't do well... unifying the ministry between church and home. Most parents struggle with what to do at home with their kids, I think a church children's ministry needs to find ways to "send home" activities and lessons for the parents to reinforce what the kids are learning at church. Our church is currently researching the resources available thru Reggie Joiner's organization "Think Orange" which has been developed to do this very thing.

New blog series: REACH

2010-02-14T15:17:00.000-06:00

Tomorrow begins an exciting new blog series I'm calling REACH.

The question is, "Who will you reach?"

I've asked people in ministry from across the country about how they reach certain age groups. Each day will feature a new age group: kids, college, adults, skaters, and much more.

The idea stemmed from our study through the book of Acts that we're doing on Wednesday nights at Awaken. I've been so intrigued at people throughout history have been reached by the gospel in so many different ways by so many different people. I wanted to interview some people in ministry and see what they're doing to reach the age group they're targeting in ministry.

Some of the people I'll be interviewing are pastors in full-time ministry, others are volunteers, others are guys I served with at some point, and still others I have yet to meet face-to-face. I'll be wrapping up the series with an interview from Brian "Head" Welch, co-founder of the rock band, Korn, who recently gave his life to the Lord and now tours the country sharing his story with people of all ages. I'm excited to share the insight these guys have in ministry. I pray it inspires you to reach everyone you can with the good news of the gospel!

Stay tuned here each morning to read each interview!

Unsaveable?

2010-02-10T14:58:00.000-06:00

Last Wednesday, I wrote a blog about how no person is unsaveable and no situation is impossible when it comes to God. That night, we studied that same idea in Acts 9 as we saw Saul of Tarsus, the serial Christian-killer, come to Christ! If anyone was at the top of the list of "Unsaveable" people, it was Saul, but God shredded that list and saved him and many others!

There are many modern day examples of Sauls. People who most people would never think could be saved. It's always incredible to hear their stories and I wanted to share a site with you that will encourage you, convict you, and hopefully inspire you. It's called I AM SECOND. The idea is to put yourself second and live for the One who really matters. There are lots of great video interviews on the site including Tony Dungy, Steven Baldwin, and even Brian "Head" Welch, who quit the multi-platinum rock band Korn after receiving Christ. There are also plenty of lesser-known people on there: couples, musicians, and many others, who came to know Christ after going through horrible situations.

Don't count ANYONE out.

Make sure to swing by the site and share the videos with everyone you know. This is a very well-built, professional-looking site with extremely well-made videos and powerful testimonies. It's a killer resource - use it for all it's worth!

As a side note, I'm working on a new blog series that will go up next week, featuring written interviews from people in ministry across the nation. The series will wrap up with a blog interview from Brian "Head" Welch himself! Stay tuned for more info about that!

This Time Last Year

2010-02-09T21:07:00.000-06:00

This time last year, we were a family of 3. Technically, we were a family of 4, but we didn't know quite yet.

This time last year, we still lived in New Mexico, but we weren't there. We were here. We were making our final scouting trip to Clarksville, praying about whether or not this was the place for us to move. Only our families and my boss knew where we were. Our youth group, leaders, and most of our friends just thought we were taking a little va-cay. It was hardly a vacation! It was a whirlwind of meetings, trying to network with people, touring houses, and scouting out buildings. We even attended a Wednesday night church service, and of course spent a lot of time in prayer.

This time last year, God confirmed to us that we were in the right spot and gave me the vision for Awaken Church Clarksville!

This time last year, Denver, one of the Awaken Pastoral Interns, didn't quite know if he was ready to move. He came with Jenn, Emery, and I to see if this was the place for him. He caught Clarksville fever while he was here and decided this would be his first move away from home! No one knew he went with us - we thought that might raise the suspicion a little. None of us would have thought that exactly a year from that date - February 6, 2010, Denver would be guest speaking for me while I was out of town (listen to his message in our teaching archive or our podcast).

This time last year, AJ Villegas, who would take my spot as middle school youth pastor, was just serving as a volunteer. I had only known him for about 3 months, but I knew he was the one to take my job!

It's pretty amazing to look back at where we were a year ago, but it's even more amazing to look at what God is doing now and look forward to what He has in store for the future. I have my dreams, but I know God's are much bigger!

If I write a blog in February of 2011 called "This Time Last Year", I wonder what will have happened by then.
Only God knows!

A Weekend Away

2010-02-07T15:15:00.000-06:00

I went back to my roots this weekend: a winter retreat with middle schoolers and high schoolers. It included most of the normal stuff: kids eating gross food while blindfolded, ridiculous games, s'mores, as well as some great times of worship and Bible study.

We left Friday afternoon, dropped off our oldest, Emery, with her Aunt Tiffany in Nashville, then headed to Camp Hickory Hills to meet up with the youth group from Calvary Rivergate on Friday evening. We pulled in around 7:00pm and I taught around 8:30 right after Jenn led the students in a few songs of worship. The theme of the weekend was "Refined" - how God uses the trials and issues we face to shape us and refine us. I taught the whole book of Jonah in 4 parts on Friday night and Saturday. I talked about how God used the sea creature, the sailors, and even the citizens of Nineveh to refine Jonah. It was a great time and the kids really enjoyed the weekend. I taught Friday night, then on Saturday, I taught at 8:15am, 10:15am, and 1:15pm!

Some firsts for this weekend:
- first time teaching 3 separate Bible studies within 5 hours of each other
- first time teaching from a rolling kitchen cart with a cookie tray on top (they couldn't find a music stand, so I improvised)
- first time teaching with my fly down the entire time (first time that I'm aware of)

When the youth pastor from Calvary Rivergate first contacted me, he was under the impression that I'd have to be home on Saturday night for church, so he made it where we'd be done with the camp on Saturday afternoon by 3:00pm and a couple other guys would cover the teaching and worship for the rest of the weekend. Well, instead of heading back to Awaken to teach, I asked Denver Miller to teach for me, and Jenn and I planned a little 1-night getaway as an early Valentine's celebration! We dropped Adalyn off with Tiffany and Emery, then headed to our hotel, a nice dinner, then a movie. After that, we enjoyed 10 straight hours of uninterrupted sleep. You read that right: 10 STRAIGHT HOURS. I can't remember the last time that happened. It was fantastic. I also can't remember the last time that Jenn and I got to get away for a night just the two of us, so that was great as well. We enjoyed a great breakfast at J. Christopher's (wish we had one here), then picked the girls back up and hit the road for home.

We'll have some friends over tonight and pretend that we like football. In reality, it's just another excuse to invite friends over, so that's what we're doing. I'll watch my one football game for 2010, then I'll wait February 2011.

Praise God for a church that goes on without us, a great time with some awesome students, a restful and fun night with my bride, and God's faithfulness that is new every morning!

How was your weekend?

Awaken people, how was church? I heard good things.

Monday morning is tomorrow. Back to reality...

An Exercise That Requires Almost No Work

2010-02-03T16:26:00.000-06:00

I'm not talking about sit-ups or pull-ups or running laps. In fact, if you're within reach of pen, a piece of paper, and a lighter or some scissors, this exercise can be done from the comfort of your chair as you read this! It's an exercise in visual learning...

We're all visual learners - our minds work in pictures. To prove the point, here's a quick test:

If I said the word "couch," what do you think of?
You probably think of your couch: the color, the texture, that Kool-aid stain...
Here's what I think of:

(That's the couch in my office.)

Here's what I (and probably you) did NOT think of:

God made us to be visual people. That's how we work, so we need to do an important visual exercise. One that will help us remember an important lesson.

Here's how it works...
Grab a piece of paper and a pen and draw a line all the way down the center of the page. On the top of one column, write "Unsaveable People" and on the top of the other column, write "Impossible Situations."

Now, fill out the list appropriately.

In the Unsaveable People column, write the names of people that you've convinced yourself can never be saved. They can be anyone still living: celebrities, co-workers, friends, family members (the more you know them, the better). Be honest. I know you have some of those people in mind. It might take a few minutes to think of some, but I'm sure you can.

In the Impossible Situations column, write a basic description of certain events that you're convinced will never happen or are impossible. I mean serious stuff, not like "Bill Gates will never own and iPhone" or "Steve Jobs will never own a Zune." I mean stuff that maybe you've given up praying for or not really attempted to pray for because you don't want to be disappointed when your prayers aren't answered. It could be anything: "My parents will never get back together," or "My mom will never be healed of cancer," or "My son will never get off of drugs," or "I will always be addicted to porn."

Once you get it filled out and are pretty confident with it, you'll need one more thing. It can be anything (or multiple items, if you prefer) that can destroy paper: scissors, a lighter, a paper shredder, a food processor, a coffee bean grinder, etc. Be creative. This is where the visual part of your mind really kicks in.

Now, before you get to the destruction, pray. Thank God that NO ONE is unsaveable for God (2 Peter 3:9, John 3:16). Thank God that nothing is impossible with Him (Luke 1:37). Ask God to forgive you for ever writing someone off as "unsaveable" or condemning something to the "impossible" side of your list.

Now, for the part you've been waiting for:

DESTROY that list.
Cut it, burn it, shred it, slice & dice it, tie one end to one car bumper and the other end to a car bumper going the opposite direction, and tell those drivers to DRIVE! Whatever will help you remember (and not burn down your house or hurt people in the process), DO IT!

When you're done, spend some more time in prayer for those people that you now realize are "saveable" people and those events that you remember are "possible" with God.

Need some Biblical examples?

UNSAVEABLE PEOPLE:
Saul of Tarsus
The thief on the cross next to Jesus
A bunch of useless, uneducated fishermen...

IMPOSSIBLE SITUATIONS:
Walking on water
Feeding 5,000 people with a little kid's lunch
Dead men living
Paralytics walking
Lepers not having leprosy
A virgin getting pregnant...

I hope you get the point. Your list meant nothing to God. He's not held down by the things we think can't be done, so don't hold yourself down by those things either!

Ministry on the Move

2010-02-02T13:02:00.000-06:00

Pop-Tarts. They've become a normal part of my morning recently. I feel like I'm always running out of time, and Pop-Tarts work great for a quick bite as I'm running out the door to get to one of my jobs. Plus, I like to think that they count as my helping of fruit for the day.

Running around like crazy has also become a normal part of my life (even more so than before). I blogged a couple days ago about the challenges of working 3 jobs on top of teaching, planting a church, and having a family (and a life). Although it's a bit crazy, I've learned some important lessons about doing ministry on the move...

1. Budget my time.I've learned that time is like money - it must be budgeted. Just like money, you can run out of time (I find myself short on both all the time!). Although I know it's not a healthy routine, I've gotten accustomed to not sleeping much (I know this isn't permanent). My ability to stay up late and wake up early won't last forever, so I take advantage of it now. It's certainly not torture - most of the time when I'm up late or early, I'm studying the Bible. I live for that. Budgeting time is a challenge. My mind works on a schedule, so I have to mentally set aside time to study, work on graphic design for work, etc. Sunday is like my allowance from when I was a kid - I get to be a bit irresponsible with it. I can blow Sundays on sleeping in, playing with the girls, taking a nap, and other things that I usually don't have time for during the week. Sunday is like my energy boost for the week. No wonder God commanded us to take a rest!

2. Every place can be a study place (almost).
I really wish I would have kept track of all the places I've studied. I've never done it in as many random places as I have since I moved here. In Albuquerque, studying was the main part of my job - I got paid to do it! One day I'll get paid to do it out here, but for now, as the church grows, it's more on a volunteer basis, which makes it a bit more interesting. There have been quite a few times where I've found myself sitting somewhere when I could have been studying in prep for my next teaching, so I come prepared now. When I get home on Wednesday night after church, I print out my text for Saturday, so that I have it with me for the next couple days. Same thing on Saturday night - I print my text for Wednesday. If I have what I'll be teaching on paper, my earbuds, and my computer (with my full Libronix library that also syncs to my iPhone), I'm set. I can turn any place into a study zone. Here's a short list of some places I've studied in prep to teach (just to name a few): the bus driver lounge at work, a donut shop, countless coffee shops, row 3 of an empty school bus, a hospital cafeteria at 2am (after Jenn gave birth to Adalyn), a Jiffy Lube waiting area, a noisy charter bus headed to a winter retreat, many airplanes, and currently in the waiting room at the mechanic's shop while my truck gets fixed. My goal is to be like a Gospel Cub Scout: prepared for anything!

3. Ministry happens everywhere.
This has been a revolutionary concept that has lived itself out in my life (finally) in many different ways. As I've been teaching through Acts on Wednesday nights, one things that stood out to me a lot was the disciples' boldness to take advantage of any opportunity. Peter preached to the Jewish leaders when he was arrested, a crowd as they gathered at Pentecost, another crowd that gathered after a miracle, just to mention a few. Stephen did the same thing. Phillip did the same thing. So why wasn't Kevin doing the same thing? I knew that ministry could take place anywhere, but I wasn't living like I knew it. So, I challenged the people at Awaken (mainly myself) to go out of our way to create opportunities for the Gospel. As I did that, my eyes opened to the opportunities that were everywhere. I've shared my faith with many different bus drivers as we drove around town picking kids up. The other day, I talked to a co-worker about her life and some struggles she was dealing with as we sat in the bus driver lounge with other drivers while they watched Oprah! As she cried, Oprah's crowd cheered. Or maybe it was Ellen. They're all the same to me. I've shared with people at coffee shops, on street corners, in restaurants, and even the cashier at Walmart. Since there are hurting people everywhere, ministry can happen everywhere.

What creative places have you studied or prepped to teach?
Which unique places have you gotten to share your faith?

Making Ends Meet

2010-01-31T09:00:00.001-06:00

When a church planter heads out to plant a church, sometimes it works out where he is supported by a support team he's able to solely focus on the church. Praise God! However, that's not the norm. Normally, church planting involves life getting very busy very quickly.That's how it went down for me, but not at first...

We arrived and moved in on a Wednesday in June. On Sunday, in the midst of living out of boxes, we flew to Kalispell, MT where I spoke at a summer camp for Fresh Life Church's middle and high school groups. We got back a week later and Denver, Nate, and Jenn all rolled into town. We spent the next week getting settled, then kicked off our Unight Summer Evenings in the Park. We did that for 8 straight weeks in July and August as well as a 6-week Wednesday night Bible study. Life was great though - we were unemployed (or as we called it "FUNemployed). We went fishing, slept in, took naps - life was great.

That lasted till early September when I finally got a job as a graveyard shift janitor. I rocked that for about a month until church services began and I took a different job as a school bus driver. Driving a bus is great hours for a pastor, but it doesn't pay the bills. I did that for about 3 months until I was offered a job as Graphic Designer for Lasaters Coffee. I'm enjoying both now. I work from 7am-noon doing graphics, then come home for an hour-long lunch, then drive a bus from 1:30-4:30pm. I work that schedule Mon, Tues, Thurs, Fri. I study Tuesday nights and Friday nights, and all day Wednesday and Saturday. Unfortunately, those two jobs still don't pay the bills. So, I've added a third job, doing freelance graphic design on the side (check out my stuff at kevmill.com).

Normally when a pastor is working 1 job on top of teaching at his church, they say he's bi-vocational, so what's the terminology for working 3 jobs on top of planting the church? Would that be quadri-vocational? I don't know what the terminology is, but I know that the days of naps, fishing, and sleeping in are long gone...that is, except for Sunday. That's my day.

Life is crazy busy. On top of all my jobs and 25-30 hours of studying each week, we just kicked off Revive Women's Ministry, so Thursday nights are now Daddy-Daughters Night while Jenn is teaching women's ministry. I love those nights. Plus, we have weekly staff meetings where we go over events and vision for the church.

Here's where I'm going with all of this:
God is faithful. Period.
He always provides.

Someone told me the other day, "I don't know how you do it." I told him, "I don't either." Sometimes when I think about all that I have going on, I wonder how I'm not going out of my mind. The only explanation is this: God designed me for this. I don't believe I'll always be quadri-vocational, but God designed me to do whatever it takes to keep preaching. If that means working three jobs to make ends meet, then that's what I have to do. Today we had to cancel church because of how much snow we got overnight. So, I got an extra day off. I watched TV with my girls, played in the snow, took a nap, but the day didn't feel right. I missed a night when I'd normally be teaching.

Any other bi-vocational pastors or ministry workers out there?
What do you do to make ends meet and keep that ministry going?

Go To Church Online

2010-01-30T13:44:00.000-06:00

If you know me, you know I like technology. In addition to enjoying the social aspects of technology, I love that it can also be used for God's glory. At Awaken, we use technology for tons of things: tons of info on our website, updates on Twitter, staying connected through Facebook, as well as our audio podcast and eventually a video podcast and live-streaming service.

As you know, the snow canceled our normal Saturday night service tonight, so I wanted to make you aware of some good churches that have live online services that you can attend (just one more benefit of technology)!

Below are some great churches (in addition to many more) that have live-streaming services. In addition to their live services, you can also catch their archived teachings on their website. Check them out and let me know what you think. If you have any good suggestions for online churches, leave some info in the comments section to share with others.

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Grace Chapel, Franklin, TN - Pastor Steve Berger
LIVE online Sundays at 11:00am CST

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Fresh Life Church, Kalispell, MT - Pastor Levi Lusko
LIVE online Saturdays at 7:00pm CST and Sundays at 10:00am and noon CST

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Calvary Albuquerque (my home church), Albuquerque, NM - Pastor Skip Heitzig
LIVE online Saturdays at 7:30pm CST and Sundays at 9:00am, 11:30am, and 12:15pm CST

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Harvest Christian Fellowship, Riverside, CA - Pastor Greg Laurie
LIVE online Sundays at 9:45am, 11:45am, and 1:45pm CST

Have fun going to online church and I hope to see you at bowling day tomorrow at Skyline Lanes at noon. Game on!

5 Reasons You Should Go Bowling With Us

2010-01-28T10:38:00.000-06:00

FACT: This Sunday at noon, you and yours have nothing better to do than lace up some stylish bowling shoes and show off your skills (or lack thereof) on the bowling alley.

What's that? You don't believe me? Let me give you 5 reasons that you need to be at Skyline Lanes by noon.

1. It's cheap.
For $3.75, you can get a pair of bowling shoes (rent, not own) and 2 games of bowling. That's a serious deal. Let's think what else you can get with $3.75: 7 1/2 50-cent gum balls, a kids-size shake at Steak N Shake, a couple tacos full of regret from Taco Bell, or a pair of pants at Goodwill (if you snag a half-off deal or something). Besides the pants, none of that will last you long. Definitely not as long as 2 games of bowling. It's just a great deal.

2. It's stylish.
Of course I'm mainly referring to the shoes. Who doesn't like wearing a pair of shoes that smell like Lysol and have old shoelaces and multi-colored fake leather? No one that I can think of. Bowling can be stylish in other ways too, especially if you accessorize: bowling gloves without the fingers, muscle shirts to show off your biceps when you roll that heavy ball down the gutter...I mean lane, not to mention your approach. You're stylin'.

3. It's fun.
Any time you can mix throwing something heavy, knocking things down, wearing funny shoes, and hanging with crazy people, you can't go wrong. It's serious fun.

4. It's relaxing.
No it's not. You're chucking a heavy ball down a long lane as hard as you can. It's not relaxing. Sorry I misled you.

5. It's humbling.
We all need a dose of humility and bowling will dish that out by the frame. In addition to looking goofy and acting like that 10-pound ball isn't too heavy for you, let me remind you who you're up against.

Jeremy: He owns a Wii. Anyone who owns a Wii is a threat.

Nate: He went to college for bowling. No, seriously. He needed an elective course and bowling was one of the options. He almost went pro.*
*I might have made that up.

Denver: Natural skill.

Me: I'm tall which makes me a natural threat. I also took bowling lessons when I was 6 and received a trophy for breaking 100.*
*on the bumper lane

Aaron: Have you seen his muscles? If so, you know I have no reason to explain why you'll lose to him.

We really hope you'll join us at Skyline Lanes THIS SUNDAY from noon-2pm. It's all of the above and more. Plus, this would be a great way to invite a friend that's a little hesitant about coming to church. Maybe they'll come hang with us and see that we're actually normal, fun people (besides our extreme bowling skills, that is).

Click HERE for all the details and a map on our events page. See you there!

Churches Helping Churches

2010-01-24T16:44:00.000-06:00

Galatians 6:10

Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith.

I know many of you have been in prayer for the people and churches in Haiti. Please continue. They need it! I wanted to also let you know about a hands-on way to put your money where your mouth is and help the people of Haiti in addition to your prayers.

Pastor Mark Driscoll and Pastor James McDonald are currently in Haiti heading up an organization called "Churches Helping Churches." The idea behind this bold endeavor is to unite the churches of America (and the world) to help the churches in Haiti who have suffered devastating loss due to the recent earthquakes. Many of the churches have been completely destroyed and those still remaining from each congregation will have to find alternative locations to meet in.

Go to churcheshelpingchurches.com to read more about this effort of uniting churches, view video updates, as well as donate online.

See the video below and others in the CHC media archive.

Help Us Help Them

2010-01-23T07:43:00.001-06:00

We are moving full-steam ahead in our calling to reach the city of Clarksville and we want you to be a part of it! Reaching this generation for Christ is a challenge and full of risks, but we won't let that slow us down. We have lots of vision for reaching Clarksville in 2010 and I thought a good place to start would be to let you know about it and how you could be involved.

What will happen when you collide with eternity?
That's the question that supplies the vision for this event. People get so caught up with the here and now that they forget about eternity. Every person has a collision with eternity that is quickly approaching. It's time for people to do something about that.

When we went to Heritage Park in the summer as part of our Unight outreaches, it was a HUGE success! Heritage Park has the only skate park in town and it seems to be a bit overlooked by the city and most others who don't skate. Those kids need Jesus just like anyone else, though, and they were very open when they met people who went out of their way to reach out to them. When we mentioned the idea of putting on a skate comp, we had their undivided attention. It's never been done here, from what they told us. They normally have to drive to Nashville for something like that. We want to change that. We want the Nashville kids to drive to Clarksville for once. We want the kids here in Clarksville to understand that we care and most of all, that Jesus loves them.

That's where Collide Skate Comp comes in.

Coming from a church with a skate park and skate ministry and having run mission trips centering on skate park ministry, we have a pretty good idea of what we're doing. We've seen the power of reaching a crowd that is normally looked down on and kicked to the side.

Collide Skate Comp is tentatively scheduled (waiting on the city's approval and also some funding) for either the Friday right before Spring Break (Friday, March 19) or the Friday of Spring Break, March 26. We want to have a band, food, drinks, loud music, tons of skaters, daily giveaways leading up to the event, and of course a Gospel message where we pray many people commit their lives to Jesus Christ.

That's all cool, but besides the Gospel and love of Jesus, none of it's free. So, here's how you can get involved. I see 3 main ways:

1. PRAYING
This is the only logical place to start. Even if we had all the funding and felt pretty confident about pulling this event off, this would be the place to start. The power of people praying for us and this event around the city and around the nation is priceless. Join us as we seek the Lord about this event. If you are praying, leave a comment on this blog and let us know, or email us at info@awakenchurch.org. We love it!

2. GIVING
We've set up a dedicated secure giving page for those who want their financial gifts to go directly to this event. We still have to pay our bills to keep the church doors open, but if you want to give above and beyond that, this giving page is for you. Any gift helps and 100% of it goes toward Collide. It's also tax-deductible, as are any of your gifts to Awaken.

3. COMING
Ministry is hands-on and we'll need lots of help to bring this thing to life.
Are you a Christian skater? Come grind for God's glory.
Do you make a mean burger? Come grill for God's glory.
Do you love to share your faith? Come share God's love.
Whatever church or city or background you're from is beside the point. If you want to get involved, let us know. Leave a comment or drop us an email: info@awakenchurch.org.

Here are some specific needs for this event:
- a Christian band and stage
- lighting
- food and drinks
- giveaways (shirts, CDs, skateboards and accessories, iTunes cards, etc.)
- money for printing and advertising (radio, billboard, flyers...)

Thanks for prayerfully considering being a part of this event. We feel called to reach this generation and understand that our time is extremely limited. We can't wait around till everything is just right - that will never happen. We will forge ahead and trust that God will provide for the vision He has given us.

Stand Up and Stand Out

2010-01-19T20:18:00.000-06:00

I rocked a Nashville Predators hockey game last night. They played the Toronto Maple Leafs. I'll admit that I was a little disappointed that there were no fights the whole game, but over all, it was awesome. I really like watching how people got into the game. You could tell the locals - they knew when to yell mean things at the other team in unison. They were like a choir of bullies. I felt like one of the only people in the place without a jersey. Thankfully I was rooting for the right team. That wasn't the story for everyone though...

There was a family sitting a few rows away from us that were bold enough to rock some Maple Leaf jerseys right in the middle of a bunch of Nashville fans. Their jerseys are bright blue and white - there's no mistaking them. I think that's they way they liked it though. When the Maple Leafs scored, that family seemed to be the only family in the stadium cheering. Meanwhile, we slithered down in our seats in shame, trying to pretend that our team didn't just get scored on. It never worked. Watching that family reminded me of how a Christian should look in the world...

We should stand out.

That doesn't mean we should all be wearing Christian jerseys and only hang out together, but it certainly means we shouldn't blend in. That family could have gone without the jerseys and they didn't have to cheer when the Maple Leafs scored, but they didn't care about standing out. They rocked those jerseys with pride. Live your life for Christ with pride. Stand up and stand out.

We should be bold.

Don't be scared to stare the enemy in the face. Forget about the consequences of obeying Christ's call on your life - He'll take care of those. Be obedient and be bold. Do crazy things for Christ. Live as though God really is in eternal and in control of everything.

We should be consistent.

I'll bet any game the Maple Leafs play where that family can attend, they rock those jerseys with pride. They don't change jerseys to fit in with the crowd. I've lost count of how many people have told me they don't go to church because they've met too many hypocrites who go to church. Don't be someone's excuse not to go to church! When you live for God and the world, you tell the world that God isn't enough. He's cool, but not quite enough. You have to take extra supplements of the world to truly be satisfied. Live as though Jesus is all you need, because He is all that you need!

Tomorrow night at Awaken, I'll be teaching on the first 25 verses of Acts 8. A huge persecution breaks out in the days following Stephen's death (Acts 7) and Christians fear for their lives. They were simply obeying what Christ had commanded, and now this?! Of course. That's what happens.

Think about it this way...
How are Acts 1:8 and Acts 8:1 related?

Acts 1:8 - But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.

Acts 8:1 - ...At that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.

When you obey 1:8, expect 8:1. It's part of the experience.

Blessing Comes Through Obedience

2010-01-15T07:24:00.000-06:00

Sometimes it's tempting to think that you've failed when others don't respond to the message of the Gospel.

"God, I was just doing what you said. I seized the opportunity. I was bold. I laid out the Gospel. But they didn't care. I failed."

WRONG!

You seized the opportunity. You were bold. You laid out the Gospel.
That's all God asked you to do. Success!

You'd be a failure if God had told you to make your friend a Christian. Instead, He said to share what God has done for you. Make that distinction. After all, in Acts 1, what did Jesus say to His disciples before He ascended into heaven? Was it "Go and make Christians of everyone in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the Earth?" NO! He said, "Be My witnesses." If they chose to reject the message (and many times, the messenger), that was their issue.

If you're reading through the Bible with us this year, earlier this week you read a verse that's easy to look over in Genesis 26. It's the end of verse 4 and all of verse 5. God, speaking to Isaac, says:

...in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed; because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.

Did you catch it? "Abraham obeyed, so you get hooked up!"
Abraham was by no means perfect. He lied, he doubted, he tried to fulfill God's promise for a son through polygamy. However, the over-arching theme of his life was obedience and faith (Genesis 15:6).

When we obey, others get blessed.

Their response may not be what you wanted or expected, but God isn't focused on their response when He's commanded you to obey.

A NEW Work in an OLD Building

2010-01-08T15:04:00.000-06:00

There's something cool about an old theater: concrete walls and floors, old ghetto paintings everywhere, secret passageways and dungeon-like lairs, and of course the vintage vibe that that all creates. That all describes the El Rey Theater where Jenn led worship and I taught last night for Calvary Albuquerque's college group, Renovate.

I love teaching anywhere I get a chance - I've taught at school Bible clubs, youth groups, winter retreats, main sanctuaries, conferences, class rooms, and even a girls' small group meeting in a home. I've had plenty of opportunities. However, out of them all, I can think of a few favorites:

Of course one of my favorites is my church family in Clarksville. I love the building that we transformed from a smelly old office building with broken-down bathrooms and peeling wallpaper. Most of all, I love my church family that meets there. God has done a great work there and I can only imagine what He has up His sleeve for the future. If you haven't checked it out, you need to.

Out of all the places I've gotten to teach, however, one of my very favorites is Renovate. I feel like I should have to pay to teach there...and I don't normally volunteer to pay! They used to meet at the Lobo Theater, another theater in downtown Albuquerque where Mars Hill Church now meets. Now, however, they meet at the El Rey. Sure, the Lobo Theater had bathrooms with doors on them and floors without holes in them, and modern uncreepy artwork, but the El Rey was super cool. The main reason it's so cool is because of the unique way that God moves there. The building really doesn't matter - it's the people who make it incredible. They love to worship and they love to hear the Word of God. With that combination, God is guaranteed to do amazing things. He certainly did last night as we studied through Acts 5. It was one of my favorite messages that I've taught so far in our Wednesday night study through Acts at Awaken (you can download it HERE if you'd like). God moved powerfully last night as we looked at these incredible men of God who weren't scared to lay it all on the line for Him. They lived radically:

Persecution? Perfect!

Whips? Wonderful!

Prison? PARTY!!

The verse that always stands out the most to me is Acts 5:29. As the disciples stand trial for defying Jewish authority and illegally speaking the name of Christ, they tell their Jewish opposition, "...We ought to obey God rather than men."
Imagine if we lived by that anthem! Look at what God did with a handful of men and women who lived by that motto and imagine what God could do in our generation if we lived that same way. That was the challenge and people responded! It's always exciting to see people walk to the front of the room in front of hundreds of others and proclaim their commitment to Christ.

If you're interested in listening to or watching the teaching from Renovate, check the service archive on their website. It will also be up in our service archive within the next couple of days.

The Land of Enchantment certainly was enchanting but we're ready to head home. As I sit here in the Albuquerque airport with my 3 beautiful girls, my prayer is that last night was not just another fun night with a bunch of college students, but that God revolutionized lives, and because of that, will continue to revolutionize a college, a city, and a generation.

Renovate, thanks for having us.

Clarksville, we can't wait to be back home. See you soon.

I miss you.

2010-01-06T09:00:00.053-06:00

There are many things in life that I would enjoy missing:
- wisdom teeth extraction
- school (when I was younger)
- falling on my tailbone while snowboarding (happened yesterday)
- breaking my collar bone while playing football
- ____________________ (you can probably fill in your own blank)

One thing, however, that I'm not enjoying missing is church at Awaken. Tonight will be the second service that I'll miss.

The good news is: church goes on without me! That's a good reminder for everyone at church as well as for me.
Here's some more good news: you're in for a treat while I'm gone.

Last Saturday, if you were there, you got to hear from Pastor Chris Edmondson of One Church. He's a great guy with a big heart for the Lord, the city, and Awaken Church! It's very refreshing to meet a guy like Chris who is ready to help any time something is needed. If you didn't hear his message from last Saturday about "influence," make sure to get it from the podcast or the teaching archive on the Awaken website! Joining him, leading worship, was Jamie Worley, another great guy from Clarksville with a similar love for the Lord and heart for the city. He leads worship at Hilldale Family Life Center each week and plays around the city in different venues.

This Wednesday (TONIGHT), you'll get to hear from one of my best friends, Nate Witiuk, who most of you know from church. I was excited to give him a chance to teach and he's really looking forward to sharing some things that the Lord is teaching him. As you know, he and his wife, Jenn, moved out to Clarksville with us to start Awaken and they have been indispensable to the church! I'm really looking forward to hearing from him and you should be too. In addition to Nate teaching, Kevin Riner, another local worship leader and good friend, from Xtreme Church, will be there to lead worship. He's a great guy that has also been a helping hand to the church and has led worship for us once before.

Long story short, DON'T MISS TONIGHT'S SERVICE! It will be a special communion service as we look ahead to the new year and look back to Jesus' sacrifice on the cross for us!

Although I don't like missing services, I'm thankful that things continue just as well (maybe better?) without me. I'm praying for Awaken and thankful for all those who are lending a hand to help things run smoothly. I look forward to being back with you and back in Philippians this upcoming Saturday! See you soon!

My first weekend away

2010-01-04T08:00:00.004-06:00

It was weird being away from church this weekend. As church was happening in Clarksville, I was sitting backstage with a bunch of the pastors from the church that trained me up in ministry, Calvary Albuquerque. It's always good visiting here - we know so many people here and have such a good time. Coming to Albuquerque will always feel like home...but I am excited to get back to my real home in Clarksville!

I got to open up the 11:15 service with a buddy of mine, Levi Lusko, who is the pastor of Fresh Life Church in Kalispell, MT. When I first went on staff at Calvary as the mid-school youth pastor, he was the high school youth pastor. We served together for a couple years, and eventually each planted our own churches. It was cool to be back together for a little while.

Tonight I did a wedding for a couple that was engaged for 15 months (492 days to be exact). The coolest part about it: they had never kissed before tonight! Incredible. 4 years together including 15 months of planning a wedding and not one kiss...until tonight. The photographer had mentioned to me that he was nervous about missing the first kiss, but there was no missing this one - it lasted a good while! In fact, one of my friends leaned over to his wife and mentioned, "If the camera broke, they could have painted that one!" What a testimony of their love for God and each other in not only saving their virginity for marriage but even their very first kiss! Amazing. It CAN be done!

It was good to hear lots of great reports about church while I was away. Nate Witiuk will be teaching on Wednesday while I'm gone. Make sure to be there for that - it will be a special communion service!

Jenn and I get back on Friday and I'm excited to be back in Philippians 3 on Saturday! Read up. See you soon.

Stop reading the Bible like an instruction manual!

2009-12-31T07:53:00.000-06:00

If you're like me, you heard this cute acronym in Sunday School:

B.I.B.L.E. stand for
Basic
Instructions
Before
Leaving
Earth

That's cool and true and easy to remember, but I have a problem with that. Sometimes people fall into the trap of actually reading the Bible like it's just an instruction manual. I don't know about you, but here's how I read an instruction manual:

I read it reluctantly.
I rarely pull out the instruction manual immediately upon opening a product. I've believed my own lies that I can do it without the instructions. I also have never curled up with a cup of coffee, a Snuggie, and a nice instruction manual for some good afternoon reading. I only read the instruction manual when I absolutely have to.
Side note: I've never curled up with a Snuggie. Ever. I intend to keep it that way. No offense to you if you are a Snuggie owner.

I don't read. I skim.
When I reluctantly pull out the instruction manual, I don't read every word. I skim. I quickly look for the table of contents or the 1 page/paragraph/picture I need and flip there. I read the smallest amount of instructions possible to get the job done and get back to assembly.

I forget quickly.
I've never purposely memorized anything from an instruction manual. It's all useless information that takes up space where I could be storing other useless information like what channel/time my favorite TV show comes on or useless statistics (Did you know that only 30% of humans can flare their nostrils?! Interesting, huh? Can you?).

STOP READING THE BIBLE LIKE AN INSTRUCTION MANUAL!
It's a dangerous habit to get into.

Read it daily, not reluctantly.
It contains everything you need to live life in a godly manner (2 Timothy 3:16-17), so read it like it's true!

Don't skim. Read it. Meditate on it.
Always read with pen in hand ready to underline, circle, highlight, and take notes. Go as deep as you can and most importantly, LIVE IT (James 1:22)!

Memorize it!
How can you live a pure life? By memorizing Scripture (Psalm 119:9-11). Sure, maybe you've got John 11:35 down solid, but work on some more. Did you read a verse or a few verses that really spoke to you? Memorize them so you'll have them in the forefront of your mind!

What are your methods of Bible reading?
Have you ever read the whole Bible all the way through? HERE is a reading schedule for 2010 if you want to join us in reading the whole Bible. It only takes 15 minutes per day!

Bad words about the Bible

2009-12-30T08:25:00.001-06:00

My dad does computer support at a big company. He once got an email from a lady whose "cup holder" on her computer wasn't working. Cup holder? Yes. She thought the CD-ROM drawer was an open-and-close cup holder for her computer. Sounds like maybe a couple things in her brain weren't working either...but that's another blog.

The idea is similar with the ways people view the Bible. People have many differing thoughts on it.

Some people have some very hostile things to say about the Bible:

"...it would be more consistent that we call it the word of a demon than the word of God. It is a history of wickedness, that has served to corrupt and brutalize mankind; and, for my part, I sincerely detest it, as I detest everything that is cruel." - Thomas Paine

"…hardly worth reading…other than a handful of spiritual gems that can be found in virtually any religion, the Bible is irrelevant…reading the Bible can make one highly depraved…many a serial rapist and killer has also been a Bible fanatic" - Acharya S. (truthbeknown.com)

There are plenty of other thoughts that people have about God's Word. They may sound much less harmful, but the truth is that if someone doesn't recognize it as God's actual words to us, they're playing with fire. They're trying to live life with no guidelines, no rule book, thinking they can do things on their own. Jeremiah 17:9 says that "The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked." In that case, who are we to think we don't need God's Word?

Here are some other ways the Bible functions for people:

- a coaster for cups (we'd much rather ruin our Bible cover than the coffee table)

- a door stop (I've literally seen people throw a Bible down to keep a door from closing)

- a way to look holy (leave it out on the coffee table at home and maybe people will think you're holy)

- a history book (it's filled with interesting historical figures but no relevant truth for today)

- a bedtime story book (nothing like a good Bible fairy tale before bed!)

- a guardian angel (Once when I worked at a car auction lot, I found a Bible on the dashboard of a car that had been siezed by the Police for DWI)

Charles Spurgeon once said, "A Bible that's falling apart usually belongs to someone who isn't." If it's getting daily use, it will eventually look like it...and so will your life.

Does the Bible function daily in your life?

Is it a part of your morning/afternoon/evening routine?

2 Timothy 3:17 says that God's Word makes us "complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work." It has a purpose. A daily purpose. God went to great lengths to provide written directions for us to live by, so take advantage of that and live God's Word!

Have you read the whole Bible all the way through? January 1 is only 2 days away and it's a great time to start reading the Bible from cover to cover. If you commit to 15 minutes a day, you can read the whole thing by December 31, 2010!

Click HERE to download some bookmarks that will keep you on track.

YouVersion.com also has 20 different reading plans that are available online or on your iPhone, BlackBerry, and more!

The best-selling least-read book of all time

2009-12-29T12:28:00.001-06:00

According to one article, the Bible takes first place on the "Best-Selling Books of All Time" list.

Coming in at #1: The Bible: 2.5 billion sold.

Coming in at a distant #2: "(Quotations from Chairman Mao) (the Little Red Book)": 800 million sold.

As stimulating as a chapter in Quotations from Chairman Mao sounds, I'll stick with Quotations From God (a.k.a. The Bible).

Unfortunately, the number of people who have purchased one does not reflect how many people read it or apply it. I wonder what this world would be like if that many people read and applied it to their daily lives!

So here's the challenge: in 2010, read the whole Bible all the way through. 2 Timothy 3:16 says that ALL Scripture is inspired by God. ALL of it. That's right, even Leviticus and Numbers. There's a reason for it all and it is ALL profitable for us in its own special way. I'll be teaching tomorrow night on just those two verses: 2 Timothy 3:16-17 as we gear up to roll into the new year. We'll learn all about the Bible: how we got it and what it's for - should be fun.

The Bible contains 1,189 chapters and 31,103 verses. Sound like a lot, doesn't it? Let's break it down.

It's said that to read the entire Bible from cover to cover at "pulpit speed" (out loud reading speed) takes about 72 hours. Which means if you spread that out over 1 year, all you have to do is read 11.8 minutes every day and by December 31, 2010, you'll be finishing up Revelation 22!

12 minutes a day? That's NOTHING!
You could afford
12 less minutes of sleep,
12 less minutes of TV,
12 less minutes of the latest bloody shoot-each-other video game,
12 less minutes of knitting/croquet lessons/FaceBook/researching the life-cycles of snapping turtles...

It's really that simple. I pray this becomes a yearly thing. By the time we're all old and gray, maybe we'll have read the Bible through 10, 20, 40, 75 times!

Reading schedules are available on the resource table at Awaken or you can download them HERE. They're nothing special and you may have something cooler in your Bible or on your iPhone. This is just one option that we hope some find helpful.

So who's in for the challenge?
Have you ever read the Bible all the way through? How many times?

January 1 is coming quickly, so gear up.

Never. Stop. Partying.

2009-12-26T10:23:00.000-06:00

It's December 26th.
Many living rooms are filled with the remains of Christmas.
Kids bedrooms look like a Toys R Us threw up everywhere.
Dishwashers work extra hard to keep up with the constant stream of dishes.
Lines form at the customer service desks of every store in town as people make returns and exchanges.

With Christmas behind us and New Year's ahead, we find ourselves in that awkward mid-holiday stage...but what we so easily forget is that we have just as much of an excuse to party today as we had on July 4, December 25, or January 1.

Lamentations 3:22-24
Through the Lord's mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. "The Lord is my portion," says my soul, "Therefore I hope in Him!"

As followers of Christ, we never have a reason to stop partying - every new day and every new breath should serve as a reminder that God has given us new opportunities to be used by Him and rejoice in Him.

In preparation for 2010, the Times Square Alliance is hosting the 3rd annual "Good Riddance Day." Here's how they describe it on their website:

The co-organizers of New Year’s Eve in Times Square (Times Square Alliance and Countdown Entertainment) invite the public to say goodbye, once and for all, to those bad memories of 2009 at the Third Annual Good Riddance Day. On Monday, December 28, 2009 from 12pm - 1pm, a dumpster,shredder and sledge hammer will be stationed on the Broadway Plaza between 46th and 47th Streets to discard any distasteful, embarrassing and downright depressing memories from 2009.

It's time to line to up to say goodbye to everything from disappointing report cards to CDs with a song you never wanted to hear again to fattening foods you've sworn to renounce – anything with a bad memory from the previous year. A dumpster will be available for those un-shreddable items, and a sledgehammer will be on-hand to pulverize all those bad memories away.

That's the unfortunate way that the world has to celebrate. There's only one "Good Riddance Day" per year and people line up on that one day to put things in the past. As a Christian, every single day is Good Riddance Day. When I wake up, I can say "good riddance" to:

- tempation (1 Corinthians 10:13)

- the power of sin & sting of death (1 Corinthians 15:54-57)

- condemnation (Romans 8:1)

- my sin (Psalm 103:12)

- worries (Matthew 6:25-34)

- anything that has held me back or slowed me down (Philippians 3:13-14)

...and much more!

The only reason we would ever have to stop partying would be if God quit being compassionate and merciful. Lamentations 3:22 says the opposite, however. It tells us that His compassions "fail not."

So, PARTY ON!

Every day can have the freshness of January 1st, the remembrance of December 25, and the freedom of July 4.

Never.

Stop.

Partying.

No One Cancels Jesus' Party

2009-12-25T10:57:00.000-06:00

Satan tried to cancel Jesus' birthday party last night at Awaken. Some of his lame ideas included:

A severe windstorm. FAIL. Jesus has a habit of controlling the wind.

A power outage. FAIL. We had luminarias ready to roll.

Street closed because of a downed tree. FAIL. It's called a detour.

Blow our banners off the sign and down the street and let a car roll over them. FAIL. I run fast. I caught it. I'll bet we got that driver's attention!

We arrived at the church yesterday 2 1/2 hours before service began to sound check and do some last-minute set-up. I took luminarias outside and set up the banners on the street as everyone inside sound checked. I ran back inside to grab something and went back to the street right in time to see our banner get whisked away like a kite. It introduced itself to a car's windshield and the underside of someone's tires before I finally caught up to it. It was just fine. Very sturdy banner. We brought it inside right in time for the power outage. Never fear, the luminarias are here! We lined the sanctuary with luminarias and lit the place up. At that point, we were kind of hoping the power didn't come back on!

The power did come on 10 minutes before service began. We powered up the projector, turned the sound system back on, and turned the lights OFF. It was a fun night as we had different people come up and read portions of the Christmas story intermittently between Christmas songs. What a great night. After songs, the Christmas story, and a short message about the simplicity of Christmas and the Gospel, we had all the kids come up to the front and sang happy birthday to Jesus. They blew all the candles out, then the feasting began!

One thing I love about Awaken is that normally we have to kick people out - nobody wants to leave! That's good fellowship! Make sure to swing by the website and check out the pictures of the night.

Merry Christmas to all. We hope your day is blessed and you experience the simplicity of God's love and the sacrifice He made to prove that love to us. Christmas can get busy, but remember what it's really all about: THE SAVIOR WAS BORN!

The Christmas Jollies

2009-12-24T10:26:00.000-06:00

Unless your name is "Scrooge" or "Angry cashier at Walmart," you're probably excited about Christmas. Most people are. I'm especially excited about Christmas this year for a couple reasons.

1. It's our first Southern Christmas.

There will be no green chile ornaments given this year and no biscochitos to snack on. I'm ok with that. Instead, I got Jenn an ornament that commemorates our first (of many) Southern Christmases together and we'll be snacking on...well, I don't know, but it won't be biscochitos.

2. There will still be some Southwest flavor (or "flava" if you will).

Although it is our first Southern Christmas, we know our roots: the Southwest. Although I don't get into wearing turquoise and we've never owned a nativity set made of adobe (not the software program), I do enjoy some of what New Mexico had to offer. One of which is the luminarias (NOT "luminaries"). Candles, seated in sand, placed in a brown paper bag (not a milk jug - the Southern way), lighting up the night are a beautiful sight. We're bringing a little of that Southwest flavor to the South tonight. As you drive up to Awaken, you'll see the luminarias on the sidewalk by our sign as well as lining the walkway by the church. Hopefully you won't like them so much that you'll want to move to the Southwest. If you like them that much, hang with us - there will be more occasions to bring them out!

3. It's Awaken's first-ever Christmas Eve service.

Firsts only happen once - your first dead Christmas tree, your first frostbite, the first time you burned your curtains because you got a little too candle happy - you know all those grand memories. Today, many memories will be made as we celebrate Christmas as a church body for the first time together. Most of us had never met this time last year, and now, we will bring our families and friends together and celebrate together for the first time. Love it. Oh, and we'll be jamming on our brand new sound system for the first time as well, compliments of Mile High Calvary. Our one ghetto speaker served us well for 3 months, but I'd be lying if I said I was sad to see it go.

We hope you, your friends, and your family will join us tonight for a very special family-style Christmas Eve service. It goes from 6:00-7:00pm tonight at the church. It will be a very interactive, fun, festive service, so make sure to be there.

Oh, and rumor has it, the pastor might actually pull out a nice button-up shirt for the occasion. What?! I guess you'll have to come to see for yourself.

Not a boring mattress commercial

2009-12-22T16:50:00.000-06:00

We've all heard those commercials:

"104% of adults don't get enough sleep, so you need our mattress."

"If a hockey fight breaks out on the other side of the bed from you, our mattress is so stable, you'll never feel a thing."

"All the cool kids are buying our mattresses."

Blah blah blah.

Thanks to a very generous anonymous donation to the church, we were able to snag a great deal on a week of year-end radio advertising. I recorded a spot today that will air on all of the top 5 secular radio stations across Clarksville next Monday-Friday. The ad starts with the ticking of a clock and a loud alarm clock. One of the lines in the spot says, "This is not another boring mattress commercial and I'm not going to tell you how sleep-deprived you are..." I went on to say that although we need plenty more physical sleep, it's the opposite spiritually - we don't need any! Unfortunately, that's where most people spend the majority of their lives - asleep to the things of God.
Awaken is out to change that.

One person asked me, "Why advertise on secular stations instead of the Christian station?" Simple answer: target audience. We love Christians and want to pack the church with Christians, but our main target is not Christians - it's the rest of Clarksville - the unChristians, if you will. They're probably not listening to "Christian" music, so we're tuning into their channel. One day we may advertise on a Christian station, but we're not there yet.

Pray that the ads reach the right people and that people who normally don't want anything to do with church want to come check it out.

If you want to listen to the ad, you could listen to 94.3, 97.5, 100.3, 107.9FM or 540AM here in Clarksville simultaneously on 5 different radios for hours on end next Monday through Friday and hope to hear it. Or for a much easier approach, go to our website and click play on the link in the bottom right corner. Enjoy and let us know what you think!

On a side note, I asked them to air the ad right after a boring mattress commercial. I don't think they'll be doing that.

Inside the Mind of a Church Planter: Chris Edmondson - One Church

2009-12-17T06:30:00.001-06:00

It's been great hearing from such great guys this week as we looked Inside the Mind of a Church Planter. We heard from Ron here in Clarksville, Jason in Spartanburg, SC, and Nate out in Missoula, MT. We're going to wrap it up this week with another Clarksville local.

Chris is a guy that I met a few weeks before we started Awaken. I attended a service at his church right after we moved into town and we loved the worship. I'm serious. LOVED it! We also went to a worship night that they had about a week later. Incredible night. I knew right away that I was really looking forward to partnering with such a great church in reaching the city. I ended up grabbing a drink with Chris a few weeks before Awaken's first service and he was a huge encouragement to me. He's helped me scout out for a sound system, offered to help us with things at the church, and always been just a phone call and email away. He's a super cool guy with a great heart who's doing a great thing here in the city.

Here are a couple important facts about Chris:

- He is related to Ron - they're cousins. Edmondsons are taking over Clarksville, apparently! I love it.

- I drove Chris' son to school the other day on a bus that I was subbing on. I don't think he saw me.

Check out One Church's website HERE.

Check out my interview with Chris here:

1. Who are you?
My name is Chris Edmondson, and I am the lead pastor of oneChurch.

2. What is your church & what's the vision behind it?
Our vision is to reach the unchurched (those who have never been to church before) and the dechurched (those who have been to church and said, "I ain't never going back!") in North Clarksville. Our goal is to create an environment where unchurched people like to attend.

3. How long have you been meeting and where did you start?
I was born here in Clarksville but left to go to seminary back in 1993. In 2006, my wife and our children moved back to Clarksville to start a church. We both got jobs to help pay the bills and started casting the vision and talking a lot about the 'what if's' to anyone who would listen: What if there was a church that was more interested in people than buildings, programs, and keeping the insiders happy? What if we created a church unchurched people could actually engage with their heavenly Father? What if we followed Jesus' example and left the 1 for the 99? We started meeting in a coffee house downtown every Wednesday nights starting in January 2007. We had two preview services that summer, and then started meeting in a movie theatre.

4. Why plant a church in your city?
Clarksville-Montgomery County is in the midst of tremendous growth. Clarksville was named the 17th fastest growing city in the United States and Montgomery County is one of the fastest growing counties in the United States. Clarksville-Montgomery County is expected to continue outpacing even the impressive 29% population growth rate that Tennessee is expected to post through 2030. All conservative census reports predict Montgomery County is projected to swell to a population of 227,300 by the year 2025, which would be a 117% increase from the 2000 Census. More than 5,000 families a year relocate to the Clarksville area.

Even though Clarksville-Montgomery County in the midst of a vast growth boom, a recent study has found that 86% of the people already in Clarksville are unchurched (never been to church before) or dechurched (have attended church and decided not to go back). That figure is astounding: almost 9 out of 10 people in Clarksville don’t go to church anywhere! Every Sunday in Clarksville, 115,663 people stay at home and do not attend church. God has given us a burden for people who aren’t being reached by the typical church.

To put that 86% in perspective, here is the broader picture: 70% of Americans are not connected to any local church in any significant way. To put it another way, there are 210 million people who don’t go to church in America. That figure is staggering. If you combined all of the people who don’t go to church in a people group, they would make the 11th largest people group in the World. That, coupled with the fact that 80-85% of the churches in America have either plateaued or declining, and the need is HUGE!!
God also gave us a specific area. Just at exit #1 off of I-24, house construction is expected to increase by 137% in the next two years. Between exit #1 and exit #8, there are 4,395 approved residential lots that either have houses on them or will have houses on them in the near future. Since the average home has 2.5 residents, this means that north Clarksville has almost 11,000 residents! 80% of that growth comes from those under the age of 45, with the median age being 30.1 years. If we are going to reach the next generation, we must act now by taking the Gospel to them and planting a church where they live.

5. How can people get plugged into your church?
Our strategy doesn't revolve around programs that don't lead anywhere. Our strategy involves intentional steps. Borrowing from North Point Community Church, We have created three environments that will help people take steps toward a growing relationship with Jesus Christ. Our ministry environments are designed to function like the rooms in a home. We invite guests to the foyer, develop friendships in the living room and grow as a family around the kitchen table.

Our Sunday morning worship services are foyer environments. We want our guests to come back, so we do everything with them in mind.

Living room environments are medium-sized environments designed to change people’s minds about connecting. Getting involved in serving, our membership class, and our Essentials open small group on Tuesdays are designed to move people from the foyer and ultimately to...
The kitchen table. Our kitchen table environments are small group environments designed to change people’s minds about their priorities. We believe at oneChurch that lifechange takes place best in small groups.

6. What advice do you give to others wanting to plant a church?
Pray, pray, pray. If you don't have a burden for the people you're trying to reach--if their faces don't keep you up at night--then don't plant. As many of you know, it's a lot of hard work. Many people plant a church because they can't get along with people, have authority issues, or plant a church as a reaction to the traditional church (you can always spot these folks--they can tell you all day what they're not, but can't tell you what they're for).

7. What/who have been some of your most important resources so far?
Reading books. Listening to people's stories. Talking to people. And I know this may not be what you're looking for, but the most important resource/help has been my wife. Without Kim, I would have been a clock tower sniper through this entire process.

8. Have you learned any lessons the hard way? What was one?
I'll give you two. I heard so many church planters talk about the people of the launch team/core group may start with you, but they probably won't stay with you. I would say 80% of our launch team (around 35 people) are still with us today. But the 15% who are no longer with us, I grieved over their leaving and tried not to take it personal (one of the cons about my personality!). We have always said that we're not about keeping people but reaching people, and God made me put my money where my mouth is with a few couples I loved a lot but could not compromise the vision in order for them to stay.

The second mistake was after we launched. We are firm believers in a closed-group small group system. We has trained 4 to 5 small group leaders during the pre-launch phase. But when we launched publicly, we didn't have enough small group leaders for all the people. We should have went to a turbo-group phase and shortened the closed time frame to around 4 to 6 months.

9. If you did it all again, what is one thing would you do differently?
Not to worry. I know preachers shouldn't worry and should always have faith, but God is still teaching this preacher to have faith in Him. To live the results in His hands. A verse that took me through pre to post launch was Psalms 127:1...

Inside the Mind of a Church Planter: Nathan Wise - Remedy Church

2009-12-16T06:30:00.000-06:00

We've already heard from a couple great guys in our blog series, Inside the Mind of a Church Planter, this week: Ron Edmondson and Jason Mills.

For today's interview, we head almost 2,000 miles west to Missoula, Montana to meet up with Nate Wise. He and I go back a ways in ministry. Our wives knew each other for quite a few years before Nate & Lindsey moved to Albuquerque so that Nate could attend the School of Ministry at our church. He served as a volunteer in the middle school youth group that I pastored and also ended up going to Shepherd School (a church-planting, pastor-training school that our church offered). Within a week or 2 of Shepherd School graduation, Nate headed back to the town he'd grown up in to start Remedy Church. It's been a journey and it's been cool to watch the fellowship grow out there.

Check out Remedy's website HERE.

Here's my interview with Nate:

1. Who are you?
Nathan Wise

2. What is your church & what's the vision behind it?
Remedy Church Missoula. Our vision is to create a community of believers being used by God to bring Him glory.

3. How long have you been meeting and where did you start?
May 30th 2009 official launch. We started in a downstairs office building.

4. Why plant a church in your city?
Because God told me to. Missoula has over 10 church plants going on right now and the area already has a ton of churches. But still 9 out of 10 are unsaved. The church at large has missed the mission in my mind and needs to get out of the four walls and get involved in the community. We want to bring Jesus to the community. We don't expect non-Christians to want to come to church on their own.

5. How can people get plugged into your church?
Our website has great resources for staying up to date with what's going on at Remedy. We are continually growing and looking for ways to involve those who desire to serve. Greeting, church clean up, event set up/tear down are all ways to be involved. We look forward to launching community groups in the future.

6. What advice do you give to others wanting to plant a church?
Pray hard, let your gifts become evident over time. Don't rush based upon emotion. Become socially connected to other church planters (facebook, Twitter, blogs, relationships). Don't compare yourself and your church plant to anybody else. God is doing something very specific with you unlike any other.

7. What/who have been some of your most important resources so far?
Fellow church planters are good to network with. Ed Stetzer's material (books, Twitter, blog) - He is the leading missiologist. Blogs: Church planting for the Rest of Us (cp4us.org). And having close friends to share burdens and victories with. If you try to do it all alone, you will kill yourself.

8. Have you learned any lessons the hard way? What was one?
God doesn't want you to plant someone else's church, or be like any other pastor. He is forming you into the pastor that He has designed you to be in a church that He is building. Don't stick yourself into a mold that isn't you and your city. God has called you to a certain city to reach a specific people. Find that and you are on your way to seeing God do amazing things.

9. If you did it all again, what is one thing would you do differently?
Taken more time to grow in my giftings and working knowledge of how to "run" a church. And built a team and trained them up prior to an actual launch.

Inside the Mind of a Church Planter: Jason Mills - Calvary Spartanburg

2009-12-15T08:30:00.000-06:00

As we continue our series about peeking Inside the Mind of a Church Planter this week, we head 400 miles east to Spartanburg, South Carolina to hear from a buddy of mine, Jason Mills. He's a super cool guy that I've known for years from Calvary Albuquerque. He served in many ways there then headed out to Montreal, Canada where he helped with a church plant out there. He started services at his new church right around the same time that our services started. It's been really cool to be able to bounce ideas off of each other and pray for each other as we go through some of the same things 400 miles apart!

Check out Calvary Spartanburg's website HERE.

Check out Jason's blog HERE.

And of course here's my interview with him:

1. Who are you?

I’m Jason Mills. I’m from Campobello, a town of about 400 people near Spartanburg, in the upstate of South Carolina. My wife, Andrea, and I have been married for over 6 years and we have 2 kids Jake (3 ½) and Sophie (2). Also, I’ve always secretly wanted to be a super hero and I am left handed.

2. What is your church & what's the vision behind it?

Calvary Spartanburg. Our vision is three-fold;

Know.

Our vision is for people to Know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

Grow.

Our vision is for Christians to Grow through verse by verse teaching of the Bible and through one-on-one discipleship.

Go.

Our vision is for disciples to Go into the whole world to tell others of Christ’s redeeming love.

3. How long have you been meeting and where did you start?

We started November 8, 2009 at the YMCA in Spartanburg, South Carolina (so we started about month ago.) My wife and I started praying about God’s vision for this church plant in March of 2008.

4. Why plant a church in your city?

I’ve had a heart for my people, Southerners, for a long time. But it wasn’t until 2008 that I realized God wanted to use me to reach the people of the South. As I prayed for God to give me vision for the South, He made two things clear, plant a church and do it in Spartanburg.

I’m thrilled that I get to minister to the community I grew up in and understand, but I’m also acutely aware of the problems I face. Cultural Christianity, mistrust of non-denominational churches, and church burnout are prevalent. Familiarity cuts both ways, I guess.

5. How can people get plugged into your church?

In our current space we only get 15 minutes to setup before our service starts. Anyone is welcome to come early to set up chairs, the coffee table, or the sound system. We are also looking for volunteers to be accountability assistants in our children’s ministry.

6. What advice do you give to others wanting to plant a church?

Don’t strive and don’t stress. The church you are planting is God’s church; let Him build it. That doesn’t mean you won’t be very busy or have to do the hard work of planting a church. Rather, don’t try to build it in your strength or by your own clever plans, and don’t freak out when things are not going the way you had envisioned. The problems that arise are His, and so are the successes, not yours. Do the work and trust God.

7. What/who have been some of your most important resources so far?

Kevin Miller of course! No really, but I’ve also gotten a lot out of the blog posts at The Calvary Church Planting Network. A good place to start is the article Ten Things I Wish Someone Told Me. The CCP Network also has a website www.calvarychurchplanting.org with some more resources that aren’t on the blog.

However, the best resource I’ve had so far has been experience. For the last 5 years I was a part of a church planting team in Montreal, Quebec. Those 5 years were absolutely the best training ground I could have asked for. If you have a chance to come alongside someone to help them plant, before you take the plunge, do it.

8. Have you learned any lessons the hard way? What was one?

Oh Yeah, wait for the Lord’s leading. Every time a have disobeyed, finessed, or nudged the line with this lesson I have regretted it. I’ve planned ill-fated ministries, looked the fool, and cause pain in the lives of others as a result of ignoring this simple principle. My advise, is don’t get in a hurry to get into new things or ministry because you feel like nothing is happening, be patient and wait for the Lord. Waiting for a God sparked ministry will always produce more fruit than one that is born sooner but out of a feeling of urgency. Like the old saying goes “A fool in a hurry drinks tea with a fork”.

9. If you did it all again, what is one thing would you do differently?

Calvary Spartanburg is so new that I don’t think enough time has elapsed to see some of the more long-term mistakes I’ve already made or will make. However, I will say this, there are 2 things I could always do more of: pray more and study more.

Inside the Mind of a Church Planter: Ron Edmondson - Grace Community Church

2009-12-14T08:30:00.000-06:00

As I mentioned in a previous blog, this week I'll be letting you peek inside the mind of a few church planter friends of mine.

We're going to start local for this first one. Ron Edmondson is a guy I met when I was out here back in February scouting the place out. He planted Grace Community Church here in Clarksville just a few years ago and it exploded with growth! God is using Grace to reach this city and it's a privilege to partner with him and with such a great church as we attempt to reach this city for Christ.

Check out Grace Community Church's website HERE.

Check out Ron's blog HERE.

Check out my interview with him here:

1. Who are you?
Ron Edmondson

2. What is your church & what's the vision behind it?
Grace Community Church, Clarksville, TN....we exist to encourage growing followers of Jesus Christ. Our motto is “Everyone needs a place to start over...that place is Grace.”

3. How long have you been meeting and where did you start?
We are 4 years and 2 months old. We started meeting at St Mary’s Catholic School and now meet at Rossview High School in Clarksville

4. Why plant a church in your city?
Our city has over 80% unchurched. We launched to reach those no one else was reaching.

5. How can people get plugged into your church?
We plug people in quickly. The easiest way is to know people is by joining a small group that meets in the homes during the week. We allow people to serve as soon as they are ready. It takes over 150 volunteers each week, so there is always a need.

6. What advice do you give to others wanting to plant a church?
It’s harder than it looks. Seek wisdom, surround yourself with an awesome core, be willing to grow slowly at first, and don’t be afraid to say “no, we aren’t ready to do that yet.”

7. What/who have been some of your most important resources so far?
Other planters have helped us tremendously. Our original core and the people who started with Grace from the beginning are still involved today and brought their friends with them. People are definitely our greatest resource.

8. Have you learned any lessons the hard way? What was one?
Time of services is important. We tried an early service after we went to two services, but it didn’t work until we made it later. We weren’t mature enough yet to have an early morning service. To build an early service takes very committed people. We have one now and it’s working.

9. If you did it all again, what is one thing would you do differently?
We would not shy away from churched people who are looking for something that better meets their needs for spiritual growth. We did at first and that made us tremendously lacking in leadership as we grew.

Inside the Mind of a Church Planter

2009-12-12T10:40:00.000-06:00

Church Planters are their own breed. Or at least that's what some people think. I've questioned myself before: "Kevin, why leave when you have it so good to start something that you don't know if it will work?" Great question, Kevin. Glad you asked...yourself. The answer: every church plant is different and every church planter is different.

Over the last few weeks, I've been on contact with some other guys who have recently planted churches. Some very recently, others, a couple years ago. I asked them all the same 9 questions. Over the next few days, you'll have a chance to peer inside the mind and hearts of some church planters. You'll see their vision for their church, heart for the Lord and the people of the city they live in, as well as hear their different takes on lessons they've learned so far, how people can get plugged in to their church, and more.

I've enjoyed reading their thoughts and I'm really looking forward to sharing them with you. Stay tuned here this week for some great insight into the mind of a church planter. Also, if you know of someone interested in planting a church or just a person that would be interested in reading about it, make sure they know to swing by here for some food for thought. Hope you enjoy it.

Are You A '1:21er' or a '2:21er'?

2009-12-05T12:57:00.000-06:00

There are many categories you could place yourself in these days:

Mac or PC

Tall or short

Owner or renter

iPhone or Blackberry

Pepsi or Coke

Sweet n Low or Sugar

...and the list goes on. I want to add 2 categories that not many people think of. I believe they're the most important categories you will ever ponder. Where you fall in 1 of these 2 categories could determine where you spend eternity. They're that important. Here they are:

1:21er or 2:21er

Let me explain.

1:21ers live life based on Philippians 1:21:

"For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain."

2:21ers live life based on Philippians 2:21:

"For all seek their own, not the things which are of Christ Jesus."

A 1:21er's life is wrapped around the life of Christ. They're not perfect, but they strive for perfection. Their daily activities are planned with purpose and in light of eternity. They see every day as a new opportunity to serve the Lord and share their faith with others. To live IS Christ.

A 2:21er's life revolves around themselves. They are the center of their own universe. They're always on a quest for more friends, more pleasure, more stuff. You might catch them with a bumper sticker on their car that reads "He who dies with the most stuff wins." That's their motto: get more stuff. If what they're doing doesn't make them happy, don't expect them to stick around long. Life is about their comfort.

As you can tell, there's a huge contrast between the two. Not only do these categories effect life on Earth, but most importantly, they effect life after Earth. For a 1:21er, ...to die is gain. The same thing can't be said about a 2:21er.

So which one are you? When you die, will it be to your benefit?

A Nice Addition

2009-12-03T23:47:00.000-06:00

Just a normal corner of the nursery, right? WRONG. It used to be a normal corner of the nursery, now it's been given a nice addition: speakers. They're small, but they work. Not just to listen to music, but most importantly, they're wired with a live-feed of the service going on in the next room!
Although whoever is watching the kids won't be able to open their Bibles and take notes, they'll at least be able to track with whatever is being taught next door.

So, if your excuse for getting involved in helping with the kids was that you didn't want to miss a service, consider your excuse busted. And as always, we have each service available online at awakenchurch.org or on CD at the back table. Hope you enjoy it and are blesssed!

By the way, this is my 100th blog. I didn't picture myself blogging about computer speakers in the nursery, but I am glad that the message is able to reach a few more people.
100 blogs. Ahhhh. What an accomplishment.

7 Words That Rocked My World

2009-11-29T23:58:00.000-06:00

"Do ALL things without complaining or disputing." - Philippians 2:14

I taught on those words last night in addition to quite a few others in Philippians 2. These were by far the easiest to understand (compared to human responsibility & God's sovereignty in vs. 12-13), but definitely some of the most challenging to put into practice.

Whenever I preach something, I get many chances to live it. Sometimes I do well with the tests that come my way, and other times, not so well. You know how it goes. Today, I was tested.

I went Christmas dress shopping.

With 5 girls.

For 4 hours.

I kept this verse in the forefront of my mind, quoting it to myself over and over throughout the day. I was determined. I certainly was not perfect. I complained a few times. But, for the most part, keeping this verse on hand rocked my world today. I realized today what a whiner I can be. Whether it's waiting for someone to get done in a store, feeling hungry, wondering when we're leaving, or any other "whine-worthy" reason, I could have whined, but (for the most part), I dodged the whining.

My take on it: I like it. It felt good to be positive and not bummed out. I should try this more often, like maybe every day?!

Have you tried fasting for a day from whining? I heard about a pastor who challenged his church to fast for a week from it. Whenever they whined, they had to contribute $1 to their "ugly jar", then turn in that money the following weekend at church. In one week, just from whining, they raised $11,000 that they gave to local charities. I guess that's good?

Stop complaining and start cooperating. It's such a better life.

You can donwload Saturday's message on Philippians 2:12-18 called "A Well-Oiled Machine" from our podcast in iTunes by clicking HERE. Hope you're blessed by it.

Uncharted Territory

2009-11-24T12:50:00.000-06:00

That was the title of a message from Philippians 1:12-18 that I taught a little over a month ago. One thing I love about plunging the depths of the Scriptures and only covering a couple verses at a time is that you get to go deeper and see new things you've never seen.

It's like scuba diving versus snorkeling. They're both cool, don't get me wrong, but when you merely skim the surface with a tube sticking out of your mouth and some funny-looking goggles, you miss a lot. Thankfully, since you don't even know what you missed out on, you still walk away from snorkeling happy. However, I wonder how many scuba divers go back to snorkeling. It must be challenging after knowing what is really out there in the depths of the ocean.

Same with Scripture. I've settled for "snorkel preaching" where we skim the surface. I enjoyed it. But I think I enjoyed it because I'd never heard any "scuba preaching". I had never plunged the depths of the Scripture. Eventually, I did, though, and I can't go back to snorkeling.

Here's where I'm going with all of this...
As I plunged into the depths of Philippians 1:12-18, I ran across one word in verse 12 that rocked my world (I think you'll be able to tell which word):

Philippians 1:12-13 - But I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel, so that it has become evident to the whole palace guard, and to all the rest, that my chains are in Christ;

Furtherance, in the Greek, is a super cool word. In Greek, it means "to cut before" and it refers to a group of men who went in front of an army cutting through vines and branches in an impenetrable forest. As these men cut back the trees, the army could advance into areas that they could have never gone to before - uncharted territory. How cool that Paul could have that outlook on his prison chains. Instead of viewing them as something that held him down, he viewed them as something that broke down barriers and enabled further ministry! Before prison, Paul might have seen Roman soldiers on the streets, but he would have never had years of uninterrupted ministry with them like he did now. A Roman soldier's shift was usually 6 or 8 hours long and Paul was chained to one at all times - 24/7 (actually, I think the soldiers were chained to Paul). Paul would have cycled through 3 or 4 Roman soldiers every day. You know they didn't stand a chance at not hearing the Gospel! That week, I challenged us all to take that view into our daily lives. However, as the teacher, I often get to learn these lessons even more hands-on than the rest. That's where my bus driver job comes in.

Thankfully, driving a bus is nothing like prison. No chains, no sentence, no starvation, no Roman soldiers following me to the bathroom. I really enjoy my job and I'm very thankful for it. However, after thinking through this word, I realized that I had an opportunity for the FURTHERANCE of the Gospel right at my fingertips: my school bus! You see, as a trainee, I have to either ride along with someone or they have to ride with me. In the 6 hours a day that I'm in a bus with someone, inevitably, there's plenty of time to talk. I always pray for the person that I know I'll be riding with and ask God to give me an open door to share my faith with them. With that mindset, it's hard NOT to find an opportunity! Sometimes, they bring it up, or sometimes, through conversation, I use something they said to bring up their beliefs and the Gospel. Whichever way it happens, I recently realized, God is writing His own version of Philippians 1 through my life:

Philippians 1:12-13 [Kevin Miller Version (KMV)] - But I want you to know, brethren, that the job that I have has actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel, so that it has become evident to the whole Montgomery County Transportation Department, and to all the rest, that my bus driving is in Christ...

That's right - the whole transportation department...at least that's my goal. I've only been driving for a month or so now, but I'm already known as "the preacher." I try to give everyone I ride with a little dose of some Gospel medicine. I've already gotten to pray for reconciliation with people, give Biblical counsel, marriage counsel, talk about the struggles of cancer and how God is in control, talk about the coming of Christ and what I believe happens when this life is over, and much more. Super cool opportunities.

One of the ladies from work has started coming to the church and has been inviting others. I actually walked in after lunch the other day as she had a group of bus drivers around her, telling them about Awaken!

One lady rode with me, and since she had the map, she told me which turns to take. On our way back, we got a chance to talk about her beliefs on the afterlife. After our route, I told her, "Thanks for steering me in the right direction (referring to the map)," and she said, "No, thank you for steering me in the right direction!" I walked out of there smiling, realizing she had taken to heart the things I said.

Every day is a chance for the furtherance of the Gospel, so what if we started viewing our circumstances through that lens?

What if we viewed our circumstances, detours, and jobs, as opportunities for the furtherance of the Gospel?

What if every day was used to take the Gospel into uncharted territory?

If we lived this way, it would revolutionize our life, our view on the Gospel, and change more lives than we ever imagined!

By the way, if you want to hear that message from Philippians 1:12-18, check out our newly re-vamped service archive page, or download our audio podcast from iTunes.

What you have in common with Pocahontas and flat tires

2009-11-17T08:26:00.000-06:00

"Emery, wanna help me fix the bike tires? They're flat."
"Yes! Lemme get my tools."

Moments later, she emerged from her room with a bucket full of Disney princesses and bouncy balls. I pulled out the wrenches, the tire flat fixing kit, and pulled off the bike wheels. Meanwhile, Emery was at work "fixing fings". She had Pocahontas out and all the other 9 wrenches that I hadn't used, and she was working on that bike.

Same thing happens when she wants to "help" one of us cook. All that involves is her standing on a chair and taste-testing everything before AND after it goes into the mixing bowl. Once, she even managed to grab a stick of butter mid-air as I attempted to drop it into a pot. She took a bite out of that bad boy like it was a juicy peach.

That's her definition of "help".
I would define "help" much differently.
If we're honest, we'd all agree that getting things done is a lot easier and a lot less messy when the little ones aren't around and have their hands in everything. That's why we get babysitters. Although that's the truth, there's something great about involving them. They love it, we love it, and although it takes a little longer and things may end up a little messy, it's always great when they want to "help".

It's the same way with us and God.

Let's continue this honesty trend by recognizing that if God chose to do ministry without us, things would be a lot easier and a lot less messy. There would be no need for clean-up, no pastors falling out of ministry, no church splits. Everything would happen efficiently and effectively. After all, toward the end of the Tribulation, in Revelation 14:6, as one last attempt at getting people to accept Him, God deploys an angel to fly through the sky proclaiming "the everlasting Gospel" to whole Earth in every language. Hold on, didn't Jesus give us the task of sharing the Gospel (Matthew 28:18-20)? Yeah, He did. And He gave us a good run at it. Then, toward the end of the Tribulation, He'll come show us how it's done.

Just like how I knew a bunch of tricks that Emery and Pocahontas weren't aware of when it came to fixing bike tires, God has a few tricks up His sleeve as well. Not only are we not aware of some (most) of His tricks, we're also incapable of performing them. And yet, although He could do the job far more effectively and efficiently than He could, He lets us "help". I like it that way.

So, be honest about yourself. View yourself as a little kid standing on a chair in the kitchen, apron tied around your waste, munching sticks of butter as they fall into the pan. Or, for the more hands-on fix-it types, see yourself using a Disney princess to fix a bike tire. In reality, that's what our attempts at doing God's job look like compared to His techniques and abilities. You're not the Master Chef and you haven't conquered bike tires. If anything productive actually comes from the ministry you're a part of, all the credit goes to the One who actually caused it to happen.

What ministry are you a part of and how have you seen God move through it?

What are some evidences you've seen that remind you it's not you doing it - it's God?

What are some practical ways to keep the right perspective about God's plan and your tiny contribution to it?

"Hey everybody, look at me!"

2009-11-14T09:36:00.000-06:00

That's what our new billboard is screaming 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for the next month. Maybe not audibly, but hopefully graphically.

I've been eying this billboard location since we moved here, but it's been taken...until this weekend. It's in a prime location: exactly 1 mile from the church (according to Google maps), across the street from the college campus, in a very busy part of downtown, plus, it's in a school zone, which means that for a large portion of each week day, people have to drive 20 mph past our billboard. Nice.

I've done a lot of design over the last 5 or 6 years of my life. I've designed websites, fliers, business cards, t-shirts, sickers, buttons, logos, but this is my first billboard. I like it. It's fun designing something on the computer then seeing it on display for the whole city to see in a very large format.

It seems weird at first thought to pray for a billboard, but that's what I've been doing. As simple as a large piece of vinyl plastered to a big metal sign is, it's also an opportunity to spark an interest in the hearts of passers-by. I love that God can use something simple like this to grab their attention. Ultimately, though, the goal is to get them to come to the church and from there, we pray that God rocks their world. Join us in prayer that God would use this simple form of media to change people for eternity.

Wanna see some more pics? Of course you do. Click HERE.

What all bulletin boards long for...

2009-11-13T10:01:00.000-06:00

By special request, we ordered new Awaken cards that just rolled into town about a week ago. They're super fresh and updated with all our church info: name, mission, website, phone #, address, service times, Twitter, Facebook, and paint splatters (just for fun). They're also equipped with rounded corners so that you don't slice your fingers as you handle these sharp-looking things.

Get creative and find some good places to leave these cards. Bulletin boards, shop windows, windshield wipers, and the sleeping pill section at Wal-Mart are all begging for them - these cards are so cool they make their surroundings look good. So, do the city a favor, and spread the word by grabbing some cards and getting creative. Don't be scared. You don't have to just leave them anonymously. Research tells us that

"More than nine out of 10 of the unchurched said they would come to church if they were invited."

Wow! These cards are a great way to invite your co-workers and friends to come with you to church, but they may also open the doors for some full-on Gospel-sharing opportunities!

Check our photo gallery on our website or our Facebook for some creative places that Awaken cards have been left throughout the city, then get to it.

Also, if you're able to pull it off without being creepy/stalker-esque, take a pic and send it to awakenpics@awakenchurch.org. We'll post it on our website and Facebook to give others some creative ideas.

Problem, Meet the Solution.

2009-11-09T07:49:00.001-06:00

I've been struggling with a lot of doubt and discouragement lately. It
happens to everyone at times and sometimes we respond the wrong way.
Here's a quick tip for hitting your problems head-on with its
solution. Ready? It's very simple: define your problem in a word or 2
("doubt" or "ruined plans"), then grab an attribute of God to meet
that problem. Instead of spending your prayer time whining to God
about your problems, spend it rejoicing with God for victory.
Here are some examples of how you can pair up your problems with God's
solutions:

DOUBT, meet 2 Corinthians 1:20.
"For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the
glory of God through us."

UNFAITHFULNESS, meet 2 Timothy 2:13.
"If we are faithless, He remains faithful. He cannot deny Himself."

WORRY, meet John 6:25-34.
"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about
its own things..."

UNKNOWN FUTURE, meet Revelation 1:8.
"I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, says the
Lord, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty."

TEMPTATION, meet 1 Corinthians 10:13.
"...God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what
you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of
escape, that you may be ble to bear it."

SUFFERING/PERSECUTION, meet 1 Peter 4:12-13.
"Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is
to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice
to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings, that when His
glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy."

What are your problem/solution pairs? Reply to this blog so others can
share in the victory you've found through God's faithfulness.
We are more than conquerors through Christ (Romans 8:37), so don't let
your problems conquer you, you conquer them!

-Kevin
Sent from my iPhone

How We Do Things (Part 3): KIDS MINISTRY

2009-11-05T10:03:00.000-06:00

Part 3 of how we do things at Awaken.

Part 1 was on Bible teaching. Check it here.
Part 2 was on Giving. You can read it here.

Kids Ministry.

Kids are a big part of what we do at Awaken. We have plenty of them and we have plenty of room for them. In fact, half of our building is dedicated to just the kids - 1,200 square feet for the adults and 1,200 square feet for the kids!

One thing you'll notice about us is that we don't use the word "babysitting." It's not a bad word or anything, but that just doesn't accurately describe what we do. We call it "Awaken Kids Ministry" because that's exactly what it is - a ministry for kids. We believe that kids can experience God on their own level, so we go out of our way to help them do that. We have 3 age groups available: 8 weeks to 24 months, 2 years to 5 years, and 6 years to 10 years. Each group has something targeted toward them. Our kids curriculum is called "Generations of Grace" and it comes from John MacArthur's church, Grace Community Church, in Sun Valley, CA. If you know anything about John MacArthur, you know he is a solid Biblical teacher and his kids' curriculum reflects that! It's designed around the truth of God's Word and takes kids systematically through the Scripture at their own level. Each week there are hands-on crafts for them to do that relate to that week's lesson as well as some nutrition in the form of sugar (Kool-Aid, and some snacks)! You gotta have some sugar!

Besides the fact that kids learn about God on their own level, we also see the benefit of providing a way for the parents to drop off their kids and be able to fully focus on the teaching of God's Word in the main service. It's always a bit challenging to stay focused with a little one next to you!

Jennifer Witiuk is our Kids Ministy coordinator. She's a nurse at Gateway Hospital and she loves kids. You can read all about her on our About Us page, but make sure to also meet her next time you're at Awaken!

On a personal note, my 3-year old, Emery, has learned a lot of great Bible stories from Awaken Kids Ministry. She loves to tell us about Adam & Eve and the snake. She also memorized her very first verse in her kids class - Genesis 1:1. Watch her recite it here!

If you have any questions about Kids Ministry, feel free to email Jennifer Witiuk. Also, if you attend Awaken and you're looking for a way to serve, Awaken Kids may be just the place for you. Talk to me or one of the other pastors about getting involved!

How We Do Things (Part 2): GIVING

2009-11-04T08:06:00.000-06:00

Here's Part 2 of this little mini-blog series on how we do things at Awaken. If you missed Part 1 on Bible teaching, check it here.
Here's today's - a touchy topic for many, but not for God!

Giving.

Did you know that the church of Satan uses tithing in the Christian church to draw people to Satanism? Yeah. Sounds crazy right? Well, to get involved as a member of the church of Satan (not that any of you are considering this...hopefully), there's a $200 membership fee. Sound steep? They'll tell you it's cheap compared to Christianity, which requires 10% of each paycheck! The problem is, they have it all backward. To them, it's money that's due - it's an obligation. For Christians, giving to the work of the ministry is an opportunity, a joyful form of worship. At least, it should be.

If you attend a service at Awaken, one thing you'll notice is that we won't pass an offering plate. In fact, we don't own offering plates. The only plates we own are paper ones that we use for putting a burger on at a BBQ! Don't get me wrong - there's nothing wrong with an offering plate...or bag...or bucket, I just don't prefer it. I grew up in churches that passed the offering plate and took up a formal offering each service. My dad was often an usher - one of the dudes that got up during worship and passed the plates around. It's a very valid way of collecting the cash, we just don't do it.

Instead, we provide 2 ways to give at Awaken:
1) in the wonderful brown wooden boxes (thanks, Hobby Lobby) located in the church building for people to drop cash, checks, money orders, coins, $1000 bills...or whatever you choose to give, and
2) online giving (available for one-time or recurring gifts). It's really simple.

You see, giving financially to the ministry was never designed to be a burden, like the church of Satan makes it out to be. In fact, God’s Word gives the opposite idea in 2 Corinthians 9:7. It says

So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.

In other words, God loves when we love to give! In fact, it’s an extension of worship. Worship through song, worship through studying the Bible, and worship with your wallet!

Biblically, we are told to give cheerfully (2 Corinthians 9:7), generously (Romans 12:8), and in proportion to what we have been given (Mark 12:41-44). After all, when you think about the fact that all that you have has been given to you by the Lord, giving a portion of it back just makes sense - it’s not yours in the first place!

Many people get caught up with how much you should give and point to the Old Testament principle of tithing, which means 10%. That is a great place to start and a good guideline to go by, but don’t let it hold you down. Remember that God loves when we give cheerfully and is honored when you give back what He has given to you. Ministry is not free - it must be funded somehow. The church relies on God’s provision and sovereignty to take care of its needs and one way that God chooses to provide is through the generous giving of those who are blessed by the church’s ministry.

So, next time you're at Awaken (or whatever church you end up at next), whether there's an offering plate going around or not, remember that God loves when you love to give. Have a good time doing it and support the work of God in the local church.

While we're on the topic, if you feel like showing Awaken some financial love, go here.

How We Do Things (Part 1): BIBLE TEACHING

2009-11-03T09:17:00.000-06:00

Awaken isn't exactly a "traditional" church and we like it that way. We've had plenty of people ask questions about why we do certain things the way we do them, so this week, I hope to answer some of those questions. If you have a question of your own, let us know. These blogs won't be exhaustive, but they should at least give you a peek into why we do church the way we do. I'll hit on a few broad topics such as Bible Teaching (today), Giving, Kids Ministry, Outreach, etc.

Bible Teaching.

I doubt you can attend an Awaken service without realizing at least one important thing about us: we love God's Word and we fully believe that it is 100% relevant to our lives today. Believe me, if it were only a history book, I'd find something better to do with my life. You should be able to recognize our love for the Scripture just from our tag line (mission statement, vision statement, motto, slogan, whatever you want to call it):

AWAKENing people to the relevance of God's Word and equipping them for His service.

I teach expositionally. If you're wondering what that is, it could be quickly defined like this:

Exposing the truth of God's Word by allowing the text to determine the content of the sermon.

In other words, what I preach isn't designed around what I think you need to hear. It's centered on what the text of the Scripture says. I fully believe the Bible when it says that it ...is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires (Hebrews 4:12, NLT). Normally, I pick a book of the Bible and teach the whole thing, no matter how long it takes me. I've taught smaller books like Philemon & Jonah in 1 sitting, or larger books like Genesis over a period of 2 years.

Here's 3 beauties of teaching this way:

1) It clears the airwaves for God. It allows Him to speak to us on exactly the topics we need to hear at the exact moment we need to hear them. I don't have to try to be all edgy and figure out what it is that you need to hear - I'm pretty confident in the Holy Spirit's ability to do that (refer to Hebrews 4:12 above).

2) It forces me to teach texts and topics that I may normally be tempted to steer clear of. For example, when I taught through Revelation, I was forced to teach on topics I had never taught on. Good example: Revelation 17 - a vision of a drunk prostitute riding on the back of a scarlet beast. What?! That's in the Bible? Yeah...and it's awesome. The idea behind the passage is the fall of the world system. The world system is represented by the prostitute (lust, fornication) drunk on the blood of the saints. It's a very graphic description of the appeal of the world despite its final destination (violent destruction). Let me be honest - I would have NEVER chosen that passage to teach. But, since I was teaching through the book, it was next in line. I can tell you it was hard-hitting and extremely relevant. We needed to peek behind the curtains of the world system and see what fuels it and where it's headed. It ended up being one of my favorite teachings in Revelation!

3) It helps me to be true to the text. Taking Scripture out of context happens FAR too often...and it's actually really easy to do. We get a topic or an idea in our mind, then try to find a passage of Scripture to back it up. That's all backwards. That's not the way it should be done. Approaching it from the other angle helps me to say what the text is meant to say. I'm able to take into consideration the historical and literary context and expose the truth behind the passage.

Don't get me wrong. There's nothing wrong with a good "series," - I'll do those here and now. I taught a series called Be Transformed when we started our Wednesday night home Bible study during the summer. Even a series can be taught expositionally.

So, when you come to Awaken, bring your Bible! We use them a lot. Bible teaching is the central part of the ministry of Awaken. It should be a part of your daily life as well.

Jesus in a Shoebox

2009-11-03T08:21:00.000-06:00

Americans love shoes. According to this site, Converse alone has an annual revenue of over $16 billion. That calculates out to... A LOT of shoes. I'm confident with that estimate 1) because I did the math, and 2) because, if you find it on the internet, it must be true, right? I digress...

November 18 (2 weeks from tomorrow) is Awaken's deadline to bring in Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes. We finally got around to doing our last night. While my mother-in-law watched Adalyn at home, Emery, Jenn, and I hit up Wally-World. Walmart is a killer place to go for shoebox gear because they have lots of small, cheap toys so you can jam those boxes full of killer stuff for the kids. We had a budget in mind, but as you'll find, you can easily get carried away while shopping. We ended up spending double what we had in mind. Oh well. It's worth it. Once we got home, we took the giving a step further and had Emery choose almost new toys out of her own toy box to include in the shoe boxes. She was stoked to give of what she had to "nother boys and girls."

Every year, Samaritan's Purse (run by Franklin Graham) ships millions of boxes around the world to kids who barely have anything. It's a hands-on way of sharing Christ with them, because they come in the name of Jesus. Many cities and churches around the world who receive shipments of these boxes put on big Christmas crusades with singing, dancing, performances, games, as well as the shoe box distribution. They're able to share the Gospel - the true meaning behind the boxes - then hand them out. As any of you who are parents know, when someone reaches out to your kid, they reach out to you too. These gifts don't just effect the kids, they preach to the whole family!

If you want to learn more about OCC, here's some info from their site.

Bring your boxes into Awaken by Wednesday, November 18, then we'll take them to the local drop-off center to be shipped out. Make sure to include a donation of $7 for each box to pay for the shipping costs. You can also donate online this year, through Samaritan Purse's EZ Give program. If you choose that route, your box will be equipped with a bar code that will allow you to track where your gift ends up! Super cool! Enjoy.

A Sermon for the Senses

2009-11-01T14:24:00.000-06:00

Last night, I got to teach on one of my favorite topics to teach on: the substitutionary death of Jesus Christ. Super cool. The fact that He took the death that I deserved really rocked me this week. I hope that it never becomes commonplace.

Last night was a first for me: preaching on Halloween. While everyone else was out trick-or-treating, we worshiped - it was great. People all over the US put on masks and costumes, turning them into things that they really were not. My daughter was Little Red Riding Hood, another little girl in the church was a Bumble Bee. We normally don't allow bees in the church, but we made an exception for Bella because she was such a cute stinger-less bee. Jesus' death had a similar effect on us compared to the costumes people wore: By dying for us, Jesus put on our sin and became something He was not so that we could put on His righteousness and become something we could never be. That truth is straight out of Scripture:

2 Corinthians 5:21 - For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Jesus knew that we were born separated from Him and the last thing He wanted was for us to die the same way, so, He gave everything up to fix that problem. Unfortunately, we get caught up in a bunch of other unimportant stuff and forget how incredible that sacrifice is. Jesus knew that, which is why He gave the church a simple, hands-on way to remember His sacrifice - communion. You see it, hear about it, touch it, taste it, and smell it - it's a sermon for the senses. I didn't have to do a lot of talking last night because I let the bread and the juice do the talking.

Is Jesus' sacrifice something you think about daily or do you easily forget about it? He got punished like He was the one sinned so that we could be rewarded as if we had never sinned! Wow! What a deal! Jesus certainly got the short end of the stick on that one huh? He's not whining about it though, He's sitting at the right hand of the Father (Hebrews 1:3) patiently awaiting our arrival when He raptures us. Because He died for us, the party can begin soon!

You can download the message HERE or subscribe to our podcast in iTunes HERE. Enjoy.

So...we had a baby

2009-10-25T22:17:00.000-05:00

Last night at this time, I had just gotten finished preaching on Philippians 1. Super cool night with lots of new faces. We ate at Chili's afterward and slept in this morning. Today, we had a baby. We were at Sam's Club when Jenn felt a good strong contraction, and then after we paid out and headed to the car, her water broke. We sped back to the house, Nate & Jenn came and picked Emery up, and we were off to the hospital. With Emery, Jenn labored for about 21 hours, but with this one, it was about 3!

We enjoy the surprise of not knowing the gender beforehand, so we didn't know it was another girl till we met her in the delivery room. When her head came out, the doctor said, "That's a boy head." We won't tell her he said that. We quickly found out that he was wrong and were introduced to Adalyn Micah. She born at 5:56pm at a healthy 8 pounds, 3 ounces and 21.5 inches long. She has finger-toes like her dad and is already getting compliments about her height. I guess it runs in the family. She has barely any hair, but I'm sure she'll have plenty very soon.

I'm sitting here in the recovery room now getting down with technology. She's already the star of Twitter, Facebook, and her very own website, adalynmicah.com. Make sure to swing by and stay updated with pics of the newest Miller chica.

I'm stoked to be a dad again. I've been praying for this little one for a long time now - I'm glad she's finally here!

A Sermon That Packed a Punch

2009-10-21T14:38:00.000-05:00

Zechariah 4:6 - ...‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord of hosts.

What a relief! Ministry isn't something we have do on our own strength - it's by HIS Spirit alone! That sure takes a weight off of my shoulders! Tonight, we continue through Acts 2 in our "To the End of the Earth" series through Acts. It's been incredible to see the exit of Christ and the entrance of the Holy Spirit. Last week we saw the Holy Spirit appear in a very powerful way and tonight we look at Peter, now supercharged by this new presence in his life. No longer is he the sword-wielding, ear-chopping, Christ-denying, foot-in-mouth disciple that he is so well known to be. Instead, he is bold, direct, and Christ-centered. He delivers a sermon that packs a punch...such a powerful punch, that thousands of devout Jews (some who live hundreds of miles away from Jerusalem and are just in town for the feast of Pentecost) accept Christ after hearing Peter's words (Acts 1:41). Incredible!

It's a great reminder to all of us that when God is given control of someone’s life, you’d better either get on board or get out of the way! A life surrendered to Christ is a very powerful thing. The disciples prayed for the gift of the Spirit and when He showed up, things changed…quickly and powerfully. That same Spirit is available for us today. It’s as simple as a prayer – confessing your sin and inviting Him in as your Savior. At that point, the Holy Spirit dwells inside of you, making you capable of the unthinkable!

To illustrate the power of the simplicity of the Gospel, check out the Holy Spirit doing His work of conviction through this chick...while she's getting robbed!

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Oh, and if you're reading this before 6:30pm, it's not too late to join us for church tonight at Awaken! If you missed it, all the messages are available in our message archive on our website or also in our podcast in iTunes. Enjoy!

WAKE UP!

2009-10-17T23:35:00.000-05:00

awakenchurch.org now features a WAKE UP! page designed to get people to do just that: WAKE UP! Using the video below, I lay out the simplicity of the Gospel message and give people a sample prayer to pray. I hope this can be used as a tool for people to come to Christ or maybe even a reference for someone who doesn't have a lot of experience with leading others to Christ. This page sums up what we're all about at Awaken: Jesus Christ and Him crucified. That's it.

Spiritual Meat and Potatoes

2009-10-14T23:59:00.000-05:00

I'm a meat and potatoes kind of guy - I love a good steak, a big burger, some BBQ ribs, or something hot off the grill. I'm the same way spiritually - I love the meat of God's Word. At one point in my life, I used to settle for spiritual Happy Meals - they were fun, entertaining, and they even filled me up for a little while. I liked those because I didn't know what else was out there. Then, I tasted a filet mignon and I was hooked. I couldn't go back.

Paul, writing to the Corinthian church, said "I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able;" (1 Corinthians 3:2). The milk was a great place to start, but eventually you have to move on to the solid food. Unfortunately, I'd say most Christians spend most of their lives surviving on short little sermonettes. I've heard it well said that "Sermonettes make Christianettes," and I would agree. The less you take in, the less you'll grow - it's logical. So, what do your spiritual meals look like?

Tonight after service, a guy gave me a huge compliment. It was said kind of in passing and probably didn't seem like too big of a deal to him, but it was huge for me. He said, "Kevin, I like your style. There's no fluff. It's just straight from the Bible. It's deep." That's it! Finally someone got it! I needed to hear that so bad! I've faced my fair share of doubt and discouragement since I've been here - all on the heels of criticism. I'm not a milk man, I'm a steak man - I try to serve up good, hearty portions of God's Word, but obviously, not everyone is into that. One guy told me that I should fashion my sermons more like a TV show - 22 minutes is a good length. My thought is that just because the bar is already embarrassingly low, should I lower my standards to match in order to get more people to come or should I endeavor to raise the bar of Biblical literacy by going deeper and hitting it harder? I prefer the latter.

I'm not at all saying that I'm the best at what I do. I sure have a blast doing it thought. I feel like I'm the waiter delivering the filet that the Master Chef (God) has spent thousand of years preparing thorugh the lives of faithful men and women. I'm just stoked to get the chance to bring it to people and see the joy on their faces when they're spiritually nourished. Any compliments that are given are obviously referred back to the Master Chef, who did the prep.

I hope you're not settling for sitcom sermons or milky, watered down messages. Go for the solid food - the deep truths of God's Word. That's where the true nourishment comes from.

Skulls, the Grim Reaper, & Other Non-Churchy Things

2009-10-08T08:40:00.000-05:00

Last night was a great night at Awaken! I love getting together the people each week, plus, on Wednesdays, we serve FREE Lasater's coffee. Free coffee makes everything better. Seriously.

Every service so far, we've seen new faces - some come back, some don't, but that's to be expected. I talked to one guy last night who is new to the whole Christianity thing - a co-worker of his recently led him to the Lord! He wasn't attending a church, and his mom happened to pick up an are you awake? card with the skull on the front (pictured). He told me, "I have a few Grim Reaper shirts, but I never thought that was ok for church." He was pretty intrigued when he saw that we were advertising with a skull, so he thought he'd come check it out. He said the message last night was exactly what his friend had been telling him - God knows and is in control of the future, so our lives should reflect that. I'm glad he came and I hope to see him back. I told him to wear a Grim Reaper shirt next time.

On another somewhat morbid subject, Halloween is just a few weeks away. While the world celebrates death, we will celebrate death at church as well...in a much different way, of course. We will celebrate the only death that can offer us true life - Jesus Christ. If it weren't for His death, we'd all have to die eternally for our sins. There would be no hope and nothing to look forward to. I don't think I've ever been to a church service on Halloween and I know I've never taught on Halloween, but this time, I'll do both - kill two birds with one stone (since we're on the subject of death and all). It will be our first ever Communion service and we will end service about 30 minutes early for a few games for the kids. Plus, every kid who comes get a FREE bag of candy. This isn't just any bag of candy, either. It's not the orange marshmallow shaped like a peanut or the generic white-wrapper candy - it's the goods. Bring a friend and we hope to see you there!

Awaken Kids Ministry

2009-10-03T23:13:00.000-05:00

Quick plug for our Kids Ministry:
We love kids at Awaken...and it's a good thing, because we have plenty
of them! Jenn Witiuk is our Kids Ministry Director and she does a
fantastic job coordinating the lessons, snacks, and other volunteers.
We have a full Bible curriculum for them and lately they've been
learning about Adam and Eve.

Emery has never told me about Adam and Eve till I asked her to tell me
a Bible story the other day. Here's how it went:

"Adam and Eve in the garden. Disobeyed God. The snake made Eve eat
fruit. And she took a big bite like this (chomp!). Adam ate the fruit
too. Then Eve died."

It was a bit of an abrupt ending but pretty accurate nonetheless. I
was so proud of her for telling me that and so proud of our kids
ministry that is teaching those kids about Jesus from such a young
age! Super cool. If you have kids, bring them- they'll love it!

Awaken Kids is available at both weekely services: Wednesday and
Saturday at 6:30pm. Sign-in starts 15 minutes before service with
classes available for kids 8 weeks to 10 years!

Extramarital Affairs Are Now Extracurricular Activities

2009-10-02T10:00:00.000-05:00

I took a break after a few hours of study in Philippians this morning to catch up on the news. I read headlines all the time that are saddening, tragic, etc. - the news is filled with those. However, a headline on CNN jumped out at me this morning: "Letterman reveals affairs with staff, extortion try". "No way," I thought. "Another affair goes public?" Yes, another one goes public, but in a very light-hearted, joking manner. After I read the story, I immediately went to YouTube to see if I could see for myself. I found the video below and as I watched, my heart sank. As he admitted his guilt to the audience, they cheered, laughed, and clapped.

This video seems to be a pretty accurate commentary on the American culture where extramarital affairs have simply become extracurricular activities - it's just what people do. He never once mentioned that this was an affair, that he had cheated on his wife, or even what his wife's reaction to all of this was. God often has to take drastic measures in people's lives to get their attention, and although Letterman seems pretty indifferent to this, maybe this will be what wakes him up to his need for Christ - we should pray that it does.

People wonder why God sets up boundaries and rules. Many people think it's simply because God is God and He does what He wants simply to make our lives hard. Wrong. God does things for our good. He knows that if we live fully devoted to Him, our lives will be the best they can possibly be!
That's why he has put these boundaries up:

Hebrews 13:4 - Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge.

1 Thessalonians 4:3-5 - For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God;

It saddens me to think of the message this gives to kids and even to adults. This was not the was not the way God intended things to be. Maybe this hits home to me because I've been on both sides of the fence when it comes to this topic: indulging in it, not living for Christ, but eventually recognizing His plan and reaping the rewards of following His plan for sex and purity within marriage. Although sexual sin has become so commonplace, it's NOT ok and it never will be. God's plan is FAR better!

The Church Plant Team

2009-09-30T08:37:00.000-05:00

By no means do I have this whole church planting thing figured out, but I know a few things for sure. One of those things is that I could never do this alone. I might go insane.

I remember back in the day, before anyone knew we were leaving, I was struggling with this thought: how would I get it all done? If you know me, you know that I'm not a recruiter. I love the thrill of allowing God to build the team instead of me having to campaign for a team. However, I used to really struggle with this the thought of leaving Albuquerque alone, just Jenn, Emery, and I, or if someone would join the adventure with us. It was a constant point of stress in my life until one day I was reminded that Moses had the same struggle. God had commanded Moses to leave Mt. Sinai and head to the unknown world He called "The Promised Land." It sure sounded cool, but how would Moses pull this feat off?

In Exodus 33:12-13, Moses gets real with the Lord and voices his concerns...

Then Moses said to the Lord, “See, You say to me, ‘Bring up this people.’ But You have not let me know whom You will send with me. Yet You have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have also found grace in My sight.’ Now therefore, I pray, if I have found grace in Your sight, show me now Your way, that I may know You and that I may find grace in Your sight. And consider that this nation is Your people.”

I love God's simplicity. Instead of giving Moses the Google map of his journey with beginning point, end point, and stops and turns along the way, here's how He answered his doubts...

Exodus 33:14 - And He said, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”

In other words, "Moses, did you really think that you had to have someone in addition to Me? Come on, bro, I'll take care of you" (that's a loose translation).

After I read that, I knew that whether it was just the 3 of us from the Miller family that moved to Clarksville or not, we'd be ok - God was taking the lead. To this day, I am glad that there were times when no one showed any signs of coming with us - it forced me to trust the Lord.

And now here we are. Weekly staff meetings, weekly pastor meetings, a church building, work getting done while I focus on studying - it's amazing the team that God has assembled at Awaken Church. I'm thankful for these 4 team members (one of which I'm married to) that make things happen. I'm also thankful that there's just a handful of us so that I have time to pray for each of them by name every day. And of course, there are many more people that have helped since we got here - it's been amazing to see the body of Christ come together!

In case you haven't gotten a chance to meet them, here's a quick run-down of the Awaken team and their roles at the church (in no particular order)...

Nate Witiuk
All-around go-getter. He oversees the cleaning and the getting-stuff-taken-care-of side of the church. He makes the phone calls, sets up inspections, cleans, and much more. He also oversees and plans out our Saturday night services and edits and uploads our podcasts so that we can get the Gospel out even further. Good guy.

Jenn Miller
My wife. I had no idea when I married this beauty almost 6 years ago that I was marrying the worship leader/accountant of our church plant! God did though. She's also the most important support I have. Without her, I wouldn't be here.

Denver Miller
Same last name, different mother. He's a brother in the Lord, though! Awesome guy who serves the church in many ways as well: maintenance, handy-man work, doing anything that needs to get done. He oversees and plans out our Wednesday night services and was the initiator of FREE coffee on Wednesday nights! Gotta love that.

Jennifer Witiuk
Jenn is married to Nate, and although by night, she works as a nurse, by day (and also night), she is a lean, mean, kids ministry machine! She loves those kids and goes out of her way to make sure they're safe, sugared up, and learning about Jesus at each service! Super cool chick. So glad she's a part of Awaken.

Click on their names to read their bios on our website or go directly to our About Us page to learn and read more!

The harsh reality of death

2009-09-27T23:37:00.000-05:00

James 4:14 - ...For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.

Job 8:9 - For we were born yesterday, and know nothing, because our days on earth are a shadow.

Psalm 39:5 - Indeed, You have made my days as handbreadths, And my age is as nothing before You; Certainly every man at his best state is but vapor.

One thing you'll hear me say over and over when I teach is that we're not guaranteed another day. My purpose in saying that is never to scare people into accepting Christ, it's simply reality. When we die or when Jesus comes back (whichever happens first), our eternal destination has been decided. That's an exciting thought for Christians, but it should be a terrifying thought for those who have rejected Christ.

We just started the book of Philippians on Saturday at Awaken and I've entitled our study To Live is Christ. Of course, that title comes from Philippians 1:21 where Paul says "For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain." For the Christian, it's a win-win situation. Live for Christ? Awesome! Die for Christ? Even better!

Sometimes it's easy to lose sight of the fact that today could be it for us. However, living in a military town like Clarksville, we're faced with the harsh reality of death far more than elsewhere. Everywhere you look, men and women are in camo - a constant reminder that our freedom is constantly being fought for. Tonight, we had Jason, a friend from the church, and some others over for dinner. Jason informed me that, in prep for the soon-approaching deployment, he had put me as the "officiating pastor" on his death papers. His position in Afghanistan just got switched from driver to door-gunner, which in his words, "ups [his] chance of dying about 45%." The harsh reality of death is very real for him...and for those around him. It's very foreign to talk to a guy that has to fill out paperwork saying which songs he wants played at his funeral, who his pallbearers will be, and who will do his funeral. As exciting as dying and spending eternity with Christ is for the believer, death can be an intimidating thought. I've never thought more about the fact that, especially with the Army guys in the congregation, I may not see them again. Although that can be a bit saddening, it puts some fire in my preaching!

So, when you die, will that be a "gain" for you (as Paul put it in Philippians)? It can be. Death is very real and could happen at any time. That's reality. Don't play with eternity.

The hard work paid off

2009-09-27T22:04:00.000-05:00

Just as work had begun on Awaken's first building, we found out we weren't allowed to hold church there due to zoning laws. Hindsight is always 20/20, and of course, in looking back, we see God's hand at work saving us from meeting in a building that wouldn't have worked from our very first night. We had already put in a lot of work at that building, but nothing compared to the labor that would go into our next one. With 11 days until our first service, we began working on renovating the building that we'd soon be meeting in. After spending 11 straight nights at the church (many until 1 or 2 in the morning), the details finally fell into place and the work (at least the majority of it) was completed. Nate threw together some video clips from the past month or so from work we did at both buildings. Hope you enjoy...

Documentary, Action Film, or Both?

2009-09-23T09:41:00.001-05:00

I always enjoy news reports when the news anchor gets pulled into the action. You may remember back in 2005 when Al Roker was reporting on the incredible winds of hurricane Wilma on the Today Show. Of course, it's never enough for him to say, "Sure is windy out there." Instead, he has to try to stand in the wind. Not possible when gusts reach up to 135mph! In fact, even with a guy lying on the ground holding his leg to anchor him, the wind still blew him over! It made for some great TV.

I think Al and Luke, the author of Acts, would have been friends.

Tonight at Awaken's first Wednesday night service, we kick off the book of Acts with an overview message I'm calling "The Aftermath of the Ascension." Would the work that Jesus began on Earth crash and burn after He left? The answer is an emphatic "NO" when you look at the power of the Holy Spirit through some very ordinary men. Just like Al Roker, Luke wasn't satisfied with a simple documentary of the events happening around him - he had to be in the action. There are 3 distinct "we passages" in Acts where, instead of just interviewing people and detailing the facts, Luke joins the action. I think if a modern-day director turned the book of Acts into a film, it would have a documentary feel with a twist of action flick in there.

Luke is very detailed and covers many of the important events that led to the growth of the Christian church after the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ. We should be grateful for the book of Acts, because without it, when we turn in our Bibles from John to Romans, we'd wonder how Christianity ever made it to Rome. Acts gives the answers. Although many films had unnecessary sequels that were obviously riding on the coat tails of the first film, Acts is a very necessary sequel. It gives us the background of the spread of Christianity, the story of the life of Paul and ministry of Peter, the answers to how Gentiles (like me) were included in the faith, and much more!

Make sure to join us on Wednesday nights as we journey through the book of Acts in a series I'm calling "To the End of the Earth." We meet every Wednesday at 6:30pm for our study through Acts and each Saturday at 6:30pm for our study through Philippians that kicks off this weekend. I highly encourage you to come in person, but if you can't make it, or you miss a week, download the teachings from our teaching archive or subscribe to our podcast in iTunes!

Oh, and if you're in need of a few more reporters who got pulled into the action they were documenting, these should help satisfy that craving...

An Incredible First Night!

2009-09-20T00:44:00.000-05:00

I've prayed about this night for years now. I never knew quite what it would look like or how it would run. I didn't know if anyone would come or if people would catch the vision. Now I know the answers to most of those questions. It was an incredible first night!

We had 43 adults in attendance (including the 5 of us that just moved out here and about a dozen out-of-towners), which was incredible! Many people came that we met last weekend at Riverfest and a few people came that we'd never seen before. On top of the 43 adults, we had 20 something kids (which, by the way, if you're looking for a place to serve in the church, Awaken Kids might be a great place to start). It sure is a good thing we're not in our first building - we would've been over-capacity already!

Although the curve ball of getting booted from our first building 18 days before our first service really threw us for a loop, I see it now as God saving us from a building that would have never worked and giving us a very hands-on lesson that He has all the details worked out. This building is exactly what we need and I'm so excited to see it continue to grow from here. It's been 3 very long, hard weeks turning this old office building into a church-worthy building. It had been sitting there for 2 years till we came along, so as you could imagine, there was plenty of fixing to be done. We just posted some before & after pics of the building renovation on the website, so make sure to swing by and take a look at how bad it used to be.

I preached a topical message tonight called "Are You Awake?" from Romans 13:11-14 (which you should read as soon as you get a chance). It was a call to action for Christians who are spiritually asleep and those without Christ who are spiritually dead. We had one lady respond to the Gospel invitation tonight as well. So, since the angels were partying in heaven, we closed with a fast song and partied with them!

We start the book of Acts on Wednesday, which I'm really looking forward to. As Awaken Church begins, we'll take a look back at how the entire Christian church began. Next Saturday, we'll start the book of Philippians - "To Live is Christ."

The first service is in the bag. Many, many more to come. What a ride this has been already and it's only the beginning!

UNIGHT recap video

2009-09-17T07:14:00.000-05:00

Here's a quick video recap of how we spent the first 8 Saturdays of the summer. God used UNIGHT to unite us as a group and reach people in need. We passed out hundreds of burgers and hot dogs, over a thousand drinks, plenty of Bibles, and even saw a few people accept Christ! God is good!

Your mind is full of something. What is it?

2009-09-15T07:47:00.001-05:00

Nehemiah 9:17 - ...they were not mindful of Your wonders that You did among them...

This week has been a whirlwind for us. Two weeks ago, we found out we didn't have a legal church building anymore. Exactly one week ago, we signed the lease on our new building, which gave us about a week and half to fix the place up and throw things together in prep for our first service coming up in 4 days (this Saturday!). In the middle of that, we had Riverfest all day Friday and Saturday last weekend, which took lots of time and preparation as well. We had our first Awaken Church staff meeting last week, spent half a day shopping for a sound system in Nashville to no avail, threw a baby shower, and I even got to guest speak at Xtreme Church on Sunday. Needless to say, time is flying by. When life is this crazy, it's easy to get going so fast that we forget to stop and spend some much-needed time thinking on all that God is doing and has done. I struggled this morning in my prayer time as I sat there thinking of paint, replacing cabinets, mounting a projector screen, setting up kids' classrooms, oh yeah, and also praying. I was so easily distracted from filling my mind with Christ. Of course if God isn't getting through to you with one method, He'll try another. So, as I continued through Nehemiah today, I got to chapter 9, where Nehemiah begins to recount all that God has done for His people from the time of Abraham till then. He talks about God's provision for His people, the miracles He performed, His faithfulness, and of course, His people's unfaithfulness. The part that stood out to me the most was verse 17 as I quoted above. In the midst of the amazing things God was doing, the people had forgotten to stop and take it all in. Other things had distracted them. Their minds were filled with those other things.

Here I am, 4 days away from Awaken's first service. I have literally waited years for this day to come. I never knew quite what it would look like (and I guess I still don't), but I've anticipated it for a long time. And now that I'm going a thousand miles per hour, I have to remind myself of my need to slow down. Psalm 46:10 has always been one of my favorite passages because it's such a simple reminder: BE STILL and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth! God WILL be exalted, whether I do it or not. If I don't slow down and take the time to fill my mind with God's greatness and exalt Him for it, He'll still be exalted...it'll just be through someone else or some other method.

Don't let your mind be so filled with the worries of the day that in the midst of God's provision you are not mindful of the wonders He's doing among you. If you can't think of any of the wonders He's doing, take a trip down memory lane and remind yourself of what your eternal destination used to be!

New Stuff at Awaken

2009-09-08T17:11:00.000-05:00

Today seemed like the day for new stuff at Awaken - we got lots of packages in the mail and there's much more to come. Here's a quick look at what's going on...

NEW BUILDING
That's right. This time last week, we didn't have a building that was legal for assembly. Exactly 1 week later, we have a building that will work much better and be much more comfortable. We only have 11 days till our first service (yes, we're still on for Saturday, September 19 at 6:30pm) and plenty of cleaning to do. No, the sign isn't up yet, but it should look pretty similar to the photoshopped editions you're looking at. We have a work day scheduled for this Thursday, September 10th from 9:00am-noon to start the cleaning, and of course there will be more after that. Let us know if you want to help. We're stoked to see how God uses this building and glad that with just a couple minor touches, it measures up to fire code and satisfies the city's zoning codes. That's a nice change. There will be a map and more info posted shortly on the website on the when & where page.

NEW DECALS
Does your car/Bible/friend's face need some style? We have just what the doctor ordered. Our new are you awake? decals just arrived today (thanks to woventhorns.com) and you'll love them. Beginning this weekend at Riverfest, you'll be able to grab a decal, submit a picture of it on your car to our Twitter, Facebook, or email, and you'll win a prize (more details to come)! They'll be available for free on a first come, first served basis, so make sure to swing by the Awaken Church table and grab one for your car! Once they're gone, they're gone.

NEW ARTWORK
We just got the posters for our first 2 books of the Bible that we'll be studying. On Wednesday nights beginning September 23, we'll be studying the book of Acts in a series called To the End of the Earth. On Saturdays beginning September 26, we'll be studying Philippians in a series called To Live is Christ. Both books are powerful and have specific application to us as individuals and as a church. Can't wait to dive in! Download the artwork and listen to past teachings on our teachings page.

Some other new stuff...
- a new pulpit (it broke during shipping, but we'll have a new one by next week)
- new chairs (padded, even!)
- a nice projector and screen
- a nice Pearl drum kit donated by Calvary Chapel Rivergate (we just need a drummer)

I'm so stoked to get this thing off the ground and I really hope you'll be a part of it. There will never be another first weekend of Awaken Church, so plan on being there Saturday, September 19...but don't stop there - keep coming! In the mean time, join us for our last 2 weeks at the Edlers' house on Wednesday nights. Grab a map here.

Kill Them With Kindness

2009-09-08T06:33:00.000-05:00

Romans 2:4 - Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?

There have been times in my life where someone has wronged me deeply. We've all been there. Whether it was a broken promise, an overlooked issue, or someone simply acting out of anger, we've all been wronged. Once, when someone had hurt me very deeply, my reaction was this: "I'll make sure that whenever they see me, I'm very angry and hurt. That way, they'll see how much they hurt me and want to repent." Needless to say, that didn't work. Think about it personally - if you found out that God was angry and hurt because you sinned against Him (honestly, He has every right to be angry and hurt), would that make you want to turn from your sin and repent? Absolutely not. So what drew us to Christ? It certainly wasn't that He was mad at us - it was the very opposite. One day, our eyes were opened to the fact that we had sinned against the holy, righteous Creator of the universe and some of us probably thought, "Uh oh. He's probably out to get me." The thing that shocked us and brought us to our knees in repentance, however, is the fact that He wasn't mad at us. In fact, He was very unmad at us: He loved us unconditionally and was ready to forgive with arms wide open! It's that kindness that led us to repentance.

Almost every day, you and I are faced with opportunities to show that kindness to others. Maybe it's someone who has wronged you very deeply. No one will wrong you worse than how you wronged God, and He forgave you. Who are you to hold something against someone else? Go out of your way today to show someone the kindness of Christ. Kill them with kindness and watch God change their heart.

You can also join us tomorrow night or grab the podcast later this week as we wrap up our "Be Transformed" series in Romans 12:17-21. We'll look at how to treat enemies like friends. It's not easy, but it is doable. Read ahead and hopefully we'll see you there!

Speed Bumps Can Be Fun

2009-09-06T11:12:00.000-05:00

My dad used to own an '84 Chevy pickup truck that became my main driving vehicle when I got my license. I had some history with that truck. I got hit by a drunk driver...in a Taco Bell drive-thru, backed into lots of things, scraped the side on our garage door...3 times, and plenty more adventures. One that I'll never forget (that I highly discourage anyone from trying) was seeing how fast I could hit speed bumps. When I hit one at about 45mph, the front of the truck came off the ground, then slammed back down. All the dash lights, headlights, and radio quit working and I had to drive home in the dark like that. I don't remember what excuse I came up with to tell my dad, but somehow I weaseled my way out of that one. I should have never done that and I learned an important lesson: there's a reason they say to slow down before coming to a speed bump. That would make sense.

If you read my earlier blog, Curve Ball, you know that Awaken Church hit a bit of a speed bump this week that I'm mostly to blame for. I should have done my research earlier before we ever signed a lease to make sure everything was ok with the building to hold church meetings in. Unfortunately, I didn't. So, with a little under 3 weeks till our first church service, we quickly realized that we had no building to meet in! That's where the body of Christ came in. I had people from around the country emailing, texting, and calling, saying they were praying and offering advice. It was so cool. At first, I tried to be real positive about it. That only lasted so long though. Soon, the weight of having no meeting place and only a couple weeks left till our start date really hit me. Wednesday, I started to freak out a bit. I drove around for 4 hours in the afternoon trying so hard to find another place. Nothing. Finally, I made one last phone call on a place I saw on my way home. That place wouldn't work either...but the guy told me of one more property that he owned that might work. We set a time to go look at it on Thursday and I drove home. I was reminded of Nehemiah, who also dealt with some major issues and speed bumps as he followed God's call on his life to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. Whenever something came up, he immediately prayed (check out Nehemiah 1:4, 6; 2:4; 4:4, 9; 5:19; 6:14; 13:14, 22, 29). He faced people who mocked him, others who attacked him, as well as plenty of hardships and set backs. Despite the attacks, his battle cry was "The God of heaven Himself will prosper us!" (Nehemiah 2:20), and that is exactly what I needed to remember. I calmed myself down once I got home and remembered my original vision for the church: this is God's church, not mine, therefore, this is His problem, not mine. From the very start, I committed to not trying to build a team of people or support or stress out about details, instead, I would allow God to build the church. I never wanted to get to a point where I would look back and be tempted to say, "Look what I built." Thankfully, there's no way I can say that about the place we hope to sign the lease on this week. It seems like the perfect place for us.

After lots of prayer, I finally received the phone call we were hoping for on Friday morning. Our landlord from our first building said it would be in our best interest and his if we went somewhere else. He even said he'd give us a full refund, including out deposit and first month's rent! Incredible. My name was on the 1-year lease. Technically, he didn't have to refund anything.

I don't want to jump too fast with this other building until we know things are official, but here are a few fast facts:
- I already put a call into city hall to research fire code and zoning before we sign the lease - things are looking good.
- We will get 900 more square feet for only a few hundred dollars more per month.
- It's divided right in half with 1200 square feet for a big meeting room and 1200 for Awaken Kids ministry.
- The Kids Ministry area already has 4 or 5 classrooms pre-built, which will save us lots of time and money!
- The building is 1 mile from the college campus now and almost touching the park we want to have a sunrise service in next Easter!

I could go on and on about how great this building is, but I'd rather go on and on about how great God is. It's possible that we don't end up with this building because God has something else in mind for us, but things are looking promising. He truly is building this church and I believe this speed bump, although I allowed it to get to me, was just a way for God to prove His sovereignty once again and test my faith (I guess I partially passed, but I could have done better). I believe God saved us from meeting in a building that wasn't ideal but we were willing to make work. He has this way of doing things last-minute with me, and I guess I'm learning to be ok with it - it forces me to pray more, like Nehemiah. I know one day, we'll look back on all the speed bumps and be able to say something like what was said in Nehemiah 6:15 - "So the wall was finished," or in our case, "So Awaken Church began."

Thanks to all those who were praying or offering advice. God truly showed Himself faithful and the body of Christ proved to be the support that we all need. Keep up those prayers.

Online Giving now available!

2009-09-03T16:47:00.001-05:00

Many of you have asked how you can contribute to the ministry going on here at Awaken Church. Up until this point, we've recommended options such as snail mail, floating a check in a bottle down the Cumberland River, or flying us your money with a carrier pigeon. If you'd like to keep using any of those methods, be my guest, but now we have a much easier, more reliable way. All you have to do is go to awakenchurch.org and click on the "Online Giving" link (as seen below) or the "Giving" link at the top of the page. From that page, you can read a little bit about your gift to Awaken Church and launch the secure giving page. You can give a one-time gift as well as set up an automatic recurring gift of the amount of your choice.

Thanks for everyone who is supporting the ministry of Awaken Church Clarksville. God is doing big things.

Curve ball

2009-09-02T08:09:00.001-05:00

Little known fact about me: I used to be a pitcher. I was a scary pitcher too - I was taller than everyone else and I pitched side-arm, which could be pretty intimidating. One of my favorite pitches was the curve ball. Many times, I'd throw a couple fast balls in there to get them used to those, then when they least expected it, I'd throw a curve ball or a change-up. The whole point is to completely throw them off when they're ready to knock it out of the park. I can tell you that from the pitcher's viewpoint, when a curve ball works, it's an amazing feeling. From the batter's position, though, you feel like such a fool - the pitcher got the best of you.

If Awaken Church is in the batter's box ready to knock it out of the park, we just got pitched a curve ball. We've worked so hard to find a place to meet in, and felt as though God provided the perfect place for us to begin (even though it was small, it was a starting point). As we looked into the city zoning laws and fire code and met with a guy from City Hall that is in charge of zoning, we found out that our building is not zoned for assembly. For any store that will have more than 15 people, it's required by law that, among other things, we must have separate men's and women's restrooms. Our building wasn't built that way and it would take digging an entirely new plumbing system to do that! There are a couple other things not up to code, but they're fixable. The bathroom isn't (we even asked if we could temporarily rent a restroom - also against code).

Lots of things went through our minds about where to go next. We even thought about postponing our first service on Saturday, September 19. We're not going to do that, though. We know we're supposed to be here and we just see this as a new direction from the Lord. I fully believe Jesus' promise in Matthew 16:18 - ...on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. God isn't shocked by this, and although we were caught off-guard and a little bummed about all of the work we've put into the building, we're not giving up.

Our first service may not look anything like what we had thought, but I do know a few things about it: we'll be there, there will be worship, and the Word will be taught.

We have a couple things in mind for buildings and one in particular that would absolutely blow our minds if it worked out. We ask for your prayers as we seek which direction the Lord would have us take.

Proverbs 16:9 - A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.

It's not the end. It's just the beginning...

2009-08-29T23:20:00.000-05:00

Tonight was our last UNIGHT of the summer. 8 down, 0 to go. Tonight ranked in the top 3 of all 8 parks - we cleared 109 burgers, 78 hot dogs and close to 300 drinks! From 5:30-8:00 it was almost non-stop lines of people waiting for food and loving the fellowship. It was great to see people there that had found our website, seen the signs, or read a flier. Some just happened to be at the park when we showed up and were glad we came with free food.

I got to talk to some great people tonight, many who are just so thirsty for solid, Biblical teaching. That's what we're here to do. I love explaining expositional teaching to people who have never heard about it before and seeing their faces light up as I talk about teaching straight through a book of the Bible.

It seems Satan tried again to prevent this event from happening. From relationship issues within the church to Jenn sick last night and me at Urgent Care today, Satan tried to discourage, distract, and ruin. Again, he failed. Not surprising. He's a pro at failing.

It seems crazy to think that UNIGHT is over for the summer. Looking back, we realize how great it's been:
-grocery store runs because we ran short on burgers
-door slams when we said we're from a church
-skaters grabbing cold drinks by the 12-pack
-tons of new faces and excited, hungry people (physically and spiritually)
-2 people accepting Christ and hundreds of planted seeds

It's sad to say goodbye to an event that has been so good to us, but the end of UNIGHT marks the beginning of something new: Awaken Church is about ready to officially begin! This time 3 weeks from tonight, we'll be done with our first church service and thinking about our first Wednesday night service.

It's not the end. It's just the beginning...

Go HERE to browse all of our UNIGHT pics.
Go HERE to browse through pics from UNIGHT #8.

If you build it, will they come?

2009-08-28T07:00:00.000-05:00

"If you build it, they will come," said "the voice" in the 1989 film, Field of Dreams.

"I think I know what 'If you build it, he will come' means, Ray Kinsella told his wife. "I think it means that if I build a baseball field out there that Shoeless Joe Jackson will get to come back and play ball again."

So, he built it...and he came. Shoeless Joe Jackson, that is, and the old White Sox team.

Maybe that concept works for old White Sox - if you set up a baseball field in a cornfield, they'll show up, but does that concept work for a church plant? Just because a church is built (or planted, in our case), will they come?

My first answer, "Well, I sure hope they will!"
My answer on a day that I've allowed doubt to creep in, "They have no real reason to come."
My answer in light of the fact that I believe God has called and equipped me to do this work, "Of course they'll come. Not because of me, though. Because if He wants me to do this, it can't fail."

I met with another local pastor yesterday which was a great time of gleaning wisdom from him. He planted a church here in Clarksville just 3 years ago (Exit One Church) and I asked him to share any nuggets of wisdom that he had for me. He had lots of great things to say, but 2 things stood out to me the most:

1) Psalm 127:1 - Unless the Lord builds the house, its workers labor in vain... (which kind of blows the Field of Dreams theory out of the water)

2) He told me to enjoy the time I have right now, because it's scary and nerve-wracking and everything that we do MUST be done from faith - there's no other option. We have no income, no "official" congregation - nothing to rely on besides God. Once the tithes start coming in and ministry starts flowing, it's much easier to begin trusting in those things to keep us going.

I am happy to report that I'm not good at building a church. I really have no idea what I'm doing here. I love to teach. I love to reach out to people. I love going to church. That's about it though. Thank God that He has surrounded me with people and resources that I couldn't have done this without. I had no idea when I started up a youth group when I was 16 and began trying to teach the Bible that it was all in training for future ministry. For years, I was going to seminary. Not formal seminary - God's seminary - where He was training me through hard times, rough experiences, and other men & women of faith what ministry was all about and how to do it.

Tonight, the Awaken Church building will begin to take shape - it's work night. A good friend of mine who has been coming to our Wednesday night Bible studies, Jason, went in last night and began pulling all of the electrical boxes off the wall that were used for powering the tanning beds that used to be in the building. Tonight, we paint, clean, polish, vacuum, build, cut, assemble, and whatever else needs to be done in there. I'm surrounded by this amazingly diverse group of people that's excited to help out and pitch in any way that's needed. Right now, God is pressing on my heart again that it's not about the Field of Dreams theory. Just because we build a church (or renovate a tanning salon) doesn't mean they'll come. God must do it.

J. Oswald Sanders, in his book Spiritual Leadership said, "God delights to lead people, and then, in response to their trust, to show them power that matches every impossible situation." He goes on to speak of Hudson Taylor's trust in the Lord: "He counted three phases in most great tasks undertaken for God - impossible, difficult, done."

I can honestly say that we are currently watching God build Awaken Church. The plans I had when we came to Clarksville have changed and we've seen God form new, far better plans. We've seen as need after need after need has been met and it seems that each time I answer the phone or turn around, another need has been met. As we've sat back and rested in God's sovereignty, it's been absolutely incredible to see God continue to do His thing. Since God is building it, we know our labor is not in vain.

So, instead of "If you build it, they will come," here's the theory we're going to use: "Since God is building it, they WILL come."

Personal Preaching Practice

2009-08-25T08:08:00.000-05:00

This morning, I preached the Gospel to myself.

Not because I needed to get saved again, but because it's a powerful practice to remind myself where I was headed and what I deserved, then flash forward to where I am headed now and what I get that I don't deserve!

I'm a sinner saved by grace just like everyone else and it's important for me to remember that. Not that we need to dwell on the past (Philippians 3:13 - ...one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead..."), but it's pretty mind-blowing and humbling to think of where we came from and, through faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ, where we're headed now!

Every once in a while, people ask the question, "Where do you think you'll be in 10 years?" When I was 15, I certainly wouldn't have said "I'll probably live in Clarksville, TN with my wife and 2 kids, where we'll be starting a church." There's no way I could have ever come close. But here I am, faults and all, and God is still using me to do new things here in Clarksville. As I heard Chris Tomlin sing this morning, "Greater things are yet to come and greater things are still to be done in this city!" I'm excited to see what those "greater things" are!

Prayer works...in unexpected ways

2009-08-23T16:40:00.000-05:00

God is so good at answering prayers in unexpected ways. Often times, it may not seem like the most conventional way, but it's always the best way. It may not seem like the most logical way, but it's always the most effective and beneficial. Here are a couple ways I've seen God answer prayer in and around me...

Meeting needs before we even knew to ask...
As I mentioned in my previous blog, we had a need that surprised us yesterday just hours before our park outreach. We hadn't gone through many burgers from the week before, so as far as we knew, we didn't need to restock on anything for last night's event. We were wrong. Some time in the couple days before, the power outlet that the freezer and fridge were plugged into had blown out. That meant that when I went to check on the food, we had 100 melted slices of cheese, 80 spoiled burgers and a large box of spoiled hot dogs - our whole supply of meat for the night. Well, as we have been praying all along that God would provide for our needs, He met a need that we didn't even know to pray about. Last Wednesday, after I taught in Albuquerque, a guy that I'd never seen before came up to me after service and handed me 2 $50 bills and said, "These are for your park outreaches." At that point, I thought we were set, but knew we could use the money somehow. God met our need for burgers before we even knew we had the need...and Satan's lame plan to foil our outreach was ruined.

Not dishing out the expected result, instead, leading us to it
One of my prayers (especially recently) has been, "God, strengthen our faith." I realize this week that God is in the process of answering that prayer...but not how I may have expected. God doesn't dish out faith like second-helpings at a buffet line - He makes you work for it. When I ask Him to strengthen my faith, instead of just giving me stronger faith, He takes us through circumstances that strengthen our faith - situations where, without faith in Him, we'd fail. Case in point: opening the doors of Awaken Church. The countdown is currently at 27 days till the first Awaken Church service and right now, all we have is the shell of an old tanning salon to meet in. The building was exactly what we were hoping for - better price than anywhere else, great location, perfect lease length, etc. The thing we didn't calculate was the price of just getting the doors open. That's expensive! When you add up the cost of chairs, paint, signs, decor, utility deposits, fees, rent, and more, it can sometimes become a bit overwhelming...which God uses to strengthen our faith! We KNOW that we're supposed to be here in Clarksville doing exactly what we're doing, we KNOW that we should be in this building, and we KNOW that God will provide. HOW He will provide is a different issue. That's part of His way of answering our prayer.

The irony of prayer
I realized the other day that my prayers are often ironic in and of themselves. I prayed recently for God to remind us of our need for Him...then I realized that that's exactly the point of prayer. If nothing else reminds you that you need God, it's prayer itself. Think about it - if you didn't need God, why would you be asking Him to provide for your needs? God answers that prayer by providing prayer for us!

Prayer is powerful and effective (James 5:16) and we ask that you join us in prayer as we continue to seek the Lord and His will in doing what He sees best for Awaken Church Clarksville. If you're praying for us, we love to know - knowing others are praying with us and for us is comforting and humbling. Thanks to all of you who are taking our needs before the Lord. He hears and He answers...in unexpected ways.

UNIGHT #7 was a success - only 1 more to go!

2009-08-22T21:15:00.000-05:00

I can't believe it's almost over. We've been planning these UNIGHT events for a long time now - at least 6 months. Now, they're about to come to an end. That's bittersweet. Bitter, because they've been great and we've seen God do some great things. Sweet, because with UNIGHT being over, that means services are about to begin! In fact, this time 4 weeks from now, we'll already be done with Awaken's first ever church service! I can't believe it.

Tonight was awesome - Valleybrook was an excellent park to set up at. The weather teased us a little bit, but God held back the rain as He tends to always do. Satan tried to ruin this outreach by blowing our fridge and spoiling all our burgers, hot dogs, and cheese. It's all good though. He's going to have to try MUCH harder than that! When I was in Albuquerque, a random guy that I met after teaching on Wednesday handed me $100 for our park outreaches. God provided for our need before we ever even knew we had it!

We also found an incredible place for service in the park. It's a big grassy hill with a natural stadium-type slope. We may wait till we add a Sunday service, then do Saturday night at the church and Sunday morning in the park with a church picnic after that! If only the creek that runs through the park were deeper, we could baptize then too!

Thanks to everyone who came out to the park this week - it was great to meet a bunch of new people as well as see some familiar faces. We look forward to possibly our biggest one yet next week at McGregor Park Riverwalk. We dropped by today and just happened to grab the last two parking spaces - I don't think we'll have any problem getting people to come. Plus, since it's right next to a Wendy's, Jeremy recommended making a sign that says "Why Wendy's when Awaken has them for free?!" We may not go that far.

Make sure to check out the pictures from tonight's event on our website!

Are you CRAZY?

2009-08-19T14:56:00.000-05:00

Tonight in our third study in Romans 12, we're looking at Spiritual gifts and how the body of Christ works together. Here's how Paul starts out our section tonight in Romans 12:3...

For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. Romans 12:3

The part that stands out to me is when he says that instead of thinking too highly of ourselves, we should think soberly. That literally means "level-headed". It's the same word used in Mark 5:15 when the people from a village find a man that had put the village in an uproar because of his raging insanity. Jesus had exorcised the demons by the time they found the man, and instead of running around, naked and in complete insanity, it says there he was, "sitting and clothed and in his right mind."

"In his right mind" is the same Greek phrase as Romans 12:3 - "think soberly."

Do you get it? In effect, Paul is saying "If you think that your natural gifts and abilities make you something special and your ego swells because of them, you're out of your mind!" He tells us to get in our right mind and remember the source of our gifts: they're from God, for others. They've never been about you and they never will be...

You're a great teacher? Then TEACH to God's glory!
You've been blessed financially? Then give generously!
You know someone in need? Then help them out!

You're insane, out of your mind, and crazy to think that you are something so special that everyone needs to be serving you and you should just sit back and enjoy your awesomeness. After all, our God is different than the rest - He came not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many (Mark 10:45).

Are you ready?

2009-08-19T00:27:00.000-05:00

According to a recent survey in the UK, women spend 3,276 hours getting ready for a night out. That is 136 days of their lives, which happens to be enough time for an astronaut to fly to the moon and back...22 times.

Preparation is a very important part of our lives. Every day, we wake up and prepare ourselves for the day (some more than others). If you have a job interview, you want to be prepared or if you have an upcoming test, preparation is in order. Since preparation is obviously so important, you'd think more people would be prepared for eternity (since that's far more important than your life on Earth). Unfortunately, too many people procrastinate when it comes to eternity. They allow life to distract them from thinking about their eternal destination. I work with people like that. I see people like that at the grocery store, the mall, Starbucks, and anywhere else I go. I do my best to share with them, but ultimately, the only person I can really control is me.
If you've seen any of our business cards or videos, you know we ask the question "Are You Awake?" It's possible to be awake physically and yet asleep (maybe more accurately, dead) spiritually.

My mom's prayer group prays for many ministries around the world. They recently received the following email from one of the men they're praying for. Allow the shocking experience of Sasha to remind you how quickly life can come to an end.

I am ready. Will YOU be ready?
Will those around you be ready?

--------------------------------
Dear Pray-ers,

Two nights ago my host family along with San Euri, our piano university student boarder and I were eating supper when Sasha the husband came back from driving school. He was a bit slow to join us then didn’t want to eat – saying he ate his lunch late and wasn’t hungry. Last night more of the story came out to his family and this morning at breakfast I heard the whole story.

At one bus stop someone had to get off so Sasha climbed out of the full 15 passenger van to let that person off and in the meantime a young lady fromt he sidewalk grabbed his seat. He objected saying it was his but she just blurted out that she had to hurry home because a child was alone waiting for her so he didn’t argue …….

Now that child is very alone, because his mom and the other 14 passengers and driver were killed two bus stops further up the street when the brakes failed on a big truck full of bricks and it squashed that van …. As Sasha passed by in the next bus he grabbed he noticed the lady’s severed head in the street ….. it should have been his except for his kindness and the Lord’s mercy to him.

May the Lord direct me to bring the Good News to Sasha – he’s heard it before and he used to attend church. He’s a great guy. But would he have been ready to meet his Maker two nights ago? Please pray.

Challenging words from an atheist

2009-08-18T20:36:00.000-05:00

Many of you may know of Penn and Teller the illusionists. They are very well known for their slight of hand and illusion tricks that they use to draw large crowds to their shows in Vegas. They're very entertaining. They're also well-known in the atheist realm as staunch atheistic Bible haters.

Many people would shy away from witnessing to such a well-known atheist, but one of their fans did not. In the following video, Penn gives his thoughts on the need for Christians to "proselytize" if they really have something to share. After a man gave him a Bible and shared his faith with him, Penn still walked away saying "I KNOW there's not a God," but he also had a new outlook on the Gospel - not all Christians are crazy. This quick little video was powerful especially since the words are coming from an atheist - it's an entirely different viewpoint than I'm used to.

How many of us shy away from sharing our faith with people because we're afraid it will be awkward or they might think bad about us? It's tempting to worry about it, but it's also sad when we allow that to get in our way.

My favorite line of the video was "How much do you have to hate someone to believe that eternal life is possible and NOT tell them that?" Let me know what you think.

Click HERE to watch the video.

What vacation?

2009-08-16T00:56:00.000-05:00

I was looking forward to our "vacation" in Albuquerque this weekend - it's sad to think it's already almost over! We'll be back Monday evening and I work at midnight that night! It hasn't exactly been "vacation" - we've been going non-stop since the moment our plane landed. However, it felt pretty natural. That's how things always were when we lived here anyway!

Here's a partial list of things we've accomplished since we've been here in the 505:

- haircuts for the whole family
- green chile every way
- taught in the main building on Wednesday night
- wedding rehearsal and dinner
- Gary Hook's retirement from the Navy
- Josh and Tamara: officially married
- taught for Vertical and Velocity kids (about 300 of them) in the park at Calvary
- Jenn sings at all the weekend services this weekend
- coffee with Jason Mills, a fellow church planter
- a couple stops at Flying Star for pie (strawberry rhubarb- nothing compares)
- upcoming dinner with my mom and breakfast with the Hooks
- study day tomorrow while Jenn sings at church
- lunch with the grandparents
- coffee with Dave Row and sushi with Skip

It's been a very eventful weekend, needless to say. It was great to see so many of our friends and to receive such great encouragement. God works through prayers as well as our edifying words to each other. Thanks so much for all the prayers and encouragement!

When we head back to C-ville, of course we'll hit the ground running there as well. We'll get in Monday evening, I work at midnight, then study all day Tuesday, work at midnight, then study and teach week 3 of our study through Romans 12. I love it.

Electronic Encouragement

2009-08-16T00:27:00.000-05:00

I'm in Albuquerque and somewhere in Clarksville, there's a girl on bed rest that found our website and sent us an email. I just thought I'd share a few pieces of what she had to say - it was so encouraging.

-------------------------------
I just wanted to say that what you guys are doing for this community is amazing and since I've heard about it for a few weeks, you all have been in my prayers everyday! The day I saw the little flyer thing on craigslist- I told my husband we just had to go! Then, I was told I was on bed rest and I just felt like Satan was trying to prevent me from going. But nothing will stop me from going next weekend! :) Not even the rain. I see it's been raining alot on the weekends you all have the events on. Ill bring an umbrella :)...

This may sound crazy, but I really feel like God had a plan for me to keep looking at your page on craigslist and the website. It's like he keeps bringing me back to it every week. After emailing you- I called my husband and said, Honey- Im going to the Awaken Church stuff everytime they have something. God is calling me there, I just know it! What youre doing is exactly what Ive been looking for!
-------------------------------

I love that I can be 1200 miles away from home and Awaken Church and yet still see God move! What a great reminder that ministry doesn't just happen while I'm there - it's the Lord doing it!

Hand-on ministry that doesn't feel hands-on

2009-08-13T08:30:00.000-05:00

I was super blessed to be back at Calvary Albuquerque last night. It was so fun to teach to my church family out here. Service wrapped up at 8:30 and I talked to people till 9:45! It was great to talk with people and be encouraged as we shared what's been going on in Clarksville. I was especially encouraged by one of my former mid-school students, Melanie. She loves to pray. To this day I remember when we announced that we were moving, she told me that she committed to pray for me every day. I took that literally. I knew she would. I can't tell you how many times in Clarksville, when times got rough, that I was reminded that Melanie, along with many others, were praying every day for us.

As I talked to her and many others last night who mentioned they were praying for us, I was reminded about the ministry of prayer - it's hands-on ministry that doesn't always feel very hands-on. Most people as they pray don't realize the impact that those simple prayers can have. God listens and God answers. He's a very personal God who knows our every need. But even more practical than that is the simple reminder in my finite mind that someone, somewhere is thinking of us and the ministry we've set out to do and they're talking to Jesus about it. WOW! That is such an encouragement!

Melanie is just one example of many people that are praying for us and the minsitry of Awaken Church. If I tried to mention everyone, I'd leave someone out, so I won't even try. God hears your prayers and we feel your prayers. PLEASE keep them coming! It's easy to think that you need to do something more hands-on - send money, fly out to help with things, etc. While those things are great and very useful, without prayer, they'd be useless. Thanks to everyone who is praying for us. We're so stoked about what God is doing and we'll never know the full impact of those prayers that are prayed so often.

I close with one of my favorite verses:
Hebrews 4:16 - Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Marriage is SO dramatic!

2009-08-12T11:03:00.000-05:00

No, my marriage isn't on the rocks, but many couples' are. That's actually the title of my message for tonight when I speak at Calvary Albuquerque as a part of their summer series on relationships, "Beyond the Summer of Love". I'll be sharing from Ephesians 5:22-33 about the Biblical roles of marriage and our part in the great drama of marriage. When I use the word "drama", I use it in 2 ways...

1) There's plenty of drama that unfolds when 2 sinners attempt to love each other unconditionally and submit to each other (not just the wife to the husband - check Ephesians 5:21). That particular type of drama - bickering, arguments, fights, selfishness is what eventually leads to many marriage shipwrecks.

2) The other type of the drama is a much more positive kind. This type of drama is the acting type (think Broadway). Ephesians 5:32 says "This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church." That verse is small and easy to look over, but it sheds a whole new light on the topic of marriage when you realize that there's a 3rd dimension to marriage besides the normal 2 dimensions of husband and wife. THAT drama is the real reason behind Godly, Biblical marriage. God never intended it to be about you and your spouse. Marriage is meant as a dramatic representation of Christ's love for His church. No wonder the Bible speaks against being yoked together with an unbeliever. That would be like trying to get a llama to play the part of Romeo in Shakespeare's tragedy. There's no point in even attempting - the llama will never truly understand what he's supposed to do. Same with an unbeliever - how will he/she ever really grasp the picture of Christ and the church that they're trying to act out if he/she has never personally experienced it? It's also no wonder that God hates divorce (check Malachi 2:16). God will NEVER divorce His wife (us, the church), so divorce in a Christian marriage ruins the drama that should be acted out.

I can't wait to share what God has showed me on this topic tonight. It's been insane trying to study in between naps, meals, and the graveyard shift, but every moment has been rewarding. I LOVE teaching. It's a calling - not many people would find endless hours of prep for a 50-minute message enjoyable. Many people get queazy even thinking about standing in front of 2,000 people. I love it. I love the challenge. I love the conviction. I love the opportunity. The fact that I get to teach from the same pulpit that many world-renowned Bible teachers have taught from is incredibly humbling and very exciting. It's crazy to think that I left Calvary Albuquerque as a pastor and return as a graveyard shift janitor, but I love the humility that God has forced into my life (and believe me, I've put up plenty of resistance). By God's grace, I'm being humbled and will continue to be as we journey through planting a church and seeing God work.

If you're in Albuquerque, swing by tonight at the service and say hey. If not, tune in to the live webcast at calvaryabq.org! I hope it blesses you like it has blessed me.

MOST: A Modern-Day Parable

2009-08-10T18:18:00.000-05:00

I'll be teaching this Wednesday at Calvary Albuquerque in a series called "Beyond the Summer of Love." My topic is marriage and I'm really excited about sharing what God has been teaching me! Service starts at 8:00pm Tennessee time, so if you want to tune in and watch, just go to Calvary Albuquerque's website and follow the links.

Although I'm bummed to be missing our third Wednesday night get together at Jeremy & Julie's house, I am excited that the movie MOST will be showing while I'm gone. It's an incredible story of the Gospel put into today's language and setting. You can read about it and watch the trailer on the movie's website. Nate will be leading a discussion after the movie about the Gospel and how we can take it to our culture as this movie did so well. Bring a friend that doesn't know the Lord and come for great food and an awesome time of fellowship! Go HERE for directions to the Edlers' house and HERE for more info.

UNIGHT #5 recap

2009-08-08T22:56:00.001-05:00

What a night tonight! We hit up Lettie-Kendall Park tonight for our 5th of 8 UNIGHT Summer Evenings in the Park. It's hard to believe that we only have 3 left now! Tonight was the best night of ministry we've seen thus far and the best response we've had as well. People came from all over for Jeremy's famous burgers. He definitely is the grill master. We've never gone through more than 60 burgers in all 4 previous outreaches, so when we packed up tonight we figured that 70 burgers and 60 hot dogs was more than enough. We were wrong. After only an hour in, we hade gone through almost all of them and had to run to the grocery store to get more! That's a great problem! We ended up cooking over 100 burgers and 85 hot dogs tonight - the people just kept on coming! So cool.

The park was great, especially for the kids (and the older "kids" that had kids of their own) - it had a sweet water fountain area that people come from all over for. As people showed up, we greeted them with a free meal and Bible - they loved it. People saw our signs and fliers all over and some even stopped in the street to ask what we were doing. When they figured out that it was free, they were all over it! For most of the night, the entire parking lot was full and people were having to park on the street (another great problem)!

The best part was the ministry that occured tonight. One guy sought me out and told me before he left, he wanted me to pray for him. I told him I'd love to, so after he ate, I found him and went to talk. I ended up sitting down at a picnic table with him and 4 other people where I was able to lay out the simplicity of the Gospel to them. A couple of them had the typical answers when I asked where they would be spending eternity. They hoped they'd go to heaven. When I asked them how they thought they would make it, it was the other typical answer: they're pretty good people. I'm a straight-shooter and I told them that the Bible disagreed with them on that. I opened up the Bible I had given to them and went through Romans 3:23 (all have sinned), Romans 6:23 (the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life), and Romans 5:8 (God demonstrated His love by dying for us while we're still sinners). Tina, the lady sitting across from me, really caught it. I told her we could pray right there to commit her life to Jesus and she could know where she'll spend eternity. She loved that idea, so right there at a picnic bench in 90% humidity, I prayed the sinner's prayer with Tina! Awesome! After she left, I scooted down and talked with Ray, who, after talking for a while, realized he couldn't put Christ off any longer and decided tonight was the night! He too committed his life to Christ right there at the picnic table!

It was an incredible night of seeing God move in hearts and being reminded of what a privilege it is to reach out to hurting people. May God continue to use us in a powerful way as we do our best to reach this community!

Click HERE to check out the pictures of UNIGHT #5 and make sure to swing by awakenchurch.org for more info on where we'll be next week!

My old stomping grounds

2009-08-07T14:44:00.000-05:00

I got to take a trip back to Albuquerque this week. It was short and
sweet- 17 hours. The purpose of the trip was to do a funeral for a
friend that died of ALS, but unfortunately, due to flight delays and
cancellations, I missed the funeral by 3 1/2 hours. I had to call
another pastor friend to do it for me. From what I hear, it was great
and people were so blessed.

Because I got in so late and left so early this morning, I never got
to even see the family I came to see. So sad. It was a fun trip
though- I enjoyed swinging by Calvary Albuquerque where ministry
"officially" began for me (at least on the pastoral level). I enjoyed
my favorite cup of coffee (yes, even better than 'bucks in my
opinion), some green chili and Mexican food that I've missed so much,
as well as some great time with some friends as well as my mom.

It's so refreshing being back at Calvary. I love the staff there- they
are such a dear group of people to me. I got to visit with them for a
little while and they prayed with me as well. Being on campus brought
back many memories. It felt weird leaving as a youth pastor a couple
months ago and coming back as a janitor/church planter. I remember
many trips to the cafe and lots of very fruitful ministry that took
place there. I look forward to being back again next week when I have
the privilege of teaching in the main sanctuary about marriage as well
as doing some friends' wedding.

I prayed so much on my way out here that I'd make my flights and
connect with the family, but unfortunately, it seems that God had
different plans. I have no idea why He didn't work it out but I can
trust in His sovereignty nonetheless. Maybe it was the Catholic guy
and the Seventh Day Adventist lady that I got to talk to on a flight
that I should have never been on. Maybe it was a God-ordained
opportunity for Kerry Rose to do the funeral instead of me. Why it
took me 13 hours to get from Nashville to Albuquerque and only 4 to
get back, I cannot explain. We serve a big God though, and I'm
thankful that ministry continues whether I'm there or not!

I loved my 5 years at Calvary Albuquerque, but I would never trade our
Awaken home Bible study with 9 adults and 11 kids under 5 for
anything. I love what God is doing and I believe His plans for the
future are far bigger than mine ( and I like to think that mine are
big)!

I Heart Technology

2009-08-06T07:36:00.000-05:00

I'm sitting in the Nashville airport right now as I type this. I'm flying back home to Albuquerque today where I'm doing the funeral of a friend who recently passed away after fighting ALS for 3 years.

I"m a bit of a cheapskate and can never bring myself to pay for wifi in airports or at Starbucks because I pay for wifi at home. However, with my iPhone, I can now tether it to my MacBook Pro so that I get internet anywhere that my phone can get internet! I love it. I'm downloading the most recent August Burns Red album as I type. That will make the flight far more enjoyable as I crunch my long legs into the middle seat between two people I don't know.

Another reason that I love technology is because it enables us to get the Gospel out even further! We had our second Awaken Church Bible study last night and had a great time. We were joined by Amber and her two kids who just so happened to live so close to Jeremy and Julie's house, where we meet for Bible studies while we're waiting for the building to be ready, that she walked! So cool. Not only are we podcasting (video and audio) our Bible studies, but we're working on live-streaming as well. We played with it a little last night and over the next few weeks, we'll keep tweaking it till we get it all figured out. By the time we start services in September, we should be live for the world to see!

Well, we're boarding now. If only airline technology worked as seamlessly as Apple technology, maybe I'd make it into Albuquerque in time for the funeral. My first flight is an hour late, so pray that I make my connecting flight! ABQ, here I come.

Christianity vs. Churchianity

2009-08-04T20:43:00.000-05:00

Almost without fail, the first question I get asked when people find out I'm starting a church out here is "What kind of church is it?" In New Mexico, the reply, "Christian" is enough to satisfy most people, but not here. Apparently everyone out here is a Christian (or at least says they are). The follow-up question after I tell them that it's a Christian church is "What kind of Christian are you?" There are many answers that come to my mind when I get asked this (some more sassy than others):

"I'm a tall Christian."

"I'm a Christian that likes to snowboard (in states where that's possible)."

"I'm a fun Christian like likes long walks on the beach."

Of course, I know where they're going with that question. They want to know which specific kind of label I'm going to put on myself: Baptist, Lutheran, Seventh Day Adventist, Methodist, etc. I don't go there. I always say, "We love Jesus and teach straight out of the Bible." I'd say that's a pretty accurate description of who we are. Sure, we'll eventually be affiliated with Calvary Chapel, but that doesn't stereotype who I am or how I preach.

Our desire at Awaken Church is to awaken people to the relevance of God's Word and equip them for His service. All the other stuff doesn't matter. People simply need to be awakened to the fact that God's Word is exactly that: GOD'S WORD. He breathed it. And even thought it's thousands of years old, it's far beyond a history book. It has very specific, accurate application for our lives today, right now.

So, instead of getting so caught up with what church or denomination you belong to, let's focus on Whose we are. We belong to God. God doesn't care about the outward "churchy" stuff that we put so high on a pedestal. Jesus isn't into Churchianity, He wants true, genuine Christianity. He doesn't care about being cool. He cares about the cross. He wants people who are sold out, surrendered, and sacrificed to Him.
Whether you worship A Capella or with acoustic guitar,
in choir robes or cut-off shorts,
sitting in a pew or preaching from a pulpit,
long hair,
short hair,
brown hair,
blue hair,
mohawk, fauxhawk, or no hawk,
offering plate or online giving,
tech-savvy or tech-challenged,
as long as Jesus is the center and receives the glory and worship for all the happens AND the Bible is taught (not taught about or taught out of), THAT is all that matters.

It's not about Churchianity, it's about Christianity. Let's live it.

What's the main ingredient for successful ministry?

2009-08-04T16:45:00.000-05:00

PRAYER.

I could stop right there and that's really all that needs to be said. No scheme, no advertising gimmick, no team strategy will ever have the same effect as prayer does. It's simple communication with the only One who can truly make ministry effective in the first place, Jesus. Unfortunately, the other stuff comes much easier - they're more hands-on. They feel like we're actually doing something, making things happen.

I was reminded this week of just how great it is to have people praying for the ministry. My mom emailed me from back home and asked how her prayer group could be praying for us this week. They get together once a month to pray for ministries and missions going on around the world. They've been meeting for 1 year now and Awaken Church has been a subject of their prayers for quite a while now. I gave them some specifics to keep in their prayers and was refreshed to know they'd be talking to God about those things. Later that day, I got a call from my overseeing Pastor back in Albuquerque, Dave. It was a simple phone call that lasted only a couple minutes, but it was so refreshing. He simply reminded me that he prays for me every day, then closed the conversation with a quick prayer. My good buddy, AJ, who took my position when I left Albuquerque also prays for me daily at 9:31am (since that's Clarksville's area code)!

Speaking of prayer and its power, I was reminded of something I read about Charles Spurgeon...

...he was asked a similar question on one occasion: what is the secret to the success of his ministry in this church? After the meeting he took that inquirer down under the main body of the church to a hall underneath, and there were hundreds of people praying while Spurgeon was preaching the Gospel! Is there any wonder that people were being converted!? While he was in the act of throwing the gospel net forth, there were people weeping and crying and travailing before God.

THAT is powerful. The ministry of Charles Spurgeon is unparalleled in its greatness and effectiveness, but we know it's not because of the preacher, it's because of the prayers. God moves through prayer.

Who are you praying for? What ministries are you talking to God about? Have you told those people that you're praying for them? There are not many better words for someone bent over under the weight of ministry to hear than, "I'm praying for you."