The Church Plant Team

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

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

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?

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!

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

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?

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!