Photos Part 2

More Photos from Launch

Here are some great pictures- courtesy of Dave Hileman.

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!

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...

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.

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.