Friday, September 26, 2008

It's Friday...but Sunday is comin!

Week 2 of Area 10 is moving along nicely.  I can't believe Sunday is two days away.  You spend a year planning/dreaming about the first service and the second one shows up 7 days later.

We are talking about Jesus this Sunday.  It should be a fun day, I think!  I think talking about Jesus is probably a good idea for a church.

One great thing this week, was I invited some people out for ice cream Wednesday and 8 people showed up.  It was a great time of meeting some new people, and hearing their stories.

See ya Sunday!

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Video of the launch day

Here it is. This is the song we used in the video we showed on Sunday. Enjoy the video.

Monday, September 22, 2008

Photos Part 2



More Photos from Launch






Here are some great pictures- courtesy of Dave Hileman.

Sunday, September 21, 2008

The Launch


Area 10 held it's first public service today. It was an absolute blast. A total of 233 people showed up. People were excited and I talked to lots of people that loved it. Great stuff. God delivers up again.

I'm watching football and relaxing now...

Enjoy the picture of our opening service!

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

We are launching a church because...

We are launching a church this Sunday because Richmond needs it. Richmond doesn't need just another church. Richmond needs more churches that speak the language of the people and deals with contemporary issues in a biblical way. Richmond needs a church that offers the love of God and hope for people. Our city is great to be sure. But it could be so much better. We need a revolution. Stop complaining...start a revolution...

We are launching a church this Sunday because God called me to do this. The prophet Jeremiah said, "his word is a fire shut up in my bones..I'm weary of holding it in. Indeed I cannot." I can relate. I'm going to tell people about Jesus. There is nothing more important in this life. Money, sex, power, everything takes a back seat to this. I will to go to the grave believing that Jesus died for all of us, loves us and wants to redeem us from this life and turn our world upside down.

We are launching a church this Sunday, because the local church is the hope of the world. Politics is interesting (to me at least!). But politics does not meaningfully change things. That is what God does. God works through the community of the church to help people.

We are launching a church this Sunday, because being a follower of Jesus is a better way to live. I think some people criticize Christians for acting as if they are better than other people. Let me make this perfectly clear: Christians are not better than anyone. We are just better off than we used to be.

3 days and a few hours until the revolution begins...

Monday, September 15, 2008

The day the batteries died...


This morning I ran into a too frequent occurrence at my house. I got into my van, turned the key and then nothing. Dead battery in my 2004 Toyota Sienna. Completely dead. I looked at the dome lights and noticed they were in the "on" position. So that was the culprit...just like always.

So I decided to walk. (gotta love city living- I live close enough to things that I can use my legs--the original fossil fuel free form of public transportation) I walked over to my favorite French Cafe for some coffee. (La Vazza coffee- I love it)

My laptop battery was dead. So I reached in my bag for my power cable. That was gone. No car, no laptop power...this is a bad start to a Monday.

Isn 't it amazing how much better things run when they are plugged into the power?

The same is true for churches. This Sunday is the launch of the Area 10 Faith Community. We begin having regular worship services in the Byrd. Here's what I know to be true and I'll be as blunt as possible: If people do not pray for this church, there is a good chance this church will suck.

So please help us out. God is the source of all power. We need to be plugged in big time. So please pray this week for our church. Pray...right now...I'm waiting...go on! Get yer pray on...

And every day of this week at 10 (am or pm)- stop...take a moment, and pray for God to show up in a big way at Area 10 this Sunday.

I need you all to get plugged into the power this week. The last thing I want to do is step into our brand new church, turn the key...and nothing...

Mondays

When I'm elected president, I'm passing a new law. All Mondays will officially begin at noon, not 8 a.m.

Congress would not be able to stop this, because there would be a massive wave of public support.

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Meet the Children's Director


Ok, this is kind of old news. But it's good stuff! Amanda Peck signed on board to be our children's minister. Amanda comes to us from Cincinnati, OH where she was a Kindergarten teacher in the public school system there. She has an educator's background and is constantly looking at what we're going to do with kids through that lens...She sees children's ministry as a chance to help spiritual form our shortest church members! I'm excited to have Amanda as part of the team.
So that's the 4 of us on staff. Me, Laura Shibut (administrative genius), Aaron (creative arts genius), and Amanda (small people genius). I'm excited to move forward with these people on the team. God brought to us who we needed!

This picture of Amanda is pensive...I think. Or thoughtful...but I think she was going for pensive.

Saturday, September 6, 2008

Area 10 has one more preview service in the Byrd

We're in the Byrd tomorrow (after all this rain!). Come on out. 10 A.M. It should be a good time. If you can, plan on going out with some people for lunch afterwards.

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Cartwheels and Coffee gets some pub in the RTD

The Times Dispatch, the local paper ran a great article yesterday in the Metro Business section. Thanks to Louis Llovio for some fine reporting. The article mentions the church a little which is nice. There is another article for the church that is coming soon.

Perhaps the funniest line in the article is where it says that I might be a "genius".

I have now been called a "genius" and a "fixture" by local media. That's nice. I'm a genius that hangs around a lot I guess. I'm like a really smart lamppost or something. Nice.

The truth is, my wife is the genius behind Cartwheels. I really just work for her.

I am humbled as I remember this great truth: Behind every great man, is a woman rolling her eyes.

School Supplies for the kiddies

I'm amazed at God sometimes. You'd think that would get old but it really doesn't.

I'm amazed by our launch team.


This past Friday, our church (with a few more turned in today!) delivered up over 70 school bags full of school supplies to kids that need them at Fox Elementary. The principal emailed me and was thrilled. I had hoped we would get that many, but I wasn't sure we would.

One of our launch team members, Sommer, when I told her how many bags we had as of Tuesday (14!) said to me, "you need to ask the launch team again to step it up." So I did...and they did.

Over 70 bags. God is good. This is fun. Thank you to all who rose to the challenge. You are truly loving our city beyond reason.