Congratulations to my great friend, Chris Barras, and the team at Area 10 Faith Community who launched their church this morning in Richmond, Virginia. We are very proud of you, man. Chris is one of the most driven guys I know. I have no doubt God is going to do great things through Area 10.
They very easily have the coolest venue (The Byrd Theater) of any new church in the history of church plants!
Just spent a full 24 hours in Orlando with some great leaders and church planters from all over the state of Florida. The Pursuit Christian Church is proud to be associated with these guys.
Dan Donaldson, Director of Florida Church PlantersI really enjoyed getting to know this group of guys because we have many shared experiences. It's easy to feel isolated being scattered over this massive and widely unchurched state. We need more qualified church planters in Florida (especially South Florida). Excited to see how this group is going to grow as FCP continues to expand its influence.
Monday was an absolute blast for me. I had the opportunity to talk via Skype with my friends Zeca and Gabia who live in Brazil. What was even better was getting to "meet" two of their three delightful daughters, Talita and Larissa (I still have yet to have the privilege of meeting Melissa). Brent Foulke also joined us on the call.
As I've said before, Zeca and his family are passionate about starting new churches that are good news to the city and helping people find their way back to God. They've been doing that together in Brazil for years. But it appears God is leading them to a new location.
After meeting them in May, while they were in the States, we felt an instant bond with them. We shared the same values and vision. There are thousands of Brazilians who have relocated to South Florida, which is already one of the most unchurched regions in U.S. There is a great need for leaders, like Zeca, who are willing to take a risk and do whatever it takes to start more and more Jesus-loving, Jesus-centered churches in SoFlo.
Here's the news: The Pursuit, Zeca and his family are "pursuing" the possibility of them joining our team. Zeca, would officially become a Campus Pastor at the Pembroke Pines / Miramar campus for a period of time but then he would start another campus of The Pursuit in another area of South Florida (where there is a high Brazilian demographic). Our hope is we can begin working together in early 2009. There are obviously several hurdles we have to climb before this becomes a reality. Support raising and the visa process are the two biggest.
We would appreciate keeping this entire process in your prayers.
A month ago or so, I blogged about our new friends from Brazil, Zeca & Gabia. Well, come to find out they have their own blog. You need to subscribe to their blog. Their story is one you will want to follow.
I am constantly amazed by the people God has brought into my life over the past year. Janie and I were the people who were in no hurry to get passports and now the majority of our friends are from somewhere else. Now that we have our passports we have a long list of places we want to visit: Colombia, Venezuela, Cuba, Puerto Rico, and now Brazil.
Zeca and Gabia (and their three amazing daughters), are following God's leading to plant churches in the U.S. and The Pursuit Christian Church is chewing over how we can partner with them. The crazy thing is they have family in the Pembroke Pines area and Gabia's mother, Leni, has been coming to The Pursuit for the past month.
I can't wait to watch what God continues to do through this phenom of a family.
This week last year, Janie and I officially became home owners in South Florida. We moved here because we felt God's overwhelming nudge to start a movement of missional and reproducing churches in an area starving for Jesus. A year later the work is well under way and The Pursuit Christian Church has become a reality. People are coming to know Jesus and the start of something God-sized is being built.
Have things gone as I planned ... no.
If I am going to be honest, I have to say there was a big part of me that thought we'd launch The Pursuit on January 27, 2008 with 300+ people and we'd be off and running. This is 100% my fault because I allowed myself to be convinced by others that in church planting a + b = c. There were sleepless nights where I wondered, "Am I the right man for the job? What could I have done differently? Should we have planted in Arizona, downtown Indy, or somewhere else in the Bible Belt?" Those nights still come. But...
... have things gone as God planned ... yes.
God is building "His church" not mine. People who were once far from God have found their way back to Him because of The Pursuit. God is growing me in ways I never thought possible. It's like when you go to the gym for the first time in a long time, muscles you didn't even know you had ache. It hurts all over but at the same time it feels so good because you know it is something you desperately need.
I guess what I am trying to say is this: After following God to SoFlo and being here for almost one year I believe in His mission more than ever. South Florida with all its faults has become our home which we dearly love. I can't imagine being any place else.
The famous military commander Tariq ibn Ziyah who led his army to take Gibraltar taught us an important lesson when his men faced their enemies on one side and the merciless sea on the other ... burn the ships. There was no going back to the place of comfort they once knew. The message for them and the message for us is, "Take this land or die trying."
I have heard several people say how difficult it is to make friends in South Florida. I am so thankful for the people God has pulled together through The Pursuit Christian Church in such a short time. The coolest thing is He is adding new people every single week who come and see a community of people who truly care for one another. To this point, everyone who has come to check out The Pursuit has chosen to be a part of it! While it's likely this will not always be the case, I attribute this to the fact everyone of us wants to be connected with others. After all, God did not design us to go through life alone.
It's absolutely amazing how densely populated South Florida is and yet so many are still missing out on one of the most important elements in life.
You are invited to come and see for yourself! This Sunday is our first official Celebration Service. This is an event you will not want to miss! Below is a map to the Floridian Ballroom at Pines Blvd and 178 in the heart of Pembroke Pines. The service begins at 10:30 a.m. I'd get there early if you can!
Invitations to the community are hitting mailboxes today to welcome anyone and everyone to The Pursuit Christian Church's first Celebration Service on Sunday, January 27. Yes, 10 days away.
The service starts at 10:30 a.m. and we meet at the Floridian Ballroom at the cross section of Pines Blvd. and 178. Don't worry you'll see our road signs.
Got kids? We have a great area called "Kids City" your children will love. Kids City is for babies through 4th grade.
I hope you plan on joining us! If you have questions feel free to send me an email at [email protected] or check out The Pursuit's website at www.thepursuit.cc.
It's a little overwhelming when you look at the "overkill" of conferences out there for church leaders. However, if you are a church planter the solution is a simple one. The National New Church Conference, April 21-24 in Orlando is honed in right where church planters live. Yes, the list of main stage speakers is great, but that's not where the gold is.
Alex and I went for the first time last year and attended the pre-launch track. There aren't many more important things I would recommend than surrounding yourself with people who are just a few steps ahead of you. It doesn't do a lot of good to look at mega churches who have been in existence for twenty years. Wisdom is looking at the churches who just launched or are a couple years in and learn from them.
National New Church is a great mix of new church planters and experienced church planters. The connections we made at this conference have been vital to where we are now. This year I am excited because the entire staff of The Pursuit will be in attendance and we will be a whopping three months old at the time!
Last Sunday, we held our second of three preview services at the Floridian Ballroom. This time we didn't have a group from out of town there to help us out so it was pretty much on our shoulders. That being said, I couldn't have been more pleased with the atmosphere that was created. Kids City looked great and the room where the Celebration Service was held looked a million times better than the first week.
Here's a few more thoughts now that I've had time to digest the day:
1. We had two new guests both of whom came because they received our first postcard. The great thing about that is the postcard specifically invited people to launch Sunday, January 27. Both went online and saw we had a preview service and decided to come check us out early!
2. Alex, Raul, Mike and Andres sounded great. Rodolfo did a remarkable job on the board too. I am absolutely loving the band God is pulling together for The Pursuit. It just reflects the culture here beautifully!
3. Erin, Linda and the team in Kids City is knocking the setup out of the park.
4. The Info Booth Janie has created looks stinking cool.
5. Our First Impressions Team (you might call them Guest Services) is beyond what I ever imagined we could pull of. Bob, Paul, Ali, Klara, and the other Bob have really elevated their game.
6. My favorite moment of the service was when we whipped out our brand-spanking-new translation equipment. We had two gentlemen who were able to understand the message clearly because Alex did such a great job translating.
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