Monday, June 30, 2008
Online Giving Established
Wow! Check this out! Our generic donate online page is up. We will get the graphics put in there over the next week or so. But everything is up a functions. All funds are going through Celebration Church's 501(c)(3) for now until ours get all the way through. Check it out at: Donate Online Here
Thursday, June 26, 2008
First look at the pre-launch site.
I am on my way to bed, but I was excited about finally having the first version of our pre-launch website up. Obvious their is no real content yet, but we are getting close! The address is http://www.venuechurchonline.faithhighway.com/ and here is a preview.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
ARC Assessment
Ok, so i fell off the face of the earth for a little bit, but we have been insanely busy for a while. There is a ton to catch up on, but the most recent is the ARC Assessment. We left last Friday night after work, so about 7:00 or so. The assessment was in the Atlanta area but we went to my Dad's house first to in Augusta to drop the kiddos off and spend some time with the family. here is the run down 1050 miles to Augusta, 4 kids (10 and under) and a 8 and 1/2 month pregnant wife. We probably stopped every hundred miles or so and we had to stay over night in hotels so that Faith wouldn't get blood clots in her legs (what a trooper!). I really like to just get in the car and not stop until we get there (except for gas every 3o0 miles) that way the trip is a 17 hour deal, instead of 2 days.
So we get in the car and we get like 40 miles away and the little guy (Ian - 2 years old) starts to throw up. not just a little, but a lot ... it was mostly string cheese and strawberry milk, if that helps the visual. so we find some where to stop and buy a bunch of sanitary products and wipes and such and since I very well can't make my wonderful pregnant wife take the car seat out, and get on her hands and knees to strub every crevase of the car seat and van seat, the job falls on me. sick ... that is all i can say. So my mind is thinking, we just lost 70 miles of the trip and i am cleaning up puke ... GREAT! Ian was fine after that, so it must have just been something his stomach didn't like. I have to clean every piece, that way it wouldn't smell for the next 1000 miles in the van.
The rest of the trip was pretty smooth and we got to August about 1:30 AM Saturday night/ Sunday morning. This was the the first Father's day I ever remember spending with my Father on Father's Day. So, it was a special time. It was just good being there. My sister Lori, her husband Miller (I actually got to marry them late last year) and my brother Michael were all there. It was fun.
So the next day (06/16/08) was our 13th year anniversay, and we had an appointment with the marriage counselor as the first part of our assessment. I think they just wanted to make sure that we weren't scary and that we actually loved each other. I have met quite a few couples that should've went through that process. He went into our past and such, over all it was good. Later that night we had another meeting, free anniversary meal ... haha. It was good food and good company. Out of the 13 church planting couples there we had to go first with the introductions followed by a brief grilling (Q&A) from the panel. To top our assessment/Anniversary Date off they gave us a homework assignment to write up by morning.
The next day was a full one. They split up the couples and put us into a small groups situation where we were given a 2-part senario to talk through and come to a unanimous decision. There was no appointed leader, but I was quickly appointed by the group members ... wooohoo. That one was actually fun. We did well. Next we had to roll play with a fellow planter as if he was a neighbor and conversate through to to point of leading him to Christ. Of course, through all of this there is always an assessor taking notes on your every move, guess we better get used to it. There are always people taking notes on our action, whether we realize it or not. It was fun though, i got him saved, which is a good thing for a church planter to do. We then were grouped with 2 other couples and given a section of the country in which to plant in. We had to decide what city, research the city, come up with a game plan for the launch, then how we plan on planting 10 more churches over the next 10 years, and oh yeah, produce a power point and present (with all members speaking on there areas) in front of the panel and your peers within 2 hours. It was actually pretty crazy. The last deal was a final interview with new questions based upon our homework assignment and how we did for the day. whew. We met some really great people through the process, these are the people that will all be planting at the same time as us through out the country ... a mini support team. We are really excited about these relationships.
We then drove back to Augusta, to visit and see our wonderful kiddos. They had a blast with the Grand Parents and Aunt and Uncles. We had to wait a couple of days on our results form the assessments. On Wednesday, we started the long trek back to Austin and arrived about 2:00 Friday morning.
I had meetings early Friday, but about 7:00 Friday night I crashed and didn't wake until about 8:30 the next day. what a week. I have much more, but I am off to bed instead.
So we get in the car and we get like 40 miles away and the little guy (Ian - 2 years old) starts to throw up. not just a little, but a lot ... it was mostly string cheese and strawberry milk, if that helps the visual. so we find some where to stop and buy a bunch of sanitary products and wipes and such and since I very well can't make my wonderful pregnant wife take the car seat out, and get on her hands and knees to strub every crevase of the car seat and van seat, the job falls on me. sick ... that is all i can say. So my mind is thinking, we just lost 70 miles of the trip and i am cleaning up puke ... GREAT! Ian was fine after that, so it must have just been something his stomach didn't like. I have to clean every piece, that way it wouldn't smell for the next 1000 miles in the van.
The rest of the trip was pretty smooth and we got to August about 1:30 AM Saturday night/ Sunday morning. This was the the first Father's day I ever remember spending with my Father on Father's Day. So, it was a special time. It was just good being there. My sister Lori, her husband Miller (I actually got to marry them late last year) and my brother Michael were all there. It was fun.
So the next day (06/16/08) was our 13th year anniversay, and we had an appointment with the marriage counselor as the first part of our assessment. I think they just wanted to make sure that we weren't scary and that we actually loved each other. I have met quite a few couples that should've went through that process. He went into our past and such, over all it was good. Later that night we had another meeting, free anniversary meal ... haha. It was good food and good company. Out of the 13 church planting couples there we had to go first with the introductions followed by a brief grilling (Q&A) from the panel. To top our assessment/Anniversary Date off they gave us a homework assignment to write up by morning.
The next day was a full one. They split up the couples and put us into a small groups situation where we were given a 2-part senario to talk through and come to a unanimous decision. There was no appointed leader, but I was quickly appointed by the group members ... wooohoo. That one was actually fun. We did well. Next we had to roll play with a fellow planter as if he was a neighbor and conversate through to to point of leading him to Christ. Of course, through all of this there is always an assessor taking notes on your every move, guess we better get used to it. There are always people taking notes on our action, whether we realize it or not. It was fun though, i got him saved, which is a good thing for a church planter to do. We then were grouped with 2 other couples and given a section of the country in which to plant in. We had to decide what city, research the city, come up with a game plan for the launch, then how we plan on planting 10 more churches over the next 10 years, and oh yeah, produce a power point and present (with all members speaking on there areas) in front of the panel and your peers within 2 hours. It was actually pretty crazy. The last deal was a final interview with new questions based upon our homework assignment and how we did for the day. whew. We met some really great people through the process, these are the people that will all be planting at the same time as us through out the country ... a mini support team. We are really excited about these relationships.
We then drove back to Augusta, to visit and see our wonderful kiddos. They had a blast with the Grand Parents and Aunt and Uncles. We had to wait a couple of days on our results form the assessments. On Wednesday, we started the long trek back to Austin and arrived about 2:00 Friday morning.
I had meetings early Friday, but about 7:00 Friday night I crashed and didn't wake until about 8:30 the next day. what a week. I have much more, but I am off to bed instead.
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Internship at Celebration Church; Georgetown, TX
Well the last few weeks have been non-stop and much change has been taken place. I start a volunteer internship at Celebration Church on Tuesday of this week. This is a big change for us. I am moving to part time at faithHighway, which means half the time = half the pay. We are trying to get the rest of the Church bank account and the online donation stuff settled so that we can raise some necessary support to help us through the internship. We believe strongly in this step before we launch out and move to Ohio.
We will be the first to do something like this with Celebration Church. It is a priveledge that they are working with us on this. Celebration is in the top 50 fastest growing churches in America (according to Outreach Magazine). The leadership, structure, preaching, and overall DNA is amazing! This is a place that upon walking in the front door the first time (and pretty much ever since) I found myself saying, "This is what I have been looking for in a church, but didn't know existed". We felt like we learned more about what a church is supposed to be and how it should operate in the first three months just attending than in all the bible school and churches we have been a part of up until that time. We are excited to be a part of the team and do what we can to bless the church while we are here and in return we believe that the seed sown and the time spent will be an invaluable part of what God has for us in the future.
This is a scary time in a lot of ways, but at the same time we know that we are right in the middle of the will of God for our lives. God has taken us on an incredible journey in a lot of ways and no mater where you go or what the situation looks like, He is always in control! There is a great peace that comes from knowing that you are following His plan. Nothing else really seems to matter. A great part as well is that my oldest son is now at the age (10 years old) where he can understand what we are doing and why. We get the wonderful opportunity to allow him to see God work miracles in our lives through faith. I want him to see first hand how much we love God and how great God's love is toward us.
We will be the first to do something like this with Celebration Church. It is a priveledge that they are working with us on this. Celebration is in the top 50 fastest growing churches in America (according to Outreach Magazine). The leadership, structure, preaching, and overall DNA is amazing! This is a place that upon walking in the front door the first time (and pretty much ever since) I found myself saying, "This is what I have been looking for in a church, but didn't know existed". We felt like we learned more about what a church is supposed to be and how it should operate in the first three months just attending than in all the bible school and churches we have been a part of up until that time. We are excited to be a part of the team and do what we can to bless the church while we are here and in return we believe that the seed sown and the time spent will be an invaluable part of what God has for us in the future.
This is a scary time in a lot of ways, but at the same time we know that we are right in the middle of the will of God for our lives. God has taken us on an incredible journey in a lot of ways and no mater where you go or what the situation looks like, He is always in control! There is a great peace that comes from knowing that you are following His plan. Nothing else really seems to matter. A great part as well is that my oldest son is now at the age (10 years old) where he can understand what we are doing and why. We get the wonderful opportunity to allow him to see God work miracles in our lives through faith. I want him to see first hand how much we love God and how great God's love is toward us.
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