Thanks a latte, have a Grande!

This week is my last week working at Starbucks.  I have been with them for 2 1/2 years but it's coming to an end.  It has been a long fun road.  I've made great friends and learned a lot.  I will miss a lot about the company but not the EARLY mornings.  On that note, I have to run.  It's 5 A.M. and I need to get to work!

Update on Area 10

Things have been going well for us here in the last month.  I will begin working full time for Area 10 on March 1st and I can't wait!   There are a few things going on for me that I will be working on when I start.

1)  Fundraising.  This is a big deal.  I currently have about 35% committed with quite a bit more out there dangling but not committed.  I'm out there speaking to anyone who will listen telling them about the dream.  I have an I have a dream speech.  Ask me about it sometime...it rocks...(at least I like hearing it!)

2)  Hiring staff.  I need a quality worship leader who loves Jesus and wants to see a new be birthed in Richmond.  God has the person in mind.  I can't wait to find out who it is.  In addition to that, I'm trying to find a gifted children's pastor and an administrative/organizer type.  I have some leads on possibles in these areas but nothing is definite yet.  I'll let you know when I know.

3)  Location.  Our church will need to rent space.  I have a GREAT place in mind, but I don't want to tell you yet, in case it doesn't work out.  Your prayer should be like this:  "Lord give Area 10 that GREAT place to meet.  Lord you know the spot"  I will update you on this the moment I find out.

4)  Core people-  We already have 15-20 people who want to be part of this church but we need many more.  I'm praying that God is tugging on people to join us and help this thing happen.  I keep bumping into people who live in the area and might be willing to be a part of it.  We'll see. One thing I'm learning is that God has been in Richmond for a long time and is already been preparing people for this.  That's one of the most fun things about this adventure.

That's what my new life will be looking like in 1 months time.  In addition to that, I'm going to be playing soccer, playing with my 3 kids and doting on my wife as much as possible.  

The Pursuit Launches

The Pursuit Christian Church launched on Sunday January 27th in Miramar, Florida and I'm glad to say I was there!  

Matt Mehaffey, lead pastor is a good friend of mine.  He did a fine job pulling a team together to get the church off the ground.  As I told him, the wedding is now over, the marriage begins!  I was pretty impressed with a lot of what I saw there.  The team put together a quality worship service with great signs, children's area, etc.  

The thing that was so interesting to me was the truly multicultural feel of the place.  Alex, the worship leader mixed English and Spanish pretty freely in the worship music and in his speaking.  That was a cool thing and had a "slice of heaven" feel to it.  Just walking around Home Depot I noticed how ethnically diverse the area was..ie...I was one of 5 anglo people in the whole place!  And it was great to see the church plant reflect that diversity.

Matt tells me quite a few people are interested in learning about Christ.  That is awesome...The kingdom is expanding.  Here's to many more life changing stories from the Pursuit in South Florida.

Visiting the Sunshine State

I'm spending the week in Florida.  I spoke at my home church on Wednesday night-- Christian Church in the Wildwood.  It was a blast to see that place again and see many old friends.  When I finished high school in 94 that church was averaging about 250 in attendance.  They now have about 800 on the weekends.  It's good that I left so they could grow!

I have my oldest son with me.  We are taking him to Kennedy Space Center today.  That should be a blast.  Sunday, I'll be in Miami for the launch of The Pursuit Christian Church.  I'll tell you how it goes.  Matt Mehaffey, my very good friend is the lead planter and should do very well.  It should be a great weekend.

Possible logo for the Area 10 church

How about this?  Sorry I can't resist.  This new mac is too much fun.

Area 10 gets a Mac

I just invested in a laptop for our new church. It's a macbook pro. It's a thing of beauty. All silver and sleek. I used it for the first time today. It really is gorgeous. I have had two friends call me so far to congratulate and welcome me to the family. These mac people are crazy about this stuff. You'd think I'd just accepted Jesus. It's wild. Well, I'm thinking the beauty of my new toy will inspire my blogging to new heights. Time will tell.

God and Starbucks Part 1

Let me start by telling you two things…I am a manager for Starbucks and I am pastor of a local church. So I have an insiders perspective on both. My last 2+ years working for Starbucks has taught me a lot that has helped shaped some of my views of the church. I want to share a few things I’ve learned about both on this journey.

LEARNING #1- Why Starbucks drinks are expensive and why that’s a good thing.

James told us that our responsibility is to take care of widows and orphans. He considered this “true religion” (James 1:27) Starbucks is doing a better job of taking care of people than many churches are. What do I mean by this? Starbucks offers affordable health care to even it’s part time employees. If you work 20 hours a week, you are allowed to have full health, dental, vision, all that. And they give you stock options, tuition reimbursements and other goodies. Starbucks is the first company in the country to do this. It really is incredible and I can’t say enough good about it. My family of 5 is fully covered and it costs me less than $300 out of pocket a month. Try to find that deal out there anywhere…(you won’t!) And here’s the strange part about the system. Starbucks just uses an HMO to manage our health care plan. The actual costs of our health care (hospital stays, exams, etc) are paid for by Starbucks corporate. Starbucks actually spends more on health care than they do on coffee beans.

Churches should think about this for a while. Historically churches have taken care of the sick, before there was medicare, social programs, HMO’s and all that. Christians used to put their faith in practice by helping the sick and poor. Now we let the government do that. And since the government doesn’t do a great job of this either, Starbucks is jumping in to help out. Now there are exceptions to this in the church world and I have been privileged to know and work in a few of those churches. But by and large, we probably not doing enough to help the widows and orphans out there, (or those without affordable health care).

Think about this the next time you drop $3.75 for a grande mocha at Starbucks. Sure there is about a 700% mark up on that drink. But that mark up paid for my baby’s bilirubin treatments when he was first born. Drink up! My family needs it!