Never Saw This Coming

A recent partnership with Davison Missionary Church has taught me some new lessons. I never saw this partnership coming. But Davison, you have blown us away with your generosity and interest in what we're doing. Can't say thank you enough!

Here's a few things I've learned:

1) God can do way more in a day than we could do in a lifetime. Unless God is in something it'll accomplish practically nothing. If God's in something it'll produce more than you could ever imagine.

2) Partnering with God can be tough work. I'm not always very good at finding what God's up and sticking with Him on it. Scripture says the Spirit of God is like the wind... hard to get a handle on. We're trying to put up the sails and let 'er ride!

3) We can't outdream God! Any dream or vision we have that we think is HUGE is never bigger than the dream and vision God has for that same thing. We can never outdream God.

God, help our dreams to at least resemble the size of yours. Davison, thank you for helping us see some God-sized dreams coming true.

Introducing the Joyes!

For a while now, there has been another part to the team... The Joyes. While God was calling Raelyn and me to start a new church he was also calling Tim & Julie Joye. It has been amazing to see how our two paths have joined and the ways that God has been working far in advance to bring all of us together.

God knew exactly what it was going to take to make His name famous and His church thrive in Metro Detroit. What Tim and Julie (and the family!) bring to the table is amazing. Tim is a talented worship leader with a gift for teaching as well. Julie is a strong leader with a gift for relationships and a heart for women. Tim and Julie both grew up in Metro Detroit and have strong connections in the area we are going to plant. I can't imagine trying to start this new church without them!

I'd really love for you to be able to hear Tim & Julie's stories! God has done some great things in them. One of these days I can have Tim guest blog and you can hear it all directly from him. We are so thankful and privileged to even be on the same team with these guys. God is cooking up something special here - we can't wait to see what it is!

(enjoy this little video, this was played at our Open House 10.14.2007)

Are you in?

We can't always sit on the sidelines. There are moments in our lives when we are presented with opportunities and then we choose to step up to the plate... or not. It's your turn to bat!

Last night we held our first Open House event. The purpose of this event was to get everyone together in the same room who has an interest in being a part of the new church. I'm not just saying this, but it was a great event.

First of all, the kids had a blast (see pics below). The food was great (see pics below). Excitement was high. God is shaping things up for an incredible new church. And many of the people who were at this open house are going to be key players. It's going to be great.

I just want to say a quick thanks to everyone who came, helped, and prayed. You know who you are. We couldn't have pulled it off without you!

In all we had about 60-people at the Open House (39-adults, 21-children)!

Open House!!!

Well, it's here! After traveling to the various LEAD Team Churches and other partner churches and drumming up interest wherever we could, we are finally going to get everyone together in one room who is interested in being a part of the new church. This is going to be an amazing event!

First of all, Tim Joye and I will be share in more detail our vision for this new church. Also, this is the first time we'll really get a glimpse of who God is drawing to be a part of things with us. Not to mention, this is the first time many of these people will get to meet other people who want to be a part of the church too. This night also marks the beginnings of forming and organizing leading up to the launch. Needless to say, this is an extremely important night in the story of this new church.

PRAYER PARTNERS:
Please pray like you've never prayed before! Pray that things will go well during the Open House. Pray that the right people, the people God wants, will be there. Pray for the facility and staff where we are meeting, that we can have a positive impact on them while we're there. Pray for Tim and I (and our wives) as we share our hearts and what we believe God is doing. Pray for people's excitement to grow. Pray for God to stir people to want to be a part of this new church. Pray for the countless lives that God is going to reach through this church.

OPEN HOUSE DETAILS:
Sunday, October 14 5pm
Macomb Township Recreation Center
Child-Watch Provided (6mo-10yr)
Contact Josh Hossler with questions (info at right)

God has done some amazing things... God, this is all for you! Do your thing!

Thank God for Colonial Woods because...

God has answered immense and unimaginable prayer. I've never imagined the ways God might provide and resource His church. All we knew when God called us to launch a new church was that the task was pretty unbelievable. One of my greatest fears was that God had given us a great vision, but that it would be under resourced. Let me tell you, God is definitely resourcing His church!

I would have never imagined nearly ten years ago when our family moved away from Colonial Woods Missionary Church (Port Huron, MI) that I would have found myself back there. And not just back, but preaching from the very stage that my dad spend so many years of his ministry preaching from. This past Saturday and Sunday (9/29&30) I had the privilege of sharing for a few minutes in each of Colonial Woods' weekend services about the work that God is doing in Macomb. The reason for my visit... to unveil the partnership between Colonial Woods and the Metro Detroit Church Plant.

Colonial Woods has become a serious partner in our project, along with the LEAD Team Churches. I cannot tell you how encouraged I am as a young pastor to know that there are so many people willing to not just cheer us on, but to come along side of us in significant ways to help us get the job done. We're not there yet with raising our start up costs, but we're much much closer. We praise God for moving and resourcing in ways we never expected!