For those that hadn’t seen it, ABC Nightline did a piece on Mark Driscoll and Mars Hill Church, Seattle, WA this week.  Check it out!! It is always exciting to see people on fire and excited for Christ!!

On Sunday I had the amazing opportunity to take part in a bridal shower for my fiance, Beth.  Not that they all brought lingerie and I had to suffer while awaiting my turn to go get tools from all the guys.  This was truly a wedding shower that was hosted by Beth’s friends at Eagle’s Nest Fellowship Church for us as we prepare to get married in 11 days, begin our life together, and move to Nashville, TN to plant a church.  And as I sit here and look at the pictures posted on Facebook, I am completely touched and humbled by the love, compassion, and Christ that emminates from the people at ENFC.

Beth touched on this in her blog earlier, but I want to expand on a few examples of the love that is exhibited at ENFC.

• The second time I attended church was at their annual Camp Meeting and at lunch I ran into the Lead Pastor and his wife while walking with Beth and he immediately began talking to me about “taking care” of Beth and “protecting” her regarding her running.  At first I was slightly offended since that wasn’t my role yet (since we weren’t married), but now I know that he saw what we had confirmed that day–that Beth and I were getting married.
• I started coming to ENFC every other Sunday, pretty much, to visit Beth on the weekends and really enjoyed meeting her friends and worshiping at ENFC.  God is doing AMAZING things there.  But, I wasn’t there that long, I was only there every other weekend, and sometimes two or three weeks would pass if we had traveling or multiple weekends in DC.

The point is that I wasn’t there much and ENFC and Beth’s friends still ACCEPTED me and LOVED me and INCLUDED me because I was apart of a larger family–God’s family!!  The fellowship at ENFC is AMAZING and I pray that as Beth and I go to Nashville to start our church, that God will allow me to speak His words that encourage the PC-ers to love others like the love and acceptance exhibited by ENFC and I also pray, fervently, that God continues to do awesome things at ENFC!!

Beth is correct–I will miss ENFC and I’m not just “going to move on” this time, but yes, I have the Peace of God that the friends Beth and I made at ENFC will ALWAYS be there for us and it will be the greatest JOY to REJOICE with them in Heaven, FOREVER, when Jesus comes back!!  That will be AMAZING, PERFECT fellowship!!

Jeffrey posted on his page, this post and I list it here for your edification. He is so RIGHT on what is WRONG with the church today. We care more about the insides of buildings and the capacity of buildings than the inside of people’s hearts and their capacity, conviction, and compassion for Christ!!

[...]**So, I have a confession to make. I have been on a team (comprised of myself only) responsible for the slow removal of Eagle’s from the viewable presence of people. Yes, this is true i started stashing them. Only I soon realized that soon there would be no decorations left, so I gave up. but if you read this and your favorite piece is missing, come find me on Sunday, I’ll give it to you and you can take it home with you.**

I share this next true story from my perspective, and my perspective only. And I’m not using names for the sake of… well you get the picture. But one sunday, After the removal of a particular Eagle Painting I, along with a few other people where questioned about the disappearance of said eagle, (said eagle had been promptly replaced by a beautiful hand painting from another location.) If I believe correctly, we lied, and said we didn’t know where it was and for that I am sorry. However, by the next week the Eagle was placed back and has remained there since. Apparently other church members had complained or otherwise asked about the painting not being there.

IF I’M LOOSING YOU… hang in there I’m getting to my point.

Wake up church, that is my message. That is my challenge to you!!!! Some people may argue and say that I’m just as wrong for wanting the Eagle to not be there. but I’m not saying that. I’m saying that Its NOT about what is hanging on our walls. AND WE HAVE MADE IT ABOUT THAT. If we don’t love people like we should then the stuff on our walls is POINTLESS.

Community is not about some identity, (ours being the eagle) Its about fellowship. Where are all the pictures of ministry happening, and the art work of worshipers, where is the life and the joy that we are sharing?? Why don’t we publish that to our people? why not leave our corporate Identity for the sake of our community?

This will be my final paragraph I promise I have written enough, and feel like i have explained nothing, but hopefully your hearing my heart here. Ok, so I’m going to leave you with these last thoughts. I go to college, and I spend time with people who are hurting, and seeking and NOT FINDING A PLACE. Where do these young people hang out? a lot of them, bars. what if our church looked like a bar? Ok, HEAR ME I’m not suggesting that we rip out everything and start serving beer. But I am asking you to consider WHAT ARE WE ABOUT? are we about our pictures of eagles? Are we about our favorite songs? are we about pretty colors? are we about fancy buildings or Amazing Graphics? OR are we about showing people the LIFE found in jesus? What if we stopped going to church on sunday for ourselves and started going for everyone else? Why wouldn’t the church be the perfect place to display EVERYTHING going on in the community of the church itself? And so I leave you with this question, and this challenge.

Ask yourself this question: WHAT IF CHURCH WAS BUILT FOR THEM AND NOT FOR ME? [...]

The whole database/blog deletion/Kevin screw-up yesterday got me thinking about our relationship with God, and especially God’s character of omniscience–meaning that He knows all, everything that is to be known, perfectly. Ultimately this perfect knowledge results in His perfect plans for humanity, creation, etc. for all eternity!! The thought is just too broad in depth and scope to even imagine. But, what it means is that EVERYTHING is known to God, from the number of hairs on each head to those sins committed in secret when “no ones” watching. This perfect knowledge even includes His plan for me, my fiance Beth, His church, Proclamation Church, and how He will use it to accomplish His mission on earth–proclaiming the Gospel, through men. How honored Beth and I are to be considered worthy of such a great task!!

However, we’ve both been struggling with focus (which is clear from earlier posts I’ll try to re-create) and from losing our focus we’ve really been struggling with understand God’s complete, perfect plan for our lives right now! Now, we’ll never fully understand it, but we’ve lost the “In God We Trust” mentality, and instead, have wanted to know, selfishly, now!! Currently we are praying for our core team and those leaders that God wants to help us lead/continue to lead Proclamation Church. I’ve been in contact with one person God placed on my heart who is currently serving in Iraq. He’s a go-getter type and when I told him, he said he and his wife were praying and needed “2 or 3 days” to get back to me. I laughed and told him that God’s plan was perfect and His timing was perfect and since God has called him, it would happen in God’s perfect timing. Hallelujah!!!

I’m excited to proclaim the Gospel, but most of all, I’m exciting to follow God’s perfect plan, and that includes, His timing!!!

So, yesterday, I was in my “computer file” clean-up mode, and since I am now a server administrator, I wanted to clean-up the server that hosts proclamationchurch.com. Well, I started with my blog and wanted to put the files in a “data” directory and clean-up some storage clutter.  Well, I ended up deleting my entire blog.  I had to start over and so all my previous posts and thoughts and comments are gone.  Vanished into the either.  So, I’m starting over.  I’ll try to post some of the past blogs when I get a moment, but currently, I’m pressing forward!!!