ARC: ALL ACCESS

The conference...AMAZING!

From start to finish, everything that was talked about flowed perfectly, and these guys didn't share what they would be speaking on, there were no meetings to plan what would be talked about...this conference started by giving everyone a spiritual gut-check on the condition of their heart, then progressed to the logistics. It was great to hear some of the guys speak, I would try and pick out a few guys that were great, but they all brought it and left nothing unsaid! I love to hear church leader get up, not afraid of who they may offend by challenging their spiritual politics/hypocrisies, and just bringing it on what the bible truly says. I can't wait for them to get the other sessions up so I can watch the ones that I was unable to go to.

If you are in Conway, Greater Little Rock, or Heber Springs check out New Life Church, Rick Bezet is crazy awesome! Their church is really making an impact on that area, and it is amazing how God is using these people to reach out nationally too! With Kris Allen(Worship Pastor) in the spotlight with IDOL, God is using Godly men to reach his people, that is to stinkin sweet!

On a side note, but connected in a way to what was said at the conference, I've read Galatians last week and my heart was really opened to seeing stuff that I had never seen before! The church of Galatia is very similar to the church today. Paul talks about how the Galatians have made the law so important, that they might as well forget about what Christ did for them! That's harsh, can you imagine a church leader...say the Executive Director of the Arkansas Baptist State Convention to put this into today's context, coming forward and saying that the church today is all hung up on religion, rather than JESUS! NOT THAT I HAVE ANYTHING AGAINST ABSC, just an EXAMPLE!!! I would venture to say that that individual would no longer have a job within days!!! I think we all need to realize that its about JESUS and His people, not about adhering to rules placed by men, we have gotten so caught up in "how church is done," that I think alot of people have lost sight of what it means to truly be a Christian...a follower of Christ! I could sit here and try to explain this, but I'll leave it to the BIBLE...I think that would be clear enough!!!

Galatians 2:19-21
19For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. 20I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!"

I challenge everyone to read Galatians with this in mind! It has changed the way I live my relationship with Jesus! Its all of 6 chapters, 1 a day will take less than a week and 10 minutes a day!!!

So, I feel like I've been disconnected from the world for nearly a week now...and other than a three day conference that rocked my world, I couldn't tell you why! God laid down a clear message throughout the ARC:All Access conference that we went to-It starts with the heart, if God isn't leading you to do what you are doing, then what are you doing? God has to be the reason, and if you don't genuinely care for people, you don't follow the vision laid before you either by God to you, or through your pastor, and you aren't willing to do whatever it takes see people come to know Christ, then your ministry is not what it could be! My mind has been in a constant spin, and it's been AWESOME!!!

We got to spend time with the staff/leadership of the church, and let me tell you, these guys are about to explode Jesus all over the East Coast. They have a passion and a desire to follow Christ like you wouldn't believe. It's all about Him, it's all about His people, and it's all about taking God everywhere they can! Hence the Vision for the church, LOVE GOD, LOVE OTHERS, SERVE THE WORLD! And they live it daily! I love the guys and God has really blessed us here!

On another note, its been, to say the least, a bit stressful trying to figure out if we were going to be able to pay our bills, and after being shown some CRAZY LOVE by some of the most awesome people ever, we are able to make it at least one more month! Sara is still in the works of finding a full time job, but is loving the work she is doing for Wilmington Parent! Me on the other hand, I've turned down two jobs, to end up working as the Head Lifeguard for the city of Wilmington. The other two jobs I turned down would have been awesome, but feel like God is leading me elsewhere. With this job, I'll have a pretty flexible schedule, which is what I need, mostly because I'll be the one doing the schedules! I thought I had hung up my whistle already, but I guess I'm going to dust it off...hopefully for one last hurrah!!! We have been blessed here, and can't wait to see what is still to come! We know without a doubt that we are where we are supposed to be.

I'll go into more detail about the conference tomorrow if I get the chance, they are still working on it, but you can click HERE and keep checking it if you would like to listen to/watch the speakers. They'll blow your mind!

JUST SOME QUICK RECAPS-
-Ed Young JR. is amazing, and crazy...about a 7 on my scale
-C3 is an awesome church, with some amazing leadership
-If you are in Conway, Greater Little Rock, or Heber Springs check out New Life Church, Rick Bezet is awesome (by the way Kris Allen is their worship pastor, and does it blow anyone away that there are two...2 worship pastors in the TOP 4!!!)
-Ed Young JR. wears really tight pants, he's really likes HILLSONG
-Met Kevin Mawae Tennessee Titans Center, shook his hand, broke mine, the dude is huge, has an amazing story, and LOVES JESUS!!!
I'll be back, love you all!

By the way, Congrats to those of you Graduating from the UofA, AWESOME...sorry we can't be there for it!!!

Conference Invite/ LIFE?!?!

So, Sara and I have now been invited to join the staff and others from the church to go to ARC: All Access. It is a conference up in Clayton, NC that the Association of Related Churches is putting on that is focused on church planting, leadership, and church growth! It's going to ROCK, not to mention a great opportunity to meet other strong church leaders, hear their thoughts on ministry, and spend some time with the amazing staff at Lifepoint Church!
I'm supper pumped about tomorrow, because it will be the first week of normal services(however you may define normal) at the church after Easter. We had over 1200 people show up for 3 different services, and as I said, like 20 people make a life change to follow Christ! With the numbers in the air, that would be nearly 500 visitors, many 1st time visitors, and crucial family members of some of the attenders, pray for the church, because instead of having just 700, we may be pushing those numbers again and only having 2 services! Thank God for the volunteers at the church, I've never seen a group of people desire to serve harder than these people! Lifepoint has given them an opportunity to meet with, understand, and develop a relationship with God, and now they are taking that amazing relationship, and doing whatever it takes to reach those around them! It is awesome to hear people asking us to pray for their family members to come to church...WE'VE BEEN HERE 5 WEEKS... and even asking us to pray that they would see major change in these peoples lives!
The opportunities that have opened for us are amazing, and that is one of the things that has been able to keep our spirits up! With not very much luck when it comes to jobs, its hard to understand what God is doing when we are trying to figure out where the money is coming from, but we know it'll be provided! Just an encouragement, when it seems like everything is just crap...think about how awesome it is to have family and friends around us that care...that's what's keeping us up, and a God that is doing something so much greater than a stinkin job...I pray that we'll be used in any way possible! As the staff tends to say, we look forward to doing whatever it takes, doing Anything short of sin to reach people! What I'm learning is that God doesn't need a job to supply us with what we need, but that doesn't mean I'm completely reliant on that!!! I CAN'T WAIT TO HAVE A FULL TIME JOB!!! I'll regret saying that someday!
So I'm ranting/rambling a bit, but things a quite interesting around here. I'll try to update more often, as often as I can, as requested! Thanks for the support and prayers, love you all

It's unreal!

I keep feeling like starting these blog post with, "you won't believe this" or "So, It's been NUTS!" Pretty much a constant feeling right now. We have now joined a church here in Wilmington called Lifepoint Church...talked about it in the last blog or two, but we ARE were God wants us to be, no doubt! We joined last Sunday the 5th, and we've been going since! I have a tendency to kinda gravitate towards the leadership in any church that we are involved in, I'm guessing that has something to do with God calling me to Ministry! We've had the awesome privilege to hang out with the staff, their family's and other awesome volunteers throughout the past couple weeks, and it has really been amazing! We've gotten to be a part of stuff that you can only explain by using the word GOD! Saturday, the church put on a completely free event for the city of Wilmington...a HELICOPTER EGG DROP! It was CRAZY, check this out, and here are some pictures! In talking with Pastor Jeff and the others, they expected about 5-6000, 10,000 showed up! Then yesterday the church at 3 services, usually only have two and run a bit over 700...had nearly 1200 show up, 20 decision to follow Christ, and trust me, this church is all about following up on things, as I said, we were contacted 3 times within a few days of attending for the first time, for those of you in ministry, its huge!!! We have truly been blessed through the church already, and we are looking forward to seeing how God is going to use us in the Lifepoint ministry! We are pumped beyond belief! Be praying for the church and the city of Wilmington, because that is what the church is all about! I feel like this week was 1200, and yeah it was Easter, but I'm thinking they'll be back with friends, so I pray that we're prepared for what God is about to do!

Still looking for jobs, but God is definitely providing! Praise Jesus for that! Love you all, later!

So, where do I start?

Alright, its been about 3 weeks, and things are just nuts! As I said last, we visited PC3, a pretty sweet mega church in the area that is really doing some awesome things! We left the service re-energized and pumped about the way things were going. Then, last Sunday we decided to head down to Lifepoint Church...they meet in Ashley High School in Wilmington, two services, and they're running about 750....3 YEARS OLD!!!! It's crazy...after the service we were introduced to Daryl...the guy I got in contact with over e-mail, who then proceeded to introduce us to Pastor Jeff! You've got to check this church and this guy out! lifepointnow.com and jeffkapusta.com Last night we attended one of their...for lack of a better word..."preview" services at their new Lifepoint Midtown campus across the street from UNCW. It was amazing, it was a total celebration of what God is doing in the church! They baptized like 20 people, and it was completely amazing, the spirit was everywhere!
That's just the half of it! Lifepoint contacted Sara and I 3 times after Sundays service...within 3 days, I'm supposed to meet with the staff for lunch here in the next week or so to give them the low down on us and what God's doing, just got a call from the youth guy at PC3 to meet in two weeks, and both me and Sara start new jobs this next week!

But I want to just give you an idea of how God has been working around us!
-Right after my last blog, I was pulled over by a Wilmington Sheriff's Deputy....talk about WELCOME TO NORTH CAROLINA! He slapped me with a "careless and reckless" ticket with a court date set in May. Come to find out, North Carolina has the strictest traffic laws in the country. Talked with the people at our apartment office to get some info, they hooked me up with a city police officer who lives on sight, he told me that the ticket was bogus, and after calling me back a couple days later, said he would accompany me to court as a character type witness and also gave me a contact to a local pastor he knew in Wilmington and thought it might be a cool connection!!! Just wait, it gets better!
-We decided we would look into getting our cars insured in NC to get all that JAZZ taken care of! Come to find out, the Insurance agent we randomly decided upon is a Christian who asked us where we were going to church, offered to escort us to their churches, and then told us to just pray to see where God would lead us in choosing insurance!?!? WHAT...does that happen?
-Then, today, after going to Best Buy and having Pastor Jeff of Lifepoint holler at us from down the aisle, and talking with him for a bit, and setting up vague lunch plans, we went to get a local bank account, and come to find out, the guy that was helping us was a missionary in Russia for a year after college, has been in ministry, and is now working at the bank and invited us to his church here in Wilmington!

If God's not at work here, I don't know what is going on! We're still waiting for some of the financial situations to pan out, and jobs to line up, but hey, it's going good so far! I'll keep you updated!