The Day Has Come!

It's an exciting week! Both we and the Kisers have completed our Apprenticeships, and we are beginning our full-time efforts toward partnering with God to create a new community of faith here in Uptown.

Two weeks ago, I had my final opportunity to lead worship with my keyboard at The Branch. It went well, and I believe I have grown a great deal in both my abilities and my confidence. This last Sunday, I led worship and Charles Kiser preached at our primary sponsoring church, South MacArthur (southmac.org). This assembly included a special moment of blessing and sending for both of our families. And it was meaningful to have members of our other sponsoring congregation, Richland Hills (rhchurch.org), along with the founders of Mission Alive (missionalive.org), Gailyn and Becky Van Rheenen, present for this special occasion.

Also over the weekend, I served as a mentor at The Branch's "Preparing for Battle" retreat, which is an important spiritual formation event that Charles and I plan to incorporate into our new church.

Charles and I were also privileged to spend some time with Lynn Anderson as a part of Grady King's mentoring group over the last two days. It was a rich time of encouragement and wisdom.

Claudia has been an absolute champion as she learns the ropes of her two new Speech Therapy positions. She has inspired all of us with her patience and perseverance as she has endured dueling orientations and the typical intense learning of new systems.

We have been mindful this week of individuals and families who have played key roles in the evolution of this church planting dream. We are very grateful for you. The day has come!

And so we pray: may the people in our community encounter Christ in us. May the Lord grant us a healthy community of people to share this journey of life: ever seeking to know more of His nature, to rest and relate in His character, to be transformed to new levels of glory, and to join His mission, ushering His dream for this world into reality.

January Week 3 Update

First and most importantly, Happy Birthday to my amazing bride! I cannot imagine this adventure without you.

It's hard to believe how quickly our time of apprenticeship has come to a close! I lead for the last time at The Branch this Sunday, and then I will lead next week at South Mac and Charles will preach. It's actually been a really long time since Charles and I have partnered together on a Sunday morning...should be fun!

We have discovered a wonderful online resource for organizing all the tasks and projects involved with the endeavor of church planting. I can tell it's going to save us a lot of time, and perhaps even save us from some ignorant mistakes. Some, mind you, but not all!

Also, Claudia and I have been hosting folks in our home to talk about our Launch Team, and also to simply build relationships with neighbors. We're hoping to have a gathering again this Thursday of friends and neighbors. We want our home to be an embassy for the Kingdom.

We'll keep you posted. Please say a prayer for us as we begin building relationships with people who are not connected to God.

Big Fire Across the Street!

So...we had an adventure the other day, here in Uptown. A dry cleaners across the street from our apartment caught on fire! Fortunately, no one was hurt, but the entire store burned, and a lot of damage was done to the pizza place next door. At one point, the smoke was so thick that Claudia and I could not see across the street!