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

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?

"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

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

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!

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?

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?

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?

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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

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?

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

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.

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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!
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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

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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?

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."

New Video podcast available in iTunes!

It's not searchable quite yet since it's so brand new, but it should be in a couple of days. If you're interested in watching the video from last Wednesday's Bible study or staying up with our studies as we go, click HERE to access it in iTunes. Simply hit the "subscribe" button to subscribe to the podcast to keep receiving the videos!

And make sure to help us spread the Word!

UNIGHT #4 down, 4 more to go!

We hosted another awesome night of UNIGHT at Bel Aire Park. A bunch of people showed up - some saw our ad on craigslist, some saw fliers we had posted around the neighborhood last week or the signs on our truck windshields parked at the entrance, others we invited by going door to door. However they heard about the event, they came, and we loved having them! We got to play basketball with a guy named AJ from down the street. He was good. I am out of shape. We were also joined by "The Mistress of Hip Hop" as she calls herself. She said she loved what we were doing and wanted to put a PSA out on her radio show for us. Sweet. Any way to get the word out, right?! Our group is building in size - in addition to the 5 of us, we had 6 others show up to help set up and stayed the whole time. It's cool to see God slowly adding to our numbers!
Tonight was the half-way point for UNIGHT - 4 down, 4 to go. It's crazy to think we're half-way done with these outreaches. We've had a few requests to keep doing them - people seem to be really enjoying them. One thing we've heard over and over again is that people really love that we're getting out into the community. I was encouraged this week while listening to a Calvary Church Planting podcast. One thing he said was that too many people think if you just show up to a town and start teaching the Bible, people will come. Not the case. You have to treat it like missions work and go out to the people - meet them where they are. I feel like we've done a pretty good job of that so far. It was cool tonight to go door-to-door and invite people out for free dinner. They're always skeptical when they see me at the door, but normally they're really nice when they find out what we're doing.
Thanks to those of you who were praying for this event. We were afraid we might get rained out, but the weather held back and we had a great time.
Make sure to check out the pics on our website and also grab a map to the park we'll be at next weekend - Lettie-Kendall Park. Hope to see you there!

P.S. Don't forget that this Wednesday, we continue our study through Romans 12. We meet at Jeremy & Julie Edler's house from 6-8pm for food and Bible study. Make sure to come and bring a friend, and don't miss the podcast where you can stay up with all the teachings!