Does anyone really blog anymore?

I don't even know if anyone blogs anymore.  With Facebook and twitter out there, it doesn't seem like there is much need.

But as my wife pointed out a few days ago, it seems like a blog is very appropriate. We thought it might be a good thing to journal out our thoughts day by day, to let people know how things are going.

With all that has been going on, I said at one point that it might even be necessary to print out some sheets of paper that told the story of our journey over the past couple of weeks, because it seems like we've retold the story a couple hundred times by now.  We were just getting a little weary of retelling the story.

So here is a quick look.

I was asked to resign from YCC back in February.  I never thought I would leave YCC.  It was home.  I really loved serving the people of that church...that community.  And yet God very clearly closed that portion of my ministry.  But for several years, Dwight Addleman at LifeSpring Christian Church had been calling me to serve there, and it looked like that was where God wanted me to go.  So I did.

To say I enjoyed that process would be a little misleading.  I just look at it as a time of equipping.  I began to preach more.  I started flexing my leadership muscles. I began to truly administrate for the first time in my ministry life.  But as I got to know the LifeSpring church system deeper, it appeared that things were not right. Financially things were backward.  The structure of the church was non-existent - one man show. Then finally there were some serious problems in the leadership.  It all came to a head a couple of weeks ago, when it looked like all signs were pointing to change.  I just didn't know at the time that the change would be me leaving.

But sure enough, November 9th was the day.  For the second time in 9 months, I was out of a job.  I resigned.

But something beautiful happened.  The people who had been on this journey with me made decisions, too.  A change was necessary.

So we decided to begin a new church.

So November 16th became somewhat of a New Beginning.  On the 9th, we met at Calimesa 7th Day Adventist Church.  We were refugees.  We'd been locked out of our sanctuary. And it was beautiful.  We were still under a cloud of uncertainty, because "the meeting" hadn't happened yet.  But the 16th was the beginning of something that could not be stopped.

Am I ready to be a lead pastor?  Most people say probably not. But if God gives tool to the ones he's chosen to lead, I need to get a bigger tool box.  I've been pastoring people for years, just not from the big chair. 

But I guess now is the time.  Guess isn't the right word. Now IS the time.  Now is the time to surround myself with people who are better than me.  Now is the time to surround myself with people who love me and are ready to see God work through me. Now is the time to do the work God has given me.

So the 16th was a big day; a milestone that was years in the making, but I thought would never come.

So that's it.  It's not the whole story, but it's a sketch.

I plan to update my blog regularly and to give some perspective to those who are interested in reading it.  I just hope it's worth the read.